| OCR Text |
Show KTMMiM . Youth. Rides West 9 CHAPTER XII Continued 16 A confusion of yolces. Men Jostling and pushlne all about me. Shorty's face shoved close to mine; Shorty asking ; "Which way did lie to?" Til never tell l" I replied. More, confusion. Some ono had struck me on the Bldo of the head. They were forcing buck my struggling arms, tyinir my bauds. Some onfl yelling yell-ing that my horso was gone. Shorty orderluj the cavnlry to saddle and start. A voice was crying: "Suing him up!" Constance speaking, hor tones cutting sharply through the babble: "Don't oh, don't! 1 did It, I tell you I I did It I" My own voice gasping: "Steady! It will be all rl;,'htl" Marcus Mar-cus and Buck by very authority clearing clear-ing a spnc- about me. Marcus crying: "No lynching without a trial In this camp I" Constance, her voice controlled now, saying: "It Is not necessary to touch mo, gentlemen, I will go with you." A hollow square of guards forcing forc-ing us on; I, remembering how the Killer walked to Ills death, trying to hold my h?ad as high, to move my legs as firmly. Through an agitated, hysterical crowd we popped Into the door of the courthouse. In my picture of life, Major Brown had been another dim, suggested hit ef background. I knew hint ns our most relluhle assayer, as the first locator lo-cator In the rush to llaydcn hill, ns a substantial personage about camp. As they unbound me and led nie up to the table at which he sat In Judgment, Judg-ment, I studied his face. I saw determination de-termination there, but no mercy. And my soul within cried out for mercy rather than for such Justice as this court was administering. They had seuted Constance In a chair beside the Judge's table odd that I had rot looked for her before.! That hysterical moment of hers when they Inld hands on me by the Jail floor had changed to a great stillness. I never saw a face and form of the living so quiet and so beautiful. Her hands lay clasped In her lap, but loosely; they did not clutch or move. I had that morning Imagined her eyes looking at me across a courtroom with unutterable reproach. They looked on me, Indeed ; but with no more emotion emo-tion than Is In the blue petal of a flower. Above all, they were not afraid. My little terrors of the flesh vanished. van-ished. "Shall we try these prisoners one at a time the man first?" asked Major Brown. This was a miners' court, and democratic In Its forms, I perceived. The Judge merely presided. pre-sided. Constance stirred and spoke. At the major's words, a buzz of debate had started In the rear of the room. Hut her rich voice with the dropping syllables syl-lables null ed that : "I presume you are trying this man for letting your prisoner escape? Then I should remain to testify, lie-cause lie-cause I am wholly responsible." "That Is not true," I said, as firmly as I could. "I did It alone. This lady Is trying to save me. I let him go. liecause " There I stopped. How could I, without betraying her, sham- ml l km They Had Seated Constance In a Chair Beside the Judge's Table. 1 1 -C and humiliating lnr, kji y why I (lltl ll? Vhnt excusp rould I possibly I ri -nl? y Hutched nt u wenk ono. rnusp I didn't wnnt to wt him hunted. 1 hrouKht him In," I lidded. "I ruuKht Mm. And I had a rlfcht to let Mm Mfijor I'.rown Hlnirk tin tuhl? wllli lils Ki'vcl. "I'riyoijer, yu nr K''ttlritf riheiid the pro wdlnH," lie Mild. ' ',ci lnn'fi. , under the rlrrumstiiiires Imdn't r heller hel-ler let thlH liirly Mny?" There win hI-lenee, hI-lenee, He punned a moment. "Very well, If no one oh Jed h. Clerk, hook tli; lady." lie did not look at 'on-HUiucf, 'on-HUiucf, and neither did the clerk, as hit answered to Ihe formal liiiiilrN'M ; "Constance eanr Mrs. Marlln U"k-pllrr U"k-pllrr Ieane-f(f Providence, Itlnale Inland. In-land. Mis name! I had never heard It he-fore. he-fore. Odd Unit I hhould hear It Ural hi H( h rlreuimitanceji Kverythln,; Whi odd; even comlrnlly odd. Never L-n p t he en h hi e to rerun h I met In pe (tiery t h rvent M of Ihe next few iM'tiii'vp. Th' ner buuJ!ntf urn u ' By Will Irivin ' Coprrlrl't br Will Irwin VNU 8rvlo book. I was being sworn. Constance Deane sitting so quiet I I had kissed her once. Should I ask to kiss her again before? I was talking. I must remember not to say that I gave him my hat nnd horse. They might Identify him by my hnt and my horso. Shorty he seemed to be prosecutor was asking me nbout that. I must dodge, dodge. I was saying say-ing that It was some horse which stood by the Jail. And saying It badly. They would never believe me. Marcus was talking. About my previous reputation. reputa-tion. A strange court I They let advocates advo-cates testify. Buck was talking. About my squareness. And: "We will hear now from the lady!" said Major Brown. I came conscious, wide nwake, every sense preternatural-ly preternatural-ly acute. A drawing of many breaths agitated the room.; then, as Constance rose, absolute silence even outside. Her Hps parted once or twice; then she was speaking in that low. lovely voice with Its dripping pause between syllables and fluently. "In the first place, gentlemen, the man who escaped a few minutes ago was my husband Martin It. Deane. I married him In Providence five years ago." A shuffle of feet changing position; a composite susplratlon of breath like one long sigh. "1 think von will allow that a wife In any circumstances should do what she can to save her husband's life. Of course, you Intended to kill him. I did not know until this morning whnt happened In town Inst night. Theu I learned I suspected that you had my husband In Jail. I reached tho Jail while while you were killing the other man. I felt my husband had no chance. I saw an opportunity. And I released him." Major Brown sat with his eyes: on the cover of Judge Cowan's law book. Without looking up, he asked: "Mrs. Deane, will you explain how you accomplished this? The Jail was guarded, and Glison had the keys." "How does a woman make a man do anything? He was alone In front of the jail. The other guards were watching watch-ing what you were doing." Here she paused and drew it breath so deep, held It so long, that I thought she would never release It. Then, as though realizing that she must shrink from nothing, she wont on. "The hanging. hang-ing. I mean. Mr. Gilson had captured my husband. He didn't know It was my husband. I told him. lie Is my friend. He did not want to break my heart. I begged hi in. I entreated him. I made him feel that If you hanged my husband, It would kill me. He unlocked un-locked the door. My husband got on Mr. Gibson's horse. He has told you differently. But If you believe him. you must believe that he was nt least an accomplice In stealing a horse." How quick was her Intelligence I I hadn't thought of thnt I "Wheu he says It wns some unknown horse-, he Is only trying to make my husband's escape more certain trying to save me nnd mine. I cannot let Mm do that. He has done enough. He took his life In his hands like the gallant gentleman he Is. But I made him do It. If I had asked " She stopped there. What she bad Intended to say, what she had cut off with a little Intake In her breath, I could supply. So, I think, could the rest. It was a boast of the power of her sex. "If I had asked any one of you I with these eyes, I with this appeal of my youth and womanhood woman-hood and goodness anil grief what would you have utaie?" Any man In the room must have read that In her silence. Major Brown cut In with his dry, unemotional tone: "Mrs. Pen tie, how much have you had to do with your husband's operations opera-tions In this c.unp?" I-'or the first time her smooth pallor broke Into color. As from n sudden. Intense llaine, n spot burned Instantly on either cheek, was Instantly gone. "Allowing thl.t my hiiHband's bush ness here was criminal which I do not allow I had nothing whatever to do with that. I have not communicated with him In any way except as I have told you. When we tallied, It was only about coming home with me. I cannot prove this, of course. But you cannot prove the contrary." Again her cheeks grew vivid, melted to pallor, "Gentlemen, I acted this morning on Impulse; but If you hang anyone, yon should hang mi'. I did not see the end of what I was doing. I did not know Hint I was putting In danger dan-ger a line, bnue, good man, worth ten times " Her voice broke a little here, but site caught back her sob. "And if yon bang him, you must hang me. I do not care to live and realize what I have done. That Is all." linnly, Constance sat down. Major Brown lifted his face to the crowd, opened his mouth to speak. But Buck, shoving past Marcus, stood before Ihe table. "Gentlemen," he said without, the formality of addressing the court, "he. fore we do any volln' I've gut a few brief remarks to make concerning where we are at. This vigilance com-mltlee com-mltlee wasn't formed Jui to give the hoys a treat. W was after Houiethln'. We wanted to make thl here a decent camp. And we look Ihe only u-ny there was. Some day, I Kuppose, Mils here Imperial state Is goto' to come siinopln' round !nu!rln' Into these proceedings, pro-ceedings, What'll they find? That we cashed In live tin ant iila.i that was bol ter dead anyhow. No kiefc. Everybody satisfied. We've had that bunch looked up. Goln' on any law that ever was. they nil would 'a' got a long term, an' most of 'em the rope. We've saved the state a heap of board. But you've struck n different question with the kid hero. Hc'b lie's good. lie's helped make this hero camp. He was In on the carbonate discovery. lie's been workln' on tho paper lightln' the bunch of crooka that was runnln' us. He's got nerve. I know. It's nil right to go up against a man with a gun In your hand. But I don't see myself tackling a bandit barehanded like he done. I duiiuo why he turned this here Peane, alias Maxwell, loose. May-bo May-bo I'm guessln', as maybe you nil are, but I don't know. Anyhow, If he did It, I'm bankln' ho had n good reason, a d n " Buck checked himself here, vnlnly tried to bite off the profane word he had dropped In the presence of a lady. No one answered him at first. Then Shorty gave a growl, preliminary to speech. "Shut up, Shorty!" snapped Buck. If anyone wanted to know why It was called llaydcn hill, not Croly's hill, tile answer was here, l'or Shorty did shut up ; and Buck continued : "I ain't goln' to let it hnppen. Not If I can stop It. The vigilance committee com-mittee has worked harmonious so far. If you go on with these proceedings, there's two of us will take objection, strong. Marcus Handy and me, his partners. And I guess there'll bo others. Boys, let's call this thing off. Of" course., nobody expects to do anything any-thing to the lady. While we're at It, I don't see any sense In chasing that husband of hers unless the boys have rounded him up already. We've got five out of six of the men we wanted. That's doln' da mighty well." Buck paused ns though searching his vocabulary vo-cabulary for tho proper parliamentary expression before he finished: "I make that In the form of a motion." "You make what In the form of a motion?" Inquired Major Brown dryly. "All them things," vaguely responded respond-ed Buck. It was a challenge. Buck's very physical attitude suggested that. Although Al-though he had finished speaking, ho did not move nway from before the table but stood there straight and poised, facing the crowd. Prom tho belt round the waist of his store clothes hung his bolstered 4.' caliber revolver.. His hand rested lightly, mig-gestlvely, mig-gestlvely, on the butt Voices broke out ; some of them but a minority, my hopes told me angry, arguing, protesting. pro-testing. Major Brown rapped the room to order. "All In favor of hanging Robert Gil-son Gil-son for betraying the vigilance committee, com-mittee, say 'aye.'" Silence. "The "noes' have It." announced Major Brown. "I'nless there Is a motion mo-tion to the contrary, this court stands Indefinitely adjourned." CHAPTER XIII Marcus Handy and Buck, standing by to the end, kept ns In Judge Cowan's courtroom until tho vigilance committee had evaporated, leaving us alone. A ruffle of drums sounded without; men were running and clamoring. A shiver which Jerked her shoulders against the back of her chair ran over the form of Constance. The ready, understanding un-derstanding Buck was first to see what this meant. "I.j.'t worry, Mrs. Deane." he said, "that ain't hlin. That's the crooks being r nn out of town I" This time, fascination drew us nil to the window, even Constance. There was no emotion left In me now except a vague curiosity; my own languor of mind and son! seemed to heighten my perceptions; nnd from my night and day with tragedy I carry away no pictures pic-tures so vivid as that of the procession proces-sion which emerged from the Pioneer corral. "Itogoe's march !" commented Marcus Mar-cus brlelly. "Curtain's up on the last act of our show !" And Into view marched the prisoners of (he Pioneer corral. Conway's stubble of beard had grow n In the night. Ills cheeks were as dark as a chimney sweep's; but he faced his disgrace nith a calm and Humorous smile, i ne gammer wno uau lost his nerve and got religion walked with his head down. Among Ihe dirty and depraved camp followers of Pearl street were those who cringed as they came under the eves of our outraged city, and those who Htlil managed In the pose of head and shoulders to express ex-press defiance. Colllver, the lawyer, walked straight, glaring right and left, his eyes made terrible, Insane, with suppressed anger. A little, In. drawn "oh I" from Constance signaled the passage of Hod Nell. The powder on her cheeks had gathered dust during dur-ing the nigh! ; the spots of rouge were no longer bright carinlne. but a dull and dirty Indian red. Her frizzes fell In wisps over her forehead. But lied Nell raged no longer. She walked Willi her eyes down, her hands clasped be- fore her, a ghastly and grolesqu rh caliire of a niahlen martyr led to tho stake, Whatever womanly dignity remained re-mained to her had at the end of all her Indignities come to the surface. Chris McCralli was coming; among his rciiirale enlllles. (his one was new. 1 wiw thai In Ihe (list flash, he fni'ii my eye began lo pick up details His shoulders, oii'-e so erectly conll dent In their riiriiago, angled as though he had suddenly growu old. His steps stumbled. Ills head was bowed. It did not Imply sullenness, this averted gaze. Kather was It the attitude of a broken man who cannot bear to look upon disgrace. I understood under-stood the policy of self preservation which Marcus Handy had been applying apply-ing to this enemy of Ids. To expel the old, self-reliant Chris McGrnlh from camp was equivalent to prolonging trouble. He was bound to come back when opportunity served, and to shoot. But his night of mental horrors In the Pioneer corral, the sight of the lynching, the very psychological weight of public opinion, had served to break his spirit I remember him as I saw him first when he stopped the lynching lynch-ing In the Black Jack a domlnnnt, heroic figure, dowered with a compelling com-pelling masculine charm and found It In my heart to pity him. After all, ho was only misplaced. His virtues of courage, decision, generosity to his friends, rough personal good fellowship; fellow-ship; his faults of rampant Individuality Individ-uality and muddled moral distinctions (hey belonged to the old era of gun law. Sudden, offhand Cottonwood bad entrusted this anachronism with enforcing en-forcing that book law to which -our camp and nil the West must necessarily necessar-ily come In the end. His night of horror hor-ror and disgrace and spiritual loneliness loneli-ness may have given Mm black understanding, under-standing, taught Mm that ho had been fighting t lio current of the human spirit. That, possibly, explained the change In him. He was not so much terrified as overwhelmed. At any rate, Cottonwood never heard from Mm again. Years later, I picked up the remaining threads. He had become a drifter from camp to camp, a protector of gamblers, a dangerous drunkard, until a shot In a brawl at Miles City finished his career. He passed like the grizzly; crushed by progress. Chris McGrnlh marched between solid lines of crowd, his bent bead now visible, now concealed. A phalanx of vigilante guards followed; tho crowd closed In behind; the Rogue's march stopped, to bo succeeded by tho beat of the drums; the deposed king of Cottonwood had passed from his kingdom. "Where are you sending her?" asked Constance. "Wagon's waiting to take 'em over the range to Picstcd's, all comfortable, and drop 'em," replied Marcus. "Will she " began Constance, and stopped. Per a horseman loped down the street, pulled up at the door of the courthouse, threw his bridle oor a lathered head, strode within. The hands of Constance wont together; I. who had thought there was no emotion left In nie, found my breath coming and going In great sijis. "Bos," beau the niesi'ir-er then saw Con.-tanco and n:e. p.nived. "Ail right," said Marcus, ' go ahead. These people aio safe they're acquitted." ac-quitted." "Well, we've got no line on where he went," mid the horseiirin. "Trails Is too d n tramphd. He siarted dow n the Ludlow pass road all right. After that, we loses him. What we need's a regular tracker. Wasn't one In the whole d n outfit." "Let's see," mused Marcus. "Boys' pretty tired, I suppose?" "I ead I" said the messenger. "Look at me. I'p all night. And done a hard day's work yesterday. Horses too." "All right," announced Marcus. "They're ordered to come In and put up their horses." He paused. "I've already al-ready taken oilier measures to have : our man followed tell 'em that." "Best news I've heard today I" commented com-mented the messenger as, with a haste betraying fear lest Marcus should change his mind, tie shot through the door, remounted, loped away. "Another public embarrassment removed re-moved from the path of progress, ns Henry Ward lleeeher would say," remarked re-marked Marcus. "If the boys bad brought him In, I don't believe this camp would have wanted to bang him now. Buck, guess our Job's done." Buck and 1 were looking not at him, however, but at Constance. Across her pallor a Hush was mounting, as when the rose dawn touches the snows of the Plvble; In her deep blue eyes a light was shining as when the sunrise strikes on mountain lakes. She held out hands the right to Buck, the left to Marcus who took them sheepishly. Buck, Indeed, started Ihe pumphandie motion of n handshake ; then, as he perceived that her gesture meant more 1 1 1 it ii that, retained her hand; and a blush Inllamcd bis tanned brow. So she stood for a moment, looking from one to the other. "I have had friends," she said. "And perhaps you wouldn't like to have me call you friends. But I nc or dreamed that I Hhould over ask any friend lo do for mo what you two wonderful men have done today. 1 can't thank you. II wouh be ridiculous lo try. But If you ever want anything 1 can do or can't do- let me -" She broke off; her eyes became lakes Indeed; released their bands. "It's all right 'twasn't nothing r Huck managed to say. "I'd do It again for you nnd more, Mrs.. Deane," began the readier Marcus. Mar-cus. "You're-" but the lakes were overflowing. Buck first, then Marcus, backed out of the room. "I want to cry, Itobert," snld Con-stance Con-stance "Don't-try to comfort m please. Just watch to see If anyone's any-one's coming " So I stood for a long time, as It seemed to me, nnd studied Main street as It settled down to normal. The voice of Constance, sweet with pnsslng tears, spoke behind mo. "I think I'd better go lio'"8 now she said. "I'm going with yon," I replied. She hesitated, ns though rpstrnlned by some little. Instinctive fear of the proprieties; then, as realizing how ridiculous that was In the face of our situation, smiled firmly now and replied; re-plied; Io I want, of course to tell you everything." So we wklked togelnef Into Main street. Naturally we attracted attention. atten-tion. I could feel with the back of my head that the crowd about Doc Evans' Ev-ans' window had turned from that old sensation to this new one, hud stared and pointed. Now nnd then a head "Don't Worry, Mrs. Deane," He Said. ; "That Ain't Him." j craned from a window, or I heard a ' ru. li of feet at a doorway. I've j ahead, we walked In silence up the j familiar path should 1 ever tread It ' again? to Mrs. Barnaby's. Constance was not entirely reus- j cured that Deane had escaped. I must needs give her comfort on that. Once I asked: "What you sill before they I arrested me you mean that. Con- . stance?" She answered: "I .meant It then. I mean It now. I mean It forever for-ever I" But we did not then Usi or clasp ban. Is, as unfettered lovers may I nfter such words; only sat for a time I client and looked nt each other. j A spurt of sli-op or what resembled i sleep; when I came out of It. feverishly fever-ishly nwake, she was talking: " my own fault, my very own In the beginning, Itobert. A little of It sin If you want to call It that. The rest Just folly. Perverse folly. I was only seventeen when I eloped with bin) from Mlsi Gorhnin's academy nt Providence. Prov-idence. That was the beginning. I shan't lay that to nnyone cKo. But I will tell you bow It happened: "We lived at Warwick do you know It? A little old Hhode Island town. The family bad been there forever. for-ever. My mother was younger than my father. She died when I was six jcars old. I had no brothers or sisters. sis-ters. "My father married again beautiful beauti-ful woman, n brilliant woman, but unbalanced. un-balanced. Perbas Insane. 1 wouldn't have had Ihe charity to make that ex cuse for her once. I hated her. But I think, now, 1 shall never bate anyone any-one else so long as I live. She was cruel to nie -Insanely cruel - because she was Jealous. I have been beaten, terribly beaten. In my day, Robert. But more than that. The trick of putting put-ting nie In the wrong. . . . Perhaps that was why father sent me away to school --to Miss Cot-ham's in Prol-dcuce. Prol-dcuce. Prom the time I was seven until I was seventeen- Just school. At first I came home for the holiday. But finally she spoiled even that. She had a teriiblo hold on father. I can understand that, too. She was a beautiful beau-tiful creature. I l'l IIIC IVNTINU'Kl) ) |
