Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 12, 1927 — page 136: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

-when the latter sank into a chair. 130 the smell of earth pungent in his clothing, his hands stained from toil, his whole pos- ture one of silent brooding, tormented am- bition. “ Gee!” he half gasped. just the same as allus, ma!”’ “Tt don’t change much,” the woman agreed. “It’s like the farm, and the val- ley, Jimmie—but you’re hungry, I bet! T’ll be fixin’ a snack!” Immediately she busied herself and, as she worked, Jimmie found himself watching her, measuring every thing that she did against the certainty of his recollection. Her every move was familiar; he knew just how she would look as she walked across the room; as she worked at the fireplace; as she set out the few dishes that remained to them. . “ We was expectin’ the trapper in right soon,”’ she said, much as though explaining why the repast might not be complete. “You're pa’s tobacco is almost gone, even! It’s right hard to be always dependin’ on an Injun!” Once again she laughed softly and the sound seemed, inexplicably, to wrench Jim- mie’s heart. Somehow he was glad that his father was not there. He dreaded meet- ing the man. From the things which he had discovered within himself he sensed that Mason would be hard, unforgiving. He wondered if his mother, too, did not fear that meeting. Betty had settled herself beside Jimmie She sat, now, with her arm over his shoulder, and he felt again the sense of bliss that contact with her had provided through all his re- membered existence. He wondered why she did not speak more often. “Vou glad I come back, Betty?” he asked after a moment. “Ves, You bet I am! It was a hard winter here. Ma won’t stand many more, Jimmie!” “ Shucks! interjected. dle!”’ “ You ain’t, ma,”’ Betty snapped frankly, “you know you ain’t! She can’t hardly drag herself ’round, Jimmie!” ‘The house is What nonsense!” the woman “ Lan’ sakes, I’m fit as a fid- ; pie ee > Sas ames et ae x ear sg Sate oe Eee = * ee =e a = ARGOSY-ALLSTORY im. aimin’ to git cattle an’ take yon. <eik a — = ee = et AS" 7 ——— = WEEKLY. folks outa here,” the young man said a little lamely. ‘‘ The winter tied us up pret- ty bad down at Laramie, an’ there was little to be done but wait. I’m with a big herd over west 0’ the hills now! There’s grazin’ land fer you! If pa had gone there first off he’d be as rich as a saint right now!”’ Neither of the women answered him. He felt that his words had failed to impress, and a sudden and violent resentment grew in his mind. He felt that his father, by eternally grinding the very souls from these two, had deprived him of their confidence in any venture he might attempt. His mother poured some buffalo stew into a bowl and urged him to the table. He drew the heavy chair close, and they all laughed as he took his old place at the table. Habit had gripped him; he felt again that he was at home. He wondered if his father had seen him come and feigned not to know that he was there. ‘“How’s pa?” he asked, summoning all his courage for the direct question. “ He wintered right good,” Jennie Mason answered. ‘‘ Fer a spell he was ailin’, I thought, but he said nothin’, an’ finally come better.” “T’m glad. Pa don’t understand me,” Jimmie lamented. Once again his words were greeted by silence. He could see that both women had something on their minds; something that cried out for utterance, yet which they could not put into words. He felt sure that it. had to do with his father. Perhaps, he thought, his father had forbidden him the right of return to the valley. It was from Betty he caught a glean- ing of the truth. Her wisdom was that of youth, her impetuousness the gateway to discovery : “The last time the trapper come in we had a long talk—that is, as long. as an Injun ever talks!” she said. “ He comes in every month or so and trades buffalo meat and buckskin fer corn. He brungstobacco fer your pa, an’ told him all about it, too. Your pa was mad, an’ made us all pray!” ‘““ What?’ Jimmie cried, sensing that the tale the Indian had told had to do with himself and that the prayers were for him. “What did the fool redskin say?” ees ae nes ee eae ei a ES fe mY ga —_ Pos 2% <n