"Go yu'in twenties,"said the impetuous puncher;and I now perceived this was to be a sporting event.Lin had his wad of bills out--or what of it still survived his bride's shopping."Will you hold stakes,doctor?"he said to the Governor.
But that official looked at the clear sky,and thought he would do five to one in twenties himself.Lusk accommodated him,and then Ogden,and then me.None of us could very well be stake-holder,but we registered our bets,and promised to procure an uninterested man by eight next morning.I have seldom had so much trouble,and I never saw such a universal search for ready money.Every man we asked to hold stakes instantly whipped out his own pocketbook,went in search of Lusk,and disqualified himself.It was Jode helped us out.He would not bet,but was anxious to serve,and thus punish the bragging Lusk.
Sunday was,as usual,chronically fine,with no cloud or breeze anywhere,and by the time the church-bells were ringing,ten to one was freely offered.The biscuit-shooter went to church with her friends,so she might wear her fine clothes in a worthy place,while her furloughed husband rushed about Cheyenne,entirely his own old self again,his wad of money staked and in Jode's keeping.Many citizens bitterly lamented their lack of ready money.But it was a good thing for these people that it was Sunday,and the banks closed.
The church-bells ceased;the congregations sat inside,but outside the hot town showed no Sunday emptiness or quiet.The metal tube,the possible smell,Jode's sustained and haughty indignation,the extraordinary assurance of Lusk,all this had ended by turning every one restless and eccentric.A citizen came down the street with an umbrella.
In a moment the by-standers had reduced it to a sordid tangle of ribs.
Old Judge Burrage attempted to address us at the corner about the vast progress of science.The postmaster pinned a card on his back with the well-known legend,"I am somewhat of a liar myself."And all the while the sun shone high and hot,while Jode grew quieter and colder under the certainty of victory.It was after twelve o'clock when the people came from church,and no change or sign was to be seen.Jode told us,with a chill smile,that he had visited his instruments and found no new indications.Fifteen minutes after that the sky was brown.Sudden,padded,dropsical clouds were born in the blue above our heads.They blackened,and a smart shower,the first in two months,wet us all,and ceased.The sun blazed out,and the sky came blue again,like those rapid,unconvincing weather changes of the drama.
Amazement at what I saw happening in the heavens took me from things on earth,and I was unaware of the universal fit that now seized upon Cheyenne until I heard the high cry of Jode at my ear.His usual punctilious bearing had forsaken him,and he shouted alike to stranger and acquaintance:"It is no half-inch,sir!Don't you tell me"'And the crowd would swallow him,but you could mark his vociferous course as he went proclaiming to the world."A failure,sir!The fellow's an impostor,as I well knew.It's no half-inch!"Which was true.
"What have you got to say to that?"we asked Hilbrun,swarming around him.
"If you'll just keep cool,"said he--"it's only the first instalment.In about two hours and a half I'll give you the rest."Soon after four the dropsical clouds materialized once again above open-mouthed Cheyenne.No school let out for an unexpected holiday,no herd of stampeded range cattle,conducts itself more miscellaneously.
Gray,respectable men,with daughters married,leaped over fences and sprang back,prominent legislators hopped howling up and down door-steps,women waved handkerchiefs from windows and porches,the chattering Jode flew from anemometer to rain-gauge,and old Judge Burrage apostrophized Providence in his front yard,with the postmaster's label still pinned to his back.Nobody minded the sluicing downpour--this second instalment was much more of a thing than the first--and Hilbrun alone kept a calm exterior--the face of the man who lifts a heavy dumb-bell and throws an impressive glance at the audience.Assistant Lusk was by no means thus proof against success I saw him put a bottle back in his pocket,his face already disintegrated with a tipsy leer.Judge Burrage,perceiving the rain-maker,came out of his gate and proceeded toward him,extending the hand of congratulation."Mr.Hilbrun,"said he,"I am Judge Burrage--the Honorable T.Coleman Burrage--and I will say that I am most favorably impressed with your shower.""His shower!"yelped Jode,flourishing measurements.
"Why,yu'don't claim it's yourn,do yu'?"said Lin McLean,grinning.
"I tell you it's no half-inch yet,gentlemen,"said Jode,ignoring the facetious puncher.
"You're mistaken,"said Hilbrun,sharply.
"It's a plumb big show,half-inch or no half-inch,"said Lin.
"If he's short he don't get his money,"said some ignoble subscriber "Yes,he will,"said the Governor,"or I'm a short.He's earned it.""You bet "'said Lin."Fair and square.If they're goin'back on yu',doctor,I'll chip--Shucks!"Lin's hand fell from the empty pocket;he remembered his wad in the stake-holder's hands,and that he now possessed possibly two dollars in silver,all told."I can't chip in,doctor,"he said."That hobo over there has won my cash,an'he's filling up on the prospect right now.I don't care!It's the biggest show I've ever saw.
You're a dandy,Mr.Hilbrun!Whoop!"And Lin clapped the rain-maker on the shoulder,exulting.He had been too well entertained to care what he had in his pocket,and his wife had not yet occurred to him.
