"Well, I know it to be a fact--know it because I know her nature. She"s just crank enough----"
"Don"t say that," Jim protested, unclasping his hands from his knee and straightening up. "Don"t call her a crank when she"s an angel."
"That"s all right, my dear boy, but heaven is full of the right sort of cranks. Who serves G.o.d deeper than the religious crank, and if he"s not to be rewarded, who is? By crank I don"t mean a weak-minded person; I come nearer meaning a genius."
"I reckon you mean all right," the giant agreed; and after pondering in silence he asked: "Do you reckon she would marry me?"
"I know it. And why not? You are a gentleman and a devilish good-looking fellow. Why, any woman interested in a fine stock show would be proud of you."
At this the giant rubbed his hands together and softly chuckled; but sobering, he said that he could never hope to equal her in thought and quickness of expression, though by reading he would make an effort to attain that end.
"Don"t worry about that, Jimmie; and don"t you fool yourself that books are everything. They smooth knots, but they don"t make timber. Oh, you are smart enough--for a woman."
"I"m not an idiot," said the giant. "Sometimes I can talk without any trouble, and then again I can"t say a thing. It"s different with you."
The old man"s egotism awoke--it never more than dozed. "Jimmie," said he, "it is violating no compact to tell you that I"m no common man.
Other men have a similar opinion of themselves and are afraid to spit it out, but I"m bold as well as wise. I know that my opinion doesn"t go for much, for I"m too good-humored, too approachable. The blitheness of my nature invites familiarity. You go to a house and make too much of the children, and the first thing you know they"ll want to wallow on you all the time. Well, I have made too much of the children of the world, and they wallow on me. But I pinch them sometimes and laugh to hear them squeal. There"s only one person that I"m afraid of--Mrs. Cranceford. She chills me and keeps me on the frozen dodge. I always feel that she is reading me, and that makes me more of a rascal--trying to give her something that she can"t read. Look here, if we expect to get any sleep we"d better be at it."
"You go to bed, Uncle Gideon; I"m going to sit up."
"All right; sit there as long as you please." The old fellow got up, and walking stiffly went to the window, drew aside the red calico curtain and looked out. "Don"t see much promise of a clear-up," he said. "Not a star in sight. I always dread the rainy season; it makes people look sad, and I want to see them bright--I am most agreeable to them when they"re bright. Still, I understand that nothing is more tiresome than eternal sunshine. I wonder if I locked the smokehouse," he went on, turning from the window. "But, come to think, I don"t believe I"ve locked it since about a week ago, when some rascal slipped in and stole nearly all my hams and a bushel of meal. I gad, my old joints work like rusty hinges. Well, I"ll lie down now. Good night, Jimmie. Don"t slip off before breakfast."
The giant did not hear him. He sat leaning forward, gazing at the cliffs, the mountains, the valleys in the fire. The rain had ceased, but now and then came a dashing shower, like a scouting party, a guerrilla band sweeping through the dark. To the muser there was no time; time had dribbled out and reverie had taken its place. The fire was dying. He saw the red cliffs grow gray along the edges, age creeping over the rocks; he saw a mountain fall into a whitening valley, and he looked up. It was daylight. He went to the door and looked out, and far across the river the brilliant morning sun was rising from a bath of steam.
"You here yet, Jimmie?" The bed loudly creaked, and the giant, looking about, found old Gid sitting on the edge of his couch, rubbing his eyes.
"Don"t go, for we"ll have breakfast now in a minute. I am always glad to look up and find a picture of manliness and strength. It takes me back to my own early days, when I didn"t know the meaning of weakness. But I know now--I can feel it all over me. I do think I can dream more foolish things during three to half a dozen winks of sleep than any man that ever lived. Now, what could have put it into my mind to dream that I was born with one leg and was trying at a county fair to swap it off for two? Well, I hear the old woman setting the table out there. Wait till I jump into my clothes and I"ll pour a gourd of water for you to wash your face and hands. Had a wash-basin round here somewhere, but don"t know what became of it. Had intended to get another, but have been so busy.
But I"ll tell you there"s nothing like a good wash under a pouring gourd. How"s your appet.i.te this morning?"
"I don"t know."
"Well, you may find it when you sniff old Liza"s corn cakes. Now what the deuce became of that other suspender? We used to call them galluses in my day. And now where is that infernal gallus? Beats anything I ever saw in my life. Ah, there it is, over by the window. But how it could have jumped off I don"t know. Now let me shove into my old shoes and I"ll be with you."
Out in the yard, in a fabulous net of gilded mist they stood, to bathe under the spouting gourd, the mingling of a new day"s poetry and the shiftlessness of an old man. "Stream of silver in the gold of a resurrected sun," he said, bareheaded and blinking. "Who"d want a wash-pan? I gad, Jimmie, folks are forgetting how to live. They are putting too much weight on what they can buy for money, unmindful of the fact that the best things of this life are free. Look at that gourd, old, with a sewed-up crack in it, and yet to my mind it serves its purpose better than a china basin. Well, let"s go in now and eat a bite.
I"m always hungry of a morning. An old fellow is nearer a boy when he first gets up, you know; but he grows old mighty fast after he"s had breakfast."
The giant, saying never a word, followed him, the loose boards of the pa.s.sageway between the two sections of the house creaking and groaning as he trod upon them; and coming to the door he had to stoop, so low had it been cut.
"That"s right, Jimmie, duck or you"ll lay yourself out. I gad, the world"s full of traps set for big fellows. Now sit down there and fall to. Don"t feel very brash this morning, do you?"
"I feel first-rate," Jim answered, sitting down.
"Youth and love mixed," said the old man, placing himself at the head of the board. "And ah, Lord, when we grow out of one and forget the other, there"s not much left to live for. I"d rather be a young fellow in love than to be an emperor. Help yourself to a slab of that fried ham. She"ll bring the coffee pretty soon. Here she comes now. Waiting for you, Aunt Liza. Have some hoe-cake, Jimmie. Yes, sir; youth and love const.i.tute the world, and all that follows is a mere makeshift. Thought may come, but thought, after all, is but a dull compromise, Jimmie, a cold potato instead of a hot roll. Love is noon, and wisdom at its best is only evening. There are some quince preserves in that jar. Help yourself.
Thought about her all night, didn"t you?"
"I think about her all the time, Uncle Gideon."
"And Jimmie, it wouldn"t surprise me if the world should think about her after a while. That woman"s a genius."
"I hope not," the giant replied, looking up, and in his voice was a note of distress, and in his eyes lay the shadow of a fear.
"And why not, Jimmie?"
"Because if she should turn out to be a genius she won"t marry me."
"That"s where your perception is broken off at the end, Jimmie. In the matter of marriage genius is mighty skittish of genius--it seeks the constancy of the st.u.r.dy and commonplace. I"ll try a dip of those preserves. Now let me see. After breakfast you"d better lie down on my bed and take a nap."
"No, I must go. The Major is going over to Brantly to-day and I want him to bring me a box of cartridges. I forgot to tell him last night."
"Oh, you"re thinking about Mayo, eh?"
"Well, I don"t know but he did cross my mind. It occurred to me that he might waylay me some night, and I don"t want to stand out in the road and dance while he"s shooting at me."
"That"s right," said the old man. "A fellow cuts a mighty sorry figure dancing under such circ.u.mstances. I"ve tried it."
He shoved his chair back from the table and Jim got up to take his leave. "Look out for the door, Jimmie. Duck as you go under or it will lay you out. Traps set all through life for fellows of your size."
Jim was not oppressed with weariness as he strode along the highway, for in the crisp air a tonic was borne, but loss of sleep had made his senses dreamy, and all things about him were touched with the spirit of unreality--the dead leaves fluttering on the underbrush, the purple mist rising from the fields, the water-mirrors flashing in the road; and so surrendered was he to a listless brooding, forgetful even that he moved along, that he did not notice, up the road, a man leap aside into the woods. The man hid behind a tree, with his eye on the giant and with the barrel of a pistol pressed hard against the bark. Jim pa.s.sed on, with his hands in his pockets, looking down; and when a clump of bushes, red with frost-dyed leaves, hid him from view, Mayo came out from behind the tree and resumed his journey down the road.
The Major had mounted his horse at the gate and was on the point of riding forth when Jim came up. "Why, good-morning, James," the old gentleman heartily greeted him. "Have you just crawled out of that old man"s kennel? I see that the old owl must have kept you up all night.
Why, sir, if I were to listen to him I"d never get another wink of sleep."
"I kept myself up," said the giant; and then he added: "I wanted to see you this morning, not very bad, but just to ask you to get me a box of forty-fours when you go to Brantly to-day."
"I"m glad to find you so thoughtful," said the Major. "And I want to tell you right now that you"ve got to look out for yourself. But staying up all night is no way to begin. Go on into Tom"s room and take a nap."
The Major whistled as he rode along, not for want of serious reflection, for he could easily have reached out and drawn in trouble, but because the sharp air stirred his spirits. Nowhere was there a cloud--a speckless day in the middle of a week that had threatened to keep the sky besmirched. Roving bands of negro boys were hunting rabbits in the fields, with dogs that leaped high in low places where dead weeds stood brittle. The pop-eyed hare was startled from his bed among brambly vines, and fierce shouts arose like the remembered yell of a Confederate troop. The holidays were near, the crops were gathered, the winter"s wood was up, the hunting season open, but no negro fired a gun. At this time of the year steamboatmen and tavern-keepers in the villages were wont to look to t.i.tus, Eli, Pompey, Sam, Caesar and Bill for their game, and it was not an unusual sight to see them come loaded down with rabbits and quails caught in traps, but now they sat sullen over the fire by day, but were often met prowling about at night. This crossed the Major"s mind and drove away his cheerful whistling; and he was deeply thinking when someone riding in haste reined in a horse abreast of him. Looking up he recognized the priest.
"Why, good morning, Mr. Brennon; how are you?"
"Well, I thank you. How far do you go?"
"To Brantly."
"That"s fortunate," said the priest, "for I am selfish enough to let you shorten the journey for me."
"I can"t do that," the Major laughed, "but we can divide it. I remember overtaking a man one miserable day out in the Indian Territory. He was ignorant, but he was quaint; he couldn"t argue, but he could amuse, and he did until he called me a liar, and there our roads split. Don"t think, from my telling you this, that I am in the least doubt as to the desirability of your company on the road to Brantly. Been some time since I"ve seen you, Mr. Brennon."
"Yes; I have been very busy."
"And successfully so, I suppose."
"I am not in a position to complain," said the priest.
"By the way, will you answer a few questions?"
"Gladly, if they"re answerable."
"I think they are. Now, the negroes that come into your communion tell you many things, drop idle gossip that may mean much. Did any of them ever drop a hint of preparations which their brethren may or may not be making to demand some unreasonable concession from the white people of this community?"