Chapter Thirteen
_Doone Wins_
A servant answered the bell almost at once. "Tell Miss Smith thatshe's wanted in Miss Tolliver's room," said Mark, and, when theservant disappeared, he began pacing up and down the room. Now andthen he cast a sharp glance to the side and scrutinized the faceof Ronicky Doone. With Ruth's permission, the latter had lighted acigarette and was smoking it in bland enjoyment. Again the leaderpaused directly before the girl, and, with his feet spread and hishead bowed in an absurd Napoleonic posture, he considered everyfeature of her face. The uncertain smile, which came trembling on herface, elicited no response from Mark.
She dreaded him, Ronicky saw, as a slave dreads a cruel master. Stillshe had a certain affection for him, partly as the result of manybenefactions, no doubt, and partly from long acquaintance; and, aboveall, she respected his powers of mind intensely. The play of emotionin her face--fear, anger, suspicion--as John Mark paced up and downbefore her, was a study.
With a secret satisfaction Ronicky Doone saw that her glancescontinually sought him, timidly, curiously. All vanity aside, he haddropped a bomb under the feet of John Mark, and some day the bombmight explode.
There was a tap at the door, it opened and Caroline Smith entered ina dressing gown. She smiled brightly at Ruth and wanly at John Mark,then started at the sight of the stranger.
"This," said John Mark, "is Ronicky Doone."
The Westerner rose and bowed.
"He has come," said John Mark, "to try to persuade you to go out for astroll with him, so that he can talk to you about that curious fellow,Bill Gregg. He is going to try to soften your heart, I believe, bytelling you all the inconveniences which Bill Gregg has endured tofind you here. But he will do his talking for himself. Just why he hasto take you out of the house, at night, before he can talk to you is,I admit, a mystery to me. But let him do the persuading."
Ronicky Doone turned to his host, a cold gleam in his eyes. His casehad been presented in such a way as to make his task of persuasionalmost impossible. Then he turned back and looked at the girl. Herface was a little pale, he thought, but perfectly composed.
"I don't know Bill Gregg," she said simply. "Of course, I'm glad totalk to you, Mr. Doone, but why not here?"
John Mark covered a smile of satisfaction, and the girl looked at him,apparently to see if she had spoken correctly. It was obvious that theleader was pleased, and she glanced back at Ronicky, with a flush ofpleasure.
"I'll tell you why I can't talk to you in here," said Ronicky gently."Because, while you're under the same roof with this gent with thesneer"--he turned and indicated Mark, sneering himself as he didso--"you're not yourself. You don't have a halfway chance to think foryourself. You feel him around you and behind you and beside youevery minute, and you keep wondering not what you really feel aboutanything, but what John Mark wants you to feel. Ain't that thestraight of it?"
She glanced apprehensively at John Mark, and, seeing that he did notmove to resent this assertion, she looked again with wide-eyed wonderat Ronicky Doone.
"You see," said the man of the sneer to Caroline Smith, "that ourfriend from the West has a child-like faith in my powers of--whatshall I say--hypnotism!"
A faint smile of agreement flickered on her lips and went out. Thenshe regarded Ronicky, with an utter lack of emotion.
"If I could talk like him," said Ronicky Doone gravely, "I surewouldn't care where I had to do the talking; but I haven't any smoothlingo--I ain't got a lot of words all ready and handy. I'm a prettysimple-minded sort of a gent, Miss Smith. That's why I want to get youout of this house, where I can talk to you alone."
She paused, then shook her head.
"As far as going out with me goes," went on Ronicky, "well, they'snothing I can say except to ask you to look at me close, lady, andthen ask yourself if I'm the sort of a gent a girl has got anything tobe afraid about. I won't keep you long; five minutes is all I ask. Andwe can walk up and down the street, in plain view of the house, if youwant. Is it a go?"
At least he had broken through the surface crust of indifference. Shewas looking at him now, with a shade of interest and sympathy, but sheshook her head.
"I'm afraid--" she began.
"Don't refuse right off, without thinking," said Ronicky. "I've workedpretty hard to get a chance to meet you, face to face. I busted intothis house tonight like a burglar--"
"Oh," cried the girl, "you're the man--Harry Morgan--" She stopped,aghast.
"He's the man who nearly killed Morgan," said John Mark.
"Is that against me?" asked Ronicky eagerly. "Is that all against me?I was fighting for the chance to find you and talk to you. Give methat chance now."
Obviously she could not make up her mind. It had been curious thatthis handsome, boyish fellow should come as an emissary from BillGregg. It was more curious still that he should have had the daringand the strength to beat Harry Morgan.
"What shall I do, Ruth?" she asked suddenly.
Ruth Tolliver glanced apprehensively at John Mark and then flushed,but she raised her head bravely. "If I were you, Caroline," she saidsteadily, "I'd simply ask myself if I could trust Ronicky Doone. Canyou?"
The girl faced Ronicky again, her hands clasped in indecision andexcitement. Certainly, if clean honesty was ever written in the faceof a man, it stood written in the clear-cut features of Ronicky Doone.
"Yes," she said at last, "I'll go. For five minutes--only in thestreet--in full view of the house."
There was a hard, deep-throated exclamation from John Mark. He roseand glided across the room, as if to go and vent his anger elsewhere.But he checked and controlled himself at the door, then turned.
"You seem to have won, Doone. I congratulate you. When he's talking toyou, Caroline, I want you constantly to remember that--"
"Wait!" cut in Ronicky sharply. "She'll do her own thinking, withoutyour help."
John Mark bowed with a sardonic smile, but his face was colorless.Plainly he had been hard hit. "Later on," he continued, "we'll seemore of each other, I expect--a great deal more, Doone."
"It's something I'll sure wait for," said Ronicky savagely. "I gotmore than one little thing to talk over with you, Mark. Maybe aboutsome of them we'll have to do more than talking. Good-by. Lady, I'llbe waiting for you down by the front door of the house."
Caroline Smith nodded, flung one frightened and appealing glance toRuth Tolliver for direction, then hurried out to her room to dress.Ronicky Doone turned back to Ruth.
"In my part of the country," he said simply, "they's some gents weknow sort of casual, and some gents we have for friends. Once in awhile you bump into somebody that's so straight and square-shootingthat you'd like to have him for a partner. If you were out West, lady,and if you were a man--well, I'd pick you for a partner, becauseyou've sure played straight and square with me tonight."
He turned, hesitated, and, facing her again, caught up her hand,touched it to his lips, then hurried past John Mark and through thedoorway. They could hear his rapid footfalls descending the stairs,and John Mark was thoughtful indeed. He was watching Ruth Tolliver,as she stared down at her hand. When she raised her head and met theglance of the leader she flushed slowly to the roots of her hair.
"Yes," muttered John Mark, still thoughtfully and half to himself,"there's really true steel in him. He's done more against me in onehalf hour than any other dozen men in ten years."