"Me"n Luke"s been talkin" it over," she said, with some embarra.s.sment; "we "lowed you mought mebby be willin" to put up with us; we"ve got a spare room, an" you know about how we live. You"ve lied unmercifully ef you don"t like my cookin"," she concluded, with an awkward little laugh.
"I never lie," he retorted, smiling. "It"s been a year since I ate at your house, but I can taste your slice-potato pie yet, and your egg-bread and biscuits, ugh!"
She laughed. "You"ll stay, then?"
"I"m afraid not. I"ve packed up some pieces of furniture--a bed and one thing or other--and I calculated that I"d occupy the room over the stable. I"d like to be near my business. I reckon I can get my meals down at the hotel. I"ll stay with you to-night, though; the wagon won"t come till to-morrow."
"Well, I"m disappointed, sh.o.r.e "nough," said Mrs. Bradley. "I had clean forgot the room at the stable, an" I ought to "a" knowed, too, that Saunders" boys bunked thar. Well, I won"t raise no objections; Mis" Boyd, a widow woman, is keepin" the hotel now, and folks say she feeds well an" cheap enough. She"s from Tennessee, an"s got a good-lookin", sprightly daughter. n.o.body knows a thing about "em; they don"t talk much about the"rse"ves. They tuk the hotel when Rick Martin sold out last fall, an" they"ve been thar ever sence."
Supper was served in the room adjoining the kitchen. After it was over, Westerfelt and his host went back to the sitting-room. Alf, a colored farm-hand, was heaping logs on the old-fashioned dog-irons in the wide fireplace, and a ma.s.s of fat pine burning under the wood lighted the room with a soft red glow.
Westerfelt looked round him in surprise. While they were at supper the carpet had been taken up, the floor swept clean, and a number of chairs placed against the wall round the room.
"Marthy"s doin"s," Bradley explained, sheepishly; "don"t hold me accountable; she"s arranged to give you a shindig to introduce you to the young folks round about."
Just then Mrs. Bradley came in.
"Sweep the hearth, Alf," she said, pointing to a live coal that had popped out on the floor. "Didn"t I tell you never to put on them chestnut logs? Do you want to burn the roof over our heads? Give it to me!" She s.n.a.t.c.hed the unwieldy bundle of broomstraw from him. "Go tell Mis" Snow I"m much obleeged fer the cheers, an" ef I need any more I"ll send fer um after "while. Tell "er ef she don"t let Mary an" Ella come I"ll never set foot in her house agin."
"What"s all this for?" asked Westerfelt.
"_You_." She slapped him familiarly on the arm. "I"m goin" to give you a mount"in welcome. This settlement is full o" nice gals, an" you hain"t the least idee how much excitement thar"s been sence the report went out that you are gwine to live amongst us. I"m the most popular woman in Cartwright, jest beca"se I know you. I tell you I"ve been blowin" yore horn. I"ve talked a sight about you, an" you must do yore best an" look yore purtiest. Oh, yore clothes is all right!" (seeing that he was looking doubtfully at his boots and trousers). "They hain"t a dressy set over heer." Her husband was leaving the room, and she waited till he had closed the door after him. "I want to talk to you like a mother, John," she said, sitting down near him and holding the bundle of broom between her knees. "The truth is, I"ve had a sight o" worry over you. I often lie awake at night thinkin" about you, an"
wonderin" ef yore ma wouldn"t blame me ef she wus alive fer not lookin"
atter you more. I"ve heerd what a solitary life you"ve been livin"
sence she died. G.o.d knows she wus a big loss, an" it does bring a great change to part with sech a friend, but, from what I heer, you let "er death bother you most too much. Why, folks tell me you hain"t at all like you used to be, an" that you jest stayed at home an" never went about with the young folks any more. You don"t look as well as you did the last time I seed you, nuther. I reckon it"s yore way o"
living but you jest sha"n"t do that away over heer. You"ve got to be natural like other young folks, an" you jest shall, ef I have anything to say in the matter. John, yore mamma was the best friend I ever had, an"--"
She paused. Luke was hallooing to some one down the road, and Westerfelt heard the rumble of wheels over a distant bridge. Mrs.
Bradley went to the door and went out.
"They are comin", the whole caboodle of "em!" she cried, excitedly. "I declare, I believe I enjoy a party as much as any gal that ever lived, an" at my age, too--it"s shameful. I"d be talked about in some places." She laid her hands on the shoulders of her guest, her face beaming. "Now, ef you want to primp up a little an" bresh that hoss-hair off"n yore pants, go in yore room. It"s at the end o" the back porch. Alf"s already tuck yore saddle-bags thar."
Chapter V
His room was a small one. It had a sloping ceiling, and a little six-paned window. A small, oblong stove stood far enough back in the capacious fireplace to allow its single joint of pipe to stand upright in the chimney. There was a high-posted bed, a wash-stand, a mirror, and a split-bottomed chair.
He sat down in the chair, rested his elbows on his knees, and leaned forward. Despite his determination to begin life anew, he was thinking of Sally Dawson"s death and burial--the old woman who was leading the life of a recluse, and hating all her kind, him in particular. He put his hand in his coat-pocket and drew out a thick envelope containing the dead girl"s letter, and read it as he had done almost every day since it came to him. It was part of the punishment he was inflicting on himself. He had been tempted a thousand times to destroy the letter, but had never done so. He forgot that a gay party of young people were a.s.sembling in the next room; he was oblivious of the noise of moving chairs, the creaking floor, loud laughter, and the hum of voices. Fate had set him aside from the rest of the world, he told himself; he was living two lives, one in the present, the other in the past.
Westerfelt was suddenly reminded of where he was by the sound of some one tuning a fiddle in the sitting-room. He put the letter into his pocket, rose, and brushed his hair before the mirror. There was a clatter of heavy boots in the entry opposite his door; four or five young men had come out to wash their hands in the pans on the long shelf; they were pa.s.sing jokes, laughing loudly, and playfully striking at one another. Two of them clinched arms and began to wrestle.
Westerfelt heard them panting and grunting as they swayed back and forth, till the struggle was ended by one of them shoving the other violently against the wall; Westerfelt opened the door. A stout, muscular young giant was pinning a small man to the weather-boarding and making a pretence at choking him.
"Lord, H"ram, stop!" gasped the victim; "yore sp"ilin" my necktie an"
collar."
""Gin the rules to wear "em," was the laughing reply. "Heer, Joe, you sprinkle "im while I hold "im!"
This command was about to be obeyed, when Mrs. Bradley suddenly appeared.
"Boys, boys, behave!" she cried, and as the wrestlers separated she continued, apologetically, "I clean forgot thar wusn"t a sign of a towel on the roller; I wonder what you intended to wipe on; here, take this one, an" hang it up when you"re through." Then she turned to Westerfelt"s door and looked into his room.
"Are you ready, young man?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied, coming out.
"Gentlemen," she said, "quit thar a minute! This is John Westerfelt, my old friend. Mind you look atter yore intrusts. The boys over in Fannin know how to please the gals. Ef you don"t watch sharp he"ll cut you every one out."
The two men holding the towel between them gave him their moist hands, and those at the basins nodded. Mrs. Bradley drew him into the sitting-room. The buzz of conversation ceased as she introduced him.
They all rose, bowed, and sat down again, but no one spoke. He tried to detain his hostess, but she would not stay.
"I"ve got to look atter the rest," she said. "You must talk to some o"
these folks. They didn"t come here jest to look at you. Here, Jennie Wynn, turn yore face round, an" give Frank a chance to talk to Lou."
She whisked off into another room, and Westerfelt found himself facing a blushing maiden with a round face, dark hair and eyes.
"Excuse my back," she said over her shoulder to Frank Hansard.
"It _hain"t_ as purty as yore face, ef you _have_ got on a new dress,"
he replied, laughing.
"Hush, Frank; hain"t you got no manners?" She meant that he was showing discourtesy by continuing to talk to her when she had just been introduced to a stranger.
"You ought not to be hard on him," said Westerfelt; "he must have meant what he said."
"You are jest like all the rest, I reckon," she said; "men think girls don"t care for nothin" but sweet talk."
Just then the old negro fiddler moved into the chimney-corner and raked his violin with his bow. Jennie Wynn knew that he was about to ask the couples to take their places for the first dance. She did not want Westerfelt to feel obliged to ask her to be his partner, so she pretended to be interested in the talk of a couple on her left.
"Do they dance the lancers?" asked Westerfelt.
"No, jest the reg"lar square dance. Only one or two know the lancers, an" they make a botch of it whenever they try to teach the rest. Uncle Mack cayn"t play the music for it, anyway, though he swears he can."
She glanced across the room at a pretty little girl with short curly hair, slender body, and small feet, and added, significantly, "Sarah Wambush is our brag dancer."
He understood what she meant. "Too short for a fellow as tall as I am, though," he said.
"Git yo" pahtners fer de quadrille!" cried the fiddler, in a sing-song voice, quite in harmony with his music. Westerfelt did not want to dance. He had ridden hard that day, and was tired and miserable, but he saw no way of escape. The party had been given in his honor, and he must show appreciation of it.
"Will you dance it with me?" he asked the girl at his side. "I am not a good dancer, and I am stiff from riding to-day."
"Old Mack will soon take that out of you," she laughed, as she gladly nodded her acceptance. She put out her hand to his. "Quick!" she cried; "let"s git that place near the door--it"s head, and we can be opposite Sarah and Nelse Baker." He followed her across the room. He felt as undignified as if he were romping with a child. The room was not large enough for two sets, so only one of four couples was formed.
Old Mack noticed that three couples were left sitting, and cried out, autocratically, "Double on de sides!" Two couples sprang eagerly forward and took places, leaving one couple alone in a corner. The girl remaining with her partner attracted Westerfelt"s attention. She had rich brown hair, deep gray eyes, a small, well-shaped mouth, and a rather sad but decidedly pretty face. There was something very graceful and attractive in the general contour of her body--her small waist, her broad shoulders and rounding chest, her well-formed head, and the artistic arrangement of her abundant hair. There was something, too, in the tasteful simplicity of her gray tailor-made gown that reminded Westerfelt of the dress of young ladies he had seen on short visits to the larger towns in the State.
Her companion was the most conspicuous person in the room. He was above medium height, and had a splendid physique--broad shoulders, muscular limbs, light brown eyes, short brown beard, and long curling hair. He wore a navy-blue sack-coat, large checked trousers tucked in the tops of his boots, a gray woollen shirt, and a broad leather belt.
He was the only man in the room who had not taken off his hat. It was very broad, the brim was pinned up on one side by a little bra.s.s ornament, and he wore it on the back of his head.
Westerfelt caught the eye of his partner, and asked: "Who is the fellow with the hat on?"