CHAPTER XV
Hope's anxiety to reach the ranch could not have been great, for shewalked slowly along the dark, gray stretch of road, vaguely dreaming thewhile, and offering excuses to herself for not having acceptedLivingston's invitation. She managed to find several reasons. First, itwould have been too crowded; second, Sydney had brought the horse, andwas probably waiting to see her; third, she had no particular desire togo, because he had so obviously wanted her to do so. Finally, afterweighing all her excuses, she was obliged to admit that the only thingthat really troubled her was Livingston's evident unconcern at herrefusal to accompany them.
She had reached a point in her life where self-analysis was fastbecoming an interesting study. At present it struck her as beingamusing.
The clatter of hoofs and a wild whoop brought her out of her absorbingstudy, as down the nearest side-hill the twins raced pell-mell, thepinto pony leading the stylish Dude by half a length. They drew upsuddenly in the road beside her.
"Now you can see fer yourself that that Dude cayuse of Dave's ain't init with my pinto!" exclaimed the soft-voiced twin.
"What'er you givin' us!" shouted Dave. "Just hear him brag about thatspotted cayuse of his'n! 'Twasn't no even race at all. He had 'bout amile the start!"
"Oh, come off your perch!" retorted the other sweetly.
"Where are you boys going?" asked Hope.
"Nowheres. We seen you from the top of the divide, an' I thought I'djust show you what was in Pinto. He's all right--you bet! Ain't you, oldman?" said the boy, pulling his pony's mane affectionately.
"Oh, _I_ wasn't tryin' to show off!" exclaimed Dave. "But just give mea level road an' I'll beat you all to pieces!"
"Where have you been?" inquired Hope.
The boys looked at each other in a sheepish manner.
"I'm going to guess," said the girl suspiciously, "and if I am rightyou'll have to own up. In the first place your father sent you out tobring in those cows and calves over near old Peter's basin. Instead ofthat you went on farther and found a camp. You went in one of the tentsand ate some dried blackberry pie, instead of bringing in the cattle.Now, isn't that so?"
Dave looked dumfounded.
"I don't see how you knew that when you wasn't along! Gee, you must knowthings like grandmother White Blanket!" he exclaimed.
The soft-voiced twin began to laugh. "I told you that you was gettin'more o' that pie on your face 'n you was in your mouth!" he exclaimed,whereupon the other quickly turned away his besmeared countenance,proceeding to wipe it vigorously with the sleeve of his coat.
"Have you got your bounty yet for the coyotes you dug out of the hill?"asked Hope, to allay his discomfort. She glanced sideways at thesoft-voiced twin, who assumed his most docile, innocent expression, androde on ahead. It had become a sore subject with him. Suddenly giving awild whoop he spurred up his pinto and dashed in among the assortment oftents, bringing to the entrance of her abode old Mother White Blanket,who hurled after him numerous blood-curdling, Indian invectives. Thenshe covered her yellow prongs of teeth under a wrinkled lip and scowledfiercely at Hope as she passed along the road, causing the breed boy tosay:
"The old woman's got it in fer you, I reckon. But don't you care, sheain't so all-fired smart as she makes out to be!"
"I'm not afraid of her," replied Hope. "She suspects me of having had ahand in the shooting that night at the sheep-corrals up there, and inconsequence has a very bad heart for me. Now how could she think such athing as that? I don't believe she's much of a witch, though, becausewhen she gets in one of her fits of passion she'd ride off on abroomstick if she were."
"She's got eyes like a hawk," said the boy, "always seem' everythingthat's goin' on."
"She don't miss much, that's sure," mused Hope, as they passed by thehouse and approached the corrals. There the soft-voiced twin was talkingwith Carter, praising, enthusiastically, the points of his pinto cayuse,and comparing it with the blooded saddle horse which Sydney had justbrought from Hathaway's home-ranch at Hope's request. The boy never knewjust how his statements were received, for at sight of Hope the youngman went out into the road to meet her.
She welcomed him with a quick smile, which a year previous would havebeen accompanied by a sisterly kiss. Carter noted its omission this daywith singular impatience. How long, he wondered, before she would forgethis foolishness. It occurred to him then, that in spite of hergirlishness she was very much a woman, and his actions toward her, whichnow he most heartily regretted, had ignited a spark of self-consciousnessin her nature, raising an effective barrier between them that only timecould wear away.
"I expected Jim with the horse instead of you, Sydney," she said. "Howdid it happen?"
"A lot of men are up with the trail herds, and your father needed Jim tohelp pay them off, so I brought the horse instead. Jim will be back in acouple of days," he explained.
"You went down to the ranch, then, with him yesterday evening, Isuppose," said Hope. "What are they all doing there?"
"It looks just as it did any evening last summer, if you happened todrop in on them. Little Freddie Rosehill thumping away at the piano andsinging bass from the soles of his feet, that tallest Cresmond girl,with the red hair, yelling falsetto, and the others joining in when theygot the chance. Then down at the other end of the room the usual cardtable--your father, mother, Clarice, and O'Hara, and father and motherCresmond watching the game and listening to the warbling of theiroffspring."
"Is _Larry O'Hara_ there?" asked Hope in surprise. "I thought he was notcoming this year."
"Don't you ever think O'Hara is going to give you up as easy as that,"replied Sydney, laughing. "He just got there yesterday, and was in thedepths of despair when he discovered you had flown. He told Clarice hewas coming over here to see you as soon as he could decently get away.His mother's with him, which makes that proposition a little moreawkward for him than if he were alone. It was late when I got there andI didn't have time to change my clothes, so I just walked in on them inthis outfit. But they seemed pretty glad to see me."
"I'll bet they nearly smothered you with welcome! I can just see them,"said Hope. "That Lily Cresmond with the red hair always was sodemonstrative to you, Syd. I'm sorry O'Hara is there, and Clarice VanRenssalaer, too--or rather, I mean, I'm sorry only because they arethere that I am not at home, for I like them; but I'm not very sorryeither, Syd. I'd rather be up here in the mountains, free like this,with my poor little Louisa, and you and Jim camping over the hillsthere, than stifling in the atmosphere of those New York people."
"You're a queer girl, Hope, but I don't believe I blame you much. I wasglad to leave this morning and head my horse this way."
"Did father--ask about me?" she inquired hesitatingly.
"He didn't lose any time in getting me off alone and questioning me forabout an hour," he replied. "He misses you, Hope."
"Poor father--poor old Dad!" exclaimed the girl softly. Then with apeculiar motion of her head and shoulders, as if throwing off a load,she remarked firmly: "But that makes no difference. I am glad, anyway,to be here. I have you and Jim so near, and my dear little Germangirl--and perfect freedom!"
"And you have Livingston to take the place of O'Hara," he returned, "andthere is nothing lacking, as far as I can see, except a good cook in theHarris family."
"Mr. Livingston is nothing to me," replied Hope quickly, "and he doesn'tcare anything for me, if that is what you mean to imply." Her eyesflashed and she spoke with unusual sharpness.
"We can't afford to quarrel, Hope," exclaimed Carter. Then, putting hishand upon her shoulder, said very earnestly: "I was just joking, anddidn't mean to imply anything, so don't be angry with me. Besides, itwon't do. It's near noon and I was going to suggest that we go over tocamp and have William get us up a good dinner, and then we'll gofishing. What do you say? You can invite your breed brigade; they lookhungry," pointing to the two boys sitting on the ground in the shade ofa log barn, their knees drawn up under their chins.
"Oh,
I don't mind what you say, Syd, dear," she said abruptly. "Ibelieve I am getting to be quite as foolish as other people, to beoffended so easily. I should as soon expect you to turn upon me in wrathif I told you to look out for little Louisa."
"Poor little Louisa," he exclaimed. "Where is she?"
"We went up the road for a walk, and Mr. Livingston drove along and tookher up to see her Fritz's grave," she explained.
"Now then, my girl, _you_ look out for Louisa! There's nothing likeconsoling grief to bring two hearts close together. How did you evercome to allow him to carry her away up there and do the consolation act?You'll sure lose him now! I thought you had more diplomacy!"
She laughed a little.
"Unless a man loved me with every atom of his being, with his wholelife, I couldn't feel the least attraction for him in _that_ way," shesaid. "That is the way I have planned for the _one_ man to love, myideal man, Syd. When such a man comes along I shall love him, but I verymuch fear he does not exist."
"Then you're doomed to die an old maid, Hope! But don't you think O'Haraentertains that kind of affection for you?"
"Do you know, I have a perfect horror of being an old maid. ProbablyI'll outgrow it. O'Hara? No, indeed! He'll get over it soon enough, andthink just as much of some other girl. He's a nice boy, a good friend,but he isn't just my idea of what a man should be."
"I'm afraid you're doomed, Hope," said her cousin, shaking his headsolemnly. "What will you do, spend your lonely maidenhood out here onthe prairie, or take a life interest in some Old Ladies' Home?"
"Did you say something about going up to camp?" she asked. "But I oughtto wait for Louisa; she should be back now."
"I've ridden twenty miles this morning, and the consequence is myappetite is rather annoying," replied Sydney. He called to the two boys,sitting drowsily in the shade. "Here, you boys, if you want to go outand get some grub with this lady, just run in her horse for her as fastas you can."
"Well, I should say so!" exclaimed the soft-voiced twin, who jumped upwith wonderful alacrity, followed more slowly by Dave. Another momentthey were spurring their ponies across the large, fenced pasture towarda bunch of horses grazing quietly in the distance.
"Those boys are all right when there's anything to eat in sight,"remarked Carter.
"Or any fun," added the girl.
"How in the world do you tell them apart?" he inquired. "I look at oneand think I've got him spotted for sure, and then when the other oneturns up I'm all mixed again. You seem to know them so well, you musthave some kind of a mark to go by."
"They are so entirely different in their natures," she said, "that Ialmost know them apart without looking at them. Their faces lookdifferent to me, too. Dan has certain expressions that Dave never had;and their voices are nothing alike."
"I've noticed their voices," said her cousin, watching the boys as theydeftly turned the bunch of horses and headed them toward the corral."Well, they can sure ride to beat three of a kind! They're not losingany time with those horses, either."
The corral was built in a corner of the pasture fence, near the stables.It took the breed boys scarcely five minutes to corral the horses, ropethe saddle animal wanted, throw open the large gate and lead out thehorse. The other horses followed with a mad dash, kicking up their heelsin very joy for their unexpected freedom.
Hope watched the road, as far as she could see it, looking for thereturn of her small German friend.
"We'll ride along," suggested Sydney, throwing the saddle upon herhorse, "and we'll probably meet them. I don't think we'll have anytrouble getting Livingston to drive over to camp, and we'll all gofishing together."
This seemed to take a load from the mind of Hope, and light-heartedlyshe rode away toward the camp with her cousin and the breed boys.
Hope Hathaway: A Story of Western Ranch Life Page 15
