the last game of cribbage had been settled, and haywire smithers had departed to his own place; mrs. tomkins had come home from the weekly meeting of the two palms ladies' aid and had gone up to bed; and piute tomkins was locking up for the night when murray and sandy mackintavers came in from morongo valley—dusty, sun-bitten, and hungry.
piute listened sadly to their request for grub, and agreed to rustle up some. he was no longer proud and haughty before them; he had given up the unequal battle and had ceased to struggle. virtue had descended gloomily upon him, even as a mantle.
"step into the dinin' room, gents, and i'll discover somethin'," he announced.
"how's my patient?" asked murray, pausing en route to the wash room.
"the chink? all right. say, i reckon ye ain't heard the news about him?" piute went back to his desk and procured a sheet of paper. "and about scudder, too. your friend sure busted somethin' in these parts, he sure did! look over this here paper; it come out to-day, and i guess scudder ain't seen it yet. i want to be watchin' when he does see it, that's all! then i got a business proposal to lay before ye whilst ye eat."
murray took the sheet, and an ejaculation broke from him as he saw that it was the first issue of willyum's paper. he hurried after sandy, made haste to get the sand and alkali out of his eyes and hair, and passed into the dining room. piute lighted a lamp, and the two friends settled down to peruse the astounding results of bill hobbs's labors.
mere print cannot reproduce the phenomenon. mere printers cannot set in type all that willyum, in his blissful ignorance, had achieved in that primary issue of the revived helngon star. the date had been unchanged. the advertisements along the sides had been untouched;, yet willyum had managed to fill four columns, by dint of ornaments and other aids to progress.
the news story touched first upon tom lee, and was begun with this lead:
we got in our midst today tmo guys that come direct from the hall oj & fame intwo the sentrel presinct of two palms$ the mistery has beeu sollved:*
the article went on to say, more or less legibly, that tom lee was immensely wealthy, and that he owned a string of oriental shops in the bay region of san francisco. he was, in fact, a magnate pure and simple in the antique line, and was rated many times a millionaire.
"aiblins, now," observed sandy, puzzling over the page with knotted brows, "bill is tryin' to say somethin' about a man named scudder, but i ain't right sure——"
piute joined them, bringing in some dishes. "scudder is a doc," he put in, "and a friend of the chinee. i'd say, offhand, that he's due to raise partic'lar hell about to-morrow, when he sees that there paper!"
murray whistled, as he perused the paper. "say, sandy—listen here!"
willyum's remarks on doctor scudder were frankly illuminating about willyum himself:
i wunst seen this gink in neworleens.?; when i was vagged and he was in the dock two for pedling dope & happy dust two the nlgge*rs & judje give him hell,? for it——
willyum's remarks, apparently, knew no shame over the fact that he had been "vagged"; but they excoriated doctor scudder as a peddler of "dream-books" and a supplier of dope.
they went on to say that scudder had been forced to leave new orleans for his own health; that he had there been a "dope" supplier to the underworld. in language of beautiful simplicity, willyum said that doctor scudder was a top-notch crook and would murder his grandmother for a dollar.
sandy broke into a roar of laughter, but murray frowned gravely.
"willyum's asleep now, i imagine—well, let him rest in peace until to-morrow! he's in bad."
"how come?" queried mackintavers, while piute stood by the kitchen door and listened hard.
"libel. if these things aren't true, this man scudder can just about rake the hair off willyum! confound it all, you go and put your foot in it when i'm not around, and then bill hobbs goes and does the same thing! why, scudder can sue for big damages——"
"huh!" grunted sandy complacently. "let him sue! you can't draw blood out of a turnip, not even with the law to help ye. so this tom lee is a rich man, is he? that's interestin'."
murray nodded. "seems to be. queer what he's doing here, sandy! but the girl—the girl claire! i tell you, she's white! that's the queerest thing of all."
piute came forward, bearing coffee and flapjacks, and sat down to light his corncob. he wore a portentous and solemn air.
"ye don't think there's nothin' wrong, do ye?" he asked.
"no," said murray decisively. "nothing. it's something we don't understand, but it's nothing wrong. tom lee is no ordinary man."
"i reckon not," said piute drily. "he done offered five thousand for morongo valley."
the two friends quickly glanced at each other, then stared at piute.
"five thousand?" repeated sandy, incredulous.
"yep. now i'm putting it straight up to you gents, layin' all cards down, and leavin' it to you to do the right thing if ye sell to him. he wants to see you and buy the property. i guess you'll sell at that figger, huh?"
murray leaned back in his chair and gazed at sandy.
"it's up to you, mac," he said briefly.
"what's he want? the minin' rights or——?"
"the whole works," returned piute. "or so he allowed. all of it!"
"no tellin' his game," quoth sandy. "doc, find out his object when ye see him in the mornin', and we'll talk it over."
murray nodded assent, astonished and mystified by such an offer for morongo valley. he was too weary to discuss it now, however, and he wended his way to bed without further delay.
early in the morning he was aroused by voices, and sat up. sandy, who occupied a second bed in the same room, was talking with bill hobbs, and the latter turned to murray with a proud but modest grin.
"hello, doc! mac says you seen the paper last night. kinda nifty, ain't it?"
"a miracle," said murray gravely. "how you did it, i can't figure out yet!"
"oh, printin' ain't so much," observed bill loftily. "there was a few mistakes, i seen on readin' her over, but next time she'll come through better. but what's this mac is tellin' me about gettin' in bad?"
"all depends," responded murray. "that story about doctor scudder—where on earth did you get the nerve to print that, you big boob?"
"why, it's true!" asserted willyum stoutly. "i was vagged down to n'orleans, just like i printed it, and seen him in court bein' tried for supplyin' dust an' hop to——"
"was he convicted?" demanded murray.
"nope. he slid through; his pals squared the bulls, i guess."
"good lord!" murray began to dress. "well, he can't get any money out of you, that's some satisfaction."
"well, i ain't worried none," said bill. "leavin' all that out, how did the paper strike you—honest, now?"
"great stuff, willyum," responded murray, whereat the earnest william glowed delightedly. "you've hit your vocation, if you can make it pay in these parts. you get to work learnin' how to print, and we'll look into the business end of it. if it seems likely to pay, then we'll all put it through together."
"that's treatin' me white, doc," answered bill.
"well," said murray thoughtfully, "what we'll do, i don't know yet." he turned to sandy and put the issue squarely up to him.
"i'll see tom lee after breakfast. if there's no valid reason for keeping the place, why not make a good profit while we can? let him take the whole place—unless you think there is any reason to keep it."
the mining man stared reflectively out of the window.
"there is and there ain't," he said slowly. "i'll be frank with ye, murray—that place out there attracts me! we could settle there and make a fair livin' from the valley itself, what with the water there and all. aiblins, now the quartz will pay, too. it's not big, but i'm thinking it runs big later on. lookin' at it from the development angle, instead o' from the prospector's viewpoint, it might be worth keeping."
"all right, then we'll keep it." murray turned to the doorway. "come on down and let's get breakfast."
half an hour later, the three partners were just pushing back their chairs from the breakfast table when they caught the sound of loud voices coming from the hotel office. the voices drew nearer, then in the doorway appeared the figures of doctor scudder and piute.
"that's him," and piute pointed out bill hobbs.
his face white with anger, a copy of the helngon star clenched in his hand, doctor scudder faced the amateur printer with blazing indignation.
"this is an outrage! as sure as my name is scudder, i'll have you jailed for this criminal——"
murray stepped between the two men, in an attempt to pacify his brother physician.
"one moment, sir," he intervened. "our friend here is not a printer and has allowed himself to be carried too far through his unfortunate ignorance of the libel laws. as a professional man myself i can realize how you must feel; but if you will allow me to explain the matter——"
murray checked himself. in the blazing black eyes of scudder he suddenly read a scornful anger that was now directed against himself.
"i don't desire any explanation from a man of your character, doctor murray," snapped scudder. "i recognize you; you are the once eminent member of a profession which you disgraced! i have exposed you to mr. lee and his daughter in your true colors, as a dope fiend and one who should have been long ago ejected from the medical fraternity——"
it was at this point that the fist of murray collided violently with the countenance of his colleague. doctor scudder was flung backward, caught his foot against a chair, and fell into the corner; he sat there motionless, staring up with one hand clapped against his bruised cheek, in his eyes an expression of dazed, but virulent enmity.
"that'll be enough from you," said murray, standing over him. "if you want to argue the matter any further, get up! you don't want to, eh? all right. i'd advise you to go mighty slow with your libel talk against mr. hobbs, because if you start anything, i fancy that i would have a pretty good case of malicious slander against you. so think it over."
murray turned away and left the dining room with his friends. outside, he quickly hushed their indignant utterances; he was once more cool and calm, entirely master of himself again.
"let the matter drop right here," he said briefly. "that fellow won't make any more trouble; our best bet is to leave him absolutely alone. i'll go up now and see tom lee."
he ascended the stairway to the upstairs hall, and knocked at the entrance of the two rooms occupied by the lees.
claire admitted him. beneath her radiant greeting he noticed as he had previously noticed, the undefinable shadow that hovered in her eyes. the shadow, he thought, had deepened since he had last seen her.
tom lee was awake and expecting him. murray returned the greeting of the big chinaman, then met the latter's inflexible gaze with a square challenge.
"i understand," he said quietly, "that your friend doctor scudder is here. i presume, naturally, that you would prefer to have him in charge of the case. he has just advised me that he has made you aware of certain facts——"
tom lee lifted his hand commandingly.
"i am very sorry," he said, "that you and doctor scudder have had any misunderstanding, as your manner would imply. he told us a little of your story, not in any unkindly spirit, but simply because the mention of your name drew the memory from him. i wish you to retain charge of the case by all means. when you have looked at my leg, please sit down; i want to speak with you."
murray bowed. he examined the injured knee, pronounced it to be mending in good shape, and informed the patient that in another two days he could walk a little. at a gesture from tom lee, he took the chair beside the bed. the oriental gazed at him for a moment, then spoke. "i know from my own experience that you are a man of great skill. i understand from doctor scudder that you were at one time a victim of morphia, but i can see very plainly that you have overcome this danger."
in the manner of the speaker there was a serene calm that quite swept aside any possible search after information. tom lee continued, his gaze holding that of murray.
"we may speak frankly, doctor murray. for many years i was a victim of opium. i was born in this country, and in business affairs i have become a rich and even powerful man; but i have never succeeded in getting loose from the chains of the poppy. some time ago, i came in contact with doctor scudder, a man who has had great experience with drug users. he undertook to cure me, and i believe that he is succeeding."
murray listened to this confession in some astonishment. the oriental did not speak with any symptom of shame. he seemed to face the matter in a very blunt and straightfordward way, which was very significant of the man's strong character.
"i determined," pursued tom lee, "to devote a portion of my wealth to helping others of my race to rid themselves of the opium habit. to this end i have been seeking a place which will be out of the world and remote from any accessibility to the drug. this portion of the desert, with its climate and situation, is ideal for my purpose. i propose to erect a sanitarium and colony at my own cost, and to maintain it myself.
"since meeting you, i believe that you can assist me. doctor scudder, who has agreed to give my enterprise the benefit of his knowledge and skill, is a thoroughly good physician. i shall also need a surgeon, however, and i believe that you can fill that position admirably if you will. after much search, the spot which i have chosen is the place called morongo valley, north of here. i understand that you have recently bought it. i will be glad to buy it back from you at any price you may consider; and will make a flat offer of five thousand dollars."
murray listened to this proposal in astounded silence. he realized that this man was one who swept aside all small things, and who dealt upon a large and broad scale with everything and everyone.
thus he was not so much surprised at the offer to use his services, as at the outline of tom lee's business in this part of the country and the philanthropic ambitions of the chinaman. before the man, he felt ashamed. when he contrasted his own endeavors, and those of mackintavers, to scheme and obtain morongo valley and keep it, with the frankly stated aims of this yellow man, he felt very small. he felt dwarfed before the personality of tom lee.
"my two friends have joined me in buying this land," he answered slowly. he did not do his patient the injustice of considering the offered position in the light of a bribe to sell the valley. "if we sell to you at this figure, we shall make a profit—yet we had already decided not to sell it. mr. mackintavers thinks there is gold in those hills——"
tom lee smiled. "keep the gold, then," he said. "listen! i have my plans all drawn, ready for work. i have in prospect a hundred more of my countrymen—most of them my own employees—in san francisco, who have consented to break with opium if i will help them. my idea is to keep them at physical work—to use them here in the construction of my buildings, and in reclaiming the soil—as a part of the cure. if you and your friends wish to work a mine, i will provide the labor. why not? keep the mining rights to the land if you wish."
murray's face cleared. "that is eminently fair," he said reflectively. from the outer room had come a murmur of voices, and as claire now appeared he rose. "i'll speak with my partners about it, and let you know. as concerns your offer of a position—may i reserve judgment upon that for a time?"
"there is no hurry," said tom lee, and looked at claire.
"doctor scudder was here but would not come in," said the girl, a faint color in her cheeks. murray, catching her glance, read a strange expression in her eyes, an expression so fleeting and indefinable that it wakened him instantly to the sense of something unusual. what had scudder said out there? what did the girl think of tom lee's proposals?
"you have heard our conversation, miss lee," said murray quickly, turning to her with his swift disarming smile. "may i inquire whether you think me a fit person to be associated in such a work?"
she met his gaze squarely, although her color deepened a trifle.
"i should be only too glad," she answered him, "to know that you would accept!"
he was surprised by the evident sincerity of her words.
"something queer about all this!" he thought to himself, when he had taken his departure and was on his way downstairs. "something queer about scudder, too—i shouldn't wonder if willyum had told the truth about him! and clairedelune seems afraid of something. a white girl, i could swear, and as good as she is beautiful. what is her origin, then? where is the answer to this riddle?"
he passed across the street to the printing office, where he found mackintavers awaiting him. he told the two exactly what had been said, and they held a long discussion. bill hobbs swore that there was something crooked about anything with which doctor scudder was connected; but murray, more correctly, considered that bill was prejudiced. in the end, they decided to accept tom lee's offer. as soon as willyum was established in his printing office, murray and sandy mackintavers were to visit morongo valley on a more extended prospecting trip.
their first business was to get willyum settled. ascertaining from the subscription list of the late proprietor that there was a goodly scattering of ranchers and homesteaders and prospectors about the district and learning that a newspaper would be welcomed and supported by some advertising, all three partners got down to steady work.
sandy and murray canvassed the town with no little success. two days later, a derelict in human shape blew in from the south, having heard that a paper was to be started in two palms. he was a hobo printer, a shiftless fellow who would be worthless to any real establishment—but to bill hobbs he was a providential shower of manna. bill engaged him on the spot as preceptor.
during the three days which elapsed thus, murray saw claire lee at intervals. he also informed tom lee of the decision regarding morongo valley, received a check for five thousand dollars, and made over the deed to the land in the name of claire, as requested. he and his friends encountered doctor scudder frequently, but the encounters were very cold and formal.
on the third evening patrick hennesy arrived from meteorite in his car, and was at once closeted with tom lee. as the latter was still confined to his room by murray's orders, supper was served there by piute. hennesy beckoned piute aside.
"is that fellow mackintavers still here?" he demanded in a grim whisper.
piute allowed that he was.
"then don't say nothin', but fix it up for me to meet him back o' the hotel early in the morning—all alone. will ye? i don't want no interference."
piute grinned suddenly.
"will i?" he retorted. "say! them fellers—i put 'em next to a sale for their prop'ty, all fair and square; and they didn't even so much as slide me a ten-spot! ain't that gratitood? i'm askin' ye—ain't it? well, don't you worry none, hennesy!"
"ain't you a deputy sheriff?" demanded the contractor.
"me an' deadoak is both depitties. why?"
"tell you later," and patrick hennesy winked joyfully at piute.
