diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/1312.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1312.txt | 12782 |
1 files changed, 12782 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/1312.txt b/old/1312.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..25f0840 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1312.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12782 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Selected Stories, by Bret Harte + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Selected Stories + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 3, 2006 [EBook #1312] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELECTED STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson + + + + + +SELECTED STORIES OF BRET HARTE + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +THE LUCK OF ROARING CAMP + +THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT + +MIGGLES + +TENNESSEE'S PARTNER + +THE IDYL OF RED GULCH + +BROWN OF CALAVERAS + +HIGH-WATER MARK + +A LONELY RIDE + +THE MAN OF NO ACCOUNT + +MLISS + +THE RIGHT EYE OF THE COMMANDER + +NOTES BY FLOOD AND FIELD + +AN EPISODE OF FIDDLETOWN + +BARKER'S LUCK + +A YELLOW DOG + +A MOTHER OF FIVE + +BULGER'S REPUTATION + +IN THE TULES + +A CONVERT OF THE MISSION + +THE INDISCRETION OF ELSBETH + +THE DEVOTION OF ENRIQUEZ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +The life of Bret Harte divides itself, without adventitious forcing, +into four quite distinct parts. First, we have the precocious boyhood, +with its eager response to the intellectual stimulation of cultured +parents; young Bret Harte assimilated Greek with amazing facility; +devoured voraciously the works of Shakespeare, Dickens, Irving, +Froissart, Cervantes, Fielding; and, with creditable success, attempted +various forms of composition. Then, compelled by economic necessity, he +left school at thirteen, and for three years worked first in a lawyer's +office, and then in a merchant's counting house. + +The second period, that of his migration to California, includes all +that is permanently valuable of Harte's literary output. Arriving in +California in 1854, he was, successively, a school-teacher, drug-store +clerk, express messenger, typesetter, and itinerant journalist. He +worked for a while on the NORTHERN CALIFORNIA (from which he was +dismissed for objecting editorially to the contemporary California sport +of murdering Indians), then on the GOLDEN ERA, 1857, where he achieved +his first moderate acclaim. In this latter year he married Anne Griswold +of New York. In 1864 he was given the secretaryship of the California +mint, a virtual sinecure, and he was enabled do a great deal of writing. +The first volume of his poems, THE LOST GALLEON AND OTHER TALES, +CONDENSED NOVELS (much underrated parodies), and THE BOHEMIAN PAPERS +were published in 1867. One year later, THE OVERLAND MONTHLY, which +had aspirations of becoming "the ATLANTIC MONTHLY of the West," was +established, and Harte was appointed its first editor. For it, he wrote +most of what still remains valid as literature--THE LUCK OF ROARING +CAMP, THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT, PLAIN LANGUAGE FROM TRUTHFUL JAMES, +among others. The combination of Irvingesque romantic glamor and +Dickensian bitter-sweet humor, applied to picturesquely novel material, +with the addition of a trick ending, was fantastically popular. Editors +began to clamor for his stories; the University of California appointed +him Professor of recent literature; and the ATLANTIC MONTHLY offered him +the practically unprecedented sum of $10,000 for exclusive rights to one +year's literary output. Harte's star was, briefly, in the ascendant. + +However, Harte had accumulated a number of debts, and his editorial +policies, excellent in themselves, but undiplomatically executed, were +the cause of a series of arguments with the publisher of the OVERLAND +MONTHLY. Fairly assured of profitable pickings in the East, he +left California (permanently, as it proved). The East, however, was +financially unappreciative. Harte wrote an unsuccessful novel and +collaborated with Mark Twain on an unremunerative play. His attempts +to increase his income by lecturing were even less rewarding. From +his departure from California in 1872 to his death thirty years later, +Harte's struggles to regain financial stability were unremitting: and +to these efforts is due the relinquishment of his early ideal of "a +peculiarly characteristic Western American literature." Henceforth Harte +accepted, as Prof. Hicks remarks, "the role of entertainer, and as an +entertainer he survived for thirty years his death as an artist." + +The final period extends from 1878, when he managed to get himself +appointed consul to Crefeld in Germany, to 1902, when he died of a +throat cancer. He left for Crefeld without his wife or son--perhaps +intending, as his letters indicate, to call them to him when +circumstances allowed; but save for a few years prior to his death, the +separation, for whatever complex of reasons, remained permanent. Harte, +however, continued to provide for them as liberally as he was able. In +Crefeld Harte wrote A LEGEND OF SAMMERSTANDT, VIEWS FROM A GERMAN SPION, +and UNSER KARL. In 1880 he transferred to the more lucrative consulship +of Glasgow, and ROBIN GRAY, a tale of Scottish life, is the product of +his stay there. In 1885 he was dismissed from his consulship, probably +for political reasons, though neglect of duty was charged against him. +He removed to London where he remained, for most part, until his death. + +Bret Harte never really knew the life of the mining camp. His mining +experiences were too fragmentary, and consequently his portraits of +mining life are wholly impressionistic. "No one," Mark Twain wrote, +"can talk the quartz dialect correctly without learning it with pick and +shovel and drill and fuse." Yet, Twain added elsewhere, "Bret Harte got +his California and his Californians by unconscious absorption, and put +both of them into his tales alive." That is, perhaps, the final comment. +Much could be urged against Harte's stories: the glamor they throw over +the life they depict is largely fictitious; their pathetic endings +are obviously stylized; their technique is overwhelmingly derivative. +Nevertheless, so excellent a critic as Chesterton maintained that "There +are more than nine hundred and ninety-nine excellent reasons which +we could all have for admiring the work of Bret Harte." The figure is +perhaps exaggerated, but there are many reasons for admiration. First, +Harte originated a new and incalculably influential type of story: the +romantically picturesque "human-interest" story. "He created the local +color story," Prof. Blankenship remarks, "or at least popularized +it, and he gave new form and intent to the short story." Character +motivating action is central to this type of story, rather than mood +dominating incident. Again Harte's style is really an eminently skilful +one, admirably suited to his subjects. He can manage the humorous or the +pathetic excellently, and his restraint in each is more remarkable than +his excesses. His sentences have both force and flow; his backgrounds +are crisply but carefully sketched; his characters and caricatures have +their own logical consistency. Finally, granted the desirability of the +theatric finale, it is necessary to admit that Harte always rings down +his curtain dramatically and effectively. + +ARTHUR ZEIGER, M.A. + + + + +THE LUCK OF ROARING CAMP + + +There was commotion in Roaring Camp. It could not have been a fight, +for in 1850 that was not novel enough to have called together the entire +settlement. The ditches and claims were not only deserted, but "Tuttle's +grocery" had contributed its gamblers, who, it will be remembered, +calmly continued their game the day that French Pete and Kanaka Joe shot +each other to death over the bar in the front room. The whole camp +was collected before a rude cabin on the outer edge of the clearing. +Conversation was carried on in a low tone, but the name of a woman +was frequently repeated. It was a name familiar enough in the +camp,--"Cherokee Sal." + +Perhaps the less said of her the better. She was a coarse and, it is to +be feared, a very sinful woman. But at that time she was the only woman +in Roaring Camp, and was just then lying in sore extremity, when she +most needed the ministration of her own sex. Dissolute, abandoned, and +irreclaimable, she was yet suffering a martyrdom hard enough to bear +even when veiled by sympathizing womanhood, but now terrible in her +loneliness. The primal curse had come to her in that original isolation +which must have made the punishment of the first transgression so +dreadful. It was, perhaps, part of the expiation of her sin that, at a +moment when she most lacked her sex's intuitive tenderness and care, she +met only the half-contemptuous faces of her masculine associates. Yet +a few of the spectators were, I think, touched by her sufferings. Sandy +Tipton thought it was "rough on Sal," and, in the contemplation of her +condition, for a moment rose superior to the fact that he had an ace and +two bowers in his sleeve. + +It will be seen also that the situation was novel. Deaths were by no +means uncommon in Roaring Camp, but a birth was a new thing. People had +been dismissed the camp effectively, finally, and with no possibility of +return; but this was the first time that anybody had been introduced AB +INITIO. Hence the excitement. + +"You go in there, Stumpy," said a prominent citizen known as "Kentuck," +addressing one of the loungers. "Go in there, and see what you kin do. +You've had experience in them things." + +Perhaps there was a fitness in the selection. Stumpy, in other climes, +had been the putative head of two families; in fact, it was owing to +some legal informality in these proceedings that Roaring Camp--a city of +refuge--was indebted to his company. The crowd approved the choice, and +Stumpy was wise enough to bow to the majority. The door closed on the +extempore surgeon and midwife, and Roaring Camp sat down outside, smoked +its pipe, and awaited the issue. + +The assemblage numbered about a hundred men. One or two of these +were actual fugitives from justice, some were criminal, and all were +reckless. Physically they exhibited no indication of their past lives +and character. The greatest scamp had a Raphael face, with a profusion +of blonde hair; Oakhurst, a gambler, had the melancholy air and +intellectual abstraction of a Hamlet; the coolest and most courageous +man was scarcely over five feet in height, with a soft voice and an +embarrassed, timid manner. The term "roughs" applied to them was a +distinction rather than a definition. Perhaps in the minor details of +fingers, toes, ears, etc., the camp may have been deficient, but +these slight omissions did not detract from their aggregate force. The +strongest man had but three fingers on his right hand; the best shot had +but one eye. + +Such was the physical aspect of the men that were dispersed around +the cabin. The camp lay in a triangular valley between two hills and a +river. The only outlet was a steep trail over the summit of a hill that +faced the cabin, now illuminated by the rising moon. The suffering woman +might have seen it from the rude bunk whereon she lay,--seen it winding +like a silver thread until it was lost in the stars above. + +A fire of withered pine boughs added sociability to the gathering. By +degrees the natural levity of Roaring Camp returned. Bets were freely +offered and taken regarding the result. Three to five that "Sal would +get through with it;" even that the child would survive; side bets as +to the sex and complexion of the coming stranger. In the midst of an +excited discussion an exclamation came from those nearest the door, and +the camp stopped to listen. Above the swaying and moaning of the pines, +the swift rush of the river, and the crackling of the fire rose a sharp, +querulous cry,--a cry unlike anything heard before in the camp. The +pines stopped moaning, the river ceased to rush, and the fire to +crackle. It seemed as if Nature had stopped to listen too. + +The camp rose to its feet as one man! It was proposed to explode a +barrel of gunpowder; but in consideration of the situation of the +mother, better counsels prevailed, and only a few revolvers were +discharged; for whether owing to the rude surgery of the camp, or some +other reason, Cherokee Sal was sinking fast. Within an hour she had +climbed, as it were, that rugged road that led to the stars, and so +passed out of Roaring Camp, its sin and shame, forever. I do not think +that the announcement disturbed them much, except in speculation as +to the fate of the child. "Can he live now?" was asked of Stumpy. The +answer was doubtful. The only other being of Cherokee Sal's sex +and maternal condition in the settlement was an ass. There was some +conjecture as to fitness, but the experiment was tried. It was less +problematical than the ancient treatment of Romulus and Remus, and +apparently as successful. + +When these details were completed, which exhausted another hour, the +door was opened, and the anxious crowd of men, who had already formed +themselves into a queue, entered in single file. Beside the low bunk or +shelf, on which the figure of the mother was starkly outlined below +the blankets, stood a pine table. On this a candle-box was placed, +and within it, swathed in staring red flannel, lay the last arrival at +Roaring Camp. Beside the candle-box was placed a hat. Its use was +soon indicated. "Gentlemen," said Stumpy, with a singular mixture of +authority and EX OFFICIO complacency,--"gentlemen will please pass in +at the front door, round the table, and out at the back door. Them as +wishes to contribute anything toward the orphan will find a hat handy." +The first man entered with his hat on; he uncovered, however, as he +looked about him, and so unconsciously set an example to the next. In +such communities good and bad actions are catching. As the procession +filed in comments were audible,--criticisms addressed perhaps rather +to Stumpy in the character of showman; "Is that him?" "Mighty small +specimen;" "Has n't more 'n got the color;" "Ain't bigger nor a +derringer." The contributions were as characteristic: A silver tobacco +box; a doubloon; a navy revolver, silver mounted; a gold specimen; a +very beautifully embroidered lady's handkerchief (from Oakhurst the +gambler); a diamond breastpin; a diamond ring (suggested by the pin, +with the remark from the giver that he "saw that pin and went two +diamonds better"); a slung-shot; a Bible (contributor not detected); a +golden spur; a silver teaspoon (the initials, I regret to say, were not +the giver's); a pair of surgeon's shears; a lancet; a Bank of England +note for 5 pounds; and about $200 in loose gold and silver coin. During +these proceedings Stumpy maintained a silence as impassive as the dead +on his left, a gravity as inscrutable as that of the newly born on his +right. Only one incident occurred to break the monotony of the curious +procession. As Kentuck bent over the candle-box half curiously, the +child turned, and, in a spasm of pain, caught at his groping finger, +and held it fast for a moment. Kentuck looked foolish and embarrassed. +Something like a blush tried to assert itself in his weather-beaten +cheek. "The damned little cuss!" he said, as he extricated his finger, +with perhaps more tenderness and care than he might have been deemed +capable of showing. He held that finger a little apart from its fellows +as he went out, and examined it curiously. The examination provoked the +same original remark in regard to the child. In fact, he seemed to +enjoy repeating it. "He rastled with my finger," he remarked to Tipton, +holding up the member, "the damned little cuss!" + +It was four o'clock before the camp sought repose. A light burnt in the +cabin where the watchers sat, for Stumpy did not go to bed that night. +Nor did Kentuck. He drank quite freely, and related with great gusto his +experience, invariably ending with his characteristic condemnation of +the newcomer. It seemed to relieve him of any unjust implication of +sentiment, and Kentuck had the weaknesses of the nobler sex. When +everybody else had gone to bed, he walked down to the river and +whistled reflectingly. Then he walked up the gulch past the cabin, +still whistling with demonstrative unconcern. At a large redwood-tree he +paused and retraced his steps, and again passed the cabin. Halfway down +to the river's bank he again paused, and then returned and knocked at +the door. It was opened by Stumpy. "How goes it?" said Kentuck, looking +past Stumpy toward the candle-box. "All serene!" replied Stumpy. +"Anything up?" "Nothing." There was a pause--an embarrassing one--Stumpy +still holding the door. Then Kentuck had recourse to his finger, which +he held up to Stumpy. "Rastled with it,--the damned little cuss," he +said, and retired. + +The next day Cherokee Sal had such rude sepulture as Roaring Camp +afforded. After her body had been committed to the hillside, there was +a formal meeting of the camp to discuss what should be done with her +infant. A resolution to adopt it was unanimous and enthusiastic. But an +animated discussion in regard to the manner and feasibility of providing +for its wants at once sprang up. It was remarkable that the argument +partook of none of those fierce personalities with which discussions +were usually conducted at Roaring Camp. Tipton proposed that they should +send the child to Red Dog,--a distance of forty miles,--where female +attention could be procured. But the unlucky suggestion met with fierce +and unanimous opposition. It was evident that no plan which entailed +parting from their new acquisition would for a moment be entertained. +"Besides," said Tom Ryder, "them fellows at Red Dog would swap it, and +ring in somebody else on us." A disbelief in the honesty of other camps +prevailed at Roaring Camp, as in other places. + +The introduction of a female nurse in the camp also met with objection. +It was argued that no decent woman could be prevailed to accept Roaring +Camp as her home, and the speaker urged that "they didn't want any more +of the other kind." This unkind allusion to the defunct mother, harsh as +it may seem, was the first spasm of propriety,--the first symptom of the +camp's regeneration. Stumpy advanced nothing. Perhaps he felt a certain +delicacy in interfering with the selection of a possible successor in +office. But when questioned, he averred stoutly that he and "Jinny"--the +mammal before alluded to--could manage to rear the child. There was +something original, independent, and heroic about the plan that pleased +the camp. Stumpy was retained. Certain articles were sent for to +Sacramento. "Mind," said the treasurer, as he pressed a bag of gold-dust +into the expressman's hand, "the best that can be got,--lace, you know, +and filigree-work and frills,--damn the cost!" + +Strange to say, the child thrived. Perhaps the invigorating climate of +the mountain camp was compensation for material deficiencies. Nature +took the foundling to her broader breast. In that rare atmosphere of the +Sierra foothills,--that air pungent with balsamic odor, that ethereal +cordial at once bracing and exhilarating,--he may have found food and +nourishment, or a subtle chemistry that transmuted ass's milk to lime +and phosphorus. Stumpy inclined to the belief that it was the latter +and good nursing. "Me and that ass," he would say, "has been father and +mother to him! Don't you," he would add, apostrophizing the helpless +bundle before him, "never go back on us." + +By the time he was a month old the necessity of giving him a name became +apparent. He had generally been known as "The Kid," "Stumpy's Boy," +"The Coyote" (an allusion to his vocal powers), and even by Kentuck's +endearing diminutive of "The damned little cuss." But these were felt +to be vague and unsatisfactory, and were at last dismissed under another +influence. Gamblers and adventurers are generally superstitious, and +Oakhurst one day declared that the baby had brought "the luck" to +Roaring Camp. It was certain that of late they had been successful. +"Luck" was the name agreed upon, with the prefix of Tommy for greater +convenience. No allusion was made to the mother, and the father was +unknown. "It's better," said the philosophical Oakhurst, "to take a +fresh deal all round. Call him Luck, and start him fair." A day was +accordingly set apart for the christening. What was meant by this +ceremony the reader may imagine who has already gathered some idea of +the reckless irreverence of Roaring Camp. The master of ceremonies +was one "Boston," a noted wag, and the occasion seemed to promise the +greatest facetiousness. This ingenious satirist had spent two days +in preparing a burlesque of the Church service, with pointed local +allusions. The choir was properly trained, and Sandy Tipton was to stand +godfather. But after the procession had marched to the grove with music +and banners, and the child had been deposited before a mock altar, +Stumpy stepped before the expectant crowd. "It ain't my style to spoil +fun, boys," said the little man, stoutly eyeing the faces around him, +"but it strikes me that this thing ain't exactly on the squar. It's +playing it pretty low down on this yer baby to ring in fun on him that +he ain't goin' to understand. And ef there's goin' to be any godfathers +round, I'd like to see who's got any better rights than me." A silence +followed Stumpy's speech. To the credit of all humorists be it said that +the first man to acknowledge its justice was the satirist thus stopped +of his fun. "But," said Stumpy, quickly following up his advantage, +"we're here for a christening, and we'll have it. I proclaim you Thomas +Luck, according to the laws of the United States and the State of +California, so help me God." It was the first time that the name of the +Deity had been otherwise uttered than profanely in the camp. The form +of christening was perhaps even more ludicrous than the satirist had +conceived; but strangely enough, nobody saw it and nobody laughed. +"Tommy" was christened as seriously as he would have been under a +Christian roof and cried and was comforted in as orthodox fashion. + +And so the work of regeneration began in Roaring Camp. Almost +imperceptibly a change came over the settlement. The cabin assigned to +"Tommy Luck"--or "The Luck," as he was more frequently called--first +showed signs of improvement. It was kept scrupulously clean and +whitewashed. Then it was boarded, clothed, and papered. The rose wood +cradle, packed eighty miles by mule, had, in Stumpy's way of putting it, +"sorter killed the rest of the furniture." So the rehabilitation of the +cabin became a necessity. The men who were in the habit of lounging +in at Stumpy's to see "how 'The Luck' got on" seemed to appreciate +the change, and in self-defense the rival establishment of "Tuttle's +grocery" bestirred itself and imported a carpet and mirrors. The +reflections of the latter on the appearance of Roaring Camp tended to +produce stricter habits of personal cleanliness. Again Stumpy imposed a +kind of quarantine upon those who aspired to the honor and privilege of +holding The Luck. It was a cruel mortification to Kentuck--who, in the +carelessness of a large nature and the habits of frontier life, had +begun to regard all garments as a second cuticle, which, like a snake's, +only sloughed off through decay--to be debarred this privilege from +certain prudential reasons. Yet such was the subtle influence of +innovation that he thereafter appeared regularly every afternoon in a +clean shirt and face still shining from his ablutions. Nor were moral +and social sanitary laws neglected. "Tommy," who was supposed to spend +his whole existence in a persistent attempt to repose, must not be +disturbed by noise. The shouting and yelling, which had gained the camp +its infelicitous title, were not permitted within hearing distance of +Stumpy's. The men conversed in whispers or smoked with Indian gravity. +Profanity was tacitly given up in these sacred precincts, and throughout +the camp a popular form of expletive, known as "D--n the luck!" and +"Curse the luck!" was abandoned, as having a new personal bearing. +Vocal music was not interdicted, being supposed to have a soothing, +tranquilizing quality; and one song, sung by "Man-o'-War Jack," an +English sailor from her Majesty's Australian colonies, was quite popular +as a lullaby. It was a lugubrious recital of the exploits of "the +Arethusa, Seventy-four," in a muffled minor, ending with a prolonged +dying fall at the burden of each verse, "On b-oo-o-ard of the Arethusa." +It was a fine sight to see Jack holding The Luck, rocking from side +to side as if with the motion of a ship, and crooning forth this naval +ditty. Either through the peculiar rocking of Jack or the length of his +song,--it contained ninety stanzas, and was continued with conscientious +deliberation to the bitter end,--the lullaby generally had the desired +effect. At such times the men would lie at full length under the trees +in the soft summer twilight, smoking their pipes and drinking in +the melodious utterances. An indistinct idea that this was pastoral +happiness pervaded the camp. "This 'ere kind o' think," said the Cockney +Simmons, meditatively reclining on his elbow, "is 'evingly." It reminded +him of Greenwich. + +On the long summer days The Luck was usually carried to the gulch from +whence the golden store of Roaring Camp was taken. There, on a blanket +spread over pine boughs, he would lie while the men were working in the +ditches below. Latterly there was a rude attempt to decorate this bower +with flowers and sweet-smelling shrubs, and generally some one would +bring him a cluster of wild honeysuckles, azaleas, or the painted +blossoms of Las Mariposas. The men had suddenly awakened to the fact +that there were beauty and significance in these trifles, which they +had so long trodden carelessly beneath their feet. A flake of glittering +mica, a fragment of variegated quartz, a bright pebble from the bed of +the creek, became beautiful to eyes thus cleared and strengthened, +and were invariably pat aside for The Luck. It was wonderful how many +treasures the woods and hillsides yielded that "would do for Tommy." +Surrounded by playthings such as never child out of fairyland had +before, it is to be hoped that Tommy was content. He appeared to be +serenely happy, albeit there was an infantine gravity about him, a +contemplative light in his round gray eyes, that sometimes worried +Stumpy. He was always tractable and quiet, and it is recorded that once, +having crept beyond his "corral,"--a hedge of tessellated pine boughs, +which surrounded his bed,--he dropped over the bank on his head in +the soft earth, and remained with his mottled legs in the air in that +position for at least five minutes with unflinching gravity. He was +extricated without a murmur. I hesitate to record the many other +instances of his sagacity, which rest, unfortunately, upon the +statements of prejudiced friends. Some of them were not without a tinge +of superstition. "I crep' up the bank just now," said Kentuck one +day, in a breathless state of excitement "and dern my skin if he was +a-talking to a jay bird as was a-sittin' on his lap. There they was, +just as free and sociable as anything you please, a-jawin' at each +other just like two cherrybums." Howbeit, whether creeping over the pine +boughs or lying lazily on his back blinking at the leaves above him, to +him the birds sang, the squirrels chattered, and the flowers bloomed. +Nature was his nurse and playfellow. For him she would let slip between +the leaves golden shafts of sunlight that fell just within his grasp; +she would send wandering breezes to visit him with the balm of bay and +resinous gum; to him the tall redwoods nodded familiarly and sleepily, +the bumblebees buzzed, and the rooks cawed a slumbrous accompaniment. + +Such was the golden summer of Roaring Camp. They were "flush times," and +the luck was with them. The claims had yielded enormously. The camp +was jealous of its privileges and looked suspiciously on strangers. No +encouragement was given to immigration, and, to make their seclusion +more perfect, the land on either side of the mountain wall that +surrounded the camp they duly preempted. This, and a reputation for +singular proficiency with the revolver, kept the reserve of Roaring +Camp inviolate. The expressman--their only connecting link with the +surrounding world--sometimes told wonderful stories of the camp. He +would say, "They've a street up there in 'Roaring' that would lay over +any street in Red Dog. They've got vines and flowers round their houses, +and they wash themselves twice a day. But they're mighty rough on +strangers, and they worship an Ingin baby." + +With the prosperity of the camp came a desire for further improvement. +It was proposed to build a hotel in the following spring, and to invite +one or two decent families to reside there for the sake of The Luck, who +might perhaps profit by female companionship. The sacrifice that this +concession to the sex cost these men, who were fiercely skeptical in +regard to its general virtue and usefulness, can only be accounted for +by their affection for Tommy. A few still held out. But the resolve +could not be carried into effect for three months, and the minority +meekly yielded in the hope that something might turn up to prevent it. +And it did. + +The winter of 1851 will long be remembered in the foothills. The snow +lay deep on the Sierras, and every mountain creek became a river, +and every river a lake. Each gorge and gulch was transformed into a +tumultuous watercourse that descended the hillsides, tearing down giant +trees and scattering its drift and debris along the plain. Red Dog had +been twice under water, and Roaring Camp had been forewarned. "Water put +the gold into them gulches," said Stumpy. "It been here once and will +be here again!" And that night the North Fork suddenly leaped over its +banks and swept up the triangular valley of Roaring Camp. + +In the confusion of rushing water, crashing trees, and crackling timber, +and the darkness which seemed to flow with the water and blot out the +fair valley, but little could be done to collect the scattered camp. +When the morning broke, the cabin of Stumpy, nearest the river-bank, was +gone. Higher up the gulch they found the body of its unlucky owner; but +the pride, the hope, the joy, The Luck, of Roaring Camp had disappeared. +They were returning with sad hearts when a shout from the bank recalled +them. + +It was a relief-boat from down the river. They had picked up, they +said, a man and an infant, nearly exhausted, about two miles below. Did +anybody know them, and did they belong here? + +It needed but a glance to show them Kentuck lying there, cruelly crushed +and bruised, but still holding The Luck of Roaring Camp in his arms. As +they bent over the strangely assorted pair, they saw that the child was +cold and pulseless. "He is dead," said one. Kentuck opened his eyes. +"Dead?" he repeated feebly. "Yes, my man, and you are dying too." A +smile lit the eyes of the expiring Kentuck. "Dying!" he repeated; "he's +a-taking me with him. Tell the boys I've got The Luck with me now;" and +the strong man, clinging to the frail babe as a drowning man is said to +cling to a straw, drifted away into the shadowy river that flows forever +to the unknown sea. + + + + +THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT + + +As Mr. John Oakhurst, gambler, stepped into the main street of Poker +Flat on the morning of the twenty-third of November, 1850, he was +conscious of a change in its moral atmosphere since the preceding +night. Two or three men, conversing earnestly together, ceased as he +approached, and exchanged significant glances. There was a Sabbath lull +in the air which, in a settlement unused to Sabbath influences, looked +ominous. + +Mr. Oakhurst's calm, handsome face betrayed small concern in these +indications. Whether he was conscious of any predisposing cause was +another question. "I reckon they're after somebody," he reflected; +"likely it's me." He returned to his pocket the handkerchief with which +he had been whipping away the red dust of Poker Flat from his neat +boots, and quietly discharged his mind of any further conjecture. + +In point of fact, Poker Flat was "after somebody." It had lately +suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and +a prominent citizen. It was experiencing a spasm of virtuous reaction, +quite as lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked +it. A secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper +persons. This was done permanently in regard of two men who were then +hanging from the boughs of a sycamore in the gulch, and temporarily in +the banishment of certain other objectionable characters. I regret to +say that some of these were ladies. It is but due to the sex, however, +to state that their impropriety was professional, and it was only in +such easily established standards of evil that Poker Flat ventured to +sit in judgment. + +Mr. Oakhurst was right in supposing that he was included in this +category. A few of the committee had urged hanging him as a possible +example, and a sure method of reimbursing themselves from his pockets +of the sums he had won from them. "It's agin justice," said Jim Wheeler, +"to let this yer young man from Roaring Camp--an entire stranger--carry +away our money." But a crude sentiment of equity residing in the +breasts of those who had been fortunate enough to win from Mr. Oakhurst +overruled this narrower local prejudice. + +Mr. Oakhurst received his sentence with philosophic calmness, none the +less coolly that he was aware of the hesitation of his judges. He was +too much of a gambler not to accept Fate. With him life was at best an +uncertain game, and he recognized the usual percentage in favor of the +dealer. + +A body of armed men accompanied the deported wickedness of Poker Flat to +the outskirts of the settlement. Besides Mr. Oakhurst, who was known to +be a coolly desperate man, and for whose intimidation the armed +escort was intended, the expatriated party consisted of a young woman +familiarly known as the "Duchess"; another, who had won the title of +"Mother Shipton"; and "Uncle Billy," a suspected sluice-robber and +confirmed drunkard. The cavalcade provoked no comments from the +spectators, nor was any word uttered by the escort. Only, when the gulch +which marked the uttermost limit of Poker Flat was reached, the leader +spoke briefly and to the point. The exiles were forbidden to return at +the peril of their lives. + +As the escort disappeared, their pent-up feelings found vent in a +few hysterical tears from the Duchess, some bad language from Mother +Shipton, and a Parthian volley of expletives from Uncle Billy. The +philosophic Oakhurst alone remained silent. He listened calmly to Mother +Shipton's desire to cut somebody's heart out, to the repeated statements +of the Duchess that she would die in the road, and to the alarming oaths +that seemed to be bumped out of Uncle Billy as he rode forward. With the +easy good humor characteristic of his class, he insisted upon exchanging +his own riding horse, "Five Spot," for the sorry mule which the Duchess +rode. But even this act did not draw the party into any closer sympathy. +The young woman readjusted her somewhat draggled plumes with a feeble, +faded coquetry; Mother Shipton eyed the possessor of "Five Spot" with +malevolence, and Uncle Billy included the whole party in one sweeping +anathema. + +The road to Sandy Bar--a camp that, not having as yet experienced the +regenerating influences of Poker Flat, consequently seemed to offer some +invitation to the emigrants--lay over a steep mountain range. It was +distant a day's severe travel. In that advanced season, the party soon +passed out of the moist, temperate regions of the foothills into +the dry, cold, bracing air of the Sierras. The trail was narrow and +difficult. At noon the Duchess, rolling out of her saddle upon the +ground, declared her intention of going no farther, and the party +halted. + +The spot was singularly wild and impressive. A wooded amphitheater, +surrounded on three sides by precipitous cliffs of naked granite, sloped +gently toward the crest of another precipice that overlooked the valley. +It was, undoubtedly, the most suitable spot for a camp, had camping been +advisable. But Mr. Oakhurst knew that scarcely half the journey to Sandy +Bar was accomplished, and the party were not equipped or provisioned +for delay. This fact he pointed out to his companions curtly, with a +philosophic commentary on the folly of "throwing up their hand before +the game was played out." But they were furnished with liquor, which in +this emergency stood them in place of food, fuel, rest, and prescience. +In spite of his remonstrances, it was not long before they were more or +less under its influence. Uncle Billy passed rapidly from a bellicose +state into one of stupor, the Duchess became maudlin, and Mother Shipton +snored. Mr. Oakhurst alone remained erect, leaning against a rock, +calmly surveying them. + +Mr. Oakhurst did not drink. It interfered with a profession which +required coolness, impassiveness, and presence of mind, and, in his own +language, he "couldn't afford it." As he gazed at his recumbent fellow +exiles, the loneliness begotten of his pariah trade, his habits of life, +his very vices, for the first time seriously oppressed him. He bestirred +himself in dusting his black clothes, washing his hands and face, and +other acts characteristic of his studiously neat habits, and for a +moment forgot his annoyance. The thought of deserting his weaker and +more pitiable companions never perhaps occurred to him. Yet he could not +help feeling the want of that excitement which, singularly enough, was +most conducive to that calm equanimity for which he was notorious. He +looked at the gloomy walls that rose a thousand feet sheer above the +circling pines around him; at the sky, ominously clouded; at the valley +below, already deepening into shadow. And, doing so, suddenly he heard +his own name called. + +A horseman slowly ascended the trail. In the fresh, open face of the +newcomer Mr. Oakhurst recognized Tom Simson, otherwise known as the +"Innocent" of Sandy Bar. He had met him some months before over +a "little game," and had, with perfect equanimity, won the entire +fortune--amounting to some forty dollars--of that guileless youth. After +the game was finished, Mr. Oakhurst drew the youthful speculator behind +the door and thus addressed him: "Tommy, you're a good little man, but +you can't gamble worth a cent. Don't try it over again." He then handed +him his money back, pushed him gently from the room, and so made a +devoted slave of Tom Simson. + +There was a remembrance of this in his boyish and enthusiastic greeting +of Mr. Oakhurst. He had started, he said, to go to Poker Flat to seek +his fortune. "Alone?" No, not exactly alone; in fact (a giggle), he had +run away with Piney Woods. Didn't Mr. Oakhurst remember Piney? She that +used to wait on the table at the Temperance House? They had been engaged +a long time, but old Jake Woods had objected, and so they had run away, +and were going to Poker Flat to be married, and here they were. And they +were tired out, and how lucky it was they had found a place to camp and +company. All this the Innocent delivered rapidly, while Piney, a stout, +comely damsel of fifteen, emerged from behind the pine tree, where she +had been blushing unseen, and rode to the side of her lover. + +Mr. Oakhurst seldom troubled himself with sentiment, still less with +propriety; but he had a vague idea that the situation was not fortunate. +He retained, however, his presence of mind sufficiently to kick Uncle +Billy, who was about to say something, and Uncle Billy was sober enough +to recognize in Mr. Oakhurst's kick a superior power that would not +bear trifling. He then endeavored to dissuade Tom Simson from delaying +further, but in vain. He even pointed out the fact that there was no +provision, nor means of making a camp. But, unluckily, the Innocent met +this objection by assuring the party that he was provided with an extra +mule loaded with provisions and by the discovery of a rude attempt at a +log house near the trail. "Piney can stay with Mrs. Oakhurst," said the +Innocent, pointing to the Duchess, "and I can shift for myself." + +Nothing but Mr. Oakhurst's admonishing foot saved Uncle Billy from +bursting into a roar of laughter. As it was, he felt compelled to retire +up the canyon until he could recover his gravity. There he confided the +joke to the tall pine trees, with many slaps of his leg, contortions of +his face, and the usual profanity. But when he returned to the party, he +found them seated by a fire--for the air had grown strangely chill +and the sky overcast--in apparently amicable conversation. Piney was +actually talking in an impulsive, girlish fashion to the Duchess, who +was listening with an interest and animation she had not shown for many +days. The Innocent was holding forth, apparently with equal effect, +to Mr. Oakhurst and Mother Shipton, who was actually relaxing into +amiability. "Is this yer a damned picnic?" said Uncle Billy with inward +scorn as he surveyed the sylvan group, the glancing firelight, and the +tethered animals in the foreground. Suddenly an idea mingled with the +alcoholic fumes that disturbed his brain. It was apparently of a jocular +nature, for he felt impelled to slap his leg again and cram his fist +into his mouth. + +As the shadows crept slowly up the mountain, a slight breeze rocked the +tops of the pine trees, and moaned through their long and gloomy aisles. +The ruined cabin, patched and covered with pine boughs, was set apart +for the ladies. As the lovers parted, they unaffectedly exchanged a +kiss, so honest and sincere that it might have been heard above the +swaying pines. The frail Duchess and the malevolent Mother Shipton were +probably too stunned to remark upon this last evidence of simplicity, +and so turned without a word to the hut. The fire was replenished, the +men lay down before the door, and in a few minutes were asleep. + +Mr. Oakhurst was a light sleeper. Toward morning he awoke benumbed and +cold. As he stirred the dying fire, the wind, which was now blowing +strongly, brought to his cheek that which caused the blood to leave +it--snow! + +He started to his feet with the intention of awakening the sleepers, +for there was no time to lose. But turning to where Uncle Billy had been +lying, he found him gone. A suspicion leaped to his brain and a curse +to his lips. He ran to the spot where the mules had been tethered; they +were no longer there. The tracks were already rapidly disappearing in +the snow. + +The momentary excitement brought Mr. Oakhurst back to the fire with +his usual calm. He did not waken the sleepers. The Innocent slumbered +peacefully, with a smile on his good-humored, freckled face; the virgin +Piney slept beside her frailer sisters as sweetly as though attended +by celestial guardians; and Mr. Oakhurst, drawing his blanket over his +shoulders, stroked his mustaches and waited for the dawn. It came slowly +in a whirling mist of snowflakes that dazzled and confused the eye. What +could be seen of the landscape appeared magically changed. He +looked over the valley, and summed up the present and future in two +words--"snowed in!" + +A careful inventory of the provisions, which, fortunately for the party, +had been stored within the hut and so escaped the felonious fingers of +Uncle Billy, disclosed the fact that with care and prudence they might +last ten days longer. "That is," said Mr. Oakhurst, sotto voce to the +Innocent, "if you're willing to board us. If you ain't--and perhaps +you'd better not--you can wait till Uncle Billy gets back with +provisions." For some occult reason, Mr. Oakhurst could not bring +himself to disclose Uncle Billy's rascality, and so offered the +hypothesis that he had wandered from the camp and had accidentally +stampeded the animals. He dropped a warning to the Duchess and Mother +Shipton, who of course knew the facts of their associate's defection. +"They'll find out the truth about us all when they find out anything," +he added, significantly, "and there's no good frightening them now." + +Tom Simson not only put all his worldly store at the disposal of Mr. +Oakhurst, but seemed to enjoy the prospect of their enforced seclusion. +"We'll have a good camp for a week, and then the snow'll melt, and we'll +all go back together." The cheerful gaiety of the young man, and Mr. +Oakhurst's calm, infected the others. The Innocent with the aid of pine +boughs extemporized a thatch for the roofless cabin, and the Duchess +directed Piney in the rearrangement of the interior with a taste and +tact that opened the blue eyes of that provincial maiden to their +fullest extent. "I reckon now you're used to fine things at Poker Flat," +said Piney. The Duchess turned away sharply to conceal something that +reddened her cheeks through its professional tint, and Mother Shipton +requested Piney not to "chatter." But when Mr. Oakhurst returned from a +weary search for the trail, he heard the sound of happy laughter +echoed from the rocks. He stopped in some alarm, and his thoughts first +naturally reverted to the whisky, which he had prudently cached. "And +yet it don't somehow sound like whisky," said the gambler. It was not +until he caught sight of the blazing fire through the still-blinding +storm and the group around it that he settled to the conviction that it +was "square fun." + +Whether Mr. Oakhurst had cached his cards with the whisky as something +debarred the free access of the community, I cannot say. It was certain +that, in Mother Shipton's words, he "didn't say cards once" during that +evening. Haply the time was beguiled by an accordion, produced somewhat +ostentatiously by Tom Simson from his pack. Notwithstanding some +difficulties attending the manipulation of this instrument, Piney +Woods managed to pluck several reluctant melodies from its keys, to +an accompaniment by the Innocent on a pair of bone castanets. But the +crowning festivity of the evening was reached in a rude camp-meeting +hymn, which the lovers, joining hands, sang with great earnestness and +vociferation. I fear that a certain defiant tone and Covenanter's swing +to its chorus, rather than any devotional quality, caused it speedily to +infect the others, who at last joined in the refrain: + +"I'm proud to live in the service of the Lord, + +And I'm bound to die in His army." + +The pines rocked, the storm eddied and whirled above the miserable +group, and the flames of their altar leaped heavenward as if in token of +the vow. + +At midnight the storm abated, the rolling clouds parted, and the +stars glittered keenly above the sleeping camp. Mr. Oakhurst, whose +professional habits had enabled him to live on the smallest possible +amount of sleep, in dividing the watch with Tom Simson somehow managed +to take upon himself the greater part of that duty. He excused himself +to the Innocent by saying that he had "often been a week without sleep." +"Doing what?" asked Tom. "Poker!" replied Oakhurst, sententiously; "when +a man gets a streak of luck,--nigger luck--he don't get tired. The luck +gives in first. Luck," continued the gambler, reflectively, "is a mighty +queer thing. All you know about it for certain is that it's bound to +change. And it's finding out when it's going to change that makes you. +We've had a streak of bad luck since we left Poker Flat--you come along, +and slap you get into it, too. If you can hold your cards right along +you're all right. For," added the gambler, with cheerful irrelevance, + +"'I'm proud to live in the service of the Lord, + +And I'm bound to die in His army.'" + +The third day came, and the sun, looking through the white-curtained +valley, saw the outcasts divide their slowly decreasing store of +provisions for the morning meal. It was one of the peculiarities of that +mountain climate that its rays diffused a kindly warmth over the wintry +landscape, as if in regretful commiseration of the past. But it revealed +drift on drift of snow piled high around the hut--a hopeless, uncharted, +trackless sea of white lying below the rocky shores to which the +castaways still clung. Through the marvelously clear air the smoke of +the pastoral village of Poker Flat rose miles away. Mother Shipton saw +it, and from a remote pinnacle of her rocky fastness hurled in that +direction a final malediction. It was her last vituperative attempt, and +perhaps for that reason was invested with a certain degree of sublimity. +It did her good, she privately informed the Duchess. "Just you go out +there and cuss, and see." She then set herself to the task of amusing +"the child," as she and the Duchess were pleased to call Piney. Piney +was no chicken, but it was a soothing and original theory of the pair +thus to account for the fact that she didn't swear and wasn't improper. + +When night crept up again through the gorges, the reedy notes of the +accordion rose and fell in fitful spasms and long-drawn gasps by the +flickering campfire. But music failed to fill entirely the aching +void left by insufficient food, and a new diversion was proposed by +Piney--storytelling. Neither Mr. Oakhurst nor his female companions +caring to relate their personal experiences, this plan would have failed +too but for the Innocent. Some months before he had chanced upon a stray +copy of Mr. Pope's ingenious translation of the ILIAD. He now proposed +to narrate the principal incidents of that poem--having thoroughly +mastered the argument and fairly forgotten the words--in the current +vernacular of Sandy Bar. And so for the rest of that night the Homeric +demigods again walked the earth. Trojan bully and wily Greek wrestled in +the winds, and the great pines in the canyon seemed to bow to the wrath +of the son of Peleus. Mr. Oakhurst listened with quiet satisfaction. +Most especially was he interested in the fate of "Ash-heels," as the +Innocent persisted in denominating the "swift-footed Achilles." + +So with small food and much of Homer and the accordion, a week passed +over the heads of the outcasts. The sun again forsook them, and again +from leaden skies the snowflakes were sifted over the land. Day by day +closer around them drew the snowy circle, until at last they looked from +their prison over drifted walls of dazzling white that towered twenty +feet above their heads. It became more and more difficult to replenish +their fires, even from the fallen trees beside them, now half-hidden in +the drifts. And yet no one complained. The lovers turned from the dreary +prospect and looked into each other's eyes, and were happy. Mr. Oakhurst +settled himself coolly to the losing game before him. The Duchess, +more cheerful than she had been, assumed the care of Piney. Only Mother +Shipton--once the strongest of the party--seemed to sicken and fade. At +midnight on the tenth day she called Oakhurst to her side. "I'm going," +she said, in a voice of querulous weakness, "but don't say anything +about it. Don't waken the kids. Take the bundle from under my head and +open it." Mr. Oakhurst did so. It contained Mother Shipton's rations for +the last week, untouched. "Give 'em to the child," she said, pointing to +the sleeping Piney. "You've starved yourself," said the gambler. "That's +what they call it," said the woman, querulously, as she lay down again +and, turning her face to the wall, passed quietly away. + +The accordion and the bones were put aside that day, and Homer was +forgotten. When the body of Mother Shipton had been committed to the +snow, Mr. Oakhurst took the Innocent aside, and showed him a pair of +snowshoes, which he had fashioned from the old pack saddle. "There's one +chance in a hundred to save her yet," he said, pointing to Piney; "but +it's there," he added, pointing toward Poker Flat. "If you can reach +there in two days she's safe." "And you?" asked Tom Simson. "I'll stay +here," was the curt reply. + +The lovers parted with a long embrace. "You are not going, too?" said +the Duchess as she saw Mr. Oakhurst apparently waiting to accompany him. +"As far as the canyon," he replied. He turned suddenly, and kissed the +Duchess, leaving her pallid face aflame and her trembling limbs rigid +with amazement. + +Night came, but not Mr. Oakhurst. It brought the storm again and the +whirling snow. Then the Duchess, feeding the fire, found that someone +had quietly piled beside the hut enough fuel to last a few days longer. +The tears rose to her eyes, but she hid them from Piney. + +The women slept but little. In the morning, looking into each other's +faces, they read their fate. Neither spoke; but Piney, accepting the +position of the stronger, drew near and placed her arm around the +Duchess's waist. They kept this attitude for the rest of the day. That +night the storm reached its greatest fury, and, rending asunder the +protecting pines, invaded the very hut. + +Toward morning they found themselves unable to feed the fire, which +gradually died away. As the embers slowly blackened, the Duchess crept +closer to Piney, and broke the silence of many hours: "Piney, can you +pray?" "No, dear," said Piney, simply. The Duchess, without knowing +exactly why, felt relieved, and, putting her head upon Piney's shoulder, +spoke no more. And so reclining, the younger and purer pillowing the +head of her soiled sister upon her virgin breast, they fell asleep. + +The wind lulled as if it feared to waken them. Feathery drifts of snow, +shaken from the long pine boughs, flew like white-winged birds, and +settled about them as they slept. The moon through the rifted clouds +looked down upon what had been the camp. But all human stain, all trace +of earthly travail, was hidden beneath the spotless mantle mercifully +flung from above. + +They slept all that day and the next, nor did they waken when voices +and footsteps broke the silence of the camp. And when pitying fingers +brushed the snow from their wan faces, you could scarcely have told from +the equal peace that dwelt upon them which was she that had sinned. Even +the law of Poker Flat recognized this, and turned away, leaving them +still locked in each other's arms. + +But at the head of the gulch, on one of the largest pine trees, they +found the deuce of clubs pinned to the bark with a bowie knife. It bore +the following, written in pencil, in a firm hand: + + BENEATH THIS TREE + LIES THE BODY + OF + JOHN OAKHURST, + WHO STRUCK A STREAK OF BAD LUCK + ON THE 23D OF NOVEMBER, 1850, + AND + HANDED IN HIS CHECKS + ON THE 7TH DECEMBER, 1850. + +And pulseless and cold, with a Derringer by his side and a bullet in his +heart, though still calm as in life, beneath the snow lay he who was at +once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat. + + + + +MIGGLES + + +We were eight, including the driver. We had not spoken during the +passage of the last six miles, since the jolting of the heavy vehicle +over the roughening road had spoiled the Judge's last poetical +quotation. The tall man beside the Judge was asleep, his arm passed +through the swaying strap and his head resting upon it--altogether a +limp, helpless-looking object, as if he had hanged himself and been cut +down too late. The French lady on the back seat was asleep, too, yet in +a half-conscious propriety of attitude, shown even in the disposition +of the handkerchief which she held to her forehead and which partially +veiled her face. The lady from Virginia City, traveling with her +husband, had long since lost all individuality in a wild confusion of +ribbons, veils, furs, and shawls. There was no sound but the rattling +of wheels and the dash of rain upon the roof. Suddenly the stage stopped +and we became dimly aware of voices. The driver was evidently in the +midst of an exciting colloquy with someone in the road--a colloquy of +which such fragments as "bridge gone," "twenty feet of water," "can't +pass," were occasionally distinguishable above the storm. Then came +a lull, and a mysterious voice from the road shouted the parting +adjuration: + +"Try Miggles's." + +We caught a glimpse of our leaders as the vehicle slowly turned, of a +horseman vanishing through the rain, and we were evidently on our way to +Miggles's. + +Who and where was Miggles? The Judge, our authority, did not remember +the name, and he knew the country thoroughly. The Washoe traveler +thought Miggles must keep a hotel. We only knew that we were stopped by +high water in front and rear, and that Miggles was our rock of refuge. +A ten minutes splashing through a tangled by-road, scarcely wide enough +for the stage, and we drew up before a barred and boarded gate in a +wide stone wall or fence about eight feet high. Evidently Miggles's, and +evidently Miggles did not keep a hotel. + +The driver got down and tried the gate. It was securely locked. "Miggles! +O Miggles!" + +No answer. + +"Migg-ells! You Miggles!" continued the driver, with rising wrath. + +"Migglesy!" joined the expressman, persuasively. "O Miggy! Mig!" + +But no reply came from the apparently insensate Miggles. The Judge, +who had finally got the window down, put his head out and propounded +a series of questions, which if answered categorically would have +undoubtedly elucidated the whole mystery, but which the driver evaded by +replying that "if we didn't want to sit in the coach all night, we had +better rise up and sing out for Miggles." + +So we rose up and called on Miggles in chorus; then separately. And when +we had finished, a Hibernian fellow-passenger from the roof called for +"Maygells!" whereat we all laughed. While we were laughing, the driver +cried "Shoo!" + +We listened. To our infinite amazement the chorus of "Miggles" was +repeated from the other side of the wall, even to the final and +supplemental "Maygells." + +"Extraordinary echo," said the Judge. + +"Extraordinary damned skunk!" roared the driver, contemptuously. "Come +out of that, Miggles, and show yourself! Be a man, Miggles! Don't hide +in the dark; I wouldn't if I were you, Miggles," continued Yuba Bill, +now dancing about in an excess of fury. + +"Miggles!" continued the voice. "O Miggles!" + +"My good man! Mr. Myghail!" said the Judge, softening the asperities of +the name as much as possible. "Consider the inhospitality of refusing +shelter from the inclemency of the weather to helpless females. Really, +my dear sir--" But a succession of "Miggles," ending in a burst of +laughter, drowned his voice. + +Yuba Bill hesitated no longer. Taking a heavy stone from the road, he +battered down the gate, and with the expressman entered the enclosure. +We followed. Nobody was to be seen. In the gathering darkness all that +we could distinguish was that we were in a garden--from the rosebushes +that scattered over us a minute spray from their dripping leaves--and +before a long, rambling wooden building. + +"Do you know this Miggles?" asked the Judge of Yuba Bill. + +"No, nor, don't want to," said Bill, shortly, who felt the Pioneer Stage +Company insulted in his person by the contumacious Miggles. + +"But, my dear sir," expostulated the Judge as he thought of the barred +gate. + +"Lookee here," said Yuba Bill, with fine irony, "hadn't you better go +back and sit in the coach till yer introduced? I'm going in," and he +pushed open the door of the building. + +A long room lighted only by the embers of a fire that was dying on the +large hearth at its farther extremity; the walls curiously papered, and +the flickering firelight bringing out its grotesque pattern; somebody +sitting in a large armchair by the fireplace. All this we saw as we +crowded together into the room, after the driver and expressman. + +"Hello, be you Miggles?" said Yuba Bill to the solitary occupant. + +The figure neither spoke nor stirred. Yuba Bill walked wrathfully toward +it, and turned the eye of his coach lantern upon its face. It was a +man's face, prematurely old and wrinkled, with very large eyes, in which +there was that expression of perfectly gratuitous solemnity which I had +sometimes seen in an owl's. The large eyes wandered from Bill's face +to the lantern, and finally fixed their gaze on that luminous object, +without further recognition. + +Bill restrained himself with an effort. + +"Miggles! Be you deaf? You ain't dumb anyhow, you know"; and Yuba Bill +shook the insensate figure by the shoulder. + +To our great dismay, as Bill removed his hand, the venerable +stranger apparently collapsed--sinking into half his size and an +undistinguishable heap of clothing. + +"Well, dern my skin," said Bill, looking appealingly at us, and +hopelessly retiring from the contest. + +The Judge now stepped forward, and we lifted the mysterious invertebrate +back into his original position. Bill was dismissed with the lantern to +reconnoiter outside, for it was evident that from the helplessness of +this solitary man there must be attendants near at hand, and we all +drew around the fire. The Judge, who had regained his authority, and had +never lost his conversational amiability--standing before us with his +back to the hearth--charged us, as an imaginary jury, as follows: + +"It is evident that either our distinguished friend here has reached +that condition described by Shakespeare as 'the sere and yellow leaf,' +or has suffered some premature abatement of his mental and physical +faculties. Whether he is really the Miggles--" + +Here he was interrupted by "Miggles! O Miggles! Migglesy! Mig!" and, in +fact, the whole chorus of Miggles in very much the same key as it had +once before been delivered unto us. + +We gazed at each other for a moment in some alarm. The Judge, in +particular, vacated his position quickly, as the voice seemed to come +directly over his shoulder. The cause, however, was soon discovered in +a large magpie who was perched upon a shelf over the fireplace, and +who immediately relapsed into a sepulchral silence which contrasted +singularly with his previous volubility. It was, undoubtedly, his voice +which we had heard in the road, and our friend in the chair was not +responsible for the discourtesy. Yuba Bill, who re-entered the room +after an unsuccessful search, was loath to accept the explanation, and +still eyed the helpless sitter with suspicion. He had found a shed in +which he had put up his horses, but he came back dripping and skeptical. +"Thar ain't nobody but him within ten mile of the shanty, and that 'ar +damned old skeesicks knows it." + +But the faith of the majority proved to be securely based. Bill had +scarcely ceased growling before we heard a quick step upon the porch, +the trailing of a wet skirt, the door was flung open, and with flash of +white teeth, a sparkle of dark eyes, and an utter absence of ceremony or +diffidence, a young woman entered, shut the door, and, panting, leaned +back against it. + +"Oh, if you please, I'm Miggles!" + +And this was Miggles! this bright-eyed, full-throated young woman, whose +wet gown of coarse blue stuff could not hide the beauty of the feminine +curves to which it clung; from the chestnut crown of whose head, topped +by a man's oilskin sou'wester, to the little feet and ankles, hidden +somewhere in the recesses of her boy's brogans, all was grace--this was +Miggles, laughing at us, too, in the most airy, frank, offhand manner +imaginable. + +"You see, boys," said she, quite out of breath, and holding one little +hand against her side, quite unheeding the speechless discomfiture of +our party, or the complete demoralization of Yuba Bill, whose +features had relaxed into an expression of gratuitous and imbecile +cheerfulness--"you see, boys, I was mor'n two miles away when you passed +down the road. I thought you might pull up here, and so I ran the +whole way, knowing nobody was home but Jim,--and--and--I'm out of +breath--and--that lets me out." + +And here Miggles caught her dripping oilskin hat from her head, with +a mischievous swirl that scattered a shower of raindrops over us; +attempted to put back her hair; dropped two hairpins in the attempt; +laughed and sat down beside Yuba Bill, with her hands crossed lightly on +her lap. + +The Judge recovered himself first, and essayed an extravagant +compliment. + +"I'll trouble you for that thar harpin," said Miggles, gravely. Half +a dozen hands were eagerly stretched forward; the missing hairpin was +restored to its fair owner; and Miggles, crossing the room, looked +keenly in the face of the invalid. The solemn eyes looked back at hers +with an expression we had never seen before. Life and intelligence +seemed to struggle back into the rugged face. Miggles laughed again--it +was a singularly eloquent laugh--and turned her black eyes and white +teeth once more toward us. + +"This afflicted person is--" hesitated the Judge. + +"Jim," said Miggles. + +"Your father?" + +"No." + +"Brother?" + +"No." + +"Husband?" + +Miggles darted a quick, half-defiant glance at the two lady passengers +who I had noticed did not participate in the general masculine +admiration of Miggles, and said gravely, "No; it's Jim." + +There was an awkward pause. The lady passengers moved closer to each +other; the Washoe husband looked abstractedly at the fire; and the +tall man apparently turned his eyes inward for self-support at this +emergency. But Miggles's laugh, which was very infectious, broke the +silence. "Come," she said briskly, "you must be hungry. Who'll bear a +hand to help me get tea?" + +She had no lack of volunteers. In a few moments Yuba Bill was engaged +like Caliban in bearing logs for this Miranda; the expressman was +grinding coffee on the veranda; to myself the arduous duty of slicing +bacon was assigned; and the Judge lent each man his good-humored +and voluble counsel. And when Miggles, assisted by the Judge and +our Hibernian "deck passenger," set the table with all the available +crockery, we had become quite joyous, in spite of the rain that beat +against windows, the wind that whirled down the chimney, the two ladies +who whispered together in the corner, or the magpie who uttered a +satirical and croaking commentary on their conversation from his perch +above. In the now bright, blazing fire we could see that the walls were +papered with illustrated journals, arranged with feminine taste and +discrimination. The furniture was extemporized, and adapted from candle +boxes and packing-cases, and covered with gay calico, or the skin of +some animal. The armchair of the helpless Jim was an ingenious variation +of a flour barrel. There was neatness, and even a taste for the +picturesque, to be seen in the few details of the long low room. + +The meal was a culinary success. But more, it was a social +triumph--chiefly, I think, owing to the rare tact of Miggles in +guiding the conversation, asking all the questions herself, yet bearing +throughout a frankness that rejected the idea of any concealment on +her own part, so that we talked of ourselves, of our prospects, of the +journey, of the weather, of each other--of everything but our host and +hostess. It must be confessed that Miggles's conversation was never +elegant, rarely grammatical, and that at times she employed expletives +the use of which had generally been yielded to our sex. But they were +delivered with such a lighting-up of teeth and eyes, and were usually +followed by a laugh--a laugh peculiar to Miggles--so frank and honest +that it seemed to clear the moral atmosphere. + +Once during the meal we heard a noise like the rubbing of a heavy body +against the outer walls of the house. This was shortly followed by a +scratching and sniffling at the door. "That's Joaquin," said Miggles, in +reply to our questioning glances; "would you like to see him?" Before +we could answer she had opened the door, and disclosed a half-grown +grizzly, who instantly raised himself on his haunches, with his +forepaws hanging down in the popular attitude of mendicancy, and looked +admiringly at Miggles, with a very singular resemblance in his manner to +Yuba Bill. "That's my watch dog," said Miggles, in explanation. "Oh, +he don't bite," she added, as the two lady passengers fluttered into +a corner. "Does he, old Toppy?" (the latter remark being addressed +directly to the sagacious Joaquin). "I tell you what, boys," continued +Miggles after she had fed and closed the door on URSA MINOR, "you +were in big luck that Joaquin wasn't hanging round when you dropped +in tonight." "Where was he?" asked the Judge. "With me," said Miggles. +"Lord love you; he trots round with me nights like as if he was a man." + +We were silent for a few moments, and listened to the wind. Perhaps we +all had the same picture before us--of Miggles walking through the rainy +woods, with her savage guardian at her side. The Judge, I remember, said +something about Una and her lion; but Miggles received it as she did +other compliments, with quiet gravity. Whether she was altogether +unconscious of the admiration she excited--she could hardly have been +oblivious of Yuba Bill's adoration--I know not; but her very frankness +suggested a perfect sexual equality that was cruelly humiliating to the +younger members of our party. + +The incident of the bear did not add anything in Miggles's favor to the +opinions of those of her own sex who were present. In fact, the repast +over, a chillness radiated from the two lady passengers that no pine +boughs brought in by Yuba Bill and cast as a sacrifice upon the hearth +could wholly overcome. Miggles felt it; and, suddenly declaring that +it was time to "turn in," offered to show the ladies to their bed in an +adjoining room. "You boys will have to camp out here by the fire as well +as you can," she added, "for thar ain't but the one room." + +Our sex--by which, my dear sir, I allude of course to the stronger +portion of humanity--has been generally relieved from the imputation of +curiosity, or a fondness for gossip. Yet I am constrained to say +that hardly had the door closed on Miggles than we crowded together, +whispering, snickering, smiling, and exchanging suspicions, surmises, +and a thousand speculations in regard to our pretty hostess and her +singular companion. I fear that we even hustled that imbecile paralytic, +who sat like a voiceless Memnon in our midst, gazing with the serene +indifference of the Past in his passionate eyes upon our wordy counsels. +In the midst of an exciting discussion the door opened again, and +Miggles re-entered. + +But not, apparently, the same Miggles who a few hours before had flashed +upon us. Her eyes were downcast, and as she hesitated for a moment on +the threshold, with a blanket on her arm, she seemed to have left behind +her the frank fearlessness which had charmed us a moment before. Coming +into the room, she drew a low stool beside the paralytic's chair, sat +down, drew the blanket over her shoulders, and saying, "If it's all the +same to you, boys, as we're rather crowded, I'll stop here tonight," +took the invalid's withered hand in her own, and turned her eyes upon +the dying fire. An instinctive feeling that this was only premonitory +to more confidential relations, and perhaps some shame at our previous +curiosity, kept us silent. The rain still beat upon the roof, wandering +gusts of wind stirred the embers into momentary brightness, until, in a +lull of the elements, Miggles suddenly lifted up her head, and, throwing +her hair over her shoulder, turned her face upon the group and asked: + +"Is there any of you that knows me?" + +There was no reply. + +"Think again! I lived at Marysville in '53. Everybody knew me there, and +everybody had the right to know me. I kept the Polka saloon until I came +to live with Jim. That's six years ago. Perhaps I've changed some." + +The absence of recognition may have disconcerted her. She turned her +head to the fire again, and it was some seconds before she again spoke, +and then more rapidly: + +"Well, you see I thought some of you must have known me. There's +no great harm done, anyway. What I was going to say was this: Jim +here"--she took his hand in both of hers as she spoke--"used to know me, +if you didn't, and spent a heap of money upon me. I reckon he spent all +he had. And one day--it's six years ago this winter--Jim came into my +back room, sat down on my sofy, like as you see him in that chair, and +never moved again without help. He was struck all of a heap, and never +seemed to know what ailed him. The doctors came and said as how it +was caused all along of his way of life--for Jim was mighty free and +wild-like--and that he would never get better, and couldn't last long +anyway. They advised me to send him to Frisco to the hospital, for he +was no good to anyone and would be a baby all his life. Perhaps it was +something in Jim's eye, perhaps it was that I never had a baby, but I +said 'No.' I was rich then, for I was popular with everybody--gentlemen +like yourself, sir, came to see me--and I sold out my business and +bought this yer place, because it was sort of out of the way of travel, +you see, and I brought my baby here." + +With a woman's intuitive tact and poetry, she had, as she spoke, slowly +shifted her position so as to bring the mute figure of the ruined man +between her and her audience, hiding in the shadow behind it, as if +she offered it as a tacit apology for her actions. Silent and +expressionless, it yet spoke for her; helpless, crushed, and smitten +with the Divine thunderbolt, it still stretched an invisible arm around +her. + +Hidden in the darkness, but still holding his hand, she went on: + +"It was a long time before I could get the hang of things about yer, for +I was used to company and excitement. I couldn't get any woman to help +me, and a man I dursen't trust; but what with the Indians hereabout, +who'd do odd jobs for me, and having everything sent from the North +Fork, Jim and I managed to worry through. The Doctor would run up from +Sacramento once in a while. He'd ask to see 'Miggles's baby,' as +he called Jim, and when he'd go away, he'd say, 'Miggles; you're a +trump--God bless you'; and it didn't seem so lonely after that. But +the last time he was here he said, as he opened the door to go, 'Do you +know, Miggles, your baby will grow up to be a man yet and an honor to +his mother; but not here, Miggles, not here!' And I thought he went away +sad--and--and--" and here Miggles's voice and head were somehow both +lost completely in the shadow. + +"The folks about here are very kind," said Miggles, after a pause, +coming a little into the light again. "The men from the fork used to +hang around here, until they found they wasn't wanted, and the women are +kind--and don't call. I was pretty lonely until I picked up Joaquin in +the woods yonder one day, when he wasn't so high, and taught him to beg +for his dinner; and then thar's Polly--that's the magpie--she knows no +end of tricks, and makes it quite sociable of evenings with her talk, +and so I don't feel like as I was the only living being about the ranch. +And Jim here," said Miggles, with her old laugh again, and coming out +quite into the firelight, "Jim--why, boys, you would admire to see how +much he knows for a man like him. Sometimes I bring him flowers, and he +looks at 'em just as natural as if he knew 'em; and times, when we're +sitting alone, I read him those things on the wall. Why, Lord!" said +Miggles, with her frank laugh, "I've read him that whole side of the +house this winter. There never was such a man for reading as Jim." + +"Why," asked the Judge, "do you not marry this man to whom you have +devoted your youthful life?" + +"Well, you see," said Miggles, "it would be playing it rather low down +on Jim, to take advantage of his being so helpless. And then, too, if we +were man and wife, now, we'd both know that I was bound to do what I do +now of my own accord." + +"But you are young yet and attractive--" + +"It's getting late," said Miggles, gravely, "and you'd better all turn +in. Good night, boys"; and, throwing the blanket over her head, Miggles +laid herself down beside Jim's chair, her head pillowed on the low stool +that held his feet, and spoke no more. The fire slowly faded from the +hearth; we each sought our blankets in silence; and presently there was +no sound in the long room but the pattering of the rain upon the roof +and the heavy breathing of the sleepers. + +It was nearly morning when I awoke from a troubled dream. The storm had +passed, the stars were shining, and through the shutterless window the +full moon, lifting itself over the solemn pines without, looked into +the room. It touched the lonely figure in the chair with an infinite +compassion, and seemed to baptize with a shining flood the lowly head of +the woman whose hair, as in the sweet old story, bathed the feet of him +she loved. It even lent a kindly poetry to the rugged outline of Yuba +Bill, half-reclining on his elbow between them and his passengers, with +savagely patient eyes keeping watch and ward. And then I fell asleep +and only woke at broad day, with Yuba Bill standing over me, and "All +aboard" ringing in my ears. + +Coffee was waiting for us on the table, but Miggles was gone. We +wandered about the house and lingered long after the horses were +harnessed, but she did not return. It was evident that she wished to +avoid a formal leave-taking, and had so left us to depart as we had +come. After we had helped the ladies into the coach, we returned to +the house and solemnly shook hands with the paralytic Jim, as solemnly +settling him back into position after each handshake. Then we looked for +the last time around the long low room, at the stool where Miggles had +sat, and slowly took our seats in the waiting coach. The whip cracked, +and we were off! + +But as we reached the highroad, Bill's dexterous hand laid the six +horses back on their haunches, and the stage stopped with a jerk. For +there, on a little eminence beside the road, stood Miggles, her hair +flying, her eyes sparkling, her white handkerchief waving, and her white +teeth flashing a last "good-by." We waved our hats in return. And then +Yuba Bill, as if fearful of further fascination, madly lashed his horses +forward, and we sank back in our seats. We exchanged not a word until we +reached the North Fork, and the stage drew up at the Independence House. +Then, the Judge leading, we walked into the barroom and took our places +gravely at the bar. + +"Are your glasses charged, gentlemen?" said the Judge, solemnly taking +off his white hat. + +They were. + +"Well, then, here's to MIGGLES. GOD BLESS HER!" + +Perhaps He had. Who knows? + + + + +TENNESSEE'S PARTNER + + +I do not think that we ever knew his real name. Our ignorance of it +certainly never gave us any social inconvenience, for at Sandy Bar in +1854 most men were christened anew. Sometimes these appellatives were +derived from some distinctiveness of dress, as in the case of "Dungaree +Jack"; or from some peculiarity of habit, as shown in "Saleratus Bill," +so called from an undue proportion of that chemical in his daily bread; +or for some unlucky slip, as exhibited in "The Iron Pirate," a mild, +inoffensive man, who earned that baleful title by his unfortunate +mispronunciation of the term "iron pyrites." Perhaps this may have been +the beginning of a rude heraldry; but I am constrained to think that +it was because a man's real name in that day rested solely upon his own +unsupported statement. "Call yourself Clifford, do you?" said Boston, +addressing a timid newcomer with infinite scorn; "hell is full of such +Cliffords!" He then introduced the unfortunate man, whose name happened +to be really Clifford, as "Jay-bird Charley"--an unhallowed inspiration +of the moment that clung to him ever after. + +But to return to Tennessee's Partner, whom we never knew by any other +than this relative title; that he had ever existed as a separate and +distinct individuality we only learned later. It seems that in 1853 he +left Poker Flat to go to San Francisco, ostensibly to procure a wife. He +never got any farther than Stockton. At that place he was attracted by +a young person who waited upon the table at the hotel where he took his +meals. One morning he said something to her which caused her to smile +not unkindly, to somewhat coquettishly break a plate of toast over +his upturned, serious, simple face, and to retreat to the kitchen. He +followed her, and emerged a few moments later, covered with more toast +and victory. That day week they were married by a justice of the peace, +and returned to Poker Flat. I am aware that something more might be +made of this episode, but I prefer to tell it as it was current at Sandy +Bar--in the gulches and barrooms--where all sentiment was modified by a +strong sense of humor. + +Of their married felicity but little is known, perhaps for the reason +that Tennessee, then living with his Partner, one day took occasion to +say something to the bride on his own account, at which, it is said, +she smiled not unkindly and chastely retreated--this time as far +as Marysville, where Tennessee followed her, and where they went to +housekeeping without the aid of a justice of the peace. Tennessee's +Partner took the loss of his wife simply and seriously, as was his +fashion. But to everybody's surprise, when Tennessee one day returned +from Marysville, without his Partner's wife--she having smiled and +retreated with somebody else--Tennessee's Partner was the first man to +shake his hand and greet him with affection. The boys who had gathered +in the canyon to see the shooting were naturally indignant. Their +indignation might have found vent in sarcasm but for a certain look +in Tennessee's Partner's eye that indicated a lack of humorous +appreciation. In fact, he was a grave man, with a steady application to +practical detail which was unpleasant in a difficulty. + +Meanwhile a popular feeling against Tennessee had grown up on the Bar. +He was known to be a gambler; he was suspected to be a thief. In these +suspicions Tennessee's Partner was equally compromised; his continued +intimacy with Tennessee after the affair above quoted could only be +accounted for on the hypothesis of a copartnership of crime. At last +Tennessee's guilt became flagrant. One day he overtook a stranger on his +way to Red Dog. The stranger afterward related that Tennessee beguiled +the time with interesting anecdote and reminiscence, but illogically +concluded the interview in the following words: "And now, young man, +I'll trouble you for your knife, your pistols, and your money. You see +your weppings might get you into trouble at Red Dog, and your money's a +temptation to the evilly disposed. I think you said your address was +San Francisco. I shall endeavor to call." It may be stated here that +Tennessee had a fine flow of humor, which no business preoccupation +could wholly subdue. + +This exploit was his last. Red Dog and Sandy Bar made common cause +against the highwayman. Tennessee was hunted in very much the same +fashion as his prototype, the grizzly. As the toils closed around him, +he made a desperate dash through the Bar, emptying his revolver at the +crowd before the Arcade Saloon, and so on up Grizzly Canyon; but at its +farther extremity he was stopped by a small man on a gray horse. The +men looked at each other a moment in silence. Both were fearless, both +self-possessed and independent; and both types of a civilization that +in the seventeenth century would have been called heroic, but, in the +nineteenth, simply "reckless." "What have you got there?--I call," +said Tennessee, quietly. "Two bowers and an ace," said the stranger, +as quietly, showing two revolvers and a bowie knife. "That takes me," +returned Tennessee; and with this gamblers' epigram, he threw away his +useless pistol, and rode back with his captor. + + +It was a warm night. The cool breeze which usually sprang up with the +going down of the sun behind the chaparral-crested mountain was that +evening withheld from Sandy Bar. The little canyon was stifling with +heated resinous odors, and the decaying driftwood on the Bar sent forth +faint, sickening exhalations. The feverishness of day, and its fierce +passions, still filled the camp. Lights moved restlessly along the bank +of the river, striking no answering reflection from its tawny current. +Against the blackness of the pines the windows of the old loft above the +express office stood out staringly bright; and through their curtainless +panes the loungers below could see the forms of those who were even then +deciding the fate of Tennessee. And above all this, etched on the dark +firmament, rose the Sierra, remote and passionless, crowned with remoter +passionless stars. + +The trial of Tennessee was conducted as fairly as was consistent with a +judge and jury who felt themselves to some extent obliged to justify, in +their verdict, the previous irregularities of arrest and indictment. The +law of Sandy Bar was implacable, but not vengeful. The excitement and +personal feeling of the chase were over; with Tennessee safe in their +hands they were ready to listen patiently to any defense, which they +were already satisfied was insufficient. There being no doubt in their +own minds, they were willing to give the prisoner the benefit of any +that might exist. Secure in the hypothesis that he ought to be hanged, +on general principles, they indulged him with more latitude of defense +than his reckless hardihood seemed to ask. The Judge appeared to be more +anxious than the prisoner, who, otherwise unconcerned, evidently took +a grim pleasure in the responsibility he had created. "I don't take any +hand in this yer game," had been his invariable but good-humored reply +to all questions. The Judge--who was also his captor--for a moment +vaguely regretted that he had not shot him "on sight" that morning, +but presently dismissed this human weakness as unworthy of the judicial +mind. Nevertheless, when there was a tap at the door, and it was said +that Tennessee's Partner was there on behalf of the prisoner, he was +admitted at once without question. Perhaps the younger members of the +jury, to whom the proceedings were becoming irksomely thoughtful, hailed +him as a relief. + +For he was not, certainly, an imposing figure. Short and stout, with a +square face sunburned into a preternatural redness, clad in a loose duck +"jumper" and trousers streaked and splashed with red soil, his aspect +under any circumstances would have been quaint, and was now even +ridiculous. As he stooped to deposit at his feet a heavy carpetbag he +was carrying, it became obvious, from partially developed legends and +inscriptions, that the material with which his trousers had been patched +had been originally intended for a less ambitious covering. Yet he +advanced with great gravity, and after having shaken the hand of each +person in the room with labored cordiality, he wiped his serious, +perplexed face on a red bandanna handkerchief, a shade lighter than his +complexion, laid his powerful hand upon the table to steady himself, and +thus addressed the Judge: + +"I was passin' by," he began, by way of apology, "and I thought I'd +just step in and see how things was gittin' on with Tennessee thar--my +pardner. It's a hot night. I disremember any sich weather before on the +Bar." + +He paused a moment, but nobody volunteering any other meteorological +recollection, he again had recourse to his pocket handkerchief, and for +some moments mopped his face diligently. + +"Have you anything to say in behalf of the prisoner?" said the Judge, +finally. + +"Thet's it," said Tennessee's Partner, in a tone of relief. "I come yar +as Tennessee's pardner--knowing him nigh on four year, off and on, wet +and dry, in luck and out o' luck. His ways ain't allers my ways, but +thar ain't any p'ints in that young man, thar ain't any liveliness +as he's been up to, as I don't know. And you sez to me, sez +you--confidential-like, and between man and man--sez you, 'Do you know +anything in his behalf?' and I sez to you, sez I--confidential-like, as +between man and man--'What should a man know of his pardner?'" + +"Is this all you have to say?" asked the Judge impatiently, feeling, +perhaps, that a dangerous sympathy of humor was beginning to humanize +the Court. + +"Thet's so," continued Tennessee's Partner. "It ain't for me to say +anything agin' him. And now, what's the case? Here's Tennessee wants +money, wants it bad, and doesn't like to ask it of his old pardner. +Well, what does Tennessee do? He lays for a stranger, and he fetches +that stranger. And you lays for HIM, and you fetches HIM; and the +honors is easy. And I put it to you, bein' a far-minded man, and to you, +gentlemen, all, as far-minded men, ef this isn't so." + +"Prisoner," said the Judge, interrupting, "have you any questions to ask +this man?" + +"No! no!" continued Tennessee's Partner, hastily. "I play this yer hand +alone. To come down to the bedrock, it's just this: Tennessee, thar, has +played it pretty rough and expensive-like on a stranger, and on this yer +camp. And now, what's the fair thing? Some would say more; some +would say less. Here's seventeen hundred dollars in coarse gold and a +watch--it's about all my pile--and call it square!" And before a hand +could be raised to prevent him, he had emptied the contents of the +carpetbag upon the table. + +For a moment his life was in jeopardy. One or two men sprang to their +feet, several hands groped for hidden weapons, and a suggestion to +"throw him from the window" was only overridden by a gesture from the +Judge. Tennessee laughed. And apparently oblivious of the excitement, +Tennessee's Partner improved the opportunity to mop his face again with +his handkerchief. + +When order was restored, and the man was made to understand, by the use +of forcible figures and rhetoric, that Tennessee's offense could not be +condoned by money, his face took a more serious and sanguinary hue, +and those who were nearest to him noticed that his rough hand trembled +slightly on the table. He hesitated a moment as he slowly returned the +gold to the carpetbag, as if he had not yet entirely caught the elevated +sense of justice which swayed the tribunal, and was perplexed with the +belief that he had not offered enough. Then he turned to the Judge, and +saying, "This yer is a lone hand, played alone, and without my pardner," +he bowed to the jury and was about to withdraw when the Judge called him +back. "If you have anything to say to Tennessee, you had better say it +now." For the first time that evening the eyes of the prisoner and his +strange advocate met. Tennessee smiled, showed his white teeth, and, +saying, "Euchred, old man!" held out his hand. Tennessee's Partner took +it in his own, and saying, "I just dropped in as I was passin' to see +how things was gettin' on," let the hand passively fall, and adding that +it was a warm night, again mopped his face with his handkerchief, and +without another word withdrew. + +The two men never again met each other alive. For the unparalleled +insult of a bribe offered to Judge Lynch--who, whether bigoted, weak, +or narrow, was at least incorruptible--firmly fixed in the mind of that +mythical personage any wavering determination of Tennessee's fate; and +at the break of day he was marched, closely guarded, to meet it at the +top of Marley's Hill. + +How he met it, how cool he was, how he refused to say anything, how +perfect were the arrangements of the committee, were all duly reported, +with the addition of a warning moral and example to all future +evildoers, in the RED DOG CLARION, by its editor, who was present, and +to whose vigorous English I cheerfully refer the reader. But the beauty +of that midsummer morning, the blessed amity of earth and air and sky, +the awakened life of the free woods and hills, the joyous renewal and +promise of Nature, and above all, the infinite Serenity that thrilled +through each, was not reported, as not being a part of the social +lesson. And yet, when the weak and foolish deed was done, and a life, +with its possibilities and responsibilities, had passed out of the +misshapen thing that dangled between earth and sky, the birds sang, the +flowers bloomed, the sun shone, as cheerily as before; and possibly the +RED DOG CLARION was right. + +Tennessee's Partner was not in the group that surrounded the ominous +tree. But as they turned to disperse attention was drawn to the singular +appearance of a motionless donkey cart halted at the side of the road. +As they approached, they at once recognized the venerable "Jenny" and +the two-wheeled cart as the property of Tennessee's Partner--used by him +in carrying dirt from his claim; and a few paces distant the owner +of the equipage himself, sitting under a buckeye tree, wiping the +perspiration from his glowing face. In answer to an inquiry, he said he +had come for the body of the "diseased," "if it was all the same to the +committee." He didn't wish to "hurry anything"; he could "wait." He +was not working that day; and when the gentlemen were done with the +"diseased," he would take him. "Ef thar is any present," he added, in +his simple, serious way, "as would care to jine in the fun'l, they +kin come." Perhaps it was from a sense of humor, which I have already +intimated was a feature of Sandy Bar--perhaps it was from something even +better than that; but two-thirds of the loungers accepted the invitation +at once. + +It was noon when the body of Tennessee was delivered into the hands of +his Partner. As the cart drew up to the fatal tree, we noticed that +it contained a rough, oblong box--apparently made from a section of +sluicing and half-filled with bark and the tassels of pine. The cart was +further decorated with slips of willow, and made fragrant with buckeye +blossoms. When the body was deposited in the box, Tennessee's Partner +drew over it a piece of tarred canvas, and gravely mounting the narrow +seat in front, with his feet upon the shafts, urged the little donkey +forward. The equipage moved slowly on, at that decorous pace which +was habitual with "Jenny" even under less solemn circumstances. The +men--half curiously, half jestingly, but all good-humoredly--strolled +along beside the cart; some in advance, some a little in the rear of the +homely catafalque. But, whether from the narrowing of the road or some +present sense of decorum, as the cart passed on, the company fell to the +rear in couples, keeping step, and otherwise assuming the external show +of a formal procession. Jack Folinsbee, who had at the outset played a +funeral march in dumb show upon an imaginary trombone, desisted, from +a lack of sympathy and appreciation--not having, perhaps, your true +humorist's capacity to be content with the enjoyment of his own fun. + +The way led through Grizzly Canyon--by this time clothed in funereal +drapery and shadows. The redwoods, burying their moccasined feet in +the red soil, stood in Indian file along the track, trailing an uncouth +benediction from their bending boughs upon the passing bier. A hare, +surprised into helpless inactivity, sat upright and pulsating in the +ferns by the roadside as the cortege went by. Squirrels hastened to gain +a secure outlook from higher boughs; and the bluejays, spreading their +wings, fluttered before them like outriders, until the outskirts of +Sandy Bar were reached, and the solitary cabin of Tennessee's Partner. + +Viewed under more favorable circumstances, it would not have been a +cheerful place. The unpicturesque site, the rude and unlovely outlines, +the unsavory details, which distinguish the nest-building of the +California miner, were all here, with the dreariness of decay +superadded. A few paces from the cabin there was a rough enclosure, +which in the brief days of Tennessee's Partner's matrimonial felicity +had been used as a garden, but was now overgrown with fern. As we +approached it we were surprised to find that what we had taken for a +recent attempt at cultivation was the broken soil about an open grave. + +The cart was halted before the enclosure; and rejecting the offers of +assistance with the same air of simple self-reliance he had displayed +throughout, Tennessee's Partner lifted the rough coffin on his back and +deposited it, unaided, within the shallow grave. He then nailed down +the board which served as a lid; and mounting the little mound of +earth beside it, took off his hat, and slowly mopped his face with his +handkerchief. This the crowd felt was a preliminary to speech; and they +disposed themselves variously on stumps and boulders, and sat expectant. + +"When a man," began Tennessee's Partner, slowly, "has been running free +all day, what's the natural thing for him to do? Why, to come home. And +if he ain't in a condition to go home, what can his best friend do? +Why, bring him home! And here's Tennessee has been running free, and we +brings him home from his wandering." He paused, and picked up a fragment +of quartz, rubbed it thoughtfully on his sleeve, and went on: "It ain't +the first time that I've packed him on my back, as you see'd me now. +It ain't the first time that I brought him to this yer cabin when he +couldn't help himself; it ain't the first time that I and 'Jinny' have +waited for him on yon hill, and picked him up and so fetched him home, +when he couldn't speak, and didn't know me. And now that it's the last +time, why"--he paused and rubbed the quartz gently on his sleeve--"you +see it's sort of rough on his pardner. And now, gentlemen," he added, +abruptly, picking up his long-handled shovel, "the fun'l's over; and my +thanks, and Tennessee's thanks, to you for your trouble." + +Resisting any proffers of assistance, he began to fill in the grave, +turning his back upon the crowd that after a few moments' hesitation +gradually withdrew. As they crossed the little ridge that hid Sandy +Bar from view, some, looking back, thought they could see Tennessee's +Partner, his work done, sitting upon the grave, his shovel between his +knees, and his face buried in his red bandanna handkerchief. But it was +argued by others that you couldn't tell his face from his handkerchief +at that distance; and this point remained undecided. + + +In the reaction that followed the feverish excitement of that day, +Tennessee's Partner was not forgotten. A secret investigation had +cleared him of any complicity in Tennessee's guilt, and left only a +suspicion of his general sanity. Sandy Bar made a point of calling on +him, and proffering various uncouth, but well-meant kindnesses. But from +that day his rude health and great strength seemed visibly to decline; +and when the rainy season fairly set in, and the tiny grass-blades were +beginning to peep from the rocky mound above Tennessee's grave, he took +to his bed. One night, when the pines beside the cabin were swaying in +the storm, and trailing their slender fingers over the roof, and the +roar and rush of the swollen river were heard below, Tennessee's +Partner lifted his head from the pillow, saying, "It is time to go for +Tennessee; I must put 'Jinny' in the cart"; and would have risen from +his bed but for the restraint of his attendant. Struggling, he still +pursued his singular fancy: "There, now, steady, 'Jinny'--steady, old +girl. How dark it is! Look out for the ruts--and look out for him, too, +old gal. Sometimes, you know, when he's blind-drunk, he drops down right +in the trail. Keep on straight up to the pine on the top of the hill. +Thar--I told you so!--thar he is--coming this way, too--all by himself, +sober, and his face a-shining. Tennessee! Pardner!" + +And so they met. + + + + +THE IDYL OF RED GULCH + + +Sandy was very drunk. He was lying under an azalea bush, in pretty much +the same attitude in which he had fallen some hours before. How long +he had been lying there he could not tell, and didn't care; how long +he should lie there was a matter equally indefinite and unconsidered. +A tranquil philosophy, born of his physical condition, suffused and +saturated his moral being. + +The spectacle of a drunken man, and of this drunken man in particular, +was not, I grieve to say, of sufficient novelty in Red Gulch to +attract attention. Earlier in the day some local satirist had erected a +temporary tombstone at Sandy's head, bearing the inscription, "Effects +of McCorkle's whisky--kills at forty rods," with a hand pointing to +McCorkle's saloon. But this, I imagine, was, like most local satire, +personal; and was a reflection upon the unfairness of the process +rather than a commentary upon the impropriety of the result. With this +facetious exception, Sandy had been undisturbed. A wandering mule, +released from his pack, had cropped the scant herbage beside him, and +sniffed curiously at the prostrate man; a vagabond dog, with that deep +sympathy which the species have for drunken men, had licked his dusty +boots, and curled himself up at his feet, and lay there, blinking one +eye in the sunlight, with a simulation of dissipation that was ingenious +and doglike in its implied flattery of the unconscious man beside him. + +Meanwhile the shadows of the pine trees had slowly swung around until +they crossed the road, and their trunks barred the open meadow with +gigantic parallels of black and yellow. Little puffs of red dust, lifted +by the plunging hoofs of passing teams, dispersed in a grimy shower upon +the recumbent man. The sun sank lower and lower; and still Sandy stirred +not. And then the repose of this philosopher was disturbed, as other +philosophers have been, by the intrusion of an unphilosophical sex. + +"Miss Mary," as she was known to the little flock that she had just +dismissed from the log schoolhouse beyond the pines, was taking her +afternoon walk. Observing an unusually fine cluster of blossoms on the +azalea bush opposite, she crossed the road to pluck it--picking her +way through the red dust, not without certain fierce little shivers of +disgust and some feline circumlocution. And then she came suddenly upon +Sandy! + +Of course she uttered the little staccato cry of her sex. But when she +had paid that tribute to her physical weakness she became overbold, and +halted for a moment--at least six feet from this prostrate monster--with +her white skirts gathered in her hand, ready for flight. But neither +sound nor motion came from the bush. With one little foot she then +overturned the satirical headboard, and muttered "Beasts!"--an epithet +which probably, at that moment, conveniently classified in her mind the +entire male population of Red Gulch. For Miss Mary, being possessed of +certain rigid notions of her own, had not, perhaps, properly appreciated +the demonstrative gallantry for which the Californian has been so justly +celebrated by his brother Californians, and had, as a newcomer, perhaps +fairly earned the reputation of being "stuck-up." + +As she stood there she noticed, also, that the slant sunbeams were +heating Sandy's head to what she judged to be an unhealthy temperature, +and that his hat was lying uselessly at his side. To pick it up and to +place it over his face was a work requiring some courage, particularly +as his eyes were open. Yet she did it, and made good her retreat. But +she was somewhat concerned, on looking back, to see that the hat was +removed, and that Sandy was sitting up and saying something. + +The truth was, that in the calm depths of Sandy's mind he was satisfied +that the rays of the sun were beneficial and healthful; that from +childhood he had objected to lying down in a hat; that no people but +condemned fools, past redemption, ever wore hats; and that his right +to dispense with them when he pleased was inalienable. This was the +statement of his inner consciousness. Unfortunately, its outward +expression was vague, being limited to a repetition of the following +formula--"Su'shine all ri'! Wasser maar, eh? Wass up, su'shine?" + +Miss Mary stopped, and, taking fresh courage from her vantage of +distance, asked him if there was anything that he wanted. + +"Wass up? Wasser maar?" continued Sandy, in a very high key. + +"Get up, you horrid man!" said Miss Mary, now thoroughly incensed; "get +up, and go home." + +Sandy staggered to his feet. He was six feet high, and Miss Mary +trembled. He started forward a few paces and then stopped. + +"Wass I go home for?" he suddenly asked, with great gravity. + +"Go and take a bath," replied Miss Mary, eying his grimy person with +great disfavor. + +To her infinite dismay, Sandy suddenly pulled off his coat and vest, +threw them on the ground, kicked off his boots, and, plunging wildly +forward, darted headlong over the hill, in the direction of the river. + +"Goodness heavens!--the man will be drowned!" said Miss Mary; and then, +with feminine inconsistency, she ran back to the schoolhouse and locked +herself in. + +That night, while seated at supper with her hostess, the blacksmith's +wife, it came to Miss Mary to ask, demurely, if her husband ever got +drunk. "Abner," responded Mrs. Stidger, reflectively, "let's see: Abner +hasn't been tight since last 'lection." Miss Mary would have liked to +ask if he preferred lying in the sun on these occasions, and if a cold +bath would have hurt him; but this would have involved an explanation, +which she did not then care to give. So she contented herself with +opening her gray eyes widely at the red-cheeked Mrs. Stidger--a fine +specimen of Southwestern efflorescence--and then dismissed the subject +altogether. The next day she wrote to her dearest friend, in Boston: +"I think I find the intoxicated portion of this community the least +objectionable. I refer, my dear, to the men, of course. I do not know +anything that could make the women tolerable." + +In less than a week Miss Mary had forgotten this episode, except that +her afternoon walks took thereafter, almost unconsciously, another +direction. She noticed, however, that every morning a fresh cluster of +azalea blossoms appeared among the flowers on her desk. This was not +strange, as her little flock were aware of her fondness for flowers, and +invariably kept her desk bright with anemones, syringas, and lupines; +but, on questioning them, they one and all professed ignorance of the +azaleas. A few days later, Master Johnny Stidger, whose desk was nearest +to the window, was suddenly taken with spasms of apparently gratuitous +laughter that threatened the discipline of the school. All that Miss +Mary could get from him was, that someone had been "looking in the +winder." Irate and indignant, she sallied from her hive to do battle +with the intruder. As she turned the corner of the schoolhouse she came +plump upon the quondam drunkard--now perfectly sober, and inexpressibly +sheepish and guilty-looking. + +These facts Miss Mary was not slow to take a feminine advantage of, in +her present humor. But it was somewhat confusing to observe, also, +that the beast, despite some faint signs of past dissipation, was +amiable-looking--in fact, a kind of blond Samson whose corn-colored, +silken beard apparently had never yet known the touch of barber's razor +or Delilah's shears. So that the cutting speech which quivered on +her ready tongue died upon her lips, and she contented herself with +receiving his stammering apology with supercilious eyelids and the +gathered skirts of uncontamination. When she re-entered the schoolroom, +her eyes fell upon the azaleas with a new sense of revelation. And +then she laughed, and the little people all laughed, and they were all +unconsciously very happy. + +It was on a hot day--and not long after this--that two short-legged boys +came to grief on the threshold of the school with a pail of water, +which they had laboriously brought from the spring, and that Miss Mary +compassionately seized the pail and started for the spring herself. At +the foot of the hill a shadow crossed her path, and a blue-shirted arm +dexterously but gently relieved her of her burden. Miss Mary was both +embarrassed and angry. "If you carried more of that for yourself," she +said, spitefully, to the blue arm, without deigning to raise her lashes +to its owner, "you'd do better." In the submissive silence that followed +she regretted the speech, and thanked him so sweetly at the door that +he stumbled. Which caused the children to laugh again--a laugh in which +Miss Mary joined, until the color came faintly into her pale cheek. +The next day a barrel was mysteriously placed beside the door, and as +mysteriously filled with fresh spring water every morning. + +Nor was this superior young person without other quiet attentions. +"Profane Bill," driver of the Slumgullion Stage, widely known in the +newspapers for his "gallantry" in invariably offering the box seat to +the fair sex, had excepted Miss Mary from this attention, on the ground +that he had a habit of "cussin' on upgrades," and gave her half the +coach to herself. Jack Hamlin, a gambler, having once silently ridden +with her in the same coach, afterward threw a decanter at the head of a +confederate for mentioning her name in a barroom. The overdressed mother +of a pupil whose paternity was doubtful had often lingered near this +astute Vestal's temple, never daring to enter its sacred precincts, but +content to worship the priestess from afar. + +With such unconscious intervals the monotonous procession of blue skies, +glittering sunshine, brief twilights, and starlit nights passed over Red +Gulch. Miss Mary grew fond of walking in the sedate and proper woods. +Perhaps she believed, with Mrs. Stidger, that the balsamic odors of +the firs "did her chest good," for certainly her slight cough was less +frequent and her step was firmer; perhaps she had learned the unending +lesson which the patient pines are never weary of repeating to heedful +or listless ears. And so, one day, she planned a picnic on Buckeye Hill, +and took the children with her. Away from the dusty road, the straggling +shanties, the yellow ditches, the clamor of restless engines, the cheap +finery of shop windows, the deeper glitter of paint and colored glass, +and the thin veneering which barbarism takes upon itself in such +localities--what infinite relief was theirs! The last heap of ragged +rock and clay passed, the last unsightly chasm crossed--how the waiting +woods opened their long files to receive them! How the children--perhaps +because they had not yet grown quite away from the breast of the +bounteous Mother--threw themselves face downward on her brown bosom with +uncouth caresses, filling the air with their laughter; and how Miss Mary +herself--felinely fastidious and intrenched as she was in the purity of +spotless skirts, collar, and cuffs--forgot all, and ran like a crested +quail at the head of her brood until, romping, laughing, and panting, +with a loosened braid of brown hair, a hat hanging by a knotted ribbon +from her throat, she came suddenly and violently, in the heart of the +forest, upon--the luckless Sandy! + +The explanations, apologies, and not overwise conversation that ensued +need not be indicated here. It would seem, however, that Miss Mary had +already established some acquaintance with this ex-drunkard. Enough that +he was soon accepted as one of the party; that the children, with that +quick intelligence which Providence gives the helpless, recognized a +friend, and played with his blond beard and long silken mustache, and +took other liberties--as the helpless are apt to do. And when he had +built a fire against a tree, and had shown them other mysteries of +woodcraft, their admiration knew no bounds. At the close of two such +foolish, idle, happy hours he found himself lying at the feet of the +schoolmistress, gazing dreamily in her face, as she sat upon the sloping +hillside weaving wreaths of laurel and syringa, in very much the same +attitude as he had lain when first they met. Nor was the similitude +greatly forced. The weakness of an easy, sensuous nature that had found +a dreamy exaltation in liquor, it is to be feared was now finding an +equal intoxication in love. + +I think that Sandy was dimly conscious of this himself. I know that he +longed to be doing something--slaying a grizzly, scalping a savage, +or sacrificing himself in some way for the sake of this sallow-faced, +gray-eyed schoolmistress. As I should like to present him in a heroic +attitude, I stay my hand with great difficulty at this moment, being +only withheld from introducing such an episode by a strong conviction +that it does not usually occur at such times. And I trust that my +fairest reader, who remembers that, in a real crisis, it is always some +uninteresting stranger or unromantic policeman, and not Adolphus, who +rescues, will forgive the omission. + +So they sat there, undisturbed--the woodpeckers chattering overhead and +the voices of the children coming pleasantly from the hollow below. +What they said matters little. What they thought--which might have been +interesting--did not transpire. The woodpeckers only learned how +Miss Mary was an orphan; how she left her uncle's house, to come to +California, for the sake of health and independence; how Sandy was an +orphan, too; how he came to California for excitement; how he had lived +a wild life, and how he was trying to reform; and other details, which, +from a woodpecker's viewpoint, undoubtedly must have seemed stupid, and +a waste of time. But even in such trifles was the afternoon spent; and +when the children were again gathered, and Sandy, with a delicacy which +the schoolmistress well understood, took leave of them quietly at the +outskirts of the settlement, it had seemed the shortest day of her weary +life. + +As the long, dry summer withered to its roots, the school term of Red +Gulch--to use a local euphuism--"dried up" also. In another day Miss +Mary would be free; and for a season, at least, Red Gulch would know her +no more. She was seated alone in the schoolhouse, her cheek resting on +her hand, her eyes half-closed in one of those daydreams in which Miss +Mary--I fear to the danger of school discipline--was lately in the habit +of indulging. Her lap was full of mosses, ferns, and other woodland +memories. She was so preoccupied with these and her own thoughts that a +gentle tapping at the door passed unheard, or translated itself into the +remembrance of far-off woodpeckers. When at last it asserted itself more +distinctly, she started up with a flushed cheek and opened the door. +On the threshold stood a woman the self-assertion and audacity of whose +dress were in singular contrast to her timid, irresolute bearing. + +Miss Mary recognized at a glance the dubious mother of her anonymous +pupil. Perhaps she was disappointed, perhaps she was only fastidious; +but as she coldly invited her to enter, she half-unconsciously settled +her white cuffs and collar, and gathered closer her own chaste skirts. +It was, perhaps, for this reason that the embarrassed stranger, after a +moment's hesitation, left her gorgeous parasol open and sticking in the +dust beside the door, and then sat down at the farther end of a long +bench. Her voice was husky as she began: + +"I heerd tell that you were goin' down to the Bay tomorrow, and I +couldn't let you go until I came to thank you for your kindness to my +Tommy." + +Tommy, Miss Mary said, was a good boy, and deserved more than the poor +attention she could give him. + +"Thank you, miss; thank ye!" cried the stranger, brightening even +through the color which Red Gulch knew facetiously as her "war paint," +and striving, in her embarrassment, to drag the long bench nearer the +schoolmistress. "I thank you, miss, for that! and if I am his mother, +there ain't a sweeter, dearer, better boy lives than him. And if I ain't +much as says it, thar ain't a sweeter, dearer, angeler teacher lives +than he's got." + +Miss Mary, sitting primly behind her desk, with a ruler over her +shoulder, opened her gray eyes widely at this, but said nothing. + +"It ain't for you to be complimented by the like of me, I know," she +went on, hurriedly. "It ain't for me to be comin' here, in broad day, to +do it, either; but I come to ask a favor--not for me, miss--not for me, +but for the darling boy." + +Encouraged by a look in the young schoolmistress's eye, and putting her +lilac-gloved hands together, the fingers downward, between her knees, +she went on, in a low voice: + +"You see, miss, there's no one the boy has any claim on but me, and I +ain't the proper person to bring him up. I thought some, last year, of +sending him away to Frisco to school, but when they talked of bringing +a schoolma'am here, I waited till I saw you, and then I knew it was all +right, and I could keep my boy a little longer. And O, miss, he loves +you so much; and if you could hear him talk about you, in his pretty +way, and if he could ask you what I ask you now, you couldn't refuse +him. + +"It is natural," she went on, rapidly, in a voice that trembled +strangely between pride and humility--"it's natural that he should +take to you, miss, for his father, when I first knew him, was a +gentleman--and the boy must forget me, sooner or later--and so I ain't +goin' to cry about that. For I come to ask you to take my Tommy--God +bless him for the bestest, sweetest boy that lives--to--to--take him +with you." + +She had risen and caught the young girl's hand in her own, and had +fallen on her knees beside her. + +"I've money plenty, and it's all yours and his. Put him in some good +school, where you can go and see him, and help him to--to--to forget his +mother. Do with him what you like. The worst you can do will be kindness +to what he will learn with me. Only take him out of this wicked life, +this cruel place, this home of shame and sorrow. You will; I know you +will--won't you? You will--you must not, you cannot say no! You will +make him as pure, as gentle as yourself; and when he has grown up, you +will tell him his father's name--the name that hasn't passed my lips +for years--the name of Alexander Morton, whom they call here Sandy! Miss +Mary!--do not take your hand away! Miss Mary, speak to me! You will take +my boy? Do not put your face from me. I know it ought not to look on +such as me. Miss Mary!--my God, be merciful!--she is leaving me!" + +Miss Mary had risen and, in the gathering twilight, had felt her way to +the open window. She stood there, leaning against the casement, her +eyes fixed on the last rosy tints that were fading from the western sky. +There was still some of its light on her pure young forehead, on her +white collar, on her clasped white hands, but all fading slowly away. +The suppliant had dragged herself, still on her knees, beside her. + +"I know it takes time to consider. I will wait here all night; but I +cannot go until you speak. Do not deny me now. You will!--I see it in +your sweet face--such a face as I have seen in my dreams. I see it in +your eyes, Miss Mary!--you will take my boy!" + +The last red beam crept higher, suffused Miss Mary's eyes with something +of its glory, flickered, and faded, and went out. The sun had set on Red +Gulch. In the twilight and silence Miss Mary's voice sounded pleasantly. + +"I will take the boy. Send him to me tonight." + +The happy mother raised the hem of Miss Mary's skirts to her lips. She +would have buried her hot face in its virgin folds, but she dared not. +She rose to her feet. + +"Does--this man--know of your intention?" asked Miss Mary, suddenly. + +"No, nor cares. He has never even seen the child to know it." + +"Go to him at once--tonight--now! Tell him what you have done. Tell him +I have taken his child, and tell him--he must never see--see--the child +again. Wherever it may be, he must not come; wherever I may take it, he +must not follow! There, go now, please--I'm weary, and--have much yet to +do!" + +They walked together to the door. On the threshold the woman turned. + +"Good night." + +She would have fallen at Miss Mary's feet. But at the same moment the +young girl reached out her arms, caught the sinful woman to her own pure +breast for one brief moment, and then closed and locked the door. + + +It was with a sudden sense of great responsibility that Profane Bill +took the reins of the Slumgullion Stage the next morning, for the +schoolmistress was one of his passengers. As he entered the highroad, in +obedience to a pleasant voice from the "inside," he suddenly reined up +his horses and respectfully waited as Tommy hopped out at the command of +Miss Mary. "Not that bush, Tommy--the next." + +Tommy whipped out his new pocketknife, and, cutting a branch from a tall +azalea bush, returned with it to Miss Mary. + +"All right now?" + +"All right." + +And the stage door closed on the Idyl of Red Gulch. + + + + +BROWN OF CALAVERAS + + +A subdued tone of conversation, and the absence of cigar smoke and boot +heels at the windows of the Wingdam stagecoach, made it evident that +one of the inside passengers was a woman. A disposition on the part +of loungers at the stations to congregate before the window, and some +concern in regard to the appearance of coats, hats, and collars, further +indicated that she was lovely. All of which Mr. Jack Hamlin, on the +box seat, noted with the smile of cynical philosophy. Not that he +depreciated the sex, but that he recognized therein a deceitful element, +the pursuit of which sometimes drew mankind away from the equally +uncertain blandishments of poker--of which it may be remarked that Mr. +Hamlin was a professional exponent. + +So that when he placed his narrow boot on the wheel and leaped down, +he did not even glance at the window from which a green veil was +fluttering, but lounged up and down with that listless and grave +indifference of his class, which was, perhaps, the next thing to good +breeding. With his closely buttoned figure and self-contained air he +was a marked contrast to the other passengers, with their feverish +restlessness and boisterous emotion; and even Bill Masters, a graduate +of Harvard, with his slovenly dress, his overflowing vitality, his +intense appreciation of lawlessness and barbarism, and his mouth filled +with crackers and cheese, I fear cut but an unromantic figure beside +this lonely calculator of chances, with his pale Greek face and Homeric +gravity. + +The driver called "All aboard!" and Mr. Hamlin returned to the coach. +His foot was upon the wheel, and his face raised to the level of the +open window, when, at the same moment, what appeared to him to be the +finest eyes in the world suddenly met his. He quietly dropped down +again, addressed a few words to one of the inside passengers, effected +an exchange of seats, and as quietly took his place inside. Mr. Hamlin +never allowed his philosophy to interfere with decisive and prompt +action. + +I fear that this irruption of Jack cast some restraint upon the other +passengers--particularly those who were making themselves most agreeable +to the lady. One of them leaned forward, and apparently conveyed to +her information regarding Mr. Hamlin's profession in a single epithet. +Whether Mr. Hamlin heard it, or whether he recognized in the informant +a distinguished jurist from whom, but a few evenings before, he had won +several thousand dollars, I cannot say. His colorless face betrayed no +sign; his black eyes, quietly observant, glanced indifferently past the +legal gentleman, and rested on the much more pleasing features of +his neighbor. An Indian stoicism--said to be an inheritance from his +maternal ancestor--stood him in good service, until the rolling wheels +rattled upon the river gravel at Scott's Ferry, and the stage drew up at +the International Hotel for dinner. The legal gentleman and a member of +Congress leaped out, and stood ready to assist the descending goddess, +while Colonel Starbottle, of Siskiyou, took charge of her parasol and +shawl. In this multiplicity of attention there was a momentary confusion +and delay. Jack Hamlin quietly opened the OPPOSITE door of the coach, +took the lady's hand--with that decision and positiveness which a +hesitating and undecided sex know how to admire--and in an instant had +dexterously and gracefully swung her to the ground, and again lifted her +to the platform. An audible chuckle on the box, I fear, came from +that other cynic, "Yuba Bill," the driver. "Look keerfully arter that +baggage, Kernel," said the expressman, with affected concern, as he +looked after Colonel Starbottle, gloomily bringing up the rear of the +triumphant procession to the waiting-room. + +Mr. Hamlin did not stay for dinner. His horse was already saddled, and +awaiting him. He dashed over the ford, up the gravelly hill, and +out into the dusty perspective of the Wingdam road, like one leaving +pleasant fancy behind him. The inmates of dusty cabins by the roadside +shaded their eyes with their hands and looked after him, recognizing the +man by his horse, and speculating what "was up with Comanche Jack." Yet +much of this interest centered in the horse, in a community where +the time made by "French Pete's" mare in his run from the Sheriff of +Calaveras eclipsed all concern in the ultimate fate of that worthy. + +The sweating flanks of his gray at length recalled him to himself. He +checked his speed, and, turning into a by-road, sometimes used as a +cutoff, trotted leisurely along, the reins hanging listlessly from +his fingers. As he rode on, the character of the landscape changed and +became more pastoral. Openings in groves of pine and sycamore disclosed +some rude attempts at cultivation--a flowering vine trailed over the +porch of one cabin, and a woman rocked her cradled babe under the roses +of another. A little farther on Mr. Hamlin came upon some barelegged +children wading in the willowy creek, and so wrought upon them with a +badinage peculiar to himself that they were emboldened to climb up +his horse's legs and over his saddle, until he was fain to develop an +exaggerated ferocity of demeanor, and to escape, leaving behind some +kisses and coin. And then, advancing deeper into the woods, where all +signs of habitation failed, he began to sing--uplifting a tenor so +singularly sweet, and shaded by a pathos so subduing and tender, that I +wot the robins and linnets stopped to listen. Mr. Hamlin's voice was not +cultivated; the subject of his song was some sentimental lunacy borrowed +from the Negro minstrels; but there thrilled through all some occult +quality of tone and expression that was unspeakably touching. Indeed, it +was a wonderful sight to see this sentimental blackleg, with a pack of +cards in his pocket and a revolver at his back, sending his voice before +him through the dim woods with a plaint about his "Nelly's grave" in a +way that overflowed the eyes of the listener. A sparrow hawk, fresh from +his sixth victim, possibly recognizing in Mr. Hamlin a kindred spirit, +stared at him in surprise, and was fain to confess the superiority of +man. With a superior predatory capacity, HE couldn't sing. + +But Mr. Hamlin presently found himself again on the highroad, and at his +former pace. Ditches and banks of gravel, denuded hillsides, stumps, +and decayed trunks of trees, took the place of woodland and ravine, and +indicated his approach to civilization. Then a church steeple came in +sight, and he knew that he had reached home. In a few moments he was +clattering down the single narrow street that lost itself in a chaotic +ruin of races, ditches, and tailings at the foot of the hill, and +dismounted before the gilded windows of the "Magnolia" saloon. Passing +through the long barroom, he pushed open a green-baize door, entered a +dark passage, opened another door with a passkey, and found himself in +a dimly lighted room whose furniture, though elegant and costly for the +locality, showed signs of abuse. The inlaid center table was overlaid +with stained disks that were not contemplated in the original design. +The embroidered armchairs were discolored, and the green velvet lounge, +on which Mr. Hamlin threw himself, was soiled at the foot with the red +soil of Wingdam. + +Mr. Hamlin did not sing in his cage. He lay still, looking at a highly +colored painting above him representing a young creature of opulent +charms. It occurred to him then, for the first time, that he had never +seen exactly that kind of a woman, and that if he should, he would not, +probably, fall in love with her. Perhaps he was thinking of another +style of beauty. But just then someone knocked at the door. Without +rising, he pulled a cord that apparently shot back a bolt, for the door +swung open, and a man entered. + +The newcomer was broad-shouldered and robust--a vigor not borne out in +the face, which, though handsome, was singularly weak, and disfigured by +dissipation. He appeared to be also under the influence of liquor, for +he started on seeing Mr. Hamlin, and said, "I thought Kate was here," +stammered, and seemed confused and embarrassed. + +Mr. Hamlin smiled the smile which he had before worn on the Wingdam +coach, and sat up, quite refreshed and ready for business. + +"You didn't come up on the stage," continued the newcomer, "did you?" + +"No," replied Hamlin; "I left it at Scott's Ferry. It isn't due for half +an hour yet. But how's luck, Brown?" + +"Damn bad," said Brown, his face suddenly assuming an expression of weak +despair; "I'm cleaned out again, Jack," he continued, in a whining tone +that formed a pitiable contrast to his bulky figure, "can't you help me +with a hundred till tomorrow's cleanup? You see I've got to send money +home to the old woman, and--you've won twenty times that amount from +me." + +The conclusion was, perhaps, not entirely logical, but Jack overlooked +it, and handed the sum to his visitor. "The old-woman business is about +played out, Brown," he added, by way of commentary; "why don't you say +you want to buck agin' faro? You know you ain't married!" + +"Fact, sir," said Brown, with a sudden gravity, as if the mere contact +of the gold with the palm of the hand had imparted some dignity to his +frame. "I've got a wife--a damned good one, too, if I do say it--in the +States. It's three year since I've seen her, and a year since I've writ +to her. When things is about straight, and we get down to the lead, I'm +going to send for her." + +"And Kate?" queried Mr. Hamlin, with his previous smile. + +Mr. Brown of Calaveras essayed an archness of glance, to cover his +confusion, which his weak face and whisky-muddled intellect but poorly +carried out, and said: + +"Damn it, Jack, a man must have a little liberty, you know. But +come, what do you say to a little game? Give us a show to double this +hundred." + +Jack Hamlin looked curiously at his fatuous friend. Perhaps he knew that +the man was predestined to lose the money, and preferred that it should +flow back into his own coffers rather than any other. He nodded his +head, and drew his chair toward the table. At the same moment there came +a rap upon the door. + +"It's Kate," said Mr. Brown. + +Mr. Hamlin shot back the bolt, and the door opened. But, for the +first time in his life, he staggered to his feet, utterly unnerved and +abashed, and for the first time in his life the hot blood crimsoned his +colorless cheeks to his forehead. For before him stood the lady he had +lifted from the Wingdam coach, whom Brown--dropping his cards with a +hysterical laugh--greeted as: + +"My old woman, by thunder!" + +They say that Mrs. Brown burst into tears, and reproaches of her +husband. I saw her, in 1857, at Marysville, and disbelieve the story. +And the WINGDAM CHRONICLE, of the next week, under the head of "Touching +Reunion," said: "One of those beautiful and touching incidents, peculiar +to California life, occurred last week in our city. The wife of one of +Wingdam's eminent pioneers, tired of the effete civilization of the East +and its inhospitable climate, resolved to join her noble husband +upon these golden shores. Without informing him of her intention, +she undertook the long journey, and arrived last week. The joy of the +husband may be easier imagined than described. The meeting is said +to have been indescribably affecting. We trust her example may be +followed." + + +Whether owing to Mrs. Brown's influence, or to some more successful +speculations, Mr. Brown's financial fortune from that day steadily +improved. He bought out his partners in the "Nip and Tuck" lead, with +money which was said to have been won at poker, a week or two after his +wife's arrival, but which rumor, adopting Mrs. Brown's theory that Brown +had forsworn the gaming-table, declared to have been furnished by Mr. +Jack Hamlin. He built and furnished the "Wingdam House," which pretty +Mrs. Brown's great popularity kept overflowing with guests. He was +elected to the Assembly, and gave largess to churches. A street in +Wingdam was named in his honor. + +Yet it was noted that in proportion as he waxed wealthy and fortunate, +he grew pale, thin, and anxious. As his wife's popularity increased, +he became fretful and impatient. The most uxorious of husbands, he +was absurdly jealous. If he did not interfere with his wife's social +liberty, it was because it was maliciously whispered that his first and +only attempt was met by an outburst from Mrs. Brown that terrified him +into silence. Much of this kind of gossip came from those of her own sex +whom she had supplanted in the chivalrous attentions of Wingdam, which, +like most popular chivalry, was devoted to an admiration of power, +whether of masculine force or feminine beauty. It should be remembered, +too, in her extenuation that since her arrival, she had been the +unconscious priestess of a mythological worship, perhaps not more +ennobling to her womanhood than that which distinguished an older Greek +democracy. I think that Brown was dimly conscious of this. But his only +confidant was Jack Hamlin, whose INFELIX reputation naturally precluded +any open intimacy with the family, and whose visits were infrequent. + +It was midsummer, and a moonlit night; and Mrs. Brown, very rosy, +large-eyed, and pretty, sat upon the piazza, enjoying the fresh incense +of the mountain breeze, and, it is to be feared, another incense +which was not so fresh, nor quite as innocent. Beside her sat Colonel +Starbottle and Judge Boompointer, and a later addition to her court in +the shape of a foreign tourist. She was in good spirits. + +"What do you see down the road?" inquired the gallant Colonel, who had +been conscious, for the last few minutes, that Mrs. Brown's attention +was diverted. + +"Dust," said Mrs. Brown, with a sigh. "Only Sister Anne's 'flock of +sheep.'" + +The Colonel, whose literary recollections did not extend farther back +than last week's paper, took a more practical view. "It ain't sheep," he +continued; "it's a horseman. Judge, ain't that Jack Hamlin's gray?" + +But the Judge didn't know; and as Mrs. Brown suggested the air was +growing too cold for further investigations, they retired to the parlor. + +Mr. Brown was in the stable, where he generally retired after dinner. +Perhaps it was to show his contempt for his wife's companions; perhaps, +like other weak natures, he found pleasure in the exercise of absolute +power over inferior animals. He had a certain gratification in the +training of a chestnut mare, whom he could beat or caress as pleased +him, which he couldn't do with Mrs. Brown. It was here that he +recognized a certain gray horse which had just come in, and, looking +a little farther on, found his rider. Brown's greeting was cordial and +hearty, Mr. Hamlin's somewhat restrained. But at Brown's urgent request, +he followed him up the back stairs to a narrow corridor, and thence to +a small room looking out upon the stable yard. It was plainly furnished +with a bed, a table, a few chairs, and a rack for guns and whips. + +"This yer's my home, Jack," said Brown, with a sigh, as he threw himself +upon the bed, and motioned his companion to a chair. "Her room's t'other +end of the hall. It's more'n six months since we've lived together, or +met, except at meals. It's mighty rough papers on the head of the house, +ain't it?" he said, with a forced laugh. "But I'm glad to see you, +Jack, damn glad," and he reached from the bed, and again shook the +unresponsive hand of Jack Hamlin. + +"I brought ye up here, for I didn't want to talk in the stable; though, +for the matter of that, it's all round town. Don't strike a light. We +can talk here in the moonshine. Put up your feet on that winder, and sit +here beside me. Thar's whisky in that jug." + +Mr. Hamlin did not avail himself of the information. Brown of Calaveras +turned his face to the wall and continued: + +"If I didn't love the woman, Jack, I wouldn't mind. But it's loving her, +and seeing her, day arter day, goin' on at this rate, and no one to put +down the brake; that's what gits me! But I'm glad to see ye, Jack, damn +glad." + +In the darkness he groped about until he had found and wrung his +companion's hand again. He would have detained it, but Jack slipped it +into the buttoned breast of his coat, and asked, listlessly, "How long +has this been going on?" + +"Ever since she came here; ever since the day she walked into the +Magnolia. I was a fool then; Jack, I'm a fool now; but I didn't know how +much I loved her till then. And she hasn't been the same woman since. + +"But that ain't all, Jack; and it's what I wanted to see you about, and +I'm glad you've come. It ain't that she doesn't love me any more; it +ain't that she fools with every chap that comes along, for, perhaps, I +staked her love and lost it, as I did everything else at the Magnolia; +and, perhaps, foolin' is nateral to some women, and thar ain't no great +harm done, 'cept to the fools. But, Jack, I think--I think she loves +somebody else. Don't move, Jack; don't move; if your pistol hurts ye, +take it off. + +"It's been more'n six months now that she's seemed unhappy and lonesome, +and kinder nervous and scared-like. And sometimes I've ketched her +lookin' at me sort of timid and pitying. And she writes to somebody. +And for the last week she's been gathering her own things--trinkets, +and furbelows, and jew'lry--and, Jack, I think she's goin' off. I could +stand all but that. To have her steal away like a thief--" He put his +face downward to the pillow, and for a few moments there was no sound +but the ticking of a clock on the mantel. Mr. Hamlin lit a cigar, and +moved to the open window. The moon no longer shone into the room, and +the bed and its occupant were in shadow. "What shall I do, Jack?" said +the voice from the darkness. + +The answer came promptly and clearly from the window-side: "Spot the +man, and kill him on sight." + +"But, Jack?" + +"He's took the risk!" + +"But will that bring HER back?" + +Jack did not reply, but moved from the window toward the door. + +"Don't go yet, Jack; light the candle, and sit by the table. It's a +comfort to see ye, if nothin' else." + +Jack hesitated, and then complied. He drew a pack of cards from his +pocket and shuffled them, glancing at the bed. But Brown's face was +turned to the wall. When Mr. Hamlin had shuffled the cards, he cut them, +and dealt one card on the opposite side of the table and toward the bed, +and another on his side of the table for himself. The first was a deuce, +his own card, a king. He then shuffled and cut again. This time "dummy" +had a queen, and himself a four-spot. Jack brightened up for the third +deal. It brought his adversary a deuce, and himself a king again. "Two +out of three," said Jack, audibly. + +"What's that, Jack?" said Brown. + +"Nothing." + +Then Jack tried his hand with dice; but he always threw sixes, and his +imaginary opponent aces. The force of habit is sometimes confusing. + +Meanwhile, some magnetic influence in Mr. Hamlin's presence, or the +anodyne of liquor, or both, brought surcease of sorrow, and Brown slept. +Mr. Hamlin moved his chair to the window, and looked out on the town +of Wingdam, now sleeping peacefully--its harsh outlines softened and +subdued, its glaring colors mellowed and sobered in the moonlight that +flowed over all. In the hush he could hear the gurgling of water in the +ditches, and the sighing of the pines beyond the hill. Then he looked +up at the firmament, and as he did so a star shot across the twinkling +field. Presently another, and then another. The phenomenon suggested to +Mr. Hamlin a fresh augury. If in another fifteen minutes another star +should fall--He sat there, watch in hand, for twice that time, but the +phenomenon was not repeated. + +The clock struck two, and Brown still slept. Mr. Hamlin approached the +table and took from his pocket a letter, which he read by the flickering +candlelight. It contained only a single line, written in pencil, in a +woman's hand: + +"Be at the corral, with the buggy, at three." + +The sleeper moved uneasily, and then awoke. "Are you there Jack?" + +"Yes." + +"Don't go yet. I dreamed just now, Jack--dreamed of old times. I thought +that Sue and me was being married agin, and that the parson, Jack, +was--who do you think?--you!" + +The gambler laughed, and seated himself on the bed--the paper still in +his hand. + +"It's a good sign, ain't it?" queried Brown. + +"I reckon. Say, old man, hadn't you better get up?" + +The "old man," thus affectionately appealed to, rose, with the +assistance of Hamlin's outstretched hand. + +"Smoke?" + +Brown mechanically took the proffered cigar. + +"Light?" + +Jack had twisted the letter into a spiral, lit it, and held it for his +companion. He continued to hold it until it was consumed, and dropped +the fragment--a fiery star--from the open window. He watched it as it +fell, and then returned to his friend. + +"Old man," he said, placing his hands upon Brown's shoulders, "in ten +minutes I'll be on the road, and gone like that spark. We won't see each +other agin; but, before I go, take a fool's advice: sell out all you've +got, take your wife with you, and quit the country. It ain't no place +for you, nor her. Tell her she must go; make her go, if she won't. +Don't whine because you can't be a saint, and she ain't an angel. Be a +man--and treat her like a woman. Don't be a damn fool. Good-by." + +He tore himself from Brown's grasp, and leaped down the stairs like +a deer. At the stable door he collared the half-sleeping hostler and +backed him against the wall. "Saddle my horse in two minutes, or I'll--" +The ellipsis was frightfully suggestive. + +"The missis said you was to have the buggy," stammered the man. + +"Damn the buggy!" + +The horse was saddled as fast as the nervous hands of the astounded +hostler could manipulate buckle and strap. + +"Is anything up, Mr. Hamlin?" said the man, who, like all his class, +admired the elan of his fiery patron, and was really concerned in his +welfare. + +"Stand aside!" + +The man fell back. With an oath, a bound, and clatter, Jack was into the +road. In another moment, to the man's half-awakened eyes, he was but a +moving cloud of dust in the distance, toward which a star just loosed +from its brethren was trailing a stream of fire. + +But early that morning the dwellers by the Wingdam turnpike, miles away, +heard a voice, pure as a skylark's, singing afield. They who were asleep +turned over on their rude couches to dream of youth and love and olden +days. Hard-faced men and anxious gold-seekers, already at work, ceased +their labors and leaned upon their picks, to listen to a romantic +vagabond ambling away against the rosy sunrise. + + + + +HIGH-WATER MARK + + +When the tide was out on the Dedlow Marsh, its extended dreariness +was patent. Its spongy, low-lying surface, sluggish, inky pools, and +tortuous sloughs, twisting their slimy way, eel-like, toward the open +bay, were all hard facts. So were the few green tussocks, with their +scant blades, their amphibious flavor and unpleasant dampness. And if +you choose to indulge your fancy--although the flat monotony of the +Dedlow Marsh was not inspiring--the wavy line of scattered drift gave +an unpleasant consciousness of the spent waters, and made the dead +certainty of the returning tide a gloomy reflection which no present +sunshine could dissipate. The greener meadowland seemed oppressed with +this idea, and made no positive attempt at vegetation until the work of +reclamation should be complete. In the bitter fruit of the low cranberry +bushes one might fancy he detected a naturally sweet disposition curdled +and soured by an injudicious course of too much regular cold water. + +The vocal expression of the Dedlow Marsh was also melancholy and +depressing. The sepulchral boom of the bittern, the shriek of the +curlew, the scream of passing brent, the wrangling of quarrelsome +teal, the sharp, querulous protest of the startled crane, and syllabled +complaint of the "killdeer" plover, were beyond the power of written +expression. Nor was the aspect of these mournful fowls at all cheerful +and inspiring. Certainly not the blue heron standing mid-leg deep in the +water, obviously catching cold in a reckless disregard of wet feet +and consequences; nor the mournful curlew, the dejected plover, or +the low-spirited snipe, who saw fit to join him in his suicidal +contemplation; nor the impassive kingfisher--an ornithological +Marius--reviewing the desolate expanse; nor the black raven that went to +and fro over the face of the marsh continually, but evidently couldn't +make up his mind whether the waters had subsided, and felt low-spirited +in the reflection that, after all this trouble, he wouldn't be able to +give a definite answer. On the contrary, it was evident at a glance that +the dreary expanse of Dedlow Marsh told unpleasantly on the birds, and +that the season of migration was looked forward to with a feeling +of relief and satisfaction by the full-grown, and of extravagant +anticipation by the callow, brood. But if Dedlow Marsh was cheerless +at the slack of the low tide, you should have seen it when the tide was +strong and full. When the damp air blew chilly over the cold, glittering +expanse, and came to the faces of those who looked seaward like another +tide; when a steel-like glint marked the low hollows and the sinuous +line of slough; when the great shell-incrusted trunks of fallen trees +arose again, and went forth on their dreary, purposeless wanderings, +drifting hither and thither, but getting no farther toward any goal +at the falling tide or the day's decline than the cursed Hebrew in the +legend; when the glossy ducks swung silently, making neither ripple nor +furrow on the shimmering surface; when the fog came in with the tide and +shut out the blue above, even as the green below had been obliterated; +when boatmen lost in that fog, paddling about in a hopeless way, started +at what seemed the brushing of mermen's fingers on the boat's keel, or +shrank from the tufts of grass spreading around like the floating hair +of a corpse, and knew by these signs that they were lost upon Dedlow +Marsh and must make a night of it, and a gloomy one at that--then you +might know something of Dedlow Marsh at high water. + +Let me recall a story connected with this latter view which never failed +to recur to my mind in my long gunning excursions upon Dedlow Marsh. +Although the event was briefly recorded in the county paper, I had the +story, in all its eloquent detail, from the lips of the principal actor. +I cannot hope to catch the varying emphasis and peculiar coloring of +feminine delineation, for my narrator was a woman; but I'll try to give +at least its substance. + +She lived midway of the great slough of Dedlow Marsh and a good-sized +river, which debouched four miles beyond into an estuary formed by +the Pacific Ocean, on the long sandy peninsula which constituted the +southwestern boundary of a noble bay. The house in which she lived was +a small frame cabin raised from the marsh a few feet by stout piles, and +was three miles distant from the settlements upon the river. Her husband +was a logger--a profitable business in a county where the principal +occupation was the manufacture of lumber. + +It was the season of early spring when her husband left on the ebb of a +high tide, with a raft of logs for the usual transportation to the lower +end of the bay. As she stood by the door of the little cabin when the +voyagers departed she noticed a cold look in the southeastern sky, and +she remembered hearing her husband say to his companions that they must +endeavor to complete their voyage before the coming of the southwesterly +gale which he saw brewing. And that night it began to storm and blow +harder than she had ever before experienced, and some great trees fell +in the forest by the river, and the house rocked like her baby's cradle. + +But however the storm might roar about the little cabin, she knew that +one she trusted had driven bolt and bar with his own strong hand, and +that had he feared for her he would not have left her. This, and her +domestic duties, and the care of her little sickly baby, helped to keep +her mind from dwelling on the weather, except, of course, to hope that +he was safely harbored with the logs at Utopia in the dreary distance. +But she noticed that day, when she went out to feed the chickens and +look after the cow, that the tide was up to the little fence of their +garden-patch, and the roar of the surf on the south beach, though miles +away, she could hear distinctly. And she began to think that she would +like to have someone to talk with about matters, and she believed that +if it had not been so far and so stormy, and the trail so impassable, +she would have taken the baby and have gone over to Ryckman's, her +nearest neighbor. But then, you see, he might have returned in the +storm, all wet, with no one to see to him; and it was a long exposure +for baby, who was croupy and ailing. + +But that night, she never could tell why, she didn't feel like sleeping +or even lying down. The storm had somewhat abated, but she still "sat +and sat," and even tried to read. I don't know whether it was a Bible or +some profane magazine that this poor woman read, but most probably the +latter, for the words all ran together and made such sad nonsense that +she was forced at last to put the book down and turn to that dearer +volume which lay before her in the cradle, with its white initial leaf +as yet unsoiled, and try to look forward to its mysterious future. And, +rocking the cradle, she thought of everything and everybody, but still +was wide-awake as ever. + +It was nearly twelve o'clock when she at last lay down in her clothes. +How long she slept she could not remember, but she awoke with a dreadful +choking in her throat, and found herself standing, trembling all over, +in the middle of the room, with her baby clasped to her breast, and she +was "saying something." The baby cried and sobbed, and she walked up +and down trying to hush it when she heard a scratching at the door. She +opened it fearfully, and was glad to see it was only old Pete, their +dog, who crawled, dripping with water, into the room. She would like to +have looked out, not in the faint hope of her husband's coming, but to +see how things looked; but the wind shook the door so savagely that she +could hardly hold it. Then she sat down a little while, and then walked +up and down a little while, and then she lay down again a little while. +Lying close by the wall of the little cabin, she thought she heard +once or twice something scrape slowly against the clapboards, like the +scraping of branches. Then there was a little gurgling sound, "like the +baby made when it was swallowing"; then something went "click-click" +and "cluck-cluck," so that she sat up in bed. When she did so she was +attracted by something else that seemed creeping from the back door +toward the center of the room. It wasn't much wider than her little +finger, but soon it swelled to the width of her hand, and began +spreading all over the floor. It was water. + +She ran to the front door and threw it wide open, and saw nothing but +water. She ran to the back door and threw it open, and saw nothing +but water. She ran to the side window, and throwing that open, she saw +nothing but water. Then she remembered hearing her husband once say that +there was no danger in the tide, for that fell regularly, and people +could calculate on it, and that he would rather live near the bay than +the river, whose banks might overflow at any time. But was it the tide? +So she ran again to the back door, and threw out a stick of wood. It +drifted away toward the bay. She scooped up some of the water and put it +eagerly to her lips. It was fresh and sweet. It was the river, and not +the tide! + +It was then--O God be praised for his goodness! she did neither faint +nor fall; it was then--blessed be the Saviour, for it was his merciful +hand that touched and strengthened her in this awful moment--that fear +dropped from her like a garment, and her trembling ceased. It was then +and thereafter that she never lost her self-command, through all the +trials of that gloomy night. + +She drew the bedstead toward the middle of the room, and placed a table +upon it and on that she put the cradle. The water on the floor +was already over her ankles, and the house once or twice moved so +perceptibly, and seemed to be racked so, that the closet doors all flew +open. Then she heard the same rasping and thumping against the wall, +and, looking out, saw that a large uprooted tree, which had lain near +the road at the upper end of the pasture, had floated down to the house. +Luckily its long roots dragged in the soil and kept it from moving as +rapidly as the current, for had it struck the house in its full career, +even the strong nails and bolts in the piles could not have withstood +the shock. The hound had leaped upon its knotty surface, and crouched +near the roots shivering and whining. A ray of hope flashed across her +mind. She drew a heavy blanket from the bed, and, wrapping it about +the babe, waded in the deepening waters to the door. As the tree swung +again, broadside on, making the little cabin creak and tremble, she +leaped on to its trunk. By God's mercy she succeeded in obtaining a +footing on its slippery surface, and, twining an arm about its roots, +she held in the other her moaning child. Then something cracked near the +front porch, and the whole front of the house she had just quitted fell +forward--just as cattle fall on their knees before they lie down--and at +the same moment the great redwood tree swung round and drifted away with +its living cargo into the black night. + +For all the excitement and danger, for all her soothing of her crying +babe, for all the whistling of the wind, for all the uncertainty of +her situation, she still turned to look at the deserted and water-swept +cabin. She remembered even then, and she wonders how foolish she was to +think of it at that time, that she wished she had put on another dress +and the baby's best clothes; and she kept praying that the house would +be spared so that he, when he returned, would have something to come to, +and it wouldn't be quite so desolate, and--how could he ever know what +had become of her and baby? And at the thought she grew sick and faint. +But she had something else to do besides worrying, for whenever the +long roots of her ark struck an obstacle, the whole trunk made half a +revolution, and twice dipped her in the black water. The hound, who kept +distracting her by running up and down the tree and howling, at last +fell off at one of these collisions. He swam for some time beside her, +and she tried to get the poor beast up on the tree, but he "acted silly" +and wild, and at last she lost sight of him forever. Then she and her +baby were left alone. The light which had burned for a few minutes +in the deserted cabin was quenched suddenly. She could not then +tell whither she was drifting. The outline of the white dunes on the +peninsula showed dimly ahead, and she judged the tree was moving in a +line with the river. It must be about slack water, and she had +probably reached the eddy formed by the confluence of the tide and the +overflowing waters of the river. Unless the tide fell soon, there was +present danger of her drifting to its channel, and being carried out to +sea or crushed in the floating drift. That peril averted, if she were +carried out on the ebb toward the bay, she might hope to strike one +of the wooded promontories of the peninsula, and rest till daylight. +Sometimes she thought she heard voices and shouts from the river, and +the bellowing of cattle and bleating of sheep. Then again it was only +the ringing in her ears and throbbing of her heart. She found at about +this time that she was so chilled and stiffened in her cramped position +that she could scarcely move, and the baby cried so when she put it to +her breast that she noticed the milk refused to flow; and she was so +frightened at that, that she put her head under her shawl, and for the +first time cried bitterly. + +When she raised her head again, the boom of the surf was behind her, and +she knew that her ark had again swung round. She dipped up the water to +cool her parched throat, and found that it was salt as her tears. There +was a relief, though, for by this sign she knew that she was drifting +with the tide. It was then the wind went down, and the great and awful +silence oppressed her. There was scarcely a ripple against the furrowed +sides of the great trunk on which she rested, and around her all was +black gloom and quiet. She spoke to the baby just to hear herself speak, +and to know that she had not lost her voice. She thought then--it was +queer, but she could not help thinking it--how awful must have been the +night when the great ship swung over the Asiatic peak, and the sounds of +creation were blotted out from the world. She thought, too, of mariners +clinging to spars, and of poor women who were lashed to rafts, and +beaten to death by the cruel sea. She tried to thank God that she was +thus spared, and lifted her eyes from the baby, who had fallen into a +fretful sleep. Suddenly, away to the southward, a great light lifted +itself out of the gloom, and flashed and flickered, and flickered and +flashed again. Her heart fluttered quickly against the baby's cold +cheek. It was the lighthouse at the entrance of the bay. As she was yet +wondering, the tree suddenly rolled a little, dragged a little, and +then seemed to lie quiet and still. She put out her hand and the current +gurgled against it. The tree was aground, and, by the position of the +light and the noise of the surf, aground upon the Dedlow Marsh. + +Had it not been for her baby, who was ailing and croupy, had it not been +for the sudden drying up of that sensitive fountain, she would have +felt safe and relieved. Perhaps it was this which tended to make all her +impressions mournful and gloomy. As the tide rapidly fell, a great flock +of black brent fluttered by her, screaming and crying. Then the plover +flew up and piped mournfully as they wheeled around the trunk, and at +last fearlessly lit upon it like a gray cloud. Then the heron flew over +and around her, shrieking and protesting, and at last dropped its gaunt +legs only a few yards from her. But, strangest of all, a pretty white +bird, larger than a dove--like a pelican, but not a pelican--circled +around and around her. At last it lit upon a rootlet of the tree, quite +over her shoulder. She put out her hand and stroked its beautiful white +neck, and it never appeared to move. It stayed there so long that she +thought she would lift up the baby to see it, and try to attract her +attention. But when she did so, the child was so chilled and cold, and +had such a blue look under the little lashes which it didn't raise at +all, that she screamed aloud, and the bird flew away, and she fainted. + +Well, that was the worst of it, and perhaps it was not so much, after +all, to any but herself. For when she recovered her senses it was bright +sunlight, and dead low water. There was a confused noise of guttural +voices about her, and an old squaw, singing an Indian "hushaby," and +rocking herself from side to side before a fire built on the marsh, +before which she, the recovered wife and mother, lay weak and weary. Her +first thought was for her baby, and she was about to speak, when a young +squaw, who must have been a mother herself, fathomed her thought and +brought her the "mowitch," pale but living, in such a queer little +willow cradle all bound up, just like the squaw's own young one, that +she laughed and cried together, and the young squaw and the old squaw +showed their big white teeth and glinted their black eyes and said, +"Plenty get well, skeena mowitch," "wagee man come plenty soon," and she +could have kissed their brown faces in her joy. And then she found that +they had been gathering berries on the marsh in their queer, comical +baskets, and saw the skirt of her gown fluttering on the tree from afar, +and the old squaw couldn't resist the temptation of procuring a new +garment, and came down and discovered the "wagee" woman and child. And +of course she gave the garment to the old squaw, as you may imagine, and +when HE came at last and rushed up to her, looking about ten years older +in his anxiety, she felt so faint again that they had to carry her to +the canoe. For, you see, he knew nothing about the flood until he met +the Indians at Utopia, and knew by the signs that the poor woman was +his wife. And at the next high tide he towed the tree away back home, +although it wasn't worth the trouble, and built another house, using the +old tree for the foundation and props, and called it after her, "Mary's +Ark!" But you may guess the next house was built above high-water mark. +And that's all. + +Not much, perhaps, considering the malevolent capacity of the Dedlow +Marsh. But you must tramp over it at low water, or paddle over it at +high tide, or get lost upon it once or twice in the fog, as I have, +to understand properly Mary's adventure, or to appreciate duly the +blessings of living beyond High-Water Mark. + + + + +A LONELY RIDE + + +As I stepped into the Slumgullion stage I saw that it was a dark night, +a lonely road, and that I was the only passenger. Let me assure the +reader that I have no ulterior design in making this assertion. A +long course of light reading has forewarned me what every experienced +intelligence must confidently look for from such a statement. The +storyteller who willfully tempts Fate by such obvious beginnings; who is +to the expectant reader in danger of being robbed or half-murdered, or +frightened by an escaped lunatic, or introduced to his ladylove for the +first time, deserves to be detected. I am relieved to say that none of +these things occurred to me. The road from Wingdam to Slumgullion knew +no other banditti than the regularly licensed hotelkeepers; lunatics had +not yet reached such depth of imbecility as to ride of their own free +will in California stages; and my Laura, amiable and long-suffering as +she always is, could not, I fear, have borne up against these depressing +circumstances long enough to have made the slightest impression on me. + +I stood with my shawl and carpetbag in hand, gazing doubtingly on the +vehicle. Even in the darkness the red dust of Wingdam was visible on its +roof and sides, and the red slime of Slumgullion clung tenaciously to +its wheels. I opened the door; the stage creaked easily, and in the +gloomy abyss the swaying straps beckoned me, like ghostly hands, to come +in now and have my sufferings out at once. + +I must not omit to mention the occurrence of a circumstance which struck +me as appalling and mysterious. A lounger on the steps of the hotel, +who I had reason to suppose was not in any way connected with the stage +company, gravely descended, and walking toward the conveyance, tried +the handle of the door, opened it, expectorated in the carriage, and +returned to the hotel with a serious demeanor. Hardly had he resumed +his position when another individual, equally disinterested, impassively +walked down the steps, proceeded to the back of the stage, lifted it, +expectorated carefully on the axle, and returned slowly and pensively to +the hotel. A third spectator wearily disengaged himself from one of +the Ionic columns of the portico and walked to the box, remained for a +moment in serious and expectorative contemplation of the boot, and then +returned to his column. There was something so weird in this baptism +that I grew quite nervous. + +Perhaps I was out of spirits. A number of infinitesimal annoyances, +winding up with the resolute persistency of the clerk at the stage +office to enter my name misspelt on the waybill, had not predisposed +me to cheerfulness. The inmates of the Eureka House, from a social +viewpoint, were not attractive. There was the prevailing opinion--so +common to many honest people--that a serious style of deportment and +conduct toward a stranger indicates high gentility and elevated station. +Obeying this principle, all hilarity ceased on my entrance to supper, +and general remark merged into the safer and uncompromising chronicle of +several bad cases of diphtheria, then epidemic at Wingdam. When I left +the dining-room, with an odd feeling that I had been supping exclusively +on mustard and tea leaves, I stopped a moment at the parlor door. A +piano, harmoniously related to the dinner bell, tinkled responsive to +a diffident and uncertain touch. On the white wall the shadow of an +old and sharp profile was bending over several symmetrical and shadowy +curls. "I sez to Mariar, Mariar, sez I, 'Praise to the face is open +disgrace.'" I heard no more. Dreading some susceptibility to sincere +expression on the subject of female loveliness, I walked away, checking +the compliment that otherwise might have risen unbidden to my lips, and +have brought shame and sorrow to the household. + +It was with the memory of these experiences resting heavily upon me that +I stood hesitatingly before the stage door. The driver, about to mount, +was for a moment illuminated by the open door of the hotel. He had +the wearied look which was the distinguishing expression of Wingdam. +Satisfied that I was properly waybilled and receipted for, he took no +further notice of me. I looked longingly at the box seat, but he did +not respond to the appeal. I flung my carpetbag into the chasm, dived +recklessly after it, and--before I was fairly seated--with a great +sigh, a creaking of unwilling springs, complaining bolts, and harshly +expostulating axle, we moved away. Rather the hotel door slipped behind, +the sound of the piano sank to rest, and the night and its shadows moved +solemnly upon us. + +To say it was dark expressed but faintly the pitchy obscurity +that encompassed the vehicle. The roadside trees were scarcely +distinguishable as deeper masses of shadow; I knew them only by the +peculiar sodden odor that from time to time sluggishly flowed in at the +open window as we rolled by. We proceeded slowly; so leisurely that, +leaning from the carriage, I more than once detected the fragrant sigh +of some astonished cow, whose ruminating repose upon the highway we +had ruthlessly disturbed. But in the darkness our progress, more the +guidance of some mysterious instinct than any apparent volition of +our own, gave an indefinable charm of security to our journey that a +moment's hesitation or indecision on the part of the driver would have +destroyed. + +I had indulged a hope that in the empty vehicle I might obtain that rest +so often denied me in its crowded condition. It was a weak delusion. +When I stretched out my limbs it was only to find that the ordinary +conveniences for making several people distinctly uncomfortable were +distributed throughout my individual frame. At last, resting my arms +on the straps, by dint of much gymnastic effort I became sufficiently +composed to be aware of a more refined species of torture. The springs +of the stage, rising and falling regularly, produced a rhythmical beat +which began to absorb my attention painfully. Slowly this thumping +merged into a senseless echo of the mysterious female of +the hotel parlor, and shaped itself into this awful and +benumbing axiom--"Praise-to-the-face-is-open-disgrace. +Praise-to-the-face-is-open-disgrace." Inequalities of the road only +quickened its utterance or drawled it to an exasperating length. + +It was of no use to consider the statement seriously. It was of no +use to except to it indignantly. It was of no use to recall the many +instances where praise to the face had redounded to the everlasting +honor of praiser and bepraised; of no use to dwell sentimentally +on modest genius and courage lifted up and strengthened by open +commendation; of no use to except to the mysterious female, to picture +her as rearing a thin-blooded generation on selfish and mechanically +repeated axioms--all this failed to counteract the monotonous repetition +of this sentence. There was nothing to do but to give in--and I was +about to accept it weakly, as we too often treat other illusions of +darkness and necessity, for the time being, when I became aware of some +other annoyance that had been forcing itself upon me for the last few +moments. How quiet the driver was! + +Was there any driver? Had I any reason to suppose that he was not lying +gagged and bound on the roadside, and the highwayman with blackened face +who did the thing so quietly driving me--whither? The thing is perfectly +feasible. And what is this fancy now being jolted out of me? A story? +It's of no use to keep it back--particularly in this abysmal vehicle, +and here it comes: I am a Marquis--a French Marquis; French, because +the peerage is not so well known, and the country is better adapted to +romantic incident--a Marquis, because the democratic reader delights in +the nobility. My name is something LIGNY. I am coming from Paris to my +country seat at St. Germain. It is a dark night, and I fall asleep +and tell my honest coachman, Andre, not to disturb me, and dream of an +angel. The carriage at last stops at the chateau. It is so dark that +when I alight I do not recognize the face of the footman who holds the +carriage door. But what of that?--PESTE! I am heavy with sleep. The same +obscurity also hides the old familiar indecencies of the statues on the +terrace; but there is a door, and it opens and shuts behind me smartly. +Then I find myself in a trap, in the presence of the brigand who has +quietly gagged poor Andre and conducted the carriage thither. There +is nothing for me to do, as a gallant French Marquis, but to say, +"PARBLEU!" draw my rapier, and die valorously! I am found a week or two +after outside a deserted cabaret near the barrier, with a hole through +my ruffled linen and my pockets stripped. No; on second thoughts, I +am rescued--rescued by the angel I have been dreaming of, who is the +assumed daughter of the brigand but the real daughter of an intimate +friend. + +Looking from the window again, in the vain hope of distinguishing the +driver, I found my eyes were growing accustomed to the darkness. I +could see the distant horizon, defined by India-inky woods, relieving a +lighter sky. A few stars widely spaced in this picture glimmered sadly. +I noticed again the infinite depth of patient sorrow in their serene +faces; and I hope that the vandal who first applied the flippant +"twinkle" to them may not be driven melancholy-mad by their reproachful +eyes. I noticed again the mystic charm of space that imparts a sense +of individual solitude to each integer of the densest constellation, +involving the smallest star with immeasurable loneliness. Something of +this calm and solitude crept over me, and I dozed in my gloomy cavern. +When I awoke the full moon was rising. Seen from my window, it had an +indescribably unreal and theatrical effect. It was the full moon of +NORMA--that remarkable celestial phenomenon which rises so palpably to +a hushed audience and a sublime andante chorus, until the CASTA DIVA is +sung--the "inconstant moon" that then and thereafter remains fixed in +the heavens as though it were a part of the solar system inaugurated +by Joshua. Again the white-robed Druids filed past me, again I saw that +improbable mistletoe cut from that impossible oak, and again cold chills +ran down my back with the first strain of the recitative. The thumping +springs essayed to beat time, and the private-box-like obscurity of +the vehicle lent a cheap enchantment to the view. But it was a vast +improvement upon my past experience, and I hugged the fond delusion. + +My fears for the driver were dissipated with the rising moon. A familiar +sound had assured me of his presence in the full possession of at least +one of his most important functions. Frequent and full expectoration +convinced me that his lips were as yet not sealed by the gag of +highwaymen, and soothed my anxious ear. With this load lifted from my +mind, and assisted by the mild presence of Diana, who left, as when +she visited Endymion, much of her splendor outside my cavern--I looked +around the empty vehicle. On the forward seat lay a woman's hairpin. I +picked it up with an interest that, however, soon abated. There was no +scent of the roses to cling to it still, not even of hair oil. No +bend or twist in its rigid angles betrayed any trait of its wearer's +character. I tried to think that it might have been "Mariar's." I tried +to imagine that, confining the symmetrical curls of that girl, it might +have heard the soft compliments whispered in her ears which provoked the +wrath of the aged female. But in vain. It was reticent and unswerving in +its upright fidelity, and at last slipped listlessly through my fingers. + +I had dozed repeatedly--waked on the threshold of oblivion by +contact with some of the angles of the coach, and feeling that I was +unconsciously assuming, in imitation of a humble insect of my childish +recollection, that spherical shape which could best resist those +impressions, when I perceived that the moon, riding high in the heavens, +had begun to separate the formless masses of the shadowy landscape. +Trees isolated, in clumps and assemblages, changed places before +my window. The sharp outlines of the distant hills came back, as +in daylight, but little softened in the dry, cold, dewless air of a +California summer night. I was wondering how late it was, and thinking +that if the horses of the night traveled as slowly as the team before +us, Faustus might have been spared his agonizing prayer, when a sudden +spasm of activity attacked my driver. A succession of whip-snappings, +like a pack of Chinese crackers, broke from the box before me. The stage +leaped forward, and when I could pick myself from under the seat, a long +white building had in some mysterious way rolled before my window. +It must be Slumgullion! As I descended from the stage I addressed the +driver: + +"I thought you changed horses on the road?" + +"So we did. Two hours ago." + +"That's odd. I didn't notice it." + +"Must have been asleep, sir. Hope you had a pleasant nap. Bully place +for a nice quiet snooze--empty stage, sir!" + + + + +THE MAN OF NO ACCOUNT + + +His name was Fagg--David Fagg. He came to California in '52 with us, +in the SKYSCRAPER. I don't think he did it in an adventurous way. He +probably had no other place to go to. When a knot of us young fellows +would recite what splendid opportunities we resigned to go, and how +sorry our friends were to have us leave, and show daguerreotypes and +locks of hair, and talk of Mary and Susan, the man of no account used to +sit by and listen with a pained, mortified expression on his plain face, +and say nothing. I think he had nothing to say. He had no associates +except when we patronized him; and, in point of fact, he was a good deal +of sport to us. He was always seasick whenever we had a capful of wind. +He never got his sea legs on, either. And I never shall forget how +we all laughed when Rattler took him the piece of pork on a string, +and--But you know that time-honored joke. And then we had such a +splendid lark with him. Miss Fanny Twinkler couldn't bear the sight of +him, and we used to make Fagg think that she had taken a fancy to him, +and send him little delicacies and books from the cabin. You ought +to have witnessed the rich scene that took place when he came up, +stammering and very sick, to thank her! Didn't she flash up grandly and +beautifully and scornfully? So like "Medora," Rattler said--Rattler knew +Byron by heart--and wasn't old Fagg awfully cut up? But he got over it, +and when Rattler fell sick at Valparaiso, old Fagg used to nurse him. +You see he was a good sort of fellow, but he lacked manliness and +spirit. + +He had absolutely no idea of poetry. I've seen him sit stolidly by, +mending his old clothes, when Rattler delivered that stirring apostrophe +of Byron's to the ocean. He asked Rattler once, quite seriously, if he +thought Byron was ever seasick. I don't remember Rattler's reply, but I +know we all laughed very much, and I have no doubt it was something good +for Rattler was smart. + +When the SKYSCRAPER arrived at San Francisco we had a grand "feed." +We agreed to meet every year and perpetuate the occasion. Of course we +didn't invite Fagg. Fagg was a steerage passenger, and it was necessary, +you see, now we were ashore, to exercise a little discretion. But Old +Fagg, as we called him--he was only about twenty-five years old, by the +way--was the source of immense amusement to us that day. It appeared +that he had conceived the idea that he could walk to Sacramento, and +actually started off afoot. We had a good time, and shook hands with one +another all around, and so parted. Ah me! only eight years ago, and yet +some of those hands then clasped in amity have been clenched at each +other, or have dipped furtively in one another's pockets. I know that +we didn't dine together the next year, because young Barker swore +he wouldn't put his feet under the same mahogany with such a very +contemptible scoundrel as that Mixer; and Nibbles, who borrowed money +at Valparaiso of young Stubbs, who was then a waiter in a restaurant, +didn't like to meet such people. + +When I bought a number of shares in the Coyote Tunnel at Mugginsville, +in '54, I thought I'd take a run up there and see it. I stopped at the +Empire Hotel, and after dinner I got a horse and rode round the town and +out to the claim. One of those individuals whom newspaper correspondents +call "our intelligent informant," and to whom in all small communities +the right of answering questions is tacitly yielded, was quietly pointed +out to me. Habit had enabled him to work and talk at the same time, and +he never pretermitted either. He gave me a history of the claim, and +added: "You see, stranger," (he addressed the bank before him) "gold is +sure to come out'er that theer claim, (he put in a comma with his pick) +but the old pro-pri-e-tor (he wriggled out the word and the point of his +pick) warn't of much account (a long stroke of the pick for a period). +He was green, and let the boys about here jump him"--and the rest of his +sentence was confided to his hat, which he had removed to wipe his manly +brow with his red bandanna. + +I asked him who was the original proprietor. + +"His name war Fagg." + +I went to see him. He looked a little older and plainer. He had worked +hard, he said, and was getting on "so-so." I took quite a liking to +him and patronized him to some extent. Whether I did so because I was +beginning to have a distrust for such fellows as Rattler and Mixer is +not necessary for me to state. + +You remember how the Coyote Tunnel went in, and how awfully we +shareholders were done! Well, the next thing I heard was that Rattler, +who was one of the heaviest shareholders, was up at Mugginsville keeping +bar for the proprietor of the Mugginsville Hotel, and that old Fagg had +struck it rich, and didn't know what to do with his money. All this was +told me by Mixer, who had been there, settling up matters, and likewise +that Fagg was sweet upon the daughter of the proprietor of the aforesaid +hotel. And so by hearsay and letter I eventually gathered that old +Robins, the hotel man, was trying to get up a match between Nellie +Robins and Fagg. Nellie was a pretty, plump, and foolish little thing, +and would do just as her father wished. I thought it would be a good +thing for Fagg if he should marry and settle down; that as a married man +he might be of some account. So I ran up to Mugginsville one day to look +after things. + +It did me an immense deal of good to make Rattler mix my drinks for +me--Rattler! the gay, brilliant, and unconquerable Rattler, who had +tried to snub me two years ago. I talked to him about old Fagg and +Nellie, particularly as I thought the subject was distasteful. He never +liked Fagg, and he was sure, he said, that Nellie didn't. Did Nellie +like anybody else? He turned around to the mirror behind the bar and +brushed up his hair! I understood the conceited wretch. I thought I'd +put Fagg on his guard and get him to hurry up matters. I had a long talk +with him. You could see by the way the poor fellow acted that he was +badly stuck. He sighed, and promised to pluck up courage to hurry +matters to a crisis. Nellie was a good girl, and I think had a sort of +quiet respect for old Fagg's unobtrusiveness. But her fancy was already +taken captive by Rattler's superficial qualities, which were obvious and +pleasing. I don't think Nellie was any worse than you or I. We are more +apt to take acquaintances at their apparent value than their intrinsic +worth. It's less trouble, and, except when we want to trust them, quite +as convenient. The difficulty with women is that their feelings are apt +to get interested sooner than ours, and then, you know, reasoning is out +of the question. This is what old Fagg would have known had he been of +any account. But he wasn't. So much the worse for him. + +It was a few months afterward and I was sitting in my office when in +walked old Fagg. I was surprised to see him down, but we talked over the +current topics in that mechanical manner of people who know that they +have something else to say, but are obliged to get at it in that formal +way. After an interval Fagg in his natural manner said: + +"I'm going home!" + +"Going home?" + +"Yes--that is, I think I'll take a trip to the Atlantic States. I came +to see you, as you know I have some little property, and I have executed +a power of attorney for you to manage my affairs. I have some papers I'd +like to leave with you. Will you take charge of them?" + +"Yes," I said. "But what of Nellie?" + +His face fell. He tried to smile, and the combination resulted in one +of the most startling and grotesque effects I ever beheld. At length he +said: + +"I shall not marry Nellie--that is"--he seemed to apologize internally +for the positive form of expression--"I think that I had better not." + +"David Fagg," I said with sudden severity, "you're of no account!" + +To my astonishment his face brightened. "Yes," said he, "that's it!--I'm +of no account! But I always knew it. You see I thought Rattler loved +that girl as well as I did, and I knew she liked him better than she did +me, and would be happier I dare say with him. But then I knew that old +Robins would have preferred me to him, as I was better off--and the +girl would do as he said--and, you see, I thought I was kinder in the +way--and so I left. But," he continued, as I was about to interrupt him, +"for fear the old man might object to Rattler, I've lent him enough +to set him up in business for himself in Dogtown. A pushing, active, +brilliant fellow, you know, like Rattler can get along, and will soon be +in his old position again--and you needn't be hard on him, you know, if +he doesn't. Good-by." + +I was too much disgusted with his treatment of that Rattler to be at all +amiable, but as his business was profitable, I promised to attend to +it, and he left. A few weeks passed. The return steamer arrived, and a +terrible incident occupied the papers for days afterward. People in all +parts of the State conned eagerly the details of an awful shipwreck, and +those who had friends aboard went away by themselves, and read the long +list of the lost under their breath. I read of the gifted, the gallant, +the noble, and loved ones who had perished, and among them I think I was +the first to read the name of David Fagg. For the "man of no account" +had "gone home!" + + + + +MLISS + + +CHAPTER I + +Just where the Sierra Nevada begins to subside in gentler undulations, +and the rivers grow less rapid and yellow, on the side of a great red +mountain, stands "Smith's Pocket." Seen from the red road at sunset, +in the red light and the red dust, its white houses look like the +outcroppings of quartz on the mountainside. The red stage topped +with red-shirted passengers is lost to view half a dozen times in the +tortuous descent, turning up unexpectedly in out-of-the-way places, and +vanishing altogether within a hundred yards of the town. It is probably +owing to this sudden twist in the road that the advent of a stranger +at Smith's Pocket is usually attended with a peculiar circumstance. +Dismounting from the vehicle at the stage office, the too-confident +traveler is apt to walk straight out of town under the impression that +it lies in quite another direction. It is related that one of the tunnel +men, two miles from town, met one of these self-reliant passengers +with a carpetbag, umbrella, Harper's Magazine, and other evidences of +"Civilization and Refinement," plodding along over the road he had just +ridden, vainly endeavoring to find the settlement of Smith's Pocket. + +An observant traveler might have found some compensation for his +disappointment in the weird aspect of that vicinity. There were huge +fissures on the hillside, and displacements of the red soil, resembling +more the chaos of some primary elemental upheaval than the work of +man; while halfway down, a long flume straddled its narrow body and +disproportionate legs over the chasm, like an enormous fossil of some +forgotten antediluvian. At every step smaller ditches crossed the road, +hiding in their sallow depths unlovely streams that crept away to a +clandestine union with the great yellow torrent below, and here and +there were the ruins of some cabin with the chimney alone left intact +and the hearthstone open to the skies. + +The settlement of Smith's Pocket owed its origin to the finding of a +"pocket" on its site by a veritable Smith. Five thousand dollars were +taken out of it in one half-hour by Smith. Three thousand dollars were +expended by Smith and others in erecting a flume and in tunneling. And +then Smith's Pocket was found to be only a pocket, and subject like +other pockets to depletion. Although Smith pierced the bowels of the +great red mountain, that five thousand dollars was the first and last +return of his labor. The mountain grew reticent of its golden secrets, +and the flume steadily ebbed away the remainder of Smith's fortune. +Then Smith went into quartz-mining; then into quartz-milling; then into +hydraulics and ditching, and then by easy degrees into saloonkeeping. +Presently it was whispered that Smith was drinking a great deal; then it +was known that Smith was a habitual drunkard, and then people began to +think, as they are apt to, that he had never been anything else. But the +settlement of Smith's Pocket, like that of most discoveries, was happily +not dependent on the fortune of its pioneer, and other parties projected +tunnels and found pockets. So Smith's Pocket became a settlement, with +its two fancy stores, its two hotels, its one express office, and its +two first families. Occasionally its one long straggling street was +overawed by the assumption of the latest San Francisco fashions, +imported per express, exclusively to the first families; making outraged +Nature, in the ragged outline of her furrowed surface, look still more +homely, and putting personal insult on that greater portion of the +population to whom the Sabbath, with a change of linen, brought merely +the necessity of cleanliness without the luxury of adornment. Then there +was a Methodist Church, and hard by a Monte Bank, and a little beyond, +on the mountainside, a graveyard; and then a little schoolhouse. + +"The Master," as he was known to his little flock, sat alone one night +in the schoolhouse, with some open copybooks before him, carefully +making those bold and full characters which are supposed to combine the +extremes of chirographical and moral excellence, and had got as far as +"Riches are deceitful," and was elaborating the noun with an insincerity +of flourish that was quite in the spirit of his text, when he heard a +gentle tapping. The woodpeckers had been busy about the roof during +the day, and the noise did not disturb his work. But the opening of the +door, and the tapping continuing from the inside, caused him to look +up. He was slightly startled by the figure of a young girl, dirty +and shabbily clad. Still, her great black eyes, her coarse, uncombed, +lusterless black hair falling over her sunburned face, her red arms +and feet streaked with the red soil, were all familiar to him. It was +Melissa Smith--Smith's motherless child. + +"What can she want here?" thought the master. Everybody knew "Mliss," +as she was called, throughout the length and height of Red Mountain. +Everybody knew her as an incorrigible girl. Her fierce, ungovernable +disposition, her mad freaks and lawless character, were in their way +as proverbial as the story of her father's weaknesses, and as +philosophically accepted by the townsfolk. She wrangled with and fought +the schoolboys with keener invective and quite as powerful arm. She +followed the trails with a woodman's craft, and the master had met +her before, miles away, shoeless, stockingless, and bareheaded on the +mountain road. The miners' camps along the stream supplied her with +subsistence during these voluntary pilgrimages, in freely offered alms. +Not but that a larger protection had been previously extended to Mliss. +The Rev. Joshua McSnagley, "stated" preacher, had placed her in the +hotel as servant, by way of preliminary refinement, and had introduced +her to his scholars at Sunday school. But she threw plates occasionally +at the landlord, and quickly retorted to the cheap witticisms of the +guests, and created in the Sabbath school a sensation that was so +inimical to the orthodox dullness and placidity of that institution +that, with a decent regard for the starched frocks and unblemished +morals of the two pink-and-white-faced children of the first families, +the reverend gentleman had her ignominiously expelled. Such were the +antecedents, and such the character of Mliss as she stood before the +master. It was shown in the ragged dress, the unkempt hair, and bleeding +feet, and asked his pity. It flashed from her black, fearless eyes, and +commanded his respect. + +"I come here tonight," she said rapidly and boldly, keeping her hard +glance on his, "because I knew you was alone. I wouldn't come here when +them gals was here. I hate 'em and they hates me. That's why. You keep +school, don't you? I want to be teached!" + +If to the shabbiness of her apparel and uncomeliness of her tangled hair +and dirty face she had added the humility of tears, the master would +have extended to her the usual moiety of pity, and nothing more. But +with the natural, though illogical, instincts of his species, her +boldness awakened in him something of that respect which all original +natures pay unconsciously to one another in any grade. And he gazed at +her the more fixedly as she went on still rapidly, her hand on that door +latch and her eyes on his: + +"My name's Mliss--Mliss Smith! You can bet your life on that. My +father's Old Smith--Old Bummer Smith--that's what's the matter with him. +Mliss Smith--and I'm coming to school!" + +"Well?" said the master. + +Accustomed to be thwarted and opposed, often wantonly and cruelly, for +no other purpose than to excite the violent impulses of her nature, the +master's phlegm evidently took her by surprise. She stopped; she began +to twist a lock of her hair between her fingers; and the rigid line +of upper lip, drawn over the wicked little teeth, relaxed and quivered +slightly. Then her eyes dropped, and something like a blush struggled up +to her cheek and tried to assert itself through the splashes of redder +soil, and the sunburn of years. Suddenly she threw herself forward, +calling on God to strike her dead, and fell quite weak and helpless, +with her face on the master's desk, crying and sobbing as if her heart +would break. + +The master lifted her gently and waited for the paroxysm to pass. When, +with face still averted, she was repeating between her sobs the MEA +CULPA of childish penitence--that "she'd be good, she didn't mean to," +etc., it came to him to ask her why she had left Sabbath school. + +Why had she left the Sabbath school?--why? Oh, yes. What did he +(McSnagley) want to tell her she was wicked for? What did he tell her +that God hated her for? If God hated her, what did she want to go to +Sabbath school for? SHE didn't want to be "beholden" to anybody who +hated her. + +Had she told McSnagley this? + +Yes, she had. + +The master laughed. It was a hearty laugh, and echoed so oddly in the +little schoolhouse, and seemed so inconsistent and discordant with the +sighing of the pines without, that he shortly corrected himself with +a sigh. The sigh was quite as sincere in its way, however, and after a +moment of serious silence he asked about her father. + +Her father? What father? Whose father? What had he ever done for her? +Why did the girls hate her? Come now! what made the folks say, "Old +Bummer Smith's Mliss!" when she passed? Yes; oh yes. She wished he was +dead--she was dead--everybody was dead; and her sobs broke forth anew. + +The master then, leaning over her, told her as well as he could what you +or I might have said after hearing such unnatural theories from childish +lips; only bearing in mind perhaps better than you or I the unnatural +facts of her ragged dress, her bleeding feet, and the omnipresent shadow +of her drunken father. Then, raising her to her feet, he wrapped his +shawl around her, and, bidding her come early in the morning, he walked +with her down the road. There he bade her "good night." The moon shone +brightly on the narrow path before them. He stood and watched the bent +little figure as it staggered down the road, and waited until it had +passed the little graveyard and reached the curve of the hill, where it +turned and stood for a moment, a mere atom of suffering outlined against +the far-off patient stars. Then he went back to his work. But the lines +of the copybook thereafter faded into long parallels of never-ending +road, over which childish figures seemed to pass sobbing and crying into +the night. Then, the little schoolhouse seeming lonelier than before, he +shut the door and went home. + +The next morning Mliss came to school. Her face had been washed, and her +coarse black hair bore evidence of recent struggles with the comb, +in which both had evidently suffered. The old defiant look shone +occasionally in her eyes, but her manner was tamer and more subdued. +Then began a series of little trials and self-sacrifices, in which +master and pupil bore an equal part, and which increased the confidence +and sympathy between them. Although obedient under the master's eye, +at times during recess, if thwarted or stung by a fancied slight, Mliss +would rage in ungovernable fury, and many a palpitating young savage, +finding himself matched with his own weapons of torment, would seek +the master with torn jacket and scratched face and complaints of the +dreadful Mliss. There was a serious division among the townspeople on +the subject, some threatening to withdraw their children from such evil +companionship, and others as warmly upholding the course of the master +in his work of reclamation. Meanwhile, with a steady persistence that +seemed quite astonishing to him on looking back afterward, the master +drew Mliss gradually out of the shadow of her past life, as though it +were but her natural progress down the narrow path on which he had +set her feet the moonlit night of their first meeting. Remembering the +experience of the evangelical McSnagley, he carefully avoided that Rock +of Ages on which that unskillful pilot had shipwrecked her young faith. +But if, in the course of her reading, she chanced to stumble upon those +few words which have lifted such as she above the level of the older, +the wiser, and the more prudent--if she learned something of a faith +that is symbolized by suffering, and the old light softened in her eyes, +it did not take the shape of a lesson. A few of the plainer people had +made up a little sum by which the ragged Mliss was enabled to assume +the garments of respect and civilization; and often a rough shake of +the hand, and words of homely commendation from a red-shirted and burly +figure, sent a glow to the cheek of the young master, and set him to +thinking if it was altogether deserved. + +Three months had passed from the time of their first meeting, and the +master was sitting late one evening over the moral and sententious +copies, when there came a tap at the door and again Mliss stood before +him. She was neatly clad and clean-faced, and there was nothing perhaps +but the long black hair and bright black eyes to remind him of his +former apparition. "Are you busy?" she asked. "Can you come with +me?"--and on his signifying his readiness, in her old willful way she +said, "Come, then, quick!" + +They passed out of the door together and into the dark road. As they +entered the town the master asked her whither she was going. She +replied, "To see my father." + +It was the first time he had heard her call him by that filial title, or +indeed anything more than "Old Smith" or the "Old Man." It was the first +time in three months that she had spoken of him at all, and the master +knew she had kept resolutely aloof from him since her great change. +Satisfied from her manner that it was fruitless to question her purpose, +he passively followed. In out-of-the-way places, low groggeries, +restaurants, and saloons; in gambling hells and dance houses, the +master, preceded by Mliss, came and went. In the reeking smoke and +blasphemous outcries of low dens, the child, holding the master's hand, +stood and anxiously gazed, seemingly unconscious of all in the one +absorbing nature of her pursuit. Some of the revelers, recognizing +Mliss, called to the child to sing and dance for them, and would have +forced liquor upon her but for the interference of the master. Others, +recognizing him mutely, made way for them to pass. So an hour slipped +by. Then the child whispered in his ear that there was a cabin on the +other side of the creek crossed by the long flume, where she thought he +still might be. Thither they crossed--a toilsome half-hour's walk--but +in vain. They were returning by the ditch at the abutment of the flume, +gazing at the lights of the town on the opposite bank, when, suddenly, +sharply, a quick report rang out on the clear night air. The echoes +caught it, and carried it round and round Red Mountain, and set the +dogs to barking all along the streams. Lights seemed to dance and move +quickly on the outskirts of the town for a few moments, the stream +rippled quite audibly beside them, a few stones loosened themselves from +the hillside and splashed into the stream, a heavy wind seemed to surge +the branches of the funereal pines, and then the silence seemed to fall +thicker, heavier, and deadlier. The master turned toward Mliss with an +unconscious gesture of protection, but the child had gone. Oppressed by +a strange fear, he ran quickly down the trail to the river's bed, and, +jumping from boulder to boulder, reached the base of Red Mountain and +the outskirts of the village. Midway of the crossing he looked up and +held his breath in awe. For high above him on the narrow flume he saw +the fluttering little figure of his late companion crossing swiftly in +the darkness. + +He climbed the bank, and, guided by a few lights moving about a central +point on the mountain, soon found himself breathless among a crowd of +awe-stricken and sorrowful men. Out from among them the child appeared, +and, taking the master's hand, led him silently before what seemed a +ragged hole in the mountain. Her face was quite white, but her excited +manner gone, and her look that of one to whom some long-expected +event had at last happened--an expression that to the master in his +bewilderment seemed almost like relief. The walls of the cavern were +partly propped by decaying timbers. The child pointed to what appeared +to be some ragged, castoff clothes left in the hole by the late +occupant. The master approached nearer with his flaming dip, and bent +over them. It was Smith, already cold, with a pistol in his hand and a +bullet in his heart, lying beside his empty pocket. + + +CHAPTER II + + +The opinion which McSnagley expressed in reference to a "change of +heart" supposed to be experienced by Mliss was more forcibly described +in the gulches and tunnels. It was thought there that Mliss had +"struck a good lead." So when there was a new grave added to the +little enclosure, and at the expense of the master a little board +and inscription put above it, the RED MOUNTAIN BANNER came out quite +handsomely, and did the fair thing to the memory of one of "our oldest +Pioneers," alluding gracefully to that "bane of noble intellects," and +otherwise genteelly shelving our dear brother with the past. "He leaves +an only child to mourn his loss," says the BANNER, "who is now an +exemplary scholar, thanks to the efforts of the Rev. Mr. McSnagley." The +Rev. McSnagley, in fact, made a strong point of Mliss's conversion, +and, indirectly attributing to the unfortunate child the suicide of +her father, made affecting allusions in Sunday school to the beneficial +effects of the "silent tomb," and in this cheerful contemplation +drove most of the children into speechless horror, and caused the +pink-and-white scions of the first families to howl dismally and refuse +to be comforted. + +The long dry summer came. As each fierce day burned itself out in little +whiffs of pearl-gray smoke on the mountain summits, and the upspringing +breeze scattered its red embers over the landscape, the green wave which +in early spring upheaved above Smith's grave grew sere and dry and +hard. In those days the master, strolling in the little churchyard of +a Sabbath afternoon, was sometimes surprised to find a few wild flowers +plucked from the damp pine forests scattered there, and oftener rude +wreaths hung upon the little pine cross. Most of these wreaths were +formed of a sweet-scented grass, which the children loved to keep in +their desks, intertwined with the plumes of the buckeye, the syringa, +and the wood anemone, and here and there the master noticed the +dark-blue cowl of the monkshood, or deadly aconite. There was something +in the odd association of this noxious plant with these memorials which +occasioned a painful sensation to the master deeper than his esthetic +sense. One day, during a long walk, in crossing a wooded ridge he came +upon Mliss in the heart of the forest, perched upon a prostrate pine on +a fantastic throne formed by the hanging plumes of lifeless branches, +her lap full of grasses and pine burrs, and crooning to herself one of +the Negro melodies of her younger life. Recognizing him at a distance, +she made room for him on her elevated throne, and with a grave +assumption of hospitality and patronage that would have been ridiculous +had it not been so terribly earnest, she fed him with pine nuts and crab +apples. The master took that opportunity to point out to her the noxious +and deadly qualities of the monkshood, whose dark blossoms he saw in her +lap, and extorted from her a promise not to meddle with it as long +as she remained his pupil. This done--as the master had tested her +integrity before--he rested satisfied, and the strange feeling which had +overcome him on seeing them died away. + +Of the homes that were offered Mliss when her conversion became known, +the master preferred that of Mrs. Morpher, a womanly and kindhearted +specimen of Southwestern efflorescence, known in her maidenhood as the +"Per-rairie Rose." Being one of those who contend resolutely against +their own natures, Mrs. Morpher, by a long series of self-sacrifices and +struggles, had at last subjugated her naturally careless disposition to +principles of "order," which she considered, in common with Mr. Pope, +as "Heaven's first law." But she could not entirely govern the orbits +of her satellites, however regular her own movements, and even her own +"Jeemes" sometimes collided with her. Again her old nature asserted +itself in her children. Lycurgus dipped into the cupboard "between +meals," and Aristides came home from school without shoes, leaving those +important articles on the threshold, for the delight of a barefooted +walk down the ditches. Octavia and Cassandra were "keerless" of their +clothes. So with but one exception, however much the "Prairie Rose" +might have trimmed and pruned and trained her own matured luxuriance, +the little shoots came up defiantly wild and straggling. That +one exception was Clytemnestra Morpher, aged fifteen. She was the +realization of her mother's immaculate conception--neat, orderly, and +dull. + +It was an amiable weakness of Mrs. Morpher to imagine that "Clytie" was +a consolation and model for Mliss. Following this fallacy, Mrs. Morpher +threw Clytie at the head of Mliss when she was "bad," and set her up +before the child for adoration in her penitential moments. It was not, +therefore, surprising to the master to hear that Clytie was coming to +school, obviously as a favor to the master and as an example for Mliss +and others. For "Clytie" was quite a young lady. Inheriting her mother's +physical peculiarities, and in obedience to the climatic laws of the Red +Mountain region, she was an early bloomer. The youth of Smith's Pocket, +to whom this kind of flower was rare, sighed for her in April and +languished in May. Enamored swains haunted the schoolhouse at the hour +of dismissal. A few were jealous of the master. + +Perhaps it was this latter circumstance that opened the master's eyes +to another. He could not help noticing that Clytie was romantic; that +in school she required a great deal of attention; that her pens were +uniformly bad and wanted fixing; that she usually accompanied the +request with a certain expectation in her eye that was somewhat +disproportionate to the quality of service she verbally required; that +she sometimes allowed the curves of a round, plump white arm to rest on +his when he was writing her copies; that she always blushed and flung +back her blond curls when she did so. I don't remember whether I have +stated that the master was a young man--it's of little consequence, +however; he had been severely educated in the school in which Clytie +was taking her first lesson, and, on the whole, withstood the flexible +curves and factitious glance like the fine young Spartan that he +was. Perhaps an insufficient quality of food may have tended to this +asceticism. He generally avoided Clytie; but one evening, when she +returned to the schoolhouse after something she had forgotten, and +did not find it until the master walked home with her, I hear that he +endeavored to make himself particularly agreeable--partly from the +fact, I imagine, that his conduct was adding gall and bitterness to the +already overcharged hearts of Clytemnestra's admirers. + +The morning after this affecting episode Mliss did not come to school. +Noon came, but not Mliss. Questioning Clytie on the subject, it appeared +that they had left the school together, but the willful Mliss had taken +another road. The afternoon brought her not. In the evening he called on +Mrs. Morpher, whose motherly heart was really alarmed. Mr. Morpher had +spent all day in search of her, without discovering a trace that might +lead to her discovery. Aristides was summoned as a probable accomplice, +but that equitable infant succeeded in impressing the household with his +innocence. Mrs. Morpher entertained a vivid impression that the child +would yet be found drowned in a ditch, or, what was almost as terrible, +muddied and soiled beyond the redemption of soap and water. Sick at +heart, the master returned to the schoolhouse. As he lit his lamp and +seated himself at his desk, he found a note lying before him addressed +to himself, in Mliss's handwriting. It seemed to be written on a +leaf torn from some old memorandum book, and, to prevent sacrilegious +trifling, had been sealed with six broken wafers. Opening it almost +tenderly, the master read as follows: + + +RESPECTED SIR--When you read this, I am run away. Never to come back. +NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. You can give my beeds to Mary Jennings, and my +Amerika's Pride [a highly colored lithograph from a tobacco-box] to +Sally Flanders. But don't you give anything to Clytie Morpher. Don't +you dare to. Do you know what my opinion is of her, it is this, she is +perfekly disgustin. That is all and no more at present from + +Yours respectfully, + +MELISSA SMITH. + + +The master sat pondering on this strange epistle till the moon lifted +its bright face above the distant hills, and illuminated the trail that +led to the schoolhouse, beaten quite hard with the coming and going +of little feet. Then, more satisfied in mind, he tore the missive into +fragments and scattered them along the road. + +At sunrise the next morning he was picking his way through the palmlike +fern and thick underbrush of the pine forest, starting the hare from its +form, and awakening a querulous protest from a few dissipated crows, who +had evidently been making a night of it, and so came to the wooded ridge +where he had once found Mliss. There he found the prostrate pine and +tasseled branches, but the throne was vacant. As he drew nearer, what +might have been some frightened animal started through the crackling +limbs. It ran up the tossed arms of the fallen monarch and sheltered +itself in some friendly foliage. The master, reaching the old seat, +found the nest still warm; looking up in the intertwining branches, he +met the black eyes of the errant Mliss. They gazed at each other without +speaking. She was first to break the silence. + +"What do you want?" she asked curtly. + +The master had decided on a course of action. "I want some crab apples," +he said humbly. + +"Sha'n't have 'em! go away. Why don't you get 'em of Clytemnerestera?" +(It seemed to be a relief to Mliss to express her contempt in additional +syllables to that classical young woman's already long-drawn title.) "O +you wicked thing!" + +"I am hungry, Lissy. I have eaten nothing since dinner yesterday. I am +famished!" and the young man in a state of remarkable exhaustion leaned +against the tree. + +Melissa's heart was touched. In the bitter days of her gypsy life +she had known the sensation he so artfully simulated. Overcome by his +heartbroken tone, but not entirely divested of suspicion, she said: + +"Dig under the tree near the roots, and you'll find lots; but mind you +don't tell," for Mliss had HER hoards as well as the rats and squirrels. + +But the master, of course, was unable to find them; the effects of +hunger probably blinding his senses. Mliss grew uneasy. At length she +peered at him through the leaves in an elfish way, and questioned: + +"If I come down and give you some, you'll promise you won't touch me?" + +The master promised. + +"Hope you'll die if you do!" + +The master accepted instant dissolution as a forfeit. Mliss slid down +the tree. For a few moments nothing transpired but the munching of the +pine nuts. "Do you feel better?" she asked, with some solicitude. The +master confessed to a recuperated feeling, and then, gravely thanking +her, proceeded to retrace his steps. As he expected, he had not gone far +before she called him. He turned. She was standing there quite white, +with tears in her widely opened orbs. The master felt that the right +moment had come. Going up to her, he took both her hands, and looking +in her tearful eyes, said, gravely, "Lissy, do you remember the first +evening you came to see me?" + +Lissy remembered. + +"You asked me if you might come to school, for you wanted to learn +something and be better, and I said--" + +"Come," responded the child, promptly. + +"What would YOU say if the master now came to you and said that he was +lonely without his little scholar, and that he wanted her to come and +teach him to be better?" + +The child hung her head for a few moments in silence. The master waited +patiently. Tempted by the quiet, a hare ran close to the couple, and +raising her bright eyes and velvet forepaws, sat and gazed at them. +A squirrel ran halfway down the furrowed bark of the fallen tree, and +there stopped. + +"We are waiting, Lissy," said the master, in a whisper, and the child +smiled. Stirred by a passing breeze, the treetops rocked, and a long +pencil of light stole through their interlaced boughs full on the +doubting face and irresolute little figure. Suddenly she took the +master's hand in her quick way. What she said was scarcely audible, but +the master, putting the black hair back from her forehead, kissed her; +and so, hand in hand, they passed out of the damp aisles and forest +odors into the open sunlit road. + + +CHAPTER III + + +Somewhat less spiteful in her intercourse with other scholars, Mliss +still retained an offensive attitude in regard to Clytemnestra. Perhaps +the jealous element was not entirely lulled in her passionate little +breast. Perhaps it was only that the round curves and plump outline +offered more extended pinching surface. But while such ebullitions +were under the master's control, her enmity occasionally took a new and +irrepressible form. + +The master in his first estimate of the child's character could not +conceive that she had ever possessed a doll. But the master, like many +other professed readers of character, was safer in a posteriori than a +priori reasoning. Mliss had a doll, but then it was emphatically Mliss's +doll--a smaller copy of herself. Its unhappy existence had been a +secret discovered accidentally by Mrs. Morpher. It had been the old-time +companion of Mliss's wanderings, and bore evident marks of suffering. +Its original complexion was long since washed away by the weather and +anointed by the slime of ditches. It looked very much as Mliss had in +days past. Its one gown of faded stuff was dirty and ragged, as hers +had been. Mliss had never been known to apply to it any childish term of +endearment. She never exhibited it in the presence of other children. It +was put severely to bed in a hollow tree near the schoolhouse, and only +allowed exercise during Mliss's rambles. Fulfilling a stern duty to her +doll, as she would to herself, it knew no luxuries. + +Now Mrs. Morpher, obeying a commendable impulse, bought another doll +and gave it to Mliss. The child received it gravely and curiously. The +master on looking at it one day fancied he saw a slight resemblance +in its round red cheeks and mild blue eyes to Clytemnestra. It became +evident before long that Mliss had also noticed the same resemblance. +Accordingly she hammered its waxen head on the rocks when she was +alone, and sometimes dragged it with a string round its neck to and from +school. At other times, setting it up on her desk, she made a pincushion +of its patient and inoffensive body. Whether this was done in revenge +of what she considered a second figurative obtrusion of Clytie's +excellences upon her, or whether she had an intuitive appreciation of +the rites of certain other heathens, and, indulging in that "fetish" +ceremony, imagined that the original of her wax model would pine away +and finally die, is a metaphysical question I shall not now consider. + +In spite of these moral vagaries, the master could not help noticing +in her different tasks the working of a quick, restless, and vigorous +perception. She knew neither the hesitancy nor the doubts of childhood. +Her answers in class were always slightly dashed with audacity. Of +course she was not infallible. But her courage and daring in passing +beyond her own depth and that of the floundering little swimmers around +her, in their minds outweighed all errors of judgment. Children are +not better than grown people in this respect, I fancy; and whenever the +little red hand flashed above her desk, there was a wondering silence, +and even the master was sometimes oppressed with a doubt of his own +experience and judgment. + +Nevertheless, certain attributes which at first amused and entertained +his fancy began to afflict him with grave doubts. He could not but see +that Mliss was revengeful, irreverent, and willful. That there was but +one better quality which pertained to her semisavage disposition--the +faculty of physical fortitude and self-sacrifice, and another, though +not always an attribute of the noble savage--Truth. Mliss was both +fearless and sincere; perhaps in such a character the adjectives were +synonymous. + +The master had been doing some hard thinking on this subject, and had +arrived at that conclusion quite common to all who think sincerely, that +he was generally the slave of his own prejudices, when he determined +to call on the Rev. McSnagley for advice. This decision was somewhat +humiliating to his pride, as he and McSnagley were not friends. But he +thought of Mliss, and the evening of their first meeting; and perhaps +with a pardonable superstition that it was not chance alone that +had guided her willful feet to the schoolhouse, and perhaps with a +complacent consciousness of the rare magnanimity of the act, he choked +back his dislike and went to McSnagley. + +The reverend gentleman was glad to see him. Moreover, he observed +that the master was looking "peartish," and hoped he had got over the +"neuralgy" and "rheumatiz." He himself had been troubled with a dumb +"ager" since last conference. But he had learned to "rastle and pray." + +Pausing a moment to enable the master to write his certain method +of curing the dumb "ager" upon the book and volume of his brain, +Mr. McSnagley proceeded to inquire after Sister Morpher. "She is an +adornment to ChrisTEWanity, and has a likely growin' young family," +added Mr. McSnagley; "and there's that mannerly young gal--so well +behaved--Miss Clytie." In fact, Clytie's perfections seemed to affect +him to such an extent that he dwelt for several minutes upon them. The +master was doubly embarrassed. In the first place, there was an enforced +contrast with poor Mliss in all this praise of Clytie. Secondly, there +was something unpleasantly confidential in his tone of speaking of Mrs. +Morpher's earliest born. So that the master, after a few futile +efforts to say something natural, found it convenient to recall another +engagement, and left without asking the information required, but in his +after reflections somewhat unjustly giving the Rev. Mr. McSnagley the +full benefit of having refused it. + +Perhaps this rebuff placed the master and pupil once more in the close +communion of old. The child seemed to notice the change in the master's +manner, which had of late been constrained, and in one of their long +postprandial walks she stopped suddenly, and mounting a stump, looked +full in his face with big, searching eyes. "You ain't mad?" said she, +with an interrogative shake of the black braids. "No." "Nor bothered?" +"No." "Nor hungry?" (Hunger was to Mliss a sickness that might attack +a person at any moment.) "No." "Nor thinking of her?" "Of whom, Lissy?" +"That white girl." (This was the latest epithet invented by Mliss, who +was a very dark brunette, to express Clytemnestra.) "No." "Upon your +word?" (A substitute for "Hope you'll die!" proposed by the master.) +"Yes." "And sacred honor?" "Yes." Then Mliss gave him a fierce little +kiss, and, hopping down, fluttered off. For two or three days after +that she condescended to appear more like other children, and be, as she +expressed it, "good." + +Two years had passed since the master's advent at Smith's Pocket, and as +his salary was not large, and the prospects of Smith's Pocket eventually +becoming the capital of the State not entirely definite, he contemplated +a change. He had informed the school trustees privately of his +intentions, but educated young men of unblemished moral character being +scarce at that time, he consented to continue his school term through +the winter to early spring. None else knew of his intention except his +one friend, a Dr. Duchesne, a young Creole physician known to the people +of Wingdam as "Duchesny." He never mentioned it to Mrs. Morpher, +Clytie, or any of his scholars. His reticence was partly the result of +a constitutional indisposition to fuss, partly a desire to be spared +the questions and surmises of vulgar curiosity, and partly that he never +really believed he was going to do anything before it was done. + +He did not like to think of Mliss. It was a selfish instinct, perhaps, +which made him try to fancy his feeling for the child was foolish, +romantic, and unpractical. He even tried to imagine that she would do +better under the control of an older and sterner teacher. Then she was +nearly eleven, and in a few years, by the rules of Red Mountain, would +be a woman. He had done his duty. After Smith's death he addressed +letters to Smith's relatives, and received one answer from a sister +of Melissa's mother. Thanking the master, she stated her intention of +leaving the Atlantic States for California with her husband in a few +months. This was a slight superstructure for the airy castle which the +master pictured for Mliss's home, but it was easy to fancy that some +loving, sympathetic woman, with the claims of kindred, might better +guide her wayward nature. Yet, when the master had read the letter, +Mliss listened to it carelessly, received it submissively, and +afterward cut figures out of it with her scissors, supposed to represent +Clytemnestra, labeled "the white girl," to prevent mistakes, and impaled +them upon the outer walls of the schoolhouse. + +When the summer was about spent, and the last harvest had been gathered +in the valleys, the master bethought him of gathering in a few +ripened shoots of the young idea, and of having his Harvest Home, or +Examination. So the savants and professionals of Smith's Pocket were +gathered to witness that time-honored custom of placing timid children +in a constrained positions and bullying them as in a witness box. As +usual in such cases, the most audacious and self-possessed were the +lucky recipients of the honors. The reader will imagine that in the +present instance Mliss and Clytie were preeminent, and divided +public attention; Mliss with her clearness of material perception +and self-reliance, Clytie with her placid self-esteem and saintlike +correctness of deportment. The other little ones were timid and +blundering. Mliss's readiness and brilliancy, of course, captivated the +greatest number and provoked the greatest applause. Mliss's antecedents +had unconsciously awakened the strongest sympathies of a class whose +athletic forms were ranged against the walls, or whose handsome bearded +faces looked in at the windows. But Mliss's popularity was overthrown by +an unexpected circumstance. + +McSnagley had invited himself, and had been going through the pleasing +entertainment of frightening the more timid pupils by the vaguest and +most ambiguous questions delivered in an impressive funereal tone; and +Mliss had soared into astronomy, and was tracking the course of our +spotted ball through space, and keeping time with the music of the +spheres, and defining the tethered orbits of the planets, when McSnagley +impressively arose. "Meelissy! ye were speaking of the revolutions of +this yere yearth and the move-MENTS of the sun, and I think ye said it +had been a doing of it since the creashun, eh?" Mliss nodded a scornful +affirmative. "Well, war that the truth?" said McSnagley, folding his +arms. "Yes," said Mliss, shutting up her little red lips tightly. The +handsome outlines at the windows peered further in the schoolroom, and a +saintly Raphael face, with blond beard and soft blue eyes, belonging +to the biggest scamp in the diggings, turned toward the child and +whispered, "Stick to it, Mliss!" The reverend gentleman heaved a +deep sigh, and cast a compassionate glance at the master, then at the +children, and then rested his look on Clytie. That young woman softly +elevated her round, white arm. Its seductive curves were enhanced by a +gorgeous and massive specimen bracelet, the gift of one of her humblest +worshipers, worn in honor of the occasion. There was a momentary +silence. Clytie's round cheeks were very pink and soft. Clytie's big +eyes were very bright and blue. Clytie's low-necked white book muslin +rested softly on Clytie's white, plump shoulders. Clytie looked at the +master, and the master nodded. Then Clytie spoke softly: + +"Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and it obeyed him!" There +was a low hum of applause in the schoolroom, a triumphant expression on +McSnagley's face, a grave shadow on the master's, and a comical look of +disappointment reflected from the windows. Mliss skimmed rapidly over +her astronomy, and then shut the book with a loud snap. A groan burst +from McSnagley, an expression of astonishment from the schoolroom, a +yell from the windows, as Mliss brought her red fist down on the desk, +with the emphatic declaration: + +"It's a damn lie. I don't believe it!" + + +CHAPTER IV + + +The long wet season had drawn near its close. Signs of spring were +visible in the swelling buds and rushing torrents. The pine forests +exhaled the fresher spicery. The azaleas were already budding, the +ceanothus getting ready its lilac livery for spring. On the green upland +which climbed Red Mountain at its southern aspect the long spike of the +monkshood shot up from its broad-leaved stool, and once more shook +its dark-blue bells. Again the billow above Smith's grave was soft and +green, its crest just tossed with the foam of daisies and buttercups. +The little graveyard had gathered a few new dwellers in the past year, +and the mounds were placed two by two by the little paling until they +reached Smith's grave, and there there was but one. General superstition +had shunned it, and the plot beside Smith was vacant. + +There had been several placards posted about the town, intimating that, +at a certain period, a celebrated dramatic company would perform, for +a few days, a series of "side-splitting" and "screaming farces"; that, +alternating pleasantly with this, there would be some melodrama and a +grand divertisement which would include singing, dancing, etc. These +announcements occasioned a great fluttering among the little folk, +and were the theme of much excitement and great speculation among the +master's scholars. The master had promised Mliss, to whom this sort of +thing was sacred and rare, that she should go, and on that momentous +evening the master and Mliss "assisted." + +The performance was the prevalent style of heavy mediocrity; the +melodrama was not bad enough to laugh at nor good enough to excite. +But the master, turning wearily to the child, was astonished and felt +something like self-accusation in noticing the peculiar effect upon her +excitable nature. The red blood flushed in her cheeks at each stroke of +her panting little heart. Her small passionate lips were slightly parted +to give vent to her hurried breath. Her widely opened lids threw up and +arched her black eyebrows. She did not laugh at the dismal comicalities +of the funny man, for Mliss seldom laughed. Nor was she discreetly +affected to the delicate extremes of the corner of a white handkerchief, +as was the tender-hearted "Clytie," who was talking with her "feller" +and ogling the master at the same moment. But when the performance was +over, and the green curtain fell on the little stage, Mliss drew a +long deep breath, and turned to the master's grave face with a +half-apologetic smile and wearied gesture. Then she said, "Now take me +home!" and dropped the lids of her black eyes, as if to dwell once more +in fancy on the mimic stage. + +On their way to Mrs. Morpher's the master thought proper to ridicule +the whole performance. Now he shouldn't wonder if Mliss thought that the +young lady who acted so beautifully was really in earnest, and in love +with the gentleman who wore such fine clothes. Well, if she were in love +with him it was a very unfortunate thing! "Why?" said Mliss, with an +upward sweep of the drooping lid. "Oh! well, he couldn't support his +wife at his present salary, and pay so much a week for his fine clothes, +and then they wouldn't receive as much wages if they were married as if +they were merely lovers--that is," added the master, "if they are not +already married to somebody else; but I think the husband of the pretty +young countess takes the tickets at the door, or pulls up the curtain, +or snuffs the candles, or does something equally refined and elegant. As +to the young man with nice clothes, which are really nice now, and must +cost at least two and a half or three dollars, not to speak of that +mantle of red drugget which I happen to know the price of, for I bought +some of it for my room once--as to this young man, Lissy, he is a pretty +good fellow, and if he does drink occasionally, I don't think people +ought to take advantage of it and give him black eyes and throw him in +the mud. Do you? I am sure he might owe me two dollars and a half a +long time, before I would throw it up in his face, as the fellow did the +other night at Wingdam." + +Mliss had taken his hand in both of hers and was trying to look in his +eyes, which the young man kept as resolutely averted. Mliss had a faint +idea of irony, indulging herself sometimes in a species of sardonic +humor, which was equally visible in her actions and her speech. But +the young man continued in this strain until they had reached Mrs. +Morpher's, and he had deposited Mliss in her maternal charge. Waiving +the invitation of Mrs. Morpher to refreshment and rest, and shading +his eyes with his hand to keep out the blue-eyed Clytemnestra's siren +glances, he excused himself, and went home. + +For two or three days after the advent of the dramatic company, Mliss +was late at school, and the master's usual Friday afternoon ramble was +for once omitted, owing to the absence of his trustworthy guide. As he +was putting away his books and preparing to leave the schoolhouse, a +small voice piped at his side, "Please, sir?" The master turned and +there stood Aristides Morpher. + +"Well, my little man," said the master, impatiently, "what is it? +quick!" + +"Please, sir, me and 'Kerg' thinks that Mliss is going to run away +agin." + +"What's that, sir?" said the master, with that unjust testiness with +which we always receive disagreeable news. + +"Why, sir, she don't stay home any more, and 'Kerg' and me see her +talking with one of those actor fellers, and she's with him now; and +please, sir, yesterday she told 'Kerg' and me she could make a speech +as well as Miss Cellerstina Montmoressy, and she spouted right off by +heart," and the little fellow paused in a collapsed condition. + +"What actor?" asked the master. + +"Him as wears the shiny hat. And hair. And gold pin. And gold chain," +said the just Aristides, putting periods for commas to eke out his +breath. + +The master put on his gloves and hat, feeling an unpleasant tightness +in his chest and thorax, and walked out in the road. Aristides trotted +along by his side, endeavoring to keep pace with his short legs to the +master's strides, when the master stopped suddenly, and Aristides bumped +up against him. "Where were they talking?" asked the master, as if +continuing the conversation. + +"At the Arcade," said Aristides. + +When they reached the main street the master paused. "Run down home," +said he to the boy. "If Mliss is there, come to the Arcade and tell me. +If she isn't there, stay home; run!" And off trotted the short-legged +Aristides. + +The Arcade was just across the way--a long, rambling building containing +a barroom, billiard room, and restaurant. As the young man crossed the +plaza he noticed that two or three of the passers-by turned and looked +after him. He looked at his clothes, took out his handkerchief, and +wiped his face before he entered the barroom. It contained the usual +number of loungers, who stared at him as he entered. One of them looked +at him so fixedly and with such a strange expression that the master +stopped and looked again, and then saw it was only his own reflection in +a large mirror. This made the master think that perhaps he was a little +excited, and so he took up a copy of the RED MOUNTAIN BANNER from one of +the tables, and tried to recover his composure by reading the column of +advertisements. + +He then walked through the barroom, through the restaurant, and into the +billiard room. The child was not there. In the latter apartment a person +was standing by one of the tables with a broad-brimmed glazed hat on his +head. The master recognized him as the agent of the dramatic company; +he had taken a dislike to him at their first meeting, from the peculiar +fashion of wearing his beard and hair. Satisfied that the object of his +search was not there, he turned to the man with a glazed hat. He had +noticed the master, but tried that common trick of unconsciousness in +which vulgar natures always fail. Balancing a billiard cue in his hand, +he pretended to play with a ball in the center of the table. The master +stood opposite to him until he raised his eyes; when their glances met, +the master walked up to him. + +He had intended to avoid a scene or quarrel, but when he began to speak, +something kept rising in his throat and retarded his utterance, and his +own voice frightened him, it sounded so distant, low, and resonant. "I +understand," he began, "that Melissa Smith, an orphan, and one of my +scholars, has talked with you about adopting your profession. Is that +so?" + +The man with the glazed hat leaned over the table and made an imaginary +shot that sent the ball spinning round the cushions. Then, walking round +the table, he recovered the ball and placed it upon the spot. This duty +discharged, getting ready for another shot, he said: + +"S'pose she has?" + +The master choked up again, but, squeezing the cushion of the table in +his gloved hand, he went on: + +"If you are a gentleman, I have only to tell you that I am her guardian, +and responsible for her career. You know as well as I do the kind of +life you offer her. As you may learn of anyone here, I have already +brought her out of an existence worse than death--out of the streets and +the contamination of vice. I am trying to do so again. Let us talk like +men. She has neither father, mother, sister, or brother. Are you seeking +to give her an equivalent for these?" + +The man with the glazed hat examined the point of his cue, and then +looked around for somebody to enjoy the joke with him. + +"I know that she is a strange, willful girl," continued the master, "but +she is better than she was. I believe that I have some influence over +her still. I beg and hope, therefore, that you will take no further +steps in this matter, but as a man, as a gentleman, leave her to me. I +am willing--" But here something rose again in the master's throat, and +the sentence remained unfinished. + +The man with the glazed hat, mistaking the master's silence, raised his +head with a coarse, brutal laugh, and said in a loud voice: + +"Want her yourself, do you? That cock won't fight here, young man!" + +The insult was more in the tone than in the words, more in the glance +than tone, and more in the man's instinctive nature than all these. The +best appreciable rhetoric to this kind of animal is a blow. The master +felt this, and, with his pent-up, nervous energy finding expression in +the one act, he struck the brute full in his grinning face. The blow +sent the glazed hat one way and the cue another, and tore the glove +and skin from the master's hand from knuckle to joint. It opened up +the corners of the fellow's mouth, and spoilt the peculiar shape of his +beard for some time to come. + +There was a shout, an imprecation, a scuffle, and the trampling of many +feet. Then the crowd parted right and left, and two sharp quick reports +followed each other in rapid succession. Then they closed again about +his opponent, and the master was standing alone. He remembered picking +bits of burning wadding from his coat sleeve with his left hand. Someone +was holding his other hand. Looking at it, he saw it was still bleeding +from the blow, but his fingers were clenched around the handle of a +glittering knife. He could not remember when or how he got it. + +The man who was holding his hand was Mr. Morpher. He hurried the master +to the door, but the master held back, and tried to tell him as well +as he could with his parched throat about "Mliss." "It's all right, +my boy," said Mr. Morpher. "She's home!" And they passed out into the +street together. As they walked along Mr. Morpher said that Mliss had +come running into the house a few moments before, and had dragged him +out, saying that somebody was trying to kill the master at the Arcade. +Wishing to be alone, the master promised Mr. Morpher that he would not +seek the agent again that night, and parted from him, taking the road +toward the schoolhouse. He was surprised in nearing it to find the door +open--still more surprised to find Mliss sitting there. + +The master's nature, as I have hinted before, had, like most sensitive +organizations, a selfish basis. The brutal taunt thrown out by his late +adversary still rankled in his heart. It was possible, he thought, that +such a construction might be put upon his affection for the child, +which at best was foolish and Quixotic. Besides, had she not voluntarily +abnegated his authority and affection? And what had everybody else said +about her? Why should he alone combat the opinion of all, and be at last +obliged tacitly to confess the truth of all they predicted? And he had +been a participant in a low barroom fight with a common boor, and risked +his life, to prove what? What had he proved? Nothing? What would the +people say? What would his friends say? What would McSnagley say? + +In his self-accusation the last person he should have wished to meet was +Mliss. He entered the door, and going up to his desk, told the child, in +a few cold words, that he was busy, and wished to be alone. As she +rose he took her vacant seat, and, sitting down, buried his head in his +hands. When he looked up again she was still standing there. She was +looking at his face with an anxious expression. + +"Did you kill him?" she asked. + +"No!" said the master. + +"That's what I gave you the knife for!" said the child, quickly. + +"Gave me the knife?" repeated the master, in bewilderment. + +"Yes, gave you the knife. I was there under the bar. Saw you hit him. +Saw you both fall. He dropped his old knife. I gave it to you. Why +didn't you stick him?" said Mliss rapidly, with an expressive twinkle of +the black eyes and a gesture of the little red hand. + +The master could only look his astonishment. + +"Yes," said Mliss. "If you'd asked me, I'd told you I was off with the +play-actors. Why was I off with the play-actors? Because you wouldn't +tell me you was going away. I knew it. I heard you tell the Doctor so. +I wasn't a goin' to stay here alone with those Morphers. I'd rather die +first." + +With a dramatic gesture which was perfectly consistent with her +character, she drew from her bosom a few limp green leaves, and, holding +them out at arm's length, said in her quick vivid way, and in the queer +pronunciation of her old life, which she fell into when unduly excited: + +"That's the poison plant you said would kill me. I'll go with the +play-actors, or I'll eat this and die here. I don't care which. I won't +stay here, where they hate and despise me! Neither would you let me, if +you didn't hate and despise me too!" + +The passionate little breast heaved, and two big tears peeped over the +edge of Mliss's eyelids, but she whisked them away with the corner of +her apron as if they had been wasps. + +"If you lock me up in jail," said Mliss, fiercely, "to keep me from the +play-actors, I'll poison myself. Father killed himself--why shouldn't +I? You said a mouthful of that root would kill me, and I always carry it +here," and she struck her breast with her clenched fist. + +The master thought of the vacant plot beside Smith's grave, and of +the passionate little figure before him. Seizing her hands in his and +looking full into her truthful eyes, he said: + +"Lissy, will you go with ME?" + +The child put her arms around his neck, and said joyfully, "Yes." + +"But now--tonight?" + +"Tonight." + +And, hand in hand, they passed into the road--the narrow road that had +once brought her weary feet to the master's door, and which it seemed +she should not tread again alone. The stars glittered brightly above +them. For good or ill the lesson had been learned, and behind them the +school of Red Mountain closed upon them forever. + + + + +THE RIGHT EYE OF THE COMMANDER + + +The year of grace 1797 passed away on the coast of California in a +southwesterly gale. The little bay of San Carlos, albeit sheltered by +the headlands of the blessed Trinity, was rough and turbulent; its foam +clung quivering to the seaward wall of the Mission garden; the air +was filled with flying sand and spume, and as the Senor Commandante, +Hermenegildo Salvatierra, looked from the deep embrasured window of the +Presidio guardroom, he felt the salt breath of the distant sea buffet a +color into his smoke-dried cheeks. + +The Commander, I have said, was gazing thoughtfully from the window of +the guardroom. He may have been reviewing the events of the year now +about to pass away. But, like the garrison at the Presidio, there +was little to review; the year, like its predecessors, had been +uneventful--the days had slipped by in a delicious monotony of simple +duties, unbroken by incident or interruption. The regularly recurring +feasts and saints' days, the half-yearly courier from San Diego, the +rare transport ship and rarer foreign vessel, were the mere details of +his patriarchal life. If there was no achievement, there was certainly +no failure. Abundant harvests and patient industry amply supplied the +wants of Presidio and Mission. Isolated from the family of nations, +the wars which shook the world concerned them not so much as the last +earthquake; the struggle that emancipated their sister colonies on the +other side of the continent to them had no suggestiveness. In short, it +was that glorious Indian summer of California history around which so +much poetical haze still lingers--that bland, indolent autumn of +Spanish rule, so soon to be followed by the wintry storms of Mexican +independence and the reviving spring of American conquest. + +The Commander turned from the window and walked toward the fire that +burned brightly on the deep ovenlike hearth. A pile of copybooks, the +work of the Presidio school, lay on the table. As he turned over the +leaves with a paternal interest, and surveyed the fair round Scripture +text--the first pious pothooks of the pupils of San Carlos--an audible +commentary fell from his lips: "'Abimelech took her from Abraham'--ah, +little one, excellent!--'Jacob sent to see his brother'--body of Christ! +that upstroke of thine, Paquita, is marvelous; the Governor shall see +it!" A film of honest pride dimmed the Commander's left eye--the right, +alas! twenty years before had been sealed by an Indian arrow. He rubbed +it softly with the sleeve of his leather jacket, and continued: "'The +Ishmaelites having arrived--'" + +He stopped, for there was a step in the courtyard, a foot upon the +threshold, and a stranger entered. With the instinct of an old soldier, +the Commander, after one glance at the intruder, turned quickly toward +the wall, where his trusty Toledo hung, or should have been hanging. But +it was not there, and as he recalled that the last time he had seen that +weapon it was being ridden up and down the gallery by Pepito, the infant +son of Bautista, the tortilla-maker, he blushed and then contented +himself with frowning upon the intruder. + +But the stranger's air, though irreverent, was decidedly peaceful. He +was unarmed, and wore the ordinary cape of tarpaulin and sea boots of +a mariner. Except a villainous smell of codfish, there was little about +him that was peculiar. + +His name, as he informed the Commander, in Spanish that was more fluent +than elegant or precise--his name was Peleg Scudder. He was master of +the schooner GENERAL COURT, of the port of Salem in Massachusetts, on +a trading voyage to the South Seas, but now driven by stress of weather +into the bay of San Carlos. He begged permission to ride out the gale +under the headlands of the blessed Trinity, and no more. Water he +did not need, having taken in a supply at Bodega. He knew the strict +surveillance of the Spanish port regulations in regard to foreign +vessels, and would do nothing against the severe discipline and good +order of the settlement. There was a slight tinge of sarcasm in his tone +as he glanced toward the desolate parade ground of the Presidio and the +open unguarded gate. The fact was that the sentry, Felipe Gomez, had +discreetly retired to shelter at the beginning of the storm, and was +then sound asleep in the corridor. + +The Commander hesitated. The port regulations were severe, but he was +accustomed to exercise individual authority, and beyond an old order +issued ten years before, regarding the American ship COLUMBIA, there +was no precedent to guide him. The storm was severe, and a sentiment of +humanity urged him to grant the stranger's request. It is but just to +the Commander to say that his inability to enforce a refusal did not +weigh with his decision. He would have denied with equal disregard of +consequences that right to a seventy-four-gun ship which he now yielded +so gracefully to this Yankee trading schooner. He stipulated only +that there should be no communication between the ship and shore. "For +yourself, Senor Captain," he continued, "accept my hospitality. The +fort is yours as long as you shall grace it with your distinguished +presence"; and with old-fashioned courtesy, he made the semblance of +withdrawing from the guardroom. + +Master Peleg Scudder smiled as he thought of the half-dismantled fort, +the two moldy brass cannon, cast in Manila a century previous, and the +shiftless garrison. A wild thought of accepting the Commander's offer +literally, conceived in the reckless spirit of a man who never let +slip an offer for trade, for a moment filled his brain, but a timely +reflection of the commercial unimportance of the transaction checked +him. He only took a capacious quid of tobacco as the Commander gravely +drew a settle before the fire, and in honor of his guest untied the +black-silk handkerchief that bound his grizzled brows. + +What passed between Salvatierra and his guest that night it becomes me +not, as a grave chronicler of the salient points of history, to relate. +I have said that Master Peleg Scudder was a fluent talker, and under +the influence of divers strong waters, furnished by his host, he became +still more loquacious. And think of a man with a twenty years' budget +of gossip! The Commander learned, for the first time, how Great Britain +lost her colonies; of the French Revolution; of the great Napoleon, +whose achievements, perhaps, Peleg colored more highly than the +Commander's superiors would have liked. And when Peleg turned +questioner, the Commander was at his mercy. He gradually made himself +master of the gossip of the Mission and Presidio, the "small-beer" +chronicles of that pastoral age, the conversion of the heathen, the +Presidio schools, and even asked the Commander how he had lost his eye! +It is said that at this point of the conversation Master Peleg produced +from about his person divers small trinkets, kickshaws, and newfangled +trifles, and even forced some of them upon his host. It is further +alleged that under the malign influence of Peleg and several glasses of +aguardiente, the Commander lost somewhat of his decorum, and behaved in +a manner unseemly for one in his position, reciting high-flown Spanish +poetry, and even piping in a thin, high voice divers madrigals and +heathen canzonets of an amorous complexion; chiefly in regard to a +"little one" who was his, the Commander's, "soul"! These allegations, +perhaps unworthy the notice of a serious chronicler, should be received +with great caution, and are introduced here as simple hearsay. That the +Commander, however, took a handkerchief and attempted to show his guest +the mysteries of the SEMICUACUA, capering in an agile but indecorous +manner about the apartment, has been denied. Enough for the purposes of +this narrative that at midnight Peleg assisted his host to bed with many +protestations of undying friendship, and then, as the gale had abated, +took his leave of the Presidio and hurried aboard the GENERAL COURT. +When the day broke the ship was gone. + +I know not if Peleg kept his word with his host. It is said that the +holy fathers at the Mission that night heard a loud chanting in the +plaza, as of the heathens singing psalms through their noses; that for +many days after an odor of salt codfish prevailed in the settlement; +that a dozen hard nutmegs, which were unfit for spice or seed, were +found in the possession of the wife of the baker, and that several +bushels of shoe pegs, which bore a pleasing resemblance to oats, but +were quite inadequate to the purposes of provender, were discovered +in the stable of the blacksmith. But when the reader reflects upon the +sacredness of a Yankee trader's word, the stringent discipline of +the Spanish port regulations, and the proverbial indisposition of my +countrymen to impose upon the confidence of a simple people, he will at +once reject this part of the story. + + +A roll of drums, ushering in the year 1798, awoke the Commander. The sun +was shining brightly, and the storm had ceased. He sat up in bed, and +through the force of habit rubbed his left eye. As the remembrance of +the previous night came back to him, he jumped from his couch and ran +to the window. There was no ship in the bay. A sudden thought seemed to +strike him, and he rubbed both of his eyes. Not content with this, he +consulted the metallic mirror which hung beside his crucifix. There +was no mistake; the Commander had a visible second eye--a right one--as +good, save for the purposes of vision, as the left. + +Whatever might have been the true secret of this transformation, but +one opinion prevailed at San Carlos. It was one of those rare miracles +vouchsafed a pious Catholic community as an evidence to the heathen, +through the intercession of the blessed San Carlos himself. That their +beloved Commander, the temporal defender of the Faith, should be the +recipient of this miraculous manifestation was most fit and seemly. The +Commander himself was reticent; he could not tell a falsehood--he dared +not tell the truth. After all, if the good folk of San Carlos believed +that the powers of his right eye were actually restored, was it wise and +discreet for him to undeceive them? For the first time in his life the +Commander thought of policy--for the first time he quoted that text +which has been the lure of so many well-meaning but easy Christians, of +being "all things to all men." Infeliz Hermenegildo Salvatierra! + +For by degrees an ominous whisper crept though the little settlement. +The Right Eye of the Commander, although miraculous, seemed to exercise +a baleful effect upon the beholder. No one could look at it without +winking. It was cold, hard, relentless, and unflinching. More than that, +it seemed to be endowed with a dreadful prescience--a faculty of seeing +through and into the inarticulate thoughts of those it looked upon. The +soldiers of the garrison obeyed the eye rather than the voice of their +commander, and answered his glance rather than his lips in questioning. +The servants could not evade the ever watchful but cold attention that +seemed to pursue them. The children of the Presidio school smirched +their copybooks under the awful supervision, and poor Paquita, the prize +pupil, failed utterly in that marvelous upstroke when her patron stood +beside her. Gradually distrust, suspicion, self-accusation, and timidity +took the place of trust, confidence, and security throughout San Carlos. +Whenever the Right Eye of the Commander fell, a shadow fell with it. + +Nor was Salvatierra entirely free from the baleful influence of his +miraculous acquisition. Unconscious of its effect upon others, he only +saw in their actions evidence of certain things that the crafty Peleg +had hinted on that eventful New Year's eve. His most trusty retainers +stammered, blushed, and faltered before him. Self-accusations, +confessions of minor faults and delinquencies, or extravagant excuses +and apologies met his mildest inquiries. The very children that he +loved--his pet pupil, Paquita--seemed to be conscious of some hidden +sin. The result of this constant irritation showed itself more plainly. +For the first half-year the Commander's voice and eye were at variance. +He was still kind, tender, and thoughtful in speech. Gradually, however, +his voice took upon itself the hardness of his glance and its skeptical, +impassive quality, and as the year again neared its close it was plain +that the Commander had fitted himself to the eye, and not the eye to the +Commander. + +It may be surmised that these changes did not escape the watchful +solicitude of the Fathers. Indeed, the few who were first to ascribe the +right eye of Salvatierra to miraculous origin and the special grace of +the blessed San Carlos, now talked openly of witchcraft and the agency +of Luzbel, the evil one. It would have fared ill with Hermenegildo +Salvatierra had he been aught but Commander or amenable to local +authority. But the reverend father, Friar Manuel de Cortes, had no +power over the political executive, and all attempts at spiritual +advice failed signally. He retired baffled and confused from his first +interview with the Commander, who seemed now to take a grim satisfaction +in the fateful power of his glance. The holy Father contradicted +himself, exposed the fallacies of his own arguments, and even, it is +asserted, committed himself to several undoubted heresies. When the +Commander stood up at mass, if the officiating priest caught that +skeptical and searching eye, the service was inevitably ruined. Even the +power of the Holy Church seemed to be lost, and the last hold upon the +affections of the people and the good order of the settlement departed +from San Carlos. + +As the long dry summer passed, the low hills that surrounded the white +walls of the Presidio grew more and more to resemble in hue the leathern +jacket of the Commander, and Nature herself seemed to have borrowed his +dry, hard glare. The earth was cracked and seamed with drought; a blight +had fallen upon the orchards and vineyards, and the rain, long-delayed +and ardently prayed for, came not. The sky was as tearless as the +right eye of the Commander. Murmurs of discontent, insubordination, and +plotting among the Indians reached his ears; he only set his teeth the +more firmly, tightened the knot of his black-silk handkerchief, and +looked up his Toledo. + +The last day of the year 1798 found the Commander sitting, at the hour +of evening prayers, alone in the guardroom. He no longer attended +the services of the Holy Church, but crept away at such times to some +solitary spot, where he spent the interval in silent meditation. The +firelight played upon the low beams and rafters, but left the bowed +figure of Salvatierra in darkness. Sitting thus, he felt a small hand +touch his arm, and looking down, saw the figure of Paquita, his little +Indian pupil, at his knee. "Ah, littlest of all," said the Commander, +with something of his old tenderness, lingering over the endearing +diminutives of his native speech--"sweet one, what doest thou here? Art +thou not afraid of him whom everyone shuns and fears?" + +"No," said the little Indian, readily, "not in the dark. I hear your +voice--the old voice; I feel your touch--the old touch; but I see not +your eye, Senor Commandante. That only I fear--and that, O senor, O my +father," said the child, lifting her little arms towards his--"that I +know is not thine own!" + +The Commander shuddered and turned away. Then, recovering himself, he +kissed Paquita gravely on the forehead and bade her retire. A few hours +later, when silence had fallen upon the Presidio, he sought his own +couch and slept peacefully. + +At about the middle watch of the night a dusky figure crept through the +low embrasure of the Commander's apartment. Other figures were flitting +through the parade ground, which the Commander might have seen had he +not slept so quietly. The intruder stepped noiselessly to the couch and +listened to the sleeper's deep-drawn inspiration. Something glittered in +the firelight as the savage lifted his arm; another moment and the sore +perplexities of Hermenegildo Salvatierra would have been over, when +suddenly the savage started and fell back in a paroxysm of terror. The +Commander slept peacefully, but his right eye, widely opened, fixed and +unaltered, glared coldly on the would-be assassin. The man fell to the +earth in a fit, and the noise awoke the sleeper. + +To rise to his feet, grasp his sword, and deal blows thick and fast upon +the mutinous savages who now thronged the room was the work of a moment. +Help opportunely arrived, and the undisciplined Indians were speedily +driven beyond the walls, but in the scuffle the Commander received a +blow upon his right eye, and, lifting his hand to that mysterious organ, +it was gone. Never again was it found, and never again, for bale or +bliss, did it adorn the right orbit of the Commander. + +With it passed away the spell that had fallen upon San Carlos. The rain +returned to invigorate the languid soil, harmony was restored between +priest and soldier, the green grass presently waved over the sere +hillsides, the children flocked again to the side of their martial +preceptor, a TE DEUM was sung in the Mission Church, and pastoral +content once more smiled upon the gentle valleys of San Carlos. And +far southward crept the GENERAL COURT with its master, Peleg Scudder, +trafficking in beads and peltries with the Indians, and offering glass +eyes, wooden legs, and other Boston notions to the chiefs. + + + + +NOTES BY FLOOD AND FIELD + + +PART I--IN THE FIELD + +It was near the close of an October day that I began to be disagreeably +conscious of the Sacramento Valley. I had been riding since sunrise, and +my course through the depressing monotony of the long level landscape +affected me more like a dull dyspeptic dream than a business journey, +performed under that sincerest of natural phenomena--a California sky. +The recurring stretches of brown and baked fields, the gaping fissures +in the dusty trail, the hard outline of the distant hills, and the +herds of slowly moving cattle, seemed like features of some glittering +stereoscopic picture that never changed. Active exercise might have +removed this feeling, but my horse by some subtle instinct had long +since given up all ambitious effort, and had lapsed into a dogged trot. + +It was autumn, but not the season suggested to the Atlantic reader under +that title. The sharply defined boundaries of the wet and dry seasons +were prefigured in the clear outlines of the distant hills. In the dry +atmosphere the decay of vegetation was too rapid for the slow hectic +which overtakes an Eastern landscape, or else Nature was too practical +for such thin disguises. She merely turned the Hippocratic face to the +spectator, with the old diagnosis of Death in her sharp, contracted +features. + +In the contemplation of such a prospect there was little to excite any +but a morbid fancy. There were no clouds in the flinty blue heavens, and +the setting of the sun was accompanied with as little ostentation as was +consistent with the dryly practical atmosphere. Darkness soon followed, +with a rising wind, which increased as the shadows deepened on the +plain. The fringe of alder by the watercourse began to loom up as I +urged my horse forward. A half-hour's active spurring brought me to a +corral, and a little beyond a house, so low and broad it seemed at first +sight to be half-buried in the earth. + +My second impression was that it had grown out of the soil, like some +monstrous vegetable, its dreary proportions were so in keeping with the +vast prospect. There were no recesses along its roughly boarded walls +for vagrant and unprofitable shadows to lurk in the daily sunshine. No +projection for the wind by night to grow musical over, to wail, whistle, +or whisper to; only a long wooden shelf containing a chilly-looking +tin basin and a bar of soap. Its uncurtained windows were red with the +sinking sun, as though bloodshot and inflamed from a too-long unlidded +existence. The tracks of cattle led to its front door, firmly closed +against the rattling wind. + +To avoid being confounded with this familiar element, I walked to the +rear of the house, which was connected with a smaller building by a +slight platform. A grizzled, hard-faced old man was standing there, and +met my salutation with a look of inquiry, and, without speaking, led +the way to the principal room. As I entered, four young men who were +reclining by the fire slightly altered their attitudes of perfect +repose, but beyond that betrayed neither curiosity nor interest. A hound +started from a dark corner with a growl, but was immediately kicked by +the old man into obscurity, and silenced again. I can't tell why, but I +instantly received the impression that for a long time the group by the +fire had not uttered a word or moved a muscle. Taking a seat, I briefly +stated my business. + +Was a United States surveyor. Had come on account of the Espiritu Santo +Rancho. Wanted to correct the exterior boundaries of township lines, so +as to connect with the near exteriors of private grants. There had been +some intervention to the old survey by a Mr. Tryan who had preempted +adjacent--"settled land warrants," interrupted the old man. "Ah, yes! +Land warrants--and then this was Mr. Tryan?" + +I had spoken mechanically, for I was preoccupied in connecting other +public lines with private surveys as I looked in his face. It was +certainly a hard face, and reminded me of the singular effect of +that mining operation known as "ground sluicing"; the harder lines of +underlying character were exposed, and what were once plastic curves and +soft outlines were obliterated by some powerful agency. + +There was a dryness in his voice not unlike the prevailing atmosphere +of the valley, as he launched into an EX PARTE statement of the contest, +with a fluency, which, like the wind without, showed frequent and +unrestrained expression. He told me--what I had already learned--that +the boundary line of the old Spanish grant was a creek, described in the +loose phraseology of the DESENO as beginning in the VALDA or skirt +of the hill, its precise location long the subject of litigation. +I listened and answered with little interest, for my mind was still +distracted by the wind which swept violently by the house, as well as +by his odd face, which was again reflected in the resemblance that the +silent group by the fire bore toward him. He was still talking, and the +wind was yet blowing, when my confused attention was aroused by a remark +addressed to the recumbent figures. + +"Now, then, which on ye'll see the stranger up the creek to Altascar's, +tomorrow?" + +There was a general movement of opposition in the group, but no decided +answer. + +"Kin you go, Kerg?" + +"Who's to look up stock in Strarberry perar-ie?" + +This seemed to imply a negative, and the old man turned to another +hopeful, who was pulling the fur from a mangy bearskin on which he was +lying, with an expression as though it were somebody's hair. + +"Well, Tom, wot's to hinder you from goin'?" + +"Mam's goin' to Brown's store at sunup, and I s'pose I've got to pack +her and the baby agin." + +I think the expression of scorn this unfortunate youth exhibited for +the filial duty into which he had been evidently beguiled was one of the +finest things I had ever seen. + +"Wise?" + +Wise deigned no verbal reply, but figuratively thrust a worn and patched +boot into the discourse. The old man flushed quickly. + +"I told ye to get Brown to give you a pair the last time you war down +the river." + +"Said he wouldn't without'en order. Said it was like pulling gum teeth +to get the money from you even then." + +There was a grim smile at this local hit at the old man's parsimony, +and Wise, who was clearly the privileged wit of the family, sank back in +honorable retirement. + +"Well, Joe, ef your boots are new, and you aren't pestered with wimmin +and children, p'r'aps you'll go," said Tryan, with a nervous twitching, +intended for a smile, about a mouth not remarkably mirthful. + +Tom lifted a pair of bushy eyebrows, and said shortly: + +"Got no saddle." + +"Wot's gone of your saddle?" + +"Kerg, there"--indicating his brother with a look such as Cain might +have worn at the sacrifice. + +"You lie!" returned Kerg, cheerfully. + +Tryan sprang to his feet, seizing the chair, flourishing it around his +head and gazing furiously in the hard young faces which fearlessly met +his own. But it was only for a moment; his arm soon dropped by his side, +and a look of hopeless fatality crossed his face. He allowed me to take +the chair from his hand, and I was trying to pacify him by the assurance +that I required no guide when the irrepressible Wise again lifted his +voice: + +"Theer's George comin'! why don't ye ask him? He'll go and introduce you +to Don Fernandy's darter, too, ef you ain't pertickler." + +The laugh which followed this joke, which evidently had some domestic +allusion (the general tendency of rural pleasantry), was followed by a +light step on the platform, and the young man entered. Seeing a stranger +present, he stopped and colored, made a shy salute and colored again, +and then, drawing a box from the corner, sat down, his hands clasped +lightly together and his very handsome bright blue eyes turned frankly +on mine. + +Perhaps I was in a condition to receive the romantic impression he made +upon me, and I took it upon myself to ask his company as guide, and he +cheerfully assented. But some domestic duty called him presently away. + +The fire gleamed brightly on the hearth, and, no longer resisting the +prevailing influence, I silently watched the spurting flame, listening +to the wind which continually shook the tenement. Besides the one chair +which had acquired a new importance in my eyes, I presently discovered +a crazy table in one corner, with an ink bottle and pen; the latter +in that greasy state of decomposition peculiar to country taverns and +farmhouses. A goodly array of rifles and double-barreled guns stocked +the corner; half a dozen saddles and blankets lay near, with a mild +flavor of the horse about them. Some deer and bear skins completed the +inventory. As I sat there, with the silent group around me, the shadowy +gloom within and the dominant wind without, I found it difficult to +believe I had ever known a different existence. My profession had often +led me to wilder scenes, but rarely among those whose unrestrained +habits and easy unconsciousness made me feel so lonely and uncomfortable +I shrank closer to myself, not without grave doubts--which I think occur +naturally to people in like situations--that this was the general rule +of humanity and I was a solitary and somewhat gratuitous exception. It +was a relief when a laconic announcement of supper by a weak-eyed girl +caused a general movement in the family. We walked across the dark +platform, which led to another low-ceiled room. Its entire length was +occupied by a table, at the farther end of which a weak-eyed woman was +already taking her repast as she at the same time gave nourishment to +a weak-eyed baby. As the formalities of introduction had been dispensed +with, and as she took no notice of me, I was enabled to slip into a seat +without discomposing or interrupting her. Tryan extemporized a grace, +and the attention of the family became absorbed in bacon, potatoes, and +dried apples. + +The meal was a sincere one. Gentle gurglings at the upper end of the +table often betrayed the presence of the "wellspring of pleasure." The +conversation generally referred to the labors of the day, and comparing +notes as to the whereabouts of missing stock. Yet the supper was such a +vast improvement upon the previous intellectual feast that when a chance +allusion of mine to the business of my visit brought out the elder +Tryan, the interest grew quite exciting. I remember he inveighed +bitterly against the system of ranch-holding by the "greasers," as he +was pleased to term the native Californians. As the same ideas have +been sometimes advanced under more pretentious circumstances they may be +worthy of record. + +"Look at 'em holdin' the finest grazin' land that ever lay outer doors. +Whar's the papers for it? Was it grants? Mighty fine grants--most of 'em +made arter the 'Merrikans got possession. More fools the 'Merrikans for +lettin' 'em hold 'em. Wat paid for 'em? 'Merrikan and blood money. + +"Didn't they oughter have suthin' out of their native country? Wot +for? Did they ever improve? Got a lot of yaller-skinned diggers, not +so sensible as niggers to look arter stock, and they a sittin' home +and smokin'. With their gold and silver candlesticks, and missions, and +crucifixens, priests and graven idols, and sich? Them sort things wurent +allowed in Mizzoori." + +At the mention of improvements, I involuntarily lifted my eyes, and +met the half laughing, half embarrassed look of George. The act did not +escape detection, and I had at once the satisfaction of seeing that the +rest of the family had formed an offensive alliance against us. + +"It was agin Nater, and agin God," added Tryan. "God never intended +gold in the rocks to be made into heathen candlesticks and crucifixens. +That's why he sent 'Merrikans here. Nater never intended such a climate +for lazy lopers. She never gin six months' sunshine to be slept and +smoked away." + +How long he continued and with what further illustration I could not +say, for I took an early opportunity to escape to the sitting-room. I +was soon followed by George, who called me to an open door leading to a +smaller room, and pointed to a bed. + +"You'd better sleep there tonight," he said; "you'll be more +comfortable, and I'll call you early." + +I thanked him, and would have asked him several questions which were +then troubling me, but he shyly slipped to the door and vanished. + +A shadow seemed to fall on the room when he had gone. The "boys" +returned, one by one, and shuffled to their old places. A larger log was +thrown on the fire, and the huge chimney glowed like a furnace, but it +did not seem to melt or subdue a single line of the hard faces that it +lit. In half an hour later, the furs which had served as chairs by +day undertook the nightly office of mattresses, and each received its +owner's full-length figure. Mr. Tryan had not returned, and I missed +George. I sat there until, wakeful and nervous, I saw the fire fall and +shadows mount the wall. There was no sound but the rushing of the +wind and the snoring of the sleepers. At last, feeling the place +insupportable, I seized my hat and opening the door, ran out briskly +into the night. + +The acceleration of my torpid pulse in the keen fight with the wind, +whose violence was almost equal to that of a tornado, and the familiar +faces of the bright stars above me, I felt as a blessed relief. I ran +not knowing whither, and when I halted, the square outline of the house +was lost in the alder bushes. An uninterrupted plain stretched before +me, like a vast sea beaten flat by the force of the gale. As I kept on I +noticed a slight elevation toward the horizon, and presently my progress +was impeded by the ascent of an Indian mound. It struck me forcibly as +resembling an island in the sea. Its height gave me a better view of +the expanding plain. But even here I found no rest. The ridiculous +interpretation Tryan had given the climate was somehow sung in my ears, +and echoed in my throbbing pulse as, guided by the star, I sought the +house again. + +But I felt fresher and more natural as I stepped upon the platform. The +door of the lower building was open, and the old man was sitting beside +the table, thumbing the leaves of a Bible with a look in his face as +though he were hunting up prophecies against the "Greaser." I turned to +enter, but my attention was attracted by a blanketed figure lying +beside the house, on the platform. The broad chest heaving with healthy +slumber, and the open, honest face were familiar. It was George, who had +given up his bed to the stranger among his people. I was about to wake +him, but he lay so peaceful and quiet, I felt awed and hushed. And I +went to bed with a pleasant impression of his handsome face and tranquil +figure soothing me to sleep. + + +I was awakened the next morning from a sense of lulled repose and +grateful silence by the cheery voice of George, who stood beside my bed, +ostentatiously twirling a riata, as if to recall the duties of the +day to my sleep-bewildered eyes. I looked around me. The wind had been +magically laid, and the sun shone warmly through the windows. A dash +of cold water, with an extra chill on from the tin basin, helped to +brighten me. It was still early, but the family had already breakfasted +and dispersed, and a wagon winding far in the distance showed that the +unfortunate Tom had already "packed" his relatives away. I felt more +cheerful--there are few troubles Youth cannot distance with the start of +a good night's rest. After a substantial breakfast, prepared by George, +in a few moments we were mounted and dashing down the plain. + +We followed the line of alder that defined the creek, now dry and baked +with summer's heat, but which in winter, George told me, overflowed its +banks. I still retain a vivid impression of that morning's ride, the +far-off mountains, like silhouettes, against the steel-blue sky, the +crisp dry air, and the expanding track before me, animated often by +the well-knit figure of George Tryan, musical with jingling spurs and +picturesque with flying riata. He rode powerful native roan, wild-eyed, +untiring in stride and unbroken in nature. Alas! the curves of beauty +were concealed by the cumbrous MACHILLAS of the Spanish saddle, which +levels all equine distinctions. The single rein lay loosely on the cruel +bit that can gripe, and if need be, crush the jaw it controls. + +Again the illimitable freedom of the valley rises before me, as we +again bear down into sunlit space. Can this be "Chu Chu," staid and +respectable filly of American pedigree--Chu Chu, forgetful of plank +roads and cobblestones, wild with excitement, twinkling her small white +feet beneath me? George laughs out of a cloud of dust. "Give her her +head; don't you see she likes it?" and Chu Chu seems to like it, and +whether bitten by native tarantula into native barbarism or emulous of +the roan, "blood" asserts itself, and in a moment the peaceful servitude +of years is beaten out in the music of her clattering hoofs. The creek +widens to a deep gully. We dive into it and up on the opposite side, +carrying a moving cloud of impalpable powder with us. Cattle are +scattered over the plain, grazing quietly or banded together in vast +restless herds. George makes a wide, indefinite sweep with the riata, as +if to include them all in his vaquero's loop, and says, "Ours!" + +"About how many, George?" + +"Don't know." + +"How many?" + +"'Well, p'r'aps three thousand head," says George, reflecting. "We don't +know, takes five men to look 'em up and keep run." + +"What are they worth?" + +"About thirty dollars a head." + +I make a rapid calculation, and look my astonishment at the laughing +George. Perhaps a recollection of the domestic economy of the Tryan +household is expressed in that look, for George averts his eye and says, +apologetically: + +"I've tried to get the old man to sell and build, but you know he says +it ain't no use to settle down, just yet. We must keep movin'. In fact, +he built the shanty for that purpose, lest titles should fall through, +and we'd have to get up and move stakes further down." + +Suddenly his quick eye detects some unusual sight in a herd we are +passing, and with an exclamation he puts his roan into the center of +the mass. I follow, or rather Chu Chu darts after the roan, and in a few +moments we are in the midst of apparently inextricable horns and hoofs. +"TORO!" shouts George, with vaquero enthusiasm, and the band opens a +way for the swinging riata. I can feel their steaming breaths, and their +spume is cast on Chu Chu's quivering flank. + +Wild, devilish-looking beasts are they; not such shapes as Jove might +have chosen to woo a goddess, nor such as peacefully range the downs of +Devon, but lean and hungry Cassius-like bovines, economically got up to +meet the exigencies of a six months' rainless climate, and accustomed to +wrestle with the distracting wind and the blinding dust. + +"That's not our brand," says George; "they're strange stock," and he +points to what my scientific eye recognizes as the astrological sign of +Venus deeply seared in the brown flanks of the bull he is chasing. But +the herd are closing round us with low mutterings, and George has again +recourse to the authoritative "TORO," and with swinging riata divides +the "bossy bucklers" on either side. When we are free, and breathing +somewhat more easily, I venture to ask George if they ever attack +anyone. + +"Never horsemen--sometimes footmen. Not through rage, you know, but +curiosity. They think a man and his horse are one, and if they meet a +chap afoot, they run him down and trample him under hoof, in the +pursuit of knowledge. But," adds George, "here's the lower bench of the +foothills, and here's Altascar's corral, and that White building you see +yonder is the casa." + +A whitewashed wall enclosed a court containing another adobe building, +baked with the solar beams of many summers. Leaving our horses in the +charge of a few peons in the courtyard, who were basking lazily in the +sun, we entered a low doorway, where a deep shadow and an agreeable +coolness fell upon us, as sudden and grateful as a plunge in cool water, +from its contrast with the external glare and heat. In the center of a +low-ceiled apartment sat an old man with a black-silk handkerchief tied +about his head, the few gray hairs that escaped from its folds relieving +his gamboge-colored face. The odor of CIGARRITOS was as incense added to +the cathedral gloom of the building. + +As Senor Altascar rose with well-bred gravity to receive us, George +advanced with such a heightened color, and such a blending of tenderness +and respect in his manner, that I was touched to the heart by so much +devotion in the careless youth. In fact, my eyes were still dazzled by +the effect of the outer sunshine, and at first I did not see the white +teeth and black eyes of Pepita, who slipped into the corridor as we +entered. + +It was no pleasant matter to disclose particulars of business which +would deprive the old senor of the greater part of that land we had +just ridden over, and I did it with great embarrassment. But he listened +calmly--not a muscle of his dark face stirring--and the smoke curling +placidly from his lips showed his regular respiration. When I had +finished, he offered quietly to accompany us to the line of demarcation. +George had meanwhile disappeared, but a suspicious conversation in +broken Spanish and English, in the corridor, betrayed his vicinity. +When he returned again, a little absent-minded, the old man, by far +the coolest and most self-possessed of the party, extinguished his +black-silk cap beneath that stiff, uncomely sombrero which all native +Californians affect. A serape thrown over his shoulders hinted that he +was waiting. Horses are always ready saddled in Spanish ranchos, and in +half an hour from the time of our arrival we were again "loping" in the +staring sunlight. + +But not as cheerfully as before. George and myself were weighed down by +restraint, and Altascar was gravely quiet. To break the silence, and by +way of a consolatory essay, I hinted to him that there might be further +intervention or appeal, but the proffered oil and wine were returned +with a careless shrug of the shoulders and a sententious "QUE +BUENO?--Your courts are always just." + +The Indian mound of the previous night's discovery was a bearing +monument of the new line, and there we halted. We were surprised to find +the old man Tryan waiting us. For the first time during our interview +the old Spaniard seemed moved, and the blood rose in his yellow cheek. I +was anxious to close the scene, and pointed out the corner boundaries as +clearly as my recollection served. + +"The deputies will be here tomorrow to run the lines from this initial +point, and there will be no further trouble, I believe, gentlemen." + +Senor Altascar had dismounted and was gathering a few tufts of dried +grass in his hands. George and I exchanged glances. He presently arose +from his stooping posture, and advancing to within a few paces of Joseph +Tryan, said, in a voice broken with passion: + +"And I, Fernando Jesus Maria Altascar, put you in possession of my land +in the fashion of my country." + +He threw a sod to each of the cardinal points. + +"I don't know your courts, your judges, or your CORREGIDORES. Take the +LLANO!--and take this with it. May the drought seize your cattle till +their tongues hang down as long as those of your lying lawyers! May it +be the curse and torment of your old age, as you and yours have made it +of mine!" + +We stepped between the principal actors in this scene, which only the +passion of Altascar made tragical, but Tryan, with a humility but ill +concealing his triumph, interrupted: + +"Let him curse on. He'll find 'em coming home to him sooner than the +cattle he has lost through his sloth and pride. The Lord is on the side +of the just, as well as agin all slanderers and revilers." + +Altascar but half guessed the meaning of the Missourian, yet +sufficiently to drive from his mind all but the extravagant power of his +native invective. + +"Stealer of the Sacrament! Open not!--open not, I say, your lying, Judas +lips to me! Ah! half-breed, with the soul of a coyote!--car-r-r-ramba!" + +With his passion reverberating among the consonants like distant +thunder, he laid his hand upon the mane of his horse as though it had +been the gray locks of his adversary, swung himself into the saddle and +galloped away. + +George turned to me: + +"Will you go back with us tonight?" + +I thought of the cheerless walls, the silent figures by the fire, and +the roaring wind, and hesitated. + +"Well then, goodby." + +"Goodby, George." + +Another wring of the hands, and we parted. I had not ridden far when I +turned and looked back. The wind had risen early that afternoon, and was +already sweeping across the plain. A cloud of dust traveled before it, +and a picturesque figure occasionally emerging therefrom was my last +indistinct impression of George Tryan. + + +PART II--IN THE FLOOD + + +Three months after the survey of the Espiritu Santo Rancho, I was again +in the valley of the Sacramento. But a general and terrible visitation +had erased the memory of that event as completely as I supposed it had +obliterated the boundary monuments I had planted. The great flood of +1861-62 was at its height when, obeying some indefinite yearning, I took +my carpetbag and embarked for the inundated valley. + +There was nothing to be seen from the bright cabin windows of the +GOLDEN CITY but night deepening over the water. The only sound was the +pattering rain, and that had grown monotonous for the past two weeks, +and did not disturb the national gravity of my countrymen as they +silently sat around the cabin stove. Some on errands of relief to +friends and relatives wore anxious faces, and conversed soberly on +the one absorbing topic. Others, like myself, attracted by curiosity +listened eagerly to newer details. But with that human disposition to +seize upon any circumstance that might give chance event the exaggerated +importance of instinct, I was half-conscious of something more than +curiosity as an impelling motive. + +The dripping of rain, the low gurgle of water, and a leaden sky greeted +us the next morning as we lay beside the half-submerged levee of +Sacramento. Here, however, the novelty of boats to convey us to the +hotels was an appeal that was irresistible. I resigned myself to a +dripping rubber-cased mariner called "Joe," and, wrapping myself in a +shining cloak of the like material, about as suggestive of warmth as +court plaster might have been, took my seat in the stern sheets of his +boat. It was no slight inward struggle to part from the steamer that to +most of the passengers was the only visible connecting link between +us and the dry and habitable earth, but we pulled away and entered the +city, stemming a rapid current as we shot the levee. + +We glided up the long level of K Street--once a cheerful, busy +thoroughfare, now distressing in its silent desolation. The turbid water +which seemed to meet the horizon edge before us flowed at right angles +in sluggish rivers through the streets. Nature had revenged herself on +the local taste by disarraying the regular rectangles by huddling houses +on street corners, where they presented abrupt gables to the current, or +by capsizing them in compact ruin. Crafts of all kinds were gliding in +and out of low-arched doorways. The water was over the top of the +fences surrounding well-kept gardens, in the first stories of hotels +and private dwellings, trailing its slime on velvet carpets as well as +roughly boarded floors. And a silence quite as suggestive as the +visible desolation was in the voiceless streets that no longer echoed +to carriage wheel or footfall. The low ripple of water, the occasional +splash of oars, or the warning cry of boatmen were the few signs of life +and habitation. + +With such scenes before my eyes and such sounds in my ears, as I lie +lazily in the boat, is mingled the song of my gondolier who sings to +the music of his oars. It is not quite as romantic as his brother of +the Lido might improvise, but my Yankee "Giuseppe" has the advantage of +earnestness and energy, and gives a graphic description of the terrors +of the past week and of noble deeds of self-sacrifice and devotion, +occasionally pointing out a balcony from which some California Bianca +or Laura had been snatched, half-clothed and famished. Giuseppe is +otherwise peculiar, and refuses the proffered fare, for--am I not a +citizen of San Francisco, which was first to respond to the suffering +cry of Sacramento? and is not he, Giuseppe, a member of the Howard +Society? No! Giuseppe is poor, but cannot take my money. Still, if I +must spend it, there is the Howard Society, and the women and children +without food and clothes at the Agricultural Hall. + +I thank the generous gondolier, and we go to the Hall--a dismal, bleak +place, ghastly with the memories of last year's opulence and plenty, +and here Giuseppe's fare is swelled by the stranger's mite. But here +Giuseppe tells me of the "Relief Boat" which leaves for the flooded +district in the interior, and here, profiting by the lesson he has +taught me, I make the resolve to turn my curiosity to the account of +others, and am accepted of those who go forth to succor and help the +afflicted. Giuseppe takes charge of my carpetbag, and does not part from +me until I stand on the slippery deck of "Relief Boat No. 3." + +An hour later I am in the pilothouse, looking down upon what was once +the channel of a peaceful river. But its banks are only defined by +tossing tufts of willow washed by the long swell that breaks over a +vast inland sea. Stretches of "tule" land fertilized by its once regular +channel and dotted by flourishing ranchos are now cleanly erased. The +cultivated profile of the old landscape had faded. Dotted lines in +symmetrical perspective mark orchards that are buried and chilled in the +turbid flood. The roofs of a few farmhouses are visible, and here and +there the smoke curling from chimneys of half-submerged tenements shows +an undaunted life within. Cattle and sheep are gathered on Indian mounds +waiting the fate of their companions whose carcasses drift by us, or +swing in eddies with the wrecks of barns and outhouses. Wagons are +stranded everywhere where the tide could carry them. As I wipe the +moistened glass, I see nothing but water, pattering on the deck from the +lowering clouds, dashing against the window, dripping from the willows, +hissing by the wheels, everywhere washing, coiling, sapping, hurrying in +rapids, or swelling at last into deeper and vaster lakes, awful in their +suggestive quiet and concealment. + +As day fades into night the monotony of this strange prospect grows +oppressive. I seek the engine room, and in the company of some of the +few half-drowned sufferers we have already picked up from temporary +rafts, I forget the general aspect of desolation in their individual +misery. Later we meet the San Francisco packet, and transfer a number +of our passengers. From them we learn how inward-bound vessels report +to have struck the well-defined channel of the Sacramento, fifty miles +beyond the bar. There is a voluntary contribution taken among the +generous travelers for the use of our afflicted, and we part company +with a hearty "Godspeed" on either side. But our signal lights are not +far distant before a familiar sound comes back to us--an indomitable +Yankee cheer--which scatters the gloom. + +Our course is altered, and we are steaming over the obliterated banks +far in the interior. Once or twice black objects loom up near us--the +wrecks of houses floating by. There is a slight rift in the sky toward +the north, and a few bearing stars to guide us over the waste. As we +penetrate into shallower water, it is deemed advisable to divide our +party into smaller boats, and diverge over the submerged prairie. I +borrow a peacoat of one of the crew, and in that practical disguise +am doubtfully permitted to pass into one of the boats. We give way +northerly. It is quite dark yet, although the rift of cloud has widened. + +It must have been about three o'clock, and we were lying upon our oars +in an eddy formed by a clump of cottonwood, and the light of the steamer +is a solitary, bright star in the distance, when the silence is broken +by the "bow oar": + +"Light ahead." + +All eyes are turned in that direction. In a few seconds a twinkling +light appears, shines steadily, and again disappears as if by the +shifting position of some black object apparently drifting close upon +us. + +"Stern, all; a steamer!" + +"Hold hard there! Steamer be damned!" is the reply of the coxswain. +"It's a house, and a big one too." + +It is a big one, looming in the starlight like a huge fragment of the +darkness. The light comes from a single candle, which shines through a +window as the great shape swings by. Some recollection is drifting back +to me with it as I listen with beating heart. + +"There's someone in it, by heavens! Give way, boys--lay her alongside. +Handsomely, now! The door's fastened; try the window; no! here's +another!" + +In another moment we are trampling in the water which washes the floor +to the depth of several inches. It is a large room, at the farther end +of which an old man is sitting wrapped in a blanket, holding a candle in +one hand, and apparently absorbed in the book he holds with the other. I +spring toward him with an exclamation: + +"Joseph Tryan!" + +He does not move. We gather closer to him, and I lay my hand gently on +his shoulder, and say: + +"Look up, old man, look up! Your wife and children, where are they? The +boys--George! Are they here? are they safe?" + +He raises his head slowly, and turns his eyes to mine, and we +involuntarily recoil before his look. It is a calm and quiet glance, +free from fear, anger, or pain; but it somehow sends the blood curdling +through our veins. He bowed his head over his book again, taking no +further notice of us. The men look at me compassionately, and hold their +peace. I make one more effort: + +"Joseph Tryan, don't you know me? the surveyor who surveyed your +ranch--the Espiritu Santo? Look up, old man!" + +He shuddered and wrapped himself closer in his blanket. Presently he +repeated to himself "The surveyor who surveyed your ranch--Espiritu +Santo" over and over again, as though it were a lesson he was trying to +fix in his memory. + +I was turning sadly to the boatmen when he suddenly caught me fearfully +by the hand and said: + +"Hush!" + +We were silent. + +"Listen!" He puts his arm around my neck and whispers in my ear, "I'm a +MOVING OFF!" + +"Moving off?" + +"Hush! Don't speak so loud. Moving off. Ah! wot's that? Don't you +hear?--there! listen!" + +We listen, and hear the water gurgle and click beneath the floor. + +"It's them wot he sent!--Old Altascar sent. They've been here all night. +I heard 'em first in the creek, when they came to tell the old man to +move farther off. They came nearer and nearer. They whispered under the +door, and I saw their eyes on the step--their cruel, hard eyes. Ah, why +don't they quit?" + +I tell the men to search the room and see if they can find any further +traces of the family, while Tryan resumes his old attitude. It is so +much like the figure I remember on the breezy night that a superstitious +feeling is fast overcoming me. When they have returned, I tell them +briefly what I know of him, and the old man murmurs again: + +"Why don't they quit, then? They have the stock--all gone--gone, gone +for the hides and hoofs," and he groans bitterly. + +"There are other boats below us. The shanty cannot have drifted far, and +perhaps the family are safe by this time," says the coxswain, hopefully. + +We lift the old man up, for he is quite helpless, and carry him to +the boat. He is still grasping the Bible in his right hand, though its +strengthening grace is blank to his vacant eye, and he cowers in the +stern as we pull slowly to the steamer while a pale gleam in the sky +shows the coming day. + +I was weary with excitement, and when we reached the steamer, and I had +seen Joseph Tryan comfortably bestowed, I wrapped myself in a blanket +near the boiler and presently fell asleep. But even then the figure of +the old man often started before me, and a sense of uneasiness about +George made a strong undercurrent to my drifting dreams. I was awakened +at about eight o'clock in the morning by the engineer, who told me one +of the old man's sons had been picked up and was now on board. + +"Is it George Tryan?" I ask quickly. + +"Don't know; but he's a sweet one, whoever he is," adds the engineer, +with a smile at some luscious remembrance. "You'll find him for'ard." + +I hurry to the bow of the boat, and find, not George, but the +irrepressible Wise, sitting on a coil of rope, a little dirtier and +rather more dilapidated than I can remember having seen him. + +He is examining, with apparent admiration, some rough, dry clothes +that have been put out for his disposal. I cannot help thinking that +circumstances have somewhat exalted his usual cheerfulness. He puts me +at my ease by at once addressing me: + +"These are high old times, ain't they? I say, what do you reckon's +become o' them thar bound'ry moniments you stuck? Ah!" + +The pause which succeeds this outburst is the effect of a spasm of +admiration at a pair of high boots, which, by great exertion, he has at +last pulled on his feet. + +"So you've picked up the ole man in the shanty, clean crazy? He must +have been soft to have stuck there instead o' leavin' with the old +woman. Didn't know me from Adam; took me for George!" + +At this affecting instance of paternal forgetfulness, Wise was +evidently divided between amusement and chagrin. I took advantage of the +contending emotions to ask about George. + +"Don't know whar he is! If he'd tended stock instead of running about +the prairie, packin' off wimmin and children, he might have saved +suthin. He lost every hoof and hide, I'll bet a cooky! Say you," to a +passing boatman, "when are you goin' to give us some grub? I'm hungry +'nough to skin and eat a hoss. Reckon I'll turn butcher when things is +dried up, and save hides, horns, and taller." + +I could not but admire this indomitable energy, which under softer +climatic influences might have borne such goodly fruit. + +"Have you any idea what you'll do, Wise?" I ask. + +"Thar ain't much to do now," says the practical young man. "I'll have to +lay over a spell, I reckon, till things comes straight. The land ain't +worth much now, and won't be, I dessay, for some time. Wonder whar the +ole man'll drive stakes next." + +"I meant as to your father and George, Wise." + +"Oh, the old man and I'll go on to 'Miles's,' whar Tom packed the old +woman and babies last week. George'll turn up somewhar atween this and +Altascar's ef he ain't thar now." + +I ask how the Altascars have suffered. + +"Well, I reckon he ain't lost much in stock. I shouldn't wonder if +George helped him drive 'em up the foothills. And his casa's built +too high. Oh, thar ain't any water thar, you bet. Ah," says Wise, with +reflective admiration, "those greasers ain't the darned fools people +thinks 'em. I'll bet thar ain't one swamped out in all 'er Californy." +But the appearance of "grub" cut this rhapsody short. + +"I shall keep on a little farther," I say, "and try to find George." + +Wise stared a moment at this eccentricity until a new light dawned upon +him. + +"I don't think you'll save much. What's the percentage--workin' on +shares, eh!" + +I answer that I am only curious, which I feel lessens his opinion of me, +and with a sadder feeling than his assurance of George's safety might +warrant, I walked away. + +From others whom we picked up from time to time we heard of George's +self-sacrificing devotion, with the praises of the many he had helped +and rescued. But I did not feel disposed to return until I had seen +him, and soon prepared myself to take a boat to the lower VALDA of the +foothills, and visit Altascar. I soon perfected my arrangements, bade +farewell to Wise, and took a last look at the old man, who was sitting +by the furnace fires quite passive and composed. Then our boat head +swung round, pulled by sturdy and willing hands. + +It was again raining, and a disagreeable wind had risen. Our course lay +nearly west, and we soon knew by the strong current that we were in the +creek of the Espiritu Santo. From time to time the wrecks of barns +were seen, and we passed many half-submerged willows hung with farming +implements. + +We emerge at last into a broad silent sea. It is the "LLANO DE ESPIRITU +SANTO." As the wind whistles by me, piling the shallower fresh water +into mimic waves, I go back, in fancy, to the long ride of October +over that boundless plain, and recall the sharp outlines of the distant +hills, which are now lost in the lowering clouds. The men are rowing +silently, and I find my mind, released from its tension, growing +benumbed and depressed as then. The water, too, is getting more shallow +as we leave the banks of the creek, and with my hand dipped listlessly +over the thwarts, I detect the tops of chimisal, which shows the tide +to have somewhat fallen. There is a black mound, bearing to the north of +the line of alder, making an adverse current, which, as we sweep to the +right to avoid, I recognize. We pull close alongside and I call to the +men to stop. + +There was a stake driven near its summit with the initials, "L. E. S. +I." Tied halfway down was a curiously worked riata. It was George's. It +had been cut with some sharp instrument, and the loose gravelly soil of +the mound was deeply dented with horses' hoofs. The stake was covered +with horsehairs. It was a record, but no clue. + +The wind had grown more violent as we still fought our way forward, +resting and rowing by turns, and oftener "poling" the shallower surface, +but the old VALDA, or bench, is still distant. My recollection of the +old survey enables me to guess the relative position of the meanderings +of the creek, and an occasional simple professional experiment to +determine the distance gives my crew the fullest faith in my ability. +Night overtakes us in our impeded progress. Our condition looks more +dangerous than it really is, but I urge the men, many of whom are still +new in this mode of navigation, to greater exertion by assurance of +perfect safety and speedy relief ahead. We go on in this way until about +eight o'clock, and ground by the willows. We have a muddy walk for a few +hundred yards before we strike a dry trail, and simultaneously the white +walls of Altascar's appear like a snowbank before us. Lights are moving +in the courtyard; but otherwise the old tomblike repose characterizes +the building. + +One of the peons recognized me as I entered the court, and Altascar met +me on the corridor. + +I was too weak to do more than beg his hospitality for the men who had +dragged wearily with me. He looked at my hand, which still unconsciously +held the broken riata. I began, wearily, to tell him about George and +my fears, but with a gentler courtesy than was even his wont, he gravely +laid his hand on my shoulder. + +"POCO A POCO, senor--not now. You are tired, you have hunger, you have +cold. Necessary it is you should have peace." + +He took us into a small room and poured out some French cognac, which he +gave to the men that had accompanied me. They drank and threw themselves +before the fire in the larger room. The repose of the building was +intensified that night, and I even fancied that the footsteps on the +corridor were lighter and softer. The old Spaniard's habitual gravity +was deeper; we might have been shut out from the world as well as +the whistling storm, behind those ancient walls with their time-worn +inheritor. + +Before I could repeat my inquiry he retired. In a few minutes two +smoking dishes of CHUPA with coffee were placed before us, and my men +ate ravenously. I drank the coffee, but my excitement and weariness kept +down the instincts of hunger. + +I was sitting sadly by the fire when he reentered. + +"You have eat?" + +I said, "Yes," to please him. + +"BUENO, eat when you can--food and appetite are not always." + +He said this with that Sancho-like simplicity with which most of his +countrymen utter a proverb, as though it were an experience rather than +a legend, and, taking the riata from the floor, held it almost tenderly +before him. + +"It was made by me, senor." + +"I kept it as a clue to him, Don Altascar," I said. "If I could find +him--" + +"He is here." + +"Here! and"--but I could not say "well!" I understood the gravity of +the old man's face, the hushed footfalls, the tomblike repose of the +building, in an electric flash of consciousness; I held the clue to the +broken riata at last. Altascar took my hand, and we crossed the corridor +to a somber apartment. A few tall candles were burning in sconces before +the window. + +In an alcove there was a deep bed with its counterpane, pillows, and +sheets heavily edged with lace, in all that splendid luxury which the +humblest of these strange people lavish upon this single item of their +household. I stepped beside it and saw George lying, as I had seen him +once before, peacefully at rest. But a greater sacrifice than that he +had known was here, and his generous heart was stilled forever. + +"He was honest and brave," said the old man, and turned away. There +was another figure in the room; a heavy shawl drawn over her graceful +outline, and her long black hair hiding the hands that buried her +downcast face. I did not seem to notice her, and, retiring presently, +left the loving and loved together. + +When we were again beside the crackling fire, in the shifting shadows +of the great chamber, Altascar told me how he had that morning met the +horse of George Tryan swimming on the prairie; how that, farther on, he +found him lying, quite cold and dead, with no marks or bruises on his +person; that he had probably become exhausted in fording the creek, and +that he had as probably reached the mound only to die for want of that +help he had so freely given to others; that, as a last act, he had freed +his horse. These incidents were corroborated by many who collected +in the great chamber that evening--women and children--most of them +succored through the devoted energies of him who lay cold and lifeless +above. + +He was buried in the Indian mound--the single spot of strange perennial +greenness which the poor aborigines had raised above the dusty plain. A +little slab of sandstone with the initials "G. T." is his monument, +and one of the bearings of the initial corner of the new survey of the +"Espiritu Santo Rancho." + + + + +AN EPISODE OF FIDDLETOWN + + +In 1858 Fiddletown considered her a very pretty woman. She had a +quantity of light chestnut hair, a good figure, a dazzling complexion, +and a certain languid grace which passed easily for gentle-womanliness. +She always dressed becomingly, and in what Fiddletown accepted as the +latest fashion. She had only two blemishes: one of her velvety eyes, +when examined closely, had a slight cast; and her left cheek bore a +small scar left by a single drop of vitriol--happily the only drop of +an entire phial--thrown upon her by one of her own jealous sex, that +reached the pretty face it was intended to mar. But when the observer +had studied the eyes sufficiently to notice this defect, he was +generally incapacitated for criticism; and even the scar on her cheek +was thought by some to add piquancy to her smile. The youthful editor of +THE FIDDLETOWN AVALANCHE had said privately that it was "an exaggerated +dimple." Colonel Starbottle was instantly "reminded of the beautifying +patches of the days of Queen Anne, but more particularly, sir, of the +blankest beautiful women that, blank you, you ever laid your two blank +eyes upon--a Creole woman, sir, in New Orleans. And this woman had a +scar--a line extending, blank me, from her eye to her blank chin. And +this woman, sir, thrilled you, sir; maddened you, sir; absolutely sent +your blank soul to perdition with her blank fascination! And one day I +said to her, 'Celeste, how in blank did you come by that beautiful scar, +blank you?' And she said to me, 'Star, there isn't another white man +that I'd confide in but you; but I made that scar myself, purposely, I +did, blank me.' These were her very words, sir, and perhaps you think it +a blank lie, sir; but I'll put up any blank sum you can name and prove +it, blank me." + +Indeed, most of the male population of Fiddletown were or had been in +love with her. Of this number, about one-half believed that their love +was returned, with the exception, possibly, of her own husband. He alone +had been known to express skepticism. + +The name of the gentleman who enjoyed this infelicitous distinction was +Tretherick. He had been divorced from an excellent wife to marry this +Fiddletown enchantress. She, also, had been divorced; but it was hinted +that some previous experiences of hers in that legal formality had made +it perhaps less novel, and probably less sacrificial. I would not have +it inferred from this that she was deficient in sentiment, or devoid of +its highest moral expression. Her intimate friend had written (on the +occasion of her second divorce), "The cold world does not understand +Clara yet"; and Colonel Starbottle had remarked blankly that with the +exception of a single woman in Opelousas Parish, La., she had more soul +than the whole caboodle of them put together. Few indeed could read +those lines entitled "Infelissimus," commencing "Why waves no cypress +o'er this brow?" originally published in the AVALANCHE, over the +signature of "The Lady Clare," without feeling the tear of sensibility +tremble on his eyelids, or the glow of virtuous indignation mantle his +cheek, at the low brutality and pitiable jocularity of THE DUTCH FLAT +INTELLIGENCER, which the next week had suggested the exotic character +of the cypress, and its entire absence from Fiddletown, as a reasonable +answer to the query. + +Indeed, it was this tendency to elaborate her feelings in a metrical +manner, and deliver them to the cold world through the medium of the +newspapers, that first attracted the attention of Tretherick. +Several poems descriptive of the effects of California scenery upon a +too-sensitive soul, and of the vague yearnings for the infinite which +an enforced study of the heartlessness of California society produced +in the poetic breast, impressed Mr. Tretherick, who was then driving a +six-mule freight wagon between Knight's Ferry and Stockton, to seek out +the unknown poetess. Mr. Tretherick was himself dimly conscious of a +certain hidden sentiment in his own nature; and it is possible that some +reflections on the vanity of his pursuit--he supplied several mining +camps with whisky and tobacco--in conjunction with the dreariness of the +dusty plain on which he habitually drove, may have touched some chord in +sympathy with this sensitive woman. Howbeit, after a brief courtship--as +brief as was consistent with some previous legal formalities--they were +married; and Mr. Tretherick brought his blushing bride to Fiddletown, or +"Fideletown," as Mrs. Tretherick preferred to call it in her poems. + +The union was not a felicitous one. It was not long before Mr. +Tretherick discovered that the sentiment he had fostered while +freighting between Stockton and Knight's Ferry was different from that +which his wife had evolved from the contemplation of California scenery +and her own soul. Being a man of imperfect logic, this caused him to +beat her; and she, being equally faulty in deduction, was impelled to +a certain degree of unfaithfulness on the same premise. Then Mr. +Tretherick began to drink, and Mrs. Tretherick to contribute regularly +to the columns of the AVALANCHE. It was at this time that Colonel +Starbottle discovered a similarity in Mrs. Tretherick's verse to the +genius of Sappho, and pointed it out to the citizens of Fiddletown in a +two-columned criticism, signed "A. S.," also published in the AVALANCHE, +and supported by extensive quotation. As the AVALANCHE did not possess +a font of Greek type, the editor was obliged to reproduce the Leucadian +numbers in the ordinary Roman letter, to the intense disgust of Colonel +Starbottle, and the vast delight of Fiddletown, who saw fit to accept +the text as an excellent imitation of Choctaw--a language with which the +colonel, as a whilom resident of the Indian Territories, was supposed to +be familiar. Indeed, the next week's INTELLIGENCER contained some vile +doggerel supposed to be an answer to Mrs. Tretherick's poem, ostensibly +written by the wife of a Digger Indian chief, accompanied by a glowing +eulogium signed "A. S. S." + +The result of this jocularity was briefly given in a later copy of the +AVALANCHE. "An unfortunate rencounter took place on Monday last, +between the Hon. Jackson Flash of THE DUTCH FLAT INTELLIGENCER and the +well-known Col. Starbottle of this place, in front of the Eureka Saloon. +Two shots were fired by the parties without injury to either, although +it is said that a passing Chinaman received fifteen buckshot in the +calves of his legs from the colonel's double-barreled shotgun, which +were not intended for him. John will learn to keep out of the way of +Melican man's firearms hereafter. The cause of the affray is not known, +although it is hinted that there is a lady in the case. The rumor that +points to a well-known and beautiful poetess whose lucubrations have +often graced our columns seems to gain credence from those that are +posted." + +Meanwhile the passiveness displayed by Tretherick under these trying +circumstances was fully appreciated in the gulches. "The old man's +head is level," said one long-booted philosopher. "Ef the colonel +kills Flash, Mrs. Tretherick is avenged: if Flash drops the colonel, +Tretherick is all right. Either way, he's got a sure thing." During +this delicate condition of affairs, Mrs. Tretherick one day left her +husband's home and took refuge at the Fiddletown Hotel, with only the +clothes she had on her back. Here she staid for several weeks, during +which period it is only justice to say that she bore herself with the +strictest propriety. + +It was a clear morning in early spring that Mrs. Tretherick, unattended, +left the hotel, and walked down the narrow street toward the fringe of +dark pines which indicated the extreme limits of Fiddletown. The few +loungers at that early hour were preoccupied with the departure of the +Wingdown coach at the other extremity of the street; and Mrs. Tretherick +reached the suburbs of the settlement without discomposing observation. +Here she took a cross street or road, running at right angles with the +main thoroughfare of Fiddletown and passing through a belt of woodland. +It was evidently the exclusive and aristocratic avenue of the town. The +dwellings were few, ambitious, and uninterrupted by shops. And here she +was joined by Colonel Starbottle. + +The gallant colonel, notwithstanding that he bore the swelling port +which usually distinguished him, that his coat was tightly buttoned and +his boots tightly fitting, and that his cane, hooked over his arm, +swung jauntily, was not entirely at his ease. Mrs. Tretherick, however, +vouchsafed him a gracious smile and a glance of her dangerous eyes; +and the colonel, with an embarrassed cough and a slight strut, took his +place at her side. + +"The coast is clear," said the colonel, "and Tretherick is over at Dutch +Flat on a spree. There is no one in the house but a Chinaman; and you +need fear no trouble from him. I," he continued, with a slight inflation +of the chest that imperiled the security of his button, "I will see that +you are protected in the removal of your property." + +"I'm sure it's very kind of you, and so disinterested!" simpered the +lady as they walked along. "It's so pleasant to meet someone who +has soul--someone to sympathize with in a community so hardened and +heartless as this." And Mrs. Tretherick cast down her eyes, but not +until they wrought their perfect and accepted work upon her companion. + +"Yes, certainly, of course," said the colonel, glancing nervously up and +down the street--"yes, certainly." Perceiving, however, that there +was no one in sight or hearing, he proceeded at once to inform Mrs. +Tretherick that the great trouble of his life, in fact, had been the +possession of too much soul. That many women--as a gentleman she would +excuse him, of course, from mentioning names--but many beautiful women +had often sought his society, but being deficient, madam, absolutely +deficient, in this quality, he could not reciprocate. But when two +natures thoroughly in sympathy, despising alike the sordid trammels of +a low and vulgar community and the conventional restraints of a +hypocritical society--when two souls in perfect accord met and mingled +in poetical union, then--but here the colonel's speech, which had been +remarkable for a certain whisky-and-watery fluency, grew husky, almost +inaudible, and decidedly incoherent. Possibly Mrs. Tretherick may have +heard something like it before, and was enabled to fill the hiatus. +Nevertheless, the cheek that was on the side of the colonel was quite +virginal and bashfully conscious until they reached their destination. + +It was a pretty little cottage, quite fresh and warm with paint, very +pleasantly relieved against a platoon of pines, some of whose foremost +files had been displaced to give freedom to the fenced enclosure in +which it sat. In the vivid sunlight and perfect silence, it had a new, +uninhabited look, as if the carpenters and painters had just left it. At +the farther end of the lot, a Chinaman was stolidly digging; but there +was no other sign of occupancy. "The coast," as the colonel had said, +was indeed "clear." Mrs. Tretherick paused at the gate. The colonel +would have entered with her, but was stopped by a gesture. "Come for me +in a couple of hours, and I shall have everything packed," she said, +as she smiled, and extended her hand. The colonel seized and pressed it +with great fervor. Perhaps the pressure was slightly returned; for the +gallant colonel was impelled to inflate his chest, and trip away as +smartly as his stubby-toed, high-heeled boots would permit. When he had +gone, Mrs. Tretherick opened the door, listened a moment in the deserted +hall, and then ran quickly upstairs to what had been her bedroom. + +Everything there was unchanged as on the night she left it. On the +dressing-table stood her bandbox, as she remembered to have left it +when she took out her bonnet. On the mantle lay the other glove she +had forgotten in her flight. The two lower drawers of the bureau were +half-open (she had forgotten to shut them); and on its marble top lay +her shawl pin and a soiled cuff. What other recollections came upon her +I know not; but she suddenly grew quite white, shivered, and listened +with a beating heart, and her hand upon the door. Then she stepped to +the mirror, and half-fearfully, half-curiously, parted with her fingers +the braids of her blond hair above her little pink ear, until she came +upon an ugly, half-healed scar. She gazed at this, moving her pretty +head up and down to get a better light upon it, until the slight cast +in her velvety eyes became very strongly marked indeed. Then she turned +away with a light, reckless, foolish laugh, and ran to the closet where +hung her precious dresses. These she inspected nervously, and missing +suddenly a favorite black silk from its accustomed peg, for a moment, +thought she should have fainted. But discovering it the next instant +lying upon a trunk where she had thrown it, a feeling of thankfulness +to a superior Being who protects the friendless for the first time +sincerely thrilled her. Then, albeit she was hurried for time, she could +not resist trying the effect of a certain lavender neck ribbon upon the +dress she was then wearing, before the mirror. And then suddenly she +became aware of a child's voice close beside her, and she stopped. And +then the child's voice repeated, "Is it Mamma?" + +Mrs. Tretherick faced quickly about. Standing in the doorway was a +little girl of six or seven. Her dress had been originally fine, but was +torn and dirty; and her hair, which was a very violent red, was tumbled +seriocomically about her forehead. For all this, she was a picturesque +little thing, even through whose childish timidity there was a certain +self-sustained air which is apt to come upon children who are left much +to themselves. She was holding under her arm a rag doll, apparently +of her own workmanship, and nearly as large as herself--a doll with a +cylindrical head, and features roughly indicated with charcoal. A long +shawl, evidently belonging to a grown person, dropped from her shoulders +and swept the floor. + +The spectacle did not excite Mrs. Tretherick's delight. Perhaps she had +but a small sense of humor. Certainly, when the child, still standing in +the doorway, again asked, "Is it Mamma?" she answered sharply, "No, it +isn't," and turned a severe look upon the intruder. + +The child retreated a step, and then, gaining courage with the distance, +said in deliciously imperfect speech: + +"Dow 'way then! why don't you dow away?" + +But Mrs. Tretherick was eying the shawl. Suddenly she whipped it off the +child's shoulders, and said angrily: + +"How dared you take my things, you bad child?" + +"Is it yours? Then you are my mamma; ain't you? You are Mamma!" she +continued gleefully; and before Mrs. Tretherick could avoid her, she had +dropped her doll, and, catching the woman's skirts with both hands, was +dancing up and down before her. + +"What's your name, child?" said Mrs. Tretherick coldly, removing the +small and not very white hands from her garments. + +"Tarry." + +"Tarry?" + +"Yeth. Tarry. Tarowline." + +"Caroline?" + +"Yeth. Tarowline Tretherick." + +"Whose child ARE you?" demanded Mrs. Tretherick still more coldly, to +keep down a rising fear. + +"Why, yours," said the little creature with a laugh. "I'm your little +durl. You're my mamma, my new mamma. Don't you know my ol' mamma's dorn +away, never to turn back any more? I don't live wid my ol' mamma now. I +live wid you and Papa." + +"How long have you been here?" asked Mrs. Tretherick snappishly. + +"I fink it's free days," said Carry reflectively. + +"You think! Don't you know?" sneered Mrs. Tretherick. "Then, where did +you come from?" + +Carry's lip began to work under this sharp cross-examination. With a +great effort and a small gulp, she got the better of it, and answered: + +"Papa, Papa fetched me--from Miss Simmons--from Sacramento, last week." + +"Last week! You said three days just now," returned Mrs. Tretherick with +severe deliberation. + +"I mean a monf," said Carry, now utterly adrift in sheer helplessness +and confusion. + +"Do you know what you are talking about?" demanded Mrs. Tretherick +shrilly, restraining an impulse to shake the little figure before her +and precipitate the truth by specific gravity. + +But the flaming red head here suddenly disappeared in the folds of Mrs. +Tretherick's dress, as if it were trying to extinguish itself forever. + +"There now--stop that sniffling," said Mrs. Tretherick, extricating +her dress from the moist embraces of the child and feeling exceedingly +uncomfortable. "Wipe your face now, and run away, and don't bother. +Stop," she continued, as Carry moved away. "Where's your papa?" + +"He's dorn away too. He's sick. He's been dorn"--she hesitated--"two, +free, days." + +"Who takes care of you, child?" said Mrs. Tretherick, eying her +curiously. + +"John, the Chinaman. I tresses myselth. John tooks and makes the beds." + +"Well, now, run away and behave yourself, and don't bother me any more," +said Mrs. Tretherick, remembering the object of her visit. "Stop--where +are you going?" she added as the child began to ascend the stairs, +dragging the long doll after her by one helpless leg. + +"Doin' upstairs to play and be dood, and no bother Mamma." + +"I ain't your mamma," shouted Mrs. Tretherick, and then she swiftly +re-entered her bedroom and slammed the door. + +Once inside, she drew forth a large trunk from the closet and set to +work with querulous and fretful haste to pack her wardrobe. She tore her +best dress in taking it from the hook on which it hung: she scratched +her soft hands twice with an ambushed pin. All the while, she kept up an +indignant commentary on the events of the past few moments. She said to +herself she saw it all. Tretherick had sent for this child of his first +wife--this child of whose existence he had never seemed to care--just +to insult her, to fill her place. Doubtless the first wife herself would +follow soon, or perhaps there would be a third. Red hair, not auburn, +but RED--of course the child, this Caroline, looked like its mother, +and, if so, she was anything but pretty. Or the whole thing had been +prepared: this red-haired child, the image of its mother, had been +kept at a convenient distance at Sacramento, ready to be sent for when +needed. She remembered his occasional visits there on--business, as he +said. Perhaps the mother already was there; but no, she had gone East. +Nevertheless, Mrs. Tretherick, in her then state of mind, preferred to +dwell upon the fact that she might be there. She was dimly conscious, +also, of a certain satisfaction in exaggerating her feelings. Surely +no woman had ever been so shamefully abused. In fancy, she sketched +a picture of herself sitting alone and deserted, at sunset, among +the fallen columns of a ruined temple, in a melancholy yet graceful +attitude, while her husband drove rapidly away in a luxurious +coach-and-four, with a red-haired woman at his side. Sitting upon +the trunk she had just packed, she partly composed a lugubrious poem +describing her sufferings as, wandering alone and poorly clad, she came +upon her husband and "another" flaunting in silks and diamonds. She +pictured herself dying of consumption, brought on by sorrow--a beautiful +wreck, yet still fascinating, gazed upon adoringly by the editor of the +AVALANCHE and Colonel Starbottle. And where was Colonel Starbottle all +this while? Why didn't he come? He, at least, understood her. He--she +laughed the reckless, light laugh of a few moments before; and then her +face suddenly grew grave, as it had not a few moments before. + +What was that little red-haired imp doing all this time? Why was she so +quiet? She opened the door noiselessly, and listened. She fancied +that she heard, above the multitudinous small noises and creakings +and warpings of the vacant house, a smaller voice singing on the floor +above. This, as she remembered, was only an open attic that had been +used as a storeroom. With a half-guilty consciousness, she crept softly +upstairs and, pushing the door partly open, looked within. + +Athwart the long, low-studded attic, a slant sunbeam from a single small +window lay, filled with dancing motes, and only half illuminating the +barren, dreary apartment. In the ray of this sunbeam she saw the child's +glowing hair, as if crowned by a red aureole, as she sat upon the floor +with her exaggerated doll between her knees. She appeared to be talking +to it; and it was not long before Mrs. Tretherick observed that she was +rehearsing the interview of a half-hour before. She catechized the +doll severely, cross-examining it in regard to the duration of its +stay there, and generally on the measure of time. The imitation of Mrs. +Tretherick's manner was exceedingly successful, and the conversation +almost a literal reproduction, with a single exception. After she had +informed the doll that she was not her mother, at the close of the +interview she added pathetically, "that if she was dood, very dood, she +might be her mamma, and love her very much." + +I have already hinted that Mrs. Tretherick was deficient in a sense of +humor. Perhaps it was for this reason that this whole scene affected +her most unpleasantly; and the conclusion sent the blood tingling to her +cheek. There was something, too, inconceivably lonely in the situation. +The unfurnished vacant room, the half-lights, the monstrous doll, whose +very size seemed to give a pathetic significance to its speechlessness, +the smallness of the one animate, self-centered figure--all these +touched more or less deeply the half-poetic sensibilities of the woman. +She could not help utilizing the impression as she stood there, and +thought what a fine poem might be constructed from this material if the +room were a little darker, the child lonelier--say, sitting beside a +dead mother's bier, and the wind wailing in the turrets. And then she +suddenly heard footsteps at the door below, and recognized the tread of +the colonel's cane. + +She flew swiftly down the stairs, and encountered the colonel in the +hall. Here she poured into his astonished ear a voluble and exaggerated +statement of her discovery, and indignant recital of her wrongs. "Don't +tell me the whole thing wasn't arranged beforehand; for I know it was!" +she almost screamed. "And think," she added, "of the heartlessness of +the wretch, leaving his own child alone here in that way." + +"It's a blank shame!" stammered the colonel, without the least idea +of what he was talking about. In fact, utterly unable as he was to +comprehend a reason for the woman's excitement, with his estimate of +her character, I fear he showed it more plainly than he intended. He +stammered, expanded his chest, looked stern, gallant, tender, but +all unintelligently. Mrs. Tretherick, for an instant, experienced a +sickening doubt of the existence of natures in perfect affinity. + +"It's of no use," said Mrs. Tretherick with sudden vehemence, in answer +to some inaudible remark of the colonel's, and withdrawing her hand from +the fervent grasp of that ardent and sympathetic man. "It's of no use: +my mind is made up. You can send for my trunk as soon as you like; but I +shall stay here, and confront that man with the proof of his vileness. I +will put him face to face with his infamy." + +I do not know whether Colonel Starbottle thoroughly appreciated the +convincing proof of Tretherick's unfaithfulness and malignity afforded +by the damning evidence of the existence of Tretherick's own child in +his own house. He was dimly aware, however, of some unforeseen obstacle +to the perfect expression of the infinite longing of his own sentimental +nature. But, before he could say anything, Carry appeared on the landing +above them, looking timidly, and yet half-critically, at the pair. + +"That's her," said Mrs. Tretherick excitedly. In her deepest emotions, +in either verse or prose, she rose above a consideration of grammatical +construction. + +"Ah!" said the colonel, with a sudden assumption of parental affection +and jocularity that was glaringly unreal and affected. "Ah! pretty +little girl, pretty little girl! How do you do? How are you? You find +yourself pretty well, do you, pretty little girl?" The colonel's impulse +also was to expand his chest and swing his cane, until it occurred to +him that this action might be ineffective with a child of six or seven. +Carry, however, took no immediate notice of this advance, but further +discomposed the chivalrous colonel by running quickly to Mrs. Tretherick +and hiding herself, as if for protection, in the folds of her gown. +Nevertheless, the colonel was not vanquished. Falling back into +an attitude of respectful admiration, he pointed out a marvelous +resemblance to the "Madonna and Child." Mrs. Tretherick simpered, but +did not dislodge Carry as before. There was an awkward pause for a +moment; and then Mrs. Tretherick, motioning significantly to the child, +said in a whisper: "Go now. Don't come here again, but meet me tonight +at the hotel." She extended her hand: the colonel bent over it gallantly +and, raising his hat, the next moment was gone. + +"Do you think," said Mrs. Tretherick with an embarrassed voice and a +prodigious blush, looking down, and addressing the fiery curls just +visible in the folds of her dress--"do you think you will be 'dood' if I +let you stay in here and sit with me?" + +"And let me tall you Mamma?" queried Carry, looking up. + +"And let you call me Mamma!" assented Mrs. Tretherick with an +embarrassed laugh. + +"Yeth," said Carry promptly. + +They entered the bedroom together. Carry's eye instantly caught sight of +the trunk. + +"Are you dowin' away adain, Mamma?" she said with a quick nervous look, +and a clutch at the woman's dress. + +"No-o," said Mrs. Tretherick, looking out of the window. + +"Only playing your dowin' away," suggested Carry with a laugh. "Let me +play too." + +Mrs. Tretherick assented. Carry flew into the next room, and presently +reappeared dragging a small trunk, into which she gravely proceeded to +pack her clothes. Mrs. Tretherick noticed that they were not many. A +question or two regarding them brought out some further replies from +the child; and before many minutes had elapsed, Mrs. Tretherick was in +possession of all her earlier history. But, to do this, Mrs. Tretherick +had been obliged to take Carry upon her lap, pending the most +confidential disclosures. They sat thus a long time after Mrs. +Tretherick had apparently ceased to be interested in Carry's +disclosures; and when lost in thought, she allowed the child to rattle +on unheeded, and ran her fingers through the scarlet curls. + +"You don't hold me right, Mamma," said Carry at last, after one or two +uneasy shiftings of position. + +"How should I hold you?" asked Mrs. Tretherick with a half-amused, +half-embarrassed laugh. + +"Dis way," said Carry, curling up into position, with one arm around +Mrs. Tretherick's neck and her cheek resting on her bosom--"dis +way--dere." After a little preparatory nestling, not unlike some small +animal, she closed her eyes, and went to sleep. + +For a few moments the woman sat silent, scarcely daring to breathe in +that artificial attitude. And then, whether from some occult sympathy in +the touch, or God best knows what, a sudden fancy began to thrill her. +She began by remembering an old pain that she had forgotten, an old +horror that she had resolutely put away all these years. She recalled +days of sickness and distrust--days of an overshadowing fear--days of +preparation for something that was to be prevented, that WAS prevented, +with mortal agony and fear. She thought of a life that might have +been--she dared not say HAD been--and wondered. It was six years ago; +if it had lived, it would have been as old as Carry. The arms which were +folded loosely around the sleeping child began to tremble, and tighten +their clasp. And then the deep potential impulse came, and with a +half-sob, half-sigh, she threw her arms out and drew the body of the +sleeping child down, down, into her breast, down again and again as if +she would hide it in the grave dug there years before. And the gust that +shook her passed, and then, ah me! the rain. + +A drop or two fell upon the curls of Carry, and she moved uneasily in +her sleep. But the woman soothed her again--it was SO easy to do it +now--and they sat there quiet and undisturbed, so quiet that they might +have seemed incorporate of the lonely silent house, the slowly declining +sunbeams, and the general air of desertion and abandonment, yet a +desertion that had in it nothing of age, decay, or despair. + + +Colonel Starbottle waited at the Fiddletown Hotel all that night in +vain. And the next morning, when Mr. Tretherick returned to his husks, +he found the house vacant and untenanted, except by motes and sunbeams. + +When it was fairly known that Mrs. Tretherick had run away, taking Mr. +Tretherick's own child with her, there was some excitement and much +diversity of opinion, in Fiddletown. THE DUTCH FLAT INTELLIGENCER openly +alluded to the "forcible abduction" of the child with the same freedom, +and it is to be feared the same prejudice, with which it had criticized +the abductor's poetry. All of Mrs. Tretherick's own sex, and perhaps +a few of the opposite sex, whose distinctive quality was not, +however, very strongly indicated, fully coincided in the views of the +INTELLIGENCER. The majority, however, evaded the moral issue; that +Mrs. Tretherick had shaken the red dust of Fiddletown from her dainty +slippers was enough for them to know. They mourned the loss of the fair +abductor more than her offense. They promptly rejected Tretherick as +an injured husband and disconsolate father, and even went so far as to +openly cast discredit on the sincerity of his grief. They reserved an +ironical condolence for Colonel Starbottle, overbearing that excellent +man with untimely and demonstrative sympathy in barrooms, saloons, +and other localities not generally deemed favorable to the display +of sentiment. "She was alliz a skittish thing, Kernel," said one +sympathizer, with a fine affectation of gloomy concern and great +readiness of illustration; "and it's kinder nat'ril thet she'd get away +someday, and stampede that theer colt: but thet she should shake YOU, +Kernel, diet she should jist shake you--is what gits me. And they do +say thet you jist hung around thet hotel all night, and payrolled them +corriders, and histed yourself up and down them stairs, and meandered +in and out o' thet piazzy, and all for nothing?" It was another generous +and tenderly commiserating spirit that poured additional oil and wine +on the colonel's wounds. "The boys yer let on thet Mrs. Tretherick +prevailed on ye to pack her trunk and a baby over from the house to the +stage offis, and that the chap ez did go off with her thanked you, and +offered you two short bits, and sed ez how he liked your looks, and ud +employ you agin--and now you say it ain't so? Well, I'll tell the boys +it ain't so, and I'm glad I met you, for stories DO get round." + +Happily for Mrs. Tretherick's reputation, however, the Chinaman in +Tretherick's employment, who was the only eyewitness of her flight, +stated that she was unaccompanied, except by the child. He further +deposed that, obeying her orders, he had stopped the Sacramento coach, +and secured a passage for herself and child to San Francisco. It was +true that Ah Fe's testimony was of no legal value. But nobody doubted +it. Even those who were skeptical of the pagan's ability to recognize +the sacredness of the truth admitted his passionless, unprejudiced +unconcern. But it would appear, from a hitherto unrecorded passage of +this veracious chronicle, that herein they were mistaken. + +It was about six months after the disappearance of Mrs. Tretherick that +Ah Fe, while working in Tretherick's lot, was hailed by two passing +Chinamen. They were the ordinary mining coolies, equipped with long +poles and baskets for their usual pilgrimages. An animated conversation +at once ensued between Ah Fe and his brother Mongolians--a conversation +characterized by that usual shrill volubility and apparent animosity +which was at once the delight and scorn of the intelligent Caucasian who +did not understand a word of it. Such, at least, was the feeling with +which Mr. Tretherick on his veranda and Colonel Starbottle, who was +passing, regarded their heathenish jargon. The gallant colonel simply +kicked them out of his way; the irate Tretherick, with an oath, threw a +stone at the group, and dispersed them, but not before one or two slips +of yellow rice paper, marked with hieroglyphics, were exchanged, and a +small parcel put into Ah Fe's hands. When Ah Fe opened this in the dim +solitude of his kitchen, he found a little girl's apron, freshly washed, +ironed, and folded. On the corner of the hem were the initials "C. T." +Ah Fe tucked it away in a corner of his blouse, and proceeded to wash +his dishes in the sink with a smile of guileless satisfaction. + +Two days after this, Ah Fe confronted his master. "Me no likee +Fiddletown. Me belly sick. Me go now." Mr. Tretherick violently +suggested a profane locality. Ah Fe gazed at him placidly, and withdrew. + +Before leaving Fiddletown, however, he accidentally met Colonel +Starbottle, and dropped a few incoherent phrases which apparently +interested that gentleman. When he concluded, the colonel handed him a +letter and a twenty-dollar gold piece. "If you bring me an answer, I'll +double that--sabe, John?" Ah Fe nodded. An interview equally accidental, +with precisely the same result, took place between Ah Fe and another +gentleman, whom I suspect to have been the youthful editor of the +AVALANCHE. Yet I regret to state that, after proceeding some distance +on his journey, Ah Fe calmly broke the seals of both letters, and after +trying to read them upside down and sideways, finally divided them into +accurate squares, and in this condition disposed of them to a brother +Celestial whom he met on the road, for a trifling gratuity. The agony +of Colonel Starbottle on finding his wash bill made out on the unwritten +side of one of these squares, and delivered to him with his weekly clean +clothes, and the subsequent discovery that the remaining portions of his +letter were circulated by the same method from the Chinese laundry +of one Fung Ti of Fiddletown, has been described to me as peculiarly +affecting. Yet I am satisfied that a higher nature, rising above the +levity induced by the mere contemplation of the insignificant details +of this breach of trust, would find ample retributive justice in the +difficulties that subsequently attended Ah Fe's pilgrimage. + +On the road to Sacramento he was twice playfully thrown from the top of +the stagecoach by an intelligent but deeply intoxicated Caucasian, whose +moral nature was shocked at riding with one addicted to opium-smoking. +At Hangtown he was beaten by a passing stranger--purely an act of +Christian supererogation. At Dutch Flat he was robbed by well-known +hands from unknown motives. At Sacramento he was arrested on +suspicion of being something or other, and discharged with a severe +reprimand--possibly for not being it, and so delaying the course of +justice. At San Francisco he was freely stoned by children of the public +schools; but, by carefully avoiding these monuments of enlightened +progress, he at last reached, in comparative safety, the Chinese +quarters, where his abuse was confined to the police and limited by the +strong arm of the law. + +The next day he entered the washhouse of Chy Fook as an assistant, and +on the following Friday was sent with a basket of clean clothes to Chy +Fook's several clients. + +It was the usual foggy afternoon as he climbed the long windswept hill +of California Street--one of those bleak, gray intervals that made the +summer a misnomer to any but the liveliest San Franciscan fancy. There +was no warmth or color in earth or sky, no light nor shade within or +without, only one monotonous, universal neutral tint over everything. +There was a fierce unrest in the wind-whipped streets: there was a +dreary vacant quiet in the gray houses. When Ah Fe reached the top of +the hill, the Mission Ridge was already hidden, and the chill sea +breeze made him shiver. As he put down his basket to rest himself, it +is possible that, to his defective intelligence and heathen experience, +this "God's own climate," as was called, seemed to possess but +scant tenderness, softness, or mercy. But it is possible that Ah +Fe illogically confounded this season with his old persecutors, the +schoolchildren, who, being released from studious confinement, at this +hour were generally most aggressive. So he hastened on, and turning a +corner, at last stopped before a small house. + +It was the usual San Franciscan urban cottage. There was the little +strip of cold green shrubbery before it; the chilly, bare veranda, and +above this, again, the grim balcony, on which no one sat. Ah Fe rang +the bell. A servant appeared, glanced at his basket, and reluctantly +admitted him, as if he were some necessary domestic animal. Ah Fe +silently mounted the stairs, and entering the open door of the front +chamber, put down the basket and stood passively on the threshold. + +A woman, who was sitting in the cold gray light of the window, with a +child in her lap, rose listlessly, and came toward him. Ah Fe instantly +recognized Mrs. Tretherick; but not a muscle of his immobile face +changed, nor did his slant eyes lighten as he met her own placidly. She +evidently did not recognize him as she began to count the clothes. But +the child, curiously examining him, suddenly uttered a short, glad cry. + +"Why, it's John, Mamma! It's our old John what we had in Fiddletown." + +For an instant Ah Fe's eyes and teeth electrically lightened. The child +clapped her hands, and caught at his blouse. Then he said shortly: "Me +John--Ah Fe--allee same. Me know you. How do?" + +Mrs. Tretherick dropped the clothes nervously, and looked hard at Ah Fe. +Wanting the quick-witted instinct of affection that sharpened Carry's +perception, she even then could not distinguish him above his fellows. +With a recollection of past pain, and an obscure suspicion of impending +danger, she asked him when he had left Fiddletown. + +"Longee time. No likee Fiddletown, no likee Tlevelick. Likee San Flisco. +Likee washee. Likee Tally." + +Ah Fe's laconics pleased Mrs. Tretherick. She did not stop to consider +how much an imperfect knowledge of English added to his curt directness +and sincerity. But she said, "Don't tell anybody you have seen me," and +took out her pocketbook. + +Ah Fe, without looking at it, saw that it was nearly empty. Ah Fe, +without examining the apartment, saw that it was scantily furnished. +Ah Fe, without removing his eyes from blank vacancy, saw that both Mrs. +Tretherick and Carry were poorly dressed. Yet it is my duty to +state that Ah Fe's long fingers closed promptly and firmly over the +half-dollar which Mrs. Tretherick extended to him. + +Then he began to fumble in his blouse with a series of extraordinary +contortions. After a few moments, he extracted from apparently no +particular place a child's apron, which he laid upon the basket with the +remark: + +"One piecee washman flagittee." + +Then he began anew his fumblings and contortions. At last his efforts +were rewarded by his producing, apparently from his right ear, a +many-folded piece of tissue paper. Unwrapping this carefully, he at +last disclosed two twenty-dollar gold pieces, which he handed to Mrs. +Tretherick. + +"You leavee money topside of blulow, Fiddletown. Me findee money. Me +fetchee money to you. All lightee." + +"But I left no money on the top of the bureau, John," said Mrs. +Tretherick earnestly. "There must be some mistake. It belongs to some +other person. Take it back, John." + +Ah Fe's brow darkened. He drew away from Mrs. Tretherick's extended +hand, and began hastily to gather up his basket. + +"Me no takee it back. No, no! Bimeby pleesman he catchee me. He say, +'God damn thief!--catchee flowty dollar: come to jailee.' Me no takee +back. You leavee money topside blulow, Fiddletown. Me fetchee money you. +Me no takee back." + +Mrs. Tretherick hesitated. In the confusion of her flight, she MIGHT +have left the money in the manner he had said. In any event, she had no +right to jeopardize this honest Chinaman's safety by refusing it. So she +said: "Very well, John, I will keep it. But you must come again and see +me--" here Mrs. Tretherick hesitated with a new and sudden revelation +of the fact that any man could wish to see any other than herself--"and, +and--Carry." + +Ah Fe's face lightened. He even uttered a short ventriloquistic laugh +without moving his mouth. Then, shouldering his basket, he shut the door +carefully and slid quietly down stairs. In the lower hall he, however, +found an unexpected difficulty in opening the front door, and, after +fumbling vainly at the lock for a moment, looked around for some help +or instruction. But the Irish handmaid who had let him in was +contemptuously oblivious of his needs, and did not appear. + +There occurred a mysterious and painful incident, which I shall simply +record without attempting to explain. On the hall table a scarf, +evidently the property of the servant before alluded to, was lying. +As Ah Fe tried the lock with one hand, the other rested lightly on the +table. Suddenly, and apparently of its own volition, the scarf began to +creep slowly toward Ah Fe's hand; from Ah Fe's hand it began to creep up +his sleeve slowly, and with an insinuating, snakelike motion; and then +disappeared somewhere in the recesses of his blouse. Without betraying +the least interest or concern in this phenomenon, Ah Fe still repeated +his experiments upon the lock. A moment later the tablecloth of red +damask, moved by apparently the same mysterious impulse, slowly gathered +itself under Ah Fe's fingers, and sinuously disappeared by the same +hidden channel. What further mystery might have followed, I cannot say; +for at this moment Ah Fe discovered the secret of the lock, and was +enabled to open the door coincident with the sound of footsteps upon +the kitchen stairs. Ah Fe did not hasten his movements, but patiently +shouldering his basket, closed the door carefully behind him again, and +stepped forth into the thick encompassing fog that now shrouded earth +and sky. + +From her high casement window, Mrs. Tretherick watched Ah Fe's figure +until it disappeared in the gray cloud. In her present loneliness, she +felt a keen sense of gratitude toward him, and may have ascribed to +the higher emotions and the consciousness of a good deed that certain +expansiveness of the chest, and swelling of the bosom, that was really +due to the hidden presence of the scarf and tablecloth under his blouse. +For Mrs. Tretherick was still poetically sensitive. As the gray fog +deepened into night, she drew Carry closer toward her, and, above +the prattle of the child, pursued a vein of sentimental and egotistic +recollection at once bitter and dangerous. The sudden apparition of Ah +Fe linked her again with her past life at Fiddletown. Over the dreary +interval between, she was now wandering--a journey so piteous, willful, +thorny, and useless that it was no wonder that at last Carry stopped +suddenly in the midst of her voluble confidences to throw her small arms +around the woman's neck, and bid her not to cry. + +Heaven forefend that I should use a pen that should be ever dedicated +to an exposition of unalterable moral principle to transcribe Mrs. +Tretherick's own theory of this interval and episode, with its feeble +palliations, its illogical deductions, its fond excuses, and weak +apologies. It would seem, however, that her experience had been hard. +Her slender stock of money was soon exhausted. At Sacramento she +found that the composition of verse, although appealing to the highest +emotions of the human heart, and compelling the editorial breast to the +noblest commendation in the editorial pages, was singularly inadequate +to defray the expenses of herself and Carry. Then she tried the stage, +but failed signally. Possibly her conception of the passions was +different from that which obtained with a Sacramento audience; but it +was certain that her charming presence, so effective at short range, was +not sufficiently pronounced for the footlights. She had admirers enough +in the greenroom, but awakened no abiding affection among the audience. +In this strait, it occurred to her that she had a voice--a contralto of +no very great compass or cultivation, but singularly sweet and touching; +and she finally obtained position in a church choir. She held it for +three months, greatly to her pecuniary advantage, and, it is said, much +to the satisfaction of the gentlemen in the back pews, who faced toward +her during the singing of the last hymn. + +I remember her quite distinctly at this time. The light that slanted +through the oriel of St. Dives's choir was wont to fall very tenderly on +her beautiful head with its stacked masses of deerskin-colored hair, on +the low black arches of her brows, and to deepen the pretty fringes +that shaded her eyes of Genoa velvet. Very pleasant it was to watch +the opening and shutting of that small straight mouth, with its quick +revelation of little white teeth, and to see the foolish blood faintly +deepen her satin cheek as you watched. For Mrs. Tretherick was very +sweetly conscious of admiration and, like most pretty women, gathered +herself under your eye like a racer under the spur. + +And then, of course, there came trouble. I have it from the soprano--a +little lady who possessed even more than the usual unprejudiced judgment +of her sex--that Mrs. Tretherick's conduct was simply shameful; that her +conceit was unbearable; that, if she considered the rest of the choir +as slaves, she (the soprano) would like to know it; that her conduct on +Easter Sunday with the basso had attracted the attention of the whole +congregation; and that she herself had noticed Dr. Cope twice look up +during the service; that her (the soprano's) friends had objected to her +singing in the choir with a person who had been on the stage, but +she had waived this. Yet she had it from the best authority that Mrs. +Tretherick had run away from her husband, and that this red-haired child +who sometimes came in the choir was not her own. The tenor confided to +me behind the organ that Mrs. Tretherick had a way of sustaining a note +at the end of a line in order that her voice might linger longer with +the congregation--an act that could be attributed only to a defective +moral nature; that as a man (he was a very popular dry goods clerk on +weekdays, and sang a good deal from apparently behind his eyebrows on +the Sabbath)--that as a man, sir, he would put up with it no longer. +The basso alone--a short German with a heavy voice, for which he seemed +reluctantly responsible, and rather grieved at its possession--stood up +for Mrs. Tretherick, and averred that they were jealous of her because +she was "bretty." The climax was at last reached in an open quarrel, +wherein Mrs. Tretherick used her tongue with such precision of statement +and epithet that the soprano burst into hysterical tears, and had to +be supported from the choir by her husband and the tenor. This act was +marked intentionally to the congregation by the omission of the usual +soprano solo. Mrs. Tretherick went home flushed with triumph, but +on reaching her room frantically told Carry that they were beggars +henceforward; that she--her mother--had just taken the very bread out +of her darling's mouth, and ended by bursting into a flood of penitent +tears. They did not come so quickly as in her old poetical days; but +when they came they stung deeply. She was roused by a formal visit from +a vestryman--one of the music committee. Mrs. Tretherick dried her long +lashes, put on a new neck ribbon, and went down to the parlor. She staid +there two hours--a fact that might have occasioned some remark but that +the vestryman was married, and had a family of grownup daughters. When +Mrs. Tretherick returned to her room, she sang to herself in the glass +and scolded Carry--but she retained her place in the choir. + +It was not long, however. In due course of time, her enemies received a +powerful addition to their forces in the committeeman's wife. That lady +called upon several of the church members and on Dr. Cope's family. +The result was that, at a later meeting of the music committee, Mrs. +Tretherick's voice was declared inadequate to the size of the building +and she was invited to resign. She did so. She had been out of a +situation for two months, and her scant means were almost exhausted, +when Ah Fe's unexpected treasure was tossed into her lap. + +The gray fog deepened into night, and the street lamps started into +shivering life as, absorbed in these unprofitable memories, Mrs. +Tretherick still sat drearily at her window. Even Carry had slipped away +unnoticed; and her abrupt entrance with the damp evening paper in +her hand roused Mrs. Tretherick, and brought her back to an active +realization of the present. For Mrs. Tretherick was wont to scan +the advertisements in the faint hope of finding some avenue of +employment--she knew not what--open to her needs; and Carry had noted +this habit. + +Mrs. Tretherick mechanically closed the shutters, lit the lights, and +opened the paper. Her eye fell instinctively on the following paragraph +in the telegraphic column: + + +FIDDLETOWN, 7th.--Mr. James Tretherick, an old resident of this place, +died last night of delirium tremens. Mr. Tretherick was addicted to +intemperate habits, said to have been induced by domestic trouble. + + +Mrs. Tretherick did not start. She quietly turned over another page of +the paper, and glanced at Carry. The child was absorbed in a book. Mrs. +Tretherick uttered no word, but during the remainder of the evening was +unusually silent and cold. When Carry was undressed and in bed, Mrs. +Tretherick suddenly dropped on her knees beside the bed, and, taking +Carry's flaming head between her hands, said: + +"Should you like to have another papa, Carry, darling?" + +"No," said Carry, after a moment's thought. + +"But a papa to help Mamma take care of you, to love you, to give you +nice clothes, to make a lady of you when you grow up?" + +Carry turned her sleepy eyes toward the questioner. "Should YOU, Mamma?" + +Mrs. Tretherick suddenly flushed to the roots of her hair. "Go to +sleep," she said sharply, and turned away. + +But at midnight the child felt two white arms close tightly around her, +and was drawn down into a bosom that heaved, fluttered, and at last was +broken up by sobs. + +"Don't ky, Mamma," whispered Carry, with a vague retrospect of their +recent conversation. "Don't ky. I fink I SHOULD like a new papa, if he +loved you very much--very, very much!" + +A month afterward, to everybody's astonishment, Mrs. Tretherick was +married. The happy bridegroom was one Colonel Starbottle, recently +elected to represent Calaveras County in the legislative councils of the +State. As I cannot record the event in finer language than that used by +the correspondent of THE SACRAMENTO GLOBE, I venture to quote some of +his graceful periods. "The relentless shafts of the sly god have been +lately busy among our gallant Solons. We quote 'one more unfortunate.' +The latest victim is the Hon. C. Starbottle of Calaveras. The fair +enchantress in the case is a beautiful widow, a former votary of +Thespis, and lately a fascinating St. Cecilia of one of the most +fashionable churches of San Francisco, where she commanded a high +salary." + +THE DUTCH FLAT INTELLIGENCER saw fit, however, to comment upon the fact +with that humorous freedom characteristic of an unfettered press. "The +new Democratic war horse from Calaveras has lately advented in the +legislature with a little bill to change the name of Tretherick +to Starbottle. They call it a marriage certificate down there. Mr. +Tretherick has been dead just one month; but we presume the gallant +colonel is not afraid of ghosts." It is but just to Mrs. Tretherick +to state that the colonel's victory was by no means an easy one. To +a natural degree of coyness on the part of the lady was added the +impediment of a rival--a prosperous undertaker from Sacramento, who +had first seen and loved Mrs. Tretherick at the theater and church, his +professional habits debarring him from ordinary social intercourse, and +indeed any other than the most formal public contact with the sex. As +this gentleman had made a snug fortune during the felicitous prevalence +of a severe epidemic, the colonel regarded him as a dangerous rival. +Fortunately, however, the undertaker was called in professionally to lay +out a brother senator, who had unhappily fallen by the colonel's pistol +in an affair of honor; and either deterred by physical consideration +from rivalry, or wisely concluding that the colonel was professionally +valuable, he withdrew from the field. + +The honeymoon was brief, and brought to a close by an untoward incident. +During their bridal trip, Carry had been placed in the charge of +Colonel Starbottle's sister. On their return to the city, immediately on +reaching their lodgings, Mrs. Starbottle announced her intention of at +once proceeding to Mrs. Culpepper's to bring the child home. Colonel +Starbottle, who had been exhibiting for some time a certain uneasiness +which he had endeavored to overcome by repeated stimulation, finally +buttoned his coat tightly across his breast, and after walking +unsteadily once or twice up and down the room, suddenly faced his wife +with his most imposing manner. + +"I have deferred," said the colonel with an exaggeration of port that +increased with his inward fear, and a growing thickness of speech--"I +have deferr--I may say poshponed statement o' fack thash my duty ter +dishclose ter ye. I did no wish to mar sushine mushal happ'ness, to +bligh bud o' promise, to darken conjuglar sky by unpleasht revelashun. +Musht be done--by God, m'm, musht do it now. The chile is gone!" + +"Gone!" echoed Mrs. Starbottle. + +There was something in the tone of her voice, in the sudden +drawing-together of the pupils of her eyes, that for a moment nearly +sobered the colonel, and partly collapsed his chest. + +"I'll splain all in a minit," he said with a deprecating wave of the +hand. "Everything shall be splained. The-the-the-melencholly event +wish preshipitate our happ'ness--the myster'us prov'nice wish releash +you--releash chile! hunerstan?--releash chile. The mom't Tretherick +die--all claim you have in chile through him--die too. Thash law. Who's +chile b'long to? Tretherick? Tretherick dead. Chile can't b'long dead +man. Damn nonshense b'long dead man. I'sh your chile? no! whose chile +then? Chile b'long to 'ts mother. Unnerstan?" + +"Where is she?" said Mrs. Starbottle, with a very white face and a very +low voice. + +"I'll splain all. Chile b'long to 'ts mother. Thash law. I'm lawyer, +leshlator, and American sis'n. Ish my duty as lawyer, as leshlator, and +'merikan sis'n to reshtore chile to suff'rin mother at any coss--any +coss." + +"Where is she?" repeated Mrs. Starbottle, with her eyes still fixed on +the colonel's face. + +"Gone to 'ts m'o'r. Gone East on shteamer, yesserday. Waffed by fav'rin +gales to suff'rin p'rent. Thash so!" + +Mrs. Starbottle did not move. The colonel felt his chest slowly +collapsing, but steadied himself against a chair, and endeavored to beam +with chivalrous gallantry not unmixed with magisterial firmness upon her +as she sat. + +"Your feelin's, m'm, do honor to yer sex, but conshider situashun. +Conshider m'or's feelings--conshider MY feelin's." The colonel paused, +and flourishing a white handkerchief, placed it negligently in his +breast, and then smiled tenderly above it, as over laces and ruffles, on +the woman before him. "Why should dark shed-der cass bligh on two sholes +with single beat? Chile's fine chile, good chile, but summonelse chile! +Chile's gone, Clar'; but all ish'n't gone, Clar'. Conshider dearesht, +you all's have me!" + +Mrs. Starbottle started to her feet. "YOU!" she cried, bringing out a +chest note that made the chandeliers ring--"You that I married to give +my darling food and clothes--YOU! a dog that I whistled to my side to +keep the men off me--YOU!" + +She choked up, and then dashed past him into the inner room, which had +been Carry's; then she swept by him again into her own bedroom, and then +suddenly reappeared before him, erect, menacing, with a burning fire +over her cheekbones, a quick straightening of her arched brows and +mouth, a squaring of jaw, and ophidian flattening of the head. + +"Listen!" she said in a hoarse, half-grown boy's voice. "Hear me! If +you ever expect to set eyes on me again, you must find the child. If you +ever expect to speak to me again, to touch me, you must bring her back. +For where she goes, I go; you hear me! Where she has gone, look for me." + +She struck out past him again with a quick feminine throwing-out of her +arms from the elbows down, as if freeing herself from some imaginary +bonds, and dashing into her chamber, slammed and locked the door. +Colonel Starbottle, although no coward, stood in superstitious fear +of an angry woman, and, recoiling as she swept by, lost his unsteady +foothold and rolled helplessly on the sofa. Here, after one or two +unsuccessful attempts to regain his foothold, he remained, uttering from +time to time profane but not entirely coherent or intelligible protests, +until at last he succumbed to the exhausting quality of his emotions, +and the narcotic quantity of his potations. + +Meantime, within, Mrs. Starbottle was excitedly gathering her valuables +and packing her trunk, even as she had done once before in the course +of this remarkable history. Perhaps some recollection of this was in her +mind; for she stopped to lean her burning cheeks upon her hand, as if +she saw again the figure of the child standing in the doorway, and heard +once more a childish voice asking, "Is it Mamma?" But the epithet now +stung her to the quick, and with a quick, passionate gesture she dashed +it away with a tear that had gathered in her eye. And then it chanced +that, in turning over some clothes, she came upon the child's slipper +with a broken sandal string. She uttered a great cry here--the first she +had uttered--and caught it to her breast, kissing it passionately again +and again, and rocking from side to side with a motion peculiar to her +sex. And then she took it to the window, the better to see it through +her now streaming eyes. Here she was taken with a sudden fit of coughing +that she could not stifle with the handkerchief she put to her feverish +lips. And then she suddenly grew very faint. The window seemed to recede +before her, the floor to sink beneath her feet; and staggering to the +bed, she fell prone upon it with the sandal and handkerchief pressed +to her breast. Her face was quite pale, the orbit of her eyes dark; and +there was a spot upon her lip, another on her handkerchief, and still +another on the white counterpane of the bed. + +The wind had risen, rattling the window sashes and swaying the white +curtains in a ghostly way. Later, a gray fog stole softly over the +roofs, soothing the wind-roughened surfaces, and in-wrapping all things +in an uncertain light and a measureless peace. She lay there very +quiet--for all her troubles, still a very pretty bride. And on the +other side of the bolted door the gallant bridegroom, from his temporary +couch, snored peacefully. + + +A week before Christmas Day, 1870, the little town of Genoa, in the +State of New York, exhibited, perhaps more strongly than at any other +time, the bitter irony of its founders and sponsors. A driving snowstorm +that had whitened every windward hedge, bush, wall, and telegraph pole, +played around this soft Italian Capital, whirled in and out of the great +staring wooden Doric columns of its post office and hotel, beat upon the +cold green shutters of its best houses, and powdered the angular, stiff, +dark figures in its streets. From the level of the street, the four +principal churches of the town stood out starkly, even while their +misshapen spires were kindly hidden in the low, driving storm. Near +the railroad station, the new Methodist chapel, whose resemblance to +an enormous locomotive was further heightened by the addition of a +pyramidal row of front steps, like a cowcatcher, stood as if waiting for +a few more houses to be hitched on to proceed to a pleasanter +location. But the pride of Genoa--the great Crammer Institute for Young +Ladies--stretched its bare brick length and reared its cupola plainly +from the bleak Parnassian hill above the principal avenue. There was +no evasion in the Crammer Institute of the fact that it was a public +institution. A visitor upon its doorsteps, a pretty face at its window, +were clearly visible all over the township. + +The shriek of the engine of the four-o'clock Northern express brought +but few of the usual loungers to the depot. Only a single passenger +alighted, and was driven away in the solitary waiting sleigh toward the +Genoa Hotel. And then the train sped away again, with that passionless +indifference to human sympathies or curiosity peculiar to express +trains; the one baggage truck was wheeled into the station again; the +station door was locked; and the stationmaster went home. + +The locomotive whistle, however, awakened the guilty consciousness +of three young ladies of the Crammer Institute, who were even then +surreptitiously regaling themselves in the bakeshop and confectionery +saloon of Mistress Phillips in a by-lane. For even the admirable +regulations of the Institute failed to entirely develop the physical +and moral natures of its pupils. They conformed to the excellent dietary +rules in public, and in private drew upon the luxurious rations of their +village caterer. They attended church with exemplary formality, and +flirted informally during service with the village beaux. They received +the best and most judicious instruction during school hours, and +devoured the trashiest novels during recess. The result of which was +an aggregation of quite healthy, quite human, and very charming young +creatures that reflected infinite credit on the Institute. Even Mistress +Phillips, to whom they owed vast sums, exhilarated by the exuberant +spirits and youthful freshness of her guests, declared that the sight of +"them young things" did her good, and had even been known to shield them +by shameless equivocation. + +"Four o'clock, girls! and, if we're not back to prayers by five, we'll +be missed," said the tallest of these foolish virgins, with an aquiline +nose, and certain quiet elan that bespoke the leader, as she rose +from her seat. "Have you got the books, Addy?" Addy displayed three +dissipated-looking novels under her waterproof. "And the provisions, +Carry?" Carry showed a suspicious parcel filling the pocket of her sack. +"All right, then. Come, girls, trudge--Charge it," she added, nodding to +her host as they passed toward the door. "I'll pay you when my quarter's +allowance comes." + +"No, Kate," interposed Carry, producing her purse, "let me pay; it's my +turn." + +"Never!" said Kate, arching her black brows loftily, "even if you do +have rich relatives, and regular remittances from California. Never! +Come, girls, forward, march!" + +As they opened the door, a gust of wind nearly took them off their feet. +Kindhearted Mrs. Phillips was alarmed. "Sakes alive, galls! ye mussn't +go out in sich weather. Better let me send word to the Institoot, and +make ye up a nice bed tonight in my parlor." But the last sentence was +lost in a chorus of half-suppressed shrieks as the girls, hand in hand, +ran down the steps into the storm, and were at once whirled away. + +The short December day, unlit by any sunset glow, was failing fast. It +was quite dark already, and the air was thick with driving snow. For +some distance their high spirits, youth, and even inexperience kept them +bravely up; but, in ambitiously attempting a short cut from the highroad +across an open field, their strength gave out, the laugh grew less +frequent, and tears began to stand in Carry's brown eyes. When they +reached the road again, they were utterly exhausted. "Let us go back," +said Carry. + +"We'd never get across that field again," said Addy. + +"Let's stop at the first house, then," said Carry. + +"The first house," said Addy, peering through the gathering darkness, +"is Squire Robinson's." She darted a mischievous glance at Carry that, +even in her discomfort and fear, brought the quick blood to her cheek. + +"Oh, yes!" said Kate with gloomy irony, "certainly; stop at the squire's +by all means, and be invited to tea, and be driven home after by your +dear friend Mr. Harry, with a formal apology from Mrs. Robinson, and +hopes that the young ladies may be excused this time. No!" continued +Kate with sudden energy. "That may suit YOU; but I'm going back as I +came--by the window, or not at all" Then she pounced suddenly, like a +hawk, on Carry, who was betraying a tendency to sit down on a snowbank +and whimper, and shook her briskly. "You'll be going to sleep next. +Stay, hold your tongues, all of you--what's that?" + +It was the sound of sleigh bells. Coming down toward them out of the +darkness was a sleigh with a single occupant. "Hold down your heads, +girls: if it's anybody that knows us, we're lost." But it was not, for a +voice strange to their ears, but withal very kindly and pleasant, asked +if its owner could be of any help to them. As they turned toward him, +they saw it was a man wrapped in a handsome sealskin cloak, wearing +a sealskin cap; his face, half-concealed by a muffler of the same +material, disclosing only a pair of long mustaches, and two keen +dark eyes. "It's a son of old Santa Claus!" whispered Addy. The girls +tittered audibly as they tumbled into the sleigh; they had regained +their former spirits. "Where shall I take you?" said the stranger +quietly. There was a hurried whispering; and then Kate said boldly, "To +the Institute." They drove silently up the hill, until the long, ascetic +building loomed up before them. The stranger reined up suddenly. "You +know the way better than I," he said. "Where do you go in?" "Through the +back window," said Kate with sudden and appalling frankness. "I see!" +responded their strange driver quietly and, alighting quickly, removed +the bells from the horses. "We can drive as near as you please now," +he added by way of explanation. "He certainly is a son of Santa Claus," +whispered Addy. "Hadn't we better ask after his father?" "Hush!" said +Kate decidedly. "He is an angel, I dare say." She added with a delicious +irrelevance, which was, however, perfectly understood by her feminine +auditors, "We are looking like three frights." + +Cautiously skirting the fences, they at last pulled up a few feet from +a dark wall. The stranger proceeded to assist them to alight. There +was still some light from the reflected snow; and as he handed his fair +companions to the ground, each was conscious of undergoing an intense +though respectful scrutiny. He assisted them gravely to open the window, +and then discreetly retired to the sleigh until the difficult and +somewhat discomposing ingress was made. He then walked to the window. +"Thank you and good night!" whispered three voices. A single figure +still lingered. The stranger leaned over the window sill. "Will you +permit me to light my cigar here? It might attract attention if I struck +a match outside." By the upspringing light he saw the figure of Kate +very charmingly framed in by the window. The match burnt slowly out +in his fingers. Kate smiled mischievously. The astute young woman had +detected the pitiable subterfuge. For what else did she stand at the +head of her class, and had doting parents paid three years' tuition? + +The storm had passed, and the sun was shining quite cheerily in the +eastern recitation room the next morning when Miss Kate, whose seat +was nearest the window, placing her hand pathetically upon her heart, +affected to fall in bashful and extreme agitation upon the shoulder of +Carry, her neighbor. "HE has come," she gasped in a thrilling whisper. +"Who?" asked Carry sympathetically, who never clearly understood when +Kate was in earnest. "Who?--Why, the man who rescued us last night! I +saw him drive to the door this moment. Don't speak; I shall be better in +a moment--there!" she said, and the shameless hypocrite passed her hand +pathetically across her forehead with a tragic air. + +"What can he want?" asked Carry, whose curiosity was excited. "I don't +know," said Kate, suddenly relapsing into gloomy cynicism. "Possibly to +put his five daughters to school; perhaps to finish his young wife, and +warn her against us." + +"He didn't look old, and he didn't seem like a married man," rejoined +Addy thoughtfully. + +"That was his art, you poor creature!" returned Kate scornfully. "You +can never tell anything of these men, they are so deceitful. Besides, +it's just my fate!" + +"Why, Kate," began Carry, in serious concern. + +"Hush! Miss Walker is saying something," said Kate, laughing. + +"The young ladies will please give attention," said a slow, perfunctory +voice. "Miss Carry Tretherick is wanted in the parlor." + +Meantime Mr. Jack Prince, the name given on the card, and various +letters and credentials submitted to the Rev. Mr. Crammer, paced the +somewhat severe apartment known publicly as the "reception parlor" and +privately to the pupils as "purgatory." His keen eyes had taken in the +various rigid details, from the flat steam "radiator," like an enormous +japanned soda cracker, that heated one end of the room to the monumental +bust of Dr. Crammer that hopelessly chilled the other; from the Lord's +Prayer, executed by a former writing master in such gratuitous variety +of elegant calligraphic trifling as to abate considerably the serious +value of the composition, to three views of Genoa from the Institute, +which nobody ever recognized, taken on the spot by the drawing teacher; +from two illuminated texts of Scripture in an English letter, so +gratuitously and hideously remote as to chill all human interest, to a +large photograph of the senior class, in which the prettiest girls were +Ethiopian in complexion, and sat, apparently, on each other's heads +and shoulders. His fingers had turned listlessly the leaves of +school-catalogues, the SERMONS of Dr. Crammer, the POEMS of Henry Kirke +White, the LAYS OF THE SANCTUARY and LIVES OF CELEBRATED WOMEN. His +fancy, and it was a nervously active one, had gone over the partings +and greetings that must have taken place here, and wondered why the +apartment had yet caught so little of the flavor of humanity; indeed, I +am afraid he had almost forgotten the object of his visit when the door +opened, and Carry Tretherick stood before him. + +It was one of those faces he had seen the night before, prettier even +than it had seemed then; and yet I think he was conscious of some +disappointment, without knowing exactly why. Her abundant waving hair +was of a guinea-golden tint, her complexion of a peculiar flowerlike +delicacy, her brown eyes of the color of seaweed in deep water. It +certainly was not her beauty that disappointed him. + +Without possessing his sensitiveness to impression, Carry was, on her +part, quite as vaguely ill at ease. She saw before her one of those men +whom the sex would vaguely generalize as "nice," that is to say, correct +in all the superficial appointments of style, dress, manners, and +feature. Yet there was a decidedly unconventional quality about him: he +was totally unlike anything or anybody that she could remember; and as +the attributes of originality are often as apt to alarm as to attract +people, she was not entirely prepossessed in his favor. + +"I can hardly hope," he began pleasantly, "that you remember me. It is +eleven years ago, and you were a very little girl. I am afraid I cannot +even claim to have enjoyed that familiarity that might exist between a +child of six and a young man of twenty-one. I don't think I was fond +of children. But I knew your mother very well. I was editor of the +AVALANCHE in Fiddletown when she took you to San Francisco." + +"You mean my stepmother; she wasn't my mother, you know," interposed +Carry hastily. + +Mr. Prince looked at her curiously. "I mean your stepmother," he said +gravely. "I never had the pleasure of meeting your mother." + +"No; MOTHER hasn't been in California these twelve years." + +There was an intentional emphasizing of the title and of its distinction +that began to interest coldly Prince after his first astonishment was +past. + +"As I come from your stepmother now," he went on with a slight laugh, +"I must ask you to go back for a few moments to that point. After your +father's death, your mother--I mean your stepmother--recognized the fact +that your mother, the first Mrs. Tretherick, was legally and morally +your guardian and, although much against her inclination and affections, +placed you again in her charge." + +"My stepmother married again within a month after father died, and sent +me home," said Carry with great directness, and the faintest toss of her +head. + +Mr. Prince smiled so sweetly, and apparently so sympathetically, that +Carry began to like him. With no other notice of the interruption +he went on, "After your stepmother had performed this act of simple +justice, she entered into an agreement with your mother to defray the +expenses of your education until your eighteenth year, when you were to +elect and choose which of the two should thereafter be your guardian, +and with whom you would make your home. This agreement, I think, you are +already aware of, and, I believe, knew at the time." + +"I was a mere child then," said Carry. + +"Certainly," said Mr. Prince, with the same smile. "Still the +conditions, I think, have never been oppressive to you nor your mother; +and the only time they are likely to give you the least uneasiness will +be when you come to make up your mind in the choice of your guardian. +That will be on your eighteenth birthday--the twentieth, I think, of the +present month." + +Carry was silent. + +"Pray do not think that I am here to receive your decision, even if it +be already made. I only came to inform you that your stepmother, Mrs. +Starbottle, will be in town tomorrow, and will pass a few days at the +hotel. If it is your wish to see her before you make up your mind, she +will be glad to meet you. She does not, however, wish to do anything to +influence your judgment. + +"Does Mother know she is coming?" said Carry hastily. + +"I do not know," said Prince gravely. "I only know that if you conclude +to see Mrs. Starbottle, it will be with your mother's permission. Mrs. +Starbottle will keep sacredly this part of the agreement, made ten years +ago. But her health is very poor; and the change and country quiet of +a few days may benefit her." Mr. Prince bent his keen, bright eyes upon +the young girl, and almost held his breath until she spoke again. + +"Mother's coming up today or tomorrow," she said, looking up. + +"Ah!" said Mr. Prince with a sweet and languid smile. + +"Is Colonel Starbottle here too?" asked Carry, after a pause. + +"Colonel Starbottle is dead. Your stepmother is again a widow." + +"Dead!" repeated Carry. + +"Yes," replied Mr. Prince. "Your stepmother has been singularly +unfortunate in surviving her affections." + +Carry did not know what he meant, and looked so. Mr. Prince smiled +reassuringly. + +Presently Carry began to whimper. + +Mr. Prince softly stepped beside her chair. + +"I am afraid," he said with a very peculiar light in his eye, and a +singular dropping of the corners of his mustache--"I am afraid you are +taking this too deeply. It will be some days before you are called upon +to make a decision. Let us talk of something else. I hope you caught no +cold last evening." + +Carry's face shone out again in dimples. + +"You must have thought us so queer! It was too bad to give you so much +trouble." + +"None whatever, I assure you. My sense of propriety," he added demurely, +"which might have been outraged had I been called upon to help three +young ladies out of a schoolroom window at night, was deeply gratified +at being able to assist them in again." The doorbell rang loudly, and +Mr. Prince rose. "Take your own time, and think well before you make +your decision." But Carry's ear and attention were given to the sound of +voices in the hall. At the same moment, the door was thrown open, and a +servant announced, "Mrs. Tretherick and Mr. Robinson." + +The afternoon train had just shrieked out its usual indignant protest at +stopping at Genoa at all as Mr. Jack Prince entered the outskirts of the +town, and drove toward his hotel. He was wearied and cynical. A drive +of a dozen miles through unpicturesque outlying villages, past small +economic farmhouses, and hideous villas that violated his fastidious +taste, had, I fear, left that gentleman in a captious state of mind. +He would have even avoided his taciturn landlord as he drove up to the +door; but that functionary waylaid him on the steps. "There's a lady +in the sittin'-room, waitin' for ye." Mr. Prince hurried upstairs, and +entered the room as Mrs. Starbottle flew toward him. + +She had changed sadly in the last ten years. Her figure was wasted +to half its size. The beautiful curves of her bust and shoulders were +broken or inverted. The once full, rounded arm was shrunken in its +sleeve; and the golden hoops that encircled her wan wrists almost +slipped from her hands as her long, scant fingers closed convulsively +around Jack's. Her cheekbones were painted that afternoon with the +hectic of fever: somewhere in the hollows of those cheeks were buried +the dimples of long ago, but their graves were forgotten. Her lustrous +eyes were still beautiful, though the orbits were deeper than before. +Her mouth was still sweet, although the lips parted more easily over the +little teeth, even in breathing, and showed more of them than she was +wont to do before. The glory of her blond hair was still left: it was +finer, more silken and ethereal, yet it failed even in its plenitude to +cover the hollows of the blue-veined temples. + +"Clara!" said Jack reproachfully. + +"Oh, forgive me, Jack!" she said, falling into a chair, but still +clinging to his hand--"forgive me, dear; but I could not wait longer. I +should have died, Jack--died before another night. Bear with me a little +longer (it will not be long), but let me stay. I may not see her, I +know; I shall not speak to her: but it's so sweet to feel that I am at +last near her, that I breathe the same air with my darling. I am better +already, Jack, I am indeed. And you have seen her today? How did +she look? What did she say? Tell me all, everything, Jack. Was she +beautiful? They say she is. Has she grown? Would you have known +her again? Will she come, Jack? Perhaps she has been here already; +perhaps"--she had risen with tremulous excitement, and was glancing at +the door--"perhaps she is here now. Why don't you speak, Jack? Tell me +all." + +The keen eyes that looked down into hers were glistening with an +infinite tenderness that none, perhaps, but she would have deemed them +capable of. "Clara," he said gently and cheerily, "try and compose +yourself. You are trembling now with the fatigue and excitement of your +journey. I have seen Carry; she is well and beautiful. Let that suffice +you now." + +His gentle firmness composed and calmed her now, as it had often done +before. Stroking her thin hand, he said, after a pause, "Did Carry ever +write to you?" + +"Twice, thanking me for some presents. They were only schoolgirl +letters," she added, nervously answering the interrogation of his eyes. + +"Did she ever know of your own troubles? of your poverty, of the +sacrifices you made to pay her bills, of your pawning your clothes and +jewels, of your--" + +"No, no!" interrupted the woman quickly: "no! How could she? I have no +enemy cruel enough to tell her that." + +"But if she--or if Mrs. Tretherick--had heard of it? If Carry thought +you were poor, and unable to support her properly, it might influence +her decision. Young girls are fond of the position that wealth can give. +She may have rich friends, maybe a lover." + +Mrs. Starbottle winced at the last sentence. "But," she said eagerly, +grasping Jack's hand, "when you found me sick and helpless at +Sacramento, when you--God bless you for it, Jack!--offered to help me to +the East, you said you knew of something, you had some plan, that would +make me and Carry independent." + +"Yes," said Jack hastily; "but I want you to get strong and well first. +And, now that you are calmer, you shall listen to my visit to the +school." + +It was then that Mr. Jack Prince proceeded to describe the interview +already recorded, with a singular felicity and discretion that shames +my own account of that proceeding. Without suppressing a single fact, +without omitting a word or detail, he yet managed to throw a poetic veil +over that prosaic episode, to invest the heroine with a romantic roseate +atmosphere, which, though not perhaps entirely imaginary, still, I fear, +exhibited that genius which ten years ago had made the columns of THE +FIDDLETOWN AVALANCHE at once fascinating and instructive. It was not +until he saw the heightening color, and heard the quick breathing, of +his eager listener, that he felt a pang of self-reproach. "God help her +and forgive me!" he muttered between his clinched teeth; "but how can I +tell her ALL now!" + +That night, when Mrs. Starbottle laid her weary head upon her pillow, +she tried to picture to herself Carry at the same moment sleeping +peacefully in the great schoolhouse on the hill; and it was a rare +comfort to this yearning, foolish woman to know that she was so +near. But at this moment Carry was sitting on the edge of her bed, +half-undressed, pouting her pretty lips and twisting her long, leonine +locks between her fingers as Miss Kate Van Corlear--dramatically +wrapped in a long white counterpane, her black eyes sparkling, and her +thoroughbred nose thrown high in air--stood over her like a wrathful and +indignant ghost; for Carry had that evening imparted her woes and her +history to Miss Kate, and that young lady had "proved herself no friend" +by falling into a state of fiery indignation over Carry's "ingratitude," +and openly and shamelessly espousing the claims of Mrs. Starbottle. +"Why, if the half you tell me is true, your mother and those Robinsons +are making of you not only a little coward, but a little snob, miss. +Respectability, forsooth! Look you, my family are centuries before the +Trethericks; but if my family had ever treated me in this way, and then +asked me to turn my back on my best friend, I'd whistle them down the +wind;" and here Kate snapped her fingers, bent her black brows, and +glared around the room as if in search of a recreant Van Corlear. + +"You just talk this way because you have taken a fancy to that Mr. +Prince," said Carry. + +In the debasing slang of the period, that had even found its way +into the virgin cloisters of the Crammer Institute, Miss Kate, as she +afterward expressed it, instantly "went for her." + +First, with a shake of her head, she threw her long black hair over one +shoulder, then, dropping one end of the counterpane from the other like +a vestal tunic, she stepped before Carry with a purposely exaggerated +classic stride. "And what if I have, miss! What if I happen to know a +gentleman when I see him! What if I happen to know that among a thousand +such traditional, conventional, feeble editions of their grandfathers +as Mr. Harry Robinson, you cannot find one original, independent, +individualized gentleman like your Prince! Go to bed, miss, and pray +to Heaven that he may be YOUR Prince indeed. Ask to have a contrite and +grateful heart, and thank the Lord in particular for having sent you +such a friend as Kate Van Corlear." Yet, after an imposing dramatic +exit, she reappeared the next moment as a straight white flash, kissed +Carry between the brows, and was gone. + +The next day was a weary one to Jack Prince. He was convinced in his +mind that Carry would not come; yet to keep this consciousness from +Mrs. Starbottle, to meet her simple hopefulness with an equal degree of +apparent faith, was a hard and difficult task. He would have tried to +divert her mind by taking her on a long drive; but she was fearful that +Carry might come during her absence; and her strength, he was obliged to +admit, had failed greatly. As he looked into her large and awe-inspiring +clear eyes, a something he tried to keep from his mind--to put off day +by day from contemplation--kept asserting itself directly to his inner +consciousness. He began to doubt the expediency and wisdom of his +management. He recalled every incident of his interview with Carry, and +half-believed that its failure was due to himself. Yet Mrs. Starbottle +was very patient and confident; her very confidence shook his faith in +his own judgment. When her strength was equal to the exertion, she was +propped up in her chair by the window, where she could see the school +and the entrance to the hotel. In the intervals she would elaborate +pleasant plans for the future, and would sketch a country home. She had +taken a strange fancy, as it seemed to Prince, to the present location; +but it was notable that the future, always thus outlined, was one of +quiet and repose. She believed she would get well soon; in fact, she +thought she was now much better than she had been, but it might be long +before she should be quite strong again. She would whisper on in this +way until Jack would dash madly down into the barroom, order liquors +that he did not drink, light cigars that he did not smoke, talk with men +that he did not listen to, and behave generally as our stronger sex is +apt to do in periods of delicate trials and perplexity. + +The day closed with a clouded sky and a bitter, searching wind. With +the night fell a few wandering flakes of snow. She was still content +and hopeful; and, as Jack wheeled her from the window to the fire, +she explained to him how that, as the school term was drawing near its +close, Carry was probably kept closely at her lessons during the day, +and could only leave the school at night. So she sat up the greater part +of the evening, and combed her silken hair, and as far as her strength +would allow, made an undress toilet to receive her guest. "We must not +frighten the child, Jack," she said apologetically, and with something +of her old coquetry. + +It was with a feeling of relief that, at ten o'clock, Jack received a +message from the landlord, saying that the doctor would like to see him +for a moment downstairs. As Jack entered the grim, dimly lighted parlor, +he observed the hooded figure of a woman near the fire. He was about to +withdraw again when a voice that he remembered very pleasantly said: + +"Oh, it's all right! I'm the doctor." + +The hood was thrown back, and Prince saw the shining black hair and +black, audacious eyes of Kate Van Corlear. + +"Don't ask any questions. I'm the doctor, and there's my prescription," +and she pointed to the half-frightened, half-sobbing Carry in the +corner--"to be taken at once." + +"Then Mrs. Tretherick has given her permission?" + +"Not much, if I know the sentiments of that lady," replied Kate saucily. + +"Then how did you get away?" asked Prince gravely. + +"BY THE WINDOW." + +When Mr. Prince had left Carry in the arms of her stepmother, he +returned to the parlor. + +"Well?" demanded Kate. + +"She will stay--YOU will, I hope, also--tonight." + +"As I shall not be eighteen, and my own mistress on the twentieth, and +as I haven't a sick stepmother, I won't." + +"Then you will give me the pleasure of seeing you safely through the +window again?" + +When Mr. Prince returned an hour later, he found Carry sitting on a low +stool at Mrs. Starbottle's feet. Her head was in her stepmother's lap, +and she had sobbed herself to sleep. Mrs. Starbottle put her finger +to her lip. "I told you she would come. God bless you, Jack! and good +night." + +The next morning Mrs. Tretherick, indignant, the Rev. Asa Crammer, +principal, injured, and Mr. Joel Robinson, Sr., complacently +respectable, called upon Mr. Prince. There was a stormy meeting, ending +in a demand for Carry. "We certainly cannot admit of this interference," +said Mrs. Tretherick, a fashionably dressed, indistinctive-looking +woman. "It is several days before the expiration of our agreement; and +we do not feel, under the circumstances, justified in releasing Mrs. +Starbottle from its conditions." "Until the expiration of the school +term, we must consider Miss Tretherick as complying entirely with its +rules and discipline," imposed Dr. Crammer. "The whole proceeding is +calculated to injure the prospects, and compromise the position, of Miss +Tretherick in society," suggested Mr. Robinson. + +In vain Mr. Prince urged the failing condition of Mrs. Starbottle, her +absolute freedom from complicity with Carry's flight, the pardonable +and natural instincts of the girl, and his own assurance that they were +willing to abide by her decision. And then, with a rising color in +his cheek, a dangerous look in his eye, but a singular calmness in his +speech, he added: + +"One word more. It becomes my duty to inform you of a circumstance which +would certainly justify me, as an executor of the late Mr. Tretherick, +in fully resisting your demands. A few months after Mr. Tretherick's +death, through the agency of a Chinaman in his employment, it was +discovered that he had made a will, which was subsequently found among +his papers. The insignificant value of his bequest--mostly land, then +quite valueless--prevented his executors from carrying out his wishes, +or from even proving the will, or making it otherwise publicly known, +until within the last two or three years, when the property had +enormously increased in value. The provisions of that bequest are +simple, but unmistakable. The property is divided between Carry and +her stepmother, with the explicit condition that Mrs. Starbottle shall +become her legal guardian, provide for her education, and in all details +stand to her IN LOCO PARENTIS." + +"What is the value of this bequest?" asked Mr. Robinson. "I cannot +tell exactly, but not far from half a million, I should say," returned +Prince. "Certainly, with this knowledge, as a friend of Miss Tretherick +I must say that her conduct is as judicious as it is honorable to her," +responded Mr. Robinson. "I shall not presume to question the wishes, +or throw any obstacles in the way of carrying out the intentions, of my +dead husband," added Mrs. Tretherick; and the interview was closed. + +When its result was made known to Mrs. Starbottle, she raised Jack's +hand to her feverish lips. "It cannot add to MY happiness now, Jack; but +tell me, why did you keep it from her?" Jack smiled, but did not reply. + +Within the next week the necessary legal formalities were concluded, and +Carry was restored to her stepmother. At Mrs. Starbottle's request, a +small house in the outskirts of the town was procured; and thither they +removed to wait the spring, and Mrs. Starbottle's convalescence. Both +came tardily that year. + +Yet she was happy and patient. She was fond of watching the budding +of the trees beyond her window--a novel sight to her Californian +experience--and of asking Carry their names and seasons. Even at this +time she projected for that summer, which seemed to her so mysteriously +withheld, long walks with Carry through the leafy woods, whose gray, +misty ranks she could see along the hilltop. She even thought she +could write poetry about them, and recalled the fact as evidence of her +gaining strength; and there is, I believe, still treasured by one of the +members of this little household a little carol so joyous, so simple, +and so innocent that it might have been an echo of the robin that called +to her from the window, as perhaps it was. + +And then, without warning, there dropped from Heaven a day so tender, so +mystically soft, so dreamily beautiful, so throbbing and alive with the +fluttering of invisible wings, so replete and bounteously overflowing +with an awakening and joyous resurrection not taught by man or limited +by creed, that they thought it fit to bring her out and lay her in that +glorious sunshine that sprinkled like the droppings of a bridal torch +the happy lintels and doors. And there she lay beatified and calm. + +Wearied by watching, Carry had fallen asleep by her side; and Mrs. +Starbottle's thin fingers lay like a benediction on her head. Presently +she called Jack to her side. + +"Who was that," she whispered, "who just came in?" + +"Miss Van Corlear," said Jack, answering the look in her great hollow +eyes. + +"Jack," she said, after a moment's silence, "sit by me a moment; dear +Jack: I've something I must say. If I ever seemed hard, or cold, or +coquettish to you in the old days, it was because I loved you, Jack, too +well to mar your future by linking it with my own. I always loved you, +dear Jack, even when I seemed least worthy of you. That is gone now. But +I had a dream lately, Jack, a foolish woman's dream--that you might find +what I lacked in HER," and she glanced lovingly at the sleeping girl at +her side; "that you might love her as you have loved me. But even that +is not to be, Jack, is it?" and she glanced wistfully in his face. Jack +pressed her hand, but did not speak. After a few moments' silence, she +again said: "Perhaps you are right in your choice. She is a goodhearted +girl, Jack--but a little bold." + +And with this last flicker of foolish, weak humanity in her struggling +spirit, she spoke no more. When they came to her a moment later, a tiny +bird that had lit upon her breast flew away; and the hand that they +lifted from Carry's head fell lifeless at her side. + + + + +BARKER'S LUCK + + +A bird twittered! The morning sun shining through the open window was +apparently more potent than the cool mountain air, which had only caused +the sleeper to curl a little more tightly in his blankets. Barker's eyes +opened instantly upon the light and the bird on the window ledge. Like +all healthy young animals he would have tried to sleep again, but with +his momentary consciousness came the recollection that it was his turn +to cook the breakfast that morning, and he regretfully rolled out of +his bunk to the floor. Without stopping to dress, he opened the door and +stepped outside, secure in the knowledge that he was overlooked only by +the Sierras, and plunged his head and shoulders in the bucket of cold +water that stood by the door. Then he began to clothe himself, partly in +the cabin and partly in the open air, with a lapse between the putting +on of his trousers and coat which he employed in bringing in wood. +Raking together the few embers on the adobe hearth, not without a +prudent regard to the rattlesnake which had once been detected in +haunting the warm ashes, he began to prepare breakfast. By this time the +other sleepers, his partners Stacy and Demorest, young men of about his +own age, were awake, alert, and lazily critical of his progress. + +"I don't care about my quail on toast being underdone for breakfast," +said Stacy, with a yawn; "and you needn't serve with red wine. I'm not +feeling very peckish this morning." + +"And I reckon you can knock off the fried oysters after the Spanish +mackerel for ME," said Demorest gravely. "The fact is, that last bottle +of Veuve Clicquot we had for supper wasn't as dry as I am this morning." + +Accustomed to these regular Barmecide suggestions, Barker made no direct +reply. Presently, looking up from the fire, he said, "There's no more +saleratus, so you mustn't blame me if the biscuit is extra heavy. I told +you we had none when you went to the grocery yesterday." + +"And I told you we hadn't a red cent to buy any with," said Stacy, who +was also treasurer. "Put these two negatives together and you make the +affirmative--saleratus. Mix freely and bake in a hot oven." + +Nevertheless, after a toilet as primitive as Barker's they sat down to +what he had prepared with the keen appetite begotten of the mountain +air and the regretful fastidiousness born of the recollection of better +things. Jerked beef, frizzled with salt pork in a frying-pan, boiled +potatoes, biscuit, and coffee composed the repast. The biscuits, +however, proving remarkably heavy after the first mouthful, were used +as missiles, thrown through the open door at an empty bottle which had +previously served as a mark for revolver practice, and a few moments +later pipes were lit to counteract the effects of the meal and take +the taste out of their mouths. Suddenly they heard the sound of horses' +hoofs, saw the quick passage of a rider in the open space before the +cabin, and felt the smart impact upon the table of some small object +thrown by him. It was the regular morning delivery of the county +newspaper! + +"He's getting to be a mighty sure shot," said Demorest approvingly, +looking at his upset can of coffee as he picked up the paper, rolled +into a cylindrical wad as tightly as a cartridge, and began to +straighten it out. This was no easy matter, as the sheet had evidently +been rolled while yet damp from the press; but Demorest eventually +opened it and ensconced himself behind it. + +"Nary news?" asked Stacy. + +"No. There never is any," said Demorest scornfully. "We ought to stop +the paper." + +"You mean the paper man ought to. WE don't pay him," said Barker gently. + +"Well, that's the same thing, smarty. No news, no pay. Hallo!" he +continued, his eyes suddenly riveted on the paper. Then, after the +fashion of ordinary humanity, he stopped short and read the interesting +item to himself. When he had finished he brought his fist and the paper, +together, violently down upon the table. "Now look at this! Talk of +luck, will you? Just think of it. Here are WE--hard-working men with +lots of sabe, too--grubbin' away on this hillside like niggers, glad +to get enough at the end of the day to pay for our soggy biscuits and +horse-bean coffee, and just look what falls into the lap of some lazy +sneakin' greenhorn who never did a stoke of work in his life! Here are +WE, with no foolishness, no airs nor graces, and yet men who would do +credit to twice that amount of luck--and seem born to it, too--and we're +set aside for some long, lank, pen-wiping scrub who just knows enough to +sit down on his office stool and hold on to a bit of paper." + +"What's up now?" asked Stacy, with the carelessness begotten of +familiarity with his partner's extravagance. + +"Listen," said Demorest, reading. "Another unprecedented rise has taken +place in the shares of the 'Yellow Hammer First Extension Mine' since +the sinking of the new shaft. It was quoted yesterday at ten thousand +dollars a foot. When it is remembered that scarcely two years ago the +original shares, issued at fifty dollars per share, had dropped to only +fifty cents a share, it will be seen that those who were able to hold on +have got a good thing." + +"What mine did you say?" asked Barker, looking up meditatively from the +dishes he was already washing. + +"The Yellow Hammer First Extension," returned Demorest shortly. + +"I used to have some shares in that, and I think I have them still," +said Barker musingly. + +"Yes," said Demorest promptly; "the paper speaks of it here. 'We +understand,'" he continued, reading aloud, "'that our eminent fellow +citizen, George Barker, otherwise known as "Get Left Barker" and +"Chucklehead," is one of these fortunate individuals.'" + +"No," said Barker, with a slight flush of innocent pleasure, "it can't +say that. How could it know?" + +Stacy laughed, but Demorest coolly continued: "You didn't hear all. +Listen! 'We say WAS one of them; but having already sold his apparently +useless certificates to our popular druggist, Jones, for corn plasters, +at a reduced rate, he is unable to realize.'" + +"You may laugh, boys," said Barker, with simple seriousness; "but I +really believe I have got 'em yet. Just wait. I'll see!" He rose and +began to drag out a well-worn valise from under his bunk. "You see," he +continued, "they were given to me by an old chap in return--" + +"For saving his life by delaying the Stockton boat that afterward blew +up," returned Demorest briefly. "We know it all! His hair was white, and +his hand trembled slightly as he laid these shares in yours, saying, and +you never forgot the words, 'Take 'em, young man--and'--" + +"For lending him two thousand dollars, then," continued Barker with +a simple ignoring of the interruption, as he quietly brought out the +valise. + +"TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS!" repeated Stacy. "When did YOU have two thousand +dollars?" + +"When I first left Sacramento--three years ago," said Barker, +unstrapping the valise. + +"How long did you have it?" said Demorest incredulously. + +"At least two days, I think," returned Barker quietly. "Then I met that +man. He was hard-up, and I lent him my pile and took those shares. He +died afterward." + +"Of course he did," said Demorest severely. "They always do. Nothing +kills a man more quickly than an action of that kind." Nevertheless +the two partners regarded Barker rummaging among some loose clothes +and papers with a kind of paternal toleration. "If you can't find them, +bring out your government bonds," suggested Stacy. But the next moment, +flushed and triumphant, Barker rose from his knees, and came toward them +carrying some papers in his hands. Demorest seized them from him, opened +them, spread them on the table, examined hurriedly the date, signatures, +and transfers, glanced again quickly at the newspaper paragraph, looked +wildly at Stacy and then at Barker, and gasped: + +"By the living hookey! it is SO!" + +"B'gosh! he HAS got 'em!" echoed Stacy. + +"Twenty shares," continued Demorest breathlessly, "at ten thousand +dollars a share--even if it's only a foot--is two hundred thousand +dollars! Jerusalem!" + +"Tell me, fair sir," said Stacy, with sparkling eyes, "hast still left +in yonder casket any rare jewels, rubies, sarcenet, or links of fine +gold? Peradventure a pearl or two may have been overlooked!" + +"No--that's all," returned Barker simply. + +"You hear him! Rothschild says 'that's all.' Prince Esterhazy says he +hasn't another red cent--only two hundred thousand dollars." + +"What ought I to do, boys?" asked Barker, timidly glancing from one to +the other. Yet he remembered with delight all that day, and for many +a year afterward, that he saw in their faces only unselfish joy and +affection at that supreme moment. + +"Do?" said Demorest promptly. "Stand on your head and yell! No! stop! +Come here!" He seized both Barker and Stacy by the hand, and ran out +into the open air. Here they danced violently with clasped hands around +a small buckeye, in perfect silence, and then returned to the cabin, +grave but perspiring. + +"Of course," said Barker, wiping his forehead, "we'll just get some +money on these certificates and buy up that next claim which belongs to +old Carter--where you know we thought we saw the indication." + +"We'll do nothing of the kind," said Demorest decidedly. "WE ain't in +it. That money is yours, old chap--every cent of it--property acquired +before marriage, you know; and the only thing we'll do is to be damned +before we'll see you drop a dime of it into this Godforsaken hole. No!" + +"But we're partners," gasped Barker. + +"Not in THIS! The utmost we can do for you, opulent sir--though it ill +becomes us horny-handed sons of toil to rub shoulders with Dives--is +perchance to dine with you, to take a pasty and a glass of Malvoisie, at +some restaurant in Sacramento--when you've got things fixed, in honor of +your return to affluence. But more would ill become us!" + +"But what are YOU going to do?" said Barker, with a half-hysteric, +half-frightened smile. + +"We have not yet looked through our luggage," said Demorest with +invincible gravity, "and there's a secret recess--a double FOND--to my +portmanteau, known only to a trusty page, which has not been disturbed +since I left my ancestral home in Faginia. There may be a few First +Debentures of Erie or what not still there." + +"I felt some strange, disklike protuberances in my dress suit the other +day, but belike they are but poker chips," said Stacy thoughtfully. + +An uneasy feeling crept over Barker. The color which had left his fresh +cheek returned to it quickly, and he turned his eyes away. Yet he had +seen nothing in his companions' eyes but affection--with even a certain +kind of tender commiseration that deepened his uneasiness. "I suppose," +he said desperately, after a pause, "I ought to go over to Boomville and +make some inquiries." + +"At the bank, old chap; at the bank!" said Demorest emphatically. "Take +my advice and don't go ANYWHERE ELSE. Don't breathe a word of your luck +to anybody. And don't, whatever you do, be tempted to sell just now; you +don't know how high that stock's going to jump yet." + +"I thought," stammered Barker, "that you boys might like to go over with +me." + +"We can't afford to take another holiday on grub wages, and we're only +two to work today," said Demorest, with a slight increase of color and +the faintest tremor in his voice. "And it won't do, old chap, for us to +be seen bumming round with you on the heels of your good fortune. For +everybody knows we're poor, and sooner or later everybody'll know you +WERE rich even when you first came to us." + +"Nonsense!" said Barker indignantly. + +"Gospel, my boy!" said Demorest shortly. + +"The frozen truth, old man!" said Stacy. + +Barker took up his hat with some stiffness and moved toward the door. +Here he stopped irresolutely, an irresolution that seemed to communicate +itself to his partners. There was a moment's awkward silence. Then +Demorest suddenly seized him by the shoulders with a grip that was +half a caress, and walked him rapidly to the door. "And now don't stand +foolin' with us, Barker boy; but just trot off like a little man, and +get your grip on that fortune; and when you've got your hooks in it hang +on like grim death. You'll"--he hesitated for an instant only, possibly +to find the laugh that should have accompanied his speech--"you're sure +to find US here when you get back." + +Hurt to the quick, but restraining his feelings, Barker clapped his hat +on his head and walked quickly away. The two partners stood watching him +in silence until his figure was lost in the underbrush. Then they spoke. + +"Like him--wasn't it?" said Demorest. + +"Just him all over," said Stacy. + +"Think of him having that stock stowed away all these years and never +even bothering his dear old head about it!" + +"And think of his wanting to put the whole thing into this rotten +hillside with us!" + +"And he'd have done it, by gosh! and never thought of it again. That's +Barker." + +"Dear old man!" + +"Good old chap!" + +"I've been wondering if one of us oughtn't to have gone with him? He's +just as likely to pour his money into the first lap that opens for it," +said Stacy. + +"The more reason why we shouldn't prevent him, or seem to prevent him," +said Demorest almost fiercely. "There will be knaves and fools enough +who will try and put the idea of our using him into his simple heart +without that. No! Let him do as he likes with it--but let him be +himself. I'd rather have him come back to us even after he's lost the +money--his old self and empty-handed--than try to change the stuff God +put into him and make him more like others." + +The tone and manner were so different from Demorest's usual levity that +Stacy was silent. After a pause he said: "Well! we shall miss him on the +hillside--won't we?" + +Demorest did not reply. Reaching out his hand abstractedly, he wrenched +off a small slip from a sapling near him, and began slowly to pull the +leaves off, one by one, until they were all gone. Then he switched it in +the air, struck his bootleg smartly with it, said roughly: "Come, let's +get to work!" and strode away. + +Meantime Barker on his way to Boomville was no less singular in his +manner. He kept up his slightly affected attitude until he had lost +sight of the cabin. But, being of a simple nature, his emotions were +less complex. If he had not seen the undoubted look of affection in the +eyes of his partners he would have imagined that they were jealous of +his good fortune. Yet why had they refused his offer to share it with +him? Why had they so strangely assumed that their partnership with him +had closed? Why had they declined to go with him? Why had this +money--of which he had thought so little, and for which he had cared +so little--changed them toward him? It had not changed HIM--HE was +the same! He remembered how they had often talked and laughed over +a prospective "strike" in mining and speculated what THEY would do +together with the money! And now that "luck" had occurred to one of +them, individually, the effect was only to alienate them! He could not +make it out. He was hurt, wounded--yet oddly enough he was conscious now +of a certain power within him to hurt and wound in retribution. He was +rich: he would let them see HE could do without them. He was quite free +now to think only of himself and Kitty. + +For it must be recorded that with all this young gentleman's simplicity +and unselfishness, with all his loyal attitude to his partners, his +FIRST thought at the moment he grasped the fact of his wealth was of +a young lady. It was Kitty Carter, the daughter of the hotelkeeper at +Boomville, who owned the claim that the partners had mutually coveted. +That a pretty girl's face should flash upon him with his conviction that +he was now a rich man meant perhaps no disloyalty to his partners, +whom he would still have helped. But it occurred to him now, in his +half-hurt, half-vengeful state, that they had often joked him about +Kitty, and perhaps further confidence with them was debarred. And it was +only due to his dignity that he should now see Kitty at once. + +This was easy enough, for in the naive simplicity of Boomville and the +economic arrangements of her father, she occasionally waited upon the +hotel table. Half the town was always actively in love with her; the +other half HAD BEEN, and was silent, cynical, but hopeless in defeat. +For Kitty was one of those singularly pretty girls occasionally met +with in Southwestern frontier civilization whose distinct and original +refinement of face and figure were so remarkable and original as to cast +a doubt on the sagacity and prescience of one parent and the morality of +the other, yet no doubt with equal injustice. But the fact remained +that she was slight, graceful, and self-contained, and moved beside her +stumpy, commonplace father, and her faded, commonplace mother in the +dining-room of the Boomville Hotel like some distinguished alien. The +three partners, by virtue, perhaps, of their college education and +refined manners, had been exceptionally noticed by Kitty. And for some +occult reason--the more serious, perhaps, because it had no obvious +or logical presumption to the world generally--Barker was particularly +favored. + +He quickened his pace, and as the flagstaff of the Boomville Hotel rose +before him in the little hollow, he seriously debated whether he had not +better go to the bank first, deposit his shares, and get a small advance +on them to buy a new necktie or a "boiled shirt" in which to present +himself to Miss Kitty; but, remembering that he had partly given his +word to Demorest that he would keep his shares intact for the present, +he abandoned this project, probably from the fact that his projected +confidence with Kitty was already a violation of Demorest's injunctions +of secrecy, and his conscience was sufficiently burdened with that +breach of faith. + +But when he reached the hotel, a strange trepidation overcame him. The +dining-room was at its slack water, between the ebb of breakfast and +before the flow of the preparation for the midday meal. He could not +have his interview with Kitty in that dreary waste of reversed chairs +and bare trestlelike tables, and she was possibly engaged in her +household duties. But Miss Kitty had already seen him cross the road, +and had lounged into the dining-room with an artfully simulated air of +casually examining it. At the unexpected vision of his hopes, arrayed in +the sweetest and freshest of rosebud-sprigged print, his heart faltered. +Then, partly with the desperation of a timid man, and partly through +the working of a half-formed resolution, he met her bright smile with +a simple inquiry for her father. Miss Kitty bit her pretty lip, smiled +slightly, and preceded him with great formality to the office. Opening +the door, without raising her lashes to either her father or the +visitor, she said, with a mischievous accenting of the professional +manner, "Mr. Barker to see you on business," and tripped sweetly away. + +And this slight incident precipitated the crisis. For Barker instantly +made up his mind that he must purchase the next claim for his partners +of this man Carter, and that he would be obliged to confide to him the +details of his good fortune, and as a proof of his sincerity and his +ability to pay for it, he did so bluntly. Carter was a shrewd business +man, and the well-known simplicity of Barker was a proof of his +truthfulness, to say nothing of the shares that were shown to him. His +selling price for his claim had been two hundred dollars, but here was +a rich customer who, from a mere foolish sentiment, would be no doubt +willing to pay more. He hesitated with a bland but superior smile. "Ah, +that was my price at my last offer, Mr. Barker," he said suavely; "but, +you see, things are going up since then." + +The keenest duplicity is apt to fail before absolute simplicity. Barker, +thoroughly believing him, and already a little frightened at his own +presumption--not for the amount of the money involved, but from the +possibility of his partners refusing his gift utterly--quickly took +advantage of this LOCUS PENITENTIAE. "No matter, then," he said +hurriedly; "perhaps I had better consult my partners first; in fact," +he added, with a gratuitous truthfulness all his own, "I hardly know +whether they will take it of me, so I think I'll wait." + +Carter was staggered; this would clearly not do! He recovered himself +with an insinuating smile. "You pulled me up too short, Mr. Barker; +I'm a business man, but hang it all! what's that among friends? If you +reckoned I GAVE MY WORD at two hundred--why, I'm there! Say no more +about it--the claim's yours. I'll make you out a bill of sale at once." + +"But," hesitated Barker, "you see I haven't got the money yet, and--" + +"Money!" echoed Carter bluntly, "what's that among friends? Gimme your +note at thirty days--that's good enough for ME. An' we'll settle the +whole thing now--nothing like finishing a job while you're about it." +And before the bewildered and doubtful visitor could protest, he had +filled up a promissory note for Barker's signature and himself signed a +bill of sale for the property. "And I reckon, Mr. Barker, you'd like +to take your partners by surprise about this little gift of yours," he +added smilingly. "Well, my messenger is starting for the Gulch in five +minutes; he's going by your cabin, and he can just drop this bill o' +sale, as a kind o' settled fact, on 'em afore they can say anything, +see! There's nothing like actin' on the spot in these sort of things. +And don't you hurry 'bout them either! You see, you sorter owe us +a friendly call--havin' always dropped inter the hotel only as a +customer--so ye'll stop here over luncheon, and I reckon, as the old +woman is busy, why Kitty will try to make the time pass till then by +playin' for you on her new pianner." + +Delighted, yet bewildered by the unexpected invitation and opportunity, +Barker mechanically signed the promissory note, and as mechanically +addressed the envelope of the bill of sale to Demorest, which Carter +gave to the messenger. Then he followed his host across the hall to the +apartment known as "Miss Kitty's parlor." He had often heard of it as a +sanctum impervious to the ordinary guest. Whatever functions the young +girl assumed at the hotel and among her father's boarders, it was +vaguely understood that she dropped them on crossing that sacred +threshold, and became "MISS Carter." The county judge had been +entertained there, and the wife of the bank manager. Barker's admission +there was consequently an unprecedented honor. + +He cast his eyes timidly round the room, redolent and suggestive in +various charming little ways of the young girl's presence. There was +the cottage piano which had been brought up in sections on the backs of +mules from the foot of the mountain; there was a crayon head of Minerva +done by the fair occupant at the age of twelve; there was a profile +of herself done by a traveling artist; there were pretty little china +ornaments and many flowers, notably a faded but still scented woodland +shrub which Barker had presented to her two weeks ago, and over which +Miss Kitty had discreetly thrown her white handkerchief as he entered. A +wave of hope passed over him at the act, but it was quickly spent as Mr. +Carter's roughly playful voice introduced him: + +"Ye kin give Mr. Barker a tune or two to pass time afore lunch, Kitty. +You kin let him see what you're doing in that line. But you'll have to +sit up now, for this young man's come inter some property, and will +be sasheying round in 'Frisco afore long with a biled shirt and a +stovepipe, and be givin' the go-by to Boomville. Well! you young folks +will excuse me for a while, as I reckon I'll just toddle over and get +the recorder to put that bill o' sale on record. Nothin' like squaring +things to onct, Mr. Barker." + +As he slipped away, Barker felt his heart sink. Carter had not only +bluntly forestalled him with the news and taken away his excuse for a +confidential interview, but had put an ostentatious construction on his +visit. What could she think of him now? He stood ashamed and embarrassed +before her. + +But Miss Kitty, far from noticing his embarrassment in a sudden concern +regarding the "horrid" untidiness of the room, which made her cheeks +quite pink in one spot and obliged her to take up and set down in +exactly the same place several articles, was exceedingly delighted. In +fact, she did not remember ever having been so pleased before in her +life! These things were always so unexpected! Just like the weather, for +instance. It was quite cool last night--and now it was just stifling. +And so dusty! Had Mr. Barker noticed the heat coming from the Gulch? Or +perhaps, being a rich man, he--with a dazzling smile--was above walking +now. It was so kind of him to come here first and tell her father. + +"I really wanted to tell only--YOU, Miss Carter," stammered Barker. "You +see--" he hesitated. But Miss Kitty saw perfectly. He wanted to tell +HER, and, seeing her, he asked for HER FATHER! Not that it made the +slightest difference to her, for her father would have been sure to +have told her. It was also kind of her father to invite him to luncheon. +Otherwise she might not have seen him before he left Boomville. + +But this was more than Barker could stand. With the same desperate +directness and simplicity with which he had approached her father, he +now blurted out his whole heart to her. He told her how he had loved +her hopelessly from the first time that they had spoken together at the +church picnic. Did she remember it? How he had sat and worshiped her, +and nothing else, at church! How her voice in the church choir had +sounded like an angel's; how his poverty and his uncertain future had +kept him from seeing her often, lest he should be tempted to betray his +hopeless passion. How as soon as he realized that he had a position, +that his love for her need not make her ridiculous to the world's eyes, +he came to tell her ALL. He did not even dare to hope! But she would +HEAR him at least, would she not? + +Indeed, there was no getting away from his boyish, simple, outspoken +declaration. In vain Kitty smiled, frowned, glanced at her pink cheeks +in the glass, and stopped to look out of the window. The room was filled +with his love--it was encompassing her--and, despite his shy attitude, +seemed to be almost embracing her. But she managed at last to turn upon +him a face that was now as white and grave as his own was eager and +glowing. + +"Sit down," she said gently. + +He did so obediently, but wonderingly. She then opened the piano and +took a seat upon the music stool before it, placed some loose sheets +of music in the rack, and ran her fingers lightly over the keys. Thus +intrenched, she let her hands fall idly in her lap, and for the first +time raised her eyes to his. + +"Now listen to me--be good and don't interrupt! There!--not so near; you +can hear what I have to say well enough where you are. That will do." + +Barker had halted with the chair he was dragging toward her and sat +down. + +"Now," said Miss Kitty, withdrawing her eyes and looking straight before +her, "I believe everything you say; perhaps I oughtn't to--or at least +SAY it--but I do. There! But because I do believe you--it seems to me +all wrong! For the very reasons that you give for not having spoken to +me BEFORE, if you really felt as you say you did, are the same reasons +why you should not speak to me now. You see, all this time you have let +nobody but yourself know how you felt toward me. In everybody's eyes +YOU and your partners have been only the three stuck-up, exclusive, +college-bred men who mined a poor claim in the Gulch, and occasionally +came here to this hotel as customers. In everybody's eyes I have been +only the rich hotel-keeper's popular daughter who sometimes waited upon +you--but nothing more. But at least we were then pretty much alike, +and as good as each other. And now, as soon as you have become suddenly +rich, and, of course, the SUPERIOR, you rush down here to ask me to +acknowledge it by accepting you!" + +"You know I never meant that, Miss Kitty," burst out Barker vehemently, +but his protest was drowned in a rapid roulade from the young lady's +fingers on the keys. He sank back in his chair. + +"Of course you never MEANT it," she said with an odd laugh; "but +everybody will take it in that way, and you cannot go round to everybody +in Boomville and make the pretty declaration you have just made to me. +Everybody will say I accepted you for your money; everybody will say +it was a put-up job of my father's. Everybody will say that you threw +yourself away on me. And I don't know but that they would be right. Sit +down, please! or I shall play again. + +"You see," she went on, without looking at him, "just now you like to +remember that you fell in love with me first as a pretty waiter girl, +but if I became your wife it's just what you would like to FORGET. And +I shouldn't, for I should always like to think of the time when you came +here, whenever you could afford it and sometimes when you couldn't, just +to see me; and how we used to make excuses to speak with each other over +the dishes. You don't know what these things mean to a woman who"--she +hesitated a moment, and then added abruptly, "but what does that matter? +You would not care to be reminded of it. So," she said, rising up with a +grave smile and grasping her hands tightly behind her, "it's a good deal +better that you should begin to forget it now. Be a good boy and take my +advice. Go to San Francisco. You will meet some girl there in a way +you will not afterward regret. You are young, and your riches, to say +nothing," she added in a faltering voice that was somewhat inconsistent +with the mischievous smile that played upon her lips, "of your kind +and simple heart, will secure that which the world would call unselfish +affection from one more equal to you, but would always believe was only +BOUGHT if it came from me." + +"I suppose you are right," he said simply. + +She glanced quickly at him, and her eyebrows straightened. He had risen, +his face white and his gray eyes widely opened. "I suppose you are +right," he went on, "because you are saying to me what my partners said +to me this morning, when I offered to share my wealth with them, God +knows as honestly as I offered to share my heart with you. I suppose +that you are both right; that there must be some curse of pride or +selfishness upon the money that I have got; but I have not felt it yet, +and the fault does not lie with me." + +She gave her shoulders a slight shrug, and turned impatiently toward the +window. When she turned back again he was gone. The room around her was +empty; this room, which a moment before had seemed to be pulsating with +his boyish passion, was now empty, and empty of HIM. She bit her lips, +rose, and ran eagerly to the window. She saw his straw hat and brown +curls as he crossed the road. She drew her handkerchief sharply away +from the withered shrub over which she had thrown it, and cast the once +treasured remains in the hearth. Then, possibly because she had it +ready in her hand, she clapped the handkerchief to her eyes, and sinking +sideways upon the chair he had risen from, put her elbows on its back, +and buried her face in her hands. + +It is the characteristic and perhaps cruelty of a simple nature to make +no allowance for complex motives, or to even understand them! So it +seemed to Barker that his simplicity had been met with equal directness. +It was the possession of this wealth that had in some way hopelessly +changed his relations with the world. He did not love Kitty any the +less; he did not even think she had wronged him; they, his partners and +his sweetheart, were cleverer than he; there must be some occult quality +in this wealth that he would understand when he possessed it, and +perhaps it might even make him ashamed of his generosity; not in the way +they had said, but in his tempting them so audaciously to assume a wrong +position. It behoved him to take possession of it at once, and to take +also upon himself alone the knowledge, the trials, and responsibilities +it would incur. His cheeks flushed again as he thought he had tried to +tempt an innocent girl with it, and he was keenly hurt that he had not +seen in Kitty's eyes the tenderness that had softened his partners' +refusal. He resolved to wait no longer, but sell his dreadful stock at +once. He walked directly to the bank. + +The manager, a shrewd but kindly man, to whom Barker was known already, +received him graciously in recognition of his well-known simple honesty, +and respectfully as a representative of the equally well-known poor but +"superior" partnership of the Gulch. He listened with marked attention +to Barker's hesitating but brief story, only remarking at its close: + +"You mean, of course, the 'SECOND Extension' when you say 'First'?" + +"No," said Barker; "I mean the 'First'--and it said First in the +Boomville paper." + +"Yes, yes!--I saw it--it was a printer's error. The stock of the 'First' +was called in two years ago. No! You mean the 'Second,' for, of course, +you've followed the quotations, and are likely to know what stock you're +holding shares of. When you go back, take a look at them, and you'll see +I am right." + +"But I brought them with me," said Barker, with a slight flushing as +he felt in his pocket, "and I am quite sure they are the 'First'." He +brought them out and laid them on the desk before the manager. + +The words "First Extension" were plainly visible. The manager glanced +curiously at Barker, and his brow darkened. + +"Did anybody put this up on you?" he said sternly. "Did your partners +send you here with this stuff?" + +"No! no!" said Barker eagerly. "No one! It's all MY mistake. I see it +now. I trusted to the newspaper." + +"And you mean to say you never examined the stock or the quotations, nor +followed it in any way, since you had it?" + +"Never!" said Barker. "Never thought about IT AT ALL till I saw the +newspaper. So it's not worth anything?" And, to the infinite surprise of +the manager, there was a slight smile on his boyish face. + +"I am afraid it is not worth the paper it's written on," said the +manager gently. + +The smile on Barker's face increased to a little laugh, in which his +wondering companion could not help joining. "Thank you," said Barker +suddenly, and rushed away. + +"He beats everything!" said the manager, gazing after him. "Damned if he +didn't seem even PLEASED." + +He WAS pleased. The burden of wealth had fallen from his shoulders; the +dreadful incubus that had weighed him down and parted his friends from +him was gone! And he had not got rid of it by spending it foolishly. It +had not ruined anybody yet; it had not altered anybody in HIS eyes. +It was gone; and he was a free and happy man once more. He would go +directly back to his partners; they would laugh at him, of course, but +they could not look at him now with the same sad, commiserating eyes. +Perhaps even Kitty--but here a sudden chill struck him. He had forgotten +the bill of sale! He had forgotten the dreadful promissory note given to +her father in the rash presumption of his wealth! How could it ever be +paid? And more than that, it had been given in a fraud. He had no money +when he gave it, and no prospect of any but what he was to get from +those worthless shares. Would anybody believe him that it was only a +stupid blunder of his own? Yes, his partners might believe him; but, +horrible thought, he had already implicated THEM in his fraud! Even now, +while he was standing there hesitatingly in the road, they were entering +upon the new claim he had NOT PAID FOR--COULD NOT PAY FOR--and in the +guise of a benefactor he was dishonoring them. Yet it was Carter he +must meet first; he must confess all to him. He must go back to the +hotel--that hotel where he had indignantly left her, and tell the father +he was a fraud. It was terrible to think of; perhaps it was part of that +money curse that he could not get rid of, and was now realizing; but +it MUST be done. He was simple, but his very simplicity had that +unhesitating directness of conclusion which is the main factor of what +men call "pluck." + +He turned back to the hotel and entered the office. But Mr. Carter had +not yet returned. What was to be done? He could not wait there; there +was no time to be lost; there was only one other person who knew his +expectations, and to whom he could confide his failure--it was Kitty. It +was to taste the dregs of his humiliation, but it must be done. He ran +up the staircase and knocked timidly at the sitting-room door. There was +a momentary pause, and a weak voice said "Come in." Barker opened the +door; saw the vision of a handkerchief thrown away, of a pair of tearful +eyes that suddenly changed to stony indifference, and a graceful but +stiffening figure. But he was past all insult now. + +"I would not intrude," he said simply, "but I came only to see your +father. I have made an awful blunder--more than a blunder, I think--a +FRAUD. Believing that I was rich, I purchased your father's claim for my +partners, and gave him my promissory note. I came here to give him back +his claim--for that note can NEVER be paid! I have just been to the +bank; I find I have made a stupid mistake in the name of the shares upon +which I based my belief in my wealth. The ones I own are worthless--am +as poor as ever--I am even poorer, for I owe your father money I can +never pay!" + +To his amazement he saw a look of pain and scorn come into her troubled +eyes which he had never seen before. "This is a feeble trick," she said +bitterly; "it is unlike you--it is unworthy of you!" + +"Good God! You must believe me. Listen! it was all a mistake--a +printer's error. I read in the paper that the stock for the First +Extension mine had gone up, when it should have been the Second. I +had some old stock of the First, which I had kept for years, and only +thought of when I read the announcement in the paper this morning. I +swear to you--" + +But it was unnecessary. There was no doubting the truth of that +voice--that manner. The scorn fled from Miss Kitty's eyes to give place +to a stare, and then suddenly changed to two bubbling blue wells of +laughter. She went to the window and laughed. She sat down to the piano +and laughed. She caught up the handkerchief, and hiding half her rosy +face in it, laughed. She finally collapsed into an easy chair, and, +burying her brown head in its cushions, laughed long and confidentially +until she brought up suddenly against a sob. And then was still. + +Barker was dreadfully alarmed. He had heard of hysterics before. He felt +he ought to do something. He moved toward her timidly, and gently drew +away her handkerchief. Alas! the blue wells were running over now. +He took her cold hands in his; he knelt beside her and passed his arm +around her waist. He drew her head upon his shoulder. He was not sure +that any of these things were effective until she suddenly lifted +her eyes to his with the last ray of mirth in them vanishing in a big +teardrop, put her arms round his neck, and sobbed: + +"Oh, George! You blessed innocent!" + +An eloquent silence was broken by a remorseful start from Barker. + +"But I must go and warn my poor partners, dearest; there yet may be +time; perhaps they have not yet taken possession of your father's +claim." + +"Yes, George dear," said the young girl, with sparkling eyes; "and tell +them to do so AT ONCE!" + +"What?" gasped Barker. + +"At once--do you hear?--or it may be too late! Go quick." + +"But your father--Oh, I see, dearest, you will tell him all yourself, +and spare me." + +"I shall do nothing so foolish, Georgey. Nor shall you! Don't you see +the note isn't due for a month? Stop! Have you told anybody but Paw and +me?" + +"Only the bank manager." + +She ran out of the room and returned in a minute tying the most +enchanting of hats by a ribbon under her oval chin. "I'll run over and +fix him," she said. + +"Fix him?" returned Barker, aghast. + +"Yes, I'll say your wicked partners have been playing a practical joke +on you, and he mustn't give you away. He'll do anything for me." + +"But my partners didn't! On the contrary--" + +"Don't tell me, George," said Miss Kitty severely. "THEY ought never to +have let you come here with that stuff. But come! You must go at once. +You must not meet Paw; you'll blurt out everything to him; I know you! +I'll tell him you could not stay to luncheon. Quick, now; go. What? +Well--there!" + +Whatever it represented, the exclamation was apparently so protracted +that Miss Kitty was obliged to push her lover to the front landing +before she could disappear by the back stairs. But once in the street, +Barker no longer lingered. It was a good three miles back to the Gulch; +he might still reach it by the time his partners were taking their +noonday rest, and he resolved that although the messenger had preceded +him, they would not enter upon the new claim until the afternoon. For +Barker, in spite of his mistress's injunction, had no idea of taking +what he couldn't pay for; he would keep the claim intact until something +could be settled. For the rest, he walked on air! Kitty loved him! +The accursed wealth no longer stood between them. They were both poor +now--everything was possible. + +The sun was beginning to send dwarf shadows toward the east when he +reached the Gulch. Here a new trepidation seized him. How would his +partners receive the news of his utter failure? HE was happy, for he had +gained Kitty through it. But they? For a moment it seemed to him that he +had purchased his happiness through their loss. He stopped, took off his +hat, and ran his fingers remorsefully through his damp curls. + +Another thing troubled him. He had reached the crest of the Gulch, where +their old working ground was spread before him like a map. They were not +there; neither were they lying under the four pines on the ridge where +they were wont to rest at midday. He turned with some alarm to the new +claim adjoining theirs, but there was no sign of them there either. A +sudden fear that they had, after parting from him, given up the claim +in a fit of disgust and depression, and departed, now overcame him. He +clapped his hand on his head and ran in the direction of the cabin. + +He had nearly reached it when the rough challenge of "Who's there?" from +the bushes halted him, and Demorest suddenly swung into the trail. +But the singular look of sternness and impatience which he was wearing +vanished as he saw Barker, and with a loud shout of "All right, it's +only Barker! Hooray!" he ran toward him. In an instant he was joined by +Stacy from the cabin, and the two men, catching hold of their returning +partner, waltzed him joyfully and breathlessly into the cabin. But the +quick-eyed Demorest suddenly let go his hold and stared at Barker's +face. "Why, Barker, old boy, what's up?" + +"Everything's up," gasped the breathless Barker. "It's all up about +these stocks. It's all a mistake; all an infernal lie of that newspaper. +I never had the right kind of shares. The ones I have are worthless +rags"; and the next instant he had blurted out his whole interview with +the bank manager. + +The two partners looked at each other, and then, to Barker's infinite +perplexity, the same extraordinary convulsion that had seized Miss Kitty +fell upon them. They laughed, holding on each other's shoulders; they +laughed, clinging to Barker's struggling figure; they went out and +laughed with their backs against a tree. They laughed separately and in +different corners. And then they came up to Barker with tears in their +eyes, dropped their heads on his shoulder, and murmured exhaustedly: + +"You blessed ass!" + +"But," said Stacy suddenly, "how did you manage to buy the claim?" + +"Ah! that's the most awful thing, boys. I've NEVER PAID FOR IT," groaned +Barker. + +"But Carter sent us the bill of sale," persisted Demorest, "or we +shouldn't have taken it." + +"I gave my promissory note at thirty days," said Barker desperately, +"and where's the money to come from now? But," he added wildly, as the +men glanced at each other--"you said 'taken it.' Good heavens! you don't +mean to say that I'm TOO late--that you've--you've touched it?" + +"I reckon that's pretty much what we HAVE been doing," drawled Demorest. + +"It looks uncommonly like it," drawled Stacy. + +Barker glanced blankly from the one to the other. "Shall we pass our +young friend in to see the show?" said Demorest to Stacy. + +"Yes, if he'll be perfectly quiet and not breathe on the glasses," +returned Stacy. + +They each gravely took one of Barker's hands and led him to the +corner of the cabin. There, on an old flour barrel, stood a large tin +prospecting pan, in which the partners also occasionally used to knead +their bread. A dirty towel covered it. Demorest whisked it dexterously +aside, and disclosed three large fragments of decomposed gold and +quartz. Barker started back. + +"Heft it!" said Demorest grimly. + +Barker could scarcely lift the pan! + +"Four thousand dollars' weight if a penny!" said Stacy, in short +staccato sentences. "In a pocket! Brought it out the second stroke of +the pick! We'd been awfully blue after you left. Awfully blue, too, when +that bill of sale came, for we thought you'd been wasting your money on +US. Reckoned we oughtn't to take it, but send it straight back to you. +Messenger gone! Then Demorest reckoned as it was done it couldn't be +undone, and we ought to make just one 'prospect' on the claim, and +strike a single stroke for you. And there it is. And there's more on the +hillside." + +"But it isn't MINE! It isn't YOURS! It's Carter's. I never had the money +to pay for it--and I haven't got it now." + +"But you gave the note--and it is not due for thirty days." + +A recollection flashed upon Barker. "Yes," he said with thoughtful +simplicity, "that's what Kitty said." + +"Oh, Kitty said so," said both partners, gravely. + +"Yes," stammered Barker, turning away with a heightened color, "and, as I +didn't stay there to luncheon, I think I'd better be getting it ready." +He picked up the coffeepot and turned to the hearth as his two partners +stepped beyond the door. + +"Wasn't it exactly like him?" said Demorest. + +"Him all over," said Stacy. + +"And his worry over that note?" said Demorest. + +"And 'what Kitty said,'" said Stacy. + +"Look here! I reckon that wasn't ALL that Kitty said." + +"Of course not." + +"What luck!" + + + + +A YELLOW DOG + + +I never knew why in the Western States of America a yellow dog should be +proverbially considered the acme of canine degradation and incompetency, +nor why the possession of one should seriously affect the social +standing of its possessor. But the fact being established, I think we +accepted it at Rattlers Ridge without question. The matter of ownership +was more difficult to settle; and although the dog I have in my mind at +the present writing attached himself impartially and equally to everyone +in camp, no one ventured to exclusively claim him; while, after the +perpetration of any canine atrocity, everybody repudiated him with +indecent haste. + +"Well, I can swear he hasn't been near our shanty for weeks," or the +retort, "He was last seen comin' out of YOUR cabin," expressed +the eagerness with which Rattlers Ridge washed its hands of any +responsibility. Yet he was by no means a common dog, nor even an +unhandsome dog; and it was a singular fact that his severest critics +vied with each other in narrating instances of his sagacity, insight, +and agility which they themselves had witnessed. + +He had been seen crossing the "flume" that spanned Grizzly Canyon at a +height of nine hundred feet, on a plank six inches wide. He had tumbled +down the "shoot" to the South Fork, a thousand feet below, and was found +sitting on the riverbank "without a scratch, 'cept that he was lazily +givin' himself with his off hind paw." He had been forgotten in a +snowdrift on a Sierran shelf, and had come home in the early spring with +the conceited complacency of an Alpine traveler and a plumpness alleged +to have been the result of an exclusive diet of buried mail bags and +their contents. He was generally believed to read the advance election +posters, and disappear a day or two before the candidates and the brass +band--which he hated--came to the Ridge. He was suspected of having +overlooked Colonel Johnson's hand at poker, and of having conveyed to +the Colonel's adversary, by a succession of barks, the danger of betting +against four kings. + +While these statements were supplied by wholly unsupported witnesses, it +was a very human weakness of Rattlers Ridge that the responsibility of +corroboration was passed to the dog himself, and HE was looked upon as a +consummate liar. + +"Snoopin' round yere, and CALLIN' yourself a poker sharp, are ye! Scoot, +you yaller pizin!" was a common adjuration whenever the unfortunate +animal intruded upon a card party. "Ef thar was a spark, an ATOM of +truth in THAT DOG, I'd believe my own eyes that I saw him sittin' up and +trying to magnetize a jay bird off a tree. But wot are ye goin' to do +with a yaller equivocator like that?" + +I have said that he was yellow--or, to use the ordinary expression, +"yaller." Indeed, I am inclined to believe that much of the ignominy +attached to the epithet lay in this favorite pronunciation. Men who +habitually spoke of a "YELLOW bird," a "YELLOW-hammer," a "YELLOW leaf," +always alluded to him as a "YALLER dog." + +He certainly WAS yellow. After a bath--usually compulsory--he presented +a decided gamboge streak down his back, from the top of his forehead to +the stump of his tail, fading in his sides and flank to a delicate straw +color. His breast, legs, and feet--when not reddened by "slumgullion," +in which he was fond of wading--were white. A few attempts at ornamental +decoration from the India-ink pot of the storekeeper failed, partly +through the yellow dog's excessive agility, which would never give the +paint time to dry on him, and partly through his success in transferring +his markings to the trousers and blankets of the camp. + +The size and shape of his tail--which had been cut off before his +introduction to Rattlers Ridge--were favorite sources of speculation to +the miners, as determining both his breed and his moral responsibility +in coming into camp in that defective condition. There was a general +opinion that he couldn't have looked worse with a tail, and its removal +was therefore a gratuitous effrontery. + +His best feature was his eyes, which were a lustrous Vandyke brown, and +sparkling with intelligence; but here again he suffered from evolution +through environment, and their original trustful openness was marred by +the experience of watching for flying stones, sods, and passing kicks +from the rear, so that the pupils were continually reverting to the +outer angle of the eyelid. + +Nevertheless, none of these characteristics decided the vexed question +of his BREED. His speed and scent pointed to a "hound," and it is +related that on one occasion he was laid on the trail of a wildcat with +such success that he followed it apparently out of the State, returning +at the end of two weeks footsore, but blandly contented. + +Attaching himself to a prospecting party, he was sent under the same +belief, "into the brush" to drive off a bear, who was supposed to be +haunting the campfire. He returned in a few minutes WITH the bear, +DRIVING IT INTO the unarmed circle and scattering the whole party. After +this the theory of his being a hunting dog was abandoned. Yet it was +said--on the usual uncorroborated evidence--that he had "put up" a +quail; and his qualities as a retriever were for a long time accepted, +until, during a shooting expedition for wild ducks, it was discovered +that the one he had brought back had never been shot, and the party were +obliged to compound damages with an adjacent settler. + +His fondness for paddling in the ditches and "slumgullion" at one time +suggested a water spaniel. He could swim, and would occasionally bring +out of the river sticks and pieces of bark that had been thrown in; but +as HE always had to be thrown in with them, and was a good-sized dog, +his aquatic reputation faded also. He remained simply "a yaller dog." +What more could be said? His actual name was "Bones"--given to him, no +doubt, through the provincial custom of confounding the occupation of +the individual with his quality, for which it was pointed out precedent +could be found in some old English family names. + +But if Bones generally exhibited no preference for any particular +individual in camp, he always made an exception in favor of drunkards. +Even an ordinary roistering bacchanalian party brought him out from +under a tree or a shed in the keenest satisfaction. He would accompany +them through the long straggling street of the settlement, barking his +delight at every step or misstep of the revelers, and exhibiting none of +that mistrust of eye which marked his attendance upon the sane and the +respectable. He accepted even their uncouth play without a snarl or a +yelp, hypocritically pretending even to like it; and I conscientiously +believe would have allowed a tin can to be attached to his tail if the +hand that tied it on were only unsteady, and the voice that bade him +"lie still" were husky with liquor. He would "see" the party cheerfully +into a saloon, wait outside the door--his tongue fairly lolling from his +mouth in enjoyment--until they reappeared, permit them even to tumble +over him with pleasure, and then gambol away before them, heedless of +awkwardly projected stones and epithets. He would afterward accompany +them separately home, or lie with them at crossroads until they were +assisted to their cabins. Then he would trot rakishly to his own haunt +by the saloon stove, with the slightly conscious air of having been a +bad dog, yet of having had a good time. + +We never could satisfy ourselves whether his enjoyment arose from some +merely selfish conviction that he was more SECURE with the physically +and mentally incompetent, from some active sympathy with active +wickedness, or from a grim sense of his own mental superiority at such +moments. But the general belief leant toward his kindred sympathy as a +"yaller dog" with all that was disreputable. And this was supported by +another very singular canine manifestation--the "sincere flattery" of +simulation or imitation. + +"Uncle Billy" Riley for a short time enjoyed the position of being +the camp drunkard, and at once became an object of Bones' greatest +solicitude. He not only accompanied him everywhere, curled at his feet +or head according to Uncle Billy's attitude at the moment, but, it was +noticed, began presently to undergo a singular alteration in his own +habits and appearance. From being an active, tireless scout and forager, +a bold and unovertakable marauder, he became lazy and apathetic; +allowed gophers to burrow under him without endeavoring to undermine the +settlement in his frantic endeavors to dig them out, permitted squirrels +to flash their tails at him a hundred yards away, forgot his usual +caches, and left his favorite bones unburied and bleaching in the sun. +His eyes grew dull, his coat lusterless, in proportion as his companion +became blear-eyed and ragged; in running, his usual arrowlike directness +began to deviate, and it was not unusual to meet the pair together, +zigzagging up the hill. Indeed, Uncle Billy's condition could be +predetermined by Bones' appearance at times when his temporary master +was invisible. "The old man must have an awful jag on today," was +casually remarked when an extra fluffiness and imbecility was noticeable +in the passing Bones. At first it was believed that he drank also, but +when careful investigation proved this hypothesis untenable, he was +freely called a "derned time-servin', yaller hypocrite." Not a few +advanced the opinion that if Bones did not actually lead Uncle Billy +astray, he at least "slavered him over and coddled him until the old man +got conceited in his wickedness." This undoubtedly led to a compulsory +divorce between them, and Uncle Billy was happily dispatched to a +neighboring town and a doctor. + +Bones seemed to miss him greatly, ran away for two days, and was +supposed to have visited him, to have been shocked at his convalescence, +and to have been "cut" by Uncle Billy in his reformed character; and +he returned to his old active life again, and buried his past with his +forgotten bones. It was said that he was afterward detected in trying +to lead an intoxicated tramp into camp after the methods employed by +a blind man's dog, but was discovered in time by the--of +course--uncorroborated narrator. + +I should be tempted to leave him thus in his original and picturesque +sin, but the same veracity which compelled me to transcribe his +faults and iniquities obliges me to describe his ultimate and somewhat +monotonous reformation, which came from no fault of his own. + +It was a joyous day at Rattlers Ridge that was equally the advent of +his change of heart and the first stagecoach that had been induced to +diverge from the highroad and stop regularly at our settlement. Flags +were flying from the post office and Polka saloon, and Bones was flying +before the brass band that he detested, when the sweetest girl in the +county--Pinkey Preston--daughter of the county judge and hopelessly +beloved by all Rattlers Ridge, stepped from the coach which she had +glorified by occupying as an invited guest. + +"What makes him run away?" she asked quickly, opening her lovely eyes in +a possibly innocent wonder that anything could be found to run away from +her. + +"He don't like the brass band," we explained eagerly. + +"How funny," murmured the girl; "is it as out of tune as all that?" + +This irresistible witticism alone would have been enough to satisfy +us--we did nothing but repeat it to each other all the next day--but we +were positively transported when we saw her suddenly gather her dainty +skirts in one hand and trip off through the red dust toward Bones, who, +with his eyes over his yellow shoulder, had halted in the road, +and half-turned in mingled disgust and rage at the spectacle of the +descending trombone. We held our breath as she approached him. Would +Bones evade her as he did us at such moments, or would he save our +reputation, and consent, for the moment, to accept her as a new kind of +inebriate? She came nearer; he saw her; he began to slowly quiver with +excitement--his stump of a tail vibrating with such rapidity that +the loss of the missing portion was scarcely noticeable. Suddenly she +stopped before him, took his yellow head between her little hands, +lifted it, and looked down in his handsome brown eyes with her two +lovely blue ones. What passed between them in that magnetic glance no +one ever knew. She returned with him; said to him casually: "We're not +afraid of brass bands, are we?" to which he apparently acquiesced, at +least stifling his disgust of them while he was near her--which was +nearly all the time. + +During the speechmaking her gloved hand and his yellow head were always +near together, and at the crowning ceremony--her public checking of Yuba +Bill's "waybill" on behalf of the township, with a gold pencil presented +to her by the Stage Company--Bones' joy, far from knowing no bounds, +seemed to know nothing but them, and he witnessed it apparently in the +air. No one dared to interfere. For the first time a local pride in +Bones sprang up in our hearts--and we lied to each other in his praises +openly and shamelessly. + +Then the time came for parting. We were standing by the door of the +coach, hats in hand, as Miss Pinkey was about to step into it; Bones +was waiting by her side, confidently looking into the interior, and +apparently selecting his own seat on the lap of Judge Preston in the +corner, when Miss Pinkey held up the sweetest of admonitory fingers. +Then, taking his head between her two hands, she again looked into +his brimming eyes, and said, simply, "GOOD dog," with the gentlest of +emphasis on the adjective, and popped into the coach. + +The six bay horses started as one, the gorgeous green and gold vehicle +bounded forward, the red dust rose behind, and the yellow dog danced +in and out of it to the very outskirts of the settlement. And then he +soberly returned. + +A day or two later he was missed--but the fact was afterward known that +he was at Spring Valley, the county town where Miss Preston lived, and +he was forgiven. A week afterward he was missed again, but this time for +a longer period, and then a pathetic letter arrived from Sacramento for +the storekeeper's wife. + +"Would you mind," wrote Miss Pinkey Preston, "asking some of your boys +to come over here to Sacramento and bring back Bones? I don't mind +having the dear dog walk out with me at Spring Valley, where everyone +knows me; but here he DOES make one so noticeable, on account of HIS +COLOR. I've got scarcely a frock that he agrees with. He don't go with +my pink muslin, and that lovely buff tint he makes three shades lighter. +You know yellow is SO trying." + +A consultation was quickly held by the whole settlement, and a +deputation sent to Sacramento to relieve the unfortunate girl. We +were all quite indignant with Bones--but, oddly enough, I think it was +greatly tempered with our new pride in him. While he was with us alone, +his peculiarities had been scarcely appreciated, but the recurrent +phrase "that yellow dog that they keep at the Rattlers" gave us a +mysterious importance along the countryside, as if we had secured a +"mascot" in some zoological curiosity. + +This was further indicated by a singular occurrence. A new church had +been built at the crossroads, and an eminent divine had come from San +Francisco to preach the opening sermon. After a careful examination of +the camp's wardrobe, and some felicitous exchange of apparel, a few of +us were deputed to represent "Rattlers" at the Sunday service. In our +white ducks, straw hats, and flannel blouses, we were sufficiently +picturesque and distinctive as "honest miners" to be shown off in one of +the front pews. + +Seated near the prettiest girls, who offered us their hymn books--in the +cleanly odor of fresh pine shavings, and ironed muslin, and blown over +by the spices of our own woods through the open windows, a deep sense +of the abiding peace of Christian communion settled upon us. At this +supreme moment someone murmured in an awe-stricken whisper: + +"WILL you look at Bones?" + +We looked. Bones had entered the church and gone up in the gallery +through a pardonable ignorance and modesty; but, perceiving his mistake, +was now calmly walking along the gallery rail before the astounded +worshipers. Reaching the end, he paused for a moment, and carelessly +looked down. It was about fifteen feet to the floor below--the simplest +jump in the world for the mountain-bred Bones. Daintily, gingerly, +lazily, and yet with a conceited airiness of manner, as if, humanly +speaking, he had one leg in his pocket and were doing it on three, he +cleared the distance, dropping just in front of the chancel, without a +sound, turned himself around three times, and then lay comfortably down. + +Three deacons were instantly in the aisle, coming up before the eminent +divine, who, we fancied, wore a restrained smile. We heard the hurried +whispers: "Belongs to them." "Quite a local institution here, you know." +"Don't like to offend sensibilities;" and the minister's prompt "By no +means," as he went on with his service. + +A short month ago we would have repudiated Bones; today we sat there +in slightly supercilious attitudes, as if to indicate that any affront +offered to Bones would be an insult to ourselves, and followed by our +instantaneous withdrawal in a body. + +All went well, however, until the minister, lifting the large Bible +from the communion table and holding it in both hands before him, walked +toward a reading stand by the altar rails. Bones uttered a distinct +growl. The minister stopped. + +We, and we alone, comprehended in a flash the whole situation. The Bible +was nearly the size and shape of one of those soft clods of sod which we +were in the playful habit of launching at Bones when he lay half-asleep +in the sun, in order to see him cleverly evade it. + +We held our breath. What was to be done? But the opportunity belonged +to our leader, Jeff Briggs--a confoundedly good-looking fellow, with the +golden mustache of a northern viking and the curls of an Apollo. Secure +in his beauty and bland in his self-conceit, he rose from the pew, and +stepped before the chancel rails. + +"I would wait a moment, if I were you, sir," he said, respectfully, "and +you will see that he will go out quietly." + +"What is wrong?" whispered the minister in some concern. + +"He thinks you are going to heave that book at him, sir, without giving +him a fair show, as we do." + +The minister looked perplexed, but remained motionless, with the book in +his hands. Bones arose, walked halfway down the aisle, and vanished like +a yellow flash! + +With this justification of his reputation, Bones disappeared for a week. +At the end of that time we received a polite note from Judge Preston, +saying that the dog had become quite domiciled in their house, and +begged that the camp, without yielding up their valuable PROPERTY in +him, would allow him to remain at Spring Valley for an indefinite time; +that both the judge and his daughter--with whom Bones was already an old +friend--would be glad if the members of the camp would visit their old +favorite whenever they desired, to assure themselves that he was well +cared for. + +I am afraid that the bait thus ingenuously thrown out had a good deal to +do with our ultimate yielding. However, the reports of those who visited +Bones were wonderful and marvelous. He was residing there in state, +lying on rugs in the drawing-room, coiled up under the judicial desk in +the judge's study, sleeping regularly on the mat outside Miss Pinkey's +bedroom door, or lazily snapping at flies on the judge's lawn. + +"He's as yaller as ever," said one of our informants, "but it don't +somehow seem to be the same back that we used to break clods over in the +old time, just to see him scoot out of the dust." + +And now I must record a fact which I am aware all lovers of dogs will +indignantly deny, and which will be furiously bayed at by every faithful +hound since the days of Ulysses. Bones not only FORGOT, but absolutely +CUT US! Those who called upon the judge in "store clothes" he would +perhaps casually notice, but he would sniff at them as if detecting and +resenting them under their superficial exterior. The rest he simply paid +no attention to. The more familiar term of "Bonesy"--formerly applied +to him, as in our rare moments of endearment--produced no response. +This pained, I think, some of the more youthful of us; but, through some +strange human weakness, it also increased the camp's respect for him. +Nevertheless, we spoke of him familiarly to strangers at the very moment +he ignored us. I am afraid that we also took some pains to point +out that he was getting fat and unwieldy, and losing his elasticity, +implying covertly that his choice was a mistake and his life a failure. + +A year after, he died, in the odor of sanctity and respectability, being +found one morning coiled up and stiff on the mat outside Miss Pinkey's +door. When the news was conveyed to us, we asked permission, the camp +being in a prosperous condition, to erect a stone over his grave. But +when it came to the inscription we could only think of the two words +murmured to him by Miss Pinkey, which we always believe effected his +conversion: + +"GOOD Dog!" + + + + +A MOTHER OF FIVE + + +She was a mother--and a rather exemplary one--of five children, although +her own age was barely nine. Two of these children were twins, and she +generally alluded to them as "Mr. Amplach's children," referring to an +exceedingly respectable gentleman in the next settlement who, I have +reason to believe, had never set eyes on her or them. The twins were +quite naturally alike--having been in a previous state of existence two +ninepins--and were still somewhat vague and inchoate below their low +shoulders in their long clothes, but were also firm and globular about +the head, and there were not wanting those who professed to see in this +an unmistakable resemblance to their reputed father. The other children +were dolls of different ages, sex, and condition, but the twins may +be said to have been distinctly her own conception. Yet such was her +admirable and impartial maternity that she never made any difference +between them. "The Amplach's children" was a description rather than a +distinction. + +She was herself the motherless child of Robert Foulkes, a hardworking +but somewhat improvident teamster on the Express Route between Big Bend +and Reno. His daily avocation, when she was not actually with him in the +wagon, led to an occasional dispersion of herself and her progeny along +the road and at wayside stations between those places. But the family +was generally collected together by rough but kindly hands already +familiar with the handling of her children. I have a very vivid +recollection of Jim Carter trampling into a saloon, after a five-mile +walk through a snowdrift, with an Amplach twin in his pocket. "Suthin' +ought to be done," he growled, "to make Meary a little more careful o' +them Amplach children; I picked up one outer the snow a mile beyond Big +Bend." "God bless my soul!" said a casual passenger, looking up hastily; +"I didn't know Mr. Amplach was married." Jim winked diabolically at us +over his glass. "No more did I," he responded gloomily, "but you can't +tell anything about the ways o' them respectable, psalm-singing jay +birds." Having thus disposed of Amplach's character, later on, when +he was alone with Mary, or "Meary," as she chose to pronounce it, the +rascal worked upon her feelings with an account of the infant Amplach's +sufferings in the snowdrift and its agonized whisperings for "Meary! +Meary!" until real tears stood in Mary's blue eyes. "Let this be a +lesson to you," he concluded, drawing the ninepin dexterously from his +pocket, "for it took nigh a quart of the best forty-rod whisky to bring +that child to." Not only did Mary firmly believe him, but for weeks +afterwards "Julian Amplach"--this unhappy twin--was kept in a somnolent +attitude in the cart, and was believed to have contracted dissipated +habits from the effects of his heroic treatment. + +Her numerous family was achieved in only two years, and succeeded her +first child, which was brought from Sacramento at considerable expense +by a Mr. William Dodd, also a teamster, on her seventh birthday. This, +by one of those rare inventions known only to a child's vocabulary, +she at once called "Misery"--probably a combination of "Missy," as she +herself was formerly termed by strangers, and "Missouri," her native +State. It was an excessively large doll at first--Mr. Dodd wishing to +get the worth of his money--but time, and perhaps an excess of maternal +care, remedied the defect, and it lost flesh and certain unemployed +parts of its limbs very rapidly. It was further reduced in bulk by +falling under the wagon and having the whole train pass over it, +but singularly enough its greatest attenuation was in the head and +shoulders--the complexion peeling off as a solid layer, followed by the +disappearance of distinct strata of its extraordinary composition. This +continued until the head and shoulders were much too small for even +its reduced frame, and all the devices of childish millinery--a shawl +secured with tacks and well hammered in, and a hat which tilted backward +and forward and never appeared at the same angle--failed to restore +symmetry. Until one dreadful morning, after an imprudent bath, the whole +upper structure disappeared, leaving two hideous iron prongs standing +erect from the spinal column. Even an imaginative child like Mary could +not accept this sort of thing as a head. Later in the day Jack Roper, +the blacksmith at the "Crossing," was concerned at the plaintive +appearance before his forge of a little girl clad in a bright-blue +pinafore of the same color as her eyes, carrying her monstrous offspring +in her arms. Jack recognized her and instantly divined the situation. +"You haven't," he suggested kindly, "got another head at home--suthin' +left over," Mary shook her head sadly; even her prolific maternity was +not equal to the creation of children in detail. "Nor anythin' like +a head?" he persisted sympathetically. Mary's loving eyes filled with +tears. "No, nuffen!" "You couldn't," he continued thoughtfully, "use her +the other side up?--we might get a fine pair o' legs outer them irons," +he added, touching the two prongs with artistic suggestion. "Now look +here"--he was about to tilt the doll over when a small cry of feminine +distress and a swift movement of a matronly little arm arrested the +evident indiscretion. "I see," he said gravely. "Well, you come here +tomorrow, and we'll fix up suthin' to work her." Jack was thoughtful the +rest of the day, more than usually impatient with certain stubborn mules +to be shod, and even knocked off work an hour earlier to walk to Big +Bend and a rival shop. But the next morning when the trustful and +anxious mother appeared at the forge she uttered a scream of delight. +Jack had neatly joined a hollow iron globe, taken from the newel post of +some old iron staircase railing, to the two prongs, and covered it +with a coat of red fireproof paint. It was true that its complexion was +rather high, that it was inclined to be top-heavy, and that in the long +run the other dolls suffered considerably by enforced association with +this unyielding and implacable head and shoulders, but this did not +diminish Mary's joy over her restored first-born. Even its utter absence +of features was no defect in a family where features were as evanescent +as in hers, and the most ordinary student of evolution could see +that the "Amplach" ninepins were in legitimate succession to the +globular-headed "Misery." For a time I think that Mary even preferred +her to the others. Howbeit it was a pretty sight to see her on a summer +afternoon sitting upon a wayside stump, her other children dutifully +ranged around her, and the hard, unfeeling head of Misery pressed deep +down into her loving little heart as she swayed from side to side, +crooning her plaintive lullaby. Small wonder that the bees took up the +song and droned a slumberous accompaniment, or that high above her head +the enormous pines, stirred through their depths by the soft Sierran +air--or Heaven knows what--let slip flickering lights and shadows to +play over that cast-iron face, until the child, looking down upon it +with the quick, transforming power of love, thought that it smiled. + +The two remaining members of the family were less distinctive. +"Gloriana"--pronounced as two words: "Glory Anna"--being the work of +her father, who also named it, was simply a cylindrical roll of canvas +wagon-covering, girt so as to define a neck and waist, with a rudely +inked face--altogether a weak, pitiable, manlike invention; and "Johnny +Dear," alleged to be the representative of John Doremus, a young +storekeeper who occasionally supplied Mary with gratuitous sweets. Mary +never admitted this, and as we were all gentlemen along that road, +we were blind to the suggestion. "Johnny Dear" was originally a small +plaster phrenological cast of a head and bust, begged from some shop +window in the county town, with a body clearly constructed by Mary +herself. It was an ominous fact that it was always dressed as a BOY, +and was distinctly the most HUMAN-looking of all her progeny. Indeed, +in spite of the faculties that were legibly printed all over its smooth, +white, hairless head, it was appallingly lifelike. Left sometimes by +Mary astride of the branch of a wayside tree, horsemen had been known to +dismount hurriedly and examine it, returning with a mystified smile, and +it was on record that Yuba Bill had once pulled up the Pioneer Coach +at the request of curious and imploring passengers, and then grimly +installed "Johnny Dear" beside him on the box seat, publicly delivering +him to Mary at Big Bend, to her wide-eyed confusion and the first blush +we had ever seen on her round, chubby, sunburnt cheeks. It may seem +strange that with her great popularity and her well-known maternal +instincts, she had not been kept fully supplied with proper and more +conventional dolls; but it was soon recognized that she did not care +for them--left their waxen faces, rolling eyes, and abundant hair in +ditches, or stripped them to help clothe the more extravagant creatures +of her fancy. So it came that "Johnny Dear's" strictly classical profile +looked out from under a girl's fashionable straw sailor hat, to the +utter obliteration of his prominent intellectual faculties; the Amplach +twins wore bonnets on their ninepins heads, and even an attempt was +made to fit a flaxen scalp on the iron-headed Misery. But her dolls were +always a creation of her own--her affection for them increasing with the +demand upon her imagination. This may seem somewhat inconsistent +with her habit of occasionally abandoning them in the woods or in the +ditches. But she had an unbounded confidence in the kindly maternity of +Nature, and trusted her children to the breast of the Great Mother as +freely as she did herself in her own motherlessness. And this confidence +was rarely betrayed. Rats, mice, snails, wildcats, panther, and bear +never touched her lost waifs. Even the elements were kindly; an Amplach +twin buried under a snowdrift in high altitudes reappeared smilingly +in the spring in all its wooden and painted integrity. We were all +Pantheists then--and believed this implicitly. It was only when exposed +to the milder forces of civilization that Mary had anything to fear. +Yet even then, when Patsy O'Connor's domestic goat had once tried to +"sample" the lost Misery, he had retreated with the loss of three +front teeth, and Thompson's mule came out of an encounter with that +iron-headed prodigy with a sprained hind leg and a cut and swollen +pastern. + +But these were the simple Arcadian days of the road between Big Bend and +Reno, and progress and prosperity, alas! brought changes in their wake. +It was already whispered that Mary ought to be going to school, and +Mr. Amplach--still happily oblivious of the liberties taken with his +name--as trustee of the public school at Duckville, had intimated that +Mary's bohemian wanderings were a scandal to the county. She was growing +up in ignorance, a dreadful ignorance of everything but the chivalry, +the deep tenderness, the delicacy and unselfishness of the rude men +around her, and obliviousness of faith in anything but the immeasurable +bounty of Nature toward her and her children. Of course there was a +fierce discussion between "the boys" of the road and the few married +families of the settlement on this point, but, of course, progress and +"snivelization"--as the boys chose to call it--triumphed. The projection +of a railroad settled it; Robert Foulkes, promoted to a foremanship of +a division of the line, was made to understand that his daughter must be +educated. But the terrible question of Mary's family remained. No school +would open its doors to that heterogeneous collection, and Mary's little +heart would have broken over the rude dispersal or heroic burning of her +children. The ingenuity of Jack Roper suggested a compromise. She +was allowed to select one to take to school with her; the others were +ADOPTED by certain of her friends, and she was to be permitted to visit +them every Saturday afternoon. The selection was a cruel trial, so cruel +that, knowing her undoubted preference for her firstborn, Misery, we +would not have interfered for worlds, but in her unexpected choice +of "Johnny Dear" the most unworldly of us knew that it was the first +glimmering of feminine tact--her first submission to the world of +propriety that she was now entering. "Johnny Dear" was undoubtedly the +most presentable; even more, there was an educational suggestion in its +prominent, mapped-out phrenological organs. The adopted fathers were +loyal to their trust. Indeed, for years afterward the blacksmith kept +the iron-headed Misery on a rude shelf, like a shrine, near his bunk; +nobody but himself and Mary ever knew the secret, stolen, and thrilling +interviews that took place during the first days of their separation. +Certain facts, however, transpired concerning Mary's equal faithfulness +to another of her children. It is said that one Saturday afternoon, when +the road manager of the new line was seated in his office at Reno in +private business discussion with two directors, a gentle tap was heard +at the door. It was opened to an eager little face, a pair of blue eyes, +and a blue pinafore. To the astonishment of the directors, a change came +over the face of the manager. Taking the child gently by the hand, he +walked to his desk, on which the papers of the new line were +scattered, and drew open a drawer from which he took a large ninepin +extraordinarily dressed as a doll. The astonishment of the two gentlemen +was increased at the following quaint colloquy between the manager and +the child. + +"She's doing remarkably well in spite of the trying weather, but I have +had to keep her very quiet," said the manager, regarding the ninepin +critically. + +"Ess," said Mary quickly, "It's just the same with Johnny Dear; his +cough is f'ightful at nights. But Misery's all right. I've just been to +see her." + +"There's a good deal of scarlet fever around," continued the manager +with quiet concern, "and we can't be too careful. But I shall take her +for a little run down the line tomorrow." + +The eyes of Mary sparkled and overflowed like blue water. Then there was +a kiss, a little laugh, a shy glance at the two curious strangers, the +blue pinafore fluttered away, and the colloquy ended. She was equally +attentive in her care of the others, but the rag baby "Gloriana," who +had found a home in Jim Carter's cabin at the Ridge, living too far for +daily visits, was brought down regularly on Saturday afternoon to Mary's +house by Jim, tucked in asleep in his saddle bags or riding gallantly +before him on the horn of his saddle. On Sunday there was a dress +parade of all the dolls, which kept Mary in heart for the next week's +desolation. + +But there came one Saturday and Sunday when Mary did not appear, and it +was known along the road that she had been called to San Francisco to +meet an aunt who had just arrived from "the States." It was a vacant +Sunday to "the boys," a very hollow, unsanctified Sunday, somehow, +without that little figure. But the next, Sunday, and the next, were +still worse, and then it was known that the dreadful aunt was making +much of Mary, and was sending her to a grand school--a convent at Santa +Clara--where it was rumored girls were turned out so accomplished that +their own parents did not know them. But WE knew that was impossible to +our Mary; and a letter which came from her at the end of the month, and +before the convent had closed upon the blue pinafore, satisfied us, and +was balm to our anxious hearts. It was characteristic of Mary; it was +addressed to nobody in particular, and would--but for the prudence of +the aunt--have been entrusted to the post office open and undirected. It +was a single sheet, handed to us without a word by her father; but as +we passed it from hand to hand, we understood it as if we had heard our +lost playfellow's voice. + +"Ther's more houses in 'Frisco than you kin shake a stick at and +wimmens till you kant rest, but mules and jakasses ain't got no sho, nor +blacksmiffs shops, wich is not to be seen no wear. Rapits and Skwirls +also bares and panfers is on-noun and unforgotten on account of the +streets and Sunday skoles. Jim Roper you orter be very good to Mizzery +on a kount of my not bein' here, and not harten your hart to her bekos +she is top heavy--which is ontroo and simply an imptient lie--like +you allus make. I have a kinary bird wot sings deliteful--but isn't a +yellerhamer sutch as I know, as you'd think. Dear Mister Montgommery, +don't keep Gulan Amplak to mutch shet up in office drors; it isn't good +for his lungs and chest. And don't you ink his head--nother! youre as +bad as the rest. Johnny Dear, you must be very kind to your attopted +father, and you, Glory Anna, must lov your kind Jimmy Carter verry +mutch for taking you hossback so offen. I has been buggy ridin' with +an orficer who has killed injuns real! I am comin' back soon with grate +affeckshun, so luke out and mind." + +But it was three years before she returned, and this was her last +and only letter. The "adopted fathers" of her children were faithful, +however, and when the new line was opened, and it was understood that +she was to be present with her father at the ceremony, they came, with +a common understanding, to the station to meet their old playmate. They +were ranged along the platform--poor Jack Roper a little overweighted +with a bundle he was carrying on his left arm. And then a young girl +in the freshness of her teens and the spotless purity of a muslin frock +that although brief in skirt was perfect in fit, faultlessly booted and +gloved, tripped from the train, and offered a delicate hand in turn to +each of her old friends. Nothing could be prettier than the smile on the +cheeks that were no longer sunburnt; nothing could be clearer than the +blue eyes lifted frankly to theirs. And yet, as she gracefully turned +away with her father, the faces of the four adopted parents were found +to be as red and embarrassed as her own on the day that Yuba Bill drove +up publicly with "Johnny Dear" on the box seat. + +"You weren't such a fool," said Jack Montgomery to Roper, "as to bring +Misery here with you?" + +"I was," said Roper with a constrained laugh--"and you?" He had just +caught sight of the head of a ninepin peeping from the manager's pocket. +The man laughed, and then the four turned silently away. + +"Mary" had indeed come back to them; but not "The Mother of Five!" + + + + +BULGER'S REPUTATION + + +We all remembered very distinctly Bulger's advent in Rattlesnake Camp. +It was during the rainy season--a season singularly inducive to settled +reflective impressions as we sat and smoked around the stove in Mosby's +grocery. Like older and more civilized communities, we had our periodic +waves of sentiment and opinion, with the exception that they were more +evanescent with us, and as we had just passed through a fortnight of +dissipation and extravagance, owing to a visit from some gamblers and +speculators, we were now undergoing a severe moral revulsion, partly +induced by reduced finances and partly by the arrival of two families +with grownup daughters on the hill. It was raining, with occasional warm +breaths, through the open window, of the southwest trades, redolent of +the saturated spices of the woods and springing grasses, which perhaps +were slightly inconsistent with the hot stove around which we had +congregated. But the stove was only an excuse for our listless, +gregarious gathering; warmth and idleness went well together, and it was +currently accepted that we had caught from the particular reptile which +gave its name to our camp much of its pathetic, lifelong search for +warmth, and its habit of indolently basking in it. + +A few of us still went through the affectation of attempting to dry our +damp clothes by the stove, and sizzling our wet boots against it; but +as the same individuals calmly permitted the rain to drive in upon them +through the open window without moving, and seemed to take infinite +delight in the amount of steam they generated, even that pretense +dropped. Crotalus himself, with his tail in a muddy ditch, and the sun +striking cold fire from his slit eyes as he basked his head on a warm +stone beside it, could not have typified us better. + +Percy Briggs took his pipe from his mouth at last and said, with +reflective severity: + +"Well, gentlemen, if we can't get the wagon road over here, and if +we're going to be left out by the stagecoach company, we can at least +straighten up the camp, and not have it look like a cross between a +tenement alley and a broken-down circus. I declare, I was just sick +when these two Baker girls started to make a short cut through the camp. +Darned if they didn't turn round and take to the woods and the rattlers +again afore they got halfway. And that benighted idiot, Tom Rollins, +standin' there in the ditch, spattered all over with slumgullion 'til he +looked like a spotted tarrypin, wavin' his fins and sashaying backwards +and forrards and sayin', 'This way, ladies; this way!'" + +"I didn't," returned Tom Rollins, quite casually, without looking up +from his steaming boots; "I didn't start in night afore last to dance +'The Green Corn Dance' outer 'Hiawatha,' with feathers in my hair and +a red blanket on my shoulders, round that family's new potato patch, +in order that it might 'increase and multiply.' I didn't sing 'Sabbath +Morning Bells' with an anvil accompaniment until twelve o'clock at +night over at the Crossing, so that they might dream of their Happy +Childhood's Home. It seems to me that it wasn't me did it. I might be +mistaken--it was late--but I have the impression that it wasn't me." + +From the silence that followed, this would seem to have been clearly +a recent performance of the previous speaker, who, however, responded +quite cheerfully: + +"An evenin' o' simple, childish gaiety don't count. We've got to start +in again FAIR. What we want here is to clear up and encourage decent +immigration, and get rid o' gamblers and blatherskites that are makin' +this yer camp their happy hunting-ground. We don't want any more +permiskus shootin'. We don't want any more paintin' the town red. We +don't want any more swaggerin' galoots ridin' up to this grocery and +emptyin' their six-shooters in the air afore they 'light. We want to put +a stop to it peacefully and without a row--and we kin. We ain't got no +bullies of our own to fight back, and they know it, so they know they +won't get no credit bullyin' us; they'll leave, if we're only firm. It's +all along of our cussed fool good-nature; they see it amuses us, and +they'll keep it up as long as the whisky's free. What we want to do is, +when the next man comes waltzin' along--" + +A distant clatter from the rocky hillside here mingled with the puff of +damp air through the window. + +"Looks as ef we might hev a show even now," said Tom Rollins, removing +his feet from the stove as we all instinctively faced toward the window. + +"I reckon you're in with us in this, Mosby?" said Briggs, turning toward +the proprietor of the grocery, who had been leaning listlessly against +the wall behind his bar. + +"Arter the man's had a fair show," said Mosby, cautiously. He deprecated +the prevailing condition of things, but it was still an open question +whether the families would prove as valuable customers as his present +clients. "Everything in moderation, gentlemen." + +The sound of galloping hoofs came nearer, now swishing in the soft mud +of the highway, until the unseen rider pulled up before the door. There +was no shouting, however, nor did he announce himself with the usual +salvo of firearms. But when, after a singularly heavy tread and the +jingle of spurs on the platform, the door flew open to the newcomer, +he seemed a realization of our worst expectations. Tall, broad, and +muscular, he carried in one hand a shotgun, while from his hip dangled +a heavy navy revolver. His long hair, unkempt but oiled, swept a greasy +circle around his shoulders; his enormous mustache, dripping with wet, +completely concealed his mouth. His costume of fringed buckskin was wild +and outre even for our frontier camp. But what was more confirmative +of our suspicions was that he was evidently in the habit of making an +impression, and after a distinct pause at the doorway, with only a side +glance at us, he strode toward the bar. + +"As there don't seem to be no hotel hereabouts, I reckon I kin put up +my mustang here and have a shakedown somewhere behind that counter," he +said. His voice seemed to have added to its natural depth the hoarseness +of frequent overstraining. + +"Ye ain't got no bunk to spare, you boys, hev ye?" asked Mosby, +evasively, glancing at Percy Briggs without looking at the stranger. +We all looked at Briggs also; it was HIS affair after all--HE had +originated this opposition. To our surprise he said nothing. + +The stranger leaned heavily on the counter. + +"I was speaking to YOU," he said, with his eyes on Mosby, and slightly +accenting the pronoun with a tap of his revolver butt on the bar. "Ye +don't seem to catch on." + +Mosby smiled feebly, and again cast an imploring glance at Briggs. To +our greater astonishment, Briggs said, quietly: "Why don't you answer +the stranger, Mosby?" + +"Yes, yes," said Mosby, suavely, to the newcomer, while an angry flush +crossed his check as he recognized the position in which Briggs had +placed him. "Of course, you're welcome to what doings I hev here, but I +reckoned these gentlemen over there," with a vicious glance at Briggs, +"might fix ye up suthin' better; they're so pow'ful kind to your sort." + +The stranger threw down a gold piece on the counter and said: "Fork out +your whisky, then," waited until his glass was filled, took it in his +hand, and then, drawing an empty chair to the stove, sat down beside +Briggs. "Seein' as you're that kind," he said, placing his heavy hand +on Briggs's knee, "mebbe ye kin tell me ef thar's a shanty or a cabin at +Rattlesnake that I kin get for a couple o' weeks. I saw an empty one at +the head o' the hill. You see, gennelmen," he added confidentially as +he swept the drops of whisky from his long mustache with his fingers and +glanced around our group, "I've got some business over at Bigwood," our +nearest town, "but ez a place to stay AT it ain't my style." + +"What's the matter with Bigwood?" said Briggs, abruptly. + +"It's too howlin', too festive, too rough; thar's too much yellin' +and shootin' goin' day and night. Thar's too many card sharps and gay +gamboliers cavortin' about the town to please me. Too much permiskus +soakin' at the bar and free jimjams. What I want is a quiet place what +a man kin give his mind and elbow a rest from betwixt grippin' his +shootin' irons and crookin' in his whisky. A sort o' slow, quiet, easy +place LIKE THIS." + +We all stared at him, Percy Briggs as fixedly as any. But there was not +the slightest trace of irony, sarcasm, or peculiar significance in his +manner. He went on slowly: + +"When I struck this yer camp a minit ago; when I seed that thar ditch +meanderin' peaceful like through the street, without a hotel or free +saloon or express office on either side; with the smoke just a curlin' +over the chimbley of that log shanty, and the bresh just set fire to and +a smolderin' in that potato patch with a kind o' old-time stingin' in +your eyes and nose, and a few women's duds just a flutterin' on a line +by the fence, I says to myself: 'Bulger--this is peace! This is wot +you're lookin' for, Bulger--this is wot you're wantin'--this is wot +YOU'LL HEV!'" + +"You say you've business over at Bigwood. What business?" said Briggs. + +"It's a peculiar business, young fellow," returned the stranger, +gravely. "Thar's different men ez has different opinions about it. Some +allows it's an easy business, some allows it's a rough business; some +says it's a sad business, others says it's gay and festive. Some wonders +ez how I've got into it, and others wonder how I'll ever get out of it. +It's a payin' business--it's a peaceful sort o' business when left to +itself. It's a peculiar business--a business that sort o' b'longs to +me, though I ain't got no patent from Washington for it. It's MY OWN +business." He paused, rose, and saying, "Let's meander over and take a +look at that empty cabin, and ef she suits me, why, I'll plank down +a slug for her on the spot, and move in tomorrow," walked towards the +door. "I'll pick up suthin' in the way o' boxes and blankets from the +grocery," he added, looking at Mosby, "and ef thar's a corner whar I kin +stand my gun and a nail to hang up my revolver--why, I'm all thar!" + +By this time we were no longer astonished when Briggs rose also, and not +only accompanied the sinister-looking stranger to the empty cabin, but +assisted him in negotiating with its owner for a fortnight's occupancy. +Nevertheless, we eagerly assailed Briggs on his return for some +explanation of this singular change in his attitude toward the stranger. +He coolly reminded us, however, that while his intention of excluding +ruffianly adventurers from the camp remained the same, he had no right +to go back on the stranger's sentiments, which were evidently in accord +with our own, and although Mr. Bulger's appearance was inconsistent with +them, that was only an additional reason why we should substitute a +mild firmness for that violence which we all deprecated, but which might +attend his abrupt dismissal. We were all satisfied except Mosby, who had +not yet recovered from Briggs's change of front, which he was pleased +to call "craw-fishing." "Seemed to me his account of his business was +extraordinary satisfactory! Sorter filled the bill all round--no mistake +thar," he suggested, with a malicious irony. "I like a man that's +outspoken." + +"I understood him very well," said Briggs, quietly. + +"In course you did. Only when you've settled in your MIND whether he +was describing horse-stealing or tract-distributing, mebbe you'll let ME +know." + +It would seem, however, that Briggs did not interrogate the stranger +again regarding it, nor did we, who were quite content to leave matters +in Briggs's hands. Enough that Mr. Bulger moved into the empty cabin the +next day, and, with the aid of a few old boxes from the grocery, which +he quickly extemporized into tables and chairs, and the purchase of some +necessary cooking utensils, soon made himself at home. The rest of the +camp, now thoroughly aroused, made a point of leaving their work in +the ditches, whenever they could, to stroll carelessly around Bulger's +tenement in the vague hope of satisfying a curiosity that had become +tormenting. But they could not find that he was doing anything of a +suspicious character--except, perhaps, from the fact that it was +not OUTWARDLY suspicious, which I grieve to say did not lull them to +security. He seemed to be either fixing up his cabin or smoking in his +doorway. On the second day he checked this itinerant curiosity by taking +the initiative himself, and quietly walking from claim to claim and from +cabin to cabin with a pacific but by no means a satisfying interest. The +shadow of his tall figure carrying his inseparable gun, which had not +yet apparently "stood in the corner," falling upon an excavated bank +beside the delving miners, gave them a sense of uneasiness they could +not explain; a few characteristic yells of boisterous hilarity from +their noontide gathering under a cottonwood somehow ceased when Mr. +Bulger was seen gravely approaching, and his casual stopping before +a poker party in the gulch actually caused one of the most reckless +gamblers to weakly recede from "a bluff" and allow his adversary to +sweep the board. After this it was felt that matters were becoming +serious. There was no subsequent patrolling of the camp before the +stranger's cabin. Their curiosity was singularly abated. A general +feeling of repulsion, kept within bounds partly by the absence of any +overt act from Bulger, and partly by an inconsistent over-consciousness +of his shotgun, took its place. But an unexpected occurrence revived it. + +One evening, as the usual social circle were drawn around Mosby's stove, +the lazy silence was broken by the familiar sounds of pistol shots and a +series of more familiar shrieks and yells from the rocky hill road. The +circle quickly recognized the voices of their old friends the roisterers +and gamblers from Sawyer's Dam; they as quickly recognized the returning +shouts here and there from a few companions who were welcoming them. I +grieve to say that in spite of their previous attitude of reformation a +smile of gratified expectancy lit up the faces of the younger members, +and even the older ones glanced dubiously at Briggs. Mosby made no +attempt to conceal a sigh of relief as he carefully laid out an extra +supply of glasses in his bar. Suddenly the oncoming yells ceased, the +wild gallop of hoofs slackened into a trot, and finally halted, and even +the responsive shouts of the camp stopped also. We all looked vacantly +at each other; Mosby leaped over his counter and went to the door; +Briggs followed with the rest of us. The night was dark, and it was a +few minutes before we could distinguish a straggling, vague, but silent +procession moving through the moist, heavy air on the hill. But, to our +surprise, it was moving away from us--absolutely LEAVING the camp! We +were still staring in expectancy when out of the darkness slowly emerged +a figure which we recognized at once as Captain Jim, one of the most +reckless members of our camp. Pushing us back into the grocery he +entered without a word, closed the door behind him, and threw himself +vacantly into a chair. We at once pressed around him. He looked up at us +dazedly, drew a long breath, and said slowly: + +"It's no use, gentlemen! Suthin's GOT to be done with that Bulger; and +mighty quick." + +"What's the matter?" we asked eagerly. + +"Matter!" he repeated, passing his hand across his forehead. "Matter! +Look yere! Ye all of you heard them boys from Sawyer's Dam coming over +the hill? Ye heard their music--mebbe ye heard US join in the chorus? +Well, on they came waltzing down the hill, like old times, and we +waitin' for 'em. Then, jest as they passed the old cabin, who do you +think they ran right into--shooting iron, long hair and mustache, and +all that--standing there plump in the road? why, Bulger!" + +"Well?" + +"Well!--Whatever it was--don't ask ME--but, dern my skin, ef after a +word or two from HIM--them boys just stopped yellin', turned round like +lambs, and rode away, peaceful-like, along with him. We ran after them +a spell, still yellin', when that thar Bulger faced around, said to us +that he'd 'come down here for quiet,' and ef he couldn't hev it he'd +have to leave with those gentlemen WHO WANTED IT too! And I'm gosh +darned ef those GENTLEMEN--you know 'em all--Patsey Carpenter, Snapshot +Harry, and the others--ever said a darned word, but kinder nodded 'So +long' and went away!" + +Our astonishment and mystification were complete; and I regret to say, +the indignation of Captain Jim and Mosby equally so. "If we're going to +be bossed by the first newcomer," said the former, gloomily, "I reckon +we might as well take our chances with the Sawyer's Dam boys, whom we +know." + +"Ef we are going to hev the legitimate trade of Rattlesnake interfered +with by the cranks of some hidin' horse thief or retired road agent," +said Mosby, "we might as well invite the hull of Joaquin Murietta's +gang here at once! But I suppose this is part o' Bulger's particular +'business,'" he added, with a withering glance at Briggs. + +"I understand it all," said Briggs, quietly. "You know I told you +that bullies couldn't live in the same camp together. That's human +nature--and that's how plain men like you and me manage to scud along +without getting plugged. You see, Bulger wasn't going to hev any of his +own kind jumpin' his claim here. And I reckon he was pow'ful enough to +back down Sawyer's Dam. Anyhow, the bluff told--and here we are in peace +and quietness." + +"Until he lets us know what is his little game," sneered Mosby. + +Nevertheless, such is the force of mysterious power that although it was +exercised against what we firmly believed was the independence of the +camp, it extorted a certain respect from us. A few thought it was not a +bad thing to have a professional bully, and even took care to relate the +discomfiture of the wicked youth of Sawyer's Dam for the benefit of +a certain adjacent and powerful camp who had looked down upon us. +He himself, returning the same evening from his self-imposed escort, +vouchsafed no other reason than the one he had already given. +Preposterous as it seemed, we were obliged to accept it, and the still +more preposterous inference that he had sought Rattlesnake Camp solely +for the purpose of acquiring and securing its peace and quietness. +Certainly he had no other occupation; the little work he did upon the +tailings of the abandoned claim which went with his little cabin was +scarcely a pretense. He rode over on certain days to Bigwood on account +of his business, but no one had ever seen him there, nor could the +description of his manner and appearance evoke any information from the +Bigwoodians. It remained a mystery. + +It had also been feared that the advent of Bulger would intensify that +fear and dislike of riotous Rattlesnake which the two families +had shown, and which was the origin of Briggs's futile attempt at +reformation. But it was discovered that since his arrival the young +girls had shown less timidity in entering the camp, and had even +exchanged some polite conversation and good-humoured badinage with its +younger and more impressible members. Perhaps this tended to make these +youths more observant, for a few days later, when the vexed question +of Bulger's business was again under discussion, one of them remarked, +gloomily: + +"I reckon there ain't no doubt WHAT he's here for!" + +The youthful prophet was instantly sat upon after the fashion of +all elderly critics since Job's. Nevertheless, after a pause he was +permitted to explain. + +"Only this morning, when Lance Forester and me were chirping with them +gals out on the hill, who should we see hanging around in the bush but +that cussed Bulger! We allowed at first that it might be only a new +style of his interferin', so we took no notice, except to pass a few +remarks about listeners and that sort o' thing, and perhaps to bedevil +the girls a little more than we'd hev done if we'd been alone. Well, +they laughed, and we laughed--and that was the end of it. But this +afternoon, as Lance and me were meandering down by their cabin, we +sorter turned into the woods to wait till they'd come out. Then all of +a suddent Lance stopped as rigid as a pointer that's flushed somethin', +and says, 'B'gosh!' And thar, under a big redwood, sat that slimy +hypocrite Bulger, twisting his long mustaches and smiling like clockwork +alongside o' little Meely Baker--you know her, the pootiest of the +two sisters--and she smilin' back on him. Think of it! that unknown, +unwashed, longhaired tramp and bully, who must be forty if a day, and +that innocent gal of sixteen. It was simply disgustin'!" + +I need not say that the older cynics and critics already alluded to at +once improved the occasion. 'What more could be expected? Women, +the world over, were noted for this sort of thing! This long-haired, +swaggering bully, with his air of mystery, had captivated them, as he +always had done since the days of Homer. Simple merit, which sat lowly +in barrooms, and conceived projects for the public good around the +humble, unostentatious stove, was nowhere! Youth could not too soon +learn this bitter lesson. And in this case youth too, perhaps, was +right in its conjectures, for this WAS, no doubt, the little game of the +perfidious Bulger. We recalled the fact that his unhallowed appearance +in camp was almost coincident with the arrival of the two families. +We glanced at Briggs; to our amazement, for the first time he looked +seriously concerned. But Mosby in the meantime leaned his elbows lazily +over the counter and, in a slow voice, added fuel to the flame. + +"I wouldn't hev spoken of it before," he said, with a sidelong glance +at Briggs, "for it might be all in the line o' Bulger's 'business,' +but suthin' happened the other night that, for a minit, got me! I was +passin' the Bakers' shanty, and I heard one of them gals a singing a +camp-meeting hymn. I don't calkilate to run agin you young fellers in +any sparkin' or canoodlin' that's goin' on, but her voice sounded so +pow'ful soothin' and pretty thet I jest stood there and listened. Then +the old woman--old Mother Baker--SHE joined in, and I listened too. And +then--dern my skin!--but a man's voice joined in--jest belching outer +that cabin!--and I sorter lifted myself up and kem away. + +"That voice, gentlemen," said Mosby, lingering artistically as he took +up a glass and professionally eyed it before wiping it with his towel, +"that voice, cumf'bly fixed thar in thet cabin among them wimen folks, +was Bulger's!" + +Briggs got up, with his eyes looking the darker for his flushed face. +"Gentlemen," he said huskily, "thar's only one thing to be done. A lot +of us have got to ride over to Sawyer's Dam tomorrow morning and pick up +as many square men as we can muster; there's a big camp meeting goin' +on there, and there won't be no difficulty in that. When we've got a big +enough crowd to show we mean business, we must march back here and ride +Bulger out of this camp! I don't hanker arter Vigilance Committees, as +a rule--it's a rough remedy--it's like drinkin' a quart o' whisky agin +rattlesnake poison but it's got to be done! We don't mind being sold +ourselves but when it comes to our standin' by and seein' the only +innocent people in Rattlesnake given away--we kick! Bulger's got to be +fired outer this camp! And he will be!" + +But he was not. + +For when, the next morning, a determined and thoughtful procession of +the best and most characteristic citizens of Rattlesnake Camp filed into +Sawyer's Dam, they found that their mysterious friends had disappeared, +although they met with a fraternal but subdued welcome from the general +camp. But any approach to the subject of their visit, however, +was received with a chilling dissapproval. Did they not know that +lawlessness of any kind, even under the rude mantle of frontier justice, +was to be deprecated and scouted when a "means of salvation, a power of +regeneration," such as was now sweeping over Sawyer's Dam, was at hand? +Could they not induce this man who was to be violently deported to +accompany them willingly to Sawyer's Dam and subject himself to the +powerful influence of the "revival" then in full swing? + +The Rattlesnake boys laughed bitterly, and described the man of whom +they talked so lightly; but in vain. "It's no use, gentlemen," said +a more worldly bystander, in a lower voice, "the camp meetin's got a +strong grip here, and betwixt you and me there ain't no wonder. For the +man that runs it--the big preacher--has got new ways and methods that +fetches the boys every time. He don't preach no cut-and-dried gospel; he +don't carry around no slop-shop robes and clap 'em on you whether they +fit or not; but he samples and measures the camp afore he wades into +it. He scouts and examines; he ain't no mere Sunday preacher with a +comfortable house and once-a-week church, but he gives up his days and +nights to it, and makes his family work with him, and even sends 'em +forward to explore the field. And he ain't no white-choker shadbelly +either, but fits himself, like his gospel, to the men he works among. Ye +ought to hear him afore you go. His tent is just out your way. I'll go +with you." + +Too dejected to offer any opposition, and perhaps a little curious to +see this man who had unwittingly frustrated their design of lynching +Bulger, they halted at the outer fringe of worshipers who packed the +huge inclosure. They had not time to indulge their cynicisms over this +swaying mass of emotional, half-thinking, and almost irresponsible +beings, nor to detect any similarity between THEIR extreme methods and +the scheme of redemption they themselves were seeking, for in a +few moments, apparently lifted to his feet on a wave of religious +exultation, the famous preacher arose. The men of Rattlesnake gasped for +breath. + +It was Bulger! + +But Briggs quickly recovered himself. "By what name," said he, turning +passionately towards his guide, "does this man--this impostor--call +himself here?" + +"Baker." + +"Baker?" echoed the Rattlesnake contingent. + +"Baker?" repeated Lance Forester, with a ghastly smile. + +"Yes," returned their guide. "You oughter know it too! For he sent his +wife and daughters over, after his usual style, to sample your camp, a +week ago! Come, now, what are you givin' us?" + + + + +IN THE TULES + + +He had never seen a steamboat in his life. Born and reared in one of the +Western Territories, far from a navigable river, he had only known the +"dugout" or canoe as a means of conveyance across the scant streams +whose fordable waters made even those scarcely a necessity. The long, +narrow, hooded wagon, drawn by swaying oxen, known familiarly as +a "prairie schooner," in which he journeyed across the plains to +California in '53, did not help his conception by that nautical figure. +And when at last he dropped upon the land of promise through one of the +Southern mountain passes he halted all unconsciously upon the low banks +of a great yellow river amidst a tangled brake of strange, reed-like +grasses that were unknown to him. The river, broadening as it debouched +through many channels into a lordly bay, seemed to him the ULTIMA THULE +of his journeyings. Unyoking his oxen on the edge of the luxuriant +meadows which blended with scarcely any line of demarcation into the +great stream itself, he found the prospect "good" according to his +lights and prairial experiences, and, converting his halted wagon into a +temporary cabin, he resolved to rest here and "settle." + +There was little difficulty in so doing. The cultivated clearings he had +passed were few and far between; the land would be his by discovery +and occupation; his habits of loneliness and self-reliance made him +independent of neighbors. He took his first meal in his new solitude +under a spreading willow, but so near his natural boundary that the +waters gurgled and oozed in the reeds but a few feet from him. The +sun sank, deepening the gold of the river until it might have been the +stream of Pactolus itself. But Martin Morse had no imagination; he was +not even a gold-seeker; he had simply obeyed the roving instincts of the +frontiersman in coming hither. The land was virgin and unoccupied; it +was his; he was alone. These questions settled, he smoked his pipe with +less concern over his three thousand miles' transference of habitation +than the man of cities who had moved into a next street. When the +sun sank, he rolled himself in his blankets in the wagon bed and went +quietly to sleep. + +But he was presently awakened by something which at first he could +not determine to be a noise or an intangible sensation. It was a deep +throbbing through the silence of the night--a pulsation that seemed even +to be communicated to the rude bed whereon he lay. As it came nearer +it separated itself into a labored, monotonous panting, continuous, but +distinct from an equally monotonous but fainter beating of the waters, +as if the whole track of the river were being coursed and trodden by a +multitude of swiftly trampling feet. A strange feeling took possession +of him--half of fear, half of curious expectation. It was coming nearer. +He rose, leaped hurriedly from the wagon, and ran to the bank. The night +was dark; at first he saw nothing before him but the steel-black sky +pierced with far-spaced, irregularly scattered stars. Then there seemed +to be approaching him, from the left, another and more symmetrical +constellation--a few red and blue stars high above the river, with +three compact lines of larger planetary lights flashing towards him and +apparently on his own level. It was almost upon him; he involuntarily +drew back as the strange phenomenon swept abreast of where he stood, and +resolved itself into a dark yet airy bulk, whose vagueness, topped by +enormous towers, was yet illuminated by those open squares of light +that he had taken for stars, but which he saw now were brilliantly lit +windows. + +Their vivid rays shot through the reeds and sent broad bands across the +meadow, the stationary wagon, and the slumbering oxen. But all this was +nothing to the inner life they disclosed through lifted curtains and +open blinds, which was the crowning revelation of this strange and +wonderful spectacle. Elegantly dressed men and women moved through +brilliantly lit and elaborately gilt saloons; in one a banquet seemed +to be spread, served by white-jacketed servants; in another were men +playing cards around marble-topped tables; in another the light flashed +back again from the mirrors and glistening glasses and decanters of +a gorgeous refreshment saloon; in smaller openings there was the shy +disclosure of dainty white curtains and velvet lounges of more intimate +apartments. + +Martin Morse stood enthralled and mystified. It was as if some invisible +Asmodeus had revealed to this simple frontiersman a world of which he +had never dreamed. It was THE world--a world of which he knew nothing +in his simple, rustic habits and profound Western isolation--sweeping by +him with the rush of an unknown planet. In another moment it was gone; a +shower of sparks shot up from one of the towers and fell all around him, +and then vanished, even as he remembered the set piece of "Fourth of +July" fireworks had vanished in his own rural town when he was a boy. +The darkness fell with it too. But such was his utter absorption and +breathless preoccupation that only a cold chill recalled him to himself, +and he found he was standing mid-leg deep in the surge cast over the low +banks by this passage of the first steamboat he had ever seen! + +He waited for it the next night, when it appeared a little later from +the opposite direction on its return trip. He watched it the next night +and the next. Hereafter he never missed it, coming or going--whatever +the hard and weary preoccupations of his new and lonely life. He felt he +could not have slept without seeing it go by. Oddly enough, his interest +and desire did not go further. Even had he the time and money to spend +in a passage on the boat, and thus actively realize the great world of +which he had only these rare glimpses, a certain proud, rustic shyness +kept him from it. It was not HIS world; he could not affront the snubs +that his ignorance and inexperience would have provoked, and he was +dimly conscious, as so many of us are in our ignorance, that in mingling +with it he would simply lose the easy privileges of alien criticism. For +there was much that he did not understand, and some things that grated +upon his lonely independence. + +One night, a lighter one than those previous, he lingered a little +longer in the moonlight to watch the phosphorescent wake of the +retreating boat. Suddenly it struck him that there was a certain +irregular splashing in the water, quite different from the regular, +diagonally crossing surges that the boat swept upon the bank. Looking +at it more intently, he saw a black object turning in the water like +a porpoise, and then the unmistakable uplifting of a black arm in an +unskillful swimmer's overhand stroke. It was a struggling man. But it +was quickly evident that the current was too strong and the turbulence +of the shallow water too great for his efforts. Without a moment's +hesitation, clad as he was in only his shirt and trousers, Morse +strode into the reeds, and the next moment, with a call of warning, was +swimming toward the now wildly struggling figure. But, from some unknown +reason, as Morse approached him nearer the man uttered some incoherent +protest and desperately turned away, throwing off Morse's extended arm. + +Attributing this only to the vague convulsions of a drowning man, Morse, +a skilled swimmer, managed to clutch his shoulder, and propelled him at +arm's length, still struggling, apparently with as much reluctance as +incapacity, toward the bank. As their feet touched the reeds and slimy +bottom the man's resistance ceased, and he lapsed quite listlessly in +Morse's arms. Half lifting, half dragging his burden, he succeeded at +last in gaining the strip of meadow, and deposited the unconscious man +beneath the willow tree. Then he ran to his wagon for whisky. + +But, to his surprise, on his return the man was already sitting up and +wringing the water from his clothes. He then saw for the first time, +by the clear moonlight, that the stranger was elegantly dressed and +of striking appearance, and was clearly a part of that bright and +fascinating world which Morse had been contemplating in his solitude. He +eagerly took the proffered tin cup and drank the whisky. Then he rose +to his feet, staggered a few steps forward, and glanced curiously around +him at the still motionless wagon, the few felled trees and evidence of +"clearing," and even at the rude cabin of logs and canvas just beginning +to rise from the ground a few paces distant, and said, impatiently: + +"Where the devil am I?" + +Morse hesitated. He was unable to name the locality of his +dwelling-place. He answered briefly: + +"On the right bank of the Sacramento." + +The stranger turned upon him a look of suspicion not unmingled with +resentment. "Oh!" he said, with ironical gravity, "and I suppose that +this water you picked me out of was the Sacramento River. Thank you!" + +Morse, with slow Western patience, explained that he had only settled +there three weeks ago, and the place had no name. + +"What's your nearest town, then?" + +"Thar ain't any. Thar's a blacksmith's shop and grocery at the +crossroads, twenty miles further on, but it's got no name as I've heard +on." + +The stranger's look of suspicion passed. "Well," he said, in an imperative +fashion, which, however, seemed as much the result of habit as the +occasion, "I want a horse, and mighty quick, too." + +"H'ain't got any." + +"No horse? How did you get to this place?" + +Morse pointed to the slumbering oxen. + +The stranger again stared curiously at him. After a pause he said, with +a half-pitying, half-humorous smile: "Pike--aren't you?" + +Whether Morse did or did not know that this current California slang +for a denizen of the bucolic West implied a certain contempt, he replied +simply: + +"I'm from Pike County, Mizzouri." + +"Well," said the stranger, resuming his impatient manner, "you must beg +or steal a horse from your neighbors." + +"Thar ain't any neighbor nearer than fifteen miles." + +"Then send fifteen miles! Stop." He opened his still clinging shirt +and drew out a belt pouch, which he threw to Morse. "There! there's two +hundred and fifty dollars in that. Now, I want a horse. Sabe?" + +"Thar ain't anyone to send," said Morse, quietly. + +"Do you mean to say you are all alone here?" + +"Yes. + +"And you fished me out--all by yourself?" + +"Yes." + +The stranger again examined him curiously. Then he suddenly stretched +out his hand and grasped his companion's. + +"All right; if you can't send, I reckon I can manage to walk over there +tomorrow." + +"I was goin' on to say," said Morse, simply, "that if you'll lie by +tonight, I'll start over sunup, after puttin' out the cattle, and fetch +you back a horse afore noon." + +"That's enough." He, however, remained looking curiously at Morse. "Did +you never hear," he said, with a singular smile, "that it was about the +meanest kind of luck that could happen to you to save a drowning man?" + +"No," said Morse, simply. "I reckon it orter be the meanest if you +DIDN'T." + +"That depends upon the man you save," said the stranger, with the same +ambiguous smile, "and whether the SAVING him is only putting things off. +Look here," he added, with an abrupt return to his imperative style, +"can't you give me some dry clothes?" + +Morse brought him a pair of overalls and a "hickory shirt," well worn, +but smelling strongly of a recent wash with coarse soap. The stranger +put them on while his companion busied himself in collecting a pile of +sticks and dry leaves. + +"What's that for?" said the stranger, suddenly. + +"A fire to dry your clothes." + +The stranger calmly kicked the pile aside. + +"Not any fire tonight if I know it," he said, brusquely. Before Morse +could resent his quickly changing moods he continued, in another tone, +dropping to an easy reclining position beneath the tree, "Now, tell me +all about yourself, and what you are doing here." + +Thus commanded, Morse patiently repeated his story from the time he +had left his backwoods cabin to his selection of the river bank for a +"location." He pointed out the rich quality of this alluvial bottom +and its adaptability for the raising of stock, which he hoped soon +to acquire. The stranger smiled grimly, raised himself to a sitting +position, and, taking a penknife from his damp clothes, began to clean +his nails in the bright moonlight--an occupation which made the simple +Morse wander vaguely in his narration. + +"And you don't know that this hole will give you chills and fever till +you'll shake yourself out of your boots?" + +Morse had lived before in aguish districts, and had no fear. + +"And you never heard that some night the whole river will rise up and +walk over you and your cabin and your stock?" + +"No. For I reckon to move my shanty farther back." + +The man shut up his penknife with a click and rose. + +"If you've got to get up at sunrise, we'd better be turning in. I +suppose you can give me a pair of blankets?" + +Morse pointed to the wagon. "Thar's a shakedown in the wagon bed; you +kin lie there." Nevertheless he hesitated, and, with the inconsequence +and abruptness of a shy man, continued the previous conversation. + +"I shouldn't like to move far away, for them steamboats is pow'ful +kempany o' nights. I never seed one afore I kem here," and then, with +the inconsistency of a reserved man, and without a word of further +preliminary, he launched into a confidential disclosure of his late +experiences. The stranger listened with a singular interest and a +quietly searching eye. + +"Then you were watching the boat very closely just now when you saw me. +What else did you see? Anything before that--before you saw me in the +water?" + +"No--the boat had got well off before I saw you at all." + +"Ah," said the stranger. "Well, I'm going to turn in." He walked to the +wagon, mounted it, and by the time that Morse had reached it with his +wet clothes he was already wrapped in the blankets. A moment later he +seemed to be in a profound slumber. + +It was only then, when his guest was lying helplessly at his mercy, that +he began to realize his strange experiences. The domination of this +man had been so complete that Morse, although by nature independent +and self-reliant, had not permitted himself to question his right or +to resent his rudeness. He had accepted his guest's careless or +premeditated silence regarding the particulars of his accident as a +matter of course, and had never dreamed of questioning him. That it was +a natural accident of that great world so apart from his own experiences +he did not doubt, and thought no more about it. The advent of the man +himself was greater to him than the causes which brought him there. He +was as yet quite unconscious of the complete fascination this mysterious +stranger held over him, but he found himself shyly pleased with even the +slight interest he had displayed in his affairs, and his hand felt yet +warm and tingling from his sudden soft but expressive grasp, as if it +had been a woman's. There is a simple intuition of friendship in some +lonely, self-abstracted natures that is nearly akin to love at first +sight. Even the audacities and insolence of this stranger affected +Morse as he might have been touched and captivated by the coquetries +or imperiousness of some bucolic virgin. And this reserved and shy +frontiersman found himself that night sleepless, and hovering with an +abashed timidity and consciousness around the wagon that sheltered his +guest, as if he had been a very Corydon watching the moonlit couch of +some slumbering Amaryllis. + +He was off by daylight--after having placed a rude breakfast by the side +of the still sleeping guest--and before midday he had returned with a +horse. When he handed the stranger his pouch, less the amount he had +paid for the horse, the man said curtly: + +"What's that for?" + +"Your change. I paid only fifty dollars for the horse." + +The stranger regarded him with his peculiar smile. Then, replacing the +pouch in his belt, he shook Morse's hand again and mounted the horse. + +"So your name's Martin Morse! Well--goodby, Morsey!" + +Morse hesitated. A blush rose to his dark check. "You didn't tell me +your name," he said. "In case--" + +"In case I'm WANTED? Well, you can call me Captain Jack." He smiled, +and, nodding his head, put spurs to his mustang and cantered away. + +Morse did not do much work that day, falling into abstracted moods and +living over his experiences of the previous night, until he fancied he +could almost see his strange guest again. The narrow strip of meadow was +haunted by him. There was the tree under which he had first placed +him, and that was where he had seen him sitting up in his dripping but +well-fitting clothes. In the rough garments he had worn and returned +lingered a new scent of some delicate soap, overpowering the strong +alkali flavor of his own. He was early by the river side, having a vague +hope, he knew not why, that he should again see him and recognize him +among the passengers. He was wading out among the reeds, in the faint +light of the rising moon, recalling the exact spot where he had first +seen the stranger, when he was suddenly startled by the rolling over in +the water of some black object that had caught against the bank, but +had been dislodged by his movements. To his horror it bore a faint +resemblance to his first vision of the preceding night. But a second +glance at the helplessly floating hair and bloated outline showed him +that it was a DEAD man, and of a type and build far different from his +former companion. There was a bruise upon his matted forehead and an +enormous wound in his throat already washed bloodless, white, and waxen. +An inexplicable fear came upon him, not at the sight of the corpse, for +he had been in Indian massacres and had rescued bodies mutilated beyond +recognition; but from some moral dread that, strangely enough, quickened +and deepened with the far-off pant of the advancing steamboat. Scarcely +knowing why, he dragged the body hurriedly ashore, concealing it in the +reeds, as if he were disposing of the evidence of his own crime. Then, +to his preposterous terror, he noticed that the panting of the steamboat +and the beat of its paddles were "slowing" as the vague bulk came in +sight, until a huge wave from the suddenly arrested wheels sent a +surge like an enormous heartbeat pulsating through the sedge that half +submerged him. The flashing of three or four lanterns on deck and the +motionless line of lights abreast of him dazzled his eyes, but he knew +that the low fringe of willows hid his house and wagon completely from +view. A vague murmur of voices from the deck was suddenly overridden by +a sharp order, and to his relief the slowly revolving wheels again sent +a pulsation through the water, and the great fabric moved solemnly away. +A sense of relief came over him, he knew not why, and he was conscious +that for the first time he had not cared to look at the boat. + +When the moon arose he again examined the body, and took from its +clothing a few articles of identification and some papers of formality +and precision, which he vaguely conjectured to be some law papers from +their resemblance to the phrasing of sheriffs' and electors' notices +which he had seen in the papers. He then buried the corpse in a shallow +trench, which he dug by the light of the moon. He had no question of +responsibility; his pioneer training had not included coroners' inquests +in its experience; in giving the body a speedy and secure burial +from predatory animals he did what one frontiersman would do for +another--what he hoped might be done for him. If his previous +unaccountable feelings returned occasionally, it was not from that; +but rather from some uneasiness in regard to his late guest's possible +feelings, and a regret that he had not been here at the finding of the +body. That it would in some way have explained his own accident he did +not doubt. + +The boat did not "slow up" the next night, but passed as usual; yet +three or four days elapsed before he could look forward to its coming +with his old extravagant and half-exalted curiosity--which was his +nearest approach to imagination. He was then able to examine it more +closely, for the appearance of the stranger whom he now began to call +"his friend" in his verbal communings with himself--but whom he did not +seem destined to again discover; until one day, to his astonishment, a +couple of fine horses were brought to his clearing by a stock-drover. +They had been "ordered" to be left there. In vain Morse expostulated and +questioned. + +"Your name's Martin Morse, ain't it?" said the drover, with business +brusqueness; "and I reckon there ain't no other man o' that name around +here?" + +"No," said Morse. + +"Well, then, they're YOURS." + +"But who sent them?" insisted Morse. "What was his name, and where does +he live?" + +"I didn't know ez I was called upon to give the pedigree o' buyers," +said the drover dryly; "but the horses is 'Morgan,' you can bet your +life." He grinned as he rode away. + +That Captain Jack sent them, and that it was a natural prelude to his +again visiting him, Morse did not doubt, and for a few days he lived +in that dream. But Captain Jack did not come. The animals were of great +service to him in "rounding up" the stock he now easily took in for +pasturage, and saved him the necessity of having a partner or a hired +man. The idea that this superior gentleman in fine clothes might ever +appear to him in the former capacity had even flitted through his brain, +but he had rejected it with a sigh. But the thought that, with luck and +industry, he himself might, in course of time, approximate to Captain +Jack's evident station, DID occur to him, and was an incentive to +energy. Yet it was quite distinct from the ordinary working man's +ambition of wealth and state. It was only that it might make him more +worthy of his friend. The great world was still as it had appeared +to him in the passing boat--a thing to wonder at--to be above--and to +criticize. + +For all that, he prospered in his occupation. But one day he woke with +listless limbs and feet that scarcely carried him through his daily +labors. At night his listlessness changed to active pain and a +feverishness that seemed to impel him toward the fateful river, as if +his one aim in life was to drink up its waters and bathe in its yellow +stream. But whenever he seemed to attempt it, strange dreams assailed +him of dead bodies arising with swollen and distorted lips to touch his +own as he strove to drink, or of his mysterious guest battling with him +in its current, and driving him ashore. Again, when he essayed to bathe +his parched and crackling limbs in its flood, he would be confronted +with the dazzling lights of the motionless steamboat and the glare of +stony eyes--until he fled in aimless terror. How long this lasted he +knew not, until one morning he awoke in his new cabin with a strange man +sitting by his bed and a Negress in the doorway. + +"You've had a sharp attack of 'tule fever,'" said the stranger, dropping +Morse's listless wrist and answering his questioning eyes, "but you're +all right now, and will pull through." + +"Who are you?" stammered Morse feebly. + +"Dr. Duchesne, of Sacramento." + +"How did you come here?" + +"I was ordered to come to you and bring a nurse, as you were alone. +There she is." He pointed to the smiling Negress. + +"WHO ordered you?" + +The doctor smiled with professional tolerance. "One of your friends, of +course." + +"But what was his name?" + +"Really, I don't remember. But don't distress yourself. He has settled +for everything right royally. You have only to get strong now. My duty +is ended, and I can safely leave you with the nurse. Only when you are +strong again, I say--and HE says--keep back farther from the river." + +And that was all he knew. For even the nurse who attended him through +the first days of his brief convalescence would tell him nothing more. +He quickly got rid of her and resumed his work, for a new and strange +phase of his simple, childish affection for his benefactor, partly +superinduced by his illness, was affecting him. He was beginning to +feel the pain of an unequal friendship; he was dimly conscious that his +mysterious guest was only coldly returning his hospitality and benefits, +while holding aloof from any association with him--and indicating the +immeasurable distance that separated their future intercourse. He had +withheld any kind message or sympathetic greeting; he had kept back even +his NAME. The shy, proud, ignorant heart of the frontiersman swelled +beneath the fancied slight, which left him helpless alike of reproach +or resentment. He could not return the horses, although in a fit of +childish indignation he had resolved not to use them; he could not +reimburse him for the doctor's bill, although he had sent away the +nurse. + +He took a foolish satisfaction in not moving back from the river, with a +faint hope that his ignoring of Captain Jack's advice might mysteriously +be conveyed to him. He even thought of selling out his location and +abandoning it, that he might escape the cold surveillance of his +heartless friend. All this was undoubtedly childish--but there is an +irrepressible simplicity of youth in all deep feeling, and the worldly +inexperience of the frontiersman left him as innocent as a child. In +this phase of his unrequited affection he even went so far as to seek +some news of Captain Jack at Sacramento, and, following out his foolish +quest, even to take the steamboat from thence to Stockton. + +What happened to him then was perhaps the common experience of such +natures. Once upon the boat the illusion of the great world it contained +for him utterly vanished. He found it noisy, formal, insincere, and--had +he ever understood or used the word in his limited vocabulary--VULGAR. +Rather, perhaps, it seemed to him that the prevailing sentiment and +action of those who frequented it--and for whom it was built--were of a +lower grade than his own. And, strangely enough, this gave him none of +his former sense of critical superiority, but only of his own utter and +complete isolation. He wandered in his rough frontiersman's clothes from +deck to cabin, from airy galleries to long saloons, alone, unchallenged, +unrecognized, as if he were again haunting it only in spirit, as he had +so often done in his dreams. + +His presence on the fringe of some voluble crowd caused no interruption; +to him their speech was almost foreign in its allusions to things he did +not understand, or, worse, seemed inconsistent with their eagerness and +excitement. How different from all this were his old recollections of +slowly oncoming teams, uplifted above the level horizon of the plains in +his former wanderings; the few sauntering figures that met him as man +to man, and exchanged the chronicle of the road; the record of Indian +tracks; the finding of a spring; the discovery of pasturage, with +the lazy, restful hospitality of the night! And how fierce here this +continual struggle for dominance and existence, even in this lull of +passage. For above all and through all he was conscious of the feverish +haste of speed and exertion. + +The boat trembled, vibrated, and shook with every stroke of the +ponderous piston. The laughter of the crowd, the exchange of gossip and +news, the banquet at the long table, the newspapers and books in the +reading-room, even the luxurious couches in the staterooms, were all +dominated, thrilled, and pulsating with the perpetual throb of the demon +of hurry and unrest. And when at last a horrible fascination dragged him +into the engine room, and he saw the cruel relentless machinery at work, +he seemed to recognize and understand some intelligent but pitiless +Moloch, who was dragging this feverish world at its heels. + +Later he was seated in a corner of the hurricane deck, whence he could +view the monotonous banks of the river; yet, perhaps by certain signs +unobservable to others, he knew he was approaching his own locality. +He knew that his cabin and clearing would be undiscernible behind the +fringe of willows on the bank, but he already distinguished the points +where a few cottonwoods struggled into a promontory of lighter foliage +beyond them. Here voices fell upon his ear, and he was suddenly aware +that two men had lazily crossed over from the other side of the boat, +and were standing before him looking upon the bank. + +"It was about here, I reckon," said one, listlessly, as if continuing a +previous lagging conversation, "that it must have happened. For it was +after we were making for the bend we've just passed that the deputy, +goin' to the stateroom below us, found the door locked and the window +open. But both men--Jack Despard and Seth Hall, the sheriff--weren't +to be found. Not a trace of 'em. The boat was searched, but all for +nothing. The idea is that the sheriff, arter getting his prisoner +comf'ble in the stateroom, took off Jack's handcuffs and locked the +door; that Jack, who was mighty desp'rate, bolted through the window +into the river, and the sheriff, who was no slouch, arter him. +Others allow--for the chairs and things was all tossed about in the +stateroom--that the two men clinched THAR, and Jack choked Hall and +chucked him out, and then slipped cl'ar into the water himself, for the +stateroom window was just ahead of the paddle box, and the cap'n allows +that no man or men could fall afore the paddles and live. Anyhow, that +was all they ever knew of it." + +"And there wasn't no trace of them found?" said the second man, after a +long pause. + +"No. Cap'n says them paddles would hev' just snatched 'em and slung 'em +round and round and buried 'em way down in the ooze of the river bed, +with all the silt of the current atop of 'em, and they mightn't come up +for ages; or else the wheels might have waltzed 'em way up to Sacramento +until there wasn't enough left of 'em to float, and dropped 'em when the +boat stopped." + +"It was a mighty fool risk for a man like Despard to take," resumed the +second speaker as he turned away with a slight yawn. + +"Bet your life! but he was desp'rate, and the sheriff had got him sure! +And they DO say that he was superstitious, like all them gamblers, and +allowed that a man who was fixed to die by a rope or a pistol wasn't to +be washed out of life by water." + +The two figures drifted lazily away, but Morse sat rigid and motionless. +Yet, strange to say, only one idea came to him clearly out of this awful +revelation--the thought that his friend was still true to him--and that +his strange absence and mysterious silence were fully accounted for and +explained. And with it came the more thrilling fancy that this man was +alive now to HIM alone. + +HE was the sole custodian of his secret. The morality of the question, +while it profoundly disturbed him, was rather in reference to its effect +upon the chances of Captain Jack and the power it gave his enemies than +his own conscience. He would rather that his friend should have proven +the proscribed outlaw who retained an unselfish interest in him than the +superior gentleman who was coldly wiping out his gratitude. He thought +he understood now the reason of his visitor's strange and varying +moods--even his bitter superstitious warning in regard to the probable +curse entailed upon one who should save a drowning man. Of this he +recked little; enough that he fancied that Captain Jack's concern in +his illness was heightened by that fear, and this assurance of his +protecting friendship thrilled him with pleasure. + +There was no reason now why he should not at once go back to his farm, +where, at least, Captain Jack would always find him; and he did so, +returning on the same boat. He was now fully recovered from his illness, +and calmer in mind; he redoubled his labors to put himself in a position +to help the mysterious fugitive when the time should come. The remote +farm should always be a haven of refuge for him, and in this hope he +forbore to take any outside help, remaining solitary and alone, that +Captain Jack's retreat should be inviolate. And so the long, dry season +passed, the hay was gathered, the pasturing herds sent home, and the +first rains, dimpling like shot the broadening surface of the river, +were all that broke his unending solitude. In this enforced attitude of +waiting and expectancy he was exalted and strengthened by a new idea. He +was not a religious man, but, dimly remembering the exhortations of some +camp meeting of his boyhood, he conceived the idea that he might have +been selected to work out the regeneration of Captain Jack. What might +not come of this meeting and communing together in this lonely spot? +That anything was due to the memory of the murdered sheriff, whose bones +were rotting in the trench that he daily but unconcernedly passed, did +not occur to him. Perhaps his mind was not large enough for the double +consideration. Friendship and love--and, for the matter of that, +religion--are eminently one-ideaed. + +But one night he awakened with a start. His hand, which was hanging out +of his bunk, was dabbling idly in water. He had barely time to spring +to his middle in what seemed to be a slowly filling tank before the door +fell out as from that inward pressure, and his whole shanty collapsed +like a pack of cards. But it fell outwards, the roof sliding from over +his head like a withdrawn canopy; and he was swept from his feet against +it, and thence out into what might have been another world! For the +rain had ceased, and the full moon revealed only one vast, illimitable +expanse of water! It was not an overflow, but the whole rushing river +magnified and repeated a thousand times, which, even as he gasped for +breath and clung to the roof, was bearing him away he knew not whither. +But it was bearing him away upon its center, for as he cast one swift +glance toward his meadows he saw they were covered by the same sweeping +torrent, dotted with his sailing hayricks and reaching to the wooded +foothills. It was the great flood of '54. In its awe-inspiring +completeness it might have seemed to him the primeval Deluge. + +As his frail raft swept under a cottonwood he caught at one of the +overhanging limbs, and, working his way desperately along the bough, at +last reached a secure position in the fork of the tree. Here he was for +the moment safe. But the devastation viewed from this height was only +the more appalling. Every sign of his clearing, all evidence of his past +year's industry, had disappeared. He was now conscious for the first +time of the lowing of the few cattle he had kept as, huddled together +on a slight eminence, they one by one slipped over struggling into the +flood. The shining bodies of his dead horses rolled by him as he gazed. +The lower-lying limbs of the sycamore near him were bending with the +burden of the lighter articles from his overturned wagon and cabin which +they had caught and retained, and a rake was securely lodged in a bough. +The habitual solitude of his locality was now strangely invaded by +drifting sheds, agricultural implements, and fence rails from unknown +and remote neighbors, and he could faintly hear the far-off calling +of some unhappy farmer adrift upon a spar of his wrecked and shattered +house. When day broke he was cold and hungry. + +Hours passed in hopeless monotony, with no slackening or diminution of +the waters. Even the drifts became less, and a vacant sea at last spread +before him on which nothing moved. An awful silence impressed him. In +the afternoon rain again began to fall on this gray, nebulous expanse, +until the whole world seemed made of aqueous vapor. He had but one idea +now--the coming of the evening boat, and he would reserve his strength +to swim to it. He did not know until later that it could no longer +follow the old channel of the river, and passed far beyond his sight and +hearing. With his disappointment and exposure that night came a return +of his old fever. His limbs were alternately racked with pain or +benumbed and lifeless. He could scarcely retain his position--at times +he scarcely cared to--and speculated upon ending his sufferings by a +quick plunge downward. In other moments of lucid misery he was conscious +of having wandered in his mind; of having seen the dead face of the +murdered sheriff, washed out of his shallow grave by the flood, staring +at him from the water; to this was added the hallucination of noises. He +heard voices, his own name called by a voice he knew--Captain Jack's! + +Suddenly he started, but in that fatal movement lost his balance and +plunged downward. But before the water closed above his head he had had +a cruel glimpse of help near him; of a flashing light--of the black +hull of a tug not many yards away--of moving figures--the sensation of +a sudden plunge following his own, the grip of a strong hand upon his +collar, and--unconsciousness! + +When he came to he was being lifted in a boat from the tug and rowed +through the deserted streets of a large city, until he was taken in +through the second-story window of a half-submerged hotel and cared +for. But all his questions yielded only the information that the +tug--a privately procured one, not belonging to the Public Relief +Association--had been dispatched for him with special directions, by a +man who acted as one of the crew, and who was the one who had plunged in +for him at the last moment. The man had left the boat at Stockton. +There was nothing more? Yes!--he had left a letter. Morse seized it +feverishly. It contained only a few lines: + + +We are quits now. You are all right. I have saved YOU from drowning, and +shifted the curse to my own shoulders. Good-by. + +CAPTAIN JACK. + + +The astounded man attempted to rise--to utter an exclamation--but fell +back, unconscious. + +Weeks passed before he was able to leave his bed--and then only as an +impoverished and physically shattered man. He had no means to restock +the farm left bare by the subsiding water. A kindly train-packer offered +him a situation as muleteer in a pack train going to the mountains--for +he knew tracks and passes and could ride. The mountains gave him back +a little of the vigor he had lost in the river valley, but none of its +dreams and ambitions. One day, while tracking a lost mule, he stopped +to slake his thirst in a waterhole--all that the summer had left of a +lonely mountain torrent. Enlarging the hole to give drink to his beast +also, he was obliged to dislodge and throw out with the red soil some +bits of honeycomb rock, which were so queer-looking and so heavy as to +attract his attention. Two of the largest he took back to camp with +him. They were gold! From the locality he took out a fortune. Nobody +wondered. To the Californian's superstition it was perfectly natural. +It was "nigger luck"--the luck of the stupid, the ignorant, the +inexperienced, the nonseeker--the irony of the gods! + +But the simple, bucolic nature that had sustained itself against +temptation with patient industry and lonely self-concentration succumbed +to rapidly acquired wealth. So it chanced that one day, with a crowd of +excitement-loving spendthrifts and companions, he found himself on +the outskirts of a lawless mountain town. An eager, frantic crowd had +already assembled there--a desperado was to be lynched! Pushing his +way through the crowd for a nearer view of the exciting spectacle, the +changed and reckless Morse was stopped by armed men only at the foot of +a cart, which upheld a quiet, determined man, who, with a rope around +his neck, was scornfully surveying the mob, that held the other end +of the rope drawn across the limb of a tree above him. The eyes of the +doomed man caught those of Morse--his expression changed--a kindly smile +lit his face--he bowed his proud head for the first time, with an easy +gesture of farewell. + +And then, with a cry, Morse threw himself upon the nearest armed guard, +and a fierce struggle began. He had overpowered one adversary and seized +another in his hopeless fight toward the cart when the half-astonished +crowd felt that something must be done. It was done with a sharp report, +the upward curl of smoke and the falling back of the guard as Morse +staggered forward FREE--with a bullet in his heart. Yet even then he did +not fall until he reached the cart, when he lapsed forward, dead, with +his arms outstretched and his head at the doomed man's feet. + +There was something so supreme and all-powerful in this hopeless act +of devotion that the heart of the multitude thrilled and then recoiled +aghast at its work, and a single word or a gesture from the doomed +man himself would have set him free. But they say--and it is credibly +recorded--that as Captain Jack Despard looked down upon the hopeless +sacrifice at his feet his eyes blazed, and he flung upon the crowd a +curse so awful and sweeping that, hardened as they were, their blood ran +cold, and then leaped furiously to their cheeks. + +"And now," he said, coolly tightening the rope around his neck with a +jerk of his head--"Go on, and be damned to you! I'm ready." + +They did not hesitate this time. And Martin Morse and Captain Jack +Despard were buried in the same grave. + + + + +A CONVERT OF THE MISSION + + +The largest tent of the Tasajara camp meeting was crowded to its utmost +extent. The excitement of that dense mass was at its highest pitch. The +Reverend Stephen Masterton, the single erect, passionate figure of that +confused medley of kneeling worshipers, had reached the culminating +pitch of his irresistible exhortatory power. Sighs and groans were +beginning to respond to his appeals, when the reverend brother was seen +to lurch heavily forward and fall to the ground. + +At first the effect was that of a part of his performance; the groans +redoubled, and twenty or thirty brethren threw themselves prostrate in +humble imitation of the preacher. But Sister Deborah Stokes, perhaps +through some special revelation of feminine intuition, grasped the +fallen man, tore loose his black silk necktie, and dragged him free +of the struggling, frantic crowd whose paroxysms he had just evoked. +Howbeit he was pale and unconscious, and unable to continue the service. +Even the next day, when he had slightly recovered, it was found that any +attempt to renew his fervid exhortations produced the same disastrous +result. + +A council was hurriedly held by the elders. In spite of the energetic +protests of Sister Stokes, it was held that the Lord "was wrestlin' with +his sperrit," and he was subjected to the same extraordinary treatment +from the whole congregation that he himself had applied to THEM. Propped +up pale and trembling in the "Mourners' Bench" by two brethren, he +was "striven with," exhorted, prayed over, and admonished, until +insensibility mercifully succeeded convulsions. Spiritual therapeutics +having failed, he was turned over to the weak and carnal nursing of +"womenfolk." But after a month of incapacity he was obliged to yield to +"the flesh," and, in the local dialect, "to use a doctor." + +It so chanced that the medical practitioner of the district was a man +of large experience, of military training, and plain speech. When, +therefore, he one day found in his surgery a man of rude Western type, +strong-limbed and sunburned, but trembling, hesitating and neurotic in +movement, after listening to his symptoms gravely, he asked, abruptly: +"And how much are you drinking now?" + +"I am a lifelong abstainer," stammered his patient in quivering +indignation. But this was followed by another question so frankly +appalling to the hearer that he staggered to his feet. + +"I'm Stephen Masterton--known of men as a circuit preacher, of the +Northern California district," he thundered--"and an enemy of the flesh +in all its forms." + +"I beg your pardon," responded Dr. Duchesne, grimly, "but as you are +suffering from excessive and repeated excitation of the nervous system, +and the depression following prolonged artificial exaltation--it makes +little difference whether the cause be spiritual, as long as there is a +certain physical effect upon your BODY--which I believe you have brought +to me to cure. Now--as to diet? you look all wrong there. + +"My food is of the simplest--I have no hankering for fleshpots," +responded the patient. + +"I suppose you call saleratus bread and salt pork and flapjacks SIMPLE?" +said the doctor, coolly; "they are COMMON enough, and if you were +working with your muscles instead of your nerves in that frame of yours +they might not hurt you; but you are suffering as much from eating more +than you can digest as the veriest gourmand. You must stop all that. Go +down to a quiet watering-place for two months." . . . + +"I go to a watering-place?" interrupted Masterton; "to the haunt of the +idle, the frivolous and wanton--never!" + +"Well, I'm not particular about a 'watering-place,'" said the doctor, +with a shrug, "although a little idleness and frivolity with different +food wouldn't hurt you--but you must go somewhere and change your habits +and mode of life COMPLETELY. I will find you some sleepy old Spanish +town in the southern country where you can rest and diet. If this is +distasteful to you," he continued, grimly, "you can always call it 'a +trial.'" + +Stephen Masterton may have thought it so when, a week later, he found +himself issuing from a rocky gorge into a rough, badly paved, hilly +street, which seemed to be only a continuation of the mountain road +itself. It broadened suddenly into a square or plaza, flanked on each +side by an irregular row of yellowing adobe houses, with the inevitable +verandaed tienda in each corner, and the solitary, galleried fonda, with +a half-Moorish archway leading into an inner patio or courtyard in the +center. + +The whole street stopped as usual at the very door of the Mission +church, a few hundred yards farther on, and under the shadow of the two +belfry towers at each angle of the facade, as if this were the ultima +thule of every traveler. But all that the eye rested on was ruined, +worn, and crumbling. The adobe houses were cracked by the incessant +sunshine of the half-year-long summer, or the more intermittent +earthquake shock; the paved courtyard of the fonda was so uneven and +sunken in the center that the lumbering wagon and faded diligencia stood +on an incline, and the mules with difficulty kept their footing while +being unladen; the whitened plaster had fallen from the feet of the two +pillars that flanked the Mission doorway, like bandages from a gouty +limb, leaving the reddish core of adobe visible; there were apparently +as many broken tiles in the streets and alleys as there were on the +heavy red roofs that everywhere asserted themselves--and even seemed to +slide down the crumbling walls to the ground. There were hopeless gaps +in grille and grating of doorways and windows, where the iron bars had +dropped helplessly out, or were bent at different angles. The walls of +the peaceful Mission garden and the warlike presidio were alike lost in +the escalading vines or leveled by the pushing boughs of gnarled +pear and olive trees that now surmounted them. The dust lay thick and +impalpable in hollow and gutter, and rose in little vapory clouds with a +soft detonation at every stroke of his horse's hoofs. Over all this dust +and ruin, idleness seemed to reign supreme. From the velvet-jacketed +figures lounging motionless in the shadows of the open doorways--so +motionless that only the lazy drift of cigarette smoke betokened their +breathing--to the reclining peons in the shade of a catalpa, or the +squatting Indians in the arroyo--all was sloth and dirt. + +The Rev. Stephen Masterton felt his throat swell with his old +exhortative indignation. A gaudy yellow fan waved languidly in front of +a black rose-crested head at a white-curtained window. He knew he was +stifling with righteous wrath, and clapped his spurs to his horse. + +Nevertheless, in a few days, by the aid of a letter to the innkeeper, +he was installed in a dilapidated adobe house, not unlike those he had +seen, but situated in the outskirts and overlooking the garden and part +of the refectory of the old Mission. It had even a small garden of its +own--if a strip of hot wall, overburdened with yellow and white roses, a +dozen straggling callas, a bank of heliotrope, and an almond tree could +be called a garden. It had an open doorway, but so heavily recessed +in the thick walls that it preserved seclusion, a sitting-room, and an +alcoved bedroom with deep embrasured windows that however excluded the +unwinking sunlight and kept an even monotone of shade. + +Strange to say, he found it cool, restful, and, in spite of the dust, +absolutely clean, and, but for the scent of heliotrope, entirely +inodorous. The dry air seemed to dissipate all noxious emanations and +decay--the very dust itself in its fine impalpability was volatile with +a spicelike piquancy, and left no stain. + +A wrinkled Indian woman, brown and veined like a tobacco leaf, +ministered to his simple wants. But these wants had also been regulated +by Dr. Duchesne. He found himself, with some grave doubts of his +effeminacy, breakfasting on a single cup of chocolate instead of his +usual bowl of molasses-sweetened coffee; crumbling a crisp tortilla +instead of the heavy saleratus bread, greasy flapjack, or the lard-fried +steak, and, more wonderful still, completing his repast with purple +grapes from the Mission wall. He could not deny that it was simple--that +it was even refreshing and consistent with the climate and his +surroundings. On the other hand, it was the frugal diet of the commonest +peasant--and were not those peons slothful idolaters? + +At the end of the week--his correspondence being also restricted by his +doctor to a few lines to himself regarding his progress--he wrote to +that adviser: + +"The trembling and unquiet has almost ceased; I have less nightly +turmoil and visions; my carnal appetite seems to be amply mollified and +soothed by these viands, whatever may be their ultimate effect upon the +weakness of our common sinful nature. But I should not be truthful to +you if I did not warn you that I am viewing with the deepest spiritual +concern a decided tendency toward sloth, and a folding of the hands over +matters that often, I fear, are spiritual as well as temporal. I would +ask you to consider, in a spirit of love, if it be not wise to rouse my +apathetic flesh, so as to strive, even with the feeblest exhortations, +against this sloth in others--if only to keep one's self from falling +into the pit of easy indulgence." + +What answer he received is not known, but it is to be presumed that he +kept loyal faith with his physician, and gave himself up to simple walks +and rides and occasional meditation. His solitude was not broken in +upon; curiosity was too active a vice, and induced too much exertion for +his indolent neighbors, and the Americano's basking seclusion, though +unlike the habits of his countrymen, did not affect them. The shopkeeper +and innkeeper saluted him always with a profound courtesy which awakened +his slight resentment, partly because he was conscious that it was +grateful to him, and partly that he felt he ought to have provoked in +them a less satisfied condition. + +Once, when he had unwittingly passed the confines of his own garden, +through a gap in the Mission orchard, a lissome, black-coated shadow +slipped past him with an obeisance so profound and gentle that he was +startled at first into an awkward imitation of it himself, and then into +an angry self-examination. He knew that he loathed that long-skirted, +womanlike garment, that dangling, ostentatious symbol, that air of +secrecy and mystery, and he inflated his chest above his loosely tied +cravat and unbuttoned waistcoat with a contrasted sense of freedom. But +he was conscious the next day of weakly avoiding a recurrence of this +meeting, and in his self-examination put it down to his self-disciplined +observance of his doctor's orders. But when he was strong again, and +fitted for his Master's work, how strenuously he should improve the +occasion this gave him of attacking the Scarlet Woman among her slaves +and worshipers! + +His afternoon meditations and the perusal of his only book--the +Bible--were regularly broken in upon at about sunset by two or three +strokes from the cracked bell that hung in the open belfry which reared +itself beyond the gnarled pear tees. He could not say that it was +aggressive or persistent, like his own church bells, nor that it +even expressed to him any religious sentiment. Moreover, it was not a +"Sabbath" bell, but a DAILY one, and even then seemed to be only a signal +to ears easily responsive, rather than a stern reminder. And the hour +was always a singularly witching one. + +It was when the sun had slipped from the glaring red roofs, and the +yellowing adobe of the Mission walls and the tall ranks of wild oats +on the hillside were all of the one color of old gold. It was when the +quivering heat of the arroyo and dusty expanse of plaza was blending +with the soft breath of the sea fog that crept through the clefts of the +coast range, until a refreshing balm seemed to fall like a benediction +on all nature. It was when the trade-wind-swept and irritated surfaces +of the rocky gorge beyond were soothed with clinging vapors; when the +pines above no longer rocked monotonously, and the great undulating sea +of the wild-oat plains had gone down and was at rest. It was at this +hour, one afternoon, that, with the released scents of the garden, there +came to him a strange and subtle perfume that was new to his senses. He +laid aside his book, went into the garden, and, half-unconscious of his +trespass, passed through the Mission orchard and thence into the little +churchyard beside the church. + +Looking at the strange inscriptions in an unfamiliar tongue, he +was singularly touched with the few cheap memorials lying upon the +graves--like childish toys--and for the moment overlooked the papistic +emblems that accompanied them. It struck him vaguely that Death, the +common leveler, had made even the symbols of a faith eternal inferior to +those simple records of undying memory and affection, and he was for a +moment startled into doubt. + +He walked to the door of the church; to his surprise it was open. +Standing upon the threshold, he glanced inside, and stood for a moment +utterly bewildered. In a man of refined taste and education that bizarre +and highly colored interior would have only provoked a smile or +shrug; to Stephen Masterton's highly emotional nature, but artistic +inexperience, strangely enough it was profoundly impressive. The heavily +timbered, roughly hewn roof, barred with alternate bands of blue and +Indian red, the crimson hangings, the gold and black draperies, affected +this religious backwoodsman exactly as they were designed to affect the +heathen and acolytes for whose conversion the temple had been reared. He +could scarcely take his eyes from the tinsel-crowned Mother of Heaven, +resplendent in white and gold and glittering with jewels; the radiant +shield before the Host, illuminated by tall spectral candles in the +mysterious obscurity of the altar, dazzled him like the rayed disk of +the setting sun. + +A gentle murmur, as of the distant sea, came from the altar. In his +naive bewilderment he had not seen the few kneeling figures in the +shadow of column and aisle; it was not until a man, whom he recognized +as a muleteer he had seen that afternoon gambling and drinking in the +fonda, slipped by him like a shadow and sank upon his knees in the +center of the aisle that he realized the overpowering truth. + +HE, Stephen Masterton, was looking upon some rite of Popish idolatry! He +was turning quickly away when the keeper of the tienda--a man of sloth +and sin--gently approached him from the shadow of a column with a mute +gesture, which he took to be one of invitation. A fierce protest of +scorn and indignation swelled to his throat, but died upon his lips. Yet +he had strength enough to erect his gaunt emaciated figure, throwing out +his long arms and extended palms in the attitude of defiant exorcism, +and then rush swiftly from the church. As he did so he thought he saw +a faint smile cross the shopkeeper's face, and a whispered exchange of +words with a neighboring worshiper of more exalted appearance came to +his ears. But it was not intelligible to his comprehension. + +The next day he wrote to his doctor in that quaint grandiloquence of +written speech with which the half-educated man balances the slips of +his colloquial phrasing: + + +Do not let the purgation of my flesh be unduly protracted. What with the +sloth and idolatries of Baal and Ashteroth, which I see daily around +me, I feel that without a protest not only the flesh but the spirit is +mortified. But my bodily strength is mercifully returning, and I found +myself yesterday able to take a long ride at that hour which they here +keep sacred for an idolatrous rite, under the beautiful name of "The +Angelus." Thus do they bear false witness to Him! Can you tell me the +meaning of the Spanish words "Don Keyhotter"? I am ignorant of these +sensuous Southern languages, and am aware that this is not the correct +spelling, but I have striven to give the phonetic equivalent. It was +used, I am inclined to think, in reference to MYSELF, by an idolater. + +P.S.--You need not trouble yourself. I have just ascertained that +the words in question were simply the title of an idle novel, and, of +course, could not possibly refer to ME. + + +Howbeit it was as "Don Quixote"--that is, the common Spaniard's +conception of the Knight of La Mancha, merely the simple fanatic and +madman--that Mr. Stephen Masterton ever after rode all unconsciously +through the streets of the Mission, amid the half-pitying, half-smiling +glances of the people. + +In spite of his meditations, his single volume, and his habit of +retiring early, he found his evenings were growing lonely and tedious. +He missed the prayer meeting, and, above all, the hymns. He had a fine +baritone voice, sympathetic, as may be imagined, but not cultivated. One +night, in the seclusion of his garden, and secure in his distance from +other dwellings, he raised his voice in a familiar camp-meeting hymn +with a strong Covenanter's ring in the chorus. Growing bolder as he went +on, he at last filled the quiet night with the strenuous sweep of his +chant. Surprised at his own fervor, he paused for a moment, listening, +half frightened, half ashamed of his outbreak. But there was only the +trilling of the night wind in the leaves, or the far-off yelp of a +coyote. + +For a moment he thought he heard the metallic twang of a stringed +instrument in the Mission garden beyond his own, and remembered his +contiguity to the church with a stir of defiance. But he was relieved, +nevertheless. His pent-up emotion had found vent, and without the +nervous excitement that had followed his old exaltation. That night he +slept better. He had found the Lord again--with Psalmody! + +The next evening he chanced upon a softer hymn of the same simplicity, +but with a vein of human tenderness in its aspirations, which his more +hopeful mood gently rendered. At the conclusion of the first verse +he was, however, distinctly conscious of being followed by the same +twanging sound he had heard on the previous night, and which even his +untutored ear could recognize as an attempt to accompany him. But before +he had finished the second verse the unknown player, after an ingenious +but ineffectual essay to grasp the right chord, abandoned it with +an impatient and almost pettish flourish, and a loud bang upon the +sounding-board of the unseen instrument. Masterton finished it alone. + +With his curiosity excited, however, he tried to discover the locality +of the hidden player. The sound evidently came from the Mission garden; +but in his ignorance of the language he could not even interrogate +his Indian housekeeper. On the third night, however, his hymn was +uninterrupted by any sound from the former musician. A sense of +disappointment, he knew not why, came over him. The kindly overture of +the unseen player had been a relief to his loneliness. Yet he had barely +concluded the hymn when the familiar sound again struck his ears. But +this time the musician played boldly, confidently, and with a singular +skill on the instrument. + +The brilliant prelude over, to his entire surprise and some confusion, +a soprano voice, high, childish, but infinitely quaint and fascinating, +was mischievously uplifted. But alas! even to his ears, ignorant of +the language, it was very clearly a song of levity and wantonness, +of freedom and license, of coquetry and incitement! Yet such was its +fascination that he fancied it was reclaimed by the delightful childlike +and innocent expression of the singer. + +Enough that this tall, gaunt, broad-shouldered man arose and, overcome +by a curiosity almost as childlike, slipped into the garden and glided +with an Indian softness of tread toward the voice. The moon shone full +upon the ruined Mission wall tipped with clusters of dark foliage. +Half hiding, half mingling with one of them--an indistinct bulk of +light-colored huddled fleeces like an extravagant bird's nest--hung +the unknown musician. So intent was the performer's preoccupation that +Masterton actually reached the base of the wall immediately below the +figure without attracting its attention. But his foot slipped on the +crumbling debris with a snapping of dry twigs. There was a quick little +cry from above. He had barely time to recover his position before the +singer, impulsively leaning over the parapet, had lost hers, and fell +outward. But Masterton was tall, alert, and self-possessed, and threw +out his long arms. The next moment they were full of soft flounces, +a struggling figure was against his breast, and a woman's frightened +little hands around his neck. But he had broken her fall, and almost +instantly, yet with infinite gentleness, he released her unharmed, with +hardly her crisp flounces crumpled, in an upright position against +the wall. Even her guitar, still hanging from her shoulder by a yellow +ribbon, had bounded elastic and resounding against the wall, but lay +intact at her satin-slippered feet. She caught it up with another quick +little cry, but this time more of sauciness than fear, and drew her +little hand across its strings, half defiantly. + +"I hope you are not hurt?" said the circuit preacher, gravely. + +She broke into a laugh so silvery that he thought it no extravagance +to liken it to the moonbeams that played over her made audible. She was +lithe, yet plump; barred with black and yellow and small-waisted like +a pretty wasp. Her complexion in that light was a sheen of pearl satin +that made her eyes blacker and her little mouth redder than any other +color could. She was small, but, remembering the fourteen-year-old +wife of the shopkeeper, he felt that, for all her childish voice and +features, she was a grown woman, and a sudden shyness took hold of him. + +But she looked pertly in his face, stood her guitar upright before her, +and put her hands behind her back as she leaned saucily against the wall +and shrugged her shoulders. + +"It was the fault of you," she said, in a broken English that seemed as +much infantine as foreign. "What for you not remain to yourself in your +own CASA? So it come. You creep so--in the dark--and shake my wall, and +I fall. And she," pointing to the guitar, "is a'most broke! And for all +thees I have only make to you a serenade. Ingrate!" + +"I beg your pardon," said Masterton quickly, "but I was curious. I +thought I might help you, and--" + +"Make yourself another cat on the wall, eh? No; one is enough, thank +you!" + +A frown lowered on Masterton's brow. "You don't understand me," he said, +bluntly. "I did not know WHO was here." + +"Ah, BUENO! Then it is Pepita Ramirez, you see," she said, tapping her +bodice with one little finger, "all the same; the niece from Manuel +Garcia, who keeps the Mission garden and lif there. And you?" + +"My name is Masterton." + +"How mooch?" + +"Masterton," he repeated. + +She tried to pronounce it once or twice desperately, and then shook her +little head so violently that a yellow rose fastened over her ear fell +to the ground. But she did not heed it, nor the fact that Masterton had +picked it up. + +"Ah, I cannot!" she said, poutingly. "It is as deefeecult to make go as +my guitar with your serenade." + +"Can you not say 'Stephen Masterton'?" he asked, more gently, with a +returning and forgiving sense of her childishness. + +"Es-stefen? Ah, ESTEBAN! Yes; Don Esteban! BUENO! Then, Don Esteban, +what for you sink so melank-olly one night, and one night so fierce? The +melank-olly, he ees not so bad; but the fierce--ah! he is weeked! Ess it +how the Americano make always his serenade?" + +Masterton's brow again darkened. And his hymn of exultation had been +mistaken by these people--by this--this wanton child! + +"It was no serenade," he replied, curtly; "it was in the praise of the +Lord!" + +"Of how mooch?" + +"Of the Lord of Hosts--of the Almighty in Heaven." He lifted his long +arms reverently on high. + +"Oh!" she said, with a frightened look, slightly edging away from the +wall. At a secure distance she stopped. "Then you are a soldier, Don +Esteban?" + +"No!" + +"Then what for you sink 'I am a soldier of the Lord,' and you will make +die 'in His army'? Oh, yes; you have said." She gathered up her guitar +tightly under her arm, shook her small finger at him gravely, and said, +"You are a hoombog, Don Esteban; good a' night," and began to glide +away. + +"One moment, Miss--Miss Ramirez," called Masterton. "I--that is you--you +have--forgotten your rose," he added, feebly, holding up the flower. She +halted. + +"Ah, yes; he have drop, you have pick him up, he is yours. I have drop, +you have pick ME up, but I am NOT yours. Good a' night, COMANDANTE Don +Esteban!" + +With a light laugh she ran along beside the wall for a little distance, +suddenly leaped up and disappeared in one of the largest gaps in +its ruined and helpless structure. Stephen Masterton gazed after her +stupidly, still holding the rose in his hand. Then he threw it away and +re-entered his home. + +Lighting his candle, he undressed himself, prayed fervently--so +fervently that all remembrance of the idle, foolish incident was wiped +from his mind, and went to bed. He slept well and dreamlessly. The next +morning, when his thoughts recurred to the previous night, this seemed +to him a token that he had not deviated from his spiritual integrity; it +did not occur to him that the thought itself was a tacit suspicion. + +So his feet quite easily sought the garden again in the early sunshine, +even to the wall where she had stood. But he had not taken into account +the vivifying freshness of the morning, the renewed promise of life and +resurrection in the pulsing air and potent sunlight, and as he stood +there he seemed to see the figure of the young girl again leaning +against the wall in all the charm of her irrepressible and innocent +youth. More than that, he found the whole scene re-enacting itself +before him; the nebulous drapery half hidden in the foliage, the cry and +the fall; the momentary soft contact of the girl's figure against his +own, the clinging arms around his neck, the brush and fragrance of her +flounces--all this came back to him with a strength he had NOT felt when +it occurred. + +He was turning hurriedly away when his eyes fell upon the yellow rose +still lying in the debris where he had thrown it--but still pure, fresh, +and unfaded. He picked it up again, with a singular fancy that it was +the girl herself, and carried it into the house. + +As he placed it half shyly in a glass on his table a wonderful thought +occurred to him. Was not the episode of last night a special providence? +Was not that young girl, wayward and childlike, a mere neophyte in her +idolatrous religion, as yet unsteeped in sloth and ignorance, presented +to him as a brand to be snatched from the burning? Was not this +the opportunity of conversion he had longed for--this the chance of +exercising his gifts of exhortation that he had been hiding in the +napkin of solitude and seclusion? Nay, was not all this PREDESTINED? +His illness, his consequent exile to this land of false gods--this +contiguity to the Mission--was not all this part of a supremely ordered +plan for the girl's salvation--and was HE not elected and ordained for +that service? Nay, more, was not the girl herself a mere unconscious +instrument in the hands of a higher power; was not her voluntary attempt +to accompany him in his devotional exercise a vague stirring of that +predestined force within her? Was not even that wantonness and +frivolity contrasted with her childishness--which he had at first +misunderstood--the stirrings of the flesh and the spirit, and was he to +abandon her in that struggle of good and evil? + +He lifted his bowed head, that had been resting on his arm before the +little flower on the table--as if it were a shrine--with a flash of +resolve in his blue eyes. The wrinkled Concepcion coming to her duties +in the morning scarcely recognized her gloomily abstracted master in +this transfigured man. He looked ten years younger. + +She met his greeting, and the few direct inquiries that his new resolve +enabled him to make more freely, with some information--which a later +talk with the shopkeeper, who had a fuller English vocabulary, confirmed +in detail. + +"YES! truly this was a niece of the Mission gardener, who lived with +her uncle in the ruined wing of the presidio. She had taken her first +communion four years ago. Ah, yes, she was a great musician, and could +play on the organ. And the guitar, ah, yes--of a certainty. She was gay, +and flirted with the caballeros, young and old, but she cared not for +any." + +Whatever satisfaction this latter statement gave Masterton, he believed +it was because the absence of any disturbing worldly affection would +make her an easier convert. + +But how continue this chance acquaintance and effect her conversion? +For the first time Masterton realized the value of expediency; while his +whole nature impelled him to seek her society frankly and publicly and +exhort her openly, he knew that this was impossible; still more, he +remembered her unmistakable fright at his first expression of faith; +he must "be wise as the serpent and harmless as the dove." He must work +upon her soul alone, and secretly. He, who would have shrunk from any +clandestine association with a girl from mere human affection, saw +no wrong in a covert intimacy for the purpose of religious salvation. +Ignorant as he was of the ways of the world, and inexperienced in the +usages of society, he began to plan methods of secretly meeting her with +all the intrigue of a gallant. The perspicacity as well as the intuition +of a true lover had descended upon him in this effort of mere spiritual +conquest. + +Armed with his information and a few Spanish words, he took the +yellow Concepcion aside and gravely suborned her to carry a note to +be delivered secretly to Miss Ramirez. To his great relief and some +surprise the old woman grinned with intelligence, and her withered +hand closed with a certain familiar dexterity over the epistle and the +accompanying gratuity. To a man less naively one-ideaed it might +have awakened some suspicion; but to the more sanguine hopefulness of +Masterton it only suggested the fancy that Concepcion herself might +prove to be open to conversion, and that he should in due season attempt +HER salvation also. But that would be later. For Concepcion was always +with him and accessible; the girl was not. + +The note, which had cost him some labor of composition, simple and +almost businesslike as was the result, ran as follows: + +"I wish to see you upon some matter of grave concern to yourself. Will +you oblige me by coming again to the wall of the Mission tonight at +early candlelight? It would avert worldly suspicion if you brought also +your guitar." + +The afternoon dragged slowly on; Concepcion returned; she had, with +great difficulty, managed to see the senorita, but not alone; she had, +however, slipped the note into her hand, not daring to wait for an +answer. + +In his first hopefulness Masterton did not doubt what the answer +would be, but as evening approached he grew concerned as to the girl's +opportunities of coming, and regretted that he had not given her a +choice of time. + +Before his evening meal was finished he began to fear for her +willingness, and doubt the potency of his note. He was accustomed +to exhort ORALLY--perhaps he ought to have waited for the chance of +SPEAKING to her directly without writing. + +When the moon rose he was already in the garden. Lingering at first in +the shadow of an olive tree, he waited until the moonbeams fell on +the wall and its crests of foliage. But nothing moved among that ebony +tracery; his ear was strained for the familiar tinkle of the guitar--all +was silent. As the moon rose higher he at last boldly walked to the +wall, and listened for any movement on the other side of it. But nothing +stirred. She was evidently NOT coming--his note had failed. + +He was turning away sadly, but as he faced his home again he heard a +light laugh beside him. He stopped. A black shadow stepped out from +beneath his own almond tree. He started when, with a gesture that seemed +familiar to him, the upper part of the shadow seemed to fall away with a +long black mantilla and the face of the young girl was revealed. + +He could see now that she was clad in black lace from head to foot. She +looked taller, older, and he fancied even prettier than before. A sudden +doubt of his ability to impress her, a swift realization of all the +difficulties of the attempt, and, for the first time perhaps, a dim +perception of the incongruity of the situation came over him. + +"I was looking for you on the wall," he stammered. + +"MADRE DE DIOS!" she retorted, with a laugh and her old audacity, "you +would that I shall ALWAYS hang there, and drop upon you like a pear when +you shake the tree? No!" + +"You haven't brought your guitar," he continued, still more awkwardly, +as he noticed that she held only a long black fan in her hand. + +"For why? You would that I PLAY it, and when my uncle say 'Where +go Pepita? She is loss,' someone shall say, 'Oh! I have hear her +tink-a-tink in the garden of the Americano, who lif alone.' And then--it +ess finish!" + +Masterton began to feel exceedingly uncomfortable. There was something +in this situation that he had not dreamed of. But with the persistency +of an awkward man he went on. + +"But you played on the wall the other night, and tried to accompany me." + +"But that was lass night and on the wall. I had not speak to you, you +had not speak to me. You had not sent me the leetle note by your peon." +She stopped, and suddenly opening her fan before her face, so that only +her mischievous eyes were visible, added: "You had not asked me then to +come to hear you make lof to me, Don Esteban. That is the difference." + +The circuit preacher felt the blood rush to his face. Anger, shame, +mortification, remorse, and fear alternately strove with him, but +above all and through all he was conscious of a sharp, exquisite +pleasure--that frightened him still more. Yet he managed to exclaim: + +"No! no! You cannot think me capable of such a cowardly trick?" + +The girl started, more at the unmistakable sincerity of his utterance +than at the words, whose full meaning she may have only imperfectly +caught. + +"A treek? A treek?" she slowly and wonderingly repeated. Then suddenly, +as if comprehending him, she turned her round black eyes full upon him +and dropped her fan from her face. + +"And WHAT for you ask me to come here then?" + +"I wanted to talk with you," he began, "on far more serious matters. +I wished to--" but he stopped. He could not address this quaint +child-woman staring at him in black-eyed wonder, in either the measured +or the impetuous terms with which he would have exhorted a maturer +responsible being. He made a step toward her; she drew back, striking at +his extended hand half impatiently, half mischievously with her fan. + +He flushed--and then burst out bluntly, "I want to talk with you about +your soul." + +"My what?" + +"Your immortal soul, unhappy girl." + +"What have you to make with that? Are you a devil?" Her eyes grew +rounder, though she faced him boldly. + +"I am a Minister of the Gospel," he said, in hurried entreaty. "You must +hear me for a moment. I would save your soul." + +"My immortal soul lif with the Padre at the Mission--you moost seek her +there! My mortal BODY," she added, with a mischievous smile, "say to +you, 'good a' night, Don Esteban.'" She dropped him a little curtsy +and--ran away. + +"One moment, Miss Ramirez," said Masterton, eagerly; but she had already +slipped beyond his reach. He saw her little black figure passing swiftly +beside the moonlit wall, saw it suddenly slide into a shadowy fissure, +and vanish. + +In his blank disappointment he could not bear to re-enter the house he +had left so sanguinely a few moments before, but walked moodily in the +garden. His discomfiture was the more complete since he felt that +his defeat was owing to some mistake in his methods, and not the +incorrigibility of his subject. + +Was it not a spiritual weakness in him to have resented so sharply the +girl's imputation that he wished to make love to her? He should have +borne it as Christians had even before now borne slander and false +testimony for their faith! He might even have ACCEPTED it, and let the +triumph of her conversion in the end prove his innocence. Or was his +purpose incompatible with that sisterly affection he had so often +preached to the women of his flock? He might have taken her hand, and +called her "Sister Pepita," even as he had called Deborah "Sister." He +recalled the fact that he had for an instant held her struggling in his +arms: he remembered the thrill that the recollection had caused him, +and somehow it now sent a burning blush across his face. He hurried back +into the house. + +The next day a thousand wild ideas took the place of his former settled +resolution. He would seek the Padre, this custodian of the young girl's +soul; he would convince HIM of his error, or beseech him to give him +an equal access to her spirit! He would seek the uncle of the girl, and +work upon his feelings. + +Then for three or four days he resolved to put the young girl from his +mind, trusting after the fashion of his kind for some special revelation +from a supreme source as an indication for his conduct. This revelation +presently occurred, as it is apt to occur when wanted. + +One evening his heart leaped at the familiar sound of Pepita's guitar in +the distance. Whatever his ultimate intention now, he hurriedly ran +into the garden. The sound came from the former direction, but as he +unhesitatingly approached the Mission wall, he could see that she was +not upon it, and as the notes of her guitar were struck again, he knew +that they came from the other side. But the chords were a prelude to one +of his own hymns, and he stood entranced as her sweet, childlike voice +rose with the very words that he had sung. The few defects were those of +purely oral imitation, the accents, even the slight reiteration of the +"s," were Pepita's own: + + Cheeldren oof the Heavenly King, + As ye journey essweetly ssing; + Essing your great Redeemer's praise, + Glorioos in Hees works and ways. + +He was astounded. Her recollection of the air and words was the more +wonderful, for he remembered now that he had only sung that particular +hymn once. But to his still greater delight and surprise, her voice rose +again in the second verse, with a touch of plaintiveness that swelled +his throat: + + We are traveling home to God, + In the way our farzers trod, + They are happy now, and we + Soon their happiness shall see. + +The simple, almost childish words--so childish that they might have been +the fitting creation of her own childish lips--here died away with a +sweep and crash of the whole strings. Breathless silence followed, in +which Stephen Masterton could feel the beatings of his own heart. + +"Miss Ramirez," he called, in a voice that scarcely seemed his own. +There was no reply. "Pepita!" he repeated; it was strangely like the +accent of a lover, but he no longer cared. Still the singer's voice was +silent. + +Then he ran swiftly beside the wall, as he had seen her run, until he +came to the fissure. It was overgrown with vines and brambles almost +as impenetrable as an abatis, but if she had pierced it in her delicate +crape dress, so could he! He brushed roughly through, and found himself +in a glimmering aisle of pear trees close by the white wall of the +Mission church. + +For a moment in that intricate tracing of ebony and ivory made by +the rising moon, he was dazzled, but evidently his irruption into the +orchard had not been as lithe and silent as her own, for a figure in a +parti-colored dress suddenly started into activity, and running from +the wall, began to course through the trees until it became apparently +a part of that involved pattern. Nothing daunted, however, Stephen +Masterton pursued, his speed increased as he recognized the flounces of +Pepita's barred dress, but the young girl had the advantage of knowing +the locality, and could evade her pursuer by unsuspected turns and +doubles. + +For some moments this fanciful sylvan chase was kept up in perfect +silence; it might have been a woodland nymph pursued by a wandering +shepherd. Masterton presently saw that she was making toward a tiled +roof that was now visible as projecting over the presidio wall, and +was evidently her goal of refuge. He redoubled his speed; with skillful +audacity and sheer strength of his broad shoulders he broke through a +dense ceanothus hedge which Pepita was swiftly skirting, and suddenly +appeared between her and her house. + +With her first cry, the young girl turned and tried to bury herself in +the hedge; but in another stride the circuit preacher was at her side, +and caught her panting figure in his arms. + +While he had been running he had swiftly formulated what he should +do and what he should say to her. To his simple appeal for her +companionship and willing ear he would add a brotherly tenderness, that +should invite her trustfulness in him; he would confess his wrong and +ask her forgiveness of his abrupt solicitations; he would propose to +teach her more hymns, they would practice psalmody together; even this +priest, the custodian of her soul, could not object to that; but chiefly +he would thank her: he would tell her how she had pleased him, and this +would lead to more serious and thoughtful converse. All this was in his +mind while he ran, was upon his lips as he caught her and for an instant +she lapsed, exhausted, in his arms. But, alas! even in that moment he +suddenly drew her toward him, and kissed her as only a lover could! + + +The wire grass was already yellowing on the Tasajara plains with the +dusty decay of the long, dry summer when Dr. Duchesne returned to +Tasajara. He came to see the wife of Deacon Sanderson, who, having for +the twelfth time added to the population of the settlement, was not +"doing as well" as everybody--except, possibly, Dr. Duchesne--expected. +After he had made this hollow-eyed, over-burdened, undernourished woman +as comfortable as he could in her rude, neglected surroundings, to +change the dreary chronicle of suffering, he turned to the husband, +and said, "And what has become of Mr. Masterton, who used to be in +your--vocation?" A long groan came from the deacon. + +"Hallo! I hope he has not had a relapse," said the doctor, earnestly. "I +thought I'd knocked all that nonsense out of him--I beg your pardon--I +mean," he added, hurriedly, "he wrote to me only a few weeks ago that he +was picking up his strength again and doing well!" + +"In his weak, gross, sinful flesh--yes, no doubt," returned the Deacon, +scornfully, "and, perhaps, even in a worldly sense, for those who value +the vanities of life; but he is lost to us, for all time, and lost +to eternal life forever. Not," he continued in sanctimonious +vindictiveness, "but that I often had my doubts of Brother Masterton's +steadfastness. He was too much given to imagery and song." + +"But what has he done?" persisted Dr. Duchesne. + +"Done! He has embraced the Scarlet Woman!" + +"Dear me!" said the doctor, "so soon? Is it anybody you knew here?--not +anybody's wife? Eh?" + +"He has entered the Church of Rome," said the Deacon, indignantly, "he +has forsaken the God of his fathers for the tents of the idolaters; he +is the consort of Papists and the slave of the Pope!" + +"But are you SURE?" said Dr. Duchesne, with perhaps less concern than +before. + +"Sure," returned the Deacon angrily, "didn't Brother Bulkley, on account +of warning reports made by a God-fearing and soul-seeking teamster, make +a special pilgrimage to this land of Sodom to inquire and spy out its +wickedness? Didn't he find Stephen Masterton steeped in the iniquity of +practicing on an organ--he that scorned even a violin or harmonium in +the tents of the Lord--in an idolatrous chapel, with a foreign female +Papist for a teacher? Didn't he find him a guest at the board of a +Jesuit priest, visiting the schools of the Mission where this young +Jezebel of a singer teaches the children to chant in unknown tongues? +Didn't he find him living with a wrinkled Indian witch who called him +'Padrone'--and speaking her gibberish? Didn't he find him, who left here +a man mortified in flesh and spirit and pale with striving with sinners, +fat and rosy from native wines and fleshpots, and even vain and gaudy +in colored apparel? And last of all, didn't Brother Bulkley hear that a +rumor was spread far and wide that this miserable backslider was to take +to himself a wife--in one of these strange women--that very Jezebel who +seduced him? What do you call that?" + +"It looks a good deal like human nature," said the doctor, musingly, +"but I call it a cure!" + + + + +THE INDISCRETION OF ELSBETH + + +The American paused. He had evidently lost his way. For the last half +hour he had been wandering in a medieval town, in a profound medieval +dream. Only a few days had elapsed since he had left the steamship that +carried him hither; and the accents of his own tongue, the idioms of +his own people, and the sympathetic community of New World tastes and +expressions still filled his mind until he woke up, or rather, as it +seemed to him, was falling asleep in the past of this Old World town +which had once held his ancestors. Although a republican, he had liked +to think of them in quaint distinctive garb, representing state and +importance--perhaps even aristocratic pre-eminence--content to let the +responsibility of such "bad eminence" rest with them entirely, but a +habit of conscientiousness and love for historic truth eventually led +him also to regard an honest BAUER standing beside his cattle in the +quaint market place, or a kindly-faced black-eyed DIENSTMADCHEN in a +doorway, with a timid, respectful interest, as a possible type of his +progenitors. For, unlike some of his traveling countrymen in Europe, he +was not a snob, and it struck him--as an American--that it was, +perhaps, better to think of his race as having improved than as having +degenerated. In these ingenuous meditations he had passed the long rows +of quaint, high houses, whose sagging roofs and unpatched dilapidations +were yet far removed from squalor, until he had reached the road +bordered by poplars, all so unlike his own country's waysides--and knew +that he had wandered far from his hotel. + +He did not care, however, to retrace his steps and return by the way +he had come. There was, he reasoned, some other street or turning that +would eventually bring him to the market place and his hotel, and yet +extend his experience of the town. He turned at right angles into a +narrow grass lane, which was, however, as neatly kept and apparently as +public as the highway. A few moments' walking convinced him that it was +not a thoroughfare and that it led to the open gates of a park. This had +something of a public look, which suggested that his intrusion might be +at least a pardonable trespass, and he relied, like most strangers, on +the exonerating quality of a stranger's ignorance. The park lay in the +direction he wished to go, and yet it struck him as singular that a park +of such extent should be still allowed to occupy such valuable urban +space. Indeed, its length seemed to be illimitable as he wandered on, +until he became conscious that he must have again lost his way, and he +diverged toward the only boundary, a high, thickset hedge to the right, +whose line he had been following. + +As he neared it he heard the sound of voices on the other side, speaking +in German, with which he was unfamiliar. Having, as yet, met no one, and +being now impressed with the fact that for a public place the park was +singularly deserted, he was conscious that his position was getting +serious, and he determined to take this only chance of inquiring his +way. The hedge was thinner in some places than in others, and at times +he could see not only the light through it but even the moving figures +of the speakers, and the occasional white flash of a summer gown. At +last he determined to penetrate it, and with little difficulty emerged +on the other side. But here he paused motionless. He found himself +behind a somewhat formal and symmetrical group of figures with their +backs toward him, but all stiffened into attitudes as motionless as his +own, and all gazing with a monotonous intensity in the direction of a +handsome building, which had been invisible above the hedge but which +now seemed to arise suddenly before him. Some of the figures were in +uniform. Immediately before him, but so slightly separated from +the others that he was enabled to see the house between her and her +companions, he was confronted by the pretty back, shoulders, and blond +braids of a young girl of twenty. Convinced that he had unwittingly +intruded upon some august ceremonial, he instantly slipped back into +the hedge, but so silently that his momentary presence was evidently +undetected. When he regained the park side he glanced back through +the interstices; there was no movement of the figures nor break in the +silence to indicate that his intrusion had been observed. With a long +breath of relief he hurried from the park. + +It was late when he finally got back to his hotel. But his little modern +adventure had, I fear, quite outrun his previous medieval reflections, +and almost his first inquiry of the silver-chained porter in the +courtyard was in regard to the park. There was no public park in +Alstadt! The Herr possibly alluded to the Hof Gardens--the Schloss, +which was in the direction he indicated. The Schloss was the residency +of the hereditary Grand Duke. JA WOHL! He was stopping there with +several Hoheiten. There was naturally a party there--a family reunion. +But it was a private enclosure. At times, when the Grand Duke was "not in +residence," it was open to the public. In point of fact, at such times +tickets of admission were to be had at the hotel for fifty pfennige +each. There was not, of truth, much to see except a model farm and +dairy--the pretty toy of a previous Grand Duchess. + +But he seemed destined to come into closer collision with the modern +life of Alstadt. On entering the hotel, wearied by his long walk, he +passed the landlord and a man in half-military uniform on the landing +near his room. As he entered his apartment he had a vague impression, +without exactly knowing why, that the landlord and the military +stranger had just left it. This feeling was deepened by the evident +disarrangement of certain articles in his unlocked portmanteau and the +disorganization of his writing case. A wave of indignation passed over +him. It was followed by a knock at the door, and the landlord blandly +appeared with the stranger. + +"A thousand pardons," said the former, smilingly, "but Herr Sanderman, +the Ober-Inspector of Police, wishes to speak with you. I hope we are +not intruding?" + +"Not NOW," said the American, dryly. + +The two exchanged a vacant and deprecating smile. + +"I have to ask only a few formal questions," said the Ober-Inspector in +excellent but somewhat precise English, "to supplement the report which, +as a stranger, you may not know is required by the police from the +landlord in regard to the names and quality of his guests who are +foreign to the town. You have a passport?" + +"I have," said the American still more dryly. "But I do not keep it in +an unlocked portmanteau or an open writing case." + +"An admirable precaution," said Sanderman, with unmoved politeness. +"May I see it? Thanks," he added, glancing over the document which the +American produced from his pocket. "I see that you are a born American +citizen--and an earlier knowledge of that fact would have prevented +this little contretemps. You are aware, Mr. Hoffman, that your name is +German?" + +"It was borne by my ancestors, who came from this country two centuries +ago," said Hoffman, curtly. + +"We are indeed honored by your return to it," returned Sanderman +suavely, "but it was the circumstance of your name being a local one, +and the possibility of your still being a German citizen liable to +unperformed military duty, which has caused the trouble." His manner was +clearly civil and courteous, but Hoffman felt that all the time his own +face and features were undergoing a profound scrutiny from the speaker. + +"And you are making sure that you will know me again?" said Hoffman, +with a smile. + +"I trust, indeed, both," returned Sanderman, with a bow, "although +you will permit me to say that your description here," pointing to the +passport, "scarcely does you justice. ACH GOTT! it is the same in all +countries; the official eye is not that of the young DAMEN." + +Hoffman, though not conceited, had not lived twenty years without +knowing that he was very good-looking, yet there was something in the +remark that caused him to color with a new uneasiness. + +The Ober-Inspector rose with another bow, and moved toward the door. "I +hope you will let me make amends for this intrusion by doing anything I +can to render your visit here a pleasant one. Perhaps," he added, "it is +not for long." + +But Hoffman evaded the evident question, as he resented what he imagined +was a possible sneer. + +"I have not yet determined my movements," he said. + +The Ober-Inspector brought his heels together in a somewhat stiffer +military salute and departed. + +Nothing, however, could have exceeded the later almost servile urbanity +of the landlord, who seemed to have been proud of the official visit to +his guest. He was profuse in his attentions, and even introduced him to +a singularly artistic-looking man of middle age, wearing an order in his +buttonhole, whom he met casually in the hall. + +"Our Court photographer," explained the landlord with some fervor, +"at whose studio, only a few houses distant, most of the Hoheiten and +Prinzessinen of Germany have sat for their likenesses." + +"I should feel honored if the distinguished American Herr would give +me a visit," said the stranger gravely, as he gazed at Hoffman with an +intensity which recalled the previous scrutiny of the Police Inspector, +"and I would be charmed if he would avail himself of my poor skill to +transmit his picturesque features to my unique collection." + +Hoffman returned a polite evasion to this invitation, although he was +conscious of being struck with this second examination of his face, and +the allusion to his personality. + +The next morning the porter met him with a mysterious air. The Herr +would still like to see the Schloss? Hoffman, who had quite forgotten +his adventure in the park, looked vacant. JA WOHL--the Hof authorities +had no doubt heard of his visit and had intimated to the hotel +proprietor that he might have permission to visit the model farm and +dairy. As the American still looked indifferent the porter pointed out +with some importance that it was a Ducal courtesy not to be lightly +treated; that few, indeed, of the burghers themselves had ever been +admitted to this eccentric whim of the late Grand Duchess. He would, of +course, be silent about it; the Court would not like it known that they +had made an exception to their rules in favor of a foreigner; he would +enter quickly and boldly alone. There would be a housekeeper or a +dairymaid to show him over the place. + +More amused at this important mystery over what he, as an American, was +inclined to classify as a "free pass" to a somewhat heavy "side show," +he gravely accepted the permission, and the next morning after breakfast +set out to visit the model farm and dairy. Dismissing his driver, as +he had been instructed, Hoffman entered the gateway with a mingling of +expectancy and a certain amusement over the "boldness" which the +porter had suggested should characterize his entrance. Before him was +a beautifully kept lane bordered by arbored and trellised roses, which +seemed to sink into the distance. He was instinctively following it when +he became aware that he was mysteriously accompanied by a man in the +livery of a chasseur, who was walking among the trees almost abreast +of him, keeping pace with his step, and after the first introductory +military salute preserving a ceremonious silence. There was something +so ludicrous in this solemn procession toward a peaceful, rural industry +that by the time they had reached the bottom of the lane the American +had quite recovered his good humor. But here a new astonishment awaited +him. Nestling before him in a green amphitheater lay a little wooden +farm-yard and outbuildings, which irresistibly suggested that it had +been recently unpacked and set up from a box of Nuremberg toys. The +symmetrical trees, the galleried houses with preternaturally glazed +windows, even the spotty, disproportionately sized cows in the +white-fenced barnyards were all unreal, wooden and toylike. + +Crossing a miniature bridge over a little stream, from which he was +quite prepared to hook metallic fish with a magnet their own size, +he looked about him for some real being to dispel the illusion. The +mysterious chasseur had disappeared. But under the arch of an arbor, +which seemed to be composed of silk ribbons, green glass, and pink +tissue paper, stood a quaint but delightful figure. + +At first it seemed as if he had only dispelled one illusion for another. +For the figure before him might have been made of Dresden china--so +daintily delicate and unique it was in color and arrangement. It was +that of a young girl dressed in some forgotten medieval peasant garb +of velvet braids, silver-staylaced corsage, lace sleeves, and helmeted +metallic comb. But, after the Dresden method, the pale yellow of her +hair was repeated in her bodice, the pink of her cheeks was in the +roses of her chintz overskirt. The blue of her eyes was the blue of her +petticoat; the dazzling whiteness of her neck shone again in the +sleeves and stockings. Nevertheless she was real and human, for the +pink deepened in her cheeks as Hoffman's hat flew from his head, and she +recognized the civility with a grave little curtsy. + +"You have come to see the dairy," she said in quaintly accurate English; +"I will show you the way." + +"If you please," said Hoffman, gaily, "but--" + +"But what?" she said, facing him suddenly with absolutely astonished +eyes. + +Hoffman looked into them so long that their frank wonder presently +contracted into an ominous mingling of restraint and resentment. Nothing +daunted, however, he went on: + +"Couldn't we shake all that?" + +The look of wonder returned. "Shake all that?" she repeated. "I do not +understand." + +"Well! I'm not positively aching to see cows, and you must be sick of +showing them. I think, too, I've about sized the whole show. Wouldn't +it be better if we sat down in that arbor--supposing it won't fall +down--and you told me all about the lot? It would save you a heap of +trouble and keep your pretty frock cleaner than trapesing round. Of +course," he said, with a quick transition to the gentlest courtesy, "if +you're conscientious about this thing we'll go on and not spare a cow. +Consider me in it with you for the whole morning." + +She looked at him again, and then suddenly broke into a charming laugh. +It revealed a set of strong white teeth, as well as a certain barbaric +trace in its cadence which civilized restraint had not entirely +overlaid. + +"I suppose she really is a peasant, in spite of that pretty frock," he +said to himself as he laughed too. + +But her face presently took a shade of reserve, and with a gentle but +singular significance she said: + +"I think you must see the dairy." + +Hoffman's hat was in his hand with a vivacity that tumbled the brown +curls on his forehead. "By all means," he said instantly, and began +walking by her side in modest but easy silence. Now that he thought her +a conscientious peasant he was quiet and respectful. + +Presently she lifted her eyes, which, despite her gravity, had not +entirely lost their previous mirthfulness, and said: + +"But you Americans--in your rich and prosperous country, with your large +lands and your great harvests--you must know all about farming." + +"Never was in a dairy in my life," said Hoffman gravely. "I'm from +the city of New York, where the cows give swill milk, and are kept in +cellars." + +Her eyebrows contracted prettily in an effort to understand. Then she +apparently gave it up, and said with a slanting glint of mischief in her +eyes: + +"Then you come here like the other Americans in hope to see the Grand +Duke and Duchess and the Princesses?" + +"No. The fact is I almost tumbled into a lot of 'em--standing like wax +figures--the other side of the park lodge, the other day--and got away +as soon as I could. I think I prefer the cows." + +Her head was slightly turned away. He had to content himself with +looking down upon the strong feet in their serviceable but smartly +buckled shoes that uplifted her upright figure as she moved beside him. + +"Of course," he added with boyish but unmistakable courtesy, "if it's +part of your show to trot out the family, why I'm in that, too. I dare +say you could make them interesting." + +"But why," she said with her head still slightly turned away toward +a figure--a sturdy-looking woman, which, for the first time, Hoffman +perceived was walking in a line with them as the chasseur had done--"why +did you come here at all?" + +"The first time was a fool accident," he returned frankly. "I was making +a short cut through what I thought was a public park. The second time +was because I had been rude to a Police Inspector whom I found going +through my things, but who apologized--as I suppose--by getting me an +invitation from the Grand Duke to come here, and I thought it only the +square thing to both of 'em to accept it. But I'm mighty glad I came; +I wouldn't have missed YOU for a thousand dollars. You see I haven't +struck anyone I cared to talk to since." Here he suddenly remarked that +she hadn't looked at him, and that the delicate whiteness of her neck +was quite suffused with pink, and stopped instantly. Presently he said +quite easily: + +"Who's the chorus?" + +"The lady?" + +"Yes. She's watching us as if she didn't quite approve, you know--just +as if she didn't catch on." + +"She's the head housekeeper of the farm. Perhaps you would prefer to +have her show you the dairy; shall I call her?" + +The figure in question was very short and stout, with voluminous +petticoats. + +"Please don't; I'll stay without your setting that paperweight on me. +But here's the dairy. Don't let her come inside among those pans of +fresh milk with that smile, or there'll be trouble." + +The young girl paused too, made a slight gesture with her hand, and the +figure passed on as they entered the dairy. It was beautifully clean and +fresh. With a persistence that he quickly recognized as mischievous and +ironical, and with his characteristic adaptability accepted with even +greater gravity and assumption of interest, she showed him all the +details. From thence they passed to the farmyard, where he hung with +breathless attention over the names of the cows and made her repeat +them. Although she was evidently familiar with the subject, he could see +that her zeal was fitful and impatient. + +"Suppose we sit down," he said, pointing to an ostentatious rustic seat +in the center of the green. + +"Sir down?" she repeated wonderingly. "What for?" + +"To talk. We'll knock off and call it half a day." + +"But if you are not looking at the farm you are, of course, going," she +said quickly. + +"Am I? I don't think these particulars were in my invitation." + +She again broke into a fit of laughter, and at the same time cast a +bright eye around the field. + +"Come," he said gently, "there are no other sightseers waiting, and your +conscience is clear," and he moved toward the rustic seat. + +"Certainly not--there," she added in a low voice. + +They moved on slowly together to a copse of willows which overhung the +miniature stream. + +"You are not staying long in Alstadt?" she said. + +"No; I only came to see the old town that my ancestors came from." + +They were walking so close together that her skirt brushed his trousers, +but she suddenly drew away from him, and looking him fixedly in the eye +said: + +"Ah, you have relations here?" + +"Yes, but they are dead two hundred years." + +She laughed again with a slight expression of relief. They had entered +the copse and were walking in dense shadow when she suddenly stopped and +sat down upon a rustic bench. To his surprise he found that they were +quite alone. + +"Tell me about these relatives," she said, slightly drawing aside her +skirt to make room for him on the seat. + +He did not require a second invitation. He not only told her all about +his ancestral progenitors, but, I fear, even about those more recent and +more nearly related to him; about his own life, his vocation--he was a +clever newspaper correspondent with a roving commission--his ambitions, +his beliefs and his romance. + +"And then, perhaps, of this visit--you will also make 'copy'?" + +He smiled at her quick adaptation of his professional slang, but shook +his head. + +"No," he said gravely. "No--this is YOU. The CHICAGO INTERVIEWER is big +pay and is rich, but it hasn't capital enough to buy you from me." + +He gently slid his hand toward hers and slipped his fingers softly +around it. She made a slight movement of withdrawal, but even then--as +if in forgetfulness or indifference--permitted her hand to rest +unresponsively in his. It was scarcely an encouragement to gallantry, +neither was it a rejection of an unconscious familiarity. + +"But you haven't told me about yourself," he said. + +"Oh, I," she returned, with her first approach to coquetry in a laugh +and a sidelong glance, "of what importance is that to you? It is the +Grand Duchess and Her Highness the Princess that you Americans seek to +know. I am--what I am--as you see." + +"You bet," said Hoffman with charming decision. + +"I WHAT?" + +"You ARE, you know, and that's good enough for me, but I don't even know +your name." + +She laughed again, and after a pause, said: "Elsbeth." + +"But I couldn't call you by your first name on our first meeting, you +know." + +"Then you Americans are really so very formal--eh?" she said slyly, +looking at her imprisoned hand. + +"Well, yes," returned Hoffman, disengaging it. "I suppose we are +respectful, or mean to be. But whom am I to inquire for? To write to?" + +"You are neither to write nor inquire." + +"What?" She had moved in her seat so as to half-face him with eyes in +which curiosity, mischief, and a certain seriousness alternated, but for +the first time seemed conscious of his hand, and accented her words with +a slight pressure. + +"You are to return to your hotel presently, and say to your landlord: +'Pack up my luggage. I have finished with this old town and my +ancestors, and the Grand Duke, whom I do not care to see, and I shall +leave Alstadt tomorrow!'" + +"Thank you! I don't catch on." + +"Of what necessity should you? I have said it. That should be enough for +a chivalrous American like you." She again significantly looked down at +her hand. + +"If you mean that you know the extent of the favor you ask of me, I can +say no more," he said seriously; "but give me some reason for it." + +"Ah so!" she said, with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Then I must +tell you. You say you do not know the Grand Duke and Duchess. Well! THEY +KNOW YOU. The day before yesterday you were wandering in the park, as +you admit. You say, also, you got through the hedge and interrupted +some ceremony. That ceremony was not a Court function, Mr. Hoffman, but +something equally sacred--the photographing of the Ducal family +before the Schloss. You say that you instantly withdrew. But after the +photograph was taken the plate revealed a stranger standing actually +by the side of the Princess Alexandrine, and even taking the PAS of the +Grand Duke himself. That stranger was you!" + +"And the picture was spoiled," said the American, with a quiet laugh. + +"I should not say that," returned the lady, with a demure glance at her +companion's handsome face, "and I do not believe that the Princess--who +first saw the photograph--thought so either. But she is very young +and willful, and has the reputation of being very indiscreet, and +unfortunately she begged the photographer not to destroy the plate, but +to give it to her, and to say nothing about it, except that the plate +was defective, and to take another. Still it would have ended there if +her curiosity had not led her to confide a description of the stranger +to the Police Inspector, with the result you know." + +"Then I am expected to leave town because I accidentally stumbled into a +family group that was being photographed?" + +"Because a certain Princess was indiscreet enough to show her curiosity +about you," corrected the fair stranger. + +"But look here! I'll apologize to the Princess, and offer to pay for the +plate." + +"Then you do want to see the Princess?" said the young girl smiling; +"you are like the others." + +"Bother the Princess! I want to see YOU. And I don't see how they can +prevent it if I choose to remain." + +"Very easily. You will find that there is something wrong with your +passport, and you will be sent on to Pumpernickel for examination. You +will unwittingly transgress some of the laws of the town and be ordered +to leave it. You will be shadowed by the police until you quarrel with +them--like a free American--and you are conducted to the frontier. +Perhaps you will strike an officer who has insulted you, and then you +are finished on the spot." + +The American's crest rose palpably until it cocked his straw hat over +his curls. + +"Suppose I am content to risk it--having first laid the whole matter and +its trivial cause before the American Minister, so that he could make it +hot for this whole caboodle of a country if they happened to 'down me.' +By Jove! I shouldn't mind being the martyr of an international episode +if they'd spare me long enough to let me get the first 'copy' over to +the other side." His eyes sparkled. + +"You could expose them, but they would then deny the whole story, and +you have no evidence. They would demand to know your informant, and I +should be disgraced, and the Princess, who is already talked about, +made a subject of scandal. But no matter! It is right that an American's +independence shall not be interfered with." + +She raised the hem of her handkerchief to her blue eyes and slightly +turned her head aside. Hoffman gently drew the handkerchief away, and in +so doing possessed himself of her other hand. + +"Look here, Miss--Miss--Elsbeth. You know I wouldn't give you away, +whatever happened. But couldn't I get hold of that photographer--I saw +him, he wanted me to sit to him--and make him tell me?" + +"He wanted you to sit to him," she said hurriedly, "and did you?" + +"No," he replied. "He was a little too fresh and previous, though I +thought he fancied some resemblance in me to somebody else." + +"Ah!" She said something to herself in German which he did not +understand, and then added aloud: + +"You did well; he is a bad man, this photographer. Promise me you shall +not sit for him." + +"How can I if I'm fired out of the place like this?" He added ruefully, +"But I'd like to make him give himself away to me somehow." + +"He will not, and if he did he would deny it afterward. Do not go near +him nor see him. Be careful that he does not photograph you with his +instantaneous instrument when you are passing. Now you must go. I must +see the Princess." + +"Let me go, too. I will explain it to her," said Hoffman. + +She stopped, looked at him keenly, and attempted to withdraw her +hands. "Ah, then it IS so. It is the Princess you wish to see. You are +curious--you, too; you wish to see this lady who is interested in you. I +ought to have known it. You are all alike." + +He met her gaze with laughing frankness, accepting her outburst as a +charming feminine weakness, half jealousy, half coquetry--but retained +her hands. + +"Nonsense," he said. "I wish to see her that I may have the right to see +you--that you shall not lose your place here through me; that I may come +again." + +"You must never come here again." + +"Then you must come where I am. We will meet somewhere when you have +an afternoon off. You shall show me the town--the houses of my +ancestors--their tombs; possibly--if the Grand Duke rampages--the +probable site of my own." + +She looked into his laughing eyes with her clear, stedfast, gravely +questioning blue ones. "Do not you Americans know that it is not the +fashion here, in Germany, for the young men and the young women to walk +together--unless they are VERLOBT?" + +"VER--which?" + +"Engaged." She nodded her head thrice: viciously, decidedly, +mischievously. + +"So much the better." + +"ACH GOTT!" She made a gesture of hopelessness at his incorrigibility, +and again attempted to withdraw her hands. + +"I must go now." + +"Well then, good-by." + +It was easy to draw her closer by simply lowering her still captive +hands. Then he suddenly kissed her coldly startled lips, and instantly +released her. She as instantly vanished. + +"Elsbeth," he called quickly. "Elsbeth!" + +Her now really frightened face reappeared with a heightened color from +the dense foliage--quite to his astonishment. + +"Hush," she said, with her finger on her lips. "Are you mad?" + +"I only wanted to remind you to square me with the Princess," he laughed +as her head disappeared. + +He strolled back toward the gate. Scarcely had he quitted the shrubbery +before the same chasseur made his appearance with precisely the same +salute; and, keeping exactly the same distance, accompanied him to the +gate. At the corner of the street he hailed a droshky and was driven to +his hotel. + +The landlord came up smiling. He trusted that the Herr had greatly +enjoyed himself at the Schloss. It was a distinguished honor--in fact, +quite unprecedented. Hoffman, while he determined not to commit himself, +nor his late fair companion, was nevertheless anxious to learn something +more of her relations to the Schloss. So pretty, so characteristic, and +marked a figure must be well known to sightseers. Indeed, once or twice +the idea had crossed his mind with a slightly jealous twinge that left +him more conscious of the impression she had made on him than he had +deemed possible. He asked if the model farm and dairy were always shown +by the same attendants. + +"ACH GOTT! no doubt, yes; His Royal Highness had quite a retinue when he +was in residence." + +"And were these attendants in costume?" + +"There was undoubtedly a livery for the servants." + +Hoffman felt a slight republican irritation at the epithet--he knew not +why. But this costume was rather a historical one; surely it was not +entrusted to everyday menials--and he briefly described it. + +His host's blank curiosity suddenly changed to a look of mysterious and +arch intelligence. + +"ACH GOTT! yes!" He remembered now (with his finger on his nose) that +when there was a fest at the Schloss the farm and dairy were filled with +shepherdesses, in quaint costume worn by the ladies of the Grand Duke's +own theatrical company, who assumed the characters with great vivacity. +Surely it was the same, and the Grand Duke had treated the Herr to this +special courtesy. Yes--there was one pretty, blonde young lady--the +Fraulein Wimpfenbuttel, a most popular soubrette, who would play it to +the life! And the description fitted her to a hair! Ah, there was no +doubt of it; many persons, indeed, had been so deceived. + +But happily, now that he had given him the wink, the Herr could +corroborate it himself by going to the theater tonight. Ah, it would be +a great joke--quite colossal! if he took a front seat where she could +see him. And the good man rubbed his hands in gleeful anticipation. + +Hoffman had listened to him with a slow repugnance that was only equal +to his gradual conviction that the explanation was a true one, and +that he himself had been ridiculously deceived. The mystery of his fair +companion's costume, which he had accepted as part of the "show"; the +inconsistency of her manner and her evident occupation; her undeniable +wish to terminate the whole episode with that single interview; +her mingling of worldly aplomb and rustic innocence; her perfect +self-control and experienced acceptance of his gallantry under the +simulated attitude of simplicity--all now struck him as perfectly +comprehensible. He recalled the actress's inimitable touch in certain +picturesque realistic details in the dairy--which she had not spared +him; he recognized it now even in their bowered confidences (how like a +pretty ballet scene their whole interview on the rustic bench was!), +and it breathed through their entire conversation--to their theatrical +parting at the close! And the whole story of the photograph was, no +doubt, as pure a dramatic invention as the rest! The Princess's romantic +interest in him--that Princess who had never appeared (why had he not +detected the old, well-worn, sentimental situation here?)--was all a +part of it. The dark, mysterious hint of his persecution by the police +was a necessary culmination to the little farce. Thank Heaven! he had +not "risen" at the Princess, even if he had given himself away to the +clever actress in her own humble role. Then the humor of the whole +situation predominated and he laughed until the tears came to his eyes, +and his forgotten ancestors might have turned over in their graves +without his heeding them. And with this humanizing influence upon him he +went to the theater. + +It was capacious even for the town, and although the performance was a +special one he had no difficulty in getting a whole box to himself. He +tried to avoid this public isolation by sitting close to the next box, +where there was a solitary occupant--an officer--apparently as lonely as +himself. He had made up his mind that when his fair deceiver appeared +he would let her see by his significant applause that he recognized her, +but bore no malice for the trick she had played on him. After all, he +had kissed her--he had no right to complain. If she should recognize +him, and this recognition led to a withdrawal of her prohibition, and +their better acquaintance, he would be a fool to cavil at her pleasant +artifice. Her vocation was certainly a more independent and original +one than that he had supposed; for its social quality and inequality he +cared nothing. He found himself longing for the glance of her calm blue +eyes, for the pleasant smile that broke the seriousness of her sweetly +restrained lips. There was no doubt that he should know her even as the +heroine of DER CZAR UND DER ZIMMERMANN on the bill before him. He was +becoming impatient. And the performance evidently was waiting. A stir +in the outer gallery, the clatter of sabers, the filing of uniforms +into the royal box, and a triumphant burst from the orchestra showed the +cause. As a few ladies and gentlemen in full evening dress emerged from +the background of uniforms and took their places in the front of the +box, Hoffman looked with some interest for the romantic Princess. +Suddenly he saw a face and shoulders in a glitter of diamonds that +startled him, and then a glance that transfixed him. + +He leaned over to his neighbor. "Who is the young lady in the box?" + +"The Princess Alexandrine." + +"I mean the young lady in blue with blond hair and blue eyes." + +"It is the Princess Alexandrine Elsbeth Marie Stephanie, the daughter of +the Grand Duke--there is none other there." + +"Thank you." + +He sat silently looking at the rising curtain and the stage. Then he +rose quietly, gathered his hat and coat, and left the box. When he +reached the gallery he turned instinctively and looked back at the royal +box. Her eyes had followed him, and as he remained a moment motionless +in the doorway her lips parted in a grateful smile, and she waved her +fan with a faint but unmistakable gesture of farewell. + +The next morning he left Alstadt. There was some little delay at the +Zoll on the frontier, and when Hoffman received back his trunk it was +accompanied by a little sealed packet which was handed to him by the +Customhouse Inspector. Hoffman did not open it until he was alone. + + +There hangs upon the wall of his modest apartment in New York a narrow, +irregular photograph ingeniously framed, of himself standing side +by side with a young German girl, who, in the estimation of his +compatriots, is by no means stylish and only passably good-looking. +When he is joked by his friends about the post of honor given to this +production, and questioned as to the lady, he remains silent. The +Princess Alexandrine Elsbeth Marie Stephanie von Westphalen-Alstadt, +among her other royal qualities, knew whom to trust. + + + + +THE DEVOTION OF ENRIQUEZ + + +In another chronicle which dealt with the exploits of "Chu Chu," +a Californian mustang, I gave some space to the accomplishments of +Enriquez Saltillo, who assisted me in training her, and who was also +brother to Consuelo Saitillo, the young lady to whom I had freely given +both the mustang and my youthful affections. I consider it a proof of +the superiority of masculine friendship that neither the subsequent +desertion of the mustang nor that of the young lady ever made the +slightest difference to Enriquez or me in our exalted amity. To a +wondering doubt as to what I ever could possibly have seen in his sister +to admire he joined a tolerant skepticism of the whole sex. This he was +wont to express in that marvelous combination of Spanish precision and +California slang for which he was justly famous. "As to thees women and +their little game," he would say, "believe me, my friend, your old +Oncle 'Enry is not in it. No; he will ever take a back seat when lofe is +around. For why? Regard me here! If she is a horse, you shall say, 'She +will buck-jump,' 'She will ess-shy,' 'She will not arrive,' or 'She will +arrive too quick.' But if it is thees women, where are you? For when you +shall say, 'She will ess-shy,' look you, she will walk straight; or +she will remain tranquil when you think she buck-jump; or else she will +arrive and, look you, you will not. You shall get left. It is ever so. +My father and the brother of my father have both make court to my mother +when she was but a senorita. My father think she have lofe his brother +more. So he say to her: 'It is enofe; tranquillize yourself. I will go. +I will efface myself. Adios! Shake hands! Ta-ta! So long! See you +again in the fall.' And what make my mother? Regard me! She marry my +father--on the instant! Of thees women, believe me, Pancho, you shall +know nothing. Not even if they shall make you the son of your father or +his nephew." + +I have recalled this characteristic speech to show the general tendency +of Enriquez' convictions at the opening of this little story. It is +only fair to say, however, that his usual attitude toward the sex he so +cheerfully maligned exhibited little apprehension or caution in dealing +with them. Among the frivolous and light-minded intermixture of his race +he moved with great freedom and popularity. He danced well; when we went +to fandangos together his agility and the audacity of his figures +always procured him the prettiest partners, his professed sentiments, +I presume, shielding him from subsequent jealousies, heartburnings, +or envy. I have a vivid recollection of him in the mysteries of the +SEMICUACUA, a somewhat corybantic dance which left much to the invention +of the performers, and very little to the imagination of the spectator. +In one of the figures a gaudy handkerchief, waved more or less +gracefully by dancer and danseuse before the dazzled eyes of each other, +acted as love's signal, and was used to express alternate admiration +and indifference, shyness and audacity, fear and transport, coyness +and coquetry, as the dance proceeded. I need not say that Enriquez' +pantomimic illustration of these emotions was peculiarly extravagant; +but it was always performed and accepted with a gravity that was an +essential feature of the dance. At such times sighs would escape him +which were supposed to portray the incipient stages of passion; +snorts of jealousy burst from him at the suggestion of a rival; he was +overtaken by a sort of St. Vitus's dance that expressed his timidity in +making the first advances of affection; the scorn of his ladylove struck +him with something like a dumb ague; and a single gesture of invitation +from her produced marked delirium. All this was very like Enriquez; but +on the particular occasion to which I refer, I think no one was prepared +to see him begin the figure with the waving of FOUR handkerchiefs! Yet +this he did, pirouetting, capering, brandishing his silken signals like +a ballerina's scarf in the languishment or fire of passion, until, in a +final figure, where the conquered and submitting fair one usually +sinks into the arms of her partner, need it be said that the ingenious +Enriquez was found in the center of the floor supporting four of the +dancers! Yet he was by no means unduly excited either by the plaudits of +the crowd or by his evident success with the fair. "Ah, believe me, it +is nothing," he said quietly, rolling a fresh cigarette as he leaned +against the doorway. "Possibly, I shall have to offer the chocolate or +the wine to thees girls, or make to them a promenade in the moonlight +on the veranda. It is ever so. Unless, my friend," he said, suddenly +turning toward me in an excess of chivalrous self-abnegation, "unless +you shall yourself take my place. Behold, I gif them to you! I vamos! +I vanish! I make track! I skedaddle!" I think he would have carried +his extravagance to the point of summoning his four gypsy witches of +partners, and committing them to my care, if the crowd had not at +that moment parted before the remaining dancers, and left one of +the onlookers, a tall, slender girl, calmly surveying them through +gold-rimmed eyeglasses in complete critical absorption. I stared in +amazement and consternation; for I recognized in the fair stranger Miss +Urania Mannersley, the Congregational minister's niece! + +Everybody knew Rainie Mannersley throughout the length and breadth of +the Encinal. She was at once the envy and the goad of the daughters of +those Southwestern and Eastern immigrants who had settled in the valley. +She was correct, she was critical, she was faultless and observant. She +was proper, yet independent; she was highly educated; she was suspected +of knowing Latin and Greek; she even spelled correctly! She could wither +the plainest field nosegay in the hands of other girls by giving the +flowers their botanical names. She never said "Ain't you?" but "Aren't +you?" She looked upon "Did I which?" as an incomplete and imperfect +form of "What did I do?" She quoted from Browning and Tennyson, and was +believed to have read them. She was from Boston. What could she possibly +be doing at a free-and-easy fandango? + +Even if these facts were not already familiar to everyone there, her +outward appearance would have attracted attention. Contrasted with +the gorgeous red, black, and yellow skirts of the dancers, her +plain, tightly fitting gown and hat, all of one delicate gray, were +sufficiently notable in themselves, even had they not seemed, like the +girl herself, a kind of quiet protest to the glaring flounces before +her. Her small, straight waist and flat back brought into greater relief +the corsetless, waistless, swaying figures of the Mexican girls, and her +long, slim, well-booted feet, peeping from the stiff, white edges of her +short skirt, made their broad, low-quartered slippers, held on by the +big toe, appear more preposterous than ever. Suddenly she seemed +to realize that she was standing there alone, but without fear or +embarrassment. She drew back a little, glancing carelessly behind her +as if missing some previous companion, and then her eyes fell upon mine. +She smiled an easy recognition; then a moment later, her glance rested +more curiously upon Enriquez, who was still by my side. I disengaged +myself and instantly joined her, particularly as I noticed that a few of +the other bystanders were beginning to stare at her with little reserve. + +"Isn't it the most extraordinary thing you ever saw?" she said quietly. +Then, presently noticing the look of embarrassment on my face, she went +on, more by way of conversation than of explanation: + +"I just left uncle making a call on a parishioner next door, and was +going home with Jocasta (a peon servant of her uncle's), when I heard +the music, and dropped in. I don't know what has become of her," she +added, glancing round the room again; "she seemed perfectly wild when +she saw that creature over there bounding about with his handkerchiefs. +You were speaking to him just now. Do tell me--is he real?" + +"I should think there was little doubt of that," I said with a vague +laugh. + +"You know what I mean," she said simply. "Is he quite sane? Does he do +that because he likes it, or is he paid for it?" + +This was too much. I pointed out somewhat hurriedly that he was a scion +of one of the oldest Castilian families, that the performance was a +national gypsy dance which he had joined in as a patriot and a patron, +and that he was my dearest friend. At the same time I was conscious that +I wished she hadn't seen his last performance. + +"You don't mean to say that all that he did was in the dance?" she said. +"I don't believe it. It was only like him." As I hesitated over this +palpable truth, she went on: "I do wish he'd do it again. Don't you +think you could make him?" + +"Perhaps he might if YOU asked him," I said a little maliciously. + +"Of course I shouldn't do that," she returned quietly. "All the same, I +do believe he is really going to do it--or something else. Do look!" + +I looked, and to my horror saw that Enriquez, possibly incited by the +delicate gold eyeglasses of Miss Mannersley, had divested himself of +his coat, and was winding the four handkerchiefs, tied together, +picturesquely around his waist, preparatory to some new performance. I +tried furtively to give him a warning look, but in vain. + +"Isn't he really too absurd for anything?" said Miss Mannersley, yet +with a certain comfortable anticipation in her voice. "You know, I never +saw anything like this before. I wouldn't have believed such a creature +could have existed." + +Even had I succeeded in warning him, I doubt if it would have been of +any avail. For, seizing a guitar from one of the musicians, he struck a +few chords, and suddenly began to zigzag into the center of the floor, +swaying his body languishingly from side to side in time with the +music and the pitch of a thin Spanish tenor. It was a gypsy love song. +Possibly Miss Mannersley's lingual accomplishments did not include a +knowledge of Castilian, but she could not fail to see that the gestures +and illustrative pantomime were addressed to her. Passionately assuring +her that she was the most favored daughter of the Virgin, that her eyes +were like votive tapers, and yet in the same breath accusing her of +being a "brigand" and "assassin" in her attitude toward "his heart," he +balanced with quivering timidity toward her, threw an imaginary cloak +in front of her neat boots as a carpet for her to tread on, and with a +final astonishing pirouette and a languishing twang of his guitar, sank +on one knee, and blew, with a rose, a kiss at her feet. + +If I had been seriously angry with him before for his grotesque +extravagance, I could have pitied him now for the young girl's absolute +unconsciousness of anything but his utter ludicrousness. The applause +of dancers and bystanders was instantaneous and hearty; her only +contribution to it was a slight parting of her thin red lips in a +half-incredulous smile. In the silence that followed the applause, as +Enriquez walked pantingly away, I heard her saying, half to herself, +"Certainly a most extraordinary creature!" In my indignation I could not +help turning suddenly upon her and looking straight into her eyes. They +were brown, with that peculiar velvet opacity common to the pupils of +nearsighted persons, and seemed to defy internal scrutiny. She only +repeated carelessly, "Isn't he?" and added: "Please see if you can find +Jocasta. I suppose we ought to be going now; and I dare say he won't be +doing it again. Ah! there she is. Good gracious, child! what have you +got there?" + +It was Enriquez' rose which Jocasta had picked up, and was timidly +holding out toward her mistress. + +"Heavens! I don't want it. Keep it yourself." + +I walked with them to the door, as I did not fancy a certain glitter in +the black eyes of the Senoritas Manuela and Pepita, who were watching +her curiously. But I think she was as oblivious of this as she was of +Enriquez' particular attentions. As we reached the street I felt that I +ought to say something more. + +"You know," I began casually, "that although those poor people meet here +in this public way, their gathering is really quite a homely pastoral +and a national custom; and these girls are all honest, hardworking peons +or servants enjoying themselves in quite the old idyllic fashion." + +"Certainly," said the young girl, half-abstractedly. "Of course it's +a Moorish dance, originally brought over, I suppose, by those old +Andalusian immigrants two hundred years ago. It's quite Arabic in its +suggestions. I have got something like it in an old CANCIONERO I picked +up at a bookstall in Boston. But," she added, with a gasp of reminiscent +satisfaction, "that's not like HIM! Oh, no! HE is decidedly original. +Heavens! yes." + +I turned away in some discomfiture to join Enriquez, who was calmly +awaiting me, with a cigarette in his mouth, outside the sala. Yet he +looked so unconscious of any previous absurdity that I hesitated in what +I thought was a necessary warning. He, however, quickly precipitated it. +Glancing after the retreating figures of the two women, he said: "Thees +mees from Boston is return to her house. You do not accompany her? I +shall. Behold me--I am there." But I linked my arm firmly in his. Then +I pointed out, first, that she was already accompanied by a servant; +secondly, that if I, who knew her, had hesitated to offer myself as an +escort, it was hardly proper for him, a perfect stranger, to take that +liberty; that Miss Mannersley was very punctilious of etiquette, which +he, as a Castilian gentleman, ought to appreciate. + +"But will she not regard lofe--the admiration excessif?" he said, +twirling his thin little mustache meditatively. + +"No; she will not," I returned sharply; "and you ought to understand +that she is on a different level from your Manuelas and Carmens." + +"Pardon, my friend," he said gravely; "thees women are ever the same. +There is a proverb in my language. Listen: 'Whether the sharp blade of +the Toledo pierce the satin or the goatskin, it shall find behind it +ever the same heart to wound.' I am that Toledo blade--possibly it is +you, my friend. Wherefore, let us together pursue this girl of Boston on +the instant." + +But I kept my grasp on Enriquez' arm, and succeeded in restraining his +mercurial impulses for the moment. He halted, and puffed vigorously at +his cigarette; but the next instant he started forward again. "Let us, +however, follow with discretion in the rear; we shall pass her house; we +shall gaze at it; it shall touch her heart." + +Ridiculous as was this following of the young girl we had only just +parted from, I nevertheless knew that Enriquez was quite capable of +attempting it alone, and I thought it better to humor him by consenting +to walk with him in that direction; but I felt it necessary to say: + +"I ought to warn you that Miss Mannersley already looks upon your +performances at the sala as something outre and peculiar, and if I were +you I shouldn't do anything to deepen that impression." + +"You are saying she ees shock?" said Enriquez, gravely. + +I felt I could not conscientiously say that she was shocked, and he saw +my hesitation. "Then she have jealousy of the senoritas," he observed, +with insufferable complacency. "You observe! I have already said. It is +ever so." + +I could stand it no longer. "Look here, Harry," I said, "if you must +know it, she looks upon you as an acrobat--a paid performer." + +"Ah!"--his black eyes sparkled--"the torero, the man who fights the +bull, he is also an acrobat." + +"Yes; but she thinks you a clown!--a GRACIOSO DE TEATRO--there!" + +"Then I have make her laugh?" he said coolly. + +I don't think he had; but I shrugged my shoulders. + +"BUENO!" he said cheerfully. "Lofe, he begin with a laugh, he make +feenish with a sigh." + +I turned to look at him in the moonlight. His face presented its +habitual Spanish gravity--a gravity that was almost ironical. His +small black eyes had their characteristic irresponsible audacity--the +irresponsibility of the vivacious young animal. It could not be +possible that he was really touched with the placid frigidities of +Miss Mannersley. I remembered his equally elastic gallantries with Miss +Pinkey Smith, a blonde Western belle, from which both had harmlessly +rebounded. As we walked on slowly I continued more persuasively: "Of +course this is only your nonsense; but don't you see, Miss Mannersley +thinks it all in earnest and really your nature?" I hesitated, for +it suddenly struck me that it WAS really his nature. "And--hang it +all!--you don't want her to believe you a common buffoon., or some +intoxicated muchacho." + +"Intoxicated?" repeated Enriquez, with exasperating languishment. "Yes; +that is the word that shall express itself. My friend, you have made +a shot in the center--you have ring the bell every time! It is +intoxication--but not of aguardiente. Look! I have long time an ancestor +of whom is a pretty story. One day in church he have seen a young +girl--a mere peasant girl--pass to the confessional. He look her in +her eye, he stagger"--here Enriquez wobbled pantomimically into the +road--"he fall!"--he would have suited the action to the word if I had +not firmly held him up. "They have taken him home, where he have remain +without his clothes, and have dance and sing. But it was the drunkenness +of lofe. And, look you, thees village girl was a nothing, not even +pretty. The name of my ancestor was--" + +"Don Quixote de La Mancha," I suggested maliciously. "I suspected as +much. Come along. That will do." + +"My ancestor's name," continued Enriquez, gravely, "was Antonio +Hermenegildo de Salvatierra, which is not the same. Thees Don Quixote of +whom you speak exist not at all." + +"Never mind. Only, for heaven's sake, as we are nearing the house, don't +make a fool of yourself again." + +It was a wonderful moonlight night. The deep redwood porch of the +Mannersley parsonage, under the shadow of a great oak--the largest in +the Encinal--was diapered in black and silver. As the women stepped +upon the porch their shadows were silhouetted against the door. Miss +Mannersley paused for an instant, and turned to give a last look at the +beauty of the night as Jocasta entered. Her glance fell upon us as +we passed. She nodded carelessly and unaffectedly to me, but as she +recognized Enriquez she looked a little longer at him with her previous +cold and invincible curiosity. To my horror Enriquez began instantly to +affect a slight tremulousness of gait and a difficulty of breathing; but +I gripped his arm savagely, and managed to get him past the house as the +door closed finally on the young lady. + +"You do not comprehend, friend Pancho," he said gravely, "but those eyes +in their glass are as the ESPEJO USTORIO, the burning mirror. They burn, +they consume me here like paper. Let us affix to ourselves thees tree. +She will, without doubt, appear at her window. We shall salute her for +good night." + +"We will do nothing of the kind," I said sharply. Finding that I was +determined, he permitted me to lead him away. I was delighted to +notice, however, that he had indicated the window which I knew was +the minister's study, and that as the bedrooms were in the rear of the +house, this later incident was probably not overseen by the young lady +or the servant. But I did not part from Enriquez until I saw him +safely back to the sala, where I left him sipping chocolate, his +arm alternating around the waists of his two previous partners in a +delightful Arcadian and childlike simplicity, and an apparent utter +forgetfulness of Miss Mannersley. + +The fandangos were usually held on Saturday night, and the next day, +being Sunday, I missed Enriquez; but as he was a devout Catholic I +remembered that he was at mass in the morning, and possibly at the +bullfight at San Antonio in the afternoon. But I was somewhat surprised +on the Monday morning following, as I was crossing the plaza, to have +my arm taken by the Rev. Mr. Mannersley in the nearest approach to +familiarity that was consistent with the reserve of this eminent divine. +I looked at him inquiringly. Although scrupulously correct in attire, +his features always had a singular resemblance to the national +caricature known as "Uncle Sam," but with the humorous expression +left out. Softly stroking his goatee with three fingers, he began +condescendingly: "You are, I think, more or less familiar with the +characteristics and customs of the Spanish as exhibited by the settlers +here." A thrill of apprehension went through me. Had he heard of +Enriquez' proceedings? Had Miss Mannersley cruelly betrayed him to her +uncle? "I have not given that attention myself to their language and +social peculiarities," he continued, with a large wave of the hand, +"being much occupied with a study of their religious beliefs and +superstitions"--it struck me that this was apt to be a common fault of +people of the Mannersley type--"but I have refrained from a personal +discussion of them; on the contrary, I have held somewhat broad views +on the subject of their remarkable missionary work, and have suggested +a scheme of co-operation with them, quite independent of doctrinal +teaching, to my brethren of other Protestant Christian sects. These +views I first incorporated in a sermon last Sunday week, which I am told +has created considerable attention." He stopped and coughed slightly. "I +have not yet heard from any of the Roman clergy, but I am led to believe +that my remarks were not ungrateful to Catholics generally." + +I was relieved, although still in some wonder why he should address me +on this topic. I had a vague remembrance of having heard that he had +said something on Sunday which had offended some Puritans of his +flock, but nothing more. He continued: "I have just said that I was +unacquainted with the characteristics of the Spanish-American race. I +presume, however, they have the impulsiveness of their Latin origin. +They gesticulate--eh? They express their gratitude, their joy, their +affection, their emotions generally, by spasmodic movements? They +naturally dance--sing--eh?" A horrible suspicion crossed my mind; +I could only stare helplessly at him. "I see," he said graciously; +"perhaps it is a somewhat general question. I will explain myself. +A rather singular occurrence happened to me the other night. I had +returned from visiting a parishioner, and was alone in my study +reviewing my sermon for the next day. It must have been quite late +before I concluded, for I distinctly remember my niece had returned +with her servant fully an hour before. Presently I heard the sounds of +a musical instrument in the road, with the accents of someone singing or +rehearsing some metrical composition in words that, although couched +in a language foreign to me, in expression and modulation gave me the +impression of being distinctly adulatory. For some little time, in +the greater preoccupation of my task, I paid little attention to the +performance; but its persistency at length drew me in no mere idle +curiosity to the window. From thence, standing in my dressing-gown, +and believing myself unperceived, I noticed under the large oak in the +roadside the figure of a young man who, by the imperfect light, appeared +to be of Spanish extraction. But I evidently miscalculated my own +invisibility; for he moved rapidly forward as I came to the window, and +in a series of the most extraordinary pantomimic gestures saluted me. +Beyond my experience of a few Greek plays in earlier days, I confess I +am not an adept in the understanding of gesticulation; but it struck me +that the various phases of gratitude, fervor, reverence, and exaltation +were successively portrayed. He placed his hands upon his head, +his heart, and even clasped them together in this manner." To my +consternation the reverend gentleman here imitated Enriquez' most +extravagant pantomime. "I am willing to confess," he continued, "that +I was singularly moved by them, as well as by the highly creditable and +Christian interest that evidently produced them. At last I opened the +window. Leaning out, I told him that I regretted that the lateness of +the hour prevented any further response from me than a grateful though +hurried acknowledgment of his praiseworthy emotion, but that I should be +glad to see him for a few moments in the vestry before service the next +day, or at early candlelight, before the meeting of the Bible class. I +told him that as my sole purpose had been the creation of an evangelical +brotherhood and the exclusion of merely doctrinal views, nothing could +be more gratifying to me than his spontaneous and unsolicited testimony +to my motives. He appeared for an instant to be deeply affected, and, +indeed, quite overcome with emotion, and then gracefully retired, with +some agility and a slight saltatory movement." + +He paused. A sudden and overwhelming idea took possession of me, and +I looked impulsively into his face. Was it possible that for once +Enriquez' ironical extravagance had been understood, met, and vanquished +by a master hand? But the Rev. Mr. Mannersley's self-satisfied face +betrayed no ambiguity or lurking humor. He was evidently in earnest; he +had complacently accepted for himself the abandoned Enriquez' serenade +to his niece. I felt a hysterical desire to laugh, but it was checked by +my companion's next words. + +"I informed my niece of the occurrence in the morning at breakfast. She +had not heard anything of the strange performance, but she agreed with +me as to its undoubted origin in a grateful recognition of my liberal +efforts toward his coreligionists. It was she, in fact, who suggested +that your knowledge of these people might corroborate my impressions." + +I was dumfounded. Had Miss Mannersley, who must have recognized +Enriquez' hand in this, concealed the fact in a desire to shield him? +But this was so inconsistent with her utter indifference to him, except +as a grotesque study, that she would have been more likely to tell +her uncle all about his previous performance. Nor could it be that she +wished to conceal her visit to the fandango. She was far too independent +for that, and it was even possible that the reverend gentleman, in his +desire to know more of Enriquez' compatriots, would not have objected. +In my confusion I meekly added my conviction to hers, congratulated him +upon his evident success, and slipped away. But I was burning with +a desire to see Enriquez and know all. He was imaginative but not +untruthful. Unfortunately, I learned that he was just then following one +of his erratic impulses, and had gone to a rodeo at his cousin's, in +the foothills, where he was alternately exercising his horsemanship in +catching and breaking wild cattle and delighting his relatives with his +incomparable grasp of the American language and customs, and of the airs +of a young man of fashion. Then my thoughts recurred to Miss Mannersley. +Had she really been oblivious that night to Enriquez' serenade? I +resolved to find out, if I could, without betraying Enriquez. Indeed, it +was possible, after all, that it might not have been he. + +Chance favored me. The next evening I was at a party where +Miss Mannersley, by reason of her position and quality, was a +distinguished--I had almost written a popular--guest. But, as I +have formerly stated, although the youthful fair of the Encinal were +flattered by her casual attentions, and secretly admired her superior +style and aristocratic calm, they were more or less uneasy under the +dominance of her intelligence and education, and were afraid to attempt +either confidence or familiarity. They were also singularly jealous +of her, for although the average young man was equally afraid of her +cleverness and her candor, he was not above paying a tremulous and timid +court to her for its effect upon her humbler sisters. This evening she +was surrounded by her usual satellites, including, of course, the local +notables and special guests of distinction. She had been discussing, +I think, the existence of glaciers on Mount Shasta with a spectacled +geologist, and had participated with charming frankness in a +conversation on anatomy with the local doctor and a learned professor, +when she was asked to take a seat at the piano. She played with +remarkable skill and wonderful precision, but coldly and brilliantly. +As she sat there in her subdued but perfectly fitting evening dress, +her regular profile and short but slender neck firmly set upon her high +shoulders, exhaling an atmosphere of refined puritanism and provocative +intelligence, the utter incongruity of Enriquez' extravagant attentions +if ironical, and their equal hopelessness if not, seemed to me plainer +than ever. What had this well-poised, coldly observant spinster to do +with that quaintly ironic ruffler, that romantic cynic, that rowdy Don +Quixote, that impossible Enriquez? Presently she ceased playing. Her +slim, narrow slipper, revealing her thin ankle, remained upon the +pedal; her delicate fingers were resting idly on the keys; her head was +slightly thrown back, and her narrow eyebrows prettily knit toward the +ceiling in an effort of memory. + +"Something of Chopin's," suggested the geologist, ardently. + +"That exquisite sonata!" pleaded the doctor. + +"Suthin' of Rubinstein. Heard him once," said a gentleman of Siskiyou. +"He just made that pianner get up and howl. Play Rube." + +She shook her head with parted lips and a slight touch of girlish +coquetry in her manner. Then her fingers suddenly dropped upon the keys +with a glassy tinkle; there were a few quick pizzicato chords, down went +the low pedal with a monotonous strumming, and she presently began to +hum to herself. I started--as well I might--for I recognized one of +Enriquez' favorite and most extravagant guitar solos. It was audacious; +it was barbaric; it was, I fear, vulgar. As I remembered it--as he +sang it--it recounted the adventures of one Don Francisco, a provincial +gallant and roisterer of the most objectionable type. It had one hundred +and four verses, which Enriquez never spared me. I shuddered as in a +pleasant, quiet voice the correct Miss Mannersley warbled in musical +praise of the PELLEJO, or wineskin, and a eulogy of the dicebox came +caressingly from her thin red lips. But the company was far differently +affected: the strange, wild air and wilder accompaniment were evidently +catching; people moved toward the piano; somebody whistled the air from +a distant corner; even the faces of the geologist and doctor brightened. + +"A tarantella, I presume?" blandly suggested the doctor. + +Miss Mannersley stopped, and rose carelessly from the piano. "It is a +Moorish gypsy song of the fifteenth century," she said dryly. + +"It seemed sorter familiar, too," hesitated one of the young men, +timidly, "like as if--don't you know?--you had without knowing it, don't +you know?"--he blushed slightly--"sorter picked it up somewhere." + +"I 'picked it up,' as you call it, in the collection of medieval +manuscripts of the Harvard Library, and copied it," returned Miss +Mannersley coldly as she turned away. + +But I was not inclined to let her off so easily. I presently made my way +to her side. "Your uncle was complimentary enough to consult me as to +the meaning of the appearance of a certain exuberant Spanish visitor +at his house the other night." I looked into her brown eyes, but my +own slipped off her velvety pupils without retaining anything. Then she +reinforced her gaze with a pince-nez, and said carelessly: + +"Oh, it's you? How are you? Well, could you give him any information?" + +"Only generally," I returned, still looking into her eyes. "These people +are impulsive. The Spanish blood is a mixture of gold and quicksilver." + +She smiled slightly. "That reminds me of your volatile friend. He was +mercurial enough, certainly. Is he still dancing?" + +"And singing sometimes," I responded pointedly. But she only added +casually, "A singular creature," without exhibiting the least +consciousness, and drifted away, leaving me none the wiser. I felt that +Enriquez alone could enlighten me. I must see him. + +I did, but not in the way I expected. There was a bullfight at San +Antonio the next Saturday afternoon, the usual Sunday performance being +changed in deference to the Sabbatical habits of the Americans. An +additional attraction was offered in the shape of a bull-and-bear fight, +also a concession to American taste, which had voted the bullfight +"slow," and had averred that the bull "did not get a fair show." I am +glad that I am able to spare the reader the usual realistic horrors, for +in the Californian performances there was very little of the brutality +that distinguished this function in the mother country. The horses were +not miserable, worn-out hacks, but young and alert mustangs; and the +display of horsemanship by the picadors was not only wonderful, but +secured an almost absolute safety to horse and rider. I never saw +a horse gored; although unskillful riders were sometimes thrown in +wheeling quickly to avoid the bull's charge, they generally regained +their animals without injury. + +The Plaza de Toros was reached through the decayed and tile-strewn +outskirts of an old Spanish village. It was a rudely built oval +amphitheater, with crumbling, whitewashed adobe walls, and roofed only +over portions of the gallery reserved for the provincial "notables," but +now occupied by a few shopkeepers and their wives, with a sprinkling of +American travelers and ranchmen. The impalpable adobe dust of the arena +was being whirled into the air by the strong onset of the afternoon +trade winds, which happily, however, helped also to dissipate a reek +of garlic, and the acrid fumes of cheap tobacco rolled in cornhusk +cigarettes. I was leaning over the second barrier, waiting for the +meager and circuslike procession to enter with the keys of the bull pen, +when my attention was attracted to a movement in the reserved gallery. +A lady and gentleman of a quality that was evidently unfamiliar to the +rest of the audience were picking their way along the rickety benches +to a front seat. I recognized the geologist with some surprise, and the +lady he was leading with still greater astonishment. For it was Miss +Mannersley, in her precise, well-fitting walking-costume--a monotone of +sober color among the parti-colored audience. + +However, I was perhaps less surprised than the audience, for I was not +only becoming as accustomed to the young girl's vagaries as I had been +to Enriquez' extravagance, but I was also satisfied that her uncle +might have given her permission to come, as a recognition of the Sunday +concession of the management, as well as to conciliate his supposed +Catholic friends. I watched her sitting there until the first bull +had entered, and, after a rather brief play with the picadors and +banderilleros, was dispatched. At the moment when the matador approached +the bull with his lethal weapon I was not sorry for an excuse to glance +at Miss Mannersley. Her hands were in her lap, her head slightly bent +forward over her knees. I fancied that she, too, had dropped her +eyes before the brutal situation; to my horror, I saw that she had a +drawing-book in her hand and was actually sketching it. I turned my eyes +in preference to the dying bull. + +The second animal led out for this ingenious slaughter was, however, +more sullen, uncertain, and discomposing to his butchers. He accepted +the irony of a trial with gloomy, suspicious eyes, and he declined +the challenge of whirling and insulting picadors. He bristled with +banderillas like a hedgehog, but remained with his haunches backed +against the barrier, at times almost hidden in the fine dust raised by +the monotonous stroke of his sullenly pawing hoof--his one dull, heavy +protest. A vague uneasiness had infected his adversaries; the picadors +held aloof, the banderilleros skirmished at a safe distance. The +audience resented only the indecision of the bull. Galling epithets +were flung at him, followed by cries of "ESPADA!" and, curving his elbow +under his short cloak, the matador, with his flashing blade in hand, +advanced and--stopped. The bull remained motionless. + +For at that moment a heavier gust of wind than usual swept down upon +the arena, lifted a suffocating cloud of dust, and whirled it around the +tiers of benches and the balcony, and for a moment seemed to stop the +performance. I heard an exclamation from the geologist, who had risen to +his feet. I fancied I heard even a faint cry from Miss Mannersley; but +the next moment, as the dust was slowly settling, we saw a sheet +of paper in the air, that had been caught up in this brief cyclone, +dropping, dipping from side to side on uncertain wings, until it slowly +descended in the very middle of the arena. It was a leaf from Miss +Mannersley's sketchbook, the one on which she had been sketching. + +In the pause that followed it seemed to be the one object that at last +excited the bull's growing but tardy ire. He glanced at it with murky, +distended eyes; he snorted at it with vague yet troubled fury. Whether +he detected his own presentment in Miss Mannersley's sketch, or +whether he recognized it as an unknown and unfamiliar treachery in his +surroundings, I could not conjecture; for the next moment the matador, +taking advantage of the bull's concentration, with a complacent leer at +the audience, advanced toward the paper. But at that instant a young +man cleared the barrier into the arena with a single bound, shoved the +matador to one side, caught up the paper, turned toward the balcony +and Miss Mannersley with a gesture of apology, dropped gaily before the +bull, knelt down before him with an exaggerated humility, and held up +the drawing as if for his inspection. A roar of applause broke from the +audience, a cry of warning and exasperation from the attendants, as the +goaded bull suddenly charged the stranger. But he sprang to one side +with great dexterity, made a courteous gesture to the matador as if +passing the bull over to him, and still holding the paper in his hand, +re-leaped the barrier, and rejoined the audience in safety. I did not +wait to see the deadly, dominant thrust with which the matador received +the charging bull; my eyes were following the figure now bounding up the +steps to the balcony, where with an exaggerated salutation he laid the +drawing in Miss Mannersley's lap and vanished. There was no mistaking +that thin lithe form, the narrow black mustache, and gravely dancing +eyes. The audacity of conception, the extravagance of execution, the +quaint irony of the sequel, could belong to no one but Enriquez. + +I hurried up to her as the six yoked mules dragged the carcass of the +bull away. She was placidly putting up her book, the unmoved focus of +a hundred eager and curious eyes. She smiled slightly as she saw me. "I +was just telling Mr. Briggs what an extraordinary creature it was, and +how you knew him. He must have had great experience to do that sort of +thing so cleverly and safely. Does he do it often? Of course, not just +that. But does he pick up cigars and things that I see they throw to the +matador? Does he belong to the management? Mr. Briggs thinks the whole +thing was a feint to distract the bull," she added, with a wicked glance +at the geologist, who, I fancied, looked disturbed. + +"I am afraid," I said dryly, "that his act was as unpremeditated and +genuine as it was unusual." + +"Why afraid?" + +It was a matter-of-fact question, but I instantly saw my mistake. What +right had I to assume that Enriquez' attentions were any more genuine +than her own easy indifference; and if I suspected that they were, was +it fair in me to give my friend away to this heartless coquette? +"You are not very gallant," she said, with a slight laugh, as I was +hesitating, and turned away with her escort before I could frame a +reply. But at least Enriquez was now accessible, and I should gain some +information from him. I knew where to find him, unless he were still +lounging about the building, intent upon more extravagance; but I +waited until I saw Miss Mannersley and Briggs depart without further +interruption. + +The hacienda of Ramon Saltillo, Enriquez' cousin, was on the outskirts +of the village. When I arrived there I found Enriquez' pinto mustang +steaming in the corral, and although I was momentarily delayed by the +servants at the gateway, I was surprised to find Enriquez himself lying +languidly on his back in a hammock in the patio. His arms were hanging +down listlessly on each side as if in the greatest prostration, yet I +could not resist the impression that the rascal had only just got into +the hammock when he heard of my arrival. + +"You have arrived, friend Pancho, in time," he said, in accents of +exaggerated weakness. "I am absolutely exhaust. I am bursted, caved in, +kerflummoxed. I have behold you, my friend, at the barrier. I speak not, +I make no sign at the first, because I was on fire; I speak not at the +feenish--for I am exhaust." + +"I see; the bull made it lively for you." + +He instantly bounded up in the hammock. "The bull! Caramba! Not a +thousand bulls! And thees one, look you, was a craven. I snap my fingers +over his horn; I roll my cigarette under his nose." + +"Well, then--what was it?" + +He instantly lay down again, pulling up the sides of the hammock. +Presently his voice came from its depths, appealing in hollow tones to +the sky. "He asks me--thees friend of my soul, thees brother of my life, +thees Pancho that I lofe--what it was? He would that I should tell him +why I am game in the legs, why I shake in the hand, crack in the voice, +and am generally wipe out! And yet he, my pardner--thees Francisco--know +that I have seen the mees from Boston! That I have gaze into the eye, +touch the hand, and for the instant possess the picture that hand have +drawn! It was a sublime picture, Pancho," he said, sitting up again +suddenly, "and have kill the bull before our friend Pepe's sword have +touch even the bone of hees back and make feenish of him." + +"Look here, Enriquez," I said bluntly, "have you been serenading that +girl?" + +He shrugged his shoulders without the least embarrassment, and said: +"Ah, yes. What would you? It is of a necessity." + +"Well," I retorted, "then you ought to know that her uncle took it all to +himself--thought you some grateful Catholic pleased with his religious +tolerance." + +He did not even smile. "BUENO," he said gravely. "That make something, +too. In thees affair it is well to begin with the duenna. He is the +duenna." + +"And," I went on relentlessly, "her escort told her just now that your +exploit in the bull ring was only a trick to divert the bull, suggested +by the management." + +"Bah! her escort is a geologian. Naturally, she is to him as a stone." + +I would have continued, but a peon interrupted us at this moment with a +sign to Enriquez, who leaped briskly from the hammock, bidding me wait +his return from a messenger in the gateway. + +Still unsatisfied of mind, I waited, and sat down in the hammock that +Enriquez had quitted. A scrap of paper was lying in its meshes, which +at first appeared to be of the kind from which Enriquez rolled his +cigarettes; but as I picked it up to throw it away, I found it was of +much firmer and stouter material. Looking at it more closely, I was +surprised to recognize it as a piece of the tinted drawing-paper torn +off the "block" that Miss Mannersley had used. It had been deeply +creased at right angles as if it had been folded; it looked as if it +might have been the outer half of a sheet used for a note. + +It might have been a trifling circumstance, but it greatly excited my +curiosity. I knew that he had returned the sketch to Miss Mannersley, +for I had seen it in her hand. Had she given him another? And if so, why +had it been folded to the destruction of the drawing? Or was it part +of a note which he had destroyed? In the first impulse of discovery +I walked quickly with it toward the gateway where Enriquez had +disappeared, intending to restore it to him. He was just outside talking +with a young girl. I started, for it was Jocasta--Miss Mannersley's +maid. + +With this added discovery came that sense of uneasiness and indignation +with which we illogically are apt to resent the withholding of a +friend's confidence, even in matters concerning only himself. It was no +use for me to reason that it was no business of mine, that he was right +in keeping a secret that concerned another--and a lady; but I was afraid +I was even more meanly resentful because the discovery quite upset my +theory of his conduct and of Miss Mannersley's attitude toward him. I +continued to walk on to the gateway, where I bade Enriquez a hurried +good-by, alleging the sudden remembrance of another engagement, but +without appearing to recognize the girl, who was moving away when, to +my further discomfiture, the rascal stopped me with an appealing wink, +threw his arms around my neck, whispered hoarsely in my ear, "Ah! you +see--you comprehend--but you are the mirror of discretion!" and returned +to Jocasta. But whether this meant that he had received a message from +Miss Mannersley, or that he was trying to suborn her maid to carry one, +was still uncertain. He was capable of either. During the next two +or three weeks I saw him frequently; but as I had resolved to try the +effect of ignoring Miss Mannersley in our conversation, I gathered +little further of their relations, and, to my surprise, after one or two +characteristic extravagances of allusion, Enriquez dropped the subject, +too. Only one afternoon, as we were parting, he said carelessly: "My +friend, you are going to the casa of Mannersley tonight. I too have the +honor of the invitation. But you will be my Mercury--my Leporello--you +will take of me a message to thees Mees Boston, that I am crushed, +desolated, prostrate, and flabbergasted--that I cannot arrive, for I +have of that night to sit up with the grand-aunt of my brother-in-law, +who has a quinsy to the death. It is sad." + +This was the first indication I had received of Miss Mannersley's +advances. I was equally surprised at Enriquez' refusal. + +"Nonsense!" I said bluntly. "Nothing keeps you from going." + +"My friend," returned Enriquez, with a sudden lapse into languishment +that seemed to make him absolutely infirm, "it is everything that +shall restrain me. I am not strong. I shall become weak of the knee and +tremble under the eye of Mees Boston. I shall precipitate myself to the +geologian by the throat. Ask me another conundrum that shall be easy." + +He seemed idiotically inflexible, and did not go. But I did. I found +Miss Mannersley exquisitely dressed and looking singularly animated and +pretty. The lambent glow of her inscrutable eye as she turned toward me +might have been flattering but for my uneasiness in regard to Enriquez. +I delivered his excuses as naturally as I could. She stiffened for an +instant, and seemed an inch higher. "I am so sorry," she said at last in +a level voice. "I thought he would have been so amusing. Indeed, I had +hoped we might try an old Moorish dance together which I have found and +was practicing." + +"He would have been delighted, I know. It's a great pity he didn't come +with me," I said quickly; "but," I could not help adding, with emphasis +on her words, "he is such an 'extraordinary creature,' you know." + +"I see nothing extraordinary in his devotion to an aged relative," +returned Miss Mannersley quietly as she turned away, "except that it +justifies my respect for his character." + +I do not know why I did not relate this to him. Possibly I had given up +trying to understand them; perhaps I was beginning to have an idea that +he could take care of himself. But I was somewhat surprised a few days +later when, after asking me to go with him to a rodeo at his uncle's he +added composedly, "You will meet Mees Boston." + +I stared, and but for his manner would have thought it part of his +extravagance. For the rodeo--a yearly chase of wild cattle for the +purpose of lassoing and branding them--was a rather brutal affair, +and purely a man's function; it was also a family affair--a property +stock-taking of the great Spanish cattle-owners--and strangers, +particularly Americans, found it difficult to gain access to its +mysteries and the fiesta that followed. + +"But how did she get an invitation?" I asked. "You did not dare to +ask--" I began. + +"My friend," said Enriquez, with a singular deliberation, "the great and +respectable Boston herself, and her serene, venerable oncle, and other +Boston magnificos, have of a truth done me the inexpressible honor to +solicit of my degraded, papistical oncle that she shall come--that she +shall of her own superior eye behold the barbaric customs of our race." + +His tone and manner were so peculiar that I stepped quickly before him, +laid my hands on his shoulders, and looked down into his face. But the +actual devil which I now for the first time saw in his eyes went out +of them suddenly, and he relapsed again in affected languishment in his +chair. "I shall be there, friend Pancho," he said, with a preposterous +gasp. "I shall nerve my arm to lasso the bull, and tumble him before her +at her feet. I shall throw the 'buck-jump' mustang at the same sacred +spot. I shall pluck for her the buried chicken at full speed from the +ground, and present it to her. You shall see it, friend Pancho. I shall +be there." + +He was as good as his word. When Don Pedro Amador, his uncle, installed +Miss Mannersley, with Spanish courtesy, on a raised platform in the long +valley where the rodeo took place, the gallant Enriquez selected a bull +from the frightened and galloping herd, and, cleverly isolating him +from the band, lassoed his hind legs, and threw him exactly before the +platform where Miss Mannersley was seated. It was Enriquez who caught +the unbroken mustang, sprang from his own saddle to the bare back of his +captive, and with the lasso for a bridle, halted him on rigid haunches +at Miss Mannersley's feet. It was Enriquez who, in the sports that +followed, leaned from his saddle at full speed, caught up the chicken +buried to its head in the sand, without wringing its neck, and tossed +it unharmed and fluttering toward his mistress. As for her, she wore +the same look of animation that I had seen in her face at our previous +meeting. Although she did not bring her sketchbook with her, as at the +bullfight, she did not shrink from the branding of the cattle, which +took place under her very eyes. + +Yet I had never seen her and Enriquez together; they had never, to my +actual knowledge, even exchanged words. And now, although she was the +guest of his uncle, his duties seemed to keep him in the field, and +apart from her. Nor, as far as I could detect, did either apparently +make any effort to have it otherwise. The peculiar circumstance seemed +to attract no attention from anyone else. But for what I alone knew--or +thought I knew--of their actual relations, I should have thought them +strangers. + +But I felt certain that the fiesta which took place in the broad patio +of Don Pedro's casa would bring them together. And later in the evening, +as we were all sitting on the veranda watching the dancing of the +Mexican women, whose white-flounced sayas were monotonously rising and +falling to the strains of two melancholy harps, Miss Mannersley rejoined +us from the house. She seemed to be utterly absorbed and abstracted in +the barbaric dances, and scarcely moved as she leaned over the railing +with her cheek resting on her hand. Suddenly she arose with a little +cry. + +"What is it?" asked two or three. + +"Nothing--only I have lost my fan." She had risen, and was looking +abstractedly on the floor. + +Half a dozen men jumped to their feet. "Let me fetch it," they said. + +"No, thank you. I think I know where it is, and will go for it myself." +She was moving away. + +But Don Pedro interposed with Spanish gravity. Such a thing was not to +be heard of in his casa. If the senorita would not permit HIM--an old +man--to go for it, it must be brought by Enriquez, her cavalier of the +day. + +But Enriquez was not to be found. I glanced at Miss Mannersley's +somewhat disturbed face, and begged her to let me fetch it. I thought I +saw a flush of relief come into her pale cheek as she said, in a lower +voice, "On the stone seat in the garden." + +I hurried away, leaving Don Pedro still protesting. I knew the gardens, +and the stone seat at an angle of the wall, not a dozen yards from +the casa. The moon shone full upon it. There, indeed, lay the little +gray-feathered fan. But beside it, also, lay the crumpled black +gold-embroidered riding-gauntlet that Enriquez had worn at the rodeo. + +I thrust it hurriedly into my pocket, and ran back. As I passed through +the gateway I asked a peon to send Enriquez to me. The man stared. Did I +not know that Don Enriquez had ridden away two minutes ago? + +When I reached the veranda, I handed the fan to Miss Mannersley without +a word. "BUENO," said Don Pedro, gravely; "it is as well. There shall be +no bones broken over the getting of it, for Enriquez, I hear, has had to +return to the Encinal this very evening." + +Miss Mannersley retired early. I did not inform her of my discovery, nor +did I seek in any way to penetrate her secret. There was no doubt that +she and Enriquez had been together, perhaps not for the first time; but +what was the result of their interview? From the young girl's demeanor +and Enriquez' hurried departure, I could only fear the worst for him. +Had he been tempted into some further extravagance and been angrily +rebuked, or had he avowed a real passion concealed under his exaggerated +mask and been deliberately rejected? I tossed uneasily half the night, +following in my dreams my poor friend's hurrying hoofbeats, and ever +starting from my sleep at what I thought was the sound of galloping +hoofs. + +I rose early, and lounged into the patio; but others were there before +me, and a small group of Don Pedro's family were excitedly discussing +something, and I fancied they turned away awkwardly and consciously as +I approached. There was an air of indefinite uneasiness everywhere. A +strange fear came over me with the chill of the early morning air. Had +anything happened to Enriquez? I had always looked upon his extravagance +as part of his playful humor. Could it be possible that under the sting +of rejection he had made his grotesque threat of languishing effacement +real? Surely Miss Mannersley would know or suspect something, if it were +the case. + +I approached one of the Mexican women and asked if the senorita had +risen. The woman started, and looked covertly round before she replied. +Did not Don Pancho know that Miss Mannersley and her maid had not slept +in their beds that night, but had gone, none knew where? + +For an instant I felt an appalling sense of my own responsibility in +this suddenly serious situation, and hurried after the retreating +family group. But as I entered the corridor a vaquero touched me on the +shoulder. He had evidently just dismounted, and was covered with the +dust of the road. He handed me a note written in pencil on a leaf +from Miss Mannersley's sketchbook. It was in Enriquez' hand, and his +signature was followed by his most extravagant rubric. + + +Friend Pancho: When you read this line you shall of a possibility think +I am no more. That is where you shall slip up, my little brother! I am +much more--I am two times as much, for I have marry Miss Boston. At the +Mission Church, at five of the morning, sharp! No cards shall be left! I +kiss the hand of my venerable uncle-in-law. You shall say to him that +we fly to the South wilderness as the combined evangelical missionary to +the heathen! Miss Boston herself say this. Ta-ta! How are you now? + +Your own Enriquez. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Selected Stories, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELECTED STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 1312.txt or 1312.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/1312/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |