Friar Tuck

by Robert Alexander Wason

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  TY JONES NODS HIS HEAD

  It was a week after this before Olaf could see properly again. Thedoctor was wild to take Olaf back East and hold doin's with him; butOlaf wouldn't listen to it. He hated to have people take him for afreak, and said it wasn't any fault of his that he saw the way he did.The doctor said 'at what Olaf saw was called the aurora; he said thatscience had been tryin' to locate it, but hadn't found any way to doit, and that it was some sort o' rays shootin' out from this which hadput the inflammation into Olaf's eyes.

  Olaf had had one of his teeth filled when he was young, and ever sincethat he'd been suspicious o' science; so he just clouded up his facewhen they tried to devil him into bein' an experiment, and theycouldn't do anything with him. The Friar might have been able to, butthe Friar would have sent his own eyes East by freight before he'dhave asked Olaf to do a single thing he didn't want to do. Theignorant allus scoff at the idee of Olaf seein' the soul-flame; butthe edicated allus take a serious interest which seems mightyfunny--don't it?

  From the very moment Janet opened her eyes and smiled up at the Friarthat mornin' she continued to improve. The doctor listened to all thatwas told him about her havin' pains in the top of her head and notbein' right intellectually, and he said she must have had a blow thereat some former time which had probably formed a tumor on the brain orknocked off a few splinters of bone into it, and that in removin' thepressure, she had been put into perfect order again.

  She had the smoothest voice I had ever heard, and I just doted onhearin' her speak the Friar's name, John Carmichael. I had a legalright to use the name John, myself; but it allus had the feel of astiff collar to me, so I was glad enough to have it forgotten. Butwhen Janet spoke the words John Carmichael, why, it cleared up theatmosphere and started a little breeze. She didn't recall how she hadcome to Cross Crick, nor anything much which had happened to her sincethe night in Berlin. She said she had took singin' lessons in a placecalled Italy, and had expected to reach grand opery.

  She had sung for pay whenever she got a chance, in order to get moneyenough to go on with her studies, and was gettin' what I'd call mightylucrative wages at the Winter Garden; but was all the time bothered bya lot o' foreign dudes who had the desire to make love, but not thecapacity. She said her manager had introduced an Austrian count foradvertizin' purposes, and she had finally consented to eat a meal withhim; but had been taken sick and had fallen. This was when she hadbumped her head and she never got clear in it again until that morningwhen she had hovered between goin' out with the night or comin' backwith the dawn.

  She said she had a hazy, dreamlike remembrance of havin' tried allkinds o' work after this; but couldn't tell the real from the unreal;and she didn't have any recollection of how she had come to the ranch.We never mentioned Ty Jones to her for she was comin' along like acolt on grass, and we didn't want to risk any set-back. She said shestill had it on her mind that she had lost something precious; but shecouldn't make out what it could have been, and the Friar allus toldher not to worry, but to just rest herself back to complete strength.

  Oscar and Tom Simpson had turned the corner, and it was only aquestion of time when they'd be all right again--which was true of allthe others except Ty and Prometheus. Ty wouldn't speak to us at all,though he didn't seem to suffer to amount to anything. The doctor saidhe might live for years, or he might slip away at a moment's notice;but either way, he was doomed to be paralyzed for the rest of hislife; while the' wasn't any hope for Promotheus at all.

  He had been shot through the liver, which pleased him a lot as bein'so in keepin' with his name; but we couldn't see why a feller who hadsurvived bein' shot in so many other places, should have to give in onaccount of an extra hole in his liver. Horace divided his time betweenwaitin' on The and spurrin' up the doctor to try some new treatment.He read aloud to The out o' Ty's books, and he seemed as fond o' thoseold Greek fellers as Horace was himself. He was also mighty pleased tohave the Friar read and talk to him, and it softened us all a lot tosee how patient and gentle Promotheus had become. Humanity is aboutthe finest thing the' is about a human; and all humans have a showin'growth of it, if ya can just scratch the weeds away and give it achance.

  The prisoners bothered us a heap; we feared they might have someleanin's toward revenge; so we didn't dare turn 'em loose until theyshowed some decided symptoms of repentance. Finally we got to bringin''em up two at a time to talk with The. At first it didn't do any good,as Ty sat propped up in a bunk, grinnin' scornful, while The lay flaton his back lookin' mighty weak and wan; but after several trials atit, they seemed to pay more heed to what The told 'em. We figured thatTy must have ten or a dozen men still out on the range somewhere; butthey never showed up.

  In about two weeks, or it might 'a' been three, all the wounded wereable to walk about except Promotheus, Ty Jones, and Oscar. Oscar wasdoin' fine; but the noise of the other men bothered The a little atnight, though he denied it up and down. Still, we thought best to movehim and Ty to a couple o' cots at the east end of the mess-hall, whichwas large and airy, with a big fireplace for cool nights. By this timeJanet was able to take short walks, leanin' on the Friar's arm; butthe Friar hadn't come any closer to findin' out what it was she hadlost, nor whether or not she was Ty's wife. The only reply Ty evermade to questions, was to skin back his lips in a wolf-grin.

  The used to lay with his eyes fixed on Ty's face and a look ofhopeless sadness in his own. When we'd come and talk to him, his facewould light up; but as soon as we left him, he would look at Ty againwith a sorrow that fair wrung a feller's heart. I wanted to separate'em; but when I suggested this to The, he shook his head. "Nope," hesaid, "he may speak to me before the vultures finish with my liver;and if ever the mood crosses his mind for a second, I want to be sohandy 'at he won't have time to change his mind."

  I told The 'at what was worryin' the Friar most was that all thefightin' had been on his account; but that next to this, it wasbecause he didn't know whether or not Ty was married to Janet.

  That evenin' just when the thinky time o' twilight came along, I wassettin' by the fire in the mess-hall, where I could see Ty, and hisface didn't have quite so much the eagle look to it as common. The'seyes rested on Ty's face most o' the time, and he, too, noticed itbein' a little less fierce than usual.

  "Ty," he said in a low tone, "I was drove into turnin' again' ya. Notby force, ya understand, nor by fear; but by something which has creptinto me durin' the last few years, and which I can't understand,myself. Horace and the Friar have been mighty good to me--they savedmy life, ya know, after I had forfeited it by raidin' 'em durin' thenight. I told 'em I wouldn't be a spy on you about anything elseexcept the woman. You haven't much excuse to bear me any ill will,seein' as it was your own hand which shot the move-on order into me.I'm goin' to slip out yonder before long; but the's no knowin' howlong you'll have to sit penned up in a chair."

  The's voice gave out here, and he stopped a few minutes to cough. Ty'sface hadn't changed, and his eyes looked out through the south windowto where the western sky was still lighted into glory by the rays o'the sun, which had already sunk.

  "I've been locked up in a stone prison, Ty," said Promotheus as soonas he had quieted down again; "and I want to tell you that the minutesdrag over ya like a spike-tooth harrow, when you haven't nothin' tolook at but four gray walls and the pictures on your memory. A fellerfeeds himself on bitter recollections in order to keep his hate lusty;but all this pilin' up o' hate is just one parchin' hot day afteranother--like we've had this summer. Everything green and pleasant ina feller's nature is burned down to the roots, and in tryin' to hateall the world, he ends by hatin' himself worst of all. Every kindlydeed he's done seems like a soothin' shower, and counts a lot inkeepin' him from fallin' down below the level o' snakes and coyotes.

  "I'm not preachin' at ya, I'm tellin' you just what I know to be sofrom actual experience. I don't bear you no ill will, Ty, whether youtell me what I want to know, or not; but you hav
e it in your power togive me more content than airy other man in all the world. Are youmarried to the woman, Ty?"

  For a moment Ty didn't move, and then his lips tightened and he noddedhis head. Promotheus gave a sigh and settled back. He stayed quiet forsome time and then said in a weak voice: "Thank ya, Ty. I'm purtycertain that at such a time as this, you wouldn't deceive me. I'msorry you are married to her--on the Friar's account, understand--butI'm mightily obliged to you for tellin' me the truth. The Friar is asquare man, and he's a strong man. He'll be able to fight what he hasto fight; but none of us can fight uncertainty, without losin' ournerve in the end. I wish you would talk to me, Ty. I thought more o'you than of airy other man I ever knew, except Horace and the Friar;and I wish, just for old time's sake, you'd talk to me a little beforeI slip away. You can talk, can't ya?"

  "Yes, I can talk," sez Ty Jones, facin' The with a scowl; "but Ihaven't any talk I want to waste on traitors. If I was to speak atall, it would be to ask 'em to separate me from your sloppy yappin'.You may think 'at you sound as saintly as a white female angel whenyou whine about duty and forgiveness and such-like rubbish; but themore oil you put on your voice, the more I know you to be a sneak, ahypocrite, and a traitor. I won't ask 'em to move me; because I'm notin the habit of _askin'_ any man. When I had two legs to standon, I gave orders. Now that I can't give orders, I don't speak at all;but every time you try to speak like a hen-missionary, you can knowthat I'm sayin' to myself--sneak, hypocrite, traitor!"

  One thing you'll have to say about Ty Jones, an' that is, that when hestarted north, he didn't wobble off to the east or west much, let whatwould come in his path. The only reply The made was to sigh; but whatI wanted to do, was to lull Promotheus into a deep sleep, and then tofasten Ty Jones's neck to a green bronco, and let them two settle itout between 'em which was the tougher beast. What I did do, was tosteal out and tell Horace what had been said, and I also told him notto separate Ty and Promotheus as I thought The would set him anexample which might finally soften him a little and make him more fitto die, when the time came 'at some quick tempered individual lostpatience and tried to knock a little decent conversation out of himwith an ax.

  Horace, though, thought only o' The, and he hurried in and sat besidehim. I also went in and took my seat by the fire again. Horace tookThe's hand in one of his and patted it with the other. Horace didn'thave any upliftin' words to match the Friar's; but he had some chirkylittle ways which were mighty comfortin' to The, and when Horace wouldbe with him, all the sadness would leave his eyes, and he would talkas free as he thought--which, to my mind, is the final test ofgenuwine courage.

  Mighty few of us can do it. I know I can't. Time and again, I have haddeep feelin's for some one in trouble; but when I'd try to put 'eminto words, the knees o' my tongue would allus knock together, and I'dgrowl out somethin' gruff, cough, blow my nose, and get into a corneras soon as possible. The Friar was the first man who ever showed me'at a feller could speak out his softness without losin' any of hisstrength, and I have honestly tried to do it myself; but I generallyhad to dilute it down over half, and even then, it allus sounded asthough I had wrote it out and learned it by heart.

  The asked Horace to either move him or Ty, said he didn't feel quitecomfortable beside Ty, and made out that it was his own wish; butHorace vetoed the motion, and pertended to scold The for not havin' amore forgivin' nature. The thought he had been as circumspect as aland agent, and when his request rebounded back on him, he foundhimself without any dry powder.

  He lay quiet for some time, and then spoke in so low a tone I couldhardly hear him. "I can understand the real Promotheus purty well,Horace," sez he; "and I've tried to be as game as he was; but I can'tquite understand the One the Friar tells about. I have thought of Hima heap since I've been laid up this time; but I don't believe I couldbring myself to forgive them who had nailed me on a cross for doin'nothin' but good--I don't believe I could do that.

  "I can feel things clearer now 'n I ever could before; and when Ipicture my own self as hangin' from nails drove through my hands andfeet, it just about takes my breath away. I've been handled purtyrough in my time, but allus when my blood was hot, and pain don'tcount then; but to have nails drove--My God, Horace, that's an awfulthought! That's an awful thought.

  "Then, too, I don't feel that any one has ill used me lately. Thetreatment I got in the army, and in the pen, was consid'able hellish;but I haven't had much chance to try forgivin' any one for the lastfew years. Horace, you can't imagine all the joy the last part of mylife has been to me. I didn't know what life really was, until you andthe Friar pointed it out to me. I've been so happy sometimes it hashurt me in the throat; and now that I'm goin' on, I don't want tocause any one any bother. I asked Ty to tell me if he was married tothe woman, and he did tell me. I'm sorry to say 'at he is married toher, Horace; but I'm thankful to Ty for tellin' me. He don't feel easynear me; so I wish you'd move me back to the bunk-shack."

  It was some minutes before Horace could speak, and when he did, he hadto put on pressure to keep his voice steady. "I don't care one singledamn what Ty Jones wants," sez he. "Let him stay right where he is andlearn the meanin' of friendship from the best friend a man ever had."After which Horace gave The's hand a grip and hurried out of the room.