Zane Grey R

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

woman. Take him. He s yours.
I jest am weak where a hoss s concerned, said Lassiter. I ll take him, an
I ll take your orders, ma am.
Well, I m glad, but never mind the ma am. Let it still be Jane.
From that hour, it seemed, Lassiter was always in the saddle, riding early
and late, and coincident with his part in Jane s affairs the days assumed
their old tranquility. Her intelligence told her this was only the lull before
the storm, but her faith would not have it so.
She resumed her visits to the village, and upon one of these she encountered
Tull. He greeted her as he had before any trouble came between them, and she,
responsive to peace if not quick to forget, met him halfway with manner almost
cheerful. He regretted the loss of her cattle; he assured her that the
vigilantes which had been organized would soon rout the rustlers; when that
had been accomplished her riders would likely return to her.
You ve done a headstrong thing to hire this man Lassiter, Tull went on,
severely. He came to Cottonwoods with evil intent.
I had to have somebody. And perhaps making him my rider may turn out best in
the end for the Mormons of Cottonwoods.
You mean to stay his hand?
I do if I can.
A woman like you can do anything with a man. That would be well, and would
atone in some measure for the errors you have made.
He bowed and passed on. Jane resumed her walk with conflicting thoughts. She
resented Elder Tull s cold, impassive manner that looked down upon her as one
who had incurred his just displeasure. Otherwise he would have been the same
calm, dark-browed, impenetrable man she had known for ten years. In fact,
except when he had revealed his passion in the matter of the seizing of
Venters, she had never dreamed he could be other than the grave, reproving
preacher. He stood out now a strange, secretive man. She would have thought
better of him if he had picked up the threads of their quarrel where they had
parted. Was Tull what he appeared to be? The question flung itself in
voluntarily over Jane Withersteen s inhibitive habit of faith without
question. And she refused to answer it. Tull could not fight in the open.
Venters had said, Lassiter had said, that her Elder shirked fight and worked
in the dark. Just now in this meeting Tull had ignored the fact that he had
sued, exhorted, demanded that she marry him. He made no mention of Venters.
His manner was that of the minister who had been outraged, but who overlooked
the frailties of a woman. Beyond question he seemed unutterably aloof from all
knowledge of pressure being brought to bear upon her, absolutely guiltless of
Page 47
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
any connection with secret power over riders, with night journeys, with
rustlers and stampedes of cattle. And that convinced her again of unjust
suspicions. But it was convincement through an obstinate faith. She shuddered
as she accepted it, and that shudder was the nucleus of a terrible revolt.
Jane turned into one of the wide lanes leading from the main street and
entered a huge, shady yard. Here were sweet-smelling clover, alfalfa, flowers,
and vegetables, all growing in happy confusion. And like these fresh green
things were the dozens of babies, tots, toddlers, noisy urchins, laughing
girls, a whole multitude of children of one family. For Collier Brandt, the
father of all this numerous progeny, was a Mormon with four wives.
The big house where they lived was old, solid, picturesque the lower part
built of logs, the upper of rough clapboards, with vines growing up the
outside stone chimneys. There were many wooden-shuttered windows, and one
pretentious window of glass proudly curtained in white. As this house had four
mistresses, it likewise had four separate sections, not one of which
communicated with another, and all had to be entered from the outside.
In the shade of a wide, low, vine-roofed porch Jane found Brandt s wives
entertaining Bishop Dyer. They were motherly women, of comparatively similar
ages, and plain-featured, and just at this moment anything but grave. The
Bishop was rather tall, of stout build, with iron-gray hair and beard, and
eyes of light blue. They were merry now; but Jane had seen them when they were
not, and then she feared him as she had feared her father.
The women flocked around her in welcome.
Daughter of Withersteen, said the Bishop, gaily, as he took her hand, you
have not been prodigal of your gracious self of late. A Sabbath without you at
service! I shall reprove Elder Tull.
Bishop, the guilt is mine. I ll come to you and confess, Jane replied,
lightly; but she felt the undercurrent of her words.
Mormon love-making! exclaimed the Bishop, rubbing his hands. Tull keeps
you all to himself.
No. He is not courting me.
What? The laggard! If he does not make haste I ll go a-courting myself up to
Withersteen House.
There was laughter and further bantering by the Bishop, and then mild talk of
village affairs, after which he took his leave, and Jane was left with her
friend, Mary Brandt.
Jane, you re not yourself. Are you sad about the rustling of the cattle? But
you have so many, you are so rich.
Then Jane confided in her, telling much, yet holding back her doubts of fear.
Oh, why don t you marry Tull and be one of us?
But, Mary, I don t love Tull, said Jane, stubbornly.
I don t blame you for that. But, Jane Withersteen, you ve got to choose
between the love of man and love of God. Often we Mormon women have to do
that. It s not easy. The kind of happiness you want I wanted once. I never got
it, nor will you, unless you throw away your soul. We ve all watched your
Page 48
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
affair with Venters in fear and trembling. Some dreadful thing will come of
it. You don t want him hanged or shot or treated worse, as that Gentile boy
was treated in Glaze for fooling round a Mormon woman. Marry Tull. It s your
duty as a Mormon. You ll feel no rapture as his wife but think of Heaven!
Mormon women don t marry for what they expect on earth. Take up the cross,
Jane. Remember your father found Amber Spring, built these old houses, brought
Mormons here, and fathered them. You are the daughter of Withersteen!
Jane left Mary Brandt and went to call upon other friends. They received her
with the same glad welcome as had Mary, lavished upon her the pent-up
affection of Mormon women, and let her go with her ears ringing of Tull,
Venters, Lassiter, of duty to God and glory in Heaven.
Verily, murmured Jane, I don t know myself when, through all this, I
remain unchanged nay, more fixed of purpose.
She returned to the main street and bent her thoughtful steps toward the
center of the village. A string of wagons drawn by oxen was lumbering along.
These sage-freighters, as they were called, hauled grain and flour and
merchandise from Sterling, and Jane laughed suddenly in the midst of her
humility at the thought that they were her property, as was one of the three
stores for which they freighted goods. The water that flowed along the path at
her feet, and turned into each cottage-yard to nourish garden and orchard, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Podobne