CHAPTER XXI
JUNE DISCOVERS A NEW WORLD
Blister had not overstated the case to Bob when he told him that June hadbeen having the time of her life getting well. She had been a lonelylittle thing, of small importance in a country very busy on its ownaffairs. The sense of inferiority had oppressed her, due both to thesecret of her father's past and the isolation in which she dwelt. Thishad stimulated a sullen resentment and a shy pride which held evenfriendly souls at arm's length.
Now she was being petted by everybody with whom she came into contact.She was pathetically grateful, and the big-hearted men and women of thefrontier were worthy of the feeling. They gave her eager good will andgenerous sympathy. Into her room came soups and custards made by the bestcooks on the river. When she was well enough to see visitors the mothersof Bear Cat came in person.
Through Melancthon Browning the landlady of the hotel shrewdly enlistedthe aid of the most influential women in the community. June neededclothes. She had not a garment that was not worn out and ragged. ButMollie recognized the fact that more than these she was in need of themoral support of the settlers' wives. Mrs. Larson could give her work anda home, but she could not give her that bulwark of her sex,respectability. Mollie was an exception to an established rule. She wasliked and respected by other women in spite of her peculiarities. Butthis would not be true of her protegee unless the girl was abovecriticism. June must never step inside the bar or the gambling-room. Shemust find friends among the other girls of the town and take part intheir social activities.
Wherefore Mollie, by timely suggestion, put it into the mind of thepreacher to propose a sewing-bee to his congregation. Tolliver, undersupervision, bought the goods and the women sewed. They madeunderclothes, petticoats, nightgowns, and dresses. They selected from thestock of Platt & Fortner shoes, stockings, and a hat, charging them tothe account of Pete.
It was on her sixteenth birthday that June was taken into an adjoiningroom and saw all these treasures laid upon the bed. She did not at firstunderstand that the two pretty dresses and all the comfortable, well-madeclothes were for her. When this was made clear to her the tears brimmedto the long-lashed eyes. The starved little Cinderella was greatlytouched. She turned to Mollie and buried her twitching face in a friendlybosom.
"Now--now--now," Mollie reproved gently, stroking the dark crisp hair."This is no way to act, dearie, an' all the ladies so kind to you. Youwant to thank 'em, don't you?"
"Yes, but--but--I--I--"
The smothered voice was tearful.
Mollie smiled at the committee. "I reckon she wants me to tell you forher that she's plumb outa words to let you know how good she thinksyou-all are."
The black head nodded vigorously. "You're the _best_ folks--"
Mrs. Platt, a large and comfortable mother of seven, answered placidly."I expect you'll find, dearie, that most folks are good when you get onthe right side of them. Now you try on them clothes an' see if they fit.We tried 'em on my Mary. She's about your size. You're comin' down to ourhouse to supper to-night. I want you should get acquainted with thegirls."
June looked at Mollie, who nodded smilingly.
"I'll be terrible glad to come, ma'am," June said.
"Then that's settled. They're nice girls, if I do say it myself that amtheir mother."
So June took her first timid steps into the social life of the frontiertown. Shyly she made friends, and with them went to church, to SundaySchool, and to picnics.
It had been definitely decided that she was to wait on table at the hotelrestaurant and not return with her father to Piceance Creek. The plan hadoriginated with Mollie, but Tolliver had acquiesced in it eagerly. IfJune went home with him Houck might reappear on the horizon, but if shestayed at Bear Cat, buttressed by the support of the town, the man fromBrown's Park would not dare to urge his claim again.
June waited on table at the hotel, but this did not keep her from thedances that were held in the old army hospital building. There were noclass distinctions in Bear Cat then. There are not many now. No pauperslived in the county. This still holds good. Except the owners of the bigcattle companies there were no men of wealth. A man was not judged bywhat he had or by the kind of work he was doing. His neighbors lookedthrough externals to see what he was, stripped of all adventitiouscircumstance. On that basis solely he was taken into fellowship or castout from it.
The girl from Piceance Creek worked hard and was content, even if notquite happy. If she ever thought of the boy she had married, no referenceto him ever crossed her lips. She was known simply as June by the town.Strangers called her Miss Tolliver.
There was about her a quiet self-possession that discouraged familiarityon the part of ambitious and amorous cowboys. Her history, with itsthread of tragedy running through the warp and woof of it, set her apartfrom other girls of her age. Still almost a child in years, she had beencaught in the cross-currents of life and beaten by its cold waves. Partof the heritage of youth--its gay and adventurous longing forexperience--had been filched from her before she was old enough to knowits value. In time she would perhaps recover her self-esteem, but shewould never know in its fullness that divine right of American maidenhoodto rule its environment and make demands of it.
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