Cavanaugh

“ And they said he and Dora were on the way to New York when that awful thing happened. Mr. Cavanaugh, you are a good man. You've always been considered a good man by everybody that knows you. I understand that you never had any children, but you may know the human heart well enough to know that no regret ever heard of can be deeper than that which is brought on by the sort of thing that happened to me. I don't talk this way to Tilly and Joel, because I owe them too much to let them dream that I am not thoroughly happy. ”

“ Cavanaugh went on, now steadily and without a vestige of his former smile. "I'm no fool, my boy. I know as well as I stand here that you are not going to leave that sweet little girl up there to do the drudgery for that irritable old hog and his obedient wife. If you did I'd lose respect for you. You are making good pay and you will make even better. In a little nook like this you could make her as happy as the day is long. She could do all the housework and not work a fourth as hard as she does now. ”

“ To stop and help another man like that in the face of so much danger! Cavanaugh was even a better and kinder man than he had thought—really a great man—no coward like himself. But why had Cavanaugh persuaded him to come down here when he knew that he was afraid of water! ”

“ Cavanaugh came into John's room after the sun was well up in the sky and found his young friend awake.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," he jested. "Here you are flat on your lazy back while that little last night's partner of yours is out milking the cow and feeding the chickens. ”

“ Cavanaugh's voice had dropped to a reminiscent vein, and I settled myself to a more comfortable position.
“He stood at least six feet and an inch in his moccasins, had eyes like hot steel, and the grace of a jaguar. By heavens! I saw that man stand flat-footed, and, without any preliminary effort, or raising his hands, jump clear over a counter higher than this, just to stretch his muscles, apparently! His strength was prodigious. He could carry anything he could get on his back. He could outlast any native that ever lived on the trail, and go farther on snowshoes than any one I ever knew. ”

“ Now, is there anything else about Cavanaugh’s activities that we should consider?”
“Why does he work day and night to convince people that he’s a heel?” Ralph contributed.
“Quiz thinks there’s something wrong with the football stories he’s always telling,” said Sandy.
“All right,” Donovan went on thoughtfully. “I suggest that a lot of the things Cavanaugh is doing are meant to be camouflage. He’s throwing up some sort of smoke screen to get people confused about his true intentions. ”

“ It was like John Trott to make no comments. He was watching the workers on the roof with a restless eye. The air resounded with the clatter of the hammers and the grating of the slates one against the other as they were selected and put down.
"You are an odd boy," Cavanaugh said, with a pleased chuckle. "What are you looking at up there?"
"They are not on to that job." John frowned. "Those coons work like they were at a corn-shucking. They don't drive the nails right. They are breaking a lot of slate and losing enough nails to shingle a barn." ”

“ Haddon watched him for a moment or two in silence, his rough-hewn face oddly wistful.
15
“I suppose he—he might have thought it was true,” he said hesitatingly. “Whatever he saw he might have thought—”
“Oh, gee whiz, Steve!” interrupted Cavanaugh impatiently. “Don’t try to make excuses for the nut. He just naturally can’t tell the truth. Who’s coming for a walk? I’m tired of sitting here.”
They all arose briskly, even Ritter bestirring himself. Walking was no particular pleasure to him, but he rarely declined an invitation from Jim Cavanaugh. ”

“ Cavanaugh hesitated again, and John rose and stood towering above him in the gloom. He repeated his question, and this time there was no pretense in his tone or mien.
"Well, you know how a narrow-minded, backwoods community like that can get when it is wrought up high," the contractor said, gingerly. "You know how they are inclined to make a mountain out of a molehill. I can't say that I met one cool-headed person up there. Men and women were so crazy that they were frothing at the mouth. I hate to say it, John, but they actually threatened me with bodily harm. ”

“ John said, firmly, as he got up and began to dress. "I don't want to go to-day, but I will if you say so."
"Well, I do say so," Cavanaugh answered. "And we will set out as soon as the family does. I'm going to set, as usual, in the old man's Bible class that comes before the regular discourse, though I can't say that I get much profit out of it. I disagree with his interpretation of many passages, but he'd crawl over the benches and have a fist fight with me if I disputed his points. They say he is [Pg 109] a regular devil when he is mad. ”

“ Cavanaugh said deliberately, “is just part of what I owe Donovan for calling me a liar. Won’t he look like a fool tomorrow if my high sign comes through?”
Through bleared eyes, Sandy saw his enemy push Kitty aside and swing a heavy boot at his ribs.
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At that moment, Ralph plunged into the little circle of lamplight. The Indian gripped Cavanaugh by one beefy shoulder and spun him around.
“This,” he raged, “is for a skunk who picks on people half his size and kicks them when they’re down!”
He dealt the bully a smashing blow under the ear.
“Fight! Fight!” somebody in the motel yelled. ”

“ Nevertheless, as the old man sat silent, John made up his mind that the advice was worth heeding and he forced a smile.
"All right, Sam," he said; "I'll remember next time. I'm new at this game."
"I thought you'd take it sensible," Cavanaugh said, in [Pg 73] relief. "Now there is another little thing. It seems to me that, as you are going to escort Tilly there, you oughtn't to be behind time. You know you always had a bad memory, and it wouldn't look exactly right for you to keep her sitting somewhere waiting on you. A man ought to be first on deck in a jaunt like this." ”

“ Cavanaugh debated with himself. "She almost fainted just now. She may have a weak heart. I must be careful. I've heard of sudden joy killing." He was silent for a moment; then he began again: "Mrs. Trott, you are welcome to your opinion, and I reckon you'll let me have mine. But, to tell you the truth, I never have been fully convinced that John and Dora was lost in that wreck. I have my reasons, and they are pretty good ones."
He saw her arched brows meet in a little frown of polite wonderment, and she was about to speak when little Joel suddenly reappeared at the door. ”

“ John sneered. "He thinks he knows something about building, but he is as green as a gourd. I've given you my judgment—take it or not, Sam, as you think fit. As big as I've made that bid, I'm afraid you will be sorry you didn't make it bigger."
"Renfro says young folks always aim too high," [Pg 21] Cavanaugh ventured, tentatively. "He's got the money ready, he says, and wants me to win."
John was cutting another brick in halves. His steel trowel rang like a bell as he tossed the red brick like a ball in his strong, splaying hand. ”

“ Also, he’s the same Red Cavanaugh who was All-American quarterback for State U. in 1930. He’s the fellow who ran three touchdowns against California in the Thanksgiving game that year.”
“There was a Cavanaugh who made All-American,” Quiz agreed as he scratched his round head, “but I thought....”
“See!” cried Pepper. “Quiz knows all there is to know about football. He’s heard about Red. Well, Mr. Cavanaugh attends all the Valley View games. Says he likes the way I run touchdowns.” Pepper leered at Sandy, who was not always the spectacular player that Pepper was. ”

“ John said, warmly. "They are crooks and haven't brains enough to see how crooked their reasoning is."
Shortly after breakfast the three Whaleys started to church. Tilly walked between her father and mother, and John and Cavanaugh followed close behind. They found, on their arrival, a group of villagers, mountaineers, and farmers loitering on the grass-plot in front of the little building, but the Whaleys went straight in, and John and the contractor did likewise. Cavanaugh went forward to the benches at the front which were reserved for Whaley's Bible class. ”

“ One morning a week later Cavanaugh mounted the scaffold on which John was working. He held some letters in his hand.
"That car of brick has been delayed," he announced. "It will be three days before it can be delivered. The men won't like it, but we'll have to shut down for that long, anyway."
John frowned and swore, as he stood scraping his trowel on the edge of a brick which he had just tapped into line.
"Never mind; we needn't be idle—you and me, anyway," Cavanaugh said, gently. "You heard about Mason & Trubel's storehouse being burned down last week, didn't you? ”

“ Why not? Why shouldn't a man bear [Pg 222] anything that comes his way—anything, anything, even—even this?"
Cavanaugh was at the gate now. He was noiselessly opening and closing it as if fearful of waking some one asleep in the house.
"Is that you, Sam?" John called out from the parlor.
"Yes, yes, my boy, it is me. I—I thought you might be in bed," and the contractor now tiptoed into the hall and stood in the parlor doorway.
"Oh no, I thought I'd wait up," John replied. "Like a fool, I didn't work to-day, and you see I'm not so tired as I usually am. Come in. Got a match? I'll light the gas. ”

“ John felt more than he had ever felt before the man's intuitive dislike for him, and it was significant now that Whaley should address Cavanaugh rather than him.
"I'm sorry you are going off," he said. "I've had some pretty fair talks with you off and on, though we are [Pg 147] still wide apart on doctrine. Do you know a man like me can learn to handle his own theories by arguing even with a fellow that lies down at every point, as you'll have to admit you've done time after time." ”

“ Among the men of John's trade it was deemed an effeminate thing for a laboring-man to allow his marriage to cut into his duties to his daily work. And as Cavanaugh already had a job waiting, which was the erection of a fine brick residence on a near-by plantation, John joined him, ready for work, on the day following the one of his arrival home. This left Tilly all alone in the cottage. ”

“ People passing will talk about the way you look." [Pg 131]
CHAPTER XIX
That night at the supper-table Cavanaugh took his wife into his confidence and told her of the love-affair which was culminating in such a satisfactory way to him as well as to John. "You see," he said, "when it first flared up between them, I was dead afraid that the boy might settle up there, or move away, and I'd lose him as a future partner, and a good one at that, but I clinched all that to-day." Cavanaugh laughed slyly as he told of the Carrol cottage and how pleased John had been with it. ”

“ He goes to bed early and gets up early, and can handle a gang of men better even than he can, he's so popular with them."
"Didn't you find out about the feller's religion?"
"No, I didn't. I sorter touched on that—said you wanted to know—but Mr. Cavanaugh made light of it—said all that would come out right in due time. He said he was no hand for hurrying up the young on those lines. He said John Trott at bottom was the right sort, and that he would count on him serving the Lord in the long run as well as the next one." ”

“ John felt Cavanaugh grasp his arm and begin to lead him through the crowd toward a distant table which was smaller than the others and at which several local dignitaries were seated.
"We might as well give them young turtle-doves a chance to coo on a perch by themselves," the contractor said, with a low chuckle. "I understand the fellow don't get many chances to see his girl. They say he has been in love with her ever since he was a little boy, but old Whaley don't seem to like him. They say the old chap has shut down on Eperson's visits—don't let 'im come around as often as he used to. ”

“ Whaley responded, warming up to the subject. Then he turned to John. "What church do you belong to?" he asked, rather sharply.
"I haven't joined any yet," John answered. He was slightly embarrassed and yet could not have told why.
"Oh, he will come around all right before long," Cavanaugh thrust in, quickly. "I've got him in charge."
"Well, he is old enough to affiliate somewhere," the farmer said, crisply. "It is getting entirely too common these days to meet young folks that think they can get along without divine guidance. That is our meeting-house there. ”

“ Long trenches had been dug in the earth. Fires had been going in them all day. The dry hickory wood was reduced to live coals and the pork, beef, and lamb were suspended over them. Negro men, expert in the work, were busy turning and basting the meat, the aroma of which floated on the air. A little organ from a near-by church had been placed amid some chairs for choir-singers, and then John discovered that Tilly was expected to play the instrument.
"The regular organist is away," Cavanaugh explained to John, "but I'll bet our little girl will do it all right." ”

“ John snorted. "Not on your life! His mortar joints are as thick as the mud in the cracks of a log cabin. I'll do it to-night after I go home, but not before. I don't believe any man ought to let one job stand idle in order to try to hook another. To-morrow is Saturday. They couldn't get the bid anyway till Monday. There will be plenty of time."
As John finished he was turning to the scaffold. "Well, all right," Cavanaugh called after him. ”