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Read book online ยซThe Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle (ereader manga TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   Arthur Conan Doyle



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โ€œWell, you see me. This is all there is. What d'you think of me?โ€

โ€œWell, it's early days. If your heart is as big as your body, and your soul as fine as your face, then I'd ask for nothing better,โ€ said McMurdo.

โ€œBy Gar! you've got an Irish tongue in your head anyhow,โ€ cried the saloon-keeper, not quite certain whether to humour this audacious visitor or to stand upon his dignity.

โ€œSo you are good enough to pass my appearance?โ€

โ€œSure,โ€ said McMurdo.

โ€œAnd you were told to see me?โ€

โ€œI was.โ€

โ€œAnd who told you?โ€

โ€œBrother Scanlan of Lodge 341, Vermissa. I drink your health Councillor, and to our better acquaintance.โ€ He raised a glass with which he had been served to his lips and elevated his little finger as he drank it.

McGinty, who had been watching him narrowly, raised his thick black eyebrows. โ€œOh, it's like that, is it?โ€ said he. โ€œI'll have to look a bit closer into this, Misterโ€”โ€

โ€œMcMurdo.โ€

โ€œA bit closer, Mr. McMurdo; for we don't take folk on trust in these parts, nor believe all we're told neither. Come in here for a moment, behind the bar.โ€

There was a small room there, lined with barrels. McGinty carefully closed the door, and then seated himself on one of them, biting thoughtfully on his cigar and surveying his companion with those disquieting eyes. For a couple of minutes he sat in complete silence. McMurdo bore the inspection cheerfully, one hand in his coat pocket, the other twisting his brown moustache. Suddenly McGinty stooped and produced a wicked-looking revolver.

โ€œSee here, my joker,โ€ said he, โ€œif I thought you were playing any game on us, it would be short work for you.โ€

โ€œThis is a strange welcome,โ€ McMurdo answered with some dignity, โ€œfor the Bodymaster of a lodge of Freemen to give to a stranger brother.โ€

โ€œAy, but it's just that same that you have to prove,โ€ said McGinty, โ€œand God help you if you fail! Where were you made?โ€

โ€œLodge 29, Chicago.โ€

โ€œWhen?โ€

โ€œJune 24, 1872.โ€

โ€œWhat Bodymaster?โ€

โ€œJames H. Scott.โ€

โ€œWho is your district ruler?โ€

โ€œBartholomew Wilson.โ€

โ€œHum! You seem glib enough in your tests. What are you doing here?โ€

โ€œWorking, the same as youโ€”but a poorer job.โ€

โ€œYou have your back answer quick enough.โ€

โ€œYes, I was always quick of speech.โ€

โ€œAre you quick of action?โ€

โ€œI have had that name among those that knew me best.โ€

โ€œWell, we may try you sooner than you think. Have you heard anything of the lodge in these parts?โ€

โ€œI've heard that it takes a man to be a brother.โ€

โ€œTrue for you, Mr. McMurdo. Why did you leave Chicago?โ€

โ€œI'm damned if I tell you that!โ€

McGinty opened his eyes. He was not used to being answered in such fashion, and it amused him. โ€œWhy won't you tell me?โ€

โ€œBecause no brother may tell another a lie.โ€

โ€œThen the truth is too bad to tell?โ€

โ€œYou can put it that way if you like.โ€

โ€œSee here, mister, you can't expect me, as Bodymaster, to pass into the lodge a man for whose past he can't answer.โ€

McMurdo looked puzzled. Then he took a worn newspaper cutting from an inner pocket.

โ€œYou wouldn't squeal on a fellow?โ€ said he.

โ€œI'll wipe my hand across your face if you say such words to me!โ€ cried McGinty hotly.

โ€œYou are right, Councillor,โ€ said McMurdo meekly. โ€œI should apologize. I spoke without thought. Well, I know that I am safe in your hands. Look at that clipping.โ€

McGinty glanced his eyes over the account of the shooting of one Jonas Pinto, in the Lake Saloon, Market Street, Chicago, in the New Year week of 1874.

โ€œYour work?โ€ he asked, as he handed back the paper.

McMurdo nodded.

โ€œWhy did you shoot him?โ€

โ€œI was helping Uncle Sam to make dollars. Maybe mine were not as good gold as his, but they looked as well and were cheaper to make. This man Pinto helped me to shove the queerโ€”โ€

โ€œTo do what?โ€

โ€œWell, it means to pass the dollars out into circulation. Then he said he would split. Maybe he did split. I didn't wait to see. I just killed him and lighted out for the coal country.โ€

โ€œWhy the coal country?โ€

โ€œ'Cause I'd read in the papers that they weren't too particular in those parts.โ€

McGinty laughed. โ€œYou were first a coiner and then a murderer, and you came to these parts because you thought you'd be welcome.โ€

โ€œThat's about the size of it,โ€ McMurdo answered.

โ€œWell, I guess you'll go far. Say, can you make those dollars yet?โ€

McMurdo took half a dozen from his pocket. โ€œThose never passed the Philadelphia mint,โ€ said he.

โ€œYou don't say!โ€ McGinty held them to the light in his enormous hand, which was hairy as a gorilla's. โ€œI can see no difference. Gar! you'll be a mighty useful brother, I'm thinking! We can do with a bad man or two among us, Friend McMurdo: for there are times when we have to take our own part. We'd soon be against the wall if we didn't shove back at those that were pushing us.โ€

โ€œWell, I guess I'll do my share of shoving with the rest of the boys.โ€

โ€œYou seem to have a good nerve. You didn't squirm when I shoved this gun at you.โ€

โ€œIt was not me that was in danger.โ€

โ€œWho then?โ€

โ€œIt was you, Councillor.โ€ McMurdo drew a cocked pistol from the side pocket of his peajacket. โ€œI was covering you all the time. I guess my shot would have been as quick as yours.โ€

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