Ranching For Sylvia Volume-554 - Harold Bindloss (best black authors TXT) 📗

You Came To The Rescue And My Troubles

Melted Like The Dust In Summer Rain.  They Couldn't Stand Before You;

You Banished Them."

 

She Looked At Him Rather Curiously, And, George Thought, With Some

Cause, For He Was A Little Astonished At His Outbreak.  This Was Not

Volume 554 Chapter 26 (The Climax) Pg 196

The Kind Of Language That Was Most Natural To Him.

 

"I Wonder," She Said, "Why You Should Take So Much For Granted--I Mean

In Holding Me Accountable?"

 

"It's Obvious," George Declared.  "I Understand Your Father; He's A

Very Generous Friend, But The Idea Of Sending Me The Seed Didn't Occur

To Him In The First Place; Though I Haven't The Least Doubt That He Was

Glad To Act On It."

 

"Ah!" Said Flora, "It Looks As If You Had Been Acquiring Some

Penetration; You Were Not So Explicit The Last Time You Insisted On

Thanking Me.  Who Can Have Been Teaching You?  It Seems, However, That

I'm Still Incomprehensible."

 

George Considered.  It Would Be Undesirable To Explain That His

Enlightenment Had Come From Edgar, And He Wanted To Express What He

Felt.

 

"No," He Said, In Answer To Her Last Remark; "Not Altogether; But I've

Sometimes Felt That There's A Barrier Of Reserve In You, Beyond Which

It's Hard To Get."

 

"Do You Think It Would Be Worth While To Make The Attempt?  Suppose You

Succeeded And Found There Was Nothing On The Other Side?"

 

He Made A Sign Of Negation, And She Watched Him With Some Interest; The

Man Was Trying To Thrash Out His Ideas.

 

"That Couldn't Happen," He Declared Gravely.  "Somehow You Make One

Feel There Is Much In You That Wants Discovery, But That One Will Learn

It By And By.  After All, It's Only The Shallow People You Never Really

Get To Know."

 

"It Would Seem An Easy Task, On The Face Of It."

 

"As A Matter Of Fact, It Isn't.  They Have A Way Of Enveloping

Themselves In An Air Of Importance And Mystery, And When They Don't Do

So, They're Casual And Inconsequent.  One Likes People With, So To

Speak, Some Continuity Of Character.  By Degrees One Gets To Know How

They'll Act And It Gives One A Sense Of Reliance."  He Paused And

Added, Diffidently: "Anything You Did Would Be Wise And Generous."

 

"By Degrees?" Smiled Flora.  "So It's Slowly, By Patient Sapping, The

Barriers Go Down!  One Could Imagine That Such Things Might Be

Violently Stormed.  But You're Not Rash, Are You, Or Often In A Hurry?

However, It's Time I Was Getting Home."

 

She Waved Her Hand And Rode Away, And George, Getting Into The Saddle,

Started His Team, And Thought About Her While He Listened To The

Crackling Of The Stubble Going Down Beneath The Hoofs, And The Soft

Thud Of Thrown-Back Soil As The Lengthening Rows Of Clods Broke Away

From The Gleaming Shares.  What She Might Have Meant By Her Last Remark

He Could Not Tell, Though So Far As It Concerned Him, He Was Ready To

Volume 554 Chapter 26 (The Climax) Pg 197

Admit That He Was Addicted To Steady Plodding.  Then His Thoughts Took

A Wider Range, And He Began To Make Comparisons.  Flora Was Not

Characterized By Sylvia's Fastidious Refinement; She Was More Virile

And Yet More Reposeful.  Sylvia's Activities Spread Bustle Around Her;

She Required Much Assistance And Everybody In Her Neighborhood Was

Usually Impressed Into Her Service, Though Their Combined Efforts Often

Led To Nothing.  Flora's Work Was Done Silently; The Results Were Most

Apparent.

 

Still, The Charm Sylvia Exerted Was Always Obvious; A Thing To Rejoice

In And Be Thankful For.  Flora Had Not The Same Effect On One, Though

He Suspected There Was A Depth Of Tenderness In Her, Behind The

Barrier.  It Struck Him As A Pity That She Showed No Signs Of Interest

In West, Who Of Late Seemed To Have Been Attracted By The Pretty

Daughter Of A Storekeeper At The Settlement; But, After All, The Lad

Was Hardly Old Or Serious Enough For Flora.  There Was, However, Nobody

Else In The District Who Was Nearly Good Enough For Her; And George

Felt Glad That She Was Reserved And Critical.  It Would Be Disagreeable

To Contemplate Her Yielding To Any Suitor Unless He Were A Man Of

Exceptional Merit.

 

Then He Laughed And Called To His Horses.  He Was Thinking About

Matters That Did Not Concern Him; His Work Was To Drive The Long Furrow

For Sylvia's Benefit, And He Found Pleasure In It.  Bright Sunshine

Smote The Burnished Clods; Scattered, White-Edged Clouds Drove Across

The Sky Of Dazzling Blue, Flinging Down Cool Gray Shadows That Sped

Athwart The Stubble; Young Wheat, Wavy Lines Of Bluff, And Wide-Spread

Prairie Were Steeped In Glowing Color.  The Man Rejoiced In The Rush Of

The Breeze; The Play Of Straining Muscles Swelling And Sinking On The

Bodies Of The Team Before Him Was Pleasant To Watch; He Felt At Home In

The Sun And Wind, Which, Tempered As They Often Were By Gentle Rain,

Were Staunchly Assisting Him.  By And By, All The Foreground Of The

Picture He Gazed Upon Would Be Covered With The Coppery Ears Of Wheat.

He Had Once Shrunk From Returning To Canada; But Now, Through All The

Stress Of Cold And Heat, He Was Growing Fond Of The New Land.  What Was

More, He Felt The Power To Work At Such A Task As He Was Now Engaged In

To Be A Privilege.

 

Volume 554 Chapter 27 (A Sign From Flett) Pg 198

Summer Drew On With Swift Strides.  Crimson Flowers Flecked The Prairie

Grass, The Wild Barley Waved Its Bristling Ears Along The Trails,

Saskatoons Glowed Red In The Shadows Of Each Bluff.  Day By Day

Swift-Moving Clouds Cast Flitting Shadows Across The Sun-Scorched

Plain, But Though They Shed No Moisture The Wheat Stood Nearly

Waist-High Upon The Marston Farm.  The Sand That Whirled About It Did

The Strong Stalks No Harm.

 

Earlier In The Season There Had Been Drenching Thunder Showers, And

Volume 554 Chapter 27 (A Sign From Flett) Pg 199

Beyond The Grain The Flax Spread In Sheets Of Delicate Blue That Broke

Off On The Verge Of The Brown-Headed Timothy.  Still Farther Back Lay

The Green Of Alsike And Alfalfa, For The Band Of Red And White Cattle

That Roamed About The Bluffs; But While The Fodder Crop Was Bountiful

George Had Decided To Supplement It With The Natural Prairie Hay.

There Was No Pause In His Exertions; Task Followed Task In Swift

Succession.  Rising In The Sharp Cold Of The Dawn, He Toiled

Assiduously Until The Sunset Splendors Died Out In Paling Green And

Crimson On The Far Rim Of The Plain.

 

The Early Summer Was Marked By Signs Of Approaching Change In Sage

Butte Affairs.  There Were Still A Few Disturbances And Hardie Had

Troubles To Face, But He And His Supporters Noticed That The

Indifference With Which They Had Been Regarded Was Giving Place To

Sympathy.  When Grant First Visited The Settlement After His

Misadventure, He Was Received With Expressions Of Indignant

Commiseration, And He Afterward Told Flora Dryly That He Was Astonished

At The Number Of His Friends.  Mrs. Nelson And A Few Of The Stalwarts

Pressed Hardie To Make New And More Vigorous Efforts Toward The

Expulsion Of The Offenders, But The Clergyman Refrained.  Things Were

Going As He Wished; It Was Scarcely Wise To Expose Such A Tender Thing

As Half-Formed Opinion To A Severe Test, And The Failure That Might

Follow A Premature Attempt Could Hardly Be Recovered From.  It Seemed

Better To Wait Until Grant's Assailants Should Be Arrested, And The

Story Of Their Doings Elicited In Court, To Rouse General Indignation,

And He Thought This Would Happen.  Flett Had Disappeared Some Weeks Ago

And Nothing Had Been Heard Of Him, But Hardie Believed His Chiefs Had

Sent Him Out On The Robbers' Trail.  The Constable Combined Sound Sense

With Dogged Pertinacity, And These Were Serviceable Qualities.

 

It Was A Hot Afternoon When George Brought Home His Last Load Of Wild

Sloo Hay, Walking Beside His Team, While Flora Curbed Her Reckless

Horse A Few Yards Off.  She Had Ridden Over With Her Father, And

Finding That George Had Not Returned, Had Gone On To Prevent A Hired

Man From Being Sent For Him.  They Had Met Each Other Frequently Of

Late, And George Was Sensible Of An Increasing Pleasure In The Girl's

Society; Though What Flora Felt Did Not Appear.  Behind Them The

Jolting Wagon Strained Beneath Its High-Piled Load That Diffused An

Odor Of Peppermint; In Front The Shadow Of A Bluff Lay Cool Upon The

Sun-Scorched Prairie.

 

"I Suppose You Heard That Baxter Lost A Steer Last Week," She Said.

"Most Likely, It Was Killed; But, Though The Police Searched The

Reservation, There Was No Trace Of The Hide.  We Have Had A Little

Quietness, But I'm Not Convinced That Our Troubles Won't Break Out

Again.  Nobody Seems To Have Heard Anything Of Flett."

 

"He's No Doubt Busy Somewhere."

 

"I'm Inclined To Believe So, And, In A Way, His Silence Is Reassuring.

Flett Can Work Without Making A Disturbance, And That Is In His Favor.

But What Has Become Of Mr. West?  We Haven't Seen Much Of Him Of Late."

 

"He Has Fallen Into A Habit Of Riding Over To The Settlement In His