Wanted! Belle Starr! (16 page)

Regardless of his numerous pronouncements,
Penfold did not carry his boasted Christian precepts to any
excessive length when dealing with others. As was being
demonstrated by his activities that day, although ready and willing
to produce something which sounded like a religious reason for his
behavior, he was far from overburdened by scruples. After a lesser
piece of luck a short while earlier, he considered he was now being
offered a chance to turn a healthy profit his way.

On leaving his room at the Cattlemen’s
Hotel, with the intention of asking at the reception desk on the
ground floor whether any messages had arrived for him, Penfold had
seen an expensive-looking wallet lying in the passage near the head
of the stairs. Picking it up, he had ascertained that it contained
twenty dollars in bills and what was, in all probability, the name
and address of its owner. Hearing the door of a nearby room being
opened, he had tucked the wallet into a pocket of his jacket and
hurriedly set off downstairs instead of waiting to learn who was
coming into the passage.

Being a firm advocate of ‘finders keepers,
losers weepers’, although asserting in exculpation that the Good
Lord disapproved of negligence with those gifts provided by His
bounty, Penfold had no intention of trying to return the wallet to
its rightful owner. Therefore, should it be the owner who was
coming from the room, he had no desire to been seen and questioned
on the subject. Should he have been asked if he had seen the
wallet, he would have to admit this was the case. However, by his
own standard, unless such an inquiry was made he would be at
liberty to keep it.

Glancing over his shoulder on reaching the
ground floor, Penfold satisfied himself that nobody was in sight.
Nor was the lobby occupied, even the reception desk being unmanned,
as he strode to the front entrance. Stepping outside, he watched a
couple descending who he had noticed, without giving them any great
attention, in the dinning-room the previous evening. They were as
somberly dressed as himself. Not only did the man wear the
‘reversed’ collar of many denomination’s clergy, but his face was
leathery and suggestive of a harsh religious fervor. Everything
about the demeanor of the much younger woman implied that such was
his nature. Although beautiful, there was little about her to
arouse the ‘baser passions’. Her pallid features were marred by
horn-rimmed spectacles and an expression of cowed, downtrodden
meekness. Whatever curves her figure might possess were completely
hidden beneath a shapeless black dress, and a plain poke bonnet
concealed every vestige of her hair. Following upon the heels of
her male companion, clutching a bulky black reticule as if afraid
it would be snatched from her, her head hung forward and her whole
bearing was redolent of subservience.

Satisfied it would be assumed he was just
returning to the hotel, Penfold had entered and crossed to the
desk. He arrived in time to hear the gaunt man asking whether there
were any Eastern Traditional Baptists in Fort Worth. Although
Penfold had for once no intention of admitting his connection with
the creed, in case it resulted in a request for a donation to the
church, the clerk had pointed him out. Despite his annoyance at
having been identified, the anticipated suggestion of a
subscription had not been made. Instead, much to his surprise, he
had received an invitation to join the couple for a meal. Not at
the hotel, either, but in the best and most expensive cafe offered
by Fort Worth. However, having had much to do with members of his
creed, he had suspected there would be more behind the offer than
merely a desire for his company.

The supposition had proved correct!

While waiting in the comfortable foyer for a
table to become vacant, the gaunt man had introduced himself as
‘Pastor Samuel Salford’ and, clearly as an afterthought, said the
young woman was his daughter, Alice. Then he had explained that he
was faced with a problem. In the throes of religious uplift and
exaltation, a recent convert to their mutual creed had donated a
desirable piece of property along the Trinity River to be sold for
the funds of the church. There had been a stipulation. Considering
nobody else would be sufficiently honest, the sale could only be
handled by an Eastern Traditional Baptist. As it had been known
Salford would be passing through Fort Worth on his way to Austin,
he was delegated to make the negotiations. Unfortunately, due to a
mix up in the arrangements, the matter could not be concluded until
the following day and he must leave on the afternoon stagecoach if
he was to bring to a desirable conclusion the most important
business which was taking him to the State capitol.

Never willing to put himself out for others,
unless seeing a way in which he might benefit personally from doing
so, Penfold had listened without interest until hearing there were
three potential purchasers involved. Furthermore, each had
expressed an eagerness to buy, which was not unexpected considering
the far from exorbitant price at which the land had been offered.
This could have been raised considerably without deterring the
intended buyers, the Pastor had asserted, even though the elders of
the church had expressed concurrence with the figure quoted.

Concluding he could obtain the higher price
by persuading the would be purchasers to bid against one another,
then pocketing the difference without mentioning it to the elders,
Penfold hesitated to make an offer to take over the negotiations.
He had met too many men like the Pastor and he felt sure such a
suggestion would arouse suspicion and be refused. He wondered how
he might bring about the proposal. The matter was taken from his
hands by the young woman, making her first contribution to the
conversation in a Southern drawl as meek and submissive as that of
her father’s was harsh and domineering. She pointed out that their
guest was also an Eastern Traditional Baptist and was qualified to
make the sale.

However, Penfold considered the remark made
by Alice a mixed blessing. The Pastor, being the kind of man he
was, resented her intervention. Growling that they knew nothing
about their guest, he refused to be mollified by his daughter
claiming Mr. Penfold looked honest. Eager to be given the task, the
young man produced his wallet and displayed fifteen hundred
dollars. Conceding this was evidence of financial soundness,
Salford suggested a test of his honesty. Producing a thick
pocketbook from inside his black jacket, the Pastor presented it to
Penfold with the instruction that it should be taken outside for a
few minutes. Its safe return, Salford declared, would be sufficient
to satisfy him upon this most important point.

Having no doubt that to refuse was almost
certain to preclude him from further participation in the affair,
Penfold concluded it would be advisable to humor his host and
accepted the terms. While strolling around the cafe building, he
examined the contents of the pocketbook. His hope of learning more
about the negotiations over the property failed to materialize. It
had held five hundred dollars and a letter informing Salford that a
new church in the most wealthy part of Austin required an
incumbent, but there was nothing about the sale of the property.
Deciding he had at least discovered why his host was in such a
hurry to reach the State capitol, he had returned and found the
couple were already seated in the dining-room.

Approaching the table, Penfold overheard the
young woman making a remark to the effect that there would hardly
be sufficient time. However, becoming aware of his presence at that
moment, Salford prevented her from continuing. Nevertheless, on
sitting down, the young man soon began to suspect the nature of the
interrupted comment. Having accepted the pocketbook and, without
apology, checked that its contents were intact, the Pastor showed
no inclination to start discussing the reason for it having been
taken away. In fact, he became evasive when Penfold tried to raise
the matter of the sale. To the young man’s way of thinking, the
reticence suggested that his host had belatedly seen the
possibility of making a personal profit from the deal and was
considering delaying his departure of Austin to conduct the
business himself.

Having met a number of men like Salford,
Penfold knew better than to ask directly for the deeds to be handed
over so he could handle the ensuing deal. Remembering the letter in
the pocketbook, his devious and not over scrupulous mind suggested
a solution to the problem. The writer had warned that, not having
made their acquaintance or being known to any of them, the Pastor
would have to create a suitable impression with the Elders
responsible for appointing the incumbent. Penfold therefore told
the Pastor that he had met the Elders in question and, without
mentioning the lucrative post which he knew was available, he said
the thing which had struck him most about them was their insistence
upon strict punctuality in all matters pertaining to the business
of the Church.

Despite having clearly taken what he was
told to heart, it was obvious that Salford still hoped to find a
reason to remain in Fort Worth and personally conclude the
profitable negotiations. At last, with the meal over, he declared
that real trust could only be established by proof that one was
willing to give as well as display it. With an air of expecting a
refusal, he then suggested his guest showed such a willingness by
submitting to a further test. Hearing he was to hand over his
wallet, to be taken away by the couple and brought back with the
deeds and other documents pertaining to the sale, he had known
there was only one course left open to him. If he refused, this
would be seized upon as a reason to exclude him from the deal and
any delay in the Pastor’s arrival in Austin would be excused on the
grounds of there having been no suitable Eastern Traditional
Baptist available in Fort Worth to carry out the transaction.
Telling himself the profit must be well worthwhile for his host to
be willing to put in jeopardy an opportunity to take over a church
in a wealthy neighborhood, he had acceded to the suggestion.
Accepting the proffered wallet with obvious reluctance, the Pastor
promised to tell the cashier he would settle the check when he and
his daughter came back. Alice had offered to remain with Penfold,
but her father had refused on the grounds that for her to do so
would render the test of trust pointless.

Left to himself, the young man decided he
would have another portion of the apple crumble which he had found
so enjoyable. Adding it to the check his host would have to pay
would do something to alleviate his annoyance over having been
subjected to the second test. Glancing around for the waitress who
had served at their table, he saw she was speaking with the
cashier. Before he could try to attract her attention, she walked
towards him.

“
Excuse me, sir,” the
woman said, holding out a sheet of paper. “Could you settle the
check now, please?”

“
Me?” Penfold
asked.

“
Yes, sir,” the waitress
confirmed. “I’m going off duty now and need to have it cleared
before I leave.”

“
That’s no concern of
mine!” Penfold stated. “The man I’ve been dining with said he’d
settle the check when he came back.”

“
Is that what he told you,
sir?”

“
It is!”

“
That’s strange,” the waitress
claimed, glancing at the
maitre d’hôtel
and making a motion with her head. “The
gentleman told the cashier you would pay and you waved to show it
was all right with you.”

“
He said what?” the young
man demanded, glaring across the room. The couple with whom he had
dined had already left the cafe, so he went on, “But Pastor Salford
told me he’d pay when he came back!”

“
Is something wrong, Mrs.
Blake?” the
maitre d’hôtel
inquired, he and the cashier having converged on
the table in response to the signal given by the
waitress.

“
This gentleman won’t
settle his check !” the waitress began.

“
It isn’t my check to
settle!” Penfold protested. “Pastor Salford said he’d arrange to
settle it when he came back!”

“
Well now, sir, I find that
mighty strange,” drawled the big and burly cashier, exchanging a
glance redolent of suspicion with the equally brawny
maître’d.
“You see, the
reverend gentleman told me that you would wave to show how it’d be
you who’d be paying when you was ready to leave.”

“
But that wasn’t what he
told me!” Penfold denied, with less than his usual bombast as he
studied the polite and yet somehow menacing fashion in which the
two men were regarding him. “He’s going to the Cattlemen’s Hotel to
collect some papers and he said he’d arrange with you to pay when
he came back.”

“
Are you sure it’s the
Cattlemen’s Hotel he’s going to?” the
maitre d’
inquired.

“
Yes,” Penfold
confirmed.

“
Correct me happen I’m wrong,
will you, Mr. Beaumont?” requested the
maitre’d,
looking at his fellow employee. “But
I seem to recollect as how the Cattlemen’s Hotel is down to the
left from here?”

“
It was the last time I
looked, Mr. Hoffman,” the cashier replied.

“
And yet the reverend gentleman
and his lady turned right when they went out of the door,”
the
maitre
d’
asserted.
“Do you reckon, them being strangers in town, they could have got
themselves all turned around and lost?”