CHAPTER XXII

BAD TIDINGS

The dust was rolling about the cars and the gaunt poles whirled past before I could recover breath to answer the astonished conductor. Then it was with a gasp I said: "Won't you get me a little water?"

The man vanished, and I sat still vacantly noticing how the prairie reeled behind me until the door slid open and he returned with a tin vessel and a group of curious pa.s.sengers behind him. A piece of ice floated in the former, and a man held out a flask. "I guess it won't hurt him, adulterated some," he said.

Never before had I tasted so delicious a draught. Hours of anxiety and effort under a blazing sun had parched and fouled my lips, and my throat was dry as unslaked lime. The tin vessel was empty when I handed it back, and the railroad official looked astonished as he turned it upside down for the spectators' information. "I guess a locomotive tank would hardly quench that thirst of yours," he said.

"Thanks. I'll get up. It was not for amus.e.m.e.nt I boarded your train as I did," I said, and the rest opened a pa.s.sage for me into the long Colonist car. There was a mirror above the basins in the vestibule, and a glance into it explained their curiosity. The white shirt had burst in places; the grime of alkali had caked on my face, leaving only paler circles about the eyes. Hardened mire crusted the rest of my apparel, and each movement made it evident to me that portions of the epidermis had been abraded from me.

"It's not my business how pa.s.sengers board these cars, so long as they're tolerably decent, and can pay their fare," observed the conductor. "Still, although we're not particular, we've got to dress you a little between us; and it mightn't be too much to ask what brought you here in such an outfit?"

It was evident that the others were waiting to ask the same question, and I answered diplomatically: "I have money enough to take me to Empress at Colonist fare, and was half way to the depot to catch the cars on the old schedule before I discovered you had commenced the accelerated service. Then I flung off every ounce of weight that might lose me the race."

"You must have had mighty important business," somebody said; and the door at the opposite end opened as I answered dryly: "I certainly had."

"Hallo! Great Columbus! Is that you, Ormesby?" a voice which seemed familiar said; and, turning angrily, I saw a storekeeper with whom I had dealt staring at me in bewilderment.

"Ormesby!" the name was repeated by several pa.s.sengers, and I read sudden suspicion in some of the faces, and sympathy in the rest, while one of them, with Western frankness, asked: "You're the Rancher Ormesby we've been reading about?"

"Yes," I answered, making a virtue of necessity. "I am on my way to surrender for trial, and redeem my bail. Now you can understand my hurry."

Several of the pa.s.sengers nodded, and the dealer said: "It's tolerably plain you can't go like that; they're that proud of themselves in Empress they'd lock you up. So I'll try to find you something in my gripsack. Still, while I concluded you never done the thing, I'd like to hear you say straight off you know nothing about the burning of Gaspard's Trail."

"Then listen a second," I answered. "You have my word for it, that I know no more what caused the fire than you do. You will be able to read my defense in the papers, and I need not go into it here."

"That's enough for me," was the answer. "Now, gentlemen, if you have got anything you can lend my friend here in your valises, I'll guarantee they're either replaced or returned. Some of you know me, and here's my business card."

It may be curious, but I saw that most of those present, and they were all apparently from parts of the prairie, fully credited my statement, and one voiced the sentiments of the rest when he said: "I'll do the best I can. If Mr. Ormesby had played the fire-bug, he wouldn't be so mighty anxious to get back to court again."

The position was humiliating, but no choice was left me. I must either accept the willing offers or enter Empress half naked, and accordingly I made a hasty selection among the garments thrust upon me. Twenty minutes spent in the lavatory, with the colored porter's a.s.sistance, produced a comforting change, and when I returned to the car, one of the most generous lenders surveyed me with pride as well as approval.

"You do us credit, Rancher, and you needn't worry about the thanks.

We've no use for them," he said. "Hope you'll get off; but if you are sent up for burning down that place, I'll be proud of having helped to outfit a famous man."

Perhaps my face was ludicrous with its mingled expressions of grat.i.tude and disgust at this nave announcement, for a general laugh went up which I finally joined in, and that hoa.r.s.e merriment gave me the freedom of the Colonist car. Rude burlesque is interspersed amid many a tragedy, and I had seen much worse situations saved by the grace of even coa.r.s.e humor. Thereafter no personal questions were asked, and most of my fellow-travelers treated me with a delicacy of consideration which is much less uncommon than one might suppose among the plain, hard-handed men who wrest a living out of the prairie.

Night had closed in some time earlier when I strolled out across the platform of the car and leaned upon the rails of the first-cla.s.s before it. Tired physically as I was, the nervous restlessness which followed the mental strain would, I think, have held me wakeful, even if there had been anything more than a bare shelf of polished maple, which finds out every aching bone, to sleep on. This, however, was not the case, for those who travel Colonist must bring their own bedding, or do without it. It was a glorious summer night, still and soft and effulgent with the radiance of the full moon which hung low above the prairie, while the sensation of the swift travel was bracing.

There was no doubt that the Accelerated was making up lost time; and the lurching, clanking, pounding, roar of flying wheels, and panting of mammoth engines both soothed and exhilarated me. They were in one sense prosaic and commonplace sounds, but--so it seemed to me that night--in another a testimony to man's dominion over not only plant and beast upon the face of the earth, but also the primeval forces which move the universe. Further, the diapason of the great drivers and t.i.tanic snorting, rising and falling rhythmically amid the pulsating din, broke through the prairie's silence as it were a triumphant hymn of struggle and effort, and toil all-conquering, as dropping the leagues behind it the long train roared on. I knew something of the cost, paid in the sweat of tremendous effort, and part in blood and agony, of the smooth road along which the great machines raced across the continent.

Perhaps I was overstrung, and accordingly fanciful; but I gathered fresh courage, which was, indeed, badly needed, and I had grown partly rea.s.sured and tranquil, when the door creaked behind me and there was a light step on the platform. Then, turning suddenly, I found myself within a foot of Lucille Haldane. She was bareheaded. The moon shone on her face, which, as I had dreamed of it, looked at once ethereal and very human under the silvery light. This, at least, was not a fancy born of overtaxed nerves, for while given to heartsome merriment, daring, and occasionally imperious, there was a large share of the spiritual in the character of the girl. Shrewd, she certainly was, yet wholly fresh and innocent, and at times I had seen depths of pity and sympathy which it seemed were not wholly earthly in her eyes. When one can name and number all the mysterious forces that rule the heart or brain of man, it may be possible to tell why, when Beatrice Haldane's idealized image was ever before me, I would have done more for her sister than for any living woman.

We were both a little surprised at the encounter, and I fancied I had seen a momentary shrinking from me in the eyes of the girl. This at once furnished cause for wonder, and hurt me. She had shown no shrinking at our last meeting.

"I did not expect to meet you when I came out for the sake of coolness.

Are you going East?" I said.

Lucille Haldane was usually frank in speech, but she now appeared to be perplexed by, and almost to resent, the question. "Yes. I have some business which cannot be neglected in that direction," she said.

"Is Miss Haldane or your father on board the train?" I asked, and Lucille seemed to hesitate before she answered:

"No. My father is in Winnipeg, and Beatrice has gone to Montreal; but Mrs. Hansen, our housekeeper, is here with me."

I was partly, but not altogether, relieved by this information. It was no doubt foolish, but I had been at first afraid that every one of my friends from Bonaventure had seen in what manner I boarded the train. I would have given a good deal to discover whether Lucille had witnessed the spectacle, but I did not quite see how to acquire the knowledge.

"It must be important business which takes you East alone," I said idly--to gain time in which to frame a more leading question; but the words had a somewhat startling effect. A trace of indignation or confusion became visible in the girl's face as she answered: "I have already told you it is business which cannot be neglected; and if you desire any further information I fear I cannot give it to you. Now, suppose we reverse the positions. What has made you so unusually inquisitive to-night, Mr. Ormesby?"

The positions were reversed with a vengeance, somewhat to my disgust. I had neither right nor desire to pry into Lucille Haldane's affairs, and yet felt feverishly anxious to discover how much or how little she had seen at the station. It was no use to reason with myself that this was of no importance, for the fact remained.

"I must apologize if I seemed inquisitive," I said. "It would have been impertinence, but I will make a bargain with you. If you will tell me whether you boarded the cars immediately the train came in, and what seat you took, I will tell you the cause of it."

This struck me as a clever maneuver, for if, as I hoped, she had seen nothing, the story would certainly reach Bonaventure, and it seemed much better that she should hear it first, and carefully toned down, from my own lips. Lucille Haldane's face cleared instantaneously, and there was a note of relief in her laugh.

"Must you always make a bargain? You remember the last," but here she broke off suddenly and favored me with a wholly sympathetic glance. "I did not mean to recall that unfortunate night. You should come to the point always, for you are not brilliant in diplomacy, and shall have without a price the information you so evidently desire. I was standing on the car platform when you rode up to the station."

We are only mortal, and I fear I ground one heel, perhaps audibly, but certainly viciously, into the boards beneath me. Still, I am certain that my lips did not open. Nevertheless, I was puzzled by the sparkle in Lucille Haldane's eyes which the radiant moonlight emphasized. There was more than mischief in it, but what the more consisted of I could not tell. "Have you forgotten the virtues of civilized self-restraint?" she asked demurely.

I could see no cause for these swift changes, which would probably have bewildered any ordinary man, and I made answer: "It may be so; but on this occasion, at least, I said nothing."

Lucille Haldane laughed, and laid her hand lightly on my arm as the cars jolted. "Then you certainly looked it; but I am not blaming you. I saw you ride into the station, and I hardly grasp the reason for so much modesty. I do not know what delayed you, but I know you were trying to redeem the trust your neighbors placed in you."

I was apparently a prey to all disordered fancies that night, for it seemed a desecration that the little white hand should even bear the touch of another man's jacket, and I lifted it gently into my own hard palm. Also, I think I came desperately near stooping and touching it with my lips. Be that as it may, in another second the opportunity was lacking, for Lucille grasped the rails with it some distance away from me, and leaned out over them to watch the sliding prairie, her light dress streaming about her in the whistling draught.

"The cars were very stuffy, and I am glad I came out. It is a perfectly glorious night," she said.

The remark seemed very disconnected, but she was right. The prairie there was dead-level, a vast, rippling silver sea overhung by a spangled vault of softest indigo. In spite of the rattling ballast and puffs of whirled-up dust the lash of cool wind was grateful, and the rush of the clanking cars stirred one's blood. Still, in contrast to their bulk and speed, the slight figure in the fluttering white dress seemed very frail and insecure as it leaned forth from the rails, and I set my teeth when, with a sudden swing and a giddy slanting, we roared across a curving bridge. Before the dark creek whirled behind us I had flung my arm partly around the girl's waist and clenched the rails in front of her.

"I am quite safe," she said calmly, after a curious glance at me. "You look positively startled."

"I was so," I answered, speaking no more than the truth, for the fright had turned me cold; and she once more looked down at the whirling prairie.

"That was very unreasonable. You are not responsible for me."

Perhaps the fright had rendered me temporarily light-headed, for I answered, on impulse: "No; on the other hand, you are responsible for me."

"I?" the girl said quietly, with a demureness which was not all mockery.

"How could that be? Such a responsibility would be too onerous for me."

"Why it should be I cannot tell you; but it is the truth," I said.

"Twice, when a crisis had to be faced, it was your opinions that turned the scale for me; and I think that, growing hopeless, I should have allowed Lane to rob me and gone elsewhere in search of better fortune had it not been for the courage you infused into me. Once or twice also you pointed the way out of a difficulty, and the clearness of your views was almost startling. The most curious thing is that you are so much younger than I."

I had spoken no more than the truth, and was conscious of a pa.s.sing annoyance when Lucille Haldane laughed. "There is no overcoming masculine vanity; and I once heard my father say you were in some respects very young for your age," she said. "I am afraid it was presumption, but I don't mind admitting I am glad if any chance word of mine nerved you to continue your resistance." Her voice changed a little as she added: "Of course, that is because your enemy's work is evil, and I think you will triumph yet."