The Man of the Forest, Zane Grey [manga ebook reader txt] 📗

hoss. Haven't felt so good in years. Mebbe two such young an' pretty nieces will make a new man of me.”

“Uncle Al, you look strong and well to me,” said Bo. “And young, too, and—”

“Haw! Haw! Thet 'll do,” interrupted Al. “I see through you. What you'll do to Uncle Al will be aplenty.... Yes, girls, I'm feelin' fine. But strange—strange! Mebbe thet's my joy at seein' you safe—safe when I feared so thet damned greaser Beasley—”

In Helen's grave gaze his face changed swiftly—and all the serried years of toil and battle and privation showed, with something that was not age, nor resignation, yet as tragic as both.

“Wal, never mind him—now,” he added, slowly, and the warmer light returned to his face. “Dale—come here.”

The hunter stepped closer.

“I reckon I owe you more 'n I can ever pay,” said Auchincloss, with an arm around each niece.

“No, Al, you don't owe me anythin',” returned Dale, thoughtfully, as he looked away.

“A-huh!” grunted Al. “You hear him, girls.... Now listen, you wild hunter. An' you girls listen.... Milt, I never thought you much good, 'cept for the wilds. But I reckon I'll have to swallow thet. I do. Comin' to me as you did—an' after bein' druv off—keepin' your council an' savin' my girls from thet hold-up, wal, it's the biggest deal any man ever did for me.... An' I'm ashamed of my hard feelin's, an' here's my hand.”

“Thanks, Al,” replied Dale, with his fleeting smile, and he met the proffered hand. “Now, will you be makin' camp here?”

“Wal, no. I'll rest a little, an' you can pack the girls' outfit—then we'll go. Sure you're goin' with us?”

“I'll call the girls to breakfast,” replied Dale, and he moved away without answering Auchincloss's query.

Helen divined that Dale did not mean to go down to Pine with them, and the knowledge gave her a blank feeling of surprise. Had she expected him to go?

“Come here, Jeff,” called Al, to one of his men.

A short, bow-legged horseman with dusty garb and sun-bleached face hobbled forth from the group. He was not young, but he had a boyish grin and bright little eyes. Awkwardly he doffed his slouch sombrero.

“Jeff, shake hands with my nieces,” said Al. “This 's Helen, an' your boss from now on. An' this 's Bo, fer short. Her name was Nancy, but when she lay a baby in her cradle I called her Bo-Peep, an' the name's stuck.... Girls, this here's my foreman, Jeff Mulvey, who's been with me twenty years.”

The introduction caused embarrassment to all three principals, particularly to Jeff.

“Jeff, throw the packs an' saddles fer a rest,” was Al's order to his foreman.

“Nell, reckon you'll have fun bossin' thet outfit,” chuckled Al. “None of 'em's got a wife. Lot of scalawags they are; no women would have them!”

“Uncle, I hope I'll never have to be their boss,” replied Helen.

“Wal, you're goin' to be, right off,” declared Al. “They ain't a bad lot, after all. An' I got a likely new man.”

With that he turned to Bo, and, after studying her pretty face, he asked, in apparently severe tone, “Did you send a cowboy named Carmichael to ask me for a job?”

Bo looked quite startled.

“Carmichael! Why, Uncle, I never heard that name before,” replied Bo, bewilderedly.

“A-huh! Reckoned the young rascal was lyin',” said Auchincloss. “But I liked the fellar's looks an' so let him stay.”

Then the rancher turned to the group of lounging riders.

“Las Vegas, come here,” he ordered, in a loud voice.

Helen thrilled at sight of a tall, superbly built cowboy reluctantly detaching himself from the group. He had a red-bronze face, young like a boy's. Helen recognized it, and the flowing red scarf, and the swinging gun, and the slow, spur-clinking gait. No other than Bo's Las Vegas cowboy admirer!

Then Helen flashed a look at Bo, which look gave her a delicious, almost irresistible desire to laugh. That young lady also recognized the reluctant individual approaching with flushed and downcast face. Helen recorded her first experience of Bo's utter discomfiture. Bo turned white then red as a rose.

“Say, my niece said she never heard of the name Carmichael,” declared Al, severely, as the cowboy halted before him. Helen knew her uncle had the repute of dealing hard with his men, but here she was reassured and pleased at the twinkle in his eye.

“Shore, boss, I can't help thet,” drawled the cowboy. “It's good old Texas stock.”

He did not appear shamefaced now, but just as cool, easy, clear-eyed, and lazy as the day Helen had liked his warm young face and intent gaze.

“Texas! You fellars from the Pan Handle are always hollerin' Texas. I never seen thet Texans had any one else beat—say from Missouri,” returned Al, testily.

Carmichael maintained a discreet silence, and carefully avoided looking at the girls.

“Wal, reckon we'll all call you Las Vegas, anyway,” continued the rancher. “Didn't you say my niece sent you to me for a job?”

Whereupon Carmichael's easy manner vanished.

“Now, boss, shore my memory's pore,” he said. “I only says—”

“Don't tell me thet. My memory's not p-o-r-e,” replied Al, mimicking the drawl. “What you said was thet my niece would speak a good word for you.”

Here Carmichael stole a timid glance at Bo, the result of which was to render him utterly crestfallen. Not improbably he had taken Bo's expression to mean something it did not, for Helen read it as a mingling of consternation and fright. Her eyes were big and blazing; a red spot was growing in each cheek as she gathered strength from his confusion.

“Well, didn't you?” demanded Al.

From the glance the old rancher shot from the cowboy to the others of his employ it seemed to Helen that they were having fun at Carmichael's expense.

“Yes, sir, I did,” suddenly replied the cowboy.

“A-huh! All right, here's my niece. Now see thet she speaks the good word.”

Carmichael looked at Bo and Bo looked at him. Their glances were strange, wondering, and they grew shy. Bo dropped hers. The cowboy apparently forgot what had been demanded of him.

Helen put a hand on the old rancher's arm.

“Uncle, what happened was my fault,” she said. “The train stopped at Las Vegas. This young man saw us at the open window. He must have guessed we