The Wrong Woman (13 page)

Just below the spring was a grassy bank against which the water ran
invitingly; she spread the lambskin here, rolled up her sleeves, took off her
collar, and conformed to the customs of the place. The cool water was so
invigorating, and there was something so intimate in the live push of the
current against her hand, that she lathered her arms an unnecessary number of
times and kept rinsing them off. It was a brisk little stream and so bent upon
its business that she could almost feel its impatience when she obstructed
it,for which reason, probably, she interfered with it the more; and finally,
being done, she made a little heap of foam in her palm and reached it down just
to see the water run away with it.

As she came round to the sheep-path again, she met Steve, who had been
standing on the side of the knoll and started down the moment he saw her.
Evidently he had been waiting his turn.

"Breakfast is all ready," he announced as he passed. "I 'll be up in a
minute."

By the time she reached the shack there was a great spluttering and splashing
and blowing of water down below. It was Mr. Brown "washing up." In little more
than the minute he was back again. Finding her seated upon the lambskin, he took
his place opposite her and passed the hot bread.

"I saw you chasing that lamb this morning," she said, quite directly. "I was
looking out of a crack to find what the weather was like."

"Did you? Did you see the dog throw him?"

"No; I couldn't see it all. But I saw how he had learned to use his legs.
Why, it does n't seem possible."

"Oh, that's nothing. He's an old hand nowthis is his third day on earth."

"Yes; but is n't he unusually smart?"

"Oh, no. They 've got to catch on pretty quick, you know, or they could n't
keep up with the procession. He's just about like the rest of them. They all
learn fast."

"But it hardly seems possible that such a
helpless
little thing as he
was could learn so much. Why, when I first saw him he was just able to stand
up."

"They're animals," replied Steve, spreading a thick coat of molasses on a
large piece of hot bread. "It only takes them a few minutes to learn standing
up?"

"But they do have to learn, don't they?"

"Oh, yes. They don't always get it right the first time. Lambs make mistakes
the same as anybody else. But if they get started out right, with a good meal
the first thing, and a warm sleep, they go ahead surprisingly. The trouble with
them at first is that they are a little weak."

"I don't suppose, then, that a lamb can get right up and follow the flock?"
she queried.

"Oh, no. That would be expecting too much. They can toddle around pretty well
in a few hours; but they could n't really travel till they've had time to grow
strong."

Janet paused in her questioning. She spent a few moments reflecting upon the
information gained thus far.

"Then I can't understand, Mr. Brown, how you can herd those sheep and take
care of the lambs too. You surely can't carry them all?"

"That 's just what the trouble is," he answered. "I guess that Harding must
be drunk. If he doesn't get back soon and bring help it's likely to get
serious."

"And what will you do?"

"You see, Miss Janet," he said, laying down knife and fork for a formal
statement of the difficulty, "when you 're grazing a bunch of sheep and one of
them drops a lamb she stays right there with it. That is, she does if she is one
of the natural kind. Pretty soon the flock has gone on and she is left behind.
After a while another has a lamb and she drops out and is left behind. And so
on. So there ought to be somebody to take them back to the corral. But of course
the lambs can't travel. They 've got to be carried."

"How long do you suppose that man will takeat the farthest?"

"He ought to be back now. He may come any time. If I only knew he was coming
before night I would know how to manage. I would go right along and leave the
wet-lambs and their mothers stringing along behind; then when he came with help
he could get them in for the night. They would be all right to stay out on the
prairie for a whileall except those whose mothers did n't care for them. But I
would do that; and those whose mothers did n't stick to them would have to die."

"Oh, that would be such a shame!" Janet's eyes opened wide as she
contemplated this state of affairs. "And how about the ones who had mothers?
Would it be all right if they had to stay out on the prairie till the next day?"

"No-o-o-oit would hardly do to leave lambs scattered around on the prairie
all night even if their mothers were with them. Coyotes would get them."

"Oh, dear! Don't you think, Mr. Brown, that that man is quite certain to get
back sometime to-day?"

"I don't see how he can stay away much longer. He knows mighty well he has my
horse, too. He might come along any time."

For a while they ate in silence.

"Miss Janet," he said suddenly, "I don't think you had better start out alone
again. When he gets back with my horse and I am free of this place, I can show
you the road and see that you are all right. I would feel more satisfied that
way."

"Well, then, couldn't I be of some assistanceif I stay?"

"Oh, that is n't necessary. I 'll get along somehow. I don't suppose, though,
that you 'd care to sit here alone at the shack; so maybe you 'd better come
along with me. And if you want to drop behind once in a while and help a lamb
out, why, of course you can. You seem to be pretty handy with them."

This plan was adopted. When breakfast was over he let down the bars; the
sheep poured forth; Shep sprang to life and barked orders right and left. The
crowding multitude spread out on the prairie in grazing order, and when Shep had
executed certain commands necessary to get them headed in the right direction,
the trio of caretakers began their slow progress through the day. Shep, subject
to orders, followed at Steve's heels; Janet walked at his right hand; thus they
wandered along in the desultory manner of the sheep-herder, standing a while,
sitting down a while, advancing now and then as the flock grazed farther away.

"There's number one," Steve remarked casually.

They had ascended, almost imperceptibly, one of those slow rises or folds in
the prairie from which more distant objects, if there are any, come into view.
Janet had just been taking her bearings; ahead of them there had now come to
sight the long file of trees which marked the course of Comanche Creek; looking
back she could still see the shack, quite plainly, on its knoll. As he spoke,
and pointed, her eyes followed the new direction, off to the left. A sheep had
fallen out of the flock; she was now standing some distance behind. From the way
she nosed in the grass without advancing, it was evident what had taken place.

"Well, good-bye," said Janet. Then, feeling suddenly that these words had too
serious a sound, she added, "But I suppose I will catch up with you before
long."

"Shall I go over with you?"

"Oh, no," she answered, and hurried away.

"Don't forget what I said about the creek," he called out after her.

As she looked back he pointed first at the shack and then at the creek,
bringing his arm around in a semicircle as if it were a sort of dial-hand to the
prairie. "Don't get lost," he added.

When she nodded to show that she understood, he strode on after the sheep.
They had been gaining ground steadily and had got far ahead.

Janet, reaching the scene of the nativity, became very much interested. The
lamb was just beginning to look up and take notice; she stooped over him in rapt
contemplation. His little merino back was wrinkled as fine as a frown. His
little hoofs were already beginning to feel the ground under them; he was going
to rise! Then ensued a lamb's usual drunken contest with the laws of gravity.
While he stepped on air and tried to get the hang of things, Janet followed his
fortunes with bated breath. When he had got his four legs firmly planted, the
first thing he did was to shake himself; and he did it with such vigor that he
upset himself. This was a surprise to Janet if not to the lamb; he had shaken
himself off his feet; everything had to be done over again. He seemed a little
stultified by this turn of affairs; but though he was down the fall had not
knocked any of the ambition out of him; he immediately went at it again. This
time he conquered and stood right up to the bar of life, much to Janet's relief.

Having filled himself and spent a moment looking at nothing in particular, he
decided that the best thing to do was to veer around and have some more; in
taking this step, however, there was some sort of error in the proceedings and
he went down forward on his knees. A moment later the hind legs stumbled and
fell, and he was all down; now he decided to take a rest. As the mother nosed
him over and showed every sign of affection, Janet began to see that her
services were not needed; her presence was of no consequence whatever. There was
nothing for her to do but to stroke his back and pat him on the head; having
done which she rose and again went forward upon her charitable mission.

The flock by this time had eaten its way into the distance. It was not so far
away, however, but that she could soon have overtaken it. She walked along at a
moderate pace, looking alternately to right and left for such as might fall
under her care.

She had not gone far when she sighted another. As this one had dropped out of
the right wing of the army ahead, he was off to one side of her present course.
By the time she arrived he had already succeeded in standing up; he even took a
distinct step; then he shook himself like a dog just out of water. Like the
other lamb, he shook himself down; he hit the ground with rather more decisive a
drop. When he had again mastered the difficulties, and achieved his reward,
Janet sat down near by and waited to see whether the two would become
acquainted. This again proved to be a happy union.

Janet felt a little disappointed. She had expected to be of some use. Now
that she had proved to be a mere looker-on she began to take thought about the
lamb's future. There came to her again those words"The coyotes would get them."
She rose at once. A man would carry them back to the corral; why not she? She
took the lamb in her arms intending to go off a distance and see whether the
mother would follow. The experiment proved unnecessary, however; the ewe not
only followed but kept close at her side. Accompanied thus by the mother she
went back to the first halting-place where the other ewe joined them; thence she
set a course straight for the shack, a lamb on each arm and a sheep at each side
of her. Things went much easier than she had expected.

In this turn of affairs, she felt quite satisfied. Although it was the first
time she had ever touched a lamb or had any experience with a sheep, the work
seemed perfectly natural. Indeed, as she marched along between the two watchful
ewes, and hugged to her breast the warm objects of their attention, it seemed to
hera very puzzling delusionthat she had done this same thing before; it was
like a half-faded memory. Nor did it seem natural to think of Mr. Brown as a
stranger; it seemed that she had known him a long time agoalways. Possibly this
was because she felt so much at home in this sort of work. Then, too, we dream
dreams, and they have a way of bringing themselves to pass in some shape or
other.

Having reached the corral she managed to let down the bars without getting
the infants mixed upa matter which had given her much concern; and now that she
had them safely inside she thought it advisable to wait a while and make sure
that family relations were going to be permanent, after her interference. She
rested herself by sitting on the top rail of the corral; meantime she took an
interested survey of the stuffed clothes of Mr. Pete Harding under whose manly
presentment the lambs enjoyed protection. Mr. Brown had made a very good
imitation of a man by filling the herder's working-clothes with marsh grass; the
figure had been made to stand up by means of a pole thrust through the fence, to
the end of which Mr. Harding was suspended by the neck as if he had been hung in
effigy. The man himself had not yet put in his appearance. Janet, as she thought
of him, scanned the horizon for signs of his approach. There was no indication
of his coming. But still the day was not half over; possibly, she told herself,
he would arrive early in the afternoon. Having become satisfied that all was
well, so far as the lambs were concerned, she put up the top bar and went forth
again to her work.

By looking back occasionally and sighting her route by means of the shack and
the storm-shed, the relative positions of which she had been careful to observe
when she first went out, she held her course so well that when she next came in
sight of the line of trees she was at the same point as before. Here she set
straight out for the bend in the creek, which landmark was to guide her on the
next stage of her quest. As before, she kept a sharp lookout for stranded sheep.

She had not gone a great distance when another case presented itself. This
time it was twins. The pair were sleeping. The mother, having licked them nicely
into shape, had lain down beside them; when Janet arrived she got up suddenly
and stared at her in alarm. The twins had evidently been successful, so far, in
all their undertakings, not the least of which is to take a rest. They were in
very good condition to be carried. She took them up and arranged them
comfortably, one on each arm, and soon they were on their way to safety, the
anxious mother trotting first to one side of Janet and then to the other. These
also were added to the ones in the corral.

Janet did not feel so tired but that she could have turned about at once; she
would have done so had it not been that it was dinner-time and she was hungry.
Mr. Brown had taken along with him an extra large lunch which he expected her to
share with him somewhere along the shaded banks of the Comanche; the little plan
passed momentarily through her mind as she raised the lid of the box and took
out a pan of beans. There was also a piece of bread left; it tasted better than
she would have expected cold hot-bread to do.