couldhearthesoundsofhorsesbeingdrivenintothecorralandsaddled。ThenIperceivedthatthecoffeewasready,andalmostimmediatelythecookcalledthem。Onecamein,shuttingthedoorbehindhimashereentered,whichtherestastheyfollowedimitated;forateachopeningofthedoorIsawthelightofdayleapintothestableandheardtheloudersoundsoftherain。
Thenthesoundandthelightwouldagainbeshutout,untilsomeoneatlengthspokeoutbluntly,biddingthedoorbeleftopenonaccountofthesmoke。Whatweretheyhidingfrom?heasked。Therunawaysthathadescaped?Alaughfollowedthissally,andthedoorwasleftopen。ThusIlearnedthattherehadbeenmorethievesthanthetwothatwerecaptured。Itgavealittlemoregroundfortheirsuspicionaboutmeandmyanxietytopassthenightelsewhere。Itcostnothingtodetainme,andtheyweretakingnochances,howeverremote。
Thefreshairandthelightnowfilledthestable,andIlaylisteningwhiletheirbreakfastbroughtmoretalkfromthem。TheyweremoreateasenowthanwasI,whohadnothingtodobutcarryoutmyroleofslumberinthestall;theyspokeinafriendly,ordinaryway,asifthiswerelikeeveryothermorningoftheweektothem。Theyaddressedtheprisonerswithasortoffraternalkindness,notbringingthempointedlyintotheconversation,noryetpointedlyleavingthemout。Imadeoutthattheymustallbesittingroundthebreakfasttogether,thosewhohadtodieandthosewhohadtokillthem。TheVirginianIneverheardspeak。ButIheardthevoiceofSteve;hediscussedwithhiscaptorsthesundrypointsofhiscapture。
“Doyourememberahaystack?“heasked。“AwayupthesouthforkofGrosVentre?“
“ThatwasThursdayafternoon,“saidoneofthecaptors。“Therewasashower。“
“Yes。Itrained。Wehadyoufooledthattime。Iwaslayingontheledgeabovetoreportyourmovements。“
Severalofthemlaughed。“WethoughtyouwereoveronSpreadCreekthen。“
“Ifiguredyouthoughtsobythetrailyouafterthestack。
SaturdaywewatchedyouturnyourbackonusupSpreadCreek。WeweresnugamongthetreestheothersideofSnakeRiver。Thatwasanothertimewehadyoufooled。“
Theylaughedagainattheirownexpense。Ihaveheardmenpicktopiecesahandofwhistwithmoreantagonism。
Stevecontinued:“WouldweheadforIdaho?WouldweswingbackovertheDivide?Youdidn’tknowwhich!Andwhenwegeneralledyouontothatbandofhorsesyouthoughtwasthebandyouwerehunting——ah,wewereastrongcombination!“HebrokeoffwiththefirsttouchofbitternessIhadfeltinhiswords。
“Nothingisanystrongerthanitsweakestpoint。“ItwastheVirginianwhosaidthis,anditwasthefirstwordhehadspoken。
“Naturally,“saidSteve。HistoneinaddressingtheVirginianwassodifferent,socurt,thatIsupposedhetooktheweakestpointtomeanhimself。ButtheothersnowshowedmethatIwaswronginthisexplanation。
“That’sso,“onesaid。“Itsweakestpointiswherearopeoragangofmenisgoingtobreakwhenthestraincomes。Andyouwaslinkedwithapoorpartner,Steve。“
“You’rerightIwas,“saidtheprisoner,backinhiseasy,casualvoice。
“Yououghttohavegotyourselfseparatedfromhim,Steve。“
Therewasapause。“Yes,“saidtheprisoner,moodily。“I’msittingherebecauseoneofusblundered。“Hecursedtheblunderer。“Lightinghisfoolfirequeeredthewholedeal,“headded。Asheagainheavilycursedtheblunderer,theothersmurmuredtoeachothervariousItoldyouso’s“
“You’dneverhavebuiltthatfire,Steve,“saidone。
“Isaidthatwhenwespiedthesmoke,“saidanother。“Isaid,’That’snoneofSteve’swork,lightingfiresandrevealingtoustheirwhereabouts。’“
ItstruckmethattheywereplyingStevewithcompliments。
“Prettyhardtohavethefoolgetawayandyougetcaught,“athirdsuggested。Atthistheyseemedtowait。Ifeltsomethingcuriousinallthislasttalk。
“Oh,didhegetaway?“saidtheprisoner,then。
Againtheywaited;andanewvoicespokehuskily:-“Ibuiltthatfire,boys。“Itwastheprisonerinthegrayflannelshirt。
“Toolate,Ed,“theytoldhimkindly。“Youain’tagoodliar。“
“Whatmakesyoulaugh,Steve?“saidsomeone。
“Oh,thethingsInotice。“
“MeaningEdwasprettyslowinbackingupyourplay?Thejokeisreallyonyou,Steve。You’doughtnevertohavecursedthefire-builderifyouwantedustobelievehewaspresent。Butwe’dnothavedonemuchtoShorty,evenifwehadcaughthim。Allhewantsistobescaredgoodandhard,andhe’llgobackintovirtuousness,whichishisnaturewhennottravellingwithTrampas。“
Steve’svoicesoundedhardnow。“YouhavecaughtEdandme。Thatshouldsatisfyyouforonegather。“
“Well,wethinkdifferent,Steve。Trampasescapingleavesthisthingunfinished。“
“SoTrampasescapedtoo,didhe?“saidtheprisoner。
“Yes,Steve,Trampasescaped——thistime;andShortywithhim——thistime。Weknowitmostaswellasifwe’dseenthemgo。
Andwe’regladShortyisloose,forhe’llbuildanotherfireordosomeotherfoolishnessnexttime,andthat’sthetimewe’llgetTrampas。“
Theirtalkdriftedtootherpoints,andIlaythinkingoftheskirmishthathadplayedbeneaththesurfaceoftheirbanter。
Yes,thejoke,astheyputit,wasonSteve。Hehadlostonepointinthegametothem。Theywereplayingfornames。He,beingachivalrousthief,wasplayingtohidenames。Theycouldonly,amongseverallikelyconfederates,guessTrampasandShorty。Soithadbeenaslipforhimtocursethemanwhobuiltthefire。
Atleast,theysoheldit。For,theywithsubtletyreasoned,onecursestheabsent。AndIagreedwiththemthatEddidnotknowhowtoliewell;heshouldhaveatonceclaimedthedisgraceofhavingspoiledtheexpedition。IfShortywastheblunderer,thencertainlyTrampaswastheotherman;forthetwowereasinseparableasdonandmaster。TrampashadenticedShortyawayfromgood,andtrainedhiminevil。ItnowstruckmethatafterhissingleremarktheVirginianhadbeensilentthroughouttheirshrewddiscussion。
ItwastheotherprisonerthatIheardthemnextaddress。“Youdon’teatanybreakfast,Ed。“
“Braceup,Ed。LookatSteve,howhardyheeats!“
ButEd,itseemed,wantednobreakfast。Andthetindishesrattledastheyweregatheredandtakentobepacked。
“Drinkthiscoffee,anyway,“anotherurged;“you’llfeelwarmer。“
Thesewordsalmostmadeitseemlikemyownexecution。Mywholebodyturnedcoldincompanywiththeprisoner’s,andasifwithaclankthesituationtightenedthroughoutmysenses。
“Ireckonifeveryone’sreadywe’llstart。“ItwastheVirginian’svoiceoncemore,anddifferentfromtherest。Iheardthemriseathisbidding,andIputtheblanketovermyhead。I
felttheirtreadastheywalkedout,passingmystall。Thestrawthatwashalfundermeandhalfoutinthestablewasstirredasbysomethingheavydraggedorhalfliftedalongoverit。“Lookout,you’rehurtingEd’sarm,“onesaidtoanother,asthestepswithtangledsoundspassedslowlyout。Iheardanotheramongthosewhofollowedsay,“PoorEdcouldn’tswallowhiscoffee。“
Outsidetheybegangettingontheirhorses;andnexttheirhoofsgrewdistant,untilallwassilenceroundthestableexceptthedull,evenfallingoftherain。
IdonotknowhowlongIstayedtherealone。ItwastheVirginianwhocameback,andashestoodatthefootofmyblanketshiseye,aftermeetingminefullforamoment,turnedaside。Ihadneverseenhimlookashedidnow,noteveninPitchstoneCanyonwhenwecameuponthebodiesofHankandhiswife。Untilthismomentwehadfoundnochanceofspeakingtogether,exceptinthepresenceofothers。
“Seemstoberainingstill,“Ibeganafteralittle。
“Yes。It’sawetspell。“
Hestaredoutofthedoor,smoothinghismustache。
ItwasagainIthatspoke。“Whattimeisit?“
Hebroodedoverhiswatch。“Twelveminutestoseven。“
Iroseandstooddrawingonmyclothes。
“Thefire’sout,“saidhe;andheassembledsomenewsticksovertheashes。Presentlyhelookedroundwithacup。
“Nevermindthatforme,“Isaid“We’vealongride,“hesuggested。
“Iknow。I’vecrackersinmypocket。“
Mybootsbeingpulledon,Iwalkedtothedoorandwatchedtheclouds。“Theyseemasiftheymightlift,“Isaid。AndItookoutmywatch。
“Whattimeisit?“heasked。
“Aquarterof——it’srundown。“
WhileIwounditheseemedtobeconsultinghisown。
“Well?“Iinquired。
“Tenminutespastseven。“
AsIwassettingmywatchheslowlysaid:
“Stevewoundhisallregular。Ihadtonight-guardhimtilltwo。“
Hisspeechwaslikethatofoneinatrance:so,atleast,itsoundsinmymemoryto-day。
AgainIlookedattheweatherandtherainyimmensityoftheplain。Thefoot-hillseastwardwhereweweregoingwereasoftyellow。Overthegray-greensage-brushmovedshapelessplacesoflight——notyettheuncoveredsunlight,butspotswherethestormwaswearingthin;andwanderingstreamsofwarmthpassedbyslowlyinthesurroundingair。AsIwatchedthecloudsandtheearth,myeyeschancedtofallonthedistantclumpofcottonwoods。Vaporsfromtheenfeebledstormfloatedroundthem,andtheywereindeedfaraway;butIcameinsideandbeganrollingupmyblankets。
“Youwillnotchangeyourmind?“saidtheVirginianbythefire。
“Itisthirty-fivemiles。“
Ishookmyhead,feelingacertainshamethatheshouldseehowunnervedIwas。
Heswallowedahotcupful,andafteritsatthinking;andpresentlyhepassedhishandacrosshisbrow,shuttinghiseyes。
Againhepouredoutacup,andemptyingthis,roseabruptlytohisfeetasifshakinghimselffreefromsomething“Let’spackandquithere,“hesaid。
Ourhorseswereinthecorralandourbelongingsintheshelterofwhathadbeenoncethecabinatthisforlornplace。HecollectedtheminsilencewhileIsaddledmyownanimal,andinsilencewepackedthetwopackhorses,andthrewthediamondhitch,andhauledtighttheslack,dampropes。Soonwehadmounted,andasweturnedintothetrailIgavealookbackatmylastnight’slodging。
TheVirginiannoticedme。“Good-byforever!“heinterpreted。
“ByGod,Ihopeso!“
“Samehere,“heconfessed。Andthesewereourfirstnaturalwordsthismorning。
“Thiswillgowell,“saidI,holdingmyflaskouttohim;andbothofustooksome,andfelteasierforitandthenaturalwords。
Foranhourwehadbeenshirkingrealtalk,holdingfasttotheweather,oranything,andallthewhilethatsilentthingwewerekeepingoffspokeplainlyintheairaroundusandineverysyllablethatweuttered。Butnowweweregoingtogetawayfromit;leaveitbehindinthestable,andsetourselvesfreefromitbytalkingitout。Alreadyreliefhadbeguntostirinmyspirits。
“Youneverdidthisbefore,“Isaid。
“No。Ineverhadittodo。“Hewasridingbesideme,lookingdownathissaddle-horn。
“IdonotthinkIshouldeverbeable,“Ipursued。
Defiancesoundedinhisanswer。“Iwoulddoitagainthismorning。“
“Oh,Idon’tmeanthat。It’sallrighthere。There’snootherway。“
“Iwoulddoitalloveragainthesamethismorning。Justthesame。“
“Why,soshouldI——ifIcoulddoitatall。“Istillthoughthewasjustifyingtheirjusticetome。
Hemadenoanswerasherodealong,lookingallthewhileathissaddle。Butagainhepassedhishandoverhisforeheadwiththatfrownandshuttingoftheeyes。
“IshouldliketobesureIshouldbehavemyselfifIwerecondemned,“Isaidnext。Foritnowcametome——whichshouldI
resemble?CouldIreadthenewspaper,andbeinterestedincountyelections,anddiscusscomingdeathasifIhadlostagameofcards?Orwouldtheyhavetodragmeout?Thatpoorwretchinthegrayflannelshirt——“Itwasbadinthestable,“Isaidaloud。Foranafter-shiverofitwentthroughme。
Athirdtimehishandbrushedhisforehead,andIventuredsomesympathy。
“I’mafraidyourheadaches。“
“Idon’twanttokeepseeingSteve,“hemuttered。
“Steve!“Iwasastounded。“Whyhe——whyallIsawofhimwassplendid。Sinceithadtobe。Itwas——“
“Oh,yes;Ed。You’rethinkingabouthim。I’dforgothim。Soyoudidn’tenjoyEd?“