While Sennett stormed, the two chiefs, Elk and Two Horns, drew near, and lifting his hand, Curtis, using the sign language swiftly, said to them:
"I am your new agent. The Great Father has heard that the old agent is bad. I am here to straighten matters out. I am Swift Eagle don't you remember? I came with Bear Robe. I was only second lieutenant then."
The faces of the old chiefs lit up with pleasure. "Ay, we remember! We shake your hands. We are glad you have come."
Curtis then asked: "Who is your interpreter one you can trust, one who can read this paper."
The two men looked at each other for a moment. Elk said, "Joe?"
Two Horns shook his head; then, catching sight of a man who was regarding the scene from a door-way not very distant, he said, in English: "Him Nawson. Hay, my friend," he called, "come here!"
This observer at once responded to Two Horns' sign. As he came up the chief said: "My friend, here is a paper from Washington; read it for us."
Curtis said: "I am Captain Curtis, of the cavalry, detailed to act as agent here. This is my commission."
The stranger extended his hand. "I'm glad to meet you, Captain Curtis, very glad, indeed." As they shook hands he added: "I've read your articles on the sign language, et cetera, with great pleasure. My name is Lawson."
Curtis smiled. "Are you Osborne Lawson? I'm mighty glad to meet you. This is my sister, Mr. Lawson."
Mr. Lawson greeted Jennie with grace, and she liked him at once. His manner was direct and his voice pleasing. He was tall, lean, and a little stooping, but strong and brown. "Now, Captain, what can I do for you?" he asked, turning briskly.
"I want you to read this paper to the chiefs here, and then I intend to put a guard on the door. Mr. Sennett is not to be permitted to re-enter his office. These are harsh measures, but I am not responsible for them."
Lawson looked thoughtful. "I see." After reading the paper he said to the chiefs: "It is as this man has said. The Great Father has sent him here to take charge of the office. The old agent is cut off he is not allowed to go back to his office for fear he may hide something. Have Crow put a guard on the door. The new agent will try to find out why you have not received your rations. This is the secret of this paper, and here is the signature of the Secretary. This is a true thing, and you must now obey Captain Curtis. I know him," he said, looking round him. "He is my friend; you can trust him. That is all."
"Good! Good!" said the chiefs. "We understand."
A short, dark Tetong in a frayed captain's uniform came up. "I am chief of the police," he signed. "What shall I do?"
"Guard the door of the office and of the issue house. Let no one but those I bring enter. Will you do as I say?" he asked.
"Ay!" replied the officer, whose name was Crow.
"Then all is said; go guard the door."
Sennett and his son had withdrawn a little from the scene and were talking in low voices. They had placed themselves in the worst possible light, and they felt it. As Curtis reached this point in his orders, Sennett started to cross the road.
"Wait a moment, gentlemen," called Curtis. "My orders are very strict. I must precede you. There is a certain desk in your library, Mr. Sennett, which I must search."
Sennett flamed out into wild oaths. "You shall not search my private papers."
"Silence!" called Curtis. "Another oath and I'll put you in the guard-house."
"Do you suppose I'm going to submit to this without protest? You treat me like a criminal."
"So far as my orders go, that's what you are," said Curtis. "I give you the benefit of the doubt so long as you act the gentleman, but you must respect the presence of my sister, or I'll gag you." After a pause he added, in a gentler tone: "I don't pretend to judge your case. I am merely obeying the orders of the department."
"I have powerful friends in Washington. You will regret this," snarled Sennett. But his son was like one smitten dumb; his breathing was troubled, and his big, gray eyes were childish in their wide appeal.
Lawson then spoke. "Can I do anything further, Captain? Command me freely."
"No, I think not, except to see that my horses are taken care of and my guide fed. I suppose there is a mess or boarding-house where my sister can get something to eat."
"Won't you come to dinner with me?" asked Lawson. "Mrs. Wilcox, some artist friends, and I are messing over in one of the old quarters, and our mid-day dinner is waiting."
Curtis smiled grimly. "Thank you, I am on duty. I must dine with Mr. Sennett. Jennie will accept your invitation thankfully."
As Curtis walked over to the agency house with Sennett and his son, Jennie looked anxious. "They may do something to him."
Lawson smiled. "Oh no, they won't. They are quite cowed, but I'll suggest a guard." He turned to Two Horns and said, in Dakota: "Father, the old agent is angry. The new agent is a brave man, but he is only one against two."
"I understand," said the old man, with a smile, and a few minutes later a couple of policemen were sitting on the door-step of the agent's house. It was a sunny place to sit, and they enjoyed being there very much. One of them understood English, and the other was well able to tell an angry word when he heard it spoken.
The drowsy hush of mid-day again settled down upon the little cluster of buildings news, even when it passes swiftly among red people, makes no noise. It walks with velvet foot, it speaks in a murmur; it hastens, but conceals its haste.
IV
THE BEAUTIFUL ELSIE BEE BEE
As Jennie entered the mess-house she uttered a little cry of amazement. Outwardly, it was a rude barrack of whitewashed cottonwood logs, but its interior glowed with color and light. Bright rugs were on the floor, and a big divan in one corner displayed a monstrous black bear-skin. A capacious fireplace, which dated back to the first invasion of the army, filled one end of the hall, which had been enlarged by the removal of a partition. Oil-paintings, without frames, were tacked against the walls, and the odor of fresh pigments lingered in the air.
"This is our general meeting-place," explained Lawson.
"It smells like a studio," Jennie replied, after a glance around her.
A plain, quiet little woman, with a look of inquiry on her face, appeared at the dining-room door, and Lawson called out:
"Mrs. Wilcox, this is Miss Curtis, who will stay with us for a few days." As they greeted each other he added: "There is a story to tell, but we are late, and it can wait. Where is Elsie?"
"Still at work. She never would come to her meals if we didn't call her."
"I'm disposed to try it some day. Will you take charge of Miss Curtis while I go fetch the delinquent?"
Under Mrs. Wilcox's direction Jennie prepared for luncheon in an adjoining room, wondering still at the unexpected refinement of the furnishings, and curious to see the artist.
As she re-entered the sitting-room a tall girl rose languidly to meet her, and Lawson said: "Miss Curtis, this is Miss Brisbane, the painter of the pictures you see about."
Miss Brisbane bowed in silence, while Jennie cried out: "Oh! did you do them? I think they are beautiful!"
The sincerity of her voice touched the young artist, and she said: "I'm glad you like them sometimes I think they're pretty 'bum.'"
A slang word on the red lips of the handsome girl seemed wofully out of place to Jennie, who stared at her with the eager curiosity of a child. She was slender and dark, with an exquisite chin, and her hands, though slim and white, were strong and capable. Her eyes were very dark, of a velvety brown-black, and her hair was abundant and negligently piled upon her small head. Altogether she had a stately and rather foreign presence, which made Jennie feel very dowdy and very commonplace.
Mrs. Wilcox hurried them all out into the dining-room, where a pretty table was spread for six people. Jennie's attention was absorbed by the walls, which were also lightened with sketches of small, red babies in gay cradles, and of glowing bits of tawny plain and purple butte.
"Did you do all of these beautiful things?" she asked.
Lawson interposed. "She did, Miss Curtis. Be not deceived. Miss Brisbane's languid manner springs from her theory of rest. When work is finished she 'devitalizes' I think that is the word and becomes a rag. But she's a horrible example of industry, spineless as she now appears."
Miss Brisbane remained quite unmoved by Lawson's words; smiling dreamily, her red lips, as serene as those of a child, softly shaped themselves to say: "The strung bow needs relaxation."
"I think you are right," said Jennie, with sudden conviction.
Elsie opened her eyes wide and murmured, "Thank you."
Jennie went on: "Now my trouble is just that. I'm always nerved up. I can't relax. Won't you teach me how?"
"With pleasure. Are you going to live here?" asked Elsie, with faint accession of interest.
"As long as my brother does."
"I suppose you've come to teach these ragamuffins?"
Lawson here answered for Jennie. "Miss Curtis is a sister to Captain Curtis, who has come to displace your uncle."
Miss Brisbane looked up blankly. "I don't understand."
Lawson became explicit, and as she listened the girl's hands clinched.
"How abominable!" she cried, with eyes aflame.
"Not at all. If Mr. Sennett is an honest employé of the government, he should be willing to be searched if he isn't, then no measure is too harsh. He'll get a thorough raking over, if my impression of the new agent is correct."
"My father would not put a dishonest man in this place," insisted Elsie, "and I don't believe Uncle Sennett has done wrong."
"Well, now, we'll suspend judgment," retorted Lawson, who knew just when to change his tone. "Captain Curtis is an officer of known ability, and no one can accuse him of prejudice. His living doesn't depend upon pleasing either Mr. Sennett or your father. Undoubtedly the government has good reasons for sending him here, and I for one am willing to accept his judgment."
Elsie rose in swift resolution. "I say it is an outrage! I am going to see that Uncle Sennett is not persecuted."
Lawson laid his hand on her arm and his voice was sternly quiet. "I think you would better finish your tea. Whatever protest you feel called upon to make can be made later. If you like," he added, in a gentler voice, "I will represent you in the matter and go with you to see Captain Curtis during the afternoon. I don't think we should trouble him now."
Elsie resumed her seat without either accepting or rejecting his offer, and the meal continued in some constraint, although Lawson summoned his best humor to cover Elsie's passionate outburst.
A few minutes later Elsie sullenly retired to her studio, and Lawson said: "I am going out to see what is going on, Miss Curtis; please make yourself at home here."
When the door closed behind him Jennie turned to Mrs. Wilcox. "Why does Mr. Lawson use that tone with Miss Brisbane are they engaged?"
Mrs. Wilcox laughed. "That's just what none of us knows. Sometimes I think they are husband and wife he lectures her so."
When Curtis joined the mess in the evening he was weary and a little sombre. Vastly preoccupied with his difficult task at the office, he had given but little attention to Jennie's announcement of having been taken into the bosom of an artistic family messing at the barracks, and when Elsie met him in a regal gown, glittering and changeful, he pulled himself up in surprise and admiration.
Elsie, on her part, was eager to see him and ready to do battle, but as he faced her, abrupt, vigorous of movement, keen-eyed and composed almost stern of countenance she was a little daunted. He was handsomer than she had expected, and older. His head was impressive, his frame muscular, and his movements graceful. Plainly he was a man of power, one it would be politic to treat with respect.
As they took up their napkins at the table Lawson opened out: "Well, Captain, we don't want to seem inquisitive, but we are dying to know what you've been doing this afternoon. We feel on the outside of it all."
"Yes," Elsie quickly added, "we want to know whether there is to be a revolution, or only a riot."
Curtis turned to her smilingly and replied: "You'll all be disappointed. I've been looking over accounts and holding humdrum audience with my clerks a very busy but very quiet afternoon nothing doing, as the phrase goes."
"Where is Uncle Sennett?" inquired Elsie. "I tried to find him, but your men would not let me into the office."
"You shouldn't have tried," interjected Lawson.
"Is he your uncle?" asked Curtis.
"He's my father's sister's husband but that doesn't matter; I'd defend him if he were a stranger. I think he has been shamefully treated. The idea of searching his private desk!"
Curtis looked at her keenly. "I am under orders," he said. "Mr. Sennett is nothing to me, one way or the other. The question for answer is has he abused his office?"
"He has not!" exclaimed Elsie. "I know he has not. He is not a man to cheat and steal; he is not a strong man, but he is kind and generous."
"Too kind and too generous," muttered Lawson.
"I'm sorry to say that the records are against him," replied Curtis, "and his action is against him. He and his son have gone to Pinon City riding very like fugitives. I had no orders to hold them; indeed, I was glad to let them go."
Elsie bit her lips. "He has gone to get aid," she said at last, "and when he comes back you will take a different tone with him."
Curtis laughed. "I believe he did say he'd have my hide, or something like that."
Lawson put in a word. "He'll do it, too, if the cattle interest can influence the Secretary. Don't tell us any more than is proper, Captain, but how do you find his accounts?"
"In very bad shape. The chiefs say he has been holding back rations and turning in bad beef for some time."
"You'd take the word of a nasty Indian against my uncle, or any white man, I can see that," said Elsie, in withering scorn.
Curtis turned upon her a most searching glance. "Miss Brisbane, I don't understand your attitude towards me. As a soldier on special duty, detailed almost against my will, I have no prejudice in this affair. It is my duty to see that the treaties of the government are carried out. You seem to think I am started on a line of persecution of your uncle " he checked himself. "I beg you will not pursue the subject any further." He turned to Lawson with an effort to put aside unpleasant conversation. "Please don't ask me disagreeable questions when I am curious to know the meaning of this artistic invasion of my territory. Who is responsible for these pictures?"
Lawson hastened to explain. "This plague of artists is due to me entirely, Captain Curtis. I am doing some studies of the Tetongs, and Miss Brisbane came out to make some illustrations for me. In fact, she suggested coming here rather than to the upper agencies, because of her uncle's presence. Our coming brought others."
"I am very glad you came," said Curtis, heartily, "and I will do all in my power to further your work. Please do not allow my coming to change your plans in the slightest degree."
Lawson continued: "Intending to stay some months, we concluded to set up a mess and be comfortable and permit me to say, we hope you'll eat with us until your own goods arrive."
"Thank you; I accept with pleasure, for I don't enjoy camping in the tent of my angry predecessor this company is more to my mind."