Work came to be a wonderful thing to possess. To put hand to a beam or a shovel seemed now a most desirable favor, for it meant not only warm food and security and shelter, but in his case it promised a return to the mountains which came each hour to seem the one desirable and splendid country in the world--so secure, so joyous, so shining, his heart ached with wistful love of it.
Each night he walked over to the Lake sh.o.r.e, past the college and up the viaduct, till he could look out over the mysterious, dim expanse of water. It reminded him of the plains, and helped him with its lonely sweep and its serene majesty of reflected stars. At night he dreamed of the cattle and of his old companions on the trail; once he was riding with Talfeather and his band in the West Elk Mountains; once he was riding up the looping, splendid incline of the Trout Lake Trail, seeing the clouds gather around old Lizard Head. At other times he was back at the Reynolds ranch taking supper while the cattle bawled, and through the open door the light of the setting sun fell.
He had written to Reynolds, asking him to buy his saddle and bridle (he couldn"t bring himself to sell Kintuck) and each day he hoped for a reply. He had not stated his urgent need of money, but Reynolds would know. One by one every little trinket which he possessed went to pay his landlord for his room. He had a small nugget, which he had carried as a good-luck pocket-piece for many months; this he sold, and at last his revolvers went, and then he seemed helpless.
No word from Reynolds came, and the worst of it was, if the money did come it would not now be enough to carry him back. If he had been able to put it with the money from his nugget and revolvers it would at least have taken him to Denver. But now it was too late.
At last there came a day when he was at his last resource. He could find no work to do in the streets, and so, setting his teeth on his pride, he once more sought the stockyards and "Mr. White." It was a cold, rainy day, and he walked the entire distance. Weak as he was from insufficient food, bad air, and his depression, he could not afford to spend one cent for car fare.
White turned out to be a very decent fellow, who knew nothing whatever of Harold"s encounter with the other man. He had no work for him, however. He seemed genuinely regretful, and said:
"As a matter of fact, I"m laying off men just now; you see the rush is pretty well over with."
Harold went over to the Great Western Hotel and hung about the barroom, hoping to meet some one he knew, even though there was a certain risk of being recognized as Black Mose. Swarms of cattlemen filled the hotel, but they were mainly from Texas and Oklahoma, and no familiar face met his searching eyes. He was now so desperately homesick that he meditated striking one of these prosperous-looking fellows for a pa.s.s back to the cattle country. But each time his pride stood in the way. It would be necessary to tell his story and yet conceal his name--which was a very difficult thing to do even if he had had nothing to cover up.
Late in the evening, faint with hunger, he started for his wretched bunk as a starving wolf returns, after an unsuccessful hunt, to his cold and cheerless den. His money was again reduced to a few coppers, and for a week he had allowed himself only a small roll three times a day. "My G.o.d! if I was only among the In-jins," he said savagely; "_they_ wouldn"t see a man starve, not while they had a sliver of meat to share with him; but these Easterners don"t care; I"m no more to them than a snake or a horned toad."
The knowledge that Mary"s heart would bleed with sorrow if she knew of his condition nerved him to make another desperate trial. "I"ll try again to-morrow," he said through his set teeth.
On the way home his curious fatalism took a sudden turn, and a feeling that Reynolds" letter surely awaited him made his heart glow. It was impossible that he should actually be without a cent of money, and the thought filled his brain with an irrational exaltation which made him forget the slime in which his feet slipped. He planned to start on the limited train. "I"ll go as far from this cursed hole of a city as I can," he said; "I"ll get out where men don"t eat each other to keep alive. He"ll certainly send me twenty dollars. The silver on the bridle is worth that alone. Mebbe he"ll understand I"m broke, and send me fifty."
He became so sure of this at last that he stepped into a saloon and bought a big gla.s.s of brandy to ward off a chill which he felt coming upon him, and helped himself to a lunch at the counter. When he arose his limbs felt weak and a singular numbness had spread over his whole body. He had never been drunk in his life--but he knew the brandy had produced this effect.
"I shouldn"t have taken it on an empty stomach," he muttered to himself as he dragged his heavy limbs out of the door.
When he came fairly to his senses again he was lying in his little room and the slatternly chambermaid was looking in at him.
"You aind seek alretty?" she asked.
"Go away," he said with a scowl; "you"ve bothered me too much."
"You peen trinken--aind it. Chim help you up de stairs last nide."
"What time is it?" he asked, with an effort to recall where he had been.
"Tweluf o"clock," she replied, still looking at him keenly, genuinely concerned about him.
"Go away. I must get up." As she went toward the door he sat up for a moment, but a terrible throbbing pain just back of his eyes threw him back upon his pillow as if he had met the blow of a fist. "Oh, I"m used up--I can"t do it," he groaned, pressing his palms to his temples. "I"m burning up with fever."
The girl came back. "Dat"s vat I tought. You dond look ride. Your mudder vouldn"t known you since you gome here. Pedder you send for your folks alretty."
"Oh, go out--let me alone. Yes, I"ll do it. I"ll get up soon."
When the girl returned with the proprietor of the hotel Harold was far past rational speech. He was pounding furiously on the door, shouting, "Let me out!" When they tried to open the door they found it locked. The proprietor, a burly German, set his weight against it and tore the lock off.
Harold was dangerously quiet as he said: "You"d better let me out o"
here. Them greasers are stampeding the cattle. It"s a little trick of theirs."
"Dot"s all right; you go back to bed; I"ll look out for dot greaser pisness," said the landlord, who thought him drunk.
"You let me out or I"ll break you in two," the determined man replied, and a tremendous struggle took place.
Ultimately Harold was vanquished, and Schmidt, piling his huge bulk on the worn-out body of the young man, held him until his notion changed.
"Did you ever have a tree burn up in your head?" he asked.
"Pring a policeman," whispered Schmidt to the girl, "and a doctor. De man is grazy mit fevers; he aindt trunk."
When the officer came in Harold looked at him with sternly steady eyes.
"See here, cap, don"t you try any funny business with me. I won"t stand it; I"ll shoot with you for dollars or doughnuts."
"What"s the matter--jim-jams?" asked the officer indifferently.
"No," replied Schmidt, "I tondt pelief it--he"s got some fever onto him."
The policeman felt his pulse. "He"s certainly hot enough. Who is he?"
"Hank Jones."
"That"s a lie--I"m "Black Mose,"" said Harold.
The policeman smiled. ""Black Mose" was killed in San Juan last summer."
Harold received this news gravely. "Sorry for him, but I"m the man.
You"ll find my name on my revolver, the big one--not the little one. I"m all the "Black Mose" there is. If you"ll give me a chance I"ll rope a steer with you for blood or whisky; I"m thirsty."
"Well now," said the policeman, "you be quiet till the doctor comes, and I"ll go through your valise." After a hasty examination he said: "d.a.m.ned little here, and no revolvers of any kind. Does he eat here?"
"No, he only hires this room."
"Mebbe he don"t eat anywhere; he looks to me like a hungry man."
"Dot"s what I think," said the maid. "I"ll go pring him some soup."
The prisoner calmly said: "Too late now; my stomach is all dried up."
"Haven"t you any folks?" the policeman asked.
Harold seemed to pause for thought. "I believe I have, but I can"t think. Mary could tell you."
"Who"s Mary?"
"What"s that to you. Bring me some water--I"m burning dry."
"Now keep quiet," said the policeman; "you"re sick as a horse."
When the doctor came the policeman turned Harold over to him. "This is a case for St. Luke"s Hospital, I guess," he said as he went out.