Southern Stories Part 8

But the "loco men" were Martha's favorites. There were three of them--Big Billy, Little Billy, and One-eyed Saylo. Why Saylo was called "one-eyed" was a mystery, for he had two of the very best eyes for spying the hated loco-weed ever known in that region. Loco-weed grows, when unmolested, to a height of sixteen or eighteen inches, and its queer leaves s.h.i.+ne and sparkle in the sunlight like silver and crystals.

Its effects on horses or cattle that happen to eat it are worse than deadly. One good, big meal of loco-weed will ruin an animal forever.

A locoed horse, once locoed, is locoed until he dies. Apparently he may recover wholly, but he is not a safe animal to ride, for at any moment he may stagger and fall, or go suddenly mad. A locoed horse is almost certain to show it when he becomes heated by rapid traveling or hard work. The great danger from locoed cattle is, that they will begin to tumble around in the midst of a herd and frighten their fellows into a stampede.

As it can work such ruin, in order to avoid the danger of having their animals locoed, the ranchmen, in those regions where the weed is plentiful, hire men to search for it, cut it down, and destroy it. Of these men who make their living in searching for the dreaded loco-weed and destroying it wherever found were Big Billy, Little Billy, and One-eyed Saylo.

One summer night John told Martha to get her guitar, while he saddled Texas and his own pony for a ride. In a few moments they were galloping over the prairie on their way to a cow-boy camp about three miles away.

When they reached it, they found all the five men, but one, rolled up from top to toe in their tarpaulins, and asleep on the prairie. The one who was awake welcomed them in effusive cow-boy style, and then with a "Wake up, you-uns! Yar's John Fredding an' 'is little woman!" kicked each of his sleeping companions into consciousness with his foot. They were all glad to see John and Martha, for they knew them of old.

In the twinkling of an eye the smoldering fire was livened into a cheery blaze, the visitors' ponies were picketed, and the men were grouped around Martha and the fire. For a little while John talked business with them; but, before long, one of the men arose and, deferentially taking off his broad hat to Martha, asked her if she wouldn't give them a "chune." The music of her guitar was indescribably sweet, there in the little oasis of light in the prairie's desert of darkness, and for a time the men sat silently, with their hands clasped about their knees, enjoying it. Then she struck into a rollicking cow-boy song, and they joined in shouting it out. It is a favorite among the cow-boys of southern Texas, and begins thus:

I'd rather hear a rattler rattle, I'd rather do a Greaser battle, I'd rather buck stampeding cattle, Than Than to Than to fight Than to fight the b.l.o.o.d.y In-ji-ans.

I'd rather eat a pan of dope, I'd rather ride without a rope, I'd rather from this country lope, Than Than to Than to fight Than to fight the b.l.o.o.d.y In-ji-ans.

After that came "I'm Gwine Back to Dixie," and "'Way Down Upon the Suwanee River," and then John said it was time to start home again. Loud were the protests of the cow-boys, and when John and Martha went, the whole party went with them except one man, who was left to watch the cattle. They were "full of sing," as one of them put it, and it was a jolly ride back to the ranch. When it was finally reached, the cow-boys gave them a "send-off" that could have been heard a mile away. They shouted and yelled like the wild "In-ji-ans" they had sung about, and as they wheeled around to gallop back to camp, they fired all the charges in their revolvers into the air as a parting courtesy. Then there was a mad scamper of horses' hoofs, the yells grew fainter, and the cow-boys were gone.

When John went into the house he found two letters which had been brought up by some pa.s.sing friend from Amarilla. One of them was from an old schoolmate of his, who had become a professor in a Northern college, asking for some loco-weed, to be added to the college botanical collection. The other was from Scylla's father, saying that if it would be convenient he would bring his little daughter out to the ranch in a few days for a long-promised visit to Martha. This second letter sent Martha to bed a very happy little girl.

Several days pa.s.sed before Scylla arrived at the ranch; but when she did come there was great rejoicing. After she was comfortably ensconced in her wheeled chair on the porch, she held a mimic reception. John and Martha did the honors, and every human being within call was introduced to the little invalid. In the store there were a dozen leather-decked cow-boys, and Scylla felt quite like a queen as each one scrambled up to her, and with his broad sombrero in one hand took her tiny fingers in the other as he turned red and tried to say something polite. Nor did her impromptu court end with that. After the introductions were over, all the visitors sat down on the porch or the gra.s.s before it, while Martha exhibited her pets to her friend. Gitter, the calf, was put through all his tricks, the cat was placed in Scylla's poor little arms, where he purred contentedly, and the dog chased sticks thrown by whoever could find any to throw. After Gitter had been led away, Martha came up from the stables with her two horses--Texas and Dan. Big black Dan was inclined to frisk a bit and jump about at the unusual scene; but little Texas worked his way right into Scylla's heart by marching steadily and straight up to her, despite Martha's laughing pulls on the lariat looped about his neck. With ears p.r.i.c.ked forward, he made friendly overtures to the new-comer on the spot. He poked his nose into her lap and rubbed it against her hands and ate sugar from her fingers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MARTHA RIDES DAN OVER THE HURDLE.]

"Oh, I wish I could ride him!" said Scylla.

"He never was so cordial before, not even with me," said Martha.

Then she suddenly thought of something, and after intrusting her horses to one of the cow-boys, went and talked it over in whispers with her brother, Scylla's father, and the doctor, who had been discussing politics together on one end of the porch. After this mysterious conversation had lasted a little while, Martha danced back to Scylla, so happy that she "just _had_ to hop."

"Oh, Scylla!" she exclaimed, "you _can_ ride him. Your papa says so and the doctor says so and Brother says so. John is going to fix up one of my saddles for you with an extra strap to keep you from falling, and Texas likes you so much he will be gentle and careful as he can be, I know. And the doctor says he thinks it will do you good, if John and I keep close by you all the time, so there won't be any danger."

The following days at the ranch were very pleasant ones for Martha and her visitor. In the morning after the work was done--Martha always did some of the light house duties--they would watch with never-flagging interest the great herds of cattle as they were driven on their way for s.h.i.+pment from Amarilla, and gossip as girls do. Sometimes the cattle pa.s.sed quite near to the house, but oftener they were half a mile or more away on the prairie--sometimes so far that the great herds seemed to be mere black blots moving over the dun brown of the Texas gra.s.s.

Every afternoon the two girls went riding, escorted either by John or one of the men employed about the ranch. John had fixed one of Martha's saddles so that poor little Scylla could not fall, and Texas seemed to bear his tiny burden with more than ordinary care. At first they rode very slowly, and for only a few moments at a time; but Scylla gained strength daily, and by the end of the second week had improved so much that she could ride for an hour without great fatigue, and Texas was occasionally allowed to start his gentle gallop.

It was as they were returning from one of these rides that Scylla's sharp eyes spied the figure of a horseman rus.h.i.+ng out to them from the ranch. He waved his hat and yelled, firing his revolver between whoops and generally conducted himself like a madman. Martha recognized him at once.

"It's One-eyed Saylo," she said. "He always acts like that--he thinks it wouldn't be showing proper respect to a lady unless he wasted half a dozen cartridges and showed off his horsemans.h.i.+p."

Saylo acknowledged his introduction to Scylla with great ceremony, and then told John that he had come to bring the loco-weed for the college professor. By dint of much searching and hard riding he had gathered a gunny-sack full of it.

Then, as they rode slowly toward the ranch, he told John how the cattle in the whole region seemed to be getting "panicky." All the cow-boys he had met had had the same story to tell. It was only by the most careful handling that they were able to keep their herds from stampeding.

By this time the little cavalcade had reached the ranch. After Scylla had been lifted from the saddle and carried to her seat on the porch, Martha, full of the irrepressible good spirits of a healthy girl, had a long frolic with her big black horse. She took his saddle off, and let him enjoy the luxury of a long roll on the gra.s.s, and then she made him do all his tricks. First he shook hands with great dignity--"just to show that this was friendly fun," Martha said. Then she replaced the saddle, clambered to its easy seat, and put him through his paces. He walked, slow and stately, with much self-consciousness, as a real Spanish horse should; he trotted, he loped, he paced, and went single-foot, greatly to the admiration of the three spectators. Martha kept her seat with perfect ease and grace.

Two posts near the house Martha had turned into the uprights of a jumping-hurdle with bars which could be placed at various heights. Over these bars that afternoon, Dan, with Martha sticking to his back like a burr, jumped many times, surpa.s.sing, to the delight of both girls, his previous best record.

John, in the meantime, was busy in the shop, where One-eyed Saylo had followed him to gossip with the workmen about the all-absorbing topic of saddles and bridles. Martha had finished her fun, led Dan away and picketed him, and was sitting by Scylla's side talking about that happy day when health and strength should have come back to the preacher's little daughter, when the men came out again. The gunny-sack of loco-weed was lying at the side of the porch, and both girls watched John and Saylo with interest as they shook out and examined its contents.

"So they all want some of this stuff to look at an' study, up No'th, do they?" said Saylo, and added: "I reckon we-all wouldn't be so over-flowin' with grief ef they'd take all th' loco thar is in th' State o' Texas."

Just then the Welsh servant blew loud and long on a great tin horn, and they all went in to supper. Saylo and John had picketed their ponies, Saylo intending to ride in to Amarilla that night, and John having in view a visit to the camp of cow-boys four or five miles away. Martha had tethered Texas near the other ponies, because he was "such a sociable little beast."

It was nearing sundown when supper was over. One-eyed Saylo vaulted into his saddle after elaborate good-bys and went off toward Amarilla in a wild canter, and John prepared to start off on his saddle mission to the cow-boys. His pony and Texas stood with heads hanging dejectedly down, close together, as far away from the house as their long lariats would let them go, when John, carrying on his arm a new saddle that he wanted to try, went toward them. As he walked away from the house he called cheerily: "Come, Mattie,--want to go along?"

"Oh, no; I'll stay here with Scylla to-night," she answered.

"Why can't she go too?--it's too nice an evening to stay at home. I'll ride as slow as you like, and it isn't far."

Both girls were delighted at this.

"Isn't he good to poor little me!" Scylla exclaimed to Martha as John fixed her on Texas's back.

Martha ran around, brought Dan, and in a very few moments they were riding leisurely toward the setting sun.

The evening was perfect. As the great, clean-cut disk of the sun dropped slowly below the far-off edge of the prairie, the breeze that had been busy all day rustling the prairie-gra.s.s died away, and the silence was so complete that they all stopped involuntarily "to listen to it." They had ridden until they were three or four miles from the ranch, when they paused again, this time to hear the crooning of far-away cow-boys.

They were between two great herds of cattle. One, on the left, was half a mile away; and the moon, which now shed a great white light over the prairie showed it only as a black ma.s.s. Those cattle had been "bedded"

for the night--that is, two cow-boys had ridden around and around them driving them closer together so that they would be easy to watch, and much less likely to be restless. The other herd was a little nearer, and the cow-boys were bedding it as the trio from the ranch approached. The camp-fire flickered between the riders and the herd, and its flaring light seemed to make the cow-boys and cattle nearest it lurch back and forward in and out of the gloom while their changing shadows danced fantastically over the prairie. Here the three riders paused again to listen. Closer by, the cow-boys' crooning would have sounded harsh and unmusical, but at this distance it shaped itself into a plaintive, minor melody that was very pleasing. For many moments they waited and enjoyed it in silence. Then suddenly a quick gust of wind and a low, muttering rumble of thunder made them turn quickly and look at the sky behind them.

A bank of dead black clouds was rising on the eastern horizon.

John stopped, gazed at it ruefully for a moment, and said:

"There's a big thunder-storm coming; but we can get home all right before it strikes us. You girls ride slowly back. I'll rush to the camp and tell the boys to stop in in the morning. I'll overtake you before you've gone far."

With that he was off at a brisk canter toward the herd.

Martha and Scylla did as he told them. The rising but still distant clouds, lighted on their edges by the moon, added greatly to the beauty of the night, and both the girls appreciated the sight. They walked their horses and talked girlish nonsense. John had promised to take Martha to the North the next winter, and she told Scylla some of the wonderful things she had heard about the great cities and the curious things to be seen up there.

Suddenly Scylla interrupted her with:

"Martha, I believe there's something the matter with Texas--he's trembling all over."

"Oh, I guess not," said Martha; "he's just tired. Texas has had a pretty hard day of it. But yet, he doesn't often get tired."

She rode up close to Scylla and put her hand on Texas's neck. It was wet with sweat, although he had hardly gone faster than a walk since he had left the ranch.

And, sure enough, he _was_ trembling slightly.

"There is something the matter with him, I know," said Scylla.

"Stop a minute and take my reins; I'll get off and see what it is," said Martha. "You're right. Texas is trembling like a leaf. Perhaps we'd better wait here for John."

There was an anxious little quaver in her voice as she dismounted and, going in front of Texas, took his head between her hands. There was no longer any doubt that the horse was sick, and very sick. His eyes closed sleepily, and his head dropped low. Then he suddenly began to sway and totter on his feet.

"Oh, Martha, I'm afraid!" cried Scylla.