CHAPTER V
AT THE BON AMI
Unlike most of those who ride much, her escort was a fast walker. Louisehad trouble in keeping up with him, though she had always consideredherself a good pedestrian. But Jim Munson was laboring under strangeembarrassment. He was red-facedly conscious of the attention he wasattracting striding up the inclined street from the station in the vanof the prettiest and most thoroughbred girl who had struck Velpen thislong time.
Not that he objected to attention under normal conditions. Not he! Hecourted it. His chief aim in life seemed to be to throw the limelight ofpublicity, first, on the Three Bars ranch, as the one and only in thecategory of ranches, and to be connected with it in some way, howeverslight, the unquestioned aim and object of existence of every man,woman, and child in the cattle country; secondly, on Paul Langford, thevery boss of bosses, whose master mind was the prop and stay of theNorthwest, if not of all Christendom; and lastly upon himself, themodest, but loyal servitor in this Paradise on earth. But girls were farfrom normal conditions. There were no women at the Three Bars. Therenever had been any woman at the Three Bars within the memory of man. Tobe sure, Williston's little girl had sometimes ridden over on an errand,but she didn't count. This--this was the real thing, and he didn't knowjust how to deal with it. He needed time to enlarge his sight to thisbroadened horizon.
He glanced with nonchalance over his shoulder. After all, she was only agirl, and not such a big one either. She wore longer skirts thanWilliston's girl, but he didn't believe she was a day older. He squaredabout immediately, and what he had meant to say he never said, onaccount of an unaccountable thickening of his tongue.
Presently, he bolted into a building, which proved to be the Bon Ami, arestaurant under the direct supervision of the fat, voluble, and tragicMrs. Higgins, where the men from the other side of the river had rightof way and unlimited credit.
"What'll you have?" he asked, hospitably, the familiar air of the BonAmi bringing him back to his accustomed self-confident swagger.
"Might I have some tea and toast, please?" said Louise, sinking into achair at the nearest table, with two startling yet amusing thoughtsrampant in her brain. One was, that she wished Aunt Helen could haveseen her swinging along in the wake of this typical "bold andlicentious" man, and calmly and comfortably sitting down to a cosylittle supper for two at a public eating house; the other startlingthought was to the effect that the invitation was redolent withsuggestiveness, and she wondered if she was not expected to say, "Awhiskey for me, please."
"Guess you kin," answered Jim, wonder in his voice at the exceedingbarrenness of the order. "Mrs. Higgins, hello there, Mrs. Higgins! Isay, there, bring on some tea and toast for the lady!"
"Where is the Three Bars?" asked Louise, her thoughts straying to theterrors of a fifteen-mile drive through a strange and uncanny countrywith a stranger and yet more uncanny man. She had accepted him withoutquestion. He was part and parcel with the strangeness of her newposition. But the suddenness of the transition from idle conjecture tostartling reality had raised her proud head and she looked this newdevelopment squarely in the face without outward hint of inwardperturbation.
"Say, where was you raised?" asked Jim, with tolerant scorn, betweenhuge mouthfuls of boiled pork and cabbage, interspersed with bakedpotatoes, hot rolls, and soggy dumplings, shovelled in with knife, fork,or spoon. He occasionally anticipated dessert by making a sudden sortieinto the quarter of an immense custard pie, hastening the end by meansof noisy draughts of steaming coffee. Truly, the Three Bars connectionhad the fat of the land at the Bon Ami.
"Why, it's the Three Bars that's bringin' you here. Didn't you knowthat? There's nary a man in the hull country with backbone enough tokeep him off all-fours 'ceptin' Paul Langford. Um. You just try once towalk over the Boss, will you? Lord! What a grease spot you'd make!"
"Mr. Gordon isn't being walked over, is he?" asked Louise, finished withher tea and toast and impatient to be off.
"Oh, Gordon? Pretty decent sort o' chap. Right idees. Don't know muchabout handlin' hoss thieves and sich. Ain't smooth enough. Acted kind o'like a chicken with its head cut off till the Boss got into theroundup."
"Oh!" said Louise, whose conception of the young counsel for the Statedid not tally with this delineation.
"Yep, Miss, this here's the Boss's doin's. Yep. Lord! What'll that ganglook like when we are through with 'em? Spendin' the rest o' their daysdown there in Sioux Falls, meditatin' on the advisability o' walkin'clear o' the toes o' the Three Bars in the future and cussin' theirstupendified stupidity in foolin' even once with the Three Bars. Yep,sir--yep, ma'am, I mean,--Jesse Black and his gang have acted just likepesky, little plum'-fool moskeeters, and we're goin' to slap 'em. Thecheek of 'em, lightin' on the Three Bars! Lord!"
"Mr. Williston informed, did he not?"
"Williston? Oh, yes, he informed, but he'd never 'a' done it if ithadn't 'a' been for the Boss. The ol' jellyfish wouldn't 'a' had thenerve to inform without backin', as sure as a stone wall. The Boss is adoin' this, I tell you, Miss. But Williston's a goin' on the standto-morrer all right, and so am I."
The two cowboys at the corner table had long since finished theirsupper. They now lighted bad-smelling cigars and left the room. ToLouise's great relief, Munson rose, too. He was back very soon with aneat little runabout and a high-spirited team of bays.
"Boss's private," explained Jim with pride. "Nothin' too good for alady, so the Boss sent this and me to take keer o' it. And o' you, too,Miss," he added, as an afterthought.
He held the lines in his brown, muscular hands, lovingly, while hestowed away Louise's belongings and himself snugly in the seat, and thenthe blood burned hot and stinging through his bronzed, tough skin, forsuddenly in his big, honest, untrained sensibilities was born theconsciousness that the Boss would have stowed away the lady first. Itwas an embarrassing moment. Louise saved the day by climbing inunconcernedly after him and tucking the linen robe over her skirt.
"It will be a dusty drive, won't it?" she asked, simply.
"Miss, you're a--dandy," said Jim as simply.
As they drove upon the pontoon bridge, Louise looked back at the littletown on the bluffs, and felt a momentary choking in her throat. It was astrange place, yet it had tendrils reaching homeward. The trail beyondwas obscurely marked and not easy to discern. She turned to hercompanion and asked quickly: "Why didn't Mary come?"
"Great guns! Did I forgit to tell you? Williston's got the stomach-acheto beat the band and Mary's got to physic him up 'gin to-morrer. We'vegot to git him on that stand if it takes the hull Three Bars to hol' himup and the gal a pourin' physic down him between times. Yep, Ma'am. Hewas pizened. You see, everybody that ate any meat last night was tooksick with gripin' cramps, yep; but Williston he was worse'n all, hebein' a hearty eater. He was a stayin' in town over night on thispreliminary business, and Dick Gordon he was took, too, but not so bad,bein' what you might call a light eater. The Boss and me we drove homeafter all, though we'd expected to stay for supper. The pesky coyotesgot fooled that time. Yep, Ma'am, no doubt about it in the world.Friends o' Jesse's that we ain't able to lay hands on yit pizened thatthere meat. Yep, no doubt about it. Dick was in an awful sweat aboutyou. Was bound he was a comin' after you hisself, sick as he was, whenwe found Mary was off the count. So then the Boss was a comin' and theyfit and squabbled for an hour who could be best spared, when I, comin'in, settled it in a jiffy by offerin' my services, which was gladlyaccepted. When there's pizenin' goin' on, why, the Boss's place is hum.And nothin' would do but the Boss's own particular outfit. He never doesthings by halves, the Boss don't. So I hikes home after it and thenhikes here."
"I am very grateful to him, I am sure," murmured Louise, smiling.
And Jim, daring to look upon her smiling face, clear eyes, and soft hairunder the jaunty French sailor hat, found himself wondering why therewas no woman at the Three Bars. With the swift, half-intuitive thought,the serpent entered Eden.
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