the Light Of Western Stars (1992) (54 page)

Arrangements for the wedding brought Alfred's delighted approval
.
When he had learned all Florence and Madeline would tell him he expressed a desire to have the cowboys attend; and then he went on to talk about California, where he was going take Florence on a short trip
.
He was curiously interested to find out all about Madeline's guests and what had happened to them
.
His keen glance at Madeline grew softer as she talked
.

"I breathe again," he said, and laughed
.
"I was afraid
.
Well, I must have missed some sport
.
I can just fancy what Monty and Nels did to that Englishman
.
So you went up to the crags
.
That's a wild place
.
I'm not surprised at guerrillas falling in with you up there
.
The crags were a famous rendezvous for Apaches-it's near the border-almost inaccessible-good water and grass
.
I wonder what the U
.
S
.
cavalry would think if they knew these guerrillas crossed the border right under their noses
.
Well, it's practically impossible to patrol some of that border-line
.
It's desert, mountain, and canon, exceedingly wild and broken
.
I'm sorry to say that there seems to be more trouble in sight with these guerrillas than at any time heretofore
.
Orozco, the rebel leader, has failed to withstand Madero's army
.
The Federals are occupying Chihuahua now, and are driving the rebels north
.
Orozco has broken up his army into guerrilla bands
.
They are moving north and west, intending to carry on guerrilla warfare in Sonora
.
I can't say just how this will affect us here
.
But we're too close to the border for comfort
.
These guerrillas are night-riding hawks; they can cross the border, raid us here, and get back the same night
.
Fighting, I imagine, will not be restricted to northern Mexico
.
With the revolution a failure the guerrillas will be more numerous, bolder, and hungrier
.
Unfortunately, we happen to be favorably situated for them down here in this wilderness corner of the state
.
"

On the following day Alfred and Florence were married
.
Florence's sister and several friends from El Cajon were present, besides Madeline, Stillwell, and his men
.
It was Alfred's express wish that Stewart attend the ceremony
.
Madeline was amused when she noticed the painfully suppressed excitement of the cowboys
.
For them a wedding must have been an unusual and impressive event
.
She began to have a better understanding of the nature of it when they cast off restraint and pressed forward to kiss the bride
.
In all her life Madeline had never seen a bride kissed so much and so heartily, nor one so flushed and disheveled and happy
.
This indeed was a joyful occasion
.
There was nothing of the "effete East" about Alfred Hammond; he might have been a Westerner all his days
.
When Madeline managed to get through the press of cowboys to offer her congratulations Alfred gave her a bear hug and a kiss
.
This appeared to fascinate the cowboys
.
With shining eyes and faces aglow, with smiling, boyish boldness, they made a rush at Madeline
.
For one instant her heart leaped to her throat
.
They looked as if they could most shamelessly kiss and maul her
.
That little, ugly-faced, soft-eyed, rude, tender-hearted ruffian, Monty Price, was in the lead
.
He resembled a dragon actuated by sentiment
.
All at once Madeline's instinctive antagonism to being touched by strange hands or lips battled with a real, warm, and fun-loving desire to let the cowboys work their will with her
.
But she saw Stewart hanging at the back of the crowd, and something-some fierce, dark expression of pain-amazed her, while it froze her desire to be kind
.
Then she did not know what change must have come to her face and bearing; but she saw Monty fall back sheepishly and the other cowboys draw aside to let her lead the way into the patio
.

The dinner began quietly enough with the cowboys divided between embarrassment and voracious appetites that they evidently feared to indulge
.
Wine, however, loosened their tongues, and when Stillwell got up to make the speech everybody seemed to expect of him they greeted him with a roar
.

Stillwell was now one huge, mountainous smile
.
He was so happy that he appeared on the verge of tears
.
He rambled on ecstatically till he came to raise his glass
.

"An' now, girls an' boys, let's all drink to the bride an' groom; to their sincere an' lastin' love; to their happiness an' prosperity; to their good health an' long life
.
Let's drink to the unitin' of the East with the West
.
No man full of red blood an' the real breath of life could resist a Western girl an' a good hoss an' God's free hand-that open country out there
.
So we claim Al Hammond, an' may we be true to him
.
An', friends, I think it fittin' that we drink to his sister an' to our hopes
.
Heah's to the lady we hope to make our Majesty!Heah's to the man who'll come ridin' out of the West, a fine, big-hearted man with a fast hoss an' a strong rope, an' may he win an' hold her! Come, friends, drink
.
"

A heavy pound of horses' hoofs and a yell outside arrested Stillwell's voice and halted his hand in midair
.

The patio became as silent as an unoccupied room
.

Through the open doors and windows of Madeline's chamber burst the sounds of horses stamping to a halt, then harsh speech of men, and a low cry of a woman in pain
.

Rapid steps crossed the porch, entered Madeline's room
.
Nels appeared in the doorway
.
Madeline was surprised to see that be had not been at the dinner-table
.
She was disturbed at sight of his face
.

"Stewart, you're wanted outdoors," called Nels, bluntly
.
"Monty, you slope out here with me
.
You, Nick, an' Stillwell-I reckon the rest of you hed better shut the doors an' stay inside
.
"

Nels disappeared
.
Quick as a cat Monty glided out
.
Madeline beard his soft, swift steps pass from her room into her office
.
He bad left his guns there
.
Madeline trembled
.
She saw Stewart get up quietly and without any change of expression on his dark, sad face leave the patio
.
Nick Steele followed him
.
Stillwell dropped his wine-glass
.
As it broke, shivering the silence, his huge smile vanished
.
His face set into the old cragginess and the red slowly thickened into black
.
Stillwell went out and closed the door behind him
.

Then there was a blank silence
.
The enjoyment of the moment had been rudely disrupted
.
Madeline glanced down the lines of brown faces to see the pleasure fade into the old familiar hardness
.

"What's wrong?" asked Alfred, rather stupidly
.
The change of mood had been too rapid for him
.
Suddenly he awakened, thoroughly aroused at the interruption
.
"I'm going to see who's butted in here to spoil our dinner," he said, and strode out
.

He returned before any one at the table had spoken or moved, and now the dull red of anger mottled his forehead
.

"It's the sheriff of El Cajon!" he exclaimed, contemptuously
.
"Pat Hawe with some of his tough deputies come to arrest Gene Stewart
.
They've got that poor little Mexican girl out there tied on a horse
.
Confound that sheriff!"

Madeline calmly rose from the table, eluding Florence's entreating hand, and started for the door
.
The cowboys jumped up
.
Alfred barred her progress
.

"Alfred, I am going out," she said
.

"No, I guess not," he replied
.
"That's no place for you
.
"

"I am going
.
"She looked straight at him
.

"Madeline!Why, what is it?You look- Dear, there's pretty sure to be trouble outside
.
Maybe there'll be a fight
.
You can do nothing
.
You must not go
.
"

"Perhaps I can prevent trouble," she replied
.

As she left the patio she was aware that Alfred, with Florence at his side and the cowboys behind, were starting to follow her
.
When she got out of her room upon the porch she heard several men in loud, angry discussion
.
Then, at sight of Bonita helplessly and cruelly bound upon a horse, pale and disheveled and suffering, Madeline experienced the thrill that sight or mention of this girl always gave her
.
It yielded to a hot pang in her breast-that live pain which so shamed her
.
But almost instantly, as a second glance showed an agony in Bonita's face, her bruised arms where the rope bit deep into the flesh, her little brown hands stained with blood, Madeline was overcome by pity for the unfortunate girl and a woman's righteous passion at such barbarous treatment of one of her own sex
.

The man holding the bridle of the horse on which Bonita had been bound was at once recognized by Madeline as the big-bodied, bullet-headed guerrilla who had found the basket of wine in the spring at camp
.
Redder of face, blacker of beard, coarser of aspect, evidently under the influence of liquor, he was as fierce-looking as a gorilla and as repulsive
.
Besides him there were three other men present, all mounted on weary horses
.
The one in the foreground, gaunt, sharp-featured, red-eyed, with a pointed beard, she recognized as the sheriff of El Cajon
.

Madeline hesitated, then stopped in the middle of the porch
.
Alfred, Florence, and several others followed her out; the rest of the cowboys and guests crowded the windows and doors
.
Stillwell saw Madeline, and, throwing up his hands, roared to be heard
.
This quieted the gesticulating, quarreling men
.

"Wal now, Pat Hawe, what's drivin' you like a locoed steer on the rampage?" demanded Stillwell
.

"Keep in the traces, Bill," replied Hawe
.
"You savvy what I come fer
.
I've been bidin' my time
.
But I'm ready now
.
I'm hyar to arrest a criminal
.
"

The huge frame of the old cattleman jerked as if he had been stabbed
.
His face turned purple
.

"What criminal?" he shouted, hoarsely
.

The sheriff flicked his quirt against his dirty boot, and he twisted his thin lips into a leer
.
The situation was agreeable to him
.

"Why, Bill, I knowed you hed a no-good outfit ridin' this range; but I wasn't wise thet you hed more 'n one criminal
.
"

"Cut that talk!Which cowboy are you wantin' to arrest?"

Hawe's manner altered
.

"Gene Stewart," he replied, curtly
.

"On what charge?"

"Fer killin' a Greaser one night last fall
.
"

"So you're still harpin' on that?Pat, you're on the wrong trail
.
You can't lay that killin' onto Stewart
.
The thing's ancient by now
.
But if you insist on bringin' him to court, let the arrest go to-day-we're hevin' some fiesta hyar-an' I'll fetch Gene in to El Cajon
.
"