David Belasco

“ With a look of indescribable horror upon her face she turned upon Nick, turned upon them all with:
"You knew, Nick—you all knew you had 'im! You knew you had 'im an' you're goin' to kill 'im! But you shan't—no, you shan't kill 'im—you shan't—you shan't...!"
Once more she started in pursuit of her lover, but only to fall with her face against the door, sobbing as if her heart would break.
Outside there was nothing in the enchanting scene to suggest finality. Nature never was more prodigal of her magic beauties. The sun still shone on the winter whiteness of the majestic mountains ”

“ At this sudden and unexpected summons in the Sheriff's well-known voice there was a rush from the dance-hall; in an instant the good-natured, roistering crowd, nosing a fight, crowded to the bar, where the two men stood glaring at each other in suppressed excitement.
"Boys," declared the Sheriff, his eye never leaving Johnson's face, "there's a man here who won't explain his business. He won't tell—"
"Won't he?" cut in Sonora, blusteringly. "Well, we'll see—we'll make 'im!"
There was a howl of execration from the bar. It moved the Girl to instant action. ”

“ The Girl's lips parted to answer, then closed again dumbly,—for it was then that she saw the boots, then the legs of the road agent slide uncertainly through the open trap, fumble clumsily for the rungs of the ladder, then slip and stumble as the weight of the following body came upon them while the weak fingers strained desperately for a hold. The whole heart and soul and mind of the Girl seemed to be reaching out impotently to give her lover strength, to hurry him down fast enough to forestall a shot from the Sheriff. ”

“ Dawn of the fourth day saw the Girl still pale and anxious, though despair had entirely left her; for the storm was over and colour and speech had come back to the man early that morning. Love and good nursing, not to speak of some excellent whisky that she happened to have stored away in her cabin, had pulled him through. With a sigh of relief she threw herself down on the rug for a much-needed rest.
The man woke just before the sun rose. His first thought, that he was home in the foothills, was dissipated by the sight of the snow ranges. ”

“ And before he had time to explain, much less to check her, she was standing at the window, candle in hand, peering out into the night.
"Why, it's the posse!" she cried, wheeling round suddenly. "How did they ever risk it in this storm?"
At these words a crushed expression appeared on Johnson's countenance; an uncanny sense of insecurity seized him. Once more the loud, insistent pounding was repeated, and as before, the outlaw, his hands on his guns, commanded her not to answer.
"But what on earth do the boys want?" inquired the Girl, seemingly oblivious to what he was saying. ”

“ Presently she murmured like one in a dream: "Dick, Dick!"
The man hastened his steps and did not turn. At the door, however, he burst out in an agony of despair: "Girl! Girl...!"
But when the Girl looked up he had reached the open. She listened a moment to the retreating steps, then raising her tear-stained face above her arms, she sobbed out: "He's gone—he's gone—he's gone...!" She started in pursuit of him, but half-way across the room she fell into Nick's arms, crying out:
"He's gone, he's gone, he's gone! Dick! Dick! Dick...!" ”

“ Not daring to trust himself to words, Johnson paused to look back over his shoulder at the Girl before plunging forth into the night. But on opening the door all the multitudinous wild noises of the forests reached his ears: Sounds of whispering and rocking storm-tossed pines, sounds of the wind making the rounds of the deep canyon below them, sounds that would have made the blood run cold of a man more daring, even, than himself. ”

“ Men looked at one another and were distressingly affected; The Polka had never witnessed a more painful episode. Throwing a coin at the Minstrel, Sonora stopped him with an impatient gesture; the latter nodded understandingly at the same time that Nick, apparently indifferent to Larkin’s collapse, began to dance a jig behind the bar. A look of scowling reproach instantly appeared on Sonora’s face. It was uncalled-for since, far from being heartless and indifferent to the man’s misfortunes, the little barkeeper had taken this means to distract the miners’ attention from the pitiful sight. ”

“ A sound—the sound of a man in great pain checked her hysterical sobs. Dazed, she passed her hand over her face as if to clear away the dark shades that were obstructing her vision. Another groan—and like a flash she was down on her knees lavishing endearments upon the road agent.
Never before, it is true, had the Girl had any experience in gun-shot wounds. She had played the part of nurse, however, more than once when the boys met with accidents at the mines. For the women of the California camps at that time had endless calls upon them. ”

“ Up to the hour when he had parted from her, and had remained spellbound, seated on his horse at the fork of the roads, watching the vanishing coach up to the last minute, he was still a Spanish gentleman, still worthy in himself,—whatever his father had done,—to offer his love and his devotion to a pure and honest girl. But now he was an outlaw, a road agent going from one robbery to another, likely at any time to stain his hand with the life-blood of a fellow man. ”

“ Johnson neither moved nor groaned, as the edge slid from beneath his nerveless arms.
"You and the cyards have got into my blood. I'll take you up," he said, seating himself.
"Your word," demanded the Girl, leaning over the table, but still standing.
"I can lose like a gentleman," returned Rance curtly; then, with a swift seizure of her hand, he continued tensely, in tones that made the Girl shrink and whiten, "I'm hungry for you, Min, and if I win, I'll take it out on you as long as I have breath." ”

“ Up to the moment of the stranger’s appearance, nothing had happened to break the monotony of her long return journey towards Cloudy Mountain{3} Camp. Far back in the distance now lay the Mission where the passengers of the stage had been hospitably entertained the night before; still further back the red-tiled roofs and whitewashed walls of the little pueblo of San Jose,—a veritable bower of roses; and remotest of all, the crosses of San Carlos and the great pines, oaks and cypresses, which bordered her dream-memory of the white-beach crescent formed by the waves of Monterey Bay. ”

“ For even as he spoke the powerful kerosene lamp of The Polka Saloon, flanked by a composition metal reflector, flashed out its light into the gloom enveloping the desolate, ominous-looking mountains.
Johnson regarded this building long and thoughtfully. Then his eyes made out a steep trail which zigzagged from The Polka Saloon up the barren slopes of the mountain until it reached a cabin perched on the very top, the steps and porch of which were held up by poles made of trees. There, also, a light could be seen, but dimly. ”

“ Sonora looked dumbfounded.
The Deputy nodded and proceeded to the bar. And while he drained the contents of his glass, the Minstrel played on his banjo, much to the amusement of the men, who showed their appreciation by laughing heartily, the last bars of, "Pop Goes the Weasel."
"Hello, Sheriff!" greeted Ashby, coming in just as the merriment over the Minstrel's little joke had died away. Ashby's voice—quick, sharp and decisive was that of a man accustomed to ordering men, but his manner was suave, if a trifle gruff. ”

“ Rance, without protest other than a shrug, took up his own deck of cards, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and stowed them away in his pocket. It was the Girl who spoke first:
"Are you ready?"
"Ready? Yes. I'm ready. Cut for deal."
With unfaltering fingers, the Girl cut. Of the man beside her, dead or dying, she must not, dared not think. For the moment she had become one incarnate purpose: to win, to win at any cost,—nothing else mattered. ”

“ But although Johnson desisted, he kept his eyes upon her as she took the roses from her hair, losing none of the picture that she made with the light beating and playing upon her glimmering eyes, her rosy cheeks and her parted lips.
"Is there—is there anyone else?" he inquired falteringly, half-fearful lest there was.
"A man always says, 'who was the first one?' but the girl says, 'who'll be the next one?'" she returned, as she carefully laid the roses in her bureau drawer. ”

“ She crossed deliberately to the bureau, and laid her pistol away in the drawer, Rance meanwhile eyeing her with puzzled interest. Returning, she went on, incisively as a whip lash:
"I live on chance money, drink money, card money, saloon money. We're gamblers,—we're all gamblers!" She paused, an odd expression coming over her face,—an expression that baffled Rance's power to read. Presently she resumed: "Now, you asked me to-night if my answer was final,—well, here's your chance. I'll play you the game,—straight poker. ”

“ I am called Ramerrez; I have robbed; I am a road agent—an outlaw by profession. Yes, I'm all that—and my father was that before me. I was brought up, educated, thrived on thieves' money, I suppose, but until six months ago when my father died, I did not know it. I lived much in Monterey—I lived there as a gentleman. When we met that day I wasn't the thing I am to-day. I only learned the truth when my father died and left me with a rancho and a band of thieves—nothing else—nothing for us all, and I—but what's the good of going into it—the circumstances. ”

“ Sonora was the first to make a movement towards the door.
"Come on, boys," he growled in his deep bass voice; "don't you intend to let a lady go to bed?"
One by one the men filed through the door which Nick held open for them; but when all but himself had left, the devoted little barkeeper turned to the Girl with a look full of meaning, and whispered:
"Do you want me to stay?"
"Me? Oh, no, Nick!" And with a "Good-night, all! Good-night, Sonora, an' thank you! Good-night, Nick!" the Girl closed the door upon them. ”

“ Not infrequently love comes as suddenly as this to young women who live in small mining camps or out-of-the-way places where the men are practically of a type; it is their unfamiliarity with the class which a stranger represents when he makes his appearance in their midst that is responsible, fully as much as his own personality, for their being attracted to him. It is not impossible, of course, that if the Girl had met him in Cloudy,—say as a miner there,—the result would have been precisely the same. ”

“ At once the miners returned his salutation in true western fashion: every man in the place, save Rance, taking off his hat and sweeping it before him in an arc as they cried out in chorus:
“Hello, Johnson!”
“Boys, Rance ain’t a-runnin’ The Polka yet!” observed Sonora with a mocking smile on his lips, and gloating over the opportunity to give the Sheriff a dig. ”

“ The Girl saw the action and her eyes flashed with anger. The next moment, however, she looked up at him and said more gently than any time yet:
"No, Jack, I can't marry you. Ah, come along—start your game again—go on, Jack." And so saying she came out from behind the bar and went over to the faro table with: "Whoop la! Mula! Go! Good Lord, look at that faro table!"
But Rance was on the verge of losing control of himself. There was passion in his steely grey eyes when he advanced towards her, but although the Girl saw the look she did not flinch, and met it in a clear, straight glance. ”

“ Castro was visibly excited.
"There are a hundred men on your track."
Johnson smiled.
"Oh, one minute's start of the devil does me, Jose."
"Ah, but I fear the woman—Nina Micheltoreña—I fear her terribly. She is close at hand—knowing all, angry with you, and jealous—and still loving you."
"Loving me? Oh, no, Jose! Nina, like you, loves the spoils, not me. No, I raid on..."
A silence fell upon the two men, which was broken by Sonora calling out:
"Bring along the greaser, Dep!"
"All right!" answered the loud voice of the Deputy.
"You hear—we start," whispered Castro to his master. ”

“ At the threshold of her cabin the Girl, her cheeks aglow and eyes as bright, almost, as the red cape that enveloped her lithe, girlish figure, paused, and swinging her lantern high above her head so that its light was reflected in the room, she endeavoured to imagine what would be the impression that a stranger would receive coming suddenly upon these surroundings. ”

“ Needless to say adoration and love was all that she saw; nevertheless, she felt ill-at-ease and, unconsciously, repeated:
"Hello, boys!" And then added, a little more bravely: "How's everythin'?"
"Bully!" spoke up Handsome Charlie, who was posing for her benefit, as was his wont, beside one of the desks.
"Say, we missed you," acknowledged Sonora with a world of tenderness in his voice. "Never knew you to desert The Polka for a whole week before."
"No, I—I..." stammered guiltily, and with their little gifts turned abruptly towards her desk lest she should meet their gaze. ”

“ Was this Wells Fargo's most famous agent? Was this the man whose warnings were given such credence that they stirred even the largest of the gold camps into a sense of insecurity? And at this Rance indulged again in a fit of mental merriment at the other's expense.
But, although he would have denied it in toto, the truth of the matter was that the Sheriff was jealous of Ashby. Witty, generous, and a high liver, the latter was generally regarded as a man who fascinated women; moreover, he was known to be a favourite—and here the shoe pinched—with the Girl. ”