CHAPTER VIII
HOW REDMOND CAME HOME
The weather continued pitilessly hot and dry, when, one afternoon,Trooper Cotton, returning from a tour of fireguard inspection, sat nearthe window-seat in which I lay at Gaspard's Trail. I was glad of hiscompany, because the sight of the parched prairie and bare strip ofplowland was depressing. Barns and granary alike were empty, for theearth had failed to redeem her promise that season, and an unnaturalsilence brooded over Gaspard's Trail.
"I don't know what has come over this country," the trooper said. "Oneused to get a cheery word everywhere, but now farmer and stockman canhardly answer a question civilly, and the last fellow I spoke to abouthis fireguards seemed inclined to assault me. Presumably it's the badtimes, and I'll be thankful when they improve. It might put some of youinto a more pleasant humor."
"If you had said bad men you might have been nearer the mark," Ianswered dryly. "We are a peaceable people, but there's an oppressionworse than any governmental tyranny, and from the rumors in the air it'snot impossible some of us may try to find our own remedy if we arepushed too far."
"That's a little indefinite," said Cotton, with a laugh. "If you meantaking the law into your own hands, there would be very unpleasant workfor me. Still, I'm sorry for all of you, especially those whom thatflabby scoundrel Lane seems to be squeezing. He's been driving to andfrom the railroad a good deal of late, and it's curious that twice whenI struck his trail two traveling photographers turned up soon after him.One was a most amusing rascal, but I did not see the other, who was busyinside the wagon tent, and who apparently managed the camera. I'll showyou a really tolerable picture of me he insisted on taking."
It struck me that Boone, or Adams, had twice run a serious risk; but Isaid nothing, and Cotton, fumbling inside his tunic, tossed a litter ofpapers on the table. These were mostly official, but there were oddletters among them, for the trooper was not remarkable for preciseness,and I noticed a crest upon some of the envelopes, while, after shufflingthem, he flung me a small card, back uppermost. I was surprised when,turning it over, the face of Lucille Haldane met my gaze.
"It is a charming picture; but that is only natural, considering theoriginal. How did you get this, Cotton?" I said.
The trooper snatched it from me, and a darker color mantled hisforehead. "Confound it! I never meant to show you that," he said.
"So I surmised," I answered dryly; and the lad frowned as he thrust thepicture out of sight.
"You will understand, Ormesby, that Miss Haldane did not give me this.I--well--I discovered it."
"Wasn't it foolish of you?" I asked quietly; and the trooper, who,strange to say, did not seem to find my tone of paternal admonitionludicrous, answered impulsively: "I don't know why I should strip foryour inspection, Ormesby, or why I should not favor you with awell-known reply; but it is perhaps best that you should notmisunderstand the position. I know what you are thinking, but I haven'tforgotten I'm Trooper Cotton--nor am I likely to. It's a strange life,Ormesby, and the men who live it go under occasionally. This--God blessher--is merely something to hold on by."
I made no answer, for there was nothing appropriate I could find to say;but it occurred to me that Lucille Haldane might never receive a highercompliment than this lad's unexpectant homage.
"Here is the right one, and you will obliterate the other from yourmemory," he said, passing me a second photograph. "The fellow who tookit knows how to handle a camera."
It was evident he did; and, knowing who he was, the irony of thecircumstances impressed me as I examined the picture. "He has anartistic taste and an eye for an effective pose. Are you going to sendany copies to your people in England, Cotton?" I said.
"No," answered the lad quietly; "they might not be pleased with it.Well, I dare say, you have guessed long ago that I am one of the legion.Most of my people were soldiers, which was why, when I had two dollarsleft, I offered the nation my services at Regina; but I am the first ofthem to wear a police private's uniform."
I nodded sympathetically, and the trooper, who looked away from me outof the window, said: "Talk of the devil! All men, it is said, are equalin this country, but I fancy there's a grade between most of us and youracquaintance, Foster Lane. The fellow has passed the corral, and I can'tget out without meeting him."
I nodded with a certain grim sense of anticipation, for I had determinedto speak very plainly to Foster Lane, and knew that Cotton could, onoccasion, display a refined insolence that was signally exasperating.The next moment Lane came in, red-faced and perspiring, and greeted mewith his usual affability.
"I'm on the way to recovery, but unable to ride far, which explains myrequest for a visit," I said; and Lane waved his large handsdeprecatingly.
"Business is business, and you need not apologize, because although Ihave come two hundred miles you will find first-class expenses chargedfor in the bill. I can't smoke on horseback. Will you and the troopertry one of these?"
"No, thanks," said Cotton, with an inflection in his voice and a look inhis half-closed eyes that would have warned a more sensitive person; butLane, still holding out the cigar-case, added with mild surprise: "Bythe price I paid for them they ought to be good."
"I don't doubt it," drawled Cotton, glancing languidly at the speaker."But a few of what you would call British prejudices still cling to me,and I take cigars and things only from my friends--you see?"
The stout man laughed a little, though there was malice in his eye. "Andwe are not likely to be acquainted? You are, one might presume, a scionof the English aristocracy, come out to recruit your health or waituntil it's a little less sultry in the old country."
"I would hardly go so far!"--and Cotton drawled out the words, as heturned upon his heel. "More unlikely things have happened. At present Ihave the honor of serving her Majesty as--a police trooper."
Lane handed me his cigar-case when the lad strolled out of the door, butI was in no mood to assume an unfelt cordiality. "I am not inclined forsmoking. Hadn't we better come straight to business?" I said.
Lane struck a match, and stretched his legs along the window-seat,though he closed the case with a snap. "Why, certainly! You are ready toredeem the mortgage on Gaspard's Trail?"
He spoke pleasantly, though there was a sneer in his eyes, and he hadboth lighted his cigar, in spite of my hint, and laid his dusty boots onthe cushions with a cool assurance that made me long to personallychastise him. "You probably know that I am not," I said.
"I did hear you had lost some cattle," he answered indifferently. "Well,in that case, I wait your proposition."
"I am open to renew the loan at the original interest until this timenext year, when, no matter what I may have to part with, it will be paidoff. You have already had a very fair return on your money," I said.
"It can't be done," and Lane looked thoughtfully at his cigar. "I'llcarry you on that long at double interest, or make you a bid outrightfor Crane Valley."
"There is no reason in your first offer; you asked only fifty per cent.increase last time, which was enough in all conscience. What do you wantwith Crane Valley?"
Lane smiled benignly. "You didn't accept that offer formally. CraneValley's a pretty location, and I've taken a fancy to it."
I took time to answer, and set my brain to work. The advantage lay withthe enemy, but, while it appeared certain that he would dispossess meof Gaspard's Trail, I determined to hold on to Crane Valley. "You can'thave it, and I will not pay the extortionate interest. That, I think, isplain enough," I said.
The financier shrugged his shoulders. "I hope you won't be sorry. Ihaven't quite decided on my program, but you will hear what it is whenI'm ready. Have you got your own fixed?"
"I will have soon," I answered, my indignation gaining the mastery."There is no advantage to be gained by further circumlocution, and youmay as well know that I will give you as much trouble as possible beforeyou plunder me. In the first place, if we find Redmond, I shall try tostrike you for conspiracy."
> "Do you know where Redmond is?" and there was a curious note in thespeaker's voice, though I stolidly refrained from any sign of eithernegation or assent. "Neither do I; but I have my suspicions that hewon't be much use to you if you do find him. The man is half-crazy,anyway. Did you ever hear about the fool bullfrog and the ox, RancherOrmesby?"
He leaned back against the logs, and chuckled so complacently at his ownconceit that it was hard to believe this easy-tempered creature wasdraining half my neighbors' blood; but I was filled with a greatloathing for him.
"Your simile isn't a good one, even if it fits the case. An ox is ahard-working, honest, and useful kind of beast; but there's no usebandying words," I said.
"Just so!" and Lane rose lazily. "It's rather a pity you sent for me,because you have not had much for your money. Being rather pressed justnow, I won't stay."
I had no intention of requesting him to do so, for the air seemedclearer without him, and presently Cotton returned. For the first time,I told him all my suspicions concerning Redmond, and he looked grave ashe listened. "It would have saved some people sorrow if I could onlyhave run that horse-leach in," he commented, gazing regretfully afterthe diminishing figure of the rider. "Yes; it's curious about Redmond.Lane was over at his place a little while before your accident, and Ibelieve afterwards as well, and since then nobody has seen Redmond. I'llhave a talk with Mackay, and put some of our men on his trail. If he'sstill on top of the prairie they'll find him."
Cotton rode away; and late that evening Steel returned from his ownholding with a very grim face, while the eyes of his sister weresuspiciously red.
"I'm to be sold up, and am turned out now," he said. "Lane, who won'twait any longer, is foreclosing, and he'll fix things so there will beno balance left. God knows what's to become of Sally and me."
"You need not trouble about Sally," the girl said, with a flash in hereyes. "We'll worry along somehow, and we'll live to see that devilsorry."
Practical counsel seemed the best sympathy, and after asking a fewquestions, I said: "This is going to be a grain-producing country, andthere are plenty acres ready for breaking and horses idle at CraneValley. When Lane seizes Gaspard's Trail, as he probably will, we mustsee what can be done with them on the share arrangement; and meantime,since I paid two hired men off, there is plenty for you to do herehelping me."
Steel eventually agreed, and as soon as I was fit for the saddle I rodeover to Mackay's quarters; but, though he stated that if Redmond wereanywhere in the Territories he would sooner or later be found, nothinghad so far resulted from his inquiries.
It was some weeks later, and towards the close of a sultry afternoon,when I rode homewards with Cotton and Steel towards the Sweetwater. Wehad much thunder that season, and though there had been a heavy stormthe night before, a stagnant, oppressive atmosphere still hung over theprairie. It suited the somber mood of two of the party, while evenCotton seemed unusually subdued.
Steel's possessions had been sold off that day, and bought up atridiculously inadequate prices by two strangers, who we all suspectedhad been financed by Lane. Few of us had a dollar to spare, and theauctioneer, who was also probably under the money-lender's thumb,demanded proof of ability to make the purchase when one or two neighborsattempted to force up the bidding. Steel rode with slack bridle and hishead bent, and I was heavy of heart, for I held Gaspard's Trail only onsufferance, and the same fate must soon overtake me. The prairiestretched before us a desolate waste, fading on the horizon into grayobscurity, and, together with the gloom of the heavens above, itsforlorn aspect increased my depression. So we came moodily to the dip tothe Sweetwater, and I saw Mackay standing beside a deeper pool below. Arapid flowed into the head of it, and the lines of froth shone with astrange lividness. The time was then perhaps an hour before sunset. Whenwe dismounted to water and rest the horses, Mackay turned sharply andglanced at Cotton.
"All went off quietly?" And the trooper nodded.
"Yes," I said. "We have a long patience, Sergeant; but there were signson some of the faces that things may go differently some day."
"Ay?" said the sergeant, fixing his keen eyes on me as he stood, a lean,bronze-skinned statue beside the river. "What were ye meaning, RancherOrmesby?"
"I was merely giving you a hint," I said. "We have paid all demandedfrom us and kept the law, but now, when the powers that rule us stand byand watch us ground out of existence to enrich a few unprincipledschemers, it is hard to say what might not happen."
"Ye did well," was the dry answer. "It will be my business to see yekeep it still; but in this country any man has liberty to talk just asfoolishly as it pleases him. Can the law change the seasons for ye, orprotect the careless from their own improvidence? But let be. I'm olderthan most o' ye, and have seen that there's a measure set onoppression."
He concluded with a curious assurance which approached solemnity; butSteel added, with a Western expletive, that he had already let be untilhe was ruined. Then I broke in: "If I can find Redmond and wring thetruth from him I hope to prove that the limit has been reached; and Ipurpose, in the first place, to see what the law will do for me. Haveyou any word of him?"
"No," and the sergeant's tone was very significant. "If he were stillabove the prairie-sod we should have found him. But there was a bitfreshet last night--and I am expecting him."
Steel, I fancied, shivered, and though the speaker might well bemistaken, anything that served to divert our thoughts was a relief, andfor a while we lay among the grasses, smoking silently. The sky washeavily overcast, there was no breath of air astir, and the slow gurgleof the river drifted mournfully down the hollow. For some reason, I feltstrangely restless and expectant, as though something unusual wouldshortly happen. A faint drumming of hoofs rose up from somewhere far offacross the prairie, as well as a sound which might have been made by anapproaching wagon.
"That's Lane striking south for the railroad with a few of the boysbehind him," Steel said listlessly. "There'll be thunder before hereaches it, and Lardeau's team is wild, but there's no use hopingthey'll bolt and break Lane's neck for him. Accidents do not happen tothat kind of man."
A little time had passed, and the beat of horses' feet broke in arhythmic measure through the heavy stillness, when Cotton, who hadfollowed his sergeant along the bank, raised a shout, and I leaped to myfeet, for something that circled with the current was drifting downstream. We ran our hardest, and, for I was not strong yet, the otherswere standing very silent, with tense faces and staring eyes, when Irejoined them.
"Yon's Redmond," said Sergeant Mackay. "I was expecting him."
The object he pointed to slid slowly by abreast of us, and I felt ashock of physical nausea as I stared at it. At that distance it waswithout human semblance, a mere shapeless mass of sodden clothing, savefor the faint white glimmer of a face; but the shock gave place to afit of sullen fury. Heaven knows I cherished no anger against theunfortunate man. Indeed, from the beginning, I had regarded him as amere helpless tool; but death had robbed me of my only weapon, and Iremembered Lane's prediction that Redmond would be of little use to meif I found him.
"If one of ye has a lariat ye had better bring it," said SergeantMackay.
We followed the object down stream. It floated slowly, nowhalf-submerged, now rising more buoyantly, with the blanched countenanceturned towards the murky heavens, out of which the light was fading,until Steel, poising himself upon the bank, deftly flung a coupledlariat. The noose upon its end took hold, and I shrank backwards when wedrew what it held ashore, for Redmond's face was ill to look upon, andseemed to mock me with its staring eyes.
"Stan' clear!" said the sergeant, perhaps feeling speech of any kindwould be a relief, for nobody showed the least desire to crowd upon him."If it had not been for the regulations a drop of whisky would have beenacceptable, seeing that it's my painful duty to find out how he came byhis end."
The words were excusable, but there was no whisky forthcoming; andthough, perhaps, only one man in a hundred would ha
ve undertaken thatgruesome task, the sergeant went through it with the grim thoroughnesswhich characterized all his actions.
"There's no sign of a blow or bullet that I can find, and I'm thinkingonly the Almighty knows whether he drowned himself or it was accidentaldeath. Ye can identify him, all of ye?"
We thought we could, but had been so intent that nobody noticed thetrampling of horses' hoofs until a wagon was drawn up close by, andseveral riders reined in their beasts.
"Here's a man who ought to," said Steel. "Come down and swear to yourpartner, Lane."
Turning, I saw my enemy start as he looked over the side of the wagonat what lay before him. Every eye was fixed upon him, and Steel stoodquietly determined by the wheel.
"I'm in a hurry, and don't fill the post of coroner," the former said.
"Will you come down?" Steel added; and there was a low growl from theassembly, while Lane shrank back from that side of the vehicle. "I guessit's certain this man was the last to see Redmond alive."
"Drive on!" said Lane to the teamster; but the man hesitated, while,when his employer snatched up the reins, there was another murmur deeperthan before, and mounted men closed about the wagon, their figurescutting blackly against the fading light. Why they were journeyinghomewards in such company I did not learn, but, overtaking it, they hadperhaps ridden beside the wagon for the purpose of expressing theirfrank opinion of its occupant.
"Ye cannot pass until ye have answered my questions," said SergeantMackay. "If he does not dismount ye have authority to help him, Steel.Ye will hold the horses, Trooper Cotton."
Lane slowly climbed down the wheel, and neither Mackay nor Cottoninterfered when, as he showed signs of remaining at the foot of it,Steel's hand closed firmly on his neck and forced him forwards,apparently much against his wishes. Then the ruined farmer held him,protesting savagely, beside the body of his victim. It was, in its ownway, an impressive scene--the erect, soldierly figures of the uniformedtroopers, the circle of silent mounted men, who moved only to sooththeir uneasy horses, and the white-faced man who shivered visibly as helooked down at the sodden heap at his feet. There was also, even had thetwo been strangers, ample excuse for him.
"While protesting that this is an outrage, I am ready to answer yourquestions," he said huskily.
"Who is this man? Did ye know him?" asked the sergeant, whose faceremained woodenly impassive.
"Rancher Redmond, by his clothing," was the answer. "Yes; if necessary,I think I could swear to him." And the sergeant asked again: "When andwhere did ye last see him?"
"In the birch _coulee_, at dusk, three weeks past Tuesday. That wouldmake it----" But the financier seemed unable to work out the simple sum,and concluded: "You can figure the date for yourself."
"What business had ye with him?" and the sergeant smiled dryly at theanswer: "That does not concern you."
"Maybe no. If ye have good reasons for not telling I will not press ye,though ye may be called upon to speak plainly. Do ye know how he cameinto the river?"
"No," said Lane, a trifle too vehemently.
"Do ye know of any reason why he should have drowned himself?" And Laneturned upon the questioner savagely:
"I'll make you all suffer for your inference! Why should I know? Ichallenge the right of anyone but a coroner to detain me."
"I'll let ye see my authority at the station if I find it necessary totake ye there," said the sergeant grimly. "Noo will ye answer? Do yeknow why this man ye had dealings with should wish to destroy himself?"
"You're presuming a good deal," was the answer; and Lane's face grewmalevolent as he glanced at Steel and me. "How do you know he diddestroy himself, anyway; and if he did, I guess it's an open secret hehad trouble with Ormesby and Steel."
I sprang forward, but Cotton laid a heavy hand on my shoulder, and therewas a threatening ejaculation from one of the bystanders. "Well, tosatisfy you, I solemnly declare I am in no way connected with what hasbefallen the deceased rancher, and know of no reason why he should haveattempted his life. This isn't a court; but because I'm in a hurry, andto stop chattering tongues, I call heaven to witness it is the truth."
I believed that, after a villainous attempt to divert suspicion to me,the man was deliberately perjuring himself, and several of thebystanders must have believed it, too. Most of them were not wholly freefrom superstition, and their faces were almost expectant as they stoodstrung up and intent about the dead man under the deepening gloom. Thena flicker of pale lightning filled the hollow. Each face was lit up fora second, and Lane's was livid; and, when the flash faded, the duskseemed to deepen suddenly, and a boom of distant thunder rolled fromswelling level to level across the prairie. Thunder had been veryfrequent during the last few weeks, but the listeners seemed to find thecoincidence significant.
"Ye can pass," said the sergeant, whose voice seemed a trifle unsteady."But it will be on horseback, and we may want ye later. Lardeau--it's acharity--ye will lend Redmond the wagon."
"You can't have it," said Lane. "I have a long journey before me and arheumatic thigh. If you take the wagon I hired what am I to do?"
"You can ride with Redmond. His house is on your way, and you can't hurthim, anyway. The poor devil's beyond you now," said a stern voice; andLane, who allowed the teamster to help him onto one of the horses whichwas replaced, departed hurriedly.
"I congratulate ye," said Sergeant Mackay significantly. "He was afellow-creature, boys. Who'll help me lift him in? We will e'en need thesame service ourselves some day."
I shuddered, but took my place with Steel among the rest; and when thetask was accomplished, the latter expressed both our feelings as hesaid: "I wouldn't for five hundred dollars do that again; but it seemedthe poor devil's due after what we said about him. I guess he wasn'tquite responsible, and was driven to it; but, when it comes to thereckoning, God help the man who drove him."
It was dark when we gained the level and followed the creaking wagonthat jolted before us across the prairie. Few words were spoken. A lowrumbling of thunder rolled across the great emptiness, while now andthen a pale blue flash fell athwart the lathered horses and set faces ofthe men. "The beasts," said one big farmer, "know considerably more thanthey can tell. Look at the near one sweating! I guess they find Redmondor the load he's carrying mighty heavy."
"Then," added another voice, which broke harshly through the thuds ofhoofs, "ten teams wouldn't move the man who rode away."
The ways of the prairie dwellers are in some respects modern and crudelynew; but the Highland servants of the Hudson's Bay Company and theFrench half-breed _voyageur_ have between them left us a dowry of quaintbelief and superstition; and the growl of the thunder and the blackdarkness made a due impression on most of those who brought Redmondhome. For my part I was thankful when a lonely log-house loomed up aheadand the wagon came to a standstill. Four men, improvising a stretcher,took up their burden, and halted as Sergeant Mackay and another, neitherof whom seemed to care about his errand, knocked on the door.
A young woman opened it, holding aloft a lamp, and under its uncertainlight her face showed drawn and pale. I breathed harder, and heard someof those about me murmur compassionately, for she looked very frail andyoung to bear what must follow. The sergeant's words did not reach us,but a swift glare of blue flame, that left us dazzled, broke in uponthem. The whole space about the building was flooded with temporarybrilliancy, and Redmond's daughter must have seen us standing about thewagon and the bearers waiting, for she dropped the lantern (which Mackayseized in time), and caught at the logs which framed the door as if forsupport. A minute must have passed before the slight form once morestood erect upon the threshold.
"Mackay thinks of everything," Steel said in my ear. "He sent Gordon offto bring his wife along. There's only the half-breed here, and she'llneed a white woman with her to-night, poor soul."
"Bring him in," said a low voice; and before the sergeant could preventher, the speaker, snatching up the lantern, moved forward to meet thebearers. It was no s
ight for young eyes, and I saw Steel shudder; butthere was wild Erse blood in the girl, and, holding one arm up, shestood erect, facing us again.
"This was my father, and he was a kind man to me," she said, with achoking gasp that was not a sob, and from which her voice broke high andshrill. "For the sake of a few acres and cattle he was driven to hisdeath, and may black sorrow follow the man who ruined him. Sorrow andbitterness, with the fear that will drive sleep from him and waste himblood and bone until he takes the curse of the widow and orphan with himinto the flame of hell!"
Then the eerie voice sank again, and it was with a strange dignity sheconcluded: "I thank you, neighbors. You can bring him in."
Another paler flash lit up the prairie as they carried Redmond in, and,when a wagon came bouncing up to the fence, Steel said: "Here's Mrs.Gordon; they have lost no time. Are you coming back, Ormesby? I've hadabout enough of this."
I had no wish to linger, and when we rode homewards through the delugethat now thrashed our faces, the sergeant, who overtook us, said: "Man,I feel creepy! She's no' quite canny, and yon was awesome."
"It was impressive; but you can't attach much importance to that poorgirl's half-distracted raving," I said, partly to convince myself.
"Maybe no," said Sergeant Mackay. "Superstition, ye say; but I'mthinking there's a judgment here as well as hereafter, and I'd no' careto carry yon curse about with me."
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