The hunter pushed him back with gentle hands. "Wils, it might have been worse."
"But I never gave up hope," replied Moore, in poignant grief. "I couldn"t. But _now!_... How can you look at that--that club-foot, and not swear?"
"Well, well, boy, cussin" won"t do any good. Now lay still an" let me work. You"ve had lots of good news this mornin". So I think you can stand to hear a little bad news."
"What! Bad news?" queried Moore, with a start.
"I reckon. Now listen.... The reason Collie hasn"t answered your note is because she"s been sick in bed for three weeks."
"Oh no!" exclaimed the cowboy, in amaze and distress.
"Yes, an" I"m her doctor," replied Wade, with pride. "First off they had Mrs. Andrews. An" Collie kept askin" for me. She was out of her head, you know. An" soon as I took charge she got better."
"Heavens! Collie ill and you never told me!" cried Moore. "I can"t believe it. She"s so healthy and strong. What ailed her, Bent?"
"Well, Mrs. Andrews said it was nervous breakdown. An" Old Bill was afraid of consumption. An" Jack Belllounds swore she was only shammin"."
The cowboy cursed violently.
"Here--I won"t tell you any more if you"re goin" to cuss that way an"
jerk around," protested Wade.
"I--I"ll shut up," appealed Moore.
"Well, that puddin"-head Jack is more"n you called him, if you care to hear my opinion.... Now, Wils, the fact is that none of them know what ails Collie. But I know. She"d been under a high strain leadin" up to October first. An" the way that weddin"-day turned out--with Old Bill layin" Jack cold, an" with no marriage at all--why, Collie had a shock.
An" after that she seemed pale an" tired all the time an" she didn"t eat right. Well, when Buster Jack got over that awful punch he"d got from the old man he made up to Collie harder than ever. She didn"t tell me then, but I saw it. An" she couldn"t avoid him, except by stayin" in her room, which she did a good deal. Then Jack showed a streak of bein"
decent. He surprised everybody, even Collie. He delighted Old Bill. But he didn"t pull the wool over my eyes. He was like a boy spoilin" for a new toy, an" he got crazy over Collie. He"s sure terribly in love with her, an" for days he behaved himself in a way calculated to make up for his drinkin" too much. It shows he can behave himself when he wants to.
I mean he can control his temper an" impulse. Anyway, he made himself so good that Old Bill changed his mind, after what he swore that day, an"
set another day for the weddin". Right off, then, Collie goes down on her back.... They didn"t send for me very soon. But when I did get to see her, an" felt the way she grabbed me--as if she was drownin"--then I knew what ailed her. It was love."
"Love!" gasped Moore, breathlessly.
"Sure. Jest love for a dog-gone lucky cowboy named Wils Moore!... Her heart was breakin", an" she"d have died but for me! Don"t imagine, Wils, that people can"t die of broken hearts. They do. I know. Well, all Collie needed was me, an" I cured her ravin" and made her eat, an" now she"s comin" along fine."
"Wade, I"ve believed in Heaven since you came down to White Slides,"
burst out Moore, with shining eyes. "But tell me--what did you tell her?"
"Well, my particular medicine first off was to whisper in her ear that she"d never have to marry Jack Belllounds. An" after that I gave her daily doses of talk about you."
"Pard! She loves me--still?" he whispered.
"Wils, hers is the kind that grows stronger with time. I know."
Moore strained in his intensity of emotion, and he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
"Oh G.o.d! this"s hard on me!" he cried. "I"m a man. I love that girl more than life. And to know she"s suffering for love of me--for fear of that marriage being forced upon her--to know that while I lie here a helpless cripple--it"s almost unbearable."
"Boy, you"ve got to mend now. We"ve the best of hope now--for you--for her--for everythin"."
"Wade, I think I love you, too," said the cowboy. "You"re saving me from madness. Somehow I have faith in you--to do whatever you want. But how could you tell Collie she"d never have to marry Buster Jack?"
"Because I know she never will," replied Wade, with his slow, gentle smile.
"You _know_ that?"
"Sure."
"How on earth can you prevent it? Belllounds will never give up planning that marriage for his son. Jack will nag Collie till she can"t call her soul her own. Between them they will wear her down. My friend, _how_ can you prevent it?"
"Wils, fact is, I haven"t reckoned out how I"m goin" to save Collie. But that"s no matter. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. I will do it. You can gamble on me, Wils. You must use that hope an" faith to help you get well. For we mustn"t forget that you"re in more danger than Collie."
"I _will_ gamble on you--my life--my very soul," replied Moore, fervently. "By Heaven! I"ll be the man I might have been. I"ll rise out of despair. I"ll even reconcile myself to being a cripple."
"An", Wils, will you rise above hate?" asked Wade, softly.
"Hate! Hate of whom?"
"Jack Belllounds."
The cowboy stared, and his lean, pale face contracted.
"Pard, you wouldn"t--you couldn"t expect me to--to forgive him?"
"No. I reckon not. But you needn"t hate him. I don"t. An" I reckon I"ve some reason, more than you could guess.... Wils, hate is a poison in the blood. It"s worse for him who feels it than for him against whom it rages. I know.... Well, if you put thought of Jack out of your mind--quit broodin" over what he did to you--an" realize that he"s not to blame, you"ll overcome your hate. For the son of Old Bill is to be pitied. Yes, Jack Belllounds needs pity. He was ruined before he was born. He never should have been born. An" I want you to understand that, an" stop hatin" him. Will you try?"
"Wade, you"re afraid I"ll kill him?" whispered Moore.
"Sure. That"s it. I"m afraid you might. An" consider how hard that would be for Columbine. She an" Jack were raised sister an" brother, almost. It would be hard on her. You see, Collie has a strange an"
powerful sense of duty to Old Bill. If you killed Jack it would likely kill the old man, an" Collie would suffer all her life. You couldn"t cure her of that. You want her to be happy."
"I do--I do. Wade, I swear I"ll never kill Buster Jack. And for Collie"s sake I"ll try not to hate him."
"Well, that"s fine. I"m sure glad to hear you promise that. Now I"ll go out an" chop some wood. We mustn"t let the fire go out any more."
"Pard, I"ll write another note--a letter to Collie. Hand me the blank-book there. And my pencil.... And don"t hurry with the wood."
Wade went outdoors with his two-bladed ax and shovel. The wood-pile was a great mound of snow. He cleaned a wide s.p.a.ce and a path to the side of the cabin. Working in snow was not unpleasant for him. He liked the cleanness, the whiteness, the absolute purity of new-fallen snow. The air was crisp and nipping, the frost crackled under his feet, the smoke from his pipe seemed no thicker than the steam from his breath, the ax rang on the hard aspens. Wade swung this implement like a born woodsman.
The chips flew and the dead wood smelled sweet. Some logs he chopped into three-foot pieces; others he chopped and split. When he tired a little of swinging the ax he carried the cut pieces to the cabin and stacked them near the door. Now and then he would halt a moment to gaze away across the whitened slopes and rolling hills. The sense of his physical power matched something within, and his heart warmed with more than the vigorous exercise.
When he had worked thus for about two hours and had stacked a pile of wood almost as large as the cabin he considered it sufficient for the day. So he went indoors. Moore was so busily and earnestly writing that he did not hear Wade come in. His face wore an eloquent glow.
"Say, Wils, are you writin" a book?" he inquired.
"h.e.l.lo! Sure I am. But I"m "most done now.... If Columbine doesn"t answer _this_ ..."
"By the way, I"ll have two letters to give her, then--for I never gave her the first one," replied Wade.
"You son-of-a-gun!"