Bob Hampton of Placer - Page 146/205

While Hampton lingered between life and death, assiduously waited upon

by both Naida and Mrs. Guffy, Brant nursed his burns, far more serious

than he had at first supposed, within the sanctity of his tent, longing

for an order to take him elsewhere, and dreading the possibility of

again having to encounter this girl, who remained to him so perplexing

an enigma. Glencaid meanwhile recovered from its mania of lynch-law,

and even began exhibiting some faint evidences of shame over what was

so plainly a mistake. And the populace were also beginning to exhibit

no small degree of interest in the weighty matters which concerned the

fast-culminating love affairs of Miss Spencer.

Almost from her earliest arrival the extensive cattle and mining

interests of the neighborhood became aggressively arrayed against each

other; and now, as the fierce personal rivalry between Messrs. Moffat

and McNeil grew more intense, the breach perceptibly widened. While

the infatuation of the Reverend Mr. Wynkoop for this same fascinating

young lady was plainly to be seen, his chances in the race were not

seriously regarded by the more active partisans upon either side. As

the stage driver explained to an inquisitive party of tourists, "He 's

a mighty fine little feller, gents, but he ain't got the git up an' git

necessary ter take the boundin' fancy of a high-strung heifer like her.

It needs a plum good man ter' rope an' tie any female critter in this

Territory, let me tell ye."

With this conception of the situation in mind, the citizens generally

settled themselves down to enjoy the truly Homeric struggle, freely

wagering their gold-dust upon the outcome. The regular patrons of the

Miners' Retreat were backing Mr. Moffat to a man, while those claiming

headquarters at the Occidental were equally ardent in their support of

the prospects of Mr. McNeil. It must be confessed that Miss Spencer

flirted outrageously, and enjoyed life as she never had done in the

effete East.

In simple truth, it was not in Miss Spencer's sympathetic disposition

to be cruel to any man, and in this puzzling situation she exhibited

all the impartiality possible. The Reverend Mr. Wynkoop always felt

serenely confident of an uninterrupted welcome upon Sunday evenings

after service, while the other nights of the week were evenly

apportioned between the two more ardent aspirants. The delvers after

mineral wealth amid the hills, and the herders on the surrounding

ranches, felt that this was a personal matter between them, and acted

accordingly. Three-finger Boone, who was caught red-handed timing the

exact hour of Mr. Moffat's exit from his lady-love's presence, was

indignantly ducked in the watering-trough before the Miners' Retreat,

and given ten minutes in which to mount his cayuse and get safely

across the camp boundaries. He required only five. Bad-eye Connelly,

who was suspected of having cut Mr. McNeil's lariat while that

gentleman tarried at the Occidental for some slight refreshments while

on his way home, was very promptly rendered a fit hospital subject by

an inquisitive cowman who happened upon the scene.