XVI
POKER FACE AND A WHITE PIGEON
Mrs. Simpson had made a discovery. It was epoch-marking! It wastremendous. Nothing short of that! So, at the very least, Mrs.Simpson was prepared to maintain stoutly in the face of possibleridicule.
Though, as Judith's housekeeper, she had sufficient household duties onher plump shoulders to send a less doughty woman creeping wearily tobed with the chickens, she found time before the dawn and long afternightfall to keep her eye upon that Black Spanish and his recruit andtreacherous ally, Fujioki.
One morning, very early, Mrs. Simpson, from the thick curtains of theliving-room, saw Jose "prowling around suspicious-like in thecourtyard!" She thrilled at the sight. She always thrilled to Jose.The half-breed had gone silently, "sneaking-like," by Judith's outerdoor. He had paused there, listening. He had gone back to thecourtyard, hesitating, pretending that he was looking at the roses!Such a ruse on the part of so black-hearted a villain inspired in thescarcely breathing Mrs. Simpson a vast disgust. As if he could fool_her_ like that, pottering around among the roses!
She, too, sought to move silently in his wake, though under her ampleweight the veranda creaked audibly. Still, making less noise thanusual, she peered through the lilacs. She saw Jose at the base of theknoll, going swiftly toward the stables. She saw another man who,evidently, was a third of the "gang," and who, of course, had risenearly to creep out of the men's bunkhouse before the others were awake,to meet Jose. Screening herself behind the lilacs, her heart throbbingas it had not done for many a long year, she watched.
Jose and the other man did meet. Jose stopped. The two exchanged afew words, too low for Mrs. Simpson to hear at that distance. But shemade out that the other man had something in his hand, something white.A pigeon! For, suddenly released, it fluttered out of the man's handsand, circling high above Mrs. Simpson's head, flew to join the otherbirds cooing on the housetop!
"A carrier-pigeon!" gasped Mrs. Simpson. "Taking a message to theother cutthroats!"
From that instant there was no doubt in her mind. This fitted in toowell with her many suspicions not to be the clew she had sought longand unceasingly.
Jose went on, the man from the bunk-house went back into it, and Mrs.Simpson fled to the house and hastened excitedly to Judith's room.Judith, rudely awakened, came hurriedly to her door in herdressing-gown, her eyelids heavy with sleep. When she heard, shelaughed.
"You dear old goose!" cried Judith joyously. "I just love you todeath. You put fresh interest into life."
Despite Mrs. Simpson's earnest protests, Judith hugged her and pushedher out again, saying that since she was awake now she would want herbreakfast just as soon as she could get it. The housekeeper shook herhead and retreated heavily.
"You've got to show some folks a man cutting their throats," shemuttered to herself, "before they'll believe it. It is acarrier-pigeon and I know it. And that Black Spanish--ugh! He makesmy blood curdle, just to look at him!"
"Carrier-pigeons!" laughed Judith, as she began a hurried dressing."The dear old goosie! And poor old Jose. She'll get something on himyet. I wonder why she----"
Suddenly Judith broke off. She was standing in front of a tall mirror,still only half-dressed. As she looked into the bright face of thesmiling girl in the glass, a sudden change came. Pigeons! Doc Tripphad said that Trevors had got them; had remarked on the incongruity ofa man like Trevors caring for little cooing birds. It was rather odd.Carrier-pigeons--carrier----
Judith whipped on her dressing-gown again and, slipperless, her warm,bare feet pat-patting upon the cold surfaces of the polished floors,she ran to the office.
"Send Jose to me," she called to Mrs. Simpson. "In the office. I wanthim immediately."
A warm glow came into Mrs. Simpson's breast. With a big kitchen pokerbehind her broad back, she hastened out to call Jose. Judith, at thetelephone, called for Doc Tripp.
"Come up immediately," she commanded, "prepared to make a test forhog-cholera germs, Doc. No, I am not sure of anything, but I think Ibegin to see where it came from and how. Hurry, will you?"
To Jose she said abruptly:
"Go down to the men's quarters, Jose. Tell Carson and Lee to comeright up." And as Jose turned to go, she added carelessly: "Seen anyof the men yet?"
"_Si, senorita_," answered Jose. "Poky Face is up."
"Poker Face? All right, Jose. The others will be about, then."
Jose took little more time for his errand than for his elaborate bow.Carson and Lee came promptly, Carson a score of steps in advance, forLee had tarried just long enough to wash his face and brush his hair;Carson had not.
"Tell me," demanded Judith, looking at her cattleman with intenteagerness, "what do you know about Poker Face?"
"One of the best men I've got," answered Carson heartily.
"Square, you think?"
"Yes. If I didn't think so he'd have been on his way a long time ago."
"How long has he been here? Who took him on?"
"Trevors hired him. About the same time he hired me."
Bud Lee, entering then, wondered what new thing was afoot. He glanceddown and saw a bare foot peeping out from the hem of Judith's heavy redrobe; he saw the hair tumbled in a glorious brown confusion over hershoulders. She was amazingly pretty this way.
"I want you two men to just stick around until I send for you again,"said Judith, her eyes upon Carson alone, a little pink, naked footsuddenly withdrawn and tucked somewhere under her in her chair. "Andkeep your eyes on Poker Face. Keep him here, too, Carson. By the way,did any of you boys come in late last night? Or early this morning?"
"Why, no," answered Carson slowly. "An' yes. None of the reg'larboys, but a man from down the river, looking for a job. Heard we wasshort-handed. Blew in early. Just got in a few moments ago, PokerFace said."
Quick new interest flew into Judith's eyes.
"Keep him here, too!" she cried. "And I'll give you something to dowhile you wait: bring me all the pigeons you can get your handson--white ones. Shoot them if you have to. And be careful you don'trub the dust off their feet."
Carson's eyes went swiftly to Bud Lee's. In Carson's mind there was aquick suspicion: The strain of life on the ranch was proving too muchfor a girl, after all.
Judith, reading his thought, turned up her nose at him and, seeking tokeep her feet hidden as she walked by sagging a little at the knees,went to the door. Turning there, she saw in Lee's eyes the hint of asmile, a very approving, admiring smile.
"Impudent!" she cried within herself. Looking very tiny, her kneesbent so that her robe might sweep the floor, she continued with allpossible dignity to the hallway. Once there, she ran for her room, hergown fluttering widely about her. In her room, though she dressedhurriedly, she still took time for a long and critical examination oftwo rows of little pink toes.
"Just the same," she said to the flushed Judith in the mirror, "theyare very nice feet--Bud Lee, I'd just like to make you squirm one ofthese days. You're altogether too--too--oh, scat, Judy. What's thematter with you?"
In less than half an hour Doc Tripp, showing every sign of a hurriedtoilet, rode into the courtyard. He came swiftly into the office, bagin hand. Judith, waiting impatiently for him, lost no words in tellinghim her suspicions. And Doc Tripp, hearing her out, swore softly andfluently, briefly asking her pardon when he had done.
"I'm a jackass," he said fervently. "I always knew I was a fool, but Ididn't know that I was an idiot! Why, Judy, those damned pigeons havebeen sailing all over the ranch, billing and cooing and picking up andtoting cholera germs. Any fool can see it now. I might have knownsomething was up when Trevors bought the infernal things. It's assimple as one, two, three. Now this other jasper, pretending to lookfor a job, brings on some more of them, so that the disease will spreadthe faster. Let me get my two hands on him, Judith. For the love ofGod, lead me to him."
But, instead, she led him to the dozen white p
igeons which Carsonbrought in.
Tripp, all business again, improvised his laboratory, washed thepigeons' feet, made his test, with never another curse to tell of hisprogress. Judith left him and went into the courtyard, where, in amoment, Carson came to her.
"You better tell me what's up," he said sharply. "I know something is.That new guy that just come in is darned hard to keep. Just as quickas I grab a shotgun an' go to shooting pigeons he moseys out to thecorrals an' starts saddling his horse."
"Don't let him go!"
Carson smiled a dry, mirthless smile.
"Bud is looking out for him right now," he explained. "Don't you worrynone about his going before we say so. But I want to know what theplay is."
Judith told him. Carson shook his head.
"Think of that?" he muttered. "Why, a man that would do a trick likethat oughtn't to be let live two seconds. Only," and he wrinkled hisbrows at her, "where does Poker Face come in? We ain't got no call tosuspicion he's in on it."
"You watch him, just the same, Carson. We know that somebody here hasbeen working against us. Some one who turned Shorty loose. Maybe itisn't Poker Face, and maybe it is."
"He plays a crib game like a sport an' a gentleman," muttered Carson."He beat me seven games out'n nine last night!" And, still with thatpuzzled frown in his eyes, he went to watch Poker Face and the new man.To have one of the men for whom he was responsible suspected hurt oldCarson sorely. And Poker Face, the man with whom he delighted to playa game of cards--it was almost as though Carson himself had come undersuspicion.
"You're going to stick around just a little while, stranger," Bud Leewas saying quietly to a shifty-eyed man in the corral. "Just why, Idon't know. Orders, you know."
"Orders be damned," snarled the newcomer. "I go where I please andwhen I please."
He set a foot to his stirrups. A lean, muscular hand fell lightly uponhis shoulder and he was jerked back promptly. Lee smiled at him. Andthe shifty-eyed man, though he protested sharply, remained where he was.
A lean, muscular hand fell lightly upon his shoulder andhe was jerked back promptly.]
A thin, saturnine man whose lips never seemed to move, a man withdead-looking eyes into which no light of emotion ever came, watchedthem expressionlessly from where he stood with Carson. It was PokerFace.
"No," Poker Face answered, to a sharp question from the persistentCarson.
"Sure, are you?"
"Yes."
At last word came from Judith. Carson and Lee were to bring both ofthe suspected men to the house. Doc Tripp, wiping his hands on atowel, his sleeves up, bestowed upon the two of them a look ofunutterable contempt and hatred.
"You low-lived skunks!" was his greeting to them.
"Easy, Doc," continued Judith from her desk. "That won't get usanywhere. Who are you?" she demanded of the man standing at Lee's side.
"Me?" demanded the man with an assumption of jauntiness. "I'm Donley,Dick Donley, that's who I am!"
"When did you get here?"
"'Bout an hour ago."
"What did you come for?"
"Lookin' for a job."
"Did Carson say he hadn't anything for you?"
"No, he didn't. You're askin' a lot of questions, if you want toknow," he added with new surliness.
"Then why are you going in such a hurry? Don't you like to see any oneshoot pigeons?"
Donley stared back at her insolently.
"Because I didn't fall for the crowd," he retorted bluntly. "An', ifyou want to know, because I didn't hanker for the job when I found outwho was runnin' it."
"Meaning me? A girl? That it?"
"You guessed it."
"Who told you that I was running the outfit?" she demanded suddenly,her eyes hard on his. "You must have found that out pretty soon! Whotold you?"
Donley hesitated, his eyes running from her to the other faces abouthim, resting longest upon the expressionless, dead-looking eyes ofPoker Face.
"What difference does it make who told me?" he snapped.
"Answer me," she commanded. "Who told you?"
"Well," said Donley, "he did. Poker Face told me."
"Who told you that his name was Poker Face?" Judith shot the questionat him.
Donley moved a scuffling foot back and forth, stirring uneasily. Thathe was lying, no one there doubted; that he was but a poor liar afterall was equally evident.
"You ain't got no call to keep me here," he said at last. "I ain'tgoin' to answer questions all day."
"You'll answer my questions if you don't want me to turn you over toEmmet Sawyer in Rocky Bend!" she told him coolly. "How did you knowthis man was called Poker Face? Did you know him before?"
Donley's eyes went again, furtive and swift, to Poker Face. But so didall other eyes. Poker Face gave no sign.
"Yes," answered Donley then, taking refuge at last upon the solid basisof truth.
"Did you know this man?" Judith asked then of Poker Face, turningsuddenly on him.
"No," said Poker Face.
Donley, having guessed wrong, flushed and dropped his head. Then helooked up defiantly and with a short, forced laugh.
"Suppose I know him or don't know him," he asked with his oldinsolence, "whose business is it?"
But Judith was giving her attention to Poker Face now.
"Where did you get that white pigeon you turned loose this morning?"she asked crisply.
"Caught it," was the quiet answer.
"How?"
"With my han's."
"Why?"
"Jus' for fun."
"Did you know that pigeons could carry hog-cholera on their feet?"
"No. But I wouldn't have been afraid, not bein' a hawg."
Donley tittered. Poker Face looked unconcerned.
"Take that man Donley into the hall," Judith said to Lee. "See if hehas got any pigeon feathers sticking to him anywhere, inside his shirt,probably. If you need any help, say so."
Very gravely Bud Lee put a hand on Donley's shoulder.
"Come ahead, stranger," he said quietly.
"You go to hell!" cried Donley, springing away.
But Bud Lee's hand was on him, and though he struggled and cursed andthreatened he went with Lee into the hallway. Tripp, watching throughthe open door, smiled. Donley was on his back, Lee's knees on hischest.
"I'll tell you one thing, stranger," Bud Lee was saying to him softly,as his hand tore open Donley's shirt, "you open your dirty mouth tocuss just once more in Miss Sanford's presence and I'll ruin the looksof your face for you. Now lie still, will you?"
"Connect me with the Bagley ranch," Judith directed the Rocky Mountainoperator. "That's right, isn't it, Doc?"
"Yes," answered Tripp. "That's the nearest case of cholera."
"Hello," said Judith when the connection had been established. "Mr.Bagley? This is Judith Sanford, Blue Lake ranch. I've got a case ofhog-cholera here, too. I want some information."
She asked her questions, got her answers. Triumphantly she turned toTripp.
The Bagley ranch, though a hundred miles away, was the nearestcholera-infected place of which Tripp had any knowledge. Bagley didhave a flock of pigeons; a man, a month or so ago, had bought two dozenfrom him; the man wasn't Trevors. Bagley didn't know who he was. Thesame man, however, had shown up three days ago and had asked foranother half-dozen of the birds. There had been three white pigeonsamong them. He was a shifty-eyed chap, Bagley said, old brown suit,hat with a rattlesnake skin around the crown. That, point for point,spelled Donley.
Lee returned with the shirt which he had ripped from his prisoner'sback. Adhering to the inside of it were little, downy feathers andthree or four larger feathers from a pigeon's wing.
"I guess he rode mostly at night, at that," concluded Lee. "A greatlittle fat man you must have looked, stranger, with six of thosebirdies in your shirt."
Donley's face was a violet red. But a glance from Lee shut his mouthfor him. Poker
Face, still looking on, gave no sign of interest.
"Put him in the grain-house," said Judith, her eyes bright with anger."And see that he doesn't go Shorty's trail. Poker Face, have youanything else to say for yourself?"
"No," answered Poker Face.
"Then," cried Judith hotly, "you can have your time right now! Donley,here, I'll prosecute. He's going to pay for this morning's work. I'vegot nothing on you. It's up to you to see that I don't get it! Andyou can tell Shorty for me--yes, and Quinnion too, and Bayne Trevors,if you like--that I am ready and waiting for your next play! And don'tforget that when San Quentin is full there's still room in Folsom."
Judith telephoned Emmet Sawyer that she had a man for him. Lee andCarson conducted an expostulating Donley to the grain-house and jailedhim wordlessly. Then Carson put a man on guard at the door, daylightthough it was. When all was done he filled his pipe slowly and turnedtroubled eyes after Poker Face.
"She made a mistake there, though," he said regretfully. "A bettercow-hand I never ask to see, Bud. An' you ought to see the game ofcrib that man plays! Nope, Judy; you're wrong there."
But Bud Lee, the man who did not approve of the sort of woman who didman's work, said with unusual warmth:
"Don't you fool yourself, Carson! She hasn't made one little misplayyet!"