A Gent from Bear Creek - ebook

1. STRIPED SHIRTS AND BUSTED HEARTS

IF Joel Braxton hadn’t drawed a knife whilst I was beating his head agen a spruce log, I reckon I wouldn’t of had that quarrel with Glory McGraw, and things might of turned out different to what they did. Pap’s always said the Braxtons was no-account folks, and I allow he’s right. First thing I knowed Jim Garfield hollered: “Look out, Breck, the yaller hound’s got a knife!” Then I felt a kind of sting and looked down and seen Joel had cut a big gash in my buckskin shirt and scratched my hide trying to get at my innards.

I let go of his ears and taken the knife away from him and throwed it into a blackjack thicket, and throwed him after it. They warn’t no use in him belly-aching like he done just because they happened to be a tree in his way. I dunno how he expects to get throw%ed into a blackjack thicket without getting some hide knocked off.

But I am a good-natured man, and I was a easy-going youngster, even then. I paid no heed to Joel’s bloodthirsty threats whilst his brother and Jim Garfield and the others was pulling him out of the bresh and dousing him in the creek to wash the blood off. I got on to my mule Alexander and headed for Old Man McGraw’s cabin where I was started to when I let myself be beguiled into stopping with them idjits.

The McGraws is the only folks on Bear Creek besides the Reynoldses and the Braxtons which ain’t no kin to me one way or another, and I’d been sweet on Glory McGraw ever since I was big enough to wear britches. She was the tallest, finest, purtiest gal in the Humbolt Mountains, which is covering considerable territory. They warn’t a gal on Bear Creek, not even my own sisters, which could swing a axe like her, or fry a b’ar steak as tasty, or make hominy as good, and they warn’t nobody, man nor woman, which could outrun her, less’n it was me.

As I come up the trail that led up to the McGraw cabin, I seen her, just scooping a pail of water out of the creek. The cabin was just out of sight on the other side of a clump of alders. She turned around and seen me, and stood there with the pail dripping in her hand, and her sleeves rolled up, and her arms and throat and bare feet was as white as anything you ever seen, and her eyes was the same color as the sky, and her hair looked like gold dust when the sun hit it.

I taken off my coonskin cap, and said: “Good mornin’, Glory, how’re you- all this mornin’?”

“Joe got kicked right severe by pap’s sorrel mare yesterday,” she says. “Just knocked some hide off, though. Outside of that we’re all doin’ fine. Air you glued to that mule?”

“No’m,” I says, and clumb down, and says: “Lemme tote yore pail, Glory.”

She started to hand it to me, and then she frowned and p’inted at my shirt, and says: “You been fightin’ agen.”

“Nobody but Joel Braxton,” I said. “‘Twarn’t nothin’. He said moskeeters in the Injun Territory was bigger’n what they be in Texas.”

“What you know about it?” says she. “You ain’t never been to Texas.”

“Well, he ain’t never been to the Injun Territory neither,” I said. “‘Taint the moskeeters. It’s the principle of the thing. My folks all come from Texas, and no Braxton can slander the State around me.”

“You fight too much,” she said. “Who licked?”

“Why, me, of course,” I said. “I always do, don’t I?”

This harmless statement seemed to irritate her.

“I reckon you think nobody on Bear Creek can lick you,” she sneered.

“Well,” I says truthfully, “nobody ain’t, up to now–outside of pap.”

“You ain’t never fit none of my brothers,” she snapped.

“That’s why,” I said. “I’ve took quite a lot of sass offa them ganglin’ mavericks jest because they was yore brothers and I didn’t want to hurt ‘em.”

Gals is funny about some things. She got mad and jerked the pail out of my hand, and says: “Oh, is that so? Well, lemme tell you right now, Breckinridge Elkins, the littlest one of my brothers can lick you like a balky hoss, and if you ever lay a finger on one of ‘em, I’ll fix you! And furthermore and besides, they’s a gent up to the cabin right now which could pull his shootin’ iron and decorate yore whole carcass with lead polka-dots whilst you was fumblin’ for yore old cap-and-ball pistol!”

“I don’t claim to be no gunfighter,” I says mildly. “But I bet he cain’t sling iron fast as my cousin Jack Gordon.”

“You and yore cousins!” says she plenty scornful. “This feller is sech a gent as you never drempt existed! He’s a cowpuncher from the Wild River Country, and he’s ridin’ through to Chawed Ear and he stopped at our cabin for dinner. If you could see him, you wouldn’t never brag no more. You with that old mule and them moccasins and buckskin clothes!”

“Well, gosh, Glory!” I says plumb bewildered. “What’s the matter with buckskin? I like it better’n homespun.”

“Hah!” sneered she. “You oughta see Mr. Snake River Wilkinson! He ain’t wearin’ neither buckskins nor homespun. Store-bought clothes! I never seen such elegance. Star top boots, and gold-mounted spurs! And a red neckcloth– he said silk. I dunno. I never seen nothin’ like it before. And a shirt all red and green and yaller and beautiful! And a white Stetson hat! And a pearl- handled six-shooter! And the finest hoss and riggin’s you ever seen, you big dummox!”

“Aw, well, gosh!” I said, getting irritated. “If this here Mister Wilkinson is so blame gorgeous, whyn’t you marry him?”

I ought not to said it. Her eyes flashed blue sparks.

“I will!” she gritted. “You think a fine gentleman like him wouldn’t marry me, hey? I’ll show you! I’ll marry him right now!”

And impulsively shattering her water bucket over my head she turned and run up the trail.

“Glory, wait!” I hollered, but by the time I got the water out of my eyes and the oak splinters out of my hair she was gone.

Alexander was gone too. He taken off down the creek when Glory started yelling at me, because he was a smart mule in his dumb way, and could tell when thunder-showers was brewing. I run him for a mile before I caught him, and then I got onto him and headed for the McGraw cabin agen. Glory was mad enough to do anything she thought would worry me, and they warn’t nothing would worry me more’n for her to marry some dern cowpuncher from the river country. She was plumb wrong when she thought I thought he wouldn’t have her. Any man which would pass up a chance to get hitched with Glory McGraw would be a dern fool, I don’t care what color his shirt was.

My heart sunk into my moccasins as I approached the alder clump where we’d had our row. I figgered she’d stretched things a little talking about Mr. Wilkinson’s elegance, because whoever heard of a shirt with three colors into it, or gold-mounted spurs? Still, he was bound to be rich and wonderful from what she said, and what chance did I have? All the clothes I had was what I had on, and I hadn’t never even seen a store-bought shirt, much less owned one. I didn’t know whether to fall down in the trail and have a good bawl, or go get my rifle-gun and lay for Mr. Wilkinson.

Then, jest as I got back to where I’d saw Glory last, here she come again, running like a scairt deer, with her eyes all wide and her mouth open.

“Breckinridge!” she panted. “Oh, Breckinridge! I’ve played hell now!”

“What you mean?” I said.

“Well,” says she, “that there cowpuncher Mister Wilkinson had been castin’ eyes at me ever since he arriv at our cabin, but I hadn’t give him no encouragement. But you made me so mad awhile ago, I went back to the cabin, and I marched right up to him, and I says: ‘Mister Wilkinson, did you ever think about gittin’ married?’ He grabbed me by the hand and he says, says he: ‘Gal, I been thinkin’ about it ever since I seen you choppin’ wood outside the cabin as I rode by. Fact is, that’s why I stopped here.’ I was so plumb flabbergasted I didn’t know what to say, and the first thing I knowed, him and pap was makin’ arrangements for the weddin’!”

“Aw, gosh!” I said.

She started wringing her hands.

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