by B. M. Bower
CHAPTER V. "I DON'T CARE MUCH ABOUT GIRLS"
"There's no use asking the Injuns to go on the warpath," Gene announceddisgustedly, coming out upon the porch where the rest of the boys wereforegathered, waiting for the ringing tattoo upon the iron triangle justoutside the back door which would be the supper summons. "They're toolazy to take the trouble--and, besides, they're scared of dad. I wastalking to Sleeping Turtle just now--met him down there past the Pointo' Rocks."
"What's the matter with us boys going on the warpath ourselves? We don'tneed the Injuns. As long as she knows they're hanging around close, it'sall the same. If we could just get mum off the ranch--"
"If we could kidnap her--say, I wonder if we couldn't!" Clark looked atthe others tentatively.
"Good Injun might do the rescue act and square himself with her for whathappened at the milk-house," Wally suggested dryly.
"Oh, say, you'd scare her to death. There's no use in piling it on quiteso thick," Jack interposed mildly. "I kinda like the kid sometimes.Yesterday, when I took her part way up the bluff, she acted almosthuman. On the dead, she did!"
"Kill the traitor! Down with him! Curses on the man who betrays us!"growled Wally, waving his cigarette threateningly.
Whereupon Gene and Clark seized the offender by heels and shoulders, andwith a brief, panting struggle heaved him bodily off the porch.
"Over the cliff he goes--so may all traitors perish!" Wally declaimedapprovingly, drawing up his legs hastily out of the way of Jack'sclutching fingers.
"Say, old Peppajee's down at the stable with papa," Donny informed thembreathlessly. "I told Marie to put him right next to Vadnie if he staysto supper--and, uh course, he will. If mamma don't get next and changehis place, it'll be fun to watch her; watch Vad, I mean. She's scaredplum to death of anything that wears a blanket, and to have one right ather elbow--wonder where she is--"
"That girl's got to be educated some if she's going to live in thisfamily," Wally observed meditatively. "There's a whole lot she's got tolearn, and the only way to learn her thorough is--"
"You forget," Grant interrupted him ironically, "that she's going tomake gentlemen of us all."
"Oh, yes--sure. Jack's coming down with it already. You oughta bequarantined, old-timer; that's liable to be catching." Wally snorted hisdisdain of the whole proceeding. "I'd rather go to jail myself."
Evadna by a circuitous route had reached the sitting-room without beingseen or heard; and it was at this point in the conversation that shetiptoed out again, her hands doubled into tight little fists, and herteeth set hard together. She did not look, at that moment, in the leastdegree "mushy."
When the triangle clanged its supper call, however, she came slowly downfrom her favorite nook at the head of the pond, her hands filled withflowers hastily gathered in the dusk.
"Here she comes--let's get to our places first, so mamma can't changePeppajee around," Donny implored, in a whisper; and the group on theporch disappeared with some haste into the kitchen.
Evadna was leisurely in her movements that night. The tea had beenpoured and handed around the table by the Portuguese girl, Marie, andthe sugar-bowl was going after, when she settled herself and her rufflesdaintily between Grant and a braided, green-blanketed, dignifiedlyloquacious Indian.
The boys signaled each another to attention by kicking surreptitiouslyunder the table, but nothing happened. Evadna bowed a demureacknowledgment when her Aunt Phoebe introduced the two, accepted thesugar-bowl from Grant and the butter from Peppajee, and went composedlyabout the business of eating her supper. She seemed perfectly atease; too perfectly at ease, decided Grant, who had an instinct forobservation and was covertly watching her. It was unnatural that sheshould rub elbows with Peppajee without betraying the faintest trace ofsurprise that he should be sitting at the table with them.
"Long time ago," Peppajee was saying to Peaceful, taking up theconversation where Evadna had evidently interrupted it, "many wintersago, my people all time brave. All time hunt, all time fight, all timeheap strong. No drinkum whisky all same now." He flipped a braid backover his shoulder, buttered generously a hot biscuit, and reached forthe honey. "No brave no more--kay bueno. All time ketchum whisky, getdrunk all same likum hog. Heap lazy. No hunt no more, no fight. Layall time in sun, sleep. No sun come, lay all time in wikiup. Agent, himgivum flour, givum meat, givum blanket, you thinkum bueno. He tellumyou, kay bueno. Makum Injun lazy. Makum all same wachee-typo" (tramp)."All time eat, all time sleep, playum cards all time, drinkum whisky.Kay bueno. Huh." The grunt stood for disgust of his tribe, alwayssomething of an affectation with Peppajee.
"My brother, my brother's wife, my brother's wife's--ah--" He searchedhis mind, frowning, for an English word, gave it up, and substituted aphrase. "All the folks b'longum my brother's wife, heap lazy all time.Me no likum. Agent one time givum plenty flour, plenty meat, plenty tea.Huh. Them damn' folks no eatum. All time playum cards, drinkum whisky.All time otha fella ketchum flour, ketchum meat, ketchum tea--ketchumall them thing b'longum." In the rhetorical pause he made there, hisblack eyes wandered inadvertently to Evadna's face. And Evadna, thetimid one, actually smiled back.
"Isn't it a shame they should do that," she murmured sympathetically.
"Huh." Peppajee turned his eyes and his attention to Peaceful, as if theopinion and the sympathy of a mere female were not worthy his notice."Them grub all gone, them Injuns mebbyso ketchum hungry belly." Evadnablushed, and looked studiously at her plate.
"Come my wikiup. Me got plenty flour, plenty meat, plenty tea. Stay alltime my wikiup. Sleepum my wikiup. Sun come up"--he pointed a brown,sinewy hand toward the east--"eatum my grub. Sun up there"--his fingerindicated the zenith--"eatum some more. Sun go 'way, eatum some more.Then sleepum all time my wikiup. Bimeby, mebbyso my flour all gone, mymeat mebbyso gone, mebbyso tea--them folks all time eatum grub, me noketchum. Me no playum cards, all same otha fella ketchum my grub. Kaybueno. Better me playum cards mebbyso all time.
"Bimeby no ketchum mo' grub, no stopum my wikiup. Them folks pikeway. Metellum 'Yo' heap lazy, heap kay bueno. Yo' all time eatum my grub, yo'no givum me money, no givum hoss, no givum notting. Me damn' mad alltime yo'. Yo' go damn' quick!'" Peppajee held out his cup for more tea."Me tellum my brother," he finished sonorously, his black eyes sweepinglightly the faces of his audience, "yo' no come back, yo'--"
Evadna caught her breath, as if someone had dashed cold water in herface. Never before in her life had she heard the epithet unprintable,and she stared fixedly at the old-fashioned, silver castor which alwaysstood in the exact center of the table.
Old Peaceful Hart cleared his throat, glanced furtively at Phoebe, anddrew his hand down over his white beard. The boys puffed their cheekswith the laughter they would, if possible, restrain, and eyed Evadna'sset face aslant. It was Good Indian who rebuked the offender.
"Peppajee, mebbyso you no more say them words," he said quietly. "Heapkay bueno. White man no tellum where white woman hear. White woman nolikum hear; all time heap shame for her."
"Huh," grunted Peppajee doubtingly, his eyes turning to Phoebe. Timesbefore had he said them before Phoebe Hart, and she had passed them bywith no rebuke. Grant read the glance, and answered it.
"Mother Hart live long time in this place," he reminded him. "Hear badtalk many times. This girl no hear; no likum hear. You sabe? You nomake shame for this girl." He glanced challengingly across the table atWally, whose grin was growing rather pronounced.
"Huh. Mebbyso you boss all same this ranch?" Peppajee retorted sourly."Mebbyso Peacefu' tellum, him no likum."
Peaceful, thus drawn into the discussion, cleared his throat again.
"Wel-l-l--WE don't cuss much before the women," he admittedapologetically "We kinda consider that men's talk. I reckon Vadnie'lloverlook it this time." He looked across at her beseechingly. "You nofeelum bad, Peppajee."
"Huh. Me no makum squaw-talk." Peppajee laid down his knife, lifted acorner of his blanket, and drew it slowly across his stern mouth.
Hemuttered a slighting sentence in Indian.
In the same tongue Grant answered him sharply, and after that wassilence broken only by the subdued table sounds. Evadna's eyes filledslowly until she finally pushed back her chair and hurried out into theyard and away from the dogged silence of that blanketed figure at herelbow.
She was scarcely settled, in the hammock, ready for a comforting halfhour of tears, when someone came from the house, stood for a minutewhile he rolled a cigarette, and then came straight toward her.
She sat up, and waited defensively. More baiting, without a doubt--andshe was not in the mood to remember any promises about being a nice,gentle little thing. The figure came close, stooped, and took her by thearm. In the half--light she knew him then. It was Grant.
"Come over by the pond," he said, in what was almost a command. "I wantto talk to you a little."
"Does it occur to you that I might not want to talk t to you?" Still,she let him help her to her feet.
"Surely. You needn't open your lips if you don't want to. Just 'lend meyour ears, and be silent that ye may hear.' The boys will be boiling outon the porch, as usual, in a minute; so hurry."
"I hope it's something very important," Evadna hinted ungraciously."Nothing else would excuse this high-handed proceeding."
When they had reached the great rock where the pond had its outlet,and where was a rude seat hidden away in a clump of young willows justacross the bridge, he answered her.
"I don't know that it's of any importance at all," he said calmly. "Igot to feeling rather ashamed of myself, is all, and it seemed to me theonly decent thing was to tell you so. I'm not making any bid for yourfavor--I don't know that I want it. I don't care much about girls,one way or the other. But, for all I've got the name of being severalthings--a savage among the rest--I don't like to feel such a brute asto make war on a girl that seems to be getting it handed to her rightalong."
He tardily lighted his cigarette and sat smoking beside her, the tinyglow lighting his face briefly now and then.
"When I was joshing you there before supper," he went on, speaking lowthat he might not be overheard--and ridiculed--from the house, "I didn'tknow the whole outfit was making a practice of doing the same thing.I hadn't heard about the dead tarantula on your pillow, or the rattlercoiled up on the porch, or any of those innocent little jokes. But ifthe rest are making it their business to devil the life out of you,why--common humanity forces me to apologize and tell you I'm out of itfrom now on."
"Oh! Thank you very much." Evadna's tone might be considered ironical."I suppose I ought to say that your statement lessens my dislike ofyou--"
"Not at all." Grant interrupted her. "Go right ahead and hate me, if youfeel that way. It won't matter to me--girls never did concern me much,one way or the other. I never was susceptible to beauty, and that seemsto be a woman's trump card, always--"
"Well, upon my word!"
"Sounds queer, does it? But it's the truth, and so what's the use oflying, just to be polite? I won't torment you any more; and if the boysrig up too strong a josh, I'm liable to give you a hint beforehand. I'mwilling to do that--my sympathies are always with the under dog, anyway,and they're five to one. But that needn't mean that I'm--that I--" Hegroped for words that would not make his meaning too bald; not evenGrant could quite bring himself to warn a girl against believing him avictim of her fascinations.
"You needn't stutter. I'm not really stupid. You don't like me anybetter than I like you. I can see that. We're to be as decent aspossible to each other--you from 'common humanity,' and I because Ipromised Aunt Phoebe."
"We-e-l!--that's about it, I guess." Grant eyed her sidelong." Only Iwouldn't go so far as to say I actually dislike you. I never did dislikea girl, that I remember. I never thought enough about them, one way orthe other." He seemed rather fond of that statement, he repeated it sooften." The life I live doesn't call for girls. Put that's neither herenor there. What I wanted to say was, that I won't bother you any more. Iwouldn't have said a word to you tonight, if you hadn't walked right upto me and started to dig into me. Of course, I had to fight back--theman who won't isn't a normal human being."
"Oh, I know." Evadna's tone was resentful. "From Adam down to you, ithas always been 'The woman, she tempted me.' You're perfectly horrid,even if you have apologized. 'The woman, she tempted me,' and--"
"I beg your pardon; the woman didn't," he corrected blandly. "The womaninsisted on scrapping. That's different."
"Oh, it's different! I see. I have almost forgotten something I oughtto say, Mr. Imsen. I must thank you for--well, for defending me to thatIndian."
"I didn't. Nobody was attacking you, so I couldn't very well defend you,could I? I had to take a fall out of old Peppajee, just on principle. Idon't get along very well with my noble red cousins. I wasn't doing iton your account, in particular."
"Oh, I see." She rose rather suddenly from the bench. "It wasn't evencommon humanity, then--"
"Not even common humanity," he echoed affirmatively. "Just a chance Icouldn't afford to pass up, of digging into Peppajee."
"That's different." She laughed shortly and left him, running swiftlythrough the warm dusk to the murmur of voices at the house.
Grant sat where she left him, and smoked two cigarettes meditativelybefore he thought of returning to the house. When he finally did getupon his feet, he stretched his arms high above his head, and stared fora moment up at the treetops swaying languidly just under the stars.
"Girls must play the very deuce with a man if he ever lets them get onhis mind," he mused. "I see right now where a fellow about my size andcomplexion had better watch out." But he smiled afterward, as if he didnot consider the matter very serious, after all.