the Lonesome Gods (1983) Read Online Free PDF Page A

captured runoff water.
    Finney, carrying his rifle, went immediately to a place high in the rocks where he could watch our trail.
    When I saw my father in the light, I ran to him. He was pale and his shirt was all bloody.
    "Here," Mrs. Weber said, "I'll fix that." She helped him off with his shirt, and we could see blood oozing from a hole in his shoulder. The shaft of an arrow with feathers on it was sticking out of his back. "I cut the head off," Papa said. "I thought you could draw it out."
    Miss Nesselrode's face was pale. "I'll try," she said. "It got in the way of my compress," she added.
    Farley came over. "Better let me do it, ma'am. I've done it before."
    Taking a firm grip on my father's shoulder, he drew the arrow out, carefully holding it straight so as not to enlarge the wound. I could see the sweat break out on my father's forehead and face, and his eyes were very wide, but he made no sound. I was sad for him. His shoulders seemed so thin and frail, and I remembered them as strong and muscular when I was in his arms, only ... I did not know how long ago.
    "You saved Mr. Finney's life, you know," Miss Nesselrode said.
    "Each of us does what he can," Papa said. "We are traveling together."
    "You are a hero!" Miss Nesselrode said positively. Papa smiled at her. "It is an empty word out here, ma'am. It is a word for writers and sitters by the fire. Out here a man does what the situation demands. Out on the frontier we do not have heroes, only people doing what is necessary at the time."
    Kelso squatted on his heels against a rock, his hat off, head tilted back, eyes closed. I thought he did not look like the man he was, but one who my mother would have said should have been a poet.
    Fraser was sitting cross-legged on the sand. As Farley walked by him, Fraser looked up at him and said, "I failed. I could not do it. I failed."
    Farley stopped, taking out his pipe. "You failed? How?" "I could not shoot at first, and then I could hit nothing." "You fired? How many times?"
    "Only two shots. I was clumsy. I am a failure."
    Farley stoked his pipe and said, "That's two more shots than I got off in my first Injun fight. It all happened so fast I set there with a rifle in my hands and never fired a shot. You done all right, Fraser. Just don't worry about it, an' take your time. If you fire only once, make it count."
    Fletcher sat by himself, his face sullen. How many shots did he fire? I did not see. I did not know. Perhaps many.
    There was shade where we were, and as the sun rose higher, it was needed. Miss Nesselrode helped my father put on a fresh shirt. It was his last one, and he was a man who liked fresh clothing, and to bathe often. He stifled a cough and Miss Nesselrode said, "You are a sick man, Mr. Verne."
    "So it has been said." He smiled at her. "Thank you, ma'am. It was kind of you to help me. I am afraid I shall have a stiff shoulder for a while."
    "Your little boy loaded your pistols. How does he know to do such things?"
    "I taught him, ma'am. I have also taught him to respect weapons and handle them with care. We wish there were no violence in the world, but unhappily there are those who use it against the weak. I would not be one of those."
    He smiled again. "You did very well yourself, ma'am." She blushed. "I did what seemed necessary."
    "Of course. It is that way, is it not?"
    "Will you be staying in Los Angeles?"
    Papa smiled a faint smile. "Perhaps ... for a few days. Somehow I do not believe I shall be staying anywhere very long. Men and civilizations are alike, ma'am. They are born, they grow to strength, they mature, grow old, and die. It is the way of all things.
    "At least," he added, "I am returning to the sea, where I came from. As a boy I planned to be a ship's officer, as my father was, but then I came to California."
    "You changed?"
    "I fell in love, ma'am. I fell in love with a gloriousl y beautiful Spanish girl whom I saw going to church. It changed my life, and hers too, I am afraid."
    "She is