CHAPTER XIX
THE MASK BALL
"I have seen in the coyote pack that coyotes who will not hunt and fight for the pack must starve and die."
MUSINGS OF THE ELEPHANT.
"You are not!" returned Pen flatly. "You don't see the human side ofyour problem at all. You have made Oscar Ames hate you. Yet no man couldlive the life and do the things that Oscar has and not have developed afine big side to his nature. You never see that. And the dam is moreOscar's than it is yours. It is _for_ him. Still, somehow you have gotto make every farmer on the Project your partner. Make them feel thatyou and the dam are theirs. Show them how to take care of the things thedam will produce. Jim, dear, make your thumb print in the hearts of menas well as in concrete, if you would have your work endure."
Jim paced the floor steadily. Old visions were passing before his eyes.Once more he saw the degraded mansions on the elm-shaded streets. OldExham, with its lost ideals. Ideals of what? Was Pen right? Was it theideal of national responsibility that Exham had lost--the ideal that hadbuilt the town meeting house and the public school, that had producedthe giants of those early days, giants who had ruled the nation with anintegrity long lost to these later times.
"My father said to me, 'Somehow we Americans have fallen down on ourjobs!'" said Jim, pausing before Pen, finally. "Pen, I wonder if hewould have thought your reason the right one?"
Then he lifted Pen's chin to look long into her eyes. Slowly his wistfulsmile illumined his face. "Thank you, dear," he said and, turning, hewent out into the night.
The next night was given the Mask Ball in honor of the committee. Nobodyknew what conclusion the eminent gentleman had reached in regard to Jimand his associates. But everyone did his best to contribute to thehilarity of the occasion.
The gray adobe building where the unmarried office men and engineerslived was gay with colored lights and cedar festoons. The hall in therear of the building had an excellent dancing floor. The orchestra wascomposed of three Mexicans--hombres--with mandolins and a guitar, and anIrish rough-neck who brought from the piano a beauty of melody that waslike a memory of the Sod. The four men produced dance music that NewYork might have envied.
Several Cabillo couples attended the dance. Oscar Ames and Jane and oneor two other ranchers and their wives were there. All the wives of theofficers' camp came and the bachelors searched both the upper and lowercamps for partners, with some very charming results. Mrs. Flynn sat withSara, and Jim insisted that instead of going with Jane and Oscar, as shehad planned, that he be allowed to take Pen to the first ball she hadattended since her marriage.
Henderson had ordered that the costumes be kept a great secret. Througha Los Angeles firm he provided dominoes for the five committeemen. Butthere were half a dozen other dominoes at the ball, so the committeequickly lost its identity. Oscar Ames came as a hobo. Henderson had apoliceman's uniform, while the two cub engineers wore, one, a cowboyoutfit; the other, an Indian chief's. Mrs. Henderson was dressed as asquaw.
Penelope wore a flower girl's costume, improvised from the remains ofthe chintz she had brought from New York. Jim viewed her with greatcomplaisance. No one could look like Pen, he thought, and he would dancewith her all the evening. Jim went as a monk. To his chagrin, when theyreached the hall he found that Pen had made Mrs. Ames a costume exactlylike her own, and with the complete face masks they wore, they mighthave been twins. They were just of a height and Mrs. Ames danced well.The children and the phonograph had long ago attended to that.
There was nothing stupid about the ball from the very start. Thepoliceman ended the grand march by arresting the hobo, who put up afight that included two of the dominoes. The orchestra swung into "LaPaloma" and in a moment the hall was full of swaying colors, driftingthrough the golden desert dust that filled the room. There were twice asmany men at the ball as women. The latter were popular to the point ofutter exhaustion.
Henderson looked over the tallest domino, seized him by the throat andwith wild flourishes of his club, backed him into a corner.
"Say, Boss Still Jim," he whispered, "that old nut of a chairmandoesn't look as if he had anything but skim milk in his veins. But doyou sabez he's danced three times with that little fat ballet girl andhe's hugging the daylights out of her. He'd ought to be investigated."
The tall domino looked at the couple indicated. "I'll startinvestigating, myself," he whispered.
"Wish I could get a dance with her, but I can't," said Henderson. "MyMissis knows who I am. I ain't got her spotted yet, though. Yes, I have.That flower girl's her. I'd know the way she jerks her shouldersanywhere."
He cut neatly in and separated the flower girl from the monk. "Lookhere, Minnie," he said gently. "You ain't called on to dance like abroncho, you know. Remember, you're the mother of a family! Cut outhaving too many dances with that monk. He holds you too tight. I thinkhe's one of the committee men. You floss up to the tallest domino andgive him a good time. That's the Boss."
The flower girl sniggered and Henderson pushed her from him with maritalimpatience and took an Indian squaw away from the hobo.
"Come on, little girl," he said. "You can dance all right. If my wifewasn't here I'd show you a time."
The squaw stiffened and the monk swung her away from Jack, whoimmediately arrested old Dad Robins, the night watchman, who was takinga sly peak off his beat at the festivities. Henderson forced thedelighted old man through a waltz, with himself as a very languishingpartner.
The hobo, dancing with one of the flower girls, said: "Jane, I've beentrying to get a chance to warn you not to say anything to Mrs. Penelopeabout that deal with Freet. I was a fool to let you see that lettertonight. Now I'm getting into national politics, you've got to learn tokeep your mouth shut."
"How'd you know me?" whispered the flower girl.
"You don't dance as good as Mrs. Pen," he replied.
Here the monk stole the flower girl and danced off with her, firmly.
"Remember the dance at Coney Island and how mean you were to me?" hewhispered.
"And how bossy and high-handed you were about the bathing? How did youknow me?"
The monk hugged the flower girl to him. "You haven't lived in my heartfor all these years without my getting to _know_ you!"
And the flower girl sighed ecstatically.
The tall domino, dancing with the other flower girl, felt the strains ofEspanita creeping up his backbone, and he said,
"There is something in the air out here that is almost intoxicating!"
The flower girl answered: "It'll do more than that for you, if you'llgive it a chance. It will make you see things."
"I don't understand you," replied the domino in a dignified way.
"I mean you'd see if you stayed here long enough that what Jim Manningneeds is help, not investigating."
"How do you know I'm not Manning?"
The flower girl sniffed. "I'm an old woman so I can tell you that nowoman would ever mistake him for anyone else after she'd once dancedwith him."
"He is making a most regrettable record here," very stiffly from thedomino.
"Shucks! Why don't you fire Arthur Freet? I warn you right now that he'strying to get his hooks into this dam."
"The Service might well dispense with both of them, I believe," said thedomino.
The flower girl sniffed again. "You politicians--" she began, when shewas interrupted by a call at the door.
The music stopped. A white-faced boy had mounted a chair and wasshouting hysterically: "Where's the Boss? The hombres have shot myfather!"
"It's Dad Robins' boy! Why, the old man was here a bit ago!" criedsomeone.
The monk pulled off his mask and flung his robe in the corner. "Oscar,"he said to the hobo, who had unmasked, "see to Mrs. Penelope."
Then he grasped young Robins by the arm and rushed with him from thehall.
Oscar hurried Pen and Jane up to the tent house with scant ceremony,then ran for the lower t
own. Mrs. Flynn and Sara were greatly surprisedby the early return of the merrymakers. The four waited eagerly fornews. Sara would not let any of the women stir from the tent, sayingthat it was unsafe until they knew what had happened. At midnight Oscarreturned.
"They got poor old Dad. After he left the hall, he was going past alighted tent in the lower town when he heard sounds of a fight. He wentin and found two drunken Mexicans fighting over a flask of whiskey. Hetook the whiskey and told them to go to bed. He started out into thestreet and the two jumped him and started to stab him to death. Heyelled and the sheriff and his boy was the only folks in all that towndared to go help him. The two hombres shot the sheriff in the arm beforehe located them and got away. They had finished poor old Dad, though.Mr. Manning's got posses out and will start more at daylight. If you'llput Jane up for the night, Mrs. Flynn, I'll go back to the lower town.You'd ought to see those committeemen. Three of them would have gone outwith a posse, I'll bet, if they hadn't remembered their dignity intime!"
Jim had his hands full. By daylight the next morning there was everyprospect of a wholesale battle between the Americans and the Mexicans.The camp was at fever pitch with excitement. The two shifts not at workswarmed the streets of the lower camp, the Mexicans at the far end, theAmericans at the upper end near Dad Robins' house, whence came the soundof an old woman's hard sobs. After a hurried breakfast at the lowermess, Jim joined this crowd. The men circled round him, all talking atonce. Jim listened for a time, then he raised his arm for silence. "Itwas booze did it! Booze and nothing else! Am I right?"
Reluctant nods went around the crowd. "And yet," Jim went on, "there'shardly a white man in the camp who hasn't fought me on my ruling thatliquor must not come within the government lines. You all know whatbooze means in a place like this. Those of you who were with me at Makonknow what we suffered from it up there. I know you fellows, decent,kindly men now, in spite of your threats to lynch the hombres. But ifyou could get booze, you'd make this camp a hell on earth right now. Nobetter than a drunken Mexican is a drunken white. Am I right?"
Again reluctant nods and half-sheepish grins.
"Now, you fellows forget your lynching bee. Commons, Ralston, Schwartz,you make a committee to raise enough money to send Mrs. Robins and theboy back to New Hampshire with the body. Here is ten to start with. Theymust leave this noon. Tom Weeks, you make the funeral arrangements. I'llsee that transportation is ready at noon. Bill Underwood, you get aposse of fifty men and quarantine this camp for booze."
A little laugh went through the crowd. Billy Underwood had been thechief malcontent under Jim's liquor ruling. Bill did not laugh. He beganto pick his men with the manner of a general.
"One word more," said Jim. "You all know that the United StatesReclamation Service is under the suspicion of the nation. They call youand me a bunch of grafters. It's up to you as much as it is to me toshow today that we are men and not lawless hoboes."
A little murmur of applause swept through the crowd as Jim turned on hisheel. He made his way into the Mexican end of the camp. There was noisehere of talking and quarreling. Jim walked up to a tall Mexican who wasin a way a padrone among the hombres.
"Garces," said Jim, "send the night shift to bed."
Garces eyed Jim through half-shut eyes. Jim did not move a muscle."Why?" asked the Mexican.
"Because I shall put them to bed unless they are gone in five minutes."
Jim pulled out his watch. In just four minutes, after a shouted orderfrom Garces, the street was cleared of more than half the hombres.
"Now," said Jim, "except when the shifts change, you are to keep yourpeople this side of the ditch," pointing to the line that separated theMexican and American camps. "I have fifty men scouring the camp forwhiskey. Anybody found with liquor will be arrested. If there is aparticle of trouble over it in your camp, I'll let the Gringos loose.Sabez?"
Garces shivered a little. "Yes, senor," he said.
Jim took a turn up and down the street on his horse, then started forthe dam site. As he cantered up the road, Billy Underwood, mounted on amoth-eaten pony, saluted with dignity.
"Boss, that saloon keeper up the canyon has got a billion bottles ofbooze. Worst whiskey you ever smelled. He says he's laying for you andif you cross his doorstep, he'll shoot you up."
Jim looked at Bill meditatively. "Bill, I'm going to call his bluff!"
"Us fellows in my posse'll shoot his place up if you say the word,"cried Bill eagerly.
"No, that won't do," replied Jim. "But I have an idea that he's afour-flusher. Keep your eye on 'Mexico City,' Bill. I am afraid oftrouble, though I've got Garces buffaloed so far."
Jim turned his horse and cantered back through Mexico City along thenarrow river trail to Cactus Canyon. Just off the government reserve wasa tent with a sheet iron roof. The trail to the tent was well worn. Jimdropped the reins over the pony's head and walked into the tent. Therewas a rough bar across one end, behind which stood a quiet-faced manwith a black mustache. Drinking at the bar were two white men whom Jimrecognized as foremen.
"You two fellows are fired," drawled Jim. "Turn in your time and leavecamp this afternoon."
The Big Boss is king on a project. The two men meekly set down theirglasses and filed out of the tent. It was something to have been firedby the big boss himself.
"And who are you?" asked the saloonkeeper.
"Don't you recognize me, Murphy?" asked Jim, pleasantly. "I have theadvantage of you there. My name is Manning."
The saloonkeeper made a long-armed reach for a gun that stood in thecorner.
"One moment, please," said Jim. As he spoke he jumped over the bar,bearing the saloonkeeper down with him before the long-armed reachencompassed the gun. Jim removed Murphy's knife, then picked up the gunhimself.
Murphy started for the door with a jump. "Break nothing!" he yelled."I'll have the law of New Mexico on you for this."
Murphy leaped directly into Bill Underwood's arms. "Hello, sweetie,"said Bill, holding Murphy close. "Thought I'd come up and see how youwas making it, Boss."
"Nicely, thanks," said Jim. "I'll be finished as soon as he breaks uphis stock."
"It'll be some punishment for me to watch a job like that," said Bill,"but I'm with you, Boss."
He shifted his gun conspicuously as he released Murphy. Bill owed thesaloonkeeper something over six weeks' pay. The occasion had an unholyjoy for him. Murphy looked Jim over, scratched his head and started towhistle nonchalantly. In ten minutes he had destroyed his stock intrade. When he had finished, he handed Jim the key of the tent with aprofound bow.
"Now," said Jim, "drop a match on the floor."
When the flames were well caught Jim said, "See that he leaves camp,Bill." Then he mounted and rode away.
Murphy looked after him curiously. "Some man, ain't he?" he said toBill.
"I'll eat out of his hand any time," replied Bill. "Get your pony,Murphy."
"I'll join your posse," suggested Murphy. "I bet I can ferret out morebooze than any three of you."
"Nothing doing!" growled Bill. "Should think you would have better tastethan to wanta do that."
Murphy shrugged his shoulders. "I want you to let me go up to that Greekfellow's place before I go," he said.
Bill stared but made no comment.
As Jim rode back through the lower town he stopped young Hartman, thegovernment photographer.
"Hartman," he asked, "have the films for the movies come in yet?"
"Came in yesterday, Mr. Manning."
"Good work! Hartman, will you give us a show this evening?"
"The hall's in pretty rough shape but if you want it----"
"I want it to keep things quiet, Hartman, till we find those hombres andget them in jail at Cabillo."
The young fellow nodded. "I'll have things ready at seven. After thefuneral, I'll get the word out."
Jim rode on to his neglected work at the office. There he found themembers of the committee awaiting him. Even the chairman was eager t
oknow details of occurrences since they had gone reluctantly to bed aftermidnight.
When Jim had finished his story, the Vermont man said pompously: "Youseem to manage men rather well, Mr. Manning. In behalf of my colleaguesI wish to thank you for your hospitality to us. As you know, we mustleave this afternoon."
Jim nodded. "I shall have my superintendent take you over to the train.You will understand that I do not want to leave the camp myself."
"I wish we could stay and see the end of this," said one of the members."It's like life in a dime novel."
"My chief regret is that we only had half of the Mask Ball. After this,when my constituents are tempted to give me a dinner, I shall urge aMask Ball instead. Never had one given for me before and no debutanteever had anything on my feelings last night," said another.
"Henderson should have been a country squire," said Jim. "He's a perfecthost."
The camp was quiet during the afternoon. Jim saw the committee off atfive o'clock, then went up to the tent house. Sara and he glanced ateach other coolly and nodded. Pen started the conversation hurriedly.
"What word from the two hombres?"
Jim shook his head. "One posse got away last night before I warned them.I'm afraid that if the murderers are brought into camp I can't avert alynching bee."
Pen shivered. Sara grunted. "You'd think Pen had lived in a convent allof her life instead of a death pen like New York."
"It's so lonesome out here, human life means more to you," said Jim.
"Some philosopher you are," sneered Sara. "Fine lot of drool you got offat the hearing. Why didn't you keep to the main issue? The yokels arestill saying with the rest of us, He must be dishonest or he'd give anhonest 'No' to our accusations."
Jim answered slowly: "When a man says that sort of thing to me I usuallyknock him down, or completely ignore him."
"You can't knock us all down and the time is rapidly coming when we willbe ignoring you, minus a job."
"Still," pleaded Pen, "he couldn't understand your speech. Once and forall, Jim, give him and all the rest the lie."
Jim ground his teeth and did not speak. Sara was obviously enjoyinghimself.
"You are mistaken, Pen. Jim and I have often discussed the divine originof the New Englander. They are a pathetic lot of pifflers. They have noone to blame but themselves that they are going. Everywhere else theAnglo-Saxon has gone he has insisted that he had the divine right torule and has kept it. Outsiders have had to conform or get out. But overhere he promulgated the Equality idea. Isaac Gezinsky and Hans Hoffmanand Pedro Patello are as fit to rule according to the Equality idea asanyone else. It didn't take much over two hundred years of this tocrowd the New Englander out of the running. And who cares?"
"I do," said Jim, "because I believe in the things my race has stoodfor. Emerson says it's not chance but race that put and keeps themillions of India under the rule of a remote island in the north ofEurope. Race is a thing to be reckoned with. Nations progress as theirrace dictates."
"Emerson!" jibed Sara. "Another inefficient highbrow!"
"I can't help believing," replied Jim doggedly, "that the world willlose in the submerging of the New England element in America."
"And yet right here, in your America," said Sara, "the leaders of themoney trust are descendants of Puritans."
Jim winced. "'The strength of the pack is the wolf,' When we producedmen of that type we should have recognized them and have controlledthem. They are helping the pack down hill, all right. Be satisfied,Sara! Only you will not get me off this Project until it is finished."
"No?" sneered Sara.
Pen interrupted nervously: "A couple of men are coming up the trail."
Bill Underwood appeared at the tent door. Murphy was with him. "Boss,"said Bill, "Murphy has got to see your Greek friend. I got him startedsouth this noon, but he circled on me and I just picked him up on themesa, headed this way. He wanted to come here on the quiet, but Ibrought him up in the open."
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