 | "The Alien" |  |
4. IV
HE awoke, feeling a soft, warm rasping on his wounded cheek. A faint light came in at the entrance of the place; it was morning. In his sleep Antoine had moved his head near to the mouth of the wolf. And now, utterly conquered, bruised, unable to rise, the brute was feebly licking the blood from the man's face.
A sense of mastery made the man inclined to be kind to a fellow being for once. He was safe, and something had caressed him, although it was only a beaten wolf.
"You pore devil!" said Antoine, with a sudden softness in his voice. "I done you up, didn't I? But you hain't so bad, I guess. But if I hadn't done you, I'd got done myself. Hurt much, you pore devil, eh?"
He stroked the side of the animal, making it cry out with pain.
"Pretty sore, eh? Well, as long as I'm bigger'n you, I'll be good to you, I will. I ain't so bad, am I? You treat me square and you won't never get no bad deals from the half-breed. Mind that, I tell you.
"Let me hunt you up a name. Susette! That's it — Susette! You're Susette now. I hain't got no people, so I'm a wolf, and my name's Antoine. Antoine and Susette — sounds good, don't it?
"Say, I know as much about bein' a gray wolf as you do! Can't show me nothin' about sneakin' and hidin' and fightin'! Say, old girl, hain't I a pretty good fighter? Oh, I know I am, all right! And when you need it ag'in you're goin' to get it strong, Susie. Mind that!
"Hain't got nothin' to eat about the house, have you? Then, bein' head of the family, I'm goin' huntin'. Don't you let no other wolf come 'round here; you know me! I'll wear his hide when I get back, if you don't mind!"
And he went out.
Before noon Antoine returned bringing three jack-rabbits, having shot them with his six-shooter.
"Well, Susette," said he, "got any appetite?"
He passed his hand over the wolf's snout caressingly. The wolf flinched in fear, but the man continued the caress until she licked his hand.
"Now we're friends, and we can live together peaceable, can't we? Took a big family row, though. Families needs stirrin' up now and then, I guess."
He skinned a rabbit and with his knife cut off morsels of meat.
"Here, Susette, I'm goin' to fill your hide first, 'cause you've been so good since the row. There, that's it! Eat! Does me good to see you eat, pore, sick Susette!"
The wolf took the morsels from his hand, and a look that was almost tame came into her eyes. When she had eaten
Then he sat down beside her and stroked her nose and neck and flanks. There was an air of home about the place. He was safe and sheltered, had a full stomach, and there was a creature near that showed him kindness, although it had been won by a beating.
"Susette," he said in a soft voice, as he stroked the wolf, "don't get mean ag'in when you get well. I want to live quiet and like somethin' fer wunst. If you'll be good, I'll see that you get enough eatin'. Oh, I'll get you rabbits and antelope and birds, and you won't need to hunt nor run about whinin' with your belly flappin' together.
"And I know how to make fire — somethin' you don't know, wise as you be — and I'll keep you warm, and pet you lots. Is it a bargain? All you need to do is be just good, keepin' your teeth out'n my cheek.
"I've been lonesome always. I hain't got no people. Do you know who your dad was? Neither do I; we're in the same boat there. Some French trader was mine, I guess. My mother's an Omaha.
"Wagah peasha — bad white man — that's what the Omahas called me ever since I was a little feller. And the white men says, 'darned Injun.' And where am I? Hangin' on the edge of things — gettin' orn'ry and nasty and bad. I've stole horses and killed people and cussed fer days, Susette. And I want to rest. I want to love somethin'! I don't care what; somethin' that'll just let me. Cabanne's men down at the post would laugh to hear Antoine sayin' that. But I do. I want to love somethin'.
"I tried to, wunst. Her name was Susette, same as your'n. She was a trader's daughter — a pretty French girl. That was before I was very bad. I talked sweet to her, and she liked it. But the old man Lecroix — that was her dad — he showed me the trail, and he says: 'Go that way, and go fast, you damn Injun!'
"I went, Susette, but I made him pay, I did. I saw him on his back, after that, a grinnin' up at the stars. And since then I hain't cared much. I killed several in my time, and I called 'em all Lecroix!
"Be a good girl, Susette, and I'll stick to you. I'm a good fighter and a good grub-hunter, too. I learned all that easy."
He continued caressing the wolf, and she licked his hand when he stroked her muzzle.
| "The Alien" | |