the Light Of Western Stars (1992) (2 page)

"It sure is," he went on
.
"Bad business for ho-tels to have married women
.
Keeps the boys away
.
You see, this isn't Reno
.
"

Then he laughed rather boyishly, and from that, and the way he slouched on his sombrero, Madeline realized he was half drunk
.
As she instinctively recoiled she not only gave him a keener glance, but stepped into a position where a better light shone on his face
.
It was like red bronze, bold, raw, sharp
.
He laughed again, as if good-naturedly amused with himself, and the laugh scarcely changed the hard set of his features
.
Like that of all women whose beauty and charm had brought them much before the world, Miss Hammond's intuition had been developed until she had a delicate and exquisitely sensitive perception of the nature of men and of her effect upon them
.
This crude cowboy, under the influence of drink, had affronted her; nevertheless, whatever was in his mind, he meant no insult
.

"I shall be greatly obliged if you will show me to the hotel," she said
.

"Lady, you wait here," he replied, slowly, as if his thought did not come swiftly
.
"I'll go fetch the porter
.
"

She thanked him, and as he went out, closing the door, she sat down in considerable relief
.
It occurred to her that she should have mentioned her brother's name, Then she fell to wondering what living with such uncouth cowboys had done to Alfred
.
He had been wild enough in college, and she doubted that any cowboy could have taught him much
.
She alone of her family bad ever believed in any latent good in Alfred Hammond, and her faith had scarcely survived the two years of silence
.

Waiting there, she again found herself listening to the moan of the wind through the wires
.
The horse outside began to pound with heavy hoofs, and once he whinnied
.
Then Madeline heard a rapid pattering, low at first and growing louder, which presently she recognized as the galloping of horses
.
She went to the window, thinking, hoping her brother had arrived
.
But as the clatter in-creased to a roar, shadows sped by-lean horses, flying manes and tails, sombreroed riders, all strange and wild in her sight
.
Recalling what the conductor had said, she was at some pains to quell her uneasiness
.
Dust-clouds shrouded the dim lights in the windows
.
Then out of the gloom two figures appeared, one tall, the other slight
.
The cowboy was returning with a porter
.

Heavy footsteps sounded without, and lighter ones dragging along, and then suddenly the door rasped open, jarring the whole room
.
The cowboy entered, pulling a disheveled figure-that of a priest, a padre, whose mantle had manifestly been disarranged by the rude grasp of his captor
.
Plain it was that the padre was extremely terrified
.

Madeline Hammond gazed in bewilderment at the little man, so pale and shaken, and a protest trembled upon her lips; but it was never uttered, for this half-drunken cowboy now appeared to be a cool, grim-smiling devil; and stretching out a long arm, he grasped her and swung her back to the bench
.

"You stay there!" he ordered
.

His voice, though neither brutal nor harsh nor cruel, had the unaccountable effect of making her feel powerless to move
.
No man had ever before addressed her in such a tone
.
It was the woman in her that obeyed-not the personality of proud Madeline Hammond
.

The padre lifted his clasped hands as if supplicating for his life, and began to speak hurriedly in Spanish
.
Madeline did not understand the language
.
The cowboy pulled out a huge gun and brandished it in the priest's face
.
Then he lowered it, apparently to point it at the priest's feet
.
There was a red flash, and then a thundering report that stunned Madeline
.
The room filled with smoke and the smell of powder
.
Madeline did not faint or even shut her eyes, but she felt as if she were fast in a cold vise
.
When she could see distinctly through the smoke she experienced a sensation of immeasurable relief that the cowboy had not shot the padre
.
But he was still waving the gun, and now appeared to be dragging his victim toward her
.
What possibly could be the drunken fool's intention?This must be, this surely was a cowboy trick
.
She had a vague, swiftly flashing recollection of Alfred's first letters descriptive of the extravagant fun of cowboys
.
Then she vividly remembered a moving picture she had seen-cowboys playing a monstrous joke on a lone school-teacher
.
Madeline no sooner thought of it than she made certain her brother was introducing her to a little wild West amusement
.
She could scarcely believe it, yet it must be true
.
Alfred's old love of teasing her might have extended even to this outrage
.
Probably he stood just outside the door or window laughing at her embarrassment
.

Anger checked her panic
.
She straightened up with what composure this surprise had left her and started for the door
.
But the cowboy barred her passage-grasped her arms
.
Then Madeline divined that her brother could not have any knowledge of this indignity
.
It was no trick
.
It was something that was happening, that was real, that threatened she knew not what
.
She tried to wrench free, feeling hot all over at being handled by this drunken brute
.
Poise, dignity, culture-all the acquired habits of character-fled before the instinct to fight
.
She was athletic
.
She fought
.
She struggled desperately
.
But he forced her back with hands of iron
.
She had never known a man could be so strong
.
And then it was the man's coolly smiling face, the paralyzing strangeness of his manner, more than his strength, that weakened Madeline until she sank trembling against the bench
.

"What-do you-mean?" she panted
.

"Dearie, ease up a little on the bridle," he replied, gaily
.

Madeline thought she must be dreaming
.
She could not think clearly
.
It had all been too swift, too terrible for her to grasp
.
Yet she not only saw this man, but also felt his powerful presence
.
And the shaking priest, the haze of blue smoke, the smell of powder-these were not unreal
.

Then close before her eyes burst another blinding red flash, and close at her ears bellowed another report
.
Unable to stand, Madeline slipped down onto the bench
.
Her drifting faculties refused clearly to record what transpired during the next few moments; presently, however, as her mind steadied somewhat, she heard, though as in a dream, the voice of the padre hurrying over strange words
.
It ceased, and then the cowboy's voice stirred her
.

"Lady, say Si-Si
.
Say it-quick!Say it-Si!"

From sheer suggestion, a force irresistible at this moment when her will was clamped by panic, she spoke the word
.

"And now, lady-so we can finish this properly-what's your name?"

Still obeying mechanically, she told him
.

He stared for a while, as if the name had awakened associations in a mind somewhat befogged
.
He leaned back unsteadily
.
Madeline heard the expulsion of his breath, a kind of hard puff, not unusual in drunken men
.

"What name?" he demanded
.

"Madeline Hammond
.
I am Alfred Hammond's sister
.
"

He put his hand up and brushed at an imaginary something before his eyes
.
Then he loomed over her, and that hand, now shaking a little, reached out for her veil
.
Before he could touch it, however, she swept it back, revealing her face
.

"You're-not-Majesty Hammond?"

How strange-stranger than anything that had ever happened to her before-was it to hear that name on the lips of this cowboy!It was a name by which she was familiarly known, though only those nearest and dearest to her had the privilege of using it
.
And now it revived her dulled faculties, and by an effort she regained control of herself
.

"You are Majesty Hammond," he replied; and this time he affirmed wonderingly rather than questioned
.

Madeline rose and faced him
.

"Yes, I am
.
"

He slammed his gun back into its holster
.

"Well, I reckon we won't go on with it, then
.
"

"With what, sir?And why did you force me to say Si to this priest?"

"I reckon that was a way I took to show him you'd be willing to get married
.
"

"Oh!
. . .
You-you!
. . .
"Words failed her
.

This appeared to galvanize the cowboy into action
.
He grasped the padre and led him toward the door, cursing and threatening, no doubt enjoining secrecy
.
Then he pushed him across the threshold and stood there breathing hard and wrestling with himself
.

"Here-wait-wait a minute, Miss-Miss Hammond," he said, huskily
.
"You could fall into worse company than mine-though I reckon you sure think not
.
I'm pretty drunk, but I'm-all right otherwise
.
Just wait-a minute
.
"

She stood quivering and blazing with wrath, and watched this savage fight his drunkenness
.
He acted like a man who had been suddenly shocked into a rational state of mind, and he was now battling with himself to hold on to it
.
Madeline saw the dark, damp hair lift from his brows as he held it up to the cool wind
.
Above him she saw the white stars in the deep-blue sky, and they seemed as unreal to her as any other thing in this strange night
.
They were cold, brilliant, aloof, distant; and looking at them, she felt her wrath lessen and die and leave her calm
.

The cowboy turned and began to talk
.

"You see-I was pretty drunk," he labored
.
"There was a fiesta- and a wedding
.
I do fool things when I'm drunk
.
I made a fool bet I'd marry the first girl who came to town
. . . .
If you hadn't worn that veil-the fellows were joshing me-and Ed Linton was getting married-and everybody always wants to gamble
. . . .
I must have been pretty drunk
.
"

After the one look at her when she had first put aside her veil he had not raised his eyes to her face
.
The cool audacity had vanished in what was either excessive emotion or the maudlin condition peculiar to some men when drunk
.
He could not stand still; perspiration collected in beads upon his forehead; he kept wiping his face with his scarf, and he breathed like a man after violent exertions
.

"You see-I was pretty-" he began
.

"Explanations are not necessary," she interrupted
.
"I am very tired-distressed
.
The hour is late
.
Have you the slightest idea what it means to be a gentleman?"

His bronzed face burned to a flaming crimson
.

"Is my brother here-in town to-night?"Madeline went on
.

"No
.
He's at his ranch
.
"