Nevada (1995) (5 page)

Nevada was not in love with life, yet he felt a tremendou
s
antagonism toward men who would wantonly destroy him.

"Reckon I'd better forget my dreamin' heah," he soliloquized. "An'
w
hen I'm out be like I used to be. Shore it goes against th
e
grain. I'm two men in one--Nevada an' Jim Lacy. . . . Reckon Ji
m
better take a hunch."

Whereupon he deliberately set about ascertaining just how much o
f
his old incomparable swiftness on the draw remained with him afte
r
the long lack of exercise. During more than one period of hi
s
career he had practiced drawing his gun until he had worn the ski
n
of his hand to the quick, and then to callousness.

The thing had become a habit for his private hours, wherever h
e
might be.

"Slower'n molasses, as Ben used to say aboot me," he muttered.

"But I've the feel, an' I can get it all back."

The leather holster on his belt was hard and stiff. He oiled i
t
and worked it soft with strong hands. The little room, which ha
d
only one window, began to grow dark as the short afternoon waned.

It was still daylight, however, when Nevada went out, to wal
k
leisurely down the road into town. How well he remembered the wid
e
bare street, with its lines of deserted and old buildings, man
y
falling to ruin, and the high board fronts where the painted sign
s
had been so obliterated by weathering that they were no longe
r
decipherable! He came at length to the narrow block where ther
e
were a few horses and vehicles along the hitching-rails, and peopl
e
passing to and fro. There were several stores and shops, a saloon
,
and a restaurant, that appeared precisely as they had always been.

A Chinaman, standing in a doorway, stared keenly at Nevada. Hi
s
little black eyes showed recognition. Then Nevada arrived at
a
corner store, where he entered.

The place had the smell of general merchandise, groceries, an
d
tobacco combined. To Jones' credit, he had never sold liquor.

There was a boy clerk waiting on a woman customer, and Jones,
a
long lanky Westerner, who had seen range days himself.

"Howdy, Mr. Jones!" said Nevada, stepping forward.

"Howdy yourself, stranger!" replied the storekeeper. "You got th
e
best of me."

"Wal, it's a little dark in heah or your eyes are failin',"
r
eturned Nevada, with a grin.

Whereupon the other took a stride and bent over to peer int
o
Nevada's face.

"I'm a son-of-a-gun," he declared. "Jim Lacy! Back in Lineville!

I've seen fellers come back I liked less."

He shook hands heartily with Nevada. "Where you been, boy? Yo
u
sure look well an' fine to me."

"Oh, I've been all over, knockin' aboot, lookin' for a job,"
d
rawled Nevada, easily.

"An' you come back to Lineville in winter, lookin' for a job?"
l
aughed Jones.

"Shore," drawled Nevada.

"Jim, I'll bet if I offered you work you'd shy like a colt. Fac
t
is, though, I could do it. I'm not doin' so bad here. There's
a
lumber company cuttin' up in the foothills. It's a long haul t
o
Salisbar, but they pass through here. Heard about Salisbar?"

"Yes. Reckon I'll have to take a look at it. How far away?"

"Eighty miles or so," returned Jones. "Some miners struck it rich
,
an' that started Salisbar off as a minin' town. But it's growin'
o
therwise. Besides mineral, there are timber an' water, some goo
d
farmland, an' miles of grazin'. All this is wakin' Lineville up.

There's business goin' on an' more comin'."

"Shore I'm glad, Mr. Jones," said Nevada. "Lineville has some goo
d
people I'd like to see prosper."

From the store Nevada dropped into a couple of places, where h
e
renewed acquaintance with men who were glad to see him; and then h
e
crossed to the other side of the wide street and went down to th
e
Gold Mine. Dark had fallen and lamps were being lighted. Th
e
front of the wide two-story structure appeared quite plain an
d
business-like, deceiving to the traveler. It looked like
a
respectable hotel. But the Gold Mine was a tavern for the outla
w
elect, a gambling hell and a drinking dive that could not have bee
n
equaled short of the Mexican border.

Nevada turned the corner to take the side entrance, which led int
o
the long dingily-lighted barroom. A half-dozen men stood drinkin
g
and talking at the bar. They noted Nevada's entrance, but did no
t
recognize him, nor did he them. The bartender, too, was strange t
o
Nevada. A wide portal, with curtain of strung beads, opened into
a
larger room, which was almost sumptuously furnished for such
a
remote settlement as Lineville. The red hangings were new t
o
Nevada, and some of the furniture. He remembered the gaudy an
d
obscene pictures on the wall, and the card and roulette tables, an
d
particularly the large open fireplace, where some billets of woo
d
burned ruddily. Six men sat around one table, and of those whos
e
faces were visible to Nevada he recognized only one, that of
a
gambler called Ace Black. His cold eyes glinted on Nevada, the
n
returned to his game.

Nevada took the seat on the far side of the fire, where he coul
d
see both entrances to the large room. At the moment there wa
s
something akin to bitter revolt at the fact of his presence there.

Certainly no one had driven him. No logical reason existed for hi
s
visiting the Gold Mine. He would never drink again; he had bu
t
little money to gamble with, even had he been so inclined; h
e
rather felt repugnance at the thought of seeing Lize Teller, or an
y
other girl likely to come in. But something restless and kee
n
within him accounted for his desire to meet old acquaintance
s
there. Trying to analyze and understand it, Nevada got to th
e
point of dismay. Foremost of all was a significant motive--he di
d
not care to have Cash Burridge or his followers, especially Lin
k
Cawthorne, or anyone ever associated with Setter, think he woul
d
avoid them. Yet that was exactly what Nevada wanted to do. Th
e
mocking thing about it was the certainty that some kind of conflic
t
would surely result. He could not avoid this. Deep in him was
a
feeling that belied his reluctance. Could it be a rebirth of ol
d
recklessness? He would have to fight that as something untrue t
o
Hettie Ide. And as a wave of sweet and bitter emotion went ove
r
him, a musical rattling of the beaded-curtain door attracted hi
s
attention.

A girl entered. She had a pale face, and very large black eye
s
that seemed to blaze at Nevada.

Chapter
three.

She came slowly toward him, with the undulating movement of he
r
lissome form that he remembered even better than her tragic face.

Life had evidently been harsher than ever to Lize Teller.

Nevada rose and, doffing his sombrero, shook hands with her.

"Jim Lacy!" she ejaculated, with stress of feeling that seeme
d
neither regret nor gladness.

"Howdy, Lize!" drawled Nevada. "Reckon you're sort of surprised t
o
see me heah."

"Surprised? Yes. I thought you had more sense," she returned.

"Wal, now Lize, that's not kind of you," he said, somewhat take
n
back. "An' I reckon I just don't get your hunch."

"Sit down, Jim," she rejoined, and as he complied she seate
d
herself on the arm of his chair and leaned close. "I've bee
n
looking for you all afternoon. Lorenzo saw you ride in and stop a
t
Mrs. Wood's."

"Ahuh! Wal, no wonder you wasn't surprised."

"But I am, Jim. Surprised at your nerve and more surprised at th
e
look of you. What's happened? You've improved so I don't kno
w
you."

She leaned against him with the old coquetry that was a part of he
r
and which Nevada had once found pleasing, though he had neve
r
encouraged it.

"Thanks, Lize. Wal, there was shore room for improvement. Nothin'
m
uch happened, except I've been workin' an' I quit the bottle."

"That's a lot, Jim, and I'm downright glad. I'll fall in love wit
h
you all over again."

"Please don't, Lize," he laughed. "I've quit throwin' guns, too.

An' I reckon it'd be unhealthy for me, if you did."

"Probably will be, boy. You sure have me guessing," she replied
,
and she smoothed his hair and his scarf, while she gazed at hi
m
with deep, burning, inquisitive eyes. "But don't try to lie to m
e
about your gun tricks, sonny. You forget I'm the only one aroun
d
Lineville who had you figured."

"Lize, I don't know as I remember that," he said, dubiously. H
e
found she embarrassed him less than in former times. He had alway
s
feared Lize's overtures. But that dread was gone.

"Jim, you forget easily," she rejoined, with a touch of bitterness.

"But God knows there was no reason for you to remember ME. It wa
s
natural for me to miss you. For you were the only decent man I
k
new. But you treated me like you were a brother. And that mad
e
me hate you."

"Lize, you didn't hate me," he said. "That was temper. Maybe yo
u
got a little miffed because you couldn't make a fool of me like yo
u
did the others. Shore I cain't believe you'd be mean enough t
o
hate me."

"Jim, you don't know women," she replied, bitterly. "I can d
o
anything. . . . Where'd you say you'd been--workin'--all this lon
g
while?"

"Wal, now, Lize, I don't recollect sayin'," he drawled. "Shor
e
never liked to talk aboot myself. What have you been doin'?"

"Me! Aw, hell! Can't you see? If I live another year I'll be i
n
the street. . . . I hate this damned life, Jim. But what can I
d
o? . . . Of course Mrs. Wood told you all she knew about me."

"Wal, she told me--some," replied Nevada, hesitatingly. "Wish I'
d
been heah when you made such a darn fool of yourself.

"I wish to God you had," she flashed, with terrible passion.

"You'd have shot Cash Burridge. He double-crossed me, Jim. Oh, I
k
now I'm no good, but I'm honest. Cash actually made me believe HE
w
ould marry me. I told Holder I was not a good girl. He seeme
d
willing to take me, anyhow. But Cash told him a lot of vile lie
s
about me, and it fell through. . . . I'm working here at the Gol
d
Mine now--everything from bookkeeper to bartender."