the Light Of Western Stars (1992) (59 page)

Late in the night Madeline fell asleep
.
In the morning she was pale and languid, but in a mental condition that promised composure
.

It was considerably after her regular hour that Madeline repaired to her office
.
The door was open, and just outside, tipped back in a chair, sat Stillwell
.

"Mawnin', Miss Majesty," he said, as he rose to greet her with his usual courtesy
.
There were signs of trouble in his lined face
.
Madeline shrank inwardly, fearing his old lamentations about Stewart
.
Then she saw a dusty, ragged pony in the yard and a little burro drooping under a heavy pack
.
Both animals bore evidence of long, arduous travel
.

"To whom do they belong?" asked Madeline
.

"Them critters?Why, Danny Mains," replied Stillwell, with a cough that betrayed embarrassment
.

"Danny Mains?" echoed Madeline, wonderingly
.

"Wal, I said so
.
"

Stillwell was indeed not himself
.

Is Danny Mains here?" she asked, in sudden curiosity
.

The old cattleman nodded gloomily
.

"Yep, he's hyar, all right
.
Sloped in from the hills, an' he hollered to see Bonita
.
He's locoed, too, about that little black-eyed hussy
.
Why, he hardly said, 'Howdy, Bill,' before he begun to ask wild an' eager questions
.
I took him in to see Bonita
.
He's been there more 'n a half-hour now
.
"

Evidently Stillwell's sensitive feelings had been ruffled, Madeline's curiosity changed to blank astonishment, which left her with a thrilling premonition
.
She caught her breath
.
A thousand thoughts seemed thronging for clear conception in her mind
.

Rapid footsteps with an accompaniment of clinking spurs sounded in the hallway
.
Then a young man ran out upon the porch
.
He resembled a cowboy in his lithe build, his garb and action, in the way he wore his gun, but his face, instead of being red, was clear brown tan
.
His eyes were blue; his hair was light and curly
.
He was a handsome, frank-faced boy
.
At sight of Madeline he slammed down his sombrero and, leaping at her, he possessed himself of her hands
.
His swift violence not only alarmed her, but painfully reminded her of something she wished to forget
.

This cowboy bent his head and kissed her hands and wrung them, and when he straightened up he was crying
.

"Miss Hammond, she's safe an' almost well, an' what I feared most ain't so, thank God," he cried
.
"Sure I'll never be able to pay you for all you've done for her
.
She's told me how she was dragged down here, how Gene tried to save her, how you spoke up for Gene an' her, too, how Monty at the last throwed his guns
.
Poor Monty!We were good friends, Monty an' I
.
But it wasn't friendship for me that made Monty stand in there
.
He would have saved her, anyway
.
Monty Price was the whitest man I ever knew
.
There's Nels an' Nick an' Gene, he's been some friend to me; but Monty Price was-he was grand
.
He never knew, any more than you or Bill, here, or the boys, what Bonita was to me
.
"

Stillwell's kind and heavy hand fell upon the cowboy's shoulder
.

"Danny, what's all this queer gab?" he asked
.
"An' you're takin' some liberty with Miss Hammond, who never seen you before
.
Sure I'm makin' allowance fer amazin' strange talk
.
I see you're not drinkin'
.
Mebbe you're plumb locoed
.
Come, ease up now an' talk sense
.
"

The cowboy's fine, frank face broke into a smile
.
He dashed the tears from his eyes
.
Then he laughed
.
His laugh had a pleasant, boyish ring-a happy ring
.

"Bill, old pal, stand bridle down a minute, will you?" Then he bowed to Madeline
.
"I beg your pardon, Miss Hammond, for seemin' rudeness
.
I'm Danny Mains
.
An' Bonita is my wife
.
I'm so crazy glad she's safe an' unharmed-so grateful to you that-why, sure it's a wonder I didn't kiss you outright
.
"

"Bonita's your wife!" ejaculated Stillwell
.

"Sure
.
We've been married for months," replied Danny, happily
.
"Gene Stewart did it
.
Good old Gene, he's hell on marryin'
.
I guess maybe I haven't come to pay him up for all he's done for me!You see, I've been in love with Bonita for two years
.
An' Gene-you know, Bill, what a way Gene has with girls-he was- well, he was tryin' to get Bonita to have me
.
"

Madeline's quick, varying emotions were swallowed up in a boundless gladness
.
Something dark, deep, heavy, and somber was flooded from her heart
.
She had a sudden rich sense of gratitude toward this smiling, clean-faced cowboy whose blue eyes flashed through tears
.

"Danny Mains!" she said, tremulously and smilingly
.
"If you are as glad as your news has made me-if you really think I merit such a reward-you may kiss me outright
.
"

With a bashful wonder, but with right hearty will, Danny Mains availed himself of this gracious privilege
.
Stillwell snorted
.
The signs of his phenomenal smile were manifest, otherwise Madeline would have thought that snort an indication of furious disapproval
.

"Bill, straddle a chair," said Danny
.
"You've gone back a heap these last few months, frettin' over your bad boys, Danny an' Gene
.
You'll need support under you while I'm throwin' my yarn
.
Story of my life, Bill
.
"He placed a chair for Madeline
.
"Miss Hammond, beggin' your pardon again, I want you to listen, also
.
You've the face an' eyes of a woman who loves to hear of other people's happiness
.
Besides, somehow, it's easy for me to talk lookin' at you
.
"

His manner subtly changed then
.
Possibly it took on a little swagger; certainly he lost the dignity that he had shown under stress of feeling; he was now more like a cowboy about to boast or affect some stunning maneuver
.
Walking off the porch, he stood before the weary horse and burro
.

"Played out!" he exclaimed
.

Then with the swift violence so characteristic of men of his class he slipped the pack from the burro and threw saddle and bridle from the horse
.

"There!See 'em!Take a look at the last dog-gone weight you ever packed!You've been some faithful to Danny Mains
.
An' Danny Mains pays!Never a saddle again or a strap or a halter or a hobble so long as you live!So long as you live nothin' but grass an' clover, an' cool water in shady places, an' dusty swales to roll in an' rest an' sleep!"

Then he untied the pack and, taking a small, heavy sack from it, he came back upon the porch
.
Deliberately he dumped the contents of the sack at Stillwell's feet
.
Piece after piece of rock thumped upon the floor
.
The pieces were sharp, ragged, evidently broken from a ledge; the body of them was white in color, with yellow veins and bars and streaks
.
Stillwell grasped up one rock after another, stared and stuttered, put the rocks to his lips, dug into them with his shaking fingers; then he lay back in his chair, head against the wall, and as he gaped at Danny the old smile began to transform his face
.

"Lord, Danny if you hevn't been an' gone an' struck it rich!"

Danny regarded Stillwell with lofty condescension
.

"Some rich," he said
.
"Now, Bill, what've we got here, say, offhand?"

"Oh, Lord, Danny!I'm afraid to say
.
Look, Miss Majesty, jest look at the gold
.
I've lived among prospectors an' gold-mines fer thirty years, an' I never seen the beat of this
.
"

"The Lost Mine of the Padres!" cried Danny, in stentorian voice
.
"An' it belongs to me!"

Stillwell made some incoherent sound as he sat up fascinated, quite beside himself
.

"Bill, it was some long time ago since you saw me," said Danny
.
"Fact is, I know how you felt, because Gene kept me posted
.
I happened to run across Bonita, an' I wasn't goin' to let her ride away alone, when she told me she was in trouble
.
We hit the trail for the Peloncillos
.
Bonita had Gene's horse, an' she was to meet him up on the trail
.
We got to the mountains all right, an' nearly starved for a few days till Gene found us
.
He had got in trouble himself an' couldn't fetch much with him
.

"We made for the crags an' built a cabin
.
I come down that day Gene sent his horse Majesty to you
.
Never saw Gene so broken-hearted
.
Well, after he sloped for the border Bonita an' I were hard put to it to keep alive
.
But we got along, an' I think it was then she began to care a little for me
.
Because I was decent
.
I killed cougars an' went down to Rodeo to get bounties for the skins, an' bought grub an' supplies I needed
.
Once I went to El Cajon an' run plumb into Gene
.
He was back from the revolution an' cuttin' up some
.
But I got away from him after doin' all I could to drag him out of town
.
A long time after that Gene trailed up to the crags an' found us
.
Gene had stopped drinkin', he'd changed wonderful, was fine an' dandy
.
It was then he began to pester the life out of me to make me marry Bonita
.
I was happy, so was she, an' I was some scared of spoilin' it
.
Bonita had been a little flirt, an' I was afraid she'd get shy of a halter, so I bucked against Gene
.
But I was all locoed, as it turned out
.
Gene would come up occasionally, packin' supplies for us, an' always he'd get after me to do the right thing by Bonita
.
Gene's so dog-gone hard to buck against! I had to give in, an' I asked Bonita to marry me
.
Well, she wouldn't at first-said she wasn't good enough for me
.
But I saw the marriage idea was workin' deep, an' I just kept on bein' as decent as I knew how
.
So it was my wantin' to marry Bonita-my bein' glad to marry her-that made her grow soft an' sweet an' pretty as-as a mountain quail
.
Gene fetched up Padre Marcos, an' he married us
.
"

Danny paused in his narrative, breathing hard, as if the memory of the incident described had stirred strong and thrilling feeling in him
.
Stillwell's smile was rapturous
.
Madeline leaned toward Danny with her eyes shining
.

"Miss Hammond, an' you, Bill Stillwell, now listen, for this is strange I've got to tell you
.
The afternoon Bonita an' I were married, when Gene an' the padre had gone, I was happy one minute an' low-hearted the next
.
I was miserable because I had a bad name
.
I couldn't buy even a decent dress for my pretty wife
.
Bonita heard me, an' she was some mysterious
.
She told me the story of the lost mine of the padres, an' she kissed me an made joyful over me in the strangest way
.
I knew marriage went to women's heads, an' I thought even Bonita had a spell
.