“Ahundredamonth!“saidtheenthusiast。Andbusycalculationsbegantoariseamongthem。
“Itwenttofiftypercent,“pursuedtheVirginian,“whenNewYorkandPhiladelphiagottobiddin’agaynsteachother。Bothcitieshadsignsallover’emclaimingtofurnishtheTularefrawg。Andbothhad’emallright。Andsameascattletrains,yu’dseefrawgtrainstearingacrosstArizona——bigglasstankswithwireover’em——throughtoNewYork,an’thefrawgsstarin’
out。“
“Why,George,“whisperedawoman’svoicebehindme,“he’smerelydeceivingthem!He’smerelymakingthatstuffupoutofhishead。“
“Yes,mydear,that’smerelywhathe’sdoing。“
“Well,Idon’tseewhyyouimaginedIshouldcareforthis。I
thinkI’llgoback。“
“Betterseeitout,Daisy。Thisbeatsthegeysersoranythingwe’relikelytofindintheYellowstone。“
“ThenIwishwehadgonetoBarHarborasusual,“saidthelady,andshereturnedtoherPullman。
Butherhusbandstayed。Indeed,themalecrowdnowwasagoodlysighttosee,howthemenedgedclose,drawnbyacommontie。
Theirdifferentkindsoffeettoldthestrengthofthebond——yellowsleeping-carslippersplantedmiscellaneousandmotionlessnearapairofMexicanspurs。AlleyeswatchedtheVirginianandgavehimtheirentiresympathy。Thoughtheycouldnotknowhismotiveforit,whathewasdoinghadfallenaslightuponthem——allexcepttheexcitedcalculators。ThesewereloudlymakingtheirfortunesatbothRawhideandTulare,druggedbytheirsatanicallyarousedhopesofgold,heedlessoftheslippersandthespurs。Hadamangivenanysigntowarnthem,Ithinkhewouldhavebeenlynched。EventheIndianchiefshadcometoseeintheirshowwarbonnetsandblankets。Theynaturallyunderstoodnothingofit,yetmagneticallyknewthattheVirginianwasthegreatman。Andtheywatchedhimwithapproval。Hesatbythefirewiththefrying-pan,lookinghisdailyself——engagingandsaturnine。AndnowasTrampasdeclaredticketstoCaliforniawouldbedearandRawhidehadbettercomefirst,theSouthernerletloosehisheaven-bornimagination。
“There’sabetterreasonforRawhidethantickets,Trampas,“saidhe。“IsaiditwastoolateforTulare。“
“Iheardyou,“saidTrampas。“Opinionsmaydiffer。YouandI
don’tthinkalikeonseveralpoints。
“Gawd,Trampas!“saidtheVirginian,“d’yu’reckonI’dberottinghyehonfortydollarsifTularewaslikeitusedtobe?
Tulareisbroke。“
“Whatbrokeit?Yourleaving?“
“Revengebrokeit,anddisease,“saidtheVirginian,strikingthefrying-panonhisknee,forthefrogswereallgone。Atthoseluridwordstheiruntamedchildmindstookfire,andtheydrewroundhimagaintohearataleofblood。Thecrowdseemedtoleannearer。
Butforashortmomentitthreatenedtobespoiled。Apassengercamealong,demandinginanimportantvoice,“Wherearethesefrogs?“HewasaprominentNewYorkafter-dinnerspeaker,theywhisperedme,andoutforaholidayinhisprivatecar。ReachingusandwalkingtotheVirginian,hesaidcheerily,“Howmuchdoyouwantforyourfrogs,myfriend?“
“Yougotafriendhyeh?“saidtheVirginian。“That’sgood,foryu’needcaretakenofyu’。“Andtheprominentafter-dinnerspeakerdidnotfurtherdiscommodeus。
“That’sworthmytrip,“whisperedaNewYorkpassengertome。
“Yes,itwasacaseofrevenge,“resumedtheVirginian,“anddisease。TherewasamannamedSayntAugustinegotrunoutofDomingo,whichisaDagoisland。HecometoPhiladelphia,an’hewasdeadbroke。ButSayntAugustinewasaliveman,an’hesawPhiladelphiawasfullo’Quakersthatdressedplainan’eathumdrum。Sohestartedcookin’Domingowayfor’em,an’theycaughtrightahold。Terrapin,hegave’em,an’croakeets,an’
he’dusefortychickenstomakeabrothhecalledconsommay。An’
hegotrich,andPhiladelphiagotwellknown,an’DelmonicoinNewYorkhegotjealous。Hewasthecookthathadthesay-soinNewYork。“
“WasDelmonicooneofthemI-talians?“inquiredafascinatedmutineer。
“Idon’tknow。Butheactedlikeone。Lorenzowashisfrontname。
Heaimedtocut——“
“Domingo’sthroat?“breathedtheenthusiast。“AimedtocutawaythetradefromSayntAugustinean’putPhiladelphiabackwherehethoughtshebelonged。Frawgswasthefashionableragethen。Theseforeigncookssetthefashionineatin’,sameasforeigndressmakersdowomen’sclothes。Bothcitieswascatchin’andswallowin’allthefrawgsTularecouldthrowat’em。Sohe——“
“Lorenzo?“saidtheenthusiast。
“Yes,LorenzoDelmonico。Hebidadollaratankhigher。An’SayntAugustineraisedhimfiftycents。An’LorenzoraisedhimadollarAn’SayntAugustineshovedherupthreeLorenzohedidn’texpectPhiladelphiawouldgothathigh,andhegothotinthecollar,an’flewroundhiskitcheninNewYork,an’claimedhe’dtwistSayntAugustine’sDomingotailforhimandcrackhisossifiedsystem。Lorenzoraisedhislanguagetoahightemperature,theysay。An’thenquitesuddenoffhestartsforTulare。HebuysticketsovertheSantaFe,andhegoesa-fannin’anda-foggin’。
But,gentlemen,hush!TheverysamedaySayntAugustinehetearsoutofPhiladelphia。Hetravelledbythewayo’Washington,an’
outhecomesa-fannin’an’a-foggin’overtheSouthernPacific。
OfcourseTularedidn’tknownothin’ofthis。Allitknowedwashowthefrawgmarketwasonsoarin’wings,anditvitasfeelin’
likeaflighto’rawckets。Ifonlythere’dbeensomepreparation,——atelegramorsomething,——thedisasterwouldneverhaveoccurred。ButLorenzoandSayntAugustinewasthatabsorbedwatchin’eachother——for,yu’see,theSantaFeandtheSouthernPacificcometogetheratMojave,an’thetwocookstravelledamatteroftwohundredan’tenmilesinthesamecyar——theyneverthoughtaboutatelegram。Andwhentheyarruv,breathless,an’
startedintoscreechin’whatthey’dgiveforthemonopoly,why,themunsuspectin’Tulareboysgotamusedat’em。Ineverheardjustalltheydone,buttheyhadLorenzosingin’anddancin’,whileSayntAugustineplayedthefiddleforhim。AndoneofLorenzo’sheelsdidgetatriflegrazed。Well,themtwocooksquitthatranchwithoutdisclosin’theiridentity,andsoonastheygottoasafedistancetheysworeeternalfriendship,intheirexcitableforeignway。AndtheywenthomeovertheUnionPacific,sharingthesamestateroom。Theirrevengekilledfrawgs。
Thedisease——“
“Howkilledfrogs?“demandedTrampas。
“Justkilled’em。DelmonicoandSayntAugustinewipedfrawgsofftheslateoffashion。NotabankerinFifthAvenue’lltouchonenowifanotherbanker’saroundwatchin’him。Andifeveryu’seeamanthathideshisfeetan’won’ttakeoffhissocksincompany,hehasworkedinthenTulareswampsan’gotthedisease。
Catchhimwadin’,andyu’llfindhe’sweb-footed。Frawgsaredead,Trampas,andsoareyou。“
“Riseup,liars,andsaluteyourking!“yelledScipio。“Oh,I’minlovewithyou!“AndhethrewhisarmsroundtheVirginian。
“Letmeshakehandswithyou,“saidthetraveller,whohadfailedtointeresthiswifeinthesethings。“IwishIwasgoingtohavemoreofyourcompany。“
“Thankye’,seh,“saidtheVirginian。
Otherpassengersgreetedhim,andtheIndianchiefscame,saying,“How!“becausetheyfollowedtheirfeelingswithoutunderstanding。
“Don’tshowsohumbled,boys,“saidthedeputyforemantohismostsheepishcrew。“ThesegentlemenfromtheEasthavebeenenjoyingyu’some,Iknow。Butthinkwhatawearywaittheyhavehadhyeh。Andyouinsistedonplayingthegamewithmethisway,yu’see。Whatoutletdidyu’giveme?Didn’tIhaveittodo?AndI’lltellyu’onethingforyourconsolation:whenIgottothemiddleofthefrawgsI’mostbelieveditmyself。“AndhelaughedoutthefirstlaughIhadheardhimgive。
Theenthusiastcameupandshookhands。Thatledoff,andtherestfollowed,withTrampasattheend。Thetidewastoostrongforhim。Hewasnotagracefulloser;buthegotthroughthis,andtheVirginianeasedhimdownbytreatinghimpreciselyliketheothers——apparently。Possiblythesupreme——themostAmerican——momentofallwaswhenwordcamethatthebridgewasopen,andthePullmantrains,withnoiseandtriumph,begantomovewestwardatlast。Everyonewavedfarewelltoeveryone,craningfromstepsandwindows,sothatthecarstwinkledwithhilarity;andintwentyminutesthewholeprocessioninfronthadmoved,andourturncame。
“LastchanceforRawhide,“saidtheVirginian。
“LastchanceforSunkCreek,“saidareconstructedmutineer,andallsprangaboard。Therewasnoquestionwhohadwonhisspursnow。
OurcaboosetrundledontoBillingsalongtheshinglycotton-woodedYellowstone;andastheplainsandbluffsandthedistantsnowbegantogrowwellknown,eventome,weturnedtoourbaggagethatwastocomeoff,sincecampwouldbegininthemorning。ThusIsawtheVirginiancarefullyrewrappingKenilworth,thathemightbringittoitsownerunharmed;andI
said,“Don’tyouthinkyoucouldhaveplayedpokerwithQueenElizabeth?“
“No;Iexpaictshe’dhavebeatme,“hereplied。“Shewasalady。“
ItwasatBillings,onthisday,thatImadethosereflectionsaboutequality。FortheVirginianhadbeenequaltotheoccasion:
thatistheonlykindofequalitywhichIrecognize。
IntowhatmoodwasitthattheVirginiannowfell?Beinglessbusy,didhebeginto“grieve“aboutthegirlonBearCreek?I
onlyknowthataftertalkingsolengthilyhefellintoaninedays’silence。Thetalkingpartofhimdeeplyandunbrokenlyslept。
Officialwordsofcoursecamefromhimaswerodesouthwardfromtherailroad,gatheringtheJudge’sstraycattle。Duringthemanyweekssincethespringround-up,someoftheseanimalshadasusualgotveryfarofftheirrange,andgettingthemonagainbecamethepresentbusinessofourparty。
Directionsandcommands——whatevercommunicationstohissubordinateswereneedfultotheforwardingofthis——hedulygave。Butroutinehasneveratanytimeoftheworldpassedforconversation。Hisutterances,suchas,“We’llworkWillo’Creekto-morro’mawnin’,“or,“Iwantthewagontobeatthefawkso’
Stinkin’WaterbyThursday,“thoughonsomeoccasionsnumerousenoughtosoundlikediscourse,neveroncebroketheman’struesilence。Seemingtokeepeasycompanywiththecamp,heyetkeptaltogethertohimself。Thattalkingpartofhim——themoodwhichbringsoutforyouyourfriend’sspiritandmindasafreegiftorasanexchange——wasdowninsomedarkcaveofhisnature,hiddenaway。Perhapsithadbeendreaming;perhapscompletelyreposing。TheVirginianwasoneofthoserareoneswhoareabletorefreshthemselvesinsections。Tohaveathingonhisminddidnotkeephisbodyfromresting。Duringourrecentjourney——itfeltyearsagonow!——whileourcabooseonthefreighttrainhadtrundledendlesslywestward,andthemenwereontheraggededge,theveryjumping-offplace,ofmutinyandpossiblemurder,Ihadseenhimsleeplikeachild。HesnatchedthemomentsnotnecessaryforvigilIhadalsoseenhimsitallnightwatchinghisresponsibility,readytospringonitandfastenhisteethinit。Andnowthathehadconfoundedthemwiththeirownattemptedweaponofridicule,hispowersseemedtobeprofoundlydormant。
Thatfinalpitchedbattleofwitshadmadethemenhiscaptivesandadmirers——allsaveTrampas。AndofhimtheVirginiandidnotseemtobeaware。
ButScipioleMoynewouldsaytomenowandthen,“IfIwasTrampas,I’dpullmyfreight。“Andonceheadded,“Pullitkindofcasual,yu’know,likeIwasn’tnoticingmyselfdoit。“