The Valley of Fear (Sherlock Holmes 7)

"The first business on the agenda paper," said McGinty, "is to read thefollowing letter from Division Master Windle of Merton County Lodge249. He says:

"DEAR SIR:

"There is a job to be done on Andrew Rae of Rae & Sturmash, coal owners near this place. You will remember that your lodge owes us a return, having had the service of two brethren in the matter of the patrolman last fall. You will send two good men, they will be taken charge of by Treasurer Higgins of this lodge, whose address you know. He will show them when to act and where. Yours in freedom,

"J. W. WINDLE D. M. A. O. F.

"Windle has never refused us when we have had occasion to ask for theloan of a man or two, and it is not for us to refuse him." McGintypaused and looked round the room with his dull, malevolent eyes. "Whowill volunteer for the job?"

Several young fellows held up their hands. The Bodymaster looked atthem with an approving smile.

"You'll do, Tiger Cormac. If you handle it as well as you did the last,you won't be wrong. And you, Wilson."

"I've no pistol," said the volunteer, a mere boy in his teens.

"It's your first, is it not? Well, you have to be blooded some time. Itwill be a great start for you. As to the pistol, you'll find it waitingfor you, or I'm mistaken. If you report yourselves on Monday, it willbe time enough. You'll get a great welcome when you return."

"Any reward this time?" asked Cormac, a thick-set, dark-faced,brutal-looking young man, whose ferocity had earned him the nickname of"Tiger."

"Never mind the reward. You just do it for the honour of the thing.Maybe when it is done there will be a few odd dollars at the bottom ofthe box."

"What has the man done?" asked young Wilson.

"Sure, it's not for the likes of you to ask what the man has done. Hehas been judged over there. That's no business of ours. All we have todo is to carry it out for them, same as they would for us. Speaking ofthat, two brothers from the Merton lodge are coming over to us nextweek to do some business in this quarter."

"Who are they?" asked someone.

"Faith, it is wiser not to ask. If you know nothing, you can testifynothing, and no trouble can come of it. But they are men who will makea clean job when they are about it."

"And time, too!" cried Ted Baldwin. "Folk are gettin' out of hand inthese parts. It was only last week that three of our men were turnedoff by Foreman Blaker. It's been owing him a long time, and he'll getit full and proper."

"Get what?" McMurdo whispered to his neighbour.

"The business end of a buckshot cartridge!" cried the man with a loudlaugh. "What think you of our ways, Brother?"

McMurdo's criminal soul seemed to have already absorbed the spirit ofthe vile association of which he was now a member. "I like it well,"said he. "'Tis a proper place for a lad of mettle."

Several of those who sat around heard his words and applauded them.

"What's that?" cried the black-maned Bodymaster from the end of thetable.

"'Tis our new brother, sir, who finds our ways to his taste."

McMurdo rose to his feet for an instant. "I would say, EminentBodymaster, that if a man should be wanted I should take it as anhonour to be chosen to help the lodge."

There was great applause at this. It was felt that a new sun waspushing its rim above the horizon. To some of the elders it seemed thatthe progress was a l

ittle too rapid.

"I would move," said the secretary, Harraway, a vulture-faced oldgraybeard who sat near the chairman, "that Brother McMurdo should waituntil it is the good pleasure of the lodge to employ him."

"Sure, that was what I meant; I'm in your hands," said McMurdo.

"Your time will come, Brother," said the chairman. "We have marked youdown as a willing man, and we believe that you will do good work inthese parts. There is a small matter to-night in which you may take ahand if it so please you."

"I will wait for something that is worth while."

"You can come to-night, anyhow, and it will help you to know what westand for in this community. I will make the announcement later.Meanwhile," he glanced at his agenda paper, "I have one or two morepoints to bring before the meeting. First of all, I will ask thetreasurer as to our bank balance. There is the pension to JimCarnaway's widow. He was struck down doing the work of the lodge, andit is for us to see that she is not the loser."