Читать книгу Bed Rock - Jack Bethea - Страница 8

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Parsons Fain was chief of the safety department of the Cahaba Coal and Iron Company. To those in its good graces, he was genial, good-natured, heavily pleasant. Frowned upon, one saw another side. Forceful, unscrupulous, brutal, even, when necessary, he was dominated by one idea—fidelity to the Cahaba Company and to Reubens.

Reubens had made him. Fain had been a rising young lieutenant in the Pittsburgh police department when he first came to the ironmaster's attention. Both had been younger then, but both had given promise of the men they were to be.

Reubens was already dreaming of the industrial empire he was to create from the small beginnings of the Monongahela Steel Company and he recognized in Fain a kindred spirit. Reubens was like that, able to pick men with uncanny certainty. And he had chosen Fain unerringly, having in mind for him the place he afterward created.

They knew each other, these two. Together they had come through the fires of the financial revolution that left Reubens on the steps of the throne he was afterward to occupy undisputed. And in his upward progress, Fain had been at his shoulder.

Their relations were not those of executive and subordinate. They were more personal, based on mutual esteem that had been hammered out on the anvil of action. Fain was loyal with an unquestioning obedience that Reubens found priceless, and in return the ironmaster shared liberally of his wealth and power.

Ostensibly, Fain commanded the special police maintained by the Cahaba Company to protect its holdings, to keep the peace among its employees, and, sometimes, to administer its laws by a swift appeal to force. Actually, he was much more than that. His duties did not stop with mere policing. He was Reubens's confidential adviser with much wider authority than his title gave him.

Reubens appraised Fain's cool judgment correctly, respected his untiring patience, and was content to leave details to him. He told Fain what he wanted and that was enough.

In their years together, Fain had done many things for Reubens which he promptly forgot. But Reubens did not, and it was natural that now he should turn to Fain. Only Fain could combine understanding with action, and Reubens nodded gratefully as his friend came in and sat opposite him.

Fain was a huge man who handled his body easily. His face was round, his smile slow, his eyes brown, alert. With his bigness there was a comforting stolidity about him. He seemed solid, with massive shoulders and barrel-like chest above long legs.

There was nothing sinister about him; he had long since lost the mannerisms and habits of thought of his police days. There was but one incongruous note in the generously carved face, a scar that ran jaggedly across his cheek from his temple to the angle of his jaw. It was a relic of a long-past fight. In those days it had been necessary for him to use his hands and he had never refused a challenge. Soon there had been none to challenge him. But the scar was a reminder that men, seeing him, never forgot. His face in repose was placid, comfortable, with only the deep-set eyes to give the impression of an unasked question.

Fain looked at Reubens and squared himself mentally. Trouble there. The old man's face showed it.

Reubens stirred the papers on his desk fretfully with both hands before he spoke. His face was lined and there were pouches under his eyes. His usual ruddy color was a mottled gray and one corner of his mouth twitched. Fain read his face, but even he was surprised when Reubens spoke.

"Fain, I want to break a man." He might have been asking for a box of cigars, but Fain sensed the hard-bitted restraint under the words.

"It's been done before," he said soothingly. "Who is he?"

"It's not as easy as it sounds. I suppose I had better tell you all of it. It's Blackford."

Fain drew his breath softly. So. Then there had been something in the office gossip that had come to his ears. He had been incredulous, because he knew Reubens.

"But he is your——"

"That's why I want to break him!"

Fain shrugged cautiously. "I never interfere in family matters if I can keep out of them, but if you say so——"

Reubens pounded his desk. "Dammit! I didn't call you in here to gossip. I want something done."

"Want me to do it?"

"I don't know. I want to talk to you. It's not so simple. I don't want to ... to ... I don't mean physically."

Fain spread his hands, but said nothing. Reubens's mounting excitement made his voice shrill. He was terribly nervous. He had been able to think of nothing since he had watched Alice go out of his home to step into his waiting automobile. She had not come back. Reubens, goaded by his thoughts, was irritable.

"If it was just ... eliminating him, it would be easy. But that won't do. It's not that simple. We'll have to talk it over."

Fain soothed him. He rose and stretched his great body before speaking slowly. "We've been together a good many years now, chief. Never struck anything yet we couldn't manage. I guess we can handle this—one of us. You tell me what to do and I'll do it."

Reubens calmed a little. Fain's very bigness and calm confidence made him feel better. He had fretted under inaction, but now that was over. He had determined his course. No need to get angry; that only lost him the advantage. He sat with his eyes closed and saw Alice's face. His mouth drew down at the corners.

"I don't want his money. He hasn't any, and I wouldn't have it, anyway, I want his spirit broken."

Fain was thoughtful. "That's something you can't use a hammer to break. But sometimes it's easier than the other. I'll help any way I can."

Reubens was vehement. "I suppose you've heard talk in the office?" Fain nodded, and Reubens's voice was harsh. "I knew it would come, but don't let me find who is doing it. If you've heard that, I guess you know pretty well what I am facing. Blackford thinks that through Alice he can use me." Reubens smiled unpleasantly. "I let him think so. When he finds differently, it will be too late. It won't be too easy for him, anyway. I put Alice in that alcove and sent for Blackford. He admitted the truth before I was through. And she heard him." Again Reubens smiled. He was calmer now, but he patted his desk softly. "She ... she took it pretty hard. I don't think he will hoodwink her again. He told me a fairy story. Said he wanted to run a mine with a chance to make good. I've given him Cahaba." He paused as Fain straightened up, and they both smiled. "Let him clean it up himself."

Again Fain spread his hands. "What do you want with me? That should be enough. It's the toughest camp in Alabama, and you know what it has been used for."

Reubens shook his head. "You don't know Blackford as well as I do. I wasn't blind just because ... because I hated him. I think he's good enough to clean it up—like it is."

"And you want me to see that he doesn't?"

"Precisely." Reubens put his fingers together as he explained. He was quite calm now, except for the hard mouth under the bristling mustache. "I'm worried about my daughter, Fain. I can't understand why she should go to Alabama with him. She may have some lingering regard for him, and that is what I want destroyed. I want him discredited in her eyes. She must see him as he is. He must fail at Cahaba, but we must seem to give him his chance. What is the situation at Cahaba?"

Fain was on sure ground now. The prospect of a fight roused him and the scar on his face gave the key to his emotion. It glowed vermilion, standing out with startling distinctness. There was a queer streak in this man. Hard as he was, he loved Reubens, and the old man's distress moved him. It was no longer a contest between the Cahaba Company and an opposing force. It was a personal battle. His mind was already busy with plans as he answered.

"I've been intending to speak to you about Cahaba since I got back from down there. I know you have used it as a sort of trial camp, and that you have sent undesirable men there to test them, but I think we are going too far. Your last experiments haven't been successful. Crosslands was easy-going and didn't see anything unless he chose. There was plenty to see. Whisky! Gambling! Women! Everything goes. They didn't know who I was and I told only a few, so I saw it all. It's time we did something or the State will be stepping in. It's costing us something now to keep 'em out."

Reubens listened with kindling eyes. "Don't you touch it! Leave it just as it is. And if things don't happen, see that they do. That's your job, understand."

Fain leaned back and spread his legs before him. His tone was complacent. "Easy! You know my method. Somebody on the ground you can trust. Send somebody from this office. Each checks up on the other and we can start anything we want. And it'll be twice as easy here."

"Got anybody down there?"

"Sure. One of the things I went for. Got two or three. I know that valley like a book. There's a man named Stringfellow I picked out. He's been on my staff some time. He's chief clerk. That's for the company. I spotted another one, too. Charlie Galloway. He's the Mineral agent there. And there's still another that I never knew about until I went to Cahaba. They've got a sort of king. Name's Big Shackleford, and he lives over the mountain from the mine. He has had trouble with the company and it wouldn't take much to stir it up again."

Reubens's eyes were admiring. "You believe in preparedness, I see. I knew that, but I didn't expect it so thoroughly here. Who will you send from this office? He'll have to be an engineer of some sort."

"There's young Gower. He's a good dub engineer and I can depend on him."

Reuben's voice was decisive. He was mapping the campaign against Blackford as he talked and he found his plan to his liking. After all, the difficulties would not be as great as he had thought. Alice would not be hard to convince now. He spoke incisively.

"All right. Let Gower go when Blackford asks for help. He ought to be assistant superintendent. See that there is a vacancy. I don't want to send Blackford a man until he asks for him; then he won't be suspicious. Now get this straight! Let Galloway or Stringfellow spread the word that the lid is off so far as the company is concerned. Stringfellow can tell them that Blackford is not too well liked by the company. Let Gower give the impression that he is jealous of Blackford and wants his job. That will make what he does seem more reasonable. Understand?"

Fain was thoughtful. "That's a good plan. You've overlooked one thing, though. You'll wreck the mine."

"I don't give a damn," flared Reubens, his nostrils pinched and his cheeks again mottled. His repressed anger burst forth in a torrent of words. "What in hell do I care for the mine? I'll wreck three mines for my girl. She's gotten away and I'm trying to get her back. Damn the mine. I'm going to have her."

Fain's face was grave as he realized that he had not yet plumbed the depths of his chief's grief and anxiety. And he was sorry for him. He had daughters, too. Reubens had flung himself back in his chair with one hand over his eyes.

The paroxysm had spent itself and he was again an old man thinking of his daughter. "Lord knows, it isn't money! I wouldn't care whether he had a nickel if he was a man and Alice loved him. But he isn't; he's never done anything and he never will. She doesn't love him; only what she thought he was. I've got to wake her up if she hasn't realized it already. I've got to have her back." His voice rose a little, and he looked at Fain appealingly. "She's got to be happy. I won't have it otherwise."

Fain answered Reubens's look. "Do you want me to go to Cahaba?"

The ironmaster leaned forward for a moment and Fain could not see his face. When he straightened he was calm. "No, not yet. It may be necessary later, but not now. Blackford knows you and might get suspicious. Alice must not suspect about this. If she did, it might spoil everything. Blackford must appear to have a free hand and he must fail."

Fain rose. "Somebody will be hurt. They are mountain folks, you know. Take all restraint off that camp and you will have trouble."

"There will be Blackford."

Fain looked at him steadily. "What do you mean? Suppose Blackford should be ... the one hurt?"

"He'll have to take that chance. He asked to be superintendent. The place carries certain hazards and he must face them."

"But suppose he should be accidentally ... eliminated?" Fain persisted.

Reubens's lips were thin. "That might simplify the situation considerably."