第16章 The Three Johns(3)

"Is there anything to build a fire with?"he shouted."The children are shiver-ing so."The woman pointed to a basket of buffalo chips in the corner,and he wrapped his little companions up in a blanket while he made a fire in the cooking-stove.The baby was sleeping by this time,and the woman began tidying the cabin,and when the fire was burning brightly,she put some coffee on.

"I wish I had some clothes to offer you,"she said,when the wind had subsided suffi-ciently to make talking possible."I'm afraid you'll have to let them get dry on you.""Oh,that's of no consequence at all!

We're lucky to get off with our lives.I never saw anything so terrible.Fancy!

half an hour ago it was summer;now it is winter!""It seems rather sudden when you're not used to it,"the woman admitted."I've lived in the West six years now;you can't frighten me any more.We never die out here before our time comes.""You seem to know that I haven't been here long,"said Henderson,with some chagrin.

"Yes,"admitted the woman;"you have the ear-marks of a man from the East."She was a tall woman,with large blue eyes,and a remarkable quantity of yellow hair braided on top of her head.Her gown was of calico,of such a pattern as a widow might wear.

"I haven't been out of town a week yet,"

she said."We're not half settled.Not having any one to help makes it harder;and the baby is rather fretful.""But you're not alone with all these little codgers?"cried Henderson,in dismay.

The woman turned toward him with a sort of defiance."Yes,I am,"she said;"and I'm as strong as a horse,and I mean to get through all right.Here were the three children in my arms,you may say,and no way to get in a cent.I wasn't going to stand it just to please other folk.I said,let them talk if they want to,but I'm going to hold down a claim,and be accumulating something while the children are getting up a bit.Oh,I'm not afraid!"In spite of this bold assertion of bravery,there was a sort of break in her voice.She was putting dishes on the table as she talked,and turned some ham in the skillet,and got the children up before the fire,and dropped some eggs in water,--all with a rapidity that bewildered Henderson.

"How long have you been alone?"he asked,softly.

"Three months before baby was born,and he's five months old now.I --I --you think I can get on here,don't you?There was nothing else to do."She was folding another blanket over the sleeping baby now,and the action brought to her guest the recollection of a thousand tender moments of his dimly remembered youth.

"You'll get on if we have anything to do with it,"he cried,suppressing an oath with difficulty,just from pure emotion.

And he told her about the three Johns'ranch,and found it was only three miles distant,and that both were on the same road;only her cabin,having been put up during the past week,had of course been unknown to him.So it ended in a sort of compact that they were to help each other in such ways as they could.Meanwhile the fire got genial,and the coffee filled the cabin with its comfortable scent,and all of them ate together quite merrily,Henderson cut-ting up the ham for the youngsters;and he told how he chanced to come out;and she entertained him with stories of what she thought at first when she was brought a bride to Hamilton,the adjacent village,and convulsed him with stories of the people,whom she saw with humorous eyes.

Henderson marvelled how she could in those few minutes have rescued the cabin from the desolation in which the storm had plunged it.Out of the window he could see the stricken grasses dripping cold moist-ure,and the sky still angrily plunging for-ward like a disturbed sea.Not a tree or a house broke the view.The desolation of it swept over him as it never had before.But within the little ones were chattering to themselves in odd baby dialect,and the mother was laughing with them.

"Women aren't always useless,"she said,at parting;"and you tell your chums that when they get hungry for a slice of home-made bread they can get it here.And the next time they go by,I want them to stop in and look at the children.It'll do them good.They may think they won't enjoy themselves,but they will.""Oh,I'll answer for that!"cried he,shaking hands with her."I'll tell them we have just the right sort of a neighbor.""Thank you,"said she,heartily."And you may tell them that her name is Cathe-rine Ford."Once at home,he told his story.

"H'm!"said Gillispie,"I guess I'll have to go to town myself to-morrow."Henderson looked at him blackly."She's a woman alone,Gillispie,"said he,severely,"trying to make her way with handicaps --""Shet up,can't ye,ye darned fool?"roared Gillispie."What do yeh take me fur?"Waite was putting on his rubber coat preparatory to going out for his night with the cattle."Guess you're makin'a mistake,my boy,"he said,gently."There ain't no danger of any woman bein'treated rude in these parts.""I know it,by Jove!"cried Henderson,in quick contriteness.

"All right,"grunted Gillispie,in tacit acceptance of this apology."I guess you thought you was in civilized parts."Two days after this Waite came in late to his supper."Well,I seen her,"he announced.

"Oh!did you?"cried Henderson,knowing perfectly well whom he meant."What was she doing?""Killin'snakes,b'gosh!She says th'baby's crazy fur um,an'so she takes aroun'a hoe on her shoulder wherever she goes,an'when she sees a snake,she has it out with 'im then an'there.I says to 'er,'Yer don't expec't'git all th'snakes outen this here country,d'yeh?''Well,'she says,'I'm as good a man as St.Patrick any day.'

She is a jolly one,Henderson.She tuk me in an'showed me th'kids,and give me a loaf of gingerbread to bring home.Here it is;see?""Hu!"said Gillispie."I'm not in it."But for all of his scorn he was not above eating the gingerbread.