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diff --git a/14456-h/14456-h.htm b/14456-h/14456-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..938a9b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/14456-h/14456-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7454 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Uphill Climb, by B. M. Bower</title> +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .caesura {vertical-align: -200%;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 8pt;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14456 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Uphill Climb, by B. M. Bower, Illustrated +by Charles M. Russell</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> + <br /> + <a name='FRONTISPIECE' id="FRONTISPIECE"></a> + <center> + <a href="images/front_sm.jpg"><img src="images/front_sm.jpg" width='70%' + alt='Illustration: "Hell-o, Ford, where the blazes did you drop down + from?" a welcoming voice yelled.' /></a> + </center> + <h4> + "Hell-o, Ford, where the blazes did you drop down from?" a + welcoming voice yelled. + </h4> + <br /> + <br /> + <h1> + THE UPHILL CLIMB + </h1> + <br /> + <h3> + BY + </h3> + <br /> + <h2> + B. M. BOWER + </h2> + <br /> + <br /> + <h4> + AUTHOR OF + </h4> + <h2> + <i>GOOD INDIAN</i>, + <br /> + <i>CHIP, OF THE FLYING U</i>, ETC. + </h2> + <br /> + <br /> + <h4> + WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY</h4> + + <h2>CHARLES M. RUSSELL</h2> + <br /> + <br /> + <h6> + New York + <br /> + Grosset & Dunlap + <br /> + Publishers + </h6> + <br /> + <br /> + <h3> + 1913 + </h3> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2> + CONTENTS + </h2> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_I'><b>CHAPTER I.--"Married! and I Don't Know Her + Name!"</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_II'><b>CHAPTER II.--Wanted: Information</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_III'><b>CHAPTER III.--One Way to Drown + Sorrow</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_IV'><b>CHAPTER IV.--Reaction</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_V'><b>CHAPTER V.--"I Can Spare this Particular + Girl"</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_VI'><b>CHAPTER VI.--The Problem of Getting + Somewhere</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_VII'><b>CHAPTER VII.--The Foreman of the Double + Cross</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_VIII'><b>CHAPTER VIII.--"I Wish You'd Quit + Believing in Me!"</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_IX'><b>CHAPTER IX.--Impressions</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_X'><b>CHAPTER X.--In Which the Demon Opens and + Eye and Yawns</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_XI'><b>CHAPTER XI.--"It's Going to Be an Uphill + Climb!"</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_XII'><b>CHAPTER XII.--At Hand-Grips with the + Demon</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_XIII'><b>CHAPTER XIII.--A Plan Gone Wrong</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_XIV'><b>CHAPTER XIV.--The Feminine Point of + View</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_XV'><b>CHAPTER XV.--The Climb</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_XVI'><b>CHAPTER XVI.--To Find and Free a + Wife</b></a> + <br /> + <a href='#CHAPTER_XVII'><b>CHAPTER XVII.--What Ford Found at the + Top</b></a> + <br /> + <br /> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2> + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + </h2> + <br /> + <a href='#FRONTISPIECE'><b>"Hell-o, Ford, where the blazes did you + drop down from?" a welcoming voice yelled.</b></a> + <br /> + <br /> + <a href='#ILLUS_PG074'><b>She lifted her head and looked at him, + and drew away.</b></a> + <br /> + <br /> + <a href='#ILLUS_PG209'><b>Dick tottered upon the step and went off + backward.</b></a> + <br /> + <br /> + <a href='#ILLUS_PG254'><b>"Ford, I'm no coquette," she said + straightforwardly.</b></a> + <br /> + <br /> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2> + <i>The Uphill Climb</i> + </h2> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_I' id="CHAPTER_I"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <h3> + "Married! And I Don't Know Her Name!" + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Ford lifted his arms above his head to yawn as does a man who has + slept too heavily, found his biceps stiffened and sore, and + massaged them gingerly with his finger-tips. His eyes took on the + vacancy of memory straining at the leash of forgetfulness. He + sighed largely, swung his head slowly from left to right in mute + admission of failure to grasp what lay just behind his slumber, + and thereby discovered other muscles that protested against + sudden movement. He felt his neck with a careful, rubbing + gesture. One hand strayed to his left cheekbone, hovered there + tentatively, wandered to the bridge of his nose, and from there + dropped inertly to the bed. + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me! I must have been drunk last night," he said aloud, + mechanically taking the straight line of logic from effect to + cause, as much experience had taught him to do. + </p> + <p> + "You was—and then some," replied an unemotional voice from + somewhere behind him. + </p> + <p> + "Oh! That you, Sandy?" Ford lay quiet, trying to remember. His + finger-tips explored the right side of his face; now and then he + winced under their touch, light as it was. + </p> + <p> + "I must have carried an awful load," he decided, again unerringly + taking the backward trail from effect to cause. Later, logic + carried him farther. "Who'd I lick, Sandy?" + </p> + <p> + "Several." The unseen Sandy gave one the impression of a man + smoking and speaking between puffs. "Can't say just who—you + did start in on. You wound up on—the preacher." + </p> + <p> + "Preacher?" Ford's tone matched the flicker of interest in his + eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Uhn-hunh." + </p> + <p> + Ford meditated a moment. "I don't recollect ever licking a + preacher before," he observed curiously. + </p> + <p> + Life, stale and drab since his eyes opened, gathered to itself + the pale glow of awakening interest. Ford rose painfully, inch by + inch, until he was sitting upon the side of the bed, got from + there to his feet, looked down and saw that he was clothed to his + boots, and crossed slowly to where a cheap, flyspecked + looking-glass hung awry upon the wall. His self-inspection was + grave and minute. His eyes held the philosophic calm of + accustomedness. + </p> + <p> + "Who put this head on me, Sandy?" he inquired apathetically. "The + preacher?" + </p> + <p> + "I d' know. You had it when you come up outa the heap. You licked + the preacher afterwards, I think." + </p> + <p> + Sandy was reading a ragged-backed novel while he smoked; his + interest in Ford and Ford's battered countenance was plainly + perfunctory. + </p> + <p> + Outside, the rain fell aslant in the wind and drummed dismally + upon the little window beside Sandy. It beat upon the door and + trickled underneath in a thin rivulet to a shallow puddle, formed + where the floor was sunken. A dank warmth and the smell of wet + wood heating to the blazing point pervaded the room and mingled + with the coarse aroma of cheap, warmed-over coffee. + </p> + <p> + "Sandy!" + </p> + <p> + "Hunh?" + </p> + <p> + "Did anybody get married last night?" The leash of forgetfulness + was snapping, strand by strand. Troubled remembrance peered out + from behind the philosophic calm in Ford's eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Unh-hunh." Sandy turned a leaf and at the same time flicked the + ashes from his cigarette with a mechanical finger movement. "You + did." He looked briefly up from the page. "That's why you licked + the preacher," he assisted, and went back to his reading. + </p> + <p> + A subdued rumble of mid-autumn thunder jarred sullenly overhead. + Ford ceased caressing the purple half-moon which inclosed his + left eye and began moodily straightening his tie. + </p> + <p> + "Now what'n hell did I do that for?" he inquired complainingly. + </p> + <p> + "Search <i>me</i>," mumbled Sandy over his book. He read half a + page farther. "Do what for?" he asked, with belated attention. + </p> + <p> + Ford swore and went over and lifted the coffeepot from the stove, + shook it, looked in, and made a grimace of disgust as the steam + smote him in the face. "Paugh!" He set down the pot and turned + upon Sandy. + </p> + <p> + "Get your nose out of that book a minute and talk!" he commanded + in a tone beseeching for all its surly growl. "You say I got + married. I kinda recollect something of the kind. What I want to + know is who's the lady? And what did I do it for?" He sat down, + leaned his bruised head upon his palms, and spat morosely into + the stove-hearth. "Lordy me," he grumbled. "I don't know any lady + well enough to marry her—and I sure can't think of any + female lady that would marry me—not even by proxy!" + </p> + <p> + Sandy closed the book upon a forefinger and regarded Ford with + that blend of pity, amusement, and tolerance which is so + absolutely unbearable to one who has behaved foolishly and knows + it. Ford would not have borne the look if he had seen it; but he + was caressing a bruise on the point of his jaw and staring + dejectedly into the meager blaze which rimmed the lower edge of + the stove's front door, and so remained unconscious of his + companion's impertinence. + </p> + <p> + "Who was the lady, Sandy?" he begged dispiritedly, after a + silence. + </p> + <p> + "Search <i>me</i>" Sandy replied again succinctly. "Some stranger + that blew in here with a license and the preacher and said you + was her fee-ancy." (Sandy read romances, mostly, and permitted + his vocabulary to profit thereby.) "You never denied it, even + when she said your name was a nomdy gair; and you let her marry + you, all right." + </p> + <p> + "Are you sure of that?" Ford looked up from under lowering + eyebrows. + </p> + <p> + "Unh-hunh—that's what you done, all right." Sandy's voice + was dishearteningly positive. + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me!" gasped Ford under his breath. + </p> + <p> + There was a silence which slid Sandy's interest back into his + book. He turned a leaf and was half-way down the page before he + was interrupted by more questions. + </p> + <p> + "Say! Where's she at now?" Ford spoke with a certain furtive + lowering of his voice. + </p> + <p> + "I d' know." Sandy read a line with greedy interest. "She took + the 'leven-twenty," he added then. Another mental lapse. "You + seen her to the train yourself." + </p> + <p> + "The hell I did!" Ford's good eye glared incredulity, but Sandy + was again following hungrily the love-tangle of an + unpronounceable count in the depths of the Black Forest, and he + remained perfectly unconscious of the look and the mental + distress which caused it. Ford went back to studying the meager + blaze and trying to remember. He might be able to extract the + whole truth from Sandy, but that would involve taking his novel + away from him—by force, probably; and the loss of the book + would be very likely to turn Sandy so sullen that he would refuse + to answer, or to tell the truth, at any rate; and Ford's muscles + were very, very sore. He did not feel equal to a scuffle with + Sandy, just then. He repeated something which sounded like an + impromptu litany and had to do with the ultimate disposal of his + own soul. + </p> + <p> + "Hunh?" asked Sandy. + </p> + <p> + Whereupon Ford, being harassed mentally and in great physical + discomfort as well, specifically disposed of Sandy's immortal + soul also. + </p> + <p> + Sandy merely grinned at him. "You don't want to take it to heart + like that," he remonstrated cheerfully. + </p> + <p> + Ford, by way of reply, painstakingly analyzed the chief + deficiencies of Sandy's immediate relatives, and was beginning + upon his grandparents when Sandy reached barren ground in the + shape of three long paragraphs of snow, cold, and sunrise + artistically blended with prismatic adjectives. He waded through + the first paragraph and well into the second before he mired in a + hopeless jumble of unfamiliar polysyllables. Sandy was not the + skipping kind; he threw the book upon a bench and gave his + attention wholly to his companion in time to save his + great-grandfather from utter condemnation. + </p> + <p> + "What's eating you, Ford?" he began pacifically—for Sandy + was a weakling. "You might be a lot worse off. You're married, + all right enough, from all I c'n hear—but she's left town. + It ain't as if you had to live with her." + </p> + <p> + Ford looked at him a minute and groaned dismally. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I ain't meaning anything against the lady herself," Sandy + hastened to assure him. "Far as I know, she's all right—" + </p> + <p> + "What I want to know," Ford broke in, impatient of condolence + when he needed facts, "is, who <i>is</i> she? And what did I go + and marry her for?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, you'll have to ask somebody that knows. I never seen her, + myself, except when you was leadin' her down to the depot, and + you and her talked it over private like—the way I heard it. + I was gitting a hair-cut and shampoo at the time. First I heard, + you was married. I should think you'd remember it yourself." + Sandy looked at Ford curiously. + </p> + <p> + "I kinda remember standing up and holding hands with some woman + and somebody saying: 'I now pronounce you man and wife,'" Ford + confessed miserably, his face in his hands again. "I guess I must + have done it, all right." + </p> + <p> + Sandy was kind enough when not otherwise engaged. He got up and + put a basin of water on the stove to warm, that Ford might bathe + his hurts, and he made him a very creditable drink with lemon and + whisky and not too much water. + </p> + <p> + "The way I heard it," he explained further, "this lady come to + town looking for Frank Ford Cameron, and seen you, and said you + was him. So—" + </p> + <p> + "I ain't," Ford interrupted indignantly. "My name's Ford Campbell + and I'll lick any darned son-of-a-gun—" + </p> + <p> + "Likely she made a mistake," Sandy soothed. "Frank Ford Cameron, + she had you down for, and you went ahead and married her willing + enough. Seems like there was some hurry-up reason that she + explained to you private. She had the license all made out and + brought a preacher down from Garbin. Bill Wright said he + overheard you tellin' her you'd do anything to oblige a + lady—" + </p> + <p> + "That's the worst of it; I'm always too damned polite when I'm + drunk!" grumbled Ford. + </p> + <p> + Sandy, looking upon his bruised and distorted countenance and + recalling, perhaps, the process by which Ford reached that + lamentable condition, made a sound like a diplomatically + disguised laugh. "Not always," he qualified mildly. + </p> + <p> + "Anyway," he went on, "you sure married her. That's straight + goods. Bill Wright and Rock was the witnesses. And if you don't + know why you done it—" Sandy waved his hands to indicate + his inability to enlighten Ford. "Right afterwards you went out + to the bar and had another drink—all this takin' place in + the hotel dining-room, and Mother McGrew down with neuralagy and + not bein' present—and one drink leads to another, you know. + I come in then, and the bunch was drinkin' luck to you fast as + Sam could push the bottles along. Then you went back to the + lady—and if you don't know what took place you can search + me—and pretty soon Bill said you'd took her and her grip to + the depot. Anyway, when you come back, you wasn't troubled with + no attack of politeness! + </p> + <p> + "You went in the air with Bill, first," continued Sandy, testing + with his finger the temperature of the water in the basin, "and + bawled him out something fierce for standing by and seeing you + make a break like that without doing something. You licked + him—and then Rock bought in because some of your remarks + kinda included him too. I d' know," said Sandy, scratching his + unshaven jaw reflectively, "just how the fight did go between you + 'n' Rock. You was both using the whole room, I know. Near as I + could make out, you—or maybe it was Rock—tromped on + Big Jim's bunion. This cold spell's hard on bunions—and Big + Jim went after you both with blood in his eye. + </p> + <p> + "After that"—Sandy spread his arms largely—"it was + go-as-you-please. Sam and me was the only ones that kept out, + near as I can recollect, and when it thinned up a bit, you had + Aleck down and was pounding the liver outa him, and Big Jim was + whanging away at you, and Rock was clawin' Jim in the back of the + neck, and you was all kickin' like bay steers in brandin' time. I + reached in under the pile and dragged you out by one leg and left + the rest of 'em fighting. They never seemed to miss you none." He + grinned. "Jim commenced to bump Aleck's head up and down on the + floor instead of you—and I knew he didn't have nothing + against Aleck." + </p> + <p> + "Bill—" + </p> + <p> + "Bill, he'd quit right in the start." Sandy's grin became a + laugh. "Seems like pore old Bill always gits in bad when you + commence on your third pint. You wasn't through, though, seems + like. You was going to start in at the beginning and en-core the + whole performance, and you started out after Bill. Bill, he was + lookin' for a hole big enough to crawl into by that time. But you + run into the preacher. And you licked him to a fare-you-well and + had him crying real tears before I or anybody else could stop + you." + </p> + <p> + "What'd I lick him for?" Ford inquired in a tone of deep + discouragement. + </p> + <p> + Sandy's indeterminate, blue-gray eyes rounded with puzzlement. + </p> + <p> + "Search me," he repeated automatically. But later he + inadvertently shed enlightenment. He laughed, bending double, and + slapping his thigh at the irresistible urge of a mental picture. + </p> + <p> + "Thought I'd die," he gasped. "Me and Sam was watching from the + door. You had the preacher by the collar, shakin' him, and once + in awhile liftin' him clean off the ground on the toe of your + boot; and you kept saying: 'A sober man, and a preacher—and + you'd marry that girl to a fellow like me!' And then biff! And + he'd let out a squawk. 'A drinkin', fightin', gamblin' + son-of-a-gun like me, you swine!' you'd tell him. And when we + finally pulled you loose, he picked up his hat and made a run for + it." + </p> + <p> + Ford meditated gloomily. "I'll lick him again, and lick him when + I'm sober, by thunder!" he promised grimly. "Who was he, do you + know?" + </p> + <p> + "No, I don't. Little, dried-up geezer with a nose like a + kit-fox's and a whine to his voice. He won't come around here no + more." + </p> + <p> + The door opened gustily and a big fellow with a skinned nose and + a whimsical pair of eyes looked in, hesitated while he stared + hard at Ford, and then entered and shut the door by the simple + method of throwing his shoulders back against it. + </p> + <p> + "Hello, old sport—how you comin'?" he cried cheerfully. + "Kinda wet for makin' calls, but when a man's loaded down with a + guilty conscience—" He sighed somewhat ostentatiously and + pulled forward a chair rejuvenated with baling-wire braces + between the legs, and a cowhide seat. "What's that + cookin'—coffee, or sheep-dip?" he inquired facetiously of + Sandy, though his eyes dwelt solicitously upon Ford's bowed head. + He leaned forward and slapped Ford in friendly fashion upon the + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + "Buck up—'the worst is yet to come,'" he shouted, and + laughed with an exaggeration of cheerfulness. "You can't ever + tell when death or matrimony's goin' to get a man. By hokey, + seems like there's no dodgin' either one." + </p> + <p> + Ford lifted a bloodshot eye to the other. "And I always counted + you for a friend, Bill," he reproached heavily. "Sandy says I + licked you good and plenty. Well, looks to me like you had it + coming, all right." + </p> + <p> + "Well—I got it, didn't I?" snorted Bill, his hand lifting + involuntarily to his nose. "And I ain't bellering, am I?" His + mouth took an abused, downward droop. "I ain't holdin' any + grudge, am I? Why, Sandy here can tell you that I held one side + of you up whilst he was leadin' the other side of you home! And I + am sorry I stood there and seen you get married off and never + lifted a finger; I'm darned sorry. I shoulda hollered misdeal, + all right. I know it now." He pulled remorsefully at his wet + mustache, which very much resembled a worn-out sharing brush. + </p> + <p> + Ford straightened up, dropped a hand upon his thigh, and thereby + discovered another sore spot, which he caressed gently with his + palm. + </p> + <p> + "Say, Bill, you were there, and you saw her. On the square + now—what's she like? And what made me marry her?" + </p> + <p> + Bill pulled so hard upon his mustache that his teeth showed; his + breath became unpleasantly audible with the stress of emotion. + "So help me, I can't tell you what she's like, Ford," he + confessed. "I don't remember nothing about her looks, except she + looked good to me, and I never seen her before, and her hair + wasn't red—I always remember red hair when I see it, drunk + or sober. You see," he added as an extenuation, "I was pretty + well jagged myself. I musta been. I recollect I was real put out + because my name wasn't Frank Ford—By hokey!" He laid an + impressive forefinger upon Ford's knee and tapped several times. + "I never knew your name was rightly Frank Ford Cameron. I + always—" + </p> + <p> + "It ain't." Ford winced and drew away from the tapping process, + as if his knee also was sensitive that morning. + </p> + <p> + "You told her it was. I mind that perfectly, because I was so + su'prised I swore right out loud and was so damned ashamed I + couldn't apologize. And say! She musta been a real lady or I + wouldn't uh felt that way about it!" Bill glanced triumphantly + from one to the other. "Take it from me, you married a lady, + Ford. Drunk or sober, I always make it a point to speak proper + before the ladies—t'other kind don't count—and when I + make a break, you betcher life I remember it. She's a real + lady—I'd swear to that on a stack uh bibles ten feet high!" + He settled back and unbuttoned his steaming coat with the air of + a man who has established beyond question the vital point of an + argument. + </p> + <p> + "Did I tell her so myself, or did I just let it go that way?" + Ford, as his brain cleared, stuck close to his groping for the + essential facts. + </p> + <p> + "Well, now—I ain't dead sure as to that. Maybe Rock'll + remember. Kinda seems to me now, that she asked you if you was + really Frank Ford Cameron, and you said: 'I sure am,' or + something like that. The preacher'd know, maybe. He musta been + the only sober one in the bunch—except the girl. But you + done chased him off, so—" + </p> + <p> + "Sandy, I wish you'd go hunt Rock up and tell him I want to see + him." Ford spoke with more of his natural spirit than he had + shown since waking. + </p> + <p> + "Rock's gone on out to Riley's camp," volunteered Bill. "Left + this morning, before the rain started in." + </p> + <p> + "What was her name—do you know?" Ford went back to the + mystery. + </p> + <p> + "Ida—or was it Jenny? Some darned name—I heard it, + when the preacher was marrying you." Bill was floundering + hopelessly in mental fog, but he persisted. "And I seen it wrote + in the paper I signed my name to. I mind she rolled up the paper + afterwards and put it—well, I dunno where, but she took it + away with her, and says to you: 'That's safe, now'—or + 'You're safe,' or 'I'm safe,'—anyway, some darned thing was + safe. And I was goin' to kiss the bride—mebbe I did kiss + her—only I'd likely remember it if I had, drunk or sober! + And—oh, now I got it!" Bill's voice was full of elation. + "You was goin' to kiss the bride—that was it, it was you + goin' to kiss her, and she slap—no, by hokey, she didn't + slap you, she just—or was it Rock, now?" Doubt filled his + eyes distressfully. "Darn my everlastin' hide," he finished + lamely, "there was some kissin' somew'ere in the deal, and I mind + her cryin' afterwards, but whether it was about that, + or—Say, Sandy, what was it Ford was lickin' the preacher + for? Wasn't it for kissin' the bride?" + </p> + <p> + "It was for marrying him to her," Sandy informed him + sententiously. + </p> + <p> + Ford got up and went to the little window and looked out. + Presently he came back to the stove and stood staring disgustedly + down upon the effusively friendly Bill, leering up at him + pacifically. + </p> + <p> + "If I didn't feel so rotten," he said glumly, "I'd give you + another licking right now, Bill—you boozing old devil. I'd + like to lick every darned galoot that stood back and let me in + for this. You'd ought to have stopped me. You'd oughta pounded + the face off me before you let me do such a fool thing. That," he + said bitterly, "shows how much a man can bank on his friends!" + </p> + <p> + "It shows," snorted Bill indignantly, "how much he can bank on + himself!" + </p> + <p> + "On whisky, to let him in for all kinds uh trouble," revised + Sandy virtuously. Sandy had a stomach which invariably rebelled + at the second glass and therefore, remaining always sober + perforce, he took to himself great credit for his morality. + </p> + <p> + "Married!—and I don't so much as know her name!" gritted + Ford, and went over and laid himself down upon the bed, and + sulked for the rest of that day of rain and gloom. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_II' id="CHAPTER_II"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <h3> + Wanted: Information + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Sulking never yet solved a mystery nor will it accomplish much + toward bettering an unpleasant situation. After a day of + unmitigated gloom and a night of uneasy dreams, Ford awoke to a + white, shifting world of the season's first blizzard, and to + something like his normal outlook upon life. + </p> + <p> + That outlook had ever been cheerful, with the cheerfulness which + comes of taking life in twenty-four-hour doses only, and of + looking not too far ahead and backward not at all. Plenty of + persons live after that fashion and thereby attain middle life + with smooth foreheads and cheeks unlined by thought; and Ford was + therefore not much different from his fellows. Never before had + he found himself with anything worse than bodily bruises to sour + life for him after a tumultuous night or two in town, and the + sensation of a discomfort which had not sprung from some + well-defined physical sense was therefore sufficiently novel to + claim all his attention. + </p> + <p> + It was not the first time he had fought and forgotten it + afterwards. Nor was it a new experience for him to seek + information from his friends after a night full of incident. + Sandy he had always found tolerably reliable, because Sandy, + being of that inquisitive nature so common to small persons, made + it a point to see everything there was to be seen; and his + peculiar digestive organs might be counted upon to keep him + sober. It was a real grievance to Ford that Sandy should have + chosen the hour he did for indulging in such trivialities as + hair-cuts and shampoos, while events of real importance were + permitted to transpire unseen and unrecorded. Ford, when the + grievance thrust itself keenly upon him, roused the recreant + Sandy by pitilessly thrusting an elbow against his diaphragm. + </p> + <p> + Sandy grunted at the impact and sat bolt upright in bed before he + was fairly awake. He glanced reproachfully down at Ford, who + stared back at him from a badly crumpled pillow. + </p> + <p> + "Get up," growled Ford, "and start a fire going, darn you. You + kept me awake half the night, snoring. I want a beefsteak with + mushrooms, devilled kidneys, waffles with honey, and four banana + fritters for breakfast. I'll take it in bed; and while I'm + waiting, you can bring me the morning paper and a package of + Egyptian Houris." + </p> + <p> + Sandy grunted again, slid reluctantly out into the bitterly cold + room, and crept shivering into his clothes. He never quite + understood Ford's sense of humor, at such times, but he had + learned that it is more comfortable to crawl out of bed than to + be kicked out, and that vituperation is a mere waste of time when + matched against sheer heartlessness and a superior muscular + development. + </p> + <p> + "Y' ought to make your wife build the fires," he taunted, when he + was clothed and at a safe distance from the bed. He ducked + instinctively afterwards, but Ford was merely placing a match by + itself on the bench close by. + </p> + <p> + "That's one," Ford remarked calmly. "I'm going to thrash every + misguided humorist who mentions that subject to me in anything + but a helpful spirit of pure friendship. I'm going to give him a + separate licking for every alleged joke. I'll want two steaks, + Sandy. I'll likely have to give you about seven distinct + wallopings. Hand me some more matches to keep tally with. I don't + want to cheat you out of your just dues." + </p> + <p> + Sandy eyed him doubtfully while he scraped the ashes from the + grate. + </p> + <p> + "You may want a dozen steaks, but that ain't saying you're going + to git 'em," he retorted, with a feeble show of aggression. "And + 's far as licking me goes—" He stopped to blow warmth upon + his fingers, which were numbed with their grasp of the poker. "As + for licking me, I guess you'll have to do that on the strength uh + bacon and sour-dough biscuits; if you do it at all, which I claim + the privilege uh doubting a whole lot." + </p> + <p> + Ford laughed a little at the covert challenge, made ridiculous by + Sandy's diminutive stature, pulled the blankets up to his eyes, + and dozed off luxuriously; and although it is extremely tiresome + to be told in detail just what a man dreams upon certain + occasions, he did dream, and it was something about being + married. At any rate, when the sizzling of bacon frying invaded + even his slumber and woke him, he felt a distinct pang of + disappointment that it was Sandy's carroty head bent over the + frying-pan, instead of a wife with blond hair which waved + becomingly upon her temples. + </p> + <p> + "Wonder what color her hair is, anyway," he observed + inadvertently, before he was wide enough awake to put the seal of + silence on his musings. + </p> + <p> + "Hunh?" + </p> + <p> + "I asked when those banana fritters are coming up," lied Ford, + getting out of bed and yawning so that his swollen jaw hurt him, + and relapsed into his usual taciturnity, which was his wall of + defense against Sandy's inquisitiveness. + </p> + <p> + He ate his breakfast almost in silence, astonishing Sandy + somewhat by not complaining of the excess of soda in the + biscuits. Ford was inclined toward fastidiousness when he was + sober—a trait which caused men to suspect him of descending + from an upper stratum of society; though just when, or just + where, or how great that descent had been, they had no means of + finding out. Ford, so far as his speech upon the subject was + concerned, had no existence previous to his appearance in + Montana, five or six years before; but he bore certain earmarks + of a higher civilization which, in Sandy's mind, rather + concentrated upon a pronounced distaste for soda-yellowed bread, + warmed-over coffee, and scorched bacon. That he swallowed all + these things and seemed not to notice them, struck Sandy as being + almost as remarkable as his matrimonial adventure. + </p> + <p> + When he had eaten, Ford buttoned himself into his overcoat, + pulled his moleskin cap well down, and went out into the storm + without a word to Sandy, which was also unusual; it was Ford's + custom to wash the dishes, because he objected to Sandy's economy + of clean, hot water. Sandy flattened his nose against the window, + saw that Ford, leaning well forward against the drive of the + wind, was battling his way toward the hotel, and guessed shrewdly + that he would see him no more that day. + </p> + <p> + "He better keep sober till his knuckles git well, anyway," he + mumbled disapprovingly. "If he goes to fighting, the shape he's + in now—" + </p> + <p> + Ford had no intention of fighting. He went straight up to the + bar, it is true, but that was because he saw that Sam was at that + moment unoccupied, save with a large lump of gum. Being at the + bar, he drank a glass of whisky; not of deliberate intent, but + merely from force of habit. Once down, however, the familiar glow + of it through his being was exceedingly grateful, and he took + another for good measure. + </p> + <p> + "H'lo, Ford," Sam bethought him to say, after he had gravely + taken mental note of each separate scar of battle, and had + shifted his cud to the other side of his mouth, and had squeezed + it meditatively between his teeth. "Feel as rocky as you look?" + </p> + <p> + "Possibly." Ford's eyes forbade further personalities. "I'm out + after information, Sam, and if you've got any you aren't using, + I'd advise you to pass it over; I can use a lot, this morning. + Were you sober, night before last?" + </p> + <p> + Sam chewed solemnly while he considered. "Tolerable sober, yes," + he decided at last. "Sober enough to tend to business; why?" + </p> + <p> + With his empty glass Ford wrote invisible scrolls upon the bar. + "I—did you happen to see—my—the lady I + married?" He had been embarrassed at first, but when he finished + he was glaring a challenge which shifted the disquiet to Sam's + manner. + </p> + <p> + "No. I was tendin' bar all evenin'—and she didn't come in + here." + </p> + <p> + Ford glanced behind him at the sound of the door opening, saw + that it was only Bill, and leaned over the bar for greater + secrecy, lowering his voice as well. + </p> + <p> + "Did you happen to hear who she was?" + </p> + <p> + Sam stared and shook his head. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you know anything about her at all—where she came + from—and why, and where she went?" + </p> + <p> + Sam backed involuntarily. Ford's tone made it a crime either to + know these things or to be guilty of ignorance; which, Sam could + not determine. Sam was of the sleek, oily-haired type of young + men, with pimples and pale eyes and a predilection for gum and + gossip. He was afraid of Ford and he showed it. + </p> + <p> + "That's just what (no offense, Ford—I ain't responsible) + that's what everybody's wondering. Nobody seems to know. They + kinda hoped you'd explain—" + </p> + <p> + "Sure!" Ford's tone was growing extremely ominous. "I'll explain + a lot of things—if I hear any gabbling going on about my + affairs." He was seized then with an uncomfortable feeling that + the words were mere puerile blustering and turned away from the + bar in disgust. + </p> + <p> + In disgust he pulled open the door, flinched before the blast of + wind and snow which smote him full in the face and blinded him, + and went out again into the storm. The hotel porch was a bleak + place, with snow six inches deep and icy boards upon which a man + might easily slip and break a bone or two, and with a whine + overhead as the wind sucked under the roof. Ford stood there so + long that his feet began to tingle. He was not thinking; he was + merely feeling the feeble struggles of a newborn desire to be + something and do something worth while—a desire which + manifested itself chiefly in bitterness against himself as he + was, and in a mental nausea against the life he had been content + to live. + </p> + <p> + The mystery of his marriage was growing from a mere untoward + incident of a night's carouse into a baffling thing which hung + over him like an impending doom. He was not the sort of man who + marries easily. It seemed incredible that he could really have + done it; more incredible that he could have done it and then have + wiped the slate of his memory clean; with the crowning + impossibility that a strange young woman could come into town, + marry him, and afterward depart and no man know who she was, + whence she had come, or where she had gone. Ford stepped suddenly + off the porch and bored his way through the blizzard toward the + depot. The station agent would be able to answer the last + question, at any rate. + </p> + <p> + The agent, however, proved disappointingly ignorant of the + matter. He reminded Ford that there had not been time to buy a + ticket, and that the girl had been compelled to run down the + platform to reach the train before it started, and that the + wheels began to turn before she was up the steps of the day + coach. + </p> + <p> + "And don't you remember turning around and saying to me: 'I'm a + poor married man, but you can't notice the scar,' or something + like that?" The agent was plainly interested and desirous of + rendering any assistance possible, and also rather diffident + about discussing so delicate a matter with a man like Ford. + </p> + <p> + Ford drummed his fingers impatiently upon the shelf outside the + ticket window. "I don't remember a darned thing about it," he + confessed glumly. "I can't say I enjoy running all around town + trying to find out who it was I married, and why I married her, + and where she went afterwards, but that's just the kinda fix I'm + in, Lew. I don't suppose she came here and did it just for + fun—and I can't figure out any other reason, unless she was + plumb loco. From all I can gather, she was a nice girl, and it + seems she thought I was Frank Ford Cameron—which I am not!" + He laughed, as a man will laugh sometimes when he is neither + pleased nor amused. + </p> + <p> + "I might ask McCreery—he's conductor on Fourteen. He might + remember where she wanted to go," the agent suggested + hesitatingly. "And say! What's the matter with going up to Garbin + and looking up the record? She had to get the license there, and + they'd have her name, age, place of residence, and—and + whether she's white or black." The agent smiled uncertainly over + his feeble attempt at a joke. "I got a license for a friend + once," he explained hastily, when he saw that Ford's face did not + relax a muscle. "There's a train up in forty minutes—" + </p> + <p> + "Sure, I'll do that." Ford brightened. "That must be what I've + been trying to think of and couldn't. I knew there was some way + of finding out. Throw me a round-trip ticket, Lew. Lordy me! I + can't afford to let a real, live wife slip the halter like this + and leave me stranded and not knowing a thing about her. How much + is it?" + </p> + <p> + The agent slid a dark red card into the mouth of his office + stamp, jerked down the lever, and swung his head quickly toward + the sounder chattering hysterically behind him. His jaw slackened + as he listened, and he turned his eyes vacantly upon Ford for a + moment before he looked back at the instrument. + </p> + <p> + "Well, what do you know about that?" he queried, under his + breath, released the ticket from the grip of the stamp, and + flipped it into the drawer beneath the shelf as if it were so + much waste paper. + </p> + <p> + "That's my ticket," Ford reminded him levelly. + </p> + <p> + "You don't want it now, do you?" The agent grinned at him. "Oh, I + forgot you couldn't read that." He tilted his head back toward + the instrument. "A wire just went through—the court-house + at Garbin caught fire in the basement—something about the + furnace, they think—and she's going up in smoke. Hydrants + are froze up so they can't get water on it. That fixes your + looking up the record, Ford." + </p> + <p> + Ford stared hard at him. "Well, I might hunt up the preacher and + ask him," he said, his tone dropping again to dull + discouragement. + </p> + <p> + The agent chuckled. "From all I hear," he observed rashly, + "you've made that same preacher mighty hard to catch!" + </p> + <p> + Ford drummed upon the shelf and scowled at the smoke-blackened + window, beyond which the snow was sweeping aslant. Upon his own + side of the ticket window, the agent pared his nails with his + pocket-knife and watched him furtively. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, hell! What do I care, anyway?" Revulsion seized Ford + harshly. "I guess I can stand it if she can. She came here and + married me—it isn't my funeral any more than it is hers. If + she wants to be so darned mysterious about it, she can go + plumb—to—New York!" There were a few decent traits in + Ford Campbell; one was his respect for women, a respect which + would not permit him to swear about this wife of his, however + exasperating her behavior. + </p> + <p> + "That's the sensible way to look at it, of course," assented the + agent, who made it a point to agree always with a man of Ford's + size and caliber, on the theory that amiability means popularity, + and that placation is better than plasters. "You sure ought to + let her do the hunting—and the worrying, too. You aren't to + blame if she married you unawares. She did it all on her own + hook—and she must have known what she was up against." + </p> + <p> + "No, she didn't," flared Ford unexpectedly. "She made a mistake, + and I wanted to point it out to her and help her out of it if I + could. She took me for some one else, and I was just drunk enough + to think it was a joke, I suppose, and let it go that way. I + don't believe she found out she tied up to the wrong man. It's + entirely my fault, for being drunk." + </p> + <p> + "Well, putting it that way, you're right about it," agreed the + adaptable Lew. "Of course, if you hadn't been—" + </p> + <p> + "If whisky's going to let a fellow in for things like this, it's + time to cut it out altogether." Ford was looking at the agent + attentively. + </p> + <p> + "That's right," assented the other unsuspectingly. "Whisky is + sure giving you the worst of it all around. You ought to climb on + the water-wagon, Ford, and that's a fact. Whisky's the worst + enemy you've got." + </p> + <p> + "Sure. And I'm going to punish all of it I can get my hands on!" + He turned toward the door. "And when I'm good and full of it," he + added as an afterthought, "I'm liable to come over here and lick + you, Lew, just for being such an agreeable cuss. You better leave + your mother's address handy." He laughed a little to himself as + he pulled the door shut behind him. "I bet he'll keep the frost + thawed off the window to-day, just to see who comes up the + platform," he chuckled. + </p> + <p> + He would have been more amused if he had seen how the agent + ducked anxiously forward to peer through the ticket window + whenever the door of the waiting room opened, and how he started + whenever the snow outside creaked under the tread of a heavy + step; and he would have been convulsed with mirth if he had + caught sight of the formidable billet of wood which Lew kept + beside his chair all that day, and had guessed its purpose, and + that it was a mute witness to the reputation which one Ford + Campbell bore among his fellows. Lew was too wise to consider for + a moment the revolver meant to protect the contents of the safe. + Even the unintelligent know better than to throw a lighted match + into a keg of gunpowder. + </p> + <p> + Ford leaned backward against the push of the storm and was swept + up to the hotel. He could not remember when he had felt so + completely baffled; the incident of the girl and the ceremony was + growing to something very like a calamity, and the mystery which + surrounded it began to fret him intolerably; and the very + unusualness of a trouble he could not settle with his fists + whipped his temper to the point of explosion. He caught himself + wavering, nevertheless, before the wind-swept porch of the hotel + "office." That, too, was strange. Ford was not wont to hesitate + before entering a saloon; more often he hesitated about leaving. + </p> + <p> + "What's the matter with me, anyway?" he questioned himself + impatiently. "I'm acting like I hadn't a right to go in and take + a drink when I feel like it! If just a slight touch of matrimony + acts like that with a man, what can the real thing be like? I + always heard it made a fool of a fellow." To prove to himself + that he was still untrammeled and at liberty to follow his own + desire, he stamped across the porch, threw open the door, and + entered with a certain defiance of manner. + </p> + <p> + Behind the bar, Sam was laughing with his mouth wide open so that + his gum showed shamelessly. Bill and Aleck and Big Jim were + leaning heavily upon the bar, laughing also. + </p> + <p> + "I'll bet she's a Heart-and-Hander, tryin' a new scheme to git a + man. Think uh nabbing a man when he's drunk. That's a new one," + Sam brought his lips close enough together to declare, and chewed + vigorously upon the idea,—until he glanced up and saw Ford + standing by the door. He turned abruptly, caught up a towel, and + began polishing the bar with the frenzy of industry which never + imposes upon one in the slightest degree. + </p> + <p> + Bill glanced behind him and nudged Aleck into caution, and in the + silence which followed, the popping of a piece of slate-veined + coal in the stove sounded like a volley of small-caliber pistol + shots. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_III' id="CHAPTER_III"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <h3> + One Way to Drown Sorrow + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Ford walked up to the bar, with a smile upon his face which Sam + misunderstood and so met with a conciliatory grin and a hand + extended toward a certain round, ribbed bottle with a + blue-and-silver label. Ford waved away the bottle and leaned, not + on the bar but across it, and clutching Sam by the necktie, + slapped him first upon one ear and next upon the other, until he + was forced by the tingling of his own fingers to desist. By that + time Sam's green necktie was pulled tight just under his nose, + and he had swallowed his gum—which, considering the size of + the lump, was likely to be the death of him. + </p> + <p> + Ford did not say a word. He permitted Sam to jerk loose and back + into a corner, and he watched the swift crimsoning of his ears + with a keen interest. Since Sam's face had the pasty pallor of + the badly scared, the ears appeared much redder by contrast than + they really were. Next, Ford turned his attention to the man + beside him, who happened to be Bill. For one long minute the grim + spirit of war hovered just over the two. + </p> + <p> + "Aw, forget it, Ford," Bill urged ingratiatingly at last. "You + don't want to lick anybody—least of all old Bill! Look at + them knuckles! You couldn't thump a feather bed. Anyway, you got + the guilty party when you done slapped Sam up to a peak and then + knocked the peak off. Made him swaller his cud, too, by hokey! + Say, Sam, my old dad used to feed a cow on bacon-rinds when she + done lost her cud. You try it, Sam. Mebby it might help them + ears! Shove that there trouble-killer over this way, Sammy, and + don't look so fierce at your uncle Bill; he's liable to turn you + across his knee and dust your pants proper." He turned again to + Ford, scowling at the group and at life in general, while the + snow melted upon his broad shoulders and trickled in little, + hurrying drops down to the nearest jumping-off place. "Come, + drownd your sorrer," Bill advised amiably. "Nobody said nothing + but Sammy, and I'll gamble he wishes he hadn't, now." If his + counsel was vicious, his smile was engaging—which does not, + in this instance, mean that it was beautiful. + </p> + <p> + Ford's fingers closed upon the bottle, and with reprehensible + thoroughness he proceeded to drown what sorrows he then + possessed. Unfortunately he straightway produced a fresh supply, + after his usual method. In two hours he was flushed and + argumentative. In three he had whipped Bill—cause unknown + to the chronicler, and somewhat hazy to Ford also after it was + all over. By mid-afternoon he had Sammy entrenched in the tiny + stronghold where barreled liquors were kept, and scared to the + babbling stage. Aleck had been put to bed with a gash over his + right eye where Ford had pointed his argument with a beer glass, + and Big Jim had succumbed to a billiard cue directed first at his + most sensitive bunion and later at his head. Ford was not using + his fists, that day, because even in his whisky-brewed rage he + remembered, oddly enough, his skinned knuckles. + </p> + <p> + Others had come—in fact, the entire male population of + Sunset was hovering in the immediate vicinity of the + hotel—but none had conquered. There had been considerable + ducking to avoid painful contact with flying glasses from the + bar, and a few had retreated in search of bandages and liniment; + the luckier ones remained as near the storm-center as was safe + and expostulated. To those Ford had but one reply, which + developed into a sort of war-chant, discouraging to the + peace-loving listeners. + </p> + <p> + "I'm a rooting, tooting, shooting, fighting + son-of-a-gun—<i>and a good one!</i>" Ford would declaim, + and with deadly intent aim a lump of coal, billiard ball, or + glass at some unfortunate individual in his audience. "Hit the + nigger and get a cigar! You're just hanging around out there till + I drink myself to sleep—but I'm fooling you a few! I'm + watching the clock with one eye, and I take my dose regular and + not too frequent. I'm going to kill off a few of these smart boys + that have been talking about me and my wife. She's a lady, my + wife is, and I'll kill the first man that says she isn't." (One + cannot, you will understand, be too explicit in a case like this; + not one thousandth part as explicit as Ford was.) + </p> + <p> + "I'm going to begin on Sam, pretty quick," he called through the + open door. "I've got him right where I want him." And he stated, + with terrible exactness, his immediate intentions towards the + bartender. + </p> + <p> + Behind his barricade of barrels, Sam heard and shivered like a + gun-shy collie at a turkey shoot; shivered until human nerves + could bear no more, and like the collie he left the storeroom and + fled with a yelp of sheer terror. Ford turned just as Sam shot + through the doorway into the dining-room, and splintered a beer + bottle against the casing; glanced solemnly up at the barroom + clock and, retreating to the nearly denuded bar, gravely poured + himself another drink; held up the glass to the dusk-filmed + window, squinted through it, decided that he needed a little more + than that, and added another teaspoonful. Then he poured the + contents of the glass down his throat as if it were so much + water, wiped his lips upon a bar towel, picked a handful of coal + from the depleted coal-hod, went to the door, and shouted to + those outside to produce Sam, that he might be killed in an + extremely unpleasant manner. + </p> + <p> + The group outside withdrew across the street to grapple with the + problem before them. It was obviously impossible for civilized + men to sacrifice Sam, even if they could catch him—which + they could not. Sam had bolted through the dining-room, upset the + Chinaman in the kitchen, and fallen over a bucket of ashes in the + coal-shed in his flight for freedom. He had not stopped at that, + but had scurried off up the railroad track. The general opinion + among the spectators was that he had, by this time, reached the + next station and was hiding in a cellar there. + </p> + <p> + Bill Wright hysterically insisted that it was up to Tom + Aldershot, who was a deputy town marshal. Tom, however, was + working on the house he hoped to have ready for his prospective + bride by Thanksgiving, and hated to be interrupted for the sake + of a few broken heads only. + </p> + <p> + "He ain't shooting up nobody," he argued from the platform, where + he was doing "inside work" on his dining-room while the storm + lasted. "He never does cut loose with his gun when he's drunk. If + I arrested him, I'd have to take him clear up to Garbin—and + I ain't got time. And it wouldn't be nothin' but a charge uh + disturbin' the peace, when I got him there. Y'oughta have a jail + in Sunset, like I've been telling yuh right along. Can't expect a + man to stop his work just to take a man to jail—not for + anything less than murder, anyhow." + </p> + <p> + Some member of the deputation hinted a doubt of his courage, and + Tom flushed. + </p> + <p> + "I ain't scared of him," he snorted indignantly. "I should say + not! I'll go over and make him behave—as a man and a + citizen. But I ain't going to arrest him as an officer, when + there ain't no place to put him." Tom reluctantly threw down his + hammer, grumbling because they would not wait till it was too + dark to drive nails, but must cut short his working day, and went + over to the hotel to quell Ford. + </p> + <p> + Ingress by way of the front door was obviously impracticable; the + marshal ducked around the corner just in time to avoid a painful + meeting with a billiard ball. Mother McGrew had piled two tables + against the dining-room door and braced them with the mop, and + stubbornly refused to let Tom touch the barricade either as man + or officer of the law. + </p> + <p> + "Well, if I can't get in, I can't do nothing," stated Tom, with + philosophic calm. + </p> + <p> + "He's tearing up the whole place, and he musta found all them + extra billiard balls Mike had under the bar, and is throwin' 'em + away," wailed Mrs. McGrew, "and he's drinkin' and not payin'. The + damage that man is doin' it would take a year's profits to make + up. You gotta do something, Tom Aldershot—you that calls + yourself a marshal, swore to pertect the citizens uh Sunset! No, + sir—I ain't a-goin' to open this door, neither. I'm tryin' + to save the dishes, if you want to know. I ain't goin' to let my + cups and plates foller the glasses in there. A town full uh + men—and you stand back and let one crazy—" + </p> + <p> + Tom had heard Mrs. McGrew voice her opinion of the male + population of Sunset on certain previous occasions. He left her + at that point, and went back to the group across the street. + </p> + <p> + At length Sandy, whose imagination had been developed somewhat + beyond the elementary stage by his reading of romantic fiction, + suggested luring Ford into the liquor room by the simple method + of pretending an assault upon him by way of the storeroom window, + which could be barred from without by heavy planks. Secure in his + belief in Ford's friendship for him, Sandy even volunteered to + slam the door shut upon Ford and lock it with the padlock which + guarded the room from robbery. Tom took a chew of tobacco, + decided that the ruse might work, and donated the planks for the + window. + </p> + <p> + It did work, up to a certain point. Ford heard a noise in the + storeroom and went to investigate, caught a glimpse of Tom + Aldershot apparently about to climb through the little window, + and hurled a hammer and considerable vituperation at the opening. + Whereupon Sandy scuttled in and slammed the door, according to + his own plan, and locked it. There was a season of frenzied + hammering outside, and after that Sunset breathed freer, and + discussed the evils of strong drink, and washed down their + arguments by copious draughts of the stuff they maligned. + </p> + <p> + Later, they had to take him out of the storeroom, because he + insisted upon knocking the bungs out of all the barrels and + letting the liquor flood the floor, and Mike McGrew's wife + objected to the waste, on the ground that whisky costs money. + They fell upon him in a body, bundled him up, hustled him over to + the ice-house, and shut him in; and within ten minutes he kicked + three boards off one side and emerged breathing fire and + brimstone like the dragons of old. He had forgotten about wanting + to kill Sam; he was willing—nay, anxious—to murder + every male human in Sunset. + </p> + <p> + They did not know what to do with him after that. They liked Ford + when he was sober, and so they hated to shoot him, though that + seemed the only way in which they might dampen his enthusiasm for + blood. Tom said that, if he failed to improve in temper by the + next day, he would try and land him in jail, though it did seem + rigorous treatment for so common a fault as getting drunk. + Meanwhile they kept out of his way as well as they could, and + dodged missiles and swore. Even that was becoming more and more + difficult—except the swearing—because Ford developed + a perfectly diabolic tendency to empty every store that contained + a man, so that it became no uncommon sight to see a back door + belching forth hurrying figures at the most unseasonable times. + No man could lift a full glass, that night, and feel sure of + drinking the contents undisturbed; whereat Sunset grumbled while + it dodged. + </p> + <p> + It may have been nine o'clock before the sporadic talk of a jail + crystallized into a definite project which, it was unanimously + agreed, could not too soon be made a reality. + </p> + <p> + They built the jail that night, by the light of bonfires which + the slightly wounded kept blazing in the intervals of standing + guard over the workers; ready to give warning in case Ford + appeared as a war-cloud on their horizon. There were fifteen + able-bodied men, and they worked fast, with Ford's war-chant in + the saloon down the street as an incentive to speed. They erected + it close to Tom Aldershot's house, because the town borrowed + lumber from him and they wanted to save carrying, and because it + was Tom's duty to look after the prisoner, and he wanted the jail + handy, so that he need not lose any time from his house-building. + </p> + <p> + They built it strong, and they built it tight, without any window + save a narrow slit near the ceiling; they heated it by setting a + stove outside under a shelter, where Tom could keep up the fire + without the risk of going inside, and ran pipe and a borrowed + "drum" through the jail high enough so that Ford could not kick + it. And to discourage any thought of suicide by hanging, they + ceiled the place tightly with Tom's matched flooring of Oregon + pine. Tom did not like that, and said so; but the citizens of + Sunset nailed it on and turned a deaf ear to his complaints. + </p> + <p> + Chill dawn spread over the town, dulling the light of the fires + and bringing into relief the sodden tramplings in the snow around + the jail, with the sharply defined paths leading to Tom + Aldershot's lumber-pile. The watchers had long before sneaked off + to their beds, for not a sign of Ford had they seen since + midnight. The storm had ceased early in the evening and all the + sky was glowing crimson with the coming glory of the sun. The + jail was almost finished. Up on the roof three crouching figures + were nailing down strips of brick-red building paper as a fair + substitute for shingles, and on the side nearest town the marshal + and another were holding a yard-wide piece flat against the wall + with fingers that tingled in the cold, while Bill Wright fastened + it into place with shingle nails driven through tin disks the + size of a half-dollar. + </p> + <p> + Ford, partly sober after a sleep on the billiard table in the + hotel barroom, heard the hammering, wondered what industrious + soul was up and doing carpenter work at that unseemly hour, and + after helping himself to a generous "eye-opener" at the deserted + bar, found his cap and went over to investigate. He was much + surprised to see Bill Wright working, and smiled to himself as he + walked quietly up to him through the soft, step-muffling snow. + </p> + <p> + "What you doing, Bill—building a chicken house?" he asked, + a quirk of amusement at the corner of his lips. + </p> + <p> + Bill jumped and came near swallowing a nail; so near that his + eyes bulged at the feel of it next his palate. Tom Aldershot + dropped his end of the strip of paper, which tore with a dull + sound of ripping, and remarked that he would be damned. Necks + craned, up on the roof, and startled eyes peered down like + chipmunks from a tree. Some one up there dropped a hammer which + hit Bill on the head, but no one said a word. + </p> + <p> + "You act like you were nervous, this morning," Ford observed, in + the tone which indicates a conscious effort at good-humored + ignorance. "Working on a bet, or what?" + </p> + <p> + "What!" snarled Bill sarcastically. "I wisht, Ford, next time you + bowl up, you'd pick on somebody that ain't too good a friend to + fight back! I'm gittin' tired, by hokey—" + </p> + <p> + "What—did I lick you again, Bill?" Ford's smile was + sympathetic to a degree. "That's too bad, now. Next time you want + to hunt a hole and crawl into it, Bill. I don't want to hurt + you—but seems like I've kinda got the habit. You'll have to + excuse me." He hunched his shoulders at the chill of the morning + and walked around the jail, inspecting it with half-hearted + interest. + </p> + <p> + "What is this, anyway?" he inquired of Tom. "Smoke-house?" + </p> + <p> + "It's a jail," snapped Tom. "To put you into if you don't watch + your dodgers. What 'n thunder you want to carry on like you did + last night, for? And then go and sober up just when we've got a + jail built to put you into! That ain't no way for a man to + do—I'll leave it to Bill if it is! I've a darned good mind + to swear out a warrant, anyway, Ford, and pinch you for + disturbin' the peace! That's what I ought to do, all right." Tom + beat his hands about his body and glared at Ford with his + ultra-official scowl. + </p> + <p> + "All right, if you want to do it." Ford's tone embellished the + reply with a you-take-the-consequences sort of indifference. + "Only, I'd advise you never to turn me loose again if you do lock + me up in this coop once." + </p> + <p> + "I know I wouldn't uh worked all night on the thing if I'd knowed + you was goin' to sleep it off," Bill complained, with deep + reproach in his watery eyes. "I made sure you was due to keep + things agitated around here for a couple uh days, at the very + least, or I never woulda drove a nail, by hokey!" + </p> + <p> + "It is a darned shame, to have a nice, new jail and nobody to use + it on," sympathized Ford, his eyes half-closed and steely. "I'd + like to help you out, all right. Maybe I'd better kill you, Bill; + they <i>might</i> stretch a point and call it + manslaughter—and I could use the bounty to help pay a + lawyer, if it ever come to a head as a trial." + </p> + <p> + Whereat Bill almost wept. + </p> + <p> + Ford pushed his hands deep into his pockets and walked away, + sneering openly at Bill, the marshal, the jail, and the town + which owned it, and at wives and matrimony and the world which + held all these vexations. + </p> + <p> + He went straight to the shack, drank a cup of coffee, and packed + everything he could find that belonged to him and was not too + large for easy carrying on horseback; and when Sandy, hovering + uneasily around him, asked questions, he told him briefly to go + off in a corner and lie down; which advice Sandy understood as an + invitation to mind his own affairs. + </p> + <p> + Like Bill, Sandy could have wept at the ingratitude of this man. + But he asked no more questions and he made no more objections. He + picked up the story of the unpronounceable count who owned the + castle in the Black Forest and had much tribulation and no joy + until the last chapter, and when Ford went out, with his + battered, sole-leather suitcase and his rifle in its pigskin + case, he kept his pale eyes upon his book and refused even a + grunt in response to Ford's grudging: "So long, Sandy." + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_IV' id="CHAPTER_IV"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <h3> + Reaction + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Even when a man consistently takes Life in twenty-four-hour doses + and likes those doses full-flavored with the joys of this earth, + there are intervals when the soul of him is sick, and Life + becomes a nauseous progression of bleak futility. He may, in his + revulsion against it, attempt to end it all; he may, in sheer + disgust of it, take his doses stronger than ever before, as if he + would once for all choke to death that part of him which is fine + enough to rebel against it; he may even forswear, in melancholy + penitence, that which has served to give it flavor, and vow him + vows of abstemiousness at which the grosser part of him chuckles + ironically; or, he may blindly follow the first errant impulse + for change of environment, in the half-formed hope that new + scenes may, without further effort on his part, serve to make of + him a new man—a man for whom he can feel some respect. + </p> + <p> + Ford did none of these things, however. The soul-sick incentive + was there, and if he had been a little less of a reasoning animal + and a little less sophisticated, he would probably have forsworn + strong drink just as he forswore all responsibility for his + inadvertent marriage. His reason and his experience saved him + from cluttering his conscience with broken vows, although he did + yield to the impulse of change to the extent of leaving Sunset + while yet the inhabitants were fortifying themselves for the + ardors of the day with breakfast and some wild prophecies + concerning Ford's next outbreak. + </p> + <p> + Apprehension over Bill's immediate future was popular amongst his + friends, Ford's sardonic reference to manslaughter and bounty + being repeated often enough in Bill's presence to keep that + peace-loving gentleman in a state of trepidation which he sought + to hide behind vague warnings. + </p> + <p> + "He better think twicet before he comes bothering around me, by + hokey!" Bill would mutter darkly. "I've stood a hull lot from + Ford; I like 'im, when he's himself. But I've stood about as much + as a man can be expected to stand. And he better look out! That's + all I got to say—he better look out!" Bill himself, it may + be observed incidentally, spent the greater portion of that day + in "looking out." He was careful not to sit down with his back to + a door, for instance, and was keenly interested when a knob + turned beneath unseen fingers, and plainly relieved when another + than Ford entered his presence. Bill's mustache was nearly pulled + from its roots, that day—but that is not important to the + story, which has to do with Ford Campbell, sometime the possessor + of a neat legacy in coin, later a rider of the cattle ranges, + last presiding genius over the poker table in Scotty's back room + in Sunset, always an important factor—and too often a + disturbing element—in any community upon which he chose to + bestow his dynamic presence. + </p> + <p> + Scotty hoped that Ford would show up for business when the lamps + were lighted, that night. There had been some delicacy on the + part of Ford's acquaintances that day in the matter of calling + upon him at the shack. They believed—and hoped—that + Ford was "sleeping it off," and there was a unanimous reluctance + to disturb his slumbers. Sandy, indulging himself in the matter + of undisturbed spinal tremors over "The Haunted Chamber," had not + left shelter, save when the more insistent shiverings of chilled + flesh recalled him from his pleasurable nerve-crimplings and + drove him forth to the woodpile. So that it was not until evening + was well advanced that Sunset learned that Ford was no longer a + potential menace within its meager boundaries. Bill took a long + breath, observed meaningly that "He'd <i>better</i> + go—whilst his credit's good, by hokey!" and for the first + time that day sat down with his back toward an outer door. + </p> + <p> + Ford was not worrying about Sunset half as much as Sunset was + worrying about him. He was at that moment playing pinochle + half-heartedly with a hospitable sheep-herder, under the + impression that, since his host had frankly and profanely + professed a revulsion against solitaire and a corresponding + hunger for pinochle, his duty as a guest lay in satisfying that + hunger. He played apathetically, overlooked several melts he + might have made, and so lost three games in succession to the + gleeful herder, who had needed the diversion almost as much as he + needed a hair-cut. + </p> + <p> + His sense of social responsibility being eased thereby, Ford took + his headache and his dull disgust with life to the wall side of + the herder's frowsy bunk, and straightway forgot both in heavy + slumber, leaving to the morrow any definite plan for the near + future—the far future being as little considered as death + and what is said to lie beyond. + </p> + <p> + That day had done for him all he asked of it. It had put him + thirty miles and more from Sunset, against which he felt a + resentment which it little deserved; of a truth it was as + inoffensive a hamlet as any in that region, and its sudden, + overweening desire for a jail was but a legitimate impulse toward + self-preservation. The fault was Ford's, in harassing the men of + Sunset into action. But several times that day, and again while + he was pulling the stale-odored blankets snugly about his ears, + Ford anathematized the place as "a damned, rotten hole," and was + as nearly thankful as his mood would permit, when he remembered + that it lay far behind him and was likely to be farther before + his journeyings were done. + </p> + <p> + Sleep held him until daylight seeped in through the one dingy + window. Ford awoke to the acrid smell of scorched bacon, thought + at first that Sandy was once more demonstrating his inefficiency + as a cook, and when he remembered that Sandy's name was printed + smudgily upon that page of his life which he had lately turned + down as a blotted, unlearned lesson is pushed behind an unwilling + schoolboy, he began to consider seriously his next step. + </p> + <p> + Outside, the sheep were blatting stridently their demand for + breakfast. The herder bolted coffee and coarse food until he was + filled, and went away to his dreary day's work, telling Ford to + make himself at home, and flinging back a hope of further + triumphs in pinochle, that night. + </p> + <p> + Ford washed the dishes, straightened the blankets in the bunk, + swept the grimy floor as well as he could with the stub of broom + he found, filled the wood-box and then, being face to face with + his day and the problem it held, rolled a cigarette, and smoked + it in deep meditation. + </p> + <p> + He wanted to get away from town, and poker games, and whisky, and + the tumult it brewed. Something within him hungered for clean, + wind-swept reaches and the sane laughter of men, and Ford was + accustomed to doing, or at least trying to do, the thing he + wanted to do. He was not getting into the wilderness because of + any inward struggle toward right living, but because he was sick + of town and the sordid life he had lived there. + </p> + <p> + Somewhere, back toward the rim of mountains which showed a faint + violet against the sky to the east, he owned a friend; and that + friend owned a stock ranch which, Ford judged, must be of goodly + extent; two weeks before, hearing somehow that Ford Campbell was + running a poker game in Sunset, the friend had written and asked + him to come and take charge of his "outfit," on the plea that, + his foreman having died, he was burdened with many cares and in + urgent need of help. + </p> + <p> + Ford, giving the herder's frying-pan a last wipe with the + dish-cloth, laughed at the thought of taking the responsibility + offered him in that letter. It occurred to him, however, that the + Double Cross (which was the brand-name of Mason's ranch) might be + a pleasant place to visit. It was long since he had seen + Ches—and there had been a time when one bed held the two of + them through many a long, weary night; when one frying-pan cooked + the scanty food they shared between them. And there had been a + season of grinding days and anxious, black nights between, when + the one problem, to Ford, consisted of getting Ches Mason out of + the wild land where they wandered, and getting him out alive. The + problem Ford solved and at the solution men wondered. Afterward + they had drifted apart, but the memory of those months would hold + them together with a bond which not even time could break—a + bond which would pull taut whenever they met. + </p> + <p> + Ford set down the frying-pan and went to the door and looked out. + A chinook had blown up in the night, and although the wind was + chill, the snow had disappeared, save where drifts clung to the + hollows, shrinking and turning black beneath the sweeping gusts; + sodden masses which gave to the prairie a dreary aspect of bleak + discomfort. But Ford was well pleased at the sight of the brown, + beaten grasses. Impulse was hardening to decision while he stared + across the empty land toward the violet rim of hills; a decision + to ride over to the Double Cross, and tell Ches Mason to his face + that he was a chump, and have a smoke with the old Turk, anyway. + Ches had married, since that vividly remembered time when + adventure changed to hardship and hazard and walked hand in hand + with them through the wild places. Ford wondered fleetingly if + matrimony had changed old Ches; probably not—at least, not + in those essential man-traits which appeal to men. Ford suddenly + hungered for the man's hearty voice, where kindly humor lurked + always, and for a grip of his hand. + </p> + <p> + It was like him to forget all about the herder and the promise of + pinochle that night. He went eagerly to the decrepit little shed + which housed Rambler, his long-legged, flea-bitten gray; saddled + him purposefully and rode away toward the violet hills at the + trail-trot which eats up the miles with the least effort. + </p> + <p> + That night, although he slept in a hamlet which called itself a + town, his purpose kept firm hold of him, and he rode away at a + decent hour the next morning,—and he rode sober. He kept + his face toward the hills, and he did not trouble himself with + any useless analysis of his unusual temperateness. He was going + to blow in to the Double Cross some time before he slept that + night, and have a talk with Ches. He had a pint of fairly good + whisky in his pocket, in case he felt the need of a little on the + way, and beyond those two satisfactory certainties he did not + attempt to reason. They were significant, in a way, to a man with + a tendency toward introspection; but Ford was interested in + actualities and never stopped to wonder why he bought a pint, + rather than a quart, or why, with Ches Mason in his mind, he + declined to "set in" to the poker game which was running to + tempting jackpots, the night before; or why he took one glass of + wine before he mounted Rambler and let it go at that. He never + once dreamed that the memory of cheerful, steady-going Ches + influenced him toward starting on his friendly pilgrimage the + Ford Campbell whom Mason had known eight years before; a very + different Ford Campbell, be it said, from the one who had caused + a whole town to breathe freer for his absence. + </p> + <p> + Of his wife Ford had thought less often and less uncomfortably + since he left the town wherein had occurred the untoward incident + of his marriage. He was not unaccustomed to doing foolish things + when he was drunk, and as a rule he made it a point to ignore + them afterwards. His mysterious, matrimonial accident was + beginning to seem less of a real catastrophe than before, and the + anticipation of meeting Ches Mason was rapidly taking precedence + of all else in his mind. + </p> + <p> + So, with almost his normal degree of careless equanimity, he + faced again the rim of hills—nearer they were now, with a + deeper tinge that was almost purple where the shadows lined them + here and there. Somewhere out that way lay the Double Cross + ranch. Forty miles, one man told him it was; another, + forty-three. At best it was far enough for the shortened daylight + of one fall day to cover the journey. Ford threw away the stub of + his after-breakfast cigarette and swung into the trail at a lope. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_V' id="CHAPTER_V"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <h3> + "I Can Spare this Particular Girl" + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Ford's range-trained vision told him, while yet afar off, that + the lone horse feeding upon a side hill was saddled and bridled, + with reins dragging; the telltale, upward toss of its head when + it started on to find a sweeter morsel was evidence enough of the + impeding bridle, even before he was near enough to distinguish + the saddle. + </p> + <p> + Your true range man owns blood-relationship with the original + Good Samaritan; Ford swung out of the trail and untied his rope + as a matter of course. The master of the animal might have turned + him loose to feed, but if that were the case, he had strayed + farther than was ever intended; the chances, since no human being + was in sight, were all against design and in favor of accident. + At any rate Ford did not hesitate. It is not good to let a horse + run loose upon the range with a saddle cinched upon its back, as + every one knows. + </p> + <p> + Ford was riding along the sheer edge of a water-worn gully, + seeking a place where he might safely jump it—or better, a + spot where the banks sloped so that he might ride down into it + and climb the bank beyond—when he saw a head and pair of + shoulders moving slowly along, just over the brow of the hill + where fed the stray. He watched, and when the figure topped the + ridge and started down the slope which faced him, his eyes + widened a trifle in surprise. + </p> + <p> + Skirts to the tops of her shoes betrayed her a woman. She limped + painfully, so that Ford immediately pictured to himself puckered + eyebrows and lips pressed tightly together. "And I'll bet she's + crying, too," he summed up aloud. While he was speaking, she + stumbled and fell headlong. + </p> + <p> + When he saw that she made no attempt to rise, but lay still just + as she had fallen, Ford looked no longer for an easy crossing. He + glanced up and down the washout, saw no more promising point than + where he was, wheeled and rode back twenty yards or so, turned + and drove deep his spurs. + </p> + <p> + It was a nasty jump, and he knew it all along. When Rambler rose + gamely to it, with tensed muscles and forefeet flung forward to + catch the bank beyond, he knew it better. And when, after a + sickening minute of frenzied scrambling at the crumbling edge, + they slid helplessly to the bottom, he cursed his idiocy for ever + attempting it. + </p> + <p> + Rambler got up with a pronounced limp, but Ford had thrown + himself from the saddle and escaped with nothing worse than a + skinned elbow. They were penned, however, in a box-like gully ten + feet deep, and there was nothing to do but follow it to where + they might climb out. Ford was worried about the girl, and made a + futile attempt to stand in the saddle and from there climb up to + the level. But Rambler, lame as he was, plunged so that Ford + finally gave it up and started down the gulch, leading Rambler by + the reins. + </p> + <p> + There were many sharp turns and temper-trying windings, and + though it narrowed in many places so that there was barely room + for them to pass, it never grew shallower; indeed, it grew always + deeper; and then, without any warning, it stopped abruptly upon a + coulée's rim, with jumbled rocks and between them a sheer descent + to the slope below. Ford guessed then that he was boxed up in one + of the main waterways of the foot-hills he had been skirting for + the past hour or so, and that he should have ridden up the gulch + instead of down it. + </p> + <p> + He turned, though the place was so narrow that Rambler's four + feet almost touched one another and his rump scraped the bank, as + Ford pulled him round, and retraced his steps. It was too rough + for riding, even if he had not wanted to save the horse, and he + had no idea how far he must go before he could get out. Ford, at + that time, was not particularly cheerful. + </p> + <p> + He must have gone a mile and more before he reached the point + where, by hard scrambling, he attained level ground upon the same + side as the girl. Ten minutes he spent in urging Rambler up the + bank, and when the horse stood breathing heavily beside him, Ford + knew that, for all the good there was in him at present, he might + as well have left him at the bottom. He walked around him, + rubbing leg and shoulder muscles until he located the hurt, and + shook his head when all was done. Then he started on slowly, with + Rambler hobbling painfully after him. Ford knew that every rod + would aggravate that strained shoulder and that a stop would + probably make it impossible for the horse to go on at all. + </p> + <p> + He was not quite sure, after all those windings where he could + not see, just where it was he had seen the girl, but he + recognized at last the undulating outline of the ridge over which + she had appeared, and made what haste he could up the slope. The + grazing horse was no longer in sight, though he knew it might be + feeding in a hollow near by. + </p> + <p> + He had almost given up hope of finding her, when he turned his + head and saw her off to one side, lying half concealed by a clump + of low rose bushes. She was not unconscious, as he had thought, + but was crying silently, with her face upon her folded arms and + her hat askew over one ear. He stooped and touched her upon the + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + She lifted her head and looked at him, and drew away with a + faint, withdrawing gesture, which was very slight in itself but + none the less eloquent and unmistakable. Ford backed a step when + he saw it and closed his lips without speaking the words he had + meant to say. + </p> + <br /> + <a name='ILLUS_PG074' id="ILLUS_PG074"></a> + <center> + <a href="images/pg074_sm.jpg"> + <img src="images/pg074_sm.jpg" width='60%' alt= + 'Illustration: She lifted her head and looked at him, and drew away.' /></a> + </center> + <h4> + She lifted her head and looked at him, and drew away. + </h4> + <br /> + <p> + "Well, what do you want?" the girl asked ungraciously, after a + minute spent in fumbling unseen hairpins and in straightening her + hat. "I don't know why you're standing there like that, staring + at me. I don't need any help." + </p> + <p> + "Appearances are deceitful, then," Ford retorted. "I saw you + limping over the hill, after your horse, and I saw you fall down + and stay down. I had an idea that a little help would be + acceptable, but of course—" + </p> + <p> + "That was an hour ago," she interrupted accusingly, with a + measuring glance at the sun, which was settling toward the + sky-line. + </p> + <p> + "I had trouble getting across that washout down there. I don't + know this part of the country, and I went down it instead of up. + What are you crying about—if you don't need any help?" + </p> + <p> + She eyed him askance, and chewed upon a corner of her lip, and + flipped the upturned hem of her riding skirt down over one + spurred foot with a truly feminine instinct, before she answered + him. She seemed to be thinking hard and fast, and she hesitated + even while she spoke. Ford wondered at the latent antagonism in + her manner. + </p> + <p> + "I was crying because my foot hurts so and because I don't see + how I'm going to get back to the ranch. I suppose they'll hunt me + up if I stay away long enough—but it's getting toward + night, and—I'm scared to death of coyotes, if you must + know!" + </p> + <p> + Ford laughed—at her defiance, in the face of her absolute + helplessness, more than at what she said. "And you tell me you + don't need any help?" he bantered. + </p> + <p> + "I might borrow your horse," she suggested coldly, as if she + grudged yielding even that much to circumstance. "Or you might + catch mine for me, I suppose." + </p> + <p> + "Sure. But you needn't hate me because you're in trouble," he + hinted irrelevantly. "I'm not to blame, you know." + </p> + <p> + "I—I hate to ask help from—a stranger," she said, + watching him from under her lashes. "And I can't help showing + what I feel. I hate to feel under an obligation—" + </p> + <p> + "If that's all, forget it," he assured her calmly. "It's a law of + the open—to help a fellow out in a pinch. When I headed for + here, I thought it was a man had been set afoot." + </p> + <p> + She eyed him curiously. "Then you didn't know—" + </p> + <p> + "I thought you were a man," he repeated. "I didn't come just + because I saw it was a girl. You needn't feel under any + obligation whatever. I'm a stranger in the country and a stranger + to you. I'm perfectly willing to stay that way, if you prefer. + I'm not trying to scrape acquaintance on the strength of your + being in trouble; but you surely don't expect a man to ride on + and leave a woman out here on the bald prairie—do you? + Especially when she's confessed she's afraid of the + dark—and coyotes!" + </p> + <p> + She was staring at him while he spoke, and she continued to stare + after he had finished; the introspective look which sees without + seeing, it became at last, and Ford gave a shrug at her apparent + obstinacy and turned away to where Rambler stood with his head + drooped and his eyes half closed. He picked up the reins and + chirped to him, and the horse hesitated, swung his left foot + painfully forward, hobbled a step, and looked at Ford + reproachfully. + </p> + <p> + "Your horse is crippled as badly as I am, it would seem," the + girl observed, from where she sat watching them. + </p> + <p> + "I strained his shoulder, trying to make him jump that washout. + That was when I first got sight of you over here. We went to the + bottom and it took me quite a while to find a way out. That's why + I was so long getting here." Ford explained indifferently, with + his back to her, while he rubbed commiseratingly the swelling + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + "Oh." The girl waited. "It seems to me you need help yourself. I + don't see how you expect to help any one else, with your horse in + that condition," she added. And when he still did not speak, she + asked: "Do you know how far it is to the nearest ranch?" + </p> + <p> + "No. I told you I'm a stranger in this country. I was heading for + the Double Cross, but I don't know just—" + </p> + <p> + "We're eight miles, straight across, from there; ten, the way we + would have to go to get there. There are other washouts in this + country—which it is unwise to attempt jumping, Mr.—" + </p> + <p> + "Campbell," Ford supplied shortly. + </p> + <p> + "I beg your pardon? You mumbled—" + </p> + <p> + "Campbell!" Ford was tempted to shout it but contented himself + with a tart distinctness. A late, untoward incident had made him + somewhat touchy over his name, and he had not mumbled. + </p> + <p> + "Oh. Did you skin your face and blacken your eye, Mr. Campbell, + when you tried to jump that washout?" + </p> + <p> + "No." Ford did not offer any explanation. He remembered the scars + of battle which were still plainly visible upon his countenance, + and he turned red while he bent over the fore ankles of Rambler, + trying to discover other sprains. He felt that he was going to + dislike this girl very much before he succeeded in getting her to + shelter. He could not remember ever meeting before a woman under + forty with so unpleasant a manner and with such a talent for + disagreeable utterances. + </p> + <p> + "Then you must have been fighting a wildcat," she hazarded. + </p> + <p> + "Pardon me; is this a Methodist experience meeting?" he retorted, + looking full at her with lowering brows. "It seems to me the only + subject which concerns us mutually is the problem of getting to a + ranch before dark." + </p> + <p> + "You'll have to solve it yourself. I never attempt puzzles." The + girl, somewhat to his surprise, showed no resentment at his + rebuff. Indeed, he began to suspect her of being secretly amused. + He began also mentally to accuse her of not being too badly hurt + to walk, if she wanted to; indeed, his skepticism went so far as + to accuse her of deliberately baiting him—though why, he + did not try to conjecture. Women were queer. Witness his own late + experience with one. + </p> + <p> + Being thus in a finely soured mood, Ford suggested that, as she + no doubt knew the shortest way to the nearest ranch, they at + least make a start in that direction. + </p> + <p> + "How?" asked the girl, staring up at him from where she sat + beside the rose bushes. + </p> + <p> + "By walking, I suppose—unless you expect me to carry you." + Ford's tone was not in any degree affable. + </p> + <p> + "I fancy it would be asking too great a favor to suggest that you + catch my horse for me?" + </p> + <p> + Ford dropped Rambler's reins and turned to her, irritated to the + point where he felt a distinct desire to shake her. + </p> + <p> + "I'd far rather catch your horse, even if I had to haze him all + over the country, than carry you," he stated bluntly. + </p> + <p> + "Yes. I suspected that much." She had plucked a red seed-ball off + the bush nearest her and was nibbling daintily the sweet pulp off + the outside. + </p> + <p> + "Where is the horse?" Ford was holding himself rigidly hack from + an outburst of temper. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't know, I'm sure." She picked another seed-ball and + began upon it. "He should be somewhere around, unless he has + taken a notion to go home." + </p> + <p> + Ford said something under his breath and untied his rope from the + saddle. He knew about where the horse had been feeding when he + saw him, and he judged that it would naturally graze in the + direction of home—which would probably be somewhere off to + the southeast, since the trail ran more or less in that + direction. Without a word to the girl, or a glance toward her, he + started up the hill, hoping to get his bearings and a sight of + the horse from the top. He could not remember when he had been so + angry with a woman. "If she was a man," he gritted as he climbed, + "I'd give her a thrashing or leave her out there, just as she + deserves. That's the worst of dealing with a woman—she can + always hand it to you, and you've got to give her a grin and + thank-you, because she ain't a man." + </p> + <p> + He glanced back, then, and saw her sitting with her head dropped + forward upon her hands. There was something infinitely pitiful + and lonely in her attitude, and he knitted his brows over the + contrast between it and her manner when he left her. "I don't + suppose a woman knows, herself, what she means, half the time," + he hazarded impatiently. "She certainly didn't have any excuse + for throwing it into me the way she did; maybe she's sorry for it + now." + </p> + <p> + After that his anger cooled imperceptibly, and he hurried a + little faster because the day was waning with the chill haste of + mid-autumn, and he recalled what she had said at first about + being afraid of coyotes. And, although the storm of three days + ago had been swept into mere memory by that sudden chinook wind, + and the days were once more invitingly warm and hazily tranquil, + night came shiveringly upon the land and the unhoused thought + longingly of hot suppers and the glow of a fire. + </p> + <p> + The girl's horse was, he believed, just disappearing into a deep + depression half a mile farther on; but when he reached the place + where he had seen it, there was nothing in sight save a few head + of cattle and a coyote trotting leisurely up the farther slope. + He went farther down the shallow coulée, then up to the high + level beyond, his rope coiled loosely over one arm with the end + dragging a foot behind him. But there was nothing to be seen from + up there, except that the sun was just a red disk upon the + far-off hills, and that the night was going to be uncomfortably + cool if that wind kept blowing from the northwest. + </p> + <p> + He began to feel slightly uneasy about the girl, and to regret + wasting any time over her horse, and to fear that he might not be + able to get close enough to rope the beast, even if he did see + him. + </p> + <p> + He turned back then and walked swiftly through the dusk toward + the ridge, beyond which she and Rambler were waiting. But it was + a long way—much farther than he had realized until he came + to retrace his steps—and the wind blew up a thin rift of + clouds which made the darkness come quickly. He found it + difficult to tell exactly at which point he had crossed the + ridge, coming over; and although experience in the open develops + in a man a certain animal instinct for directions handed down by + our primitive ancestry, Ford went wide in his anxiety to take the + shortest way back to his unwilling protégée. The westering slope + was lighter, however, and five minutes of wandering along the + ridge showed him a dim bulk which he knew was Rambler. He hurried + to the place, and the horse whinnied shrilly as he approached. + </p> + <p> + "I looked as long as I could see, almost, but I couldn't locate + your horse," Ford remarked to the dark shadow of the rose bushes. + "I'll put you on mine. It will be slow going, of + course—lame as he is—but I guess we can manage to get + somewhere." + </p> + <p> + He waited for the chill, impersonal reply. When she did not + speak, he leaned and peered at the spot where he knew she must + be. "If you want to try it, we'd better be starting," he urged + sharply. "It's going to be pretty cold here on this side-hill." + </p> + <p> + When there was silence still—and he gave her plenty of time + for reply—Ford stooped and felt gropingly for her, thinking + she must be asleep. He glanced back at Rambler; unless the horse + had moved, she should have been just there, under his hands; or, + he thought, she may have moved to some other spot, and be waiting + in the dark to see what he would do. His palms touched the + pressed grasses where she had been, but he did not say a word. He + would not give her that satisfaction; and he told himself grimly + that he had his opinion of a girl who would waste time in + foolery, out here in the cold—with a sprained ankle, to + boot. + </p> + <p> + He pulled a handful of the long grass which grows best among + bushes. It was dead now, and dry. He twisted it into a makeshift + torch, lighted and held it high, so that its blaze made a great + disk of brightness all around him. While it burned he looked for + her, and when it grew to black cinders and was near to scorching + his hand, he made another and looked farther. He laid aside his + dignity and called, and while his voice went booming full-lunged + through the whispering silence of that empty land, he twisted the + third torch, and stamped the embers of the second into the earth + that it might not fire the prairie. + </p> + <p> + There was no dodging the fact; the girl was gone. When Ford was + perfectly sure of it, he stamped the third torch to death with + vicious heels, went back to the horse, and urged him to limp up + the hill. He did not say anything then or think anything much; at + least, he did not think coherently. He was so full of a wordless + rage against the girl, that he did not at first feel the need of + expression. She had made a fool of him. + </p> + <p> + He remembered once shooting a big, beautiful, blacktail doe. She + had dropped limply in her tracks and lain there, and he had + sauntered up and stood looking at her stretched before him. He + was out of meat, and the doe meant all that hot venison steaks + and rich, brown gravy can mean to a man meat-hungry. While he + unsheathed his hunting knife, he gloated over the feast he would + have, that night. And just when he had laid his rifle against a + rock and knelt to bleed her, the deer leaped from under his hand + and bounded away over the hill. He had not said a word on that + occasion, either. + </p> + <p> + This night, although the case was altogether different and the + disappearance of the girl was in no sense a disaster—rather + a relief, if anything—he felt that same wordless rage, the + same sense of utter chagrin. She had made a fool of him. After + awhile he felt his jaws aching with the vicelike pressure of his + teeth together. + </p> + <p> + They topped the ridge, Rambler hobbling stiffly. Ford had in mind + a sheltering rim of sandstone at the nearest point of the coulée + he had crossed in searching for the girl's horse, and made for + it. He had noticed a spring there, and while the water might not + be good, the shelter would be welcome, at any rate. + </p> + <p> + He had the saddle off Rambler, the shoulder bathed with cold + water from the spring, and was warming his wet hands over a + little fire when the first gleam of humor struck through his + anger and lighted for a moment the situation. + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me! I must be a hoodoo, where women are concerned," he + said, kicking the smoking stub of a bush into the blaze. "Soon as + one crosses my trail, she goes and disappears off the face of the + earth!" He fumbled for his tobacco and papers. It was a "dry + camp" he was making that night, and a smoke would have to serve + for a supper. He held his book of papers absently while he stared + hard at the fire. + </p> + <p> + "It ain't such a bad hoodoo," he mused. "I can spare this + particular girl just as easy as not; and the other one, too, for + that matter." + </p> + <p> + After a minute spent in blowing apart the thin leaves and + selecting a paper: + </p> + <p> + "Queer where she got to—and it's a darned mean trick to + play on a man that was just trying to help her out of a fix. Why, + I wouldn't treat a stray dog that way! Darn these women!" + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_VI' id="CHAPTER_VI"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <h3> + The Problem of Getting Somewhere + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Dawn came tardily after a long, cheerless night, during which the + wind whined over the prairie and the stars showed dimly through a + shifting veil of low-sweeping clouds. Ford had not slept much, + for hunger and cold make poor bedfellows, and all the brush he + could glean on that barren hillside, with the added warmth of his + saddle-blanket wrapped about him, could no more make him + comfortable than could cigarettes still the gnawing of his + hunger. + </p> + <p> + When he could see across the coulée, he rose from where he had + been sitting with his back to the ledge and his feet to the + meager fire, brooding over all the unpleasant elements in his + life thus far, particularly the feminine element. He folded the + saddle-blanket along its original creases and went over to where + Rambler stood dispiritedly with his back humped to the cold, + creeping wind and his tail whipping between his legs when a + sudden gust played with it. Ford shivered, and beat his gloved + hands about his body, and looked up at the sky to see whether the + sun would presently shine and send a little warmth to this bleak + land where he wandered. He blamed the girl for all of this + discomfort, and he told himself that the next time a woman + appeared within his range of vision he would ride way around her. + They invariably brought trouble; of various sorts and degrees, it + is true, but trouble always. It was perfectly safe, he decided, + to bank on that. And he wished, more than ever, that he had not + improvidently given that pint of whisky to a disconsolate-looking + sheep-herder he had met the day before on his way out from town; + or that he had put two flasks in his pocket instead of one. In + his opinion a good, big jolt right now would make a new man of + him. + </p> + <p> + Rambler, as he had half expected, was obliged to do his walking + with three legs only; which is awkward for a horse accustomed to + four exceedingly limber ones, and does not make for speed, + however great one's hurry. Ford walked around him twice, scooped + water in his hands, and once more bathed the shoulder—not + that he had any great faith in cold water as a liniment, but + because there was nothing else that he could do, and his anxiety + and his pity impelled service of some sort. He rubbed until his + fingers were numb and his arm aching, tried him again, and gave + up all hope of leading the horse to a ranch. A mile he might + manage, if he had to but ten! He rubbed Rambler's nose + commiseratingly, straightened his forelock, told him over and + over that it was a darned shame, anyway, and finally turned to + pick up his saddle. He could not leave that lying on the prairie + for inquisitive kit-foxes to chew into shoestrings, however much + he might dread the forty-pound burden of it on his shoulders. He + was stooping to pick it up when he saw a bit of paper twisted and + tied to the saddle-horn with a red ribbon. + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me!" he ejaculated ironically. "The lady left a note on my + pillow—and I never received it in time! Now, ain't that a + darned shame?" He plucked the knot loose, and held up the ribbon + and the note, and laughed. + </p> + <p> + "'When this reaches you, I shall be far away, though it breaks my + heart to go and this missive is mussed up scandalous with my + bitter tears. Forgive me if you can, and forget me if you have + to. It is better thus, for it couldn't otherwise was,'" he + improvised mockingly, while his chilled fingers fumbled to + release the paper, which was evidently a leaf torn from a man's + memorandum book. "Lordy me, a letter from a lady! Ain't that + sweet!" + </p> + <p> + When he read it, however, the smile vanished with a click of the + teeth which betrayed his returning anger. One cold, curt sentence + bidding him wait until help came—that was all. His eye + measured accusingly the wide margin left blank under the words; + she had not omitted apology or explanation for lack of space, at + any rate. His face grew cynically amused again. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, certainly! I'd roost on this side-hill for a month, if a + lady told me to," he sneered, speaking aloud as he frequently did + in the solitude of the range land. He glanced from ribbon to + note, ended his indecision by stuffing the note carelessly into + his coat pocket and letting the ribbon drop to the ground, and + with a curl of the lips which betrayed his mental attitude toward + all women and particularly toward that woman, picked up his + saddle. + </p> + <p> + "I can't seem to recollect asking that lady for help, anyway," he + summed up before he dismissed the subject from his mind + altogether. "I was trying to help her; it sure takes a woman to + twist things around so they point backwards!" + </p> + <p> + He turned and glanced pityingly at Rambler, watching him with + ears perked forward inquiringly. "And I crippled a damned good + horse trying to help a blamed poor specimen of a woman!" he + gritted. "And didn't get so much as a pleasant word for it. I'll + sure remember that!" + </p> + <p> + Rambler whinnied after him wistfully, and Ford set his teeth hard + together and walked the faster, his shoulders slightly bent under + the weight of the saddle. His own physical discomfort was + nothing, beside the hurt of leaving his horse out there + practically helpless; for a moment his fingers rested upon the + butt of his six-shooter, while he considered going back and + putting an end to life and misery for Rambler. But for all the + hardness men had found in Ford Campbell, he was woman-weak where + his horse was concerned. With cold reason urging him, he laid the + saddle on the ground and went back, his hand clutching grimly the + gun at his hip. Rambler's nicker of welcome stopped him half-way + and held him there, hot with guilt. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, damn it, I can't!" he muttered savagely, and retraced his + steps to where the saddle lay. After that he almost trotted down + the coulée, and he would not look back again until it struck him + as odd that the nickerings of the horse did not grow perceptibly + fainter. With a queer gripping of the muscles in his throat he + did turn, then, and saw Rambler's head over the little ridge he + had just crossed. The horse was making shift to follow him rather + than be left alone in that strange country. Ford waited, his + lashes glistening in the first rays of the new-risen sun, until + the horse came hobbling stiffly up to him. + </p> + <p> + "You old devil!" he murmured then, his contrite tone contrasting + oddly with the words he used. "You contrary, ornery, old devil, + you!" he repeated softly, rubbing the speckled nose with more + affection than he had ever shown a woman. "You'd tag along, + if—if you didn't have but one leg to carry you! And I was + going to—" He could not bring himself to confess his + meditated deed of mercy; it seemed black-hearted treachery, now, + and he stood ashamed and humbled before the dumb brute that + nuzzled him with such implicit faith. + </p> + <p> + It was slow journeying, after that. Ford carried the saddle on + his own back rather than burden the horse with it, and hungry as + he was, he stopped often and long, and massaged the sprained + shoulder faithfully while Rambler rested it, with all his weight + on his other legs and his nose rooting gently at Ford's bowed + head. + </p> + <p> + A stray rider assured him that he was on the right trail, but it + was past noon when he thankfully reached the Double Cross, threw + his saddle down beside the stable door, and gave Rambler a chance + at the hay in the corral. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_VII' id="CHAPTER_VII"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <h3> + The Foreman of the Double Cross + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + "Hell-o, Ford, where the blazes did you drop down from?" a + welcoming voice yelled, when he was closing the gate of the + corral behind him and thinking that it was like Ches Mason to + have a fine, strong corral and gate, and then slur the details by + using a piece of baling wire to fasten it. The last ounce of + disgust with life slid from his mind when he heard the greeting, + and he turned and gripped hard the gloved hand thrust toward him. + Ches Mason it was—the same old Ches, with the same humorous + wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, the same kindliness, the same + hearty faith in the world as he knew it and in his fellowmen as + he found them—the unquestioning faith that takes it for + granted that the other fellow is as square as himself. Ford held + his hand while he permitted himself a swift, reckoning glance + which took in these familiar landmarks of the other's + personality. + </p> + <p> + "Don't seem to have hurt you much—matrimony," he observed + whimsically, as he dropped the hand. "You look just like you + always did—with your hat on." In the West, not to say in + every other locality, there is a time-honored joke about + matrimony, for certain strenuous reasons, producing premature + baldness. + </p> + <p> + Ches grinned and removed his hat. Eight years had heightened his + forehead perceptibly and thinned the hair on his temples. "You + see what it's done to me," he pointed out lugubriously. "You + ain't married yourself, I suppose? You look like you'd met up + with some kinda misfortune." Mason was regarding Ford's scarred + face with some solicitude. + </p> + <p> + "Just got tangled up a little with my fellow-citizens, in + Sunset," Ford explained drily. "I tried to see how much of the + real stuff I could get outside of, and then how many I could + lick." He shrugged his shoulders a little. "I did quite a lot of + both," he added, as an afterthought. + </p> + <p> + Mason was rubbing his jaw reflectively and staring hard at Ford. + "The wife's strong on the temperance dope," he said hesitatingly. + "I reckon you'll want to bunk down with the boys till you grow + some hide on your face—there's lady company up at the + house, and—" + </p> + <p> + "The bunk-house for mine, then," Ford cut in hastily. "No lady + can get within gunshot of me; not if I see her coming in time!" + Though he smiled when he said it, there was meaning behind the + mirth. + </p> + <p> + Mason pulled a splinter from a corral rail and began to snap off + little bits with his fingers. "Kate will go straight up in the + air with me if she knows you're here and won't come to the house, + though," he considered uneasily. "She's kept a big package of + gratitude tucked away with your name on it, ever since that + Alaska deal. And lemme tell you, Ford, when a woman as good as + Kate goes and gets grateful to a man—gosh! Had your + dinner?" + </p> + <p> + "Not lately, I haven't," Ford declared. "I kinda remember eating, + some time in the past; it was a long time ago, though." + </p> + <p> + Mason laughed and tagged the answer as being the natural + exaggeration of a hungry man. "Well, come along and eat, + then—if you haven't forgotten how to make your jaws go. + I've got Mose Freeman cooking for me; you know Mose, don't you? + Hired him the day after the Fourth; the Mitten outfit fired him + for getting soused and trying to clean out the camp, and I nabbed + him before they had time to forgive him. Way they had of + disciplining him—when he'd go on a big tear they'd fire him + for a few days and then take him back. But they can't git him + now—not if I can help it. A better cook never throwed + dishwater over a guy-rope than that same old Mose, but—" He + stopped and looked at Ford hesitantly. "Say! I hate like the + deuce to tie a string on you as soon as you hit the ranch, Ford, + but—if you've got anything along, you won't spring it on + Mose, will you? A fellow's got to watch him pretty close, + or—" + </p> + <p> + "I haven't got a drop." Ford's tone was reprehensibly regretful. + </p> + <p> + "You do look as if you'd put it all under your belt," Mason + retorted dryly. "Left anything behind?" + </p> + <p> + "Some spoiled beauties, and a nice new jail that was built by my + admiring townspeople, with my name carved over the door. I didn't + stay for the dedication services. Sunset was getting all fussed + up over me and I thought I'd give them a chance to settle their + nerves; loss of sleep sure plays hell with folks when their + nerves are getting frazzly." He smiled disarmingly at Mason. + </p> + <p> + "I'd kinda lost track of you, Ches, till I got your letter. I've + been traveling pretty swift, and that's no lie. I meant to write, + but—you know how a man gets to putting things off. And then + I took a notion to ride over this way, and sample your grub for a + day or so, and abuse you a little to your face, you old + highbinder!" + </p> + <p> + "Sure. I've been kinda looking for you, too. But—I wish you + hadn't quite so big an assortment of battle-signs, Ford. Kate's + got ideals and prejudices—and she don't know all your + little personal traits. She's heard a lot about you, of course. + We was married right after we came outa the North, you know, and + of course—Well, you know how a woman sops up adventure + stories; and seeing you was the star performer—" + </p> + <p> + "And that's a lie," Ford put in modestly, albeit a trifle + bluntly. + </p> + <p> + "No, it ain't. She got the truth. And she's so darned grateful," + he added lugubriously, "that I don't know how to square your + record with that face! Unless we can rig up some yarn about a + holdup—" He paused just outside the mess-house door and + eyed Ford questioningly. "We might—" + </p> + <p> + "No, you don't. If you've gone and lied to her, and made me out a + little tin angel, you deserve what's coming. Anyway, I won't stay + long, and I'll stop down here with the boys. Call me Jack Jones + and let it go at that. Honest, Ches, I don't want to get mixed up + with no more females. I'm plumb scared of 'em. Lordy me, that + coffee sure does smell good to me!" + </p> + <p> + Mason looked at him doubtfully, saw that Ford was, for the time + being, absolutely devoid of anything remotely approaching + penitence for his sins, or compunction over his appearance, or + uneasiness over "Kate's" opinion of him. He was hungry. And since + it is next to impossible to whip up the conscience of a man whose + thoughts are concentrated upon his physical needs, Mason was wise + enough to wait, though the one point which he considered of vital + importance to them both—the question of Ford's acceptance + or refusal of the foremanship of the Double Cross—had not + yet been touched upon. + </p> + <p> + While Ford ate with a controlled voraciousness which spoke + eloquently of his twenty-four hours of fasting and exposure, + Mason gossiped inattentively and studied the man. + </p> + <p> + Eight years leave their impress of mental growth or deterioration + upon a man. Outwardly Ford was not much changed since Mason had + come with him out of Alaska and lost sight of him afterwards. + There was the maturity which the man of thirty possessed and + which the virile young fellow of twenty-one had lacked. There was + the same straight glance, the same atmosphere of squareness and + mental poise. Those were qualities which Mason set down as + valuable factors in his estimate of the man. Besides, there were + other signs which did not make so pleasant a reading. + </p> + <p> + Eight years—and a few of them, at least, had been spent + wastefully in tearing down what the other years had built; Mason + had heard that Ford was "going to the dogs," and that by the + short trail men blazed for themselves centuries ago and which + those who came after have made a highway—the whisky trail. + Mason had heard, now and then, of ten thousand dollars coming to + Ford upon the death of his father and going almost as suddenly as + it had come. That, at least, had been the rumor. Also he had + heard, just lately, that Ford had taken to gambling as a + profession and to terrorizing Sunset periodically as a pastime. + And Mason remembered the Ford Campbell who had carried him on his + back out of a wild place in Alaska, and had nearly starved + himself that the sick man's strength might not fail him utterly. + He had remembered—had Ches Mason; and, being one of those + tenacious souls who cling to friendship and to a resilient faith + in the good that is in the worst of us, he had thrown out a + tentative life-line, as it were, and hoped that Ford might clutch + it before he became quite submerged in the sodden morass of + inebriety. + </p> + <p> + Ford may or may not have grasped eagerly at the line. At any rate + he was there in the mess-house of the Double Cross, and he was + not quite so sodden as Mason had feared to find + him—provided he found him at all. So much, at least, was + encouraging, and for the rest, Mason was content to wait. + </p> + <p> + Mose, recognizing Ford at once, had asked him, with a comical + attempt at secrecy, if he had anything to drink. When Ford shook + his head, Mose stifled a sigh and went back to his dishwashing, + not more than half convinced and inclined toward resentfulness. + That a "booze-fighter" like Ford Campbell should come only a + day's ride from town and not be fairly well supplied with whisky + was too remarkable to be altogether plausible. He eyed the two + sourly while they talked, and he did not bring forth one of the + fresh pies he had baked, as he had meant to do. + </p> + <p> + It was not until Ford was ready to light his after-dinner + cigarette that Mason led the way into the next room, which held + the bunks and general belongings of the men, and closed the door + so that they might talk in confidence without fear of Mose's + loose tongue. Ford immediately pulled off his boots, laid himself + down upon one of the bunks, doubled a pillow under his head, and + began to eye Mason quizzically. Then he said: + </p> + <p> + "Say, you kinda played your hand face down, didn't you, Ches, + when you wrote and asked me to come out here and take charge? + Eight years is a long time to expect a man to stay right where he + was when you saw him last. You've lost a whole lot of horse sense + since I knew you." + </p> + <p> + "Well, what about it? You came, I notice." Mason grinned and + would not help Ford otherwise to an understanding. + </p> + <p> + "I didn't come to hog-tie that foreman job, you chump. I just + merely want to tell you that you'll get into all kinds of + trouble, some day, if you go laying yourself wide open like that. + Why, it's plumb crazy to offer a job like that to a fellow you + haven't seen for as long as you have me. And if you heard + anything about me, it's a cinch it wasn't what would recommend me + to any Sunday-school as a teacher of their Bible class! How did + you know I wouldn't take it? And let you in for—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, you're here, and I've seen you. The job's still waiting + for you. You can start right in, to-morrow morning." Ches got out + his pipe and began to fill it as calmly and with as much + attention to the small details as if he were not mentally tensed + for the struggle he knew was coming; a struggle which struck much + deeper than the position he was offering Ford. + </p> + <p> + Ford almost dropped his cigarette in his astonishment. "Well, you + damn' fool!" he ejaculated pityingly. + </p> + <p> + "Why? I thought you knew enough—you punched cows for the + Circle for four or five years, didn't you? Nelson told me you + were his top hand while you stayed with him, and that you ran the + outfit one whole summer, when—" + </p> + <p> + "That ain't the point." A hot look had crept into Ford's + face—a tinge which was not a flush—and a glow into + his eyes. "I know the cow-business, far as that goes. It's me; + you can't—why, Lordy me! You ought to be sent to Sulphur + Springs and get your think-tank hoed out. Any man that will offer + a foreman's job to a—a—" + </p> + <p> + "'A rooting, tooting, shooting, fighting son-of-a-gun, and a good + one!'" assisted Mason equably. "'The only original + go-getter—' Sure. That's all right." + </p> + <p> + The flush came slowly and darkened Ford's cheeks and brow and + throat. He threw his half-smoked cigarette savagely at the hearth + of the rusty box-stove, and scowled at the place where it fell. + "Well, ain't that reason enough?" he demanded harshly, after a + minute. + </p> + <p> + Mason had been studying that flush. He nodded assent to some + question he had put to himself, and crowded tobacco into his + pipe. "No reason at all, one way or the other. I need a + foreman—one I can depend on. I've got to make a trip out to + the Coast, this fall, and I've got to leave somebody here I can + trust." + </p> + <p> + Ford shot him a quick, questioning glance, and bit his lip. + "That," he said more calmly, "is just what I'm driving at. You + can't trust me. You can't depend on me, Ches." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, yes I can," Mason contradicted blandly. "It's just because I + can that I want you." + </p> + <p> + "You can't. You know damn' well you can't! Why, you—don't + you know I've got the name of being a drunkard, and a—a bad + actor all around? I'm not like I was eight years ago, remember. + I've traveled a hard old trail since we bucked the snow together, + Ches—and it's been mostly down grade. I was all right for + awhile, and then I got ten thousand dollars, and it seemed a lot + of money. I bought a fellow out—he had a ranch and a few + head of horses—so he could take his wife back East to her + mother. She was sick. I didn't want the darned ranch. And so help + me, Ches, that's the only thing I've done in the last four years + that I hadn't ought to be ashamed of. The rest of the money I + just simply blew. I—well, you see me; you didn't want to + take me up to the house to meet your wife, and I don't blame you. + You'd be a chump if you did. And this is nothing out of the + ordinary. I've got my face bunged up half the time, seems like." + He thumped the pillow into a different position, settled his head + against it, and looked at Mason with his old, whimsical smile. + "So when you talk about that foreman job, and depending on me, + you're—plumb delirious. I was going to write and tell you + so, but I kept putting it off. And then I took a notion I'd hunt + you up and give you some good advice. You're a good fellow, Ches, + but the court ought to appoint a guardian for you." + </p> + <p> + "I'll stick around for three or four weeks," Mason observed, in + the casual tone of one who is merely discussing the details of an + everyday affair, "till the calves are all gathered. We're a + little late this year, on account of old Slow dying right in + round-up time. We got most of the beef shipped—all I care + about gathering, this fall. I've got most all young stock, and it + won't hurt to let 'em run another season; there ain't many. I'll + let you take the wagons out, and I'll go with you till you get + kinda harness-broke. And—" + </p> + <p> + "I told you I don't want the job." Ford's mouth was set grimly. + </p> + <p> + "You tried to tell me what I want and what I don't want," Mason + corrected amiably. "Now I've got my own ideas on that subject. + This here outfit belongs to me. I like to pick my men to suit + myself; and if I want a certain man for foreman, I guess I've got + a right to hire him—if he'll let himself be hired. I've + picked my man. It don't make any difference to me how many times + he played hookey when he was a kid, or how many men he's licked + since he growed up. I've hired him to help run the Double Cross, + and run it right; and I ain't a bit afraid but what he'll make + good." He smiled and knocked the ashes gently from his pipe into + the palm of his hand, because the pipe was a meerschaum just + getting a fine, fawn coloring around the base of the bowl, and + was dear to the heart of him. "Down to the last, white chip," he + added slowly, "he'll make good. He ain't the kind of a man that + will lay down on his job." He got up and yawned, elaborately + casual in his manner. + </p> + <p> + "You lay around and take it easy this afternoon," he said. "I've + got to jog over to the river field; the boys are over there, + working a little bunch we threw in yesterday. To-morrow we can + ride around a little, and kinda get the lay of the land. You + better go by-low, right now—you look as if it wouldn't do + you any harm!" Whereupon he wisely took himself off and left Ford + alone. + </p> + <p> + The door he pulled shut after him closed upon a mental + battle-ground. Ford did not go "by-low." Instead, he rolled over + and lay with his face upon his folded arms, alive to the + finger-tips; alive and fighting. For there are times when the + soul of a man awakes and demands a reckoning, and reviews + pitilessly the past and faces the future with the veil of + illusion torn quite away—and does it whether the man will + or no. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_VIII' id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <h3> + "I Wish You'd Quit Believing in Me!" + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + A distant screaming roused Ford from his bitter mood of + introspection. He raised his head and listened, his heavy-lidded + eyes staring blankly at the wall opposite, before he sprang off + the bunk, pulled on his boots, and rushed from the room. Outside, + he hesitated long enough to discover which direction he must take + to reach the woman who was screaming inarticulately, her voice + vibrant with sheer terror. The sound came from the little, brown + cottage that seemed trying modestly to hide behind a dispirited + row of young cottonwoods across a deep, narrow gully, and he ran + headlong toward it. He crossed the plank footbridge in a couple + of long leaps, vaulted over the gate which barred his way, and so + reached the house just as a woman whom he knew must be Mason's + "Kate," jerked open the door and screamed "Chester!" almost in + his face. Behind her rolled a puff of slaty blue smoke. + </p> + <p> + Ford pushed past her in the doorway without speaking; the smoke + told its own urgent tale and made words superfluous. She turned + and followed him, choking over the pungent smoke. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, where's Chester?" she wailed. "The whole garret's on + fire—and I can't carry Phenie—and she's asleep and + can't walk anyway!" She rushed half across the room and stopped, + pointing toward a closed door, with Ford at her heels. + </p> + <p> + "She's in there!" she cried tragically. "Save her, + quick—and I'll find Chester. You'd think, with all the men + there are on this ranch, there'd be some one around—oh, and + my new piano!" + </p> + <p> + She ran out of the house, scolding hysterically because the men + were gone, and Ford laughed a little as he went to the door she + had indicated. When his fingers touched the knob, it turned + fumblingly under another hand than his own; the door opened, and + he confronted the girl whom he had tried to befriend the day + before. She had evidently just gotten out of bed, and into a + flimsy blue kimono, which she was holding together at the throat + with one hand, while with the other she steadied herself against + the wall. She stared blankly into his eyes, and her face was very + white indeed, with her hair falling thickly upon either side in + two braids which reached to her hips. + </p> + <p> + Ford gave her one quick, startled glance, said "Come on," quite + brusquely, and gathered her into his arms with as little + sentiment as he would have bestowed upon the piano. His eyes + smarted with the smoke, which blinded him so that he bumped into + chairs on his way to the door. Outside he stopped, and looked + down at the girl, wondering what he should do with her. Since + Kate had stated emphatically that she could not walk, it seemed + scarcely merciful to deposit her on the ground and leave her to + her own devices. She had closed her eyes, and she looked + unpleasantly like a corpse; and there was an insistent crackling + up in the roof, which warned Ford that there was little time for + the weighing of fine points. He was about to lay her on the bare + ground, for want of a better place, when he glimpsed Mose running + heavily across the bridge, and went hurriedly to meet him. + </p> + <p> + "Here! You take her down and put her in one of the bunks, Mose," + he commanded, when Mose confronted him, panting a good deal + because of his two hundred and fifty pounds of excess fat and a + pair of down-at-the-heel slippers which hampered his movements + appreciably. Mose looked at the girl and then at his two hands. + </p> + <p> + "I can't take her," he lamented. "I got m'hands full of aigs!" + </p> + <p> + Ford's reply was a sweep of the girl's inert figure against + Mose's outstretched hands, which freed them effectually of their + burden of eggs. "You darned chump, what's eggs in a case like + this?" he cried sharply, and forced the girl into his arms. "You + take her and put her on a bunk. I've got to put out that fire!" + </p> + <p> + So Mose, a reluctant knight and an awkward one, carried the girl + to the bunk-house, and left Ford free to save the house if he + could. Fortunately the fire had started in a barrel of old + clothing which had stood too close to the stovepipe, and while + the smoke was stifling, the flames were as yet purely local. And, + more fortunately still, that day happened to be Mrs. Mason's + wash-day and two tubs of water stood in the kitchen, close to the + narrow stairway which led into the loft. Three or four pails of + water and some quick work in running up and down the stairs was + all that was needed. Ford, standing in the low, unfinished loft, + looked at the rafter which was burnt half through, and wiped his + perspiring face with his coat sleeve. + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me!" he observed aloud, "I sure didn't come any too soon!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, it's all out! I don't know how I ever shall thank you in + this world! With Phenie in bed with a sprained ankle so she + couldn't walk, and the men all gone, I was just wild! + I—why—" Kate, standing upon the stairs so that she + could look into the loft, stopped suddenly and stared at Ford + with some astonishment. Plainly, she had but then discovered that + he was a stranger—and it was quite as plain that she was + taking stock of his blackened eyes and other bruises, and that + with the sheltered woman's usual tendency to exaggerate the + disfigurements. + </p> + <p> + "That's all right; I don't need any thanks." Ford, seeing no + other way of escape, approached her steadily, the empty bucket + swinging in his hand. "The fire's all out, so there's nothing + more I can do here, I guess." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, but you'll have to bring Josephine back!" Kate's eyes met + his straightforward glance reluctantly, and not without reason; + for Ford had dark, greenish purple areas in the region of his + eyes, a skinned cheek, and a swollen lip; his chin was scratched + and there was a bruise on his forehead where, on the night of his + marriage, he had hit the floor violently under the impact of two + or three struggling male humans. Although they were five days + old—six, some of them—these divers battle-signs were + perfectly visible, not to say conspicuous; so that Kate Mason was + perhaps justified in her perfectly apparent diffidence in looking + at him. So do we turn our eyes self-consciously away from a + cripple, lest we give offense by gazing upon his misfortune. + </p> + <p> + "<i>I</i> can't carry her, and she can't walk—her ankle is + sprained dreadfully. So if you'll bring her back to the house, + I'll be ever so much—" + </p> + <p> + "Certainly; I'll bring her back right away." Ford came down the + stairs so swiftly that she retreated in haste before him, and + once down he did not linger; indeed, he almost ran from the house + and from her embarrassed gratitude. On the way to the bunk-house + it occurred to him that it might be no easy matter, now, for + Mason to conceal Ford's identity and his sins. From the way in + which she had stared wincingly at his battered countenance, he + realized that she did, indeed, have ideals. Ford grinned to + himself, wondering if Ches didn't have to do his smoking + altogether in the bunk-house; he judged her to be just the woman + to wage a war on tobacco, and swearing, and muddy boots, and + drinking out of one's saucer, and all other weaknesses peculiar + to the male of our species. He was inclined to pity Ches, in + spite of his mental acknowledgment that she was a very nice woman + indeed; and he was half inclined to tell Mason when he saw him + that he'd have to look further for a foreman. + </p> + <p> + He found the girl lying upon a bunk just inside the door, still + with closed eyes and that corpse-like look in her face. He was + guilty of hoping that she would remain in that oblivious state + for at least five minutes longer, but the hope was short-lived; + for when he lifted her carefully in his arms, her eyes flew open + and stared up at him intently. + </p> + <p> + Ford shut his lips grimly and tried not to mind that unwinking + gaze while he carried her out and up the path, across the little + bridge and on to the house, and deposited her gently upon her own + bed. He had not spoken a word, nor had she. So he left her + thankfully to Kate's tearful ministrations and hurried from the + room. + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me!" he sighed, as he closed the door upon them and went + back to the bunk-house, which he entered with a sigh of relief. + One tribute he paid her, and one only: the tribute of feeling + perturbed over her presence, and of going hot all over at the + memory of her steady stare into his face. She was a queer girl, + he told himself; but then, so far as he had discovered, all women + were queer; the only difference being that some women were more + so than others. + </p> + <p> + He sat down on the bunk where she had lain, and speedily forgot + the girl and the incident in facing the problem of that + foremanship. He could not get away from the conviction that he + was not to be trusted. He did not trust himself, and there was no + reason why any man who knew him at all should trust him. Ches + Mason was a good fellow; he meant well, Ford decided, but he + simply did not realize what he was up against. He meant, + therefore, to enlighten him further, and go his way. He was + almost sorry that he had come. + </p> + <p> + Mason, when Ford confronted him later at the corral and bluntly + stated his view of the matter, heard him through without a word, + and did not laugh the issue out of the way, as he had been + inclined to do before. + </p> + <p> + "I'll be all right for a month, maybe," Ford finished, "and + that's as long as I can bank on myself. I tell you straight, + Ches, it won't work. You may think you're hiring the same fellow + that came out of the North with you—but you aren't. Why, + damn it, there ain't a man I know that wouldn't give you the + laugh if they knew the offer you've made me! They would, that's a + fact. They'd laugh at you. You're all right, Ches, but I won't + stand for a deal like that. I can't make good." + </p> + <p> + Mason waited until he was through. Then he came closer and put + both hands on Ford's shoulders, so that they stood face to face, + and he looked straight into Ford's discolored eyes with his own + shining a little behind their encircling wrinkles. + </p> + <p> + "You can make good!" he said calmly. "I know it. All you need is + a chance to pull up. Seeing you won't give yourself one, I'm + giving it to you. You'll do for me what you won't do for + yourself, Ford—and if there's a yellow streak in you, I + never got a glimpse of it; and the yellow will sure come to the + surface of a man when he's bucking a proposition like you and me + bucked for two months. You didn't lay down on that job, and you + were just a kid, you might say. Gosh, Ford, I'd bank on you any + old time—put you on your mettle, and I would! You can make + good here—and damn it, you will!" + </p> + <p> + "I wish I was as sure of that as you seem to be," Ford muttered + uneasily, and turned away. Mason's easy chuckle followed him, and + Ford swung about and faced him again. + </p> + <p> + "I haven't made any cast-iron promise—" + </p> + <p> + "Did I ask you to make any?" Mason's voice sharpened. + </p> + <p> + "But—Lordy me, Ches! How do you know I—" + </p> + <p> + "I know. That's enough." + </p> + <p> + "But—maybe I don't want the darned job. I never + said—" + </p> + <p> + Mason was studying him, as a man studies the moods of an untamed + horse. "I didn't think you'd dodge," he drawled, and the blood + surged answeringly to Ford's cheeks. "You do want it." + </p> + <p> + "If I should happen to get jagged up in good shape, about the + first thing I'd do would be to lick the stuffing out of you for + being such a simple-minded cuss," Ford prophesied grimly, as one + who knows well whereof he speaks. + </p> + <p> + "Ye-es—but you won't get jagged." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Lord! I wish you'd quit believing in me! You used to have + some sense," Ford grumbled. But he reached out and clenched his + fingers upon Mason's arm so tight that Mason set his teeth, and + he looked at him long, as if there was much that he would like to + put into words and could not. "Say! You're white clear down to + your toes, Ches," he said finally, and walked away hurriedly with + his hat jerked low over his eyes. + </p> + <p> + Mason looked after him as long as he was in sight, and afterwards + took off his hat, and wiped beads of perspiration from his + forehead. "Gosh!" he whispered fervently. "That was nip and + tuck—but I got him, thank the Lord!" Whereupon he blew his + nose violently, and went up to his supper with his hands in his + pockets and his humorous lips pursed into a whistle. + </p> + <p> + Before long he was back, chuckling to himself as he bore down + upon Ford in the corral, where he was industriously rubbing + Rambler's sprained shoulder with liniment. + </p> + <p> + "The wife says you've got to come up to the house," he announced + gleefully. "You've gone and done the heroic again, and she wants + to do something to show her gratitude." + </p> + <p> + "You go back and tell your wife that I'm a bold, bad man and I + won't come." Ford, to prove his sincerity, sat down upon the + stout manger there, and crossed his legs with an air of finality. + </p> + <p> + "I did tell her," Mason confessed sheepishly. "She wanted to know + who you was, and I told her before I thought. And she wanted to + know what was the matter with your face, 'poor fellow,' and I + told her that, too—as near as I knew it. I told her," he + stated sweepingly, "that you'd been on a big jamboree and had + licked fourteen men hand-running. There ain't," he confided with + a twinkle, "any use at all in trying to keep a secret from your + wife; not," he qualified, "from a wife like Kate! So she knows + the whole darned thing, and she's sore as the deuce because I + didn't bring you up to the house right away when you came. She + thinks you're sufferin' from them wounds and she's going to + doctor 'em. That's the way with a woman—you never can tell + what angle she's going to look at a thing from. You're the man + that packed me down out of the Wrangel mountains on your back, + and that's enough for her—dang it, Kate thinks a lot of me! + Besides, you done the heroic this afternoon. You've got to come." + </p> + <p> + "There ain't anything heroic in sloshing a few buckets of water + on a barrel of burning rags," Ford belittled, seeking in his + pockets for his cigarette papers. + </p> + <p> + "How about rescuing a lady?" Mason twitted. "You come along. I + want you up there myself. Gosh! I want somebody I can talk to + about something besides dresses and the proper way to cure + sprained ankles, and whether the grocer sent out the right brand + of canned peaches. Women are all right—but a man wants some + one around to talk to. You ain't married!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh. Ain't I?" Ford snorted. "And what if I ain't?" + </p> + <p> + "Say, there's a mighty nice girl staying with us; the one you + rescued. She's laid up now—got bucked off, or fell off, or + something yesterday, and hurt her foot—but she's a peach, + all right. You'll—" + </p> + <p> + "I know the lady," Ford cut in dryly. "I met her yesterday, and + we commenced hating each other as soon as we got in talking + distance. She sent me to catch her horse, and then she pulled out + before I got back. She's a peach, all right!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh. You're the fellow!" Mason regarded him attentively. "Now, I + don't believe she said a word to Kate about that, and she must + have known who it was packed her out of the house. I wonder why + she didn't say anything about it to Kate! But she wasn't to blame + for leaving you out there, honest she wasn't. I went out to hunt + her up—Kate got kinda worried about her—and she told + me about you, and we did wait a little while. But it was getting + cold, and she was hurt pretty bad and getting kinda wobbly, so I + put her on my horse and brought her home. But she left a note for + you, and I sent a man back after you with a horse. He come back + and said he couldn't locate you. So we thought you'd gone to some + other ranch." He stopped and looked quizzically at Ford. "So + you're the man! And you're both here for the winter—at + least, Kate says she's going to keep her all winter. Gosh! This + is getting romantic!" + </p> + <p> + "Don't you believe it!" Ford urged emphatically. "I don't want to + bump into her again; a little of her company will last me a long + while!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you won't meet Jo to-night; Josephine, her name is. She's in + bed, and will be for a week or so, most likely. You've just got + to come, Ford. Kate'll be down here after you herself, if I go + back without you—and she'll give me the dickens into the + bargain. I want you to get acquainted with my kid—Buddy. + He's down in the river field with the boys, but he'll be back + directly. Greatest kid you ever saw, Ford! Only seven, and he can + ride like a son-of-a-gun, and wears chaps and spurs, and can + sling a loop pretty good, for a little kid! Come on!" + </p> + <p> + "Wel-ll, all right—but Lordy me! I do hate to, Ches, and + that's a fact. Women I'm plumb scared of. I never met one in my + life that didn't hand me a package of trouble so big I couldn't + see around it. Why—" He shut his teeth upon the impulse to + confide to Mason his matrimonial mischance. + </p> + <p> + "These two won't. My wife's the real goods, once you get to know + her; a little fussy, maybe, over some things—most all women + are. But she's all right, you bet. And Josephine's the proper + stuff too. A little abrupt, maybe—" + </p> + <p> + "Abrupt!" Ford echoed, and laughed over the word. "Yes, she is + what you might call a little—abrupt!" + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_IX' id="CHAPTER_IX"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <h3> + Impressions + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Josephine waited languidly while Kate chose a second-best cushion + from the couch and, lifting the bandaged foot as gently as might + be, placed it, with many little pats and pulls, under the + afflicted member. Josephine screwed her lips into a soundless + expression of pain, smiled afterwards when Kate glanced at her + commiseratingly, and pulled a long, dark-brown braid forward over + her chest. + </p> + <p> + "Do you want tea, Phenie?—or would you rather have + chocolate to-day? I can make chocolate just as easy as not; I + think I shall, anyway. Buddy is so fond of it and—" + </p> + <p> + "Is that man here yet?" Josephine's tone carried the full weight + of her dislike of him. + </p> + <p> + "I don't know why you call him 'that man,' the way you do," Kate + complained, turning her mind from the momentous decision between + tea and chocolate. "Ford's simply fine! Chester thinks there's no + one like him; and Buddy just tags him around everywhere. You can + always," asserted Kate, with the positiveness of the person who + accepts unquestioningly the beliefs of others, living by faith + rather than reason, "depend upon the likes and dislikes of + children and dogs, you know." + </p> + <p> + "Has the swelling gone out of his eyes?" Josephine inquired + pointedly, with the irrelevance which seemed habitual to her and + Kate when they conversed. + </p> + <p> + "Phenie, I don't think it's kind of you to harp on that. Yes, it + has, if you want to know. He's positively handsome—or will + be when the—when his nose heals perfectly. And I don't + think that's anything one should hold against Ford; it seems + narrow, dear." + </p> + <p> + "The skinned place?" Josephine's tone was perfectly innocent, and + her fingers were busy with the wide, black bow which becomingly + tied the end of the braid. + </p> + <p> + "Phenie! If you hadn't a sprained ankle, and weren't such a dear + in every other respect, I'd shake you! It isn't fair. Because + Ford was pounced upon by a lot of men—sixteen, Chester told + me—" + </p> + <p> + "I suppose he counted the dead after the battle, and told Ches + truthfully—" + </p> + <p> + "Phenie, that sounds catty! When you get down on a man, you're + perfectly unmerciful, and Ford doesn't deserve it. You shouldn't + judge men by the narrow, Eastern standards. I know it's awful for + a man to drink and fight. But Ford wasn't altogether to blame. + They got him to drinking and," she went on with her voice lowered + to the pitch at which women are wont to relate horrid, immoral + things, "—I wouldn't be surprised if they put something in + it! Such things are done; I've heard of men being drugged and + robbed and all sorts of things. And I'm just as much of an + advocate for temperance as you are, Phenie—and I think Ford + was just right to fight those men. There are," she declared + wisely, "circumstances where it's perfectly just and right for a + man to fight. I can imagine circumstances under which Chester + would be justified in fighting—" + </p> + <p> + "In case sixteen men should hold his nose and pour drugged whisky + down his throat?" Phenie inquired mildly, curling the end of her + braid over a slim forefinger. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kate made an inarticulate sound which might almost be termed + a snort, and walked from the room with her head well up and a + manner which silently made plain to the onlooker that she might + say many things which would effectually crush her opponent, but + was magnanimously refraining from doing so. + </p> + <p> + Josephine did not even pay her the tribute of looking at her; she + had at that moment heard a step upon the porch, and she was + leaning to one side so that she might see who was coming into the + dining-room. As it happened, it was Mason himself. Miss Josephine + immediately lost interest in the arrival and took to tracing with + her finger the outline of a Japanese lady with a startling + coiffure and an immense bow upon her spine, who was simpering at + a lotus bed on Josephine's kimono. She did not look up until some + one stepped upon the porch again. + </p> + <p> + This time it was Ford, and he stopped and painstakingly removed + the last bit of soil from his boot-soles upon the iron scraper + which was attached to one end of the top step; when that duty had + been performed, he paid further tribute to the immaculate house + he was about to enter, by wiping his feet upon a mat placed with + mathematical precision upon the porch, at the head of the steps. + Josephine watched the ceremonial, and studied Ford's profile, and + did not lay her head back upon the cushion behind her until he + disappeared into the dining-room. Then she stared at a + colored-crayon portrait of Buddy which hung on the wall opposite, + and her eyes were the eyes of one who sees into the past. + </p> + <p> + Buddy, when he opened the door and projected himself into the + room, startled her into a little exclamation. + </p> + <p> + "Dad says he'll carry you out to the table and you can have a + whole side to yourself," he announced without preface. "They'll + just pick up your chair, and pack chair and all in, and set you + down as ee-asy—do you want to eat out there with us?" + </p> + <p> + Josephine hesitated for two seconds. "All right," she consented + then, in a supremely indifferent tone which was of course quite + wasted on Buddy, who immediately disappeared with a whoop. + </p> + <p> + "Come on, dad—she says yes, all right, she'll come," he + announced gleefully. Buddy was Josephine's devoted admirer, at + this point in their rather brief acquaintance; which, according + to his mother's well-known theory, was convincing proof of her + intrinsic worth—Mrs. Kate having frequently strengthened + her championship of Ford to his detractor, Miss Josephine, by + pointing out that Buddy was fond of him. + </p> + <p> + Josephine spent the brief interval in tucking back locks of hair + and in rearranging the folds of her long, Japanese kimono, and + managed to fall into a languidly indifferent attitude by the time + Chester opened the door. Behind him came Ford; Miss Josephine + moved her lips and tilted her head in a perfunctory greeting, and + afterward gave him no more attention than if he had been a + Pullman porter assisting with her suitcases. For the matter of + that, she gave quite as much attention as she received from + him—and Mason's lips twitched betrayingly at the spectacle. + </p> + <p> + Through dinner they seemed mutually agreed upon ignoring each + other as much as was politely possible, which caused Mason to + watch them with amusement, and afterwards relieve his feelings by + talking about them to Kate in the kitchen. + </p> + <p> + "Gosh! Jo and Ford are sure putting up a good bluff," he + chuckled, while he selected the freshest dish towel from the rack + behind the pantry door. "They'd be sticking out their tongues at + each other if they was twenty years younger; pity they ain't, + too; it would be a relief to 'em both!" + </p> + <p> + "Phenie provokes me almost past endurance!" Mrs. Kate complained, + burying two plump forearms in a dishpan of sudsy hot water, and + bringing up a handful of silver. "It's because Ford had been + fighting when he came here, and she knows he has been slightly + addicted to liquor. She looks down on him, and I don't think it's + fair. If a man wants to reform, I believe in helping him instead + of pushing him father down." (Mrs. Kate had certain little + peculiarities of speech; one was an italicized delivery, and + another was the omission of an r now and then. She always said + "father" when she really meant "farther.") "There's a lot that + one can do to help. I believe in showing trust and confidence in + a man, when he's trying to live down past mistakes. I think it + was just fine of you to make him foreman here! If Phenie would + only be nice to him, instead of turning up her nose the way she + does! You see yourself how she treats Ford, and I just think it's + a shame! I think he's just splendid!" + </p> + <p> + "She don't treat him any worse than he does her," observed Mason, + just to the core. "Seems to me, if I was single, and a girl as + pretty as Jo—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I'm glad Ford has got spunk enough not to care," Mrs. Kate + interposed hastily. "Phenie's pretty, of course—but it + takes more than that to attract a man like Ford. You can't expect + him to like her when she won't look at him, hardly; it makes me + feel terribly, because he's sure to think it's because + he—I've tried to make her see that it isn't right to + condemn a man because he has made one mistake. He ought to be + encouraged, instead of being made to feel that he is a—an + outcast, practically. And—" + </p> + <p> + "Jo don't like Ford, because she's stuck on Dick," stated a + shrill, positive young voice behind them, and Mrs. Kate turned + sharply upon her offspring. "They was waving hands to each other + just now, through the window. I seen 'em," Buddy finished + complacently. "Dick was down fixing the bridge, and—" + </p> + <p> + "Buddy, you run right out and play! You must not listen to older + people and try to talk about some-thing you don't understand." + </p> + <p> + "Aw, I understand them two being stuck on each other," Buddy + maintained loftily. "And I seen Dick—" + </p> + <p> + "Chase yourself outdoors, like your mother said; and don't butt + in on—" + </p> + <p> + "Chester!" reproved Mrs. Kate, waving Buddy out of the kitchen. + "How can you expect the child to learn good English, when you + talk to him like that? Run along, Buddy, and play like a good + boy." She gave him a little cake to accelerate his departure and + to turn his mind from further argument, and after he was gone she + swung the discussion to Buddy and his growing tendency toward + grappling with problems beyond his seven years. Also, she pointed + out the necessity for choosing one's language carefully in his + presence. + </p> + <p> + Mason, therefore, finished wiping the dishes almost in silence, + and left the house as soon as he was through, with the feeling + that women were not by nature intended to be really + companionable. He had, for instance, been struck with the + humorous side of Ford and Josephine's perfectly ridiculous + antipathy, and had lingered in the kitchen because of a + half-conscious impulse to enjoy the joke with some one. And Mrs. + Kate had not taken the view-point which appealed to him, but had + been self-consciously virtuous in her determination to lend Ford + a helping hand, and resentful because Josephine failed to feel + also the urge of uplifting mankind. + </p> + <p> + Mason, poor man, was vaguely nettled; he did not see that Ford + needed any settlement-worker encouragement. If he was let alone, + and his moral regeneration forgotten, and he himself treated just + like any other man, Mason felt that Ford would thereby have all + the encouragement he needed. Ford was once more plainly content + with life, and was taking it in twenty-four-hour doses again; + healthful doses, these, and different in every respect from those + days spent in the sordid round of ill-living in town; nor did he + flay his soul with doubts lest he should disappoint this man who + trusted him so rashly and so implicitly. Ford was busy at work + which appealed to the best of him. He was thrown into + companionship with men who perforce lived cleanly and naturally, + and with Ches Mason, who was his friend. At meals he sometimes + gave thought to Mrs. Kate, and frequently to Josephine. The first + he admired impersonally for her housewifely skill, and smiled at + secretly for her purely feminine outlook upon life and her + positive views upon subjects of which she knew not half the + alphabet. He had discovered that Mason did indeed refrain from + smoking in the house because she discountenanced tobacco; and + since she had a talent for making a man uncomfortably aware of + her disapproval by certain wordless manifestations of scorn for + his weaknesses, Ford also took to throwing away his cigarette + before he crossed the bridge on his way to her domain. He did + not, however, go so far as Ches, who kept his tobacco, pipe, and + cigarette papers in the stable, and was always borrowing "the + makings" from his men. + </p> + <p> + Ford also followed Mason's example in sterilizing his vocabulary + whenever he crossed that boundary between the masculine and + feminine element on the ranch, the bridge. Mrs. Kate did not + approve of slang. Ford found himself carefully eliminating from + his speech certain grammatical inaccuracies in her presence, and + would not so much as split an infinitive if he remembered in + time. It was trying, to be sure. Ford thanked God that he still + retained a smattering of the rules he had reluctantly memorized + in school, and that he was not married (at least, not + uncomfortably so), and that he was not compelled to do more than + eat his meals in the house. Mrs. Kate was a nice woman; Ford + would tell any man so in perfect sincerity. He even considered + her nice looking, with her smooth, brown hair which was never + disordered, her fine, clear skin, her white teeth, her clear blue + eyes, and her immaculate shirt-waists. But she was not a + comfortable woman to be with; an ordinary human wearied of + adjusting his speech, his manners, and his morals to her standard + of propriety. Ford, quietly studying matrimony from the + well-ordered example before him, began to congratulate himself + upon not being able to locate his own wife—since accident + had afflicted him with one. When he stopped, during these first + busy days at the Double Cross, to think deeply or seriously upon + the mysterious entanglement he had fallen into, he was inclined + to the opinion that he had had a narrow escape. The woman might + have remained in Sunset—and Ford flinched at the thought. + </p> + <p> + As to Josephine, Ford's thoughts dwelt with her oftener than they + did with Mrs. Kate. The thought of her roused a certain + resentment which bordered closely upon dislike. Still, she piqued + his interest; for a week she was invisible to him, yet her + presence in the house created a tangible atmosphere which he felt + but could not explain. His first sight of her—beyond a + fleeting glimpse once or twice through the window—had been + that day when he had helped Mason carry her and her big chair + into the dining-room. The brief contact had left with him a + vision of the delicate parting in her soft, brown hair, and of + long, thick lashes which curled daintily up from the shadow they + made on her cheeks. He did not remember ever having seen a woman + with such eyelashes. They impelled him to glance at her oftener + than he would otherwise have done, and to wonder, now and then, + if they did not make her eyes seem darker than they really were. + He thought it strange that he had not noticed her lashes that day + when he carried her from the house and back again—until he + remembered that at first his haste had been extreme, and that + when he took her from the bunk-house she had stared at him so + that he would not look at her. + </p> + <p> + He did not know that Ches Mason was observant of his rather + frequent glances at her during the meal, and he would have + resented Mason's diagnosis of that particular symptom of + interest. Ford would, if put to the question, have maintained + quite sincerely that he was perfectly indifferent to Josephine, + but that she did have remarkable eyelashes, and a man couldn't + help looking at them. + </p> + <p> + After all, Ford's interest was centered chiefly upon his work. + They were going to start the wagons out again to gather the + calves for weaning, and he was absorbed in the endless details + which fall upon the shoulders of the foreman. Even the + fascination of a woman's beauty did not follow him much beyond + the bridge. + </p> + <p> + Mason, hurrying from the feminine atmosphere at the house, found + him seriously discussing with Buddy the diet and general care of + Rambler, who had been moved into a roomy box stall for shelter. + Buddy was to have the privilege of filling the manger with hay + every morning after breakfast, and every evening just before + supper. Upon Buddy also devolved the duty of keeping his drinking + tub filled with clean water; and Buddy was making himself as tall + as possible during the conference, and was crossing his heart + solemnly while he promised, wide-eyed, to keep away from + Rambler's heels. + </p> + <p> + "I never knew him to kick, or offer to; but you stay out of the + stall, anyway. You can fill his tub through that hole in the + wall. And you let Walt rub him down good every day—you see + that he does it, Bud! And when he gets well, I'll let you ride + him, maybe. Anyway, I leave him in your care, old-timer. And it's + a privilege I wouldn't give every man. I think a heap of this + horse." He turned at the sound of footsteps, and lowered an + eyelid slowly for Mason's benefit. "Bud's going to have charge of + Rambler while we're gone," he explained seriously. "I want to be + sure he's in good hands." + </p> + <p> + The two men watched Buddy's departure for the house, and grinned + over the manifest struggle between his haste to tell his mother + and Jo, and his sense of importance over the trust. + </p> + <p> + "A kid of your own makes up for a whole lot," Mason observed + abstractedly, reaching up to the narrow shelf where he kept his + tobacco. "I wish I had two or three more; they give a man + something to work for, and look ahead and plan for." + </p> + <p> + Ford, studying his face with narrowed eyelids, was more than ever + thankful that he was not hampered by matrimony. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_X' id="CHAPTER_X"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <h3> + In Which the Demon Opens an Eye and Yawns + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + A storm held the Double Cross wagons in a sheltered place in the + hills, ten miles from the little town where Ford had spent a + night on his way to the ranch a month before. Mason, taking the + inaction as an excuse, rode home to his family and left Ford to + his own devices with no compunctions whatever. He should, + perhaps, have known better; but he was acting upon his belief + that nothing so braces a man as the absolute confidence of his + friends, and to have stayed in camp on Ford's account would, + according to Mason's code, have been an affront to Ford's + manifest determination to "make good." + </p> + <p> + It is true that neither had mentioned the matter since the day of + Ford's arrival at the ranch; men do not, as a rule, harp upon the + deeper issues within their lives. For that month, it had been as + though the subject of intemperance concerned them as little as + the political unrest of a hot-tempered people beyond the equator. + They had argued the matter to a more or less satisfactory + conclusion, and had let it rest there. + </p> + <p> + Ford had ridden with him a part of the way, and when they came to + a certain fork in the trail, he had sent a whimsically solemn + message to Buddy, had pulled the collar of his coat closer + together under his chin, and had faced the wind with a clean + conscience, and with bowed head and hat pulled low over his + brows. There were at least three perfectly valid reasons why Ford + should ride into town that day. He wanted heavier socks and a new + pair of gloves; he was almost out of tobacco, and wanted to see + if he could "pick up" another man so that the hours of + night-guarding might not fall so heavily upon the crew. Ford had + been standing the last guard himself, for the last week, to + relieve the burden a little, and Mason had been urgent on the + subject of another man—or two, he suggested, would be + better. Ford did his simple shopping, therefore, and then rode up + to the first saloon on the one little street, and dismounted with + a mind at ease. If idle men were to be found in that town, he + would have to look for them in a saloon; a fact which every one + took for granted, like the shortening of the days as winter + approached. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps he over-estimated his powers of endurance, or + under-estimated the strength of his enemy. Certain it is that he + had no intention of drinking whisky when he closed the door upon + the chill wind; and yet, he involuntarily walked straight up to + the bar. There he stuck. The bartender waited expectantly. When + Ford, with a sudden lift of his head, turned away to the stove, + the man looked after him curiously. + </p> + <p> + At the stove Ford debated with himself while he drew off his + gloves and held his fingers to the welcome heat which emanated + from a red glow where the fire burned hottest within. He had not + made any promise to himself or any one else, he remembered. He + had simply resolved that he would make good, if it were humanly + possible to do so. That, he told himself, did not necessarily + mean that he should turn a teetotaler out and out. Taking a + drink, when a man was cold and felt the need of it, was + not— + </p> + <p> + At that point in the argument two of his own men entered, + stamping noisily upon the threshold. They were laughing, from + pure animal satisfaction over the comforts within, rather than at + any tangible cause for mirth, and they called to Ford with easy + comradeship. Dick Thomas—the Dick whom Buddy had mentioned + in connection with Josephine—waved his hand hospitably + toward the bar. + </p> + <p> + "Come on, Campbell," he invited. He may have seen the hesitancy + in Ford's face, for he laughed. "I believe in starting on the + inside and driving the frost out," he said. + </p> + <p> + The two poured generously from the bottle which the bartender + pushed within easy reach, and Ford watched them. There was a + peculiar lift to Dick's upper lip—the lift which comes when + scorn is the lever. Ford's eyes hardened a little; he walked over + and stood beside Dick, and he took a drink as unemotionally as if + it had been water. He ordered another round, threw a coin upon + the bar, and walked out. He had rather liked Dick, in an + impersonal sort of way, but that half-sneer clung disagreeably to + his memory. A man likes to be held the master—be the slave + circumstance, danger, an opposing human, or his own appetite; and + although Ford was not the type of man who troubles himself much + about the opinions of his fellows, it irked him much that Dick or + any other man should sneer at him for a weakling. + </p> + <p> + He went to another saloon, found and hired a cow-puncher strayed + up from Valley County, and when Dick came in, a half-hour later, + Ford went to the bar and deliberately "called up the house." He + had been minded to choose a mineral water then, but he caught + Dick's mocking eye upon him, and instead took whisky straight, + and stared challengingly at the other over the glass tilted + against his lips. + </p> + <p> + After that, the liquor itself waged relentless war against his + good resolutions, so that it did not need the urge of Dick's + fancied derision to send him down the trail which the past had + made familiar. He sat in to a poker game that was creating a + small zone of subdued excitement at the far end of the room, and + while he was arranging his stacks of red, white, and blue chips + neatly before him, he was unpleasantly conscious of Dick's + supercilious smile. Never mind—he was not the first foreman + who ever played poker; they all did, when the mood seized them. + Ford straightened his shoulders instinctively, in defiance of + certain inner misgivings, and pushed forward his ante of two + white chips. + </p> + <p> + Jim Felton came up and stood at his shoulder, watching the game + in silence; and although he did not once open his lips except to + let an occasional thin ribbon of cigarette smoke drift out and + away to mingle with the blue cloud which hung under the ceiling, + Ford sensed a certain good-will in his nearness, just as + intangibly and yet as surely as he sensed Dick's sardonic + amusement at his apparent lapse. + </p> + <p> + With every bet he made and won he felt that silent approbation + behind him; insensibly it steadied Ford and sharpened his + instinct for reading the faces of the other players, so that the + miniature towers of red chips and blue grew higher until they + threatened to topple—whereupon other little towers began to + grow up around them. And the men in the saloon began to feel the + fascination of his success, so that they grouped themselves about + his chair and peered down over his shoulder at the game. + </p> + <p> + Ford gave them no thought, except a vague satisfaction, now and + then, that Jim Felton stuck to his post. Later, when he caught + the dealer, a slit-eyed, sallow-skinned fellow with fingers all + too nimble, slipping a card from the bottom of the deck, and gave + him a resounding slap which sent him and his cards sprawling all + over that locality, he should have been more than ever glad that + Jim was present. + </p> + <p> + Jim kept back the gambler's partner and the crowd and gave Ford + elbow-room and some moral support, which did its part, in that it + prevented any interference with the chastisement Ford was + administering. + </p> + <p> + It was not a fight, properly speaking. The gambler, once Ford had + finished cuffing him and stating his opinion of cheating the + while, backed away and muttered vague threats and maledictions. + Ford gathered together what chips he felt certain were his, and + cashed them in with a certain grim insistence of manner which + brooked no argument. After that he left the saloon, with Jim + close behind him. + </p> + <p> + "If you're going back to camp now, I reckon I'll ride along," + said Jim, at his elbow. "There's just nice time to get there for + supper—and I sure don't want to miss flopping my lip over + Mose's beefsteak; that yearling we beefed this morning is going + to make some fine eating, if you ask me." His tone was absolutely + devoid of anything approaching persuasion; it simply took a + certain improbable thing as a commonplace fact, and it tilted the + balance of Ford's intentions. + </p> + <p> + He did not go on to the next saloon, as he had started to do, but + instead he followed Jim to the livery stable and got his horse, + without realizing that Jim had anything to do with the change of + impulse. So Ford went to camp, instead of spending the night + riotously in town as he would otherwise have done, and contented + himself with cursing the game, the gambler who would have given a + "crooked deal," the town, and all it contained. A mile out, he + would have returned for a bottle of whisky; but Jim said he had + enough for two, and put his horse into a lope. Ford, swayed by a + blind instinct to stay with the man who seemed friendly, followed + the pace he set and so was unconsciously led out of the way of + further temptation. And so artfully was he led, that he never + once suspected that he did not go of his own accord. + </p> + <p> + Neither did he suspect that Jim's stumbling and immediate spasm + of regretful profanity at the bed-wagon where they unsaddled, was + the result of two miles of deep cogitation, and calculated to + account plausibly for not being able to produce a full flask upon + demand. Jim swore volubly and said he had "busted the bottle" by + falling against the wagon wheel; and Ford, for a wonder, believed + and did not ask for proof. He muddled around camp for a few + indecisive minutes, then rolled himself up like a giant cocoon in + his blankets, and slept heavily through the night. + </p> + <p> + He awoke at daylight, found himself fully clothed and with a + craving for whisky which he knew of old, and tried to remember + just what had occurred the night before; when he could not recall + anything very distinctly, he felt the first twinge of fear that + he had known for years. + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me! I wonder what kinda fool I made of myself, anyway!" he + thought distressfully. Later, when he discovered more money in + his pockets than his salary would account for, and remembered + playing poker, and having an argument of some sort with some one, + his distress grew upon him. In reality he had not done anything + disgraceful, according to the easy judgment of his fellows; but + Ford did not know that, and he flayed himself unmercifully for a + spineless, drunken idiot whom no man could respect or trust. It + seemed to him that the men eyed him askance; though they were + merely envious over his winnings and inclined to admire the + manner in which he had shown his disapproval of the dealer's + attempt at cheating. + </p> + <p> + He dreaded Mason's return, and yet he was anxious to see him and + tell him, once for all, that he was not to be trusted. He held + aloof from Jim and he was scantily civil to Dick Thomas, whose + friendship rang false. He pushed the work ahead while the air was + still alive with swirls of mote-like snowflakes, and himself bore + the brunt of it just to dull that gnawing self-disgust which made + his waking hours a mental torment. + </p> + <p> + Before, when disgust had seized upon him in Sunset, it had been + an abstract rebellion against the futility of life as he was + living it. This was different: This was a definite, concrete + sense of failure to keep faith with himself and with Mason; the + sickening consciousness of a swinish return to the wallow; a + distrust of himself that was beyond any emotion he had ever felt + in his life. + </p> + <p> + So, for a week of hard work and harder thinking. Mason sent word + by a migratory cowboy, who had stopped all night at the ranch and + whom he had hired and sent on to camp, that he would not return + to the round-up, and that Ford was to go ahead as they had + planned. That balked Ford's determination to turn the work over + to Mason and leave the country, and, after the first day of inner + rebellion, he settled down insensibly to the task before him and + let his own peculiar moral problem wait upon his leisure. He did + not dream that the cowboy had witnessed his chastisement of the + gambler and had gleefully, and in perfect innocence, recounted + the incident at the Double Cross ranch, and that Mason had + deliberately thrown Ford upon his own resources in obedience to + his theory that nothing so braces a man as responsibility. + </p> + <p> + Ford went about his business with grim industry and a sureness of + judgment born of his thorough knowledge of range work. There was + the winnowing process which left the bigger, stronger calves in + charge of two men, at a line camp known locally as Ten Mile, and + took the younger ones on to the home ranch, where hay and shelter + were more plentiful and the loss would be correspondingly less. + </p> + <p> + Not until the last cow of the herd was safe inside the big corral + beyond the stables, did Ford relax his vigilance and ride over to + where Ches Mason and Buddy were standing in the shelter of the + stable, waiting to greet him. + </p> + <p> + "Good boy!" cried Mason, when Ford dismounted and flung the + stirrup up over the saddle, that he might loosen the latigo and + free his steaming horse of its burden. "I didn't look for you + before to-morrow night, at the earliest. But I'm mighty glad + you're here, let me tell you. That leaves me free to hit the + trail to-morrow. I've got to make a trip home; the old man's down + with inflammatory rheumatism, and they want me to + go—haven't been home for six years, so I guess they've got + a license to put in a bid for a month or two of my time, huh? I + didn't want to pull out, though, till you showed up. I'm kinda + leery about leaving the women alone, with just a couple of + sow-egians on the ranch. Bud, you go get a pan of oats for old + Schley. Supper's about ready, Ford. Have the boys shovel some hay + into the corral, and we'll leave the bunch there till morning. + Say, the wagons didn't beat you much; they never pulled in till + after three. Mose says the going's bad, on them dobe patches." + </p> + <p> + Not much of an opening, that, for saying what Ford felt he was in + duty bound to say. He was constrained to wait until a better + opportunity presented itself—and, as is the way with + opportunity, it did not seem as if it would ever come of its own + accord. There was Buddy, full of exciting anecdotes about + Rambler, and how he had rubbed the liniment on, all alone, and + Rambler never kicked or did a thing; and how he and Josephine + rode clear over to Jenson's and got caught in the storm and + almost got lost—only Buddy's horse knew the way home. And, + later, there was Mrs. Kate's excellent supper and gracious + welcome, and an evening devoted to four-handed + cribbage—with Josephine and Mason as implacable + adversaries—and a steady undercurrent of latent hostility + between him and the girl, which prevented his thinking much about + himself and his duty to Mason. There was everything, in fact, to + thwart a man's resolution to discharge honorably a disagreeable + duty, and to distract his attention. + </p> + <p> + Ford went to bed with the baffled sense of being placed in a + false position against his will; and, man-like, he speedily gave + over thinking of that, and permitted his thoughts to dwell upon a + certain face which owned a perfectly amazing pair of lashes, and + upon a manner tantalizingly aloof, with glimpses now and then of + fascinating possibilities in the way of comradeship, when the + girl inadvertently lowered her guard in the excitement of close + playing. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_XI' id="CHAPTER_XI"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <h3> + "It's Going to Be an Uphill Climb!" + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Ford was no moral weakling except, perhaps, when whisky and he + came to hand-grips. He had made up his mind that Mason must be + told of his backsliding, and protected from the risk of leaving a + drunkard in charge of his ranch. And when he saw that the + opportunity for opening the subject easily did not show any sign + of presenting itself, he grimly interrupted Mason in the middle + of a funny story about Josephine and Buddy and Kate, involving + themselves in a three-cornered argument to the complete + discomfiture of the women. + </p> + <p> + "I tell you, Ford, that kid's a corker! Kate's got all kinds of + book theories about raising children, but they don't none of 'em + work, with Bud. He gets the best of her right along when she + starts to reason with him. Gosh! You can't reason with a kid like + Bud; you've got to take him on an equal footing, and when he goes + too far, just set down on him and no argument about it. Kate's + going to have her hands full while I'm gone, if—" + </p> + <p> + "She sure will, Ches, unless you get somebody here you can depend + on," was the way in which Ford made his opportunity. "You've got + the idea, somehow, that cutting out whisky is like getting rid of + a mean horse. It's something you don't—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, don't go worrying over that, no more," Mason expostulated + hastily. "Forget it. That's the quickest cure; try Christian + Science dope on it. The more you worry about it, the more—" + </p> + <p> + "But wait till I tell you! That day I went to town, and you came + on home, I got drunk as a fool, Ches. I don't know what all I + did, but I know—" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I know—more about it than you do, I reckon," Mason + cut in dryly. "I was told five different times, by one stranger + and four of these here trouble-peddlin' friends that clutter the + country. That's all right, Ford. A little slip like that—" + He held out his hand for Ford's sack of tobacco. + </p> + <p> + "I ain't the least bit uneasy over that, old man. I'm just as + sure as I stand here that you're going to pull up, all right." + </p> + <p> + "I know you are, Ches." Ford's voice was humble. "That's the hell + of it. You're more sure than sensible—but—But look at + it like I was a stranger, Ches. Just forget you ever knew me when + I was kinda half-way decent. You ain't a fool, even if you do act + like one. You know what I'm up against. I'm going to put up the + damnedest fight I've got in me, but I don't want you to take any + gamble on it. Maybe I'll win, and then again maybe I won't. Maybe + I'll go down and out. I don't know—I don't feel half as + sure of myself as I did before I made that bobble in town. Before + that, I did kinda have an idea that all there was to it was to + quit. I thought, once I made up my mind, that would settle it. + But that's just the commencement; you've got to fight something + inside of you that's as husky a fighter as you are. You've got + to—" + </p> + <p> + "There!" Mason reached out and tapped him impressively on the arm + with a match he was about to light. "Now you've got the bull + right by the horns! You ain't so darned sure of yourself + now—and so I'm dead willing to gamble on you. I ain't a bit + afraid to go off and let you have full swing." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I hope you won't feel like kicking me all over the ranch + when you get back," Ford said, after a long pause, during which + Mason's whole attention seemed centered upon his cigarette. "It's + going to be an uphill climb, old-timer—and a blamed long + hill at that. And it's going to be pretty darned slippery, in + places." + </p> + <p> + "I sabe that, all right," grinned Mason. "But I sabe you pretty + well, too. You'll dig in your toes and hang on by your + eye-winkers if you have to. But you'll get up, all right; I'll + bank on that. + </p> + <p> + "Speaking of booze-fighters," he went on, without giving Ford a + chance to contradict him, "I wish you'd keep an eye on old Mose. + Now, there's a man that'll drink whisky as long as it's made, if + he can get it. I wouldn't trust that old devil as far as I can + throw him, and that's a fact. I have to watch pretty close, to + keep it off the ranch, and him on. It's the only way to get along + with him—he's apt to run amuck, if he gets full enough; and + good cooks are as scarce as good foremen." A heartening smile + went with the last sentence. + </p> + <p> + "If he does make connections with the booze, don't can him, Ford, + if you can help it. Just shut him up somewhere till he gets over + it. There's nothing holds good men with an outfit like the right + kind of grub—and Mose sure can cook. The rest of the men + you can handle to suit yourself. Slim and Johnnie are all right + over at Ten Mile—you made a good stab when you picked them + two out—and you will want a couple of fellows here besides + Walt, to feed them calves. When the cows are throwed back on the + range and the fences gone over careful—I ought to have + tended to that before, but I got to putting it off—you can + pay off what men you don't need or want." + </p> + <p> + There was no combating the friendship of a man like that. Ford + mentally squared his shoulders and set his feet upon the uphill + trail. + </p> + <p> + He realized to the full the tribute Mason paid to his innate + trustworthiness by leaving him there, master of the ranch and + guardian of his household god—and goddess, to say nothing + of Josephine, whom Mason openly admired and looked upon as one of + the family. + </p> + <p> + Of a truth, it would seem that she had really become so. Ford had + gathered, bit by bit, the information that she was quite alone in + the world, so far as immediate relatives were concerned, and that + she was Kate's cousin, and that Kate insisted that this was to be + her home, from now on. Josephine's ankle was well enough now so + that she was often to be met in unexpected places about the + ranch, he discovered. And though she was not friendly, she was + less openly antagonistic than she had been—and when all was + said and done, eminently able to take care of herself. + </p> + <p> + So also was Kate, for that matter. No sooner was her beloved + Chester out of sight over the hill a mile away, than Mrs. Kate + dried her wifely tears and laid hold of her scepter with a + firmness that amused Ford exceedingly. She ordered Dick up to + work in the depressed-looking area before the house, which she + called her flower garden, a task which Dick seemed perfectly + willing to perform, by the way—although his assistance + would have been more than welcome at other work than tying + scraggly rose bushes and protecting them from the winter already + at hand. + </p> + <p> + As to Buddy, he surely would have resented, more keenly than the + women, the implication that he needed any one to take care of + him. Buddy's allegiance to Ford was wavering, at that time. Dick + had gone to some trouble to alter an old pair of chaps so that + Buddy could wear them, and his star was in the ascendant; a pair + of chaps with fringes were, in Buddy's estimation, a surer pledge + of friendship and favor than the privilege of feeding a lame + horse. + </p> + <p> + Buddy was rather terrible, sometimes. He had a way of standing + back unnoticed, and of listening when he was believed to be + engrossed in his play. Afterward he was apt to say the things + which should not be said; in other words, he was the average + child of seven, living without playmates, and so forced by his + environment to interest himself in the endless drama played by + the grown-ups around him. Buddy, therefore, was not unusually + startling, one day at dinner, when he looked up from spatting his + potato into a flat cake on his plate. + </p> + <p> + "What hill you going to climb, Ford?" was his manner of exploding + his bomb. "Bald pinnacle? I can climb that hill myself." + </p> + <p> + "I don't know as I'm going to climb any hills at all," Ford said + indulgently, accepting another helping of potato salad from Mrs. + Kate. + </p> + <p> + "You told dad before he went to gran'ma's house you was going to + climb a big, long hill, and he was more sure than sensible." He + giggled and showed where two front teeth were missing from among + their fellows. "Dad told him he'd make it, but he'd have to dig + in his toes and hang on by his eye-winkers," he added to the two + women. "Gee! I'd like to see Ford hang onto a hill by his + eye-winkers. Jo could do it—she's got winkers six feet + long." + </p> + <p> + Miss Josephine had been looking at Ford's face going red, as + enlightenment came to him, but when she caught a quick glance + leveled at her lashes, she drooped them immediately so that they + almost touched her cheeks. Bud gave a squeal and pointed to her + with his fork. + </p> + <p> + "Jo's blushing! I guess she's ashamed because she's got such long + winkers, and Ford keeps looking at 'em all the time. Why don't + you shave 'em off with dad's razor? Then Ford would like you, + maybe. He don't now. He told dad—" + </p> + <p> + "Robert Chester Mason, do you want me to get the hairbrush?" + This, it need not be explained, from Mrs. Kate, in a voice that + portended grave disaster. + </p> + <p> + "I guess we can get along without it, mamma," Buddy answered her, + with an ingratiating smile. Even in the first seven years of + one's life, one learns the elementary principles of diplomacy. He + did not retire from the conversation, but he prudently changed + the subject to what he considered a more pleasant channel. + </p> + <p> + "Dick likes you anyway, Jo," he informed her soothingly. "He + likes you, winkers and all. I can tell, all right. When you go + out for a ride he gives me nickels if I tell him where—" + </p> + <p> + "Robert Ches—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, all right." Buddy's tone was wearily tolerant. "A man never + knows what to talk about to women, anyway. I'd hate to be married + to 'em—wouldn't you, Ford?" + </p> + <p> + "A little boy like you—" began his mother, somewhat pinker + of cheeks than usual. + </p> + <p> + "I guess I'm pretty near a man, now." He turned his eyes to Ford, + consciously ignoring the feminine members of his family. "If I + had a wife," he stated calmly, "I'd snub her up to a post and + then I'd talk to her about anything I damn pleased!" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kate rose up then in all the terrifying dignity of outraged + motherhood, grasped Buddy by the wrist, and led him away, in the + direction of the hairbrush, if one would judge by Buddy's + reluctance to go. + </p> + <p> + "So you are going to climb the—Big Hill, are you?" Miss + Josephine observed, when the two were quite alone. "It is to be + hoped, Mr. Campbell, that you won't find it as steep as it + looks—from the bottom." + </p> + <p> + Ford was not an adept at reading what lies underneath the speech + of a woman. To himself he accented the last three words, so that + they overshadowed all the rest and made her appear to remind him + where he stood—at the bottom. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose a hollow does look pretty high, to a man down a well," + he retorted, glancing into his teacup because he felt and was + resisting an impulse to look at her. + </p> + <p> + "One can always keep climbing," she murmured, "and never give + up—" Miss Josephine, also, was tilting her teacup and + looking studiously into it as if she would read her fortune in + the specks of tea leaves there. + </p> + <p> + "Like the frog in the well—that climbed one jump and fell + back two!" he interrupted, but she paid no attention, and went + on. + </p> + <p> + "And the reward for reaching the top—" + </p> + <p> + "Is there supposed to be a reward?" Ford could not tell why he + asked her that, nor why he glanced stealthily at her from under + his eyebrows as he awaited her reply. + </p> + <p> + "There—might—there usually is a reward for any great + achievement—and—" Miss Josephine was plainly + floundering where she had hoped to float airily upon the surface. + </p> + <p> + "What's the reward for—climbing hills, for instance?" He + looked at her full, now, and his lips were ready to smile. + </p> + <p> + Miss Josephine looked uneasily at the door. "I—really, I + never—investigated the matter at all." She gave a twitch of + shoulders and met his eyes steadily. "The inner satisfaction of + having climbed the hill, I suppose," she said, in the tone of one + who has at last reached firm ground. "Will you have more tea, Mr. + Campbell?" + </p> + <p> + Her final words were chilly and impersonal, but Ford left the + table, smiling to himself. At the door he met Dick, whom Buddy + had mentioned with disaster to himself. Dick saw the smile, and + within the room he saw Miss Josephine sitting alone, her chin + resting in her two palms and her eyes fixed upon vacancy. + </p> + <p> + "Hello," Ford greeted somewhat inattentively. "Do you want me for + anything, Dick?" + </p> + <p> + "Can't say I do," drawled Dick, brushing past Ford in the + doorway. + </p> + <p> + Ford hesitated long enough to give him a second glance—an + attentive enough glance this time—and went his way; without + the smile, however. + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me!" he said to himself, when his foot touched the bridge, + but he did not add anything to the exclamation. He was wondering + when it was that he had begun to dislike Dick Thomas; a long + while, it seemed to him, though he had never till just now quite + realized it, beyond resenting his covert sneer that day in town. + He had once or twice since suspected Dick of a certain + disappointment that he himself was not foreman of the Double + Cross, and once he had asked Mason why he hadn't given the place + to Dick. + </p> + <p> + "Didn't want to," Mason had replied succinctly, and let it go at + that. + </p> + <p> + If Dick cherished any animosity, however, he had not made it + manifest in actual hostility. On the contrary, he had shown a + distinct inclination to be friendly; a friendliness which led the + two to pair off frequently when they were riding, and to talk + over past range experiences more or less intimately. Looking back + over the six weeks just behind him, Ford could not remember a + single incident—a sentence, even—that had been + unpleasant, unless he clung to his belief in Dick's contempt, and + that he had since set down to his own super-sensitiveness. And + yet— + </p> + <p> + "He's got bad eyes," he concluded. "That's what it is; I never + did like eyes the color of polished steel; nickel-plated eyes, I + call 'em; all shine and no color. Still, a man ain't to blame for + his eyes." + </p> + <p> + Then Dick overtook him with Buddy trailing, red-eyed, at his + heels, and Ford forgot, in the work to be done that day, all + about his speculations. He involved himself in a fruitless + argument with Buddy, upon the subject of what a seven-year-old + can stand in the way of riding, and yielded finally before the + quiver of Buddy's lips. They were only going over on Long Ridge, + anyway, and the day was fine, and Buddy had frequently ridden as + far, according to Dick. Indeed, it was Dick's easy-natured, "Ah, + let the kid go, why don't you?" which gave Ford an excuse for + reconsidering. + </p> + <p> + And Buddy repaid him after his usual fashion. At the supper table + he looked up, round-eyed, from his plate. + </p> + <p> + "Gee, but I'm hungry!" he sighed. "I eat and eat, just like a + horse eating hay, and I just can't fill up the hole in me." + </p> + <p> + "There, never mind, honey," Mrs. Kate interposed hastily, fearing + worse. "Do you want more bread and butter?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes—you always use bread for stuffing, don't you? I want + to be stuffed. All the way home my b—my stomerch was + a-flopping against my backbone, just like Dick's. Only Dick + said—" + </p> + <p> + "Never mind what Dick said." Mrs. Kate thrust the bread toward + him, half buttered. + </p> + <p> + "Dick's mad, I guess. He's mad at Ford, too." + </p> + <p> + Buddy regarded his mother gravely over the slice of bread. + </p> + <p> + "First I've heard of it," Ford remarked lightly. "I think you + must be mistaken, old-timer." + </p> + <p> + But Buddy never considered himself mistaken about anything, and + he did not like being told that he was, even when the pill was + sweetened with the term "old-timer." He rolled his eyes at Ford + resentfully. + </p> + <p> + "Dick is mad! He got mad when you galloped over where Jo's red + ribbon was hanging onto a bush. I saw him a-scowling when you + rolled it up and put it in your shirt pocket. Dick wanted that + ribbon for his bridle; and you better give it to him. Jo ain't + your girl. She's Dick's girl. And you have to tie the ribbon of + your bestest girl on your bridle. That's why," he added, with + belated gallantry, "I tie my own mamma's ribbons on mine. And," + he returned with terrible directness to the real issue, "Jo's + Dick's girl, 'cause he said so. I heard him tell Jim Felton she's + his steady, all right—and you are his girl, ain't you, Jo?" + </p> + <p> + His mother had tried at first to stop him, had given up in + despair, and was now sitting in a rather tragic calm, waiting for + what might come of his speech. + </p> + <p> + Josephine might have saved herself some anxious moments, if she + had been so minded; perhaps she would have been minded, if she + had not caught Ford's eyes fixed rather intently upon her, and + sensed the expectancy in them. She bit her lip, and then she + laughed. + </p> + <p> + "A man shouldn't make an assertion of that sort," she said + quizzically, in the direction of Buddy—though her meaning + went straight across the table to another—"unless he has + some reason for feeling very sure." + </p> + <p> + Buddy tried to appear quite clear as to her meaning. "Well, if + you are Dick's girl, then you better make Ford give that + ribbon—" + </p> + <p> + "I have plenty of ribbons, Buddy," Josephine interrupted, smiling + at him still. "Don't you want one?" + </p> + <p> + "I tie my own mamma's ribbons on my bridle," Buddy rebuffed. "My + mamma is my girl—you ain't. You can give your ribbons to + Dick." + </p> + <p> + "Mamma won't be your girl if you don't stop talking so much at + the table—and elsewhere," Mrs. Kate informed him sternly, + with a glance of trepidation at the others. "A little boy mustn't + talk about grown-ups, and what they do or say." + </p> + <p> + "What can I talk about, then? The boys talk about their girls all + the time—" + </p> + <p> + "I wish to goodness I had let you go with your dad. I shall not + let you eat with us, anyway, if you don't keep quiet. You're + getting perfectly impossible." Which even Buddy understood as a + protest which was not to be taken seriously. + </p> + <p> + Ford stayed long enough to finish drinking his tea, and then he + left the house with what he privately considered a perfectly + casual manner. As a matter of fact, he was extremely + self-conscious about it, so that Mrs. Kate felt justified in + mentioning it, and in asking Josephine a question or + two—when she had prudently made an errand elsewhere for + Buddy. + </p> + <p> + Josephine, having promptly disclaimed all knowledge or interest + pertaining to the affair, Mrs. Kate spoke her mind plainly. + </p> + <p> + "If Ford's going to fall in love with you, Phenie," she said, "I + think you're foolish to encourage Dick. I believe Ford is falling + in love with you. I never thought he even liked you till + to-night, but what Buddy said about that ribbon—" + </p> + <p> + "I don't suppose Bud knows what he's talking about—any more + than you do," snapped Josephine. "If you're determined that I + shall have a love affair on this ranch, I'm going home." She + planted her chin in her two palms, just as she had done at + dinner, and stared into vacancy. + </p> + <p> + "Where?" asked Mrs. Kate pointedly, and then atoned for it + whole-heartedly. "There, I didn't mean that—only—this + is your home. It's got to be; I won't let it be anywhere else. + And you needn't have any love affair, Phene—you know that. + Only you shan't hurt Ford. I think he's perfectly splendid! What + he did for Chester—I—I can't think of that without + getting a lump in my throat, Phene. Think of it! Going without + food himself, because there wasn't enough for two, + and—and—well, he just simply threw away his own + chance of getting through, to give Chester a better one. It was + the bravest thing I ever heard of! And the way he has + conquered—?" + </p> + <p> + "How do you know he has conquered? Rumor says he hasn't. And lots + of men save other men's lives; it's being done every day, and no + one hears much about it. You think it was something + extraordinary, just because it happened to be Chester that was + saved. Anybody will do all he can for a sick partner, when + they're away out in the wilds. I haven't a doubt Dick would have + done the very same thing, when it comes to that." Josephine got + up from the table then, and went haughtily into her own room. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kate retired quite as haughtily into the kitchen, and there + was a distinct coolness between them for the rest of the day, and + a part of the next. The chill of it affected Ford sufficiently to + keep him away from the house as much as possible, and unusually + silent and unlike himself when he was with the men. + </p> + <p> + But, unlike many another, he did not know that his recurrent + dissatisfaction with life was directly traceable to the apparent + intimacy between Josephine and Dick. Ford, if he had tried to put + his gloomy unrest into words, would have transposed his trouble + and would have mistaken effect for cause. In other words, he + would have ignored Josephine and Dick entirely, and would have + said that he wanted whisky—and wanted it as the damned are + said to want water. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_XII' id="CHAPTER_XII"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <h3> + At Hand-Grips with the Demon + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Mose was mad. He was flinging tinware about the kitchen with a + fine disregard of the din or the dents, and whenever the blue cat + ventured out from under the stove, he kicked at it viciously. He + was mad at Ford; and when a man gets mad at his + foreman—without knowing that the foreman has been + instructed to bear with his faults and keep him on the pay-roll + at any price—he must, if he be the cook, have recourse to + kicking cats and banging dishes about, since he dare not kick the + foreman. For in late November "jobs" are not at all plentiful in + the range land, and even an angry cook must keep his job or face + the world-old economic problem of food, clothing, and shelter. + </p> + <p> + But if he dared not speak his mind plainly to Ford, he was not + averse to pouring his woes into the first sympathetic ear that + came his way. It happened that upon this occasion the ear arrived + speedily upon the head of Dick Thomas. + </p> + <p> + "Matter, Mose?" he queried, sidestepping the cat, which gave a + long leap straight for the door, when it opened. "Cat been + licking the butter again?" + </p> + <p> + Mose grunted and slammed three pie tins into a cupboard with such + force that two of them bounced out and rolled across the floor. + One came within reach of his foot, and he kicked it into the + wood-box, and swore at it while it was on the way. "And I wisht + it was Ford Campbell himself, the snoopin', stingy, + kitchen-grannying, booze-fightin', son-of-a-sour-dough bannock!" + he finished prayerfully. + </p> + <p> + "He surely hasn't tried to mix in here, and meddle with you?" + Dick asked, helping himself to a piece of pie. You know the tone; + it had just that inflection of surprised sympathy which makes you + tell your troubles without that reservation which a more neutral + listener would unconsciously impel. + </p> + <p> + I am not going to give Mose's version, because he warped the + story to make it fit his own indignation, and did not do Ford + justice. This, then, is the exact truth: + </p> + <p> + Ford chanced to be walking up along the edge of the gully which + ran past the bunk-house, and into which empty cans and other + garbage were thrown. Sometimes a can fell short, so that all the + gully edge was liberally decorated with a gay assortment of + canners' labels. Just as he had come up, Mose had opened the + kitchen door and thrown out a cream can, which had fallen in + front of Ford and trickled a white stream upon the frozen ground. + Ford had stooped and picked up the can, had shaken it, and heard + the slosh which told of waste. He had investigated further, and + decided that throwing out a cream can before it was quite empty + was not an accident with Mose, but might be termed a habit. He + had taken Exhibit A to the kitchen, but had laughed while he + spoke of it. And these were his exact words: + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me, Mose! Somebody's liable to come here and get rich off + us, if we don't look out. He'll gather up the cream cans you + throw into the discard and start a dairy on the leavings." Then + he had set the can down on the water bench beside the door and + gone away. + </p> + <p> + "I've been cookin' for cow-camps ever since I got my knee + stiffened up so's't I couldn't ride—and that's sixteen year + ago last Fourth—and it's the first time I ever had any + darned foreman go snoopin' around my back door to see if I scrape + out the cans clean!" Mose seated himself upon a corner of the + table with the stiff leg for a brace and the good one swinging + free, and folded his bare arms upon his heaving chest. + </p> + <p> + "And that ain't all, Dick," he went on aggrievedly. "He went and + cut down the order I give him for grub. That's something Ches + never done—not with me, anyway. Asked me—asked me, + what I wanted with so much choc'late. And I wanted boiled cider + for m' mince-meat, and never got it. And brandy, too—only I + didn't put that down on the list; I knowed better than to write + it out. But I give Jim money—out uh my own pocket!—to + git some with, and he never done it. Said Ford told him p'tic'ler + not to bring out nothin' any nearer drinkable than lemon extract! + I've got a darned good mind," he added somberly, "to fire the + hull works into the gully. He don't belong on no cow ranch. Where + he'd oughta be is runnin' the W.C.T.U. So darned afraid of a pint + uh brandy—" + </p> + <p> + "If I was dead sure your brains wouldn't get to leaking out your + mouth," Dick began guardedly, "I might put you wise to + something." He took a drink of water, opened the door that he + might throw out what remained in the dipper, and made sure that + no one was near the bunk-house before he closed the door again. + Mose watched him interestedly. + </p> + <p> + "You know me, Dick—I never do tell all I know," he hinted + heavily. + </p> + <p> + "Well," Dick stood with his hand upon the door-knob and a sly + grin upon his face, "I ain't saying a word about anything. + Only—if you might happen to want some—eggs—for + your mince pies, you might look good under the southeast corner + of the third haystack, counting from the big corral. I believe + there's a—nest—there." + </p> + <p> + "The deuce!" Mose brightened understandingly and drummed with his + fingers upon his bare, dough-caked forearm. "Do yuh know + who—er—what hen laid 'em there?" + </p> + <p> + "I do," said Dick with a rising inflection. "The head he-hen uh + the flock. But if I was going to hunt eggs, I'd take down a chiny + egg and leave it in the nest, Mose." + </p> + <p> + "But I ain't got—" Mose caught Dick's pale glance resting + with what might be considered some significance upon the vinegar + jug, and he stopped short. "That wouldn't work," he commented + vaguely. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I've got to be going. Boss might can me if he caught me + loafing around here, eating pie when I ought to be working. + Ford's a fine fellow, don't you think?" He grinned and went out, + and immediately returned, complaining that he never could stand + socks with a hole in the toe, and he guessed he'd have to hunt + through his war-bag for a good pair. + </p> + <p> + Mose, as need scarcely be explained, went immediately to the + stable to hunt eggs; and Dick, in the next room, smiled to + himself when he heard the door slam behind him. Dick did not + change his socks just then; he went first into the kitchen and + busied himself there, and he continued to smile to himself. Later + he went out and met Ford, who was riding moodily up from the + river field. + </p> + <p> + "Say, I'm going to be an interfering kind of a cuss, and put you + next to something," he began, with just the right degree of + hesitation in his manner. "It ain't any of my business, + but—" He stopped and lighted a cigarette. "If you'll come + up to the bunk-house, I'll show you something funny!" + </p> + <p> + Ford dismounted in silence, led his horse into the stable, and + without waiting to unsaddle, followed Dick. + </p> + <p> + "We've got to hurry, before Mose gets back from hunting eggs," + Dick remarked, by way of explaining the long strides he took. + "And of course I'm taking it for granted, Ford, that you won't + say anything. I kinda thought you ought to know, maybe—but + I'd never say a word if I didn't feel pretty sure you'd keep it + behind your teeth." + </p> + <p> + "Well—I'm waiting to see what it is," Ford replied + non-committally. + </p> + <p> + Dick opened the kitchen door, and led Ford through that into the + bunk-room. "You wait here—I'm afraid Mose might come back," + he said, and went into the kitchen. When he returned he had a + gallon jug in his hand. He was still smiling. + </p> + <p> + "I went to mix me up some soda-water for heartburn," he said, + "and when I picked up this jug, Mose took it out of my hand and + said it was boiled cider, that he'd got for mince-meat. So when + he went out, I took a taste. Here: You sample it yourself, Ford. + If that's boiled cider, I wouldn't mind having a barrel!" + </p> + <p> + Ford took the jug, pulled the cork, and sniffed at the opening. + He did not say anything, but he looked up at Dick significantly. + </p> + <p> + "Taste it once!" urged Dick innocently. "I'd just like to have + you see the brand of slow poison a fool like Mose will pour down + him." + </p> + <p> + Ford hesitated, sniffed, started to set down the jug, then lifted + it and took a swallow. + </p> + <p> + "That isn't as bad as some I've seen," he pronounced evenly, + shoving in the cork. "Nor as good," he added conservatively. "I + wonder where he got it." + </p> + <p> + "Search me—oh, by jiminy, here he comes! I'm going to take + a scoot, Ford. Don't give me away, will you? And if I was you, I + wouldn't say anything to Mose—I know that old devil pretty + well. He'll keep mighty quiet about it himself—unless you + jump him about it. Then he'll roar around to everybody he sees, + and claim it was a plant." + </p> + <p> + He slid stealthily through the outer door, and Ford saw him run + down into the gully and disappear, while Mose was yet half-way + from the stable. + </p> + <p> + Ford sat on the edge of a bunk and looked at the jug beside him. + If Dick had deliberately planned to tempt him, he had chosen the + time well; and if he had not done it deliberately, there must + have been a malignant spirit abroad that day. + </p> + <p> + For twenty-four hours Ford had been more than usually restless + and moody. Even Buddy had noticed that, and complained that Ford + was cross and wouldn't talk to him; whereupon Mrs. Kate had + scolded Josephine and accused her of being responsible for his + gloom and silence. Since Josephine's conscience sustained the + charge, she resented the accusation and proceeded deliberately to + add to its justice; which did not make Ford any the happier, you + may be sure. For when a man reaches that mental state which + causes him to carry a girl's ribbon folded carefully into the + most secret compartment of his pocketbook, and to avoid the girl + herself and yet feel like committing assault and battery with + intent to kill, because some other man occasionally rides with + her for an hour or two, he is extremely sensitive to averted + glances and chilly tones and monosyllabic conversation. + </p> + <p> + Since the day before, when she had ridden as far as the stage + road with Dick, when he went to the line-camp, Ford had been + fighting the desire to saddle a horse and ride to town; and the + thing that lured him townward confronted him now in that gray + stone jug with the brown neck and handle. + </p> + <p> + He lifted the jug, shook it tentatively, pulled out the cork with + a jerk that was savage, and looked around the room for some place + where he might empty the contents and have done with temptation; + but there was no receptacle but the stove, so he started to the + door with it, meaning to pour it on the ground. Mose just then + shambled past the window, and Ford sat down to wait until the + cook was safe in the kitchen. And all the while the cork was out + of that jug, so that the fumes of the whisky rose maddeningly to + his nostrils, and the little that he had swallowed whipped the + thirst-devil to a fury of desire. + </p> + <p> + In the kitchen, Mose rattled pans and hummed a raucous tune under + his breath, and presently he started again for the stable. Dick, + desultorily bracing a leaning post of one of the corrals, saw him + coming and grinned. He glanced toward the bunk-house, where Ford + still lingered, and the grin grew broader. After that he went all + around the corral with his hammer and bucket of nails, tightening + poles and braces and, incidentally, keeping an eye upon the + bunk-house; and while he worked, he whistled and smiled by turns. + Dick was in an unusually cheerful mood that day. + </p> + <p> + Mose came shuffling up behind him and stood with his stiff leg + thrust forward and his hands rolled up in his apron. Dick could + see that he had something clasped tightly under the wrappings. + </p> + <p> + "Say, that he-hen—she laid twice in the same place!" Mose + announced confidentially. "Got 'em both—for m'mince pies!" + He waggled his head, winked twice with his left eye, and went + back to the bunk-house. + </p> + <p> + Still Ford did not appear. Josephine came, however, in riding + skirt and gray hat and gauntlets, treading lightly down the path + that lay all in a yellow glow which was not so much sunlight as + that mellow haze which we call Indian Summer. She looked in at + the stable, and then came straight over to Dick. There was, when + Josephine was her natural self, something very direct and honest + about all her movements, as if she disdained all feminine + subterfuges and took always the straight, open trail to her + object. + </p> + <p> + "Do you know where Mr. Campbell is, Dick?" she asked him, and + added no explanation of her desire to know. + </p> + <p> + "I do," said Dick, with the rising inflection which was his + habit, when the words were used for a bait to catch another + question. + </p> + <p> + "Well, where is he, then?" + </p> + <p> + Dick straightened up and smiled down upon her queerly. "Count ten + before you ask me that again," he parried, "because maybe you'd + rather not know." + </p> + <p> + Josephine lifted her chin and gave him that straight, measuring + stare which had so annoyed Ford the first time he had seen her. + "I have counted," she said calmly after a pause. "Where is Mr. + Campbell, please?"—and the "please" pushed Dick to the very + edge of her favor, it was so coldly formal. + </p> + <p> + "Well, if you're sure you counted straight, the last time I saw + him he was in the bunk-house." + </p> + <p> + "Well?" The tone of her demanded more. + </p> + <p> + "He was in the bunk-house—sitting close up to a gallon jug + of whisky." His eyelids flickered. "He's there yet—but I + wouldn't swear to the gallon—" + </p> + <p> + "Thank you very much." This time her tone pushed him over the + edge and into the depths of her disapproval. "I was sure I could + depend upon you—to tell!" + </p> + <p> + "What else could I do, when you asked?" + </p> + <p> + But she had her back to him, and was walking away up the path, + and if she heard, she did not trouble to answer. But in spite of + her manner, Dick smiled, and brought the hammer down against a + post with such force that he splintered the handle. + </p> + <p> + "Something's going to drop on this ranch, pretty quick," he + prophesied, looking down at the useless tool in his hand. "And if + I wanted to name it, I'd call it Ford." He glanced up the path to + where Josephine was walking straight to the west door of the + bunk-house, and laughed sourly. "Well, she needn't take my word + for it if she don't want to, I guess," he muttered. "Nothing like + heading off a critter—or a woman—in time!" + </p> + <p> + Josephine did not hesitate upon the doorstep. She opened the door + and went in, and shut the door behind her before the echo of her + step had died. Ford was lying as he had lain once before, upon a + bunk, with his face hidden in his folded arms. He did not hear + her—at any rate he did not know who it was, for he did not + lift his head or stir. + </p> + <p> + Josephine looked at the jug upon the floor beside him, bent and + lifted it very gently from the floor; tilted it to the window so + that she could look into it, tilted her nose at the odor, and + very, very gently put it back where she had found it. Then she + stood and looked down at Ford with her eyebrows pinched together. + </p> + <p> + She did not move, after that, and she certainly did not speak, + but her presence for all that became manifest to him. He lifted + his head and stared at her over an elbow; and his eyes were heavy + with trouble, and his mouth was set in lines of bitterness. + </p> + <p> + "Did you want me for something?" he asked, when he saw that she + was not going to speak first. + </p> + <p> + She shook her head. "Is it—pretty steep?" she ventured + after a moment, and glanced down at the jug. + </p> + <p> + He looked puzzled at first, but when his own glance followed + hers, he understood. He stared up at her somberly before he let + his head drop back upon his arms, so that his face was once more + hidden. + </p> + <p> + "You've never been in bell, I suppose," he told her, and his + voice was dull and tired. After a minute he looked up at her + impatiently. "Is it fun to stand and watch a man—What do + you want, anyway? It doesn't matter—to you." + </p> + <p> + "Are you sure?" she retorted sharply. "And—suppose it + doesn't. I have Kate to think of, at least." + </p> + <p> + He gave a little laugh that came nearer being a snort. "Oh, if + that's all, you needn't worry. I'm not quite that far gone, thank + you!" + </p> + <p> + "I was thinking of the ranch, and of her ideals, and her blind + trust in you, and of the effect on the men," she explained + impatiently. + </p> + <p> + He was silent a moment. "I'm thinking of myself!" he told her + grimly then. + </p> + <p> + "And—don't you ever—think of me?" She set her teeth + sharply together after the words were out, and watched him, + breathing quickly. + </p> + <p> + Ford sprang up from the bunk and faced her with stern questioning + in his eyes, but she only flushed a little under his scrutiny. + Her eyes, he noticed, were clear and steady, and they had in them + something of that courage which fears but will not flinch. + </p> + <p> + "I don't want to think of you!" he said, lowering his voice + unconsciously. "For the last month I've tried mighty hard not to + think of you. And if you want to know why—I'm married!" + </p> + <p> + She leaned back against the door and stared up at him with + widening pupils. Ford looked down and struck the jug with his + toe. "That thing," he said slowly, "I've got to fight alone. I + don't know which is going to come out winner, me or the booze. + I—don't—know." He lifted his head and looked at her. + "What did you come in here for?" he asked bluntly. + </p> + <p> + She caught her breath, but she would not dodge. Ford loved her + for that. "Dick told me—and I was—I wanted + to—well, help. I thought I might—sometimes when the + climb is too steep, a hand will keep one from—slipping." + </p> + <p> + "What made you want to help? You don't even like me." His tone + was flat and unemotional, but she did not seem able to meet his + eyes. So she looked down at the jug. + </p> + <p> + "Dick said—but the jug is full practically. I don't + understand how—" + </p> + <p> + "It isn't as full as it ought to be; it lacks one swallow." He + eyed it queerly. "I wish I knew how much it would lack by dark," + he said. + </p> + <p> + She threw out an impulsive hand. "Oh, but you must make up your + mind! You mustn't temporize like that, or wonder—or—" + </p> + <p> + "This," he interrupted rather flippantly, "is something little + girls can't understand. They'd better not try. This isn't a + woman's problem, to be solved by argument. It's a man's fight!" + </p> + <p> + "But if you would just make up your mind, you could win." + </p> + <p> + "Could I?" His tone was amusedly skeptical, but his eyes were + still somber. + </p> + <p> + "Even a woman," she said impatiently, "knows that is not the way + to win a fight—to send for the enemy and give him all your + weapons, and a plan of the fortifications, and the password; when + you know there's no mercy to be hoped for!" + </p> + <p> + He smiled at her simile, and at her earnestness also, perhaps; + but that black gloom remained, looking out of his eyes. + </p> + <p> + "What made you send for it? A whole gallon!" + </p> + <p> + "I didn't send for it. That jug belongs to Mose," he told her + simply. "Dick told me Mose had it; rather, Dick went into the + kitchen and got it, and turned it over to me." In spite of the + words, he did not give one the impression that he was defending + himself; he was merely offering an explanation because she seemed + to demand one. + </p> + <p> + "Dick got it and turned it over to you!" Her forehead wrinkled + again into vertical lines. She studied him frowningly. "Will you + give it to me?" she asked directly. + </p> + <p> + Ford folded his arms and scowled down at the jug. "No," he + refused at last, "I won't. If booze is going to be the boss of me + I want to know it. And I can't know it too quick." + </p> + <p> + "But—you're only human, Ford!" + </p> + <p> + "Sure. But I'm kinda hoping I'm a man, too." His eyes lightened a + little while they rested upon her. + </p> + <p> + "But you've got the poison of it—it's like a traitor in + your fort, ready to open the door. You can't do it! I—oh, + you'll never understand why, but I can't let you risk it. You've + got to let me help; give it to me, Ford!" + </p> + <p> + "No, You go on to the house, and don't bother about me. You can't + help—nobody can. It's up to me." + </p> + <p> + She struck her hands together in a nervous rage. "You want to + keep it because you want to drink it! If you didn't want it, + you'd hate to be near it. You'd want some one to take it away. + You just want to get drunk, and be a beast. + You—you—oh—you don't know what you're doing, or + how much it means! You don't know!" Her hands went up suddenly + and covered her face. + </p> + <p> + Ford walked the length of the room away from her, turned and came + back until he faced her where she stood leaning against the door, + with her face still hidden behind her palms. He reached out his + arms to her, hesitated, and drew them back. + </p> + <p> + "I wish you'd go," he said. "There are some things harder to + fight than whisky. You only make it worse." + </p> + <p> + "I'll go when you give me that." She flung a hand out toward the + jug. + </p> + <p> + "You'll go anyway!" He took her by the arm, quietly pulled her + away from the door, opened it, and then closed it while, for just + a breath or two, he held her tightly clasped in his arms. Very + gently, after that, he pushed her out upon the doorstep and shut + the door behind her. The lock clicked a hint which she could not + fail to hear and understand. He waited until he heard her walk + away, sat down with the air of a man who is very, very weary, + rested his elbows upon his knees, and with his hands clasped + loosely together, he glowered at the jug on the floor. Then the + soul of Ford Campbell went deep down into the pit where all the + devils dwell. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_XIII' id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <h3> + A Plan Gone Wrong + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + It was Mose crashing headlong into the old messbox where he kept + rattly basins, empty lard pails, and such, that roused Ford. He + got up and went into the kitchen, and when he saw what was, the + matter, extricated Mose by the simple method of grabbing his + shoulders and pulling hard; then he set the cook upon his feet, + and got full in his face the unmistakable fumes of whisky. + </p> + <p> + "What? You got another jug?" he asked, with some disgust, + steadying Mose against the wall. + </p> + <p> + "Ah—I ain't got any jug uh nothin'," Mose protested, rather + thickly. "And I never took them bottles outa the stack; that + musta been Dick done that. Get after him about it; he's the one + told me where yuh hid 'em—but I never touched 'em, honest I + never. If they're gone, you get after Dick. Don't yuh go 'n' lay + it on me, now!" He was whimpering with maudlin pathos before he + finished. Ford scowled at him thoughtfully. + </p> + <p> + "Dick told you about the bottles in the haystack, did he?" he + asked. "Which stack was it? And how many bottles?" + </p> + <p> + Mose gave him a bleary stare. "Aw, you know. You hid 'em there + yourself! Dick said so. I ain't goin' to say which stack, or how + many bottles—or—any other—darn thing about it." + He punctuated his phrases by prodding a finger against Ford's + chest, and he wagged his head with all the self-consciousness of + spurious virtue. "Promised Dick I wouldn't, and I won't. Not + a—darn—word about it. Wanted some—for m' + mince-meat, but I never took any outa the haystack." Whereupon he + began to show a pronounced limpness in his good leg, and a + tendency to slide down upon the floor. + </p> + <p> + Ford piloted him to a chair, eased him into it, and stood over + him in frowning meditation. Mose was drunk; absolutely, + undeniably drunk. It could not have been the jug, for the jug was + full. Till then the oddity of a full jug of whisky in Mose's + kitchen after at least twenty-four hours must have elapsed since + its arrival, had not occurred to him. He had been too preoccupied + with his own fight to think much about Mose. + </p> + <p> + "Shay, I never took them bottles outa the stack," Mose looked up + to protest solemnly. "Dick never told me about 'em, neither. Dick + tol' me—" tapping Ford's arm with his finger for every + word, "—'at there was aigs down there, for m' mince-meat." + He stopped suddenly and goggled up at Ford. "Shay, yuh don't put + aigs in—mince-meat," he informed him earnestly. "Not a darn + aig! That's what Dick tol' me—aigs for m' mince-meat. Oh, I + knowed right off what he meant, all right," he explained proudly. + "He didn't wanta come right out 'n' shay what it was—an' + I—got—the—aigs!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes—how many—eggs?" Ford held himself rigidly quiet. + </p> + <p> + "Two quart—aigs!" Mose laughed at the joke. "I wisht," he + added pensively, "the hens'd all lay them kinda aigs. I'd buy up + all the shickens in—the whole worl'." He gazed raptly upon + the vision the words conjured. "Gee! Quart aigs—'n' all the + shickens in the worl' layin' reg'lar!" + </p> + <p> + "Have you got any left?" + </p> + <p> + "No—honest. Used 'em all up—for m' mince-meat!" + </p> + <p> + Ford knew he was lying. His eyes searched the untidy tables and + the corners filled with bags and boxes. Mose was a good cook, but + his ideas of order were vague, and his system of housekeeping was + the simple one of leaving everything where he had last been using + it, so that it might be handy when he wanted it again. A dozen + bottles might be concealed there, like the faces in a + picture-puzzle, and it would take a housecleaning to disclose + them all. But Ford, when he knew that no bottle had been left in + sight, began turning over the bags and looking behind the boxes. + </p> + <p> + He must have been "growing warm" when he stood wondering whether + it was worth while to look into the flour-bin, for Mose gave an + inarticulate snarl and pounced on him from behind. The weight of + him sent Ford down on all fours and kept him there for a space, + and even after he was up he found himself quite busy. Mose was a + husky individual, with no infirmity of the arms and fists, even + if he did have a stiff leg, and drunkenness frequently flares and + fades in a man like a candle guttering in the wind. Besides, Mose + was fighting to save his whisky. + </p> + <p> + Still, Ford had not sent all of Sunset into its cellars, + figuratively speaking, for nothing; and while a man may feel more + enthusiasm for fighting when under the influence of the stuff + that cheers sometimes and never fails to inebriate, the added + incentive does not necessarily mean also added muscular + development or more weight behind the punch. Ford, fighting as he + had always fought, be he drunk or sober, came speedily to the + point where he could inspect a skinned knuckle and afterwards + gaze in peace upon his antagonist. + </p> + <p> + He was occupied with both diversions when the door was pushed + open as by a man in great haste. He looked up from the knuckle + into the expectant eyes of Jim Felton, and over the shoulder of + Jim he saw a gloating certainty writ large upon the face of Dick + Thomas. They had been running; he could tell that by their uneven + breathing, and it occurred to him that they must have heard the + clamor when he pitched Mose head first into the dish cupboard. + There had been considerable noise about that time, he remembered; + they must also have heard the howl Mose gave at the instant of + contact. Ford glanced involuntarily at that side of the room + where stood the cupboard, and mentally admitted that it looked + like there had been a slight disagreement, or else a severe + seismic disturbance; and Montana is not what one calls an + earthquake country. His eyes left the generous sprinkle of broken + dishes on the floor, with Mose sprawled inertly in their midst, + looking not unlike a broken platter himself—or one badly + nicked—and rested again upon the grinning face behind the + shoulder of Jim Felton. + </p> + <p> + Ford was ever a man of not many words, even when he had a + grievance. He made straight for Dick, and when he had pushed Jim + out of the way, he reached him violently. Dick tottered upon the + step and went off backward, and Ford landed upon him fairly and + with full knowledge and intent. + </p> + <br /> + <a name='ILLUS_PG209' id="ILLUS_PG209"></a> + <center> + <a href="images/pg209_sm.jpg"> + <img src="images/pg209_sm.jpg" width='70%' alt= + 'Illustration: Dick tottered upon the step and went off backward.' /></a> + </center> + <h4> + Dick tottered upon the step and went off backward. + </h4> + <br /> + <p> + Jim Felton was a wise young man. He stood back and let them fight + it out, and when it was over he said never a word until Dick had + picked himself up and walked off, holding to his nose a + handkerchief that reddened rapidly. + </p> + <p> + "Say, you are a son-of-a-gun to fight," he observed admiringly + then to Ford. "Don't you know Dick's supposed to be abso-lute-ly + unlickable?" + </p> + <p> + "May be so—but he sure shows all the symptoms of being + licked right at present." Ford moved a thumb joint gently to see + whether it was really dislocated or merely felt that way. + </p> + <p> + "He's going up to the house now, to tell the missus," remarked + Jim, craning his neck from the doorway. + </p> + <p> + "If he does that," Ford replied calmly, "I'll half kill him next + time. What I gave him just now is only a sample package left on + the doorstep to try." He sat down upon a corner of the table and + began to make himself a smoke. "Is he going up to the + house—honest?" He would not yield to the impulse to look + and see for himself. + </p> + <p> + "We-el, the trail he's taking has no other logical destination," + drawled Jim. "He's across the bridge." When Ford showed no + disposition to say anything to that, Jim came in and closed the + door. "Say, what laid old Mose out so nice?" he asked, with an + indolent sort of curiosity. "Booze? Or just bumps?" + </p> + <p> + "A little of both," said Ford indifferently, between puffs. He + was thinking of the tale Dick would tell at the house, and he was + thinking of the probable effect upon one listener; the other + didn't worry him, though he liked Mrs. Kate very much. + </p> + <p> + Jim went over and investigated; discovering that Mose was close + to snoring, he sat upon a corner of the other table, swung a + spurred boot, and regarded Ford interestedly over his own + cigarette building. "Say, for a man that's supposed to be + soused," he began, after a silence, "you act and talk remarkably + lucid. I wish I could carry booze like that," he added + regretfully. "But I can't; my tongue and my legs always betray + the guilty secret. Have you got any particular system, or is it + just a gift?" + </p> + <p> + "No"—Ford shook his head—"nothing like that. I just + don't happen to be drunk." He eyed Jim sharply while he + considered within himself. "It looks to me," he began, after a + moment, "as if our friend Dick had framed up a nice little plant. + One way and another I got wise to the whole thing; but for the + life of me, I can't see what made him do it. Lordy me! I never + kicked him on any bunion!" He grinned, as memory flashed a brief, + mental picture of Sunset and certain incidents which occurred + there. But memory never lets well enough alone, and one is lucky + to escape without seeing a picture that leaves a sting; Ford's + smile ended in a scowl. + </p> + <p> + "Jealousy, old man," Jim pronounced without hesitation. "Of + course, I don't know the details, but—details be darned. If + he has tried to hand you a package, take it from me, jealousy's + the string he tied it with. I don't mind saying that Dick told me + when I first rode up to the corral that you and Mose were both + boozing up to beat the band; and right after that we heard a + deuce of a racket up here, and it did look—" He waved an + apologetic hand at Mose and the fragments of pottery which framed + like a "still life" picture on the floor, and let it go at that. + "I'm strong for you, Ford," he added, and his smile was frank and + friendly. "Double Cross is the name of this outfit, but I'm all + in favor of running that brand on the cow-critters and keeping it + out of the bunk-house. If you should happen to feel like + elucidating—" he hinted delicately. + </p> + <p> + Ford had always liked Jim Felton; now he warmed to him as a real + friend, and certain things he told him. As much about the jug + with the brown neck and handle as concerned Dick, and all he knew + of the bottles in the haystack, while Jim smoked, and swung the + foot which did not rest upon the floor, and listened. + </p> + <p> + "Sounds like Dick, all right," he passed judgment, when Ford had + finished. "He counted on your falling for the jug—and oh, + my! It was a beautiful plant. I'd sure hate to have anybody sing + 'Yield not to temptation' at me, if a gallon jug of the real + stuff fell into my arms and nobody was looking." He eyed Ford + queerly. "You've got quite a reputation—" he ventured. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I earned it," Ford observed laconically. + </p> + <p> + "Dick banked on it—I'd stake my whole stack of blues on + that. And after you'd torn up the ranch, and pitched the + fragments into the gulch, he'd hold the last trump, with all high + cards to keep the lead. Whee!" He meditated admiringly upon the + strategy. "But what I can't seem to understand," he said frankly, + "is why the deuce it didn't work! Is your swallower out of + kilter? If you don't mind my asking!" + </p> + <p> + "I never noticed that it was paralyzed," Ford answered grimly. He + got up, lifted a lid of the stove, and threw in the cigarette + stub mechanically. Then he bethought him of his interrupted + search, and prodded a long-handled spoon into the flour bin, + struck something smooth and hard, and drew out a befloured, quart + bottle half full of whisky. He wiped the bottle carefully, + inspected it briefly, and pitched it into the gully, where it + smashed odorously upon a rock. Jim, watching him, knew that he + was thinking all the while of something else. When Ford spoke, he + proved it. + </p> + <p> + "Are you any good at all in the kitchen, Jim?" he asked, turning + to him as if he had decided just how he would meet the situation. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I hate to brag, but I've known of men eating my grub and + going right on living as if nothing had happened," Jim admitted + modestly. + </p> + <p> + "Well, you turn yourself loose in here, will you? The boys will + be good and empty when they come—it's dinner time right + now. I'll help you carry Mose out of the way before I go." + </p> + <p> + Jim looked as if he would like to ask what Ford meant to do, but + he refrained. There was something besides preoccupation in Ford's + face, and it did not make for easy questioning. Jim did yield to + his curiosity to the extent of watching through a window, when + Ford went out, to see where he was going; and when he saw Ford + had the jug, and that he took the path which led across the + little bridge and so to the house, he drew back and said + "Whee-e-e!" under his breath. Then he remarked to the recumbent + Mose, who was not in a condition either to hear or understand: + "I'll bet you Dick's got all he wants, right now, without any + postscript." After which Jim hunted up a clean apron and + proceeded, with his spurs on his heels, his hat on the back of + his head, and a smile upon his lips, to sweep out the broken + dishes so that he might walk without hearing them crunch + unpleasantly under his boots. "I'll take wildcats in mine, + please," he remarked once irrelevantly aloud, and smiled again. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_XIV' id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <h3> + The Feminine Point of View + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + When Ford stepped upon the porch with the jug in his hand, he + gave every indication of having definitely made up his mind. When + he glimpsed Josephine's worried face behind the lace curtain in + the window, he dropped the jug lower and held it against his leg + in such a way as to indicate that he hoped she could not see it, + but otherwise he gave no sign of perturbation. He walked along + the porch to the door of his own room, went in, locked the door + after him, and put the jug down on a chair. He could hear faint + sounds of dishes being placed upon the table in the dining-room, + which was next to his own, and he knew that dinner was half an + hour late; which was unusual in Mrs. Kate's orderly domain. Mrs. + Kate was one of those excellent women whose house is always + immaculate, whose meals are ever placed before one when the clock + points to a certain hour, and whose table never lacks a salad and + a dessert—though how those feats are accomplished upon a + cattle ranch must ever remain a mystery. Ford was therefore + justified in taking the second look at his watch and in holding + it up to his ear, and also in lifting his eyebrows when all was + done. Fifteen minutes by the watch it was before he heard the + silvery tinkle of the tea bell, which was one of the ties which + bound Mrs. Kate to civilization, and which announced that he + might enter the dining-room. + </p> + <p> + He went in as clean and fresh and straight-backed and quiet as + ever he had done, and when he saw that the room was empty save + for Buddy, perched upon his long-legged chair with his heels + hooked over the top round and a napkin tucked expectantly inside + the collar of his blue blouse, he took in the situation and sat + down without waiting for the women. The very first glance told + him that Mrs. Kate had never prepared that meal. It was, putting + it bluntly, a scrappy affair hastily gathered from various + shelves in the pantry and hurriedly arranged haphazard upon the + table. + </p> + <p> + Buddy gazed upon the sprinkle of dishes with undisguised + dissatisfaction. "There ain't any potatoes," he announced + gloomily. "My own mamma always cooks potatoes. Josephine's the + limit! I been working to-day. I almost dug out a badger, over by + the bluff. I got where I could hear him scratching to get away, + and then it was all rocks, so I couldn't dig any more. Gee, it + was hard digging! And I'm just about starved, if you want to + know. And there ain't any potatoes." + </p> + <p> + "Bread and butter is fine when you're hungry," Ford suggested, + and spread a slice for Buddy, somewhat inattentively, because he + was also keeping an eye upon the kitchen door, where he had + caught a fleeting glimpse of Josephine looking in at him. + </p> + <p> + "You're putting the butter all in one place," Buddy criticised, + with his usual frankness. "I guess you're drunk, all right. If + you're too drunk to spread butter, let me do it." + </p> + <p> + "What makes you think I'm drunk?" Ford questioned, lowering his + voice because of the person he suspected was in the kitchen. + </p> + <p> + "Mamma and Jo was quarreling about it; that's why. And my own + mamma cried, and shut the door, and wouldn't let me go in. And Jo + pretty near cried too, all right. I guess she did, only not when + any one was looking. Her eyes are awful red, anyway." Buddy took + great, ravenous bites of the bread and butter and eyed Ford + unwinkingly. + </p> + <p> + "What's disslepointed?" he demanded abruptly, after he had given + himself a white mustache with his glass of milk. + </p> + <p> + "Why do you want to know?" + </p> + <p> + "That's what my own mamma is, and that's what Jo is. Only my own + mamma is it about you, and Jo's it about mamma. Say, did you lick + Dick? Jo told my own mamma she wisht you'd killed him. Jo's awful + mad to-day. I guess she's mad at Dick, because he ain't very much + of a fighter. Did you lick him easy? Did you paste him one in the + jaw?" + </p> + <p> + Josephine entered then with Ford's belated tea. Her eyelids were + pink, as Buddy had told him, and she did not look at him while + she filled his cup. + </p> + <p> + "Kate has a sick headache," she explained primly, "and I did the + best I could with lunch. I hope it's—" + </p> + <p> + "It is," Ford interrupted reassuringly. "Everything is fine and + dandy." + </p> + <p> + "You didn't cook any potatoes!" Buddy charged mercilessly. "And + Ford's too drunk to put the butter on right. I'm going to tell my + dad that next time he goes to Oregon I'm going along. This outfit + will sure go to the devil if he stays much longer!" + </p> + <p> + "Where did you hear that, Bud?" Josephine asked, still carefully + avoiding a glance at Ford. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Dick said it would go to the devil. I guess," he added on + his own account, with an eloquent look at the table, "it's on the + trail right now." + </p> + <p> + Ford looked at Josephine, opened his lips to say that it might + still be headed off, and decided not to speak. There was a + stubborn streak in Ford Campbell. She had said some bitter + things, in her anger. Perhaps she had not entirely believed them + herself, and perhaps Mrs. Kate had not been accurately quoted by + her precocious young son; she may not have said that she was + disappointed in Ford. They might not have believed whatever it + was Dick told them, and they might still have full confidence in + him, Ford Campbell. Still, there was the stubborn streak which + would not explain or defend. So he left the table, and went into + his own room without any word save a muttered excuse; and that in + spite of the fact that Josephine looked full at him, at last, and + with a wistfulness that moved him almost to the point of taking + her in his arms and kissing away the worry—if he could. + </p> + <p> + He went up to the table where stood the jug, looked at it, lifted + it, and set it down again. Then he lifted it again and pulled the + cork out with a jerk, wondering if the sound of it had reached + through the thin partition to the ears of Josephine; he was + guilty of hoping so. He put back the cork—this time + carefully—walked to the outer door, turned the key, opened + the door, and closed it again with a slam. Then, with a grim set + of the lips, he walked softly into the closet and pulled the door + nearly shut. + </p> + <p> + He knew there was a chance that Josephine, if she were interested + in his movements, would go immediately into the sitting-room, + where she could see the path, and would know that he had not + really left the house. But she did not, evidently. She sat long + enough in the dining-room for Ford to call himself a name or two + and to feel exceedingly foolish over the trick, and to decide + that it was a very childish one for a grown man to play upon a + woman. Then she pushed back her chair, came straight toward his + room, opened the door, and looked in; Ford knew, for he saw her + through the crack he had left in the closet doorway. She stood + there looking at the jug on the table, then went up and lifted + it, much as Ford had done, and pulled the cork with a certain + angry defiance. Perhaps, he guessed shrewdly, Josephine also felt + rather foolish at what she was doing—and he smiled over the + thought. + </p> + <p> + Josephine turned the jug to the light, shut one eye into an + adorable squint, and peered in. Then she set the jug down and + pushed the cork slowly into place; and her face was puzzled. Ford + could have laughed aloud when he saw it, but instead he held his + breath for fear she should discover him. She stood very still for + a minute or two, staring at nothing at all; moved the jug into + the exact place where it had stood before, and went out of the + room on her toes. + </p> + <p> + So did Ford, for that matter, and he was in a cold terror lest + she should look out and see him walking down the path where he + should logically have walked more than five minutes before. He + did not dare to turn and look—until he was outside the + gate; then inspiration came to aid him and he went back boldly, + stepped upon the porch with no effort at silence, opened his + door, and went in as one who has a right there. + </p> + <p> + He heard the click of dishes which told that she was clearing the + table, and he breathed freer. He walked across the room, waited a + space, and walked back again, and then went out with his heart in + its proper position in his chest; Ford was unused to feeling his + heart rise to his palate, and the sensation was more novel than + agreeable. When he went again down the path, there was a certain + exhilaration in his step. His thoughts arranged themselves in + clear-cut sentences, as if he were speaking, instead of those + vague, almost wordless impressions which fill the brain + ordinarily. + </p> + <p> + "She's keeping cases on that jug. She must care, or she wouldn't + do that. She's worried a whole lot; I could see that, all along. + Down at the bunk-house she called me Ford twice—and she + said it meant a lot to her, whether I make good or not. I + wonder—Lordy me! A man could make good, all right, and do + it easy, if she cared! She doesn't know what to think—that + jug staying right up to high-water mark, like that!" He laughed + then, silently, and dwelt upon the picture she had made while she + had stood there before the table. + </p> + <p> + "Lord! she'd want to kill me if she knew I hid in that closet, + but I just had a hunch—that is, if she cared anything about + it. I wonder if she did really say she wished I'd killed Dick? + </p> + <p> + "Anyway, I can fight it now, with her keeping cases on the quiet. + I know I can fight it. Lordy me, I've got to fight it! I've got + to make good; that's all there is about it. Wonder what she'll + think when she sees that jug don't go down any? Wonder—oh, + hell! She'd never care anything about me. If she did—" His + thoughts went hazy with vague speculation, then clarified + suddenly into one hard fact, like a rock thrusting up through the + lazy sweep of a windless tide. "If she did care, I couldn't do + anything. I'm married!" + </p> + <p> + His step lost a little of its spring, then, and he went into the + bunk-house with much the same expression on his face as when he + had left it an hour or so before. + </p> + <p> + He did not see Dick that day. The other boys watched him + covertly, it seemed to him, and showed a disposition to talk + among themselves. Jim was whistling cheerfully in the kitchen. He + turned his head and laughed when Ford went in. + </p> + <p> + "I found a dead soldier behind the sack of spuds," Jim announced, + and produced an empty bottle, mate to the one Ford had thrown + into the gully. "And Dick didn't seem to have any appetite at + all, and Mose is still in Sleepytown. I guess that's all the news + at this end of the line. Er—hope everything is all right at + the house?" + </p> + <p> + "Far as I could see, it was," Ford replied, with an inner sense + of evasion. "I guess we'll just let her go as she looks, Jim. Did + you say anything to the boys?" + </p> + <p> + Jim reddened under his tan, but he laughed disarmingly. "I cannot + tell a lie," he confessed honestly, "and it was too good to keep + to myself. I'm the most generous fellow you ever saw, when it + comes to passing along a good story that won't hurt anybody's + digestion. You don't care, do you? The joke ain't on you." + </p> + <p> + "If you'd asked me about it, I'd have said keep it under your + hat. But—" + </p> + <p> + "And that would have been a sin and a shame," argued Jim, licking + a finger he had just scorched on a hot kettle-handle. "The + fellows all like a good story—and it don't sound any worse + because it's on Dick. And say! I kinda got a clue to where he + connected with that whisky. Walt says he come back from the + line-camp with his overcoat rolled up and tied behind the + saddle—and it wasn't what you could call a hot night, + either. He musta had that jug wrapped up in it. I'll bet he sent + in by Peterson, the other day, for it. He was over there, I know. + He's sure a deliberate kind of a cuss, isn't he? Must have had + this thing all figured out a week ago. The boys are all tickled + to death at the way he got it in the neck; they know Dick pretty + well. But if you'd told me not to say anything, I'd have said he + stubbed his toe on his shadow and fell all over himself, and let + it go at that." + </p> + <p> + "Lordy me! Jim, you needn't worry about it; you ought to know you + can't keep a thing like this quiet, on a ranch. It doesn't matter + much how he got that whisky here, either; I know well enough you + didn't haul it out. I'd figured it out about as Walt says. + </p> + <p> + "Say, it looks as if you'll have to wrastle with the pots and + pans till to-morrow. The lower fence I'll ride, this afternoon; + did you get clear around the Pinnacle field?" + </p> + <p> + "I sure did—and she's tight as a drum. Say, Mose is a good + cook, but he's a mighty punk housekeeper, if you ask me. I'm + thinking of getting to work here with a hoe!" + </p> + <p> + So life, which had of late loomed big and bitter before the soul + of Ford, slipped back into the groove of daily routine. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_XV' id="CHAPTER_XV"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV + </h2> + <h3> + The Climb + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Into its groove of routine slipped life at the Double Cross, but + it did not move quite as smoothly as before. It was as if the + "hill" which Ford was climbing suffered small landslides here and + there, which threatened to block the trail below. + Sometimes—still keeping to the simile—it was but a + pebble or two kicked loose by Ford's heel; sometimes a bowlder + which one must dodge. + </p> + <p> + Dick, for instance, must have likened Mose to a real landslide + when he came at him the next day, with a roar of rage and the + rolling-pin. Mose had sobered to the point where he wondered how + it had all happened, and wanted to get his hands in the wool of + the "nigger" said to lurk in woodpiles. He asked Jim, with + various embellishments of speech, what it was all about, and Jim + told him and told him truly. + </p> + <p> + "He was trying to queer you with the outfit, Mose, and that's a + fact," he finished; which was the only exaggeration Jim was + guilty of, for Dick had probably thought very little of Mose and + his ultimate standing with the Double Cross. "And he was trying + to queer Ford—but you can search me for the reason why he + didn't make good, there." + </p> + <p> + Mose, like many of us, was a self-centered individual. He wasted + a minute, perhaps, thinking of the trick upon Ford; but he spent + all of that forenoon and well into the afternoon in deep + meditation upon the affair as it concerned himself. And the first + time Dick entered the presence of the cook, he got the result of + Mose's reasoning. + </p> + <p> + "Tried to git me in bad, did yuh? Thought you'd git me fired, + hey?" he shouted, as a sort of punctuation to the belaboring. + </p> + <p> + A rolling pin is considered a more or less fearsome weapon in the + hands of a woman, I believe; when wielded by an incensed man who + stands close to six feet and weighs a solid two hundred pounds, + and who has the headache which follows inevitably in the wake of + three pints of whisky administered internally in the short space + of three hours or so, a rolling-pin should justly be classed with + deadly weapons. + </p> + <p> + Jim said afterward that he never had believed it possible to act + out the rough stuff of the silly supplements in the Sunday + papers, but after seeing Mose perform with that rolling-pin, he + was willing to call every edition of the "funny papers" realistic + to a degree. Since it was Jim who helped pull Mose off, naturally + he felt qualified to judge. Jim told Ford about the affair with + sober face and eyes that laughed. + </p> + <p> + "And where's Dick?" Ford asked him, without committing himself + upon the justice of the chastisement. + </p> + <p> + "Gone to bed, I believe. He didn't come out with anything worse + than bumps, I guess—but what I saw of them are sure + peaches; or maybe Italian prunes would hit them off closer; + they're a fine purple shade. I ladled Three H all over him." + </p> + <p> + "I thought Dick was a fighter from Fighterville," grinned Ford, + trying hard to remain non-committal and making a poor job of it. + </p> + <p> + "Well, he is, when he can stand up and box according to rule, or + hit a man when he isn't looking. But my, oh! This wasn't a fight, + Ford; this was like the pictures you see of an old woman + lambasting her son-in-law with an umbrella. Dick never got a + chance to begin. Whee-ee! Mose sure can handle a rolling-pin + some!" + </p> + <p> + Ford laughed and went up to the house to his supper, and to the + constrained atmosphere which was telling on his nerves more + severely than did the gallon jug in his closet, and the moral + effort it cost to keep that jug full to the neck. + </p> + <p> + He went in quietly, threw his hat on the bed, and sat down with + an air of discouragement. It was not yet six o'clock, and he knew + that Mrs. Kate would not have supper ready; but he wanted a quiet + place in which to think, and he was closer to Josephine; though + he would never have admitted to himself that her nearness was any + comfort to him. He did admit, however, that the jug with the + brown neck and handle pulled him to the room many times in spite + of himself. He would take it from the corner of the closet and + let his fingers close over the cork, but so far he had never + yielded beyond that point. Always he had been able to set the jug + back unopened. + </p> + <p> + He was getting circles under his eyes, two new creases had + appeared on each side of his whimsical lips, and a permanent line + was forming between his eyebrows; but he had not opened the jug, + and it had been in his possession thirty-six hours. Thirty-six + hours is not long, to be sure, when life runs smoothly with + slight incidents to emphasize the figures on the dial, but it may + seem long to the poor devil on the rack. + </p> + <p> + Just now Ford was trying to forget that a gallon of whisky stood + in the right-hand corner of his closet, behind a pair of + half-worn riding-boots that pinched his instep so that he seldom + wore them, and that he had only to take the jug out from behind + the boots, pull the cork, and lift the jug to his lips— + </p> + <p> + He caught himself leaning forward and staring at the closet door + until his eyes ached with the strain. He drew back and passed his + hand over his forehead; it ached, and he wanted to think about + what he ought to do with Dick. He did not like to discharge him + without first consulting Mrs. Kate, for he knew that Ches Mason + was in the habit of talking things over with her, and since Mason + was gone, she had assumed an air of latent authority. But Mrs. + Kate had looked at him with such reproachful eyes, that day at + dinner, and her voice had sounded so squeezed and unnatural, that + he had felt too far removed from her for any discussion whatever + to take place between them. + </p> + <p> + Besides, he knew he could prove absolutely nothing against Dick, + if Dick were disposed toward flat denial. He might + suspect—but the facts showed Ford the aggressor, and Mose + also. What if Mrs. Kate declined to believe that Dick had put + that jug of whisky in the kitchen, and had afterward given it to + Ford? Ford had no means of knowing just what tale Dick had told + her, but he did know that Mrs. Kate eyed him doubtfully, and that + her conversation was forced and her manner constrained. + </p> + <p> + And Josephine was worse. Josephine had not spoken to him all that + day. At breakfast she had not been present, and at dinner she had + kept her eyes upon her plate and had nothing to say to any one. + </p> + <p> + He wished Mason was home, so that he could leave. It wouldn't + matter then, he tried to believe, what he did. He even dwelt upon + the desire of Mason's return to the extent of calculating, with + his eyes upon the fancy calendar on the wall opposite, the exact + time of his absence. Ten days—there was no hope of release + for another month, at least, and Ford sighed unconsciously when + he thought of it; for although a month is not long, there was + Josephine refusing to look at him, and there was Dick—and + there was the jug in the closet. + </p> + <p> + As to Josephine, there was no help for it; he could not avoid her + without making the avoidance plain to all observers, and Ford was + proud. As to Dick, he would not send him off without some proof + that he had broken an unwritten law of the Double Cross and + brought whisky to the ranch; and of that he had no proof. As to + his suspicions—well, he considered that Dick had almost + paid the penalty for having roused them, and the matter would + have to rest where it was; for Ford was just. As to the jug, he + could empty it upon the ground and be done with that particular + form of torture. But he felt sure that Josephine was secretly + "keeping cases" on the jug; and Ford was stubborn. + </p> + <p> + That night Ford did not respond to the tinkle of the tea bell. + His head ached abominably, and he did not want to see Josephine's + averted face opposite him at the table. He lay still upon the bed + where he had finally thrown himself, and let the bell tinkle + until it was tired. + </p> + <p> + They sent Buddy in to see why he did not come. Buddy looked at + him with the round, curious eyes of precocious childhood and went + back and reported that Ford wasn't asleep, but was just lying + there mad. Ford heard the shrill little voice innocently + maligning him, and swore to himself; but, he did not move for all + that. He lay thinking and fighting discouragement and thirst, + while little table sounds came through the partition and made a + clicking accompaniment to his thoughts. + </p> + <p> + If he were free, he was wondering between spells of temptation, + would it do any good? Would Josephine care? There was no answer + to that, or if there was he did not know what it was. + </p> + <p> + After awhile the two women began talking; he judged that Buddy + had left them, because it was sheer madness to speak so freely + before him. At first he paid no attention to what they were + saying, beyond a grudging joy in the sound of Josephine's voice. + It had come to that, with Ford! But when he heard his name + spoken, and by her, he lifted shamelessly to an elbow and + listened, glad that the walls were so thin, and that those who + dwell in thin-partitioned houses are prone to forget that the + other rooms may not be quite empty. They two spent most of their + waking hours alone together, and habit breeds carelessness + always. + </p> + <p> + "Do you suppose he's drunk?" Mrs. Kate asked, and her voice was + full of uneasiness. "Chester says he's terrible when he gets + started. I was sure he was perfectly safe! I just can't stand it + to have him like this. Dick told me he's drinking a little all + the time, and there's no telling when he'll break out, + and—Oh, I think it's perfectly terrible!" + </p> + <p> + "Hsh-sh," warned Josephine. + </p> + <p> + "He went out, quite a while ago. I heard him," said Mrs. Kate, + with rash certainty. "He hasn't been like himself since that day + he fought Dick. He must be—" + </p> + <p> + "But how could he?" Josephine's voice interrupted sharply. "That + jug he's got is full yet." + </p> + <p> + Ford could imagine Mrs. Kate shaking her head with the wisdom + born of matrimony. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you suppose he could keep putting in water?" she asked + pityingly. Ford almost choked when he heard that! + </p> + <p> + "I don't believe he would." Josephine's tone was dubious. "It + doesn't seem to me that a man would do that; he'd think he was + just spoiling what was left. That," she declared with a flash of + inspiration, "is what a woman would do. And a man always does + something different!" There was a pathetic note in the last + sentence, which struck Ford oddly. + </p> + <p> + "Don't think you know men, my dear, until you've been married to + one for eight years or so," said Mrs. Kate patronizingly. "When + you've been—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, for mercy's sake, do you think they're all alike?" + Josephine's voice was tart and impatient. "I know enough about + men to know they're all different. You can't judge one by + another. And I don't believe that Ford is drinking at all. He's + just—" + </p> + <p> + "Just what?—since you know so well!" Mrs. Kate was growing + ironical. + </p> + <p> + "He's trying not to—and worrying." Her voice lowered until + it took love to hear it. Ford did hear, and his breath came fast. + He did not catch Mrs. Kate's reply; he was not in love with Mrs. + Kate, and he was engaged in letting the words of Josephine sink + into his very soul, and in telling himself over and over that she + understood. It seemed to him a miracle of intuition, that she + should sense the fight he was making; and since he felt that way + about it, it was just as well he did not know that Jim Felton + sensed it quite as keenly as Josephine—and with a far + greater understanding of how bitter a fight it was, and for that + reason a deeper sympathy. + </p> + <p> + "I wish Chester was here!" wailed Mrs. Kate, across the glow of + his exultant thoughts. "I'm afraid to say anything to him myself, + he's so morose. It's a shame, because he's so splendid when + he's—himself." + </p> + <p> + "He's as much himself now as ever he was," Josephine defended + hotly. "When he's drinking he's altogether—" + </p> + <p> + "You never saw him drunk," Mrs. Kate pointed to the weak spot in + Josephine's defense of him. "Dick says—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, do you believe everything Dick says? A week ago you were + bitter against Dick and all enthusiasm for Ford." + </p> + <p> + "You were flirting with Dick then, and you'd hardly treat Ford + decently. And Ford hadn't gone to drink—" + </p> + <p> + "Will you hush?" There were tears of anger in Josephine's voice. + "He isn't, I tell you!" + </p> + <p> + "What does he keep that jug in the closet for? And every few + hours he comes up to the house and goes into his room—and + he never did that before. And have you noticed his eyes? He'll + scarcely talk any more, and he just pretends to eat. At dinner + to-day he scarcely touched a thing! It's a sure sign, Phenie." + </p> + <p> + Ford was growing tired of that sort of thing. It dimmed the + radiance of Josephine's belief in him, to have Mrs. Kate so sure + of his weakness. He got up from the bed as quietly as he could + and left the house. He was even more thoughtful, after that, but + not quite so gloomy—if one cared enough for his moods to + make a fine distinction. + </p> + <p> + Have you ever observed the fact that many of life's grimmest + battles and deepest tragedies scarce ripple the surface of + trivial things? We are always rubbing elbows with the big issues + and never knowing anything about it. Certainly no one at the + Double Cross guessed what was always in the mind of the foreman. + Jim thought he was "sore" because of Dick. Dick thought Ford was + jealous of him, and trying to think of some scheme to "play + even," without coming to open war. Mrs. Kate was positive, in her + purely feminine mind—which was a very good mind, + understand, but somewhat inadequate when brought to bear upon the + big problems of life—that Ford was tippling in secret. + Josephine thought—just what she said, probably, upon the + chill day when she calmly asked Ford at the breakfast table if he + would let her go with him. + </p> + <p> + Ford had casually remarked, in answer to a diffident question + from Mrs. Kate, that he was going to ride out on Long Ridge and + see if any stock was drifting back toward the ranch. He hadn't + sent any one over that way for several days. Ford, be it said, + had announced his intention deliberately, moved by a vague, + unreasoning impulse. + </p> + <p> + "Can I go?" teased Buddy, from sheer force of habit; no one ever + mentioned going anywhere, but Buddy shot that question into the + conversation. + </p> + <p> + "No, you can't. You can't, with that cold," his mother vetoed + promptly, and Buddy, whimpering over his hot cakes, knew well the + futility of argument, when Mrs. Kate used that tone of finality. + </p> + <p> + "Will you let me go?" Josephine asked unexpectedly, and looked + straight at Ford. But though her glance was direct, it was + unreadable, and Ford mentally threw up his hands after one good + look at her, and tried not to betray the fact that this was what + he had wanted, but had not hoped for. + </p> + <p> + "Sure, you can go," he said, with deceitful brevity. Josephine + had not spoken to him all the day before, except to say + good-morning when he came in to his breakfast. Ford made no + attempt to understand her, any more. He was carefully giving her + the lead, as he would have explained it, and was merely following + suit until he got a chance to trump; but he was beginning to have + a discouraged feeling that the game was hers, and that he might + as well lay down his hand and be done with it. Which, when he + brought the simile back to practical affairs, meant that he was + thinking seriously of leaving the ranch and the country just as + soon as Mason returned. + </p> + <p> + He was thinking of trying the Argentine Republic for awhile, if + he could sell the land which he had rashly bought while he was + getting rid of his inheritance. + </p> + <p> + She did not offer any excuse for the request, as most women would + have done. Neither did she thank him, with lips or with eyes, for + his ready consent. She seemed distrait—preoccupied, as if + she, also, were considering some weighty question. + </p> + <p> + Ford pushed back his chair, watching her furtively. She rose with + Kate, and glanced toward the window. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose I shall need my heaviest sweater," she remarked + practically, and as if the whole affair were too commonplace for + discussion. "It does look threatening. How soon will you want to + start?" This without looking toward Ford at all. + </p> + <p> + "Right away, if that suits you." Ford was still watchful, as if + he had not quite given up hope of reading her meaning. + </p> + <p> + She told him she would be ready by the time he had saddled, and + she appeared in the stable door while he was cinching the saddle + on the horse he meant to ride. + </p> + <p> + "I hope you haven't given me Dude," she said unemotionally. "He's + supposed to be gentle—but he bucked me off that day I + sprained my ankle, and all the excuse he had was that a rabbit + jumped out from a bush almost under his nose. I've lost faith in + him since. Oh—it's Hooligan, is it? I'm glad of that; + Hooligan's a dear—and he has the easiest gallop of any + horse on the ranch. Have you tried him yet, Ford?" + </p> + <p> + The heart of Ford lifted in his chest at her tone and her words, + along toward the last. He forgot the chill of her voice in the + beginning, and he dwelt greedily upon the fact that once more she + had called him Ford. But his joy died suddenly when he led his + horse out and discovered that Dick and Jim Felton were coming + down the path, within easy hearing of her. Ford did not know + women very well, but most men are born with a rudimentary + understanding of them. He suspected that her intimacy of tone was + meant for Dick's benefit; and when they had ridden three or four + miles and her share of the conversation during that time had + consisted of "yes" twice, "no" three times, and one "indeed," he + was sure of it. + </p> + <p> + So Ford began to wonder why she came at all—unless that, + also, was meant to discipline Dick—and his own mood became + a silent one. He did not, he told himself indignantly, much + relish being used as a club to beat some other man into good + behavior. + </p> + <p> + They rode almost to Long Ridge before Ford discovered that + Josephine was stealing glances at his face whenever she thought + he was not looking, and that the glances were questioning, and + might almost be called timid. He waited until he was sure he was + not mistaken, and then turned his head unexpectedly, and smiled + into her startled eyes. + </p> + <p> + "What is it?" he asked, still smiling at her. "I won't bite. Say + it, why don't you?" + </p> + <p> + She bit her lips and looked away. + </p> + <p> + "I wanted to ask something—ask you to do something," she + said, after a minute. And then hurriedly, as if she feared her + courage might ebb and leave her stranded, "I wish you'd give me + that—jug!" + </p> + <p> + Sheer surprise held Ford silent, staring at her. + </p> + <p> + "I don't ask many favors—I wish you'd grant just that one. + I wouldn't ask another." + </p> + <p> + "What do you want of it?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh—" she stopped, then plunged on recklessly. "It's + getting on my nerves so! And if you gave it to me, you wouldn't + have to fight the temptation—" + </p> + <p> + "Why wouldn't I? There's plenty more where that came from," he + reminded her. + </p> + <p> + "But it wouldn't be right where you could get it any time the + craving came. Won't you let me take it?" He had never before + heard that tone from her; but he fought down the thrill of it and + held himself rigidly calm. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't know—the jug's doing all right, where it is," + he evaded; what he wanted most was to get at her real object, + and, man-like, to know beyond doubt whether she really cared. + </p> + <p> + "But you don't—you never touch it," she urged. "I know, + because—well, because every day I look into it! I suppose + you'll say I have no right, that it's spying, or something. But I + don't care for that. And I can see that it's worrying you + dreadfully. And if you don't drink any of it, why won't you let + me have it?" + </p> + <p> + "If I don't drink it; what difference does it make who has it?" + he countered. + </p> + <p> + "I'm afraid there'll be a time when you'll yield, just because + you are blue and discouraged—or something; whatever mood it + is that makes the temptation hardest to resist. I know myself + that things are harder to endure some days than they are others." + She stopped and looked at him in that enigmatical way she had. + "You may not know it—but I've been staying here just to see + whether you fail or succeed. I thought I understood a little of + why you came, and I—I stayed." She leaned and twisted a + wisp of Hooligan's mane nervously, and Ford noticed how the color + came and went in the cheek nearest him. + </p> + <p> + "I—oh, it's awfully hard to say what I want to say, and not + have it sound different," she began again, without looking at + him. "But if you don't understand what I mean—" Her teeth + clicked suggestively. + </p> + <p> + Ford leaned to her. "Say it anyway and take a chance," he urged, + and his voice was like a kiss, whether he knew it or not. He did + know that she caught her breath at the words or the tone, and + that the color flamed a deeper tint in her cheek and then faded + to a faint glow. + </p> + <p> + "What I mean is that I appreciate the way you have acted all + along. I—it wasn't an easy situation to meet, and you have + met it like a man—and a gentleman. I was afraid of you at + first, and I misunderstood you completely. I'm ashamed to confess + it, but it's true. And I want to see you make good in this thing + you have attempted; and if there's anything on earth that I can + do to help you, I want you to let me do it. You will, won't you?" + She looked at him then with clear, honest eyes. "It's my way of + wanting to thank you for—for not taking any advantage, or + trying to, of—your—position that night." + </p> + <p> + Ford's own cheeks went hot. "I thought you knew all along that I + wasn't a cur, at least," he said harshly. "I never knew before + that you had any reason to be afraid of me, that night. If I'd + known that—but I thought you just didn't like me, and let + it go at that. And what I said I meant. You needn't feel that you + have anything to thank me for; I haven't done a thing that + deserves thanks—or fear either, for that matter." + </p> + <p> + "I thought you understood, when I left—" + </p> + <p> + "I didn't worry much about it, one way or the other," he cut in. + "I hunted around for you, of course, and when I saw you'd pulled + out for good, I went over the hill and camped. I didn't get the + note till next morning; and I don't know," he added, with a brief + smile, "as that did much toward making me understand. You just + said to wait till some one came after me. Well, I didn't wait." + He laughed and leaned toward her again. "Now there seems a chance + of our being—pretty good friends," he said, in the + caressing tone he had used before, and of which he was utterly + unconscious, "we won't quarrel about that night, will we? You got + home all right, and so did I. We'll forget all about it. Won't + we?" He laid a hand on the horn of her saddle so that they rode + close together, and tried futilely to read what was in her face, + since she did not speak. + </p> + <p> + Josephine stared blankly at the brown slope before them. Her lips + were set firmly together, and her brows were contracted also, and + her gloved fingers gripped the reins tightly. She paid not the + slightest attention to Ford's hand upon her saddle horn, nor at + the steady gaze of his eyes. Later, when Ford observed the + rigidity of her whole pose and sensed that mental withdrawing + which needs no speech to push one off from the more intimate + ground of companionship, he wondered a little. Without in the + least knowing why he felt rebuffed, he took away his hand, and + swung his horse slightly away from her; his own back stiffened a + little in response to the chilled atmosphere. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," she said at last, "we'll forget all about it, Mr. + Campbell." + </p> + <p> + "You called me Ford, a while ago," he hinted. + </p> + <p> + "Did I? One forms the habit of picking up a man's given name, out + here in the West, I find. I'm sorry—" + </p> + <p> + "I don't want you to be sorry. I want you to do it again. All the + time," he added boldly. + </p> + <p> + He caught the gleam of her eyes under her heavy lashes, as she + glanced at him sidelong. + </p> + <p> + "If you go looking at me out of the corner of your eyes," he + threatened recklessly, kicking his horse closer, "I'm liable to + kiss you!" + </p> + <p> + And he did, before she could draw away. + </p> + <p> + "I've been kinda thinking maybe I'm in love with you, Josephine," + he murmured, holding her close. "And now I'm dead sure of it. And + if you won't love me back why—there'll be something doing, + that's all!" + </p> + <p> + "Yes? And what would you do, please?" Her tone was icy, but he + somehow felt that the ice was very, very thin, and that her heart + beat warm beneath. She drew herself free, and he let her go. + </p> + <p> + "I dunno," he confessed whimsically. "But Lordy me! I'd sure do + something!" + </p> + <p> + "Look for comfort in that jug, I suppose you mean?" + </p> + <p> + "No, I don't mean that." He stopped and considered, his forehead + creased as if he were half angry at the imputation. "I'm pretty + sure of where I stand, on that subject. I've done a lot of + thinking, since I hit the Double Cross—and I've cut out + whisky for good. + </p> + <p> + "I know what you thought, and what Mrs. Kate thinks yet; and I'll + admit it was mighty tough scratching for a couple of days after I + got hold of that jug. But I found out which was master—and + it wasn't the booze!" He looked at her with eyes that shone. + "Josie, girl, I took a long chance—but I put it up to + myself this way, when the jug seemed to be on top. I told myself + it was whisky or you; not that exactly, either. It's hard to say + just what I do mean. Not you, maybe—but what you stand for. + What I could get out of life, if I was straight and lived clean, + and had a little woman like you. It may not be you at all; that's + as you—" + </p> + <p> + He stopped as if some one had laid a hand over his mouth. It was + not as she said. It might have been, only for that drunken + marriage of his. Never before had he hated whisky as bitterly as + he did then, when he remembered what it had done for him that + night in Sunset, and what it was doing now. It closed his lips + upon what he would have given much to be able to say; for he was + a man with all the instincts of chivalry and honor—and he + loved the girl. It was, he realized bitterly, just because he did + love her so well, that he could not say more. He had said too + much already; but her nearness had gone to his head, and he had + forgotten that he was not free to say what he felt. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps Josephine mistook his sudden silence for trepidation, or + humility. At any rate she reined impulsively close, and reached + out and caught the hand hanging idly at his side. + </p> + <p> + "Ford, I'm no coquette," she said straightforwardly, with a blush + for maiden-modesty's sake. "I believe you; absolutely and utterly + I believe you. If you had been different at first—if you + had made any overtures whatever toward—toward lovemaking, I + should have despised you. I never would have loved you in this + world! But you didn't. You kept at such a distance that I—I + couldn't help thinking about you and studying you. And + lately—when I knew you were fighting the—the + habit—I loved you for the way you did fight. I was afraid, + too. I used to slip into your room every time you left it, and + look—and I just ached to help you! But I knew I couldn't do + a thing; and that was the hardest part. All I could do was stand + back—clear back out of sight, and hope. And—and love + you, too, Ford. I'm proud of you! I'm proud to think that + I—I love a man that is a man; that doesn't sit down and + whine because a fight is hard, or give up and say it's no use. I + do despise a moral weakling, Ford. I don't mind what you have + been; it's what you are, that counts with me. And you're a man, + every inch of you. I'm not a bit afraid you'll weaken. Only," she + added half apologetically, "I did want you to give me + the—the jug, because I couldn't bear to see you look so + worried." She gave his fingers an adorable little squeeze, and + flung his hand away from her, and laughed in a way to set his + heart pounding heavily in his chest. "Now you know where I stand, + Mr. Man," she cried lightly, "so let's say no more about it. I + bet I can beat you across this flat!" She laughed again, wrinkled + her nose at him impertinently, and was off in a run. + </p> + <br /> + <a name='ILLUS_PG254' id="ILLUS_PG254"></a> + <center> + <a href="images/pg254_sm.jpg"> + <img src="images/pg254_sm.jpg" width='70%' alt= + "Illustration: "Ford, I'm no coquette," + she said straightforwardly." /></a> + </center> + <h4> + "Ford, I'm no coquette," she said straightforwardly. + </h4> + <br /> + <p> + If she had waited, Ford would have told her. If she had given him + a chance, he would have told her afterward; but she did not. She + was extremely careful not to let their talk become intimate, + after that. She laughed, she raced Hooligan almost to the point + of abuse, she chattered about everything under the sun that came + into her mind, except their own personal affairs or anything that + could possibly lead up to the subject. + </p> + <p> + Ford, for a time, watched for an opening honestly; saw at last + the impossibility of telling her—unless indeed he shouted, + "Say, I'm a married man!" to her without preface or extenuating + explanation—and yielded finally to the reprieve the fates + sent him. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_XVI' id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI + </h2> + <h3> + To Find and Free a Wife + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Ford spent the rest of that day and all of the night that + followed, in thinking what would be the best and the easiest + method of gaining the point he wished to reach. All along he had + been uncomfortably aware of his matrimonial entanglement and had + meant, as soon as he conveniently could, to try and discover who + was his wife, and how best to free himself and her. He had half + expected that she herself would do something to clear the + mystery. She had precipitated the marriage, he constantly + reminded himself, and it was reasonable to expect that she would + do something; though what, Ford could only conjecture. + </p> + <p> + When he faced Josephine across the breakfast table the next + morning, and caught the shy glance she gave him when Mrs. Kate + was not looking, a plan he had half formed crystallized into a + determination. He would not tell her anything about it until he + knew just what he was up against, and how long it was going to + take him to free himself. And since he could not do anything + about it while he rode and planned and gave orders at the Double + Cross, he swallowed his breakfast rather hurriedly and went out + to find Jim Felton. + </p> + <p> + "Say, Jim," he began, when he ran that individual to earth in the + stable, where, with a pair of sheep shears, he was roaching the + mane of a shaggy old cow pony to please Buddy, who wanted to make + him look like a circus horse, even if there was no hope of his + ever acting like one. "I'm going to hand you the lines and let + you drive, for a few days. I've got to scout around on business + of my own, and I don't know just how long it's going to take me. + I'm going right away—to-day." + </p> + <p> + "Yeah?" Jim poised the shears in air and regarded him quizzically + over the pony's neck. "Going to pass me foreman's + privilege—to hire and fire?" he grinned. "Because I may as + well tell you that if you do, Dick won't be far behind you on the + trail." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, darn Dick. I'll fire him myself, maybe, before I leave. + Yes," he added, thinking swiftly of Josephine as the object of + Dick's desires, "that's what I'll do. Maybe it'll save a lot of + trouble while I'm gone. He's a tricky son-of-a-gun." + </p> + <p> + "You're dead right; he is," Jim agreed. And then, dryly: + "Grandmother just died?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, shut up. This ain't an excuse—it's business. I've just + got to go, and that's all there is to it. I'll fix things with + the missus, and tell her you're in charge. Anyway, I won't be + gone any longer than I can help." + </p> + <p> + "I believe that, too," said Jim softly, and busied himself with + the shears. + </p> + <p> + Ford looked at him sharply, in doubt as to just how much or how + little Jim meant by that. He finally shrugged his shoulders and + went away to tell Mrs. Kate, and found that a matter which + required more diplomacy than he ever suspected he possessed. But + he did tell her, and he hoped that she believed the reason he + gave for going, and also had some faith in his assurance that he + would be back, probably, in a couple of days—or as soon + afterwards as might be. + </p> + <p> + "There's nothing but chores to do now around the ranch, and Jack + will ride fence," he explained unnecessarily, to cover his + discomfort at her coldness. "Jim can look after things just as + well as I can. There won't be any need to start feeding the + calves, unless it storms; and if it does, Jim and Jack will go + ahead, all right. I'm going to let Dick and Curly go. We don't + need more than two men besides Walt, from now on." + </p> + <p> + "I wish Chester was here," said Mrs. Kate ambiguously. + </p> + <p> + Ford did not ask her why she wished that. He told her good-by as + hastily as if he had to run to catch a train, and left her. He + hoped he would be lucky enough to see Josephine—and then he + hoped quite as sincerely that he would not see her, after all. It + would be easier to go without her clear eyes asking him why. + </p> + <p> + What he meant to do first was to find Rock, and see if he had + been sober enough that night in Sunset to remember what happened + at the marriage ceremony, and could give him some clue as to the + woman's identity and whereabouts. If he failed there, he intended + to hunt up the preacher. That, also, presented certain + difficulties, but Ford was in the mood to overcome obstacles. + Once he discovered who the woman was, it seemed to him that there + should be no great amount of trouble in getting free. As he + understood it, he was not the man she had intended to marry; and + not being the man she wanted, she certainly could not be + over-anxious to cling to him. + </p> + <p> + While he galloped down the trail to town, he went over the whole + thing again in his mind, to see if there might be some simpler + plan than the one he had formed in the night. + </p> + <p> + "No, sir—it's Rock I've got to see first," he concluded. + "But Lord only knows where I'll find him; Rock never does camp + twice in the same place. Never knew him to stay more than a month + with one outfit. But I'll find him, all right!" + </p> + <p> + And by one of those odd twists of circumstances which sets men to + wondering if there is such a thing as telepathy and a + specifically guiding hand and the like, it was Rock and none + other whom he met fairly in the trail before he had gone another + mile. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I'll be gol darned!" Ford whispered incredulously to + himself, and pulled up short in the trail to wait for him. + </p> + <p> + Rock came loping up with elbows flapping loosely, as was his + ungainly habit. His grin was wide and golden as of yore, his hat + at the same angle over his right eyebrow. + </p> + <p> + "Gawd bless you, brother! May peace ride behind your cantle!" he + declaimed unctuously, for Rock was a character, in his way, and + in his speech was not in the least like other men. "Whither + wendest thou?" + </p> + <p> + "My wending is all over for the present," said Ford, wheeling his + horse short around, that he might ride alongside the other. "I + started out to hunt you up, you old devil. How are you, anyway?" + </p> + <p> + "It is well with me, and well with my soul—what little I've + got—but it ain't so well with my winter grub-stake. I'm + just as tickled to see you as you ever dare be to meet up with + me, and that's no lie. I heard you've got a stand-in with the + Double Cross, and seeing they ain't on to my little + peculiarities, I thought I'd ride out and see if I couldn't work + you for a soft snap. Got any ducks out there you want led to + water?" + </p> + <p> + "Maybe—I dunno. I just canned two men this morning, before + I left." Ford was debating with himself how best to approach the + subject to him most important. + </p> + <p> + "Good ee-nough! I can take the place of those two men; eat their + share of grub, do their share of snoring, and shirk their share + of work, and drink their share of booze—oh, lovely! But, in + the words of the dead, immortal Shakespeare, 'What's eating you?' + You look to me as if you hadn't enjoyed the delights of a good, + stiff jag since—" He waved a hand vaguely. "Ain't a scar on + you, so help me!" He regarded Ford with frank curiosity. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, yes there is. I've got the hide peeled off two knuckles, and + one of my thumbs is just getting so it will move without being + greased," Ford assured him, and then went straight at what was on + his mind. + </p> + <p> + "Say, Rock, I was told that you had a hand in my getting married, + back in Sunset that night." + </p> + <p> + Rock made his horse back until it nearly fell over a rock; his + face showed exaggerated symptoms of terror. + </p> + <p> + "I couldn't help it," he wailed. "Spare muh—for muh poor + mother's sake, oh spare muh life!" Whereat Ford laughed, just as + Rock meant that he should do. "You licked Bill twice for that, + they tell me," Rock went on, quitting his foolery and coming up + close again. "And you licked the preacher that night, + and—so the tale runneth—like to have put the whole + town on the jinks. Is there anything in particular you'd like to + do to me?" + </p> + <p> + "I just want you to tell me who I married—if you can." Ford + reddened as the other stared, but he did not stop. "I was so + darned full that night I let the whole business ooze out of my + memory, and I haven't been able to—" + </p> + <p> + Rock was leaning over the saddle horn, howling and watery-eyed. + Ford looked at him with a dawning suspicion. + </p> + <p> + "It did strike me, once or twice," he said grimly, "that the + whole thing was a put-up job. If you fellows rigged up a josh + like that, and let it go as far as this, may the Lord have mercy + on your souls, for I won't!" + </p> + <p> + But Rock could only wave him off weakly; so Ford waited until he + had recovered. Even then, it took some talking to convince Rock + that the affair was truly serious and not to be treated any + longer as a joke. + </p> + <p> + "Why, damn it, man, I'm in love with a girl and I want to marry + her if I can get rid of this other darned, mysterious, Tom-fool + of a woman," Ford gritted at last, in sheer desperation. "Or if + it's just a josh, by this and by that I mean to find it out." + </p> + <p> + Rock sobered then. "It ain't any josh," he said, with convincing + earnestness. "You got married, all right enough. And if it's as + you say, Ford, I sure am sorry for it. I don't know the girl's + name. I'd know her quick enough if I should see her, but I can't + tell you who she was." + </p> + <p> + Ford swore, of course. And Rock listened sympathetically until he + was done. + </p> + <p> + "That's the stuff; get it out of your system, Ford, and then + you'll feel better. Then we can put our heads together and see if + there isn't some way to beat this combination." + </p> + <p> + "Could you spot the preacher, do you reckon?" asked Ford more + calmly. + </p> + <p> + "I could—if he didn't see us coming," Rock admitted + guardedly. "Name of Sanderson, I believe. I've seen him around + Garbin. He could tell—he must have some record of it; but + would he?" + </p> + <p> + "Don't you know, even, why she came and glommed onto me like + that?" Ford's face was as anxious as his tone. + </p> + <p> + "Only what you told me, confidentially, in a corner afterwards," + said Rock regretfully. "Maybe you told it straight, and maybe you + didn't; there's no banking on a man's imagination when he's + soused. But the way you told it to me was this: + </p> + <p> + "You said the girl told you that she was working for some queer + old party—an old lady with lots of dough; and she made her + will and give her money all to some institution—hospital or + some darned thing, I forget just what, or else you didn't say. + Only, if this girl would marry her son within a certain time, he + could have the wad. Seems the son was something of a high-roller, + and the old lady knew he'd blow it in, if it was turned over to + him without any ballast, like; and the girl was supposed to be + the ballast, to hold him steady. So the old lady, or else it was + the girl, writes to this fellow, and he agrees to hook up with + the lady and take the money and behave himself. Near as I could + make it out, the time was just about up before the girl took + matters into her own hand, and come out on a hunt for this Frank + Cameron. How she happened to sink her rope on you instead, and + take her turns before she found out her mistake, you'll have to + ask her—if you ever see her again. + </p> + <p> + "But this much you told me—and I think you got it straight. + The girl was willing to marry you—or Frank Cameron—so + he could get what belonged to him. She wasn't going to do any + more, though, and you told me"—Rock's manner became very + impressive here—"that you promised her, as a man and a + gentleman, that you wouldn't ever bother her, and that she was to + travel her own trail, and she didn't want the money. She just + wanted to dodge that fool will, seems like. Strikes me I'd a let + the fellow go plumb to Guinea, if I was in her place, but women + get queer notions of duty, and the like of that, sometimes. Looks + to me like a fool thing for a woman to do, anyway." + </p> + <p> + Though they talked a good while about it, that was all the real + information which Ford could gain. He would have to find the + minister and persuade him to show the record of the marriage, and + after that he would have to find the girl. + </p> + <p> + Before they reached that definite conclusion, the storm which had + been brewing for several days swooped down upon them, and drove + Ford to the alternative of riding in the teeth of it to town, + which was not only unpleasant but dangerous, if it grew any + worse, or retracing his steps to the Double Cross and waiting + there until it was over. So that is what he did, with Rock to + bear him willing company. + </p> + <p> + They met Dick and Curly on the way, and though Ford stopped them + and suggested that they turn back also, neither would do so. + Curly intimated plainly that the joys of town were calling to him + from afar, and that facing a storm was merely calculated to make + his destination more alluring by contrast. "Turn back with two + months' wages burning up my inside pocket? Oh, no!" he laughed, + and rode on. Dick did not say why, but he rode on also. Ford + turned in the saddle and looked after them, as they disappeared + in a swirl of fine snow. + </p> + <p> + "That's what I ought to do," he said, "but I'm not going to do + it, all the same." + </p> + <p> + "Which only goes to prove," bantered Rock, "that the Double Cross + pulls harder than all the preacher could tell you. I wonder if + there isn't a girl at the Double Cross, now!" + </p> + <p> + "There is," Ford confessed, with a grin of embarrassment. "And + you shut up." + </p> + <p> + "I just had a hunch there was," Rock permitted himself to say + meekly, before he dropped the subject. + </p> + <p> + It was ten minutes before Ford spoke again. + </p> + <p> + "I'll take you up to the house and introduce you to her, Rock, if + you'll behave yourself," he offered then, with a shyness in his + manner that nearly set Rock off in one of his convulsions of + mirth. "But the missus isn't wise—so watch out. And if you + don't behave yourself," he added darkly, "I'll knock your block + off." + </p> + <p> + "Sure. But my block is going to remain right where it's at," Rock + assured him, which was a tacit promise of as perfect behavior as + he could attain. + </p> + <p> + They looked like snow men when they unsaddled, with the powdery + snow beaten into the very fabric of their clothing, and Ford + suggested that they go first to the bunk-house to thaw out. "I'd + sure hate to pack all this snow into Mrs. Kate's parlor," he + added whimsically. "She's the kind of housekeeper that grabs the + broom the minute you're gone, to sweep your tracks off the + carpet. Awful nice little woman, but—" + </p> + <p> + "But not The One," chuckled Rock, treading close upon Ford's + heels. "And I'll bet fifteen cents," he offered rashly, looking + up, "that the person hitting the high places for the bunk-house + is The One." + </p> + <p> + "How do you know?" Ford demanded, while his eyes gladdened at + sight of Josephine, with a Navajo blanket flung over her head, + running down the path through the blizzard to the bunk-house + kitchen. + </p> + <p> + "'Cause she shied when she saw you coming. Came pretty near + breaking back on you, too," Rock explained shrewdly. + </p> + <p> + They reached the kitchen together, and Ford threw open the door, + and held it for her to pass. + </p> + <p> + "I came after some of Mose's mince-meat," she explained hastily. + "It's a terrible storm, isn't it? I'm glad it didn't strike + yesterday. I thought you were going to be gone for several days." + </p> + <p> + Ford, with embarrassed haste to match her own, presented Rock in + the same breath with wishing that Rock was elsewhere; for Mose + was not in the kitchen, and he had not had more than a few words + with her for twenty-four hours. He was perilously close to + forgetting his legal halter when he looked at her. + </p> + <p> + She was, he thought, about as sweet a picture of a woman as a man + need ever look upon, as she stood there with the red Navajo + blanket falling back from her dark hair, and with her wide, + honest eyes fixed upon Rock. She was blushing, as if she, too, + wished Rock elsewhere. She turned impulsively, set down the basin + she had been holding in her arm, and pulled the blanket up so + that it framed her face bewitchingly. + </p> + <p> + "Mose can bring up the mince-meat when he comes—since he + isn't here," she said hurriedly. "We weren't looking for you + back, but dinner will be ready in half an hour or so, I think." + She pulled open the door and went out into the storm. + </p> + <p> + Rock stared at the door, still quivering with the slam she had + given it. Then he looked at Ford, and afterward sat down weakly + upon a stool, and began dazedly pulling the icicles from his + mustache. + </p> + <p> + "Well—I'll—be—cremated!" he said in a whisper. + </p> + <p> + "And what's eating you, Rock?" Ford quizzed gayly. He had seen + something in the eyes of Josephine, when he met her, that had set + his blood jumping again. "Did Miss Melby—" + </p> + <p> + "Miss Melby my granny!" grunted Rock, in deep disgust. "That + there is your wife!" + </p> + <p> + Ford backed up against the wall and stared at him blankly. + Afterward he took a deep breath and went out as though the place + was on fire. + </p> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <a name='CHAPTER_XVII' id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII + </h2> + <h3> + What Ford Found at the Top + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + Ford Campbell was essentially a man of action; he did not waste + ten seconds in trying to deduce the whys and hows of the amazing + fact; he would have a whole lifetime in which to study them. He + started for the house, and the tracks he made in the loose, + shifting snow were considerably more than a yard apart. He even + forgot to stamp off the clinging snow and scour his boot-soles + upon the porch rug, and when he went striding in, he pushed the + door only half shut behind him, so that it swung in the wind and + let a small drift collect upon the parlor carpet, until Mrs. + Kate, feeling a draught, discovered it, and was shocked beyond + words at the sacrilege. + </p> + <p> + Ford went into the dining-room, crossed it in just three strides, + and ran his quarry to earth in the kitchen, where she was + distraitly setting out biscuit materials. He started toward her, + realized suddenly that the all-observing Buddy was at his very + heels, and delayed the reckoning while he led that terrible + man-child to his mother. + </p> + <p> + "I wish you'd close-herd this kid for about four hours," he told + Mrs. Kate bluntly, and left her looking scared and unconsciously + posing as protective motherhood, her arm around the outraged + Robert Chester Mason. Mrs. Kate was absolutely convinced that + Ford was at last really drunk and "on the rampage," and she had a + terrible vision of slain girlhood in the kitchen, so that she was + torn between mother-love and her desire to protect Phenie. But + Ford had looked so threateningly at her and Buddy that she could + not bring herself to attract his attention to the child or + herself. Phenie had plenty of spirit; she could run down to the + bunk-house—Mrs. Kate heard a door slam then, and shuddered. + Phenie, she judged swiftly, had locked herself into the pantry. + </p> + <p> + Phenie had. Or, to be exact, she had run in and slammed the door + shut in Ford's very face, and she was leaning her weight against + it. Mrs. Kate, pressing the struggling Buddy closer to her, heard + voices, a slight commotion, and then silence. She could bear no + more. She threw a shawl over her head, grasped Buddy firmly by + the arm, and fled in terror to the bunk-house. + </p> + <p> + The voices were a brief altercation between Ford and Josephine, + on the subject of opening the door, before it was removed + violently from its hinges. The commotion was when Josephine, + between tears and laughter, failed to hold the door against the + pressure of a strong man upon the other side, and, suddenly + giving over the attempt, was launched against a shelf and + dislodged three tin pans, which she barely saved from falling + with a great clatter to the floor. The silence—the silence + should explain itself; but since humanity is afflicted with + curiosity, and demands details, this is what occurred immediately + after Josephine had been kissed four times for her stubbornness, + and the pans had been restored to their proper place. + </p> + <p> + "Say! Are you my wife?" was the abrupt question which Ford asked, + and kissed her again while he waited for an answer. + </p> + <p> + "Why, yes—what makes you ask that? Of course I am; that + is—" Josephine twisted in his arms, so that she could look + into his face. She did not laugh at him, however. She was staring + at him with that keen, measuring look which had so incensed him, + when he had first met her. "I don't understand you at all, Ford," + she said at last, with a frown of puzzlement. "I never have, for + that matter. I'd think I was beginning to, and then you would say + or do something that would put me all at sea. What do you mean, + anyway?" + </p> + <p> + Ford told her what he meant; told her humbly, truthfully, with + never an excuse for himself. And it speaks well for the good + sense of Josephine that she heard him through with neither tears, + laughter, nor anger to mar his trust in her. + </p> + <p> + "Of course, I knew you had been drinking, that night," she said, + when his story was done, and his face was pressed lightly against + the white parting in her soft, brown hair. "I saw it, + after—after the ceremony. You—you were going to kiss + me, and I caught the odor of liquor, and I felt that you wouldn't + have done that if you had been yourself; it frightened me, a + little. But you talked perfectly straight, and I never knew you + weren't the man—Frank Cameron—until you came here. + Then I saw you couldn't be he. Chester had known you when Frank + was at home with his mother—I compared dates and was sure + of that—and he called you Ford Campbell. So then I saw what + a horrible blunder I'd made, and I was worried nearly to death! + But I couldn't see what I could do about it, and you + didn't—" + </p> + <p> + "Say, what about this Frank Cameron, anyway?" Ford demanded, with + true male jealousy. "What did you want to marry him for? You + couldn't have known him, or—" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you wouldn't understand—" Josephine gave a little, + impatient turn of the head, "unless you knew his mother. I did + know Frank, a long time ago, when I was twelve or thirteen, and + when I saw you, I thought he'd changed a lot. But it was his + mother; she was the dearest thing, but—queer. Sort of + childish, you know. And she just worshiped Frank, and used to + watch for the postman—oh, it was too pitiful! Sometimes I'd + write a letter myself, and pretend it was from him, and read it + to her; her eyes were bad, so it was easy—" + </p> + <p> + "Where was this Frank?" Ford interrupted. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I don't know! I never did know. Somewhere out West, we + thought. I used to make believe the letters came from Helena, or + Butte, because that was where she heard from him last. He was + always promising to come home—in the letters. That used to + make her so much better," she explained naïvely. "And sometimes + she'd be able to go out in the yard and fuss with her flowers, + after one like that. But he never came, and so she got the notion + that he was wild and a spendthrift. I suppose he was, or he'd + have written, or something. She had lots and lots of money and + property, you know. + </p> + <p> + "Well," Josephine took one of Ford's hand and patted it + reassuringly, "she got the notion that I must marry Frank, when + he came home. I tried to reason her out of that, and it only made + her worse. It grew on her, and I got so I couldn't bear to write + any more letters, and that made it worse still. She made a will + that I must marry Frank within a year after she died, or he + wouldn't get anything but a hundred dollars—and she was + worth thousands and thousands." Josephine snuggled closer. "She + was shrewd, too. I was not to get anything except a few trinkets. + And if we didn't marry, the money would all go to an old ladies' + home. + </p> + <p> + "So, when she died, I felt as if I ought to do something, you + see. It didn't seem right to let him lose the property, even if + he wouldn't write to his mother. So I had the lawyers try to find + him. I thought I could marry him, and let him get the property, + and then—well, I counted on getting a divorce." She looked + up quickly into Ford's face. + </p> + <p> + "And you know you did promise not to bother me—just to + desert me, you see, so I could get a divorce in a year. I thought + I'd come and live with Kate till the year was up, and then get a + divorce, and go back home to work. My father left me enough to + squeak along on, you see, if I lived in the country. Aunt + Ida—that's Frank's mother—paid me a salary for + staying with her and looking after her house and her rents and + things. And then, when you followed me out here, I was furious! + Just simply furious!" She bent her head and set her teeth gently + into the fleshy part of Ford's thumb, and Ford flinched. It + happened to be the sore one. + </p> + <p> + "Well, but that doesn't explain how you got your loop on me, + girlie—though I sure am glad that you did!" + </p> + <p> + "Why, don't you see, the time was almost up, just for all the + world like a play. 'Only one day more—and I must save the + pa-apers!' So the lawyer Aunt Ida had for years, heard that Frank + was—or had been—at Garbin. I rushed out here, and + heard that there was a Cameron (only they must have meant + Campbell) at Sunset. So I got a license, and the Reverend + Sanderson, and took the evening train down there. At the hotel I + asked for Mr. Cameron, and they sent you in. And you know the + rest, you—you old fraud! How you palmed yourself off on + me—" + </p> + <p> + "I never did! I must have just been in one of my obliging moods; + and a man would have to be mighty rude and unkind not to say yes + to a pretty girl when—" + </p> + <p> + That is as far as the discussion went, with anything like + continuity or coherence even. Later, however, Josephine did + protest somewhat muffledly: "But, Ford, I married you under the + name of Frank Cameron, so I don't believe—and + anyway—I'd like a real wedding—and a ring!" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Kate, having been solemnly assured by Rock that Ford was + sober and as nearly in his right mind as a man violently in love + can be (Rock made it plain, by implication at least, that he did + not consider that very near), ventured into the kitchen just + then. She still looked scared and uncertain, until, through the + half-open door of the pantry, she heard soft, whispery sounds + like kissing—when the kissing is a rapture rather than a + ceremony. Mrs. Kate had only been married eight years or so, and + she had a good memory. She backed from the kitchen on her toes, + and pulled the door shut with the caution of a thief. She did + more; she permitted dinner to be an hour late, rather than + disturb those two in the pantry. + </p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + <p> + The uphill climb was no climb at all, after that. For when a man + has found the one woman in the world, and with her that elusive + thing we call happiness, even the demon must perforce sheathe his + claws and retire, discomfited, to the pit whence he came. + </p> + <p> + There was a period of impatient waiting, because Josephine and + Mrs. Kate both stoutly maintained that the "real wedding" could + not take place until Chester came back. After that, there was a + Mrs. foreman at the Double Cross until spring. And after that, + there was a new ranch and a new house and a new home where + happiness came and dwelt unhindered. + </p> + <br /> + <h3> + THE END + </h3> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2> + STORIES OF RARE CHARM BY + <br /> + GENE STRATTON-PORTER + </h2> + <br /> + <h3> + May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's + list. + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE HARVESTER</u></b> Illustrated by W. L. Jacobs + </p> + <p> + "The Harvester," David Langston, is a man of the woods and + fields, who draws his living from the prodigal hand of Mother + Nature herself. If the book had nothing in it but the splendid + figure of this man, with his sure grip on life, his superb + optimism, and his almost miraculous knowledge of nature secrets, + it would be notable. But when the Girl comes to his "Medicine + Woods," and the Harvester's whole sound, healthy, large outdoor + being realizes that this is the highest point of life which has + come to him—there begins a romance, troubled and + interrupted, yet of the rarest idyllic quality. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>FRECKLES.</u></b> Decorations by E. Stetson Crawford + </p> + <p> + Freckles is a nameless waif when the tale opens, but the way in + which he takes hold of life; the nature friendships he forms in + the great Limberlost Swamp; the manner in which everyone who + meets him succumbs to the charm of his engaging personality; and + his love-story with "The Angel" are full of real sentiment. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>A GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST.</u></b> Illustrated by Wladyslaw + T. Brenda. + </p> + <p> + The story of a girl of the Michigan woods; a buoyant, lovable + type of the self-reliant American. Her philosophy is one of love + and kindness towards all things; her hope is never dimmed. And by + the sheer beauty of her soul, and the purity of her vision, she + wins from barren and unpromising surroundings those rewards of + high courage. + </p> + <p> + It is an inspiring story of a life worth while and the rich + beauties of the out-of-doors are strewn through all its pages. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>AT THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW.</u></b> Illustrations in colors + by Oliver Kemp. Design and decorations by Ralph Fletcher Seymour. + </p> + <p> + The scene of this charming, idyllic love story is laid in Central + Indiana. The story is one of devoted friendship, and tender + self-sacrificing love; the friendship that gives freely without + return, and the love that seeks first the happiness of the + object. The novel is brimful of the most beautiful word painting + of nature, and its pathos and tender sentiment will endear it to + all. + </p> + <br /> + <h3> + <i>Ask for compete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted + Fiction</i> + <br /> + Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York + </h3> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2> + JOHN FOX, JR'S. + <br /> + STORIES OF THE KENTUCKY MOUNTAINS + </h2> + <br /> + <h3> + May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grossett and Dunlap's + list. + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE</u></b>. Illustrated by F. + C. Yohn. + </p> + <p> + The "lonesome pine" from which the story takes its name was a + tall tree that stood in solitary splendor on a mountain top. The + fame of the pine lured a young engineer through Kentucky to catch + the trail, and when he finally climbed to its shelter he found + not only the pine but the <i>foot-prints of a girl</i>. And the + girl proved to be lovely, piquant, and the trail of these girlish + foot-prints led the young engineer a madder chase than "the trail + of the lonesome pine." + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE LITTLE SHEPHERD OF KINGDOM COME</u></b> Illustrated by + F. C. Yohn. + </p> + <p> + This is a story of Kentucky, in a settlement known as "Kingdom + Come." It is a life rude, semi-barbarous; but natural and honest, + from which often springs the flower of civilization. + </p> + <p> + "Chad." the "little shepherd" did not know who he was nor whence + he came—he had just wandered from door to door since early + childhood, seeking shelter with kindly mountaineers who gladly + fathered and mothered this waif about whom there was such a + mystery—a charming waif, by the way, who could play the + banjo better that anyone else in the mountains. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>A KNIGHT OF THE CUMBERLAND.</u></b> Illustrated by F. C. + Yohn. + </p> + <p> + The scenes are laid along the waters of the Cumberland, the lair + of moonshiner and feudsman. The knight is a moonshiner's son, and + the heroine a beautiful girl perversely christened "The Blight." + Two impetuous young Southerners' fall under the spell of "The + Blight's" charms and she learns what a large part jealousy and + pistols have in the love making of the mountaineers. + </p> + <p> + Included in this volume is "Hell fer-Sartain" and other stories, + some of Mr. Fox's most entertaining Cumberland valley narratives. + </p> + <br /> + <h3> + <i>Ask for complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted + Fiction</i> + <br /> + Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York + </h3> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2> + MYRTLE REED'S NOVELS + </h2> + <br /> + <h3> + May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & + Dunlap's list + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>LAVENDER AND OLD LACE.</u></b> + </p> + <p> + A charming story of a quaint corner of New England where bygone + romance finds a modern parallel. The story centers round the + coming of love to the young people on the staff of a + newspaper—and it is one of the prettiest, sweetest and + quaintest of old fashioned love stories, * * * a rare book, + exquisite in spirit and conception, full of delicate fancy, of + tenderness, of delightful humor and spontaniety. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>A SPINNER IN THE SUN.</u></b> + </p> + <p> + Miss Myrtle Reed may always be depended upon to write a story in + which poetry, charm, tenderness and humor are combined into a + clever and entertaining book. Her characters are delightful and + she always displays a quaint humor of expression and a quiet + feeling of pathos which give a touch of active realism to all her + writings. In "A Spinner in the Sun" she tells an old-fashioned + love story, of a veiled lady who lives in solitude and whose + features her neighbors have never seen. There is a mystery at the + heart of the book that throws over it the glamour of romance. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE MASTER'S VIOLIN,</u></b> + </p> + <p> + A love story in a musical atmosphere. A picturesque, old German + virtuoso is the reverent possessor of a genuine "Cremona." He + consents to take for his pupil a handsome youth who proves to + have an aptitude for technique, but not the soul of an artist. + The youth, has led the happy, careless life of a modern, + well-to-do young American and he cannot, with his meagre past, + express the love, the passion and the tragedies of life and all + its happy phases as can the master who has lived life in all its + fulness. But a girl comes into his life—a beautiful bit of + human driftwood that his aunt had taken into her heart and home, + and through his passionate love for her, he learns the lessons + that life has to give—and his soul awakes. + </p> + <p> + Founded on a fact that all artists realize. + </p> + <br /> + <h3> + <i>Ask for a complete free list of G. & D. Popular + Copyrighted Fiction</i> + <br /> + Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York + </h3> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2> + GROSSET & DUNLAP'S + <br /> + DRAMATIZED NOVELS + </h2> + <br /> + <h3> + THE KIND THAT ARE MAKING THEATRICAL HISTORY + </h3> + <br /> + <h3> + May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & + Dunlap's list + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>WITHIN THE LAW.</u></b> By Bayard Veiller & Martin + Dana. Illustrated by Wm. Charles Cooke. + </p> + <p> + This is a novelization of the immensely successful play which ran + for two years in New York and Chicago. + </p> + <p> + The plot of this powerful novel is of a young woman's revenge + directed against her employer who allowed her to be sent to + prison for three years on a charge of theft, of which she was + innocent. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>WHAT HAPPENED TO MARY.</u></b> By Robert Carlton Brown. + Illustrated with scenes from the play. + </p> + <p> + This is a narrative of a young and innocent country girl who is + suddenly thrown into the very heart of New York, "the land of her + dreams," where she is exposed to all sorts of temptations and + dangers. + </p> + <p> + The story of Mary is being told in moving pictures and played in + theatres all over the world. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE RETURN OF PETER GRIMM.</u></b> By David Belasco. + Illustrated by John Rae. + </p> + <p> + This is a novelization of the popular play in which David War, + field, as Old Peter Grimm, scored such a remarkable success. + </p> + <p> + The story is spectacular and extremely pathetic but withal, + powerful, both as a book and as a play. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE GARDEN OF ALLAH.</u></b> By Robert Hichens. + </p> + <p> + This novel is an intense, glowing epic of the great desert, + sunlit barbaric, with its marvelous atmosphere of vastness and + loneliness. + </p> + <p> + It is a book of rapturous beauty, vivid in word painting. The + play has been staged with magnificent cast and gorgeous + properties. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>BEN HUR.</u></b> A Tale of the Christ. By General Lew + Wallace. + </p> + <p> + The whole world has placed this famous Religious—Historical + Romance on a height of pre-eminence which no other novel of its + time has reached. The clashing of rivalry and the deepest human + passions, the perfect reproduction of brilliant Roman life, and + the tense, fierce atmosphere of the arena have kept their deep + fascination. A tremendous dramatic success. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>BOUGHT AND PAID FOR.</u></b> By George Broadhurst and + Arthur Hornblow. Illustrated with scenes from the play. + </p> + <p> + A stupendous arraignment of modern marriage which has created an + interest on the stage that is almost unparalleled. The scenes are + laid in New York, and deal with conditions among both the rich + and poor. + </p> + <p> + The interest of the story turns on the day-by-day developments + which show the young wife the price she has paid. + </p> + <br /> + <h3> + <i>Ask for compete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted + Fiction</i> + <br /> + Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York + </h3> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2> + GROSSET & DUNLAP'S + <br /> + DRAMATIZED NOVELS + </h2> + <br /> + <h3> + Original, sincere and courageous—often amusing—the + kind that are making theatrical history. + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>MADAME X.</u></b> By Alexandra Bisson and J. W. McConaughy. + Illustrated with scenes from the play. + </p> + <p> + A beautiful Parisienne became an outcast because her husband + would not forgive an error of her youth. Her love for her son is + the great final influence in her career. A tremendous dramatic + success. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE GARDEN OF ALLAH.</u></b> By Robert Hichens. + </p> + <p> + An unconventional English woman and an inscrutable stranger meet + and love in an oasis of the Sahara. Staged this season with + magnificent cast and gorgeous properties. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE PRINCE OF INDIA.</u></b> By Lew. Wallace. + </p> + <p> + A glowing romance of the Byzantine Empire, presenting with + extraordinary power the siege of Constantinople, and lighting its + tragedy with the warm underglow of an Oriental romance. As a play + it is a great dramatic spectacle. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY.</u></b> By Grace Miller White. + Illust. by Howard Chandler Christy. + </p> + <p> + A girl from the dregs of society, loves a young Cornell + University student, and it works startling changes in her life + and the lives of those about her. The dramatic version is one of + the sensations of the season. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>YOUNG WALLINGFORD.</u></b> By George Randolph Chester. + Illust. by F. R. Gruger and Henry Raleigh. + </p> + <p> + A series of clever swindles conducted by a cheerful young man, + each of which is just on the safe side of a State's prison + offence. As "Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford," it is probably the most + amusing expose of money manipulation ever seen on the stage. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE INTRUSION OF JIMMY.</u></b> By P.G. Wodehouse. + Illustrations by Will Grefe. + </p> + <p> + Social and club life in London and New York, an amateur burglary + adventure and a love story. Dramatized under the title of "A + Gentleman of Leisure," it furnishes hours of laughter to the + play-goers. + </p> + <br /> + <h3> + Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York + </h3> + <hr style='width: 65%;' /> + <h2> + B.M. BOWER'S NOVELS + <br /> + Thrilling Western Romances + </h2> + <br /> + <h3> + Large 12 mos. Handsomely bound in cloth. Illustrated + </h3> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>CHIP, OF THE FLYING U</u></b> + </p> + <p> + A breezy wholesome tale, wherein the love affairs of Chip and + Della Whitman are charmingly and humorously told. Chip's jealousy + of Dr. Cecil Grantham, who turns out to be a big, blue eyed young + woman is very amusing. A clever realistic story of the American + Cow-puncher. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE HAPPY FAMILY</u></b> + </p> + <p> + A lively and amusing story, dealing with the adventures of + eighteen jovial, big hearted Montana cowboys. Foremost amongst + them, we find Ananias Green, known as Andy, whose imaginative + powers cause many lively and exciting adventures. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>HER PRAIRIE KNIGHT</u></b> + </p> + <p> + A realistic story of the plains, describing a gay party of + Easterners who exchange a cottage at Newport for the rough + homeliness of a Montana ranch-house. The merry-hearted cowboys, + the fascinating Beatrice, and the effusive Sir Redmond, become + living, breathing personalities. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE RANGE DWELLERS</u></b> + </p> + <p> + Here are everyday, genuine cowboys, just as they really exist. + Spirited action, a range feud between two families, and a Romeo + and Juliet courtship make this a bright, jolly, entertaining + story, without a dull page. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE LURE OF DIM TRAILS</u></b> + </p> + <p> + A vivid portrayal of the experience of an Eastern author, among + the cowboys of the West, in search of "local color" for a new + novel. "Bud" Thurston learns many a lesson while following "the + lure of the dim trails" but the hardest, and probably the most + welcome, is that of love. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE LONESOME TRAIL</u></b> + </p> + <p> + "Weary" Davidson leaves the ranch for Portland, where + conventional city life palls on him. A little branch of sage + brush, pungent with the atmosphere of the prairie, and the + recollection of a pair of large brown eyes soon compel his + return. A wholesome love story. + </p> + <br /> + <p> + <b><u>THE LONG SHADOW</u></b> + </p> + <p> + A vigorous Western story, sparkling with the free, outdoor, life + of a mountain ranch. Its scenes shift rapidly and its actors play + the game of life fearlessly and like men. It is a fine love story + from start to finish. + </p> + <br /> + <h3> + <i>Ask for a complete free list of G. & D. Popular + Copyrighted Fiction.</i> + <br /> + Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York + </h3> +<p> </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14456 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/14456-h/images/front_sm.jpg b/14456-h/images/front_sm.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..75863f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/14456-h/images/front_sm.jpg diff --git a/14456-h/images/pg074_sm.jpg b/14456-h/images/pg074_sm.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f8322a --- /dev/null +++ b/14456-h/images/pg074_sm.jpg diff --git a/14456-h/images/pg209_sm.jpg b/14456-h/images/pg209_sm.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f1d72fc --- /dev/null +++ b/14456-h/images/pg209_sm.jpg diff --git a/14456-h/images/pg254_sm.jpg b/14456-h/images/pg254_sm.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bff8bdd --- /dev/null +++ b/14456-h/images/pg254_sm.jpg |
