CHARLIE BRYANT
As Kate stood out from the shadow of the trees, the man approaching,
looking up, beheld her, and his dark eyes gladdened with a smile of
delight. His greeting came up to her on the still air in a tone
thrilling with warmth and deep feeling.
"Ho, Kate," he cried, in his deeply musical voice. "I saw you and
Helen making this way, and guessed I'd just get around."
He was breathing hard as he came up the hill, his slight figure was
bending forward with the effort of his climb. Kate watched him, much
as an anxious mother might watch, with doubtful eyes, some effort of
her ailing child. He reached her level and stood breathing heavily
before her.
"I was around watching the boys at work down there on the new church,"
he went on. His handsome boyish face was flushing. The delicate,
smooth, whiskerless skin was almost womanish in its texture, and
betrayed almost every emotion stirring behind it. "Allan Dy came along
with my mail. When I'd read it I felt I had to come and tell you the
news right away. You see, I had to tell someone, and wanted you--two
to be the first to hear it."
Kate's eyes were full of a smiling tender amusement at the
ingenuousness of the man. Helen was looking on with less tenderness
than amusement. He had not come to tell her the news--only Kate. The
Kate whom she knew he worshipped, and who was the only rival in his
life to his passionate craving for drink.
She surveyed the man now with searching eyes. What was it that
inspired in her such mixed feeling? She knew she had a dislike and
liking for him, all in the same moment. There was something
fascinating about him. Yes, there certainly was. He was darkly
handsome. Unusually so. He had big, soft, almost womanish eyes, full
of passionate possibilities. The delicate moulding of his features was
certainly beautiful. They were too delicate. Ah, that was it. They
were womanish. Yes, he was womanish, and nothing womanish in a man
could ever appeal to the essentially feminine heart of Helen. His
figure was slight, but perfectly proportioned, and quite lacking in
any suggestion of mannish strength. Again the thought of it brought
Helen a feeling of repugnance. She hated effeminacy in a man. And yet,
how could she associate effeminacy with a man of his known character?
Was he not the most lawless of this lawless village? Then there was
his outward seeming of gentleness. Yes, she had never known him
otherwise, even in his moments of dreadful drunkenness, and she had
witnessed those frequently enough during the past few years.
The whole personality of the man was an enigma to her. Nor was it
altogether a pleasant enigma. She felt that somehow there was an ugly
streak in him which her sister had utterly missed, and she only half
guessed at. Furthermore, somehow in the back of her mind, she knew
that she was not without fear of him.
In spite of Kate's denial, when the man came under discussion between
them, her conviction always remained. She knew she liked him, and she
knew she disliked him. She knew she despised him, and she knew she
feared him. And through it all she looked on with eyes of amusement at
the absurd, dog-like devotion he yielded to her strong, reliant,
big-hearted, handsome sister.
"What's your news, Charlie?" she demanded, as Kate remained silent,
waiting for him to continue. "Good, I'll bet five dollars, or you
wouldn't come rushing to us."
The man turned to her as though it were an effort to withdraw his gaze
from the face of the woman he loved.
"Good? Why, yes," he said quickly. "I'd surely hate to bring you two
anything but good news." Then a shadow of doubt crossed his smiling
features. "Maybe it won't be of much account to you, though," he went
on, almost apologetically. "You see, it's just my brother. My big
brother Bill. He's coming along out here to--to join me. He--he wants
to ranch, so--he's coming here, and going to put all his money into my
ranch, and suggests we run it together." Then he laughed shortly. "He
says I've got experience and he's got dollars, and between us we ought
to make things hum. He's a hustler, is Bill. Say, he's as much sense
as a two-year-old bull, and just about as much strength. He can't see
the difference between a sharp and a saint. They're all the same to
him. He just loves everybody to death, till they kick him on the
shins, then he hits out, and something's going to break. He's just the
bulliest feller this side of life."
Kate was still smiling at the man's enthusiasm, but she had no answer
for him. It was Helen who did the talking now, as she generally did,
while Kate listened.
"Oh, Charlie," Helen cried impulsively, "you will let me see him,
won't you? He's big--and--and manly? Is he good looking? But then he
must be if he's your--I'm just dying to see this Big Brother Bill,"
she added hastily.
Charlie shook his head, laughing in his silent fashion.
"Oh, you'll see him all right. This village'll just be filled right up
with him." Then his dark eyes became serious, and a hopeless shadow
crept into them. "I'm glad he's coming," he went on, adding simply,
"maybe he'll keep me straight."
Kate's smile died out in an instant. "Don't talk like that Charlie,"
she cried almost sharply. "Do you know what your words imply? Oh, it's
too dreadful, and--and I won't have it. You don't need anybody's
support. You can fight yourself. You can conquer yourself. I know it."
The man's eyes came back to the face he loved, and, for a moment, they
looked into it as though he would read all that which lay hidden
behind.
"You think so?" he questioned presently.
"I'm sure; sure as--as Fate," Kate cried impulsively.
"You think that all--all weakness can be conquered?"
Kate nodded. "If the desire to conquer lies behind it."
"Ah, yes."
The man's eyes had become even more thoughtful. There was a look in
them which suggested to Helen that he was not wholly thinking of the
thing Kate had in her mind.
"If the desire to conquer is there," he went on, "I suppose the
habits--diseases of years, even--could be beaten. But--but----"
"But what?" Kate's demand came almost roughly.
Charlie shrugged his slim shoulders. "Nothing," he said. "I--I was
just thinking. That's all."
"But it isn't all," cried Kate, in real distress.
Helen saw Charlie smile in a half-hearted fashion. For some moments
his patience remained. Then, as Kate still waited for him to speak,
his eyes abruptly lit with the deep fire of passion.
"Why? Why?" he cried suddenly. "Why must we conquer and fight with
ourselves? Why beat down the nature given to us by a power beyond our
control? Why not indulge the senses that demand indulgence, when, in
such indulgence, we injure no one else? Oh, I argue it all with
myself, and I try to reason, too. I try to see it all from the
wholesome point of view from which you look at it, Kate. And I can't
see it. I just can't see it. All I know is that the only thing that
makes me attempt to deny myself is that I want your good opinion. Did
I not want that I should slide down the road to hell, which I am told
I am on, with all the delight of a child on a toboggan slide. Yes, I
would. I surely would, Kate. I'm a drunkard, I know. A drunkard by
nature. I have not the smallest desire to be otherwise, from any moral
scruple. It's you that makes me want to straighten up, and you only.
When I'm sober I'd be glad if I weren't. And when I'm not sober I'd
hate being otherwise. Why should I be sober, when in such moments I
suffer agonies of craving? Is it worth it? What does it matter if
drink eases the craving, and lends me moments of peace which I am
otherwise denied? These are the things I think all the time, and these
are the thoughts which send me tumbling headlong--sometimes. But I
know--yes, I know I am all wrong. I know that I would rather suffer
all the tortures of hell than forfeit your--good will."
Kate sighed. She had no answer. She knew all that lay behind the man's
passionate appeal. She knew, too, that he spoke the truth. She knew
that the only reason he made any effort at all was because his
devotion to herself was something just a shade stronger than this
awful disease with which he was afflicted.
The hopelessness of the position for a moment almost overwhelmed her.
She knew that she had no love--love such as he required--to give him
in return. And when that finally became patent to him away would go
the last vestige of self-restraint, and his fall would be headlong.
She knew his early story, and it was a pitiful one. She knew he was
born of good parents, rich parents, in New York, that he was well
educated. He had been brought up to become an artist, and therein had
lain the secret of his fall. In Paris, and Rome, and other European
cities, he had first tasted the dregs of youthful debauchery, and
disaster had promptly set in. Then, after his student days, had come
the final break. His parents abandoned him as a ne'er-do-well, and,
setting him up as a rancher in a small way, had sent him out west,
another victim of that over-indulgence which helps to populate the
fringes of civilization.
The moment was a painful one, and Helen was quick to perceive her
sister's distress. She came to her rescue with an effort at lightness.
But her pretty eyes had become very gentle.
She turned to the man who had just taken a letter from his pocket.
"Tell us some more about Big Brother Bill," she said, with the
pretense of a sigh. Then, with a little daring in her manner: "Do you
think he'll like me? Because if he don't I'll sure go into mourning,
and order my coffin, and bury me on the hillside with my face to the
beautiful east--where I come from."
The man's moment of passionate discontent had passed, and he smiled
into the girl's questioning eyes in his gentle fashion.
"He'll just be crazy about you, Helen," he said. "Say, when he gets
his big, silly blue eyes on to you in that swell suit, why, he'll just
hustle you right off to the parson, and you'll be married before you
get a notion there's such a whirlwind around Rocky Springs."
"Is he--such a whirlwind?" the girl demanded with appreciation.
"He surely is," the man asserted definitely.
Helen sighed with relief. "I'm glad," she said. "You see, a
whirlwind's a sort of summer storm. All sunshine--and--and well, a
whirlwind don't suggest the cold, vicious, stormy gales of the folks
in this village, nor the dozy summer zephyrs of the women in this
valley. Yes, I'd like a whirlwind. His eyes are blue, and--silly?"
Charlie smiled more broadly as he nodded again. "His eyes are blue.
And big. The other's a sort of term of endearment. You see, he's my
big brother Bill, and I'm kind of fond of him."
Helen laughed joyously. "I'm real glad he's not silly," she cried.
"Let's see. He's big. He's got blue eyes. He's good looking.
He's--he's like a whirlwind. He's got lots of money." She counted the
attractions off on her fingers. "Guess I'll sure have to marry him,"
she finished up with a little nod of finality.
Kate turned a flushed face in her direction.
"For goodness sake, Helen!" she cried in horror.
Helen's gray eyes opened to their fullest extent.
"Why, whatever's the matter, Kate?" she exclaimed. "Of course, I'll
have to marry Big Brother Bill. Why, his very name appeals to me. May
I, Charlie?" she went on, turning to the smiling man. "Would you like
me for--a--a sister? I'm not a bad sort, am I, Kate?" she appealed
mischievously. "I can sew, and cook, and--and darn. No, I don't mean
curse words. I leave that to Kate's hired men. They're just dreadful.
Really, I wasn't thinking of anything worse than Big Brother Bill's
socks. When'll he be getting around? Oh, dear, I hope it won't be
long. 'Specially if he's a--whirlwind."
Charlie was scanning the open pages of his letter.
"No. Guess he won't be long," he said, amusedly. "He says he'll be
right along here the 16th. That's the day after to-morrow."
Helen ran to her sister's side, and shook her by the arm.
"Say, Kate," she cried, her eyes sparkling with pretended excitement.
"Isn't that just great? Big Brother Bill's coming along day after
to-morrow. Isn't it lucky I've just got my new suits? They'll last me
three months, and by the time I have to get my fall suits he'll have
to marry me." Then the dancing light in her eyes sobered. "Now, where
shall we live?" she went on, with a pretense of deep consideration.
"Shall we go east, or--or shall we live at Charlie's ranch? Oh, dear.
It's so important not to make any mistake. And yet--you see, Charlie's
ranch wants some one _capable_ to look after it, doesn't it? It's kind
of mousy. Big Brother Bill is sure to be particular--coming from the
east."
Her audience were smiling broadly. Kate understood now that her
irresponsible sister was simply letting her bubbling spirits overflow.
Charlie had no other feelings than frank amusement at the girl's
gaiety.
"Oh, he's most particular," he said readily. "You see, he's accustomed
to Broadway restaurants."
Helen pulled a long face.
"I'm afraid your shack wouldn't make much of a Broadway restaurant."
She shook her head with quaint solemnity. "Guess I never could get you
right. Here you run a ranch, and make quite big with it, yet you never
eat off a china plate, or spread your table with anything better than
a newspaper. True, Charlie, you've got me beaten to death. Why, how
you manage to run a ranch and make it pay is a riddle that 'ud put the
poor old Sphinx's nose plump out of joint. I----"
Kate suddenly turned a pair of darkly frowning eyes upon her sister.
"You're talking a whole heap of nonsense," she declared severely.
"What has the care of a home to do with making a ranch pay?"
Helen's eyes opened wide with mischief.
"Say, Kate," she cried with a great air of patronage, "you have a
whole heap to learn. Big Brother Bill's coming right along from
Broadway, with money and--notions. He's just bursting with them.
Charlie's a prosperous rancher. What does B. B. B. expect? Why, he'll
get around with fancy clothes and suitcases and trunks. He'll dream of
rides over the boundless plains, of cow-punchers with guns and things.
He'll have visions of big shoots, and any old sport, of a
well-appointed ranch house, with proper fixings, and baths, and swell
dinners and servants. But they're all visions. He'll blow in to Rocky
Springs--he's a whirlwind, mind--and he'll find a prosperous rancher
living in a tumbled-down shanty that hasn't been swept this side of
five years, a blanket-covered bunk, and a table made of packing cases
with the remains of last week's meals on it. That's what he'll find.
Prosperous rancher, indeed. Say, Charlie," she finished up with fine
scorn, "you know as much about living as Kate's two hired men, and
dear knows they only exist." Suddenly she broke out into a rippling
laugh. "And this is what my future husband is coming to. It's--it's an
insult to me."
The girl paused, looking from one to the other with dancing eyes. But
the more sober-minded Kate slipped her arm about her waist and began
to move down the hill.
"Come along, dear," she said. "I must get right on down to the
Meeting House. I--have work to do. You would chatter on all day if I
let you."
In a moment Helen was all indignant protest.
"I like that. Say, did you hear, Charlie? She's accusing me, and all
the time it's you doing the talking. But there, I'm always
misjudged--always. She'll accuse me of trying to trap your
brother--next. Anyway, I've got work to do, too. I've got to be at
Mrs. John's for the new church meeting. So Kate isn't everybody. Come
along."
Helen's laughter was good to hear as she dashed off in an attempt to
drag her elder sister down the hill at a run. The man looked on
happily as he kept pace with them. Helen was always privileged. Her
sister adored her, and the whole village of Rocky Springs yielded her
a measure of popularity which made her its greatest favorite. Even the
women had nothing but smiles for her merry irresponsibility, and, as
for the men, there was not one who would not willingly have sacrificed
even his crooked ways for her smile.
Halfway down to the village Charlie again reverted to his news.
"Helen put the rest of it out of my head," he said, and his manner of
speaking had lost the enjoyment of his earlier announcement. "It's
about the police. They're going to set a station here. A corporal and
two men. Fyles is coming, too. Inspector Fyles." His eyes were
studying Kate's face as he made the announcement. Helen, too, was
looking at her with quizzical eyes. "It's over that whisky-running a
week ago. They're going to clean the place up. Fyles has sworn to do
it. O'Brien told me this morning."
For some moments after his announcement neither of the women spoke.
Kate was thinking deeply. Nor, from her expression, would it have been
possible to have guessed the trend of her thoughts.
Helen, watching her, was far more expressive. She was thinking of her
sister's admiration for the officer. She was speculating as to what
might happen with Fyles stationed here in Rocky Springs. Would her
beautiful sister finally yield to his very evident admiration, or
would she still keep that barrier of aloofness against him? She
wondered. And, wondering, there came the memory of what Fyles's coming
would mean to Charlie Bryant.
To her mind there was no doubt but that the law would quickly direct
its energies against him. But she was also wondering what would happen
to him should time, and a man's persistence, finally succeed in
breaking down the barrier Kate had set up against the officer. Quite
suddenly this belated news assumed proportions far more significant
than the coming of Big Brother Bill.
Her tongue could not remain silent for long, however. Something of her
doubt had to find an outlet.
"I knew it would come sooner or later," she declared hopelessly.
She glanced quickly at Charlie, across her sister, beside whom he was
walking. The man was staring out down at the village with gloomy eyes.
She read into his expression a great dread of this officer's coming to
Rocky Springs. She knew she was witnessing the outward signs of a
guilty conscience. Suddenly she made up her mind.
"What--ever is to be done?" she cried, half eagerly, half fearfully.
"Say, I just can't bear to think of it. All these men, men we've
known, men we've got accustomed to, even--men we like, to be herded to
the penitentiary. It's awful. There's some I shouldn't be sorry to see
put away. They're scallywags, anyway. They aren't clean, and they chew
tobacco, and--and curse like railroaders. But they aren't all
like--that--are they, Kate?" She paused. Then, in a desperate appeal,
"Kate, I'd fire your two boys, Nick and Pete. They're mixed up in
whisky-running, I know. When Stanley Fyles gets around they'll be
corralled, sure, and I'd hate him to think we employed such men. Don't
you think that, Charlie?" she demanded, turning sharply and looking
into the man's serious face.
Then, quite suddenly, she changed her tone and relapsed into her less
responsible manner, and laughed as though something humorous had
presented itself to her cheerful fancy.
"Guess I'd have to laugh seeing those two boys doing the chores around
a penitentiary for--five years. They'd be cleaner then. Guess they get
bathed once a week. Then the funny striped clothes they wear. Can't
you see Nick, with his long black hair all cut short, and his vulture
neck sticking out of the top end of his clothes, like--like a thread
of sewing cotton in a darning needle? Wouldn't he look queer? And the
work, too! Say, it would just break his heart. My, but they get most
killed by the warders. And then for drink. Five years without tasting
a drop of liquor. No--they'd go mad. Anybody would. And all for the
sake of making a few odd dollars against the law. I wouldn't do it. I
wouldn't do it, not if I'd got to starve--else."
The man made no answer. His eyes remained upon the village below, and
their expression had become lost to the anxious Helen. She was talking
at him. But she was thinking not of him so much as her sister. She
knew how much it would mean to Kate if Charlie Bryant were brought
into direct conflict with the police. So she was offering her warning.
Kate turned to her quietly. She ignored the reference to her hired
men. She knew at whom her sister's remarks were directed. She shook
her head.
"Why worry about things, Sis?" she said, in her deliberate fashion.
"Lawbreakers need to be cleverer folks than those who live within the
law. I guess there won't be much whisky run into Rocky Springs with
Fyles around, and the police can do nothing unless they catch the boys
at it. You're too nervous about things." She laughed quietly. "Why,
the sight of a red coat scares you worse than getting chased by a
mouse."
The sound of Kate's voice seemed to rouse Charlie from his gloomy
contemplation of the village. He turned his eyes on the woman at his
side--and encountered the half-satirical smile of hers--which were as
dark as his own.
"Maybe Helen's right, though," he said. "Maybe you'd do well to fire
your boys." He spoke deliberately, but with a shade of anxiety in his
voice. "They're known whisky-runners."
Kate drew Helen to her side as though for moral support. "And what of
the other folks who are known--or believed--to be whisky-runners--with
whom we associate. Are they to be turned down, too? No, Charlie," she
went on determinedly, "I stand by my boys. I'll stand by my friends,
too. Maybe they'll need all the help I can give them. Then it's up to
me to give it them. Fyles must do his duty as he sees it. Our duty is
by our friends here, in Rocky Springs. Whatever happens in the crusade
against this place, I am against Fyles. I'm only a woman, and, maybe,
women don't count much with the police," she said, with a confident
smile, "but such as I am, I am loyal to all those who have helped me
in my life here in Rocky Springs, and to my--friends."
The man drew a deep breath. Nor was it easy to fathom its meaning.
Helen, eyeing her well-loved sister, could have thrown her young arms
about her neck in enthusiasm. This was the bold sister whom she had so
willingly followed to the western wilds. This was the spirit she had
deplored the waning of. All her apprehensions for Charlie Bryant
vanished, merged in a newly awakened confidence, since her brave
sister was ready to help and defend him.
She felt that Fyles's coming to Rocky Springs was no longer to be
feared. Only was it a source of excitement and interest. She felt that
though, perhaps, he might never have met his match during the long
years of his duties as a police officer, he had yet to pit himself
against Rocky Springs--with her wonderful sister living in the
village.