O Pioneers!

by Willa Cather

  III

  Alexandra was to hear more of Ivar's case, however. On Sunday hermarried brothers came to dinner. She had asked them for that daybecause Emil, who hated family parties, would be absent, dancingat Amedee Chevalier's wedding, up in the French country. The tablewas set for company in the dining-room, where highly varnishedwood and colored glass and useless pieces of china were conspicuousenough to satisfy the standards of the new prosperity. Alexandrahad put herself into the hands of the Hanover furniture dealer, andhe had conscientiously done his best to make her dining-room looklike his display window. She said frankly that she knew nothingabout such things, and she was willing to be governed by the generalconviction that the more useless and utterly unusable objectswere, the greater their virtue as ornament. That seemed reasonableenough. Since she liked plain things herself, it was all the morenecessary to have jars and punchbowls and candlesticks in the companyrooms for people who did appreciate them. Her guests liked to seeabout them these reassuring emblems of prosperity.

  The family party was complete except for Emil, and Oscar's wifewho, in the country phrase, "was not going anywhere just now."Oscar sat at the foot of the table and his four tow-headed littleboys, aged from twelve to five, were ranged at one side. NeitherOscar nor Lou has changed much; they have simply, as Alexandra saidof them long ago, grown to be more and more like themselves. Lounow looks the older of the two; his face is thin and shrewd andwrinkled about the eyes, while Oscar's is thick and dull. For allhis dullness, however, Oscar makes more money than his brother,which adds to Lou's sharpness and uneasiness and tempts him tomake a show. The trouble with Lou is that he is tricky, and hisneighbors have found out that, as Ivar says, he has not a fox's facefor nothing. Politics being the natural field for such talents,he neglects his farm to attend conventions and to run for countyoffices.

  Lou's wife, formerly Annie Lee, has grown to look curiously likeher husband. Her face has become longer, sharper, more aggressive.She wears her yellow hair in a high pompadour, and is bedecked withrings and chains and "beauty pins." Her tight, high-heeled shoesgive her an awkward walk, and she is always more or less preoccupiedwith her clothes. As she sat at the table, she kept telling heryoungest daughter to "be careful now, and not drop anything onmother."

  The conversation at the table was all in English. Oscar's wife,from the malaria district of Missouri, was ashamed of marrying aforeigner, and his boys do not understand a word of Swedish. Annieand Lou sometimes speak Swedish at home, but Annie is almost asmuch afraid of being "caught" at it as ever her mother was of beingcaught barefoot. Oscar still has a thick accent, but Lou speakslike anybody from Iowa.

  "When I was in Hastings to attend the convention," he was saying,"I saw the superintendent of the asylum, and I was telling him aboutIvar's symptoms. He says Ivar's case is one of the most dangerouskind, and it's a wonder he hasn't done something violent beforethis."

  Alexandra laughed good-humoredly. "Oh, nonsense, Lou! The doctorswould have us all crazy if they could. Ivar's queer, certainly,but he has more sense than half the hands I hire."

  Lou flew at his fried chicken. "Oh, I guess the doctor knows hisbusiness, Alexandra. He was very much surprised when I told himhow you'd put up with Ivar. He says he's likely to set fire to thebarn any night, or to take after you and the girls with an axe."

  Little Signa, who was waiting on the table, giggled and fled tothe kitchen. Alexandra's eyes twinkled. "That was too much forSigna, Lou. We all know that Ivar's perfectly harmless. The girlswould as soon expect me to chase them with an axe."

  Lou flushed and signaled to his wife. "All the same, the neighborswill be having a say about it before long. He may burn anybody'sbarn. It's only necessary for one property-owner in the townshipto make complaint, and he'll be taken up by force. You'd bettersend him yourself and not have any hard feelings."

  Alexandra helped one of her little nephews to gravy. "Well, Lou,if any of the neighbors try that, I'll have myself appointed Ivar'sguardian and take the case to court, that's all. I am perfectlysatisfied with him."

  "Pass the preserves, Lou," said Annie in a warning tone. She hadreasons for not wishing her husband to cross Alexandra too openly."But don't you sort of hate to have people see him around here,Alexandra?" she went on with persuasive smoothness. "He IS adisgraceful object, and you're fixed up so nice now. It sort ofmakes people distant with you, when they never know when they'llhear him scratching about. My girls are afraid as death of him,aren't you, Milly, dear?"

  Milly was fifteen, fat and jolly and pompadoured, with a creamycomplexion, square white teeth, and a short upper lip. Shelooked like her grandmother Bergson, and had her comfortable andcomfort-loving nature. She grinned at her aunt, with whom she wasa great deal more at ease than she was with her mother. Alexandrawinked a reply.

  "Milly needn't be afraid of Ivar. She's an especial favorite ofhis. In my opinion Ivar has just as much right to his own way ofdressing and thinking as we have. But I'll see that he doesn'tbother other people. I'll keep him at home, so don't trouble anymore about him, Lou. I've been wanting to ask you about your newbathtub. How does it work?"

  Annie came to the fore to give Lou time to recover himself. "Oh,it works something grand! I can't keep him out of it. He washeshimself all over three times a week now, and uses all the hot water.I think it's weakening to stay in as long as he does. You oughtto have one, Alexandra."

  "I'm thinking of it. I might have one put in the barn for Ivar,if it will ease people's minds. But before I get a bathtub, I'mgoing to get a piano for Milly."

  Oscar, at the end of the table, looked up from his plate. "Whatdoes Milly want of a pianny? What's the matter with her organ?She can make some use of that, and play in church."

  Annie looked flustered. She had begged Alexandra not to sayanything about this plan before Oscar, who was apt to be jealousof what his sister did for Lou's children. Alexandra did not geton with Oscar's wife at all. "Milly can play in church just thesame, and she'll still play on the organ. But practising on itso much spoils her touch. Her teacher says so," Annie brought outwith spirit.

  Oscar rolled his eyes. "Well, Milly must have got on pretty goodif she's got past the organ. I know plenty of grown folks thatain't," he said bluntly.

  Annie threw up her chin. "She has got on good, and she's going toplay for her commencement when she graduates in town next year."

  "Yes," said Alexandra firmly, "I think Milly deserves a piano.All the girls around here have been taking lessons for years, butMilly is the only one of them who can ever play anything when youask her. I'll tell you when I first thought I would like to giveyou a piano, Milly, and that was when you learned that book of oldSwedish songs that your grandfather used to sing. He had a sweettenor voice, and when he was a young man he loved to sing. I canremember hearing him singing with the sailors down in the shipyard,when I was no bigger than Stella here," pointing to Annie's youngerdaughter.

  Milly and Stella both looked through the door into the sitting-room,where a crayon portrait of John Bergson hung on the wall. Alexandrahad had it made from a little photograph, taken for his friendsjust before he left Sweden; a slender man of thirty-five, withsoft hair curling about his high forehead, a drooping mustache,and wondering, sad eyes that looked forward into the distance, asif they already beheld the New World.

  After dinner Lou and Oscar went to the orchard to pick cherries--theyhad neither of them had the patience to grow an orchard of theirown--and Annie went down to gossip with Alexandra's kitchen girlswhile they washed the dishes. She could always find out more aboutAlexandra's domestic economy from the prattling maids than fromAlexandra herself, and what she discovered she used to her ownadvantage with Lou. On the Divide, farmers' daughters no longerwent out into service, so Alexandra got her girls from Sweden, bypaying their fare over. They stayed with her until they married,and were replaced by sisters or cousins from the old country.

  Alexandra took her three nieces into the flower garden. She wasfond of the little girls, especially o
f Milly, who came to spenda week with her aunt now and then, and read aloud to her from theold books about the house, or listened to stories about the earlydays on the Divide. While they were walking among the flower beds,a buggy drove up the hill and stopped in front of the gate. A mangot out and stood talking to the driver. The little girls weredelighted at the advent of a stranger, some one from very far away,they knew by his clothes, his gloves, and the sharp, pointed cutof his dark beard. The girls fell behind their aunt and peeped outat him from among the castor beans. The stranger came up to thegate and stood holding his hat in his hand, smiling, while Alexandraadvanced slowly to meet him. As she approached he spoke in a low,pleasant voice.

  "Don't you know me, Alexandra? I would have known you, anywhere."

  Alexandra shaded her eyes with her hand. Suddenly she took a quickstep forward. "Can it be!" she exclaimed with feeling; "can it bethat it is Carl Linstrum? Why, Carl, it is!" She threw out bothher hands and caught his across the gate. "Sadie, Milly, run tellyour father and Uncle Oscar that our old friend Carl Linstrum ishere. Be quick! Why, Carl, how did it happen? I can't believethis!" Alexandra shook the tears from her eyes and laughed.

  The stranger nodded to his driver, dropped his suitcase insidethe fence, and opened the gate. "Then you are glad to see me, andyou can put me up overnight? I couldn't go through this countrywithout stopping off to have a look at you. How little you havechanged! Do you know, I was sure it would be like that. Yousimply couldn't be different. How fine you are!" He stepped backand looked at her admiringly.

  Alexandra blushed and laughed again. "But you yourself, Carl--withthat beard--how could I have known you? You went away a littleboy." She reached for his suitcase and when he intercepted hershe threw up her hands. "You see, I give myself away. I have onlywomen come to visit me, and I do not know how to behave. Where isyour trunk?"

  "It's in Hanover. I can stay only a few days. I am on my way tothe coast."

  They started up the path. "A few days? After all these years!"Alexandra shook her finger at him. "See this, you have walkedinto a trap. You do not get away so easy." She put her handaffectionately on his shoulder. "You owe me a visit for the sakeof old times. Why must you go to the coast at all?"

  "Oh, I must! I am a fortune hunter. From Seattle I go on toAlaska."

  "Alaska?" She looked at him in astonishment. "Are you going topaint the Indians?"

  "Paint?" the young man frowned. "Oh! I'm not a painter, Alexandra.I'm an engraver. I have nothing to do with painting."

  "But on my parlor wall I have the paintings--"

  He interrupted nervously. "Oh, water-color sketches--done foramusement. I sent them to remind you of me, not because they weregood. What a wonderful place you have made of this, Alexandra."He turned and looked back at the wide, map-like prospect of fieldand hedge and pasture. "I would never have believed it could bedone. I'm disappointed in my own eye, in my imagination."

  At this moment Lou and Oscar came up the hill from the orchard.They did not quicken their pace when they saw Carl; indeed, theydid not openly look in his direction. They advanced distrustfully,and as if they wished the distance were longer.

  Alexandra beckoned to them. "They think I am trying to fool them.Come, boys, it's Carl Linstrum, our old Carl!"

  Lou gave the visitor a quick, sidelong glance and thrust out hishand. "Glad to see you."

  Oscar followed with "How d' do." Carl could not tell whether theiroffishness came from unfriendliness or from embarrassment. He andAlexandra led the way to the porch.

  "Carl," Alexandra explained, "is on his way to Seattle. He isgoing to Alaska."

  Oscar studied the visitor's yellow shoes. "Got business there?"he asked.

  Carl laughed. "Yes, very pressing business. I'm going there toget rich. Engraving's a very interesting profession, but a mannever makes any money at it. So I'm going to try the goldfields."

  Alexandra felt that this was a tactful speech, and Lou looked upwith some interest. "Ever done anything in that line before?"

  "No, but I'm going to join a friend of mine who went out from NewYork and has done well. He has offered to break me in."

  "Turrible cold winters, there, I hear," remarked Oscar. "I thoughtpeople went up there in the spring."

  "They do. But my friend is going to spend the winter in Seattle andI am to stay with him there and learn something about prospectingbefore we start north next year."

  Lou looked skeptical. "Let's see, how long have you been away fromhere?"

  "Sixteen years. You ought to remember that, Lou, for you weremarried just after we went away."

  "Going to stay with us some time?" Oscar asked.

  "A few days, if Alexandra can keep me."

  "I expect you'll be wanting to see your old place," Lou observedmore cordially. "You won't hardly know it. But there's a fewchunks of your old sod house left. Alexandra wouldn't never letFrank Shabata plough over it."

  Annie Lee, who, ever since the visitor was announced, had beentouching up her hair and settling her lace and wishing she had wornanother dress, now emerged with her three daughters and introducedthem. She was greatly impressed by Carl's urban appearance, andin her excitement talked very loud and threw her head about. "Andyou ain't married yet? At your age, now! Think of that! You'llhave to wait for Milly. Yes, we've got a boy, too. The youngest.He's at home with his grandma. You must come over to see motherand hear Milly play. She's the musician of the family. She doespyrography, too. That's burnt wood, you know. You wouldn't believewhat she can do with her poker. Yes, she goes to school in town,and she is the youngest in her class by two years."

  Milly looked uncomfortable and Carl took her hand again. He likedher creamy skin and happy, innocent eyes, and he could see that hermother's way of talking distressed her. "I'm sure she's a cleverlittle girl," he murmured, looking at her thoughtfully. "Let mesee--Ah, it's your mother that she looks like, Alexandra. Mrs.Bergson must have looked just like this when she was a littlegirl. Does Milly run about over the country as you and Alexandraused to, Annie?"

  Milly's mother protested. "Oh, my, no! Things has changed sincewe was girls. Milly has it very different. We are going to rentthe place and move into town as soon as the girls are old enoughto go out into company. A good many are doing that here now. Louis going into business."

  Lou grinned. "That's what she says. You better go get your thingson. Ivar's hitching up," he added, turning to Annie.

  Young farmers seldom address their wives by name. It is always"you," or "she."

  Having got his wife out of the way, Lou sat down on the step andbegan to whittle. "Well, what do folks in New York think of WilliamJennings Bryan?" Lou began to bluster, as he always did when hetalked politics. "We gave Wall Street a scare in ninety-six, allright, and we're fixing another to hand them. Silver wasn't theonly issue," he nodded mysteriously. "There's a good many thingsgot to be changed. The West is going to make itself heard."

  Carl laughed. "But, surely, it did do that, if nothing else."

  Lou's thin face reddened up to the roots of his bristly hair. "Oh,we've only begun. We're waking up to a sense of our responsibilities,out here, and we ain't afraid, neither. You fellows back theremust be a tame lot. If you had any nerve you'd get together andmarch down to Wall Street and blow it up. Dynamite it, I mean,"with a threatening nod.

  He was so much in earnest that Carl scarcely knew how to answerhim. "That would be a waste of powder. The same business wouldgo on in another street. The street doesn't matter. But what haveyou fellows out here got to kick about? You have the only safeplace there is. Morgan himself couldn't touch you. One only hasto drive through this country to see that you're all as rich asbarons."

  "We have a good deal more to say than we had when we were poor,"said Lou threateningly. "We're getting on to a whole lot of things."

  As Ivar drove a double carriage up to the gate, Annie came out ina hat that looked like the model of a battleship. Carl rose andtook her down to the carriage, while Lou lingered for a word withhi
s sister.

  "What do you suppose he's come for?" he asked, jerking his headtoward the gate.

  "Why, to pay us a visit. I've been begging him to for years."

  Oscar looked at Alexandra. "He didn't let you know he was coming?"

  "No. Why should he? I told him to come at any time."

  Lou shrugged his shoulders. "He doesn't seem to have done muchfor himself. Wandering around this way!"

  Oscar spoke solemnly, as from the depths of a cavern. "He neverwas much account."

  Alexandra left them and hurried down to the gate where Annie wasrattling on to Carl about her new dining-room furniture. "Youmust bring Mr. Linstrum over real soon, only be sure to telephoneme first," she called back, as Carl helped her into the carriage.Old Ivar, his white head bare, stood holding the horses. Lou camedown the path and climbed into the front seat, took up the reins,and drove off without saying anything further to any one. Oscarpicked up his youngest boy and trudged off down the road, the otherthree trotting after him. Carl, holding the gate open for Alexandra,began to laugh. "Up and coming on the Divide, eh, Alexandra?" hecried gayly.