THE SELLING OF GASPARD'S TRAIL
The surroundings were depressing when, one evening, Steel and I rode
home for the last time to Gaspard's Trail. The still, clear weather,
with white frost in the mornings and mellow sunshine all day long, which
follows the harvest, had gone, and the prairie lay bleak and gray under
a threatening sky waiting for the snow. Crescents and wedges of wild
fowl streaked the lowering heavens overhead as they fled southward in
endless processions before the frost. The air throbbed with the beat of
their pinions which, at that season, emphasizes the human shrinking from
the winter, while the cold wind that shook the grasses sighed most
mournfully.
There was nothing cheering in the prospect for a man who badly needed
encouragement, and I smiled sardonically when Steel, who pushed his
horse alongside me, said: "There's a good deal in the weather, and this
mean kind has just melted the grit right out of me. I'll be mighty
thankful to get in out of it, and curl up where it's warm and snug
beside the stove. Sally will have all fixed up good and cheerful, and
the west room's a cozy place to come into out of the cold."
"You must make the most of it to-night, then, for we'll be camping on
straw or bare earth to-morrow," I said. "Confound you, Steel! Isn't it a
little unnecessary to remind me of all that I have lost?"
"I didn't mean it that way," said the other, with some confusion. "I
felt I had to say something cheerful to rouse you up, and that was the
best I could make of it. Anyway, we'll both feel better after supper,
and I'm hoping we'll yet see the man who turned you out in a tight
place."
"You have certainly succeeded," I answered dryly. "When a man is forced
to stand by and watch a rascal cheat him out of the result of years of
labor, you can't blame him for being a trifle short in temper, and, if
it were not for the last expectation you mention, I'd turn my back
to-morrow on this poverty-stricken country. As it is----"
"We'll stop right here until our turn comes some day. Then there'll be
big trouble for somebody," said Steel. "But you've got to lie low,
Ormesby, and give him no chances. That man takes everyone he gets, and,
if one might say it, you're just a little hot in the head."
"One's friends can say a good deal, and generally do," I answered
testily. "How long have you set up as a model of discretion, Steel?
Still, though there is rather more sense than usual in your advice,
doesn't it strike you as a little superfluous, considering that Lane has
left us no other possible course?"
Steel said nothing further, and I was in no mood for conversation.
Gaspard's Trail was to be sold on the morrow, and Lane had carefully
chosen his time. The commercial depression was keener than ever, and
there is seldom any speculation in Western lands at that time of the
year. It was evidently his purpose to buy in my possessions.
A cheerful red glow beat out through the windows of my dwelling when we
topped the last rise, but the sight of it rather increased my moodiness,
and it was in silence, and slowly, we rode up to the door of Gaspard's
Trail. Sally Steel met us there, and her eyelids were slightly red; but
there was a vindictive ring in her voice as she said: "Supper's ready,
and I'm mighty glad you've come. This place seems lonesome. Besides, I'm
'most played out with talking, and I've done my best to-day. Those
auctioneering fellows have fixed up everything, but it isn't my fault if
they don't know how mean they are. They finished with the house in a
hurry, and one of them said: 'I can't stand any more of that
she-devil.'"
"He did! Where are they now?" asked Steel, dropping his horse's bridle
and staring about him angrily; but, after a glance at Sally, who
answered my unspoken question with a nod, I seized him by the shoulder.
"Steady! Who is hot-headed now?" I said.
Steel strove to shake off my grasp until his sister, who laughed a
little, turned towards him. "I just took it for a compliment, and
there's no use in your interfering," she said. "I guess neither of them
feels proud of himself to-night, and a cheerful row with somebody would
spoil all the good I've done. They're camping yonder in the stable, but
you'll tie up the horses in the empty barn."
Sally Steel was a stanch partisan, and, knowing what I did of her
command of language, I felt almost sorry for the men who had been
exposed to it a whole day in what was, after all, only the execution of
their duty. Before Steel returned, one of them came out of the stable
and approached me, but, catching sight of Sally, stopped abruptly, and
then, as though mustering his courage, came on again.
"I guess you're Mr. Ormesby, and I'm auctioneer's assistant," he said.
"One could understand that you were a bit sore, but I can't see that
it's my fault, anyway; and from what we heard, you don't usually turn
strangers into the stable."
The man spoke civilly enough, and I did not approve of his location; but
the rising color in Sally's face would have convinced anybody who knew
her that non-interference was the wisest policy.
"It is about the first time we have done so, but this lady manages my
house, and, if you don't like your quarters, you must talk to her," I
said.
The man cast such a glance of genuine pity upon me that it stirred me to
faint amusement, rather than resentment, while the snap, as we called it
on the prairie, which crept into Sally's eyes usually presaged an
explosion.
"If that's so, I guess I prefer to stop just where I am," he said.
We ate our supper almost in silence, and little was spoken afterwards.
Sally did her best to rouse us, but even her conversation had lost its
usual bite and sparkle, and presently she abandoned the attempt. I
lounged in a hide chair beside the stove, and each object my eyes rested
on stirred up memories that were painful now. The cluster of splendid
wheat ears above the window had been the first sheared from a bounteous
harvest which had raised great hopes. I had made the table with my own
fingers, and brought out the chairs, with the crockery on the varnished
shelf, from Winnipeg, one winter, when the preceding season's operations
had warranted such reckless expenditure. The dusty elevator warrant
pinned to the wall recalled the famous yield of grain which--because
cattle had previously been our mainstay--had promised a new way to
prosperity, and now, as I glanced at it, led me back through a sequence
of failure to the brink of poverty. Also, bare and plain as it was, that
room appeared palatial in comparison with the elongated sod hovel which
must henceforward shelter us at Crane Valley.
The memories grew too bitter, and at last I went out into the darkness
of a starless night, to find little solace there. I had planned and
helped to build the barns and stables which loomed about me--denied
myself of even necessities that the work might be better done; and now,
when, after years of effort and sordid economy, any prairie settler
might be proud of them, all must pass into a stranger's hands, for very
much less than their value. Tempted by a dazzling possibility, I had
staked too heavily and had lost, and there was little courage left in me
to recommence again at the beginning, when the hope which had hitherto
nerved me was taken away. Steel and his sister had retired before I
returned to the dwelling, and I was not sorry.
The next day broke gloomily, with a threat of coming storm, but, as it
drew on, all the male inhabitants of that district foregathered at
Gaspard's Trail. They came in light wagons and buggies and on horseback,
and I was touched by their sympathy. They did not all express it neatly.
Indeed, the very silence of some was most eloquent; but there was no
mistaking the significance of the deep murmur that went up when Lane and
two men drove up in a light wagon. The former was dressed in city
fashion in a great fur-trimmed coat, and his laugh grated on me, as he
made some comment to the auctioneer beside him. Then the wagon was
pulled up beside the rank of vehicles, and the spectators ceased their
talking as, dismounting, he stood, jaunty, genial, and _debonnaire_,
face to face with the assembly.
Even now the whole scene rises up before me--the threatening low-hung
heavens, the desolate sweep of prairie, the confused jumble of
buildings, the rows of wagons, and the intent, bronzed faces of the men
in well-worn jean. All were unusually somber, but, while a number
expressed only aversion, something which might have been fear, mingled
with hatred, stamped those of the rest. Every eye was fixed on the
little portly man in the fur coat who stood beside the wagon looking
about him with much apparent good-humor. Lane was not timid, or he would
never have ventured there at all; but his smile faded as he met that
concentrated gaze. Those who stared at him were for the most part
determined men, and even with the power of the law behind him, and two
troopers in the background, some slight embarrassment was not
inexcusable.
"Good-morning to you, boys. Glad to see so many of you, and I hope
you'll pick up bargains to-day," he said; and then twisted one end of
his mustache with a nervous movement; when again a growl went up. It was
neither loud nor wholly articulate, though a few vivid epithets broke
through it, and the rest was clearly not a blessing. Several of the
nearest men turned their backs on the speaker with as much parade as
possible.
"Don't seem quite pleased at something," he said to me. "Well, it don't
greatly matter whether they're pleased or not. May as well get on to
business. You've had your papers, and didn't find anything to kick
against, Ormesby?"
"It is hardly worth while to ask, considering your experience in such
affairs. The sooner you begin and finish, the better I'll be pleased," I
said.
The auctioneer's table had been set up in the open with the ticketed
implements arranged behind it and the stock and horses in the
wire-fenced corral close beside. He was of good repute in his business,
and I felt assured of fair play from him, at least, though I could see
Lane's purpose in bringing him out from Winnipeg. The latter was too
clever to spoil a well-laid scheme by any superfluous petty trickery,
and with that man to conduct it nobody could question the legitimacy of
the sale. There was an expectant silence when he stood up behind his
table.
"What is one man's gain is another man's loss, and I feel quite certain,
from what I know of the prairie, that none of you would try to buy a
neighbor's things way under their cost," he commenced. "It's mighty hard
to make a fortune in times like these, you know, but anybody with sound
judgment, and the money handy, has his opportunity right now. You're
going to grow wheat and raise beef enough down here to feed the world
some day. It's a great country, and the best bit in it you'll find
scheduled with its rights and acreage as the first lot I have to offer
you--the Gaspard's Trail holding with the buildings thereon. The soil,
as you all know, will grow most anything you want, if you scratch it,
and the climate----"
"Needs a constitution of cast iron to withstand it," interjected a young
and sickly Englishman, who had benefited less than he expected from a
sojourn on the prairie. His comment was followed by a query from another
disappointed individual: "Say, what about the gophers?"
"I'm not selling you any climate," was the ready answer. "Even the
gopher has its uses, for without some small disadvantages the fame of
your prosperity would bring out all Europe here. Now, gentlemen, I'm
offering you one of the finest homesteads on the prairie. Soil of
unequaled fertility, the best grass between Winnipeg and Calgary, with
the practical certainty of a railroad bringing the stock cars to its
door, and the building of mills and elevators within a mile from this
corral."
Here Lane, standing close to the table, whispered something--unobserved,
he doubtless thought--to the auctioneer, whose genial face contracted
into a frown. Lane had, perhaps, forgotten the latter was not one of the
impecunious smaller fry who, it was suggested, occasionally accepted
more than hints from him.
"The holder of the mortgage evidently considers that the railroad will
not be built, and it is very good of him to say so--in the
circumstances; but we all know what a disinterested person he is,"
continued the auctioneer; and the honest salesman had, at least, secured
the crowd's goodwill. A roar of derisive laughter and appreciation of
the quick-witted manner in which he had punished unjustified
interference followed the sally. "That, after all, is one person's
opinion only; and I heard from Ottawa that the road would be built. I
want your best bids for the land and buildings, with the stock cars
thrown in. You'll never get a better chance; but not all at once,
gentlemen."
During the brief interval which followed I was conscious of quivering a
little under the suspense. The property, if realized at normal value,
should produce sufficient to discharge my liabilities several times
over; but I dreaded greatly that, under existing conditions, a balance
of debt would be left sufficient to give Lane a hold on me when all was
sold. The auctioneer's last request was superfluous, for at first nobody
appeared to have any intention of bidding at all, and there was an
impressive hush while two men from the cities, who stood apart among the
few strangers, whispered together. Meanwhile I edged close in to the
table so that I might watch every move of my adversary.
"Lane wasn't wise when he tried to play that man the way he did," said
Steel, who stood beside me, but I scarcely heeded him, for Carson
Haldane, who must have reached Bonaventure very recently, nodded to me
as he took his seat in a chair Thorn brought him.
Then one of the strangers named a ridiculously small sum, which Steel,
amid a burst of laughter from all those who knew the state of his
finances, immediately doubled, whereupon the bidder advanced his offer
by a hundred dollars.
"Another five hundred on to that!" cried Steel; and when my foreman,
Thorn, followed his cue with a shout of, "I'll go three hundred better,"
the merriment grew boisterous. The spectators were strung up and
uncertain in their mood. Very little, I could see, would rouse them to
fierce anger, and, perhaps, for that reason any opening for mirth came
as a relief to them. I had now drawn up close behind the table which
formed the common center for every man's attention, and, scanning the
faces about it, saw Lane's darken when the stranger called out
excitedly, "I'll raise him two hundred and fifty."
Lane rewarded Thorn with a vicious glance, and growled under his breath.
Next he whispered something to the auctioneer, who disregarded it, while
a few minutes later the bidder, holding his hand up for attention, said:
"I withdraw my last offer. I came here to do solid business and not fool
away my time competing with irresponsible parties who couldn't put up
enough money to buy the chicken-house. Is this a square sale, Mr.
Auctioneer, or is anybody without the means to purchase to be allowed to
force up genuine buyers for the benefit of the vendor?"
"That's Lane's dummy, and I'm going to do some talking now," said Steel.
I was inclined to fancy that the usurer, perhaps believing there was no
such thing as commercial honesty, had badly mistaken his man, or that
the auctioneer, guided by his own quick wits, saw through his scheme,
for he smote upon the table for attention.
"This is a square sale, so square that I can see by the vendor's looks
he would sooner realize half-value than countenance anything irregular.
I took it for granted that these gentlemen had the means to purchase,
as I did in your own case. No doubt you can all prove your financial
ability."
"One of them is still in debt," added the bidder.
I had moved close behind Lane, and fancied I heard him say softly to
himself: "I'll fix you so you'll be sorry for your little jokes
by-and-by."
A diversion followed. Goodwill to myself, hatred of the usurer, and
excitement, may perhaps have prompted them equally, for after the
would-be purchaser's challenge those of my neighbors who had escaped
better than the rest clustered about Steel, who had hard work to record
the rolls of paper money thrust upon him. Hardly had his rival laid down
a capacious wallet upon the table than Steel deposited the whole beside
it.
"I guess that ought to cover my call, and now I want to see the man who
called me irresponsible," he said. "That's enough to raise me, but to
hint that any honest man would back up the thief of a mortgage holder is
an insult to the prairie."
A roar of laughter and approval followed, but the laughter had an
ominous ring in it; and I saw Sergeant Mackay, who had been sitting
still as an equine statue in his saddle on the outskirts of the crowd,
push his horse through the thickest of the shouting men. He called some
by name, and bantered the rest; but there was a veiled warning behind
his jest, and two other troopers, following him, managed to further
separate the groups. The hint was unmistakable, and the shouting died
away, while, as the auctioneer looked at the money before him, the man
who had been bidding glanced covertly at Lane.
"If you are satisfied with the good faith of these gentlemen, I'll let
my offer stand," he said.
"It doesn't count for much whether he does or not," said Haldane
languidly. "I'll raise him two hundred and fifty."
"I'm not satisfied with his," broke in the irrepressible Steel. "I can't
leave my money lying round right under that man's hand, Mr. Auctioneer.
No, sir; I won't feel easy until I've put it where it's safer. Besides,
he called me a friend of the mortgage holder, and I'm waiting for an
apology."
The stranger from the cities grew very red in face, and a fresh laugh,
which was not all good-humor, went up from the crowd; but, as the
auctioneer prepared to grapple with this new phase of affairs, a man in
uniform reined in a gray horse beside the speaker, and looked down at
him. There was a faint twinkle in his eyes, though the rest of his
countenance was grim, and he laid a hard hand on the other's shoulder.
"Ye'll just wait a while longer, Charlie Steel," he said. "I'm thinking
ye will at least be held fully responsible for anything calculated to
cause a breach of the peace."
Thereafter the bidding proceeded without interruption, Haldane and his
rival advancing by fifties or hundreds of dollars, while, when the
prairie syndicate's united treasury was exhausted, which happened very
soon, a few other strangers joined in. Meanwhile, the suspense had grown
almost insupportable to me. That I must lose disastrously was certain
now, but I clung to the hope that I might still start at Crane Valley
clear of debt. Haldane was bidding with manifest indifference, and at
last he stopped.
The auctioneer, calling the price out, looked at him, but Carson Haldane
shook his head, and said, with unusual distinctness: "The other
gentlemen may have it. I have gone further than I consider justifiable
already."
I saw Lane glance at him with a puzzled expression, and next moment try
to signal the stranger, who was clearly in league with him, and fail in
the attempt to attract his attention. Then I held my breath, for, after
two more reluctant bids, there was only silence when the auctioneer
repeated the last offer.
"Is there anyone willing to exceed this ridiculous figure? It's your
last chance, gentlemen. Going, going----" And my hopes died out as he
dropped the hammer.
"Nothing left but to make the best of it," said Steel; which was very
poor consolation, for I could see nothing good at all in the whole
affair.
There was much brisker bidding for the implements, working oxen, and
remnant of the stock, which were within the limits of my neighbors, and
who did their best; but the prices realized were by comparison merely a
drop in the bucket, and I turned away disconsolate, knowing that the
worst I feared had come to pass. All the borrowed money had been sunk in
the improvement of that property, and now the mortgage holder, who had
even before the sale been almost repaid, owned the whole of it, land and
improvements, and still held a lien on me for a balance of the debt.
Haldane met me presently, and his tone was cordial as he said: "Where
are you thinking of spending the night?"
"At Crane Valley with the others," I answered shortly. "Steel and my
foreman are going to help me to restart there."
"I want you to come over to Bonaventure for a few days instead," he
said. "A little rest and change will brace you for the new campaign, and
I am all alone, except for my younger daughter."
I looked him squarely in the face, seeing that frankness was best. "My
wits are not very keen to-day, and I am a little surprised," I said.
"May I ask why you bid at all for my recent property? You must have
known it was worth much more than your apparent limit."
Haldane smiled good-humoredly; but, in spite of this, his face was
inscrutable. "'When I might at least have run the price up,' you wish to
add. Well, I had to redeem a promise made somewhat against my better
judgment, and I stopped--when it seemed advisable. This, as you may
discover, Ormesby, is not the end of the affair, and, if I could have
helped you judiciously, you may be sure that I would. In the meantime,
are you coming back to Bonaventure with me?"
He had told me practically nothing, and yet I trusted him, while the
knowledge that his daughter had bidden him take measures on my behalf
was very soothing. After all, Beatrice Haldane had not forgotten me. "It
is very kind of you, and I should be glad to do so, sir," I said.
I found Lane at the table as soon as the sale was over, and he held out
a sheet of paper. "You can verify the totals at leisure, but you will
see it leaves a balance due me," he said. "It is rather a pity, but the
new purchaser requires immediate possession, though he might allow you
to use the house to-night. Ah! here he is to speak for himself."
The stranger, who indorsed the statement, looked first at Lane and then
at me in sidelong fashion. There was nothing remarkable about him except
that he had hardly the appearance of a practical farmer, but the
malicious enjoyment his master's eyes expressed, and something in his
voice, set my blood on fire. Indeed, I was in a humor to turn on my best
friend just then.
"Nothing would induce me to enter a house which belonged to--you," I
said, turning to Lane. "So far you have won hands down; but neither you
nor your tool has quite consummated your victory. I shall see both of
you sorry you ever laid your grasping hands on this property."
"You may be right in one way," answered Lane. "You'll remember what
happened to the fool bullfrog, and you're looking tolerably healthy
yet."
I had hardly spoken before I regretted it. The words were useless and
puerile; but my indignation demanded some outlet. In any case, Lane
shrugged his shoulders and the other man grinned, while I had clearly
spoken more loudly than I intended, for several bystanders applauded,
and when I moved away Sergeant Mackay overtook me. "I'm surprised at ye,
Rancher Ormesby," he said. "Ye have not shown your usual discretion."
"I would not change it for yours," I answered. "It is evidently
insufficient to warn you that there are times when preaching becomes an
impertinence."
Mackay only shook his head. He wheeled his horse, and, with two troopers
behind him, rode towards the wagon which Lane was mounting. A deep
growl of execration went up, and the farewell might have been warmer but
for the troopers' presence. As it was, he turned and ironically saluted
the sullenly wrathful crowd as the light wagon lurched away across the
prairie. Then I was left homeless, and was glad to feel Haldane's touch
on my arm. "Light this cigar and jump in. The team are getting
impatient, and Lucille will be wondering what has kept us so long," he
said.