Black Hawk pawed and snorted and turned his firey black eyes very wickedly upon Hank, as if to enforce his master"s threat. He was a most magnificent animal; coal black, his silken coat, now curried with special care, shone resplendent in the noon-day sun.
As Wycoff rode off, Hank muttered to himself, "She shall never ride that horse."
Half an hour later, Hank had the mortification of beholding Little Wolf flying past his door seated, like a little queen, upon Black Hawk"s back.
"She shall never ride that horse again," said the enraged saloon keeper, with an oath.
Wycoff had great difficulty in pursuading Little Wolf to except his present. Indeed she only consented when she became convinced that he would be seriously displeased by her refusal. Further to gratify the giver, she took her first ride under his immediate supervision; and, at his request, she had followed the road by the brewery, making a circle of about a quarter of a mile.
"Now that"s what I call neatly done," said Wycoff, as Little Wolf drew up, and leaped from the saddle. "You are the first lady that ever backed Black Hawk," he said, patting the animal"s neck. "The fact is, I had my doubts about your being able to ride him at all. I was afraid I would have to sell him and get a gentler beast, and I hated to do that, for I have raised him from a colt. As a general thing, he won"t allow a stranger to come nigh him. I had to ride him myself at the races last September, for everybody was afraid of him. I won five hundred dollars on him though. I guess I had better stable him now; hadn"t I? I"ll be up here early to-morrow morning to see how Daddy gets along with him. I reckon the old man won"t dare to go nigh him till he gets used to him."
CHAPTER XXIX.
A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS AND DELIVERANCES.
Little Wolf was glad to see Black Hawk led away, for she was now thoroughly weary. The events of the last twenty-four hours had worn upon her; and the cozy fire and warm dinner, which awaited her within, were duly appreciated.
An hour later, nestled upon the parlor sofa she was burried in profound slumber. f.a.n.n.y moved softly about the room, tiptoeing occasionally to the window to watch for Daddy.
Towards night he was brought home on a stretcher, comfortably arranged in a large sleigh, Dr. Goodrich accompanying him. The first intimation that Little Wolf had of their arrival was a loud ring at the door, which suddenly roused her from dreams, in which she was living over again the happiest moments of her life.
It was some little time before she could collect her scattered thoughts; but Daddy"s roarings and vociferations at length brought her to a realizing sense of her responsibilities.
Although a.s.sured by his physician that his hurts would in a few weeks at furthest all be healed, the old man was not content. He had a lurking infidelity in regard to the opinions of the medical profession generally, and, as soon as Dr. Goodrich had departed, he confided to Little Wolf his fears.
""Tween you and me, Honey," said he, "them ere doctors hev been knowd to tell a p.u.s.s.en that he was a goin fur tu git well, and just as that p.u.s.s.en had made all his calculations fur tu live, (and may be git married), the fust thing he knew, he would be a dead man. Now "tween you and me, its my opinion, I shan"t live twenty-four hours, fur I feel awful gone like."
"O, its the opiate that makes you feel so, Daddy. I shall nurse you up and you"ll get well and marry, what"s her name?"
"Recta," said Daddy brightening. "Recta, Miss Orrecta Lippincott. May be, Honey, with good nussing I shall make out fur tu stand it. "Tween you and me, there"s nuthin like good nussin, after the bones is all set proper."
His wise young nurse did not think it worth while to remind the invalid that not one of his bones had been broken, but she a.s.siduously set herself to work to meet his acc.u.mulating wants. With liniments and bandages, and cooling drinks, and consoling words, she stood patiently over him, until near the midnight hour, he fell asleep.
Shading the lamp, so that scarcely a ray of light was visible, Little Wolf curled in behind the window curtain, where she could peep through the crevices of the blinds out on the distant stars and ever shifting clouds, which in the solitude of the night, speak so eloquently to the human heart.
Calm and cold was the still hour. The warm, thawing winds had ceased to blow, the eaves had ceased their droppings and were beautifully fringed with icicles. The snow had become crusted over, but so slightly, indeed, that the lightest footfall would crush the treacherous coating, and the cracking of the icy fragments betray the presence of prowlers.
By such sounds as we have described, Little Wolf"s meditations were at length disturbed. Indistinctly at first, but soon with unmistakable clearness, she recognized approaching footsteps.
Daddy"s room overlooked the stable, and in that quarter, a human figure was just visible. Slowly and stealthily it drew near; and now with dilated eyes and quickly beating heart, the watcher peered eagerly into the darkness. Nearer, and still nearer the form approached, until close against the house, just where she could conveniently note every motion, it paused. A moment of suspense, and a small flame shot up revealing Hank Glutter in the act of firing the house.
Quick as thought Little Wolf sprang for her pistol, which to gratify Daddy she had stored in his room; and hiding it in the folds of her dress she flew to meet the incendiary.
During the few seconds consumed in reaching the spot, Hank had disappeared, and having strong suspicions that he meditated mischief to Black Hawk, Little Wolf scattered the pile of slowly burning f.a.ggots, (the fire not having yet communicated itself to the building), and made a dash for the stable.
Hank was there just in the act of lighting a match. He had completely surrounded Black Hawk with hay and straw, and, in an instant more, the helpless animal would have been enveloped in flames.
"Mr. Glutter, the brewery is on fire!" shouted Little Wolf breathlessly.
The match fell from Hank"s nerveless hand, for he saw through the wide open door that the announcement was but too true. To spring past Little Wolf and rush to secure his property, was his first thought.
But he was too late. Neither he, nor all the crowd that quickly gathered there, could stay the consuming element. The old brewery burned to the ground, and, for miles around the country was illuminated by what to many a poor broken-hearted woman, was a grand and festive bonfire.
Among the first who discovered the conflagration was Wycoff, and he was much relieved, on ascertaining the precise location of the fire; for he had started out filled with apprehensions for Little Wolf. To his great satisfaction, the old brown house stood out in full relief, unharmed.
A critical survey of the premises, however, discovered to him the stable door standing open, and, by the brilliant blaze, he could distinctly see Black Hawk, pawing and floundering in the midst of the hay which Hank had arranged for his funeral pile.
Quite as distinctly from the upper window could Little Wolf see the former, and she hastened to make him acquainted with her narrow escape and claim his protection.
While he listened, the man"s worst pa.s.sions were aroused. There was murder in his heart, and, but for the entreaties of Little Wolf, another day would never have dawned upon Hank Glutter.
As for Hank; having the bitter consciousness that he had brought the calamity upon himself, he raved and swore like a mad man. To all questions as to the cause of the fire he had but one answer, "I suppose I must have left the confounded lamp too near the bed." This admission was invariably followed by oaths and curses, as he pa.s.sed up and down before the burning building.
How different were Daddy"s emotions! It was amusing to behold him bolstered up in bed, exultant to the highest degree. His old wrinkled face fairly shone with delight, and he frequently e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed as he watched the progress of the flames, "Thank the Lord G.o.d Almighty, for that dispensation!"
As the light began to die away, he turned to Little Wolf and whispered confidentially. ""Tween you and me, Honey, if I should happen fur tu hev any children, Recta wont feel any consarn about the boys gittin to drinking, now that ere old brewery is out of the way. Some folks say if a man is tu be a drunkard, he"ll be one any how; but if there"s no liquor, I"d like fur to know how he is going fur tu git it? I guess n.o.body ever got burnt that never see a fire."
CHAPTER x.x.x.
ANOTHER SALOON SCENE--THE BRIDAL TROUSSEAU--THE LOVELY NURSE.
As Hank Glutter"s was unfortunately not the only saloon in the world, we will now open the scene on another place of the same sort, not many miles away from the smoking ruins; a place, where, for various reasons, men did congregate; some to gratify a vitiated appet.i.te, others simply to indulge in a social gla.s.s, and still others because they had no where else to go; some because they were glad, and some because they were sad; each and all forgetting the words of the wise man, "Look not upon the wine."
The door had just opened to admit a small party of young men. Among the number is Edward Sherman. There he stands, a little apart from the rest, just under the chandelier. Directly opposite, the shelves glitter in Bohemian and cut gla.s.s, and all the attractive features of the bar. Mark his proud and lofty bearing, as he steps forward and lifts the goblet to his lips.
Again, and yet again, the cup goes round, until no longer he stands firmly among his companions. See him now, reeling, tottering, staggering, as he is borne away for the first time in his life, helplessly intoxicated, borne to his loving mother, whose grey hairs blanched whiter in that night of sorrow.
In a desperate mood young Sherman had permitted himself to be thus overcome, and, when the effects of the stimulant had worn off, he strove by the most affectionate attentions to make amends for the pain he had occasioned his mother.
He even went so far as to bend his proud spirit to offer something like an apology.
"Mother," said he, as he placed his morning kiss upon her care worn face, before going to his office, "do not worry; I shall not again forget myself. It was foolish, I know, but I cared not at the time what became of me. Now don"t worry. There is no danger of me."
Mrs. Sherman sighed as the door closed on her darling. "So like his father," she murmured.
Could she have seen him an hour later, the resemblance to his father might have struck her still more forcibly, for the social gla.s.s was again at his lips.
Fortunately for the dear old lady, there were other claims upon her attention, and, from a sense of duty, she strove very hard to bury her anxiety for her son in the folds of silk and laces which were to const.i.tute the wedding paraphernalia of her daughter.
Lacking independence of thought, that young lady relied almost entirely upon the opinion of others, and the consequence was that not a ribbon, or a flower met her approval until she had first consulted half a dozen young friends, who, being apt to differ, kept her mind in a perpetual tumult.