The Call Of The Canyon - Zane Grey (easy readers TXT) 📗

Chapter 6 Pg 88

If Spring Came At All To Oak Creek Canyon It Warmed Into Summer Before

Carley Had Time To Languish With The Fever Characteristic Of Early June In

The East.

 

As If By Magic It Seemed The Green Grass Sprang Up,  The Green Buds Opened

Into Leaves,  The Bluebells And Primroses Bloomed,  The Apple And Peach

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Blossoms Burst Exquisitely White And Pink Against The Blue Sky. Oak Creek

Fell To A Transparent,  Beautiful Brook,  Leisurely Eddying In The Stone

Walled Nooks,  Hurrying With Murmur And Babble Over The Little Falls. The

Mornings Broke Clear And Fragrantly Cool,  The Noon Hours Seemed To Lag

Under A Hot Sun,  The Nights Fell Like Dark Mantles From The Melancholy

Star-Sown Sky.

 

Carley Had Stubbornly Kept On Riding And Climbing Until She Killed Her

Secret Doubt That She Was Really A Thoroughbred,  Until She Satisfied Her

Own Insistent Vanity That She Could Train To A Point Where This Outdoor

Life Was Not Too Much For Her Strength. She Lost Flesh Despite Increase Of

Appetite; She Lost Her Pallor For A Complexion Of Gold-Brown She Knew Her

Eastern Friends Would Admire; She Wore Out The Blisters And Aches And

Pains; She Found Herself Growing Firmer Of Muscle,  Lither Of Line,  Deeper

Of Chest. And In Addition To These Physical Manifestations There Were

Subtle Intimations Of A Delight In A Freedom Of Body She Had Never Before

Known,  Of An Exhilaration In Action That Made Her Hot And Made Her Breathe,

Of A Sloughing Off Of Numberless Petty And Fussy And Luxurious Little

Superficialities Which She Had Supposed Were Necessary To Her Happiness.

What She Had Undertaken In Vain Conquest Of Glenn's Pride And Flo Hutter's

Western Tolerance She Had Found To Be A Boomerang. She Had Won Glenn's

Admiration; She Had Won The Western Girl's Recognition. But Her Passionate,

Stubborn Desire Had Been Ignoble,  And Was Proved So By The Rebound Of Her

Achievement,  Coming Home To Her With A Sweetness She Had Not The Courage To

Accept. She Forced It From Her. This West With Its Rawness,  Its Ruggedness,

She Hated.

 

Nevertheless,  The June Days Passed,  Growing Dreamily Swift,  Growing More

Incomprehensibly Full; And Still She Had Not Broached To Glenn The Main

Object Of Her Visit--To Take Him Back East. Yet A Little While Longer! She

Hated His Work And Had Not Talked Of That. Yet An Honest Consciousness Told

Her That As Time Flew By She Feared More And More To Tell Him That He Was

Wasting His Life There And That She Could Not Bear It. Still Was He Wasting

It? Once In A While A Timid And Unfamiliar Carley Burch Voiced A Pregnant

Query. Perhaps What Held Carley Back Most Was The Happiness She Achieved In

Her Walks And Rides With Glenn. She Lingered Because Of Them. Every Day She

Loved Him More,  And Yet--There Was Something. Was It In Her Or In Him? She

Had A Woman's Assurance Of His Love And Sometimes She Caught Her Breath--

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Sweet And Strong Was The Tumultuous Emotion It Stirred. She Preferred To

Enjoy While She Could,  To Dream Instead Of Think. But It Was Not Possible

To Hold A Blank,  Dreamy,  Lulled Consciousness All The Time. Thought Would

Return. And Not Always Could She Drive Away A Feeling That Glenn Would

Never Be Her Slave. She Divined Something In His Mind That Kept Him Gentle

And Kindly,  Restrained Always,  Sometimes Melancholy And Aloof,  As If He

Were An Impassive Destiny Waiting For The Iron Consequences He Knew

Inevitably Must Fall. What Was This That He Knew Which She Did Not Know?

The Idea Haunted Her. Perhaps It Was That Which Compelled Her To Use All

Her Woman's Wiles And Charms On Glenn. Still,  Though It Thrilled Her To See

She Made Him Love Her More As The Days Passed,  She Could Not Blind Herself

To The Truth That No Softness Or Allurement Of Hers Changed This Strange

Restraint In Him. How That Baffled Her! Was It Resistance Or Knowledge Or

Nobility Or Doubt?

 

Flo Hutter's Twentieth Birthday Came Along The Middle Of June,  And All The

Neighbors And Range Hands For Miles Around Were Invited To Celebrate It.

 

For The Second Time During Her Visit Carley Put On The White Gown That Had

Made Flo Gasp With Delight,  And Had Stunned Mrs. Hutter,  And Had Brought A

Reluctant Compliment From Glenn. Carley Liked To Create A Sensation. What

Were Exquisite And Expensive Gowns For,  If Not That?

 

It Was Twilight On This Particular June Night When She Was Ready To Go

Downstairs,  And She Tarried A While On The Long Porch. The Evening Star,  So

Lonely And Radiant,  So Cold And Passionless In The Dusky Blue,  Had Become

An Object She Waited For And Watched,  The Same As She Had Come To Love The

Dreaming,  Murmuring Melody Of The Waterfall. She Lingered There. What Had

The Sights And Sounds And Smells Of This Wild Canyon Come To Mean To Her?

She Could Not Say. But They Had Changed Her Immeasurably.

 

Her Soft Slippers Made No Sound On The Porch,  And As She Turned The Corner

Of The House,  Where Shadows Hovered Thick,  She Heard Lee Stanton's Voice:

 

"But,  Flo,  You Loved Me Before Kilbourne Came."

 

The Content,  The Pathos,  Of His Voice Chained Carley To The Spot. Some

Situations,  Like Fate,  Were Beyond Resisting.

 

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"Shore I Did," Replied Flo,  Dreamily. This Was The Voice Of A Girl Who Was

Being Confronted By Happy And Sad Thoughts On Her Birthday.

 

"Don't You--Love Me--Still?" He Asked,  Huskily.

 

"Why,  Of Course,  Lee! I Don't Change," She Said.

 

"But Then,  Why--" There For The Moment His Utterance Or Courage Failed.

 

"Lee,  Do You Want The Honest To God's Truth?"

 

"I Reckon--I Do."

 

"Well,  I Love You Just As I Always Did," Replied Flo,  Earnestly. "But,  Lee,

I Love Him More Than You Or Anybody."

 

"My Heaven! Flo--You'll Ruin Us All!" He Exclaimed,  Hoarsely.

 

"No,  I Won't Either. You Can't Say I'm Not Level Headed. I Hated To Tell

You This,  Lee,  But You Made Me."

 

"Flo,  You Love Me An' Him--Two Men?" Queried Stanton,  Incredulously.

 

"I Shore Do," She Drawled,  With A Soft Laugh. "And It's No Fun."

 

"Reckon I Don't Cut Much Of A Figure Alongside Kilbourne," Said Stanton,

Disconsolately.

 

"Lee,  You Could Stand Alongside Any Man," Replied Flo,  Eloquently. "You're

Western,  And You're Steady And Loyal,  And You'll--Well,  Some Day You'll Be

Like Dad. Could I Say More? . . . But,  Lee,  This Man Is Different. He Is

Wonderful. I Can't Explain It,  But I Feel It. He Has Been Through Hell's

Fire. Oh! Will I Ever Forget His Ravings When He Lay So Ill? He Means More

To Me Than Just One Man. He's American. You're American,  Too,  Lee,  And You

Trained To Be A Soldier,  And You Would Have Made A Grand One--If I Know Old

Arizona. But You Were Not Called To France. . . . Glenn Kilbourne Went. God

Only Knows What That Means. But He Went. And There's The Difference. I Saw

The Wreck Of Him. I Did A Little To Save His Life And His Mind. I Wouldn't

Be An American Girl If I Didn't Love Him. . . . Oh,  Lee,  Can't You

Understand?"

 

"I Reckon So. I'm Not Begrudging Glenn What--What You Care. I'm Only Afraid

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I'll Lose You."

 

"I Never Promised To Marry You,  Did I?"

 

"Not In Words. But Kisses Ought To--?"

 

"Yes,  Kisses Mean A Lot," She Replied. "And So Far I Stand Committed. I

Suppose I'll Marry You Some Day And Be Blamed Lucky. I'll Be Happy,  Too--

Don't You Overlook That Hunch. . . . You Needn't Worry. Glenn Is In Love

With Carley. She's Beautiful,  Rich--And Of His Class. How Could He Ever See

Me?"

 

"Flo,  You Can Never Tell," Replied Stanton,  Thoughtfully. "I Didn't Like

Her At First. But I'm Comin' Round. The Thing Is,  Flo,  Does She Love Him As

You Love Him?"

 

"Oh,  I Think So--I Hope So," Answered Flo,  As If In Distress.

 

"I'm Not So Shore. But Then I Can't Savvy Her. Lord Knows I Hope So,  Too.

If She Doesn't--If She Goes Back East An' Leaves Him Here--I Reckon My

Case--"

 

"Hush! I Know She's Out Here To Take Him Back. Let's Go Downstairs Now."

 

"Aw,  Wait--Flo," He Begged. "What's Your Hurry? . . . Come-Give Me--"

 

"There! That's All You Get,  Birthday Or No Birthday," Replied Flo,  Gayly.

 

Carley Heard The Soft Kiss And Stanton's Deep Breath,  And Then Footsteps As

They Walked Away In The Gloom Toward The Stairway. Carley Leaned Against

The Log Wall. She Felt The Rough Wood--Smelled The Rusty Pine Rosin. Her

Other Hand Pressed Her Bosom Where Her Heart Beat With Unwonted Vigor.

Footsteps And Voices Sounded Beneath Her. Twilight Had Deepened Into Night.

The Low Murmur Of The Waterfall And The Babble Of The Brook Floated To Her

Strained Ears.

 

Listeners Never Heard Good Of Themselves. But Stanton's Subtle Doubt Of Any

Depth To Her,  Though It Hurt,  Was Not So Conflicting As The Ringing Truth

Of Flo Hutter's Love For Glenn. This Unsought Knowledge Powerfully Affected

Carley. She Was Forewarned And Forearmed Now. It Saddened Her,  Yet Did Not

Lessen Her Confidence In Her Hold On Glenn. But It Stirred To Perplexing