登陆注册
5269600000003

第3章 CHAPTER I(1)

At the end of a dry, uphill ride over barren country Jean Isbel unpacked to camp at the edge of the cedars where a little rocky canyon green with willow and cottonwood, promised water and grass.

His animals were tired, especially the pack mule that had carried a heavy load; and with slow heave of relief they knelt and rolled in the dust. Jean experienced something of relief himself as he threw off his chaps. He had not been used to hot, dusty, glaring days on the barren lands. Stretching his long length beside a tiny rill of clear water that tinkled over the red stones, he drank thirstily.

The water was cool, but it had an acrid taste--an alkali bite that he did not like. Not since he had left Oregon had he tasted clear, sweet, cold water; and he missed it just as he longed for the stately shady forests he had loved. This wild, endless Arizona land bade fair to earn his hatred.

By the time he had leisurely completed his tasks twilight had fallen and coyotes had begun their barking. Jean listened to the yelps and to the moan of the cool wind in the cedars with a sense of satisfaction that these lonely sounds were familiar. This cedar wood burned into a pretty fire and the smell of its smoke was newly pleasant.

"Reckon maybe I'll learn to like Arizona," he mused, half aloud.

"But I've a hankerin' for waterfalls an' dark-green forests.

Must be the Indian in me. . . . Anyway, dad needs me bad, an' I reckon I'm here for keeps."

Jean threw some cedar branches on the fire, in the light of which he opened his father's letter, hoping by repeated reading to grasp more of its strange portent. It had been two months in reaching him, coming by traveler, by stage and train, and then by boat, and finally by stage again. Written in lead pencil on a leaf torn from an old ledger, it would have been hard to read even if the writing had been more legible.

"Dad's writin' was always bad, but I never saw it so shaky," said Jean, thinking aloud.

GRASS VALLY, ARIZONA.

Son Jean,--Come home. Here is your home and here your needed.

When we left Oregon we all reckoned you would not be long behind.

But its years now. I am growing old, son, and you was always my steadiest boy. Not that you ever was so dam steady. Only your wildness seemed more for the woods. You take after mother, and your brothers Bill and Guy take after me. That is the red and white of it. Your part Indian, Jean, and that Indian I reckon I am going to need bad. I am rich in cattle and horses. And my range here is the best I ever seen. Lately we have been losing stock. But that is not all nor so bad. Sheepmen have moved into the Tonto and are grazing down on Grass Vally. Cattlemen and sheepmen can never bide in this country. We have bad times ahead.

Reckon I have more reasons to worry and need you, but you must wait to hear that by word of mouth. Whatever your doing, chuck it and rustle for Grass Vally so to make here by spring. I am asking you to take pains to pack in some guns and a lot of shells. And hide them in your outfit. If you meet anyone when your coming down into the Tonto, listen more than you talk. And last, son, dont let anything keep you in Oregon. Reckon you have a sweetheart, and if so fetch her along. With love from your dad, GASTON ISBEL.

Jean pondered over this letter. judged by memory of his father, who had always been self-sufficient, it had been a surprise and somewhat of a shock. Weeks of travel and reflection had not helped him to grasp the meaning between the lines.

"Yes, dad's growin' old," mused Jean, feeling a warmth and a sadness stir in him. "He must be 'way over sixty. But he never looked old.

. . . So he's rich now an' losin' stock, an' goin' to be sheeped off his range. Dad could stand a lot of rustlin', but not much from sheepmen."

The softness that stirred in Jean merged into a cold, thoughtful earnestness which had followed every perusal of his father's letter.

A dark, full current seemed flowing in his veins, and at times he felt it swell and heat. It troubled him, making him conscious of a deeper, stronger self, opposed to his careless, free, and dreamy nature. No ties had bound him in Oregon, except love for the great, still forests and the thundering rivers; and this love came from his softer side. It had cost him a wrench to leave. And all the way by ship down the coast to San Diego and across the Sierra Madres by stage, and so on to this last overland travel by horseback, he had felt a retreating of the self that was tranquil and happy and a dominating of this unknown somber self, with its menacing possibilities. Yet despite a nameless regret and a loyalty to Oregon, when he lay in his blankets he had to confess a keen interest in his adventurous future, a keen enjoyment of this stark, wild Arizona. It appeared to be a different sky stretching in dark, star-spangled dome over him--closer, vaster, bluer. The strong fragrance of sage and cedar floated over him with the camp-fire smoke, and all seemed drowsily to subdue his thoughts.

At dawn he rolled out of his blankets and, pulling on his boots, began the day with a zest for the work that must bring closer his calling future. White, crackling frost and cold, nipping air were the same keen spurs to action that he had known in the uplands of Oregon, yet they were not wholly the same. He sensed an exhilaration similar to the effect of a strong, sweet wine. His horse and mule had fared well during the night, having been much refreshed by the grass and water of the little canyon. Jean mounted and rode into the cedars with gladness that at last he had put the endless leagues of barren land behind him.

同类推荐
  • 佛说佛地经

    佛说佛地经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 养小录

    养小录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • A Woman of Thirty

    A Woman of Thirty

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说孛经

    佛说孛经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 江上遗闻

    江上遗闻

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 文化场域与文学新思维

    文化场域与文学新思维

    本书是以辽宁地区作家为评论和研究对象的专题著作。本书既不同于一般的作品评论集,也不同于一般的文艺理论专著,而是使评论跃升到审美研究层次的一种给创作以理论评量与推动的专题论著。本书多视角、全领域地扫描了辽宁文坛近年的创作现状,涉及的作家达30余人,主要有王充闾、王向锋、女真等人,是研究辽宁作家的读者和评论者不可多得的参考书。
  • 总裁烈爱:天价小药妻

    总裁烈爱:天价小药妻

    "她是小药店的店员,无意之中被人陷害,错将“堕胎药”将“保胎药”抓出去,让总裁怀胎六月的女友流产……“女人,弄掉了我的孩子,必须赔我一个!”总裁冷冷地看着她,目光如刀,将她逼到角落。他直闯药店,揪出她这个“罪魁祸首”,霸道的将她领回民政局,签盖,签字,领结婚证!她的抵抗和解释,在顾梓骁的眼里看来全部都是蓄意已久的策划。他不由分说的占据了她的心……当误会解开,当所有的伤害成为感情的殇,她的情该何去何从?"
  • 芈月传(全6册)

    芈月传(全6册)

    郑晓龙执导、孙俪、刘涛、黄轩主演的电视剧原著小说,唯一正版,全网独家!继《后宫甄嬛传》后最令人瞩目的小说巨献!“女性大历史小说”开创者蒋胜男壮阔演绎中国首位太后的惊世传奇!她是历史上真实存在的传奇女性。“太后”一词由她而来。太后专权,也自她始。她是千古一帝秦始皇的高祖母。她沿着商鞅变法之路,奠定了日后秦国一统天下的基础。到现在都还有学者坚信,兵马俑的主人其实是她。在芈月爱恨情仇、波澜壮阔一生的叙事里,全景再现大争之世群雄并起争霸天下的宏伟图卷,尽显芈月、楚威王、秦惠文王、赵武灵王、屈原、黄歇、张仪、苏秦、公孙衍、白起……铁血手腕、绝世才华!
  • 团头鲂规模养殖关键技术

    团头鲂规模养殖关键技术

    《丛书》围绕农民朋友十分关心的具体话题,分“新农民技术能手”、“新农业产业拓展”和“新农村和谐社会”三个系列,分批出版。“新农民技术能手”系列除了传授实用的农业技术,还介绍了如何闯市场、如何经营;“新农业产业拓展”系列介绍了现代农业的新趋势、新模式;“新农村和谐社会”系列包括农村政策宣讲、常见病防治、乡村文化室建立,还对农民进城务工的一些知识作了介绍。全书新颖实用,简明易懂。近年来,江苏在建设全面小康社会的伟大实践中成绩可喜。我们要树立和落实科学发展观、推进“两个率先”、构建和谐社会,按照党中央对社会主义新农村的要求,探索农村文化建设新途径,引导群众不断提升文明素质。
  • 另眼看三国

    另眼看三国

    本书包括三国时期的政治婚姻、“三让徐州”是怎么回事、话说白帝城托孤、关于“空城计”等,从新颖和现代的视角研究了名著中的诸多典故。
  • 射雕时代

    射雕时代

    《射雕时代》讲述了他自以为是当代射雕英雄,行骗的对象是黑社会老大、贪官和暴发户。老四海的骗术出神人化,他曾卖掉海南的烂尾楼、阿波丸上的北京人头盖骨,并把指南针当做全球定位系统公然出售。更绝的是他借联合国环保官员的手,骗走了破坏青海湖环境的大老板的心爱至宝,捎带着把青海湖的环境也治理了……
  • 微芒栖舍

    微芒栖舍

    这里有一家店,店里最珍贵的是青春。这里有一群人,最宝贵的财富是对这段时光的回忆。
  • 神魔霸道

    神魔霸道

    偶然的一次位面穿梭,无意间来到了一个神秘的大陆,这里离仙界不远,同时离魔界亦很近,左边是妖兽,右边是异族,生存在几大域界之间,麻烦事接二连三而来。无奈之下,只好推倒魔族世家,刮搜洪荒异兽,驱奴妖兽横行,斩灭仙界虚伪,一切都只是为了让自己变得更强大,为了保护自己的至爱。为了生存,从此天地只有霸道,蓦然一回首,一朵莲花破天机!新书《大破天界》隆重登场,喜欢的人过去支持吧!
  • 妾本倾城不倾君

    妾本倾城不倾君

    她是九荒第一绝色,花城城主花倾城,最擅长媚术与用毒,他嫌她心肠狠毒性子轻浮;他是菩提寺里明一和尚,寒寺侍佛二十载终不得剃度,师父说他佛缘未到尘缘太重。她带他远离蛮荒踏入滚滚红尘,她说他是临苏唯一的皇子,她说她要将他送上临苏至高无上的皇位;他挣扎过,逃离过,最终却心甘情愿任她摆布,甚至滋长出更大更狂妄的野心,却始终看不透她浅笑低语的背后。那一日,他九五至尊,她却顿然远去,他以为她要的他曾不愿给的,竟是她不屑的;那一日,她褪下铅华,芙笑媚众生,依是曾经戏语:妾本倾城,奈何倾国倾城不倾君。
  • 绝世腹黑:拐个郡主当老婆

    绝世腹黑:拐个郡主当老婆

    突如其来的婚约打破了越青鸾的生活,她不明白,认识一天不到,眼前的这人就死皮赖脸的叫她娘子,他是第一个让越青鸾看不透的人。明明才认识没多久,他对她的一举一动都温柔至极,明明是一副地痞流氓样,城府却深的可怕,就好像每一步都在他的计算之内,“小鸾儿,就算你忘了我,我们也可以重新相识,相知,直到相守不是吗?”“这婚你成也得成,不成也得成,你这辈子都不可能离开我。”