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diff --git a/13345-h/13345-h.htm b/13345-h/13345-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f31dcab --- /dev/null +++ b/13345-h/13345-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12051 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> + +<html> +<head> + <meta name="generator" content= + "HTML Tidy for Windows (vers 1st August 2004), see www.w3.org"> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= + "text/html; charset=UTF-8"> + <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 4.0"> + <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document"> + + <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Vanguards of the Plains by + Margaret Hill McCarter.</title> +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { text-align: justify; margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em } +table { border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; border-width: medium } +*#col1 { border-style: none; border-width: medium } +td { border-style: none; border-width: medium; padding: 0em } +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 { text-align: center } +hr { text-align: center; 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margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em } +.poem span { display: block; text-indent: -3em; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em } +.poem span.i2 { display: block; margin-left: 2em } +.poem span.i4 { display: block; margin-left: 4em } +.poem .caesura { vertical-align: -200% } +// --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ +</style> +</head> + +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13345 ***</div> + + <br> + + <h3><font size="6"><span style= + "font-family: 'Times New Roman'">VANGUARDS OF THE + PLAINS</span><br></font><br> + <a href="images/p001m.jpg"><img border="0" src="images/p001s.jpg" + alt="Cover Page Facing Art" width="182" height= + "277"></a><span><br></span><span><font size="3">I COULD NOT SPEAK + THEN, FOR ONE SENTENCE WAS RINGING IN <span>MY EARS--"I WAS + ALWAYS THINKING OF YOU"</span></font></span></h3> + <hr> + + + + <h4><font size="6"><span>VANGUARDS OF THE + PLAINS</span></font></h4> + + <h3><span><font size="4">A ROMANCE OF THE OLD SANTA FÉ + TRAIL</font></span></h3> + + <h4>BY</h4> + + <h3><span>MARGARET HILL McCARTER</span></h3> + + <h5><span><font size="3">AUTHOR OF <i>The Price of the + Prairie</i></font></span></h5> + + + + <h5 align="center"><span>HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS<br> + NEW YORK AND LONDON</span></h5> + <hr class="full"> + + <h4><span>VANGUARDS OF THE PLAINS</span></h4> + + <h6><span>1917, Harper & Brothers<br> + Printed in the United States of America<br> + </span></h6> + <hr class="full"> + + <h2><span>DEDICATION</span></h2><span>This story of the old Santa + Fé Trail would do honor to the memory of those stalwart + men who defied the desert, who walked the prairies boldly, and + who died bravely--<i>vanguards</i> in the building of a firm + highway for the commerce of a westward-moving Empire.</span> + <hr class="full"> + + <h3><span> <font face="Courier New" size= + "4">CONTENTS</font></span></h3> + + <p><span><a href="#FOREWORD"><font face="Courier New" size= + "2">FOREWORD</font></a></span></p> + + <p><span><font face="Courier New" size="2">PART I<br> + <a href="#CLEARING">CLEARING THE + TRAIL</a></font></span></p> + + <p class="blkquot"><span><font face="Courier New" size= + "2">I. <a href="#I">THE BEGINNINGS OF A + PLAINSMAN</a><br> + II. <a href="#II">A DAUGHTER OF CANAAN</a><br> + III. <a href="#III">THE WIDENING HORIZON</a><br> + IV. <a href="#IV">THE MAN IN THE DARK</a><br> + V. <a href="#V">WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST</a><br> + VI. <a href="#VI">SPYING OUT THE LAND</a><br> + VII. <a href="#VII">"SANCTUARY"</a><br> + VIII. <a href="#VIII">THE WILDERNESS + CROSSROADS</a></font></span></p> + + <p><span><font face="Courier New" size="2"><br> + PART II<br> + <a href="#BUILDING">BUILDING THE + TRAIL</a></font></span></p> + + <p class="blkquot"><span><font face="Courier New" size= + "2">IX. <a href="#IX">IN THE MOON OF THE PEACH + BLOSSOM</a><br> + X. <a href="#X">THE HANDS THAT CLING</a><br> + XI. <a href="#XI">"OUR FRIENDS--THE + ENEMY"</a><br> + XII. <a href="#XII">THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE + PLAINS</a><br> + XIII. <a href="#XIII">IN THE SHELTER OF SAN + MIGUEL</a><br> + XIV. <a href="#XIV">OPENING THE RECORD</a><br> + XV. <a href="#XV">THE SANCTUARY ROCKS OF SAN + CHRISTOBAL</a><br> + XVI. <a href="#XVI">FINISHING TOUCHES</a><br> + XVII. <a href="#XVII">SWEET AND BITTER + WATERS</a></font></span></p> + + <p><font face="Courier New" size="2"><span><br> + PART III<br> + <a href="#DEFENDING">DEFENDING THE + TRAIL</a></span></font></p> + + <p class="blkquot"><span><font face="Courier New" size="2">XVIII. + <a href="#XVIII">WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN</a><br> + XIX. <a href="#XIX">A MAN'S PART</a><br> + XX. <a href="#XX">GONE OUT</a><br> + XXI. <a href="#XXI">IN THE SHADOW OF THE + INFINITE</a></font></span></p> + + <p><span><font face="Courier New" size="2"><br> + PART IV<br> + <a href="#REMEMBERING">REMEMBERING THE + TRAIL</a></font></span></p> + + <p class="blkquot"><span><font face="Courier New" size= + "2">XXII. <a href="#XXII">THE GOLDEN + WEDDING</a></font></span> </p> + <hr> + + <h3><span><a name="FOREWORD" id= + "FOREWORD">FOREWORD</a></span></h3> <span>Westward, + along the level prairies of a kingdom yet to be, my memory runs, + with a clear vision of the days when romance died not and strong + hearts never failed. The glamour of the plains is before my eyes; + the tingle of courage, danger-born, is in my pulse-beat; the soft + hand of love is touching my hand. I live again the drama of life + wherein there are no idle actors, no stale, unmeaning lines. And + beyond the action, this way <i>up</i> the years, there runs also + the forward-gazing vision toward a new Hesperides:</span> + + <p class="blkquot"> Through the + veins<span><br> + </span> Of whose vast Empire flows, in strength'ning + tides,<span><br> + </span> Trade, the calm health of nations.</p> + + <p class="ctr"> <font size= + "5"> * + * * + * *</font></p> + + <p class="blkquot"><span>And sometimes I would doubt</span><br> + If statesmen, rocked and dandled into power,<span><br> + </span> Could leave such legacies to kings.</p> + <hr> + + + + <h3>I<br> + <br> + <a name="CLEARING" id="CLEARING">CLEARING THE TRAIL</a><br> + <br> + VANGUARDS OF THE PLAINS<br> + <br> + A ROMANCE OF THE SANTA FÉ TRAIL<br> + <br> + <br> + <a name="I" id="I">I</a><br> + <br> + THE BEGINNINGS OF A PLAINSMAN</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + There came a time in the law of life<br> + When over the nursing sod<br> + The shadows broke, and the soul awoke<br> + In a strange, dim dream of God.<br> + --LANGDON SMITH.</p> + + <p>It might have been but yesterday that I saw it all: the + glinting sunlight on the yellow Missouri boiling endlessly along + at the foot of the bluff; the flood-washed sands across the + river; the tangle of tall, coarse weeds fringing them, edged by + the scrubby underbrush. And beyond that the big trees of the + Missouri woodland, so level against the eastern horizon that I + used to wonder if I might not walk upon their solid-looking tops + if I could only reach them. I wondered, too, why the trees on our + side of the river should vary so in height when those in the + eastern distance were so evenly grown. One day I had asked Jondo + the reason for this, and had learned that it was because of the + level ground on the farther side of the valley. I began then to + love the level places of the earth. I love them still. And, + always excepting that one titanic rift, where the world stands + edgewise, with the sublimity of the Almighty shimmering through + its far depths, I love them more than any other thing that nature + has yet offered to me.<br> + <br> + But to come back to that picture of yesterday: old Fort + Leavenworth on the bluff; the little and big ravines that billow + the landscape about it; the faint lines of trails winding along + the hillsides toward the southwest; the unclouded skies so + everlastingly big and intensely blue; and, hanging like a spray + of glorious blossoms flung high above me, the swaying folds of + the wind-caressed flag, now drooping on its tall staff, now + swelling full and free, straight from its gripping halyards.<br> + <br> + Between me and the fort many people were passing to and fro, some + of whom were to walk with me down the long trail of years. + Evermore that April day stands out as the beginning of things for + me. Dim are the days behind it, a jumble of happy childish hours, + each keen enough as the things of childhood go; but from that one + day to the present hour the unforgotten deeds of busy years run + clearly in my memory as I lift my pen to write somewhat of their + dramatic record.<br> + <br> + And that this may not seem all a backward gaze, let me face about + and look forward from the beginning--a stretch of canvas, lurid + sometimes, sometimes in glorious tinting, sometimes intensely + dark, with rifts of lightning cleaving through its blackness. But + nowhere dull, nowhere without design in every brush-stroke.<br> + <br> + I had gone out on the bluff to watch for the big fish that Bill + Banney, a young Kentuckian over at the fort, had told me were to + be seen only on those April days when the Missouri was running + north instead of south. And that when little boys kept very + still, the fish would come out of the water and play leap-frog on + the sand-bars.<br> + <br> + If I failed to see them this morning, I meant to run back to the + parade-ground and play leap-frog myself with my cousin Beverly, + who wanted proof for most of Bill Banney's stories. Beverly was + growing wise and lanky for his age. I was still chubby, and in + most things innocent, and inclined to believe all that I heard, + or I should not have been taken in by that fish story.<br> + <br> + We were orphans with no recollection of any other home than the + log house near the fort. We had been fathered and mothered by our + uncle, Esmond Clarenden, owner of the little store across the + square from our house, and a larger establishment down at + Independence on the Missouri River.<br> + <br> + Always a wonderful man to me was that Esmond Clarenden, product + of one of the large old New England colleges. He found time to + guard our young years with the same diplomatic system by which he + controlled all of his business affairs. He laid his plans + carefully and never swerved from carrying them through afterward; + he insisted on order in everything; he rendered value for value + in his contracts; he chose his employees carefully, and trusted + them fully; he had a keen sense of humor, a genial spirit of + good-will, and he loved little children. Fitted as he was by + culture and genius to have entered into the greater opportunities + of the Eastern States, he gave himself to the real up-building of + the West, and in the larger comfort and prosperity and peace of + the Kansas prairies of to-day his soul goes marching on.<br> + <br> + The waters, as I watched them, were all running south toward that + vague, down-stream world shut off by trees at a bend of the + course. I waited a long time there for the current to shift to + the north, wondering meanwhile about those level-topped forests, + and what I might see beyond them if I were sitting on their flat + crests. And, as I wondered, the first dim sense of being <i>shut + in</i> came filtering through my childish consciousness. I could + not cross the river. Big as my playground had always been, I had + never been out of sight of the fort's flagstaff up-stream, nor + down-stream. The wooded ravines blocked me on the southwest. What + lay beyond these limits I had tried to picture again and again. I + had been a dreamer all of my short life, and this new feeling of + being shut in, held back, from something slipped upon me + easily.<br> + <br> + As I sat on the bluff in the April sunshine, I turned my face + toward the west and stretched out my chubby arms for larger + freedom. I wanted to <i>see the open level places</i>, wanted + till it hurt me. I could cry easily enough for some things. I + could not cry for this. It was too deep for tears to reach. + Moreover, this new longing seemed to drop down on me suddenly and + overwhelm me, until I felt almost as if I were caught in a + net.<br> + <br> + As I stared with half-seeing eyes toward the wooded ravines + beyond the fort, suddenly through the budding branches I caught + sight of a horseman riding down a half-marked trail into a deep + hollow. Horsemen were common enough to forget in a moment, but + when this one reappeared on the hither side of the ravine, I saw + that the rider's face was very dark, that his dress, from the + sombrero to the spurred heel, was Mexican, and that he was + heavily armed, even for a plainsman. When he reached the top of + the bluff he made straight across the square toward my uncle + Esmond Clarenden's little storehouse, and I lost sight of + him.<br> + <br> + Something about him seemed familiar to me, for the gift of + remembering faces was mine, even then. A fleeting childish memory + called up such a face and dress somewhere back in the dim days of + babyhood, with the haunting sound of a low, musical voice, + speaking in the soft Castilian tongue.<br> + <br> + But the memory vanished and I sat a long time gazing at the + wooded west that hid the open West of my day-dreams.<br> + <br> + Suddenly Jondo came riding up on his big black horse to the very + edge of the bluff.<br> + <br> + "You are such a little mite, I nearly forgot to see you," he + called, cheerily. "Your Uncle Esmond wants you right away. Mat + Nivers, or somebody else, sent me to run you down," he added, + leaning over to lift me up to a seat on the horse behind him.<br> + <br> + Few handsomer men ever graced a saddle. Big, broad-shouldered, + muscular, yet agile, a head set like a Greek statue, and a + face--nobody could ever make a picture of Jondo's face for + me--the curling brown hair, soft as a girl's, the broad forehead, + deep-set blue eyes, heavy dark brow, cheeks always ruddy through + the plain's tan, strong white teeth, firm square chin, and a + smile like sunshine on the gray prairies. Eyes, lips, teeth--aye, + the big heart behind them--all made that smile. No grander prince + of men ever rode the trails or dared the dangers of the untamed + West. I did not know his story for many years. I wish I might + never have known it. But as he began with me, so he ended--brave, + beloved old Jondo!<br> + <br> + Down on the parade-ground Beverly Clarenden and Mat Nivers were + sitting with their feet crossed under them, tailor fashion, + facing each other and talking earnestly. Over by the fort, Esmond + Clarenden stood under a big elm-tree. A round little, stout + little man he was, whose sturdy strength and grace of bearing + made up for his lack of height. Like a great green tent the + boughs of the elm, just budding into leaf, drooped over him. A + young army officer on a cavalry horse was talking with him as we + came up.<br> + <br> + "Run over there to Beverly now. Gail," my uncle said, with a wave + of his hand.<br> + <br> + I was always in awe of shoulder-straps, so I scampered away + toward the children. But not until, child-like, I had stared at + the three men long enough to take a child's lasting estimate of + things.<br> + <br> + I carry still the keen impression of that moment when I took, + unconsciously, the measure of the three: the mounted army man, + commander of the fort, big in his official authority and force; + Jondo on his great black horse, to me the heroic type of + chivalric courage; and between the two, Esmond Clarenden, + unmounted, with feet firmly planted, suggesting nothing heroic, + nothing autocratic. And yet, as he stood there, square-built, + solid, certain, he seemed in some dim way to be the real man of + whom the other two were but shadows. It took a quarter of a + century for me to put into words what I learned with one glance + that day in my childhood.<br> + <br> + As I came running toward the parade-ground Beverly Clarenden + called out:<br> + <br> + "Come here, Gail! Shut your little mouth and open your big ears, + and I'll tell you something. Maybe I'd better not tell you all at + once, though. It might make you dizzy," he added, teasingly.<br> + <br> + "And maybe you better had," Mat Nivers said, calmly.<br> + <br> + "Maybe you'd better tell him yourself, if you feel that way," + Beverly retorted.<br> + <br> + "I guess I'll do that," Mat began, with a twinkle in her big gray + eyes; but my cousin interrupted her.<br> + <br> + Beverly loved to tease Mat through me, but he never got far, for + I relied on her to curb him; and she was not one to be ruffled by + trifles. Mat was an orphan and, like ourselves, a ward of Esmond + Clarenden, but there were no ties of kinship between us. She was + three years older than Beverly, and although she was no taller + than he, she seemed like a woman to me, a keen-witted, + good-natured child-woman, neat, cleanly, and contented. I wonder + if many women get more out of life in these days of luxurious + comforts than she found in the days of frontier hardships.<br> + <br> + "Well, it's this way, Gail. Mat doesn't know the straight of it," + Beverly began, dramatically. "There's going to be a war, or + something, in Mexico, or somewhere, and a lot of soldiers are + coming here to drill, and drill, and drill. And then--"<br> + <br> + The boy paused for effect.<br> + <br> + "And then, and then, <i>and</i> then--or some time," Mat Nivers + mimicked, jumping into the pause. "Why, they'll go to Mexico, or + somewhere. And what Bev is really trying to tell hasn't anything + to do with it--not directly, anyhow," she added, wisely. "The + only new thing is that Uncle Esmond is going to Santa Fé + right away. You know he has bought goods of the Santa Fé + traders since we couldn't remember. And now he's going down there + himself, and he's going to take you boys with him. That's what + Bev is trying to get out, or keep back."<br> + <br> + "Whoopee-diddle-dee!" Beverly shouted, throwing himself backward + and kicking up his heels.<br> + <br> + I jumped up and capered about in glee at the thought of such a + journey. But my heart-throb of childish delight was checked, + mid-beat.<br> + <br> + "Won't Mat go, too?" I asked, with a sudden pain at my throat. + Mat Nivers was a part of life to me.<br> + <br> + The smile fell away from the girl's lips. Her big, sunshiny gray + eyes and her laughing good nature always made her beautiful to + Beverly and me.<br> + <br> + "I don't want to go and leave Mat," I insisted.<br> + <br> + "Oh, I do," Beverly declared, boastingly. "It would be real nice + and jolly without her. And what could a little girl do 'way out + on the prairies, and no mother to take care of her, while we were + shooting Indians?"<br> + <br> + He sprang up and took aim at the fort with an imaginary bow and + arrow. But there was a hollow note in his voice as if it covered + a sob.<br> + <br> + "She can shoot Indians as good as you can, Beverly Clarenden, + and, besides, there isn't anybody to mother her here but Jondo, + and I reckon he'll go with us, won't he?" I urged.<br> + <br> + Mothering was not in my stock of memories. The heart-hunger of + the orphan child had been eased by the gentleness of Jondo, the + championship of Mat Nivers, and the sure defense of Esmond + Clarenden, who said little to children, and was instinctively + trusted by all of them.<br> + <br> + With Beverly's banter the smile came back quickly to Mat's eyes. + It was never lost from them long at a time.<br> + <br> + "Beverly Clarenden, you keep <i>your</i> little mouth shut and + <i>your</i> big ears open," she began, laughingly. "I know the + whole sheboodle better 'n any of you, and I'm not teasing and + whimpering both at the same time, neither. Bev doesn't know + anything except what I've told him, and I wasn't through when you + got here, Gail. There is going to be a big war in Texas, and our + soldiers are going to go, and to win, too. Just look up at that + flag there, and remember now, boys, that wherever the Stars and + Stripes go they <i>stay</i>."<br> + <br> + "Who told you all that?" Beverly inquired.<br> + <br> + "The stars up in the sky told me that last night," Mat replied, + pulling down the corners of her mouth solemnly. "But Uncle Esmond + hasn't anything to do with the war, nor soldiers, only like he + has been doing here," the girl went on. "He's a store-man, a + merchant, and I guess he's just about as good as a general--a + colonel, anyhow. But he's too short to fight, and too fat to + run."<br> + <br> + "He isn't any coward," Beverly objected.<br> + <br> + "Who said he was?" Mat inquired. "He's one of them usefulest men + that keeps things going everywhere."<br> + <br> + "I saw a real Mexican come up out of the ravine awhile ago and go + straight over toward Uncle Esmond's store. What do you suppose he + came here for? Is he a soldier from down there?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "Oh, just one Mexican don't mean anything anywhere, but the war + in Mexico has something to do with our going to Santa Fé, + even if Uncle Esmond is just a nice little store-man. That's all + a girl knows about things," Beverly insisted.<br> + <br> + Mat opened her big eyes wide and looked straight at the boy.<br> + <br> + "I don't pretend to know what I don't know, but I'll bet a + million billion dollars there is something else besides just all + this war stuff. I can't tell it, I just feel it. Anyhow, I'm to + stay here with Aunty Boone till you come back. Girls can be + trusted anywhere, but it may take the whole Army of the West, + yet, to follow up and look after two little runty boys. And let + me tell <i>you</i> something, Bev, something I heard Aunty Boone + say this morning." She said: "Taint goin' to be more 'n a minnit + now till them boys grows up an' grows together, same size, same + age. They been little and big, long as they goin' to be. Now you + know what you're coming to."<br> + <br> + Mat was digging in the ground with a stick, and she flipped a + clod at Beverly with the last words. Both of us had once expected + to marry her when we grew up, unless Jondo should carry her away + as his bride before that time. He was a dozen years older than + Mat, who was only fourteen and small for her age. A flush always + came to her cheeks when we talked of Jondo in that way. We didn't + know why.<br> + <br> + We sat silent for a little while. A vague sense of desolateness, + of the turning-places of life, as real to children as to older + folk, seemed to press suddenly down upon all three of us. Ours + was not the ordinary child-life even of that day. And that was a + time when children had no world of their own as they have to-day. + Whatever developed men and women became a part of the younger + life training as well. And while we were ignorant of much that + many children then learned early, for we had lived mostly beside + the fort on the edge of the wilderness, we were alert, and + self-dependent, fearless and far-seeing. We could use tools + readily: we could build fires and prepare game for cooking; we + could climb trees, set traps, swim in the creek, and ride horses. + Moreover, we were bound to one another by the force of isolation + and need for playmates. Our imagination supplied much that our + surroundings denied us. So we felt more deeply, maybe, than many + city-bred children who would have paled with fear at dangers that + we only laughed over.<br> + <br> + No ripple in the even tenor of our days, however, had given any + hint of the coming of this sudden tense oppression on our young + souls, and we were stunned by what we could neither express nor + understand.<br> + <br> + "Whatever comes or doesn't come," Beverly said at last, + stretching himself at full length, stomach downward, on the bare + ground, "whatever happens to us, we three will stand by each + other always and always, won't we, Mat?"<br> + <br> + He lifted his face to the girl's. Oh, Beverly! I saw him again + one day down the years, stretched out on the ground like this, + lifting again a pleading face. But that belongs--down the + years.<br> + <br> + "Yes, always and always," Mat replied, and then because she had a + Spartan spirit, she added: "But let's don't say any more that + way. Let's think of what you are going to see--the plains, the + Santa Fé Trail, the mountains, and maybe bad Indians. And + even old Santa Fé town itself. You are in for 'the big + shift,' as Aunty Boone says, and you've got to be little men and + take whatever comes. It will come fast enough, you can bet on + that."<br> + <br> + Yesterday I might have sobbed on her shoulder. I did not know + then that out on the bluff an hour ago I had come to the first + turn in my life-trail, and that I could not look back now. I did + know that I <i>wanted to go with Uncle Esmond</i>. I looked away + from Mat's gray eyes, and Beverly's head dropped on his arms, + face downward--looked at nothing but blue sky, and a graceful + drooping flag; nothing but a half-sleepy, half-active fort; + nothing but the yellow April floods far up-stream, between wooded + banks tenderly gray-green in the spring sunshine. But I did not + see any of these things then. Before my eyes there stretched a + vast level prairie, with dim mountain heights beyond them. And + marching toward them westward, westward, past lurking danger, + Indians here and wild beasts there, went three men: the officer + on his cavalry mount; Jondo on his big black horse; Esmond + Clarenden, neither mounted nor on foot, it seemed, but going + forward somehow. And between these three and the misty mountain + peaks there was a face--not Mat Nivers's, for the first time in + all my day-dreams--a sweet face with dark eyes looking straight + into mine. And plainly then, just as plainly as I have heard it + many times since then, came a call--the first clear bugle-note of + the child-soul--a call to service, to patriotism, and to + love.<br> + <br> + All that afternoon while Mat Nivers sang about her tasks Beverly + and I tried to play together among the elm and cottonwood trees + about our little home, but evening found us wide awake and + moping. Instead of the two tired little sleepy-heads that could + barely finish supper, awake, when night came, we lay in our + trundle-bed, whispering softly to each other and staring at the + dark with tear-wet eyes--our spiritual barometers warning us of a + coming change. Something must have happened to us that night + which only the retrospect of years revealed. In that hour Beverly + Clarenden lost a year of his life and I gained one. From that + time we were no longer little and big to each other--we were + comrades.<br> + <br> + It must have been nearly midnight when I crept out of bed and + slipped into the big room where Uncle Esmond and Jondo sat by the + fireplace, talking together.<br> + <br> + "Hello, little night-hawk! Come here and roost," Jondo said, + opening his arms to me.<br> + <br> + I slid into their embrace and snuggled my head against his broad + shoulder, listening to all that was said. Three months later the + little boy had become a little man, and my cuddling days had + given place to the self-reliance of the fearless youngster of the + trail.<br> + <br> + "Why do you make this trip now, Esmond?" Jondo asked at length, + looking straight into my uncle's face.<br> + <br> + "I want to get down there right now because I want to get a grip + on trade conditions. I can do better after the war if I do. It + won't last long, and we are sure to take over a big piece of + ground there when it is over. And when that is settled commerce + must do the real building-up of the country. I want to be a part + of that thing and grow with it. Why do you go with me?"<br> + <br> + My uncle looked directly at Jondo, although he asked the question + carelessly.<br> + <br> + "To help you cross the plains. You know the redskins get worse + every trip," Jondo answered, lightly.<br> + <br> + I stared at both of them until Jondo said, laughingly:<br> + <br> + "You little owl, what are you thinking about?"<br> + <br> + "I think you are telling each other stories," I replied, + frankly.<br> + <br> + For somehow their faces made me think of Beverly's face out on + the parade-ground that morning, when he had lifted it and looked + at Mat Nivers; and their voices, deep bass as they were, sounded + like Beverly's voice whispering between his sobs, before he went + to sleep.<br> + <br> + Both men smiled and said nothing. But when I went to my bed again + Jondo tucked the covers about me and Uncle Esmond came and bade + me good night.<br> + <br> + "I guess you have the makings of a plainsman," he said, with a + smile, as he patted me on the head.<br> + <br> + "The beginnings, anyhow," Jondo added. "He can see pretty far + already."<br> + <br> + For a long time I lay awake, thinking of all that Uncle Esmond + and Jondo had said to me. It is no wonder that I remember that + April day as if it were but yesterday. Such days come only to + childhood, and oftentimes when no one of older years can see + clearly enough to understand the bigness of their meaning to the + child who lives through them.<br> + <br> + All of my life I had heard stories of the East, of New York and + St. Louis, where there were big houses and wonderful stores. And + of Washington, where there was a President, and a Congress, and a + strange power that could fill and empty Fort Leavenworth at will. + I had heard of the Great Lakes, and of cotton-fields, and + tobacco-plantations, and sugar-camps, and ships, and steam-cars. + I had pictured these things a thousand times in my busy + imagination and had longed to see them. But from that day they + went out of my life-dreams. Henceforth I belonged to the prairies + of the West. No one but myself took account of this, nor guessed + that a life-trend had had its commencement in the small events of + one unimportant day. <br></p> + <hr> + + + + <h3><a name="II" id="II">II</a><br> + <br> + A DAUGHTER OF CANAAN<br></h3> + + <p class="blkquot"> One stone the more swings to her place<br> + In that dread Temple of Thy worth;<br> + It is enough that through Thy grace<br> + I saw naught common on Thy earth.</p> + + <p class="blkquot"> </p> + + <p>The next morning I was wakened by the soft voice of Aunty + Boone, our cook, saying:<br> + <br> + "You better get up! Revilly blow over at the fort long time ago. + Wonder it didn't blow your batter-cakes clear away. Mat and + Beverly been up since 'fore sunup."<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone was the biggest woman I have ever seen. Not the + tallest, maybe--although she measured up to a height of six feet + and two inches--not the fattest, but a woman with the biggest + human frame, overlaid with steel-hard muscles. Yet she was not, + in her way, clumsy or awkward. She walked with a free stride, and + her every motion showed a powerful muscular control. Her face was + jet-black, with keen shining eyes, and glittering white teeth. In + my little child-world she was the strangest creature I had ever + known. In the larger world whither the years of my manhood have + led me she holds the same place.<br> + <br> + She had been born a princess of royal blood, heir to a queenship + in her tribe in a far-away African kingdom. In her young + womanhood, so the tale ran, the slave-hunter had found her and + driven her aboard a slave-ship bound for the American coast. He + never drove another slave toward any coast. In Virginia her first + purchaser had sold her quickly to a Georgia planter whose + <i>heirs</i> sent her on to Mississippi. Thence she soon found + her way to the Louisiana rice-fields. Nobody came to take her + back to any place she had quitted. "Safety first," is not a + recent practice. She had enormous strength and capacity for + endurance, she learned rapidly, kept her own counsel, obeyed no + command unless she chose to do so, and feared nothing in the + Lord's universe. The people of her own race had little in common + with her. They never understood her and so they feared her. And + being as it were outcast by them, she came to know more of the + ways and customs, and even the thoughts, of the white people + better than of her own. Being quick to imitate, she spoke in the + correcter language of those whom she knew best, rather than the + soft, ungrammatical dialect of the plantation slave or the grunt + and mumble of the isolated African. Realizing that service was to + be her lot, she elected to render that service where and to whom + she herself might choose.<br> + <br> + One day she had walked into New Orleans and boarded a Mississippi + steamer bound for St. Louis. It took three men to eject her + bodily from the deck into a deep and dangerous portion of the + stream. She swam ashore, and when the steamer made its next stop + she walked aboard again. The three men being under the care of a + physician, and the remainder of the crew burdened with other + tasks, she was not again disturbed. Some time later she appeared + at the landing below Fort Leavenworth, and strode up the slope to + the deserted square where Esmond Clarenden stood before his + little store alone in the deepening twilight.<br> + <br> + I have heard that she had had a way of appearing suddenly, like a + beast of prey, in the dusk of the evening, and that few men cared + to meet her at that time alone.<br> + <br> + My uncle was a snug-built man, sixty-two inches high, with small, + shapely hands and feet. Towering above him stood this great, + strange creature, barefooted, ragged, half tiger, half + sphinx.<br> + <br> + "I'm hungry. I'll eat or I kill. I'm nobody's slave!"<br> + <br> + The soft voice was full of menace, the glare of famine and fury + was in the burning eyes, and the supple cruelty of the wild beast + was in the clenched hands.<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden looked up at her with interest. Then pointing + toward our house he said, calmly:<br> + <br> + "Neither are you anybody's master. Go over there to the kitchen + and get your supper. If you can cook good meals, I'll pay you + well. If you can't, you'll leave here."<br> + <br> + Possibly it was the first time in her strange and varied career + that she had taken a command kindly, and obeyed because she must. + And so the savage African princess, the terror of the terrible + slave-ship, the untamed plantation scourge, with a record for + deeds that belong to another age and social code, became the + great, silent, faithful, fearless servant of the plains; with us, + but never of us, in all the years that followed. But she fitted + the condition of her day, and in her place she stood, where the + beloved black mammy of a gentler mold would have fallen.<br> + <br> + She announced that her name was Daniel Boone, which Uncle Esmond + considered well enough for one of such a westward-roving nature. + But Jondo declared that the "Daniel" belonged to her because, + like unto the Bible Daniel, no lion, nor whole den of lions, + would ever dine at her expense. To us she became Aunty Boone. + With us she was always gentle--docile, rather; and one day we + came to know her real measure, and--we never forgot her.<br> + <br> + I bounced out of bed at her call this morning, and bounced my + breakfast into a healthy, good-natured stomach. The sunny April + of yesterday had whirled into a chilly rain, whipped along by a + raw wind. The skies were black and all the spring verdure was + turned to a sickish gray-green.<br> + <br> + "Weather always fit the times," Aunty Boone commented as she + heaped my plate with the fat buckwheat cakes that only she could + ever turn off a griddle. "You packin' up for somepin' now. What + you goin' to get is fo'casted in this here nasty day."<br> + <br> + "Why, we <i>are</i> going away!" I cried, suddenly recalling the + day before. "I wish, though, that Mat could go. Wouldn't you like + to go, too, Aunty? Only, Bev says there's deserts, where there's + just rocks and sand and everything, and no water sometimes. You + and Mat couldn't stand that 'cause you are women-folks."<br> + <br> + I stiffened with importance and clutched my knife and fork + hard.<br> + <br> + "Couldn't!" Aunty Boone gave a scornful grunt. "Women-folks + stands double more 'n men. You'll see when you get older. I know + about you freightin' off to Santy Fee. <i>You</i> don't know what + desset is. <i>You</i> never <i>see sand</i>. You never + <i>feel</i> what it is to <i>want watah</i>. Only folks 'cross + the ocean in the real desset knows that. Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + I remembered the weird tales she had told us of her + girlhood--tales that had thrilled me with wonder--told sometimes + in the twilight, sometimes by the kitchen fire on winter nights, + sometimes on long, still, midsummer afternoons when the air + quivered with heat and the Missouri hung about hot sand-bars, + half asleep.<br> + <br> + "What do you know about this trip, Aunty Boone?" I asked, + eagerly; for although she could neither read nor write, she had a + sponge-like absorbing power for keeping posted on all that + happened at the fort.<br> + <br> + "Cla'n'den"--the woman never called my uncle by any other + name--"he's goin' to Santy Fee, an' you boys with him, + 'cause--"<br> + <br> + She paused and her shining eyes grew dull as they had a way of + doing in her thoughtful or prophetic moments.<br> + <br> + "He knows what for--him an' Jondo. One of 'em's storekeeper an' + t'other a plainsman, but they tote together always--an' they + totin' now. You can't see what, but they totin', they totin', + just the same. Now run out to the store. Things is stirrin'. + Things is stirrin'."<br> + <br> + I bolted my cakes, sodden with maple syrup, drank my mug of milk, + and hurried out toward the storehouse.<br> + <br> + Fort Leavenworth in the middle '40's was sometimes an indolent + place, and sometimes a very busy one, depending upon the activity + of the Western frontier. On this raw April morning everything was + fairly ajerk with life and motion. And I knew from + child-experience that a body of soldiers must be coming up the + river soon. Horses were rushed to-day where yesterday they had + been leisurely led. Orders were shouted now that had been half + sung a week ago. Military discipline took the place of fatigue + attitudes. There was a banging of doors, a swinging of brooms, a + clatter of tin, and a clanging of iron things. And everywhere + went that slapping wind. And every shallow place in the ground + held a chilly puddle. The government buildings always seemed big + and bare and cold to me. And this morning they seemed drearier + than ever, beaten upon by the fitful swish of the rain.<br> + <br> + In contrast with these were my uncle's snug quarters, for warmth + was a part of Esmond Clarenden's creed. I used to think that the + little storeroom, filled with such things as a frontier fort + could find use for, was the biggest emporium in America, and the + owner thereof suffered nothing, in my eyes, in comparison with + A.T. Stewart, the opulent New York merchant of his day.<br> + <br> + As I ran, bareheaded and coatless, across the wide wet space + between our home and the storehouse a soldier came dashing by on + horseback. I dodged behind him only to fall sprawling in a + slippery pool under the very feet of another horseman, riding + swiftly toward the boat-landing.<br> + <br> + Neither man paid any attention to me as I slowly picked myself up + and started toward the store. The soldier had not seen me at all. + The other man's face was dark, and he wore the dress of the + Mexican. It was only by his alertness and skill that his horse + missed me, but as he hurried away he gave no more heed to me than + if I had been a stone in his path.<br> + <br> + I had turned my ankle in the fall and I could only limp to the + storehouse and drop down inside. I would not cry out, but I could + not hold back the sobs as I tried to stand, and fell again in a + heap at Jondo's feet.<br> + <br> + "Things were stirrin'" there, as Aunty Boone had said, but withal + there was no disorder. Esmond Clarenden never did business in + that way. No loose ends flapped about his rigging, and when a + piece of work was finished with him, there was nothing left to + clear away. Bill Banney, the big grown-up boy from Kentucky, who, + out of love of adventure, had recently come to the fort, was + helping Jondo with the packing of certain goods. Mat and Beverly + were perched on the counter, watching all that was being done and + hearing all that was said.<br> + <br> + "What's the matter, little plainsman?" Jondo cried, catching me + up and setting me on the counter. "Got a thorn in your shoe, or a + stone-bruise, or a chilblain?"<br> + <br> + "I slipped out there behind a soldier on horseback, right in + front of a little old Mexican who was just whirling off to the + river," I said, the tears blinding my eyes.<br> + <br> + "Why, he's turned his ankle! Looks like it was swelling already," + Mat Nivers declared, as she slid from the counter and ran toward + me.<br> + <br> + "It's a bad job," Jondo declared. "Just when we want to get off, + too."<br> + <br> + "Can't I go with you to Santa Fé, Uncle Esmond?" I + wailed.<br> + <br> + "Yes, Gail, we'll fix you up all right," my uncle said, but his + face was grave as he examined my ankle.<br> + <br> + It was a bad job, much worse than any of us had thought at first. + And as they all gathered round me I suddenly noticed the same + Mexican standing in the doorway, and I heard some one, I think it + was Uncle Esmond, say:<br> + <br> + "Jondo, you'd better take Gail over to the surgeon right away--" + His voice trailed off somewhere and all was blank nothingness to + me. But my last impression was that my uncle stayed behind with + the strange Mexican.<br> + <br> + In the excitement everybody forgot that I had on neither hat nor + coat as they carried me through the raw wet air to the army + surgeon's quarters beyond the soldiers' barracks.<br> + <br> + A chill and fever followed, and for a week there was only pain + and trouble for me. Nothing else hurt quite so deeply, however, + as the fear of being left behind when the Clarendens should start + for Santa Fé. I would ask no questions, and nobody + mentioned the trip, for which everything was preparing. I began + at last to have a dread of being left in the night, of wakening + some morning to find only Mat and myself with Aunty Boone in the + little log house. Uncle Esmond had already been away for three + days, but nobody told me where he had gone, nor why he went, nor + when he would come back. It kept me awake at night, and the loss + of sleep made me nervous and feverish.<br> + <br> + One afternoon about a week after my accident, when Beverly and + Mat were putting the room in order and chattering like a couple + of squirrels, Beverly said, carelessly:<br> + <br> + "Gail, it's been a half a week since Uncle Esmond went down to + our other store in Independence, and we are going to start on our + trip just as soon as he gets back, unless he sends for me and + Jondo."<br> + <br> + I knew that he was trying to tell me that they meant to go + without me, for he hurried out with the last words. No boy wants + to talk to a disappointed boy, and I had to clinch my teeth hard + to keep back the tears.<br> + <br> + "I want to get well quicker, Mat. I want to go to Santa Fé + with Beverly," I wailed, making a desperate effort to get out of + bed.<br> + <br> + "You cuddle right down there, Gail Clarenden, if you want to get + well at all. If you're real careful you'll be all right in a day + or two. Let's wait for Uncle Esmond to come home before we start + any worries."<br> + <br> + It was in her voice, girl or woman, that comforting note that + could always soothe me.<br> + <br> + "Mat, won't you try to get them to let me go?" I pleaded.<br> + <br> + She made no promises, but busied herself with getting my foot + into its place again, singing softly to herself all the while. + Then she read me stories from our few story-books till I fell + asleep.<br> + <br> + It was twilight when I wakened. Where I lay I could hear Esmond + Clarenden and Aunty Boone talking in the kitchen, and I listened + eagerly to all they said.<br> + <br> + "But it's no place for a woman," my uncle was urging, + gravely.<br> + <br> + "I ain't a woman, I'm a cook. You want cooks if you eats. Mat + ain't a woman, she's a girl. But she's stronger 'n Beverly. If + you can't leave him, how can you leave her? An' Gail never get + well if he's left here, Cla'n'den, now he's got the goin' fever. + Never! An' if you never got back--"<br> + <br> + "I don't believe he would get well, either." Then Uncle Esmond + spoke lower and I could not hear any more.<br> + <br> + Pretty soon Mat and Beverly burst open the door and came dancing + in together, the sweet air of the warm April evening coming in + with them, and life grew rose-colored for me in a moment.<br> + <br> + "We are all going to Santa Fé over the long trail. Every + last gun of us. Aunty Boone, and Mat, and you, and me, and Jondo, + and Uncle Esmond, rag-tag and bobtail. Whoop-ee-diddle-dee!" + Beverly threw up his cap, and, catching Mat by the arms, they + whirled around the room together.<br> + <br> + "Who says so, Bev?" I asked, eagerly.<br> + <br> + "Them as knows and bosses everything in this world. Jondo told + me, and he's just the boss's shadow. Now guess who," Beverly + replied.<br> + <br> + "It's all true, Gail," Mat assured me. "Esmond Clarenden + <i>is</i> going to Santa Fé in spite of 'war, pestilence, + famine, and sword,' as my <i>History of the World</i> says, and + he <i>is</i> going to take son Beverly, and son Gail to watch son + Beverly; and Miss Mat Nivers to watch both of them and shoo + Indians away; and Aunt Daniel Boone to scare the Mexicans into + the Gulf of California, if they act ugly, see!"<br> + <br> + She capered about the room, and as she passed me she stooped and + patted me on the forehead. I didn't want her to do that. I had + taken a long jump away from little-boy-dom a week ago, but I was + supremely content now that all of us were to take the long trail + together.<br> + <br> + That evening while Mat and Beverly went to look after some + fishing-lines they had set--Mat and Bev were always going + fishing--and Jondo was down at the store, the officer in command + of the fort came in. He paid no attention to me lying there, all + eyes and ears whenever shoulder-straps were present.<br> + <br> + "What did you decide to do about the trip to Santa Fé?" he + asked, as he tipped back in his chair and settled down to cigars + and an evening chat.<br> + <br> + "We shall be leaving on the boat in the morning," my uncle + replied.<br> + <br> + The colonel's chair came down with a crack. "You don't mean it!" + he exclaimed.<br> + <br> + "I told you a week ago that I would be starting as soon as + possible," Esmond Clarenden said, quietly.<br> + <br> + "But, man, the war is raging, simply raging, down in Mexico right + now. Our division will be here to commence drill in a few weeks, + and we start for the border in a few months. You are mad to take + such a risk." The commander's voice rose.<br> + <br> + "We must go, that's all!" my uncle insisted.<br> + <br> + "We? We? Who the devil are 'we'? None of my companies mutinied, I + hope."<br> + <br> + The words did not sound like a joke, and there was little humor + in the grim face.<br> + <br> + "'We' means Jondo, Banney, a young fellow from Kentucky--" Uncle + Esmond began.<br> + <br> + "Humph! Banney's father carried a gun at Fort Dearborn in 1812. I + thought that young fellow came here for military service," the + colonel commented, testily.<br> + <br> + "Rather say he came for adventure," Esmond Clarenden + suggested.<br> + <br> + "He'll get a deuced lot of it in a hurry, if you persuade him off + with you."<br> + <br> + A flush swept over Esmond Clarenden's face, but his good-natured + smile did not fail as he replied:<br> + <br> + "I don't persuade anybody. The rest of the company are my two + nephews and the little girl, my ward, with our cook, Daniel + Boone, as commander-in-chief of the pots and pans and any Indian + meat foolish enough to fall in her way."<br> + <br> + Then came the explosion. Powder would have cost less than the + energy blown off there. The colonel stamped and swore, and sprang + to his feet in opposition, and flung himself down in disgust.<br> + <br> + "Women and children!" he gasped. "Why do you sacrifice helpless + innocent ones?"<br> + <br> + Just then Aunty Boone strode in carrying a log of wood as big as + a man's body, which she deftly threw on the fire. As the flame + blazed high she gave one look at the young officer sitting before + it, and then walked out as silently and sturdily as she had + entered. It was such a look as a Great Dane dog full of + superiority and indifference might have given to a terrier puppy, + and from where I lay I thought the military man's face took on a + very strange expression.<br> + <br> + "I 'sacrifice my innocent ones,'" my uncle answered the query, + "because they will be safer with me than anywhere else. Young as + they are, there are some forces against them already."<br> + <br> + "Well, you are going to a perilous place, over a most perilous + trail, in a most perilous time of national affairs, to meet such + treacherously villainous men as New Mexico offers in her + market-places right now? And all for the sake of the commerce of + the plains? Why do you take such chances to do business with such + people, Clarenden?"<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden had been staring at the burning logs in the big + fireplace during this conversation. He turned now and faced the + young army officer squarely as he said in that level tone that we + children had learned long ago was final:<br> + <br> + "Colonel, I'd go straight to hell and do business with the devil + himself if I had any business dealings with him."<br> + <br> + The colonel's face fell. Slowly he relighted his cigar, and + leaned back again in his chair, and with that diplomacy that + covers a skilful retreat he said, smilingly:<br> + <br> + "If any man west of the Missouri River ever could do that it + would be you, Clarenden. By the holy Jerusalem, the military lost + one grand commander when you chose a college instead of West + Point, and the East lost one well-bred gentleman from its circles + of commerce and culture when you elected to do business on the + old Santa Fé Trail instead of Broadway. But I reckon the + West will need just such men as you long after the frontier fort + has become a central point in the country's civilized area. And, + blast you, Clarenden, blast your very picture! No man can help + liking you. Not even the devil if he had the chance. Not one man + in ten thousand would dare to make that trip right now. You've + got the courage of a colonel and the judgment of a judge. Go to + Santa Fé! We may meet you coming back. If we do, and you + need us, command us!"<br> + <br> + He gave a courteous salute, and the two began to talk of other + things; among them the purposes that were bringing young men + westward.<br> + <br> + "So Banney, right out of old blue-grassy Kentucky, is going to + back out of here and go with you," the colonel remarked.<br> + <br> + "I've hired him to drive one team. It's a lark for him, but the + army would be a lark just the same," Esmond Clarenden declared. + "He says he is to kill rattlesnakes and Mexicans, while Jondo + kills Indians and I sit tight on top of the bales of goods to + keep the wind from blowing them away. And the boys are to be made + bridle-wise, <i>plains-broke</i> for future freighting. That's + all that life means to him right now."<br> + <br> + I do not know what else was said, nor what I heard and what I + dreamed after that. If this journey meant a lark to a grown-up + boy, it meant a pilgrimage through fairyland to a young boy like + myself.<br> + <br> + And so the new life opened to us; and if the way was fraught with + hardship and danger, it also taught us courage and endurance. Nor + must we be measured by the boy life of to-day. Children lived the + grown-up life then. It was all there was for them to live.<br> + <br> + The yellow Missouri boiled endlessly along by the foot of the + bluff. The flag flapped broadly in the strong breeze that blew in + from the west; the square log house--the only home we had ever + known--looked forlornly after us, with its two front windows with + blinds half drawn, like two half-closed, watching eyes; the + cottonwoods and elms, the tiny storehouse--everything--grew + suddenly very dear to us. The fort buildings throwing long + shadows in the early morning, the level-topped forests east of + the Missouri River, and the budding woodland that overdraped the + ravines to the west, even in their silence, seemed like sentient + things, loving us, as we loved them.<br> + <br> + We children had gone all over the place before sunrise and + touched everything, in token of good-by; from some instinct + tarrying longest at the flagpole, where we threw kisses to the + great, beautiful banner high above us. Now, at the moment of + leaving all these familiar things of all our years, a choking + pain came to our throats. Mat's eyes filled with tears and she + looked resolutely forward. Beverly and I clutched hands and shut + our teeth together, determined to overcome this home-grip on our + hearts. Aunty Boone sat in a corner of the deck as the boat swung + out into the stream, her eyes dull and unseeing. She never spoke + of her thoughts, but I have wondered often, since that big day of + my young years, if she might not have recalled other voyages: the + slave-ship putting out to sea with the African shores fading + behind her; and the big river steamer at the New Orleans dock + where brutal hands had hurled her from the deck into the + dangerous floods of the Mississippi. This was her third voyage, a + brief run from Fort Leavenworth to Independence. She was apart + from her fellow-passengers as in the other two, but now nobody + gave her a curse, nor a blow. <br></p> + <hr> + + <h3><br> + <a name="III" id="III">III</a><br> + <br> + THE WIDENING HORIZON</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + Whose furthest footsteps never strayed<br> + Beyond the village of his birth,<br> + Is but a lodger for the night<br> + In this old Wayside Inn of Earth.</p> + + <p><br> + The broad green prairies of the West roll back in huge billows + from the Missouri bluffs, and ripple gently on, to melt at last + into the level grassy plains sloping away to the foothills of the + Rocky Mountains. Up and down these land-waves, and across these + ripples, the old Santa Fé Trail, the slender pathway of a + wilderness-bridging commerce, led out toward the great + Southwest--a thousand weary miles--to end at last, where the + narrow thoroughfare reached the primitive hostelry at the corner + of the plaza in the heart of the capital of a Spanish-Mexican + demesne.<br> + <br> + It was a strange old highway, tying the western frontier of a + new, self-reliant American civilization to the eastern limit of + an autocratic European offshoot, grafted upon an ancient Indian + stock of the Western Hemisphere. In language, nationality, social + code, political faith, and prevailing spiritual creed, the + terminals of this highway were as unlike as their geographical + naming. For the trail began at <i>Independence</i>, in Missouri, + and ended at Santa Fé, the "<i>City of the Holy + Faith</i>," in New Mexico.<br> + <br> + The little trading town of Independence was a busy place in the + frontier years of the Middle West. Ungentle and unlovely as it + was, it was the great gateway between the river traffic on the + one side, and the plains commerce of the far Southwest on the + other. At the wharf at Westport, only a few miles away, the + steamers left their cargoes of flour and bacon, coffee and + calicoes, jewelry and sugar--whatever might have a market value + to merchants beyond the desert lands. And here these same + steamers took on furs, and silver bullion, and such other produce + of the mountains and mines and open plains as the opulently laden + caravans had toiled through long days, overland, to bring to the + river's wharf.<br> + <br> + To-day the same old gateway stands as of yore. But it may be + given only to men who have seen what I have seen, to know how + that our Kansas City, the Beautiful, could grow up from that old + wilderness outpost of commerce threescore and more years ago.<br> + <br> + The Clarenden store was the busiest spot in the center of this + busy little town. Goods from both lines of trade entered and + cleared here. In front of the building three Conestoga wagons + with stout mule teams stood ready. A fourth wagon, the Dearborn + carriage of that time, filled mostly with bedding, clothing, and + the few luxuries a long camping-out journey may indulge in, + waited only for a team, and we would be off to the plains.<br> + <br> + Jondo and Bill Banney were busy with the last things to be done + before we started. Aunty Boone sat on a pile of pelts inside the + store, smoking her pipe. Beverly and Mat stood waiting in the big + doorway, while I sat on a barrel outside, because my ankle was + still a bit stiff. A crowd had gathered before the store to see + us off. It was not such a company as the soldier-men at the fort. + The outlaw, the loafer, the drunkard, the ruffian, the gambler, + and the trickster far outnumbered the stern-faced men of affairs. + When the balance turns the other way the frontier disappears. + Mingling with these was a pale-faced invalid now and then, with + the well-appointed new arrivals from the East.<br> + <br> + "What are we waiting for, Bev?" I asked, as the street filled + with men.<br> + <br> + "Got to get another span of moolies for our baby-cart. Uncle + Esmond hadn't counted on the nurse and the cook going, you know, + but he rigged this littler wagon out in a twinkle."<br> + <br> + "That's the family carriage, drawn by spirited steeds. Us + children are to ride in it, with Daniel Boone to help with the + driving," Mat added.<br> + <br> + Just then Esmond Clarenden appeared at the door.<br> + <br> + "How soon do you start, Clarenden?" some one in the crowd + inquired.<br> + <br> + "Just as soon as I can get a pair of well-broken mules," he + replied. "I'm looking for the man who has them to sell quick. I'm + in a hurry."<br> + <br> + "What's your great rush?" a well-dressed stranger asked. "They + tell me things look squally out West."<br> + <br> + "All the more reason for my being in a hurry then," Uncle Esmond + returned.<br> + <br> + "They ain't but three men of you, is they? What do you want of + more mules?" put in an inquisitive idler of the trouble-loving + class who sooner or later turn arguments into bitter brawls.<br> + <br> + "These three children and the cook in there have this wagon. They + are all fair drivers, if I can get the right mules," my uncle + said.<br> + <br> + Women and children did not cross the plains in those days, nor + could public welfare allow that so valuable a piece of property + as Aunty Boone would be in the slave-market should be lost to + commerce, and the storm of protest that followed would have + overcome a less determined man. It was not on account of sympathy + for the weak and defenseless that called out all this abuse, but + the lawless spirit that stirs up a mob on the slightest + excuse.<br> + <br> + I slid away to the door, where, with Mat and Beverly, I watched + Esmond Clarenden, who was listening with his good-natured smile + to all of that loud street talk.<br> + <br> + "No man's life is insurable in these troublesome times, with our + troops right now down in Mexico," a suave Southern trader urged. + "Better sell your slave and put that nice little gal in a + boardin'-school somewhere in the South."<br> + <br> + "I'll give you a mighty good bargain for that wench, Clarenden. + She might be worth a clare fortune in New Orleans. What d'ye say + to a cool thousand?" another man declared, with a slow. Southern + drawl.<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone took the pipe from her lips and looked at the + stranger.<br> + <br> + "Y'would!" she grunted, stretching her big right hand across her + lap, like a huge paw with claws ready underneath.<br> + <br> + "Them plains Injuns never was more <i>hostile</i> than they air + right now. I just got in from the mountains an' I know. An' + they're bein' set on by more <i>hostile</i> Mexican devils, and + political <i>intrigs</i>," a bearded mountaineer trapper + argued.<br> + <br> + "'Sides all that," interposed the suave Southern gentleman, "it's + too early in the spring. Freightin's bound to be delayed by + rains--and a nice little gal with only a nigger--" He was not + quite himself, and he did not try to say more.<br> + <br> + "Seems like some of these gentlemen consider you are some sort of + a fool," a tall, lean Yankee youth observed, as he listened to + the babble.<br> + <br> + I had climbed back on the barrel again to see the crowd better, + and I stared at the last speaker. His voice was not unpleasant, + but he appeared pale and weak and spiritless in that company of + tanned, rugged men. Evidently he was an invalid in search of + health. We children had seen many invalids, from time to time, at + the fort harmless folk, who came to fuss, and stayed to flourish, + in our gracious land of the open air.<br> + <br> + "You are a dam' fool," roared a big drunken loafer from the edge + of the crowd. "An' I'd lick you in a minnit if you das step into + the middle of the street onct. Ornery sneak, to take innocent + children into such perils. Come on out here, I tell ye!"<br> + <br> + A growl followed these words. Many men in that company were less + than half sober, and utterly irresponsible.<br> + <br> + "Le's jes' hang the fool storekeepin' gent right now; an' make a + free-fur-all holiday. I'll begin," the drunken ruffian bawled. He + was of the sort that always leads a mob.<br> + <br> + The growl deepened, for blood-lust and drunkenness go + together.<br> + <br> + Terrified for my uncle's safety, I stood breathless, staring at + the evil-faced crowd of men going suddenly mad, without excuse. + At the farthest edge of the insipient mob, sitting on his horse + and watching my uncle's face intently, was the very Mexican whom + I had twice seen at Fort Leavenworth. At the drunken rowdy's + challenge, I thought that he half-lifted a threatening hand. But + Esmond Clarenden only smiled, with a mere turn of his head as if + in disapproval. In that minute I learned my first lesson in + handling ruffians. I knew that my uncle was not afraid, and + because of that my faith in his power to take care of himself + came back.<br> + <br> + "I want to leave here in half an hour. If you have any good + plains-broke mules you will sell for cash, I can do business with + you right now. If not, the sooner you leave this place the + better."<br> + <br> + He lifted his small, shapely hand unclenched, his good-natured + smile and gentlemanly bearing unchanged, but his low voice was + stronger than all the growls of the crowd that fell back like + whipped dogs.<br> + <br> + As he spoke a horse-dealer, seeing the gathering before the + store, came galloping up.<br> + <br> + "I'm your man. Money talks so I can understand it. Wait five + minutes and ten seconds and I'll bring a whole strand of + mules."<br> + <br> + A rattling of wagons and roar of voices at the far end of the + street told of the arrival of a company coming in from the wharf + at Westport, and the crowd whirled about and made haste toward + the next scene of interest.<br> + <br> + Only two men remained behind, the tall New England youth and the + Mexican on the farther side of the street sitting motionless on + his horse. A moment later he was gone, and the street was empty + save for the pale-faced invalid who had come over to the doorway + where Mat and Beverly and I waited together.<br> + <br> + "Why don't you youngsters stay home with your mother, or is she + going with you?" he asked, a gleam of interest lighting his dull + face as he looked at Mat Nivers.<br> + <br> + "We haven't any of us got a mother," Mat replied, timidly, + lifting her gray eyes to his.<br> + <br> + "Mother! Ain't you all one family?" the young man questioned in + surprise.<br> + <br> + "No, we are three orphan children that Uncle Esmond has adopted + all our lives, I guess." Beverly informed him.<br> + <br> + A wave of sympathy swept over his face.<br> + <br> + "You poor, lonely, unhappy cubs! You've never had a mother to + love you!" he exclaimed, in kindly pity.<br> + <br> + "We aren't poor nor lonely nor unhappy. We have always had Uncle + Esmond and we didn't need a mother," I exclaimed, earnestly.<br> + <br> + The young man stared at me as I spoke. "What's he, a bachelor or + married man?" he inquired.<br> + <br> + "He couldn't be married and keep us, I reckon, and he's taking us + with him so nothing will happen to us while he's gone. He's + really truly Bev's uncle and mine, but he's just the same as + uncle to Mat, who hasn't anybody else," I declared, + enthusiastically. Uncle Esmond was my pride, and I meant that he + should be fully appreciated.<br> + <br> + The Yankee gazed at all three of us, his eyes resting longest on + Mat's bright face. The listlessness left his own that minute and + a new light shone on his countenance. But when he turned to my + uncle the seeming lack of all interest in living returned to his + face again.<br> + <br> + "Say," he drawled, looking down at the stubborn little merchant + from his slim six feet of altitude, "you are such a dam' fool as + our friend, the tipsy one, says, that I believe I'll go along + 'cross the plains with you, if you'll let me. I've not got a + darned thing to lose out there but a sick carcass that I'm pretty + tired of looking after," he went on, wearily. "I reckon I might + as well see the fun through if I never set a hoof on old Plymouth + Rock again. My granddaddy was a minute-man at Lexington. Say"--he + paused, and his sober face turned sad--"if all the bean-eaters + who claim their grandpas were minute-men tell the truth, there + wasn't no glory in winning at Lexington, there was such a + tremendous sight of 'em. I've heard about eight million men + myself make the same claim. But my granddad was the real article + in the minute-men business. And I've always admired his grit most + of any man in the world. He was about your shape, I reckon, from + his picture that old man Copley got out. But, man! he wasn't a + patchin' on your coat-sleeve. You are the preposterous-est + unlawful-est infamous-est man I ever saw. It's just straight + murder and suicide you are bent on, takin' this awful chance of + plungin' into a warrin', snake-eatin' country like New Mexico, + and I like you for it. Will you take me as an added burden? If + you will, I'll deposit the price of my state-room right now. I've + got only a little wad of money to get well on or die on. I can + spend it either way--not much difference which. My name is Krane, + Rex Krane, and in spite of such a floopsy name I hail from + Boston, U.S.A."<br> + <br> + There was a hopeless sagging about the young man's mouth, + redeemed only by the twinkle in his eye.<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden gave him a steady measuring look. He estimated + men easily, and rarely failed to estimate truly.<br> + <br> + "I'll take you on your face value," he answered, "and if you want + to turn back there will be a chance to do it out a hundred miles + or more on the trail. You can try it that far and see how you + like it. I'll furnish you your board. There are always plenty of + bedrooms on the ground floor and in one of the wagons on rainy + nights. You can take a shift driving a team now and then, and + every able-bodied man has to do guard duty some of the time. You + understand the dangers of the situation by this time. Here comes + my man," he added, as the horse-dealer appeared, leading a string + of mules up the street.<br> + <br> + "Here's your critters. Take your choice," the dealer urged.<br> + <br> + "I'll take the brown one," my uncle replied, promptly. And the + bargain was closed.<br> + <br> + Mat and Beverly and I had already climbed into our wagon, and + Aunty Boone appeared now at the store door, ready to join us.<br> + <br> + "You takin' that nigger?" the trader asked.<br> + <br> + "Yes. Lead out your best offer now. I want another mule," Esmond + Clarenden replied.<br> + <br> + But the horse-merchant proved to be harder to deal with than the + crowd had been. The foolish risk of losing so valuable a piece of + property as Daniel Boone ought to be in the slave-market taxed + his powers of understanding, profanity, and abuse.<br> + <br> + "Cussin' solid, an' in streaks," Aunty Boone chuckled, softly, as + she listened to him unmoved.<br> + <br> + Equally unmoved was Esmond Clarenden. But his genial smile and + diplomatic power of keeping still did not prevent him from being + as set as the everlasting hills in his own purpose.<br> + <br> + "This here critter is all I'll sell you," the trader declared at + last, pulling a big white-eyed dun animal out of the group. "An' + nobody's goin' to drive her easy."<br> + <br> + "I'll take it," Uncle Esmond said, promptly, and the + vicious-looking beast was brought to where Aunty Boone stood + beside the wagon-tongue.<br> + <br> + It was a clear case of hate at first sight, for the mule began to + plunge and squeal the instant it saw her. The woman hesitated not + a minute, but lifting her big ham-like foot, she gave it one + broadside kick that it must have mistaken for a thunderbolt, and + in that low purr of hers, that might frighten a jungle tiger, she + laid down the law of the journey.<br> + <br> + "You tote me to Santy Fee, or be a dead mule. Take yo' choice + right now! Git up!"<br> + <br> + For fifty days the one dependable, docile servant of the + Clarendens was the big dun mule, as gentle and kitten-like as a + mule can be.<br> + <br> + And so, in spite of opposing conditions and rabble protest and + doleful prophecy and the assurance of certain perils, we turned + our faces toward the unfriendly land of the sunset skies, the + open West of my childish day-dreams.<br> + <br></p> + + <p class="ctr"><span> <font size="5"> * + * * * *</font> </span></p> + + <p><br> + The prairies were splashed with showers and the warm black soil + was fecund with growths as our little company followed the + windings of the old trail in that wondrous springtime of my own + life's spring. There were eight of us: Clarenden, the merchant; + Jondo, the big plainsman; Bill Banney, whom love of adventure had + lured from the blue grass of Kentucky to the prairie-grass of the + West; Rex Krane, the devil-may-care invalid from Boston; and the + quartet of us in the "baby cab," as Beverly had christened the + family wagon. Uncle Esmond had added three swift ponies to our + equipment, which Jondo and Bill found time to tame for riding as + we went along.<br> + <br> + We met wagon-trains, scouts, and solitary trappers going east, + but so far as we knew our little company was the only + westward-facing one on all the big prairies.<br> + <br> + "It's just like living in a fairy-story, isn't it, Gail?" Beverly + said to me one evening, as we rounded a low hill and followed a + deep little creek down to a shallow fording-place. "All we want + is a real princess and a real giant. Look at these big trees all + you can, for Jondo says pretty soon we won't see trees at + all."<br> + <br> + "Maybe we'll have Indians instead of giants," I suggested. "When + do you suppose we'll begin to see the real <i>bad</i> Indians; + not just Osages and Kaws and sneaky little Otoes and Pot'wat'mies + like we've seen all our lives?"<br> + <br> + "Sooner than we expect," Beverly replied. "Could Mat Nivers ever + be a real princess, do you reckon?"<br> + <br> + "I know she won't," I said, firmly, the vision of that fateful + day at Fort Leavenworth coming back as I spoke--the vision of + level green prairies, with gray rocks and misty mountain peaks + beyond. And somewhere, between green prairies and misty peaks, a + sweet child face with big dark eyes looking straight into mine. I + must have been a dreamer. And in my young years I wondered often + why things should be so real to me that nobody else could ever + understand.<br> + <br> + "I used to think long ago at the fort that I'd marry Mat some + day," Beverly said, reminiscently, as if he were looking across a + lapse of years instead of days.<br> + <br> + "So did I," I declared. "But I don't want to now. Maybe our + princess will be at the end of the trail, Bev, a real princess. + Still, I love Mat just as if she were my sister," I hastened to + add.<br> + <br> + "So do I," Beverly responded, heartily.<br> + <br> + A little grain of pity for her loss of prestige was mingling with + our subconscious feeling of a need for her help in the day of the + giant, if not in the reign of the princess.<br> + <br> + We were trudging along behind our wagon toward the camping-place + for the night, which lay beyond the crossing of the stream. We + had lived much out of doors at Fort Leavenworth, but the real out + of doors of this journey was telling on us already in our sturdy, + up-leaping strength, to match each new hardship. We ate like + wolves, slept like dead things, and forgot what it meant to be + tired. And as our muscles hardened our minds expanded. We were no + longer little children. Youth had set its seal upon us on the day + when our company had started out from Independence toward the + great plains of the Middle West. Little care had we for the + responsibility and perils of such a journey; and because our + thoughts were buoyant our bodies were vigorous.<br> + <br> + Our camp that night was under wide-spreading elm-trees whose + roots struck deep in the deep black loam. After supper Mat and + Beverly went down to fish in the muddy creek. Fishing was + Beverly's sport and solace everywhere. I was to follow them as + soon as I had finished my little chores. The men were scattered + about the valley and the camp was deserted. Something in the + woodsy greenness of the quiet spot made it seem like home to + me--the log house among the elms and cottonwoods at the fort. As + I finished my task I wondered how a big, fine house such as I had + seen in pictures would look nestled among these beautiful trees. + I wanted a home here some day, a real home. It was such a + pleasant place even in its loneliness.<br> + <br> + To the west the ground sloped up gently toward the horizon-line, + shutting off the track of the trail beyond the ridge. A sudden + longing came over me to see what to-morrow's journey would offer, + bringing back the sense of being <i>shut in</i> that had made me + lose interest in fishes that wouldn't play leap-frog on the + sand-bars. And with it came a longing to be alone.<br> + <br> + Instead of following Mat and Beverly to the creek I went out to + the top of the swell and stood long in the April twilight, + looking beyond the rim of the valley toward the darkening + prairies with the great splendor of the sunset's afterglow + deepening to richest crimson above the purpling shadows.<br> + <br> + Oh, many a time since that night have I looked upon the Kansas + plains and watched the grandeur of coloring that only the + Almighty artist ever paints for human eyes. And always I come + back, in memory, to that April evening. The soul of a man must + have looked out through the little boy's eyes on that night, and + a new mile-stone was set there, making a landmark in my life + trail. For when I turned toward the darkening east and the + shadowy camp where the evening fires gleamed redly in the dusk, I + knew then, as well as I know now, if I could only have put it + into words, that I was not the same little boy who had run up the + long slope to see what lay next in to-morrow's journey.<br> + <br> + I walked slowly back to the camp and sat down beside Esmond + Clarenden.<br> + <br> + "What are you thinking about, Gail?" he asked, as I stared at the + fire.<br> + <br> + "I wish I knew what would happen next," I replied.<br> + <br> + Jondo was lying at full length on the grass, his elbow bent, and + his hand supporting his head. What a wonderful head it was with + its crown of softly curling brown hair!<br> + <br> + "I wonder if we have done wrong by the children, Clarenden," the + big plainsman said, slowly.<br> + <br> + Uncle Esmond shook his head as he replied:<br> + <br> + "I can't believe it. They may not be safe with us, but we know + they would not have been safe without us."<br> + <br> + Just then Beverly and Mat came racing up from the creek bank.<br> + <br> + "Let us stay up awhile," Mat pleaded. "Maybe we'll be less + trouble some of these days if we hear you talk about what's + coming."<br> + <br> + "They are right, Jondo. Gail here wants to know what is coming + next, and Mat wants a share in our councils. What do you want, + Beverly?"<br> + <br> + "I want to practise shooting on horseback. I can hit a mark now + standing still. I want to do it on the run," Beverly replied.<br> + <br> + I can see now the earnest look in Esmond Clarenden's eyes as he + listened. I've seen it in a mother's eyes more than once since + then, as she kissed her eldest-born and watched it toddle off + alone on its first day of school; or held her peace, when, + breaking home ties, the son of her heart bade her good-by to + begin life for himself in the world outside.<br> + <br> + The last light of day was lost over the western ridge. The moon + was beginning to swell big and yellow through the trees. Twilight + was darkening into night. Bill Banney and Rex Krane had joined us + now, for every hour we were learning to keep closer together. + Jondo threw more wood on the fire, and we nestled about it in + snug, homey fashion as if we were to listen to a + fairy-tale--three children slipping fast out of childhood into + the stern, hard plains life that tried men's souls. As we + listened, the older men told of the perils as well as the + fascinating adventures of trail life, that we might understand + what lay before us in the unknown days. And then they told us + stories of the plains, and of the quaint historic things of Santa + Fé; of El Palacio, home of all the Governors of New + Mexico; an Indian pueblo first, it may have been standing there + when William the Norman conquered Harold of the Saxon dynasty of + England; or further back when Charlemagne was hanging heathen by + the great great gross to make good Christians of them; or even + when old Julius Cæsar came and saw and conquered, on either + side of the Rubicon, this same old structure may have sheltered + rulers in a world unknown. They told us of the old, old church of + San Miguel, a citadel for safety from the savage foes of Spain, a + sanctuary ever for the sinful and sorrowing ones. And of the + Plaza--sacred ground whereon by ceremonial form had been + established deeds that should change the destinies of tribes and + shape the trend of national pride and power in a new continent. + And of La Garita, place of execution, facing whose blind wall the + victims of the Spanish rule made their last stand, and, helpless, + fell pierced by the bullets of the Spanish soldiery.<br> + <br> + And we children looked into the dying camp-fire and builded there + our own castles in Spain, and hoped that that old flag to which + we had thrown good-by kisses such a little while ago would one + day really wave above old Santa Fé and make it ours to + keep. For, young as we were, the flag already symbolized to us + the protecting power of a nation strong and gentle and + generous.<br> + <br> + "The first and last law of the trail is to 'hold fast,'" Jondo + said, as we broke up the circle about the camp-fire.<br> + <br> + "If you can keep that law we will take you into full partnership + to-night," Esmond Clarenden added, and we knew that he meant what + he said. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="IV" id="IV">IV</a><br> + <br> + THE MAN IN THE DARK</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + A stone's throw from either hand,<br> + From that well-ordered road we tread,<br> + And all the world is wide and strange.<br> + --KIPLING<br></p> + + <p>"We shall come to the parting of the ways to night if we make + good time, Krane," Esmond Clarenden said to the young Bostonian, + as we rested at noon beside the trait. "To-night we camp at + Council Grove and from there on there is no turning back. I had + hoped to find a big crowd waiting to start off from that place. + But everybody we have met coming in says that there are no + freighters going west now. Usually there is no risk in coming + alone from Council Grove to the Missouri River, and there is + always opportunity for company at this end of the trail."<br> + <br> + We were sitting in a circle under the thin shade of some + cottonwood-trees beside a little stream; the air of noon, hot + above our heads, was tempered with a light breeze from the + southwest. As my uncle spoke, Rex glanced over at Mat Nivers, + sitting beside him, and then gazed out thoughtfully across the + stream. I had never thought her pretty before. But now her face, + tanned by the sun and wind, had a richer glow on cheek and lip. + Her damp hair lay in little wavelets about her temples, and her + big, sunny, gray eyes were always her best feature.<br> + <br> + Girls made their own dresses on the frontier, and I suppose that + anywhere else Mat would have appeared old-fashioned in the neat, + comfortable little gowns of durable gingham and soft woolen + stuffs that she made for herself. But somehow in all that long + journey she was the least travel-soiled of the whole party.<br> + <br> + At my uncle's words she looked up questioningly and I saw the + bloom deepen on her cheek as she met the young man's eyes. + Somebody else saw that shadow of a blush--Bill Banney lying on + the ground beside me, and although he pulled his hat cautiously + over his face, I thought he was listening for the answer.<br> + <br> + The young New-Englander stared long at the green prairie before + he spoke. I never knew whether it was ignorance, or a lack of + energy, that was responsible for his bad grammar in those early + days, for Rex Krane was no sham invalid. The lines on his young + face told of suffering, and the thin, bony hands showed bodily + weakness. At length he turned to my uncle.<br> + <br> + "I started out sort of reckless on this trip," he said, slowly. + "I'm nearly twenty and never been worth a dang to anybody + anywhere on God's earth; so I thought I might as well be where + things looked interestin'. But"--he hesitated--"I'm gettin' a lot + stronger every day, a whole lot stronger. Mebby I'd be of some + use afterwhile--I don't know, though. I reckon I'd better wait + till we get to that Council Grove place. Sounds like a nice + locality to rest and think in. Are you goin' on, anyhow, + Clarenden, crowd or no crowd?"<br> + <br> + "Though the heavens fall," my uncle answered, simply.<br> + <br> + Jondo had turned quickly to hear this reply and a great light + leaped into his deep-set blue eyes. I glanced over at Aunty + Boone, sitting apart from us, as she ever chose to do, her own + eyes dull, as they always were when she saw keenest; and I + remembered how, back at Fort Leavenworth, she had commented on + this journey, saying: "They tote together always, an' they're + totin' now." Child though I was, I felt that a something more + than the cargo of goods was leading my uncle to Santa Fé. + What I did not understand was his motive for taking Beverly and + Mat and me with him. I had been satisfied before just to go, but + now I wanted very much to know why I was going.<br> + <br> + Council Grove by the Neosho River was the end of civilization for + the freighter. Beyond it the wilderness spread its untamed + lengths, and excepting Bent's Fort far up the Arkansas River on + the line of the first old trail, rarely followed now, it held not + a sign of civilization for the traveler until he should reach the + first outposts of the Mexican almost in the shadow of Santa + Fé. It is no wonder that wagon-trains mobilized here, + waiting for an increase in numbers before they dared to start on + westward. And now there were no trains waiting for our coming. + Only a gripping necessity could have led a man like Esmond + Clarenden to take the trail alone in the certain perils of the + plains during the middle '40's. I did not know until long + afterward how brave was the loving heart that beat in that little + merchant's bosom. A devotee of ease and refinement, he walked the + prairie trails unafraid, and made the desert serve his will.<br> + <br> + The dusk of evening had fallen long before we pitched camp that + night under the big oak-trees in the Neosho River valley outside + of the little trading-post. Up in the village a light or two + gleamed faintly. From somewhere in the darkness came the sound of + a violin, mingling with loud talking and boisterous laughter in a + distant drinking-den. It would be some time until moon-rise, and + the shadowy places thickened to blackness.<br> + <br> + In fair weather all of us except Mat Nivers slept in the open. On + stormy nights the younger men occupied one of the wagons, Jondo + and Beverly another, and my uncle and myself the third. Mat had + the "baby-cab" as Beverly called it, with Aunty Boone underneath + it. The ground was Aunty Boone's kingdom. She sat upon it, ate + from it, slept on it, and seemed no more soiled than a snake + would be by the contact with it.<br> + <br> + "Some day I goes plop under it, and be ground myself," she used + to say. "Good black soil I make, too," she always added, with her + low chuckle.<br> + <br> + To-night we were all in the wagons, for the spring rains had made + the Neosho valley damp and muddy. I was just on the edge of + dreamless slumber when a low voice that seemed to cut the + darkness caught my ear.<br> + <br> + "Cla'nden! Cla'nden!" it hissed, softly.<br> + <br> + My uncle slipped noiselessly out to where Aunty Boone stood, her + head so near to the canvas wagon-cover inside of which I lay that + I could hear all that was said.<br> + <br> + She was always a night prowler. What other women learn now from + the evening newspaper or from neighborly gossip she, being + created without a sense of fear, went forth in her time and + gathered at first hand.<br> + <br> + "I been prospectin' up 'round the saloon, Cla'nden. They's a + nasty mess of Mexicans in town, all gettin' drunk."<br> + <br> + Then I heard a faint rustle of the bushes and I knew that the + woman was slipping away to her place under the wagon. I + remembered the Mexican whom I had last seen across the street + from the Clarenden store in Independence. These were bad + Mexicans, as Aunty Boone had said, and that man had seemed in a + silent way a friend of my uncle. I wondered what would happen + next. It soon happened. My uncle Esmond came inside the wagon and + called, softly:<br> + <br> + "Gail, wake up."<br> + <br> + "I'm awake," I replied, in a half-whisper, as alert as a + mystery-loving boy could be.<br> + <br> + "Slip over to Jondo and tell him there are Mexicans in town, and + I'm going across the river to see what's up. Tell him to wake up + everybody and have them stay in the wagons till I get back."<br> + <br> + He slid away and the shadows ate him. I followed as far as + Jondo's wagon, and gave my message. As I came back something + seemed to slip away before me and disappear somewhere. I dived + into our wagon and crouched down, waiting with beating heart for + Uncle Esmond to come back. Once I thought I heard the sound of a + horse's feet on the trail to the eastward, but I was not + sure.<br> + <br> + All was still and black in the little camp for a long time, and + then Esmond Clarenden and Rex Krane crept into the wagon and + dropped the flap behind them.<br> + <br> + "Krane, have you decided about this trip yet?" Uncle Esmond + asked. "If not, you'd better get right up into town and forget + us. You can't be too quick about it, either."<br> + <br> + "Ain't we going to stay here a few days? Why do you want to know + to-night?"<br> + <br> + Rex Krane, Yankee-like, met the query with a query.<br> + <br> + "Because there's a pretty strong party of Mexican desperadoes + here who are going on east, and they mean trouble for somebody. I + shouldn't care to meet them with our strength alone. They are all + pretty drunk now and getting wilder every minute. Listen to + that!"<br> + <br> + A yell across the river broke the night stillness.<br> + <br> + "There is no telling how soon they may be over here, hunting for + us. We must get by them some way, for I cannot risk a fight with + them here. Which chance will you choose, the possibility of being + overtaken by that Mexican gang going east, or the perils of the + plains and the hostility of New Mexico right now? It's about as + broad one way as the other for safety, with staying here for a + time as the only middle course at present. But that is a + perfectly safe one for you."<br> + <br> + "I am going on with you," Rex Krane said, with his slow Yankee + drawl. "When danger gets close, then I scatter. There's more + chance in seven hundred miles to miss somethin' than there is in + a hundred and fifty. And even a half-invalid might be of some + use. Say, Clarenden, how'd you get hold of this information? You + turned in before I did."<br> + <br> + "Daniel Boone went out on scout duty--self-elected. You know she + considers that the earth was made for her to walk on when she + chooses to use it that way. She spied trouble ahead and came + back, and gave me the key to the west door of Council Grove so I + could get out early," my uncle replied.<br> + <br> + "I reckoned as much," Rex declared.<br> + <br> + In the dark I could feel Esmond Clarenden give a start.<br> + <br> + "What do you mean?" he inquired.<br> + <br> + "Oh, I saw the fat lady start out, so I followed her, but I + located the nest of Mexicans before she did, and got a good deal + out of their drunken jargon. And then I cat-footed it back after + a snaky-looking, black Spaniard that seemed to be following her. + There were three of us in a row, but the devil hasn't got the + hindmost one, not yet--that's me."<br> + <br> + "You saw some one follow Daniel into camp?" my uncle broke in, + anxiously. But no threatening peril ever hurried Rex Krane's + speech.<br> + <br> + "Yes, and I also followed some one; but I lost him in this + ink-well of a hole, and I was waitin' till he left so I could put + the cat out, an' shut the door, when you cut across the river. + I've been sittin' round now to see that nothin' broke loose till + you got back. Meantime, the thing sort of faded away. I heard a + horse gallopin' off east, too. Mebby they are outpostin' to + surround our retreat. I didn't wake Bill. He's got no more + imagination than Bev. If I had needed anybody I'd have stirred up + Gail, here."<br> + <br> + In the dark I fairly swelled with pride, and from that moment Rex + Krane was added to my little list of heroes that had been made + up, so far, of Esmond Clarenden and Jondo and any army officer + above the rank of captain.<br> + <br> + "Krane, you'll do. I thought I had your correct measure back in + Independence," Uncle Esmond said, heartily. "As to the boys, I + can risk them; they are Clarendens. My anxiety is for the little + orphan girl. She is only a child. I couldn't leave her behind us, + and I must not let a hair of her head be harmed."<br> + <br> + "She's a right womanly little thing," Rex Krane said, carelessly; + but I wondered if in the dark his eyes might not have had the + same look they had had at noon when he turned to Mat sitting + beside my uncle. Maybe back at Boston he had a little sister of + his own like her. Anyhow, I decided then that men's words and + faces do not always agree.<br> + <br> + Again the roar of voices broke out, and we scrambled from the + wagon and quickly gathered our company together.<br> + <br> + "What did you find out?" Jondo asked.<br> + <br> + "We must clear out of here right away and get through to the + other side of town and be off by daylight without anybody knowing + it. They are a gang of ugly Mexicans who would not let us cross + the river if we should wait till morning. They have already sent + a spy over here, and they are waiting for him to report."<br> + <br> + "Where is he now?" Bill Banney broke in.<br> + <br> + "They's two of him--I know there is," Rex Krane declared. "One of + him went east, to cut us off I reckon; an' t'other faded into + nothin' toward the river. Kind of a double deal, looks to + me."<br> + <br> + Both men looked doubtingly at the young man; but without further + words, Jondo took command, and we knew that the big plainsman + would put through whatever Esmond Clarenden had planned. For + Aunty Boone was right when she said, "They tote together."<br> + <br> + "We must snake these wagons through town, as though we didn't + belong together, but we mustn't get too far apart, either. And + remember now, Clarenden, if anybody has to stop and visit with + 'em, I'll do it myself," Jondo said.<br> + <br> + "Why can't we ride the ponies? We can go faster and scatter + more," I urged, as we hastily broke camp.<br> + <br> + "He is right, Esmond. They haven't been riding all their lives + for nothing," Jondo agreed, as Esmond Clarenden turned + hesitatingly toward Mat Nivers.<br> + <br> + In the dim light her face seemed bright with courage. It is no + wonder that we all trusted her. And trust was the large commodity + of the plains in those days, when even as children we ran to meet + danger with courageous daring.<br> + <br> + "You must cross the river letting the ponies pick their own + ford," Jondo commanded us. "Then go through to the ridge on the + northwest side of town. Keep out of the light, and if anybody + tries to stop you, ride like fury for the ridge."<br> + <br> + "Lemme go first," Aunty Boone interposed. "Nobody lookin' for me + this side of purgatory. 'Fore they gets over their surprise I'll + be gone. Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + The soft exclamation had a breath of bravery in it that stirred + all of us.<br> + <br> + "You are right, Daniel. Lead out. Keep to the shadows. If you + must run make your mules do record time," Uncle Esmond said.<br> + <br> + "You'll find me there when you stop," Rex Krane declared. No sick + man ever took life less seriously. "I'm goin' ahead to + John-the-Baptist this procession and air the parlor + bedrooms."<br> + <br> + "Krane, you are an invalid and a fool. You'd better ride in the + wagon with me," Bill Banney urged.<br> + <br> + "Mebby I am. Don't throw it up to me, but I'm no darned coward, + and I'm foot-loose. It's my job to give the address of welcome + over t'other side of this Mexican settlement."<br> + <br> + The tall, thin young man slouched his cap carelessly on his head + and strode away toward the river. Youth was reckless in those + days, and the trail was the home of dramatic opportunity. But + none of us had dreamed hitherto of Rex Krane's degree of daring + and his stubborn will.<br> + <br> + The big yellow moon was sailing up from the east; the Neosho + glistened all jet and silver over its rough bed; the great + shadowy oaks looked ominously after us as we moved out toward the + threatening peril before us. Slowly, as though she had time to + kill, Aunty Boone sent the brown mule and trusty dun down to the + river's rock-bottom ford. Slowly and unconcernedly she climbed + the slope and passed up the single street toward the saloon she + had already "prospected." Pausing a full minute, she swung toward + a far-off cabin light to the south, jogging over the rough ground + noisily. The door of the drinking-den was filled with dark faces + as the crowd jostled out. Just a lone wagon making its way + somewhere about its own business, that was all.<br> + <br> + As the crowd turned in again three ponies galloped up the street + toward the slope leading out to the high level prairies beyond + the Neosho valley. But who could guess how furiously three young + hearts beat, and how tightly three pairs of young hands clutched + the bridle reins as we surged forward, forgetting the advice to + keep in the shadow.<br> + <br> + Just after we had crossed the river, a man on horseback fell in + behind us. We quickened our speed, but he gained on us. Before we + reached the saloon he was almost even with us, keeping well in + the shadow all the while. In the increasing moonlight, making + everything clear to the eye, I gave one quick glance over my + shoulder and saw that the horseman was a Mexican. I have lived a + life so fraught with danger that I should hardly remember the + feeling of fear but for the indelible imprint of that one + terrified minute in the moonlit street of Council Grove.<br> + <br> + Two ruffians on watch outside the saloon sprang up with yells. + The door burst open and a gang of rowdies fairly spilled out + around us. We three on our ponies had the instinctive security on + horseback of children born to the saddle, else we should never + have escaped from the half-drunken crew. I recall the dust of + striking hoofs, the dark forms dodging everywhere, the Mexican + rider keeping between us and the saloon door, and most of all I + remember one glimpse of Mat Nivers's face with big, staring eyes, + and firm-set mouth; and I remember my fleeting impression that + she could take care of herself if we could; and over all a sudden + shadow as the moon, in pity of our terror, hid its face behind a + tiny cloud.<br> + <br> + When it shone out again we were dashing by separate ways up the + steep slope to the west ridge, but, strangely enough, the Mexican + horseman with a follower or two had turned away from us and was + chasing off somewhere out of sight.<br> + <br> + Up on top of the bluff, with Rex Krane and Aunty Boone, we + watched and waited. The wooded Neosho valley full of inky + blackness seemed to us like a bottomless gorge of terror which no + moonlight could penetrate. We strained our ears to catch the + rattle of the wagons, but the noise from the saloon, coming + faintly now and then, was all the sound we could hear save the + voices of the night rising up from the river, and the whisperings + of the open prairie to the west.<br> + <br> + In that hour Rex Krane became our good angel.<br> + <br> + "Keep the law, 'Hold fast'! You made a splendid race of it, and + if Providence made that fellow lose you gettin' out, and led him + and his gang sideways from you, I reckon she will keep on takin' + care of you till Clarenden resumes control, so don't you + worry."<br> + <br> + But for his brave presence the terror of that lonely watch would + have been harder than the peril of the street, for he seemed more + like a gentle mother than the careless, scoffing invalid of the + trail.<br> + <br> + Midnight came, and the chill of midnight. We huddled together in + our wagon and still we waited. Down in the village the lights + still burned, and angry voices with curses came to our ears at + intervals.<br> + <br> + Meantime the three men across the river moved cautiously, hoping + that we were safe on the bluff, and knowing that they dared not + follow us too rapidly. The wagons creaked and the harness rattled + noisily in the night stillness, as slowly, one by one, they + lumbered through the darkness across the river and up the bank to + the village street. Here they halted and grouped together.<br> + <br> + "We must hide out and wait, Clarenden," Jondo counciled. "I + hope the ponies and the wagon ahead are safe, but they stirred + things up. If we go now we'll all be caught."<br> + <br> + The three wagons fell apart and halted wide of the trail where + the oak-trees made the blackest shade. The minutes dragged out + like hours, and the anxiety for the unprotected group on the + bluff made the three men frantic to hurry on. But Jondo's + patience equaled his courage, and he always took the least risk. + It was nearly midnight, and every noise was intensified. If a + mule but moved it set up a clatter of harness chains that seemed + to fill the valley.<br> + <br> + At last a horseman, coming suddenly from somewhere, rode swiftly + by each shadow-hidden wagon, half pausing at the sound of the + mules stamping in their places, and then he hurried up the + street.<br> + <br> + "Three against the crowd. If we must fight, fight to kill," Jondo + urged, as the ready firearms were placed for action.<br> + <br> + In a minute or two the crew broke out of the saloon and filled + the moonlit street, all talking and swearing in broken + Spanish.<br> + <br> + "Not come yet!"<br> + <br> + "Pedro say they be here to-morrow night!" "We wait till to-morrow + night!"<br> + <br> + And with many wild yells they fell back for a last debauch in the + drinking-den.<br> + <br> + "I don't understand it," Jondo declared. "That fellow who rode by + here ought to have located every son of us, but if they want to + wait till to-morrow night it suits me."<br> + <br> + An hour later, when the village was in a dead sleep, three wagons + slowly pulled up the long street and joined the waiting group at + the top, and the crossing over was complete.<br> + <br> + Dawn was breaking as our four wagons, followed by the ponies, + crept away in the misty light. As we trailed off into the unknown + land, I looked back at the bluff below which nestled the last + houses we were to see for seven hundred miles. And there, + outlined against the horizon, a Mexican stood watching us. I had + seen the same man one day riding up from the ravine southwest of + Fort Leavenworth. I had seen him dashing toward the river the + next day. I had watched him sitting across the street from the + Clarenden store in Independence.<br> + <br> + I wondered if it might have been this man who had hung about our + camp the evening before, and if it might have been this same man + who rode between us and the saloon mob, leading the crowd after + him and losing us on the side of the bluff. And as we had eluded + the Council Grove danger, I wondered what would come next, and if + he would be in it. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="V" id="V">V</a><br> + <br> + WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + "So I draw the world together, link by link."<br> + --KIPLING.<br></p> + + <p>Day after day we pushed into the unknown wilderness. No + wagon-trains passed ours moving eastward. No moccasined track in + the dust of the trail gave hint of any human presence near. Where + to-day the Pullman car glides in smooth comfort, the old Santa + Fé Trail lay like a narrow brown ribbon on the green + desolation of Nature's unconquered domain. Out beyond the region + of long-stemmed grasses, into the short-grass land, we pressed + across a pathless field-of-the-cloth-of-green, gemmed with + myriads of bright blossoms--broad acres on acres that the young + years of a coming century should change into great wheat-fields + to help fill the granaries of the world. How I reveled in + it--that far-stretching plain of flower-starred verdure! It was + my world--mine, unending, only softening out into lavender mists + that rimmed it round in one unbroken fold of velvety vapor.<br> + <br> + At last we came to the Arkansas River--flat-banked, + sand-bottomed, wide, wandering, impossible thing--whose shallow + waters followed aimlessly the line of least resistance, back and + forth across its bed. Rivers had meant something to me. The big + muddy Missouri for Independence and Fort Leavenworth, that its + steamers might bring the soldiers, and my uncle's goods to their + places. The little rivers that ran into the big ones, to feed + their currents for down-stream service. The creeks, that boys + might wade and swim and fish, else Beverly would have lived + unhappily all his days. But here was a river that could neither + fetch nor carry. Nobody lived near it, and it had no deep waters + like our beloved, ugly old Missouri. I loved the level prairies, + but I didn't like that river, somehow. I felt exposed on its + blank, treeless borders, as if I stood naked and defenseless, + with no haven of cover from the enemies of the savage plains.<br> + <br> + The late afternoon was hot, the sky was dust-dimmed, the south + wind feverish and strength-sapping. At dawn we had sighted a peak + against the western horizon. We were approaching it now--a single + low butte, its front a sheer stone bluff facing southward toward + the river, it lifted its head high above the silent plains; and + to the north it stretched in a long gentle slope back to a + lateral rim along the landscape. The trail crept close about its + base, as if it would cling lovingly to this one shadow-making + thing amid all the open, blaring, sun-bound miles stretching out + on either side of it.<br> + <br> + As Beverly and I were riding in front of Mat's wagon, of which we + had elected ourselves the special guardians, Rex Krane came up + alongside Bill Banney's team in front of us. The young men were + no such hard-and-fast friends as Beverly and I. For some reason + they had little to say to each other.<br> + <br> + "Is that what you call Pike's Peak, Bill?" Rex asked.<br> + <br> + "No, the mountains are a month away. That's Pawnee Rock, and I'll + breathe a lot freer when we get out of sight of that infernal + thing," Bill replied.<br> + <br> + "What's its offense?" Rex inquired.<br> + <br> + "It's the peak of perdition, the bottomless pit turned inside + out," Bill declared.<br> + <br> + "I don't see the excuse for a rock sittin' out here, sayin' + nothin', bein' called all manner of unpleasant names," the young + Bostonian insisted.<br> + <br> + "Well, I reckon you'd find one mighty quick if you ever heard the + soldiers at Fort Leavenworth talk about it once. All the + plainsmen dread it. Jondo says more men have been killed right + around this old stone Sphinx than any other one spot in North + America, outside of battle-fields."<br> + <br> + "Happy thought! Do their ghosts rise up and walk at midnight? + Tell me more," Rex urged.<br> + <br> + "Nobody walks. Everybody runs. There was a terrible Indian fight + here once; the Pawnees in the king-row, and all the hosts of the + Midianites, and Hivites, and Jebusites, Kiowa, Comanche, and Kaw, + rag-tag and bobtail, trying to get 'em out. I don't know who won, + but the citadel got christened Pawnee Rock. It took a fountain + filled with blood to do it, though."<br> + <br> + Rex Krane gave a long whistle.<br> + <br> + "I believe Bill is trying to scare him, Bev," I murmured.<br> + <br> + "I believe he's just precious wasting time," Beverly replied.<br> + <br> + "And so," Bill continued, "it came to be a sort of rock of + execution where romances end and they die happily ever afterward. + The Indians get up there and, being able to read fine print with + ease as far away as either seacoast, they can watch any + wagon-train from the time it leaves Council Grove over east to + Bent's Fort on the Purgatoire Creek out west; and having counted + the number of men, and the number of bullets in each man's pouch, + they slip down and jump on the train as it goes by. If the men + can make it to beat them to the top of the rock, as they do + sometimes, they can keep the critters off, unless the Indians are + strong enough to keep them up there and sit around and wait till + they starve for water, and have to come down. It's a grim old + fortress, and never needs a garrison. Indians or white men up + there, sometimes they defend and sometimes attack. But it's a bad + place always, and on account of having our little girl along--" + Bill paused. "A fellow gets to see a lot of country out here," he + added.<br> + <br> + "Banney, just why didn't you join the army? You'd have a chance + to see a lot more of the country, if this Mexican War goes on," + Rex Krane said, meditatively.<br> + <br> + "I'd rather be my own captain and order myself to the front, and + likewise command my rear-guard to retire, whenever I doggone + please," Bill said. "It isn't the soldiers that'll do this + country the most good. They are useful enough when they are + useful, Lord knows. And we'll always need a decent few of 'em + around to look after women and children, and invalids," he went + on. "I tell you, Krane, it's men like Clarenden that's going to + make these prairies worth something one of these days. The men + who build up business, not them that shoot and run to or from. + That's what the West's got to have. I'm through going crazy about + army folks. One man that buys and sells, if he gives good weight + and measure, is, himself, a whole regiment for civilization."<br> + <br> + Just then Jondo halted the train, and we gathered about him.<br> + <br> + "Clarenden, let's pitch camp at the rock. The horses are dead + tired and this wind is making them nervous. There's a storm due + as soon as it lays a bit, and we would be sort of protected here. + A tornado's a giant out in this country, you know."<br> + <br> + "This tavern doesn't have a very good name with the traveling + public, does it, Clarenden?" Rex Krane suggested.<br> + <br> + "Not very," my uncle replied. "But in case of trouble, the top of + it isn't a bad place to shoot from."<br> + <br> + "What if the other fellow gets there first?" Bill Banney + inquired.<br> + <br> + "We can run from here as easily as any other place," Jondo + assured us. "I haven't seen a sign of Indians yet. But we've got + to be careful. This point has a bad reputation, and I naturally + begin to <i>feel</i> Indians in the air as soon as I come in + sight of it. If we need the law of the trail anywhere, we need it + here," he admonished.<br> + <br> + Beverly and I drew close together. We were in the land of + <i>bad</i> Indians, but nothing had happened to us yet, and we + could not believe that any danger was near us now, although we + were foolishly half hoping that there might be, for the + excitement of it.<br> + <br> + "There's no place in a million miles for anybody to hide, Bill. + Where would Jondo's Indians be?" Beverly asked, as we were + getting into camp order for the night.<br> + <br> + Beverly's disposition to demand proof was as strong here as it + had been in the matter of rivers turning their courses, and + fishes playing leap-frog.<br> + <br> + "They might be behind that ridge out north, and have a scout + lying flat on the top of old Pawnee Rock, up there, lookin' + benevolently down at us over the rim of his spectacles right + now," Bill replied, as he pulled the corral ropes out of the + wagon.<br> + <br> + "What makes you think so?" I asked, eagerly.<br> + <br> + "What Jondo said about his <i>feeling Indians</i>, I guess, but + he reads these prairie trails as easy as Robinson Crusoe read + Friday's footprints in the sand, and he hasn't read anything in + 'em yet. Indians don't fight at night, anyhow. That's one good + thing. Get hold of that rope, Bev, and pull her up tight," Bill + replied.<br> + <br> + Every night our four wagons in camp made a hollow square, with + space enough allowed at the corners to enlarge the corral inside + for the stock. These corners were securely roped across from + wagon to wagon. To-night, however, the corral space was reduced + and the quartet of vehicles huddled closer together.<br> + <br> + At dusk the hot wind came sweeping in from the southwest, a wild, + lashing fury, swirling the sand in great spirals from the river + bed. Our fire was put out and the blackness of midnight fell upon + us. The horses were restless and the mules squealed and stamped. + All night the very spirit of fear seemed to fill the air.<br> + <br> + Just before daybreak a huge black storm-cloud came boiling up out + of the southwest, with a weird yellow band across the sky before + it. Overhead the stars shed a dim light on the shadowy face of + the plains. A sudden whisper thrilled the camp, chilling our + hearts within us.<br> + <br> + "Indians near!" We all knew it in a flash.<br> + <br> + Jondo, on guard, had caught the sign first. Something creeping + across the trail, not a coyote, for it stood upright a moment, + then bent again, and was lost in the deep gloom. Jondo had + shifted to another angle of the outlook, had seen it again, and + again at a third point. It was encircling the camp. Then all of + us, except Jondo, began to see moving shapes. He saw nothing for + a long time, and our spirits rose again.<br> + <br> + "You must have been mistaken, Jondo," Rex Krane ventured, as he + stared into the black gloom. "Maybe it was just this infernal + wind. It's one darned sea-breeze of a zephyr."<br> + <br> + "I've crossed the plains before. I wasn't mistaken," the big + plainsman replied. "If I had been, you'd still see it. The + trouble is that it is watching now. Everybody lay low. It will + come to life again. I hope there's only one of it."<br> + <br> + We had hardly moved after the first alarm, except to peer about + and fancy that dark objects were closing in upon us.<br> + <br> + It did come to life again. This time on Jondo's side of the camp. + Something creeping near, and nearer.<br> + <br> + The air was motionless and hot above us, the upper heavens were + beginning to be threshed across by clouds, and the silence hung + like a weight upon us. Then suddenly, just beyond the camp, a + form rose from the ground, stood upright, and stretched out both + arms toward us. And a low cry, "Take me. I die," reached our + ears.<br> + <br> + Still Jondo commanded silence. Indians are shrewd to decoy their + foes out of the security of the camp. The form came nearer--a + little girl, no larger than our Mat--and again came the low call. + The voice was Indian, the accent Spanish, but the words were + English.<br> + <br> + "Come to us!" Esmond Clarenden answered back in a clear, low + tone; and slowly and noiselessly the girl approached the + camp.<br> + <br> + I can feel it all now, although that was many years ago: the soft + starlight on the plains; the hot, still air holding its breath + against the oncoming tornado; the group of wagons making a deeper + shadow in the dull light; beyond us the bold front of old Pawnee + Rock, huge and gray in the gloom; our little company standing + close together, ready to hurl a shower of bullets if this proved + but the decoy of a hidden foe; and the girl with light step + drawing nearer. Clad in the picturesque garb of the Southwest + Indian, her hair hanging in a great braid over each shoulder, her + dark eyes fixed on us, she made a picture in that dusky setting + that an artist might not have given to his brush twice in a + lifetime on the plains.<br> + <br> + A few feet from us she halted.<br> + <br> + "Throw up your hands!" Jondo commanded.<br> + <br> + The slim brown arms were flung above the girl's head, and I + caught the glint of quaintly hammered silver bracelets, as she + stepped forward with that ease of motion that generations of + moccasined feet on sand and sod and stone can give.<br> + <br> + "Take me," she cried, pleadingly. "The Mexicans steal me from my + people and bring me far away. They meet Kiowa. Kiowa beat me; + make me slave."<br> + <br> + She held up her hands. They were lacerated and bleeding. She + slipped the bright blanket from her brown shoulder. It was + bruised and swollen.<br> + <br> + "You go to Santa Fé? Take me. I do you good, not bad."<br> + <br> + "What would these Kiowas do to us, then?"<br> + <br> + It was Bill Banney who spoke.<br> + <br> + "They follow you--kill you."<br> + <br> + "Oh, cheerful! I wish you were twins," Rex Krane said, + softly.<br> + <br> + Jondo lifted his hand.<br> + <br> + "Let me talk to her," he said.<br> + <br> + Then in her own language he got her story.<br> + <br> + "Here we are." He turned to us. "Stolen from her people by the + Mexicans, probably the same ones we passed in Council Grove; + traded to the Kiowas out here somewhere, beaten, and starved, and + held for ransom, or trade to some other tribe. They are over + there behind Pawnee Rock. They got sight of us somehow, but they + don't intend to bother us. They are on the lookout for a bigger + train. She has slipped away while they sleep. If we send her back + she will be beaten and made a slave. If we keep her, they will + follow us for a fight. They are fifty to our six. What shall we + do?"<br> + <br> + "We don't need any Indians to help us get into trouble. We are + sure enough of it without that," Bill Banney declared. "And + what's one Indian, anyhow? She's just--"<br> + <br> + "Just a little orphan girl like Mat," Rex Krane finished his + sentence.<br> + <br> + Bill frowned, but made no reply.<br> + <br> + The Indian girl was standing outside the corral, listening to all + that was said, her face giving no sign of the struggle between + hope and despair that must have striven within her.<br> + <br> + "Uncle Esmond, let's take her, and take our chances." Beverly's + boyish voice had a defiant tone, for the spirit of adventure was + strong within him. The girl turned quickly and a great light + leaped into her eyes at the boy's words.<br> + <br> + "Save a life and lose ours. It's not the rule of the plains, + but--there's a higher law like that somewhere, Clarenden," Jondo + said, earnestly.<br> + <br> + The girl came swiftly toward Uncle Esmond and stood upright + before him.<br> + <br> + "I will not hide the truth. I go back to Kiowas. They sell me for + big treasure. They will not harm you," she said. "I stay with + you, they say you steal me, and they come at the first bird's + song and kill you every one. They are so many."<br> + <br> + She stood motionless before him, the seal of grim despair on her + young face.<br> + <br> + "What's your name?" Esmond Clarenden asked. "Po-a-be. In your + words, `Little Blue Flower,'" the girl said.<br> + <br> + "Then, Little Blue Flower, you must stay with us."<br> + <br> + She pointed toward the eastern sky where a faint light was + beginning to show above the horizon. "See, the day comes!"<br> + <br> + "Then we will break camp now," my uncle said.<br> + <br> + "Not in the face of this storm, Clarenden," Jondo declared. "You + can fight an Indian. You can't do a thing but 'hold fast' in one + of these hurricanes."<br> + <br> + The air was still and hot. The black cloud swept swiftly onward, + with the weird yellow glow before it. In the solitude of the + plains the trail showed like a ghostly pathway of peril. Before + us loomed that grim rock bluff, behind whose crest lay the + sleeping band of Kiowas. It was only because they slept that + Little Blue Flower could steal away in hope of rescue.<br> + <br> + Hotter grew the air and darker the swiftly rolling clouds; black + and awful stood old Pawnee Rock with the silent menace of its + sleeping enemy. In the stillness of the pause before the storm + burst we heard Jondo's voice commanding us. With our first care + for the frightened stock, we grouped ourselves together as he + ordered close under the bluff.<br> + <br> + Suddenly an angry wind leaped out of the sky, beating back the + hot dead air with gigantic flails of fury. Then the storm broke + with tornado rage and cloudburst floods, and in its track terror + reigned. Beverly and I clung together, and, holding a hand of + each, Mat Nivers crouched beside us, herself strong in this + second test of courage as she had been in the camp that night at + Council Grove.<br> + <br> + I have never been afraid of storms and I can never understand why + timid folk should speak of them as of a living, self-directing + force bent purposely on human destruction. I love the splendor of + the lightning and the thunder's peal. From our earliest years, + Beverly and Mat and I had watched the flood-waters of the + Missouri sweep over the bottomlands, and we had heard the winds + rave, and the cannonading of the angry heavens. But this mad + blast of the prairie storm was like nothing we had ever seen or + heard before. A yellow glare filled the sky, a half-illumined, + evil glow, as if to hide what lay beyond it. One breathed in fine + sand, and tasted the desert dust. Behind it, all copper-green, a + broad, lurid band swept up toward the zenith. Under its weird, + unearthly light, the prairies, and everything upon them, took on + a ghastly hue. Then came the inky-black storm-cloud--long, + funnel-shaped, pendulous--and in its deafening roar and the thick + darkness that could be felt, and the awful sweep of its + all-engulfing embrace, the senses failed and the very breath of + life seemed beaten away. The floods fell in streams, hot, then + suddenly cold. And then a fusillade of hail bombarded the flat + prairies, defenseless beneath the munitions of the heavens. But + in all the wild, mad blackness, in the shriek and crash of maniac + winds, in the swirl of many waters, and chill and fury of the + threshing hail, the law of the trail failed not: "Hold fast." And + with our hands gripped in one another's, we children kept the + law.<br> + <br> + Just at the moment when destruction seemed upon us, the long + swinging cloud--funnel lifted. We heard it passing high above us. + Then it dropped against the face of old Pawnee Rock, that must + have held the trail law through all the centuries of storms that + have beaten against its bold, stern front. One tremendous blast, + one crashing boom, as if the foundations of the earth were broken + loose, and the thing had left us far behind.<br> + <br> + Daylight burst upon us in a moment, and the blue heavens smiled + down on the clean-washed prairies. No homes, no crops, no + orchards were left in ruins in those days to mark the cyclone's + wrath on wilderness trails. As the darkness lifted we gathered + ourselves together to take hold of life again and to defend + ourselves from our human enemy.<br> + <br> + A shower of arrows from the top of the bluff might rain upon us + at any moment, yelling warriors might rush upon us, or a ring of + riders encircle us. It was in times like this that I learned how + quickly men can get the mastery.<br> + <br> + Jondo and Esmond Clarenden did not delay a minute in protecting + the camp and setting it in order, taking inventory of the lost + and searching for the missing. Three of our number, with one of + the ponies, were missing.<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone had crouched in a protected angle at the base of the + bluff, and when we found her she was calmly smoking her pipe.<br> + <br> + "Yo' skeered of this little puff?" she queried. "Yo' bettah see a + simoon on the desset, then. This here--just a racket. What's come + of that little redskin?"<br> + <br> + She was not to be found. Nor was there any trace of Rex Krane + anywhere. In consternation we scanned the prairies far and wide, + but only level green distances were about us, holding no sign of + life. We lived hours in those watching minutes.<br> + <br> + Suddenly Beverly gave a shout, and we saw Little Blue Flower + running swiftly from the sloping side of the bluff toward the + camp. Behind her stalked the young New-Englander.<br> + <br> + "I went up to see what she was in such a hurry for to see," he + explained, simply. "I calculated it would be as interestin' to me + as to her, and if anything was about to cut loose"--he laid a + hand carelessly on his revolver--"why, I'd help it along. The + little pink pansy, it seems, went to look after our friends, the + enemy," Rex went on. "The hail nearly busted that old rock open. + I thought once it had. The ponies are scattered and likewise the + Kiowas. Gone helter-skelter, like the--tornado. The thing hit + hard up there. Some ponies dead, and mebby an Indian or two. I + didn't hunt 'em up. I can't use 'em that way," he added. "So I + just said, 'Pax vobiscum!' and a lot of it, and came kittering + back."<br> + <br> + Little Blue Flower's eyes glistened.<br> + <br> + "Gone, all gone. The rain god drove them away. Now I know I may + go with you. The rain god loves you."<br> + <br> + It was to Beverly, and not to my uncle, that her eyes turned as + she spoke, but he was not even listening to her. To him she was + merely an Indian. She seemed more than that to me, and therein + lay the difference between us.<br> + <br> + If she had been interesting under the starlight, in the light of + day she became picturesque, a beautiful type of her race, silent, + alert of countenance, with big, expressive, black eyes, and long, + heavy braids of black hair. With her brilliant blanket about her + shoulders, a turquoise pendant on a leather band at her throat, + silver bracelets on her brown arms, she was as pleasing as an + Indian maiden could be--adding a touch of picturesque life to + that wonderful journey westward from Pawnee Rock to Santa + Fé. Aunty Boone alone resented her presence among us.<br> + <br> + "You can trust a nigger," she growled, "'cause you know they none + of 'em no 'count. But you can't tell about this Injun, whether + she's good or bad. I lets that sort of fish alone."<br> + <br> + Little Blue Flower looked up at her with steady gaze and made no + reply.<br> + <br> + Out of that morning's events I learned a lasting lesson, and I + know now that the influence of Rex Krane on my life began that + day, as I recalled how he had followed Aunty Boone about the dark + corners of the little trading-post on the Neosho; and how he had + looked at Mat Nivers once when Uncle Esmond had suggested his + turning back to Independence; and how he had gone before all of + us, the vanguard, to the top of the bluff west of Council Grove; + and now he had followed this Indian girl. From that time I knew + in my boy heart that this tall, careless Boston youth had a + zealous care for the safety of women and children. How much care, + events would run swiftly on to show me. But welded into my life + from that hour was the meaning of a man's high, chivalric duty. + And among all the lessons that the old trail taught to me, none + served me more than this one that came to me on that sweet May + morning beneath the shadow of Pawnee Rock. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="VI" id="VI">VI</a><br> + <br> + SPYING OUT THE LAND</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + City of the Holy Faith,<br> + In thy streets so dim with age,<br> + Do I read not Faith's decay,<br> + But the Future's heritage.<br> + -LILIAN WHITING.<br></p> + + <p>Day was passing and the shadows were already beginning to grow + purple in the valleys, long before the golden light had left the + opal-crowned peaks of the Sangre-de-Christo Mountains beyond + them.<br> + <br> + On the wide crest of a rocky ridge our wagons halted. Behind us + the long trail stretched back, past mountain height and + cañon wall, past barren slope and rolling green prairie, + on to where the wooded ravines hem in the Missouri's yellow + floods.<br> + <br> + Before us lay a level plain, edged round with high mesas, over + which snowy-topped mountain peaks kept watch. A sandy plain, + checkered across by verdant-banded arroyos, and splotched with + little clumps of trees and little fields of corn. In the heart of + it all was Santa Fé, a mere group of dust-brown adobe + blocks--silent, unsmiling, expressionless--the city of the + Spanish Mexican, centuries old and centuries primitive.<br> + <br> + As our tired mules slackened their traces and drooped to rest + after the long up-climb, Esmond Clarenden called out:<br> + <br> + "Come here, children. Yonder is the end of the trail."<br> + <br> + We gathered eagerly about him, a picture in ourselves, maybe, in + an age of picturesque things; four men, bronzed and bearded; two + sturdy boys; Mat Nivers, no longer a little girl, it seemed now, + with the bloom of health on her tanned cheeks, and the smile of + good nature in wide gray eyes; beside her, the Indian maiden, + Little Blue Flower, slim, brown, lithe of motion, brief of + speech; and towering back of all, the glistening black face of + the big, silent African woman.<br> + <br> + So we stood looking out toward that northwest plain where the + trail lost itself among the low adobe huts huddled together + beside the glistening waters of the Santa Fé River.<br> + <br> + Rex Krane was the first to speak.<br> + <br> + "So that's what we've come out for to see, is it?" he mused, + aloud. "That's the precious old town that we've dodged Indians, + and shot rattlesnakes, and sunburnt our noses, and rain-soaked + our dress suits for! That's why we've pillowed our heads on the + cushiony cactus and tramped through purling sands, and blistered + our hands pullin' at eider-down ropes, and strained our + leg-muscles goin' down, and busted our lungs comin' up, and + clawed along the top edge of the world with nothin' but healthy + climate between us and the bottom of the bottomless pit. Humph! + That's what you call Santa Fé! 'The city of the Holy + Faith!' Well, I need a darned lot of 'holy faith' to make me see + any city there. It's just a bunch of old yellow brick-kilns to + me, and I 'most wish now I'd stayed back at Independence and + hunted dog-tooth violets along the Big Blue."<br> + <br> + "It's not Boston, if that's what you were looking for; at least + there's no Bunker Hill Monument nor Back Bay anywhere in sight. + But I reckon it's the best they've got. I'm tired enough to take + what's offered and keep still," Bill Banney declared.<br> + <br> + I, too, wanted to keep still. I had only a faint memory of a real + city. It must have been St. Louis, for there was a wharf, and a + steamboat and a busy street, and soft voices--speaking a foreign + tongue. But the pictures I had seen, and the talk I had heard, + coupled with a little boy's keen imagination, had built up a very + different Santa Fé in my mind. At that moment I was + homesick for Fort Leavenworth, through and through homesick, for + the first time since that April day when I had sat on the bluff + above the Missouri River while the vision of the plains descended + upon me. Everything seemed so different to-night, as if a gulf + had widened between us and all the nights behind us.<br> + <br> + We went into camp on the ridge, with the journey's goal in plain + view. And as we sat down together about the fire after supper we + forgot the hardships of the way over which we had come. The pine + logs blazed cheerily, and as the air grew chill we drew nearer + together about them as about a home fireside.<br> + <br> + The long June twilight fell upon the landscape. The piñon + and scrubby cedars turned to dark blotches on the slopes. The + valley swam in a purple mist. The silence of evening was broken + only by a faint bird-note in the bushes, and the fainter call of + some wild thing stealing forth at nightfall from its daytime + retreat. Behind us the mesas and headlands loomed up black and + sullen, but far before us the Sangre-de-Christo Mountains lifted + their glorified crests, with the sun's last radiance bathing them + in crimson floods.<br> + <br> + We sat in silence for a long time, for nobody cared to talk. + Presently we heard Aunty Boone's low, penetrating voice inside + the wagon corral:<br> + <br> + "You pore gob of ugliness! Yo' done yo' best, and it's green corn + and plenty of watah and all this grizzly-gray grass you can stuff + in now. It's good for a mule to start right, same as a man. + Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + The low voice trailed off into weird little whoops of approval. + Then the woman wandered away to the edge of the bluff and sat + until late that night, looking out at the strange, entrancing New + Mexican landscape.<br> + <br> + "To-morrow we put on our best clothes and enter the city," my + uncle broke the silence. "We have managed to pull through so far, + and we intend to keep on pulling till we unload back at + Independence again. But these are unsafe times and we are in an + unsafe country. We are going to do business and get out of it + again as soon as possible. I shall ask you all to be ready to + leave at a minute's notice, if you are coming back with me!"<br> + <br> + "Now you see why I didn't join the army, don't you, Krane?" Bill + Banney said, aside. "I wanted to work under a real general."<br> + <br> + Then turning to my uncle, he added:<br> + <br> + "I'm already contracted for the round trip, Clarenden."<br> + <br> + "You are going to start back just as if there were no dangers to + be met?" Rex Krane inquired.<br> + <br> + "As if there were dangers to be <i>met</i>, not run from," Esmond + Clarenden replied.<br> + <br> + "Clarenden," the young Bostonian began, "you got away from that + drunken mob at Independence with your children, your mules, and + your big Daniel Boone. You started out when war was ragin' on the + Mexican frontier, and never stopped a minute because you had to + come it alone from Council Grove. You shook yourself and family + right through the teeth of that Mexican gang layin' for you back + there. You took Little Trailing Arbutus at Pawnee Rock out of + pure sympathy when you knew it meant a fight at sun-up, six + against fifty. And there would have been a bloody one, too, but + for that merciful West India hurricane bustin' up the show. You + pulled us up the Arkansas River, and straddled the Gloriettas, + with every danger that could ever be just whistlin' about our + ears. And now you sit there and murmur softly that 'we are in an + unsafe country and these are unsafe times,' so we'd better be + toddlin' back home right soon. I want to tell <i>you</i> + something now."<br> + <br> + He paused and looked at Mat Nivers. Always he looked at Mat + Nivers, who since the first blush one noonday long ago, so it + seemed, now, never appeared to know or care where he looked. He + must have had such a sister himself; I felt sure of that now.<br> + <br> + "I want to tell <i>you</i>," Rex repeated, "that I'm goin' to + stay with you. There's something <i>safe</i> about you. And + then," he added, carelessly, as he gazed out toward the darkening + plain below us, "my mother always said you could tie to a man who + was good to children. And you've been good to this infant + Kentuckian here."<br> + <br> + He flung out a hand toward Bill Banney without looking away from + the open West. "When you want to start back to God's country and + the land of Plymouth Rocks and Pawnee Rocks, I'm ready to trot + along."<br> + <br> + "I'm glad to hear you say that, Krane," Esmond Clarenden said. "I + shall need all the help I can get on the way back. Because we got + through safely we cannot necessarily count on a safe return. I + may need you in Santa Fé, too."<br> + <br> + "Then command me," Rex replied.<br> + <br> + He looked toward Mat again, but she and Little Blue Flower were + coiling their long hair in fantastic fashion about their heads, + and laughing like school-girls together.<br> + <br> + Little Blue Flower was as a shy brown fawn following us. She had + a way of copying Mat's manner, and she spoke less of Indian and + Spanish and more of English from day to day. She had laid aside + her Indian dress for one of Mat's neat gingham gowns. I think she + tried hard to forget her race in everything except her prayers, + for her own people had all been slain by Mexican ruffians. We + could not have helped liking her if we had tried to do so. Yet + that invisible race barrier that kept a fixed gulf between us and + Aunty Boone separated us also from the lovable little Indian + lass, albeit the gulf was far less deep and impassable.<br> + <br> + To-night when she and Mat scampered away to the family wagon + together, she seemed somehow to really belong to us.<br> + <br> + Presently Jondo and Rex Krane and Bill and Beverly rolled their + blankets about them and went to sleep, leaving Esmond Clarenden + and myself alone beside the dying fire. The air was sharp and the + night silence deepened as the stars came into the skies.<br> + <br> + "Why don't you go to bed, Gail?" my uncle asked.<br> + <br> + "I'm not sleepy. I'm homesick," I replied. "Come here, boy." He + opened his arms to me, and I nestled in their embrace.<br> + <br> + "You've grown a lot in these two months, little man," he said, + softly. "You are a brave-hearted plainsman, and a good, strong + little limb when it comes to endurance, but just once in a while + all of us need a mothering touch. It keeps us sweet, my boy. It + keeps us sweet and fit to live."<br> + <br> + Oh, many a time in the years that followed did the loving embrace + and the gentle words of this gentle, strong man come back to + comfort me.<br> + <br> + "Let me tell you something, Gail. I'm going to need a boy like + you to help me a lot before we leave Santa Fé, and I shall + count on you."<br> + <br> + Just then a noise at the far side of the corral seemed to disturb + the stock. A faint stir of awakening or surprise--just a hint in + the air. All was still in a moment. Then it came again. We + listened. Something, an indefinite something, somewhere, was + astir. The surprise became unrest, anxiety, fear, among the + mules.<br> + <br> + "Wait here, Gail. I'll see what's up," Uncle Esmond said, in a + low voice.<br> + <br> + He hurried away toward the corral and I slipped back in the + shadow of a rock and leaned against it to wait.<br> + <br> + In the dim beams of a starlit New Mexican sky I could see clearly + out toward the valley, but behind the camp all was darkness. As I + waited, hidden by the shadows, suddenly the flap of the + family-wagon cover lifted and Little Blue Flower slid out as + softly as a cat walks in the dust. She was dressed in her own + Indian garb now, with her bright blanket drawn picturesquely + about her head and shoulders. Silently she moved about the camp, + peering toward the shadows hiding me. Then with noiseless step + she slipped toward where Beverly Clarenden lay, his boyish face + upturned to the stars, sleeping the dreamless sleep of youth and + health. I leaned forward and stared hard as the girl approached + him. I saw her drop down on one knee beside him, and, bending + over him, she gently kissed his forehead. She rose and gave one + hurried look around the place and then, like a bird lifting its + wings for flight, she threw up her arms, and in another moment + she sprang to the edge of the ridge and slipped from view. I + followed, only to see her gliding swiftly away, farther and + farther, along the dim trail, until the shadows swallowed her + from my sight.<br> + <br> + A low whinny from the corral caught my ear, followed by a rush of + horses' feet. As I slipped into my place again to wait for my + uncle to return, the smoldering logs blazed out suddenly, + lighting up the form of a man who appeared just beyond the fire, + so that I saw the face distinctly. Then he, too, was gone, + following the way the Indian girl had taken, until he lost + himself in the misty dullness of the plains.<br> + <br> + Presently Esmond Clarenden came back to the camp-fire.<br> + <br> + "Gail, the pony we lost in that storm at Pawnee Rock has come + back to us. It was standing outside the corral, waiting to get + in, just as if it had lost us for a couple of hours. It is in + good condition, too."<br> + <br> + "How could it ever get here?" I exclaimed.<br> + <br> + "Any one of a dozen ways," my uncle replied. "It may have run far + that stormy morning when it broke out of the corral, and possibly + some party coming over the Cimarron Trail picked it up and roved + on this way. There is no telling how it got here, since it keeps + still itself about the matter. Losing and finding and losing + again is the law of events on the plains."<br> + <br> + "But why should it find us right here to-night, like it had been + led back?" I insisted.<br> + <br> + "That's the miracle of it, Gail. It is always the strange thing + that really happens here. In years to come, if you ever tell the + truth about this trip, it will not be believed. When this isn't + the frontier any longer, the story of the trail will be accounted + impossible."<br> + <br> + Everything seemed impossible to me as I sat there staring at the + dying fire. Presently I remembered what I had seen while my uncle + was away.<br> + <br> + "Little Blue Flower has run away," I said, "and I saw the Mexican + that came to Fort Leavenworth the day before I twisted my ankle. + He slipped by here just a minute ago. I know, for I saw his face + when the logs flared up."<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden gave a start. "Gail, you have the most + remarkable memory for faces of any child I ever knew," he + said.<br> + <br> + "Did he follow us, too, like the pony, or did he ride the pony + after us?" I asked. "He's just everywhere we go, somehow. Did I + ever see him before he came to the fort, or did I dream it?"<br> + <br> + "You are a little dreamer, Gail," my uncle said, kindly. "But + dreams don't hurt, if you do your part whenever you are + needed."<br> + <br> + "Bev and Bill Banney make fun of dreams," I said.<br> + <br> + "Yes, they don't have 'em; but Bev and Bill are ready when it + comes to doing things. They are a good deal alike, daring, and a + bit reckless sometimes, with good hard sense enough to keep them + level."<br> + <br> + "Don't I do, too?" I inquired.<br> + <br> + "Yes, you do and dream, both. That's all the better. But you + mustn't forget, too, that sometimes the things we long for in our + dreams we must fight for, and even die for, maybe, that those who + come after us may be the better for our having them. What was it + you said about Little Blue Flower?" Uncle Esmond had forgotten + her for the moment.<br> + <br> + "She's gone to Santa Fé, I reckon. Is she bad, Uncle + Esmond? Tell me all about things," I urged.<br> + <br> + "We are all here spying out the land, Mexican, Indian, trader, + freighter, adventurer, invalid," Uncle Esmond replied. "I don't + know what started the little Indian girl off, unless she just + felt Indian, as Jondo would say; but I may as well tell you, + Gail, that it may have been the Mexican who got our pony for us. + He is a strange fellow, walks like a cat, has ears like a timber + wolf, and the cunning of a fox."<br> + <br> + "Is he our friend?" I asked, eagerly.<br> + <br> + "Listen, boy. He came to Fort Leavenworth on purpose to bring me + an important message, and he waited at Independence to see us + off. Do you remember the two spies Krane talked about at Council + Grove? I think he followed the Mexican spy across the river to + our camp and sent him on east. Then he went back and got the + crowd all mixed up by his report, while their own man scouted the + trail out there for miles all night. He is the man who put you + through town and decoyed the ruffians to one side. He located us + after we had crossed the river, and then broke up their meeting + and put the fellows off to wait till the next night. That is the + way I worked out that Council Grove puzzle. He has a wide range, + and there are big things ahead for him in New Mexico.<br> + <br> + "Sooner or later however," my uncle went on, "we will have to + reckon with that Kiowa tribe for stealing their captive. They + meant to return her for a big ransom price.... Great Heavens, + Gail! You seem like a man to me to-night instead of my little boy + back at the fort. The plains bring years to us instead of months, + with just one crossing. I am counting on you not to tell all + you've been told and all you've seen. I can be sure of you if you + can keep things to yourself. You'd better get to sleep now. There + will be plenty to see over in Santa Fé. And there is + always danger afoot. But remember, it is the coward who finds the + most trouble in this world. Do your part with a gentleman's heart + and a hero's hand, and you'll get to the end of every trail + safely. Now go to bed."<br> + <br> + Where I lay that night I could see a wide space of star-gemmed + sky, the blue night-sky of the Southwest, and I wondered, as I + looked up into the starry deeps, how God could keep so many + bright bodies afield up there, and yet take time to guard all the + wandering children of men.<br> + <br> + With the day-dawn the strange events of the night seemed as + unreal as the vanishing night-shadows. The bluest skies of a + blue-sky land curved in fathomless majesty over the yellow valley + of the Santa Fé. Against its borders loomed the silent + mountain ranges--purple-shaddowed, silver-topped Ortiz and + Jemez, Sandia and Sangre-de-Christo. Dusty and deserted lay the + trail, save that here and there a group of dark-faced carriers of + firewood prodded on their fagot-laden burros toward the distant + town. As our wagons halted at the sandy borders of an arroyo the + brown-clad form of a priest rose up from the shade of a group of + scrubby piñon-trees beside the trail.<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden lifted his hat in greeting.<br> + <br> + "Are you going our way? We can give you a ride," he paused to + say.<br> + <br> + The man's face was very dark, but it was a young, strong face, + and his large, dark eyes were full of the fire of life. When he + spoke his voice was low and musical.<br> + <br> + "I thank you. I go toward the mountains. You stay here long?"<br> + <br> + "Only to dispose of my goods. My business is brief," Esmond + Clarenden declared.<br> + <br> + The good man leaned forward as if to see each face there, + sweeping in everything at one glance. Then he looked down at the + ground.<br> + <br> + "These are troublesome days. War is only a temporary evil, but it + makes for hate, and hate kills as it dies. Love lives and gives + life." A smile lighted his eyes, though his lips were firm. "I + wish you well. Among friends or enemies the one haven of safety + always is the holy sanctuary."<br> + <br> + Uncle Esmond bowed his head reverently.<br> + <br> + "You will find it beside the trail near the river. The walls are + very old and strong, but not so old as hate, nor so strong as + love. A little street runs from it, crooked--six houses away. + Peace be to all of you." He broke off suddenly and his last + sentence was spoken in a clear, strong tone unlike the gentler + voice.<br> + <br> + "I thank you, Father!" Jondo said, as the priest passed his + wagon.<br> + <br> + The holy man gave him one swift, searching glance. Then lifting + his right hand as if in blessing, and slowly dropping it until + the forefinger pointed toward the west, he passed on his way.<br> + <br> + Jondo's brown cheek flushed and the lines about his mouth grew + hard.<br> + <br> + "Take my place, Bev," he said, as he left his wagon and joined + Esmond Clarenden.<br> + <br> + The two spoke earnestly together. Then Jondo mounted Beverly's + pony.<br> + <br> + "If you need me--" I heard him say, and he turned away and rode + in the direction the priest had taken.<br> + <br> + Uncle Esmond offered no explanation for this sudden action, and + his sunny face was stern.<br> + <br> + Usually wagon-trains were spied out long before they reached the + city, and a rabble attended their entry. To-day we moved along + quietly until the trail became a mere walled lane. On either side + one-story adobe huts sat with their backs to the street. No + windows opened to the front, and only a wooden door or a closed + gateway stared in blank unfriendliness at the passer-by. Little + straggling lanes led off aimlessly on either side, as narrow and + silent as the strange terminal of the long trail itself.<br> + <br> + I was only a boy, with the heart of a boy and the eyes of a boy. + I could only feel; I could not understand the spell of that hour. + But to me everything was alluring, wrapt as it was in the mystery + of a civilization old here when Plymouth Rock felt the first + Pilgrim's foot, or Pawnee Rock stared at the first bold plainsman + of the pale face and the conquering soul.<br> + <br> + I was riding beside Beverly's wagon as we neared the quaint, + centuries-old, adobe church of San Miguel, rising tall and silent + above the low huts about it, its rough walls suggesting a + fortress of strength, while its triple towers might be an outlook + for a guardsman.<br> + <br> + "Look at that church. Bev, I wonder how old it is," I + exclaimed.<br> + <br> + "I should say about a thousand years and a day," Beverly + declared. "See that flopsy steeple thing! It looks like + building-blocks stacked up there."<br> + <br> + "Maybe this is the sanctuary that priest was talking about," I + suggested. "He said the walls were old as hate and strong as + love, with a crooked street beside it somewhere."<br> + <br> + "Oh, you sponge! Soaking up everything you see and hear. I wonder + you sleep nights for fear the wind will tell the pine trees + something you'll miss," Beverly declared. "I can tell a horse's + age by its teeth, but churches don't have teeth. Go and ask Mat + about it. She knows when the De Sotos and Cortéses and all + the other Spanish grandaddees came to Mexico."<br> + <br> + I had just turned back alongside of Mat's wagon--she was always + our book of ready reference--when a little girl suddenly dashed + out of a walled lane opening into the street behind us. She + stopped in the middle of the road, almost under my pony's feet, + then with a shout of laughter she dashed into the deep doorway of + the church and stood there, peering out at me with eyes brimful + of mischief.<br> + <br> + I brought my pony back on its haunches suddenly. I had seen this + girl before. The big dark eyes, the straight little nose, the + curve of the pink cheek, the china-smooth chin and neck, and, + crowning all, the cloud of golden hair shading her forehead and + falling in tangled curls behind.<br> + <br> + I did not notice all these features now. It was only the eyes, + dark eyes, somewhere this side of misty mountain peaks, and maybe + the halo of hair that had been in my vision on that day when + Beverly and Mat Nivers and I sat on the parade-ground facing a + sudden turn in our life trail.<br> + <br> + I stared at the eyes now, only half conscious that the girl was + laughing at me.<br> + <br> + "You big brown bob-cat! You look like you had slept in the Hondo + 'royo all your life," she cried, and turned to run away + again.<br> + <br> + As she did so a dark face peered round the corner of the church + from the crooked street beside it. A sudden gleam of white teeth + and glistening eyes, a sudden leap and grip, and a boy, larger + than Beverly, caught the little girl by the shoulders and shook + her viciously.<br> + <br> + She screamed and struggled. Then, with a wild shriek as he + clutched at her curls, she wrenched herself away and plunged + inside the church. The boy dived in after her. Another scream, + and I had dropped from my pony and leaped across the road. I + pushed open the door against the two struggling together. With + one grip at his coat-collar I broke his hold on the little girl + and flung him outside.<br> + <br> + I have a faint recollection of a priest hurrying down the aisle + toward the fighting children, as the little girl, freed from her + assailant, dashed out of the door.<br> + <br> + "He jumped at her first, and shook her and pulled her hair," I + cried, as the priest caught me by the shoulder. "I'm not going to + see anybody pitched into, not a little girl, anyhow."<br> + <br> + I jerked myself free from his grasp and ran out to my pony. At + the corner of the church stood the girl, her cheeks flushed, her + eyes blazing defiance, her rumpled curls in a tangle about her + face.<br> + <br> + "I hate Marcos, he's so cruel, and"--her voice softened and the + defiant eyes grew mischievous--"you aren't a bob-cat. You're + a--Look out!"<br> + <br> + She shouted the last words and disappeared up the narrow, crooked + street, just as a fragment of rock whizzed over my shoulder. I + jumped on my pony to dash away, when another rock just missed my + head, and I saw the boy, Marcos, beside the church, ready for a + third hurl. His black eyes flashed fire, and the grin of malice + on his face showed all his fine white teeth.<br> + <br> + I was as mad as a boy can be. Instead of fleeing, I spurred my + pony straight at him.<br> + <br> + "You little beast, I dare you to throw that rock at me! I dare + you!" I cried.<br> + <br> + The boy dropped the missile and sped away after the girl. I + followed in time to see them enter a doorway, six or seven houses + up the way. Then I turned back, and in a minute I had overtaken + our wagons trailing down to the ford of the Santa Fé + River.<br> + <br> + "I thought mebby you'd gone back after Jondo and that holy + podder," Rex Krane greeted me. "Better begin to wink naturally + and look a little pleasanter now. We'll be in the Plazzer in two + or three minutes."<br> + <br> + The drivers flourished their whips, the mules caught their + spirit, and with bump and lurch and rattle we swung down the + narrow crack between adobe walls that ended before the old + Exchange Hotel at the corner of the Plaza.<br> + <br> + This open square in the center of the city was shaded by trees + and littered with refuse. The Palace of the Governors fronted it + along the entire north side, a long, low, one-story structure + whose massive adobe walls defy the wearing years. Compared to the + kingly palaces of my imagination, this royal dwelling seemed a + very commonplace thing, and the wide portal, or veranda, that ran + along its front looked like one of the sheds about the barracks + at the fort rather than an entranceway for rulers. Yet this was + the house of a ruler hostile to that flag to which I had thrown a + good-by kiss, up at Fort Leavenworth.<br> + <br> + On the other three sides of the Plaza were other low adobe + buildings, for the business of the city faced this central + square.<br> + <br> + A crowd was gathered there when we reached it. Somebody standing + before the Palace of the Governors was haranguing in fiery + Spanish, if gesture and oral vehemence are true tokens.<br> + <br> + As our wagons rumbled up to the corner of the square the crowd + broke up with a shout.<br> + <br> + "Los Americanos! Los Carros!"<br> + <br> + The cry went up everywhere as the rabble left the speaker to + flock about us--men, women, children, Mexican, Spanish, Indian, + with now and then a Saxon face among them. Our outfit was as well + appointed as such a journey's end permitted. We were in our best + clothes--clean-shaven gentlemen, well-dressed boys, and one girl, + neat and comely in a dark-blue gown of thin stuff with white lace + at throat and wrist; and last, and biggest of all, Aunty Boone, + in a bright-green lawn with little white dots all over it.<br> + <br> + As I sat on my pony beside my uncle's wagon, I caught sight of + the slim figure of Little Blue Flower, well back in the shade of + the Plaza. She was watching Beverly, who sat in Jondo's wagon, + staring at the crowd and seeing no one in particular. A minute + later a tall young Indian boy stepped in front of her, and when + he moved away she was gone.<br> + <br> + Many men came forward to greet Esmond Clarenden, and there were + many inquiries regarding his goods and many exclamations of + surprise that he had come alone with so valuable a cargo.<br> + <br> + It was the first time that Beverly and I had seen him among his + equals. At Fort Leavenworth, where the army overruled everything + else, men stood above him in authority or below him in business + affairs; and while he never cringed to the one, nor patronized + the other, where there are no competitors there are no true + measures. That day in the Plaza of Santa Fé the merchant + was in his own kingdom, where commerce stood above everything + else.<br> + <br> + Moreover, this American merchant, following a danger-girt trail, + had come in fearlessly, and those men of the Plaza knew that he + was one to exact value for value in all his dealings. But I + believe that his real power lay in his ready smile, his courtesy, + his patience, and his up-bubbling good nature that made him a + friendship-builder.<br> + <br> + Among the men who came to make acquaintance with the American + trader was a Mexican merchant. Evidently he was a man of some + importance, for an interpreter hastened to introduce him, + explaining that this man had been away on a journey of some weeks + among the mines of New Mexico and the Southwest, and only the day + before he had come in from Taos.<br> + <br> + "You will find him a prince of merchants, a sound, unprejudiced + business man. His name is Felix Narveo," the American interpreter + added.<br> + <br> + The two men shook hands, greeting each other in the Spanish + tongue. This Felix Narveo was well dressed and well groomed, but + I recognized him at once as the Mexican of Fort Leavenworth and + Independence and Council Grove.<br> + <br> + There was one man in that company, however, who did not come + forward at all. When I first caught sight of him he was looking + at me. I stared back at him with a boy's curiosity, but he did + not take his eyes from me until I had dropped my own. After that + I watched him keenly. He seemed almost too fair for a Mexican--a + tall, spare-built man with black hair, and eyes so steely blue + that they were almost black. Everywhere I saw him--at the corners + of the little crowd and in the thick of it. He was an easy mark, + for he towered above the rest, and, being slender, he seemed to + worm his way quickly from place to place. At sight of him, Aunty + Boone, who had been peering out with shining eyes, drew her head + in as quick as a snake, under the shadow of the wagon cover, and + her eyes grew dull. He had not seen her, but I could see that he + was watching the remainder of us, and especially my uncle; and I + began to feel afraid of him and to wish that he would leave the + Plaza. It was years ago that all this happened, and yet to-day my + fear of that man still sticks in my memory.<br> + <br> + When he turned away, suddenly I caught sight of the boy, whom I + had flung out of the church, standing behind him, the boy whom + the little girl had called Marcos. Although his face was dark and + the man's was fair, there was a strong likeness between the + two.<br> + <br> + This Marcos stared insolently at all of us. Then with a laugh and + a grimace at me, he ran after the man and they disappeared + together around the corner of the Palace of the Governors. And in + the rush of strange sights I forgot them both for a time. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="VII" id="VII">VII</a><br> + <br> + "SANCTUARY"</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + Our dwelling-place in all generations.--Psalms xc, 1.</p> + + <p><br> + They are wonderful to me still--those few brief days that + followed. While Esmond Clarenden was forcing his business + transactions to a speedy climax, he was all the time foreseeing + Santa Fé under the United States Government. He had not + come here as a spy, nor a speculator, but as a commerce-builder, + knowing that the same business life would go on when the war + cloud lifted, and that the same men who had made the plains + commerce profitable under the Mexican flag would not be exiled + when the Stars and Stripes should float above the old Palace of + the Governors. Belief in the ethics of his calling and trust in + manhood were ever a large part of his stock in trade, making him + dare to go where he chose to go, and to do what he willed to + do.<br> + <br> + But no concern for commerce nor extension of national territory + disturbed our young minds in those sunlit days, as Mat and + Beverly and I looked with the big, quick-seeing eyes of youth on + this new strange world at the end of the trail.<br> + <br> + We were all together in the deserted dining-room on our first + evening in Santa Fé when the man whom I had seen on the + Plaza strolled leisurely in. He sat down at one of the farthest + tables from us, and his eyes, glistening like blue-black steel, + were fixed on us.<br> + <br> + Once at Fort Leavenworth I had watched in terror as a bird + fluttered helplessly toward a still, steel-eyed snake holding it + in thrall. And just at the moment when its enemy was ready to + strike, Jondo had happened by and shot the snake's head off. The + same terror possessed me now, and I began half-consciously to + long for Jondo.<br> + <br> + In the midst of new sights I had hardly thought of him since he + had left us out beyond the big arroyo. He had come into town at + dusk, but soon after supper he had disappeared. His face was very + pale, and his eyes had a strange look that never left them again. + Something was different in Jondo from that day, but it did not + change his gentle nature toward his fellow-men. During our short + stay in Santa Fé we hardly saw him at all. We children + were too busy with other things to ask questions, and everybody + but Rex Krane was too busy to be questioned. Having nothing else + to do, Rex became our chaperon, as Uncle Esmond must have + foreseen he would be when he measured the young man in + Independence on the day we left there.<br> + <br> + To-night Esmond Clarenden, smiling and good-natured, paid no heed + to the sharp eyes of this stranger fixed on him.<br> + <br> + "What's the matter now, little weather-vane? You are always first + to sense a coming change," he declared.<br> + <br> + "Uncle Esmond, I saw that man watching us like he knew us, out + there on the Plaza to-day. Who is he?" I asked, in a low + tone.<br> + <br> + "His name is Ferdinand Ramero. You will find him watching + everywhere. Let that man alone as you would a snake," my uncle + warned us.<br> + <br> + "Is that his boy?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "What boy?" Uncle Esmond inquired.<br> + <br> + "Marcos, the boy I pitched endways out of the church. He's bigger + than Bev, too," I declared, proudly.<br> + <br> + "Gail Clarenden, are you crazy?" Uncle Esmond exclaimed.<br> + <br> + "No, I'm not," I insisted, and then I told what had happened at + the church, adding, "I saw Marcos with that man in the Plaza, and + they went away together."<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden's face grew grave.<br> + <br> + "What kind of a looking child was she, Gail?" he asked, after a + pause.<br> + <br> + "Oh, she had yellow hair and big sort of dark eyes! She could + squeal like anything. She wasn't a baby girl at all, but a + regular little fighter kind of a girl."<br> + <br> + I grew bashful all at once and hesitated, but my uncle did not + seem to hear me, for he turned to Rex Krane and said, in low, + earnest tones:<br> + <br> + "Krane, if you can locate that child for me you will do me an + invaluable service. It was largely on her account that I came + here now, and it's a god-send to have a fellow like you to save + time for me. Every man has his uses. Your service will be a big + one to me."<br> + <br> + The young man's face flushed and his eyes shone with a new + light.<br> + <br> + "If any of you happen to see that girl let me know at once," my + uncle said, turning to us, "but, remember, don't act as if you + were hunting for her."<br> + <br> + "I know now right where she lives. It's up a crooked street by + that church. I saw her run in there," I insisted.<br> + <br> + "Every hut looks like every other hut, and every little Mex looks + like every other little Mex," Beverly declared.<br> + <br> + Uncle Esmond smiled, but the stern lines in his face hardly broke + as he said, earnestly, "Keep your eyes open and, whatever you do, + stay close to Krane while Bill helps me here, and don't forget to + watch for that little girl when you are sight-seeing."<br> + <br> + "There's not much to see, as Bev says, but the outside of 'dobe + walls five feet thick," Rex Krane observed. "But if you know + which wall to look through, the lookin' may be easy enough. + Seein' things is my specialty, and we'll get this princess if we + have to slay a giant and an ogre and take a few dozen Mexican + scalps first. The plot just thickens. It's a great game." The + tall New-Englander would not take life seriously anywhere, and, + with our trust in his guardianship, we could want no better + chaperon.<br> + <br> + That night Beverly Clarenden and I were in fairyland.<br> + <br> + "It's the princess, Bev, the princess we were looking for," I + joyously asserted. "And, oh, Bev, she is beautiful, but + snappy-like, too. She called me a 'big brown bob-cat', and then + she apologized, just as nice as could be."<br> + <br> + "And this little Marcos cuss, he'll be the ogre," Beverly + declared. "But who'll we have for the giant? That priest, footing + it out by that dry creek-thing they call a 'royo?"<br> + <br> + "Oh no, no! He and Jondo made up together, and Jondo's nobody's + bad man even in a story. It will be that Ferdinand Ramero," I + insisted. "But, say, Bev, Jondo wrote a new name on the register + this evening, or somebody wrote it for him, maybe. It wasn't his + own writing. 'Jean Deau.' I saw it in big, round, back-slanting + letters. Why did he do that?"<br> + <br> + "Well, I reckon that's his real name in big, round, back-slanting + letters down here," Beverly replied. "It's French, and we have + just been spelling it like it sounds, that's all."<br> + <br> + "Well, maybe so," I commented, and when I fell asleep it was to + dream of a princess and Jondo by a strange name, but the same + Jondo.<br> + <br> + The air of New Mexico puts iron into the blood. The trail life + had hardened us all, but the finishing touch for Rex Krane came + in the invigorating breath of that mountain-cooled, sun-cleansed + atmosphere of Santa Fé. Shrewd, philosophic, brave-hearted + like his historic ancestry, he laid his plans carefully now, sure + of doing what he was set to do. And the wholesome sense of really + serving the man who had measured his worth at a glance gave him a + pleasure he had not known before. Of course, he moved slowly and + indifferently. One could never imagine Rex Krane hurrying about + anything.<br> + <br> + "We'll just 'prospect,' as Daniel Boone says," he declared, as he + marshaled us for the day. "We are strangers, sight-seein', got no + other business on earth, least of all any to take us up to this + old San Miguel Church for unholy purposes. 'Course if we see a + pretty little dark-eyed, golden-haired lassie anywhere, we'll + just make a diagram of the spot she's stand'n' on, for future + reference. We're in this game to win, but we don't do no foolish + hurryin' about it."<br> + <br> + So we wandered away, a happy quartet, and the city offered us + strange sights on every hand. It was all so old, so different, so + silent, so baffling--the narrow, crooked street; the solid + house-walls that hemmed them in; the strange tongue, strange + dress, strange customs; the absence of smiling faces or friendly + greetings; the sudden mystery of seeking for one whom we must not + seem to seek, and the consciousness of an enemy, Ferdinand + Ramero, whom we must avoid--that it is small wonder that we lived + in fairyland.<br> + <br> + We saw the boy, Marcos, here and there, sometimes staring + defiantly at us from some projected angle; sometimes slipping out + of sight as we approached; sometimes quarreling with other + children at their play. But nowhere, since the moment when I had + seen the door close on her up that crooked street beside the old + church, could we find any trace of the little girl.<br> + <br> + In the dim morning light of our fifth day in Santa Fé, a + man on horseback, carrying a big, bulky bundle in his arms, + slipped out of the crooked, shadow-filled street beside the old + church of San Miguel. He halted a moment before the structure and + looked up at the ancient crude spire outlined against the sky, + then sped down the narrow way by the hotel at the end of the + trail. He crossed the Plaza swiftly and dashed out beyond the + Palace of the Governors and turned toward the west.<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone, who slept in the family wagon--or under it--in the + inclosure at the rear of the hotel, had risen in time to peer out + of the wooden gate just as the rider was passing. It was still + too dark to see the man's face distinctly, but his form, and the + burden he carried, and the trappings of the horse she noted + carefully, as was her habit.<br> + <br> + "Up to cussedness, that man is. Mighty long an' slim. Lemme see! + Humph! I know <i>him</i>. I'll go wake up somebody."<br> + <br> + As the woman leaned far out of the gate she caught sight of a + little Indian girl crouching outside of the wall.<br> + <br> + "You got no business here, you, Little Blue Flower! Where do you + live when you <i>do</i> live?"<br> + <br> + Little Blue Flower pointed toward the west.<br> + <br> + "Why you come hangin' 'round here?" the African woman + demanded.<br> + <br> + "Father Josef send me to help the people who help me," she said, + in her soft, low voice.<br> + <br> + "Go back to your own folks, then, and tell your Daddy Joseph a + man just stole a big bunch of something and rode south with it. + He can look after that man. We can get along somehow. Now + go."<br> + <br> + The voice was like a growl, and the little Indian maiden shrank + back in the shadow of the wall. The next minute Aunty Boone was + rapping softly on the door of the room whose guest had registered + as Jean Deau. Ten minutes later another horseman left the street + beside the hotel and crossed the Plaza, riding erect and + open-faced as only Jondo could ride. Then the African woman + sought out Rex Krane, and in a few brief sentences told him what + had been taking place. All of which Rex was far too wise to + repeat to Beverly and me.<br> + <br> + That afternoon it happened that we left Mat Nivers at the hotel, + while Rex Krane and Beverly and I strolled out of town on a + well-beaten trail leading toward the west.<br> + <br> + "It looks interestin'. Let's go on a ways," Rex commented, + lazily.<br> + <br> + Nobody would have guessed from his manner but that he was + indulgently helping us to have a good time with certain + restriction as to where we should go, and what we might say, nor + that, of the three, he was the most alert and full of definite + purpose.<br> + <br> + We sat down beside the way as a line of burros loaded with + firewood from the mountains trailed slowly by, with their + stolid-looking drivers staring at us in silent + unfriendliness.<br> + <br> + The last driver was the tall young Indian boy whom I had seen + standing in front of Little Blue Flower in the crowd of the + Plaza. He paid no heed to our presence, and his face was + expressionless as he passed us.<br> + <br> + "Stupid as his own burro, and not nearly so handsome," Beverly + commented.<br> + <br> + The boy turned quietly and stared at my cousin, who had not meant + to be overheard. Nobody could read the meaning of that look, for + his face was as impenetrable as the adobe walls of the Palace of + the Governors.<br> + <br> + "Bev, you are laying up trouble. An Indian never forgets, and + you'll be finding that fellow under your pillow every night till + he gets your scalp," Rex Krane declared, as we went on our + way.<br> + <br> + Beverly laughed and stiffened his sturdy young arms.<br> + <br> + "He's welcome to it if he can get it," he said, carelessly. "How + many million miles do we go to-day, Mr. Krane?"<br> + <br> + "Yonder is your terminal," Rex replied, pointing to a little + settlement of mud huts huddling together along the trail. "They + call that little metropolis Agua Fria--'pure water'--because + there ain't no water there. It's the last place to look for + anybody. That's why we look there. You will go in like gentlemen, + though--and don't be surprised nor make any great noise over + anything you see there. If a riot starts I'll do the + startin'."<br> + <br> + Carelessly as this was said, we understood the command behind + it.<br> + <br> + Near the village, I happened to glance back over the way we had + come, and there, striding in, soft-footed as a cat behind us, was + that young Indian. I turned again just as we reached the first + straggling houses at the outskirts of the settlement, but he had + disappeared.<br> + <br> + It was a strange little village, this Agua Fria. Its squat + dwellings, with impenetrable adobe walls, had sat out there on + the sandy edge of the dry Santa Fé River through many and + many a lagging decade; a single trail hardly more than a + cart-width across ran through it. A church, mud-walled and + ancient, rose above the low houses, but of order or uniformity of + outline there was none. Hands long gone to dust had shaped those + crude dwellings on this sunny plain where only man decays, though + what he builds endures.<br> + <br> + Nobody was in sight and there was something awesome in the very + silence everywhere. Rex lounged carelessly along, as one who had + no particular aim in view and was likely to turn back at any + moment. But Beverly and I stared hard in every direction.<br> + <br> + At the end of the village two tiny mud huts, separated from each + other by a mere crack of space, encroached on this narrow way + even a trifle more than the neighboring huts. As we were passing + these a soft Hopi voice called:<br> + <br> + "Beverly! Beverly!" And Little Blue Flower, peeping shyly out + from the narrow opening, lifted a warning hand.<br> + <br> + "The church! The church!" she repeated, softly, then darted out + of sight, as if the brown wall were but thick brown vapor into + which she melted.<br> + <br> + "Why, it's our own little girl!" Beverly exclaimed, with a smile, + just as Little Blue Flower turned away, but I am sure she caught + his words and saw his smile.<br> + <br> + We would have called to her, but Rex Krane evidently did not hear + her, for he neither halted nor turned his head. So, remembering + our command to be quiet, we passed on.<br> + <br> + "I guess we are about to the end of this 'pure water' resort. + It's gettin' late. Let's go back home now," our leader said, + dispiritedly. So we turned back toward Santa Fé.<br> + <br> + At the narrow opening where we had seen Little Blue Flower the + young Indian boy stood upright and motionless, and again he gave + no sign of seeing us.<br> + <br> + "Let's just run over to that church a minute while we are here. + Looks interestin' over there," Rex suggested.<br> + <br> + I wondered if he could have heard Little Blue Flower, and thought + her suggestion was a good one, or if this was a mere whim of + his.<br> + <br> + The church, a crude mission structure, stood some distance from + the trail. As we entered a priest came forward to meet us.<br> + <br> + "Can I serve you?" he asked.<br> + <br> + The voice was clear and sweet--the same voice that we had heard + out beyond the arroyo southeast of town, the same face, too, that + we had seen, with the big dark eyes full of fire. Involuntarily I + recalled how his hand had pointed to the west when he had + pronounced a blessing that day.<br> + <br> + "Thank you, Father--" Rex began.<br> + <br> + "Josef," the holy man said.<br> + <br> + "Yes, thank you, Father Josef. We are just looking at things. No + wish to be rude, you know."<br> + <br> + Rex lifted his cap and stood bareheaded in the priestly + presence.<br> + <br> + Father Josef smiled.<br> + <br> + "Look here, then."<br> + <br> + He led us up the aisle to where, cuddled down on a crude seat, a + little girl lay asleep. Her golden hair fell like a cloud about + her face, flowing over the edge of the seat almost to the floor. + Her cheeks were pink and warm, and her dimpled white hands were + clasped together. I had caught Mat Nivers napping many a time, + but never in my life had I seen anything half so sweet as this + sleeping girl in the beauty of her innocence. And I knew at a + glance that this was the same girl whom I had seen before at the + door of the old Church of San Miguel.<br> + <br> + "Same as grown-ups when the sermon is dull. Thank you, Father + Josef. It's a pretty picture. We must be goin' now." Rex Krane + dropped some silver in the priest's hand and we left the + church.<br> + <br> + At the door we passed the Indian boy again, and a third time he + gave no sign of seeing us. I was the only one who was troubled, + however, for Rex and Beverly did not seem to notice him. As we + left the village I caught sight of him again following behind + us.<br> + <br> + "Look there, Bev," I said, in a low voice. Beverly glanced back, + then turned and stared defiantly at the boy.<br> + <br> + "Maybe Rex knows about Indians," he said, lightly. "That's three + times I found him fooling around in less than an hour, but my + scalp is still hanging over one ear."<br> + <br> + He pushed back his cap and pulled at his bright brown locks. + Happy Bev! How headstrong, brave, and care-free he walked the + plains that day.<br> + <br> + The evening shadows were lengthening and the peaks of the + Sangre-de-Christo range were taking on the scarlet stains of + sunset when we raced into town at last. Rex Krane went at once to + find Uncle Esmond, and Beverly and I hurried to the hotel to tell + Mat of all that we had seen.<br> + <br> + Her gray eyes were glowing when she met us at the door and led us + into a corner where we could talk by ourselves.<br> + <br> + "Uncle Esmond has sold everything to that Mexican merchant, Felix + Narveo, and we are going to start home just as soon as he can + find that little girl."<br> + <br> + "Oh, we've found her! We've found her!" Beverly burst out. But + Mat hushed him at once.<br> + <br> + "Don't yell it to the sides, Beverly Clarenden. Now listen!" Mat + dropped her voice almost to a whisper. "He's going to take that + little girl back with us as far as Fort Leavenworth, and then + send her on to St. Louis where she has some folks, I guess."<br> + <br> + "Isn't he a clipper, though," Beverly exclaimed.<br> + <br> + "But what if the Indians should get us?" I asked, anxiously. "I + heard the colonel at Fort Leavenworth just give it to Uncle + Esmond one night for bringing us."<br> + <br> + "You are safe or you are not safe everywhere. And if we got in + here I reckon we can get out," Mat reasoned, philosophically. + "And Uncle Esmond isn't afraid and he's set on doing it. We + aren't going to take any goods back, so we can travel lots + faster, and everything will be put in the wagons so we can grab + out what's worth most in a hurry if we have to."<br> + <br> + So we talked matters over now as we had done on that April day + out on the parade-ground at Fort Leavenworth. But now we knew + something of what might be before us on that homeward journey. + Thrilling hours those were. It is no wonder that, schooled by + their events, young as we were, we put away childish things.<br> + <br> + That night while we slept things happened of which we knew + nothing for many years. There was no moon and the glaring yellow + daytime plain was full of gray-edged shadows, under the far stars + of a midnight blue sky, as Esmond Clarenden took the same trail + that we had followed in the afternoon. On to the village of Agua + Fria, black and silent, he rode until he came to the church door. + Here he dismounted, and, quickly securing his horse, he entered + the building. The chill midnight wind swept in through the open + door behind him, threatening to blot out the flickering candles + about the altar. Father Josef came slowly down the aisle to meet + him, while a tall man, crouching like a beast about to spring, + rather than a penitent at prayer, shrank down in the shadowy + corner inside the doorway.<br> + <br> + The merchant, solid and square-built and fearless, stood before + the young priest baring his head as he spoke.<br> + <br> + "I come on a grave errand, good Father. This afternoon my two + nephews and a young man from New England came in here and saw a + child asleep under protection of this holy sanctuary. That + child's name is Eloise St. Vrain. I had hoped to find her mother + able to care for her. She--cannot do it, as you know. I must do + it for her now. I come here to claim what it is my duty to + protect."<br> + <br> + At these words the crouching figure sprang up and Ferdinand + Ramero, his steel-blue eyes blazing, came forward with cat-like + softness. But the sturdy little man before the priest stood, hat + in hand, undisturbed by any presence there.<br> + <br> + "Father Josef," the tall man began, in a voice of menace, "you + will not protect this American here. I have confessed to you and + you know that this man is my enemy. He comes, a traitor to his + own country and a spy to ours. He has risked the lives of three + children by bringing them across the plains. He comes alone where + large wagon-trains dare not venture. He could not go back to the + States now. And lastly, good Father, he has no right to the child + that he claims is here."<br> + <br> + "To the child that is here, asleep beside our sacred altar," + Father Josef said, sternly.<br> + <br> + Ferdinand Ramero turned upon the priest fiercely.<br> + <br> + "Even the Church might go too far," he muttered, + threateningly.<br> + <br> + "It might, but it never has," the holy man agreed. Then turning + to Esmond Clarenden, he continued: "You must see that these + charges do not stand against you. Our Holy Church offers no + protection, outside of these four walls, to a traitor or a spy or + even an unpatriotic speculator seeking to profit by the needs of + war. Nor could it sanction giving the guardianship of a child to + one who daringly imperils his own life or the lives of children, + nor can it sanction any rights of guardianship unless due cause + be given for granting them."<br> + <br> + Ferdinand Ramero smiled as the priest concluded. He was a + handsome man, with the sort of compelling magnetism that gives + controlling power to its possessor. But because I knew my uncle + so well in after years, I can picture Esmond Clarenden as he + stood that night before the young priest in the little mud-walled + church of Agua Fria. And I can picture the tall, threatening man + in the shadows beside him. But never have I held an image of him + showing a sign of fear.<br> + <br> + "Father Josef, I am willing to make any explanation to you. As + for this man whom you call Ramero here--up in the States he bears + another name and I finished with him there six years ago--I have + no time nor breath to waste on him. Are these your demands?" my + uncle asked.<br> + <br> + "They are," Father Josef replied.<br> + <br> + "Do I take away the little girl, Eloise, unmolested, if you are + satisfied?" Esmond Clarenden demanded, first making sure of his + bargain, like the merchant he was.<br> + <br> + Ferdinand Ramero stiffened insolently at these words, and looked + threateningly at Father Josef.<br> + <br> + "You do," the holy man replied, something of the flashing light + in his eyes alone revealing what sort of a soldier the State had + lost when this man took on churchly orders.<br> + <br> + "I am no traitor to my flag, since my full commerical + purpose was known and sanctioned by the military authority at + Fort Leavenworth before I left there. I brought no aid to my + country's enemy because my full cargo was bargained for by your + merchant, Felix Narveo, before the declaration of war was made. I + merely acted as his agent bringing his own to him. I have come + here as a spy only in this--that I shall profit in strictly + legitimate business by the knowledge I hold of commercial + conditions and my acquaintance with your citizens when this war + for territory ends, no matter how its results may run. I deal in + wholesome trade, not in human hate. I offer value for value, not + blood for blood."<br> + <br> + Up to this time a smile had lighted the merchant's eyes. But now + his voice lowered, and the lines about his mouth hardened.<br> + <br> + "As to the guardianship of children, Father Josef, I am a + bachelor who for nearly nine years have given a home, education, + support, and affection to three orphan children, until, though + young in years, they are wise and capable. So zealous was I for + their welfare, that when word came to me--no matter how--that a + company of Mexicans were on their way to Independence, Missouri, + ostensibly to seek the protection of the United States Government + and to settle on the frontier there, but really to seize these + children in my absence, and carry them into the heart of old + Mexico, I decided at once that they would be safer with me in New + Mexico than without me in Missouri.<br> + <br> + "In the night I passed this Mexican gang at Council Grove, + waiting to seize me in the morning. At Pawnee Rock a storm + scattered a band of Kiowa Indians to whom these same Mexicans had + given a little Indian slave girl as a reward for attacking our + train if the Mexicans should fail to get us themselves. Through + every peril that threatens that long trail we came safely because + the hand of the Lord preserved us."<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden paused, and the priest bowed a moment in + prayer.<br> + <br> + "If I have dared fate in this journey," the merchant went on, "it + was not to be foolhardy, nor for mere money gains, but to keep my + own with me, and to rescue the daughter of Mary St. Vrain, of + Santa Fé, and take her to a place of safety. It was her + mother's last pleading call, as you, Father Josef, very well + know, since you yourself heard her last words and closed her dead + eyes. Under the New Mexican law, the guardianship of her property + rests with others. Mine is the right to protect her and, by the + God of heaven, I mean to do it!"<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden's voice was deep and powerful now, filling the + old church with its vehemence.<br> + <br> + Up by the altar, the little girl sat up suddenly and looked about + her, terrified by the dim light and the strange faces there.<br> + <br> + "Don't be afraid, Eloise."<br> + <br> + How strangely changed was this gentle tone from the vehement + voice of a moment ago.<br> + <br> + The little girl sprang up and stared hard at the speaker. But no + child ever resisted that smile by which Esmond Clarenden held + Beverly and me in loving obedience all the days of our lives with + him.<br> + <br> + Shaking with fear as she caught sight of Ferdinand Ramero, the + girl reached out her hands toward the merchant, who put his arm + protectingly about her. The big, dark eyes were filled with + tears; the head with its sunny ripples of tangled hair leaned + against him for a moment. Then the fighting spirit came back to + her, so early in her young life had the need for defending + herself been forced upon her.<br> + <br> + "Where have I been? Where am I going?" she demanded.<br> + <br> + "You are going with me now," Uncle Esmond said, softly.<br> + <br> + "And never have to fight Marcos any more? Oh, good, good, good! + Let's go now!"<br> + <br> + She frowned darkly at Ferdinand Ramero, and, clutching tightly at + Esmond Clarenden's hands, she began pulling him toward the open + door.<br> + <br> + "Eloise," Father Josef said, "you are about to go away with this + good man who will be a father to you. Be a good child as your + mother would want you to be." His musical voice was full of + pathos.<br> + <br> + Eloise dropped her new friend's hand and sprang down the + aisle.<br> + <br> + "I will be good, Father Josef," she said, squeezing his dark hand + between her fair little palms. Then, tossing back the curls from + her face, she reached up a caressing hand to his cheek.<br> + <br> + Father Josef stooped and kissed her white forehead, and turned + hastily toward the altar.<br> + <br> + "Esmond Clarenden!" It was Ferdinand Ramero who spoke, his sharp, + bitter voice filling the church.<br> + <br> + "By order of this priest Eloise St. Vrain is yours to protect so + long as you stay within these walls. The minute you leave them + you reckon with me."<br> + <br> + Father Josef whirled about quickly, but the man made a scoffing + gesture.<br> + <br> + "I brought this child here for protection this morning. But for + that sickly Yankee and two inquisitive imps of boys she would + have been safe here. I acknowledge sanctuary privilege. Use it as + long as you choose in the church of Agua Fria. Set but a foot + outside these walls and I say again you reckon with me."<br> + <br> + His tall form thrust itself menacingly before the little man and + his charge clinging to his arm.<br> + <br> + "Set but a foot outside these walls and <i>you</i> will reckon + with <i>me</i>."<br> + <br> + It was Jondo's clear voice, and the big plainsman, towering up + suddenly behind Ferdinand Ramero, filled the doorway.<br> + <br> + "You meant to hide in the old Church of San Miguel because it is + so near to the home where you have kept this little girl. But + Gail Clarenden blocked your game and found your house and this + child in the church door before our wagon-train had reached the + end of the trail. You found this church your nearest refuge, + meaning to leave it again early in the morning. I have waited + here for you all day, protected by the same means that brought + word to Santa Fé this morning. Come out now if you wish. + You dare not follow me to the States, but I dare to come to your + land. Can you meet me here?" Jondo was handsome in his sunny + moods. In his anger he was splendid.<br> + <br> + Ferdinand Ramero dropped to a seat beside Father Josef.<br> + <br> + "I have told you I cannot face that man. I will stay here now," + he said, in a low voice to the priest. "But I do not stay here + always, and I can send where I do not follow," he added, + defiantly.<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden was already on his horse with his little charge, + snugly wrapped, in his arms.<br> + <br> + Father Josef at the portal lifted his hand in sign of + blessing.<br> + <br> + "Peace be with you. Do not tarry long," he said. Then, turning to + Jondo, he gazed into the strong, handsome face. "Go in peace. He + will not follow. But forget not to love even your enemies."<br> + <br> + In the midnight dimness Jondo's bright smile glowed with all its + courageous sweetness.<br> + <br> + "I finished that fight long ago," he said. "I come only to help + others."<br> + <br> + Long these two, priest and plainsman, stood there with clasped + hands, the gray night mists of the Santa Fé Valley round + about them and all the far stars of the midnight sky gleaming + above them. Then Jondo mounted his horse and rode away up the + trail toward Santa Fé. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="VIII" id="VIII">VIII</a><br> + <br> + THE WILDERNESS CROSSROADS</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + I will even make a way in the wilderness. --ISAIAH.</p> + + <p><br> + Bent's fort stood alone in the wide wastes of the upper Arkansas + valley. From the Atlantic to the Pacific shores there was in + America no more isolated spot holding a man's home. Out on the + north bank of the Arkansas, in a grassy river bottom, with + rolling treeless plains rippling away on every hand, it reared + its high yellow walls in solitary defiance, mute token of the + white man's conquering hand in a savage wilderness. It was a + great rectangle built of adobe brick with walls six feet through + at the base, sloping to only a third of that width at the top, + eighteen feet from the ground. Round bastions, thirty feet high, + at two diagonal corners, gave outlook and defense. Immense wooden + doors guarded a wide gateway looking eastward down the Arkansas + River. The interior arrangement was after the Mexican custom of + building, with rooms along the outer walls all opening into a big + <i>patio</i>, or open court. A cross-wall separated this court + from the large corral inside the outer walls at the rear. A + portal, or porch, roofed with thatch on cedar poles, ran around + the entire inner rectangle, sheltering the rooms somewhat from + the glare of the white-washed court. A little world in itself was + this Bent's Fort, a self-dependent community in the solitary + places. The presiding genius of this community was William Bent, + whose name is graven hard and deep in the annals of the eastern + slopes of the Rocky Mountain country in the earlier decades of + the nineteenth century.<br> + <br> + Hither in the middle '40's the wild trails of the West converged: + northward, from the trading-posts of Bent and St. Vrain on the + Platte; south, over the Raton Pass from Taos and Santa Fé; + westward, from the fur-bearing plateaus of the Rockies, where + trappers and traders brought their precious piles of pelts down + the Arkansas; and eastward, half a thousand miles from the + Missouri River frontier--the pathways of a restless, roving + people crossed each other here. And it was toward this wilderness + crossroads that Esmond Clarenden directed his course in that + summertime of my boyhood years.<br> + <br> + The heat of a July sun beat pitilessly down on the scorching + plains. The weary trail stretched endlessly on toward a somewhere + in the yellow distance that meant shelter and safety. Spiral + gusts of air gathering out of the low hills to the southeast + picked up great cones of dust and whirled them zigzagging across + the brown barren face of the land. Every draw was bone dry; even + the greener growths along their sheltered sides, where the last + moisture hides itself, wore a sickly sallow hue.<br> + <br> + Under the burden of this sun-glare, and through these stifling + dust-cones, our little company struggled sturdily forward.<br> + <br> + We had left Santa Fé as suddenly and daringly as we had + entered it, the very impossibility of risking such a journey + again being our, greatest safeguard. Esmond Clarenden was doing + the thing that couldn't be done, and doing it quickly.<br> + <br> + In the gray dawn after that midnight ride to Agua Fria a little + Indian girl had slipped like a brown shadow across the Plaza. + Stopping at the door of the Exchange Hotel, she leaned against + the low slab of petrified wood that for many a year served as a + loafer's roost before the hotel doorway. Inside the building + Jondo caught the clear twitter of a bird's song at daybreak, + twice repeated. A pause, and then it came again, fainter this + time, as if the bird were fluttering away through the Plaza + treetops.<br> + <br> + In that pause, the gate in the wall had opened softly, and Aunty + Boone's sharp eyes peered through the crack. The girl caught one + glimpse of the black face, then, dropping a tiny leather bag + beside the stone, she sped away.<br> + <br> + A tall young Indian boy, prone on the ground behind a pile of + refuse in the shadowy Plaza, lifted his head in time to see the + girl glide along the portal of the Palace of the Governors and + disappear at the corner of the structure. Then he rose and + followed her with silent moccasined feet.<br> + <br> + And Jondo, who had hurried to the hotel door, saw only the lithe + form of an Indian boy across the Plaza. Then his eye fell on the + slender bag beside the stone slab. It held a tiny scrap of paper, + bearing a message:</p> + + <p class="blkquot"><i>Take long trail QUICK. Mexicans follow + far</i>. Trust bearer anywhere.<br> + JOSEF.</p> + + <p>An hour later we were on our way toward the open prairies and + the Stars and Stripes afloat above Fort Leavenworth.<br> + <br> + In the wagon beside Mat Nivers was the little girl whose face had + been clear in the mystic vision of my day-dreams on the April + morning when I had gone out to watch for the big fish on the + sand-bars; the morning when I had felt the first heart-throb of + desire for the trail and the open plains whereon my life-story + would later be written.<br> + <br> + We carried no merchandise now. Everything bent toward speed and + safety. Our ponies and mules were all fresh ones--secured for + this journey two hours after we had come into Santa + Fé--save for the big sturdy dun creature that Uncle + Esmond, out of pure sentiment, allowed to trail along behind the + wagons toward his native heath in the Missouri bottoms.<br> + <br> + We had crossed the Gloriettas and climbed over the Raton Pass + rapidly, and now we were nearing the upper Arkansas, where the + old trail turns east for its long stretch across the + prairies.<br> + <br> + As far as the eye could see there was no living thing save our + own company in all the desolate plain aquiver with heat and ashy + dry. The line of low yellow bluffs to the southeast hardly cast a + shadow save for a darker dun tint here and there.<br> + <br> + At midday we drooped to a brief rest beside the sun-baked + trail.<br> + <br> + "You all jus' one color," Aunty Boone declared. "You all like the + dus' you made of 'cep' Little Lees an' me. She's white and I'm + black. Nothin' else makes a pin streak on the face of the + earth."<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone flourished on deserts and her black face glistened in + the sunlight. Deep in the shadow of the wagon cover the face of + Eloise St. Vrain--"Little Lees," Aunty Boone had named + her--bloomed pink as a wild rose in its frame of soft hair. She + had become Aunty Boone's meat and drink from the moment the + strange African woman first saw her. This regard, never expressed + in caress nor word of tenderness, showed itself in warding from + the little girl every wind of heaven that might visit her too + roughly. Not that Eloise gave up easily. Her fighting spirit made + her rebel against weariness and the hardships of trail life new + to her. She fitted into our ways marvelously well, demanding + equal rights, but no favors. By some gentle appeal, hardly put + into words, we knew that Uncle Esmond did not want us to talk to + her about herself. And Beverly and Mat and I, however much we + might speculate among ourselves, never thought of resisting his + wishes.<br> + <br> + Eloise was gracious with Mat, but evidently the boy Marcos had + made her wary of all boys. She paid no attention to Beverly and + me at first. All her pretty smiles and laughing words were for + Uncle Esmond and Jondo. And she was lovely. Never in all these + long and varied years have I seen another child with such a + richness of coloring, nor such a mass of golden hair rippling + around her forehead and falling in big, soft curls about her + neck. Her dark eyes with their long black lashes gave to her face + its picturesque beauty, and her plump, dimpled arms and sturdy + little form bespoke the wholesome promise of future years.<br> + <br> + But the life of the trail was not meant for such as she, and I + know now that the assurance of having saved her from some greater + misfortune alone comforted Uncle Esmond and Jondo in this + journey. For Aunty Boone was right when she declared, "They tote + together always."<br> + <br> + As we grouped together under that shelterless glare, getting what + comfort we could out of the brief rest, Jondo sprang up suddenly, + his eyes aglow with excitement.<br> + <br> + "What's the matter? Because if it isn't, this is one hot day to + pretend like it is," Rex Krane asserted.<br> + <br> + He was lying on the hot earth beside the trail, his hat pulled + over his face. Beverly and Bill Banney were staring dejectedly + across the landscape, seeing nothing. I sat looking off toward + the east, wondering what lay behind those dun bluffs in the + distance.<br> + <br> + "Something is wrong back yonder," Jondo declared, making a + half-circle with his hand toward the trail behind us.<br> + <br> + My heart seemed to stop mid-beat with a kind of fear I had never + known before. Aunty Boone had always been her own defender. Mat + Nivers had cared for me so much that I never doubted her bigger + power. It was for Eloise, Aunty Boone's "Little Lees," that my + fear leaped up.<br> + <br> + I can close my eyes to-day and see again the desolate land banded + by the broad white trail. I can see the dusty wagons and our + tired mules with drooping heads. I can see the earnest, anxious + faces of Esmond Clarenden and Jondo; Beverly and Bill Banney + hardly grasping Jondo's meaning; Rex Krane, half asleep on the + edge of the trail. I can see Mat Nivers, brown and strong, and + Aunty Boone oozing sweat at every pore. But these are only the + setting for that little girl on the wagon-seat with white face + and big dark eyes, under the curl-shadowed forehead.<br> + <br> + Jondo stared hard toward the hills in the southeast. Then he + turned to my uncle with grim face and burning eyes; His was a + wonderful voice, clear, strong and penetrating. But in danger he + always spoke in a low tone.<br> + <br> + "I've watched those dust-whirls for an hour. The wind isn't + making all of them. Somebody is stirring them up for cover. Every + whirl has an Indian in it. It's all of ten miles to Bent's. We + must fight them off and let the others run for it, before they + cut us off in front. Look at that!"<br> + <br> + The exclamation burst from the plainsman's lips.<br> + <br> + That was my last straight looking. The rest is ever a + kaleidoscope of action thrilled through with terror. What I saw + was a swiftly moving black splotch coming out of the hills, with + huge dust-heaps flying here and there before it. Then a yellow + cloud spiral blinded our sight as a gust of hot wind swept round + us. I remember Jondo's stern face and blazing eyes and his + words:<br> + <br> + "Mexicans behind the Indians!"<br> + <br> + And Uncle Esmond's voice:<br> + <br> + "Narveo said they would get us, but I hoped we had outrun + them."<br> + <br> + The far plains seemed spotted with Indians racing toward us, and + coming at an angle from the southeast a dozen Mexicans swept in + to cut us off from the trail in front.<br> + <br> + I remember a quick snatching of precious things in boxes placed + for such a moment as this, a quick snapping of halter ropes + around the ponies' necks, a gleaming of gun-barrels in the hot + sunlight; a solid cloud of dust rolling up behind us, bigger and + nearer every second; and the urgent voice of Jondo: "Ride for + your lives!"<br> + <br> + And the race began. On the trail somewhere before us was Bent's + Fort. We could only hope to reach it soon. We did not even look + behind as we tore down that dusty wilderness way.<br> + <br> + At the first motion Aunty Boone had seized Eloise St. Vrain with + one hand and the big dun mule's neck-strap with the other.<br> + <br> + "Go to the devil, you tigers and cannibals!" She roared with the + growl of a desert lioness, shaking her big black fist at the band + of Mexicans pouring out of the hills.<br> + <br> + And dun mule and black woman and white-faced, terror-stricken + child became only a dust-cloud far in front of us. Mat and + Beverly and I leaped to the ponies and followed the lead of the + African woman. Nearest to us was Rex Krane, always a shield for + the younger and less able. And behind him, as defense for the + rear and protection for the van, came Esmond Clarenden and Bill + Banney, with Jondo nearest the enemy, where danger was + greatest.<br> + <br> + I tell it calmly, but I lived it in a blind whirl. The swift + hoof-beat, the wild Indian yells, the whirl of arrows and whiz of + bullets, the onrush to outrun the Mexicans who were trying to cut + us off from the trail in front. Lived it! I lived ages in it. And + then an arrow cut my pony's flank, making him lurch from the + trail, a false step, the pony staggering, falling. A sharp pain + in my shoulder, the smell of fire, a shriek from demon throats, + the glaring sunlight on the rocking plain, searing my eyes in a + mad whirlpool of blinding light, the fading sounds--and then--all + was black and still.</p> + + <h1>* * * * *</h1> + + <p>When I opened my eyes again I was lying on a cot. Bare adobe + walls were around me, and a high plastered roof resting on cedar + poles sheltered that awful glare from my eyes. Through the open + door I could see the rain falling on the bare ground of the + court, filling the shallow places with puddles.<br> + <br> + I tried to lift myself to see more as shrieks of childish + laughter caught my ear, but there was a sickish heat in my dry + skin, an evil taste in my throat, and a sharp pain in my left + shoulder; and I fell back again.<br> + <br> + Another shriek, and Eloise St. Vrain came before my doorway, + pattering with bare white feet out into the center of the + <i>patio</i> puddles and laughing at the dashing summer shower. + Her damp hair, twisted into a knot on top of her head, was + curling tightly about her temples and neck, her eyes were + shining; her wet clothes slapping at her bare white knees--a + picture of the delicious happiness of childhood. A little child + of three or four years was toddling after her. He was brown as a + berry, and at first I thought he was a little Indian. I could + hear Mat and Beverly splashing about safe and joyous somewhere, + and I forgot my fever and pain and the dread of that awful glare + coming again to sear my burning eyeballs as I watched and + listened. A louder shriek as the little child ran behind Eloise + and gave her a vigorous shove for one so small.<br> + <br> + "Oh, Charlie Bent, see what you've done," Mat cried; and then + Beverly was picking up "Little Lees," sprawling, all mud-smeared + and happy, in the very middle of the court.<br> + <br> + The child stood looking at her with shining black eyes full of a + wicked mischief, but he said not a word.<br> + <br> + Just then a dull grunt caught my ear, and I half-turned to see a + cot beyond mine. An Indian boy lay on it, looking straight at me. + I stared back at him and neither of us spoke. His head was + bandaged and his cheek was swollen, but with my memory for faces, + even Indian faces, I knew him at once for the boy who had + followed us into Agua Fria and out of it again.<br> + <br> + Just then the frolickers came to the door and peered in at + me.<br> + <br> + "Are you awake?" Eloise asked.<br> + <br> + Then seeing my face, she came romping in, followed by Mat and + Beverly and little Charlie Bent, all wet and hilarious. They gave + no heed to the Indian boy, who pretended to be asleep. Once, + however, I caught him watching Beverly, and his eyes were like + dagger points.<br> + <br> + "We are having the best times. You must get well right away, + because we are going to stay." They all began to clatter, + noisily.<br> + <br> + Rex Krane appeared at the door just then and they stopped + suddenly.<br> + <br> + "Clear out of here, you magpies," he commanded, and they scuttled + away into the warm rain and the puddles again.<br> + <br> + "Do you want anything, Gail?" Rex asked, bending over me.<br> + <br> + I drew his head down with my right arm.<br> + <br> + "I want that Indian out of here," I whispered.<br> + <br> + "Out he goes," Rex returned, promptly, and almost before I knew + it the boy was taken away. When we were alone the tall young man + sat down beside me.<br> + <br> + "You want to ask me a million questions. I'll answer 'em to save + you the trouble," he began, in his comfortable way.<br> + <br> + "You are wounded in your shoulder. Slight, bullet, that's + Mexican; deep, arrow, that's Indian. But you are here and pretty + much alive and you will be well soon."<br> + <br> + "And Uncle Esmond? Jondo? Bill?" I began, lifting myself up on my + well arm.<br> + <br> + "Keep quiet. I'll answer faster. Everybody all right. Clarenden + and Jondo leave for Independence the minute you are better, and a + military escort permits."<br> + <br> + I dropped down again.<br> + <br> + "The U.S. Army, en route for perdition, via Santa Fé, is + camping in the big timbers down-stream now. Jondo and Esmond + Clarenden will leave you boys and girls here till it's safe to + take you out again. And I and Daniel Boone, vestal god and + goddess of these hearth-fires, will keep you from harm till that + time. Bill's joining the army for sure now, and our happy family + life is ended as far as the Santa Fé Trail is concerned. + I'm a well man now, but not quite army-well yet, they tell + me."<br> + <br> + "Tell me about this." I pointed to my shoulder.<br> + <br> + "All in good time. It was a nasty mess of fish. A dozen Mexicans + and as many Indians had followed us all the way from the sunny + side of the Gloriettas. You and Bev and Mat had got by the + Mexics. Daniel Boone and 'Little Lees' were climbing the North + Pole by that time. The rest of us were giving battle straight + from the shoulder; and someway, I don't know how, just as we had + the gang beat back behind us--you had a sniff of a bullet just + then--an Indian slipped ahead in the dust. I was tendin' to mite + of an arrow wound in my right calf, and I just caught him in + time, aimin' at Bev; but he missed him for you. I got him, + though, and clubbed his scalp a bit loose."<br> + <br> + Rex paused and stared at his right leg.<br> + <br> + "How did that boy get here, Rex? Is he a friendly Indian?" I + asked.<br> + <br> + "Oh, Jondo brought him in out of the wet. Says the child was made + to come along, and as soon as he could get away from the gang he + had to run with up here; he came right into camp to help us + against them. Fine young fellow! Jondo has it from them in + authority that we can trust him lyin' or tellin' the truth. + <i>He's all right</i>."<br> + <br> + "How did he get hurt?" I inquired, still remembering in my own + mind the day at Agua Fria.<br> + <br> + "He'd got into our camp and was fightin' on our side when it + happened," Rex replied.<br> + <br> + "Some of them shot at him, then?" I insisted. "No, I beat him up + with the butt of my gun for shootin' you," Rex said, lazily.<br> + <br> + "At me! Why don't you tell Jondo?"<br> + <br> + "I tried to," Rex answered, "but I can't make him see it that + way. He's got faith in that redskin and he's going to see that he + gets back to New Mexico safely--after while."<br> + <br> + "Rex, that's the same boy that was down in Agua Fria, the one Bev + laughed at. He's no good Indian," I declared.<br> + <br> + "You are too wise, Gail Clarenden," Rex drawled, carelessly. "A + boy of your brains had ought to be born in Boston. Jondo and I + can't agree about him. His name, he says, is Santan. There's one + 'n' too many. If you knock off the last one it makes him + Santa--'holy'; but if you knock out the middle it's Satan. We + don't knock out the same 'n', Jondo and me."<br> + <br> + Just then the little child came tumbling noisily into the + room.<br> + <br> + "Look here, youngun. You can't be makin' a racket here," Rex + said.<br> + <br> + The boy stared at him, impudently.<br> + <br> + "I will, too," he declared, sullenly, kicking at my cot with all + his might.<br> + <br> + Rex made no reply but, seizing the child around the waist, he + carried him kicking and screaming outside.<br> + <br> + "You stay out or I'll spank you!" Rex said, dropping him to the + ground.<br> + <br> + The boy looked up with blazing eyes, but said nothing.<br> + <br> + "That's little Charlie Bent. His daddy runs this splendid fort. + His mother is a Cheyenne squaw, and he's a grim clinger of a + half-breed. Some day he'll be a terror on these plains. It's in + him, I know. But that won't interfere with us any. And you + children are a lot safer here than out on the trail. Great God! I + wonder we ever got you here!" Rex's face was very grave. "Now go + to sleep and wake up well. No more thinkin' like a man. You can + be a child again for a while."<br> + <br> + Those were happy days that followed. Safe behind the strong walls + of old Fort Bent, we children had not a care; and with the stress + and strain of the trail life lifted from our young minds, we + rebounded into happy childhood living. Every day offered a new + drama to our wonder-loving eyes. We watched the big hide-press + for making buffalo robes and furs into snug bales. We climbed to + the cupola of the headquarters department and saw the soldiers + marching by on their way to New Mexico. We saw the Ute and the + Red River Comanche come filing in on their summer expeditions + from the mountains. We saw the trade lines from the far north + bearing down to this wilderness crossroads with their early fall + stock for barter.<br> + <br> + Our playground was the court off which all the rooms opened. And + however wild and boisterous the scenes inside those walls in that + summer of 1846, in four young lives no touch of evil took root. + Stronger than the six-feet width of wall, higher than the + eighteen feet of adobe brick guarding us round about, was the + stern strength of the young Boston man interned in the fort to + protect us from within, as the strength of that structure + defended us from without.<br> + <br> + And yet he might have failed sometimes, had it not been for Aunty + Boone. Nobody trifled with her.<br> + <br> + "You let them children be. An give 'em the run of this shack," + she commanded of the lesser powers whose business was to domineer + over the daily life there. "The man that makes trouble wide as a + needle is across is goin' to meet me an' the Judgment Day the + same minute."<br> + <br> + "When Daniel gets on her crack-o'-doom voice, the mountains goin' + to skip like rams and the little hills like lambs, an' the Army + of the West won't be necessary to protect the frontier," Rex + declared. But he knew her worth to his cause, and he welcomed + it.<br> + <br> + And so with her brute force and his moral strength we were + unconsciously intrenched in a safety zone in this far-isolated + place.<br> + <br> + With neither Uncle Esmond nor Jondo near us for the first time in + our remembrance, we gained a strength in self-dependence that we + needed. For with the best of guardianship, there are many ways in + which a child's day may be harried unless the child asserts + himself. We had the years of children but the sturdy defiance of + youth. So we were happy within our own little group, and we paid + little heed to the things that nobody else could forestall for + us.<br> + <br> + Outside of our family, little Charlie Bent, the half-breed child + of the proprietor of the fort, was a daily plague. He entered + into all of our sports with a quickness and perseverance and + wilfulness that was thoroughly American. He took defeat of his + wishes, and the equal measure of justice and punishment, with the + silent doggedness of an Indian; and on the edge of babyhood he + showed a spirit of revenge and malice that we, in our rollicking, + affectionate lives, with all our teasing and sense of humor, + could not understand; so we laughed at his anger and ignored his + imperious demands.<br> + <br> + Behind him always was his Cheyenne mother, jealously defending + him in everything, and in manifold ways making life a burden--if + we would submit to the making, which we seldom did.<br> + <br> + And lastly Santan, the young boy who had deserted his Mexican + masters for Jondo's command, contrived, with an Indian's + shrewdness, never to let us out of his sight. But he gave us no + opportunity to approach him. He lived in his own world, which was + a savage one, but he managed that it should overlap our world and + silently grasp all that was in it. Beverly had persistently tried + to be friendly for a time, for that was Beverly's way. Failing to + do it, he had nick-named the boy "Satan" for all time.<br> + <br> + "We found Little Blue Flower a sweet little muggins," Beverly + told the Indian early in our stay at the fort. "We like good + Indians like her. She's one clipper."<br> + <br> + Santan had merely looked him through as though he were air, and + made no reply, nor did he ever by a single word recognize Beverly + from that moment.<br> + <br> + The evening before we left Fort Bent we children sat together in + a corner of the court. The day had been very hot for the season + and the night was warm and balmy, with the moonlight flooding the + open space, edging the shadows of the inner portal with silver. + There was much noise and boisterous laughter in the billiard-room + where the heads of affairs played together. Rex Krane had gone to + bed early. Out by the rear gate leading to the fort corral, Aunty + Boone was crooning a weird African melody. Crouching in the deep + shadows beside the kitchen entrance, the Indian boy, Santan, + listened to all that was said.<br> + <br> + To-night we had talked of to-morrow's journey, and the strength + of the military guard who should keep us safe along the way. + Then, as children will, we began to speculate on what should + follow for us.<br> + <br> + "When I get older I'm going to be a freighter like Jondo, Bill + and me. We'll kill every Indian who dares to yell along the + trail. I'm going back to Santa Fé and kill that boy that + stared at me like he was crazy one day at Agua Fria."<br> + <br> + In the shadows of the porchway, I saw Santan creeping nearer to + us as Beverly ran on flippantly:<br> + <br> + "I guess I'll marry a squaw, Little Blue Flower, maybe, like the + Bents do, and live happily ever after."<br> + <br> + "I'm going to have a big fine house and live there all the time," + Mat Nivers declared. Something in the earnest tone told us what + this long journey had meant to the brave-hearted girl.<br> + <br> + "I'm going to marry Gail when I grow up," Eloise said, + meditatively. "He won't ever let Marcos pull my hair." She shook + back the curly tresses, gold-gleaming in the moonlight, and + squeezed my hand as she sat beside me.<br> + <br> + "What will you be, Gail?" Mat asked.<br> + <br> + "I'll go and save Bev's scalp when he's gunning too far from + home," I declared.<br> + <br> + "Oh, he'll be 'Little Lees's' husband, and pull that Marcos + cuss's nose if he tries to pull anybody's curls. Whoo-ee! as + Aunty Boone would say," Beverly broke in.<br> + <br> + I kept a loving grip on the little hand that had found mine, as I + would have gripped Beverly's hand sometimes in moments when we + talked together as boys do, in the confidences they never give to + anybody else.<br> + <br> + A gray shadow dropped on the moon, and a chill night wind crept + down inside the walls. A sudden fear fell on us. The noises + inside the billiard room seemed far away, and all the doors + except ours were closed. Santan had crept between us and the two + open doorways leading to our rooms. What if he should slip + inside. A snake would have seemed better to me.<br> + <br> + A silence had fallen on us, and Eloise still clung to my hand. I + held it tightly to assure her I wasn't afraid, but I could not + speak nor move. Aunty Boone's crooning voice was still, and + everything had grown weird and ghostly. The faint wailing cry of + some wild thing of the night plains outside crept to our ears, + making us shiver.<br> + <br> + "When the stars go to sleep an' the moon pulls up the gray + covers, it's time to shut your eyes an' forget." Aunty Boone's + soft voice broke the spell comfortingly for us. "Any crawlin' + thing that gits in my way now, goin' to be stepped on."<br> + <br> + At the low hissing sound of the last sentence there was a swift + scrambling along the shadows of the porch, and a door near the + kitchen snapped shut. The big shining face of the African woman + glistened above us and the court was flooded again with the + moon's silvery radiance. As we all sprang up to rush for our + rooms, "Little Lees" pulled me toward her and gently kissed my + cheek.<br> + <br> + "You never would let Marcos in if he came to Fort Leavenworth, + would you?" she whispered.<br> + <br> + "I'd break his head clear off first," I whispered back, and then + we scampered away.<br> + <br> + That night I dreamed again of the level plains and Uncle Esmond + and misty mountain peaks, but the dark eyes were not there, + though I watched long for them.<br> + <br> + The next day we left Fort Bent, and when I passed that way again + it was a great mass of yellow mounds, with a piece of broken wall + standing desolately here and there, a wreck of the past in a + solitary land. </p> + <hr> + + <h1>II<br> + <br> + <a name="BUILDING" id="BUILDING">BUILDING THE TRAIL</a></h1> + + + + <h3><a name="IX" id="IX">IX</a><br> + <br> + IN THE MOON OF THE PEACH BLOSSOM</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + Love took me softly by the hand,<br> + Love led me all the country o'er,<br> + And showed me beauty in the land,<br> + That I had never seen before.<br> + --ANONYMOUS.<br></p> + + <p>You might not be able to find the house to-day, nor the high + bluff whereon it stood. So many changes have been wrought in half + a century that what was green headland and wooded valley in the + far '50's may be but a deep cut or a big fill for a new roadway + or factory site to-day. So diligently has Kansas City fulfilled + the scriptural prophecy that "every valley shall be exalted, and + every mountain and hill shall be made low."<br> + <br> + Where the great stream bends to the east, the rugged heights + about its elbow, Aunty Boone, in those days, was wont to declare, + did not offer enough level ground to set a hen on. Small reason + was there then to hope that a city, great and gracious, would one + day cover those rough ravines and grace those slopes and hilltops + in the angle between the Missouri and the Kaw.<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone had resented leaving Fort Leavenworth when the + Clarenden business made the young city at the Kaw's mouth more + desirable for a home. But Esmond Clarenden foresaw that a + military post, when the protection it offers is no longer needed, + will not, in itself, be a city-builder. The war had brought New + Mexico into United States territory; railroads were slowly + creeping westward toward the Mississippi River; steamboats and + big covered wagons were bringing settlers into Kansas, where + little cabins were beginning to mark the landscape with new + hearth-stones. Congress was wrangling over the great slavery + question. The Eastern lawmakers were stupidly opposing the + efforts of Missouri statesmen to extend mail routes westward, or + to spend any energy toward developing that so-called worthless + region which they named "the great American desert." And the old + Santa Fé Trail was now more than ever the highway for the + commerical treasures of the Rocky Mountains and the great + Southwest.<br> + <br> + It was the time of budding things. In the valley of the Missouri + the black elm boughs, the silvery sycamores and cottonwoods, and + the vines on the gray rock-faced cliffs were veiled in shimmering + draperies of green, with here and there a little group of orchard + trees faintly pink against the landscape's dainty verdure.<br> + <br> + Beverly Clarenden and I stood on the deck of a river steamer as + it made the wharf at old Westport Landing, where Esmond Clarenden + waited for us. And long before the steamer's final bump against + the pier we had noted the tall, slender girl standing beside him. + We had been away three years, the only schooling outside of Uncle + Esmond's teaching we were ever to have. We were big boys now, + greatly conscious of hands and feet in our way, "razor broke," + Aunty Boone declared, brimful of hilarity and love of adventure, + and eager for the plains life, and the dangers of the old trail + by which we were to conquer or be conquered. In the society of + women we were timid and ill at ease. Aside from this we were + self-conceited, for we knew more of the world and felt ourselves + more important on that spring morning than we ever presumed to + know or dared to feel in all the years that followed.<br> + <br> + "Who is she, Gail, that tall one by little fat Uncle Esmond?" + Beverly questioned, as we neared the wharf. "You don't reckon + he's married, Bev? He's all of twenty-four or five years older + than we are, and we aren't calves any more." I replied, scanning + the group on the wharf.<br> + <br> + But we forgot the girl in our eagerness to bound down the + gang-plank and hug the man who meant all that home and love could + mean to us. In our three growing years we had almost eliminated + Mat Nivers, save as a happy memory, for mails were slow in those + days and we were poor letter-writers; and we had wondered how to + meet her properly now. But when the tall, slender girl on the + wharf came forward and we looked into the wide gray eyes of our + old-time playmate whom, as little boys, we had both vowed to + marry, we forgot everything in our overwhelming love for our + comrade-in-arms, our jolliest friend and counselor.<br> + <br> + "Oh, Mat, you miserable thing!" Beverly bubbled, hugging her in + his arms.<br> + <br> + "You are just bigger and sweeter than ever. I mistook you for + Aunty Boone at first," I chimed in, kissing her on each cheek. + And we all bundled away in an old-fashioned, low-swung carriage, + happy as children again, with no barrier between us and the dear + playmate of the past.<br> + <br> + The new home, on the high crest overlooking the Missouri valley, + nestled deep in the shade of maple and elm trees, a mansion, + compared to that log house of blessed memory at Fort Leavenworth. + A winding road led up the steep slope from a wooded ravine where + a trail ran out from the little city by the river's edge. Vistas + of sheer cliff and stretches of the muddy on-sweeping Missouri + and the full-bosomed Kaw, with scrubby timbered ravines and + growing groves of forest trees, offered themselves at every turn. + And from the top of the bluff the world unrolled in a panorama of + nature's own shaping and coloring.<br> + <br> + The house was built of stone, with vines climbing about its thick + walls, and broad veranda. And everywhere Mat's hands had put + homey touches of comfort and beauty. An hundredfold did she + return to Esmond Clarenden all the care and protection he had + given to her in her orphaned childhood. And, after all, it was + not military outposts, nor railroads, nor mail-lines alone that + pushed back the wilderness frontier. It was the hand of woman + that also builded empire westward.<br> + <br> + "Mat's got her wish at last," I said, as we sat with Uncle Esmond + after dinner under a big maple tree and looked out at the far + yellow Missouri, churning its spring floods to foam against the + snags along its high-water bound.<br> + <br> + "What's Mat's wish?" Uncle Esmond asked.<br> + <br> + "To have a good home and <i>stay there</i>. She wished that one + night, years ago back in old Fort Bent. Don't you remember, Bev, + when we were out in the court, and how scared blue we all were + when the moon went under a cloud, and that Indian boy, Santan, + was creeping between us and the home base?"<br> + <br> + "No, I don't remember anything except that we were in Fort Bent. + Got in by the width of a hair ahead of some Mexicans and Indians, + and got out again after a jolly six weeks. What's the real job + for us now, Uncle Esmond?"<br> + <br> + Uncle Esmond was staring out toward the Kaw valley, rimmed by + high bluffs in the distance.<br> + <br> + "I don't know about Mat having her wish," he said, thoughtfully, + "but never mind. Trade is booming and I'm needing help on the + trail this spring. Jondo starts west in two weeks."<br> + <br> + Beverly and I sprang up. Six feet of height, muscular, + adventure-loving, fearless, we had been made to order for the + Santa Fé Trail. And if I was still a dreamer and caught + sometimes the finer side of ideals, where Beverly Clarenden saw + only the matter-of-fact, visible things, no shrewder, braver, + truer plainsman ever walked the long distances of the old Santa + Fé Trail than this boy with his bright face and + happy-go-lucky spirit unpained by dreams, untrammeled by + fancies.<br> + <br> + "Two weeks! We are ready to start right after supper," we + declared.<br> + <br> + "Oh, I have other matters first," Uncle Esmond said. "Beverly, + you must go up to Fort Leavenworth and arrange a lot of things + with Banney for this trip. He's to go, too, because military + escort is short this season."<br> + <br> + "Suits me!" Beverly declared. "Old Bill Banney and I always could + get along together. And this infant here?"<br> + <br> + "I'm going to send Gail down to the Catholic Mission, in Kansas. + You remember little Eloise St. Vrain, of course?" Uncle Esmond + asked.<br> + <br> + "We do!" Beverly assured him. "Pretty as a doll, gritty as a + sand-bar, snappy as a lobster's claw--she dwells within my memory + yet."<br> + <br> + All girls were little children to us, for the scheme of things + had not included them in our affairs.<br> + <br> + I threw a handful of grass in the boy's face, and Uncle Esmond + went on.<br> + <br> + "She's been at St. Ann's School at the Osage Mission down on the + Neosho River for two or three years, and now she is going to St. + Louis. In these troublesome times on the border, if I have a + personal interest, I feel safer if some big six-footer whom I can + trust comes along as an escort from the Neosho to the Missouri," + Uncle Esmond explained.<br> + <br> + And then we spoke of other things: the stream of emigration + flowing into the country, the possibilities of the prairies, the + future of the city that should hold the key to the whole + Southwest, and especially of the chance and value of the trail + trade.<br> + <br> + "It's the big artery that carries the nation's life-blood here," + Esmond Clarenden declared. "Some day when the West is full of + people, and dowered with prosperity, it may remember the men who + built the highway for the feet of trade to run in. And the West + may yet measure its greatness somewhat by the honesty and + faithfulness of the merchant of the frontier, and more by the + courage and persistence of the boys who drove the ox-teams across + the plains. Don't forget that you yourselves are State-builders + now."<br> + <br> + He spoke earnestly, but his words meant little to me. I was + looking out toward the wide-sweeping Kaw and thinking of the + journey I must make, and wondering if I should ever feel at ease + in the society of women. Wondering, too, what I should say, and + how I should really take care of "Little Lees," who had crossed + the plains with us almost a decade ago; the girl who had held my + hand tightly one night at old Fort Bent when the shadow had + slipped across the moon and filled the silvery court with a gray, + ghostly light.<br> + <br> + That night the old heart-hunger of childhood came back to me, the + visions of the day-dreaming little boy that were almost forgotten + in the years that had brought me to young manhood. And clearly + again, as when I heard Uncle Esmond's voice that night on the + tableland above the valley of the Santa Fé, I heard his + gentle words:<br> + <br> + "Sometimes the things we long for in our dreams we must fight + for, and even die for, that those who come after us may be the + better for our having them."<br> + <br> + But these thoughts passed with the night, and in my youth and + inexperience I took on a spirit of fatherly importance as I went + down to St. Ann's to safeguard a little girl on her way through + the Kansas territory to the Missouri River.<br> + <br> + It had been a beautiful day, and there was a freshness in the + soft evening breeze, and an up-springing sweetness from the + prairies. A shower had passed that way an hour before, and the + spirit of growing things seemed to fill the air with a voiceless + music.<br> + <br> + Just at sunset the stage from the north put me down in front of + St. Ann's Academy in the little Osage Mission village on the + Neosho.<br> + <br> + A tall nun, with commanding figure and dignified bearing, left + the church steps across the road and came slowly toward me.<br> + <br> + "I am looking for Mother Bridget, the head of this school," I + said, lifting my hat.<br> + <br> + "I am Mother Bridget." The voice was low and firm. One could not + imagine disobedience under her rule.<br> + <br> + "I come from Mr. Esmond Clarenden, to act as escort for a little + girl, Eloise St. Vrain, who is to leave here on the stage for + Kansas City to-morrow," I hesitatingly offered my letter of + introduction, which told all that I had tried to say, and + more.<br> + <br> + The woman's calm face was gentle, with the protective gentleness + of the stone that will not fail you when you lean on it. One felt + sure of Mother Bridget, as one feels sure of the solid rock to + build upon. She looked at me with keen, half-quizzical eyes. Then + she said, quietly:<br> + <br> + "You will find the little girl down by Flat Rock Creek. The + Indian girl, Po-a-be, is with her. There may be several Indian + girls down there, but Po-a-be is alone with little Eloise."<br> + <br> + I bowed and turned away, conscious that, with this good nun's + sincerity, she was smiling at me back of her eyes somehow.<br> + <br> + As I followed the way leading to the creek I passed a group or + two of Indian girls--St. Ann's, under the Loretto Sisterhood, was + fundamentally a mission school for these--and a trio of young + ladies, pretty and coquettish, with daring, mischievous eyes, + whose glances made me flush hot to the back of my neck as I + stumbled by them on my way to the stream.<br> + <br> + The last sun rays were glistening on the placid waters of the + Flat Rock, and all the world was softly green, touched with a + golden glamour. I paused by a group of bushes to let the spell of + the hour have its way with me. I have always loved the beautiful + things of earth; as much now as in my childhood days, when I felt + ashamed to let my love be known; as now I dare to tell it only on + paper, and not to that dear, great circle of men and women who + know me best to-day.<br> + <br> + The sound of footsteps and the murmur of soft voices fitted into + the sweetness of that evening hour as two girls, one of them an + Indian, came slowly down a well-worn path from the fields above + the Flat Rock Valley. They did not see me as they sat down on + some broad stones beside the stream.<br> + <br> + I started forward to make myself known, but caught myself + mid-step, for here was a picture to make any man pause.<br> + <br> + The Indian girl facing me was Little Blue Flower, the Kiowas' + captive, whom we had rescued at Pawnee Rock. Her heavy black hair + was coiled low on her neck, a headband of fine silverwork with + pink coral pendants was bound about her forehead and gleaming + against her jetty hair. With her well-poised head, her pure + Indian features, her lustrous dark eyes, her smooth brown skin, + her cheeks like the heart of those black-red roses that grow only + in richest soil--surely there was no finer type of that vanishing + race in all the Indian pueblos of the Southwest. But the girl + beside her! Was it really so many years ago that I stood by the + bushes on the Flat Rock's edge and saw that which I see so + clearly now? Then these years have been gracious indeed to me. + The sun's level beams fell on the masses of golden waves that + swept in soft little ripples back from the white brow to a coil + of gold on the white neck, held, like the Indian girl's, with a + headband of wrought silver, and goldveined turquoise; it fell on + the clear, smooth skin, the pink bloom of the cheek, the red + lips, the white teeth, the big dark eyes with their fringe of + long lashes beneath straight-penciled dark brows; on the curves + of the white throat and the round white arms. Only a master's + hand could make you see these two, beautiful in their sharp + contrast of deep brown and scarlet against the dainty white and + gold.<br> + <br> + "Oh, Little Blue Flower, it will not make me change."<br> + <br> + I caught the words as I stepped toward the two, and the Indian's + soft, mournful answer:<br> + <br> + "But you are Miss St. Vrain now. You go away in the morning--and + I love you always."<br> + <br> + The heart in me stopped just when all its flood had reached my + face.<br> + <br> + "Miss St. Vrain," I repeated, aloud.<br> + <br> + The two sprang up. That afternoon they had been dressed for a + girls' frolic in some Grecian fashion. I cannot tell a Watteau + pleat from window-curtain. I am only a man, and I do not name + draperies well. But these two standing before me were gowned + exactly alike, and yet I know that one was purely and + artistically Greek, and one was purely and gracefully Indian.<br> + <br> + "I beg your pardon. I am Mr. Clarenden," I managed to say.<br> + <br> + At the name Little Blue Flower's eyes looked as they did on that + hot May night out at Pawnee Rock when she heard Beverly + Clarenden's boyish voice ring out, defiantly:<br> + <br> + "Uncle Esmond, let's take her, and take our chances."<br> + <br> + But the great light that had leaped into the girl's eyes died + slowly out as she gazed at me.<br> + <br> + "You are not Beverly Clarenden," she said, in a low voice.<br> + <br> + "No, I'm Gail, the little one. Bev is up at Fort Leavenworth + now," I replied.<br> + <br> + She turned away without a word and, gathering her draperies about + her, sped up the pathway toward the fields above the + creek.<br></p> + + <h1>* * * * *</h1> + + <p><br> + And we two were alone together--the dark-eyed girl of my boyhood + vision, deep-shrined in the boy-heart's holy of holies, and I who + had waited for her coming. It was the hour of golden sunset and + long twilight afterglow on the glistening Flat Rock waters and + the green prairies beyond the Neosho.<br> + <br> + A sudden awakening came over me, and in one swift instant I + understood my boyhood dreams and hopes and visions.<br> + <br> + "You will pardon me for coming so abruptly, Miss St. Vrain," I + said. "Mother Bridget told me I would find you here."<br> + <br> + The girl listened to my stumbling words with eyes full of + laughter.<br> + <br> + "Don't call me Miss St. Vrain, please. Let me be Eloise, and I + can call you Gail. Even with your height and your broad shoulders + you haven't changed much. And in all these years I was always + thinking of you growing up just as you are. Let's sit down and + get acquainted again."<br> + <br> + She offered me her hand and we sat down together. I could not + speak then, for one sentence was ringing in my ears--"I was + always thinking of you." In those years when Beverly and I had + put away all thoughts of sweethearts--they could not be a part of + the plainsman's life before us--sweethearts such as older boys in + school boasted about, "she was always thinking of me." The + thought brought a keen hurt as if I had done her some great + wrong, and it held me back from words.<br> + <br> + She could not interpret my silence, and a look of timidity crept + over her young face.<br> + <br> + "I didn't mean to be so--so bold with a stranger," she began.<br> + <br> + "You aren't bold, and we aren't strangers. I was just too stupid + to think anybody else could get out of childhood except old Bev + Clarenden and myself," I managed to say at last. "I even forgot + Mat Nivers, who is a young lady now, and Aunty Boone, who hasn't + changed a kink of her woolly hair. But we couldn't be strangers. + Not after that trip across the plains and living at old Fort Bent + as we did."<br> + <br> + I paused, and the memory of that last night at the fort made me + steal a glance at Eloise to see if she, too, remembered.<br> + <br> + She was fair to see just then, with the pink clouds mirrored on + the placid waters reflected in the pink of her cheeks.<br> + <br> + "Do you remember what I called you the first time I saw you?" She + looked up with shining eyes.<br> + <br> + "You called me a big brown bob-cat, and you said I looked like + I'd slept in the Hondo 'royo all my life. I know I looked it, + too. I'll forgive you if you will excuse my blunder to-day. What + became of that boy, Marcos? Have you ever seen him since you left + Santa Fé?" I asked.<br> + <br> + The fair face clouded, and a look of longing crept into the big, + dark eyes lifted pleadingly a moment to mine. I wanted to take + her in my arms right then and look about for something to kill + for her sake. Yet I would not, for the gold of all the Mexicos, + have touched the hem of her Grecian robe.<br> + <br> + "Yes, I have seen Marcos many times. His father went to old + Mexico after the war, but the Rameros do not stay long anywhere. + Marcos made life miserable for me sometimes." She paused + suddenly.<br> + <br> + "The Rameros. Then he was the son of the man who was my uncle's + enemy. Maybe you did as much for him, too, sometimes. You had the + spirit to do it, anyhow," I said, lightly, to hide my real + feeling.<br> + <br> + "I was a little cat. I'm a lot better now. Let's not go too much + into that time. Tell me where you have been and where you are + going." Eloise changed the subject easily.<br> + <br> + "I've been in Cincinnati, attending a boys' school for three + years. I start for Santa Fé in two weeks. My uncle's store + is doing a big over land business, and he keeps the ox-teams just + fanning one another, coming and going across the prairies. I'm + crazy to go and see the open plains again. Cincinnati is a city + on stilts, and our little Independence-Westport Landing-Kansas + City place, as the Cincinnati of the great American desert, is + also pretty bumpy, the last place on earth to put a town--only we + can see almost to Santa Fé, New Mexico, from the hilltops. + Won't it be great to view that mud-walled town again? Bev is + going, too--to kill a few Indians for our winter's meat, he says, + in his wicked, blood-thirsty way." So I ran on, glad to be alive + in the delicious beauty of that spring evening as we together + went back over the days of our young years.<br> + <br> + "Gail, may we take another passenger to-morrow?" Eloise asked, + suddenly.<br> + <br> + "Why, as many as the stage will hold! There's to be a nun and a + priest and yourself. I'm chaperon. I could take the priest on my + lap if he isn't too bulky," I answered.<br> + <br> + "I want to take Po-a-be. I can't tell you why now." The lashes + dropped over the brown eyes, and I wondered how she could think + that I could refuse her anything.<br> + <br> + "Oh, we'll take her on faith and the stage-coach. She can come + right to Castle Clarenden and stay till she gets ready to hurdle + off to her own 'wickie up'. She has grown into a beautiful Indian + woman, though I couldn't call her a squaw."<br> + <br> + "She isn't a squaw. I'm glad to hear you say that. I think it + will make her very happy to stay at your home for a while. She + will miss me a little when we leave here, maybe," Eloise said, + looking at me with a grateful smile that sent a tingle to my + fingertips.<br> + <br> + "Won't you stay, too?" I asked, suddenly realizing that this + beautiful girl might slip away as easily as she had come into my + life here.<br> + <br> + Eloise laughed at my earnestness.<br> + <br> + "I couldn't stay long," she said, lightly.<br> + <br> + "And why not?" I burst in, eagerly. "What have you in Santa + Fé?"<br> + <br> + "A little money and a lot of memories," she replied, + seriously.<br> + <br> + "Oh, I can bring the money up to Kansas for you in an ox-train + easily enough, and you could blow up the old mud-box of a town + and not hurt a hair on the head of a single memory. You know you + can take them anywhere you go. I do mine."<br> + <br> + "I'm going to St. Louis, anyhow," Eloise returned, "and you have + no sacred memories--boys don't care for things like girls + do."<br> + <br> + "They don't? They don't? And I have forgotten the little girl who + was afraid one moonlit night out in the court at Fort Bent and + asked me that I shouldn't ever let Marcos pull her hair. Yes, + boys forget."<br> + <br> + I laid my hand on her arm and bent forward to look into her face. + For just one flash those big dark eyes looked straight at me, + with something in their depths that I shall never forget.<br> + <br> + Then she moved lightly from me.<br> + <br> + "Oh, all children remember, I suppose. I do, anyhow--a thousand + things I'd like to forget. It is lovely by the river. Suppose we + go down there for a little while. I must not stay out here too + long."<br> + <br> + I took her arm and we strolled down the quiet path in the + twilight sweetness to where the broad Neosho, brim full from the + spring rains, swept on between picturesque banks. The afterglow + of sunset was flaming gorgeously above the western prairies, and + the mists along the Neosho were lavender and mother-of-pearl. And + before all this had deepened to purple darkness the full moon + would swing up the sky, swathing the earth with a softened + radiance. All the beauty of this warm spring night seemed but a + setting for this girl in her graceful Greek draperies, with the + waving gold of her hair and her dainty pink-and-white + coloring.<br> + <br> + A new heaven and a new earth had begun for me, and a delicious + longing, clean and sweet, that swept every commoner feeling far + away. What matter that the life before me be filled with danger, + and all the coarse and cruel things of the hard days of the Santa + Fé Trail? In that hour I knew the best of life that a + young man can know. Its benediction after all these years of + change is on me still. Awhile we watched the flashing ripples on + the river, and the sky's darkening afterglow. Then we turned to + the moonlit east.<br> + <br> + "Do you know what the people of Hopi-land call this month?" + Eloise asked.<br> + <br> + "I don't know Hopi words for what is beautiful," I replied.<br> + <br> + "They call it 'the Moon of the Peach Blossom', and they cherish + the time in their calendar."<br> + <br> + "Then we will be Hopi people," I declared, "for it was in their + Moon of the Peach Blossom that you grew up for me from the little + girl who called me a bob-cat down in the doorway of the old San + Miguel Church in Santa Fé, and from Aunty Boone's 'Little + Lees' at old Fort Bent, to the Eloise of St. Ann's by the Kansas + Neosho."<br> + <br> + The sound of a sweet-toned bell told us that we must not stay + longer, and together we followed the path from the Flat Rock up + to the academy door. And all the way was like the ways of + Paradise to me, for I was in the peach-blossom moon of my own + life. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="X" id="X">X</a><br> + <br> + THE HANDS THAT CLING</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + The hands that take<br> + No weight from your sad cross, oh, lighter far<br> + It were but for the burden that they bring!<br> + God only knows what hind'ring things they are--<br> + The hands that cling.<br> + --ESTHER M. CLARK<br></p> + + <p>The next morning three of us waited in the stage before the + door of St. Ann's Academy. A thin-faced nun, who was called + Sister Anita, sat beside Eloise St. Vrain, her snowy head-dress, + with her black veil and somber garments, contrasting sharply with + the silver-gray hat and traveling costume of her companion. Hints + of pink-satin linings to coat-collar and pocket-flaps, and the + pink facing of the broad hat-brim, seemed borrowed from the + silver and pink of misty morning skies, with the golden hair + catching the glint of all the early sunbeams. There was a + tenderness in the bright face, the sadness which parting puts + temporarily into young countenances. The girl looked lovingly at + the church, and St. Ann's, and the green fields reaching up to + the edge of the mission premises.<br> + <br> + As we waited, Mother Bridget and Little Blue Flower came slowly + out of the academy door. The good mother's arm was around the + Indian girl, and her eyes filled with tears as she looked down + affectionately at the dark face.<br> + <br> + Little Blue Flower, true to her heritage, gave no sign of grief + save for the burning light in her big, dry eyes. She listened + silently to Mother Bridget's parting words of advice and + submitted without response to the embrace and gentle good-by kiss + on her brown forehead.<br> + <br> + The good woman gazed into my face with penetrating eyes, as if to + measure my trustworthiness.<br> + <br> + "You will see that no harm comes to my little Po-a-be. The wolves + of the forest are not the only danger for the unprotected lambs," + she said, earnestly.<br> + <br> + "I'll do my best, Mother Bridget," I responded, feeling a + swelling pride in my double charge.<br> + <br> + Mother Bridget patted Eloise's hand and turned away. She loved + all of her girls, but her heart went out most to the Indian + maidens whom she led toward her civilization and her sacred + creed.<br> + <br> + As she turned away, the priest who was to go with us came out of + the church door to the stage.<br> + <br> + Little Blue Flower sat with the other two women, facing us, her + dark-green dress with her rich coloring making as strong a + contrast as the nun's black robe against the pink-touched + silver-gray gown. And the Indian face, strong, impenetrable, with + a faintly feminine softening of the racial features, and the + luminous black eyes, gave setting to the pure Saxon type of her + companion.<br> + <br> + I turned from the three to greet the priest and give him a place + beside me. His face seemed familiar, but it was not until I heard + his voice, in a courteous good-morning, that I knew him to be the + Father Josef who had met us on the way into Santa Fé years + before, and who later had shown us the little golden-haired girl + asleep on the hard bench in the old mission church of Agua Fria. + A page of my boyhood seemed suddenly to have opened there, and I + wondered curiously at the meaning of it all. Life, that for three + years had been something of a monotonous round of action for a + boy of the frontier, was suddenly filling each day with events + worth while. I wondered many things concerning Father Josef's + presence there, but I had the grace to ask no questions as we + five journeyed over the rolling green prairies of Kansas in the + pleasant time of year which the Hopi calls the Moon of the Peach + Blossom.<br> + <br> + The priest appeared hardly a day older than when I had first seen + him, and he chatted genially as we rode along.<br> + <br> + "We are losing two of our stars," he said, with a gallant little + bow. "Miss St. Vrain goes to St. Louis to relatives, I believe, + and Little Blue Flower, eventually, to New Mexico. St. Ann's + under Mother Bridget is doing a wonderful work among our people, + but it is not often that a girl comes here from such a distance + as New Mexico."<br> + <br> + I tried to fancy what the Indian girl's thoughts might be as the + priest said this, but her face, as usual, gave no clue to her + mind's activity.<br> + <br> + Where the Santa Fé Trail crossed the Wakarusa Father Josef + left us to join a wagon-train going west. Sister Anita, who was + hurrying back to Kentucky, she said, on some churchly errand, + took a steamer at Westport Landing, and the three of us came to + the Clarenden home on the crest of the bluff.<br> + <br> + We had washed off our travel stains and come out on the veranda + when we saw Beverly Clarenden standing in the sunlight, waiting + for us. I had never seen him look so handsome as he did that day, + dressed in the full regalia of the plains: a fringed and beaded + buckskin coat, dark pantaloons held inside of high-topped boots, + a flannel shirt, with a broad black silk tie fastened in a big + bow at his throat, and his wide-brimmed felt hat set back from + his forehead. Clean-shaven, his bright brown hair--a trifle long, + after the custom of the frontier--flung back from his brow, his + blooming face wearing the happy smile of youth, his tall form + easily erect, he seemed the very embodiment of that defiant power + that swept the old Santa Fé Trail clean for the feet of + its commerce to run swiftly along. I am glad that I never envied + him--brother of my heart, who loved me so.<br> + <br> + He was not as surprised as I had been to find the grown-up girl + instead of the little child. That wasn't Beverly's way.<br> + <br> + "I'm mighty glad to meet you again," he said, with jaunty air, + grasping Eloise by the hand. "You look just as--shall I say + promising, as ever."<br> + <br> + "I'm glad to see you, Beverly. You and Gail have been my biggest + assets of memory these many years." Eloise was at ease with him + in a moment. Somehow they never misunderstood each other.<br> + <br> + "Oh, I'm always an asset, but Gail here gets to be a liability if + you let him stay around too long."<br> + <br> + "Here is somebody else. Don't you remember Little Blue Flower?" + Eloise interrupted him.<br> + <br> + "Little Blue Flower! Why, I should say I do! And are you that + little blossom?"<br> + <br> + Beverly's face beamed, and he caught the Indian girl's hand in + both of his in a brotherly grasp. He wasn't to blame that nature + had made him frank and unimaginative.<br> + <br> + "I haven't forgotten the last time I saw your face in a wide + crack between two adobe shacks. A 'flower in the crannied wall' + in that 'pure water' sand-pile in New Mexico. I'd have plucked + you out of the cranny right then, if old Rex Krane hadn't given + us our 'forward march!' orders, and an Indian boy, ten feet high + and sneaky as a cat, hadn't been lurking in the middle distance + to pluck <i>me</i> as a brand <i>for</i> the burning. And now you + are a St. Ann's girl, a good little Catholic. How did you ever + get away up into Kansas Territory, anyhow?"<br> + <br> + Beverly had unconsciously held the girl's hand as he spoke, but + at the mention of the Indian boy she drew back and her bright + face became expressionless.<br> + <br> + Just then Mat Nivers joined us--Mat, whom the Lord made to smooth + the way for everybody around her--and we sat down for a + visit.<br> + <br> + "We are all here, friends of my youthful days," Beverly went on, + gaily. "Bill Banney and Jondo are down in the Clarenden warehouse + packing merchandise for the Santa Fé trade. Even big black + Aunty Boone, getting supper in there, is still a feature of this + circus. If only that slim Yankee, Rex Krane, would appear here + now. Uncle Esmond tells me he is to be here soon, and if all goes + well he will go with us to Santa Fé again. How about it, + Mat? Can't you hurry his coming a bit?"<br> + <br> + But Mat was staring at the roadway leading to the ravine below + us. Her wide gray eyes were full of eagerness and her cheeks were + pink with excitement. For, sure enough, there was Rex Krane + striding up the hill, with the easy swing of vigorous health. No + longer the slender, slouching young idol of my boyhood days, with + Eastern cut of garment and devil-may-care dejection of manner, + all hiding a loving tenderness for the unprotected, and a daring + spirit that scorned danger.<br> + <br> + "It's the old settlers' picnic, eh! The gathering of the wild + tribes--anything you want to call it, so we smoke the peace + pipe."<br> + <br> + Rex greeted all of us as we rushed upon him. But the first hands + he reached for were the hands of our loving big sister Mat. And + he held them close in his as he looked down into her beautiful + eyes.<br> + <br> + A sudden rush of memories brought back to me the long days on the + trail in the middle '40's, and I knew now why he had always + looked at Mat when he talked to all of us. And I used to think + that he must have had a little sister like her. Now I knew in an + instant why Mat could not meet his eyes to-day with that + unconcern with which she met them when she was a child to me, and + he, all of five years ahead of her, was very grown up. I knew + more, for I had entered a new land myself since the hour by the + shimmering Flat Rock in the Moon of the Peach Blossom, and I was + alive to every tint and odor and musical note for every other + wayfarer therein.<br> + <br> + That was a glorious week that followed, and one to remember on + the long trail days coming to us. I have no quarrel with the + happy youth of to-day, but I feel no sense of loss nor spirit of + envy when they tell me--all young people are my friends--when + they tell me of golf-links and automobile rides, or even the + daring hint of airplanes. To the heart of youth the + gasolene-motor or the thrill of the air-craft to-day is no more + than the Indian pony and the uncertain chance of the crude old + canoe on the clear waters of the Big Blue when Kansas City was a + village and the Kansas prairies were in their virgin glory.<br> + <br> + Bill Banney had come out of the Mexican War, no longer an + adventure lover, but a seasoned frontiersman. His life knew few + of the gentler touches. He gave it to the plains, where so many + lives went, unhonored and unsung, into the building of an + enduring empire.<br> + <br> + We would have included him in all the frolic of that wonderful + week in the Moon of the Peach Blossom--but he gave us no + opportunity to do so. And we were young, and the society of girls + was a revelation to us. So with the carelessness of youth we + forgot him. We forgot many things that week that, in Heaven's + name, we had cause enough to remember in the years that followed + after.<br> + <br> + "There's a theatrical troupe come up from St. Louis to play here + to-night," Rex Krane announced, after supper. "Mat, will you let + me take you down to see the villain get what's due all villains? + Then if we have to kill off Gail and Bev, it will not be so + awkward."<br> + <br> + "Can't we all go?" Mat suggested.<br> + <br> + "Never mind us, Lady Nivers. Little Blue Flower, may I have the + pleasure of your company? I need protection to-night," Beverly + said, with much ceremony.<br> + <br> + Little Blue Flower was sitting next to him, or it might not have + begun that way.<br> + <br> + "Oh, say yes. He's no poorer company than that company of actors + down town," Rex urged.<br> + <br> + The Indian girl assented with a smile.<br> + <br> + She did not smile often and when she did her eyes were full of + light, and her red lips and perfect white teeth were beautiful + enough for a queen to envy.<br> + <br> + "Little Lees, it seems you are doomed to depend on Gail or jump + in the Kaw. I'd prefer the Kaw myself, but life is full of + troubles. One more can be endured." Rex had turned to Eloise St. + Vrain.<br> + <br> + "Seems to me, having first choice, you might have been more + considerate of my lot yourself," Eloise declared.<br> + <br> + "He was. He saved you from a worse fate when he chose Mat," I + broke in.<br> + <br> + "May we have a song by the choir?" Beverly interrupted, and with + his full bass voice he began to roar our some popular tune of + that time.<br> + <br> + And it went on as it began, the rambles about the rugged bluffs + and picturesque ravines, where to-day the hard-surfaced Cliff + Drive makes a scenic highway through the beauty spots of a + populous city; the daring canoe rides on the rivers; the + gatherings of the young folk in the town; and the long twilight + hours on the crest of the bluff overlooking the two great + waterways. And as by the first selection, Beverly and Little Blue + Flower were companions. Nobody could be unhappy with Bev, least + of all the shy Indian girl with a face full of sunshine, now. And + I? I walked a pathway strewn with rose petals because the + golden-haired Little Lees was beside me. Each day was a frolic + day for us, teasing one another and making a joke of life, and + for the morrow we took no thought at all.<br> + <br> + One evening Eloise St. Vrain and I sat together on the bluff. It + was the twilight hour, and all the far valley of the Kaw was full + of iridescent misty lights, with gold-tipped clouds of pale + lavender above, and the glistening silver of the river below. We + could hear Beverly and Little Blue Flower laughing together in a + big swing among the maples. Aunty Boone was crooning some African + melodies in the bushes half-way down the slope. Rex and Mat had + gone to the ravine below to meet Uncle Esmond.<br> + <br> + "Little Lees, the first time I ever saw you you were away out + there in such a misty light as that, and I saw only your hair and + your eyes then, but as clearly as I see them now."<br> + <br> + Eloise turned questioningly toward me, and the light in her dark + eyes thrilled to the heart of me. In all her stay with us I had + hardly spoken earnestly of anything before.<br> + <br> + "When was that Gail?" she asked, the frivolous spirit gone from + her, too.<br> + <br> + "When I was a little boy, one day at Fort Leavenworth. And when I + caught sight of you at the door of old San Miguel I knew you," I + replied.<br> + <br> + The girl turned her face toward the west again and was silent. I + felt my cheeks flush hotly. I had made her think I was only a + dream-sick fool, when I had told her of the sacredest moment of + my life, and I had for the minute foolishly felt that she might + understand. How could I know that it was I who could not + understand?<br> + <br> + At last she looked up with a smile as full of mischief as on that + day when she had called me a big brown bob-cat.<br> + <br> + "You must have been having a nightmare in your sleep," she + declared.<br> + <br> + "I think I was," I replied, testily. "Let me tell you something, + Little Lees, something really important."<br> + <br> + "I don't believe you know one important thing," Eloise replied, + "but I'll listen, and then if it is I'll tell you something more + important."<br> + <br> + "I'm willing to hear it now. Tell me first," I replied, wondering + the while how nature, that gives rough-hewn bearded faces to men, + could make a face so daintily colored, in its youthful roundness, + as hers.<br> + <br> + "I'm going to start to St. Louis day after to-morrow at six + o'clock in the morning. Isn't that important?"<br> + <br> + Was there a real earnestness under the lightly spoken words, or + did I imagine it so? If I had only made sure then--but I was + young.<br> + <br> + "Important! It's a tragedy! I start west in three days, at eight + o'clock in the morning," I said, carelessly.<br> + <br> + Sometimes the gray shadows fall on us when neither sunlight nor + moonlight nor starlight is dimmed by any film of vapor. They fell + on me then, and I shivered in my soul. How could I speak + otherwise than carelessly and not show what must not be known? + And how could the girl beside me know that I was speaking thus to + keep down the shiver of that cold shadow? I suppose it must + always be the same old story, year after year-- </p> + + <p class="blkquot">till the leaves of the judgment book + unfold.</p> + + <p>"What was that important something you were going to tell me? + What Mat told me last night when we were watching the moon rise?" + Eloise asked.<br> + <br> + "That Rex and Mat are going to be married to-morrow evening at + early candle-lighting--'early mosquito-biting,' Bev calls it. Rex + has loved Mat since the day when he joined our little wagon-train + out of a foolish sort of notion that he could protect us + children, otherwise his life was useless to him. But something in + his own boyhood made him pity all orphan children. I think it was + through neglect in childhood he became an invalid at nineteen. He + doesn't show the marks of it now."<br> + <br> + I paused and looked at the young girl beside me, whose eyes were + like stars in the deepening gloom of the evening. It was + delicious to have her look at me and listen to me. It was + delicious to live in a rose-hued twilight, and I forgot the chill + of that gray shadow lurking near.<br> + <br> + The next evening was entrancing with the soft air of spring, a + night made purposely for brides. The wedding itself was simple in + its appointments, as such events must needs be in the frontier + years. All day we had worked to decorate the plain stone house, + which the deftness of Little Blue Flower and the artistic touch + of Little Lees turned into a spring bower, with trailing vines + and blossoms everywhere.<br> + <br> + Mat's wedding-gown was neither new nor elaborate, for the affair + had been too hastily decided on, but Eloise had made it + bride-like by draping a filmy veil over Mat's bright brown hair, + and Little Blue Flower had brought her long strands of turquoise + beads, "old and borrowed and blue," to fulfil the needs of every + bride.<br> + <br> + In the bridal party Beverly and I walked in front, followed by + the two girls in the white Greek robes which they had worn at the + school frolic at St. Ann's, and wearing their headbands, the one + of silver and turquoise, the other of silver and coral. Then came + Rex Krane and Bill Banney. Poor Bill! Nobody guessed that night + that the bridal blossoms were flowers on the coffin of his dead + hope. And last of all, Esmond Clarenden and Mat Nivers, with + shining eyes, leaning on his arm. I had never seen Uncle Esmond + in evening dress before, nor dreamed how splendid a figure he + could make for a drawing-room in the costume in which he was so + much at ease. But the handsomest man of all the large company + gathered there that night was Jondo, big, broad-shouldered Jondo, + his deep-blue eyes bright with joy for these two. And in the + background was Aunty Boone, resplendent in a new red calico + besprinkled with her favorite white dots, her head turbaned in a + yellow silk bandana, and about her neck a strand of huge green + glass beads. Her eyes glistened as she watched that night's + events, and her comfortable ejaculations of approval were like + the low purr of a satisfied cat. Then came the solemn pledges, + the benediction and congratulations. There was merrymaking and + singing, cake and unfermented wine of grapes for refreshing, and + much good will that night.<br> + <br> + When the guests were gone and the lights, save one kitchen + candle, were all out, I had slipped from the dining-room with the + last burden of dishes, when I paused a minute beside the open + kitchen window to let the midnight breeze cool my face.<br> + <br> + On the side porch, a little affair made to shelter the doorway, I + saw Beverly Clarenden and Little Blue Flower. He was speaking + gently, but with his blunt frankness, as he patted the two brown + hands clinging to his arm. The Indian girl's white draperies were + picturesque anywhere. In this dramatic setting they were + startlingly beautiful, and her face, outlined in the dim light, + was a thing rare to see. I could not hear her words, but her soft + Hopi voice had a tender tone.<br> + <br> + I was waiting to let them pass in when I heard Beverly's voice, + and I saw him bend over the little maiden, and, putting one arm + around her, he drew her close to him and kissed her forehead. I + knew it was a brother's sympathetic act--and all men know how + dangerous a thing that is; that there are no ties binding brother + to sister except the bonds of kindred blood. The girl slipped + inside the dining-room door, and a minute later a candle + flickered behind her bedroom window-blind in the gable of the + house. I waited for Beverly to go, determined never to mention + what I had seen, when I caught the clear low voice whose tones + could make my pulse thresh in its walls.<br> + <br> + "Beverly, Beverly, it breaks my heart--" I lost the remainder of + the sentence, but Beverly's words were clear and direct and full + of a frank surprise.<br> + <br> + "Eloise, do you really care?"<br> + <br> + I turned away quickly that I might not hear any more. The rest of + that night I sat wide awake and staring at the misty valley of + the Kaw, where silvery ripples flashed up here and there against + the shadowy sand-bars.</p> + + <h1>* * * * *</h1> + + <p>The steamboat for St. Louis left the Westport Landing wharf at + six o'clock in the morning, before the mists had lifted over the + big yellow Missouri. From our bluff I saw the smoke belch from + its stacks as it pulled away and started down-stream; but only + Uncle Esmond and Jondo waited to wave good-by to the sweet-faced + girl looking back at them from its deck. Beverly had overslept, + and Little Blue Flower had left an hour earlier with a + wagon-train starting west toward Council Grove. In her room lay + the white Grecian robe and the headband of wrought silver with + coral pendants. On the little white pin-cushion on the + dressing-table the bright pin-heads spelled out one Hopi word + that carries all good will and blessing</p> + + <p class="blkquot">LOLOMI.</p> + + <p>Twenty-four hours later Rex Krane left his bride, and he and + Bill Banney and Beverly and I, under command of Jondo, started on + our long trip overland to Santa Fé. And two of us carried + some memories we hoped to lose when new scenes and certain perils + should surround us.</p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="XI" id="XI">XI</a><br> + <br> + "OUR FRIENDS--THE ENEMY"</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + And you all know security<br> + Is mortal's chiefest enemy.<br> + SHAKESPEARE.</p> + + <p><br> + <br> + In St. Louis and Kansas City men of Esmond Clarenden's type were + sending out great caravans of goods and receiving return cargoes + across the plains--pioneer trade-builders, uncrowned sovereigns + of national expansion--against whose enduring power wars for + conquest are as flashlight to daylight. And Beverly Clarenden and + I, with the whole battalion of plainsmen--"bull-whackers," in the + common parlance of the Santa Fé Trail--who drove those + caravans to and fro, may also have been State-builders, as Uncle + Esmond had declared we would be. Yet we hardly looked like makers + of empire in those summer days when we followed the great + wagon-trains along the prairies and over the mountain passes.<br> + <br> + Two of us had come home from school hilariously eager for the + trail service. But the silent plains made men thoughtful and + introspective. Days of endless level landscapes under + wide-arching skies, and nights in the open beneath the + everlasting silent stars, give a man time to get close to + himself, to relive his childhood, to measure human values, to + hear the voice in the storm-cloud and the song of low-purring + winds, to harden against the monotonous glare of sunlight, to + defy the burning heat, and to feel--aye, to feel the spell of + crystal day-dawns and the sweetness of velvet-shadowed twilights. + Beverly and I were typical plainsmen in that we never spoke of + these things to each other--that is not the way of the + plainsman.<br> + <br> + Our company had been organized at Council Grove--three trains of + twenty-six wagons each, drawn by three or four spans of mules or + yoke of oxen, guarded by eightscore of "bull-whackers." And there + were a dozen or more ponies trained for swift riding in cases of + emergency. There were also half a dozen private outfits under + protection of the large body.<br> + <br> + The usual election before starting had made Jondo captain of the + whole company. His was the controlling type of spirit that could + have bent a battalion or swayed a Congress. For all the + commanders and lawmakers of that day were not confined to the + army and to Congress. Some of them escaped to the West and became + sovereigns of service there. And Jondo had need for an intrepid + spirit to rule that group of men, as that journey across the + plains proved.<br> + <br> + On the day before we left Council Grove he was sitting with the + heads of the other wagon-trains under a big oak-tree, perfecting + final plans for the journey.<br> + <br> + "Gail, I want you to sign some papers here," he said. "It is the + agreement for the trip among the three companies owning the + trains."<br> + <br> + I read aloud the contract setting forth how one Jean Deau, + representing Esmond Clarenden, of Kansas City, with Smith and + Davis, representing two other companies from St. Louis, together + agreed to certain conditions regarding the journey.<br> + <br> + Smith and Davis had already signed, and as I took the pen, a + white-haired old trapper who was sitting near by burst out:<br> + <br> + "Jean Deau! Jean Deau! Who the devil is Jean Deau?"<br> + <br> + Jondo did not look up, but the lines hardened about his + mouth.<br> + <br> + "It's a sound. Don't get in the way, old man. Go ahead, + Clarenden," Smith commanded.<br> + <br> + Few questions were asked in those days, for most men on the + plains had a history, and it was what a man could do here, not + what he had done somewhere else, that counted.<br> + <br> + So I, representing Esmond Clarenden, signed the paper and the two + managers hurried away. But the old trapper sat staring at + Jondo.<br> + <br> + "Say, I'm gittin' close to the end of the trail, and the divide + ain't fur off for me. D'ye mind if I say somethin'?" he asked at + last.<br> + <br> + Jondo looked up with that smile that could warm any man's + heart.<br> + <br> + "Say on," he commanded, kindly.<br> + <br> + "You aint never signin' your own name nowhere, it sorter + seems."<br> + <br> + Jondo shook his head.<br> + <br> + "Didn't you and this Clarenden outfit go through here 'bout ten + years ago one night? Some Mexican greasers was raisin' hell and + proppin' it up with a whisky-bottle that night, layin' fur you + vicious."<br> + <br> + Jondo smiled and nodded assent.<br> + <br> + "Well, them fellers comin' in had a bargain with a passel of + Kioways to git you plenty if they missed you themselves; to + clinch their bargain they give 'em a pore little Hopi Injun girl + they'd brung along with a lot of other Mexicans and squaws."<br> + <br> + "I had that figured out pretty well at the time," Jondo said, + with a smile.<br> + <br> + "But, Jean Deau--" the old man began.<br> + <br> + "No, Jondo. Go on. I'm busy," Jondo interrupted.<br> + <br> + The old man's watery eyes gleamed.<br> + <br> + "I just want to say friendly-like, that them Kioways never forgot + the trick you worked on 'em, an' the <i>tornydo</i> that busted + 'em at Pawnee Rock they laid to your bad medicine. They went + clare back to Bent's Fort to fix you. Them and that rovin' bunch + of Mexicans that scattered along the trail with 'em in time of + the Mexican War. They'd 'a' lost you but fur a little Apache cuss + they struck out there who showed 'em to you."<br> + <br> + Jondo looked up quickly now. Santan, Beverly's "Satan," whom our + captain had defended, flashed to my mind, but I knew by Jondo's + face that he did not believe the old trapper's story.<br> + <br> + "Them Kioways is still layin' fur you ever' year, I tell you, an' + they're bound to git you sooner or later. I'm tellin' ye in + kindness."<br> + <br> + The old man's voice weakened a little.<br> + <br> + "And I'm taking you in kindness," Jondo said. "You may be doing + me a great service."<br> + <br> + "I shore am. Take my word an' keep awake. Keep awake!"<br> + <br> + In spite of his drink-bleared eyes and weakened frame, there was + a hint of the commander in him, a mere shadow of the energy that + had gone years ago into the wild, solitary life of the trapper + who foreran the trail days here.<br> + <br> + "One more trip to the ha'nts of the fur-bearin' and it's good-by + to the mountain trails and the river courses fur me," he said, as + he rose and stalked unsteadily away, and--I never saw him + again.<br> + <br> + At daybreak the next morning we were off for Santa Fé. Our + wagons, loaded with their precious burdens, moved forward six + abreast along the old sun-flower bordered trail. Morning, noon, + and evening, pitching camp and breaking camp, yoking oxen and + harnessing mules, keeping night vigil by shifts, hunting buffalo, + killing rattlesnakes, watching for signs of hostile Indians, + meeting incoming trains, or solitary trappers, at long intervals, + breathing the sweet air of the prairies, and gathering rugged + strength from sleep on the wholesome earth--these things, with + the jolliest of fellowship and perfect discipline of our captain, + Jondo, made this hard, free life of the plains a fascinating one. + We were unshaven and brown as Indians. We lost every ounce of + fat, but we were steel-sinewed, and fear, that wearing element + that disintegrates the soul, dropped away from us early on the + trail.<br> + <br> + But when the full moon came sweeping up the sky, and all the + prairie shadows lay flat to earth under its surge of clear light, + in the stillness of the great lonely land, then the battle with + home-sickness was not the least of the plains' perils.<br> + <br> + One midnight watch of such a night, Jondo sat out my vigil with + me. Our eighty or more wagons were drawn up in a rude ellipse + with the stock corraled inside, for we were nearing the danger + zone. And yet to-night danger seemed impossible in such a + peaceful land under such clear moonlight.<br> + <br> + "Gail, you were always a far-seeing youngster, even in your cub + days," Jondo said, after we had sat silent for a long time. "We + are moving into trouble from to-night, and I'll need you + now."<br> + <br> + "What makes you think so, Jondo?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "That train we met going east at noon."<br> + <br> + "Mexicans with silver and skins worth double our stuff, what have + they to do with us?" I inquired.<br> + <br> + "One of the best men I have ever known is a Mexican in Santa + Fé. The worst man I have ever known is an American there. + But I've never yet trusted a Mexican when you bunch them + together. They don't fit into American harness, and it will be a + hundred years before the Mexican in our country will really love + the Stars and Stripes. Deep down in his heart he will hate + it."<br> + <br> + "I remember Felix Narveo and Ferdinand Ramero mighty well," I + commented.<br> + <br> + Jondo stared at me.<br> + <br> + "Can't a boy remember things?" I inquired.<br> + <br> + "It takes a boy to remember; and they grow up and we forget they + have had eyes, ears, feelings, memories, all keener than we can + ever have in later years. Gail, the Mexican train comes from + Felix Narveo, and Narveo is a man of a thousand. They bring word, + however, that the Kiowas are unusually friendly and that we have + nothing to fear this side of the Cimarron. They don't feel sure + of the Utes and Apaches."<br> + <br> + "Good enough!" I exclaimed.<br> + <br> + "Yes, only they lie when they say it. It's a trap to get us. No + Kiowa on the plains will let a Clarenden train through + peacefully, because we took their captive, Little Blue Flower. + It's a hatred kept alive in the Kiowas by one man in Santa + Fé through his Mexican agents with Narveo's train."<br> + <br> + "And that man is Ramero?" I questioned.<br> + <br> + "That man is Ramero, and his capacity for hate is appalling. + Gail, there's only one thing in the world that is stronger than + hate, and that is love."<br> + <br> + Jondo looked out over the moonlit plains, his fine head erect, + even in his meditative moods.<br> + <br> + "When a Mexican says a Kiowa has turned friendly, don't believe + him. And when a Kiowa says it himself--kill him. It's your only + safe course," Jondo said, presently.<br> + <br> + "Jondo, why does Ramero stir up the Indians and Mexicans against + Uncle Esmond?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "Because Clarenden drove him into exile in New Mexico before it + was United States territory," Jondo replied.<br> + <br> + "What did he do that for?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "Because of what Ramero had done to me," Jondo replied.<br> + <br> + "Well, New Mexico is United States territory now. What keeps this + Ramero in Santa Fé, if he is there?"<br> + <br> + "I keep him there. It's safer to know just where a man like that + is. So I put a ring around the town and left him inside of + it."<br> + <br> + Jondo paused and turned toward me.<br> + <br> + "Yonder comes Banney to go on guard now. Gail, I'll tell you all + about it some day. I couldn't on a night like this."<br> + <br> + The deep voice sent a shiver through me. There was a pathos in + it, too manly for tears, too courageous for pity.<br> + <br> + The days that followed were hard ones. Word had gotten through + the camp that the Indians were very friendly, and that we need + not be uneasy this side of the Cimarron country. Smith and Davis + agreed with the train captain, Jondo, in taking no chances, but + most of the one hundred sixty bull-whackers stampeded like cattle + against precaution, and rebelled at his rigid ruling. He had + begun to tighten down upon us as we went farther and farther into + the heart of a savage domain. The night guard was doubled and + every precaution for the stock was demanded, giving added cause + for grumbling and muttered threats which no man had the courage + to speak openly to Jondo's face. I knew why he had said that he + would need me. Bill Banney was always reliable, but growing more + silent and unapproachable every day. Rex Krane's mind was on the + girl-wife he had left in the stone house on the bluff above the + Missouri. Beverly was too cock-sure of himself and too + light-hearted, too eager for an Indian fight. Jondo could counsel + with Smith and Davis of the St. Louis trains, but only as a last + resort would he dictate to them. So he turned to me.<br> + <br> + We were nearing Pawnee Rock, but as yet no hint of an Indian + trail could we find anywhere. Advance-guards and rear-guards had + no news to report when night came, and the sense of security grew + hourly. The day had been very warm, but our nooning was shortened + and we went into camp early. Everything had gone wrong that day: + harness had broken; mules had grown fractious; a wagon had upset + on a rough bit of the trail; half a dozen men, including Smith + and Davis of the St. Louis trains, had fallen suddenly ill; + drinking-water had been warm and muddy; and, most of all, the + consciousness of wide-spread opposition to Jondo's strict ruling + where there were no signs of danger made a very ugly-spirited + group of men who sat down together to eat our evening meal. Bets + were openly made that we wouldn't see a hostile redskin this side + of Santa Fé. Covert sneers pointed many comments, and grim + silence threatened more than everything else. Jondo's face was + set, but there was a calmness about his words and actions, and + even the most rebellious that night knew he was least afraid of + any man among us.<br> + <br> + At midnight he wakened me. "I want you to help me, Gail," he + said. "The Kiowas will gather for us at Pawnee Rock. They missed + us there once because they were looking for a big train, and it + was there we took their captive girl. The boys are ready to + mutiny to-night. I count on you to stand by me." Stand by Jondo! + In my helpless babyhood, my orphaned childhood, my sturdy growing + years toward young manhood, Jondo had been father, mother, + brother, playmate, guardian angel. I would have walked on red-hot + coals for his sake.<br> + <br> + "I want you to slip away to-night, when Rex and Bev are on guard, + and find out what's over that ridge to the north. Don't come back + till you do find out. We'll get to Pawnee Rock to-morrow. I must + know to-night. Can you do it? If you aren't back by sunrise, I'll + follow your trail double quick."<br> + <br> + "I'll go," I replied, proud to show both my courage and my + loyalty to my captain.<br> + <br> + The night was gray, with a dying moon in the west, and the north + ridge loomed like a low black shadow against the sky. There was a + weird chanting voice in the night wind, pouring endlessly across + the open plains. And everywhere an eyeless, voiceless, motionless + land, whereon my pony's hoof-beats were big and booming. Nature + made my eyes and ears for the trail life, and matched my soul to + its level spaces. To-night I was alert with that love of mastery + that made me eager for this task. So I rode forward until our + great camp was only a dull blot on the horizon-line, melting into + mere nothingness as it grew farther away. And I was alone on the + earth. God had taken out every other thing in it, save the sky + over my head and the uneven short-grass sod under my feet.<br> + <br> + On I went, veering to the northwest from instinct that I should + find my journey's end soonest that way. Over the divide which hid + the wide valley of the Arkansas, and into the deep draws and low + bluffs of a creek with billowy hills beyond, I found myself still + instinctively <i>smelling</i> my way. I grew more cautious with + each step now, knowing that the chance for me to slip along + unseen gave also the chance for an enemy to trail me unseen.<br> + <br> + At last I caught that low breathing sound that goes with the + sense of nearness to life. Leaving my pony by the stream, I + climbed to the top of a little swell, and softly as a cat walks + on a carpet, I walked straight into an Indian camp. It was well + chosen for outlook near, and security from afar. There was a + growing light in the sky that follows the darkness of moonset and + runs before the break of dawn. Everything in the camp was dead + still. I saw evidences of war-paint and a recent war-dance that + forerun an Indian attack. I estimated the strength of the + enemy--possibly four hundred warriors, and noted the symbols of + the Kiowa tribe. Then, thrilled with pride at my skill and + success, I turned to retrace my way to my pony--and looked full + into the face of an Indian brave standing motionless in my path. + A breath--and two more braves evolved out of gray air, and the + three stood stock-still before me. Out of the tail of my eye, I + caught sight of a drawn bow on either side of me. I had learned + quickness with firearms years ago, but I knew that two swift + arrows would cut my life-line before the sound of my ready + revolver could break the stillness of the camp. Three pairs of + snaky black eyes looked steadily at me, and I stared back as + directly into them. Two arrow-points gently touched my ears. + Behind me, a tomahawk softly marked a ring around my scalp + outside of my hat. I was standing in a circle of death. At last + the brave directly before me slowly drew up his bow and pointed + it at me; then dropping it, he snapped the arrow shaft and threw + away the pieces. Pointing to my cocked revolver, he motioned to + me to drop it. At the same time the bows and tomahawks, of the + other warriors were thrown down. It was a silent game, and in + spite of the danger I smiled as I put down my firearms.<br> + <br> + "Can't any of you talk?" I asked. "If you are friendly, why don't + you say so?"<br> + <br> + The men did not speak, but by a gesture toward the tallest + tepee--the chief's, I supposed--I understood that he alone would + talk to me.<br> + <br> + "Well, bring him out." I surprised myself at my boldness. Yet no + man knows in just what spirit he will face a peril.<br> + <br> + One of the braves ran to the chief's tent, but the remaining five + left me no chance for escape. It was slowly growing lighter. I + thought of Jondo and his search at sunrise, and the moments + seemed like hours. Yet with marvelous swiftness and stillness a + score of Indians with their chief were mounted, and I, with my + pony in the center of a solid ring, was being hurried away, + alive, with friendly captors daubed with war-paint.<br> + <br> + There was a growing light in the east, while the west was still + dark. I thought of the earth as throwing back the gray shadowy + covers from its morning face and piling them about its feet; I + thought of some joke of Beverly's; and I wondered about one of + the oxen that had seemed sick in the evening. I tried to think of + nothing and a thousand things came into my mind. But of life and + death and love and suffering, I thought not at all.<br> + <br> + Meantime, Jondo waited anxiously for my coming. Rex and Beverly + had gone to sleep at the end of their watch and nobody else in + camp knew of my going. At dawn a breeze began to swing in from + the north, and with its refreshing touch the weariness and + worries of yesterday were swept away. Everybody wakened in a good + humor. But Jondo had not slept, and his face was sterner than + ever as the duties of the day began.<br> + <br> + Before sunrise I began to be missed.<br> + <br> + "Where's Gail?" Bill Banney was the first to ask.<br> + <br> + "That's Clarenden's job, not mine," another of the bull-whackers + resented a command of Jondo's.<br> + <br> + "Gail! Gail! Anybody on earth seen Gail Clarenden this morning?" + came from a far corner of the camp.<br> + <br> + "Have you lost a man, Jondo?" Smith, still sick in his wagon, + inquired.<br> + <br> + And the sun was filling the eastern horizon with a roseate glow. + It would be above the edge of the plains in a little while, and + still I had not returned.<br> + <br> + Breakfast followed, with many questions for the absent one. There + was an eagerness to be off early and an uneasiness began to + pervade the camp.<br> + <br> + "Jondo, you'll have to dig up Gail now. I saw him putting out + northwest about one o'clock," Rex Krane said, aside to the train + captain.<br> + <br> + "If he isn't here in ten minutes. I'll have to start out after + him," Jondo replied.<br> + <br> + Ten minutes are long to one who waits. The boys were ready for + the camp order. "Catch up!" to start the harnessing of teams. But + it was not given. The sun's level rays, hot and yellow, smote the + camp, and a low murmur ran from wagon to wagon. Jondo waited a + minute longer, then he climbed to the wagon tongue at the head of + the ellipse of vehicles, his commanding form outlined against the + open space, his fine face illumined by the sunlight.<br> + <br> + "Boys, listen to me."<br> + <br> + Men listened when Jondo spoke.<br> + <br> + "I believe we are in danger, but you have doubted my word. I + leave the days to prove who is right. At midnight I sent Gail + Clarenden to find out what is beyond that ridge--a band of men + running parallel with us that shadows us day by day. If he is not + here in ten minutes, we must go after him."<br> + <br> + A hush fell on the camp. The oxen switched at the first nipping + insects of the morning, and the ponies and mules, with that + horse-sense that all horsemen have observed in them at times, + stood as if waiting for a decision to be made.<br> + <br> + Beverly Clarenden was first to speak.<br> + <br> + "If anybody goes after Gail, it's <i>me</i>, and I'll not stop + till I get him," he cried, all the brotherly love of a lifetime + in his ringing voice.<br> + <br> + "And me!" "And me!" "And me!" came from a dozen throats. + Plainsmen were always the truest of comrades in the hour of + danger. Nobody questioned Jondo's wisdom now. All thought was for + the missing man.<br> + <br> + Rex Krane had leaped up on the wagon next to Jondo's and stood + gazing toward the northwest. At this outburst of eagerness he + turned to the crowd in the corral.<br> + <br> + "You wait five minutes and Gail will be here. He's gettin' into + sight out yonder now," he declared.<br> + <br> + Another shout, a rush for the open, and a straining of eyes to + make sure of the lone rider coming swiftly down the trail I had + followed out at midnight. And amid a wild swinging of hats and + whoops of joy I rode into camp, hugged by Beverly and questioned + by everybody, eager for my story from the time I left the camp + until I rode into it again.<br> + <br> + "They took me to Pawnee Rock before they let me know anything, + except that my scalp would hang to the old chief's war-spear if I + tried one eye-wink to get away from them. But they let me keep my + gun, and I took it for a sign," I told the company. "They had a + lot of ceremony getting seated, and then, without any + smoking-tobacco or peace-pipe, they gave their message."<br> + <br> + "Who said the Kiowas wasn't friendly? They already sent us word + enough," one man broke in.<br> + <br> + Jondo's face, that had been bright and hopeful, now grew + grave.<br> + <br> + "They said they mean us no harm. They were grateful to Uncle Sam + for the favors he had given them. That the prairies were wide, + and there was room for all of us on it," I continued. "In proof, + they said that we would pass that old rock to-day unharmed where + once they would have counted us their enemies. And they let me go + to bring you all this word. They are going northeast into the big + hunting-ground, and we are safe."<br> + <br> + No man could take defeat better than Jondo.<br> + <br> + "I am glad if I was wrong in my opinion," he said. "Fifteen years + on that trail have made me cautious. I shall still be cautious if + I am your captain. They did not smoke the peace-pipe. In my + judgment the Kiowas lied. Two or three days will prove it. Choose + now between me and my unchanged opinion, and some new train + captain."<br> + <br> + "Oh, every man makes some bad guesses, Jondo. We'll keep you, of + course, and it's a joke on you, that's all." So ran the comment, + and we hurriedly broke camp and moved on.<br> + <br> + But with all of our captain's anxiety Pawnee Rock stood like a + protecting shield above us when we camped at its base, and the + long bright days that followed were full of a sense of security + and good cheer as we pulled away for the Cimarron crossing of the + Arkansas River, miles ahead.<br> + <br> + All day Jondo rode wide of the trail, sometimes on one side and + sometimes on the other, watching for signs of an enemy. And the + bluff, jovial crowd of bull-whackers laughed together at his + holding on to his opinion out of sheer stubbornness.<br> + <br> + On the second night he asked for a triple guard and nobody + grumbled, for everybody really liked the big plainsman and they + could afford to be good-natured with him, now that he was + unquestioningly in the wrong.<br> + <br> + The camp was in a little draw running down to the river, bordered + by a mere ripple of ground on either side, growing deeper as it + neared the stream and flattening out toward the level prairie in + its upper portion. In spite of the triple guard, Jondo did not + sleep that night; and, strangely enough, I, who had been dull to + fear in the hands of the Indians two nights before, felt nervous + and anxious, now when all seemed secure.<br> + <br> + Just at daybreak a light shower with big bullet-like drops of + rain pattered down noisily on our camp and a sudden flash of + lightning and a thunderbolt startled the sleepy stock and brought + us to our feet, dazed for an instant. Another light volley of + rain, another sheet of lightning and roar of thunder, and the + cloud was gone, scattering down the Arkansas Valley. But in that + flash all of Jondo's cause for anxiety was justified. The + widening draw was full of Kiowas, hideous in war-paint, and the + ridges on either side of us were swarming with Indians beating + dried skins to frighten and stampede our stock, and all yelling + like fiends, while a perfect rain of arrows swept our camp. With + the river below us full of holes and quicksands, our enemies had + only to hold the natural defense on either side while they drove + us in a harrowing wedge back to the water. If our ponies and + mules should break from the corral they would rush for the river + or be lost in the widening space back from the deeper draw, where + a well-trained corps of thieves knew how to capture them. I had + estimated the Kiowas' strength at four hundred, two nights + before, which was augmented now by a roving band of Dog + Indians--outcasts from all tribes, who knew no law of heaven or + hell that they must obey. And so we stood, shocked wide awake, + with the foe four to one, man for man against us.<br> + <br> + Men remember details acutely in the face of danger. As I write + these words I can hear the sound of Jondo's voice that morning, + clear and strong above the awful din, for nature made him to + command in moments of peril. In a flash we were marshalled, one + force to guard the corral, one to seize and hold either bank and + one to charge on the advance of the Indians down the draw. We + were on the defensive, as our captain had planned we should be, + and every man of us realized bitterly now how much he had done + for us, in spite of our distrust of his judgment.<br> + <br> + On came the yelling horde, with rifle-rip and singing arrow. And + the sharp cry of pain and the fierce oath told where these shots + had sped home. Four to one, with every advantage of well-laid + plan of action against an unsuspecting sleeping force, the odds + and gods were with them. Dark clouds hung overhead, but the + eastern sky was aflame, casting a lurid glare across the edges of + the draw as a stream of savages with painted faces and naked + bedaubed bodies poured down against the corral. In an instant the + chains and ropes holding the stock were severed, and our mules + and oxen and ponies stampeded wildly. By some adroit movement + they were herded over the low bank, and a cloud of dust hid the + entire battleground as the animals, mad with fright and goaded by + arrows, tossed against one another, stumbled blindly until they + had cleared the ridge. A shriek of savage glee and the thunder of + hoofs on the hard earth told how well the thing had been done and + how furiously our animals were being whirled away.<br> + <br> + "Go, get 'em, Gail! Stay by 'em! Run!"<br> + <br> + Jondo's voice sounded far away, but my work was near. With a + dozen bull-whackers I made a dash out of the draw and, circling + wide, we rode like demons to outflank the cloud of dust that hid + our precious property. On we swept, fleet and sure, in a mad + burst of speed to save our own. We were gaining now, and turning + the cloud toward the river. Another spurt, and we would have them + checked, faced about, subdued. I saw the end, and as the boys + swung forward I urged them on.<br> + <br> + "To the river. To the river. Head 'em south!" I cried.<br> + <br> + And Rex Krane, like a centaur, swirled by me to do the thing I + ordered. Behind me rode Beverly Clarenden bareheaded, his face + aglow with power. As I looked back the dust engulfed him for a + moment, and then I heard an arrow sing, and a sharp cry of pain. + The dust had lifted and Beverly and a huge Indian, the tallest I + have ever seen, were grappling together, a scalping-knife + gleaming in the morning light. I dashed forward and felled the + savage with the butt of my revolver. He leaped to his feet and + sprang at me just as Beverly, with unerring aim, sent a blaze of + fire between us. As the savage fell again, my cousin seized his + pony; and with an arrow still swinging to his arm, dashed into + the chase, and left it only when the stock, with the loss of less + than a fourth, was driven up the river's sandy bank and over the + swell into the camp inclosure.<br> + <br> + Meantime, Jondo at the front of his men charged into the very + center of the savage battle-line as, furious for blood, they + threshed across the narrow draw--the disciplined arm and + courageous heart against a blood-thirsty foe. A charge, a falling + back, another surge to win the lost ground, a steady holding on + and sure advance, and then Jondo, with one triumphant shout of + victory, struck the last fierce blow that sent the Kiowas into + full flight toward the northwest, and the day was won.<br> + <br> + Out by the river, a sudden dullness seized me. I lifted my eyes + to see Beverly free and Rex directing the charge; cattle, mules, + and ponies turned back toward safety, and something crawling and + writhing about my feet; Jondo's great shout of victory far away, + it seemed, miles and miles to the north; a cloud of dust sweeping + toward me; the crimson east aflame like the Day of judgment; the + dust cloud rolling nearer; the yellow sands and slow-moving + waters of the Arkansas; and six silent stalwart Kiowa braves, + with snaky black eyes, looking steadily at me. Shadows, and the + dust cloud upon me. Then all was night. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="XII" id="XII">XII</a><br> + <br> + THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE PLAINS</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + Deeper than speech our love, stronger than life our tether,<br> + But we do not fall on the neck, nor kiss when we come + together.<br> + --"A SONG OF THE + ENGLISH."<br></p> + + <p>The whole thing was clear now, clear as the big white day that + suddenly beamed along the prairies, scattering the clouds into + gray strands against the upper heavens. The treachery of the + Kiowas had been cleverly executed. Word of their friendliness had + come to us through the Mexican caravan which could have no object + in deceiving us, since it was on its way to Kansas City to do + business with the Clarenden house there. And Jondo had sent a spy + by night into the Kiowa camp as if they were not to be trusted. + Yet they had taken no offense; but, letting me keep my firearms, + had led me into their council on the top of Pawnee Rock, where + they had told me in clear English that they had nothing but love + for the white brothers of the plains. And to prove it we should + pass unharmed along the trail where once we had wronged them by + stealing their captive. The prairies were wide enough for all of + us and they had forgotten--as an Indian always forgets--all + malice against us. They had sent me back to camp with greetings + to my captain, and had gone on their way to the heart of the + Grand Prairie in the northeast.<br> + <br> + It was only Jondo, as he rode wide of the trail for two days, who + could see any mark of an Indian's track. And we had not believed + Jondo. We never made that mistake again: But trust in his + shrewdness now, however, would not bring back the oxen lost and + the mules and ponies captured by the thieving band of Dog + Indians. But there was a greater loss than these. The Kiowas had + come for revenge. It was blood, not plunder, they wanted. A dozen + men with arrow wounds reported at roll call, and six men lay + stark dead under the pitiless sky. Among them Davis of the St. + Louis train, who had been too ill to take part in the struggle. + One more loss was there to report, but it was not discovered + until later.<br> + <br> + Indians seldom leave their dead on the field of battle, but the + blood-stained sod beside their fallen ponies told a story of + heavy toll. Blood marked the trail of hoofprints to the northwest + in their wild rout thither. One comrade they had missed in their + flight. He lay down near the river where the ground had been + threshed over by the stampeded stock. He must have been a giant + in life, for his was the longest grave made in the prairie sod + that day. At the river's edge the sands were pricked with + hoofprints, where the struggle to carry away the dead seemed to + have reached clear into the thin yellow current of the Arkansas, + although no trail led out on the far side of the stream.<br> + <br> + "That's the very copper cuss with yellow trimmings who had me + down when that arrow stopped me," Beverly exclaimed. "He was + seven feet tall and streaked with yellow just that way. I thought + ten million rattlesnakes and eight billion polecats had hit me. + His club was awful. Then I caught sight of old Gail's face in the + dust-storm, coming back to help me. He gave the Indian one dose + and got one back, a good hard bill, and then the dust closed in + and Gail was off again to the northwest out there, like a + hurricane. I could hear him a mile away. Couldn't I Gail? Where + is Gail?"<br> + <br> + Where?<br> + <br> + "Oh, back there with the stock!"<br> + <br> + No?<br> + <br> + "Out there looking over the draw for things that's got all + scattered."<br> + <br> + No? Not there?<br> + <br> + "Oh, he's getting breakfast. And we are all hungry enough to eat + raw Kiowas now."<br> + <br> + No? No?<br> + <br> + "Gail would be helping the wounded, anyhow, or straightening out + dead men's limbs. Poor fellows--to lose six! It's awful!"<br> + <br> + No? No? No?<br> + <br> + "Bathing in the river? Where? Over there across the + sand-bar?"<br> + <br> + Nowhere! Nowhere!<br> + <br> + "By the eternal God, they've got him!" Jondo's agonized voice + rang through the camp.<br> + <br> + "We can take care of the wounded, and those fellows lying over + there don't need us. But, oh, Gail! They'll torture him to + death!" Rex Krane's voice choked and he ground his teeth.<br> + <br> + "Gail, my Gail!" Beverly sat down white and desparingly + calm--Beverly, whose up-bubbling spirits nobody could + repress.<br> + <br> + The others wrung their hands and cursed and groaned aloud. Only + Bill Banney, the unimaginative and stern-hearted, stood + motionless with set jaws and black-frowning brows. Bill, whom the + plains had made hard and unfeeling.<br> + <br> + "We won't give up Gail, will we, Bill?" Jondo spoke sternly, but + his face--they said his face was bright with courage and that his + eyes shone with the inspiration of his will. In all that crowd of + eager, faithful men, he turned now to Bill Banney. Every man had + his place on the plains, and Jondo out of the chrism of his own + life-struggle knew that Bill was bearing a cross in silence, and + that his was the martyr spirit that finds salvation only in + deeds. Bill was the man for the place.<br> + <br> + And so while straying animals were slowly recovered, while the + camp was set in order, while the dead were laid with simple + reverence in un-coffined graves, and the sick were crudely + ministered to, while Beverly grew feverish and his arrow wound + became a festering sore, and Rex Krane, master of the company, + cared for every thing and everybody with that big mother-heart of + his--Jondo and Bill Banney pushed alone across the desolate + plains toward where the Smoky Hills wrapped in their dim + gray-blue mist mark the low watershed that rims the western + valley of the Kaw.<br> + <br> + They went alone because skill, and not numbers, could save a + captive from the hands of the Kiowas, and the sight of a force + would mean death to the victim before he could be rescued.<br> + <br> + A splash of water against a hot hand hanging down; a sense of + light, of motion; a glimpse of coarse sands and thin straggling + weeds beside the edge of the stream down which the pathway ran; a + sharp aching at the base of the brain; an agony of strained + muscles--thus slowly I came to my senses, to memory, to the + knowledge that I was bound hand and foot to a pony's back; that + the sun was hot, and the sands were hotter, and the glare on the + waters blinding; that every splash of the pony's hoofs sent up + glittering sparkles that stabbed my aching eyes like white-hot + dagger-points; that the black and clotted dirt on the pony's + shoulder was not mud, but blood; that before and behind were + other splashing feet, all hiding the trail in the thin current of + the wide old Arkansas; that the quick turns to follow the water + and the need for speed gave no consideration to the helpless + rider. The image of six pairs of snaky black eyes came to help + the benumbed brain, and I knew with whom I was again captive. But + there was no question about the friendly motive now, for there + was no friendly motive now. And as we pushed on east, Jondo and + Bill Banney were hurrying toward the northwest, and the space + between us widened every minute. A wave of helplessness and + despair swept over me; then a wild up-leaping prayer for + deliverance to a far-away unpitying Heaven; a sudden sense of the + futility of prayer in a land the Lord had forgotten; and then + anger, hot and wholesome, and an unconquered, dominant will to + gain freedom or to die game, swept every other feeling away, + marvelously mastering the sense of pain that had ground + mercilessly at every nerve. Then came that small voice which a + man hears sometimes in the night stillness and sometimes in the + blare of daylight wrangle. And all suddenly I knew that He who + notes the sparrow's fall knew that I was alone with death, + slow-lingering, inch-creeping death, out on that wide, lonely + plain. The glare on the waters softened. The heat fell away. The + despair and agony lifted. In all the world--my world--there was + only one, God; not a far, unpitying, book-made Lord beyond the + height of the glaring blue dome above me. God beside me on, the + yellow waters of the Arkansas. His hand in my hot hand! His + strength about me, invisible, unbreakable, infinite. When a man + enters into that shielding Presence, nothing else matters.<br> + <br> + I do not know how many miles we went down-stream, leaving no + trail in the shallow water or along its hard-baked edges. But by + the time we dropped that line I had begun to think coherently and + to take note of everything possible to me, bound as I was, face + downward, on the pony's back. It was when we had left the river + that the hard riding began, and a merciful unconsciousness, + against which I fought, softened some stretches of that long + day's journey. We crossed the Santa Fé Trail and were + pushing eastward out of sight of it to the north. No stop, no + word, nothing but ride, ride, ride. Truly, I needed the Presence + that went with me on the way.<br> + <br> + At sunset we stopped, and I was taken from my pony and thrown to + the ground. I managed, in spite of my bonds, to sit up and look + about me.<br> + <br> + We were on the top of Pawnee Rock. The heat of the day was spent + and all the radiant tints of evening were making the silent + prairies unspeakably beautiful. I do not know why I should have + noted or remembered any of this, save that the mind sometimes + gathers impressions under strange stress of suffering. I had had + no food all day, and when our ponies stopped to drink, the agony + of thirst was maddening. My tongue was swollen and my lips were + cracked and bleeding. The leather thongs that bound me cut deep + now. But--only the men who lived it can know what all this meant + to the pioneer of the trail.<br> + <br> + I have sat on the same spot at sunset many a time in these my + sunset years; have gazed in tranquil joy at the whole panorama of + the heavens that hang over the prairies in the opalescent + splendor of the after-sunset hour; have looked out over the + earthly paradise of waving grain, all glowing with the golden + gleam of harvest, in the heart of the rich Kansas + wheat-lands--and somehow I'm glad of soul that I foreran this day + and--maybe--maybe I, too, helped somewhat to build the way--the + way that Esmond Clarenden had helped to clear a decade before and + was building then.<br> + <br> + The six Indians gathered near me. One of them with unmerciful + mercy loosened my bonds a trifle and gave me a sup of water. They + did not want me to die too soon. Then they sat down to eat and + drink. I did not shut my eyes, nor turn my head. I defied their + power to crush me, and the very defiance gave me strength.<br> + <br> + The chill air of evening blew about the brow of the rock, the + twilight deepened, and down in the valley the shadows were + beginning to hide the landscape. But the evening hour is long on + the headlands. And there was ample time for another kind of + council than that to which I had listened three mornings ago, + when I had been set free to bear a friendly message to my + chief.<br> + <br> + They carried me--helpless in their hands--to where, unseen + myself, and secured by rock fragment and rawhide thong, I could + see far up the trail to the eastward. But I could give no signal + of distress, save for the feeble call of my swollen, + thirst-parched throat. Then the six bronze sons of the plains sat + down before me, and looked at me. Looked! I never see a pair of + beady black eyes to-day--and there are many such--that I do not + long to kill somebody, so vivid yet is the memory of those + murdering eyes looking at me.<br> + <br> + At last they spoke--plains English, it is true--but clear to give + their meaning.<br> + <br> + "Chief Clarenden thinks Kiowas forget. He comes with little train + across the prairies; Kiowas go to meet big train east and fight + fair for Mexican brothers who hate Chief Clarenden. They do not + stop to look for little sneaking coyotes when they seek big game. + Clarenden steals away Kiowas' captive Hopi. Cheat Kiowas of big + pay that white Medicine-man Josef would give for her. Mexican + brothers and Kiowa tribe hate Clarenden. They take his son, + <i>you</i>, to show Clarenden they can steal, too. Hopi girl! + white brave! all the same."<br> + <br> + The speaker's words came deliberately, and he gave a contemptuous + wave of the hand as he closed. And the six sat silent for a time. + Then another voice broke the stillness.<br> + <br> + "Yonder is your trail. Chief Clarenden and big white chiefs go by + to Santa Fé to buy and sell and grow rich. Indian sell + captives to grow rich! No! White chief not let Indians buy and + sell. But we do not kill white dogs. We leave you here to watch + the trail for wagon-trains. They may not come soon. They may not + see you nor hear you. You can see them pass on their way to get + rich. You can watch them. Hopi girl would have brought us big + money. We get no richer. Watch white men go get rich. You may + watch many days till sun dries your eyes. Nothing trouble you + here. Watch the trail. No wild animal come here. No water drown + you here. No fine meat make you ache with eating here. + Watch."<br> + <br> + The six looked long at me, and as the light faded their black + eyes and dark faces seemed like the glittering eyes and hooked + bills of six great dark birds of prey.<br> + <br> + When the last sunset glow was in the west the six rose up and + walked backward, still looking at me, until they passed my range + of vision and I could only feel their eyes upon me. Then I heard + the clatter of ponies' feet on the hard rock, the fainter stroke + on the thin, sandy soil, the thud on the thickening sod. Thump, + thump, thump, farther and farther and farther away. The west grew + scarlet, deepened to purple and melted at last into the dull gray + twilight that foreruns the darkness of night. One ray of pale + gold shimmered far along toward the zenith and lost itself in the + upper heavens, and the stars came forth in the blue-black eastern + sky. And I was alone with the Presence whose arm is never + shortened and whose ear grows never heavy.<br> + <br> + The trail to the east was only a dull line along the darker + earth. I looked up at the myriad stars coming swiftly out of + space to greet me. The starlit sky above the open prairie speaks + the voice of the Infinite in a grandeur never matched on land or + sea.<br> + <br> + I thought of Little Blue Flower on that dim-lighted dawning when + she had showed us her bleeding hands and lashed shoulders. And + again I heard Beverly's boyish voice ring out:<br> + <br> + "Let's take her and take our chances."<br> + <br> + And then I was beside the glistening waters of the Flat Rock, and + Little Blue Flower was there in her white Grecian robe and the + wrought-silver headband with coral pendants. And Eloise. The + golden hair, the soft dark eyes, the dainty peach-bloom cheek. + Eloise whom I had loved always and always. Eloise who loved + Beverly--good, big-hearted, sunny-faced Beverly, who never had + visions. Any girl would love him. Most of all, Little Blue + Flower. What a loving message she had left us in the one word, + <i>Lolomi</i>. God pity her.<br> + <br> + A thousand sharp pains racked my body. I tried to move. I longed + for water. Then a merciful darkness fell upon me--not sleep, but + unconsciousness. And the stars watched over me through that black + night, lying there half dead and utterly alone.<br> + <br> + Out to the northwest Jondo and Bill Banney rode long on the trail + of the fleeing Kiowas. A picture for an artist of the West, these + two rough men in the garb and mount and trappings of the + plainsman, with eyes alert and strong faces, riding only as men + can ride who go to save a life more eagerly than they would save + their own. Not in rash haste, but with unchecked speed, losing no + mark along the trail that should guide them more quickly to their + goal, so they passed side by side, and neither said a word for + hours along the way. Night came, and the needs of their ponies + made them pause briefly. The trail, too, was harder to follow + now. They might lose it in the darkness and so lose time. And + those two men were going forth to victory. Not for one single + heart-beat did they doubt their power to win, and the stead-fast + assurance made them calm.<br> + <br> + Daylight again, and a fresher trail made them hurry on. They + drank at every stream and ate a snatch of food as they rode. They + reached the hurriedly quitted Kiowa camp, and searched for the + sign of vengeance on a captive there. Jondo knew those signs, and + his heart beat high with hope.<br> + <br> + "They haven't done it yet," he said to his companion. "They want + to get away first. We are safe for a day."<br> + <br> + And they rode swiftly on again.<br> + <br> + "There's trouble here," Bill Banney declared as he watched the + ground. "Too many feet. Could it be here?"<br> + <br> + His voice was hardly audible. The two men halted and read the + ground with piercing eyes. Something had happened, for there had + been a circling and chasing in and out, and the sod was cut deep + with hoofprints.<br> + <br> + "No council nor ceremony, no open space for anything." Jondo + would not even speak the word he was bound not to know.<br> + <br> + "They've divided, Jondo. Here goes the big crowd, and there a + smaller one," Bill declared.<br> + <br> + "There were a lot of Dog Indians along for thieving. They've + split here. Seem to have fussed a bit over it, too. And yonder + runs the Kiowa trail to the north. Here go the Dogs east." Jondo + replied. "We'll follow the Kiowas a spell," he added, after a + thoughtful pause.<br> + <br> + And again they were off. It was nearing noon now, and the trail + was fresher every minute. At last the plainsmen climbed a low + swell, halting out of sight on the hither side. Then creeping to + the crest, they looked down on the Indian camp lying in a little + dry valley of a lost stream whose course ran underground beneath + them.<br> + <br> + Lying flat on the ground, each with his head behind a low bush on + the top of the swell, the men read the valley with searching + eyes. Then Jondo, with Bill at his heels, slid swiftly down the + slope.<br> + <br> + "Gail Clarenden isn't there. We must take the trail east, and + ride hard," he said, in a hoarse voice.<br> + <br> + And they rode hard until they were beyond the range of the Kiowa + outposts.<br> + <br> + "What's your game, Jondo?" Bill asked, at length.<br> + <br> + "They quarreled back there. Either the Dogs have Gail, or he's + lost somewhere. The Kiowas are waiting for something. I can't + quite understand, but we'll go on."<br> + <br> + It was mid-afternoon and the two riders were faint from the + hardship of the chase, but nobody who knew Jondo ever expected + him to give up. The sun blazed down in the heat of the late + afternoon, and the baking earth lay brown and dry beneath the + heat-quivering air. There was no sound nor motion on the plains + as the two faithful brothers--in purpose--followed hard on the + track of the Dog Indian band.<br> + <br> + Ahead of them the trail grew clearer until they saw the object of + their chase, a band nearly a hundred strong, riding slowly, far + ahead. Jondo and Bill halted and dropped to the ground. No cover + was in sight, but if the Indians were unsuspicious they might not + be discovered. On went the outlaw band, and the two white men + followed after. Suddenly the Indians halted and grouped + themselves together. The plainsmen watched eagerly for the cause. + Out of the south six Indians came riding swiftly into view. They, + too, halted, but neither group seemed aware that the two dull, + motionless spots to the west were two white men watching them. + White men didn't belong there.<br> + <br> + The six rode forward. There was much parleying and pointing + eastward. Then the six rode rapidly northward and the Dog band + spurted east as rapidly.<br> + <br> + Jondo looked at Bill.<br> + <br> + "I see it clear as day. God help us not to be too late!" he + cried, triumphantly, leaping to his saddle.<br> + <br> + "What in Heaven's name to you see?" Bill asked eagerly.<br> + <br> + "Gail wasn't with the Kiowas back there. He wasn't with the Dogs + out yonder. Don't you remember he told us about six of the devils + getting him in their friendly camp that morning? Yonder go the + six. They have left Gail somewhere to die and they are cutting + back to join the tribe. They have sent the Dogs on east. We'll + run down this trail to the south. Hurry, Bill! For God's sake, + hurry! It's the Lord's mercy they didn't see us back here."<br> + <br> + That day Pawnee Rock saw the same old beauty of sunrise; the same + clear sweeping breeze; the same long shining hours on the green + prairies; but it all meant nothing to me, racked with pain and + choking with thirst through the awful lengths of that summer day. + Fitful unconsciousness, with fever and delirium, seeing mocking + faces with snaky black eyes, looking long at me; food almost + touching my lips, and floods of crystal waters everywhere just + out of reach. I was on the bluff above the river at Fort + Leavenworth again, watching for the fish on the sand-bars. They + were Indians instead of fish, and they laughed at me and called + me a big brown bob-cat. Then Mother Bridget and Aunty Boone would + have come to me if I could only make them hear me. But the sun + beat hot upon my burning face, and my swollen lips refused to + moan.<br> + <br> + And then I looked to the eastward and hope sprang to life within + me. A wagon-train was crawling slowly toward Pawnee Rock. Tears + drenched my eyes until I could hardly count the wagons--twenty, + thirty, forty. It must be far in the afternoon now, and they + might encamp here. But they seemed to be hurrying. I could not + see for pain, but I knew they were near the headland now. I could + hear the rattle of the wagon-chains and the tramp of feet and + shouts of the bull-whackers. I tugged masterfully at my bonds. It + was a useless effort. I tried to shout, but only low moans came + forth from my parched lips. I strove and raged and prayed. The + wagons hurried on and on, a long time, for there were many of + them. Then the rattling grew fainter, the voices were far off, + the thud of hoof-beats ceased. The train had passed the Rock, + never dreaming that a man lay dying in sight of the succor they + would so gladly have given.<br> + <br> + The sun began to strike in level rays across the land, and the + air was cooler, but I gave no heed to things about me. Death was + waiting--slow, taunting death. The stars would be kind again + to-night as they had been last night, but death crouching between + me and the starlight, was slowly crawling up Pawnee Rock. Oh, so + slowly, yet so surely creeping on. The sun was gone and a tender + pink illumined the sky. The light was soft now. If death would + only steal in before the glare burst forth. I forgot that night + must come first. Pity, God of heaven, pity me!<br> + <br> + And then the Presence came, and a sweet, low voice--I hear it + still sometimes, when sunsets soften to twilight, "<i>My presence + shall go with thee</i>, <i>and I will give thee rest</i>." I felt + a thrill of triumph pulse through my being. Unconquered, strong, + and glad is he who trusts.<br> + <br> + "I shall not die. I shall live, and in God's good time I shall be + saved." I tried to speak the words, but I could not hear my + voice. My pains were gone and I lay staring at the evening sky + all mother-of-pearl and gold above my head. And on my lips a + smile.<br> + <br> + And so they found me at twilight, as a tired child about to fall + asleep. They did not cry out, nor fall on my neck, nor weep. But + Bill Banney's strong arms carried me tenderly away. Water, food, + unbound swollen limbs, bathed in the warm Arkansas flow, soft + grass for a bed, and the eyes of the big plainsman, my childhood + idol, gentle as a girl's, looking unutterable things into my + eyes.<br> + <br> + I've never known a mother's love, but for that loss the Lord gave + me--Jondo. </p> + <hr> + + + + <h3><a name="XIII" id="XIII">XIII</a><br> + <br> + IN THE SHELTER OF SAN MIGUEL</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + Fear not, dear love, thy trial hour shall be<br> + The dearest bond between my heart and thee.<br> + --ALL THE YEAR ROUND.</p> + + <p><br> + When we reached the end of the trail and entered a second time + into Santa Fé the Stars and Stripes were floating lazily + above the Palace of the Governors. Out on the heights beyond the + old Spanish prison stood Fort Marcy, whose battlements told of a + military might, strong to control what by its strength it had + secured. In its shadow was La Garita, of old the place of + execution, against whose blind wall many a prisoner had started + on the long trail at the word of a Spanish bullet, La Garita + changed now from a thing of legalized horror to a landmark of + history.<br> + <br> + But the city itself seemed unchanged, and there was little + evidence that Yankee thrift and energy had entered New Mexico + with the new government. The narrow street still marked the + trail's end before the Exchange Hotel. San Miguel, with its dun + walls and triple-towered steeple, still good guard over the soul + of Santa Fé, as it had stood for three sunny centuries. + The Mexican still drove down the loaded burro-train of firewood + from the mountains. The Indian basked in the sunny corners of the + Plaza. The adobe dwellings clustered blindly along little lanes + leading out to nowhere in particular. The orchards and + cornfields, primitively cultivated, made tiny oases beside the + trickling streams and sandy beds of dry arroyos. The sheep grazed + on the scant grasses of the plain. The steep gray mesa slopes + were splotched with clumps of evergreen shrubs and piñon + trees. And over all the silent mountains kept watch.<br> + <br> + The business house of Felix Narveo, however, did not share in + this lethargy. The streets about the Plaza were full of Conestoga + wagons, with tired ox-teams lying yoked or unyoked before them. + Most of the traffic borne in by these came directly or indirectly + to the house of Narveo. And its proprietor, the same silent, + alert man, had taken advantage of a less restricted government, + following the Mexican War, to increase his interests. So mine and + meadow, flock and herd, trappers' snare and Indian loom and + forge, all poured their treasures into his hands--a + clearing-house for the products of New Mexico to swell the great + overland commerce that followed the Santa Fé Trail.<br> + <br> + For all of which the ground plan had been laid mainly by Esmond + Clarenden, when with tremendous daring he came to Santa Fé + and spied out the land for these years to follow.<br> + <br> + A boy's memory is keen, and all the hours of that other journey + hither, with their eager anticipation and youthful curiosity, and + love of surprise and adventure, came back to Beverly Clarenden + and me as we pulled along the last lap of the trail.<br> + <br> + "Was it really so long ago, Bev, that we came in here, all eyes + and ears?" I asked my cousin.<br> + <br> + "No, it was last evening. And not an eyebrow in this Rip Van + Winkle town has lifted since," Beverly replied. "Yonder stands + that old church where the gallant knight on a stiff-legged pony + spied Little Lees and knocked the head off of that tormenting + Marcos villain, and kicked it under the door-step. Say, Gail, I'd + like mighty well to see the grown-up Little Lees, wouldn't you? + And I'd as soon this was Saint Louis as Santa Fé."<br> + <br> + Since the night of Mat's wedding, I had been resolutely putting + away all thought of Eloise St. Vrain. I belonged to the plains. + All my training had been for this. I thought I was very old and + settled now. But the mention of her pet name sent a thrill + through me; and these streets of Santa Fé brought back a + flood of memories and boyhood dreams and visions.<br> + <br> + "Bev, how many auld-lang-syners do you reckon we'll meet in this + land of sunshine and <i>chilly</i> beans?" I asked, + carelessly.<br> + <br> + "Well, how many of them do you remember, Mr. Cyclopedia of + Prominent Men and Pretty Women?" Beverly inquired.<br> + <br> + "Oh, there was Felix Narveo and Father Josef--and Little Blue + Flower"--A shadow flitted across my cousin's face for a moment, + leaving it sunny as ever again.<br> + <br> + "And there was that black-eyed Marcos boy everywhere, and + Ferdinand Ramero whom we were warned to step wide of," I went + on.<br> + <br> + "Oh, that tall thin man with blue-glass eyes that cut your + fingers when he looked at you. Maybe he went out the back door of + New Mexico when General Kearny peeped in at the front transom. + There wasn't any fight in that man."<br> + <br> + "Jondo says he is still in Santa Fé." Just as I spoke an + Indian swept by us, riding with the ease of that + born-to-the-horseback race.<br> + <br> + "Beverly, do you remember that Indian boy that we saw out at Agua + Fria?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "The day we found Little Lees asleep in the church?" Beverly + broke in, eagerly.<br> + <br> + In our whole journey he had hardly spoken of Eloise, and, knowing + Beverly as I did, I had felt sure for that reason that she had + not been on his mind. Now twice in five minutes he had called her + name. But why should he not remember her here, as well as I?<br> + <br> + "Yes, I remember there was an Indian boy, sort of sneaky like, + and deaf and dumb, that followed us until I turned and stared him + out of it. That's the way to get rid of 'em, Gail, same as a + savage dog," Beverly said, lightly.<br> + <br> + "What if there are six of them all staring at you?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "Oh, Gail, for the Lord's sake forget that!"<br> + <br> + Beverly cried, affectionately. "When you've got an arrow wound + rotting your arm off and six hundred and twenty degrees of fever + in your blood, and the son of your old age is gone for three days + and nights, and you don't dare to think where, you'll know why a + fellow doesn't want to remember." There were real tears in the + boy's eyes. Beverly was deeper than I had thought.<br> + <br> + "Well, to change gradually, I wonder if that centaur who just + passed us might be that same Indian of Agua Fria of long + ago."<br> + <br> + "He couldn't be," Beverly declared, confidently. "That boy got + one square look at my eagle eye and he never stopped running till + he jumped into the Pacific Ocean. 'I shall see him again over + there.'" Half chanting the last words, Beverly, boy-hearted and + daring and happy, cracked his whip, and our mule-team began to + prance off in mule style the journey's latter end.<br> + <br> + Oh, Beverly! Beverly! Why did that day on the parade-ground at + Fort Leavenworth and a boy's pleading face lifted to mine, come + back to me at that moment? Strange are the lines of life. I shall + never clearly read them all.<br> + <br> + Down in the Plaza a tall, slender young man was sitting in the + shade, idly digging at the sod with an open pocket-knife. There + was something magnetic about him, the presence that even in a + crowd demands a second look.<br> + <br> + He was dressed in spotless white linen, and with his handsome + mustache, his well-groomed black hair, and sparkling black eyes, + he was a true type of the leisure son of the Spanish-Mexican + grandee. He stared at our travel-stained caravan as it rolled + down the Plaza's edge, but his careless smile changed to an + insolent grin, showing all his perfect teeth as he caught sight + of Beverly and me.<br> + <br> + We laid no claims to manly beauty, but we were stalwart young + fellows, with the easy strength of good health, good habits, + clear conscience, and the frank faces of boys reared on the + frontier, and accustomed to its dangers by men who defied the + very devil to do them harm. But even in our best clothes, saved + for the display at the end of the trail, we were uncouth compared + to this young gentleman, and our tanned faces and hard brown + hands bespoke the rough bull-whacker of the plains.<br> + <br> + As our train halted, the young man lighted a cigar and puffed the + smoke toward us, as if to ignore our presence.<br> + <br> + "Its mamma has dressed it up to go and play in the park, but it + mustn't speak to little boys, nor soil its pinafore, nor listen + to any naughty words. And it couldn't hold its own against a + kitten. Nice little clothes-horse to hang white goods on!"<br> + <br> + Beverly had turned his back to the Plaza and was speaking in a + low tone, with the serious face and far-away air of one who + referred to a thing of the past.<br> + <br> + "Bev, you are a mind-reader, a character-sketcher--" I began, but + stopped short to stare into the Plaza beyond him.<br> + <br> + The young man had sprung to his feet and stood there with + flashing eyes and hands clenched. Behind him was the same young + Indian who had passed us on the trail. He was lithe, with every + muscle trained to strength and swiftness and endurance.<br> + <br> + He had muttered a word into the young white man's ear that made + him spring up. And while the face of the Indian was + expressionless, the other's face was full of surprise and anger; + and I recognized both faces in an instant.<br> + <br> + "Beverly Clarenden, there are two auld-lang-syners behind you + right now. One is Marcos Ramero, and the other is Santan of + Bent's Fort," I said, softly.<br> + <br> + Beverly turned quickly, something in his fearless face making the + two men drop their eyes. When we looked again they had left the + Plaza by different ways.<br> + <br> + After dinner that evening Jondo and Bill Banney hurried away for + a business conference with Felix Narveo. Rex and Beverly also + disappeared and I was alone.<br> + <br> + The last clear light of a long summer day was lingering over the + valley of the Rio Grande, and the cool evening breeze was + rippling in from the mountains, when I started out along the + narrow street that made the terminal of the old Santa Fé + Trail. I was hardly conscious of any purpose of direction until I + came to the half-dry Santa Fé River and saw the spire of + San Miguel beyond it. In a moment the same sense of loss and + longing swept over me that I had fought with on the night after + Mat's wedding, when I sat on the bluff and stared at the waters + of the Kaw flowing down to meet the Missouri. And then I + remembered what Father Josef had said long ago out by the sandy + arroyo:<br> + <br> + "Among friends or enemies, the one haven of safety always is the + holy sanctuary."<br> + <br> + I felt the strong need for a haven from myself as I crossed the + stream and followed the trail up to the doorway of San + Miguel.<br> + <br> + The shadows were growing long, few sounds broke the stillness of + the hour, and the spirit of peace brooded in the soft light and + sweet air. I had almost reached the church when I stopped + suddenly, stunned by what I saw. Two people were strolling up the + narrow, crooked street that wanders eastward beside the + building--a tall, slender young man in white linen clothes and a + girl in a soft creamy gown, with a crimson scarf draped about her + shoulders. They were both bareheaded, and the man's heavy black + hair and curling black mustache, and the girl's coronal of golden + braids and the profile of her fair face left no doubt about the + two. It was Marcos Ramero and Eloise St. Vrain. They were talking + earnestly; and in a very lover-like manner the young man bent + down to catch his companion's words.<br> + <br> + Something seemed to snap asunder in my brain, and from that + moment I knew myself; knew how futile is the belief that miles of + prairie trail and strength of busy days can ever cast down and + break an idol of the heart.<br> + <br> + In a minute they had passed a turn in the street, and there was + only sandy earth and dust-colored walls and a yellow glare above + them, where a moment ago had been a shimmer of sunset's gold.<br> + <br> + "The one haven of safety always is the holy sanctuary."<br> + <br> + Father Josef's words sounded in my ears, and the face of old San + Miguel seemed to wear a welcoming smile. I stepped into the deep + doorway and stood there, aimless and unthinking, looking out + toward where the Jemez Mountains were outlined against the + southwest horizon. Presently I caught the sound of feet, and + Marcos Ramero strode out of the narrow street and followed the + trail into the heart of the city.<br> + <br> + I stared after him, noting the graceful carriage, the + well-fitting clothes, and the proud set of the handsome head. + There was no doubt about him. Did he hold the heart of the + golden-haired girl who had walked into my life to stay? As he + passed out of my sight Eloise St. Vrain came swiftly around the + corner of the street to the church door, and stopped before me in + wide-eyed amazement. Eloise, with her clinging creamy draperies, + and the vivid red of her silken scarf, and her glorious hair.<br> + <br> + "Oh, Gail Clarenden, is it really you?" she cried, stretching out + both hands toward me with a glad light in her eyes.<br> + <br> + "Yes, Little Lees, it is I."<br> + <br> + I took both of her hands in mine. They were soft and white, and + mine were brown and horny, but their touch sent a thrill of joy + through me. She clung tightly to my hands for an instant. Then a + deeper pink swept her cheeks, and she dropped her eyes and + stepped back.<br> + <br> + "They told me you were--lost--on the way; that some Kiowas had + killed you."<br> + <br> + She lifted her face again, and heaven had not anything better for + me than the depths of those big dark eyes looking into mine.<br> + <br> + "Who told you, Eloise?"<br> + <br> + The girl looked over her shoulder apprehensively, and lowered her + voice as she replied:<br> + <br> + "Marcos Ramero."<br> + <br> + "He's a liar. I am awfully alive, and Marcos Ramero knows I am, + for he saw me and recognized me down in the Plaza this + afternoon," I declared.<br> + <br> + Just then the church door opened and a girl in Mexican dress came + out. I did not see her face, nor notice which way she took, for a + priest following her stepped between us. It was Father Josef.<br> + <br> + "My children, come inside. The holy sanctuary offers you a better + shelter than the open street."<br> + <br> + I shall never forget that voice, nor hear another like it. + Inside, the candles were burning dimly at the altar. The last + rays of daylight came through the high south windows, touching + the carved old rafters and gray adobe with a red glow. Long ago + human hands, for lack of trowels, had laid that adobe surface on + the rough stone--hands whose imprint is graven still on those + crudely dented walls.<br> + <br> + We sat down on a low seat inside of the doorway, and Father Josef + passed up the aisle to the altar, leaving us there alone.<br> + <br> + "Eloise, Marcos Ramero is your friend, and I beg your pardon for + speaking of him as I did."<br> + <br> + I resented with all my soul the thought of this girl caring for + the son of the man who in some infamous way had wronged Jondo, + but I had no right to be rude about him.<br> + <br> + "Gail, may I say something to you?" The voice was as a pleading + call and the girl's farce was full of pathos.<br> + <br> + "Say on, Little Lees," was all that I could venture to + answer.<br> + <br> + "Do you remember the day you came in here and threw Marcos Ramero + out of that door?"<br> + <br> + "I do," I replied.<br> + <br> + "Would you do it again, if it were necessary? I mean--if--" the + voice faltered.<br> + <br> + I had heard the same pleading tone on the night of Mat's wedding + when Eloise and Beverly were in the little side porch together. I + looked up at the red light on the old church rafters and the + rough gray walls. How like to those hand-marked walls our + memories are, deep-dented by the words they hold forever! Then I + looked down at the girl beside me and I forgot everything else. + Her golden hair, her creamy-white dress, and that rich crimson + scarf draped about her shoulders and falling across her knees + would have made a Madonna's model that old Giovanni Cimabue + himself would have joyed to copy.<br> + <br> + "Is it likely to be necessary? Be fair with me, Eloise. I saw you + two strolling up that little goat-run of a street out there just + now. Judging from the back of his head, Marcos looked satisfied. + I shouldn't want to interfere nor make you any trouble," I said, + earnestly.<br> + <br> + "It is I who should not make you any trouble, but, oh, Gail, I + came here this evening because I was afraid and I didn't know + where else to go, and I found you. I thought you were dead + somewhere out on the Kansas prairie. Maybe it was to help me a + little that you came here to-night."<br> + <br> + Her hands were gripped tightly and her mouth was firm-set in an + effort to be brave.<br> + <br> + "Why, Eloise, I'd never let Marcos Ramero, nor anybody else, make + you one little heart-throb afraid. If you will only let me help + you, I wouldn't call it trouble; I'd call it by another name." + The longing to say more made me pause there.<br> + <br> + The light was fading overhead, but the church lamps gave a soft + glow that seemed to shield off the shadowy gloom.<br> + <br> + "Father Josef came all the way from New Mexico to St. Ann's to + have me come back here, and Mother Bridget sent Sister Anita, you + remember her, up to St. Louis to come with me by way of New + Orleans. I didn't tell you that I might be here when your train + came in overland because--because of some things about my own + people--"<br> + <br> + The fair head was bowed and the soft voice trembled.<br> + <br> + "Don't be afraid to tell me anything, Little Lees," I whispered, + assuringly.<br> + <br> + "I never saw my father, but my mother was very beautiful and + loving, and we were so happy together. I was still a very little + girl when she fell sick and they took me away from her. I never + knew when she died nor where she was buried. Ferdinand Ramero had + charge of her property. He controlled everything after she went + away, and I have always lived in fear of his word. I am helpless + when he commands, for he has a strange power over minds; and as + to Marcos--you know what a little cat I was. I had to be to live + with him. It wasn't until we were all at Bent's Fort that I got + over my fear of you and Beverly. The day you threw Marcos out of + here was the first time I ever had a champion to defend me."<br> + <br> + I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her what I dared not + think she would let me say. So I listened in sympathetic + silence.<br> + <br> + "Then came an awful day out at Agua Fria, and Father Josef took + me in his arms as he would take a baby, and sang me to sleep with + the songs my mother loved to sing. I think it must have been + midnight when I wakened. It was dreary and cold, and Esmond + Clarenden and Ferdinand Ramero were there, and Father Josef and + Jondo."<br> + <br> + And then she told me, as she remembered them, the happenings of + that night at Agua Fria, the same story that Jondo told me later. + But until that evening I had known nothing of how Eloise had come + to us.<br> + <br> + "You know the rest," Eloise went on "I have had a boarding-school + life, and no real friends, except the Clarenden family, outside + of these schools."<br> + <br> + "You poor little girl! One of the same Clarenden family is ready + to be your friend now," I said, tenderly, remembering keenly how + Uncle Esmond and Jondo had loved and protected three orphan + children.<br> + <br> + "The Rameros think nobody but a Ramero can do that now. Marcos is + very much changed. He has been educated in Europe, is handsome, + and courtly in his manners, and as his father's heir he will be + wealthy. He came to-night to ask me, to urge and plead with me, + to marry him." Eloise paused.<br> + <br> + "Do you need the defense of a bull-whacker of the plains against + these things?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "Oh, I could depend on myself if it were only Marcos. He comes + with polished ways and pleasing words," Eloise replied. "It is + his father's iron fist back of him that strikes at me through his + graciousness. He tells me that all the St. Vrain money, which he + controls by the terms of my father's will, he can give to the + Church, if he chooses, and leave me disinherited."<br> + <br> + "We don't mind that a bit as a starter up in Kansas. Come out on + our prairies and try it," I suggested.<br> + <br> + "But, Gail, that isn't all. There is something worse, dreadfully + worse, that I cannot tell you, that only the Rameros know, and + hold like a sword over my head. If I marry Marcos his father will + destroy all evidence of it and I shall have a handsome, talented, + rich husband." Eloise bowed her head and clasped her hands, + crushed by the misery of her lot.<br> + <br> + "And if you refuse to marry this scoundrel?" I asked, + bluntly.<br> + <br> + "Then I will be a penniless outcast. The Rameros are powerful + here, and the Church will be with them, for it will get my + inheritance. I am helpless and alone and I don't know what to + do."<br> + <br> + I think I had never known what anger meant before. This beautiful + girl, homeless, and about to be robbed of her fortune, reared in + luxury, with no chance for developing self-reliance and courage, + was being hemmed in and forced to a marriage by threats of + poverty and a secret something against which she was powerless. + All the manhood in me rallied to her cause, and she was an + hundredfold dearer to me now, in her helplessness.<br> + <br> + "Eloise, I'm a horny-handed driver of a bull-team on the Santa + Fé Trail, but you will let me help you if I can. So far as + your money is concerned, there's a lot of it on earth, even if + the Church should grab up your little bit because Ferdinand + Ramero says your father's will permits it. There are evil + representatives in every Church, no matter what its name may be, + Catholic, Protestant, Indian, or Jew, but Father Josef up there + is bigger than his priestly coat, and you can trust that size + anywhere. And as to the knowledge of this 'something' known just + to Ferdinand Ramero, if he is the only one who knows it, it is + too small to get far, if it were turned loose. And any man who + would use such infamous means to get what he wants is too small + to have much influence if he doesn't get it. This is a big, wide, + good world, Little Lees, and the father of Marcos Ramero, with + all his power and wealth, has a short lariat that doesn't let him + graze wide. Jondo holds the other end of that lariat, and he + knows."<br> + <br> + Eloise listened eagerly, but her face was very white.<br> + <br> + "Gail, you don't know the Ramero blood. I am helpless and + terrified with them in spite of their suave manners and + flattering words. Why did Father Josef bring me back here if the + Church is not with them? And then that awful shadow of some + hidden thing that may darken my life. I know their cruel, + pitiless hearts. They stop at nothing when they want their way. I + have known them to do the most cold-blooded deeds."<br> + <br> + Poor Eloise! The net about her had been skilfully drawn.<br> + <br> + "I don't know Father Josef's motive, but I can trust him. And no + shadow shall trouble you long, Little Lees. Jondo and Uncle + Esmond `tote together,' Aunty Boone said long ago. They know + something about the Ramero blood, and Jondo has promised to tell + me his story some day. He must do it to-night, and to-morrow + we'll see the end of this tangle. Trust me, Eloise," I said, + comfortingly.<br> + <br> + "But, Gail, I'm afraid Ferdinand will kill you if you get in his + way." Eloise clung to my arm imploringly.<br> + <br> + "Six big Kiowas got fooled at that job. Do you think this thin + streak of humanity would try it?" I asked, lightly.<br> + <br> + Eloise stood up beside me.<br> + <br> + "I must go away now," she said.<br> + <br> + "Then I'll go with you. Thank you, Father Josef, for your + kindness," I said as the priest came toward us.<br> + <br> + "You are welcome, my son. In the sanctuary circle no harm can + come. Peace be with both of you."<br> + <br> + There was a world of benediction in his deep tones, and his smile + was genial, as he followed us to the street and stood as if + watching for some one.<br> + <br> + "I will meet you at San Miguel's to-morrow afternoon, Gail," + Eloise said, as we reached a low but pretentious adobe dwelling. + "This is my home now."<br> + <br> + "Your new Mexican homes are thick-walled, and you live all on the + inside," I said, as we paused at the doorway. "They make me think + of the lower invertebrates, hard-shelled, soft-bodied animals. Up + on the Kansas prairies and the Missouri bluffs we have a central + vetebra--the family hearth-stone--and we live all around it. That + is the people who have them do. There isn't much home life for a + freighter of the plains anywhere. Good by, Little Lees." I took + her offered hand. "I'm glad you have let me be your friend, a + hard-shelled bull-whacker like me."<br> + <br> + The street was full of shadows and the evening air was chill as + the door closed on that sweet face and cloud of golden hair. But + the pressure of warm white fingers lingered long in my sense of + touch as I retraced my steps to the trail's end. At the church + door I saw Father Josef still waiting, as if watching for + somebody.<br> + <br> + All that Eloise had told me ran through my mind, but I felt sure + that neither financial nor churchly influence in Santa Fé + could be turned to evil purposes so long as men like Felix Narveo + and Father Josef were there. And then I thought of Esmond + Clarenden, himself neither Mexican nor Roman Catholic, who, + nevertheless, drew to himself such fair-dealing, high-minded men + as these, always finding the best to aid him, and combating the + worst with daring fearlessness. Surely with the priest and the + merchant and Jondo as my uncle's representative, no harm could + come to the girl whom I knew that I should always love.<br> + <br> + And with my mind full of Eloise and her need I sought out Jondo + and listened to his story. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="XIV" id="XIV">XIV</a><br> + <br> + OPENING THE RECORD</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + Fighting for leave to live and labor well,<br> + God flung me peace and ease.<br> + --"A SONG OF THE ENGLISH."</p> + + <p><br> + I found Jondo in the little piazza opening into the hotel + court.<br> + <br> + "Where did you leave Krane and Bev?" he asked, as I sat down + beside him.<br> + <br> + "I didn't leave them; they left me," I answered.<br> + <br> + "Oh, you young bucks are all alike. You know just enough to be + good to yourselves. You don't think much about anybody else," + Jondo said, with a smile.<br> + <br> + "I think of others, Jondo, and for that reason I want you to tell + me that story about Ferdinand Ramero that you promised to tell me + one night back on the trail."<br> + <br> + Jondo gave a start.<br> + <br> + "I'd like to forget that man, not talk about him," he + replied.<br> + <br> + "But it is to help somebody else, not just to be good to myself, + that I want to know it," I insisted, using his own terms. And + then I told him what Eloise had told me in the San Miguel + church.<br> + <br> + "Are the Ramero's so powerful here that they can control the + Church in their scheme to get what they want?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "It would be foolish to underestimate the strength of Ferdinand + Ramero," Jondo replied, adding, grimly, "It has been my lot to + know the best of men who could make me believe all men are good, + and the worst of men who make me doubt all humanity." He clenched + his fists as if to hold himself in check, and something, neither + sigh nor groan nor oath nor prayer, but like them all, burst from + his lips.<br> + <br> + "If you ever have a real cross, Gail, thank the Lord for the + green prairies and the open plains, and the danger-stimulus of + the old Santa Fé Trail. They will seal up your wounds, and + soften your hard, rebellious heart, and make you see things big, + and despise the narrow little crooks in your path."<br> + <br> + One must have known Jondo, with his bluff manner and sunny smile + and daring spirit, to feel the force, of these brave sad words. I + felt intuitively that I had laid bare a wound of his by my + story.<br> + <br> + "It is for Eloise, not for my curiosity, that I have come to + you," I said, gently. "And you didn't come too soon, boy." Jondo + was himself in a moment. "It is another cruel act in the old + tragedy of Ramero against Clarenden and others."<br> + <br> + "Will the Church be bribed by the St. Vrain estate and urge this + wedding?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "The Church considers money as so much power for the Kingdom. I + have heard that the St. Vrain estate was left in Ramero's hands + with the proviso that if Eloise should marry foolishly before she + was twenty-five she, would lose her property. Do you see the + trick in the game, and why Ramero can say that if he chooses he + can take her heritage away from her? But as he keeps everything + in his own hands it is hard to know the truth about anything + connected with money matters."<br> + <br> + "Would Father Josef be party to such a transaction?" I asked, + angrily.<br> + <br> + "Ramero thinks so, but he is mistaken," Jondo replied.<br> + <br> + "What makes you think he won't be?" I insisted.<br> + <br> + "Because I knew Father Josef before he became a priest, and why + he took the vows," Jondo declared. "Unless a man brings some + manhood to the altar, he will not find it in the title nor the + dress there, it makes no difference whether he be Catholic, + Protestant, Hebrew, or heathen. Father Josef was a gentleman + before he was a priest."<br> + <br> + "Well, if he's all right, why did he bring Eloise back here into + the heart of all this trouble?" I questioned.<br> + <br> + Jondo sat thinking for a little while, then he said, + assuringly:<br> + <br> + "I don't know his motive, unless he felt he could protect her + here himself; but I tell you, my boy, he can be trusted. Let me + tell you something, Gail. When Esmond Clarenden and I were boys + back in a New England college we knew two fellows from the + Southwest whose fathers were in official circles at Washington. + One was Felix Narveo, thoroughbred Mexican, thoroughbred + gentleman, a bit lacking in initiative sometimes, for he came + from the warmer, lazier lands, but as true as the compass in his + character. The other fellow was Dick Verra, French father, + English mother; I think he had a strain of Indian blood farther + back somewhere, but he would have been a prince in any tribe or + nation. A happy, wholesome, red-blooded, young fellow, with the + world before him for his conquest.<br> + <br> + "We knew another fellow, too, Fred Ramer, self-willed, imperious, + extravagant in his habits, greedy and unscrupulous; but he was + handsome and masterful, with a compelling magnetism that made us + admire him and bound us to him. He had never known what it meant + to have a single wish denied him. And with his make-up, he would + stop at nothing to have his own way, until his wilful pride and + stubbornness and love of luxury ruined him. But in our college + days we were his satellites. He was always in debt to all of us, + for money was his only god and we never dared to press him for + payment. The only one of us who ever overruled him was Dick + Verra. But Dick was a born master of men. There was one other + chum of ours, but I'll tell you about him later. Boys together, + we had many escapades and some serious problems, until by the + time our college days were over we were bound together by those + ties that are made in jest and broken with choking voices and + eyes full of tears."<br> + <br> + Jondo paused and I waited, silent, until he should continue.<br> + <br> + "Things happened to that little group of college men as time went + on. You know your uncle's life, leading merchant of Kansas City + and the Southwest; and mine, plainsman and freighter on the Santa + Fé Trail. Felix Narveo's history is easily read. Esmond + Clarenden came down here at the outbreak of the Mexican War, and + together he and Narveo laid the foundation for the present trail + commerce that is making the country at either end of it rich and + strong. Dick Verra is now Father Josef." Jondo paused as if to + gather force for the rest of the story. Then he said:<br> + <br> + "Back at college we all knew Mary Marchland, a beautiful + Louisiana girl who visited in Washington and New England, and all + of us were in love with her. When our life-lines crossed again + Clarenden had come to St. Louis. About that time his two older + brothers and their wives died suddenly of yellow fever, leaving + you and Beverly alone. It was Felix Narveo who brought you up to + St. Louis to your uncle."<br> + <br> + "I remember that. The steamboat, and the Spanish language, and + Felix Narveo's face. I recalled that when I saw him years ago," I + exclaimed.<br> + <br> + "You always were all eyes and ears, remembering names and faces, + where Beverly would not recall anything," Jondo declared.<br> + <br> + "And what became of your Fred Ramer?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "He is Ferdinand Ramero here. He married Narveo's sister later. + She is not the mother of Marcos, but a second wife. She owned a + tract of land inherited from the Narveo estate down in the San + Christobal country. There is a lonely ranch house in a + picturesque cañon, and many acres of grazing-land. She + keeps it still as hers, although her stepson, Marcos, claims it + now. It is for her sake that Narveo doesn't dare to move openly + against Ramero. And in his masterful way he has enough influence + with a certain ring of Mexicans here, some of whom are Narveo's + freighters, to reach pretty far into the Indian country. That's + why I knew those Mexicans were lying to us about the Kiowas at + Pawnee Rock. I could see Ramero's gold pieces in their hands. He + joined the Catholic Church, and plays the Pharisee generally. But + the traits of his young manhood, intensified, are still his. He + is handsome, and attractive, and rich, and influential, but he is + also cold-blooded, and greedy for money until it is his ruling + passion, villainously unscrupulous, and mercilessly unforgiving + toward any one who opposes his will; and his capacity for undying + hatred is appalling."<br> + <br> + And this was the man who was seeking to control the life of + Eloise St. Vrain. I fairly groaned in my anger.<br> + <br> + "The failure to win Mary Marchland's love was the first time in + his life that Fred Ramer's will had ever been thwarted, and he + went mad with jealousy and anger. Gail, they are worse masters + than whisky and opium, once they get a man down."<br> + <br> + Jondo paused, and when he spoke again he did it hurriedly, as one + who, from a sense of duty, would glance at the dead face of an + enemy and turn away.<br> + <br> + "When Fred lost his suit with Mary, he determined to wreck her + life. He came between her and the man she loved with such adroit + cruelty that they were separated, and although they loved each + other always, they never saw each other again. Through a terrible + network of misunderstandings she married Theron St. Vrain. He, by + the way, was the other college chum I spoke of just now. He and + his foster-brother, Bertrand, were wards of Fred Ramer's father. + But their guardian, the elder Ramer, had embezzled most of their + property and there was bitter enmity between them and him. Theron + and Mary were the parents of Eloise St. Vrain. It is no wonder + that she is beautiful. She had Mary Marchland for a mother. + Theron St. Vrain died early, and the management of his property + fell into Fred Ramer's hands. At Mary's death it would descend to + Eloise, with the proviso I just mentioned of an unworthy + marriage. In that case, Ramer, at his own discretion, could give + the estate to the Church. Nobody knows when Mary Marchland died, + nor where she is buried, except Fred and his confessor, Father + Josef."<br> + <br> + "How far can a man's hate run, Jondo?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "Oh, not so far as a man's love. Listen, Gail." Never a man had a + truer eye and a sweeter smile than my big Jondo.<br> + <br> + "Fred Ramer was desperately in need of money when he was plotting + to darken the life of Mary Marchland--that was just before the + birth of Eloise--and through her sorrow to break the heart of the + man whom she loved--I said we college boys were all in love with + her, you remember. Let me make it short now. One night Fred's + father was murdered, by whom was never exactly proven. But he was + last seen alive with his ward, Theron St. Wain, who, with his + foster-brother, Bertrand, thoroughly despised him for his plain + robbery of their heritage.<br> + <br> + "The case was strong against Theron, for the evidence was very + damaging, and it would have gone hard with him but for the + foster-brother. Bertrand St. Wain took the guilt upon himself by + disappearing suddenly. He was supposed to have drowned himself in + the lower Mississippi, for his body, recognized only by some + clothing, was recovered later in a drift and decently buried. So + <i>he</i> was effaced from the records of man."<br> + <br> + In the dim light Jondo's blue eyes were like dull steel and his + face was a face of stone, but he continued:<br> + <br> + "Just here Clarenden comes into the story. He learned it through + Felix Narveo, and Felix got it from the Mexicans themselves, that + Fred Ramer had plotted with them to put his father out of the + way--I said he was desperately in need of money--and to lay the + crime on Theron St. Vrain, by whose disgrace the life of Mary + Marchland would be blighted, and Fred would have his revenge and + his father's money. Narveo was afraid to act against Ramer, but + nothing ever scared Esmond Clarenden away from what he wanted to + do. Through his friendship for St. Vrain, to whom some suspicion + still clung, and that lost foster-brother, Bertrand, he turned + the screws on Fred Ramer that drove him out of the country. He + landed, finally, at Santa Fé, and became Ferdinand Ramero. + He managed by his charming manners to enchant the sister of Felix + Narveo--and you know the rest."<br> + <br> + Jondo paused.<br> + <br> + "Didn't Felix Narveo go to Fort Leavenworth once, just before + Uncle Esmond brought us with him to Santa Fé?" I + asked.<br> + <br> + "Yes, he went to warn Clarenden not to leave you there + unprotected, for a band of Ramero's henchmen were on their way + then to the Missouri River--we passed them at Council Grove--to + kidnap you three and take you to old Mexico," Jondo said. "An + example of Fred's efforts to get even with Clarenden and of the + loyalty of Narveo to his old college chum. The same gang of + Mexicans had kidnapped Little Blue Flower and given her to the + Kiowas."<br> + <br> + "You told me that Uncle Esmond forced Ferdinand Ramero out of the + country on account of a wrong done to you, Jondo," I reminded the + big plainsman.<br> + <br> + "He did," Jondo replied. "I told you that we all loved Mary + Marchland. Fred Ramer broke under his loss of her, and became the + devil's own tool of hate and revenge, and what generally gets + tied up with these sooner or later, a passion for money and + irregular means of getting it. Money is as great an asset for + hate as for love, and Fred sold his soul for it long ago. + Clarenden came to the frontier and lost himself in the building + of the plains commerce, and his heart he gave to the three orphan + children to whom he gave a home. When New Mexico came under our + flag Narveo came with it, a good citizen and a loyal patriot. He + married a Mexican woman of culture and lives a contented life. + Dick Verra went into the Church. I came to the plains, and the + stimulus of danger, and the benediction of the open sky, and the + healing touch of the prairie winds, and the solemn stillness of + the great distances have made me something more of a man than I + should have been. Maybe I was hurt the worst. Clarenden thought I + was. Sometimes I think Dick Verra got the best of all of us."<br> + <br> + Jondo's voice trailed off into silence and I knew what his hurt + was--that he was the man whom Mary Marchland had loved, from whom + Fred Ramer, by his cruel machinations, had separated her--"<i>and + although they loved each other always, they never saw each other + again</i>." Poor Jondo! What a man among men this unknown + freighter of the plains might have been--and what a loss to the + plains in the best of the trail years if Jondo had never dared + its dangers for the safety of the generations to come.<br> + <br> + But the thought of Eloise, driven out momentarily by Jondo's + story, came rushing in again.<br> + <br> + "You said you put a ring around Ramero to keep him in Santa + Fé. Can't we get Eloise outside of it?" I urged, + anxiously.<br> + <br> + "Maybe I should have said that Father Josef put it around him for + me," Jondo replied. "He confessed his crimes fully to the Church. + He couldn't get by Father Josef. Here he is much honored and + secure and we let him alone. The disgrace he holds the secret + of--he alone--is that the father of Eloise killed his father, the + crime for which the foster-brother fell. Ramero as guardian of + Eloise and her property legally could have kept her here. Only a + man like Clarenden would have dared to take her away, though he + had the pleading call of her mother's last wish. Gail, I have + told you the heart-history of half a dozen men. If this had + stopped with us we could forgive after a while, but it runs down + to you and Beverly and Eloise and Marcos, who will carry out his + father's plans to the letter. So the battle is all to be fought + over again. Let me leave you a minute or two. I'll not be gone + long."<br> + <br> + I sat alone, staring out at the shadowy court and, above it, the + blue night-sky of New Mexico inlaid with stars, until a rush of + feet in the hall and a shout of inquiry told me that Beverly + Clarenden was hunting for me.<br> + <br> + Meantime the girl in Mexican dress, who had come out of the + church with Father Josef when he came to greet Eloise and me, had + passed unnoticed through the Plaza and out on the way leading to + the northeast. Here she came to the blind adobe wall of La + Garita, whose olden purpose one still may read in the many + bullet-holes in its brown sides. Here she paused, and as the + evening shadows lengthened the dress and wall blended their dull + tones together.<br> + <br> + Beverly Clarenden, who had gone with Rex Krane up to Fort Marcy + that evening, had left his companion to watch the sunset and + dream of Mat back on the Missouri bluff, while he wandered down + La Garita. He did not see the Mexican woman standing motionless, + a dark splotch against a dun wall, until a soft Hopi voice + called, eagerly, "Beverly, Beverly."<br> + <br> + The black scarf fell from the bright face, and Indian garb--not + Po-a-be, the student of St. Ann's and the guest of the Clarenden + home, with the white Grecian robe and silver headband set with + coral pendants, as Beverly had seen her last in the side porch on + the night of Mat's wedding, but Little Blue Flower, the Indian of + the desert lands, stood before him.<br> + <br> + "Where the devil--I mean the holy saints and angels, did you come + from?" Beverly cried, in delight, at seeing a familiar face.<br> + <br> + "I came here to do Father Josef some service. He has been good to + me. I bring a message."<br> + <br> + She reached out her hand with a letter. Beverly took the letter + and the hand. He put the message in his pocket, but he did not + release the hand.<br> + <br> + "That's something for Jondo. I'll see that he gets it, all right. + Tell me all about yourself now, Little + Run-Off-and-Never-Come-Back." It was Beverly's way to make people + love him, because he loved people.<br> + <br> + It was late at last, too late for prudence, older heads would + agree, when these two separated, and my cousin came to pounce + upon me in the hotel court to tell me of his adventure.<br> + <br> + "And I learned a lot of things," he added. "That Indian in the + Plaza to-day is Santan, or Satan, dead sure; and you'd never + guess, but he's the same redskin--Apache red--that was out at + Agua Fria that time we were there long ago. The very same little + sneak! He followed us clear to Bent's Fort. He put up a good + story to Jondo, but I'll bet he was somebody's tool. You know + what a critter he was there. But listen now! He's got his eye on + Little Blue Flower. He's plain wild Injun, and she's a Saint + Ann's scholar. Isn't that presumption, though! She's afraid of + him, too. This country fairly teams with romance, doesn't + it?"<br> + <br> + "Bev, don't you ever take anything seriously?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "Well, I guess I do. I found that Santan, dead loaded with + jealousy, sneaking after us in the dark to-night when I took + Little Blue Flower for a stroll. I took him seriously, and told + him exactly where he'd find me next time he was looking for me. + That I'd stand him up against La Garita and make a sieve out of + him," Beverly said, carelessly.<br> + <br> + "Beverly Clarenden, you are a fool to get that Apache's + ill-will," I cried.<br> + <br> + "I may be, but I'm no coward," Beverly retorted. "Oh, here comes + Jondo. I've got a letter from Father Josef. Invitation to some + churchly dinner, I expect."<br> + <br> + Beverly threw the letter into Jondo's hands and turned to leave + us.<br> + <br> + "Wait a minute!" Jondo commanded, and my cousin halted in + surprise.<br> + <br> + "When did you get this? I should have had it two hours ago," + Jondo said, sternly. "Father Josef must have waited a long time + up at the church door for his messenger to come back and bring + him word from me."<br> + <br> + Beverly frankly told him the truth, as from childhood we had + learned was the easiest way out of trouble.<br> + <br> + Jondo's smile came back to his eyes, but his lips did not smile + as he said: "Gail, you can explain things to Bev. This is serious + business, but it had to come sooner or later. The battle is on, + and we'll fight it out. Ferdinand Ramero is determined that + Eloise and his son shall be married early to-morrow morning. The + bribe to the Church is one-half of the St. Vrain estate. The club + over Eloise is the shame of some disgrace that he holds the key + to. He will stop at nothing to have his own way, and he will + stoop to any brutal means to secure it. He has a host of fellows + ready at his call to do any crime for his sake. That's how far + money and an ungovernable passion can lead a man. If I had known + this sooner, we would have acted to-night."<br> + <br> + Beverly groaned.<br> + <br> + "Let me go and kill that man. There ought to be a bounty on such + wild beasts," he declared.<br> + <br> + "He'd do that for you through a Mexican dagger, or an Apache + arrow, if you got in his way," Jondo replied. "But what we must + do is this: Twenty miles south on the San Christobal Arroyo there + is a lonely ranch-house on the old Narveo estate, a forgotten + place, but it is a veritable fort, built a hundred years ago, + when every house here was a fort. To-morrow at daybreak you must + start with Eloise and Sister Anita down there. I will see Father + Josef later and tell him where I have sent you. Little Blue + Flower will show you the way. It is a dangerous ride, and you + must make it as quickly and as silently as possible. A bullet + from some little cañon could find you easily if Ramero + should know your trail. Will you go?"<br> + <br> + There was no need for the question as Jondo well knew, but his + face was bright with courage and hope, and a thankfulness he + could not express shone in his eyes as he looked at us, big, + stalwart, eager and unafraid. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="XV" id="XV">XV</a><br> + <br> + THE SANCTUARY ROCKS OF SAN CHRISTOBAL</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + Mark where she stands! Around her form I draw<br> + The awful circle of our solemn church!<br> + Set but a foot within that holy ground,<br> + And on thy head--yea, though it wore a crown--<br> + launch the curse of Rome.<br> + --"RICHELIEU."</p> + + <p><br> + The faint rose hue of early dawn was touching the highest peaks + of the Sandia and Jemez mountain ranges, while the valley of the + Rio Grande still lay asleep under dull night shadows, when five + ponies and their riders left the door of San Miguel church and + rode southward in the slowly paling gloom. In the stillness of + the hour the ponies' feet, muffled in the sand of the way, seemed + to clatter noisily, and their trappings creaked loudly in the + dead silence of the place. Little Blue Flower, no longer in her + Mexican dress, led the line. Behind her Beverly and the + white-faced nun of St. Ann's rode side by side; and behind these + came Eloise St. Vrain and myself. From the church door Jondo had + watched us until we melted into the misty shadows of the + trail.<br> + <br> + "Go carefully and fearlessly and ride hard if you must. But the + struggle will be here with me to-day, not where you are," he + assured us, when we started away.<br> + <br> + As he turned to leave the church, an Indian rose from the shadows + beyond it and stepped before him.<br> + <br> + "You remember me, Santan, the Apache, at Fort Bent?" he + questioned.<br> + <br> + Jondo looked keenly to be sure that his memory fitted the man + before him.<br> + <br> + "Yes, you are Santan. You brought me a message from Father Josef + once."<br> + <br> + The Indian's face did not change by the twitch of an eyelash as + he replied.<br> + <br> + "I would bring another message from him. He would see you an hour + later than you planned. The young riders, where shall I tell him + they have gone?"<br> + <br> + "To the old ranch-house on the San Christobal Arroyo," Jondo + replied.<br> + <br> + The Indian smiled, and turning quickly, he disappeared up the + dark street. A sudden thrill shook Jondo.<br> + <br> + "Father Josef said I could trust that boy entirely. Surely old + Dick Verra, part Indian himself, couldn't be mistaken. But that + Apache lied to me. I know it now; and I told him where our boys + are taking Eloise. I never made a blunder like that before. + Damned fool that I am!"<br> + <br> + He ground his teeth in anger and disgust, as he sat down in the + doorway of the church to await the coming of Ferdinand Ramero and + his son, Marcos.<br> + <br> + Out on the trail our ponies beat off the miles with steady gait. + As the way narrowed, we struck into single file, moving silently + forward under the guidance of Little Blue Flower, now plunging + into dark cañons, where the trail was rocky and perilous, + now climbing the steep sidling paths above the open plain. + Morning came swiftly over the Gloriettas. Darkness turned to + gray; shapeless masses took on distinctness; the night chill + softened to the crisp breeze of dawn. Then came the rare June day + in whose bright opening hour the crystal skies of New Mexico hung + above us, and about us lay a landscape with radiant lights on the + rich green of the mesa slopes, and gray levels atint with + mother-of-pearl and gold.<br> + <br> + The Indian pueblos were astir. Mexican faces showed now and then + at the doorways of far-scattered groups of adobe huts. Outside of + these all was silence--a motionless land full of wild, rugged + beauty, and thrilling with the spell of mystery and glamour of + romance. And overbrooding all, the spirit of the past, that made + each winding trail a footpath of the centuries; each sheer cliff + a watch-tower of the ages; each wide sandy plain, a + rallying-ground for the tribes long ago gone to dust; each narrow + valley a battle-field for the death-struggle between the dusky + sovereigns of a wilderness kingdom and the pale-faced conquerors + of the coat of mail and the dominant soul. The sense of danger + lessened with distance and no knight of old Spain ever rode more + proudly in the days of chivalry than Beverly Clarenden and I rode + that morning, fearing nothing, sure of our power to protect the + golden-haired girl, thrilled by this strange flight through a + land of strange scenes fraught with the charm of daring and + danger. Beverly rode forward now with Little Blue Flower. I did + not wonder at her spell over him, for she was in her own land + now, and she matched its picturesque phases with her own + picturesque racial charm.<br> + <br> + I rode beside Eloise, forgetting, in the sweet air and glorious + June sunlight, that we were following an uncertain trail away + from certain trouble.<br> + <br> + The white-faced nun in her somber dress, rode between, with + serious countenance and downcast eyes.<br> + <br> + "What happened to you, Little Lees, after I left you?" I asked, + as we trotted forward toward the San Christobal valley.<br> + <br> + "Everything, Gail," she replied, looking up at me with shy, sad + eyes. "First Ferdinand Ramero came to me with the command that I + should consent to be married this morning. By this time I would + have been Marcos' wife." She shivered as she spoke. "I can't tell + you the way of it, it was so final, so cruel, so impossible to + oppose. Ferdinand's eyes cut like steel when they look at you, + and you know he will do more than he threatens. He said the + Church demanded one-half of my little fortune and that he could + give it the other half if he chose. He is as imperious as a + tyrant in his pleasanter moods; in his anger he is a maniac. I + believe he would murder Marcos if the boy got in his way, and his + threats of disgracing me were terrible."<br> + <br> + "But what else happened?" I wanted to turn her away from her + wretched memory.<br> + <br> + "I have not seen anybody else except Little Blue Flower. She has + an Indian admirer who is Ferdinand's tool and spy. He let her + come in to see me late last night or I should not have been here + now. I had almost given up when she brought me word that you and + Beverly would meet me at the church at daylight. I have not slept + since. What will be the end of this day's work? Isn't there + safety for me somewhere?" The sight of the fair, sad face with + the hunted look in the dark eyes cut me to the soul.<br> + <br> + "Jondo said last night that the battle was on and he would fight + it out in Santa Fé to-day. It is our work to go where the + Hopi blossom leads us, and Bev Clarenden and I will not let + anything happen to you."<br> + <br> + I meant what I said, and my heart is always young when I recall + that morning ride toward the San Christobal Arroyo and my + abounding vigor and confidence in my courage and my powers.<br> + <br> + Our trail ran into a narrow plain now where a yellow band marked + the way of the San Christobal River toward the Rio Grande. On + either hand tall cliffs, huge weather-worn points of rock, and + steep slopes, spotted with evergreen shrubs, bordered the river's + course. The silent bigness of every feature of the landscape and + the beauty of the June day in the June time of our lives, and our + sense of security in having escaped the shadows and strife in + Santa Fé, all combined to make us free-spirited. Only + Sister Anita rode, alert and sorrowful-faced, between Beverly and + the gaily-robed Indian girl, and myself with Eloise, the + beautiful.<br> + <br> + As we rounded a bend in the narrow valley, Little Blue Flower + halted us, and pointing to an old half-ruined rock structure + beside the stream, she said:<br> + <br> + "See, yonder is the chapel where Father Josef comes sometimes to + pray for the souls of the Hopi people. The house we go to find is + farther up a cañon over there."<br> + <br> + "I remember the place," Eloise declared. "Father Josef brought me + here once and left me awhile. I wasn't afraid, although I was + alone, for he told me I was always safe in a church. But I was + never allowed to come back again."<br> + <br> + Sister Anita crossed herself and, glancing over her shoulder, + gave a sharp cry of alarm. We turned about to see a group, of + horsemen dashing madly up the trail behind us. The wind in their + faces blew back the great cloud of dust made by their horses + hoofs, hiding their number and the way behind them. Their steeds + were wet with foam, but their riders spurred them on with + merciless fury. In the forefront Ferdinand Ramero's tall form, + towering above the small statured evil-faced Mexican band he was + leading, was outlined against the dust-cloud following them, and + I caught the glint of light on his drawn revolver. "Ride! Ride + like the devil!" Beverly shouted.<br> + <br> + At the same time he and the Hopi girl whirled out and, letting us + pass, fell in as a rear guard between us and our pursuers. And + the race was on.<br> + <br> + Jondo had said the lonely ranch-house whither we were tending was + as strong as a fort. Surely it could not be far away, and our + ponies were not spent with hard riding. Before us the valley + narrowed slightly, and on its rim jagged rock cliffs rose through + three hundred feet of earthquake-burst, volcanic-tossed confusion + to the high tableland beyond.<br> + <br> + As we strained forward, half a dozen Mexican horsemen suddenly + appeared on the trail before us to cut off our advance. Down + between us and the new enemy stood the old stone chapel, like the + shadow of a great rock in a weary land, where for two hundred + long years it had set up an altar to the Most High on this lonely + savage plain.<br> + <br> + "The chapel! The chapel! We must run to that now," cried Sister + Anita.<br> + <br> + Her long veil was streaming back in the wind, and her rosary and + crucifix beating about her shoulders with the hard riding, but + her white face was brave with a divine trust. Yet even as she + urged us I saw how imposible was her plea, for the men in + front were already nearer to the place than we were. At the same + time a pony dashed up beside me, and Little Blue Flower's voice + rang in my ears.<br> + <br> + "The rocks! Climb up and hide in the rocks!" She dropped back on + one side of Beverly, with Sister Anita on the other, guarding our + rear. As I turned our flight toward the cliff, I caught sight of + an Indian in a wedge of rock just across the river, and I heard + the singing flight of an arrow behind me, followed almost + instantly by another arrow. I looked back to see Sister Anita's + pony staggering and rearing in agony, with Little Blue Flower + trying vainly to catch its bridle-rein, and Sister Anita, + clutching wildly at her rosary, a great stream of blood flowing + from an arrow wound in her neck.<br> + <br> + Men think swiftly in moments like these. The impulse to halt, and + the duty to press on for the protection of the girl beside me, + holding me in doubt. Instantly I saw the dark crew, with + Ferdinand Ramero leading fiercely forward, almost upon us, and I + heard Beverly Clarenden's voice filling the valley--"Run, Gail, + run! You can beat 'em up there."<br> + <br> + It was a cry of insistences and assurances and power, and withal + there was that minor tone of sympathy which had sounded in the + boy's defiant voice long ago in the gray-black shadows below + Pawnee Rock, when his chivalric soul had been stirred by the + cruel wrongs of Little Blue Flower and he had cried:<br> + <br> + "Uncle Esmond, let's take her, and take our chances."<br> + <br> + I knew in a flash that the three behind us were cut off, and + Eloise St. Vrain and I pressed on alone. We crossed the narrow + strip of rising ground to where the first rocks lay as they had + fallen from the cliff above, split off by some titanic agony of + nature. Up and up we went, our ponies stumbling now and then, but + almost as surefooted as men, as they climbed the narrow way. Now + the rocks hid us from the plain as we crept sturdily through + narrow crevices, and now we clambered up an open path where + nothing concealed our way. But higher still and higher, foot, by + foot we pressed, while with oath and growl behind us came our + pursuers.<br> + <br> + At last we could ride no farther, and the miracle was that our + ponies could have climbed so far. Above us huge slabs of stone, + by some internal cataclysm hurled into fragments of unguessed + tons of weight, seemed poised in air, about to topple down upon + the plain below. Between these wild, irregular masses a narrow + footing zigzagged upward to still other wild, irregular masses, a + footing of long leaps in cramped spaces between sharp edges of + upright clefts, all gigantic, unbending, now shielding by their + immense angles, now standing sheer and stark before us, casting + no shadows to cover us from the great white glare of the + New-Mexican day.<br> + <br> + I have said no man knows where his mind will run in moments of + peril. As we left our ponies and clambered up and up in hope of + safety somewhere, the face of the rocks cut and carved by the + rude stone tools of a race long perished, seemed to hold groups + of living things staring at us and pointing the way. And there + was no end to these crude pictographs. Over and over and + over--the human hand, the track of the little road-runner bird, + the plumed serpent coiled or in waving line, the human form with + the square body and round head, with staring circles for eyes and + mouth, and straight-line limbs.<br> + <br> + We were fleeing for safety through the sacred aisles of a people + God had made; and when they served His purpose no longer, they + had perished. I did not think of them so that morning. I thought + only of some hiding-place, some inaccessible point where nothing + could reach the girl I must protect. But these crawling serpents, + cut in the rock surfaces, crawled on and on. These human hands, + poor detached hands, were lifted up in mute token of what had + gone before. These two-eyed, one-mouthed circles on heads fast to + body-boxes, from which waved tentacle limbs, jigged by us, to + give place to other coiled or crawling serpents and their + companion carvings, with the track of the swift road-runner + skipping by us everywhere.<br> + <br> + At last, with bleeding hands and torn clothing, we stood on a + level rock like a tiny mesa set out from the high summit of the + cliff.<br> + <br> + Eloise sat down at my feet as I looked back eagerly over the + precipitous way we had come, and watched the band of Mexicans + less rapidly swarming up the same steep, devious trail.<br> + <br> + Three hundred feet below us lay the plain with the thin current + of the San Christobal River sparkling here and there in the + sunlight. The black spot on the trail that scarcely moved must be + Beverly and Little Blue Flower with Sister Anita. No, there was + only the Indian girl there, and something moving in and out of + the shadow near them. I could not see for the intervening + rocks.<br> + <br> + "Gail! Gail! You will not let them take you. You will not leave + me," Eloise moaned.<br> + <br> + And I was one against a dozen. I stooped to where she sat and + gently lifted her limp white hand, saying:<br> + <br> + "Eloise, I was on a rock like this a night and a day alone on the + prairie. I could not move nor cry out. But something inside told + me to 'hold fast'--the old law of the trail. You must do that + with me now."<br> + <br> + A shout broke over the valley and the rocks about us seemed + suddenly to grow men, as if every pictograph of the old stone age + had become a sentient thing, a being with a Mexican dress, and + the soul of a devil. Just across a narrow chasm, a little below + us, Ferdinand Ramero stood in all the insolence of a conqueror, + with a smile that showed his white teeth, and in his steely eyes + was the glitter of a snake about to spring.<br> + <br> + "You have given us a hard race. By Jove, you rode magnificently + and climbed heroically. I admire you for it. It is fine to bring + down game like you, Clarenden. You have your uncle's spirit, and + a six-foot body that dwarfs his short stature. And we come as + gentlemen only, if we can deal with a gentleman. It wasn't our + men who struck your nun down there. But if you, young man, dare + to show one ounce of fighting spirit now, behind you on the + rocks--don't look--as I lift my hand are my good friends who will + put a bullet into the brain beneath that golden hair, and you + will follow. Being a game-cock cannot help you now. It will only + hasten things. Deliver that girl to me at once, or my men will + close in upon you and no power on earth can save you."<br> + <br> + Eloise had sprung to her feet and stood beside me, and both of us + knew the helplessness of our plight. A startling picture it must + have been, and one the cliffs above the San Christobal will + hardly see again: the blue June sky arched overhead, unscarred by + a single cloud-fleck, the yellow plain winding between the high + picturesque cliffs, where silence broods all through the long + hours of the sunny day; the pictured rocks with their + furnace-blackened faces white--outlined with the story of the dim + beginnings of human strivings. And standing alone and defenseless + on the little table of stone, as if for sacrifice, the tall, + stalwart young plainsman and the beautiful girl with her golden + hair in waving masses about her uncovered head, her sweet face + white as the face of the dying nun beside the sandy arroyo below + us, her big dark eyes full of a strange fire.<br> + <br> + "I order you to close in and take these two at once." The + imperious command rang out, and the rocks across the valley must + have echoed its haughty tone.<br> + <br> + "And I order you to halt."<br> + <br> + The voice of Father Josef, clear and rich and powerful, burst + upon the silence like cathedral music on the still midnight air. + The priest's tall form rose up on a great mass of rock across the + cleft before us--Father Josef with bared head and flashing eyes + and a physique of power.<br> + <br> + Ferdinand Ramero turned like a lion at bay. "You are one man. My + force number a full dozen. Move on," he ordered.<br> + <br> + Again the voice of Father Josef ruled the listening ears.<br> + <br> + "Since the days of old the Church has had the power to guard all + that come within the shelter of the holy sanctuary. And to the + Church of God was given also long ago the might to protect, by + sanctuary privilege, the needy and the defenseless. Ferdinand + Ramero, note that little table of rock where those two stand + helpless in your grasp. Around them now I throw, as I have power + to throw, the sacred circle of our Holy Church in sanctuary + shelter. Who dares to step inside it will be accursed in the + sight of God."<br> + <br> + Never, never will I live through another moment like to that, nor + see the power of the Unseen rule things that are seen with such + unbreakable strength.<br> + <br> + The Mexicans dropped to their knees in humble prayer, and + Ferdinand Ramero seemed turned to a man of stone. A hand was + gently laid upon my arm and Jondo and Rex Krane stood beside us. + A voice far off was sounding in my ears.<br> + <br> + "Go back to your homes and meet me at the church to-morrow night. + You, Ferdinand Ramero, go now to the chapel yonder and wait until + I come."<br> + <br> + What happened next is lost in misty waves of forgetfulness. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><br> + <br> + <a name="XVI" id="XVI">XVI</a><br> + <br> + FINISHING TOUCHES</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + "<i>Yet there be certain times in a young man's life when through + great sorrow or sin all the boy in him is burnt and seared away + so that he passes at one step to the more sorrowful state of + manhood.</i>"<br> + + --KIPLING.</p> + + <p><br> + The heat of midday was tempered by a light breeze up the San + Christobal Valley, and there was not a single cloud in the June + skies to throw a softening shadow on the yellow plain. A little + group of Mexicans, riding northward with sullen faces, urged on + their jaded ponies viciously as they thought of the gold that was + to have been paid them for this morning's work, and of the gold + that to-morrow night must go to pay the priest who should shrive + them; and they had nothing gained wherewith to pay. Their leader, + whom they had served, had been trapped in his own game, and they + felt themselves abused and deceived.<br> + <br> + Down by the brown sands of the river Father Josef waited at the + door of the half-ruined little stone chapel for the strange group + coming slowly toward him: Ferdinand Ramero, riding like a + captured but unconquered king, his head erect, his flashing eyes + seeing nobody; Jondo who could make the shabbiest piece of + horseflesh take on grace when he mounted it, his tanned cheek + flushed, and the spirit of supreme sacrifice looking out through + his dark-blue eyes; Eloise, drooping like a white flower, but + brave of spirit now, sure that her grief and anxiety would be + lifted somehow. I rode beside her, glad to catch the faint smile + in her eyes when she looked at me. And last of all, Rex Krane, + with the same old Yankee spirit, quick to help a fellow-man and + oblivious to personal danger. So we all came to the chapel, but + at the door Rex wheeled and rode away, muttering, as he passed + me:<br> + <br> + "I've got business to look after, and not a darned thing to + confess."<br> + <br> + And Beverly! He was not with us.<br> + <br> + When Rex Krane told his bride good-by up in the Clarenden home on + the Missouri bluff, Mat had whispered one last request:<br> + <br> + "Look after Bev. He never sees danger for himself, nor takes + anything seriously, least of all an enemy, whom he will befriend, + and make a joke of it."<br> + <br> + And so it happened that Rex had stayed behind to care for + Beverly's arrow wound when Bill Banney had gone out with Jondo on + the Kiowa trail to search for me this side of Pawnee Rock.<br> + <br> + So also it happened that Rex had strolled down from Fort Marcy + the night before, in time to see Beverly and the girl in the + Mexican dress loitering along the brown front of La Garita. And + his keen eyes had caught sight of Santan crouching in an angle of + the wall, watching them.<br> + <br> + "Indians and Mexes don't mix a lot. And Bev oughtn't mix with + either one," Rex commented. "I'll line the boy up for review + to-morrow, so Mat won't say I've neglected him."<br> + <br> + But the Yankee took the precaution to follow the trail to the + Indian's possible abiding-place on the outskirts of Santa + Fé. And it was Rex who most aided Jondo in finding that + the Indian had gone with Ramero's men northward.<br> + <br> + "That fellow is Santan, of Fort Bent, Rex," Jondo said.<br> + <br> + "Yes, you thought he was <i>Santa</i> and I took him for + <i>Satan</i> then. We missed out on which to knock out of him. + Bev won't care nothin' about his name. He will knock hell out of + him if he gets in that Clarenden boy's way," Rex had replied.<br> + <br> + At the chapel door now the Yankee turned away and rode down the + trail toward the little angle where an Indian arrow had whizzed + at our party an hour before.<br> + <br> + In the shadow of a fallen mass of rock below the cliff Little + Blue Flower had spread her blanket, with Beverly's coat tucked + under it in a roll for a pillow, and now she sat beside the dying + nun, holding the crucifix to Sister Anita's lips. The Indian + girl's hands were blood-stained and the nun's black veil and gown + were disheveled, and her white head-dress and coif were soaked + with gore. But her white face was full of peace as the light + faded from her eyes.<br> + <br> + And Beverly! The boy forgot the rest of the world when one of the + Apache's arrows struck down the pony and the other pierced Sister + Anita's neck. Tenderly as a mother would lift a babe he quickly + carried the stricken woman to the shelter of the rock, and with + one glance at her he turned away.<br> + <br> + "You can do all that she needs done for her. Give her her cross + to hold," he said, gently, to Little Blue Flower.<br> + <br> + Then he sprang up and dashed across the river, splashing the + bright waters as he leaped to the farther side where Santan stood + concealed, waiting for the return of Ramero's Mexicans.<br> + <br> + At the sound of Beverly's feet he leaped to the open just in time + to meet Beverly's fist square between the eyes.<br> + <br> + "Take that, you dirty dog, to shoot down an innocent nun. And + that!" Beverly followed his first blow with another.<br> + <br> + The Apache, who had reeled back with the weight of the boy's iron + fist, was too quick for the second thrust, struggling to get hold + of his arrows and his scalping-knife. But the space was too + narrow and Beverly was upon him with a shout.<br> + <br> + "I told you I'd make a sieve or you the next time you tried to + see me, and I'm going to do it."<br> + <br> + He seized the Indian's knife and flung it clear into the river, + where it stuck upright in the sands of the bed, parting the + little stream of water gurgling against it; and with a powerful + grip on the Apache's shoulders he wrenched the arrows from their + place and tramped on them with his heavy boot.<br> + <br> + The Indian's surprise and submission were gone in a flash, and + the two clinched in combat.<br> + <br> + On the one hand, jealousy, the inherited hatred of a mistreated + race, the savage instinct, a gloating joy in brute strife, + blood-lust, and a dogged will to trample in the dirt the man who + made the sun shine black for the Apache. On the other hand, a mad + rage, a sense of insult, a righteous greed for vengeance for a + cruel deed against an innocent woman, and all the superiority of + a dominant people. The one would conquer a powerful enemy, the + other would exterminate a despicable and dangerous pest.<br> + <br> + Back and forth across the narrow space hidden from the trail by + fallen rock they threshed like beasts of prey. The Apache had the + swiftness of the snake, his muscles were like steel springs, and + there was no rule of honorable warfare in his code. He bit and + clawed and pinched and scratched and choked and wrenched, with + the grim face and burning eyes of a murderer. But the Saxon + youth, slower of motion, heavier of bone and muscle, with a grip + like iron and a stony endurance, with pride in a conquest by + sheer clean skill, and with a purpose, not to take life, but to + humble and avenge, hammered back blow for blow; and there was + nothing for many minutes to show which was offensive and which + defensive.<br> + <br> + As the struggle raged on, the one grew more furious and the other + more self-confident.<br> + <br> + "Oh, I'll make you eat dust yet!" Beverly cried, as Santan in + triumph flung him backward and sprang upon his prostrate + form.<br> + <br> + They clinched again, and with a mighty surge of strength my + cousin lifted himself, and the Indian with him, and in the next + fall Beverly had his antagonist gripped and helpless.<br> + <br> + "I can choke you out now as easy as you shot that arrow. Say your + prayers." He fairly growled out the words.<br> + <br> + "I didn't aim at her," the Apache half whined, half boasted. "I + wanted you."<br> + <br> + At that moment Beverly, spent, bruised, and bleeding with + fighting and surcharged with the lust of combat, felt all the + instinct of murder urging him on to utterly destroy a + poison-fanged foe to humanity. At Santan's words he paused and, + flinging back the hair from his forehead, he caught his breath + and his better self in the same heart-beat. And the instinct of + the gentleman--he was Esmond Clarenden's brother's son--held the + destroying hand.<br> + <br> + "You aimed at me! Well, learn your lesson on that right now. + Promise never to play the fool that way again. Promise the + everlasting God's truth, or here you go."<br> + <br> + The boy's clutch tightened on Santan's throat. "By all that's + holy, you'll go to your happy hunting-ground <i>right now, unless + you do</i>!" He growled out the words, and his blazing eyes + glared threateningly at his fallen enemy.<br> + <br> + "I promise!" Santan muttered, gasping for breath.<br> + <br> + "You didn't mean to kill the nun? Then you'll go with me and ask + her to forgive you before she dies. You will. You needn't try to + get away from me. I let you thrash your strength out before we + came to this settlement. Be still!" Beverly commanded, as Santan + made a mad effort to release himself.<br> + <br> + "Hurry up, and remember she is dying. Go softly and speak gently, + or by the God of heaven, you'll go with her to the Judgment Seat + to answer for that deed right now!"<br> + <br> + Slowly the two rose. Their clothes were torn, their hair + disheveled, the ground at their feet was red with their blood. + They were as bitter, as distrustful now as when their struggle + began. For brute force never conquers anything. It can only hold + in check by fear of its power to destroy the body. Above the iron + fist of the fighter, and the sword and cannon of the soldier, + stands the risen Christ who carried his own cross up Mount + Calvary--and "there they crucified him."<br> + <br> + The two young men, spent with their struggle, their faces stained + with dirt and bloody sweat, crossed the river and sought the + shadowy place where Little Blue Flower sat beside Sister Anita. + Twice Santan tried to escape, and twice Beverly brought him + quickly to his place. It must have been here that I caught sight + of them from the rock above.<br> + <br> + "One more move like that and the ghost of Sister Anita will walk + behind you on every trail you follow as long as your flat feet + hit the earth," Beverly declared.<br> + <br> + "All Indians are afraid of ghosts and I was just too tired to + fight any more," he said to me afterward when he told me the + story of that hour by the San Christobal River.<br> + <br> + Sister Anita lay with wide-open eyes, her hands moving feebly as + she clutched at her crucifix. Her hour was almost spent.<br> + <br> + Santan stood motionless before her, as Beverly with a grip on his + arm said, firmly:<br> + <br> + "Tell her you did not aim at her, and ask her to forgive you. It + will help to save your own soul sometime, maybe."<br> + <br> + Santan looked at Little Blue Flower. But she gave no heed to him + as she put the dropped crucifix into the weakening fingers. + Murder, as such, is as horrifying to the gentle Hopi tribe as it + is sport for the cruel Apache.<br> + <br> + Beverly loosed his hold now.<br> + <br> + "I did not want to hurt you. Forgive me!" Santan said, slowly, as + though each word were plucked from him by red-hot pincers.<br> + <br> + Sister Anita heard and turned her eyes.<br> + <br> + "Kneel down and tell her again," Beverly said, more gently.<br> + <br> + The Apache dropped on his knees beside the dying woman and + repeated his words. Sister Anita smiled sweetly.<br> + <br> + "Heaven will forgive you even as I do," she murmured, and closed + her eyes.<br> + <br> + "Go softly. This is sacred ground," my cousin said.<br> + <br> + The Indian rose and passed silently down the trail, leaving + Little Blue Flower and Beverly Clarenden together with the dead. + At the stream he paused and pulled his knife from the sands + beneath the trickling waters, and then went on his way.<br> + <br> + But an Indian never forgets.<br> + <br> + Rex Krane, who had hurried hither from the chapel, closed the + eyes and folded the thin hands of the martyred woman, and sent + Beverly forward for help to dispose of the garment of clay that + had been Sister Anita. From that day something manly and serious + came into Beverly Clarenden's face to stay, but his sense of + humor and his fearlessness were unchanged.<br> + <br> + That was a solemn hour in the shadow of the rock down in that + yellow valley, but beautiful in its forgiving triumph. We who had + gathered in the dimly lighted chapel had an hour more solemn for + that it was made up of such dramatic minutes as change the trend + of life-trails for all the years to come.<br> + <br> + The chapel was very old. They tell me that only a broken portion + of the circular wall about the altar stands there to-day, a + lonely monument to some holy padre's faith and courage and + sacrifice in the forgotten years when, in far Hesperia, men + dreamed of a Quivera and found only a Calvary.<br> + <br> + It may be that I, Gail Clarenden, was also changed as I listened + to the deliberations of that day; that something of youth gave + place for the stronger manhood that should stay me through the + years that came after.<br> + <br> + Eloise sat where I could see her face. The pink bloom had come + back to it, and the golden hair, disordered by our wild ride and + rough climb among the pictured rocks of the cliff, curled + carelessly on her white brow and rippled about her shapely head. + I used to wonder what setting fitted her beauty best--why wonder + that about any beautiful woman?--but the gracious loveliness of + this woman was never more appealing to me than in the soft light + and sacred atmosphere of the church.<br> + <br> + Father Josef's first thought was for her, but he brought water + and coarse linen towels, so that, refreshed and clean-faced, we + came in to his presence.<br> + <br> + "Eloise," his voice was deep and sweet, "so long as you were a + child I tried to protect and direct you. Now that you are a + woman, you must still be protected, but you must live your own + life and choose for yourself. You must meet sorrow and not be + crushed by it. You must take up your cross and bear it. It is for + this that I have called you back to New Mexico at this time. But + remember, my daughter, that life is not given to us for defeat, + but for victory; not for tears, but for smiles; not for idle + cringing safety, but for brave and joyous struggle."<br> + <br> + I thought of Dick Verra, the college man, whose own young years + were full of hope and ambition, whose love for a woman had + brought him to the priesthood, but as I caught the rich tones of + Father Josef's voice, somehow, to me, he stood for success, not + failure.<br> + <br> + Eloise bowed her head and listened.<br> + <br> + "You must no longer be threatened with the loss of your own + heritage, nor coerced into a marriage for which the Church has + been offered a bribe to help to accomplish. Blood money purifies + no altars nor extends the limits of the Kingdom of the Christ. + Your property is your own to use for the holy purposes of a + goodly life wherever your days may lead you; and whatever the + civil law may grant of power to control it for you, you shall no + longer be harassed or annoyed. The Church demands that it shall + henceforth be yours."<br> + <br> + Father Josef's dark eyes were full of fire as he turned to + Ferdinand Ramero.<br> + <br> + "You will now relinquish all claim upon the control of this + estate, whose revenue made your father and yourself to be + accounted rich, and upon which your son has been allowed to build + up a life expectation; and though on account of it, you go forth + a poor man in wordly goods, you may go out rich in the blessing + of restoration and repentance."<br> + <br> + Ferdinand Ramero's steel eyes were fixed like the eyes of a snake + on the holy man's face. Restoration and repentance do not belong + behind eyes like that.<br> + <br> + "I can fight you in the courts. You and your Church may go to the + devil;" he seemed to hiss rather than to speak these words.<br> + <br> + "We do go to him every day to bring back souls like yours," + Father Josef's voice was calm. "I have waited a long time for you + to repent. You can go to the courts, but you will not do it. For + the sake of your wife, Gloria Ramero, and Felix Narveo, her + brother, we do not move against you, and you dare not move for + yourself, because your own record will not bear the light of + legal investigation."<br> + <br> + Ferdinand Ramero sprang up, the blaze of passion, uncontrolled + through all his years, bursting forth in the tragedy of the hour. + Eloise was right. In his anger he was a maniac.<br> + <br> + "You dare to threaten me! You pen me in a corner to stab me to + death! You hold disgrace and miserable poverty over my head, and + cant of restoration and repentance! Not until here you name each + thing that you count against me, and I have met them point by + point, will I restore. I never will repent!"<br> + <br> + In the vehemence of anger, Ramero was the embodiment of the + dramatic force of unrestraint, and withal he was handsome, with a + controlling magnetism even in his hour of downfall.<br> + <br> + Jondo had said that Father Josef had somewhere back a strain of + Indian blood in his veins. It must have been this that gave the + fiber of self control to his countenance as he looked with + pitying eyes at Jondo and Eloise St. Vrain.<br> + <br> + "The hour is struck," he said, sadly. "And you shall hear your + record, point by point, because you ask it now. First: you have + retained, controlled, misused, and at last embezzled the fortune + of Theron St. Vrain, as it was retained, controlled, misused, and + embezzled by your father, Henry Ramer, in his lifetime. Any case + in civil courts must show how the heritage of Eloise St. Vrain, + heir to Theron St. Vrain at the death of her mother--"<br> + <br> + "Not until the death of her mother--" Ferdinand Ramero broke in, + hoarsely.<br> + <br> + For the first time to-day the priest's cheek paled, but his voice + was unbroken as he continued:<br> + <br> + "I would have been kinder for your own sake. You desire + otherwise. Yes, only after the death of Mary Marchland St. Vrain + could you dictate concerning her daughter's affairs, with most + questionable legality even then. Mary Marchland St. Vrain is not + dead."<br> + <br> + The chapel was as silent as the grave. My heart stood still. + Before me was Jondo, big, strong, self-controlled, inured to the + tragic deeds of the epic years of the West. No pen of mine will + ever make the picture of Jondo's face at these words of Father + Josef.<br> + <br> + Eloise turned deathly pale, and her dark eyes opened wide, seeing + nothing. It was not I who comforted her, but Jondo, who put his + strong arm about her, and she leaned against his shoulder. Father + and daughter in spirit, stricken to the heart.<br> + <br> + "For many years she has lived in that lonely ranch-house on the + Narveo grant in the little cañon up the San Christobal + Arroyo. When the fever left her with memory darkened forever, you + recorded her as dead. But your wife, Gloria Ramero, spared no + pains to make her comfortable. She has never known a want, nor + lived through one unhappy hour, because she has forgotten."<br> + <br> + "A priest, confessor for men's inmost souls, who babbles all he + knows! I wonder that this roof does not fall on you and strike + you dead before this altar." Ferdinand Ramero's voice rose to a + shout.<br> + <br> + "It was too strongly built by one who knew men's inmost souls, + and what they needed most," Father Josef replied. "You drove me + to this by your insistence. I would have shielded you--and + these."<br> + <br> + He turned to Eloise and Jondo as he spoke.<br> + <br> + "One more point, since you hold it ready to spring when I am + through. You stand accused of plotting for your father's murder. + The evidence still holds, and some men who rode with you to-day + to seize this gentle girl and drag her back to a marriage with + your son--and save your ill-gotten gold thereby--some of these + men who will confess to me and do penance to-morrow night, are + the same men who long ago confessed to other crimes--you can + guess what they were.<br> + <br> + "It pays well to repent before such a holy tattler as yourself." + Ramero's blue eyes burned deep as their fire was centered on the + priest.<br> + <br> + "These are the counts against you," Father Josef said in review, + ignoring the last outburst of wrath. "A life of ease and + inheritance through money not your own, nor even rightly yours to + control. A stricken woman listed with the dead, whose memory + might have come again--God knows--if but the loving touch of + childish hands had long ago been on her hands. It is years too + late for all that now. A brave young ward rescued from your + direct control by Esmond Clarenden's force of will and daring to + do the right. You know that last pleading cry of Mary + Marchland's, for Jondo to protect her child, and how Clarenden, + for love of this brave man, came to New Mexico on perilous trails + to take the little Eloise from you. And lastly in this matter, + the threats to force a marriage unholy in God's sight, because no + love could go with it. Your mad chase and villainous intention to + use brute force to secure your will out yonder on the rocks above + the cliff. You have debauched an Apache boy, making him your tool + and spy. You sanctioned the seizing of a Hopi girl whose parents + you permitted to be murdered, and their child sold into slavery + among foreign tribes. You have stirred up and kept alive a feud + of hatred and revenge among the Kiowa people against the life and + property of Esmond Clarenden and all who belong to him. And, + added to all these, you stand to-day a patricide in spirit, + accused of plotting for the murder of your own father. Do not + these things call for restoration and repentance?"<br> + <br> + Ferdinand Ramero rose to his feet and stood in the aisle near the + door. His face hardened, and all the suave polish and cool + concentration and dominant magnetism fell away. What remained was + the man as shaped by the ruling passions of years, from whose + control only divine power could bring deliverance. And when he + spoke there was a remorseless cruelty and selfishness in his low, + even tones.<br> + <br> + "You have called me a plotter for my father's life--based on some + lying Mexican's love of blackmail. You do not even try to prove + your charge. The man who would have killed him was Theron St. + Vrain, and his brother, Bertrand. That Theron was disgraced by + the fact you know very well, and the blackness of it drove him to + an early grave. So this young lady here, whom I would have + shielded from this stain upon her name in the marriage to my son, + may know the truth about her father. He was what you, Father + Josef, try to prove me to be."<br> + <br> + He paused as if to gather venom for his last shaft.<br> + <br> + "These two, Theron and Bertrand, were equally guilty, but through + tricks of their own, Theron escaped and Bertrand took the whole + crime on himself. He disappeared and paid the penalty by his + death. His body was recovered from the river and placed in an + unmarked grave. Why go back to that now? Because Bertrand St. + Vrain's clothes alone on some poor drowned unknown man were + buried. Bertrand himself sits here beside his niece, Eloise St. + Vrain. John Doe to the world, the man who lives without a name, + and dares not sign a business document, a walking dead man. I + could even pity him if he were real. But who can pity + nothing?"<br> + <br> + A look of defiance came into the man's glittering eyes as he took + one step nearer to the door and continued:<br> + <br> + "Esmond Clarenden drove me out of the United States with threats + of implicating me in the death of my father, and I knew his power + and brutal daring to do anything he chose to do. It was but his + wish to have revenge for this nameless thing--"<br> + <br> + The scorn of Ramero's eyes and voice as he looked at Jondo were + withering.<br> + <br> + "And this thing keeps me here by threats of attacks, even when he + knows that by such attacks he will reveal himself. It has been a + grim game." Something of a grin showed all of the man's fine + teeth. "A grim game, and never played to a finish till now. I + leave it to you, Father Josef, to judge who has been the stronger + and who comes out of it victor. I make restoration--of what? I + leave the St. Vrain money that I have guarded for Eloise, the + daughter of the man who killed, or helped to kill, my father. You + can control it now, among you: Clarenden, already rich; your + Church, notorious in its robbery of the poor by enriching its + coffers; or this uncle here, who is dead and buried in an unknown + grave. That is all the restoration I can make. Repentance, I do + not know what that word means. Keep it for the poor devils you + will gather in to-morrow night to be shriven. They need it. I do + not."<br> + <br> + He turned and strode out of the church and, mounting his horse, + rode like a madman up the yellow valley of the San Christobal. In + after years I could find no term to so well describe that last + act as the words of Beverly Clarenden, who came to the chapel + just in time to hear Ferdinand Ramero's closing declaration, and + to see his black scowl and scornful air, as, in a royal madness, + he defied the power of man and denounced the all-pitying love + that is big enough for the most sinful.<br> + <br> + "It was Paradise lost," Beverly declared, "and Satan falling + clear to hell before the Archangel's flaming sword. Only he went + east and the real Satan dropped down to his place. But they will + meet up somewhere, Ramero and the real one, and not be able to + tell each other apart."<br> + <br> + And Jondo. My boyhood idol, brave, gentle, unselfish, able + everywhere! Jondo, who had kept my toddling feet from stumbling, + who had taught me to ride and swim and shoot, who had made me + wise in plains lore, and manly and clean among the rough and + vulgar things of the Missouri frontier. Jondo, whose big, cool + hand had touched my feverish face, whose deep blue eyes had + looked love into my eyes when I lay dying on Pawnee Rock! A man + without a name! A murderer who had by a trick escaped the law, + and must walk evermore unknown among his fellow-men! Something + went out of my life as I looked at him. The boy in me was burned + and seared away, and only the man-to-be, was left.<br> + <br> + He offered no word of defense from the accusation against him, + nor made a plea of innocence, but sat looking straight at Father + Josef, who looked at him as if expecting nothing. And as they + gazed into each other's eyes, a something strong and beautiful + swept the face of each. I could not understand it, and I was + young. My lifetime hero had turned to nothingness before my eyes. + The world was full of evil. I hated it and all that in it was, my + trusting, foolish, short-sighted self most of all.<br> + <br> + But Eloise--the heart of woman is past understanding--Eloise + turned to the man beside her and, putting both arms around his + neck, she pressed one fair cheek against his brown bearded one, + and kissed him gently on the forehead. Then turning to Father + Josef, no longer the dependent, clinging maiden, but the loving + woman, strong and sure of will, she said:<br> + <br> + "I must go to my mother. So long as she lives I will never leave + her again."<br> + <br> + She did not even look at me, nor speak a word of farewell, as if + I were the murderer instead of that man, Jondo, whom she had + kissed.<br> + <br> + I saw her ride away, with Little Blue Flower beside her. I saw + the green mesa, the red cliffs above the growing things, the + glitter of the San Christobal water on yellow sands, the level + plain where the narrow white trail crept far away toward Gloria + Narveo's lonely ranch-house, strong as a fort built a hundred + years ago, in a little cañon of the valley. I saw a young, + graceful figure on horseback, and the glint of sunlight on golden + hair. But the rider did not turn her head and I could not get one + glance of those beautiful dark eyes. A great mass of rock hid the + line of the trail, and the two, Eloise and Little Blue Flower, + rounded the angle and rode on out of my sight.<br> + <br> + I helped to dig open the curly mesquite and to shovel out the + sand. I heard the burial service, and saw a rudely coffined form + lowered into an open grave. I saw Rex Krane at the head, and + Jondo at the foot, and Beverly's bleeding hands as he scraped the + loose earth back and heaped it over that which had been called + Sister Anita; I heard Father Josef's voice of music repeating the + "Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust." And then we turned away and + left the spot, as men turn every day to the common affairs of + life.<br> + <br> + Four days later Little Blue Flower came to me as I, still numb + and cold and blankly unthinking, sat beside Fort Marcy and looked + out with unseeing eyes at the glory of a New-Mexican sunset.<br> + <br> + "I come from Eloise." The sadness of her face and voice even the + Indian's self-control could not conceal.<br> + <br> + "She is sad, but brave, and her mother loves her and calls her + 'Little One.' She will never grow up to her mother. But"--Little + Blue Flower's voice faltered and she gazed out at the far Sandia + peaks wrapped in the rich purple folds of twilight, with the + scarlet of the afterglow beyond them--"Eloise loves Beverly. She + will always love him. Heaven meant him for her." There were some + other broken sentences, but I did not grasp them clearly + then.<br> + <br> + The world was full of gray shadows. The finishing touches had + been put on life for me. I looked out at the dying glow in the + west, and wondered vaguely if the sun would ever cross the + Gloriettas again, or ever the Sangre-de-Christo grow radiant with + the scarlet stain of that ineffable beauty that uplifts and + purifies the soul of him who looks on it. </p> + <hr> + + + + <h3><a name="XVII" id="XVII">XVII</a><br> + <br> + SWEET AND BITTER WATERS</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + Trust me, it is something to be cast<br> + Face to face with one's self at last,<br> + To be taken out of the fuss and strife,<br> + The endless clatter of plate and knife,<br> + The bore of books, and the bores of the street,<br> + And to be set down on one's own two feet<br> + So nigh to the great warm heart of God,<br> + You almost seem to feel it beat<br> + Down from the sunshine, and up from the sod.<br> + JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.</p> + + <p><br> + My hair is very white now, and my fingers hold a pen more easily + than they could hold the ox-goad or the rifle, and mine to-day is + all the backward look. Which look is evermore a satisfying thing + because it takes in all of life behind in its true proportion, + where the forward look of youth sees only what comes next and + nothing more. And looking back to-day it seems that, of the many + times I walked the long miles of that old Santa Fe Trail, no + journey over it stands out quite so clear-cut in my memory as the + home trip after I had watched the going away of Eloise, and + witnessed the flight of Ferdinand Ramero, and listened to the + story of Jondo's life.<br> + <br> + When Little Blue Flower left me sitting beside Fort Marcy's wall + my mind went back in swift review over the flight of days since + Beverly Clarenden and I had come from Cincinnati. I recalled the + first meeting of Eloise with my cousin. How easily they had + renewed acquaintance. I had been surprised and embarrassed and + awkward when I found her and Little Blue Flower down by the Flat + Rock below St. Ann's, in the Moon of the Peach Blossom. I + remembered how I had monopolized all of her time in the days that + followed, leaving good-natured Bev to look after the little + Indian girl who never really seemed like an Indian to him. And + keen-piercing as an arrow came now the memory of that midnight + hour when I had seen the two in the little side porch of the + Clarenden home, and again I heard the sorrowful words:<br> + <br> + "Oh, Beverly, it breaks my heart."<br> + <br> + Eloise had just seen Beverly kiss Little Blue Flower in the + shadows of the porch. And all the while, good-hearted, generous + boy that he was, he had never tried to push his suit with her, + had made her love him more, no doubt, by letting me have full + command of all of her time, while he forgot himself in showing + courtesy to the Indian girl, because Bev was first of all a + gentleman. I thought of that dear hour in the church of San + Miguel. Of course, Eloise was glad to find me there--poor, + hunted, frightened child! She would have been as glad, no doubt, + to have found big Bill Banney or Rex Krane, and I had thought her + eyes held something just for me that night. She had not seen + Beverly at the chapel beside the San Christobal River, and to me + she had not given even a parting glance when she went away. If + she had cared for me at all she would not have left me so. And I + had climbed the tortuous trail with her and stood beside her in + the zone of sanctuary safety that Father Josef had thrown about + us two.<br> + <br> + These things were clear enough to me, but when I tried to think + again of all that Little Blue Flower had said an hour ago my mind + went numb:<br> + <br> + "Her mother knew her, but only as the little Eloise long lost and + never missed till now. The mother, too, was very beautiful, and + young in face, and child-like in her helplessness. The lonely + ranch-house, old, and strong as a fort, girt round by tall + cañon walls, nestled in a grassy open place; and not a + comfort had been denied the woman there. For Gloria Ramero, + Ferdinand's wife, had governed that. And Eloise had entered there + to stay. This much was clear enough. But that which followed + seemed to twist and writhe about in my mind with only one thing + sure--Eloise loved Beverly, would always love him. And he could + not love any one else. He could be kind to any girl, but he would + not be happy. Some day when he was older--a real man--then he + would long for the girl of his heart and his own choice, and he + would find her and love her, too, and she would love him and + those who stood between them they both would hate. And Eloise + loved Beverly. She could not send Gail any words herself, but he + would understand."<br> + <br> + So came the Indian girl's interpretation of the case, but the + conclusion was the message meant for me. I wondered vaguely, as I + sat there, if the vision had come to Beverly years ago as it had + come to me: three men--the soldier on his cavalry mount, Jondo, + the plainsman, on his big black horse, and between the two, + Esmond Clarenden, neither mounted nor on foot, but going forward + somehow, steady and sure. And beyond these three, this side of + misty mountain peaks, the cloud of golden hair, the sweet face, + with dark eyes looking into mine. I had not been a dreamer, I had + been a fool.<br> + <br> + Through Beverly I learned the next day that Ferdinand Ramero had + come into Santa Fé late at night and had left early the + next morning. Marcos Ramero, faultlessly dressed, lounged about + the gambling-halls, and strolled through the sunny Plaza, idly + and insolently, as was his custom. But Gloria Ramero, to whom + Marcos long ago ceased to be more than coldly courteous, had left + the city at once for the San Christobal Valley, to devote herself + to the care of the beautiful woman whom her brother Felix Narveo + in his college days had admired so much.<br> + <br> + As for Jondo, years ago when we had met Father Josef out by the + sandy arroyo, he had left us to follow the good man somewhere, + and had not come back to the Exchange Hotel until nightfall. + Something had come into his face that day that never left it + again. And now that something had deepened in the glance of his + eye and the firm-set mouth. It was through that meeting with + Father Josef that he had first heard of the supposed death of + Mary Marchland St. Vrain, and it was through the priest in the + chapel he had heard that she was still alive.<br> + <br> + Neither Beverly nor Bill Banney nor Rex Krane knew what I had + heard in the church concerning Jondo's early career, and I never + spoke of it to them. But to all of us, outside of that + intensified something indefinable in his face, he was unchanged. + He met my eye with the open, frank glance with which he met the + gaze of all men. His smile was no less engaging and his manner + remained the same--fearless, unsuspicious, definite in serious + affairs, good-natured and companionable in everything. I could + not read him now, by one little line, but back of everything lay + that withering, grievous thought--he was a murderer. Heaven pity + the boy when his idol falls, and if he be a dreaming idealist the + hurt is tenfold deeper.<br> + <br> + And yet--the trail was waiting there to teach me many things, and + Jondo's words rang through the aisles of my brain:<br> + <br> + "If you ever have a real cross, Gail, thank the Lord for the open + plains and the green prairies, and the danger stimulus of the old + Santa Fé Trail. They will seal up your wounds, and soften + your hard, rebellious heart, and make you see things big, and + despise the little crooks in your path."<br> + <br> + Our Conestoga wagons, with their mule-teams, and the few ponies + for scout service, followed the old trail out of the valley of + the Rio Grande to the tablelands eastward, up the steep sidling + way into the passes of the Glorietta Mountains, down through + lone, wind-swept cañons, and on between wild, scarred + hills, coming, at last, beyond the picturesque ridges, + snow-crowned and mesa-guarded, into the long, gray, waterless + lands of the Cimmarron country. Here we journeyed along + monotonous levels that rose and fell unnoted because of lack of + landmarks to measure by, only the broad, beaten Santa Fé + Trail stretched on unbending, unchanging, uneffaceable.<br> + <br> + As the distance from spring to spring decreased, every drop of + water grew precious, and we pushed on, eager to reach the richer + prairies of the Arkansas Valley. Suddenly in the monotony of the + way, and the increasing calls of thirst, there came a sense of + danger, the plains-old danger of the Comanche on the Cimarron + Trail. Bill Banney caught it first--just a faint sign of one + hostile track. All the next day Jondo scouted far, coming into + camp at nightfall with a grave report.<br> + <br> + "The water-supply is failing," he told us, "and there is + something wrong out there. The Comanches are hovering near, + that's certain, and there is a single trail that doesn't look + Comanche to me that I can't account for. All we can do is to + 'hold fast,'" he added, with his cheery smile that never failed + him.<br> + <br> + That night I could not sleep, and the stars and I stared long at + each other. They were so golden and so far away. And one, as I + looked, slipped from its place and trailed wide across the sky + until it vanished, leaving a stream of golden light that lingered + before my eyes. I thought of the trail in the San Christobal + Valley, and again I saw the sunlight on golden hair as Eloise + with Little Blue Flower passed out of sight around the shoulder + of a great rock beside the way. At last came sleep, and in my + dreams Eloise was beside me as she had been in the church of San + Miguel, her dark eyes looking up into mine. I knew, in my dream, + that I was dreaming and I did not want to waken. For, "Eloise + loved Beverly, would always love him." Little Blue Flower had + said it. The face was far away, this side of misty mountain + peaks, and farther still. I could see only the eyes looking at + me. I wakened to see only the stars looking at me. I slept again + deeply and dreamlessly, and wakened suddenly. We were far and + away from the Apache country, but there, for just one instant, a + face came close to mine--the face of Santan--the Apache. It + vanished instantly as it had come. The night guard passed by me + and crossed the camp. The stars held firm above me. I had had + another dream. But after that I did not sleep till dawn.<br> + <br> + The day was very hot, with the scorching breeze of the plains + that sears the very eyeballs dry. Through the dust and glare we + pressed on over long, white, monotonous miles. Hovering near us + somewhere were the Comanches--waiting; with us was burning + thirst; ahead of us ran the taunting mirage--cool, sparkling + water rippling between green banks--receding as we approached, + maddening us by the suggestion of its refreshing picture, the + while we knew it was only a picture. For it is Satan's own + painting on the desert to let men know that Dante's dream is mild + compared to the real art of torment. Men and animals began to + give way under the day's burden, and we moved slowly. In times + like these Jondo stayed with the train, sending Bill Banney and + Beverly scouting ahead. That was the longest day that I ever + lived on the Santa Fé Trail, although I followed its miles + many times in the best of its freighting years.<br> + <br> + The weary hours dragged at last toward evening, and a dozen signs + in plains lore told us that water must be near. As we topped a + low swell at the bottom of whose long slide lay the little oasis + we were seeking, we came upon Bill Banney's pony lying dead + across the trail. And near it Bill himself, with bloated face and + bleared eyes, muttering half-coherently:<br> + <br> + "Water-hole! Poison! Don't drink!"<br> + <br> + And then he babbled of the muddy Missouri, and the Kentucky blue + grass, and cold mountain springs in the passes of the Gloriettas, + warning us thickly of "death down there."<br> + <br> + "Down there," beside the little spring shelved in by shale at the + lower edge of the swell, we found a tiny cairn built of clumps of + sod and bits of shale. Fastened on it was a scrap from Bill's + note-book with the words </p> + + <p class="blkquot">Spring poisoned. Bev gone for water not very + far on.--BILL.</p> + + <p>So Bill had drunk the poisoned water and had tried to reach + us. But for fear he might not do it, he had scrawled this warning + and left it here. Brave Bill! How madly he had staggered round + the place and threshed the ground in agony when he tried to mount + his poisoned pony, and his first thought was for us. The plains + made men see big. Jondo had told me they could do it. Poor Bill, + moaning for water now and tossing in agony in Jondo's wagon! The + Comanches had been cunning in their malice. How we hated them as + we stood looking at the waters of that poisoned spring!<br> + <br> + Rex Krane's big, gentle hands were holding Bill's. Rex always had + a mother's heart; while Jondo read the ground with searching + glance.<br> + <br> + "We will wait here a little while. Bev will report soon, I hope. + Come, Gail," he said to me. "Here is something we will follow + now."<br> + <br> + A single trail led far away from the beaten road toward a stretch + of coarse dry yucca and loco-weeds that hid a little steep-sided + draw across the plains. At the bottom of it a man lay face + downward beside a dead pony. We scrambled down, shattering the + dry earth after us as we went. Jondo gently lifted the body and + turned it face upward. It was Ferdinand Ramero.<br> + <br> + The big plainsman did not cry out, nor drop his hold, but his + face turned gray, and only the dying man saw the look in the blue + eyes gazing into his. Ramero tried to draw away, fear, and hate, + and the old dominant will that ruled his life, strong still in + death. As he lay at the feet of the man whose life hopes he had + blasted, he expected no mercy and asked for none.<br> + <br> + "You have me at last. I didn't put the poison in that spring. I + would not have drunk it if I had. It was the one below I fixed + for you. And I'm in your power now. Be quick about it."<br> + <br> + For one long minute Jondo looked down at his enemy. Then he + lifted his eyes to mine with the victory of "him that overcometh" + shining in their blue depths.<br> + <br> + "If I could make you live, I'd do it, Fred. If you have any word + to say, be quick about it now. Your time is short."<br> + <br> + The sweetness of that gentle voice I hear sometimes to-day in the + low notes of song-birds, and the gentle swish of refreshing + summer showers.<br> + <br> + Ferdinand Ramero lifted his cold blue eyes and looked at the man + bending over him.<br> + <br> + "Leave me here--forgotten--"<br> + <br> + "Not of God. His Mercy endureth forever," Jondo replied.<br> + <br> + But there was no repentance, no softening of the hard, imperious + heart.<br> + <br> + We left him there, pulling down the loose earth from the steep + sides of the draw to cover him from all the frowning elements of + the plains. And when we went back to the waiting train Jondo + reported, grimly:<br> + <br> + "<i>No enemy in sight</i>."<br> + <br> + We laid Bill Banney beside the poisoned spring, from whose bitter + waters he had saved our lives. So martyrs filled the unknown + graves that made the milestones of the way in the days of + commerce-building on the old Santa Fé Trail.<br> + <br> + The next spring was not far ahead, as Bill's note had said, but + the stars were thick above us and the desolate land was full of + shadows before we reached it--a thirst-mad, heart-sore crowd + trailing slowly on through the gloom of the night.<br> + <br> + Beverly was waiting for us and the refreshing moisture of the air + above a spring seemed about him.<br> + <br> + "I thought you'd never come. Where's Bill? There's water here. I + made the spring myself," he shouted, as we came near.<br> + <br> + The spring that he had digged for us was in the sandy bed of a + dry stream, with low, earth-banks on either side. It was full of + water, hardly clear, but plentiful, and slowly washing out a + bigger pool for itself as it seeped forth.<br> + <br> + "There is poison in the real spring down there." Beverly pointed + toward the diminished fountain we had expected to find. "I've + worked since noon at this."<br> + <br> + We drank, and life came back to us. We pitched camp, and then + listened to Beverly's story of the sweet and bitter waters of the + trail that day. And all the while it seemed as if Bill Banney was + just out of sight and might come galloping in at any moment.<br> + <br> + "You know what happened up the trail," my cousin said, sadly. + "Bill was ahead of me and he drank first, and galloped back to + warn me and beg me to come on for water. I thought I could get + down here and take some water back to Bill in time. It's all + shale up there. No place to dig above, nor below, even if one + dared to dig below that poison. But I found a dead coyote that + had just left here, and all springs began to look Comanche to me. + I lariated my pony and crept down under the bank there to think + and rest. Everything went poison-spotted before my eyes."<br> + <br> + "Where's your pony now, Bev?" Jondo asked.<br> + <br> + "I don't know sure, but I expect he is about going over the Raton + Pass by this time," Beverly replied. "Down there things seemed to + swim around me like water everywhere and I knew I'd got to stir. + Just then an Indian came slipping up from somewhere to the spring + to drink. He didn't look right to me at all, but I couldn't sit + still and see him kill himself. If he needed killing I could have + done it for him, for he never saw me. Just as he stooped I saw + his face. It was that Apache--Santan--the wander-foot, for I + never heard of an Apache getting so far from the mountains. I + ought to have kept still, Jondo"--Beverly's ready smile came to + his face--"but I'd made that fellow swear he'd let me eternally + alone when we had our little fracas up by the San Christobal + Arroyo, so something like conscience, mean as the stomach-ache, + made me call out:<br> + <br> + "'Don't drink there; it's poison.'<br> + <br> + "He stopped and stared at me a minute, or ten minutes--I didn't + count time on him--and then he said, slow-like:<br> + <br> + "'It's the spring west that is poisoned. I put it there for you. + You will not see your men again. They will drink and die. Who put + this poison here?'<br> + <br> + "'Lord knows. I didn't,' I told him. 'Two of you carrying poison + are two too many for the Cimarron country.'<br> + <br> + "And I hadn't any more conscience after that, but I was faint and + slow, and my aim was bad for eels. He could have fixed me right + then, but for some reason he didn't."<br> + <br> + Beverly's face grew sad.<br> + <br> + "He made six jumps six ways, and caught my pony's lariat. I can + hear his yell still as he tore a hole in the horizon and jumped + right through. Then I began on that spring. 'Dig or die. Dig or + die.' I said over and over, and we are all here but Bill. I wish + I'd got that Apache, though."<br> + <br> + Jondo and I looked at each other.<br> + <br> + "The thing is clear now," he said, aside to me. "That single + trail I found back yonder day before yesterday was Santan's + running on ahead of us to poison the water for us and then steal + a horse and make his way back to the mountains. An Apache can + live on this cactus-covered sand the same as a rattlesnake. He + fixed the upper spring and came down here to drink. Only + Beverly's conscience saved him here. Heaven knows how Fred Ramer + got out here. He may have come with some Mexicans on ahead of us + and left them here to drop his poison in this lower spring. Then + he turned back toward Santa Fé and found his doom up there + at Santan's spring.<br> + <br> + "I'm like Bev. I wish he had gotten the Apache, now. I don't know + yet how I was fooled in him, for he has always been Fred Ramer's + tool, and Father Josef never trusted him. And to think that Bill + Banney, in no way touching any of our lives, should have been + martyred by the crimes of Fred and this Apache! But that's the + old, old story of the trail. Poor Bill! I hope his sleep will be + sweet out in this desolate land. We'll meet him later + somewhere."<br> + <br> + The winds must have carried the tale of poisoned water across the + Cimarron country, for the Comanches' trail left ours from that + day. Through threescore and ten miles to the Arkansas River we + came, and there was not a well nor spring nor sign of water in + all that distance. What water we had we carried with us from the + Cimarron fountains. But the sturdy endurance of the days was not + without its help to me. And the wide, wind-swept prairies of + Kansas taught me many things. In the lonely, beautiful land, + through long bright days and starlit nights, I began to see + things bigger than my own selfish measure had reckoned. I thought + of Esmond Clarenden and his large scheme of business; Felix + Narveo, the true-hearted friend; and of Father Josef and his life + of devotion. And I lived with Jondo every day. I could not forget + the hour in the little ruined chapel in the San Christobal + Valley, and how he himself had made no effort to clear his own + name. But I remembered, too, that Father Josef, mercilessly just + to Ferdinand Ramero, had not even asked Jondo to defend himself + from the black charge against him.<br> + <br> + The sunny Kansas prairies, the far open plains, and the wild + mountain trails beyond, had brought their blessing to Jondo, + whose life had known so much of tragedy. And my cross was just my + love for a girl who could not love me. That was all. Jondo had + never forgotten nor ceased to love the mother of Eloise St. + Vrain. I should be like Jondo in this. But the world is wide. + Life is full of big things. Henceforth, while I would not forget, + I, too, would be big and strong, and maybe, some time, just as + sunny-faced as my big Jondo.<br> + <br> + The trail life, day by day, did bring its blessing to me. The + clear, open land, the far-sweeping winds, the solitude for + thought, the bravery and gentleness of the rough men who walked + the miles with me, the splendor of the day-dawn, the beauty of + the sunset, the peace of the still starlit night, sealed up my + wounds, and I began to live for others and to forget myself; to + dream less often, and to work more gladly; to measure men, not by + what had been, but by how they met what was to be done.<br> + <br> + From all the frontier life, rough-hewn and coarse, the elements + came that helped to make the big brave West to-day, and I know + now that not the least of source and growth of power for these + came out of the strength and strife of the things known only to + the men who followed the Santa Fé Trail. </p> + <hr> + + + + <h1>III<br> + <br> + <a name="DEFENDING" id="DEFENDING">DEFENDING THE TRAIL</a></h1> + + <h3><br> + <br> + <br> + <a name="XVIII" id="XVIII">XVIII</a><br> + <br> + WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + The mind hath a thousand eyes,<br> + And the heart but one.<br> + --BOURDILLON.</p> + + <p><br> + Busy years, each one a dramatic era all its own, made up the + annals of the Middle West as the nation began to feel the thrill + for expansion in its pulse-beat. The territorial days of Kansas + were big with the tragic events of border warfare, and her birth + into statehood marked the commencement of the four years of civil + strife whose record played a mighty part in shaping human + destiny.<br> + <br> + Meanwhile the sunny Kansas prairies lay waiting for the + hearthstone and the plow. And young men, trained in camp and + battle-field, looked westward for adventure, fortune, future + homes and fame. But the tribes, whose hunting-grounds had been + the green and grassy plains, yielded slowly, foot by foot, their + stubborn claim, marking in human blood the price of each acre of + the prairie sod. The lonely homesteads were the prey of savage + bands, and the old Santa Fé Trail, always a way of danger, + became doubly perilous now to the men who drove the vans of + commerce along its broad, defenseless miles. The frontier forts + increased: Hays and Harker, Larned and Zarah, and Lyon and Dodge + became outposts of power in the wilderness, whose half-forgotten + sites to-day lie buried under broad pasture-lands and fields of + waving grain.<br> + <br> + One June day, as the train rolled through the Missouri woodlands + along rugged river bluffs, Beverly Clarenden and I looked eagerly + out of the car window, watching for signs of home. It was two + years after the close of the Civil War. We had just finished six + years of Federal service and were coming back to Kansas City. We + were young men still, with all the unsettled spirit that follows + the laying aside of active military life for the wholesome but + uneventful life of peace.<br> + <br> + The time of our arrival had been uncertain, and the Clarenden + household had been taken by surprise at our coming.<br> + <br> + "I wonder how it will seem to settle down in a store, Bev, after + toting shooting-irons for six years," I said to my cousin, as the + train neared Kansas City.<br> + <br> + "I don't know," Beverly replied, with a yawn, "but I'm thinking + that after we see all the folks, and play with Mat's little boys + awhile, and eat Aunty Boone's good stuff till we begin to get + flabby-cheeked and soft-muscled, and our jaws crack from smiling + so much when we just naturally want to get out and cuss + somebody--about that time I'll be ready to run away, if I have to + turn Dog Indian to do it."<br> + <br> + "There's a new Clarenden store at a place called Burlingame out + in Kansas now, somewhere on the old trail. Maybe it will be far + enough away to let you get tamed gradually to civil life there, + if Uncle Esmond thinks you are worth it," I suggested.<br> + <br> + "Rex Krane is to take charge of that as soon as we get home. + Yonder are the spires and minarets and domes of Kansas City. Put + on your company grin, Gail," Beverly replied, as we began to run + by the huts and cabins forming the outworks of the little city at + the Kaw's mouth.<br> + <br> + Six years had made many changes in the place, but the same old + welcome awaited us, and we became happy-hearted boys again as we + climbed the steep road up the bluff to the Clarenden house. On + the wide veranda overlooking the river everybody except one--Bill + Banney, sleeping under the wind-caressed sod beside the Cimarron + spring--was waiting to greet us. There were Esmond Clarenden and + Jondo, in the prime of middle life, the one a little bald, and + more than a little stout; the other's heavy hair was streaked + with gray, but the erect form and tremendous physical strength + told how well the plains life had fortified the man of fifty for + the years before him. The prairies had long since become his + home; but whether in scout service for the Government, or as + wagon-master for a Clarenden train on the trail, he was the same + big, brave, loyal Jondo.<br> + <br> + And there was Rex Krane, tall, easy-going old Rex, with his wife + beside him. Mat was a fair-faced young matron now, with something + Madonna-like in her calm poise and kindly spirit. Two little + boys, Esmond, and Rex, Junior, clinging to her gown, smiled a shy + welcome at us.<br> + <br> + In the background loomed the shining face and huge form of Aunty + Boone. She had never seemed bigger to me, even in my little-boy + days, when I considered her a giant. Her eyes grew dull as she + looked at us.<br> + <br> + "Clean faces and finger-nails now. Got to stain 'em up 'bout once + more 'fore you are through. Hungry as ever, I'll bet. I'll get + your supper right away. Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + As she turned away, Mat said:<br> + <br> + "There is somebody else here, boys, that you will be glad to + meet. She has just come and doesn't even know that you are + expected. It is 'Little Lees.'"<br> + <br> + A rustle of silken skirts, a faint odor of blossoms, a footfall, + a presence, and Eloise St. Vrain stood before us. Eloise, with + her golden hair, the girlish roundness of her fair face, her big + dark eyes and their heavy lashes and clear-penciled brows, her + dainty coloring, and beyond all these the beauty of womanly + strength written in her countenance.<br> + <br> + Her dress was a sort of pale heliotrope, with trimmings of a + deeper shade, and in her hands she carried a big bunch of June + roses. She stopped short, and the pink cheeks grew pale, but in + an instant the rich bloom came back to them again.<br> + <br> + "I tried to find you, Eloise. The boys have just come in almost + unannounced," Mat said.<br> + <br> + "You didn't mean to hide from us, of course," Beverly broke in, + as he took the girl's hand, his face beaming with genuine joy at + meeting her again.<br> + <br> + Eloise met him with the same frank delight with which she always + greeted him. Everything seemed so simple and easy for these two + when they came together. Little Blue Flower was right about them. + They seemed to fit each other.<br> + <br> + But when she turned to me her eyes were downcast, save for just + one glance. I feel it yet, and the soft touch of her hand as it + lay in mine a moment.<br> + <br> + I think we chatted all together for a while. I had a wound at + Malvern Hill that used to make me dizzy. That, or an older wound, + made my pulse frantic now. I know that it was a rare June day, + and the breeze off the river came pouring caressingly over the + bluff. I remember later that Uncle Esmond and Jondo and Rex Krane + went to the Clarenden store, and that Mat was helping Aunty Boone + inside, while Beverly let the two little Kranes take him down the + slope to see some baby squirrels or something. And Eloise and I + were left alone beneath the trees, where once we had sat together + long ago in the "Moon of the Peach Blossom." For me, all the + strength of the years wherein I had built a wall around my + longing love, all my manly loyalty to my cousin's claims, were + swept away, as I have seen the big Missouri floods, joined by the + lesser Kaw, sweep out bridges, snapping like sticks before their + power.<br> + <br> + "Eloise, it seems a hundred years since I saw you and Little Blue + Flower ride away up the San Christobal River trail out of my + sight," I said.<br> + <br> + "It has been a long time, but we are not yet old. You seem the + same. And as for me, I feel as if the clock had stopped awhile + and had suddenly started to ticking anew."<br> + <br> + It was wonderful to sit beside her and hear her voice again. I + did not dare to ask about her mother, but I am sure she read my + thoughts, for she went on:<br> + <br> + "My mother is gone now. She was as happy as a child and never had + a sorrow on her mind after her dreadful fever, although the + doctors say she might have been restored if I had only been with + her then. But it is all ended now."<br> + <br> + Eloise paused with saddened face, and looked out toward the + Missouri River, boiling with June rains and melted snows.<br> + <br> + "It is all right now," she went on, bravely. "Sister Gloria--you + know who she was--stayed with me to the last. And I have a real + mound of earth in the cemetery beside my father." The last two + words were spoken softly. "Sister Gloria is in the convent now. + Marcos is a common gambler. His father disappeared and left him + penniless. Esmond Clarenden says that his father died out on the + plains somewhere."<br> + <br> + "And Father Josef?" I inquired.<br> + <br> + "Is still the same strong friend to everybody. He spends much + time among the Hopi people. I don't know why, for they are + hopelessly heathen. Their own religion has so many beautiful + things to offset our faith that they are hard to convert."<br> + <br> + "And Little Blue Flower--what became of her?" I asked. "Is she a + squaw in some hogan or pueblo, after all that the Sisterhood of + St. Ann's did for her?"<br> + <br> + A shadow fell on the bright face beside me.<br> + <br> + "Let's not talk of her to-day." There was a pleading note in + Eloise's voice. "Life has its tragedies everywhere, but I + sometimes think that none of them--American, English, Spanish, + French, Mexican, nor any others of our pale-faced people, have + quite such bitter acts as the Indian tragedy among a gentle race + like the people of Hopi-land."<br> + <br> + "I hope you will stay with us now."<br> + <br> + I didn't know what I really did hope for. I was no longer a boy, + but a young man in the very best of young manhood's years. I had + seen this girl ride away from me without one good-by word or + glance. I had heard her message to me through Little Blue Flower. + I had suffered and outgrown all but the scar. And now one touch + of her hand, one smile, one look from her beautiful eyes, and all + the barrier of the years fell down. I wondered vaguely now about + Beverly's wish to turn Dog Indian if things became too + monotonous. I wondered about many things, but I could not think + anything.<br> + <br> + "I have no present plans. Father Josef and Esmond Clarenden + thought it would be well for me to come up to Kansas and look at + green prairies instead of red mesas for a while; to rest my eyes, + and get my strength again--which I have never lost," Eloise said, + with a smile. "And Jondo says--"<br> + <br> + She did not tell me what Jondo had said, for Beverly and Mat and + the two rollicking boys joined us just then and we talked of many + things of the earlier years.<br> + <br> + I cannot tell how that June slipped by, nor how Eloise, in the + full bloom of her young womanhood, with the burdens lifted from + her heart and hands, was no more the clinging, crushed Eloise who + had sat beside me in the church of San Miguel, but a self-reliant + and deliciously companionable girl-woman. With Beverly she was + always gay, matching him, mood for mood; and if sometimes I + caught the fleeting edge of a shadow in her eyes, it was gone too + soon to measure. I did not seek her company alone, because I knew + that I could not trust myself. Over and over, Jondo's words, when + he had told me the story of Mary Marchland, came back to me:<br> + <br> + "And although they loved each other always, they never saw each + other again."<br> + <br> + Nobody, outside of those touched by it, knew Jondo's story, + except myself. He was Theron St. Vrain's brother, yet Eloise + never called him uncle, and, except for the one mention of her + father's grave, she did not speak of him. He was not even a + memory to her. And both men's names were forever stained with the + black charge against them.<br> + <br> + One evening in late June, Uncle Esmond called me into + council.<br> + <br> + "Gail, Rex leaves to-morrow for the new store at Burlingame, + Kansas. It is two days out on the Santa Fé Trail. Bev will + go with him and stay for a while. I want you to drive through + with Mat and the children and Eloise a day or two later."<br> + <br> + "Eloise?" I looked up in surprise.<br> + <br> + "Yes; she will visit with Mat for a while. She has had some + trying years that have taxed her heavily. The best medicine for + such is the song of the prairie winds," Uncle Esmond replied.<br> + <br> + "And after that?" I insisted.<br> + <br> + "We will wait for 'after that' till it gets here," my uncle + smiled as he spoke. "There are more serious things on hand than + where out Little Lees will eat her meals. She seems able to take + care of herself anywhere. Wonderfully beautiful and charming + young woman she is, and her troubles have strengthened her + character without robbing her of her youth and happy + spirits."<br> + <br> + Esmond Clarenden spoke reminiscently, and I stared at him in + surprise until suddenly I remembered that Jondo had said, "We + were all in love with Mary Marchland." Eloise must seem to him + and Jondo like the Mary Marchland they had known in their young + manhood. But my uncle's mood passed quickly, and his face was + very grave as he said:<br> + <br> + "The conditions out on the frontier are serious in every way + right now. The Indians are on the war-path, leaving destruction + wherever they set foot. Something must be done to protect the + wagon-trains on the Santa Fé Trail. I have already lost + part of two valuable loads this season, and Narveo has lost + three. But the appalling loss of property is nothing compared to + the terror and torture to human life. The settlers on the + frontier claims are being massacred daily. The Governor of Kansas + is doing all he can to get some action from the army leaders at + Washington. But you haven't been in military service for six + years without finding out that some army leaders are flesh and + blood, and some are only wood--plain wooden wood. Meantime, the + story of one butchery doesn't get to the Missouri River before + the story of another catches up with it. It's bad enough when + it's ruinous to just my own commercial business--but in cases + like this, humanity is my business."<br> + <br> + What a man he was--that Esmond Clarenden! They still say of him + in Kansas City that no sounder financier and no bigger-hearted + humanitarian ever walked the streets of that "Gateway to the + Southwest" than the brave little merchant-plainsman who builded + for the generations that should follow him.<br> + <br> + "What will be the outcome, Uncle Esmond? Are we to lose all we + have gained out here?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "Not if we are real Westerners. It's got to be stopped. The + question is, how soon," my uncle replied.<br> + <br> + That night in a half-waking dream I remembered Aunty Boone's + prophetic greeting a few days before, and how her eyes had + narrowed and grown dull as she said, "One more stainin' of your + hands 'fore you are through."<br> + <br> + I had given six good years to army service--the years which young + men give to college and to establishing themselves in their + life-work. But the vision of the three men whom I had seen under + the elm-tree at Fort Leavenworth came back to me, and only + one--the cavalry man--moved westward now. I knew that I was + dreaming, but I did not want to waken till the vision of a fair + face whose eyes looked into mine should come to make my dream + sweet and restful.<br> + <br> + But in my waking hours, in spite of the gravity of conditions + that troubled Esmond Clarenden, in spite of the terrible tidings + of daily killings on the unprotected plains, I forgot everything + except the girl beside me as I went with her and Mat and the + children to the new home in the village of Burlingame beside the + Santa Fé Trail.<br> + <br> + Eloise St. Vrain had come up to Kansas to let the green prairies + shut out the memory of tall red mesas. About the little town of + Burlingame the prairies were waiting for her eyes to see. It + nestled beside a deep creek under the shelter of forest trees, + with the green prairie lapping up to its edges on every side. The + trail wound round the shoulder of a low hill, and, crossing the + stream, it made the main street of the town, then wandered on + westward to where a rim of ground shut the view of its way from + the settlement under the trees by the creek. A stanch little + settlement it was, and, like many Kansas towns of the '60's, with + big, but never-to-be realized, ambition to become a city. Into + its life and up-building Rex Krane was to throw his good-natured + Yankee shrewdness, and Mat her calm, generous spirit; vanguards + they were, among the home-makers of a great State.<br> + <br> + My stay in the place was brief, and I saw little of Eloise until + the evening before I was to return to Kansas City. I had meant to + go away, as she had left me in the San Christobal Valley, without + one backward look, but I couldn't do it; and at the close of my + last day I went to the Krane home, where I found her alone. It + was the long after-sunset hour, with the refreshing evening + breezes pouring in from all the green levels about us.<br> + <br> + "Rex is at the store, and the others are all gone fishing," + Eloise said, in answer to my inquiry for the family.<br> + <br> + "Mat and Bev always did go fishing on every occasion that I can + remember, and they will make fishermen of little Esmond and Rex + now. Would you like to go up to the west side of town and look + into New Mexico?" I asked, wondering why Beverly should go + fishing with Mat when Eloise was waiting for his smile.<br> + <br> + But I was desperately lonely to-night, and I might not see Eloise + again until after she and Beverly--I could not go farther. She + smiled and said, lightly:<br> + <br> + "I'm just honin' for a walk, as Aunty Boone would say, but I'm + not quite ready to see New Mexico yet."<br> + <br> + "Oh, it's only a thing made of evening mists rising from the + meadows, and bits of sunset lights left over when the day was + finished," I assured her.<br> + <br> + So we left the shadow of the tall elms and strolled up the main + street toward the west.<br> + <br> + Where the one cross-street cut the trail in the center of the + village there was a public well. The ground around it was + trampled into mud by many hoofs. A Mexican train had just come in + and was grouped about this well, drinking eagerly.<br> + <br> + "What news of the plains?" I asked their leader as we passed.<br> + <br> + "I cannot tell you with the lady here," he replied, bowing + courteously. "It is too awful. A spear hung with a scalp of + pretty baby hair like hers. I see it yet. The plains are all + <i>alive--alive</i> with hostile red men; and the worst one of + all--he that had the golden scalp--is but a half-breed Cheyenne + Dog. Never the Apaches were so bad as he."<br> + <br> + The cattle horned about the well, with their drivers shouting and + struggling to direct them, as we went wide to avoid the mud, then + passed up to the rise beyond which lay the old trail's westward + route.<br> + <br> + The mists were rising from the lowlands; along the creek the + sunset sky was all a flaming glory, under whose deep splendor the + June prairies lay tenderly green and still; down in the village + the sounds of the Mexicans settling into camp; the shouting of + children, romping late; and out across the levels, the mooing + call of milking-time from some far-away settler's barn-yard; a + robin singing a twilight song in the elms; crickets chirping in + the long grass; and the gentle evening breeze sweet and cool out + of the west--such was the setting for us two. We paused on the + crest of the ridge and sat down to watch the afterglow of a + prairie twilight. We did not speak for a long time, but when our + eyes met I knew the hour had been made for me. In such an hour we + had sat beside the glistening Flat Rock down in the Neosho + Valley. I was a whole-hearted boy when I went down there, full of + eagerness for the life of adventure on the trail, and she a girl + just leaving boarding-school. And now--life sweetens so with + years.<br> + <br> + "I think I can understand why your uncle thought it would be well + for me to come to Kansas," Eloise said at last. "There is an + inspiration and soothing restfulness in a thing like this. Our + mountains are so huge and tragical; and even their silences are + not always gentle. And our plains are dry and gray. And yet I + love the valley of the Santa Fé, and the old Ortiz and + Sandia peaks, and the red sunset's stain on the + Sangre-de-Christo. Many a time I have lifted up my eyes to them + for help, as the shepherd did to his Judean hills when he sang + his psalms of hope and victory."<br> + <br> + "Yes, Nature is kind to us if we will let her be. Jondo told me + that long ago, and I've proved it since. But I have always loved + the prairies. And this ridge here belongs to me," I replied.<br> + <br> + Eloise looked up inquiringly.<br> + <br> + "I'll tell you why. When I was a little boy, years ago, a + day-dreaming, eager-hearted little boy, we camped here one night. + That was my first trip over the trail to Santa Fé. You + haven't forgotten it and what a big brown bob-cat I looked like + when I got there. I grew like weeds in a Kansas corn-field on + that trip."<br> + <br> + "Oh, I remember you. Go on," Eloise said, laughingly.<br> + <br> + "That night after supper, everybody had left camp--Mat and Bev + were fishing--and I was alone and lonely, so I came up here to + find what I could see of the next day's trail. It was such an + hour as this. And as I watched the twilight color deepen, my own + horizon widened, and I think the soul of a man began, in that + hour, to look out through the little boy's eyes; and a new + mile-stone was set here to make a landmark in my life-trail. The + boy who went back slowly to the camp that night was not the same + little boy that had run up here to spy out the way of the next + day's journey."<br> + <br> + The afterglow was deepening to purple; the pink cloud-flecks were + turning gray in the east, and a kaleidoscope of softest rose and + tender green and misty lavender filled the lengthening shadows of + the twilight prairie.<br> + <br> + "Eloise, I had a longing that night, still unfulfilled. I wish I + dared to tell you what it was."<br> + <br> + I turned to look at the fair girl-woman beside me. In the + twilight her eyes were always like stars; and the golden hair and + the pink bloom of her cheeks seemed richer in their shadowy + setting. To-night her gown was white--like the Greek dress she + had worn at Mat's wedding, on the night when she met Beverly in + the little side porch at midnight. Why did I recall that + here?<br> + <br> + "What was your wish, Gail?" The voice was low and sweet.<br> + <br> + I took her hand in mine and she did not draw away from me.<br> + <br> + "That I might some day have a real home all my own down there + among the trees. I was a little homesick boy that night, and I + came up here to watch the sunset and see the open level lands + that I have always loved. Eloise, Jondo told me once of three + young college men who loved your beautiful mother, and because of + that love they never married anybody, but they lived useful, + happy lives. I can understand now why they should love her, and + why, because they could not have her love, they would not marry + anybody else. One was my uncle Esmond, and one was Father + Josef."<br> + <br> + "And the third?" The voice was very low and a tremor shook the + hand I held.<br> + <br> + "He did not tell me. And I speak of it now only to show you that + in what I want to say I am not altogether selfish and unkind. I + love you, Eloise. I have loved you since the day, long ago, when + your face came before me on the parade-ground at Fort + Leavenworth. I told you of that once down on the bluff by the + Clarenden home at Kansas City. I shall love you, as the Bedouin + melody runs,</p> + + <p class="blkquot">Til the sun grows cold,<br> + And the stars are old,<br> + And the leaves of the judgment<br> + Book unfold!</p> + + <p>"But I know that it will end as Uncle Esmond's and Father + Josef's loving did, in my living my life alone."<br> + <br> + Eloise quickly withdrew her hand, and the pain in her white face + haunts me still.<br> + <br> + "I do not want to hurt you, oh, Eloise. I know I do wrong to + speak, but to-night will be the last time. I thought that night + in the church at San Miguel, and that next day when we rode for + our lives together, that you cared for me who would have walked + through fire for you. But in that hour in the little chapel a + barrier came between us. You rode away without one word or + glance. And I turned back feeling that my soul was falling into + ruins like that half-ruined little pile of stone that some holy + padre had built his heart into years and years ago. Then Little + Blue Flower brought your message to me and I knew as I sat beside + Fort Marcy's wall that night, and saw the sun go down, that the + light of my life was going out with it."<br> + <br> + "But, Gail," Eloise exclaimed, "I said I could not send you any + word, but you would understand. I--I couldn't say any more than + that." Her voice was full of tears and she turned away from me + and looked at the last radiant tints edging the little + cloud-flecks above the horizon.<br> + <br> + "Of course I understand you, Eloise, and I do not blame you. I + never could blame you for anything." I sprang to my feet. "You'll + hate me if I say another word," I said, savagely.<br> + <br> + She rose up, too, and put her hand on my arm. Oh, she was + beautiful as she stood beside me. So many times I have pictured + her face, I will not try to picture it as it looked now in this + sweet, sacred moment of our lives.<br> + <br> + "Gail, I could never hate you. You do not understand me. I cannot + help what is past now. I hoped you might forget. And yet--" She + paused.<br> + <br> + All men are humanly alike. In spite of my strong love for Beverly + and my sense of right, the presence of the woman whose image for + so many years had been in the sacredest shrine of my heart, + Eloise, in all her beauty and her womanly strength and purity, + standing beside me, her hand still on my arm--all overpowered + me.<br> + <br> + I put my arms about her and held her close to me, kissing her + forehead, her cheek, her lips. The world for one long moment was + rose-hued like the sunset's afterglow; and sky and prairie, + lowlands along the winding creek, and tall elm-trees above the + deepening shadows, were all engulfed in a mist of golden glory, + shot through with amethyst and sapphire, the dainty coraline pink + of summer dawns, and the iridescent shimmer of + mother-of-pearl.<br> + <br> + Heaven opens to us here and there such moments on the way of + life. And the memory of them lingers like perfume through all the + days that follow.<br> + <br> + We turned our faces toward the darkening village street and the + tall elms above the gathering shadows, and neither spoke a word + until we reached the door where I must say good night.<br> + <br> + "I cannot ask you to forgive me, Little Lees, because you let me + have a bit of heaven up there. I shall go away a better man. And, + remember, that no blessing in your life can be greater than I + would wish for you to have."<br> + <br> + The brave white face was before my eyes and the low voice was in + my ears long after I had left her door.<br> + <br> + "Gail, I cannot help what has been, but I do not blame you. I + should almost wish myself shut in again by the tall red mesas; + but maybe, after all, the prairies are best for me. I am glad I + have known you. Good night."<br> + <br> + "Goodnight," I said, and turned away.<br> + <br> + And that was all. The last light of day had gone from the sky, + and the stars overhead were hidden by the thick leafage of the + Burlingame elms. </p> + <hr> + + <h3><a name="XIX" id="XIX">XIX</a><br> + <br> + A MAN'S PART</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + Don't you guess that the things we're seeing now will haunt us + through the years;<br> + Heaven and hell rolled into one, glory and blood and tears;<br> + Life's pattern picked with a scarlet thread, where once we wove + with a gray,<br> + To remind us all how we played our part in the shock of an epic + day?<br> + --ROBERT W. SERVICE.</p> + + <p><br> + However darkly the sun may go down on hope and love, the real sun + shines on, day after day, with its inexorable call to duty. In + less than a week after I had left Eloise and the vague hope of a + home of my own under the big elm-trees of Burlingame, Governor + Crawford of Kansas sent forth a call for a battalion of four + companies of soldiers, and I heard the call and answered it.<br> + <br> + It was to be known as the Eighteenth Kansas Cavalry, with Col. + Horace L. Moore, a veteran soldier of tried mettle, at the head. + We were to go at once to Fort Harker, in the valley of the Smoky + Hill River, to begin a campaign against the Indians, who were + laying waste the frontier settlements and attacking wagon-trains + on the Sante Fé Trail.<br> + <br> + On the evening before I left home I sat on the veranda of the + Clarenden house, waiting for Uncle Esmond to join me, when + suddenly Beverly Clarenden strode over the edge of the hill. The + sunny smile and the merry twinkle of his eye were Bev's own, and + there wasn't a line on his face to show whether it belonged to + the happy lover or the rejected suitor. I thought I could always + read his moods when he had any. He had none to-night.<br> + <br> + "I just got in from Burlingame. At what hour do you leave + to-morrow? I'm going along to chaperon you, as usual," he + declared.<br> + <br> + "Why, Beverly Clarenden, I thought you were fixed at Burlingame, + selling molasses and calico by the gallon," I exclaimed, but my + real thought was not given to words.<br> + <br> + "And let the Cheyennes, and Kiowas, and Arapahoes, and other + desperadoes of the plains gnaw clear into the heart of us? Not + your uncle Esmond Clarenden's nephew. And, Gail, this won't be + anything like we have had since those six Kiowas staked you out + on Pawnee Rock once. The thoroughbred Indians are bad enough, but + there is a half-breed leader of a band of Dog Indians that's + worst of all. He's of the yellow kind, with wolf's fangs. A + Mexican on the trail told me that this half-breed ties up with + the worst of every tribe from the Coast Range mountains to + Tecumseh, Kansas," Beverly declared.<br> + <br> + "I remember that Mexican. I saw him at the well in Burlingame," I + replied, turning to look at the Kaw winding far away, for the + memory of everything in Burlingame was painful to me.<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone's huge form appearing around the corner of the house + shut off my view of the river just then. Her face was glistening, + but her eyes were dull as she looked us over.<br> + <br> + "You stainin' your hands again," she purred. "Yes, Aunty. We are + going to lick the redskins into ribbons," Beverly replied.<br> + <br> + "You never get that done. Lickin' never settles nobody. You just + hold 'em down till they strong enough to boost you off their + heads again, and up they come. Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + The black woman gave a chuckle.<br> + <br> + "Well, I'd rather sit on their heads than have them sitting on + mine, or yours, Aunty Boone," Beverly returned, laughingly.<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone's eyes narrowed and there was a strange light in them + as she looked at us, saying:<br> + <br> + "You get into trouble, Mr. Bev, you see me comin', hot streaks, + to help you out. Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + She breathed her weird, African whoop and turned away.<br> + <br> + "I'll depend on you." Beverly's face was bright, and there was no + shadow in his eyes, as he called after her retreating form.<br> + <br> + We chatted long together, and I hoped--and feared--to have him + tell me the story of his suit with Eloise, and why in such a day, + of all the days of his life, he should choose to run away to the + warfare of the frontier. He could not have failed, I thought. + Never a disappointed lover wore a smile like this. But Beverly + had no story to tell me that night.<br> + <br></p> + + <h1>* * * * *</h1> + + <p><br> + The mid-July sun was shining down on a treeless landscape, across + which the yellow, foam-flecked Smoky Hill River wound its sinuous + way. Beside this stream was old Fort Harker, a low quadrangle of + quarters, for military man and beast, grouped about a + parade-ground for companionship rather than for protection. The + frontier fort had little need for defensive strength. About its + walls the Indian crawled submissively, fearful of munitions and + authority. It was not here, but out on lonely trails, in sudden + ambush, or in overwhelming numbers, or where long miles, cut off + from water, or exhausting distance banished safe retreat, that + the savage struck in all his fury.<br> + <br> + Eastward from Harker the scattered frontier homesteads crouched, + defenseless, in the river valleys. Far to the northwest spread + the desolate lengths of a silent land where the white man's foot + had hardly yet been set. Miles away to the southwest the Santa + Fé Trail wound among the Arkansas sand-hills, never, in + all its history, less safe for freighters than in that summer of + 1867.<br> + <br> + In this vast demesne the raiding Cheyenne, the cruel Kiowa, the + blood-thirsty Arapahoe, with bands of Dog Indians and outlaws + from every tribe, contested, foot by foot, for supremacy against + the out-reaching civilization of the dominant Anglo-American. The + lonely trails were measured off by white men's graves. The + vagrant winds that bear the odor of alfalfa, and of orchard bloom + to-day, were laden often with the smoke of burning homes, and + often, too, they bore that sickening smell of human flesh, once + caught, never to be forgotten. The story of that struggle for + supremacy is a tragic drama of heroism and endurance. In it the + Eighteenth Kansas Cavalry played a stirring part.<br> + <br> + It seems but yesterday to me now, that July day so many years + ago, when our four companies, numbering fewer than four hundred + men, detrained from the Union Pacific train at Fort Harker on the + Smoky Hill. And the faces of the men who were to lead us are + clear in memory. Our commander, Colonel Moore, always brave and + able; and our captains, Henry Lindsay, and Edgar Barker, and + George Jenness, and David Payne, with the shrewd, courageous + scout, Allison Pliley, and the undaunted, clear-thinking, young + lieutenant, Frank Stahl. Ours was not to be a record of unfading + glory, as national military annals show, yet it may count + mightily when the Great Records are opened for final estimates. + Those men who marched two thousand miles, back and forth, upon + the trackless plains in that four months' campaign, have been + forgotten in the debris of uneventful years. Our long-faded + trails lie buried under wide alfalfa-fields and the paved streets + of western Kansas towns. From the far springs that quenched our + burning thirst comes water, trickling through a nickel faucet + into a marble basin, now. Where the fierce sun seared our + eyeballs, in a treeless, barren waste, green groves, atune with + song-birds, cast long swaths of shade on verdant sod. The perils + and the hardships of the Eighteenth Kansas Cavalry are now but as + a tale that is told.<br> + <br> + And yet of all the heroes whose life-trails cut my own, I account + among the greatest those men under whose command, and with whose + comradeship, I went out to serve the needs of my generation among + the vanguards of the plains. And if in a sunset hour on the west + ridge beyond the little town of Burlingame I had left a hopeless + love behind me, I put a man's best energy into the thing before + me.<br> + <br> + The battle-field alone is not the soldier's greatest test. I had + kept step with men who charge an enemy on an open plain or storm + a high defense in the face of sure defeat. I had been ordered + with my company to take redoubts against the flaming throats of + bellowing cannon in the life-and-death grip before Richmond. I + had felt the awful thrill of carnage as my division surged back + and forth across the blood-soaked lengths of Gettysburg, and I + never once fell behind my comrades. The battle-field breeds + courage, and self-forgetfulness, and exaltation, from the sense + of duty squarely met.<br> + <br> + There were no battle-fields in 1867, where Greek met Greek in + splendid gallantry, out on the Kansas plains. Over Fort Harker + hung the pall of death, and in the July heat the great black + plague of Asiatic cholera stalked abroad and scourged the land. + Men were dying like rats, lacking everything that helps to drive + death back. The volunteer who had offered himself to save the + settlers from the scalping-knife had come here only to look into + an open grave, and then, in agony, to drop into it. Such things + test soldiers more than battle-fields. And our men turned back in + fear, preferring the deserter's shame to quick, inglorious + martyrdom by Asiatic cholera. I had a battle of my own the first + night at Fort Harker. There was a growing moon and the night + breeze was cool after the heat of the day. Beverly Clarenden and + I went down to the river, whose tawny waters hardly hid the tawny + sands beneath them. The plains were silent, but from all the + hospital tents about the fort came the sharp, agonized cries of + pain that forerun the last collapse of the plague-stricken + sufferers. To get away from the sound of it all we wandered down + the stream to where the banks of soft, caving earth on the + farther side were higher than a man's head, and their shadow hid + the current. We sat down and stared silently at the waters, + scarcely whispering as they rolled along, and at the still shade + of the farther bank upon them. The shadows thickened and moved a + little, then grew still. We also grew still. Then they moved + again just opposite us, and fell into three parts, as three men + glided silently along under the bank's protecting gloom. We + waited until they had reached the edge of the moonlight, and saw + three soldiers pass swiftly out across the unprotected sands to + other shadowy places further on.<br> + <br> + "Deserters!" Beverly said, half aloud. "You can stay here if you + want to, Gail. I'd rather go up and listen to those poor wretches + groan than stick down here and listen to the fiend inside of me + to-night."<br> + <br> + He rose and stalked away, and I sat listening to myself. I could + join those three men easily enough. The world is wide. I had no + bond to hold me to one single place in it. I was young and + strong, and life is sweet. Why let the black plague snuff me out + of it? I had come here to serve the State. I should not serve it + in a plague-marked grave. I rose to follow down the stream, to go + to where the Smoky Hill joins the big Republican to make the Kaw, + and on to where the Kaw reaches to the Missouri. But I would not + stop there. I'd go until I reached the ocean somewhere.<br> + <br> + Would I?<br> + <br> + The memory of Jondo's eyes when they looked into mine on Pawnee + Rock came unbidden across my mind. Jondo had lived a nameless + man. How strong and helpful all his years had been! How starved + had been my life without his love! I would be another Jondo, + somewhere on earth.<br> + <br> + I stared after three faintly moving shadows down the stream. + 'Twas well I waited, for Esmond Clarenden came to me now, + clean-cut, honest, everybody's friend. How firm his life had + been; and he had built into me a hatred of deceit and lies. And + Jondo was another Uncle Esmond. In spite of the black shadow on + his name, he walked the prairies like a prince always. I could + not be like him if I were a deserter. Up-stream death was waiting + for me; down-stream, disgrace. I turned and followed up the + river's course, but the strength that forced me to it was greater + than that which made me brave on battle-fields. And ever since + that night beside the Smoky Hill I have felt gentler toward the + man who falls.<br> + <br> + We were not idle long for Fort Harker had just been informed of + an assault on a wagon-train on the Santa Fé Trail and our + cavalry squadron hurried away at once to overtake and punish the + assailants.<br> + <br> + We came into camp on the bank of Walnut Creek, at the close of a + long summer day of blazing light and heat over the barren trails + where there was no water; a day of long hours in the saddle; a + day of nerve-wearing watchfulness. But we believed that we had + left the plague-cursed region behind us, so we were light-hearted + and good-natured; and we ate, and drank, and took our lot + cheerfully.<br> + <br> + Among the men at mess that night I saw a new face which was + nothing remarkable, except that something in it told me that I + had already seen that face somewhere, some time. It is my gift + never to forget a face, once seen, no matter how many years may + pass before I see it twice. This soldier was a pleasant fellow, + too, and, in a story he was telling, clever at imitating + others.<br> + <br> + "Who is that man, Bev? The third one over there?" I asked my + cousin.<br> + <br> + "Stranger to me. I don't believe I ever saw him before. Who is + the fellow with the smile, Captain?" Beverly asked the officer + beside him.<br> + <br> + "I don't know. He's not in my company. I'm finding new faces + every day," the captain replied.<br> + <br> + As twilight fell I saw the man again at the edge of the camp. He + smiled pleasantly as he passed me, turning to look at Beverly, + who did not see him, and in a minute he was cantering down to the + creek beside our camp. I saw him cross it and ride quickly out of + sight. But that smile brought to the face the thing that had + escaped me.<br> + <br> + "I know that fellow now," I said to Beverly and the officer who + came up just then. "He's Charlie Bent, the son of Colonel Bent. + Don't you remember the little sinner at old Fort Bent, Bev?"<br> + <br> + "I do, and what a vicious little reptile he was," Beverly + replied. "But Uncle Esmond told me that his father took him away + early and had him schooled like a gentleman in the best Saint + Louis had to give. I wonder whose company he is in."<br> + <br> + The officer stared at us.<br> + <br> + "You mean to say you know that cavalryman to be Charlie Bent?" he + fairly gasped.<br> + <br> + "Of course it's Charlie. I never missed a face in all my life. + That's his own," I replied.<br> + <br> + "The worst Indian on the plains!" the captain declared. "He stirs + up more fiendishness than a whole regiment of thoroughbred + Cheyennes could ever think of. He's led in every killing here + since March."<br> + <br> + "Not Colonel Bent's son!" I exclaimed.<br> + <br> + "Yes, he's the half-breed devil that we'll have to fight, and + here he comes and eats with us and rides away."<br> + <br> + "He must be the fellow that the Mexican told us about back at + Burlingame, Gail. I remember now he did say the brute's name was + Bent, but I didn't rope him up with our Fort Bent chum. Gail + would have run him down in half a minute if he had heard the + name. I never could remember anything," Beverly said, in disgust. + But the smile was peeping back of his frown, and he forgot the + boy he was soon to have cause enough to remember.<br> + <br> + "We must run that rascal down to-night," the Captain declared, as + he hurried away to consult with the other officers.<br> + <br> + But Charlie Bent was not run down that night. Before we had time + to get over our surprise a scream of pain rang through the camp. + Another followed, and another, and when an hour had passed a + third of our forces was writhing in the clutches of the + cholera.<br> + <br> + I shall never forget the long hours of that night beside the + Walnut, nor Beverly Clarenden's face as he bent over the + suffering men. For all of us who were well worked mightily to + save our plague-stricken comrades, whose couches were of prairie + grass and whose hospital roof was the starlit sky. However + forgetful Beverly might be of names and faces, his strong hand + had that soothing firmness that eased the agony of cramping + limbs. Dear Bev! He comforted the sick, and caught the dying + words, and straightened the relaxed bodies of the dead, and + smiled next day, and forgot that he had done it.<br> + <br> + At last the night of horror passed, and day came, wan and hot and + weary out of the east. But five of our comrades would see no + earthly day again; and three dozen strong men of the day before + lay stretched upon the ground, pulseless and shrunken and purple, + with wrinkled skin and wide, unseeing eyes.<br> + <br> + Before the sun had risen our dead, coffined only by their army + blankets, lay in unmarked graves. Our helpless living were placed + in commissary wagons, and we took the trail slowly and painfully + toward the Arkansas River.<br> + <br> + If Charley Bent had gathered up his band to strike that night + there would have been a different chapter in the annals of the + plains.<br> + <br> + I cannot follow with my pen the long marches of that campaign, + and there was no honorable nor glorious warfare in it. It is a + story of skirmishes, not of battles; of attack and repulse; of + ambush and pursuit and retreat. It is a story of long days under + burning skies, by whose fierce glare our brains seemed shriveling + up and the world went black before our heat-bleared eyes. A story + of hard night-rides, when weary bodies fought with watchful minds + the grim struggle that drowsiness can wage, though sleep, we + knew, meant death. It is a story of fevered limbs and bursting + pulse in hospitals whose walls were prairie distances. A story of + hunger, and exhausted rations; of choking thirst, with only + alkali water mocking at us. And never could the story all be + told. There is no rest for cavalrymen in the field. We did not + suffer heavy loss, but here and there our comrades fell, by ones, + and twos, at duty's post; and where they fell they lie, in + wayside graves, waiting for glorious mention until the last + reveille shall sound above the battlements of heaven.<br> + <br> + And I was one among these vanguards of the plains, making the old + Santa Fé Trail safe for the feet of trade; and the wide + Kansas prairies safe for homes, and happiness, and hope, and + power. I lived the life, and toughened in its grind. But in my + dreams sometimes my other life returned to me, and a sweet face, + with a cloud of golden hair, and dark eyes looking into mine, + came like a benediction to me. Another face came sometimes + now--black, big, and glistening, with eyes of strange, far vision + looking at me, and I heard, over and over, the words of Esmond + Clarenden's cook:<br> + <br> + "If you get into trouble, Mr. Bev, I'll come, hot streaks, to + help you."<br> + <br> + But trouble never stuck to "Mr. Bev," because he failed to know + it when it came.<br> + <br> + Mid-August found us at Fort Hays on the Smoky Hill, beyond whose + protecting guns the wilderness ruled. A wilderness checkered by + faint trails of lawless feet, a wilderness set with bloody claws + and poison stings and cruel fangs, and slow, agonizing death. And + with all a wilderness of weird, fascinating distances and danger, + charm and beauty. The thrill of the explorer of new lands + possessed us as we looked far into the heart of it. Here in these + August days the Cheyenne and Arapahoe and Kiowa bands were riding + trails blood-stained by victims dragged from lonely homesteads, + and butchered, here and there, to make an Indian holiday. The + scenes along the valleys of the Sappa and the Beaver and the + Prairie Dog creeks were far too brutal and revolting to belong to + modern life. Against these our Eighteenth Kansas, with a small + body of United States cavalry, struck northward from Fort Hays. + We rested through the long, hot days and marched by night. The + moon was growing toward the full, and in its clear, white + splendor the prairies lay revealed for miles about us. Our + command was small and meagerly equipped, and we were moving on to + meet a foe of overwhelming numbers. Men took strange odds with + Fate upon the plains.<br> + <br> + Beyond the open, level lands lay a rugged region hemming in the + valley of the Prairie Dog Creek. Here picturesque cliffs and + deep, earth-walled cañons split the hills, affording easy + ambush for a regiment of red men. And here, in a triangle of a + few miles area, a new Thermopylae, with no Leonidas but Kansas + plainsmen, was staged through two long August days and nights. + One hundred and fifty of us against fifteen hundred fighting + braves.<br> + <br> + In the early morning of a long, hot August day, we came to an + open plain beyond the Prairie Dog Creek. Our supply-wagons and + pack-mules were separated from us somewhere among the bluffs. We + had had no food since the night before, and our canteens were + empty--all on account of the blundering mismanagement of the + United States officer who cammanded us. I was only a + private, and a private's business is not to question, but to + obey. And that major over us, cashiered for cowardice later, was + not a Kansas man. Thank heaven for that!<br> + <br> + A score of us, including my cousin and myself, under a sergeant, + and with good Scout Pliley, were suddenly ordered back among the + hills.<br> + <br> + "Where do we go, and why?" Beverly asked me as we rode along.<br> + <br> + "I don't know," I replied. "But Captain Jenness and a file of men + were lost out here somewhere last night. And Indian tracks step + over one another all around here. I guess we are out to find + what's lost, maybe. It isn't a twenty minutes' job, I know + that."<br> + <br> + "And all our canteens empty, too! Why cut off all visible means + of support in a time like this? Look at these bluffs and + hiding-places, will you! A handful of Indians could scoop our + whole body up and pitch us into the Prairie Dog Creek, and not be + missed from a set in a war-dance," Beverly insisted. "Keep it + strictly in the Clarenden family, Gail, but our honorable + commander is a fool and a coward, if he is a United States + major."<br> + <br> + "You speak as one expecting a promotion, Bev," I suggested.<br> + <br> + "I'd know how to use it if I got it," he smiled brightly at me as + we quickened our pace not to fall behind.<br> + <br> + Every day of that campaign Beverly grew dearer to me. I am glad + our lives ran on together for so many years.<br> + <br> + The cañons deepened and the whole region was bewildering, + but still we struggled on, lost men searching for lost men. The + sun blazed hotly, and the soft yellow bluffs of bone-dry earth + reached down to the dry beds of one-time streams.<br> + <br> + High noon, and still no food, no water, and no lost men + discovered. We had pushed out to a little opening, ridged in on + either side by high, brown bluffs, when a whoop came from the + head of the line.<br> + <br> + "Yonder they are! Yonder they are!"<br> + <br> + Half a dozen men, led by Captain Jenness, were riding swiftly to + join us and we shouted in our joy. For some among us that was the + last joyous shout. At that moment a yell from savage throats + filled the air, and the thunder of hoofs shook the ground. Over + the west ridge, half a mile away, five hundred Indians came + swooping like a hurricane down upon us. And we numbered, + altogether, twenty-nine. I can see that charge to-day: the + blinding, yellow sky, the ridge melting into a cloud of tawny + dust, the surge of ponies with their riders bending low above + them; fronting them, our little group of cavalrymen formed into a + hollow square, on foot, about our mounts; the Indians riding, in + a wide circle around us, with blankets flapping, and + streamer-decked lances waving high. And as I see, I hear again + that wild, unearthly shriek and taunting yell and fiendish + laughter. From every point the riflle-balls poured in upon + us, while out of buffalo wallow and from behind each prairie-dog + hillock a surge of arrows from unmounted Indians swept up against + us. I had been on battle-fields before, but this was a circle out + of hell set 'round us there. And every man of of knew, as we sent + back ball for ball, what capture here would mean for us before + the merciful hand of death would seal our eyes.<br> + <br> + Suddenly, as we moved forward, the frantic circle halted and a + hundred braves came dashing in a fierce charge upon us. Their + leader, mounted on a great, white horse, rode daringly ahead, + calling his men to follow him, and taunting us with cowardice. He + spoke good English, and his voice rang clear and strong above the + din of that strange struggle. Straight on he came, without once + looking back, a revolver in each hand, firing as he rode. A + volley from our carbines made his fellows stagger, then waver, + break, and run. Not so the rider of the splendid white horse, who + dared us to strike him down as he dashed full at us.<br> + <br> + "Come on, you coward Clarenden boys, and I'll fight you both. + I've waited all these years to do it. I dare you. Oh, I dare + you!"<br> + <br> + It was Charlie Bent.<br> + <br> + Nine balls from Clarenden carbines flew at him. Beverly and I + were listed among the cleverest shots in Kansas, but not one ball + brought harm to the daring outlaw. A score of bullets sung about + his insolent face, but his seemed a charmed life. Right on he + forged, over our men, and through the square to the Indian's + circle on the other side, his mocking laughter ringing as he + rode. A bloody scalp hung from his spear, and, turning 'round + just out of range of our fire, shaking his trophy high, he + shouted back:<br> + <br> + "We got all of the balance of your men. We'll get you yet."<br> + <br> + The sun glared fiercely on the bare, brown earth. A burning + thirst began to parch our lips. We had had no food nor drink for + more than twenty hours. Our horses, wounded with many arrows, + were harder to care for than our brave, stricken men.<br> + <br> + Night came upon the cañons of the Prairie Dog, and with + the darkness the firing ceased. Somewhere, not far away, there + might be a wagon-train with food for us. And somewhere near there + might be a hundred men or more of our command trying to reach us. + But, whether the force and supplies were safe or the wagons were + captured and all our comrades killed, as Charlie Bent had said, + we could not know. We only knew that we had no food; that one + man, and all but four of our cavalry horses lay dead out in the + valley; that two men in our midst were slowly dying, and a dozen + others suffering from wounds of battle, among these our captain + and Scout Pliley; that we were in a wild, strange land, with + Indians perching, vulture-like, on every hill-top, waiting for + dawn to come to seize their starving prey.<br> + <br> + We heard an owl hoot here and there, and farther off an answering + hoot; a coyote's bark, a late bird's note, another coyote, and a + fainter hoot, all as night settled. And we knew that owl and + coyote and twilight song-bird were only imitations--sentinel + signals from point to point, where Indian videttes guarded every + height, watching the trail with shadow-piercing eyes.<br> + <br> + The glossy cottonwood leaves, in the faint night breeze, rippled + like pattering rain-drops on dry roofs in summertime, and the + thin, willow boughs swayed gently over us. The full moon swept + grandly up the heavens, pouring a flood of softened light over + the valley of the Prairie Dog, whose steep bluffs were guarded by + a host of blood-lusting savages, and whose cañons locked + in a handful of intrepid men.<br> + <br> + If we could only slip out, undiscovered, in the dark we might + find our command somewhere along the creek. It was a perilous + thing to undertake, but to stay there was more perilous.<br> + <br> + "Say, Gail," Beverly whispered, when we were in motion, "somebody + said once, 'There have been no great nations without + processions,' but this is the darndest procession I ever saw to + help to make a nation great. Hold on, comrade. There! Rest on my + arm a bit. It makes it softer."<br> + <br> + The last words to a wounded soldier for whom Bev's grip eased the + ride.<br> + <br> + It was a strange procession, and in that tragic gloom the boy's + light-hearted words were balm to me.<br> + <br> + Silently and slowly we moved forward. The underbrush was thick on + either side of the narrow, stony way that wound between sheer + cliffs. We had torn up our blankets and shirts to muffle the + horses' feet, that no sound of hoofs, striking upon the rocky + path, might reach the ears of the Cheyenne and his allies + crouching watchfully above us. At the head marched Captain + Jenness and Scout Pliley, each with his carbine for a crutch and + leaning on each other for support. Followed five soldiers as + front guard through the defile. And then four horses, led by + careful hands, bearing nine suffering, silent men upon their + backs. Two of the horses carried three, and one bore two, and the + last horse, one--a dying boy, whispering into my ear a message + for his mother, as I held his hand. Behind us came the sergeants + with the remainder, for rear-guard. And so we passed, mile after + mile, winding in and out, to find some sheltering spot where, + sinking in exhaustion, we might sleep.<br> + <br> + The midnight winds grew chill, and the tense strain of that slow + march was maddening, but not a groan came from the wounded men. + The vanguards of the plains knew how to take perilous trails and + hold their peace.<br> + <br> + When the sun rose on the second day the hills about us swarmed + with savages, whose demoniac yells rent the air. Leonidas had his + back against a rock at old Thermopylae, but our Kansas plainsmen + fought in a ring of fire.<br> + <br> + At day-dawn, our brave scout, Pliley, slipped away, and, after + long hours among the barren hills, he found the main command.<br> + <br> + Men never gave up hope in the plains warfare, but each of us had + saved one bullet for himself, if we must lose this game. The time + for that last bullet had almost come when the sight of cavalrymen + on a distant ridge told us that our scout was on its way to us + again. It took a hero's heart to thread unseen the dangerous + trails and find our comrades with the cavalry major and bring + back aid, but Pliley did it for us--a man's part. May the sod + rest lightly where he sleeps to-day. Meantime, on the day before, + the main force of our cavalry, who had given us up for lost, had + had their own long, fearful struggle. In the early morning, + Lieutenant Stahl, scouting forward in an open plain, rushed back + to give warning of Indians everywhere. And they were + everywhere--a thousand strong against a feeble hundred caught in + their midst. They rode like centaurs, and their aim was deadly + true as they poured down, a murderous avalanche, from every + hillslope. Their ponies' tails, sweeping the ground, lengthened + by long horse-hair braids, with sticks thrust through at + intervals by way of ornament; their waving blankets, and + streamered lances held aloft; the savage roar from ten hundred + throats; the mad impetus of their furious charge through clouds + of dust and rifle smoke--all made the valley of the Prairie Dog + seem but a seething hell bursting with fiendins shouts, + shot through with quivering arrows, shattered by bullets, rocked + with the thunderous beat of horses' hoofs, trampling it into one + great maelstrom of blood and dirt.<br> + <br> + All day, with neither food nor water, amid bewildering bluffs and + gorges, alive with savage warriors, the cavalrymen had striven + desperately. Night fell, and in the clear moonlight they forced + their way across the Prairie Dog, and neither man nor horse dared + to stop to drink because an instant's pause meant death.<br> + <br> + And the evening and the morning were the first day. And the + second was like unto it, albeit we were no longer a triangle, + made up of wagon-train here and main command there, and our + twenty-nine--less two lost ones--under Captain Jenness, at a + third point. Before noon, our force was all united and we joined + hands for the finish.<br> + <br> + Beverly and I rode side by side all day. Everywhere around us the + half-breed, Charlie Bent, dashed boldly on his big, white horse + calling us cowardly dogs and taunting us with lack of + marksmanship.<br> + <br> + "I'm getting tired of that fellow, Gail. I'll pick his horse out + from under him pretty soon, see if I don't." My cousin called to + me as Bent's insolent cry burst forth:<br> + <br> + "Come out, and let me show you how to shoot."<br> + <br> + Beverly leaped out toward the Indian horde surrounding Bent. He + raised his carbine, and with steady aim, fired far across the + field of battle, the cleanest shot I ever saw. Years ago my + cousin had urged Uncle Esmond to let him practise shooting on + horseback. He was a master of the art now. Charlie Bent's + splendid white steed fell headlong, hurling its rider to the + ground and dragging him, face downward, in the dirt.<br> + <br> + I cannot paint that day's deeds with my pen, nor ever artist + lived whose brush could reproduce it. If we should lose here, it + meant the turning of the clock from morning back to midnight on + the Kansas plains.<br> + <br> + Between this and the safety of the prairies stood fewer than a + hundred and fifty men, against a thousand warriors, led by + cunning half-breeds skilled in the white man's language and the + red man's fiendishness.<br> + <br> + If we should lose--We did not go out there to lose. When each man + does a man's part there is no failure possible at last.<br> + <br> + As the sun sank toward late afternoon, the savage force massed + for its great, crushing blow that should annihilate us. The + strong center, made up of the flower of every tribe engaged, was + on the crest of a long, westward-reaching slope, a splendid + company of barbaric warriors--strong, eager, vengeful, doggedly + determined to finish now the struggle with the power they + hated.<br> + <br> + The air was very clear, and in its crystal distances we could see + every movement and hear each command.<br> + <br> + The valley rang with the taunts and jeers and threats and mocking + laughter of our foes, daring us to come out and meet them face to + face, like men. And we went out and met them face to face, like + men.<br> + <br> + A little force of soldiery fighting, not for ourselves, but for + the hearthstones of a nobler people, our cavalry swung up that + long, western slope in the face of a murderous fire, into the + very heart of Cheyenne strength, enforced by all the iron of the + allied tribes. I marvel at it now, when, in solid phalanx, our + foes might easily have mowed us down like a thin line of standing + grain; for their numbers seemed unending, while flight on flight + of arrows and fierce sheets of rifle-fire swept our ranks as we + rode on to death or victory. But each man's face among us there + was bright with courage, and with our steady force unchecked we + swept right on to the very crest of the high slope, scattering + the enemy, at last, like wind-blown autumn leaves, until upon our + guidons victory rested and the long day was won. </p> + <hr> + + + + <h3><a name="XX" id="XX">XX</a><br> + <br> + GONE OUT</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + I wander alone at dead of night,<br> + But ever before me I see a light,<br> + In darkest hours more clear, more bright;<br> + And the hope that I bear fails never.<br> + FREDRICH RÜCKERT.</p> + + <p><br> + The waters of the Smoky Hill flowed yellow, flecked with foam, + beside our camp, where, in a little grove of cottonwood trees, we + rested from a long day's march. The heat of a late Kansas summer + day was fanned away at twilight by the cool prairie breeze. There + was an appealing something in the air that evening hour that made + me homesick. So I went down beside the river to fight out my + daily battle and let the wide spaces of the landscape soothe me, + and all the opal tints of sunset skies and the soft radiance of a + prairie twilight bring me their inspiration.<br> + <br> + Each day my heart-longing for the girl I must not love grew + stronger. I wondered, as I sat here to-night, what trail would + open for me when Beverly and Eloise should meet again, as lovers + must meet some time. We had not once spoken her name between us, + Bev and I, in all the days and nights since we had been in + service on the plains.<br> + <br> + As I sat lonely, musing vaguely of a score of things that all ran + back to one fair face, Beverly dropped down beside me. His face + was grave and his eyes had a gentle, pleading look, something + strange and different from the man whose moods I knew.<br> + <br> + "I'm homesick, Gail." He smiled as he spoke, and all the boy of + all the years was in that smile.<br> + <br> + "So am I, Bev. It must be in the water here," I replied, + lightly.<br> + <br> + But neither one misunderstood the other.<br> + <br> + "I'd like to see Little Lees to-night. Wouldn't you?" he asked, + suddenly.<br> + <br> + The question startled me. Maybe my cousin wanted to confide in me + here. I would not be selfish with him.<br> + <br> + "Yes, I always like to see her. Why to-night, though?" I asked, + encouragingly.<br> + <br> + Beverly looked steadily into my face.<br> + <br> + "I want to tell you something, Gail. I haven't dared to speak + before, but something tells me I should speak to-night," he said + slowly.<br> + <br> + I looked away along the winding valley of the Smoky Hill. I must + hear it some time. Why be a coward now?<br> + <br> + "Say on, I'm always ready to hear anything from you, + Beverly."<br> + <br> + I tried to speak firmly, and I hoped my voice did not seem + faltering to him. He sat silent a long while. Then he rose and + straightened to his full height--a splendid form of strength and + wholesomeness and grace.<br> + <br> + "I'll tell you some time soon, but not to-night. Honor is + something with me yet."<br> + <br> + And so he left me.<br> + <br> + I dreamed of him that night with Eloise. And all of us were glad. + I wakened suddenly. Beverly was standing near me. He turned and + walked away, his upright form and gait, even in the faint light, + individually Bev's own. I saw him lie down and draw his blanket + about him, then sit up a moment, then nestle down again. + Something went wrong with sleep and me for a long time, and once + I called out, softly:<br> + <br> + "Bev, can't you sleep?"<br> + <br> + "Oh, shut up! Not if you fidget about me," he replied, with the + old happy-go-lucky toss of the head and careless tone.<br> + <br> + It was dim dawn when I wakened. My cousin was sleeping calmly + just a few feet away. An irresistible longing to speak to him + overcame me and I slipped across and gently kicked the slumbering + form. Two cavalry blankets rolled apart. A note pinned to the + edge of one caught my eye. I stooped to read:</p> + + <p class="blkquot">DEAR GAIL, Don't hate me. I'm sick of army + life. They will call me a coward and if they get me they will + shoot me for a deserter. I have disgraced the Clarenden name. + You'll never see me again. Good-bye, old boy.<br> + <br> + BEV.</p> + + <p>Deserter!<br> + <br> + The yells of all the tribes in the battle on the Prairie Dog + Creek shrieked not so fiercely in my ears as that word rang now. + And all the valley of the Smoky Hill echoed and re-echoed it.<br> + <br> + Deserter!<br> + <br> + My Beverly--who never told a lie, nor feared a danger, nor ever, + except in self-defense, hurt a creature God had made. I could + bury Bev, or stand beside him on his wedding-day. But Beverly + disgraced! O, God of mercy toward all cowards, pity him!<br> + <br> + I sat down beside the blankets I had kicked apart and looked back + over my cousin's life. It offered me no help. I thought of + Eloise--and his longing to see her on the night before; of his + struggle to tell me something. I knew now what that something + was. Poor boy!<br> + <br> + He was not a boy, he was a man--strong, fearless, happy-hearted. + How could the plains make cowards out of such as he? They had + made a man of Jondo, who had all excuse to play the coward. The + mystery of the human mind is a riddle past my reading--and I had + always thought of Beverly's as an open book. The only one to whom + I could turn now was not Eloise, nor my uncle, nor Mat nor Rex, + but Jondo, John Doe, the nameless man, with whom Esmond Clarenden + had walked all these years and for whose sake he had rescued + Eloise St. Vrain. They had "toted together," as Aunty Boone had + said. Oh, Aunty Boone with dull eyes of prophecy! I could hear + her soft voice saying:<br> + <br> + "If you get into trouble, Mr. Bev, I come, hot streaks, to help + you."<br> + <br> + She could not come "hot streaks" now, for Beverly had deserted. + But there was Jondo.<br> + <br> + I wrote at once to him, inclosing the crumpled note, and then, as + one who walks with neither sight nor feeling any more, I rode the + plains and did a man's part in that Eighteenth Cavalry campaign + of '67. The days went slowly by, bringing the long, bright autumn + beauty to the plains and turning all the elms to gold along the + creek at Burlingame. Time took away the sharp edge from our grief + and shame, and left the dull pain that wears deeper and deeper, + unnoticed by us; and all of us who had loved Beverly lived on and + were cheerful for one another's sake.<br> + <br> + When Jondo--as only Jondo could--bore the news of my letter to + Esmond Clarenden, he made no reply, but sat like an image of + stone. Rex Krane broke down and sobbed as if his heart would + break. But Mat, calm, poised, and always merciful, merely + said:<br> + <br> + "We must wait awhile."<br> + <br> + It was many days before she broke the news to Eloise St. Vrain, + who only smiled and said:<br> + <br> + "Gail is mistaken. Beverly couldn't desert."<br> + <br> + It was when the word came to Aunty Boone that the storm broke. + They told me afterward that her face was terrible to see, and + that her eyes grew dull and narrow. She went out to the bluff's + edge and sat staring up the valley of the Kaw as if to see into + the hidden record of the coming years.<br> + <br> + One October day, when the Kranes and Eloise sat with my uncle and + Jondo in the soft afternoon air, looking out at the beauty of the + Missouri bluffs, Aunty Boone loomed up before them suddenly.<br> + <br> + "I got somebody's fortune, just come clear before me," she + declared, in her soft voice. "Lemme see you' hand, Little + Lees!"<br> + <br> + Eloise put her shapely white hand upon the big, black paw.<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone patted it gently, the first and last caress she ever + gave to any of us.<br> + <br> + "You' goin' to get a letter from a dark man. You' goin' to take a + long journey. And somebody goin' with you. An' the one tellin' + this is goin' away, jus' one more voyage to desset sands again, + and see Africy and her own kingdom. Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + Never before, in all the years that we had known her, had she + expressed a wish for her early home across he seas. Her voice + trailed off weirdly, and she gazed at the Kaw Valley for a long + moment. Then she said, in a low tone that thrilled her listeners + with its vibrant power:<br> + <br> + "Bev ain't no deserter. He's gone out! Jus' gone out. + Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + She disappeared around the corner of the house and stood long in + the little side porch where Beverly had kissed Little Blue Flower + one night in the "Moon of the Peach-Blossom," and Eloise had + found them there, and I had unwittingly heard what was said.<br> + <br> + "Is there no variation in palmistry?" Rex Krane asked. "I never + knew a gypsy in all my life who read a different set of + prophecies. It's always the dark man--I'm light (darn the + luck)--and a journey and a letter. But I thought maybe an African + seer, a sort of Voodo, hoodoo, bugaboo, would have it a light man + and a legacy and company coming, instead of you taking a journey, + Eloise."<br> + <br> + Eloise smiled.<br> + <br> + "You musn't envy me my good fortune, Rex," she declared. "Aunty + Boone says she is going back to Africa, too. You'll need a new + cook, Uncle Esmond. Let me apply for the place right now."<br> + <br> + My uncle smiled affectionately on her.<br> + <br> + "I could give you a trial, as I gave her. I remember I told her + if she could cook good meals I'd keep her; if not, she'd leave. + Do you want to take the risk?"<br> + <br> + "That's where you'll get your journey of the prophecy, Eloise," + Jondo suggested.<br> + <br> + "Well, you leave out the best part of it all," Mat broke in. "She + added that Beverly isn't a deserter, he's just 'gone out.' Why + don't you believe it all, serious or frivolous?"<br> + <br> + A shadow lifted from the faces there as a glimpse of hope came + slowly in.<br> + <br> + "And as to letters, Eloise," Uncle Esmond said, "I must beg your + pardon. I have one here for you that I had forgotten. It came + this morning."<br> + <br> + "See if it isn't from a dark man, inviting you to take a + journey," Rex suggested.<br> + <br> + "It must be, it's from Santa Fé," Eloise said, opening the + letter eagerly.<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone had come back again and was standing by the corner of + the veranda, half hidden by vines, watching Eloise with steady + eyes. The girl's face grew pale, then deadly white, and her big, + dark eyes were opened wide as she dropped the letter and looked + at the faces about her.<br> + <br> + "It is from Father Josef," she gasped. "He writes of Little Blue + Flower somewhere in Hopi-land. He asks me to go to Santa + Fé at once for her sake. And it says, too--" The voice + faltered and Eloise turned to Esmond Clarenden. "It says that + Beverly is there somewhere and he wants you. Read it, Uncle + Esmond."<br> + <br> + As Eloise rose and laid the letter in my uncle's hand, Aunty + Boone, hidden by the vines, muttered in her soft, strange + tone:<br> + <br> + "He's jus' gone out. Thank Jupiter! He's jus' gone out. I'm + goin', hot streaks, to help him, too. Then I go to my own desset + where I'm honin' o to be, an' stay there till the judgment Day. + Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + In the early morning of a rare October day upon the plains I sat + on my cavalry horse beside Fort Hays, waiting for one last word + from my superior officer, Colonel Moore. He was my uncle's + friend, and he had been kind to the Clarenden boys, as military + kindness runs.<br> + <br> + "You are honorably discharged," he said. "Take these letters to + Fort Dodge. You will meet your friends there, and have some + safeguard from there on, by order of General Sheridan. God bless + you, Gail. You have ridden well. I wish you a safe journey, and I + hope you'll find your cousin soon. He was a splendid boy until + this happened. He may be cleared some day."<br> + <br> + "He is splendid still to me in spite of everything," I + replied.<br> + <br> + "Yes, yes," my colonel responded. "Never a Clarenden disgraced + the name before. That is why General Sheridan is granting you a + squad to help you. It is a great thing to have a good name. + Good-by."<br> + <br> + "Good-by. I thank you a thousand times," I said, saluting + him.<br> + <br> + "And I thank you. A chain, you know, is as strong as its weakest + link. A cavalry troop is as able as its soldiers make it."<br> + <br> + He turned his horse about, and I rode off alone across the lonely + plains a hundred miles away toward old Fort Dodge, beside the + Arkansas River. Jondo and Rex were to meet me there for one more + trip on the long Santa Fé Trail.<br> + <br> + Late September rains had blessed the valley of the Arkansas. The + level land about Fort Dodge showed vividly green against the + yellow sand-hills across the river, and the brown, barren bluffs + westward, where a little city would one day rise in pretty + picturesqueness. The scene was like the Garden of Eden to my eyes + when I broke through the rough ridges to the north on the last + lap of my long ride thither and hurried down to the fort. I grant + I did not appear like one who had a right to enter Eden, for I + was as brown as a Malayan. Nearly four months of hard riding, + sleeping on the ground, with a sky-cover, eating buffalo meat, + and drinking the dregs of slow-drying pools, had made a plainsman + of me, of the breed that long since disappeared. Golf-sticks and + automobile steering-wheels are held by hands to-day no less + courageous than those that swung the carbine into place, and + flung aside the cavalry bridle-rein in a wild onslaught in our + epic day. Each age grows men, flanked by the coward and the + reckless daredevil.<br> + <br> + Rex Krane was first to recognize me when I reached the fort.<br> + <br> + "Oh, we are all here but Mat: Clarenden, Jondo, Aunty Boone, and + Little Lees; and a squad of half a dozen cavalry men are ready to + go with us." Rex drawled in his old Yankee fashion, hiding an + aching heart underneath his jovial greeting.<br> + <br> + "All of us!" I exclaimed.<br> + <br> + "Yes. Here they all come!" Rex retorted.<br> + <br> + They all came, but I saw only one, veiling the joy in my eyes as + best I could. For with the face of Eloise before me, I knew the + hardest battle of my life was calling me to colors. I had + forgotten how womanly she was, or else her summer by the blessed + prairies that lap up to the edge of the quiet town of Burlingame + had brought her peace and helped her to put away sad memories of + her mother.<br> + <br> + Behind her--a black background for her fair, golden head--was + Aunty Boone.<br> + <br> + "Our girl was called to Santa Fé, and Daniel here goes + with her. I couldn't stay behind, of course," my uncle said. "The + Comanches are making trouble all along the Cimarron, and we will + go up the Arkansas by the old trail route. It is farther, but the + soldiers say much safer right now, and maybe just as quick for + us. There is no load of freight to hinder us--two wagons and our + mounts. Besides, the cavalrymen have some matters to look after + near the mountains, or we might not have had their protection + granted us."<br> + <br> + The beauty of that early autumn on the plains and mountains + lingers in my memory still, though half a century has passed + since that journey on the old, long trail to Santa Fé.<br> + <br> + At the closing of an Indian summer day we pitched our camp + outside the broken walls of old Fort Bent. Every day found me + near Eloise, although the same barrier was between us that had + risen up the day she left me in the ruined chapel by the San + Christobal River. Every day I longed to tell her what Beverly had + said to me the night he--went out. It was due her that she should + know how tenderly he had thought of her.<br> + <br> + The night was irresistible, soft and balmy for the time of year, + as that night had been long ago when we children were marooned + inside this stronghold. A thin, growing moon hung in the crystal + heavens and all the shadowy places were softened with gray tones. + Jondo and Uncle Esmond and Rex Krane were talking together. Aunty + Boone was clearing up after the evening meal. The soldiers were + about their tasks or pastimes. Only Eloise and I were left beside + the camp-fire.<br> + <br> + "Let's go and find the place where we spent our last evening + here, Little Lees," I said, determined to-night to tell her of + Beverly.<br> + <br> + "And just as many other places as we can remember," Eloise + replied.<br> + <br> + We clambered over heaps of fallen stone in the wide doorway, and + stood inside the half-roofless ruin that had been a stronghold at + the wilderness crossroads.<br> + <br> + The outer walls were broken here and there. The wearing elements + were slowly separating the inner walls and sagging roofs. Heaps + of debris lay scattered about. Over the caving well the + well-sweep stuck awry, marking a place of danger. Everywhere was + desolation and slow destruction.<br> + <br> + We sat down on some fallen timbers in the old court and looked + about us.<br> + <br> + "It was a pity that Colonel Bent should have blown up this + splendid fortress, and all because the Government wouldn't pay + him his price for it," I declared.<br> + <br> + "Destroyed what he had built so carefully, and what was so + useful," Eloise commented. "Sometimes we wreck our lives in the + same way."<br> + <br> + I have said the twilight seemed to fit her best, although at all + times she was fair. But to-night she was a picture in her + traveling dress of golden brown, with soft, white folds about her + throat. I wondered if she thought of Beverly as she spoke. It + hurt me so to be harsh with his memory.<br> + <br> + "Yes, Charlie Bent blew up all that the Colonel built into him, + of education and the ways of cultured folks--a leader of a Dog + Indian band, he is a piece of manhood wrecked. And by the way," I + went on, "Beverly shot his beautiful white horse on the Prairie + Dog Creek. You should have seen that shot. It was the cleanest + piece of long-range marksmanship I ever saw. He hated Bev for + that."<br> + <br> + "Maybe he gloats over our lost Beverly to-day. He is only 'gone + out' to me," Eloise said softly.<br> + <br> + "Let me tell you something, Little Lees. Beverly and I never + spoke of you--you can guess why--until that last night beside the + Smoky Hill. He wanted to tell me something that night."<br> + <br> + "And did he?" Eloise asked, eagerly.<br> + <br> + "No. He said honor was something with him still. I thought he + meant to tell me of himself and you. Forgive me. I do not want + any confidences not freely given. But now I know it was the + struggle in which he went down that night that he wanted to tell + me about. He said first, 'I'm homesick. I'd like to see Little + Lees.' And his eyes were full of sympathy as he looked at + me."<br> + <br> + "Did he say anything more?" Eloise's voice was almost a + whisper.<br> + <br> + "That was all. I thought that night I should hunt a lonely + trail--when he went home to claim--happiness. But now I feel that + I could live beside him always--to have him safe with us + again."<br> + <br> + As I turned to look at Eloise something was in her big, dark + eyes--something that disappeared at once. I caught only a + fleeting glimpse of it, and I could not understand why a thrill + of something near to happiness should sweep through me. It was + but the shadow of what might have been for me and was not.<br> + <br> + "Do you recall our prophecies here that night when we were + children?" Eloise asked.<br> + <br> + "Yes, every one. Mat wanted a home, Bev to fight the Indians, and + you wanted me to keep Marcos Ramero in his place. I tried to do + it," I replied.<br> + <br> + And both of us recalled, but did not speak of, the warm, childish + kiss of Little Lees upon my lips, and how we gripped hands in the + shadows when the moon went cold and grey. Life was so simple + then.<br> + <br> + "It may be, if our problems and our tragedies crowd into our + younger years, they clear the way for all the bright, unclouded + years to follow," Eloise said, as we rose to go back to the + camp-fire.<br> + <br> + "I hope they will leave us strong to meet the bright, unclouded + years," I answered her.<br> + <br> + On the next day the cavalrymen left us for a time, and we went on + alone southward toward our journey's end.<br> + <br> + Autumn on the mountain slopes, and in the mesa-girdled valleys of + New Mexico hung rainbow-tinted lights by day, with star-beam + pointed paths trailing across the blue night-sky. And all the + rugged beauty of a picturesque land, basking in lazy warmth, + out-breathing sweet, pure air, made the old trail to Santa + Fé an enchanting highway to me, despite the burden of a + grief that weighed me down. For I could not shut from my mind the + pitiful call of Little Blue Flower that had come to Eloise, nor + all the uncertainty surrounding my cousin somewhere in the + Southwest wanting us.<br> + <br> + The little city of adobe walls seemed not to have changed a + hair's turn in the six years since I had seen it last. Out beyond + the sandy arroyo again Father Josef waited for us. The same + strong face and dark eyes, full of fire, the same erect form and + manly bearing were his. Except for a few streaks of gray in his + close-cropped hair the years had wrought no change in him, save + that his countenance betokened the greater benediction of a godly + life upon it. As we rode slowly to the door of San Miguel I fell + behind. The years since that day when the saucy little girl had + called me a big, brown, bob-cat here came back upon my mind, and, + though my hope had vanished, still I loved the old church.<br> + <br> + Before we had passed the doorway Eloise left her wagon and stood + beside my horse.<br> + <br> + "Gail, let us stop here with Father Josef while the others go + down to Felix Narveo's. It always seems so peaceful here."<br> + <br> + "You are always welcome here, my children," Father Josef said, + graciously, as I leaped from my horse and stuck its lariat pin + down beside the doorway.<br> + <br> + Inside there were the same soft lights from the high windows, the + same rare old paintings about the altar, the same seat beside the + door.<br> + <br> + The priest spoke to us in low tones befitting sanctuary + stillness. "You have come on a long journey, but it is one of + mercy. I only pray you do not come too late," he said.<br> + <br> + "Tell us about it, Father," Eloise urged. "The men will get the + story from Felix Narveo, but Gail and I seem to belong up here." + She smiled up at me with the words.<br> + <br> + I could have almost hoped anew just then, but for the thought of + Beverly.<br> + <br> + "Let us pray first," the holy man replied.<br> + <br> + Beverly and I had been confirmed in the Episcopalian faith once + long ago, but the plains were hard on the religion of a + high-church man. And yet, all sacred forms are beautiful to me, + and I always knew what reverence means.<br> + <br> + "You may not know," Father Josef said, "that I have Indian blood + in my veins--a Hopi strain from some French ancestors. Po-a-be, + our Little Blue Flower, is my heathen cousin, descended from the + same chief's daughter. The Hopi's faith is a part of him, like + his hand or eye, and I have never gained much with the tribe save + through blood-ties. But because of that I have their + confidence."<br> + <br> + "You have all men's confidence, Father Josef," I said, + warmly.<br> + <br> + "Thank you, my son," the priest replied. "When Santan, the + Apache, came back from a long raid eastward, he told Little Blue + Flower that Beverly had spared his life beside a poisoned spring + in the Cimarron valley, urging him to go back and marry her; life + had other interests now to white men who must forget all about + Indian girls, he declared, and with Apache adroitness he pressed + his claims upon her. But Santan had slain Sister Anita beside the + San Christobal Arroyo. A murderer is abhorrent to a Hopi, who + never takes life, save in self-defense or in legitimate + warfare--if warfare ever is legitimate," he added, gravely.<br> + <br> + "My little cousin was heart-broken, for all the years since her + rescue at Pawnee Rock she had cherished one face in memory; and + maybe Beverly in his happy, careless way had given her cause to + do so."<br> + <br> + "We understand, I think," Eloise said, turning inquiringly to + me.<br> + <br> + I nodded, and Father Josef went on. "She knew her love was + foolish, but few of us are always wise in love. So Santan's suit + seemed promising for a time. But the Hopi type ran true in her, + and she put off the Apache year after year. It is a strange case + in Indian romance, but romance everywhere is strange enough. The + Apache type also ran true to dogged purpose. Besides being an + Apache, Santan has some Ramero blood in his veins, to be + accounted for in the persistence of an evil will. He was as + determined to win Po-a-be as she that he should fail. And he was + cunning in his schemes."<br> + <br> + Father Josef paused and looked at Eloise.<br> + <br> + "To make the story short," he began again, "Santan could not make + the Hopi woman hate Beverly, although she knew that her love was + hopeless, as it should be. Pardon me, daughter," Father Josef + said, gently. "She heard you two talking in a little porch one + night at the Clarenden home, and she has believed ever since that + you are lovers. That is why she sent for you to come to help her + now."<br> + <br> + "I saw Beverly give Little Blue Flower a brotherly kiss that + night, and I told him, frankly, how it grieved me, because I had + known at St. Ann's about her love for him. I had urged her to go + with me to the Clarendens', hoping that when she saw Beverly + again she would quit dreaming of him."<br> + <br> + I looked away, at the paintings and the crucifix above the altar, + and the long shafts of light on gray adobe walls, wondering, + vaguely, what the next act of this drama might reveal.<br> + <br> + "Beverly was always lovable," Father Josef said. "But now the + message comes that he is out in the heart of Hopi-land, and + because Little Blue Flower is protecting him her people may turn + against her. For Beverly's sake, and for her sake, too, my + daughter, we must start at once to find her and maybe save his + life. She wants you. It is the call of sisterhood. Sister Gloria + and I will go with you. I have much influence with my Hopi + people."<br> + <br> + "Will they put Beverly to death?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "I cannot tell, but--see how long the arm of hate can be, my + son--Santan, the Apache, has been informed of Beverly's coming by + Marcos Ramero, gambler and debauchee. And Marcos got it in some + way from Charlie Bent, a Cheyenne half-breed, son of old Colonel + Bent, a fine old gentleman. Maybe you knew young Bent?"<br> + <br> + "Yes, he holds a grudge against the Clarenden name because we + made him play square with us at the old fort when we were + children," I told the priest. "He yelled defiance at us in the + battle on the Prairie Dog Creek last August. Bev shot his horse + from under him just to humble the insolent dog! Beverly never was + a coward," I insisted, all my affection for my cousin + overwhelming me.<br> + <br> + "This makes it clearer," Father Josef said. "Through Bent to + Ramero and Ramero to Santan, the word went, somehow. The Apache + has gathered up a band of the worst of his breed and they are + moving against the Hopis to get Beverly. You and Jondo and + Clarenden and Krane will join the little squad of cavalry you + left up in the mountains, and turn the Apache back, and all of us + must start at once, or we may be too late. May heaven bless our + hands and make them strong."<br> + <br> + We bowed in reverence for a moment. When we hurried from the dim + church into the warm October sunlight, Aunty Boone sat on the + door-step beside my horse.<br> + <br> + "'He's jus' gone out,' I told 'em so, back there on the Missouri + River. He's gone out an' I'm goin', hot streaks, to find him, + Little Lees. Whoo-ee!" <br></p> + <hr> + + + + <h3><a name="XXI" id="XXI">XXI</a><br> + <br> + IN THE SHADOW OF THE INFINITE</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + And though there's never a grave to tell,<br> + Nor a cross to mark his fall,<br> + Thank God! we know that he "batted well"<br> + In the last great Game of all.<br> + --SERVICE.</p> + + <p><br> + We left Santa Fé within an hour, and struck out toward the + unknown land where Beverly Clarenden, in the midst of uncertain + friends, was being hunted down by an Apache band. As our little + company passed out on the trail toward Agua Fria, I recalled the + day when we had gone with Rex Krane to this little village beside + the Santa Fé River. Eloise and Father Josef and Santan and + Little Blue Flower were all there that day; and Jondo, although + we did not know it then. Rex Krane had told Beverly, going out, + that an Indian never forgets. In all the years Santan had not + forgotten.<br> + <br> + To-day we covered the miles rapidly. Jondo and Father Josef rode + ahead, with Esmond Clarenden and Felix Narveo following them; + then came Eloise St. Vrain with Sister Gloria; behind them, Aunty + Boone, with Rex and myself bringing up the rear. Three pack-mules + bearing our equipment went tramping after us with bobbing ears + and sturdy gait.<br> + <br> + I looked down the line of our little company ahead. The four men + in the lead were college chums once, and all of them had loved + the mother of the girl behind them. I have said the girl looked + best by twilight. I had not seen her in a coarse-gray + riding-dress when I said that. I had seen her when she needed + protection from her enemies. I had not seen her until to-day, + going out to meet hardship fearlessly, for the sake of one who + wanted her--only an Indian maiden, but a faithful friend. In the + plainest face self-forgetfulness puts a beauty all its own. That + beauty shone resplendent now in the beautiful face of Mary + Marchland's daughter.<br> + <br> + The world can change wonderfully in sixty minutes. As we rode out + toward the Rio Grande, the yellow sands, the gray gramma grass, + the purple sage, the tall green cliffs, and, high above, the + gleaming snow-crowned peaks, took on a beauty never worn for me + before. Why should a hope spring up within me that would die as + other hopes had died? But back of all my thought was the longing + to help Beverly, and a faith in Aunty Boone's weird, prophetic + grip on things unseen. He had just "gone out" to her--why not to + all of us? I could not understand Little Blue Flower's part in + this tragedy, so I let it alone.<br> + <br> + A day out from Santa Fé we were joined by the little squad + of cavalrymen with whom we had parted company back at the Fort + Bent camping-place. With these we had little cause to dread + personal danger. The Apache band was a small, vicious gang that + could do much harm to the Hopis, but it seemed nothing for us to + fear.<br> + <br> + Our care was to reach Beverly before the Hopis should rise up + against Little Blue Flower, or the band led by Santan should fall + upon them. Father Josef had sent a runner on to tell them of our + coming and to warn them of the Apache raid. But runners sometimes + come to grief.<br> + <br> + It is easy enough now to sleep most of the hours away across the + and lands that lie between the Rockies and the Coast Range + mountains, where the great "through limiteds," swinging down + their long trail of steel, sweep farther in one day than we crept + in two long, weary weeks in that October fifty years ago. Only + Father Josef's unerring Indian accuracy brought us through.<br> + <br> + We crawled up rugged mountain trails and skirted the rims of + dizzy chasms; we wound through cañons, with only narrow + streams for paths, between sheer walls of rock; we pitched our + camp at the bases of great, red sand stone mesas, barren of life; + we followed long, yellow ways over stretches of unending plain; + we wandered in the painted-desert lands, where all the colors God + has made bewilder with their beauty, in the barest, dreariest, + most unlovely bit of unfinished world that our great continent + holds; the lands forgotten, maybe, when, in Creation's busy week, + the evening and the morning were the sixth day, and the Great + Builder looked on His work and called it good.<br> + <br> + We found the Hopi trails, but not the Hopi clan that we were + seeking. We found Apache trails behind them, but only dimly + marked, as if they blew one moccasin track full of sand before + they made another.<br> + <br> + The October days were dreams of loveliness, and dawn and sunset + on the desert were indescribably beautiful. But the nights were + bitterly cold. Eloise and Sister Gloria were native to the + Southwest and they knew how to dress warmly for it. Aunty Boone + had never felt such chilling night breezes, but not one word of + complaint came from her lips in all that journey.<br> + <br> + One night we gathered into camp beneath the shelter of a little + butte. We had overtaken Father Josef's Indian runner an hour + before. He had not found the Hopis yet, and so we held a + council.<br> + <br> + "The Hopi is ahead of us northwest," the Indian declared.<br> + <br> + "Is the Apache following?" Jondo asked.<br> + <br> + The runner nodded. "They have been pursued, but they have slipped + away; the Apache goes north, they turn north-west. They take the + dry lands and the pine forests beyond; their last chance. If they + hold out till the Apache leaves, they will return safely. You + follow them, wait for them, or go back without them. It is your + choice."<br> + <br> + We turned toward the three women, one in the bloom of her young + womanhood, one with the patient endurance of the nun, one black + and strong and always unafraid.<br> + <br> + "I do not want to leave Little Blue Flower in her hour of peril," + Eloise said.<br> + <br> + "I can go where I am needed," Sister Gloria declared.<br> + <br> + "This is my land, I never know Africa was right out here. I + thought they was oceans on both sides of it. I go where Bev's + gone out an then I come here and stay. Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + We smiled at her mistaken dream of her far African home, and, + cheering one another on, when morning came we moved + northwest.<br> + <br> + Jondo rode beside me all that day, and we talked of many + things.<br> + <br> + "Gail," he said, "Aunty Boone is right. This is her Africa. I + don't believe she will ever leave it."<br> + <br> + "She can't stay here, Jondo," I replied.<br> + <br> + "She will, though. You will see. Did she ever fail to have her + way?"<br> + <br> + "No. She is a type of her own, never to be reproduced, but like a + great dog in her faithful loyalty," I declared.<br> + <br> + "And shrewder than most men," Jondo went on. "She supplied the + lost link with Santan for me last night. Years ago, when Little + Blue Flower brought me a message from Father Josef on the morning + that we took Eloise from Santa Fé, I caught a glimpse of + the Apache across the plaza and read the message--'<i>trust the + bearer anywhere</i>'--to mean that boy. Aunty Boone had just + peered out and scared the little girl away. She told me all about + it last night, when she was bewailing Beverly's hard fate. How + small a thing can open the road to a big tragedy. I trusted that + whelp till that day at San Christobal."<br> + <br> + "I hope we will finish this soon," I said. "I don't understand + Beverly at all and I marvel at Little Blue Flower's love for him. + Don't you?"<br> + <br> + Jondo looked up with a pathos in his dark-blue eyes.<br> + <br> + "Don't hurry, Gail. The trails all end somewhere soon. Life is a + stranger thing from day to day, but the one thing that no man + will ever fully understand is a woman's love for man. There is + only one thing higher, and that is mother-love."<br> + <br> + "The kind that you and Uncle Esmond have," I said.<br> + <br> + "Oh, I am only a man, but Clarenden has a woman's heart, as you + and Beverly and my sister's child all know."<br> + <br> + "Your sister's child?" I gasped.<br> + <br> + "Yes. When her parents went with yellow fever, too, I could not + adopt Mat--you know why. Clarenden did it for me. She has always + known that I am her uncle, but Mat was always a self-contained + child."<br> + <br> + I loved Mat more than ever from that hour.<br> + <br> + The next day our trail ran into pine forests, where tall, shapely + trees point skyward. Not a dense woodland, but a seemingly + endless one. Snows lay in the darker places, and here and there + streams trickled out into the sunlight, whose only sources were + these melting snows. It was a land of silence and loneliness--a + land forgotten or unknown to record. The Hopi trail was stronger + here and we followed it eagerly, but night overtook us early in + the forest.<br> + <br> + That evening we gathered about a huge fire of pine boughs beneath + a low stone ridge covered with evergreen trees that sheltered us + warmly from the sharp west winds. We heard the cries of + night-roving beasts, and in the darkness, now and then, a pair of + gleaming eyes, seen for an instant, and then the rush of feet, + told us that some wild creature had looked for the first time on + fire.<br> + <br> + "To-morrow night will see our journey's end," Jondo declared. + "The Hopi can't be far away, and I'm sure they are safe yet, and + we shall reach them before the Apache does."<br> + <br> + The Indian runner's face did not change its blankness, but I felt + that he doubted Jondo's judgment. That night he slipped away and + we never saw him again.<br> + <br> + We were all hopeful that night, and hopeful the next morning when + we broke camp early. A trail we had not seen the night before ran + up the low ridge to the west of us. Eloise and I followed it up a + little way, riding abreast. The ridge really was a narrow, rocky + tableland, and beyond it was another higher slope, up which the + same trail ran. The trees were growing smaller and the sky flowed + broad and blue above their tops. The ground was only rock, with a + thin veneer of soil here and there. Gnarled, stunted cedars and + gray, twisted cypress clung for a roothold to these barren + ledges. The morning breeze swept, sharp and invigorating, out of + a broad open space beyond the edge of this rocky woodland height. + Eloise and I pushed on a little farther, leaving the others still + on the narrow shelf above our camping-place.<br> + <br> + Suddenly, as we rode out of the closer timber to where the + scattered growths were hardly higher than our heads, the first + heaven and the first earth seemed to pass away--not in + irreverence I write it--and we stood face to face with a new + heaven and a new earth--where, in the Grand Cañon of the + Colorado River, the sublimity of the Almighty Builder's beauty + and omnipotence was voiced in one stupendous Word, wrought in + enduring color in everlasting stone. Cleaving its way westward to + some far-off sea, a wide abyss, a dozen miles across from lip to + lip, yawned down to the very vitals of the earth. We stood upon + the rim of it--a sheer cliff that dropped a thousand feet of + solid limestone, in one plummet line, to other cliffs below, that + dropped again through furlongs of black gneiss, red sandstone, + and gray granite.<br> + <br> + Beyond this mighty chasm great forest trees were, to our eyes, + only as weeds along its rim. Between that rim and ours we could + look down upon high mountain buttes and sloping red tablelands, + and dizzy gorges with pinnacled walls and towers and domes--vast + forms no pen will ever picture--not hurled in wild confusion by + titan fury, but symmetrical and purposeful and calm.<br> + <br> + Through slowly crawling millions of patiently wearing years, + while stars grew old and perished from the firmament, with cloud, + and frost, and wind, and water, and sharp cutting sands, these + strata of the old earth's crust were chiseled into gigantic + outlines, and all the worn-down, crumbled atoms of debris were + swept through long, tortuous leagues of distance toward the sea + by a mad river swirling through the lowest depths. A mile + straight down, as the crow never flies here, it rushes, but to us + the river was a mere creek, seen only where the lower gorges open + to the channel.<br> + <br> + In the early light of that October morning the weird, vast shapes + that filled, the abyss were bathed in a bewildering opulence of + color. Pale gold along the farther rim, with pink and amber, blue + and gray, and heliotrope and rose--all blending softly, tone on + tone. Deeper, the heart of every rift and chasm that flows into + the one stupendous mother-rift was full of purple shadows. Not + the thin lavender of the upper world where we must live, but + tensely, richly regal, beyond words to paint; with silvery mists + above, soft, filmy veils that draped the jutting rocks and + rounded each harsh edge, melting pink to rose and gray to violet. + Eternal silence brooded over all this symbol, wrought in visible + form, of His Almightiness, to whom a thousand years are as a day, + and in the hollow of whose hand He holds the universe. + Measureless, motionless, voiceless, it seemed as if all the + cañons of all the mountains of our great contienent + might have given to it here their awful depth and height and + rugged strength; their picturesqueness, color, graceful outlines, + dizzy steeps and awe-inspiring lengths and breadths. And fusing + all these into itself, height on height, and breadth on breadth, + entrancing charm on charm, with all the hues that the Great + Alchemist can throw from His vast prism, it seemed to say:<br> + <br> + "'Twas only in a vision that St. John saw the four-square city + whose twelve gates are each a single pearl! whose walls are + builded on foundation stones of jasper, sapphire, and chalcedony, + emerald and topaz, chrysolite and amethyst; whose streets are of + pure gold, like unto clear glass; whose light is ever like unto a + stone most precious.<br> + <br> + "To you who may not dream the vision beautiful, the Mighty Maker + of all things sublime has given me a token here in finite stone + and earthly coloring of that undreamed sublimity of all things + omnipotent."<br> + <br> + My companion and I sat on our horses speechless, gazing down at + this overwhelming marvel below us. We forgot ourselves, each + other, our companions of the journey, its purpose, Beverly, and + his enemy Santan, the desert, the brown plains, green prairies, + rivers, mountains, the earth itself, as we stood there in the + shadow of the Infinite.<br> + <br> + At last we turned and looked into each other's eyes for one long + moment. In its space we read the old, old story through, and a + great, up-leaping joy illumined our faces. God, who had let us + know each other, had let us stand by <i>this</i> to feel the + barrier of misunderstanding fall away.<br></p> + + <h1>* * * * *</h1> + + <p><br> + A sound of horses' hoofs on the rocky slope below us, a weird + Indian call, and a great shout from our calverymen drew us + to earth again. The Hopis were coming. Father Josef knew the + signal. Our Indian runner had found them in the night and sent + them toward us. We dashed into the forest, keeping close + together; and here, a mile away, under green pines, surrounded by + a little group of a desert Hopi clan, was Beverly Clarenden--big, + strong, unhurt and joyful. And Little Blue Flower.<br> + <br> + The years since that far night when I had seen two maidens in + Grecian robes beside the Flat Rock in the "Moon of the Peach + Blossom," had left no trace on Eloise St. Vrain, save to imprint + the graces of womanliness on her girlish face. But the + picturesque Indian maiden of that night looked aged and sorrowful + in the pine forest of her native land, bent, as she was, with the + dull existence of her own people; she, who had known and loved a + different form of life. Only the big, luminous eyes held their + old charm.<br> + <br> + We came together in a little open space with pine-trees all about + us. The minutes went swiftly then--and I must hurry to what came + hurrying on, for much of it is lost in mist and wonder.<br> + <br> + In the moment of glad reunion Aunty Boone suddenly gave a whoop + the like of which I had never heard before, and, dashing wildly + toward Eloise and Sister Gloria, she drove them in a fierce + charge straight back into the shelter of the pine-trees.<br> + <br> + At the same time a sudden rain of bullets, like a swift + hail-storm, and a yell--the Apache cry of vengeance--filled the + air. Long afterward we learned that our Indian runner had met + this band and tried to turn it back--and failed. He would have + saved us if he could.<br> + <br> + It was over soon--that encounter in the forest where each tree + was a shield. The cavalrymen and maybe, too, we who had been + plainsmen, knew how to drive back a villianous handful of + Apaches. In any other moment since we had ridden out of Sante + Fé we would have laughed at such a struggle. They + took us in the most unguarded instant of that fortnight's + journey.<br> + <br> + The Hopis fled wildly out of sight. Here and there, from the + defeated, scattered band, an Apache warrior sprang back and lost + himself quickly in the shadows. But Santan, plunging into our + very midst, seized Little Blue Flower in his iron grip, and the + bullet from a cavalry carbine, meant for him, struck her.<br> + <br> + He laughed and threw her back and, whirling, dashed--into the + arms of Aunty Boone--and stopped.<br> + <br> + We carried our wounded tenderly up the steep wooded slope and out + into the sweet sunlight of its crest, where we laid them down + beside that wondrous rift with its shimmering mist and velvet + shadows, and colorings of splendor, folded all in the + magnificence of its immensity and its eternal silence.<br> + <br> + We knew that Jondo's wound was mortal, and Father Josef and + Eloise and Rex Krane sat beside him, as the brave eyes looked out + across the sublimity of earthly beauty toward the far land no eye + hath seen, facing, unafraid, the outward-leading trail.<br> + <br> + But Beverly was in the prime of young manhood, and we felt sure + of him, as Esmond Clarenden and Sister Gloria; and I ministered + to his wants.<br> + <br> + "It's no use, Gail." My cousin lifted a pleading face to mine a + moment, as on that day, years ago on the parade-ground at Fort + Leavenworth. Then the bright smile came back to stay.<br> + <br> + "Why, Bev, you have a life before you, and you aren't the only + Eighteenth Kansas man who deserted. We can pull you through + somehow--and people will forget. Even General Sheridan was + willing to send a squad with us, on the possibility of a mistake + somewhere."<br> + <br> + "Deserted!" Beverly's voice was too strong for a dying man's. + "Uncle Esmond, Jondo, Eloise--all of you--Gail calls me a + deserter. Me! Knock him over that precipice, won't some of + you?"<br> + <br> + We listened eagerly as he went on:<br> + <br> + "Why, don't you know that Charlie Bent and his renegade dogs + crawled into camp like snakes and carried me out by force. They + had a time of it, too, but never mind. Bent told me he left a + note for you. I supposed he would say I was dead. And when Gail + stirred, half awake, he went pacing around the camp, looking so + near like me I thought it was myself and I was Charlie Bent. I + was roped and gagged then, but I could see. Deserter! I'm glad I + got that white horse of his on the Prairie Dog Creek, + anyhow."<br> + <br> + Beverly's face paled suddenly and he lay still a little + while.<br> + <br> + "I'd better hurry." The smile was winsome. "They didn't give me a + ghost of a chance to escape, but they didn't harm a hair. They + kept me for a meaner purpose, and, well, I was landed, finally, + at Santan's door-step in the Apache-land. Santan offered to let + me go free if I'd persuade Little Blue Flower--dead down + there--to marry him. He had her come to me on pretense of my + sending for her. She hated the brute, and she was a woman, if she + was an Indian. I told him I'd see him in hell first, and I told + her never to give in. Poor girl! It was a cruel test, but Santan + knew how to be cruel. He said he'd fix me, and I guess he has + done it."<br> + <br> + "Oh no, Bev. You are good for a century," I declared, + affectionately, holding his head on my knee.<br> + <br> + "Little Blue Flower managed, somehow, to fool the Apache dog, and + we escaped and got away to her people," Beverly continued, + speaking more slowly, "then she sent word to Father Josef. But + the Hopi folks were scared about the Apaches coming against them + on account of harboring me, like a Jonah, among 'em; and they + were going to make it hard for Little Blue Flower. I don't know + heathen ethics in such things, but a handful of us had to cut for + it. I'm no deserter, though. Don't forget that. As soon as I + could be sure the little Indian woman's life was safe I was going + to get away and come home. I could not leave her to be sacrificed + after she had saved me from Santan's scalping-knife."<br> + <br> + Beverly paused and looked at us. His voice seemed weaker when he + spoke again:<br> + <br> + "I thought, sometimes, that even if I wasn't to blame for it, I + ought to take Little Blue Flower with me when I got away. Dear + little girl! she gave me one smile and whispered '<i>Lolomi</i>' + before she went just now. I told her long ago I was just + everybody's friend. I never meant to spoil anybody's life, and I + can meet her down at the end of the trail and never fear."<br> + <br> + Just then a half-wailing, half-purring cry came from Aunty Boone, + who was standing beside a gnarled cypress-tree.<br> + <br> + "I knowed the morning we picked up Little Blue Flower, back at + Pawnee Rock, we was pickin' up trouble for the rest of the trail. + I see it then. You can trust a nigger 'cause they never no + 'count, but you don't know what you gettin' when you trust an + Indian. But, Cla'nden, that Apache Indian, Santan, ain't goin' to + trouble you no more. When the world ain't no fit place for folks + they needs helpin' out of it, and I sees to it they gets it, too. + Whoo-ee!" She paused and leaned against the crooked cypress. Half + turning her face toward us, she continued in a clear, soft + voice:<br> + <br> + "That man they call Ramero down in Santy Fee--I knowed him when + he was just Fred Ramer back in the rice-fields country. His + father, old man Ramer, tried to kill me once, 'cause he said I + knowed too much. I helped him into kingdom come right then and + saved a lot of misery. They blamed some other folks, I guess, but + they never hunted me up at all. Good-by, Clan'den, and you, too, + Felix, and Dick Verra. I've knowed you all these years, but + nobody takes no 'count of niggers' knowin's. Good-by, Little + Lees, and all you boys. I'll see you again pretty soon, I'm goin' + back to my desset now. It's over yonder just a little way. + Jondo--but you won't be John Doe then. Whoo-ee!"<br> + <br> + Aunty Boone slowly settled down beside the cypress, with her face + toward her beloved "desset," and when we went to her a little + later, her eyes, still looking eastward, saw nothing earthly any + more forever.<br> + <br> + Jondo's face seemed glorified as he caught Aunty Boone's last + words, and his voice was sweet and clear as he looked up at + Eloise bending over him.<br> + <br> + "Thank God! It is all made right at last. Eloise, the charge of + murder against your father's name would have broken the heart of + the woman that I always loved--your mother. One of us had to bear + the shame. I took the guilt on myself for her sake--and for + yours. I have walked the trails of my life a nameless man, but I + have kept my soul clean in God's sight, and I know His name will + soon be written on my forehead over there."<br> + <br> + He gazed out toward the glorious beauty of the view beyond him, + then closed his eyes, and, bravely as he had lived, so bravely he + went forth on the Long Trail, leaving a name sweet with the + perfume of self-sacrifice and love.<br> + <br> + We did not speak of him to Beverly, for our boy had suddenly + grown restless, and his blood was threshing furiously in his + veins, and he was in pain, but only briefly.<br> + <br> + Presently he said, "Let us be alone a little." The others drew + away.<br> + <br> + "Lean down, Gail. I want to tell you something." He smiled + sweetly upon me as I bent over him.<br> + <br> + "I tried to tell you back on the Smoky Hill, but I'd promised not + to. And honor was something to me still. But I'm going pretty + soon. So listen! I loved Eloise always--always. But she never + cared for me. She was only my good chum. I've been too + happy-hearted all my days, though, Gail, to make a cross of + anything that would break me down. Men differ so, you know, and I + never was a dreamer like you. Turn me a little, won't you, so + that I can see that awful beauty down there."<br> + <br> + I lifted his shoulders gently and placed him where his eyes could + rest on the majestic scene spread out before him.<br> + <br> + "Eloise loves you, but she thinks you would not marry her because + they say her father was a murderer. I don't believe that, Gail. I + told her that you didn't, either, not one little minute. You care + for her, I know, and losing her will break your heart. I tried to + tell you long ago, but Little Lees made me promise not to say a + word that night at Burlingame when you had gone away and I + thought maybe I had a half-chance with her. Tell me you'll make + her happy, Gail."<br> + <br> + "Oh, Beverly, I'll do my best," I murmured, softly.<br> + <br> + "Come closer, Gail. Look at those colors there. Is it so far + across, or only seeming so? And see the soft white clouds drop + purple shadows down. Is that the way the trail runs? How + beautiful it must be farther on. Good-by, old boy of my heart's + heart, and don't forget, however long the years, and wide away + your feet may go, to keep the old trail law. 'Hold fast.'"<br> + <br> + We laid them away in the deep pine forest--Aunty Boone, of + strange, prophetic vision; Santan, the cruel Indian; the loyal + Hopi maiden; Jondo and Beverly. God made them all and in His + heaven they will be rightly placed.<br> + <br> + Beside the cañon's rim, in the soft twilight hour of that + October day, Eloise St. Vrain and I plighted our troth, till + death us do part--for just a little while. Plighted it not in + happy, selfish affection, such as youth and maiden give, + sometimes, each to each; but in the deep, marvelous love of man + and woman pledged where, in sacred moments on that day, we had + seen the mortal put on immortality. To us there could be no + grander, richer, lovelier setting for life's best and holiest + hour than here, where, upon things finite, there rests the + beneficent uplifting beauty that shadows forth the Infinite. </p> + <hr> + + + + <h1>IV<br> + <br> + <a name="REMEMBERING" id="REMEMBERING">REMEMBERING THE + TRAIL</a></h1> + + + + <h3><a name="XXII" id="XXII">XXII</a><br> + <br> + THE GOLDEN WEDDING</h3> + + <p class="blkquot"><br> + The heart that's never old! Oh the heart that's never old!--<br> + 'Tis a vision of the lavender, the crimson and the gold<br> + Of an airy, fairy morning, when the sky is all ablaze<br> + With an ever-changing splendor, driving back the gloom and + haze!<br> + <br> + 'Tis the vision of an orchard in the balmy month of May,<br> + Where the birds are ever singing, and the leaves are ever + gay;<br> + Where the sun is ever shining with a glory never told,<br> + And the trees are ever blooming--for the heart that's never + old!<br> + <br> + --JAMES E. HILKEY.</p> + + <p><br> + The summers and winters of fifty golden years have brought to the + plains their balmy breezes and blazing heat, their soft, + life-giving showers, and their fierce, blizzard anger. And down + through these fifty years Eloise St. Vrain and I have walked the + love trails of the plains together.<br> + <br> + In the early spring of this, our "golden-wedding" year, we sat on + the veranda of our suburban home in Kansas City, above the + picturesque Cliff Drive, rippling with automobiles. The same + drive winds in its course somewhere near the old, rough road that + once led from the Clarenden home, above the valley of the Kaw, + down to the little city of great promise--now fulfilled.<br> + <br> + "Eloise, youth may have a charm that is all its own," I said to + my wife, "but I wonder if it really matches the enduring charm of + age when one looks back on busy years of service."<br> + <br> + Eloise smiled up at me--the same gracious smile that has lighted + all my days with her.<br> + <br> + "You are a dreamer still, Gail. But dreams do so sweeten life and + keep the fires of romance forever burning."<br> + <br> + "When did romance begin with you, Little Lees?" I asked.<br> + <br> + "I think it was on that day when I came bounding up to the door + of the old San Miguel church," Eloise replied, "and saw you + looking like a big, brown bob-cat, or something else, that might + have slept in the Hondo 'Royo all your life. But withal a boy so + loyal to the helpless that you were willing to fight for me + against an assailant bigger than yourself. You became my prince + in that hour, and all my dreams since then have been of you. When + did romance begin with you, or have you forgotten in the busy + years of a life swallowed up in mercantile pursuits?"<br> + <br> + "My life may have been, as you say, swallowed up in building + trade that builds empire, but I have never forgotten the things + that make it fine to me," I answered her. "Romance for me began + one day, long ago, out on the parade-ground at Fort Leavenworth. + I've been a Vanguard of the Plains since then, bull-whacker for + the ox-teams that hauled the commerce of the West; cavalryman in + hard-wearing Indian campaigns that defended the frontier; and + merchant, giving measure for measure always, like that grand man + who taught me the worth of business--Esmond Clarenden."<br> + <br> + "On the parade-ground? How there?" Eloise asked.<br> + <br> + "It came the day that I first knew we were to go with Uncle + Esmond to Santa Fé--for you. We didn't know that it was + for you then. I think I was born again that day into a daring + plainsman, who had been a sort of baby-boy before. I sat with Mat + and Beverly on the edge of the parade-ground, when I looked up to + see, with a boy's day-dreaming eyes, somewhere this side of misty + mountain peaks, a vision of a cloud of golden hair about a sweet + child face, with dark eyes looking into mine. That vision stayed + with me until, one morning, fifty years ago, on the rim of the + Grand Cañon--you looked into my eyes again and I knew my + life dream had come true."<br> + <br> + I rose and, bending over my wife's cloud of beautiful silvery + hair, I kissed her gently on each fair cheek.<br> + <br> + "Gail, why not take the old trail for our golden-wedding + anniversary--a long journey, clear to the mountains?" Eloise + suggested.<br> + <br> + "There is no trail now; only its ghost haunting the way," I + replied, "but, Little Lees, I don't believe that we who look back + on so many happy years, after the stormy ones of early life, + could find any other path half so dear to us as that long path we + knew in childhood and early youth, and the one we followed + together in our first years of mature womanhood and manhood."<br> + <br> + And so we did not celebrate one October day with all of our + children and grandchildren and friends coming to offer us gold + coins, gold-headed canes--which I do not use--and gold-rimmed + glasses for eyes that see farther and clearer than my spectacled + grandsons at the university can see to-day. We made a golden + summer of the thing and followed where, like a will-o'-the-wisp + of memory, the Santa Fé Trail of threescore years ago + reached from the raw frontier at Independence on to the Missouri + bluffs, clear to the sunny valley of the Holy Faith.<br> + <br> + Only a headstone at long intervals shows the way now--a stone + that well might read:</p> + + <p class="blkquot">Here ran the old Santa Fé Trail. This + stone, set here, is sacred to<br> + the memory of the Vanguards of the Plains who followed it.</p> + + <p>They stand, these "markers" now, on hilltops and in deep + valleys; by country crossroads and where main streets cut each + other in the towns and villages. They ornament the city parks, + they show where splendid concrete bridges, re-enforced with + structural steel, span streams that once the ox-teams doubled and + trebled strength to ford. They gleam where corn grows tall and + black on fertile prairies; where seas of wheat have flooded + barren, burning plains, and perfumey alfalfa sweetens the air + above what was once grassless desolation. They whisper of a day + gone by among the silent mountains, where tunnels let the iron + trail run easily under the old trail's dizzy path. They nestle in + the shadows of gray-green cliffs and by red mesa heights; until + the last monument, sacred to the memory of a day forgotten, + speaks at the corner of the old Plaza in the heart of Santa + Fé.<br> + <br> + That was a journey long to be remembered--the long, + golden-wedding journey of Gail Clarenden with his wife, Eloise + St. Vrain, and all of it was sweet with memories of other days. + Not in peril and privation and uncertainty did we follow the + trail now. The Pullman has replaced the Conestoga wagon, dainty + viands the coarse food smoke-blackened over camp-fires, and never + fear of Kiowa nor Comanche broke our slumber. The long shriek + that cuts the air of dawn was not from wild marauders on a + daybreak raid down lonely cañons, but from the throats of + splendid, steel-wrought engines swinging forth upon their solid, + certain course.<br> + <br> + The prairies still lap up to the edges of the little town of + Burlingame, whose main street is still the old trail's path. The + well has long since disappeared from the center of the place. + Where once the thirsty gathered here to drink, there stands a + monument sacred to the memory of the old trail days. And sacred, + too, to the memory of the one far-visioned woman, Fannie Geiger + Thompson, who first conceived the thought of marking for the + coming generations the course of commerce that built up the West + in years gone by.<br> + <br> + We never lived in Burlingame, where once--a heart-hungry little + boy--I longed to have a home. But the Krane children and their + children's children still make it an abiding-place for us.<br> + <br> + To Council Grove, and old Pawnee Rock, the Cimarron Crossing of + the Arkansas River, the open plain about the site of old Fort + Bent--where only ghosts of walls and the court remain, and on to + Santa Fé, dreamy and picturesque--hoary with age, and + sweet with sacred memories, we wandered on our golden-wedding + trail.<br> + <br> + The name of Narveo in New Mexico still stands for gentleman. The + old church of San Miguel still shelters troubled hearts, and in + the San Christobal valley the Pictured Rocks still build up a + rude stair for feet that still may need the sanctuary rim of + safety set about them. Along the length of the old trail a + marvelous fifty years have enriched a history whose epic days + record the deeds of vanguards, who foreran and builded for the + softer days of golden-wedding years. The last lap of all that + wondrous journey bore us in ease and comfort beyond the + desert--the Africa, of Aunty Boone's weird fancy--to the Grand + Cañon of the Colorado. Here, as of old, the riven crust, + in its eternal silence, and sublimity, and beauty indescribable, + calmly, year by year, reveals its mighty purpose:</p> + + <p class="blkquot">To quarry the heart of earth,<br> + Till, in the rock's red rise,<br> + Its age and birth, through an awful girth<br> + Of strata, should show the wonder-worth<br> + Of patience to all eyes.</p> + + <p>Amid luxurious surroundings we lived the October days upon the + cañon's rim, where, half a century ago, we had gone in + hardship and looked on tragedy. We crept down all the dizzy + lengths to the very heart of it, and ate and slept in easy + comfort, and gazed upward at the sky-cleaving edges thousands of + feet above us; we stood beside the raging Colorado River, which + no man had explored when we first looked upon it here. In the + serene hours of our sunset years we went back in memory over the + long way our feet had come. Life is easy for us now, made so by + all the splendid, simple forces of those who, in justice, + honesty, and broad human sympathy build enduring empire. Not + empire gained by bomb and liquid fire, defended by sharp + entanglement and cross-trenched to shut out enemies; but empire + builded on the commerce of the land, value for value; empire of + bridged rivers, quick transportation on steel-marked trails that + girdle harvest fields and fruitful pastures; empire of homes and + schools and sacred shrines.<br> + <br> + Our fifty golden years have seen such empire rise and grow before + our eyes, made great by thrift and business sense, swayed by the + Golden Rule. An empire rich in love and sweet romance and + thrilling deeds of courage and self-sacrifice. Glad am I to have + been a vanguard of its trails upon the Kansas prairies and the + far Western plains, sure now, as always down the years, that its + old law is still a righteous one: To that which is good--</p> + + <p class="blkquot">"HOLD FAST."</p> + + <h1><br> + <br> + THE END</h1><br> + <hr> + + <h3>BOOKS BY<br> + SIR GILBERT PARKER</h3> + + <div align="center"> + <center> + <table style= + "border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; border-width: medium" + width="40%" summary="BOOKS BY SIR GILBERT PARKER"> + <tr> + <td style="border: none"><i>THE WORLD FOR SALE</i><br> + <i>THE MONEY MASTER</i><br> + <i>THE JUDGMENT HOUSE</i><br> + <i>THE RIGHT OF WAY</i><br> + <i>THE LADDER OF SWORDS</i><br> + <i>THE WEAVERS</i><br> + <i>THE BATTLE OF THE STRONG</i><br> + <i>WHEN VALMOND CAME TO PONTIAC</i><br> + <i>THE LANE THAT HAD NO TURNING</i><br> + <i>NORTHERN LIGHTS</i><br> + <i>PIERRE AND HIS PEOPLE</i><br> + <i>AN ADVENTURER OF THE NORTH</i><br> + <i>A ROMANY OF THE SNOWS</i><br> + <i>CUMNER'S SON, AND OTHER</i><br> + <i>SOUTH SEA FOLK</i></td> + </tr> + </table> + </center> + </div><br> + + <h1>* * * * *</h1> + + <h3>HARPER & BROTHERS<br> + NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1817 LONDON</h3> + <hr> + + <h3><br> + <br> + <br> + BOOKS BY<br> + MARGARET DELAND</h3><br> + + <div align="center"> + <center> + <table style= + "border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; border-width: medium" + width="40%" summary="BOOKS BY MARGARET DELAND"> + <tr> + <td style="border: none"><i>THE RISING TIDE. + Illustrated<br> + AROUND OLD CHESTER. Illustrated<br> + THE COMMON WAY. 16mo<br> + DR. LAVENDAR'S PEOPLE. Illustrated<br> + AN ENCORE. Illustrated<br> + GOOD FOR THE SOUL. Illustrated<br> + THE HINDS OF ESAU. Illustrated<br> + THE AWAKENING OF HELENA RICHIE. Illustrated<br> + THE IRON WOMAN. Illustrated<br> + OLD CHESTER TILES. Illustrated<br> + PARTNERS. Illustrated<br> + R.J.'S MOTHER. Illustrated<br> + THE VOICE. Illustrated<br> + THE WAY TO PEACE. Illustrated<br> + WHERE THE LABORERS ARE FEW. Illustrated</i></td> + </tr> + </table> + </center> + </div><br> + + <h3><br> + <br> + HARPER & BROTHERS<br> + NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1817 LONDON</h3> + + + <hr> + + <h3><br> + NOVELS OF<br> + THOMAS HARDY</h3> + + <p><br> + <span>The New Thin-Paper Edition of the greatest living English + novelist is issued in two bindings: Red Limp-Leather and Red + Flexible Cloth, 12mo. Frontispiece in each volume.</span></p> + + <div align="center"> + <center> + <table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;" + width="30%" summary="NOVELS OF THOMAS HARDY"> + <tr> + <td style="border: none"><i>DESPERATE REMEDIES<br> + FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD<br> + A GROUP OF NOBLE DAMES<br> + THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA<br> + JUDE THE OBSCURE<br> + A LAODICEAN<br> + LIFE'S LITTLE IRONIES<br> + THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE<br> + A PAIR OF BLUE EYES<br> + THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE<br> + TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES<br> + THE TRUMPET MAJOR<br> + TWO ON A TOWER<br> + UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE<br> + THE WELL-BELOVED<br> + WESSEX TALES<br> + THE WOODLANDERS</i><br> + <br> + <br> + <br></td> + </tr> + </table> + </center> + </div> + + <h1>* * * * *</h1> + + <h3><span> <br></span><span>HARPER & + BROTHERS<br></span><span>NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1817 + LONDON</span></h3> + + <p class="MsoPlainText"><span> <br></span></p> + <hr> + + <h3><span><br></span> + <span> <br></span><span> <br></span><span> <br></span> + <span>RECENT BOOKS OF TRAVEL<br></span><span> <br></span></h3> + + <h1>* * * * *</h1> + + <h4><span> <br> + <i>IN VACATION AMERICA</i> By HARRISON RHODES</span></h4> + + <p class="MsoPlainText"><span><i>In this book of leisurely + wanderings the author journeys among the various holiday resorts + of the United States from Maine to Atlantic City, Newport, Bar + Harbor, the Massachusetts beaches, Long Island Sound, the Great + Lakes, Niagara, ever-young Greenbriar White and other Virginia + Springs, Saratoga, White Mountains, the winter resorts of + Florida, the Carolinas and California.</i> Illustrated in + Color</span></p> + + <h4><span> <br> + <i>ALONG NEW ENGLAND ROADS </i><br></span><span>By WILLIAM C. + PRIME</span></h4> + + <p class="MsoPlainText"><span><i>All those who are on the lookout + for an unusual way to spend a vacation will find suggestions + here. This book of leisurely travel in New Hampshire and Vermont + has been reprinted to meet the demand for a work that has never + failed to charm since its first publication more than a decade + ago.</i> Illustrated</span></p> + + <h4><span> <br> + <i>AUSTRALIAN BYWAYS</i> By NORMAN DUNCAN</span></h4> + + <p class="MsoPlainText"><span><i>In this book the author gives a + chatty account of his trip along the outskirts of Australian + civilization. The big cities were merely passed through, and the + journeying was principally by stage-coach, on camel-back, or by + small coastal steamers from Western Australia to New Guinea.</i> + Illustrated in Tint</span></p> + + <h4><span><br> + <i>CALIFORNIA: An Intimate History</i><br> + By GERTRUDE ATHERTON</span></h4> + + <p class="MsoPlainText"><span><i>The California of to-day and the + California of yesterday with its picturesque story, are set forth + in this book by the one writer who could bring to it the skill + united with that love for the task of a Californian-born, + Gertrude Atherton. This story of California covers the varied + history of the state from its earliest geological beginnings down + to the California of 1915.</i> Illustrated<br></span></p> + + <h1>* * * * *</h1> + + <h4><span>HARPER & BROTHERS</span><br> + <span>NEW YORK ESTABLISHED 1817 LONDON</span></h4> + + <p>[Transcriber's note: The spelling irregularities of the original have +been preserved in this etext.] </p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13345 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/13345-h/images/p001m.jpg b/13345-h/images/p001m.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b9c551 --- /dev/null +++ b/13345-h/images/p001m.jpg diff --git a/13345-h/images/p001s.jpg b/13345-h/images/p001s.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c99efdc --- /dev/null +++ b/13345-h/images/p001s.jpg |
