June Discovers A New World

: The Fighting Edge

Blister had not overstated the case to Bob when he told him that June had

been having the time of her life getting well. She had been a lonely

little thing, of small importance in a country very busy on its own

affairs. The sense of inferiority had oppressed her, due both to the

secret of her father's past and the isolation in which she dwelt. This

had stimulated a sullen resentment and a shy pride which held even

frie dly souls at arm's length.



Now she was being petted by everybody with whom she came into contact.

She was pathetically grateful, and the big-hearted men and women of the

frontier were worthy of the feeling. They gave her eager good will and

generous sympathy. Into her room came soups and custards made by the best

cooks on the river. When she was well enough to see visitors the mothers

of Bear Cat came in person.



Through Melancthon Browning the landlady of the hotel shrewdly enlisted

the aid of the most influential women in the community. June needed

clothes. She had not a garment that was not worn out and ragged. But

Mollie recognized the fact that more than these she was in need of the

moral support of the settlers' wives. Mrs. Larson could give her work and

a home, but she could not give her that bulwark of her sex,

respectability. Mollie was an exception to an established rule. She was

liked and respected by other women in spite of her peculiarities. But

this would not be true of her protegee unless the girl was above

criticism. June must never step inside the bar or the gambling-room. She

must find friends among the other girls of the town and take part in

their social activities.



Wherefore Mollie, by timely suggestion, put it into the mind of the

preacher to propose a sewing-bee to his congregation. Tolliver, under

supervision, bought the goods and the women sewed. They made

underclothes, petticoats, nightgowns, and dresses. They selected from the

stock of Platt & Fortner shoes, stockings, and a hat, charging them to

the account of Pete.



It was on her sixteenth birthday that June was taken into an adjoining

room and saw all these treasures laid upon the bed. She did not at first

understand that the two pretty dresses and all the comfortable, well-made

clothes were for her. When this was made clear to her the tears brimmed

to the long-lashed eyes. The starved little Cinderella was greatly

touched. She turned to Mollie and buried her twitching face in a friendly

bosom.



"Now--now--now," Mollie reproved gently, stroking the dark crisp hair.

"This is no way to act, dearie, an' all the ladies so kind to you. You

want to thank 'em, don't you?"



"Yes, but--but--I--I--"



The smothered voice was tearful.



Mollie smiled at the committee. "I reckon she wants me to tell you for

her that she's plumb outa words to let you know how good she thinks

you-all are."



The black head nodded vigorously. "You're the best folks--"



Mrs. Platt, a large and comfortable mother of seven, answered placidly.

"I expect you'll find, dearie, that most folks are good when you get on

the right side of them. Now you try on them clothes an' see if they fit.

We tried 'em on my Mary. She's about your size. You're comin' down to our

house to supper to-night. I want you should get acquainted with the

girls."



June looked at Mollie, who nodded smilingly.



"I'll be terrible glad to come, ma'am," June said.



"Then that's settled. They're nice girls, if I do say it myself that am

their mother."



So June took her first timid steps into the social life of the frontier

town. Shyly she made friends, and with them went to church, to Sunday

School, and to picnics.



It had been definitely decided that she was to wait on table at the hotel

restaurant and not return with her father to Piceance Creek. The plan had

originated with Mollie, but Tolliver had acquiesced in it eagerly. If

June went home with him Houck might reappear on the horizon, but if she

stayed at Bear Cat, buttressed by the support of the town, the man from

Brown's Park would not dare to urge his claim again.



June waited on table at the hotel, but this did not keep her from the

dances that were held in the old army hospital building. There were no

class distinctions in Bear Cat then. There are not many now. No paupers

lived in the county. This still holds good. Except the owners of the big

cattle companies there were no men of wealth. A man was not judged by

what he had or by the kind of work he was doing. His neighbors looked

through externals to see what he was, stripped of all adventitious

circumstance. On that basis solely he was taken into fellowship or cast

out from it.



The girl from Piceance Creek worked hard and was content, even if not

quite happy. If she ever thought of the boy she had married, no reference

to him ever crossed her lips. She was known simply as June by the town.

Strangers called her Miss Tolliver.



There was about her a quiet self-possession that discouraged familiarity

on the part of ambitious and amorous cowboys. Her history, with its

thread of tragedy running through the warp and woof of it, set her apart

from other girls of her age. Still almost a child in years, she had been

caught in the cross-currents of life and beaten by its cold waves. Part

of the heritage of youth--its gay and adventurous longing for

experience--had been filched from her before she was old enough to know

its value. In time she would perhaps recover her self-esteem, but she

would never know in its fullness that divine right of American maidenhood

to rule its environment and make demands of it.