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.Then presently it was a good augury of Stewart'sprogress that the cowboys once more took up the teasing relation which hadbeen characteristic of them before his illness.A cowboy was indeed out ofsorts when he could not vent his.peculiar humor on somebody or something.Stewart had evidently become a broad target for their badinage."Wal, the boys are sure after Gene," said Stillwell, with his huge smile."Joshin' him all the time about how he sits around an' hangs around an' loafsaround jest to get a glimpse of you, Miss Majesty.Sure all the boys hev apretty bad case over their pretty boss, but none of them is a marker to Gene.He's got it so bad, Miss Majesty, thet he actooly don't know they are joshin'him.It's the amazin'est strange thing I ever seen.Why, Genewas always a feller thet you could josh.An' he'd laugh an' get back at you.But he was never before deaf to talk, an' there was a certain limit no fellercared to cross with him.Now he takes every word an' smiles dreamy like, an'jest looks an' looks.Why, he's beginnin' to make me tired.He'll never run thet bunch of cowboysif he doesn't wake up quick."Madeline smiled her amusement and expressed a belief thatStillwell wanted too much in such short time from a man who had done body andmind a grievous injury.It had been impossible for Madeline to fail to observe Stewart's singularbehavior.She never went out to take her customary walks and rides withoutseeing him somewhere in the distance.She was aware that he watched for her and avoided meeting her.When she sat on the porch during the afternoon or at sunsetStewart could always be descried at some point near.He idled listlessly inthe sun, lounged on the porch of his bunk-house, sat whittling the top bar ofthe corral fence, and always it seemed to Madeline he was watching her.Once,while going the rounds with her gardener, she encountered Stewart and greetedhim kindly.He said little, but he was not embarrassed.She did notrecognize in his face any feature that she remembered.In fact, on each ofthe few occasions when she had met Stewart he had looked so different that shePage 76ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlhad no consistent idea of his facial appearance.He was now pale, haggard,drawn.His eyes held a shadow through which shone a soft, subdued light; and,once having observed this, Madeline fancied it was like the light inMajesty's eyes, in the dumb, worshiping eyes of her favorite stag-hound.Shetold Stewart that she hoped he would soon be in the saddle again, and passedon her way.That Stewart loved her Madeline could not help but see.She endeavored tothink of him as one of the many who, she was glad to know, liked her.But shecould not regulate her thoughts to fit the order her intelligence prescribed.Thought of Stewart dissociated itself from thought of the other cowboys.Whenshe discovered this she felt a little surprise and annoyance.Then sheinterrogated herself, and concluded that it was not thatStewart was so different from his comrades, but that circumstances made himstand out from them.She recalled her meeting with him that night when he badtried to force her tomarry him.This was unforgetable in itself.She called subsequent mention ofhim, and found it had been peculiarly memorable.The man and his actionsseemed to hinge on events.Lastly, the fact standing clear of all others in its relation to her interestwas that he had been almost ruined, almost lost, and she had saved him.Thatalone was sufficient to explain why she thought of him differently.She hadbefriended, uplifted the other cowboys; she had saved Stewart's life.To besure, he had been a ruffian, but a woman could not save the life of even aruffian without remembering it with gladness.Madeline at length decided herinterest in Stewart was natural, and that her deeper feeling was pity.Perhapsthe interest had been forced from her;however, she gave the pity as she gave everything.Stewart recovered his strength, though not in time to ride at the springround-up; and Stillwell discussed with Madeline the advisability of making thecowboy his foreman."Wal, Gene seems to be gettin' along," said Stillwell."But he ain't like hisold self.I think more of him at thet.But where's his spirit? The boys'dride rough-shod all over him.Mebbe I'd do best to wait longer now, as the slack season is on.All the same, if those vaquero of Don Carlos's don't lay low I'll send Geneover there.Thet'll wake him up."A few days afterward Stillwell came to Madeline, rubbing his big hands insatisfaction and wearing a grin that was enormous."Miss Majesty, I reckon before this I've said things was amazin'strange.But now Gene Stewart has gone an' done it! Listen to me.ThemGreasers down on our slope hev been gettin' prosperous.They're growin' like bad weeds.An' they got a new padre--the little oldfeller from El Cajon, Padre Marcos.Wal, this was all right, all the boysthought, except Gene.An' he got blacker 'n thunder an' roared round like adehorned bull.I was sure glad to see he could get mad again.Then Gene haidsdown the slope fer the church.Nels an' me follered him, thinkin' he mighthev been took sudden with a crazy spell or somethin'.He hasn't never beenjest right yet since he left off drinkin'.Wal, we run into him comin' out ofthe church.We never was so dumfounded in our lives.Gene was crazy, allright--he sure hed a spell.But it was the kind of a spell he hed thetparalyzed us.He ran past usPage 77ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmllike a streak, an' we follered.We couldn't ketch him.We heerd himlaugh--the strangest laugh I ever heerd! You'd thought the feller wassuddenly made a king [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]