第11章 THE WINNING OF THE BISCUIT-SHOOTER(1)

It was quite clear to me that Mr.McLean could not know the news.Meeting him to-day had been unforeseen--unforeseen and so pleasant that the thing had never come into my head until just now,after both of us had talked and dined our fill,and were torpid with satisfaction.

I had found Lin here at Riverside in the morning.At my horse's approach to the cabin,it was he and not the postmaster who had come precipitately out of the door.

"I'm turruble pleased to see yu',"he had said,immediately.

"What's happened?"said I,in some concern at his appearance.

And he piteously explained:"Why,I've been here all alone since yesterday!"This was indeed all;and my hasty impressions of shooting and a corpse gave way to mirth over the child and his innocent grievance that he had blurted out before I could get off my horse.

Since when,I inquired of him,had his own company become such a shock to him?

"As to that,"replied Mr.McLean,a thought ruffled,"when a man expects lonesomeness he stands it like he stands anything else,of course.But when he has figured on finding company--say--"he broke off (and vindictiveness sparkled in his eye)--"when you're lucky enough to catch yourself alone,why,I suppose yu'just take a chair and chat to yourself for hours.--You've not seen anything of Tommy?"he pursued with interest.

I had not;and forthwith Lin poured out to me the pent-up complaints and sociability with which he was bursting.The foreman had sent him over here with a sackful of letters for the post,and to bring back the week's mail for the ranch.A day was gone now,and nothing for a man to do but sit and sit.Tommy was overdue fifteen hours.Well,you could have endured that,but the neighbors had all locked their cabins and gone to Buffalo.It was circus week in Buffalo.Had I ever considered the money there must be in the circus business?Tommy had taken the outgoing letters early yesterday.Nobody had kept him waiting.By all rules he should have been back again last night.Maybe the stage was late reaching Powder River,and Tommy had had to lay over for it.Well,that would justify him.Far more likely he had gone to the circus himself and taken the mail with him.Tommy was no type of man for postmaster.Except drawing the allowance his mother in the East gave him first of every month,he had never shown punctuality that Lin could remember.Never had any second thoughts,and awful few first ones.Told bigger lies than a small man ought,also.

"Has successes,though,"said I,wickedly.

"Huh!"went on Mr.McLean."Successes!One ice-cream-soda success.And she"--Lin's still wounded male pride made him plaintive--"why,even that girl quit him,once she got the chance to appreciate how insignificant he was as compared with the size of his words.No,sir.Not one of 'em retains interest in Tommy."Lin was unsaddling and looking after my horse,just because he was glad to see me.Since our first acquaintance,that memorable summer of Pitchstone Canyon when he had taken such good care of me and such bad care of himself,I had learned pretty well about horses and camp craft in general.He was an entire boy then.But he had been East since,East by a route of his own discovering--and from his account of that journey it had proved,I think,a sort of spiritual experience.And then the years of our friendship were beginning to roll up.Manhood of the body he had always richly possessed;and now,whenever we met after a season's absence and spoke those invariable words which all old friends upon this earth use to each other at meeting--"You haven't changed,you haven't changed at all!"--I would wonder if manhood had arrived in Lin's boy soul.And so to-day,while he attended to my horse and explained the nature of Tommy (a subject he dearly loved just now),I looked at him and took an intimate,superior pride in feeling how much more mature I was than he,after all.

There's nothing like a sense of merit for making one feel aggrieved,and on our return to the cabin Mr.McLean pointed with disgust to some firewood.

"Look at those sorrowful toothpicks,"said he:"Tommy's work."So Lin,the excellent hearted,had angrily busied himself,and chopped a pile of real logs that would last a week.He had also cleaned the stove,and nailed up the bed,the pillow-end of which was on the floor.It appeared the master of the house had been sleeping in it the reverse way on account of the slant.Thus had Lin cooked and dined alone,supped alone,and sat over some old newspapers until bed-time alone with his sense of virtue.And now here it was long after breakfast,and no Tommy yet.

"It's good yu'come this forenoon,"Lin said to me."I'd not have had the heart to get up another dinner just for myself.Let's eat rich!"Accordingly,we had richly eaten,Lin and I.He had gone out among the sheds and caught some eggs (that is how he spoke of it),we had opened a number of things in cans,and I had made my famous dish of evaporated apricots,in which I managed to fling a suspicion of caramel throughout the stew.

"Tommy'll be hot about these,"said Lin,joyfully,as we ate the eggs.