第41章

“Letmecarryyourflowers，“saidBoyle。Hehadnoticedthatshewasfindingsomedifficultyinholdingupherskirtandthenosegayatthesametime。 “No！No！“shesaidinhurriedhorroratthisnewsuggestionoftheircompanionship。“Thankyouverymuch——butthey’rereallynotworthkeeping——Iamgoingtothrowthemaway。There！“sheadded，tossingthemimpatientlyinthedust。 ButshehadnotreckonedonBoyle’sperfectgood-humor。Thatgentleidiotstoopeddown，actuallygatheredthemupagain，andwasfollowing！Shehurriedon；ifshecouldonlygettothecoachfirst，ignoringhim！Butavulgarmanlikethatwouldbesuretohandthemtoherwithsomejoke！Thenshelaggedagain——shewasgettingtired，andshecouldseenosignofthecoach。Thedrummer，too，wasalsolaggingbehind——atarespectfuldistance，likeagroomoroneofherfather’stroopers。Neverthelessthisdidnotputherinamuchbetterhumor，andhaltinguntilhecameabreastofher，shesaidimpatiently:“Idon’tseewhyMr。Fostershouldthinkitnecessarytosendanyonetolookafterme。“ “Hedidn’t，“returnedBoylesimply。“Igotdowntopickupsomething。“ “Topickupsomething？“shereturnedincredulously。 “Yes。THAT。“Heheldoutthecard。“It’sthecardofourfirm。“ MissCantiresmiledironically。“Youarecertainlydevotedtoyourbusiness。“ “Well，yes，“returnedBoylegood-humoredly。“YouseeIreckonitdon’tpaytodoanythinghalfway。AndwhateverIdo，Imeantokeepmyeyesaboutme。“Inspiteofherprejudice，MissCantirecouldseethatthesenecessaryorgans，ifratherflippant，werehonest。“Yes，Isupposethereisn’tmuchonthatIdon’ttakein。 Whynow，MissCantire，there’sthatfancydustcloakyou’rewearing——itisn’tinourlineofgoods——norinanybody’slinewestofChicago；itcamefromBostonorNewYork，andwasmadeforhomeconsumption！Butyourhat——andmightyprettyitistoo，asYOU’VE fixeditup——isonlyregularDunstablestock，whichwecouldputdownatPineBarrensforfourandahalfcentsapiece，net。YetI supposeyoupaidnearlytwenty-fivecentsforitattheAgency！“ Oddlyenoughthiscoolappraisementofhercostumedidnotincensetheyoungladyasitoughttohavedone。Onthecontrary，forsomeoccultfemininereason，itamusedandinterestedher。Itwouldbesuchagoodstorytotellherfriendsofa“drummer’s“ideaofgallantry；andtoteasetheflirtatiousyoungWestPointerwhohadjustjoined。Andtheappraisementwastruthful——MajorCantirehadonlyhispay——andMissCantirehadbeenobligedtoselectthathatfromthegovernmentstores。 “Areyouinthehabitofgivingthisinformationtoladiesyoumeetintraveling？“sheasked。 “Well，no！“answeredBoyle——“forthat’sjustwhereyouhavetokeepyoureyesopen。Mostof’emwouldn’tlikeit，andit’snouseaggravatingapossiblecustomer。Butyouarenotthatkind。“ MissCantirewassilent。Sheknewshewasnotofthatkind，butshedidnotrequirehisvulgarindorsement。Shepushedonforsomemomentsalone，whensuddenlyhehailedher。Sheturnedimpatiently。Hewascarefullyexaminingtheroadonbothsides。 “Wehaveeitherlostourway，“hesaid，rejoiningher，“orthecoachhasturnedoffsomewhere。Thesetracksarenotfresh，andastheyareallgoingthesameway，theyweremadebytheupcoachlastnight。They’renotOURtracks；Ithoughtitstrangewehadn’tsightedthecoachbythistime。“ “Andthen“——saidMissCantireimpatiently。 “Wemustturnbackuntilwefindthemagain。“ Theyoungladyfrowned。“Whynotkeeponuntilwegettothetop？“ shesaidpettishly。“I’msureIshall。“Shestoppedsuddenlyasshecaughtsightofhisgravefaceandkeen，observanteyes。“Whycan’twegoonasweare？“ “BecauseweareexpectedtocomebacktotheCOACH——andnottothesummitmerely。Thesearethe’orders，’andyouknowyouareasoldier’sdaughter！“Helaughedashespoke，buttherewasacertainquietdeliberationinhismannerthatimpressedher。Whenheadded，afterapause，“Wemustgobackandfindwherethetracksturnedoff，“sheobeyedwithoutaword。 Theywalkedforsometime，eagerlysearchingforsignsofthemissingvehicle。AcuriousinterestandanewrelianceinBoyle’sjudgmentobliteratedherpreviousannoyance，andmadehermorenatural。Sheranaheadofhimwithyouthfuleagerness，examiningtheground，followingafalsecluewithgreatanimation，andconfessingherdefeatwithacharminglaugh。Anditwasshewho，afterretracingtheirstepsfortenminutes，foundthedivergingtrackwithagirlishcryoftriumph。Boyle，whohadfollowedhermovementsquiteasinterestedlyasherdiscovery，lookedalittlegraveashenoticedthedeepindentationsmadebythestrugglinghorses。MissCantiredetectedthechangeinhisface；tenminutesbeforeshewouldneverhaveobservedit。“Isupposewehadbetterfollowthenewtrack，“shesaidinquiringly，asheseemedtohesitate。 “Certainly，“hesaidquickly，asifcomingtoapromptdecision。 “Thatissafest。“ “Whatdoyouthinkhashappened？Thegroundlooksverymuchcutup，“shesaidinaconfidentialtone，asnewtoherasherpreviousobservationofhim。 “Ahorsehasprobablystumbledandthey’vetakentheoldtrailaslessdifficult，“saidBoylepromptly。Inhishearthedidnotbelieveit，yetheknewthatifanythingserioushadthreatenedthemthecoachwouldhavewaitedintheroad。“It’saneasiertrailforus，thoughIsupposeit’salittlelonger，“headdedpresently。 “Youtakeeverythingsogood-humoredly，Mr。Boyle，“shesaidafterapause。 “It’sthewaytodobusiness，MissCantire，“hesaid。“Amaninmylinehastocultivateit。“ Shewishedhehadn’tsaidthat，but，nevertheless，shereturnedalittlearchly:“Butyouhaven’tanybusinesswiththestagecompanynorwithME，althoughIadmitIintendtogetmyDunstablehereafterfromyourfirmatthewholesaleprices。“ Beforehecouldreply，thedetonationoftwogunshots，softenedbydistance，floateddownfromtheridgeabovethem。“There！“saidMissCantireeagerly。“Doyouhearthat？“ Hisfacewasturnedtowardsthedistantridge，butreallythatshemightnotquestionhiseyes。Shecontinuedwithanimation:“That’sfromthecoach——toguideus——don’tyousee？“ “Yes，“hereturned，withaquicklaugh，“anditsayshurryup—— mightyquick——we’retiredwaiting——sowe’dbetterpushon。“ “Whydon’tyouanswerbackwithyourrevolver？“sheasked。 “Haven’tgotone，“hesaid。 “Haven’tgotone？“sherepeatedingenuinesurprise。“Ithoughtyougentlemenwhoaretravelingalwayscarriedone。Perhapsit’sinconsistentwithyourgospelofgood-humor。“ “That’sjustit，MissCantire，“hesaidwithalaugh。“You’vehitit。“ “Why，“shesaidhesitatingly，“evenIhaveaderringer——averylittleone，youknow，whichIcarryinmyreticule。CaptainRichardsgaveittome。“Sheopenedherreticuleandshowedaprettyivory-handledpistol。Thelookofjoyfulsurprisewhichcameintohisfacechangedquicklyasshecockeditandlifteditintotheair。Heseizedherarmquickly。 “No，pleasedon’t，youmightwantit——Imeanthereportwon’tcarryfarenough。It’saveryusefullittlething，forallthat，butit’sonlyeffectiveatclosequarters。“Hekeptthepistolinhishandastheywalkedon。ButMissCantirenoticedthis，alsohisevidentsatisfactionwhenshehadatfirstproducedit，andhisconcernwhenshewasabouttodischargeituselessly。Shewasaclevergirl，andafrankonetothoseshewasinclinedtotrust。 Andshebegantotrustthisstranger。Asmilestolealongherovalcheek。 “Ireallybelieveyou’reafraidofsomething，Mr。Boyle，“shesaid，withoutlookingup。“Whatisit？Youhaven’tgotthatIndianscaretoo？“ Boylehadnofalseshame。“IthinkIhave，“hereturned，withequalfrankness。“Yousee，Idon’tunderstandIndiansaswellasyou——andFoster。“ “Well，youtakemywordandFoster’sthatthereisnottheleastdangerfromthem。Aboutheretheyaremerelygrown-upchildren，cruelanddestructiveasmostchildrenare；buttheyknowtheirmastersbythistime，andtheolddaysofpromiscuousscalpingareover。Theonlyotherchildishpropensitytheykeepisthieving。 Eventhentheyonlystealwhattheyactuallywant，——horses，guns，andpowder。Acoachcangowhereanammunitionoranemigrantwagoncan’t。SoyourtrunkofsamplesisquitesafewithFoster。“ Boyledidnotthinkitnecessarytoprotest。Perhapshewasthinkingofsomethingelse。 “I’veamind，“shewentonslyly，“totellyousomethingmore。 Confidenceforconfidence:asyou’vetoldmeYOURtradesecrets，I’lltellyouoneofOURS。BeforeweleftPineBarrens，myfatherorderedasmallescortofcavalrymentobeinreadinesstojointhatcoachifthescouts，whowerewatching，thoughtitnecessary。 So，yousee，I’msomethingofafraudasregardsmyreputationforcourage。“ “Thatdoesn’tfollow，“saidBoyleadmiringly，“foryourfathermusthavethoughttherewassomedanger，orhewouldn’thavetakenthatprecaution。“ “Oh，itwasn’tforme，“saidtheyounggirlquickly。 “Notforyou？“repeatedBoyle。