The Project Gutenberg eBook, Nancy MacIntyre, by Lester Shepard Parker This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Nancy MacIntyre Author: Lester Shepard Parker Release Date: September 30, 2004 [eBook #13560] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NANCY MACINTYRE*** E-text prepared by Audrey Longhurst, Leah Moser, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team Nancy MacIntyre A Tale of the Prairies LESTER SHEPARD PARKER 1910 To My Wee Daughter RACHEL ELLEN PARKER this little story is affectionately inscribed CONTENTS Billy's Revery The Quarrel The Disappointment The Decision The Search The Return Nancy's Story LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "I was takin' leave of Nancy Standin out there in the night" "Then I dragged him on the prairie Through a Turk's Head cactus bed" "I am standing by her dug-out, Open stands the sagging door" "Bringing back a hat of water, Through the dim light and the rain" "Loaded up their prairie schooner, And vamoosed the ranch, fore light" "He was startled by a stranger's Sudden presence and 'Hello!'" "Faithful Simon, weak and starving, Groaned and fell beneath his pack" "Resting calm in fancied safety Sat the elder MacIntyre" "Once again the twisted branches Of the lone and friendly tree" "Fiercer with each flying moment Drove the scorching blasts of death" "Standing there, a pictured goddess Sketched against a lowering storm" "But, instead, I shot, to scare him, All the buttons off his coat" BILLY'S REVERY 1 No use talking, it's perplexing, Everything don't look the same; Never had these curious feelin's Till those MacIntyres came. Quit my plowing long 'fore dinner, Didn't hitch my team again; Spent the day with these new neighbors, Getting 'quainted with the men. Talk about the prairie roses! Purtiest flow'rs in all the world, But they look like weeds for beauty When I think of that new girl. Strange, she seems so kind of friendly When I'm awkward, every way, And my tongue gets hitched and hobbled, Everything I try to say! 2 There's one person, that Jim Johnson, That there man I can't abide; He's been milling around near Nancy,-- Durn his dirty, yaller hide! Never really liked that Johnson; Now, each time I hear his name, Feel this state's too thickly settled,-- That is, since that new girl came. If this making love to women Went like breaking in a horse, I might stand some show of winning, 'Cause I've learned that game, of course; But this moonshine folks call 'courting,' I ain't never played that part; I can't keep from talking foolish When I'm thinking with my heart. 3 Now, those women that you read of In these story picture books, They can't ride in roping distance Of that girl in style and looks. They have waists more like an insect, Corset shaped and double cinched; Feet just right to make a watch charm, Small, of course, because they're pinched. This here Nancy's like God made her,-- She don't wear no saddle girth, But she's supple as a willow, And the purtiest thing on earth. I'm in earnest; let me ask you-- 'Cause I want to reason fair-- What durn business has that rope- necked Johnson sneaking over there? 4 Hands so soft and strong and tender, When I shook a "how de do," They was loaded sure with something Seemed to thrill me through and through; Hair as black as fire-burnt prairie; Eyes that dance and flash and flirt; Every time she smiled she showed you Teeth as white's my Sunday shirt. Baked us biscuits light as cotton; I can't eat mine any more,-- I must get some better breeches,-- Kind o' 'shamed of those I wore; But I'm goin' there to-morrow, Like enough I'll stay all day, Seems to me too dry for plowing-- Durn that Johnson, anyway! 5 I ain't much on deep-down thinkin', Reasoning out the way things go, So I s'pose I'll keep on foolin' Till in time I get to know. I've had chills and fever 'n' ague; Suffered till their course was run. Maybe love just keeps on runnin', Till a man has lost--or won. One thing certain: I have got it; Seems to struck in good and hard. Makes me sometimes soft and tender; Next thing I would fight my pard. Appetite is surely failing, Sometimes I don't eat a bite; Dream of Nancy all the daytime, That durn Johnson, half the night. 6 I've just got to get to plowin', Break a fire-guard 'round my shack, Plant my sod corn, fix my garden; Everything is goin' to rack. I can't work the way I used to; Got to quittin' early now, Since a little thing that happened, I can't just remember how. I was takin' leave of Nancy, Standin' out there in the night, And I put my arms around her-- Heart stopped beatin', just from fright. Can't express the kind of feelin',-- Words wa'n't never made for this,-- As I drew her face up closer, And I stole my first sweet kiss. THE QUARREL 1 Things have moved along some smoother Since a week ago to-night, Seems my blood turned all to p'ison-- Me and Johnson had a fight. Caught him twice up there to Nancy's; Told him plain to stay away; But he didn't seem to notice Anything I had to say. Caught him settin' there and talkin' 'Bout the things that he had done-- Durndest liar on the prairie-- Laughing like he thought 'twas fun, Settin' there beside o' Nancy-- Settin' down is all he does, Good for nothin', bug-eyed, loafin', Wrinkled, yaller, meddlin' cuss! 2 I just let him keep on settin' All the whole long evenin' through; When he started off I follered, Told him what I meant to do. "Why," says he, "now, don't git foolish; I ain't skeered o' your light breeze; I'll go thar and set by Nancy, Spite o' you, when I blame please." Well, I don't just clear remember All the doin's that took place, But you'll know the story better If you'll look at Johnson's face. As we rode we clinched and wrestled, Then we tumbled to the ground, Tore the bunch grass up, and cactus, For a hundred yards around. 3 Got him down, and in the scrimmage Felt my lasso on the ground, Tied his legs and bent him over, Bound him like he's sittin' down; Hustled quick to mount my pony, Threw the loose end round the horn, Thought I'd learn that Mr. Johnson He'd missed out in bein' born. Then I dragged him on the prairie, Through a Turk's Head cactus bed, Prickly pears and shoestring bushes,-- 'Twasn't decent what he said. He's so dev'lish fond of settin', Thought I'd fix his settin' end So's he'd be more kinder careful Settin' by that girl again. THE DISAPPOINTMENT 1 There's a feeling in my bosom, Like a hound that's lost the game, After chasing over bunch grass Till his feet are sore and lame. I am standing by her dug-out, Open stands the sagging door; Every grassblade speaks of Nancy, But she's gone, to come no more. For her father and her mother, And her brothers, late last night, Loaded up their prairie schooner, And vamoosed the ranch, 'fore light. 'Taint no use to stand here cussin', But my heart slumps down like lead When I think of losing Nancy And to know my dreams are dead. 2 It was here I held you, Nancy, When I showed you all my heart; When I told you I would always Be your friend and take your part. Oh, I thought that in life's lottery I had drawn the biggest prize, When I kissed you there that evening And looked down into your eyes; For I never had such feelin's Fill my hide clean through and through Such a hungry, starving longing, To be always close to you. But you've gone with all your family, And I'm left to mourn my loss, While the posse hunts your daddie, 'Cause he stole Bill Kelly's hoss. 3 Now, I don't know where you're roaming, And I don't know where'll you'll land; But I wish you knew my feelin's, And 'twas clear just how I stand: How the good Lord, high in heaven, Put a throbbing heart in here, But it starts to pumping backwards When it feels that you don't keer. I'm a roving old jay-hawker, Never caught like this before, But I'd give my last possession For a glimpse of you once more. If we lose your old fool father Folks 'round here can stand the loss, He was raised in old Missoura, Or he'd never stole that hoss. 4 When my mind gets to recalling All the happy times we had, Good red liquor and tobacco Gets to tasting kind o' bad. You remember on your birthday How I drove 'round kind o' late, And we went to Donkey Collins' To a dance, to celebrate? When you got up in my wagon, Bless my heart, you sure was sweet! You was bound that you'd go barefoot, 'Cause your new shoes hurt your feet. Well, I tell you, pretty Nancy, Every minute of that ride Seemed like floating through the heavens, 'Cause you set there by my side. 5 When we pulled up at old Collins', Quite a bunch was there before, You could hear the fiddler calling, And the scraping on the floor. Through the dingy sodhouse window Gleamed a sickly yellow light, Where I helped you from the wagon, Holding you so loving tight. Then they called out, "Choose your pardners, Numbers five, six, seven, and eight," And we hustled up to join in, For we knew that we were late. After starting up the music Something happened--you know what-- All because I loved you, Nancy, And their manners made me hot. 6 I just glanced around the circle, When we came to "Balance, all;" To that mess of cowhide-covered Feet that stomped at every call. Sure enough, the thing I looked for Come to pass when Aleck Rose Tried to dos-a-dosby you, dear, And, instead, waltzed on your toes. Recollect? I stopped the fiddler, And I stopped that stomping crowd, Using language that was decent, But was mighty clear and loud: "Now, you fellers from the Sand Hills, Fight me, or if you refuse You don't dance with me and Nancy While a one of you wears shoes!" 7 Yes, they took them off, Miss Nancy, In respect for you and me, Putting all on equal footing, Just the way it ought to be. And we went through all the figures That we knew in that quadrille, But it didn't seem like dancin', Steppin' round so awful still. Fiddler, even, did his calling In a sort of quiet hush-- "Swing your pardners," "Back to places," "Sounds to me like paddlin' mush." "Man in center," "Circle round him," "All join hands," and "'Way you go," "Wait fur Betsy, she's in trouble, With a splinter in her toe." 8 When I took you home, towards morning, Such a night I never saw. How the Kansas wind was blowing! Swift and keen and kind o' raw. Blew more furious every minute, Blew a hole clear through the skies; Blew so loud, like demons hissing, That the moon was 'fraid to rise. Got so fierce it blew the stars out, Saw them flicker, then go dead, While the blackness, mad and murky, Rolled in thunder overhead. Goin' with it, durn my whiskers! Hind wheels riz plumb off the ground; Goin' 'gainst it, you and me, dear, Had to push the hosses down. 9 Now and then a raindrop whistled Like a bullet past my head; And I hollered out to you, dear, "Scrooch down in the wagon bed." Then they come as big as hen eggs; Struck the hosses stinging raps, Till the frightened, tremblin' critters Leaped beneath the angry slaps. Lord a'mighty, how they scampered! While I gripped the lines in tight, As the wagon box sailed upward Like a mighty wind-borne kite. Down below us ran the hosses, While we floated through the air, But through all that roaring shakeup, You, dear, never turned a hair. 10 When the lightning flashed around us, Rabbits stopped to let us by,-- Looked as if they said by halting, "We can't race with things that fly!" Coyotes sneaked off in the slough grass, Prairie dogs stayed in their holes; We was lubricated blazes,-- Couldn't stop to save our souls. Up the hills we flew like swallows, Down the slopes, a hurricane, Bumped and jumped the humps and hollows, Dragged the ground and riz again. And I prayed, "Dear Lord, save Nancy, For a desperate lover's sake!" You was hangin' to my gallus, And I felt it strain and break. 11 Felt you holdin' to my boot-leg, Slattin' in the roarin' gale, So, to save you, I worked for'ard, Got the nigh hoss by the tail. Miles on miles we tore on blindly, Had to let the critters roam, Till, at last, they turned their noses To the north, and towards their home. We went charging down a valley, Stopped in something soft and deep; Wagon box and you and me, dear, Landed in a mixed-up heap. Both the hosses' legs was buried And I knew that that was proof We had 'lighted on the top of Old Jim Davis's dug-out roof. 12 Now, old Jim was sleeping soundly Close beside his faithful wife; Peace had smoothed his savage wrinkles, All his dreams were free from strife. He was safe from ragin' cyclones, Wolves could never force his door, All the ills of life had vanished, On his mountain torrent snore. So when our descent awoke him Sitting bolt upright in bed, With the flying hoofs above him, Kicking hair off of his head, He aroused his sleeping helpmeet; Loud his curses and abuse, "Mary, hike your lazy carcass, Hell has turned the devil loose." 13 While ole Jim was shooting at us-- Couldn't make him understand; Kept his blamed old gun a-going Till he got me through the hand-- Not a whimper did you utter, But you grabbed the hosses' heads, Coaxed and helped them in their trouble, While they strove like thoroughbreds, Lunging, plunging, you stayed with them Till they both were clear and free. Riding one, you lashed them forward, Circled round and picked up me, Helped me mount, while Jim was loading; Then we struck off through the night, Right across the storm-swept prairie, Till the East was streaked with light. 14 I was faint and sick and dizzy, From my shattered, bleeding hand, And it seemed as if the jolting Gave me more than I could stand. Once I reeled, and would have fallen, If you hadn't held me there; Put your dear arm tight around me, Whispered, "Billy, don't you care." Then you headed straight for water, Threw the lines, dismounted first, Smoothed the grass down for my pillow, While the hosses quenched their thirst. Then you bathed my throbbing forehead,-- Love and healing in the touch,- - Sayin', "Billy, pardner, listen: That there shootin' wasn't much!" 15 From your skirt you tore a piece out, Dressed my wounds so neat and quick, That I felt the Lord had sent you Just to soothe and heal the sick. Bringing back a hat of water, Through the dim light and the rain, Thought I saw your face turn paler, Like you felt a twinge o' pain; But as you knelt down beside me I could hear you humming low Some mysterious song, stopped short by, "Billy, man, we sure must go!" And the sun turned loose his glory, Through the tempest-riven sky, Till it touched us like a blessing From the Father there on high.