The Mistress of Bonaventure

"You don't suppose I haven't foreseen such a contingency," said Haldane. "The break will probably come this afternoon – if not, to-morrow. Tell your allies to sell further small lots down at a moderate reduction."

Our lunch was, as the others had been, luxurious; but my throat was dry, and I could not eat. Boone's appetite had also failed, and I may have guessed aright at part of his story when I saw him, after thrice emptying his glass, glance still thirstily at the wine, and then thrust the decanter away.

"It is time to consider," said Haldane. "Unless somebody is soon scared into selling, Lane's company will be able to fleece us horribly on settling day; but experience of such affairs teaches me that sooner or later the smaller holders must break under a persistent hammering. Now, I don't mind admitting that I did not anticipate such an obstinate defense; and the cause of my interference is mainly this: I had promised to take my younger daughter on a trip to Europe, but am not overfond of traveling, and Lucille is tolerably contented with her own country; so when she first suggested and then insisted that I should make a campaign fund of what it would cost I was not wholly sorry to agree, and figured that, with careful handling, the money might be sufficient to scare Lane into making some rash move. At present it seems that I was mistaken, and that before we break him I must throw Bonaventure into the scale. You may save your protests, gentlemen; I'm a born speculator, and my daughter has set her heart on this thing. If she hadn't, I'd have a very great reluctance to being beaten by a single-horse-power company."

"Every acre of Crane Valley I can find a buyer for goes in, too," I said; and Boone added quietly: "You have my last dollar, sir, already."

Nothing of moment happened until next day, but it appeared to me that there was an almost insupportable tension in the very atmosphere. Our chief broker was clearly excited, and his tone significant, when he called to inform us that, while no other sellers had followed his challenge, only very small parcels of the stock he offered were being taken up; and so the matter stood until the afternoon.

I was now anxious as well as determined. It did not require much knowledge of such affairs for me to realize that unless other persons flung their shares on the market we should be left absolutely at the mercy of the men who had the stock to sell; and while I had nerved myself to part with everything, it would be inexpressibly galling to strip myself to enable Lane to reap a handsome profit. Neither do I think it was mere lust of revenge that impelled me. The man was a menace to the prosperity of every struggling rancher, and had shown no mercy; while – setting aside the fact that he himself deserved none – it seemed that my neighbors' right to existence depended on our efforts to overthrow him. Haldane appeared unusually serious when I glanced at him.

"If nothing happens in an hour we shall have to hold a council as to how we may cut our losses," he said.

Half an hour passed very slowly, and then, warned by a message, we strolled into the market to find there was comparative silence in the long echoing room, as those who congregated there grew languid and drowsy under the heat of the afternoon. Its atmosphere seemed suffocating, and before I had been present long the suspense reacted upon me physically, for my throat resembled a lime-kiln and the superficial arteries of my forehead throbbed painfully. Boone, at intervals, moistened his dry lips with his tongue, and Haldane alone leaned calmly against a pillar jotting down figures in the notebook he held.

Then a few listless men gathered round a broker, and suddenly became intent, while a murmur of interest rose through the drowsy heat. The voices grew louder, the group swelled, and I started at the call: "Any more of you with Territories to sell?"

"It must be Lane's last throw," said Haldane quietly. "Ah! The tide is turning. There is somebody who doesn't belong to us making a deal with him."

The bystanders surged to and fro about the speakers in a manner that reminded me of corraled cattle; others hurried towards them, and our broker's voice rang out: "I'll trade with you at two dollars better."

Then there was a confused shouting, "I'll beat him by another! Two more dollars down!" and every unoccupied man in the room joined the crowd, out of which rose indistinguishable offers, comments, questions, and counter-offers. These swelled into a deafening clamor, but through them all I could hear or feel the hurried beating of my heart, and my voice sounded hollow as I touched Haldane's arm. "Tell me the meaning of it," I said.

"We have beaten them," said Haldane quietly. "There are other men hurrying to sell. The weak holders have broken at last, and, because a panic is infectious, most of the others will follow them. Ah! It is beginning. There go the telegrams, and I hear both telephone bells. The fun will commence in earnest when the answers come in; and, meanwhile, a breath of fresher air would brace one. You may have noticed that it's a trifle choky inside here."

I had, but my feet seemed glued to the floor and my eyes on the swaying crowd, so that it cost me an effort to tear them free and follow Boone and Haldane into the open air. He presently led us into the grateful coolness of a big basement saloon, and, scarcely drawing breath, I emptied the contents of a tumbler filled with iced liquid, and then I looked at Boone, who had pushed aside the glass set before him and reached for the ice bowl.

"I have bought my experience, Ormesby," he said, with a smile which once more flashed a sidelight on his history. "In times like these it is better to confine one's self to nature's distillery. A cigar? No, thank you, sir. Do you feel like smoking, Ormesby?"

I did not, for, in spite of the cool beverage, the bite of tobacco would have been insufferable then; but Haldane lay back in a big lounge chewing a cigar. He said nothing whatever, and though he appeared satisfied, the lines on his forehead had deepened and his face appeared older. In spite of my impatience we must have remained nearly an hour before our leader rose a little stiffly and proceeded with unusual slowness towards the scene of the conflict. It was raging fiercely. Some of the speculators howled like wild beasts; others wrestled with their fellows to reach the clear space in the center of the ring; and, standing on the plinth of a column, I could see gesticulating men hard at work with their notebooks. How they were able to record any bargain or to comprehend any offer amid that pandemonium was more than I could discover; for everybody interested appeared to be shouting at once, and the rest of the assembly cheering them on. One irate individual, indeed, dragged a neighbor backwards by the collar, and then plunged blindly into the midst of the circle when the other, retaliating, drove his hat down over his eyes.

Haldane listened keenly for several minutes, and then turned to me. "It's going our way, Ormesby. Holders are getting out as fast as they can, and various speculative gentlemen who have been waiting for the first sign of weakness are hammering them. We have done our part, and can safely leave the rest to them. See if you can give our broker this note for me, and then, if you have had sufficient excitement, we will take a drive somewhere until dinner's ready."

I had certainly had sufficient excitement in that form to last the rest of my life, and I managed to reach the broker without personal injury, after which we solaced ourselves with a drive through the city and across some very uninteresting prairie. I saw little of either, and was conscious of scarcely anything beyond the all-important fact that Lane's power was broken, and henceforward my neighbors would enjoy the fruits of their own labor instead of swelling heavy dividends with three-fourths of them.

When we returned to the hotel our agent, who appeared in an exultant mood, was waiting us, and he positively beamed upon Haldane as he said: "It's an honor to work for a man with your nerve and judgment, sir, and we have whipped the last grit out of them. I let up altogether when I saw every outside 'bear' come ramping in; and, if you're inclined that way, we might cover a little quietly without stiffening prices."

I do not know what Haldane's instructions were. Indeed, the reaction of relief prevented my remembering anything at all very clearly, except that, as we sat at dinner, Haldane said: "I shouldn't wonder if those physicians were right, and I think I have made my last stake this afternoon. I dare say you understand, Ormesby, that as we could now purchase the stock below the price at which we sold there will be a profit in the transaction. Individually, I did not undertake this matter as a speculation."

Haldane made light of our anxiety lest he should have suffered. "I have long known I should have to sink into idleness, and it was a good piece of work to retire on," he said. "But what about the profit?"

I had no hesitation about the answer. "It was no desire of profit that brought me here; and as one experience of the kind is sufficient, I intend henceforward to stick to my horses and cattle. I will not touch a dollar of the money beyond actual expenses, and would propose that, setting aside any portion necessary to secure us against reprisals and to complete our work, the rest should be handed to Miss Haldane to distribute as she thinks best in charity."

Boone expressed his full compliance, and Haldane smiled at me. "Do you think you can run up a contra account in that way, Ormesby?"

"I believe we are justified; but, justified or not, I will not touch a dollar of the gains," I said. "I am going back to the prairie to-morrow, to express our deepest gratitude to Miss Haldane. As to yourself, sir, a good many hard-pressed men will never forget you."

Then Boone rose up gravely with a wine-glass in his hand. "The task is too big for Ormesby, or any other man," he said. "May every good thing follow the Mistress of Bonaventure."

CHAPTER XXVII

ILLUMINATION

The binders were clanking through the wheat when I next met Haldane at Crane Valley. Having embarked upon his new career with characteristic energy, he rode over from Bonaventure with his daughter to watch our harvesting, and incidentally came near bewildering me with his questions. Some of them were hard to answer, and I felt a trace of irritation, as well as surprise, that a few hours' observation should enable him to hit upon the best means of overcoming difficulties which had cost me months of experimenting to discover.

Thorn, I remember, stared at him in wonder, and afterwards observed: "You and I have just got to keep on trying until we find out the best way of fixing things, and if our way's certain, it's often expensive. That man just chews on his cigar, and it comes to him. When I take up my located land and get worried about the money, I'm going to try cigar-smoking."

"You will have considerably less of it if you experiment with the brand that Haldane keeps," I answered, jerking the lines, and my binder rolled on again behind the weary team. When each minute was worth a silver coin, we dare not spare the beasts, and I had worn out four of them in as many days, and then sat almost nodding in the driving seat, with a deep sense of satisfaction in my heart which I was too tired to express.

Oat sheaves ridging the bleached prairie blazed in yellow ranks before my heavy eyes, and each heave of the binder's arms flung out behind me a truss of golden wheat. The glare was blinding, for we worked under the full heat of a scorching afternoon, as we had done, and would do, by the pale light of the moon. Thick dust rolled about us, clogging my lashes and fouling the coats of the beasts, while the crackle of the flinty stems, the rasp of shearing knives, the rhythm of trampling hoofs, and the clink of metal throbbing harmoniously through the drowsy heat, were flung back by other machines at work across the grain. There is, however, a limit to human powers, and I must have been driving mechanically, and nearly asleep, when a clicking warned me that it was time to fit another spool of twine. I remember that during the operation I envied the endurance of the soulless, but otherwise almost human, machine.

Steel came up with his binder before it was completed, a creak and thud and tinkle swelling in musical crescendo as the jaded team loomed nearer through the dust. There was a flash of varnished wood that rose and fell, and twinkling metal, and I saw the driver sitting stiffly with hands, that were almost blackened, clenched on the lines, peering straight before him out of half-closed eyes, while the moisture that ran from his forehead washed copper-tinted channels through the grime. It was by an effort he held himself to his task; but that was nothing unusual, for the prairie does not yield up her riches lightly, and by the golden wake he left behind him the effort was justified. The earth had been fruitful that season, and harvest had not failed; while, having sown in deep dejection, uncertain who would reap, it was a small thing to strain one's strength to the utmost to gather the bounteous yield. We were already free, and every revolution of the binder's arms set us so much farther on the road to prosperity.

Twice I jerked the lines, but the team stood still; and I was preparing to encourage them more vigorously, when Haldane and his daughter approached. Both had insisted on my leaving them to their own devices, and now Lucille appeared to regard the beasts and myself compassionately.

"They look very tired, and they have done so much," she said, glancing down the long rows of piled-up grain. "Is not that sufficient to justify your resting a little?"

"I am afraid not," I answered with a somewhat rueful smile. "You see, prosperity has made us greedy, while all the grain cut up to the present belongs to Lane."

The girl looked indignant – Haldane thoughtful. "I have been wondering whether you would feel inclined to contest his claim for the balance of the debt," he said. "Considering that he has taken from you twice the value of his loan, and the story in Miss Redmond's book, you might be ethically and legally justified."

"No," I said. "I made the bargain, and I intend to keep my part of it. That accomplished, I shall have the fewer scruples about using every effort to utterly crush the man. All we cut henceforward is my own, and I can only repeat that I should be glad to devote every bushel to help forward his defeat."

"I think you are right," said Lucille Haldane, with a trace of pride in her approval, though her eyes were mischievous as she continued: "It is, however, unfortunate you are so very busy, because, as father is riding, and as the team are a little wild, we hoped you would drive them home for me."

I climbed down from the iron saddle, shouting to Steel, and Lucille smiled demurely. "We could not tear you away from that machine when you would grudge every minute," she said. "Remember that Bonaventure is a long way off, and, even if we allowed it, you could hardly return before to-morrow."

I nevertheless fancied she was pleased at my eagerness, and, for Haldane had passed on, I felt suddenly oppressed by the recognition of what I owed her. Yet had it been possible I should not have lightened the debt. I looked down at her gravely, noticing how young and fresh and slender she seemed – bright as the blaze of sunshine in which she stood – and then I pointed towards the long ranks of sheaves and the sea of stately ears.

"I am not in the least inconsistent, and should not be if every moment were thrice as precious," I said. "I remember most plainly that you gave me all this. Strange as it may seem, it is, nevertheless, perfectly true."

The girl blushed prettily, and then glanced from me towards the tired horses and the standing machine, after which her eyes rested with approval on the stalwart form of Thorn, who came up urging on his plodding team.

"It would be something to be proud of, if one could believe you, Rancher; but I am not wholly pleased with the last part of the speech," she said, with a faint, half-mocking inclination of the head. "I can guess what you are thinking, and you are a trifle slow to learn. Women are very well in their own place, are they not? However, you find it perplexing when they will not stay there, but, because some of them grow tired of breathing incense, they descend and interfere in masculine affairs. It is truly strange that there should be more forces in the world than those centered in big dusty men and splendid horses!"

"You must be a witch; but I am learning by degrees," I said. And the girl laughed merrily.

"You have not progressed very far, to judge by the comparison. Witches were usually pictured as malevolent, old, and ugly."

"I meant a beneficent fairy; but the surprise was not quite unnatural," I said. "Who could suspect in such a slender and fragile person the power she possesses to banish gloom and poverty? Legions of men and horses could not accomplish so much."

"Now you go too far in the opposite direction," and my companion shook her head. "It is the sense of balance you need."

The sun-blaze turned the clustered hair under her wide hat into the likeness of burnished gold – the gold of our own Northwest, with a coppery warmth in it – but the light in her hazel eyes eclipsed its brilliancy. The lithe figure fitted its gorgeous background of yellow radiancy, and again I felt all my pulses quicken as I paid Haldane's daughter silent homage. Magnificent as the wheat, alike to eye and understanding, when one remembered its mission, her presence seemed the crown and complement of all that splendid field. It was hard to refrain from telling her so, and possibly my voice was not pitched quite in its normal key when I said: "It is short of the truth, but there is just one thing I should like to know, and that is whether any other motive than pure benevolence prompted you."

"Why?"

Then I answered boldly: "Because it would be worth the rest to fancy that in some small measure it was due to individual goodwill towards Rancher Ormesby."