Hetty! said Flora Schuyler, but Miss Torrance checked her.
Wait until Im through. Then it became plain to me that while Id been wasting my time here the work I was meant for was waiting at Cedar. The old man who gave me everything is very lonely there, and he and Larry have been toiling on while I flung most what a ranch would cost away on lessons and dresses and fripperies, which will never be any good to me. Still, Im an American, too, and now, when theres trouble coming, Im going back to the place I belong to.
You are doing the right thing now, said Flora Schuyler.
Hetty smiled somewhat mirthlessly. Well, she said, because its hard, I guess I am; but theres one thing would make it easier. You will come and stay with me. You dont know how much I want you; and New York in winter doesnt suit you. Youre pale already. Come and try our clear, dry cold.
Eventually Miss Schuyler promised, and Hetty rose. Then its fixed, she said. Ill write the old man a dutiful letter now, while I feel like doing it well.
The letter was duly written, and, as it happened, reached Torrance as he sat alone one evening in his great bare room at Cedar Range. Among the papers on the table in front of him were letters from the cattle-mens committees, which had sprung into existence every here and there, and Torrance apparently did not find them reassuring, for there was care in his face. It had become evident that the big ranchers rights were mostly traditional, and already, in scattered detachments, the vanguard of the homesteaders host was filing in. Here and there they had made their footing good; more often, by means not wholly constitutional, their outposts had been driven in; but it was noticeable that Torrance and his neighbours still believed them no more than detachments, and had not heard the footsteps of the rest. Three years residence in that land had changed the aliens into American citizens, but a lifetime of prosperity could scarcely efface the bitterness they had brought with them from the east, while some, in spite of their crude socialistic aspirations, were drilled men who had herded the imperial legions like driven cattle into Sedan. More of native birth, helots of the cities, and hired hands of the plains, were also turning desiring eyes upon the wide spaces of the cattle country, where there was room for all.
Torrance opened his letter and smiled somewhat drily. It was affectionate and not without its faint pathos, for Hetty had been stirred when she wrote; but the grim old widower felt no great desire for the gentle attentions of a dutiful daughter just then.
We shall be at Cedar soon after you get this, he read among the rest. I know if I had told you earlier you would have protested you didnt want me, just because you foolishly fancied I should be lonely at the Range; but I have been very selfish, and you must have been horribly lonely too; and one of the nicest girls you ever saw is coming to amuse you. You cant help liking Flo. Of course I had to bring a maid; but you will have to make the best of us, because you couldnt stop us now if you wanted to.
It was noticeable that Torrance took the pains to confirm this fact by reference to a railroad schedule, and, finding it incontrovertible, shook his head.
Three of them, he said.
Then he sat still with the letter in his hand, while a trace of tenderness crept into his face, which, however, grew grave again, until there was a tapping at the door, and Clavering came in.
You seem a trifle worried, sir, and if youre busy I neednt keep you long, he said. I just wanted to hand you a cheque for the subscription you paid for me.
Sit down, said Torrance. Where did you get the dollars from?
Clavering appeared almost uneasy for a moment, but he laughed. Ive been thinning out my cattle.
Thats not a policy I approve of just now. Well have the rabble
down upon us as soon as we show any sign of weakening.
Clavering made a little deprecatory gesture. It wasnt a question of policy. I had to have the dollars. Still, you havent told me if you have heard anything unpleasant from the other committees.
Torrance appeared thoughtful. He suspected that Claverings ranch was embarrassed, and the explanation was plausible.
No, he said. It was something else. Hetty is on her way home, and she is bringing another young woman and a maid with her. They will be here before I can stop them. Still, I could, if it was necessary, send them back.
Clavering did not answer for a moment, though Torrance saw the faint gleam in his dark eyes, and watched him narrowly. Then he said, You will find a change in Miss Torrance, sir. She has grown into a beautiful young woman, and has, I fancy, been taught to think for herself in the city; you could not expect her to come back as she left the prairie. And if anything has induced her to decide that her place is here, she will probably stay.
Youre not quite plain. What could induce her?
Clavering smiled, though he saw that the shot had told. It was astonishing that Miss Torrance did not honour me with her confidence. A sense of duty, perhaps, although one notices that the motives of young women are usually a trifle involved. It, however, appears to me that if Miss Torrance makes up her mind to stay, we are still quite capable of guarding our women from anxiety or molestation.