CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
THEY RETURN TO THE RANCH OF ROARING BULL, WHERE SOMETHING SERIOUSHAPPENS TO DICK DARVALL.
When Dick Darvall and Hunky Ben returned from the expedition which wehave just described, they found all right at the cave, except that aletter to Leather had been sent up from Bull's ranch which had causedhim much grief and anxiety.
"I have been eagerly awaiting your return, Ben," said Charlie Brooke,when he and the scout went outside the cave to talk the matter over,"for the news in this letter has thrown poor Leather back considerably,and, as he will continue to fret about it and get worse, something mustbe done."
He paused for a few moments, and the scout gravely waited for him toresume.
"The fact is," continued Charlie, "that poor Leather's father has beengiven far too much to the bottle during a great part of his life, andthe letter just received tells us that he has suddenly left home andgone no one knows where. Now, my friend Leather and his father werealways very fond of each other, and the son cannot forgive himself forhaving at various times rather encouraged his father in drinking, sothat his conscience is reproaching him terribly, as you may wellbelieve, and he insists on it that he is now quite able to undertake thevoyage home. You and I know, Ben, that in his present state it would bemadness for him to attempt it; yet to lie and fret here would be almostas bad. Now, what is your advice?"
For some moments the scout stood silent with his eyes on the ground andhis right hand grasping his chin--his usual attitude when engaged inmeditation.
"Is there enough o' dollars," he asked, "to let you do as ye like?"
"No lack of dollars, I dare say, when needed," replied Charlie.
"Then my advice," returned the scout promptly, "is to take Leatherstraight off to-morrow mornin' to Bull's ranch; make him comfortablethere, call him Mister Shank,--so as nobody'll think he's been the mancalled Leather, who's bin so long ill along wi' poor Buck Tom's gang,--and then you go off to old England to follow his father's trail till youfind him. Leather has great belief in you, sir, and the feelin' thatyou are away doin' your best for him will do more to relieve his mindand strengthen his body than tons o' doctor's stuff. Dick Darvall couldremain to take care of him if he has no objection."
"I rather think he would be well pleased to do so," replied Charlie,with a laugh of significance, which the scout quietly subjected toanalysis in what he styled his brain-pan, and made a note of the resultin his mental memorandum book!
"But I doubt if Leather--"
"Shank," interrupted the scout. "Call him Shank from now, so's we mayall git used to it; tho' p'r'aps it ain't o' much importance, for mosto' the men that saw him here saw him in uncommon bad condition an' wouldhardly know him again, besides, they won't likely be at Bull's ranch,an' the captain an' troops that were here have been ordered down south.Still one can never be too careful when life and death may be i' thebalance. Your friend niver was one o' the outlaws, but it mightn't beeasy to prove that."
"Well, then," resumed our hero, "I was going to say that I fear Shankwon't be able to stand the journey even to the ranch."
"No fear of that, sir. We'll carry him down to the foot o' the Trap,an' when we git out on the plain mount him on one o' the horses left bypoor Buck--the one that goes along so quiet that they've given it thename o' the Wheelbarrow."
"Should I speak to him to-night about our plan, Ben?"
"No. If I was you I'd only say we're goin' to take him down to Bull'sranch i' the mornin'. That'll take his mind a bit off the letter, an'then it'll give him an extra lift when you tell him the rest o' theplan."
In accordance with this arrangement, on the following morning a litterwas made with two stout poles and a blanket between. On this theinvalid was laid after an early breakfast; another blanket was spreadover him, and the scout and Dick, taking it up between them, carried himout of Traitor's Trap, while Charlie Brooke, riding Jackson's horse, ledthe Wheelbarrow by the bridle. As for Black Polly, she was left tofollow at her own convenience, a whistle from Hunky Ben being at anymoment sufficient to bring her promptly to her master's side.
On reaching the plain the litter was laid aside, the blankets werefastened to the horses, and Shank prepared, as Dick said, to boardWheelbarrow.
"Now then, Shank," said the seaman, while helping his friend, "don't bein a hurry. Nothin' was ever done well in a hurry either afloat orashore. Git your futt well into the stirrup an' don't take too much ofa spring, else you'll be apt to go right over on the starboard side.Hup you go!"
The worthy sailor lent such willing aid that there is little doubt hewould have precipitated the catastrophe against which he warned, had notHunky Ben placed himself on the "starboard side" of the steed andcounteracted the heave. After that all went well; the amble of theWheelbarrow fully justified the title, and in due course the partyarrived at the ranch of Roaring Bull, where the poor invalid wasconfined to his room for a considerable time thereafter, and becameknown at the ranch as Mr Shank.
One evening Charlie Brooke entered the kitchen of the ranch in search ofhis friend Dick Darvall, who had a strange fondness for Buttercup, andfrequently held converse with her in the regions of the back-kitchen.
"I dun know whar he is, massa Book," answered the sable beauty whenappealed to, "he's mostly somewhar around when he's not nowhar else."
"I shouldn't wonder if he was," returned Charlie with a hopeful smile."I suppose Miss Mary's not around anywhere, is she?"
"I shouldn't wonder if she wasn't; but she ain't here, massa," said theblack maid earnestly.
"You are a truthful girl, Butter--stick to that, and you'll get on inlife."
With this piece of advice Charlie left the kitchen abruptly, and therebymissed the eruption of teeth and gums that immediately followed hisremark.
Making his way to the chamber of his sick friend, Charlie sat down atthe open window beside him.
"How d'you feel this evening, my boy?" he asked.
"A little better, but--oh dear me!--I begin to despair of getting wellenough to go home, and it's impossible to avoid being worried, for,unless father is sought for and found soon he, will probably sinkaltogether. You have no idea, Charlie, what a fearful temptation drinkbecomes to those who have once given way to it and passed a certainpoint."
"I don't know it personally--though I take no credit for that--but Ihave some idea of it, I think, from what I have seen and heard. But Icame to relieve your mind on the subject, Shank. I wanted to speak withDick Darvall first to see if he would fall in with my plan, but as Ican't find him just now I thought it best to come straight to you aboutit. Hallo! There is Dick."
"Where?" said Shank, bending forward so as to see the place on which hisfriend's eyes were fixed.
"There, don't you see? Look across that bit of green sward, about fiftyyards into the bush, close to that lopped pine where a thick shruboverhangs a fallen tree--"
"I see--I see!" exclaimed Shank, a gleeful expression banishing for atime the look of suffering and anxiety that had become habitual to him."Why, the fellow is seated beside Mary Jackson!"
"Ay, and holding a very earnest conversation with her, to judge from hisattitude," said Charlie. "Probably inquiring into the market-price ofsteers--or some absorbing topic of that sort."
"He's grasping her hand now!" exclaimed Shank, with an expanding mouth.
"And she lets him hold it. Really this becomes interesting," observedCharlie, with gravity. "But, my friend, is not this a species ofeavesdropping? Are we not taking mean advantage of a pair who fondlythink themselves alone? Come, Shank, let us turn our backs on the viewand try to fix our minds on matters of personal interest."
But the young men had not to subject themselves to such a delicate testof friendship, for before they could make any attempt to carry out thesuggestion, Dick and Mary were seen to rise abruptly and hasten from thespot in different directions. A few minutes later Buttercup wasobserved to glide upon the scene and sit down upon the self-same fallentree. Th
e distance from the bedroom window was too great to permit ofsounds reaching the observers' ears, or of facial contortions meetingtheir eyes very distinctly, but there could be no doubt as to thefeelings of the damsel, or the meaning of those swayings to and fro ofher body, the throwing back of her head, and the pressing of her handson her sides. Suddenly she held out a black hand as if inviting someone in the bush to draw near. The invitation was promptly accepted by alarge brown dog--a well-known favourite in the ranch household.
Rover--for such was his name--leaped on the fallen tree and sat down onthe spot which had previously been occupied by the fair Mary. Theposition was evidently suggestive, for Buttercup immediately began togesticulate and clasp her hands as if talking very earnestly to the dog.
"I verily believe," said Shank, "that the blacking-ball is re-enactingthe scene with Rover! See! she grasps his paw, and--"
"My friend," said Charlie, "we are taking mean advantage again! And,behold! like the other pair, they are flitting from the scene, thoughnot quite in the same fashion."
This was true, for Buttercup, reflecting, probably, that she might bemissed in the kitchen, had suddenly tumbled Rover off the tree anddarted swiftly from the spot.
"Come now, Shank," said Charlie, resuming the thread of discourse whichhad been interrupted, "it is quite plain to Dick and to myself that youare unfit to travel home in your present state of health, so I have madeup my mind to leave you here in the care of honest Jackson and Darvall,and to go home myself to make inquiries and search for your father.Will this make your mind easy? For that is essential to your recoveryat the present time."
"You were always kind and self-sacrificing, Charlie. Assuredly, yourgoing will take an enormous weight off my mind, for you are much betterfitted by nature for such a search than I am--to say nothing of health.Thank you, my dear old boy, a thousand times. As for Dick Darvall,"added Shank, with a laugh, "before this evening I would have doubtedwhether he would be willing to remain with me after your departure, butI have no doubt now--considering what we have just witnessed!"
"Yes, he has found `metal more attractive,'" said Charlie, rising. "Iwill now go and consult with him, after which I will depart withoutdelay."
"You've been having a gallop, to judge from your heightened colour andflashing eyes," said Charlie to Dick when they met in the yard,half-an-hour later.
"N-no--not exactly," returned the seaman, with a slightly embarrassedair. "The fact is I've bin cruisin' about in the bush."
"What! lookin' for Redskins?"
"N-no; not exactly, but--"
"Oh! I see. Out huntin', I suppose. After deer--eh?"
"Well, now, that was a pretty fair guess, Charlie," said Dick, laughing."To tell ye the plain truth, I have been out arter a dear--full sail--an'--"
"And you bagged it, of course. Fairly run it down, I suppose," said hisfriend, again interrupting.
"Well, there ain't no `of course' about it, but as it happened, I didmanage to overhaul her, and coming to close quarters, I--"
"Yes, yes, _I_ know," interrupted Charlie a third time, with provokingcoolness. "You ran her on to the rocks, Dick--which was unseamanlike inthe extreme--at least you ran the dear aground on a fallen tree and,sitting down beside it, asked it to become Mrs Darvall, and the amiablecreature agreed, eh?"
"Why, how on earth did 'ee come for to know _that_?" asked Dick, inblazing astonishment.
"Well, you know, there's no great mystery about it. If a bold sailor_will_ go huntin' close to the house, and run down his game right infront of Mr Shank's windows, he must expect to have witnesses.However, give me your flipper, mess-mate, and let me congratulate you,for in my opinion there's not such another dear on all the slopes of theRocky Mountains. But now that I've found you, I want to lay some of myfuture plans before you."
They had not been discussing these plans many minutes, when Mary wasseen crossing the yard in company with Hunky Ben.
"If Hunky would only stop, we'd keep quite jolly till you return,"observed Dick, in an undertone as the two approached.
"We were just talking of you, Ben," observed Charlie, as they came up.
"Are you goin' for a cruise, Miss Mary?" asked the seaman in a mannerthat drew the scout's attention.
"No," replied Mary with a little laugh, and anything but a little blush,that intensified the attention of the scout. He gave one of his quietbut quick glances at Dick and chuckled softly.
"So soon!" he murmured to himself; "sartinly your sea-dog is prettyslick at such matters."
Dick thought he heard the chuckle and turned a lightning glance on thescout, but that sturdy son of the forest had his leathern countenanceturned towards the sky with profoundest gravity. It was characteristicof him, you see, to note the signs of the weather.
"Mr Brooke," he said, with the slow deliberate air of the man who formshis opinions on solid grounds, "there's goin' to be a bu'st up o' theelements afore long, as sure as my name's Hunky."
"That's the very thing I want to talk about with you, Ben, for Imeditate a long journey immediately. Come, walk with me."
Taking the scout's arm he paced with him slowly up and down the yard,while Dick and Mary went off on a cruise elsewhere.