The Gringos Page 9

  CHAPTER IX

  JERRY SIMPSON, SQUATTER

  The senorita, it would seem, had lost interest in the white horseas well as in his master. That was the construction which Dadepessimistically put upon her smiling assurance that she could never beso selfish as to take Senor Hunter's wonderful Surry and condemn himto some commonplace caballo; though she gave also a better reason thanthat, which was that her own horse was already saddled--witness thepeon leading the animal into the patio at that very moment--and thatan exchange would mean delay. Dade took both reasons smilingly, andmentally made a vow with a fearsome penalty attached to the breakingof it. After which he felt a little more of a man, with his pride tobear him company.

  Manuel came out from the room which Don Andres used for an office,saluted the senorita with the air of a permanent leave-taking, aswell as a greeting, and passed the gringos with face averted. A momentlater the don followed him with the look of one who would dismissa distasteful business from his mind; and entered amiably into thepleasure-seeking spirit of the ride.

  With the March sun warm upon them when they rode out from the wideshade of the oaks, they faced the cooling little breeze which blew outof the south.

  "Valencia tells me that the prairie schooner which Jose spoke ofhas of a truth cast anchor upon my land," observed the don to Dade,reining in beside him where he rode a little in advance of the others."Since we are riding that way, we may as well see the fellow and makehim aware of the fact that he is trespassing upon land which belongsto another; though if he has halted but to rest his cattle andhimself, he is welcome. But Valencia tells me that the fellow iscutting down trees for a house, and that I do not like."

  "Some emigrants seem to think, because they have traveled over so muchwilderness, there is no land west of the Mississippi that they haven'ta perfect right to take, if it suits them. They are a little like yourcountryman Columbus, I suppose. Every man who crosses the desert feelsas if he's out on a voyage of discovery to a new world; and when hedoes strike California, it's hard for him to realize that he can'ttake what he wants of it."

  "I think you are right," admitted Don Andres after a minute. "Andyour government also seems to believe it has come into possession of awilderness, peopled only by savages who must give way to the marchof civilization. Whereas we Spaniards were in possession of the landwhile yet your colonies paid tribute to their king in England, and weourselves have brought the savages to the ways of Christian people,and have for our reward the homes which we have built with much toiland some hardships, like yourselves when your colonies were young.Twenty-one years have I looked upon this valley and called it mine,with the word of his Majesty for my authority! And surely my right toit is as the right of your people to their haciendas in Virginia orVermont. Yet men will drive their prairie schooners to a spot whichpleases them and say: 'Here, I will have this place for my home.' Thatis not lawful, or right."

  Ten steps in the rear of them Teresita was laughing her mocking littlelaugh that still had in it a maddening note of tenderness. Dade triednot to hear it; for so had she laughed at him, a week ago, and sethis blood leaping towards his heart. He was not skilled in the ways ofwomen, yet he did not accuse her of deliberate coquetry, as a man isprone to do under the smart of a hurt like his; for he sensed dimlythat it was but the seeking sex-instinct of healthy youth thatbrightened her eyes and sent the laugh to her lips when she faceda man who pleased her; and if she were fickle, it was with theinstinctive fickleness of one who has not made final choice of a mate.Hope lifted its head at that, but he crushed it sternly into the dustagain; for the man who rode behind was his friend, whom he loved.

  It is to be feared that the voice of the girl held more of hisattention than the complaint of the don, just then, and that the stingof injustice under which Don Andres squirmed seemed less poignant andvital than the hurt he himself was bearing. He answered him at random;and he might have betrayed his inattention if they had not at thatmoment caught sight of the interlopers.

  Valencia had not borne false witness against them; the emigrants wereindeed cutting down trees. More, they were industriously hauling thelogs to the immediate vicinity of their camp, which was chosen with aneye to many advantages; shade, water, a broad view of the valley andplenty of open grass land already fit for the plow, if to plow weretheir intention.

  A loose-jointed giant of a man seated upon the load of logs which twoyoke of great, meek-eyed oxen had just drawn up beside a waiting pileof their fellows, waited phlegmatically their approach. A woman, allpersonality hidden beneath flapping calico and slat sunbonnet, climbedhastily down upon the farther side of the wagon and disappearedinto the little tent that was simply the wagon-box with its canvascovering, placed upon the ground.

  "Valencia told me truly. Senor Hunter, will you speak for me? Tell thebig hombre that the land is mine."

  To do his bidding, Dade flicked the reins upon Surry's neck and rodeahead, the others closely following. Thirty feet from the wagona great dog of the color called brindle disputed his advance withbristling hair and throaty grumble.

  "Lay down, Tige! Wait till you're asked to take a holt," advisedthe man on the wagon, regarding the group with an air of perfectneutrality. Tige obeying sullenly, to the extent that he crouchedwhere he was and still growled; his master rested his elbows on hisgreat, bony knees, sucked at a short-stemmed clay pipe and waiteddevelopments.

  "How d'yuh do?" Dade, holding Surry as close to the belligerent Tigeas was wise, tried to make his greeting as neutral as the attitude ofthe other.

  "Tol'ble, thank yuh, how's y'self? Shet your trap, Tige! Tige thoughtyou was all greasers, and he ain't made up his mind yet whether helikes 'em mixed--whites and greasers. I dunno's I blame 'im, either.We ain't either of us had much call to hanker after the dark meat.T'other day a bunch come boilin' up outa the dim distance like theywas sent fur and didn't have much time to git here. Tied their tonguesinto hard knots tryin' to tell me somethin' I didn't have time tolisten to, and looked like they wanted to see my hide hangin' on afence.

  "Tige, he didn't take to 'em much. He kept walkin' back and forthbetween me and them, talking as sensible as they did, I must say, andmakin' his meanin' full as clear. I dunno how we'd all 'a' come out,if I hadn't brought Jemimy and the twins out and let 'em into theargument. Them greasers didn't like the looks of old Jemimy, and theybacked off. Tige, he follered 'em right up, and soon's they got outareach of Jemimy, they took down their lariats an' tried to hitch ontohim.

  "They didn't know Tige. That thar dawg's the quickest dawg on earth.He hopped through their loops like they was playin' jump-the-ropewith him. Fact is, he'd learned jump-the-rope when he was a purp. Hewouldn't 'a' minded that, only they didn't do it friendly. One fellerwhipped out his knife and throwed it at Tige--and he come mighty nighmakin' dawg-meat outa him, too. Slit his ear, it come that close.Tige ain't got no likin' fer greasers sence then. He thought you wasanother bunch--and so did I. Mary, she put inside after Jemimy and thetwins.

  "Know anything about them greasers? I see yuh got a sample along. T'other crowd was headed by a slim feller all tricked up in velvetand silver braid and red sash; called himself Don Jose Pacheco, andclaimed to own all Ameriky from the ocean over there, back to theAllegheny Mountains, near as I could make out. I don't talk that kindatalk much; but I been thinkin' mebby I better get m' tongue split, soI can. Might come handy, some time; only Tige, he hates the sound ofit like he hates porkypines--or badgers.

  "Mary and me and Tige laid up in Los Angeles fer a spell, restingthe cattle. All greasers, down there--and fleas--and take the twot'gether, they jest about wore out the hull kit and b'ilin' of us.

  "What's pesterin' the ole feller? Pears like he's gittin' his tonguetwisted up ready to talk--if they call it talkin'."

  "What is the hombre saying?--" asked the don at that moment, seeingthe glance and sensing that at last his presence was noticed.

  Dade grinned and winked at Jack, who, by the way, was neither lookingnor listening; for Teresita was
once more tenderly ridiculing hisstar-incrusted saddle and so claimed his whole attention.

  "He says Jose Pacheco and some others came and ordered him off. Theywere pretty ugly, but he called out a lady--the Senora Jemima and dosninos--and--"

  "Sa-ay, mister," interrupted the giant Jerry Simpson from the load oflogs. "D'you say Senory Jemimy?"

  "Why, yes. Senora means madame, or--"

  "Ya'as, I know what it means. Jemimy, mister, ain't no senory, nor nomadame. Jemimy's my old Kentucky rifle, mister. And the twins ain't noneenos, but a brace uh pistols that can shoot fur as it's respectablefer a pistol to shoot, and hit all it's lawful to hit. You tell himwho Jemimy is, mister; and tell 'im she's a derned good talker, andmost convincin' in a argyment."

  "He says Jemima is not a senora," translated Dade, his eyes twinkling,"but his rifle; and the ninos are his pistols."

  Don Andres hid a smile under his white mustache. "Very good. Yet Ithink your language must lack expression, Senor Hunter. It requiredmuch speech to say so little." There was a twinkle in his own eyes."Also, Jose acts like a fool. You may tell the big senor that theland is mine, but that I do not desire to use harsh methods, nor haveill-feeling between us. It is my wish to live in harmony with allmen; my choice of a majordomo should bear witness that I look uponAmericanos with a friendly eye. I think the big hombre is honest andintelligent; his face rather pleases me. So you may tell him that Joseshall not trouble him again, and that I shall not dispute with himabout his remaining here, if to remain should be his purpose when heknows the land belongs to me. But I shall look upon him as a guest. Asa guest, he will be welcome until such time as he may find some freeland upon which to build his casa."

  Because the speech was kindly and just, and because he was in theservice of the don, Dade translated as nearly verbatim as the twolanguages would permit. And Jerry Simpson, while he listened, gaveseveral hard pulls with his lips upon the short stem of his pipe,discovered that there was no fire there, straightened his long legand felt gropingly for a match in the depth of a great pocket in histrousers. His eyes, of that indeterminate color which may be eithergray, hazel, or green, as the light and his mood may affect them,measured the don calmly, dispassionately, unawed; measured also Dadeand the beautiful white horse he rode; and finally went twinklingover Jack and the girl, standing a little apart, wholly absorbed intrivialities that could interest no one save themselves.

  "How much land does he say belongs to him? And whar did he git histitle to it?" Jerry Simpson asked, when Dade was waiting for hisanswer.

  Out of his own knowledge Dade told him.

  Jerry Simpson brought two matches from his pocket, inspected themgravely and returned one carefully; lighted the other with the samecare, applied the flame to his tobacco, made sure that the pipe wasgoing to "draw" well, blew out the match, and tucked the stub down outof sight in a crease in the bark of the log upon which he was sitting.After that he rested his elbows upon his great, bony knees and smokedmeditatively.