下载辰思小说免费APP
AtthisIlookedathimblankly。“Itisn’tpossiblethat——“
Againhecutmeshortwithalaughalmostsavage。“Youneedn’ttoworryaboutSteve。Hestayedgame。“
WhatthenhadbeenthematterthatheshouldkeepseeingSteve——thathisvisionshouldsoobliteratefromhimwhatIstillshiveredat，andsoshakehimnow？ForheseemedtobegrowingmorestirredasIgrewless。Iaskedhimnofurtherquestions，however，andwewentonforseveralminutes，hebroodingalwaysinthesamefashion，untilheresumedwiththehardindifferencethathadbeforesurprisedme:-“SoEdgaveyoufeelings！Dumbagueandsoforth。“
“Nodoubtwe’renotmadethesameway，“Iretorted。
Hetooknonoticeofthis。“Andyou’dhavebeenmorecomfortableifhe’dactedsameasStevedid。Itcert’nlywasbadseeingEdtakeitthatway，Ireckon。Andyoudidn’tseehimwhenthetimecameforbusiness。Well，here’swhatitis:amanmaybesuchaconfirrnedmiscreantthatkilling’stheonlycureforhim；butstillhe’syourownspecies，andyoudon’twanttohavehimfallaroundandgrabyourlaigsandshowyouhisfearnaked。Itmakesyoufeelashamed。SoEdgaveyoufeelings，andStevemadeeverythingrighteasyforyou！“Therewasironyinhisvoiceashesurveyedme，butitfellawayatonceintosadness。“Bothwasmiscreants。ButifStevehadplayedthecoward，too，itwouldhavebeenawholeheapeasierforme。“Hepausedbeforeadding，“AndStevewasnotamiscreantonce。“
Hisvoicehadtrembled，andIfeltthedeepemotionthatseemedtogainuponhimnowthatactionwasoverandhehadnothingtodobutthink。Andhisviewwassimpleenough:youmustdiebrave。
Failureisasortoftreasontothebrotherhood，andforfeitspity。ItwasSteve’sperfectbearingthathadcaughthisheartsothatheforgotevenhisscornoftheotherman。
Butthiswasbynomeansallthatwastocome。Heharkedbacktothatnotionofaprisonerhelpingtomakeiteasyforhisexecutioner。“Easyplumbtotheend，“hepursued，hismindreviewingtheactsofthemorning。“Why，hetriedtogivemeyournewspaper。Ididn’t——“
“Oh，no，“Isaidhastily。“Ihadfinishedwithit。“
“Well，hetookdyingasnaturallyashetookliving。Likeamanshould。LikeIhopeto。“Againhelookedatthepicturesinhismind。“Noplay-actingnorlastwords。Hejusttoldgood-bytotheboysasweledhishorseunderthelimb——youneedn’ttolooksodainty，“hebrokeoff。“Youain’tgoingtogetanymoreshockingparticulars。“
“IknowI’mwhite-livered，“Isaidwithaspeciesoflaugh。“I
nevercrowdandstarewhensomebodyishurtinthestreet。Igetaway。“
Hethoughtthisover。“Youdon’tmeanallofthat。You’dnothavespokejustthatwayaboutcrowdingandstaringifyouthoughtwellofthemthatstare。Staringain’tcourage；it’strashycuriosity。Nowyoudidnothavethisthing——“
Hehadstretchedouthishandtopoint，butitfell，andhisutterancestopped，andhejerkedhishorsetoastand。Mynervesspranglikeawireathissuddenness，andIlookedwherehewaslooking。Therewerethecottonwoods，closeinfrontofus。Aswehadtravelledandtalkedwehadforgottenthem。Nowtheywereloomingwithinahundredyards；andourtraillaystraightthroughthem。
“Let’sgoaroundthem，“saidtheVirginian。
Whenwehadcomebackfromourcircuitintothetrailhecontinued:“Youdidnothavethatthingtodo。Butamangoesthroughwithhisresponsibilities——andIreckonyoucould。“
“Ihopeso，“Ianswered。“HowaboutEd？“
“Hewasnotaman，thoughwethoughthewastillthis。SteveandIstartedpunchingcattletogetherattheBordeauxoutfit，northofCheyenne。Wedideverythingtogetherinthosedays——
