Friar Tuck

by Robert Alexander Wason

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  THE FRIAR A COMPLICATION

  We all felt purty down-hearted after Promotheus had rode away, and wesat before the fire in Olaf's settin' room a good deal the same as ifwe were holdin' a wake.

  "Olaf," I sez, "you can't have any finicky notions about treatin' TyJones square, after all the persecutin' he's handed you. Do you knowanything on him you could have him sent to prison for?"

  Olaf shook his head. "He's too clever to get caught in a trap," sezhe. "He scarcely ever gave any orders to have things done. He'd justsay aloud as though talkin' to himself, that some one or other was inhis way; and then his men would begin to take spite on that feller. Ifthe calf tally showed a hundred percent increase, he would think thatabout right, and no questions; but if ever it fell short o' what heexpected, we had it to make up some way. He'd send us out until we hadbrought in enough to satisfy; but he'd never give us straight ordersto rustle. He is a smart man. When one of his men got into trouble, hegot him out, no matter what cost; but he expected his men to do whathe wanted, without askin' questions. He has no fear, none at all. Iknow, I have seen. He has no fear, and he is very strong. It is bad tobe at war with him; but I should like to have my hands at his throatonce, and none to interfere."

  "Maybe you will, Olaf," sez I, "maybe you will; and I don't mindsayin' that I hope to be on hand to see it."

  We kept two men allus at the look-out with Horace's field glasses. Itwas a queer sort o' summer, the air wasn't clear like it usually is,but hazy, as though full o' dust; and in lots of places they wereturnin' stock on the grass they generally aimed to save for winter.There were only a few punchers around the Cross brand ranch houses;but we saw Promotheus every day. He hobbled about with a stick part o'the time, holdin' his hand on his back as though he had the rheumatiz,which was natural enough from bein' shut up in an island prison. Somedays we saw the woman; but she never came up the ravine path any more.

  Promotheus didn't make a report to us for about a week. Then he cameout one night about eleven. He said 'at Ty hadn't doubted a word he'dsaid; but had done everything possible to make him comfortable,tellin' him to just loaf until he got in good order. He said 'at Tyand the woman didn't have much to do with each other and hadn't hadsince she'd come out. He said 'at the woman was kind to all theanimals, in spite of everything 'at Ty could do, and the dogs wasgettin' to act like regular, ordinary dogs. He said all but a few newpups had remembered him, and one had even wagged his tail, though hecouldn't see any sense in this, he never havin' as much as spoke akind word to the dog, so far as he could recollect.

  He said he had held several talks with Ty, and Ty had asked him if hethought 'at Olaf was in league with any big outfits. He said 'at hehad told Ty that he was sure Olaf had been in league with 'em severalyears before, but o' course, he couldn't know anything o' what hadhappened since. Ty said he had come to the conclusion that Olaf wasset out for a kind of bait to draw him into trouble, which was why hehad let him alone; but that he was short o' grass this season, andwanted Pearl Crick Spread bad. He also told The about the two Greasersdisappearin', though he wasn't sure what had happened to 'em. He knewabout us bein' over at Olaf's off and on, and The warned us to becareful, as Ty expected to have Olaf's place watched as soon as he gotthrough movin' several bands o' cattle.

  The said 'at the woman had a soft spot for any dumb brute, or even ahuman in distress, and that he had touched her by hobblin' around withthe stick. He said she had cooked him some flabby invalid-food withher own hands, and that it was mighty captivatin'. He said she didn'tspeak much; but he was tryin' his best to get on the good side of her.He said 'at all the boys claimed 'at Ty treated her well; but didn'tseem to care much for her. Horace didn't happen to be with us when Thecame; but we said we'd move our camp higher up on the slope, to be onthe safe side when Olaf's was watched, and would have Horace on decksure the next time The came out; and we did this the next day.

  The land was all slashed an' twisted around and broken, up west o' theCross brand ranch houses. The ravine leadin' down to 'em ran east andwest, the path leadin' up out of it to the trees where we had firstseen the woman wasn't near so steep as the one comin' out of it on thenorth side toward the clump o' rocks. After the north path came out,the ravine narrowed down until it wasn't more than a crack, the southside not risin' so high as on the north; so that soon the north sidestood up like a cliff above the land leadin' down to the clump oftrees, and the only way we could get over to it was to go down theravine and up again on the other side.

  We made our camp consid'able higher than our look-out had been, and itwas a well sheltered spot. An easy slopin' stretch led up to it fromthe north, and a ledge skirted the face o' the cliff up back of it, tothe south. We examined this some distance; but it didn't seem to leadanywhere. We found several dips back in the hills where the snow watermade grazin' for our ponies, and we were as comfortable as it's everpossible to be while waitin'.

  I know what my plan would be for makin' a hell which would bepunishment for any mortal sin, and yet not severe enough to make mehate all the peace out o' my own existence. I'd make the wicked sit inthe dark for a hundred years, waitin' to hear what their sentence was.Then, I'd let 'em into heaven, and I bet they would be in a fair wayto appreciate it. I never met up with any one able to out-wait mewithout showin' it more 'n I did; but I'll wager what I got, that thesuspense was gorin' into me worse 'n into them, all the time.

  One evenin', me an' Tank went up to camp after doin' our stunt at thelook-out, and as we went, we caught sight o' two riders headin' ourway. We hastened along so as to be ready to move in case this was apair we didn't care to draw to; but by the time we reached camp, theywere close enough to recognize as the Friar and Olaf. The plan was tokeep the Friar in the dark as long as possible, and we waited theircomin' with consid'able interest.

  The Friar had squeezed the whole thing out of Olaf, as we might haveknown he would. You couldn't trust Olaf with a secret where the Friarwas concerned. Tank, now, would have sent the Friar off to Bosco orLaramie as contented as a bug; but just as soon as Olaf was backedinto a corner, he told the truth, and spoiled all our arrangements.

  The Friar rode into our camp, dismounted, threw his reins to theground, and sez: "Where is Promotheus?"

  We looked at Olaf, and he nodded his head as sheepish as the under dogat a bee-swarmin'. "He's down at the ranch," sez Horace.

  "Has he brought any news?" asked the Friar. So we told him all 'at Thehad reported. He took a few steps up and down, ponderin'.

  "I can't permit this," he said after a minute. "He is riskin' his lifedown there, and I can't allow him to continue."

  The rest all joined in and argued with him; but he was as obstinate asa burro, once he got his back up; so I didn't say anything. I went offand started to eat my supper. When I was about half through, Horacecame over and said the Friar was bent on goin' down to Ty's himself."Well, let him go," sez I as cool as a snow-slide.

  "Yes, but if he goes, Ty will kill both him and Promotheus!" sezHorace raisin' his voice. I noticed the others headin' toward us so Ionly flung my hands into the air, meanin' that it was none o' mybusiness.

  "Do you mean to say 'at you back the Friar up in this?" demandedHorace.

  "Do I look like a fool?" sez I. The Friar's eyes were on me, and Iknew they were cold; but I pertended not to notice him.

  "You don't look like a fool; but you act like one," sez Horace,gettin' riled.

  "You can't blame me, Horace," I sez in my most drawly voice, "becausethe Friar cares more for havin' his own way than he does for humanlife."

  "What do you mean by that?" demanded the Friar.

  "Oh, nothin'," sez I, "except that if you go down there, it showsPrometheus up at once, we'd all have to go along to save Promotheus,and this would start a fight, with us to blame; and no one knowin'what the woman is, or how she stands in the matter. She seemsperfectly satisfied with Ty Jones; and no matter how it turned out,all of us who survived would have to leave the c
ountry. I don't intendto argue with you, or to cross you in any way; but I do intend tostand by Promotheus, as it was me who first put the idee into hishead."

  I sympathized with the Friar, I knew that he wasn't himself. To findthe woman he loved in the hands of the man who hated him, after allthe years he had been in suspense about her was enough to tip any oneoff his balance; and I also knew the Friar. He had trained himself foreternity so long that some of his earthly idees weren't sound, and thesurest way to bring him to himself was to let him bark his knees atime or two. Some imported hosses carry their gaze so high they can'tsee their footin' but after they've stepped into a few prairie-dogholes, they learn to take a little more interest in what they'retreadin' on.

  The Friar came over and looked down at me. "I shall wait untilPromotheus comes up here, and then he can stay; and I shall go down,"said the Friar in the voice a man uses when he thinks it's wrong toshow the sarcasm he can't help but feel. "Have you any objection tothis?"

  "I have no objection to anything you choose to do, Friar," I said,finishin' my supper.

  "Do I understand that you approve?" sez he.

  "Certainlee not," sez I. "Ty would see the connection between you andPromotheus at once. He knows 'at The was a deserter, and he would setthe law on him in one direction, and try to run him down on his ownhook in the other. If you had been on hand while we were discussin'the plan, you would have had the right to veto it; but now, it looksto me as though Prometheus was the one to consider."

  The Friar sat down and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't seeany way out!" he sez at last; "but I'm forced to admit that sincePromotheus has gone down there, it would put him in danger for me tointerfere."

  "Well," sez ol' Tank, "here is The himself. Now, we'll know betterwhat to do."

  We looked up, and there was Promotheus with a bruise over his eye,comin' into our little nook.