第21章

“Yes，woman。Didn’tItellyu’thebotanisthadhiswifealong？ Well，hedid。Andsheactedbetterthantheman，forhewasrosin’hishead，andshoutin’hehadnowhiskey，andhedidn’tguesshisknifewassharpenoughtoamputatemythumb，andnoneofuschewed，andthedoctorwastwentymilesaway，andifhehadonlyrememberedtobringhisammonia——well，hewasscreechingout’mosteverythingheknewintheworld，andwithoutarrangingitany，neither。Butshejustclawedhispocketandburrowedandkep’yelling，’Givehimthestone，Augustus！’AndshewhippedoutoneofthemInjunmedicine-stones，——firstoneIeverseen，——andsheclappeditontomythumb，anditstartedinrightaway。“ “Whatdiditdo？“saidI。 “Sucked。Likeblotting-paperdoes。Softandfunnyitwas，andgray。Theyget’emfromelks’stomachs，yu’know。Andwhenithadsuckedthepoisonoutofthewound，offitfallsofmythumbbyitself！AndIthankedthewomanforsavingmylifethatcapableandkeepingherheadthatcool。Ineverknowedhowexcitedshehadbeentillafterward。Shewasawfulshocked。“ “Isupposeshestartedtotalkwhenthedangerwasover，“saidI，withdeepsilencearoundme。 “No；shedidn’tsaynothingtome。Butwhenhernextchildwasborn，ithadeightrattles。“ Dinnowrosewildinthecaboose。Theyrockedtogether。Theenthusiastbeathiskneetumultuously。AndIjoinedthem。Whocouldhelpit？Ithadbeensowellconductedfromtheimperceptiblebeginning。Factandfalsehoodblendedwithsuchperfectart。Andthislast，aneffectsonewmadewithsuchworld-oldmaterial！IcarednothingthatIwasthevictim，andI joinedthem；butceased，feelingsuddenlysomehowestrangedorchilled。Itwasintheirlaughter。Theloudnesswastooloud。AndIcaughttheeyesofTrampasfixedupontheVirginianwithexultantmalevolence。Scipio’sdisgustedglancewasuponmefromthedoor。 Dazedbythesesigns，Iwentoutontheplatformtogetawayfromthenoise。TheretheVirginiansaidtome:“Cheerup！You’llnotbesoeasyfor’emthat-a-waynextseason。“ Hesaidnomore；andwithhislegsdangledovertherailing，appearedtoresumehisnewspaper。 “What’sthematter？“saidItoScipio。 “Oh，Idon’tmindifhedon’t，“Scipioanswered。“Couldn’tyu’ see？Itriedtohead’emofffromyu’allIknew，butyu’justraninamong’emyourself。Couldn’tyu’see？Kep’hinderin’andspoilin’mewithaskin’thoseurgentquestionsofyourn——why，I hadtoletyu’goyourway！Why，thatwasn’ttheordinaryplaywiththeordinarytenderfoottheytreatedyouto！Youain’tacommontenderfootthistrip。You’retheforeman’sfriend。They’vehithimthroughyou。That’sthewaytheycountit。It’smadethemencouraged。Can’tyu’see？“ Scipiostateditplainly。Andasweranbythenextstation，“Howard！“theyharshlyyelled。“Portland1256！“ Wehadbeenpassinggangsofworkmenonthetrack。AndatthatlastyelltheVirginianrose。“IreckonI’lljointhemeetingagain，“hesaid。“Thisfillingandrepairinglookslikethewashoutmighthavebeentrue。“ “Washout？“saidScipio。 “BigHornbridge，theysay——fourdaysago。“ “ThenIwishitcamethissideRawhidestation。“ “Doyu’？“drawledtheVirginian。AndsmilingatScipio，heloungedinthroughtheopendoor。 “Hebeatsme，“saidScipio，shakinghishead。“Histrailisturrublehardtoanticipate。“ Welistened。 “Workbein’doneontheroad，Isee，“theVirginianwassaying，veryfriendlyandconversational。 “Weseeittoo，“saidthevoiceofTrampas。 “Seemtobeeasin’theirgradessome。“ “Roadsdo。“ “Cheapertobuild’emthewaytheywant’ematthestart，amanwouldthink，“suggestedtheVirginian，mostfriendly。“TheregosomemoreI-talians。“ “They’reChinese，“saidTrampas。 “That’sso，“acknowledgedtheVirginian，withalaugh。 “What’shemonkeyin’atnow？“mutteredScipio。 “Withoutcheapforeignerstheycouldn’taffordallthishyehnewgradin’，“theSouthernercontinued。 “Grading！Can’tyoutellwhenaflood’sbeeneatingthebanks？“ “Why，yes，“saidtheVirginian，sweetashoney。“But’ain’tyu’ heardoftheimprovementswestofBigTimber，allthewaytoMissoula，thisseason？I’mtalkin’aboutthem。“ “Oh！Talkingaboutthem。Yes，I’veheard。“ “Goodmoney-savin’scheme，ain’tit？“saidtheVirginian。 “Lettin’afreightrundownonehillan’upthenextasfarasshe’llnowithoutsteam，an’shavin’thehilldowntothatpoint。“Nowthiswasanhonestengineeringfact。“Better’nsettin’dudessquintin’throughtelescopesandcypherin’overonepercentreductions，“theSouthernercommented。 “It’scommonsense，“assentedTrampas。“Haveyouheardthenewschemeaboutthewater-tanks？“ “Iain’trightcertain，“saidtheSoutherner。 “Imustwatchthis，“saidScipio，“orIshallbust。Hewentin，andsodidI。 TheywereallsittingoverthisdiscussionoftheNorthernPacific’srecentpolicyastobetterments，asthoughtheyweretheboardofdirectors。Pinscouldhavedropped。Onlynobodywouldhavecaredtohearapin。 “Theyusedtoputalltheirtanksatthebottomoftheirgrades，“ saidTrampas。 “Why，yu’getthewatereasieratthebottom。“ “Youcanpumpittothetop，though，“saidTrampas，growingsuperior。“Andit’scheaper。“ “Thatgetsme，“saidtheVirginian，interested。 “Trainsafterwateringcanstartdownhillnowandgetthebenefitofthegravity。It’llcutdownoperatingexpensesaheap。“ “That’scert’nlycommonsense！“exclaimedtheVirginian，absorbed。“Butain’titkindo’tardy？“ “Liveandlearn。Sotheygainedspeed，too。Highspeedonhalfthecoalthisseason，untiltheaccident。“ “Accident！“saidtheVirginian，instantly。 “YellowstoneLimited。Manfiredatenginedriver。Trainwasflyingpastthatquickthebulletbrokeeverywindowandkilledapassengeronthebackplatform。You’vebeenrunningtoomuchwitharistocrats，“finishedTrampas，andturnedonhisheel。 “Haw，hew！“begantheenthusiast，buthisneighborgrippedhimtosilence。Thiswasatriumphtooseriousfornoise。Notamutineermoved；andIfeltcold。 “Trampas，“saidtheVirginian，“Ithoughtyu’dbeafearedtotryitonme。“ Trampaswhirledround。Hishandwasathisbelt。“Afraid！“hesneered。 “Shorty！“saidScipio，sternly，andleapinguponthatyouth，tookhishalf-drawnpistolfromhim。 “I’mobligedtoyu’，“saidtheVirginiantoScipio。Trampas’shandlefthisbelt。Hethrewaslight，easylookathismen，andkeepinghisbacktotheVirginian，walkedoutontheplatformandsatonthechairwheretheVirginianhadsatsomuch。 “Don’tyoucomprehend，“saidtheVirginiantoShorty，amiably，“thatthishyehquestionhasbeendiscussedpeaceablebycivilizedcitizens？Nowyousitdownandbegood，andMr。LeMoynewillreturnyourgunwhenwe’reacrossthatbrokenbridge，iftheyhavegotitfixedforheavytrainsyet。“ “Thistrainwillbelighterwhenitgetstothatbridge，“spokeTrampas，outonhischair。 “Why，that’strue，too！“saidtheVirginian。“Maybenoneofusarecrossin’thatBigHornbridgenow，exceptme。Funnyifyu’ shouldendbypersuadin’metoquitandgotoRawhidemyself！ButIreckonI’llnot。IreckonI’llworryalongtoSunkCreek，somehow。“ “Don’tforgetI’mcookin’foryu’，“saidScipio，gruffy。 “I’mobligedtoyu’，“saidtheSoutherner。 “Youwerespeakingofajobforme，“saidShorty。 “I’mrightobliged。Butyu’see——Iain’texacklyforemanthewaythiscomesout，andmypromisesmightnotbindJudgeHenrytopaysalaries。 Apushcamethroughthetrainfromforward。WewereslowingfortheRawhidestation，andallbegantobebusyandtotalk。“Goinguptotheminesto-day？““Oh，let’sgrubfirst。““Guessit’stoolate，anyway。“Andsoforth；whiletheyrolledandropedtheirbedding，andputontheircoatswithagooddealofelbowmotion，andotherwiseshowedoff。Itwaswasted。TheVirginiandidnotknowwhatvitasgoingoninthecaboose。Hewasleaningandlookingoutahead，andScipio’spuzzledeyeneverlefthim。Andaswehaltedforthewater-tank，theSouthernerexclaimed，“They’aintgotawayyet！“asifitweregoodnewstohim。 Hemeantthedelayedtrains。Fourstalledexpresseswereinfrontofus，besidesseveralfreights。Andtwohoursmoreatleastbeforethebridgewouldbeready。 Travellersstoodandsataboutforlorn，nearthecars，outinthesage-brush，anywhere。Peopleinhatsandspurswatchedthem，andIndianchiefsofferedthempaintedbowsandarrowsandshinyhorns。 “Ireckonthempassengerswouldpreferalaigo’mutton，“saidtheVirginiantoamanloafingnearthecaboose。 “Betyourlife！“saidtheman。“Firstlothasbeenstuckherefourdays。“ “Plumbstarved，ain’tthey？“inquiredtheVirginian。 “Betyourlife！They’veeatuptheirdiningcarsandthey’veeatupthistown。“ “Well，“saidtheVirginian，lookingatthetown，“Iexpaictthedining-cyarscontainedmorenourishment。“ “Say，you’reaboutrightthere！“saidtheman。Hewalkedbesidethecabooseaswepuffedslowlyforwardfromthewater-tanktooursiding。“Finebusinesshereifwe’donlybeenready，“hecontinued。“AndtheCrowagenthaslethisIndianscomeoverfromthereservation。Therehasbeenalittlebeefbroughtin，andgame，andfish。Andbigmoneyinit，betyourlife！ThemEasternpassengershasjustbeenrobbed。IwishtIhadsomethin’tosell！“ “AnythingstartingforRawhidethisafternoon？“saidTrampas，outofthecaboosedoor。 “Notuntilmorning，“saidtheman。“Yougoingtothemines？“heresumedtotheVirginian。 “Why，“answeredtheSoutherner，slowlyandcasually，andaddressinghimselfstrictlytotheman，whileTrampas，onhisside，paidobviousinattention，“thishyehdelay，yu’see，mayunsettleourplanssome。Butit’llbeoneoftwoways，——we’reallgoin’toRawhide，orwe’reallgoin’toBillings。We’realloneparty，yu’see。“ Trampaslaughedaudiblyinsidethedoorasherejoinedhismen。 “Iethimkeepupappearances，“Iheardhimtellthem。“Itdon’thurtuswhathesaystostrangers。“ “ButI’mgoin’toeatheartyeitherway，“continuedtheVirginian。“AndIain’goin’toberobbed。I’vebeenkindo’ promisin’myselfatreatifwestoppedhyeh。“ “Town’seatcleanout，“saidtheman。 “Soyu’tellme。Butallyoufolkshasforgotonesourceofrevenuethatyu’haverightcloseby，mightyhandy。Ifyouhavegotagunnysack，I’llshowyouhowtomakesomemoney。“ “Betyourlife！“saidtheman。 “Mr。LeMoyne，“saidtheVirginian，“theoutfit’scookin’stuffisaboard，andifyou’llgetthefireready，we’lltryhowfrawgs’laigsgofried。“Hewalkedoffatonce，themanfollowinglikeadog。Insidethecabooseroseagustoflaughter。 “Frogs！“mutteredScipio。Andthenturningablankfacetome，“Frogs？“ “ColonelCyrusJoneshadthemonhisbilloffare，“Isaid。 “’FROGS’LEGSALADELMONICO。’“ “Shoo！Ididn’tgetupthatthing。TheyhaditwhenIcame。Neverlookedatit。Frogs？“Hewentdownthestepsveryslowly，withalongfrown。Reachingtheground，heshookhishead。“Thatman’strailissurelyhardtoanticipate，“hesaid。“ButImusthurryupthatfire。Forhisappearancehasgivenmeencouragement，“ Scipioconcluded，andbecamebrisk。Shortyhelpedhim，andI broughtwood。Trampasandtheotherpeoplestrolledofftothestation，acompactband。