“Devil take ye, I don’t want none of ye!” quavered Griffith in querulous anger. “I’m goin’ to Magdalena to get me a job; you tell him so when he can travel, ye goshly-gorful old ranch hand!”
Disdaining a response, Ross stooped; after some effort, he got Thady Shea in the “fireman’s grip” and staggered erect, the delirious man still muttering. He turned and walked toward his shack, striding heavily under the burden. Dad Griffith hesitated, then wagged his beard—he did not deem it wise to follow.
“Hey!” he lifted his voice after the departing rancher. “You be good to him, hear me? Mind my words, if ye ain’t good to him I’ll—I’ll come back and burn ye out some night!”
Ross paid no heed but strode on out of sight. Dad Griffith shook his fist in senile rage, then slowly, and with a sigh, turned about and started in the opposite direction.
The shack which Ross had built, anticipating matrimony, was a two-room affair with a lean-to kitchen. Grunting beneath his load, Ross stooped into the house and deposited Thady Shea upon an iron bed.
Ross came erect, panting, and stared down at Shea’s fever-flushed features. He scratched his head, as though in perplexity, and his eyes were suddenly very kindly.
“Poor devil!” he said, being a man who talked much to himself. “Poor devil! Got a real good face, too. What in time can I do? The car’s broke down and there’s no doctor closer’n Magdalena anyhow. Well, I never knowed whiskey to fail curin’ any trouble, and I guess a bit o’ quinine will help out. Thank the Lord I got whiskey to burn!”
He went to a cupboard in the corner and drew forth a wicker demijohn, a new demijohn, a demijohn that hung heavy in his hand. Upon the chair beside the bed he put a big crockery cup, thick and heavy. He poured whiskey into it; he filled it nearly to the brim with raw red liquor; a ray of sunlight fell upon the cup and made it seem filled with rich thin blood.
“Just for a starter,” murmured Ross. “Now the quinine.”
The hours passed, and darkness fell. Ross went out to stable and bed down his team. He came back, ate, resumed his vigil.