Do you think so?
Yes, he just as good as told me hed do it. I know Frank, hes my own cousin, and someways I like him; but hes the limit when he gets going. You see, he wanted to get even with Cliff and took that way of doing it. Ill ride up there and give him a little good advice some Saturday.
He was no longer amused by her blunt speech, and her dark look saddened him. She seemed so unlike the happy girl he met that first day, and the change in her subtended a big, rough, and pitiless world of men against which she was forced to contend all her life.
Mrs. McFarlane greeted Norcross with cordial word and earnest hand-clasp. Im glad to see you looking so well, she said, with charming sincerity.
Im browner, anyway, he answered, and turned to meet McFarlane, a short, black-bearded man, with fine dark eyes and shapely hands hands that had never done anything more toilsome than to lift a bridle rein or to clutch the handle of a gun. He was the horseman in all his training, and though he owned hundreds of acres of land, he had never so much as held a plow or plied a spade. His manner was that of the cow-boss, the lord of great herds, the claimant of empires of government grass-land. Poor as his house looked, he was in reality rich. Narrow-minded in respect to his own interests, he was well in advance of his neighbors on matters relating to the general welfare, a curious mixture of greed and generosity, as most men are, and though he had been made Supervisor at a time when political pull still crippled the Service, he was loyal to the flag. Im mighty glad to see you, he heartily began. We dont often get a man from the sea-level, and when we do we squeeze him dry.
His voice, low, languid, and soft, was most insinuating, and for hours he kept his guest talking of the East and its industries and prejudices; and Berrie and her mother listened with deep admiration, for the youngster had seen a good deal of the old world, and was unusually well read on historical lines of inquiry. He talked well, too, inspired by his attentive audience.
Berries eyes, wide and eager, were fixed upon him unwaveringly. He felt her wonder, her admiration, and was inspired to do his best. Something in her absorbed attention led him to speak of things so personal that he wondered at himself for uttering them.
Ive been dilettante all my life, was one of his confessions. Ive traveled; Ive studied in a tepid sort of fashion; I went through college without any idea of doing anything with what I got; I had a sort of pride in keeping up with my fellows; and I had no idea of preparing for any work in the world. Then came my breakdown, and my doctor ordered me out here. I came intending to fish and loaf around, but I cant do that. Ive got to do something or go back home. I expected to have a chum of mine with me, but his father was injured in an automobile accident, so he went into the office to help out.
As he talked the girl discovered new graces, new allurements in him. His smile, so subtly self-derisive, and his voice so flexible and so quietly eloquent, completed her subjugation. She had no further care concerning Clifford indeed, she had forgotten him for the time at least. The other part of her the highly civilized latent
power drawn from her mother was in action. She lost her air of command, her sense of chieftainship, and sat humbly at the feet of this shining visitor from the East.
At last Mrs. McFarlane rose, and Berea, reluctantly, like a child loath to miss a fairy story, held out her hand to say good night, and the young man saw on her face that look of adoration which marks the birth of sudden love; but his voice was frank and his glance kindly as he said:
Here Ive done all the talking when I wanted you to tell me all sorts of things.
I cant tell you anything.
Oh yes, you can; and, besides, I want you to intercede for me with your father and get me into the Service. But well talk about that to-morrow. Good night.
After the women left the room Norcross said:
I really am in earnest about entering the Forest Service. Landon filled me with enthusiasm about it. Never mind the pay. Im not in immediate need of money; but I do need an interest in life.
McFarlane stared at him with kindly perplexity. I dont know exactly what you can do, but Ill work you in somehow. You ought to work under a man like Settle, one that could put you through a training in the rudiments of the game. Ill see what can be done.
Thank you for that half promise, said Wayland, and he went to his bed happier than at any moment since leaving home.
Berrie, on her part, did not analyze her feeling for Wayland, she only knew that he was as different from the men she knew as a hawk from a sage-hen, and that he appealed to her in a higher way than any other had done. His talk filled her with visions of great cities, and with thoughts of books, for though she was profoundly loyal to her mountain valley, she held other, more secret admirations. She was, in fact, compounded of two opposing tendencies. Her quiet little mother longing in secret for the placid, refined life of her native Kentucky town, had dowered her daughter with some part of her desire. She had always hated the slovenly, wasteful, and purposeless life of the cattle-rancher, and though she still patiently bore with her husbands shortcomings, she covertly hoped that Berea might find some other and more civilized lover than Clifford Belden. She understood her daughter too well to attempt to dictate her action; she merely said to her, as they were alone for a few moments: I dont wonder your father is interested in Mr. Norcross, hes very intelligent and very considerate.