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“I don’t have to stand here and be insulted by her,” Sickles said. “Who does she think she is? There isn’t a white man on the post who’d have her after the Apaches—”
O’Hagen flung his cup aside and went into Sickles, but the dark-haired man moved with surprising speed and surety. He blocked O’Hagen’s punch, slipped under the arm and belted the young officer flush in the mouth. O’Hagen went over the table, taking cloth and dishes to the floor. The door flew open and Herlihy and his wife came in.
“Good hivvens!” Mrs. Herlihy cried. “That was th’ last of me good dishes!”
Sickles meant to go around the upended table after O’Hagen, who was on all fours, but Herlihy moved between them. He stood there, an idle man with the threat of violence heavy in his manner. Sickles massaged his bruised knuckles and said, “Just so you don’t get the idea I’m soft, O’Hagen. We’ll have to try it again sometime. I think I could do you in without raising up a sweat.”
“Get out,” Herlihy said bluntly, “you’re stinkin’ up me house.”
“You’ll be a private in the morning,” Sickles promised. “I’ve always held it against you for finding him in the first place. If he’d have stayed with the Apaches, my life would be more pleasant.” He shook his finger at Herlihy. “A private! Remember that.”
“And I’ve been that before,” Herlihy said. “Go on—git before I give you a taste of me fist!”
Sickles flung the door open and stomped along the porch. Timothy O’Hagen righted a chair and sat down. This was the finish, he decided. He might as well go back to his quarters and pack. Tomorrow Crook would drum him out of the army for this.
Mrs. Herlihy began recovering the broken dishes. Her shoes ground into the finer fragments and the crunching was loud in the room.
“What happened here?” Herlihy wanted to know.
“Nothing,” O’Hagen said. “Forget it, Sergeant.”
“How can I forget it?” He flicked his glance to Libby, who waited, her face smooth and expressionless. “I’ll ask you, Libby.”
“Tim was being gallant for me. He didn’t have to be. Everyone knows about me.”
“Shut up!” O’Hagen snapped.
“We’ve got the Apache stink, Tim. It won’t rub off.” She tried to meet his eyes, but failed. Whirling quickly she ran into her room and slammed the door.
The silence was deep; then O’Hagen said quietly, “If he hurts her, I’ll kill him for it.”
His voice, calm and soft, caused Mrs. Herlihy to stop her sweeping. “Libby or Rosalia?” When O’Hagen did not answer she went back to her broken dishes.
Chapter 3
General George Crook arrived at Fort Apache as the bugler sounded morning work call. He wheeled his escort before the headquarters building and dismounted them. The twelve man troop went immediately to the stables and mess. Crook dismissed his officers with a word and strode onto the porch. He was a heavy man with shoulders like a wrestler. He had a fighter’s face, broad through the forehead and cheeks, and he wore neither uniform nor hat. His close-cropped head was a thicket. His dark beard fanned out from his cheeks like dense hedges. Eyes, slate-gray, darted quickly, taking in every detail within range of his vision.
Brevet Major Calvin hurried out to meet the general, one hand raised in salute while the other fumbled with an unfrogged saber strap. Crook said, “My compliments, Major. You keep a tidy house here.” He popped a cigar into his mouth, snipped off the end with his teeth and accepted Calvin’s hastily offered light.
“I’m afraid I must disappoint the general,” Calvin said.
“Eh?” Crook took the cigar from his mouth, leaving a round O of flesh.
“I refer to Lieutenant O’Hagen, sir. He’s under arrest for assaulting the Indian agent. Last night he broke arrest and commited another assault.”
“Against the same man?”
“Yes, sir.”
Crook grunted and the light of amusement came into his eyes. “He must dislike the fellow.” The amusement vanished, replaced by a shrewd understanding. “I expect you’ve settled the matter.”
“No, sir,” Calvin admitted, “I haven’t.”
“I see,” Crook said. “You expect me to sit on it.”
“That was my thought, sir.”
“Very well,” Crook said, going into Calvin’s office. He stripped off his gauntlets and threw them casually on the desk. His coat went over the back of Calvin’s chair and then he unbuckled his pistol belts, laying these beside the gauntlets. He sat down in Calvin’s chair, physically assuming command.
“Major,” he said, “we had best reach an understanding. I’m no paragon of virtue; rules were made to be broken, when the gain is great. I’ve never blamed an officer for his blunders, providing they do not recur. And I demand only impeccable courage from my officers. I dislike evasions, either of the truth or unpleasant duty. Do you understand me, Major?”
“I—I had my reasons for not acting on Lieutenant O’Hagen’s case, sir.”
“There’s no doubt of that,” Crook said. “Major, in O’Hagen’s case, I would much rather have seen a decision made, even a bad one, than to have an officer in my command hesitate because of timidity. Exactly what were you afraid of, Major?”
Calvin’s face took on color and he stood stiffly. “Mister O’Hagen is not without friends in the higher echelons, sir. I have no desire to jeopardize my career by making a decision and then have it come back reversed, with a reprimand. I decided it would be better to let the ones who favor Lieutenant O’Hagen render the verdict.”
“Uh,” Crook said and scraped his whiskers. “That’s honest, anyway. All right, Major. Summon the principals and we’ll get this business over with. I came here to conduct a campaign against the Apaches and I do not intend to fritter my time away because some government employee was poked in the nose.”
Major Calvin went to the orderly room and gave the corporal his orders. He waited there until Osgood H. Sickles arrived, then ushered him in to meet General Crook. Never a man to underestimate the importance of politics, Sickles smiled warmly and tried to crush Crook’s hand. But the general was more than up to this kind of business and when Sickles took a chair, he was massaging his own knuckles; the wide smile faded slightly.
“General,” Sickles said, getting to the point, “I trust you have read my complaint. These unfortunate matters do arise occasionally, and as I was telling Major Calvin the other day, the sooner this impertinence is crushed, the better our organizations will be run. Correct me if I’m mistaken:”
“Mr. СКАЧАТЬ