Summary
Chapter 3
McMurdo moves to the Widow MacNamara’s on the outskirts of town; Scanlan moves there as well. Shafter still lets McMurdo eat his meals at the boarding house, and thus his relationship with Ettie continues. McMurdo shows off his coining molds to his visitors; he says that he would do this full-time if the police weren’t after him.
One day at the saloon a new member of the mine police comes in for a drink. McGinty greets him amiably but tells the man, Captain Marvin, that they do not need his services in the town. Marvin remains good-humored, but suddenly he sees McMurdo and calls him out as a criminal from Chicago. McMurdo is rude to him; however, Marvin says his name is now clear in Chicago, and that he will only get in trouble if he does something wrong here. The tale of McMurdo’s exploits makes him even more of a hero in the miners’ eyes. On Saturday night, McMurdo attends the lodge meeting for his initiation. McGinty sits at front like some sort of priest. Old men and enthusiastic young men talk; the young men boast of murderous deeds. The proceedings of these meetings are very open; they used to be secret, but they no longer have to be because no authority can stop them from doing as they please.
McMurdo knows there will be some sort of ordeal for his initiation, but does not know what it will be like. McGinty orders him bound and blindfolded, asks him questions to prove he knows the code, asks him to prove his bravery by walking forward blindly, and to prove he can withstand pain by branding him with the symbol. Though the pain is excessive, he handles himself well, and all the men are impressed. He accepts the rules of the Bodymaster and is officially welcomed in.
After this official business ensues. One man is to be killed in order to fulfill a pledge to another lodge. Two young men are given the task, and McMurdo says he would like to do this as well. Many people approve of his audacity, but others think things are moving quickly. McGinty says that his time will come, but he can come hear another matter that evening. They then discuss a pension for Jim Carnaway’s widow; Jim was killed when the raid to kill Chester Wilcox failed.
An elderly man with a kind face rises and asks who is taking over all the small mining companies. The answer is State & Merton County Railroad Company, which seems to be making massive inroads in the area. Morris suggests they not drive out all the small bosses because once the big companies are fully in charge they will have the resources to hurt the union and bring them to court. People are hushed and grumble. Morris says they ought to go easy on the small men; McGinty considers this briefly and says there is nothing to worry about.
It is then time for refreshments and singing, and McMurdo’s fine tenor distinguishes him. The Bodymaster rises again and reads a passage from the newspaper editor, James Stanger. It is very critical of the union, and the men become angry. They want to do something about it, but Morris speaks again and says they cannot: Stanger is respected in the township and could bring about their destruction. McGinty scoffs and then becomes angry with Morris. Morris backs down and apologizes.
Baldwin and a few other young men get the task to hurt (but not kill) Stanger, and McMurdo is one of these men. They head to the office that evening after establishing an alibi at the bar. The street is deserted and dark. McMurdo guards the door, and the other men go inside and beat up Stanger. Stanger tries to escape, but McMurdo stops him. The men almost kill the editor, but McMurdo stops them, reminding them that McGinty didn't want him killed.
Lights come on after people nearby hear the commotion. The men flee.
Chapter 4
The next morning McMurdo sees a newspaper report detailing the attack; it seems Mr. Stanger survived and recognized some of the men.
A note arrives from the landlady. It is unsigned and asks McMurdo to meet Stanger up on Mason Hill. McMurdo has no idea who wrote it, but he walks to the hill out of curiosity. In the isolated area he finds Brother Morris.
Morris asks the surprised McMurdo if he can talk to him in confidence. McMurdo is clear that he is loyal to McGinty but will listen to his brother and not squeal on him. Morris goes into an anguished account of the violence he has had to perpetrate; he says that he wants to leave but fears for his wife and kids. He never knew the union was like this, and feels his conscience and religion threatened; he has even been excommunicated. He says the union brings terror to the valley and McMurdo should be aware of that.
McMurdo arrogantly says that he is fine, but that he may consider Morris' warning some day. Morris says that before they disband they ought to consider what they will say when asked why they talked; they agree to say that Morris offered McMurdo a clerkship and the young man refused.
Later that day McGinty pays McMurdo a visit. They exchange pleasantries and McGinty abruptly asks what he was talking to Morris about. McMurdo laughs, repeats the lie, and sets McGinty’s mind at ease when the Bodymaster asks further questions regarding Morris criticizing the union.
As they talk the door suddenly bursts open. Captain Marvin and two other men enter forcefully and arrest McMurdo. Despite McGinty’s threats, McMurdo is taken away for his involvement in the beating of Stanger.
Amazingly, though, nothing comes of the trial. There is no evidence, the witnesses admit the light was unclear and they saw no one definitively, and even Stanger says he saw little. The alibis stand, McMurdo and the others are acquitted, and the police are even implicitly censured. However, the people seem angry with the murderers getting off, and they shake their fists at the Brothers.
Chapter 5
McMurdo’s reputation skyrockets even more. He is considered a good companion, a cheery fellow, a bloodthirsty and smart schemer, and impressive for getting out of trouble with the law.
However, while things are going well in some areas of McMurdo's life, Shafter has forbidden him from coming to see Ettie. Ettie still loves McMurdo, but things are difficult for them.
One night Ettie goes to surprise McMurdo. She creeps up behind him, but, to her horror, he reacts fiercely and springs for her throat. He then recognizes her and apologizes, but she is unnerved by the look she saw in his eyes. She cries and begs him to stay away from these violent men. She proposes leaving the Valley of Fear. McMurdo says he cannot do this right now, but finally says that he will work to make it possible for them to get out of the valley within six-to-eight months. Ettie is elated.
It is not long before McMurdo starts to see just how vast this organization actually is. McGinty himself answers to Evans Potts, the County Delegate and a man of immense power.
Scanlan and McMurdo learn that two men in Potts’ employ need a place to stay while they are in town on business and thus will be staying at the boarding house. Lawler, an elderly man, and Andrews, a cheerful young boy, arrive. They are both friendly but will not tell any details of why they were sent. The only thing they mention is that they are assassins and abstainers from drink.
That night, when Lawler and Andrews quietly leave to carry out their business, Scanlan and McMurdo follow them. They walk through the snow, watch the men pick up others to help the job, and then head to Crow Hill, a huge mining operation run by Josiah H. Dunn. McMurdo and Scanlan hide themselves and watch the group of men stand off to the side near the miners.
The morning whistle sounds the ten-minute alarm. The mine engineer, a Scotsman named Menzies, orders the cages lowered. A young man also walks out and notices the group of men gathered. He asks who they are; Andrews steps forward and shoots him dead. When Menzies protests, he too is killed. The other miners scatter.
Scanlan and McMurdo retreat, both surprised. Scanlan feels poorly about what happened, but McMurdo does not seem sympathetic to the dead men.
The brothers celebrate at Union House that night. The killing of the mine manager, along with another killing carried out by Baldwin, contributes to the revelry. McGinty knows the time is right to keep his enemies unstable; he decides another killing must occur, so he calls McMurdo over and tells him he has a job for him and two other men.
McGinty explains that the district will never be right until the businessman Chester Wilcox is dead. McMurdo wonders what the man did and why his wife and children also have to be killed. McGinty gruffly asks if he has a problem with carrying out his orders, and McMurdo says he does not. He takes a night to do reconnaissance, and gets his other two young men ready.
Two nights later, McMurdo and the two other men meet and travel to Wilcox’s house, which they blow up with a powder bag. Unfortunately for the murderers, Wilcox and his family were warned and were not there. McMurdo is furious and says he will take care of it. A few weeks later, news comes of Wilcox’s death.
These are just some of the bloody deeds that took place in the Valley of Fear; “never had the cloud above them been so dark and hopeless as in the early summer of the year 1875” (300).
Analysis
Doyle does a thorough job of depicting the menace of the Scowrers. There are beatings of critical news editors, murders of local businessmen who get in the way, threats to members of the lodge who offer constructive criticism, and utter disregard of the authority figures. It seems at this point like the Scowrers are unbeatable: like the mafia, they have ties everywhere, and no one wants to try to stop them for fear of losing their own lives or having their families targeted.
There certainly is law enforcement, as embodied by Captain Marvin, but the law's efficacy at this point in the story is questionable. One of the most interesting things about Marvin is how he was introduced to American readers, as opposed to his introduction to British readers. For the former, he simply says “Captain Marvin is my name” (264); for the latter he says, “Captain Marvin is my name—of the Coal and Iron [Police].” Before Marvin even says this in the American edition Doyle introduces him thusly: “Just at the crowded hour one night, the door opened and a man entered with the quiet blue uniform and peaked cap of the mine police” (164).
This is much more important than it might seem on the surface in terms of what it means contextually. Critic Marino Alvarez takes on this topic, suggesting that by simply using the term “mine” Doyle implied a peacekeeping force rather than a regulatory power controlled by the colliers (mine owners). Marino also suggests that because Doyle and the Sherlock Holmes stories were so popular in America at the time, Doyle’s American editor did not want to associate the novel with the incredibly unpopular iron and mine police. Alvarez writes, “there is evidence to suggest that the deletion…may have been to stem further incitement among miners and laborers and the American public about this private police agency.” The Coal and Iron Police collaborated with the state police as well as the Pinkertons in order to “quell liberties of those whom they perceived as either chasing a disturbance or were perceived as potential disruptors.”
Doyle had visited New York in 1914 before the novel was released there, and it is likely that he and his editor discussed altering the words. The reading public had been growing more vocally critical of late about the Coal and Iron Police’s tactics, as well as other widespread abuses of laborers. Alvarez’s argument thus seems plausible.
The character of McMurdo is compelling at this point in the story, which is to say before his true identity is revealed. He is bold and courageous, self-assured and arrogant. McGinty sees in him someone he can admire. He does not seem to be afraid of law enforcement, any of the Scowrers, or anyone at the mines. He has little sympathy for those affected by the Scowrers’ violent tactics, though he does stop Baldwin from killing Stanger. He seems to truly love Ettie, but conceals from her his true character. When she surprises him one night and catches a glimpse of his eyes she almost catches on, but he explains this away. it is ironic at this point that she loves a man who is just as violent as Baldwin.
