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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/23803-h.zip b/23803-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b72fb84 --- /dev/null +++ b/23803-h.zip diff --git a/23803-h/23803-h.htm b/23803-h/23803-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b48d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/23803-h/23803-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1349 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + A Border Ruffian, by Thomas A. Janvier + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Border Ruffian, by Thomas A. Janvier + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Border Ruffian + 1891 + +Author: Thomas A. Janvier + +Release Date: December 10, 2007 [EBook #23803] +Last Updated: January 5, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BORDER RUFFIAN *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + A BORDER RUFFIAN. + </h1> + <h2> + By Thomas A. Janvier <br /><br /> Copyright, 1891, by Harper & Brothers + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>I.—WEST.</b> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> I. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> IV. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> <b>II.—EAST</b>. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> I. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> IV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> VI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> VII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> VIII. </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—WEST. + </h2> + <p> + <i>The Incident of the Boston Young Lady, the Commercial Traveller, and + the Desperado.</i> + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + Throughout the whole of the habitable globe there nowhere is to be found + more delightful or more invigorating air than that which every traveller + through New Mexico, from Albuquerque, past Las Vegas, to the Raton + Mountains, is free to breathe. + </p> + <p> + Miss Grace Winthrop, of Boston, and also Miss Winthrop, her paternal aunt, + and also Mr. Hutchinson Port, of Philadelphia, her maternal uncle—all + of whom were but forty hours removed from the Alkali Desert west of the + Continental Divide—felt in the very depths of their several beings + how entirely good this air was; and, as their several natures moved them, + they betrayed their lively appreciation of its excellence. + </p> + <p> + Miss Grace Winthrop, having contrived for herself, with the intelligent + assistance of the porter, a most comfortable nest of pillows, suffered her + novel to remain forgotten upon her knees; and, as she leaned her pretty + blond head against the wood-work separating her section from that + adjoining it, looked out upon the brown mountains, and accorded to those + largely-grand objects of nature the rare privilege of being reflected upon + the retina of her very blue eyes. Yet the mountains could not flatter + themselves with the conviction that contemplation of them wholly filled + her mind, for occasionally she smiled a most delightful smile. + </p> + <p> + Miss Winthrop, retired from the gaze of the world in the cell that the + Pullman-car people euphemistically style a state-room, ignored all such + casual excrescences upon the face of nature as mountains, and seriously + read her morning chapter of Emerson. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hutchinson Port, lulled by the easy, jog-trot motion of the car, and + soothed by the air from Paradise that, for his virtues, he was being + permitted to breathe, lapsed into calm and grateful slumber: and dreamed + (nor could a worthy Philadelphian desire a better dream) of a certain + meeting of the Saturday Night Club, in December, 1875, whereat the + terrapin was remarkable, even for Philadelphia. + </p> + <p> + Miss Winthrop, absorbed in her Emersonian devotions, and Mr. Hutchinson + Port, absorbed in slumber, did not perceive that the slow motion of the + train gradually became slower, and finally entirely ceased; and even + Grace, lost in her pleasant daydream, scarcely observed that the unsightly + buildings of a little way-station had thrust themselves into the + foreground of her landscape—for this foreground she ignored, keeping + her blue eyes serenely fixed upon the great brown mountains beyond. Nor + was she more than dimly conscious of the appearance upon the station + platform of a tall, broad-shouldered young man clad in corduroy, wearing a + wide-brimmed felt-hat, and girded about with a belt, stuck full of + cartridges, from which depended a very big revolver. In a vague way she + was conscious of this young man's existence, and of an undefined feeling + that, as the type of a dangerous and interesting class, his appearance was + opportune in a part of the country which she had been led to believe was + inhabited almost exclusively by cut-throats and outlaws. + </p> + <p> + In a minute or two the train went on again, and as it started Grace was + aroused and shocked by the appearance at the forward end of the car of the + ruffianly character whom she had but half seen from the car window. For a + moment she believed that the train-robbery, that she had been confidently + expecting over since her departure from San Francisco, was about to take + place. Her heart beat hard, and her breath came quickly. But before these + symptoms had time to become alarming the desperado had passed harmlessly + to the rear end of the car, and after him had come the porter carrying his + valise and a Winchester rifle. + </p> + <p> + "Goin' to Otero? Yes, sah! All right, sah! Put yo' heah; nice seat on + shady side, sah! Thank yo', sah! Have a pillow, sah?" And, hearing this + address on the part of the porter, Grace knew that the desperado, for the + moment at least, was posing in the character of a law-abiding citizen, and + was availing himself of his rights as such to ride in a Pullman-car. Being + thus relieved of cause for immediate alarm, her breast presently began to + swell with a fine indignation at the impudence of this abandoned person in + thus thrusting himself into a place reserved, if not absolutely for + aristocratic, certainly, at least, for respectable society. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + The slight stir incident to the entrance of this offensive stranger + aroused Mr. Hutchinson Port from his agreeable slumber. He yawned + slightly, cast a disparaging glance upon the mountains, and then, drawing + an especially good cigar from his case, betook himself to the + smoking-room. Grace did not realize his intentions until they had become + accomplished deeds. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hutchinson Port—although a member (on the retired list) of the + First City Troop, and therefore, presumably, inflamed with the martial + spirit characteristic of that ancient and honorable organization—was + not, perhaps, just the man that a person knowing in such matters would + have selected to pit against a New Mexico desperado in a hand-to-hand + conflict. But Grace felt her heart sink a little as she saw the round and + rather pursy form of her natural protector walk away into the depths of a + mirror at the forward end of the car, and so vanish. And in this same + mirror she beheld, seated only two sections behind her, the scowling + ruffian! + </p> + <p> + The situation, as Grace regarded it, was an alarming one; and it was the + more trying to her nerves because it did not, reasonably, admit of action. + She was aware that the very presence of a ruffian in a Pullman car was in + the nature of a promise, on his part, that for the time being it was not + his intention either to murder or to rob—unless, indeed, he were one + of a robber band, and was awaiting the appearance of his confederates. For + her either to call her uncle, or break in upon the Emersonian seclusion of + her aunt, she felt would not be well received, under the circumstances, by + either of these her relatives. As to the porter, that sable functionary + had vanished; there was no electric bell, and the car, one of a Pullman + train, had no conductor. + </p> + <p> + For protection, therefore, should need for protection arise, Grace + perceived that she must depend upon the one other passenger. (They had + lingered so long amid the delights of a Santa Barbara spring that they + were journeying in that pleasant time of year when spring travel eastward + has ended, and summer travel has not yet begun.) This one other passenger + was a little man of dapper build and dapper dress, whose curiously-shaped + articles of luggage betokened his connection with commercial affairs. + Grace was forced to own, as she now for the first time regarded him + attentively, that he did not seem to be wrought of the stern stuff out of + which, as a rule, champions are made. + </p> + <p> + As she thus looked upon him, she was startled to find that he was looking + very fixedly upon her; and she was further startled, as their eyes met, by + the appearance upon his face of a friendly smile. She would have been + vastly surprised had she been aware that this little person labored under + the belief that he had already effected a favorable lodgement in her good + graces; and she would have been both surprised and horrified could she + have known that each of her own strictly confidential smiles during her + day-dream had been accepted by the commercial traveller as intended for + himself; and had been met, as they successively appeared, by his own + smiles in answer. Yet this was the actual state of the case; and the + little man's soul was uplifted by the thought that here was a fresh proof, + and a very pleasant one, of how irresistible were his personal appearance + and his personal charm of manner when arrayed in battery against any one + of the gentler sex. + </p> + <p> + Viewed from the stand-point of his experience, this inquiring look and its + attendant eye-encounter indicated that the moment for more pronounced + action now had arrived. With the assured air of one who possibly may be + repulsed, but who certainly cannot be defeated, he arose from his seat, + crossed to Miss Grace Winthrop's section, and, with a pleasant remark to + the effect that in travelling it always was nice to be sociable, edged + himself into the seat beside her. + </p> + <p> + For a moment, the insolent audacity of this move was so overwhelming that + Grace was quite incapable of coherent expression. The lovely pink of her + cheeks became a deep crimson that spread to the very tips of her ears; her + blue eyes flashed, and her hands clinched instinctively. + </p> + <p> + "Looked like a perfect little blue-eyed devil," the drummer subsequently + declared, in narrating a highly-embellished version of his adventure, "but + she didn't mean it, you know—at least, only for a minute or two. I + soon combed her down nicely." What he actually said, was: + </p> + <p> + "Been travellin' far, miss?" + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean by this? Go away!" Grace managed to say; but she could + not speak very clearly, for she was choking. + </p> + <p> + "Come, don't get mad, miss! I know you're not mad, really, anyway. When a + woman's as handsome as you are, she can't be bad-natured. Come from + California, I suppose? Nice country over there, ain't it?" + </p> + <p> + What with surprise and rage and fright, Grace was very nearly frantic For + the moment she was powerless—her uncle in the smoking-room, her aunt + locked up with her Emersonian meditations, the porter in the lobby; the + only available person upon whom she could call for aid a horrible drunken + murderer and robber, steeped in all the darkest crimes of the frontier! + She felt herself growing faint, but she struggled to her feet. The drummer + laid his hand on her arm: "Don't go away, my dear! Just stay and have a + little talk. You see—" + </p> + <p> + But the sentence was not finished. Grace felt her head buzzing, and then, + from somewhere—a long way off, it seemed—she heard a voice + saying: "I beg your pardon; this thing seems to be annoying you. Permit me + to remove it." + </p> + <p> + Her head cleared a little, for there was a promise of help—not only + in the words but in the tone. And then she saw the desperado calmly settle + a big hand into the collar of the little man's coat, lift him out of the + seat and well up into the air, and so carry him at arm's-length—kicking + and struggling, and looking for all the world like a jumping-jack—out + through the passage-way at the forward end of the car. + </p> + <p> + As they disappeared, she precipitately sought refuge in the state-room—where + Miss Winthrop was aroused from her serious contemplation of All-pervading + Thought by a sudden and most energetic demand upon her protection and her + salts-bottle. And, before she could be made in the least degree to + comprehend why Grace should require either the one or the other, Grace had + still further complicated and mystified the matter by fainting dead away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + In the course of two or three hours—aided by Miss Winthrop's salts + and Mr. Hutchinson Port's travelling-flask of peculiar old Otard, which + together contributed calmness and strength, and being refreshed by a + little slumber—Grace was able to explain in an intelligible manner + the adventure that had befallen her. + </p> + <p> + "And no matter what dreadful crimes that horrible man may have committed," + she said, in conclusion. "I shall be most grateful to him to my dying day. + And I want you, Uncle Hutchinson, no matter how unpleasant it may be to + you to do so, to thank him from me for what he did. And, oh! it was so + funny to see that detestable little impudent man kicking about that way in + the air!" Which remembrance, at the same moment, of both the terrifying + and the ludicrous side of her recent experience, not unnaturally sent + Grace off into hysterics. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hutchinson Port was quite ready to carry the message of thanks to the + desperado, and to add to it some very hearty thanks of his own. But his + good intentions could not be realized; the desperado no longer was on the + train. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sah; I knows the gen'l'm yo' means, sah," responded the porter, in + answer to inquiries. "Pow'fl big gen'l'm yo' means, as got on this mo'nin' + to Vegas. Thet's th' one, sah! He'd some kind er trib-bilation with th' + little gen'l'm'—th' drummer gen'lm' as got on las' night to Lamy—an' + he brought him out, holdin' him like he was a kitten, to the lobby, an' + jus' set him down an' boxed his ears till he hollered! Yes, sah, thet's + th' one. He got off to Otero. An' th' little man he got off to Trinidad, + an' said he was agoin' up by the Denver to Pueblo. Yes, sah; they's both + got off, sah! Thank yo', sah! Get yo' a pillow, sah?" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. + </h2> + <p> + And so it came to pass that Miss Grace Winthrop returned to Boston + cherishing towards desperadoes in general, and towards the desperadoes of + New Mexico in particular, sentiments as generous as they were unusual. + </p> + <p> + Miss Winthrop the elder, whose soul was accustomed to a purer ether than + that in which desperadoes ordinarily are found, presently forgot the + vicarious excitements of her journey eastward in the calm joys of the + Summer School of Philosophy. + </p> + <p> + And Mr. Hutchinson Port longed to be able to forget the whole State of + California: when he realized, as he did with a most bitter keenness, that + the superficial charms of that greatly overrated region had detained him + upon the Western coast until the terrapin season was absolutely at an end! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—EAST. + </h2> + <p> + <i>The Incident of the Mysterious Stranger, and the Philadelphia + Dinner-party.</i> + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith had achieved righteousness. That is to say, being a + Philadelphian, she was celebrated for giving successful dinners. The + person who achieves celebrity of this sort in Philadelphia is not unlike + the seraph who attains to eminence in the heavenly choir. + </p> + <p> + It was conceded that Mr. Rittenhouse Smith (he was one of <i>the</i> + Smiths, of course—not the others. His mother was a Biddle) was an + important factor in his wife's success; for, as became a well-brought-up + Philadelphian, he attended personally to the marketing. But had these + Smith dinners been commendable only because the food was good, they would + not have been at all remarkable. In Philadelphia, so far as the eating is + concerned, a bad dinner seems to be an impossibility. + </p> + <p> + In truth, Mrs. Smith's dinners were famous because they never were marred + by even the slightest suggestion of a <i>contretemps</i>; because they + glided along smoothly, and at precisely the proper rate of speed, from + oysters to coffee; and, because—and to accomplish this in + Philadelphia was to accomplish something very little short of a miracle—they + never were stupid. + </p> + <p> + Therefore it was that Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith stood among the elect, with a + comfortable sense of security in her election; and she smelled with a + satisfied nose the smell of the social incense burned before her shrine; + and she heard with well-pleased ears the social hosannas which constantly + were sung in her praise. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + Occupying a position at once so ornate and so enviable, the feelings of + Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith may be imagined upon finding herself confronted. + with the tragical probability that one of her most important + dinner-parties would be a failure. + </p> + <p> + In preparing for this dinner-party she had thought deeply in the still + watches of the night, and she had pondered upon it in the silence of + noonday. For Mrs. Smith, above all others, knew that only by such soulful + vigilance can a perfect dinner be secured. It was her desire that it + should be especially bright intellectually, for it was to be given to Miss + Winthrop, of Boston, and was to include Miss Winthrop's niece, Miss Grace + Winthrop, also of Boston. These ladies, as she knew, belonged to clubs + which, while modestly named after the days of the week, were devoted + wholly to the diffusion of the most exalted mental culture. Moreover, they + both were on terms of intimacy with Mr. Henry James. On the other hand, it + was her desire that the dinner should be perfect materially, because among + her guests was to be Miss Grace Winthrop's uncle, Mr. Hutchinson Port. It + was sorely against Mrs. Smith's will that Mr. Hutchinson Port was included + in her list, for he had the reputation of being the most objectionable + diner-out in Philadelphia. His conversation at table invariably consisted + solely of disparaging remarks, delivered in an undertone to his immediate + neighbors, upon the character and quality of the food. However, in the + present case, as Miss Grace Winthrop's uncle, he was inevitable. + </p> + <p> + And, such was Mrs. Smith's genius, she believed that she had mastered the + situation. Her list—excepting, of course, Mr. Hutchinson Port, and + he could not reasonably be objected to by his own relatives—was all + that she could desire. The nine other guests, she was satisfied, were such + as could be exhibited creditably even to ladies belonging to Boston clubs + and personally acquainted with Mr. Henry James. As to the dinner itself, + Mr. Rittenhouse Smith, who never spoke inconsiderately in matters of this + grave nature, had agreed with her that—barring, of course, some + Providentially interposed calamity such as scorching the ducks or getting + too much salt in the terrapin—even Mr. Hutchinson Port would be + unable to find a flaw in it. + </p> + <p> + And now, at the last moment, at twelve o'clock of the day on which the + dinner was to take place, came a note from the man upon whom she had most + strongly counted to make the affair a success—the brightest man on + her list, and the one who was to take out Miss Grace Winthrop—saying + that he was laid up with a frightful cold and face-ache! He tried to make + a joke of it, poor fellow, by adding a sketch—he sketched quite + nicely—of his swelled cheek swathed in a handkerchief. But Mrs. + Rittenhouse Smith was in no humor for joking; she was furious! + </p> + <p> + When a woman misses fire in this way, it usually is possible to fill her + place with a convenient young sister, or even with an elderly aunt. But + when a man is wanted, and, especially, as in the case in point, a clever + man, the matter very readily may become desperate. Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith + certainly was dismayed, yet was she not utterly cast down. She had faith + in her own quick wits, which had rescued her in times past from other + social calamities, though never from one darker than this, of having, at a + single fatal blow, her best man cut off from one of her most important + dinner-parties, and the dinner-party itself reduced to thirteen; an + ominous and dismal number that surely would be discovered, and that would + cast over her feast a superstitious gloom. + </p> + <p> + In this trying emergency Mrs. Smith acted with characteristic decision and + wisdom. She perceived that to send invitations simultaneously to all the + possible men of her acquaintance might involve her in still more awkward + complications, while to send invitations successively might result in a + fatal loss of time. Obviously, the only practicable course was a series of + prompt, personal appeals from one to another, until assurance was received + that the vacant place certainly would be filled. Therefore she despatched + a note to Mr. Rittenhouse Smith, at his down-town office, acquainting him + with the impending catastrophe and bidding him drop all other concerns + until he had averted it by securing a satisfactory man. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + Now, under ordinary circumstances, Mr. Rittenhouse Smith would have obeyed + his wife's orders cheerfully and promptly; but on this particular day + there was a flurry in the stock-market (Mr. Smith was a stock-broker), and + every minute that he was away from his office exposed him to serious + business danger. At what he considered to be the safest moments, he made + no less than five sallies after as many different men; and three of these + had engagements for the evening, and two of them were out of town. What + with the condition of the stock-market and the gloomy outlook for the + dinner-party, Mr. Smith, albeit he was ordinarily a calm, sedate man, was + almost distraught. + </p> + <p> + Three o'clock brought a prospect of relief, but after a day of such active + dealing his books could not be settled hurriedly. In point of fact, when + at last he was able to leave his Third Street office the State House clock + was striking five; and the dinner, in accordance with Philadelphia custom, + was to be at seven! He knew that his wife had discharged into his hands + the matter of procuring the needed man; and he knew that this line of + action on her part had been both right and wise; but he groaned in spirit, + as he thought how dreadful a responsibility was his! + </p> + <p> + Mr. Smith was a methodical man, and in the calmness partly bred of his + naturally orderly habits, and partly bred of his despair, he seated + himself at his desk, in company with a comforting cigar, to think of any + possible men whom he might beat up at their homes as he went westward. + While he thus meditated—and while blackness settled down upon his + soul, for of none could he think available for his purpose—he looked + idly at the list of hotel arrivals in the morning paper that chanced to + lie beside him; and suddenly he arose with a great shout of joy, for in + this list he beheld the name, "Van R. Livingstone." + </p> + <p> + Here, indeed, was good-fortune at last! Van Rensselaer Livingstone was in + college with him, in his own class, at Harvard. They had been capital + friends while their college life lasted; and although Livingstone had + spent the last ten or twelve years in Europe, they had not wholly lost + track of each other. Clever, handsome, well-born, and well-bred, he was + everything that the present occasion required. He seemed to have been sent + from heaven direct. In twenty minutes Mr. Smith was asking for him at his + hotel. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Livingstone? Mr. Livingstone is out." + </p> + <p> + "Did he leave any word as to when he would come in?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, sir. He said that a gentleman might call, and to say that he + certainly would be back at six, and would not go out again to-night." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Smith looked at his watch—it was 5:30. Had there been any + uncertainty as to Livingstone's return, he would have waited. But it was + clear that he was coming back to dine at his hotel, and to spend the + evening there. A note, therefore, could be trusted to do the business, and + by writing, instead of waiting, Mr. Smith would save half an hour; + moreover, if he waited, he would not have time to make the mayonnaise. + </p> + <p> + Probably it is only in Philadelphia that it ever occurs nowadays to the + master of a feast to dress the salad; which, doubtless, is the reason why + a better salad is served at certain dinner-tables in Philadelphia than at + any other dinner-tables in the whole world. + </p> + <p> + The thought of the mayonnaise settled the matter. Mr. Smith hastily wrote + an account of the trying situation, and concluded his note with a solemn + demand upon "dear old Van" to fill the vacant place, "in the holy name of + the class of '68, and for love of your old classmate, R. Smith." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. + </h2> + <p> + Presently the person thus adjured returned to his hotel, and with a + somewhat puzzled expression read the adjuration. "R. Smith," he murmured, + reflectively. "I think I do remember a Dicky Smith, from Philadelphia, at + Columbia. But he wasn't in my class, and my class wasn't '68, but '76, and + I don't remember ever saying a dozen words to him. He's got a good deal of + cheek, whoever he is—and he, and his dinner, and his missing man may + all go to the devil together! His invitation is absurd!" And with this + ultimatum Mr. Livingstone laid the letter and envelope neatly together, + preparatory to tearing them into fragments. + </p> + <p> + But before this purpose was accomplished, another view of the situation + came into his mind. "I don't see why I shouldn't go," he thought. "I've + been muddling all day with this wretched wool man—which is a bore, + even if I have made a pretty good bargain with him for next season's clip; + and Ned hasn't come to time, which is another bore, for now I'll have to + eat my dinner alone. And this Dicky Smith writes like a gentleman, even if + he is cheeky; and he certainly seems to be in a peck of troubles about his + missing man, and his thirteen at table, and the rest of it. Why, it's a + regular adventure! And to think of having an adventure in Philadelphia, of + all places in the world! By Jove, I'll go!" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + "How very, very good of you, Mr. Livingstone, to come to our rescue!" It + was Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith who spoke, and she spoke in a guarded tone; for + Livingstone was among the last to arrive, and she had no desire to publish + among her guests the catastrophe that so nearly had overtaken her. + </p> + <p> + "And I know," she continued: "that you will understand how sorry I am that + this first visit of Mr. Smith's old friend to our house should be under + such peculiar circumstances. But you will have your reward, for you are to + take out the very prettiest and the very brightest girl here. Come and be + rewarded!" And Mrs. Smith slipped her hand upon her benefactor's arm, and + piloted him across the room. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Winthrop, permit me to present Mr. Livingstone. Miss Winthrop is + half Boston and half European, Mr. Livingstone; and as you, after these + ten years abroad, must be wholly European, you can cheer each other as + fellow foreigners in the midst of Philadelphia barbarism"—with which + pleasant speech the hostess turned quickly to receive the last arrival (a + man, of course; only a man would dare to be even near to late at one of + Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith's dinners), and then, standing beside the doorway, + with Mr. Hutchinson Port, marshalled her company in to dinner. It was a + comfort to her to know that for once in his fault-finding life Mr. Port + would be compelled, since he was to be seated beside his hostess, to eat + his food without abusing it. + </p> + <p> + Just at this time two things struck Mrs. Smith as odd. One was that as she + presented her handsome guest to Miss Grace Winthrop she certainly had felt + him start, while his arm had trembled curiously beneath her hand. The + other was that as Mr. Rittenhouse Smith left the drawing-room, passing + close beside her with Miss Winthrop upon his arm, he made a face at her. + The first of these phenomena struck her as curious. The second struck her + as ominous. Had it been possible she would have investigated the cause of + Mr. Smith's facial demonstration. But it was not possible. She only could + breathe a silent prayer that all would go well—and the while sniff + anxiously to discover if perchance there were a smell of scorching duck. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Smith would have been still more mystified could she have been + cognizant at this juncture of her husband's and of Miss Grace Winthrop's + and of Mr. Livingstone's thoughts. + </p> + <p> + The first of these was thinking: "It isn't Van Rensselaer Livingstone, any + more than I am; though he certainly looks like him. And I'm sure that he + knows that he don't know me. And I think that we've managed to get into a + blank idiotic mess!" + </p> + <p> + And the second of these was thinking: "If he's been in Europe for the past + ten years, there's not one chance in fifty that I ever have laid eyes on + him. But I know I have!" + </p> + <p> + And the third of these was thinking: "There isn't man in the room who + looks enough like Dicky Smith to be his tenth cousin. But if ever the + goodness of heaven was shown in the affairs of men it is shown here to me + to-night!" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + Even as the sun triumphs over the darkness of night and the gloom of the + tempest, so did Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith's dinner-party emerge radiantly + from the sombre perils which had beset it. It was a brilliant, unqualified + success. + </p> + <p> + Miss Winthrop was good enough to say, when the evening was ended—saying + it in that assured, unconscious way that gives to the utterances of Boston + people so peculiar a charm—"Really, Mrs. Smith, you have given me + not only a delightful dinner, but a delightful surprise; I would not have + believed, had I not seen it myself, that outside of Boston so many clever + people could be brought together!" + </p> + <p> + And Mr. Hutchinson Port, upsetting all his traditions, had kept up a + running fire of laudatory comment upon the dinner that had filled Mrs. + Smith's soul with joy. She had expected him, being cut off by her presence + from engaging in his accustomed grumbling, to maintain a moody silence. + She had not expected praise: and she valued his praise the more because + she knew that he spoke out of the fulness of his wisdom; and because in a + matter of such vital moment as eating she knew that she could trust him to + be sincere. His only approach to invidious comment was in regard to the + terrapin. + </p> + <p> + With the grave solemnity that marks the serving of this delicacy in + Philadelphia; in the midst of a holy calm befitting a sacred rite, the + silver vessels were carried around the board, and in hushed rapture (a + little puzzling to the Bostonians) the precious mixture was ladled out + upon the fourteen plates; and Mr. Hutchinson Port, as the result of many + years of soulful practice, was able to secure to himself at one dexterous + scoop more eggs than fell to the lot of any other two men. + </p> + <p> + It was while rapturously eating these eggs that he spake: "My dear Mrs. + Smith, will you forgive me if I venture to suggest, even to you—for + what I have seen this night has convinced me that you are one of the very + few people who know what a dinner ought to be—that the Madeira used + in dressing terrapin cannot possibly be <i>too</i> old?" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. + </h2> + <p> + Proceeding in accordance with the cue that Mrs. Smith had given her, Miss + Grace Winthrop engaged Mr. Livingstone in conversation upon European + topics; and was somewhat astonished to find, in view of his past ten years + in Europe, that they evidently had very little interest for him. And all + the while that she talked with him she was haunted by the conviction that + she had seen him somewhere; and all the while she was aware of something + in his manner, she could not tell what, that seemed to imply that she + ought to know who he was. + </p> + <p> + What Miss Grace Winthrop did feel entirely certain about, however, was + that this was one of the cleverest and one of the manliest men she had + ever come across. His well-shaped hands were big and brown, and his face + was brown, and the set of his head and the range of his broad shoulders + gave him an alert look and a certain air of command. There was that about + him which suggested a vigorous life in the open air. There was nothing to + suggest ten years in Europe, unless it were the charm of his manner, and + his neat way of saying bright things. + </p> + <p> + As for Livingstone, he was as one who at the same time is both entranced + and inspired. He knew that he never had been happier in his life; he knew + that he never had said so many clever things in so short a time. Therefore + it was that these young people always thereafter were most harmoniously + agreed that this was the very happiest dinner that they had eaten in all + their lives. + </p> + <p> + It came to an end much too soon for either of them. The ladies left the + room, and cigars were invoked to fill their place. This was the moment + that Livingstone had looked forward to as affording the first practicable + opportunity for taking his host apart and explaining that his, + Livingstone's, presence at that particular feast certainly must be owing + to some mistake. And this was the moment that Mr. Smith, also, had looked + forward to as available for clearing up the mystery—of which his + wife still was blissfully ignorant—as to who their stranger guest + really was. But the moment now being come, Livingstone weakly but + deliberately evaded it by engaging in an animated conversation with Mr. + Hutchinson Port in regard to the precise number of minutes and seconds + that a duck ought to remain before the fire; and Mr. Smith—having + partaken of his own excellent wines and meats until his whole being was + aglow with a benevolent friendliness—contented himself with thinking + that, no matter who his guest was, he certainly was a capital fellow; and + that to cross-question him as to his name, at least until the evening was + at an end, would be a gross outrage upon the laws of hospitality. + </p> + <p> + Livingstone, however, had the grace to feel a good deal ashamed of himself + as they returned to the drawing-room. In all that had gone before, he had + been a victim of circumstances. He had an uncomfortable conviction that + his position now was not wholly unlike that of an impostor. But as he + pushed aside the portiere he beheld a pair of blue eyes which, he + flattered himself, betrayed an expression of pleased expectancy—and + his compunctions vanished. + </p> + <p> + There was only a little time left to them, for the evening was almost at + an end. Their talk came back to travel. Did she like travelling in + America? he asked. Yes, she liked it very much indeed, "only "—as a + sudden memory of a past experience flashed into her mind—"one does + sometimes meet such dreadfully horrid people!" + </p> + <p> + They were sitting, as they talked, in a narrow space between a table and + the wall, made narrower by the presence of an unused chair. Just as this + memory was aroused, some one tried to push by them, and Livingstone, + rising, lifted the obstructing chair away. To find a clear space in which + to put it down, he lifted it across the table; and for a moment he stood + erect, holding the chair out before him at arm's-length. + </p> + <p> + When he seated himself and turned again to speak to Grace, he was startled + to find that her face and shoulders, and even her arms—her arms and + shoulders were delectable—were crimson; and in her eyes he found at + last the look of recognition that he had hoped for earlier in the evening, + but that now he had ceased to expect. Recognition of this emphatic sort he + certainly had not expected at all. + </p> + <p> + "You—you see," she said, "I al—always have thought that you + were a robber and a murderer, and shocking things like that. And I didn't + really see you that day, except as you walked away, holding up that horrid + little man, kicking—just as you held up the chair. Can you ever, + ever forgive me for thinking such wicked things about you, and for being + so ungrateful as not to know you at the very first?" + </p> + <p> + And Livingstone, then and later, succeeded in convincing her that he + could. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. + </h2> + <p> + By an emphatic whisper Miss Grace Winthrop succeeded in impressing upon + her aunt the necessity—at no matter what sacrifice of the social + conventions—of being the last to go. In the matter of keeping + Livingstone, she experienced no difficulty at all. And when the + unnecessary eight had departed, she presented to her aunt and uncle her + deliverer, and—in a delightfully hesitating way—told to Mr. + and Mrs. Smith the story of her deliverance. + </p> + <p> + It was when this matter had been explained that Livingstone, who felt that + his position now was absolutely secure, brought up the delicate question + of his own identity. + </p> + <p> + "You can understand, I am sure, Mrs. Smith," he said, "how very grateful I + am to you for this evening; but, indeed, I don't think that I am the + person you meant to ask. And it has occurred to me, from something that + you said about my having been in Europe for a good while, that Mr. Smith + might have meant his invitation for Van Rensselaer Livingstone. He's my + cousin, you know; and he has spent the last ten years in Europe, and is + there yet, I fancy. But I am Van Ruyter Livingstone, and if I can be said + to have a home anywhere—except the old home in New York, of course—it + is on my sheep range in New Mexico. + </p> + <p> + "But you won't be cruel enough, Mrs. Smith, after letting me into Paradise—even + if I did get in by mistake—to turn me out again; will you?" + </p> + <p> + And Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith, who was a clever woman, as well as a + remarkably clear-sighted one, replied that even if she wanted to turn Mr. + Van Ruyter Livingstone out of Paradise she believed that it was now too + late. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Border Ruffian, by Thomas A. 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Janvier + +Release Date: December 10, 2007 [EBook #23803] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BORDER RUFFIAN *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +A BORDER RUFFIAN. + +By Thomas A. Janvier + +Copyright, 1891, by Harper & Brothers + + + + +I.--WEST. + +_The Incident of the Boston Young Lady, the Commercial Traveller, and +the Desperado._ + + + + +I. + +Throughout the whole of the habitable globe there nowhere is to be found +more delightful or more invigorating air than that which every traveller +through New Mexico, from Albuquerque, past Las Vegas, to the Raton +Mountains, is free to breathe. + +Miss Grace Winthrop, of Boston, and also Miss Winthrop, her paternal +aunt, and also Mr. Hutchinson Port, of Philadelphia, her maternal +uncle--all of whom were but forty hours removed from the Alkali Desert +west of the Continental Divide--felt in the very depths of their several +beings how entirely good this air was; and, as their several natures +moved them, they betrayed their lively appreciation of its excellence. + +Miss Grace Winthrop, having contrived for herself, with the intelligent +assistance of the porter, a most comfortable nest of pillows, suffered +her novel to remain forgotten upon her knees; and, as she leaned her +pretty blond head against the wood-work separating her section from that +adjoining it, looked out upon the brown mountains, and accorded to those +largely-grand objects of nature the rare privilege of being reflected +upon the retina of her very blue eyes. Yet the mountains could not +flatter themselves with the conviction that contemplation of them wholly +filled her mind, for occasionally she smiled a most delightful smile. + +Miss Winthrop, retired from the gaze of the world in the cell that the +Pullman-car people euphemistically style a state-room, ignored all such +casual excrescences upon the face of nature as mountains, and seriously +read her morning chapter of Emerson. + +Mr. Hutchinson Port, lulled by the easy, jog-trot motion of the car, +and soothed by the air from Paradise that, for his virtues, he was being +permitted to breathe, lapsed into calm and grateful slumber: and dreamed +(nor could a worthy Philadelphian desire a better dream) of a certain +meeting of the Saturday Night Club, in December, 1875, whereat the +terrapin was remarkable, even for Philadelphia. + +Miss Winthrop, absorbed in her Emersonian devotions, and Mr. Hutchinson +Port, absorbed in slumber, did not perceive that the slow motion of the +train gradually became slower, and finally entirely ceased; and even +Grace, lost in her pleasant daydream, scarcely observed that the +unsightly buildings of a little way-station had thrust themselves +into the foreground of her landscape--for this foreground she ignored, +keeping her blue eyes serenely fixed upon the great brown mountains +beyond. Nor was she more than dimly conscious of the appearance upon the +station platform of a tall, broad-shouldered young man clad in corduroy, +wearing a wide-brimmed felt-hat, and girded about with a belt, stuck +full of cartridges, from which depended a very big revolver. In a vague +way she was conscious of this young man's existence, and of an undefined +feeling that, as the type of a dangerous and interesting class, his +appearance was opportune in a part of the country which she had been led +to believe was inhabited almost exclusively by cut-throats and outlaws. + +In a minute or two the train went on again, and as it started Grace was +aroused and shocked by the appearance at the forward end of the car of +the ruffianly character whom she had but half seen from the car window. +For a moment she believed that the train-robbery, that she had been +confidently expecting over since her departure from San Francisco, was +about to take place. Her heart beat hard, and her breath came quickly. +But before these symptoms had time to become alarming the desperado had +passed harmlessly to the rear end of the car, and after him had come the +porter carrying his valise and a Winchester rifle. + +"Goin' to Otero? Yes, sah! All right, sah! Put yo' heah; nice seat on +shady side, sah! Thank yo', sah! Have a pillow, sah?" And, hearing this +address on the part of the porter, Grace knew that the desperado, +for the moment at least, was posing in the character of a law-abiding +citizen, and was availing himself of his rights as such to ride in +a Pullman-car. Being thus relieved of cause for immediate alarm, her +breast presently began to swell with a fine indignation at the impudence +of this abandoned person in thus thrusting himself into a place +reserved, if not absolutely for aristocratic, certainly, at least, for +respectable society. + + + + +II. + +The slight stir incident to the entrance of this offensive stranger +aroused Mr. Hutchinson Port from his agreeable slumber. He yawned +slightly, cast a disparaging glance upon the mountains, and then, +drawing an especially good cigar from his case, betook himself to the +smoking-room. Grace did not realize his intentions until they had become +accomplished deeds. + +Mr. Hutchinson Port--although a member (on the retired list) of the +First City Troop, and therefore, presumably, inflamed with the martial +spirit characteristic of that ancient and honorable organization--was +not, perhaps, just the man that a person knowing in such matters would +have selected to pit against a New Mexico desperado in a hand-to-hand +conflict. But Grace felt her heart sink a little as she saw the round +and rather pursy form of her natural protector walk away into the depths +of a mirror at the forward end of the car, and so vanish. And in +this same mirror she beheld, seated only two sections behind her, the +scowling ruffian! + +The situation, as Grace regarded it, was an alarming one; and it was +the more trying to her nerves because it did not, reasonably, admit of +action. She was aware that the very presence of a ruffian in a Pullman +car was in the nature of a promise, on his part, that for the time being +it was not his intention either to murder or to rob--unless, indeed, +he were one of a robber band, and was awaiting the appearance of his +confederates. For her either to call her uncle, or break in upon the +Emersonian seclusion of her aunt, she felt would not be well received, +under the circumstances, by either of these her relatives. As to the +porter, that sable functionary had vanished; there was no electric bell, +and the car, one of a Pullman train, had no conductor. + +For protection, therefore, should need for protection arise, Grace +perceived that she must depend upon the one other passenger. (They had +lingered so long amid the delights of a Santa Barbara spring that +they were journeying in that pleasant time of year when spring travel +eastward has ended, and summer travel has not yet begun.) This one +other passenger was a little man of dapper build and dapper dress, +whose curiously-shaped articles of luggage betokened his connection with +commercial affairs. Grace was forced to own, as she now for the first +time regarded him attentively, that he did not seem to be wrought of the +stern stuff out of which, as a rule, champions are made. + +As she thus looked upon him, she was startled to find that he was +looking very fixedly upon her; and she was further startled, as their +eyes met, by the appearance upon his face of a friendly smile. She would +have been vastly surprised had she been aware that this little person +labored under the belief that he had already effected a favorable +lodgement in her good graces; and she would have been both surprised +and horrified could she have known that each of her own strictly +confidential smiles during her day-dream had been accepted by the +commercial traveller as intended for himself; and had been met, as they +successively appeared, by his own smiles in answer. Yet this was the +actual state of the case; and the little man's soul was uplifted by the +thought that here was a fresh proof, and a very pleasant one, of how +irresistible were his personal appearance and his personal charm of +manner when arrayed in battery against any one of the gentler sex. + +Viewed from the stand-point of his experience, this inquiring look +and its attendant eye-encounter indicated that the moment for more +pronounced action now had arrived. With the assured air of one who +possibly may be repulsed, but who certainly cannot be defeated, he arose +from his seat, crossed to Miss Grace Winthrop's section, and, with a +pleasant remark to the effect that in travelling it always was nice to +be sociable, edged himself into the seat beside her. + +For a moment, the insolent audacity of this move was so overwhelming +that Grace was quite incapable of coherent expression. The lovely pink +of her cheeks became a deep crimson that spread to the very tips of her +ears; her blue eyes flashed, and her hands clinched instinctively. + +"Looked like a perfect little blue-eyed devil," the drummer subsequently +declared, in narrating a highly-embellished version of his adventure, +"but she didn't mean it, you know--at least, only for a minute or two. I +soon combed her down nicely." What he actually said, was: + +"Been travellin' far, miss?" + +"What do you mean by this? Go away!" Grace managed to say; but she could +not speak very clearly, for she was choking. + +"Come, don't get mad, miss! I know you're not mad, really, anyway. When +a woman's as handsome as you are, she can't be bad-natured. Come from +California, I suppose? Nice country over there, ain't it?" + +What with surprise and rage and fright, Grace was very nearly frantic +For the moment she was powerless--her uncle in the smoking-room, her +aunt locked up with her Emersonian meditations, the porter in the lobby; +the only available person upon whom she could call for aid a horrible +drunken murderer and robber, steeped in all the darkest crimes of the +frontier! She felt herself growing faint, but she struggled to her feet. +The drummer laid his hand on her arm: "Don't go away, my dear! Just stay +and have a little talk. You see--" + +But the sentence was not finished. Grace felt her head buzzing, and +then, from somewhere--a long way off, it seemed--she heard a voice +saying: "I beg your pardon; this thing seems to be annoying you. Permit +me to remove it." + +Her head cleared a little, for there was a promise of help--not only in +the words but in the tone. And then she saw the desperado calmly settle +a big hand into the collar of the little man's coat, lift him out of the +seat and well up into the air, and so carry him at arm's-length--kicking +and struggling, and looking for all the world like a jumping-jack--out +through the passage-way at the forward end of the car. + +As they disappeared, she precipitately sought refuge in the +state-room--where Miss Winthrop was aroused from her serious +contemplation of All-pervading Thought by a sudden and most energetic +demand upon her protection and her salts-bottle. And, before she could +be made in the least degree to comprehend why Grace should require +either the one or the other, Grace had still further complicated and +mystified the matter by fainting dead away. + + + + +III. + +In the course of two or three hours--aided by Miss Winthrop's salts +and Mr. Hutchinson Port's travelling-flask of peculiar old Otard, which +together contributed calmness and strength, and being refreshed by a +little slumber--Grace was able to explain in an intelligible manner the +adventure that had befallen her. + +"And no matter what dreadful crimes that horrible man may have +committed," she said, in conclusion. "I shall be most grateful to him to +my dying day. And I want you, Uncle Hutchinson, no matter how unpleasant +it may be to you to do so, to thank him from me for what he did. And, +oh! it was so funny to see that detestable little impudent man kicking +about that way in the air!" Which remembrance, at the same moment, of +both the terrifying and the ludicrous side of her recent experience, not +unnaturally sent Grace off into hysterics. + +Mr. Hutchinson Port was quite ready to carry the message of thanks to +the desperado, and to add to it some very hearty thanks of his own. But +his good intentions could not be realized; the desperado no longer was +on the train. + +"Yes, sah; I knows the gen'l'm yo' means, sah," responded the porter, +in answer to inquiries. "Pow'fl big gen'l'm yo' means, as got on this +mo'nin' to Vegas. Thet's th' one, sah! He'd some kind er trib-bilation +with th' little gen'l'm'--th' drummer gen'lm' as got on las' night to +Lamy--an' he brought him out, holdin' him like he was a kitten, to the +lobby, an' jus' set him down an' boxed his ears till he hollered! Yes, +sah, thet's th' one. He got off to Otero. An' th' little man he got off +to Trinidad, an' said he was agoin' up by the Denver to Pueblo. Yes, +sah; they's both got off, sah! Thank yo', sah! Get yo' a pillow, sah?" + + + + +IV. + +And so it came to pass that Miss Grace Winthrop returned to Boston +cherishing towards desperadoes in general, and towards the desperadoes +of New Mexico in particular, sentiments as generous as they were +unusual. + +Miss Winthrop the elder, whose soul was accustomed to a purer ether than +that in which desperadoes ordinarily are found, presently forgot the +vicarious excitements of her journey eastward in the calm joys of the +Summer School of Philosophy. + +And Mr. Hutchinson Port longed to be able to forget the whole State of +California: when he realized, as he did with a most bitter keenness, +that the superficial charms of that greatly overrated region had +detained him upon the Western coast until the terrapin season was +absolutely at an end! + + + + +II.--EAST. + +_The Incident of the Mysterious Stranger, and the Philadelphia +Dinner-party._ + + + + +I. + +Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith had achieved righteousness. That is to say, being +a Philadelphian, she was celebrated for giving successful dinners. The +person who achieves celebrity of this sort in Philadelphia is not unlike +the seraph who attains to eminence in the heavenly choir. + +It was conceded that Mr. Rittenhouse Smith (he was one of _the_ Smiths, +of course--not the others. His mother was a Biddle) was an important +factor in his wife's success; for, as became a well-brought-up +Philadelphian, he attended personally to the marketing. But had these +Smith dinners been commendable only because the food was good, they +would not have been at all remarkable. In Philadelphia, so far as the +eating is concerned, a bad dinner seems to be an impossibility. + +In truth, Mrs. Smith's dinners were famous because they never were +marred by even the slightest suggestion of a _contretemps_; because they +glided along smoothly, and at precisely the proper rate of speed, from +oysters to coffee; and, because--and to accomplish this in Philadelphia +was to accomplish something very little short of a miracle--they never +were stupid. + +Therefore it was that Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith stood among the elect, with +a comfortable sense of security in her election; and she smelled with a +satisfied nose the smell of the social incense burned before her +shrine; and she heard with well-pleased ears the social hosannas which +constantly were sung in her praise. + + + + +II. + +Occupying a position at once so ornate and so enviable, the feelings of +Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith may be imagined upon finding herself confronted. +with the tragical probability that one of her most important +dinner-parties would be a failure. + +In preparing for this dinner-party she had thought deeply in the still +watches of the night, and she had pondered upon it in the silence +of noonday. For Mrs. Smith, above all others, knew that only by such +soulful vigilance can a perfect dinner be secured. It was her desire +that it should be especially bright intellectually, for it was to be +given to Miss Winthrop, of Boston, and was to include Miss Winthrop's +niece, Miss Grace Winthrop, also of Boston. These ladies, as she knew, +belonged to clubs which, while modestly named after the days of the +week, were devoted wholly to the diffusion of the most exalted mental +culture. Moreover, they both were on terms of intimacy with Mr. Henry +James. On the other hand, it was her desire that the dinner should +be perfect materially, because among her guests was to be Miss Grace +Winthrop's uncle, Mr. Hutchinson Port. It was sorely against Mrs. +Smith's will that Mr. Hutchinson Port was included in her list, for +he had the reputation of being the most objectionable diner-out in +Philadelphia. His conversation at table invariably consisted solely +of disparaging remarks, delivered in an undertone to his immediate +neighbors, upon the character and quality of the food. However, in the +present case, as Miss Grace Winthrop's uncle, he was inevitable. + +And, such was Mrs. Smith's genius, she believed that she had mastered +the situation. Her list--excepting, of course, Mr. Hutchinson Port, and +he could not reasonably be objected to by his own relatives--was all +that she could desire. The nine other guests, she was satisfied, were +such as could be exhibited creditably even to ladies belonging to Boston +clubs and personally acquainted with Mr. Henry James. As to the dinner +itself, Mr. Rittenhouse Smith, who never spoke inconsiderately in +matters of this grave nature, had agreed with her that--barring, of +course, some Providentially interposed calamity such as scorching the +ducks or getting too much salt in the terrapin--even Mr. Hutchinson Port +would be unable to find a flaw in it. + +And now, at the last moment, at twelve o'clock of the day on which the +dinner was to take place, came a note from the man upon whom she had +most strongly counted to make the affair a success--the brightest man +on her list, and the one who was to take out Miss Grace Winthrop--saying +that he was laid up with a frightful cold and face-ache! He tried to +make a joke of it, poor fellow, by adding a sketch--he sketched quite +nicely--of his swelled cheek swathed in a handkerchief. But Mrs. +Rittenhouse Smith was in no humor for joking; she was furious! + +When a woman misses fire in this way, it usually is possible to fill her +place with a convenient young sister, or even with an elderly aunt. But +when a man is wanted, and, especially, as in the case in point, a clever +man, the matter very readily may become desperate. Mrs. Rittenhouse +Smith certainly was dismayed, yet was she not utterly cast down. She had +faith in her own quick wits, which had rescued her in times past from +other social calamities, though never from one darker than this, of +having, at a single fatal blow, her best man cut off from one of her +most important dinner-parties, and the dinner-party itself reduced to +thirteen; an ominous and dismal number that surely would be discovered, +and that would cast over her feast a superstitious gloom. + +In this trying emergency Mrs. Smith acted with characteristic decision +and wisdom. She perceived that to send invitations simultaneously to +all the possible men of her acquaintance might involve her in still +more awkward complications, while to send invitations successively might +result in a fatal loss of time. Obviously, the only practicable course +was a series of prompt, personal appeals from one to another, until +assurance was received that the vacant place certainly would be filled. +Therefore she despatched a note to Mr. Rittenhouse Smith, at his +down-town office, acquainting him with the impending catastrophe and +bidding him drop all other concerns until he had averted it by securing +a satisfactory man. + + + + +III. + +Now, under ordinary circumstances, Mr. Rittenhouse Smith would have +obeyed his wife's orders cheerfully and promptly; but on this +particular day there was a flurry in the stock-market (Mr. Smith was a +stock-broker), and every minute that he was away from his office exposed +him to serious business danger. At what he considered to be the safest +moments, he made no less than five sallies after as many different men; +and three of these had engagements for the evening, and two of them were +out of town. What with the condition of the stock-market and the gloomy +outlook for the dinner-party, Mr. Smith, albeit he was ordinarily a +calm, sedate man, was almost distraught. + +Three o'clock brought a prospect of relief, but after a day of such +active dealing his books could not be settled hurriedly. In point of +fact, when at last he was able to leave his Third Street office the +State House clock was striking five; and the dinner, in accordance +with Philadelphia custom, was to be at seven! He knew that his wife had +discharged into his hands the matter of procuring the needed man; and he +knew that this line of action on her part had been both right and wise; +but he groaned in spirit, as he thought how dreadful a responsibility +was his! + +Mr. Smith was a methodical man, and in the calmness partly bred of his +naturally orderly habits, and partly bred of his despair, he seated +himself at his desk, in company with a comforting cigar, to think of any +possible men whom he might beat up at their homes as he went westward. +While he thus meditated--and while blackness settled down upon his soul, +for of none could he think available for his purpose--he looked idly +at the list of hotel arrivals in the morning paper that chanced to lie +beside him; and suddenly he arose with a great shout of joy, for in this +list he beheld the name, "Van R. Livingstone." + +Here, indeed, was good-fortune at last! Van Rensselaer Livingstone was +in college with him, in his own class, at Harvard. They had been capital +friends while their college life lasted; and although Livingstone had +spent the last ten or twelve years in Europe, they had not wholly lost +track of each other. Clever, handsome, well-born, and well-bred, he was +everything that the present occasion required. He seemed to have been +sent from heaven direct. In twenty minutes Mr. Smith was asking for him +at his hotel. + +"Mr. Livingstone? Mr. Livingstone is out." + +"Did he leave any word as to when he would come in?" + +"Yes, sir. He said that a gentleman might call, and to say that he +certainly would be back at six, and would not go out again to-night." + +Mr. Smith looked at his watch--it was 5:30. Had there been any +uncertainty as to Livingstone's return, he would have waited. But it +was clear that he was coming back to dine at his hotel, and to spend the +evening there. A note, therefore, could be trusted to do the business, +and by writing, instead of waiting, Mr. Smith would save half an hour; +moreover, if he waited, he would not have time to make the mayonnaise. + +Probably it is only in Philadelphia that it ever occurs nowadays to the +master of a feast to dress the salad; which, doubtless, is the reason +why a better salad is served at certain dinner-tables in Philadelphia +than at any other dinner-tables in the whole world. + +The thought of the mayonnaise settled the matter. Mr. Smith hastily +wrote an account of the trying situation, and concluded his note with a +solemn demand upon "dear old Van" to fill the vacant place, "in the holy +name of the class of '68, and for love of your old classmate, R. Smith." + + + + +IV. + +Presently the person thus adjured returned to his hotel, and with +a somewhat puzzled expression read the adjuration. "R. Smith," he +murmured, reflectively. "I think I do remember a Dicky Smith, from +Philadelphia, at Columbia. But he wasn't in my class, and my class +wasn't '68, but '76, and I don't remember ever saying a dozen words +to him. He's got a good deal of cheek, whoever he is--and he, and +his dinner, and his missing man may all go to the devil together! His +invitation is absurd!" And with this ultimatum Mr. Livingstone laid the +letter and envelope neatly together, preparatory to tearing them into +fragments. + +But before this purpose was accomplished, another view of the situation +came into his mind. "I don't see why I shouldn't go," he thought. "I've +been muddling all day with this wretched wool man--which is a bore, even +if I have made a pretty good bargain with him for next season's clip; +and Ned hasn't come to time, which is another bore, for now I'll have to +eat my dinner alone. And this Dicky Smith writes like a gentleman, even +if he is cheeky; and he certainly seems to be in a peck of troubles +about his missing man, and his thirteen at table, and the rest of it. +Why, it's a regular adventure! And to think of having an adventure in +Philadelphia, of all places in the world! By Jove, I'll go!" + + + + +V. + +"How very, very good of you, Mr. Livingstone, to come to our rescue!" It +was Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith who spoke, and she spoke in a guarded tone; +for Livingstone was among the last to arrive, and she had no desire to +publish among her guests the catastrophe that so nearly had overtaken +her. + +"And I know," she continued: "that you will understand how sorry I am +that this first visit of Mr. Smith's old friend to our house should be +under such peculiar circumstances. But you will have your reward, for +you are to take out the very prettiest and the very brightest girl +here. Come and be rewarded!" And Mrs. Smith slipped her hand upon her +benefactor's arm, and piloted him across the room. + +"Miss Winthrop, permit me to present Mr. Livingstone. Miss Winthrop is +half Boston and half European, Mr. Livingstone; and as you, after these +ten years abroad, must be wholly European, you can cheer each other as +fellow foreigners in the midst of Philadelphia barbarism"--with which +pleasant speech the hostess turned quickly to receive the last arrival +(a man, of course; only a man would dare to be even near to late at +one of Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith's dinners), and then, standing beside the +doorway, with Mr. Hutchinson Port, marshalled her company in to dinner. +It was a comfort to her to know that for once in his fault-finding +life Mr. Port would be compelled, since he was to be seated beside his +hostess, to eat his food without abusing it. + +Just at this time two things struck Mrs. Smith as odd. One was that as +she presented her handsome guest to Miss Grace Winthrop she certainly +had felt him start, while his arm had trembled curiously beneath her +hand. The other was that as Mr. Rittenhouse Smith left the drawing-room, +passing close beside her with Miss Winthrop upon his arm, he made a face +at her. The first of these phenomena struck her as curious. The second +struck her as ominous. Had it been possible she would have investigated +the cause of Mr. Smith's facial demonstration. But it was not possible. +She only could breathe a silent prayer that all would go well--and the +while sniff anxiously to discover if perchance there were a smell of +scorching duck. + +Mrs. Smith would have been still more mystified could she have been +cognizant at this juncture of her husband's and of Miss Grace Winthrop's +and of Mr. Livingstone's thoughts. + +The first of these was thinking: "It isn't Van Rensselaer Livingstone, +any more than I am; though he certainly looks like him. And I'm sure +that he knows that he don't know me. And I think that we've managed to +get into a blank idiotic mess!" + +And the second of these was thinking: "If he's been in Europe for the +past ten years, there's not one chance in fifty that I ever have laid +eyes on him. But I know I have!" + +And the third of these was thinking: "There isn't man in the room who +looks enough like Dicky Smith to be his tenth cousin. But if ever the +goodness of heaven was shown in the affairs of men it is shown here to +me to-night!" + + + + +VI. + +Even as the sun triumphs over the darkness of night and the gloom of the +tempest, so did Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith's dinner-party emerge radiantly +from the sombre perils which had beset it. It was a brilliant, +unqualified success. + +Miss Winthrop was good enough to say, when the evening was ended--saying +it in that assured, unconscious way that gives to the utterances of +Boston people so peculiar a charm--"Really, Mrs. Smith, you have given +me not only a delightful dinner, but a delightful surprise; I would not +have believed, had I not seen it myself, that outside of Boston so many +clever people could be brought together!" + +And Mr. Hutchinson Port, upsetting all his traditions, had kept up a +running fire of laudatory comment upon the dinner that had filled +Mrs. Smith's soul with joy. She had expected him, being cut off by her +presence from engaging in his accustomed grumbling, to maintain a moody +silence. She had not expected praise: and she valued his praise the more +because she knew that he spoke out of the fulness of his wisdom; and +because in a matter of such vital moment as eating she knew that she +could trust him to be sincere. His only approach to invidious comment +was in regard to the terrapin. + +With the grave solemnity that marks the serving of this delicacy in +Philadelphia; in the midst of a holy calm befitting a sacred rite, the +silver vessels were carried around the board, and in hushed rapture (a +little puzzling to the Bostonians) the precious mixture was ladled out +upon the fourteen plates; and Mr. Hutchinson Port, as the result of +many years of soulful practice, was able to secure to himself at one +dexterous scoop more eggs than fell to the lot of any other two men. + +It was while rapturously eating these eggs that he spake: "My dear Mrs. +Smith, will you forgive me if I venture to suggest, even to you--for +what I have seen this night has convinced me that you are one of the +very few people who know what a dinner ought to be--that the Madeira +used in dressing terrapin cannot possibly be _too_ old?" + + + + +VII. + +Proceeding in accordance with the cue that Mrs. Smith had given her, +Miss Grace Winthrop engaged Mr. Livingstone in conversation upon +European topics; and was somewhat astonished to find, in view of his +past ten years in Europe, that they evidently had very little interest +for him. And all the while that she talked with him she was haunted by +the conviction that she had seen him somewhere; and all the while she +was aware of something in his manner, she could not tell what, that +seemed to imply that she ought to know who he was. + +What Miss Grace Winthrop did feel entirely certain about, however, was +that this was one of the cleverest and one of the manliest men she had +ever come across. His well-shaped hands were big and brown, and his face +was brown, and the set of his head and the range of his broad shoulders +gave him an alert look and a certain air of command. There was that +about him which suggested a vigorous life in the open air. There was +nothing to suggest ten years in Europe, unless it were the charm of his +manner, and his neat way of saying bright things. + +As for Livingstone, he was as one who at the same time is both entranced +and inspired. He knew that he never had been happier in his life; he +knew that he never had said so many clever things in so short a time. +Therefore it was that these young people always thereafter were most +harmoniously agreed that this was the very happiest dinner that they had +eaten in all their lives. + +It came to an end much too soon for either of them. The ladies left the +room, and cigars were invoked to fill their place. This was the +moment that Livingstone had looked forward to as affording the first +practicable opportunity for taking his host apart and explaining that +his, Livingstone's, presence at that particular feast certainly must be +owing to some mistake. And this was the moment that Mr. Smith, also, had +looked forward to as available for clearing up the mystery--of which +his wife still was blissfully ignorant--as to who their stranger guest +really was. But the moment now being come, Livingstone weakly but +deliberately evaded it by engaging in an animated conversation with Mr. +Hutchinson Port in regard to the precise number of minutes and seconds +that a duck ought to remain before the fire; and Mr. Smith--having +partaken of his own excellent wines and meats until his whole being was +aglow with a benevolent friendliness--contented himself with thinking +that, no matter who his guest was, he certainly was a capital fellow; +and that to cross-question him as to his name, at least until the +evening was at an end, would be a gross outrage upon the laws of +hospitality. + +Livingstone, however, had the grace to feel a good deal ashamed of +himself as they returned to the drawing-room. In all that had gone +before, he had been a victim of circumstances. He had an uncomfortable +conviction that his position now was not wholly unlike that of an +impostor. But as he pushed aside the portiere he beheld a pair of blue +eyes which, he flattered himself, betrayed an expression of pleased +expectancy--and his compunctions vanished. + +There was only a little time left to them, for the evening was almost +at an end. Their talk came back to travel. Did she like travelling in +America? he asked. Yes, she liked it very much indeed, "only "--as a +sudden memory of a past experience flashed into her mind--"one does +sometimes meet such dreadfully horrid people!" + +They were sitting, as they talked, in a narrow space between a table and +the wall, made narrower by the presence of an unused chair. Just as this +memory was aroused, some one tried to push by them, and Livingstone, +rising, lifted the obstructing chair away. To find a clear space in +which to put it down, he lifted it across the table; and for a moment he +stood erect, holding the chair out before him at arm's-length. + +When he seated himself and turned again to speak to Grace, he was +startled to find that her face and shoulders, and even her arms--her +arms and shoulders were delectable--were crimson; and in her eyes he +found at last the look of recognition that he had hoped for earlier in +the evening, but that now he had ceased to expect. Recognition of this +emphatic sort he certainly had not expected at all. + +"You--you see," she said, "I al--always have thought that you were +a robber and a murderer, and shocking things like that. And I didn't +really see you that day, except as you walked away, holding up that +horrid little man, kicking--just as you held up the chair. Can you ever, +ever forgive me for thinking such wicked things about you, and for being +so ungrateful as not to know you at the very first?" + +And Livingstone, then and later, succeeded in convincing her that he +could. + + + + +VIII. + +By an emphatic whisper Miss Grace Winthrop succeeded in impressing +upon her aunt the necessity--at no matter what sacrifice of the +social conventions--of being the last to go. In the matter of keeping +Livingstone, she experienced no difficulty at all. And when the +unnecessary eight had departed, she presented to her aunt and uncle her +deliverer, and--in a delightfully hesitating way--told to Mr. and Mrs. +Smith the story of her deliverance. + +It was when this matter had been explained that Livingstone, who felt +that his position now was absolutely secure, brought up the delicate +question of his own identity. + +"You can understand, I am sure, Mrs. Smith," he said, "how very grateful +I am to you for this evening; but, indeed, I don't think that I am the +person you meant to ask. And it has occurred to me, from something that +you said about my having been in Europe for a good while, that Mr. Smith +might have meant his invitation for Van Rensselaer Livingstone. He's my +cousin, you know; and he has spent the last ten years in Europe, and +is there yet, I fancy. But I am Van Ruyter Livingstone, and if I can +be said to have a home anywhere--except the old home in New York, of +course--it is on my sheep range in New Mexico. + +"But you won't be cruel enough, Mrs. Smith, after letting me into +Paradise--even if I did get in by mistake--to turn me out again; will +you?" + +And Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith, who was a clever woman, as well as a +remarkably clear-sighted one, replied that even if she wanted to turn +Mr. Van Ruyter Livingstone out of Paradise she believed that it was now +too late. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Border Ruffian, by Thomas A. 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