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Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Summary

Call has a sturdy coffin built, hauls salt from a lick six miles out, and has Augustus packed in charcoal and salt — amputated leg included — to be stored in Dr. Mobley's harness shed until spring. Mobley remarks that people usually squirm out of promises made to the dead; Call answers that he has been told he doesn't have a human nature. He hires old Hugh Auld to drive a wagon of winter clothing and building supplies north. Riding back, he finds he cannot get Gus's death to settle: Jake's and Deets's he saw and believed, but Gus was so entirely himself to the end that it feels like an argument due to resume in a few days. He resents being left once again to do the work, and finds he no longer believes in the work. At the herd he reports the death brusquely and rides off alone. Newt cries all afternoon on the drags; the men sit up arguing about the leg, the ghosts, and the long haul to Texas.

Analysis

Grief that refuses to convert into belief. Call can bury Jake and Deets but cannot make Gus's death settle, because the argument was never finished. The line that matters: he no longer believes in the work — Augustus has cheated him out of his one organising principle.

Plates

In Dr. Mobley's surgery, Call says he intends to honour Gus's wish to be hauled to Texas, and the little doctor smiles and asks whether he wants the other leg.
00 In Dr. Mobley's surgery, Call says he intends to honour Gus's wish to be hauled to Texas, and the little doctor smiles and asks whether he wants the other leg.
Six miles north of town at the salt lick, Call sweats scooping salt into a borrowed wagon while antelope stand off at the edge of the flat.
01 Six miles north of town at the salt lick, Call sweats scooping salt into a borrowed wagon while antelope stand off at the edge of the flat.
The undertaker, whose whole body trembles with a nervous disease, tells Call he has put extra fluid in his friend since he will be aboveground a while.
02 The undertaker, whose whole body trembles with a nervous disease, tells Call he has put extra fluid in his friend since he will be aboveground a while.
A bartender and the blacksmith pack charcoal around Gus in the coffin while Call stands awkwardly by with the fine bandanna he bought to cover his friend's face.
03 A bartender and the blacksmith pack charcoal around Gus in the coffin while Call stands awkwardly by with the fine bandanna he bought to cover his friend's face.
The nailed coffin is set on two empty barrels in Dr. Mobley's harness shed, and the drunk doctor says people always squirm out of promises made to the dead.
04 The nailed coffin is set on two empty barrels in Dr. Mobley's harness shed, and the drunk doctor says people always squirm out of promises made to the dead.
Outside the dry goods store in a cold wind, Call hires the old trapper Hugh Auld to drive a wagon of coats, overshoes and building supplies north to the herd.
05 Outside the dry goods store in a cold wind, Call hires the old trapper Hugh Auld to drive a wagon of coats, overshoes and building supplies north to the herd.
Riding back to the herd, Call stops and sits several hours by a little stream, unable to make Gus's death settle and no longer believing in the work.
06 Riding back to the herd, Call stops and sits several hours by a little stream, unable to make Gus's death settle and no longer believing in the work.
Dish and Needle, loping out to report the Indians they have seen, stop as if frozen when Call tells them flatly that Gus is dead.
07 Dish and Needle, loping out to report the Indians they have seen, stop as if frozen when Call tells them flatly that Gus is dead.
Newt, refusing to ride to the wagon for the details, cries all afternoon as far back on the drags as he can get, grateful for the dust.
08 Newt, refusing to ride to the wagon for the details, cries all afternoon as far back on the drags as he can get, grateful for the dust.
That night the men sit up at the fire arguing over the refused amputation, the ghosts and the long haul to Texas, while Po Campo jingles his tambourine and Pea Eye wishes he could die himself.
09 That night the men sit up at the fire arguing over the refused amputation, the ghosts and the long haul to Texas, while Po Campo jingles his tambourine and Pea Eye wishes he could die himself.