Starr, of the Desert

by B. M. Bower

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  HOLMAN SOMMERS TURNS PROPHET

  Holman Sommers, clad outwardly in old wool trousers of a dingy gray, afaded brown smoking jacket that had shrunk in many washings until it wasthree inches too short in the sleeves, and old brown slippers, sat tiltedback in a kitchen chair against the wall of his house and smoked abeautifully colored meerschaum with solid gold bands and a fine ambermouthpiece, while he conferred comfortably with one Elfigo Apodaca.

  There was no quizzical twinkle in the eyes of Holman Sommers, vividlyalive though they were always. With his low slipper heels hooked overthe rung of his chair and his right hand nursing the bowl of his pipeand his black hair rumpled in the wind, he was staring at the graniteridge somberly.

  "I am indeed sorry to hear that Estan Medina was shot," he said after apause. "Even in the interests of the Cause it was absolutelyunjustifiable. The man could do no harm; indeed, he served to divertsuspicion from others. Only crass stupidity would resort to bruteviolence in the effort to further propaganda. Laying aside the human--"

  "Of course," Elfigo interrupted sarcastically, "there's nothing violentin a revolution! Where do you get your argument for gentleness, Holly?That's what bothers me. You can stir up a bunch of Mexicans quicker thana barrel of mezcal with your revolution talks."

  "Ah, but you do not take into account the great, fundamental truth thatcooperative effort, on the part of the proletariat, is whollyjustifiable, in that it furthers the good of all humanity. Whereasviolence on the part of the individual merely retards the final resultfor which we are striving. The murder of Estan Medina, for instance, maybe the one display of individual violence which will nullify all ourefforts toward a common good.

  "For myself, I am bending every energy toward the formation of acooperative colony which will demonstrate the feasibility of acooperative form of government for the whole nation--the whole world, infact. Your Junta has pledged itself to the assistance of this colony, theincalculable benefits of which will, I verily believe, be the verysalvation of Mexico as a nation. Mexico, now in the throes of nationalparturition, is logically the pioneer in the true socialistic form ofgovernment. From Mexico the seed will be carried overseas to drop uponsoil made fertile by the bones of those sacrificed to the blood-lust ofthe war mad lords of Europe.

  "Here, in this little corner of the world, is where the first tiny plantmust be grown. Can you not grasp, then, the tremendous significance ofwhat, on the face of it, is the pitifully small attempt of a pitifullyweak people to strike a feeble blow for the freedom of labor? Tofrustrate that feeble blow now, by the irresponsible, lawless murderof a good citizen, merely because he failed at first to grasp the meaningof the lesson placed before him to learn, is, to my way of thinking, notonly unjustifiable but damnably weak and reprehensible."

  Elfigo Apodaca, in another kitchen chair tilted back against an angle ofthe wall so that he half faced Holman Sommers, stretched out his legs andsmiled tolerantly. A big, good-looking, thoroughly Americanized Mexicanwas Elfigo; the type of man who may be found at sunrise whipping the beststream in the State, the first morning of the trout season; the type ofman whose machine noses in the closest to the judge's stand when a bigrace is on; the type of man who dances most, collects the most picturepostals of pretty girls, laughs most at after-dinner speeches; the typeof man who either does not marry at all, or attains much notoriety whenthe question of alimony is being fought out to the last cipher; the lastman you would point out as a possible conspirator against anything savethe peace and dignity of some other man's home. But it takes money to beall of these things, and Elfigo could see a million or two ahead of himalong the revolution trail. That is why he smiled tolerantly upon hiscolleague who talked of humanity instead of dollars.

  Then Elfigo harked back frowningly to what Holman Sommers had said aboutfeebleness. He rolled his cigar from the right corner of his mouth to theleft corner and spoke his thought.

  "Speaking of feeble blow, and all that bunk," he said irreverently, "howdo we stand, Holly? Just between you and me as men--cut out any interestwe may have in the game--what's your honest opinion? Do we win?"

  Holman Sommers raised one hand and hid the amused twitching of his lips.He could have put that question far more clearly, he believed, and hecould have expressed much better the thought that was in Elfigo's mind.He had deliberately baited Elfigo, and it amused him to see how blindlythe bait had been taken. He regarded Elfigo through half closed lids.

  "As a matter of fact, and speaking relatively, every concerted revolt onthe part of the proletariat is a victory. Though every leader in themovement be placed with his back against a stone wall, there to standuntil he falls to the earth riddled with bullets, yet have the peoplewon; a step nearer the goal, one more page writ in the glowing history ofthe advancement of the human race toward a true brotherhood of man. Therecan be no end save ultimate victory. That the victory may not be apparentfor fifty years, or a hundred, cannot in any sense alter the immutablelaw of evolution. Posterity will point back to this present uprising asthe first real blow struck for the freedom of the laboring classes ofMexico, and, indirectly, of the whole world."

  Elfigo, his thumbs hooked in the armholes of his vest, mark of thedominant note in the human male since clothes were invented to furnisharmholes for egotistic thumbs, contemplated his polished tan shoesdissatisfiedly.

  "Oh, to hell with posterity!" he blurted impatiently. "What about us poordevils that's furnishing the time and money and brains to put it over? Dowe get lined up against a wall?"

  Holly Sommers chuckled. "Not if your car can put you across the line soonenough. Then, even though Mexico might be called upon to execute oneElfigo Apodaca as an example to the souls in bondage, some otherbullet-riddled cadaver with your name and physical likeness would do aswell as your own carcass." He chuckled again.

  "Cheerful prospect," grinned Elfigo ruefully. "But I like a sportingchance, myself. The real point I'm trying to get at is, what chance doyou think the Alliance has got of winning? Come down outa the clouds,Holly, and never mind about humanity for a minute. You've helped organizethe Alliance, you've talked to the hombres, you've been the god in themachine in this part of the country, and all that. Now be a prophet inwords of one syllable and tell me what you think of the outlook."

  With his fingers Holly Sommers packed the tobacco down into the bowl ofhis pipe. His whole expression changed from the philosopher to thecunning leader of what might well be called a forlorn hope.

  "Speaking in words of one syllable, we have a damn better chance than youmay think," he said, in a tone as changed as his looks. "This countrylies wide open to any attack that is sudden and unexpected. Labor is in astate of ferment. I predict that within a year we shall find ourselvesupon the brink of a civil war, with labor and capital lined up againsteach other. Unless the government takes some definite step towardplacating organized labor, the whole standing army will not besufficient to keep the peace. That is the present internal condition,and that condition will grow worse until we face the real crisis ofa national strike of some sort--I believe of the railroad employees,since that is the most far-reaching and would prove the mostdisastrous--therefore the most terrifying to the ruling class.

  "On the other hand, and turning our faces outward, we are not much betterprepared for an emergency. We are a conceited nation, but insufferablenational conceit never yet won a battle. We are given to shouting ratherthan shooting. Americanism to-day consists chiefly of standing up whilethe Star Spangled Banner is being played by a brass band, and of shootingoff rockets on our national holiday. Were I of the capitalist class, Ishould consider the situation desperate. But being allied with theworkers, I can laugh.

  "Speaking still in words of one syllable, Elfigo, I can safely prophesywhat will happen first when the Alliance begins its active campaign.Scarehead news in extra editions will be printed. The uprising will begreatly exaggerated, I have no doubt. Women and children will be reportedmassacred, whereas the Alliance has no inte
ntion of being more barbarousthan any warfare necessitates. Then there will be a buzzing of leaguesand clubs; and the citizens will march up and down the business sectionof every town, bearing banners and shouting for the 'dear old flag.'Women will rise up and sell sofa pillows and doilies to raise money tobuy chewing gum for our soldier boys. That, Elfigo, will sufficientlyoccupy the masses for a week or two.

  "Going higher, red tape will begin to unroll and entwine the heads ofdepartments, and every man who has any authority whatever will wait fororders from some one higher up. Therefore, while the whole nation cheersthe street parades and the flags and the soldier boys and everything elsein sight, the Alliance will be getting under way--"

  "We'll throw her into high and step on her!" Elfigo contributed, being amotor enthusiast.

  "Something like that, yes. When you consider that the transportation oftroops to quell the uprising will require anywhere from three days tothree weeks, I am counting red tape and all, you will readily apprehendhow much may be accomplished before they are in a position to handle thesituation.

  "On the other hand, Mexico is filled with fighters. So much hasoppression done for the peon; it has taught him the business of fighting.Now, I grant you, she is a nation composed of warring factions topped bya lamentably weak provisional government. _But_ with practically everySpanish-American over here actually participating in a movement forMexico, all those various factions will coalesce, as tiny brooklets flowtogether to form the mighty torrent."

  "Still, she's a big country to lick," Elfigo pointed out, chiefly to seewhat Holly would say.

  "Ah, but Mexico does not comprehend that fact! And, in the samebreath, neither does this country, as a whole, comprehend how big acountry is Mexico to lick! Give a Mexican soldado a handful of beans aday and something to shout _Viva_ for, and he can and will fightindefinitely. If I mistake not, it will shortly behoove this countryto temporize, to make certain concessions. Whether those concessionsextend so far as to cede these three States back to Mexico, I cannothazard a prediction. I can see, however, where it is not at allimprobable that New Mexico and Arizona may be considered too costly tohold. Texas," he smiled, "Texas remembers too vividly her Alamo.Mexico, if she is wise, does not want Texas."

  "I heard yesterday there's some talk amongst the Americans aboutorganizing home guards. We can't stand another postponement, Holly; itmight give them time to pull off something like that. Little Luis Medinatold me he heard a target marker for the San Bonito rifle club saysomething about it. He heard the members talking. You know they're usinggovernment rifles and ammunition. It would be a hell of a note to putthings off till every town had a home guard organized."

  "I can see no necessity for putting things off," said Holly calmly. "Sofar as I can learn, we are practically ready, over here. Ah! Here comesour charming neighbor from Sunlight Basin. Perhaps, Elfigo, it would beas well for you to disappear from the premises."

  "Oh, I want to meet her," Elfigo smiled easily. "It'll be all right;I just came after water for my radiator, anyway. She's dry as a bone.I opened the drain cock and let her drain off and stood a fine chanceof freezing my engine too, before I got on past the puddle far enoughto be safe!"

  "It was, as a matter of fact, a very grave mistake to come here at all,"Holly told him with a courteous kind of severity. "I fear you greatlyunderestimate the absolute necessity for extreme caution. The mere factthat we have thus far elicited nothing more than a vague curiosity on thepart of the government, does not excuse any imprudence now. Rather, itintensifies the need for caution. For myself--"

  "Oh, anybody is liable to run dry, out here on the desert, Holly. If allthe Secret Service men in the country, and I know of one or two that'sbeen nosing around, were to come and find me here, they couldn't say Ihadn't a good, legitimate reason for coming. I had to come. I didn't wantto run on to any one from that inquest, and I had to see you. I wanted toput you wise to the stand we're taking on the Estan Medina affair. Wecan't help if that somebody bumped him off, but--"

  "You can fill your water bag at the well, since that is what you camefor; and I should strongly advise you to terminate your visit as soon asit is consistent with your errand to do so."

  "Oh, don't crab my meeting a pretty girl, Holly! Introduce me, and I'lltake the water and go. Be a sport!" Elfigo had picked up hisfive-gallon desert bag, but he was obviously waiting for Helen May toride up to the house.

  To Starr, crouched behind on a rock on the ridge that divided theSommers place from the hidden arroyo where he had first seen trace ofthe automobile, Elfigo's attitude of waiting for Helen May was tooobvious to question. A little, weakling offspring of Hope died then inhis heart. He had tried so hard to find some excuse for Helen May, andhe had almost succeeded. But his glasses were too strong; theyidentified Elfigo Apodaca too clearly for any doubt. They were toomerciless in showing Starr that beside Elfigo stood the man who hadvisited Helen May the day before.

  Recognition of the man came with something of a shock to Starr. He hadheard of Holman Sommers often enough, though he had never seen him. Hehad heard him described as a "highbrow" who wrote scientific articles,sometimes published in obscure magazines, read by few and understood bynone. A recluse student, he had been described to Starr, who knew ToddSommers by sight, and who had tagged the family as being too American forany suspicion to point their way.

  As often happens, Starr had formed a mental picture of Holman Sommerswhich was really the picture of a type made familiar to us mostly by ourhumorists. He had imagined that Holman Sommers, being a "highbrow," was alittle, dried-up man with a bald head and weak eyes that made spectaclesa part of his face; an insignificant little man well past middle life,with a gray beard, Starr saw him mentally. He should have known betterthan to let his imagination paint him a portrait of any man, in thoseticklish times. But they were Americans, which was disarming in itself.And the plump sister, who had talked for ten minutes with Starr when hecalled at the ranch one day to see if they had any stock they wanted tosell, had further helped to ward off any suspicion.

  Now that he knew, by the smoking jacket and the slippers and theuncovered thatch of jet-black hair, that this man must be Holman Sommers;when he saw Elfigo Apodaca there, seated and talking earnestly with him,as he could tell by the gestures with which they elaborated their speech;when he saw Helen May riding in to the ranch, he had before him all theoutward, visible evidence of a conference. The only false note, toStarr's way of thinking, was the brazenness of it. They must, he toldhimself, be so sure of themselves that they could snap their fingers atrisk, or else they were so desperately in need of conferring togetherthat they overlooked the risk. And that second explanation might easilybe the true one, in view of Estan Medina's death and the possibleconsequence to the Alliance.

  Starr was hampered by not hearing anything that was being said down thereat that homey-looking ranch house, where everything was clearly visibleto him through his field glasses. But even so it did not require speechto tell him that Elfigo Apodaca had never before met Helen May Stevenson,and that Holman Sommers was not overeager to introduce him to her. Starr,watching every movement of the three when they came together, frownedwith puzzlement. Why had they been strangers until just now?

  He saw the three stand and talk for perhaps two minutes; commonplace,early-acquaintance nothings, he judged from their faces and actions. Hesaw Helen May offer Holman Sommers the package she carried; saw Holmantake it negligently and tuck it under his arm while he went on talking.He saw Helen May turn then and go around to the door, which was openedeffusively by the plump sister whom he knew. He saw the two men go to thewell, and watched Elfigo fill the water bag and go away down the uneventrail to where his automobile stood, perhaps a quarter of a mile nearerthe main road. When he turned his glasses from Elfigo to the house,Holman had gone inside, and the two women were out beyond the houseadmiring a flock of chickens which Maggie called to her with a fewhandfuls of grain.

  There seemed no further profit in watching the Sommers house,
and Starrwas about to leave his post when he saw the dingy, high-powered roadsterof the sheriff come careening up the trail. He came near upsetting hismachine in getting around Apodaca's big car, but he negotiated thepassing with some skill and came on to where he met Elfigo himselfsweating down the trail with his full five-gallon water bag.

  Here again Starr wished that he could hear as well as he could see. Thatthe sheriff had seized the opportunity to place Elfigo under arrest, heknew well enough, by faces and gestures, just as he had known of Elfigo'sintroduction to Helen May. But here were no polite nothings beingmouthed. Elfigo was talking angrily, and Starr would have given a greatdeal to hear what he was saying; calling it an outrage, he supposed, andheaping maledictions on the stupidity of the law.

  The sheriff did not seem to pay much attention to what Elfigo was sayingbeyond pulling a pair of handcuffs from his coat pocket, and tossingthem to his prisoner--with the invitation to put them on, Starr knewvery well, having himself done the same thing more than once. Stilltalking furiously, Elfigo obeyed, and then was invited to climb inbeside the sheriff, who stooped and did something with one of Elfigo'sstylishly trousered legs; manacled him to something in the machine,Starr guessed. From which he also gathered that Elfigo's remarks musthave been pretty strong.

  The sheriff started on, ran to where he could turn without upsetting, andbacked the car around as though his errand were done. Quick work it hadbeen. Evidently Sheriff O'Malley had attended the inquest with a blankwarrant in his pocket, for fear Elfigo might take alarm and give themthe slip. He must have been on the way back when he had either seenElfigo's car on the Sommers trail, or else had noted where it had turnedoff and had come up the trail in a purely investigative spirit. Howeverthat might be, he had not let the chance slip. Which was characteristicof Sheriff O'Malley, essentially a man of action.

  Starr should have been glad. Perhaps he was, though he did not look it ashe went back to where Rabbit was browsing on whatever he could get whilehe waited for his master. Elfigo in jail even for a few days would be anadvantage, Starr believed. It would set the rest to buzzing, so that hecould locate them with less delay. But at the same time--

  "If it came to a showdown right now, I'd have to take her along with therest," he came up squarely against his real problem. "She's got itcoming; but it's hell, all the same!"