"Aren't you a trifle late?"
"I came as soon as I got word."
Torrance made a little gesture of impatience. "That's not what I mean.
There is very little use in being sorry now. Before the other fools you
joined started there talking there was quietness and prosperity in this
country. The men who had made it what it is got all, but nothing more than
they were entitled to, and one could enjoy what he had worked for and
sleep at night. This was not good enough for you--and this is what you
have made of it."
He stretched out his arm with a forceful gesture, pointing to the men with
rifles, the two white-faced girls, and the splinters on the wall, then
dropped his hand, and Larry's eyes rested on the huddled figure lying by
the stove. He moved towards it, and bent down without a word, and it was
at least five minutes before he came back again, his face dark and stern.
"You have done nothing for him?" he said.
[Illustration: "AREN'T YOU A TRIFLE LATE?"--Page 160.]
"No," said Torrance, "we have not. I guess nature knows what's best for
him, and I didn't see anything to be gained by rousing him with brandy to
start the bleeding."
"Well, first of all, I want that man."
"You can have him. We had meant him for the Sheriff, but what you did just
now lays me in your debt, and I would not like to feel I owed you
anything."
Grant made a little gesture. "I don't think I have quite deserved that,
sir. I owe you a good deal, and it makes what I have to do harder still.
Can't you remember that there was a time when you were kind to me?"
"No," said Torrance drily. "I don't want to be reminded when I have done
foolish things. I tried to warn you, but you would not listen to me, that
the trail you have started on will take you a good deal farther than you
meant to go. If you have anything to tell me, I would sooner talk
business. Are you going to bring your friends round here at night again?"
"They came without me, and, if I can help it, will not come back. This
thing will be gone into, and the leaders punished by our committee. Now,
are you willing to stop the intimidation of the storekeepers, which has
brought about this trouble, and let us get provisions in the town? I can
offer you something in exchange."
"No," said Torrance. "Do what suits you best. I can make no terms with
you. If it hadn't been for my foolishness in sending the boys off with the
cattle, very few of your friends would have got away from Cedar Range
to-night."
"I'll take my man away. I can thank you for that at least," was Grant's
answer.
He moved to the door and opened it, and three men came in. They did his
bidding, and all made way for them when they tramped out unsteadily with
their burden. Then, he turned once more to Torrance with his fur cap in
his hand.
"I am going now, sir, and it is hard to tell what may happen before we
meet again. We have each got a difficult row to hoe, and I want to leave
you on the best terms I can."
Torrance looked at him steadily, and Grant returned it with a curious
gravity, though there were fearless cattle-men at Cedar Range who did not
care to meet its owner's gaze when he regarded them in that fashion. With
a just perceptible gesture he directed the younger man's attention to the
red splashes on the floor.
"That alone," he said quietly, "would stand between you and me. We made
this land rich and peaceful, but that did not please you and the rest, who
had not sense to see that while human nature's what it is, there's no use
worrying about what you can't have when you have got enough. You went
round sowing trouble, and by and by you'll have to reap it. You brought in
the rabble, and were going to lead them, and make them farmers; but now
they will lead you where you don't want to go, and when you have given
them all you have, turn and trample on you. With the help of the men who
are going back on their own kind, they may get us down, but when that time
comes there will not be a head of cattle left, or a dollar in the
treasury."
"I can only hope you are mistaken, sir," said Grant.
"I have lived quite a long while, but I have never seen the rabble keep
faith with anyone longer than it suited them," the older man said. "Any
way, that is not the question. You will be handed to the Sheriff if you
come here again. I have nothing more to tell you, and this is, I hope, the
last time I shall ever speak to you."
Miss Schuyler watched Grant closely, but though his face was drawn and
set, she saw only a respect, which, if it was assumed, still became him in
his bearing as he turned away. As he passed the girls he bent his head,
and Hetty, whose cheeks were flushed, rose with a formal bow, though her
eyes shone suspiciously, but Flora Schuyler stepped forward and held out
her hand.
"Mr. Torrance can't object to two women thanking you for what you have
done; and if he does, I don't greatly mind," she said.
Torrance only smiled, but the warm bronze seemed to have returned to
Larry's face as he passed on. Flora Schuyler had thanked him, but he had
seen what was worth far more to him in Hetty's eyes, and knew that it was
only loyalty to one who had the stronger claim that held her still. After
the door closed behind him there was once more a curious stillness in the
hall until Torrance went out with his retainers. A little later Clavering
found the girls in another room.
"You seem quite impressed, Miss Schuyler," he said.
"I am," said Flora Schuyler. "I have seen a man who commands one's
approbation--and an American."