AUNT JANE'S NIECES AND UNCLE JOHN
Continued....
CHAPTER XIII
THE FIDDLER
Tim had listened carelessly to the conversation
until now, when he
said listlessly:
"Don't think us all criminals, for we're not. In my
own case I did
nothing to deserve exile except that I annoyed my
elder brother by
becoming more popular with our social set than he
was. He had all the
property and I was penniless, so he got rid of me by
threatening to
cut off my allowance unless I went to America and
stayed there."
"And you accepted such a condition?" cried Patsy,
scornfully. "Why
were you not independent enough to earn your own
living?"
He shrugged his shoulders, yet seemed amused.
"I simply couldn't," said he. "I was not educated to
work, you know,
and to do so at home would be to disgrace my noble
family. I've too
much respect for my lineage to labor with my hands
or head."
"But here in America no one would know you,"
suggested Beth.
"I would only humiliate myself by undertaking such a
task. And why
should I do so? While I am in America my
affectionate brother, the
head of the family, supports me, as is his duty.
Your philosophy is
pretty enough, but it is not practical. The whole
fault lies in our
old-fashioned system of inheritance, the elder male
of a family
getting all the estate and the younger ones nothing
at all. Here, in
this crude and plebeian country, I believe it is the
custom to provide
for all one's children, and a father is at liberty
to do so because
his estate is not entailed."
"And he earns it himself and can do what he likes
with it," added
Uncle John, impatiently. "Your system of inheritance
and entail may
be somewhat to blame, but your worst fault is in
rearing a class of
mollycoddles and social drones who are never of
benefit to themselves
or the world at large. You, sir, I consider
something less than a
man."
"I agree with you," replied Tim, readily. "I'm only
good to cumber the
earth, and if I get little pleasure out of life I
must admit that it's
all I'm entitled to."
"And you can't break your bonds and escape?" asked
Patsy.
"I don't care to. People who are ambitious to do
things merely bore
me. I don't admire them or care to imitate them."
From that moment they took no further interest in
the handsome
outcast. His world was not their world.
And now Tobey came in, driving before him a lot of
Mexicans bearing
trays of food. The long table was laid in a moment,
for everything
was dumped upon it without any attempt at order.
Each of the cowboys
seized a plate from a pile at one end and helped
himself to whatever
he wanted.
Two or three of the men, however, were courteous
enough to attend to
their unwilling guests and see they were served as
well as conditions
would permit The food was plentiful and of good
quality, but although
none of Uncle John's party was squeamish or a
stickler for form, all
more or less revolted from the utter disregard of
all the proprieties.
"I'm sorry we have no wine; but there's plenty of
whiskey, if you like
it," remarked Tobey.
The girls were silent and ate little, although they
could not help
being interested in observing the bohemianism of
these gently reared
but decadent sons of respectable English families.
As soon as they
could they left the table, and Tobey, observing
their uneasiness in
spite of his damaged and nearly useless optics,
decided to send them
to another room where they could pass the afternoon
without further
annoyance. Stubby escorted the party and ushered
them into a good
sized room which he said was "Algy's study,"
although no one ever
studied there.
"Algy's afraid you'll balk at the dance; so he wants
to please you
however he can," remarked the round faced youth.
"You won't mind being
left alone, will you?"
"We prefer it, sir," answered the Major, stiffly.
"You see, we're going to have a rare lark this
afternoon," continued
Stubby, confidentially. "Usually it's pretty dull
here, and all we
can do is ride and hunt--play cards and quarrel. But
your coming has
created no end of excitement and this dance will be
our red-letter day
for a long time to come. The deuce of if is,
however, that there are
only two girls to dance with thirteen men. We limit
our community to
fifteen, you know; but little Ford and old Rutledge
have backed down
and won't have anything to do with this enterprise.
I don't know why,"
he continued, thoughtfully.
"Perhaps they still have some gentlemanly
instincts," suggested Patsy.
"That must be it," he replied in a relieved tone.
"Well, anyhow,
to avoid quarrels and bloodshed we've agreed to
throw dice for the
dances. Every one is to have an equal chance, you
see, and when you
young ladies open the dance the entire programme
will be arranged for
you."
"Are we to have no choice in the matter of
partners?" inquired Beth
curiously.
"None whatever. There would surely be a row, in that
case, and we
intend to have everything; pass off pleasantly if we
have to kill a
few to keep the peace."
With this Stubby bowed low and retreated toward the
door, which
suddenly opened to admit old Dan'l the fiddler, who
was thrust in
so violently that his body collided with that of
Stubby and nearly
knocked him over.
"That's all right," laughed the remittance man,
recovering from the
shock. "You mustn't escape, you know, Dan'l, for we
depend on you for
the music."
He closed the door as he went out and they all heard
a bolt shoot into
place. Yet the broad window, scarcely six feet from
the ground, stood
wide open to admit the air.
Dan'l stood in the middle of the room, motionless
for a moment. Then
he raised his wrinkled face and clinched his fists,
shaking them in
the direction of the living-room.
"Me!" he muttered; "me play for dese monkeys to
dance--me! a
maestro--a composer--a artiste! No; I vill nod! I
vill die before I
condescention to such badness, such mockery!"
They were the first words he had spoken since his
arrival, and they
seemed to hold all his pentup indignation. The girls
pitied the old
man and, recognizing in him a fellow prisoner,
sought to comfort him.
"If the dance depends upon us, there will be no
dance," said Patsy,
firmly.
"I thought you advised submitting to the whim of
these ruffians," said
Uncle John in surprise.
"Only to gain time, Uncle. And the scheme has
succeeded. Now is our
time to plot and plan how to outwit our enemies."
"Goot!" cried Dan'l approvingly. "I help you. Dey
are vermin--pah! I
vould kill dem all mitout mercifulness, unt be
glad!"
"It won't be necessary to kill them, I hope," said
Beth, smiling. "All
we wish is to secure our escape."
"Vot a time dey make me!" said Dan'l, more calmly.
"You see, I am
living peacefulness in mine bungalow by der
river--ten mile away. Dot
brute Tim, he come unt ask me to fiddle for a dance.
I--fiddle! Ven I
refuse me to do it, he tie me up unt by forcibleness
elope mit me. Iss
id nod a crime--a vickedness--eh?"
"It certainly is, sir," said Uncle John. "But do not
worry. These
girls have some plan in their heads, I'm sure, and
if we manage to
escape we will carry you home in safety. Now, my
dears, what is it?"
"Oh, we've only begun to think yet," said Patsy, and
walked to the
window. All but Myrtle and Dan'l followed her.
Below the window was a jungle of cactus, with
hundreds of spines as
slender and sharp as stilettos sticking in every
direction.
"H-m; this room is burglar proof," muttered Uncle
John, with marked
disappointment.
"It also makes an excellent prison," added Patsy.
"But I suspected
something of this sort when I saw they had left the
window open. We
can't figure on getting out that way, you see."
"Id vould be suiciding," Dan'l said, mournfully
shaking his head. "If
dese fiends were as goot as dey are clefer, dey
vould be angels."
"No argument seems to prevail with them," remarked
Beth. "They are
lawless and merciless, and in this far-away country
believe they may
do as they please."
"They're as bad as the bandits of Taormina,"
observed Patsy, smiling
at the recollection of an adventure they had abroad;
"but we must find
some way to evade them."
Dan'l had gone over to Myrtle's corner and stood
staring at her with
his one shrewd eye. Uncle John looked thoughtfully
out of the window
and saw Wampus busy in the road before the house. He
had his coat off
and was cutting the bars of barbed wire and rolling
them out of the
way, while Mumbles, who had been left with him, ran
here and there at
his heels as if desiring to assist him.
From the big hall, or living room, at the right came
a dull roar of
voices, subdued shouts and laughter, mingled with
the clinking of
glasses. All the remittance men were gathered there
deep in the game
of dice which was to determine the order in which
they were to dance
with Beth and Patsy. The servants were out of sight.
Wampus had the
field to himself.
"Come here," said Uncle John to the girls, and when
they stood beside
him pointed to the car. "Wampus is making ready for
the escape," he
continued. "He has cleared the road and the way is
now open if we can
manage to get to the machine. Has your plan matured
yet?"
Patsy shook her head.
"Not yet, Uncle," she replied.
"Couldn't Wampus throw us a rope?" inquired the
Major.
"He could," said Uncle John; "but we would be unable
to use it. Those
terrible cactus spines are near enough to spear
anyone who dared try
to slide down a rope. Think of something else."
They all tried to do that, but no practical idea
seemed forthcoming.
"Oh, no," Dan'l was saying to Myrtle; "dey are nod
afraid to shoot;
bud dey vill nod shoot ladies, belief me. Always dey
carry refolfers
in deir belts--or deir holsterses. Dey eat mit
refolfers; dey schleep
mit refolfers; dey hunt, dey quarrel, unt sometimes
dey shoot each
odder--de best enactionment vot dey do. Bud dey do
nod shoot at
ladies--nefer."
"Will they wear their revolvers at the dance?" asked
Beth, overhearing
this speech.
"I belief id," said Dan'l, wagging his ancient head.
"Dey like to be
ready to draw quick like, if anybody shteps on
anybody's toes. Yes; of
course."
"What a horrible idea!" exclaimed Patsy.
"They're quite liable to dance and murder in the
same breath," the
Major observed, gloomily.
"I don't like it," said Beth. "It's something awful
just to think of.
Haven't they any gallantry?"
"No," answered Patsy. "But I wouldn't dance with a
lot of half drunken
men wearing revolvers, if they burned me at the
stake for refusing."
"Ah! shtick to dat fine expressionment," cried
Dan'l, eagerly. "Shtick
to id! Say you won't dance if dey wear de
refolfers--unt den we win de
schweepstakes!"
Patsy looked at him critically, in the instant
catching a part of his
idea.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Dan'l explained, while they all listened carefully,
absorbed in
following in thought his unique suggestions.
"Let's do it!" exclaimed Beth. "I'm sure the plan
will succeed."
"It's leaving a good deal to chance," objected Uncle
John, with a
touch of nervousness.
"There is an element of chance in everything,"
declared Patsy. "But
I'm sure we shall escape, Uncle. Why it's a regular
coup!"
"We take them by surprise, you know," explained the
Major, who
heartily favored the idea.
They talked it over for a time, perfecting the
details, and then
became as calm and composed as a group of prisoners
might. Uncle John
waved his handkerchief to attract the attention of
Wampus, who stole
softly around the corner of the house and approached
the window,
taking care to keep at a respectful distance from
the dangerous
cactus.
"Is everything ready?" inquired Uncle John in a
subdued voice.
"To be sure all is ready. Why not? I am Wampus!" was
the reply, in cautious tones.
"Go back to the machine and guard it carefully,
Wampus," commanded Mr. Merrick. "We expect to escape soon after dark, so
have the headlights going, for we shall make a rush for it and there
mustn't be a moment's delay."
"All right," said the chauffeur. "You may depend on
me. I am Wampus, an' not 'fraid of a hundred coward like these. Is
not Mister Algy his eye mos' beautiful blacked?"
"It is," agreed Uncle John. "Go back to the car now,
and wait for us. Don't get impatient. We don't know just when we will
join you, but it will be as soon as we can manage it. What is Mumbles
doing?"
"Mumble he learn to be good automobilist. Jus' now
he sit on seat an' watch wheel to see nobody touch. If anybody touch,
Mumble he eat him up."
They all laughed at this whimsical notion and it
served to relieve the strain of waiting. Wampus, grinning at the success
of his joke, went back to the limousine to inspect it carefully and
adjust it in every part until it was in perfect order.
Now that a definite plan of action had been decided
upon their spirits rose considerably, and they passed the afternoon in
eager anticipation of the crisis.
Rather earlier than expected Stubby and Tim came to
say "they had been appointed a committee to escort their guests to the
banquet hall, where dinner would at once be served."
"We shall have to clear away for the dance," added
Stubby, "so we want to get the feast over with as quickly as possible. I
hope you are all hungry, for Algy has spread himself on this dinner
and we are to have every delicacy the ranch affords, regardless of
expense. We can economize afterward to make up for it."
Elaborate preparations were not greatly in evidence,
however. The Mexican servants had washed themselves and the floor
of the big room had been swept and cleared of some of its rubbish;
but that was all. The remittance men were in their usual rough
costumes and the air was redolent with the fumes of liquor.
AUNT JANE'S NIECES AND UNCLE JOHN
Continued....
 
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