“LORD OF LONELY VALLEY.”

Matamata Record, Volume XX, Issue 2021, 30 March 1939, Page 2

“LORD OF LONELY VALLEY.”

Copyright.

Then she olosed tho doov to the hall, procured a blanket, spru-id it on the divan, and motioned the Sphinx Twins to lay Tom Harmon on it, Having done this, the two stood by, daring apathetically at the superintendent, vouchsafing no information. She bent over Harmon. “What happened, Tom? Where did they hit you?” “Right hip an’ breast . . . Lung, I guess. They had a —machine gun— Twins got-—both.”

He opened his eyes and smiled up at her. “Guess you’re not —goin’ in the mo min’ —after all, Miss Janet You wouldn’t leave —a brand-new patient—in the lurch—would you?” Ilis lips and his moustache were fringed with a bloody froth, so she ran, got a towel, and wiped it away. Then she gave him a drink of whiskey and left to prepare a bed for him.

The Sphinx twins carried him in and assisted Janet to undress him; then cue of the twins went outside and returned with a large, metallic flrst-aid Cf.se.

“Brought this up from Tom’s house,” he explained. “Always have H on hand in case o’ accidents-; —fix a man up till the doctor comes. Thought you'd need it.” He sighed deeply as if the speech wearied him. Said Tom Harmon, “You two boys ain't no more use tonight, so get on with your job.” The Twins clumped out, and Janet examined Harmon’s wounds. The one through the hip was a flesh wound and the bullet had missed the bone. Thebe was a small shred of his trousers Imbedded in the wound, and this she - removed. The bullet through his right breast had passed between the ribbs and emerged two inches from his spine; an examination of his clothing convinced her that no particle of his leather jerkin or shirt had been carried into his body, nor was he bleeding profusely. “Well, there’s nothing to do, Tom. except wash your wounds with a sterile solution and put an antiseptic dressing on them,” she announced.

She found the necessary materials for the operation in the portable medicine cabinet, and when the dressing had been completed she tucked him under the bedclothes, washed his face and hands, and gave him another drink of whiskey. There was noth-

By PETER B. KYNE.

ing else she could do. If he lived — he lived. If he died—he died. He declared his wounds did not hurt I half so much as a toothache he had once had. "Only burned one staok,” ! he started to tell her, but she forbade j speech. I “We’ll learn all about that tomor- ' row," she warned. “The effort of talking might bring on a real hemorrhage." i “But Tom Harmon was undisciplin- : ed. “Good thing—Ray’s on the mend —an’ able to take —my place—while I'm laid up. Ain’t you glad—they shot —me, Miss Janet?” There was a leer of infinite cunning in Harmon’s plain features as he replied: “Because it —gives me—legitimate —personal grudge agin Landrum —from tonight on. Ray can’t —deny me my—innings now —can he? If he does —won’t obey him. Case now o* which —one of us —gets Landrum first —an’ if you play your cards — right—an’ keep Ray in Lonely Valley —l’ll get well —an’ beat him to Landrum —an’ then you won’t never be — unhappy about —blood on Ray’s—hands. Then folks—can’t say he’s a killer—like his—father an’ grandfather.”

Her emotion almost choked her. She stood, humble and abashed, in the presence of his nobility. And ho didn’t even know how noble he was—or that he was noble at all, in fact. He strove merely to be practical. INSTALMENT 26. Janet turned out the light and went to Ray Lanier’s room. He still held his pistol. “I heard a car come up the hill,” he said. “Who was it? Where from? Where’s Tom Harmon?” She explained the situation to him fully. “Is Tom going to die?” He exhibited neither sorrow nor surprise. “Perhaps not. People frequently recover from lung punctures, provided there are no complications. I should say he stands better than an even chance, for he has the physique o| a grizzly bear.” “Before you go tomorrow,” he begged her, “telephone to Reno and have a doctor and two nurses sent over in a plane. Got te have the best for old Tom.” “And after that I can go?” “Yes.”

“Well, I’ll not," she burst out on him furiously. “You’re not the only person to be considered here.' Tom Harmon is just about the finest man I’ve ever met, and I’d die if some .cither nurse took care of him. I’ll -stlok until Tom is out of danger, and then I’ll go, and in the meantime, Mr Raynor l.anier, all I want from you is civility and not too much of that. And I’ve burned your cheque.” “Very well, Miss Pepperpot. Please put my gun back in the bureau. You must think I’m a timid person to have asked you to get me my gun r but I never take undue chances. Then will you please be good enough to leave me alone. . . . You can drive me crazy without quarrelling with me, you know.”

“I hate you,” Janet flung at him. “That’s good. I have a break in rnj bad luck —at last. Good-night. Please do not neglect Tom.” She knew he was deliberately taunting her now, and it enraged her to realise that he had the power to do tills. He tried to meet her fiery glance bravely, but eventually quailed before it, and instantly, as she beheld his hang-dog look, her heart softened toward him. “You’re not much of a success as a snarly-yow, are you, Ray?” she taunted him in turn.

He did not answer, but turned his back upon her and hid with lfis hand the exposed side of his face, like a sulky little boy. Janet turned on another light. “The back of your neck is rosy red, too,” she said gently. “Why don’t you draw the blankets over your head and hide that blush also?” He drew them over his head with a savage jerk, and Janet thought she had never seen anything so ludicrous. She had a mad desire to hug him for It.

“He’s just and overgrown little boy” she went on aloud, “and he talks about killing people. And he sulks, too. Gets all snarled up in his thoughts and sulks, and what a sight L: that, my oountrymen?” He heaved himself out on the edge of the bed, stooped, found his slippers, put them on, and donned his dressing gown which lay across the back of a chair, Janet went quickly to him to steady him. “Get back into bed,” she command-

ed. Instead of obeying her he threw an arm around her shoulders. “Help me into Tom’s room," he ordered in a choking voice. “I’ve got to see the old boy. Got to show some interest in him—dying, perhaps —in my service.” She saw that he was suffering far more than she had suspected in view of the almost stolid manner in which he had received the news of Harmon’s mishap. ‘ ! She supported his trembling body down the hall to the room where Tom Harmon lay gazing calmly up at the ceiling. A lump came in her throat when she saw him reach for Harmon’s hand and hold it in silence, and when Harmon, to hide his embarrassment at this touch of affection and concern, growled like a broody hen: “Get to hell out of hero, Ray. The way you act —folks would think —I was hurt —more or less.” Lanier sat down on the edge of the bed, but he did not let go his man’s hand. Janet saw his chin ;reml)lc over so little, and the thought came to her that between some men there can exist a fraternal affection so profound it can be understood but not expressed. ’ She left the room, feeling that her presence was an inexcusable intrusion. She went out on the verandah to be alone with her thoughts. The full moon was directly overhead, its effulgence casting a broad streak of silver light down Hie length of Lonely Valley Lake. Big Foot came around the corner of the house with a bucket, a mop, and a rake. He raked the fine trap rock on the drive in front of the house, then with his mop obliterated thoroughly the gory trail made by Tom Harmon when the twins lfad carried him into the house. She opened the door and pointed to the same trail on the floor of the living room, and Big Foot grunted and mopped that clean. Then he looked up at her. “Tom die?" “No, I think he will get well." “Mebbe so you let Big Foot see Tom?” She took him down to Harmon’s room. Tom was smoking a cigarette. He waved a careless hand at Big Foot. “Big Foot makem ail things clean,” the old Indian announced. “Sheriff come no looksce blood.” “It’s agin the law,” Tom Harmon said to Janet, “but there—ain’t no law —in Lonely Valley but—the Lanier law. Please give that old — Colorado maduro —horse thi'ef—a big drink —o’ whiskey. He’s siinkin’ —-an’ I know —why.” Janet forcibly removed 11m cigarette from Harmon’s lips. “Take him, Big Foot,” she ordered, indicating Raynor Lanier, and Big Foot picked his youthful boss up and carried him hack to his room. “I have two children to care for now, instead of one,” the girl complained. “Please bring the bottle and two glasses in here,” Lanier begged gently. “Big Foot and Big Boss are going to pin one on together.” “Lonely Valley,” Janet cried out at him, “is the habitat of lunatics. I have never before met such crazy men as you and Tom Harmon." “You’d be surprised at the things you can scare up out of the tall timber, Janet." “You’re a pair of antiques in a modem setting. ”. , “i toofie fou Uke antiques, froe*.’*

To her own amazement and disgust she choked hack her tears. She thought: “Lonely men in Lonely Valley! And this one drinks with his Indian I The prideful democrat I” To Raynor Lanier she said, “Where I come from a man would not drink with his servant."

“Big Foot," he replied, “is not a servant. He is my Indian. father. I am blood brother of the tribe, duly initiated, and my Indian name is White Pelican. Even as a child my beak was fairly prominent." Impulsively she reached over and tweaked his beak. He grasped her hand and held it a moment, and there was that in his eyes which Janet knew no woman had ever seen before. Her heart was singing as she left him, but she did not wonder why. She knew. She loved him; she knew he loved her. But he would not tell her so. . . . Why? Well, that was a bridge they would cross when they came to it. INSTALMENT 27. Janet watched Tom Harmon carefully throughout the night, but he developed no alarming symptoms and she was satisfied that he was bleeding very little internally, for only occasionally would he cough and raise a little blood.

When she brought Lanier’s breakfast tray into him she reported on Harmon’s condition.

“Unless pneumonia sets in, or a piece of his clothing has been carried by the bullet into the lung, I think he will make a quick recovery,” she said. “You will understand, Ray, that a ballet passing through tissue cauterises it with the friction and hence sterilllises it. If no foreign and unsterilised substance has been carried into the wound, I shall not worry about him.” “We can’t take a chance," he replied. “Telephone that doctor in Reno and tell him to fly over here with another trained nurse, and never mind the expense.” “There is really nothing that the doctor can do, although I’ll telephone him the first sign of disturbing complications. Lung wounds can’t be probed for foreign substances, such as a fragment of cloth. If Tom has anything like that In him, he’ll die. The care of his wounds is simple enough.” “I dare say you are entirely capable of caring for him, Janet, but —-" “Do you wish to have the news of this shooting affray known, Ray?” “No, no, of course not." “Then don’t send for the doctor unless an emergency ©resents itself.” “Doctors can be trusted with a patient’s secret."

“Not this kind of patient. When a doctor is called to treat a gunshot wound or a stab wound, it is his duty to report the case to the nearest peace officer. If he refuses or neglects to do this, and the news leaks out, he may lose his license to practice. Only disreputable practitioners risk that.” He grimaced in disgust. “The sheriff and the district attorney came around after my father was shot,. They tried to make me admit that I had killed the man who shot him and dumped his body on Landrum’s porch, but I proved I had been camped with my men near Modoc City when it happened, and swore the. deed ha,d'-been done by a party unknown. And that was true. f didn’t know, the killer—both Big Foot and Skunk Tallow got a shot at him. I did not know which one had hit him. The district attorney or the sheriff will be around again today—probably late this afternoon. They have to motor over from the county seat.” •• - / “How are they going to know?” “I’m not certain, but I have a suspicion Tom sent the Sphinx twins in with those two incendiaries last night, and Landrum’s cook probably found them on his porch when she went out to get the milk. Tom didn’t tell me this, but then he never discusses or reports the obvious. I know how he works.” And Ray chuckled pleasurably. “Guess I’ll get up and have a look at Thomas myself. If he’s bearing up to my satisfaction, I’ll risk a total lack of publicity.” Tom Harmon was not only bearing up to Lanier’s satisfaction, but he was absolutely cheerful, except on one subject. Janet had removed his tobacco and cigarettes and was adamant in' her determination not to give him one little whiff. He had a degree of fever, but that was no more than was to be expected, and he was resigned to doing without a doctor for the present. Janet bathed him, dressed his wounds again, changed the bed linen, and, leaving him in charge of Lanier, who sat in a comfortable chair opposite him, retired to her own room and slept until luncheon time. When she returned to him' she found that: his temperature and pulse had not altered, and he had slept some. He was in more pain, however, so she gave him some morphia to ease the pain and put him to sleep. About two o’clock, as she and Lanier were chatting together in the living room, where Lanier was lying on the divan, the knocker on the front door was given three sharp bangs.

“Ah,” Lanier murmured. “The peremptory challenge of the law. Som Gorton is like that. He never leaves you in doubt for an instant that lie, is the sheriff. Ah Fong will answer." 1 Ah Fong did—and a short, broad man of about forty stepped briskly in. He sported the traditional headgear of a cow county sheriff, as well as handle-bar moustaohios. The sight of Lanier appeared to surprise him, for he stood in the middle of the room and stared. . „ •: : J : ,

.. “Hello, .Sam," Lanier greeted him cheerfully. “Have a seat. Miss Corliss; permit me to present Sheriff Gorw

“Howdy, Ray, Pleased to make your acquaintance Miss Corliss. If you don’t mind, yoting lady, I’d like to have a word &s two with Mr Lanier in private.” .... "Oh, never mind foer, Sam. She’s my nurse, and you haven’t got anything to discuss with me that I wouldn’t care to have- her hear. Sit down and tell me what’s on your mind."

Sheriff Gorton sat down without troubling to remove his hat, He fixed Lanier with an accusative glare and said, “Well, Ray, I see you bew up to your old tricks.” “You’ll have to be more explicit, Sam.” “flow about them two dead: men that was dumped on Milo LandTum’s front porch last night?” “Sam, I give you my word ; of honour this is the first news I have' had' of any such commendable enterprise on the part of persons who are unknown to me but who, I feel assured, must be friends of mine with my interest very much at heart. Two of them, you say?”

“Two," said Gorton. “Last time there was only one,” Lanier resumed in a musing tone, “and he wasn’t identified. Who were the two most recent arrivals?”

“You know mighty well who they were. Two o’ Landrum’s bodyguard.” “I have never seen his bodyguard. I have been dangerously ill with spotted fever for a month. This young lady is my nurse. I haven’t been out of the house. In fact, this is the first day I have been up, and as you may have noticed, I’m not dressed. Just lazying around, trying to get back my strength.” “You have employees.”

“Yes —and if those two men bumped into my employees on this ranch

and were recognhWteil,. you can bet your sweet life they ffever got out of Lonely Valley the way tifecy came in. Have you any idea, Sans, where they % were killed—and how 7’ r “One was hit through tbe 1 head onco from in front, and the cither got it three times through the b©dy from in back.” j; “Why, he must have been running, <r Sam.” “Plain case o’ murder, Ray.” “Well, what do you expect me to do about it—sit down and cry?” “I expect you to come clean with me.” “You’re an optimist.” INSTALMENT 28. “Ray Lanier, I’m goin' to land the * parties- that done this.” ‘ “Why such an active - interest In Landrum’s bodyguard ? A bodyguard! Is well paid to take undue risks. Those two men must have gone out looking jfe for trouble aud bumped into more than they could handle. Of course, I realise you have to make some sort of official investigation, but why didn’t you start it with Landrum?” “He don’t know a thing about it.” “You mean he wouldn’t tell. Well, why do you expect me to help you make a success of your investigation? I’m not seeking publicity. I tell you * I had nothing to do with that killing, hut if you want to scout over the ranch and interview my employees I have no objection. You might find blood-stains and empty cartridge shells, although I doubt that any of ~ my men would be so stupid as not to clean up after their job.” “Look here, Lanier, I ain’t goln’ to waste my time foolin’ with you. You. tell me you been sick, but you’re all over it now an’ busy gettin’ back your strength. Well, you can spend a few days in my jail gettin’ it back, be cause I’m here to arrest you for murder or subornin’ murder. Get dressed an’ come with me.”