CHAPTER VI
A REMINISCENT NIGHT
On the ninth morning we made our second start from the Indian Lakes.An amusing incident occurred during the last night of our camp atthese water holes. Coyotes had been hanging around our camp forseveral days, and during the quiet hours of the night these scavengersof the plain had often ventured in near the wagon in search of scrapsof meat or anything edible. Rod Wheat and Ash Borrowstone had madetheir beds down some distance from the wagon; the coyotes as theycircled round the camp came near their bed, and in sniffing aboutawoke Borrowstone. There was no more danger of attack from thesecowards than from field mice, but their presence annoyed Ash, and ashe dared not shoot, he threw his boots at the varmints. Imagine hischagrin the next morning to find that one boot had landed among thebanked embers of the camp-fire, and was burned to a crisp. It waslooked upon as a capital joke by the outfit, as there was no tellingwhen we would reach a store where he could secure another pair.
The new trail, after bearing to the westward for several days, turnednorthward, paralleling the old one, and a week later we came into theold trail over a hundred miles north of the Indian Lakes. With theexception of one thirty-mile drive without water, no fault could befound with the new trail. A few days after coming into the old trail,we passed Mason, a point where trail herds usually put in forsupplies. As we passed during the middle of the afternoon, the wagonand a number of the boys went into the burg. Quince Forrest and BillyHoneyman were the only two in the outfit for whom there were anyletters, with the exception of a letter from Lovell, which was commonproperty. Never having been over the trail before, and not evenknowing that it was possible to hear from home, I wasn't expecting anyletter; but I felt a little twinge of homesickness that night whenHoneyman read us certain portions of his letter, which was from hissister. Forrest's letter was from a sweetheart, and after reading it afew times, he burnt it, and that was all we ever knew of its contents,for he was too foxy to say anything, even if it had not beenunfavorable. Borrowstone swaggered around camp that evening in a newpair of boots, which had the Lone Star set in filigree-work in theirred tops.
At our last camp at the lakes, The Rebel and I, as partners, had beenshamefully beaten in a game of seven-up by Bull Durham and JohnOfficer, and had demanded satisfaction in another trial around thefire that night. We borrowed McCann's lantern, and by the aid of itand the camp-fire had an abundance of light for our game. In theabsence of a table, we unrolled a bed and sat down Indian fashion overa game of cards in which all friendship ceased.
The outfit, with the exception of myself, had come from the sameneighborhood, and an item in Honeyman's letter causing considerablecomment was a wedding which had occurred since the outfit had left. Itseemed that a number of the boys had sparked the bride in times past,and now that she was married, their minds naturally became reminiscentover old sweethearts.
"The way I make it out," said Honeyman, in commenting on the news, "isthat the girl had met this fellow over in the next county whilevisiting her cousins the year before. My sister gives it as ahorseback opinion that she'd been engaged to this fellow nearly eightmonths; girls, you know, sabe each other that way. Well, it won'taffect my appetite any if all the girls I know get married while I'mgone."
"You certainly have never experienced the tender passion," said FoxQuarternight to our horse wrangler, as he lighted his pipe with abrand from the fire. "Now I have. That's the reason why I sympathizewith these old beaus of the bride. Of course I was too old to standany show on her string, and I reckon the fellow who got her ain't sopowerful much, except his veneering and being a stranger, which was abig advantage. To be sure, if she took a smile to this stranger, noother fellow could check her with a three-quarter rope and a snubbingpost. I've seen girls walk right by a dozen good fellows and fawn oversome scrub. My experience teaches me that when there's a woman in it,it's haphazard pot luck with no telling which way the cat will hop.You can't play any system, and merit cuts little figure in generalresults."
"Fox," said Durham, while Officer was shuffling the cards, "your augerseems well oiled and working keen to-night. Suppose you give us thatlittle experience of yours in love affairs. It will be a treat tothose of us who have never been in love, and won't interrupt the gamea particle. Cut loose, won't you?"
"It's a long time back," said Quarternight, meditatively, "and thescars have all healed, so I don't mind telling it. I was born andraised on the border of the Blue Grass Region in Kentucky. I had themisfortune to be born of poor but honest parents, as they do instories; no hero ever had the advantage of me in that respect. In loveaffairs, however, it's a high card in your hand to be born rich. Thecountry around my old home had good schools, so we had the advantageof a good education. When I was about nineteen, I went away from homeone winter to teach school--a little country school about fifteenmiles from home. But in the old States fifteen miles from home makesyou a dead rank stranger. The trustee of the township was shuckingcorn when I went to apply for the school. I simply whipped out my pegand helped him shuck out a shock or two while we talked over schoolmatters. The dinner bell rang, and he insisted on my staying fordinner with him. Well, he gave me a better school than I had askedfor--better neighborhood, he said--and told me to board with a certainfamily who had no children; he gave his reasons, but that'simmaterial. They were friends of his, so I learned afterwards. Theyproved to be fine people. The woman was one of those kindly souls whonever know where to stop. She planned and schemed to marry me off inspite of myself. The first month that I was with them she told me allabout the girls in that immediate neighborhood. In fact, she rathergot me unduly excited, being a youth and somewhat verdant. She dweltpowerful heavy on a girl who lived in a big brick house which stoodback of the road some distance. This girl had gone to school at aseminary for young ladies near Lexington,--studied music and paintingand was 'way up on everything. She described her to me as black-eyedwith raven tresses, just like you read about in novels.
"Things were rocking along nicely, when a few days before Christmas alittle girl who belonged to the family who lived in the brick housebrought me a note one morning. It was an invitation to take supperwith them the following evening. The note was written in a prettyhand, and the name signed to it--I'm satisfied now it was a forgery.My landlady agreed with me on that point; in fact, she may havementioned it first. I never ought to have taken her into my confidencelike I did. But I wanted to consult her, showed her the invitation,and asked her advice. She was in the seventh heaven of delight; had meanswer it at once, accept the invitation with pleasure and a lot ofstuff that I never used before--she had been young once herself. Iused up five or six sheets of paper in writing the answer, spoilt oneafter another, and the one I did send was a flat failure compared tothe one I received. Well, the next evening when it was time to start,I was nervous and uneasy. It was nearly dark when I reached the house,but I wanted it that way. Say, but when I knocked on the front door ofthat house it was with fear and trembling. 'Is this Mr. Quarternight?'inquired a very affable lady who received me. I knew I was one of oldman Quarternight's seven boys, and admitted that that was my name,though it was the first time any one had ever called me _mister_. Iwas welcomed, ushered in, and introduced all around. There were a fewsmall children whom I knew, so I managed to talk to them. The girlwhom I was being braced against was not a particle overrated, butsustained the Kentucky reputation for beauty. She made herself sopleasant and agreeable that my fears soon subsided. When the man ofthe house came in I was cured entirely. He was gruff and hearty,opened his mouth and laughed deep. I built right up to him. We talkedabout cattle and horses until supper was announced. He was reallysorry I hadn't come earlier, so as to look at a three year old coltthat he set a heap of store by. He showed him to me after supper witha lantern. Fine colt, too. I don't remember much about the supper,except that it was fine and I came near spilling my coffee severaltimes, my hands were so large and my coat sleeves so short. When wereturned from looking at the colt, we went into the parl
or. Say,fellows, it was a little the nicest thing that ever I went against.Carpet that made you think you were going to bog down every step,springy like marsh land, and I was glad I came. Then the youngerchildren were ordered to retire, and shortly afterward the man and hiswife followed suit.
"When I heard the old man throw his heavy boots on the floor in thenext room, I realized that I was left all alone with their charmingdaughter. All my fears of the early part of the evening tried to crowdon me again, but were calmed by the girl, who sang and played on thepiano with no audience but me. Then she interested me by telling herschool experiences, and how glad she was that they were over. Finallyshe lugged out a great big family album, and sat down aside of me onone of these horsehair sofas. That album had a clasp on it, a buckleof pure silver, same as these eighteen dollar bridles. While we werelooking at the pictures--some of the old varmints had fought in theRevolutionary war, so she said--I noticed how close we were sittingtogether. Then we sat farther apart after we had gone through thealbum, one on each end of the sofa, and talked about the neighborhood,until I suddenly remembered that I had to go. While she was getting myhat and I was getting away, somehow she had me promise to take dinnerwith them on Christmas.
"For the next two or three months it was hard to tell if I lived at myboarding house or at the brick. If I failed to go, my landlady wouldhatch up some errand and send me over. If she hadn't been such a goodwoman, I'd never forgive her for leading me to the sacrifice like shedid. Well, about two weeks before school was out, I went home overSaturday and Sunday. Those were fatal days in my life. When I returnedon Monday morning, there was a letter waiting for me. It was from thegirl's mamma. There had been a quilting in the neighborhood onSaturday, and at this meet of the local gossips, some one had hintedthat there was liable to be a wedding as soon as school was out. Mammawas present, and neither admitted nor denied the charge. But there wasa woman at this quilting who had once lived over in our neighborhoodand felt it her duty to enlighten the company as to who I was. I gotall this later from my landlady. 'Law me,' said this woman, 'folksround here in this section think our teacher is the son of that bigfarmer who raises so many cattle and horses. Why, I've known bothfamilies of those Quarternights for nigh on to thirty year. Ourteacher is one of old John Fox's boys, the Irish Quarternights, wholive up near the salt licks on Doe Run. They were always so poor thatthe children never had enough to eat and hardly half enough to wear.'
"This plain statement of facts fell like a bombshell on mamma. Shestarted a private investigation of her own, and her verdict was inthat letter. It was a centre shot. That evening when I locked theschoolhouse door it was for the last time, for I never unlocked itagain. My landlady, dear old womanly soul, tried hard to have me teachthe school out at least, but I didn't see it that way. The cause ofeducation in Kentucky might have gone straight to eternal hell, beforeI'd have stayed another day in that neighborhood. I had money enoughto get to Texas with, and here I am. When a fellow gets it burnt intohim like a brand that way once, it lasts him quite a while. He 'llfeel his way next time."
"That was rather a raw deal to give a fellow," said Officer, who hadbeen listening while playing cards. "Didn't you never see the girlagain?"
"No, nor you wouldn't want to either if that letter had been writtento you. And some folks claim that seven is a lucky number; there wereseven boys in our family and nary one ever married."
"That experience of Fox's," remarked Honeyman, after a short silence,"is almost similar to one I had. Before Lovell and Flood adopted me, Iworked for a horse man down on the Nueces. Every year he drove up thetrail a large herd of horse stock. We drove to the same point on thetrail each year, and I happened to get acquainted up there with afamily that had several girls in it. The youngest girl in the familyand I seemed to understand each other fairly well. I had to stay atthe horse camp most of the time, and in one way and another did notget to see her as much as I would have liked. When we sold out theherd, I hung around for a week or so, and spent a month's wagesshowing her the cloud with the silver lining. She stood it all easy,too. When the outfit went home, of course I went with them. I wasbanking plenty strong, however, that next year, if there was a goodmarket in horses, I'd take her home with me. I had saved my wages andrustled around, and when we started up the trail next year, I hadforty horses of my own in the herd. I had figured they would bring mea thousand dollars, and there was my wages besides.
"When we reached this place, we held the herd out twenty miles, so itwas some time before I got into town to see the girl. But the firsttime I did get to see her I learned that an older sister of hers, whohad run away with some renegade from Texas a year or so before, haddrifted back home lately with tears in her eyes and a big fat baby boyin her arms. She warned me to keep away from the house, for men fromTexas were at a slight discount right then in that family. The girlseemed to regret it and talked reasonable, and I thought I could seeencouragement. I didn't crowd matters, nor did her folks forget mewhen they heard that Byler had come in with a horse herd from theNueces. I met the girl away from home several times during the summer,and learned that they kept hot water on tap to scald me if I everdared to show up. One son-in-law from Texas had simply surfeited thatfamily--there was no other vacancy. About the time we closed out andwere again ready to go home, there was a cattleman's ball given inthis little trail town. We stayed over several days to take in thisball, as I had some plans of my own. My girl was at the ball all easyenough, but she warned me that her brother was watching me. I paid noattention to him, and danced with her right along, begging her to runaway with me. It was obviously the only play to make. But the more I'd'suade her the more she'd 'fuse. The family was on the prod biggerthan a wolf, and there was no use reasoning with them. After I had hadevery dance with her for an hour or so, her brother coolly stepped inand took her home. The next morning he felt it his duty, as hissister's protector, to hunt me up and inform me that if I even spoketo his sister again, he'd shoot me like a dog.
"'Is that a bluff, or do you mean it for a real play?' I inquired,politely.
"'You'll find that it will be real enough,' he answered, angrily.
"'Well, now, that's too bad,' I answered; 'I'm really sorry that Ican't promise to respect your request. But this much I can assure you:any time that you have the leisure and want to shoot me, just cutloose your dog. But remember this one thing--that it will be my secondshot.'"
"Are you sure you wasn't running a blazer yourself, or is the windmerely rising?" inquired Durham, while I was shuffling the cards forthe next deal.
"Well, if I was, I hung up my gentle honk before his eyes and ears andgave him free license to call it. The truth is, I didn't pay any moreattention to him than I would to an empty bottle. I reckon the girlwas all right, but the family were these razor-backed, barnyardsavages. It makes me hot under the collar yet when I think of it.They'd have lawed me if I had, but I ought to have shot him andchecked the breed."
"Why didn't you run off with her?" inquired Fox, dryly.
"Well, of course a man of your nerve is always capable of advisingothers. But you see, I'm strong on the breed. Now a girl can't showher true colors like the girl's brother did, but get her in theharness once, and then she'll show you the white of her eye, balk, andpossibly kick over the wagon tongue. No, I believe in thebreed--blood'll tell."
"I worked for a cowman once," said Bull, irrelevantly, "and they toldit on him that he lost twenty thousand dollars the night he wasmarried."
"How, gambling?" I inquired.
"No. The woman he married claimed to be worth twenty thousand dollarsand she never had a cent. Spades trump?"
"No; hearts," replied The Rebel. "I used to know a foreman up inDeWitt County,--'Honest' John Glen they called him. He claimed theonly chance he ever had to marry was a widow, and the reason he didn'tmarry her was, he was too honest to take advantage of a dead man."
While we paid little attention to wind or weather, this was an idealnight, and we were laggard in seeking our b
lankets. Yarn followedyarn; for nearly every one of us, either from observation or frompractical experience, had a slight acquaintance with the greatmastering passion. But the poetical had not been developed in us to anappreciative degree, so we discussed the topic under considerationmuch as we would have done horses or cattle.
Finally the game ended. A general yawn went the round of the loungersabout the fire. The second guard had gone on, and when the first rodein, Joe Stallings, halting his horse in passing the fire, called outsociably, "That muley steer, the white four year old, didn't like tobed down amongst the others, so I let him come out and lay down byhimself. You'll find him over on the far side of the herd. You allremember how wild he was when we first started? Well, you can ridewithin three feet of him to-night, and he'll grunt and act sociableand never offer to get up. I promised him that he might sleep alone aslong as he was good; I just love a good steer. Make down our bed,pardner; I'll be back as soon as I picket my horse."