The Incendiary Part 15

"None of that, Perley. It was on Stuart's spot," cried a harsh voice from behind the table.

"The needle was on the line," protested Perley, reckless-looking and sadly young. "I say, the needle was on the line, Reddy."

He had missed the prize by a hair. Perhaps the bill he had laid down for this turn was his last. But a friend led him away, still muttering, by the arm, and the gap in the circle which his removal made was quickly closed. The man called Reddy gathered the pile of bills together, separated a small portion, which he swept into the till, and pa.s.sed the remainder to Stuart.

"Reddy runs things," whispered Faught, not so low but that the bank-tender heard and looked the newcomer over suspiciously. "Comes from the west, a desperado. Just the man to keep them down."

"The bad blood breaks out sometimes?"

"Would if there wasn't a strong hand at the needle."

There was certainly nothing weak about Reddy. He sprawled sidewise in his chair, with his left elbow on the table and his right arm free for a variety of uses--a big-boned ruffian with a sandy face and an eye apparently riveted on the disk before him, but really sweeping in the whole compa.s.s of the room. Overhanging eyebrows veiled these furtive glances. As a rule he spoke quietly, in a sepulchral ba.s.s, warning the players to adjust their stakes more evenly on the spots, or announcing the winners of the prizes. The recent jar with Perley was something uncommon in the mute and decorous chamber over which Reddy presided.

"It's a new game--roletto; simple as odd or even," explained Faught. "The circle is segmented off into black and white rays, or spots, as we call them----"

"And red?"

"Those are used, too. You see, they are numbered like the others. But they are specially colored for the game with the bank. In the ordinary game some one proposes a stake and puts it down on its lucky number. Then the rest follow suit. Would you like to try this round? It's only a $10 trick."

"Very well."

s.h.a.garach laid his stake down on one of the s.p.a.ces.

"That starts it. See them join in. Twenty-four s.p.a.ces, black and white, and twenty-three filled. My ten spot quits it out. Now thank your stars if you see that bill again."

The gamblers stood near while Reddy reached toward the needle. A squad of grenadiers at attention would not be more rigid. They were frozen with suspense. But something paralyzed Reddy's wrist. He had caught the full glance of s.h.a.garach. It was several seconds before he twisted the pointer. For several more it spun around, gradually slowing up and coming to a rest over s.h.a.garach's number.

"Twenty!" called Reddy.

"Mine!"

s.h.a.garach coolly smoothed out the bills and folded them in his pocket, while the unsuccessful players eyed him greedily. Eleven-twelfths of the stakes went to the winner, and 2,000 per cent would be considered a fair profit in any speculation. But the return to the bank was still more liberal, being the steady harvest of two-spots. It was easy to see how the luxuries and free accessories of the Dove-Cote could be provided.

"Try again," said Faught, shaking s.h.a.garach's hand.

"Perhaps that is enough for an experiment," answered the lawyer, a little undecided still whether Faught were a decoy of the establishment.

"A hundred dollars even I come out whole to-night!" cried a voice at the door. It was Harry Arnold.

"A little quieter, gentlemen," said Reddy, tapping on his desk. "This isn't the stock exchange."

"It's a more respectable place," answered Harry, surrendering his wraps to a servant.

"I take you," said several, picking up the gantlet he had thrown down. Faught had spoken first and Kennedy was chosen stake-holder. s.h.a.garach, meanwhile, had retired to a table in the corner and ordered some wine.

"One thousand to ten I break the bank," called Harry as loudly as before.

"I will debar any man who uses that tone again," said Reddy, never moving a muscle. His eyes were as cold and steady as the barrels of two Derringers in the hands of a Texan train robber, and the young bravo, though his lip curled, did not reply. His second bet was taken and the game resumed amid its former silence.

The losers repaired to the sideboard now and then and renewed their courage with stimulants, but one or two who called for brandy were told that no strong liquors were allowed. The little outbreak over Perley's protest showed the wisdom of this rule. Harry Arnold's purse seemed to be well lined to-night, for he led the play higher and higher.

s.h.a.garach held his winegla.s.s toward the chandelier, so as to s.h.i.+eld a searching glance at the young man's face. Under the artificial light it was brilliantly beautiful, the face of a man who could say to almost any woman "Come" and she would follow him to the ends of the earth.

"Do you know young Arnold?" asked Faught of s.h.a.garach, who had just lowered his winegla.s.s. He began to take some notice of this large, quiet man, who, all un.o.bserved, was making the rounds of the room.

"By sight," he answered, suppressing a yawn. "You took his bet, I noticed?"

"Only a hundred, and as good as mine already. He's bucking the reds."

"Gad, Harry, you have nerve," Kennedy's pipe was heard exclaiming.

"I see you don't understand," continued Faught. "There are four red spots, you remember. Ordinarily these are not used. In the common game it is impossible for the bank to lose, though one of the players may win."

He smiled in allusion to s.h.a.garach's maiden try.

"But sometimes the bank condescends to take a risk. Then the stakes are high. Each player lays a thousand opposite one of the four reds. If the needle stops over white or black, Reddy scoops the pot. But if it favors a red the man on the spot opposite gets $5,000 from the bank and the others quit whole. You see it's perfectly fair. Twenty blacks and whites and four reds, that makes the odds five to one against the players. So the bank, if red wins, quintuples the stakes all round."

"But the bank twists the needle," said s.h.a.garach.

"Oh, that's all open and above board."

"Do you see Reddy looking down?"

"He is watching the checker board."

"Why not a mirror under the table?"

"What would it show?"

"Two slender bar magnets crossed under the disk. His foot can rotate them so as to underlie any four of the spots; and the needle is of steel." Faught opened his eyes.

"Bravo!" an exclamation burst from the crowd.

"That's number one," Harry Arnold was heard exulting. Followed by Kennedy and the taker of his second bet, he crossed over to the bar.

"Has Arnold set the place on fire?" asked s.h.a.garach. It was said during a pause of the hum and he raised his voice. In one of the facets of his winegla.s.s he saw Harry, who had just pa.s.sed him, start and turn, but it was impossible to tell whether the expression of his face had altered. Certainly it was no more than a glance and he took no notice of s.h.a.garach. The lawyer's low stature diminished at a distance the effect of his splendid head and eyes, which were so powerful at short range. On the present occasion, if disguise were at all his purpose, this insignificance was useful.

"He has beaten the bank," said Faught.

"A Pyrrhic victory," answered s.h.a.garach, "and a Parthian flight." His companion rose and sauntered behind Reddy, but either the mirror was hidden or the bank-tender was too wary to be caught. Suddenly his harsh voice was heard again.

"Put that down, Perley."

Every one looked in the direction of the youthful gambler, who had been the center of the dispute when s.h.a.garach and Kennedy entered. He had brooded moodily since his loss, sitting alone at a corner table, and was just raising a revolver to his temple when Reddy's command checked and bewildered him. Instantly Harry Arnold, who was nearest, wrenched his wrist and some one else secured the weapon. Perley writhed like a madman, so that it took several minutes to quiet him. When at last his contortions were helpless his spirit seemed to give suddenly and he burst into tears.

s.h.a.garach felt a deep pity in his breast. The youth looked weak rather than wicked. Possibly others, whom he loved, would suffer by his recklessness this night. An aversion to the whole tinseled exterior, gilding over soul-destroying corruption, came upon him and he longed for the sight of something wholesome and pure--if only a basketful of speckled eggs or a clothes-press hung with newly lavendered linen. But his purpose in coming was still unfulfilled, so he merely stopped the youth as he was pa.s.sing out in dejection, accompanied by a friend.

"I was luckier than you," he said, taking out the roll of bills he had won. "Will you accept my first winnings as a loan?"

Perley halted irresolutely.

"They amount to $200 or so. You may have them on one condition."

"What is it?"

"That you go immediately home."

"I will," said Perley.

From now on the play became more and more exciting, as the champagne began to work in the veins of the gamblers. Once again Harry Arnold won, then lost and lost again. Still he laid down bill after bill from a bulky roll, sometimes leading at the simple game, oftener challenging the bank. As luck turned against him (if luck it were) his temper changed. He grew hilarious, but at the same time savage. Once or twice his differences with Reddy promised to culminate in a serious quarrel, but each time the coolness of the experienced bank-tender prevailed. s.h.a.garach paid no attention to Kennedy, little to Faught. He was studying the soul of Prince Charming.

When Harry came over and demanded brandy and struck the bar with his clenched fist because he could not have it, every one knew that his wad of crisp bills had shrunken to almost nothing. But still he would not surrender.

"The whole pile," he cried, laying the roll down opposite a red spot. It was the same one he had played all the evening. Reddy counted the money coolly.

"A thousand is all we go," he said, returning one bill to Arnold--the last poor remnant of Rabofsky's loan.

"I challenge you to play higher. I dare you to give me my revenge."

"There's only a hundred over and you'll need more than that to settle your outside bets with," answered Reddy, as if victory for the bank were a foregone conclusion. Three others, carried away by the force of play, put down stakes of $1,000 each and all of the reds were covered. Reddy snapped the needle with his forefinger as carelessly as a schoolboy twirling a card on a pin. Four necks craned over, four lungs ceased to draw breath, while it slowly, slowly paused.

"Mine!" exulted Harry, stretching forth his hand; but Reddy intercepted it.

"The bank!" he growled.

"It's on the line," said Harry, flus.h.i.+ng.

"By the rules I am judge, and I say the bank!" Reddy lowered his voice to its most sepulchral register, while Harry raised his to a shriek.

"Between man and man, but not between a player and the bank. I leave it to these gentlemen if it wasn't on the line."

"Always," answered Reddy. He snapped the needle again. Whether the bar-magnets below had been carelessly adjusted, whether the pointer had really rested over the line, that was a matter upon which arbitration was now rendered forever impossible. Then he reached for the money.

"You swindler!" shrieked Harry, striking at his face across the table. Instantly Reddy's right hand, the free hand, opened a drawer and presented a c.o.c.ked revolver. His finger was on the trigger to pull, when s.h.a.garach gave the shout of warning.

"Spies!" he cried. It was a word to strike terror. Perhaps it saved Harry's life.

During the confusion, observed of none but s.h.a.garach, a whistle had been heard from the outside, and the quiet man, Faught, had pa.s.sed over to one of the windows. There were only two, and these were protected by iron shutters, which closed with a latch. The first sound heard was Faught lifting the latch and throwing the shutters apart. A uniformed man dropped into the room, followed by another and another. Faught rushed behind Reddy and the second window was soon opened. All the officers carried lanterns and clubs.

"The first man who moves his little finger dies," said the foremost of the invaders, advancing. His tone was easy and his pistol covered Reddy. The whole room looked toward the desperado as if expecting him to do something. He turned his revolver's muzzle quickly as if from Arnold to the officer, but instantly his right hand was knocked up by Faught. With his left he pressed an electric b.u.t.ton for some daring purpose. Then the pistol shot rang out, a moment too late, and the room was in total darkness.

The slides of the officer's lanterns, however, were opened at once, and in a jiffy the door was guarded. Through the yellowish light s.h.a.garach could see tussling groups and hear cries of anger and pain. He himself was seized and handcuffed. Presently the uproar quieted down and the voice of the spokesman was heard ordering one of the negroes to light up.

But it was a different sight that met s.h.a.garach's eye when the chandeliers blazed again. The roletto table had disappeared, probably carried downstairs by a trapdoor at Reddy's touch of the b.u.t.ton. This was the use for which the vacant fourth story was reserved. All around among the smaller tables the gamblers stood like lambs, trembling and pale in the grip of the law. In the middle of the floor lay Reddy, the blood bubbling from a pea-sized hole that divided his left eyebrow and gathering in a thick pool on the carpet. McCausland's bullet had flown true to its target.

Only one of the gamblers was missing.

"He must have climbed out of the window," said s.h.a.garach, sotto voce.

CHAPTER XIX.

LEX REX.

Stupefaction is a weak word to express the feelings of Saul Aronson when a messenger awakened him at 1 o'clock Thursday morning with a request from s.h.a.garach that he would come to police station No. 5 at once. The attorney's a.s.sistant was never a sluggard, but the celerity with which on this occasion he scrambled into his street clothes would have done credit to a lightning-change artist.

The police captain received him courteously, explaining, as he conducted him to s.h.a.garach's cell, his hesitancy about discharging the lawyer without permission from McCausland, who had maliciously disappeared. Both he and s.h.a.garach were agreed that the most judicious course was to accept a temporary release on bail, and later to secure a quas.h.i.+ng of the charge by an explanation to the district attorney. So Aronson set out again to secure bail, and at 4 o'clock had the joy of seeing his master pa.s.s down the station steps with his bondsman.

It was fortunate that the affair turned out so well, for the very next day had been set down for the hearing in the Probate court on the settlement of Benjamin Arnold's estate.

Hodgkins Hodgkins, Esq., flanked by the other two members of the firm of Hodgkins, Hodgkins & Hodgkins--namely, his brother and his nephew--was already on his feet to address the court when s.h.a.garach, as representative of Robert Floyd's interest, arrived and pushed to the front. Except for the fact that he was Prof. Arnold's oldest acquaintance in the city, it was hard to understand the selection of Hodgkins for the responsible position of executor over a property of $10,000,000.

A tall, withered specimen of nearly 70, thin-whiskered and jejune of speech, you would have looked instinctively for the green bag at his side if you had met him on the street. "Whereas" and "aforesaid" and a dozen other legal barbarisms disfigured his rhetoric and the trick of b.u.t.toning his coat with an important air over doc.u.ments mysteriously shuffled into his breast pocket was as natural to him as crossed legs to a tailor.

But all this pomp, ridiculous as it was, gave no promise of the disloyalty that was to follow. From the first words of his address it became evident that Hodgkins Hodgkins, Esq., was there not to execute the will of his friend but to oppose its execution. Like many another intrusted with the same office, he had transferred his allegiance from the forgotten dead to the living who had bounty to bestow. Mrs. Arnold, sitting among the spectators, alone, might well congratulate herself upon a clever stroke in engaging the services of the quondam executor for her son.

"As counsel for the pet.i.tioner, Mr. Harry Arnold," said Hodgkins, ahemming huskily, "I desire to explain to the court briefly my relation to the case. As your honor has been informed, I enjoyed the privilege of the testator's--or, more properly, the intestate's--acquaintance during a period of nearly fifty years. During that period nothing, I believe, ever occurred to mar our mutual trust and confidence. Up to six weeks ago the deceased had never expressed any desire to alter the natural distribution of his property after his death. Up to that time, although approaching his seventy-ninth birthday, my honored friend had been entirely satisfied, entirely satisfied, I repeat, with the prospects of a division of his estate according to the laws of descent in this commonwealth."

"A statement which we deny," broke in s.h.a.garach, sotto voce. Hodgkins was a little nonplussed.

"Am I to understand that Brother s.h.a.garach, representing, I presume, the interests of the other nephew, refers to some previously existing testament?"

"Not at all. I refer, your honor, to oral expressions of an intention to will his entire property to the nephew who lived with him, Mr. Robert Floyd."

"There was a will drawn, which is not extant, I believe?" inquired the judge.

"There was a will drawn," answered s.h.a.garach, "but since unfortunately destroyed, by which Floyd was disinherited."

"I opine, then"--Mr. Hodgkins frequently opined--"that Brother s.h.a.garach concedes the destruction of the doc.u.ment and is here----"

"To argue for its upholding."

The whole firm of Hodgkins, Hodgkins & Hodgkins looked as if a thunderbolt had struck them at this announcement. s.h.a.garach was throwing away Robert's share, amounting to $5,000,000.

"We were not aware of this intention," said the senior member, after a consultation, "and as to the alleged oral expressions of a purpose to leave the--the accused nephew sole legatee--er--er in any case we should have contested such a will on the ground of undue influence. Six weeks ago," Hodgkins was now frowning as formidably as possible, "I received a letter from my honored friend, informing me that he had made a will and requesting me to a.s.sume the function of sole executor--a request which I felt it a duty, as well as an honor, to accept."

"May I see the testator's letter?" said s.h.a.garach, breaking in.

"I trust the court will accept my a.s.surance----"

"It is no question of your word. I desire to see the terms of your appointment as executor, and request that the letter be read."