Lonesome Land Page 6

  CHAPTER VI. MANLEY'S FIRE GUARD

  Hot sunlight, winds as hot, a shimmering heat which distorted objects at adistance and made the sky line a dazzling, wavering ribbon of faded blue;and then the dull haze of smoke which hung over the land, and, withouttempering the heat, turned the sun into a huge coppery balloon, whichdrifted imperceptibly from the east to the west, and at evening timesettled softly down upon a parched hilltop and disappeared, leaving behindit an ominous red glow as of hidden fires.

  When the wind blew, the touch of it seared the face, as the smoke tangassailed the nostrils. All the world was a weird, unnatural tint, hard toname, never to be forgotten. The far horizons drew steadily closer as thedays passed slowly and thickened the veil of smoke. The distant mountainsdrew daily back into dimmer distance; became an obscure, formless blotagainst the sky, and vanished completely. The horizon crouched then uponthe bluffs across the river, moved up to the line of trees along its banks,blotted them out one day, and impudently established itself half-way up thecoulee.

  Time ceased to be measured accurately; events moved slowly in an unrealworld of sultry heat and smoke and a red sun wading heavily through thecopper-brown sky from the east to the west, and a moon as red whichfollowed meekly after.

  Men rode uneasily here and there, and when they met they talked of prairiefires and of fire guards and the direction of the wind, and of the faintprospect of rain. Cattle, driven from their accustomed feeding grounds,wandered aimlessly over the still-unburned range, and lowed often in thenight as they drifted before the flame-heated wind.

  Fifteen miles to the east of Cold Spring Coulee, the Wishbone outfitwatched uneasily the deepening haze. Kent and Bob Royden were put to ridingthe range from the river north and west, and Polycarp Jenks, who had takena claim where were good water and some shelter, and who never seemed tobe there for more than a few hours at a time, because of his boundlesscuriosity, wandered about on his great, raw-boned sorrel with the whitelegs, and seemed always to have the latest fire news on the tip of histongue, and always eager to impart it to somebody.

  To the northwest there was the Double Diamond, also sleeping with both eyesopen, so to speak. They also had two men out watching the range, thoughthe fires were said to be all across the river. But there was the railroadseaming the country straight through the grassland, and though the companywas prompt at plowing fire guards, contract work would always bearwatching, said the stockmen, and with the high winds that prevailed therewas no telling what might happen.

  So Fred De Garmo and Bill Madison patrolled the country in rather desultoryfashion, if the truth be known. They liked best to ride to the north andeast--which, while following faithfully the railroad and the danger line,would bring them eventually to Hope, where they never failed to stop aslong as they dared. For, although they never analyzed their feelings, theyknew that as long as they kept their jobs and their pay was forthcoming, afew miles of blackened range concerned them personally not at all.Still, barring a fondness for the trail which led to town, they were notunfaithful to their trust.

  One day Kent and Polycarp met on the brink of a deep coulee, and, as is theway of men who ride the dim trails, they stopped to talk a bit.

  Polycarp, cracking his face across the middle with his habitual grin,straightened his right leg to its full length, slid his hand withdifficulty into his pocket, brought up a dirty fragment of "plug" tobacco,looked it over inquiringly, and pried off the corner with his teeth. Whenhe had rolled it comfortably into his cheek and had straightened his legand replaced the tobacco in his pocket, he was "all set" and ready forconversation.

  Kent had taken the opportunity to roll a cigarette, though smoking on therange was a weakness to be indulged in with much care. He pinched out theblaze of his match, as usual, and then spat upon it for added safety beforethrowing it away.

  "If this heat doesn't let up," he remarked, "the grass is going to blaze upfrom sunburn."

  "It won't need to, if you ask me. I wouldn't be su'prised to see this hullrange afire any time. Between you an' me, Kenneth, them Double Diamondfellers ain't watching it as close as they might. I was away over Dry Creekway yesterday, and I seen where there was two different fires got throughthe company's guards, and kited off across the country. It jest _happened_that the grass give out in that red day soil, and starved 'em both out.They wa'n't _put_ out. I looked close all around, and there wasn't nary atrack of man or horse. That's their business--ridin' line on the railroad.The section men's been workin' off down the other way, where a culvert gotscorched up pretty bad. By granny, Fred 'n' Bill Madison spend might' nighall their time ridin' the trail to town. They're might' p'ticular aboutwatchin' the railroad between the switches--_he-he!_"

  "That's something for the Double Diamond to worry over," Kent rebuffed. Hehated that sort of gossip which must speak ill of somebody. "Our winterrange lays mostly south and east; we could stop a fire between here and theDouble Diamond, even if they let one get past 'em."

  Polycarp regarded him cunningly with his little, slitlike eyes. "Mebbe youcould," he said doubtfully. "And then again, mebbe you couldn't. Oncetit got past Cold Spring--" He shook his wizened head slowly, leaned, andexpectorated gravely.

  "Man Fleetwood's keeping tab pretty close over that way."

  Polycarp gave a grunt that was half a chuckle. "Man Fleetwood's keeping tabon what runs down his gullet," he corrected. "I seen him an' his wife outburnin' guards t' other day--over on his west line--and, by granny, itwouldn't stop nothing! A toad could jump it--_he-he!_" He sent anotherstream of tobacco juice afar, with the grave air as before.

  "And I told him so. 'Man,' I says, 'what you think you're doing?'

  "'Buildin' a fire guard,' he says. 'My wife, Mr. Jenks.'

  "'Polycarp Jenks is my cognomen,' I says. 'And I don't want no misterin'in mine. Polycarp's good enough for me,' I says, and I took off my hat andbowed to 'is wife. Funny kinda eyes, she's got--ever take notice? Yeller,by granny! first time I ever seen yeller eyes in a human's face. Mebbe itwas the sun in 'em, but they sure was yeller. I dunno as they hurt herlooks none, either. Kinda queer lookin', but when you git used to 'em youkinda like 'em.

  "'N' I says: 'Tain't half wide enough, nor a third'--spoke right up to 'im!I was thinkin' of the hull blamed country, and I didn't care how he tookit. 'Any good, able-bodied wind'll jump a fire across that guard so quickit won't reelize there was any there,' I says.

  "Man didn't like it none too well, either. He says to me: 'That guard'llstop any fire I ever saw,' and I got right back at him--_he-he!_ 'Man,' Isays, 'you ain't never saw a prairie fire'--just like that. 'You wait,' Isays, 'till the real thing comes along. We ain't had any fires since youcome into the country,' I says, 'and you don't know what they're like. Now,you take my advice and plow another four or five furrows--and plow 'em out,seventy-five or a hundred feet from here,' I says, 'an' make sure yougit all the grass burned off between--and do it on a still day,' I says.'You'll burn up the hull country if you keep on this here way you'redoing,' I told him--straight out, just like that. 'And when you do it,' Isays, 'you better let somebody know, so's they can come an' help,' I says.''Tain't any job a man oughta tackle alone,' I says to him. 'Git help, Man,git help.'

  "Well, by granny--_he-he!_ Man's wife brustled up at me like a--a--" Hesearched his brain for a simile, and failed to find one. "'I have beenhelping Manley, Mr. Polycarp Jenks,' she says to me, 'and I flatter myselfI have done as well as any _man_ could do.' And, by granny! the way themyeller eyes of hern blazed at me--_he-he!_ I had to laugh, jest to lookat her. Dressed jest like a city girl, by granny! with ruffles on herskirts--to ketch afire if she wasn't mighty keerful!--and a big straw hattied down with a veil, and kid gloves on her hands, and her yellerhair kinda fallin' around her face--and them yeller eyes snappin' likeflames--by granny! if she didn't make as purty a picture as I ever wantto set eyes on! Slim and straight, jest like a storybook woman--_he-he!_'Course, she was all smoke an' dirt; a big flake of burned grass was on herhair, I took notice,
and them ruffles was black up to her knees--_he-he!_And she had a big smut on her cheek--but she was right there with her stackof blues, by granny! Settin' into the game like a--a--" He leaned andspat "But burnin' guards ain't no work for a woman to do, an' I told Manso--straight out. 'You git help,' I says. 'I see you're might' near throughwith this here strip,' I says, 'an' I'm in a hurry, or I'd stay, rightnow.' And, by granny! if that there wife of Man's didn't up an' hit meanother biff--_he-he!_

  "'Thank you very much,' she says to me, like ice water. 'When we needyour help, we'll be sure to let you know--but at present,' she says, 'wecouldn't think of troubling you.' And then, by granny! she turns rightaround and smiles up at me--_he-he!_ Made me feel like somebody'd tickledm' ear with a spear of hay when I was asleep, by granny! Never feltanything like it--not jest with somebody smilin' at me.

  "'Polycarp Jenks,' she says to me, 'we do appreciate what you've told us,and I believe you're right,' she says. 'But don't insiniwate I'm not asgood a fighter as any man who ever breathed,' she says. 'Manley has anotherof his headaches to-day--going to town always gives him a sick headache,'she says, 'and I've done nearly all of this my own, lone self,' she says.'And I'm horribly proud of it, and I'll never forgive you for saying I--'And then, by granny! if she didn't begin to blink them eyes, and I feltlike a--a--" He put the usual period to his hesitation.

  "Between you an' _me_, Kenneth," he added, looking at Kent slyly, "sheain't having none too easy a time. Man's gone back to drinkin'--I knowedall the time he wouldn't stay braced up very long--lasted about six weeks,from all I c'n hear. Mebbe she reely thinks it's jest headaches ails himwhen he comes back from town--I dunno. You can't never tell what idees awoman's got tacked away under her hair--from all I c'n gether. I don'tp'tend to know nothing about 'em--don't want to know--_he-he!_ But Iguess," he hinted cunningly, "I know as much about 'em as you do--hey,Kenneth? You don't seem to chase after 'em none, yourself--_he-he!_"

  "Whereabouts did Man run his guards?" asked Kent, passing over theinvitation to personal confessions.

  Polycarp gave a grunt of disdain. "Just on the west rim of his coulee.About forty rod of six-foot guard, and slanted so it'll shoot a fire rightinto high grass at the head of the coulee and send it kitin' over this way.That's supposin' it turns a fire, which it won't. Six feet--a fall likethis here! Why, I never see grass so thick on this range--did you?"

  "I wonder, did he burn that extra guard?" Kent was keeping himself rigidlyto the subject of real importance.

  "No, by granny! he didn't--not unless he done it since yest'day. He wentto town for suthin, and he might' nigh forgot to go home--_he-he!_ He wasthere yest'day about three o'clock, an' I says to him--"

  "Well, so-long; I got to, be moving." Kent gathered up the reins and wenthis way, leaving Polycarp just in the act of drawing his "plug" from hispocket, by his usual laborious method, in mental preparation for anotherhalf hour of talk.

  "If you're ridin' over that way, Kenneth, you better take a look at Man'sguard," he called after him. "A good mile of guard, along there, wouldhelp a lot if a fire got started beyond. The way he fixed it, it ain't noaccount at all."

  Kent proved by a gesture that he heard him, and rode on without turning tolook back. Already his form was blurred as Polycarp gazed after him, andin another minute or two he was blotted out completely by the smoke veil,though he rode upon the level. Polycarp watched him craftily, though therewas no need, until he was completely hidden, then he went on, ruminatingupon the faults of his acquaintances.

  Kent had no intention of riding over to Cold Spring. He had not been theresince Manley's marriage, though he had been a frequent visitor before, andunless necessity drove him there, it would be long before he faced againthe antagonism of Mrs. Fleetwood. Still, he was mentally uncomfortable, andhe felt much resentment against Polycarp Jenks because he had caused thatdiscomfort. What was it to him, if Manley had gone bock to drinking? Heasked the question more than once, and he answered always that it wasnothing to him, of course. Still, he wished futilely that he had not beenquite so eager to cover up Manley's weakness and deceive the girl. He oughtto have given her a chance--

  A cinder like a huge black snowflake struck him suddenly upon the cheek. Helooked up, startled, and tried to see farther into the haze which closedhim round. It seemed to him, now that his mind was turned from his musings,that the smoke was thicker, the smell of burning grass stronger, and thebreath of wind hotter upon his face. He turned, looked away to the west,fancied there a tumbled blackness new to his sight, and put his horse to arun. If there were fire close, then every second counted; and as he racedover the uneven prairie he fumbled with the saddle string that held asodden sack tied fast to the saddle, that he might lose no time.

  The cinders grew thicker, until the air was filled with them, like asnowstorm done in India ink. A little farther and he heard a faintcrackling; topped a ridge and saw not far ahead, a dancing, yellow line.His horse was breathing heavily with the pace he was keeping, but Kent,swinging away from the onrush of flame and heat, spurred him to a greaterspeed. They neared the end of the crackling, red line, and as Kent swung inbehind it upon the burned ground, he saw several men beating steadily atthe flames.

  He was hardly at work when Polycarp came running up and took his placebeside him; but beyond that Kent paid no attention to the others, though heheard and recognized the voice of Fred De Garmo calling out to some one.The smoke which rolled up in uneven volumes as the wind lifted it and boreit away, or let it suck backward as it veered for an instant, blinded himwhile he fought. He heard other men gallop up, and after a little some oneclattered up with a wagon filled with barrels of water. He ran to wethis sack, and saw that it was Blumenthall himself, foreman of the DoubleDiamond, who drove the team.

  "Lucky it ain't as windy as it was yesterday and the day before,"Blumenthall cried out, as Kent stepped upon the brake block to reach abarrel. "It'd sweep the whole country if it was."

  Kent nodded, and ran back to the fire, trailing the dripping sack afterhim. As he passed Polycarp and another, he heard Polycarp saying somethingabout Man Fleetwood's fire guard; but he did not stop to hear what it was.Polycarp was always talking, and he didn't always keep too closely tofacts.

  Then, of a sudden, he saw men dimly when he glanced down the leaping fireline, and he knew that the fire was almost conquered. Another frenziedminute or two, and he was standing in a group of men, who dropped theircharred, blackened fragments of blanket and bags, and began to feel fortheir smoking material, while they stamped upon stray embers which lookedlive enough to be dangerous.

  "Well, she's out," said a voice, "But it did look for a while as if it'dget away in spite of us."

  Kent turned away, wiping an eye which held a cinder fast under the lid. Itwas Fred De Garmo who spoke.

  "If somebody'd been watchin' the railroad a leetle might closer--" Polycarpbegan, in his thin, rasping voice.

  Fred cut him short. "I thought you laid it to Man Fleetwood, burning fireguards," he retorted. "Keep on, and you'll get it right pretty soon. Thisnever come from the railroad; you can gamble on that."

  Blumenthall had left his team and come among them. "If you want to know howit started, I can tell you. Somebody dropped a match, or a cigarette, orsomething, by the trail up here a ways. I saw where it started when I wentto Cold Spring after the last load of water. And if I knew who it was--"

  Polycarp launched his opinion first, as usual. "Well, I don't _know_ whodone it--but, by granny! I can might' nigh guess who it was. There's jestone man that I know of been traveling that trail lately when he wa'n't inhis sober senses--"

  Here Manley Fleetwood rode up to them, coughing at the soot his horsekicked up. "Say! you fellows come on over to the house and have somethingto eat--and," he added significantly, "something _wet_. I told my wife,when I saw the fire, to make plenty of coffee, for fighting fire's hungrywork, let me tell. Come on--no hanging back, you know. There'll be lots ofcoffee, and I've got a quart of something better cached in the hay
stack!"

  As he had said, fighting fire is hungry work, and none save Blumenthall,who was dyspeptic and only ate twice a day, and then of certain foodsprepared by himself, declined the invitation.