CHAPTER XVII.
MISS SLOCUM'S IDEAS REGARDING DEPORTMENT.
"So it was a gold mine that dragged you people up into this wilderness?Well, I've puzzled my mind a good deal to understand your movementslately; but the finding of a vein as rich as your free gold promises isenough to turn any man's head for a while. Well, well; you are a luckyfellow, Overton."
"Yes, I've no doubt that between good luck and bad luck, I've as much luckas anybody," answered Overton, with a grimace, "but a week or so ago youdid not think me lucky--you thought me 'looney.'"
"You are more than half right," agreed the doctor; "appearances justifiedme. My wife and I stormed at you--behind your back--for carrying 'Tanawith you on your fishing trip; it was such an unheard-of thing to myfolks, you know. Humph! I wonder what they will say when it is known thatshe was on a prospecting trip, and that the venture will result in a gainto her of dollars that will be counted by the tens of thousands. ByGeorge! it seems incredible! Just like a chapter from the old fairytales."
"Yes. I find myself thinking about it like that sometimes," said Overton;"a little afraid to lay plans, for fear that after all it may be a dream.I never hoped much for it; I came under protest, and the luck seems morethan I deserved."
"Maybe that is the reason you accept it in such a sulky fashion," observedthe doctor, "for, upon my soul, I think I am more elated over your goodfortune than you are. You don't appear to get up a particle of enthusiasmbecause of it."
"Well, I have not had an enthusiastic lot of partners, either. Harris,here, not able to move; 'Tana not expected to live; and I suddenly face toface with all this responsibility for them. It gave me considerable tothink about."
"You are right. I only wonder you are not gray-haired. A new gold-fieldwaiting for you to make it known, and you guarding it at the same time,perhaps, from red tramps who come spying around. But you are lucky, Dan;everything comes your way, even a capitalist ready at your word to put upmoney on the strength of the ore you have to show. Why, man, many a poordevil of a prospector has stood a long siege with starvation, even withgold ore in sight, just because no one with capital would buy or backhim."
"I know. I realize that; and, for the sake of the other two, I am veryglad there need be no waiting for profits."
"Do you know, Dan, I fancy little 'Tana is in the way of being well caredfor, even without this good fortune," observed the doctor, looking at theother in a questioning way. "It just occurred to me yesterday that thatfine young fellow, Lyster, is uncommonly fond of her. It may be simplybecause she is ill, and he is sorry for her; but his devotion appeared tome to have a sentimental tinge, and I thought what a fine thing it wouldbe."
"Very," agreed Overton; "and you are sentimental enough yourself to planit all out for them. I guess Haydon helped to put that notion into yourhead, didn't he?"
The doctor laughed.
"Well, yes, he did speak of Lyster's devotion to your _protegee_" heacknowledged; "and you think we are a couple of premature match-makers,don't you?"
"I think maybe you had better leave it for 'Tana to decide," answeredOverton, "and I also think schools will be the first thing considered byher. She is very young, you know."
"Seventeen, perhaps," hazarded the doctor; but Overton did not reply.
He was watching the canoe just launched by their Indian boatmen. They wereto take Mr. Haydon back again to the Ferry. He was to send up workmen, andOverton was to manage the work for the present--or, at least, until Mr.Seldon could arrive and organize the work of developing the vein that Mr.Haydon had found was of such exceeding richness that his offer to theowners had been of corresponding magnitude. Overton had promptly acceptedthe terms offered; Harris agreed to them; and even if 'Tana should not,Dan decided that out of his own share he could make up any added sumdesired by her for her share, though he had little idea that she wouldfind fault with his arrangements. She! who had thought, that day of thegold find, that it was better to have their little camp unshared by themany whom gold would bring to them--that it was almost better to be poorthan to have their happy life changed.
And it was all over now. Other people had come and were close about her,while he had not seen her since the morning before, when she had awakenedand turned to Max. Well, he should be satisfied, so he told himself. Shewas going to get well again. She was going to be happy. More wealth thanthey had hoped for had come to her, and with it she would, of course,leave the hills, would go into the life of the cities, and by and by wouldbe glad to forget the simple, primitive life they had shared for the fewdays of one Kootenai summer. Well, she would be happy.
And here on the spot where their pretty camp had been, he would remain. Nothought of leaving came to him. It would all be changed, of course; menand machinery would spoil all the beauty of their wilderness. But as yetno plan for his own future had occurred to him. That he himself had wealthsufficient to secure him from all toil and that a world of pleasure waswithin his reach, did not seem to touch him with any alluring sense. Hewas going to remain until the vein of the Twin Springs had a big hole madein it; and the rich soil of the old river he had staked out as a reservefor himself and his partners, to either work or sell. Through hisone-sided conversations with Harris he learned that he, too, wanted toremain in the camp where their gold had been found. Doctors, medicines,luxuries, could be brought to him, but he would remain.
Mrs. Huzzard had at once been offered a sum that in her eyes wasmunificent, for the express purpose of managing the establishment of thepartners--when it was built. Until then she was to draw her salary, andact as either nurse or cook in the rude dwellings that for the present hadto satisfy all their dreams of luxury.
An exodus from Sinna Ferry was expected; many changes were to be made;and Overton and the doctor went down to the canoe to give final directionsto their Indian messenger.
Lyster was there, too, with a most exhausting list of articles which Mr.Haydon was to send up from Helena.
"Dan, some of these things I put down for 'Tana, as I happened to think ofthem," he said, and unfolded a little roll made from the leaves of anotebook stuck together at the ends with molasses. "You look it over andsee if it's all right. I left one sheet empty for anything you might wantto add."
Dan took it, eying dubiously the length of it and the great array ofarticles mentioned.
"I don't think I had better add anything to it until heavier boats arecarrying freight on the Kootenai," he remarked, and then commenced readingaloud some of the items:
Eiderdown pillows. Rugs and hammocks. A guitar. Hot water bottle. Some good whisky. Toilet soap. Bret Harte's Poems.
A traveling dress for a girl. (Here followed measurements and directions to the dressmaker.) Then the whole was scratched out, and the following was substituted: Brown flannel or serge--nine yards.
"I had to get Mrs. Huzzard to tell me some of the things," said Lyster,who looked rather annoyed at the quizzical smiles of Dan and the doctor.
"I should imagine you would," observed Overton. "I would have needed thehelp of the whole camp to get together that amount of plunder. A goodshaving set and a pair of cork insoles, No. 8, are they for 'Tana, too?"
But Lyster disdained reply, and Overton, after reading, "All the latemagazines," and "A double kettle for cooking oatmeal," folded up the paperand gave it back.
"As I have read only a very small section of the list, I do not imagineyou have omitted anything that could possibly be towed up the river," hesaid. "But it is all right, my boy. I would never have thought of halfthat stuff, but I've no doubt they will all be of use, and 'Tana willthank you."
"How soon do you expect she will be able to walk, or be moved?" asked Mr.Haydon of the doctor.
"Oh, in two or three weeks, if nothing interferes with her promisedrecovery. She is a pretty sick girl; but I think her good constitutionwill
help her on her feet by that time."
"And by that time I will be back here," said Haydon, addressing Lyster.
He took a sealed envelope from an inner pocket and gave it to the youngfellow.
"When she gets well enough to read that, give it to her, Max," he said, ina low tone. "It's something that may surprise her a little, so I trustyour discretion as to when she is to see it. From what I hear of her, shemust be a rather level-headed, independent little girl. And as I havesomething to tell her worth her knowing, I have decided to leave theletter. Now, don't look so puzzled. When I come back she will likely tellyou what it means, but you may be sure it is no bad news I send her. Willyou attend to it?"
"Certainly. But I don't understand--"
"And there is no need for you to understand--just yet. Take good care ofher, and help Overton in all possible ways to look after our interestshere. There will be a great deal to see to until Seldon or I can getback."
"Oh, Dan is a host in himself," said Lyster. "He won't want me in his waywhen it comes to managing his men. But I can help Flap-Jacks carry water,or help old Akkomi smoke, for he comes here each day for just thatpurpose--that and his dinner--so never fear but that I will make myselfuseful."
Miss Slocum from the cabin doorway--the door was a blanket--watched thecanoe skim down the little stream, and sighed dolefully when itdisappeared entirely.
"Now, Lavina," remonstrated Mrs. Huzzard, "I do hope that you ain'tcounting on making part of the next load that leaves here; for now thatyou have got here, I'd hate the worst kind to lose you. Gold mines arefine things to live alongside of, I dare say; but I crave some humanbeings within hail--yes, indeed."
"Exactly my own feelings, Cousin Lorena," admitted Miss Slocum, "and Iregret the departure of any member of our circle--all except the Indians.I really do not think that any amount of living among them would teach meto feel lonely at their absence. And that dreadful Akkomi!"
"Yes, isn't he a trial? Not that he ever does any harm; but he just keepsa body in mortal dread, for fear he might take a notion to."
"Yet Mr. Overton seems to think him entirely friendly."
"Humph! yes. But if 'Tana should pet a rattlesnake, Mr. Overton wouldtrust it. That's just how constant he is to his friends."
"Well, now," said Miss Lavina, with mild surprise in her tone, "I reallyhave seen nothing in his manner that would indicate any extreme liking forthe girl, though she is his ward. Now, that bright young gentleman, Mr.Lyster--"
"Tut, tut, Lavina! Max Lyster is all eyes and hands for her just now. Hewill fan her and laugh with her; but it will be Dan who digs for her andtakes the weight of her care on his shoulders, even if he never says aword about it. That is just Dan Overton's way."
"And a very fine way it is, Lorena," said Miss Slocum, while her eyeswandered out to where he stood talking to Lyster. "I've met many men offine manners in my time, but I never was more impressed at first sight byany person than by him when he conducted me personally to you on myarrival. The man had never heard my name before, yet he received me as ifthis camp had been arranged on purpose for my visit, and that he himselfhad been expecting me. If that did not contain the very essence of finemanners, I never saw any, Lorena Jane."
"I--I s'pose it does, Lavina," agreed Mrs. Huzzard; "though I never heardany one go on much about his manners before. And as for me--well," and shelooked a bit embarrassed, "I ain't the best judge myself. I've had such aterrible hard tussle to make a living since my man died, that I hain't hadtime to study fine manners. I'll have time enough before long, I suppose,for Dan Overton surely has offered me liberal living wages. But, Lavina,even if I did want to learn now, I wouldn't know where to commence."
"Well, Lorena, since you mention it, there is lots of room forimprovement in your general manner. You've been with careless people, Isuppose, and bad habits are gathered that way. Now I never was much of agenius--couldn't trim a bonnet like you to save my life; but I did have amost particular mother; and she held that good manners was arecommendation in any land. So, even if her children had no fortune leftthem, they were taught to show they had careful bringing up. One of myideas in coming out here was that I might teach deportment in some Indianschool, but not much of that notion is left me. Could I ever teachFlap-Jacks to quit scratching her head in the presence of ladies andgentlemen? No."
"I don't think," said Mrs. Huzzard, in a meditative way, "that I mind thescratching so much as I do the dratted habit she has of carrying thedish-cloth under her arm when she don't happen to be using it. That justwears on my nerves, it does. But I tell you what it is, Lavina--if you arekind of disappointed on account of not getting Indian scholars that suitjust yet, I'm more than half willing you should teach me the deportment,if you'd be satisfied with one big white scholar instead of a lot oflittle red ones."
"Yes, indeed, and glad to do it," said Miss Slocum, frankly. "Your heartis all right, Lorena Jane; but a warm heart will not make people forgetthat you lean your elbow on the table and put your food into your mouthwith your knife. Such things jar on other people just as Flap-Jacks andthe dish-cloth jar on you. Don't you understand? But your desire toimprove shows that you are a very remarkable woman, Lorena, for very fewpeople are willing to learn new habits after having followed careless onesfor forty years."
"Thirty-nine," corrected Lorena Jane, showing that, however peculiar andremarkable her wisdom might be in some directions, it did not prevent anatural womanly feeling regarding the number of years she had lived.
"You see," she continued, after a little, as Miss Lavina kept a discreetsilence, "this here gold fever is catching; and if any one gets started onthe right track, there is no telling what day he may stumble over afortune. One might come my way--or yours, Lavina. And, just as you say,fine manners is a heap of help in sassiety. And thinking of it that waymakes me feel I'd like to be prepared to enjoy, in first-class style, anyamount of money I might get a chance at up here. For I tell you what itis, Lavina, this Western land is a woman's country. Her chances in mostthings are always as good, and mostly better than a man's."
"Yes, if she does not die from fright at the creepy looks of the friendlyIndians," said Miss Slocum, with a shivering breath. "I have not sleptsound for a single minute since I saw that old smoking wretch who neverseems a rod from this cabin. Now down there at Sinna Ferry I thought itmight be kind of nice, though we stopped only a little while, and I wasnot up in the street. Any real genteel people there?"
"Well--yes, there is," answered Lorena Jane, after a slight hesitation asto just how much it would be wise to say of the genteel gentleman whoresided in Sinna Ferry, and was in her eyes a model of culture anddisdainful superiority. Indeed, that disdain of his had been a first causein her desire to reach the state of polish he himself enjoyed--to riseabove the vulgar level of manners that had of old seemed good enough toher. "Yes, there is some high-toned folks there; the doctor's wife andfamily, for one; and then there is a very genteel man there--CaptainLeek. He is an ex-officer in the late war, you know; a real militarygentleman, with a wound in his leg. Limps some, but not enough to make himawkward. He keeps the postoffice. But if this Government looked after itsheroes as it ought to, he'd be getting a good pension--that's just what hewould. I'm too sound a Union woman not to feel riled at times when I seethe defenders of the Constitution go unrewarded."
"Don't say 'riled,' Lorena," corrected Miss Slocum. "You must drop thatand 'dratted' and 'I'll swan'; for I don't think you could tell what anyof them mean. I couldn't, I'm sure. But I used to know a family of Leeksback in Ohio. They were Democrats, though, and their boys joined theConfederate Army, though I heard they wasn't much good to the cause. Butof course it is not likely to be one of them."
"I should think not," agreed Mrs. Huzzard, stoutly. "I never heard himtalk politics much; but I do know that he wears nothing but the Union blueto this day, and always that military sort of hat with a cord aroundit--so--so dignified like."
"No, I did not suppose it could be the one I knew," said he
r cousin; "themilitary uniform decides that."
That Girl Montana Page 18