“Well,mygracious!“saidthefourth,beatinghisknee。
“Why,yes,“observedtheVirginian,unexpectedly;“theytellmethataiggsthereain’tliabletobesorottenasyu’llstrike’eminthiscountry。“
Noneofthemhadareplyforthis,andNewYorkwasabandoned。
ForsomereasonIfeltmuchbetter。
Itwasanewlinetheyadoptednext,ledoffbyTrampas。
“Goingtotheexcitement?“heinquired,selectingShorty。
“Excitement?“saidShorty,lookingup。
“GoingtoRawhide?“Trampasrepeated。AndallwatchedShorty。
“Why,I’malladriftmissin’thatexpress,“saidShorty。
“MaybeIcangiveyouemployment,“suggestedtheVirginian。“Iamtakinganoutfitacrossthebasin。“
“You’llfindmostfolksgoingtoRawhide,ifyourelookingforcompany,“pursuedTrampas,fishingforarecruit。“
“HowaboutRawhide,anyway?“saidScipio,skillfullydeflectingthismissionarywork。“Aretheytakingmuchmineralout?Haveyu’
seenanyoftherock?“
“Rock?“brokeintheenthusiastwhohadbeatenhisknee。“There!“
Andhebroughtsomefromhispocket。
“You’realwaysshowingyourrock,“saidTrampas,sulkily;forScipionowheldtheconversation,andShortyreturnedsafelytohisdozing“H’m!“wentScipioattherock。Heturneditbackandforthinhishand,lookingitover;hechuckedandcaughtitslightinglyintheair,andhandeditback。“Porphyry,Isee。“Thatwashisonlywordaboutit。Hesaiditcheerily。Heleftnoroomfordiscussion。Youcouldnotdamnathingworse。“EverbeeninSantaRita?“pursuedScipio,whiletheenthusiastslowlypushedhisrockbackintohispocket。“That’sdowninNewMexico。EverbeentoGlobe,Arizona?“AndScipiotalkedawayaboutthemineshehadknown。TherewasnogettingatShortyanymorethatevening。
Trampaswasfoiledofhisfish,oroflearninghowthefish’sheartlay。AndbymorningShortyhadbeencarefullyinstructedtochangehismindaboutonceanhour。Thisisapttodiscourageallbutverysuperiormissionaries。AndItooescapedfortherestofthisnight。AtGlendivewehadadimsupper,andIboughtsomeblankets;andafterthatitwaslate,andsleepoccupiedtheattentionofusall。
Welayalongtheshelvesofthecaboose,apeacefulsightI
shouldthink,inthatsmoothlytrundlingcradle。Isleptalmostimmediately,sotiredthatnotevenourstopsoranythingelsewakedme,saveonce,whentheairIwasbreathinggrewsuddenlypure,andIroused。SittinginthedoorwasthelonelyfigureoftheVirginian。Heleanedinsilentcontemplationoftheoccasionalmoon,andbeneathittheYellowstone’sswiftripples。
Onthecabooseshelvestheotherssleptsoundandstill,eachstretchedorcoiledashehadfirstputhimself。Theywerenotuntrustworthytolookat,itseemedtome——exceptTrampas。Youwouldhavesaidtherestofthatyounghumanitywasaverageroughmaleblood,merelyneedingtobetoldtheproperthingsattherighttime;andonebigbunchystockingoftheenthusiaststuckoutofhisblanket,solemnandinnocent,andIlaughedatit。
Therewasalightsoundbythedoor,andIfoundtheVirginian’seyeonme。Findingwhoitwas,henoddedandmotionedwithhishandtogotosleep。AndthisIdidwithhiminmysight,stillleaningintheopendoor,throughwhichcametheinterruptedmoonandtheswimmingreachesoftheYellowstone。
Ithashappenedtoyou,hasitnot,towakeinthemorningandwonderforawhilewhereonearthyouare?ThusIcamehalftolifeinthecaboose,hearingvoices,butnottheactualwordsatfirst。
Butpresently,“Hathaway!“saidsomeonemoreclearly。“Portland1291!“
Thismadenospecialstirinmyintelligence,andIdrowsedoffagaintothepleasantrhythmofthewheels。Ihelittleshockofstoppingnextbroughtmeto,somewhat,withthevoicesstillroundme;andwhenwewereagaininmotion,Iheard:“Rosebud!
Portland1279!“Thesefiguresjarredmeawake,andIsaid,“Itwas1291before,“andsatupinmyblankets。
Thegreetingtheyvouchsafedandthesightofthemclusteringexpressionlessinthecaboosebroughtlastevening’suncomfortablememorybacktome。Ournextstoprevealedhowthingsweregoingto-day。
“Forsythe,“oneofthemreadonthestation。“Portland1266。“
Theywerecountingthelesseningdistancewestward。Thiswastheundercurrentofwar。ItbrokeonmeasIprocuredfreshwateratForsytheandmadesometoiletintheirstolidpresence。WeweredrawingnearertheRawhidestation——thepoint,Imean,whereyoulefttherailwayforthenewmines。NowRawhidestationlaythissideofBillings。Thebroadpathofdesertionwouldopenreadyfortheirfeetwhenthenarrowpathtodutyand’SunkCreekwasstillsomefiftymilesmoretowait。HerewasTrampas’sgreatstrength;heneedmakenomovemeanwhile,butlielowfortheimmediatetemptationtofrontandwaylaythemandwinhisbattleoverthedeputyforeman。ButtheVirginianseemedtofindnothingsaveenjoymentinthissunnySeptembermorning,andatehisbreakfastatForsytheserenely。
Thatmealdoneandthatstationgone,ourcaboosetookupagainitseasytrundlebythebanksoftheYellowstone。Themutineerssatforawhiledigestinginidleness。
“What’syourscar?“inquiredoneatlengthinspectingcasuallytheneckofhisneighbor。
“Foolishness,“theotheranswered。
“Yourn?“
“Mine。“
“Well,Idon’tknowbutIprefertohavemyselftothankforathing,“saidthefirst。
“Iwasdisplayingmyself,“continuedthesecond。“Onedaylastsummeritwas。WecomeonabigsnakebyTorreyCreekcorral。TheboysgotbettingprettylivelythatIdassentmakemywordgoodastodealingwithhim,soIlopedmycayusefulltiltbyMr。
Snake,andswungdownandcatchedhimupbythetailfromtheground,andcrackedhimsameasawhip,andsnappedhisheadoff。
You’vesawitdone?“hesaidtotheaudience。
Theaudiencenoddedwearily。
“Butthelooseheadflewaginme,andthefangscaught。Iwasprettysickforawhile。“
“Itdon’tpaytobeclumsy,“saidthefirstman。“Ifyou’dsnappedthesnakeawayfromyu’insteadoftowardyu’,itsheadwouldhavewhirledoffintothebrush,sameastheydowithme。“
“Howlikeaknife-cutyourscarlooks!“saidI。
“Don’tit?“saidthesnake-snapper。“There’smanythatgetsfooledbyit。“
“Anantelopeknowsasnakeishisenemy,“saidanothertome。
“Everseenabuckcirclingroundandroundarattler?“
“Ihavealwayswantedtoseethat,“saidI,heartily。ForthisI
knewtobearespectablepieceoftruth。
“It’sworthseeing,“themanwenton。“Afterthebuckgetsclosein,hegivesanalmightyjumpupintheair,anddowncomeshisfourhoofsinabunchrightontopofMr。Snake。Cutshimalltohash。Nowyoutellmehowthebuckknowsthat。“
OfcourseIcouldnottellhim。Andagainwesatinsilenceforawhile——friendliersilence,Ithought。
“Askunk’llkillyu’worsethanasnakebite,“saidanother,presently。“No,Idon’tmeanthatway,“headded。ForIhadsmiled。“ThereisabrownskunkdowninArkansaw。Kindofprairie-dogbrown。Littlerthanourvariety,heis。Andheismadthewholeyearround,sameasadoggets。OnlythedoghasaspellanddiesbutthishereArkansawskunkismadrightalong,anditdon’tseemtointerferewithhisbusinessinotherrespects。Well,supposeyou’recampingout,andsupposeit’sahotnight,oryou’reinahurry,andyou’vemadecamplate,oranywayyouhaven’tgotinsideanytent,butyouhavejustbeddeddownintheopen。Skunkcomestravellingalongandwalksonyourblankets。You’rewarm。Helikesthat,sameasacatdoes。Andhetrampswithpleasureandcomfort,sameasacat。Andyoumove。
Yougetbit,that’sall。Andyoudieofhydrophobia。Askanybody。“
“Mostextraordinary!“saidI。“Butdidyoueverseeapersondiefromthis?“
“No,sir。Neverhappenedto。MycousinatBaldKnobdid。“
“Died?“
“No,sir。Sawaman。“
“Buthowdoyouknowthey’renotsickskunks?“
“No,sir!They’rewellskunks。Wellasanything。You’llnotmeetskunksinanystateoftheUnionmorerobustthantheminArkansaw。Andthick。“
“That’sawfultrue,“sighedanother。“Ihaveburiedhundredsofdollars’worthofclothesinArkansaw。“
“Whydidn’tyu’travelinaspongebag?“inquiredScipio。Andthisbroughtaslightsilence。
“Speakin’ofbites,“spokeupanewman,“how’sthat?“Hehelduphisthumb。
“My!“breathedScipio。“Musthavebeenalion。“
Themanworeawoundedlook。“Iwashuntin’owleggsforabotanistfromBoston,“heexplainedtome。
“Chiropodist,weren’the?“saidScipio。“Ormaybeasonnabulator?“
“No,honest,“protestedthemanwiththethumb;sothatIwassorryforhim,andbeggedhimtogoon。
“I’lllistentoyou,“Iassuredhim。AndIwonderedwilythispolitenessofmineshouldthrowoneortwoofthemintostifledmirth。Scipio,ontheotherhand,gavemeadisgustedlookandsatbacksullenlyforamoment,andthentookhimselfoutontheplatform,wheretheVirginianwaslounging。
“Theyoungfellerworeknee-pantsandeversothickspectacleswithahalf-mooncutin’em,“resumedthenarrator,“andhecarriedatinboxstrungtoastrapItookforhislunchtillitflewopenonhimandahorntoadhustledout。ThenIwassurehewasabotanist——orwhateveryu’saythey’recalled。Well,hewouldhaveowleggs——themlittleprairie-owlthatsomeclaimcanturntheirheadcleanaroundandkeepa-watchin’yu’,onlythat’snonsense。Wewasridin’throughthatprairie-dogtown,usedtobeontheflatjustafteryu’crossedthesouthforkofPowderRiverontheBuffalotrail,andIsaidI’ddiganowlnestoutforhimifhewaswillingtocamptillI’ddugit。Iwantedtoknowaboutthemowlssomemyself——iftheydidlivewiththedogsandsnakes,yu’know,“hebrokeoff,appealingtome。“Oh,yes,“Itoldhimeagerly。
“Sowhilethebotanistwentglarin’aroundthetownwithhisglassestoseeifhecouldspotaprairie-dogandanowlusin’
thesamehole,Iwasdiggin’inaholeI’dseenanowlrundown。
Andthat’swhatIgot。“Hehelduphisthumbagain。
“Thesnake!“Iexclaimed。
“Yes,sir。Mr。Rattlerwaskeepin’housethatday。Tookmerightthere。Ihauledhimoutoftheholehangin’tome。Eightrattles。“
“Eight!“saidI。“Abigone。“
“Yes,sir。ThoughtIwasdead。Butthewoman——“
“Thewoman?“saidI。