Far south and east in the
Bahamas a great mansion stood vacant because he was gone, and the dust
lay thick on the carpets and powdered the curtains and tapestries with
a common gray.
He had built it and furnished it for a woman he loved, and afterward
for her sake he had killed a man and fled from a posse and escaped in
the steerage of a west-bound ship. Still the law followed him, and he
kept on west and west until he reached the mountain-desert, which
thinks nothing of swallowing men and their reputations.
There he was safe, but someday he would see some woman smile, catch
the glimmer of some eye, and throw safety away to ride after her.
It was a weakness, but what made a tragic figure of handsome Dick
Wilbur was that he knew his weakness and sat still and let fate walk
up and overtake him.
Yet Pierre le Rouge answered this man of sorrowful wisdom: "In my part
of the country men say: 'If you would speak of women let money talk
for you.'"
And he placed a gold piece on the table.
"She will come out to the supper table.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111