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Updated: May 4, 2025
A few chickens were hunting fishworms in the thawed places of the garden, and a yellow cat ran creepingly along the top rail of the nearest corral, crouched there with digging claws and pounced down into a flock of snowbirds. A drift of dead apple leaves stirred uneasily beside the footpath through the berry bushes. Billy Louise started nervously and glanced over her shoulder at Seabeck.
But to have him go off and leave her and not bother his head about what happened to her, just so he got out of it Mr. Seabeck, that's going to kill Marthy. It's going to kill her by inches." "I see," he assented, looking thoughtfully at the flushed face and big, shining eyes of Billy Louise.
"You've got to come and lie down, Marthy," said Billy Louise, after a long, unbroken silence. "Mr. Seabeck, if you'll start a fire, I'll make some tea for her. Come, Marthy just to please me. Do it for Billy Louise, Marthy." The old woman rose stiffly, and with a feebleness that seemed utterly foreign to her usual energy, permitted Billy Louise to lead her from the kitchen.
If you'll wait just a minute while I saddle up or if you'd rather ride on, I'll overtake you." "I'll ride on, I think. Blue hates standing around, and he's a little warm, too. You're awfully good, Mr. Seabeck " "Oh, not at all!" Seabeck stubbed his toe on the stable doorsill in his confusion at the praise. "I'll be right along, soon as I can slap a saddle on."
"Ward, there certainly is rustling going on around here; and no one seems to know a thing beyond the mere fact that they're losing cattle. Seabeck has lost some " "Oh, are you sure?" Charlie's eyes widened perceptibly. "I hadn't heard that. By Jove! It sort of makes a fellow feel shaky about going into cattle very strong, doesn't it?
To take a person who wants to make a fresh, honest start, and shut that person up amongst criminals and brand him as a criminal, seems to me a worse wrong than to steal a few head of cattle; don't you think so, Mr. Seabeck?" What Mr. Seabeck thought did not immediately appear in speech. He was pulling a little harder at his whiskers and staring at the ears of his horse.
Then Billy Louise moved from the door and went over to kneel comfortingly beside Marthy, and Seabeck looked at the two and sighed again, though his eyes were no longer stern. He pulled a sheet of paper toward him and wrote steadily in a prim, upright chirography that had never a flourish anywhere, but carefully crossed t's and carefully dotted i's and punctuation marks of beautiful exactness.
I was afraid you wouldn't let Charlie off just for her sake, but I thought maybe if you just thought I wanted you to do it for mine, why, maybe with two women to be sorry for, you'd kind of " "Hm-mm!" Seabeck sent her a keen, blue, twinkling glance that made Billy Louise turn hot all over with shame and penitence.
"I'll look him up when I come back, though Seabeck says he's all right." "Ward is all right," asserted Billy Louise, rather unwisely. "Haven't a doubt of it. I thought maybe he might have seen something that might give us a clew." Perhaps the stock inspector was wiser than she gave him credit for being.
It was the day after that when Seabeck and one of his men rode up the creek and out into the field where Ward's cattle grazed apathetically on the little grass tufts that stuck up out of the snow. Ward was reading, and so did not see them until he raised himself up to make a cigarette and saw them going straight across the coulee by the line fence to the farther hills.
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