United States -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
Judith crawled out of the blankets, took Doug by the arm, and pushed him
down in the warm nest she had left. Then she covered him carefully.
"It's my turn now," she said.
He slept until noon. When he woke, Judith was making coffee, and the
little wild mare was munching oats with the other horses. The Wolf Cub
was gnawing on a bone, and the sun sifted brilliantly through the
cedars. Douglas got to his feet stiffly and Judith looked up at him from
her cooking with a smile.
"Nothing like having your breakfast served immediately on waking," said
Douglas.
"Come and eat, Doug. We must be on our way." Judith poured a tin cup of
coffee and offered Douglas a bacon sandwich as she spoke.
"You shouldn't have let me sleep so long. A couple of hours would have
kept me going the rest of the day."
"You talk as foolish as old Johnny!" exclaimed Judith. "You were in
almost as bad shape as I was, and two hours' sleep would have been a
mere aggravation to me. Will you let me have enough grub to see me down
to the Bowdins' ranch, Doug?"
"No, I won't," replied Douglas succinctly, bracing himself for battle as
he spoke.
"Don't let's quarrel, Doug." Judith kept her eyes on the fire. "I
haven't any intention of going back to Lost Chief. I've broken away and
I shall stay away."
"I don't blame you for feeling that way, Jude, but surely you can see
that this is no way to go."
Judith set her fine jaw firmly. Finally she said, "Where did you pick up
my trail?"
"Where you left the stage road. Jude, did you know that old Johnny gave
Dad a nasty one above the knee?"
"No! Old Johnny came to my rescue, but I didn't think he could hit a
canyon wall. Good old Johnny! What became of him?"
Douglas moistened his lips. "He followed my father to the half-way
house. Dad was all in. Couldn't even build himself a fire. Johnny
wouldn't do a thing for him. He went outside and sat down on the
doorstep with my shot-gun across his knees; every time Dad yelled at him
he said he was saving Jude for Douglas. The last of the afternoon Peter
and I came up and found old Johnny there."
"Good old Johnny!" said Judith again.
Douglas nodded, hesitated, then said. "He was asleep and we couldn't
wake him up."
Judith's eyes suddenly filled with horror. "You couldn't wake him up?
You mean--"
Again Douglas nodded. "He was gone, poor old Johnny. For you and me. I
came on after you, alone."
Judith twisted her hands together. "But dead, Doug! And in such a simple
way! O the poor little old chap! I can't forgive myself, Douglas!"
"It's the way he'd like to have gone. You are not to blame."
"O, yes, I am. I should have stopped and sent him home. But I was beside
myself, Doug,--O, you don't know! you can't know!"
"You're not to blame yourself about Johnny, I tell you."
"Now I never do want to go back! You'll just have to grub-stake me,
Doug. Please!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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