Part 7 (1/2)
One night, hours after dark, the stage rolled into Marco, with Pan one of five pa.s.sengers. Sunset had overtaken them miles from their destination. At that time Pan thought the country wild and beautiful in the extreme. Darkness had soon blotted out the strange formations of colored rocks, the endless sweep of valley, the cold white peaks in the far distance.
Marco! How unusual the swelling of his heart! The long three-week ride had ended. The stage had rolled down a main street the like of which Pan had never even imagined. It was crude, rough, garish with lights and stark board fronts of buildings, and a motley jostling crowd of men; women, too, were not wanting in the throngs streaming up and down. Again it was Sat.u.r.day night. Always it appeared Pan hit town on this of all nights. Noise and dust filled the air. Pan pulled down his bag, and mounted the board steps of the hotel the stage driver had announced.
If Pan had not been keenly strung, after long weeks, with the thought of soon seeing his mother, father, his little sister and Lucy, he would yet have been excited over this adventure beyond the Rockies.
Contrary to his usual habit of throwing his money to the winds like most cowboys, he had exercised rigid economy on this trip. Indeed, it was the first time he had ever done such a thing. He had between four and five hundred dollars, consisting of wages he had saved and the proceeds from the sale of his horses and outfit. There was no telling in what difficulties he might find his father and what need there might be for his money. So Pan took cheap lodgings, and patronized a restaurant kept by a Chinaman.
He chose a table at which sat a young man whose face and hands and clothes told of rough life in the open in contact with elemental things. Pan could catch such significance as quickly as he could the points of a horse. He belonged to that fraternity himself.
”Mind if I sit here?” he asked, indicating the vacant chair.
”Help yourself, stranger,” was the reply, accompanied by an appraising glance from level quiet eyes.
”I'm sure hungry. How's the chuck here?” went on Pan, seating himself.
”The c.h.i.n.k is a first rate cook an' clean.... Just come to town?”
”Yes,” replied Pan, and after giving his order to a boy waiter he turned to his companion across the table and continued. ”And it took a darn long ride to get here. From Texas.”
”That so? Well, I come from western Kansas, just across the Texas line.”
”Been here long?”
”Reckon a matter of six months.”
”What's your work, if you'll excuse curiosity. I'm green, you see, and want to know.”
”I've been workin' a minin' claim. Gold.”
”Ah-huh!” replied Pan with quickened interest. ”Sounds awful good to me. I never saw any gold but a few gold eagles, and they've sure been scarce enough.”
Pan's frankness, and that something simple and careless about him, combined with his appearance, always created the best of impressions upon men.
His companion grinned across the table, as if he had shared Pan's experience. ”Reckon you needn't tell me you're a cowpuncher. I heard you comin' before I saw you.... My name's Brown.”
”Howdy, glad to meet you,” replied Pan, and then with evident hesitation. ”Mine is Smith.”
”Panhandle Smith?” queried the other, quickly.
”Why, sure,” returned Pan with a laugh.
”Shake,” was all the reply Brown made, except to extend a lean strong hand.
”I'm most as lucky as I am unlucky,” said Pan warmly. ”It's a small world.... Now tell me, Brown, have you seen or heard anything of my dad, Bill Smith?”
”No, sorry to say. But I haven't mingled much. Been layin' pretty low, because the fact is I think I've struck a rich claim. An' it's made me cautious.”
”Ah-uh. Pretty wide open town, I'll bet. I appreciate your confidence in me.”
”To tell you the truth I'm darn glad to run into some one from near home. Lord, I wish you could have brought word from my wife an' baby.”
”Married, and got a kid. That's fine. Boy or girl?”