CHAPTER XXV
MARY RECEIVES COMPANY
Mary's heart skipped a beat and then pulsed ninety to the minute as herfirst suspicion became a certainty: a wagon was coming through the darkto the ranch. With a prayer for her husband on her lips she went slowlyto the door. She recognized Murray's voice and Jake's in conversationand stood with her hand on the door until Jake's rough command wasfollowed by the sound of the wagon going to the stable. No one wounded!Her relief was so great that she walked unsteadily in crossing back toher chair. Mary was nervous and easily upset, these days.
Surprise acted as a tonic when the two ladies entered, followed byMurray. A glance at Margaret's face stirred memories in Mary. Shestammered: "Why--why--I know--who--"
Murray supplied the name: "It is Miss McAllister, Mrs. Cassidy."
"Why, of co'se," said Mary; "I 'd know Miss McAllister anywhere; shefavors Frenchy like she was his own daughter."
"Did you know Uncle John?" asked Margaret, breathlessly.
"Yes, indeedy. I took to him first sight," and Mary smiled at thegirl's eagerness.
"Aunt Jessie! Isn't that just glorious? Mrs. Cassidy, this is my aunt,Mrs. Blake--and I want you to tell me everything you can remember aboutUncle John."
"Now you have done it," declared Mrs. Blake. "You will get no peace fromMargaret while she thinks there is a wag of your tongue left about herUncle John."
"Margaret--that's a right sweet name. But I 'm afraid Billy wouldinsist--" she flushed a dull red as Mrs. Blake sharply addressed Murray:"Ralph, see that some one gets those trunks in, will you? That is, ifthey did not drop off into the bosom of this blessed wilderness,somewhere _en route_."
"They did n't. But it's all Montana to an incubator Jake took them tothe stable," and Murray promptly vanished.
"Certainly he would insist," agreed Mrs. Blake, resuming the thread ofMary's unconscious soliloquy. "And quite right, too. It would have tobe--what did you say your name is, my dear?"
"Mary "--the shy smile made her seem very unlike the self-reliant H2girl.
Mrs. Blake took her in her arms and mothered her. "Mary is every bit assweet as Margaret," she declared. "And now you must came over here andsit down. That is six for me and a half dozen for myself. _How_ I shallrejoice to land in a seat that neither shakes nor bumps!"
"I shore begs you-all 's pardon; but I ain't got over my surprise yet."
"Shall we put you to very much trouble, Mrs. Cassidy?" asked Margaret."Perhaps if you get that lazy Murray to help--"
"Why, Murray ain't lazy. There ain't none of the boys lazy, 'cept maybeJake. An' it's shore a pleasure to have you here."
"May heaven forgive my vegatative emotion in the cessation of motion,"and Mrs. Blake carefully refrained from moving her foot forward oneenticing inch: it was good enough as it was.
"You ain't use' to travelling, Mrs. Blake," suggested Mary.
"On the contrary, my dear," that lady assured her. "Mr. Blake hauled meover the entire country from the Mississippi to the Atlantic; but henever subjected me to the churning discomfort of a devil-drawn buckboarddriven by a heartless madcap in petticoats." Mrs. Blake shifted thefaintest imaginable distance to the left and back again immediately: thefirst position was the more comfortable, as she might have known.
The two younger women exchanged a smile, Margaret's a merry one, Mary'smore sober as she thought how easily the buckboard might have carried aload indifferent for all time, to jolts. "Did you see anything o' th'boys?" she asked.
"I saw them all, I believe," answered Margaret. "They went through TwinRiver just before we started."
"Cock Murray came back with you. Did you see my husband? He startedout to find Mr. Peters."
"Mr. Cassidy and Mr. Booth went after that Dave brute."
"Where was Buck?"
"He was wounded, Mrs. Cassidy. Not badly, they say. Dave shot him fromambush. We found him lying in the road."
"Oh! I ought to go to him," and Mary started from her seat.
"Certainly not," declared Mrs. Blake. "It is quite evident that you donot appreciate the comforts of inertia. Besides, from what Margarettells me, he is well taken care of."
"Oh! and I forgot the medicine chest," exclaimed Margaret. "Yes, he hasan attentive nurse, Mrs. Cassidy. We took him to the LaFrance place.And I must get that medicine chest from Whitby's kit and send it over.Where are Whitby's things, Mrs. Cassidy?"
"They 're in th' bunk-house. Murray will get them for you. So Buck isthere? Did you see the French Rose, Miss McAllister?"
"Yes, haven't you? She is lovely; so serious and calm and strong. Insome way she makes you feel that she is sure to do the right thing atthe right time. Oh, I like her, immensely."
"Liking goes by contrasts," sleepily reminded Mrs. Blake. Mary smiledno less at Margaret's grimace than at Mrs. Blake's pointed sarcasm.
"She has n't been to the ranch since we-all came," said Mary. "Bucksays she rid over quite often afore that. I 'm glad Rose is 'tendin'him; from what I hear of her he could n't be in better hands."
"Mr. Peters seemed glad, too," said Margaret, suggestively; "and MissLaFrance did not seem at all sorry."
Before Mary could respond to Margaret's unspoken question, the dooropened with a bang and Pickles rushed in. "Been a-helpin' them sheepwith th' trunks," he informed them. "Where's Hopalong? Did he findBuck? That cacklin' Murray has forgot how to crow; he on'y grunts."
"Hopalong has gone after Dave. He shot Buck," answered Mary.
"Not dead!" Pickles was aghast.
"No, only wounded."
"I just _got_ to kill that Dave. Rose has got to lemme off on thatpromise. I bet she will now he 's gone an' shot up Buck."
Mrs. Blake stirred in her chair and opened one eye. "Out of the mouthsof babes and sucklings--"
"Sucker yoreself!" retorted Pickles. "Reckon you think I don't knownothin'. You wait." He slammed the door behind him and stamped off,greatly incensed. His advice to Jake, who told him to open the otherdoor while he carried in a trunk, was impossible to follow, involving ajourney from which no one, not even Jake, would ever be likely toreturn.
When Margaret, insisting that Mary direct operations from her chair, wassatisfied with domestic arrangements, she asked Murray's advice aboutsending the medicine chest to Rose. Obeying Whitby's wishes seemed themost important thing in life at present. Cock demurred to her plan ofsending him before morning; and he was opposed to leaving the ranch atall before Buck himself took charge again. Margaret was vexed at hisstupidity. They had gone together to the bunk-house and argued thematter with the object of dispute on the floor between them. Glancingat them from his own especial bunk was Pickles, trying in vain to makesense from a jumble of sounds unlike any he had ever heard. Pickles'vocabulary was very limited. His snort of disgust as he gave it up andturned his back on the disputants, gave Cock an idea. "Pickles," hesaid, "Buck's sick and he needs this box. Buck told me to stay at theranch. Will you take it if I saddle Swallow?"
"Shore will," and Pickles shoved one entirely nude leg from the bunk;before he could follow it with the other, he was much surprised and moreembarrassed to find himself swooped upon, seized and swiftly kissed byMargaret, whose brown-clad form fled through the door like the flirt ofa wood-thrush, vanishing into the dim recesses of the forest.
* * * * *
Ned Monroe and the boys, Big Saxe with them, came straggling up to thebunk-house in the early hours of the morning, Ned having acquired achange of mounts at Twin River. They secured their prisoner by thesimple expedient of tying him in a lump--and a cow-punch makes knotsthat are exceedingly hard to struggle out of. Big Saxe did n't try.
Cock Murray was first out and he awoke Ned. In the open, safe frombeing overheard, they held conference, Monroe nodding his headunderstandingly as Cock made his points. After breakfast, Monroedelivered a speech, short and to the point, and when th
ey separated totheir duties, Cock and Slow Jack rode away together. Big Saxe, veryeffectually hobbled at the ankles, was put in charge of Chesty Suttonwho tersely informed him that the first false move he made he would findhimself humpbacked all the way to his feet.
Cock bent his powers of persuasion to the converting of Slow Jack. Itproved an easy task. Secretly admiring Cock and his ways, Slow Jackalso perceived the trend of events to be putting Schatz out of therunning. The unbending will of Hopalong was over them all and Slow Jackwas not averse to throwing his services to the winning side.
It was the middle of the afternoon when Whitby appeared. The womenlistened to his news with varying degrees of interest. Buck was doingwell and had declared it would not be long before he was at the ranch;in the meantime, as he was obliged to be quiet, he seemed well contentedwhere he was. Pickles had arrived safe and had constituted himselfbody-guard and messenger-at-need for Rose. As for Hopalong he couldtell them no more than they had already learned from Monroe. Mary wasnot worried. She had supreme confidence in Hopalong's ability to takecare of himself and would have smiled if any one had suggested danger.
The end of Whitby's budget was punctuated with a huge sigh from Jake,whose ear had never been far from the kitchen door. He now entereddiffidently and addressed himself to the Englishman: "I wrastled somechuck for you, Whit; reckoned you might want some." His lumbering exitwas closely followed by Whitby's, whose strangled appetite slipped thenoose at Jake's invitation.
In the lively conversation of the three women, Margaret's voice gropedabout in Whitby's consciousness like a hand searching in the dark for ahidden spring; her sudden ringing laugh awoke him to his purpose andhastily finishing his meal he made his way to the barn. After an hour'sdelay, spent in selecting a pony for Margaret and taking the edge offthe temper of the quietest--a favor that Margaret would have repudiatedwith scorn--he appeared at the house again with the offer to show herover the range if she cared to go.
It was the very thing Margaret most wanted to do and they set out withbut little time lost. When she become accustomed to the saddle shesuggested a race but Whitby had no intention of running any such risk.He easily held her interest in another way.
"I say, Miss McAllister, there 's one thing I did n't mention just now,"he began.
"Not bad news?" questioned Margaret.
"Can't say it's good. That beastly German had the cheek to get awaywith the money after all. He checked against the blessed lot yesterdayforenoon. I was at the bank this morning. It's right enough. Theyproduced the check. Seems a bit odd, you know, they should be carryingthat amount and pass it over in cash. I said as much; but thepresident--rummy chap, by the way--he explained it; something about bigshipments of cattle. However, it's gone."
"Dear me! it seems very careless of somebody. Papa ought to know. Whatshall you do?"
"Oh, I notified the agency at once; they 've taken it in hand. But itwon't do any good, you know. That bounder Schatz has it all planned outand if he loses it, why, there you are, you know."
"Yes, so it seems; but, to all intents and purposes, he steals it. Doyou intend to let him triumph in such brazen robbery?"
"I rather fancy I shall have very little to say in the matter. ThatCassidy chap who is trying to catch Dave, went off without knowing themoney was gone. My word! I should n't care to be Schatz when Cassidyhears of it. Deuced odd no one saw him in Wayback but the bankingpeople. However, the German will have to go. I wrote the Governor andMr. McAllister this morning. Between them they can come to an agreementwith Peters and we can buy the German out--or perhaps I should say hisheirs. It's a good sporting chance that it will be his heirs. Cassidyhas a proper amount of suspicion in his character and no one will ambushhim, I 'll lay."
"Good gracious! But you can't afford to lose all that money, can you?"
"It is a bit of a facer. But what of it? The range can stand it. Intwenty years it will bring ten times the money for farm land, or I 'mmuch mistaken. I 'm sure the Governor will chance it and Buck will beglad to have me an active partner. He said as much."
"Mr. Booth, did n't you advance the money to Peters in the lastpartnership agreement?"
"Oh, I say! Did they tell you that? Then you should know it was myadvice that brought on his loss. But Buck is n't obliged to put up anymoney with us; his experience and services are quite equal to the moneyI shall put up. I fancy Mr. McAllister will agree with me in that. AllBuck wants is fair play, don't you know."
Margaret pulled her pony so that she had the advantage of a few feetnearer the house when she spoke. "Whitby," she said, very clearly, "youare a dear."
Both ponies swung their noses towards home in the same moment. Theburning blush on Margaret's face streamed from it on the air-currentsand settled on Whitby's determined countenance, to leave him and floataway to the rose clouds in the western sky. Whitby had the faster mountbut Margaret rode a far lighter weight and the chase might have been along one had she been very anxious to keep away. As it was a short halfmile found them on even terms. Whitby's arm went about the girl's waistas the ponies ran stride for stride and she felt herself leaving thesaddle. With reckless abandonment to the law of might she yielded andlay in his arms; their pace slowed to a walk, Whitby looking solemnlyinto the brilliant eyes that mockingly regarded him.
"The good old rule, the simpler plan, that he shall take who hath thepower," quoted Margaret.
"And he shall keep who can," capped Whitby. "I can, Margaret, and Iwill," he declared, a deep note of earnestness in his voice.
Margaret reached up and covered the steady eyes whose searchingthreatened the unconscious secrets of her heart. But her voice reachedhim, fainter, fraught with the vibration of sureness: "Whitby, you are adear."