第21章

“Wait！Ihavenottoldyoueverything。WhenItookovertheresponsibilityofbeingAllenMacGlowrie’swidow，IhadtotakeoverHERrelationsandHERhistoryasIgathereditfromthefrontiersmen。Ineverfrightenedanygrizzly——Ineverjabbedanybodywiththescissors；itwasSHEwhodidit。IneverwasamongtheInjins——Ineverhadanyfightingrelations；mypawwasaplainfarmer。IwasonlyapeacefulBlueGrassgirl——there！I neverthoughttherewasanyharminit；itseemedtokeepthemenoff，andleavemefree——untilIknewyou！AndyouknowIdidn’twantyoutobelieveit——don’tyou？“ Shehidherflushedfaceanddimplesinherhandkerchief。 “Butdidyouneverthinktheremightbeanotherwaytokeepthemenoff，andsinkthenameofMacGlowrieforever？“saidBlairinalowervoice。 “Ithinkwemustbegoingbacknow，“saidthewidowtimidly，withdrawingherhand，whichBlairhadagainmysteriouslygotpossessionofinherconfusion。 “Butwaitjustafewminuteslongertokeepmecompany，“saidBlairpleadingly。“Icameheretoseeapatient，andastheremusthavebeensomemistakeinthemessage——Imusttrytodiscoverit。“ “Oh！Isthatall？“saidthewidowquickly。“Why？“——sheflushedagainandlaughedfaintly——“Well！Iamthatpatient！Iwantedtoseeyoualonetoexplaineverything，andIcouldthinkofnootherway。I’mafraidI’vegotintothehabitofthinkingnothingofbeingsomebodyelse。“ “Iwishyouwouldletmeselectwhoyoushouldbe，“saidthedoctorboldly。 “Wereallymustgoback——tothehorses，“saidthewidow。 “Agreed——ifwewillridehometogether。“ Theydid。Andbeforetheyearwasover，althoughtheybothremained，thenameofMacGlowriehadpassedoutofLaurelSpring。 AWARDOFCOLONELSTARBOTTLE’S “Thekernelseemsalittleoffcolorto-day，“saidthebarkeeperashereplacedthewhiskeydecanter，andgazedreflectivelyafterthedepartingfigureofColonelStarbottle。 “Ididn’tnoticeanything，“saidabystander；“hepassedthetimeo’daycivilenoughtome。“ “Oh，he’salluspoliteenoughtostrangersandwimminfolkevenwhenheisthatway；it’sonlyhisoldchums，orthemezliketobethoughtso，thathe’spepperywith。Why，eztothat，afterhe’dhadthatquo’llwithhisoldpartner，JudgePratt，inoneo’themspells，Isawhimthenextminitgohalfablockoutofhiswaytodirectanentirestranger；andezforwimmin！——well，Ireckonifhe’djustgotaheaddrawnonaman，andawomanspoketohim，he’ddrophisbatteryandtakeoffhishattoher。No——yecan’tjudgebythat！“ Andperhapsinhislargerexperiencethebarkeeperwasright。Hemighthaveadded，too，thatthecolonel，inhisgeneraloutwardbearingandjauntiness，gavenoindicationofhisinternalirritation。Yethewasundoubtedlyinoneofhis“spells，“ sufferingfromamoodycynicismwhichmadehimassusceptibleofaffrontashewasdangerousinresentment。 Luckily，onthisparticularmorninghereachedhisofficeandenteredhisprivateroomwithoutanyseriousrencontre。Hereheopenedhisdesk，andarranginghispapers，heatoncesettoworkwithgrimpersistency。HehadnotbeenoccupiedformanyminutesbeforethedooropenedtoMr。Pyecroft——oneofafirmofattorneyswhoundertookthecolonel’sofficework。 “Iseeyouareearlytowork，Colonel，“saidMr。Pyecroftcheerfully。 “Yousee，sir，“saidthecolonel，correctinghimwithaslowdeliberationthatbodednogood——“youseeaSoutherngentleman—— blankit！——whohasstoodattheheadofhisprofessionforthirty- fiveyears，obligedtoworklikeablanknigger，sir，inthedirtysquabblesofpsalm-singingYankeetraders，insteadof——er—— attendingtotheaffairsof——er——legislation！“ “Butyoumanagetogetprettygoodfeesoutofit——Colonel？“ continuedPyecroft，withalaugh。 “Fees，sir！Filthyshekels！andbarelyenoughtosatisfyadebtofhonorwithonehand，andwipeoutatavernscorefortheentertainmentof——er——afewladyfriendswiththeother！“ Thisallusiontohislossesatpoker，aswellasanoystersuppergiventothetwoprincipalactressesofthe“NorthStarTroupe，“ thenperforminginthetown，convincedMr。Pyecroftthatthecolonelwasinoneofhis“moods，“andhechangedthesubject。 “ThatremindsmeofalittlejokethathappenedinSacramentolastweek。YourememberDickStannard，whodiedayearago——oneofyourfriends？“ “Ihaveyettolearn，“interruptedthecolonel，withthesamedeadlydeliberation，“whatrightHE——orANYBODY——hadtointimatethatheheldsucharelationshipwithme。AmItounderstand，sir，thathe——er——publiclyboastedofit？“ “Don’tknow！“resumedPyecrofthastily；“butitdon’tmatter，forifhewasn’tafrienditonlymakesthejokebigger。Well，hiswidowdidn’tsurvivehimlong，butdiedintheStatest’otherday，leavin’thepropertyinSacramento——worthaboutthreethousanddollars——toherlittlegirl，whoisatschoolatSantaClara。Thequestionofguardianshipcameup，anditappearsthatthewidow—— whoonlyknewyouthroughherhusband——had，sometimebeforeherdeath，mentionedYOURnameinthatconnection！He！he！“ “What！“saidColonelStarbottle，startingup。 “Holdon！“saidPyecrofthilariously。“Thatisn’tall！NeithertheexecutorsnortheprobatejudgeknewyoufromAdam，andtheSacramentobar，scentingagoodjoke，laylowandsaidnothing。 Thentheoldfooljudgesaidthat’asyouappearedtobealawyer，amanofmatureyears，andafriendofthefamily，youwereaneminentlyfitperson，andoughttobecommunicatedwith’——youknowhishifalutin’style。Nobodysaysanything。Sothatthenextthingyou’llknowyou’llgetaletterfromthatexecutoraskingyoutolookafterthatkid。Ha！ha！Theboyssaidtheycouldfancytheysawyoutrottingaroundwithatenyearoldgirlholdingontoyourhand，andtheSenoritaDoloresorMissBellamontlookingon！ Oryourbeingcalledawayfromapokerdealsomenightbytheinfant，singing，’Gardy，deargardy，comehomewithmenow，theclockinthesteeplestrikesone！’Andthinkofthatoldfooljudgenotknowingyou！Ha！ha！“ AstudyofColonelStarbottle’sfaceduringthisspeechwouldhavepuzzledabetterphysiognomistthanMr。Pyecroft。Hisfirstlookofastonishmentgavewaytoanempurpledconfusion，fromwhichasingleshortSilenus-likechuckleescaped，butthisquicklychangedagainintoadullcopperyindignation，and，asPyecroft’slaughcontinued，fadedoutintoasallowrigidityinwhichhismurkyeyesaloneseemedtokeepwhatwasleftofhisprevioushighcolor。Butwhatwasmoresingular，inspiteofhisenforcedcalm，somethingofhishabitualold-fashionedloftinessandoratoricalexaltationappearedtobereturningtohimasheplacedhishandonhisinflatedbreastandfacedPyceroft。 “TheignoranceoftheexecutorofMrs。Stannardandthe——er—— probatejudge，“hebeganslowly，“maybepardonable，Mr。Pyecroft，sincehisHonorwouldimplythat，althoughunknowntoHIM personally，Iamatleastamicuscuriaeinthisquestionof——er—— guardianship。ButIamgrieved——indeedImaysayshocked——Mr。 Pyecroft，thatthe——er——lastsacredtrustofadyingwidow——perhapstheholiesttrustthatcanbeconceivedbyman——thecareandwelfareofherhelplessorphanedgirl——shouldbemadethesubjectofmirth，sir，byyourselfandthemembersoftheSacramentobar！ Ishallnotallude，sir，tomyownfeelingsinregardtoDickStannard，oneofmymostcherishedfriends，“continuedthecolonel，inavoicechargedwithemotion，“butIcanconceiveofnonoblertrustlaiduponthealtaroffriendshipthanthecareandguidanceofhisorphanedgirl！Andif，asyoutellme，theutterlyinadequatesumofthreethousanddollarsisallthatisleftforhermaintenancethroughlife，theselectionofaguardiansufficientlydevotedtothefamilytobewillingtoaugmentthatpittanceoutofhisownmeansfromtimetotimewouldseemtobemostimportant。“ BeforetheastoundedPyecroftcouldrecoverhimself，ColonelStarbottleleanedbackinhischair，halfclosinghiseyes，andabandonedhimself，quiteafterhisoldmanner，tooneofhisdreamyreminiscences。 “PoorDickStannard！Ihaveavividrecollection，sir，ofdrivingoutwithhimontheShellRoadatNewOrleansin’54，andofhissaying，’Star’——theonlyman，sir，whoeverabbreviatedmyname—— ’Star，ifanythinghappenstomeorher，lookafterourchild！Itwasduringthatverydrive，sir，that，throughhisincautiousneglecttofortifyhimselfagainsttheswampymalariabyaglassofstraightBourbonwithapinchofbarkinit，hecaughtthatfeverwhichunderminedhisconstitution。Thankyou，Mr。Pyecroft，for—— er——recallingthecircumstance。Ishall，“continuedthecolonel，suddenlyabandoningreminiscence，sittingup，andarranginghispapers，“lookforwardwithgreatinterestto——er——letterfromtheexecutor。“ ThenextdayitwasuniversallyunderstoodthatColonelStarbottlehadbeenappointedguardianofPansyStannardbytheprobatejudgeofSacramento。 ThereareofrecordtwodistinctaccountsofColonelStarbottle’sfirstmeetingwithhiswardafterhisappointmentasherguardian。 One，givenbyhimself，varyingslightlyattimes，butalwaysbearingunvaryingcomplimenttothegrace，beauty，andsingularaccomplishmentsofthisapparentlygiftedchild，wasneverthelesscharacterizedmorebyvague，dreamyreminiscencesofthedepartedparentsthanbyanypersonalexperienceofthedaughter。