Lin McLean by Owen Wister (motivational books to read txt) đ
- Author: Owen Wister
- Performer: -
Book online «Lin McLean by Owen Wister (motivational books to read txt) đ». Author Owen Wister
âShe ainât said it. But she will when she understands Tommy.â
I fancied that the lady understood. The once I had seen her she appeared to me as what might be termed an expert in men, and one to understand also the reality of Tommyâs ranch and allowance, and how greatly these differed from Box Elder. Probably the one thing she could not understand was why Lin spared the mother and her cubs. A deserted home in Dubuque, a career in a railroad eating-house, a somewhat vague past, and a present lacking contextâindeed, I hoped with all my heart that Tommy would win!
âLin,â said I, âIâm backing him.â
âBack away!â said he. âTommy can please a womanâhim and his blue eyesâ but he donât savvy how to make a woman want him, not any better than he knows about killinâ Injuns.â
âDid you hear about the Crows?â said I.
âAbout young bucks going on the war-path? Shucks! Thatâs put up by the papers of this section. Theyâre aiminâ to get Uncle Sam to order his troops out, and then folks can sell hay and stuff to âem. If Tommy believed any Crowsââ he stopped, and suddenly slapped his leg.
âWhatâs the matter now?â I asked.
âOh, nothing.â He took to singing, and his face grew roguish to its full extent. âWhat made yuâ say that to me?â he asked, presently.
âSay what?â
âAbout marrying. Yuâ donât think Iâd better.â
âI donât.â
âOnced in a while yuâ tell me Iâm flighty. Well, I am. Whoop-ya!â
âColts ought not to marry,â said I.
âSure!â said he. And it was not until we came in sight of the Virginianâs black horse tied in front of Miss Woodâs cabin next the Taylorsâ that Lin changed the lively course of thought that was evidently filling his mind.
âTell yuâ,â said he, touching my arm confidentially and pointing to the black horse, âfor all her Vermont refinement sheâs a woman just the same. She likes him dangling round her so earnestâhim that no body ever saw dangle before. And he has quit spreeinâ with the boys. And what does he get by it? I am glad I was not raised good enough to appreciate the Miss Woods of this world,â he added, defiantlyââexcept at long range.â
At the Taylorsâ cabin we found Miss Wood sitting with her admirer, and Tommy from Riverside come to admire Miss Peck. The biscuit-shooter might pass for twenty-seven, certainly. Something had agreed with herâwhether the medicine, or the mountain air, or so much masculine company; whatever had done it, she had bloomed into brutal comeliness. Her hair looked curlier, her figure was shapelier, her teeth shone whiter, and her cheeks were a lusty, overbearing red. And there sat Molly Wood talking sweetly to her big, grave Virginian; to look at them, there was no doubt that he had been âraised good enoughâ to appreciate her, no matter what had been his raising!
Lin greeted every one jauntily. âHow are yuâ, Miss Peck? How are yuâ, Tommy?â said he. âHear the news, Tommy? Crow Injuns on the war-path.â
âI declare!â said the biscuit-shooter.
The Virginian was about to say something, but his eye met Linâs, and then he looked at Tommy. Then what he did say was, âI hadnât been goinâ to mention it to the ladies until it was right sure.â
âYou neednât to be afraid, Miss Peck,â said Tommy. âThereâs lots of men here.â
âWhoâs afraid?â said the biscuit-shooter.
âOh,â said Lin, âmaybe itâs like most news we get in this country. Two weeks stale and a lie when it was fresh.â
âOf course,â said Tommy.
âHello, Tommy!â called Taylor from the lane. âYour horse has broke his rein and run down the field.â
Tommy rose in disgust and sped after the animal.
âI must be cooking supper now,â said Katie, shortly.
âIâll stir for yuâ,â said Lin, grinning at her.
âCome along then,â said she; and they departed to the adjacent kitchen.
Miss Woodâs gray eyes brightened with mischief. She looked at her Virginian, and she looked at me.
âDo you know,â she said, âI used to be so afraid that when Bear Creek wasnât new any more it might become dull!â
âMiss Peck doesnât find it dull either,â said I.
Molly Wood immediately assumed a look of doubt. âBut mightnât it become justâjust a little trying to have two gentlemen so veryâdetermined, you know?â
âOnly one is determined,â said the Virginian
Molly looked inquiring.
âLin is determined Tommy shall not beat him. Thatâs all it amounts to.â
âDear me, what a notion!â
âNo, maâam, no notion. Tommyâwell, Tommy is considered harmless, maâam. A cow-puncher of reputation in this country would certânly never let Tommy get ahaid of him that way.â
âItâs pleasant to know sometimes how much we count!â exclaimed Molly.
âWhy, maâam,â said the Virginian, surprised at her flash of indignation, âwhere is any countinâ without some love?â
âDo you mean to say that Mr. McLean does not care for Miss Peck?â
âI reckon he thinks he does. But there is a mighty wide difference between thinkinâ and feelinâ, maâam.â
I saw Mollyâs eyes drop from his, and I saw the rose deepen in her cheeks. But just then a loud voice came from the kitchen.
âYou, Lin, if you try any of your foolinâ with me, Iâll histe yuâs over the jiste!â
âAll cow-punchersââ I attempted to resume.
âQuit now, Lin McLean,â shouted the voice, âor Iâll put yus through that window, and it shut.â
âWell, Miss Peck, Iâm gettinâ most a full dose oâ this treatment. Ever since yuâ come Iâve been doing my best. And yuâ just cough in my face. And now Iâm going to quit and cough back.â
âWould you enjoy walkinâ out till supper, maâam?â inquired the Virginian as Molly rose. âYou was speaking of gathering some flowers yondeh.â
âWhy, yes,â said Molly, blithely. âAnd youâll come?â she added to me.
But I was on the Virginianâs side. âI must look after my horse,â said I, and went down to the corral.
Day was slowly going as I took my pony to the water. Corncliff Mesa, Crowheart Butte, these shone in the rays that came through the canyon. The canyonâs sides lifted like tawny castles in the same light. Where I walked the odor of thousands of wild roses hung over the margin where the thickets grew. High in the upper air, magpies were sailing across the silent blue. Somewhere I could hear Tommy explaining loudly how he and General Crook had pumped lead into hundreds of Indians; and when supper-time brought us all back to the door he was finishing the account to Mrs. Taylor. Molly and the Virginian arrived bearing flowers, and he was saying that few cow-punchers had any reason for saving their money.
âBut when you get old?â said she.
âWe mostly donât live long enough to get old, maâam,â said he, simply. âBut I have a reason, and I am saving.â
âGive me the flowers,â said Molly. And she left him to arrange them on the table as Lin came hurrying out.
âIâve told her,â said he to the Southerner and me, âthat Iâve asked her twiced, and Iâm going to let her have one more chance. And Iâve told her that if itâs a log cabin sheâs marryinâ, why Tommy is a sure good wooden piece of furniture to put inside it. And I guess she knows thereâs not much wooden furniture about me. I want to speak to you.â He took the Virginian round the corner. But though he would not confide in me, I began to discern something quite definite at supper.
âCattle men will lose stock if the Crows get down as far as this,â he said, casually, and Mrs. Taylor suppressed a titter.
âAinât it hawses theâre repawted as running off?â said the Virginian.
âChap come into the roundup this afternoon,â said Lin. âBut he was rattled, and told a heap oâ facts that wouldnât square.â
âOf course they wouldnât,â said Tommy, haughtily.
âOh, thereâs nothing in it,â said Lin, dismissing the subject.
âHave yuâ been to the opera since we went to Cheyenne, Mrs. Taylor?â
Mrs. Taylor had not.
âLin,â said the Virginian, âdid yu ever see that opera Cyarmen?â
âYou bet. Fellowâs girl quits him for a bullfighter. Gets him up in the mountains, and quits him. He wasnât much goodânot in her class oâ sports, smugglinâ and such.â
âI reckon she was doubtful of him from the start. Took him to the mountâins to experiment, where theyâd not have interruption,â said the Virginian.
âTalking of mountains,â said Tommy, âthis range here used to be a great place for Indians till we ran âem out with Terry. Pumped lead into the red sons-of-guns.â
âYou bet,â said Lin. âDo yuâ figure that girl tired of her bullfighter and quit him, too?â
âI reckon,â replied the Virginian, âthat the bullfighter wore better.â
âFans and taverns and gypsies and sportinâ,â said Lin. âMy! but Iâd like to see them countries with oranges and bullfights! Only I expect Spain, maybe, ainât keepinâ it up so gay as when âCarmenâ happened.â
The table-talk soon left romance and turned upon steers and alfalfa, a grass but lately introduced in the country. No further mention was made of the hostile Crows, and from this I drew the false conclusion that Tommy had not come up to their hopes in the matter of reciting his campaigns. But when the hour came for those visitors who were not spending the night to take their leave, Taylor drew Tommy aside with me, and I noticed the Virginian speaking with Molly Wood, whose face showed diversion.
âDonât seem to make anything of it,â whispered Taylor to Tommy, âbut the ladies have got their minds on this Indian truck.â
âWhy, Iâll just explainââ began Tommy.
âDonât,â whispered Lin, joining us. âYuâ know how women are. Once they take a notion, why, the more yuâ deny the surer they get. Now, yuâ see, him and meâ (he jerked his elbow towards the Virginian) âmust go back to camp, for weâre on second relief.â
âAnd the ladies would sleep better knowing there was another man in the house,â said Taylor.
âIn that case,â said Tommy, âIââ
âYuâ see,â said Lin, âtheyâve been told about Ten Sleep being burned two nights ago.â
âIt ainât!â cried Tommy.
âWhy, of course it ainât,â drawled the ingenious Lin. âBut thatâs what I say. You and I know Ten Sleepâs all right, but we canât report from our own knowledge seeing it all right, and there it is. They get these nervous notions.â
âJust donât appear to make anything special of not going back to Riverside,â repeated Taylor, âbutââ
âBut just kind of stay here,â said Lin.
âI will!â exclaimed Tommy. âOf course, Iâm glad to oblige.â
I suppose I was slow-sighted. All this pains seemed to me larger than its results. They had imposed upon Tommy, yes. But what of that? He was to be kept from going back to Riverside until morning. Unless they proposed to visit his empty cabin and play tricksâbut that would be too childish, even for Lin McLean, to say nothing of the Virginian, his occasional partner in mischief.
âIn spite of the Crows,â I satirically told the ladies, âI shall sleep outside, as I intended. Iâve no use for houses at this season.â
The cinches of the horses were tightened, Lin and the Virginian laid a hand on their saddle-horns, swung up, and soon all sound of the galloping horses had ceased. Molly Wood declined to be nervous and crossed to her little neighbor cabin; we all parted, and (as always in that blessed country) deep sleep quickly came to me.
I donât know how long after it was that I sprang from my blankets in half-doubting fright. But I had dreamed nothing. A second long, wild yell now gave me (I must own to it) a
Comments (0)