The Ranchman

by Charles Alden Seltzer

  CHAPTER IX--A MAN LIES

  Taylor was arrayed as Marion had mentally pictured him that day when, inthe Pullman, she had associated him with ranches and ranges. Evidentlyhe was ready to ride, for leather chaps incased his legs. The chaps wereplain, not even adorned with the spangles of the drawings she had seen;and they were well-worn and shiny in spots. A pair of big, Mexican spurswere on the heels of his boots; the inevitable cartridge-belt about hismiddle, sagging with the heavy pistol; a quirt dangled from his lefthand. Assuredly he belonged in this environment--he even seemed todominate it.

  She had wondered how he would greet her; but his greeting was not at allwhat she had feared it would be. For he did not presume upon theirmeeting on the train; he gave no sign that he had ever seen her before;there was not even a glint in his eyes to tell her that he rememberedthe scornful look she had given him when she discovered him listening tothe conversation carried on between her uncle and Carrington. His mannerindicated that if _she_ did not care to mention the matter _he_ wouldnot. His face was grave as he stepped across the porch and stood beforeher. And he said merely:

  "Are you looking for someone, ma'am?"

  "I came to see you, Mr. Taylor," she said. (And then he knew that thenegro porter on the train had not lied when he said the girl had paidhim for certain information.)

  But Taylor's face was still grave, for he thought he knew what she hadcome for. He had overheard a great deal of the conversation betweenParsons and Carrington in the dining-car, and he remembered such phrasesas: "That fairy tale about her father having been seen in this locality;To get her out here, where there isn't a hell of a lot of law, and aman's will is the only thing that governs him;" and, "Then you liedabout Lawrence Harlan having been seen in this country." Also, heremembered distinctly another phrase, uttered by Carrington: "That youframed up on her mother, to get her to leave Larry."

  All of that conversation was vivid in Taylor's mind, and mingled withthe recollection of it now was a grim pity for the girl, for thehypocritical character of her supposed friends.

  To be sure, the girl did not know that Parsons had lied about her fatherhaving been seen in the vicinity of Dawes; but that did not alter thefact that Larry Harlan had really been here; and Taylor surmised thatshe had made inquiries, thus discovering that there was truth inCarrington's statement.

  He got a chair for her and seated himself on the porch railing.

  "You came to see me?" he said, encouragingly.

  "I am Marion Harlan, the daughter of Lawrence Harlan," began the girl.And then she paused to note the effect of her words on Taylor.

  So far as she could see, there was no sign of emotion on Taylor's face.He nodded, looking steadily at her.

  "And you are seeking news of your father," he said. "Who told you tocome to me?"

  "A man named Ben Mullarky. He said my father had worked for you--thatyou had been his best friend."

  She saw his lips come together in straight lines.

  "Poor Larry. You knew he died, Miss Harlan?"

  "Mullarky told me." The girl's eyes moistened. "And I should like toknow something about him--how he lived after--after he left home;whether he was happy--all about him. You see, Mr. Taylor, I loved him!"

  "And Larry Harlan loved his daughter," said Taylor softly.

  He began to tell her of her father; how several years before Harlan hadcome to him, seeking employment; how Larry and himself had formed afriendship; how they had gone together in search of the gold that Larryclaimed to have discovered in the Sangre de Christo Mountains; of theinjury Larry had suffered, and how the man had died while he himself hadbeen taking him toward civilization and assistance.

  During the recital, however, one thought dominated him, reddening hisface with visible evidence of the sense of guilt that had seized him. Hemust deliberately lie to the daughter of the man who had been hisfriend.

  In his pocket at this instant was Larry's note to him, in which the manhad expressed his fear of fortune-hunters. Taylor remembered the exactwords:

  Marion will have considerable money and I don't want no sneak to get hold of it--like the sneak that got hold of the money my wife had, that I saved. There's a lot of them around. If Marion is going to fall in with one of that kind, I'd rather she wouldn't get what I leave; the man would get it away from her. Use your own judgment and I'll be satisfied.

  And Taylor's judgment was that Carrington and Parsons werefortune-hunters; that if they discovered the girl to be entitled to ashare of the money that had been received from the sale of the mine,they would endeavor to convert it to their own use. And Taylor wasdetermined they should not have it.

  The conversation he had overheard in the dining-car had convinced him oftheir utter hypocrisy and selfishness; it had aroused in him a feelingof savage resentment and disgust that would not permit him to transfer acent of the money to the girl as long as they held the slightestinfluence over her.

  Again he mentally quoted from Larry's note to him:

  The others were too selfish and sneaking. (That meant Parsons--and one other.) Squint, I want you to take care of her.... Sell--the mine--take my share and for it give Marion a half-interest in your ranch, the Arrow. If there is any left, put it in land in Dawes--that town is going to boom. Guard it for her, and marry her, Squint; she'll make you a good wife.

  Since the first meeting with the girl on the train Taylor had felt anentire sympathy with Larry Harlan in his expressed desire to have Taylormarry the girl; in fact, she was the first girl that Taylor had everwanted to marry, and the passion in his heart for her had already passedthe wistful stage--he was determined to have her. But that passion didnot lessen his sense of obligation to Larry Harlan. Nor would it--if hecould not have the girl himself--prevent him doing what he could to keepher from forming any sort of an alliance with the sort of man Larry hadwished to save her from, as expressed in this passage of the note: "IfMarion is going to fall in with one of that kind, I'd rather shewouldn't get what I leave."

  Therefore, since Taylor distrusted Carrington and Parsons, he haddecided he would not tell the girl of the money her father had left--theshare of the proceeds of the mine. He would hold it for her, as a sacredtrust, until the time came--if it ever came--when she would havediscovered their faithlessness--or until she needed the money. More, hewas determined to expose the men.

  He knew, thanks to his eavesdropping on the train, at least somethingregarding the motives that had brought them to Dawes; Carrington'swords, "When we get hold of the reins," had convinced him that they andthe interests behind them were to endeavor to rob the people of Dawes.That was indicated by their attempt to have David Danforth elected mayorof the town.

  Taylor had already decided that he could not permit Marion to see thenote her father had left, for he did not want her to feel that she wasunder any obligation--parental or otherwise--to marry him. If he won herat all, he wanted to win her on his merits.

  As a matter of fact, since he had decided to lie about the money, he wasdetermined to say nothing about the note at all. He would keep silent,making whatever explanations that seemed to be necessary, trusting totime and the logical sequence of events for the desired outcome.

  He was forced to begin to lie at once. When he had finished the story ofLarry's untimely death, the girl looked straight at him.

  "Then you were with him when he died. Did--did he mention anyone--mymother--or me?"

  "He said: 'Squint, there is a daughter'"--Taylor was quoting from thenote--"'she was fifteen when I saw her last. She looked just likeme--thank God for that!'" Taylor blushed when he saw the girl's faceredden, for he knew what her thoughts were. He should not have quotedthat sentence. He resolved to be more careful; and went on: "He told meI was to take care of you, to offer you a home at the Arrow--after Ifound you. I was to go to Westwood, Illinois, to find you. I suppose hewanted me to bring you here."

  The speech was entirely unworthy, and Taylor knew it, and he eased hisconscience by adding: "He thought, I
suppose, that you would like to bewhere he had been. I've not touched the room he had. All his effects arethere--everything he owned, just as he left them. I had given him a roomin the house because I liked him (that was the truth), and I wanted himwhere I could talk to him."

  "I cannot thank you enough for that!" she said earnestly. And thenTaylor was forced to lie again, for she immediately asked: "And themine? It proved to be worthless, I suppose. For," she added, "that wouldbe just father's luck."

  "The mine wasn't what we thought it would be," said Taylor. He waslooking at his boots when he spoke, and he wondered if his face was asred as it felt.

  "I am not surprised." There was no disappointment in her voice, andtherefore Taylor knew she was not avaricious--though he knew he had notexpected her to be. "Then he left nothing but his personal belongings?"she added.

  Taylor nodded.

  The girl sat for a long time, looking out over the river into the vastlevel that stretched away from it.

  "He has ridden there, I suppose," she said wistfully. "He was here fornearly three years, you said. Then he must have been everywhere aroundhere." And she got up, gazing about her, as though she would firmly fixthe locality for future reminiscent dreams. Then suddenly she said:

  "I should like to see his room--may I?"

  "You sure can!"

  She followed him into the house, and he stood in the open doorway,watching her as she went from place to place, looking at Larry'seffects.

  Taylor did not remain long at the door; he went out upon the porchagain, leaving her in the room, and after a long time she joined him,her eyes moist, but a smile on her lips.

  "You'll leave his things there--a little longer, won't you? I shouldlike to have them, and I shall come for them, some day."

  "Sure," he said. "But, look here, Miss Harlan. Why should you take histhings? Leave them here--and come yourself. That room is yours, if yousay the word. And a half-interest in the ranch. I was going to offeryour father an interest in it--if he had lived----"

  He realized his mistake when he saw her eyes widen incredulously. Andthere was a change in her voice--it was full of doubt, of distrustalmost.

  "What had father done to deserve an interest in your ranch?" shedemanded.

  "Why," he answered hesitatingly, "it's rather hard to say. But he helpedme much; he suggested improvements that made the place more valuable; hewas a good man, and he took a great deal of the work off my mind--and Iliked him," he finished lamely.

  "And do you think I could do his share of the work?" she interrogated,looking at him with an odd smile, the meaning of which Taylor could notfathom.

  "I couldn't expect that, of course," he said boldly; "but I owe Harlansomething for what he did for me, and I thought----"

  "You thought you would be charitable to the daughter," she finished forhim, with a smile in which there was gratitude and understanding.

  "I am sure I can't thank you enough for feeling that way toward myfather and myself. But I can't accept, you know."

  Taylor did know, of course. A desperate desire to make amends for hislying, to force upon her gratuitously what he had illegally robbed herof, had been the motive underlying his offer. And he would have beendisappointed had she accepted, for that would have revealed a lack ofspirit which he had hoped she possessed.

  And yet Taylor felt decidedly uncomfortable over the refusal. He wantedher to have what belonged to her, for he divined from the note herfather had left that she would have need of it.

  He discovered by judicious questioning, by inference, and through craftysuggestion, that she was entirely dependent upon her uncle; that heruncle had bought the Huggins house, and that Carrington had made her apresent of the horse she rode.

  This last bit of information, volunteered by Marion, provoked Taylor toa rage that made him grit his teeth.

  A little while longer they talked, and when the girl mounted her horseto ride away, they had entered into an agreement under which on Tuesdaysand Fridays--the first Tuesday falling on the following day--Taylor wasto be absent from the ranch. And during his absence the girl was to comeand stay at the ranchhouse, there to occupy her father's room and, ifshe desired, to enter the other rooms at will.

  As a concession to propriety, she was to bring Martha, the Hugginshousekeeper, with her.

  But Taylor, after the girl had left, stood for an hour on the porch,watching the dust-cloud that followed the girl's progress through thebig basin, his face red, his soul filled with loathing for the part hisjudgment was forcing him to play. But arrayed against the loathing was acomplacent satisfaction aroused over the thought that Carrington wouldnever get the money that Larry Harlan had left to the girl.