I had struck the Diamond Dot in a tol'able wide variety o' moods; but I
never felt like I did the mornin' I came back to ditch Barbie's
weddin'. I knew 'at the chances were 'at I'd break her heart; but I had
only one course open, an' I didn't intend to waver. I had gone on
through to Laramie, an' had found 'at Silver Dick's wife was still
there, livin' her locked-in life. Then I came on back through Danders
to Webb Station where I hired a feller to drive me to within a mile o'
the ranch house. All he knew was that the weddin' was to come off in
three weeks.
Jabez an' Barbie was both glad to see me; but I didn't make much
explanation for leavin' without notice, an' I didn't tell all about my
trip. Just told 'em about my experience as a knight an' on the boat an'
such. Barbie was purty thin an' a little under color; but her grit was
still keyed up to full tone. I had a good long talk with her that very
afternoon, tellin' her that I had found out a lot o' stuff about the
remnant she was thinkin' o' marryin', an' tried to get her to test him
out an' find out where he'd come from an' what he was; but she seemed
numb, an' told me that she would not think it friendly if I said
anything evil against the man she had to marry. I couldn't understand
her, she didn't seem like the same old Barbie; but the more I hinted
the more froze-up she got, so I dropped it.
Then I told her that I had found out that Dick was even worse'n this
one; an' she opened up on me an' we had a purty square-off talkin'
match. She wouldn't listen to me, an' she wouldn't pay any heed to my
suggestions; an' I was consid'able out of patience. I was afraid if I
turned her again Dick she might marry this Hawthorn thing, an' if I
turned her again him too soon she might run off with Dick on the
rebound; so I was purty much hobbled, an' made a botch of it. Finally
she turned on me. "We've been good pals, Happy," sez she, "an' we'll be
good pals again some day; but you're not playin' square now--I can tell
by your actions. I almost believe 'at what you're tryin' to do is to--"
she stopped with her face red as fire.
"Well, say it," sez I.
"Is to marry me yourself," she blurted out.
I didn't say anything for a long time. I made every allowance for her,
an' I knew 'at some one had threw it in her face, 'cause this wasn't
one of her own brand o' thoughts; but I'm not all horn an' bone, an'
when I saw that she intended to go her own gait I made up my mind that
she'd know at the end of the course that she might have saved herself
several hard bumps.
"Barbie." I sez, an' at my voice she turned her face an' looked a
little frightened, "I ain't denyin' that I'd rather marry you than be
sure of gettin' into Heaven; but I want you to remember one thing, an'
that is that if I ever do marry you it will be because you ask me to
yourself."
We rode side by side back to the ranch house, an' her head wasn't held
an inch higher than mine nor her lips shut a grain tighter. I was
willin' to be used for a bumper; but I couldn't stand everything even
when I knew 'at she'd been hounded beyond endurance. From that on
Barbie was some cool to me; but I wasn't there for a vacation, I had a
duty to perform. Poor little Barbie, she didn't act much like a bride
elect. Jabez wanted a weddin' that would be the talk for years; but
Barbie said no, that she felt more like a widder than a maid, an' she
didn't take much stock in turnin' a second weddin' into a circus. I
didn't say nothin'. The ol' man didn't contrary her much them days, so
he dropped the subject; but he sent all the way to Frisco for a store
full o' fixin's an' a couple o' women to engineer the construction of
'em.
A full week passed without me hearin' from Dick, an' then I telegraphed
to the Governor. I waited at Webb Station till I got the answer. He
said 'at he had give Dick my letter an' that he had left two days
before. That kept me on edge 'cause I wanted to see him when he first
arrived; so I kept a couple o' the boys watchin' each road; but day
after day dragged around until I got desperate. For all I knew Silver
Dick had enough black blood in him to take advantage of me an' just fly
his kite. He might have got news from England too, an' all in all I was
agitated.
Two days before the ceremony was scheduled I gave him up an' made a run
to Laramie. I wasn't sure just what I would do, but I was minded to get
all the evidence I could. I tried to get speech with Dick's wife, but
she wouldn't pay any heed to my knocks, an' finally the lights in the
house went out. I scented trouble; so when a couple o' men pounced onto
the place where I'd just stood they found me immejetly behind 'em, an'
I rapped 'em on the heads before they could express a sound. I heard a
noise at the keyhole an' I whispered in, "If you want to save the life
o' Silver Dick, open the door."
I waited a minute an' then the door opened an inch, but a chain kept it
from goin' any wider. A woman's coarse voice sez, "What do ya want?" I
couldn't believe that this was the woman, so I sez, "I want to speak to
the other woman, an' it's got to be done quick."