It was snowing, and snowing hard. Moreover, it had been snowing all
night, and all the afternoon before. The wind rioted furiously over the
broad Missouri plains, alternately building up huge castles of snow and
throwing them down again like a fretful child; overtaking the belated
teamster on his homeward journey, clutching him with its icy hand, and
leaving him buried in a tomb spotless as the fairest marble; howling,
shrieking, racing madly to and fro, never out of breath, always the same
tireless, pitiless, awful power. Rocks, fields, sometimes even forests
were blotted out of the landscape.
A mere hyphen upon the broad white page lay the Western-bound
train, held fast by the soft but firm hand. The fires in the
locomotives--there were two of them--had been suffered to go out, the
fuel in the tenders was exhausted, and the great creatures waited
silently together, left alone in the storm, while the snow drifted
higher and higher upon their patient backs.
When Bob had waked that morning, to find the tempest more furious than
ever, and the train stuck fast in a huge snowbank, his first thought was
of dismay at the possible detention in the narrow limits of the Pullman,
which seemed much colder than it had before; his next was to wonder how
the change of fortune would affect Gertrude Raymond. Of course he had
long ago become acquainted with the brown traveling suit and fur collar.
Of course there had been numberless little services for him to perform
for her and the old gentleman, who had indeed proved to be her father.
Bob had already begun to dread the end of the journey. He had gone to
his berth the night before wishing that San Francisco were ten days
from Boston instead of six. Providence having taken him at his word and
indicated that the journey would be of at least that duration, if not
more, he was disposed, like no few of his fellow-mortals, to grumble.
Once more he became misanthropic. “There’s Miss Raymond, now,” he
growled to himself, knocking his head savagely against the upper berth
in his attempt to look out through the frosty pane, “sitting over across
the aisle day after day with her kid gloves and all that. Nice enough,
of course,” recalling one or two spirited conversations where hours had
slipped by like minutes, “but confoundedly useless like the rest of ’em.
If she were like mother, now, there’d be no trouble. She’d take care of
herself. But as it is, the whole car will be turned upside down for her
to-day, for fear she’ll freeze or starve or spoil her complexion, or
something.”
Here Bob turned an extremely cold shoulder on the window, and having
performed a sort of horizontal toilet, emerged from his berth, his hair
on end, and his face expressive of utter defiance to the world in
general and contempt of fashionable young ladies in particular.
At that moment Miss Raymond appeared in the aisle, sweet and rosy as a
June morning, her cheeks glowing and her eyes sparkling with fun.
“Good-morning, Mr. Estabrook,” she said demurely, settling the fur
collar about her neck.
Bob endeavored to look dignified and was conscious of failure.
“Good mo-morning,” he replied with some stiffness, and a shiver which
took him by surprise. It was cold, jumping out of that warm berth.
“I understand we must stay--but don’t let me detain you,” she added with
a sly glance at his hair.
Bob turned and marched off solemnly to the masculine end of the car,
washed in ice-water, completed his toilet, and came back refreshed.
Breakfast was formally served as usual, and then a council of war was
held. Conductor, engineers, and brakemen being consulted, and
inventories taken, it was found that while food was abundant, the stock
of wood in the bins would not last till noon. There were twelve railroad
men and thirty-five passengers on board, some twenty of the latter being
emigrants in a second-class behind the two Pullmans.
The little company gathered in the snow-bound car looked blankly at each
other, some of them instinctively drawing their wraps more tightly about
their shoulders, as if they already felt the approaching chill.
It was miles to the nearest station in either direction. Above, below,
on all sides, was the white blur of tumultuous, wind-lashed snow.
The silence was broken pleasantly. Once more Bob felt the power of those
clear, sweet tones.
“The men must make up a party to hunt for wood,” she said. “While you’re
gone we women will do what we can for those who are left.”
The necessity for immediate action was evident, and without further
words the council broke up, to obey her suggestion.
A dozen men, looking like amateur Esquimaux, and floundering up to their
armpits at the first step, started off through the drifts. One of the
train-men who knew the line of the road thoroughly, was sure they must
be near a certain clump of trees where plenty of wood could be obtained.
Taking the precaution to move in single line, one of the engineers, a
broad-shouldered six-footer, leading the way, and steering by compass,
they were soon out of sight. As they struck off at right angles to the
track, Bob thought he recognized a face pressed close to the pane and
watching them anxiously; but he could not be sure.
Two hours later the men appeared once more, some staggering under huge
logs, some with axes, some with bundles of lighter boughs for kindling.
In another five minutes smoke was going up cheerily from the whole line
of cars, for the trees had proved to be less than a quarter of a mile
distant and the supply would be plentiful before night.
When Bob Estabrook stamped into his own car, hugging up a big armful of
wood, he was a different looking fellow from the trim young lawyer who
was wont to stand before the jury seats in the Boston Court House. He
had on a pair of immense blue yarn mittens loaned by a kindly brakeman,
his face was scratched with refractory twigs, his eyebrows were
frosted, his moustache an icy caret.
The average tramp might well have hesitated before acknowledging kinship
with him.
His eye roved through the length of the car as it had that first night
in the depot. She was not there. He was as anxious as a boy for her
praise.
“Guess I’ll take it into the next car,” he said apologetically to the
nearest passenger; “there’s more coming just behind.”
She was not in the second Pullman. Of course she wasn’t in the baggage
car. Was it possible--? He entered the third and last car, recoiling
just a bit at the odor of crowded and unclean poverty which met him at
the door.
Sure enough, there she sat--his idle, fashionable type of
inutility--with one frowzy child upon the seat beside her, two very
rumpled-looking boys in front, and a baby with terracotta hair in her
arms. Somehow, the baby’s hair against the fur collar didn’t look so
badly as you would expect, either. She seemed to be singing it to sleep,
and kept on with her soft crooning as she glanced up over the tangled
red locks at snowy Bob and his armful of wood, with a look in her eyes
that would have sent him cheerfully to Alaska for more, had there been
need. A few seats off, I ought to say, her father was talking kindly and
earnestly to a rough-looking man and his wife, the latter of whom wore
the dear old gentleman’s cloak. Fathers and daughters are apt to be
pretty much alike in these things, you see.