“WhoelsewouldIbethinkingof?“returnedtheSoutherner。Hisfacehadbecomeverysombre。“Shehasbeenraisedsodifferent!“
hemurmured。Heponderedalittle,whiletheotherswaited,solicitous。
Anewideacametotheproprietor。“Iamactingmayorofthistown,“saidhe。“I’llputhiminthecalabooseandkeephimtillyougetmarriedandaway。
“Saytheword,“repeatedHoneyWiggin。
Scipio’seyemettheproprietor’s,andheshookhisheadaboutaquarterofaninch。Theproprietorshookhistothesameamount。
Theyunderstoodeachother。Ithadcometothatpointwheretherewasnowayout,saveonlytheancient,eternalwaybetweenmanandman。Itisonlythegreatmediocritythatgoestolawinthesepersonalmatters。
“Sohehastalkedaboutmesome?“saidtheVirginian。
“It’sthewhiskey,“Scipioexplained。
“Iexpect,“saidMcLean,“he’drunamileifhewasinastatetoappreciatehisinsinuations。“
“Whichwearecarefulnottomentiontoyu’,“saidWiggin,“unlessyu’inquirefor’em。“
Someofthefoolspresenthaddrawnclosertohearthisinterestingconversation。Ingatheringsofmorethansixtherewillgenerallybeatleastonefool;andthiscompanymusthavenumberedtwentymen。
“Thiscountryknowswellenough,“saidonefool,whohungeredtobeimportant,“thatyoudon’tbrandnocalvesthatain’tyourown。“
ThesaturnineVirginianlookedathim。“Thankyu’,“saidhe,gravely,“foryourindorsementofmycharacter。“Thefoolfeltflattered。TheVirginianturnedtohisfriends。Hishandslowlypushedhishatback,andherubbedhisblackheadinthought。
“Gladtoseeyu’vegotyourgunwithyou,“continuedthehappyfool。“YouknowwhatTrampasclaimsaboutthataffairofyoursintheTetons?HeclaimsthatifeverythingwasknownaboutthekillingofShorty——“
“Takeoneonthehouse,“suggestedtheproprietortohim,amiably。“Yournewswillbefresher。“Andhepushedhimthebottle。Thefoolfeltlessimportant。
“Thistalkhadwenttheroundsbeforeitgottous,“saidScipio,“orwe’dhaveheadeditoff。Hehasgotfriendsintown。“
PerplexityknottedtheVirginian’sbrows。Thiscommunityknewthatamanhadimpliedhewasathiefandamurderer;italsoknewthatheknewit。Butthecasewasoneofpeculiarcircumstances,assuredly。Couldheavoidmeetingtheman?Soonthestagewouldbestartingsouthfortherailroad。Hehadalreadyto-dayproposedtohissweetheartthattheyshouldtakeit。Couldheforhersakeleaveunansweredatalkingenemyuponthefield?Hisownearshadnotheardtheenemy。
Intothesereflectionsthefoolsteppedoncemore。“Ofcoursethiscountrydon’tbelieveTrampas,“saidhe。“Thiscountry——“
Buthecontributednofurtherthoughts。Fromsomewhereintherearofthebuilding,whereitopeneduponthetincansandthehinderpurlieusofthetown,cameamovement,andTrampaswasamongthem,courageouswithwhiskey。
Allthefoolsnowmadethemselvesconspicuous。Onelayonthefloor,knockedtherebytheVirginian,whosearmhehadattemptedtohold。OthersstruggledwithTrampas,andhisbulletsmashedtheceilingbeforetheycoulddragthepistolfromhim。“Therenow!therenow!“theyinterposed;“youdon’twanttotalklikethat,“forhewaspouringoutatideofhateandvilification。
YettheVirginianstoodquietbythebar,andmanyaneyeofastonishmentwasturneduponhim。“I’dnotstandhalfthatlanguage,“somemutteredtoeachother。StilltheVirginianwaitedquietly,whilethefoolsreasonedwithTrampas。Butnoearthlyfootcanstepbetweenamanandhisdestiny。Trampasbrokesuddenlyfree。
“Yourfriendshavesavedyourlife,“herangout,withobsceneepithets。“I’llgiveyoutillsundowntoleavetown。“
Therewastotalsilenceinstantly。
“Trampas,“spoketheVirginian,“Idon’twanttroublewithyou。“
“Heneverhaswantedit,“Trampassneeredtothebystanders。“Hehasbeendodgingitfiveyears。ButI’vegothimcoralled。“
SomeoftheTrampasfactionsmiled“Trampas,“saidtheVirginianagain,“areyu’sureyu’reallymeanthat?“
Thewhiskeybottleflewthroughtheair,hurledbyTrampas,andcrashedthroughthesaloonwindowbehindtheVirginian。
“Thatwassurplusage,Trampas,“saidhe,“ifyumeantheother。
“Getoutbysundown,that’sall,“saidTrampas。Andwheeling,hewentoutofthesaloonbytherear,ashehadentered。
“Gentlemen,“saidtheVirginian,“Iknowyouwillallobligeme。“
“Sure!“exclaimedtheproprietor,heartily,“We’llseethateverybodyletsthisthingalone。“
TheVirginiangaveageneralnodtothecompany,andwalkedoutintothestreet。
“It’saturrubleshame,“sighedScipio,“thathecouldn’thavepostponedit。“
TheVirginianwalkedintheopenairwiththoughtsdisturbed。“I
amoftwomindsaboutonething,“hesaidtohimselfuneasily。
Gossipraninadvanceofhim;butashecameby,thetalkfellawayuntilhehadpassed。Thentheylookedafterhim,andtheirwordsagainroseaudibly。Thuseverywherealittleeddyofsilenceaccompaniedhissteps。
“Itdon’ttroublehimmuch,“onesaid,havingreadnothingintheVirginian’sface。
“Itmaytroublehisgirlsome,“saidanother。
“She’llnotknow,“saidathird,“untilit’sover。“
“He’llnottellher?“
“Iwouldn’t。It’snowoman’sbusiness。“
“Maybethat’sso。Well,itwouldhavesuitedmetohaveTrampasdiesooner。“
“Howwoulditsuityoutohavehimlivelonger?“inquiredamemberoftheoppositefaction,suspectedofbeinghimselfacattlethief。
“Icouldansweryourquestion,ifIhadotherfolks’calvesI
wantedtobrand。“Thisraisedbothalaughandasilence。
Thusthetowntalked,fillinginthetimebeforesunset。
TheVirginian,stillwalkingaloofintheopenair,pausedattheedgeofthetown。“I’dsoonerhaveasicknessthanbeundecidedthisway,“hesaid,andhelookedupanddown。Thenagrimsmilecameathisownexpense。“Ireckonitwouldmakemesick——butthere’snottime。“
Overthereinthehotelsathissweetheartalone,awayfromhermother,herfriends,herhome,waitinghisreturn,knowingnothing。Helookedintothewest。Betweenthesunandthebrightridgesofthemountainswasstillaspaceofsky;buttheshadowfromthemountains’feethaddrawnhalfwaytowardthetown。
“Aboutfortyminutesmore,“hesaidaloud。“Shehasbeenraisedsodifferent。“Andhesighedasheturnedback。Ashewentslowly,hedidnotknowhowgreatwashisownunhappiness。“Shehasbeenraisedsodifferent,“hesaidagain。
Oppositethepost-officethebishopofWyomingmethimandgreetedhim。Hislonelyheartthrobbedatthewarm,firmgraspofthisfriend’shand。Thebishopsawhiseyesglowsuddenly,asiftearswereclose。Butnonecame,andnowordmoreopenthan,“I’mgladtoseeyou。“
Butgossiphadreachedthebishop,andhewassorelytroubledalso。“Whatisallthis?“saidhe,comingstraighttoit。
TheVirginianlookedattheclergymanfrankly。’Yu’knowjustasmuchaboutitasIdo,“hesaid。“AndI’lltellyu’anythingyu’
ask。“
“HaveyoutoldMissWood?“inquiredthebishop。
Theeyesofthebridegroomfell,andthebishop’sfacegrewatoncemorekeenandmoretroubled。Thenthebridegroomraisedhiseyesagain,andthebishopalmostlovedhim。Hetouchedhisarm,likeabrother。“Thisishardluck,“hesaid。
Thebridegroomcouldscarcekeephisvoicesteady。“Iwanttodorightto-daymorethananydayIhaveeverlived,“saidhe。
“Thengoandtellheratonce。“
“Itwilljustdonothingbutscareher。“
“Goandtellheratonce。“
“IexpectedyouwasgoingtotellmetorunawayfromTrampas。I
can’tdothat,yu’know。“
Thebishopdidknow。Neverbeforeinallhiswildernessworkhadhefacedsuchathing。HeknewthatTrampaswasanevilinthecountry,andthattheVirginianwasagood。Heknewthatthecattlethieves——therustlers——weregaining,innumbersandaudacity;thattheyledmanyweakyoungfellowstoruin;thattheyelectedtheirmentooffice,andcontrolledjuries;thattheywereastaringmenacetoWyoming。HisheartwaswiththeVirginian。ButtherewashisGospel,thathepreached,andbelieved,andtriedtolive。Hestoodlookingatthegroundanddrawingafingeralonghiseyebrow。Hewishedthathemighthaveheardnothingaboutallthis。ButhewasnotonetoblinkhisresponsibilityasaChristianserverofthechurchmilitant。
“AmIright,“henowslowlyasked,“inbelievingthatyouthinkI
amasincereman?“
“Idon’tbelieveanythingaboutit。Iknowit。“
“IshouldrunawayfromTrampas,“saidthebishop。
“Thatain’tquitefair,seh。Weallunderstandyouhavegottodothethingsyoutellotherfolkstodo。Andyoudothem,seh。Younevertalklikeanythingbutaman,andyouneversetyourselfaboveothers。Youcansaddleyourownhorses。AndIsawyu’walkunarmedintothatWhiteRiverexcitementwhenthosetwootherparsonswasa-foggin’anda-fannin’fortheirownsafety。Damnscoundrels!“
Thebishopinstantlyrebukedsuchlanguageaboutbrothersofhiscloth,eventhoughhedisapprovedbothofthemandtheirdoctrines。“EveryonemaybeaninstrumentofProvidence,“heconcluded。
“Well,“saidtheVirginian,“ifthatisso,thenProvidencemakesuseofinstrumentsI’dnottouchwithaten-footpole。Nowifyouwasme,seh,andnotabishop,wouldyourunawayfromTrampas?“
“That’snotquitefair,either!“exclaimedthebishop,withasmile。“Becauseyouareaskingmetotakeanotherman’sconvictions,andyetremainmyself。“
“Yes,seh。Iam。That’sso。Thatdon’tgetatit。IreckonyouandIcan’tgetatit。“
“IftheBible,“saidthebishop,“whichIbelievetobeGod’sword,wasanythingtoyou——“
“Itissomethingtome,seh。Ihavefoundfinetruthsinit。“
“’Thoushaltnotkill,’“quotedthebishop。“Thatisplain。“
TheVirginiantookhisturnatsmiling。“Mightyplaintome,seh。
MakeitplaintoTrampas,andthere’llbenokillin’。Wecan’tgetatitthatway。“
Oncemorethebishopquotedearnestly。“’Vengeanceismine,I
willrepay,saiththeLord。’“
“HowaboutinstrumentsofProvidence,seh?Why,wecan’tgetatitthatway。Ifyoustartusin’theBiblethatway,itwillmixyouupmightyquick,seh。
“Myfriend,“thebishopurged,andallhisgood,warmheartwasinit,“mydearfellow——goawayfortheonenight。He’llchangehismind。“
TheVirginianshookhishead。“Hecannotchangehisword,seh。OratleastImuststayaroundtillhedoes。Why,Ihavegivenhimthesay-so。He’sgotthechoice。MostmenwouldnothavetookwhatItookfromhiminthesaloon。Whydon’tyouaskhimtoleavetown?“
Thegoodbishopwasatastandstill。OfallkickingagainstthepricksnoneissohardasthiskickofaprofessingChristianagainstthewholeinstinctofhumanman。
“Butyouhavehelpedmesome,“saidtheVirginian。“Iwillgoandtellher。Atleast,ifIthinkitwillbegoodforher,Iwilltellher。“
Thebishopthoughtthathesawonelastchancetomovehim。
“You’retwenty-nine,“hebegan。
“Andalittleover,“saidtheVirginian。
“Andyouwerefourteenwhenyouranawayfromyourfamily。“
“Well,Iwasweary,yu’know,ofhavin’elderbrotherslaydownmylawnightandmawnin’。“
“Yes,Iknow。Sothatyourlifehasbeenyourownforfifteenyears。Butitisnotyourownnow。Youhavegivenittoawoman。“
“Yes;Ihavegivenittoher。Butmylife’snotthewholeofme。
I’dgivehertwicemylife——fifty——athousandof’em。ButIcan’tgiveher——hernoranybodyinheavenorearth——Ican’tgivemy——my——we’llnevergetatit,seh!There’snogoodinwords。
Good-by。“TheVirginianwrungthebishop’shandandlefthim。
“Godblesshim!“saidthebishop。“Godblesshim!“