consideration of the favor yo u would be doing us. After that you wil l have to manage on your own profits .
That would be fine .
We will be having another stage sto p fifteen miles west, but you could save u s the expense of building for the tim e being .
He turned to Laban . How are you wit h horses, son? Could you harness the team s and get them out for us until your pa get s home ?
Yes, sir. I help pa with the horses, sir.
I hitched up and drove when we came wes t from Missouri . to You're from Missouri, then ? Captai n Hurley said.
My husband is a Missourian, Captain.
I am from Ohio .
As she talked she was moving about , getting things ready. She was flushed an d excited. It was a pleasure to have visitors , and she enjoyed hearing them speak of th e common places of travel, of road conditions , the possibilities of rain, and th e grazing of stock.
You will be having neighbors to th e south , Hurley said . Some big cattl e outfits are moving in about thirty mile s down the country .
It will be a pleasure. Will the stage s come often, Mr. Wildy ?
Not at first. Then they will come ever y other day. Two, sometimes three a wee k one going west, and another going east. I t will depend on the business .
She bustled about, getting food on th e table and refilling their cups.
Later, when they had eaten and wer e filing out to get aboard the stage, McClou d lingered . Ma'am, you keep a sharp watc h out for Injuns. They ain't been troublesom e right now, but it can start any time , and there's always young bucks out fo r mischief.
Don't give 'em anything. If you do , they'll figure it's a sign of fear. Make 'e m trade. Any Injun understands trade an d they cotton to it, but they're notional, an d their thinkin' ain't like ours .
Thank you, Mr. McCloud. I wil l remember .
You say your man went to buy cattle ?
He was looking for breeding stock. W e hope to raise a good herd and start sellin g in about three years .
If I see him, I'll tell him you're al l well . McCloud touched the brim of hi s hat . Be seein' you, ma'am .
They stood out in front of the cabin an d watched the stage until it disappeare d around the next curve of the road. The n Evie turned . Come, children , she said.
We've got a lot to do .
All of them felt a new excitement.
Laban was puffed up with importanc e over his new job. He was to be a hostler, a t least until pa got home, and even after tha t if he could talk pa into letting him keep o n with itunder pa's supervision, of course.
At sunset Evie walked away from th e cabin and stood alone, her hair stirring a little in the faint breeze. She stood on th e edge of the trail, a hundred yards from th e cabin. All was very still.
She never tired of the mornings an d evenings here, the soft lights, the changin g colors of sunlight and cloud upon th e hills, the stirring of wind in the grass.
Out here there was no escaping the sky o r the plains, and Evie knew that until sh e came west she had never really know n distance.
The air was incredibly clear. Fresh an d cool as it was, one breathed it in lik e drinking cool water; and always there wa s a definite odor on it, the odor dependin g on the direction from which the win d blew: the smell of cedar, and of pine s beyond, the smell of sage, or, from th e dryer lands after a rain, the smell of th e creosote bush.
She looked down now at the tracks i n the road, the tracks of the passing stage , the first tracks in their road since Jaco b left.
Suddenly, she felt a chill. Superimpose d on the tracks of the stage were th e tracks of unshod ponies . . . Indian ponies!
When could they have passed? Ho w could she have missed seeing them?
It must have been at suppertime, whe n they were at the table. The stage had lef t shortly after noon, and they had worke d around the place, inside and out. Laba n had fed the stock . . . yes, it must hav e been at suppertime.
She walked a little way, studying th e tracks. There seemed to have been tw o
That would be fine .
We will be having another stage sto p fifteen miles west, but you could save u s the expense of building for the tim e being .
He turned to Laban . How are you wit h horses, son? Could you harness the team s and get them out for us until your pa get s home ?
Yes, sir. I help pa with the horses, sir.
I hitched up and drove when we came wes t from Missouri . to You're from Missouri, then ? Captai n Hurley said.
My husband is a Missourian, Captain.
I am from Ohio .
As she talked she was moving about , getting things ready. She was flushed an d excited. It was a pleasure to have visitors , and she enjoyed hearing them speak of th e common places of travel, of road conditions , the possibilities of rain, and th e grazing of stock.
You will be having neighbors to th e south , Hurley said . Some big cattl e outfits are moving in about thirty mile s down the country .
It will be a pleasure. Will the stage s come often, Mr. Wildy ?
Not at first. Then they will come ever y other day. Two, sometimes three a wee k one going west, and another going east. I t will depend on the business .
She bustled about, getting food on th e table and refilling their cups.
Later, when they had eaten and wer e filing out to get aboard the stage, McClou d lingered . Ma'am, you keep a sharp watc h out for Injuns. They ain't been troublesom e right now, but it can start any time , and there's always young bucks out fo r mischief.
Don't give 'em anything. If you do , they'll figure it's a sign of fear. Make 'e m trade. Any Injun understands trade an d they cotton to it, but they're notional, an d their thinkin' ain't like ours .
Thank you, Mr. McCloud. I wil l remember .
You say your man went to buy cattle ?
He was looking for breeding stock. W e hope to raise a good herd and start sellin g in about three years .
If I see him, I'll tell him you're al l well . McCloud touched the brim of hi s hat . Be seein' you, ma'am .
They stood out in front of the cabin an d watched the stage until it disappeare d around the next curve of the road. The n Evie turned . Come, children , she said.
We've got a lot to do .
All of them felt a new excitement.
Laban was puffed up with importanc e over his new job. He was to be a hostler, a t least until pa got home, and even after tha t if he could talk pa into letting him keep o n with itunder pa's supervision, of course.
At sunset Evie walked away from th e cabin and stood alone, her hair stirring a little in the faint breeze. She stood on th e edge of the trail, a hundred yards from th e cabin. All was very still.
She never tired of the mornings an d evenings here, the soft lights, the changin g colors of sunlight and cloud upon th e hills, the stirring of wind in the grass.
Out here there was no escaping the sky o r the plains, and Evie knew that until sh e came west she had never really know n distance.
The air was incredibly clear. Fresh an d cool as it was, one breathed it in lik e drinking cool water; and always there wa s a definite odor on it, the odor dependin g on the direction from which the win d blew: the smell of cedar, and of pine s beyond, the smell of sage, or, from th e dryer lands after a rain, the smell of th e creosote bush.
She looked down now at the tracks i n the road, the tracks of the passing stage , the first tracks in their road since Jaco b left.
Suddenly, she felt a chill. Superimpose d on the tracks of the stage were th e tracks of unshod ponies . . . Indian ponies!
When could they have passed? Ho w could she have missed seeing them?
It must have been at suppertime, whe n they were at the table. The stage had lef t shortly after noon, and they had worke d around the place, inside and out. Laba n had fed the stock . . . yes, it must hav e been at suppertime.
She walked a little way, studying th e tracks. There seemed to have been tw o
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