Justin Wingate, Ranchman

by John Harvey Whitson

  CHAPTER III

  LEES OF THE WINE

  The next morning Justin rode over to the ranch house to see Lucy. Hedesired to know how she felt about his sudden elevation, by which Benhad been thrust down. Near the crossing, where the bare boughs of thecottonwoods were tossing in the autumn wind, he encountered PhilipDavison. The ranchman drew rein. Justin had a sense of uneasiness, ashe lifted his hat respectfully to his former employer.

  "Justin," Davison spoke sharply, "we want to know how you stand. Iheard from that meeting last night, and from what you said therenobody can tell. Fogg says you're all right, but I'd like to hear yousay so."

  Davison disliked circumlocution, being as direct in his methods asJustin himself. He had yielded reluctantly to the restraining hand ofFogg. Now, meeting Justin thus, he formulated his doubt and hisquestion. His florid face had taken on added color and his blue eyesbegan to flash. Except for that sudden fire he looked tired, and olderthan Justin had ever seen him.

  "Speak up, speak up!" he commanded testily, as Justin hesitated. "Formyself I want to know just what to expect. Are you with us, or againstus? You can't be both."

  Justin did not want to speak up, for he did not want to break withPhilip Davison. He still held for him much of the strong admiration hehad cherished in his youth.

  "Having been elected without my knowledge or wish, I shall go toDenver untrammeled," he said, still hesitating. "How I shall vote willdepend upon the questions that come up for settlement."

  "That's a fool's answer," Davison declared. "Are you against therange, or are you for it? Will you support the interests of thecattlemen, or the interests of the farmers?"

  His words flushed his face still more and made his eyes very bright.There were fleshy pads under those blue eyes, and the cheeks below thepads looked flabby. Justin thought of Ben. In some respects the fatherand the son were alike. Yet Ben was smaller, had a weak face, andlittle of the towering bulk of his father, who was as tall as Justinhimself. And thoughts of Ben, humiliated by defeat, of Lucy, togetherwith the old regard, made him oblivious to the harsh words and harshertones. Yet evasion was not possible.

  "I don't think I ought to be called on to declare myself before I knowjust what the issues are and in what shape they will be presented," heurged. "But you know my sentiments, Mr. Davison. You know I quit theranch not because I did not wish to work for you, but simply becauseI----"

  "Because you were a fool; because the work of branding a bawling calfmade you sick at the stomach; because you couldn't stand it to see astarving cow wandering about in a blizzard with nothing to eat! Youthink--"

  "Mr. Davison--"

  "You think the cattle business is cruel and brutal, and--"

  "I think cattle raising as it is conducted on the open range is cruel.I can't help that."

  "And you think the farmers are the only people! You think thecattlemen are--"

  "I sympathize with the farmers. Perhaps that is because they are poormen and need sympathy."

  "You will vote with them!" Davison lifted his voice and shook hisfinger in Justin's face, leaning forward in the saddle. "After allI've done for you, Justin! There is a contemptible conspiracy on footin this state to ruin the cattle business, and it has your sympathy. Ihave always been your friend, and Fogg is your friend; yet you'd voteus into poverty to-morrow, just on account of Clayton's idioticnotions. I'm done with you. You needn't ride on over to the house, forI don't want you there. There is no one there who does want you. Ihope you understand that. A man who is a man doesn't go where he isn'twanted. I wash my hands of you!"

  Having lost his temper, Philip Davison began to rave.

  "Yet you owe your election to ranch influences," he shouted. "Yougained your place through the defection of the cowboys from Ben. Theypersisted in misunderstanding what he did at the time of the fire, andthey played the sneak, riding over the country by night and bandingthemselves together to put him down. If you lent yourself to that,it--"

  "I did not lend myself to it, Mr. Davison," Justin protested,earnestly. "I did not know anything about it."

  "Yet you profit by it, you profit by it; and the receiver of stolengoods is as bad as the thief."

  Fogg had beheld this collocution from the ranch house, and now hegalloped up, his fat body swaying heavily in his creaking saddle.Though perturbed, his round fat face beamed like a kindly sunset.

  "How are you, Justin; how are you?" he cried. "Hope that racket atClayton's didn't rob you of your sleep last night. It was a successfulmeeting, and I'm glad that it was, having had something to do withgetting it up." He mopped his hot forehead with his handkerchief."Davison, a word with you! The Deep River Company write that they wantto buy some of our cattle."

  Fogg's hand was again on the wheel. Justin was glad to ride on, forDavison's savage assault had left him breathless. He was hurt, buttried hard not to be angry. He was still determined to see Lucy, eventhough Davison's words practically forbade him the house. Ben wasabsent so much from the ranch now that Justin hardly expected to meethim; yet he did meet him, in front of the ranch house door. Ben hadlong since discarded cowboy clothing, and he had lost much of thecowboy tan, his face being now white and unhealthy-looking, as ifbleached by late hours and artificial lights. It took on a surly look,when he saw Justin.

  "I shouldn't think you'd care to come over here now," he said, curtly."If it's pleasant for you, it isn't pleasant for me."

  "I hope we can be friends," Justin urged. "I'm sure I want to beyours."

  He had not recovered his equanimity, and his face was flushed.

  "Well, I don't want to be yours! You may deny it if you want to, butyou played me a mean, dirty trick. You probably had it in mind, whenyou put up that melodramatic exhibition at the fire."

  Justin found great difficulty in keeping his temper. Hot words burnedon his trembling lips.

  "I won't talk with you, Ben," he declared, hoarsely. "Is Lucy in? Ishould like to see her."

  "Find out if she's in," Ben snapped, and turned toward the corrals.

  Lucy met Justin at the door. Though she smiled in welcome, he couldsee that she was troubled.

  "Don't mind what Ben says," she urged, as she took Justin's hat andthen led the way to the sitting room.

  "He was crusty," said Justin, "but I can't blame him."

  Having gained the sitting room she turned to Justin, admiration in hertroubled eyes.

  "Justin, I ought to be proud of you, and I am--I can't help being--butthis is, in a way, very unfortunate and distressing. Ben wasn't worthyof that place, as I know only too well, and as you know; but he is sovery bitter over his defeat, and Uncle Philip is the same. Ben hasbeen in a stubborn rage ever since the election, and has said somesharp things to me about it--as if I could help it, or had anything todo with it!"

  "I'm sorry." He took a chair. "I suppose I've lost Mr. Davison'sgood-will entirely. When I met him a few minutes ago he forbade me thehouse. But I wanted to see you, and came on."

  "I suppose you will accept the position?"

  "Can I do otherwise?"

  "I shouldn't want you to refuse it. The people chose you, over Ben,and even though it was unexpected, I suppose you ought to serve. Benis alone responsible for his defeat. Uncle Philip will not believe thethings which we know to be true, and he thinks Ben ought to have beenelected. Yet I do hope," she looked at Justin earnestly, "that youwill not feel that you must vote against the cattlemen in everything,in the legislature?"

  "Why do you say that?"

  "Uncle Philip declares that you mean to."

  "It will depend, I fancy, upon the general action of thelegislature--upon the measures and bills that may be introduced, andthe candidates who are presented for senator. I don't expect to takeany active part against the ranchmen."

  "The farmers expect you to."

  "I'm opposed to the ranchmen on some points. You know how I feel; andof course I shall have to be guided by what I think is right. I don'tsee how I can do anything else."

  "Uncle
Philip says certain bills will come up, aimed at the freerange; and he declares that if the free range is taken away orcurtailed he will have to go out of business. He can't fence againsteverybody."

  "On the other hand, what about the farmers?"

  "There aren't so very many of them, and their holdings are small. Theymight fence their land. The ranchmen were here first. You'll rememberthat?"

  "I'm not likely to forget it." He settled back easily in his chair."That's been dinned in my ears a good deal, already."

  "It's a serious matter," she urged. "My sympathies are with theranchmen; because I'm a ranch girl, I suppose, and have always livedon a ranch."

  "And it's because I've seen so much of ranching that my sympathies arenot with the ranchmen, aside from Mr. Davison himself. I shoulddislike to do anything to injure him, or displease him. But theranching business, as it is now carried on, is, I fancy, the thingaround which the fight in Denver will rage, if there is any fight. Youknow yourself, Lucy, that in a certain sense the ranchmen arelawbreakers. The trouble is, Mr. Davison doesn't stand alone. It isnot any one ranchman, but the system."

  "That's why I'm disturbed by the situation."

  "A long time ago," he said, seeming to change the subject, "you askedme to go to your uncle and put to him a certain momentous question.His answer was virtually a command that I should do something andbecome something. This opportunity has come, and it would be aweakness not to make the most of it. I shall trust that I won't haveto do anything to turn your uncle against me completely; but," heregarded her earnestly, "I hope in any event nothing can ever comebetween you and me."

  He arose and stood beside her.

  "Justin," she said, looking up at him, "that does not need an answer;but I'm going to ask you not to be stubborn when you go to Denver,that is all. You do get unreasonably angry, sometimes, just like UnclePhilip; and when you do, you become stubborn. You don't mind if I saythis? If the struggle we fear comes, will you promise me not to permityourself to get angry and stubborn about it? There will be many thingssaid, I've no doubt, that will try you. But just think of me here, aranch girl, and your best friends ranch people; the cowboys, whoregard you so highly, didn't vote for you because they were opposed tothe ranchmen, but simply because they didn't like Ben. You'll rememberthese things, won't you?"

  He drew her to him.

  "Lucy," he said, as he put his arm about her and kissed her, "I shallbe thinking of you all the time. I was almost afraid to come over hereto-day, but I see I had nothing to fear."

  "And do you know why?"

  "Because you love me even as I love you."

  "Then you won't forget--you won't forget--that I am a ranch girl, andthat my interests, and yours too if you but knew it, are ranchinterests!"

  "I will not forget," he promised.