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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16889-8.txt b/16889-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..563b400 --- /dev/null +++ b/16889-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14224 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Enchanted Canyon, by Honoré Willsie Morrow + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Enchanted Canyon + + +Author: Honoré Willsie Morrow + + + +Release Date: October 16, 2005 [eBook #16889] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ENCHANTED CANYON*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +THE ENCHANTED CANYON + +by + +HONORÉ WILLSIE + +Author of + +"The Forbidden Trail," "Still Jim," "The Heart of the Desert," "Lydia +of the Pines," etc. + + + + + + + +A. L. Burt Company +Publishers -------- New York +Published by arrangement with William Morrow and Company, Inc. +Copyright, 1921, by +Honoré Willsie Morrow +All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign +languages +Printed in the United States of America + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +BOOK I + +BRIGHT ANGEL + +Chapter + + I MINETTA LANE + II BRIGHT ANGEL + + +BOOK II + +THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR + + III TWENTY-TWO YEARS LATER + IV DIANA ALLEN + V A PHOTOGRAPHER OF INDIANS + VI A NEWSPAPER REPORTER + + +BOOK III + +THE ENCHANTED CANYON + + VII THE DESERT + VIII THE COLORADO + IX THE CLIFF DWELLING + X THE EXPEDITION BEGINS + XI THE PERFECT ADVENTURE + XII THE END OF THE CRUISE + XIII GRANT'S CROSSING + XIV LOVE IN THE DESERT + + +BOOK IV + +THE PHANTASM DESTROYED + + XV THE FIRING LINE AGAIN + XVI CURLY'S REPORT + XVII REVENGE IS SWEET + + + + +BOOK I + +BRIGHT ANGEL + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MINETTA LANE + + +"A boy at fourteen needs a mother or the memory of a mother as he does +at no other period of his life."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Except for its few blocks that border Washington Square, MacDougal +Street is about as squalid as any on New York's west side. + +Once it was aristocratic enough for any one, but that was nearly a +century ago. Alexander Hamilton's mansion and Minetta Brook are less +than memories now. The blocks of fine brick houses that covered +Richmond Hill are given over to Italian tenements. Minetta Brook, if +it sings at all, sings among the sewers far below the dirty pavements. + +But Minetta Lane still lives, a short alley that debouches on MacDougal +Street. Edgar Allan Poe once strolled on summer evenings through +Minetta Lane with his beautiful Annabel Lee. But God pity the +sweethearts to-day who must have love in its reeking precincts! It is +a lane of ugliness, now; a lane of squalor; a lane of poverty and +hopelessness spelled in terms of filth and decay. + +About midway in the Lane stands a two-story, red-brick house with an +exquisite Georgian doorway. The wrought-iron handrail that borders the +crumbling stone steps is still intact. The steps usually are crowded +with dirty, quarreling children and a sore-eyed cat or two. Nobody +knows and nobody cares who built the house. Enough that it is now the +home of poverty and of ways that fear the open light of day. Just when +the decay of the old dwelling began there is none to say. But New +Yorkers of middle age recall that in their childhood the Lane already +had been claimed by the slums, with the Italian influx just beginning. + +One winter afternoon a number of years ago a boy stood leaning against +the iron newel post of the old house, smoking a cigarette. He was +perhaps fourteen or fifteen years of age, but he might have been either +older or younger. The city gives even to children a sophisticated look +that baffles the casual psychologist. + +The children playing on the steps behind the boy were stocky, swarthy +Italians. But he was tall and loosely built, with dark red hair and +hard blue eyes. He was thin and raw boned. Even his smartly cut +clothes could not hide his extreme awkwardness of body, his big loose +joints, his flat chest and protruding shoulder blades. His face, too, +could not have been an Italian product. The cheek bones were high, the +cheeks slightly hollowed, the nose and lips were rough hewn. The suave +lines of the three little Latins behind him were entirely alien to this +boy's face. + +It was warm and thawing so that the dead horse across the street, with +the hugely swollen body, threw off an offensive odor. + +"Smells like the good ol' summer time," said the boy, nodding his head +toward the horse and addressing the rag picker who was pulling a burlap +sack into the basement. + +"Like ta getta da skin. No good now though," replied Luigi. "You +gotta da rent money, Nucky?" + +"Got nuttin'," Nucky's voice was bitter. "That brown Liz you let in +last night beats the devil shakin' dice." + +"We owe three mont' now, Nucky," said the Italian. + +"Yes, and how much trade have I pulled into your blank blank second +floor for you durin' the time, you blank blank! If I hear any more +about the rent, I'll split on you, you--" + +But before Nucky could continue his cursing, the Italian broke in with +a volubility of oaths that reduced the boy to sullen silence. Having +eased his mind, Luigi proceeded to drag the sack into the basement and +slammed the door. + +"Nucky! Nucky! He's onlucky!" sang one of the small girls on the +crumbling steps. + +"You dry up, you little alley cat!" roared the boy. + +"You're just a bastard!" screamed the child, while her playmates took +up the cry. + +Nucky lighted a fresh cigarette and moved hurriedly up toward MacDougal +Street. Once having turned the corner, he slackened his gait and +climbed into an empty chair in the bootblack stand that stood in front +of the Café Roma. The bootblack had not finished the first shoe when a +policeman hoisted himself into the other chair. + +"How are you, Nucky?" he grunted. + +"All right, thanks," replied the boy, an uneasy look softening his cold +eyes for the moment. + +"Didn't keep the job I got you, long," the officer said. "What was the +rip this time?" + +"Aw, I ain't goin' to hold down ho five-dollar-a-week job. What do you +think I am?" + +"I think you are a fool headed straight for the devil," answered the +officer succinctly. "Now listen to me, Nucky. I've knowed you ever +since you started into the school over there. I mind how the teacher +told me she was glad to see one brat that looked like an old-fashioned +American. And everything the teachers and us guys at the police +station could do to keep you headed right, we've done. But you just +won't have it. You've growed up with just the same ideas the young +toughs have 'round here. All you know about earnin' money is by +gambling." Nucky stirred, but the officer put out his hand. + +"Hold on now, fer I'm servin' notice on you. You've turned down every +job we got you. You want to keep on doing Luigi's dirty work for him. +Very well! Go to it! And the next time we get the goods on you, +you'll get the limit. So watch yourself!" + +"Everybody's against a guy!" muttered the boy, + +"Everybody's against a fool that had rather be crooked than straight," +returned the officer. + +Nucky, his face sullen, descended from the chair, paid the boy and +headed up MacDougal Street toward the Square. + +A tall, dark woman, dressed in black entered the Square as Nucky +crossed from Fourth Street. Nucky overtook her. + +"Are you comin' round to-night, Liz?" he asked. + +She looked at him with liquid brown eyes over her shoulder. + +"Anything better there than there was last night?" she asked. + +Nucky nodded eagerly. "You'll be surprised when you see the bird I got +lined up." + +Liz looked cautiously round the park, at the children shouting on the +wet pavements, at the sparrows quarreling in the dirty snow drifts. +Then she started, nervously, along the path. + +"There comes Foley!" she exclaimed. "What's he doin' off his beat?" + +"He's seen us now," said Nucky. "We might as well stand right here." + +"Oh, I ain't afraid of that guy!" Liz tossed her head. "I got things +on him, all right." + +"Why don't you use 'em?" Nucky's voice was skeptical. "He's going down +Waverly Place, the blank, blank!" + +Liz grunted. "He's got too much on me! I ain't hopin' to start +trouble. You go chase yourself, Nucky. I'll be round about midnight." + +Nucky's chasing himself consisted of the purchase of a newspaper which +he read for a few minutes in the sunshine of the park. Even as he sat +on the park bench, apparently absorbed in the paper, there was an air +of sullen unhappiness about the boy. Finally, he tossed the paper +aside, and sat with folded arms, his chin on his breast. + +Officer Foley, standing on the corner of Washington Place and MacDougal +Street waved a pleasant salute to a tall, gray-haired man whose +automobile drew up before the corner apartment house. + +"How are you, Mr. Seaton?" he asked. + +"Rather used up, Foley!" replied the gentleman, "Rather used up! +Aren't you off your beat?" + +The officer nodded. "Had business up here and started back. Then I +stopped to watch that red-headed kid over there." He indicated the +bench on which Nucky sat, all unconscious of the sharp eyes fastened on +his back. + +"I see the red hair, anyway,"--Mr. Seaton lighted a cigar and puffed it +slowly. He and Foley had been friends during Seaton's twenty years' +residence on the Square. + +"I know you ain't been keen on boys since you lost Jack," the officer +said, slowly, "but--well, I can't get this young Nucky off my mind, +blast the little crook!" + +"So he's a crook, is he? How old is the boy?" + +"Oh, 'round fourteen! He's as smart as lightning and as crooked as he +is smart. He turned up here when he was a little kid, with a woman who +may or may not have been his mother. She lived with a Dago down in +Minetta Lane. Guess the boy mighta been six years old when she died +and Luigi took him on. We were all kind of proud of him at first. +Teachers in school all said he was a wonder. But for two or three +years he's been going wrong, stealing and gambling, and now this fellow +Luigi's started a den on his second floor that we gotta clean out soon. +His rag-picking's a stall. And he's using Nucky like a kid oughtn't to +be used." + +"Why don't you people have him taken away from the Italian and a proper +guardian appointed?" + +"Well, he's smart and we kinda hoped he'd pull up himself. We got a +settlement worker interested in him and we got jobs for him, but +nothing works. Judge Harmon swears he's out of patience with him +and'll send him to reform school at his next offense. That'll end +Nucky. He'll be a gunman by the time he's twenty." + +"You seem fond of the boy in spite of his criminal tendencies," said +Seaton. + +"Aw, we all have criminal tendencies, far as that goes," growled Foley; +"you and I and all of us. Don't know as I'm what you'd call fond of +the kid. Maybe it's his name. Yes, I guess it's his name. Now what +is your wildest guess for that little devil's name, Mr. Seaton?" + +The gray-hatred man shook his head. "Pat Donahue, by his hair." + +"But not by his face, if you could see it. His name is Enoch +Huntingdon. Yes, sir, Enoch Huntingdon! What do you think of that?" + +The astonishment expressed in Seaton's eyes was all that the officer +could desire. + +"Enoch Huntingdon! Why, man, that gutter rat has real blood in him, if +he didn't steal the name." + +"No kid ever stole such a name as that," said Foley. "And for all he's +homely enough to stop traffic, his face sorta lives up to his name. +Want a look at him?" + +Mr. Seaton hesitated. The tragic death of his own boy a few years +before had left him shy of all boys. But his curiosity was roused and +with a sigh he nodded. + +Foley crossed the street, Seaton following. As they turned into the +Square, Nucky saw them out of the tail of his eye. He rose, casually, +but Foley forestalled his next move by calling in a voice that carried +above the street noises, "Nucky! Wait a moment!" + +The boy stopped and stood waiting until the two men came up. Seaton +eyed the strongly hewn face while the officer said, "That person you +were with a bit ago, Nucky--I don't think much of her. Better cut her +out." + +"I can't help folks talking to me, can I?" demanded the boy, +belligerently. + +"Especially the ladies!" snorted Foley. "Regular village cut-up, you +are! Well, just mind what I say," find he strolled on, followed by +Seaton. + +"He'll never be hung for his beauty," said Seaton. "But, Foley, I'll +wager you'll find that lad breeds back to Plymouth Rock!" + +Foley nodded. "Thought you'd be interested. Every man who's seen him +is. But there's nothing doing. Nucky is a hard pill." + +"Maybe he needs a woman's hand," suggested Seaton, "Sometimes these +hard characters are clay with the right kind of a woman." + +"Or the wrong kind," grunted the officer. + +"No, the right kind," insisted Mr. Seaton. "I'm telling you, Foley, a +good woman is the profoundest influence a man can have. There's a deep +within him he never gives over to a bad woman." + +Foley's keen gray eyes suddenly softened. He looked for a moment above +the tree tops to the clouds sailing across the blue. "I guess you're +right, Mr. Seaton," he said, "I guess you're right! Well, poor Nucky! +And I must be getting back. Good day, Mr. Seaton." + +"Good day, Foley!" + +And Nucky, staring curiously from the Square, saw the apartment house +door close on the tall, well-dressed stranger, and saw a taxi-cab +driver offer a lift to his ancient enemy, Officer Foley. + +"Thinks he's smart, don't he!" he muttered aloud, starting slowly back +toward the Café Roma. "I wonder what uplifter he's got after me now?" + +In the Café Roma, Nucky sat down at a little table and ordered a bowl +of ministrone with red wine. He did not devour his food as the normal +boy of his age would have done. He ate slowly and without appetite. +When he was about half through the meal, a young Irishman in his early +twenties sat down opposite him. + +"Hello, Nucky! What's doin'?" + +"Nothin' worth talking about. What's doin' with you?" + +"O, I been helping Marty, the Dude, out. He's going to be alderman +from this ward, some day." + +"That's the idea!" cried Nucky. "That's what I'd like to be, a +politician. I'd rather be Mayor of N' York than king of the world." + +"I thought you wanted to be king o' the dice throwers," laughed the +young Irishman. + +"If I was, I'd buy myself the job of Mayor," returned Nucky. "Coming +over to-night?" + +"I might, 'long about midnight. Anything good in sight?" + +"I hope so," Nucky's hard face looked for a moment boyishly worried. + +"Business ain't been good, eh?" + +"Not for me," replied Nucky. "Luigi seems to be goin' to the bank +regular. You bet that guy don't risk keepin' nothin' in the house." + +"I shouldn't think he would with a wonder like you around," said the +young Irishman with a certain quality of admiration in his voice. + +Nucky's thin chest swelled and he paid the waiter with an air that +exactly duplicated the café manner of Marty, the Dude. Then, with a +casual nod at Frank, he started back toward Luigi's, for his evening's +work. + +It began to snow about ten o'clock that night. The piles of dirty ice +and rubbish on MacDougal Street turned to fairy mountains. The dead +horse in Minetta Lane might have been an Indian mound in miniature. An +occasional drunken man or woman, exuding loathsome, broken sentences, +reeled past Officer Foley who stood in the shadows opposite Luigi's +house. He was joined silently and one at a time by half a dozen other +men. Just before midnight, a woman slipped in at the front door. And +on the stroke of twelve, Foley gave a whispered order. The group of +officers crossed the street and one of them put a shoulder against the +door which yielded with a groan. + +When the door of the large room on the second floor burst open, Nucky +threw down his playing cards and sprang for the window. But Foley +forestalled him and slipped handcuffs on him, while Nucky cursed and +fought with all the venom that did the eight or ten other occupants of +the room. Tables were kicked over. A small roulette board smashed +into the sealed fire-place. Brown Liz broke a bottle of whiskey on an +officer's helmet and the reek of alcohol merged with that of cigarette +smoke and snow-wet clothes. Luigi freed himself for a moment and +turned off the gas light roaring as he did so. + +"Get out da back room! Da backa room!" + +But it was a well-planned raid. No one escaped, and shortly, Nucky was +climbing into the patrol wagon that had appeared silently before the +door. That night he was locked in a cell with a drunken Greek. It was +his first experience in a cell. Hitherto, Officer Foley had protected +him from this ignominy. But Officer Foley, as he told Nucky, was +through with him. + +The Greek, except for an occasional oath, slept soddenly. The boy +crouched in a corner of the cell, breathing rapidly and staring into +black space. At dawn he had not changed his position or closed his +eyes. + +It was two days later that Officer Foley found a telephone message +awaiting him in the police station. "Mr. John Seaton wants you to call +him up, Foley." + +Foley picked up the telephone. Mr. Seaton answered at once. "It was +nothing in particular, Foley, except that I wanted to tell you that the +red-headed boy and his name, particularly that name, in Minetta Lane, +have haunted me. If he gets in trouble again, you'd better let me +know." + +"You're too late, Mr. Seaton! He's in up to his neck, now." The +officer described the raid. "The judge has given him eighteen months +at the Point and we're taking him there this afternoon." + +"You don't mean it! The young whelp! Foley, what he needs is a +licking and a mother to love him, not reform school." + +"Sure, but no matter how able a New York policeman is, Mr. Seaton, he +can't be a mother! And it's too late! The judge is out o' patience." + +"Look here, Foley, hasn't he any friends at all?" + +"There's several that want to be friends, but he won't have 'em. He's +sittin' in his cell for all the world like a bull pup the first time +he's tied." + +Mr. Seaton cleared his throat. "Foley, let me come round and see him +before you send him over the road, will you?" + +"Sure, that can be fixed up. Only don't get sore when the kid snubs +you." + +"Nothing a boy could do could hurt me, Foley. You remember that Jack +was not exactly an angel." + +"No, that's right, but Jack was always a good sport, Mr. Seaton. +That's why it's so hard to get hold of these young toughs down here! +They ain't sports!" And Foley hung up the receiver with a sigh. + +Mr. Seaton preferred to introduce himself to Nucky. The boy was +sitting on the edge of his bunk, his red hair a beautiful bronze in the +dim daylight that filtered through the high window. + +"How are you, Enoch?" said Mr. Seaton. "My name is John Seaton. +Officer Foley pointed you out to me the other day as a lad who was +making bad use of a good name. That's a wonderful name of yours, do +you realize it?" + +"Every uplifter I ever met's told me so," replied Nucky, ungraciously, +without looking up. + +Mr. Seaton smiled. "I'm no uplifter! I'm a New York lawyer! +Supposing you take a look at me so's to recognize me when we meet +again." + +Nucky still kept his gaze on the floor. "I know what you look like. +You got gray hair and brown eyes, you're thin and tall and about fifty +years old." + +"Good work!" exclaimed Enoch's caller. "Now, look here, Enoch, can't I +help you out of this scrape?" + +"Don't want to be helped out. I was doin' a man's job and I'll take my +punishment like a man." + +Seaton spoke quickly. "It wasn't a man's job. It was a thief's job. +You're taking your sentence like a common thief, not like a man." + +"Aw, dry up and get out o' here!" snarled Nucky, jumping to his feet +and looking his caller full in the face. + +Seaton did not stir. In spite of its immaturity, its plainness and its +sullenness, there was a curious dignity in Nucky's face, that made a +strong appeal to his dignified caller. + +"You guys always preachin' to me!" Nucky went on, his boyish voice +breaking with weariness and excitement. "Why don't you look out for +your own kids and let me alone?" + +"My only boy is beyond my care. He was killed three years ago," +returned Seaton. "I've had nothing to do with boys since. And I don't +give a hang about you. It's your name I'm interested in. I hate to +see a fine name in the hands of a prospective gunman." + +"And you can't get me with the sob stuff, either," Nucky shrugged his +shoulders. + +Seaton scowled, then he laughed. "You're a regular tough, eh, Enoch? +But you know even toughs occasionally use their brains. Do you want to +go to reform school?" + +"Yes, I do! Go on, get out o' here!" + +"You infernal little fool!" blazed Seaton, losing his temper. "Do you +think you can handle me the way you have the others? Well, it can't be +done! Huntingdon is a real name in this country and if you think any +pig-headed, rotten-minded boy can carry that name to the pen, without +me putting up a fight, you're mistaken! You've met something more than +your match this time, you are pretty sure to find out sooner or later, +my sweet young friend. My hair was red, too, before--up to three years +ago." + +Seaton turned and slammed out of the cell. When Foley came to the door +a half hour later, Nucky was again sitting on the edge of the bunk, +staring sullenly at the floor. + +"Come out o' this, Nucky," said the officer. + +Nucky rose, obediently, and followed Foley into the next room. Mr. +Seaton was leaning against the desk, talking with Captain Blackly. + +"Look here, Nucky," said Blackly, "this gentleman has been telephoning +the judge and the judge has paroled you once more in this gentleman's +hands. I think you're a fool, Mr. Seaton, but I believe in giving a +kid as young as Huntingdon the benefit of the doubt. We've all failed +to find a spark of decent ambition in him. Maybe you can. Just one +word for you, young fellow. If you try to get away from Mr. Seaton, +we'll get you in a way you'll never forget." + +Nucky said nothing. His unboyish eyes traveled from one face to +another, then he shrugged his shoulders and dropped his weight to the +other hip. John Seaton, whose eyes were still smoldering, tapped Nucky +on the arm. + +"All right, Enoch! I'm going to take you up to my house to meet Mrs. +Seaton. See that you behave like a gentleman," and he led the way into +the street. Nucky followed without any outward show of emotion. His +new guardian did not speak until they reached the door of the apartment +house, then he turned and looked the boy in the eye. + +"I'm obstinate, Enoch, and quick tempered. No one but Mrs. Seaton +thinks of me as a particularly likable chap. You can do as you please +about liking me, but I want you to like my wife. And if I have any +reason to think you've been anything but courteous to her, I'll break +every bone in your body. You say you don't want sob stuff. You'll get +none of it from me." + +Not a muscle of Nucky's face quivered. Mr. Seaton did not wait for a +reply, but led the way into the elevator. It shot up to the top floor +and Nucky followed into the long, dark hall of the apartment. + +"Put your hat and coat here," said his guardian, indicating the hat +rack on which he was hanging his own overcoat. "Now follow me." He +led the boy into the living room. + +A small woman sat by the window that overlooked the Square. Her brown +hair was just touched with gray. Her small round face was a little +faded, with faint lines around eyes and lips. It was not an +intellectual face, but it was sweet and patient, from the delicate +curve of the lips to the slight downward droop of the eyebrows above +the clear blue eyes. All the sweetness and patience was there with +which the wives of high tempered, obstinate men are not infrequently +blessed. + +"Mary, this is young Enoch Huntingdon," said Seaton. + +Mrs. Seaton offered her hand, which Nucky took awkwardly and +unsmilingly. "How do you do, Enoch! Mr. Seaton told me about your red +hair and your fine old name. Are you going to stay with us a little +while?" + +"I don't know, ma'am," replied Enoch. + +"Sit down, Enoch! Sit down!" Seaton waved Enoch impatiently toward a +seat while he took the arm chair beside his wife. "Mary, I've got to +take that trip to San Francisco, after all. Houghton and Company +insist on my looking into that Jameson law-suit for them." + +Mary Seaton looked up, a little aghast. "But mercy, John! I can't get +away now, with Sister Alice coming!" + +"I know that. So I'm going to take Enoch with me." + +"Oh!" Mary looked from her husband to Enoch, sitting awkwardly on the +edge of the Chippendale chair. His usually pale face was a little +flushed and his thin lips were set firmly together. From her scrutiny +of Enoch's face, she turned to his hands. They were large and bony and +the thumb and first two fingers of his right hand were yellow. + +"You don't look as if you'd been eating the right kind of things, +Enoch," she said, kindly. "And it's cigarettes that give your lips +that bad color. You must let me help you about that. When do you +start, John dear?" + +"To-morrow night, and I'm afraid I'll be gone the best part of three +weeks. By that time, I ought to know something about Enoch, eh?" + +For the first time Enoch grinned, a little sheepishly, to be sure, and +a little cynically. Nevertheless it was the first sign of tolerance he +had shown and Mr. Seaton was cheered by it. + +"That will give time to get Enoch outfitted," said Mary. "We'll go up +to Best's to-morrow morning." + +"This suit is new," said Nucky. + +"It looks new," agreed Mrs. Seaton, "but a pronounced check like that +isn't nice for traveling. And you'll need other things." + +"I got plenty of clothes at home, and I paid for 'em myself," Nucky's +voice was resentful. + +"Well, drop a line to that Italian you've been living with, and tell +him--" began Mr. Seaton. + +"Aw, he'll be doin' time in Sing Sing by the time I get back," +interrupted Nucky, "and he can't read anyhow. I always 'tended to +everything but going to the bank for him." + +"Did you really?" There was a pleasant note of admiration in Mrs. +Seaton's voice. "You must try to look out for Mr. Seaton then on this +trip. He is so absent-minded! Come and I'll show you your room, +Enoch. You must get ready for dinner." + +She rose, and led the boy down the hall to a small room. It was +furnished in oak and chintz. Enoch thought it must have been the dead +boy's room for there was a gun over the bureau and photographs of a +football team and a college crew on the walls. + +"Supper will be ready in ten or fifteen minutes," said Mrs. Seaton, as +she left him. A moment later, he heard her speaking earnestly in the +living-room. He brushed his hair, then amused himself by examining the +contents of the room. The supper bell rang just as he opened the +closet door. He closed it, hastily and silently, and a moment later, +Mr. Seaton spoke from the hall: + +"Come, Enoch!" and the boy followed into the dining-room. + +His table manners were bad, of course, but Mrs. Seaton found these less +difficult to endure than the boy's unresponsive, watchful ways. At +last, as the pudding was being served, she exclaimed: + +"What in the world are you watching for, Enoch? Do you expect us to +rob you, or what?" + +"I dunno, ma'am," answered Nucky, + +"Do you enjoy your supper?" asked Mrs. Seaton. + +"It's all right, I guess. I'm used to wine with my supper." + +"Wine, you young jack-donkey!" cried John Seaton. "And don't you +appreciate the difference between a home meal like this and one you +pick up in Minetta Lane?" + +"I dunno!" Nucky's face darkened sullenly and he pushed his pudding +away. + +There was silence around the table for a few moments. Mrs. Seaton, +quietly watching the boy, thought of what her husband had told her of +Officer Foley's account. The boy did act not unlike a bull pup put for +the first time on the lead chain. She was relieved and so was Mr. +Seaton when Nucky, immediately after the meal was finished, said that +he was sleepy, and went to bed. + +"I don't envy you your trip, John," said Mary Seaton, as she settled to +her embroidery again. "What on earth possesses you to do it? The boy +isn't even interesting in his badness." + +"He's got the face either of a great leader or a great criminal," said +Seaton, shaking out his paper. "He makes me so mad I could tan his +hide every ten minutes, but I'm going to see the thing through. It's +the first time in three years I've felt interested in anything." + +Quick tears sprang to his wife's eyes. "I'm so glad to have you feel +that way, John, that I'll swallow even this impossible boy. What makes +him so ugly? Did he want to go to reform school?" + +"God knows what any boy of his age wants!" replied John briefly. "But +I'm going to try in the next three weeks to find out what's frozen him +up so." + +"Well, I'll dress him so that he won't disgrace you." + +Mrs. Seaton smiled and sighed and went on with her careful stitching. + +Nobody tried to talk to Nucky at the breakfast table. After the meal +was over and Mr. Seaton had left for the office, the boy sat looking +out of the window until Mrs. Seaton announced herself ready for the +shopping expedition. Then he followed her silently to the waiting +automobile. + +The little woman took great care in buying the boy's outfit. The task +must Have been painful to her. Only three years before she had been +buying clothes for Jack from this same clerk. But Mary Seaton was a +good soldier and she did a good job. When they reached home in +mid-afternoon Nucky was well equipped for his journey. + +To Mary's surprise and pleasure he took care of her, helping her in and +out of the automobile, and waiting on her vigilantly. He was awkward, +to be sure, and silent, but Mary was secretly sure that he was less +resentful toward her than he had been the day before. And she began to +understand her husband's interest in the strong, immature, sullen face. + +The train left at six o'clock. Mrs. Seaton went with them to the very +train gates. + +"You'll really try to look out for Mr. Seaton, won't you, Enoch?" she +said, taking the boy's limp hand, after she had kissed her husband +good-by. + +"Yes, ma'am," replied Nucky. + +"Good-by, Enoch! I truly hope you'll enjoy the trip. Run now, or +you'll miss the train. See, Mr. Seaton's far down the platform!" + +Nucky turned and ran. Mr. Seaton waited for him at the door of the +Pullman. His jaw was set and he looked at Nucky with curiosity not +untinged with resentment. Nucky had not melted after a whole day with +Mary! Perhaps there were no deeps within the boy. But as the train +moved through the tunnel something lonely back of the boy's hard stare +touched him and he smiled. + +"Well, Enoch, old man, are you glad to go?" + +"I dunno," replied Nucky. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +BRIGHT ANGEL + + +"I was sure, when I was eighteen, that if I could but give to the world +a picture of Boyhood, flagellated by the world's stupidity and +brutality, the world would heed. At thirty, I gave up the +hope."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +No one could have been a less troublesome traveling companion than +Nucky. He ate what was set before him, without comment. He sat for +endless hours on the observation platform, smoking cigarettes, his keen +eyes on the flying landscape. His blue Norfolk suit and his carefully +chosen cap and linen restored a little of the adolescent look of which +the flashy clothing of his own choosing had robbed him. No one glanced +askance at Mr. Seaton's protegé or asked the lawyer idle questions +regarding him. + +And yet Nucky was very seldom out of John Seaton's thoughts: Over and +over he tried to get the boy into conversation only to be checked by a +reply that was half sullen, half impertinent. Finally, the lawyer fell +back on surmises. Was Nucky laying some deep scheme for mischief when +they reached San Francisco? John had believed fully that he and Nucky +would be friends before Chicago was passed. But he had been mistaken. +What in the world was he to do with the young gambler in San Francisco, +that paradise of gamblers? He could employ a detective to dog Nucky, +but that was to acknowledge defeat. If there were only some place +along the line where he could leave the boy, giving him a taste of out +of door life, such as only the west knows! + +For a long time Seaton turned this idea over in his mind. The train +was pulling out of Albuquerque when he had a sudden inspiration. He +knew Nucky too well by now to ask him for information or for an +expression of opinion. But that night, at dinner, he said, casually, + +"We're going to leave the main line, at Williams, Enoch, and go up to +the Grand Canyon. There's a guide at Bright Angel that I camped with +two years ago. It's such bad weather that I don't suppose there'll be +many people up there and I telegraphed him this afternoon to give me a +week or so. I'm going to turn you over to him and I'll go on to the +Coast. I'll pick you up on my way back." + +"All right," said Nucky, casually. + +Mr. Seaton ground his teeth with impatience and thought of what Jack's +enthusiasm would have been over such a program. But he said nothing +and strolled out to the observation car. + +It was raining and sleeting at Williams. They had to wait for hours in +the little station for the connecting train to the Canyon. It came in, +finally, and Seaton and Nucky climbed aboard, the only visitors for the +usually popular side trip. It was a wild and lonely run to the +Canyon's rim. Nucky, sitting with his face pressed against the window, +saw only vague forms of cactus and evergreens through the sleet which, +as the grade rose steadily, changed to snow. It was mid-afternoon when +they reached the rim. A porter led them at once into the hotel and +after they were established, Seaton went into Nucky's room. The boy +was standing by the window, staring at the storm. + +"We can't see the Canyon from our windows," said John. "I took care of +that! It isn't a thing you want staring at you day and night! Nucky, +I want you to get your first look at the Canyon, alone. One always +should. You'd better put on your coat and go out now before the storm +gets any worse. Don't wander away. Stick to the view in front of the +hotel. I'll be out in a half hour." + +Nucky pulled on his overcoat, picked up his cap and went out. A porter +was sweeping the walk before the main entrance. + +"Say, mister, I want to see the Canyon," said Nucky. + +"Nothin' to hinder. Yonder she lies, waiting for you, son!" jerking +his thumb over his shoulder. + +Nucky looked in the direction indicated. Then he took a deep, shocked +breath. The snow flakes were falling into nothingness! A bitter wind +was blowing but Nucky felt the sweat start to his forehead. Through +the sifting snow flakes, disappearing before his gaze, he saw a void, +silver gray, dim in outline, but none the less a void. The earth gaped +to its center, naked, awful, before his horrified eyes. Yet, the same +urgent need to know the uttermost that forces one to the edge of the +skyscraper forced Nucky to the rail. He clutched it. A great gust of +wind came up from the Canyon, clearing the view of snow for the moment, +and Nucky saw down, down for a mile to the black ribbon of the Colorado +below. + +"I can't stand it!" he muttered. "I can't stand it!" and turning, he +bolted for the hotel. He stopped before the log fire in the lobby. A +little group of men and women were sitting before the blaze, reading or +chatting. One of the women looked up at the boy and smiled. It seemed +impossible to Nucky that human beings could be sitting so calmly, doing +quite ordinary things, with that horror lying just a few feet away. +For perhaps five minutes he struggled with his sense of panic, then he +went slowly out and forced himself to the railing again. + +While he had been indoors, it had ceased to storm and the view lay +clear and clean before him. Although there was a foot of level snow on +the rim, so vast were the ledges and benches below that the drifts +served only as high lights for their crimson and black and orange. +Just beneath Nucky were tree tops, heavy laden with white. Far, far +below were tiny shrubs that the porter said were trees and below +these,--orderly strips of brilliant colors and still below, and +below--! Nucky moistened his dry lips and once more bolted to the +hotel. + +Just within the door, John Seaton met him. + +"Well, Enoch?" + +There was no coldness in Nucky's eyes now. They were the frightened +eyes of a child. + +"I can't stand that thing!" he panted. "I gotta get back to N' York, +now!" + +Seaton looked at Nucky curiously. "For heaven's sake, Enoch! Where's +your nerve?" + +"What good would nerve do a guy lookin' at hell!" gasped Nucky. + +"Hell? Why the Canyon is one of the beautiful sights of the world! +You're crazy, Enoch! Come out with me and look again." + +"Not on your life!" cried Nucky. "I'm going back to little old N' +York." + +"It can't be done, my boy. There'll be no trains out of here for at +least twelve hours, because of the storm. And listen, Enoch! No +nonsense! Remember that if you wander away from the hotel, you're +lost. There are no trolleys in this neck of the woods, and no +telephones and no police. Wait a moment, Enoch, there's Frank Allen, +the guide." + +Seaton hailed a tall, rather heavily built man in corduroys and high +laced boots, who had lounged up to the cigar stand. As he approached, +Nucky saw that he was middle aged, with a heavily tanned face out of +which the blue of his eyes shone conspicuously. + +"Here he is, Frank!" exclaimed Seaton. "Nucky, this is the man who is +going to look out for you while I'm gone." + +"Well, young New York! What're you going to do with the Canyon?" +Frank slapped the boy on the shoulder. + +Nucky grinned uncertainly. "I dunno!" he said. + +"Had a look at it?" demanded the guide. + +"Yes!" Nucky spoke with sudden firmness. "And I don't like it. I +want to go back to New York." + +"Come on out with Frank and me and get used to it," suggested John +Seaton. + +"I'm not going near it again," returned Nucky. + +Allen looked at the boy with deliberate interest. He noted the pasty +skin, the hollow chest, the strong, unformed features, the thin lips +that were trembling, despite the cigarette stained fingers that pressed +against them. + +"Did you ever talk to Indians?" asked Allen, suddenly. + +"No," said Nucky. + +"Well, let's forget the Canyon and go over to the hogan, yonder. Is +that the best you two can do on shoes? I'm always sorry for you +lady-like New Yorkers. Come over here a minute. I guess we can rent +some boots to fit you." + +"I'm going to write letters, Frank," said Seaton. "You and Enoch'll +find me over at one of the desks. Fit the boy out as you think best." + +Not long after, Nucky trailed the guide through the lobby. He was +wearing high laced boots, with a very self-conscious air. Once +outside, in the glory of the westering sun, Frank took a deep breath. + +"Great air, boy! Get all you can of it into those flabby bellows of +yours. Before we go to the hogan, come over to the corral. My Tom +horse has got a saddle sore. A fool tourist rode him all day with a +fold in the blanket as big as your fist." + +"Is he a bronco?" asked Nucky, with sudden animation. + +"He was a bronco. You easterners have the wrong idea. A bronco is a +plains pony before he's broken. After he's busted he's a horse. See?" + +"Aw, you're dead wrong, Frank!" drawled a voice. + +Nucky looked up in astonishment to see a tall man, whose skin was a +rich bronze, offering a cigarette to the guide. + +"Dry up, Mike!" returned Frank with a grin. "What does a Navaho know +about horses! Enoch, this is a sure enough Indian. Mike, let me +introduce Mr. Enoch Huntingdon of New York City." + +The Navaho nodded and smiled. "You look as if a little Canyon climbing +would do you good," said he. "I was looking at Tom horse, Frank. He's +in bad shape. How much did that tender-foot weigh that rode him?" + +"I don't know. I wasn't here the day they hired him out. I know the +cuss would have weighed a good deal less if I'd been here when that +saddle was taken off! Going down to-morrow with Miss Planer?" + +"Not unless some one breaks trail for us. Are you going to try it?" + +"Not unless my young friend here gets his nerve up. Want to try it, +Enoch?" + +"Try what?" asked Nucky. + +"The trip down Bright Angel." + +"Not on your life!" cried Nucky. + +Both men laughed, the Indian moving off through the snow in the +direction of a dim building among the cedars, while Frank led on to the +corral fence. Fifteen or twenty horses and mules were moving about the +enclosure. Allen crossed swiftly among them, with Nucky following, +apprehensively, close behind him. Frank's horse was in the stable, but +while he seemed to examine the sore spot on the animal's back, Frank's +real attention was riveted on Nucky. The boy was obviously ill at ease +and only half interested in the horse. + +"These are the lads that take us down the trail," said Allen finally, +slapping a velvety black mule on the flank. + +"We can't trust the horses. A mule knows more in a minute than a horse +knows all his life." + +"Will you go with me to take another look at it?" asked Nucky. + +An expression of understanding crossed Frank's weather-beaten face. +"Sure I will, boy! Let's walk up the rim a little and see if you can +steady your nerves." + +"I'd rather stay by the rail," replied Nucky, doggedly. + +"All right, old man! Don't take this thing too hard, you know! After +all, it's only a crack in the earth." + +Nucky grinned feebly, and trudged steadily up to the rail. The sun was +setting and the Canyon was like the infinite glory of God. Untiring as +was his love for the view Allen preferred, this time, to watch the +strange young face beside him. Nucky's pallor was still intense in +spite of the stinging wind. His deep set eyes were strained like a +child's, listening to a not-to-be-understood explanation of something +that frightens him. For a full five minutes he gazed without speaking. +Then the sun sank and the Canyon immediately was filled with gloom. +Nucky's lips quivered. "I can't stand it!" he muttered again, "I can't +stand it!" and once more he bolted. + +This time he went directly to his room. Neither Allen nor Seaton +attempted to follow him. + +"He is some queer kid!" said Frank, taking the cigar Seaton offered +him. "He may be a born crook or he may not, but believe me, there's +something in him worth finding out about." + +"Just what I say!" agreed Seaton. "But don't be sure you're the one +that can unlock him. Mrs. Seaton couldn't and if she failed, any woman +on earth would. And I still believe that a chap that's got any good in +him will open up to a good woman." + +"_His_ woman, man! _His_! Not to somebody else's woman." Allen's +tone was impatient. + +"_His_ woman! Don't talk like a chump, Frank! Enoch's only fourteen." + +"Makes no difference. Your wife is an angel as I learned two years +ago, but she may not have Enoch's number, just the same. If I were +you, I'd mooch up to the kid's room if he doesn't come down promptly to +supper. His nerves are in rotten shape and he oughtn't to be alone too +long." + +Seaton nodded, and shortly after seven he knocked softly on Nucky's +door. There was an inarticulate, "Come in!" Nucky was standing by the +window in the dark room. + +"Supper's ready, old man. You'd better have it now and get to bed +early. Jumping from sea level to a mile in the air makes a chap +sleepy. Are you washed up?" + +"I'm all ready," mumbled Nucky. + +He went to bed shortly after eight. Something forlorn and childish +about the boy's look as he said good night moved John Seaton to say, + +"Tell a bell boy to open the door between our rooms, will you, Enoch?" +and he imagined that a relieved look flickered in Nucky's eyes. + +Seaton himself went to bed and to sleep early. He was wakened about +midnight by a soft sound from Nucky's room and he lay for a few moments +listening. Then he rose and turned on the light in his room, and in +Nucky's. The boy hastily jerked the covers over his head. Seaton +pulled the extra blanket at the bed foot over his own shoulders, then +he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his hand on Nucky's heaving +back. + +"Don't you think, if it's bad enough to make you cry, that it's time +you told a friend about it, Enoch?" he said, his voice a little husky. + +For a moment sobs strangled the boy's utterance entirely. Finally, he +pulled the covers down but still keeping his head turned away, he said, + +"I want to go home!" + +"Home, Enoch? Where's your home?" + +"N' York's my home. This joint scares me." + +"Whom do you want to see in New York, Enoch?" + +"Anybody! Nobody! Even the police station'd look better'n that thing. +I can feel it out there now, waitin' and listenin'!" + +Seaton stared blankly at the back of Nucky's head. His experiment was +not turning out at all as he had planned. Jack often had puzzled him +but there had always been something to grasp with Jack. His own boy +had been such a good sport! A good sport! Suddenly Seaton cleared his +throat. + +"Enoch, among the men you know, what is the opinion of a squealer?" + +"We hate him," replied the boy, shortly. + +"And the other night when you were arrested, you were rather proud of +standing up and taking your punishment without breaking down. If one +of the men arrested at that time had broken down, you'd all have +despised him, I suppose?" + +"Sure thing," agreed Nucky, turning his head ever so little toward the +man. + +"Enoch, why are you breaking down now?" + +"Aw, what difference does it make?" demanded the boy. "You despise me +anyhow!" + +"Oh!" ejaculated Seaton as a sudden light came to his groping mind. +"Oh, I see! What a chump you are, old man! Of course, I despise the +kind of life you've led, but I blame Minetta Lane for that, not you. +And I believe there is so much solid fine stuff in you that I'm giving +you this trip to show you that there are people and things outside of +Minetta Lane that are more worth a promising boy's time than gambling. +But, you won't play the game. You are so vain and ignorant, you refuse +to see over your nose." + +"I told you, you despised me," said Nucky, sullenly. + +The man smiled to himself. Suddenly he took the boy's hand in both his +own. + +"I suppose if Jack had been reared in Minetta Lane, he'd have been just +as wrong in his ideas as you are. Look here, Enoch, I'll make a +bargain with you. I want you to try the Canyon for a week or so, until +I get back from the Coast. If, at the end of that time, you still want +Minetta Lane, I'll land you back there with fifty dollars in your +pocket, and you can go your own gait." + +Nucky for the first time turned and looked Seaton in the face. +"Honest?" he gasped. + +Seaton nodded. + +"Do I have to go down the Canyon?" asked Nucky. + +"You don't have to do anything except play straight, till I get back." + +"I--I guess I could stand it,"--the boy's eyes were a little pitiful in +their fear. + +"That isn't enough. I want your promise, Enoch!" + +Nucky stared into Seaton's steady eyes. "All right, I'll promise. +And--and, Mr. Seaton, would you sit with me till I get to sleep?" + +Seaton nodded. Nucky had made no attempt to free his hand from the +kindly grasp that imprisoned it. He lay staring at the ceiling for a +long moment, then his eyelids fluttered, dropped, and he slept. He did +not stir when Seaton rose and went back to his own bed. + +It did not snow during the night and the train that had brought Nucky +and Mr. Seaton up announced itself as ready for the return trip to +Williams, immediately after breakfast. Nucky slept late and only +opened his eyes when Frank Allen clumped into the room about nine +o'clock. + +"Hello, New York! Haven't died, have you? Come on, we're going to +break trail down the Canyon, you and I." + +"Not on your life!" Nucky roused at once and sat up in bed, his face +very pale under its thatch of dark red hair. + +"John Seaton turned you over to me. Said to tell you he thought you +needed the sleep more than you did to say good-by to him." + +"He told me last night," exclaimed Nucky; "that I didn't have to go +down the Canyon." + +"And you don't, you poor sissy! You aren't afraid to get up and dress, +are you?" Allen's grin took away part of the sting of his speech. +"Meet me in the lobby in twenty minutes, Enoch," and he turned on his +heel. + +Nucky was down in less than the time allotted. As he leaned against +the office desk, waiting for the guide, the room clerk said, "So you're +the kid that's afraid to go down the trail. Usually it's the old +ladies that kick up about that. Most boys your age are crazy for the +trip." + +Nucky muttered something and moved away. In front of the fire the +woman who had smiled at him the day before, smiled again. + +"Afraid too, aren't you! They can't get me onto that trail, either." + +Nucky smiled feebly then looked about a little wildly for Frank Allen. +When he espied the guide at the cigar-stand, he crossed to him +hurriedly. + +"Say now, Mr. Allen, listen!" + +"I'm all ears, son!" + +"Now don't tell everybody I'm afraid of the trail!" + +"Oh, you're the kid!" exclaimed a bell boy. "Say, there was an old +lady here once that used to go out every morning and pray to the Lord +to close the earth's gap, it made her so nervous! Why don't you try +that, kid? Maybe the Lord would take a suggestion from a New Yorker." + +Nucky rushed to the dining room. He was too angry and resentful to eat +much. He drank two cups of coffee, however, and swallowed some toast. + +"Ain't you going to eat your eggs?" demanded the waitress. "What's the +matter with you? Folks always stuff themselves, here. Say, don't let +the trail scare you. I was that way at first, but finally I got my +nerve up and there's nothing to it. Say, let me give you some advice. +There's only a few folks here now, so the guides and the hotel people +have got plenty of time on their hands. They're awful jokers and +they'll tease the life out of you, till you take the trip. You just +get on a mule, this morning, and start. Every day you wait, you'll +hate it more." + +Nucky's vanity had been deeply wounded. Greater than his fear, which +was very great indeed, was Nucky's vanity. He gulped the second cup of +coffee, then with the air of bravado which belonged to Marty the Dude, +he sauntered up to the cigar stand where the guide still lounged. + +"All right, Frank," said Nucky. "I'm ready for Bright Angel when you +are." + +The guide looked at the boy carefully. Two bright red spots were +burning in Nucky's cheeks. He was biting his lips, nervously. But his +blue eyes were hard and steady. + +"I'll be ready in half an hour, Enoch. Meet me at the corral. We'll +camp down below for a night or two if you hold out and I'll have to +have the grub put up. You go over to the store room yonder and get a +flannel shirt and a pair of denim pants to pull on over those you're +wearing. Mr. Seaton left his camera for you. I put it on your bureau. +Bring that along. Skip now!" + +Nucky's cheeks were still burning when he met Allen at the corral. +Three mules, one a well loaded pack mule, the others saddled, were +waiting. Frank leaned against the bars. + +"Enoch," said the man, "there's no danger at all, if you let your mule +alone. Don't try to guide him. He knows the trail perfectly. All you +have to do is to sit in the saddle and look up, not down! Remember, +up, not down! I shall lead. You follow, on Spoons. Old Foolish Face +brings up the rear with the pack. Did you ever ride, before?" + +"I never touched a horse in my life," replied Nucky, trying to curb the +chattering of his teeth. + +"You had better mount and ride round the road here, for a bit. Take +the reins, so. Stand facing the saddle, so. Now put this foot in the +stirrup, seize the pommel, and swing the other leg over as you spring. +That's the idea!" + +Nucky was awkward, but he landed in the saddle and found the other +stirrup, the mule standing fast as a mountain while he did so. Spoons +moved off at Allen's bidding, and Nucky grasped at the pommel. But +only for a moment. + +"Don't he shake any worse than this?" he cried. + +"No, but it's not so easy to stay in the saddle when the grade's steep. +Pull on your right rein, Enoch, and bring old Spoons in behind me. +Well done! We're off! See the bunch on the hotel steps! Guess you +fooled 'em this time, New York!" + +Half a dozen people, including the clerk were standing on the steps, +watching the little cavalcade. As the mules filed by, somebody began +to clap. + +"What's the excitement, Frank?" demanded Nucky. + +Frank turned in his saddle to smile at the boy. "Out in this country +we admire physical nerve because we need a lot of it. And you're +showing a good quality, old chap. Just sit easy now and when you want +me to stop, yell." + +Nucky was sitting very straight with his thin chest up, and he managed +to maintain this posture as the trail turned down over the rim. Then +he grasped the pommel in both hands. + +It was a wonderful trail, carved with infinite patience and ingenuity +out of the canyon wall. To Allen it was as safe and easy as a flight +of stairs. Nucky, trembling in the saddle would have felt quite as +comfortable standing on the topmost window ledge of the Flat Iron +building, in New York. And, to Nucky, there was no trail! Only a +narrow, corkscrew shelf, deep banked with snow into which the mules set +their small feet gingerly. For many minutes, the boy saw only this +trackless ledge, and the sickening blue depths below. + +"I can never stand it!" he muttered. "I can never stand it! If this +mule makes just one mis-step, I'm dead." He felt a little nauseated. +"I can never stand it! 'Twould have been better if I'd just let 'em +tease me. Hey, Frank!" + +The guide looked back. The red spots were gone from Nucky's cheeks now. + +"We got to go back! I can't get away with it!" cried the boy. + +"It's impossible to turn here, Enoch! Look up, man! Look up! And +just trust old Spoons! Are you cold? It was only eight above zero, +when we left the top. But the snow'll disappear as we go down and when +we reach the river it'll be summer. See that lone pine up on the rim +to your right? They say an Indian girl jumped from the top of that +because she bore a cross-eyed baby. Look up, Enoch, as we round this +curve and see that streak of red in the wall. An Indian giant bled to +death on the rim and his blood seeped through the solid rock to this +point. Watch how the sky gets a deeper blue, the farther down we go. +And now, Enoch look out, not down. You may come down Bright Angel a +thousand times and never see the colors you see to-day. The snowfall +has turned the world into a rainbow, by heck!" + +Slowly, very slowly, Nucky turned his head and clinging to the pommel, +he stared across the canyon. White of snow; sapphire of sky; black of +sharp cut shadow. Mountains rising from the canyon floor thrust +scarlet and yellow heads across his line of vision. Close to his left, +as the trail curved, a wall of purest rose color lifted from a bank of +snow that was as blue as Allen's eyes. Beyond and beyond and ever +beyond, the vast orderliness of the multi-colored canyon strata melted +into delicate white clouds that now revealed, now concealed the +mountain tops. + +Nucky gazed and gazed, shuddering, yet enthralled. Another sharp twist +in the trail and his knee scraped against the wall. He cried out +sharply. Frank turned to look but he did not stop the mules. + +"Spoons thinks it's better to amputate your leg, once in a while than +to risk getting too close to the outer edge of the trail in all this +snow. He's an old warrior, is Spoons! He could carry a grand piano +down this trail and never scrape the varnish. Look up, Enoch! We'll +soon reach a broad bench where I'll let you rest." + +"Don't you think I'll ever get off this brute till we reach bottom!" +shuddered Nucky. + +The guide laughed and silence fell again. The mules moved as silently +through the snow as the mists across the mountain tops. In careful +gradation the trail zigzagged downward. The snow lessened in depth +with each foot of drop. The bitter cold began to give way to the +increasing warmth of the sun. Sensation crept back into Nucky's feet +and hands. By a supreme effort for many moments he managed to fix his +eyes firmly on Frank's broad back, and though he could not give up his +hold on the pommel, he sat a little straighter. Then, of a sudden, +Spoons stopped in his tracks, and as suddenly a little avalanche of +snow shot down the canyon wall, catching the mule's forelegs. Spoons +promptly threw himself inward, against the wall. Nucky gave a startled +look at the sickening depths below and when Frank turned in his saddle, +Nucky had fainted, half clinging to Spoons' neck, half supported +against the wet, rocky wall. + +With infinite care, and astonishing speed, Frank slid from his mule and +made his way back to the motionless Spoons. + +"Always said you were more than human, old chap," said Allen, kicking +the snow away from the mule's fore legs. "Easy now! Don't lose your +passenger!" The mule regained his balance and stepped carefully +forward out of the drift, while the guide, balanced perilously on the +outer edge of the trail, kept a supporting hand on Nucky's shoulders. + +But there was no need of the flask Frank pulled from his pocket. Nucky +opened his eyes almost immediately. Whatever emotion Frank may have +felt, he kept to himself. "I told you Spoons was better than a life +insurance policy, Enoch." + +Enoch slowly pushed himself erect. He looked from Frank's quizzical +eyes to Spoons' twitching ears, then at his own shaking hands. + +"I fainted, didn't I?" he asked. + +Allen nodded, and something in the twist of the man's lips maddened +Nucky. He burst forth wildly: + +"You think I'm a blank blank sissy! Well, maybe I am. But if New York +couldn't scare me, this blank blank hole out here in this blank blank +jumping off place can't. I'm going on down this trail and if I fall +and get killed, it's up to you and Mr. Seaton." + +"Good work, New York!" responded Allen briefly. He edged his way +carefully back to his mule and the cavalcade moved onward. Perhaps +five minutes afterward, as they left the snow line, the guide looked +back. Nucky was huddled in the saddle, his eyes closed tight, but his +thin lips were drawn in a line that caused Allen to change his purpose. +He did not speak as he had planned, but led the way on for a long half +hour, in silence, his eyes thoughtful. + +But Nucky did not keep his eyes closed long. The pull of horror, of +mystery, of grandeur was too great. And after the avalanche, his +confidence in Spoons was established. He was little more than a child +and under his bravado and his watchfulness there was a child's +recklessness. If he were to fall, at least he must see whither he was +to fall. He forced himself to look from time to time into the depths +below. The trail dropped steadily, while higher and higher soared +canyon wall and mountain peak. It was still early when the trail met +the plateau on which lie the Indian gardens. + +Frank's mule suddenly quickened his stride as did Spoons. But Nucky, +although he was weary and saddle sore had no intention of crying a +halt, now that the trail was level. His pulse began to subside and +once more he sat erect in the saddle. When the mules rushed forward to +bury their noses in a cress-grown spring, he grinned at Frank. + +"Well, here I am, after all!" + +Frank grinned in return. "If I could put through a few more stunts +like this, you'd look almost like a boy, instead of a potato sprout. +Get down and limber up." + +Nucky half scrambled, half fell off his mule. "Must be spring down +here," he cried, staring about at grass and cottonwood. + +"Just about. And it'll be summer when we reach the river." + +"That was some trail, wasn't it, Frank! Do many kids take it?" + +"Lots of 'em, but only with guides, and you were the worst case of +scared boy I've ever seen." + +Nucky flushed. "Well, you might give me credit for hanging to it, even +if I was scared." + +"I'll give you a lot of credit for that, old man. But if the average +New York boy has nerves like yours, I'm glad many of them don't come to +the Canyon, that's all. Your nerves would disgrace a girl." + +"The guys I gamble with never complained of my lack of nerves," cried +Nucky, angrily. + +"Gambling! Thunder! What nerve does it take to stack the cards +against a dub? But this country out here, let me tell you, it takes a +man to stand up to it." + +"And I've been through police raids too, and never squealed and I know +two gunmen and they say I'm as hard as steel." + +"They should have seen you with your arms around Spoons' neck, back up +the trail there," said Allen dryly. "Come! Mount again, Enoch! I +want to have lunch at the river." + +Enoch was sullen as they started on but his sullenness did not last +long. As his fear receded, his curiosity increased. He gazed about +him with absorbed interest, and he began to bombard the guide with +questions in genuine boy fashion. + +"How far is it to the river? Do we have any steeper trails than the +ones we've been on, already? Did any one ever swim across the river? +Was any one ever killed when he minded what the guide told him? What +guys camp in the Indian gardens? How much does it cost? Did any one +ever climb up the side of the Canyon, say like one yonder where it +looked like different colored stair steps going up? Did any one ever +find gold in the canyon? How did they know it when they found it? Did +Frank ever do any mining? What was placer mining?" And on and on, +only the intermittently returning fear of the trail silencing him until +Frank ordered him to dismount in a narrow chasm within sight of the +roaring, muddy Colorado. + +"One of the ways Seaton employed to persuade me to take care of you for +a week was by telling me you were a very silent kid," added the guide. + +Nucky grinned sheepishly, and turned to stare wonderingly at the black +walls that here closed in upon them breathlessly. Their lunch had been +prepared at the hotel. Frank fed the mules, then handed Nucky his box +lunch and proceeded to open his own. + +"Does it make you sore to have me ask you questions?" asked the boy. + +"No! I guess it's more natural for a kid than the sulks you've been +keeping up with Seaton." + +"I'm not such a kid. I'm going on fifteen and I've earned my own way +since I was twelve. And I earn it with men, too." Nucky jerked his +head belligerently. + +Frank ate a hard boiled egg before speaking. Then, with one eyebrow +raised, he grunted, "What'd you work at?" + +"Cards and dice!" this very proudly. + +"You poor nut!" Frank's voice was a mixture of contempt and +compassion. Nucky immediately turned sulky and the meal was finished +in silence. When the last doughnut had been devoured, Frank stretched +himself in the warm sand left among the rocks by the river at flood. + +"Must be eighty degrees down here," he yawned. "We'll rest for a half +hour, then we'll make the night camp. It's after two now and it will +be dark in this narrow rift by four." + +Nucky looked about him apprehensively. The Canyon here was little more +than a gorge whose walls rose sheer and menacing toward the narrow +patch of blue sky above. He could not make up his mind to lie down and +relax as Frank had done. All was too new and strange. + +"Are there snakes round here?" he demanded. + +Frank's grunt might have been either yes or no. Nucky glanced +impatiently at the guide's closed eyes, then he began to clamber +aimlessly and languidly over the rocks to the river edge. At a +distance of perhaps a hundred feet from Frank he stopped, looked at the +bleak, blank wall of the river opposite, bit his nails and shuddering +turned back. He crouched on a rock, near the guide, smoking one +cigarette after another until Frank jumped to his feet. + +"Three o'clock, New York! Time to get ready for the night." + +"I don't want to stay in this hole all night!" protested Nucky, "I +couldn't sleep." + +"You'll like it. You've no idea how comfortable I'm going to make you. +Now, your job is to gather drift wood and pile it on that flat topped +rock yonder. Keep piling till I tell you to quit. The nights are cold +and I'll keep a little blaze going late, for you." + +"What's the idea?" demanded Nucky. "Why stay down here, like lost +dogs, when there's a first class hotel back up there?" + +Frank sighed. "Well, the idea is this! A real he man likes camping in +the wilds better'n he likes anything on earth. Seaton thought maybe +somewhere in that pindling carcass of yours there was the making of a +he man and that you'd like the experience. I promised him I'd try you +out and I'm trying you, hang you for an ungrateful, cowardly cub." + +Nucky turned on his heel and began to pick up drift wood. He was in +poor physical trim but the pile, though it grew slowly, grew steadily. +By the time Frank announced the camp ready, Nucky's fuel pile was of +really imposing dimensions. And dusk was thickening in the gorge. + +Before a great flat faced rock that looked toward the river, was a +stretch of clean dry sand. Against this rock, the guide had placed a +rubber air-mattress and a plentiful supply of blankets. A small +folding table stood before a rough stone fire place. A canvas shelter +stretched vertically on two strips of driftwood, shut off the night +wind that was beginning to sweep through the Canyon. The mules were +tethered close to the camp. + +"Where'd that mattress come from?" exclaimed Nucky. + +"Partly off old Funny Face's back and part out of a bicycle pump. +Didn't want to risk your sickly bones on the ground until you harden up +a bit. Pretty good pile of timber for an amateur, New York." Frank +looked up from the fire he was kindling into Nucky's thin, tired face. +"Now, son, you sit down on the end of your bed and take it easy. I'm +an old hand at this game and before we've had our week together I'm +banking on you being glad to help me. But to-day you've had enough." + +"Thanks," mumbled Nucky, as he eagerly followed the guide's suggestions. + +The early supper tasted delicious to the boy although every muscle in +his body ached. Bacon and flap jacks, coffee and canned peaches he +devoured with more appetite than he ever had brought to ministrone and +red wine. A queer and inexplicable sense of comfort and a desire to +talk came over him after the meal was finished, the camp in order, and +the fire replenished. + +"This ain't so bad," he said. "I wish some of the guys that used to +come to Luigi's could see me now." + +"And who was Luigi?" asked Frank, lighting his pipe and stretching +himself on a blanket before the fire. + +"He was the guy I lived with after my mother died. He ran a gambling +joint, and we was fixing the place up for women, too, when we all got +pinched." This very boastfully. + +"Who were your folks, Enoch?" + +"Never heard of none of 'em. Luigi's a Dago. He wouldn't have been so +bad if he didn't pinch the pennies so. Were you ever in New York, +Frank?" This in a patronizing voice. + +"Born there," replied the guide. + +Nucky gasped with surprise. "How'd you ever happen to come out here?" + +"I can't live anywhere else because of chronic asthma. I don't know +now that I'd want to live anywhere else. I used to kick against the +pricks, but you get more sense as you grow older--after it's too late." + +"I should think you'd rather be dead," said Nucky sincerely. "If I +thought I couldn't get back to MacDougal Street I'd want to die." + +"MacDougal Street and the dice, I suppose, eh? Enoch, you're on the +wrong track and I know, because that's the track I tried myself. And I +got stung." + +"But--" began Nucky. + +"No but about it. It's the wrong track and you can't get to decency or +happiness or contentment on it. There's two things a man can never +make anything real out of; cards or women." + +"I didn't want to make anything out of women. I want to get even with +'em, blank blank 'em all," cried Nucky with sudden fury. And he burst +into an obscene tirade against the sex that utterly astonished the +guide. He lay with his chin supported on his elbow, staring at the +boy, at his thin, strongly marked features, and at the convulsive +working of his throat as he talked. + +"Here! Dry up!" Frank cried at last. "I'll bet these canyon walls +never looked down on such a rotten little cur as you are in all their +history. You gambling, indecent little gutter snipe, isn't there a +clean spot in you?" + +"You were a gambler yourself!" shrieked Nucky. + +"Yes, sir, I know cards and I know women, and that's why I know just +what a mess of carrion your lovely young soul is. Any kid that can see +the glory o' God that you've seen to-day and then sit down and talk +like an overflowing sewer isn't fit to live. I didn't know that before +I came out to this country, but I know it now. You get to bed. I +don't want to hear another word out of you to-night. Pull your boots +off. That's all." + +Half resentful, half frightened, Nucky obeyed. For a while, with +nerves and over-tired muscles twitching, he lay watching the fire. +Then he fell asleep. + +It was about midnight when he awoke. He had kicked the blankets off +and was cold. The fire was out but the full moon sailed high over the +gorge. Frank, rolled in his blankets, his feet to the dead fire, slept +noisily. Nucky sat up and pulled his blankets over him, but he did not +lie down again. He sat staring at the wonder of the Canyon. For a +long half hour he was motionless save for the occasional moistening of +his lips and turning of his head as he followed the unbelievable +contour of the distant silvered peaks. Then of a sudden he jumped from +his bed and, stooping over Frank, shook him violently. + +"Wake up!" he cried. "Wake up! I gotta tell somebody or the Canyon'll +drive me crazy. I'll tell you why I'm bad. It's because my mother was +bad before me. She was Luigi's mistress. She was a bad lot. It was +born in me." + +Frank sat up, instantly on the alert. "How old were you when she +died?" he demanded. + +"Six," replied Nucky. + +"Shucks! you don't know anything about it, then! Who told you she was +bad?" + +"Luigi! I guess he'd know, wouldn't he?" + +"Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. At any rate, I wouldn't take the +oath on his deathbed of a fellow who ran a joint like Luigi's and +taught a kid what he's taught you. He told you that, of course, to +keep a hold on you." + +"But she lived with him. I remember that myself." + +"I can't help that. I'll bet you my next year's pay, she wasn't your +mother!" + +"Not my mother?" Nucky drew himself up with a long breath. "Certainly +she was my mother." + +Frank uncovered some embers from the ashes and threw on wood. "I'll +bet she wasn't your mother," he repeated firmly. "Seaton told me that +that policeman friend of yours said she might and might not be your +mother. Seaton and the policeman both think she wasn't, and I'm with +'em." + +"But why? Why?" cried Nucky in an agony of impatience. + +"For the simple reason that a fellow with a face like your's doesn't +have a bad mother." + +In the light of the leaping flames Nucky's face fell. "Aw, what you +giving us! Sob stuff?" + +"I'm telling you something that's as true as God. You can't see Him or +talk to Him, but you know He made this Canyon, don't you?" + +Nucky nodded quickly. + +"All right, then I'm telling you, every line of your face and head says +you didn't come of a breed like the woman that lived with Luigi. I'll +bet if you show you have any decent promise, Seaton will clear that +point up. A good detective could do it." + +"I never thought of such a thing," muttered Nucky. He continued to +stare at Frank, his pale boy's face tense with conflicting hope and +fear. The guide picked up his blanket, but Nucky cried out: + +"Don't go to sleep for a minute, please! I can't stand it alone in +this moonlight. I never thought such thoughts in my life as I have +down here, about God and who I am and what a human being is. I tell +you, I'm going crazy." + +Frank nodded, and began to fill his pipe. "Sit down close to the fire, +son. That's what the Canyon does to anybody that's thin skinned. I +went through it too. I tell you, Nucky, this life here in the Canyon +and the thoughts you think here, are the only real things. New York +and all that, is just the outer shell of living. Understand me?" + +The boy nodded, his eyes fixed on Frank's with pitiful eagerness. + +"It's clean out here. This country isn't all messed up with men and +women's badness. Everybody starts even and with a clean slate. Lord +knows, I was a worthless bunch when I struck here, fifteen years ago. +I'd been expelled from Yale in my senior year for gambling. I'd run +through the money my father'd left me. I'd gotten into a woman scrape +and I'd alienated every member of my family. Just why I thought a deck +of cards was worth all that, I can't tell you. But I did. Then I came +down here to see what the Canyon could do for my asthma and it cured +that, and by the Eternal, it cured my soul, too. Now listen to me, +son! You go back and lie down and put yourself to sleep thinking about +your real mother. Boys are apt to take their general build from their +mothers, so she was probably a big woman, not pretty, but with an +intellectual face full of character. Go on, now, Enoch! You need the +rest and we've got a full day to-morrow." + +Nucky passed his hand unsteadily over his eyes, but rose without a +word, and Frank tucked him into his blankets, then sat quietly waiting +by the fire. It was not long before deep breaths that were +pathetically near to sobs told the guide that Nucky was asleep. Then +he rolled himself in his own blankets. The moon passed the Canyon wall +and utter darkness enwrapped the Canyon and the river which murmured +harshly as it ran. + +Nucky wakened the next morning to the smell of coffee. He sat up and +eyed Frank soberly. + +"Hello, New York! This is the Grand Canyon!" Frank grinned as he +lifted the coffee pot from the fire. + +Nucky grinned in response. Shortly after, when he sat down to his +breakfast the grin had disappeared, but with it had gone the look of +sullenness that had seemed habitual. + +"Frank," said Nucky, when breakfast was over, "do you care if I talk to +you some more about--you know--you know what you said last night? I +never talked about it to any one but Luigi, and it makes me feel +better." + +"Sure, go ahead!" said Frank. + +"My mother--" began Nucky. + +"You mean Luigi's wife," corrected the guide. + +"Luigi's wife was crazy about me. She loved me just as much as any +mother could. Luigi's always been jealous about it. That's why he +treated me so rotten." + +"Bad women can be just as fond of kids as good women," was Frank's +comment. "What did she look like? Can you remember?" + +"I don't know whether I remember it or if it's just what folks told me. +She had dark blue eyes and dark auburn hair. Luigi said she was +Italian." + +"If she was, she was North Italian," mused the guide. "Did any one +ever give you any hints about your father?" + +A slow, painful red crept over Nucky's pale face. "I never asked but +once. Maybe you can guess what Luigi said." + +"If Luigi were in this part of the country," growled Allen, "I'd lead a +lynching party to call on him." He paused, eying Nucky's boyish face +closely, then he asked, "Did you love your mother?" + +"I suppose I did. But Luigi kept at me so that now I hate her and all +other women. Mrs. Seaton seemed kind of nice, but I suppose she is +like the rest of 'em." + +"Don't you think it! And did you know that Seaton thinks you were +kidnapped?" + +Nucky drew a quick breath and the guide went on, "I think so too. You +never belonged to an Italian. I can't tell you just why I feel so +certain. But I'd take my oath you are of New England stock. John +Seaton is a first-class lawyer. As I said to you last night, if you +show some decent spirit, he'd try to clear the matter up for you." + +Nucky's blue eyes were as eager and as wistful as a little child's. +His thin, mobile lips quivered. "I never thought of such a thing, +Frank!" + +"Well, you'd better think of it! Now then, you clean up these dishes +for me while I attend to the stock. I want to be off in a half hour." + +During the remainder of that very strenuous day, Nucky did not refer +again to the matter so near his heart. He was quiet, but no longer +sullen, and he was boyishly interested in the wonders of the Canyon. +The sun was setting when they at last reached the rim. For an hour +Nucky had not spoken. When Allen had turned in the saddle to look at +the boy, Nucky had nodded and smiled, then returned to his absorbed +watching of the lights and shadows in the Canyon. + +They dismounted at the corral. "Now, old man," said Frank, "I want you +to go in and tuck away a big supper, take a hot bath and go to bed. +To-morrow we'll ride along the rim just long enough to fight off the +worst of the saddle stiffness." + +"All right!" Nucky nodded. "I'm half dead, that's a fact. But I've +got to tell the clerk and the bell boy a thing or two before I do +anything." + +"Go to it!" Frank laughed, as he followed the mules through the gate. + +Nucky did not open his eyes until nine o'clock the next morning. When +he had finished breakfast, he found the guide waiting for him in the +lobby. + +"Hello, Frank!" he shouted. "Come on! Let's start!" + +All that day, prowling through the snow after Allen, Nucky might have +been any happy boy of fourteen. It was only when Frank again left him +at dusk that his face lengthened. + +"Can't I be with you this evening, Frank?" he asked. + +Frank shook his head. "I've got to be with my wife and little girl." + +"But why can't I--" Nucky hesitated as he caught the look in Frank's +face. "You'll never forget what I said about women, I suppose!" + +"Why should I forget it?" demanded Allen. + +The sullen note returned to Nucky's voice. "I wouldn't harm 'em!" + +"No, I'll bet you wouldn't!" returned Allen succinctly. + +Nucky turned to stare into the Canyon. It seemed to the guide that it +was a full five minutes that the boy gazed into the drifting depths +before he turned with a smile that was as ingenuous as it was wistful. + +"Frank, I guess I made an awful dirty fool of myself! I--I can't like +'em, but I'll take your word that lots of 'em are good. And nobody +will ever hear me sling mud at 'em again, so help me God--and the +Canyon!" + +Frank silently held out his hand and Nucky grasped it. Then the guide +said, "You'd better go to bed again as soon as you've eaten your +supper. By to-morrow you'll be feeling like a short trip down Bright +Angel. Good-night, old top!" + +When Nucky came out of the hotel door the next morning, Frank, with a +cavalcade of mules, was waiting for him. But he was not alone. Seated +on a small mule was a little girl of five or six. + +"Enoch," said Frank, "this is my daughter, Diana. She is going down +the trail with us." + +Nucky gravely doffed his hat, and the little girl laughed, showing two +front teeth missing and a charming dimple. + +"You've got red hair!" she cried. + +Nucky grunted, and mounted his mule. + +"Diana will ride directly behind me," said Frank. "You follow her, +Enoch." + +"Can that kid go all the way to the river?" demanded Nucky. + +"She's been there a good many times," replied Frank, looking proudly at +his little daughter. + +She was not an especially pretty child, but had Nucky been a judge of +feminine charms he would have realized that Diana gave promise of a +beautiful womanhood. Her chestnut hair hung in thick curls on her +shoulders. Her eyes were large and a clear hazel. Her skin, though +tanned, was peculiarly fine in texture. But the greatest promise of +her future beauty lay in a sweetness of expression in eye and lip that +was extraordinary in so young a child. For the rest, she was thin and +straight and wore a boy's corduroy suit. + +Diana feared the trail no more than Nucky feared MacDougal Street. She +was deeply interested in Nucky, turning and twisting constantly in her +saddle to look at him. + +"Do you like your mule, Enoch? He's a very nice mule." + +"Yes, but don't turn round or you'll fall." + +"How can I talk if I don't turn round? Do you like little girls?" + +"I don't know any little girls. Turn round, Diana!" + +"But you know me!" + +"I won't know you long if you don't sit still in that saddle, Miss." + +"Do you like me, Enoch?" + +Nucky groaned. "Frank, if Diana don't quit twisting, I'll fall myself, +even if she don't!" + +"Don't bother Enoch, daughter!" + +"I'm not bothering Enoch, Daddy. I'm making conversation. I like him, +even if he has red hair." + +Nucky sighed, and tried to turn the trend of the small girl's ideas. + +"I'll bet you don't know what kind of stone that is yonder where the +giant dripped blood." + +"There isn't any giant's blood!" exclaimed Diana scornfully. "That is +just red quartz!" + +"Oh, and what's the layer next to it?" demanded Nucky skeptically. + +"That's black basalt," answered the little girl. Then, leaning far out +of the saddle to point to the depths below, "and that--" + +"Frank!" shouted Nucky. "Diana is bound to fall! I just can't stand +looking at her." + +This time Frank spoke sternly. "Diana, don't turn to look at Enoch +again!" and the little girl obeyed. + +Had Nucky been other than he was, he might have been amused and not a +little charmed by Diana's housewifely ways when they made camp that +afternoon. She helped to kindle the fire and to unpack the provisions. +She lent a hand at arranging the beds and set the table, all with eager +docility and intelligence. But Nucky, after doing the chores Frank set +him, wandered off to a seat that commanded a wide view of the trail, +where he remained in silent contemplation of the wonders before him +until called to supper. + +He was silent during the meal, giving no heed to Diana's small attempts +at conversation, and wandered early to his blankets. In the morning, +however, he was all boy again, even attempting once or twice to tease +Diana, in a boy's offhand manner. That small person, however, had +become conscious of the fact that Enoch was not interested in her, and +she had withdrawn into herself with a pride and self-control that was +highly amusing to her father. Nor did she unbend during the day. + +The return trip was made with but one untoward incident. This occurred +after they had reached the snow line. Much of the snow had thawed and +by late afternoon there was ice on the trail. Frank led the way very +gingerly and the mules often stopped of their own accord, while the +guide roughened the path for them with the axe. In spite of this care, +as they rounded one last upper curve, Diana's mule slipped, and it was +only Diana's lightning quickness in dismounting and the mule's skill in +throwing himself inward that saved them both. + +Diana did not utter a sound, but Nucky gave a hoarse oath and, before +Frank could accomplish it, Nucky had dismounted, had rushed up the +trail and stood holding Diana in his lank, boyish arms, while the mule +regained his foothold. + +"Now look here, Frank, Diana rides either in your lap or mine!" said +Nucky shortly, his face twitching. + +Frank raised his eyebrows at the boy's tone. "Set her down, Enoch! +We'll all walk to the top. It's only a short distance, and the ice is +getting pretty bad." + +Nucky obediently set the little girl on her feet, and Diana tossed her +curls and followed her father without a word. And Frank, as he led the +procession, wore a puzzled grin on his genial face. + + * * * * * * + +Exactly ten days after Nucky's first trip down Bright Angel trail, John +Seaton descended somewhat wearily from the Pullman that had landed him +once more at the Canyon's rim. He had telegraphed the time of his +arrival and Nucky ran up to meet him. + +"Hello, Mr. Seaton!" he said. + +Seaton's jaw dropped. "What on earth--?" Then he grinned. + +Nucky was wearing high laced boots, a blue flannel shirt, gauntlet +gloves and a huge sombrero. + +"Some outfit, Enoch! Been down Bright Angel yet?" + +"Three times," replied the boy, with elaborate carelessness. "Say, Mr. +Seaton, can't we stay one more day and you take the trip with us?" + +"I think I can arrange it." Seaton was trying not to look at the boy +too sharply. "I'll be as sore as a dog, for I haven't been in a saddle +since I was out here before. But Bright Angel's worth it." + +"Sore!" Nucky laughed. "Say, Mr. Seaton, I just don't try to sit down +any more!" + +They had reached the hotel desk now and as Seaton signed the register +the clerk said, with a wink: + +"If you'll leave young Huntingdon behind, we'll take him on as a guide, +Mr. Seaton." + +Nucky tossed his head. "Huh! and you might get a worse guide than me, +too. Frank says I got the real makings in me and I'll bet Frank knows +more about guiding than any white in these parts. Navaho Mike told me +so. And Navaho Mike says he knows I could make money out here even at +fourteen." + +"How, Enoch?" asked Seaton, as they followed the bell boy upstairs. He +was not looking at Nucky, for fear he would show surprise. "How? at +cards?" + +"Aw, no! Placer mining! It don't cost much to outfit and there's +millions going to waste in the Colorado! Millions! Frank and Mike say +so. You skip, Billy,"--this to the bell boy,--"I'm Mr. Seaton's bell +hop." + +The boy pocketed the tip Nucky handed him, and closed the door after +himself. Nucky opened Seaton's suitcase. + +"Shall I unpack for you?" he asked. + +"No, thanks, I shan't need anything but my toilet case, for I'm going +to get into an outfit like yours, barring the hat and gloves." + +"Ain't it a pippin!" giving the hat an admiring glance. "Frank gave it +to me. He has two, and I rented the things for you, Mr. Seaton. Here +they are," opening the closet door. "Shall I help you with 'em? Will +you take a ride along the rim now? Shall I get the horses? Now? I'll +be waiting for you at the main entrance with the best pony in the +bunch." + +He slammed out of the room. John Seaton scratched his head after he +had shaken it several times, and made himself ready for his ride. +Frank rapped on the door before he had finished and came in, smiling. + +"Well, I understand you're to be taken riding!" he said. + +"For the love of heaven, Frank, what have you done to the boy?" + +"Me? Nothing! It was the Canyon. Let me tell you about that first +trip." And he told rapidly but in detail, the story of Nucky's first +two days in the Canyon. + +Seaton listened with an absorbed interest. "Has he spoken of his +mother to you since?" he asked, when Frank had finished. + +"No, and he probably never will again. Do you think you can clear the +matter up for him?" + +"I'll certainly try! Do you like the boy, Frank?" + +"Yes, I do. I think he's got the real makings in him. Better leave +him out here with me, Seaton." + +Seaton's face fell. "I--I hoped he'd want to stick by me. But the +decision is up to the boy. If he wants to stay out here, I'll raise no +objections." + +"I'm sure it would be better for him," said Frank. "Gambling is a +persistent disease. He's got years of struggle ahead of him, no matter +where he goes." + +"I know that, of course. Well, we'll take the trip down the trail +to-morrow before we try to make any decisions. I must go along now. +He's waiting for me." + +"Better put cotton in one ear," suggested Allen, with a smile. + +The ride was a long and pleasant one. John Seaton gave secondary heed +to the shifting grandeur of the views, for he was engrossed by his +endeavor to replace the sullen, unboyish Nucky he had known with this +voluble, high strung and entirely adolescent person who bumped along +the trail regardless of weariness or the hour. + +The trip down Bright Angel the next day was an unqualified success. +They took old Funny Face and camped for the night. After supper, Frank +muttered an excuse and wandered off toward the mules, leaving Nucky and +Seaton by the fire. + +"Frank thinks you ought to stay out here with him, Enoch," said Seaton. + +"What did you say to him when he told you that?" asked Nucky eagerly. + +"I said I hoped you'd go back to New York with me, but that the +decision was up to you." + +Nucky said nothing for the moment. Seaton watched the fire glow on the +boy's strong face. When Nucky looked up at his friend, his eyes were +embarrassed and a little miserable. + +"Did Frank tell you about our talk down here?" + +Seaton nodded. + +"Do you know?" the boy's voice trembled with eagerness. "Was she my +mother?" + +"Foley thinks not. He says she spoke with an accent he thought was +Italian. When I get back to New York I'll do what I can to clear the +matter up for you. Queer, isn't it, that human beings crave to know +even the worst about their breed." + +"I got to know! I got to know! Mr. Seaton, I ran away from Luigi one +time. I guess I was about eight. I wanted to live in the country. +And I got as far as Central Park before they found me. He got the +police on my trail right off. And when he had me back in Minetta Lane, +first he licked me and then he told me how bad my mother was, and he +said if folks knew it, they'd spit on me and throw me out of school, +and that I was lower than any low dog. And he told me if I did exactly +what he said he'd never let any one know, but if I didn't he'd go over +and tell Miss Brannigan. She was a teacher I was awful fond of, and +he'd tell the police, and he'd tell all the kids. And after that he +was always telling me awful low things about my mother--" + +Seaton interrupted firmly. "Not your mother. Call her Luigi's wife." + +Nucky moistened his lips. "Luigi's wife. And it used to drive me +crazy. And he told me all women was like that only some less and some +worse. Mr. Seaton, is that true?" + +"Enoch, it's a contemptible, unspeakable lie! The majority of women +are pure and sweet as no man can hope to be. I'd like to kill Luigi, +blast his soul!" + +"Maybe you don't know!" persisted Nucky. + +"I know! And what's more, when we get back to New York, I'll prove it +to you. The world is full of clean, honest, kindly people, Enoch. +I'll prove it to you, old man, if you'll give me the chance." + +"But if she was my mother, how can I help being rotten?" + +"Look here, Enoch, a fellow might have the rottenest mother and +rottenest father on earth, but the Lord will start the fellow out with +a clean slate, just the same. Folks aren't born bad. You can't +inherit your parents' badness. You could inherit their weak wills, for +instance, and if you live in Minetta Lane where there's only badness +about you, your weak will wouldn't let you stand out against the +badness. But you can't inherit evil. If that were possible, humanity +would have degenerated to utter brutality long ago. And, Enoch, you +haven't inherited even a weak will. You're as obstinate as old Funny +Face!" + +"Then you think--" faltered the boy. + +"I don't think! I know that you come of fine, upstanding stock! And +it's about time you moved out of Minetta Lane and gave your good blood +a chance!" + +Enoch's lips quivered, and he turned his head toward the fire. Seaton +waited, patiently. After a while he said, "Enoch, the most important +thing in a man's life is his philosophy. What do you think life is +for? By what principles do you think a man ought to be guided? Do you +think that the underlying purpose of life is dog eat dog, every man for +himself, by whatever method? That's your gambler's philosophy. Or do +you think we're put here to make life better than we found it? That +was Abraham Lincoln's philosophy. Before you decide for the Grand +Canyon or for New York, you ought to discover your philosophy. Do you +see what I'm driving at?" + +"Yes," said Nucky, "and I don't have to wait to discover it, for I've +done that this week. I want to go into politics so I can clean out +Minetta Lane." + +Seaton looked at the lad keenly. "Good work, Nucky, old man!" + +The boy spoke quickly. "Don't call me Nucky! I'm Enoch, from now on!" + +"From now on, where?" asked Frank, strolling into the firelight. + +"New York!" replied Enoch. "I'd rather stay here, but I got to go +back." + +"Mr. Seaton, have you been using bribery?" Frank was half laughing, +half serious. + +"Well, nothing as attractive as guiding on Bright Angel trail!" +exclaimed John. + +"And that's the only job I was ever offered I really wanted!" cried +Enoch ruefully. + +The men both laughed, and suddenly the boy joined them, laughing long +and a little hysterically. "O gee!" he said at last, "I feel as free +and light as air! I got to take a run up and down the sand," and a +moment later they heard his whistle above the endless rushing of the +Colorado. + +"Ideas are important things," said Seaton, thoughtfully. "Such a one +as that beast Luigi has planted in Enoch's mind can warp his entire +life. He evidently is of a morbidly sensitive temperament, proud to a +fault, high strung and introspective. Until some one can prove to him +that his mother was not a harlot, he'll never be entirely normal. And +it's been my observation that one of the most fundamentally weakening +things for a boy's character is his not being able to respect his +father or mother. Luigi caught Enoch when his mind was like modeling +clay." + +"Do you think you can clear the matter up?" asked Frank. + +"I'll try my utmost. It's going to be hard, for Foley's no fool, and +he's done a lot of work on it with no results. If I don't settle the +matter, Enoch is going to be hag-ridden by Minetta Lane all his life. +I know of a chap who was lame for twenty years because when he was +about ten, he had a series of extraordinarily vivid dreams portraying a +curious accident that he was not able to distinguish from actual +happenings. It was not until he was a man and had accidentally come in +contact with a psychologist who analyzed the thing down to facts for +him that he was cured. I could cite you a hundred cases like this +where the crippling was mental as well as physical. And nothing but an +absolute and tangible proof of the falsity of the idea will make a +cure. Some day there are going to be doctors who will handle nothing +but ideas." + +"The boy's worth saving!" Frank lighted his pipe thoughtfully. +"There's a power of will there for good or evil that can't be ignored. +And I have faith in any one the Canyon gets a real grip on. It sure +has got this boy. I never saw a more marked case." + +The lawyer nodded and both men sat smoking, their eyes on the distant +rim. + + + + +BOOK II + +THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR + + + + +CHAPTER III + +TWENTY-TWO YEARS LATER + + +"It sometimes seemed to me that the Colorado said as it rushed through +the Canyon, 'Nothing matters! Nothing! Nothing!'"--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +One burning morning in July, Jonas, in a cool gray seersucker suit, his +black face dripping with perspiration, was struggling with the electric +fan in the private office of the Secretary of the Interior. The +windows were wide open and the hideous uproar of street traffic filled +the room. It was a huge, high-ceilinged apartment, with portraits of +former Secretaries on the walls. The Secretary's desk, a large, +polished conference table, and various leather chairs, with a handsome +Oriental rug, completed the furnishings. + +As Jonas struggled vainly with the fan, a door from the outer office +opened and a young man appeared with the day's mail. Charley Abbott +was nearing thirty but he looked like a college boy. He was big and +broad and blonde, with freckles disporting themselves frankly on a nose +that was still upturned. His eyes were set well apart and his lips +were frank. He placed a great pile of opened letters on Enoch's desk. + +"Better peg along, Jonas," he said. "The Secretary's due in a minute!" + +Jonas gathered the fan to his breast and scuttled out the side door as +Enoch Huntingdon came in at the Secretary's private entrance. + +The years had done much for Enoch. He stood six feet one in his socks. +He was not heavy but still had something of the rangy look of his +boyhood. He was big boned and broad chested. College athletics had +developed his lungs and flattened his shoulder blades. His hair was +copper-colored, vaguely touched with gray at the temples and very thick +and unruly. His features were still rough hewn but time had hardened +their immaturity to a rugged incisiveness. His cheek bones were high +and his cheeks were slightly hollowed. His eyes were a burning, +brilliant blue, deep set under overhanging brows. His mouth was large, +thin lipped and exceedingly sensitive; the mouth of the speaker. He +wore a white linen suit. + +"Good morning, Mr. Abbott," he said, dropping his panama hat on a +corner of the conference table. + +"Good morning, Mr. Secretary! I hope you are rested after yesterday. +Seems to me that was as hard a day as we ever had." + +Enoch dropped into his chair. "Was it really harder, Abbott, or was it +this frightful weather?" + +"Well, we didn't have more appointments than usual, but some of them +were unusually trying. That woman who wanted to be reappointed to the +Pension Office, for example." + +Enoch nodded. "I'd rather see Satan come into this office than a +woman. Try to head them off, Abbott, whenever you can." + +"I always do, sir! Will you run through this correspondence, Mr. +Huntingdon, before I call in the Idaho contingent?" + +Enoch began rapidly to read letters and to dictate terse replies. They +were not more than a third of the way down the pile when a buzzer +sounded. Enoch looked up inquiringly. + +"I told Jonas to buzz for me at 9:20," explained young Abbott. "I +don't dare keep the people in the waiting-room watching the clock +longer than that. We'll fit this in at odd times, as usual. Remember, +Mr. Secretary, you can't give these people more than fifteen minutes. +Shall I come in and speak to you, at that time?" + +"Perhaps you'd better," replied Enoch. + +Abbott opened the door into the outer room. "Gentlemen, the Secretary +will receive you," he said. "Mr. Secretary, allow me to present Mr. +Reeves, Mr. Carleton, Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Dunkel, Mr. Street, Mr. +Swiftwater and Mr. Manges." + +The men filing into the room bowed and mumbled. Enoch looked after +Abbott's retreating back admiringly. "I've been hearing Abbott do that +sort of thing for two years, but it never fails to rouse my +admiration," he said. + +"A wonderful memory!" commented one of the visitors. + +"Abbott is going into politics later," Enoch went on. "A memory such +as his will carry him far." + +"Not as far as a silver tongue," suggested another man, with a twinkle +in his eye. + +"That remains to be seen," smiled Enoch. He had a very pleasant smile, +showing even, white teeth. "Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you?" + +"Mr. Secretary," said the spokesman of the delegation, "as you know, we +represent the business men of the State of Idaho. There is a very +bitter controversy going on in our State over your recent ruling on the +matter of Water Power Control. We believe your ruling works an +injustice on the business men of our state and as nothing came of +correspondence, we thought we'd come along East and have a talk with +you." + +"I'm glad you did," said Enoch. "You see, my work is of such a nature +that unless you people on the firing line keep in touch with me, I may +go astray on the practical, human side. You are all States' Rights +men, of course." + +The delegation nodded. + +"My ideas on Water Power are simple enough," said Enoch. "The time is +approaching when oil, gas, and coal will not supply the power needed in +America. We shall have to turn more and more to electricity produced +by water power. There is enough water in the streams of this country +to turn every wheel in every district. But it must be harnessed, and +after it is harnessed it must be sold to the people at a just price. +What I want to do is to produce all the available water power latent in +our waterways. Then I want the poorest people in America to have +access to it. There is enough power at a price possible even to the +poorest." + +"We all agree with you so far, Mr. Secretary," said the chair-man of +the delegation. + +"I thought you would!" Enoch's beautiful voice had a curious dignity +for all its geniality. "Now my policy aims to embody the idea that the +men who develop the water power of America shall not develop for +themselves and their associates a water power monopoly." + +"We fear that as much as you do, Mr. Secretary," said one of the +delegates. "But let the state control that. We fear too much +bureaucracy and centralization of authority here in Washington. And +don't forget, if it came to a scratch, we could say to Uncle Sam, you +own the stream, but you shan't use a street or a town facility reaching +it." + +Enoch raised his eyebrows. "Uncle Sam doesn't want more power. If the +states had not been so careless and so corrupt in regard to their +public lands and their waters, there would be no need now for the +Department of the Interior to assert its authority. Show me, Mr. +Delegate, that there are neither politics nor monopolistic dreams in +Idaho's attitude toward her Water Power problem and I'd begin to +de-centralize our policy toward your state." + +Abbott opened the door and tip-toed to Enoch's desk. "I'm sorry, Mr. +Secretary," he said softly, "but Senator Far has been waiting five +minutes." + +"I'm sorry too," replied Enoch. "Gentlemen, we have used up the time +allotted. Will you make arrangements with Mr. Abbott for a longer +conference, to-morrow? Come back with the proofs!" He smiled, and the +gentlemen from Idaho smiled in return, but a little ruefully. The last +one had not turned his back when Enoch began an attack on the pile of +letters. + +A ruddy-faced, much wrinkled man appeared in the door. + +"Senator Far, Mr. Secretary," announced Abbott. Enoch rose and held +out his hand. "Senator, you look warm. Oh, Abbott, tell Jonas to turn +on the fan. What can I do for Arkansas, Senator?" + +Jonas came in hurriedly. "Mr. Secretary, that fan's laid down on me. +How come it to do it, I haven't found out yet. I tried to borrow one +from a friend of mine, but--" + +"Never mind, Jonas," said Enoch. "I don't expect you to be an +electrician. Perhaps the power's still off in the building. I noticed +there were no lights when I came in." + +Jonas' eyes grew as big as saucers. "It sure takes brains to be a +Secretary," he muttered, as he turned to hurry from the room. + +The two men grinned at each other. "What I wanted was an appointment +for a friend of mine," said Senator Far. "He's done a lot for the +party and I want to get him into the Reclamation Service." + +"He's an engineer?" asked Enoch, lighting the cigar the Senator gave +him. + +"I don't think so. He's been playing politics ever since I knew him. +He has a good following in the state." + +"Why the Reclamation Service then! By the eternal, Senator, can't you +fellows leave one department clear of the spoils system? I'm here to +tell you, I'm proud of the Service. It's made up of men with brains. +They get their jobs on pure ability. And you fellows--" + +"Oh, all right, Mr. Huntingdon!" interrupted Senator Far, rising, "I'm +always glad to know where you stand! Good morning!" + +He hurried from the room and Enoch sighed, looked out the window, then +read a half dozen letters before Abbott announced the next caller, a +man who wanted his pension increased and who had managed to reach the +Secretary through a letter from the president of a great college. Then +followed at five and ten minute intervals a man from Kansas who had +ideas on the allotment of Indian lands; a Senator who wanted light on a +bill the Secretary wished introduced; a man from Alaska who objected to +the government's attitude on Alaskan coal mines; the chairman of a +State Central Committee who wanted three appointments, and a well known +engineer who had a grievance against the Patent Office. Followed +these, an hour's conference with the Attorney General regarding the New +Pension Bill, and at noon a conference with the head of the Reclamation +Service on the matter of a new dam. + +When this conference was over, Enoch once more attacked the +correspondence pile which, during the morning, having been constantly +fed by the indefatigable Abbott, was now of overwhelming proportions. +It was nearly two o'clock when Jonas, having popped his head in and out +of the door a half dozen times, evidently waiting for the Boss to look +up, entered the room with a tray. + +"Luncheon is served, sir," he said. + +"Put it right here, Jonas." Enoch did not raise his head. + +Jonas set the tray firmly on the conference table. "No, sir, Mr. +Secretary, I ain't goin' to sit it there. You're going to git up and +come over here and keep your mind on your food. How come you think you +got iron insides?" + +Enoch sighed. "All right, Jonas, I'm coming." He rose, stretched and +moved over to the table. The man ceremoniously pulled out a chair for +him, then lifted the towel from the tray and hung it over his arm. On +the tray were a bottle of milk, a banana and some shredded wheat +biscuit, with two cigars. + +"Any time you want me to change your lunch, Mr. Secretary, you say so," +said Jonas. + +Enoch laughed. "Jonas, old man, how long have I been eating this +fodder for lunch?" + +"Ever since you was Secretary to the Mayor, boss!" + +"And how many times do you suppose you've told me you were willing to +change it, Jonas?" + +"Every time, boss. How come you think I like to see a smart man like +you living on baby food?" + +Enoch grunted. "And how many times have I told you the only way for me +to live through the banquets I have to attend is to keep to this sort +of thing when I am alone?" + +Jonas did not reply. Enoch's simple lunches never ceased to trouble +him. + +"Where do I go to-night, Jonas?" + +"The British Ambassador's, Mr. Secretary." + +Enoch finished his lunch rapidly and had just lighted the first of the +cigars when Abbott appeared. + +"There's a woman out here from the Sunday Times, Mr. Secretary. She +wants to interview you on your ideas on marriage. She has a letter +from Senator Brownlee or I wouldn't have disturbed you. She looks as +if she could make trouble, if she wanted to." + +"Tell her I'm sorry, but that I have no ideas about marriage and that +Jonas is as near a wife as I care to get. He henpecks me enough, don't +you, Jonas, old man! Abbott, just remember, once for all, I won't see +the women." + +"Very well," replied Abbott. "Will you dictate a few moments on your +report to the President on the Pension controversy?" + +"Yes!" Enoch pulled a handful of notes out of his pocket and began to +dictate clearly and rapidly. For ten minutes his voice rose steadily +above the raucous uproar that floated in at the window. Then the +telephone rang. Abbott answered it. + +"The White House, Mr. Secretary," he said. Enoch picked up the +receiver. After a few moments' conversation he rose, his face eager. + +"Abbott, the Mexican trouble appears to be coming to a crisis and the +President has called a cabinet meeting. I doubt if I can get back here +until after five. Will you express my regrets to the Argentine +delegation and make a new appointment? Is there any one in the +waiting-room?" + +"Six people. I can get rid of them all except Alton of the Bureau of +Mines. I think you must see him." + +"Send him in," said Enoch. "I'll ask him to ride as far as the White +House with me. And I'll be back to finish the letters, Abbott. I dare +not let them accumulate a single day." + +Abbott nodded and hurried out. A tall, bronzed man, wiping the sweat +from his bald head, came in just as Jonas announced, "The carriage, Mr. +Secretary." + +"Come along, Alton," said Enoch. "We'll talk your model coal mine as +we go." + +It was six o'clock when Enoch appeared again in his office. His linen +suit was wrinkled and sweat stained between the shoulders. He tossed +his hat on a chair. + +"Abbott, will you telephone Seńor Juan Cadiz and ask him to meet me at +my house at ten thirty to-night? He is at the Willard. Tell Jonas to +interrupt us promptly at seven, I mustn't be late to dinner. Now, for +this mess." + +Once more he began the attack on the day's mail, which Abbott had +already reduced to its lowest dimensions. Enoch worked with a power of +concentration and a quick decisiveness that were ably seconded by +Charley Abbott. It was a quarter before seven when Enoch picked up the +last letter. He read it through rapidly, then laid it down slowly, and +stared out of the window for a long moment. Abbott gave his chief's +face a quick glance, then softly shoved under his hand the pile of +letters that were waiting signature. The letter that Enoch had just +read was dated at the Grand Canyon. + + +"Dear Mr. Secretary," it ran, "it is twenty-two years since I took a +red-headed New York boy down Bright Angel trail. You and I have never +heard from each other since, but, naturally I have followed your career +with interest. And now I'm going to ask a favor of you. My daughter +Diana wants a job in the Indian Bureau and she's coming to Washington +to see you. Don't give her a job! She doesn't have to work. I can +take care of her. I'm an old man and selfish and I don't like to be +deprived of my daughter for my few remaining years. + +"With heart-felt congratulations on your great career, + +"I am yours most respectfully, + +"FRANK ALLEN." + + +Enoch drew a deep breath and took up his fountain pen. He signed with +a rapid, illegible scrawl that toward the end of the pile became a mere +hieroglyphic. Jonas put his black face in at the door just as he +finished the last. + +"Coming, Jonas!" said the Secretary. "By the way, Abbott, I'll answer +that letter from Frank Allen the first thing in the morning. Good +night, old man! Rather a lighter day than yesterday, eh?" + +"Yes, indeed, Mr. Secretary!" agreed Abbott, as Enoch picked up his hat +and went hastily out the door Jonas held open for him. + +It was seven twenty when Enoch reached home. His house was small, with +a lawn about the size of a saucer in front, and a back yard entirely +monopolized by a tiny magnolia tree. Enoch rented the house furnished +and it was full of the home atmosphere created by the former diplomat's +wife from whom he leased it. Jonas was his steward and his valet. +While other servants came and went, Jonas was there forever. He +followed Enoch upstairs and turned on the bath water, then hurried to +lay out evening clothes. During the entire process of dressing the two +men did not exchange a word but Jonas heaved a sigh of satisfaction +when at ten minutes before eight he opened the hall door. Enoch +smiled, patted him on the shoulders and ran down the stairs. + +A dinner at the British Ambassador's was always exceedingly formal as +to food and service, exceedingly informal as to conversation. Enoch +took in a woman novelist, a woman a little past middle age who was very +small and very famous. + +"Well," she said, as she pulled off her gloves, "I've been wanting to +meet you for a long time." + +"I'm not difficult to meet," returned Enoch, with a smile. + +"As to that I've had no personal experience but three; several friends +of mine have been trampled upon by your secretary. They all were +women, of course." + +"Why, of course?" demanded Enoch. + +"One of the qualities that is said to make you so attractive to my sex +is that you are a woman hater. Now just why do you hate us?" + +"I don't hate women." Enoch spoke with simple sincerity. "I'm afraid +of them." + +"Why?" + +"I don't think I really know. Do you like men?" + +"Yes, I do," replied Mrs. Rotherick promptly. + +"Why?" asked Enoch. + +"They aren't such cats as women," she chuckled. "Perhaps cat fear is +your trouble! What are you going to do about Mexico, Mr. Huntingdon?" + +Enoch smiled. "I told the President at great length, this afternoon, +what I thought we ought to do. He gave no evidence, however, that he +was going to take my advice, or any one else's for that matter." + +"Of course, I'm not trying to pick your confidence. Mr. Secretary!" +Mrs. Rotherick spoke quickly. "You know, I've lived for years in +Germany. I say to you, beware of Germany in Mexico, Mr. Huntingdon." + +"What kind of people did you know in Germany?" asked Enoch. + +"Many kinds! But my most intimate friend was an American woman who was +married to a German General, high in the confidence of the Kaiser. I +know the Kaiserin well. I know that certain German diplomats are +deeply versed in Mexican lore--its geography, its geology, its people. +I know that Germany must have more land or burst. Mr. Secretary, +remember what I say, Germany is deeply interested in Mexico and she is +the cleverest nation in the world to-day." + +"What nation is that, Mrs. Rotherick?" asked the Ambassador. + +"Germany!" replied the little woman. + +"Possibly you look at Germany through the eyes of a fiction writer," +suggested the Englishman. + +"It's impossible to fictionize Germany," laughed Mrs. Rotherick. "One +could much more easily write a rhapsody on--" + +"On the Secretary of the Interior," interrupted the Ambassador. + +"Or on the Bank of England," laughed Mrs. Rotherick. "Very well, +gentlemen! I hope you never will have cause to remember my warning!" + +It was just as the ladies were leaving the table that Enoch said to +Mrs. Rotherick: "Will you be so kind as to write me a letter telling me +of your suspicions of Germany in Mexico? I shall treat it as +confidential." + +Mrs. Rotherick nodded, and he did not see her again that evening. Just +before Enoch departed for his engagement with Seńor Cadiz, the +Ambassador buttonholed him. + +"Look here, Huntingdon," he said, "that little Mrs. Rotherick knows a +thing or two. She's better informed on international relations than +many chaps in the diplomatic service. If I were you I'd pump her." + +"Thanks, Mr. Johns-Eaton," replied Enoch. "Look here, just how much of +a row are you fellows going to make about those mines in the Alaskan +border country? Why shouldn't Canada take that trouble on?" + +"Just how much trouble are you going to make about the seal +misunderstanding?" demanded Johns-Eaton. + +"Well," replied Enoch, with a wide smile, "I have a new gelding I'd +like to try out, to-morrow morning. If you'll join me at seven-thirty +on that rack of bones you call a bay mare, I'll tell you all I know." + +"You will, like thunder!" laughed Johns-Eaton. "But I'll be there and +jolly well give you the opportunity!" + +Seńor Juan Cadiz was prompt and so was Enoch. For a long hour the two +sat in the breathless heat of the July night while the Mexican answered +Enoch's terse questions with a flow of dramatic speech, accentuated by +wild gestures. Shortly after eleven-thirty Jonas appeared in the +doorway with two tinkling glasses. + +"You are sure as to your facts about this bandit leader?" asked Enoch +in a low voice. + +"Of an absolute sureness. If I--" + +The Secretary interrupted. "Could you go to Mexico for me, in entire +secrecy?" + +"Yes! Yes! Yes! If you could but see him and he you! If he could +but know an American of your type, your fairness, your kindness, your +justice! We have been taught to despise and hate Americans, you must +know." + +"Who has taught you?" + +"Sometimes, I think partly by the Germans who have come among the +people. But why should Germany do so?" + +"Why indeed?" returned Enoch, and the two men stared at each other, +deep intelligence in the gaze of each. Jonas tinkled the glasses again +and Seńor Cadiz jumped to his feet. + +"I know, Seńor Jonas!" he laughed. "That is the good night cap, eh!" + +Jonas grinned acquiescence, and five minutes later he turned off the +lights in the library. Enoch climbed the stairs, somewhat wearily. +His room was stifling despite the wide-flung windows and the electric +fan. He slowly and thoughtfully got himself into his pajamas, lighted +a cigarette, and walked over to the table that stood in the bay window. +He unlocked the table drawer and took out a large blank book of loose +leafed variety, opened it, and seating himself he picked up his pen and +began to write. + + +"July 17.--Rather an easier day than usual, Lucy, which was fortunate, +for the heat has been almost unbearable and at the end of the office +day came that which stirred old memories almost intolerably. A letter +from Frank Allen! You remember him, Lucy? I told you about him, when +I first began my diary. Well, he has written that his daughter, Diana, +is coming to Washington to ask me for a job which he does not wish me +to give her. I cannot see her! Only you know the pain that such a +meeting could give me! It would be like going to Bright Angel again. +And while the thought of going back to the Grand Canyon has intrigued +me for twenty-two years, I must go in my own way and in my own time. +And I am not ready yet. I had forgotten, by the way, that Frank had a +daughter. There was, now that I think of it, a little thing of five or +six who went down Bright Angel with us. I have only the vaguest +recollection of what she looked like. + +"Minetta Lane and the Grand Canyon! What a hideous, what a grotesque +coupling of names! I have never seen the one of them since I was +fourteen and the other but once, yet these two have absolutely made my +life. Don't scold me, Lucy! I know you have begged me never to +mention Minetta Lane again. But to you, I must. Do you know what I +thought to-night after I left the British Ambassador? I thought that +I'd like to be in Luigi's second floor again, with a deck of cards and +the old gang. The old gang! They've all except Luigi been in +Sing-Sing or dead, these many years. Yet the desire was so strong that +only the thought of you and your dear, faithful eyes kept me from +charging like a wild elephant into a Pullman office and getting a berth +to New York." + + +Enoch dropped his pen and stared long at the only picture in his room, +a beautiful Moran painting of Bright Angel trail. Finally, he rose and +turned off the light. When Jonas listened at the door at half after +midnight, the sound of Enoch's steady, regular breathing sent that +faithful soul complacently to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +DIANA ALLEN + + +"If only someone had taught me ethics as Christ taught them, while I +was still a little boy, I would be a finer citizen, now."--_Enoch's +Diary_. + + +It rained the next day and the Secretary of the Interior and the +British Ambassador did not attempt the proposed ride. Enoch did his +usual half hour's work with the punching bag and reached his office +punctual to the minute, with his wonted air of lack of haste and +general physical fitness. Before he even glanced at his morning's +mail, he dictated a letter to Frank Allen. + + +"Dear Frank: Your letter roused a host of memories. Some day I shall +come to Bright Angel again and you and I will camp once more in the +bottom of the Canyon. Whatever success I have had in after life is due +to you and John Seaton. I wonder if you know that he has been dead for +twenty years and that his devoted wife survived him only by a year? + +"I will do my best to carry out your request in regard to your daughter. + +"Cordially and gratefully yours, + +"ENOCH HUNTINGDON." + + +After he had finished dictating this, the Secretary stared out of the +window thoughtfully. Then he said, "Let me have that at once, Mr. +Abbott. Who is waiting this morning?" + +"Mr. Reeves of Idaho. I made an appointment yesterday for the +delegation to meet you at nine-fifteen. Reeves has turned up alone. +He says the committee decided it would get further if you saw him +alone." + +"Reeves was the short, stout man with small eyes set close together!" + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary." + +Enoch grunted. "Any one else there you want to tell me about before +the procession begins?" + +"Do you recall the man Armstrong who was here six months ago with ideas +on the functions of the Bureau of Education? I didn't let him see you, +but I sent you a memorandum of the matter. He is back to-day and I've +promised him ten minutes. I think he's the kind of a man you want in +the Bureau. He doesn't want a job, by the way." + +"I'll see him," said Enoch. "It you can, let us have fifteen minutes." + +Abbott sighed. "It's impossible, Mr. Secretary. I'll bring Reeves in +now." + +The delegate from Idaho shook hands effusively. + +"The rain is a great relief, Mr. Secretary." + +"Yes, it is. Washington is difficult to endure, in the summer, isn't +it? Well, did you bring in the proofs, Mr. Reeves?" Enoch seated +himself and his caller sank into the neighboring chair. + +"Mr. Secretary," he began, with a smile, "has it ever occurred to you +that we have been stupid in the number and kind of Bureaus we have +accumulated in Department of the Interior?" + +"Yes," replied Enoch. "I suppose you are thinking of Patents, +Pensions, Parks, Geological Survey, Land, Indians and Education. Do +you know that beside these we have, American Antiquities, the +Superintendent of Capitol Buildings, the Government Hospital for the +Insane, Freedman's Hospital, Howard University, and the Columbia +Institution for the Deaf and Dumb?" + +Reeves laughed. + +"No, I didn't. But it only goes to prove what I say. It's impossible +for the Secretary of the Interior to find time to understand local +conditions. Why not let the states manage the water and land problems?" + +"It would be illegal," replied Enoch briefly. + +"Oh, illegal! You're too good a lawyer, Mr. Secretary, to let that +thought hamper your acts!" + +"On the contrary," returned Enoch, succinctly, "I was a poor lawyer. +In some ways of course it is impossible for me to understand local +conditions in Idaho. I am told, though, that your present state +administration is corrupt as Tammany understands corruption." + +Reeves cleared his throat and would have spoken, but Enoch pushed on. + +"I have found, as the head of this complex Department that I must limit +myself as much as possible to formulating simple, basic policies and +putting these policies into the hands of men who will carry them out. +In general, my most important work is to administer the public domain. +That is, I must discover how best the natural resources that the +Federal Government still controls can be put into public service and +public service that is the highest and best. I believe that the water, +the land, the mines, ought to be given to the use of the average +citizen. I do not think that a corrupt politician nor a favor-seeking +business man has the best good of the plain citizen at heart." + +"That is very interesting from the dreamer's point of view," said +Reeves. "But a government to be successful must be practical. Who's +going to develop the water power in our Idaho streams?" + +"The people of Idaho, if they show a desire to make a fair interest on +their investment. The government of the United States, if the people +of Idaho fail to show the proper spirit." + +"And who is to be the judge in the matter?" demanded Reeves. + +"The Secretary of the Interior will be the judge. And he is not one +whit interested in you and your friends growing wealthy. He is +interested in Bill Jones getting electricity up on that lonely ranch of +his. Never forget, Mr. Reeves, that the ultimate foundations of this +nation rest on the wise distribution of its natural resources. The +average citizen, Mr. Reeves, must have reason to view the future with +hope. If he does not, the nation cannot endure." + +"And why do you consider yourself competent to deal with these +problems?" asked the caller, with a half-concealed sneer. + +"Any man with education and horse sense can handle them, provided that +his philosophy is sound. You have come to Washington with the idea, +Mr. Reeves, of getting at me, of tempting me with some sort of share in +the wealth you see in your streams. Other men have come to the Capitol +with the same purpose. I have my temptations, Mr. Reeves, but they do +not lie in the desire to graft. I think there are jobs more +interesting in life than the job of getting rich. All the grafting in +the world couldn't touch in interest the job of directing America's +inland destiny. And I have a foolish notion that a man owes his +country public service, that he owes it for no reward beyond a living +and for no other reason than that he is a man with a brain." + +Reeves, whose face had grown redder and redder, half rose from his +chair. + +"One moment," said Enoch. "Have you a sound, fair, policy for Idaho +water power, that will help Bill Jones in the same proportion that it +helps you?" + +"I had no policy. I came down here to get yours. I've got it all +right, and I'm going back and tell my folks they'd better give up any +idea of water power during the present administration." + +"I wouldn't tell them that," said Enoch, "because it wouldn't be true. +I am considering a most interesting proposition from Idaho farmers. I +thought perhaps you had something better." + +Reeves jumped to his feet. "I'll not be made a monkey of any longer!" +he shouted. "But I'll get you for this yet," and he rushed from the +office. + +Enoch shrugged his shoulders as he turned to the inevitable pile of +letters. Abbott came in with a broad smile. + +"Mr. Secretary, Miss Diana Allen is in the outer office." + +Enoch scowled. "Have I got to see her?" + +"Well, she's mighty easy to look at, Mr. Secretary! And more than +that, she announces that if you're engaged, she'll wait, a day, a week, +or a month." + +Enoch groaned. "Show her in, Abbott, and be ready to show her out in +five minutes." + +Abbott showed her in. She entered the room slowly, a tall woman in a +brown silk suit. Everything about her it seemed to Enoch at first was +brown, except her eyes. Even her skin was a rich, even cream tint. +But her eyes were hazel, the largest, frankest, most intelligent eyes +Enoch ever had seen in a woman's head. And with the eyes went an +expression of extraordinary sweetness, a sweetness to which every +feature contributed, the rather short, straight nose, the full, +sensitive lips, with deep, upturned corners, the round chin. + +True beauty in a woman is something far deeper, far less tangible than +mere perfection of feature. One grows unutterably weary of the Venus +de Milo type of face, with its expressionless perfection. And yet, so +careless is nature that not twice in a lifetime does one see a woman's +face in which are combined fineness of intelligence and of character, +and beauty of feature. But Diana was the thrice fortunate possessor of +this combination. She was so lovely that one's heart ached while it +exulted in looking at her. For it seemed a tragic thing that beauty so +deep and so rare should embody itself in a form so ephemeral as the +human body. + +She was very slender. She was very erect. Her small head with the +masses of light brown hair shining beneath the simple hat, was held +proudly. Yet there was a matchless simplicity and lack of +self-consciousness about Diana that impressed even the careless +observer: if there was a careless observer of Diana! + +Enoch stood beside his desk in his usual dignified calm. His keen eyes +swept Diana from head to foot. + +"You are kind to see me so quickly, Mr. Secretary," said Diana, holding +out her hand. + +Enoch smiled, but only slightly. It seemed to Diana that she never had +seen so young a man with so stern a face. + +"You must have arrived on the same train with your father's note, Miss +Allen. Is this your first trip east?" + +"Yes, Mr. Huntingdon," replied Diana, sinking into the chair opposite +Enoch's. "If he had had his way, bless his heart, I wouldn't have had +even a first trip. Isn't it strange that he should have such an +antipathy to New York and Washington!" + +The Secretary looked at the girl thoughtfully. "As I recall your +father, he usually had a good reason for whatever he felt or did. +You're planning to stay in Washington, are you, Miss Allen?" + +"If I can get work in the Indian Bureau!" replied Diana. + +"Why the Indian Bureau?" asked Enoch. + +"I'm a photographer of Indians," answered Diana simply. "I've been +engaged for years in trying to make a lasting pictorial record of the +Indians and their ways. I've reached the limit of what I can do +without access to records and books and I can't afford a year of study +in Washington unless I work. That's why I want work in the Indian +Bureau. Killing two birds with one stone, Mr. Secretary." + +Enoch did not shift his thoughtful gaze from the sweet face opposite +his for a long moment after she had ceased to speak. Then he pressed +the desk button and Abbott appeared. He glanced at his chief, then his +eyes fastened themselves on Diana's profile. + +"Mr. Abbott, will you ask the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to come +in? I believe he is with the Assistant Secretary this morning." + +Charley nodded and disappeared. + +"I brought a little portfolio of some of my prints," Diana spoke +hesitatingly. "I left them in the other room. Mr. Abbott thought you +might like to see them, but perhaps--you seem so very busy and I think +there must be at least a thousand people waiting to see you!" + +"There always are," said Enoch, without a smile as he pressed another +button. Jonas' black head appeared. "Bring in the portfolio Miss +Allen left in the other room, please, Jonas!" + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary," replied Jonas, withdrawing his eyes slowly from +Diana's eager face. + +The portfolio and the Indian Commissioner arrived together. After the +introduction had been made, Enoch said: + +"Watkins, do you know anything about Indians?" + +"Very little, Mr. Secretary," with a smile. + +"Would you be interested in looking at some photographs of Indian life?" + +"Made by this young lady?" asked Watkins, looking with unconcealed +interest at Diana. + +"Yes," said Enoch. + +"And shown and explained by her?" asked the Indian Commissioner, a +twinkle in his brown eyes. + +Diana laughed, and so did Abbott. Enoch's even white teeth flashed for +a moment. + +"I wish I had time to join you," he said. "What I want to suggest, Mr. +Watkins, is that you see if Miss Allen will qualify to take care of +some of the research work you received an appropriation for the other +day. You were speaking to Abbott, I think, of the difficulty of +finding people with authentic knowledge of the Indians." + +The Indian Commissioner nodded and tucked Diana's portfolio under his +arm. "Come along, Miss Allen!" + +Diana rose. "If we don't leave now, I have an idea we will be asked to +do so," she said, the corners of her mouth deepening suddenly. "What +happens if one doesn't leave when requested?" + +"One is cast in a dungeon, deep under the Capitol building," replied +Enoch, holding out his hand. + +Diana laughed. "Thank you for seeing me and helping me, Mr. +Huntingdon," she said, and a moment later Jonas closed the door behind +her and the Commissioner. + +"How come that young lady to stay so long, Mr. Abbott?" Jonas asked +Charley in a low voice, as he helped the young man bring in a huge pile +of Reclamation reports. + +"Did you get a good look at her, Jonas?" demanded Abbott in the same +tone. + +"Yes," replied Jonas. + +"Then why ask foolish questions?" + +"The boss don't like 'em, no matter what they look like." + +"Every man has his breaking point, Jonas," smiled Charley. + +Enoch turned from the window where he had been standing for a moment in +unprecedented idleness. + +"I think you'd better let me have ten or fifteen minutes on that report +to the President, Abbott." + +"I will, Mr. Secretary. By the way, here is the data you asked me to +get for your speech at the Willard to-night." + +Enoch nodded, pocketed the notes and began to dictate. The day went on +as usual, but it seemed to Jonas, when he helped the Secretary to dress +for dinner that night that he was unusually weary. + +"How come you to be so tired to-night, boss?" he asked finally. + +"I don't know, old man! Jonas, how long since I've had a vacation?" + +"Seven years, boss." + +"Sometimes I think I need one, Jonas." + +"Need one! Boss, they work you to death! They all say so. Your own +work's enough to kill three men. And now they do say the President is +calling on you for all the hard jobs he don't dare trust nobody else to +do. How come he don't do 'em hisself?" + +"Oh, I'm not doing more than my share, Jonas! But you and I'll have to +have a vacation one of these days, sure. Maybe we'll go to Japan. +I'll be home early, if I can make it, Jonas." + +Jonas nodded, and looked out the window. "Carriage's here, sir," and +Enoch ran quickly down the stairs. It was only eleven o'clock when he +reached home. The rain had ceased at sundown and the night was humid +and depressing. When Enoch was once more in his pajamas, he unlocked +the desk drawer and, taking out the journal, he turned to the first +page and began to read with absorbed interest. + + +"May 12.--This is my eighteenth birthday. I've had a long ride on the +top of the bus, thinking about Mr. Seaton. He was a fine chap. He +gave me a long lecture once on women. He said a guy must have a few +clean, straight women friends to keep normal. Of course he was right, +but I couldn't tell him or anybody else how it is with me. He said +that if you can share your worries with your friends they're finished. +And he was right again. But they're some things a guy can't share. I +did it once, back there in the Canyon, and I'll always be glad I did. +But I was just a kid then. The hunch that pulled me up straight then +wouldn't work now. They never did prove she was not my mother. They +never found out a thing about me, except what Luigi and the neighbors +had to tell. She was my mother, all right. And I don't feel as if I +ever can believe in any of them. I don't want to. All I want of women +is for them to let me alone and I'll let them alone. But a few weeks +ago I had a fine idea--to invent a girl of my own! I got the idea in +English Literature class, from a poem of Wordsworth's. + + "Three years she grew in sun and shower; + Then nature said, A lovelier flower + On earth was never sown; + This child I to myself will take, + She shall be mine and I will make + A lady of my own." + +"I've invented her and I'm going to keep a journal to her and I'll tell +her all the things I'd tell my mother, if she'd been decent, and to my +sweetheart, if I could believe in them. I don't know just how old she +is. Somewhere in her twenties, I guess. She's tall and slim and she +has a creamy kind of skin. Her hair is light brown, almost gold. It's +very thick. She has it in braids wound all round her head. Her eyes +are hazel and she has a sweet mouth and she is very beautiful. And she +is good, and tender, and she understands everything about me. She +knows just how bad I've been and the fight I'm putting up to keep +straight. And every night before I go to bed, I'll tell her what my +day has been. I'll begin to-night by telling her about myself. + +"I don't know where I was born, Lucy, or who my father was. My mother +was the mistress of an Italian called Luigi Giuseppi. She died a +rotten death, leaving me at six to Luigi. He treated me badly but he +needed me in his gambling business, and he kept me by telling me how +bad my mother was and threatening to tell other people. From the time +I was eight till I was fourteen, I don't suppose a day passed without +his telling me of the rot I had inherited from my mother. I began +gambling for him when I was about ten. + +"When I was fourteen I was arrested in a gambling raid and paroled in +the care of John Seaton, a lawyer. He took me to the Grand Canyon. He +and Frank Allen, a guide, suggested to me the idea that Luigi's +mistress was not my mother. Such an idea never had occurred to me +before. They first gave it to me in the bottom of the Canyon. + +"I can't put into writing what that suggestion, coupled with my first +view of the Canyon meant to me. But it was as if I had met God face to +face and He had taken pity on a dirty little street mucker and He had +lifted me in His great hands and had told me to try to be good and He +would help me. I never had believed in God before. And I came back +from that trip resolved to put up a fight. + +"Mr. Seaton began the search for my folks right off, but he didn't find +anything before he died, which was only a year later. But I made him a +solemn promise I'd go through college and study law and I'm going to do +it. He was not a rich man but he left me enough money to see me +through college. In one more year I'll finish the High School. I +still play cards once in a while in a joint on Sixth Avenue. I know +it's wrong and I'm trying hard to quit. But sometimes I just can't +help it, especially when I'm worried. + +"Luigi will be in the pen another seven years. When he comes out I am +going to beat him up till he tells me about my mother and father. +Though perhaps he's been telling the truth!" + + +"May 13.--Lucy, I made a speech in third year rhetoric to-day and the +teacher kept me after class. He said he'd been watching me for some +time and he wanted to tell me he thought I'd make a great orator, some +day. He's going to give me special training out of school hours, for +nothing. I'm darned lucky. If a guy's going into politics, oratory's +the biggest help. But to be famous as a speaker isn't why I'm going +into politics. I'm going to clean Minetta Lane up. I'm going to try +to fix it in New York so's a fellow couldn't have a mother and a +stepfather like mine. You know what I mean, don't you? Darn it, a kid +suffers so! You know that joint on Sixth Avenue where I go and play +cards once in a while? Well, it was raided to-day. I wonder what Mr. +Seaton would have said if he'd been alive and I'd been there and got +pinched again! + +"I'm going to throw no bluffs with you, Lucy. Gambling's in my blood. +Luigi used to say I came by my skill straight. And I get the same kind +of craving for it that a dope fiend does for dope. I don't care to +tell anybody about it, or they'd send me to an insane asylum. When I +first came from the Canyon and moved out of Minetta Lane, I swore I'd +never put foot in it again until I went in to clean it up. And I +haven't and I won't. But for the first year my nails were bitten to +the quick. If my mother--but what's the use of that! Mr. Seaton said +every man has to have a woman to whom he opens up the deep within him. +I have you and you know you've promised to help me." + + +"June 1.--Lucy, I've got a job tutoring for the summer. The rhetoric +teacher got it for me. It's the son of an Episcopal vicar. He is a +boy of twelve and they want him taught English and declamation. Lord! +If they knew all about me! But the kid is safe in my hands. I know +how kids of twelve feel. At least, the Minetta Lane variety. So I'll +be at the sea shore all summer. Going some, for Minetta Lane, eh? + +"Lucy, I made fifty dollars last night at poker from a Senior in the +Student's Club. This morning I made him take it back." + + +Enoch closed the book and leaned back in his chair as Jonas appeared at +the door with a pitcher of ice water. + +"How come you don't try to get a little rest, boss?" asked Jonas, +glancing disapprovingly at the black book. + +"I am resting, old man! Don't bother your good old head about me, but +tumble off to sleep yourself!" + +"I don't never sleep before you do. I ain't for thirteen years, and I +don't calculate to begin now." Jonas turned the bed covers back and +marched out of the room. + +Enoch smiled and, opening the book again, he turned the pages slowly +till another entry struck his eye. + + +"February 6.--If I could only see you, touch you, cling to your tender +hand to-night, Lucy! You know that I was chosen to represent Columbia +in the dedication of the Lincoln statue. It was to have taken place +next Wednesday. But the British Ambassador, who was to be the chief +Mogul there, was called home to England for some reason or other and +they shoved the dedication forward to to-day, so as to catch him before +he sailed. And some of the speakers weren't prepared, so it came about +that I, an unknown Columbia senior, had to give the chief speech of the +day. Not that anybody, let alone myself, realized that it was going to +be the chief speech. It just turned out that way. Lucy dear, they +went crazy over it! And all the papers to-night gave it in full. It +was only a thousand words. Why in the name of all the fiends in Hades +do you suppose nothing relieves me in moments of great mental stress +but gambling? You notice, don't you, that I talk to you of Minetta +Lane only when something tremendous, either good or bad, has happened +to me? Other men with the same weakness, you say, turn to drink. I +suppose so, poor devils. Oh, Lucy, I wish I were in the Grand Canyon +to-night! I wish you and I were together in Frank's camp at the foot +of Bright Angel. It is sunset and the Canyon is full of unspeakable +wonder. Even the thought of it rests me and makes me strong. . . . +Those stars mean that I've torn into a million pieces a hundred-dollar +bill I won in Sixth Avenue to-night." + + +Enoch turned many pages and then paused. + + +"March 28.--There is a chance, Lucy, that I may be appointed secretary +to the reform Mayor of New York. I would be very glad to give up the +practice of law. Beyond my gift for pleading and a retentive memory, I +have no real talents for a successful legal career. You look at me +with those thoughtful, tender gray eyes of yours. Ah, Lucy, you are so +much wiser than I, wise with the brooding, mystical wisdom of the +Canyon in the starlight. You have intimated to me several times that +law was not my end. You are right, as usual. Law has its face forever +turned backward. It is searching always for precedent rather than +justice. A man who is going into politics should be ever facing the +future. He should use the past only in helping him to avoid mistakes +in going forward. And, perhaps I am wrong. I am willing to admit that +my unfortunate boyhood may have made me over inclined to brood, but it +seems to me very difficult to stick to the law, make money, and be +morally honest, in the best sense. If I clear Bill Jones, who is, as I +know, ethically as guilty as Satan, though legally within his rights, +can I face you as a man who is steel true and blade straight? I hope I +get that appointment! I was tired to-night, Lucy, but this little talk +with you has rested me, as usual." + + +"March 29.--I have the appointment, Lucy. This is the beginning of my +political career--the beginning of the end of Minetta Lane. You have a +heavy task before you, dear, to keep me, eyes to the goal, running the +race like a thoroughbred. Some day, Lucy, we'll go back to the Canyon, +chins up, work done, gentlemen unafraid!" + + +Enoch turned more pages, covering a year or so of the diary. + + +"March 30.--I've been in the City Hall two years today. Lucy, the only +chance on earth I'll ever have to clean out the rookeries of New York +would be to be a Tammany Police Commissioner. And Tammany would +certainly send its best gunman after a Police Commissioner who didn't +dote on rookeries. Lucy, can't city governments be clean? Is human +nature normally and habitually corrupt when it comes to governing a +city? The Mayor and all his appointees are simply wading through the +vast quagmire of the common citizen's indifference, fought every step +by the vile creatures who batten on the administration of the city's +affairs. Do you suppose that if the schools laid tremendous stress on +clean citizenship and began in the kindergarten to teach children how +to govern in the most practical way, it would help? I believe it +would. I'm going to tuck that thought in the back of my head and some +day I may have opportunity to use it. I wish I could do something for +the poor boys of New York. I wish the Grand Canyon were over in +Jersey!" + + +"Sept. 4.--I am unfit to speak to you, but oh, I need you as I never +did before. Don't turn those kind, clear-seeing eyes away from me, +Lucy! Lucy! It happened this way. I wanted, if possible to make our +Police Commissioner see Minetta Lane through my eyes. And I took him +down there, three days ago. It's unchanged, in all these years, except +for the worse. And Luigi was dragging a sack of rags into his +basement. He was gray and bent but it was Luigi. And he recognized me +and yelled 'Bastard!' after me. Lucy, I went back and beat him, till +the Commissioner hauled me off. And the dirty, spluttering little +devil roared my story to all that greedy, listening crowd! I slipped +away, Lucy, and I hid myself in a place I know in Chinatown. No! No! +I don't drink and I don't hit the pipe. I _gamble_. My luck is +unbelievable. And when the fit is on me, I'd gamble my very soul away. +Jonas found me. Jonas is a colored porter in the City Hall who has +rather adopted me. And Jonas said, 'Boss, how come you to do a stunt +like this? The Police Commissioner say to the Mayor and I hear 'em, an +Italian black hander take you for somebody else and he have him run in. +I tell 'em you gone down to Atlantic City. You come home with me, +Boss.' He put his kind black hand on my shoulder, and Lucy, his eyes +were full of tears. I left my winnings with the Chinaman, and came +back here with Jonas. Lucy! Oh, if I could really hear your voice!" + + +"Sept. 5.--I had a long talk with the Police Commissioner to-day. I +can trust him the way I used to trust Mr. Seaton, Lucy. I told him the +truth about Luigi and me and he promised to do what he could to ferret +out the truth about my people. If I could only know that my father was +half-way decent, no matter what my mother was, it would make an +enormous difference to me." + + +Enoch turned another year of pages. + + +"Oct. 12.--Lucy, the Police Commissioner says he has to believe that +Luigi's mistress was my mother. He advises me to close that part of my +life for good and all and give myself to politics. Easy advice! But I +am going to play the game straight in spite of Minetta Lane." + + +Enoch paused long over this entry, then turned on again. + + +"Nov. 6.--Well, my dear, shake hands with Congressman Huntingdon. Yes, +ma'am! It's true! Aren't you proud of me? And, Lucy, listen! Don't +have any illusions on how I got there. It wasn't brains. It wasn't +that the people wanted me to put over any particular idea or ideal for +them. I simply so intrigued them with flights of oratory that they +decided I was a natural born congressman! Well, bless 'em for doing +it, anyhow, and I'll play the game for them. If I ever had had a +father I'd like to talk politics with him. He must have had some +decency in him, or I'd have been all bad, like my mother. Or maybe I'm +a throw-back from two degenerate parents. Well, we'll end the breed +with me. + +"Lucy, it would have been romantic if I could have cleaned out Minetta +Lane and other New York rookeries. But it would have been about like +satisfying one's self with washing a boy's face when his body was a +mass of running sores. We've got to cure the sores and in order to do +that we've got to find the cause. No one thing is going to prove a +panacea. I wonder if it's possible to teach children so thoroughly +that each one owes a certain amount of altruistic, clean service to his +local and his federal government that an honest, responsible citizenry +would result?" + + +Enoch drank of the ice water and continued to turn the close-written +pages. + + +"April 12.--I don't boast much about my career as a Congressman. I've +been straight and I've gabbed a good deal. That about sums up my +history. If I go back as Police Commissioner, I shall feel much more +useful. + +"Lucy, love is a very important thing in a man's life. Sometimes, I +think that the less he has of it, the more important it becomes. I had +thought that as I grew older my career would more and more fill my +life, that youth and passion were synonymous and that with maturity +would come calm and surcease. This is not the truth. The older I grow +the more difficult it becomes for me to feel that work can fully +satisfy a man. Nor will merely caring for a woman be sufficient. A +man must care for a woman whom he knows to be fine, who can meet his +mental needs, or love becomes merely physical and never satisfies him. +Well, I must not whimper. I have talent and tremendous opportunities, +many friends and splendid health. And I have you. And each year you +become a more intrinsic part of my life. How patient you have been +with me all these years! I've been wondering, lately, if you haven't +rather a marked sense of humor. It seems to me that nothing else could +make you so patient, so tender and so keen! I'm sure I'm an object of +mirth to Jonas at times, so I must be to you. All right! Laugh away! +I laugh at myself! + +"Lucy, it has been over eighteen months since I touched a card." + + +Jonas put his head in at the door, but Enoch turned on to the middle of +the book. + + +"Dec. 1.--They won't let me keep it up long, Lucy, but Lord, Lord, +hasn't the going been good, my dear, while it lasted! I've twisted +Tammany's tail till its head's dropped off! I've 'got long poles and +poked out the nests and blocked up the holes. I shall consult with the +carpenters and builders and leave in our town not even a trace of the +rats.' I've routed out hereditary grafters and looters. I've run down +wealthy gunmen and I've turned men's fame to a notoriety that carried a +stench. But they'll get me, Lucy! They'll either kill me or send me +back to Congress." + + +Enoch turned more pages. + + +"Nov. 1.--Congress again, eh, Lucy? And you care for Washington as +little as I! Dear, this has been a hard day. I've been saying good-by +to the force! By the eternal, but they are men! And now all that +wonderful machine, built up, really, by the men themselves, must fall +apart! What a waste of human energy! Yet, I've come to the conclusion +that the man who devotes himself to public service loses much of his +usefulness if he allows himself to grow pessimistic about human nature. +If there were not more good than bad in the world, we'd still be +monkeys! I have ceased to search for some great single ideal for which +I can fight. Whatever abilities I have in me I shall devote to helping +to administer government cleanly. After all, we gave New York a great +object lesson in the possibilities of cleaning out Tammany's pest +house. Perhaps somebody's great-grandchild, inspired by the history of +my attempt will try again and be successful for a longer period. And +oh, woman! It was a gorgeous fight! + +"Jonas is delighted that we are returning to Washington. He says we +are to keep house. I am a great responsibility to Jonas. He is very +firm with me, but I think he's as fond of me as I am of him. + +"Lucy, how am I to go on, year after year like this, with only my dream +of you? How am I to do my work like a man, with only half a man's life +to live? What can all the admiring plaudits mean to me when I know +that you are only a dream, only a dream?" + + +Enoch sat forward in his chair, laid the book on the desk, opened to +the last entry and seized his pen. + + +"So your name is not Lucy, but Diana! Oh, my dearest, and you did not +recognize me at all, while my very heart was paralyzed with emotion! +You must have been a very lovely little girl that the memory of you +should have been so impressed on my subconsciousness. Oh, how +beautiful you are! How beautiful! And to think that I must never let +you know what you are to me. Never! Never! The strain stops with me." + +He dropped his pen abruptly and, turning off the light, flung himself +down on his bed. Jonas, listening long at the door, waited for the +full, even breathing that would mark the end of his day's work. But it +did not come, and dawn struggling through the hall window found Jonas +sitting on the floor beside the half-opened door, his black head +drooping on his breast, but his eyes open. + +Enoch reached his office on the stroke of nine, as usual. His face was +a little haggard and set but he came in briskly and spoke cheerfully to +Charley Abbott. + +"A little hotter than ever, eh, Abbott? I think you're looking +dragged, my boy. When are you going to take your vacation?" + +"In the fall, after you have had yours, Mr. Secretary." The two men +grinned at each other. + +"Did the Indian Commissioner find work for Miss Allen?" asked Enoch +abruptly. + +"Oh, yes! And she was as surprised and pleased as a child." + +"How do you know that?" demanded the Secretary. + +Charley looked a little confused. "I took her out to lunch, Mr. +Huntingdon. Jove, she's the most beautiful woman I ever saw!" + +"Well, let's finish off that report to the President, Mr. Abbott. That +must go to him to-morrow, regardless of whom or what I have to neglect +to-day." + +Abbott opened his note book. But the dictation hardly had begun when +the telephone rang and Enoch was summoned to the White House. It was +noon when he left the President. Washington lay as if scorching under +a burning glass. The dusty leaves drooped on the trees. Even the +carefully cherished White House lawn seemed to have forgotten the +recent rains. Enoch dismissed his carriage and crossed slowly to +Pennsylvania Avenue. It had occurred to him suddenly that it had been +many weeks since he had taken the noon hour outside of his office. He +had found that luncheon engagements broke seriously into his day's +work. He strolled slowly along the avenue, watching the sweltering +noon crowds unseeingly, entirely unconscious of the fact that many +people turned to look at him. He paused before a Johnstown Lunch sign, +wondering whimsically what Jonas would say if it were reported that the +boss had eaten here. And as he paused, the incessantly swinging door +emitted Miss Diana Allen. + +Enoch's pause became a full stop. "How do you do, Miss Allen?" he said. + +Diana flushed a little. "How do you do, Mr. Secretary! Were you +looking for a cheap lunch?" + +"Jonas provides the cheapest lunch known to Washington," said Enoch. +"I was looking for some one to walk up Pennsylvania Avenue with me." + +"You seem to be well provided with company." Diana glanced at the knot +of people who were eagerly watching the encounter. + +Enoch did not follow her glance. His eyes were fastened on Diana's +lovely curving lips. "And I want to hear about the work in the Indian +Bureau." + +Diana fell into step with him. "I think the work is going to be +interesting. Mr. Watkins is more than kind about my pictures. I'm to +send home for the best of my collection and he is going to give an +exhibition of them." + +"Is he giving you a decent salary?" asked Enoch. + +"Ample for all my needs," replied Diana. + +"Do your needs stop with the Johnstown Lunch?" demanded Enoch. + +"Well," replied Diana, "if you'd lived on the trail as much as I have, +you'd not complain of the Johnstown Lunch. I've made worse coffee +myself, and I've seen more flies, too." + +Enoch chuckled. "What does Watkins call your job?" + +"I'm a special investigator for the Indian Bureau." + +Enoch chuckled again. "Right! And that title Watkins counts as worth +at least five dollars a week. The remainder is the equivalent of a +stenographer's salary. I know him!" + +"He is quite all right," said Diana quickly. "It must be extremely +difficult to manage a budget. No matter how large they are, they're +always too small. To administer the affairs of a dying race with +inadequate funds--" + +Diana hesitated. + +"And in entire ignorance of the race itself," added Enoch quietly. "I +know! But I had to choose between a rattling good administrator and a +rattling good ethnologist." + +Diana nodded slowly. "Your choice was inevitable, I suppose. And Mr. +Watkins seems very efficient." + +"Well, and where does your princely salary permit you to live?" Enoch +concluded. + +"On New Jersey Avenue, in a brown stone front with pansies in front and +cats in the rear, an old Confederate soldier in the basement and rats +in the attic. As for odors and furniture, any kind whatever, provided +one is not too particular." + +"My word! how you are going to miss the Canyon!" exclaimed Enoch. + +Diana nodded. "Yes, but after all one's avocation is the most +important thing in life."' + +"Is it?" asked Enoch. "I've tried to make myself believe that, but so +far I've failed." + +"You mean," Diana spoke quickly, "that I ought to have stayed with my +father?" + +"No, I don't!" returned Enoch, quite as quickly. "At least, I mean +that I know nothing whatever about that. I would say as a general +principle, though, that parents who have adequate means, are selfish to +hang on the necks of their grown children." + +"Father misses mother so," murmured Diana, with apparent irrelevance. + +Enoch said nothing. They were opposite the Post Office now and Diana +paused. "I must go to the Post Office! Good-by, Mr. Secretary." + +"Good-by, Miss Allen," said Enoch, taking off his hat and holding out +his hand. "Let me know if there is anything further I can do for you!" + +"Oh, I'm quite all right and shall not bother you again, thank you," +replied Diana cheerfully. + +Enoch was very warm when he reached his office. Jonas and the bottle +of milk were awaiting him. "How come you to be so hot, boss?" demanded +Jonas. + +"I walked back. It was very foolish," replied Enoch meekly. + +"I don't dare to let you out o' my sight," said Jonas severely. + +"I think I do need watching," sighed Enoch, beginning his belated +luncheon. + +That night the Secretary wrote to Diana's father. + + +"My dear Frank: Diana came and I found a job for her in the Indian +office. I feel like a dog to have broken my word with you, but her +work is very interesting and very important, and I feel that she ought +to have her few months of study in Washington. She is very beautiful, +Frank, and very fine. You must try to forgive me. Faithfully yours, + +"ENOCH HUNTINGDON." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A PHOTOGRAPHER OF INDIANS + +"When I tutored boys I wondered most at their selfishness and their +generosity. They had so much of both! And I believe that as men they +lose none of either."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Enoch knew what it was to fight himself. Perhaps he knew more about +such lonely, unlovely battles than any man of his acquaintance. The +average man is usually too vain and too spiritually lazy to fight his +inner devils to the death. But Enoch had fought so terribly that it +seemed to him that he could surely win this new struggle. Nothing +should induce him to break his vow of celibacy. He cursed himself for +a weak fool in not obeying Frank Allen's request. Then he gathered +together all his resources, to protect Diana from himself. + +A week or so went by, during which Enoch made no attempt to see Diana +or to hear from her. The office routine ground on and on. The Mexican +cloud thickened. Alaska developed a threatening attitude over her coal +fields. The farmers of Idaho suddenly withdrew their proposals +regarding water power. Calmly and with clear vision, Enoch met each +day's problems. But the lines about his mouth deepened. + +One day, early in August, Charley Abbott came to the Secretary's desk. +"Miss Diana Allen would like to see you for a few moments, Mr. +Secretary." + +Enoch did not look up. "Ask her to excuse me, Mr. Abbott, I am very +busy." + +Charley hesitated for an instant, then went quickly out. + +"Luncheon is served, boss," said Jonas, shortly after. + +"Is Abbott gone?" asked Enoch. + +"Yes, sir! He's took that Miss Allen to lunch, I guess. He's sure +gone on that young lady. How come everybody thinks she's so beautiful, +boss?" + +"Because she is beautiful, Jonas, very, very beautiful." + +The faithful steward looked keenly at the Secretary. He had not missed +the appearance of a line in the face that was the whole world to him. + +"Boss," he said, "don't you ever think you ought to marry?" + +Enoch looked up into Jonas' face. "A man with my particular history +had best leave women alone, Jonas." + +Jonas' mouth twitched. "They ain't the woman ever born fit to darn +your socks, boss." + +Enoch smiled and finished his lunch in silence. He would have given a +month of his life to know what errand had brought Diana to his office. +But Charley Abbott, returning at two o'clock with the complacent look +of a man who has lunched with a beautiful girl, showed no intention of +mentioning the girl's name. And Enoch went on with his conferences. +But it was many days before he opened the black book again. + +Diana's exhibition must have been of unusual quality, for jaded and +cynical Washington learned of its existence, spoke of it and went to +see it. It seemed to Enoch that every one he met took special delight +in mentioning it to him. + +Even Jonas, one night, as he brought in the bed-time pitcher of ice +water, said, "Boss, I saw Miss Allen's pictures this evening. They +sure are queersome. That must be hotter'n Washington out there. How +come you ain't been, Boss?" + +"How do you know I haven't seen them, Jonas?" asked Enoch quickly. + +"Don't I know every place you go, boss? Didn't you tell me that was my +job, years ago? How come you think I'd forget?" Jonas was eyeing the +Secretary warily. "Mr. Abbott, he's got a bad case on that Miss Allen. +He's give me at least a dollar's worth of ten cent cigars lately so's +I'll stand and smoke and let him talk to me about her." + +Enoch grunted. + +"He says she--" Jonas rambled on. + +Enoch looked up quickly. "I don't want to hear it, Jonas." Jonas drew +himself up stiffly. The Secretary laid his own broad palm over the +black hand that still held the handle of the water pitcher. "Spare me +that, old friend," he said. + +Jonas put his free hand on Enoch's shoulder. "Are you sure you're +right, boss?" he asked huskily. + +"I know I'm right, Jonas." + +"Well, I don't see it your way, boss, but what's right for you is right +for me. Good night, sir," and shaking his head, Jonas slowly left the +room. + +But Enoch was destined to see the pictures after all. One day, after +Cabinet meeting, the President, in his friendly way, clapped Enoch on +the shoulder. + +"First time in a great many years, Huntingdon, that the Indian Bureau +has distinguished itself for anything but trouble! I saw Miss Allen's +pictures last night. My word! What a sense of heat and peace and, +yes, by jove, passion! those photographs tell. The Bureau ought to own +those pictures, old man. Especially the huge enlargement of Bright +Angel trail and the Navaho hunters. Eh?" + +"Well, to tell the truth, Mr. President," said Enoch slowly, "I haven't +seen the pictures." + +"Not seen them! Why some one said you discovered Miss Allen!" + +"In a way I did, but I don't deserve any credit for that." + +"Not if he saw her first!" exclaimed the Secretary of State, who had +loitered behind the others. + +The President nodded. "She is very lovely. I saw her at a distance, +and I want to meet her. Now, Mr. Huntingdon, it's very painful for me +to have to chide you for dereliction in office. But a man who will +neglect those pictures for the--well, the coal fields of Alaska, should +be dealt with severely." + +"Hear! Hear!" cried the Secretary of State. + +The President laughed. "And so I must ask you, Mr. Huntingdon, to +bring Miss Allen to see me, after you have gone carefully over the +pictures. Jokes aside, you know my keen interest in Indian ethnology?" +Enoch nodded, and the President went on. "If this girl has the brains +and breadth of vision I'm sure she must have to produce a series of +photographs like those, I want to know her and do what I can to push +her work. So neglect Mexico and Alaska for a little while, tomorrow, +will you, Huntingdon?" + +Enoch's laughter was a little grim, but with a quick leap of his heart, +he answered. "A man can but obey the Commander in Chief, I suppose!" + +As the door swung to behind him, the President said to the Secretary of +State, "Huntingdon is working too hard, I'm afraid. Does he ever play?" + +"Horseback riding and golf. But he's a woman hater. At least, if not +a hater, an avoider!" + +"I like him," said the President. "I want him to play." + +That evening Enoch went to see the pictures. There were perhaps a +hundred of them, telling the story of the religion of the Navahos. +Only one whom the Indians loved and trusted could have procured such +intimate, such dramatic photographs. They were as unlike the usual +posed portraits of Indian life as is a stage shower unlike an actual +thunder storm. There was indeed a subtle passion and poignancy about +the pictures that it seemed to Enoch as well as to the President, only +a fine mind could have found and captured. He had made the rounds of +the little room twice, threading his way abstractedly through the +crowd, before he came upon Diana. She was in white, standing before +one of the pictures, answering questions that were being put to her by +a couple of reporters. She bowed to Enoch and he bowed in return, then +stood so obviously waiting for the reporters to finish that they +actually withdrew. + +Enoch came up and held out his hand. "These are very fine, Miss Allen." + +"I thought you were not coming to see them," said Diana. "It makes me +very happy to have you here!" + +"Does it?" asked Enoch quickly. "Why?" + +"Because--" here Diana hesitated and looked from Enoch's stern lips to +his blue eyes. + +"Yes, go on, do!" urged Enoch. "For heaven's, sake, treat me as if I +were a human being and not--" + +It was his turn to hesitate. + +"Not the Washington Monument?" suggested Diana. + +Enoch laughed. "Am I as bad as that?" he asked. + +Diana nodded. "Very nearly! Nevertheless, for some reason I don't +understand, I've had the feeling that you would like the pictures and +get what I was driving at, better than any one." + +"Thank you," said Enoch slowly. "I do like them. So much so that I +wish that I might own them, instead of the Indian Bureau. The +President, to-day, told me the Indian Bureau ought to buy them. And +also, he asked me to bring you to see him to-morrow." + +A sudden flush made roses in Diana's beautifully modeled cheeks. + +"Did he! Mr. Huntingdon, how am I ever going to thank you?" + +"I deserve no thanks at all. It was entirely the President's own idea. +In fact, I had not intended to come to your exhibition." + +"No? Why not? Do you dislike me so much as that? And, after all, Mr. +Secretary, if the pictures are interesting, the fact that a woman took +them should not prejudice you against them." + +"Abbott's been giving me a bad reputation, I see," said Enoch. "I'll +have to get Jonas to tell you what a really gentle and affectionate and +er--mild, person I am. I've a notion to reduce Abbott's salary." + +"Charley Abbott is a dear, and he's a devoted admirer of yours," Diana +exclaimed. + +"And of yours," rejoined Enoch. + +"He's very discerning," said Diana, her eyes twinkling and the corners +of her mouth deepening. "But you shall not evade me this way, Mr. +Huntingdon. Why didn't you want to see my pictures?" + +"I didn't say that I didn't want to see them. Women are always +inaccurate, or at least, so I have heard." + +"I would say that Mr. Abbott had a great deal more data on the general +subject of women than you, Mr. Secretary. You really ought to get him +to check you up! Please, why didn't you intend to come to my +exhibition?" + +"I have been swamped with extra work of late," answered Enoch. + +"Yes?" Diana's eyebrows rose and her intelligent great eyes were +fastened on Enoch's with an expression so discerning and so +sympathetic, that he bit his lip and turned from her to the Navaho, who +prayed in the burning desert before him. The reporters, who had been +hovering in the offing, closed in on Diana immediately. When she was +free once more, Enoch turned back and held out his hand. + +"Good night, Miss Allen. If you don't mind coming over to my office at +twelve to-morrow, I can take you to the White House then." + +"I shall not mind!--too much! Good night, Mr. Secretary," replied +Diana, with the deepening of the corners of her mouth that Enoch now +recalled had belonged to the little girl Diana. + +Enoch made an entry in the black book that night. + +"I wonder, Diana, how much Frank has told you of me and my unhappy +history. I wonder how you would feel if a man whose mother was a +harlot who died of an unspeakable disease were to ask you to marry him. +Oh, my dear, don't be troubled! I shall never, never, ask you. Your +pictures moved me more than I dared try to express to you. It was as +if you had carried me in a breath to the Canyon and once more I beheld +the wonder, the kindliness, the calm, the inevitableness of God's ways. +I'm going to try, Diana, to make a friend of you. I believe that I +have the strength. What I am very sure of is that I have not the +strength to know that you are in Washington and never see you." + +The clock struck twelve the next day, when Abbott came to the +Secretary's desk. Enoch was deep in a conference with the Attorney +General. + +"Miss Allen is here," he said softly. + +"Give me five minutes!" exclaimed the Attorney General. + +"I'm sorry." Enoch rose from his desk. "I'm very sorry, old fellow, +but this is an appointment with the President. Can you come about +three, if that suits Abbott's schedule?" + +"Not till to-morrow, I'm afraid," said the Attorney General. + +Enoch nodded. "It's just as well. I think I'll have some private +advices from Mexico by then that may somewhat change our angle of +attack. All right, Jonas! I'm coming. Ask Miss Allen to meet me at +the carriage." + +But he overtook Diana in the elevator. She wore the brown silk suit, +and Enoch thought she looked a little flushed and a little more lovely +than usual. + +"I'm a marked person, Mr. Secretary," she said, with a twinkle in her +eyes. "You'd scarcely believe how many total strangers have asked me +to introduce them to you, since you walked up Pennsylvania Avenue with +me." + +"I'm glad you have an appreciative mind," returned Enoch. "I hope that +you are circumspect also, and won't impose on me because of my +condescension." + +"I'll try not to," Diana answered meekly, as Enoch followed her into +the carriage. + +They smiled at each other, and Enoch went on, "Of course, I've been +feeling rather proud of the opportunity to display myself before +Washington with you. I've been called indifferent to women. I'm +hoping now that the gossips will say, 'Aha! Huntingdon's a deep one! +No wonder he's been indifferent to the average woman!'" + +Diana eyed him calmly. "That doesn't sound at all like Washington +Monument," she murmured. + +"More like Charley Abbott, I suppose!" retorted Enoch. + +"No," answered Diana thoughtfully, "hardly like Mr. Abbott's method. I +would say that he belonged to a different school from you." + +"Yes? What school does Abbott represent?" + +"Well, he has a dash, an ease, that shows long and varied experience. +Charley Abbott is a finished ladies' man. It almost discourages me +when I contemplate the serried ranks of women that must have +contributed to his perfect finesse." + +"Discourages you?" queried Enoch. + +Diana did not answer. "But," she went on, "while Charley is a graduate +of the school of experience and you--" + +She paused. + +"Yes, and I--," pressed Enoch. + +"I won't impose on your condescension by telling you," said Diana. + +"Pshaw!" muttered the Secretary of the Interior. + +Suddenly Diana laughed. Enoch, after a moment, laughed with her, and +they entered the White House grounds still chuckling. + +The President did not keep them waiting. "I may not be able to order +my wife and daughter about," he said, as he shook hands with Enoch, +"but I certainly have my official family well under control. Did you +see the pictures, Huntingdon?" + +"I saw and was conquered, Mr. President," replied Enoch. + +"What would you say, Miss Allen, if I tell you that I had to force this +fellow into going to see your wonderful pictures?" the President asked. + +"It wouldn't surprise me," replied Diana, in an enigmatical voice that +made both men smile. + +"I see you understand our Secretary of the Interior," the President +said complacently. "Sit down, children, and Miss Allen, talk to me. +How long did it take you to make that collection of photographs?" + +"I began that particular collection ten years ago. Those pictures have +been sifted out of nearly two thousand prints." + +"Did you take any other pictures during that period?" asked the +President. + +"Oh, yes! I was, I think, fourteen or fifteen when I first determined +to give my life to Indian photography. I didn't at that time think of +making a living out of it. I had a dream of making a photographic +history of the spiritual life of some of the South-western tribes. It +didn't occur to me that anything but a museum or possibly a library +would care for such a collection. But to my surprise there was a ready +market for really good prints of Indians and Indian subjects. So while +I have kept always at work on my ultimate idea, I've made and sold +many, many pictures of Indians on all sorts of themes." + +Enoch looked from Diana's half eager, half abashed eyes, to the +President's keen, hawk-like face, then back to Diana. + +"What gave you the idea to begin with?" asked the President. + +Diana looked thoughtfully out of the window. Both men watched her with +interest. Enoch's rough hewn face, with its unalterably somber +expression, was set in an almost painful concentration. The +President's eyes were cool, yet eager. + +"It is hard for me to put into words just what first led me into the +work," said Diana slowly. "I was born in a log house on the rim of the +Grand Canyon. My father was a canyon guide." + +"Yes, Frank Allen, an old Yale man. I know him." + +"Do you remember him?" cried Diana. "He'll be so delighted! He took +you down Bright Angel years ago." + +"Of course I remember him. Give him my regards when you write to him. +And go on with your story." + +"My mother was a California woman, a very good geologist. My nurse was +a Navajo woman. Somehow, by the time I was into my teens, I was +conscious of the great loss to the world in the disappearance of the +spiritual side of Indian life. I knew the Canyon well by then and I +knew the Indians well and the beauty of their ceremonies was even then +more or less merged in my mind with the beauty of the Canyon. Their +mysticism was the Canyon's mysticism. I tried to write it and I +couldn't, and I tried to paint it, and I couldn't. And then one day my +mother said to me, 'Diana, nobody can interpret Indian or Canyon +philosophy. Take your camera and let the naked truth tell the story!'" + +Diana paused. "I'm not clever at talking. I'm afraid I've given you +no real idea of my purpose." + +"One gets your purpose very clearly, when one recalls your Death and +the Navajo, for instance, eh, Huntingdon?" + +"Yes, Mr. President!" + +"I suppose the two leading Indian ethnologists are Arkwind and Sherman, +of the Smithsonian, are they not, Miss Allen?" asked the President. + +"Oh, without doubt! And they have been very kind to me." + +The President nodded. "They both tell me that your work is of +extraordinary value. They tell me that you have actually photographed +ceremonies so secret, so mystical, that they themselves had only heard +vaguely of their existence. And not only, they say, have you +photographed them, but you have produced works of art, pictures +'pregnant with celestial fire.'" + +Diana's cheeks were a deep crimson. "Oh, I deserve so little credit, +after all!" she exclaimed. "I was born in the midst of these things. +And the Indians love me for my old nurse's sake! But human nature is +weak and what you tell me makes me very happy, sir." + +The men glanced at each other and smiled. + +"Suppose, Miss Allen," said the President, "that you had the means to +outfit an expedition. How long would it take you to complete the +entire collection you have in mind?" + +Diana's eyes widened. "Why, I could do nothing at all with an +expedition! I simply wander about canyon and desert, sometimes with +old nurse Na-che, sometimes alone. The Indians have always known me. +I'm as much a part of their lives as their own daughters. I--I believe +much of their inner hidden religion and so--oh, Mr. President, an +expedition would be absurd, for me!" + +"Well, then, without an expedition?" insisted the President. + +Diana sighed. "You see, I'm not able to give all my time to the work. +Mother died five years ago, and father is lonely and, while he thinks +his little income is enough for both of us, it's enough only if I stay +at home and play about the desert with my camera, cheaply as I do, and +keep the house. It does not permit me to leave home. It seems to me, +that working as I have in the past, it would take me at least ten years +more to complete my work." + +"The patience of the artist! It always astounds me!" exclaimed the +President. "Miss Allen, I am not a rich man, but I have some wealthy +friends. I have one friend in particular, a self-made man, of enormous +wealth. The interest he and I have in common is American history in +all its aspects. It seems to me that you are doing a truly important +work. I want you to let this friend of mine fund you so that you may +give all your time to your photography." + +"Oh, Mr. President, I don't need funds!" protested Diana. "There is no +hurry. This is my life work. Let me take a life-time for it, if +necessary." + +"That is all very well, Miss Allen, but what if you die, before you +have finished? No one could complete your work because no one has your +peculiar combination of information and artistic ability. People like +you, my dear, belong not to themselves, but to the country." + +Enoch spoke suddenly. "Why not arrange the matter with the Indian +Bureau, Mr. President?" + +"Why not arrange it with the Circumlocution Office!" exclaimed the +President. "I'm surprised at you, Huntingdon! You know what the +budget and red tape of Washington does to a temperament like Miss +Allen's. On the other hand, here is my friend, who would give her +absolutely free rein and take an intense pride in providing the money." + +Diana laughed. "You speak, sir, as if I needed some vast fund. It +costs a dollar a day in the desert to keep a horse and another dollar +to keep a man. Camera plates and clothing--why a hundred dollars a +month would be luxury! And I don't need help, truly I don't! The mere +fact of your interest is help enough for me." + +"A hundred dollars a month for your expenses," said the President, +making a memorandum in his notebook, "and what is your time worth?" + +"My time? You mean what would I charge somebody for doing this work? +Why, Mr. President, this is not a job! It's an avocation! I wouldn't +take money for it. It's a labor of love." + +The chief executive suddenly rose and Diana, rising too, was surprised +at the look that suddenly burned in the hawk-like eyes. + +"You are an unusual woman, Miss Allen! Your angle on life is one +seldom found in Washington." He took a restless turn up and down the +room, glanced at Enoch, who stood beside the desk, utterly absorbed in +contemplation of Diana's protesting eyes, then said, "This friend of +mine is a disappointed man. He had believed that in amassing a great +fortune he would find satisfaction. He has found that money of itself +is dust and ashes and it is too late for him to take up a new work. +Miss Allen, I too am a disappointed man. I had believed that the +President of a great nation was a full man, a contented man. I find +myself an automaton, whirled about by the selfish desires of a +politically stupid and indifferent constituency. One of the few +consolations I find in my high office is that once in a while I come +upon some one who is contributing something permanent to this nation's +real advancement, and I am able to help that person. Miss Allen, will +you not share your great good fortune with my friend and me?" + +"Gladly!" exclaimed Diana quickly. Then she added, with a little +laugh, "I think I understand now, why you are President of the United +States!" + +Enoch and the President joined in the laugh, and Diana was still +smiling when they descended the steps to the waiting carriage. But the +smile faded with a sudden thought. + +"The President mustn't think I will take more than expense money!" she +exclaimed. + +Enoch laughed again as he replied, "I don't think that need bother you, +Miss Allen. I imagine a yearly sum will be placed at your disposal. +You will use what you wish." + +Diana shook her head uneasily. "I don't more than half like the idea. +But the President made it very difficult to refuse." + +Enoch nodded. The carriage stopped before the Willard Hotel. "Miss +Allen, will you lunch with me?" he asked. + +Diana hesitated. "I'll be late getting back to the office," she said. + +"I'll ask Watkins not to dock you," said Enoch soberly. + +"Docking my salary," touching Enoch's proffered hand lightly as she +sprang to the curb, "would be almost like taking something from +nothing. I've never lunched in the Willard, Mr. Secretary." + +"The Johnstown lunch still holds sway, I suppose!" said Enoch, +following Diana down the stairs to Peacock Row. + +They were a rather remarkable pair together. At least the occupants of +the Row evidently felt so, for there was a breathless craning of necks +and a hush in conversations as they passed, Diana, with her +heart-searching beauty, Enoch with his great height and his splendid, +rugged head. The head waiter did not actually embrace Enoch in +welcoming him, but he managed to convey to the dining-room that here +was a personal and private god of his own on whom the public had the +privilege of gazing only through his generosity. Finally he had them +seated to his satisfaction in the quietest and most conspicuous corner +of the room. + +"Now, my dear Mr. Secretary, what may we give you?" he asked, rubbing +his hands together. + +Enoch glanced askance at Diana, who shook her head. "This is entirely +out of my experience, Mr. Secretary," she said. + +"Gustav," said Enoch, "it's not yet one o'clock. We must leave here at +five minutes before two. Something very simple, Gustav." He checked +several items on the card and gave it to the head waiter with a smile. + +Gustav smiled too. "Yes, Mr. Secretary!" he exclaimed, and disappeared. + +"And that's settled," said Enoch, "and we can forget it. Miss Allen, +when shall you go back to the Canyon?" + +"Why," answered Diana, looking a little startled, "not till I've +finished the work for Mr. Watkins, and that will take six months, at +least." + +"I think the President's idea will be that you must get to your own +work, at once. Some one else can carry on Watkins' researches." + +"I ought to do some studying in the Congressional library," protested +Diana. "Don't you think Washington can endure me a few months longer, +Mr. Secretary?" + +"Endure you!" Enoch's voice broke a little, and he gave Diana a glance +in which he could not quite conceal the anguish. + +A sudden silence fell between the two that was broken by the waiter's +appearance with the first course. Then Diana said, casually: + +"My father is going to be very happy when I write him about this. Do +you remember him at all clearly, Mr. Secretary?" + +"Yes," replied Enoch. Then with a quick, direct look, he asked, "Did +your father, ever give you the details of his experience with me in the +Canyon?" + +Diana's voice was low but very steady as she replied, "Yes, Mr. +Secretary. He told me long ago, when you made your famous Boyhood on +the Rack speech in Congress. It was the first word he had heard of you +in all the years and he was deeply moved." + +"I'm glad he told you," said Enoch. "I'm glad, because I'd like to ask +you to be my friend, and I would want the sort of friend you would make +to know the worst as well as the best about me." + +"If that is the worst of you--" Diana began quickly, then paused. "As +father told me, it was a story of a boy's suffering and the final +triumph of his mind and his body." + +Enoch stared at Diana with astonishment in every line of his face. +Then he sighed. "He couldn't have told you all," he muttered. + +"Yes, he did, all! And nothing, not even what the President said +to-day, can mean as much to me as your asking me to be your friend." + +Enoch continued to stare at the lovely, tender face opposite him. + +Diana smiled. "Don't look so incredulous, Mr. Secretary! It's not +polite. You are a very famous person. I am nobody. We are lunching +together in a wonderful hotel. I don't even vaguely surmise the names +of the things we are eating. Don't look at me doubtingly. Look +complacent because you can give a lady so much joy." + +Enoch laughed with a quick relief that made his cheeks burn. "And so +you are nobody! Curious, then, that you should have impressed yourself +on me so deeply even when you were a child!" + +It was Diana's turn to laugh. "Oh, come, Mr. Secretary! Of course I +don't recall it myself, but Dad has always said that you were bored to +death at having a small girl taking the trail with you." + +"Do you remember that your mule slipped on the home trail and that I +saved your life?" demanded Enoch. + +Diana shook her head. "I was too small and there were too many canyon +trips and too many tourists. I wish--" + +She did not finish her sentence, but Enoch said, with a thread of +earnestness in his deep voice that made Diana look at him keenly, "I +wish you did remember!" + +There was a moment's silence, then Enoch went on, "Shall you carry on +your work with the Indians alone as you always have done? I believe I +can quite understand your father's uneasiness." + +"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Diana, glad of an opportunity to redirect the +conversation. "Just as I always have done. I shall have no trouble +unless I get soft, living at the Johnstown Lunch! Then I may have to +waste time till I get fit again. Have you ever lived on the trail, +excepting on your trip to the Grand Canyon, Mr. Secretary?" + +"Yes, in Canada and Maine, while I was in college. I used to tutor +rich boys, and they had glorious summers, lucky kids! But since +getting into national politics, I've had no time for real play." + +"Some day," said Diana, "you ought to get up an outfit and go down the +Colorado from the Green River to the Needles. That's a real adventure! +Only a few men have done it since the Powell expeditions." + +Enoch's eyes brightened. "I know! Some day, perhaps I shall, if Jonas +will let me! How long do you suppose such a trip would take?" + +Diana plunged into a description of a recent expedition down the +canyons of the Colorado, and she managed to keep the remainder of the +luncheon conversation on this topic. But as far as Enoch was +concerned, Diana's effort was merely a conversational detour. The +luncheon finished and the Gulf of California safely reached, he said as +he handed Diana into the carriage: + +"I've never had a friendship with a woman before," he said. "What do I +do next?" + + Diana sighed, while her lips curled at the corners. +"Well, Mr. Secretary, I think the next move is to think the matter over +for a few days, quietly and alone." + +"Do you?" Enoch smiled enigmatically. "I don't know that it's safe for +me to rely on your experience after all!" But he said no more. + +Enoch spent the evening in his living-room with Seńor Juan Cadiz and a +small, lean, brown man in an ill-fitting black suit. The latter did +not speak English, and Seńor Cadiz acted as interpreter. The stranger +was uneasy and suspicious, until the very last of the evening. Then, +after a long half hour spent in silent scowling while he stared at +Enoch and listened to the Secretary's replies to Cadiz's eager +questions, he suddenly burst into a passionate torrent of Spanish. A +look of great relief came to Cadiz's face, as he said to Enoch: + +"Now he says he trusts you and will tell you the names of the Americans +who are paying him." + +Enoch began to jot down notes. When Cadiz's translation was finished +Enoch said: + +"This in brief, then, is the situation. A group of Americans own vast +oil fields in Mexico. They have enormous difficulty policing and +controlling the fields. The Mexican method of concession making is +exceedingly expensive and uncertain. They wish the United States to +take Mexico over, either through actual conquest or by mandate. They +have hired a group of bandits to keep trouble brewing until the United +States is forced by England, Germany, or France, to interfere. This +group of men is partly German though all dwell in the United States. +Your friend here, and several of his associates, if I personally swear +to take care of them, will give me information under oath whenever I +wish." + +"Yes! Yes! Yes! That is the story!" cried Seńor Cadiz. "Oh, Mr. +Secretary, if you could only undo the harm that your cursed American +method of making the public opinion has done, both here and in Mexico. +Why should neighbors hate each other? Mr. Secretary, tell these +Americans to get out of Mexico and stay out! We are foolish in many +ways, but we want to learn to govern ourselves. There will be much +trouble while we learn but for God's sake, Mr. Secretary, force +American money to leave us alone while we struggle in our birth throes!" + +Enoch stood up to his great height, tossing the heavy copper-colored +hair off his forehead. He looked at the two Mexicans earnestly, then +he said, holding out his hand, "Seńor Cadiz, I'll help you to the best +of my ability. I believe in you and in the ultimate ability of your +country to govern itself. Now will you let me make an appointment for +you with the Secretary of State? Properly, you know, you should have +gone to him with this." + +The Mexican shook his head. "No! No! Please, Mr. Secretary! We do +not know him well. He has shown no willingness to understand us. You! +you are the one we believe in! We have watched you for years. We know +that you are honest and disinterested." + +"But I shall have to give both the President and the Secretary of State +this information," insisted Enoch. + +"That is in your hands," said Seńor Cadiz. + +"Then," Enoch nodded as Jonas appeared with the inevitable tinkling +glasses, "remain quietly in Washington until you hear from me again." + +Jonas held the door open on the departing callers with disapproval in +every line of his face. + +"How come that colored trash to be setting in the parlors of the +government, boss?" asked he. + +"They are Mexicans, Jonas," replied Enoch. + +"Just a new name for niggers, boss," snapped Jonas, following Enoch up +the stairs. "Don't you trust any colored man that ain't willing to +call hisself black." + +Enoch laughed and settled himself to an entry in the journal. + +"This was the happiest day of my life, Diana. We are going to be great +friends, are we not! And the philosophers tell us that friendship is +the most soul-satisfying of all human relationships. I have been very +vacillating in my attitude to you, since you came to Washington. But I +cannot lose the feeling that those wise, wistful eyes of yours have +seen my trouble and understood. I wonder how soon I can see you again. +I'm rather proud of my behavior to-day, Diana, dearest." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A NEWSPAPER REPORTER + + +"I wonder if Christ ever cared for a woman. He may have, for God +wished Him to know and suffer all that men know and suffer, and all +love must have been noble in His eyes."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +"Abbott," said Enoch the next day, "do you recall that I have commented +to you several times on the fact that some of the southwestern states +did not back the Geological Survey in its search for oil fields as we +had expected they would?" + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary," answered Charley, looking up from his notebook +with keen interest in eye and voice. "I have wondered just why the +matter bothered you so." + +"It has bothered me for several different reasons. It has, to begin +with, conflicted with my idea of the fundamental purpose of this +office. What could be a stronger reason for being for the Geological +Survey than to find and show the public the resources of the public +lands? When the Bureau of Mines reports to me that certain oil fields +are diminishing at an alarming rate, and when any fool knows that a +vital part of our future history is to be written in terms of oil, it +behooves the Secretary of the Interior to look for remedial steps. +Certain sections of our Southwest are saturated with oil and yet, +Abbott, the states resent our locating oil fields. As far as I know +now, no open hostility has been shown, unless"--Enoch interrupted +himself suddenly,--"do you recall last year that some Indians drove a +Survey group out of Apache Canyon and that young Rice was killed and +all his data lost?" + +"Certainly, I recall it. I knew Rice." + +Enoch nodded. "Do you recall that a number of newspapers took occasion +then to sneer at government attempts to usurp State and commercial +functions?" + +"Now you speak of it, I do remember. The Brown papers were especially +nasty." + +"Yes," agreed Enoch. "Now listen closely, Abbott. When my suspicions +had been sufficiently roused, I went to the Secretary of State, and he +laughed at me. Then, the Mexico trouble began to come to a head and I +told the President what I feared. This was after I'd had that letter +from Juan Cadiz. Last night, as you know, I had a session with Cadiz +and one of his bandit friends. Here is what I drew from them." + +Enoch reviewed rapidly his conversation of the night before. Abbott +listened with snapping eyes. + +"It looks as if Secretary Fowler would have to stop laughing," he said, +when Enoch had finished. + +"Abbott," Enoch's voice was very low, "John Fowler, the Secretary of +State, always will laugh at it." + +"Why?" asked Charley. + +"I don't know," replied Enoch. + +The two men stared at each other for a long moment. Then Abbott said, +"I've known for a long time that he was jealous of you, politically. +Also he may own Mexican oil stock or he may merely wish to have the +political backing of the Brown newspapers." + +"Can you think of any method of persuading him that I am not a +political rival, that I merely want to go to the Senate, when I have +finished here?" asked Enoch earnestly. + +Abbott shook his head, "He might be convinced that you want to be a +Senator. But he's a clever man. And even a fool knows that you are +America's man on horseback." Charley's voice rose a little. "Why, +even in this rotten, cynical city of Washington, they believe in you, +they feel that you are the man of destiny. Mr. Fowler is just clever +enough to be jealous of you." + +A look of sadness came into Enoch's keen gaze. "I wonder if the game +is worth it, after all," murmured he. "Abbott, I'd swap it all for--" +he stopped abruptly, looked broodingly out of the window, then said, +"Charley, my boy, why are you going into political life?" + +The younger man's eyes deepened and he cleared his throat. "A few +years ago, if I'd answered that question truthfully, I'd have said for +personal aggrandizement! But my intimate association with you, Mr. +Huntingdon, has given me a different ideal. I'm going into politics to +serve this country in the best way I can." + +"Thanks, Abbott," said Enoch. "I've been wanting to say to you for +some time that I thought you had served your apprenticeship as a +secretary. How would you like an appointment as a special +investigator?" + +Charley shook his head. "As long as you are Secretary of the Interior, +I prefer this job; not only because of my personal feeling for you but +because I can learn more here about the way a clean political game can +be played than I can anywhere else." + +"All right, Abbott! I'm more than grateful and more than satisfied at +having you with me. See if I can have a conference with first the +Secretary of State and then the President. Now let me finish this +report before the Attorney General arrives." + +Enoch's conference with Secretary Fowler was inconclusive. The +Secretary of State chose to take a humorous attitude toward what he +termed the Secretary of the Interior's midnight conference with +bandits. Enoch laughed with him and then departed for his audience +with the chief executive. + +The President listened soberly. When the report was finished, he +scowled. + +"What attitude does Mr. Fowler take in this?" + +"He thinks I'm making mountains out of mole hills. It seems to me, Mr. +President, that I must be extremely careful not to encroach on the +domain of the Secretary of State. My idea is very deliberately to push +the work of the Geological Survey and to follow very carefully any +activities against its work." + +"All very well, of course," agreed the President, "but what of the big +game back of it all--what's the means of fighting that?" + +"Publicity," replied Enoch briefly. + +"Exactly!" exclaimed the President, "There are other newspapers. Brown +does not own them all. As fast as evidence is produced, let the story +be told. By Jove, if this war talk grows much more menacing, +Huntingdon, I think I'll ask you to go across the country and make a +few speeches,--on the Geological Survey!" + +"I'm willing!" replied Enoch, with a little sigh. + +The President looked at him keenly. "Huntingdon, we're working you too +hard! You look tired. I try not to overload you, but--" + +"But you are so overloaded yourself that you have to shift some of the +load," said Enoch, with a smile. "I'm not seriously tired, Mr. +President." + +"I hope not, old man. By the way, what did you think of Miss Allen +yesterday?" + +"I thought her a very interesting young woman," replied Enoch. + +"My heavens, man!" exclaimed the chief executive. "What do you want! +Why, Diana Allen is as rare as--as a great poem. Look here, +Huntingdon, you make a mistake to cut all women out of your life. It's +not normal." + +"Perhaps not," agreed Enoch briefly. "I would be very glad," he added, +as if fearing that he had been too abrupt, "I would be very glad to see +more of Miss Allen." + +"You ought to make a great effort to do," said the President. "Keep me +informed on this Mexican matter, please, and take care of yourself, my +boy. Good-by, Mr. Secretary. Think seriously of a speaking tour, +won't you?" + +"I will," replied Enoch obediently, as he left the room. + +The remainder of the day was crowded to the utmost. It was not until +midnight that Enoch achieved a free moment. This was when in the +privacy of his own room Jonas had bidden him a final good night. Enoch +did not open his journal. Instead he scrawled a letter. + + +"Dear Miss Allen: After deliberating on the matter a somewhat shorter +time, I'll admit, than you suggested, but still having deliberated on +it, I have decided that friendship is an art that needs attention and +study. Will you not dine with me to-morrow, or rather, this evening, +at the Ashton, at eight o'clock? Jonas, who will bring you this, can +bring your answer. Sincerely yours, Enoch Huntingdon." + + +He gave the note to Jonas the next morning. Jonas' black eyes, when he +saw the superscription, nearly started from their sockets: for during +all the years of his service with Enoch, he never had carried a note to +a woman. It was mid-morning when he tip-toed to the Secretary's desk +and laid a letter on it. Enoch was in conference at the time with Bill +Timmins, perhaps the foremost newspaper correspondent in America. He +excused himself for a moment and opened the envelope. + + +"Dear Mr. Secretary: Thank you, yes. Sincerely, Diana Allen." + + +He slipped the letter into his breast pocket and went on with the +interview, his face as somber as ever. But all that day it seemed to +the watchful Jonas that the Secretary seemed less tired than he had +been for weeks. + +There was a little balcony at the Ashton, just big enough for a table +for two, and shielded from the view of the main dining-room by palms. +It was set well out from the second floor, overlooking a quiet park. +Enoch was in the habit of dining here with various men with whom he +wished semi-privacy yet whom he did not care to entertain at his own +home. + +Diana was more than charmed by the arrangement. The corners of her +mouth deepened as if she were also amused, but Enoch, engrossed in +seating her where the light exactly suited him, did not note the +curving lips. He did not know much about women's dress, but he liked +Diana's soft white gown, and the curious turquoise necklace she wore +interested him. He asked her about it. + +"Na-che gave it to me," she said. "It was her mother's. It has no +special significance beyond the fact that the workmanship is very fine +and that the tracery on the silver means joy." + +"Joy? What sort of joy?" asked Enoch. + +"Is there more than one sort?" countered Diana, in the bantering voice +that Enoch always fancied was half tender. + +"Oh, yes!" replied the Secretary. "There's joy in work, play, friends. +There are as many kinds of joy as there are kinds of sorrow. Only +sorrow is so much more persistent than joy! A sorrow can stay by one +forever. But joys pass. They are always short lived." + +"Joy in work does not pass, Mr. Secretary," said Diana. + +Enoch laid down his spoon. "Please, Miss Allen, don't Mr. Secretary me +any more." + +Diana merely smiled. "Granted that one has a real friend, I believe +joy in friendship is permanent," she went on. + +"I hope you're right," said Enoch quietly. "We'll see, you and I." + +Diana did not reply. She was, perhaps, a little troubled by Enoch's +calm and persistent declaration of principles. It is not easy for a +woman even of Diana's poise and simple sincerity to keep in order a +gentleman as distinguished and as courteous and as obviously in earnest +as Enoch. + +Finally, "Do you mind talking your own shop, Mr. Huntingdon?" she asked. + +"Not at all," replied Enoch eagerly. "Is there some aspect of my work +that interests you?" + +"I imagine that all of it would," said Diana. "But I was not thinking +of your work as a Cabinet Official. I was thinking of you as Police +Commissioner of New York." + +Enoch looked surprised. + +"Father wrote to me the other day," Diana went on, "and asked me to +send him the collection of your speeches. I bought it at Brentano's +and I don't mind telling you that it pinched the Johnstown lunches a +good bit to do so, but it was worth it, for I read the book before +mailing it." + +"You're not hinting that I ought to reimburse you, are you?" demanded +Enoch, with a delighted chuckle. + +"Well, no--we'll consider that the luncheon and this dinner square the +Johnstown pinching, perhaps a trifle more. What I wanted to say was +that it struck me as worth comment that after you ceased being Police +Commissioner, you never again talked of the impoverished boyhood of +America. And yet you were a very successful Commissioner, were you +not?" + +Enoch looked from Diana out over the balcony rail to the fountain that +twinkled in the little park. + +"One of the most difficult things in public life," he said slowly, "is +to hew straight to the line one laid out at the beginning." + +"I should think," Diana suggested, "that the difficulty would depend on +what the line was. A man who goes into politics to make himself rich, +for example, might easily stick to his original purpose." + +"Exactly! But money of itself never interested me!" Here Enoch +stopped with a quick breath. There flashed across his inward vision +the picture of a boy in Luigi's second story, throwing dice with +passionate intensity. Enoch took a long sip of water, then went on. +"I wanted to be Police Commissioner of New York because I wanted to +make it impossible for other boys to have a boyhood like mine. I don't +mean that, quite literally, I thought one man or one generation could +accomplish the feat. But I did truly think I could make a beginning. +Miss Allen, in spite of the beautiful fights I had, in spite of the +spectacular clean-ups we made, I did nothing for the boys that my +successor did not wipe out with a single stroke of his pen, his first +week in office." + +Diana drew a long breath. "I wonder why," she said. + +"I think that lack of imagination, poor memory, personal selfishness, +is the answer. There is nothing people forget quite so quickly as the +griefs of their own childhood. There is nothing more difficult for +people to imagine than how things affect a child's mind. And yet, +nothing is so important in America to-day as the right kind of +education for boys. It has not been found as yet." + +"Have you a theory about it?" asked Diana. + +"Yes, I have. Have you?" + +Diana nodded. "I don't think boys and girls should be educated from +the same angle." + +"No? Why not?" Enoch's blue eyes were eager. + +"Wandering about the desert among the Indians, one has leisure to think +and to observe the workings of life under frank and simple conditions. +It has seemed to me that the boy approaches life from an entirely +different direction from a girl and that our system of education should +recognize that. Both are primarily guided by sex, their femaleness or +their maleness is always their impelling force. I'm talking now on the +matter of the spiritual and moral training, not book education." + +"Why not include the mental training? I think you'd be quite right in +doing so." + +"Perhaps so," replied Diana. + +They were silent for a moment, then Enoch said, with a quiet vehemence, +"Some day they'll dare to defy the creeds and put God into the public +schools. I don't know about girls, but, Miss Allen, the growing boys +need Him, more than they need a father. Something to cling to, +something high and noble and permanent while sex with all its thousand +varied impulses flagellates them! Something to go to with those +exquisite, generous fancies that even the worst boy has and that even +the best boy will not share even with the best mother. The homes today +don't have God in them. The churches with their hide-bound creeds +frighten away most men. Think, Miss Allen, think of the travesty of +our great educational system which ignores the two great facts of the +universe, God and sex." + +"You've never put any of this into your public utterances." + +"No," replied Enoch, "I've been saving it for you," and he looked at +her with a quiet smile. + +Diana could but smile in return. + +"And so," said Enoch, "returning to the answer to your original +question, I have found it hard to keep to any sort of fine idealism, +partly because of my own inward struggles and partly because politics +is a vile game anyhow." + +"We Americans," Diana lifted her chin and looked into Enoch's eyes very +directly, "feel that at least one politician has played a clean game. +It is a very great privilege for me to know you, Mr. Huntingdon." + +"Miss Allen," half whispered Enoch, "if you really knew me, with all my +inward devils and my half-achieved dreams, you would realize that it's +no privilege at all. Nevertheless, I wish that you did know all about +me. It would make me feel that the friendship which we are forming +could stand even 'the wreckful siege of battering days'!" + +"There was a man who understood friendships!" said Diana quickly. "He +said in his sonnets all that could be said about it." + +"Now don't disappoint me by agreeing with the idiots who try to prove +that Shakespeare wrote the sonnets to a man!" cried Enoch. "Only a +woman could have brought forth that beauty of song." + +Diana rose nobly to do battle. "What nonsense, Mr. Huntingdon! As if +a man like Shakespeare--" She paused as if struck by a sudden thought. +"That's a curious attitude for a notorious woman hater to take, Mr. +Secretary." + +Enoch laid down his fork. "Do you think I'm a woman hater, Miss +Allen?" looking steadily into Diana's eyes. + +"I didn't mean to be so personal. Just like a woman!" sighed Diana. + +"But do you think I'm a woman hater?" insisted Enoch. + +Diana looked up earnestly. "Please, Mr. Huntingdon, if our friendship +is to ripen, you must not force it." + +Enoch's face grew suddenly white. There swept over him with bitter +realism a conception of the falseness of the position into which he was +permitting himself to drift. He answered his own question with an +attempted lightness of tone. + +"I can never marry, but I don't hate women." + +Diana's chin lifted and Enoch leaned forward quickly. All the aplomb +won through years of suffering and experience deserted him. For the +moment he was again the boy in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. + +"Oh, I am stupid, but let me explain. I want you to--" + +"Please don't!" said Diana coldly. "I need no warning, Mr. Huntingdon." + +"Oh, my dear Miss Allen, you must not be offended! What can I say?" + +"You might ask me if it's not time to go home," suggested Diana, +coolly. "You mustn't forget that I'm a wage earner." + +Enoch bit his lip and turned to sign the check. Then he followed Diana +to the door. Here they came upon the Indian Commissioner and his wife, +and all opportunity for explanations was gone for the two invited +themselves to walk along to Diana's rooming place. Enoch went up the +steps with Diana, however, and asked her tensely: + +"Will you lunch with me to-morrow, Miss Allen, that I may explain +myself?" + +"Thank you, no. I shall be very busy to-morrow, Mr. Huntingdon." + +"Let me call here in the evening, then." + +"I'd rather you wouldn't," answered the girl, coldly. "Good night, Mr. +Secretary," and she was gone. + +Enoch stood as if struck dumb, then he made an excuse to Mr. and Mrs. +Watkins, and started homeward. The night was stifling. When Jonas let +him into the house, his collar was limp and his hair lay wet on his +forehead. + +"I'm going to New York to-night, Jonas," he said huskily. + +"What's happened, boss?" asked Jonas breathlessly, as he followed Enoch +up the stairs. + +"Nothing! I'm going to give myself a day's rest. Give me something to +travel in," pulling off his coat. + +"I'm going with you, boss," not stirring, his black eyes rolling. + +"No, I'm going alone, Jonas. Here, I'll pack my own grip. You go on +out." This in a voice that sent Jonas, however reluctantly, into the +hall, where he walked aimlessly up and down, wringing his hands. + +"He ain't been as bad as this in years," he muttered. "I wonder what +she did to him!" + +Enoch came out of his room shortly. "Tell every one I'm in New York, +Jonas," he said, and was gone. + +But Enoch did not go to New York. There was, he found on reaching the +station, no train for an hour. He checked his suitcase, and the +watching Jonas followed him out into the dark streets. He knew exactly +whither the boss was heading, and when Enoch had been admitted into a +brick house on a quiet street not a stone's throw from the station, +Jonas entered nimbly through the basement. + +He had a short conference with a colored man in the kitchen, then he +went up to the second floor and sat down in a dark corner of the hall +where he could keep an eye on all who entered the rear room. Well +dressed men came and went from the room all night. It was nearing six +o'clock in the morning when Jonas stopped a waiter who was carrying in +a tray of coffee. + +"How many's there now?" he demanded. + +"Only four," replied the waiter. "That red-headed guy's winning the +shirts off their backs. I've seen this kind of a game before. It's +good for another day." + +"Are any of 'em drinking?" asked Jonas. + +"Nothing but coffee. Lord, I'm near dead!" + +"Let me take that tray in for you. I want to get word to my boss." + +The waiter nodded and, sinking into Jonas' chair, closed his eyes. + +Jonas carried the tray into a handsome, smoke filled room, where four +men with intent faces were gathered around a card table. Enoch, in his +shirt sleeves, was dealing as Jonas set a steaming cup at his elbow. +Perhaps the intensity of the colored man's gaze distracted Enoch's +attention for a moment from the cards. He looked up and when he met +Jonas' eyes he deliberately laid down the deck, rose, took Jonas by the +arm and led him to the door. + +"Don't try this again, Jonas," he said, and he closed the door after +his steward. + +Once more Jonas took up his vigil. He left his chair at nine o'clock +to telephone Charley Abbott that the Secretary had gone to New York, +then he returned to his place. Noon came, afternoon waned. As dusk +drew on again, Jonas went once more to the telephone. + +"That you, Miss Allen? . . . This is Jonas. . . . Yes, ma'am, I'm +well, but the boss is in a dangerous condition. . . . Yes, ma'am, I +thought you'd feel bad because you see, it's your fault. . . . No, +ma'am, I can't explain over the telephone, but if you'll come to the +station and meet me at the news-stand on the corner, I'll tell +you. . . . Miss Allen, for God's sake, just trust me and come along. +Come now, in a cab, and I'll pay for it. . . . Thank you! Thank you, +ma'am! Thank you!" + +He banged up the receiver and flew out the basement door. When he +reached the news-stand, he stood with his hands twitching, talking to +himself for a half hour before Diana appeared. She walked up to him as +directly as a man would have done. + +"What's happened, Jonas?" + +"You and the boss must have quarreled last night. When anything +strikes the boss deep, he wants to gamble. Of late years he's mostly +fought it off, but once in a while it gets him. He's been at it since +last night over yonder, and for the first time in years I can't do +anything with him. And if it gets out, you know, Miss Allen, he's +ruined. I don't dast to leave him long, that's why I got you to come +here." + +Diana's chin lifted. "Do you mean to tell me that a man of Mr. +Huntingdon's reputation and ability, still stoops to that sort of +thing?" + +"Stoop! What do you mean, stoop? O Lord, I thought, seeing he sets +the world by you, that you was different from the run of women and +would understand." Jonas twisted his brown hands together. + +"Understand what?" asked Diana, her great eyes fastened on Jonas with +pity and scorn struggling in them. + +"Understand what it means to him. How it's like a conjur that Luigi +wished on him when he was a little boy. How he's pulled himself away +from it and he didn't have anybody on earth to help him till I come +along. What do you women folks know about how a strong man like him +fights Satan? I've seen him walk the floor all night and win, and I've +seen him after he's given in, suffer sorrow and hate of himself like a +man the Almighty's forgot. That's why he's so good, because he sins +and then suffers for it." + +As Jonas' husky voice subsided, a sudden gleam of tears shone in +Diana's eyes. + +"I'll send him a note, Jonas, and wait here for the answer. If that +doesn't bring him, I'll go after him myself." + +"The note'll bring him," said Jonas, "and he'll give me thunder for +telling." + +"Let me have a pencil and get me some paper from the news-stand." She +wrote rapidly. + + +"Dear Mr. Huntingdon: + +"I must see you at once on urgent business. I am in the railway +station. Could you come to me here? + +"DIANA ALLEN." + + +Jonas all but snatched the note and dashed away. Enoch was scowling at +the cards before him when Jonas thrust the note into his hand. Enoch +stared at the address, laid the cards down slowly, and read the note. + +"All right, gentlemen," he said quietly. "I've had my fun! Good +night!" He took his hat from Jonas and strode out of the room. He did +not speak as the two walked rapidly to the station. Diana was standing +by a cab near the main entrance. + +"This is good of you, Mr. Huntingdon," she said gravely, shaking hands. +"Thank you, Jonas!" She entered the cab and Enoch followed her. + +"Let me have your suitcase check, boss." Jonas held out a black hand +that still shook a little. + +"I'll get Miss Allen to drop me at the house, Jonas," said Enoch. + +Jonas nodded and heaved a great sigh as the cab started off. + +"How did you come to do it?" asked Enoch, looking strangely at Diana. + +"I heard you were in New York, Mr. Secretary. Jonas called me up!" + +"Jonas had no business to do so. I am humiliated beyond words!" + +Enoch spoke with a dreary sort of hopelessness. + +"I thought we were friends," said Diana calmly. "It isn't as if we +hadn't known each other and all about each other since childhood. You +must not say a word against Jonas." + +"How could I? He is my guardian angel," said Enoch. + +Diana went on still in the commonplace tone of the tea table. "I want +to apologize for my fit of temper, Mr. Secretary. I was very stupid +and I'm thoroughly ashamed of myself. You may tell me anything you +please!" + +"I don't deserve it!" Enoch spoke abruptly. + +Diana's voice suddenly deepened and softened. "Ah, but you do deserve +it, dear Mr. Secretary. You deserve all that grateful citizens can do +for you, and even then we cannot expect to discharge our full debt to +you. Here's my house. Perhaps when you're not too busy, you'll ask me +to dine again with you." + +Enoch did not reply. He stood with bared head while she ran up the +steps. Then he reentered the cab and was driven home. But it was not +till two weeks later that Enoch sent a note to Diana, asking her to +take dinner with him. Even his diary during that period showed no +record of his inward flagellations. He did not receive an answer until +late in the afternoon. + +It had been an exceptionally hectic day. Enoch had been summoned +before the Senate Committee on appropriations, and with the director of +the Reclamation Service had endured a grilling that had had some +aspects of the third degree. + +After some two hours of it the Director had lost his temper. + +"Gentlemen!" he had cried, "treat me as if I were a common thief, +attempting to loot the public funds, if you find satisfaction in it, +but at least do not humiliate the Secretary of the Interior in the same +manner!" + +"These people can't humiliate me, Whipple." Enoch had spoken quietly. + +The blow had struck home and the Senator who was acting as chairman had +apologized. + +Enoch had nodded. "I know! You are in the position of having to +appropriate funds for the carrying on of a highly specialized business +about which you are utterly ignorant. You are uneasy and you mistake +impertinent questioning for keen investigation." + +"I move we adjourn until to-morrow," a member had said hastily. The +motion had carried and Enoch, as though it was already past six +o'clock, had started for his office, Whipple accompanying him. + +"After all this howl over the proposed Paloma Dam," said Whipple, "we +may not be able to build it. There's a bunch of Mexicans both this and +the other side of the border that have made serious trouble with the +preliminary survey, and I have the feeling that there is some power +behind that wants to start something." + +"Is that so?" asked Enoch with interest. "Come in and talk to me a few +moments about it." + +Whipple followed to the Secretary's office. A sealed letter was lying +on the desk. Enoch opened it, and read it without ceremony. + + +"Dear Mr. Huntingdon: I find that some old friends are starting for the +Grand Canyon this afternoon and they have given me an opportunity to +make one of their party. I have been able to arrange my work to Mr. +Watkins' satisfaction and so, I'm off. I want to thank you very deeply +for the wonderful openings you have made for me and for the very great +personal kindness you have shown me. When I return in the winter, I +hope I may see you again. + +"Very sincerely yours, + +"DIANA ALLEN." + + +Enoch folded the note and slipped it into his pocket, then he looked at +the waiting Director. "I hope you'll excuse me, Whipple, but this is +something to which I must give my personal attention," and without a +word further, he put on his hat and walked out of the office. He did +not go to his waiting carriage but, leaving the building by another +door, he walked quickly to the drug store on the corner and, entering a +telephone booth, called the railroad station. The train connecting for +the Southwest had left an hour before. Enoch hung up the receiver and +walked out to the curb, scowling and striking his walking stick against +his trouser leg. Finally he got aboard a trolley. + +It was a little after three o'clock in the morning when Jonas located +him. Enoch was leaning against the wall watching the roulette table. + +"Good evening, boss," said Jonas. + +Enoch looked round at him. "That you, Jonas? I haven't touched a card +or a dollar this evening, Jonas." + +Jonas, who had already ascertained this from the owner of the gambling +house, nodded. + +"Have you had your supper yet, boss?" + +Enoch hesitated, thinking heavily. "Why, no, Jonas, I guess not." +Then he added irritably, "A man must rest, Jonas. I can't slave all +the time." + +"Sure!" returned the colored man, holding his trembling hands behind +him. "But how come you to think this was rest, boss? You better come +back now and let me fix you a bite to eat." + +"Jonas, what's the use? Who on earth but you cares what I do? What's +the use?" + +"Miss Diana Allen," said Jonas softly, "she told Mr. Abbott this noon, +at lunch, that you was one of the great men of this country and that he +was a lucky dog to spend all his time with you." + +Enoch stood, his arms folded on his chest, his massive head bowed. +Finally he said, "All right, old man, I'll try again. But I'm lonely, +Jonas, lonely beyond words, and all the greatness in the world, Jonas, +can't fill an empty heart." + +"I know it, boss! I know it!" said Jonas huskily, as he led the way to +the street. There, Enoch insisted on walking the three or four miles +home. + +"All right," agreed Jonas, cheerfully. "I guess ghosteses don't mind +travel, and that's all I am, just a ghost." + +Enoch stopped abruptly, put a hand on Jonas' shoulder and hailed a +passing night prowler. Once in the cab, Jonas said: + +"The White House done called you twice to-night. Mr. Secretary. I +told 'em you'd call first thing in the morning." + +"Thanks!" replied Enoch briefly. + +The house was silent when they reached it. Jonas never employed +servants who could not sleep in their own homes. By the time the +Secretary was ready for bed, Jonas appeared with a tray, Enoch silently +and obediently ate and then turned in. + +The White House called before the Secretary had finished breakfast. + +"You saw last night's papers?" asked the President. + +"No! I'm sorry. I--I took a rest last evening." + +"I'm glad you did. Well, I think you'd better plan--come up here, will +you, at once? I won't try to talk to you over the telephone." + +Enoch, in the carriage, glanced over the paper. The Brown paper of the +evening before contained a nasty little story of innuendo about the +work of the Survey near Paloma. The morning paper declared in glaring +headlines that the President by his pacifist policy toward Mexico was +tainting the nation's honor and that it would shortly bring England, +France and Germany about our ears. + +The President was still at breakfast when Enoch was shown in to him. +The chief executive insisted that Enoch have a cup of coffee. + +"You don't look to me, my boy, like a man who had enjoyed his rest. +And I'm going to ask you to add to your burdens. Could you leave next +week for a speaking trip?" + +The tired lines around Enoch's mouth deepened. "Yes, Mr. President. +Have you a general route planned?" + +"Yes, New York, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and in between as can be +arranged. Take two months to it." + +"I shall be glad to be free of office routine for a while," said Enoch. +He sipped his coffee slowly, then rose as he added: + +"I shall stick strictly to the work of my department, Mr. President, in +the speech making." + +"Oh! Absolutely! And let me be of any help to you I may." + +"Thank you," Enoch smiled a little grimly. "You might come along and +supply records for the phonograph." + +"By Jove, I would if it were necessary!" said the President. + +Jonas and Abbott each was perfect in his own line. In five days' time +Enoch was aboard the private car, with such paraphernalia as was needed +for carrying on office work en route. The itinerary had been arranged +to the last detail. A few carefully chosen newspaper correspondents +were aboard and one hot September evening, a train with the Secretary's +car hitched to it, pulled out of Washington. + +Of Enoch's speeches on that trip little need be said here. Never +before had he spoken with such fire and with such simple eloquence. +The group of speeches he made are familiar now to every schoolboy. One +cannot read them to-day without realizing that the Secretary was trying +as never before to interpret for the public his own ideals of service +to the common need. He seemed to Abbott and to the newspaper men who +for six weeks were so intimately associated with him to draw +inspiration and information from the free air. And there was to all of +his speeches an almost wistful persuasiveness, as if, Abbott said, he +picked one listener in each audience, each night, and sought anew to +make him feel the insidious peril to the nation's soul that lay in +personal complacency and indifference to the nation's spiritual +welfare. Only Jonas, struggling to induce the Secretary to take a +decent amount of sleep, nodded wisely to himself. He knew that Enoch +made each speech to a lovely, tender face, that no man who saw ever +forgot. + +Little by little, the newspapers of the country began to take Enoch's +point of view. They not only gave his speeches in full, but they +commented on them editorially, at great length, and with the exception +of the Brown papers, favorably. By the time Enoch was on his way home, +with but two weeks more of speech making before him, it looked as +though the thought of war with Mexico had been definitely quashed. And +Enoch was tired to the very marrow of his bones. + +But the Brown papers were not finished. One evening, in Arizona, +shortly after the train had pulled out of a station, Enoch asked for +the newspapers that had been brought aboard from the desert city. +Charley Abbott, who had been with the newspaper men on the observation +platform for an hour or so, answered the Secretary's request with a +curiously distraught manner. + +"I--that is--Mr. Huntingdon, Jonas says you slept worse than ever last +night. Why not save the papers till morning and try to sleep now?" + +Enoch looked at his secretary keenly. "Picked up some Brown papers +here, eh! Nothing that bunch can say can hurt me, old man." + +"Don't you ever think it!" exclaimed Charley vehemently. "You might as +well say you were immune to rattler bites, Mr. Huntingdon--" here his +voice broke. + +"Look here, Abbott," said Enoch, "if it's bad, I've got to fight it, +haven't I?" + +"But this sort of thing, a man--" Charley suddenly steadied himself. +"Mr. Secretary, they've put some nasty personal lies about you in the +paper. The country at large and all of us who know you, scorn the lies +as much as they do Brown. In a day or so, it we ignore them, the stuff +will have been forgotten. I beg of you, don't read any newspapers +until I tell you all's clear." + +Enoch smiled. "Why, my dear old chap, I've weathered all sorts of mud +slinging!" + +"But never this particular brand," insisted Charley. + +"Let's have the papers, Abbott. I'm not afraid of anything Brown can +say." + +Charley grimly handed the papers to the Secretary and returned to the +observation platform. + +A reporter had seen Enoch in the gambling house on the evening of +Diana's departure for the Canyon. He had learned something from the +gambling house keeper of the Secretary's several trips there. The +reporter had then, with devilish ingenuity, followed Enoch back to +Minetta Lane, where he had found Luigi. Then followed eight or ten +paragraphs in Luigi's own words, giving an account of Enoch and Enoch's +mother. The whole story was given with a deadly simplicity, that it +seemed to the Secretary must carry conviction with it. + +As Enoch had told Abbott, he had weathered much political mud slinging, +but even his worst political enemies had spared him this. His +adherents had made much of the fact that Enoch was slum bred and self +made. That was the sort of story which the inherent democracy of +America loved. But the Brown account made of Enoch a creature of the +underworld, who still loved his early haunts and returned to them in +all their vileness. And in all the years of his political life, no +newspaper but this had ever mentioned Enoch's mother. The tale closed +with a comment on the fact that Enoch, who shunned all women, had been +seen several times in Washington giving marked attention to Miss Diana +Allen. Diana and her work were fully identified. + +Enoch read the account to the last word, a flush of agonizing +humiliation deepening on his face as he did so. When he had finished, +he doubled the paper carefully, and laid it on the chair next to his. +Then he lighted a cigarette and sat with folded arms, unseeing eyes on +the newspaper. When Jonas came in an hour later, the cigarette, +unsmoked, was cold between the Secretary's lips. With trembling hands, +the colored man picked up the paper and with unbelievable venom +gleaming in his black eyes, he carried it to the rear door, spat upon +it and flung it out into the desert night. Then he returned to Enoch. + +"Mr. Secretary," he said huskily, "let me take your keys." + +Mechanically Enoch obeyed. Jonas selected a small key from the bunch +and, opening a large leather portfolio, he took out the black diary. +This he placed carefully on the folding table which stood at Enoch's +elbow. Then he started toward the door. + +The Secretary did not look up. Nor did he heed the colloquy which took +place at the door between Jonas and Abbott. + +"How is he, Jonas?" + +"I ain't asked him. He's a sick man." + +"God! Let me come in, Jonas." + +"No, sir, you ain't! How come you think you kin talk to him when even +I don't dast to?" + +"But he mustn't be alone, Jonas." + +"He ain't alone. I left him with his Bible. Ain't nobody going to +trouble him this night." + +"I didn't know he read the Bible that way." Abbott's voice was +doubtful. + +"I don't mean the regular Lord's Bible. It's a book he's been writing +for years and he always turns to it when he's in trouble. I don't know +nothing about it. What he don't want me to know, I don't know," and +Jonas slammed the door behind him. + +It was late when Enoch suddenly straightened himself up and, with an +air of resolution, opened the black book. He uncapped his fountain pen +and wrote: + + +"Diana, how could I know, how could I dream that such a thing could +happen to you, through me! You must never come back to Washington. +Perhaps they will forget. As for myself, I can't seem to think clearly +just what I must do. I am so very tired. One thing is certain, you +never must see me again. For one wild moment the desire to return to +the Canyon, now I am in its neighborhood overwhelmed me. I decided to +go up there and see if I could find the peace that I found in my +boyhood. Then I realized that you were at home, that all the world +would see me go down Bright Angel, and I gave up the idea. But +somehow, I must find rest, before I return to Washington. Oh, Diana, +Diana!" + + +It was midnight when Enoch finally lay down in his berth. To Jonas' +delight, he fell asleep almost immediately, and the faithful steward, +after reporting to the anxious group on the platform, was soon asleep +himself. + +But it was not one o'clock when the Secretary awoke. The train was +rumbling slowly, and he looked from the window. Only the moonlit flats +of the desert were to be seen. Enoch rose with sudden energy and +dressed himself. He chucked his toilet case, with his diary and a +change of underwear, into a satchel, and scrawled a note to Abbott: + + +"Dear Charley: I'm slipping off into the desert for a little rest. +You'll hear from me when I feel better. Give out that I'm sick--I +am--and cancel the few speaking engagements left. Tell Jonas he is not +to worry. Yours, E. H." + + +He sealed this note, then he pulled on a soft hat and, as the train +stopped at a water tank, he slipped off the platform and stood in the +shadow of an old shed. It seemed to him a long time before the engine, +with violent puffing and jolting, started the long train on again. But +finally the tail lights disappeared in the distance and Enoch was alone +in the desert. For a few moments he stood beside the track, drawing in +deep breaths of the warm night air. Then he started slowly westward +along the railway tracks. He had noted a cluster of adobe houses a +mile or so back, and toward these he was headed. In spite of the agony +of the blow he had sustained Enoch, gazing from the silver flood of the +desert, to the silver arch of the heavens, was conscious of a thrill of +excitement and not unpleasant anticipation. Somewhere, somehow, in the +desert, he would find peace and sufficient spiritual strength to +sustain him when once more he faced Washington and the world. + + + + +BOOK III + +THE ENCHANTED CANYON + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE DESERT + + +"If I had a son, I would teach him obedience as heaven's first law, for +so only can a man be trained to obey his own better self."--_Enoch's +Diary_. + + +The Secretary had no intention of waking the strange little village at +night. He thought that, once he had relocated it, he would wait until +dawn before rousing any one. But he had not counted on the village +dogs. These set up such an outcry that, while Enoch leaned quietly +against a rude corral fence waiting for the hullaballoo to cease, the +door of the house nearest opened, and a man came out. He stood for a +moment very deliberately staring at the Secretary, whose polite "Good +morning" could not be heard above the dogs' uproar. + +Enoch, with a half grin, dropped his satchel and held up both hands. +The man, half smiling in response, kicked and cursed the dogs into +silence. Then he approached Enoch. He was a small, swarthy chap, clad +in overalls and an undershirt. + +"You're a Pueblo Indian?" asked the Secretary. + +The Indian nodded. "What you want?" + +"I want to buy a horse." + +"Where you come from?" + +"Off that train that went through a while ago." + +"This not Ash Fork," said the Indian. "You make mistake. Ash Fork +that way," jerking his thumb westward. "You pass through Ash Fork." + +Enoch nodded. "You sell me a horse?" + +"I rent you horse. You leave him at Hillers' in Ash Fork. I get him." + +"No, I want to buy a horse. Now I'm in the desert I guess I'll see a +little of it. Maybe I'll ride up that way," waving a careless arm +toward the north. "Maybe you'll sell me some camping things, blankets +and a coffee pot." + +"All right," said the Indian. "When you want 'em?" + +"Now, if I can get them." + +"All right! I fix 'em." + +He spoke to one of the other Indians who were sticking curious heads +out of black doorways. In an incredibly short time Enoch was the +possessor of a thin, muscular pony, well saddled, two blankets, one an +Army, the other a Navajo, a frying pan, a coffee pot, a canteen and +enough flour, bacon and coffee to see him through the day. He also +achieved possession of a blue flannel shirt and a pair of overalls. He +paid without question the price asked by the Indians. Dawn was just +breaking when he mounted his horse. + +"Where does that trail lead?" he asked, pointing to one that started +north from the corral. + +"To Eagle Springs, five miles," answered the Indian. + +"And after that?" + +"East to Allman's ranch, north to Navajo camp." + +"Thanks," said Enoch. "Good-by!" and he turned his pony to the trail. + +The country became rough and broken almost at once. The trail led up +and down through draws and arroyos. There was little verdure save +cactus and, when the sun was fully up, Enoch began to realize that a +strenuous day was before him. The spring boasted a pepper tree, a +lovely thing of delicate foliage, gazing at itself in the mirrored blue +of the spring. Enoch allowed the horse to drink its fill, then he +unrolled the blankets and clothing and dropped them into the water +below the little falls that gushed over the rocks, anchoring them with +stones. After this, awkwardly, but recalling more and more clearly his +camping lore, he prepared a crude breakfast. + +He sat long at this meal. His head felt a little light from the lack +of sleep and he was physically weary. But he could not rest. For days +a jingling couplet had been running through his mind: + + "Rest is not quitting this busy career. + Rest is the fitting of self to one's sphere." + +Enoch muttered this aloud, then smiled grimly to himself. + +"That's the idea!" he added. "There's a bad spot somewhere in my +philosophy that'll break me yet. Well, we'll see if I can locate it." + +The sun was climbing high and the shade of the pepper tree was +grateful. The spring murmured for a few feet beyond the last quivering +shadow of the feathery leaves, then was swallowed abruptly by the +burning sand. Enoch lifted his tired eyes. Far on every side lay the +uneven, rock strewn desert floor, dotted with cactus and greasewood. +To the east, vivid against the blue sky, rose a solitary mountain peak, +a true purple in color, capped with snow. To the north, a green black +shadow was etched against the horizon. Except for the slight rustle of +the pepper tree, the vague murmur of the water, the silence was +complete. + +"It's not a calming atmosphere," thought Enoch, "as I remember the +Canyon to have been. It's feverish and restless. But I'll give it a +try. For to-day, I'll not think. I'll concern myself entirely with +getting to this Navajo camp. First of all, I'll dry the blankets and +clothing." + +He had pulled off his tweed coat some time before. Now he hung his +vest on the pepper tree and went about his laundry work. He draped +blankets and garments over the greasewood, then moved by a sudden +impulse, undressed himself and lay down under the tiny falls. The +water, warmed by its languid trip through the pool above, was +refreshing only in its cleansing quality. But Enoch, lying at length +in the sand, the water trickling ceaselessly over him, felt his taut +muscles relax and a great desire to sleep came upon him. But he was +still too close to the railroad and possible discovery to allow himself +this luxury. By the time he had finished his bath the overalls were +dry and the blue flannel shirt enough so for him to risk donning it. +He rolled up his tweed suit and tied it to the saddle, fastened the +blankets on in an awkward bunch, the cooking utensils dangling +anywhere, the canteen suspended from the pommel. Then he smiled at his +reflection in the morning pool. + +The overalls, a faded brown, were patched and, of course, wrinkled and +drawn. The blue shirt was too small across the chest and Enoch found +it impossible to button the collar. The soft hat was in keeping with +costume, but the Oxford ties caused him to shake his head. + +"A dead give-away! I'll have to negotiate for something else when I +find the Navajos. All right, Pablo," to the horse, "we're off," and +the pony started northward at a gentle canter. + +The desert was new to Enoch. Neither his Grand Canyon experience nor +his hunting trips in Canada and Maine had prepared him for the +hardships and privations of desert travel. Sitting at ease on the +Indian pony, his hat well over his eyes, his pots and pans clanging +gently behind him, he was entirely oblivious to the menace that lay +behind the intriguing beauty of the burning horizon. He was giving +small heed, too, to the details of the landscape about him. He was +conscious of the heat and of color, color that glowed and quivered and +was ever changing, and he told himself that when he was rested he would +find the beauty in the desert that Diana's pictures had said was there. +But for now, he was conscious only of pain and shame, the old, old +shame that the Canyon had tried to teach him to forget. He was +determined that he would stay in the desert until this shame was gone +forever. + +It was a fall and not a summer sun, so the pony was able to keep a +steady pace until noon. Gradually the blur of green that Enoch had +observed to the north had outlined itself more and more vividly, and at +noon he rode into the shade of a little grove of stunted pińon and +juniper. He could find no water but there was a coarse dried grass +growing among the trees that the horse cropped eagerly. Enoch removed +the saddle and pack from Pablo, and spread his half dried blankets on +the ground. Then he threw himself down to rest before preparing his +midday meal. In a moment slumber overwhelmed him. + +He was wakened at dusk by the soft nuzzling of the pony against his +shoulder. + +"By Jove!" he exclaimed softly. "What a sleep!" He jumped to his feet +and began to gather wood for his fire. He was stiff and his +unaccustomed fingers made awkward work of cooking, but he managed, +after an hour's endeavor, to produce an unsavory meal, which he +devoured hungrily. He wiped out the frying pan with dried grass, +repacked his outfit, and hung it on the horse. + +"It's up to you, Pablo, old boy, to get us to water, if you want any +to-night," he said, as he mounted, and headed Pablo north on the trail. + +The pony was quite of Enoch's opinion, and he started forward at an +eager trot. The trail was discernible enough in the starlight, but +Enoch made no attempt to guide Pablo, who obviously knew the country +better than his new owner. + +Enoch had dreamed of Diana, and now, the reins drooping limply from his +hands, he gave his mind over to thought of her. There was no one on +earth whom he desired to see so much or so little as Diana! No one +else to whom in his trouble his whole heart and mind turned with such +unutterable longing or such iron determination never to see again. He +had no intention of searching for her in the desert. He knew that her +work would keep her in the Grand Canyon country. He knew that it would +be easy to avoid her. And, in spite of the fact that every fiber of +his being yearned for her, he had not the slightest desire to see her! +She would, he knew, see the Brown story. No matter what her father may +have told her, the newspaper story, with its vile innuendoes concerning +his adult life, must sicken her. There was one peak of shame which +Enoch refused to achieve. He would not submit himself either to +Diana's pity or to her scorn. But there was, he was finding, a +peculiar solace in merely traveling in Diana's desert. He had complete +faith that here he would find something of the sweet philosophy that +had written itself in Diana's face. + +For Enoch had not come to middle life without learning that on a man's +philosophy rests his ultimate chance for happiness, or if not for +happiness, content. He knew that until he had sorted and separated +from each other the things that mattered and the things that did not +matter, he must be the restless plaything of circumstance. In his +younger days he had been able to persuade himself that if his point of +view on his life work were right and sane, nothing else could hurt him +too much. But now, easing himself to the pony's gentle trot and +staring into the exquisite blue silence of the desert night, he told +himself that he had been a coward, and that his cowardice had made him +shun the only real experience of life. + +Public service? Yes, it had been right for him to make that his life +work. And such service from such men as himself he knew to be the only +vital necessity in a nation's life. But the one vital necessity in a +man's spiritual life he had missed. If he had had this, he told +himself, life's bludgeons, however searching, however devastating, he +could have laughed at. A man must have the thought of some good +woman's love to sustain him. But for Enoch, the thought of any woman's +love, Luigi had tainted at its source. He had neither mother nor mate, +and until he had evolved some philosophy which would reconcile him to +doing without both, his days must be feverish and at the mercy of the +mob. + +Pablo broke into a canter and Enoch roused himself to observe a glow of +fire far ahead on the trail. His first impulse was to pull the horse +in. He did not want either to be identified or to mingle with human +beings. Then he smiled ruefully as he recalled the poverty of his +outfit and he gave Pablo his way again. In a short time Pablo had +reached a spring at a little distance from the fire. As the horse +buried his nose in the water, a man came up. Enoch judged by the long +hair that he was an Indian. + +"Good evening," said Enoch. "Can you tell me where I can buy some +food?" + +"What kind of grub?" asked the Indian. + +"Anything I can cook and eat," replied Enoch, dismounting stiffly. +"What kind of camp is this?" + +"Navajo. What your name?" + +"Smith. What's yours?" + +"John Red Sun. How much you pay for grub?" + +"Depends on what kind and how much. Which way are you folks going?" + +"We take horses to the railroad," replied John Red Sun. "Me and my +brother, that's all, so we haven't got much grub. You come over by the +fire." Enoch dropped the reins over Pablo's head and followed to the +fire. An Indian, who was boiling coffee at the little blaze, looked up +with interest in his black eyes. + +"Good evening," said Enoch. "My name is Smith." + +The Indian nodded. "You like a cup of coffee? Just done." + +"Thanks, yes." Enoch sat down gratefully by the fire. The desert +night was sharp. + +"Where you going, Mr. Smith?" asked John Red Sun. + +"I'm an Easterner, a tenderfoot," replied Enoch. "I am very tired and +I thought I'd like to rest in the desert. I was on the train when the +idea struck me, and I got off just as I was. I bought the horse and +these clothes from an Indian." + +"Where you going?" repeated John's brother. "To see Injun villages?" + +"No, I don't think so. I just want to be by myself." + +"It's foolish for tenderfoot to go alone in desert," said John. "You +don't know where to get water, get grub." + +"Oh, I'll pick it up as I go." + +The Indians stared at Enoch in the firelight. His ruddy hair was +tumbled by the night wind. His face was deep lined with fatigue that +was mental as well as physical. + +"You mustn't go alone in desert." John Red Sun's voice was earnest. +"You sleep here to-night. We'll talk it over." + +"You're very kind," said Enoch. "I'll unsaddle my pony. Ought I to +hobble him or stake him out?" + +"I fix 'im. You drink your coffee." The brother handed Enoch a tin +cup as he spoke. "Then you go to sleep. You mucho tired." + +Their hospitality touched Enoch. "You're very kind," he repeated +gratefully, and he drank the vile coffee without blinking. Then, +conscious that he was trembling with weariness, he rolled himself in +his blankets. But he slept only fitfully. The sand was hard, and his +long afternoon's nap had taken the edge from his appetite for sleep. +He spent much of the night wondering what Washington, what the +President was saying about him. And his sunburned face was new dyed +with his burning sense of shame. + +At the first peep of dawn, John Red Sun rose from the other side of the +fire, raked the ashes and started a blaze going. Enoch discovered that +the camp lay at the foot of a mesa, close in whose shadow a small herd +of scraggly, unkempt ponies was staked. The two Indians moved about +deftly. They watered the horses, made coffee and cakes and fried +bacon. By the time Enoch had shaved, a pie tin was waiting for him in +the ashes. + +"We sell you two days' grub," said John. "One day north on this trail +go two men up to the Canyon, to placer mine. They're good men. I know +'em many years. They got good outfit, but burros go slow, so you can +easy overtake 'em to-day. You tell 'im you want a job. Tell 'im John +Red Sun send you. Then you get rested in the desert. Not good for any +white man to go alone and do nothing in the desert. He'll go loco. +See?" + +Enoch suddenly smiled. "I do see, yes. And I must say you're mighty +kind and sensible. I'll do as you suggest. By the way, will you sell +me those boots of yours? I'll swap you mine and anything you say, +beside. I believe our feet are the same size." + +Red Sun's brother was wearing Navajo moccasins reaching to the knee, +but Red Sun was resplendent in a pair of high laced boots, into which +were tucked his corduroy pants. The Indians both looked at Enoch's +smart Oxford ties with eagerness. Then without a word, Red Sun began +rapidly to unlace his boots. It would be difficult to say which made +the exchange with the greater satisfaction, Enoch or the Indian. When +it was done Enoch, as far as his costume was concerned, might have been +a desert miner indeed, looking for a job. + +The sun was not over an hour high when Pablo and Enoch started north +once more, the little horse loaded with supplies and Enoch loaded with +such trail lore as the two Indians could impress upon him in the short +time at their command. Enoch was not deeply impressed by their advice +except as to one point, which they repeated so often that it really +penetrated his distraught and weary mind. He was to keep to the trail. +No matter what or whom he thought he saw in the distance, he was to +keep to the trail. If a sand storm struck him, he was to camp +immediately and on the trail. If he needed water, he was to keep to +the trail in order to find it. At night, he must camp on the trail. +The trail! It was, they made him understand, a tenderfoot's only +chance of life in this section. And, thus equipped, Enoch rode away +into the lonely, shimmering, intriguing morning light of the desert. + +He rode all the morning without dismounting. The trail was very +crooked. It seemed to him at such moments as he took note of this +fact, he would save much time by riding due north, but he could not +forget the Indian brothers' reiterated warnings. And, although he +could not throw off a sense of being driven, the desire to arrive +somewhere quickly, still he was strangely content to let Pablo set the +pace. + +At noon he dismounted, fed Pablo half the small bag of oats John had +given him, and ate the cold bacon and biscuits John's brother had urged +on him. There was no water for the horse, but Enoch drank deeply from +the canteen and allowed Pablo an hour's rest. Then he mounted and +pushed on, mindful of the necessity of overtaking the miners. + +His mind was less calm than it had been the day before, and his +thinking less orderly. He had begun to be nagged by recollections of +office details that he should have settled, of important questions that +awaited his decision. And something deep within him began to tell him +that he was not playing a full man's part in running away. But to this +he replied grimly that he was only seeking for strength to go back. +And finally he muttered that give him two weeks' respite and he would +go back, strength or no strength. And over and about all his broken +thinking played an unceasing sense of loss. The public had invaded his +last privacy. The stronghold wherein a man fights his secret weakness +should be sacred. Not even a clergyman nor a wife should invade its +precincts uninvited. Enoch's inner sanctuary had been laid open to the +idle view of all the world. The newspaper reporter had pried where no +real man would pry. The Brown papers had published that from which a +decent editor would turn away for very compassion. Only a very dirty +man will with no excuse whatever wantonly and deliberately break +another man. + +When toward sundown Enoch saw a thread of smoke rising far ahead of +him, again his first thought was to stop and make camp. He wished that +it were possible for him to spend the next few weeks without seeing a +white man. But he did not yield to the impulse and Pablo pushed on +steadily. + +The camp was set in the shelter of a huge rock pile, purple, black, +yellow and crimson in color, with a single giant ocotilla growing from +the top. A man in overalls was bending over the fire, while another +was bringing a dripping coffee pot from a little spring that bubbled +from under the rocks. A number of burros were grazing among the cactus +roots. + +Enoch rode up slowly and dismounted stiffly. "Good evening," he said. + +The two men stared at him frankly. "Good evening, stranger!" + +"John Red Sun told me to ask you people for work in return for +permission to trail with your outfit." + +"Oh, he did, did he!" grunted the older man, eying Enoch intently. "My +name is Mackay, and my pardner's is Field." + +"Mine is Smith," said Enoch. + +"Just Smith?" grinned the man Field. + +"Just Smith," repeated Enoch firmly. + +"Well, Mr. Just Smith," Mackay nodded affably, as though pleased by his +appraisal of the newcomer, "wipe your feet on the door mat and come in +and have supper with us. We'll talk while we eat." + +"You're very kind," murmured Enoch. "I--er--I'm a tenderfoot, so +perhaps you'd tell me, shall I hobble this horse or--" + +"I'll take care of him for you," said Field. "You look dead tuckered. +Sit down till supper's ready." + +Enoch sat down on a rock and eyed his prospective bosses. Mackay was a +tall, thin man of perhaps fifty. He was smooth shaven except for an +iron gray mustache. His face was thin, tanned and heavily lined, and +his keen gray eyes were deep set under huge, shaggy eyebrows. He wore +a gray flannel shirt and a pair of well worn brown corduroys, tucked +into the tops of a pair of ordinary shoes. Field was younger, probably +about Enoch's own age. He was as tall as Mackey but much heavier. He +was smooth shaven and ruddy of skin, with a heavy thatch of curly black +hair and fine brown eyes. His clothing was a replica of his partner's. + +Mackay gave his whole attention to the preparation of the supper, while +Field unpacked Pablo and hobbled him. + +"You're just in time for a darn good meal, Mr. Smith," said Field. +"Mack is a great cook. If he was as good a miner as he is cook--" + +"Dry up, Curly, and get Mr. Smith's cup and plate for him. We're shy +on china. Grub's ready, folks. Draw up." + +They ate sitting in the sand, with their backs against the rocks, their +feet toward the fire, for the evening was cold. Curly had not +exaggerated Mack's ability. The hot biscuits, baked in a dutch oven, +the fried potatoes, stewed tomatoes, the bacon, the coffee were each +deliciously prepared. Enoch ate as though half starved, then helped to +wash the dishes. After this was finished, the three established +themselves with their pipes before the fire. + +"Now," said Mack, "we're in a condition to consider your proposition, +Mr. Smith. Just where was you aiming for?" + +"I have a two or three weeks' vacation on my hands," replied Enoch, +"and I'm pretty well knocked up with office work. I wanted to rest in +the desert. I thought I could manage it alone, but it looks as if I +were too green. I don't know why John Red Sun thought I could intrude +on you folks, unless--" he hesitated. + +"John an old friend of yours?" asked Curly. + +"No, I met him on the trail. He was exceedingly kind and hospitable." + +Curly whistled softly. "You must have been in bad shape. John's not +noted for kindness, or hospitality either." + +"I wasn't in bad shape at all!" protested Enoch. The two men, eying +Enoch steadily, each suppressed a smile. + +"Field and I are on a kind of vacation too," said Mack. "I'm a +superintendent of a zinc mine, and he's running the mill for me. We +had to shut down for three months--bottom's dropped clean out of the +price of zinc. We've been talking about prospecting for placer gold up +on the Colorado, for ten years. Now we're giving her a try." + +He paused, and both men looked at Enoch expectantly. "In other words," +said Enoch, refilling his pipe, "you two fellows are off for the kind +of a trip you don't want an utter stranger in on. Well, I don't blame +you." + +"Depends altogether on what kind of a chap the stranger is," suggested +Curly. + +"I have no letters of recommendation." Enoch's smile was grim. "I'd +do my share of the work, and pay for my board. I might not be the best +of company, for I'm tired. Very tired." + +His massive head drooped as he spoke and his thin fine lips betrayed a +pain and weariness that even the fitful light of the fire could not +conceal. There was a silence for a moment, then a burro screamed, and +Mackay got to his feet. + +"There's Mamie burro making trouble again. Come and help me catch her, +Curly." + +Enoch sat quietly waiting while a low voiced colloquy that did not seem +related to the obstreperous Mamie went on in the shadow beyond the +rocks. Then the two men came back. + +"All right, Smith," said Mack. "We're willing to give it a try. A +camping trip's like marriage, you know, terrible trying on the nerves. +So if we don't get on together, it's understood you'll turn back, eh?" + +"Yes," Enoch nodded. + +"All right! We'll charge you a dollar and a half a day for yourself +and your horse. We're to share and share alike in the work." + +"I'm exceedingly grateful!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"All right! We hope you'll get rested," said Curly. "And I advise you +to begin now. Have you been sleeping well? How long have you been +out?" + +"Three nights. I've slept rottenly." + +"I thought so. Let me show you how to scoop out sand so's to make a +hollow for your hips and your shoulders, and I'll bet you'll sleep." + +And Enoch did sleep that night better than for several weeks. He was +stiff and muscle sore when he awoke at dawn, but he felt clearer headed +and less mentally feverish than he had the previous day. Curly and +Mack were still asleep when he stole over to the spring to wash and +shave. It was biting cold, but he felt like a new man when he had +finished his toilet and stood drawing deep breaths while he watched the +dawn approach through the magnificent desert distances. He gathered +some greasewood and came back to build the fire, but his camp mates had +forestalled him. While he was at the spring the men had both wakened +and the fire was blazing merrily. + +Breakfast was quickly prepared and eaten. Enoch established himself as +the camp dish washer, much to the pleasure of Curly, who hitherto had +borne this burden. After he had cleaned and packed the dishes, Enoch +went out for Pablo, who had strayed a quarter of a mile in his search +for pasturage. After a half hour of futile endeavor Mack came to his +rescue, and in a short time the cavalcade was ready to start. + +They were not an unimposing outfit. Mack led. The half dozen burros, +with their packs followed, next came Curly, and Enoch brought up the +rear. There was little talking on the trail. The single file, the +heavy dust, and the heat made conversation too great an effort. And +Enoch was grateful that this was so. + +To-day he made a tremendous endeavor to keep his mind off Luigi and the +Brown papers. He found he could do this by thinking of Diana. And so +he spent the day with her, and resolved that if opportunity arose that +night, to write to her, in the black diary. + +The trail, which gradually ascended as they drew north, grew rougher +and rougher. During the latter part of the day sand gave way to rock, +and the desert appeared full of pot holes which Mack claimed led to +subterranean rivers. + +They left these behind near sunset, and came upon a huge, rude, +cave-like opening in a mesa side. A tiny pool at the back and the +evidence of many camp fires in the front announced that this was one of +the trail's established oases. There was no possible grazing for the +animals, so they were watered, staked, and fed oats from the packs. + +"Well, Mr. Just Smith," said Curly, after the supper had been +dispatched and cleared up and the trio were established around the +fire, pipes glowing, "well, Mr. Just Smith, are you getting rested?" +He grinned as he spoke, but Mack watched their guest soberly. Enoch's +great head seemed to fascinate him. + +"I'm feeling better, thanks. And I'm trying hard to behave." + +"You're doing very well," returned Curly. "I can't recommend you yet +as a horse wrangler, but if I permit you to bring Mamie in every +morning, perhaps you'll sabez better." + +"This is sure one devil of a country," said Mack. "The Spanish called +it the death trail. Wow! What it must have been before they opened up +these springs! Even the Indians couldn't live here." + +"I'd like to show it to old Parsons," said Curly. "He claims there +ain't a spot in Arizona that couldn't grow crops if you could get water +to it. He's a fine old liar! Why, this country don't even grow +cactus! I'd like to hobble him out here for a week." + +"Those Survey fellows were up here a few years back trying to fix it to +get water out of those pot holes," said Mack. + +"Nuts! Sounds like a government bunch!" grunted Curly. + +"What came of it?" asked Enoch. + +"It ended in a funny kind of a row," replied Mack. "Some folks think +there's oil up here, and there was a bunch here drilling for wells, +when the government men came along. They got interested in the oil +idea, and they began to study the country and drill for oil too. And +that made these other chaps mad. This was government land, of course, +but they didn't want the government to get interested in developing oil +wells. Government oil would be too cheap. So they got some Mexicans +to start a fight with these Survey lads. But the Survey boys turned +out to be well armed and good fighters and, by Jove, they drove the +whole bunch of oil prospectors out of here. Everybody got excited, and +then it turned out there was no oil here anyhow. That was Fowler's +bunch, by the way, that got run out. Nobody ever thought he'd be +Secretary of State!" + +"But Fowler is not an Arizona man!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"No," said Curly, "but he came out here for his health for a few years +when he was just out of college. He and my oldest brother were law +pardners in Phoenix. I always thought he was crooked. All lawyers +are." + +Enoch smiled to himself. + +"Fowler sent his prospectors into Mexico after that," Mack went on +reminiscently. "Curly and I were in charge of the silver mine near Rio +Chacita where they struck some gushers. They were one tough crowd. We +all slept in tents those days, and I remember none of us dared to light +a lamp or candle because if one of those fellows saw it, they'd take a +pot shot at it. One of my foremen dug a six-foot pit and set his tent +over it. Then he let 'em shoot at will. Those were the days!" + +"Government ought to keep out of business," said Curly. "Let the +States manage their own affairs." + +"What's Field sore about?" asked Enoch of Mack. + +"He's just ignorant," answered Mack calmly. "Hand me some tobacco, +Curly, and quit your beefing. When you make your fortune washing gold +up in the Colorado, you can get yourself elected to Congress and do +Fowler up. In the meantime--" + +"Aw, shut up, Mack," drawled Curly good-naturedly. "What are you +trying to do, ruin my reputation with Just Smith here? By the way, +Just, you haven't told us what your work is." + +"I'm a lawyer," said Enoch solemnly. + +The three men stared at each other in the fire glow. Suddenly Enoch +burst into a hearty laugh, in which the others joined. + +"What was the queerest thing you've ever seen in the desert, Mack?" +asked Enoch, when they had sobered down. + +Mack sat in silence for a time. "That's hard to judge," he said +finally. "Once, in the Death Valley country, I saw a blind priest +riding a burro fifty miles from anywhere. He had no pack, just a +canteen. He said he was doing a penance and if I tried to help him, +he'd curse me. So I went off and left him. And once I saw a fat woman +in a kimono and white satin high heeled slippers chasing her horse over +the trackless desert. Lord!" + +"Was that any queerer sight than Just Smith chasing Pablo this +morning?" demanded Curly. + +"Or than Field tying a stone to Mamie's tail to keep her from braying +to-night?" asked Enoch. + +"You're improving!" exclaimed Curly, "Dignity's an awful thing to take +into the desert for a vacation." + +"Let's go to bed," suggested Mack, and in the fewest possible minutes +the camp was at rest. + +The trail for the next two days grew rougher and rougher, while the +brilliancy of color in rock and sand increased in the same ratio as the +aridity. Enoch, pounding along at the rear of the parade, hour after +hour, was still in too anguished and abstracted a frame of mind to heed +details. He knew only that the vast loveliness and the naked austerity +of the desert were fit backgrounds, the first for this thought of +Diana, the second for his bitter retrospects. + +Mid-morning on the third day, after several hours of silent trekking, +Curly turned in his saddle: + +"Just, have you noticed the mirage?" pointing to the right. + +Far to the east where the desert was most nearly level appeared the +sea, waters of brilliant cobalt blue lapping shores clad in richest +verdure, waves that broke in foam and ran softly up on quiet shores. +Upon the sea, silhouetted against the turquoise sky were ships with +sails of white, of crimson, of gold. Then, as the men stared with +parted lips, the picture dimmed and the pitiless, burning desert +shimmered through. + +The unexpected vision lifted Enoch out of himself for a little while +and he listened, interested and amused, while Curly, half turned in his +saddle, discanted on mirages and their interpretations. Nor did Enoch +for several hours after meditate on his troubles. Not an hour after +the mirage had disappeared the sky darkened almost to black, then +turned a sullen red. Lightning forked across the zenith and the +thunder reverberated among the thousand mesas, the entangled gorges, +until it seemed almost impossible to endure the uproar. Rain did not +begin to fall until noon. There was not a place in sight that would +provide shelter, so the men wrapped their Navajos about them and forced +the reluctant animals to continue the journey. The storm held with +fury until late in the afternoon. The wind, the lightning and the rain +vied with one another in punishing the travelers. Again and again, the +burros broke from trail. + +"Get busy, Just!" Curly would roar. "Come out of your trance!" and +Enoch would ride Pablo after the impish Mamie with a skill that +developed remarkably as the afternoon wore on. Enoch could not recall +ever having been so wretchedly uncomfortable in his life. He was +sodden to the skin, aching with weariness, shivering with cold. But he +made no murmur of protest. It was Curly who, about five o'clock, +called: + +"Hey, Mack! I've gone my limit!" + +Mack pulled up and seemed to hesitate. As he did so, the storm, with a +suddenness that was unbelievable, stopped. A last flare of lightning +seemed to blast the clouds from the sky. The rain ceased and the sun +enveloped mesas, gorges, trail in a hundred rainbows. + +"How about a fire?" asked Mack, grinning, with chattering teeth. + +"It must be done somehow," replied Curly. "Come on, Just, shake it up!" + +"Look here, Curly," exclaimed Mack, pausing in the act of throwing his +leg over the saddle, "I think you ought to treat Mr. Smith with more +respect. He ain't your hired help." + +"The dickens he isn't!" grinned Curly. + +"It's all right, Mack! I enjoy it," said Enoch, dismounting stiffly. + +"If you do," Mack gave him a keen look, "you aren't enjoying it the way +Curly thinks you do." + +Enoch returned Mack's gaze, smiled, but said nothing further. Mack, +however, continued to grumble. + +"I'm as good as the next fellow, but I don't believe in giving +everybody a slap on the back or a kick in the pants to prove it. You +may be a lawyer, all right, Mr. Smith, but I'll bet you're on the +bench. You've got that way with you. Not that it's any of my +business!" + +He was leading the way, as he spoke, toward the face of a mesa that +abutted almost on the trail. Curly apparently had not paid the +slightest attention to the reproof. He was already hobbling his horse. + +They made no attempt to look for a spring. The hollows of the rocks +were filled with rain water. But the search for wood was long and +arduous. In fact, it was nearly dusk before they had gathered enough +to last out the evening. But here and there a tiny cedar or mesquite +yielded itself up and at last a good blaze flared up before the mesa. +The men shifted to dry underwear, wrung out their outer clothing and +put it on again, and drank copiously of the hot coffee. In spite of +damp clothing and blankets Enoch slept deeply and dreamlessly, and rose +the next day none the worse for the wetting. Even in this short time +his physical tone was improving and he felt sure that his mind must +follow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE COLORADO + + +"We had a particularly vile place to raid to-day, and as I listened +with sick heart to the report of it, suddenly I saw the Canyon and F.'s +broad back on his mule and the glorious line of the rim lifting from +opalescent mists."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +They had been a week on the trail when they made camp one night at a +spring surrounded by dwarf junipers. Mack, who had taken the trip +before, greeted the spring with a shout of satisfaction. + +"Ten miles from the river, boys! To-morrow afternoon should see us +panning gold." + +And to-morrow did, indeed, bring the river. There was a wide view of +the Colorado as they approached it. The level which had gradually +lifted during the entire week, making each day cooler, rarer, as it +came, now sloped downward, while mesa and headland grew higher, the way +underfoot more broken, the trail fainter and fainter, and the +thermometer rose steadily. + +By now deep fissures appeared in the desert floor, and to the north +lifted great mountains that were banded in multi-colored strata, across +which drifted veils of mist, lavender, blue and gauzy white. Enoch's +heart began to beat heavily. It was the Canyon country, indeed! The +country of enchantment to which his spirit had returned for so many +years. + +They ate lunch in a little canyon opening north and south. + +"At the north end of this," said Mack, "we make our first sharp drop a +thousand feet straight down. She's a devil of a trail, made by Indians +nobody knows when. Then we cross a plateau, about a mile wide, as I +remember, then it's an easy grade to the river. We've got to go over +the girths careful. If anything slips now it's farewell!" + +The trail was a nasty one, zig-zagging down the over-hanging face of +the wall. Enoch, to his deep-seated satisfaction, felt no sense of +panic, although in common with Mack and Curly, he was apprehensive and +at times a little giddy. It required an hour to compass the drop. At +the bottom was a tiny spring where men and beasts drank deeply, then +started on. + +The plateau was rough, deep covered with broken rock, but the trail, +though faint, held to the edge. At this edge the men paused. The +Colorado lay before them. + +Fifty feet below them was a wide stretch of sand. Next, the river, +smooth brown, slipping rapidly westward. Beyond the water, on the +opposite side, a chaos of rocks greater than any Enoch had yet seen, a +pile huge as if a mountain had fallen to pieces at the river's edge. +Behind the broken rock rose the canyon wall, sheer black, forbidding, +two thousand feet into the air. Its top cut straight and sharp across +the sky line, the sky line unbroken save where rising behind the wall a +mountain peak, snow capped, flecked with scarlet and gold, towered in +the sunlight. + +"There you are, Curly!" exclaimed Mack. "There's a spring in the cave +beneath us. There's drift wood, enough to run a factory with. Have I +delivered the goods, or not?" + +"Everything is as per advertisement except the gold," replied Curly. + +"Oh, well, I don't vouch for the gold!" said Mack. "I just said the +Indians claim they get it here. There's some grazing for the critters +up here on the plateau, you see, and not a bit below. So we'll drive +'em back up here and leave 'em. With a little feed of oats once in a +while, they'll do. Come ahead! It'll be dark in the Canyon inside of +two hours." + +The cave proved to be a hollow overhang of the plateau ten or fifteen +feet deep, and twice as wide. The floor was covered with sand. + +"All ready to go to housekeeping!" exclaimed Curly. "Judge, you +wrangle firewood while Mack and I just give this placer idea a ten +minutes' trial, will you?" + +"Go ahead!" said Enoch, "all the gold in the Colorado couldn't tempt me +like something to eat. If you aren't ready by the time the fire's +going, Mack, I shall start supper." + +"Go to it! I can stand it if you can!" returned Mack, who had already +unpacked his pan. + +From that moment Enoch became the commissary and steward for the +expedition. Curly and Mack, whom he had known as mild and jovial +companions of many interests and leisurely manners, changed in a +twinkling to monomaniacs who during every daylight hour except for the +short interim which they snatched for eating, sought for gold. At +first Enoch laughed at them and tried to get them to take an occasional +half day off in which to explore with him. But they curtly refused to +do this, so he fell back on his own resources. And he discovered that +the days were all too short. Curly had a gun. There was plenty of +ammunition. Quail and cottontails were to be found on the plateau +where the stock was grazing. Sometimes on Pablo, sometimes afoot, +Enoch with the gun, and sometimes with the black diary rolled in his +coat, scoured the surrounding country. + +One golden afternoon he edged his way around the shoulder of a gnarled +and broken peak, in search of rabbits for supper. Just at the +outermost point of the shoulder he came upon a cedar twisting itself +about a broad, flat bowlder. Enoch instantly stopped the search for +game and dropped upon the rock, his back against the cedar. Lighting +his pipe, he gave himself up to contemplation of the view. Below him +yawned blue space, flecked with rose colored mists. Beyond this mighty +blue chasm lay a mountain of purest gold, banded with white and +silhouetted against a sky of palest azure. An eagle dipped lazily +across the heavens. + +When he had gazed his fill, Enoch put his pipe in his pocket, unrolled +the diary and, balancing it oh his knee, began to write: + +"Oh, Diana, no wonder you are lovely! No wonder you are serene and +pure and reverent! + + 'And her's shall be the breathing balm + And her's the silence and the calm'-- + +"You remember how it goes, Diana. + +"I heard Curly curse yesterday. A thousand echoes sent his words back +to him and he looked at the glory of the canyon walls and was ashamed. +I saw shame in his eyes. + +"It was not cowardice that drove me away for this interval, Diana. +Never believe that of me! I was afraid, yes, but of myself, not of the +newspapers. If I had stayed on the train, I would have returned at +once to Washington and have shot the reporter who wrote the stuff. +Perhaps I shall do it yet. But if I do, it will be after the Canyon +and I have come to agreement on the subject. I am very sure I shall +shoot Brown. Some one should have done it, long ago. + +"I wonder what you are doing this afternoon. Somewhere between a +hundred and a hundred and fifty miles we are from Bright Angel, Mack +says, via the river. And only a handful of explorers, you told me, +ever have completed the trip down the Colorado. I would like to try it. + +"Diana, you look at me with your gentle, faithful eyes, the corners of +your lips a little uncertain as if you want to tell me that I am +disappointing you and yet, because you are so gentle, you did not want +to hurt me. Diana, don't be troubled about me. I shall go back, long +enough at least to discharge my pressing duties. After that, who knows +or cares! Oh, Diana! Diana! What is the use? There is nothing left +in my life. I am empty--empty! + +"Even all this is make believe, for, as soon as you saw that I was +beginning to care for you,--beginning is a good word here!--you went +away. + +"Good-by, Diana." + +Enoch's gun made no contribution to the larder that night. Curly +uttered loud and bitter comment on the fact. + +"You're getting spoiled by high living," said Enoch severely. "What +would you have done if I hadn't come along and taken pity on you? Why, +you and Mack would have starved to death here in the Canyon, for it's +morally certain neither of you would have stopped panning gold long +enough to prepare your food." + +"Right you are, Judge," replied Curly meekly. "I'm going to try to get +Mack to rebate two bits a day on your board, as a token of our +appreciation." + +"Not when his biscuits have to be broken open with a stone," objected +Mack, as he sopped in his coffee one of the gray objects Enoch had +served as rolls. + +"They say when a woman that's done her own cooking first gets a hired +girl, she becomes right picky about her food," rejoined Curly. + +"I'd give notice if I had any place to go," said Enoch. "What was the +luck to-day, boys?" + +"Well, I've about come to the conclusion," replied Mack, "that by +working eight hours a day you can just about wash wages out of this +sand, and that's all." + +"You aren't going to give it up now, are you, Mack?" asked Curly, in +alarm. + +"No, I'll stay this week out, if you want to, and then move on up to +Devil's Canyon." + +They were silently smoking around the fire, a little later, when Curly +said: + +"I have a hunch that you and I're not going to get independent wealth +out of this expedition, Mack." + +"What would you do with it, if you had it, Curly?" asked Enoch. + +"A lot of things!" Curly ruminated darkly for a few moments, then he +looked at Enoch long and keenly. "Smith, you're a lawyer, but I +believe you're straight. There's something about you a man can't help +trusting, and I think you've been successful. You have that way with +you. Do you know what I'd do if I was taken suddenly rich? Well, I'd +hire you, at your own price, to give all your time to breaking two men, +Fowler and Brown." + +"Easy now, Curly!" Mack spoke soothingly. "Don't get het up. What's +the use?" + +"I'm not het up. I want to get the Judge's opinion of the matter." + +"Go ahead. I'm much interested," said Enoch. + +"By Brown, I mean the fellow that owns the newspapers. When my brother +and Fowler were in law together--" + +"You should make an explanation right there," interrupted Mack. "You +said all lawyers was crooks." + +"My brother Harry was straight and I've just given my opinion of Smith +here. I never liked Fowler, but he had great personal charm and Harry +never would take any of my warnings about him. Brown was a +short-legged Eastern college boy who worked on the local paper for his +health. How he and Fowler ever met up, I don't know, but they did, and +the law office was Brown's chief hang-out. Now all three of 'em were +as poor as this desert. Nobody was paying much for law in Arizona in +those days. Our guns was our lawyers. But by some fluke, Harry was +made trustee of a big estate--a smelting plant that had been left to a +kid. After a few years, the courts called for an accounting, and it +turned out that my brother was short about a hundred thousand dollars. +He seemed totally bewildered when this was discovered, swore he knew +nothing about it and was terribly upset. And this devil of a Fowler +turns round and says Harry made way with it and produces Brown as a +witness. And, by the lord, the court believed them! My brother killed +himself." Curly cleared his throat. "It wasn't six months after that +that Fowler and Brown, who left the state right after the tragedy, +bought a couple of newspapers. They claimed they got the money from +some oil wells they'd struck in Mexico." + +"How is it the country at large doesn't know of Fowler's association +with Brown?" asked Enoch. + +"Oh, they didn't stay pardners as far as the public knows, but a few +years. They were too clever! They gave out that they'd had a split +and they say nobody ever sees them together. All the same, even when +they were seeming to ignore him, the Brown papers have been making +Fowler." + +"And you want to clear your brother's name," said Enoch thoughtfully. +"That ought not to be difficult. You could probably do it yourself, if +you could give the time, and were clever at sleuthing. The papers in +the case should be accessible to you." + +"Shucks!" exclaimed Curly. "I wouldn't go at it that way at all. I +got something real on Fowler and Brown and I want to use it to make +them confess." + +"Sounds like blackmail," said Enoch. + +"Sure! That's where I need a lawyer! Now, I happen to know a personal +weakness of Fowler's--" + +"Don't go after him on that!" Enoch's voice was peremptory. "If he's +done evil to some one else, throw the light of day on his crime, but if +by his weakness you mean only some sin he commits against himself, keep +off. A man, even a crook, has a right to that much privacy." + +"Did Brown ever have decency toward a man's seclusion?" demanded Curly. + +"No!" half shouted Enoch. "But to punish him don't turn yourself into +the same kind of a skunk he is. Kill him if you have to. Don't be a +filthy scandal monger like Brown!" + +"You speak as if you knew the gentleman," grunted Mack. + +"I don't know him," retorted Enoch, "except as the world knows him." + +"Then you don't know him, or Fowler either," said Curly. "But I happen +to have discovered something that both those gentlemen have been mixed +up in, in Mexico, something--oh, by Jove, but it's racy!" + +"You've managed to keep it to yourself, so far," said Mack. + +"Meaning I'd better continue to do so! Only so long as it serves my +purpose, Mack. When I get ready to raise hell about Fowler's and +Brown's ears, no consideration for decency will stop me. I'll be just +as merciful to them as they were to Harry. No more! I'll string their +dirty linen from the Atlantic to the Pacific. His and Brown's! But I +want money enough to do it right. No little piker splurge they can buy +up! I'll have those two birds weeping blood!" + +Enoch moistened his lips. "What's the story, Curly?" he asked evenly. + +Curly filled and lighted his pipe. But before he could answer Enoch, +Mack said; + +"Sleep on it, Curly. Mud slinging's bad business. Sleep on it!" + +"I've a great contempt for Brown," said Enoch. "I'm a good deal +tempted to help you out, that is, if it is to the interest of the +public that the story be told." + +"It will interest the public. You can bet on that!" Curly laughed +sardonically. Then he rose, with a yawn. "But it's late and we'll +finish the story to-morrow night. Judge, I have a hunch you're my man! +I sabez there's heap devil in you, if we could once get you mad." + +Enoch shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps!" he said, and he unrolled his +blankets for bed. + +But it was long before he slept. The hand of fate was on him, he told +himself. How else could he have been led in all the wide desert to +find this man who held Brown's future in his hands? Suddenly Enoch saw +himself returning to Washington with power to punish as he had been +punished. His feeble protests to Curly were swept away. He felt the +blood rush to his temples. And anger that had so far been submerged by +pain and shame suddenly claimed its hour. His rage was not only at +Brown. Luigi, his mother, most of all this woman who had been his +mother, claimed his fury. The bitterness and humiliation of a lifetime +burst through the gates of his self-control. He stole from the cave to +the sandy shore and there he strode up and down like a madman. He was +physically exhausted long before the tempest subsided. But gradually +he regained his self-control and slipped back into his blankets. +There, with the thought of vengeance sweet on his lips, he fell asleep. + +Curly was, of course, entirely engrossed the next day by his mining +operations. Enoch had not expected or wished him to be otherwise. He +felt that he needed the day alone to get a grip on himself. + +That afternoon he climbed up the plateau to the entering trail, up the +trail to the desert. He was full of energy. He was conscious of a +purposefulness and a keen interest in life to which he had long been a +stranger. As he filled the gunny sack which he carried for a game bag +with quail and rabbits, he occasionally laughed aloud. He was thinking +of the expression that would appear on Curly's face if he learned into +whose hands he was putting his dynamite? + +The sun was setting when he reached the head of the trail on his way +campward. All the world to the west, sky, peaks, mesas, sand and rock +had turned to a burning rose color. The plateau edge, near his feet, +was green. These were the only two colors in all the world. Enoch +stood absorbed by beauty when a sound of voices came faintly from +behind him. + +His first thought was that Mack and Curly had stolen a march on him. +His next was that strangers, who might recognize him, were near at +hand. He started down the trail as rapidly as he dared. It was dusk +when he reached the foot. For the last half of the trip voices had +been floating down to him, as the newcomers threaded their way slowly +but steadily. Enoch stood panting at the foot of the trail, listening +acutely. A voice called. Another voice answered. Enoch suddenly lost +all power to move. The full moon sailed silently over the plateau +wall. Enoch, grasping his gun and his game bag, stood waiting. + +A mule came swiftly down the last turn of the trail and headed for the +spring. The man who was riding him pulled him back on his haunches +with a "Whoa, you mule!" that echoed like a cannon shot. Then he flung +himself off with another cry. + +"Oh, boss! Oh, boss! Here he is, Miss Diana! O dear Lord, here he +is! Boss! Boss! How come you to treat me so!" + +And Jonas threw his arms around Enoch with a sob that could not be +repressed. + +Enoch put a shaking hand on Jonas' shoulder. "So you found your bad +charge, old man, didn't you?" + +"Me find you? No, boss, Miss Diana, she found you. Here she is!" + +Diana dropped from her horse, slender and tall in her riding clothes. + +"So Jonas' pain is relieved, eh, Mr. Huntingdon! Are you having a good +holiday?" + +"Great!" replied Enoch huskily. + +"I told Jonas it was the most sensible thing a man could do, who was as +tired as you are, but he would have it you'd die without him. If you +don't want him, I'll take him away." + +"You'd have to take me feet first, Miss Diana," said Jonas, with a +grin. "Where's that Na-che?" + +"Here she comes!" laughed Diana. "Poor Na-che! She hates to hurry! +She's got a real grievance against you, Jonas." + +Two pack mules lunged down the trail, followed by a squat figure on an +Indian pony. + +"This is Na-che, Mr. Huntingdon," said Diana. + +Enoch shook hands with the Indian woman, whose face was as dark as +Jonas' in the moonlight. "Where's your camp, Mr. Huntingdon?" Diana +went on. + +"Just a moment!" Enoch had recovered his composure. "I am with two +miners, Mackay and Field. To them, I am a lawyer named Smith. I would +like very much to remain unknown to them during the remaining two weeks +of my vacation." + +Jonas heaved a great sigh that sounded curiously like an expression of +vast and many sided relief. Then he chuckled. "Easy enough for me. +You can't never be nothing but Boss to me." + +But Diana was troubled. "I thought we'd camp with your outfit +to-night. But we'd better not. I'd be sure to make a break. Are you +positive that these men don't know you?" + +"Positive!" exclaimed Enoch. "Why, just look at me, Miss Allen!" + +Diana glanced at boots, overalls and flannel shirt, coming to pause at +the fine lion-like head. "Of course, your disguise is very +impressive," she laughed. "But I would say that it was impressive in +that it accents your own peculiarities." + +"That outfit is something fierce, boss. I brung you some riding +breeches," exclaimed Jonas. + +"I don't want 'em," said Enoch. "Miss Allen, Field calls me Judge. +How would that do?" + +"Well, I'll try it," agreed Diana reluctantly. "I know both the men, +by the way. Mack, especially, is well known among the Indians. What +explanation shall we make them?" + +"Why not the truth?" asked Enoch. "I mean, tell them that I slipped +away from my friends and that Jonas tagged." + +"Very well!" Diana and Jonas both nodded. + +"And now," Enoch lifted his game bag, "let's get on. My partners are +going to be worried. And I'm the cook for the outfit, too." + +"Boss," Jonas took the game bag, "you take my mule and go on with Miss +Diana and Na-che and I'll come along with the rest of the cattle." + +Enoch obediently mounted, Diana fell in beside him, and looked +anxiously into his face. "Please, Judge, are you very cross with me +for breaking in on you? But poor Jonas was consumed with fear for you." + +Enoch put his hand on Diana's as it rested on her knee. "You must +know!" he said, and was silent. + +"Then it's all right," sighed Diana, after a moment. + +"Yes, it's quite all right! How did Jonas find you?" + +"It seems that he and Charley concluded that you must have headed +toward Bright Angel. Charley went on to Washington to keep things in +order there. Jonas went up to El Tovar. I had just outfitted for a +trip into the Hopi country when Jonas came to me. He had talked to no +one. He is wonderfully circumspect, but he was frantic beneath his +calm. He begged me to find you for him and--well, I was a little +anxious myself--so I didn't need much urging. We had only been out a +week when we met John Red Sun. The rest was easy. If a person sticks +to the trails in Arizona it's difficult not to trace them. Look, +Judge, your friends have lighted a signal fire." + +"Poor chaps! They're starved and worried!" Enoch quickened his mule's +pace and Diana fell in behind him. + +Mack and Curly were standing beside the blaze at the edge of the +plateau. Enoch jumped from the saddle. + +"I'm awfully sorry, fellows! But you see, I was detained by a lady!" + +"For heaven's sake, Diana!" cried Mack. "Where did you come from?" + +"Hello, Mack! Hello, Curly!" Diana dismounted and shook hands. "Well, +the Judge gave his friends the slip. Everybody was satisfied but his +colored man, Jonas. He was absolutely certain the Judge wouldn't keep +his face clean or his feet dry and he so worked on my feelings that I +trailed you people. I was going into the Hopi country anyhow." + +Curly gave Enoch a knowing glance. "We thought he was putting +something over on us. What is he, Diana, a member of the Supreme +Bench?" + +"Huh! Hardly!" + +Everybody laughed at Diana's derisive tone and Curly added, "Anyhow, +he's a rotten cook. I was thinking of putting Mack back on his old +job." + +"Don't intrude, Curly," said Enoch. "I've been out and brought in an +assistant who's an expert." + +"That's you, I suppose, Diana!" Mack chuckled. + +"No, it's Jonas, the colored man. He'll be along with Na-che in a +moment. This isn't your camp?" + +"Come along, Miss Allen!" exclaimed Enoch. "I'll show you a camp +that's run by an expert." + +Mack and Curly groaned and followed Enoch and Diana down to the cave, +Jonas and Na-che appearing shortly. Jonas, hobbling to the cave +opening stood for a moment, gazing at the group around the fire in +silent despair. Finally he said: + +"When I get back to Washington, if I live to get there, they'll put me +out of the Baptist Church as a liar, if I try to tell 'em what I been +through. Boss, what you trying to do?" + +"Dress these quail," grunted Enoch. + +Jonas gave Curly and Mack a withering glance, started to speak, +swallowed something and said, "How come you to think you was a butcher, +boss? Leave me get my hands on those birds. I should think you done +enough, killing 'em." + +"No," said Enoch, "I'm the cook for to-night. But, Jonas, old man, if +you aren't too knocked up, you might make some biscuit." + +"Jonas looks to me," suggested Mack, "like a cup of coffee and a seat +by the fire was about his limit to-night. I'll get the rest of the +grub, if you'll tend to the quail, Judge. Curly, you go out and unpack +for Diana. We'll turn the cave over to you and Na-che to-night, Diana." + +Diana, who was sitting on a rock by the fire, long, slender legs +crossed, hands clasping one knee, an amused spectator of the scene, +looked up at Mack with a smile. + +"Indeed you won't, Mack. Na-che and I have our tent. We'll put it up +in the sand, as usual. And tomorrow, having delivered our prize +package, we'll be on our way." + +Enoch looked up quickly. "Don't be selfish, Miss Allen!" he exclaimed. + +"That's the idea!" Mack joined in vehemently. Then he added, with a +grin, "The Judge has plumb ruined our quiet little expedition anyhow. +And after two weeks of him and Curly, I'm darn glad to see you, Diana. +How's your Dad?" + +"Very well, indeed! If he had had any idea that I was going on this +sort of trip, though, I think he'd have insisted on coming with me. +Judge, let me finish those birds. You're ruining them." + +"Whose quail are these, I'd like to know?" demanded Enoch. + +"Yours," replied Diana meekly, "but I had thought that some edible +portion besides the pope's nose and the neck ought to be left on them." + +Jonas, who had been crouching uneasily on a rock, a disapproving +spectator of the scene, groaned audibly. Na-che now came into the glow +of the fire. She was a comely-faced woman, of perhaps forty-five, +neatly dressed in a denim suit. Her black eyes twinkled as she took in +the situation. + +"Na-che, you come over here and sit down by me," said Jonas. "If I +can't help, neither can you." + +Na-che smiled, showing strong white teeth. "You feel sick from the +saddle, eh, Jonas?" + +"Don't you worry about that, woman! I'll show you I'm as good as any +Indian buck that ever lived!" + +Na-che grunted incredulously, but sat down beside Jonas nevertheless. + +In spite of the gibes, supper was ready eventually and was devoured +with approval. When the meal was finished, Na-che and Jonas cleared +up, then Jonas took his blanket and retired to a corner of the cave, +whence emerged almost immediately the sound of regular snoring. The +others sat around the fire only a short time. + +"You'll stick around for a little while, won't you, Diana?" said Curly, +as he filled his first pipe. + +"I really ought to pull out in the morning," replied Diana. "There are +some very special pictures I want to get at Oraibai about now." + +"There is a cliff dwelling down the river about three miles," said +Enoch. "I haven't found the trail into it yet, but I saw the dwelling +distinctly from a curve on the top of the Canyon wall. It's a huge +construction." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed Diana eagerly. "Why, those must be the Gray +ruins. I didn't realize we were so close to them. Well, you've +tempted me and I've fallen. I really must give a day to those remains. +Only one or two whites have ever gone through them." + +Enoch smiled complacently. + +"How long have you and the Judge known each other, Diana?" asked Curly +suddenly. + +Diana hesitated but Enoch spoke quickly. "The first time I saw Miss +Allen she was a baby of five or six on Bright Angel trail." + +Curly whistled. "Then you've got it on the rest of us. I first saw +her when she was a sassy miss in school at Tucson." + +"Nothing on me!" said Mack. "I held her in my arms when she was ten +days old, and my wife was with her mother and Na-che when she was born. +You were a red-faced, squalling brat, Diana." + +"She was a beautiful baby! She never cried," contradicted Na-che +flatly. + +Diana laughed and rose. "This is getting too personal. I'm going to +bed," she said. The men looked at her, admiration in every face. + +"Anything any of us can do for your comfort, Diana?" asked Curly. +"Na-che seemed satisfied with the place I put your tent in." + +"Everything is fine, thank you," Diana held out her hand, "Good night, +Curly. I really think you're handsomer than ever." + +"Lots of good that'll do me," retorted Curly. + +Diana made a little grimace at him and turned to Mack. "Good night, +Mack. I'll bet you're homesick for Mrs. Mack this minute." + +"She's a pretty darned fine old woman!" Mack nodded soberly. + +"Old!" said Diana scornfully. "You ought to have your ears boxed! +Good night, Judge!" + +"Good night, Miss Allen!" + +The three men watched the tall figure swing out into the moonlight. + +"There goes the most beautiful human being I ever hope to see," said +Curly, turning to unroll his blankets. + +"If I was a painter and wanted to tell what this here country was +really like, at its best, I'd paint Diana." Mack's voice was very +earnest. + +"Shucks!" sniffed Curly, "that isn't saying anything, is it, Judge?" + +"It's hard to put her into words," replied Enoch carefully. "Curly, +are you too tired to continue our last night's talk?" + +"Oh, let's put it over till to-morrow! We've lots of time!" Curly +gave a great yawn. + +Enoch said nothing more but rolled himself in his blankets, with the +full intention of formulating his line of conduct toward Diana before +going to sleep. He stretched himself luxuriously in the sand and the +next thing he heard was Diana's laugh outside. He opened his eyes in +bewilderment. It was dawn without the cave. Jonas was hobbling down +toward the river. + +"Oh, Jonas, you poor thing! Do let Na-che give you a good rubdown +before you try to do anything!" + +"No, Miss Diana. If the boss can stand these goings on, I can. How +come he ever thought this was sport, I don't know. I'll never live to +get him back home!" + +"Where are you going, Jonas?" called Curly. + +Jonas paused. "I ain't going to turn myself round, unless I have to. +What's wanted?" + +"I just wanted to warn you that the Colorado's no place for a morning +swim," Curly said. + +"I'm just going to get the boss's shaving water." + +"There's a hint for you, Judge," Curly turned to Enoch. "I hope you +plan to give more attention to your toilet after this." + +"You go to blazes, Curly," said Enoch amiably. "I haven't got the +reputation for pulchritude to live up to that you have." + +"Diana's imagination was in working order last night," volunteered +Mack. "To my positive knowledge Curly ain't washed or shaved for three +days." + +"You've drunk of the Hassayampa too, Mack!" Curly ran the comb through +his black locks vindictively. + +"What's the effect of that draught?" asked Enoch. + +"You never tell the truth again," said Curly. + +Na-che's voice floated in. "Jonas, you tell the men I got breakfast +already for 'em. Tell 'em to bring their own cups and plates." + +"Sounds rotten, huh?" Curly sauntered out of the cave. + +It was a very pleasant meal. To Enoch it was all a dream. It seemed +impossible for him to absorb the fact that he and Diana were together +in the Colorado Canyon. When the last of the coffee was gone, Curly +looked at his watch, then turned severely to Enoch. + +"We're an hour earlier than we've ever been, and all because of women! +Aren't you ashamed?" + +"Run along and wash dirt," returned Enoch. "For two cents I'd tell how +long it took me to get you up yesterday morning." + +"What's your program, Diana?" asked Mack. + +"Na-che and I are going over to the cliff dwelling. We'll be gone all +day." + +"I'll act as guide," said Enoch with alacrity. + +"It's not necessary!" exclaimed Diana. "I don't want to interrupt your +camp routine at all. You just give us directions, Judge. Na-che and I +are old hands at this, you know." + +"Oh, take him along, Diana! He'll be crying in a minute," sniffed +Curly. "Jonas, you'll stay and give us a feed, won't you?" + +"I got to look out for the boss," Jonas spoke anxiously. + +A shout went up. "Jonas, old boy," said Enoch, "you stay in camp +to-day and er--look over my clothes." + +"I will, boss," with intense relief, "and I'll make you a stew out of +those rabbits nobody'll forget in a hurry." + +Mack and Curly hurried off to the river's edge. Na-che and Jonas went +into the cave. Enoch looked at Diana. She was standing by the +breakfast fire slender and straight in her brown corduroy riding suit, +her wide, intelligent eyes studying Enoch's face. There was a glow of +crimson in the cream of her cheeks, for the morning air held frost in +its touch. + +"May I go with you?" repeated Enoch. "I'll be very good!" + +Diana did not reply at first. Moonlight and firelight had not +permitted her before to read clearly the story of suffering that was in +Enoch's face. During breakfast he had been laughing and chatting +constantly. But now, as he stood before her, she was appalled by what +she saw in the rugged face. There were two straight, deep lines +between his brows. The lines from nostril to lip corner were doubly +pronounced. The thin, sensitive lips were compressed. The clear, +kindly blue eyes were contracted as if Enoch were enduring actual +physical pain. Tall and powerful, his dark red hair tossed back from +his forehead, his look of trouble did not detract from the peculiar +forcefulness of his personality. + +"If you hesitate so long," he said, "I shall--" + +Diana laughed. "Begin to cry, as Curly said? Oh, don't do that! I +shall be very happy to have you with me, but before we start, I think I +shall develop some of the films I exposed on the way over. A ten +o'clock start will be early enough, won't it? I have a developing +machine with me. It may not take me even until ten." + +Enoch nodded. "How does the work go?" he asked eagerly. "Did you +attend the ceremony Na-che sent word to you about?" + +"Yes! Out of a hundred exposures I made there, I think I got one +fairly satisfactory picture." Diana sighed. "After all, the camera +tells the story no better than words, and words are futile. Look! +What medium could one use to tell the world of that?" + +She swept her arm to embrace the view before them. The tiny sandy +beach was on a curve of the river so sharp that above and below them +the rushing waters seemed to drive into blind canyon walls. To the +right, the Canyon on both sides was so sheer, the river bed so narrow +that nothing but sky was to be seen above and beyond. But to the left, +the south canyon wall terraced back at perhaps a thousand feet in a +series of magnificent strata, yellow, purple and crimson. Still south +of this, lifted great weathered buttes and mesas, fortifications of the +gods against time itself. The morning sun had not yet reached the +camp, but it shone warm and vivid on the peaks to the south, burning +through the drifting mists from the river, in colors that thrilled the +heart like music. + +Enoch's eyes followed Diana's gesture. "I know," he said, softly. +"It's impossible to express it. I've thought of you and your work so +often, down here. Somehow, though, you do suggest the unattainable in +your pictures. It's what makes them great." + +Diana shook her head and turned toward her tent, while Enoch lighted +his pipe and began his never-ending task of bringing in drift wood. He +paused, a log on his shoulder, before Curly, who was squatting beside +his muddy pan. + +"Curly," he said, "is that stuff you have on Fowler and Brown, +political, financial, or a matter of personal morals?" + +"Personal morals and worse!" grunted Curly. "It's some story!" + +Enoch turned away without comment. But the lines between his eyes +deepened. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CLIFF DWELLING + + +"Love! that which turns the meanest man to a god in some one's eyes! +Yet I must not know it! Suppose I cast my responsibility to the winds +and . . . and yet that sense of responsibility is all that +differentiates me from Minetta Lane."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Diana began work on her films on a little folding table beside the +spring. Enoch, throwing down his log close to the cave opening, paused +to watch her. Jonas and Na-che, putting the cave in order, talked +quietly to each other. Suddenly from the river, to the right, there +rose a man's half choking, agonized shout and around the curve shot a +skiff, bottom up, a man clinging to the gunwale. The water was too +wild and swift for swimming. + +"The rope, Judge, the rope!" cried Mack. + +Enoch picked up a coil of rope, used for staking the horses, and ran to +Mack who snatched it, twirled it round his head and as the boat rushed +by him, the noosed end shot across the gunwale. The man caught it over +his wrist and it was the work of but a few moments to pull him ashore. + +He was a young man, with a two days' beard on his face, clad in the +universal overalls and blue flannel shirt. He lay on the sand, too +exhausted to move for perhaps five minutes, while Jonas pulled off his +sodden shoes, and Na-che ran to kindle a fire and heat water. After a +moment, however the stranger began to talk. + +"Almost got me that time! Forgot to put my life preserver on. Don't +bother about me. I'm drowned every day. Another boat with the rest of +us should be along shortly. Hope they salvaged some of the stuff." + +"What in time are you trying to do on the river, anyhow?" demanded +Curly. "There's simpler ways of committing suicide." + +The young man laughed. "Oh, we're some more fools trying to get from +Green River to Needles!" + +"On a bet?" asked Mack. + +"Hardly! On a job! Geological Survey! Four of us! There they come! +Whoo--ee!" + +He staggered to his feet, as another boat shot around the curve. But +this one came through in proper style, right side up, two men manning +the oars and a third with a steering paddle. With an answering shout, +they ran quickly up on the shore. They were a rough-bearded, overalled +lot, young men, all of them. + +"Gee whiz, Harden! We thought you were finished!" exclaimed the +tallest of the trio. + +"I would have been, but for these folks," replied Harden. "Here, let's +make some introductions!" + +They were stalwart fellows. Milton, the leader, was sandy-haired and +freckled, a University of California man. Agnew was stocky and +swarthy, an old Princeton graduate and Forrester, a thin, blonde chap +had worked in New York City before he joined the Geological Survey. +They were astonished by this meeting in the Canyon, but delighted +beyond measure. They had been on the river for seven months and up to +this time had met no one except when they went out for supplies. + +"We camped up above those rapids, last night," said Milton. "Of course +we didn't know of this spot. We really had nothing but a ledge, up +there. This morning Harden undertook to patch his boat, with this +result." He nodded toward the shivering cast-a-way, who had crowded +himself to Na-che's fire. "Have you folks any objection to our +stopping here to make repairs?" + +"Lord, no! Glad to have you!" said Mack. + +Enoch laughed. "Mack, it's no use! You and Curly are doomed to take +on guests as surely as a dog takes on fleas. They started out alone, +Milton, for a little vacation prospecting trip. I caught them a few +days out and made them take me on. Then Miss Allen came along last +night, and now your outfit! I'm sorry for you, Mack." + +"I'll try to live through it," grinned Mack. + +"Did you fellows find any pay gravel, coming down?" asked Curly. + +"We didn't look for any," answered Agnew, "But a few years ago, I +picked this out of the river bed." + +He showed Curly a nugget as large as a pea. "Where the devil did you +find that?" exclaimed Curly, eagerly. + +"I can show you on our map," replied Agnew. + +"I'll go fifty-fifty with you," proffered Curly. "Me to do all the +work." + +"No, you won't," laughed Agnew. "Say, old man, I put in four years, +trying to make money out of the Colorado and I swear, the only real +cash I've ever made on it has been the magnificent wages the Secretary +of the Interior allows me. I'll keep the nugget. You can have +whatever else you find there. Believe me, you'll earn it, before you +get it!" + +"You're foolish but I'm on! Mack, when shall we move?" + +"I want to know a lot more before I break up my happy home." Mack's +voice was dry. "In the meantime you fellows make yourselves +comfortable. Come on, Curly. Let's get back to work!" + +"Mr. Curly," said Jonas, "will you let me see that nugget?" + +"Sure, Jonas, here it is!" + +Jonas turned it over on his brown palm. "You mean to say you pick up +gold like that, down here?" + +"That's what I did," replied Agnew. + +"Kin any one do it?" + +"Yes, sir!" + +"How come it everybody ain't down here doing it right now?" + +"The going is pretty stiff," said Harden, with a grin, glancing at his +steaming legs. + +"Boss," Jonas turned the nugget over and over, "let's have a try at +these ructions, before we go back!" + +"Are you game to take to the boats, Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"No, boss, we'll just go over the hills, like Miss Diana does. For the +Lord's sake, who'd want to go back to--" + +"Jonas," interrupted Diana. "If you and Na-che will put together a +lunch for us, the Judge and I will get started." + +"I didn't quite get your name, sir," said Milton to Enoch. + +"Just Smith," called Curly, from over his pan of gravel. "Mr. Just +Smith! Judge, for short." + +"Oh!" Milton continued to stare at Enoch in a puzzled way. "I beg +your pardon! Come on, Harden, you're pretty well steamed out. Let's +go back and see what we can salvage, while Ag and Forr begin to +overhaul the stuff we've already pulled out." + +Not a half hour later, Enoch, Diana and Na-che were making their way +slowly up the plateau trail, not however, to climb up the old trail to +the main land. They turned midway toward their right. There was no +trail, but Enoch knew the way by the distant peaks. They traveled +afoot, single file, each with a canteen, a little packet of food and +Na-che with the camera tripod, while Enoch insisted on toting the +camera and the coil of rope. The sun was hot on the plateau and the +way very rough. They climbed constantly over ragged boulders, and +chaotic rock heaps, or rounded deep fissures that cut the plateau like +spider webs. Muscular and in good form as was the trio, frequent rests +were necessary. They had one mishap. Na-che, lagging behind, slipped +into a fissure. Enoch and Diana blanched at her sudden scream and ran +back as she disappeared. Mercifully a great rock had tumbled into the +crevice some time before and Na-che landed squarely on this, six feet +below the surface. When Diana and Enoch peered over, she was sitting +calmly on the rock, still clinging to the tripod. + +"I lost my lunch!" she grumbled as she looked up at them. + +Diana laughed. "You may have mine! Better no lunch than no Na-che. +Give us hold of the end of the tripod, honey, and we'll help you out." + +A few moments of strenuous scrambling and pulling and Na-che was on the +plateau brushing the sand from her clothes. + +"Sit down and get your breath, Na-che," said Enoch. + +"I'm fine! I don't need to sit," answered Na-che. "Let's get along." +She started on briskly. + +"I suppose things like that are of daily occurrence!" exclaimed Enoch. +"Miss Allen, don't you think you could be more careful!" + +Again Diana laughed. "It wasn't I who slipped into the crevice!" + +"No, but I'll wager you've had many an accident." + +"That's where part of the fun comes in. Why, only yesterday we had the +most thrilling escape. We--" + +"Please! I don't want to hear it!" protested Enoch, + +"Pshaw! There's no more daily risk here, than there is in the streets +of a large city." + +Enoch grunted and followed as Diana hurried after Na-che. The course +now led along the edge of the plateau which here hung directly above +the river. The water twisted far below like a sinuous brown ribbon. +The nooning sky was bronze blue and burning hot. The world seemed very +huge, to Enoch; the three of them, toiling so carefully over the yellow +plateau, very small and insignificant. He did not talk much during the +rest intervals. He would light his pipe and smoke as if in physical +contentment, but his deep blue eyes were burning and somber as they +rested on the vast emptiness about them. Na-che always dozed during +the stops. Diana, after she had observed the look in Enoch's eyes, +occupied herself in writing up her note book. + +It was just noon when they came to an old trail which Enoch believed +dropped to the cliff dwelling. Before descending it, they ate their +lunch, Enoch and Diana sharing with Na-che. This done, they began to +work carefully down the faint old trail. For ten or fifteen minutes, +they wormed zig-zag downward, the angle of descent so great that +frequently they were obliged to sit down and slide, controlling their +speed by clinging to the rocks on either side. They could not see the +cliff dwelling; only the river winding so remotely below. But at the +end of the fifteen minutes the trail stopped abruptly. So +unexpectedly, in fact, that Enoch clung to a rock while his legs +dangled over the abyss. He shouted to the others to wait while he +peered dizzily below. A great section of the wall had broken away and +the trail could not be taken up again until a sheer gap of twenty feet +had been bridged. + +Diana crept close behind Enoch and peered over his shoulders. + +"If we tie the rope to this pointed rock, I think we can lower +ourselves, don't you?" he asked. + +"Easily!" agreed Diana. "I'll go first." + +"Well, hardly! I'll go first and Na-che can bring up the rear, as +usual." + +They knotted the rope around the rock and Enoch and Diana quickly and +easily made the descent. Na-che lowered the camera and tripod to them, +then examined, with a sudden exclamation, the rock to which the rope +was tied. "That rock will give way any minute," she cried. "Your +weight has cracked it." + +Even as she spoke, the rock suddenly tilted and slid, then bounded out +to the depths below, carrying the rope with it. For a moment no one +spoke, then Na-che, her round brown face wrinkled with amusement, said, + +"Almost no Na-che, no Diana, no Judge, eh?" + +"Jove, what an escape!" breathed Enoch. + +"Na-che," said Diana, "you'll just have to return to the camp for +another rope. You'd better ride back here. In the meantime, the Judge +and I'll explore the dwelling." + +Na-che nodded and without another word, disappeared. Diana turned to +Enoch. "Lead ahead, Judge!" + +The trail now led around a curve in the wall. Enoch edged gingerly +beyond this and paused. The trail again was broken, but they were in +full view of the cliff dwelling, which was snuggled in an inward curve +of the Canyon, filling entirely a gigantic gap in the gray wall. + +Diana exclaimed over its mute beauty. "I must see it!" she said. "But +we can't bridge this gap without more ropes and more people to help." + +"It looks to me," Enoch spoke with a sudden smile, "as though the Lord +intended me to have a few moments alone with you!" + +Diana smiled in return. "It does, indeed," she agreed. + +"Let's try to settle ourselves comfortably here in view of the +dwelling. I like to look at it. We can hear Na-che when she calls." + +The trail was several feet wide at this point. Diana sat down on a +rock, her back to the wall, clasping one knee with her brown fingers. +For a little while Enoch stood looking from the dwelling to Diana, then +far out to the glowing peaks across the Canyon to the north. Finally, +he turned to silent contemplation of the lovely, slender figure against +the wall. Diana's dignity, her utter sweetness, the something quieting +and steadying in her personality never had seemed more pronounced to +Enoch than in this country of magnificent heights and depths. + +"Well," said Diana, finally, "after you've finished your inspection, +perhaps you'll sit down and talk." + +Enoch smiled and established himself beside her. He refilled his pipe, +lighted it and laid it down. "Miss Allen," he said abruptly, "you saw +the article in the Brown papers?" + +"Yes," replied Diana. + +"What did you think of it?" + +"I thought what others think, that Brown is an unspeakable cur." + +"I can't tell you how keenly I feel for you in the matter, Miss Allen. +I would have given anything to have saved you from it." + +"Would you? I'm not so sure that I would! You see, I'm just enough of +a hero worshiper to be proud to have my name coupled in friendship with +that of a great man." + +"A great man!" repeated Enoch quietly, yet with a bitterness in his +voice that wrung Diana's heart. + +"Yes, Mr. Huntingdon," Diana's voice broke a little and she turned her +head away. + +The utter silence of the Canyon enveloped them. + +At last Enoch said, "You have a big soul, Miss Allen, but you shall not +sacrifice one smallest fragment of--of your perfection for me. If it +is necessary for me to kill Brown, I shall do so." + +Diana gasped, "Enoch!" + +Enoch, at the sound of his name on her lips, touched her hand quickly +and softly with his own, and as quickly drew it away, jumped to his +feet and began to pace the trail. + +"Yes, kill him, the cur! Diana, he did not even leave me a mother in +the public mind! He maligned you. The burdens that I have carried for +all the years, the horrors that I've wrestled with, the secret shames +that I've hidden, he's exposed them all in the open marketplace. And +he dragged you into my mire! Diana, each man must be broken in a +different way. Some are broken by money, some by physical fear, some +by spiritual fear, some--" + +Diana interrupted. "Enoch, are you a friend of mine?" + +Enoch turned his tortured eyes to hers. "I shall never tell you how +much a friend I am to you, Diana. But my friendship is a fact you may +draw on all the days of your life, as heavily as you will." + +"And I am your friend. Though I know you so little, no friend is as +dear to me as you are." She rose and coming to his side, she took his +hand in both of hers. + +"Dear Enoch, what a man like Brown can say of you in an article or two, +has no permanent weight with the public. Scurrilous stories of that +type kill themselves by their very scurrility. No matter how eagerly +the public may lap up the stuff, it cannot really heed it for, Enoch, +America knows you and your service. America loves you. Brown cannot +dislodge you by slandering your mother. The real importance and danger +of that story lies in its reaction on you. I--I could not help +recalling the story of that tormented, red-haired boy who went down +Bright Angel trail with my father and I had to come to help him, if I +could. O Enoch, if the Canyon could only, once more, wipe Luigi +Guiseppi out of your life!" + +Enoch watched Diana's wide gray eyes with a look of painful eagerness. + +"Nothing matters, nothing can matter, Enoch, except that you find the +strength in the Canyon to go back to your work and that you leave Brown +alone. That is what I want to demand of your friendship, that you +promise me to do those two things." + +"I shall go back, of course," replied Enoch, gravely. "I had no +thought of doing otherwise. But about Brown, I cannot promise." + +"Then will you agree not to go back until you have talked to me again?" + +"Again? But I expect to talk to you many times, Diana! You are not +going away, are you?" + +Diana nodded. "I'm using another person's money and I must get on, +to-morrow, with the work I agreed to do. Promise me, Enoch." + +"But, Diana--O Diana! Diana! Let me go with you!" + +Diana turned to face the dwelling. "The Canyon can do more for you +than I can, Enoch. But we'll meet, say at El Tovar before you go back +to Washington. Promise me, Enoch." + +"Of course, I promise. But, Diana, how can I let you go!" + +Enoch put his arm across Diana's shoulders and stood beside her, +staring at the silent, deserted dwelling. It seemed to Enoch, standing +so, that this was the sweetest and saddest moment of his life; saddest +because he felt that in nothing more than friendship must he ever touch +her hand with his: sweetest because for the first time in his history +he was beginning to understand the depth and beauty that can exist in a +friendship between a man and a woman. + +"Diana," he said at last, "you may take yourself away from me, but +nevertheless, I shall carry with me the thought of your loveliness, +like a rod and a staff to sustain me." + +When Diana turned to look at him there were tears in her eyes. + +"I've always been glad that I was not ugly," she said, "but +now,"--smiling through wet lashes--"you make me proud of it, though I +can't see how the thought of it can--" + +She paused and Enoch went on eagerly: "It's a seamy, rough world, +Diana, all higgledy-piggledy. The beautiful souls are misplaced in +ugly carcasses and the ugly souls in beautiful. Those who might be +friends and lovers too often meet only to grieve that it is too late +for their joy. In such a world, when one beholds a body that nature +has chiseled and molded and polished to loveliness like yours and +discovers that that loveliness is a true index of the intelligence and +fineness of the character dwelling in the body--well, Diana, it gives +one a new thought about God. It does, indeed!" + +"Enoch, I don't deserve it! I truly don't!" looking at him with that +curious mingling of tenderness and courtesy and understanding in her +wide eyes that made Diana unique. + +Enoch only smiled and again silence fell between them. Finally, Enoch +said, + +"I would like to go down the river with Milton and his crowd." + +Diana's voice was startled. "O no, Enoch! It's a frightfully +dangerous trip! You risk your life every moment." + +"I want to risk my life," returned Enoch. "I want a real man's +adventure. I've got a battle inside of me to fight that will rend me +unless I have one of equal proportions to fight, externally." + +A loud halloo sounded from above. "There's Na-che!" exclaimed Diana. +"We'll talk this over later, Enoch." + +But Enoch shook his head. "No, Diana, please! I've dreamed all my +life of this canyon trip. You mustn't dissuade me. Milton will be +starting to-morrow and I'm going to crowd in, somehow." + +Na-che called again. Diana turned silently and in silence they +returned to the end of the broken trail. Here they explained to Na-che +the conditions of the trail beyond and that they had determined to give +up the expedition for that day. + +"I doubt if I try to investigate it at all, on this trip," said Diana, +when they had made the difficult ascent to the plateau. "I really +ought to get into the Hopi country. My conscience is troubling me." + +Na-che looked disappointed. "That is a good camp, by the river," she +said. "But maybe," eagerly, "the Judge and Jonas will come with us." + +"You like Jonas, don't you, Na-che?" asked Enoch. + +The Indian woman laughed and tossed her head, but did not answer. + +It was only four o'clock when they reached camp, but already dusk was +settling in the Canyon. A good fire was going in front of the cave and +Jonas was guarding his stew which simmered over a smaller blaze near +Diana's tent. Na-che lifted the lid of the kettle, sniffed and turned +away with a shrug of her shoulders. + +"What's troubling you, woman?" demanded Jonas. + +"I thought you was making stew," replied Na-che. + +"Oh, you did! Well, what do you think now?" + +"Oh, I guess you're just boiling the mud out of the river water. You +give me the kettle and I'll show you how to make rabbit stew." + +"I'll give you a piece of my mind, Miss Na-che, that's what I'll give +you. How come you to think you can sass a Washington man, huh, a +government man, huh? How come you suppose I don't know women, huh? +Why child, I was taking girls to fancy dress balls when you Indians was +still wearing nothing but strings. I was--" + +"O Jonas!" called Enoch, who had been standing by the cave fire, an +amused auditor of Jonas' tirade; "treat Na-che gently. She's leaving +to-morrow." + +"Leaving? Don't we go, too, boss?" asked Jonas. + +"No, I'm going to see if I can go down river with the boats." + +Curly, who was cleaning up in the cave, came out, comb in hand. + +"You haven't gone crazy, have you, Judge?" + +"No more than usual, Curly. How about it, Milton?" as that sturdy +personage came up from the river and dropped wearily down by the fire. +"Don't you need another man?" + +"Yes, Judge, we're two short. One of our fellows broke an arm a week +ago and we had to send him out, with another chap to help him." + +"Will you let me work my passage as far as Bright Angel?" asked Enoch. + +Milton scowled thoughtfully. "It's a god-awful job. You realize that, +do you?" + +Enoch nodded. Milton turned to Harden and the other two men. "What do +you fellows think?" + +"We're awful short-handed," replied Harden, cautiously. "Can you swim, +Judge?" + +"I'm a strong swimmer." + +"But gee willikums, Judge, what're we going to do without you?" +demanded Mack. "Ain't that just the usual luck? You get a cook +trained and off he goes!" + +"And how about that deal of ours, Smith?" asked Curly, in a low voice. + +"I haven't forgotten it for a moment, Curly," Enoch replied. "I'll +talk to you about it, to-night. How about it, Milton?" + +"Can you stand rotten hard luck without belly-aching?" asked Agnew. + +"Yes, he can!" exclaimed Mack, "but he's a darn fool to think of going. +It's as risky as the devil and nobody that's got a family dependent on +'em ought to consider it for a moment." + +"I have no one," said Enoch quietly. "And I'm strong and hard as +nails." + +"What fool ever sent you folks out?" asked Curly. + +"It's not a fool trip, really," expostulated Milton. "It's very +necessary for a good many reasons that the government have more +accurate geographical and geological knowledge of this section." + +"What part of the government do you work for?" asked Mack. + +"The Geological Survey. It's a bureau in the Department of the +Interior." + +"Oh, then Huntingdon's your Big Boss!" exclaimed Mack. "Do you know +him?" + +"Never met him," replied Milton. "He doesn't know the small fry in his +department." + +"He sits in Washington and gets the glory while you guys do the work, +eh!" said Curly. + +"I don't think you should put it that way, Curly," protested Mack. +"Enoch Huntingdon's a big man and he's done more real solid work for +his country than any man in Washington to-day and I'll bet you on it." + +"Right you are!" exclaimed Forrester. "My oldest brother was in +college with Huntingdon. Says he was a good fellow, a brilliant +student and even then he could make a speech that would break your +heart. His one vice was gambling. He--" + +"My father knew Huntingdon!" Diana spoke quickly. "He knew him when he +was a long-legged, red-headed boy of fourteen. My father was his guide +down Bright Angel trail. Dad always said that he never met as +interesting a human being as that boy." + +"Queer thing about personal charm," contributed Agnew. "I heard +Huntingdon make one of his great speeches when he was Police +Commissioner. I was just a little kid and he was a big, homely, +red-headed chap, but I remember how my kid heart warmed to him and how +I wished I could get up on the stage and get to know him." + +"So he was a gambler, was he?" Curly spoke in a musing voice. "Well, +if he was once, he is now. It's a worse vice than drink." + +"How come you say that, Mr. Curly?" demanded Jonas. + +"In the meantime," interrupted Enoch, gruffly, "how about my trip down +the Canyon?" + +"Well," replied Milton, "if you go at it with your eyes open, I don't +see why you can't try it as far as Grant's Crossing. That's +seventy-five miles west of here. Barring accidents, we should reach +there in a week, cleaning up the survey as we go along. If you live to +reach there, you can either go out or come along, as you wish. But +understand that from the time we leave here till we reach Grant's +Crossing, there's no way out of the Canyon, at least as far as the maps +indicate." + +"Say, the placer where I found my nugget is just above Grant's!" +exclaimed Harden. "Why don't you placer fans start on west and we'll +all try to meet there in a week's time. I couldn't tell Field where it +was in a hundred years." + +"Suits me!" exclaimed Curly. + +"Me too!" echoed Mack. + +"Then," said Enoch, "will you take Jonas along as cook, Mack?" + +"You bet!" cried Mack. + +"Does that suit you, Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"No, boss, it don't suit me. I've gotta go with you. I ain't never +going to live through it, but I'll die praying." + +A shout went up of laughter and expostulation, but Jonas, though grim +with terror, was entirely unmoved. Nothing, not even mortal horror of +the Colorado could break his determination never to be separated from +Enoch again. His agitation was so deep and so obvious that Enoch and +Milton finally gave in to him. + +"All right!" said Milton. "A daylight start will about suit us all, I +guess. I don't think I can give you much previous instruction, Judge, +that will help you. We'll put Jonas in Harden's boat and you in mine. +You must wear your life preserver all the time that we are on the +water. When we are in the boat, do as I tell you, instantly, and +you'll soon pick up what small technique we have. It's mostly horse +sense and brute strength that we use. No two rapids are alike and the +portages are nearly all difficult beyond words." + +"My Gawd!" muttered Jonas. + +"You go over to the Hopi country with us," said Na-che, softly. + +"I dassen't do it!" groaned Jonas. "You'll have to serve that stew, +Na-che. My nerves is just too upset. I gotta go off and sit down +somewhere." + +"Don't you worry," whispered Na-che, "I'll give you a Navajo charm. +You can't drown if you wear it." + +Jonas' black face grew less tense. "Honest, Na-che?" + +Na-che nodded emphatically. + +"Well," said Jonas, "I had a warming of my heart to you the minute I +laid eyes on you, up there at the Grand Canyon. Any woman as handsome +as you is, Na-che, is bound to be a comfort to a man in his hours of +trouble." + +Again Na-che nodded and began to dish the stew, which came quite up to +Jonas' estimate of it. After supper, the big fire was replenished and +Mack produced a deck of cards. + +"Who said draw-poker?" he inquired. + +"Most any of our crowd will shout," said Agnew. + +"Judge?" Mack looked at Enoch, who was sitting before the fire, arms +clasped about his knees. + +Enoch pulled his pipe out of his mouth to answer. "No!" with a look of +repugnance that caused Milton to exclaim, "Got conscientious scruples +against cards, Judge?" + +"Yes, but don't stop your game for me," replied Enoch, harshly. Then +his voice softened. "Miss Allen, the moon is shining, up on the +plateau. While these chaps play, will you take a walk with me?" + +"I'd like to very much!" Diana spoke quickly. + +"Well, don't be gone over an hour, children," said Curly. "Cards don't +draw me like a good gab round the fire. And Diana's our best gabber." + +"An hour's the bargain then," said Enoch. "Come along, Miss Allen!" + +It was, indeed, glorious moonlight on the plateau. The two did not +speak until they reached the upper level, then Enoch laughed. + +"Jove! This is the greatest luck a game of cards ever brought me! +Think, Diana, three days ago I was fighting my despair at the thought +that I must never see you again and that you despised me. And here I +am, with moonlight and you and a whole hour. Are you a little bit +glad, Diana?" + +"A little bit! I'd be gladder if I weren't so disturbed at the thought +of the trip you are to begin to-morrow!" + +"Nonsense, Diana! I'm learning more about my own Department every day. +Aren't they a fine lot of fellows? Milton scares me to death. I don't +doubt for a moment that if he tells me to dash to destruction in a +whirlpool, I shall do so. There's a chap that could exact obedience +from a mule. I'll look up his record when I get back to Washington." + +"Shall you reveal your identity before you leave them?" asked Diana. + +"No, certainly not! Not for worlds would I have them know who I am. +And now tell me, Diana, just what are your plans?" + +"Oh, nothing at all exciting! I am going to make some studies of +Indian children's games. They are picturesque and ethnologically, very +interesting. I shall come home across the Painted Desert and take some +pictures in color. My adventures will be very mild compared with +yours." + +"And you and Na-che will be quite alone, out in this trackless country! +I shall worry about you, Diana." + +Diana laughed. "Enoch, you have no idea of what you are undertaking! +You'll have no time to give me a thought. For a week you're going to +struggle as you never did before to keep breath in your body." + +"Oh, it'll not be that bad!" exclaimed Enoch. "Are you cold, Diana? I +thought you shivered. What a strange, ghostlike country it is! It +would be horrible up here alone, wouldn't it!" + +They paused to gaze out over the fantastic landscape. + +In the gray light the strangely weathered mesas were ruined castles, +stupendous in bulk; the mighty buttes and crumbled peaks were colossal +cities overthrown by the cataclysm of time. It seemed to Enoch, that +nowhere else in the world could one behold such epic loneliness. The +excitement that had buoyed him up since Diana's arrival suddenly +departed, and his life with all its ugly facts was vividly in his +consciousness again. + +"Diana," he said, abruptly, "when you were talking to me this +afternoon, you spoke of the Brown matter in the plural. Was there more +than one article about me?" + +Diana turned her tender eyes to Enoch's. "Let's not spoil this +beautiful evening," she pleaded. + +"I don't want to bother you, Diana. Just tell me the facts and we'll +drop it." + +"I'd rather not talk about it," replied Diana. + +"Please, Diana! Whatever fight I have down here, whatever conclusion I +reach, I want to work with my eyes open, so that my decisions shall be +final. I don't want to have to revamp and revise when I get out." + +"As far as I know," said Diana, in a low voice, "there was but one +other reference to the matter. The day after the first article +appeared, Brown published a photograph of you and me in front of a +Johnstown lunch place. There was a long caption, which said that you +had always been proud that you were slum-reared and a woman hater. +That you had persisted in keeping some of your early habits, perhaps +out of bravado. That Miss Allen was an intimate friend, the only woman +friend you had made and kept. That was all." + +"All!" echoed Enoch. The pale, silver landscape danced in a crimson +mist before him. He stood, clenching and unclenching his fists, +breathing rapidly. + +"Oh, Enoch! Enoch! Since you had to know, it was better for you to +know from me than any one else. And as far as I am concerned, as I +told you before, I'm only amused. It's only for the reaction on you +that I'm troubled." + +"You mustn't be troubled, Diana." said Enoch, huskily. "But I'd be +less than a man, if I didn't pay that yellow cur up. You see that, +don't you?" + +"A Dutch family I have heard of has this family motto: 'Eagles do not +see flies.'" + +Enoch gave a dry, mirthless laugh. For a long time they tramped in +silence. Then Diana said, "We've been out half an hour, Enoch." + +Enoch turned at once, taking Diana's hand as he did so. He did not +release it until they had reached the edge of the trail and the sound +of men's voices floated up to them. Then taking off his hat, he lifted +the slender fingers to his lips. "This is our real good-by, Diana, for +we'll not be alone, again. If anything should happen to me, I want you +to have my diary, if they save it. I'll have it with me, on the trip." + +Diana's lips quivered. "God keep you, Enoch, and help you." Then she +turned and led the way to the cave. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE EXPEDITION BEGINS + + +"After all, there is a place still untouched by humanity, where skies +are unmarred and the way leads through uncharted beauty. When I have +earned the right, I shall go there again."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Before dawn the camp fires were lighted and the various breakfasts were +in preparation. When these had been eaten there was light from the +pale sky above by which to complete the packing of the boats. + +These were strongly built, wooden skiffs with three water tight +compartments in each; one amidships, one fore and one aft, with decks +flush with the gunwales. There was room between the middle and end +compartments for the oarsmen to sit. The man who worked the +steersman's oar sat on the rear compartment. In these compartments +were packed all the dunnage, clothing, food, tools, surveying and +geological instruments and cameras. Each man was allowed about fifty +pounds of personal luggage. Everything that water could hurt was +packed in rubber bags. + +Milton was troubled when he found that Enoch had no change of shoes. + +"You'll reach camp each night," said he, "soaked to the skin. You must +have warm, dry clothing to change to. Shoes are especially important. +Jonas must have them, too." + +"How about Indian moccasins, Mr. Milton?" asked Jonas. "I bought three +pairs while I was with Miss Diana." + +"Well, they're better than nothing," grumbled Milton. "Are you ready, +Harden?" + +"Aye! Aye! sir!" said Harden, pulling his belt in tightly. "Are you +all set, Ag and Jonas?" + +"All set, Harden," Agnew picked up his oar. "Are you ready, Matey?" to +Jonas, who was saying good-by in a whisper to Na-che. + +"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, Mr. Agnew," groaned Jonas. "Good-by, +everybody!" stepping gingerly into the boat. + +"All aboard then, Judge and Forr," cried Milton. "I'll shove off." + +"Good-by, Diana! Good-by, Curly and Mack!" Enoch waved his hand and +took his place, and the racing water seized the boats. Hardly had +Enoch turned to look once more at the four watching on the beach, when +the boats shot round the curving western wall. For the first half +hour, the water was smooth and swift, sweeping between walls that were +abrupt and verdureless and offered not so much as a finger hold for a +landing place. + +Enoch, following instruction did not try to row at first. He sat +quietly watching the swift changing scenery, feeling awkward and a +little helpless in his life preserver. + +"We're due, sometime this morning, to strike some pretty stiff +cataracts," said Milton, "but the records show that we can shoot most +of them. Keep in to the left wall, Forr, I want to squint at that bend +in the strata." + +They swung across the stream, and as they did so they caught a glimpse +of Jonas. He was crouched in the bottom of the boat, his eyes rolling +above his life preserver. + +"Didn't Na-che give you that Navaho charm, Jonas?" called Forrester. + +"It'll take more than a charm to help poor old Jonas," said Enoch. "I +really think he'll like it in a day or so. He's got good pluck." + +"He's only showing what all of us felt on our maiden trip," chuckled +Milton. Then he added, quickly, "Listen, Forr!" + +Above the splash of the oars and the swift rush of the river rose a +sound like the far roar of street traffic. + +"Our little vacation is over," commented Forrester. + +"Easy now, Forr! We'll land for observation before we tackle a racket +like that. Let the current carry us. Be ready to back water when I +shout." He raised his voice. "Harden, don't follow too closely! You +know your failing!" + +They rounded a curving wall, the current carrying them, Milton said, at +least ten miles an hour. A short distance now, and they saw spray +breaking high in the middle of the stream. + +"We'll land here," said Milton, steering to a great pile of bowlders +against the right wall. + +Enoch watched with keen interest the preparation for the descent. +First sticks were thrown into the water, to catch the trend of the main +current. Milton pointed out to Enoch that if the stick were deflected +against one wall or another, great care had to be exercised to prevent +the boats being dashed against the walls in like manner. But, he said, +if the current seemed to run a fairly unobstructed course, it was +hopeful that the boats would go through. There were a number of rocks +protruding from the water, but the current appeared to round these +cleanly and Milton gave the order to proceed. They worked back +upstream a short distance so as to catch the current straight prow on, +and in a moment they were dashing through a sea of roaring waves that +drenched them to the skin. + +Forrester and Milton steered a zigzag course about the menacing rocks, +grazing and bumping them now and again, but emerging finally, without +accident, in quieter waters. Here they hugged the shore and waited for +Harden's boat, the Mary, to come down. And come it did, balancing +uncannily on the top of the waves, with Jonas' yells sounding even +above the uproar of the waters. + +"More of it below, Harden," said Milton as the Mary shot alongside. + +More indeed! It seemed to Enoch that the first rapid was child's play +to the one that followed. The jutting rocks were more frequent. The +fall greater. The waves more menacing. But they shot it safely until +they reached its foot and there an eddy caught them and carried them +back upstream in spite of all that could be done. Enoch seized the +oars that were in readiness beside him and pulled with all his might +but to no avail. And suddenly the Mary rushed out of the mist striking +them fairly amidship. The Ida half turned over, but righted herself +and the Mary darted off. Milton shouted hoarsely, Forrester and Enoch +obeyed blindly and after what seemed to Enoch an endless struggle, +spray and waves suddenly ceased and they found themselves in quieter +waters where the Mary awaited them. + +Harden and Agnew were laughing. "Thought you knew an eddy when you saw +one, Milt!" cried Agnew. + +"I don't know anything!" grinned Milton, "except that Jonas is going to +be too scared to cook." + +"If ever I get to land," retorted Jonas, "I'll cook something for a +thanksgiving to the Lord that you all will never forget." + +They examined the next fall and passed through it successfully. The +Canyon was widening now and an occasional cedar tree could be seen. +Enoch was vaguely conscious, too, that the colors of the walls were +more brilliant. But the ardors of the rapids gave small opportunity +for aesthetic observations. + +Curiously enough, after the passage of this last fall the waters did +not subside in speed, though the waves disappeared. The spray of +another fall was to be seen beyond. + +"We mustn't risk shooting her without observation," cried Milton. +"Make for that spit of sand with the cedars on it, fellows." + +Enoch and Forrester put their backs into their strokes in their +endeavor to guide the Ida to the place indicated, which appeared to be +the one available landing spot. But the current carried them at such +velocity that when within half a dozen feet of the shore it seemed +impossible to stop and make the landing. + +"Overboard!" shouted Milton. + +All three plunged into the water, clinging to the gunwale. The water +was waist deep. For a few feet boat and men were dragged onward. Then +they found secure foothold on the rocky river bottom and, with huge +effort, beached the Ida. Scarcely was this done, when the Mary hove in +view and with Milton shouting directions, they rushed once more into +the current to help with the landing. + +"The cook and the bacon both are in your boat, Harden!" chuckled +Milton, "or you'd be getting no such delicate attentions from the Ida." + +Jonas crawled stiffly out of his compartment. Enoch began preparation +for a fire, white the others busied themselves with notes and +observations. It was 90 degrees on the little sandy beach and the wet +clothing was not chilling. They ate enormously of Jonas's dinner, then +the Survey men scattered to their work for an hour or so, while Enoch +explored the region. There was no getting to the top of the walls, so +he contented himself with crawling gingerly over the rocks to a point +where a little spring bubbled out of a narrow cave opening. Peering +through this, Enoch saw that it was dimly lighted, and he crawled +through the water. + +To his astonishment, he was in a great circular amphitheater, a hundred +feet in diameter, domed to an enormous height, with the blue sky +showing through a rift at the top. The little spring trickled down the +wall, now dropping sheer in spray, now trickling in a delicate, +glistening sheet. But the greatest wonder of the cave was in the +texture of its walls, which appeared to Enoch to be of purest marble of +a deep shell pink and translucent creamy white. Moisture had collected +on the walls and each tiny globule of water seemed to hold a miniature +rainbow in its heart. There was a holy sort of loveliness about the +spot, and before he returned to the rugged adventure outside, Enoch +pulled off his hat and christened the place Diana's Chapel. Nor did +he, on his arrival at the camp, tell of his find. + +Shortly after two o'clock Milton ordered all hands aboard. But before +this he had shown them all the map, adding a rough sketch of his own. +The next rapid appeared to be no more dangerous than the previous one. +But below it the river widened out into a circular bay, a great tureen +within which the waters moved with an oil-like smoothness. But when +Milton threw a stick into this strange basin, it was whirled the entire +circumference of the bay with a velocity that all the men agreed boded +ill for any boat that did not cling to the wall. The west end of the +bay, where it was all but blocked by the closing in of the Canyon +sides, could not be seen from the rocks where the men stood. But the +old maps reported a steep fall which must be portaged. + +"Cling to the right-hand wall," ordered Milton. "If you steer out, +Harden, for the sake of the short cut, you may be lost. The reports +show that two other boats were lost here. Cling to the wall! When we +reach the mouth we must go ashore again and examine the falls. Be sure +your life preservers are strapped securely." + +"Mr. Milton," said Jonas, "you better let me get my hands on a oar. If +I got to die, I'm going to die fighting." + +"Good stuff, Jonas!" exclaimed Harden. "Can you row?" + +"Brought up on the Potomac," replied Jonas. + +"All right, folks," cried Milton. "We're off." + +The Ida would have shot the rapid successfully, but for one important +point. It was necessary, in order to land on the right side of the +whirlpool, to steer to the right of a tall, finger-like rock, that +protruded from the water at the bottom of the rapids. About a boat's +length from this rock, however, a sudden wave shot six feet into the +air, throwing the Ida off its course, and drenching the crew, so that +they entered the churning tureen at a speed of twenty miles an hour and +almost at the middle of the stream. + +"Pull to the right wall! To the right!" roared Milton. But he might +as well have roared to the wind. Enoch and Forrester rose from their +seats and threw the whole weight of their bodies on their oars. But +the noiseless power of the whirlpool thrust the Ida mercilessly toward +the center. + +"Harder!" panted Milton, straining with all his might at the steering +oar. "Put your back into her, Judge! Bend to it, Forr!" + +Enoch's breath came in gasps. His palms, the cords of his wrists felt +powerless. His toe muscles cramped in agony. As in a mist he saw the +right wall recede, felt the boat twist under his knees like a +disobedient horse. Suddenly there was a crack as of a pistol shot +behind him. One of Forrester's oars had snapped. Forrester drew in +the other and crawled back to add his weight to the steering oar. + +"It's up to you, Judge!" cried Milton. + +They were in the center of the bay now and the boat began to spin. For +one terrible moment it seemed as if an overturn were imminent. Out of +the tail of his eyes, Enoch saw the Mary hugging the right wall. + +"Judge!" shouted Milton. "If you can back water into that rough spot +six feet to your right, I think we can stop the spin." + +Enoch was too spent to reply but he gathered every resource in his body +to make one more effort. The boat slowly edged into the rough spot and +for a moment the spin ceased. + +"Now shoot her downstream! We'll have to trust to the Mary to keep us +from entering the falls," Milton shouted. + +With Enoch giving all that was left in him to the oars, and Forrester +and Milton steering with their united strength and skill, the Ida +slowly worked toward the narrow opening which marked the head of the +falls. The crew of the Mary had landed and Harden stood on the +outermost rock at the opening, swinging a coil of rope, while Agnew +crawled up behind him with another. Jonas hung onto the Mary's rope. + +Perhaps a half dozen boat lengths from the falls the whirling motion of +the water ceased, and it leaped ferociously toward the narrow opening. +When the Ida felt this straight pull, Milton roared: + +"Back her, Judge, back her! Now the rope, Harden! You too, Ag!" + +Her prow was beyond the opening before the speed of the Ida was stopped +by the ropes. A moment later her crew had dropped flat on the rocks, +panting and exhausted. + +"Well, Milt, of all the darn fools!" exclaimed Harden. "After telling +us to keep to the right, what did you try to do yourself? If you'd +gone inside that big finger rock at the end of the rapid you'd have had +no trouble." + +"I never had a chance to go inside that rock," panted Milton. "A +pot-hole spouted a boat's length ahead and threw me clear to the left." + +"Say," said Agnew, "we got some crew in our boat now. Jonas, you are +some little oarsman!" + +"Scared as ever, Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"I wasn't never so much scared, you know, boss, as I was nervous. But +this charm is sure a good one. If we can live through this here day, +we can live through anything. I want you to wear it, to-morrow, boss. +Seems like the head boat needs it more'n us folks." + +Jonas' liquid black eyes twinkled. Enoch laughed. "If I hadn't known +you were a good sport, Jonas, I'd never have let you come with us. +Keep your charm, old man. I don't expect ever to gather together +enough strength to get into the boat again!" + +"Nobody's going to try to get in to-night," said Milton, without +lifting his head from the rocks on which he lay. "We camp right here. +It's four o'clock anyhow." + +"Then I've something still left to be thankful for!" Enoch closed his +eyes with a deep sigh of relief. + +When he next opened them it was dusk. Above him, on the narrow canyon +top, gleamed the wonder of the desert stars. There was a glow of +firelight on the rocks about him. Enoch sat up. It was an +inhospitable spot for a camp. The roar of the falls was harsh and +menacing. The canyon walls shot two thousand feet into the air on +either side of the sliding waters. Enoch was suddenly oppressed by a +vague sense of suffocation. He realized, fully, for the first time +that the menace of the Canyon was very real; that should a sudden rise +of the waters come at this point, there was no climbing out, no going +back; that should the boats be lost---- He shook himself, rose stiffly +and joined the group around the fire. + +"Ship ahoy, Judge!" cried Harden. "Are you still traveling in circles?" + +"Humph!" grunted Milton. "The Judge may be a tenderfoot in the Canyon, +but he's no tenderfoot in a boat. Ever on a college crew, Judge?" + +"Yes, Columbia," replied Enoch. + +"I thought you'd raced! Jove, how you did heave the old tub round! +Jonas, how about grub for the Judge?" + +"How come you to think you have to tell me to look out for my boss, Mr. +Milton?" grumbled Jonas, coming up with a pie tin loaded with beans and +bacon. + +"Hello, Jonas, old man! What do you think of this parlor, bedroom and +bath?" asked Enoch. + +"I feel like Joseph in the pit, boss! Folks back home wouldn't never +believe me if Mr. Agnew hadn't promised to take some pictures of me and +my boat. That's an awful good boat, the Mary, boss. She is some boat! +Did you see me jerk her round?" + +"No, I missed that, Jonas. I was a little preoccupied at the time. Is +to-day a fair sample of every day, you fellows?" + +"Lately, yes," replied Forrester. "To-morrow'll be a bell ringer too, +from the looks of that portage. Need any help on those dishes, Jonas, +before I go to bed?" + +"All done, thanks," answered Jonas. "Say, Mr. Milton, you know what I +was thinking? Mary's no name for a sassy, gritty boat like ours. Let +me give her a good name." + +"What name, for instance?" demanded Harden. + +Jonas cleared his throat. "I was thinking of the Na-che." + +"My word!" exclaimed Harden. "Say, Ag, would you want our boat renamed +the Na-che?" + +"Who'd repaint the name?" asked Agnew carefully. "That's the point +with me." + +"The trouble with you, Ag," said Harden, "is that you haven't any soul." + +"I'd do the painting," Jonas went on eagerly. "I was thinking of +getting her all fixed up with that can of paint I see to-day. Red +paint, it was." + +"Do you think that Na-che would mind our making free with her name?" +Milton's tone was serious. + +"Mind!" cried Jonas. "Well, if you knew women like I do you'd never +ask a question like that! A woman would rather have a boat or a race +horse named after her any time than have a baby named for her. I know +women!" + +"In that case, let's rename the Mary," said Milton. "Everybody ready +to turn in?" + +"I am, sir," replied Harden. "Jonas, you turn off the lights and put +the cat down cellar. Good night, everybody!" + +Jonas chuckled and hobbled off to his blankets. It was not seven +o'clock when the rude camp was silent and every soul in it in profound +slumber. + +Enoch was stiff and muscle-sore in the morning but he ate breakfast +with a ravenous appetite and with a keen interest in the day's program. +In response to his questions Milton said: + +"We unload the boats and make the dunnage up into fifty pound loads. +Then we look over the trail. Sometimes we have merely to get up on our +two legs and walk it. Other times we have to make trail even for +ourselves, let alone for the boats. Sometimes we can portage the +freight and lower the boats through the water by tow ropes. But for +this falls, there's nothing to do but to make trail and drag the boats +over it." + +"It's no trip for babes!" exclaimed Enoch. "That's certain! Do you +like the work, Milton?" + +"It's a work no one would do voluntarily without liking it," replied +the young man. "I like it. I wouldn't want to give my life to it, +but--" he paused to look over toward the others busily unloading the +Na-che,--"but nothing will ever do again for me what this experience +has." + +"And may I ask what that is?" Enoch's voice was eager. + +Milton searched Enoch's face carefully, then answered slowly. +"Sometime when we are having a rest, I'll tell you, if you really want +to know." + +"Thanks! And now set me to work, Captain," said Enoch. + +The way beside the falls was nothing more than a narrow ledge +completely covered with giant bowlders. Beyond the falls, the river +hurled itself for a quarter of a mile against broken rocks that made +the passage of a boat impossible. It was a long portage. After the +bowlder-strewn ledge was passed, however, it was not necessary to make +trail, for although the shore was strewn with broken rock and +driftwood, the way was fairly open. + +After the contents of the boats had been made up into rough packs, both +crews attacked the trail-making. It was mid-morning before pick-ax, +shovel and crowbar had opened up a way which Jonas claimed was fit only +for kangaroos or elephants. Rough as it was, when Milton declared it +fit for their purposes, the rest without protest heaved the packs to +their shoulders. + +It was hot at midday in the Canyon. The thermometer registered 98 +degrees in the shade. Enoch, following Milton, dropped his third pack +at the end of the quarter mile portage and sat down beside it. + +"Old man!" he groaned, "you've got to give me a ten minutes' rest." + +Milton grinned and nodded sympathetically. "Take all the time you +want, Judge!" + +"I'm ashamed," said Enoch, "but don't forget you fellows have had ten +months of this, as against my two days." + +"I don't forget for a minute, Judge. And just let me tell you that if +ever I were on trial for a serious offense of any kind I'd be perfectly +satisfied to be tried before a real he-man, like you." And Milton +disappeared over the trail, leaving Enoch with a warm glow in his +heart, such as he had scarcely felt since his first public speech won +the praise of the newspapers. + +For a quarter of an hour he sat with his back against a half buried +mesquite log smoking, and now eying the magnificent sheer crimson wall +which lay across the river, now wondering where Diana was and now +contemplating curiously the sense of his own unimportance which the +Canyon was thrusting into his consciousness more persistently every +hour. Jonas joined him for the last part of his rest, but when Milton +announced that they had finished the packing and must now portage the +boats, Jonas was on the alert. + +"That name isn't dry yet!" he exclaimed. "I got to watch the prow of +my boat myself," and he started hurriedly back over the trail, Enoch +following him more slowly. + +Sometimes lifting, sometimes skidding on drift logs, sometimes dragging +by main strength, the six men finally landed the Ida and the Na-che in +quiet waters. Jonas and Agnew prepared a simple dinner and immediately +after they embarked. For two hours the river flowed swiftly and +quietly between sheer walls of stratified granite, white and pale +yellow, shot with rose. Now and again a cedar, dwarfed and distorted, +found toe hold between the strata and etched its deep green against the +white and yellow. + +About four o'clock the river widened and the walls were broken by +lateral canyons that led back darkly and mysteriously into the bowels +of the desert. For half an hour more Milton guided the Ida onward. +Then Enoch cried, "Milton, see that brook!" and he pointed to a +tumbling little stream that issued from one of the side canyons. + +Milton at once called for a landing on the grassy shore beside the +brook. Never was there a sweeter spot than this. Willows bent over +the brook and long grass mirrored itself within its pebbly depths for a +moment before the crystal water joined the muddy Colorado. The Canyon +no longer overhung the river suffocatingly, but opened widely, showing +behind the fissured white granite peaks, crimson and snow capped and +appalling in their bigness. + +"Here's where we put in a day, boys!" exclaimed Milton. "I'm sure we +can scramble to the top here, somehow, and get a general idea of the +country." + +His crew cheered this statement enthusiastically. The landing was +easily made and the boats were beached and unloaded. + +"Never thought I could unload a boat again without bursting into +tears," said Enoch, grunting under three bed rolls he was carrying up +to the willows, "but here I am, full of enthusiasm!" + +"You need a lot of it down here, I can tell you," growled Forrester, +who had skinned his chin badly in a fall that morning. + +"You look like a goat, Forr," said Harden, sympathetically, as he set a +folding table close to the spot where Jonas was kindling a fire. + +"I'd rather look like a goat than a jack-ass," returned Forrester with +an edge to his voice. + +"Forr," said Milton, "don't you want to try your luck at some fish for +supper? The salmon ought to be interested in a spot like this." + +Forrester's voice cleared at once. "Sure! I'd be glad to," he said, +and went off to unload his fishing tackle. When he was out of hearing, +Milton said sharply to Harden: + +"Why can't you let him alone, Hard! You know how touchy he is when +anything's the matter with him." + +"I'm sorry," replied Harden shortly. + +Enoch glanced with interest from one man to the other, but said +nothing, not even when, Milton's back being turned, Harden winked at +him. And when Forrester returned with a four-pound river salmon, there +was no sign of irritation in his face or manner. + +This night, for the first time, they sat around the fire, luxuriating +in the thought that for the next twenty-four hours they were free of +the terrible demands of the river. Forrester possessed a good tenor +voice and sang, Jonas joining with his mellow baritone. Harden, lying +close to the flames, read a chapter from "David Harum," the one book of +the expedition. Agnew, on request, told a long and involved story of a +Chinese laundryman and a San Francisco broker which evoked much +laughter. Then Milton, as master of ceremonies, turned to Enoch: + +"Now then, Judge, do your duty!" + +"I haven't a parlor trick to my name," protested Enoch. + +"I like what you call our efforts!" cried Harden. "Hit him for me, Ag! +He's closest to you." + +"Not after the way he wallops the Ida," grunted Agnew. "Let Milt do +it." + +"Boss," said Jonas suddenly, "tell 'em that poem about mercy I heard +you give at--at that banquet at our house." + +Enoch smiled, took his pipe from his lips, and began: + + "'The quality of mercy is not strained, + It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven, + Upon the place beneath--'" + +Enoch paused a moment. The words held a new and soul-shattering +significance for him. Then as the others waited breathlessly, he went +on. His beautiful, mellow voice, his remarkable enunciation, the +magnetism of his personality stirred his little audience, just as +thousands of greater audiences had been stirred by these same qualities. + +When he had finished, there was a profound silence until Milton said: + +"That's the only thing I have heard said in the Canyon that didn't +sound paltry." + +"If any of the rest of us had repeated it, though, it might have +sounded so." Harden's tone was dry. + +"Shakespeare couldn't sound paltry anywhere!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"Hum!" sniffed Agnew. "Depends on what and when you're quoting. Give +us another, Judge." + +Enoch gazed thoughtfully at the fire for a moment, then slowly and +quietly he gave them the prayer of Habakkuk. The liquid phrases rolled +from his lips, echoed in the Canyon, then dropped into silence. Enoch +sat with his great head bowed, his sensitive mouth compressed as if +with pain. His friends stared from him to one another, then one by one +slipped away to their blankets. When Enoch looked up, only Milton was +left. + +"And so," said Enoch, "the Canyon has been a great experience for you, +Milton!" + +"Yes, Judge. I became engaged to a girl who is a Catholic. I am a +Protestant, one of the easy going kind that never goes to church. Yet, +do you know, when she insisted that I turn Catholic, I wouldn't do it? +We had a fearful time! I didn't have any idea there was so much creed +in me as I discovered I had. In the midst of it the opportunity came +for this Canyon work, and this trip has changed the whole outlook of +life for me. Judge, creeds don't matter any more than bridges do to a +stream. They are just a way of getting across, that's all. Creeds may +come and creeds may go, but God goes on forever. Nothing changes true +religion. Christ promulgated the greatest system of ethics the world +has known. The ethics of God. He put them into practical working form +for human beings. Whatever creed helps you to live the teachings of +Christ most truly, that's the true creed for you. That's what the +Canyon's done for me. And when I get out, I'm going back to Alice and +let her make of me whatever will help her most. I'm safe. I've got +the creed of the Colorado Canyon!" + +Enoch looked at the freckled, ruddy face and smiled. "Thank you, +Milton. You've given me something to think about." + +"I doubt if you lack subjects," replied Milton drily. "But--well, I +have an idea you came out here looking for something. There are lines +around your eyes that say that. So I just thought I'd hand on to you +what I got." + +Enoch nodded and the two smoked for a while in silence. Then Enoch +said in a low voice: + +"Do you have trouble with Forrester and Harden?" + +"Yes, constant friction. They're both fine fellows, but naturally +antagonistic to each other." + +"A fellow may be ever so fine," said Enoch, "yet lack the sense of team +play that is absolutely essential in a job like this." + +"Exactly," replied Milton. "The great difficulty is that you can't +judge men until they're undergoing the trial. Then it's too late. In +Powell's first expedition, soon after the Civil War, there was constant +friction between Powell and three of his men. At last, although they +had signed a contract to stick by him, they deserted him." + +"How was that?" asked Enoch with interest. + +"They simply insisted on being put ashore and they climbed out of the +Canyon with the idea of getting to some of the Mormon settlements. But +the Indians killed them almost at once, poor devils! Powell got the +story of it on his second expedition. The history of those two +expeditions, I think, are as glorious as any chapter in our American +annals." + +"Was it so much harder than the work you are doing?" + +"There is no comparison! We're simply following the trail that Powell +blazed. Think of his superb courage! These terrible waters were +enshrouded in mystery and fear. He did not know even what kind of +boats could live in them. Hostile Indians marauded on either hand. +And as near as I recall the only settlements he could call on, if he +succeeded in clambering out of the Canyon, were Ft. Defiance in New +Mexico, and Mormon settlements, miles across the desert in Utah." + +"Hum!" said Enoch slowly, "it doesn't seem to me that things are so +much better now, that we need to boast about them. There are no +Indians, to be sure, but the river is about all human endurance and +ingenuity can cope with, just as it was in Powell's day." + +"She's a bird, all right!" sighed Milton. "Well, Judge, I'm going to +turn in. To-morrow's another day! Good night." + +"Good night, Captain!" replied Enoch. He threw another stick of +driftwood on the fire and after a moment's thought fetched the black +diary from his rubber dunnage bag. When the fire was clear and bright, +he began to write. + +"Diana, you were wrong. No matter how strenuous the work is, you are +never out of the background of my thoughts. But at least I am having +surcease from grieving for you. I have had no time to dwell on the +fact that you cannot belong to me. I am afraid to come out of the +Canyon. Afraid that when these wonderful days of adventure are over, +the knowledge that I must not ask you to marry me will descend on me +like a stifling fog. As for Brown! Diana, why not let me kill him! +I'd be willing to stand before any jury in the world with his blood on +my hands. What he has done to me is typical of Brown and all his +works. He is unclean and clever, a frightful combination. Consider +the class of readers he has! The majority of the people who read +Brown, read only Brown. His readers are the great commonalty of +America, the source, once, of all that was best in our life. Brown +tells them nasty stories, not about people alone, but about systems; +systems of money, systems of work, systems of government. And because +nasty stories are always luscious reading, and because it is easier to +believe evil than good about anything, twice every day, as he produces +his morning and evening editions, Brown is polluting the head waters of +our national existence. I say, why not let me kill him? What more +useful and direct thing could I do than rid the nation of him? And O +Diana, when I think of the smut to which he coupled your loveliness, I +feel that I am less than a man to have hesitated this long." + +Enoch closed the book, replaced it in the bag, and sat for a long hour +staring into the fire. Then he went to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE PERFECT ADVENTURE + + +"Who cares whether or not my hands are clean? Does God? Wouldn't God +expect me to punish evil? God is mercilessly just, is He not? Else +why disease and grief in the world? If you could only tell +me!"--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +It was nipping cold in the morning. Ice encrusted the edges of the +little brook. But by the time breakfast was finished, the sun had +appeared over the distant mountain peaks and the long warm rays soon +brought the thermometer up to summer heat. Milton expounded his +program at breakfast. Jonas was to keep the camp. Enoch and Milton +were to climb to the rim for topographical information. Harden was to +look for fossils. Agnew and Forrester were to make a geological report +on the strata of the section. + +Jonas was extraordinarily well pleased with his assignment. + +"I'm going to finish painting the Na-che," he said. "Mr. Milton, have +you got anything I can mend the tarpaulins with that go over the decks?" + +"Needles and twine in the bag labeled Repairs," replied Milton. "How +about giving the Ida the once over, too, Jonas." + +"All right! If I get around to it!" Jonas' manner was vague. + +"Can't love but one boat at a time, eh, Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"I always wanted to have a boat to fix up," said Jonas. "When I was a +kid my folks had an old flat-bottom tub, but I never earned enough for +a can of paint. Will you folks be home by twelve for dinner?" + +There was a chorus of assent as the crew scattered to its several +tasks. Milton and Enoch started at once up the edge of the brook, +hoping that the ascent might be made more easily thus. But the +crevice, out of which the little stream found its way to the Colorado, +narrowed rapidly to the point where it became impossible for the two +men to work their way into it. They were obliged, after a half hour's +struggle, to return to the camp and start again. + +A very steep slope of bright orange sand led from the shore to a +scarcely less oblique terrace of sharp broken rock. There were several +hundred feet of the sand and, as it was dry and loose, it caused a +constant slipping and falling that consumed both time and strength. +The rocky terrace was far easier to manage, and they covered that +rapidly, although Enoch had a nasty fall, cutting his knee. They were +brought to pause, however, when the broken rock gave way to a sheer +hard wall, which offered neither crack nor projection for hand or foot +hold. + +Milton led the way carefully along its foot for a quarter of a mile +until they reached a fissure wide enough for them to enter. The walls +of this were crossed by transverse cracks. By utilizing these, now +pulling, now boosting each other, they finally emerged on a flat, +smooth tableland, of which fissures had made a complete island. At the +southern end of the island rose an abrupt black peak. + +"If we can get to the top of that," said Milton, "it ought to bring us +to the general desert level. Is your knee bothering you, Judge?" + +"Not enough to stop the parade," replied Enoch. "How high do you think +that peak is, Milton?" + +"Not less than a thousand feet, I would guess. I bet it's as easy to +climb as a greased pole, too." + +The pinnacle, when they reached it, appeared very little less difficult +than Milton had guessed it would be. The north side offered no hope +whatever. It rose smooth and perpendicular toward the heavens. But +the south side was rough and though a yawning fissure at its base added +five hundred feet to its southern height they determined to try their +fortunes here. Ledges and jutting rocks, cracks and depressions +finally made the ascent possible. The top, when they achieved it, was +not twenty feet in diameter. They dropped on it, panting. + +The view which met their eyes was superb. To the south lay the desert, +rainbow colored. Rising abruptly from its level were isolated peaks of +bright purple, all of them snow capped, many of them with crevices +marked by the brilliant white of snow. Miles to the south of the +isolated peaks lay a long range of mountains, dull black against the +blue sky, but with the white of snow caps showing even at this +distance. To the north, the river gorge wound like a snake; the gorge +and one huge mountain dominating the entire northern landscape. +Satiated by wonders as Milton was, he exclaimed over the beauty of this +giant, sleeping in the desert sun. + +A sprawling cone in outline, there was nothing extraordinary about it +in contour, but its size and color surpassed anything that Enoch had as +yet seen. From base to apex it was a perfect rose tint, deepening +where its great shoulders bent, to crimson. As if still not satisfied +with her work, nature had sent a recent snow storm to embellish the +verdureless rock, and the mountain was lightly powdered with white +which here was of a gauze-like texture permitting pale rose to glimmer +through, there lay in drifts, white defined against crimson. + +Enoch sat gazing about him while Milton worked rapidly with his note +book and instruments. Finally he slipped his pencil into his pocket +with a sigh. + +"And that's done! What do you say to a return for lunch, Judge?" + +"I'm very much with you," replied Enoch. "Here! Hold up, old man! +What's the matter?" For Milton was swaying and would have fallen if +Enoch had not caught him. + +Milton clung to Enoch's broad shoulder for a moment, then straightened +himself with a jerk. + +"Sorry, Judge. It's that infernal vertigo again!" + +"What's the cause of it?" asked Enoch. "Might be rather serious, might +it not, on a trip such as yours?" + +"I think the water we have to drink must be affecting my kidneys," +replied Milton. "I never had anything of the sort before this trip, +but I've been troubled this way a dozen times lately. It only lasts +for a minute." + +"But in that minute," Enoch's voice was grave, "you might fall down a +mountain or out of the boat." + +"Oh, I don't get it that bad! And anyhow, I haven't gone off alone +since these things began. When we get to El Tovar I'll try to locate a +doctor." + +Enoch looked admiringly at the grim young freckled face beneath the +faded hat. "I see I shall have to appoint myself bodyguard," he said. +"I'd suggest Jonas, only he's deserted me for the Na-che, and I doubt +if you could win him from her." + +Milton laughed. "Nothing on earth can equal the joy of puddling about +in boats, to the right kind of a chap, as the _Wind in the Willows_ has +it. And Jonas certainly is the right kind of a chap!" + +"Jonas is a man, every inch of him," agreed Enoch. "Shall we try the +descent now, Milton?" + +"I'm ready," replied the young man, and the slow and arduous task was +begun. + +Jonas was just lifting the frying pan from the fire when they slid down +the orange sand bank. The rest of the crew was ready and waiting +around the flat rock that served as dining table. + +"What's the matter with your knee, boss?" cried Jonas, standing with +the coffee pot in his hand. + +Enoch laughed as he glanced down at his torn and blood-stained +overalls. "Of course, if you were giving me half the care you give +your boat, Jonas, these things wouldn't happen to me!" + +"You better let me fix you up, before you eat, boss," said Jonas. + +"Not on your life, old man! Food will do this knee more good than a +bandage." + +"It's a wonder you wouldn't offer to help the rest of us out once in a +while, Jonas!" Harden looked up from his plate of fish. "Look at this +scratch on my cheek! I might get blood poisoning, but lots you care if +my fatal beauty was destroyed! As it is, I look as much like an inmate +of a menagerie as old goat Forrester here." + +"Too bad the scratch didn't injure your tongue, Harden," returned +Forrester, sarcastically. + +"Nothing seems able to stop your chin, though, Forr! Why do you have +to get sore every time I speak to you?" + +"Because you're always going out of your way to say something insulting +to me." + +"Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill, Forr," said Milton. "If you +fellows aren't careful you'll have a real quarrel, and that's the last +thing I'm going to stand for, I warn you." + +"Very well, Milt," replied Forrester, "if you don't want trouble make +Harden keep his tongue off me." + +"The fault is primarily yours, Hard," Milton went on. "You know +Forrester is foolishly sensitive and you can't control your love of +teasing. Now, once for all, I ask you not to speak to Forrester except +on the business of the survey." + +Harden shrugged his shoulders and Forrester scowled a little +sheepishly. Agnew, a serene, kindly fellow, began one of his endless +Irish stories, and the incident appeared to be closed. The work +assigned for the day was accomplished in shorter order than Milton had +anticipated. By two o'clock all hands were back in camp and Milton +decided to embark and move on as far as possible before nightfall. But +scarcely had they finished loading the boats and tied on the tarpaulins +when a heavy rain began to fall, accompanied by lightning and +tremendous peals of thunder that echoed through the Canyon deafeningly. + +Milton, in his anxiety to get on with his task, would have continued in +spite of the rain, but the others protested so vigorously that he gave +in and the whole party crawled under a sheltering ledge beside the +brook. For an hour the storm raged. A few flakes of snow mingled with +the descending rain drops. Then with a superb flash of lightning and +crash of thunder the storm passed as suddenly as it had come, though +for hours after they heard it reverberate among the distant peaks. + +At last they embarked and proceeded along a smooth, swift-flowing river +for a short time. Then, however, the familiar roar of falls was heard, +the current increased rapidly in velocity and Milton made a landing for +observation. + +They were at the head of the wildest falls that Enoch had yet seen. +The Canyon walls were smooth and perpendicular. There was no +possibility of a portage. The river was full of rocks against which +dashed waves ten to twelve feet high. + +"We'll have to run it!" shouted Milton above the din of the waters. +"Powell did it and so can we. Give the Ida five minutes' start, Hard. +Then profit by the mistakes you see us make. All ready, Judge and +Forr!" + +Under Milton's directions, they rowed back upstream far enough to gain +complete control of the boat before entering the falls. Then they shot +forward. Instantly the oars became useless. They were carried upward +on the crest of a wave that seemed about to drop them down an +unbelievable depth to a jagged rock. But at this point, another wave +seized them and hurled them sidewise, half rolled them over, then +uptilted them until the Ida's nose was deep in the water. + +They bailed like mad but to little avail for the waves broke over the +sides constantly. They could see little for the air was full of +blinding spray. Suddenly, after what had seemed an eternity but was +really five minutes of time, there was a rending crash and the Ida slid +into quieter water, turning completely over as she did so. + +Enoch, as the sucking current seized him, was convinced that his hour +had come, and a quick relief was his first sensation. Then Diana's +wistful eyes flashed before him and he began to fight the Colorado. As +his head emerged from the water, he saw the Na-che land on all fours +from the top of a wave upon the overturned Ida, then whirl away. He +began to swim with all his strength. The mud forever suspended in the +Colorado weighed down his clothing. But little by little he drew near +the Ida, to which he could see two dark bodies clinging. The Na-che, +struggling to cross a whirlpool toward him, made slow progress. He +had, indeed, dizzily grasped the Ida, before the other boat came up. + +"We can hang on, Hard!" gasped Milton. "Give us a tow to that sand +spit yonder." + +They reached the sand spit and staggered to land, while Harden and his +crew turned the Ida over and beached her. She had a six-inch gap in +her side. + +"Well," panted Enoch, "I'm glad we managed to keep dry during the +rainstorm!" + +"My Lord, Judge!" exclaimed Milton, "your own mother wouldn't own you +now! I don't see how one human being could carry so much mud on his +face!" + +"I'll bet it's not as bad as yours at that," returned Enoch. "Jonas, +as long as it's not the Na-che that's hurt--" + +"Coming, boss, coming!" cried Jonas. "Here's your moccasins and here's +your suit. Sure you aren't hurt any?" + +"Jonas," replied Enoch in a low voice that the others might not hear, +"Jonas, I'm having the greatest time of my life!" + +"So am I, Mr. Secretary! Honest, I'm so paralyzed afraid that I enjoy +it!" And Jonas hurried away to inspect the Ida. + +It was so biting cold, now that the afternoon was late, that all the +wrecked crew changed clothing before attempting to make camp or unload +the Ida. + +"How many miles have we made by this venture, Milton?" called Enoch, as +he pulled on his moccasins. + +"One and a half!" + +Enoch grinned, then he began to laugh. The others looked at him, then +joined him, and Homeric laughter echoed for a long minute above the +snarl of the water. Fortunately the hole in the Ida did not open into +one of the compartments, so there was no damage done to the baggage. +It was too dark by the time this had been ascertained to attempt +repairs that night, so Milton agreed to call it a day, and after supper +was over every one but Enoch and Milton went to bed. These two sat +long in silence before the fire, smoking and enjoying the sense of +companionship that was developing between them. Finally Enoch spoke in +a low voice: + +"You're going to have trouble between Forrester and Harden." + +"It certainly looks like it, I've tried every sort of appeal to each of +them, but trouble keeps on smoldering." Milton shook his head. +"That's one of the trivial things that can wreck an expedition like +this; just incompatibility among the men. What would you do about it, +Judge?" + +"I'd put it to them that they could either keep the peace or draw lots +to see which of them should leave the expedition at the Ferry. In +fact, I don't believe I'd temporize even that much. I'd certainly set +one of them ashore. My experience with men leads me to believe that +with a certain type of men, there is no appeal. As you say, they're +both nice chaps but they have a childish streak in them. The majority +of men have. A leader must not be too patient." + +"You're right," agreed Milton. "Judge, couldn't you complete the trip +with us?" + +"How long will you be out?" asked Enoch. + +"Another six months!" + +Enoch laughed, then said slowly: "There's nothing I'd like to do +better, but I must go home, from the Ferry." + +Milton gazed at Enoch for a time without speaking. Then he said, a +little wistfully, "I suppose that while this is the most important +experience so far in my life, to you it is the merest episode, that +you'll forget the moment you get into the Pullman for the East." + +"Why should you think that?" asked Enoch. + +"I can't quite tell you why. But there's something about you that +makes me believe that in your own section of the country, you're a +power. Perhaps it's merely your facial expression. I don't know--you +look like some one whom I can't recall. Perhaps that some one has the +power and I confuse the two of you, but--I beg your pardon, Judge!" as +Enoch's eyebrows went up. + +"You have nothing to beg it for, Milton. But you're wrong when you +think this trip is merely an episode to me. All my life I have longed +for just such an experience in the Canyon. It's like enchantment to +really find myself here." + +Milton smiled. "Well, we all have our Carcasonnes." + +"What's yours?" demanded Enoch. + +The younger man hesitated. "It's so absurd--but--well, I've always +wanted to be Chief of the Geological Survey." + +"Why?" + +"Why did you dream of a wild trip down the Colorado as the realization +of your greatest desire?" asked Milton. + +"I couldn't put it into words," answered Enoch. "But I suppose it's +the pioneer in me or something elemental that never quite dies in any +of us, of Anglo-Saxon blood." + +Milton nodded. "The Chief of the Geological Survey's job is to +administer nature in the raw. I'd like to have a chance at it." + +"I believe you'd get away with it, too, Milton," Enoch replied +thoughtfully. + +Milton laughed. "Too bad you aren't Secretary of the Interior! Well, +I'm all in! Let's go to bed." + +"You go ahead. I'll sit here with my pipe a bit longer." + +But, after all, Enoch did not write in his diary that night. Before +Milton had established himself in his blankets, Harden rose and went to +a canteen for a drink of water. On his return he stumbled over +Forrester's feet. Instantly Forrester sat erect. + +"What're you doing, you clumsy dub foot?" he shouted. + +"Oh, dry up, Forr; I didn't mean to hurt you, you great boob!" + +"We'll settle this right now!" Forrester was on his feet and his fist +had landed on Harden's cheek before Enoch could cross the camp. And +before he or Milton could separate the combatants, Harden had returned +the blow with interest, and with a muttered: + +"Take that, you sore-headed dog, you!" + +Forrester tried to twist away from Enoch, but could not do so. Harden +freed himself from Milton's grasp, but did not attempt to go on with +the fight. + +"One or the other of you," said Milton briefly, "leaves the expedition +at the Ferry. I'll tell you later which it will be. I'm ashamed of +both of you." + +"I'd like to know what's made a tin god of you, Jim Milton!" shouted +Forrester. "You don't own us, body and soul. I've been in the Survey +longer than you! I joined this expedition before you did. And I'll +leave it when I get ready!" + +"You'll leave it at the Ferry, Forrester!" Milton's voice was quiet, +but his nostrils dilated. + +"And I'm telling you, I'll leave it when I please, which will be at +Needles! If any one goes, it'll be that skunk of a Harden." + +Harden laughed, turned on his heel and deliberately rolled himself in +his blankets. Forrester stood for a moment, muttering to himself, then +he took his blankets off to an obscure corner of the sand. And Enoch +forgot his diary and went to bed, to ponder until shortly sleep +overtook him, on the perversity of the male animal. + +In the morning Jonas constituted himself ship's carpenter and mended +the Ida very creditably. Forrester was surly and avoided every one. +Harden was cheerful, as usual, but did not speak to his adversary. The +sun was just entering the Canyon when the two boats were launched and +once more faced the hazards of the river. + +During the morning the going was easy. The river was swift and led +through a long series of broken buttes, between which one caught wild +views of a tortured country; twisted strata, strange distorted cedar +and cactus, uncanny shapes of rock pinnacles, in colors somber and +strange. They stopped at noon in the shadow of a weathered overhanging +rock, with the profile of a witch. The atmosphere of dissension had by +this time permeated the crew and this meal, usually so jovial, was +eaten with no general conversation and all were glad to take to the +boats as soon as the dishes were washed. + +The character of the river now changed again. It grew broader and once +more smooth canyon walls closed it in. As the river broadened, +however, it became more shallow and rocks began to appear above the +surface at more and more frequent intervals. At last the Na-che went +aground amid-stream on a sharp rock. The Ida turned back to her +assistance but Enoch and Milton had to go overboard, along with the +crew of the Na-che, in order to drag and lift her into clear water. +Then for nearly two hours, all thought of rowing must be given up. +Both crews remained in the water, pushing the boats over the rough +bottom. + +It was heartbreaking work. For a few moments the boats would float, +plunging the men beyond their depths. They would swim and flounder +perhaps a boat's length, clinging to the gunwale, before the boat would +once more run aground. Again they would drag their clumsy burden a +hundred yards over sand that sucked hungrily at their sodden boots. +This passed, came many yards of smooth rock a few inches below the +surface of the water, which was so muddy that it was impossible to see +the pot holes into which some one of the crew plunged constantly. + +Jonas suffered agonies during this period; not for himself, though he +took his full share of falls. His agony was for the Na-che, whose +freshly painted bottom was abraded, scraped, gorged and otherwise +defaced almost beyond Jonas's power of endurance. + +"Look out! Don't drag her! Lift her! Lift her!" he would shout. +"Oh, my Lord, see that sharp rock you drag her onto, Mr. Hard! Ain't +you got any heart?" + +Once, when all three of the Na-che's crew had taken a bad plunge, and +Jonas had come up with an audible crack of his black head against the +gunwale, he began to scold while the others were still fighting for +breath. + +"You shouldn't ship her full of water like that! All that good paint I +put on her insides is gone! Hey, Mr. Agnew, don't drip that blood off +your hand on her!" + +"Shut up, Jonas," coughed Agnew good-naturedly. + +"Let him alone, Ag!" exclaimed Harden, between a strangling cough and a +sneeze. "What do you want to divulge your cold-heartedness for? Go to +it, Jonas! You're some lover, all right!" + +The shallows ended in a rapid which they shot without more than the +usual difficulties. They then had an hour of quiet rowing through +gorges that grew more narrow and more dusky as they proceeded. About +four o'clock snow began to fall. It was a light enough powder, at +first, but shortly it thickened until it was impossible to guide the +boats. They edged in shore where a ledge overhanging a heap of broken +rock offered a meager shelter. Here they planned to spend the night. +The shore was too precipitous to beach the boats. Much to Jonas' +sorrow, they could only anchor them before the ledge. There was plenty +of driftwood, and a brisk fire dispelled some of the discomfort of the +snow, while a change to dry clothing did the rest. + +To Enoch it was a strange evening. The foolish quarrel between Harden +and Forrester was sufficient to upset the equanimity of the whole group +which before had seemed so harmonious. The situation was keenly +irritating to Enoch. He wanted nothing to intrude on the wild beauty +of the trip, save his own inward struggle. The snow continued to fall +long after the others had gone to sleep. Enoch, with his diary on his +knees, wrote slowly, pausing long between sentences to watch the snow +and to listen to the solemn rush of waters so close to his feet. + + +"I've been sitting before the fire, Diana, thinking of our various +conversations. How few they have been, after all! And I've concluded +that in your heart you must look on me as presumptuous and stupid. You +never have given me the slightest indication that you cared for me. +You have been, even in the short time we have known each other, a +gallant and tender friend. A wonderful friend! And you are as +unconscious of my passion for you, of the rending agony of my giving +you up as the Canyon is of the travail of Milton and his little group. +And I'm glad that this is so. If I can go on through life feeling that +you are serene and happy it will help me to keep my secret. Strange +that with every natural inclination within me to be otherwise, I should +be the custodian of ugly secrets; secrets that are only the uglier +because they are my own. It seems a sacrilegious thing to add my +beautiful love for you to the sinister collection. But it must be so. + +"I am so glad that I am going to see you so soon after I emerge from +the Canyon. There will be much to tell you. I thought I knew men. +But I am learning them anew. And I thought I had a fair conception of +the wonders of the Colorado. Diana, it is beyond human imagination to +conceive or human tongue to describe." + + +Enoch had looked forward with eager pleasure to seeing the Canyon +snowbound. But he was doomed to disappointment. During the night the +snow turned to rain. The rain, in turn, ceased before dawn and the +camp woke to winding mists that whirled with the wind up and out of the +Canyon top. The going, during the morning, offered no great +difficulties. But toward noon, as the boats rounded a curve, a reef +presented itself with the water of the river boiling threateningly on +either side. As the Canyon walls offered no landing it was necessary +to make one here and Forrester volunteered to jump with a rope to a +flat rock which projected from the near end of the reef. + +"Leap just before we are opposite the rock, Forr," directed Milton. +"When that rough water catches us, we're going to rip through at top +speed." + +Forrester nodded and, after shipping his oars, he clambered up onto the +forward compartment. + +"Now," shouted Milton. + +Forrester leaped, jumped a little short, and splashed into the boiling +river. The Ida, in spite of Enoch madly backing water, shot forward, +dragging Forrester, who had not let go the rope, with her. Milton +relinquished the steering oar, dropped on his stomach on the +compartment deck, his arms over the stern, and began to haul with might +and main on the rope. Now and again Forrester, red and fighting for +breath, showed a distorted face above the waves. The Na-che shot by at +uncontrollable speed, her crew shouting directions as she passed. +Milton at last, just as the Ida entered a roaring fall, brought +Forrester to the gunwale, but having achieved this, the end of the rope +dropped from his fingers and he lay inert, his eyes closed. Forrester +clung to the edge of the boat and roared to Enoch: + +"Milt's fainted!" + +But Enoch, fighting to guide the Ida, dared not stop rowing. The falls +were short, with a vicious whirlpool at the foot. One glance showed +the Na-che broken and inverted, dancing in this. Enoch bent to his +right oar and by a miracle of luck this, with a wave from a pot hole, +threw them clear of the sucking whirlpool, but dashed them so violently +against the rocky shore that the Ida's stern was stove in and Milton +rolled off into the water. Enoch dropped his oars, seized the stern +rope, jumped for the rocks and sprawled upon one. He made a quick turn +of the rope, then leaped back for Milton, whose head showed a boat's +length downstream. + +Forrester staggered ashore, then with a life preserver on the end of a +rope, he started along the river's edge. Half a dozen strokes brought +Enoch to Milton. He lifted the unconscious man's mouth out of water +and caught the life preserver that Forrester threw him. It seemed for +a moment as if poor Forrester had reached the limit of his strength, +but Enoch, after a violent effort, brought Milton into a quiet eddy and +here Forrester was able to give help and Milton was dragged up on the +rocks. + +At this moment, Jonas, his eyes rolling, clothes torn and dripping, +clambered round a rocky projection, just beyond where they were placing +Milton. + +"Got 'em ashore!" he panted, "but they can't walk yet." + +"Anybody hurt?" asked Enoch. + +"Nobody but the Na-che. I gotta take the Ida out after her." + +"She's beyond help, Jonas," said Enoch. "Go up to the Ida and bring me +the medicine chest." + +He was unbuttoning Milton's shirt as he spoke, and feeling for his +heart. + +"He's alive!" exclaimed Forrester, who was holding Milton's wrist. + +"Yes, thank God! But I don't like that!" pointing to Milton's left leg. + +"It's broken!" cried Forrester. "Poor old Milt!" + +Poor old Milt, indeed! When he finally opened his eyes, he was lying +on his blankets on a flat rock, and Jonas and Harden, still dripping, +were finishing the fastenings of a rude splint around his left leg. +Enoch was kindling a fire. Forrester and Agnew were unloading the Ida. +He tried to sit up. + +"What the deuce happened?" he demanded. + +"That's what we want to know!" exclaimed Harden cheerfully. + +"You had a dizzy attack after you pulled Forr in," said Enoch, "and +rolled off the boat. Just how you broke your leg, we don't know." + +"Broke my leg!" Dismay and disbelief struggled in Milton's face. +"Broke my leg! Why, but I can't break my leg!" + +"That's good news," said Agnew unsmilingly, "and it would be important +if it were only true." + +"But I can't!" insisted Milton. "What becomes of the work?" + +"The work stops till you get well." Harden stood up to survey his and +Jonas's surgical job with considerable satisfaction. "We'll hurry on +down to the Ferry and get you to a doctor." + +Milton sank back with a groan, then hoisted himself to his elbow to say: + +"You fellows change your clothes quick, now." + +The men looked at each other, half guilty. + +"What is it!" cried Milton. "What are you keeping from me." + +"The Na-che's gone!" Jonas spoke huskily. + +"How'd she go?" demanded Milton. + +"A sucking whirlpool up there took her, after we struck a rock at the +bottom of the falls," answered Harden. "We struck at such speed that +it stove in her bottom and threw us clear of the whirlpool. But she's +gone and everything in her." + +"How about the Ida?" Milton's face was white and his lips were +compressed. + +"She'll do, with some patching," replied Enoch. + +"Some leader, I am, eh?" Milton lay back on his blanket. + +"I think I've heard of a number of other leaders losing boats on this +trip," said Enoch. "Now, you fellows can dry off piecemeal. This fire +would dry anything. We've got to shift Milton's clothes somehow. +Lucky for you your clothes were in the Ida, Milt. Mine were in the +Na-che." + +"And two thirds of the grub in the Na-che, too!" exclaimed Agnew. + +Jonas had rooted out Milton's change of clothing and very tenderly, if +awkwardly, Agnew and Harden helping, he was made dry and propped up +where he could direct proceedings. + +"Forrester, I wish you'd bring the whole grub supply here," Milton +said, when his nurses had finished. + +It was a pitifully small collection that was placed on the edge of the +blanket. + +"I wonder how many times," said Milton, "I've told you chaps to load +the grub half and half between the boats? Somebody blundered. I'm not +going to ask who because I'm the chief blunderer myself, for neglecting +to check you over, at every loading. With care, we've about two days' +very scanty rations here, and only beans and coffee, at that. With the +best of luck and no stops for Survey work we're five days from the +Ferry." + +"Guess I'd better get busy with my fishing tackle!" exclaimed Forrester. + +"Ain't any fishing tackle," said Jonas succinctly. "She must 'a' +washed out of the hole in the Ida. I was just looking for it myself." + +"Suppose you put us on half rations," suggested Enoch, "and one of us +will try to get to the top, with the gun." + +Milton nodded. "Judge, are you any good with a gun?" + +"Yes, I've hunted a good deal," replied Enoch. + +"Very well, we'll make you the camp hunter. The rest understand the +river work better than you. Forrester, you and Agnew and Jonas, patch +up the Ida; and Harden, you stay with me and let's see what the maps +say about the chances of our getting out before we reach the Ferry. +When the rest have finished the patch, you and Agnew row downstream and +see if you can pick up any wreckage from the Na-che." + +Jonas made some coffee and Enoch, after resting for a half hour, took +the gun and started slowly along the river's edge. + +His course was necessarily downstream for, above the heap of stones +where he had tied the Ida, the river washed against a wall on which a +fly could scarcely have found foothold. There was a depression in the +wall, where the camp was set. Enoch worked out of this depression and +found a foothold on the bottom-most of the deep weathered, narrow +strata that here formed a fifty-foot terrace. These terraced strata +gave back for half a mile in uneven and brittle striations that were +not unlike rude steps. Above them rose a sheer orange wall, straight +to the sky. Far below a great shale bank sloped from the river's edge +up to a gigantic black butte, whose terraced front seemed to Enoch to +offer some hope of his reaching the top. + +He slung the gun across his back and began gingerly to clamber along +the stratified terrace. He found the rock extremely brittle and he was +a long hour reaching the green shale. He was panting and weary and his +hands were bleeding when he finally flung himself down to rest at the +foot of the black butte. + +A near view of this massive structure was not encouraging; terraces, +turrets, fortifications, castles and above Enoch's head a deep cavern, +out of which the wind rushed with a mighty blast of sound that drowned +the sullen roar of the falls. Beyond a glance in at the black void, +Enoch did not attempt to investigate the cave. He crept past the +opening on a narrow shelf of rock, into a crevice up which he climbed +to the top of the terrace above the cavern. Here a stratum of dull +purple projected horizontally from the black face of the butte. With +his face inward, his breast hard pressed against the rock, hands and +feet feeling carefully for each shift forward, Enoch passed on this +slowly around the sharp western edge of the butte. + +Here he nearly lost his balance, for there was a rush of wings close to +the back of his head. He started, then looked up carefully. Far above +him an eagle's nest clung to the lonely rock. The purple stratum +continued its way to a depression wide enough to give Enoch sitting +room. Here he rested for a short moment. The back of the depression +offered an easy assent for two or three hundred feet, to the top of +another terrace along whose broad top Enoch walked comfortably for a +quarter of a mile to the point where the butte projected from the main +canyon wall. The slope here was not too steep to climb and Enoch made +fair speed to the top. + +The view here was superb but Enoch gave small heed to this. To his +deep disappointment, there was no sign of life, either animal or +vegetable, as far as his eye could reach. He stood, gun in hand, the +wind tossing his ruddy hair, his great shoulders drooping with +weariness, his keen eyes sweeping the landscape until he became +conscious that the sun was low in the west. With a start, he realized +that dusk must already be peering into the bottom of the Canyon. + +Then he bethought himself of the eagle's nest. It was a terrible +climb, before he lay on a ledge peering ever into the guano-stained +structure of sticks from which the eagle soared again at his approach. +As he looked, he laughed. The forequarters of a mountain goat lay in +the nest. Hanging perilously by one hand, Enoch grasped the long, +bloody hair and then, rolling back on to the ledge, he stuffed his loot +into his game bag and started campward. + +The way back was swifter but more nerve wracking than the upward climb +had been. By the time he reached the green shale, Enoch was trembling +from muscle and nerve strain. It was purple dusk now, by the river, +with the castellated tops of butte and mountain molten gold in the +evening sun. When he reached the brittle strata, the water reflected +firelight from the still unseen camp blaze. Enoch, clinging perilously +to the breaking rock, half faint with hunger, his fingers numb with the +cold, laughed again, to himself, and said aloud: + + "'. . . . . . . . . . . . . And yet + Dauntless the slug horn to my lips I set + And blew, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE END OF THE CRUISE + + +"Christ could forgive the unforgivable, but the Colorado in the Canyon +is like the voice of God, inevitable, inexorable."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Jonas stood on a projecting rock peering anxiously down the river. +Enoch, staggering wearily into the firelight, called to him cheerfully: + +"Ship ahoy, Jonas!" + +"My Gawd, boss!" exclaimed Jonas, running up to take the gunny sack and +the gun. "Don't you never go off like that alone again. How come you +stayed so late?" + +"Now the Na-che's gone I suppose I'll have a few attentions again!" +said Enoch. "How are you, Milton?" + +He turned toward the stalwart figure that lay on the shadowy rock +beyond the fire. + +"Better than I deserve, Judge," replied Milton. + +"What luck, Judge?" cried Harden, who had been watching a game of poker +between Agnew and Forrester. + +"My Lawdy Lawd!" shouted Jonas, emptying the gunny sack on the rock +which served as table. + +There was a chorus of surprise. + +"What happened, Judge! Did you eat the rest raw?" + +"A goat, by Jove! Where on earth did it come from?" + +"What difference does that make? Get it into the pot, Jonas, for the +love of heaven!" + +"As a family provider, Judge, you are to be highly recommended." + +Enoch squatted against Milton's rock and complacently lighted his pipe, +then told his story. + +"There are goats still here, then! I wish we'd see some," said Milton, +when Enoch had finished. + +"But what would they live on?" asked Enoch. + +"That's easy," replied Milton. "There are hidden canyons and gulches +in this Colorado country that are veritable little paradises, with all +the verdure any one could ask for." + +"Wish we could locate one," sighed Forrester. + +"That wouldn't help me much," grunted Milton. + +"What luck with the Ida?" Enoch turned to Agnew who, next to Jonas, +took the greatest interest in ship repair and building. + +"The forward compartment was pretty well smashed, but another hour's +work in the morning will make the old girl as good as ever." + +"She'll never be the boat the Na-che was," groaned Jonas mournfully +from his fire. "What are we all going to do now, with just one boat?" + +For a moment no one spoke, then Enoch said drily, "Well, Jonas, seeing +that you and I don't really belong to the expedition anyhow and that we +invited ourselves, I think it's up to us to walk." + +There was a chorus of protests at this. But Enoch silenced the others +by saying with great earnestness: + +"Milton, you know I'm right, don't you?" + +Milton, who had been saying nothing, now raised himself on his elbow. + +"Two of you fellows will have to walk it; which two we'd better decide +by lot. We're up against a rotten situation. It would be bad, even if +I weren't hurt. But with a cripple on your hands, well--it's awful for +you chaps! Simply awful!" + +"With good luck, and no Survey work, how many days are we from the +Ferry?" asked Enoch. + +"Between four and five, is what Milton and I calculated this +afternoon," replied Harden. + +"What's the nearest help by way of land?" + +"There's a ranch, about eighty miles south of here. I guess the +traveling would be about as bad as anybody would hope for. The fellows +that go out have got to be used to desert work, like me." Harden +scratched a match and by its unsteady light scrutinized the detail map +spread open on his knee. + +"Isn't Miss Allen working nearer than eighty miles from here?" asked +Agnew. + +"She's in the Hopi country, whatever distance that may be," replied +Enoch. "I should suppose it would be rather risky trying to catch some +one who is moving about, as she is." + +"I guess maybe she's on her way to the Ferry now." Jonas straightened +up from his stew pot. "Leastways, Na-che kind of promised to kind of +see if maybe they couldn't reach there about the time we did." + +The other men laughed. "I guess we won't gamble too heavily on the +women folks," exclaimed Forrester. + +"I guess Miss Allen's the kind you don't connect gambling with," +retorted Agnew. + +Enoch cut in hastily. "Then two of us are to go out. What about those +who stay?" + +"Well, you have to get my helpless carcass aboard the Ida and we'll +make our way to the Ferry, as rapidly as we can. The food problem is +serious, but we won't starve in four days. We won't attempt any more +hunting expeditions but we may pot something as we go along. It's the +fellows who go out who'll have the worst of it." + +Enoch had been eying Milton closely. "Look here, Milton, I believe +you're running a good deal of temperature. Why don't you lie down and +rest both mind and body until supper's ready? After you've eaten, +we'll make the final decisions." + +"I don't want any food," replied Milton, dropping back on his blankets, +nevertheless. + +"The beans is done but you only get a handful of them in the stew, +to-night," said Jonas, firmly. "I'm cooking all the meat, 'cause it +won't keep, but you only get half of that now." + +Agnew groaned. "Well, there doesn't seem much to look forward to. +Let's finish that game of poker, Forr. Take a hand, Judge and Hard?" + +"No, thanks," replied Enoch. "I'll just rest my old bones right here." + +"I'll help you out, if Forr won't pick on me." Harden glanced at +Milton, but the freckled face gave no sign that Harden's remark had +been heeded. + +Enoch quietly took the injured man's pulse. It was rapid and weak. +Enoch shook his head, laid the sturdy hand down and gave his attention +to his pipe and the card game. It was not long before an altercation +between Forrester and Harden began. Several times Agnew interfered but +finally Forrester sprang to his feet with an oath. + +"No man on earth can call me that!" shouted Harden, "Take it back and +apologize, you rotter!" + +"A rotter, am I?" sneered Forrester. "And what are you? You come of a +family of rotters. I know your sister's history! I know--" + +Enoch laid a hand on Agnew's arm. "Don't interfere! Nothing but blood +will wipe that out." + +But Milton roared suddenly, "Stop that fight! Stop it! Judge! Agnew! +I'm still head of this expedition!" + +Reluctantly the two moved toward the swaying figures. It was not an +easy matter to stop the battle. Forrester and Harden were clinched but +Enoch and Agnew were larger than either of the combatants and at a word +from Enoch, Jonas seized Forrester, with Agnew. After a scuffle, +Harden stood silent and scowling beside Enoch, while Forrester panted +between Agnew and Jonas. + +"I'm ashamed of you fellows," shouted Milton. "Ashamed! You know the +chief's due in the morning." He stopped abruptly. "I'm ashamed of +you. You know what I mean. The chief--God, fellows, I'm a sick man!" +He fell back heavily on his blankets. + +Enoch and Harden hurried to his side. "Quit your fighting, Judge! +Quit your fighting!" muttered Milton. "Here! I'll make you stop!" He +tried to rise and Jonas rushed to hold the injured leg while Harden and +Enoch pressed the broad shoulders back against the flinty bed. It was +several moments before he ceased to struggle and dropped into a dull +state of coma. + +"It doesn't seem as if a broken leg ought to do all that to a man as +husky as Milt!" said Agnew, who had joined them with a proffer of water. + +"I'm afraid he was sickening with something before the accident," Enoch +shook his head. "Those dizzy spells were all wrong, you know." + +"We'd better get this boy to a doctor as soon as we can," said Agnew. +"Poor old Milton! I swear it's a shame! His whole heart was set on +putting this trip through." + +"He'll do it yet," Enoch patted the sick man's arm. + +"Yes, but he'll be laid up for months and his whole idea was to put it +through without a break. The Department never condones accidents, you +know." + +"I guess I can give you all some supper now," said Jonas. "Better get +it while he's laying quiet." + +"Where's Forrester?" asked Enoch as they gathered round the stew pot. + +"He mumbled something about going outside to cool down," replied Agnew. +"Better let him alone for a while." + +"Too bad you couldn't have kept the peace, under the circumstances, +Harden," said Enoch. + +"You heard what he said to me?" demanded Harden fiercely. + +"Yes, I did and I heard you deliberately tease him into a fury. Of +course, after what he finally said there was nothing left to do but to +smash him," said Enoch. + +"I don't see why," Agnew spoke in his calm way. "I never could +understand why a bloody nose wiped out an insult. A thing that's said +is said. Shooting a man even doesn't unsay a dirty speech. It's not +common sense. Why ruin your own life in the effort to punish a man for +something that's better forgotten?" + +"So you would swallow an insult and smile?" sneered Harden. + +"Not at all! I wouldn't hear the alleged insult, in most cases. But +if the thing was so raw that the man had to be punished, I'd really +hurt him." + +"How?" asked Enoch. + +"I'd do him a favor." + +"Slush!" grunted Harden. + +Agnew shrugged his shoulders and the scanty meal was finished in +silence. When Jonas had collected the pie tins and cups, Enoch said, + +"While you're outside with those, Jonas, you'd better persuade +Forrester to come in to supper. Tell him no one will bother him. +Boys, I think we ought to sit up with Milton for a while. I'll take +the first watch, if you'll take the second, Harden." + +Harden nodded. "I'll get to bed at once. Call me when you want me." + +He rolled himself in his blanket, Agnew following his example. A +moment or so later Jonas could be heard calling, + +"Mr. Forrester! Ohee! Mr. Forrester!" The Canyon echoed the call, +but there was no answer, Enoch strolled down to the river's edge where +Jonas was standing with his arms full of dishes. "What's up, Jonas?" +he asked. + +"Boss, I think he's lit out!" + +"Lit out? Where, Jonas?" + +"Well, there's only one way, like you went this afternoon. But his +canteen's gone. And he had his shoes drying by the fire. He must have +sneaked 'em while we was working over Mr. Milton, because they're gone, +and so's his coat that was lying by the Ida, with the rest of the +clothes." + +Enoch lifted his great voice. "Forrester! Forrester!" + +A thousand echoes replied while Agnew joined them and in a moment, +Harden. Jonas repeated his story. + +"No use yelling!" exclaimed Enoch. "Let's build a fire out here." + +"Do you suppose he's had an accident?" Enoch's voice was apprehensive. + +"No, I don't," replied Agnew, stoutly. "He's told me two or three +times that if he had any real trouble with Hard, he'd get out. What a +fool to start off, this way!" + +"You fellows go to bed," Harden spoke abruptly. + +"I'll keep a fire going and if Milt needs more than me, I'll call. The +Judge had a heavy afternoon and I was resting. And this row is mine +anyhow." + +Enoch, who was dropping with fatigue needed no urging. He rolled +himself in his blanket and instantly was deep in the marvelous slumber +that had blessed him since the voyage began. + +It was dawn when he woke. He started to his feet, contritely, +wondering who of the others had sacrificed sleep for him. But Enoch +was the only one awake. Milton was tossing and muttering but his eyes +were closed. Jonas lay with his feet in last night's ashes. Agnew was +curled up at Milton's feet. Harden was not to be seen. Enoch hurried +to the river's edge. A sheet of paper fluttered from the split end of +a stake that had been stuck in a conspicuous spot. It was unaddressed +and Enoch opened it. + + +"I have gone to find Forrester, and help him out. I took one-third of +the grub and one of the guns and a third of the shells. If we have +good luck, you'll hear of us at the Ferry. I have the detail map of +this section. + +"C. L. HARDEN." + + +Enoch looked from the note up to the golden pink of the sky. Far above +the butte an eagle soared. The dawn wind ruffled his hair. He drew a +deep breath and turned to wake Jonas and Agnew, and show them the note. + +"Did you folks go to sleep when I did?" asked Enoch when they had read +the note in silence. + +Jonas and Agnew nodded. + +"Then he must have left at once. No fire has been built out in front." + +"Well, it's solved the problem of who walks," remarked Agnew, drily. + +"How come Mr. Harden to think he could find him?" demanded Jonas, +excitedly. + +"Well, they both will have had to start where I did, yesterday. And +neither could have gone very far in the dark." Enoch spoke +thoughtfully. "If they don't kill each other!" + +"They won't," interrupted Agnew comfortingly. "Neither of them is the +killing kind." + +"Then I suggest," said Enoch, "that with all the dispatch possible we +get on our way. You two tackle the Ida and I'll take care of Milton +and the breakfast." + +"Aye! Aye, sir!" Agnew turned quickly toward the boat, followed +eagerly by Jonas. + +Milton opened his eyes when Enoch bent over him. "Let me give you a +sip of this hot broth, old man," said Enoch. "Come! just to please +me!" as Milton shook his head. "You've got to keep your strength and a +clear head in order to direct the voyage." + +Milton sipped at the warm decoction, and in a moment his eyes +brightened. + +"Tastes pretty good. Too bad we haven't several gallons of it. Tell +the bunch to draw lots for who goes out." + +Enoch shook his head. "That's all settled!" and he gave Milton the +details of the trouble of the night before. + +"Well, can you beat that?" demanded Milton. "The two fools! Why, +there were a hundred things I had to tell the pair who went out. +Judge, they'll never make it!" + +"They've got as good a fighting chance as we have," insisted Enoch, +stoutly. "Quit worrying about them, Milton. You've got your hands +full keeping the rest of us from being too foolish." + +But try as he would, Milton could do little in the way of directing his +depleted crew. His leg and his back pained him excruciatingly, and the +vertigo was with him constantly. Enoch after trying several times to +get coherent commands from the sufferer finally gave up. As soon as +the scanty breakfast of coffee and a tiny portion of boiled beans was +over, Enoch divided the rations into four portions and stowed away all +but that day's share, in the Ida. Then he discussed with Agnew and +Jonas the best method of placing Milton on the boat. + +They finally built a rough but strong framework on the forward +compartment against which Milton could recline while seated on the +deck, the broken leg supported within the rower's space. They padded +this crude couch with blankets. This finished, they made a stretcher +of the blanket on which Milton lay, by nailing the sides to two small +cedar trunks which they routed out of the drift wood. When they had +lifted him carefully and had placed him in the Ida, stretcher and all, +he was far more comfortable, he said, than he had been on his rigid bed +of stone. + +By eight o'clock, all was ready and they pushed slowly out into the +stream. Agnew took the steering oar, Enoch, his usual place, with +Jonas behind him. + +The river was wild and swift here, but, after they had worked carefully +and painfully out of the aftermath of the falls, the current was +unobstructed for several hours. All the morning, Jonas watched eagerly +for traces of the Na-che but up to noon, none appeared. The sky was +cloudy, threatening rain. The walls, now smooth, now broken by +pinnacles and shoulders, were sad and gray in color. Milton sometimes +slept uneasily, but for the most part he lay with lips compressed, eyes +on the gliding cliffs. + +About an hour before noon, the familiar warning roar of rapids reached +their ears. Rounding a curve, carefully, they snubbed the Ida to a +rock while Agnew clambered ashore for an observation. Just below them +a black wall appeared to cut at right angles across the river bed. The +river sweeping round the curve which the Ida had just compassed, rushed +like the waters of a mill race against the unexpected obstacle and +waves ten to twenty feet high told of the force of the meeting. Agnew +with great difficulty crawled along the shore until he could look down +on this turmoil of waters. Then, with infinite pains, he returned. + +"It's impossible to portage," he reported, "but the waves simply fill +the gorge for two hundred feet." + +"Tie me in the boat," said Milton. "The rest of you get out on the +rocks and let the boat down with ropes." + +Agnew looked questioningly at Enoch, who shook his head. + +"Agnew," he said, "can you and Jonas manage to let the Ida down, with +both Milton and me aboard?" + +"No, sir, we can't!" exclaimed Jonas. "That ain't to be thought of!" + +"Right you are, Jonas!" agreed Agnew, while Milton nodded in agreement. + +"Then," said Enoch, "let's land Milton and the loose dunnage on this +rock, let the boat down, come back and carry Milton round." + +"It's the only way," agreed Agnew, "but I think we can take a hundred +feet off the portage, if you fellows are willing to risk rowing down to +a bench of rock below here. You take the steering oar, Judge. I'll +stay ashore and catch a rope from you at the bench." + +Cautiously, Jonas backing water and Enoch keeping the Ida almost +scraping the shore, they made their way to the spot where Agnew caught +the rope, throwing the whole weight of his body back against the pull +of the boat, even then being almost dragged from the ledge. Milton was +lifted out as carefully as possible, the loose dunnage was piled beside +him, then the three men, each with a rope attached to the Ida, began +their difficult climb. + +There was nothing that could be called a trail. They made their way by +clinging to projecting rocks, or stepping perilously from crack to +crevice, from shelf to hollow. The pull of the helpless Ida was +tremendous, and they snubbed her wherever projecting rocks made this +possible. She danced dizzily from crest to crest of waves. She slid +helplessly into whirlpools, she twisted over and under and fought like +a wild thing against the straining ropes. But at the end of a half +hour, she was moored in safe water, on a spit of sand on which a cotton +wood grew. + +"Agnew," said Enoch, "I think we were fools not to have broken a rough +trail before we attempted this. It's obviously impossible to carry +Milton over that wall as it is." + +"I thought the three of us might make it, taking turns carrying Milt on +our backs. It wastes a lot of time making trail and time is a worse +enemy to us now than the Colorado." + +"That's true," agreed Enoch, "but I'm not willing to risk Milton's +vertigo on our backs." + +He took a pick-ax out of the rear compartment of the boat, as he spoke +and began to break trail. The others followed suit. The rock proved +unexpectedly easy to work and in another hour, Enoch announced himself +willing to risk Milton and the stretcher on the rude path they had +hacked out. + +Milton did not speak during his passage. His fortitude and endurance +were very touching to Enoch whose admiration for the young leader +increased from hour to hour. Jonas boiled the coffee and heated the +noon portions of beans and goat. It was entirely inadequate for the +appetites of the hard working crew. Enoch wondered if the others felt +as hollow and uncertain-kneed, as he did, but he said nothing nor did +they. + +There was considerable drift wood lodged against the spit of sand and +from it, Jonas, with a shout that was half a sob, dragged a broken +board on which appeared in red letters, "-a-che." + +"All that's left of the prettiest, spunkiest little boat that ever +fought a dirty river!" he mourned. "I'm going to put this in my +dunnage bag and if we ever do get home, I'll have it framed." + +The others smiled in sympathy. "I wonder if Hard has found Forr, yet?" +said Milton, uneasily. "I can't keep them off my mind." + +"I wouldn't be surprised if they both had run on Curly and Mack's +outfit by this time," Agnew answered cheerfully. "It's funny we didn't +think of them instead of Diana Allen, last night." + +"Not so very funny, either," returned Milton with an attempt at a +smile. "I'll bet most of us have thought of Miss Allen forty times to +once of the men, ever since we met her." + +"She's the most beautiful woman I ever saw," said Agnew, dreamily. + +"Lawdy!" groaned Jonas, suddenly, "if I only had something to fish +with! When we make camp to-night, I'm a-going to try to rig up some +kind of a line." + +"I'm glad the tobacco supply was in the Ida." Enoch rose with a yawn +and knocked the ashes from his pipe. "Well, boys, shall we move?" + +Again they embarked. The river behaved in a most friendly manner until +afternoon, when she offered by way of variety a series of sand bars, +across which they were obliged to drag the Ida by main strength. These +continued at intervals for several miles. In the midst of them, the +rain that had been threatening all day began to fall while the wind +that never left the Canyon, rose to drive the icy waters more +vehemently through their sodden clothing. Milton, snugly covered with +blankets, begged them feverishly to go into camp. "I'll have you all +sick, to-night!" he insisted. "You can't take the risk of pneumonia on +starvation rations that you did on plenty of grub." + +"I'm willing," said Agnew, finally, as he staggered to his feet after a +ducking under the Ida's side. + +"Oh, let's keep going, as long as there's any light to see by," begged +Enoch. + +As if to reward his persistence, just as dusk settled fully upon them, +a little canyon opened from the main wall at the right, a small stream, +tumbling eagerly from it into the Colorado. They turned the Ida +quickly into this and managed to push upward on it for several minutes. +Then they put ashore under some dim cottonwoods, where grass was ankle +deep. The mere feeling of vegetation about them was cheering, and the +trees, with a blanket stretched between made a partial shelter from the +rain. + +"I'll sure cook grass for you all for breakfast!" said Jonas. "How +come folks not to bile grass for greens, I don't see. Maybe birds +here, too. Whoever's the fancy shot, put the gun close to his hand." + +"I've done some fair shooting in my day," said Agnew, "but I never +potted a goat in an eagle's nest. You'd better give the gun to the +Judge." He polished off his pie tin, scraped the last grain of sugar +from his tin cup and lighted a cigarette. + +"I'm trying to bear my blushing honors modestly," grinned Enoch, +crowding closer to the great fire. "Milton, I've a bone to pick with +you." + +"Where'd you get it?" demanded Agnew. + +Enoch smiled but went on. "I accuse you of deliberately starving +yourself for the rest of us. It won't do, sir. I'm going to set your +share aside and by Jove, if you refuse it, I'll throw it in the river!" + +Milton rose indignantly on one elbow. "Judge, I forbid you to do +anything of the kind! You fellows have got to have food to work on. +All I need is plenty of water." + +"Especially as you think the water is making you sick," returned Enoch +drily. "You can't get away with it, Milton. Am I not right, Agnew and +Jonas?" + +"Absolutely!" Agnew exclaimed, while Jonas nodded, vigorously. + +"So, beginning to-morrow morning, you're to do your share of eating," +Enoch concluded, cheerfully. + +But in spite of all efforts to keep a stiff upper lip, the night was +wretched. The rain fell in torrents. The only way to keep the fire +alight was by keeping it under the blanket shelter, and Milton was half +smothered with smoke. He insisted on the others going to sleep, but in +spite of their utter weariness, the men would not do this. Hunger made +them restless and the rain crept through their blankets. Enoch finally +gave up the attempt to sleep. He crouched by Milton, feeding the fire +and trying as best he could to ease the patient's misery of mind and +body. + +It was long after midnight when Milton said, "Judge, I've been thinking +it over and I've come to a conclusion. I want you folks to go on for +help and leave me here." + +"I don't like to hear you talk suicide, Milton." Enoch shook his head. +"As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't consider such a suggestion for a +minute." + +"But don't you see," insisted Milton, "I'm imperilling all your lives. +Without me, you could have made twice the distance you did to-day." + +"That's probably true," agreed Enoch. "What of it? Would you leave me +in your fix, thinking you might bring help back?" + +"That's different! You're a tenderfoot and I'm not. Moreover, greater +care on my part would probably have prevented this whole series of +accidents." + +"Now you are talking nonsense!" Enoch threw another log on the fire. +"Your illness is undermining your common sense, Milton. We've got a +tough few days ahead of us but we'll tackle it together. If we fail we +fail together. But I can see no reason why if we run as few risks as +we did to-day, we should get into serious trouble. We're going to lose +strength for lack of food, so we've got to move more and more slowly +and carefully, and we'll be feeling weak and done up when we reach the +Ferry. But I anticipate nothing worse than that." + +Milton sighed and was silent, for a time. Then he said, "I could have +managed Forr and Harden better, if I'd been willing to believe they +were the pair of kids they proved to be. As it is--" + +"As it is," interrupted Enoch, firmly, "both chaps are learning a +lesson that will probably cure them for all time of their foolishness." + +Milton looked long at Enoch's tired face; then he lifted himself on one +elbow. + +"All right, Judge, I'm through belly-aching! We'll put it through +somehow and if I have decent luck, early Spring will see me right here, +beginning where I left off. After all, Powell had to take two trials +at it." + +"That's more like you, Milton! Is that dawn breaking yonder?" + +"Yes," replied Milton. "Keep your ear and eye out for any sort of +critters in this little spot, Judge." + +But, though Enoch, and the others, when he had roused them, beat the +tiny blind alley thoroughly, not so much as a cottontail reward their +efforts. + +"Curious!" grumbled Enoch, "up at Mack's camp where we really needed +nothing, I found all the game in the world. The perversity of nature +is incomprehensible. Even the fish have left this part of the river," +as Jonas with a sigh of discouragement tossed his improvised fishing +tackle into the fire. + +Agnew pulled his belt a notch tighter. His brown face was beginning to +look sagged and lined. "Well," cheerfully, "there are some advantages +in being fat. I've still several days to go before I reach your's and +Jonas' state of slats, Judge." + +"Don't get sot up about it, Ag," returned Enoch. "You look a good deal +like a collapsed balloon, you know! Shall we launch the good ship Ida, +fellows?" + +"She ain't anything to what the Na-che was," sighed Jonas, "but she's +pretty good at that. If I ain't too tired, to-night, I may clean her +up a little." + +Even Milton joined in the laughter at this and the day's journey was +begun with great good humor. + +It was the easiest day's course that had been experienced since Enoch +had joined the expedition. There were three rapids during the day but +they rode these with no difficulties. Enoch and Jonas rowed fairly +steadily in the morning, but in the afternoon, they spelled each other. +The light rations were making themselves felt. The going was so smooth +that dusk was upon them before they made camp. Milton had been +wretchedly sick, all day, but he made no complaint and forced down the +handful of boiled beans and the tin cup of pale coffee that was his +share of each meal. + +They made camp languidly. Enoch found the task of piling fire wood +arduous and as the camp was in dry sand and the blankets had dried out +during the day, they did not attempt the usual great blaze. Jonas +insisted on acting as night nurse for Milton, and Enoch was asleep +before he had more then swallowed his supper. He had bad dreams and +woke with a dull headache, and wondered if Jonas and Agnew felt as weak +and light-headed as he did. But although both the men moved about +slowly and Jonas made no attempt to clean up the Ida, they uttered no +complaints. Milton was feeling a little better. Before the day's +journey was begun, he and Agnew plotted their position on the map. + +"Well, does to-morrow see us at the Ferry?" asked Enoch, cheerfully, +when Agnew put up his pencil with an abstracted air. + +"No, Judge," sighed Milton, "that rotten first day after the wreck, +cost us a good many miles. I thought we'd make up for it, yesterday. +But we're a full day behind." + +"That is," exclaimed Enoch, "we must take that grub pile and redivide +it, stretching it over three days instead of two!" + +"Yes," replied Milton, grimly. + +"Jove, Agnew, you're going to be positively fairy like, before we're +through with this," said Enoch. "Jonas, get out the grub supply, will +you?" + +Jonas, standing on a rock that projected over the water, did not +respond. He was watching eagerly as his new fishline of ravelled rope +pulled taut in the stream. Suddenly he gave a roar and jerked the line +so violently that the fish landed on Milton's blanket. + +"Must weigh two pounds!" cried Agnew. + +"You start her broiling, Mr. Agnew!" shouted Jonas, "while I keep on +a-fishing." + +"What changed your luck, Jonas?" asked Enoch. "You're using beans and +bent wire, just as you did yesterday." + +"Aha! not just as I did yesterday, boss! This time I tied Na-che's +charm just above the hook. No fish could stand that, once they got an +eye on it." + +But evidently no second fish cast an eye on the irresistible charm, and +Enoch was unwilling to wait for further luck longer than was necessary +to cook the fish and eat it. But during the day Jonas trolled whenever +the water made trolling possible, hopefully spitting on the hook each +time he cast it over, casting always from the right hand and muttering +Fish! Fish! Fish! three times for each venture. Yet no other fish +responded to Na-che's charm that day. + +But the river treated them kindly. If their strength had been equal to +hard and steady rowing they might have made up for the lost miles. As +it was they knocked off at night with just the number of miles for the +day that Milton had planned on in the beginning, and were still a day +behind their schedule. Milton grew no worse, though he was weaker and +obviously a very sick man. A light snow fell during the night but the +next morning was clear and invigorating. + +They encountered two difficult rapids on the fourth day. The first one +they portaged. The trail was not difficult but in their weakened +condition the boat and poor Milton were heavy burdens and it took them +three times as long to accomplish the portage as it would have taken +had they been in normal condition. The second rapids, they shot easily +in the afternoon. The waves were high and every one was saturated with +the icy water. Enoch dared not risk Milton's remaining wet and as soon +as they found a likely place for the camp they went ashore. The huge +pile of drift wood had helped them to decide on this rather +unhospitable ledge for what they hoped would be their last night out. + +They kindled a big fire and sat about it, steaming and silent, but with +the feeling that the worst was behind them. + +They rose in a cold driving rain the next morning, ate the last of the +beans, drank the last of the coffee, covered Milton as well as could be +with blankets and launched the boat. It was a day of unspeakable +misery. They made one portage, and one let down, and dragged the boat +with almost impossible labor over a long series of shallows. By +mid-afternoon they had made up their minds to another night of +wretchedness and Agnew was beginning to watch for a camping place, when +suddenly he exclaimed, + +"Fellows, there's the Ferry!" + +"How do you know?" demanded Enoch. + +"I've been here before, Judge. Yes, by Jove, there's old Grant's +cabin. I wonder if any one's reached here yet!" + +"Well, Milton, old man, here's thanks and congratulations," cried Enoch. + +"You'd better thank the Almighty," returned Milton. "I certainly had +very little to do with our getting here." + +The rain had prevented Agnew's recognizing their haven until they were +fairly upon it. Even now all that Enoch could see was a wide lateral +canyon with a rough unpainted shack above the waterline. A group of +cottonwoods loomed dimly through the mist beside a fence that +surrounded the house. + +Jonas, who had seemed overcome with joy at Agnew's announcement, +recovered his power of speech by the time the boat was headed shoreward +and he raised a shout that echoed from wall to wall. + +"Na-che! Ohee, Na-che! Here we are, Na-che!" + +Agnew opened his lips to comment, but before he uttered the first +syllable there rose a shrill, clear call from the mists. + +"Jonas! Ohee, Jonas!" + +Enoch's pulse leaped. With sudden strength, he bent to his oars, and +the Ida slid softly upon the sandy shore. As she did so, two figures +came running through the rain. + +"Diana!" cried Enoch, making no attempt for a moment to step from the +boat. + +"Oh, what has happened!" exclaimed Diana, putting a hand under Milton's +head as he struggled to raise it. + +"Just a broken leg, Miss Allen," he said, his parched lips parting in a +smile. "Have Forr and Hard turned up?" + +"No! And Curly and Mack aren't here, either! O you poor things! +Here, let me help! Na-che, take hold of this stretcher, there, on the +other side with the Judge and Jonas. Finished short of grub, didn't +you! Let's bring Mr. Milton right up to the cabin." + +The cabin consisted of but one room with an adobe fireplace at one end +and bunks on two sides. There was a warm glow of fire and the smell of +meat cooking. They laid Milton tenderly on a bunk and as they did so +Jonas gave a great sob: + +"Welcome home, I say, boss, welcome home!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +GRANT'S CROSSING + + +"Perfect memories! They are more precious than hope, more priceless +than dreams of the future."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +"Now, every one of you get into dry clothes as quickly as you can," +said Diana. "No! Don't one of you try to stir from the cabin! Come, +Na-che, we'll bring the men's bags up and go out to our tent while they +shift." + +The two women were gone before the men could protest. They were back +with the bags in a few moments and in almost less time than it takes to +tell, the crew of the Ida was reclothed, Enoch in the riding suit that +Jonas had left with some of his own clothes in Na-che's care. When +this was done, Na-che put on the coffee pot, while Diana served each of +them with a plate of hot rabbit stew. + +"Don't try to talk," she said, "until you get this down. You'd better +help Mr. Milton, Na-che. Here, it will take two of us. Oh, you poor +dear! You're burning with fever." + +"Don't you worry about me," protested Milton, weakly, as, with his head +resting on Diana's arm, he sipped the teaspoonsful of stew Na-che fed +him. "This is as near heaven as I want to get." + +"I should hope so!" grunted Agnew. "Jonas, don't ever try to put up a +stew in competition with Na-che again." + +"Not me, sir!" chuckled Jonas. "That gal can sure cook!" + +"And make charms," added Enoch. "Don't fail to realize that you're +still alive, Jonas." + +"I'm going to bathe Mr. Milton's face for him," said Na-che, with a +fine air of indifference. "I can set a broken leg, too." + +"It's set," said Agnew and Enoch together, "but," added Enoch, "that +isn't saying that Milton mustn't be gotten to a doctor with all speed." + +Diana nodded. "Where are Mr. Forrester and Mr. Harden?" she asked. + +"We lost the Na-che--" said Agnew. + +"The what?" demanded Diana. + +"Jonas rechristened the Mary, the Na-che," Agnew replied. "We lost her +in a whirlpool six days back. Most of the food was in her. Two of us +had to go out and Harden and Forrester volunteered. We are very much +worried about them." + +"And when did Mr. Milton break his leg?" + +"On that same black day! The water's been disagreeing with him, making +him dizzy, and he took a header from the Ida, after rescuing Forrester +from some rapids," said Enoch. + +"Doesn't sound much, when you tell it, does it!" Agnew smiled as he +sighed. "But it really has been quite a busy five days." + +"One can look at your faces and read much between the lines," said +Diana, quietly. "Now, while Na-che works with Mr. Milton, I'm going to +give you each some coffee." + +"Diana, how far are we from the nearest doctor?" asked Enoch. + +"There's one over on the Navajo reservation," replied Diana. + +"Wouldn't it be better to keep Milton right here and one of us go for +the doctor?" + +"Much better," agreed Diana and Agnew. + +"Lord," sighed Milton, "what bliss!" + +"Then," said Enoch, "I'm going to start for the doctor, now." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Diana, "that's my job. We've been here two days +and we and our outfit are as fresh as daisies." + +"I'm going, myself," Agnew rose as firmly as his weak and weary legs +would permit. + +It was Na-che who settled the matter. "That's an Indian's job," she +said. "You take care of Mr. Milton, Diana, while I go." + +"That's sensible," agreed Diana. "Start now, Na-che. You should reach +Wilson's by to-morrow night and telephone to the Agent's house. +That'll save you forty miles." + +Jonas' face which had fallen greatly suddenly brightened. "Somebody's +coming!" he cried. "I hope it's our folks!" + +The door opened abruptly and in walked Curly and Mack. + +"Here's the whole family!" exclaimed Curly. "Well, if you folks don't +look like Siberian convicts, whiskers and all! Some trip, eh?" + +Mack, shaking hands all round, stopped beside Milton's bunk. "What +went wrong, bud? and where's the rest of the bunch?" + +Enoch told the story, this time. Mack shook his head as the final +plans were outlined. + +"Na-che had better stay and nurse Milton. I'm feeling fine. We just +loafed along down here. I'll start out right away. I should reach +Wilson's to-morrow night, as you say, and telephone the doctor. Then +I'll load up with grub at Wilson's and turn back. Do you find much +game round here?" + +Diana nodded. "Plenty of rabbit and quail, and we have some bacon and +coffee." + +"I guess I'd better go out and look for the two foot-passengers," +suggested Curly. "I'll stay out to-night and report to-morrow evening." + +"We'll be in shape by morning to start on the search," said Enoch. + +Curly turned to his former cook with a grin. "Well, Judge, is your +little vacation giving you the rest you wanted?" + +Enoch, gaunt, unshaven, exhausted, his blue eyes blood-shot, nodded +contentedly. "I'm having the time of my life, Curly." + +"I had a bull dog once," said Curly. "If I'd take a barrel stave and +pound him with it, saying all the time, 'Nice doggie, isn't this fun! +Isn't this a nice little stick! Don't you like these little love +pats?' he'd wag his tail and slobber and tell me how much he enjoyed it +and beg for more. But, if I took a straw and tapped him with it, +telling him he was a poor dog, that nobody loved him, that I was +breaking his ribs which he richly deserved, why that bull pup nearly +died of suffering of body and anguish of mind." + +Enoch shook his head sadly. "A great evangelist was lost when you took +to placer mining, Curly." + +Mack had been talking quietly to Milton. "I don't believe it was the +river water, that upset you. I think you have drunk from some poison +spring. I did that once, up in this country, and it took me six months +to get over it, because I couldn't get to a doctor. But I believe a +doctor could fix you right up. Do you recall drinking water the other +men didn't?" + +"Any number of times, on exploring trips to the river!" Milton looked +immensely cheered. "I think you may be right, Mack." + +"I'll bet you two bits that's all that ails you, son!" Mack rose from +the edge of the bunk. "Well, folks, I'm off! Look for me when you see +me!" + +"I'll mooch along too," Curly rose and stretched himself. + +"I'm not going to try to thank all you folks!" Milton's weak voice was +husky. + +"That's what us Arizonians always wait for before we do the decent +thing," said Mack, with a smile. "Come along, Curly, you lazy +chuckawalla you!" And the door slammed behind them. + +"They're stem winders, both of them!" exclaimed Agnew. + +"Diana," said Enoch, "I wish you'd sit down. You've done enough for +us." + +Diana smiled and shook her head. "I struck the camp first, so I'm +boss. Na-che and I are going out to see that everything's all right +for the night and that Mack and Curly get a good start. While we're +out, you're all going to bed. Then Na-che is coming in to make Mr. +Milton as comfortable as she can. Our tent is under the cottonwoods +and if you want anything during the night, Mr. Milton, all you have to +do is to call through the window. Neither of us will undress so we can +be on duty, instantly. There is plenty of stew still simmering in the +pot, and cold biscuit on the table. Good night, all of you." + +"Na-che, she don't need to bother. I'll look out for Mr. Milton," said +Jonas, suddenly rousing from his chair where he had been dozing. + +"You go to bed and to sleep, Jonas," ordered Diana. "Good night, +Judge." + +"Good night, Diana!" + +The door closed softly and Diana was seen no more that night. The rain +ceased at midnight and the stars shone forth clear and cold, but Milton +was the only person in the camp to be conscious of the fact. Just as +the dawn wind was rising, though, and the cottonwoods were outlining +themselves against the eastern sky, stumbling footsteps near the tent +wakened both Diana and Na-che, and they opened the tent flap, hastily. + +Forrester was clinging to a cottonwood tree. At least it was a worn, +bleached, ragged counterfeit of Forrester. + +"Hard's back on the trail apiece. I came on for help," he said huskily. + +"Is he sick or hurt?" cried Diana. + +"No, just all in." + +"I'll take a horse for him, right off," said Na-che. "You help Mr. +Forrester into the house, Diana." + +"Call Jonas!" said Diana, supporting Forrester against the tree. "One +of the men had better go for Mr. Harden." + +"Then they got here!" exclaimed Forrester. "Thank God! How's Milton? +Any other accident?" + +"Everything's all right! Here they all come!" For Jonas, then Agnew +and Enoch were rushing from the door and amid the hubbub of +exclamations, Forrester was landed in a bunk while Agnew started up the +trail indicated by Forrester. But he hardly had set out before he met +Curly, leading his horse with Harden clinging to the saddle. Both the +wanderers were fed and put to bed and told to sleep, before they tried +to tell their story. The day was warm and clear and Na-che and Jonas +prepared breakfast outside, serving it on the rough table, under the +cottonwoods. Enoch and Agnew, washed and shaved, were new men, though +still weak, Enoch, particularly, being muscle sore and weary. Harden +and Forrester woke for more food, at noon, then slept again. Milton +dozed and woke, drank feverishly of the water brought from the spring +near the cabin, and gazed with a look of complete satisfaction on the +unshaved dirty faces in the bunks across the room. + +Agnew and Curly played poker all day long. Jonas and Na-che found +endless small tasks around the camp that required long consultations +between them and much laughter. When Enoch returned after breakfast +from a languid inspection of the Ida, Diana was not to be seen. She +had gone out to get some quail, Na-che said. She returned in an hour +or so, with a good bag of rabbit and birds. + +"To-morrow, that will be my job," said Enoch. + +"If she wouldn't let me go, she mustn't let you!" called Curly, from +his poker game, under the trees. + +"Yes, I'll let any of you take it over, to-morrow," replied Diana, +giving Na-che gun and bag. "To-morrow, Na-che and I turn the rescue +mission over to you men and start for Bright Angel." + +"Oh, where's your heart, Miss Allen!" cried Agnew. "Aren't you going +to wait to learn what the doctor says about Milton?" + +"And Diana," urged Enoch, "Jonas and I want to go up to Bright Angel +with you and Na-che. Won't you wait a day longer, just till we're a +little more fit?" + +Diana, in her worn corduroy habit, her soft hat pulled well over her +great eyes, looked from Agnew to Enoch, smiled and did not reply. +Enoch waited impatiently without the door while she made a call on +Milton. + +"Diana!" he exclaimed, when she came out, "aren't you going to talk to +me even? Do come down by the Ida and see if we can't be rid of this +horde of people for a while." + +"I've been wanting to see just how badly you'd treated the poor old +boat," said Diana, following Enoch toward the shore. + +But Enoch had not the slightest intention of holding an inquest on the +Ida. In the shade of a gnarled cedar to which the boat was tied as a +precaution against high water, he had placed a box. Thither he led +Diana. + +"Do sit down, Diana, and let me sit here at your feet. I'll admit it +should be unexpected joy enough just to find you here. But I'm greedy. +I want you to myself, and I want to tell you a thousand things." + +"All right, Judge, begin," returned Diana amiably, as she clasped her +knee with both hands and smiled at him. But Enoch could not begin, +immediately. Sitting in the sand with his back against the cedar he +looked out at the Colorado flowing so placidly, at the pale gray green +of the far canyon walls and a sense of all that the river signified to +him, all that it had brought to him, all that it would mean to him to +leave it and with it Diana,--Diana who had been his other self since he +was a lad of eighteen,--made him speechless for a time. + +Diana waited, patiently. At last, Enoch turned to her, "All the things +I want to say most, can't be said, Diana!" + +"Are you glad you took the trip down the river, Judge?" + +"Glad! Was Roland glad he made his adventure in search of the Dark +Tower?" + +"Yes, he was, only, Judge--" + +Enoch interrupted. "Has our friendship grown less since we camped at +the placer mine?" + +Diana flushed slightly and went on, "Only, Enoch, surely the end of +your adventure is not a Dark Tower ending!" + +"Yes, it is, Diana! It can never be any other." Enoch's fingers +trembled a little as he toyed with his pipe bowl. Diana slowly looked +away from him, her eyes fastening themselves on a buzzard that circled +over the peaks across the river. After a moment, she said, "Then you +are going to shoot Brown?" + +Enoch started a little. "I'm not thinking of Brown just now. I'm +thinking of you and me." + +He paused again and again Diana waited until she felt the silence +becoming too painful. Then she said, + +"Aren't you going to tell me some of the details of your trip?" + +"I want to, Diana, but hang it, words fail me! It was as you warned +me, an hourly struggle with death. And we fought, I think, not because +life was so unutterably sweet to any of us, but because there was such +wonderful zest to the fighting. The beauty of the Canyon, the +awfulness of it, the unbelievable rapidity with which event piled on +event. Why, Diana, I feel as if I'd lived a lifetime since I first put +foot on the Ida! And the glory of the battle! Diana, we were so puny, +so insignificant, so stupid, and the Canyon was so colossal and so +diabolically quick and clever! What a fight!" + +Enoch laughed joyfully. + +"You're a new man!" said Diana, softly. + +Enoch nodded. "And now I'm to have the ride back to El Tovar with you +and the trip down Bright Angel with you and your father! For once +Diana, Fate is minding her own business and letting me mind mine." + +Jonas approached hesitatingly. "Na-che said I had to tell you, boss, +though I didn't want to disturb you, she said I had to though she +wouldn't do it herself. Dinner is on the table. And you know, boss, +you ain't like you was when a bowl of cereal would do you." + +"I shouldn't have tempted fate, Diana!" Enoch sighed, as he rose and +followed her to the cottonwood. + +Try as he would, during the afternoon, he could not bring about another +tęte-a-tęte with Diana. Finally as dusk drew near, he threw himself +down, under the cedar tree, his eyes sadly watching the evening mists +rise over the river. His dark figure merged with the shadow of the +cedar and Na-che and Jonas, establishing themselves on the gunwale of +the Ida for one of their confidential chats did not perceive him. He +himself gave them no heed until he heard Jonas say vehemently: + +"You're crazy, Na-che! I'm telling you the boss won't never marry." + +"How do you know what's in your boss's mind?" demanded Na-che. + +"I know all right. And I know he thinks a lot of Miss Diana, too, but +I know he won't marry her. He won't marry anybody." + +"But why?" urged the Indian woman, sadly, "Why should things be so +wrong? When he loves her and she loves him and they were made for each +other!" + +"How come you to think she loves him?" demanded Jonas. + +"Don't I know the mind of my Diana? Isn't she my little child, even if +her mother did bear her. Don't I see her kiss that little picture she +has of him in her locket every night when she says her prayers?" + +"Well--" began Jonas, but he was interrupted by a call from Curly. + +"Whoever's minding the stew might be interested in knowing that it's +boiling over!" + +"Coming! Coming!" cried Jonas and Na-che. + +Darkness had now settled on the river. Enoch lay motionless until they +called him in to supper. When he entered the cabin where the table was +set, Curly cried, "Hello, Judge! Where've you been? I swear you look +as if you'd been walking with a ghost." + +"Perhaps I have," Enoch replied, grimly, as he took his seat. + +Harden and Forrester, none too energetic, but shaven and in order, were +at the table, where their story was eagerly picked from them. + +Forrester had slept the first night in the cavern Enoch had noted. +Harden never even saw the cavern but had spent the night crawling +steadily toward the rim. At dawn, Forrester had made his way to the +top of the butte by the same route Enoch had followed, and had seen +Harden, a black speck moving laboriously on the southern horizon. He +had not recognized him, and set out to overtake him. It was not until +noon that he had done so. Even after he realized whom he was pursuing, +he had not given up, for by that time he was rueing bitterly his hasty +and ill-equipped departure. + +None of the auditors of the two men needed detailed description either +of the ardors of that trip nor of the embarrassment of the meeting. +Nor did Forrester or Harden attempt any. After they had met they tried +to keep a course that moved southwest. There were no trails. For +endless miles, fissures and buttes, precipices to be scaled, mountains +to be climbed, canyons to be crossed. For one day they were without +water, but the morning following they found a pot hole, full of water. +Weakness from lack of food added much to the peril of the trip, one +cottontail being the sole contribution of the gun to their larder. +They did not strike the trail until the day previous to their arrival +in the camp. + +"Have you had enough desert to last you the rest of your life?" asked +Curly as Harden ended the tale. + +"Not I!" said Forrester, "nor Canyon either! I'm going to find some +method of getting Milt to let me finish the trip with him." + +"Me too," added Harden. + +"How much quarreling did you do?" asked Milton, abruptly, from the bunk. + +Neither man answered for a moment, then Forrester, flushing deeply, +said, "All we ask of you, Milt, is to give us a trial. Set us ashore +if you aren't satisfied with us." + +Milton grunted and Diana said, quickly, "What are you people going to +do until Mr. Milton gets well?" + +All of the crew looked toward the leader's bunk. "Wait till we get the +doctor's report," said Milton. "Hard, you were going to show Curly a +placer claim around here, weren't you?" + +"Yes, if I can be spared for a couple of days. We can undertake that, +day after to-morrow." + +"You're on!" exclaimed Curly. "Judge, don't forget you and I are due +to have a little conversation before we separate." + +"I haven't forgotten it," replied Enoch. + +"Sometime to-morrow then. To-night I've got to get my revenge on +Agnew. He's a wild cat, that's what he is. Must have been born in a +gambling den. Sit in with us, Judge or anybody!" + +"Not I," said Enoch, shortly. + +"Still disapprove, don't you, Judge!" gibed Curly. "How about the rest +of you? Diana, can you play poker?" + +"Thanks, Curly! My early education in that line was neglected." Diana +smiled and turned to Enoch. "Judge, do you think you'll feel up to +starting to-morrow afternoon? There's a spring five miles west that we +could make if we leave here at two o'clock and I'd like to feel that +I'd at least made a start, to-morrow. My father is going to be very +much worried about me. I'm nearly a week overdue, now." + +"I'll be ready whenever you are, Diana. How about you, Jonas?" + +"I'm always on hand, boss. Mr. Milton, can I have the broken oar blade +we kept to patch the Ida with?" + +"What do you want it for, Jonas?" asked Milton. + +"I'm going to have it framed. And Mr. Harden and Mr. Agnew, don't +forget those fillums!" + +"Lucky for you the films were stored in the Ida, Jonas!" exclaimed +Agnew. "I'll develop some of those in the morning, and see what sort +of a show you put up." + +Diana rose. "Well, good night to you all! Mr. Milton, is there +anything Na-che or I can do for you?" + +"No, thank you, Miss Allen, I think I'm in good hands." + +Enoch rose to open the door for Diana. "Thank you, Judge," she said, +"Good night!" + +"Diana," said Enoch, under cover of the conversation at the table, +"before we start to-morrow, will you give me half an hour alone with +you?" + +There was pain and determination both in Enoch's voice. Diana glanced +at him a little anxiously as she answered, "Yes, I will, Enoch." + +"Good night, Diana," and Enoch retired to his bunk, where he lay wide +awake long after the card game was ended and the room in darkness save +for the dull glow of the fire. + +He made no attempt the next day to obtain the half hour Diana had +promised him. He helped Jonas with their meager preparations for the +trip, then took a gun and started along the trail which led up the +Ferry canyon to the desert. But he had not gone a hundred yards, when +Diana called. + +"Wait a moment, Judge! I'll go with you." + +She joined him shortly with her gun and game bag. "We'll have Na-che +cook us a day's supply of meat before we start," she said. "The +hunting is apt to be poor on the trail we're to take home." + +Enoch nodded but said nothing. Something of the old grim look was in +his eyes again. He paused at the point where the canyon gave place to +the desert. Here a gnarled mesquite tree and an old half-buried log +beneath it, offered mute evidence of a gigantic flooding of the river. + +"Let's sit here for a little while, Diana," he said. + +They put their guns against the mesquite tree and sat down facing the +distant river. + +"Diana," Enoch began abruptly, "in spite of what your father and John +Seaton believed and wanted me to believe, the things that the Brown +papers said about my mother are true. Only, Brown did not tell all. +He did not give the details of her death. I suppose even Luigi +hesitated to tell that because I almost beat him to death the last time +he tried it. + +"Seaton and I never talked much about the matter. He tried to ferret +out facts, but had no luck. By the time I was seventeen or eighteen I +realized that no man with a mother like mine had a right to marry. But +I missed the friendship of women, I suppose, for when I was perhaps +eighteen or nineteen I made a discovery. I found that somewhere in my +heart I was carrying the image of a girl, a slender girl, with braids +of light brown hair wrapped round her head, a girl with the largest, +most intelligent, most tender gray eyes in the world, and a lovely +curving mouth, with deep corners. I named her Lucy, because I'd been +reading Wordsworth and I began to keep a diary to her. I've kept it +ever since. + +"You can have no idea, how real, how vivid, how vital a part of my life +Lucy became to me. She was in the very deepest truth my better self, +for years. And then this summer, a miracle occurred! Lucy walked into +my office! Beauty, serenity, intelligence, sweetness, gaiety, and +gallantry--these were Lucy's in the flesh as I could not even dream for +Lucy of the spirit. Only in one particular though had I made an actual +error. Her name was not Lucy, it was Diana! Diana! the little girl of +Bright Angel who had entered my turbulent boyish heart, all unknown to +me, never to leave it! . . . Diana! Lucy! I love you and God help me, +I must not marry!" + +Enoch, his nails cutting deep into his palms turned from the river, at +which he had been staring steadily while speaking, to Diana. Her eyes +which had been fastened on Enoch's profile, now gazed deep into his, +pain speaking to pain, agony to agony. + +"If," Enoch went on, huskily, "there is no probability of your growing +to care for me, then I think our friendship can endure. I can crowd +back the lover and be merely your friend. But if you might grow to +care, even ever so little, then, I think at the thought of your pain, +my heart would break. So, I thought before it is too late--" + +Suddenly Diana's lips which had grown white, trembled a little. "It is +too late!" she whispered. "It is too late!" and she put her slender, +sunburned hands over her face. + +"Don't! Oh, don't!" groaned Enoch. He took her hands down, gently. +Diana's eyes were dry. Her cheeks were burning. Enoch looked at her +steadily, his breath coming a little quickly, then he rose and with +both her hands in his lifted her to her feet. + +"Do you love me, Diana?" he whispered. + +She looked up into his eyes. "Yes, Enoch! Oh, yes!" she answered, +brokenly. + +"How much do you love me, dear?" he persisted. + +She smiled with a tragic beauty in droop of lips and anguish of eyes. +"With all there is in me to give to love, Enoch." + +"Then," said Enoch, "this at least may be mine," and he laid his lips +to hers. + +When he lifted his head, he smoothed her hair back from her face. +"Remember, I am not deceiving myself, Diana," he said huskily. "I have +acted like a selfish, unprincipled brute. If I had not, in Washington, +let you see that I cared, you would have escaped all this." + +"I did not want to escape it, Enoch," she said, smiling again while her +lips quivered. "Yet I thought I would have strength enough to go away, +without permitting you to tell me about it. But I was not strong +enough. However," stepping away from Enoch, "now we both understand, +and I'll go home. And we must never see each other again, Enoch." + +"Never see each other again!" he repeated. Then his voice deepened. +"Go about our day's work year after year, without even a memory to ease +the gnawing pain. God, Diana, do you think we are machines to be +driven at will?" + +Diana drew a long breath and her voice was very steady as she answered. +"Don't let's lose our grip on ourselves, Enoch. It only makes a hard +situation harder. Now that we understand each other, let us kiss the +cross, and go on." + +Enoch, arms folded on his chest, great head bowed, walked up and down +under the trees slowly for a moment. When he paused before her, it was +to speak with his customary calm and decision, though his eyes +smoldered. + +"Diana, I want to take the trip with you, just as we planned, and go +down Bright Angel with your father and you. I want those few days in +the desert with you to carry me through the rest of my life. You need +not fear, dear, that for one moment I will lose grip on myself." + +Diana looked at him as if she never had seen him before. She looked at +the gaunt, strong features, the massive chin, the sensitive, firm +mouth, the lines of self-control and purposefulness around eyes and +lips, and over all the deep-seated sadness that made Enoch's face +unforgettable. Slowly she turned from him to the desert, and after a +moment, as if she had gathered strength from the far horizon, she +answered him, still with the little note of steadiness in her voice: + +"I think we'll have to have those last few days, together, Enoch." + +Enoch heaved a deep sigh then smiled, brilliantly. "And now," he said, +"I dare not go back to camp without at least discharging my gun, do +you?" + +"No, Judge!" replied Diana, picking up her gun, with a little laugh. + +"Don't call me Judge, when we're alone!" protested Enoch. + +Diana with something sweeter than tenderness shining in her great eyes, +touched his hand softly with hers. + +"No, dear!" she whispered. + +Enoch looked at her, drew a deep breath, then put his gun across his +arm and followed Diana to the yucca thicket where quail was to be +found. They were very silent during the hour of hunting. They bagged +a pair of cottontails and a number of quail, and when they did speak, +it was only regarding the hunt or the preparations for the coming +exodus. They reached camp, just before dinner, Diana disappearing into +the tent, and Enoch tramping prosaically and wearily into the cabin to +throw himself down on his bunk. He had not yet recovered from the last +days in the Canyon. + +"You shouldn't have tackled that tramp this morning, Judge," said +Milton. "You should have saved yourself for this afternoon." + +"You saw who his side pardner was, didn't you?" asked Curly. + +"Yes," replied Milton, grinning. + +"Then why make foolish comments?" + +"I am a fool!" agreed Milton. + +"Judge," asked Curly, "how about you and me having our conflab right +after dinner?" + +"That will suit me," replied Enoch, "if you can drag yourself from +Agnew and poker that long." + +"I'll make a superhuman effort," returned Curly. + +The conference, which took place under the cedar near the Ida, did not +last long. + +"Curly," said Enoch, lighting his pipe, "I haven't made up my mind yet, +whether I want you to give me the information about Fowler and Brown or +not." + +"What's the difficulty?" demanded Curly. + +"Well, there's a number of personal reasons that I don't like to go +into. But I've a suggestion to make. You say you're trying to get +money together with which to retain a lawyer and carry out a campaign, +so you aren't in a hurry, anyway. Now you write down in a letter all +that you know about the two men, and send the letter to me, I'll treat +it as absolutely confidential, and will return the material to you +without reading it if I decide not to use it." + +Curly puffed thoughtfully at his cigarette. "That's fair enough, +Judge. As you say there's no great hurry and I always get het up, +anyhow, when I talk about it. I'd better put it down in cool black and +white. Where can I reach you?" + +"No. 814 Blank Avenue, Washington, D. C.," replied Enoch. + +Curly pulled an old note book out of his hip pocket and set down the +address: + +"All right, Judge, you'll hear from me sometime in the next few weeks. +I'll go back now and polish Agnew off." + +And he hurried away, leaving Enoch to smoke his pipe thoughtfully as he +stared at the Ida. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LOVE IN THE DESERT + + +"While I was teaching my boy obedience, I would teach him his next +great obligation, service. So only could his manhood be a full +one."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Shortly after two o'clock, Diana announced that she was ready to start. +But the good-bys consumed considerable time and it was nearly three +before they were really on their way. Enoch's eyes were a little dim +as he shook hands with Milton. + +"Curly has my address, Milton," he said, "drop me a line once in a +while. I shall be more deeply interested in your success than you can +realize." + +"I'll do it, Judge, and when I get back East, I'll look you up. You're +a good sport, old man!" + +"You're more than that, Milton! Good-by!" and Enoch hurried out in +response to Jonas' call. + +They were finally mounted and permitted to go. Na-che rode first, +leading a pack mule, Jonas second, leading two mules, Diana followed, +Enoch bringing up the rear. Much to Jonas' satisfaction, Enoch had +been obliged to abandon the overalls and flannel shirt which he had +worn into the Canyon. Even the tweed suit was too ragged and shrunk to +be used again. So he was clad in the corduroy riding breeches and coat +that Jonas had brought. But John Red Sun's boots were still doing +notable service and the soft hat, faded and shapeless, was pulled down +over his eyes in comfort if not in beauty. + +There was a vague trail to the spring which lay southwest of the Ferry. +It led through the familiar country of fissures and draws that made +travel slow and heavy. The trail rose, very gradually, wound around a +number of multi-colored peaks and paused at last at the foot of a +smooth-faced, purple butte. Here grew a cottonwood, sheltering from +sun and sand a lava bowl, eroded by time and by the tiny stream of +water that dripped into it gently. There was little or no view from +the spring, for peaks and buttes closely hemmed it in. The November +shadows deepened early on the strange, winding, almost subterranean +trail, and although when they reached the cottonwood, it was not +sundown, they made camp at once. Diana's tent was set up in the sand +to the right of the spring. Enoch collected a meager supply of wood +and before five o'clock supper had been prepared and eaten. + +For a time, after this was done, Enoch and Diana sat before the tiny +eye of fire, listening to the subdued chatter with which Jonas and +Na-che cleared up the meal. + +Suddenly, Enoch said, "Diana, how brilliant the stars are, to-night! +Why can't we climb to the top of the butte for a little while? I feel +smothered here. It's far worse than the river bottom." + +"Aren't you too tired?" asked Diana. + +"Not too tired for as short a climb as that, unless you are feeling +done up!" + +"I!" laughed Diana. "Why, Na-che will vouch for it that I've never had +such a lazy trip before! Na-che, the Judge and I are going up the +butte. Just keep a little glow of fire for us, will you, so that we +can locate the camp easily." + +"Yes, Diana, and don't be frightened if you hear noises. I'm going to +teach Jonas a Navajo song." + +"We'll try not to be," replied Diana, laughing as she rose. + +It was an ascent of several hundred feet, but easily made and the view +from the top more than repaid them for the effort. In all his desert +nights, Enoch never had seen the stars so vivid. For miles about them +the shadowy peaks and chasms were discernible. And Diana's face was +delicately clear cut as she seated herself on a block of stone and +looked up at him. + +"Diana," said Enoch, abruptly, "you make me wish that I were a poet, +instead of a politician." + +"But you aren't a politician!" protested Diana. "You shall not malign +yourself so." + +"A pleasant comment on our American politics!" exclaimed Enoch. "Well, +whatever I am, words fail me utterly when I try to describe the appeal +of your beauty." + +"Enoch," there was a note of protest in Diana's voice, "you aren't +going to make love to me on this trip, are you?" + +Enoch's voice expressed entire astonishment. "Why certainly I am, +Diana!" + +"You'll make it very hard for me!" sighed Diana. + +Enoch knelt in the sand before her and lifted her hands against his +cheek. + +"Sweetheart," he said softly, his great voice, rich and mellow although +it hardly rose above a whisper, "my only sweetheart, not for all the +love in the world would I make it hard for you. Not for all your love +would I even attempt to leave you with one memory that is not all that +is sweet and noble. Only in these days I want you to learn all there +is in my heart, as I must learn all that is in yours. For, after that, +Diana, we must never see each other again." + +Diana freed one of her hands and brushed the tumbled hair from Enoch's +forehead. + +"Do you realize," he said, quietly, "that in all the years of my memory +no woman has caressed me so? I am starved, Diana, for just such a +gentle touch as that." + +"Then you shall be starved no more, dearest. Sit down in the sand +before me and lean your head against my knee. There!" as Enoch turned +and obeyed her. "Now we can both look out at the stars and I can +smooth your hair. What a mass of it you have, Enoch! And you must +have been a real carrot top when you were a little boy." + +"I was an ugly brat," said Enoch, comfortably. "A red-headed, +freckled-faced, awkward brat! And unhappy and disagreeable as I was +ugly." + +"It seems so unfair!" Diana smoothed the broad forehead, tenderly. "I +had such a happy childhood. I didn't go to school until I was twelve. +Until then I lived the life of a little Indian, out of doors, taking +the trail trips with dad or geologizing with mother. I don't know how +many horses and dogs I had. Their number was limited only by what +mother and father felt they could afford to feed." + +"There was nothing unfair in your having had all the joy that could be +crammed into your childhood," protested Enoch. "Nature and +circumstance were helping to make you what you are. I don't see that +anything could have been omitted. Listen, Diana." + +Plaintively from below rose Na-che's voice in a slow sweet chant. +Jonas's baritone hesitatingly repeated the strain, and after a moment +they softly sang it together. + +"Oh, this is perfect!" murmured Enoch. "Perfect!" Then he drew +Diana's hand to his lips. + +How long they sat in silence listening to the wistful notes that +floated up to them, neither could have told. But when the singing +finally ceased, Diana, with a sudden shiver said, + +"Enoch, I want to go back to the camp." + +Enoch rose at once, with a rueful little laugh. "Our first precious +evening is ended, and we've said nothing!" + +"Nothing!" exclaimed Diana. "Enoch, what was there left to say when I +could touch your hair and forehead so? We can talk on the trail." + +"Starlight and you and Na-che's little song," murmured Enoch; "I am +hard to satisfy, am I not?" He put his arms about Diana and kissed her +softly, then let her lead the way down to the spring. And shortly, +rolled in his blankets, his feet to the dying fire, Enoch was deep in +sleep. + +Sun-up found them on the trail again. All day the way wound through +country that had been profoundly eroded. Na-che led by instinct, it +seemed, to Enoch, for when they were a few miles from the spring, as +far as he, at least, could observe, the trail disappeared, entirely. +During the morning, they walked much, for the over-hanging ledges and +sudden chasms along which Na-che guided them made even the horses +hesitate. They were obliged to depend on their canteens for water and +there was no sign of forage for the horses and mules. Every one was +glad when the noon hour came. + +"It will be better, to-night," explained Diana. "There are water holes +known as Indian's Cups that we should reach before dark. They're sure +to be full of water, for it has rained so much lately. The way will be +far easier to-morrow, Enoch, so that we can talk as we go." + +They were standing by the horses, waiting for Jonas and Na-che to put +the dishes in one of the packs. + +"Diana, do you realize that you made no comment whatever on what I told +you yesterday? Didn't the story of Lucy seem wonderful to you?" + +"I was too deeply moved to make any very sane comment," replied Diana. +"Enoch, will you let me see the diary?" + +"When I die, it is to be yours, but--" he hesitated, "it tells so many +of my weaknesses, that I wouldn't like to be alive and feel that you +know so much about them." He laughed a little sadly. + +"Yet you told Lucy them, didn't you?" insisted Diana with a smile. +"Don't make me jealous of that person, Enoch!" + +"She was you!" returned Enoch, briefly. "To-night, I'll tell you, +Lucy, some of the things you have forgotten." + +"You're a dear," murmured Diana, under her breath, turning to mount as +Jonas and Na-che clambered into their saddles. + +All the afternoon, Enoch, riding under the burning sun, through the +ever shifting miracles of color, rested in his happy dream. The past +and the future did not exist for him. It was enough that Diana, +straight and slender and unflagging rode before him. It was enough +that that evening after the years of yearning he would feel the touch +of Lucy's hand on his burning forehead. For the first time in his +life, Enoch's spirit was at peace. + +The pools were well up on the desert, where pinnacles and buttes had +given way at last to a roughly level country, with only occasional +fissures as reminders of the canyon. Bear grass and yucca, barrel and +fish-hook cactus as well as the ocotilla appeared. The sun was sinking +when the horses smelled water and cantered to the shallow but grateful +basins. Far to the south, the chaos out of which they had labored was +black, and mysterious with drifting vapors. The wind which whirled +forever among the chasms was left behind. They had entered into +silence and tranquillity. + +After supper and while the last glow of the sunsets still clung to the +western horizon, Na-che said, + +"Jonas, you want to see the great Navajo charm, made by Navajo god when +he made these waterholes?" + +Jonas pricked up his ears. "Is it a good charm or a hoo-doo?" + +"If you come at it right, it means you never die," Na-che nodded her +head solemnly. + +Jonas put a cat's claw root on the fire. "All right! You see, woman, +that I come at it right." + +Na-che smiled and led the way eastward. + +"Bless them!" exclaimed Enoch. "They're doing the very best they can +for us!" + +"And they're having a beautiful time with each other," added Diana. "I +think Jonas loves you as much as Na-che loves me." + +"I don't deserve that much love," said Enoch, watching the fire glow on +Diana's face. "But he is the truest friend I have on earth." + +Diana gave him a quick, wide-eyed glance. + +"Ah, but you don't know me, as Jonas does! I wouldn't want you to know +me as he does!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"I'll not admit either Lucy or Jonas as serious rivals," protested +Diana. + +Enoch laughed. "Dearest, I have told you things that Jonas would not +dream existed. I have poured out my heart to you, night after night. +All a boy's aching dreams, all a man's hopes and fears, I've shared +with you. Jonas was not that kind of friend. I first met him when I +became secretary to the Mayor of New York. He was a sort of porter or +doorman at the City Hall. He gradually began to do little personal +things for me and before I realized just how it was accomplished, he +became my valet and steward, and was keeping house for me in a little +flat up on Fourth Avenue. + +"And then, when I was still in the City Hall I had a row with Luigi. +He spoke of my mother to a group of officials I was taking through +Minetta Lane. + +"Diana, it was Luigi who taught me to gamble when I was not over eight +years old. I took to it with devilish skill. What drink or dope or +women have been to other men, gambling has been to me. After I came +back from the Grand Canyon with John Seaton, I began to fight against +it. But, although I waited on table for my board, I really put myself +through the High School on my earnings at craps and draw poker. As I +grew older I ceased to gamble as a means of subsistence but whenever I +was overtaxed mentally I was drawn irresistibly to a gambling den. And +so after the fight with Luigi--" + +Enoch paused, his face knotted. His strong hands, clasping his knees +as he sat in the sand, opposite Diana, were tense and hard. Diana, +looking at him thought of what this man meant to the nation, of what +his service had been and would be: she thought of the great gifts with +which nature had endowed him and she could not bear to have him humble +himself to her. + +She sprang to her feet. "Enoch! Enoch!" she cried. "Don't tell me +any more! You are entitled to your personal weaknesses. Even I must +not intrude! I asked you about them because, oh, because, Enoch, you +are letting your only real weakness come between you and me." + +Enoch had risen with Diana, and now he came around the fire and put his +hands on her shoulders. "No! No! Diana! not my weaknesses keep us +apart, bitterly as they mortify me." + +Diana looked up at him steadily. "Enoch, your great weakness is not +gambling. Who cares whether you play cards or not? No one but Brown! +But your weakness is that you have let those early years and Luigi's +vicious stories warp your vision of the sweetest thing in life." + +"Diana! I thought you understood. My mother--" + +"Don't!" interrupted Diana, quickly. "Don't! I understand and because +I do, I tell you that you are warped. You are America's only real +statesman, the man with a vision great enough to mold ideals for the +nation. Still you are not normal, not sane, about yourself." + +Enoch dropped his hands from her shoulders and stood staring at her +sadly. + +"I thought you understood!" he whispered, brokenly. + +Diana wrung her hands, turned and walked swiftly toward a neighboring +heap of rocks whose shadows swallowed her. Enoch breathed hard for a +moment, then followed. He found Diana, a vague heap on a great stone, +her face buried in her hands. Enoch sat down beside her and took her +in his arms. + +"Sweetheart," he whispered, "what have I done?" + +Diana, shaken by dry sobs, did not reply. But she put her arms about +his neck and clung to him as though she could never let him go. Enoch +sat holding her in an ecstasy that was half pain. Dusk thickened into +night and the stars burned richly above them. Enoch could see that +Diana's face against his breast was quiet, her great eyes fastened on +the desert. He whispered again, + +"Diana, what have I done?" + +"You have made me love you so that I cannot bear to think of the +future," she replied. "It was not wise of us to take this trip +together, Enoch." + +Enoch's arms tightened about her. "We'll be thankful all our lives for +it, Diana. And you haven't really answered my question, darling!" + +Diana drew herself away from him. "Enoch, let's never mention the +subject again. The things you understand by weakness--why, I don't +care if you have a thousand of them! But, dear, I want the diary. +When you leave El Tovar, leave that much of yourself with me." + +Enoch's voice was troubled. "I have been so curiously lonely! You can +have no idea of what the diary has meant to me." + +"I won't ask you for it, Enoch!" exclaimed Diana. Suddenly she leaned +forward in the moonlight and kissed him softly on the lips. + +Enoch drew her to him and kissed her fiercely. "The diary! It is +yours, Diana, yours in a thousand ways. When you read it, you will +understand why I hesitated to give it to you." + +"I'll find some way to thank you," breathed Diana. + +"I know a way. Give me some of your desert photographs. Choose those +that you think tell the most. And don't forget Death and the Navajo." + +"Oh, Enoch! What a splendid suggestion! You've no idea how I shall +enjoy making the collection for you. It will take several months to +complete it, you know." + +"Don't wait to complete the collection. Send the prints one at a time, +as you finish them. Send them to my house, not my office." + +Soft voices sounded from the camping place. "We must go back," said +Diana. + +"Another evening gone, forever," said Enoch. "How many more have we, +Diana?" + +"Three or four. One never knows, in the Canyon country." + +They moved slowly, hand in hand, toward the firelight. Just before +they came within its zone, Enoch lifted Diana's hand to his lips. + +"Good night, Diana!" + +"Good night, Enoch!" + +Jonas and Na-che, standing by the fire like two brown genii of the +desert, looked up smiling as the two appeared. + +"Ain't they a handsome pair, Na-che?" asked Jonas, softly. "Ain't he a +grand looking man?" + +Na-che assented. "I wish I could get each of 'em to wear a love ring. +I could get two the best medicine man in the desert country made." + +"Where are they?" demanded Jonas eagerly. + +"Up near Bright Angel." + +"You get 'em and I'll pay for 'em," urged Jonas. + +"We can't buy 'em! They got to be taken." + +"Well, how come you to think I couldn't take 'em, woman? You show me +where they are. I'll do the rest." + +"All right," said Na-che. "Diana, don't you feel tired?" + +"Tired enough to go to bed, anyway," replied Diana. "It's going to be +a very cold night. Be sure that you and the Judge have plenty of +blankets, Jonas. Good night!" and she disappeared into the tent. + +The night was stinging cold. Ice formed on the rain pools and they ate +breakfast with numbed hands. As usual, however, the mercury began to +climb with the sun and when at mid-morning, they entered a huge purple +depression in the desert, coats were peeled and gloves discarded. + +The depression was an ancient lava bed, deep with lavender dust that +rose chokingly about them. There was a heavy wind that increased as +they rode deeper into the great bowl and this, with the swirling sand, +made the noon meal an unpleasant duty. But, in spite of these +discomforts, Enoch managed to ride many miles, during the day, with his +horse beside Diana's. And he talked to her as though he must in the +short five days make up for a life time of reticence. + + +He told her of the Seatons and all that John Seaton had done for him. +He told her of his years of dreaming of the Canyon and of his days as +Police Commissioner. He told of dreams he had had as a Congressman and +as a Senator and of the great hopes with which he had taken up the work +of the Secretary of the Interior. And finally, as the wind began to +lessen with the sinking sun, and the tired horses slowed to the trail's +lifting from the bowl, he told her of his last speaking trip, of its +purpose and of its results. + +"The more I know you," said Diana, "the more I am confirmed in the +opinion I had of you years before I met you. And that is that however +our great Departments need men of your administrative capacity and +integrity--and I'm perfectly willing to admit that their need is +dire--your place, Enoch Huntingdon, is in the Senate. Yet I suppose +your party will insist on pushing you on into the White House. And it +will be a mistake." + +"Why?" asked Enoch quickly. + +"Because," replied Diana, brushing the lavender dust from her brown +hands thoughtfully, "your gift of oratory, your fundamental, sane +dreams for the nation, your admirable character, impose a particular +and peculiar duty on you. It has been many generations since the +nation had a spokesman. Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster, have been dead +a long time. Most of our orators since have killed their own influence +by fanatical clinging to some partisan cause. You should be bigger +than any party, Enoch. And in the White House you cannot be. Our +spoils system has achieved that. But in the Senate is your great, +natural opportunity." + +Enoch smiled. "Without the flourishes of praise, I've reached about +the same conclusion that you have," he said. "I have been told," he +hesitated, "that I could have the party nomination for the presidency, +if I wished it. You know that practically assures election." + +Diana nodded. "And it's a temptation, of course!" + +"Yes and no!" replied Enoch. "No man could help being moved and +flattered, yes, and tempted by the suggestion. And yet when I think of +the loneliness of a man like me in the White House, the loneliness, and +the gradual disillusionment such as the President spoke of you, the +temptation has very little effect on me." + +"How kind he was that day!" exclaimed Diana, "and how many years ago it +seems!" + +They rode on in silence for a few moments, then Diana exclaimed, "Look, +Enoch dear!" + +Ahead of them, along the rim of the bowl, an Indian rode. His long +hair was flying in the wind. Both he and his horse were silhouetted +sharply against the brilliant western sky. + +"Make a picture of it, Diana!" cried Enoch. + +Diana shook her head. "I could make nothing of it!" + +Na-che gave a long, shrill call, which the Indian returned, then pulled +up his horse to wait for them. When Enoch and Diana reached the rim, +the others already had overtaken him. + +"It's Wee-tah!" exclaimed Diana, then as she shook hands, she added: +"Where are you going so fast, Wee-tah?" + +The Indian, a handsome young buck, his hair bound with a knotted +handkerchief, glanced at Enoch and answered Diana in Navajo. + +Diana nodded, then said: "Judge, this is Wee-tah, a friend of mine." + +Enoch and the Indian shook hands gravely, and Diana said, "Can't you +take supper with us, Wee-tah?" + +"You stay, Wee-tah," Na-che put in abruptly. "Jonas and I want you to +help us with a charm." + +"Na-che says you know a heap about charms, Mr. Wee-tah!" exclaimed +Jonas. + +Wee-tah grinned affably. "I stay," he said. "Only the whites have to +hurry. Good water hole right there." He jerked his thumb over his +shoulder, then turned his pony and led the way a few hundred yards to a +low outcropping of stones, the hollowed top of which held a few +precious gallons of rain water. + +"My Lordy!" exclaimed Jonas, as he and Enoch were hobbling their +horses, "if I don't have some charms and hoo-doos to put over on those +Baptist folks back home! Why, these Indians have got even a Georgia +nigger beat for knowing the spirits." + +"Jonas, you're an old fool, but I love you!" said Enoch. + +Jonas chuckled, and hurried off to help Na-che with the supper. The +stunted cat's claw and mesquite which grew here plentifully made +possible a glorious fire that was most welcome, for the evening was +cold. Enoch undertook to keep the big blaze going while Wee-tah +prepared a small fire at a little distance for cooking purposes. After +supper the two Indians and Jonas gathered round this while Enoch and +Diana remained at what Jonas designated as the front room stove. + +"What solitary trip was Wee-tah undertaking?" asked Enoch. "Or mustn't +I inquire?" + +"On one of the buttes in the canyon country," replied Diana, "Wee-tah's +grandfather, a great chief, was killed, years ago. Wee-tah is going up +to that butte to pray for his little son who has never been born." + +"Ah!" said Enoch, and fell silent. Diana, in her favorite attitude, +hands clasping her knees, watched the fire. At last Enoch roused +himself. + +"Shall you come to Washington this winter, Diana?" + +"I ought to, but I may not. I may go into the Havesupai country for +two months, after you go East, and put Washington off until late +spring." + +"Don't fear that I shall disturb you, when you come, dear." Enoch +looked at Diana with troubled eyes. + +She looked at him, but said nothing, and again there was silence. +Enoch emptied his pipe and put it in his pocket. + +"After you have finished this work for the President, then what, Diana?" + +She shook her head. "There is plenty of time to plan for that. If I +go into the angle of the children's games and their possible relations +to religious ceremonies, there's no telling when I shall wind up! Then +there are their superstitions that careful study might separate clearly +from their true spiritism. The great danger in work like mine is that +it is apt to grow academic. In the pursuit of dry ethnological facts +one forgets the artistry needed to preserve it and present it to the +world." + +"Whew!" sighed Enoch. "I'm afraid you're a fearful highbrow, Diana! +Hello, Jonas, what can I do for you?" + +"We all are going down the desert a piece with Wee-tah. They's a charm +down there he knows about. They think we'll be gone about an hour. +But don't worry about us." + +"Don't let the ghosts get you, old man,", said Enoch. "After all +you've lived through, that would be too simple." + +Jonas grinned, and followed the Indians out into the darkness. + +"Now," inquired Enoch, "is that tact or superstition?" + +"Both, I should say," replied Diana. "We'll have to agree that Na-che +and Jonas are doing all they can to make the match. I gather from what +Na-che says that they're working mostly on love charms for us." + +"More power to 'em," said Enoch grimly. "Diana, let's walk out under +the stars for a little while. The fire dims them." + +They rose, and Enoch put his arm about the girl and said, with a +tenderness in his beautiful voice that seemed to Diana a very part of +the harmony of the glowing stars: + +"Diana! Oh, Diana! Diana!" + +She wondered as they moved slowly away from the fire, if Enoch had any +conception of the beauty of his voice. It seemed to her to express the +man even more fully than his face. All the sweetness, all the +virility, all the suffering, all the capacity for joy that was written +in Enoch's face was expressed in his voice, with the addition of a +melodiousness that only tone could give. Although she never had heard +him make a speech she knew how even his most commonplace sentence must +wing home to the very heart of the hearer. + +They said less, in this hour alone together, than they said in any +evening of their journey. And yet they both felt as if it was the most +nearly perfect of their hours. + +Perhaps it was because the sky was more magnificent than it had been +before; the stars larger and nearer and the sky more deeply, richly +blue. + +Perhaps it was because after the dusk and heat of the day, the uproar +of the sand and wind, the cool silence was doubly impressive and thrice +grateful. + +And perhaps it was because of some wordless, intangible reason, that +only lovers know, which made Diana seem more beautiful, more pure, her +touch more sacred, and Enoch stronger, finer, tenderer than ever before. + +At any rate, walking slowly, with their arms about each other, they +were deeply happy. + +And Enoch said, "Diana, I know now that not one moment of the +loneliness and the bitterness of the years, would I part with. All of +it serves to make this moment more perfect." + +And suddenly Diana said, "Enoch, hold me close to you again, here, +under the stars, so that I may never again look at them, when I'm alone +in the desert, without feeling your dear arms about me, and your dear +cheek against mine." + +And when they were back by the fire again, Enoch once more leaned +against Diana's knee and felt the soft touch of her hand on his hair +and forehead. + +The three magic-makers returned, chanting softly, as magic-makers +should. Faint and far across the desert sounded the intriguing rhythm +long before the three dark faces were caught by the firelight. When +they finally appeared, Jonas was bearing an eagle's feather. + +"Miss Diana," he said solemnly, "will you give me one of your long +hairs?" + +Quite as solemnly, Diana plucked a long chestnut spear and Jonas +wrapped it round the stem of the feather. Then he joined the other two +at the water hole. Enoch and Diana looked at each other with a smile. + +"Do you think it will work, Diana?" asked Enoch. + +"Eagle feather magic is strong magic," replied Diana. "I shall go to +sleep believing in it. Good night, Enoch." + +"Good night, Diana." + +Wee-tah left them after breakfast, cantering away briskly on his pony, +his long hair blowing, Na-che and Jonas shouting laughingly after him. + +It was a brisk, clear morning, with ribbons of mist blowing across the +distant ranges. By noon, their way was leading through scattered +growths of stunted cedar and juniper with an occasional gnarled, +undersized oak in which grew mistletoe thick-hung with ivory berries. +Bear grass and bunch grass dotted the sand. Orioles and robins sang as +they foraged for the blue cedar berry. All the afternoon the trees +increased in size and when they made camp at night, it was under a +giant pine whose kindred stretched in every direction as far as the eye +could pierce through the dusk. There was water in a tiny rivulet near +by. + +"It's heavenly, Diana!" exclaimed Enoch, as he returned from hobbling +the horses. "We must be getting well up as to elevation. There is a +tang to the air that says so." + +Diana nodded a little sadly. "One night more, after this, then you'll +sleep at El Tovar, Enoch." + +"I'm not thinking even of to-morrow, Diana. This moment is enough. +Are you tired?" + +"Tired? No!" but the eyes she lifted to Enoch's were faintly shadowed. +"Perhaps," she suggested, "I'm not living quite so completely in the +present as you are." + +"Necessity hasn't trained you during the years, as it has me," said +Enoch. "If the trail had not been so bad to-day and I could have +ridden beside you, I think I could have kept your thoughts here, +sweetheart." + +"I think you could have, Enoch," agreed Diana, with a wistful smile. + +The hunting had been good that day. Amongst them, the travelers had +bagged numerous quail and cottontails, and Jonas had brought in at noon +a huge jack rabbit. This they could not eat but its left hind foot, +Jonas claimed, would make a sensation in Washington. Supper was a +festive meal, Na-che producing a rabbit soup, and Jonas broiling the +quail, which he served with hot biscuit that the most accomplished chef +might have envied. + +After the meal was finished and Enoch and Diana were standing before +the fire, debating the feasibility of a walk under the pines, Jonas and +Na-che approached them solemnly. + +Jonas cleared his throat. "Boss and Miss Diana, Na-che and me, we want +you to do something for us. We know you all trust us both and so we +don't want you to ask the why or the wherefore, but just go ahead and +do it." + +"What is it, Jonas?" asked Diana. + +"Well, up ahead a spell in these woods, there's a round open space and +in the middle of it under a big rock an Injun and his sweetheart is +buried. Something like a million years ago he stole her from over +yonder from the--" he hesitated, and Na-che said softly: + +"Hopis." + +"Yes, the Hopis. And her tribe come lickety-cut after her, and +overtook 'em at that spot yonder, and her father give her the choice of +coming back or both of 'em dying right there. They chose to die, and +there they are. Wee-tah and Na-che and all the Injuns believe--" + +Na-che pulled at his sleeve. + +"Oh, I forgot! We ain't going to tell you what they believe, because +whites don't never have the right kind of faith. Let me alone, Na-che. +How come you think I can't tell this story? But what we ask of you is, +will you and Miss Allen, boss, go up to that stone yonder, and lay this +eagle's feather beside it, then sit on the stone until a star falls." + +Enoch and Diana looked at each other, half smiling. + +"Don't say no," urged Na-che. "You want to take a walk, anyhow." + +"And what happens, if the star falls?" asked Diana. + +"Something mighty good," replied Jonas. + +"It's pretty cold for sitting still so long, isn't Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"You can take a blanket to wrap round yourselves. Do it, boss! You +know you and Miss Diana don't care where you are as long as you get a +little time alone together." + +Enoch laughed. "Come along, Diana! Who knows what Indian magic might +do for us!" + +"That's right," Na-che nodded approval. "There's an old trail to it, +see!" she led Diana beyond the camp pine, and pointed to the faint +black line, that was traceable in the sand under the trees. The pine +forest was absolutely clear of undergrowth. + +"Come on, Enoch," laughed Diana, and Enoch, chuckling, joined her, +while the two magicians stood by the fire, interest and satisfaction +showing in every line of their faces. + +Diana had little difficulty following the trail. To Enoch's +unaccustomed eyes and feet, the ease with which she led the way was +astonishing. She walked swiftly under the trees for ten minutes, then +paused on the edge of a wide amphitheater, rich in starlight. In the +center lay a huge flat stone. They made their way through the sand to +this. Dimly they could discern that the sides of the rock were covered +with hieroglyphics. Diana laid the eagle's feather in a crevice at the +end of the rock. + +"See!" exclaimed Enoch. "Other lovers have been here before!" He +pointed to feathers at different points in the rock. "It must indeed +be strong magic!" + +He folded one blanket for a seat, another he pulled over their +shoulders, for in spite of the brisk walk, they both were shivering +with the cold. + +"What do you suppose the world at large would say," chuckled Diana, "if +it would see the Secretary of the Interior, at this moment." + +"I think it would say that as a human being, it was beginning to have +hope of him," replied Enoch. + +Then they fell silent. The great trees that widely encircled them were +motionless. The heavens seemed made of stars. Enoch drew Diana close +against him, and leaned his cheek upon her hair. Slowly a jack rabbit +loped toward the ancient grave, stopped to gaze with burning eyes at +the two motionless figures, twitched his ears and slowly hopped away. +Shortly a cottontail deliberately crossed the circle, then another and +another. Suddenly Diana touched Enoch's hand softly. + +"In the trees, opposite!" she breathed. + +Two pairs of fiery eyes moved slowly out until the starlight revealed +two tiny antelope, gray, graceful shadows of the desert night. The +pair stared motionless at the ancient grave, then gently trotted away. +Now came a long interval in which neither sound nor motion was +perceptible in the silvery dusk. Then like little gray ghosts with +glowing eyes half a dozen antelope moved tranquilly across the +amphitheater. Enoch and Diana watched breathlessly but for many +moments more there was no sign of living creature. And suddenly a +great star flashed across the radiant heavens. + +"The magic!" whispered Diana, "the desert magic!" + +"Diana," murmured Enoch in reply, "this is as near heaven as mortals +may hope to reach." + +"Desert magic!" repeated Diana softly. "Come, dear, we must go back to +camp." + +Enoch rose reluctantly and put his hands on Diana's shoulders. "Those +lovers, long ago," he said, his deep voice tender and wistful, "those +lovers long ago were not far wrong in their decision. I'm sure, in the +years to come, when I think of this evening, and this journey, I shall +feel so." + +Diana touched his cheek softly with her hand. "I love you, Enoch," was +all she said, and they returned in silence to the camp. + +"We saw the star fall!" exclaimed Jonas, waiting by the fire with +Na-che. + +Enoch nodded and, after a glance at his face, Jonas said nothing more. + +All the next day they penetrated deeper and deeper into the mighty +forest. All day long the trail lifted gradually, the air growing rarer +and colder as they went. + +It was biting cold when they made their night camp deep in the woods. +But a glorious fire before a giant tree trunk made the last evening on +the trail one of comfort. Na-che and Jonas had run out of excuses for +leaving the lovers alone, but nothing daunted, after supper was cleared +off they made their own camp fire at a distance and sat before it, +singing and laughing even after Diana had withdrawn to her tent. + +"Enoch," said Diana, "I have something that I want to say to you, but +I'll admit that it takes more courage than I've been able to gather +together until now. But this is our last evening and I must relieve my +mind." + +Enoch, surprised by the earnestness of Diana's voice, laid down his +pipe and put his hand over hers. "I don't see why you need courage to +say anything under heaven to me!" + +"But I do on this subject," returned Diana, raising wide, troubled eyes +to his. "Enoch, you have made me love you and then have told me that +you cannot marry me. I think that I have the right to tell you that +you are abnormal toward marriage. You are spoiling our two lives and I +am entering a most solemn protest against your doing so." + +"But, Diana--" began Enoch. + +"No!" interrupted Diana. "You must hear me through in silence, Enoch. +I remember my father telling me that Seaton believed that you had been +made the victim of almost hypnotic suggestion by that beast, Luigi. +Not that Luigi knew anything about auto-suggestion or anything of the +sort! He simply wanted to enslave a boy who was a clever gambler. And +so he planted the vicious suggestion in your mind that you were +necessarily bad because your mother was. And all these years, that +suggestion has held, not to make you bad but to make you fear that your +children would be or that disease, mental or physical, is latent in you +which marriage would uncover. Enoch, have you never talked your case +over with a psychologist?" + +"No!" replied Enoch. "I've always felt that I was perfectly normal and +I still feel so. Moreover, I've wanted to bury my mother's history a +thousand fathoms deep. Consider too, that I've never wanted to marry +any woman till I met you." + +"And having met me," said Diana bitterly, "you allow a preconceived +idea to wreck us both. You astonish me almost as much as you make me +suffer. Enoch, did you ever try to trace your father?" + +"Diana, what chance would I have of finding my father when you consider +what my mother was? Nevertheless, I have tried." And Enoch told in +detail both Seaton's and the Police Commissioner's efforts in his +behalf. + +Diana rose and paced restlessly up and down before the fire. Enoch +rose with her and stood leaning against the tree trunk, watching her +with tragic eyes. Finally Diana said: + +"I'm not clever at argument, but every woman has a right to fight for +her mate. I insist that your reasons for not marrying are chimeras. +And if I'm willing to risk marrying the man who may or may not be the +son of Luigi's mistress, he should be willing to risk marrying me." + +"But, you see, you do admit it's a risk!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"No more a risk than marriage always is," declared Diana, with a smile +that had no humor in it. "Enoch, let's not be cowardly. Let's 'set +the slug horn dauntless to our lips.'" + +Enoch covered his eyes with his hands. Cold sweat stood on his brow. +All the ugly, menacing suggestions of thirty years crowded his answer +to his lips. + +"Diana, we must not!" he groaned. + +Diana drew a quick breath, then said, "Enoch, I cannot submit tamely to +such a decision. I have a friend in Boston who is one of the great +psycho-analysts of the country. When I return to Washington in the +spring I shall go to see him." + +"God! Shall I never be able to bury Minetta Lane?" cried Enoch. + +"Not until you dig the grave yourself, my dear! Yours has been a case +for a mind specialist, all these years, not a detective. I, for one, +refuse to let Minetta Lane hag ride me if it is possible to escape it." +Suddenly she smiled again. "I'll admit I'm not at all Victorian in my +attitude." + +"You couldn't be anything that was not fine," returned Enoch sadly. +"But I cannot bear to have you buoy yourself with false hopes." + +"A drowning woman grasps at straws, I suppose," said Diana, a little +brokenly. "Good night, my dearest," and Diana went into the tent, +leaving Enoch to ponder heavily over the fire until the cold drove him +to his blankets. + +Breaking camp the next morning was dreary and arduous enough. Snow was +still falling, the mules were recalcitrant and a bitter wind had piled +drifts in every direction. The four travelers were in a subdued mood, +although Enoch heartened himself considerably by urging Diana to +remember that they had still to look forward to the trip down Bright +Angel. + +They floundered through the snow for two heavy hours before Diana +looked back at Enoch to say, + +"We're only a mile from the cabin now, Enoch!" + +"Only a mile!" exclaimed Enoch. "Diana, I wonder what your father will +say when he sees me!" + +"He thinks you are two thousand miles from here!" laughed Diana. +"We'll see what he will say." + +"And so," murmured Enoch to himself, "any perfect journey is ended." + + + + +BOOK IV + +THE PHANTASM DESTROYED + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE FIRING LINE AGAIN + + +"When I shall have given you up, Diana, I shall love my own solitude as +never before. For you will dwell there and he who has lovely thoughts +is never lonely."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +The cabin was built of cedar logs. Frank had added to it as necessity +arose or his means permitted, and it sprawled pleasantly under the +pines, as if it belonged there and enjoyed being there. Na-che gave +her peculiar, far-carrying call, some moments before the cabin came +into view, and when the little cavalcade jingled up to the door, it was +wide open, a ruddy faced, white-haired man standing before it. + +"Hello, Diana!" he shouted. "Where in seven thunders have you been! +You're a week late!" + +Then his eyes fastened wonderingly on Enoch's face. He came slowly +across the porch and down the steps. Enoch did not speak, and for a +long moment the two men stared at each other while time turned back its +hands for a quarter of a century. Suddenly Frank's hand shot out. + +"My God! It's Enoch Huntingdon!" + +"Yes, Frank, it's he," replied Enoch. + +"Where on earth did you come from? Come in, Mr. Secretary! Come in! +Or do you want to go up to the hotel?" + +"Hotel! Frank, don't try to put on dog with me or snub me either!" +exclaimed Enoch, dismounting. "And I am Enoch to you, just as that +cowardly kid was, twenty-two years ago!" + +"Cowardly!" roared Frank. "Well, come in! Come in before I get +started on that." + +"This is Jonas," said Na-che gravely. + +"I know who Jonas is," said Frank, shaking hands. "Come in! Come in! +Before I burst with curiosity! Diana girl, I've been worried sick +about you. I swear once more this is the last trip you shall take +without me." + +The living-room was huge and beautiful. A fire roared in the great +fireplace. Indian blankets and rugs covered the floor. There were +some fine paintings on the walls and books and photographs everywhere. +After Enoch and Diana had removed their snowy coats, Frank impatiently +forced them into the arm-chairs before the fire, while he stood on the +bearskin before them. + +"For the love of heaven, Diana, where did you folks meet?" + +"You begin, Enoch," said Diana quietly. + +At the use of the Secretary's name, Frank glanced at Diana quickly, +then turned back to Enoch. + +"Well, Frank, I was on a speaking trip, and the pressure of things got +so bad that I decided to slip away from everybody and give myself a +trip to the Canyon. That was about a month ago. I outfitted at a +little village on the railroad, and shortly after that I joined some +miners who were going up to the Canyon to placer prospect. We had been +at the Canyon several days when Jonas and Diana and Na-che found us. +Diana stayed a day or so, then Jonas and I went with a Geological +Survey crew for a boating trip down the river. We had sundry +adventures, finally landing at Grant's Ferry, our leader, Milton, with +a broken leg. Here we found Diana and Na-che. Jonas and I left the +others and came on here because I want to go down the trail with you. +That, in brief, is my story." + +"Devilish brief!" snorted Frank. "Thank you for nothing! Diana, +suppose you pad the skeleton a little." + +"Yes, I will, Dad, if you'll let Enoch go to his room and get into some +dry clothes. I told Na-che to help herself for him from your supply." + +"Surely! Surely! What a rough bronco, I am! Let me show you to the +guest room, Mr. Secretary--Enoch, I should say," and Frank led the way +to a comfortable room whose windows gave a distant view of the Canyon +rim. + +When Enoch returned to the living-room after a bath and some strenuous +grooming at Jonas' hands, Diana had disappeared and Frank was standing +before the fire, smoking a cigarette. He tossed it into the flames at +Enoch's approach. + +"Enoch, my boy!" he said, then his voice broke, and the two men stood +silently grasping each other's hands. + +Enoch was the first to find his voice. "Except for the white hair, +Frank, the years have forgotten you." + +"Not quite, Enoch! Not quite! I don't take those trails as easily as +I did once. You, yourself are changed, but one would expect that! +Fourteen to thirty-six, isn't it?" + +Enoch nodded. "Will the snow make Bright Angel too difficult for you, +Frank?" + +"Me? My Lord, no! Do I look a tenderfoot? We'll start to-morrow +morning and take two days to it. Sit down, do! I've a thousand +questions to ask you." + +"Before I begin to answer them, Frank, tell me if there is any way in +which I can send a telegram. I must let my office know where I am, +much as I regret the necessity." + +"You can telephone a message to the hotel," replied Frank. "They'll +take care of it. But you realize that your traveling incog. will be +all out if you do that?" + +"Not necessarily!" Enoch chuckled. + +Frank called the hotel on the telephone and handed the instrument to +Enoch, who smiled as he gave the message. + +"Mr. Charles Abbott, 8946 Blank Street, Washington, D. C. The boss can +be reached now at El Tovar, Jonas." + +"But won't Abbott wire you?" asked Frank. + +"No, he'll wire Jonas. See if he doesn't," replied Enoch. "And now +for the questions. Oh, Diana!" rising as Diana, in a brown silk house +frock, came into the room. "How lovely you look! Doesn't she, Frank?" + +"She looks like her mother," said Frank. "Only she'll never be quite +as beautiful as Helen was." + +"'Whose beauty launched a thousand ships'!" Enoch exclaimed, smiling at +Diana. "My boyish memoir of Mrs. Allen is that she was dark." + +"She was darker than Diana, and not so tall. Just as high as my +breast; a fine mind in a lovely body!" Frank sighed deeply and stared +at the fire. + +Enoch, lying back in the great arm-chair, watched Diana with +thoughtful, wistful eyes, until Frank roused himself, saying abruptly, +"And now once more for the questions. Enoch, what started you in +politics?" + +"Well," replied Enoch, "that's a large order, but I'll try to tell the +story." He began the tale, but was so constantly interrupted by +Frank's questions that luncheon was announced by Na-che, just as he +finished. + +After luncheon they returned again to the fire, and Frank, urged on by +Enoch, told the story of his early days at the Canyon. Perhaps Frank +guessed that Enoch and Diana were in no mood for speech themselves, for +he talked on and on, interrupted only by Enoch's laughter, or quick +word of sympathy. Diana, her hands clasped loosely in her lap, watched +the fire or stared at the snow drifts that the wind was piling against +the window. It seemed to Enoch that the shadows about her great eyes +were deepening as the hours went on. + +Suddenly Frank looked at his watch. "Four o'clock! I must go out to +the corral. Want to come along, Enoch?" + +"I think not, Frank. I'll sit here with Diana, if you don't mind." + +"I can stand it, if Diana can," chuckled Frank, and a moment later a +door slammed after him. + +Enoch turned at once to Diana. "Are you happy, dear?" + +"Happy and unhappy; unbearably so!" replied Diana. + +"Don't forget for a moment," said Enoch quickly, "that we have two +whole days after to-day." + +"I don't," Diana smiled a little uncertainly. "Enoch, I wonder if you +know how well you look! You are so tanned and so clear-eyed! I'm +going to be jealous of the women at every dinner party I imagine you +attending!" + +Enoch laughed. "Diana, my reputation as a woman hater is going to be +increased every year. See if it's not!" + +The telephone rang and Diana answered the call. + +"Yes! Yes, Jonas is here, Fred Jonas--I'll take the message." There +was a pause, then Diana said steadily, "See if I repeat correctly. +Tell the Boss the President wishes him to take first train East, making +all possible speed. Wire at once date of arrival. Signed Abbott." + +Diana hung up the receiver and turned to Enoch, who had risen and was +standing beside her. + +"Orders, eh, Enoch?" she said, trying to smile with white lips. + +Enoch did not answer. He stood staring at the girl's quivering mouth, +while his own lips stiffened. Then he said quietly: "Will you tell me +where I can find Jonas, Diana?" + +"He's in the kitchen with Na-che. I'll go bring him in." + +"No, stay here, Diana, sweetheart. Your face tells too much. I'll be +back in a moment." + +Jonas looked up from the potatoes he was peeling, as Enoch came into +the kitchen. "Jonas, I've just had a reply from the wire I sent Abbott +this morning. The President wants me at once. Will you go up to the +hotel and arrange for transportation out of here tonight? Remember, I +don't want it known who I am." + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary!" exclaimed Jonas. Hastily wiping his hands, he +murmured to Na-che, as Enoch turned away: "No trip down Bright Angel, +Na-che. Ain't it a shame to think that love ring--" But Enoch heard +no more. + +Diana stood before the fire in the gathering twilight. "Is there +anything Dad or I can do to facilitate your start, Enoch?" + +"Nothing, Diana. Jonas is a past master in this sort of thing, and he +prefers to do it all himself. You and I have only to think of each +other until I have to leave." + +He took Diana's face between his hands and gazed at it hungrily. "How +beautiful, how beautiful you are!" he said, his rich voice dying in a +sigh. + +"Don't sigh, Enoch!" exclaimed Diana. "We must not make this last +moment sad. You are going back into the arena, fit for the fight. +That makes me very, very glad. And while you have told me nothing as +to your intentions concerning Brown, I know that your decision, when it +comes, will be right." + +"I don't know what that decision will be, Diana. I have given my whole +mind to you for many days. But I shall do nothing rash, nor without +long thought. My dearest, I wish I could make you understand what you +mean to me. I had thought when we were in the Canyon to-morrow I could +tell you something of my boyhood, so that you would understand me, and +what you mean to me. But all that must remain unsaid. Perhaps it's +just as well." + +Enoch sighed again and, turning to the table, picked up the flat +package he had laid there on entering the room. + +"This is my diary, Diana," placing it in her hands. "Be as gentle as +you can in judging me, as you read it. If we were to be married, I +think I would not have let you see it, but as it is, I am giving to you +the most intimate thing in my possession, and I feel somehow as if in +so doing I am tying myself to you forever." + +Diana clasped the book to her heart, and laid her burning cheek against +Enoch's. But she did not speak. Enoch held her slender body against +his and the firelight flickered on the two motionless forms. + +"Diana," said Enoch huskily, "you are going on with your work, as +earnestly as ever, are you not?" + +"Not quite so earnestly because, after I reach the East again, Minetta +Lane will be my job." + +"Oh, Diana, I beg of you, don't soil your hands with that!" groaned +Enoch. + +"I must! I must, Enoch!" Then Diana's voice broke and again the room +was silent. They stood clinging to each other until Frank's voice was +heard in the rear of the house. + +"It's an infernal shame, I say. President or no President!" + +"I'm going to my room for a little while," whispered Diana. And when +Frank stamped into the room, Enoch was standing alone, his great head +bowed in the firelight. + +"Can't you stall 'em off a little while?" demanded Frank. + +Enoch shook his head with a smile. "I've played truant too long to +dictate now. Jonas and I must pull out to-night. Perhaps it's best, +after all, Frank, and yet, it seemed for a moment as if it were +physically impossible for me to give up that trip down Bright Angel. +I've dreamed of it for twenty-two years. And to go down with Diana and +you--" + +"It's life!" said Frank briefly. He sank into an armchair and neither +man spoke until Na-che announced supper. + +Diana appeared then, her cheeks and eyes bright and her voice steady. +Enoch never had seen her in a more whimsical mood and the meal, which +he had dreaded, passed off quickly and pleasantly. + +Not long after dinner, Frank announced the buck-board ready for the +drive to the station. He slammed the door after this announcement, and +Enoch took Diana in his arms and kissed her passionately. + +"Good-by, Diana." + +"Good-by, Enoch!" and the last golden moment was gone. + +Enoch had no very clear recollection of his farewells to Na-che and +Frank. Outwardly calm and collected, within he was a tempest. He +obeyed Jonas automatically, went to his berth at once, and toward dawn +fell asleep to the rumble of the train. The trip across the continent +was accomplished without untoward incident. Enoch was, of course, +recognized by the trainmen, but he kept to the stateroom that Jonas had +procured and refused to see the reporters who boarded the train at +Kansas City and again at Chicago. After the first twenty-four hours of +grief over the parting with Diana, Enoch began to recover his mental +poise. He was able to crowd back some of his sorrow and to begin to +contemplate his whole adventure. Nor could he contemplate it without +beginning to exult, and little by little his spirits lifted and even +the tragedy of giving up Diana became a sacred and a beautiful thing. +His grief became a righteous part of his life, a thing he would not +give up any more than he would have given up a joy. + +Undoubtedly Jonas enjoyed this trip more than any railway journey of +his experience. Certainly he was a marked man. He wore the broadest +brimmed hat in Frank Allen's collection, and John Red Sun's high laced +boots. Strapped to his suitcase were the Ida's broken paddle and the +battered board with "a-che" on it. These stood conspicuously in his +seat in the Pullman, where he held a daily reception to all the porters +on the train. True to his orders, he never mentioned Enoch's name in +connection with his tale of the Canyon, but his own adventures lost +nothing by that. + +Enoch did not wire the exact time of his arrival in Washington, as he +wished no one to meet the train. It was not quite three o'clock of a +cold December day when Charley Abbott, arranging the papers in Enoch's +private office, looked up as the inner door opened. Enoch, tanned and +vigorous, came in, followed by Jonas, in all his western glory. + +Charley sprang forward to meet Enoch's extended hand. "Mr. Huntingdon! +Thank the Lord!" + +"All set, Abbott!" exclaimed Enoch, "and ready to steam ahead. Let me +introduce old Canyon Bill, formerly known as Jonas!" + +Charley clasped Jonas' hand, burst out laughing, and slapped him on the +back. "Some story goes with that outfit, eh, Jonas, old boy! Say! if +you let the rest of the doormen and messengers see you, there won't be +a stroke of work done for the rest of the day." + +"I'm going to look Harry up, right now, if you don't need me, boss!" +exclaimed Jonas. + +"Take the rest of the day, Jonas!" + +"No, I'll be back prompt at six, boss!" and Jonas, with his luggage, +disappeared. + +Enoch pulled off his overcoat and seated himself at the desk, then +looked up at Charley with a smile. + +"I had a great trip, Abbott. I went with a mining outfit up to the +Canyon country. With Miss Allen's help, Jonas located me at the placer +mine, and after several adventures, we came back with her to El Tovar, +where I wired you." + +Abbott looked at Enoch keenly. "You're a new man, Mr. Secretary." + +Enoch nodded. "I'm in good trim. What happens first, Abbott?" + +"I didn't know what time you'd be in to-day, so your appointments don't +begin until to-morrow. But the President wants you to call him at your +earliest convenience. Shall I get in touch with the White House?" + +"If you please. In the meantime, I may as well begin to go through +these letters." + +"I kept them down pretty well, I think," said Abbott, with justifiable +pride, as he picked up the telephone. After several moments he +reported that the President would see Enoch at five o'clock. + +"Very well," Enoch nodded. "Then you'd better tell me the things I +need to know." + +Abbott went into the outer office for his note book and, returning with +it, for an hour he reported to Enoch on the business of the Department. +Enoch, puffing on a cigar, asked questions and made notes himself. +When Charley had finished, he said: + +"Thank you, Abbott! I don't see but what I could have remained away +indefinitely. Matters seem in excellent shape." + +"Not everything, Mr. Secretary. Your oil bill has been unaccountably +blocked in the Senate. The intervention in Mexico talk has begun +again. The Geological Survey is in a mix-up and it looks as if a +scandal were about to burst on poor old Cheney's head. I'm afraid he's +outlived his usefulness anyhow. The newspapers in California are +starting a new states-rights campaign for water power control and, +every day since I've returned, Secretary Fowler's office has called and +asked for the date of your return." + +"Interested in me, aren't they!" smiled Enoch. "Why is the President +in such a hurry to see me, Abbott?" + +"I don't know, sir. I promised his secretary that the moment I heard +from you I'd send such a message as I did send you." + +"All right, Abbott, I'll start along. Don't wait or let Jonas wait +after six. I'll go directly home if I'm detained after that." + +The President looked at Enoch intently as he crossed the long room. + +"Wherever you've been, Huntingdon, it has done you good." + +"I took a trip through the Canyon country, Mr. President. I've always +wanted it." + +The President waited as if he expected Enoch to say more, but the +younger man stood silently contemplating the open fire. + +"How about this tale of Brown's?" the Chief Executive asked finally. +"I dislike mentioning it to you, Huntingdon, but you are the most +trusted member of my Cabinet, and you have issued no denial to a very +nasty scandal about yourself." + +Enoch turned grave eyes toward the President. "I shall issue no +denial, Mr. President. But there is one man in the world I wish to +know the whole truth. If you have the time, sir, will you permit me to +go over the whole miserable story?" + +The President studied the Secretary's face. "It will be a painful +thing for both of us, Huntingdon," he said after a moment, "but for the +sake of our future confidential relationship, I think I shall have to +ask you to go over it with me. Sit down, won't you?" + +Enoch shook his head and, standing with his back to the fire, his +burning eyes never leaving the President's face, he told the story of +Minetta Lane. He ceased only at the moment when he dropped off the +train into the desert. He did not spare himself. And yet when the +quiet, eloquent voice stopped, there were tears in the President's +eyes. He made no comment until Enoch turned to the fire, then he said, +with a curious smile: + +"A public man cannot afford private vices." + +"I know that now," replied Enoch. "You may have my resignation +whenever you wish it. I think it probable that I'll never touch a card +again. But I dare not promise." + +"I'm told," said the Chief Executive drily, "that you were not without +good company in Blank Street; that a certain famous person from the +British Legation, a certain Admiral of our own navy and an Italian +prince contributed their share to the entertainment." + +Enoch flushed slightly, but did not speak. + +"I don't want your resignation, Huntingdon. It's a most unfortunate +affair, but we cannot afford to lose you. Brown is a whelp, also he's +a power that must be reckoned with. That article turned Washington +over for a while. The talk has quieted now. It was the gambling that +the populace rolled under its tongue. Only he and the scandal mongers +like Brown gave any but a pitying glance at the other story. The fears +that I have about the affair are first as to its reaction on you and +second as to the sort of capital the opposite party will make of it. I +think you let it hit you too hard, Huntingdon." + +Enoch lifted sad eyes to the chief executive. His lips were painfully +compressed and the President said, huskily: + +"I know, my boy! I sensed long ago that you were a man who had drunk +of a bitter cup. I wish I could have helped you bear it!" There was +silence for a moment, then the President went on: + +"What are you going to do to Brown, Huntingdon?" + +"I haven't decided yet," replied Enoch slowly. "But I shall not let +him go unpunished." + +The President shook his head and sighed. "You must feel that way, of +course, but before we talk about that let's review the political +situation. I'm ending my second term. For years, as you know, a large +portion of the party has had its eye on you to succeed me. In fact, as +the head of the party, I may modestly claim to have been your first +endorser! Long ago I recognized the fact that unless youth and +virility and sane idealism were injected into the old machine, it would +fall apart and radicalism would take its place." + +"Or Tammanyism!" interjected Enoch. + +"They are equally menacing in my mind," said the older man. "As you +know, too, Huntingdon, there has been a quiet but very active minority +very much against you. They have spent years trying to get something +on you, and they've never succeeded. But--well, you understand mob +psychology better than I do--if Brown evolves a slogan, a clever +phrase, built about your gambling propensities, it will damn you far +more effectively than if he had proved that you played crooked politics +or did something really harmful to the country." + +Enoch nodded. "Whom do you think Brown is for, Mr. President?" + +"Has it ever occurred to you that Brown often picks up Fowler's +policies and quietly pushes them?" + +Again Enoch nodded and the President went on, "Brown never actively +plays Fowler's game. There's an old story that an ancient quarrel +separates them. But word has been carefully passed about that there is +to be a dinner at the Willard to-morrow night, of the nature of a love +feast, at which Fowler and Brown are to fall on each other's necks with +tears." + +Enoch got up from his chair and prowled about the great room +restlessly, then he stood before the chief executive. + +"Mr. President, why shouldn't Fowler go to the White House? He's a +brilliant man. He's done notable service as Secretary of State. I +don't think the cabinet has contained his equal for twenty-five years. +He has given our diplomatic service a distinction in Europe that it +never had before. He has a good following in the party. Perhaps the +best of the old conservatives are for him. I don't like his attitude +on the Mexican trouble and sometimes I have felt uneasy as to his +entire loyalty to you. Yet, I am not convinced that he would not make +a far more able chief executive than I?" + +"Suppose that he openly ties to Brown, Huntingdon?" + +"In that case," replied Enoch slowly, "I would feel in duty bound to +interfere." + +"And if you do interfere," persisted the President, "you realize fully +that it will be a nasty fight?" + +"Perhaps it would be!" Enoch's lips tightened as he shrugged his +shoulders. + +The President's eyes glowed as he watched the grim lines deepen in +Enoch's face. Then he said, "Huntingdon, I'm giving a dinner to-morrow +night too! The British Ambassador and the French Ambassador want to +meet Seńor Juan Cadiz. Did you know that your friend Cadiz is the +greatest living authority on Aztec worship and a hectic fan for +bullfighting as a national sport? My little party is entirely +informal, one of the things the newspapers ordinarily don't comment on. +You know I insist on my right to cease to be President on occasions +when I can arrange for three or four real people to meet each other. +This is one of those occasions. You are to come to the dinner too, +Huntingdon. And if the conversation drifts from bullfighting and Aztec +gods to Mexico and England's and France's ideas about your recent +speeches, I shall not complain." + +"Thank you, Mr. President," said Enoch. + +"I would do as much for you personally, of course," the older man +nodded, as he rose, "but in this instance, I'm playing politics even +more than I'm putting my hand on your shoulder. It's good to have you +back, Huntingdon! Good night!" and a few minutes later Enoch was out +on the snowy street. + +It was after six and he went directly home. He spent the evening going +over accumulated reports. At ten o'clock Jonas came to the library +door. + +"Boss, how would you feel about going to bed? You know we got into +early hours in the Canyon." + +"I feel that I'm going immediately!" Enoch laughed. "Jonas, what have +your friends to say about your trip?" as he went slowly up the stairs. + +"Boss, I'm the foremost colored man in Washington to-night. I'm +invited to give a lecture on my trip in the Baptist Church. They +offered me five bones for it and I laughed at 'em. How come you to +think, I asked 'em, that money could make me talk about my life blood's +escape. No, sir, I give my services for patriotism. I can't have the +paddle nor the name board framed till I've showed 'em at the lecture. +I'm requested to wear my costume." + +"Good work, Jonas! Remember one thing, though! Leave me and Miss +Diana absolutely out of the story." + +Jonas nodded. "I understand, Mr. Secretary." + +When Enoch reached his office the next morning he said to Charley +Abbott: "When or if Secretary Fowler's office calls with the usual +inquiry, make no reply but connect whomever calls directly with me." + +Charley grinned. "Very well, Mr. Secretary. Shall we go after those +letters?" + +"Whenever you say so. You'd better make an appointment as soon as +possible with Cheney. He--" The telephone interrupted and Abbott took +the call, then silently passed the instrument to Enoch. + +"Yes, this is the Secretary's office," said Enoch. "Who is +wanted? . . . This is Mr. Huntingdon speaking. Please connect me with +Mr. Fowler. . . . Good morning, Mr. Fowler! I'm sorry to have made +your office so much trouble. I understand you've been calling me +daily. . . . Oh, yes, I thought it was a mistake. . . . Late this +afternoon, at the French Ambassador's? Yes, I'll look you up there. +Good-by." + +Enoch hung up the receiver. "Was I to go to tea at Madame Foret's this +afternoon, Abbott?" + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary. Madame Foret called me up a few days ago and was +so kind and so explicit--" + +"It's quite all right, Abbott. Mr. Fowler wondered, he said, if I was +to be invited!" + +The two men looked at each other, then without further comment Enoch +began to dictate his long-delayed letters. The day was hectic but +Enoch turned off his work with zest. + +Shortly after lunch the Director of the Geological Survey appeared. +Enoch greeted him cordially, and after a few generalities said, "Mr. +Cheney, what bomb are they preparing to explode now?" + +Cheney ran his fingers through his white hair and sighed. "I guess I'm +getting too old for modern politics, Mr. Secretary. You'd better send +me back into the field. Neither you nor I knew it, but it seems that +I've been using those fellows out in the field for my own personal +ends. I have a group mining for me in the Grand Canyon and another +group locating oil fields for me in Texas." + +Enoch laughed, then said seriously: "What's the idea, Mr. Cheney? Have +you a theory?" + +Cheney shook his head. "Just innate deviltry, I suppose, on the part +of Congress." + +"You've been chief of the Survey fifteen years, haven't you, Mr. +Cheney?" + +"Yes, too long for my own good. Times have changed. People realized +once that men who go high in the technical world very seldom are +crooked. But your modern politician would believe evil of the +Almighty." + +"What sort of timber are you developing among your field men, Cheney?" + +"Only so-so! Young men aren't what they were in my day." + +Enoch eyed the tired face under the white hair sympathetically. "Mr. +Cheney, you're letting these people get under your skin. And that is +exactly what they are aiming to do. You aren't the man you were a few +months ago. My advice to you is, take a vacation. When you come back +turn over the field work to a younger man and devote yourself to +finding who is after you and why. I have an idea that the gang is not +interested in you, personally." + +Cheney suddenly sat up very straight. "You think that you--" then he +hesitated. "No, Mr. Secretary, this is a young man's fight. I'd +better resign." + +"Perhaps, later on, but not now. After years of such honorable service +as yours, go because you have reached the fullness of years and have +earned your rest. Don't let these fellows smirch your name and the +name of the Service. Clear both before you go." + +"What do I care for what they say of me!" cried Cheney with sudden +fire. "I know what I've given to the government since I first ran +surveys in Utah! You're an eastern man and a city man, Mr. Secretary. +If you had any idea of what a field man, in Utah, for example, or New +Mexico, or Arizona endures, of the love he has for his work, you'd see +why my pride won't let me justify my existence to a Congressional +Committee." + +"And yet," insisted Enoch, "I am going to ask you to do that very +thing, Mr. Cheney. I am asking you to do it not for me or for +yourself, but for the good of the Survey. Find out who, what and why. +And tell me. Will you do it, Mr. Cheney?" + +There was something winning as well as compelling in Enoch's voice. +The director of the Survey rose slowly, and with a half smile held out +his hand to the Secretary. + +"I'll do it, Mr. Secretary, but for just one reason, because of my +admiration and friendship for you." + +Enoch smiled. "Not the best of reasons, I'm afraid, but I'm grateful +anyhow. Will you let me know facts as you turn them up?" + +Cheney nodded. "Good day, Mr. Secretary!" and Enoch turned to meet his +next visitor. + +Shortly before six o'clock Enoch shook hands with Madame Foret in her +crowded drawing-room. He seemed to be quite unconscious of the more +than usually interested and inquiring glances that were directed toward +him. + +"You had a charming vacation, so your smile says, Mr. Huntingdon!" +exclaimed Madame Foret. "I am so glad! Where did you go?" + +"Into the desert, Madame Foret." + +"Oh, into the desert of that beautiful Miss Allen! She and her +pictures together made me feel that that was one part of America I must +not miss. She promised me that she would show me what she called the +Painted Desert, and I shall hold her to the promise!" + +"No one could show you quite so wonderfully as Miss Allen, I'm sure," +said Enoch. + +"Now, just what did you do to kill time in the desert, Huntingdon?" +asked Mr. Johns-Eaton, the British Ambassador. "Why didn't you go +where there was some real sport?" + +"Oh, I found sport of a sort!" returned Enoch solemnly. + +Johns-Eaton gave Enoch a keen look. "I'll wager you did!" he +exclaimed. "Any hunting?" + +"Some small game and a great deal of boating!" + +"Boating! Now you are spoofing me! Listen, Mr. Fowler, here's a man +who says he was boating in the desert!" + +Fowler and Enoch bowed and, after a moment's more general conversation, +they drew aside. + +"About this Mexican trouble, Huntingdon," said Fowler slowly. "I said +nothing as to your speaking trip, until your return, for various +reasons. But I want to tell you now, that I considered it an intrusion +upon my prerogatives." + +"Have you told the President so?" asked Enoch. + +"The President did not make the tour," replied Fowler. + +"Just why," Enoch sipped his cup of tea calmly, "did you choose this +occasion to tell me of your resentment?" + +"Because," replied Fowler, in a voice tense with repressed anger, "it +is my express purpose never to set foot in your office again, nor to +permit you to appear in mine. When we are forced to meet, we will meet +on neutral ground." + +"Well," said Enoch mildly, "that's perfectly agreeable to me. But, +excepting on cabinet days, why meet at all?" + +"You are agreed that it shall be war between us, then?" demanded Fowler +eagerly. + +"Oh, quite so! Only not exactly the kind of war you think it will be, +Mr. Secretary!" said Enoch, and he walked calmly back to the tea table +for his second cup. + +He stayed for some time longer, chatting with different people, taking +his leave after the Secretary of State had driven away. Then he went +home, thoughtfully, to prepare for the President's dinner. + +The chief executive was a remarkable host, tactful, resourceful, and +witty. The dinner was devoted entirely at first to Juan Cadiz and his +wonderful stories of Aztec gods and of bullfighting. Gradually, +however, Cadiz turned to modern conditions in Mexico, and Mr. +Johns-Eaton, with sudden fire, spoke of England's feeling about the +chaos that reigned beyond the Texan border lines. Monsieur Foret did +not fully agree with the Englishman's general attitude, but when Cadiz +quoted from one of Enoch's speeches, the ambassadors united in praise +of the sanity of Enoch's arguments. The President did not commit +himself in any way. But when he said good night to Enoch, he added in +the hearing of the others: + +"Thank you, old man! I wish I had a hundred like you!" + +Enoch walked home through a light snow that was falling. And although +his mind grappled during the entire walk with the new problem at hand, +he was conscious every moment of the fact that a week before he had +tramped through falling snow with Diana always within hand touch. + +Jonas, brushing the snow from Enoch's broad shoulders, said casually: +"I had a telegram from Na-che this evening, boss. She and Miss Diana +start for Havasu canyon to-morrow." + +Enoch started. "Why, how'd she happen to wire you, Jonas?" + +"I done told her to," replied Jonas coolly, "and moreover, I left the +money for her to do it with." + +Enoch said nothing until he was standing in his dressing-gown before +his bedroom fire. Then he turned to Jonas and said: + +"Old man, it won't do. I can't stand it. I must not be able to follow +her movements or I shall not be able to keep my mind on matters here. +I shall never marry, Jonas. All the charms and all the affectionate +desires of you and Na-che cannot change that." + +Jonas gave Enoch a long, reproachful look that was at the same time +well-tinctured with obstinacy. Without a word he left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +CURLY'S REPORT + + +"And now my house-mate is Grief. But she is wise and beautiful as the +Canyon is wise and beautiful and I claim both as my own."--_Enoch's +Diary_. + + +The Washington papers, the next morning, contained the accounts of two +very interesting dinner parties. One was a detailed story of the +President's dinner. The other told of the public meeting and +reconciliation of Secretary Fowler and Hancock Brown. The evening +papers contained, as did the morning editions the day following, widely +varied comment on the two episodes. + +Enoch did not see the President for nearly a week after the dinner +party, excepting at the cabinet meeting. Then, in response to a +telephone call one evening, he went to the White House and told the +President of his break with Fowler. + +"That was a curious thing for him to do," commented the chief +executive. "It looks to me like a plain case of losing his temper." + +"It struck me so," agreed Enoch. + +"Do you think that he had anything to do with the publishing of that +canard about you, Huntingdon?" + +"I would not be surprised if he had. If I find that he was mixed up in +it, Mr. President, I shall have to punish him as well as Brown." + +"Horsewhipping is what Brown deserves," growled the President. +"Huntingdon, why are they after Cheney?" + +"I've told him to find out," replied Enoch. "I want him to put himself +in the position of being able to give them the lie direct, and then +resign." + +"Who is after him?" + +"I believe, if we can probe far enough, we'll find this same Mexican +controversy at the bottom of it. Cheney has been immensely interested +in the fuel problem. He's given signal help to the Bureau of Mines." + +The telephone rang, and the President answered it. He returned to his +arm-chair shortly, with a curious smile on his face. + +"Secretary Fowler wants to see me. I did not tell him that you are +calling. As far as he has informed me, you and he are still on a +friendly basis. He will be along shortly, and I shall be keenly +interested in observing the meeting." + +Enoch smoked his cigar in silence for some moments before he said, with +a chuckle: + +"I like a fight, if only it's in the open." + +"So do I!" exclaimed the President. + +The conversation was desultory until the door opened, admitting the +Secretary of State. He gave Enoch a glance and greeted the chief +executive, then bowed formally to Enoch, and stood waiting. + +"Sit down, Fowler! Try one of those cigars! They haven't killed +Huntingdon yet." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. President," stiffly, "it is quite impossible +for me to make any pretense of friendship for the present Secretary of +the Interior." + +The President raised his eyebrows. "What's the trouble, Fowler?" + +"You may have heard," Fowler's voice was sardonic, "that your Secretary +of the Interior swung around the circle on a speech-making trip this +fall!" + +"I heard of it," replied the chief executive, "probably before you did, +because I asked Mr. Huntingdon to make the trip." + +"And may I ask, Mr. President, why you asked this gentleman to +interfere with my prerogatives?" + +"Come! Come, Fowler! You are too clever a man to attempt the +hoity-toity manner with me! You undoubtedly read all of Huntingdon's +speeches with care, and you observed that his entire plea was for the +states to allow the Federal Government to proceed in its normal +function of developing the water power and oil resources of this +country; that a few American business men should not be permitted to +hog the water power of the state for private gain, nor to embroil us in +war with Mexico because of private oil holdings there. You will recall +that whatever information he used, he procured himself and, before +using, laid it in your hands. You laughed at it. You will recall that +I asked you, a month before Huntingdon went out, if you would not swing +round the circle, and you begged to be excused." + +Still standing, the Secretary of State bowed and said, "Mr. Huntingdon +has too distinguished an advocate to permit me to argue the matter +here." + +Enoch spoke suddenly. "Although I'm grateful to the President, Mr. +Fowler, I need no advocate. What in thunder are you angry about? If +you and I are to quarrel, why not let me know the _casus belli_!" + +"I've stated my grievance," said Fowler flatly. + +"Your new attitude toward me has nothing to do, I suppose," suggested +Enoch, lighting a fresh cigar, "with the fact that you dined with +Hancock Brown the other evening?" + +Fowler tapped his foot softly on the rug, but did not reply. Enoch +went on. "I don't want to quarrel with you, Fowler. I'm a sincere +admirer of yours. But I'm going to tell you frankly, that I don't like +Brown and that Brown must keep his tongue off of me. And I'm deeply +disappointed in you. You did not need Brown to add to your prestige in +America." + +"I don't know what the idea is, Fowler," said the President suddenly, +"but I do know that the aplomb and finesse with which you conduct your +official business are entirely lacking in this affair. It looks to me +as if you had a personal grievance here. Come, Fowler, old man, you +are too brilliant, too valuable--" + +The Secretary of State interrupted by bowing once more. "I very much +appreciate my scolding, Mr. President. With your permission, I'll +withdraw until you feel more kindly toward me." + +The President and Enoch did not speak for several minutes after Fowler +had left. Then the President said, "Enoch, how are you going to handle +Brown?" + +"I haven't fully made up my mind," replied Enoch. + +"The bitterest pill you could make him swallow would be to put yourself +in the White House at the next election." + +"I'm afraid Brown would look on that as less a punishment than a +misfortune." Enoch smiled, as he rose and said-good night. + +Nearly a month passed before Enoch heard from Cheney. During that time +neither from Fowler nor from the Brown papers was there any intimation +of consciousness of Enoch's existence. He believed that as long as he +chose to remain silent on the Mexican situation that they would +continue to ignore him. There could be little doubt that both Brown +and the public looked on Enoch's sudden silence following the Luigi +statement as complete rout. Enoch knew this and writhed under the +knowledge as he bided his time. + +On a morning early in January, Charley Abbott answered a telephone call +which interrupted him while was taking the Secretary's dictation. + +"It's Mr. Cheney!" he said, "He's very anxious to see you for ten +minutes, Mr. Secretary." + +"Crowd him in, Abbott," replied Enoch. + +Abbott nodded, and in less than half an hour the director of the Survey +came in. + +"Mr. Secretary," he began without preliminaries, "I took your advice +and began investigating the trouble spots. Among other steps I took, I +detached two men temporarily from a Colorado River expedition and sent +them into Texas to discover if possible what the ordinary oil +prospectors felt toward the Survey." + +Enoch's face brightened. "That was an interesting move!" he exclaimed. +"Were these experienced oil men?" + +"One of them, Harden, knew something of drilling. Well, they struck up +some sort of a pseudo partnership with a man, a miner, name Field, and +the three of them undertook to locate some wells in southern Texas. +They were near the Mexican border and were heckled constantly by bands +of Mexicans. Finally, as the man Field, Curly, Harden calls him in his +report, was standing guard over the horses one night, he was shot +through the abdomen. Three days later, he died." + +"Died!" exclaimed Enoch. "Are you sure of that?" + +"So Harden reports. Field knew that his wound was fatal. He was +perfectly cool and conscious to the last, and he spent the greater part +of the period before his death, dictating to Harden a long story about +Hancock Brown's early activities in Mexico. He swore Harden to +absolute secrecy as to details and made him promise to send the story +to some lawyer here in Washington, who seems to have taken a small +portion of the Canyon trip with the expedition and who had prospected +with Field." + +"And Curly Field is dead!" repeated Enoch. + +"Yes, poor fellow! Now then, here's the point, both Harden and +Forrester, the other Survey man, are morally certain that there is a +well-organized gang whose business is to make oil prospecting on the +border unhealthy. They have several lists of names they want +investigated, and they suggest that Secret Service men be put on the +job, at once. There was a small item in Texas papers about the killing +and a New York paper was after me this morning for the story. That's +why I hurried to you." + +"Did you gather that Field's story had anything to do with the present +trouble with Mexico?" asked Enoch. + +The Director shook his head. "No, Mr. Secretary. I merely brought +that detail in because Brown is known to be your enemy and--" + +He hesitated as he saw the grim lines deepening around Enoch's mouth. +The Secretary tapped the desk thoughtfully with his pencil, then said: + +"Keep it all out of the papers, Mr. Cheney, if you please. Or, rather +if you are willing, let the publicity end be handled from this office. +Send the newspaper men to Mr. Abbott." + +"That will be a relief!" exclaimed Cheney. "Shall I go ahead on the +lines indicated?" + +"Yes, and bring me your next budget of news!" + +As Cheney went out, Enoch rang for Jonas. "Jonas, I wish you'd go home +and see if there is any mail there for Judge Smith. If there is, lock +it in the desk in my room," tossing Jonas the key. + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary," exclaimed Jonas, disappearing out the door. He +returned shortly to report that mail had arrived for Judge Smith, and +that it was safely locked away. + +Enoch had no engagement that evening. When he had finished his +solitary dinner he went to his room and took out of the desk drawer a +large document envelope and a letter. The letter he opened. + + +"My dear Judge: Forrester and I have just completed a sad bit of work, +the taking of poor Curly's body back to Arizona for burial. Soon after +you left, we took Milton over to Wilson's ranch and left Ag to look out +for him. He's coming along fine, by the way. We wired our dilemma to +our Chief in Washington and he told us to go into southern Texas and +investigate some conditions there for him. To our surprise, Curly +wanted to go along, as soon as he found we were later going into Mexico +to an old stamping ground of his. Well, we had a great time on the +Border. It wasn't so bad until the hombres began to get nasty, and as +you may recall, neither Curly nor my now good pal Forr stand well under +sniping. It got so finally that we had to stand watch over our outfit +at night, and Curly got a bullet in his bladder. He bled so we +couldn't move him and Forr went out, thirty miles, after a doctor. +While we waited, Curly got me to set down the stuff I am sending you +under separate cover. He also made his will and left you his mining +claims, all merely prospects so far. He says you know how he came to +feel as he does about Brown and Fowler. However that may be, it +certainly is the dirtiest story I ever heard one man tell on others +and, dying though he was, I begged Curly to let me tear the paper up +and let the story go into the grave with him. But he held me to my +promise, so I'm sending it to you, with this apology for contaminating +either of us with the dope. Poor old Curly! He was a man who'd been a +little embittered by some early trouble, but he was a good scout, for +all that. + +"We all missed you and Jonas,--don't forget Jonas!--very much, after +you left. Milton said half a dozen times that when he gets in shape to +go on with the work in the spring, he was going to try to persuade you +to finish the trip with us. So say we all! With best wishes, +sincerely yours, C. L. Harden." + + +After Enoch had finished Harden's letter he replaced it in its envelope +slowly and dropped it into the desk drawer. Next, as slowly, he picked +up the bulkier envelope and placed it on edge on the mantel under the +Moran painting. Then he began to walk the floor. + +He knew that, in that dingy envelope, lay the whip by which he could +drive Brown to public apology. As far as fearing any publicity with +which Brown could retaliate, Enoch felt immune. He believed that he +had sounded the uttermost depths of humiliation. And at first he +gloated over the thought that now Brown could be made to suffer as he +had suffered. He would give the story to the newspapers, exactly as it +had come to him. And what a setting! Curly shot from ambush, by +creatures, it was highly probable, who were ignorantly actuated by +Brown's own crooked Mexican policy. Curly flinging, with his dying +hands, the boomerang that was to strike Brown down. That incidentally +it would pull Fowler down, moved Enoch little. Fowler too would be +hoist by his own petard. + +For a long hour Enoch paced the floor. Then he came to a sudden pause +before the mantel and turned on the light above the painting of Bright +Angel trail. Outside the room sounded the clatter of Washington's +streets. Enoch did not hear it. Once more a passionate, sullen boy, +he was clinging to his mule on the twisting trail. Once more swept +over him the horror of the Canyon and of human beings that had tortured +the soul of the boy, Enoch, on that first visit into the Canyon's +depths. The sweat started to his forehead and, as he stared, he +grasped the mantel with both hands. Then he picked up the envelope. +His hand shook as he inserted a finger under the flap, lifting his eyes +as he did so, once more to the painting. + +He paused. Unearthly calm, drifting mists, colors too ephemeral, too +subtle for words--drawn in the Canyon! + +The lift of the Ida under his knees, the eager welter of the whirlpool, +the sting of the icy Colorado dragging him under, the flash of Diana's +face and his winning fight with death. + +The chaos of the river and two tiny figures staggering hour after hour +over the hopeless, impossible chasms and buttes; Harden going to the +rescue of Forrester. + +Starlight on the desert. Diana's touch on his forehead, her tender, +gentle fingers smoothing his hair as they gazed together at the +mysterious shadowy depth beyond which flowed the Colorado; that tender +touch on his hair and forehead and the desert stars thrilling near, +infinitely remote. + +Suddenly Enoch, resting his arm on the mantel, dropped his forehead +upon it and stood so, the wonderful glowing colors of the painting +seeming to shimmer on his bronze hair. At last, at the sound of +Jonas's footstep in the hall, he lifted his head, turned off the light +above the painting, crossed to his desk and, dropping the still +unopened envelope into a secret drawer, locked it and put the key in +his pocket. + +The following morning Senator Havisham came to see Enoch. He was one +of the leading members of Enoch's party, a virile, progressive man, +very little older than the Secretary himself. After shaking hands with +Enoch and taking one of his cigars, he sat staring at him as if he +scarcely knew how to begin. + +Enoch smiled half sadly. "Go ahead, Senator," he said. "You and I +have known each other a long time." + +The Senator smiled in return. "Yes, we have, Huntingdon, and I'm proud +of the fact. That is why I was asked to undertake this errand which +has an unpleasant as well as a pleasant side. We want you to run as +our presidential nominee. But before we pass the word around, we want +you to issue a denial of the Brown canard that will settle that kind of +mud slinging at you for good and all." + +Enoch's face was a cold mask. "I can't deny it, Havisham. The facts +stated are true. The inferences drawn as to my character are false. +The bringing of Miss Allen into the story was a blasphemy. All things +considered, as far as publicity goes, utter silence is my only +recourse. As for my private retaliation on Brown, that's another and a +personal matter." + +Senator Havisham looked at Enoch through half-shut eyes. + +"Huntingdon, let me issue that statement, exactly as you have made it." + +"No," replied Enoch flatly. "The less reference made by us to the +Brown canard, the better chance of its being forgotten." + +The Senator puffed silently, then said, "Why does Brown hate you?" + +"I have fought his Mexican policy." + +"Yes, I know, but is that the only reason?" + +"As far as my knowledge goes," replied Enoch. "Of course, now that +he's openly committed to Fowler, he has an added grievance." + +"There is nothing personal between you?" + +"I never laid eyes on the man in my life. I never did him an +intentional injury. I am merely in his way. I always have despised +his papers and now I despise him. Understand, Senator, that, without +regard to diplomacy, Brown and I must have it out." + +Havisham shook his head. "You'd better let him alone, Huntingdon. He +has an awful weapon in his papers and he can smear you in the public +mind no matter how obviously false his stories may be." + +Enoch's lips tightened. "I'm not afraid of Brown. But all things +considered, Havisham, you'd better leave me out of your list of +presidential possibilities." + +"There is no list! Or, at least, you're the list!" The Senator's +laugh was a little rueful. + +"And," Enoch went on, "strange as it may seem, I'm not sure that I want +the Presidency. It seems to me that I might be far more useful in the +Capitol than in the White House." + +"Not to the party!" exclaimed Havisham quickly. + +"No, to the country!" + +"Perhaps, but it's a debatable matter, which I don't intend to debate. +You are our man. If you won't deny the Brown canard, then we must go +ahead without the denial." + +Enoch looked thoughtfully from the window, then turned back to the +Senator. "There is no great hurry, is there? Give me a month to get +matters clear in my own mind." + +"There is no hurry, except that the Brown papers work while others +sleep, and Fowler is Brown's nominee. However, take your month, old +man. I don't doubt that you have troubles of your own!" + +Enoch nodded. Havisham shook hands heartily and departed, and the +Secretary turned to his loaded desk. The Alaskan situation was causing +him keen anxiety. The old war between private ownership, with all its +greed and unfairness to the common citizen, and government control, +with all its cumbersome and often inefficient methods, had reached +acute proportions in the great northern province. Enoch was faced with +the necessity of deciding between the two. It must be a long distance +decision and any verdict he rendered was predestined to have in it +elements of injustice. For days Enoch thrust, as far as possible, his +personal problem into the background while he struggled with this +greater one. It was only at night that the thought of Diana +overwhelmed all else to torture him and yet to fill him with the joy of +perfect memories. + +It was on the morning after he had given his Alaskan decision that +Charley Abbott, eyebrows raised, laid a Brown paper before the +Secretary, with the comment: + +"Either Cheney or some one in Cheney's office has leaked." + +It was a twisted story of Curly's death. Curly, according to this +version, had been doing his utmost to keep two Survey men, Harden and +Forrester, from hogging for obscure government purposes, certain oil +lands, belonging to Curly. In the ill feeling that had resulted, Curly +had been shot. Before his death, however, he had been able to write a +statement of the affair which had been sent to a well-known lawyer in +Washington. He also had left sufficient property to the lawyer to +enable him to expose the workings of the Geological Survey to its bones. + +Enoch's face reddened. "I don't know what there is about a piece of +work like this that gets under my skin so intolerably!" he exclaimed. +"Whether it's the cruelty of it, or the dishonesty or the brute +selfishness, I don't know. But we are going to answer this, Abbott." + +"How shall we go about it, sir? We might find out if Cheney knows +these men personally and have him make a statement." + +"Have him tell of their previous records," said Enoch. "Let the world +know the heroism and the self-sacrifice of those men. And at the end +let him give the lie direct to the Brown papers. Tell him I'll sign it +for him." + +"That will give Brown just the opening he's looking for, Mr. Secretary, +I'm afraid," said Abbott, doubtfully. "I mean, your signature." + +"I'm ready for Brown," replied Enoch shortly. + +Still Charley hesitated. "What is it, Abbott?" asked the Secretary. + +"It's Miss Allen I'm thinking about," blurted out the younger man. +"You've gone through the worst that they can hand to a man, so you've +nothing more to fear. But if they bring her into it again, Mr. +Secretary, I'll go crazy!" + +The veins stood up on Enoch's forehead, and he said, with a cold +vehemence that made Abbott recoil, "If Miss Allen's name is brought up +with mine in that manner again, I shall kill Brown." + +Charley moistened his lips. "Well, but after all, Mr. Huntingdon, +Harden and Forrester are just a couple of unknown chaps. Is your +championing them worth the risk to Miss Allen?" + +"Miss Allen would be the last person to desire that kind of shielding. +I've reached my limit, Abbott, as far as the Brown papers are +concerned. They've got to keep their foul pens off the Department of +the Interior. I'd a little rather kill Brown than not. Why should +decent citizens live in fear of his dirty newsmongers? Life is not so +sweet to me, Abbott, nor the future so full of promise that I greatly +mind sacrificing either." + +"It's just--it's just that I care so much about Miss Allen," reiterated +Charley, miserably and doggedly. + +Enoch drew a quick breath. The two men stared at each other, pain and +hopelessness in both faces. Enoch recovered himself quickly. + +"I'm sorry, my boy," he said gently, "but life, particularly public +life, is full of bitter situations like this. Brown must be stopped +somewhere by somebody. Let's not count the cost. Get in touch with +Cheney and have that statement ready for the morning paper." + +He turned back to his letters and Abbott left the room. Before he went +home that night, Enoch had signed the very readable account of some of +Harden's and Forrester's exploits in the Survey and had added, before +signing, a line to the effect that the slurs and insinuations regarding +the two men which had appeared in the morning papers were entirely +untrue. + +For several days there was no reply from the Brown camp. Enoch's +friends commented to him freely on his temerity in deliberately drawing +Brown on, but Enoch only smiled and shrugged his shoulders, while +Curly's statement lay unopened in his drawer. But underneath his calm, +the still raw wound of Brown's earlier attack tingled as it awaited the +rubbing in of the salt. + +Finally, one morning, Charley laid a Brown paper on Enoch's desk. The +Secretary of the Interior, said the account, had denied the truth of +certain statements made by the publication. A repetition of the story +followed. A careful reinvestigation of the facts, the account went on, +showed the case to be as originally stated. The well-known lawyer had +been interviewed. He had told the reporter that the contents of +Field's letter were surprising beyond words and that as soon as he had +made full preparations some arrests would follow that would startle the +country. The lawyer, whose name was withheld for obvious reasons, was +a man whose integrity was beyond question. He had no intention of +using the funds willed him by Field, for he and Field had grown up +together in a little New England town. The money would be put in trust +for Field's son, who would be sent to college with the lawyer's own +boy. In the meantime, the Secretary of the Interior would not be +beyond a most respectful and discriminating investigation himself. It +was known that he had cut short an unsuccessful speaking tour for very +good reasons, and had disappeared into the desert country for a month. +Where had he been? + +Enoch suddenly laughed as he laid the paper down. "It is so childish, +so preposterous, that even a fool wouldn't swallow it!" he exclaimed. + +"It's just the sort of thing that people swallow whole," returned +Abbott. + +"Even at that, it's absolutely unimportant," said Enoch. Again Charley +disagreed with him. "Mr. Secretary, it's very important, for it's a +threat. It says that if you don't keep still, they will investigate +your desert trip. And you know what they could make of that!" + +"Let them keep their tongues off my Department, then," said Enoch, +sternly. Nevertheless when Abbott had left him alone he did not turn +immediately to his work. His cigar grew cold, and the ink dried on his +pen, while he sat with the look of grim determination in his eyes and +lips, deepening. + +He dined out that night and was tired and depressed when he returned +home. Jonas was smiling when he let the Secretary in and took his coat. + +"Boss, they's a nice little surprise waiting for you up on your desk." + +"Who'd be surprising me, Jonas? No one on earth but you, I'm afraid." + +Jonas chuckled. "You're a bad guesser, boss! A bad guesser! How come +you to think I could do anything to surprise you?" + +Enoch went into his brightly lighted room and stopped before his desk +with a low exclamation of pleasure. A large photograph stood against +the book rack. Three little naked Indian children with feathers in +their hair were dancing in the foreground. Behind them lay an ancient +cliff dwelling half in ruins. To the left an Indian warrior, arms +folded on his broad chest stood watching the children, his face full of +an inscrutable sadness. The children were extraordinarily beautiful. +Diana had worked with a very rapid lens and had caught them atilt, in +the full abandonment of the child to joy in motion. The shadowed, +mysterious, pathetic outline of the cliff dwelling, the somber figure +of the chief only enhanced the vivid sense of motion and glee in the +children. The picture was intrinsically lovely even without that +haunting sense of the desert's significance that made Diana's work +doubly intriguing. + +Enoch's depression dropped from him as if it had never been. "Oh, my +dearest!" he murmured, "you did not forget, did you! It is your very +self you have sent me, your own whimsical joyousness!" + +Jonas tapped softly on the door. + +"Come in, Jonas! Isn't it fine! How do you suppose a photograph can +tell so much!" + +"It's Miss Diana, it ain't the camera!" exclaimed Jonas, with a +chuckle. "Na-che says she ain't never seen her when she couldn't +smile. That buck looks like that fellow Wee-tah. Boss, do you +remember the night he took me out to see that desert charm?" + +"Tell me about it, Jonas. It will rest me more than sleep." + +Enoch sank back in his chair where he could face the photograph, and +Jonas established himself on the hearth rug and told his story with +gusto. "I got a lot of faith in Injun charms," he said, when he had +finished. + +"They didn't get us our trip down Bright Angel," sighed Enoch, even as +he smiled. + +"We'll get it yet, see if we don't!" protested Jonas stoutly. "Na-che +and I ain't give up for a minute. Don't laugh about it, boss." + +"I'm not laughing," replied Enoch gravely. "I'm thinking how fortunate +I am in my friends, you being among those present, Jonas." + +"As I always aim to be," agreed Jonas. "Do you think you could maybe +sleep now, boss?" + +"Yes, I think so, Jonas," and Enoch was as good as his word. + +Nearly two weeks passed before the attack on the Department of the +Interior was renewed. This time it was a deliberate assault on Enoch's +honesty. The Alaskan decision served as a text. This was held up as a +model of corruption and an example of the type of decision to be +expected from a gambling lawyer. Followed a list of half a dozen of +Enoch's rulings on water power control, on forest conservation and on +coal mining, each one interpreted in the light of Enoch's mania for +gambling. A man, the article said in closing, may, if he wishes, take +chances with his own fortune or his own reputation, but what right has +he to risk the public domain? + +Several days went by after the appearance of this edifying story, but +Enoch made no move. Then the President summoned him to the White House. + +"Enoch, shall you let that screed go unchallenged?" he demanded. + +"What can I say, Mr. President?" asked Enoch. "And really, that sort +of thing doesn't bother me much. It is only the usual political mud +slinging. They are feeling me out. They want more than anything to +get me into a newspaper controversy with them. I am going to be +difficult to get." + +"So I see!" retorted the President. "If you are not careful, old man, +people will begin to think Brown is right and you are afraid." + +Enoch laughed. "I am not afraid of him or any other skunk. But also, +in spite of my red hair, I have a good deal of patience. I am waiting +for our friends to trot out their whole bag of tricks." + +"What do you hear from Fowler?" asked the President. + +"Nothing. I am desperately sorry that he has got mixed up with Brown. +He is a brilliant man and the party needs him. I hope his attitude +toward me has made no break in the pleasant relationship between you +and him, Mr. President." + +"It did for a short time. But we got together over the Dutch Guiana +matter and he's quite himself again. As you say, the party can ill +afford to lose him. But a man who works with Brown I consider lost to +the party, no matter if he keeps the name." + +"Fowler used to like me," said Enoch, thoughtfully. + +"He certainly did. But the reason that Fowler will always be a +politician and not a statesman is that he is still blind to the fact +that the biggest thing a man can do for himself politically is to +forget himself and work for the party." + +"You mean for the country, do you not?" asked Enoch. + +"It should be the same thing. If Fowler can get beyond himself, he'll +be a statesman. But he's fifty and characters solidify at fifty. He's +been a first rate Secretary of State, because he's a first rate +international lawyer, because his tact is beyond reproach and because +he is forced by the nature of his work to think nationally and not +personally." + +"I'm sorry he's taken up with Brown," repeated Enoch. "There never was +such a dearth of good men in national politics before." + +"I've known him for many years," the President said thoughtfully, "and +I never knew him to do a dishonest thing. He's full of horse sense. +I've heard rumors that in his early days in the Far West he got in with +a bad crowd, but he threw them off and any one that knew details has +decently forgotten them. I've tried several times to speak to him +about this new alliance but although he's never shown temper as he did +that night when you were here, I get nowhere with him. His ideas for +the party are sane and sound and constructive." + +"You mean for the country, do you not, sir?" asked Enoch again with a +smile. + +The older man smiled too. "Hanged if I don't mean both!" he exclaimed. + +"What do you think of Havisham as presidential material?" asked Enoch. + +"Too good-natured! A splendid fellow but not quite enough chin! By +the way, I understand you refused to commit yourself to him the other +day." + +Enoch rose with a sigh. "Life to some people seems to be a simple aye! +aye! nay! nay! proposition. It never has been to me. Each problem of +my life presents many facets, and the older I grow the more I realize +that most of my decisions concerning myself have been made for one +facet and not for all. This time I'm trying to make a multiple +decision, as it were." + +"I think I understand," said the Chief executive. "Good night, Enoch." + +And Enoch went home to the waiting Jonas. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +REVENGE IS SWEET + + +"And then, after that day on the Colorado was ended, after the agony of +toil, the wrestling with death while our little boats withstood the +shock of destiny itself, oh, then, the wonder and the peace of the +night's camp. Rest! Rest at last!"--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +January slipped swiftly by and February, with its alternate rain and +snow came on. The splendid mental and physical poise that Enoch had +brought back with him from the Canyon stood him in good stead under the +pressure of office business which never had been so heavy. One +morning, late in February, Cheney came to see the Secretary. + +"Well, Mr. Cheney, have you made your discovery?" asked Enoch. + +Cheney nodded slowly. "But I didn't make it until last night, Mr. +Huntingdon. I've followed up all sorts of leads that landed me +nowhere. Last night, a newspaper reporter came to my house. He's with +the News now, but he used to be with Brown. He came round to learn +something about our men finding gold in the Grand Canyon. He wanted +the usual fool thing, an expression of opinion from me as Director. As +soon as he let slip that he'd been on the Brown papers, I began to +question him and I found that he'd been fired because he'd refused to +go out to Arizona and follow up your vacation trip. But, he said, two +weeks ago they started another fellow on the job." + +Enoch did not stir by so much as an eye wink. + +"I thought you ought to know this, although, personally, it may be a +matter of indifference to you." + +Enoch nodded. "And what are your conclusions, Mr. Cheney?" + +"That Brown is determined to discredit the Department of the Interior +and you, until you are ousted and a man in sympathy with his Mexican +policy is put in." + +"I agree with you, entirely. And what are your plans?" + +"I shall stick by my Bureau until we lick him. I haven't the slightest +desire to desert my Chief. When I thought it was I they were after, I +felt differently." + +"Thanks, Mr. Cheney! Will you give me the name of the reporter of whom +you were speaking." + +"James C. Capp. He's not a bad chap, I think." + +Enoch nodded and Cheney took his departure. There were several +important conferences after this which Enoch cleared off rapidly and +with his usual efficiency. When, however, Jonas announced luncheon, +Abbott asked for a little delay. + +"Here is an interesting item from this morning's Brown," he said. +Enoch read the clipping carefully. + +"The visitor to El Tovar, the rim hotel of the Grand Canyon receives +some curious impressions of our governmental prerogatives. Recently a +government expedition down the Colorado was too well equipped with +spirits and had some severe smash-ups. Two of the men became disgusted +and quit, but nothing daunted, Milton, the leader took on two fugitives +from justice in Utah and proceeded on his way. A week later, however, +there was a complete smash-up both moral and material. The boats were +lost and the expedition disbanded. The expensive equipment lies in the +bottom of the Colorado. So much for the efficiency and morale of the +U. S. Geological Survey." + +Enoch laughed, but there was an unpleasant twist to his mouth as he did +it. + +"Abbott," he said, "will you please find out if Brown is in New York. +Wherever he is, I am going to see him, immediately and I want you to go +with me. No, don't be alarmed! There will be no personal violence, +yet." + +The locating of the newspaper publisher was a simple task. An hour +after lunch, Charley reported Brown as in his New York office. + +"Very well," said Enoch, "telegraph him that we will meet him at his +office at nine to-night. We will take the three o'clock train and +return at midnight." + +It was not quite nine o'clock when Enoch and Charley entered Hancock +Brown's office. The building was buzzing with newspaper activities, +but the publisher's office was quiet. A sleepy office attendant was +awaiting them. With considerable ceremony he ushered the two across +the elaborate reception room and throwing open a door, said: + +"The Secretary of the Interior, sir." + +A small man, with a Van Dyke beard and gentle brown eyes crossed the +room with his hand outstretched. + +"Mr. Huntingdon! this is a pleasure and an honor!" + +"It is neither, sir," said Enoch, giving no heed to the outstretched +hand. + +Brown raised his eyebrow. "Will you be seated, Mr. Huntingdon?" + +"Not in your office, sir. Mr. Brown, I have endured from your hands +that which no _man_ would think to make another endure." Enoch's +beautiful voice was low but its resonance filled the office. His eyes +were like blue ice. "I have remained silent, for reasons of my own, +under your personal attacks on me, but now I have come to tell you that +the attacks on the Department of the Interior and on my personal life +must cease." + +Hancock Brown looked at Enoch with gentle reproach in his eyes. +"Surely you don't want to muzzle the press, Mr. Huntingdon?" + +"We're not speaking of the press," returned Enoch, "I have sincere +admiration for the press of this country." + +Brown flushed a little at this. "I shall continue on exactly the line +I have laid down," he said quietly. + +"If," said Enoch, clearly, "Miss Allen is brought into your publication +again either directly or by implication, I shall come to your office, +Mr. Brown, and shoot you. Abbott, you are the witness to what I say +and to the conversation that has led to it." + +"I am, Mr. Secretary," said Charley. "And if for any reason you should +be unable to attend to the matter, I would do the shooting for you." + +"This will make interesting copy," said Brown. + +"I have within my control," Enoch went on, steadily, "the means to +force you to cease to put out lies concerning the Department of the +Interior and me. I seriously consider not waiting for your next move, +but of making use of this in retaliation for what you have done to me. +As to that, I have reached no conclusion. This is all I have to say." + +Enoch turned on his heel and closely followed by Charley left the +office. As they entered the taxicab, Abbott said, "Gee, that did me +more good than getting my salary doubled! I thought you were going to +use this morning's item as a text!" + +"You'd better have Cheney prepare a reply to that, for me to sign," +said Enoch and he lapsed into silence. They went directly to their +train and to bed and the next morning office routine began promptly at +nine as usual. + +February slipped into March. One cold, rainy morning Abbott, with a +broad smile on his face, came in to take dictation. + +"What's happened, Abbott?" asked Enoch. "Some one left you some money?" + +"Better than that!" exclaimed Charley. "I dined at the Indian +Commissioner's last night and whom do you think I took out? Miss +Allen!" + +A slow red suffused Enoch's forehead and died out. "When did she +return to Washington?" he asked, quietly. + +"A day or so ago. She is studying at the Smithsonian. She says she'll +be here two months." + +"She is well, I hope," said Enoch. + +"She looks simply glorious!" + +Enoch nodded. "Instead of dictating letters, this morning, Abbott, +suppose you start the visitors this way. Somehow, the thought of +wading through that pile, right now, sickens me." + +Charley's face showed surprise, but he rose at once. "Mr. Cheney's +been waiting for an hour out there with an interesting chap from the +western field. Perhaps you'd better see them before I let the +committee from California in." + +Cheney came first. "Mr. Secretary, one of my men is in from Arizona. +He is very much worked up over Brown's last effort and he's got so much +to say that I thought you'd better meet him. Incidentally, he's a very +fine geologist." + +"Bring him in," said Enoch. + +The Director swung open the door and moving slowly on a cane, Milton +came into the room. + +"Mr. Secretary, Mr. Milton," said Cheney. "He--" then he stopped with +his mouth open for Milton had turned white and the Secretary was +laughing. + +"Judge!" gasped Milton. + +Enoch left his desk and crossing the room seized both Milton's hands, +cane and all. + +"Milton, old boy, there's no man in the world I'd rather see than you." + +"Why, are you two old friends?" asked Cheney. + +"Intimate friends!" exclaimed Enoch. "Cheney, I'll remember the favor +all my life, if you'll leave me alone with Milton for a little while." + +"Why certainly! Certainly! I didn't know Milton was trying to spring +a surprise on you. I'll be just outside when I'm needed." + +"Sit down, Milton," said Enoch, soberly, when they were alone. "Don't +hold my deception against me. I was not spying. It was the blindest +fate in the world that brought me to the Canyon and to your expedition." + +Milton's freckled face was still pale. "Hold it against you! Of +course not! But you've rattled me, Judge,--Mr. Secretary." + +"No one but Abbott knows of my trip and he in baldest outline. Keep my +secret for me, old man, as long as you possibly can. I suppose it will +leak out eventually." + +Milton was staring at Enoch. "Think of all we said and did!" he gasped. + +"Especially what we did! Oh, it was glorious! Glorious!" cried Enoch. +"It did all for me that you thought it might, Milton. Do you remember?" + +"Yes, I remember. And I remember telling you my personal ambitions! +I'd rather have cut out my tongue!" + +"And once you all told what you thought of Enoch Huntingdon!" The +Secretary burst out laughing, and Milton joined him with a great "Ha! +ha!" + +"So you were the fugitive from justice, that joined my drunken crew," +chuckled Milton, wiping the tears from his eyes. "And I came over to +try to put myself straight as to that with the Big Boss!" + +"The best part of it all is that excepting Abbott and Jonas and now +you, not a living soul knew it was the Secretary of the Interior who +took the trip." + +"Of course, there was Miss Allen!" added Milton. "Don't forget her! +But she's as safe as the Canyon itself at keeping a secret." + +"How about the reporter who's said to be on my trail?" asked Enoch. + +"He's prowling round on the river, running up an expense account +twenty-three hours and making up lies on the twenty-fourth. Capp told +Mr. Cheney that this reporter, whose name is Ames, I believe, was to +write nothing until his return to New York. Mr. Secretary, can't +something be done to shut him off?" + +"Yes," replied Enoch, sternly. The two men were silent for a moment, +then Enoch said with a sudden lighting of his blue eyes. "Where are +you stopping, old man." + +"I haven't located the cheapest hotel in Washington yet. When I do, +that'll be where I'll stop. You remember we used to speak our minds on +the salaries the Department paid." + +"I remember," chuckled Enoch. "Well, Milton, the cheapest stopping +place in Washington is over at Judge Smith's place. I believe you have +the address. By the way, have you seen Jonas?" + +"No, but I want to," replied Milton. + +Enoch pressed the button, and Jonas' black head popped in at the door. +As his eyes fell on Milton, they began to bulge. + +"The Lord have mercy! How come you didn't tell me, boss--" he began. +Then he rushed across the room and shook hands. "Mr. Milton, I'd +rather see you than my own brother. Did you find any pieces of the +Na-che?" + +"No, Jonas, but I've got some fine pictures in my trunk of you shooting +rapids in the old boat." + +"No! My Lordy! Where's your trunk, Mr. Milton?" + +"Jonas," said Enoch, "you get Mr. Milton's trunk check and--but he says +he's going to a hotel." + +Jonas looked at Milton, indignantly. "Going to a hotel! How come you +to try to insult the boss' and my house, Mr. Milton? Huh! Hotel! +Huh!" + +He took the check and left the room, still snorting. Milton rose. "I +mustn't intrude any longer, Mr. Secretary." + +"Luckily I'm free, to-night," said Enoch. "We'll have a great talk. +Ask Cheney to come in, please." + +"Mr. Cheney," asked Enoch, when Milton had gone, "do you think you +could find out whether or not that fellow Ames has returned from +Arizona?" + +"Yes, we can do that without much trouble. Was Milton able to +straighten matters up with you, Mr. Secretary?" + +"He didn't have to. I'm an ardent admirer of Milton's. He's going to +stop at my house, while he's in Washington. Why don't you take him out +of the field and begin to groom him for your job, Mr. Cheney? He +should be ready for it in a few years." + +Cheney nodded. "He's a good man. I'll think it over. And I will +telephone Abbott about Ames." + +It was fortunate for Enoch that Milton was with him that evening, for +the knowledge that Diana was in Washington and that he could not see +her was quite as agonizing as he had suspected it would be. Yet it was +impossible not to enjoy Milton's continual surprise and pleasure at the +change in the Judge's identity and it was a real delight to make once +more the voyage to the Ferry not only for its own sake but because with +the landing at the Ferry came much conversation on the part of Jonas +and Milton about Diana. But Enoch did not sleep well that night and +reached his office in the morning, heavy-eyed and grim. + +Abbott, standing beside the Secretary's desk was even more grim. "Mr. +Cheney was too slow getting us the information about Ames," he said, +pointing to the newspaper that lay on the desk. + +Enoch lighted a cigar very deliberately, then began to read. It was a +detailed account of the vacation trip of the Secretary of the Interior. +It was written with devilish ingenuity, purporting to show that Enoch +in his hours of relaxation was a thorough-going good fellow. The +account said that Enoch had picked up a mining outfit made up of two +notorious gamblers. That the three had then annexed two Indian bucks +and a squaw and had slowly made their way into the Grand Canyon, +ostensibly to placer mine, actually to play cards and hunt. The story +was witty, and contained some good word pictures of the Canyon country. +It was subtle in its wording, but it was from first to last an +unforgettable smirching of Enoch's character. + +Enoch laid the paper down. "Abbott," he said slowly, "the time has +come to act. I want Mr. Fowler, Mr. Brown, this fellow Ames, or +whatever reporter wrote the first article about me to come to my office +tomorrow afternoon at five o'clock. If it is necessary to ask the +President for authority to bring them here, I shall ask for it." + +Abbott's eyes glowed. "Thank God, at last!" he exclaimed. "Shall I +prepare a denial of this stuff." + +"No! At least they have left Miss Allen out. We may be thankful and +let it stand at that. Now, start the procession in, Abbott. I'm in no +mood to dictate letters." + +Enoch threw himself into the day's work with burning intensity. About +three o'clock, he told Abbott to deny all visitors that he might devote +himself to an Alaskan report. + +"Mr. Milton just rushed in. Will you let him have a moment?" asked +Charley. + +"Yes, but--" here Milton came in unceremoniously. + +"Mr. Huntingdon," he said, "I've just finished lunching with Miss +Allen. We are both nearly frantic over this morning's paper. You must +let us publish the truth." + +"No," thundered Enoch. "You know the Brown papers. If they discovered +what Miss Allen did for us all at the Ferry, how she led me back to El +Tovar, what would they do with it?" + +Abbott looked from Enoch to Milton in astonishment. Milton started to +speak, but Enoch interrupted, "You are, of course, thinking that I +should have thought of that long before, when I asked her to let me go +back to El Tovar with her. But I didn't! I had been in the Canyon +long enough to have forgotten what could be made of my adventure by bad +minds. I was a cursed fool, moving in a fool's paradise and I must +take my punishment. If ever--" + +Jonas opened the door from the outer office. "The President, Mr. +Secretary," he said. + +Enoch started toward the telephone, but Jonas spoke impatiently--"No! +No! not that." + +"The President of what, Jonas!" asked Abbott. + +Jonas lifted his chest and flung the door wide. "The President of the +United States of America," he announced, and the President came in. + +Enoch rose. "Don't let me disturb you, Mr. Secretary. I can wait," +said the chief executive. + +"We were quite finished, Mr. President. May I, I wonder, introduce Mr. +Milton to you, the geologist whom Brown said headed the drunken +expedition down the Colorado." + +The President looked keenly at Milton as they shook hands. "Mr. +Huntingdon took great pains to deny that story, publicly," he said. +"Can't you persuade him, Mr. Milton, to do as much for himself, to-day." + +"That's exactly why I'm here, Mr. President!" exclaimed Milton. "But +he's absolutely obdurate!" + +Jonas came into the room and spoke to Enoch softly. "Mr. Fowler's +office is on the outside wire, Mr. Secretary. I wouldn't connect in +here while the President was here. Mr. Fowler wants to speak to you, +hisself, before he catches a train." + +"I'll go into your office to get it, Abbott," said Enoch. "May I +detain you, a moment, Mr. President? Mr. Fowler wants to speak to me." + +The President raised his eyebrows with a little smile. "Yes, if you +tell me what's happened to Fowler." + +Enoch's smile was twisted as he went out. Milton immediately began to +speak. + +"Mr. President, can't you make Mr. Huntingdon tell about his vacation?" + +The chief executive shook his head. "Perhaps it's not best. Perhaps +he did have a lapse into his boyhood habits. Not that it makes any +difference to me." + +"No! No! Mr. President. I know--" began Charley. + +But Milton interrupted, "Mr. President, he was with me and part of the +time Miss Diana Allen, a wonderful woman, was with us. And Mr. +Huntingdon is afraid they'll turn their dirty tongues on her." + +The President's face lighted as if he had received good news. "Really! +With you!" + +"Yes, with me for a week and more. And I want to tell you, sir, that +for nerve and endurance and skill in a boat and as a pal and friend +under life and death conditions I've never seen any one to surpass him. +He scorned cards while he was with us. We had no liquor. We admired +him beyond words and had no idea who he was." + +"No!" cried the President, delightedly. "Why, there must be a real +story in this! Go on with it, Milton! Enoch," as the Secretary came +in, "I'm winning the truth out of your old cruising pal, here!" + +"I can't help it, Mr. Huntingdon!" cried Milton as Enoch turned toward +him indignantly. "Miss Diana said this noon that if you didn't tell +the story, she would." + +"There you are!" exclaimed the President. "Wouldn't you know she'd +take it that way? And on second thoughts I think I'd rather hear the +story from her than any one else." + +"But she can't tell you about the voyage, sir," protested Milton. + +"That's true," agreed the President. "I shall have to arrange one of +my choice little dinners and have you and Miss Diana Allen there to pad +out the Secretary's account." Then, with a sudden change of voice, he +walked over to Enoch and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. +Abbott nodded to Milton and the two slipped out. + +"You are a bit twisted about women, dear old man! Come, you must let +Milton put out the right kind of a denial of Brown's story." + +"Brown will put the denial out for himself," said Enoch sternly. "I've +reached my limit. Mr. President, I have asked Mr. Fowler, Brown, and +the reporter who's been maligning me to come to my office to-morrow +afternoon. I think I shall be able to settle this matter. I would +perhaps have done it before but I could not settle in my own mind just +how I wanted to go about it. Fowler refused to come until I told him +the purpose of the meeting." + +"And you know now how to end this miserable affair?" asked the +President, wonderingly. + +"Yes," replied Enoch. "And now, Mr. President, what can I do for you?" + +"Exactly what you are doing, Enoch. Clear up this disgusting matter." + +"You came to see me for that, sir?" + +The President smiled. "You do not seem to realize that a great many +people, people who never saw you, are deeply troubled about you. You +do not belong to yourself but to us, Mr. Secretary." + +"Perhaps you are right, sir," said Enoch humbly. "I thank you most +sincerely for coming." + +"Will you come to me as soon as you have finished, to-morrow, Enoch?" + +"Yes, Mr. President! Abbott, will you show the President out?" Then +when Charley had returned, he said, "Abbott, the Secretary of State +will be here. How about Brown?" + +"He will be here," replied Charley. "I used the President's name +pretty freely, but I think I finally got him curious enough and worried +enough." + +Enoch nodded. "Abbott, for the first time since I've been in this +office, I'm going to quit early and go for a ride." + +"It's what you ought to do every day," said Abbott. + +"Look here, Abbott, if I get this beastly matter settled to-morrow, I +want you to go away for two months' vacation." + +"Well," said Charley, doubtfully, "if you get it settled!" + +"Don't let that worry you," said Enoch grimly as he pulled on his +overcoat and left the office. "I'll settle it." + +Promptly at three o'clock, the next day, Abbott ushered three men into +the Secretary's office. Enoch rose and bowed to Secretary Fowler, to +Hancock Brown, and to Ames, the reporter. The last was a clear cut +young fellow with a nose a little too sharp and eyes set a trifle too +close together. + +"If you will be seated, gentlemen, I'll tell you the object of this +call upon your time. Mr. Abbott, please remain in the room. + +"On the third of November, Mr. Brown, you published in one of your +evening papers an article about me written under your direction by +Ames. The facts in that article were in the main true. The deductions +you drew from them were vilely false. It is not, Mr. Brown, a pleasant +knowledge for a man to carry through life that his mother was what my +mother was. I have suffered from that knowledge as it is obviously +quite beyond your power to comprehend. I say obviously, because no men +with decency or the most ordinary imagination would have dared to +harrow a man's secret soul as you harrowed mine. Even in my many +battles with Tammany, my unfortunate birth has been respected. It +remained for you to write the unwriteable. + +"As for my gambling, that too is true, to a certain extent. I have +played cards perhaps half a dozen times in as many years. I was taught +to play by the Luigi whom you interviewed. I have a gambler's +instinct, but since I was fourteen I have fought as men can fight and +latterly I have been winning the battle. + +"Your insinuations as to my adult relationship to the underworld and to +women are lies. And your dragging Miss Allen into the dirty tale was a +gratuitous insult which it is fortunate for both of you, her father has +not yet seen. It happened that while I was on the vacation recently in +which you have taken so impertinent an interest, that I joined the camp +of two miners. One of them, Curly Field, told me an interesting story. +He probably would not have told me had I not been calling myself Smith +and had he not discovered that I am a lawyer." + +The smile suddenly disappeared from Brown's face. + +"That fellow Curly always was a liar," he said. + +Enoch shrugged his shoulders. "You should be a good judge of liars, +Brown. Curly told me that Mr. Fowler was his brother-in-law's partner." + +Fowler spoke, his face drawn. "Spare me that story, Mr. Huntingdon, I +beg of you." + +"Did you beg Brown to spare me?" demanded Enoch, sternly. + +"Pshaw!" exclaimed Brown, "that is old stuff. It couldn't be proved +that we had anything to do with it." + +"No?" queried Enoch. "What would you say to my taking the fund left +Judge Smith by Curly and employing a first-class lawyer and a detective +to go on the trail of those mis-appropriated funds?" Brown did not +answer and Enoch went on: "Curly's idea was to get even with Fowler. +It was, in fact, a type of mania with him. He told me that for years +he had been in possession of facts concerning certain doings of Brown +and Fowler in Mexico, which if they were properly blazed across the +country would utterly ruin both of them. He wanted to put me in +possession of those facts." + +Suddenly Fowler rose and went to stand at a window, his back to the +group around the Secretary's desk. Enoch continued, clearly and firmly: + +"I could scarcely believe my good fortune. Here was my chance to pay +Brown in kind." + +"Did Curly give you the facts?" asked Brown, who had grown a little +white around the mouth. + +Enoch did not heed him. "I asked Curly if the story was a reflection +on these two men morally or financially. He said, morally; that it was +bad beyond words. At this point I weakened and told him that I had no +desire to display any man's weakness in the market place. And Curly +laughed at me and asked me what mercy Fowler had shown his brother? +But still I could not make up my mind to take those facts from Curly." + +Mr. Brown eased back in his chair with a sneering smile. Young Ames +sat sickly pale, his mouth open. + +"But when I left him," the calm, rich voice went on, "I told him that +he could write down the story and send it to my house in Washington. +Now the chances are that having drifted so many years without telling +it, he would have drifted on indefinitely. But fate intervened. Curly +went to the Mexican border. Certain gentlemen have seen to it that the +Mexican border is not safe. Curly was shot and he made it his +death-bed duty to dictate this delectable tale to a friend. In due +course of time, the document reached my house in Washington, and here +it is!" He tapped the upper drawer of his desk. + +There was utter silence in the room while Enoch lighted a cigarette. + +"Have you told any one the er--tale?" demanded Brown, hoarsely. "I can +prove that not a word of it is true!" + +"Can you?" Enoch squared round on him. "Are you willing to risk having +the story told with the idea of disproving it, afterward? Isn't your +system of scandal mongering built on the idea that mud once slung +always leaves a stain in the public mind? And Curly was an eye +witness. He is dead, but I do not believe all the other eye witnesses +are dead. At any rate--" + +Brown suddenly leaned forward in his chair. "Mr. Huntingdon, I'll give +you my check for $100,000, if you will give me that document and swear +to keep your mouth shut." + +"Your bribe is not large enough," Enoch answered tersely. + +"Five hundred thousand! I'll agree to make a public retraction of +everything I said about you and to work for you with all the power of +my newspapers." + +"Not enough!" repeated Enoch, watching Brown's white face, keenly. + +"What do you want?" demanded the newspaper publisher. + +"First," Enoch threw his cigarette away, "I want Secretary Fowler to +break with you, absolutely and completely." + +"Curly can't implicate me, in that Mexican affair!" cried Fowler. +"Why, my whole attitude was one of disapproval and disgust. I told +Brown over and over, that he was a fool and after the shooting I broke +with him, absolutely, for years. I am--" + +Enoch interrupted. "Brown, was Fowler in on the trouble?" + +"No!" replied Brown, sullenly. + +"I'm very glad to hear it," Enoch exclaimed. "Mr. Fowler, as far as I +am concerned all that I learned from Field regarding you is a closed +book and forgotten if you will break with Brown." + +"I'd break with him, gladly, if he'd cease to blackmail me about the +Field matter," said Fowler. "Good God! How many of us are there +who've not committed sins that we never forgive ourselves?" + +"None of us!" said Enoch. "Mr. Fowler, why did you break with me?" + +"Didn't you do your best to undermine me with the President? Didn't +you go to Ambassador Johns-Eaton and tell him--" Here, catching a +curious flickering of young Ames' eyelids, Fowler interrupted himself +to demand, "Or was that more of your dirty work, Ames?" + +"Answer, Ames!" Enoch's voice was not to be ignored. + +"Brown paid me for it," muttered Ames. + +Fowler groaned and looked at Enoch, who was lighting a fresh cigarette. + +"Will you agree, Brown, to an absolute break with Fowler and no come +backs?" asked Enoch. + +"Yes," said Brown eagerly. "What else?" + +"You are to go out of the newspaper business." + +There was another silence. Then Brown said, "I'll not do it!" + +"Very well," returned Enoch, "then the Mexican affair will be published +as Curly has written it with all the attendant circumstances." + +Again there was silence, with all the eyes in the room focused on the +pale, gentle face, opposite Enoch. The noise of street traffic beat +against the windows. Telephones sounded remotely in the outer office. +For ten minutes this was all. Then Brown in a husky voice said, + +"Very well! Give me the document!" + +"Not at all," returned Enoch, coolly. "This document goes into my +safety deposit box. In case of my death, it will be left to +responsible parties. When you die, it will be destroyed. I am not a +rich man, Mr. Brown, but I shall devote a part of my income to having +you watched; watched lest indirectly and by the underhand methods you +know so well you again attempt to influence public opinion. After +to-morrow, you are through." + +"To-morrow! Impossible!" gasped Brown. + +"Nothing is impossible except decency to a man of your capacity," said +Enoch. "To-morrow you publish a complete denial of your lies about me +and this Department and then you are no longer a newspaper publisher. +That is all I have to say to you, Mr. Brown." He pressed a button, +"Jonas, please show Mr. Brown out." + +Jonas' black eyes snapped. "How come you think I'd soil my shadow +letting that viper trail it, boss? I never disobeyed you before, Mr. +Secretary, but that trash can show hisself out!" and Jonas withdrew to +his own office, while Brown, shrugging his shoulders, opened and closed +the door for himself. + +Ames would have followed him, but Enoch said, "One moment, Ames! What +assurance are you going to give me that you will keep your mouth shut +as to what you've heard this afternoon?" + +"I give you my word," began Ames, eagerly. + +Enoch raised his hand. "Don't be silly, Ames. Do you know that I can +make serious legal trouble for you for your part in libelling me and +the Department?" + +"But Brown said his lawyers--" + +"Brown's lawyers? Do you think Brown's lawyers will fight for you now?" + +"No, Mr. Secretary," muttered the reporter. + +"Very well! Keep your mouth shut and you'll have no trouble from this, +but let me trace one syllable to you and I shall have no bowels of +compassion. One word more, Ames. You are clever or Brown would not +have used you as he did. Get a job on a clean paper. There is no +finer profession in the world than that of being a good newspaper man. +Newspaper men wield a more potent influence in our American life than +any other single factor. Use your talent nobly, not ignobly, Ames. +And above all things never tell a vile tale about any man's mother. +Don't do it, Ames!" and here Enoch's voice for the first time broke. + +Ames, his hands trembling, picked up his hat. His face had turned an +agonized red. Biting his lips, he made his way blindly from the room. + +"And now," said Enoch, "if you'll leave Mr. Fowler and me alone for a +few minutes, Abbott, I'll appreciate it." As the door closed after +Charley he said, "Sit down, Fowler. I'm sorry to have put you through +such an ordeal, but I knew no other way." + +"I deserve it, I guess." Fowler sat down wearily. "I was an unlicked +whelp in my youth, Huntingdon, but though I got into rotten company, I +never did anything actually crooked." + +"I believe you," Enoch nodded. "Let the guiltless throw the first +stone. We both have paid in our heart's blood, I guess, for all that +we wrought in boyhood." + +"A thousand-fold," agreed Fowler. "Huntingdon, let me try to express +my regret for--" + +"Don't!" interrupted Enoch. "If you are half as eager as I am to +forget it all you'll never mention it even to yourself. But I do want +to talk candidly to you about our political aspirations. Mr. Fowler, I +don't want to go to the White House! I have a number of reasons that I +don't think would interest you particularly. But I want to go back to +the Senate when I finish here. Fowler, if you were not so jealous and +so personal in your ambitions I would be glad to see you get the party +nomination." + +Fowler's fine, tired face expressed incredulity mingled with +bewilderment. + +Enoch went on, "You and I are talking frankly as men rarely talk and as +we probably never shall again. So perhaps you will forgive me if I +make some personal comments. It seems to me that the only permanent +satisfaction a man gets out of public life is the feeling that he has +added in greater or less degree to the sum total of his country's +progress and stability. I think your weakness is that you place +yourself first and your country second." + +"No!" said Fowler, eagerly. "You don't understand me, Huntingdon! My +own aim in life is to make my service to my country compensate for the +selfishness and foolishness of my youth. My methods may, as you say, +have been open to misinterpretation. But God knows my impulses have +been disinterested. And you must realize now, Huntingdon, that it has +been the business of certain people to see that you and I misunderstand +each other." + +"That's true," said Enoch, thoughtfully. "Well, I doubt if that is +possible again." + +"It is absolutely impossible!" exclaimed Fowler. "I am yours to +command!" + +"No, you're not!" laughed Enoch. "Brown is finished and you're your +own man. I look for great things from you, Fowler. I wanted to tell +you that and to tell you that in me you have no rival." + +"No," Fowler spoke slowly, "no, because no one can win, no one deserves +to win the place in the hearts of America that you have. Huntingdon, +your kindness and courtesy is the most exquisite punishment you could +visit upon me." + +Enoch looked quickly from the Secretary of State to the opposite wall. +But he did not see the wall. He saw a crude camp in the bottom of the +Canyon. He heard the epic rush of waters and the sigh of eternal winds +and he saw again the picture of Harden fighting his way up the menacing +walls to rescue Forrester. It seemed to Fowler that the silence had +lasted five minutes before Enoch turned to him with his flashing smile. + +"We are friends, Fowler, are we not?" + +The older man rose and held out his hand. "Yes, Huntingdon, as long as +we live," and he slowly left the room. + +Enoch sank back on his chair, wearily, and opening the top drawer of +his desk, took out the familiar envelope. _The seal was still +unbroken_! He placed it in a heavy document envelope, sealed this and +wrote a memorandum on it, and dropped it on the desk. Then for a long +time he sat staring into the dusk. At last, as if the full realization +of the loneliness of his life had swept over him he dropped his head on +his desk with a groan. + +"O Diana! Diana!" + +He did not hear the door open softly. Abbott with Ames just behind +him, stood on the threshold. The two young men looked at each other, +abashed, and Abbott would have withdrawn, but Ames went doggedly into +the room. + +"Mr. Secretary!" he said, hesitatingly. + +Enoch sat erect. Abbott flashed on the light. "Mr. Ames insists on +seeing you again, Mr. Huntingdon," Charley spoke hesitatingly. + +"Come in, Ames," said Enoch, coldly. "Abbott, see that this envelope +is put in a safe place." + +Abbott left them alone. Ames advanced to the desk, where he stood, his +face eager. + +"Mr. Secretary, you've been so decent. You,--you--well, you're such a +man! I--I want to tell you something but I don't know how you'll take +it. The truth is, I believe that I could prove that Luigi's mistress +was not your mother!" + +Enoch clutched his desk and his face turned to stone. "Don't you think +you went far enough with that matter before?" he asked sternly. + +Ames stumbled on, doggedly. "This last trip out West I just thought +I'd go down to Brown's early stamping grounds and see what kind of a +reputation he had there. I was getting a little fed up on him and I +thought it couldn't hurt me to have a little something on him against a +rainy day, as it were. You see I never did know what this Curly Field +stuff was, but it didn't take me long to run that story down, even if +it was a generation old. Of course, I don't know what Curly told you, +but certainly the official reports of the Field scandal never proved +anything on either Brown or Fowler." + +Enoch moved impatiently. But young Ames, standing rigidly before his +desk exclaimed, "Just a moment longer, please, Mr. Secretary! Some of +these facts you know unless Field was so obsessed with the thought of +his brother's alleged wrongs that he did not mention them, but I'll +state them anyhow. The mining and smelting property that caused the +whole row was originally owned by an old timer named Post who struck it +rich late in life, married and died soon after, leaving everything to +his son, a little chap named Arthur. This is the child Field was +supposed to have robbed. Little Arthur died a couple of years after +Field's suicide but by that time there was nothing left of the property +and no one paid any attention to the child's death. But in reading old +Post's will, something piqued my curiosity. In the event of Arthur's +death, the property was to go to old Post's baby nephew, Huntingdon +Post." + +Enoch knit his brows quickly but he did not speak and Ames went on, +"Being, of course, in a suspicious state of mind, it struck me as an +unusual coincidence that this child should have died, too. So I made +some inquiries. It was difficult to trace the facts because there were +no relatives. Old Post seemed to have been just a solitary prowler, +coming from nowhere, like so many of the old timers. But finally, I +found an old fellow in the back country who had known old Post. He +told me that little Hunt Post, as he called him, had been killed with +his father and mother in a railway accident. I asked where they got +the child's name and he said the mother's name was Huntingdon. He knew +her when she was a girl living alone with her father in the Kanab +country, north of the Grand Canyon. He said her father died when she +was ten or eleven and a family named Smith sort of brought her up and +she was known as Mary Smith. But when she married, she named the boy +after her father who was a raw boned, red headed man named Enoch +Huntingdon." + +Enoch gave Ames a long steady look and the younger man relaxed a little. + +"Now," Ames went on, "knowing Brown as I do, I wonder if little Hunt +Post, who, like his mother was red headed and blue eyed, was burned up +in a railroad accident. Did Field speak of the child?" + +Enoch pressed the desk button and Abbott came. "Give me the Field +envelope, please, Abbott." + +When the envelope was in his hands, Enoch tore the flap up and began to +read the close written pages. When he had finished, he put the +manuscript back with steady hands. "Most of the letter," he said +quietly, "is taken up by the recital of Brown's shady moral career in +Mexico. At the end he speaks of a Mexican woman with red hair and +violet eyes who lived with Brown for some months. She left to act as +nurse to little Hunt Post. Some time after the railroad accident, +Curly was the unsuspected witness to a secret meeting between this +Anita and Brown. The woman demanded money and Brown demanded proof +that little Hunt was dead. The conference ended only when Anita +produced a box containing the child's body. Curly did not know how +much Brown paid her or where she went." + +Ames gave an ugly laugh. "Hoist with his own petard! Think of him +starting me after the Luigi scandal!" + +"Tell Abbott what you've just told me," said Enoch. + +He did not stir while Ames repeated the story. Charley's eyes blazed. +When Ames finished, Charley started to speak but the young reporter +interrupted. + +"Mr. Secretary, I want you to let me tie up the loose ends for you. +We've got to put the screws on Luigi and I'll take another trip West." + +"Wait a bit!" exclaimed Charley. "Mr. Secretary, I'm going to claim +that long deferred vacation. Let me spend it with Ames clearing this +matter up for you." + +Enoch drew a quick breath. "When could you begin, you two?" + +"Now!" the two young men said together. + +Enoch smiled. "Wait until to-morrow. I've more important work +to-night, and I want to go over every detail with you before you start +out. In the meantime, Abbott, guard this envelope as you would your +life." + +"What won't we do to Brown!" exclaimed Charley. + +"I've punished Brown," said Enoch. "He'll never hurt me again. As +soon as this thing is cleared, we'll forget him." + +Again Ames laughed. "Believe me, he's going to be good the rest of his +life. Think of your reading that stuff about little Hunt, Mr. +Secretary, and never realizing its import!" + +"God knows, I didn't want to read the story of another man's ignominy!" +said Enoch, earnestly, "and I never would have, had not--" he paused, +then said as if to himself, "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders +to perform!" + +The two younger men stood in silence. Then Enoch said, "Thank you, +Ames, I'll see you at nine o'clock to-morrow morning. Abbott, get the +White House for me and then go home to dinner." + +A few minutes later Enoch was speaking to the President. "I have to +report victory, Mr. President, all along the line. . . . Yes, sir, +it's a long story and I want to tell it to you to-morrow, not to-night. +Mr. President, I'm going to find Miss Allen and dine with her, +to-night, if I have to take her from a state function. . . . Yes, you +may chuckle if you wish. I thought you'd understand. . . . Thank you! +Good night, Mr. President." + +Enoch hung up the receiver and sat looking at the floor, his face as +white as marble. For five minutes he did not stir, then he heaved a +great sigh and the tense muscles of his face relaxed. He tossed back +the hair from his forehead, sprang to his feet and began to pace the +floor. After a short time of this, he rang for Jonas. + +"Jonas, do you know where Miss Diana is stopping?" + +Jonas did not seem to hear the question. He stood staring at Enoch +with eyes that seemed to start from their sockets. + +"My Lordy, boss, what's happened? You look like I never hoped to see +you look!" Then he paused for he could not express what he saw in the +Secretary's shining eyes. + +"Jonas, old man, I've had the greatest news of my life, but I can't +tell even you, first." + +"Miss Diana!" ejaculated Jonas. "Boss, she's at the Larson; one of +these boarding houses that calls themselves a name. Didn't I tell you +Injun charms was strong? Tell me! Huh!" + +"All right, Jonas! I won't be home to dinner. Better sit up for me +though, for I'll want to talk to you." + +"Did I ever not sit up for you?" demanded Jonas as he gave Enoch his +coat. + +Enoch paced the floor of the Larson while a slatternly maid went in +search of Diana. When, a little pale and breathless, Diana appeared in +the doorway, Enoch did not stir for a moment from under the chandelier. +Nor did he speak. Diana gazed at him as if she never had seen him +before. His eyes were blazing. His lips quivered. He was very pale. + +Suddenly, tossing his hat and cane to a chair, he crossed the room. He +tried to smile. + +"Diana, have you seen your friend, the psychologist yet?" + +"No, Enoch, but I have an appointment with him for next week." + +Enoch seized her hands and held them both against his heart. "You need +never see him, Diana, I have been made whole. I--" his voice broke +hoarsely--"I have something to tell you. Diana, you are going to dine +with me." + +"Yes, Enoch!" + +"Diana! Oh, how lovely you are! Diana, it's a wonderful night, with a +full moon. I want you to walk with me to the Eastern Club. I have +something to tell you. And while I'm telling you, no four walls must +hem us in." + +Diana, her great eyes shining in response to Enoch's, turned without a +word and went back upstairs. She returned at once, clad for the walk. +Enoch opened the street door and paused to look down into her face with +a trembling smile. Then they descended the steps into the moonlight +together. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ENCHANTED CANYON*** + + +******* This file should be named 16889-8.txt or 16889-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/8/8/16889 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/16889-8.zip b/16889-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ebe14a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/16889-8.zip diff --git a/16889.txt b/16889.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..709ad2b --- /dev/null +++ b/16889.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14224 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Enchanted Canyon, by Honoré Willsie Morrow + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Enchanted Canyon + + +Author: Honoré Willsie Morrow + + + +Release Date: October 16, 2005 [eBook #16889] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ENCHANTED CANYON*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +THE ENCHANTED CANYON + +by + +HONORE WILLSIE + +Author of + +"The Forbidden Trail," "Still Jim," "The Heart of the Desert," "Lydia +of the Pines," etc. + + + + + + + +A. L. Burt Company +Publishers -------- New York +Published by arrangement with William Morrow and Company, Inc. +Copyright, 1921, by +Honore Willsie Morrow +All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign +languages +Printed in the United States of America + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +BOOK I + +BRIGHT ANGEL + +Chapter + + I MINETTA LANE + II BRIGHT ANGEL + + +BOOK II + +THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR + + III TWENTY-TWO YEARS LATER + IV DIANA ALLEN + V A PHOTOGRAPHER OF INDIANS + VI A NEWSPAPER REPORTER + + +BOOK III + +THE ENCHANTED CANYON + + VII THE DESERT + VIII THE COLORADO + IX THE CLIFF DWELLING + X THE EXPEDITION BEGINS + XI THE PERFECT ADVENTURE + XII THE END OF THE CRUISE + XIII GRANT'S CROSSING + XIV LOVE IN THE DESERT + + +BOOK IV + +THE PHANTASM DESTROYED + + XV THE FIRING LINE AGAIN + XVI CURLY'S REPORT + XVII REVENGE IS SWEET + + + + +BOOK I + +BRIGHT ANGEL + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MINETTA LANE + + +"A boy at fourteen needs a mother or the memory of a mother as he does +at no other period of his life."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Except for its few blocks that border Washington Square, MacDougal +Street is about as squalid as any on New York's west side. + +Once it was aristocratic enough for any one, but that was nearly a +century ago. Alexander Hamilton's mansion and Minetta Brook are less +than memories now. The blocks of fine brick houses that covered +Richmond Hill are given over to Italian tenements. Minetta Brook, if +it sings at all, sings among the sewers far below the dirty pavements. + +But Minetta Lane still lives, a short alley that debouches on MacDougal +Street. Edgar Allan Poe once strolled on summer evenings through +Minetta Lane with his beautiful Annabel Lee. But God pity the +sweethearts to-day who must have love in its reeking precincts! It is +a lane of ugliness, now; a lane of squalor; a lane of poverty and +hopelessness spelled in terms of filth and decay. + +About midway in the Lane stands a two-story, red-brick house with an +exquisite Georgian doorway. The wrought-iron handrail that borders the +crumbling stone steps is still intact. The steps usually are crowded +with dirty, quarreling children and a sore-eyed cat or two. Nobody +knows and nobody cares who built the house. Enough that it is now the +home of poverty and of ways that fear the open light of day. Just when +the decay of the old dwelling began there is none to say. But New +Yorkers of middle age recall that in their childhood the Lane already +had been claimed by the slums, with the Italian influx just beginning. + +One winter afternoon a number of years ago a boy stood leaning against +the iron newel post of the old house, smoking a cigarette. He was +perhaps fourteen or fifteen years of age, but he might have been either +older or younger. The city gives even to children a sophisticated look +that baffles the casual psychologist. + +The children playing on the steps behind the boy were stocky, swarthy +Italians. But he was tall and loosely built, with dark red hair and +hard blue eyes. He was thin and raw boned. Even his smartly cut +clothes could not hide his extreme awkwardness of body, his big loose +joints, his flat chest and protruding shoulder blades. His face, too, +could not have been an Italian product. The cheek bones were high, the +cheeks slightly hollowed, the nose and lips were rough hewn. The suave +lines of the three little Latins behind him were entirely alien to this +boy's face. + +It was warm and thawing so that the dead horse across the street, with +the hugely swollen body, threw off an offensive odor. + +"Smells like the good ol' summer time," said the boy, nodding his head +toward the horse and addressing the rag picker who was pulling a burlap +sack into the basement. + +"Like ta getta da skin. No good now though," replied Luigi. "You +gotta da rent money, Nucky?" + +"Got nuttin'," Nucky's voice was bitter. "That brown Liz you let in +last night beats the devil shakin' dice." + +"We owe three mont' now, Nucky," said the Italian. + +"Yes, and how much trade have I pulled into your blank blank second +floor for you durin' the time, you blank blank! If I hear any more +about the rent, I'll split on you, you--" + +But before Nucky could continue his cursing, the Italian broke in with +a volubility of oaths that reduced the boy to sullen silence. Having +eased his mind, Luigi proceeded to drag the sack into the basement and +slammed the door. + +"Nucky! Nucky! He's onlucky!" sang one of the small girls on the +crumbling steps. + +"You dry up, you little alley cat!" roared the boy. + +"You're just a bastard!" screamed the child, while her playmates took +up the cry. + +Nucky lighted a fresh cigarette and moved hurriedly up toward MacDougal +Street. Once having turned the corner, he slackened his gait and +climbed into an empty chair in the bootblack stand that stood in front +of the Cafe Roma. The bootblack had not finished the first shoe when a +policeman hoisted himself into the other chair. + +"How are you, Nucky?" he grunted. + +"All right, thanks," replied the boy, an uneasy look softening his cold +eyes for the moment. + +"Didn't keep the job I got you, long," the officer said. "What was the +rip this time?" + +"Aw, I ain't goin' to hold down ho five-dollar-a-week job. What do you +think I am?" + +"I think you are a fool headed straight for the devil," answered the +officer succinctly. "Now listen to me, Nucky. I've knowed you ever +since you started into the school over there. I mind how the teacher +told me she was glad to see one brat that looked like an old-fashioned +American. And everything the teachers and us guys at the police +station could do to keep you headed right, we've done. But you just +won't have it. You've growed up with just the same ideas the young +toughs have 'round here. All you know about earnin' money is by +gambling." Nucky stirred, but the officer put out his hand. + +"Hold on now, fer I'm servin' notice on you. You've turned down every +job we got you. You want to keep on doing Luigi's dirty work for him. +Very well! Go to it! And the next time we get the goods on you, +you'll get the limit. So watch yourself!" + +"Everybody's against a guy!" muttered the boy, + +"Everybody's against a fool that had rather be crooked than straight," +returned the officer. + +Nucky, his face sullen, descended from the chair, paid the boy and +headed up MacDougal Street toward the Square. + +A tall, dark woman, dressed in black entered the Square as Nucky +crossed from Fourth Street. Nucky overtook her. + +"Are you comin' round to-night, Liz?" he asked. + +She looked at him with liquid brown eyes over her shoulder. + +"Anything better there than there was last night?" she asked. + +Nucky nodded eagerly. "You'll be surprised when you see the bird I got +lined up." + +Liz looked cautiously round the park, at the children shouting on the +wet pavements, at the sparrows quarreling in the dirty snow drifts. +Then she started, nervously, along the path. + +"There comes Foley!" she exclaimed. "What's he doin' off his beat?" + +"He's seen us now," said Nucky. "We might as well stand right here." + +"Oh, I ain't afraid of that guy!" Liz tossed her head. "I got things +on him, all right." + +"Why don't you use 'em?" Nucky's voice was skeptical. "He's going down +Waverly Place, the blank, blank!" + +Liz grunted. "He's got too much on me! I ain't hopin' to start +trouble. You go chase yourself, Nucky. I'll be round about midnight." + +Nucky's chasing himself consisted of the purchase of a newspaper which +he read for a few minutes in the sunshine of the park. Even as he sat +on the park bench, apparently absorbed in the paper, there was an air +of sullen unhappiness about the boy. Finally, he tossed the paper +aside, and sat with folded arms, his chin on his breast. + +Officer Foley, standing on the corner of Washington Place and MacDougal +Street waved a pleasant salute to a tall, gray-haired man whose +automobile drew up before the corner apartment house. + +"How are you, Mr. Seaton?" he asked. + +"Rather used up, Foley!" replied the gentleman, "Rather used up! +Aren't you off your beat?" + +The officer nodded. "Had business up here and started back. Then I +stopped to watch that red-headed kid over there." He indicated the +bench on which Nucky sat, all unconscious of the sharp eyes fastened on +his back. + +"I see the red hair, anyway,"--Mr. Seaton lighted a cigar and puffed it +slowly. He and Foley had been friends during Seaton's twenty years' +residence on the Square. + +"I know you ain't been keen on boys since you lost Jack," the officer +said, slowly, "but--well, I can't get this young Nucky off my mind, +blast the little crook!" + +"So he's a crook, is he? How old is the boy?" + +"Oh, 'round fourteen! He's as smart as lightning and as crooked as he +is smart. He turned up here when he was a little kid, with a woman who +may or may not have been his mother. She lived with a Dago down in +Minetta Lane. Guess the boy mighta been six years old when she died +and Luigi took him on. We were all kind of proud of him at first. +Teachers in school all said he was a wonder. But for two or three +years he's been going wrong, stealing and gambling, and now this fellow +Luigi's started a den on his second floor that we gotta clean out soon. +His rag-picking's a stall. And he's using Nucky like a kid oughtn't to +be used." + +"Why don't you people have him taken away from the Italian and a proper +guardian appointed?" + +"Well, he's smart and we kinda hoped he'd pull up himself. We got a +settlement worker interested in him and we got jobs for him, but +nothing works. Judge Harmon swears he's out of patience with him +and'll send him to reform school at his next offense. That'll end +Nucky. He'll be a gunman by the time he's twenty." + +"You seem fond of the boy in spite of his criminal tendencies," said +Seaton. + +"Aw, we all have criminal tendencies, far as that goes," growled Foley; +"you and I and all of us. Don't know as I'm what you'd call fond of +the kid. Maybe it's his name. Yes, I guess it's his name. Now what +is your wildest guess for that little devil's name, Mr. Seaton?" + +The gray-hatred man shook his head. "Pat Donahue, by his hair." + +"But not by his face, if you could see it. His name is Enoch +Huntingdon. Yes, sir, Enoch Huntingdon! What do you think of that?" + +The astonishment expressed in Seaton's eyes was all that the officer +could desire. + +"Enoch Huntingdon! Why, man, that gutter rat has real blood in him, if +he didn't steal the name." + +"No kid ever stole such a name as that," said Foley. "And for all he's +homely enough to stop traffic, his face sorta lives up to his name. +Want a look at him?" + +Mr. Seaton hesitated. The tragic death of his own boy a few years +before had left him shy of all boys. But his curiosity was roused and +with a sigh he nodded. + +Foley crossed the street, Seaton following. As they turned into the +Square, Nucky saw them out of the tail of his eye. He rose, casually, +but Foley forestalled his next move by calling in a voice that carried +above the street noises, "Nucky! Wait a moment!" + +The boy stopped and stood waiting until the two men came up. Seaton +eyed the strongly hewn face while the officer said, "That person you +were with a bit ago, Nucky--I don't think much of her. Better cut her +out." + +"I can't help folks talking to me, can I?" demanded the boy, +belligerently. + +"Especially the ladies!" snorted Foley. "Regular village cut-up, you +are! Well, just mind what I say," find he strolled on, followed by +Seaton. + +"He'll never be hung for his beauty," said Seaton. "But, Foley, I'll +wager you'll find that lad breeds back to Plymouth Rock!" + +Foley nodded. "Thought you'd be interested. Every man who's seen him +is. But there's nothing doing. Nucky is a hard pill." + +"Maybe he needs a woman's hand," suggested Seaton, "Sometimes these +hard characters are clay with the right kind of a woman." + +"Or the wrong kind," grunted the officer. + +"No, the right kind," insisted Mr. Seaton. "I'm telling you, Foley, a +good woman is the profoundest influence a man can have. There's a deep +within him he never gives over to a bad woman." + +Foley's keen gray eyes suddenly softened. He looked for a moment above +the tree tops to the clouds sailing across the blue. "I guess you're +right, Mr. Seaton," he said, "I guess you're right! Well, poor Nucky! +And I must be getting back. Good day, Mr. Seaton." + +"Good day, Foley!" + +And Nucky, staring curiously from the Square, saw the apartment house +door close on the tall, well-dressed stranger, and saw a taxi-cab +driver offer a lift to his ancient enemy, Officer Foley. + +"Thinks he's smart, don't he!" he muttered aloud, starting slowly back +toward the Cafe Roma. "I wonder what uplifter he's got after me now?" + +In the Cafe Roma, Nucky sat down at a little table and ordered a bowl +of ministrone with red wine. He did not devour his food as the normal +boy of his age would have done. He ate slowly and without appetite. +When he was about half through the meal, a young Irishman in his early +twenties sat down opposite him. + +"Hello, Nucky! What's doin'?" + +"Nothin' worth talking about. What's doin' with you?" + +"O, I been helping Marty, the Dude, out. He's going to be alderman +from this ward, some day." + +"That's the idea!" cried Nucky. "That's what I'd like to be, a +politician. I'd rather be Mayor of N' York than king of the world." + +"I thought you wanted to be king o' the dice throwers," laughed the +young Irishman. + +"If I was, I'd buy myself the job of Mayor," returned Nucky. "Coming +over to-night?" + +"I might, 'long about midnight. Anything good in sight?" + +"I hope so," Nucky's hard face looked for a moment boyishly worried. + +"Business ain't been good, eh?" + +"Not for me," replied Nucky. "Luigi seems to be goin' to the bank +regular. You bet that guy don't risk keepin' nothin' in the house." + +"I shouldn't think he would with a wonder like you around," said the +young Irishman with a certain quality of admiration in his voice. + +Nucky's thin chest swelled and he paid the waiter with an air that +exactly duplicated the cafe manner of Marty, the Dude. Then, with a +casual nod at Frank, he started back toward Luigi's, for his evening's +work. + +It began to snow about ten o'clock that night. The piles of dirty ice +and rubbish on MacDougal Street turned to fairy mountains. The dead +horse in Minetta Lane might have been an Indian mound in miniature. An +occasional drunken man or woman, exuding loathsome, broken sentences, +reeled past Officer Foley who stood in the shadows opposite Luigi's +house. He was joined silently and one at a time by half a dozen other +men. Just before midnight, a woman slipped in at the front door. And +on the stroke of twelve, Foley gave a whispered order. The group of +officers crossed the street and one of them put a shoulder against the +door which yielded with a groan. + +When the door of the large room on the second floor burst open, Nucky +threw down his playing cards and sprang for the window. But Foley +forestalled him and slipped handcuffs on him, while Nucky cursed and +fought with all the venom that did the eight or ten other occupants of +the room. Tables were kicked over. A small roulette board smashed +into the sealed fire-place. Brown Liz broke a bottle of whiskey on an +officer's helmet and the reek of alcohol merged with that of cigarette +smoke and snow-wet clothes. Luigi freed himself for a moment and +turned off the gas light roaring as he did so. + +"Get out da back room! Da backa room!" + +But it was a well-planned raid. No one escaped, and shortly, Nucky was +climbing into the patrol wagon that had appeared silently before the +door. That night he was locked in a cell with a drunken Greek. It was +his first experience in a cell. Hitherto, Officer Foley had protected +him from this ignominy. But Officer Foley, as he told Nucky, was +through with him. + +The Greek, except for an occasional oath, slept soddenly. The boy +crouched in a corner of the cell, breathing rapidly and staring into +black space. At dawn he had not changed his position or closed his +eyes. + +It was two days later that Officer Foley found a telephone message +awaiting him in the police station. "Mr. John Seaton wants you to call +him up, Foley." + +Foley picked up the telephone. Mr. Seaton answered at once. "It was +nothing in particular, Foley, except that I wanted to tell you that the +red-headed boy and his name, particularly that name, in Minetta Lane, +have haunted me. If he gets in trouble again, you'd better let me +know." + +"You're too late, Mr. Seaton! He's in up to his neck, now." The +officer described the raid. "The judge has given him eighteen months +at the Point and we're taking him there this afternoon." + +"You don't mean it! The young whelp! Foley, what he needs is a +licking and a mother to love him, not reform school." + +"Sure, but no matter how able a New York policeman is, Mr. Seaton, he +can't be a mother! And it's too late! The judge is out o' patience." + +"Look here, Foley, hasn't he any friends at all?" + +"There's several that want to be friends, but he won't have 'em. He's +sittin' in his cell for all the world like a bull pup the first time +he's tied." + +Mr. Seaton cleared his throat. "Foley, let me come round and see him +before you send him over the road, will you?" + +"Sure, that can be fixed up. Only don't get sore when the kid snubs +you." + +"Nothing a boy could do could hurt me, Foley. You remember that Jack +was not exactly an angel." + +"No, that's right, but Jack was always a good sport, Mr. Seaton. +That's why it's so hard to get hold of these young toughs down here! +They ain't sports!" And Foley hung up the receiver with a sigh. + +Mr. Seaton preferred to introduce himself to Nucky. The boy was +sitting on the edge of his bunk, his red hair a beautiful bronze in the +dim daylight that filtered through the high window. + +"How are you, Enoch?" said Mr. Seaton. "My name is John Seaton. +Officer Foley pointed you out to me the other day as a lad who was +making bad use of a good name. That's a wonderful name of yours, do +you realize it?" + +"Every uplifter I ever met's told me so," replied Nucky, ungraciously, +without looking up. + +Mr. Seaton smiled. "I'm no uplifter! I'm a New York lawyer! +Supposing you take a look at me so's to recognize me when we meet +again." + +Nucky still kept his gaze on the floor. "I know what you look like. +You got gray hair and brown eyes, you're thin and tall and about fifty +years old." + +"Good work!" exclaimed Enoch's caller. "Now, look here, Enoch, can't I +help you out of this scrape?" + +"Don't want to be helped out. I was doin' a man's job and I'll take my +punishment like a man." + +Seaton spoke quickly. "It wasn't a man's job. It was a thief's job. +You're taking your sentence like a common thief, not like a man." + +"Aw, dry up and get out o' here!" snarled Nucky, jumping to his feet +and looking his caller full in the face. + +Seaton did not stir. In spite of its immaturity, its plainness and its +sullenness, there was a curious dignity in Nucky's face, that made a +strong appeal to his dignified caller. + +"You guys always preachin' to me!" Nucky went on, his boyish voice +breaking with weariness and excitement. "Why don't you look out for +your own kids and let me alone?" + +"My only boy is beyond my care. He was killed three years ago," +returned Seaton. "I've had nothing to do with boys since. And I don't +give a hang about you. It's your name I'm interested in. I hate to +see a fine name in the hands of a prospective gunman." + +"And you can't get me with the sob stuff, either," Nucky shrugged his +shoulders. + +Seaton scowled, then he laughed. "You're a regular tough, eh, Enoch? +But you know even toughs occasionally use their brains. Do you want to +go to reform school?" + +"Yes, I do! Go on, get out o' here!" + +"You infernal little fool!" blazed Seaton, losing his temper. "Do you +think you can handle me the way you have the others? Well, it can't be +done! Huntingdon is a real name in this country and if you think any +pig-headed, rotten-minded boy can carry that name to the pen, without +me putting up a fight, you're mistaken! You've met something more than +your match this time, you are pretty sure to find out sooner or later, +my sweet young friend. My hair was red, too, before--up to three years +ago." + +Seaton turned and slammed out of the cell. When Foley came to the door +a half hour later, Nucky was again sitting on the edge of the bunk, +staring sullenly at the floor. + +"Come out o' this, Nucky," said the officer. + +Nucky rose, obediently, and followed Foley into the next room. Mr. +Seaton was leaning against the desk, talking with Captain Blackly. + +"Look here, Nucky," said Blackly, "this gentleman has been telephoning +the judge and the judge has paroled you once more in this gentleman's +hands. I think you're a fool, Mr. Seaton, but I believe in giving a +kid as young as Huntingdon the benefit of the doubt. We've all failed +to find a spark of decent ambition in him. Maybe you can. Just one +word for you, young fellow. If you try to get away from Mr. Seaton, +we'll get you in a way you'll never forget." + +Nucky said nothing. His unboyish eyes traveled from one face to +another, then he shrugged his shoulders and dropped his weight to the +other hip. John Seaton, whose eyes were still smoldering, tapped Nucky +on the arm. + +"All right, Enoch! I'm going to take you up to my house to meet Mrs. +Seaton. See that you behave like a gentleman," and he led the way into +the street. Nucky followed without any outward show of emotion. His +new guardian did not speak until they reached the door of the apartment +house, then he turned and looked the boy in the eye. + +"I'm obstinate, Enoch, and quick tempered. No one but Mrs. Seaton +thinks of me as a particularly likable chap. You can do as you please +about liking me, but I want you to like my wife. And if I have any +reason to think you've been anything but courteous to her, I'll break +every bone in your body. You say you don't want sob stuff. You'll get +none of it from me." + +Not a muscle of Nucky's face quivered. Mr. Seaton did not wait for a +reply, but led the way into the elevator. It shot up to the top floor +and Nucky followed into the long, dark hall of the apartment. + +"Put your hat and coat here," said his guardian, indicating the hat +rack on which he was hanging his own overcoat. "Now follow me." He +led the boy into the living room. + +A small woman sat by the window that overlooked the Square. Her brown +hair was just touched with gray. Her small round face was a little +faded, with faint lines around eyes and lips. It was not an +intellectual face, but it was sweet and patient, from the delicate +curve of the lips to the slight downward droop of the eyebrows above +the clear blue eyes. All the sweetness and patience was there with +which the wives of high tempered, obstinate men are not infrequently +blessed. + +"Mary, this is young Enoch Huntingdon," said Seaton. + +Mrs. Seaton offered her hand, which Nucky took awkwardly and +unsmilingly. "How do you do, Enoch! Mr. Seaton told me about your red +hair and your fine old name. Are you going to stay with us a little +while?" + +"I don't know, ma'am," replied Enoch. + +"Sit down, Enoch! Sit down!" Seaton waved Enoch impatiently toward a +seat while he took the arm chair beside his wife. "Mary, I've got to +take that trip to San Francisco, after all. Houghton and Company +insist on my looking into that Jameson law-suit for them." + +Mary Seaton looked up, a little aghast. "But mercy, John! I can't get +away now, with Sister Alice coming!" + +"I know that. So I'm going to take Enoch with me." + +"Oh!" Mary looked from her husband to Enoch, sitting awkwardly on the +edge of the Chippendale chair. His usually pale face was a little +flushed and his thin lips were set firmly together. From her scrutiny +of Enoch's face, she turned to his hands. They were large and bony and +the thumb and first two fingers of his right hand were yellow. + +"You don't look as if you'd been eating the right kind of things, +Enoch," she said, kindly. "And it's cigarettes that give your lips +that bad color. You must let me help you about that. When do you +start, John dear?" + +"To-morrow night, and I'm afraid I'll be gone the best part of three +weeks. By that time, I ought to know something about Enoch, eh?" + +For the first time Enoch grinned, a little sheepishly, to be sure, and +a little cynically. Nevertheless it was the first sign of tolerance he +had shown and Mr. Seaton was cheered by it. + +"That will give time to get Enoch outfitted," said Mary. "We'll go up +to Best's to-morrow morning." + +"This suit is new," said Nucky. + +"It looks new," agreed Mrs. Seaton, "but a pronounced check like that +isn't nice for traveling. And you'll need other things." + +"I got plenty of clothes at home, and I paid for 'em myself," Nucky's +voice was resentful. + +"Well, drop a line to that Italian you've been living with, and tell +him--" began Mr. Seaton. + +"Aw, he'll be doin' time in Sing Sing by the time I get back," +interrupted Nucky, "and he can't read anyhow. I always 'tended to +everything but going to the bank for him." + +"Did you really?" There was a pleasant note of admiration in Mrs. +Seaton's voice. "You must try to look out for Mr. Seaton then on this +trip. He is so absent-minded! Come and I'll show you your room, +Enoch. You must get ready for dinner." + +She rose, and led the boy down the hall to a small room. It was +furnished in oak and chintz. Enoch thought it must have been the dead +boy's room for there was a gun over the bureau and photographs of a +football team and a college crew on the walls. + +"Supper will be ready in ten or fifteen minutes," said Mrs. Seaton, as +she left him. A moment later, he heard her speaking earnestly in the +living-room. He brushed his hair, then amused himself by examining the +contents of the room. The supper bell rang just as he opened the +closet door. He closed it, hastily and silently, and a moment later, +Mr. Seaton spoke from the hall: + +"Come, Enoch!" and the boy followed into the dining-room. + +His table manners were bad, of course, but Mrs. Seaton found these less +difficult to endure than the boy's unresponsive, watchful ways. At +last, as the pudding was being served, she exclaimed: + +"What in the world are you watching for, Enoch? Do you expect us to +rob you, or what?" + +"I dunno, ma'am," answered Nucky, + +"Do you enjoy your supper?" asked Mrs. Seaton. + +"It's all right, I guess. I'm used to wine with my supper." + +"Wine, you young jack-donkey!" cried John Seaton. "And don't you +appreciate the difference between a home meal like this and one you +pick up in Minetta Lane?" + +"I dunno!" Nucky's face darkened sullenly and he pushed his pudding +away. + +There was silence around the table for a few moments. Mrs. Seaton, +quietly watching the boy, thought of what her husband had told her of +Officer Foley's account. The boy did act not unlike a bull pup put for +the first time on the lead chain. She was relieved and so was Mr. +Seaton when Nucky, immediately after the meal was finished, said that +he was sleepy, and went to bed. + +"I don't envy you your trip, John," said Mary Seaton, as she settled to +her embroidery again. "What on earth possesses you to do it? The boy +isn't even interesting in his badness." + +"He's got the face either of a great leader or a great criminal," said +Seaton, shaking out his paper. "He makes me so mad I could tan his +hide every ten minutes, but I'm going to see the thing through. It's +the first time in three years I've felt interested in anything." + +Quick tears sprang to his wife's eyes. "I'm so glad to have you feel +that way, John, that I'll swallow even this impossible boy. What makes +him so ugly? Did he want to go to reform school?" + +"God knows what any boy of his age wants!" replied John briefly. "But +I'm going to try in the next three weeks to find out what's frozen him +up so." + +"Well, I'll dress him so that he won't disgrace you." + +Mrs. Seaton smiled and sighed and went on with her careful stitching. + +Nobody tried to talk to Nucky at the breakfast table. After the meal +was over and Mr. Seaton had left for the office, the boy sat looking +out of the window until Mrs. Seaton announced herself ready for the +shopping expedition. Then he followed her silently to the waiting +automobile. + +The little woman took great care in buying the boy's outfit. The task +must Have been painful to her. Only three years before she had been +buying clothes for Jack from this same clerk. But Mary Seaton was a +good soldier and she did a good job. When they reached home in +mid-afternoon Nucky was well equipped for his journey. + +To Mary's surprise and pleasure he took care of her, helping her in and +out of the automobile, and waiting on her vigilantly. He was awkward, +to be sure, and silent, but Mary was secretly sure that he was less +resentful toward her than he had been the day before. And she began to +understand her husband's interest in the strong, immature, sullen face. + +The train left at six o'clock. Mrs. Seaton went with them to the very +train gates. + +"You'll really try to look out for Mr. Seaton, won't you, Enoch?" she +said, taking the boy's limp hand, after she had kissed her husband +good-by. + +"Yes, ma'am," replied Nucky. + +"Good-by, Enoch! I truly hope you'll enjoy the trip. Run now, or +you'll miss the train. See, Mr. Seaton's far down the platform!" + +Nucky turned and ran. Mr. Seaton waited for him at the door of the +Pullman. His jaw was set and he looked at Nucky with curiosity not +untinged with resentment. Nucky had not melted after a whole day with +Mary! Perhaps there were no deeps within the boy. But as the train +moved through the tunnel something lonely back of the boy's hard stare +touched him and he smiled. + +"Well, Enoch, old man, are you glad to go?" + +"I dunno," replied Nucky. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +BRIGHT ANGEL + + +"I was sure, when I was eighteen, that if I could but give to the world +a picture of Boyhood, flagellated by the world's stupidity and +brutality, the world would heed. At thirty, I gave up the +hope."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +No one could have been a less troublesome traveling companion than +Nucky. He ate what was set before him, without comment. He sat for +endless hours on the observation platform, smoking cigarettes, his keen +eyes on the flying landscape. His blue Norfolk suit and his carefully +chosen cap and linen restored a little of the adolescent look of which +the flashy clothing of his own choosing had robbed him. No one glanced +askance at Mr. Seaton's protege or asked the lawyer idle questions +regarding him. + +And yet Nucky was very seldom out of John Seaton's thoughts: Over and +over he tried to get the boy into conversation only to be checked by a +reply that was half sullen, half impertinent. Finally, the lawyer fell +back on surmises. Was Nucky laying some deep scheme for mischief when +they reached San Francisco? John had believed fully that he and Nucky +would be friends before Chicago was passed. But he had been mistaken. +What in the world was he to do with the young gambler in San Francisco, +that paradise of gamblers? He could employ a detective to dog Nucky, +but that was to acknowledge defeat. If there were only some place +along the line where he could leave the boy, giving him a taste of out +of door life, such as only the west knows! + +For a long time Seaton turned this idea over in his mind. The train +was pulling out of Albuquerque when he had a sudden inspiration. He +knew Nucky too well by now to ask him for information or for an +expression of opinion. But that night, at dinner, he said, casually, + +"We're going to leave the main line, at Williams, Enoch, and go up to +the Grand Canyon. There's a guide at Bright Angel that I camped with +two years ago. It's such bad weather that I don't suppose there'll be +many people up there and I telegraphed him this afternoon to give me a +week or so. I'm going to turn you over to him and I'll go on to the +Coast. I'll pick you up on my way back." + +"All right," said Nucky, casually. + +Mr. Seaton ground his teeth with impatience and thought of what Jack's +enthusiasm would have been over such a program. But he said nothing +and strolled out to the observation car. + +It was raining and sleeting at Williams. They had to wait for hours in +the little station for the connecting train to the Canyon. It came in, +finally, and Seaton and Nucky climbed aboard, the only visitors for the +usually popular side trip. It was a wild and lonely run to the +Canyon's rim. Nucky, sitting with his face pressed against the window, +saw only vague forms of cactus and evergreens through the sleet which, +as the grade rose steadily, changed to snow. It was mid-afternoon when +they reached the rim. A porter led them at once into the hotel and +after they were established, Seaton went into Nucky's room. The boy +was standing by the window, staring at the storm. + +"We can't see the Canyon from our windows," said John. "I took care of +that! It isn't a thing you want staring at you day and night! Nucky, +I want you to get your first look at the Canyon, alone. One always +should. You'd better put on your coat and go out now before the storm +gets any worse. Don't wander away. Stick to the view in front of the +hotel. I'll be out in a half hour." + +Nucky pulled on his overcoat, picked up his cap and went out. A porter +was sweeping the walk before the main entrance. + +"Say, mister, I want to see the Canyon," said Nucky. + +"Nothin' to hinder. Yonder she lies, waiting for you, son!" jerking +his thumb over his shoulder. + +Nucky looked in the direction indicated. Then he took a deep, shocked +breath. The snow flakes were falling into nothingness! A bitter wind +was blowing but Nucky felt the sweat start to his forehead. Through +the sifting snow flakes, disappearing before his gaze, he saw a void, +silver gray, dim in outline, but none the less a void. The earth gaped +to its center, naked, awful, before his horrified eyes. Yet, the same +urgent need to know the uttermost that forces one to the edge of the +skyscraper forced Nucky to the rail. He clutched it. A great gust of +wind came up from the Canyon, clearing the view of snow for the moment, +and Nucky saw down, down for a mile to the black ribbon of the Colorado +below. + +"I can't stand it!" he muttered. "I can't stand it!" and turning, he +bolted for the hotel. He stopped before the log fire in the lobby. A +little group of men and women were sitting before the blaze, reading or +chatting. One of the women looked up at the boy and smiled. It seemed +impossible to Nucky that human beings could be sitting so calmly, doing +quite ordinary things, with that horror lying just a few feet away. +For perhaps five minutes he struggled with his sense of panic, then he +went slowly out and forced himself to the railing again. + +While he had been indoors, it had ceased to storm and the view lay +clear and clean before him. Although there was a foot of level snow on +the rim, so vast were the ledges and benches below that the drifts +served only as high lights for their crimson and black and orange. +Just beneath Nucky were tree tops, heavy laden with white. Far, far +below were tiny shrubs that the porter said were trees and below +these,--orderly strips of brilliant colors and still below, and +below--! Nucky moistened his dry lips and once more bolted to the +hotel. + +Just within the door, John Seaton met him. + +"Well, Enoch?" + +There was no coldness in Nucky's eyes now. They were the frightened +eyes of a child. + +"I can't stand that thing!" he panted. "I gotta get back to N' York, +now!" + +Seaton looked at Nucky curiously. "For heaven's sake, Enoch! Where's +your nerve?" + +"What good would nerve do a guy lookin' at hell!" gasped Nucky. + +"Hell? Why the Canyon is one of the beautiful sights of the world! +You're crazy, Enoch! Come out with me and look again." + +"Not on your life!" cried Nucky. "I'm going back to little old N' +York." + +"It can't be done, my boy. There'll be no trains out of here for at +least twelve hours, because of the storm. And listen, Enoch! No +nonsense! Remember that if you wander away from the hotel, you're +lost. There are no trolleys in this neck of the woods, and no +telephones and no police. Wait a moment, Enoch, there's Frank Allen, +the guide." + +Seaton hailed a tall, rather heavily built man in corduroys and high +laced boots, who had lounged up to the cigar stand. As he approached, +Nucky saw that he was middle aged, with a heavily tanned face out of +which the blue of his eyes shone conspicuously. + +"Here he is, Frank!" exclaimed Seaton. "Nucky, this is the man who is +going to look out for you while I'm gone." + +"Well, young New York! What're you going to do with the Canyon?" +Frank slapped the boy on the shoulder. + +Nucky grinned uncertainly. "I dunno!" he said. + +"Had a look at it?" demanded the guide. + +"Yes!" Nucky spoke with sudden firmness. "And I don't like it. I +want to go back to New York." + +"Come on out with Frank and me and get used to it," suggested John +Seaton. + +"I'm not going near it again," returned Nucky. + +Allen looked at the boy with deliberate interest. He noted the pasty +skin, the hollow chest, the strong, unformed features, the thin lips +that were trembling, despite the cigarette stained fingers that pressed +against them. + +"Did you ever talk to Indians?" asked Allen, suddenly. + +"No," said Nucky. + +"Well, let's forget the Canyon and go over to the hogan, yonder. Is +that the best you two can do on shoes? I'm always sorry for you +lady-like New Yorkers. Come over here a minute. I guess we can rent +some boots to fit you." + +"I'm going to write letters, Frank," said Seaton. "You and Enoch'll +find me over at one of the desks. Fit the boy out as you think best." + +Not long after, Nucky trailed the guide through the lobby. He was +wearing high laced boots, with a very self-conscious air. Once +outside, in the glory of the westering sun, Frank took a deep breath. + +"Great air, boy! Get all you can of it into those flabby bellows of +yours. Before we go to the hogan, come over to the corral. My Tom +horse has got a saddle sore. A fool tourist rode him all day with a +fold in the blanket as big as your fist." + +"Is he a bronco?" asked Nucky, with sudden animation. + +"He was a bronco. You easterners have the wrong idea. A bronco is a +plains pony before he's broken. After he's busted he's a horse. See?" + +"Aw, you're dead wrong, Frank!" drawled a voice. + +Nucky looked up in astonishment to see a tall man, whose skin was a +rich bronze, offering a cigarette to the guide. + +"Dry up, Mike!" returned Frank with a grin. "What does a Navaho know +about horses! Enoch, this is a sure enough Indian. Mike, let me +introduce Mr. Enoch Huntingdon of New York City." + +The Navaho nodded and smiled. "You look as if a little Canyon climbing +would do you good," said he. "I was looking at Tom horse, Frank. He's +in bad shape. How much did that tender-foot weigh that rode him?" + +"I don't know. I wasn't here the day they hired him out. I know the +cuss would have weighed a good deal less if I'd been here when that +saddle was taken off! Going down to-morrow with Miss Planer?" + +"Not unless some one breaks trail for us. Are you going to try it?" + +"Not unless my young friend here gets his nerve up. Want to try it, +Enoch?" + +"Try what?" asked Nucky. + +"The trip down Bright Angel." + +"Not on your life!" cried Nucky. + +Both men laughed, the Indian moving off through the snow in the +direction of a dim building among the cedars, while Frank led on to the +corral fence. Fifteen or twenty horses and mules were moving about the +enclosure. Allen crossed swiftly among them, with Nucky following, +apprehensively, close behind him. Frank's horse was in the stable, but +while he seemed to examine the sore spot on the animal's back, Frank's +real attention was riveted on Nucky. The boy was obviously ill at ease +and only half interested in the horse. + +"These are the lads that take us down the trail," said Allen finally, +slapping a velvety black mule on the flank. + +"We can't trust the horses. A mule knows more in a minute than a horse +knows all his life." + +"Will you go with me to take another look at it?" asked Nucky. + +An expression of understanding crossed Frank's weather-beaten face. +"Sure I will, boy! Let's walk up the rim a little and see if you can +steady your nerves." + +"I'd rather stay by the rail," replied Nucky, doggedly. + +"All right, old man! Don't take this thing too hard, you know! After +all, it's only a crack in the earth." + +Nucky grinned feebly, and trudged steadily up to the rail. The sun was +setting and the Canyon was like the infinite glory of God. Untiring as +was his love for the view Allen preferred, this time, to watch the +strange young face beside him. Nucky's pallor was still intense in +spite of the stinging wind. His deep set eyes were strained like a +child's, listening to a not-to-be-understood explanation of something +that frightens him. For a full five minutes he gazed without speaking. +Then the sun sank and the Canyon immediately was filled with gloom. +Nucky's lips quivered. "I can't stand it!" he muttered again, "I can't +stand it!" and once more he bolted. + +This time he went directly to his room. Neither Allen nor Seaton +attempted to follow him. + +"He is some queer kid!" said Frank, taking the cigar Seaton offered +him. "He may be a born crook or he may not, but believe me, there's +something in him worth finding out about." + +"Just what I say!" agreed Seaton. "But don't be sure you're the one +that can unlock him. Mrs. Seaton couldn't and if she failed, any woman +on earth would. And I still believe that a chap that's got any good in +him will open up to a good woman." + +"_His_ woman, man! _His_! Not to somebody else's woman." Allen's +tone was impatient. + +"_His_ woman! Don't talk like a chump, Frank! Enoch's only fourteen." + +"Makes no difference. Your wife is an angel as I learned two years +ago, but she may not have Enoch's number, just the same. If I were +you, I'd mooch up to the kid's room if he doesn't come down promptly to +supper. His nerves are in rotten shape and he oughtn't to be alone too +long." + +Seaton nodded, and shortly after seven he knocked softly on Nucky's +door. There was an inarticulate, "Come in!" Nucky was standing by the +window in the dark room. + +"Supper's ready, old man. You'd better have it now and get to bed +early. Jumping from sea level to a mile in the air makes a chap +sleepy. Are you washed up?" + +"I'm all ready," mumbled Nucky. + +He went to bed shortly after eight. Something forlorn and childish +about the boy's look as he said good night moved John Seaton to say, + +"Tell a bell boy to open the door between our rooms, will you, Enoch?" +and he imagined that a relieved look flickered in Nucky's eyes. + +Seaton himself went to bed and to sleep early. He was wakened about +midnight by a soft sound from Nucky's room and he lay for a few moments +listening. Then he rose and turned on the light in his room, and in +Nucky's. The boy hastily jerked the covers over his head. Seaton +pulled the extra blanket at the bed foot over his own shoulders, then +he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his hand on Nucky's heaving +back. + +"Don't you think, if it's bad enough to make you cry, that it's time +you told a friend about it, Enoch?" he said, his voice a little husky. + +For a moment sobs strangled the boy's utterance entirely. Finally, he +pulled the covers down but still keeping his head turned away, he said, + +"I want to go home!" + +"Home, Enoch? Where's your home?" + +"N' York's my home. This joint scares me." + +"Whom do you want to see in New York, Enoch?" + +"Anybody! Nobody! Even the police station'd look better'n that thing. +I can feel it out there now, waitin' and listenin'!" + +Seaton stared blankly at the back of Nucky's head. His experiment was +not turning out at all as he had planned. Jack often had puzzled him +but there had always been something to grasp with Jack. His own boy +had been such a good sport! A good sport! Suddenly Seaton cleared his +throat. + +"Enoch, among the men you know, what is the opinion of a squealer?" + +"We hate him," replied the boy, shortly. + +"And the other night when you were arrested, you were rather proud of +standing up and taking your punishment without breaking down. If one +of the men arrested at that time had broken down, you'd all have +despised him, I suppose?" + +"Sure thing," agreed Nucky, turning his head ever so little toward the +man. + +"Enoch, why are you breaking down now?" + +"Aw, what difference does it make?" demanded the boy. "You despise me +anyhow!" + +"Oh!" ejaculated Seaton as a sudden light came to his groping mind. +"Oh, I see! What a chump you are, old man! Of course, I despise the +kind of life you've led, but I blame Minetta Lane for that, not you. +And I believe there is so much solid fine stuff in you that I'm giving +you this trip to show you that there are people and things outside of +Minetta Lane that are more worth a promising boy's time than gambling. +But, you won't play the game. You are so vain and ignorant, you refuse +to see over your nose." + +"I told you, you despised me," said Nucky, sullenly. + +The man smiled to himself. Suddenly he took the boy's hand in both his +own. + +"I suppose if Jack had been reared in Minetta Lane, he'd have been just +as wrong in his ideas as you are. Look here, Enoch, I'll make a +bargain with you. I want you to try the Canyon for a week or so, until +I get back from the Coast. If, at the end of that time, you still want +Minetta Lane, I'll land you back there with fifty dollars in your +pocket, and you can go your own gait." + +Nucky for the first time turned and looked Seaton in the face. +"Honest?" he gasped. + +Seaton nodded. + +"Do I have to go down the Canyon?" asked Nucky. + +"You don't have to do anything except play straight, till I get back." + +"I--I guess I could stand it,"--the boy's eyes were a little pitiful in +their fear. + +"That isn't enough. I want your promise, Enoch!" + +Nucky stared into Seaton's steady eyes. "All right, I'll promise. +And--and, Mr. Seaton, would you sit with me till I get to sleep?" + +Seaton nodded. Nucky had made no attempt to free his hand from the +kindly grasp that imprisoned it. He lay staring at the ceiling for a +long moment, then his eyelids fluttered, dropped, and he slept. He did +not stir when Seaton rose and went back to his own bed. + +It did not snow during the night and the train that had brought Nucky +and Mr. Seaton up announced itself as ready for the return trip to +Williams, immediately after breakfast. Nucky slept late and only +opened his eyes when Frank Allen clumped into the room about nine +o'clock. + +"Hello, New York! Haven't died, have you? Come on, we're going to +break trail down the Canyon, you and I." + +"Not on your life!" Nucky roused at once and sat up in bed, his face +very pale under its thatch of dark red hair. + +"John Seaton turned you over to me. Said to tell you he thought you +needed the sleep more than you did to say good-by to him." + +"He told me last night," exclaimed Nucky; "that I didn't have to go +down the Canyon." + +"And you don't, you poor sissy! You aren't afraid to get up and dress, +are you?" Allen's grin took away part of the sting of his speech. +"Meet me in the lobby in twenty minutes, Enoch," and he turned on his +heel. + +Nucky was down in less than the time allotted. As he leaned against +the office desk, waiting for the guide, the room clerk said, "So you're +the kid that's afraid to go down the trail. Usually it's the old +ladies that kick up about that. Most boys your age are crazy for the +trip." + +Nucky muttered something and moved away. In front of the fire the +woman who had smiled at him the day before, smiled again. + +"Afraid too, aren't you! They can't get me onto that trail, either." + +Nucky smiled feebly then looked about a little wildly for Frank Allen. +When he espied the guide at the cigar-stand, he crossed to him +hurriedly. + +"Say now, Mr. Allen, listen!" + +"I'm all ears, son!" + +"Now don't tell everybody I'm afraid of the trail!" + +"Oh, you're the kid!" exclaimed a bell boy. "Say, there was an old +lady here once that used to go out every morning and pray to the Lord +to close the earth's gap, it made her so nervous! Why don't you try +that, kid? Maybe the Lord would take a suggestion from a New Yorker." + +Nucky rushed to the dining room. He was too angry and resentful to eat +much. He drank two cups of coffee, however, and swallowed some toast. + +"Ain't you going to eat your eggs?" demanded the waitress. "What's the +matter with you? Folks always stuff themselves, here. Say, don't let +the trail scare you. I was that way at first, but finally I got my +nerve up and there's nothing to it. Say, let me give you some advice. +There's only a few folks here now, so the guides and the hotel people +have got plenty of time on their hands. They're awful jokers and +they'll tease the life out of you, till you take the trip. You just +get on a mule, this morning, and start. Every day you wait, you'll +hate it more." + +Nucky's vanity had been deeply wounded. Greater than his fear, which +was very great indeed, was Nucky's vanity. He gulped the second cup of +coffee, then with the air of bravado which belonged to Marty the Dude, +he sauntered up to the cigar stand where the guide still lounged. + +"All right, Frank," said Nucky. "I'm ready for Bright Angel when you +are." + +The guide looked at the boy carefully. Two bright red spots were +burning in Nucky's cheeks. He was biting his lips, nervously. But his +blue eyes were hard and steady. + +"I'll be ready in half an hour, Enoch. Meet me at the corral. We'll +camp down below for a night or two if you hold out and I'll have to +have the grub put up. You go over to the store room yonder and get a +flannel shirt and a pair of denim pants to pull on over those you're +wearing. Mr. Seaton left his camera for you. I put it on your bureau. +Bring that along. Skip now!" + +Nucky's cheeks were still burning when he met Allen at the corral. +Three mules, one a well loaded pack mule, the others saddled, were +waiting. Frank leaned against the bars. + +"Enoch," said the man, "there's no danger at all, if you let your mule +alone. Don't try to guide him. He knows the trail perfectly. All you +have to do is to sit in the saddle and look up, not down! Remember, +up, not down! I shall lead. You follow, on Spoons. Old Foolish Face +brings up the rear with the pack. Did you ever ride, before?" + +"I never touched a horse in my life," replied Nucky, trying to curb the +chattering of his teeth. + +"You had better mount and ride round the road here, for a bit. Take +the reins, so. Stand facing the saddle, so. Now put this foot in the +stirrup, seize the pommel, and swing the other leg over as you spring. +That's the idea!" + +Nucky was awkward, but he landed in the saddle and found the other +stirrup, the mule standing fast as a mountain while he did so. Spoons +moved off at Allen's bidding, and Nucky grasped at the pommel. But +only for a moment. + +"Don't he shake any worse than this?" he cried. + +"No, but it's not so easy to stay in the saddle when the grade's steep. +Pull on your right rein, Enoch, and bring old Spoons in behind me. +Well done! We're off! See the bunch on the hotel steps! Guess you +fooled 'em this time, New York!" + +Half a dozen people, including the clerk were standing on the steps, +watching the little cavalcade. As the mules filed by, somebody began +to clap. + +"What's the excitement, Frank?" demanded Nucky. + +Frank turned in his saddle to smile at the boy. "Out in this country +we admire physical nerve because we need a lot of it. And you're +showing a good quality, old chap. Just sit easy now and when you want +me to stop, yell." + +Nucky was sitting very straight with his thin chest up, and he managed +to maintain this posture as the trail turned down over the rim. Then +he grasped the pommel in both hands. + +It was a wonderful trail, carved with infinite patience and ingenuity +out of the canyon wall. To Allen it was as safe and easy as a flight +of stairs. Nucky, trembling in the saddle would have felt quite as +comfortable standing on the topmost window ledge of the Flat Iron +building, in New York. And, to Nucky, there was no trail! Only a +narrow, corkscrew shelf, deep banked with snow into which the mules set +their small feet gingerly. For many minutes, the boy saw only this +trackless ledge, and the sickening blue depths below. + +"I can never stand it!" he muttered. "I can never stand it! If this +mule makes just one mis-step, I'm dead." He felt a little nauseated. +"I can never stand it! 'Twould have been better if I'd just let 'em +tease me. Hey, Frank!" + +The guide looked back. The red spots were gone from Nucky's cheeks now. + +"We got to go back! I can't get away with it!" cried the boy. + +"It's impossible to turn here, Enoch! Look up, man! Look up! And +just trust old Spoons! Are you cold? It was only eight above zero, +when we left the top. But the snow'll disappear as we go down and when +we reach the river it'll be summer. See that lone pine up on the rim +to your right? They say an Indian girl jumped from the top of that +because she bore a cross-eyed baby. Look up, Enoch, as we round this +curve and see that streak of red in the wall. An Indian giant bled to +death on the rim and his blood seeped through the solid rock to this +point. Watch how the sky gets a deeper blue, the farther down we go. +And now, Enoch look out, not down. You may come down Bright Angel a +thousand times and never see the colors you see to-day. The snowfall +has turned the world into a rainbow, by heck!" + +Slowly, very slowly, Nucky turned his head and clinging to the pommel, +he stared across the canyon. White of snow; sapphire of sky; black of +sharp cut shadow. Mountains rising from the canyon floor thrust +scarlet and yellow heads across his line of vision. Close to his left, +as the trail curved, a wall of purest rose color lifted from a bank of +snow that was as blue as Allen's eyes. Beyond and beyond and ever +beyond, the vast orderliness of the multi-colored canyon strata melted +into delicate white clouds that now revealed, now concealed the +mountain tops. + +Nucky gazed and gazed, shuddering, yet enthralled. Another sharp twist +in the trail and his knee scraped against the wall. He cried out +sharply. Frank turned to look but he did not stop the mules. + +"Spoons thinks it's better to amputate your leg, once in a while than +to risk getting too close to the outer edge of the trail in all this +snow. He's an old warrior, is Spoons! He could carry a grand piano +down this trail and never scrape the varnish. Look up, Enoch! We'll +soon reach a broad bench where I'll let you rest." + +"Don't you think I'll ever get off this brute till we reach bottom!" +shuddered Nucky. + +The guide laughed and silence fell again. The mules moved as silently +through the snow as the mists across the mountain tops. In careful +gradation the trail zigzagged downward. The snow lessened in depth +with each foot of drop. The bitter cold began to give way to the +increasing warmth of the sun. Sensation crept back into Nucky's feet +and hands. By a supreme effort for many moments he managed to fix his +eyes firmly on Frank's broad back, and though he could not give up his +hold on the pommel, he sat a little straighter. Then, of a sudden, +Spoons stopped in his tracks, and as suddenly a little avalanche of +snow shot down the canyon wall, catching the mule's forelegs. Spoons +promptly threw himself inward, against the wall. Nucky gave a startled +look at the sickening depths below and when Frank turned in his saddle, +Nucky had fainted, half clinging to Spoons' neck, half supported +against the wet, rocky wall. + +With infinite care, and astonishing speed, Frank slid from his mule and +made his way back to the motionless Spoons. + +"Always said you were more than human, old chap," said Allen, kicking +the snow away from the mule's fore legs. "Easy now! Don't lose your +passenger!" The mule regained his balance and stepped carefully +forward out of the drift, while the guide, balanced perilously on the +outer edge of the trail, kept a supporting hand on Nucky's shoulders. + +But there was no need of the flask Frank pulled from his pocket. Nucky +opened his eyes almost immediately. Whatever emotion Frank may have +felt, he kept to himself. "I told you Spoons was better than a life +insurance policy, Enoch." + +Enoch slowly pushed himself erect. He looked from Frank's quizzical +eyes to Spoons' twitching ears, then at his own shaking hands. + +"I fainted, didn't I?" he asked. + +Allen nodded, and something in the twist of the man's lips maddened +Nucky. He burst forth wildly: + +"You think I'm a blank blank sissy! Well, maybe I am. But if New York +couldn't scare me, this blank blank hole out here in this blank blank +jumping off place can't. I'm going on down this trail and if I fall +and get killed, it's up to you and Mr. Seaton." + +"Good work, New York!" responded Allen briefly. He edged his way +carefully back to his mule and the cavalcade moved onward. Perhaps +five minutes afterward, as they left the snow line, the guide looked +back. Nucky was huddled in the saddle, his eyes closed tight, but his +thin lips were drawn in a line that caused Allen to change his purpose. +He did not speak as he had planned, but led the way on for a long half +hour, in silence, his eyes thoughtful. + +But Nucky did not keep his eyes closed long. The pull of horror, of +mystery, of grandeur was too great. And after the avalanche, his +confidence in Spoons was established. He was little more than a child +and under his bravado and his watchfulness there was a child's +recklessness. If he were to fall, at least he must see whither he was +to fall. He forced himself to look from time to time into the depths +below. The trail dropped steadily, while higher and higher soared +canyon wall and mountain peak. It was still early when the trail met +the plateau on which lie the Indian gardens. + +Frank's mule suddenly quickened his stride as did Spoons. But Nucky, +although he was weary and saddle sore had no intention of crying a +halt, now that the trail was level. His pulse began to subside and +once more he sat erect in the saddle. When the mules rushed forward to +bury their noses in a cress-grown spring, he grinned at Frank. + +"Well, here I am, after all!" + +Frank grinned in return. "If I could put through a few more stunts +like this, you'd look almost like a boy, instead of a potato sprout. +Get down and limber up." + +Nucky half scrambled, half fell off his mule. "Must be spring down +here," he cried, staring about at grass and cottonwood. + +"Just about. And it'll be summer when we reach the river." + +"That was some trail, wasn't it, Frank! Do many kids take it?" + +"Lots of 'em, but only with guides, and you were the worst case of +scared boy I've ever seen." + +Nucky flushed. "Well, you might give me credit for hanging to it, even +if I was scared." + +"I'll give you a lot of credit for that, old man. But if the average +New York boy has nerves like yours, I'm glad many of them don't come to +the Canyon, that's all. Your nerves would disgrace a girl." + +"The guys I gamble with never complained of my lack of nerves," cried +Nucky, angrily. + +"Gambling! Thunder! What nerve does it take to stack the cards +against a dub? But this country out here, let me tell you, it takes a +man to stand up to it." + +"And I've been through police raids too, and never squealed and I know +two gunmen and they say I'm as hard as steel." + +"They should have seen you with your arms around Spoons' neck, back up +the trail there," said Allen dryly. "Come! Mount again, Enoch! I +want to have lunch at the river." + +Enoch was sullen as they started on but his sullenness did not last +long. As his fear receded, his curiosity increased. He gazed about +him with absorbed interest, and he began to bombard the guide with +questions in genuine boy fashion. + +"How far is it to the river? Do we have any steeper trails than the +ones we've been on, already? Did any one ever swim across the river? +Was any one ever killed when he minded what the guide told him? What +guys camp in the Indian gardens? How much does it cost? Did any one +ever climb up the side of the Canyon, say like one yonder where it +looked like different colored stair steps going up? Did any one ever +find gold in the canyon? How did they know it when they found it? Did +Frank ever do any mining? What was placer mining?" And on and on, +only the intermittently returning fear of the trail silencing him until +Frank ordered him to dismount in a narrow chasm within sight of the +roaring, muddy Colorado. + +"One of the ways Seaton employed to persuade me to take care of you for +a week was by telling me you were a very silent kid," added the guide. + +Nucky grinned sheepishly, and turned to stare wonderingly at the black +walls that here closed in upon them breathlessly. Their lunch had been +prepared at the hotel. Frank fed the mules, then handed Nucky his box +lunch and proceeded to open his own. + +"Does it make you sore to have me ask you questions?" asked the boy. + +"No! I guess it's more natural for a kid than the sulks you've been +keeping up with Seaton." + +"I'm not such a kid. I'm going on fifteen and I've earned my own way +since I was twelve. And I earn it with men, too." Nucky jerked his +head belligerently. + +Frank ate a hard boiled egg before speaking. Then, with one eyebrow +raised, he grunted, "What'd you work at?" + +"Cards and dice!" this very proudly. + +"You poor nut!" Frank's voice was a mixture of contempt and +compassion. Nucky immediately turned sulky and the meal was finished +in silence. When the last doughnut had been devoured, Frank stretched +himself in the warm sand left among the rocks by the river at flood. + +"Must be eighty degrees down here," he yawned. "We'll rest for a half +hour, then we'll make the night camp. It's after two now and it will +be dark in this narrow rift by four." + +Nucky looked about him apprehensively. The Canyon here was little more +than a gorge whose walls rose sheer and menacing toward the narrow +patch of blue sky above. He could not make up his mind to lie down and +relax as Frank had done. All was too new and strange. + +"Are there snakes round here?" he demanded. + +Frank's grunt might have been either yes or no. Nucky glanced +impatiently at the guide's closed eyes, then he began to clamber +aimlessly and languidly over the rocks to the river edge. At a +distance of perhaps a hundred feet from Frank he stopped, looked at the +bleak, blank wall of the river opposite, bit his nails and shuddering +turned back. He crouched on a rock, near the guide, smoking one +cigarette after another until Frank jumped to his feet. + +"Three o'clock, New York! Time to get ready for the night." + +"I don't want to stay in this hole all night!" protested Nucky, "I +couldn't sleep." + +"You'll like it. You've no idea how comfortable I'm going to make you. +Now, your job is to gather drift wood and pile it on that flat topped +rock yonder. Keep piling till I tell you to quit. The nights are cold +and I'll keep a little blaze going late, for you." + +"What's the idea?" demanded Nucky. "Why stay down here, like lost +dogs, when there's a first class hotel back up there?" + +Frank sighed. "Well, the idea is this! A real he man likes camping in +the wilds better'n he likes anything on earth. Seaton thought maybe +somewhere in that pindling carcass of yours there was the making of a +he man and that you'd like the experience. I promised him I'd try you +out and I'm trying you, hang you for an ungrateful, cowardly cub." + +Nucky turned on his heel and began to pick up drift wood. He was in +poor physical trim but the pile, though it grew slowly, grew steadily. +By the time Frank announced the camp ready, Nucky's fuel pile was of +really imposing dimensions. And dusk was thickening in the gorge. + +Before a great flat faced rock that looked toward the river, was a +stretch of clean dry sand. Against this rock, the guide had placed a +rubber air-mattress and a plentiful supply of blankets. A small +folding table stood before a rough stone fire place. A canvas shelter +stretched vertically on two strips of driftwood, shut off the night +wind that was beginning to sweep through the Canyon. The mules were +tethered close to the camp. + +"Where'd that mattress come from?" exclaimed Nucky. + +"Partly off old Funny Face's back and part out of a bicycle pump. +Didn't want to risk your sickly bones on the ground until you harden up +a bit. Pretty good pile of timber for an amateur, New York." Frank +looked up from the fire he was kindling into Nucky's thin, tired face. +"Now, son, you sit down on the end of your bed and take it easy. I'm +an old hand at this game and before we've had our week together I'm +banking on you being glad to help me. But to-day you've had enough." + +"Thanks," mumbled Nucky, as he eagerly followed the guide's suggestions. + +The early supper tasted delicious to the boy although every muscle in +his body ached. Bacon and flap jacks, coffee and canned peaches he +devoured with more appetite than he ever had brought to ministrone and +red wine. A queer and inexplicable sense of comfort and a desire to +talk came over him after the meal was finished, the camp in order, and +the fire replenished. + +"This ain't so bad," he said. "I wish some of the guys that used to +come to Luigi's could see me now." + +"And who was Luigi?" asked Frank, lighting his pipe and stretching +himself on a blanket before the fire. + +"He was the guy I lived with after my mother died. He ran a gambling +joint, and we was fixing the place up for women, too, when we all got +pinched." This very boastfully. + +"Who were your folks, Enoch?" + +"Never heard of none of 'em. Luigi's a Dago. He wouldn't have been so +bad if he didn't pinch the pennies so. Were you ever in New York, +Frank?" This in a patronizing voice. + +"Born there," replied the guide. + +Nucky gasped with surprise. "How'd you ever happen to come out here?" + +"I can't live anywhere else because of chronic asthma. I don't know +now that I'd want to live anywhere else. I used to kick against the +pricks, but you get more sense as you grow older--after it's too late." + +"I should think you'd rather be dead," said Nucky sincerely. "If I +thought I couldn't get back to MacDougal Street I'd want to die." + +"MacDougal Street and the dice, I suppose, eh? Enoch, you're on the +wrong track and I know, because that's the track I tried myself. And I +got stung." + +"But--" began Nucky. + +"No but about it. It's the wrong track and you can't get to decency or +happiness or contentment on it. There's two things a man can never +make anything real out of; cards or women." + +"I didn't want to make anything out of women. I want to get even with +'em, blank blank 'em all," cried Nucky with sudden fury. And he burst +into an obscene tirade against the sex that utterly astonished the +guide. He lay with his chin supported on his elbow, staring at the +boy, at his thin, strongly marked features, and at the convulsive +working of his throat as he talked. + +"Here! Dry up!" Frank cried at last. "I'll bet these canyon walls +never looked down on such a rotten little cur as you are in all their +history. You gambling, indecent little gutter snipe, isn't there a +clean spot in you?" + +"You were a gambler yourself!" shrieked Nucky. + +"Yes, sir, I know cards and I know women, and that's why I know just +what a mess of carrion your lovely young soul is. Any kid that can see +the glory o' God that you've seen to-day and then sit down and talk +like an overflowing sewer isn't fit to live. I didn't know that before +I came out to this country, but I know it now. You get to bed. I +don't want to hear another word out of you to-night. Pull your boots +off. That's all." + +Half resentful, half frightened, Nucky obeyed. For a while, with +nerves and over-tired muscles twitching, he lay watching the fire. +Then he fell asleep. + +It was about midnight when he awoke. He had kicked the blankets off +and was cold. The fire was out but the full moon sailed high over the +gorge. Frank, rolled in his blankets, his feet to the dead fire, slept +noisily. Nucky sat up and pulled his blankets over him, but he did not +lie down again. He sat staring at the wonder of the Canyon. For a +long half hour he was motionless save for the occasional moistening of +his lips and turning of his head as he followed the unbelievable +contour of the distant silvered peaks. Then of a sudden he jumped from +his bed and, stooping over Frank, shook him violently. + +"Wake up!" he cried. "Wake up! I gotta tell somebody or the Canyon'll +drive me crazy. I'll tell you why I'm bad. It's because my mother was +bad before me. She was Luigi's mistress. She was a bad lot. It was +born in me." + +Frank sat up, instantly on the alert. "How old were you when she +died?" he demanded. + +"Six," replied Nucky. + +"Shucks! you don't know anything about it, then! Who told you she was +bad?" + +"Luigi! I guess he'd know, wouldn't he?" + +"Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. At any rate, I wouldn't take the +oath on his deathbed of a fellow who ran a joint like Luigi's and +taught a kid what he's taught you. He told you that, of course, to +keep a hold on you." + +"But she lived with him. I remember that myself." + +"I can't help that. I'll bet you my next year's pay, she wasn't your +mother!" + +"Not my mother?" Nucky drew himself up with a long breath. "Certainly +she was my mother." + +Frank uncovered some embers from the ashes and threw on wood. "I'll +bet she wasn't your mother," he repeated firmly. "Seaton told me that +that policeman friend of yours said she might and might not be your +mother. Seaton and the policeman both think she wasn't, and I'm with +'em." + +"But why? Why?" cried Nucky in an agony of impatience. + +"For the simple reason that a fellow with a face like your's doesn't +have a bad mother." + +In the light of the leaping flames Nucky's face fell. "Aw, what you +giving us! Sob stuff?" + +"I'm telling you something that's as true as God. You can't see Him or +talk to Him, but you know He made this Canyon, don't you?" + +Nucky nodded quickly. + +"All right, then I'm telling you, every line of your face and head says +you didn't come of a breed like the woman that lived with Luigi. I'll +bet if you show you have any decent promise, Seaton will clear that +point up. A good detective could do it." + +"I never thought of such a thing," muttered Nucky. He continued to +stare at Frank, his pale boy's face tense with conflicting hope and +fear. The guide picked up his blanket, but Nucky cried out: + +"Don't go to sleep for a minute, please! I can't stand it alone in +this moonlight. I never thought such thoughts in my life as I have +down here, about God and who I am and what a human being is. I tell +you, I'm going crazy." + +Frank nodded, and began to fill his pipe. "Sit down close to the fire, +son. That's what the Canyon does to anybody that's thin skinned. I +went through it too. I tell you, Nucky, this life here in the Canyon +and the thoughts you think here, are the only real things. New York +and all that, is just the outer shell of living. Understand me?" + +The boy nodded, his eyes fixed on Frank's with pitiful eagerness. + +"It's clean out here. This country isn't all messed up with men and +women's badness. Everybody starts even and with a clean slate. Lord +knows, I was a worthless bunch when I struck here, fifteen years ago. +I'd been expelled from Yale in my senior year for gambling. I'd run +through the money my father'd left me. I'd gotten into a woman scrape +and I'd alienated every member of my family. Just why I thought a deck +of cards was worth all that, I can't tell you. But I did. Then I came +down here to see what the Canyon could do for my asthma and it cured +that, and by the Eternal, it cured my soul, too. Now listen to me, +son! You go back and lie down and put yourself to sleep thinking about +your real mother. Boys are apt to take their general build from their +mothers, so she was probably a big woman, not pretty, but with an +intellectual face full of character. Go on, now, Enoch! You need the +rest and we've got a full day to-morrow." + +Nucky passed his hand unsteadily over his eyes, but rose without a +word, and Frank tucked him into his blankets, then sat quietly waiting +by the fire. It was not long before deep breaths that were +pathetically near to sobs told the guide that Nucky was asleep. Then +he rolled himself in his own blankets. The moon passed the Canyon wall +and utter darkness enwrapped the Canyon and the river which murmured +harshly as it ran. + +Nucky wakened the next morning to the smell of coffee. He sat up and +eyed Frank soberly. + +"Hello, New York! This is the Grand Canyon!" Frank grinned as he +lifted the coffee pot from the fire. + +Nucky grinned in response. Shortly after, when he sat down to his +breakfast the grin had disappeared, but with it had gone the look of +sullenness that had seemed habitual. + +"Frank," said Nucky, when breakfast was over, "do you care if I talk to +you some more about--you know--you know what you said last night? I +never talked about it to any one but Luigi, and it makes me feel +better." + +"Sure, go ahead!" said Frank. + +"My mother--" began Nucky. + +"You mean Luigi's wife," corrected the guide. + +"Luigi's wife was crazy about me. She loved me just as much as any +mother could. Luigi's always been jealous about it. That's why he +treated me so rotten." + +"Bad women can be just as fond of kids as good women," was Frank's +comment. "What did she look like? Can you remember?" + +"I don't know whether I remember it or if it's just what folks told me. +She had dark blue eyes and dark auburn hair. Luigi said she was +Italian." + +"If she was, she was North Italian," mused the guide. "Did any one +ever give you any hints about your father?" + +A slow, painful red crept over Nucky's pale face. "I never asked but +once. Maybe you can guess what Luigi said." + +"If Luigi were in this part of the country," growled Allen, "I'd lead a +lynching party to call on him." He paused, eying Nucky's boyish face +closely, then he asked, "Did you love your mother?" + +"I suppose I did. But Luigi kept at me so that now I hate her and all +other women. Mrs. Seaton seemed kind of nice, but I suppose she is +like the rest of 'em." + +"Don't you think it! And did you know that Seaton thinks you were +kidnapped?" + +Nucky drew a quick breath and the guide went on, "I think so too. You +never belonged to an Italian. I can't tell you just why I feel so +certain. But I'd take my oath you are of New England stock. John +Seaton is a first-class lawyer. As I said to you last night, if you +show some decent spirit, he'd try to clear the matter up for you." + +Nucky's blue eyes were as eager and as wistful as a little child's. +His thin, mobile lips quivered. "I never thought of such a thing, +Frank!" + +"Well, you'd better think of it! Now then, you clean up these dishes +for me while I attend to the stock. I want to be off in a half hour." + +During the remainder of that very strenuous day, Nucky did not refer +again to the matter so near his heart. He was quiet, but no longer +sullen, and he was boyishly interested in the wonders of the Canyon. +The sun was setting when they at last reached the rim. For an hour +Nucky had not spoken. When Allen had turned in the saddle to look at +the boy, Nucky had nodded and smiled, then returned to his absorbed +watching of the lights and shadows in the Canyon. + +They dismounted at the corral. "Now, old man," said Frank, "I want you +to go in and tuck away a big supper, take a hot bath and go to bed. +To-morrow we'll ride along the rim just long enough to fight off the +worst of the saddle stiffness." + +"All right!" Nucky nodded. "I'm half dead, that's a fact. But I've +got to tell the clerk and the bell boy a thing or two before I do +anything." + +"Go to it!" Frank laughed, as he followed the mules through the gate. + +Nucky did not open his eyes until nine o'clock the next morning. When +he had finished breakfast, he found the guide waiting for him in the +lobby. + +"Hello, Frank!" he shouted. "Come on! Let's start!" + +All that day, prowling through the snow after Allen, Nucky might have +been any happy boy of fourteen. It was only when Frank again left him +at dusk that his face lengthened. + +"Can't I be with you this evening, Frank?" he asked. + +Frank shook his head. "I've got to be with my wife and little girl." + +"But why can't I--" Nucky hesitated as he caught the look in Frank's +face. "You'll never forget what I said about women, I suppose!" + +"Why should I forget it?" demanded Allen. + +The sullen note returned to Nucky's voice. "I wouldn't harm 'em!" + +"No, I'll bet you wouldn't!" returned Allen succinctly. + +Nucky turned to stare into the Canyon. It seemed to the guide that it +was a full five minutes that the boy gazed into the drifting depths +before he turned with a smile that was as ingenuous as it was wistful. + +"Frank, I guess I made an awful dirty fool of myself! I--I can't like +'em, but I'll take your word that lots of 'em are good. And nobody +will ever hear me sling mud at 'em again, so help me God--and the +Canyon!" + +Frank silently held out his hand and Nucky grasped it. Then the guide +said, "You'd better go to bed again as soon as you've eaten your +supper. By to-morrow you'll be feeling like a short trip down Bright +Angel. Good-night, old top!" + +When Nucky came out of the hotel door the next morning, Frank, with a +cavalcade of mules, was waiting for him. But he was not alone. Seated +on a small mule was a little girl of five or six. + +"Enoch," said Frank, "this is my daughter, Diana. She is going down +the trail with us." + +Nucky gravely doffed his hat, and the little girl laughed, showing two +front teeth missing and a charming dimple. + +"You've got red hair!" she cried. + +Nucky grunted, and mounted his mule. + +"Diana will ride directly behind me," said Frank. "You follow her, +Enoch." + +"Can that kid go all the way to the river?" demanded Nucky. + +"She's been there a good many times," replied Frank, looking proudly at +his little daughter. + +She was not an especially pretty child, but had Nucky been a judge of +feminine charms he would have realized that Diana gave promise of a +beautiful womanhood. Her chestnut hair hung in thick curls on her +shoulders. Her eyes were large and a clear hazel. Her skin, though +tanned, was peculiarly fine in texture. But the greatest promise of +her future beauty lay in a sweetness of expression in eye and lip that +was extraordinary in so young a child. For the rest, she was thin and +straight and wore a boy's corduroy suit. + +Diana feared the trail no more than Nucky feared MacDougal Street. She +was deeply interested in Nucky, turning and twisting constantly in her +saddle to look at him. + +"Do you like your mule, Enoch? He's a very nice mule." + +"Yes, but don't turn round or you'll fall." + +"How can I talk if I don't turn round? Do you like little girls?" + +"I don't know any little girls. Turn round, Diana!" + +"But you know me!" + +"I won't know you long if you don't sit still in that saddle, Miss." + +"Do you like me, Enoch?" + +Nucky groaned. "Frank, if Diana don't quit twisting, I'll fall myself, +even if she don't!" + +"Don't bother Enoch, daughter!" + +"I'm not bothering Enoch, Daddy. I'm making conversation. I like him, +even if he has red hair." + +Nucky sighed, and tried to turn the trend of the small girl's ideas. + +"I'll bet you don't know what kind of stone that is yonder where the +giant dripped blood." + +"There isn't any giant's blood!" exclaimed Diana scornfully. "That is +just red quartz!" + +"Oh, and what's the layer next to it?" demanded Nucky skeptically. + +"That's black basalt," answered the little girl. Then, leaning far out +of the saddle to point to the depths below, "and that--" + +"Frank!" shouted Nucky. "Diana is bound to fall! I just can't stand +looking at her." + +This time Frank spoke sternly. "Diana, don't turn to look at Enoch +again!" and the little girl obeyed. + +Had Nucky been other than he was, he might have been amused and not a +little charmed by Diana's housewifely ways when they made camp that +afternoon. She helped to kindle the fire and to unpack the provisions. +She lent a hand at arranging the beds and set the table, all with eager +docility and intelligence. But Nucky, after doing the chores Frank set +him, wandered off to a seat that commanded a wide view of the trail, +where he remained in silent contemplation of the wonders before him +until called to supper. + +He was silent during the meal, giving no heed to Diana's small attempts +at conversation, and wandered early to his blankets. In the morning, +however, he was all boy again, even attempting once or twice to tease +Diana, in a boy's offhand manner. That small person, however, had +become conscious of the fact that Enoch was not interested in her, and +she had withdrawn into herself with a pride and self-control that was +highly amusing to her father. Nor did she unbend during the day. + +The return trip was made with but one untoward incident. This occurred +after they had reached the snow line. Much of the snow had thawed and +by late afternoon there was ice on the trail. Frank led the way very +gingerly and the mules often stopped of their own accord, while the +guide roughened the path for them with the axe. In spite of this care, +as they rounded one last upper curve, Diana's mule slipped, and it was +only Diana's lightning quickness in dismounting and the mule's skill in +throwing himself inward that saved them both. + +Diana did not utter a sound, but Nucky gave a hoarse oath and, before +Frank could accomplish it, Nucky had dismounted, had rushed up the +trail and stood holding Diana in his lank, boyish arms, while the mule +regained his foothold. + +"Now look here, Frank, Diana rides either in your lap or mine!" said +Nucky shortly, his face twitching. + +Frank raised his eyebrows at the boy's tone. "Set her down, Enoch! +We'll all walk to the top. It's only a short distance, and the ice is +getting pretty bad." + +Nucky obediently set the little girl on her feet, and Diana tossed her +curls and followed her father without a word. And Frank, as he led the +procession, wore a puzzled grin on his genial face. + + * * * * * * + +Exactly ten days after Nucky's first trip down Bright Angel trail, John +Seaton descended somewhat wearily from the Pullman that had landed him +once more at the Canyon's rim. He had telegraphed the time of his +arrival and Nucky ran up to meet him. + +"Hello, Mr. Seaton!" he said. + +Seaton's jaw dropped. "What on earth--?" Then he grinned. + +Nucky was wearing high laced boots, a blue flannel shirt, gauntlet +gloves and a huge sombrero. + +"Some outfit, Enoch! Been down Bright Angel yet?" + +"Three times," replied the boy, with elaborate carelessness. "Say, Mr. +Seaton, can't we stay one more day and you take the trip with us?" + +"I think I can arrange it." Seaton was trying not to look at the boy +too sharply. "I'll be as sore as a dog, for I haven't been in a saddle +since I was out here before. But Bright Angel's worth it." + +"Sore!" Nucky laughed. "Say, Mr. Seaton, I just don't try to sit down +any more!" + +They had reached the hotel desk now and as Seaton signed the register +the clerk said, with a wink: + +"If you'll leave young Huntingdon behind, we'll take him on as a guide, +Mr. Seaton." + +Nucky tossed his head. "Huh! and you might get a worse guide than me, +too. Frank says I got the real makings in me and I'll bet Frank knows +more about guiding than any white in these parts. Navaho Mike told me +so. And Navaho Mike says he knows I could make money out here even at +fourteen." + +"How, Enoch?" asked Seaton, as they followed the bell boy upstairs. He +was not looking at Nucky, for fear he would show surprise. "How? at +cards?" + +"Aw, no! Placer mining! It don't cost much to outfit and there's +millions going to waste in the Colorado! Millions! Frank and Mike say +so. You skip, Billy,"--this to the bell boy,--"I'm Mr. Seaton's bell +hop." + +The boy pocketed the tip Nucky handed him, and closed the door after +himself. Nucky opened Seaton's suitcase. + +"Shall I unpack for you?" he asked. + +"No, thanks, I shan't need anything but my toilet case, for I'm going +to get into an outfit like yours, barring the hat and gloves." + +"Ain't it a pippin!" giving the hat an admiring glance. "Frank gave it +to me. He has two, and I rented the things for you, Mr. Seaton. Here +they are," opening the closet door. "Shall I help you with 'em? Will +you take a ride along the rim now? Shall I get the horses? Now? I'll +be waiting for you at the main entrance with the best pony in the +bunch." + +He slammed out of the room. John Seaton scratched his head after he +had shaken it several times, and made himself ready for his ride. +Frank rapped on the door before he had finished and came in, smiling. + +"Well, I understand you're to be taken riding!" he said. + +"For the love of heaven, Frank, what have you done to the boy?" + +"Me? Nothing! It was the Canyon. Let me tell you about that first +trip." And he told rapidly but in detail, the story of Nucky's first +two days in the Canyon. + +Seaton listened with an absorbed interest. "Has he spoken of his +mother to you since?" he asked, when Frank had finished. + +"No, and he probably never will again. Do you think you can clear the +matter up for him?" + +"I'll certainly try! Do you like the boy, Frank?" + +"Yes, I do. I think he's got the real makings in him. Better leave +him out here with me, Seaton." + +Seaton's face fell. "I--I hoped he'd want to stick by me. But the +decision is up to the boy. If he wants to stay out here, I'll raise no +objections." + +"I'm sure it would be better for him," said Frank. "Gambling is a +persistent disease. He's got years of struggle ahead of him, no matter +where he goes." + +"I know that, of course. Well, we'll take the trip down the trail +to-morrow before we try to make any decisions. I must go along now. +He's waiting for me." + +"Better put cotton in one ear," suggested Allen, with a smile. + +The ride was a long and pleasant one. John Seaton gave secondary heed +to the shifting grandeur of the views, for he was engrossed by his +endeavor to replace the sullen, unboyish Nucky he had known with this +voluble, high strung and entirely adolescent person who bumped along +the trail regardless of weariness or the hour. + +The trip down Bright Angel the next day was an unqualified success. +They took old Funny Face and camped for the night. After supper, Frank +muttered an excuse and wandered off toward the mules, leaving Nucky and +Seaton by the fire. + +"Frank thinks you ought to stay out here with him, Enoch," said Seaton. + +"What did you say to him when he told you that?" asked Nucky eagerly. + +"I said I hoped you'd go back to New York with me, but that the +decision was up to you." + +Nucky said nothing for the moment. Seaton watched the fire glow on the +boy's strong face. When Nucky looked up at his friend, his eyes were +embarrassed and a little miserable. + +"Did Frank tell you about our talk down here?" + +Seaton nodded. + +"Do you know?" the boy's voice trembled with eagerness. "Was she my +mother?" + +"Foley thinks not. He says she spoke with an accent he thought was +Italian. When I get back to New York I'll do what I can to clear the +matter up for you. Queer, isn't it, that human beings crave to know +even the worst about their breed." + +"I got to know! I got to know! Mr. Seaton, I ran away from Luigi one +time. I guess I was about eight. I wanted to live in the country. +And I got as far as Central Park before they found me. He got the +police on my trail right off. And when he had me back in Minetta Lane, +first he licked me and then he told me how bad my mother was, and he +said if folks knew it, they'd spit on me and throw me out of school, +and that I was lower than any low dog. And he told me if I did exactly +what he said he'd never let any one know, but if I didn't he'd go over +and tell Miss Brannigan. She was a teacher I was awful fond of, and +he'd tell the police, and he'd tell all the kids. And after that he +was always telling me awful low things about my mother--" + +Seaton interrupted firmly. "Not your mother. Call her Luigi's wife." + +Nucky moistened his lips. "Luigi's wife. And it used to drive me +crazy. And he told me all women was like that only some less and some +worse. Mr. Seaton, is that true?" + +"Enoch, it's a contemptible, unspeakable lie! The majority of women +are pure and sweet as no man can hope to be. I'd like to kill Luigi, +blast his soul!" + +"Maybe you don't know!" persisted Nucky. + +"I know! And what's more, when we get back to New York, I'll prove it +to you. The world is full of clean, honest, kindly people, Enoch. +I'll prove it to you, old man, if you'll give me the chance." + +"But if she was my mother, how can I help being rotten?" + +"Look here, Enoch, a fellow might have the rottenest mother and +rottenest father on earth, but the Lord will start the fellow out with +a clean slate, just the same. Folks aren't born bad. You can't +inherit your parents' badness. You could inherit their weak wills, for +instance, and if you live in Minetta Lane where there's only badness +about you, your weak will wouldn't let you stand out against the +badness. But you can't inherit evil. If that were possible, humanity +would have degenerated to utter brutality long ago. And, Enoch, you +haven't inherited even a weak will. You're as obstinate as old Funny +Face!" + +"Then you think--" faltered the boy. + +"I don't think! I know that you come of fine, upstanding stock! And +it's about time you moved out of Minetta Lane and gave your good blood +a chance!" + +Enoch's lips quivered, and he turned his head toward the fire. Seaton +waited, patiently. After a while he said, "Enoch, the most important +thing in a man's life is his philosophy. What do you think life is +for? By what principles do you think a man ought to be guided? Do you +think that the underlying purpose of life is dog eat dog, every man for +himself, by whatever method? That's your gambler's philosophy. Or do +you think we're put here to make life better than we found it? That +was Abraham Lincoln's philosophy. Before you decide for the Grand +Canyon or for New York, you ought to discover your philosophy. Do you +see what I'm driving at?" + +"Yes," said Nucky, "and I don't have to wait to discover it, for I've +done that this week. I want to go into politics so I can clean out +Minetta Lane." + +Seaton looked at the lad keenly. "Good work, Nucky, old man!" + +The boy spoke quickly. "Don't call me Nucky! I'm Enoch, from now on!" + +"From now on, where?" asked Frank, strolling into the firelight. + +"New York!" replied Enoch. "I'd rather stay here, but I got to go +back." + +"Mr. Seaton, have you been using bribery?" Frank was half laughing, +half serious. + +"Well, nothing as attractive as guiding on Bright Angel trail!" +exclaimed John. + +"And that's the only job I was ever offered I really wanted!" cried +Enoch ruefully. + +The men both laughed, and suddenly the boy joined them, laughing long +and a little hysterically. "O gee!" he said at last, "I feel as free +and light as air! I got to take a run up and down the sand," and a +moment later they heard his whistle above the endless rushing of the +Colorado. + +"Ideas are important things," said Seaton, thoughtfully. "Such a one +as that beast Luigi has planted in Enoch's mind can warp his entire +life. He evidently is of a morbidly sensitive temperament, proud to a +fault, high strung and introspective. Until some one can prove to him +that his mother was not a harlot, he'll never be entirely normal. And +it's been my observation that one of the most fundamentally weakening +things for a boy's character is his not being able to respect his +father or mother. Luigi caught Enoch when his mind was like modeling +clay." + +"Do you think you can clear the matter up?" asked Frank. + +"I'll try my utmost. It's going to be hard, for Foley's no fool, and +he's done a lot of work on it with no results. If I don't settle the +matter, Enoch is going to be hag-ridden by Minetta Lane all his life. +I know of a chap who was lame for twenty years because when he was +about ten, he had a series of extraordinarily vivid dreams portraying a +curious accident that he was not able to distinguish from actual +happenings. It was not until he was a man and had accidentally come in +contact with a psychologist who analyzed the thing down to facts for +him that he was cured. I could cite you a hundred cases like this +where the crippling was mental as well as physical. And nothing but an +absolute and tangible proof of the falsity of the idea will make a +cure. Some day there are going to be doctors who will handle nothing +but ideas." + +"The boy's worth saving!" Frank lighted his pipe thoughtfully. +"There's a power of will there for good or evil that can't be ignored. +And I have faith in any one the Canyon gets a real grip on. It sure +has got this boy. I never saw a more marked case." + +The lawyer nodded and both men sat smoking, their eyes on the distant +rim. + + + + +BOOK II + +THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR + + + + +CHAPTER III + +TWENTY-TWO YEARS LATER + + +"It sometimes seemed to me that the Colorado said as it rushed through +the Canyon, 'Nothing matters! Nothing! Nothing!'"--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +One burning morning in July, Jonas, in a cool gray seersucker suit, his +black face dripping with perspiration, was struggling with the electric +fan in the private office of the Secretary of the Interior. The +windows were wide open and the hideous uproar of street traffic filled +the room. It was a huge, high-ceilinged apartment, with portraits of +former Secretaries on the walls. The Secretary's desk, a large, +polished conference table, and various leather chairs, with a handsome +Oriental rug, completed the furnishings. + +As Jonas struggled vainly with the fan, a door from the outer office +opened and a young man appeared with the day's mail. Charley Abbott +was nearing thirty but he looked like a college boy. He was big and +broad and blonde, with freckles disporting themselves frankly on a nose +that was still upturned. His eyes were set well apart and his lips +were frank. He placed a great pile of opened letters on Enoch's desk. + +"Better peg along, Jonas," he said. "The Secretary's due in a minute!" + +Jonas gathered the fan to his breast and scuttled out the side door as +Enoch Huntingdon came in at the Secretary's private entrance. + +The years had done much for Enoch. He stood six feet one in his socks. +He was not heavy but still had something of the rangy look of his +boyhood. He was big boned and broad chested. College athletics had +developed his lungs and flattened his shoulder blades. His hair was +copper-colored, vaguely touched with gray at the temples and very thick +and unruly. His features were still rough hewn but time had hardened +their immaturity to a rugged incisiveness. His cheek bones were high +and his cheeks were slightly hollowed. His eyes were a burning, +brilliant blue, deep set under overhanging brows. His mouth was large, +thin lipped and exceedingly sensitive; the mouth of the speaker. He +wore a white linen suit. + +"Good morning, Mr. Abbott," he said, dropping his panama hat on a +corner of the conference table. + +"Good morning, Mr. Secretary! I hope you are rested after yesterday. +Seems to me that was as hard a day as we ever had." + +Enoch dropped into his chair. "Was it really harder, Abbott, or was it +this frightful weather?" + +"Well, we didn't have more appointments than usual, but some of them +were unusually trying. That woman who wanted to be reappointed to the +Pension Office, for example." + +Enoch nodded. "I'd rather see Satan come into this office than a +woman. Try to head them off, Abbott, whenever you can." + +"I always do, sir! Will you run through this correspondence, Mr. +Huntingdon, before I call in the Idaho contingent?" + +Enoch began rapidly to read letters and to dictate terse replies. They +were not more than a third of the way down the pile when a buzzer +sounded. Enoch looked up inquiringly. + +"I told Jonas to buzz for me at 9:20," explained young Abbott. "I +don't dare keep the people in the waiting-room watching the clock +longer than that. We'll fit this in at odd times, as usual. Remember, +Mr. Secretary, you can't give these people more than fifteen minutes. +Shall I come in and speak to you, at that time?" + +"Perhaps you'd better," replied Enoch. + +Abbott opened the door into the outer room. "Gentlemen, the Secretary +will receive you," he said. "Mr. Secretary, allow me to present Mr. +Reeves, Mr. Carleton, Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Dunkel, Mr. Street, Mr. +Swiftwater and Mr. Manges." + +The men filing into the room bowed and mumbled. Enoch looked after +Abbott's retreating back admiringly. "I've been hearing Abbott do that +sort of thing for two years, but it never fails to rouse my +admiration," he said. + +"A wonderful memory!" commented one of the visitors. + +"Abbott is going into politics later," Enoch went on. "A memory such +as his will carry him far." + +"Not as far as a silver tongue," suggested another man, with a twinkle +in his eye. + +"That remains to be seen," smiled Enoch. He had a very pleasant smile, +showing even, white teeth. "Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you?" + +"Mr. Secretary," said the spokesman of the delegation, "as you know, we +represent the business men of the State of Idaho. There is a very +bitter controversy going on in our State over your recent ruling on the +matter of Water Power Control. We believe your ruling works an +injustice on the business men of our state and as nothing came of +correspondence, we thought we'd come along East and have a talk with +you." + +"I'm glad you did," said Enoch. "You see, my work is of such a nature +that unless you people on the firing line keep in touch with me, I may +go astray on the practical, human side. You are all States' Rights +men, of course." + +The delegation nodded. + +"My ideas on Water Power are simple enough," said Enoch. "The time is +approaching when oil, gas, and coal will not supply the power needed in +America. We shall have to turn more and more to electricity produced +by water power. There is enough water in the streams of this country +to turn every wheel in every district. But it must be harnessed, and +after it is harnessed it must be sold to the people at a just price. +What I want to do is to produce all the available water power latent in +our waterways. Then I want the poorest people in America to have +access to it. There is enough power at a price possible even to the +poorest." + +"We all agree with you so far, Mr. Secretary," said the chair-man of +the delegation. + +"I thought you would!" Enoch's beautiful voice had a curious dignity +for all its geniality. "Now my policy aims to embody the idea that the +men who develop the water power of America shall not develop for +themselves and their associates a water power monopoly." + +"We fear that as much as you do, Mr. Secretary," said one of the +delegates. "But let the state control that. We fear too much +bureaucracy and centralization of authority here in Washington. And +don't forget, if it came to a scratch, we could say to Uncle Sam, you +own the stream, but you shan't use a street or a town facility reaching +it." + +Enoch raised his eyebrows. "Uncle Sam doesn't want more power. If the +states had not been so careless and so corrupt in regard to their +public lands and their waters, there would be no need now for the +Department of the Interior to assert its authority. Show me, Mr. +Delegate, that there are neither politics nor monopolistic dreams in +Idaho's attitude toward her Water Power problem and I'd begin to +de-centralize our policy toward your state." + +Abbott opened the door and tip-toed to Enoch's desk. "I'm sorry, Mr. +Secretary," he said softly, "but Senator Far has been waiting five +minutes." + +"I'm sorry too," replied Enoch. "Gentlemen, we have used up the time +allotted. Will you make arrangements with Mr. Abbott for a longer +conference, to-morrow? Come back with the proofs!" He smiled, and the +gentlemen from Idaho smiled in return, but a little ruefully. The last +one had not turned his back when Enoch began an attack on the pile of +letters. + +A ruddy-faced, much wrinkled man appeared in the door. + +"Senator Far, Mr. Secretary," announced Abbott. Enoch rose and held +out his hand. "Senator, you look warm. Oh, Abbott, tell Jonas to turn +on the fan. What can I do for Arkansas, Senator?" + +Jonas came in hurriedly. "Mr. Secretary, that fan's laid down on me. +How come it to do it, I haven't found out yet. I tried to borrow one +from a friend of mine, but--" + +"Never mind, Jonas," said Enoch. "I don't expect you to be an +electrician. Perhaps the power's still off in the building. I noticed +there were no lights when I came in." + +Jonas' eyes grew as big as saucers. "It sure takes brains to be a +Secretary," he muttered, as he turned to hurry from the room. + +The two men grinned at each other. "What I wanted was an appointment +for a friend of mine," said Senator Far. "He's done a lot for the +party and I want to get him into the Reclamation Service." + +"He's an engineer?" asked Enoch, lighting the cigar the Senator gave +him. + +"I don't think so. He's been playing politics ever since I knew him. +He has a good following in the state." + +"Why the Reclamation Service then! By the eternal, Senator, can't you +fellows leave one department clear of the spoils system? I'm here to +tell you, I'm proud of the Service. It's made up of men with brains. +They get their jobs on pure ability. And you fellows--" + +"Oh, all right, Mr. Huntingdon!" interrupted Senator Far, rising, "I'm +always glad to know where you stand! Good morning!" + +He hurried from the room and Enoch sighed, looked out the window, then +read a half dozen letters before Abbott announced the next caller, a +man who wanted his pension increased and who had managed to reach the +Secretary through a letter from the president of a great college. Then +followed at five and ten minute intervals a man from Kansas who had +ideas on the allotment of Indian lands; a Senator who wanted light on a +bill the Secretary wished introduced; a man from Alaska who objected to +the government's attitude on Alaskan coal mines; the chairman of a +State Central Committee who wanted three appointments, and a well known +engineer who had a grievance against the Patent Office. Followed +these, an hour's conference with the Attorney General regarding the New +Pension Bill, and at noon a conference with the head of the Reclamation +Service on the matter of a new dam. + +When this conference was over, Enoch once more attacked the +correspondence pile which, during the morning, having been constantly +fed by the indefatigable Abbott, was now of overwhelming proportions. +It was nearly two o'clock when Jonas, having popped his head in and out +of the door a half dozen times, evidently waiting for the Boss to look +up, entered the room with a tray. + +"Luncheon is served, sir," he said. + +"Put it right here, Jonas." Enoch did not raise his head. + +Jonas set the tray firmly on the conference table. "No, sir, Mr. +Secretary, I ain't goin' to sit it there. You're going to git up and +come over here and keep your mind on your food. How come you think you +got iron insides?" + +Enoch sighed. "All right, Jonas, I'm coming." He rose, stretched and +moved over to the table. The man ceremoniously pulled out a chair for +him, then lifted the towel from the tray and hung it over his arm. On +the tray were a bottle of milk, a banana and some shredded wheat +biscuit, with two cigars. + +"Any time you want me to change your lunch, Mr. Secretary, you say so," +said Jonas. + +Enoch laughed. "Jonas, old man, how long have I been eating this +fodder for lunch?" + +"Ever since you was Secretary to the Mayor, boss!" + +"And how many times do you suppose you've told me you were willing to +change it, Jonas?" + +"Every time, boss. How come you think I like to see a smart man like +you living on baby food?" + +Enoch grunted. "And how many times have I told you the only way for me +to live through the banquets I have to attend is to keep to this sort +of thing when I am alone?" + +Jonas did not reply. Enoch's simple lunches never ceased to trouble +him. + +"Where do I go to-night, Jonas?" + +"The British Ambassador's, Mr. Secretary." + +Enoch finished his lunch rapidly and had just lighted the first of the +cigars when Abbott appeared. + +"There's a woman out here from the Sunday Times, Mr. Secretary. She +wants to interview you on your ideas on marriage. She has a letter +from Senator Brownlee or I wouldn't have disturbed you. She looks as +if she could make trouble, if she wanted to." + +"Tell her I'm sorry, but that I have no ideas about marriage and that +Jonas is as near a wife as I care to get. He henpecks me enough, don't +you, Jonas, old man! Abbott, just remember, once for all, I won't see +the women." + +"Very well," replied Abbott. "Will you dictate a few moments on your +report to the President on the Pension controversy?" + +"Yes!" Enoch pulled a handful of notes out of his pocket and began to +dictate clearly and rapidly. For ten minutes his voice rose steadily +above the raucous uproar that floated in at the window. Then the +telephone rang. Abbott answered it. + +"The White House, Mr. Secretary," he said. Enoch picked up the +receiver. After a few moments' conversation he rose, his face eager. + +"Abbott, the Mexican trouble appears to be coming to a crisis and the +President has called a cabinet meeting. I doubt if I can get back here +until after five. Will you express my regrets to the Argentine +delegation and make a new appointment? Is there any one in the +waiting-room?" + +"Six people. I can get rid of them all except Alton of the Bureau of +Mines. I think you must see him." + +"Send him in," said Enoch. "I'll ask him to ride as far as the White +House with me. And I'll be back to finish the letters, Abbott. I dare +not let them accumulate a single day." + +Abbott nodded and hurried out. A tall, bronzed man, wiping the sweat +from his bald head, came in just as Jonas announced, "The carriage, Mr. +Secretary." + +"Come along, Alton," said Enoch. "We'll talk your model coal mine as +we go." + +It was six o'clock when Enoch appeared again in his office. His linen +suit was wrinkled and sweat stained between the shoulders. He tossed +his hat on a chair. + +"Abbott, will you telephone Senor Juan Cadiz and ask him to meet me at +my house at ten thirty to-night? He is at the Willard. Tell Jonas to +interrupt us promptly at seven, I mustn't be late to dinner. Now, for +this mess." + +Once more he began the attack on the day's mail, which Abbott had +already reduced to its lowest dimensions. Enoch worked with a power of +concentration and a quick decisiveness that were ably seconded by +Charley Abbott. It was a quarter before seven when Enoch picked up the +last letter. He read it through rapidly, then laid it down slowly, and +stared out of the window for a long moment. Abbott gave his chief's +face a quick glance, then softly shoved under his hand the pile of +letters that were waiting signature. The letter that Enoch had just +read was dated at the Grand Canyon. + + +"Dear Mr. Secretary," it ran, "it is twenty-two years since I took a +red-headed New York boy down Bright Angel trail. You and I have never +heard from each other since, but, naturally I have followed your career +with interest. And now I'm going to ask a favor of you. My daughter +Diana wants a job in the Indian Bureau and she's coming to Washington +to see you. Don't give her a job! She doesn't have to work. I can +take care of her. I'm an old man and selfish and I don't like to be +deprived of my daughter for my few remaining years. + +"With heart-felt congratulations on your great career, + +"I am yours most respectfully, + +"FRANK ALLEN." + + +Enoch drew a deep breath and took up his fountain pen. He signed with +a rapid, illegible scrawl that toward the end of the pile became a mere +hieroglyphic. Jonas put his black face in at the door just as he +finished the last. + +"Coming, Jonas!" said the Secretary. "By the way, Abbott, I'll answer +that letter from Frank Allen the first thing in the morning. Good +night, old man! Rather a lighter day than yesterday, eh?" + +"Yes, indeed, Mr. Secretary!" agreed Abbott, as Enoch picked up his hat +and went hastily out the door Jonas held open for him. + +It was seven twenty when Enoch reached home. His house was small, with +a lawn about the size of a saucer in front, and a back yard entirely +monopolized by a tiny magnolia tree. Enoch rented the house furnished +and it was full of the home atmosphere created by the former diplomat's +wife from whom he leased it. Jonas was his steward and his valet. +While other servants came and went, Jonas was there forever. He +followed Enoch upstairs and turned on the bath water, then hurried to +lay out evening clothes. During the entire process of dressing the two +men did not exchange a word but Jonas heaved a sigh of satisfaction +when at ten minutes before eight he opened the hall door. Enoch +smiled, patted him on the shoulders and ran down the stairs. + +A dinner at the British Ambassador's was always exceedingly formal as +to food and service, exceedingly informal as to conversation. Enoch +took in a woman novelist, a woman a little past middle age who was very +small and very famous. + +"Well," she said, as she pulled off her gloves, "I've been wanting to +meet you for a long time." + +"I'm not difficult to meet," returned Enoch, with a smile. + +"As to that I've had no personal experience but three; several friends +of mine have been trampled upon by your secretary. They all were +women, of course." + +"Why, of course?" demanded Enoch. + +"One of the qualities that is said to make you so attractive to my sex +is that you are a woman hater. Now just why do you hate us?" + +"I don't hate women." Enoch spoke with simple sincerity. "I'm afraid +of them." + +"Why?" + +"I don't think I really know. Do you like men?" + +"Yes, I do," replied Mrs. Rotherick promptly. + +"Why?" asked Enoch. + +"They aren't such cats as women," she chuckled. "Perhaps cat fear is +your trouble! What are you going to do about Mexico, Mr. Huntingdon?" + +Enoch smiled. "I told the President at great length, this afternoon, +what I thought we ought to do. He gave no evidence, however, that he +was going to take my advice, or any one else's for that matter." + +"Of course, I'm not trying to pick your confidence. Mr. Secretary!" +Mrs. Rotherick spoke quickly. "You know, I've lived for years in +Germany. I say to you, beware of Germany in Mexico, Mr. Huntingdon." + +"What kind of people did you know in Germany?" asked Enoch. + +"Many kinds! But my most intimate friend was an American woman who was +married to a German General, high in the confidence of the Kaiser. I +know the Kaiserin well. I know that certain German diplomats are +deeply versed in Mexican lore--its geography, its geology, its people. +I know that Germany must have more land or burst. Mr. Secretary, +remember what I say, Germany is deeply interested in Mexico and she is +the cleverest nation in the world to-day." + +"What nation is that, Mrs. Rotherick?" asked the Ambassador. + +"Germany!" replied the little woman. + +"Possibly you look at Germany through the eyes of a fiction writer," +suggested the Englishman. + +"It's impossible to fictionize Germany," laughed Mrs. Rotherick. "One +could much more easily write a rhapsody on--" + +"On the Secretary of the Interior," interrupted the Ambassador. + +"Or on the Bank of England," laughed Mrs. Rotherick. "Very well, +gentlemen! I hope you never will have cause to remember my warning!" + +It was just as the ladies were leaving the table that Enoch said to +Mrs. Rotherick: "Will you be so kind as to write me a letter telling me +of your suspicions of Germany in Mexico? I shall treat it as +confidential." + +Mrs. Rotherick nodded, and he did not see her again that evening. Just +before Enoch departed for his engagement with Senor Cadiz, the +Ambassador buttonholed him. + +"Look here, Huntingdon," he said, "that little Mrs. Rotherick knows a +thing or two. She's better informed on international relations than +many chaps in the diplomatic service. If I were you I'd pump her." + +"Thanks, Mr. Johns-Eaton," replied Enoch. "Look here, just how much of +a row are you fellows going to make about those mines in the Alaskan +border country? Why shouldn't Canada take that trouble on?" + +"Just how much trouble are you going to make about the seal +misunderstanding?" demanded Johns-Eaton. + +"Well," replied Enoch, with a wide smile, "I have a new gelding I'd +like to try out, to-morrow morning. If you'll join me at seven-thirty +on that rack of bones you call a bay mare, I'll tell you all I know." + +"You will, like thunder!" laughed Johns-Eaton. "But I'll be there and +jolly well give you the opportunity!" + +Senor Juan Cadiz was prompt and so was Enoch. For a long hour the two +sat in the breathless heat of the July night while the Mexican answered +Enoch's terse questions with a flow of dramatic speech, accentuated by +wild gestures. Shortly after eleven-thirty Jonas appeared in the +doorway with two tinkling glasses. + +"You are sure as to your facts about this bandit leader?" asked Enoch +in a low voice. + +"Of an absolute sureness. If I--" + +The Secretary interrupted. "Could you go to Mexico for me, in entire +secrecy?" + +"Yes! Yes! Yes! If you could but see him and he you! If he could +but know an American of your type, your fairness, your kindness, your +justice! We have been taught to despise and hate Americans, you must +know." + +"Who has taught you?" + +"Sometimes, I think partly by the Germans who have come among the +people. But why should Germany do so?" + +"Why indeed?" returned Enoch, and the two men stared at each other, +deep intelligence in the gaze of each. Jonas tinkled the glasses again +and Senor Cadiz jumped to his feet. + +"I know, Senor Jonas!" he laughed. "That is the good night cap, eh!" + +Jonas grinned acquiescence, and five minutes later he turned off the +lights in the library. Enoch climbed the stairs, somewhat wearily. +His room was stifling despite the wide-flung windows and the electric +fan. He slowly and thoughtfully got himself into his pajamas, lighted +a cigarette, and walked over to the table that stood in the bay window. +He unlocked the table drawer and took out a large blank book of loose +leafed variety, opened it, and seating himself he picked up his pen and +began to write. + + +"July 17.--Rather an easier day than usual, Lucy, which was fortunate, +for the heat has been almost unbearable and at the end of the office +day came that which stirred old memories almost intolerably. A letter +from Frank Allen! You remember him, Lucy? I told you about him, when +I first began my diary. Well, he has written that his daughter, Diana, +is coming to Washington to ask me for a job which he does not wish me +to give her. I cannot see her! Only you know the pain that such a +meeting could give me! It would be like going to Bright Angel again. +And while the thought of going back to the Grand Canyon has intrigued +me for twenty-two years, I must go in my own way and in my own time. +And I am not ready yet. I had forgotten, by the way, that Frank had a +daughter. There was, now that I think of it, a little thing of five or +six who went down Bright Angel with us. I have only the vaguest +recollection of what she looked like. + +"Minetta Lane and the Grand Canyon! What a hideous, what a grotesque +coupling of names! I have never seen the one of them since I was +fourteen and the other but once, yet these two have absolutely made my +life. Don't scold me, Lucy! I know you have begged me never to +mention Minetta Lane again. But to you, I must. Do you know what I +thought to-night after I left the British Ambassador? I thought that +I'd like to be in Luigi's second floor again, with a deck of cards and +the old gang. The old gang! They've all except Luigi been in +Sing-Sing or dead, these many years. Yet the desire was so strong that +only the thought of you and your dear, faithful eyes kept me from +charging like a wild elephant into a Pullman office and getting a berth +to New York." + + +Enoch dropped his pen and stared long at the only picture in his room, +a beautiful Moran painting of Bright Angel trail. Finally, he rose and +turned off the light. When Jonas listened at the door at half after +midnight, the sound of Enoch's steady, regular breathing sent that +faithful soul complacently to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +DIANA ALLEN + + +"If only someone had taught me ethics as Christ taught them, while I +was still a little boy, I would be a finer citizen, now."--_Enoch's +Diary_. + + +It rained the next day and the Secretary of the Interior and the +British Ambassador did not attempt the proposed ride. Enoch did his +usual half hour's work with the punching bag and reached his office +punctual to the minute, with his wonted air of lack of haste and +general physical fitness. Before he even glanced at his morning's +mail, he dictated a letter to Frank Allen. + + +"Dear Frank: Your letter roused a host of memories. Some day I shall +come to Bright Angel again and you and I will camp once more in the +bottom of the Canyon. Whatever success I have had in after life is due +to you and John Seaton. I wonder if you know that he has been dead for +twenty years and that his devoted wife survived him only by a year? + +"I will do my best to carry out your request in regard to your daughter. + +"Cordially and gratefully yours, + +"ENOCH HUNTINGDON." + + +After he had finished dictating this, the Secretary stared out of the +window thoughtfully. Then he said, "Let me have that at once, Mr. +Abbott. Who is waiting this morning?" + +"Mr. Reeves of Idaho. I made an appointment yesterday for the +delegation to meet you at nine-fifteen. Reeves has turned up alone. +He says the committee decided it would get further if you saw him +alone." + +"Reeves was the short, stout man with small eyes set close together!" + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary." + +Enoch grunted. "Any one else there you want to tell me about before +the procession begins?" + +"Do you recall the man Armstrong who was here six months ago with ideas +on the functions of the Bureau of Education? I didn't let him see you, +but I sent you a memorandum of the matter. He is back to-day and I've +promised him ten minutes. I think he's the kind of a man you want in +the Bureau. He doesn't want a job, by the way." + +"I'll see him," said Enoch. "It you can, let us have fifteen minutes." + +Abbott sighed. "It's impossible, Mr. Secretary. I'll bring Reeves in +now." + +The delegate from Idaho shook hands effusively. + +"The rain is a great relief, Mr. Secretary." + +"Yes, it is. Washington is difficult to endure, in the summer, isn't +it? Well, did you bring in the proofs, Mr. Reeves?" Enoch seated +himself and his caller sank into the neighboring chair. + +"Mr. Secretary," he began, with a smile, "has it ever occurred to you +that we have been stupid in the number and kind of Bureaus we have +accumulated in Department of the Interior?" + +"Yes," replied Enoch. "I suppose you are thinking of Patents, +Pensions, Parks, Geological Survey, Land, Indians and Education. Do +you know that beside these we have, American Antiquities, the +Superintendent of Capitol Buildings, the Government Hospital for the +Insane, Freedman's Hospital, Howard University, and the Columbia +Institution for the Deaf and Dumb?" + +Reeves laughed. + +"No, I didn't. But it only goes to prove what I say. It's impossible +for the Secretary of the Interior to find time to understand local +conditions. Why not let the states manage the water and land problems?" + +"It would be illegal," replied Enoch briefly. + +"Oh, illegal! You're too good a lawyer, Mr. Secretary, to let that +thought hamper your acts!" + +"On the contrary," returned Enoch, succinctly, "I was a poor lawyer. +In some ways of course it is impossible for me to understand local +conditions in Idaho. I am told, though, that your present state +administration is corrupt as Tammany understands corruption." + +Reeves cleared his throat and would have spoken, but Enoch pushed on. + +"I have found, as the head of this complex Department that I must limit +myself as much as possible to formulating simple, basic policies and +putting these policies into the hands of men who will carry them out. +In general, my most important work is to administer the public domain. +That is, I must discover how best the natural resources that the +Federal Government still controls can be put into public service and +public service that is the highest and best. I believe that the water, +the land, the mines, ought to be given to the use of the average +citizen. I do not think that a corrupt politician nor a favor-seeking +business man has the best good of the plain citizen at heart." + +"That is very interesting from the dreamer's point of view," said +Reeves. "But a government to be successful must be practical. Who's +going to develop the water power in our Idaho streams?" + +"The people of Idaho, if they show a desire to make a fair interest on +their investment. The government of the United States, if the people +of Idaho fail to show the proper spirit." + +"And who is to be the judge in the matter?" demanded Reeves. + +"The Secretary of the Interior will be the judge. And he is not one +whit interested in you and your friends growing wealthy. He is +interested in Bill Jones getting electricity up on that lonely ranch of +his. Never forget, Mr. Reeves, that the ultimate foundations of this +nation rest on the wise distribution of its natural resources. The +average citizen, Mr. Reeves, must have reason to view the future with +hope. If he does not, the nation cannot endure." + +"And why do you consider yourself competent to deal with these +problems?" asked the caller, with a half-concealed sneer. + +"Any man with education and horse sense can handle them, provided that +his philosophy is sound. You have come to Washington with the idea, +Mr. Reeves, of getting at me, of tempting me with some sort of share in +the wealth you see in your streams. Other men have come to the Capitol +with the same purpose. I have my temptations, Mr. Reeves, but they do +not lie in the desire to graft. I think there are jobs more +interesting in life than the job of getting rich. All the grafting in +the world couldn't touch in interest the job of directing America's +inland destiny. And I have a foolish notion that a man owes his +country public service, that he owes it for no reward beyond a living +and for no other reason than that he is a man with a brain." + +Reeves, whose face had grown redder and redder, half rose from his +chair. + +"One moment," said Enoch. "Have you a sound, fair, policy for Idaho +water power, that will help Bill Jones in the same proportion that it +helps you?" + +"I had no policy. I came down here to get yours. I've got it all +right, and I'm going back and tell my folks they'd better give up any +idea of water power during the present administration." + +"I wouldn't tell them that," said Enoch, "because it wouldn't be true. +I am considering a most interesting proposition from Idaho farmers. I +thought perhaps you had something better." + +Reeves jumped to his feet. "I'll not be made a monkey of any longer!" +he shouted. "But I'll get you for this yet," and he rushed from the +office. + +Enoch shrugged his shoulders as he turned to the inevitable pile of +letters. Abbott came in with a broad smile. + +"Mr. Secretary, Miss Diana Allen is in the outer office." + +Enoch scowled. "Have I got to see her?" + +"Well, she's mighty easy to look at, Mr. Secretary! And more than +that, she announces that if you're engaged, she'll wait, a day, a week, +or a month." + +Enoch groaned. "Show her in, Abbott, and be ready to show her out in +five minutes." + +Abbott showed her in. She entered the room slowly, a tall woman in a +brown silk suit. Everything about her it seemed to Enoch at first was +brown, except her eyes. Even her skin was a rich, even cream tint. +But her eyes were hazel, the largest, frankest, most intelligent eyes +Enoch ever had seen in a woman's head. And with the eyes went an +expression of extraordinary sweetness, a sweetness to which every +feature contributed, the rather short, straight nose, the full, +sensitive lips, with deep, upturned corners, the round chin. + +True beauty in a woman is something far deeper, far less tangible than +mere perfection of feature. One grows unutterably weary of the Venus +de Milo type of face, with its expressionless perfection. And yet, so +careless is nature that not twice in a lifetime does one see a woman's +face in which are combined fineness of intelligence and of character, +and beauty of feature. But Diana was the thrice fortunate possessor of +this combination. She was so lovely that one's heart ached while it +exulted in looking at her. For it seemed a tragic thing that beauty so +deep and so rare should embody itself in a form so ephemeral as the +human body. + +She was very slender. She was very erect. Her small head with the +masses of light brown hair shining beneath the simple hat, was held +proudly. Yet there was a matchless simplicity and lack of +self-consciousness about Diana that impressed even the careless +observer: if there was a careless observer of Diana! + +Enoch stood beside his desk in his usual dignified calm. His keen eyes +swept Diana from head to foot. + +"You are kind to see me so quickly, Mr. Secretary," said Diana, holding +out her hand. + +Enoch smiled, but only slightly. It seemed to Diana that she never had +seen so young a man with so stern a face. + +"You must have arrived on the same train with your father's note, Miss +Allen. Is this your first trip east?" + +"Yes, Mr. Huntingdon," replied Diana, sinking into the chair opposite +Enoch's. "If he had had his way, bless his heart, I wouldn't have had +even a first trip. Isn't it strange that he should have such an +antipathy to New York and Washington!" + +The Secretary looked at the girl thoughtfully. "As I recall your +father, he usually had a good reason for whatever he felt or did. +You're planning to stay in Washington, are you, Miss Allen?" + +"If I can get work in the Indian Bureau!" replied Diana. + +"Why the Indian Bureau?" asked Enoch. + +"I'm a photographer of Indians," answered Diana simply. "I've been +engaged for years in trying to make a lasting pictorial record of the +Indians and their ways. I've reached the limit of what I can do +without access to records and books and I can't afford a year of study +in Washington unless I work. That's why I want work in the Indian +Bureau. Killing two birds with one stone, Mr. Secretary." + +Enoch did not shift his thoughtful gaze from the sweet face opposite +his for a long moment after she had ceased to speak. Then he pressed +the desk button and Abbott appeared. He glanced at his chief, then his +eyes fastened themselves on Diana's profile. + +"Mr. Abbott, will you ask the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to come +in? I believe he is with the Assistant Secretary this morning." + +Charley nodded and disappeared. + +"I brought a little portfolio of some of my prints," Diana spoke +hesitatingly. "I left them in the other room. Mr. Abbott thought you +might like to see them, but perhaps--you seem so very busy and I think +there must be at least a thousand people waiting to see you!" + +"There always are," said Enoch, without a smile as he pressed another +button. Jonas' black head appeared. "Bring in the portfolio Miss +Allen left in the other room, please, Jonas!" + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary," replied Jonas, withdrawing his eyes slowly from +Diana's eager face. + +The portfolio and the Indian Commissioner arrived together. After the +introduction had been made, Enoch said: + +"Watkins, do you know anything about Indians?" + +"Very little, Mr. Secretary," with a smile. + +"Would you be interested in looking at some photographs of Indian life?" + +"Made by this young lady?" asked Watkins, looking with unconcealed +interest at Diana. + +"Yes," said Enoch. + +"And shown and explained by her?" asked the Indian Commissioner, a +twinkle in his brown eyes. + +Diana laughed, and so did Abbott. Enoch's even white teeth flashed for +a moment. + +"I wish I had time to join you," he said. "What I want to suggest, Mr. +Watkins, is that you see if Miss Allen will qualify to take care of +some of the research work you received an appropriation for the other +day. You were speaking to Abbott, I think, of the difficulty of +finding people with authentic knowledge of the Indians." + +The Indian Commissioner nodded and tucked Diana's portfolio under his +arm. "Come along, Miss Allen!" + +Diana rose. "If we don't leave now, I have an idea we will be asked to +do so," she said, the corners of her mouth deepening suddenly. "What +happens if one doesn't leave when requested?" + +"One is cast in a dungeon, deep under the Capitol building," replied +Enoch, holding out his hand. + +Diana laughed. "Thank you for seeing me and helping me, Mr. +Huntingdon," she said, and a moment later Jonas closed the door behind +her and the Commissioner. + +"How come that young lady to stay so long, Mr. Abbott?" Jonas asked +Charley in a low voice, as he helped the young man bring in a huge pile +of Reclamation reports. + +"Did you get a good look at her, Jonas?" demanded Abbott in the same +tone. + +"Yes," replied Jonas. + +"Then why ask foolish questions?" + +"The boss don't like 'em, no matter what they look like." + +"Every man has his breaking point, Jonas," smiled Charley. + +Enoch turned from the window where he had been standing for a moment in +unprecedented idleness. + +"I think you'd better let me have ten or fifteen minutes on that report +to the President, Abbott." + +"I will, Mr. Secretary. By the way, here is the data you asked me to +get for your speech at the Willard to-night." + +Enoch nodded, pocketed the notes and began to dictate. The day went on +as usual, but it seemed to Jonas, when he helped the Secretary to dress +for dinner that night that he was unusually weary. + +"How come you to be so tired to-night, boss?" he asked finally. + +"I don't know, old man! Jonas, how long since I've had a vacation?" + +"Seven years, boss." + +"Sometimes I think I need one, Jonas." + +"Need one! Boss, they work you to death! They all say so. Your own +work's enough to kill three men. And now they do say the President is +calling on you for all the hard jobs he don't dare trust nobody else to +do. How come he don't do 'em hisself?" + +"Oh, I'm not doing more than my share, Jonas! But you and I'll have to +have a vacation one of these days, sure. Maybe we'll go to Japan. +I'll be home early, if I can make it, Jonas." + +Jonas nodded, and looked out the window. "Carriage's here, sir," and +Enoch ran quickly down the stairs. It was only eleven o'clock when he +reached home. The rain had ceased at sundown and the night was humid +and depressing. When Enoch was once more in his pajamas, he unlocked +the desk drawer and, taking out the journal, he turned to the first +page and began to read with absorbed interest. + + +"May 12.--This is my eighteenth birthday. I've had a long ride on the +top of the bus, thinking about Mr. Seaton. He was a fine chap. He +gave me a long lecture once on women. He said a guy must have a few +clean, straight women friends to keep normal. Of course he was right, +but I couldn't tell him or anybody else how it is with me. He said +that if you can share your worries with your friends they're finished. +And he was right again. But they're some things a guy can't share. I +did it once, back there in the Canyon, and I'll always be glad I did. +But I was just a kid then. The hunch that pulled me up straight then +wouldn't work now. They never did prove she was not my mother. They +never found out a thing about me, except what Luigi and the neighbors +had to tell. She was my mother, all right. And I don't feel as if I +ever can believe in any of them. I don't want to. All I want of women +is for them to let me alone and I'll let them alone. But a few weeks +ago I had a fine idea--to invent a girl of my own! I got the idea in +English Literature class, from a poem of Wordsworth's. + + "Three years she grew in sun and shower; + Then nature said, A lovelier flower + On earth was never sown; + This child I to myself will take, + She shall be mine and I will make + A lady of my own." + +"I've invented her and I'm going to keep a journal to her and I'll tell +her all the things I'd tell my mother, if she'd been decent, and to my +sweetheart, if I could believe in them. I don't know just how old she +is. Somewhere in her twenties, I guess. She's tall and slim and she +has a creamy kind of skin. Her hair is light brown, almost gold. It's +very thick. She has it in braids wound all round her head. Her eyes +are hazel and she has a sweet mouth and she is very beautiful. And she +is good, and tender, and she understands everything about me. She +knows just how bad I've been and the fight I'm putting up to keep +straight. And every night before I go to bed, I'll tell her what my +day has been. I'll begin to-night by telling her about myself. + +"I don't know where I was born, Lucy, or who my father was. My mother +was the mistress of an Italian called Luigi Giuseppi. She died a +rotten death, leaving me at six to Luigi. He treated me badly but he +needed me in his gambling business, and he kept me by telling me how +bad my mother was and threatening to tell other people. From the time +I was eight till I was fourteen, I don't suppose a day passed without +his telling me of the rot I had inherited from my mother. I began +gambling for him when I was about ten. + +"When I was fourteen I was arrested in a gambling raid and paroled in +the care of John Seaton, a lawyer. He took me to the Grand Canyon. He +and Frank Allen, a guide, suggested to me the idea that Luigi's +mistress was not my mother. Such an idea never had occurred to me +before. They first gave it to me in the bottom of the Canyon. + +"I can't put into writing what that suggestion, coupled with my first +view of the Canyon meant to me. But it was as if I had met God face to +face and He had taken pity on a dirty little street mucker and He had +lifted me in His great hands and had told me to try to be good and He +would help me. I never had believed in God before. And I came back +from that trip resolved to put up a fight. + +"Mr. Seaton began the search for my folks right off, but he didn't find +anything before he died, which was only a year later. But I made him a +solemn promise I'd go through college and study law and I'm going to do +it. He was not a rich man but he left me enough money to see me +through college. In one more year I'll finish the High School. I +still play cards once in a while in a joint on Sixth Avenue. I know +it's wrong and I'm trying hard to quit. But sometimes I just can't +help it, especially when I'm worried. + +"Luigi will be in the pen another seven years. When he comes out I am +going to beat him up till he tells me about my mother and father. +Though perhaps he's been telling the truth!" + + +"May 13.--Lucy, I made a speech in third year rhetoric to-day and the +teacher kept me after class. He said he'd been watching me for some +time and he wanted to tell me he thought I'd make a great orator, some +day. He's going to give me special training out of school hours, for +nothing. I'm darned lucky. If a guy's going into politics, oratory's +the biggest help. But to be famous as a speaker isn't why I'm going +into politics. I'm going to clean Minetta Lane up. I'm going to try +to fix it in New York so's a fellow couldn't have a mother and a +stepfather like mine. You know what I mean, don't you? Darn it, a kid +suffers so! You know that joint on Sixth Avenue where I go and play +cards once in a while? Well, it was raided to-day. I wonder what Mr. +Seaton would have said if he'd been alive and I'd been there and got +pinched again! + +"I'm going to throw no bluffs with you, Lucy. Gambling's in my blood. +Luigi used to say I came by my skill straight. And I get the same kind +of craving for it that a dope fiend does for dope. I don't care to +tell anybody about it, or they'd send me to an insane asylum. When I +first came from the Canyon and moved out of Minetta Lane, I swore I'd +never put foot in it again until I went in to clean it up. And I +haven't and I won't. But for the first year my nails were bitten to +the quick. If my mother--but what's the use of that! Mr. Seaton said +every man has to have a woman to whom he opens up the deep within him. +I have you and you know you've promised to help me." + + +"June 1.--Lucy, I've got a job tutoring for the summer. The rhetoric +teacher got it for me. It's the son of an Episcopal vicar. He is a +boy of twelve and they want him taught English and declamation. Lord! +If they knew all about me! But the kid is safe in my hands. I know +how kids of twelve feel. At least, the Minetta Lane variety. So I'll +be at the sea shore all summer. Going some, for Minetta Lane, eh? + +"Lucy, I made fifty dollars last night at poker from a Senior in the +Student's Club. This morning I made him take it back." + + +Enoch closed the book and leaned back in his chair as Jonas appeared at +the door with a pitcher of ice water. + +"How come you don't try to get a little rest, boss?" asked Jonas, +glancing disapprovingly at the black book. + +"I am resting, old man! Don't bother your good old head about me, but +tumble off to sleep yourself!" + +"I don't never sleep before you do. I ain't for thirteen years, and I +don't calculate to begin now." Jonas turned the bed covers back and +marched out of the room. + +Enoch smiled and, opening the book again, he turned the pages slowly +till another entry struck his eye. + + +"February 6.--If I could only see you, touch you, cling to your tender +hand to-night, Lucy! You know that I was chosen to represent Columbia +in the dedication of the Lincoln statue. It was to have taken place +next Wednesday. But the British Ambassador, who was to be the chief +Mogul there, was called home to England for some reason or other and +they shoved the dedication forward to to-day, so as to catch him before +he sailed. And some of the speakers weren't prepared, so it came about +that I, an unknown Columbia senior, had to give the chief speech of the +day. Not that anybody, let alone myself, realized that it was going to +be the chief speech. It just turned out that way. Lucy dear, they +went crazy over it! And all the papers to-night gave it in full. It +was only a thousand words. Why in the name of all the fiends in Hades +do you suppose nothing relieves me in moments of great mental stress +but gambling? You notice, don't you, that I talk to you of Minetta +Lane only when something tremendous, either good or bad, has happened +to me? Other men with the same weakness, you say, turn to drink. I +suppose so, poor devils. Oh, Lucy, I wish I were in the Grand Canyon +to-night! I wish you and I were together in Frank's camp at the foot +of Bright Angel. It is sunset and the Canyon is full of unspeakable +wonder. Even the thought of it rests me and makes me strong. . . . +Those stars mean that I've torn into a million pieces a hundred-dollar +bill I won in Sixth Avenue to-night." + + +Enoch turned many pages and then paused. + + +"March 28.--There is a chance, Lucy, that I may be appointed secretary +to the reform Mayor of New York. I would be very glad to give up the +practice of law. Beyond my gift for pleading and a retentive memory, I +have no real talents for a successful legal career. You look at me +with those thoughtful, tender gray eyes of yours. Ah, Lucy, you are so +much wiser than I, wise with the brooding, mystical wisdom of the +Canyon in the starlight. You have intimated to me several times that +law was not my end. You are right, as usual. Law has its face forever +turned backward. It is searching always for precedent rather than +justice. A man who is going into politics should be ever facing the +future. He should use the past only in helping him to avoid mistakes +in going forward. And, perhaps I am wrong. I am willing to admit that +my unfortunate boyhood may have made me over inclined to brood, but it +seems to me very difficult to stick to the law, make money, and be +morally honest, in the best sense. If I clear Bill Jones, who is, as I +know, ethically as guilty as Satan, though legally within his rights, +can I face you as a man who is steel true and blade straight? I hope I +get that appointment! I was tired to-night, Lucy, but this little talk +with you has rested me, as usual." + + +"March 29.--I have the appointment, Lucy. This is the beginning of my +political career--the beginning of the end of Minetta Lane. You have a +heavy task before you, dear, to keep me, eyes to the goal, running the +race like a thoroughbred. Some day, Lucy, we'll go back to the Canyon, +chins up, work done, gentlemen unafraid!" + + +Enoch turned more pages, covering a year or so of the diary. + + +"March 30.--I've been in the City Hall two years today. Lucy, the only +chance on earth I'll ever have to clean out the rookeries of New York +would be to be a Tammany Police Commissioner. And Tammany would +certainly send its best gunman after a Police Commissioner who didn't +dote on rookeries. Lucy, can't city governments be clean? Is human +nature normally and habitually corrupt when it comes to governing a +city? The Mayor and all his appointees are simply wading through the +vast quagmire of the common citizen's indifference, fought every step +by the vile creatures who batten on the administration of the city's +affairs. Do you suppose that if the schools laid tremendous stress on +clean citizenship and began in the kindergarten to teach children how +to govern in the most practical way, it would help? I believe it +would. I'm going to tuck that thought in the back of my head and some +day I may have opportunity to use it. I wish I could do something for +the poor boys of New York. I wish the Grand Canyon were over in +Jersey!" + + +"Sept. 4.--I am unfit to speak to you, but oh, I need you as I never +did before. Don't turn those kind, clear-seeing eyes away from me, +Lucy! Lucy! It happened this way. I wanted, if possible to make our +Police Commissioner see Minetta Lane through my eyes. And I took him +down there, three days ago. It's unchanged, in all these years, except +for the worse. And Luigi was dragging a sack of rags into his +basement. He was gray and bent but it was Luigi. And he recognized me +and yelled 'Bastard!' after me. Lucy, I went back and beat him, till +the Commissioner hauled me off. And the dirty, spluttering little +devil roared my story to all that greedy, listening crowd! I slipped +away, Lucy, and I hid myself in a place I know in Chinatown. No! No! +I don't drink and I don't hit the pipe. I _gamble_. My luck is +unbelievable. And when the fit is on me, I'd gamble my very soul away. +Jonas found me. Jonas is a colored porter in the City Hall who has +rather adopted me. And Jonas said, 'Boss, how come you to do a stunt +like this? The Police Commissioner say to the Mayor and I hear 'em, an +Italian black hander take you for somebody else and he have him run in. +I tell 'em you gone down to Atlantic City. You come home with me, +Boss.' He put his kind black hand on my shoulder, and Lucy, his eyes +were full of tears. I left my winnings with the Chinaman, and came +back here with Jonas. Lucy! Oh, if I could really hear your voice!" + + +"Sept. 5.--I had a long talk with the Police Commissioner to-day. I +can trust him the way I used to trust Mr. Seaton, Lucy. I told him the +truth about Luigi and me and he promised to do what he could to ferret +out the truth about my people. If I could only know that my father was +half-way decent, no matter what my mother was, it would make an +enormous difference to me." + + +Enoch turned another year of pages. + + +"Oct. 12.--Lucy, the Police Commissioner says he has to believe that +Luigi's mistress was my mother. He advises me to close that part of my +life for good and all and give myself to politics. Easy advice! But I +am going to play the game straight in spite of Minetta Lane." + + +Enoch paused long over this entry, then turned on again. + + +"Nov. 6.--Well, my dear, shake hands with Congressman Huntingdon. Yes, +ma'am! It's true! Aren't you proud of me? And, Lucy, listen! Don't +have any illusions on how I got there. It wasn't brains. It wasn't +that the people wanted me to put over any particular idea or ideal for +them. I simply so intrigued them with flights of oratory that they +decided I was a natural born congressman! Well, bless 'em for doing +it, anyhow, and I'll play the game for them. If I ever had had a +father I'd like to talk politics with him. He must have had some +decency in him, or I'd have been all bad, like my mother. Or maybe I'm +a throw-back from two degenerate parents. Well, we'll end the breed +with me. + +"Lucy, it would have been romantic if I could have cleaned out Minetta +Lane and other New York rookeries. But it would have been about like +satisfying one's self with washing a boy's face when his body was a +mass of running sores. We've got to cure the sores and in order to do +that we've got to find the cause. No one thing is going to prove a +panacea. I wonder if it's possible to teach children so thoroughly +that each one owes a certain amount of altruistic, clean service to his +local and his federal government that an honest, responsible citizenry +would result?" + + +Enoch drank of the ice water and continued to turn the close-written +pages. + + +"April 12.--I don't boast much about my career as a Congressman. I've +been straight and I've gabbed a good deal. That about sums up my +history. If I go back as Police Commissioner, I shall feel much more +useful. + +"Lucy, love is a very important thing in a man's life. Sometimes, I +think that the less he has of it, the more important it becomes. I had +thought that as I grew older my career would more and more fill my +life, that youth and passion were synonymous and that with maturity +would come calm and surcease. This is not the truth. The older I grow +the more difficult it becomes for me to feel that work can fully +satisfy a man. Nor will merely caring for a woman be sufficient. A +man must care for a woman whom he knows to be fine, who can meet his +mental needs, or love becomes merely physical and never satisfies him. +Well, I must not whimper. I have talent and tremendous opportunities, +many friends and splendid health. And I have you. And each year you +become a more intrinsic part of my life. How patient you have been +with me all these years! I've been wondering, lately, if you haven't +rather a marked sense of humor. It seems to me that nothing else could +make you so patient, so tender and so keen! I'm sure I'm an object of +mirth to Jonas at times, so I must be to you. All right! Laugh away! +I laugh at myself! + +"Lucy, it has been over eighteen months since I touched a card." + + +Jonas put his head in at the door, but Enoch turned on to the middle of +the book. + + +"Dec. 1.--They won't let me keep it up long, Lucy, but Lord, Lord, +hasn't the going been good, my dear, while it lasted! I've twisted +Tammany's tail till its head's dropped off! I've 'got long poles and +poked out the nests and blocked up the holes. I shall consult with the +carpenters and builders and leave in our town not even a trace of the +rats.' I've routed out hereditary grafters and looters. I've run down +wealthy gunmen and I've turned men's fame to a notoriety that carried a +stench. But they'll get me, Lucy! They'll either kill me or send me +back to Congress." + + +Enoch turned more pages. + + +"Nov. 1.--Congress again, eh, Lucy? And you care for Washington as +little as I! Dear, this has been a hard day. I've been saying good-by +to the force! By the eternal, but they are men! And now all that +wonderful machine, built up, really, by the men themselves, must fall +apart! What a waste of human energy! Yet, I've come to the conclusion +that the man who devotes himself to public service loses much of his +usefulness if he allows himself to grow pessimistic about human nature. +If there were not more good than bad in the world, we'd still be +monkeys! I have ceased to search for some great single ideal for which +I can fight. Whatever abilities I have in me I shall devote to helping +to administer government cleanly. After all, we gave New York a great +object lesson in the possibilities of cleaning out Tammany's pest +house. Perhaps somebody's great-grandchild, inspired by the history of +my attempt will try again and be successful for a longer period. And +oh, woman! It was a gorgeous fight! + +"Jonas is delighted that we are returning to Washington. He says we +are to keep house. I am a great responsibility to Jonas. He is very +firm with me, but I think he's as fond of me as I am of him. + +"Lucy, how am I to go on, year after year like this, with only my dream +of you? How am I to do my work like a man, with only half a man's life +to live? What can all the admiring plaudits mean to me when I know +that you are only a dream, only a dream?" + + +Enoch sat forward in his chair, laid the book on the desk, opened to +the last entry and seized his pen. + + +"So your name is not Lucy, but Diana! Oh, my dearest, and you did not +recognize me at all, while my very heart was paralyzed with emotion! +You must have been a very lovely little girl that the memory of you +should have been so impressed on my subconsciousness. Oh, how +beautiful you are! How beautiful! And to think that I must never let +you know what you are to me. Never! Never! The strain stops with me." + +He dropped his pen abruptly and, turning off the light, flung himself +down on his bed. Jonas, listening long at the door, waited for the +full, even breathing that would mark the end of his day's work. But it +did not come, and dawn struggling through the hall window found Jonas +sitting on the floor beside the half-opened door, his black head +drooping on his breast, but his eyes open. + +Enoch reached his office on the stroke of nine, as usual. His face was +a little haggard and set but he came in briskly and spoke cheerfully to +Charley Abbott. + +"A little hotter than ever, eh, Abbott? I think you're looking +dragged, my boy. When are you going to take your vacation?" + +"In the fall, after you have had yours, Mr. Secretary." The two men +grinned at each other. + +"Did the Indian Commissioner find work for Miss Allen?" asked Enoch +abruptly. + +"Oh, yes! And she was as surprised and pleased as a child." + +"How do you know that?" demanded the Secretary. + +Charley looked a little confused. "I took her out to lunch, Mr. +Huntingdon. Jove, she's the most beautiful woman I ever saw!" + +"Well, let's finish off that report to the President, Mr. Abbott. That +must go to him to-morrow, regardless of whom or what I have to neglect +to-day." + +Abbott opened his note book. But the dictation hardly had begun when +the telephone rang and Enoch was summoned to the White House. It was +noon when he left the President. Washington lay as if scorching under +a burning glass. The dusty leaves drooped on the trees. Even the +carefully cherished White House lawn seemed to have forgotten the +recent rains. Enoch dismissed his carriage and crossed slowly to +Pennsylvania Avenue. It had occurred to him suddenly that it had been +many weeks since he had taken the noon hour outside of his office. He +had found that luncheon engagements broke seriously into his day's +work. He strolled slowly along the avenue, watching the sweltering +noon crowds unseeingly, entirely unconscious of the fact that many +people turned to look at him. He paused before a Johnstown Lunch sign, +wondering whimsically what Jonas would say if it were reported that the +boss had eaten here. And as he paused, the incessantly swinging door +emitted Miss Diana Allen. + +Enoch's pause became a full stop. "How do you do, Miss Allen?" he said. + +Diana flushed a little. "How do you do, Mr. Secretary! Were you +looking for a cheap lunch?" + +"Jonas provides the cheapest lunch known to Washington," said Enoch. +"I was looking for some one to walk up Pennsylvania Avenue with me." + +"You seem to be well provided with company." Diana glanced at the knot +of people who were eagerly watching the encounter. + +Enoch did not follow her glance. His eyes were fastened on Diana's +lovely curving lips. "And I want to hear about the work in the Indian +Bureau." + +Diana fell into step with him. "I think the work is going to be +interesting. Mr. Watkins is more than kind about my pictures. I'm to +send home for the best of my collection and he is going to give an +exhibition of them." + +"Is he giving you a decent salary?" asked Enoch. + +"Ample for all my needs," replied Diana. + +"Do your needs stop with the Johnstown Lunch?" demanded Enoch. + +"Well," replied Diana, "if you'd lived on the trail as much as I have, +you'd not complain of the Johnstown Lunch. I've made worse coffee +myself, and I've seen more flies, too." + +Enoch chuckled. "What does Watkins call your job?" + +"I'm a special investigator for the Indian Bureau." + +Enoch chuckled again. "Right! And that title Watkins counts as worth +at least five dollars a week. The remainder is the equivalent of a +stenographer's salary. I know him!" + +"He is quite all right," said Diana quickly. "It must be extremely +difficult to manage a budget. No matter how large they are, they're +always too small. To administer the affairs of a dying race with +inadequate funds--" + +Diana hesitated. + +"And in entire ignorance of the race itself," added Enoch quietly. "I +know! But I had to choose between a rattling good administrator and a +rattling good ethnologist." + +Diana nodded slowly. "Your choice was inevitable, I suppose. And Mr. +Watkins seems very efficient." + +"Well, and where does your princely salary permit you to live?" Enoch +concluded. + +"On New Jersey Avenue, in a brown stone front with pansies in front and +cats in the rear, an old Confederate soldier in the basement and rats +in the attic. As for odors and furniture, any kind whatever, provided +one is not too particular." + +"My word! how you are going to miss the Canyon!" exclaimed Enoch. + +Diana nodded. "Yes, but after all one's avocation is the most +important thing in life."' + +"Is it?" asked Enoch. "I've tried to make myself believe that, but so +far I've failed." + +"You mean," Diana spoke quickly, "that I ought to have stayed with my +father?" + +"No, I don't!" returned Enoch, quite as quickly. "At least, I mean +that I know nothing whatever about that. I would say as a general +principle, though, that parents who have adequate means, are selfish to +hang on the necks of their grown children." + +"Father misses mother so," murmured Diana, with apparent irrelevance. + +Enoch said nothing. They were opposite the Post Office now and Diana +paused. "I must go to the Post Office! Good-by, Mr. Secretary." + +"Good-by, Miss Allen," said Enoch, taking off his hat and holding out +his hand. "Let me know if there is anything further I can do for you!" + +"Oh, I'm quite all right and shall not bother you again, thank you," +replied Diana cheerfully. + +Enoch was very warm when he reached his office. Jonas and the bottle +of milk were awaiting him. "How come you to be so hot, boss?" demanded +Jonas. + +"I walked back. It was very foolish," replied Enoch meekly. + +"I don't dare to let you out o' my sight," said Jonas severely. + +"I think I do need watching," sighed Enoch, beginning his belated +luncheon. + +That night the Secretary wrote to Diana's father. + + +"My dear Frank: Diana came and I found a job for her in the Indian +office. I feel like a dog to have broken my word with you, but her +work is very interesting and very important, and I feel that she ought +to have her few months of study in Washington. She is very beautiful, +Frank, and very fine. You must try to forgive me. Faithfully yours, + +"ENOCH HUNTINGDON." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A PHOTOGRAPHER OF INDIANS + +"When I tutored boys I wondered most at their selfishness and their +generosity. They had so much of both! And I believe that as men they +lose none of either."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Enoch knew what it was to fight himself. Perhaps he knew more about +such lonely, unlovely battles than any man of his acquaintance. The +average man is usually too vain and too spiritually lazy to fight his +inner devils to the death. But Enoch had fought so terribly that it +seemed to him that he could surely win this new struggle. Nothing +should induce him to break his vow of celibacy. He cursed himself for +a weak fool in not obeying Frank Allen's request. Then he gathered +together all his resources, to protect Diana from himself. + +A week or so went by, during which Enoch made no attempt to see Diana +or to hear from her. The office routine ground on and on. The Mexican +cloud thickened. Alaska developed a threatening attitude over her coal +fields. The farmers of Idaho suddenly withdrew their proposals +regarding water power. Calmly and with clear vision, Enoch met each +day's problems. But the lines about his mouth deepened. + +One day, early in August, Charley Abbott came to the Secretary's desk. +"Miss Diana Allen would like to see you for a few moments, Mr. +Secretary." + +Enoch did not look up. "Ask her to excuse me, Mr. Abbott, I am very +busy." + +Charley hesitated for an instant, then went quickly out. + +"Luncheon is served, boss," said Jonas, shortly after. + +"Is Abbott gone?" asked Enoch. + +"Yes, sir! He's took that Miss Allen to lunch, I guess. He's sure +gone on that young lady. How come everybody thinks she's so beautiful, +boss?" + +"Because she is beautiful, Jonas, very, very beautiful." + +The faithful steward looked keenly at the Secretary. He had not missed +the appearance of a line in the face that was the whole world to him. + +"Boss," he said, "don't you ever think you ought to marry?" + +Enoch looked up into Jonas' face. "A man with my particular history +had best leave women alone, Jonas." + +Jonas' mouth twitched. "They ain't the woman ever born fit to darn +your socks, boss." + +Enoch smiled and finished his lunch in silence. He would have given a +month of his life to know what errand had brought Diana to his office. +But Charley Abbott, returning at two o'clock with the complacent look +of a man who has lunched with a beautiful girl, showed no intention of +mentioning the girl's name. And Enoch went on with his conferences. +But it was many days before he opened the black book again. + +Diana's exhibition must have been of unusual quality, for jaded and +cynical Washington learned of its existence, spoke of it and went to +see it. It seemed to Enoch that every one he met took special delight +in mentioning it to him. + +Even Jonas, one night, as he brought in the bed-time pitcher of ice +water, said, "Boss, I saw Miss Allen's pictures this evening. They +sure are queersome. That must be hotter'n Washington out there. How +come you ain't been, Boss?" + +"How do you know I haven't seen them, Jonas?" asked Enoch quickly. + +"Don't I know every place you go, boss? Didn't you tell me that was my +job, years ago? How come you think I'd forget?" Jonas was eyeing the +Secretary warily. "Mr. Abbott, he's got a bad case on that Miss Allen. +He's give me at least a dollar's worth of ten cent cigars lately so's +I'll stand and smoke and let him talk to me about her." + +Enoch grunted. + +"He says she--" Jonas rambled on. + +Enoch looked up quickly. "I don't want to hear it, Jonas." Jonas drew +himself up stiffly. The Secretary laid his own broad palm over the +black hand that still held the handle of the water pitcher. "Spare me +that, old friend," he said. + +Jonas put his free hand on Enoch's shoulder. "Are you sure you're +right, boss?" he asked huskily. + +"I know I'm right, Jonas." + +"Well, I don't see it your way, boss, but what's right for you is right +for me. Good night, sir," and shaking his head, Jonas slowly left the +room. + +But Enoch was destined to see the pictures after all. One day, after +Cabinet meeting, the President, in his friendly way, clapped Enoch on +the shoulder. + +"First time in a great many years, Huntingdon, that the Indian Bureau +has distinguished itself for anything but trouble! I saw Miss Allen's +pictures last night. My word! What a sense of heat and peace and, +yes, by jove, passion! those photographs tell. The Bureau ought to own +those pictures, old man. Especially the huge enlargement of Bright +Angel trail and the Navaho hunters. Eh?" + +"Well, to tell the truth, Mr. President," said Enoch slowly, "I haven't +seen the pictures." + +"Not seen them! Why some one said you discovered Miss Allen!" + +"In a way I did, but I don't deserve any credit for that." + +"Not if he saw her first!" exclaimed the Secretary of State, who had +loitered behind the others. + +The President nodded. "She is very lovely. I saw her at a distance, +and I want to meet her. Now, Mr. Huntingdon, it's very painful for me +to have to chide you for dereliction in office. But a man who will +neglect those pictures for the--well, the coal fields of Alaska, should +be dealt with severely." + +"Hear! Hear!" cried the Secretary of State. + +The President laughed. "And so I must ask you, Mr. Huntingdon, to +bring Miss Allen to see me, after you have gone carefully over the +pictures. Jokes aside, you know my keen interest in Indian ethnology?" +Enoch nodded, and the President went on. "If this girl has the brains +and breadth of vision I'm sure she must have to produce a series of +photographs like those, I want to know her and do what I can to push +her work. So neglect Mexico and Alaska for a little while, tomorrow, +will you, Huntingdon?" + +Enoch's laughter was a little grim, but with a quick leap of his heart, +he answered. "A man can but obey the Commander in Chief, I suppose!" + +As the door swung to behind him, the President said to the Secretary of +State, "Huntingdon is working too hard, I'm afraid. Does he ever play?" + +"Horseback riding and golf. But he's a woman hater. At least, if not +a hater, an avoider!" + +"I like him," said the President. "I want him to play." + +That evening Enoch went to see the pictures. There were perhaps a +hundred of them, telling the story of the religion of the Navahos. +Only one whom the Indians loved and trusted could have procured such +intimate, such dramatic photographs. They were as unlike the usual +posed portraits of Indian life as is a stage shower unlike an actual +thunder storm. There was indeed a subtle passion and poignancy about +the pictures that it seemed to Enoch as well as to the President, only +a fine mind could have found and captured. He had made the rounds of +the little room twice, threading his way abstractedly through the +crowd, before he came upon Diana. She was in white, standing before +one of the pictures, answering questions that were being put to her by +a couple of reporters. She bowed to Enoch and he bowed in return, then +stood so obviously waiting for the reporters to finish that they +actually withdrew. + +Enoch came up and held out his hand. "These are very fine, Miss Allen." + +"I thought you were not coming to see them," said Diana. "It makes me +very happy to have you here!" + +"Does it?" asked Enoch quickly. "Why?" + +"Because--" here Diana hesitated and looked from Enoch's stern lips to +his blue eyes. + +"Yes, go on, do!" urged Enoch. "For heaven's, sake, treat me as if I +were a human being and not--" + +It was his turn to hesitate. + +"Not the Washington Monument?" suggested Diana. + +Enoch laughed. "Am I as bad as that?" he asked. + +Diana nodded. "Very nearly! Nevertheless, for some reason I don't +understand, I've had the feeling that you would like the pictures and +get what I was driving at, better than any one." + +"Thank you," said Enoch slowly. "I do like them. So much so that I +wish that I might own them, instead of the Indian Bureau. The +President, to-day, told me the Indian Bureau ought to buy them. And +also, he asked me to bring you to see him to-morrow." + +A sudden flush made roses in Diana's beautifully modeled cheeks. + +"Did he! Mr. Huntingdon, how am I ever going to thank you?" + +"I deserve no thanks at all. It was entirely the President's own idea. +In fact, I had not intended to come to your exhibition." + +"No? Why not? Do you dislike me so much as that? And, after all, Mr. +Secretary, if the pictures are interesting, the fact that a woman took +them should not prejudice you against them." + +"Abbott's been giving me a bad reputation, I see," said Enoch. "I'll +have to get Jonas to tell you what a really gentle and affectionate and +er--mild, person I am. I've a notion to reduce Abbott's salary." + +"Charley Abbott is a dear, and he's a devoted admirer of yours," Diana +exclaimed. + +"And of yours," rejoined Enoch. + +"He's very discerning," said Diana, her eyes twinkling and the corners +of her mouth deepening. "But you shall not evade me this way, Mr. +Huntingdon. Why didn't you want to see my pictures?" + +"I didn't say that I didn't want to see them. Women are always +inaccurate, or at least, so I have heard." + +"I would say that Mr. Abbott had a great deal more data on the general +subject of women than you, Mr. Secretary. You really ought to get him +to check you up! Please, why didn't you intend to come to my +exhibition?" + +"I have been swamped with extra work of late," answered Enoch. + +"Yes?" Diana's eyebrows rose and her intelligent great eyes were +fastened on Enoch's with an expression so discerning and so +sympathetic, that he bit his lip and turned from her to the Navaho, who +prayed in the burning desert before him. The reporters, who had been +hovering in the offing, closed in on Diana immediately. When she was +free once more, Enoch turned back and held out his hand. + +"Good night, Miss Allen. If you don't mind coming over to my office at +twelve to-morrow, I can take you to the White House then." + +"I shall not mind!--too much! Good night, Mr. Secretary," replied +Diana, with the deepening of the corners of her mouth that Enoch now +recalled had belonged to the little girl Diana. + +Enoch made an entry in the black book that night. + +"I wonder, Diana, how much Frank has told you of me and my unhappy +history. I wonder how you would feel if a man whose mother was a +harlot who died of an unspeakable disease were to ask you to marry him. +Oh, my dear, don't be troubled! I shall never, never, ask you. Your +pictures moved me more than I dared try to express to you. It was as +if you had carried me in a breath to the Canyon and once more I beheld +the wonder, the kindliness, the calm, the inevitableness of God's ways. +I'm going to try, Diana, to make a friend of you. I believe that I +have the strength. What I am very sure of is that I have not the +strength to know that you are in Washington and never see you." + +The clock struck twelve the next day, when Abbott came to the +Secretary's desk. Enoch was deep in a conference with the Attorney +General. + +"Miss Allen is here," he said softly. + +"Give me five minutes!" exclaimed the Attorney General. + +"I'm sorry." Enoch rose from his desk. "I'm very sorry, old fellow, +but this is an appointment with the President. Can you come about +three, if that suits Abbott's schedule?" + +"Not till to-morrow, I'm afraid," said the Attorney General. + +Enoch nodded. "It's just as well. I think I'll have some private +advices from Mexico by then that may somewhat change our angle of +attack. All right, Jonas! I'm coming. Ask Miss Allen to meet me at +the carriage." + +But he overtook Diana in the elevator. She wore the brown silk suit, +and Enoch thought she looked a little flushed and a little more lovely +than usual. + +"I'm a marked person, Mr. Secretary," she said, with a twinkle in her +eyes. "You'd scarcely believe how many total strangers have asked me +to introduce them to you, since you walked up Pennsylvania Avenue with +me." + +"I'm glad you have an appreciative mind," returned Enoch. "I hope that +you are circumspect also, and won't impose on me because of my +condescension." + +"I'll try not to," Diana answered meekly, as Enoch followed her into +the carriage. + +They smiled at each other, and Enoch went on, "Of course, I've been +feeling rather proud of the opportunity to display myself before +Washington with you. I've been called indifferent to women. I'm +hoping now that the gossips will say, 'Aha! Huntingdon's a deep one! +No wonder he's been indifferent to the average woman!'" + +Diana eyed him calmly. "That doesn't sound at all like Washington +Monument," she murmured. + +"More like Charley Abbott, I suppose!" retorted Enoch. + +"No," answered Diana thoughtfully, "hardly like Mr. Abbott's method. I +would say that he belonged to a different school from you." + +"Yes? What school does Abbott represent?" + +"Well, he has a dash, an ease, that shows long and varied experience. +Charley Abbott is a finished ladies' man. It almost discourages me +when I contemplate the serried ranks of women that must have +contributed to his perfect finesse." + +"Discourages you?" queried Enoch. + +Diana did not answer. "But," she went on, "while Charley is a graduate +of the school of experience and you--" + +She paused. + +"Yes, and I--," pressed Enoch. + +"I won't impose on your condescension by telling you," said Diana. + +"Pshaw!" muttered the Secretary of the Interior. + +Suddenly Diana laughed. Enoch, after a moment, laughed with her, and +they entered the White House grounds still chuckling. + +The President did not keep them waiting. "I may not be able to order +my wife and daughter about," he said, as he shook hands with Enoch, +"but I certainly have my official family well under control. Did you +see the pictures, Huntingdon?" + +"I saw and was conquered, Mr. President," replied Enoch. + +"What would you say, Miss Allen, if I tell you that I had to force this +fellow into going to see your wonderful pictures?" the President asked. + +"It wouldn't surprise me," replied Diana, in an enigmatical voice that +made both men smile. + +"I see you understand our Secretary of the Interior," the President +said complacently. "Sit down, children, and Miss Allen, talk to me. +How long did it take you to make that collection of photographs?" + +"I began that particular collection ten years ago. Those pictures have +been sifted out of nearly two thousand prints." + +"Did you take any other pictures during that period?" asked the +President. + +"Oh, yes! I was, I think, fourteen or fifteen when I first determined +to give my life to Indian photography. I didn't at that time think of +making a living out of it. I had a dream of making a photographic +history of the spiritual life of some of the South-western tribes. It +didn't occur to me that anything but a museum or possibly a library +would care for such a collection. But to my surprise there was a ready +market for really good prints of Indians and Indian subjects. So while +I have kept always at work on my ultimate idea, I've made and sold +many, many pictures of Indians on all sorts of themes." + +Enoch looked from Diana's half eager, half abashed eyes, to the +President's keen, hawk-like face, then back to Diana. + +"What gave you the idea to begin with?" asked the President. + +Diana looked thoughtfully out of the window. Both men watched her with +interest. Enoch's rough hewn face, with its unalterably somber +expression, was set in an almost painful concentration. The +President's eyes were cool, yet eager. + +"It is hard for me to put into words just what first led me into the +work," said Diana slowly. "I was born in a log house on the rim of the +Grand Canyon. My father was a canyon guide." + +"Yes, Frank Allen, an old Yale man. I know him." + +"Do you remember him?" cried Diana. "He'll be so delighted! He took +you down Bright Angel years ago." + +"Of course I remember him. Give him my regards when you write to him. +And go on with your story." + +"My mother was a California woman, a very good geologist. My nurse was +a Navajo woman. Somehow, by the time I was into my teens, I was +conscious of the great loss to the world in the disappearance of the +spiritual side of Indian life. I knew the Canyon well by then and I +knew the Indians well and the beauty of their ceremonies was even then +more or less merged in my mind with the beauty of the Canyon. Their +mysticism was the Canyon's mysticism. I tried to write it and I +couldn't, and I tried to paint it, and I couldn't. And then one day my +mother said to me, 'Diana, nobody can interpret Indian or Canyon +philosophy. Take your camera and let the naked truth tell the story!'" + +Diana paused. "I'm not clever at talking. I'm afraid I've given you +no real idea of my purpose." + +"One gets your purpose very clearly, when one recalls your Death and +the Navajo, for instance, eh, Huntingdon?" + +"Yes, Mr. President!" + +"I suppose the two leading Indian ethnologists are Arkwind and Sherman, +of the Smithsonian, are they not, Miss Allen?" asked the President. + +"Oh, without doubt! And they have been very kind to me." + +The President nodded. "They both tell me that your work is of +extraordinary value. They tell me that you have actually photographed +ceremonies so secret, so mystical, that they themselves had only heard +vaguely of their existence. And not only, they say, have you +photographed them, but you have produced works of art, pictures +'pregnant with celestial fire.'" + +Diana's cheeks were a deep crimson. "Oh, I deserve so little credit, +after all!" she exclaimed. "I was born in the midst of these things. +And the Indians love me for my old nurse's sake! But human nature is +weak and what you tell me makes me very happy, sir." + +The men glanced at each other and smiled. + +"Suppose, Miss Allen," said the President, "that you had the means to +outfit an expedition. How long would it take you to complete the +entire collection you have in mind?" + +Diana's eyes widened. "Why, I could do nothing at all with an +expedition! I simply wander about canyon and desert, sometimes with +old nurse Na-che, sometimes alone. The Indians have always known me. +I'm as much a part of their lives as their own daughters. I--I believe +much of their inner hidden religion and so--oh, Mr. President, an +expedition would be absurd, for me!" + +"Well, then, without an expedition?" insisted the President. + +Diana sighed. "You see, I'm not able to give all my time to the work. +Mother died five years ago, and father is lonely and, while he thinks +his little income is enough for both of us, it's enough only if I stay +at home and play about the desert with my camera, cheaply as I do, and +keep the house. It does not permit me to leave home. It seems to me, +that working as I have in the past, it would take me at least ten years +more to complete my work." + +"The patience of the artist! It always astounds me!" exclaimed the +President. "Miss Allen, I am not a rich man, but I have some wealthy +friends. I have one friend in particular, a self-made man, of enormous +wealth. The interest he and I have in common is American history in +all its aspects. It seems to me that you are doing a truly important +work. I want you to let this friend of mine fund you so that you may +give all your time to your photography." + +"Oh, Mr. President, I don't need funds!" protested Diana. "There is no +hurry. This is my life work. Let me take a life-time for it, if +necessary." + +"That is all very well, Miss Allen, but what if you die, before you +have finished? No one could complete your work because no one has your +peculiar combination of information and artistic ability. People like +you, my dear, belong not to themselves, but to the country." + +Enoch spoke suddenly. "Why not arrange the matter with the Indian +Bureau, Mr. President?" + +"Why not arrange it with the Circumlocution Office!" exclaimed the +President. "I'm surprised at you, Huntingdon! You know what the +budget and red tape of Washington does to a temperament like Miss +Allen's. On the other hand, here is my friend, who would give her +absolutely free rein and take an intense pride in providing the money." + +Diana laughed. "You speak, sir, as if I needed some vast fund. It +costs a dollar a day in the desert to keep a horse and another dollar +to keep a man. Camera plates and clothing--why a hundred dollars a +month would be luxury! And I don't need help, truly I don't! The mere +fact of your interest is help enough for me." + +"A hundred dollars a month for your expenses," said the President, +making a memorandum in his notebook, "and what is your time worth?" + +"My time? You mean what would I charge somebody for doing this work? +Why, Mr. President, this is not a job! It's an avocation! I wouldn't +take money for it. It's a labor of love." + +The chief executive suddenly rose and Diana, rising too, was surprised +at the look that suddenly burned in the hawk-like eyes. + +"You are an unusual woman, Miss Allen! Your angle on life is one +seldom found in Washington." He took a restless turn up and down the +room, glanced at Enoch, who stood beside the desk, utterly absorbed in +contemplation of Diana's protesting eyes, then said, "This friend of +mine is a disappointed man. He had believed that in amassing a great +fortune he would find satisfaction. He has found that money of itself +is dust and ashes and it is too late for him to take up a new work. +Miss Allen, I too am a disappointed man. I had believed that the +President of a great nation was a full man, a contented man. I find +myself an automaton, whirled about by the selfish desires of a +politically stupid and indifferent constituency. One of the few +consolations I find in my high office is that once in a while I come +upon some one who is contributing something permanent to this nation's +real advancement, and I am able to help that person. Miss Allen, will +you not share your great good fortune with my friend and me?" + +"Gladly!" exclaimed Diana quickly. Then she added, with a little +laugh, "I think I understand now, why you are President of the United +States!" + +Enoch and the President joined in the laugh, and Diana was still +smiling when they descended the steps to the waiting carriage. But the +smile faded with a sudden thought. + +"The President mustn't think I will take more than expense money!" she +exclaimed. + +Enoch laughed again as he replied, "I don't think that need bother you, +Miss Allen. I imagine a yearly sum will be placed at your disposal. +You will use what you wish." + +Diana shook her head uneasily. "I don't more than half like the idea. +But the President made it very difficult to refuse." + +Enoch nodded. The carriage stopped before the Willard Hotel. "Miss +Allen, will you lunch with me?" he asked. + +Diana hesitated. "I'll be late getting back to the office," she said. + +"I'll ask Watkins not to dock you," said Enoch soberly. + +"Docking my salary," touching Enoch's proffered hand lightly as she +sprang to the curb, "would be almost like taking something from +nothing. I've never lunched in the Willard, Mr. Secretary." + +"The Johnstown lunch still holds sway, I suppose!" said Enoch, +following Diana down the stairs to Peacock Row. + +They were a rather remarkable pair together. At least the occupants of +the Row evidently felt so, for there was a breathless craning of necks +and a hush in conversations as they passed, Diana, with her +heart-searching beauty, Enoch with his great height and his splendid, +rugged head. The head waiter did not actually embrace Enoch in +welcoming him, but he managed to convey to the dining-room that here +was a personal and private god of his own on whom the public had the +privilege of gazing only through his generosity. Finally he had them +seated to his satisfaction in the quietest and most conspicuous corner +of the room. + +"Now, my dear Mr. Secretary, what may we give you?" he asked, rubbing +his hands together. + +Enoch glanced askance at Diana, who shook her head. "This is entirely +out of my experience, Mr. Secretary," she said. + +"Gustav," said Enoch, "it's not yet one o'clock. We must leave here at +five minutes before two. Something very simple, Gustav." He checked +several items on the card and gave it to the head waiter with a smile. + +Gustav smiled too. "Yes, Mr. Secretary!" he exclaimed, and disappeared. + +"And that's settled," said Enoch, "and we can forget it. Miss Allen, +when shall you go back to the Canyon?" + +"Why," answered Diana, looking a little startled, "not till I've +finished the work for Mr. Watkins, and that will take six months, at +least." + +"I think the President's idea will be that you must get to your own +work, at once. Some one else can carry on Watkins' researches." + +"I ought to do some studying in the Congressional library," protested +Diana. "Don't you think Washington can endure me a few months longer, +Mr. Secretary?" + +"Endure you!" Enoch's voice broke a little, and he gave Diana a glance +in which he could not quite conceal the anguish. + +A sudden silence fell between the two that was broken by the waiter's +appearance with the first course. Then Diana said, casually: + +"My father is going to be very happy when I write him about this. Do +you remember him at all clearly, Mr. Secretary?" + +"Yes," replied Enoch. Then with a quick, direct look, he asked, "Did +your father, ever give you the details of his experience with me in the +Canyon?" + +Diana's voice was low but very steady as she replied, "Yes, Mr. +Secretary. He told me long ago, when you made your famous Boyhood on +the Rack speech in Congress. It was the first word he had heard of you +in all the years and he was deeply moved." + +"I'm glad he told you," said Enoch. "I'm glad, because I'd like to ask +you to be my friend, and I would want the sort of friend you would make +to know the worst as well as the best about me." + +"If that is the worst of you--" Diana began quickly, then paused. "As +father told me, it was a story of a boy's suffering and the final +triumph of his mind and his body." + +Enoch stared at Diana with astonishment in every line of his face. +Then he sighed. "He couldn't have told you all," he muttered. + +"Yes, he did, all! And nothing, not even what the President said +to-day, can mean as much to me as your asking me to be your friend." + +Enoch continued to stare at the lovely, tender face opposite him. + +Diana smiled. "Don't look so incredulous, Mr. Secretary! It's not +polite. You are a very famous person. I am nobody. We are lunching +together in a wonderful hotel. I don't even vaguely surmise the names +of the things we are eating. Don't look at me doubtingly. Look +complacent because you can give a lady so much joy." + +Enoch laughed with a quick relief that made his cheeks burn. "And so +you are nobody! Curious, then, that you should have impressed yourself +on me so deeply even when you were a child!" + +It was Diana's turn to laugh. "Oh, come, Mr. Secretary! Of course I +don't recall it myself, but Dad has always said that you were bored to +death at having a small girl taking the trail with you." + +"Do you remember that your mule slipped on the home trail and that I +saved your life?" demanded Enoch. + +Diana shook her head. "I was too small and there were too many canyon +trips and too many tourists. I wish--" + +She did not finish her sentence, but Enoch said, with a thread of +earnestness in his deep voice that made Diana look at him keenly, "I +wish you did remember!" + +There was a moment's silence, then Enoch went on, "Shall you carry on +your work with the Indians alone as you always have done? I believe I +can quite understand your father's uneasiness." + +"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Diana, glad of an opportunity to redirect the +conversation. "Just as I always have done. I shall have no trouble +unless I get soft, living at the Johnstown Lunch! Then I may have to +waste time till I get fit again. Have you ever lived on the trail, +excepting on your trip to the Grand Canyon, Mr. Secretary?" + +"Yes, in Canada and Maine, while I was in college. I used to tutor +rich boys, and they had glorious summers, lucky kids! But since +getting into national politics, I've had no time for real play." + +"Some day," said Diana, "you ought to get up an outfit and go down the +Colorado from the Green River to the Needles. That's a real adventure! +Only a few men have done it since the Powell expeditions." + +Enoch's eyes brightened. "I know! Some day, perhaps I shall, if Jonas +will let me! How long do you suppose such a trip would take?" + +Diana plunged into a description of a recent expedition down the +canyons of the Colorado, and she managed to keep the remainder of the +luncheon conversation on this topic. But as far as Enoch was +concerned, Diana's effort was merely a conversational detour. The +luncheon finished and the Gulf of California safely reached, he said as +he handed Diana into the carriage: + +"I've never had a friendship with a woman before," he said. "What do I +do next?" + + Diana sighed, while her lips curled at the corners. +"Well, Mr. Secretary, I think the next move is to think the matter over +for a few days, quietly and alone." + +"Do you?" Enoch smiled enigmatically. "I don't know that it's safe for +me to rely on your experience after all!" But he said no more. + +Enoch spent the evening in his living-room with Senor Juan Cadiz and a +small, lean, brown man in an ill-fitting black suit. The latter did +not speak English, and Senor Cadiz acted as interpreter. The stranger +was uneasy and suspicious, until the very last of the evening. Then, +after a long half hour spent in silent scowling while he stared at +Enoch and listened to the Secretary's replies to Cadiz's eager +questions, he suddenly burst into a passionate torrent of Spanish. A +look of great relief came to Cadiz's face, as he said to Enoch: + +"Now he says he trusts you and will tell you the names of the Americans +who are paying him." + +Enoch began to jot down notes. When Cadiz's translation was finished +Enoch said: + +"This in brief, then, is the situation. A group of Americans own vast +oil fields in Mexico. They have enormous difficulty policing and +controlling the fields. The Mexican method of concession making is +exceedingly expensive and uncertain. They wish the United States to +take Mexico over, either through actual conquest or by mandate. They +have hired a group of bandits to keep trouble brewing until the United +States is forced by England, Germany, or France, to interfere. This +group of men is partly German though all dwell in the United States. +Your friend here, and several of his associates, if I personally swear +to take care of them, will give me information under oath whenever I +wish." + +"Yes! Yes! Yes! That is the story!" cried Senor Cadiz. "Oh, Mr. +Secretary, if you could only undo the harm that your cursed American +method of making the public opinion has done, both here and in Mexico. +Why should neighbors hate each other? Mr. Secretary, tell these +Americans to get out of Mexico and stay out! We are foolish in many +ways, but we want to learn to govern ourselves. There will be much +trouble while we learn but for God's sake, Mr. Secretary, force +American money to leave us alone while we struggle in our birth throes!" + +Enoch stood up to his great height, tossing the heavy copper-colored +hair off his forehead. He looked at the two Mexicans earnestly, then +he said, holding out his hand, "Senor Cadiz, I'll help you to the best +of my ability. I believe in you and in the ultimate ability of your +country to govern itself. Now will you let me make an appointment for +you with the Secretary of State? Properly, you know, you should have +gone to him with this." + +The Mexican shook his head. "No! No! Please, Mr. Secretary! We do +not know him well. He has shown no willingness to understand us. You! +you are the one we believe in! We have watched you for years. We know +that you are honest and disinterested." + +"But I shall have to give both the President and the Secretary of State +this information," insisted Enoch. + +"That is in your hands," said Senor Cadiz. + +"Then," Enoch nodded as Jonas appeared with the inevitable tinkling +glasses, "remain quietly in Washington until you hear from me again." + +Jonas held the door open on the departing callers with disapproval in +every line of his face. + +"How come that colored trash to be setting in the parlors of the +government, boss?" asked he. + +"They are Mexicans, Jonas," replied Enoch. + +"Just a new name for niggers, boss," snapped Jonas, following Enoch up +the stairs. "Don't you trust any colored man that ain't willing to +call hisself black." + +Enoch laughed and settled himself to an entry in the journal. + +"This was the happiest day of my life, Diana. We are going to be great +friends, are we not! And the philosophers tell us that friendship is +the most soul-satisfying of all human relationships. I have been very +vacillating in my attitude to you, since you came to Washington. But I +cannot lose the feeling that those wise, wistful eyes of yours have +seen my trouble and understood. I wonder how soon I can see you again. +I'm rather proud of my behavior to-day, Diana, dearest." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A NEWSPAPER REPORTER + + +"I wonder if Christ ever cared for a woman. He may have, for God +wished Him to know and suffer all that men know and suffer, and all +love must have been noble in His eyes."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +"Abbott," said Enoch the next day, "do you recall that I have commented +to you several times on the fact that some of the southwestern states +did not back the Geological Survey in its search for oil fields as we +had expected they would?" + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary," answered Charley, looking up from his notebook +with keen interest in eye and voice. "I have wondered just why the +matter bothered you so." + +"It has bothered me for several different reasons. It has, to begin +with, conflicted with my idea of the fundamental purpose of this +office. What could be a stronger reason for being for the Geological +Survey than to find and show the public the resources of the public +lands? When the Bureau of Mines reports to me that certain oil fields +are diminishing at an alarming rate, and when any fool knows that a +vital part of our future history is to be written in terms of oil, it +behooves the Secretary of the Interior to look for remedial steps. +Certain sections of our Southwest are saturated with oil and yet, +Abbott, the states resent our locating oil fields. As far as I know +now, no open hostility has been shown, unless"--Enoch interrupted +himself suddenly,--"do you recall last year that some Indians drove a +Survey group out of Apache Canyon and that young Rice was killed and +all his data lost?" + +"Certainly, I recall it. I knew Rice." + +Enoch nodded. "Do you recall that a number of newspapers took occasion +then to sneer at government attempts to usurp State and commercial +functions?" + +"Now you speak of it, I do remember. The Brown papers were especially +nasty." + +"Yes," agreed Enoch. "Now listen closely, Abbott. When my suspicions +had been sufficiently roused, I went to the Secretary of State, and he +laughed at me. Then, the Mexico trouble began to come to a head and I +told the President what I feared. This was after I'd had that letter +from Juan Cadiz. Last night, as you know, I had a session with Cadiz +and one of his bandit friends. Here is what I drew from them." + +Enoch reviewed rapidly his conversation of the night before. Abbott +listened with snapping eyes. + +"It looks as if Secretary Fowler would have to stop laughing," he said, +when Enoch had finished. + +"Abbott," Enoch's voice was very low, "John Fowler, the Secretary of +State, always will laugh at it." + +"Why?" asked Charley. + +"I don't know," replied Enoch. + +The two men stared at each other for a long moment. Then Abbott said, +"I've known for a long time that he was jealous of you, politically. +Also he may own Mexican oil stock or he may merely wish to have the +political backing of the Brown newspapers." + +"Can you think of any method of persuading him that I am not a +political rival, that I merely want to go to the Senate, when I have +finished here?" asked Enoch earnestly. + +Abbott shook his head, "He might be convinced that you want to be a +Senator. But he's a clever man. And even a fool knows that you are +America's man on horseback." Charley's voice rose a little. "Why, +even in this rotten, cynical city of Washington, they believe in you, +they feel that you are the man of destiny. Mr. Fowler is just clever +enough to be jealous of you." + +A look of sadness came into Enoch's keen gaze. "I wonder if the game +is worth it, after all," murmured he. "Abbott, I'd swap it all for--" +he stopped abruptly, looked broodingly out of the window, then said, +"Charley, my boy, why are you going into political life?" + +The younger man's eyes deepened and he cleared his throat. "A few +years ago, if I'd answered that question truthfully, I'd have said for +personal aggrandizement! But my intimate association with you, Mr. +Huntingdon, has given me a different ideal. I'm going into politics to +serve this country in the best way I can." + +"Thanks, Abbott," said Enoch. "I've been wanting to say to you for +some time that I thought you had served your apprenticeship as a +secretary. How would you like an appointment as a special +investigator?" + +Charley shook his head. "As long as you are Secretary of the Interior, +I prefer this job; not only because of my personal feeling for you but +because I can learn more here about the way a clean political game can +be played than I can anywhere else." + +"All right, Abbott! I'm more than grateful and more than satisfied at +having you with me. See if I can have a conference with first the +Secretary of State and then the President. Now let me finish this +report before the Attorney General arrives." + +Enoch's conference with Secretary Fowler was inconclusive. The +Secretary of State chose to take a humorous attitude toward what he +termed the Secretary of the Interior's midnight conference with +bandits. Enoch laughed with him and then departed for his audience +with the chief executive. + +The President listened soberly. When the report was finished, he +scowled. + +"What attitude does Mr. Fowler take in this?" + +"He thinks I'm making mountains out of mole hills. It seems to me, Mr. +President, that I must be extremely careful not to encroach on the +domain of the Secretary of State. My idea is very deliberately to push +the work of the Geological Survey and to follow very carefully any +activities against its work." + +"All very well, of course," agreed the President, "but what of the big +game back of it all--what's the means of fighting that?" + +"Publicity," replied Enoch briefly. + +"Exactly!" exclaimed the President, "There are other newspapers. Brown +does not own them all. As fast as evidence is produced, let the story +be told. By Jove, if this war talk grows much more menacing, +Huntingdon, I think I'll ask you to go across the country and make a +few speeches,--on the Geological Survey!" + +"I'm willing!" replied Enoch, with a little sigh. + +The President looked at him keenly. "Huntingdon, we're working you too +hard! You look tired. I try not to overload you, but--" + +"But you are so overloaded yourself that you have to shift some of the +load," said Enoch, with a smile. "I'm not seriously tired, Mr. +President." + +"I hope not, old man. By the way, what did you think of Miss Allen +yesterday?" + +"I thought her a very interesting young woman," replied Enoch. + +"My heavens, man!" exclaimed the chief executive. "What do you want! +Why, Diana Allen is as rare as--as a great poem. Look here, +Huntingdon, you make a mistake to cut all women out of your life. It's +not normal." + +"Perhaps not," agreed Enoch briefly. "I would be very glad," he added, +as if fearing that he had been too abrupt, "I would be very glad to see +more of Miss Allen." + +"You ought to make a great effort to do," said the President. "Keep me +informed on this Mexican matter, please, and take care of yourself, my +boy. Good-by, Mr. Secretary. Think seriously of a speaking tour, +won't you?" + +"I will," replied Enoch obediently, as he left the room. + +The remainder of the day was crowded to the utmost. It was not until +midnight that Enoch achieved a free moment. This was when in the +privacy of his own room Jonas had bidden him a final good night. Enoch +did not open his journal. Instead he scrawled a letter. + + +"Dear Miss Allen: After deliberating on the matter a somewhat shorter +time, I'll admit, than you suggested, but still having deliberated on +it, I have decided that friendship is an art that needs attention and +study. Will you not dine with me to-morrow, or rather, this evening, +at the Ashton, at eight o'clock? Jonas, who will bring you this, can +bring your answer. Sincerely yours, Enoch Huntingdon." + + +He gave the note to Jonas the next morning. Jonas' black eyes, when he +saw the superscription, nearly started from their sockets: for during +all the years of his service with Enoch, he never had carried a note to +a woman. It was mid-morning when he tip-toed to the Secretary's desk +and laid a letter on it. Enoch was in conference at the time with Bill +Timmins, perhaps the foremost newspaper correspondent in America. He +excused himself for a moment and opened the envelope. + + +"Dear Mr. Secretary: Thank you, yes. Sincerely, Diana Allen." + + +He slipped the letter into his breast pocket and went on with the +interview, his face as somber as ever. But all that day it seemed to +the watchful Jonas that the Secretary seemed less tired than he had +been for weeks. + +There was a little balcony at the Ashton, just big enough for a table +for two, and shielded from the view of the main dining-room by palms. +It was set well out from the second floor, overlooking a quiet park. +Enoch was in the habit of dining here with various men with whom he +wished semi-privacy yet whom he did not care to entertain at his own +home. + +Diana was more than charmed by the arrangement. The corners of her +mouth deepened as if she were also amused, but Enoch, engrossed in +seating her where the light exactly suited him, did not note the +curving lips. He did not know much about women's dress, but he liked +Diana's soft white gown, and the curious turquoise necklace she wore +interested him. He asked her about it. + +"Na-che gave it to me," she said. "It was her mother's. It has no +special significance beyond the fact that the workmanship is very fine +and that the tracery on the silver means joy." + +"Joy? What sort of joy?" asked Enoch. + +"Is there more than one sort?" countered Diana, in the bantering voice +that Enoch always fancied was half tender. + +"Oh, yes!" replied the Secretary. "There's joy in work, play, friends. +There are as many kinds of joy as there are kinds of sorrow. Only +sorrow is so much more persistent than joy! A sorrow can stay by one +forever. But joys pass. They are always short lived." + +"Joy in work does not pass, Mr. Secretary," said Diana. + +Enoch laid down his spoon. "Please, Miss Allen, don't Mr. Secretary me +any more." + +Diana merely smiled. "Granted that one has a real friend, I believe +joy in friendship is permanent," she went on. + +"I hope you're right," said Enoch quietly. "We'll see, you and I." + +Diana did not reply. She was, perhaps, a little troubled by Enoch's +calm and persistent declaration of principles. It is not easy for a +woman even of Diana's poise and simple sincerity to keep in order a +gentleman as distinguished and as courteous and as obviously in earnest +as Enoch. + +Finally, "Do you mind talking your own shop, Mr. Huntingdon?" she asked. + +"Not at all," replied Enoch eagerly. "Is there some aspect of my work +that interests you?" + +"I imagine that all of it would," said Diana. "But I was not thinking +of your work as a Cabinet Official. I was thinking of you as Police +Commissioner of New York." + +Enoch looked surprised. + +"Father wrote to me the other day," Diana went on, "and asked me to +send him the collection of your speeches. I bought it at Brentano's +and I don't mind telling you that it pinched the Johnstown lunches a +good bit to do so, but it was worth it, for I read the book before +mailing it." + +"You're not hinting that I ought to reimburse you, are you?" demanded +Enoch, with a delighted chuckle. + +"Well, no--we'll consider that the luncheon and this dinner square the +Johnstown pinching, perhaps a trifle more. What I wanted to say was +that it struck me as worth comment that after you ceased being Police +Commissioner, you never again talked of the impoverished boyhood of +America. And yet you were a very successful Commissioner, were you +not?" + +Enoch looked from Diana out over the balcony rail to the fountain that +twinkled in the little park. + +"One of the most difficult things in public life," he said slowly, "is +to hew straight to the line one laid out at the beginning." + +"I should think," Diana suggested, "that the difficulty would depend on +what the line was. A man who goes into politics to make himself rich, +for example, might easily stick to his original purpose." + +"Exactly! But money of itself never interested me!" Here Enoch +stopped with a quick breath. There flashed across his inward vision +the picture of a boy in Luigi's second story, throwing dice with +passionate intensity. Enoch took a long sip of water, then went on. +"I wanted to be Police Commissioner of New York because I wanted to +make it impossible for other boys to have a boyhood like mine. I don't +mean that, quite literally, I thought one man or one generation could +accomplish the feat. But I did truly think I could make a beginning. +Miss Allen, in spite of the beautiful fights I had, in spite of the +spectacular clean-ups we made, I did nothing for the boys that my +successor did not wipe out with a single stroke of his pen, his first +week in office." + +Diana drew a long breath. "I wonder why," she said. + +"I think that lack of imagination, poor memory, personal selfishness, +is the answer. There is nothing people forget quite so quickly as the +griefs of their own childhood. There is nothing more difficult for +people to imagine than how things affect a child's mind. And yet, +nothing is so important in America to-day as the right kind of +education for boys. It has not been found as yet." + +"Have you a theory about it?" asked Diana. + +"Yes, I have. Have you?" + +Diana nodded. "I don't think boys and girls should be educated from +the same angle." + +"No? Why not?" Enoch's blue eyes were eager. + +"Wandering about the desert among the Indians, one has leisure to think +and to observe the workings of life under frank and simple conditions. +It has seemed to me that the boy approaches life from an entirely +different direction from a girl and that our system of education should +recognize that. Both are primarily guided by sex, their femaleness or +their maleness is always their impelling force. I'm talking now on the +matter of the spiritual and moral training, not book education." + +"Why not include the mental training? I think you'd be quite right in +doing so." + +"Perhaps so," replied Diana. + +They were silent for a moment, then Enoch said, with a quiet vehemence, +"Some day they'll dare to defy the creeds and put God into the public +schools. I don't know about girls, but, Miss Allen, the growing boys +need Him, more than they need a father. Something to cling to, +something high and noble and permanent while sex with all its thousand +varied impulses flagellates them! Something to go to with those +exquisite, generous fancies that even the worst boy has and that even +the best boy will not share even with the best mother. The homes today +don't have God in them. The churches with their hide-bound creeds +frighten away most men. Think, Miss Allen, think of the travesty of +our great educational system which ignores the two great facts of the +universe, God and sex." + +"You've never put any of this into your public utterances." + +"No," replied Enoch, "I've been saving it for you," and he looked at +her with a quiet smile. + +Diana could but smile in return. + +"And so," said Enoch, "returning to the answer to your original +question, I have found it hard to keep to any sort of fine idealism, +partly because of my own inward struggles and partly because politics +is a vile game anyhow." + +"We Americans," Diana lifted her chin and looked into Enoch's eyes very +directly, "feel that at least one politician has played a clean game. +It is a very great privilege for me to know you, Mr. Huntingdon." + +"Miss Allen," half whispered Enoch, "if you really knew me, with all my +inward devils and my half-achieved dreams, you would realize that it's +no privilege at all. Nevertheless, I wish that you did know all about +me. It would make me feel that the friendship which we are forming +could stand even 'the wreckful siege of battering days'!" + +"There was a man who understood friendships!" said Diana quickly. "He +said in his sonnets all that could be said about it." + +"Now don't disappoint me by agreeing with the idiots who try to prove +that Shakespeare wrote the sonnets to a man!" cried Enoch. "Only a +woman could have brought forth that beauty of song." + +Diana rose nobly to do battle. "What nonsense, Mr. Huntingdon! As if +a man like Shakespeare--" She paused as if struck by a sudden thought. +"That's a curious attitude for a notorious woman hater to take, Mr. +Secretary." + +Enoch laid down his fork. "Do you think I'm a woman hater, Miss +Allen?" looking steadily into Diana's eyes. + +"I didn't mean to be so personal. Just like a woman!" sighed Diana. + +"But do you think I'm a woman hater?" insisted Enoch. + +Diana looked up earnestly. "Please, Mr. Huntingdon, if our friendship +is to ripen, you must not force it." + +Enoch's face grew suddenly white. There swept over him with bitter +realism a conception of the falseness of the position into which he was +permitting himself to drift. He answered his own question with an +attempted lightness of tone. + +"I can never marry, but I don't hate women." + +Diana's chin lifted and Enoch leaned forward quickly. All the aplomb +won through years of suffering and experience deserted him. For the +moment he was again the boy in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. + +"Oh, I am stupid, but let me explain. I want you to--" + +"Please don't!" said Diana coldly. "I need no warning, Mr. Huntingdon." + +"Oh, my dear Miss Allen, you must not be offended! What can I say?" + +"You might ask me if it's not time to go home," suggested Diana, +coolly. "You mustn't forget that I'm a wage earner." + +Enoch bit his lip and turned to sign the check. Then he followed Diana +to the door. Here they came upon the Indian Commissioner and his wife, +and all opportunity for explanations was gone for the two invited +themselves to walk along to Diana's rooming place. Enoch went up the +steps with Diana, however, and asked her tensely: + +"Will you lunch with me to-morrow, Miss Allen, that I may explain +myself?" + +"Thank you, no. I shall be very busy to-morrow, Mr. Huntingdon." + +"Let me call here in the evening, then." + +"I'd rather you wouldn't," answered the girl, coldly. "Good night, Mr. +Secretary," and she was gone. + +Enoch stood as if struck dumb, then he made an excuse to Mr. and Mrs. +Watkins, and started homeward. The night was stifling. When Jonas let +him into the house, his collar was limp and his hair lay wet on his +forehead. + +"I'm going to New York to-night, Jonas," he said huskily. + +"What's happened, boss?" asked Jonas breathlessly, as he followed Enoch +up the stairs. + +"Nothing! I'm going to give myself a day's rest. Give me something to +travel in," pulling off his coat. + +"I'm going with you, boss," not stirring, his black eyes rolling. + +"No, I'm going alone, Jonas. Here, I'll pack my own grip. You go on +out." This in a voice that sent Jonas, however reluctantly, into the +hall, where he walked aimlessly up and down, wringing his hands. + +"He ain't been as bad as this in years," he muttered. "I wonder what +she did to him!" + +Enoch came out of his room shortly. "Tell every one I'm in New York, +Jonas," he said, and was gone. + +But Enoch did not go to New York. There was, he found on reaching the +station, no train for an hour. He checked his suitcase, and the +watching Jonas followed him out into the dark streets. He knew exactly +whither the boss was heading, and when Enoch had been admitted into a +brick house on a quiet street not a stone's throw from the station, +Jonas entered nimbly through the basement. + +He had a short conference with a colored man in the kitchen, then he +went up to the second floor and sat down in a dark corner of the hall +where he could keep an eye on all who entered the rear room. Well +dressed men came and went from the room all night. It was nearing six +o'clock in the morning when Jonas stopped a waiter who was carrying in +a tray of coffee. + +"How many's there now?" he demanded. + +"Only four," replied the waiter. "That red-headed guy's winning the +shirts off their backs. I've seen this kind of a game before. It's +good for another day." + +"Are any of 'em drinking?" asked Jonas. + +"Nothing but coffee. Lord, I'm near dead!" + +"Let me take that tray in for you. I want to get word to my boss." + +The waiter nodded and, sinking into Jonas' chair, closed his eyes. + +Jonas carried the tray into a handsome, smoke filled room, where four +men with intent faces were gathered around a card table. Enoch, in his +shirt sleeves, was dealing as Jonas set a steaming cup at his elbow. +Perhaps the intensity of the colored man's gaze distracted Enoch's +attention for a moment from the cards. He looked up and when he met +Jonas' eyes he deliberately laid down the deck, rose, took Jonas by the +arm and led him to the door. + +"Don't try this again, Jonas," he said, and he closed the door after +his steward. + +Once more Jonas took up his vigil. He left his chair at nine o'clock +to telephone Charley Abbott that the Secretary had gone to New York, +then he returned to his place. Noon came, afternoon waned. As dusk +drew on again, Jonas went once more to the telephone. + +"That you, Miss Allen? . . . This is Jonas. . . . Yes, ma'am, I'm +well, but the boss is in a dangerous condition. . . . Yes, ma'am, I +thought you'd feel bad because you see, it's your fault. . . . No, +ma'am, I can't explain over the telephone, but if you'll come to the +station and meet me at the news-stand on the corner, I'll tell +you. . . . Miss Allen, for God's sake, just trust me and come along. +Come now, in a cab, and I'll pay for it. . . . Thank you! Thank you, +ma'am! Thank you!" + +He banged up the receiver and flew out the basement door. When he +reached the news-stand, he stood with his hands twitching, talking to +himself for a half hour before Diana appeared. She walked up to him as +directly as a man would have done. + +"What's happened, Jonas?" + +"You and the boss must have quarreled last night. When anything +strikes the boss deep, he wants to gamble. Of late years he's mostly +fought it off, but once in a while it gets him. He's been at it since +last night over yonder, and for the first time in years I can't do +anything with him. And if it gets out, you know, Miss Allen, he's +ruined. I don't dast to leave him long, that's why I got you to come +here." + +Diana's chin lifted. "Do you mean to tell me that a man of Mr. +Huntingdon's reputation and ability, still stoops to that sort of +thing?" + +"Stoop! What do you mean, stoop? O Lord, I thought, seeing he sets +the world by you, that you was different from the run of women and +would understand." Jonas twisted his brown hands together. + +"Understand what?" asked Diana, her great eyes fastened on Jonas with +pity and scorn struggling in them. + +"Understand what it means to him. How it's like a conjur that Luigi +wished on him when he was a little boy. How he's pulled himself away +from it and he didn't have anybody on earth to help him till I come +along. What do you women folks know about how a strong man like him +fights Satan? I've seen him walk the floor all night and win, and I've +seen him after he's given in, suffer sorrow and hate of himself like a +man the Almighty's forgot. That's why he's so good, because he sins +and then suffers for it." + +As Jonas' husky voice subsided, a sudden gleam of tears shone in +Diana's eyes. + +"I'll send him a note, Jonas, and wait here for the answer. If that +doesn't bring him, I'll go after him myself." + +"The note'll bring him," said Jonas, "and he'll give me thunder for +telling." + +"Let me have a pencil and get me some paper from the news-stand." She +wrote rapidly. + + +"Dear Mr. Huntingdon: + +"I must see you at once on urgent business. I am in the railway +station. Could you come to me here? + +"DIANA ALLEN." + + +Jonas all but snatched the note and dashed away. Enoch was scowling at +the cards before him when Jonas thrust the note into his hand. Enoch +stared at the address, laid the cards down slowly, and read the note. + +"All right, gentlemen," he said quietly. "I've had my fun! Good +night!" He took his hat from Jonas and strode out of the room. He did +not speak as the two walked rapidly to the station. Diana was standing +by a cab near the main entrance. + +"This is good of you, Mr. Huntingdon," she said gravely, shaking hands. +"Thank you, Jonas!" She entered the cab and Enoch followed her. + +"Let me have your suitcase check, boss." Jonas held out a black hand +that still shook a little. + +"I'll get Miss Allen to drop me at the house, Jonas," said Enoch. + +Jonas nodded and heaved a great sigh as the cab started off. + +"How did you come to do it?" asked Enoch, looking strangely at Diana. + +"I heard you were in New York, Mr. Secretary. Jonas called me up!" + +"Jonas had no business to do so. I am humiliated beyond words!" + +Enoch spoke with a dreary sort of hopelessness. + +"I thought we were friends," said Diana calmly. "It isn't as if we +hadn't known each other and all about each other since childhood. You +must not say a word against Jonas." + +"How could I? He is my guardian angel," said Enoch. + +Diana went on still in the commonplace tone of the tea table. "I want +to apologize for my fit of temper, Mr. Secretary. I was very stupid +and I'm thoroughly ashamed of myself. You may tell me anything you +please!" + +"I don't deserve it!" Enoch spoke abruptly. + +Diana's voice suddenly deepened and softened. "Ah, but you do deserve +it, dear Mr. Secretary. You deserve all that grateful citizens can do +for you, and even then we cannot expect to discharge our full debt to +you. Here's my house. Perhaps when you're not too busy, you'll ask me +to dine again with you." + +Enoch did not reply. He stood with bared head while she ran up the +steps. Then he reentered the cab and was driven home. But it was not +till two weeks later that Enoch sent a note to Diana, asking her to +take dinner with him. Even his diary during that period showed no +record of his inward flagellations. He did not receive an answer until +late in the afternoon. + +It had been an exceptionally hectic day. Enoch had been summoned +before the Senate Committee on appropriations, and with the director of +the Reclamation Service had endured a grilling that had had some +aspects of the third degree. + +After some two hours of it the Director had lost his temper. + +"Gentlemen!" he had cried, "treat me as if I were a common thief, +attempting to loot the public funds, if you find satisfaction in it, +but at least do not humiliate the Secretary of the Interior in the same +manner!" + +"These people can't humiliate me, Whipple." Enoch had spoken quietly. + +The blow had struck home and the Senator who was acting as chairman had +apologized. + +Enoch had nodded. "I know! You are in the position of having to +appropriate funds for the carrying on of a highly specialized business +about which you are utterly ignorant. You are uneasy and you mistake +impertinent questioning for keen investigation." + +"I move we adjourn until to-morrow," a member had said hastily. The +motion had carried and Enoch, as though it was already past six +o'clock, had started for his office, Whipple accompanying him. + +"After all this howl over the proposed Paloma Dam," said Whipple, "we +may not be able to build it. There's a bunch of Mexicans both this and +the other side of the border that have made serious trouble with the +preliminary survey, and I have the feeling that there is some power +behind that wants to start something." + +"Is that so?" asked Enoch with interest. "Come in and talk to me a few +moments about it." + +Whipple followed to the Secretary's office. A sealed letter was lying +on the desk. Enoch opened it, and read it without ceremony. + + +"Dear Mr. Huntingdon: I find that some old friends are starting for the +Grand Canyon this afternoon and they have given me an opportunity to +make one of their party. I have been able to arrange my work to Mr. +Watkins' satisfaction and so, I'm off. I want to thank you very deeply +for the wonderful openings you have made for me and for the very great +personal kindness you have shown me. When I return in the winter, I +hope I may see you again. + +"Very sincerely yours, + +"DIANA ALLEN." + + +Enoch folded the note and slipped it into his pocket, then he looked at +the waiting Director. "I hope you'll excuse me, Whipple, but this is +something to which I must give my personal attention," and without a +word further, he put on his hat and walked out of the office. He did +not go to his waiting carriage but, leaving the building by another +door, he walked quickly to the drug store on the corner and, entering a +telephone booth, called the railroad station. The train connecting for +the Southwest had left an hour before. Enoch hung up the receiver and +walked out to the curb, scowling and striking his walking stick against +his trouser leg. Finally he got aboard a trolley. + +It was a little after three o'clock in the morning when Jonas located +him. Enoch was leaning against the wall watching the roulette table. + +"Good evening, boss," said Jonas. + +Enoch looked round at him. "That you, Jonas? I haven't touched a card +or a dollar this evening, Jonas." + +Jonas, who had already ascertained this from the owner of the gambling +house, nodded. + +"Have you had your supper yet, boss?" + +Enoch hesitated, thinking heavily. "Why, no, Jonas, I guess not." +Then he added irritably, "A man must rest, Jonas. I can't slave all +the time." + +"Sure!" returned the colored man, holding his trembling hands behind +him. "But how come you to think this was rest, boss? You better come +back now and let me fix you a bite to eat." + +"Jonas, what's the use? Who on earth but you cares what I do? What's +the use?" + +"Miss Diana Allen," said Jonas softly, "she told Mr. Abbott this noon, +at lunch, that you was one of the great men of this country and that he +was a lucky dog to spend all his time with you." + +Enoch stood, his arms folded on his chest, his massive head bowed. +Finally he said, "All right, old man, I'll try again. But I'm lonely, +Jonas, lonely beyond words, and all the greatness in the world, Jonas, +can't fill an empty heart." + +"I know it, boss! I know it!" said Jonas huskily, as he led the way to +the street. There, Enoch insisted on walking the three or four miles +home. + +"All right," agreed Jonas, cheerfully. "I guess ghosteses don't mind +travel, and that's all I am, just a ghost." + +Enoch stopped abruptly, put a hand on Jonas' shoulder and hailed a +passing night prowler. Once in the cab, Jonas said: + +"The White House done called you twice to-night. Mr. Secretary. I +told 'em you'd call first thing in the morning." + +"Thanks!" replied Enoch briefly. + +The house was silent when they reached it. Jonas never employed +servants who could not sleep in their own homes. By the time the +Secretary was ready for bed, Jonas appeared with a tray, Enoch silently +and obediently ate and then turned in. + +The White House called before the Secretary had finished breakfast. + +"You saw last night's papers?" asked the President. + +"No! I'm sorry. I--I took a rest last evening." + +"I'm glad you did. Well, I think you'd better plan--come up here, will +you, at once? I won't try to talk to you over the telephone." + +Enoch, in the carriage, glanced over the paper. The Brown paper of the +evening before contained a nasty little story of innuendo about the +work of the Survey near Paloma. The morning paper declared in glaring +headlines that the President by his pacifist policy toward Mexico was +tainting the nation's honor and that it would shortly bring England, +France and Germany about our ears. + +The President was still at breakfast when Enoch was shown in to him. +The chief executive insisted that Enoch have a cup of coffee. + +"You don't look to me, my boy, like a man who had enjoyed his rest. +And I'm going to ask you to add to your burdens. Could you leave next +week for a speaking trip?" + +The tired lines around Enoch's mouth deepened. "Yes, Mr. President. +Have you a general route planned?" + +"Yes, New York, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and in between as can be +arranged. Take two months to it." + +"I shall be glad to be free of office routine for a while," said Enoch. +He sipped his coffee slowly, then rose as he added: + +"I shall stick strictly to the work of my department, Mr. President, in +the speech making." + +"Oh! Absolutely! And let me be of any help to you I may." + +"Thank you," Enoch smiled a little grimly. "You might come along and +supply records for the phonograph." + +"By Jove, I would if it were necessary!" said the President. + +Jonas and Abbott each was perfect in his own line. In five days' time +Enoch was aboard the private car, with such paraphernalia as was needed +for carrying on office work en route. The itinerary had been arranged +to the last detail. A few carefully chosen newspaper correspondents +were aboard and one hot September evening, a train with the Secretary's +car hitched to it, pulled out of Washington. + +Of Enoch's speeches on that trip little need be said here. Never +before had he spoken with such fire and with such simple eloquence. +The group of speeches he made are familiar now to every schoolboy. One +cannot read them to-day without realizing that the Secretary was trying +as never before to interpret for the public his own ideals of service +to the common need. He seemed to Abbott and to the newspaper men who +for six weeks were so intimately associated with him to draw +inspiration and information from the free air. And there was to all of +his speeches an almost wistful persuasiveness, as if, Abbott said, he +picked one listener in each audience, each night, and sought anew to +make him feel the insidious peril to the nation's soul that lay in +personal complacency and indifference to the nation's spiritual +welfare. Only Jonas, struggling to induce the Secretary to take a +decent amount of sleep, nodded wisely to himself. He knew that Enoch +made each speech to a lovely, tender face, that no man who saw ever +forgot. + +Little by little, the newspapers of the country began to take Enoch's +point of view. They not only gave his speeches in full, but they +commented on them editorially, at great length, and with the exception +of the Brown papers, favorably. By the time Enoch was on his way home, +with but two weeks more of speech making before him, it looked as +though the thought of war with Mexico had been definitely quashed. And +Enoch was tired to the very marrow of his bones. + +But the Brown papers were not finished. One evening, in Arizona, +shortly after the train had pulled out of a station, Enoch asked for +the newspapers that had been brought aboard from the desert city. +Charley Abbott, who had been with the newspaper men on the observation +platform for an hour or so, answered the Secretary's request with a +curiously distraught manner. + +"I--that is--Mr. Huntingdon, Jonas says you slept worse than ever last +night. Why not save the papers till morning and try to sleep now?" + +Enoch looked at his secretary keenly. "Picked up some Brown papers +here, eh! Nothing that bunch can say can hurt me, old man." + +"Don't you ever think it!" exclaimed Charley vehemently. "You might as +well say you were immune to rattler bites, Mr. Huntingdon--" here his +voice broke. + +"Look here, Abbott," said Enoch, "if it's bad, I've got to fight it, +haven't I?" + +"But this sort of thing, a man--" Charley suddenly steadied himself. +"Mr. Secretary, they've put some nasty personal lies about you in the +paper. The country at large and all of us who know you, scorn the lies +as much as they do Brown. In a day or so, it we ignore them, the stuff +will have been forgotten. I beg of you, don't read any newspapers +until I tell you all's clear." + +Enoch smiled. "Why, my dear old chap, I've weathered all sorts of mud +slinging!" + +"But never this particular brand," insisted Charley. + +"Let's have the papers, Abbott. I'm not afraid of anything Brown can +say." + +Charley grimly handed the papers to the Secretary and returned to the +observation platform. + +A reporter had seen Enoch in the gambling house on the evening of +Diana's departure for the Canyon. He had learned something from the +gambling house keeper of the Secretary's several trips there. The +reporter had then, with devilish ingenuity, followed Enoch back to +Minetta Lane, where he had found Luigi. Then followed eight or ten +paragraphs in Luigi's own words, giving an account of Enoch and Enoch's +mother. The whole story was given with a deadly simplicity, that it +seemed to the Secretary must carry conviction with it. + +As Enoch had told Abbott, he had weathered much political mud slinging, +but even his worst political enemies had spared him this. His +adherents had made much of the fact that Enoch was slum bred and self +made. That was the sort of story which the inherent democracy of +America loved. But the Brown account made of Enoch a creature of the +underworld, who still loved his early haunts and returned to them in +all their vileness. And in all the years of his political life, no +newspaper but this had ever mentioned Enoch's mother. The tale closed +with a comment on the fact that Enoch, who shunned all women, had been +seen several times in Washington giving marked attention to Miss Diana +Allen. Diana and her work were fully identified. + +Enoch read the account to the last word, a flush of agonizing +humiliation deepening on his face as he did so. When he had finished, +he doubled the paper carefully, and laid it on the chair next to his. +Then he lighted a cigarette and sat with folded arms, unseeing eyes on +the newspaper. When Jonas came in an hour later, the cigarette, +unsmoked, was cold between the Secretary's lips. With trembling hands, +the colored man picked up the paper and with unbelievable venom +gleaming in his black eyes, he carried it to the rear door, spat upon +it and flung it out into the desert night. Then he returned to Enoch. + +"Mr. Secretary," he said huskily, "let me take your keys." + +Mechanically Enoch obeyed. Jonas selected a small key from the bunch +and, opening a large leather portfolio, he took out the black diary. +This he placed carefully on the folding table which stood at Enoch's +elbow. Then he started toward the door. + +The Secretary did not look up. Nor did he heed the colloquy which took +place at the door between Jonas and Abbott. + +"How is he, Jonas?" + +"I ain't asked him. He's a sick man." + +"God! Let me come in, Jonas." + +"No, sir, you ain't! How come you think you kin talk to him when even +I don't dast to?" + +"But he mustn't be alone, Jonas." + +"He ain't alone. I left him with his Bible. Ain't nobody going to +trouble him this night." + +"I didn't know he read the Bible that way." Abbott's voice was +doubtful. + +"I don't mean the regular Lord's Bible. It's a book he's been writing +for years and he always turns to it when he's in trouble. I don't know +nothing about it. What he don't want me to know, I don't know," and +Jonas slammed the door behind him. + +It was late when Enoch suddenly straightened himself up and, with an +air of resolution, opened the black book. He uncapped his fountain pen +and wrote: + + +"Diana, how could I know, how could I dream that such a thing could +happen to you, through me! You must never come back to Washington. +Perhaps they will forget. As for myself, I can't seem to think clearly +just what I must do. I am so very tired. One thing is certain, you +never must see me again. For one wild moment the desire to return to +the Canyon, now I am in its neighborhood overwhelmed me. I decided to +go up there and see if I could find the peace that I found in my +boyhood. Then I realized that you were at home, that all the world +would see me go down Bright Angel, and I gave up the idea. But +somehow, I must find rest, before I return to Washington. Oh, Diana, +Diana!" + + +It was midnight when Enoch finally lay down in his berth. To Jonas' +delight, he fell asleep almost immediately, and the faithful steward, +after reporting to the anxious group on the platform, was soon asleep +himself. + +But it was not one o'clock when the Secretary awoke. The train was +rumbling slowly, and he looked from the window. Only the moonlit flats +of the desert were to be seen. Enoch rose with sudden energy and +dressed himself. He chucked his toilet case, with his diary and a +change of underwear, into a satchel, and scrawled a note to Abbott: + + +"Dear Charley: I'm slipping off into the desert for a little rest. +You'll hear from me when I feel better. Give out that I'm sick--I +am--and cancel the few speaking engagements left. Tell Jonas he is not +to worry. Yours, E. H." + + +He sealed this note, then he pulled on a soft hat and, as the train +stopped at a water tank, he slipped off the platform and stood in the +shadow of an old shed. It seemed to him a long time before the engine, +with violent puffing and jolting, started the long train on again. But +finally the tail lights disappeared in the distance and Enoch was alone +in the desert. For a few moments he stood beside the track, drawing in +deep breaths of the warm night air. Then he started slowly westward +along the railway tracks. He had noted a cluster of adobe houses a +mile or so back, and toward these he was headed. In spite of the agony +of the blow he had sustained Enoch, gazing from the silver flood of the +desert, to the silver arch of the heavens, was conscious of a thrill of +excitement and not unpleasant anticipation. Somewhere, somehow, in the +desert, he would find peace and sufficient spiritual strength to +sustain him when once more he faced Washington and the world. + + + + +BOOK III + +THE ENCHANTED CANYON + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE DESERT + + +"If I had a son, I would teach him obedience as heaven's first law, for +so only can a man be trained to obey his own better self."--_Enoch's +Diary_. + + +The Secretary had no intention of waking the strange little village at +night. He thought that, once he had relocated it, he would wait until +dawn before rousing any one. But he had not counted on the village +dogs. These set up such an outcry that, while Enoch leaned quietly +against a rude corral fence waiting for the hullaballoo to cease, the +door of the house nearest opened, and a man came out. He stood for a +moment very deliberately staring at the Secretary, whose polite "Good +morning" could not be heard above the dogs' uproar. + +Enoch, with a half grin, dropped his satchel and held up both hands. +The man, half smiling in response, kicked and cursed the dogs into +silence. Then he approached Enoch. He was a small, swarthy chap, clad +in overalls and an undershirt. + +"You're a Pueblo Indian?" asked the Secretary. + +The Indian nodded. "What you want?" + +"I want to buy a horse." + +"Where you come from?" + +"Off that train that went through a while ago." + +"This not Ash Fork," said the Indian. "You make mistake. Ash Fork +that way," jerking his thumb westward. "You pass through Ash Fork." + +Enoch nodded. "You sell me a horse?" + +"I rent you horse. You leave him at Hillers' in Ash Fork. I get him." + +"No, I want to buy a horse. Now I'm in the desert I guess I'll see a +little of it. Maybe I'll ride up that way," waving a careless arm +toward the north. "Maybe you'll sell me some camping things, blankets +and a coffee pot." + +"All right," said the Indian. "When you want 'em?" + +"Now, if I can get them." + +"All right! I fix 'em." + +He spoke to one of the other Indians who were sticking curious heads +out of black doorways. In an incredibly short time Enoch was the +possessor of a thin, muscular pony, well saddled, two blankets, one an +Army, the other a Navajo, a frying pan, a coffee pot, a canteen and +enough flour, bacon and coffee to see him through the day. He also +achieved possession of a blue flannel shirt and a pair of overalls. He +paid without question the price asked by the Indians. Dawn was just +breaking when he mounted his horse. + +"Where does that trail lead?" he asked, pointing to one that started +north from the corral. + +"To Eagle Springs, five miles," answered the Indian. + +"And after that?" + +"East to Allman's ranch, north to Navajo camp." + +"Thanks," said Enoch. "Good-by!" and he turned his pony to the trail. + +The country became rough and broken almost at once. The trail led up +and down through draws and arroyos. There was little verdure save +cactus and, when the sun was fully up, Enoch began to realize that a +strenuous day was before him. The spring boasted a pepper tree, a +lovely thing of delicate foliage, gazing at itself in the mirrored blue +of the spring. Enoch allowed the horse to drink its fill, then he +unrolled the blankets and clothing and dropped them into the water +below the little falls that gushed over the rocks, anchoring them with +stones. After this, awkwardly, but recalling more and more clearly his +camping lore, he prepared a crude breakfast. + +He sat long at this meal. His head felt a little light from the lack +of sleep and he was physically weary. But he could not rest. For days +a jingling couplet had been running through his mind: + + "Rest is not quitting this busy career. + Rest is the fitting of self to one's sphere." + +Enoch muttered this aloud, then smiled grimly to himself. + +"That's the idea!" he added. "There's a bad spot somewhere in my +philosophy that'll break me yet. Well, we'll see if I can locate it." + +The sun was climbing high and the shade of the pepper tree was +grateful. The spring murmured for a few feet beyond the last quivering +shadow of the feathery leaves, then was swallowed abruptly by the +burning sand. Enoch lifted his tired eyes. Far on every side lay the +uneven, rock strewn desert floor, dotted with cactus and greasewood. +To the east, vivid against the blue sky, rose a solitary mountain peak, +a true purple in color, capped with snow. To the north, a green black +shadow was etched against the horizon. Except for the slight rustle of +the pepper tree, the vague murmur of the water, the silence was +complete. + +"It's not a calming atmosphere," thought Enoch, "as I remember the +Canyon to have been. It's feverish and restless. But I'll give it a +try. For to-day, I'll not think. I'll concern myself entirely with +getting to this Navajo camp. First of all, I'll dry the blankets and +clothing." + +He had pulled off his tweed coat some time before. Now he hung his +vest on the pepper tree and went about his laundry work. He draped +blankets and garments over the greasewood, then moved by a sudden +impulse, undressed himself and lay down under the tiny falls. The +water, warmed by its languid trip through the pool above, was +refreshing only in its cleansing quality. But Enoch, lying at length +in the sand, the water trickling ceaselessly over him, felt his taut +muscles relax and a great desire to sleep came upon him. But he was +still too close to the railroad and possible discovery to allow himself +this luxury. By the time he had finished his bath the overalls were +dry and the blue flannel shirt enough so for him to risk donning it. +He rolled up his tweed suit and tied it to the saddle, fastened the +blankets on in an awkward bunch, the cooking utensils dangling +anywhere, the canteen suspended from the pommel. Then he smiled at his +reflection in the morning pool. + +The overalls, a faded brown, were patched and, of course, wrinkled and +drawn. The blue shirt was too small across the chest and Enoch found +it impossible to button the collar. The soft hat was in keeping with +costume, but the Oxford ties caused him to shake his head. + +"A dead give-away! I'll have to negotiate for something else when I +find the Navajos. All right, Pablo," to the horse, "we're off," and +the pony started northward at a gentle canter. + +The desert was new to Enoch. Neither his Grand Canyon experience nor +his hunting trips in Canada and Maine had prepared him for the +hardships and privations of desert travel. Sitting at ease on the +Indian pony, his hat well over his eyes, his pots and pans clanging +gently behind him, he was entirely oblivious to the menace that lay +behind the intriguing beauty of the burning horizon. He was giving +small heed, too, to the details of the landscape about him. He was +conscious of the heat and of color, color that glowed and quivered and +was ever changing, and he told himself that when he was rested he would +find the beauty in the desert that Diana's pictures had said was there. +But for now, he was conscious only of pain and shame, the old, old +shame that the Canyon had tried to teach him to forget. He was +determined that he would stay in the desert until this shame was gone +forever. + +It was a fall and not a summer sun, so the pony was able to keep a +steady pace until noon. Gradually the blur of green that Enoch had +observed to the north had outlined itself more and more vividly, and at +noon he rode into the shade of a little grove of stunted pinon and +juniper. He could find no water but there was a coarse dried grass +growing among the trees that the horse cropped eagerly. Enoch removed +the saddle and pack from Pablo, and spread his half dried blankets on +the ground. Then he threw himself down to rest before preparing his +midday meal. In a moment slumber overwhelmed him. + +He was wakened at dusk by the soft nuzzling of the pony against his +shoulder. + +"By Jove!" he exclaimed softly. "What a sleep!" He jumped to his feet +and began to gather wood for his fire. He was stiff and his +unaccustomed fingers made awkward work of cooking, but he managed, +after an hour's endeavor, to produce an unsavory meal, which he +devoured hungrily. He wiped out the frying pan with dried grass, +repacked his outfit, and hung it on the horse. + +"It's up to you, Pablo, old boy, to get us to water, if you want any +to-night," he said, as he mounted, and headed Pablo north on the trail. + +The pony was quite of Enoch's opinion, and he started forward at an +eager trot. The trail was discernible enough in the starlight, but +Enoch made no attempt to guide Pablo, who obviously knew the country +better than his new owner. + +Enoch had dreamed of Diana, and now, the reins drooping limply from his +hands, he gave his mind over to thought of her. There was no one on +earth whom he desired to see so much or so little as Diana! No one +else to whom in his trouble his whole heart and mind turned with such +unutterable longing or such iron determination never to see again. He +had no intention of searching for her in the desert. He knew that her +work would keep her in the Grand Canyon country. He knew that it would +be easy to avoid her. And, in spite of the fact that every fiber of +his being yearned for her, he had not the slightest desire to see her! +She would, he knew, see the Brown story. No matter what her father may +have told her, the newspaper story, with its vile innuendoes concerning +his adult life, must sicken her. There was one peak of shame which +Enoch refused to achieve. He would not submit himself either to +Diana's pity or to her scorn. But there was, he was finding, a +peculiar solace in merely traveling in Diana's desert. He had complete +faith that here he would find something of the sweet philosophy that +had written itself in Diana's face. + +For Enoch had not come to middle life without learning that on a man's +philosophy rests his ultimate chance for happiness, or if not for +happiness, content. He knew that until he had sorted and separated +from each other the things that mattered and the things that did not +matter, he must be the restless plaything of circumstance. In his +younger days he had been able to persuade himself that if his point of +view on his life work were right and sane, nothing else could hurt him +too much. But now, easing himself to the pony's gentle trot and +staring into the exquisite blue silence of the desert night, he told +himself that he had been a coward, and that his cowardice had made him +shun the only real experience of life. + +Public service? Yes, it had been right for him to make that his life +work. And such service from such men as himself he knew to be the only +vital necessity in a nation's life. But the one vital necessity in a +man's spiritual life he had missed. If he had had this, he told +himself, life's bludgeons, however searching, however devastating, he +could have laughed at. A man must have the thought of some good +woman's love to sustain him. But for Enoch, the thought of any woman's +love, Luigi had tainted at its source. He had neither mother nor mate, +and until he had evolved some philosophy which would reconcile him to +doing without both, his days must be feverish and at the mercy of the +mob. + +Pablo broke into a canter and Enoch roused himself to observe a glow of +fire far ahead on the trail. His first impulse was to pull the horse +in. He did not want either to be identified or to mingle with human +beings. Then he smiled ruefully as he recalled the poverty of his +outfit and he gave Pablo his way again. In a short time Pablo had +reached a spring at a little distance from the fire. As the horse +buried his nose in the water, a man came up. Enoch judged by the long +hair that he was an Indian. + +"Good evening," said Enoch. "Can you tell me where I can buy some +food?" + +"What kind of grub?" asked the Indian. + +"Anything I can cook and eat," replied Enoch, dismounting stiffly. +"What kind of camp is this?" + +"Navajo. What your name?" + +"Smith. What's yours?" + +"John Red Sun. How much you pay for grub?" + +"Depends on what kind and how much. Which way are you folks going?" + +"We take horses to the railroad," replied John Red Sun. "Me and my +brother, that's all, so we haven't got much grub. You come over by the +fire." Enoch dropped the reins over Pablo's head and followed to the +fire. An Indian, who was boiling coffee at the little blaze, looked up +with interest in his black eyes. + +"Good evening," said Enoch. "My name is Smith." + +The Indian nodded. "You like a cup of coffee? Just done." + +"Thanks, yes." Enoch sat down gratefully by the fire. The desert +night was sharp. + +"Where you going, Mr. Smith?" asked John Red Sun. + +"I'm an Easterner, a tenderfoot," replied Enoch. "I am very tired and +I thought I'd like to rest in the desert. I was on the train when the +idea struck me, and I got off just as I was. I bought the horse and +these clothes from an Indian." + +"Where you going?" repeated John's brother. "To see Injun villages?" + +"No, I don't think so. I just want to be by myself." + +"It's foolish for tenderfoot to go alone in desert," said John. "You +don't know where to get water, get grub." + +"Oh, I'll pick it up as I go." + +The Indians stared at Enoch in the firelight. His ruddy hair was +tumbled by the night wind. His face was deep lined with fatigue that +was mental as well as physical. + +"You mustn't go alone in desert." John Red Sun's voice was earnest. +"You sleep here to-night. We'll talk it over." + +"You're very kind," said Enoch. "I'll unsaddle my pony. Ought I to +hobble him or stake him out?" + +"I fix 'im. You drink your coffee." The brother handed Enoch a tin +cup as he spoke. "Then you go to sleep. You mucho tired." + +Their hospitality touched Enoch. "You're very kind," he repeated +gratefully, and he drank the vile coffee without blinking. Then, +conscious that he was trembling with weariness, he rolled himself in +his blankets. But he slept only fitfully. The sand was hard, and his +long afternoon's nap had taken the edge from his appetite for sleep. +He spent much of the night wondering what Washington, what the +President was saying about him. And his sunburned face was new dyed +with his burning sense of shame. + +At the first peep of dawn, John Red Sun rose from the other side of the +fire, raked the ashes and started a blaze going. Enoch discovered that +the camp lay at the foot of a mesa, close in whose shadow a small herd +of scraggly, unkempt ponies was staked. The two Indians moved about +deftly. They watered the horses, made coffee and cakes and fried +bacon. By the time Enoch had shaved, a pie tin was waiting for him in +the ashes. + +"We sell you two days' grub," said John. "One day north on this trail +go two men up to the Canyon, to placer mine. They're good men. I know +'em many years. They got good outfit, but burros go slow, so you can +easy overtake 'em to-day. You tell 'im you want a job. Tell 'im John +Red Sun send you. Then you get rested in the desert. Not good for any +white man to go alone and do nothing in the desert. He'll go loco. +See?" + +Enoch suddenly smiled. "I do see, yes. And I must say you're mighty +kind and sensible. I'll do as you suggest. By the way, will you sell +me those boots of yours? I'll swap you mine and anything you say, +beside. I believe our feet are the same size." + +Red Sun's brother was wearing Navajo moccasins reaching to the knee, +but Red Sun was resplendent in a pair of high laced boots, into which +were tucked his corduroy pants. The Indians both looked at Enoch's +smart Oxford ties with eagerness. Then without a word, Red Sun began +rapidly to unlace his boots. It would be difficult to say which made +the exchange with the greater satisfaction, Enoch or the Indian. When +it was done Enoch, as far as his costume was concerned, might have been +a desert miner indeed, looking for a job. + +The sun was not over an hour high when Pablo and Enoch started north +once more, the little horse loaded with supplies and Enoch loaded with +such trail lore as the two Indians could impress upon him in the short +time at their command. Enoch was not deeply impressed by their advice +except as to one point, which they repeated so often that it really +penetrated his distraught and weary mind. He was to keep to the trail. +No matter what or whom he thought he saw in the distance, he was to +keep to the trail. If a sand storm struck him, he was to camp +immediately and on the trail. If he needed water, he was to keep to +the trail in order to find it. At night, he must camp on the trail. +The trail! It was, they made him understand, a tenderfoot's only +chance of life in this section. And, thus equipped, Enoch rode away +into the lonely, shimmering, intriguing morning light of the desert. + +He rode all the morning without dismounting. The trail was very +crooked. It seemed to him at such moments as he took note of this +fact, he would save much time by riding due north, but he could not +forget the Indian brothers' reiterated warnings. And, although he +could not throw off a sense of being driven, the desire to arrive +somewhere quickly, still he was strangely content to let Pablo set the +pace. + +At noon he dismounted, fed Pablo half the small bag of oats John had +given him, and ate the cold bacon and biscuits John's brother had urged +on him. There was no water for the horse, but Enoch drank deeply from +the canteen and allowed Pablo an hour's rest. Then he mounted and +pushed on, mindful of the necessity of overtaking the miners. + +His mind was less calm than it had been the day before, and his +thinking less orderly. He had begun to be nagged by recollections of +office details that he should have settled, of important questions that +awaited his decision. And something deep within him began to tell him +that he was not playing a full man's part in running away. But to this +he replied grimly that he was only seeking for strength to go back. +And finally he muttered that give him two weeks' respite and he would +go back, strength or no strength. And over and about all his broken +thinking played an unceasing sense of loss. The public had invaded his +last privacy. The stronghold wherein a man fights his secret weakness +should be sacred. Not even a clergyman nor a wife should invade its +precincts uninvited. Enoch's inner sanctuary had been laid open to the +idle view of all the world. The newspaper reporter had pried where no +real man would pry. The Brown papers had published that from which a +decent editor would turn away for very compassion. Only a very dirty +man will with no excuse whatever wantonly and deliberately break +another man. + +When toward sundown Enoch saw a thread of smoke rising far ahead of +him, again his first thought was to stop and make camp. He wished that +it were possible for him to spend the next few weeks without seeing a +white man. But he did not yield to the impulse and Pablo pushed on +steadily. + +The camp was set in the shelter of a huge rock pile, purple, black, +yellow and crimson in color, with a single giant ocotilla growing from +the top. A man in overalls was bending over the fire, while another +was bringing a dripping coffee pot from a little spring that bubbled +from under the rocks. A number of burros were grazing among the cactus +roots. + +Enoch rode up slowly and dismounted stiffly. "Good evening," he said. + +The two men stared at him frankly. "Good evening, stranger!" + +"John Red Sun told me to ask you people for work in return for +permission to trail with your outfit." + +"Oh, he did, did he!" grunted the older man, eying Enoch intently. "My +name is Mackay, and my pardner's is Field." + +"Mine is Smith," said Enoch. + +"Just Smith?" grinned the man Field. + +"Just Smith," repeated Enoch firmly. + +"Well, Mr. Just Smith," Mackay nodded affably, as though pleased by his +appraisal of the newcomer, "wipe your feet on the door mat and come in +and have supper with us. We'll talk while we eat." + +"You're very kind," murmured Enoch. "I--er--I'm a tenderfoot, so +perhaps you'd tell me, shall I hobble this horse or--" + +"I'll take care of him for you," said Field. "You look dead tuckered. +Sit down till supper's ready." + +Enoch sat down on a rock and eyed his prospective bosses. Mackay was a +tall, thin man of perhaps fifty. He was smooth shaven except for an +iron gray mustache. His face was thin, tanned and heavily lined, and +his keen gray eyes were deep set under huge, shaggy eyebrows. He wore +a gray flannel shirt and a pair of well worn brown corduroys, tucked +into the tops of a pair of ordinary shoes. Field was younger, probably +about Enoch's own age. He was as tall as Mackey but much heavier. He +was smooth shaven and ruddy of skin, with a heavy thatch of curly black +hair and fine brown eyes. His clothing was a replica of his partner's. + +Mackay gave his whole attention to the preparation of the supper, while +Field unpacked Pablo and hobbled him. + +"You're just in time for a darn good meal, Mr. Smith," said Field. +"Mack is a great cook. If he was as good a miner as he is cook--" + +"Dry up, Curly, and get Mr. Smith's cup and plate for him. We're shy +on china. Grub's ready, folks. Draw up." + +They ate sitting in the sand, with their backs against the rocks, their +feet toward the fire, for the evening was cold. Curly had not +exaggerated Mack's ability. The hot biscuits, baked in a dutch oven, +the fried potatoes, stewed tomatoes, the bacon, the coffee were each +deliciously prepared. Enoch ate as though half starved, then helped to +wash the dishes. After this was finished, the three established +themselves with their pipes before the fire. + +"Now," said Mack, "we're in a condition to consider your proposition, +Mr. Smith. Just where was you aiming for?" + +"I have a two or three weeks' vacation on my hands," replied Enoch, +"and I'm pretty well knocked up with office work. I wanted to rest in +the desert. I thought I could manage it alone, but it looks as if I +were too green. I don't know why John Red Sun thought I could intrude +on you folks, unless--" he hesitated. + +"John an old friend of yours?" asked Curly. + +"No, I met him on the trail. He was exceedingly kind and hospitable." + +Curly whistled softly. "You must have been in bad shape. John's not +noted for kindness, or hospitality either." + +"I wasn't in bad shape at all!" protested Enoch. The two men, eying +Enoch steadily, each suppressed a smile. + +"Field and I are on a kind of vacation too," said Mack. "I'm a +superintendent of a zinc mine, and he's running the mill for me. We +had to shut down for three months--bottom's dropped clean out of the +price of zinc. We've been talking about prospecting for placer gold up +on the Colorado, for ten years. Now we're giving her a try." + +He paused, and both men looked at Enoch expectantly. "In other words," +said Enoch, refilling his pipe, "you two fellows are off for the kind +of a trip you don't want an utter stranger in on. Well, I don't blame +you." + +"Depends altogether on what kind of a chap the stranger is," suggested +Curly. + +"I have no letters of recommendation." Enoch's smile was grim. "I'd +do my share of the work, and pay for my board. I might not be the best +of company, for I'm tired. Very tired." + +His massive head drooped as he spoke and his thin fine lips betrayed a +pain and weariness that even the fitful light of the fire could not +conceal. There was a silence for a moment, then a burro screamed, and +Mackay got to his feet. + +"There's Mamie burro making trouble again. Come and help me catch her, +Curly." + +Enoch sat quietly waiting while a low voiced colloquy that did not seem +related to the obstreperous Mamie went on in the shadow beyond the +rocks. Then the two men came back. + +"All right, Smith," said Mack. "We're willing to give it a try. A +camping trip's like marriage, you know, terrible trying on the nerves. +So if we don't get on together, it's understood you'll turn back, eh?" + +"Yes," Enoch nodded. + +"All right! We'll charge you a dollar and a half a day for yourself +and your horse. We're to share and share alike in the work." + +"I'm exceedingly grateful!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"All right! We hope you'll get rested," said Curly. "And I advise you +to begin now. Have you been sleeping well? How long have you been +out?" + +"Three nights. I've slept rottenly." + +"I thought so. Let me show you how to scoop out sand so's to make a +hollow for your hips and your shoulders, and I'll bet you'll sleep." + +And Enoch did sleep that night better than for several weeks. He was +stiff and muscle sore when he awoke at dawn, but he felt clearer headed +and less mentally feverish than he had the previous day. Curly and +Mack were still asleep when he stole over to the spring to wash and +shave. It was biting cold, but he felt like a new man when he had +finished his toilet and stood drawing deep breaths while he watched the +dawn approach through the magnificent desert distances. He gathered +some greasewood and came back to build the fire, but his camp mates had +forestalled him. While he was at the spring the men had both wakened +and the fire was blazing merrily. + +Breakfast was quickly prepared and eaten. Enoch established himself as +the camp dish washer, much to the pleasure of Curly, who hitherto had +borne this burden. After he had cleaned and packed the dishes, Enoch +went out for Pablo, who had strayed a quarter of a mile in his search +for pasturage. After a half hour of futile endeavor Mack came to his +rescue, and in a short time the cavalcade was ready to start. + +They were not an unimposing outfit. Mack led. The half dozen burros, +with their packs followed, next came Curly, and Enoch brought up the +rear. There was little talking on the trail. The single file, the +heavy dust, and the heat made conversation too great an effort. And +Enoch was grateful that this was so. + +To-day he made a tremendous endeavor to keep his mind off Luigi and the +Brown papers. He found he could do this by thinking of Diana. And so +he spent the day with her, and resolved that if opportunity arose that +night, to write to her, in the black diary. + +The trail, which gradually ascended as they drew north, grew rougher +and rougher. During the latter part of the day sand gave way to rock, +and the desert appeared full of pot holes which Mack claimed led to +subterranean rivers. + +They left these behind near sunset, and came upon a huge, rude, +cave-like opening in a mesa side. A tiny pool at the back and the +evidence of many camp fires in the front announced that this was one of +the trail's established oases. There was no possible grazing for the +animals, so they were watered, staked, and fed oats from the packs. + +"Well, Mr. Just Smith," said Curly, after the supper had been +dispatched and cleared up and the trio were established around the +fire, pipes glowing, "well, Mr. Just Smith, are you getting rested?" +He grinned as he spoke, but Mack watched their guest soberly. Enoch's +great head seemed to fascinate him. + +"I'm feeling better, thanks. And I'm trying hard to behave." + +"You're doing very well," returned Curly. "I can't recommend you yet +as a horse wrangler, but if I permit you to bring Mamie in every +morning, perhaps you'll sabez better." + +"This is sure one devil of a country," said Mack. "The Spanish called +it the death trail. Wow! What it must have been before they opened up +these springs! Even the Indians couldn't live here." + +"I'd like to show it to old Parsons," said Curly. "He claims there +ain't a spot in Arizona that couldn't grow crops if you could get water +to it. He's a fine old liar! Why, this country don't even grow +cactus! I'd like to hobble him out here for a week." + +"Those Survey fellows were up here a few years back trying to fix it to +get water out of those pot holes," said Mack. + +"Nuts! Sounds like a government bunch!" grunted Curly. + +"What came of it?" asked Enoch. + +"It ended in a funny kind of a row," replied Mack. "Some folks think +there's oil up here, and there was a bunch here drilling for wells, +when the government men came along. They got interested in the oil +idea, and they began to study the country and drill for oil too. And +that made these other chaps mad. This was government land, of course, +but they didn't want the government to get interested in developing oil +wells. Government oil would be too cheap. So they got some Mexicans +to start a fight with these Survey lads. But the Survey boys turned +out to be well armed and good fighters and, by Jove, they drove the +whole bunch of oil prospectors out of here. Everybody got excited, and +then it turned out there was no oil here anyhow. That was Fowler's +bunch, by the way, that got run out. Nobody ever thought he'd be +Secretary of State!" + +"But Fowler is not an Arizona man!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"No," said Curly, "but he came out here for his health for a few years +when he was just out of college. He and my oldest brother were law +pardners in Phoenix. I always thought he was crooked. All lawyers +are." + +Enoch smiled to himself. + +"Fowler sent his prospectors into Mexico after that," Mack went on +reminiscently. "Curly and I were in charge of the silver mine near Rio +Chacita where they struck some gushers. They were one tough crowd. We +all slept in tents those days, and I remember none of us dared to light +a lamp or candle because if one of those fellows saw it, they'd take a +pot shot at it. One of my foremen dug a six-foot pit and set his tent +over it. Then he let 'em shoot at will. Those were the days!" + +"Government ought to keep out of business," said Curly. "Let the +States manage their own affairs." + +"What's Field sore about?" asked Enoch of Mack. + +"He's just ignorant," answered Mack calmly. "Hand me some tobacco, +Curly, and quit your beefing. When you make your fortune washing gold +up in the Colorado, you can get yourself elected to Congress and do +Fowler up. In the meantime--" + +"Aw, shut up, Mack," drawled Curly good-naturedly. "What are you +trying to do, ruin my reputation with Just Smith here? By the way, +Just, you haven't told us what your work is." + +"I'm a lawyer," said Enoch solemnly. + +The three men stared at each other in the fire glow. Suddenly Enoch +burst into a hearty laugh, in which the others joined. + +"What was the queerest thing you've ever seen in the desert, Mack?" +asked Enoch, when they had sobered down. + +Mack sat in silence for a time. "That's hard to judge," he said +finally. "Once, in the Death Valley country, I saw a blind priest +riding a burro fifty miles from anywhere. He had no pack, just a +canteen. He said he was doing a penance and if I tried to help him, +he'd curse me. So I went off and left him. And once I saw a fat woman +in a kimono and white satin high heeled slippers chasing her horse over +the trackless desert. Lord!" + +"Was that any queerer sight than Just Smith chasing Pablo this +morning?" demanded Curly. + +"Or than Field tying a stone to Mamie's tail to keep her from braying +to-night?" asked Enoch. + +"You're improving!" exclaimed Curly, "Dignity's an awful thing to take +into the desert for a vacation." + +"Let's go to bed," suggested Mack, and in the fewest possible minutes +the camp was at rest. + +The trail for the next two days grew rougher and rougher, while the +brilliancy of color in rock and sand increased in the same ratio as the +aridity. Enoch, pounding along at the rear of the parade, hour after +hour, was still in too anguished and abstracted a frame of mind to heed +details. He knew only that the vast loveliness and the naked austerity +of the desert were fit backgrounds, the first for this thought of +Diana, the second for his bitter retrospects. + +Mid-morning on the third day, after several hours of silent trekking, +Curly turned in his saddle: + +"Just, have you noticed the mirage?" pointing to the right. + +Far to the east where the desert was most nearly level appeared the +sea, waters of brilliant cobalt blue lapping shores clad in richest +verdure, waves that broke in foam and ran softly up on quiet shores. +Upon the sea, silhouetted against the turquoise sky were ships with +sails of white, of crimson, of gold. Then, as the men stared with +parted lips, the picture dimmed and the pitiless, burning desert +shimmered through. + +The unexpected vision lifted Enoch out of himself for a little while +and he listened, interested and amused, while Curly, half turned in his +saddle, discanted on mirages and their interpretations. Nor did Enoch +for several hours after meditate on his troubles. Not an hour after +the mirage had disappeared the sky darkened almost to black, then +turned a sullen red. Lightning forked across the zenith and the +thunder reverberated among the thousand mesas, the entangled gorges, +until it seemed almost impossible to endure the uproar. Rain did not +begin to fall until noon. There was not a place in sight that would +provide shelter, so the men wrapped their Navajos about them and forced +the reluctant animals to continue the journey. The storm held with +fury until late in the afternoon. The wind, the lightning and the rain +vied with one another in punishing the travelers. Again and again, the +burros broke from trail. + +"Get busy, Just!" Curly would roar. "Come out of your trance!" and +Enoch would ride Pablo after the impish Mamie with a skill that +developed remarkably as the afternoon wore on. Enoch could not recall +ever having been so wretchedly uncomfortable in his life. He was +sodden to the skin, aching with weariness, shivering with cold. But he +made no murmur of protest. It was Curly who, about five o'clock, +called: + +"Hey, Mack! I've gone my limit!" + +Mack pulled up and seemed to hesitate. As he did so, the storm, with a +suddenness that was unbelievable, stopped. A last flare of lightning +seemed to blast the clouds from the sky. The rain ceased and the sun +enveloped mesas, gorges, trail in a hundred rainbows. + +"How about a fire?" asked Mack, grinning, with chattering teeth. + +"It must be done somehow," replied Curly. "Come on, Just, shake it up!" + +"Look here, Curly," exclaimed Mack, pausing in the act of throwing his +leg over the saddle, "I think you ought to treat Mr. Smith with more +respect. He ain't your hired help." + +"The dickens he isn't!" grinned Curly. + +"It's all right, Mack! I enjoy it," said Enoch, dismounting stiffly. + +"If you do," Mack gave him a keen look, "you aren't enjoying it the way +Curly thinks you do." + +Enoch returned Mack's gaze, smiled, but said nothing further. Mack, +however, continued to grumble. + +"I'm as good as the next fellow, but I don't believe in giving +everybody a slap on the back or a kick in the pants to prove it. You +may be a lawyer, all right, Mr. Smith, but I'll bet you're on the +bench. You've got that way with you. Not that it's any of my +business!" + +He was leading the way, as he spoke, toward the face of a mesa that +abutted almost on the trail. Curly apparently had not paid the +slightest attention to the reproof. He was already hobbling his horse. + +They made no attempt to look for a spring. The hollows of the rocks +were filled with rain water. But the search for wood was long and +arduous. In fact, it was nearly dusk before they had gathered enough +to last out the evening. But here and there a tiny cedar or mesquite +yielded itself up and at last a good blaze flared up before the mesa. +The men shifted to dry underwear, wrung out their outer clothing and +put it on again, and drank copiously of the hot coffee. In spite of +damp clothing and blankets Enoch slept deeply and dreamlessly, and rose +the next day none the worse for the wetting. Even in this short time +his physical tone was improving and he felt sure that his mind must +follow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE COLORADO + + +"We had a particularly vile place to raid to-day, and as I listened +with sick heart to the report of it, suddenly I saw the Canyon and F.'s +broad back on his mule and the glorious line of the rim lifting from +opalescent mists."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +They had been a week on the trail when they made camp one night at a +spring surrounded by dwarf junipers. Mack, who had taken the trip +before, greeted the spring with a shout of satisfaction. + +"Ten miles from the river, boys! To-morrow afternoon should see us +panning gold." + +And to-morrow did, indeed, bring the river. There was a wide view of +the Colorado as they approached it. The level which had gradually +lifted during the entire week, making each day cooler, rarer, as it +came, now sloped downward, while mesa and headland grew higher, the way +underfoot more broken, the trail fainter and fainter, and the +thermometer rose steadily. + +By now deep fissures appeared in the desert floor, and to the north +lifted great mountains that were banded in multi-colored strata, across +which drifted veils of mist, lavender, blue and gauzy white. Enoch's +heart began to beat heavily. It was the Canyon country, indeed! The +country of enchantment to which his spirit had returned for so many +years. + +They ate lunch in a little canyon opening north and south. + +"At the north end of this," said Mack, "we make our first sharp drop a +thousand feet straight down. She's a devil of a trail, made by Indians +nobody knows when. Then we cross a plateau, about a mile wide, as I +remember, then it's an easy grade to the river. We've got to go over +the girths careful. If anything slips now it's farewell!" + +The trail was a nasty one, zig-zagging down the over-hanging face of +the wall. Enoch, to his deep-seated satisfaction, felt no sense of +panic, although in common with Mack and Curly, he was apprehensive and +at times a little giddy. It required an hour to compass the drop. At +the bottom was a tiny spring where men and beasts drank deeply, then +started on. + +The plateau was rough, deep covered with broken rock, but the trail, +though faint, held to the edge. At this edge the men paused. The +Colorado lay before them. + +Fifty feet below them was a wide stretch of sand. Next, the river, +smooth brown, slipping rapidly westward. Beyond the water, on the +opposite side, a chaos of rocks greater than any Enoch had yet seen, a +pile huge as if a mountain had fallen to pieces at the river's edge. +Behind the broken rock rose the canyon wall, sheer black, forbidding, +two thousand feet into the air. Its top cut straight and sharp across +the sky line, the sky line unbroken save where rising behind the wall a +mountain peak, snow capped, flecked with scarlet and gold, towered in +the sunlight. + +"There you are, Curly!" exclaimed Mack. "There's a spring in the cave +beneath us. There's drift wood, enough to run a factory with. Have I +delivered the goods, or not?" + +"Everything is as per advertisement except the gold," replied Curly. + +"Oh, well, I don't vouch for the gold!" said Mack. "I just said the +Indians claim they get it here. There's some grazing for the critters +up here on the plateau, you see, and not a bit below. So we'll drive +'em back up here and leave 'em. With a little feed of oats once in a +while, they'll do. Come ahead! It'll be dark in the Canyon inside of +two hours." + +The cave proved to be a hollow overhang of the plateau ten or fifteen +feet deep, and twice as wide. The floor was covered with sand. + +"All ready to go to housekeeping!" exclaimed Curly. "Judge, you +wrangle firewood while Mack and I just give this placer idea a ten +minutes' trial, will you?" + +"Go ahead!" said Enoch, "all the gold in the Colorado couldn't tempt me +like something to eat. If you aren't ready by the time the fire's +going, Mack, I shall start supper." + +"Go to it! I can stand it if you can!" returned Mack, who had already +unpacked his pan. + +From that moment Enoch became the commissary and steward for the +expedition. Curly and Mack, whom he had known as mild and jovial +companions of many interests and leisurely manners, changed in a +twinkling to monomaniacs who during every daylight hour except for the +short interim which they snatched for eating, sought for gold. At +first Enoch laughed at them and tried to get them to take an occasional +half day off in which to explore with him. But they curtly refused to +do this, so he fell back on his own resources. And he discovered that +the days were all too short. Curly had a gun. There was plenty of +ammunition. Quail and cottontails were to be found on the plateau +where the stock was grazing. Sometimes on Pablo, sometimes afoot, +Enoch with the gun, and sometimes with the black diary rolled in his +coat, scoured the surrounding country. + +One golden afternoon he edged his way around the shoulder of a gnarled +and broken peak, in search of rabbits for supper. Just at the +outermost point of the shoulder he came upon a cedar twisting itself +about a broad, flat bowlder. Enoch instantly stopped the search for +game and dropped upon the rock, his back against the cedar. Lighting +his pipe, he gave himself up to contemplation of the view. Below him +yawned blue space, flecked with rose colored mists. Beyond this mighty +blue chasm lay a mountain of purest gold, banded with white and +silhouetted against a sky of palest azure. An eagle dipped lazily +across the heavens. + +When he had gazed his fill, Enoch put his pipe in his pocket, unrolled +the diary and, balancing it oh his knee, began to write: + +"Oh, Diana, no wonder you are lovely! No wonder you are serene and +pure and reverent! + + 'And her's shall be the breathing balm + And her's the silence and the calm'-- + +"You remember how it goes, Diana. + +"I heard Curly curse yesterday. A thousand echoes sent his words back +to him and he looked at the glory of the canyon walls and was ashamed. +I saw shame in his eyes. + +"It was not cowardice that drove me away for this interval, Diana. +Never believe that of me! I was afraid, yes, but of myself, not of the +newspapers. If I had stayed on the train, I would have returned at +once to Washington and have shot the reporter who wrote the stuff. +Perhaps I shall do it yet. But if I do, it will be after the Canyon +and I have come to agreement on the subject. I am very sure I shall +shoot Brown. Some one should have done it, long ago. + +"I wonder what you are doing this afternoon. Somewhere between a +hundred and a hundred and fifty miles we are from Bright Angel, Mack +says, via the river. And only a handful of explorers, you told me, +ever have completed the trip down the Colorado. I would like to try it. + +"Diana, you look at me with your gentle, faithful eyes, the corners of +your lips a little uncertain as if you want to tell me that I am +disappointing you and yet, because you are so gentle, you did not want +to hurt me. Diana, don't be troubled about me. I shall go back, long +enough at least to discharge my pressing duties. After that, who knows +or cares! Oh, Diana! Diana! What is the use? There is nothing left +in my life. I am empty--empty! + +"Even all this is make believe, for, as soon as you saw that I was +beginning to care for you,--beginning is a good word here!--you went +away. + +"Good-by, Diana." + +Enoch's gun made no contribution to the larder that night. Curly +uttered loud and bitter comment on the fact. + +"You're getting spoiled by high living," said Enoch severely. "What +would you have done if I hadn't come along and taken pity on you? Why, +you and Mack would have starved to death here in the Canyon, for it's +morally certain neither of you would have stopped panning gold long +enough to prepare your food." + +"Right you are, Judge," replied Curly meekly. "I'm going to try to get +Mack to rebate two bits a day on your board, as a token of our +appreciation." + +"Not when his biscuits have to be broken open with a stone," objected +Mack, as he sopped in his coffee one of the gray objects Enoch had +served as rolls. + +"They say when a woman that's done her own cooking first gets a hired +girl, she becomes right picky about her food," rejoined Curly. + +"I'd give notice if I had any place to go," said Enoch. "What was the +luck to-day, boys?" + +"Well, I've about come to the conclusion," replied Mack, "that by +working eight hours a day you can just about wash wages out of this +sand, and that's all." + +"You aren't going to give it up now, are you, Mack?" asked Curly, in +alarm. + +"No, I'll stay this week out, if you want to, and then move on up to +Devil's Canyon." + +They were silently smoking around the fire, a little later, when Curly +said: + +"I have a hunch that you and I're not going to get independent wealth +out of this expedition, Mack." + +"What would you do with it, if you had it, Curly?" asked Enoch. + +"A lot of things!" Curly ruminated darkly for a few moments, then he +looked at Enoch long and keenly. "Smith, you're a lawyer, but I +believe you're straight. There's something about you a man can't help +trusting, and I think you've been successful. You have that way with +you. Do you know what I'd do if I was taken suddenly rich? Well, I'd +hire you, at your own price, to give all your time to breaking two men, +Fowler and Brown." + +"Easy now, Curly!" Mack spoke soothingly. "Don't get het up. What's +the use?" + +"I'm not het up. I want to get the Judge's opinion of the matter." + +"Go ahead. I'm much interested," said Enoch. + +"By Brown, I mean the fellow that owns the newspapers. When my brother +and Fowler were in law together--" + +"You should make an explanation right there," interrupted Mack. "You +said all lawyers was crooks." + +"My brother Harry was straight and I've just given my opinion of Smith +here. I never liked Fowler, but he had great personal charm and Harry +never would take any of my warnings about him. Brown was a +short-legged Eastern college boy who worked on the local paper for his +health. How he and Fowler ever met up, I don't know, but they did, and +the law office was Brown's chief hang-out. Now all three of 'em were +as poor as this desert. Nobody was paying much for law in Arizona in +those days. Our guns was our lawyers. But by some fluke, Harry was +made trustee of a big estate--a smelting plant that had been left to a +kid. After a few years, the courts called for an accounting, and it +turned out that my brother was short about a hundred thousand dollars. +He seemed totally bewildered when this was discovered, swore he knew +nothing about it and was terribly upset. And this devil of a Fowler +turns round and says Harry made way with it and produces Brown as a +witness. And, by the lord, the court believed them! My brother killed +himself." Curly cleared his throat. "It wasn't six months after that +that Fowler and Brown, who left the state right after the tragedy, +bought a couple of newspapers. They claimed they got the money from +some oil wells they'd struck in Mexico." + +"How is it the country at large doesn't know of Fowler's association +with Brown?" asked Enoch. + +"Oh, they didn't stay pardners as far as the public knows, but a few +years. They were too clever! They gave out that they'd had a split +and they say nobody ever sees them together. All the same, even when +they were seeming to ignore him, the Brown papers have been making +Fowler." + +"And you want to clear your brother's name," said Enoch thoughtfully. +"That ought not to be difficult. You could probably do it yourself, if +you could give the time, and were clever at sleuthing. The papers in +the case should be accessible to you." + +"Shucks!" exclaimed Curly. "I wouldn't go at it that way at all. I +got something real on Fowler and Brown and I want to use it to make +them confess." + +"Sounds like blackmail," said Enoch. + +"Sure! That's where I need a lawyer! Now, I happen to know a personal +weakness of Fowler's--" + +"Don't go after him on that!" Enoch's voice was peremptory. "If he's +done evil to some one else, throw the light of day on his crime, but if +by his weakness you mean only some sin he commits against himself, keep +off. A man, even a crook, has a right to that much privacy." + +"Did Brown ever have decency toward a man's seclusion?" demanded Curly. + +"No!" half shouted Enoch. "But to punish him don't turn yourself into +the same kind of a skunk he is. Kill him if you have to. Don't be a +filthy scandal monger like Brown!" + +"You speak as if you knew the gentleman," grunted Mack. + +"I don't know him," retorted Enoch, "except as the world knows him." + +"Then you don't know him, or Fowler either," said Curly. "But I happen +to have discovered something that both those gentlemen have been mixed +up in, in Mexico, something--oh, by Jove, but it's racy!" + +"You've managed to keep it to yourself, so far," said Mack. + +"Meaning I'd better continue to do so! Only so long as it serves my +purpose, Mack. When I get ready to raise hell about Fowler's and +Brown's ears, no consideration for decency will stop me. I'll be just +as merciful to them as they were to Harry. No more! I'll string their +dirty linen from the Atlantic to the Pacific. His and Brown's! But I +want money enough to do it right. No little piker splurge they can buy +up! I'll have those two birds weeping blood!" + +Enoch moistened his lips. "What's the story, Curly?" he asked evenly. + +Curly filled and lighted his pipe. But before he could answer Enoch, +Mack said; + +"Sleep on it, Curly. Mud slinging's bad business. Sleep on it!" + +"I've a great contempt for Brown," said Enoch. "I'm a good deal +tempted to help you out, that is, if it is to the interest of the +public that the story be told." + +"It will interest the public. You can bet on that!" Curly laughed +sardonically. Then he rose, with a yawn. "But it's late and we'll +finish the story to-morrow night. Judge, I have a hunch you're my man! +I sabez there's heap devil in you, if we could once get you mad." + +Enoch shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps!" he said, and he unrolled his +blankets for bed. + +But it was long before he slept. The hand of fate was on him, he told +himself. How else could he have been led in all the wide desert to +find this man who held Brown's future in his hands? Suddenly Enoch saw +himself returning to Washington with power to punish as he had been +punished. His feeble protests to Curly were swept away. He felt the +blood rush to his temples. And anger that had so far been submerged by +pain and shame suddenly claimed its hour. His rage was not only at +Brown. Luigi, his mother, most of all this woman who had been his +mother, claimed his fury. The bitterness and humiliation of a lifetime +burst through the gates of his self-control. He stole from the cave to +the sandy shore and there he strode up and down like a madman. He was +physically exhausted long before the tempest subsided. But gradually +he regained his self-control and slipped back into his blankets. +There, with the thought of vengeance sweet on his lips, he fell asleep. + +Curly was, of course, entirely engrossed the next day by his mining +operations. Enoch had not expected or wished him to be otherwise. He +felt that he needed the day alone to get a grip on himself. + +That afternoon he climbed up the plateau to the entering trail, up the +trail to the desert. He was full of energy. He was conscious of a +purposefulness and a keen interest in life to which he had long been a +stranger. As he filled the gunny sack which he carried for a game bag +with quail and rabbits, he occasionally laughed aloud. He was thinking +of the expression that would appear on Curly's face if he learned into +whose hands he was putting his dynamite? + +The sun was setting when he reached the head of the trail on his way +campward. All the world to the west, sky, peaks, mesas, sand and rock +had turned to a burning rose color. The plateau edge, near his feet, +was green. These were the only two colors in all the world. Enoch +stood absorbed by beauty when a sound of voices came faintly from +behind him. + +His first thought was that Mack and Curly had stolen a march on him. +His next was that strangers, who might recognize him, were near at +hand. He started down the trail as rapidly as he dared. It was dusk +when he reached the foot. For the last half of the trip voices had +been floating down to him, as the newcomers threaded their way slowly +but steadily. Enoch stood panting at the foot of the trail, listening +acutely. A voice called. Another voice answered. Enoch suddenly lost +all power to move. The full moon sailed silently over the plateau +wall. Enoch, grasping his gun and his game bag, stood waiting. + +A mule came swiftly down the last turn of the trail and headed for the +spring. The man who was riding him pulled him back on his haunches +with a "Whoa, you mule!" that echoed like a cannon shot. Then he flung +himself off with another cry. + +"Oh, boss! Oh, boss! Here he is, Miss Diana! O dear Lord, here he +is! Boss! Boss! How come you to treat me so!" + +And Jonas threw his arms around Enoch with a sob that could not be +repressed. + +Enoch put a shaking hand on Jonas' shoulder. "So you found your bad +charge, old man, didn't you?" + +"Me find you? No, boss, Miss Diana, she found you. Here she is!" + +Diana dropped from her horse, slender and tall in her riding clothes. + +"So Jonas' pain is relieved, eh, Mr. Huntingdon! Are you having a good +holiday?" + +"Great!" replied Enoch huskily. + +"I told Jonas it was the most sensible thing a man could do, who was as +tired as you are, but he would have it you'd die without him. If you +don't want him, I'll take him away." + +"You'd have to take me feet first, Miss Diana," said Jonas, with a +grin. "Where's that Na-che?" + +"Here she comes!" laughed Diana. "Poor Na-che! She hates to hurry! +She's got a real grievance against you, Jonas." + +Two pack mules lunged down the trail, followed by a squat figure on an +Indian pony. + +"This is Na-che, Mr. Huntingdon," said Diana. + +Enoch shook hands with the Indian woman, whose face was as dark as +Jonas' in the moonlight. "Where's your camp, Mr. Huntingdon?" Diana +went on. + +"Just a moment!" Enoch had recovered his composure. "I am with two +miners, Mackay and Field. To them, I am a lawyer named Smith. I would +like very much to remain unknown to them during the remaining two weeks +of my vacation." + +Jonas heaved a great sigh that sounded curiously like an expression of +vast and many sided relief. Then he chuckled. "Easy enough for me. +You can't never be nothing but Boss to me." + +But Diana was troubled. "I thought we'd camp with your outfit +to-night. But we'd better not. I'd be sure to make a break. Are you +positive that these men don't know you?" + +"Positive!" exclaimed Enoch. "Why, just look at me, Miss Allen!" + +Diana glanced at boots, overalls and flannel shirt, coming to pause at +the fine lion-like head. "Of course, your disguise is very +impressive," she laughed. "But I would say that it was impressive in +that it accents your own peculiarities." + +"That outfit is something fierce, boss. I brung you some riding +breeches," exclaimed Jonas. + +"I don't want 'em," said Enoch. "Miss Allen, Field calls me Judge. +How would that do?" + +"Well, I'll try it," agreed Diana reluctantly. "I know both the men, +by the way. Mack, especially, is well known among the Indians. What +explanation shall we make them?" + +"Why not the truth?" asked Enoch. "I mean, tell them that I slipped +away from my friends and that Jonas tagged." + +"Very well!" Diana and Jonas both nodded. + +"And now," Enoch lifted his game bag, "let's get on. My partners are +going to be worried. And I'm the cook for the outfit, too." + +"Boss," Jonas took the game bag, "you take my mule and go on with Miss +Diana and Na-che and I'll come along with the rest of the cattle." + +Enoch obediently mounted, Diana fell in beside him, and looked +anxiously into his face. "Please, Judge, are you very cross with me +for breaking in on you? But poor Jonas was consumed with fear for you." + +Enoch put his hand on Diana's as it rested on her knee. "You must +know!" he said, and was silent. + +"Then it's all right," sighed Diana, after a moment. + +"Yes, it's quite all right! How did Jonas find you?" + +"It seems that he and Charley concluded that you must have headed +toward Bright Angel. Charley went on to Washington to keep things in +order there. Jonas went up to El Tovar. I had just outfitted for a +trip into the Hopi country when Jonas came to me. He had talked to no +one. He is wonderfully circumspect, but he was frantic beneath his +calm. He begged me to find you for him and--well, I was a little +anxious myself--so I didn't need much urging. We had only been out a +week when we met John Red Sun. The rest was easy. If a person sticks +to the trails in Arizona it's difficult not to trace them. Look, +Judge, your friends have lighted a signal fire." + +"Poor chaps! They're starved and worried!" Enoch quickened his mule's +pace and Diana fell in behind him. + +Mack and Curly were standing beside the blaze at the edge of the +plateau. Enoch jumped from the saddle. + +"I'm awfully sorry, fellows! But you see, I was detained by a lady!" + +"For heaven's sake, Diana!" cried Mack. "Where did you come from?" + +"Hello, Mack! Hello, Curly!" Diana dismounted and shook hands. "Well, +the Judge gave his friends the slip. Everybody was satisfied but his +colored man, Jonas. He was absolutely certain the Judge wouldn't keep +his face clean or his feet dry and he so worked on my feelings that I +trailed you people. I was going into the Hopi country anyhow." + +Curly gave Enoch a knowing glance. "We thought he was putting +something over on us. What is he, Diana, a member of the Supreme +Bench?" + +"Huh! Hardly!" + +Everybody laughed at Diana's derisive tone and Curly added, "Anyhow, +he's a rotten cook. I was thinking of putting Mack back on his old +job." + +"Don't intrude, Curly," said Enoch. "I've been out and brought in an +assistant who's an expert." + +"That's you, I suppose, Diana!" Mack chuckled. + +"No, it's Jonas, the colored man. He'll be along with Na-che in a +moment. This isn't your camp?" + +"Come along, Miss Allen!" exclaimed Enoch. "I'll show you a camp +that's run by an expert." + +Mack and Curly groaned and followed Enoch and Diana down to the cave, +Jonas and Na-che appearing shortly. Jonas, hobbling to the cave +opening stood for a moment, gazing at the group around the fire in +silent despair. Finally he said: + +"When I get back to Washington, if I live to get there, they'll put me +out of the Baptist Church as a liar, if I try to tell 'em what I been +through. Boss, what you trying to do?" + +"Dress these quail," grunted Enoch. + +Jonas gave Curly and Mack a withering glance, started to speak, +swallowed something and said, "How come you to think you was a butcher, +boss? Leave me get my hands on those birds. I should think you done +enough, killing 'em." + +"No," said Enoch, "I'm the cook for to-night. But, Jonas, old man, if +you aren't too knocked up, you might make some biscuit." + +"Jonas looks to me," suggested Mack, "like a cup of coffee and a seat +by the fire was about his limit to-night. I'll get the rest of the +grub, if you'll tend to the quail, Judge. Curly, you go out and unpack +for Diana. We'll turn the cave over to you and Na-che to-night, Diana." + +Diana, who was sitting on a rock by the fire, long, slender legs +crossed, hands clasping one knee, an amused spectator of the scene, +looked up at Mack with a smile. + +"Indeed you won't, Mack. Na-che and I have our tent. We'll put it up +in the sand, as usual. And tomorrow, having delivered our prize +package, we'll be on our way." + +Enoch looked up quickly. "Don't be selfish, Miss Allen!" he exclaimed. + +"That's the idea!" Mack joined in vehemently. Then he added, with a +grin, "The Judge has plumb ruined our quiet little expedition anyhow. +And after two weeks of him and Curly, I'm darn glad to see you, Diana. +How's your Dad?" + +"Very well, indeed! If he had had any idea that I was going on this +sort of trip, though, I think he'd have insisted on coming with me. +Judge, let me finish those birds. You're ruining them." + +"Whose quail are these, I'd like to know?" demanded Enoch. + +"Yours," replied Diana meekly, "but I had thought that some edible +portion besides the pope's nose and the neck ought to be left on them." + +Jonas, who had been crouching uneasily on a rock, a disapproving +spectator of the scene, groaned audibly. Na-che now came into the glow +of the fire. She was a comely-faced woman, of perhaps forty-five, +neatly dressed in a denim suit. Her black eyes twinkled as she took in +the situation. + +"Na-che, you come over here and sit down by me," said Jonas. "If I +can't help, neither can you." + +Na-che smiled, showing strong white teeth. "You feel sick from the +saddle, eh, Jonas?" + +"Don't you worry about that, woman! I'll show you I'm as good as any +Indian buck that ever lived!" + +Na-che grunted incredulously, but sat down beside Jonas nevertheless. + +In spite of the gibes, supper was ready eventually and was devoured +with approval. When the meal was finished, Na-che and Jonas cleared +up, then Jonas took his blanket and retired to a corner of the cave, +whence emerged almost immediately the sound of regular snoring. The +others sat around the fire only a short time. + +"You'll stick around for a little while, won't you, Diana?" said Curly, +as he filled his first pipe. + +"I really ought to pull out in the morning," replied Diana. "There are +some very special pictures I want to get at Oraibai about now." + +"There is a cliff dwelling down the river about three miles," said +Enoch. "I haven't found the trail into it yet, but I saw the dwelling +distinctly from a curve on the top of the Canyon wall. It's a huge +construction." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed Diana eagerly. "Why, those must be the Gray +ruins. I didn't realize we were so close to them. Well, you've +tempted me and I've fallen. I really must give a day to those remains. +Only one or two whites have ever gone through them." + +Enoch smiled complacently. + +"How long have you and the Judge known each other, Diana?" asked Curly +suddenly. + +Diana hesitated but Enoch spoke quickly. "The first time I saw Miss +Allen she was a baby of five or six on Bright Angel trail." + +Curly whistled. "Then you've got it on the rest of us. I first saw +her when she was a sassy miss in school at Tucson." + +"Nothing on me!" said Mack. "I held her in my arms when she was ten +days old, and my wife was with her mother and Na-che when she was born. +You were a red-faced, squalling brat, Diana." + +"She was a beautiful baby! She never cried," contradicted Na-che +flatly. + +Diana laughed and rose. "This is getting too personal. I'm going to +bed," she said. The men looked at her, admiration in every face. + +"Anything any of us can do for your comfort, Diana?" asked Curly. +"Na-che seemed satisfied with the place I put your tent in." + +"Everything is fine, thank you," Diana held out her hand, "Good night, +Curly. I really think you're handsomer than ever." + +"Lots of good that'll do me," retorted Curly. + +Diana made a little grimace at him and turned to Mack. "Good night, +Mack. I'll bet you're homesick for Mrs. Mack this minute." + +"She's a pretty darned fine old woman!" Mack nodded soberly. + +"Old!" said Diana scornfully. "You ought to have your ears boxed! +Good night, Judge!" + +"Good night, Miss Allen!" + +The three men watched the tall figure swing out into the moonlight. + +"There goes the most beautiful human being I ever hope to see," said +Curly, turning to unroll his blankets. + +"If I was a painter and wanted to tell what this here country was +really like, at its best, I'd paint Diana." Mack's voice was very +earnest. + +"Shucks!" sniffed Curly, "that isn't saying anything, is it, Judge?" + +"It's hard to put her into words," replied Enoch carefully. "Curly, +are you too tired to continue our last night's talk?" + +"Oh, let's put it over till to-morrow! We've lots of time!" Curly +gave a great yawn. + +Enoch said nothing more but rolled himself in his blankets, with the +full intention of formulating his line of conduct toward Diana before +going to sleep. He stretched himself luxuriously in the sand and the +next thing he heard was Diana's laugh outside. He opened his eyes in +bewilderment. It was dawn without the cave. Jonas was hobbling down +toward the river. + +"Oh, Jonas, you poor thing! Do let Na-che give you a good rubdown +before you try to do anything!" + +"No, Miss Diana. If the boss can stand these goings on, I can. How +come he ever thought this was sport, I don't know. I'll never live to +get him back home!" + +"Where are you going, Jonas?" called Curly. + +Jonas paused. "I ain't going to turn myself round, unless I have to. +What's wanted?" + +"I just wanted to warn you that the Colorado's no place for a morning +swim," Curly said. + +"I'm just going to get the boss's shaving water." + +"There's a hint for you, Judge," Curly turned to Enoch. "I hope you +plan to give more attention to your toilet after this." + +"You go to blazes, Curly," said Enoch amiably. "I haven't got the +reputation for pulchritude to live up to that you have." + +"Diana's imagination was in working order last night," volunteered +Mack. "To my positive knowledge Curly ain't washed or shaved for three +days." + +"You've drunk of the Hassayampa too, Mack!" Curly ran the comb through +his black locks vindictively. + +"What's the effect of that draught?" asked Enoch. + +"You never tell the truth again," said Curly. + +Na-che's voice floated in. "Jonas, you tell the men I got breakfast +already for 'em. Tell 'em to bring their own cups and plates." + +"Sounds rotten, huh?" Curly sauntered out of the cave. + +It was a very pleasant meal. To Enoch it was all a dream. It seemed +impossible for him to absorb the fact that he and Diana were together +in the Colorado Canyon. When the last of the coffee was gone, Curly +looked at his watch, then turned severely to Enoch. + +"We're an hour earlier than we've ever been, and all because of women! +Aren't you ashamed?" + +"Run along and wash dirt," returned Enoch. "For two cents I'd tell how +long it took me to get you up yesterday morning." + +"What's your program, Diana?" asked Mack. + +"Na-che and I are going over to the cliff dwelling. We'll be gone all +day." + +"I'll act as guide," said Enoch with alacrity. + +"It's not necessary!" exclaimed Diana. "I don't want to interrupt your +camp routine at all. You just give us directions, Judge. Na-che and I +are old hands at this, you know." + +"Oh, take him along, Diana! He'll be crying in a minute," sniffed +Curly. "Jonas, you'll stay and give us a feed, won't you?" + +"I got to look out for the boss," Jonas spoke anxiously. + +A shout went up. "Jonas, old boy," said Enoch, "you stay in camp +to-day and er--look over my clothes." + +"I will, boss," with intense relief, "and I'll make you a stew out of +those rabbits nobody'll forget in a hurry." + +Mack and Curly hurried off to the river's edge. Na-che and Jonas went +into the cave. Enoch looked at Diana. She was standing by the +breakfast fire slender and straight in her brown corduroy riding suit, +her wide, intelligent eyes studying Enoch's face. There was a glow of +crimson in the cream of her cheeks, for the morning air held frost in +its touch. + +"May I go with you?" repeated Enoch. "I'll be very good!" + +Diana did not reply at first. Moonlight and firelight had not +permitted her before to read clearly the story of suffering that was in +Enoch's face. During breakfast he had been laughing and chatting +constantly. But now, as he stood before her, she was appalled by what +she saw in the rugged face. There were two straight, deep lines +between his brows. The lines from nostril to lip corner were doubly +pronounced. The thin, sensitive lips were compressed. The clear, +kindly blue eyes were contracted as if Enoch were enduring actual +physical pain. Tall and powerful, his dark red hair tossed back from +his forehead, his look of trouble did not detract from the peculiar +forcefulness of his personality. + +"If you hesitate so long," he said, "I shall--" + +Diana laughed. "Begin to cry, as Curly said? Oh, don't do that! I +shall be very happy to have you with me, but before we start, I think I +shall develop some of the films I exposed on the way over. A ten +o'clock start will be early enough, won't it? I have a developing +machine with me. It may not take me even until ten." + +Enoch nodded. "How does the work go?" he asked eagerly. "Did you +attend the ceremony Na-che sent word to you about?" + +"Yes! Out of a hundred exposures I made there, I think I got one +fairly satisfactory picture." Diana sighed. "After all, the camera +tells the story no better than words, and words are futile. Look! +What medium could one use to tell the world of that?" + +She swept her arm to embrace the view before them. The tiny sandy +beach was on a curve of the river so sharp that above and below them +the rushing waters seemed to drive into blind canyon walls. To the +right, the Canyon on both sides was so sheer, the river bed so narrow +that nothing but sky was to be seen above and beyond. But to the left, +the south canyon wall terraced back at perhaps a thousand feet in a +series of magnificent strata, yellow, purple and crimson. Still south +of this, lifted great weathered buttes and mesas, fortifications of the +gods against time itself. The morning sun had not yet reached the +camp, but it shone warm and vivid on the peaks to the south, burning +through the drifting mists from the river, in colors that thrilled the +heart like music. + +Enoch's eyes followed Diana's gesture. "I know," he said, softly. +"It's impossible to express it. I've thought of you and your work so +often, down here. Somehow, though, you do suggest the unattainable in +your pictures. It's what makes them great." + +Diana shook her head and turned toward her tent, while Enoch lighted +his pipe and began his never-ending task of bringing in drift wood. He +paused, a log on his shoulder, before Curly, who was squatting beside +his muddy pan. + +"Curly," he said, "is that stuff you have on Fowler and Brown, +political, financial, or a matter of personal morals?" + +"Personal morals and worse!" grunted Curly. "It's some story!" + +Enoch turned away without comment. But the lines between his eyes +deepened. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CLIFF DWELLING + + +"Love! that which turns the meanest man to a god in some one's eyes! +Yet I must not know it! Suppose I cast my responsibility to the winds +and . . . and yet that sense of responsibility is all that +differentiates me from Minetta Lane."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Diana began work on her films on a little folding table beside the +spring. Enoch, throwing down his log close to the cave opening, paused +to watch her. Jonas and Na-che, putting the cave in order, talked +quietly to each other. Suddenly from the river, to the right, there +rose a man's half choking, agonized shout and around the curve shot a +skiff, bottom up, a man clinging to the gunwale. The water was too +wild and swift for swimming. + +"The rope, Judge, the rope!" cried Mack. + +Enoch picked up a coil of rope, used for staking the horses, and ran to +Mack who snatched it, twirled it round his head and as the boat rushed +by him, the noosed end shot across the gunwale. The man caught it over +his wrist and it was the work of but a few moments to pull him ashore. + +He was a young man, with a two days' beard on his face, clad in the +universal overalls and blue flannel shirt. He lay on the sand, too +exhausted to move for perhaps five minutes, while Jonas pulled off his +sodden shoes, and Na-che ran to kindle a fire and heat water. After a +moment, however the stranger began to talk. + +"Almost got me that time! Forgot to put my life preserver on. Don't +bother about me. I'm drowned every day. Another boat with the rest of +us should be along shortly. Hope they salvaged some of the stuff." + +"What in time are you trying to do on the river, anyhow?" demanded +Curly. "There's simpler ways of committing suicide." + +The young man laughed. "Oh, we're some more fools trying to get from +Green River to Needles!" + +"On a bet?" asked Mack. + +"Hardly! On a job! Geological Survey! Four of us! There they come! +Whoo--ee!" + +He staggered to his feet, as another boat shot around the curve. But +this one came through in proper style, right side up, two men manning +the oars and a third with a steering paddle. With an answering shout, +they ran quickly up on the shore. They were a rough-bearded, overalled +lot, young men, all of them. + +"Gee whiz, Harden! We thought you were finished!" exclaimed the +tallest of the trio. + +"I would have been, but for these folks," replied Harden. "Here, let's +make some introductions!" + +They were stalwart fellows. Milton, the leader, was sandy-haired and +freckled, a University of California man. Agnew was stocky and +swarthy, an old Princeton graduate and Forrester, a thin, blonde chap +had worked in New York City before he joined the Geological Survey. +They were astonished by this meeting in the Canyon, but delighted +beyond measure. They had been on the river for seven months and up to +this time had met no one except when they went out for supplies. + +"We camped up above those rapids, last night," said Milton. "Of course +we didn't know of this spot. We really had nothing but a ledge, up +there. This morning Harden undertook to patch his boat, with this +result." He nodded toward the shivering cast-a-way, who had crowded +himself to Na-che's fire. "Have you folks any objection to our +stopping here to make repairs?" + +"Lord, no! Glad to have you!" said Mack. + +Enoch laughed. "Mack, it's no use! You and Curly are doomed to take +on guests as surely as a dog takes on fleas. They started out alone, +Milton, for a little vacation prospecting trip. I caught them a few +days out and made them take me on. Then Miss Allen came along last +night, and now your outfit! I'm sorry for you, Mack." + +"I'll try to live through it," grinned Mack. + +"Did you fellows find any pay gravel, coming down?" asked Curly. + +"We didn't look for any," answered Agnew, "But a few years ago, I +picked this out of the river bed." + +He showed Curly a nugget as large as a pea. "Where the devil did you +find that?" exclaimed Curly, eagerly. + +"I can show you on our map," replied Agnew. + +"I'll go fifty-fifty with you," proffered Curly. "Me to do all the +work." + +"No, you won't," laughed Agnew. "Say, old man, I put in four years, +trying to make money out of the Colorado and I swear, the only real +cash I've ever made on it has been the magnificent wages the Secretary +of the Interior allows me. I'll keep the nugget. You can have +whatever else you find there. Believe me, you'll earn it, before you +get it!" + +"You're foolish but I'm on! Mack, when shall we move?" + +"I want to know a lot more before I break up my happy home." Mack's +voice was dry. "In the meantime you fellows make yourselves +comfortable. Come on, Curly. Let's get back to work!" + +"Mr. Curly," said Jonas, "will you let me see that nugget?" + +"Sure, Jonas, here it is!" + +Jonas turned it over on his brown palm. "You mean to say you pick up +gold like that, down here?" + +"That's what I did," replied Agnew. + +"Kin any one do it?" + +"Yes, sir!" + +"How come it everybody ain't down here doing it right now?" + +"The going is pretty stiff," said Harden, with a grin, glancing at his +steaming legs. + +"Boss," Jonas turned the nugget over and over, "let's have a try at +these ructions, before we go back!" + +"Are you game to take to the boats, Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"No, boss, we'll just go over the hills, like Miss Diana does. For the +Lord's sake, who'd want to go back to--" + +"Jonas," interrupted Diana. "If you and Na-che will put together a +lunch for us, the Judge and I will get started." + +"I didn't quite get your name, sir," said Milton to Enoch. + +"Just Smith," called Curly, from over his pan of gravel. "Mr. Just +Smith! Judge, for short." + +"Oh!" Milton continued to stare at Enoch in a puzzled way. "I beg +your pardon! Come on, Harden, you're pretty well steamed out. Let's +go back and see what we can salvage, while Ag and Forr begin to +overhaul the stuff we've already pulled out." + +Not a half hour later, Enoch, Diana and Na-che were making their way +slowly up the plateau trail, not however, to climb up the old trail to +the main land. They turned midway toward their right. There was no +trail, but Enoch knew the way by the distant peaks. They traveled +afoot, single file, each with a canteen, a little packet of food and +Na-che with the camera tripod, while Enoch insisted on toting the +camera and the coil of rope. The sun was hot on the plateau and the +way very rough. They climbed constantly over ragged boulders, and +chaotic rock heaps, or rounded deep fissures that cut the plateau like +spider webs. Muscular and in good form as was the trio, frequent rests +were necessary. They had one mishap. Na-che, lagging behind, slipped +into a fissure. Enoch and Diana blanched at her sudden scream and ran +back as she disappeared. Mercifully a great rock had tumbled into the +crevice some time before and Na-che landed squarely on this, six feet +below the surface. When Diana and Enoch peered over, she was sitting +calmly on the rock, still clinging to the tripod. + +"I lost my lunch!" she grumbled as she looked up at them. + +Diana laughed. "You may have mine! Better no lunch than no Na-che. +Give us hold of the end of the tripod, honey, and we'll help you out." + +A few moments of strenuous scrambling and pulling and Na-che was on the +plateau brushing the sand from her clothes. + +"Sit down and get your breath, Na-che," said Enoch. + +"I'm fine! I don't need to sit," answered Na-che. "Let's get along." +She started on briskly. + +"I suppose things like that are of daily occurrence!" exclaimed Enoch. +"Miss Allen, don't you think you could be more careful!" + +Again Diana laughed. "It wasn't I who slipped into the crevice!" + +"No, but I'll wager you've had many an accident." + +"That's where part of the fun comes in. Why, only yesterday we had the +most thrilling escape. We--" + +"Please! I don't want to hear it!" protested Enoch, + +"Pshaw! There's no more daily risk here, than there is in the streets +of a large city." + +Enoch grunted and followed as Diana hurried after Na-che. The course +now led along the edge of the plateau which here hung directly above +the river. The water twisted far below like a sinuous brown ribbon. +The nooning sky was bronze blue and burning hot. The world seemed very +huge, to Enoch; the three of them, toiling so carefully over the yellow +plateau, very small and insignificant. He did not talk much during the +rest intervals. He would light his pipe and smoke as if in physical +contentment, but his deep blue eyes were burning and somber as they +rested on the vast emptiness about them. Na-che always dozed during +the stops. Diana, after she had observed the look in Enoch's eyes, +occupied herself in writing up her note book. + +It was just noon when they came to an old trail which Enoch believed +dropped to the cliff dwelling. Before descending it, they ate their +lunch, Enoch and Diana sharing with Na-che. This done, they began to +work carefully down the faint old trail. For ten or fifteen minutes, +they wormed zig-zag downward, the angle of descent so great that +frequently they were obliged to sit down and slide, controlling their +speed by clinging to the rocks on either side. They could not see the +cliff dwelling; only the river winding so remotely below. But at the +end of the fifteen minutes the trail stopped abruptly. So +unexpectedly, in fact, that Enoch clung to a rock while his legs +dangled over the abyss. He shouted to the others to wait while he +peered dizzily below. A great section of the wall had broken away and +the trail could not be taken up again until a sheer gap of twenty feet +had been bridged. + +Diana crept close behind Enoch and peered over his shoulders. + +"If we tie the rope to this pointed rock, I think we can lower +ourselves, don't you?" he asked. + +"Easily!" agreed Diana. "I'll go first." + +"Well, hardly! I'll go first and Na-che can bring up the rear, as +usual." + +They knotted the rope around the rock and Enoch and Diana quickly and +easily made the descent. Na-che lowered the camera and tripod to them, +then examined, with a sudden exclamation, the rock to which the rope +was tied. "That rock will give way any minute," she cried. "Your +weight has cracked it." + +Even as she spoke, the rock suddenly tilted and slid, then bounded out +to the depths below, carrying the rope with it. For a moment no one +spoke, then Na-che, her round brown face wrinkled with amusement, said, + +"Almost no Na-che, no Diana, no Judge, eh?" + +"Jove, what an escape!" breathed Enoch. + +"Na-che," said Diana, "you'll just have to return to the camp for +another rope. You'd better ride back here. In the meantime, the Judge +and I'll explore the dwelling." + +Na-che nodded and without another word, disappeared. Diana turned to +Enoch. "Lead ahead, Judge!" + +The trail now led around a curve in the wall. Enoch edged gingerly +beyond this and paused. The trail again was broken, but they were in +full view of the cliff dwelling, which was snuggled in an inward curve +of the Canyon, filling entirely a gigantic gap in the gray wall. + +Diana exclaimed over its mute beauty. "I must see it!" she said. "But +we can't bridge this gap without more ropes and more people to help." + +"It looks to me," Enoch spoke with a sudden smile, "as though the Lord +intended me to have a few moments alone with you!" + +Diana smiled in return. "It does, indeed," she agreed. + +"Let's try to settle ourselves comfortably here in view of the +dwelling. I like to look at it. We can hear Na-che when she calls." + +The trail was several feet wide at this point. Diana sat down on a +rock, her back to the wall, clasping one knee with her brown fingers. +For a little while Enoch stood looking from the dwelling to Diana, then +far out to the glowing peaks across the Canyon to the north. Finally, +he turned to silent contemplation of the lovely, slender figure against +the wall. Diana's dignity, her utter sweetness, the something quieting +and steadying in her personality never had seemed more pronounced to +Enoch than in this country of magnificent heights and depths. + +"Well," said Diana, finally, "after you've finished your inspection, +perhaps you'll sit down and talk." + +Enoch smiled and established himself beside her. He refilled his pipe, +lighted it and laid it down. "Miss Allen," he said abruptly, "you saw +the article in the Brown papers?" + +"Yes," replied Diana. + +"What did you think of it?" + +"I thought what others think, that Brown is an unspeakable cur." + +"I can't tell you how keenly I feel for you in the matter, Miss Allen. +I would have given anything to have saved you from it." + +"Would you? I'm not so sure that I would! You see, I'm just enough of +a hero worshiper to be proud to have my name coupled in friendship with +that of a great man." + +"A great man!" repeated Enoch quietly, yet with a bitterness in his +voice that wrung Diana's heart. + +"Yes, Mr. Huntingdon," Diana's voice broke a little and she turned her +head away. + +The utter silence of the Canyon enveloped them. + +At last Enoch said, "You have a big soul, Miss Allen, but you shall not +sacrifice one smallest fragment of--of your perfection for me. If it +is necessary for me to kill Brown, I shall do so." + +Diana gasped, "Enoch!" + +Enoch, at the sound of his name on her lips, touched her hand quickly +and softly with his own, and as quickly drew it away, jumped to his +feet and began to pace the trail. + +"Yes, kill him, the cur! Diana, he did not even leave me a mother in +the public mind! He maligned you. The burdens that I have carried for +all the years, the horrors that I've wrestled with, the secret shames +that I've hidden, he's exposed them all in the open marketplace. And +he dragged you into my mire! Diana, each man must be broken in a +different way. Some are broken by money, some by physical fear, some +by spiritual fear, some--" + +Diana interrupted. "Enoch, are you a friend of mine?" + +Enoch turned his tortured eyes to hers. "I shall never tell you how +much a friend I am to you, Diana. But my friendship is a fact you may +draw on all the days of your life, as heavily as you will." + +"And I am your friend. Though I know you so little, no friend is as +dear to me as you are." She rose and coming to his side, she took his +hand in both of hers. + +"Dear Enoch, what a man like Brown can say of you in an article or two, +has no permanent weight with the public. Scurrilous stories of that +type kill themselves by their very scurrility. No matter how eagerly +the public may lap up the stuff, it cannot really heed it for, Enoch, +America knows you and your service. America loves you. Brown cannot +dislodge you by slandering your mother. The real importance and danger +of that story lies in its reaction on you. I--I could not help +recalling the story of that tormented, red-haired boy who went down +Bright Angel trail with my father and I had to come to help him, if I +could. O Enoch, if the Canyon could only, once more, wipe Luigi +Guiseppi out of your life!" + +Enoch watched Diana's wide gray eyes with a look of painful eagerness. + +"Nothing matters, nothing can matter, Enoch, except that you find the +strength in the Canyon to go back to your work and that you leave Brown +alone. That is what I want to demand of your friendship, that you +promise me to do those two things." + +"I shall go back, of course," replied Enoch, gravely. "I had no +thought of doing otherwise. But about Brown, I cannot promise." + +"Then will you agree not to go back until you have talked to me again?" + +"Again? But I expect to talk to you many times, Diana! You are not +going away, are you?" + +Diana nodded. "I'm using another person's money and I must get on, +to-morrow, with the work I agreed to do. Promise me, Enoch." + +"But, Diana--O Diana! Diana! Let me go with you!" + +Diana turned to face the dwelling. "The Canyon can do more for you +than I can, Enoch. But we'll meet, say at El Tovar before you go back +to Washington. Promise me, Enoch." + +"Of course, I promise. But, Diana, how can I let you go!" + +Enoch put his arm across Diana's shoulders and stood beside her, +staring at the silent, deserted dwelling. It seemed to Enoch, standing +so, that this was the sweetest and saddest moment of his life; saddest +because he felt that in nothing more than friendship must he ever touch +her hand with his: sweetest because for the first time in his history +he was beginning to understand the depth and beauty that can exist in a +friendship between a man and a woman. + +"Diana," he said at last, "you may take yourself away from me, but +nevertheless, I shall carry with me the thought of your loveliness, +like a rod and a staff to sustain me." + +When Diana turned to look at him there were tears in her eyes. + +"I've always been glad that I was not ugly," she said, "but +now,"--smiling through wet lashes--"you make me proud of it, though I +can't see how the thought of it can--" + +She paused and Enoch went on eagerly: "It's a seamy, rough world, +Diana, all higgledy-piggledy. The beautiful souls are misplaced in +ugly carcasses and the ugly souls in beautiful. Those who might be +friends and lovers too often meet only to grieve that it is too late +for their joy. In such a world, when one beholds a body that nature +has chiseled and molded and polished to loveliness like yours and +discovers that that loveliness is a true index of the intelligence and +fineness of the character dwelling in the body--well, Diana, it gives +one a new thought about God. It does, indeed!" + +"Enoch, I don't deserve it! I truly don't!" looking at him with that +curious mingling of tenderness and courtesy and understanding in her +wide eyes that made Diana unique. + +Enoch only smiled and again silence fell between them. Finally, Enoch +said, + +"I would like to go down the river with Milton and his crowd." + +Diana's voice was startled. "O no, Enoch! It's a frightfully +dangerous trip! You risk your life every moment." + +"I want to risk my life," returned Enoch. "I want a real man's +adventure. I've got a battle inside of me to fight that will rend me +unless I have one of equal proportions to fight, externally." + +A loud halloo sounded from above. "There's Na-che!" exclaimed Diana. +"We'll talk this over later, Enoch." + +But Enoch shook his head. "No, Diana, please! I've dreamed all my +life of this canyon trip. You mustn't dissuade me. Milton will be +starting to-morrow and I'm going to crowd in, somehow." + +Na-che called again. Diana turned silently and in silence they +returned to the end of the broken trail. Here they explained to Na-che +the conditions of the trail beyond and that they had determined to give +up the expedition for that day. + +"I doubt if I try to investigate it at all, on this trip," said Diana, +when they had made the difficult ascent to the plateau. "I really +ought to get into the Hopi country. My conscience is troubling me." + +Na-che looked disappointed. "That is a good camp, by the river," she +said. "But maybe," eagerly, "the Judge and Jonas will come with us." + +"You like Jonas, don't you, Na-che?" asked Enoch. + +The Indian woman laughed and tossed her head, but did not answer. + +It was only four o'clock when they reached camp, but already dusk was +settling in the Canyon. A good fire was going in front of the cave and +Jonas was guarding his stew which simmered over a smaller blaze near +Diana's tent. Na-che lifted the lid of the kettle, sniffed and turned +away with a shrug of her shoulders. + +"What's troubling you, woman?" demanded Jonas. + +"I thought you was making stew," replied Na-che. + +"Oh, you did! Well, what do you think now?" + +"Oh, I guess you're just boiling the mud out of the river water. You +give me the kettle and I'll show you how to make rabbit stew." + +"I'll give you a piece of my mind, Miss Na-che, that's what I'll give +you. How come you to think you can sass a Washington man, huh, a +government man, huh? How come you suppose I don't know women, huh? +Why child, I was taking girls to fancy dress balls when you Indians was +still wearing nothing but strings. I was--" + +"O Jonas!" called Enoch, who had been standing by the cave fire, an +amused auditor of Jonas' tirade; "treat Na-che gently. She's leaving +to-morrow." + +"Leaving? Don't we go, too, boss?" asked Jonas. + +"No, I'm going to see if I can go down river with the boats." + +Curly, who was cleaning up in the cave, came out, comb in hand. + +"You haven't gone crazy, have you, Judge?" + +"No more than usual, Curly. How about it, Milton?" as that sturdy +personage came up from the river and dropped wearily down by the fire. +"Don't you need another man?" + +"Yes, Judge, we're two short. One of our fellows broke an arm a week +ago and we had to send him out, with another chap to help him." + +"Will you let me work my passage as far as Bright Angel?" asked Enoch. + +Milton scowled thoughtfully. "It's a god-awful job. You realize that, +do you?" + +Enoch nodded. Milton turned to Harden and the other two men. "What do +you fellows think?" + +"We're awful short-handed," replied Harden, cautiously. "Can you swim, +Judge?" + +"I'm a strong swimmer." + +"But gee willikums, Judge, what're we going to do without you?" +demanded Mack. "Ain't that just the usual luck? You get a cook +trained and off he goes!" + +"And how about that deal of ours, Smith?" asked Curly, in a low voice. + +"I haven't forgotten it for a moment, Curly," Enoch replied. "I'll +talk to you about it, to-night. How about it, Milton?" + +"Can you stand rotten hard luck without belly-aching?" asked Agnew. + +"Yes, he can!" exclaimed Mack, "but he's a darn fool to think of going. +It's as risky as the devil and nobody that's got a family dependent on +'em ought to consider it for a moment." + +"I have no one," said Enoch quietly. "And I'm strong and hard as +nails." + +"What fool ever sent you folks out?" asked Curly. + +"It's not a fool trip, really," expostulated Milton. "It's very +necessary for a good many reasons that the government have more +accurate geographical and geological knowledge of this section." + +"What part of the government do you work for?" asked Mack. + +"The Geological Survey. It's a bureau in the Department of the +Interior." + +"Oh, then Huntingdon's your Big Boss!" exclaimed Mack. "Do you know +him?" + +"Never met him," replied Milton. "He doesn't know the small fry in his +department." + +"He sits in Washington and gets the glory while you guys do the work, +eh!" said Curly. + +"I don't think you should put it that way, Curly," protested Mack. +"Enoch Huntingdon's a big man and he's done more real solid work for +his country than any man in Washington to-day and I'll bet you on it." + +"Right you are!" exclaimed Forrester. "My oldest brother was in +college with Huntingdon. Says he was a good fellow, a brilliant +student and even then he could make a speech that would break your +heart. His one vice was gambling. He--" + +"My father knew Huntingdon!" Diana spoke quickly. "He knew him when he +was a long-legged, red-headed boy of fourteen. My father was his guide +down Bright Angel trail. Dad always said that he never met as +interesting a human being as that boy." + +"Queer thing about personal charm," contributed Agnew. "I heard +Huntingdon make one of his great speeches when he was Police +Commissioner. I was just a little kid and he was a big, homely, +red-headed chap, but I remember how my kid heart warmed to him and how +I wished I could get up on the stage and get to know him." + +"So he was a gambler, was he?" Curly spoke in a musing voice. "Well, +if he was once, he is now. It's a worse vice than drink." + +"How come you say that, Mr. Curly?" demanded Jonas. + +"In the meantime," interrupted Enoch, gruffly, "how about my trip down +the Canyon?" + +"Well," replied Milton, "if you go at it with your eyes open, I don't +see why you can't try it as far as Grant's Crossing. That's +seventy-five miles west of here. Barring accidents, we should reach +there in a week, cleaning up the survey as we go along. If you live to +reach there, you can either go out or come along, as you wish. But +understand that from the time we leave here till we reach Grant's +Crossing, there's no way out of the Canyon, at least as far as the maps +indicate." + +"Say, the placer where I found my nugget is just above Grant's!" +exclaimed Harden. "Why don't you placer fans start on west and we'll +all try to meet there in a week's time. I couldn't tell Field where it +was in a hundred years." + +"Suits me!" exclaimed Curly. + +"Me too!" echoed Mack. + +"Then," said Enoch, "will you take Jonas along as cook, Mack?" + +"You bet!" cried Mack. + +"Does that suit you, Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"No, boss, it don't suit me. I've gotta go with you. I ain't never +going to live through it, but I'll die praying." + +A shout went up of laughter and expostulation, but Jonas, though grim +with terror, was entirely unmoved. Nothing, not even mortal horror of +the Colorado could break his determination never to be separated from +Enoch again. His agitation was so deep and so obvious that Enoch and +Milton finally gave in to him. + +"All right!" said Milton. "A daylight start will about suit us all, I +guess. I don't think I can give you much previous instruction, Judge, +that will help you. We'll put Jonas in Harden's boat and you in mine. +You must wear your life preserver all the time that we are on the +water. When we are in the boat, do as I tell you, instantly, and +you'll soon pick up what small technique we have. It's mostly horse +sense and brute strength that we use. No two rapids are alike and the +portages are nearly all difficult beyond words." + +"My Gawd!" muttered Jonas. + +"You go over to the Hopi country with us," said Na-che, softly. + +"I dassen't do it!" groaned Jonas. "You'll have to serve that stew, +Na-che. My nerves is just too upset. I gotta go off and sit down +somewhere." + +"Don't you worry," whispered Na-che, "I'll give you a Navajo charm. +You can't drown if you wear it." + +Jonas' black face grew less tense. "Honest, Na-che?" + +Na-che nodded emphatically. + +"Well," said Jonas, "I had a warming of my heart to you the minute I +laid eyes on you, up there at the Grand Canyon. Any woman as handsome +as you is, Na-che, is bound to be a comfort to a man in his hours of +trouble." + +Again Na-che nodded and began to dish the stew, which came quite up to +Jonas' estimate of it. After supper, the big fire was replenished and +Mack produced a deck of cards. + +"Who said draw-poker?" he inquired. + +"Most any of our crowd will shout," said Agnew. + +"Judge?" Mack looked at Enoch, who was sitting before the fire, arms +clasped about his knees. + +Enoch pulled his pipe out of his mouth to answer. "No!" with a look of +repugnance that caused Milton to exclaim, "Got conscientious scruples +against cards, Judge?" + +"Yes, but don't stop your game for me," replied Enoch, harshly. Then +his voice softened. "Miss Allen, the moon is shining, up on the +plateau. While these chaps play, will you take a walk with me?" + +"I'd like to very much!" Diana spoke quickly. + +"Well, don't be gone over an hour, children," said Curly. "Cards don't +draw me like a good gab round the fire. And Diana's our best gabber." + +"An hour's the bargain then," said Enoch. "Come along, Miss Allen!" + +It was, indeed, glorious moonlight on the plateau. The two did not +speak until they reached the upper level, then Enoch laughed. + +"Jove! This is the greatest luck a game of cards ever brought me! +Think, Diana, three days ago I was fighting my despair at the thought +that I must never see you again and that you despised me. And here I +am, with moonlight and you and a whole hour. Are you a little bit +glad, Diana?" + +"A little bit! I'd be gladder if I weren't so disturbed at the thought +of the trip you are to begin to-morrow!" + +"Nonsense, Diana! I'm learning more about my own Department every day. +Aren't they a fine lot of fellows? Milton scares me to death. I don't +doubt for a moment that if he tells me to dash to destruction in a +whirlpool, I shall do so. There's a chap that could exact obedience +from a mule. I'll look up his record when I get back to Washington." + +"Shall you reveal your identity before you leave them?" asked Diana. + +"No, certainly not! Not for worlds would I have them know who I am. +And now tell me, Diana, just what are your plans?" + +"Oh, nothing at all exciting! I am going to make some studies of +Indian children's games. They are picturesque and ethnologically, very +interesting. I shall come home across the Painted Desert and take some +pictures in color. My adventures will be very mild compared with +yours." + +"And you and Na-che will be quite alone, out in this trackless country! +I shall worry about you, Diana." + +Diana laughed. "Enoch, you have no idea of what you are undertaking! +You'll have no time to give me a thought. For a week you're going to +struggle as you never did before to keep breath in your body." + +"Oh, it'll not be that bad!" exclaimed Enoch. "Are you cold, Diana? I +thought you shivered. What a strange, ghostlike country it is! It +would be horrible up here alone, wouldn't it!" + +They paused to gaze out over the fantastic landscape. + +In the gray light the strangely weathered mesas were ruined castles, +stupendous in bulk; the mighty buttes and crumbled peaks were colossal +cities overthrown by the cataclysm of time. It seemed to Enoch, that +nowhere else in the world could one behold such epic loneliness. The +excitement that had buoyed him up since Diana's arrival suddenly +departed, and his life with all its ugly facts was vividly in his +consciousness again. + +"Diana," he said, abruptly, "when you were talking to me this +afternoon, you spoke of the Brown matter in the plural. Was there more +than one article about me?" + +Diana turned her tender eyes to Enoch's. "Let's not spoil this +beautiful evening," she pleaded. + +"I don't want to bother you, Diana. Just tell me the facts and we'll +drop it." + +"I'd rather not talk about it," replied Diana. + +"Please, Diana! Whatever fight I have down here, whatever conclusion I +reach, I want to work with my eyes open, so that my decisions shall be +final. I don't want to have to revamp and revise when I get out." + +"As far as I know," said Diana, in a low voice, "there was but one +other reference to the matter. The day after the first article +appeared, Brown published a photograph of you and me in front of a +Johnstown lunch place. There was a long caption, which said that you +had always been proud that you were slum-reared and a woman hater. +That you had persisted in keeping some of your early habits, perhaps +out of bravado. That Miss Allen was an intimate friend, the only woman +friend you had made and kept. That was all." + +"All!" echoed Enoch. The pale, silver landscape danced in a crimson +mist before him. He stood, clenching and unclenching his fists, +breathing rapidly. + +"Oh, Enoch! Enoch! Since you had to know, it was better for you to +know from me than any one else. And as far as I am concerned, as I +told you before, I'm only amused. It's only for the reaction on you +that I'm troubled." + +"You mustn't be troubled, Diana." said Enoch, huskily. "But I'd be +less than a man, if I didn't pay that yellow cur up. You see that, +don't you?" + +"A Dutch family I have heard of has this family motto: 'Eagles do not +see flies.'" + +Enoch gave a dry, mirthless laugh. For a long time they tramped in +silence. Then Diana said, "We've been out half an hour, Enoch." + +Enoch turned at once, taking Diana's hand as he did so. He did not +release it until they had reached the edge of the trail and the sound +of men's voices floated up to them. Then taking off his hat, he lifted +the slender fingers to his lips. "This is our real good-by, Diana, for +we'll not be alone, again. If anything should happen to me, I want you +to have my diary, if they save it. I'll have it with me, on the trip." + +Diana's lips quivered. "God keep you, Enoch, and help you." Then she +turned and led the way to the cave. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE EXPEDITION BEGINS + + +"After all, there is a place still untouched by humanity, where skies +are unmarred and the way leads through uncharted beauty. When I have +earned the right, I shall go there again."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Before dawn the camp fires were lighted and the various breakfasts were +in preparation. When these had been eaten there was light from the +pale sky above by which to complete the packing of the boats. + +These were strongly built, wooden skiffs with three water tight +compartments in each; one amidships, one fore and one aft, with decks +flush with the gunwales. There was room between the middle and end +compartments for the oarsmen to sit. The man who worked the +steersman's oar sat on the rear compartment. In these compartments +were packed all the dunnage, clothing, food, tools, surveying and +geological instruments and cameras. Each man was allowed about fifty +pounds of personal luggage. Everything that water could hurt was +packed in rubber bags. + +Milton was troubled when he found that Enoch had no change of shoes. + +"You'll reach camp each night," said he, "soaked to the skin. You must +have warm, dry clothing to change to. Shoes are especially important. +Jonas must have them, too." + +"How about Indian moccasins, Mr. Milton?" asked Jonas. "I bought three +pairs while I was with Miss Diana." + +"Well, they're better than nothing," grumbled Milton. "Are you ready, +Harden?" + +"Aye! Aye! sir!" said Harden, pulling his belt in tightly. "Are you +all set, Ag and Jonas?" + +"All set, Harden," Agnew picked up his oar. "Are you ready, Matey?" to +Jonas, who was saying good-by in a whisper to Na-che. + +"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, Mr. Agnew," groaned Jonas. "Good-by, +everybody!" stepping gingerly into the boat. + +"All aboard then, Judge and Forr," cried Milton. "I'll shove off." + +"Good-by, Diana! Good-by, Curly and Mack!" Enoch waved his hand and +took his place, and the racing water seized the boats. Hardly had +Enoch turned to look once more at the four watching on the beach, when +the boats shot round the curving western wall. For the first half +hour, the water was smooth and swift, sweeping between walls that were +abrupt and verdureless and offered not so much as a finger hold for a +landing place. + +Enoch, following instruction did not try to row at first. He sat +quietly watching the swift changing scenery, feeling awkward and a +little helpless in his life preserver. + +"We're due, sometime this morning, to strike some pretty stiff +cataracts," said Milton, "but the records show that we can shoot most +of them. Keep in to the left wall, Forr, I want to squint at that bend +in the strata." + +They swung across the stream, and as they did so they caught a glimpse +of Jonas. He was crouched in the bottom of the boat, his eyes rolling +above his life preserver. + +"Didn't Na-che give you that Navaho charm, Jonas?" called Forrester. + +"It'll take more than a charm to help poor old Jonas," said Enoch. "I +really think he'll like it in a day or so. He's got good pluck." + +"He's only showing what all of us felt on our maiden trip," chuckled +Milton. Then he added, quickly, "Listen, Forr!" + +Above the splash of the oars and the swift rush of the river rose a +sound like the far roar of street traffic. + +"Our little vacation is over," commented Forrester. + +"Easy now, Forr! We'll land for observation before we tackle a racket +like that. Let the current carry us. Be ready to back water when I +shout." He raised his voice. "Harden, don't follow too closely! You +know your failing!" + +They rounded a curving wall, the current carrying them, Milton said, at +least ten miles an hour. A short distance now, and they saw spray +breaking high in the middle of the stream. + +"We'll land here," said Milton, steering to a great pile of bowlders +against the right wall. + +Enoch watched with keen interest the preparation for the descent. +First sticks were thrown into the water, to catch the trend of the main +current. Milton pointed out to Enoch that if the stick were deflected +against one wall or another, great care had to be exercised to prevent +the boats being dashed against the walls in like manner. But, he said, +if the current seemed to run a fairly unobstructed course, it was +hopeful that the boats would go through. There were a number of rocks +protruding from the water, but the current appeared to round these +cleanly and Milton gave the order to proceed. They worked back +upstream a short distance so as to catch the current straight prow on, +and in a moment they were dashing through a sea of roaring waves that +drenched them to the skin. + +Forrester and Milton steered a zigzag course about the menacing rocks, +grazing and bumping them now and again, but emerging finally, without +accident, in quieter waters. Here they hugged the shore and waited for +Harden's boat, the Mary, to come down. And come it did, balancing +uncannily on the top of the waves, with Jonas' yells sounding even +above the uproar of the waters. + +"More of it below, Harden," said Milton as the Mary shot alongside. + +More indeed! It seemed to Enoch that the first rapid was child's play +to the one that followed. The jutting rocks were more frequent. The +fall greater. The waves more menacing. But they shot it safely until +they reached its foot and there an eddy caught them and carried them +back upstream in spite of all that could be done. Enoch seized the +oars that were in readiness beside him and pulled with all his might +but to no avail. And suddenly the Mary rushed out of the mist striking +them fairly amidship. The Ida half turned over, but righted herself +and the Mary darted off. Milton shouted hoarsely, Forrester and Enoch +obeyed blindly and after what seemed to Enoch an endless struggle, +spray and waves suddenly ceased and they found themselves in quieter +waters where the Mary awaited them. + +Harden and Agnew were laughing. "Thought you knew an eddy when you saw +one, Milt!" cried Agnew. + +"I don't know anything!" grinned Milton, "except that Jonas is going to +be too scared to cook." + +"If ever I get to land," retorted Jonas, "I'll cook something for a +thanksgiving to the Lord that you all will never forget." + +They examined the next fall and passed through it successfully. The +Canyon was widening now and an occasional cedar tree could be seen. +Enoch was vaguely conscious, too, that the colors of the walls were +more brilliant. But the ardors of the rapids gave small opportunity +for aesthetic observations. + +Curiously enough, after the passage of this last fall the waters did +not subside in speed, though the waves disappeared. The spray of +another fall was to be seen beyond. + +"We mustn't risk shooting her without observation," cried Milton. +"Make for that spit of sand with the cedars on it, fellows." + +Enoch and Forrester put their backs into their strokes in their +endeavor to guide the Ida to the place indicated, which appeared to be +the one available landing spot. But the current carried them at such +velocity that when within half a dozen feet of the shore it seemed +impossible to stop and make the landing. + +"Overboard!" shouted Milton. + +All three plunged into the water, clinging to the gunwale. The water +was waist deep. For a few feet boat and men were dragged onward. Then +they found secure foothold on the rocky river bottom and, with huge +effort, beached the Ida. Scarcely was this done, when the Mary hove in +view and with Milton shouting directions, they rushed once more into +the current to help with the landing. + +"The cook and the bacon both are in your boat, Harden!" chuckled +Milton, "or you'd be getting no such delicate attentions from the Ida." + +Jonas crawled stiffly out of his compartment. Enoch began preparation +for a fire, white the others busied themselves with notes and +observations. It was 90 degrees on the little sandy beach and the wet +clothing was not chilling. They ate enormously of Jonas's dinner, then +the Survey men scattered to their work for an hour or so, while Enoch +explored the region. There was no getting to the top of the walls, so +he contented himself with crawling gingerly over the rocks to a point +where a little spring bubbled out of a narrow cave opening. Peering +through this, Enoch saw that it was dimly lighted, and he crawled +through the water. + +To his astonishment, he was in a great circular amphitheater, a hundred +feet in diameter, domed to an enormous height, with the blue sky +showing through a rift at the top. The little spring trickled down the +wall, now dropping sheer in spray, now trickling in a delicate, +glistening sheet. But the greatest wonder of the cave was in the +texture of its walls, which appeared to Enoch to be of purest marble of +a deep shell pink and translucent creamy white. Moisture had collected +on the walls and each tiny globule of water seemed to hold a miniature +rainbow in its heart. There was a holy sort of loveliness about the +spot, and before he returned to the rugged adventure outside, Enoch +pulled off his hat and christened the place Diana's Chapel. Nor did +he, on his arrival at the camp, tell of his find. + +Shortly after two o'clock Milton ordered all hands aboard. But before +this he had shown them all the map, adding a rough sketch of his own. +The next rapid appeared to be no more dangerous than the previous one. +But below it the river widened out into a circular bay, a great tureen +within which the waters moved with an oil-like smoothness. But when +Milton threw a stick into this strange basin, it was whirled the entire +circumference of the bay with a velocity that all the men agreed boded +ill for any boat that did not cling to the wall. The west end of the +bay, where it was all but blocked by the closing in of the Canyon +sides, could not be seen from the rocks where the men stood. But the +old maps reported a steep fall which must be portaged. + +"Cling to the right-hand wall," ordered Milton. "If you steer out, +Harden, for the sake of the short cut, you may be lost. The reports +show that two other boats were lost here. Cling to the wall! When we +reach the mouth we must go ashore again and examine the falls. Be sure +your life preservers are strapped securely." + +"Mr. Milton," said Jonas, "you better let me get my hands on a oar. If +I got to die, I'm going to die fighting." + +"Good stuff, Jonas!" exclaimed Harden. "Can you row?" + +"Brought up on the Potomac," replied Jonas. + +"All right, folks," cried Milton. "We're off." + +The Ida would have shot the rapid successfully, but for one important +point. It was necessary, in order to land on the right side of the +whirlpool, to steer to the right of a tall, finger-like rock, that +protruded from the water at the bottom of the rapids. About a boat's +length from this rock, however, a sudden wave shot six feet into the +air, throwing the Ida off its course, and drenching the crew, so that +they entered the churning tureen at a speed of twenty miles an hour and +almost at the middle of the stream. + +"Pull to the right wall! To the right!" roared Milton. But he might +as well have roared to the wind. Enoch and Forrester rose from their +seats and threw the whole weight of their bodies on their oars. But +the noiseless power of the whirlpool thrust the Ida mercilessly toward +the center. + +"Harder!" panted Milton, straining with all his might at the steering +oar. "Put your back into her, Judge! Bend to it, Forr!" + +Enoch's breath came in gasps. His palms, the cords of his wrists felt +powerless. His toe muscles cramped in agony. As in a mist he saw the +right wall recede, felt the boat twist under his knees like a +disobedient horse. Suddenly there was a crack as of a pistol shot +behind him. One of Forrester's oars had snapped. Forrester drew in +the other and crawled back to add his weight to the steering oar. + +"It's up to you, Judge!" cried Milton. + +They were in the center of the bay now and the boat began to spin. For +one terrible moment it seemed as if an overturn were imminent. Out of +the tail of his eyes, Enoch saw the Mary hugging the right wall. + +"Judge!" shouted Milton. "If you can back water into that rough spot +six feet to your right, I think we can stop the spin." + +Enoch was too spent to reply but he gathered every resource in his body +to make one more effort. The boat slowly edged into the rough spot and +for a moment the spin ceased. + +"Now shoot her downstream! We'll have to trust to the Mary to keep us +from entering the falls," Milton shouted. + +With Enoch giving all that was left in him to the oars, and Forrester +and Milton steering with their united strength and skill, the Ida +slowly worked toward the narrow opening which marked the head of the +falls. The crew of the Mary had landed and Harden stood on the +outermost rock at the opening, swinging a coil of rope, while Agnew +crawled up behind him with another. Jonas hung onto the Mary's rope. + +Perhaps a half dozen boat lengths from the falls the whirling motion of +the water ceased, and it leaped ferociously toward the narrow opening. +When the Ida felt this straight pull, Milton roared: + +"Back her, Judge, back her! Now the rope, Harden! You too, Ag!" + +Her prow was beyond the opening before the speed of the Ida was stopped +by the ropes. A moment later her crew had dropped flat on the rocks, +panting and exhausted. + +"Well, Milt, of all the darn fools!" exclaimed Harden. "After telling +us to keep to the right, what did you try to do yourself? If you'd +gone inside that big finger rock at the end of the rapid you'd have had +no trouble." + +"I never had a chance to go inside that rock," panted Milton. "A +pot-hole spouted a boat's length ahead and threw me clear to the left." + +"Say," said Agnew, "we got some crew in our boat now. Jonas, you are +some little oarsman!" + +"Scared as ever, Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"I wasn't never so much scared, you know, boss, as I was nervous. But +this charm is sure a good one. If we can live through this here day, +we can live through anything. I want you to wear it, to-morrow, boss. +Seems like the head boat needs it more'n us folks." + +Jonas' liquid black eyes twinkled. Enoch laughed. "If I hadn't known +you were a good sport, Jonas, I'd never have let you come with us. +Keep your charm, old man. I don't expect ever to gather together +enough strength to get into the boat again!" + +"Nobody's going to try to get in to-night," said Milton, without +lifting his head from the rocks on which he lay. "We camp right here. +It's four o'clock anyhow." + +"Then I've something still left to be thankful for!" Enoch closed his +eyes with a deep sigh of relief. + +When he next opened them it was dusk. Above him, on the narrow canyon +top, gleamed the wonder of the desert stars. There was a glow of +firelight on the rocks about him. Enoch sat up. It was an +inhospitable spot for a camp. The roar of the falls was harsh and +menacing. The canyon walls shot two thousand feet into the air on +either side of the sliding waters. Enoch was suddenly oppressed by a +vague sense of suffocation. He realized, fully, for the first time +that the menace of the Canyon was very real; that should a sudden rise +of the waters come at this point, there was no climbing out, no going +back; that should the boats be lost---- He shook himself, rose stiffly +and joined the group around the fire. + +"Ship ahoy, Judge!" cried Harden. "Are you still traveling in circles?" + +"Humph!" grunted Milton. "The Judge may be a tenderfoot in the Canyon, +but he's no tenderfoot in a boat. Ever on a college crew, Judge?" + +"Yes, Columbia," replied Enoch. + +"I thought you'd raced! Jove, how you did heave the old tub round! +Jonas, how about grub for the Judge?" + +"How come you to think you have to tell me to look out for my boss, Mr. +Milton?" grumbled Jonas, coming up with a pie tin loaded with beans and +bacon. + +"Hello, Jonas, old man! What do you think of this parlor, bedroom and +bath?" asked Enoch. + +"I feel like Joseph in the pit, boss! Folks back home wouldn't never +believe me if Mr. Agnew hadn't promised to take some pictures of me and +my boat. That's an awful good boat, the Mary, boss. She is some boat! +Did you see me jerk her round?" + +"No, I missed that, Jonas. I was a little preoccupied at the time. Is +to-day a fair sample of every day, you fellows?" + +"Lately, yes," replied Forrester. "To-morrow'll be a bell ringer too, +from the looks of that portage. Need any help on those dishes, Jonas, +before I go to bed?" + +"All done, thanks," answered Jonas. "Say, Mr. Milton, you know what I +was thinking? Mary's no name for a sassy, gritty boat like ours. Let +me give her a good name." + +"What name, for instance?" demanded Harden. + +Jonas cleared his throat. "I was thinking of the Na-che." + +"My word!" exclaimed Harden. "Say, Ag, would you want our boat renamed +the Na-che?" + +"Who'd repaint the name?" asked Agnew carefully. "That's the point +with me." + +"The trouble with you, Ag," said Harden, "is that you haven't any soul." + +"I'd do the painting," Jonas went on eagerly. "I was thinking of +getting her all fixed up with that can of paint I see to-day. Red +paint, it was." + +"Do you think that Na-che would mind our making free with her name?" +Milton's tone was serious. + +"Mind!" cried Jonas. "Well, if you knew women like I do you'd never +ask a question like that! A woman would rather have a boat or a race +horse named after her any time than have a baby named for her. I know +women!" + +"In that case, let's rename the Mary," said Milton. "Everybody ready +to turn in?" + +"I am, sir," replied Harden. "Jonas, you turn off the lights and put +the cat down cellar. Good night, everybody!" + +Jonas chuckled and hobbled off to his blankets. It was not seven +o'clock when the rude camp was silent and every soul in it in profound +slumber. + +Enoch was stiff and muscle-sore in the morning but he ate breakfast +with a ravenous appetite and with a keen interest in the day's program. +In response to his questions Milton said: + +"We unload the boats and make the dunnage up into fifty pound loads. +Then we look over the trail. Sometimes we have merely to get up on our +two legs and walk it. Other times we have to make trail even for +ourselves, let alone for the boats. Sometimes we can portage the +freight and lower the boats through the water by tow ropes. But for +this falls, there's nothing to do but to make trail and drag the boats +over it." + +"It's no trip for babes!" exclaimed Enoch. "That's certain! Do you +like the work, Milton?" + +"It's a work no one would do voluntarily without liking it," replied +the young man. "I like it. I wouldn't want to give my life to it, +but--" he paused to look over toward the others busily unloading the +Na-che,--"but nothing will ever do again for me what this experience +has." + +"And may I ask what that is?" Enoch's voice was eager. + +Milton searched Enoch's face carefully, then answered slowly. +"Sometime when we are having a rest, I'll tell you, if you really want +to know." + +"Thanks! And now set me to work, Captain," said Enoch. + +The way beside the falls was nothing more than a narrow ledge +completely covered with giant bowlders. Beyond the falls, the river +hurled itself for a quarter of a mile against broken rocks that made +the passage of a boat impossible. It was a long portage. After the +bowlder-strewn ledge was passed, however, it was not necessary to make +trail, for although the shore was strewn with broken rock and +driftwood, the way was fairly open. + +After the contents of the boats had been made up into rough packs, both +crews attacked the trail-making. It was mid-morning before pick-ax, +shovel and crowbar had opened up a way which Jonas claimed was fit only +for kangaroos or elephants. Rough as it was, when Milton declared it +fit for their purposes, the rest without protest heaved the packs to +their shoulders. + +It was hot at midday in the Canyon. The thermometer registered 98 +degrees in the shade. Enoch, following Milton, dropped his third pack +at the end of the quarter mile portage and sat down beside it. + +"Old man!" he groaned, "you've got to give me a ten minutes' rest." + +Milton grinned and nodded sympathetically. "Take all the time you +want, Judge!" + +"I'm ashamed," said Enoch, "but don't forget you fellows have had ten +months of this, as against my two days." + +"I don't forget for a minute, Judge. And just let me tell you that if +ever I were on trial for a serious offense of any kind I'd be perfectly +satisfied to be tried before a real he-man, like you." And Milton +disappeared over the trail, leaving Enoch with a warm glow in his +heart, such as he had scarcely felt since his first public speech won +the praise of the newspapers. + +For a quarter of an hour he sat with his back against a half buried +mesquite log smoking, and now eying the magnificent sheer crimson wall +which lay across the river, now wondering where Diana was and now +contemplating curiously the sense of his own unimportance which the +Canyon was thrusting into his consciousness more persistently every +hour. Jonas joined him for the last part of his rest, but when Milton +announced that they had finished the packing and must now portage the +boats, Jonas was on the alert. + +"That name isn't dry yet!" he exclaimed. "I got to watch the prow of +my boat myself," and he started hurriedly back over the trail, Enoch +following him more slowly. + +Sometimes lifting, sometimes skidding on drift logs, sometimes dragging +by main strength, the six men finally landed the Ida and the Na-che in +quiet waters. Jonas and Agnew prepared a simple dinner and immediately +after they embarked. For two hours the river flowed swiftly and +quietly between sheer walls of stratified granite, white and pale +yellow, shot with rose. Now and again a cedar, dwarfed and distorted, +found toe hold between the strata and etched its deep green against the +white and yellow. + +About four o'clock the river widened and the walls were broken by +lateral canyons that led back darkly and mysteriously into the bowels +of the desert. For half an hour more Milton guided the Ida onward. +Then Enoch cried, "Milton, see that brook!" and he pointed to a +tumbling little stream that issued from one of the side canyons. + +Milton at once called for a landing on the grassy shore beside the +brook. Never was there a sweeter spot than this. Willows bent over +the brook and long grass mirrored itself within its pebbly depths for a +moment before the crystal water joined the muddy Colorado. The Canyon +no longer overhung the river suffocatingly, but opened widely, showing +behind the fissured white granite peaks, crimson and snow capped and +appalling in their bigness. + +"Here's where we put in a day, boys!" exclaimed Milton. "I'm sure we +can scramble to the top here, somehow, and get a general idea of the +country." + +His crew cheered this statement enthusiastically. The landing was +easily made and the boats were beached and unloaded. + +"Never thought I could unload a boat again without bursting into +tears," said Enoch, grunting under three bed rolls he was carrying up +to the willows, "but here I am, full of enthusiasm!" + +"You need a lot of it down here, I can tell you," growled Forrester, +who had skinned his chin badly in a fall that morning. + +"You look like a goat, Forr," said Harden, sympathetically, as he set a +folding table close to the spot where Jonas was kindling a fire. + +"I'd rather look like a goat than a jack-ass," returned Forrester with +an edge to his voice. + +"Forr," said Milton, "don't you want to try your luck at some fish for +supper? The salmon ought to be interested in a spot like this." + +Forrester's voice cleared at once. "Sure! I'd be glad to," he said, +and went off to unload his fishing tackle. When he was out of hearing, +Milton said sharply to Harden: + +"Why can't you let him alone, Hard! You know how touchy he is when +anything's the matter with him." + +"I'm sorry," replied Harden shortly. + +Enoch glanced with interest from one man to the other, but said +nothing, not even when, Milton's back being turned, Harden winked at +him. And when Forrester returned with a four-pound river salmon, there +was no sign of irritation in his face or manner. + +This night, for the first time, they sat around the fire, luxuriating +in the thought that for the next twenty-four hours they were free of +the terrible demands of the river. Forrester possessed a good tenor +voice and sang, Jonas joining with his mellow baritone. Harden, lying +close to the flames, read a chapter from "David Harum," the one book of +the expedition. Agnew, on request, told a long and involved story of a +Chinese laundryman and a San Francisco broker which evoked much +laughter. Then Milton, as master of ceremonies, turned to Enoch: + +"Now then, Judge, do your duty!" + +"I haven't a parlor trick to my name," protested Enoch. + +"I like what you call our efforts!" cried Harden. "Hit him for me, Ag! +He's closest to you." + +"Not after the way he wallops the Ida," grunted Agnew. "Let Milt do +it." + +"Boss," said Jonas suddenly, "tell 'em that poem about mercy I heard +you give at--at that banquet at our house." + +Enoch smiled, took his pipe from his lips, and began: + + "'The quality of mercy is not strained, + It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven, + Upon the place beneath--'" + +Enoch paused a moment. The words held a new and soul-shattering +significance for him. Then as the others waited breathlessly, he went +on. His beautiful, mellow voice, his remarkable enunciation, the +magnetism of his personality stirred his little audience, just as +thousands of greater audiences had been stirred by these same qualities. + +When he had finished, there was a profound silence until Milton said: + +"That's the only thing I have heard said in the Canyon that didn't +sound paltry." + +"If any of the rest of us had repeated it, though, it might have +sounded so." Harden's tone was dry. + +"Shakespeare couldn't sound paltry anywhere!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"Hum!" sniffed Agnew. "Depends on what and when you're quoting. Give +us another, Judge." + +Enoch gazed thoughtfully at the fire for a moment, then slowly and +quietly he gave them the prayer of Habakkuk. The liquid phrases rolled +from his lips, echoed in the Canyon, then dropped into silence. Enoch +sat with his great head bowed, his sensitive mouth compressed as if +with pain. His friends stared from him to one another, then one by one +slipped away to their blankets. When Enoch looked up, only Milton was +left. + +"And so," said Enoch, "the Canyon has been a great experience for you, +Milton!" + +"Yes, Judge. I became engaged to a girl who is a Catholic. I am a +Protestant, one of the easy going kind that never goes to church. Yet, +do you know, when she insisted that I turn Catholic, I wouldn't do it? +We had a fearful time! I didn't have any idea there was so much creed +in me as I discovered I had. In the midst of it the opportunity came +for this Canyon work, and this trip has changed the whole outlook of +life for me. Judge, creeds don't matter any more than bridges do to a +stream. They are just a way of getting across, that's all. Creeds may +come and creeds may go, but God goes on forever. Nothing changes true +religion. Christ promulgated the greatest system of ethics the world +has known. The ethics of God. He put them into practical working form +for human beings. Whatever creed helps you to live the teachings of +Christ most truly, that's the true creed for you. That's what the +Canyon's done for me. And when I get out, I'm going back to Alice and +let her make of me whatever will help her most. I'm safe. I've got +the creed of the Colorado Canyon!" + +Enoch looked at the freckled, ruddy face and smiled. "Thank you, +Milton. You've given me something to think about." + +"I doubt if you lack subjects," replied Milton drily. "But--well, I +have an idea you came out here looking for something. There are lines +around your eyes that say that. So I just thought I'd hand on to you +what I got." + +Enoch nodded and the two smoked for a while in silence. Then Enoch +said in a low voice: + +"Do you have trouble with Forrester and Harden?" + +"Yes, constant friction. They're both fine fellows, but naturally +antagonistic to each other." + +"A fellow may be ever so fine," said Enoch, "yet lack the sense of team +play that is absolutely essential in a job like this." + +"Exactly," replied Milton. "The great difficulty is that you can't +judge men until they're undergoing the trial. Then it's too late. In +Powell's first expedition, soon after the Civil War, there was constant +friction between Powell and three of his men. At last, although they +had signed a contract to stick by him, they deserted him." + +"How was that?" asked Enoch with interest. + +"They simply insisted on being put ashore and they climbed out of the +Canyon with the idea of getting to some of the Mormon settlements. But +the Indians killed them almost at once, poor devils! Powell got the +story of it on his second expedition. The history of those two +expeditions, I think, are as glorious as any chapter in our American +annals." + +"Was it so much harder than the work you are doing?" + +"There is no comparison! We're simply following the trail that Powell +blazed. Think of his superb courage! These terrible waters were +enshrouded in mystery and fear. He did not know even what kind of +boats could live in them. Hostile Indians marauded on either hand. +And as near as I recall the only settlements he could call on, if he +succeeded in clambering out of the Canyon, were Ft. Defiance in New +Mexico, and Mormon settlements, miles across the desert in Utah." + +"Hum!" said Enoch slowly, "it doesn't seem to me that things are so +much better now, that we need to boast about them. There are no +Indians, to be sure, but the river is about all human endurance and +ingenuity can cope with, just as it was in Powell's day." + +"She's a bird, all right!" sighed Milton. "Well, Judge, I'm going to +turn in. To-morrow's another day! Good night." + +"Good night, Captain!" replied Enoch. He threw another stick of +driftwood on the fire and after a moment's thought fetched the black +diary from his rubber dunnage bag. When the fire was clear and bright, +he began to write. + +"Diana, you were wrong. No matter how strenuous the work is, you are +never out of the background of my thoughts. But at least I am having +surcease from grieving for you. I have had no time to dwell on the +fact that you cannot belong to me. I am afraid to come out of the +Canyon. Afraid that when these wonderful days of adventure are over, +the knowledge that I must not ask you to marry me will descend on me +like a stifling fog. As for Brown! Diana, why not let me kill him! +I'd be willing to stand before any jury in the world with his blood on +my hands. What he has done to me is typical of Brown and all his +works. He is unclean and clever, a frightful combination. Consider +the class of readers he has! The majority of the people who read +Brown, read only Brown. His readers are the great commonalty of +America, the source, once, of all that was best in our life. Brown +tells them nasty stories, not about people alone, but about systems; +systems of money, systems of work, systems of government. And because +nasty stories are always luscious reading, and because it is easier to +believe evil than good about anything, twice every day, as he produces +his morning and evening editions, Brown is polluting the head waters of +our national existence. I say, why not let me kill him? What more +useful and direct thing could I do than rid the nation of him? And O +Diana, when I think of the smut to which he coupled your loveliness, I +feel that I am less than a man to have hesitated this long." + +Enoch closed the book, replaced it in the bag, and sat for a long hour +staring into the fire. Then he went to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE PERFECT ADVENTURE + + +"Who cares whether or not my hands are clean? Does God? Wouldn't God +expect me to punish evil? God is mercilessly just, is He not? Else +why disease and grief in the world? If you could only tell +me!"--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +It was nipping cold in the morning. Ice encrusted the edges of the +little brook. But by the time breakfast was finished, the sun had +appeared over the distant mountain peaks and the long warm rays soon +brought the thermometer up to summer heat. Milton expounded his +program at breakfast. Jonas was to keep the camp. Enoch and Milton +were to climb to the rim for topographical information. Harden was to +look for fossils. Agnew and Forrester were to make a geological report +on the strata of the section. + +Jonas was extraordinarily well pleased with his assignment. + +"I'm going to finish painting the Na-che," he said. "Mr. Milton, have +you got anything I can mend the tarpaulins with that go over the decks?" + +"Needles and twine in the bag labeled Repairs," replied Milton. "How +about giving the Ida the once over, too, Jonas." + +"All right! If I get around to it!" Jonas' manner was vague. + +"Can't love but one boat at a time, eh, Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"I always wanted to have a boat to fix up," said Jonas. "When I was a +kid my folks had an old flat-bottom tub, but I never earned enough for +a can of paint. Will you folks be home by twelve for dinner?" + +There was a chorus of assent as the crew scattered to its several +tasks. Milton and Enoch started at once up the edge of the brook, +hoping that the ascent might be made more easily thus. But the +crevice, out of which the little stream found its way to the Colorado, +narrowed rapidly to the point where it became impossible for the two +men to work their way into it. They were obliged, after a half hour's +struggle, to return to the camp and start again. + +A very steep slope of bright orange sand led from the shore to a +scarcely less oblique terrace of sharp broken rock. There were several +hundred feet of the sand and, as it was dry and loose, it caused a +constant slipping and falling that consumed both time and strength. +The rocky terrace was far easier to manage, and they covered that +rapidly, although Enoch had a nasty fall, cutting his knee. They were +brought to pause, however, when the broken rock gave way to a sheer +hard wall, which offered neither crack nor projection for hand or foot +hold. + +Milton led the way carefully along its foot for a quarter of a mile +until they reached a fissure wide enough for them to enter. The walls +of this were crossed by transverse cracks. By utilizing these, now +pulling, now boosting each other, they finally emerged on a flat, +smooth tableland, of which fissures had made a complete island. At the +southern end of the island rose an abrupt black peak. + +"If we can get to the top of that," said Milton, "it ought to bring us +to the general desert level. Is your knee bothering you, Judge?" + +"Not enough to stop the parade," replied Enoch. "How high do you think +that peak is, Milton?" + +"Not less than a thousand feet, I would guess. I bet it's as easy to +climb as a greased pole, too." + +The pinnacle, when they reached it, appeared very little less difficult +than Milton had guessed it would be. The north side offered no hope +whatever. It rose smooth and perpendicular toward the heavens. But +the south side was rough and though a yawning fissure at its base added +five hundred feet to its southern height they determined to try their +fortunes here. Ledges and jutting rocks, cracks and depressions +finally made the ascent possible. The top, when they achieved it, was +not twenty feet in diameter. They dropped on it, panting. + +The view which met their eyes was superb. To the south lay the desert, +rainbow colored. Rising abruptly from its level were isolated peaks of +bright purple, all of them snow capped, many of them with crevices +marked by the brilliant white of snow. Miles to the south of the +isolated peaks lay a long range of mountains, dull black against the +blue sky, but with the white of snow caps showing even at this +distance. To the north, the river gorge wound like a snake; the gorge +and one huge mountain dominating the entire northern landscape. +Satiated by wonders as Milton was, he exclaimed over the beauty of this +giant, sleeping in the desert sun. + +A sprawling cone in outline, there was nothing extraordinary about it +in contour, but its size and color surpassed anything that Enoch had as +yet seen. From base to apex it was a perfect rose tint, deepening +where its great shoulders bent, to crimson. As if still not satisfied +with her work, nature had sent a recent snow storm to embellish the +verdureless rock, and the mountain was lightly powdered with white +which here was of a gauze-like texture permitting pale rose to glimmer +through, there lay in drifts, white defined against crimson. + +Enoch sat gazing about him while Milton worked rapidly with his note +book and instruments. Finally he slipped his pencil into his pocket +with a sigh. + +"And that's done! What do you say to a return for lunch, Judge?" + +"I'm very much with you," replied Enoch. "Here! Hold up, old man! +What's the matter?" For Milton was swaying and would have fallen if +Enoch had not caught him. + +Milton clung to Enoch's broad shoulder for a moment, then straightened +himself with a jerk. + +"Sorry, Judge. It's that infernal vertigo again!" + +"What's the cause of it?" asked Enoch. "Might be rather serious, might +it not, on a trip such as yours?" + +"I think the water we have to drink must be affecting my kidneys," +replied Milton. "I never had anything of the sort before this trip, +but I've been troubled this way a dozen times lately. It only lasts +for a minute." + +"But in that minute," Enoch's voice was grave, "you might fall down a +mountain or out of the boat." + +"Oh, I don't get it that bad! And anyhow, I haven't gone off alone +since these things began. When we get to El Tovar I'll try to locate a +doctor." + +Enoch looked admiringly at the grim young freckled face beneath the +faded hat. "I see I shall have to appoint myself bodyguard," he said. +"I'd suggest Jonas, only he's deserted me for the Na-che, and I doubt +if you could win him from her." + +Milton laughed. "Nothing on earth can equal the joy of puddling about +in boats, to the right kind of a chap, as the _Wind in the Willows_ has +it. And Jonas certainly is the right kind of a chap!" + +"Jonas is a man, every inch of him," agreed Enoch. "Shall we try the +descent now, Milton?" + +"I'm ready," replied the young man, and the slow and arduous task was +begun. + +Jonas was just lifting the frying pan from the fire when they slid down +the orange sand bank. The rest of the crew was ready and waiting +around the flat rock that served as dining table. + +"What's the matter with your knee, boss?" cried Jonas, standing with +the coffee pot in his hand. + +Enoch laughed as he glanced down at his torn and blood-stained +overalls. "Of course, if you were giving me half the care you give +your boat, Jonas, these things wouldn't happen to me!" + +"You better let me fix you up, before you eat, boss," said Jonas. + +"Not on your life, old man! Food will do this knee more good than a +bandage." + +"It's a wonder you wouldn't offer to help the rest of us out once in a +while, Jonas!" Harden looked up from his plate of fish. "Look at this +scratch on my cheek! I might get blood poisoning, but lots you care if +my fatal beauty was destroyed! As it is, I look as much like an inmate +of a menagerie as old goat Forrester here." + +"Too bad the scratch didn't injure your tongue, Harden," returned +Forrester, sarcastically. + +"Nothing seems able to stop your chin, though, Forr! Why do you have +to get sore every time I speak to you?" + +"Because you're always going out of your way to say something insulting +to me." + +"Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill, Forr," said Milton. "If you +fellows aren't careful you'll have a real quarrel, and that's the last +thing I'm going to stand for, I warn you." + +"Very well, Milt," replied Forrester, "if you don't want trouble make +Harden keep his tongue off me." + +"The fault is primarily yours, Hard," Milton went on. "You know +Forrester is foolishly sensitive and you can't control your love of +teasing. Now, once for all, I ask you not to speak to Forrester except +on the business of the survey." + +Harden shrugged his shoulders and Forrester scowled a little +sheepishly. Agnew, a serene, kindly fellow, began one of his endless +Irish stories, and the incident appeared to be closed. The work +assigned for the day was accomplished in shorter order than Milton had +anticipated. By two o'clock all hands were back in camp and Milton +decided to embark and move on as far as possible before nightfall. But +scarcely had they finished loading the boats and tied on the tarpaulins +when a heavy rain began to fall, accompanied by lightning and +tremendous peals of thunder that echoed through the Canyon deafeningly. + +Milton, in his anxiety to get on with his task, would have continued in +spite of the rain, but the others protested so vigorously that he gave +in and the whole party crawled under a sheltering ledge beside the +brook. For an hour the storm raged. A few flakes of snow mingled with +the descending rain drops. Then with a superb flash of lightning and +crash of thunder the storm passed as suddenly as it had come, though +for hours after they heard it reverberate among the distant peaks. + +At last they embarked and proceeded along a smooth, swift-flowing river +for a short time. Then, however, the familiar roar of falls was heard, +the current increased rapidly in velocity and Milton made a landing for +observation. + +They were at the head of the wildest falls that Enoch had yet seen. +The Canyon walls were smooth and perpendicular. There was no +possibility of a portage. The river was full of rocks against which +dashed waves ten to twelve feet high. + +"We'll have to run it!" shouted Milton above the din of the waters. +"Powell did it and so can we. Give the Ida five minutes' start, Hard. +Then profit by the mistakes you see us make. All ready, Judge and +Forr!" + +Under Milton's directions, they rowed back upstream far enough to gain +complete control of the boat before entering the falls. Then they shot +forward. Instantly the oars became useless. They were carried upward +on the crest of a wave that seemed about to drop them down an +unbelievable depth to a jagged rock. But at this point, another wave +seized them and hurled them sidewise, half rolled them over, then +uptilted them until the Ida's nose was deep in the water. + +They bailed like mad but to little avail for the waves broke over the +sides constantly. They could see little for the air was full of +blinding spray. Suddenly, after what had seemed an eternity but was +really five minutes of time, there was a rending crash and the Ida slid +into quieter water, turning completely over as she did so. + +Enoch, as the sucking current seized him, was convinced that his hour +had come, and a quick relief was his first sensation. Then Diana's +wistful eyes flashed before him and he began to fight the Colorado. As +his head emerged from the water, he saw the Na-che land on all fours +from the top of a wave upon the overturned Ida, then whirl away. He +began to swim with all his strength. The mud forever suspended in the +Colorado weighed down his clothing. But little by little he drew near +the Ida, to which he could see two dark bodies clinging. The Na-che, +struggling to cross a whirlpool toward him, made slow progress. He +had, indeed, dizzily grasped the Ida, before the other boat came up. + +"We can hang on, Hard!" gasped Milton. "Give us a tow to that sand +spit yonder." + +They reached the sand spit and staggered to land, while Harden and his +crew turned the Ida over and beached her. She had a six-inch gap in +her side. + +"Well," panted Enoch, "I'm glad we managed to keep dry during the +rainstorm!" + +"My Lord, Judge!" exclaimed Milton, "your own mother wouldn't own you +now! I don't see how one human being could carry so much mud on his +face!" + +"I'll bet it's not as bad as yours at that," returned Enoch. "Jonas, +as long as it's not the Na-che that's hurt--" + +"Coming, boss, coming!" cried Jonas. "Here's your moccasins and here's +your suit. Sure you aren't hurt any?" + +"Jonas," replied Enoch in a low voice that the others might not hear, +"Jonas, I'm having the greatest time of my life!" + +"So am I, Mr. Secretary! Honest, I'm so paralyzed afraid that I enjoy +it!" And Jonas hurried away to inspect the Ida. + +It was so biting cold, now that the afternoon was late, that all the +wrecked crew changed clothing before attempting to make camp or unload +the Ida. + +"How many miles have we made by this venture, Milton?" called Enoch, as +he pulled on his moccasins. + +"One and a half!" + +Enoch grinned, then he began to laugh. The others looked at him, then +joined him, and Homeric laughter echoed for a long minute above the +snarl of the water. Fortunately the hole in the Ida did not open into +one of the compartments, so there was no damage done to the baggage. +It was too dark by the time this had been ascertained to attempt +repairs that night, so Milton agreed to call it a day, and after supper +was over every one but Enoch and Milton went to bed. These two sat +long in silence before the fire, smoking and enjoying the sense of +companionship that was developing between them. Finally Enoch spoke in +a low voice: + +"You're going to have trouble between Forrester and Harden." + +"It certainly looks like it, I've tried every sort of appeal to each of +them, but trouble keeps on smoldering." Milton shook his head. +"That's one of the trivial things that can wreck an expedition like +this; just incompatibility among the men. What would you do about it, +Judge?" + +"I'd put it to them that they could either keep the peace or draw lots +to see which of them should leave the expedition at the Ferry. In +fact, I don't believe I'd temporize even that much. I'd certainly set +one of them ashore. My experience with men leads me to believe that +with a certain type of men, there is no appeal. As you say, they're +both nice chaps but they have a childish streak in them. The majority +of men have. A leader must not be too patient." + +"You're right," agreed Milton. "Judge, couldn't you complete the trip +with us?" + +"How long will you be out?" asked Enoch. + +"Another six months!" + +Enoch laughed, then said slowly: "There's nothing I'd like to do +better, but I must go home, from the Ferry." + +Milton gazed at Enoch for a time without speaking. Then he said, a +little wistfully, "I suppose that while this is the most important +experience so far in my life, to you it is the merest episode, that +you'll forget the moment you get into the Pullman for the East." + +"Why should you think that?" asked Enoch. + +"I can't quite tell you why. But there's something about you that +makes me believe that in your own section of the country, you're a +power. Perhaps it's merely your facial expression. I don't know--you +look like some one whom I can't recall. Perhaps that some one has the +power and I confuse the two of you, but--I beg your pardon, Judge!" as +Enoch's eyebrows went up. + +"You have nothing to beg it for, Milton. But you're wrong when you +think this trip is merely an episode to me. All my life I have longed +for just such an experience in the Canyon. It's like enchantment to +really find myself here." + +Milton smiled. "Well, we all have our Carcasonnes." + +"What's yours?" demanded Enoch. + +The younger man hesitated. "It's so absurd--but--well, I've always +wanted to be Chief of the Geological Survey." + +"Why?" + +"Why did you dream of a wild trip down the Colorado as the realization +of your greatest desire?" asked Milton. + +"I couldn't put it into words," answered Enoch. "But I suppose it's +the pioneer in me or something elemental that never quite dies in any +of us, of Anglo-Saxon blood." + +Milton nodded. "The Chief of the Geological Survey's job is to +administer nature in the raw. I'd like to have a chance at it." + +"I believe you'd get away with it, too, Milton," Enoch replied +thoughtfully. + +Milton laughed. "Too bad you aren't Secretary of the Interior! Well, +I'm all in! Let's go to bed." + +"You go ahead. I'll sit here with my pipe a bit longer." + +But, after all, Enoch did not write in his diary that night. Before +Milton had established himself in his blankets, Harden rose and went to +a canteen for a drink of water. On his return he stumbled over +Forrester's feet. Instantly Forrester sat erect. + +"What're you doing, you clumsy dub foot?" he shouted. + +"Oh, dry up, Forr; I didn't mean to hurt you, you great boob!" + +"We'll settle this right now!" Forrester was on his feet and his fist +had landed on Harden's cheek before Enoch could cross the camp. And +before he or Milton could separate the combatants, Harden had returned +the blow with interest, and with a muttered: + +"Take that, you sore-headed dog, you!" + +Forrester tried to twist away from Enoch, but could not do so. Harden +freed himself from Milton's grasp, but did not attempt to go on with +the fight. + +"One or the other of you," said Milton briefly, "leaves the expedition +at the Ferry. I'll tell you later which it will be. I'm ashamed of +both of you." + +"I'd like to know what's made a tin god of you, Jim Milton!" shouted +Forrester. "You don't own us, body and soul. I've been in the Survey +longer than you! I joined this expedition before you did. And I'll +leave it when I get ready!" + +"You'll leave it at the Ferry, Forrester!" Milton's voice was quiet, +but his nostrils dilated. + +"And I'm telling you, I'll leave it when I please, which will be at +Needles! If any one goes, it'll be that skunk of a Harden." + +Harden laughed, turned on his heel and deliberately rolled himself in +his blankets. Forrester stood for a moment, muttering to himself, then +he took his blankets off to an obscure corner of the sand. And Enoch +forgot his diary and went to bed, to ponder until shortly sleep +overtook him, on the perversity of the male animal. + +In the morning Jonas constituted himself ship's carpenter and mended +the Ida very creditably. Forrester was surly and avoided every one. +Harden was cheerful, as usual, but did not speak to his adversary. The +sun was just entering the Canyon when the two boats were launched and +once more faced the hazards of the river. + +During the morning the going was easy. The river was swift and led +through a long series of broken buttes, between which one caught wild +views of a tortured country; twisted strata, strange distorted cedar +and cactus, uncanny shapes of rock pinnacles, in colors somber and +strange. They stopped at noon in the shadow of a weathered overhanging +rock, with the profile of a witch. The atmosphere of dissension had by +this time permeated the crew and this meal, usually so jovial, was +eaten with no general conversation and all were glad to take to the +boats as soon as the dishes were washed. + +The character of the river now changed again. It grew broader and once +more smooth canyon walls closed it in. As the river broadened, +however, it became more shallow and rocks began to appear above the +surface at more and more frequent intervals. At last the Na-che went +aground amid-stream on a sharp rock. The Ida turned back to her +assistance but Enoch and Milton had to go overboard, along with the +crew of the Na-che, in order to drag and lift her into clear water. +Then for nearly two hours, all thought of rowing must be given up. +Both crews remained in the water, pushing the boats over the rough +bottom. + +It was heartbreaking work. For a few moments the boats would float, +plunging the men beyond their depths. They would swim and flounder +perhaps a boat's length, clinging to the gunwale, before the boat would +once more run aground. Again they would drag their clumsy burden a +hundred yards over sand that sucked hungrily at their sodden boots. +This passed, came many yards of smooth rock a few inches below the +surface of the water, which was so muddy that it was impossible to see +the pot holes into which some one of the crew plunged constantly. + +Jonas suffered agonies during this period; not for himself, though he +took his full share of falls. His agony was for the Na-che, whose +freshly painted bottom was abraded, scraped, gorged and otherwise +defaced almost beyond Jonas's power of endurance. + +"Look out! Don't drag her! Lift her! Lift her!" he would shout. +"Oh, my Lord, see that sharp rock you drag her onto, Mr. Hard! Ain't +you got any heart?" + +Once, when all three of the Na-che's crew had taken a bad plunge, and +Jonas had come up with an audible crack of his black head against the +gunwale, he began to scold while the others were still fighting for +breath. + +"You shouldn't ship her full of water like that! All that good paint I +put on her insides is gone! Hey, Mr. Agnew, don't drip that blood off +your hand on her!" + +"Shut up, Jonas," coughed Agnew good-naturedly. + +"Let him alone, Ag!" exclaimed Harden, between a strangling cough and a +sneeze. "What do you want to divulge your cold-heartedness for? Go to +it, Jonas! You're some lover, all right!" + +The shallows ended in a rapid which they shot without more than the +usual difficulties. They then had an hour of quiet rowing through +gorges that grew more narrow and more dusky as they proceeded. About +four o'clock snow began to fall. It was a light enough powder, at +first, but shortly it thickened until it was impossible to guide the +boats. They edged in shore where a ledge overhanging a heap of broken +rock offered a meager shelter. Here they planned to spend the night. +The shore was too precipitous to beach the boats. Much to Jonas' +sorrow, they could only anchor them before the ledge. There was plenty +of driftwood, and a brisk fire dispelled some of the discomfort of the +snow, while a change to dry clothing did the rest. + +To Enoch it was a strange evening. The foolish quarrel between Harden +and Forrester was sufficient to upset the equanimity of the whole group +which before had seemed so harmonious. The situation was keenly +irritating to Enoch. He wanted nothing to intrude on the wild beauty +of the trip, save his own inward struggle. The snow continued to fall +long after the others had gone to sleep. Enoch, with his diary on his +knees, wrote slowly, pausing long between sentences to watch the snow +and to listen to the solemn rush of waters so close to his feet. + + +"I've been sitting before the fire, Diana, thinking of our various +conversations. How few they have been, after all! And I've concluded +that in your heart you must look on me as presumptuous and stupid. You +never have given me the slightest indication that you cared for me. +You have been, even in the short time we have known each other, a +gallant and tender friend. A wonderful friend! And you are as +unconscious of my passion for you, of the rending agony of my giving +you up as the Canyon is of the travail of Milton and his little group. +And I'm glad that this is so. If I can go on through life feeling that +you are serene and happy it will help me to keep my secret. Strange +that with every natural inclination within me to be otherwise, I should +be the custodian of ugly secrets; secrets that are only the uglier +because they are my own. It seems a sacrilegious thing to add my +beautiful love for you to the sinister collection. But it must be so. + +"I am so glad that I am going to see you so soon after I emerge from +the Canyon. There will be much to tell you. I thought I knew men. +But I am learning them anew. And I thought I had a fair conception of +the wonders of the Colorado. Diana, it is beyond human imagination to +conceive or human tongue to describe." + + +Enoch had looked forward with eager pleasure to seeing the Canyon +snowbound. But he was doomed to disappointment. During the night the +snow turned to rain. The rain, in turn, ceased before dawn and the +camp woke to winding mists that whirled with the wind up and out of the +Canyon top. The going, during the morning, offered no great +difficulties. But toward noon, as the boats rounded a curve, a reef +presented itself with the water of the river boiling threateningly on +either side. As the Canyon walls offered no landing it was necessary +to make one here and Forrester volunteered to jump with a rope to a +flat rock which projected from the near end of the reef. + +"Leap just before we are opposite the rock, Forr," directed Milton. +"When that rough water catches us, we're going to rip through at top +speed." + +Forrester nodded and, after shipping his oars, he clambered up onto the +forward compartment. + +"Now," shouted Milton. + +Forrester leaped, jumped a little short, and splashed into the boiling +river. The Ida, in spite of Enoch madly backing water, shot forward, +dragging Forrester, who had not let go the rope, with her. Milton +relinquished the steering oar, dropped on his stomach on the +compartment deck, his arms over the stern, and began to haul with might +and main on the rope. Now and again Forrester, red and fighting for +breath, showed a distorted face above the waves. The Na-che shot by at +uncontrollable speed, her crew shouting directions as she passed. +Milton at last, just as the Ida entered a roaring fall, brought +Forrester to the gunwale, but having achieved this, the end of the rope +dropped from his fingers and he lay inert, his eyes closed. Forrester +clung to the edge of the boat and roared to Enoch: + +"Milt's fainted!" + +But Enoch, fighting to guide the Ida, dared not stop rowing. The falls +were short, with a vicious whirlpool at the foot. One glance showed +the Na-che broken and inverted, dancing in this. Enoch bent to his +right oar and by a miracle of luck this, with a wave from a pot hole, +threw them clear of the sucking whirlpool, but dashed them so violently +against the rocky shore that the Ida's stern was stove in and Milton +rolled off into the water. Enoch dropped his oars, seized the stern +rope, jumped for the rocks and sprawled upon one. He made a quick turn +of the rope, then leaped back for Milton, whose head showed a boat's +length downstream. + +Forrester staggered ashore, then with a life preserver on the end of a +rope, he started along the river's edge. Half a dozen strokes brought +Enoch to Milton. He lifted the unconscious man's mouth out of water +and caught the life preserver that Forrester threw him. It seemed for +a moment as if poor Forrester had reached the limit of his strength, +but Enoch, after a violent effort, brought Milton into a quiet eddy and +here Forrester was able to give help and Milton was dragged up on the +rocks. + +At this moment, Jonas, his eyes rolling, clothes torn and dripping, +clambered round a rocky projection, just beyond where they were placing +Milton. + +"Got 'em ashore!" he panted, "but they can't walk yet." + +"Anybody hurt?" asked Enoch. + +"Nobody but the Na-che. I gotta take the Ida out after her." + +"She's beyond help, Jonas," said Enoch. "Go up to the Ida and bring me +the medicine chest." + +He was unbuttoning Milton's shirt as he spoke, and feeling for his +heart. + +"He's alive!" exclaimed Forrester, who was holding Milton's wrist. + +"Yes, thank God! But I don't like that!" pointing to Milton's left leg. + +"It's broken!" cried Forrester. "Poor old Milt!" + +Poor old Milt, indeed! When he finally opened his eyes, he was lying +on his blankets on a flat rock, and Jonas and Harden, still dripping, +were finishing the fastenings of a rude splint around his left leg. +Enoch was kindling a fire. Forrester and Agnew were unloading the Ida. +He tried to sit up. + +"What the deuce happened?" he demanded. + +"That's what we want to know!" exclaimed Harden cheerfully. + +"You had a dizzy attack after you pulled Forr in," said Enoch, "and +rolled off the boat. Just how you broke your leg, we don't know." + +"Broke my leg!" Dismay and disbelief struggled in Milton's face. +"Broke my leg! Why, but I can't break my leg!" + +"That's good news," said Agnew unsmilingly, "and it would be important +if it were only true." + +"But I can't!" insisted Milton. "What becomes of the work?" + +"The work stops till you get well." Harden stood up to survey his and +Jonas's surgical job with considerable satisfaction. "We'll hurry on +down to the Ferry and get you to a doctor." + +Milton sank back with a groan, then hoisted himself to his elbow to say: + +"You fellows change your clothes quick, now." + +The men looked at each other, half guilty. + +"What is it!" cried Milton. "What are you keeping from me." + +"The Na-che's gone!" Jonas spoke huskily. + +"How'd she go?" demanded Milton. + +"A sucking whirlpool up there took her, after we struck a rock at the +bottom of the falls," answered Harden. "We struck at such speed that +it stove in her bottom and threw us clear of the whirlpool. But she's +gone and everything in her." + +"How about the Ida?" Milton's face was white and his lips were +compressed. + +"She'll do, with some patching," replied Enoch. + +"Some leader, I am, eh?" Milton lay back on his blanket. + +"I think I've heard of a number of other leaders losing boats on this +trip," said Enoch. "Now, you fellows can dry off piecemeal. This fire +would dry anything. We've got to shift Milton's clothes somehow. +Lucky for you your clothes were in the Ida, Milt. Mine were in the +Na-che." + +"And two thirds of the grub in the Na-che, too!" exclaimed Agnew. + +Jonas had rooted out Milton's change of clothing and very tenderly, if +awkwardly, Agnew and Harden helping, he was made dry and propped up +where he could direct proceedings. + +"Forrester, I wish you'd bring the whole grub supply here," Milton +said, when his nurses had finished. + +It was a pitifully small collection that was placed on the edge of the +blanket. + +"I wonder how many times," said Milton, "I've told you chaps to load +the grub half and half between the boats? Somebody blundered. I'm not +going to ask who because I'm the chief blunderer myself, for neglecting +to check you over, at every loading. With care, we've about two days' +very scanty rations here, and only beans and coffee, at that. With the +best of luck and no stops for Survey work we're five days from the +Ferry." + +"Guess I'd better get busy with my fishing tackle!" exclaimed Forrester. + +"Ain't any fishing tackle," said Jonas succinctly. "She must 'a' +washed out of the hole in the Ida. I was just looking for it myself." + +"Suppose you put us on half rations," suggested Enoch, "and one of us +will try to get to the top, with the gun." + +Milton nodded. "Judge, are you any good with a gun?" + +"Yes, I've hunted a good deal," replied Enoch. + +"Very well, we'll make you the camp hunter. The rest understand the +river work better than you. Forrester, you and Agnew and Jonas, patch +up the Ida; and Harden, you stay with me and let's see what the maps +say about the chances of our getting out before we reach the Ferry. +When the rest have finished the patch, you and Agnew row downstream and +see if you can pick up any wreckage from the Na-che." + +Jonas made some coffee and Enoch, after resting for a half hour, took +the gun and started slowly along the river's edge. + +His course was necessarily downstream for, above the heap of stones +where he had tied the Ida, the river washed against a wall on which a +fly could scarcely have found foothold. There was a depression in the +wall, where the camp was set. Enoch worked out of this depression and +found a foothold on the bottom-most of the deep weathered, narrow +strata that here formed a fifty-foot terrace. These terraced strata +gave back for half a mile in uneven and brittle striations that were +not unlike rude steps. Above them rose a sheer orange wall, straight +to the sky. Far below a great shale bank sloped from the river's edge +up to a gigantic black butte, whose terraced front seemed to Enoch to +offer some hope of his reaching the top. + +He slung the gun across his back and began gingerly to clamber along +the stratified terrace. He found the rock extremely brittle and he was +a long hour reaching the green shale. He was panting and weary and his +hands were bleeding when he finally flung himself down to rest at the +foot of the black butte. + +A near view of this massive structure was not encouraging; terraces, +turrets, fortifications, castles and above Enoch's head a deep cavern, +out of which the wind rushed with a mighty blast of sound that drowned +the sullen roar of the falls. Beyond a glance in at the black void, +Enoch did not attempt to investigate the cave. He crept past the +opening on a narrow shelf of rock, into a crevice up which he climbed +to the top of the terrace above the cavern. Here a stratum of dull +purple projected horizontally from the black face of the butte. With +his face inward, his breast hard pressed against the rock, hands and +feet feeling carefully for each shift forward, Enoch passed on this +slowly around the sharp western edge of the butte. + +Here he nearly lost his balance, for there was a rush of wings close to +the back of his head. He started, then looked up carefully. Far above +him an eagle's nest clung to the lonely rock. The purple stratum +continued its way to a depression wide enough to give Enoch sitting +room. Here he rested for a short moment. The back of the depression +offered an easy assent for two or three hundred feet, to the top of +another terrace along whose broad top Enoch walked comfortably for a +quarter of a mile to the point where the butte projected from the main +canyon wall. The slope here was not too steep to climb and Enoch made +fair speed to the top. + +The view here was superb but Enoch gave small heed to this. To his +deep disappointment, there was no sign of life, either animal or +vegetable, as far as his eye could reach. He stood, gun in hand, the +wind tossing his ruddy hair, his great shoulders drooping with +weariness, his keen eyes sweeping the landscape until he became +conscious that the sun was low in the west. With a start, he realized +that dusk must already be peering into the bottom of the Canyon. + +Then he bethought himself of the eagle's nest. It was a terrible +climb, before he lay on a ledge peering ever into the guano-stained +structure of sticks from which the eagle soared again at his approach. +As he looked, he laughed. The forequarters of a mountain goat lay in +the nest. Hanging perilously by one hand, Enoch grasped the long, +bloody hair and then, rolling back on to the ledge, he stuffed his loot +into his game bag and started campward. + +The way back was swifter but more nerve wracking than the upward climb +had been. By the time he reached the green shale, Enoch was trembling +from muscle and nerve strain. It was purple dusk now, by the river, +with the castellated tops of butte and mountain molten gold in the +evening sun. When he reached the brittle strata, the water reflected +firelight from the still unseen camp blaze. Enoch, clinging perilously +to the breaking rock, half faint with hunger, his fingers numb with the +cold, laughed again, to himself, and said aloud: + + "'. . . . . . . . . . . . . And yet + Dauntless the slug horn to my lips I set + And blew, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE END OF THE CRUISE + + +"Christ could forgive the unforgivable, but the Colorado in the Canyon +is like the voice of God, inevitable, inexorable."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Jonas stood on a projecting rock peering anxiously down the river. +Enoch, staggering wearily into the firelight, called to him cheerfully: + +"Ship ahoy, Jonas!" + +"My Gawd, boss!" exclaimed Jonas, running up to take the gunny sack and +the gun. "Don't you never go off like that alone again. How come you +stayed so late?" + +"Now the Na-che's gone I suppose I'll have a few attentions again!" +said Enoch. "How are you, Milton?" + +He turned toward the stalwart figure that lay on the shadowy rock +beyond the fire. + +"Better than I deserve, Judge," replied Milton. + +"What luck, Judge?" cried Harden, who had been watching a game of poker +between Agnew and Forrester. + +"My Lawdy Lawd!" shouted Jonas, emptying the gunny sack on the rock +which served as table. + +There was a chorus of surprise. + +"What happened, Judge! Did you eat the rest raw?" + +"A goat, by Jove! Where on earth did it come from?" + +"What difference does that make? Get it into the pot, Jonas, for the +love of heaven!" + +"As a family provider, Judge, you are to be highly recommended." + +Enoch squatted against Milton's rock and complacently lighted his pipe, +then told his story. + +"There are goats still here, then! I wish we'd see some," said Milton, +when Enoch had finished. + +"But what would they live on?" asked Enoch. + +"That's easy," replied Milton. "There are hidden canyons and gulches +in this Colorado country that are veritable little paradises, with all +the verdure any one could ask for." + +"Wish we could locate one," sighed Forrester. + +"That wouldn't help me much," grunted Milton. + +"What luck with the Ida?" Enoch turned to Agnew who, next to Jonas, +took the greatest interest in ship repair and building. + +"The forward compartment was pretty well smashed, but another hour's +work in the morning will make the old girl as good as ever." + +"She'll never be the boat the Na-che was," groaned Jonas mournfully +from his fire. "What are we all going to do now, with just one boat?" + +For a moment no one spoke, then Enoch said drily, "Well, Jonas, seeing +that you and I don't really belong to the expedition anyhow and that we +invited ourselves, I think it's up to us to walk." + +There was a chorus of protests at this. But Enoch silenced the others +by saying with great earnestness: + +"Milton, you know I'm right, don't you?" + +Milton, who had been saying nothing, now raised himself on his elbow. + +"Two of you fellows will have to walk it; which two we'd better decide +by lot. We're up against a rotten situation. It would be bad, even if +I weren't hurt. But with a cripple on your hands, well--it's awful for +you chaps! Simply awful!" + +"With good luck, and no Survey work, how many days are we from the +Ferry?" asked Enoch. + +"Between four and five, is what Milton and I calculated this +afternoon," replied Harden. + +"What's the nearest help by way of land?" + +"There's a ranch, about eighty miles south of here. I guess the +traveling would be about as bad as anybody would hope for. The fellows +that go out have got to be used to desert work, like me." Harden +scratched a match and by its unsteady light scrutinized the detail map +spread open on his knee. + +"Isn't Miss Allen working nearer than eighty miles from here?" asked +Agnew. + +"She's in the Hopi country, whatever distance that may be," replied +Enoch. "I should suppose it would be rather risky trying to catch some +one who is moving about, as she is." + +"I guess maybe she's on her way to the Ferry now." Jonas straightened +up from his stew pot. "Leastways, Na-che kind of promised to kind of +see if maybe they couldn't reach there about the time we did." + +The other men laughed. "I guess we won't gamble too heavily on the +women folks," exclaimed Forrester. + +"I guess Miss Allen's the kind you don't connect gambling with," +retorted Agnew. + +Enoch cut in hastily. "Then two of us are to go out. What about those +who stay?" + +"Well, you have to get my helpless carcass aboard the Ida and we'll +make our way to the Ferry, as rapidly as we can. The food problem is +serious, but we won't starve in four days. We won't attempt any more +hunting expeditions but we may pot something as we go along. It's the +fellows who go out who'll have the worst of it." + +Enoch had been eying Milton closely. "Look here, Milton, I believe +you're running a good deal of temperature. Why don't you lie down and +rest both mind and body until supper's ready? After you've eaten, +we'll make the final decisions." + +"I don't want any food," replied Milton, dropping back on his blankets, +nevertheless. + +"The beans is done but you only get a handful of them in the stew, +to-night," said Jonas, firmly. "I'm cooking all the meat, 'cause it +won't keep, but you only get half of that now." + +Agnew groaned. "Well, there doesn't seem much to look forward to. +Let's finish that game of poker, Forr. Take a hand, Judge and Hard?" + +"No, thanks," replied Enoch. "I'll just rest my old bones right here." + +"I'll help you out, if Forr won't pick on me." Harden glanced at +Milton, but the freckled face gave no sign that Harden's remark had +been heeded. + +Enoch quietly took the injured man's pulse. It was rapid and weak. +Enoch shook his head, laid the sturdy hand down and gave his attention +to his pipe and the card game. It was not long before an altercation +between Forrester and Harden began. Several times Agnew interfered but +finally Forrester sprang to his feet with an oath. + +"No man on earth can call me that!" shouted Harden, "Take it back and +apologize, you rotter!" + +"A rotter, am I?" sneered Forrester. "And what are you? You come of a +family of rotters. I know your sister's history! I know--" + +Enoch laid a hand on Agnew's arm. "Don't interfere! Nothing but blood +will wipe that out." + +But Milton roared suddenly, "Stop that fight! Stop it! Judge! Agnew! +I'm still head of this expedition!" + +Reluctantly the two moved toward the swaying figures. It was not an +easy matter to stop the battle. Forrester and Harden were clinched but +Enoch and Agnew were larger than either of the combatants and at a word +from Enoch, Jonas seized Forrester, with Agnew. After a scuffle, +Harden stood silent and scowling beside Enoch, while Forrester panted +between Agnew and Jonas. + +"I'm ashamed of you fellows," shouted Milton. "Ashamed! You know the +chief's due in the morning." He stopped abruptly. "I'm ashamed of +you. You know what I mean. The chief--God, fellows, I'm a sick man!" +He fell back heavily on his blankets. + +Enoch and Harden hurried to his side. "Quit your fighting, Judge! +Quit your fighting!" muttered Milton. "Here! I'll make you stop!" He +tried to rise and Jonas rushed to hold the injured leg while Harden and +Enoch pressed the broad shoulders back against the flinty bed. It was +several moments before he ceased to struggle and dropped into a dull +state of coma. + +"It doesn't seem as if a broken leg ought to do all that to a man as +husky as Milt!" said Agnew, who had joined them with a proffer of water. + +"I'm afraid he was sickening with something before the accident," Enoch +shook his head. "Those dizzy spells were all wrong, you know." + +"We'd better get this boy to a doctor as soon as we can," said Agnew. +"Poor old Milton! I swear it's a shame! His whole heart was set on +putting this trip through." + +"He'll do it yet," Enoch patted the sick man's arm. + +"Yes, but he'll be laid up for months and his whole idea was to put it +through without a break. The Department never condones accidents, you +know." + +"I guess I can give you all some supper now," said Jonas. "Better get +it while he's laying quiet." + +"Where's Forrester?" asked Enoch as they gathered round the stew pot. + +"He mumbled something about going outside to cool down," replied Agnew. +"Better let him alone for a while." + +"Too bad you couldn't have kept the peace, under the circumstances, +Harden," said Enoch. + +"You heard what he said to me?" demanded Harden fiercely. + +"Yes, I did and I heard you deliberately tease him into a fury. Of +course, after what he finally said there was nothing left to do but to +smash him," said Enoch. + +"I don't see why," Agnew spoke in his calm way. "I never could +understand why a bloody nose wiped out an insult. A thing that's said +is said. Shooting a man even doesn't unsay a dirty speech. It's not +common sense. Why ruin your own life in the effort to punish a man for +something that's better forgotten?" + +"So you would swallow an insult and smile?" sneered Harden. + +"Not at all! I wouldn't hear the alleged insult, in most cases. But +if the thing was so raw that the man had to be punished, I'd really +hurt him." + +"How?" asked Enoch. + +"I'd do him a favor." + +"Slush!" grunted Harden. + +Agnew shrugged his shoulders and the scanty meal was finished in +silence. When Jonas had collected the pie tins and cups, Enoch said, + +"While you're outside with those, Jonas, you'd better persuade +Forrester to come in to supper. Tell him no one will bother him. +Boys, I think we ought to sit up with Milton for a while. I'll take +the first watch, if you'll take the second, Harden." + +Harden nodded. "I'll get to bed at once. Call me when you want me." + +He rolled himself in his blanket, Agnew following his example. A +moment or so later Jonas could be heard calling, + +"Mr. Forrester! Ohee! Mr. Forrester!" The Canyon echoed the call, +but there was no answer, Enoch strolled down to the river's edge where +Jonas was standing with his arms full of dishes. "What's up, Jonas?" +he asked. + +"Boss, I think he's lit out!" + +"Lit out? Where, Jonas?" + +"Well, there's only one way, like you went this afternoon. But his +canteen's gone. And he had his shoes drying by the fire. He must have +sneaked 'em while we was working over Mr. Milton, because they're gone, +and so's his coat that was lying by the Ida, with the rest of the +clothes." + +Enoch lifted his great voice. "Forrester! Forrester!" + +A thousand echoes replied while Agnew joined them and in a moment, +Harden. Jonas repeated his story. + +"No use yelling!" exclaimed Enoch. "Let's build a fire out here." + +"Do you suppose he's had an accident?" Enoch's voice was apprehensive. + +"No, I don't," replied Agnew, stoutly. "He's told me two or three +times that if he had any real trouble with Hard, he'd get out. What a +fool to start off, this way!" + +"You fellows go to bed," Harden spoke abruptly. + +"I'll keep a fire going and if Milt needs more than me, I'll call. The +Judge had a heavy afternoon and I was resting. And this row is mine +anyhow." + +Enoch, who was dropping with fatigue needed no urging. He rolled +himself in his blanket and instantly was deep in the marvelous slumber +that had blessed him since the voyage began. + +It was dawn when he woke. He started to his feet, contritely, +wondering who of the others had sacrificed sleep for him. But Enoch +was the only one awake. Milton was tossing and muttering but his eyes +were closed. Jonas lay with his feet in last night's ashes. Agnew was +curled up at Milton's feet. Harden was not to be seen. Enoch hurried +to the river's edge. A sheet of paper fluttered from the split end of +a stake that had been stuck in a conspicuous spot. It was unaddressed +and Enoch opened it. + + +"I have gone to find Forrester, and help him out. I took one-third of +the grub and one of the guns and a third of the shells. If we have +good luck, you'll hear of us at the Ferry. I have the detail map of +this section. + +"C. L. HARDEN." + + +Enoch looked from the note up to the golden pink of the sky. Far above +the butte an eagle soared. The dawn wind ruffled his hair. He drew a +deep breath and turned to wake Jonas and Agnew, and show them the note. + +"Did you folks go to sleep when I did?" asked Enoch when they had read +the note in silence. + +Jonas and Agnew nodded. + +"Then he must have left at once. No fire has been built out in front." + +"Well, it's solved the problem of who walks," remarked Agnew, drily. + +"How come Mr. Harden to think he could find him?" demanded Jonas, +excitedly. + +"Well, they both will have had to start where I did, yesterday. And +neither could have gone very far in the dark." Enoch spoke +thoughtfully. "If they don't kill each other!" + +"They won't," interrupted Agnew comfortingly. "Neither of them is the +killing kind." + +"Then I suggest," said Enoch, "that with all the dispatch possible we +get on our way. You two tackle the Ida and I'll take care of Milton +and the breakfast." + +"Aye! Aye, sir!" Agnew turned quickly toward the boat, followed +eagerly by Jonas. + +Milton opened his eyes when Enoch bent over him. "Let me give you a +sip of this hot broth, old man," said Enoch. "Come! just to please +me!" as Milton shook his head. "You've got to keep your strength and a +clear head in order to direct the voyage." + +Milton sipped at the warm decoction, and in a moment his eyes +brightened. + +"Tastes pretty good. Too bad we haven't several gallons of it. Tell +the bunch to draw lots for who goes out." + +Enoch shook his head. "That's all settled!" and he gave Milton the +details of the trouble of the night before. + +"Well, can you beat that?" demanded Milton. "The two fools! Why, +there were a hundred things I had to tell the pair who went out. +Judge, they'll never make it!" + +"They've got as good a fighting chance as we have," insisted Enoch, +stoutly. "Quit worrying about them, Milton. You've got your hands +full keeping the rest of us from being too foolish." + +But try as he would, Milton could do little in the way of directing his +depleted crew. His leg and his back pained him excruciatingly, and the +vertigo was with him constantly. Enoch after trying several times to +get coherent commands from the sufferer finally gave up. As soon as +the scanty breakfast of coffee and a tiny portion of boiled beans was +over, Enoch divided the rations into four portions and stowed away all +but that day's share, in the Ida. Then he discussed with Agnew and +Jonas the best method of placing Milton on the boat. + +They finally built a rough but strong framework on the forward +compartment against which Milton could recline while seated on the +deck, the broken leg supported within the rower's space. They padded +this crude couch with blankets. This finished, they made a stretcher +of the blanket on which Milton lay, by nailing the sides to two small +cedar trunks which they routed out of the drift wood. When they had +lifted him carefully and had placed him in the Ida, stretcher and all, +he was far more comfortable, he said, than he had been on his rigid bed +of stone. + +By eight o'clock, all was ready and they pushed slowly out into the +stream. Agnew took the steering oar, Enoch, his usual place, with +Jonas behind him. + +The river was wild and swift here, but, after they had worked carefully +and painfully out of the aftermath of the falls, the current was +unobstructed for several hours. All the morning, Jonas watched eagerly +for traces of the Na-che but up to noon, none appeared. The sky was +cloudy, threatening rain. The walls, now smooth, now broken by +pinnacles and shoulders, were sad and gray in color. Milton sometimes +slept uneasily, but for the most part he lay with lips compressed, eyes +on the gliding cliffs. + +About an hour before noon, the familiar warning roar of rapids reached +their ears. Rounding a curve, carefully, they snubbed the Ida to a +rock while Agnew clambered ashore for an observation. Just below them +a black wall appeared to cut at right angles across the river bed. The +river sweeping round the curve which the Ida had just compassed, rushed +like the waters of a mill race against the unexpected obstacle and +waves ten to twenty feet high told of the force of the meeting. Agnew +with great difficulty crawled along the shore until he could look down +on this turmoil of waters. Then, with infinite pains, he returned. + +"It's impossible to portage," he reported, "but the waves simply fill +the gorge for two hundred feet." + +"Tie me in the boat," said Milton. "The rest of you get out on the +rocks and let the boat down with ropes." + +Agnew looked questioningly at Enoch, who shook his head. + +"Agnew," he said, "can you and Jonas manage to let the Ida down, with +both Milton and me aboard?" + +"No, sir, we can't!" exclaimed Jonas. "That ain't to be thought of!" + +"Right you are, Jonas!" agreed Agnew, while Milton nodded in agreement. + +"Then," said Enoch, "let's land Milton and the loose dunnage on this +rock, let the boat down, come back and carry Milton round." + +"It's the only way," agreed Agnew, "but I think we can take a hundred +feet off the portage, if you fellows are willing to risk rowing down to +a bench of rock below here. You take the steering oar, Judge. I'll +stay ashore and catch a rope from you at the bench." + +Cautiously, Jonas backing water and Enoch keeping the Ida almost +scraping the shore, they made their way to the spot where Agnew caught +the rope, throwing the whole weight of his body back against the pull +of the boat, even then being almost dragged from the ledge. Milton was +lifted out as carefully as possible, the loose dunnage was piled beside +him, then the three men, each with a rope attached to the Ida, began +their difficult climb. + +There was nothing that could be called a trail. They made their way by +clinging to projecting rocks, or stepping perilously from crack to +crevice, from shelf to hollow. The pull of the helpless Ida was +tremendous, and they snubbed her wherever projecting rocks made this +possible. She danced dizzily from crest to crest of waves. She slid +helplessly into whirlpools, she twisted over and under and fought like +a wild thing against the straining ropes. But at the end of a half +hour, she was moored in safe water, on a spit of sand on which a cotton +wood grew. + +"Agnew," said Enoch, "I think we were fools not to have broken a rough +trail before we attempted this. It's obviously impossible to carry +Milton over that wall as it is." + +"I thought the three of us might make it, taking turns carrying Milt on +our backs. It wastes a lot of time making trail and time is a worse +enemy to us now than the Colorado." + +"That's true," agreed Enoch, "but I'm not willing to risk Milton's +vertigo on our backs." + +He took a pick-ax out of the rear compartment of the boat, as he spoke +and began to break trail. The others followed suit. The rock proved +unexpectedly easy to work and in another hour, Enoch announced himself +willing to risk Milton and the stretcher on the rude path they had +hacked out. + +Milton did not speak during his passage. His fortitude and endurance +were very touching to Enoch whose admiration for the young leader +increased from hour to hour. Jonas boiled the coffee and heated the +noon portions of beans and goat. It was entirely inadequate for the +appetites of the hard working crew. Enoch wondered if the others felt +as hollow and uncertain-kneed, as he did, but he said nothing nor did +they. + +There was considerable drift wood lodged against the spit of sand and +from it, Jonas, with a shout that was half a sob, dragged a broken +board on which appeared in red letters, "-a-che." + +"All that's left of the prettiest, spunkiest little boat that ever +fought a dirty river!" he mourned. "I'm going to put this in my +dunnage bag and if we ever do get home, I'll have it framed." + +The others smiled in sympathy. "I wonder if Hard has found Forr, yet?" +said Milton, uneasily. "I can't keep them off my mind." + +"I wouldn't be surprised if they both had run on Curly and Mack's +outfit by this time," Agnew answered cheerfully. "It's funny we didn't +think of them instead of Diana Allen, last night." + +"Not so very funny, either," returned Milton with an attempt at a +smile. "I'll bet most of us have thought of Miss Allen forty times to +once of the men, ever since we met her." + +"She's the most beautiful woman I ever saw," said Agnew, dreamily. + +"Lawdy!" groaned Jonas, suddenly, "if I only had something to fish +with! When we make camp to-night, I'm a-going to try to rig up some +kind of a line." + +"I'm glad the tobacco supply was in the Ida." Enoch rose with a yawn +and knocked the ashes from his pipe. "Well, boys, shall we move?" + +Again they embarked. The river behaved in a most friendly manner until +afternoon, when she offered by way of variety a series of sand bars, +across which they were obliged to drag the Ida by main strength. These +continued at intervals for several miles. In the midst of them, the +rain that had been threatening all day began to fall while the wind +that never left the Canyon, rose to drive the icy waters more +vehemently through their sodden clothing. Milton, snugly covered with +blankets, begged them feverishly to go into camp. "I'll have you all +sick, to-night!" he insisted. "You can't take the risk of pneumonia on +starvation rations that you did on plenty of grub." + +"I'm willing," said Agnew, finally, as he staggered to his feet after a +ducking under the Ida's side. + +"Oh, let's keep going, as long as there's any light to see by," begged +Enoch. + +As if to reward his persistence, just as dusk settled fully upon them, +a little canyon opened from the main wall at the right, a small stream, +tumbling eagerly from it into the Colorado. They turned the Ida +quickly into this and managed to push upward on it for several minutes. +Then they put ashore under some dim cottonwoods, where grass was ankle +deep. The mere feeling of vegetation about them was cheering, and the +trees, with a blanket stretched between made a partial shelter from the +rain. + +"I'll sure cook grass for you all for breakfast!" said Jonas. "How +come folks not to bile grass for greens, I don't see. Maybe birds +here, too. Whoever's the fancy shot, put the gun close to his hand." + +"I've done some fair shooting in my day," said Agnew, "but I never +potted a goat in an eagle's nest. You'd better give the gun to the +Judge." He polished off his pie tin, scraped the last grain of sugar +from his tin cup and lighted a cigarette. + +"I'm trying to bear my blushing honors modestly," grinned Enoch, +crowding closer to the great fire. "Milton, I've a bone to pick with +you." + +"Where'd you get it?" demanded Agnew. + +Enoch smiled but went on. "I accuse you of deliberately starving +yourself for the rest of us. It won't do, sir. I'm going to set your +share aside and by Jove, if you refuse it, I'll throw it in the river!" + +Milton rose indignantly on one elbow. "Judge, I forbid you to do +anything of the kind! You fellows have got to have food to work on. +All I need is plenty of water." + +"Especially as you think the water is making you sick," returned Enoch +drily. "You can't get away with it, Milton. Am I not right, Agnew and +Jonas?" + +"Absolutely!" Agnew exclaimed, while Jonas nodded, vigorously. + +"So, beginning to-morrow morning, you're to do your share of eating," +Enoch concluded, cheerfully. + +But in spite of all efforts to keep a stiff upper lip, the night was +wretched. The rain fell in torrents. The only way to keep the fire +alight was by keeping it under the blanket shelter, and Milton was half +smothered with smoke. He insisted on the others going to sleep, but in +spite of their utter weariness, the men would not do this. Hunger made +them restless and the rain crept through their blankets. Enoch finally +gave up the attempt to sleep. He crouched by Milton, feeding the fire +and trying as best he could to ease the patient's misery of mind and +body. + +It was long after midnight when Milton said, "Judge, I've been thinking +it over and I've come to a conclusion. I want you folks to go on for +help and leave me here." + +"I don't like to hear you talk suicide, Milton." Enoch shook his head. +"As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't consider such a suggestion for a +minute." + +"But don't you see," insisted Milton, "I'm imperilling all your lives. +Without me, you could have made twice the distance you did to-day." + +"That's probably true," agreed Enoch. "What of it? Would you leave me +in your fix, thinking you might bring help back?" + +"That's different! You're a tenderfoot and I'm not. Moreover, greater +care on my part would probably have prevented this whole series of +accidents." + +"Now you are talking nonsense!" Enoch threw another log on the fire. +"Your illness is undermining your common sense, Milton. We've got a +tough few days ahead of us but we'll tackle it together. If we fail we +fail together. But I can see no reason why if we run as few risks as +we did to-day, we should get into serious trouble. We're going to lose +strength for lack of food, so we've got to move more and more slowly +and carefully, and we'll be feeling weak and done up when we reach the +Ferry. But I anticipate nothing worse than that." + +Milton sighed and was silent, for a time. Then he said, "I could have +managed Forr and Harden better, if I'd been willing to believe they +were the pair of kids they proved to be. As it is--" + +"As it is," interrupted Enoch, firmly, "both chaps are learning a +lesson that will probably cure them for all time of their foolishness." + +Milton looked long at Enoch's tired face; then he lifted himself on one +elbow. + +"All right, Judge, I'm through belly-aching! We'll put it through +somehow and if I have decent luck, early Spring will see me right here, +beginning where I left off. After all, Powell had to take two trials +at it." + +"That's more like you, Milton! Is that dawn breaking yonder?" + +"Yes," replied Milton. "Keep your ear and eye out for any sort of +critters in this little spot, Judge." + +But, though Enoch, and the others, when he had roused them, beat the +tiny blind alley thoroughly, not so much as a cottontail reward their +efforts. + +"Curious!" grumbled Enoch, "up at Mack's camp where we really needed +nothing, I found all the game in the world. The perversity of nature +is incomprehensible. Even the fish have left this part of the river," +as Jonas with a sigh of discouragement tossed his improvised fishing +tackle into the fire. + +Agnew pulled his belt a notch tighter. His brown face was beginning to +look sagged and lined. "Well," cheerfully, "there are some advantages +in being fat. I've still several days to go before I reach your's and +Jonas' state of slats, Judge." + +"Don't get sot up about it, Ag," returned Enoch. "You look a good deal +like a collapsed balloon, you know! Shall we launch the good ship Ida, +fellows?" + +"She ain't anything to what the Na-che was," sighed Jonas, "but she's +pretty good at that. If I ain't too tired, to-night, I may clean her +up a little." + +Even Milton joined in the laughter at this and the day's journey was +begun with great good humor. + +It was the easiest day's course that had been experienced since Enoch +had joined the expedition. There were three rapids during the day but +they rode these with no difficulties. Enoch and Jonas rowed fairly +steadily in the morning, but in the afternoon, they spelled each other. +The light rations were making themselves felt. The going was so smooth +that dusk was upon them before they made camp. Milton had been +wretchedly sick, all day, but he made no complaint and forced down the +handful of boiled beans and the tin cup of pale coffee that was his +share of each meal. + +They made camp languidly. Enoch found the task of piling fire wood +arduous and as the camp was in dry sand and the blankets had dried out +during the day, they did not attempt the usual great blaze. Jonas +insisted on acting as night nurse for Milton, and Enoch was asleep +before he had more then swallowed his supper. He had bad dreams and +woke with a dull headache, and wondered if Jonas and Agnew felt as weak +and light-headed as he did. But although both the men moved about +slowly and Jonas made no attempt to clean up the Ida, they uttered no +complaints. Milton was feeling a little better. Before the day's +journey was begun, he and Agnew plotted their position on the map. + +"Well, does to-morrow see us at the Ferry?" asked Enoch, cheerfully, +when Agnew put up his pencil with an abstracted air. + +"No, Judge," sighed Milton, "that rotten first day after the wreck, +cost us a good many miles. I thought we'd make up for it, yesterday. +But we're a full day behind." + +"That is," exclaimed Enoch, "we must take that grub pile and redivide +it, stretching it over three days instead of two!" + +"Yes," replied Milton, grimly. + +"Jove, Agnew, you're going to be positively fairy like, before we're +through with this," said Enoch. "Jonas, get out the grub supply, will +you?" + +Jonas, standing on a rock that projected over the water, did not +respond. He was watching eagerly as his new fishline of ravelled rope +pulled taut in the stream. Suddenly he gave a roar and jerked the line +so violently that the fish landed on Milton's blanket. + +"Must weigh two pounds!" cried Agnew. + +"You start her broiling, Mr. Agnew!" shouted Jonas, "while I keep on +a-fishing." + +"What changed your luck, Jonas?" asked Enoch. "You're using beans and +bent wire, just as you did yesterday." + +"Aha! not just as I did yesterday, boss! This time I tied Na-che's +charm just above the hook. No fish could stand that, once they got an +eye on it." + +But evidently no second fish cast an eye on the irresistible charm, and +Enoch was unwilling to wait for further luck longer than was necessary +to cook the fish and eat it. But during the day Jonas trolled whenever +the water made trolling possible, hopefully spitting on the hook each +time he cast it over, casting always from the right hand and muttering +Fish! Fish! Fish! three times for each venture. Yet no other fish +responded to Na-che's charm that day. + +But the river treated them kindly. If their strength had been equal to +hard and steady rowing they might have made up for the lost miles. As +it was they knocked off at night with just the number of miles for the +day that Milton had planned on in the beginning, and were still a day +behind their schedule. Milton grew no worse, though he was weaker and +obviously a very sick man. A light snow fell during the night but the +next morning was clear and invigorating. + +They encountered two difficult rapids on the fourth day. The first one +they portaged. The trail was not difficult but in their weakened +condition the boat and poor Milton were heavy burdens and it took them +three times as long to accomplish the portage as it would have taken +had they been in normal condition. The second rapids, they shot easily +in the afternoon. The waves were high and every one was saturated with +the icy water. Enoch dared not risk Milton's remaining wet and as soon +as they found a likely place for the camp they went ashore. The huge +pile of drift wood had helped them to decide on this rather +unhospitable ledge for what they hoped would be their last night out. + +They kindled a big fire and sat about it, steaming and silent, but with +the feeling that the worst was behind them. + +They rose in a cold driving rain the next morning, ate the last of the +beans, drank the last of the coffee, covered Milton as well as could be +with blankets and launched the boat. It was a day of unspeakable +misery. They made one portage, and one let down, and dragged the boat +with almost impossible labor over a long series of shallows. By +mid-afternoon they had made up their minds to another night of +wretchedness and Agnew was beginning to watch for a camping place, when +suddenly he exclaimed, + +"Fellows, there's the Ferry!" + +"How do you know?" demanded Enoch. + +"I've been here before, Judge. Yes, by Jove, there's old Grant's +cabin. I wonder if any one's reached here yet!" + +"Well, Milton, old man, here's thanks and congratulations," cried Enoch. + +"You'd better thank the Almighty," returned Milton. "I certainly had +very little to do with our getting here." + +The rain had prevented Agnew's recognizing their haven until they were +fairly upon it. Even now all that Enoch could see was a wide lateral +canyon with a rough unpainted shack above the waterline. A group of +cottonwoods loomed dimly through the mist beside a fence that +surrounded the house. + +Jonas, who had seemed overcome with joy at Agnew's announcement, +recovered his power of speech by the time the boat was headed shoreward +and he raised a shout that echoed from wall to wall. + +"Na-che! Ohee, Na-che! Here we are, Na-che!" + +Agnew opened his lips to comment, but before he uttered the first +syllable there rose a shrill, clear call from the mists. + +"Jonas! Ohee, Jonas!" + +Enoch's pulse leaped. With sudden strength, he bent to his oars, and +the Ida slid softly upon the sandy shore. As she did so, two figures +came running through the rain. + +"Diana!" cried Enoch, making no attempt for a moment to step from the +boat. + +"Oh, what has happened!" exclaimed Diana, putting a hand under Milton's +head as he struggled to raise it. + +"Just a broken leg, Miss Allen," he said, his parched lips parting in a +smile. "Have Forr and Hard turned up?" + +"No! And Curly and Mack aren't here, either! O you poor things! +Here, let me help! Na-che, take hold of this stretcher, there, on the +other side with the Judge and Jonas. Finished short of grub, didn't +you! Let's bring Mr. Milton right up to the cabin." + +The cabin consisted of but one room with an adobe fireplace at one end +and bunks on two sides. There was a warm glow of fire and the smell of +meat cooking. They laid Milton tenderly on a bunk and as they did so +Jonas gave a great sob: + +"Welcome home, I say, boss, welcome home!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +GRANT'S CROSSING + + +"Perfect memories! They are more precious than hope, more priceless +than dreams of the future."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +"Now, every one of you get into dry clothes as quickly as you can," +said Diana. "No! Don't one of you try to stir from the cabin! Come, +Na-che, we'll bring the men's bags up and go out to our tent while they +shift." + +The two women were gone before the men could protest. They were back +with the bags in a few moments and in almost less time than it takes to +tell, the crew of the Ida was reclothed, Enoch in the riding suit that +Jonas had left with some of his own clothes in Na-che's care. When +this was done, Na-che put on the coffee pot, while Diana served each of +them with a plate of hot rabbit stew. + +"Don't try to talk," she said, "until you get this down. You'd better +help Mr. Milton, Na-che. Here, it will take two of us. Oh, you poor +dear! You're burning with fever." + +"Don't you worry about me," protested Milton, weakly, as, with his head +resting on Diana's arm, he sipped the teaspoonsful of stew Na-che fed +him. "This is as near heaven as I want to get." + +"I should hope so!" grunted Agnew. "Jonas, don't ever try to put up a +stew in competition with Na-che again." + +"Not me, sir!" chuckled Jonas. "That gal can sure cook!" + +"And make charms," added Enoch. "Don't fail to realize that you're +still alive, Jonas." + +"I'm going to bathe Mr. Milton's face for him," said Na-che, with a +fine air of indifference. "I can set a broken leg, too." + +"It's set," said Agnew and Enoch together, "but," added Enoch, "that +isn't saying that Milton mustn't be gotten to a doctor with all speed." + +Diana nodded. "Where are Mr. Forrester and Mr. Harden?" she asked. + +"We lost the Na-che--" said Agnew. + +"The what?" demanded Diana. + +"Jonas rechristened the Mary, the Na-che," Agnew replied. "We lost her +in a whirlpool six days back. Most of the food was in her. Two of us +had to go out and Harden and Forrester volunteered. We are very much +worried about them." + +"And when did Mr. Milton break his leg?" + +"On that same black day! The water's been disagreeing with him, making +him dizzy, and he took a header from the Ida, after rescuing Forrester +from some rapids," said Enoch. + +"Doesn't sound much, when you tell it, does it!" Agnew smiled as he +sighed. "But it really has been quite a busy five days." + +"One can look at your faces and read much between the lines," said +Diana, quietly. "Now, while Na-che works with Mr. Milton, I'm going to +give you each some coffee." + +"Diana, how far are we from the nearest doctor?" asked Enoch. + +"There's one over on the Navajo reservation," replied Diana. + +"Wouldn't it be better to keep Milton right here and one of us go for +the doctor?" + +"Much better," agreed Diana and Agnew. + +"Lord," sighed Milton, "what bliss!" + +"Then," said Enoch, "I'm going to start for the doctor, now." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Diana, "that's my job. We've been here two days +and we and our outfit are as fresh as daisies." + +"I'm going, myself," Agnew rose as firmly as his weak and weary legs +would permit. + +It was Na-che who settled the matter. "That's an Indian's job," she +said. "You take care of Mr. Milton, Diana, while I go." + +"That's sensible," agreed Diana. "Start now, Na-che. You should reach +Wilson's by to-morrow night and telephone to the Agent's house. +That'll save you forty miles." + +Jonas' face which had fallen greatly suddenly brightened. "Somebody's +coming!" he cried. "I hope it's our folks!" + +The door opened abruptly and in walked Curly and Mack. + +"Here's the whole family!" exclaimed Curly. "Well, if you folks don't +look like Siberian convicts, whiskers and all! Some trip, eh?" + +Mack, shaking hands all round, stopped beside Milton's bunk. "What +went wrong, bud? and where's the rest of the bunch?" + +Enoch told the story, this time. Mack shook his head as the final +plans were outlined. + +"Na-che had better stay and nurse Milton. I'm feeling fine. We just +loafed along down here. I'll start out right away. I should reach +Wilson's to-morrow night, as you say, and telephone the doctor. Then +I'll load up with grub at Wilson's and turn back. Do you find much +game round here?" + +Diana nodded. "Plenty of rabbit and quail, and we have some bacon and +coffee." + +"I guess I'd better go out and look for the two foot-passengers," +suggested Curly. "I'll stay out to-night and report to-morrow evening." + +"We'll be in shape by morning to start on the search," said Enoch. + +Curly turned to his former cook with a grin. "Well, Judge, is your +little vacation giving you the rest you wanted?" + +Enoch, gaunt, unshaven, exhausted, his blue eyes blood-shot, nodded +contentedly. "I'm having the time of my life, Curly." + +"I had a bull dog once," said Curly. "If I'd take a barrel stave and +pound him with it, saying all the time, 'Nice doggie, isn't this fun! +Isn't this a nice little stick! Don't you like these little love +pats?' he'd wag his tail and slobber and tell me how much he enjoyed it +and beg for more. But, if I took a straw and tapped him with it, +telling him he was a poor dog, that nobody loved him, that I was +breaking his ribs which he richly deserved, why that bull pup nearly +died of suffering of body and anguish of mind." + +Enoch shook his head sadly. "A great evangelist was lost when you took +to placer mining, Curly." + +Mack had been talking quietly to Milton. "I don't believe it was the +river water, that upset you. I think you have drunk from some poison +spring. I did that once, up in this country, and it took me six months +to get over it, because I couldn't get to a doctor. But I believe a +doctor could fix you right up. Do you recall drinking water the other +men didn't?" + +"Any number of times, on exploring trips to the river!" Milton looked +immensely cheered. "I think you may be right, Mack." + +"I'll bet you two bits that's all that ails you, son!" Mack rose from +the edge of the bunk. "Well, folks, I'm off! Look for me when you see +me!" + +"I'll mooch along too," Curly rose and stretched himself. + +"I'm not going to try to thank all you folks!" Milton's weak voice was +husky. + +"That's what us Arizonians always wait for before we do the decent +thing," said Mack, with a smile. "Come along, Curly, you lazy +chuckawalla you!" And the door slammed behind them. + +"They're stem winders, both of them!" exclaimed Agnew. + +"Diana," said Enoch, "I wish you'd sit down. You've done enough for +us." + +Diana smiled and shook her head. "I struck the camp first, so I'm +boss. Na-che and I are going out to see that everything's all right +for the night and that Mack and Curly get a good start. While we're +out, you're all going to bed. Then Na-che is coming in to make Mr. +Milton as comfortable as she can. Our tent is under the cottonwoods +and if you want anything during the night, Mr. Milton, all you have to +do is to call through the window. Neither of us will undress so we can +be on duty, instantly. There is plenty of stew still simmering in the +pot, and cold biscuit on the table. Good night, all of you." + +"Na-che, she don't need to bother. I'll look out for Mr. Milton," said +Jonas, suddenly rousing from his chair where he had been dozing. + +"You go to bed and to sleep, Jonas," ordered Diana. "Good night, +Judge." + +"Good night, Diana!" + +The door closed softly and Diana was seen no more that night. The rain +ceased at midnight and the stars shone forth clear and cold, but Milton +was the only person in the camp to be conscious of the fact. Just as +the dawn wind was rising, though, and the cottonwoods were outlining +themselves against the eastern sky, stumbling footsteps near the tent +wakened both Diana and Na-che, and they opened the tent flap, hastily. + +Forrester was clinging to a cottonwood tree. At least it was a worn, +bleached, ragged counterfeit of Forrester. + +"Hard's back on the trail apiece. I came on for help," he said huskily. + +"Is he sick or hurt?" cried Diana. + +"No, just all in." + +"I'll take a horse for him, right off," said Na-che. "You help Mr. +Forrester into the house, Diana." + +"Call Jonas!" said Diana, supporting Forrester against the tree. "One +of the men had better go for Mr. Harden." + +"Then they got here!" exclaimed Forrester. "Thank God! How's Milton? +Any other accident?" + +"Everything's all right! Here they all come!" For Jonas, then Agnew +and Enoch were rushing from the door and amid the hubbub of +exclamations, Forrester was landed in a bunk while Agnew started up the +trail indicated by Forrester. But he hardly had set out before he met +Curly, leading his horse with Harden clinging to the saddle. Both the +wanderers were fed and put to bed and told to sleep, before they tried +to tell their story. The day was warm and clear and Na-che and Jonas +prepared breakfast outside, serving it on the rough table, under the +cottonwoods. Enoch and Agnew, washed and shaved, were new men, though +still weak, Enoch, particularly, being muscle sore and weary. Harden +and Forrester woke for more food, at noon, then slept again. Milton +dozed and woke, drank feverishly of the water brought from the spring +near the cabin, and gazed with a look of complete satisfaction on the +unshaved dirty faces in the bunks across the room. + +Agnew and Curly played poker all day long. Jonas and Na-che found +endless small tasks around the camp that required long consultations +between them and much laughter. When Enoch returned after breakfast +from a languid inspection of the Ida, Diana was not to be seen. She +had gone out to get some quail, Na-che said. She returned in an hour +or so, with a good bag of rabbit and birds. + +"To-morrow, that will be my job," said Enoch. + +"If she wouldn't let me go, she mustn't let you!" called Curly, from +his poker game, under the trees. + +"Yes, I'll let any of you take it over, to-morrow," replied Diana, +giving Na-che gun and bag. "To-morrow, Na-che and I turn the rescue +mission over to you men and start for Bright Angel." + +"Oh, where's your heart, Miss Allen!" cried Agnew. "Aren't you going +to wait to learn what the doctor says about Milton?" + +"And Diana," urged Enoch, "Jonas and I want to go up to Bright Angel +with you and Na-che. Won't you wait a day longer, just till we're a +little more fit?" + +Diana, in her worn corduroy habit, her soft hat pulled well over her +great eyes, looked from Agnew to Enoch, smiled and did not reply. +Enoch waited impatiently without the door while she made a call on +Milton. + +"Diana!" he exclaimed, when she came out, "aren't you going to talk to +me even? Do come down by the Ida and see if we can't be rid of this +horde of people for a while." + +"I've been wanting to see just how badly you'd treated the poor old +boat," said Diana, following Enoch toward the shore. + +But Enoch had not the slightest intention of holding an inquest on the +Ida. In the shade of a gnarled cedar to which the boat was tied as a +precaution against high water, he had placed a box. Thither he led +Diana. + +"Do sit down, Diana, and let me sit here at your feet. I'll admit it +should be unexpected joy enough just to find you here. But I'm greedy. +I want you to myself, and I want to tell you a thousand things." + +"All right, Judge, begin," returned Diana amiably, as she clasped her +knee with both hands and smiled at him. But Enoch could not begin, +immediately. Sitting in the sand with his back against the cedar he +looked out at the Colorado flowing so placidly, at the pale gray green +of the far canyon walls and a sense of all that the river signified to +him, all that it had brought to him, all that it would mean to him to +leave it and with it Diana,--Diana who had been his other self since he +was a lad of eighteen,--made him speechless for a time. + +Diana waited, patiently. At last, Enoch turned to her, "All the things +I want to say most, can't be said, Diana!" + +"Are you glad you took the trip down the river, Judge?" + +"Glad! Was Roland glad he made his adventure in search of the Dark +Tower?" + +"Yes, he was, only, Judge--" + +Enoch interrupted. "Has our friendship grown less since we camped at +the placer mine?" + +Diana flushed slightly and went on, "Only, Enoch, surely the end of +your adventure is not a Dark Tower ending!" + +"Yes, it is, Diana! It can never be any other." Enoch's fingers +trembled a little as he toyed with his pipe bowl. Diana slowly looked +away from him, her eyes fastening themselves on a buzzard that circled +over the peaks across the river. After a moment, she said, "Then you +are going to shoot Brown?" + +Enoch started a little. "I'm not thinking of Brown just now. I'm +thinking of you and me." + +He paused again and again Diana waited until she felt the silence +becoming too painful. Then she said, + +"Aren't you going to tell me some of the details of your trip?" + +"I want to, Diana, but hang it, words fail me! It was as you warned +me, an hourly struggle with death. And we fought, I think, not because +life was so unutterably sweet to any of us, but because there was such +wonderful zest to the fighting. The beauty of the Canyon, the +awfulness of it, the unbelievable rapidity with which event piled on +event. Why, Diana, I feel as if I'd lived a lifetime since I first put +foot on the Ida! And the glory of the battle! Diana, we were so puny, +so insignificant, so stupid, and the Canyon was so colossal and so +diabolically quick and clever! What a fight!" + +Enoch laughed joyfully. + +"You're a new man!" said Diana, softly. + +Enoch nodded. "And now I'm to have the ride back to El Tovar with you +and the trip down Bright Angel with you and your father! For once +Diana, Fate is minding her own business and letting me mind mine." + +Jonas approached hesitatingly. "Na-che said I had to tell you, boss, +though I didn't want to disturb you, she said I had to though she +wouldn't do it herself. Dinner is on the table. And you know, boss, +you ain't like you was when a bowl of cereal would do you." + +"I shouldn't have tempted fate, Diana!" Enoch sighed, as he rose and +followed her to the cottonwood. + +Try as he would, during the afternoon, he could not bring about another +tete-a-tete with Diana. Finally as dusk drew near, he threw himself +down, under the cedar tree, his eyes sadly watching the evening mists +rise over the river. His dark figure merged with the shadow of the +cedar and Na-che and Jonas, establishing themselves on the gunwale of +the Ida for one of their confidential chats did not perceive him. He +himself gave them no heed until he heard Jonas say vehemently: + +"You're crazy, Na-che! I'm telling you the boss won't never marry." + +"How do you know what's in your boss's mind?" demanded Na-che. + +"I know all right. And I know he thinks a lot of Miss Diana, too, but +I know he won't marry her. He won't marry anybody." + +"But why?" urged the Indian woman, sadly, "Why should things be so +wrong? When he loves her and she loves him and they were made for each +other!" + +"How come you to think she loves him?" demanded Jonas. + +"Don't I know the mind of my Diana? Isn't she my little child, even if +her mother did bear her. Don't I see her kiss that little picture she +has of him in her locket every night when she says her prayers?" + +"Well--" began Jonas, but he was interrupted by a call from Curly. + +"Whoever's minding the stew might be interested in knowing that it's +boiling over!" + +"Coming! Coming!" cried Jonas and Na-che. + +Darkness had now settled on the river. Enoch lay motionless until they +called him in to supper. When he entered the cabin where the table was +set, Curly cried, "Hello, Judge! Where've you been? I swear you look +as if you'd been walking with a ghost." + +"Perhaps I have," Enoch replied, grimly, as he took his seat. + +Harden and Forrester, none too energetic, but shaven and in order, were +at the table, where their story was eagerly picked from them. + +Forrester had slept the first night in the cavern Enoch had noted. +Harden never even saw the cavern but had spent the night crawling +steadily toward the rim. At dawn, Forrester had made his way to the +top of the butte by the same route Enoch had followed, and had seen +Harden, a black speck moving laboriously on the southern horizon. He +had not recognized him, and set out to overtake him. It was not until +noon that he had done so. Even after he realized whom he was pursuing, +he had not given up, for by that time he was rueing bitterly his hasty +and ill-equipped departure. + +None of the auditors of the two men needed detailed description either +of the ardors of that trip nor of the embarrassment of the meeting. +Nor did Forrester or Harden attempt any. After they had met they tried +to keep a course that moved southwest. There were no trails. For +endless miles, fissures and buttes, precipices to be scaled, mountains +to be climbed, canyons to be crossed. For one day they were without +water, but the morning following they found a pot hole, full of water. +Weakness from lack of food added much to the peril of the trip, one +cottontail being the sole contribution of the gun to their larder. +They did not strike the trail until the day previous to their arrival +in the camp. + +"Have you had enough desert to last you the rest of your life?" asked +Curly as Harden ended the tale. + +"Not I!" said Forrester, "nor Canyon either! I'm going to find some +method of getting Milt to let me finish the trip with him." + +"Me too," added Harden. + +"How much quarreling did you do?" asked Milton, abruptly, from the bunk. + +Neither man answered for a moment, then Forrester, flushing deeply, +said, "All we ask of you, Milt, is to give us a trial. Set us ashore +if you aren't satisfied with us." + +Milton grunted and Diana said, quickly, "What are you people going to +do until Mr. Milton gets well?" + +All of the crew looked toward the leader's bunk. "Wait till we get the +doctor's report," said Milton. "Hard, you were going to show Curly a +placer claim around here, weren't you?" + +"Yes, if I can be spared for a couple of days. We can undertake that, +day after to-morrow." + +"You're on!" exclaimed Curly. "Judge, don't forget you and I are due +to have a little conversation before we separate." + +"I haven't forgotten it," replied Enoch. + +"Sometime to-morrow then. To-night I've got to get my revenge on +Agnew. He's a wild cat, that's what he is. Must have been born in a +gambling den. Sit in with us, Judge or anybody!" + +"Not I," said Enoch, shortly. + +"Still disapprove, don't you, Judge!" gibed Curly. "How about the rest +of you? Diana, can you play poker?" + +"Thanks, Curly! My early education in that line was neglected." Diana +smiled and turned to Enoch. "Judge, do you think you'll feel up to +starting to-morrow afternoon? There's a spring five miles west that we +could make if we leave here at two o'clock and I'd like to feel that +I'd at least made a start, to-morrow. My father is going to be very +much worried about me. I'm nearly a week overdue, now." + +"I'll be ready whenever you are, Diana. How about you, Jonas?" + +"I'm always on hand, boss. Mr. Milton, can I have the broken oar blade +we kept to patch the Ida with?" + +"What do you want it for, Jonas?" asked Milton. + +"I'm going to have it framed. And Mr. Harden and Mr. Agnew, don't +forget those fillums!" + +"Lucky for you the films were stored in the Ida, Jonas!" exclaimed +Agnew. "I'll develop some of those in the morning, and see what sort +of a show you put up." + +Diana rose. "Well, good night to you all! Mr. Milton, is there +anything Na-che or I can do for you?" + +"No, thank you, Miss Allen, I think I'm in good hands." + +Enoch rose to open the door for Diana. "Thank you, Judge," she said, +"Good night!" + +"Diana," said Enoch, under cover of the conversation at the table, +"before we start to-morrow, will you give me half an hour alone with +you?" + +There was pain and determination both in Enoch's voice. Diana glanced +at him a little anxiously as she answered, "Yes, I will, Enoch." + +"Good night, Diana," and Enoch retired to his bunk, where he lay wide +awake long after the card game was ended and the room in darkness save +for the dull glow of the fire. + +He made no attempt the next day to obtain the half hour Diana had +promised him. He helped Jonas with their meager preparations for the +trip, then took a gun and started along the trail which led up the +Ferry canyon to the desert. But he had not gone a hundred yards, when +Diana called. + +"Wait a moment, Judge! I'll go with you." + +She joined him shortly with her gun and game bag. "We'll have Na-che +cook us a day's supply of meat before we start," she said. "The +hunting is apt to be poor on the trail we're to take home." + +Enoch nodded but said nothing. Something of the old grim look was in +his eyes again. He paused at the point where the canyon gave place to +the desert. Here a gnarled mesquite tree and an old half-buried log +beneath it, offered mute evidence of a gigantic flooding of the river. + +"Let's sit here for a little while, Diana," he said. + +They put their guns against the mesquite tree and sat down facing the +distant river. + +"Diana," Enoch began abruptly, "in spite of what your father and John +Seaton believed and wanted me to believe, the things that the Brown +papers said about my mother are true. Only, Brown did not tell all. +He did not give the details of her death. I suppose even Luigi +hesitated to tell that because I almost beat him to death the last time +he tried it. + +"Seaton and I never talked much about the matter. He tried to ferret +out facts, but had no luck. By the time I was seventeen or eighteen I +realized that no man with a mother like mine had a right to marry. But +I missed the friendship of women, I suppose, for when I was perhaps +eighteen or nineteen I made a discovery. I found that somewhere in my +heart I was carrying the image of a girl, a slender girl, with braids +of light brown hair wrapped round her head, a girl with the largest, +most intelligent, most tender gray eyes in the world, and a lovely +curving mouth, with deep corners. I named her Lucy, because I'd been +reading Wordsworth and I began to keep a diary to her. I've kept it +ever since. + +"You can have no idea, how real, how vivid, how vital a part of my life +Lucy became to me. She was in the very deepest truth my better self, +for years. And then this summer, a miracle occurred! Lucy walked into +my office! Beauty, serenity, intelligence, sweetness, gaiety, and +gallantry--these were Lucy's in the flesh as I could not even dream for +Lucy of the spirit. Only in one particular though had I made an actual +error. Her name was not Lucy, it was Diana! Diana! the little girl of +Bright Angel who had entered my turbulent boyish heart, all unknown to +me, never to leave it! . . . Diana! Lucy! I love you and God help me, +I must not marry!" + +Enoch, his nails cutting deep into his palms turned from the river, at +which he had been staring steadily while speaking, to Diana. Her eyes +which had been fastened on Enoch's profile, now gazed deep into his, +pain speaking to pain, agony to agony. + +"If," Enoch went on, huskily, "there is no probability of your growing +to care for me, then I think our friendship can endure. I can crowd +back the lover and be merely your friend. But if you might grow to +care, even ever so little, then, I think at the thought of your pain, +my heart would break. So, I thought before it is too late--" + +Suddenly Diana's lips which had grown white, trembled a little. "It is +too late!" she whispered. "It is too late!" and she put her slender, +sunburned hands over her face. + +"Don't! Oh, don't!" groaned Enoch. He took her hands down, gently. +Diana's eyes were dry. Her cheeks were burning. Enoch looked at her +steadily, his breath coming a little quickly, then he rose and with +both her hands in his lifted her to her feet. + +"Do you love me, Diana?" he whispered. + +She looked up into his eyes. "Yes, Enoch! Oh, yes!" she answered, +brokenly. + +"How much do you love me, dear?" he persisted. + +She smiled with a tragic beauty in droop of lips and anguish of eyes. +"With all there is in me to give to love, Enoch." + +"Then," said Enoch, "this at least may be mine," and he laid his lips +to hers. + +When he lifted his head, he smoothed her hair back from her face. +"Remember, I am not deceiving myself, Diana," he said huskily. "I have +acted like a selfish, unprincipled brute. If I had not, in Washington, +let you see that I cared, you would have escaped all this." + +"I did not want to escape it, Enoch," she said, smiling again while her +lips quivered. "Yet I thought I would have strength enough to go away, +without permitting you to tell me about it. But I was not strong +enough. However," stepping away from Enoch, "now we both understand, +and I'll go home. And we must never see each other again, Enoch." + +"Never see each other again!" he repeated. Then his voice deepened. +"Go about our day's work year after year, without even a memory to ease +the gnawing pain. God, Diana, do you think we are machines to be +driven at will?" + +Diana drew a long breath and her voice was very steady as she answered. +"Don't let's lose our grip on ourselves, Enoch. It only makes a hard +situation harder. Now that we understand each other, let us kiss the +cross, and go on." + +Enoch, arms folded on his chest, great head bowed, walked up and down +under the trees slowly for a moment. When he paused before her, it was +to speak with his customary calm and decision, though his eyes +smoldered. + +"Diana, I want to take the trip with you, just as we planned, and go +down Bright Angel with your father and you. I want those few days in +the desert with you to carry me through the rest of my life. You need +not fear, dear, that for one moment I will lose grip on myself." + +Diana looked at him as if she never had seen him before. She looked at +the gaunt, strong features, the massive chin, the sensitive, firm +mouth, the lines of self-control and purposefulness around eyes and +lips, and over all the deep-seated sadness that made Enoch's face +unforgettable. Slowly she turned from him to the desert, and after a +moment, as if she had gathered strength from the far horizon, she +answered him, still with the little note of steadiness in her voice: + +"I think we'll have to have those last few days, together, Enoch." + +Enoch heaved a deep sigh then smiled, brilliantly. "And now," he said, +"I dare not go back to camp without at least discharging my gun, do +you?" + +"No, Judge!" replied Diana, picking up her gun, with a little laugh. + +"Don't call me Judge, when we're alone!" protested Enoch. + +Diana with something sweeter than tenderness shining in her great eyes, +touched his hand softly with hers. + +"No, dear!" she whispered. + +Enoch looked at her, drew a deep breath, then put his gun across his +arm and followed Diana to the yucca thicket where quail was to be +found. They were very silent during the hour of hunting. They bagged +a pair of cottontails and a number of quail, and when they did speak, +it was only regarding the hunt or the preparations for the coming +exodus. They reached camp, just before dinner, Diana disappearing into +the tent, and Enoch tramping prosaically and wearily into the cabin to +throw himself down on his bunk. He had not yet recovered from the last +days in the Canyon. + +"You shouldn't have tackled that tramp this morning, Judge," said +Milton. "You should have saved yourself for this afternoon." + +"You saw who his side pardner was, didn't you?" asked Curly. + +"Yes," replied Milton, grinning. + +"Then why make foolish comments?" + +"I am a fool!" agreed Milton. + +"Judge," asked Curly, "how about you and me having our conflab right +after dinner?" + +"That will suit me," replied Enoch, "if you can drag yourself from +Agnew and poker that long." + +"I'll make a superhuman effort," returned Curly. + +The conference, which took place under the cedar near the Ida, did not +last long. + +"Curly," said Enoch, lighting his pipe, "I haven't made up my mind yet, +whether I want you to give me the information about Fowler and Brown or +not." + +"What's the difficulty?" demanded Curly. + +"Well, there's a number of personal reasons that I don't like to go +into. But I've a suggestion to make. You say you're trying to get +money together with which to retain a lawyer and carry out a campaign, +so you aren't in a hurry, anyway. Now you write down in a letter all +that you know about the two men, and send the letter to me, I'll treat +it as absolutely confidential, and will return the material to you +without reading it if I decide not to use it." + +Curly puffed thoughtfully at his cigarette. "That's fair enough, +Judge. As you say there's no great hurry and I always get het up, +anyhow, when I talk about it. I'd better put it down in cool black and +white. Where can I reach you?" + +"No. 814 Blank Avenue, Washington, D. C.," replied Enoch. + +Curly pulled an old note book out of his hip pocket and set down the +address: + +"All right, Judge, you'll hear from me sometime in the next few weeks. +I'll go back now and polish Agnew off." + +And he hurried away, leaving Enoch to smoke his pipe thoughtfully as he +stared at the Ida. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LOVE IN THE DESERT + + +"While I was teaching my boy obedience, I would teach him his next +great obligation, service. So only could his manhood be a full +one."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +Shortly after two o'clock, Diana announced that she was ready to start. +But the good-bys consumed considerable time and it was nearly three +before they were really on their way. Enoch's eyes were a little dim +as he shook hands with Milton. + +"Curly has my address, Milton," he said, "drop me a line once in a +while. I shall be more deeply interested in your success than you can +realize." + +"I'll do it, Judge, and when I get back East, I'll look you up. You're +a good sport, old man!" + +"You're more than that, Milton! Good-by!" and Enoch hurried out in +response to Jonas' call. + +They were finally mounted and permitted to go. Na-che rode first, +leading a pack mule, Jonas second, leading two mules, Diana followed, +Enoch bringing up the rear. Much to Jonas' satisfaction, Enoch had +been obliged to abandon the overalls and flannel shirt which he had +worn into the Canyon. Even the tweed suit was too ragged and shrunk to +be used again. So he was clad in the corduroy riding breeches and coat +that Jonas had brought. But John Red Sun's boots were still doing +notable service and the soft hat, faded and shapeless, was pulled down +over his eyes in comfort if not in beauty. + +There was a vague trail to the spring which lay southwest of the Ferry. +It led through the familiar country of fissures and draws that made +travel slow and heavy. The trail rose, very gradually, wound around a +number of multi-colored peaks and paused at last at the foot of a +smooth-faced, purple butte. Here grew a cottonwood, sheltering from +sun and sand a lava bowl, eroded by time and by the tiny stream of +water that dripped into it gently. There was little or no view from +the spring, for peaks and buttes closely hemmed it in. The November +shadows deepened early on the strange, winding, almost subterranean +trail, and although when they reached the cottonwood, it was not +sundown, they made camp at once. Diana's tent was set up in the sand +to the right of the spring. Enoch collected a meager supply of wood +and before five o'clock supper had been prepared and eaten. + +For a time, after this was done, Enoch and Diana sat before the tiny +eye of fire, listening to the subdued chatter with which Jonas and +Na-che cleared up the meal. + +Suddenly, Enoch said, "Diana, how brilliant the stars are, to-night! +Why can't we climb to the top of the butte for a little while? I feel +smothered here. It's far worse than the river bottom." + +"Aren't you too tired?" asked Diana. + +"Not too tired for as short a climb as that, unless you are feeling +done up!" + +"I!" laughed Diana. "Why, Na-che will vouch for it that I've never had +such a lazy trip before! Na-che, the Judge and I are going up the +butte. Just keep a little glow of fire for us, will you, so that we +can locate the camp easily." + +"Yes, Diana, and don't be frightened if you hear noises. I'm going to +teach Jonas a Navajo song." + +"We'll try not to be," replied Diana, laughing as she rose. + +It was an ascent of several hundred feet, but easily made and the view +from the top more than repaid them for the effort. In all his desert +nights, Enoch never had seen the stars so vivid. For miles about them +the shadowy peaks and chasms were discernible. And Diana's face was +delicately clear cut as she seated herself on a block of stone and +looked up at him. + +"Diana," said Enoch, abruptly, "you make me wish that I were a poet, +instead of a politician." + +"But you aren't a politician!" protested Diana. "You shall not malign +yourself so." + +"A pleasant comment on our American politics!" exclaimed Enoch. "Well, +whatever I am, words fail me utterly when I try to describe the appeal +of your beauty." + +"Enoch," there was a note of protest in Diana's voice, "you aren't +going to make love to me on this trip, are you?" + +Enoch's voice expressed entire astonishment. "Why certainly I am, +Diana!" + +"You'll make it very hard for me!" sighed Diana. + +Enoch knelt in the sand before her and lifted her hands against his +cheek. + +"Sweetheart," he said softly, his great voice, rich and mellow although +it hardly rose above a whisper, "my only sweetheart, not for all the +love in the world would I make it hard for you. Not for all your love +would I even attempt to leave you with one memory that is not all that +is sweet and noble. Only in these days I want you to learn all there +is in my heart, as I must learn all that is in yours. For, after that, +Diana, we must never see each other again." + +Diana freed one of her hands and brushed the tumbled hair from Enoch's +forehead. + +"Do you realize," he said, quietly, "that in all the years of my memory +no woman has caressed me so? I am starved, Diana, for just such a +gentle touch as that." + +"Then you shall be starved no more, dearest. Sit down in the sand +before me and lean your head against my knee. There!" as Enoch turned +and obeyed her. "Now we can both look out at the stars and I can +smooth your hair. What a mass of it you have, Enoch! And you must +have been a real carrot top when you were a little boy." + +"I was an ugly brat," said Enoch, comfortably. "A red-headed, +freckled-faced, awkward brat! And unhappy and disagreeable as I was +ugly." + +"It seems so unfair!" Diana smoothed the broad forehead, tenderly. "I +had such a happy childhood. I didn't go to school until I was twelve. +Until then I lived the life of a little Indian, out of doors, taking +the trail trips with dad or geologizing with mother. I don't know how +many horses and dogs I had. Their number was limited only by what +mother and father felt they could afford to feed." + +"There was nothing unfair in your having had all the joy that could be +crammed into your childhood," protested Enoch. "Nature and +circumstance were helping to make you what you are. I don't see that +anything could have been omitted. Listen, Diana." + +Plaintively from below rose Na-che's voice in a slow sweet chant. +Jonas's baritone hesitatingly repeated the strain, and after a moment +they softly sang it together. + +"Oh, this is perfect!" murmured Enoch. "Perfect!" Then he drew +Diana's hand to his lips. + +How long they sat in silence listening to the wistful notes that +floated up to them, neither could have told. But when the singing +finally ceased, Diana, with a sudden shiver said, + +"Enoch, I want to go back to the camp." + +Enoch rose at once, with a rueful little laugh. "Our first precious +evening is ended, and we've said nothing!" + +"Nothing!" exclaimed Diana. "Enoch, what was there left to say when I +could touch your hair and forehead so? We can talk on the trail." + +"Starlight and you and Na-che's little song," murmured Enoch; "I am +hard to satisfy, am I not?" He put his arms about Diana and kissed her +softly, then let her lead the way down to the spring. And shortly, +rolled in his blankets, his feet to the dying fire, Enoch was deep in +sleep. + +Sun-up found them on the trail again. All day the way wound through +country that had been profoundly eroded. Na-che led by instinct, it +seemed, to Enoch, for when they were a few miles from the spring, as +far as he, at least, could observe, the trail disappeared, entirely. +During the morning, they walked much, for the over-hanging ledges and +sudden chasms along which Na-che guided them made even the horses +hesitate. They were obliged to depend on their canteens for water and +there was no sign of forage for the horses and mules. Every one was +glad when the noon hour came. + +"It will be better, to-night," explained Diana. "There are water holes +known as Indian's Cups that we should reach before dark. They're sure +to be full of water, for it has rained so much lately. The way will be +far easier to-morrow, Enoch, so that we can talk as we go." + +They were standing by the horses, waiting for Jonas and Na-che to put +the dishes in one of the packs. + +"Diana, do you realize that you made no comment whatever on what I told +you yesterday? Didn't the story of Lucy seem wonderful to you?" + +"I was too deeply moved to make any very sane comment," replied Diana. +"Enoch, will you let me see the diary?" + +"When I die, it is to be yours, but--" he hesitated, "it tells so many +of my weaknesses, that I wouldn't like to be alive and feel that you +know so much about them." He laughed a little sadly. + +"Yet you told Lucy them, didn't you?" insisted Diana with a smile. +"Don't make me jealous of that person, Enoch!" + +"She was you!" returned Enoch, briefly. "To-night, I'll tell you, +Lucy, some of the things you have forgotten." + +"You're a dear," murmured Diana, under her breath, turning to mount as +Jonas and Na-che clambered into their saddles. + +All the afternoon, Enoch, riding under the burning sun, through the +ever shifting miracles of color, rested in his happy dream. The past +and the future did not exist for him. It was enough that Diana, +straight and slender and unflagging rode before him. It was enough +that that evening after the years of yearning he would feel the touch +of Lucy's hand on his burning forehead. For the first time in his +life, Enoch's spirit was at peace. + +The pools were well up on the desert, where pinnacles and buttes had +given way at last to a roughly level country, with only occasional +fissures as reminders of the canyon. Bear grass and yucca, barrel and +fish-hook cactus as well as the ocotilla appeared. The sun was sinking +when the horses smelled water and cantered to the shallow but grateful +basins. Far to the south, the chaos out of which they had labored was +black, and mysterious with drifting vapors. The wind which whirled +forever among the chasms was left behind. They had entered into +silence and tranquillity. + +After supper and while the last glow of the sunsets still clung to the +western horizon, Na-che said, + +"Jonas, you want to see the great Navajo charm, made by Navajo god when +he made these waterholes?" + +Jonas pricked up his ears. "Is it a good charm or a hoo-doo?" + +"If you come at it right, it means you never die," Na-che nodded her +head solemnly. + +Jonas put a cat's claw root on the fire. "All right! You see, woman, +that I come at it right." + +Na-che smiled and led the way eastward. + +"Bless them!" exclaimed Enoch. "They're doing the very best they can +for us!" + +"And they're having a beautiful time with each other," added Diana. "I +think Jonas loves you as much as Na-che loves me." + +"I don't deserve that much love," said Enoch, watching the fire glow on +Diana's face. "But he is the truest friend I have on earth." + +Diana gave him a quick, wide-eyed glance. + +"Ah, but you don't know me, as Jonas does! I wouldn't want you to know +me as he does!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"I'll not admit either Lucy or Jonas as serious rivals," protested +Diana. + +Enoch laughed. "Dearest, I have told you things that Jonas would not +dream existed. I have poured out my heart to you, night after night. +All a boy's aching dreams, all a man's hopes and fears, I've shared +with you. Jonas was not that kind of friend. I first met him when I +became secretary to the Mayor of New York. He was a sort of porter or +doorman at the City Hall. He gradually began to do little personal +things for me and before I realized just how it was accomplished, he +became my valet and steward, and was keeping house for me in a little +flat up on Fourth Avenue. + +"And then, when I was still in the City Hall I had a row with Luigi. +He spoke of my mother to a group of officials I was taking through +Minetta Lane. + +"Diana, it was Luigi who taught me to gamble when I was not over eight +years old. I took to it with devilish skill. What drink or dope or +women have been to other men, gambling has been to me. After I came +back from the Grand Canyon with John Seaton, I began to fight against +it. But, although I waited on table for my board, I really put myself +through the High School on my earnings at craps and draw poker. As I +grew older I ceased to gamble as a means of subsistence but whenever I +was overtaxed mentally I was drawn irresistibly to a gambling den. And +so after the fight with Luigi--" + +Enoch paused, his face knotted. His strong hands, clasping his knees +as he sat in the sand, opposite Diana, were tense and hard. Diana, +looking at him thought of what this man meant to the nation, of what +his service had been and would be: she thought of the great gifts with +which nature had endowed him and she could not bear to have him humble +himself to her. + +She sprang to her feet. "Enoch! Enoch!" she cried. "Don't tell me +any more! You are entitled to your personal weaknesses. Even I must +not intrude! I asked you about them because, oh, because, Enoch, you +are letting your only real weakness come between you and me." + +Enoch had risen with Diana, and now he came around the fire and put his +hands on her shoulders. "No! No! Diana! not my weaknesses keep us +apart, bitterly as they mortify me." + +Diana looked up at him steadily. "Enoch, your great weakness is not +gambling. Who cares whether you play cards or not? No one but Brown! +But your weakness is that you have let those early years and Luigi's +vicious stories warp your vision of the sweetest thing in life." + +"Diana! I thought you understood. My mother--" + +"Don't!" interrupted Diana, quickly. "Don't! I understand and because +I do, I tell you that you are warped. You are America's only real +statesman, the man with a vision great enough to mold ideals for the +nation. Still you are not normal, not sane, about yourself." + +Enoch dropped his hands from her shoulders and stood staring at her +sadly. + +"I thought you understood!" he whispered, brokenly. + +Diana wrung her hands, turned and walked swiftly toward a neighboring +heap of rocks whose shadows swallowed her. Enoch breathed hard for a +moment, then followed. He found Diana, a vague heap on a great stone, +her face buried in her hands. Enoch sat down beside her and took her +in his arms. + +"Sweetheart," he whispered, "what have I done?" + +Diana, shaken by dry sobs, did not reply. But she put her arms about +his neck and clung to him as though she could never let him go. Enoch +sat holding her in an ecstasy that was half pain. Dusk thickened into +night and the stars burned richly above them. Enoch could see that +Diana's face against his breast was quiet, her great eyes fastened on +the desert. He whispered again, + +"Diana, what have I done?" + +"You have made me love you so that I cannot bear to think of the +future," she replied. "It was not wise of us to take this trip +together, Enoch." + +Enoch's arms tightened about her. "We'll be thankful all our lives for +it, Diana. And you haven't really answered my question, darling!" + +Diana drew herself away from him. "Enoch, let's never mention the +subject again. The things you understand by weakness--why, I don't +care if you have a thousand of them! But, dear, I want the diary. +When you leave El Tovar, leave that much of yourself with me." + +Enoch's voice was troubled. "I have been so curiously lonely! You can +have no idea of what the diary has meant to me." + +"I won't ask you for it, Enoch!" exclaimed Diana. Suddenly she leaned +forward in the moonlight and kissed him softly on the lips. + +Enoch drew her to him and kissed her fiercely. "The diary! It is +yours, Diana, yours in a thousand ways. When you read it, you will +understand why I hesitated to give it to you." + +"I'll find some way to thank you," breathed Diana. + +"I know a way. Give me some of your desert photographs. Choose those +that you think tell the most. And don't forget Death and the Navajo." + +"Oh, Enoch! What a splendid suggestion! You've no idea how I shall +enjoy making the collection for you. It will take several months to +complete it, you know." + +"Don't wait to complete the collection. Send the prints one at a time, +as you finish them. Send them to my house, not my office." + +Soft voices sounded from the camping place. "We must go back," said +Diana. + +"Another evening gone, forever," said Enoch. "How many more have we, +Diana?" + +"Three or four. One never knows, in the Canyon country." + +They moved slowly, hand in hand, toward the firelight. Just before +they came within its zone, Enoch lifted Diana's hand to his lips. + +"Good night, Diana!" + +"Good night, Enoch!" + +Jonas and Na-che, standing by the fire like two brown genii of the +desert, looked up smiling as the two appeared. + +"Ain't they a handsome pair, Na-che?" asked Jonas, softly. "Ain't he a +grand looking man?" + +Na-che assented. "I wish I could get each of 'em to wear a love ring. +I could get two the best medicine man in the desert country made." + +"Where are they?" demanded Jonas eagerly. + +"Up near Bright Angel." + +"You get 'em and I'll pay for 'em," urged Jonas. + +"We can't buy 'em! They got to be taken." + +"Well, how come you to think I couldn't take 'em, woman? You show me +where they are. I'll do the rest." + +"All right," said Na-che. "Diana, don't you feel tired?" + +"Tired enough to go to bed, anyway," replied Diana. "It's going to be +a very cold night. Be sure that you and the Judge have plenty of +blankets, Jonas. Good night!" and she disappeared into the tent. + +The night was stinging cold. Ice formed on the rain pools and they ate +breakfast with numbed hands. As usual, however, the mercury began to +climb with the sun and when at mid-morning, they entered a huge purple +depression in the desert, coats were peeled and gloves discarded. + +The depression was an ancient lava bed, deep with lavender dust that +rose chokingly about them. There was a heavy wind that increased as +they rode deeper into the great bowl and this, with the swirling sand, +made the noon meal an unpleasant duty. But, in spite of these +discomforts, Enoch managed to ride many miles, during the day, with his +horse beside Diana's. And he talked to her as though he must in the +short five days make up for a life time of reticence. + + +He told her of the Seatons and all that John Seaton had done for him. +He told her of his years of dreaming of the Canyon and of his days as +Police Commissioner. He told of dreams he had had as a Congressman and +as a Senator and of the great hopes with which he had taken up the work +of the Secretary of the Interior. And finally, as the wind began to +lessen with the sinking sun, and the tired horses slowed to the trail's +lifting from the bowl, he told her of his last speaking trip, of its +purpose and of its results. + +"The more I know you," said Diana, "the more I am confirmed in the +opinion I had of you years before I met you. And that is that however +our great Departments need men of your administrative capacity and +integrity--and I'm perfectly willing to admit that their need is +dire--your place, Enoch Huntingdon, is in the Senate. Yet I suppose +your party will insist on pushing you on into the White House. And it +will be a mistake." + +"Why?" asked Enoch quickly. + +"Because," replied Diana, brushing the lavender dust from her brown +hands thoughtfully, "your gift of oratory, your fundamental, sane +dreams for the nation, your admirable character, impose a particular +and peculiar duty on you. It has been many generations since the +nation had a spokesman. Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster, have been dead +a long time. Most of our orators since have killed their own influence +by fanatical clinging to some partisan cause. You should be bigger +than any party, Enoch. And in the White House you cannot be. Our +spoils system has achieved that. But in the Senate is your great, +natural opportunity." + +Enoch smiled. "Without the flourishes of praise, I've reached about +the same conclusion that you have," he said. "I have been told," he +hesitated, "that I could have the party nomination for the presidency, +if I wished it. You know that practically assures election." + +Diana nodded. "And it's a temptation, of course!" + +"Yes and no!" replied Enoch. "No man could help being moved and +flattered, yes, and tempted by the suggestion. And yet when I think of +the loneliness of a man like me in the White House, the loneliness, and +the gradual disillusionment such as the President spoke of you, the +temptation has very little effect on me." + +"How kind he was that day!" exclaimed Diana, "and how many years ago it +seems!" + +They rode on in silence for a few moments, then Diana exclaimed, "Look, +Enoch dear!" + +Ahead of them, along the rim of the bowl, an Indian rode. His long +hair was flying in the wind. Both he and his horse were silhouetted +sharply against the brilliant western sky. + +"Make a picture of it, Diana!" cried Enoch. + +Diana shook her head. "I could make nothing of it!" + +Na-che gave a long, shrill call, which the Indian returned, then pulled +up his horse to wait for them. When Enoch and Diana reached the rim, +the others already had overtaken him. + +"It's Wee-tah!" exclaimed Diana, then as she shook hands, she added: +"Where are you going so fast, Wee-tah?" + +The Indian, a handsome young buck, his hair bound with a knotted +handkerchief, glanced at Enoch and answered Diana in Navajo. + +Diana nodded, then said: "Judge, this is Wee-tah, a friend of mine." + +Enoch and the Indian shook hands gravely, and Diana said, "Can't you +take supper with us, Wee-tah?" + +"You stay, Wee-tah," Na-che put in abruptly. "Jonas and I want you to +help us with a charm." + +"Na-che says you know a heap about charms, Mr. Wee-tah!" exclaimed +Jonas. + +Wee-tah grinned affably. "I stay," he said. "Only the whites have to +hurry. Good water hole right there." He jerked his thumb over his +shoulder, then turned his pony and led the way a few hundred yards to a +low outcropping of stones, the hollowed top of which held a few +precious gallons of rain water. + +"My Lordy!" exclaimed Jonas, as he and Enoch were hobbling their +horses, "if I don't have some charms and hoo-doos to put over on those +Baptist folks back home! Why, these Indians have got even a Georgia +nigger beat for knowing the spirits." + +"Jonas, you're an old fool, but I love you!" said Enoch. + +Jonas chuckled, and hurried off to help Na-che with the supper. The +stunted cat's claw and mesquite which grew here plentifully made +possible a glorious fire that was most welcome, for the evening was +cold. Enoch undertook to keep the big blaze going while Wee-tah +prepared a small fire at a little distance for cooking purposes. After +supper the two Indians and Jonas gathered round this while Enoch and +Diana remained at what Jonas designated as the front room stove. + +"What solitary trip was Wee-tah undertaking?" asked Enoch. "Or mustn't +I inquire?" + +"On one of the buttes in the canyon country," replied Diana, "Wee-tah's +grandfather, a great chief, was killed, years ago. Wee-tah is going up +to that butte to pray for his little son who has never been born." + +"Ah!" said Enoch, and fell silent. Diana, in her favorite attitude, +hands clasping her knees, watched the fire. At last Enoch roused +himself. + +"Shall you come to Washington this winter, Diana?" + +"I ought to, but I may not. I may go into the Havesupai country for +two months, after you go East, and put Washington off until late +spring." + +"Don't fear that I shall disturb you, when you come, dear." Enoch +looked at Diana with troubled eyes. + +She looked at him, but said nothing, and again there was silence. +Enoch emptied his pipe and put it in his pocket. + +"After you have finished this work for the President, then what, Diana?" + +She shook her head. "There is plenty of time to plan for that. If I +go into the angle of the children's games and their possible relations +to religious ceremonies, there's no telling when I shall wind up! Then +there are their superstitions that careful study might separate clearly +from their true spiritism. The great danger in work like mine is that +it is apt to grow academic. In the pursuit of dry ethnological facts +one forgets the artistry needed to preserve it and present it to the +world." + +"Whew!" sighed Enoch. "I'm afraid you're a fearful highbrow, Diana! +Hello, Jonas, what can I do for you?" + +"We all are going down the desert a piece with Wee-tah. They's a charm +down there he knows about. They think we'll be gone about an hour. +But don't worry about us." + +"Don't let the ghosts get you, old man,", said Enoch. "After all +you've lived through, that would be too simple." + +Jonas grinned, and followed the Indians out into the darkness. + +"Now," inquired Enoch, "is that tact or superstition?" + +"Both, I should say," replied Diana. "We'll have to agree that Na-che +and Jonas are doing all they can to make the match. I gather from what +Na-che says that they're working mostly on love charms for us." + +"More power to 'em," said Enoch grimly. "Diana, let's walk out under +the stars for a little while. The fire dims them." + +They rose, and Enoch put his arm about the girl and said, with a +tenderness in his beautiful voice that seemed to Diana a very part of +the harmony of the glowing stars: + +"Diana! Oh, Diana! Diana!" + +She wondered as they moved slowly away from the fire, if Enoch had any +conception of the beauty of his voice. It seemed to her to express the +man even more fully than his face. All the sweetness, all the +virility, all the suffering, all the capacity for joy that was written +in Enoch's face was expressed in his voice, with the addition of a +melodiousness that only tone could give. Although she never had heard +him make a speech she knew how even his most commonplace sentence must +wing home to the very heart of the hearer. + +They said less, in this hour alone together, than they said in any +evening of their journey. And yet they both felt as if it was the most +nearly perfect of their hours. + +Perhaps it was because the sky was more magnificent than it had been +before; the stars larger and nearer and the sky more deeply, richly +blue. + +Perhaps it was because after the dusk and heat of the day, the uproar +of the sand and wind, the cool silence was doubly impressive and thrice +grateful. + +And perhaps it was because of some wordless, intangible reason, that +only lovers know, which made Diana seem more beautiful, more pure, her +touch more sacred, and Enoch stronger, finer, tenderer than ever before. + +At any rate, walking slowly, with their arms about each other, they +were deeply happy. + +And Enoch said, "Diana, I know now that not one moment of the +loneliness and the bitterness of the years, would I part with. All of +it serves to make this moment more perfect." + +And suddenly Diana said, "Enoch, hold me close to you again, here, +under the stars, so that I may never again look at them, when I'm alone +in the desert, without feeling your dear arms about me, and your dear +cheek against mine." + +And when they were back by the fire again, Enoch once more leaned +against Diana's knee and felt the soft touch of her hand on his hair +and forehead. + +The three magic-makers returned, chanting softly, as magic-makers +should. Faint and far across the desert sounded the intriguing rhythm +long before the three dark faces were caught by the firelight. When +they finally appeared, Jonas was bearing an eagle's feather. + +"Miss Diana," he said solemnly, "will you give me one of your long +hairs?" + +Quite as solemnly, Diana plucked a long chestnut spear and Jonas +wrapped it round the stem of the feather. Then he joined the other two +at the water hole. Enoch and Diana looked at each other with a smile. + +"Do you think it will work, Diana?" asked Enoch. + +"Eagle feather magic is strong magic," replied Diana. "I shall go to +sleep believing in it. Good night, Enoch." + +"Good night, Diana." + +Wee-tah left them after breakfast, cantering away briskly on his pony, +his long hair blowing, Na-che and Jonas shouting laughingly after him. + +It was a brisk, clear morning, with ribbons of mist blowing across the +distant ranges. By noon, their way was leading through scattered +growths of stunted cedar and juniper with an occasional gnarled, +undersized oak in which grew mistletoe thick-hung with ivory berries. +Bear grass and bunch grass dotted the sand. Orioles and robins sang as +they foraged for the blue cedar berry. All the afternoon the trees +increased in size and when they made camp at night, it was under a +giant pine whose kindred stretched in every direction as far as the eye +could pierce through the dusk. There was water in a tiny rivulet near +by. + +"It's heavenly, Diana!" exclaimed Enoch, as he returned from hobbling +the horses. "We must be getting well up as to elevation. There is a +tang to the air that says so." + +Diana nodded a little sadly. "One night more, after this, then you'll +sleep at El Tovar, Enoch." + +"I'm not thinking even of to-morrow, Diana. This moment is enough. +Are you tired?" + +"Tired? No!" but the eyes she lifted to Enoch's were faintly shadowed. +"Perhaps," she suggested, "I'm not living quite so completely in the +present as you are." + +"Necessity hasn't trained you during the years, as it has me," said +Enoch. "If the trail had not been so bad to-day and I could have +ridden beside you, I think I could have kept your thoughts here, +sweetheart." + +"I think you could have, Enoch," agreed Diana, with a wistful smile. + +The hunting had been good that day. Amongst them, the travelers had +bagged numerous quail and cottontails, and Jonas had brought in at noon +a huge jack rabbit. This they could not eat but its left hind foot, +Jonas claimed, would make a sensation in Washington. Supper was a +festive meal, Na-che producing a rabbit soup, and Jonas broiling the +quail, which he served with hot biscuit that the most accomplished chef +might have envied. + +After the meal was finished and Enoch and Diana were standing before +the fire, debating the feasibility of a walk under the pines, Jonas and +Na-che approached them solemnly. + +Jonas cleared his throat. "Boss and Miss Diana, Na-che and me, we want +you to do something for us. We know you all trust us both and so we +don't want you to ask the why or the wherefore, but just go ahead and +do it." + +"What is it, Jonas?" asked Diana. + +"Well, up ahead a spell in these woods, there's a round open space and +in the middle of it under a big rock an Injun and his sweetheart is +buried. Something like a million years ago he stole her from over +yonder from the--" he hesitated, and Na-che said softly: + +"Hopis." + +"Yes, the Hopis. And her tribe come lickety-cut after her, and +overtook 'em at that spot yonder, and her father give her the choice of +coming back or both of 'em dying right there. They chose to die, and +there they are. Wee-tah and Na-che and all the Injuns believe--" + +Na-che pulled at his sleeve. + +"Oh, I forgot! We ain't going to tell you what they believe, because +whites don't never have the right kind of faith. Let me alone, Na-che. +How come you think I can't tell this story? But what we ask of you is, +will you and Miss Allen, boss, go up to that stone yonder, and lay this +eagle's feather beside it, then sit on the stone until a star falls." + +Enoch and Diana looked at each other, half smiling. + +"Don't say no," urged Na-che. "You want to take a walk, anyhow." + +"And what happens, if the star falls?" asked Diana. + +"Something mighty good," replied Jonas. + +"It's pretty cold for sitting still so long, isn't Jonas?" asked Enoch. + +"You can take a blanket to wrap round yourselves. Do it, boss! You +know you and Miss Diana don't care where you are as long as you get a +little time alone together." + +Enoch laughed. "Come along, Diana! Who knows what Indian magic might +do for us!" + +"That's right," Na-che nodded approval. "There's an old trail to it, +see!" she led Diana beyond the camp pine, and pointed to the faint +black line, that was traceable in the sand under the trees. The pine +forest was absolutely clear of undergrowth. + +"Come on, Enoch," laughed Diana, and Enoch, chuckling, joined her, +while the two magicians stood by the fire, interest and satisfaction +showing in every line of their faces. + +Diana had little difficulty following the trail. To Enoch's +unaccustomed eyes and feet, the ease with which she led the way was +astonishing. She walked swiftly under the trees for ten minutes, then +paused on the edge of a wide amphitheater, rich in starlight. In the +center lay a huge flat stone. They made their way through the sand to +this. Dimly they could discern that the sides of the rock were covered +with hieroglyphics. Diana laid the eagle's feather in a crevice at the +end of the rock. + +"See!" exclaimed Enoch. "Other lovers have been here before!" He +pointed to feathers at different points in the rock. "It must indeed +be strong magic!" + +He folded one blanket for a seat, another he pulled over their +shoulders, for in spite of the brisk walk, they both were shivering +with the cold. + +"What do you suppose the world at large would say," chuckled Diana, "if +it would see the Secretary of the Interior, at this moment." + +"I think it would say that as a human being, it was beginning to have +hope of him," replied Enoch. + +Then they fell silent. The great trees that widely encircled them were +motionless. The heavens seemed made of stars. Enoch drew Diana close +against him, and leaned his cheek upon her hair. Slowly a jack rabbit +loped toward the ancient grave, stopped to gaze with burning eyes at +the two motionless figures, twitched his ears and slowly hopped away. +Shortly a cottontail deliberately crossed the circle, then another and +another. Suddenly Diana touched Enoch's hand softly. + +"In the trees, opposite!" she breathed. + +Two pairs of fiery eyes moved slowly out until the starlight revealed +two tiny antelope, gray, graceful shadows of the desert night. The +pair stared motionless at the ancient grave, then gently trotted away. +Now came a long interval in which neither sound nor motion was +perceptible in the silvery dusk. Then like little gray ghosts with +glowing eyes half a dozen antelope moved tranquilly across the +amphitheater. Enoch and Diana watched breathlessly but for many +moments more there was no sign of living creature. And suddenly a +great star flashed across the radiant heavens. + +"The magic!" whispered Diana, "the desert magic!" + +"Diana," murmured Enoch in reply, "this is as near heaven as mortals +may hope to reach." + +"Desert magic!" repeated Diana softly. "Come, dear, we must go back to +camp." + +Enoch rose reluctantly and put his hands on Diana's shoulders. "Those +lovers, long ago," he said, his deep voice tender and wistful, "those +lovers long ago were not far wrong in their decision. I'm sure, in the +years to come, when I think of this evening, and this journey, I shall +feel so." + +Diana touched his cheek softly with her hand. "I love you, Enoch," was +all she said, and they returned in silence to the camp. + +"We saw the star fall!" exclaimed Jonas, waiting by the fire with +Na-che. + +Enoch nodded and, after a glance at his face, Jonas said nothing more. + +All the next day they penetrated deeper and deeper into the mighty +forest. All day long the trail lifted gradually, the air growing rarer +and colder as they went. + +It was biting cold when they made their night camp deep in the woods. +But a glorious fire before a giant tree trunk made the last evening on +the trail one of comfort. Na-che and Jonas had run out of excuses for +leaving the lovers alone, but nothing daunted, after supper was cleared +off they made their own camp fire at a distance and sat before it, +singing and laughing even after Diana had withdrawn to her tent. + +"Enoch," said Diana, "I have something that I want to say to you, but +I'll admit that it takes more courage than I've been able to gather +together until now. But this is our last evening and I must relieve my +mind." + +Enoch, surprised by the earnestness of Diana's voice, laid down his +pipe and put his hand over hers. "I don't see why you need courage to +say anything under heaven to me!" + +"But I do on this subject," returned Diana, raising wide, troubled eyes +to his. "Enoch, you have made me love you and then have told me that +you cannot marry me. I think that I have the right to tell you that +you are abnormal toward marriage. You are spoiling our two lives and I +am entering a most solemn protest against your doing so." + +"But, Diana--" began Enoch. + +"No!" interrupted Diana. "You must hear me through in silence, Enoch. +I remember my father telling me that Seaton believed that you had been +made the victim of almost hypnotic suggestion by that beast, Luigi. +Not that Luigi knew anything about auto-suggestion or anything of the +sort! He simply wanted to enslave a boy who was a clever gambler. And +so he planted the vicious suggestion in your mind that you were +necessarily bad because your mother was. And all these years, that +suggestion has held, not to make you bad but to make you fear that your +children would be or that disease, mental or physical, is latent in you +which marriage would uncover. Enoch, have you never talked your case +over with a psychologist?" + +"No!" replied Enoch. "I've always felt that I was perfectly normal and +I still feel so. Moreover, I've wanted to bury my mother's history a +thousand fathoms deep. Consider too, that I've never wanted to marry +any woman till I met you." + +"And having met me," said Diana bitterly, "you allow a preconceived +idea to wreck us both. You astonish me almost as much as you make me +suffer. Enoch, did you ever try to trace your father?" + +"Diana, what chance would I have of finding my father when you consider +what my mother was? Nevertheless, I have tried." And Enoch told in +detail both Seaton's and the Police Commissioner's efforts in his +behalf. + +Diana rose and paced restlessly up and down before the fire. Enoch +rose with her and stood leaning against the tree trunk, watching her +with tragic eyes. Finally Diana said: + +"I'm not clever at argument, but every woman has a right to fight for +her mate. I insist that your reasons for not marrying are chimeras. +And if I'm willing to risk marrying the man who may or may not be the +son of Luigi's mistress, he should be willing to risk marrying me." + +"But, you see, you do admit it's a risk!" exclaimed Enoch. + +"No more a risk than marriage always is," declared Diana, with a smile +that had no humor in it. "Enoch, let's not be cowardly. Let's 'set +the slug horn dauntless to our lips.'" + +Enoch covered his eyes with his hands. Cold sweat stood on his brow. +All the ugly, menacing suggestions of thirty years crowded his answer +to his lips. + +"Diana, we must not!" he groaned. + +Diana drew a quick breath, then said, "Enoch, I cannot submit tamely to +such a decision. I have a friend in Boston who is one of the great +psycho-analysts of the country. When I return to Washington in the +spring I shall go to see him." + +"God! Shall I never be able to bury Minetta Lane?" cried Enoch. + +"Not until you dig the grave yourself, my dear! Yours has been a case +for a mind specialist, all these years, not a detective. I, for one, +refuse to let Minetta Lane hag ride me if it is possible to escape it." +Suddenly she smiled again. "I'll admit I'm not at all Victorian in my +attitude." + +"You couldn't be anything that was not fine," returned Enoch sadly. +"But I cannot bear to have you buoy yourself with false hopes." + +"A drowning woman grasps at straws, I suppose," said Diana, a little +brokenly. "Good night, my dearest," and Diana went into the tent, +leaving Enoch to ponder heavily over the fire until the cold drove him +to his blankets. + +Breaking camp the next morning was dreary and arduous enough. Snow was +still falling, the mules were recalcitrant and a bitter wind had piled +drifts in every direction. The four travelers were in a subdued mood, +although Enoch heartened himself considerably by urging Diana to +remember that they had still to look forward to the trip down Bright +Angel. + +They floundered through the snow for two heavy hours before Diana +looked back at Enoch to say, + +"We're only a mile from the cabin now, Enoch!" + +"Only a mile!" exclaimed Enoch. "Diana, I wonder what your father will +say when he sees me!" + +"He thinks you are two thousand miles from here!" laughed Diana. +"We'll see what he will say." + +"And so," murmured Enoch to himself, "any perfect journey is ended." + + + + +BOOK IV + +THE PHANTASM DESTROYED + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE FIRING LINE AGAIN + + +"When I shall have given you up, Diana, I shall love my own solitude as +never before. For you will dwell there and he who has lovely thoughts +is never lonely."--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +The cabin was built of cedar logs. Frank had added to it as necessity +arose or his means permitted, and it sprawled pleasantly under the +pines, as if it belonged there and enjoyed being there. Na-che gave +her peculiar, far-carrying call, some moments before the cabin came +into view, and when the little cavalcade jingled up to the door, it was +wide open, a ruddy faced, white-haired man standing before it. + +"Hello, Diana!" he shouted. "Where in seven thunders have you been! +You're a week late!" + +Then his eyes fastened wonderingly on Enoch's face. He came slowly +across the porch and down the steps. Enoch did not speak, and for a +long moment the two men stared at each other while time turned back its +hands for a quarter of a century. Suddenly Frank's hand shot out. + +"My God! It's Enoch Huntingdon!" + +"Yes, Frank, it's he," replied Enoch. + +"Where on earth did you come from? Come in, Mr. Secretary! Come in! +Or do you want to go up to the hotel?" + +"Hotel! Frank, don't try to put on dog with me or snub me either!" +exclaimed Enoch, dismounting. "And I am Enoch to you, just as that +cowardly kid was, twenty-two years ago!" + +"Cowardly!" roared Frank. "Well, come in! Come in before I get +started on that." + +"This is Jonas," said Na-che gravely. + +"I know who Jonas is," said Frank, shaking hands. "Come in! Come in! +Before I burst with curiosity! Diana girl, I've been worried sick +about you. I swear once more this is the last trip you shall take +without me." + +The living-room was huge and beautiful. A fire roared in the great +fireplace. Indian blankets and rugs covered the floor. There were +some fine paintings on the walls and books and photographs everywhere. +After Enoch and Diana had removed their snowy coats, Frank impatiently +forced them into the arm-chairs before the fire, while he stood on the +bearskin before them. + +"For the love of heaven, Diana, where did you folks meet?" + +"You begin, Enoch," said Diana quietly. + +At the use of the Secretary's name, Frank glanced at Diana quickly, +then turned back to Enoch. + +"Well, Frank, I was on a speaking trip, and the pressure of things got +so bad that I decided to slip away from everybody and give myself a +trip to the Canyon. That was about a month ago. I outfitted at a +little village on the railroad, and shortly after that I joined some +miners who were going up to the Canyon to placer prospect. We had been +at the Canyon several days when Jonas and Diana and Na-che found us. +Diana stayed a day or so, then Jonas and I went with a Geological +Survey crew for a boating trip down the river. We had sundry +adventures, finally landing at Grant's Ferry, our leader, Milton, with +a broken leg. Here we found Diana and Na-che. Jonas and I left the +others and came on here because I want to go down the trail with you. +That, in brief, is my story." + +"Devilish brief!" snorted Frank. "Thank you for nothing! Diana, +suppose you pad the skeleton a little." + +"Yes, I will, Dad, if you'll let Enoch go to his room and get into some +dry clothes. I told Na-che to help herself for him from your supply." + +"Surely! Surely! What a rough bronco, I am! Let me show you to the +guest room, Mr. Secretary--Enoch, I should say," and Frank led the way +to a comfortable room whose windows gave a distant view of the Canyon +rim. + +When Enoch returned to the living-room after a bath and some strenuous +grooming at Jonas' hands, Diana had disappeared and Frank was standing +before the fire, smoking a cigarette. He tossed it into the flames at +Enoch's approach. + +"Enoch, my boy!" he said, then his voice broke, and the two men stood +silently grasping each other's hands. + +Enoch was the first to find his voice. "Except for the white hair, +Frank, the years have forgotten you." + +"Not quite, Enoch! Not quite! I don't take those trails as easily as +I did once. You, yourself are changed, but one would expect that! +Fourteen to thirty-six, isn't it?" + +Enoch nodded. "Will the snow make Bright Angel too difficult for you, +Frank?" + +"Me? My Lord, no! Do I look a tenderfoot? We'll start to-morrow +morning and take two days to it. Sit down, do! I've a thousand +questions to ask you." + +"Before I begin to answer them, Frank, tell me if there is any way in +which I can send a telegram. I must let my office know where I am, +much as I regret the necessity." + +"You can telephone a message to the hotel," replied Frank. "They'll +take care of it. But you realize that your traveling incog. will be +all out if you do that?" + +"Not necessarily!" Enoch chuckled. + +Frank called the hotel on the telephone and handed the instrument to +Enoch, who smiled as he gave the message. + +"Mr. Charles Abbott, 8946 Blank Street, Washington, D. C. The boss can +be reached now at El Tovar, Jonas." + +"But won't Abbott wire you?" asked Frank. + +"No, he'll wire Jonas. See if he doesn't," replied Enoch. "And now +for the questions. Oh, Diana!" rising as Diana, in a brown silk house +frock, came into the room. "How lovely you look! Doesn't she, Frank?" + +"She looks like her mother," said Frank. "Only she'll never be quite +as beautiful as Helen was." + +"'Whose beauty launched a thousand ships'!" Enoch exclaimed, smiling at +Diana. "My boyish memoir of Mrs. Allen is that she was dark." + +"She was darker than Diana, and not so tall. Just as high as my +breast; a fine mind in a lovely body!" Frank sighed deeply and stared +at the fire. + +Enoch, lying back in the great arm-chair, watched Diana with +thoughtful, wistful eyes, until Frank roused himself, saying abruptly, +"And now once more for the questions. Enoch, what started you in +politics?" + +"Well," replied Enoch, "that's a large order, but I'll try to tell the +story." He began the tale, but was so constantly interrupted by +Frank's questions that luncheon was announced by Na-che, just as he +finished. + +After luncheon they returned again to the fire, and Frank, urged on by +Enoch, told the story of his early days at the Canyon. Perhaps Frank +guessed that Enoch and Diana were in no mood for speech themselves, for +he talked on and on, interrupted only by Enoch's laughter, or quick +word of sympathy. Diana, her hands clasped loosely in her lap, watched +the fire or stared at the snow drifts that the wind was piling against +the window. It seemed to Enoch that the shadows about her great eyes +were deepening as the hours went on. + +Suddenly Frank looked at his watch. "Four o'clock! I must go out to +the corral. Want to come along, Enoch?" + +"I think not, Frank. I'll sit here with Diana, if you don't mind." + +"I can stand it, if Diana can," chuckled Frank, and a moment later a +door slammed after him. + +Enoch turned at once to Diana. "Are you happy, dear?" + +"Happy and unhappy; unbearably so!" replied Diana. + +"Don't forget for a moment," said Enoch quickly, "that we have two +whole days after to-day." + +"I don't," Diana smiled a little uncertainly. "Enoch, I wonder if you +know how well you look! You are so tanned and so clear-eyed! I'm +going to be jealous of the women at every dinner party I imagine you +attending!" + +Enoch laughed. "Diana, my reputation as a woman hater is going to be +increased every year. See if it's not!" + +The telephone rang and Diana answered the call. + +"Yes! Yes, Jonas is here, Fred Jonas--I'll take the message." There +was a pause, then Diana said steadily, "See if I repeat correctly. +Tell the Boss the President wishes him to take first train East, making +all possible speed. Wire at once date of arrival. Signed Abbott." + +Diana hung up the receiver and turned to Enoch, who had risen and was +standing beside her. + +"Orders, eh, Enoch?" she said, trying to smile with white lips. + +Enoch did not answer. He stood staring at the girl's quivering mouth, +while his own lips stiffened. Then he said quietly: "Will you tell me +where I can find Jonas, Diana?" + +"He's in the kitchen with Na-che. I'll go bring him in." + +"No, stay here, Diana, sweetheart. Your face tells too much. I'll be +back in a moment." + +Jonas looked up from the potatoes he was peeling, as Enoch came into +the kitchen. "Jonas, I've just had a reply from the wire I sent Abbott +this morning. The President wants me at once. Will you go up to the +hotel and arrange for transportation out of here tonight? Remember, I +don't want it known who I am." + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary!" exclaimed Jonas. Hastily wiping his hands, he +murmured to Na-che, as Enoch turned away: "No trip down Bright Angel, +Na-che. Ain't it a shame to think that love ring--" But Enoch heard +no more. + +Diana stood before the fire in the gathering twilight. "Is there +anything Dad or I can do to facilitate your start, Enoch?" + +"Nothing, Diana. Jonas is a past master in this sort of thing, and he +prefers to do it all himself. You and I have only to think of each +other until I have to leave." + +He took Diana's face between his hands and gazed at it hungrily. "How +beautiful, how beautiful you are!" he said, his rich voice dying in a +sigh. + +"Don't sigh, Enoch!" exclaimed Diana. "We must not make this last +moment sad. You are going back into the arena, fit for the fight. +That makes me very, very glad. And while you have told me nothing as +to your intentions concerning Brown, I know that your decision, when it +comes, will be right." + +"I don't know what that decision will be, Diana. I have given my whole +mind to you for many days. But I shall do nothing rash, nor without +long thought. My dearest, I wish I could make you understand what you +mean to me. I had thought when we were in the Canyon to-morrow I could +tell you something of my boyhood, so that you would understand me, and +what you mean to me. But all that must remain unsaid. Perhaps it's +just as well." + +Enoch sighed again and, turning to the table, picked up the flat +package he had laid there on entering the room. + +"This is my diary, Diana," placing it in her hands. "Be as gentle as +you can in judging me, as you read it. If we were to be married, I +think I would not have let you see it, but as it is, I am giving to you +the most intimate thing in my possession, and I feel somehow as if in +so doing I am tying myself to you forever." + +Diana clasped the book to her heart, and laid her burning cheek against +Enoch's. But she did not speak. Enoch held her slender body against +his and the firelight flickered on the two motionless forms. + +"Diana," said Enoch huskily, "you are going on with your work, as +earnestly as ever, are you not?" + +"Not quite so earnestly because, after I reach the East again, Minetta +Lane will be my job." + +"Oh, Diana, I beg of you, don't soil your hands with that!" groaned +Enoch. + +"I must! I must, Enoch!" Then Diana's voice broke and again the room +was silent. They stood clinging to each other until Frank's voice was +heard in the rear of the house. + +"It's an infernal shame, I say. President or no President!" + +"I'm going to my room for a little while," whispered Diana. And when +Frank stamped into the room, Enoch was standing alone, his great head +bowed in the firelight. + +"Can't you stall 'em off a little while?" demanded Frank. + +Enoch shook his head with a smile. "I've played truant too long to +dictate now. Jonas and I must pull out to-night. Perhaps it's best, +after all, Frank, and yet, it seemed for a moment as if it were +physically impossible for me to give up that trip down Bright Angel. +I've dreamed of it for twenty-two years. And to go down with Diana and +you--" + +"It's life!" said Frank briefly. He sank into an armchair and neither +man spoke until Na-che announced supper. + +Diana appeared then, her cheeks and eyes bright and her voice steady. +Enoch never had seen her in a more whimsical mood and the meal, which +he had dreaded, passed off quickly and pleasantly. + +Not long after dinner, Frank announced the buck-board ready for the +drive to the station. He slammed the door after this announcement, and +Enoch took Diana in his arms and kissed her passionately. + +"Good-by, Diana." + +"Good-by, Enoch!" and the last golden moment was gone. + +Enoch had no very clear recollection of his farewells to Na-che and +Frank. Outwardly calm and collected, within he was a tempest. He +obeyed Jonas automatically, went to his berth at once, and toward dawn +fell asleep to the rumble of the train. The trip across the continent +was accomplished without untoward incident. Enoch was, of course, +recognized by the trainmen, but he kept to the stateroom that Jonas had +procured and refused to see the reporters who boarded the train at +Kansas City and again at Chicago. After the first twenty-four hours of +grief over the parting with Diana, Enoch began to recover his mental +poise. He was able to crowd back some of his sorrow and to begin to +contemplate his whole adventure. Nor could he contemplate it without +beginning to exult, and little by little his spirits lifted and even +the tragedy of giving up Diana became a sacred and a beautiful thing. +His grief became a righteous part of his life, a thing he would not +give up any more than he would have given up a joy. + +Undoubtedly Jonas enjoyed this trip more than any railway journey of +his experience. Certainly he was a marked man. He wore the broadest +brimmed hat in Frank Allen's collection, and John Red Sun's high laced +boots. Strapped to his suitcase were the Ida's broken paddle and the +battered board with "a-che" on it. These stood conspicuously in his +seat in the Pullman, where he held a daily reception to all the porters +on the train. True to his orders, he never mentioned Enoch's name in +connection with his tale of the Canyon, but his own adventures lost +nothing by that. + +Enoch did not wire the exact time of his arrival in Washington, as he +wished no one to meet the train. It was not quite three o'clock of a +cold December day when Charley Abbott, arranging the papers in Enoch's +private office, looked up as the inner door opened. Enoch, tanned and +vigorous, came in, followed by Jonas, in all his western glory. + +Charley sprang forward to meet Enoch's extended hand. "Mr. Huntingdon! +Thank the Lord!" + +"All set, Abbott!" exclaimed Enoch, "and ready to steam ahead. Let me +introduce old Canyon Bill, formerly known as Jonas!" + +Charley clasped Jonas' hand, burst out laughing, and slapped him on the +back. "Some story goes with that outfit, eh, Jonas, old boy! Say! if +you let the rest of the doormen and messengers see you, there won't be +a stroke of work done for the rest of the day." + +"I'm going to look Harry up, right now, if you don't need me, boss!" +exclaimed Jonas. + +"Take the rest of the day, Jonas!" + +"No, I'll be back prompt at six, boss!" and Jonas, with his luggage, +disappeared. + +Enoch pulled off his overcoat and seated himself at the desk, then +looked up at Charley with a smile. + +"I had a great trip, Abbott. I went with a mining outfit up to the +Canyon country. With Miss Allen's help, Jonas located me at the placer +mine, and after several adventures, we came back with her to El Tovar, +where I wired you." + +Abbott looked at Enoch keenly. "You're a new man, Mr. Secretary." + +Enoch nodded. "I'm in good trim. What happens first, Abbott?" + +"I didn't know what time you'd be in to-day, so your appointments don't +begin until to-morrow. But the President wants you to call him at your +earliest convenience. Shall I get in touch with the White House?" + +"If you please. In the meantime, I may as well begin to go through +these letters." + +"I kept them down pretty well, I think," said Abbott, with justifiable +pride, as he picked up the telephone. After several moments he +reported that the President would see Enoch at five o'clock. + +"Very well," Enoch nodded. "Then you'd better tell me the things I +need to know." + +Abbott went into the outer office for his note book and, returning with +it, for an hour he reported to Enoch on the business of the Department. +Enoch, puffing on a cigar, asked questions and made notes himself. +When Charley had finished, he said: + +"Thank you, Abbott! I don't see but what I could have remained away +indefinitely. Matters seem in excellent shape." + +"Not everything, Mr. Secretary. Your oil bill has been unaccountably +blocked in the Senate. The intervention in Mexico talk has begun +again. The Geological Survey is in a mix-up and it looks as if a +scandal were about to burst on poor old Cheney's head. I'm afraid he's +outlived his usefulness anyhow. The newspapers in California are +starting a new states-rights campaign for water power control and, +every day since I've returned, Secretary Fowler's office has called and +asked for the date of your return." + +"Interested in me, aren't they!" smiled Enoch. "Why is the President +in such a hurry to see me, Abbott?" + +"I don't know, sir. I promised his secretary that the moment I heard +from you I'd send such a message as I did send you." + +"All right, Abbott, I'll start along. Don't wait or let Jonas wait +after six. I'll go directly home if I'm detained after that." + +The President looked at Enoch intently as he crossed the long room. + +"Wherever you've been, Huntingdon, it has done you good." + +"I took a trip through the Canyon country, Mr. President. I've always +wanted it." + +The President waited as if he expected Enoch to say more, but the +younger man stood silently contemplating the open fire. + +"How about this tale of Brown's?" the Chief Executive asked finally. +"I dislike mentioning it to you, Huntingdon, but you are the most +trusted member of my Cabinet, and you have issued no denial to a very +nasty scandal about yourself." + +Enoch turned grave eyes toward the President. "I shall issue no +denial, Mr. President. But there is one man in the world I wish to +know the whole truth. If you have the time, sir, will you permit me to +go over the whole miserable story?" + +The President studied the Secretary's face. "It will be a painful +thing for both of us, Huntingdon," he said after a moment, "but for the +sake of our future confidential relationship, I think I shall have to +ask you to go over it with me. Sit down, won't you?" + +Enoch shook his head and, standing with his back to the fire, his +burning eyes never leaving the President's face, he told the story of +Minetta Lane. He ceased only at the moment when he dropped off the +train into the desert. He did not spare himself. And yet when the +quiet, eloquent voice stopped, there were tears in the President's +eyes. He made no comment until Enoch turned to the fire, then he said, +with a curious smile: + +"A public man cannot afford private vices." + +"I know that now," replied Enoch. "You may have my resignation +whenever you wish it. I think it probable that I'll never touch a card +again. But I dare not promise." + +"I'm told," said the Chief Executive drily, "that you were not without +good company in Blank Street; that a certain famous person from the +British Legation, a certain Admiral of our own navy and an Italian +prince contributed their share to the entertainment." + +Enoch flushed slightly, but did not speak. + +"I don't want your resignation, Huntingdon. It's a most unfortunate +affair, but we cannot afford to lose you. Brown is a whelp, also he's +a power that must be reckoned with. That article turned Washington +over for a while. The talk has quieted now. It was the gambling that +the populace rolled under its tongue. Only he and the scandal mongers +like Brown gave any but a pitying glance at the other story. The fears +that I have about the affair are first as to its reaction on you and +second as to the sort of capital the opposite party will make of it. I +think you let it hit you too hard, Huntingdon." + +Enoch lifted sad eyes to the chief executive. His lips were painfully +compressed and the President said, huskily: + +"I know, my boy! I sensed long ago that you were a man who had drunk +of a bitter cup. I wish I could have helped you bear it!" There was +silence for a moment, then the President went on: + +"What are you going to do to Brown, Huntingdon?" + +"I haven't decided yet," replied Enoch slowly. "But I shall not let +him go unpunished." + +The President shook his head and sighed. "You must feel that way, of +course, but before we talk about that let's review the political +situation. I'm ending my second term. For years, as you know, a large +portion of the party has had its eye on you to succeed me. In fact, as +the head of the party, I may modestly claim to have been your first +endorser! Long ago I recognized the fact that unless youth and +virility and sane idealism were injected into the old machine, it would +fall apart and radicalism would take its place." + +"Or Tammanyism!" interjected Enoch. + +"They are equally menacing in my mind," said the older man. "As you +know, too, Huntingdon, there has been a quiet but very active minority +very much against you. They have spent years trying to get something +on you, and they've never succeeded. But--well, you understand mob +psychology better than I do--if Brown evolves a slogan, a clever +phrase, built about your gambling propensities, it will damn you far +more effectively than if he had proved that you played crooked politics +or did something really harmful to the country." + +Enoch nodded. "Whom do you think Brown is for, Mr. President?" + +"Has it ever occurred to you that Brown often picks up Fowler's +policies and quietly pushes them?" + +Again Enoch nodded and the President went on, "Brown never actively +plays Fowler's game. There's an old story that an ancient quarrel +separates them. But word has been carefully passed about that there is +to be a dinner at the Willard to-morrow night, of the nature of a love +feast, at which Fowler and Brown are to fall on each other's necks with +tears." + +Enoch got up from his chair and prowled about the great room +restlessly, then he stood before the chief executive. + +"Mr. President, why shouldn't Fowler go to the White House? He's a +brilliant man. He's done notable service as Secretary of State. I +don't think the cabinet has contained his equal for twenty-five years. +He has given our diplomatic service a distinction in Europe that it +never had before. He has a good following in the party. Perhaps the +best of the old conservatives are for him. I don't like his attitude +on the Mexican trouble and sometimes I have felt uneasy as to his +entire loyalty to you. Yet, I am not convinced that he would not make +a far more able chief executive than I?" + +"Suppose that he openly ties to Brown, Huntingdon?" + +"In that case," replied Enoch slowly, "I would feel in duty bound to +interfere." + +"And if you do interfere," persisted the President, "you realize fully +that it will be a nasty fight?" + +"Perhaps it would be!" Enoch's lips tightened as he shrugged his +shoulders. + +The President's eyes glowed as he watched the grim lines deepen in +Enoch's face. Then he said, "Huntingdon, I'm giving a dinner to-morrow +night too! The British Ambassador and the French Ambassador want to +meet Senor Juan Cadiz. Did you know that your friend Cadiz is the +greatest living authority on Aztec worship and a hectic fan for +bullfighting as a national sport? My little party is entirely +informal, one of the things the newspapers ordinarily don't comment on. +You know I insist on my right to cease to be President on occasions +when I can arrange for three or four real people to meet each other. +This is one of those occasions. You are to come to the dinner too, +Huntingdon. And if the conversation drifts from bullfighting and Aztec +gods to Mexico and England's and France's ideas about your recent +speeches, I shall not complain." + +"Thank you, Mr. President," said Enoch. + +"I would do as much for you personally, of course," the older man +nodded, as he rose, "but in this instance, I'm playing politics even +more than I'm putting my hand on your shoulder. It's good to have you +back, Huntingdon! Good night!" and a few minutes later Enoch was out +on the snowy street. + +It was after six and he went directly home. He spent the evening going +over accumulated reports. At ten o'clock Jonas came to the library +door. + +"Boss, how would you feel about going to bed? You know we got into +early hours in the Canyon." + +"I feel that I'm going immediately!" Enoch laughed. "Jonas, what have +your friends to say about your trip?" as he went slowly up the stairs. + +"Boss, I'm the foremost colored man in Washington to-night. I'm +invited to give a lecture on my trip in the Baptist Church. They +offered me five bones for it and I laughed at 'em. How come you to +think, I asked 'em, that money could make me talk about my life blood's +escape. No, sir, I give my services for patriotism. I can't have the +paddle nor the name board framed till I've showed 'em at the lecture. +I'm requested to wear my costume." + +"Good work, Jonas! Remember one thing, though! Leave me and Miss +Diana absolutely out of the story." + +Jonas nodded. "I understand, Mr. Secretary." + +When Enoch reached his office the next morning he said to Charley +Abbott: "When or if Secretary Fowler's office calls with the usual +inquiry, make no reply but connect whomever calls directly with me." + +Charley grinned. "Very well, Mr. Secretary. Shall we go after those +letters?" + +"Whenever you say so. You'd better make an appointment as soon as +possible with Cheney. He--" The telephone interrupted and Abbott took +the call, then silently passed the instrument to Enoch. + +"Yes, this is the Secretary's office," said Enoch. "Who is +wanted? . . . This is Mr. Huntingdon speaking. Please connect me with +Mr. Fowler. . . . Good morning, Mr. Fowler! I'm sorry to have made +your office so much trouble. I understand you've been calling me +daily. . . . Oh, yes, I thought it was a mistake. . . . Late this +afternoon, at the French Ambassador's? Yes, I'll look you up there. +Good-by." + +Enoch hung up the receiver. "Was I to go to tea at Madame Foret's this +afternoon, Abbott?" + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary. Madame Foret called me up a few days ago and was +so kind and so explicit--" + +"It's quite all right, Abbott. Mr. Fowler wondered, he said, if I was +to be invited!" + +The two men looked at each other, then without further comment Enoch +began to dictate his long-delayed letters. The day was hectic but +Enoch turned off his work with zest. + +Shortly after lunch the Director of the Geological Survey appeared. +Enoch greeted him cordially, and after a few generalities said, "Mr. +Cheney, what bomb are they preparing to explode now?" + +Cheney ran his fingers through his white hair and sighed. "I guess I'm +getting too old for modern politics, Mr. Secretary. You'd better send +me back into the field. Neither you nor I knew it, but it seems that +I've been using those fellows out in the field for my own personal +ends. I have a group mining for me in the Grand Canyon and another +group locating oil fields for me in Texas." + +Enoch laughed, then said seriously: "What's the idea, Mr. Cheney? Have +you a theory?" + +Cheney shook his head. "Just innate deviltry, I suppose, on the part +of Congress." + +"You've been chief of the Survey fifteen years, haven't you, Mr. +Cheney?" + +"Yes, too long for my own good. Times have changed. People realized +once that men who go high in the technical world very seldom are +crooked. But your modern politician would believe evil of the +Almighty." + +"What sort of timber are you developing among your field men, Cheney?" + +"Only so-so! Young men aren't what they were in my day." + +Enoch eyed the tired face under the white hair sympathetically. "Mr. +Cheney, you're letting these people get under your skin. And that is +exactly what they are aiming to do. You aren't the man you were a few +months ago. My advice to you is, take a vacation. When you come back +turn over the field work to a younger man and devote yourself to +finding who is after you and why. I have an idea that the gang is not +interested in you, personally." + +Cheney suddenly sat up very straight. "You think that you--" then he +hesitated. "No, Mr. Secretary, this is a young man's fight. I'd +better resign." + +"Perhaps, later on, but not now. After years of such honorable service +as yours, go because you have reached the fullness of years and have +earned your rest. Don't let these fellows smirch your name and the +name of the Service. Clear both before you go." + +"What do I care for what they say of me!" cried Cheney with sudden +fire. "I know what I've given to the government since I first ran +surveys in Utah! You're an eastern man and a city man, Mr. Secretary. +If you had any idea of what a field man, in Utah, for example, or New +Mexico, or Arizona endures, of the love he has for his work, you'd see +why my pride won't let me justify my existence to a Congressional +Committee." + +"And yet," insisted Enoch, "I am going to ask you to do that very +thing, Mr. Cheney. I am asking you to do it not for me or for +yourself, but for the good of the Survey. Find out who, what and why. +And tell me. Will you do it, Mr. Cheney?" + +There was something winning as well as compelling in Enoch's voice. +The director of the Survey rose slowly, and with a half smile held out +his hand to the Secretary. + +"I'll do it, Mr. Secretary, but for just one reason, because of my +admiration and friendship for you." + +Enoch smiled. "Not the best of reasons, I'm afraid, but I'm grateful +anyhow. Will you let me know facts as you turn them up?" + +Cheney nodded. "Good day, Mr. Secretary!" and Enoch turned to meet his +next visitor. + +Shortly before six o'clock Enoch shook hands with Madame Foret in her +crowded drawing-room. He seemed to be quite unconscious of the more +than usually interested and inquiring glances that were directed toward +him. + +"You had a charming vacation, so your smile says, Mr. Huntingdon!" +exclaimed Madame Foret. "I am so glad! Where did you go?" + +"Into the desert, Madame Foret." + +"Oh, into the desert of that beautiful Miss Allen! She and her +pictures together made me feel that that was one part of America I must +not miss. She promised me that she would show me what she called the +Painted Desert, and I shall hold her to the promise!" + +"No one could show you quite so wonderfully as Miss Allen, I'm sure," +said Enoch. + +"Now, just what did you do to kill time in the desert, Huntingdon?" +asked Mr. Johns-Eaton, the British Ambassador. "Why didn't you go +where there was some real sport?" + +"Oh, I found sport of a sort!" returned Enoch solemnly. + +Johns-Eaton gave Enoch a keen look. "I'll wager you did!" he +exclaimed. "Any hunting?" + +"Some small game and a great deal of boating!" + +"Boating! Now you are spoofing me! Listen, Mr. Fowler, here's a man +who says he was boating in the desert!" + +Fowler and Enoch bowed and, after a moment's more general conversation, +they drew aside. + +"About this Mexican trouble, Huntingdon," said Fowler slowly. "I said +nothing as to your speaking trip, until your return, for various +reasons. But I want to tell you now, that I considered it an intrusion +upon my prerogatives." + +"Have you told the President so?" asked Enoch. + +"The President did not make the tour," replied Fowler. + +"Just why," Enoch sipped his cup of tea calmly, "did you choose this +occasion to tell me of your resentment?" + +"Because," replied Fowler, in a voice tense with repressed anger, "it +is my express purpose never to set foot in your office again, nor to +permit you to appear in mine. When we are forced to meet, we will meet +on neutral ground." + +"Well," said Enoch mildly, "that's perfectly agreeable to me. But, +excepting on cabinet days, why meet at all?" + +"You are agreed that it shall be war between us, then?" demanded Fowler +eagerly. + +"Oh, quite so! Only not exactly the kind of war you think it will be, +Mr. Secretary!" said Enoch, and he walked calmly back to the tea table +for his second cup. + +He stayed for some time longer, chatting with different people, taking +his leave after the Secretary of State had driven away. Then he went +home, thoughtfully, to prepare for the President's dinner. + +The chief executive was a remarkable host, tactful, resourceful, and +witty. The dinner was devoted entirely at first to Juan Cadiz and his +wonderful stories of Aztec gods and of bullfighting. Gradually, +however, Cadiz turned to modern conditions in Mexico, and Mr. +Johns-Eaton, with sudden fire, spoke of England's feeling about the +chaos that reigned beyond the Texan border lines. Monsieur Foret did +not fully agree with the Englishman's general attitude, but when Cadiz +quoted from one of Enoch's speeches, the ambassadors united in praise +of the sanity of Enoch's arguments. The President did not commit +himself in any way. But when he said good night to Enoch, he added in +the hearing of the others: + +"Thank you, old man! I wish I had a hundred like you!" + +Enoch walked home through a light snow that was falling. And although +his mind grappled during the entire walk with the new problem at hand, +he was conscious every moment of the fact that a week before he had +tramped through falling snow with Diana always within hand touch. + +Jonas, brushing the snow from Enoch's broad shoulders, said casually: +"I had a telegram from Na-che this evening, boss. She and Miss Diana +start for Havasu canyon to-morrow." + +Enoch started. "Why, how'd she happen to wire you, Jonas?" + +"I done told her to," replied Jonas coolly, "and moreover, I left the +money for her to do it with." + +Enoch said nothing until he was standing in his dressing-gown before +his bedroom fire. Then he turned to Jonas and said: + +"Old man, it won't do. I can't stand it. I must not be able to follow +her movements or I shall not be able to keep my mind on matters here. +I shall never marry, Jonas. All the charms and all the affectionate +desires of you and Na-che cannot change that." + +Jonas gave Enoch a long, reproachful look that was at the same time +well-tinctured with obstinacy. Without a word he left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +CURLY'S REPORT + + +"And now my house-mate is Grief. But she is wise and beautiful as the +Canyon is wise and beautiful and I claim both as my own."--_Enoch's +Diary_. + + +The Washington papers, the next morning, contained the accounts of two +very interesting dinner parties. One was a detailed story of the +President's dinner. The other told of the public meeting and +reconciliation of Secretary Fowler and Hancock Brown. The evening +papers contained, as did the morning editions the day following, widely +varied comment on the two episodes. + +Enoch did not see the President for nearly a week after the dinner +party, excepting at the cabinet meeting. Then, in response to a +telephone call one evening, he went to the White House and told the +President of his break with Fowler. + +"That was a curious thing for him to do," commented the chief +executive. "It looks to me like a plain case of losing his temper." + +"It struck me so," agreed Enoch. + +"Do you think that he had anything to do with the publishing of that +canard about you, Huntingdon?" + +"I would not be surprised if he had. If I find that he was mixed up in +it, Mr. President, I shall have to punish him as well as Brown." + +"Horsewhipping is what Brown deserves," growled the President. +"Huntingdon, why are they after Cheney?" + +"I've told him to find out," replied Enoch. "I want him to put himself +in the position of being able to give them the lie direct, and then +resign." + +"Who is after him?" + +"I believe, if we can probe far enough, we'll find this same Mexican +controversy at the bottom of it. Cheney has been immensely interested +in the fuel problem. He's given signal help to the Bureau of Mines." + +The telephone rang, and the President answered it. He returned to his +arm-chair shortly, with a curious smile on his face. + +"Secretary Fowler wants to see me. I did not tell him that you are +calling. As far as he has informed me, you and he are still on a +friendly basis. He will be along shortly, and I shall be keenly +interested in observing the meeting." + +Enoch smoked his cigar in silence for some moments before he said, with +a chuckle: + +"I like a fight, if only it's in the open." + +"So do I!" exclaimed the President. + +The conversation was desultory until the door opened, admitting the +Secretary of State. He gave Enoch a glance and greeted the chief +executive, then bowed formally to Enoch, and stood waiting. + +"Sit down, Fowler! Try one of those cigars! They haven't killed +Huntingdon yet." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. President," stiffly, "it is quite impossible +for me to make any pretense of friendship for the present Secretary of +the Interior." + +The President raised his eyebrows. "What's the trouble, Fowler?" + +"You may have heard," Fowler's voice was sardonic, "that your Secretary +of the Interior swung around the circle on a speech-making trip this +fall!" + +"I heard of it," replied the chief executive, "probably before you did, +because I asked Mr. Huntingdon to make the trip." + +"And may I ask, Mr. President, why you asked this gentleman to +interfere with my prerogatives?" + +"Come! Come, Fowler! You are too clever a man to attempt the +hoity-toity manner with me! You undoubtedly read all of Huntingdon's +speeches with care, and you observed that his entire plea was for the +states to allow the Federal Government to proceed in its normal +function of developing the water power and oil resources of this +country; that a few American business men should not be permitted to +hog the water power of the state for private gain, nor to embroil us in +war with Mexico because of private oil holdings there. You will recall +that whatever information he used, he procured himself and, before +using, laid it in your hands. You laughed at it. You will recall that +I asked you, a month before Huntingdon went out, if you would not swing +round the circle, and you begged to be excused." + +Still standing, the Secretary of State bowed and said, "Mr. Huntingdon +has too distinguished an advocate to permit me to argue the matter +here." + +Enoch spoke suddenly. "Although I'm grateful to the President, Mr. +Fowler, I need no advocate. What in thunder are you angry about? If +you and I are to quarrel, why not let me know the _casus belli_!" + +"I've stated my grievance," said Fowler flatly. + +"Your new attitude toward me has nothing to do, I suppose," suggested +Enoch, lighting a fresh cigar, "with the fact that you dined with +Hancock Brown the other evening?" + +Fowler tapped his foot softly on the rug, but did not reply. Enoch +went on. "I don't want to quarrel with you, Fowler. I'm a sincere +admirer of yours. But I'm going to tell you frankly, that I don't like +Brown and that Brown must keep his tongue off of me. And I'm deeply +disappointed in you. You did not need Brown to add to your prestige in +America." + +"I don't know what the idea is, Fowler," said the President suddenly, +"but I do know that the aplomb and finesse with which you conduct your +official business are entirely lacking in this affair. It looks to me +as if you had a personal grievance here. Come, Fowler, old man, you +are too brilliant, too valuable--" + +The Secretary of State interrupted by bowing once more. "I very much +appreciate my scolding, Mr. President. With your permission, I'll +withdraw until you feel more kindly toward me." + +The President and Enoch did not speak for several minutes after Fowler +had left. Then the President said, "Enoch, how are you going to handle +Brown?" + +"I haven't fully made up my mind," replied Enoch. + +"The bitterest pill you could make him swallow would be to put yourself +in the White House at the next election." + +"I'm afraid Brown would look on that as less a punishment than a +misfortune." Enoch smiled, as he rose and said-good night. + +Nearly a month passed before Enoch heard from Cheney. During that time +neither from Fowler nor from the Brown papers was there any intimation +of consciousness of Enoch's existence. He believed that as long as he +chose to remain silent on the Mexican situation that they would +continue to ignore him. There could be little doubt that both Brown +and the public looked on Enoch's sudden silence following the Luigi +statement as complete rout. Enoch knew this and writhed under the +knowledge as he bided his time. + +On a morning early in January, Charley Abbott answered a telephone call +which interrupted him while was taking the Secretary's dictation. + +"It's Mr. Cheney!" he said, "He's very anxious to see you for ten +minutes, Mr. Secretary." + +"Crowd him in, Abbott," replied Enoch. + +Abbott nodded, and in less than half an hour the director of the Survey +came in. + +"Mr. Secretary," he began without preliminaries, "I took your advice +and began investigating the trouble spots. Among other steps I took, I +detached two men temporarily from a Colorado River expedition and sent +them into Texas to discover if possible what the ordinary oil +prospectors felt toward the Survey." + +Enoch's face brightened. "That was an interesting move!" he exclaimed. +"Were these experienced oil men?" + +"One of them, Harden, knew something of drilling. Well, they struck up +some sort of a pseudo partnership with a man, a miner, name Field, and +the three of them undertook to locate some wells in southern Texas. +They were near the Mexican border and were heckled constantly by bands +of Mexicans. Finally, as the man Field, Curly, Harden calls him in his +report, was standing guard over the horses one night, he was shot +through the abdomen. Three days later, he died." + +"Died!" exclaimed Enoch. "Are you sure of that?" + +"So Harden reports. Field knew that his wound was fatal. He was +perfectly cool and conscious to the last, and he spent the greater part +of the period before his death, dictating to Harden a long story about +Hancock Brown's early activities in Mexico. He swore Harden to +absolute secrecy as to details and made him promise to send the story +to some lawyer here in Washington, who seems to have taken a small +portion of the Canyon trip with the expedition and who had prospected +with Field." + +"And Curly Field is dead!" repeated Enoch. + +"Yes, poor fellow! Now then, here's the point, both Harden and +Forrester, the other Survey man, are morally certain that there is a +well-organized gang whose business is to make oil prospecting on the +border unhealthy. They have several lists of names they want +investigated, and they suggest that Secret Service men be put on the +job, at once. There was a small item in Texas papers about the killing +and a New York paper was after me this morning for the story. That's +why I hurried to you." + +"Did you gather that Field's story had anything to do with the present +trouble with Mexico?" asked Enoch. + +The Director shook his head. "No, Mr. Secretary. I merely brought +that detail in because Brown is known to be your enemy and--" + +He hesitated as he saw the grim lines deepening around Enoch's mouth. +The Secretary tapped the desk thoughtfully with his pencil, then said: + +"Keep it all out of the papers, Mr. Cheney, if you please. Or, rather +if you are willing, let the publicity end be handled from this office. +Send the newspaper men to Mr. Abbott." + +"That will be a relief!" exclaimed Cheney. "Shall I go ahead on the +lines indicated?" + +"Yes, and bring me your next budget of news!" + +As Cheney went out, Enoch rang for Jonas. "Jonas, I wish you'd go home +and see if there is any mail there for Judge Smith. If there is, lock +it in the desk in my room," tossing Jonas the key. + +"Yes, Mr. Secretary," exclaimed Jonas, disappearing out the door. He +returned shortly to report that mail had arrived for Judge Smith, and +that it was safely locked away. + +Enoch had no engagement that evening. When he had finished his +solitary dinner he went to his room and took out of the desk drawer a +large document envelope and a letter. The letter he opened. + + +"My dear Judge: Forrester and I have just completed a sad bit of work, +the taking of poor Curly's body back to Arizona for burial. Soon after +you left, we took Milton over to Wilson's ranch and left Ag to look out +for him. He's coming along fine, by the way. We wired our dilemma to +our Chief in Washington and he told us to go into southern Texas and +investigate some conditions there for him. To our surprise, Curly +wanted to go along, as soon as he found we were later going into Mexico +to an old stamping ground of his. Well, we had a great time on the +Border. It wasn't so bad until the hombres began to get nasty, and as +you may recall, neither Curly nor my now good pal Forr stand well under +sniping. It got so finally that we had to stand watch over our outfit +at night, and Curly got a bullet in his bladder. He bled so we +couldn't move him and Forr went out, thirty miles, after a doctor. +While we waited, Curly got me to set down the stuff I am sending you +under separate cover. He also made his will and left you his mining +claims, all merely prospects so far. He says you know how he came to +feel as he does about Brown and Fowler. However that may be, it +certainly is the dirtiest story I ever heard one man tell on others +and, dying though he was, I begged Curly to let me tear the paper up +and let the story go into the grave with him. But he held me to my +promise, so I'm sending it to you, with this apology for contaminating +either of us with the dope. Poor old Curly! He was a man who'd been a +little embittered by some early trouble, but he was a good scout, for +all that. + +"We all missed you and Jonas,--don't forget Jonas!--very much, after +you left. Milton said half a dozen times that when he gets in shape to +go on with the work in the spring, he was going to try to persuade you +to finish the trip with us. So say we all! With best wishes, +sincerely yours, C. L. Harden." + + +After Enoch had finished Harden's letter he replaced it in its envelope +slowly and dropped it into the desk drawer. Next, as slowly, he picked +up the bulkier envelope and placed it on edge on the mantel under the +Moran painting. Then he began to walk the floor. + +He knew that, in that dingy envelope, lay the whip by which he could +drive Brown to public apology. As far as fearing any publicity with +which Brown could retaliate, Enoch felt immune. He believed that he +had sounded the uttermost depths of humiliation. And at first he +gloated over the thought that now Brown could be made to suffer as he +had suffered. He would give the story to the newspapers, exactly as it +had come to him. And what a setting! Curly shot from ambush, by +creatures, it was highly probable, who were ignorantly actuated by +Brown's own crooked Mexican policy. Curly flinging, with his dying +hands, the boomerang that was to strike Brown down. That incidentally +it would pull Fowler down, moved Enoch little. Fowler too would be +hoist by his own petard. + +For a long hour Enoch paced the floor. Then he came to a sudden pause +before the mantel and turned on the light above the painting of Bright +Angel trail. Outside the room sounded the clatter of Washington's +streets. Enoch did not hear it. Once more a passionate, sullen boy, +he was clinging to his mule on the twisting trail. Once more swept +over him the horror of the Canyon and of human beings that had tortured +the soul of the boy, Enoch, on that first visit into the Canyon's +depths. The sweat started to his forehead and, as he stared, he +grasped the mantel with both hands. Then he picked up the envelope. +His hand shook as he inserted a finger under the flap, lifting his eyes +as he did so, once more to the painting. + +He paused. Unearthly calm, drifting mists, colors too ephemeral, too +subtle for words--drawn in the Canyon! + +The lift of the Ida under his knees, the eager welter of the whirlpool, +the sting of the icy Colorado dragging him under, the flash of Diana's +face and his winning fight with death. + +The chaos of the river and two tiny figures staggering hour after hour +over the hopeless, impossible chasms and buttes; Harden going to the +rescue of Forrester. + +Starlight on the desert. Diana's touch on his forehead, her tender, +gentle fingers smoothing his hair as they gazed together at the +mysterious shadowy depth beyond which flowed the Colorado; that tender +touch on his hair and forehead and the desert stars thrilling near, +infinitely remote. + +Suddenly Enoch, resting his arm on the mantel, dropped his forehead +upon it and stood so, the wonderful glowing colors of the painting +seeming to shimmer on his bronze hair. At last, at the sound of +Jonas's footstep in the hall, he lifted his head, turned off the light +above the painting, crossed to his desk and, dropping the still +unopened envelope into a secret drawer, locked it and put the key in +his pocket. + +The following morning Senator Havisham came to see Enoch. He was one +of the leading members of Enoch's party, a virile, progressive man, +very little older than the Secretary himself. After shaking hands with +Enoch and taking one of his cigars, he sat staring at him as if he +scarcely knew how to begin. + +Enoch smiled half sadly. "Go ahead, Senator," he said. "You and I +have known each other a long time." + +The Senator smiled in return. "Yes, we have, Huntingdon, and I'm proud +of the fact. That is why I was asked to undertake this errand which +has an unpleasant as well as a pleasant side. We want you to run as +our presidential nominee. But before we pass the word around, we want +you to issue a denial of the Brown canard that will settle that kind of +mud slinging at you for good and all." + +Enoch's face was a cold mask. "I can't deny it, Havisham. The facts +stated are true. The inferences drawn as to my character are false. +The bringing of Miss Allen into the story was a blasphemy. All things +considered, as far as publicity goes, utter silence is my only +recourse. As for my private retaliation on Brown, that's another and a +personal matter." + +Senator Havisham looked at Enoch through half-shut eyes. + +"Huntingdon, let me issue that statement, exactly as you have made it." + +"No," replied Enoch flatly. "The less reference made by us to the +Brown canard, the better chance of its being forgotten." + +The Senator puffed silently, then said, "Why does Brown hate you?" + +"I have fought his Mexican policy." + +"Yes, I know, but is that the only reason?" + +"As far as my knowledge goes," replied Enoch. "Of course, now that +he's openly committed to Fowler, he has an added grievance." + +"There is nothing personal between you?" + +"I never laid eyes on the man in my life. I never did him an +intentional injury. I am merely in his way. I always have despised +his papers and now I despise him. Understand, Senator, that, without +regard to diplomacy, Brown and I must have it out." + +Havisham shook his head. "You'd better let him alone, Huntingdon. He +has an awful weapon in his papers and he can smear you in the public +mind no matter how obviously false his stories may be." + +Enoch's lips tightened. "I'm not afraid of Brown. But all things +considered, Havisham, you'd better leave me out of your list of +presidential possibilities." + +"There is no list! Or, at least, you're the list!" The Senator's +laugh was a little rueful. + +"And," Enoch went on, "strange as it may seem, I'm not sure that I want +the Presidency. It seems to me that I might be far more useful in the +Capitol than in the White House." + +"Not to the party!" exclaimed Havisham quickly. + +"No, to the country!" + +"Perhaps, but it's a debatable matter, which I don't intend to debate. +You are our man. If you won't deny the Brown canard, then we must go +ahead without the denial." + +Enoch looked thoughtfully from the window, then turned back to the +Senator. "There is no great hurry, is there? Give me a month to get +matters clear in my own mind." + +"There is no hurry, except that the Brown papers work while others +sleep, and Fowler is Brown's nominee. However, take your month, old +man. I don't doubt that you have troubles of your own!" + +Enoch nodded. Havisham shook hands heartily and departed, and the +Secretary turned to his loaded desk. The Alaskan situation was causing +him keen anxiety. The old war between private ownership, with all its +greed and unfairness to the common citizen, and government control, +with all its cumbersome and often inefficient methods, had reached +acute proportions in the great northern province. Enoch was faced with +the necessity of deciding between the two. It must be a long distance +decision and any verdict he rendered was predestined to have in it +elements of injustice. For days Enoch thrust, as far as possible, his +personal problem into the background while he struggled with this +greater one. It was only at night that the thought of Diana +overwhelmed all else to torture him and yet to fill him with the joy of +perfect memories. + +It was on the morning after he had given his Alaskan decision that +Charley Abbott, eyebrows raised, laid a Brown paper before the +Secretary, with the comment: + +"Either Cheney or some one in Cheney's office has leaked." + +It was a twisted story of Curly's death. Curly, according to this +version, had been doing his utmost to keep two Survey men, Harden and +Forrester, from hogging for obscure government purposes, certain oil +lands, belonging to Curly. In the ill feeling that had resulted, Curly +had been shot. Before his death, however, he had been able to write a +statement of the affair which had been sent to a well-known lawyer in +Washington. He also had left sufficient property to the lawyer to +enable him to expose the workings of the Geological Survey to its bones. + +Enoch's face reddened. "I don't know what there is about a piece of +work like this that gets under my skin so intolerably!" he exclaimed. +"Whether it's the cruelty of it, or the dishonesty or the brute +selfishness, I don't know. But we are going to answer this, Abbott." + +"How shall we go about it, sir? We might find out if Cheney knows +these men personally and have him make a statement." + +"Have him tell of their previous records," said Enoch. "Let the world +know the heroism and the self-sacrifice of those men. And at the end +let him give the lie direct to the Brown papers. Tell him I'll sign it +for him." + +"That will give Brown just the opening he's looking for, Mr. Secretary, +I'm afraid," said Abbott, doubtfully. "I mean, your signature." + +"I'm ready for Brown," replied Enoch shortly. + +Still Charley hesitated. "What is it, Abbott?" asked the Secretary. + +"It's Miss Allen I'm thinking about," blurted out the younger man. +"You've gone through the worst that they can hand to a man, so you've +nothing more to fear. But if they bring her into it again, Mr. +Secretary, I'll go crazy!" + +The veins stood up on Enoch's forehead, and he said, with a cold +vehemence that made Abbott recoil, "If Miss Allen's name is brought up +with mine in that manner again, I shall kill Brown." + +Charley moistened his lips. "Well, but after all, Mr. Huntingdon, +Harden and Forrester are just a couple of unknown chaps. Is your +championing them worth the risk to Miss Allen?" + +"Miss Allen would be the last person to desire that kind of shielding. +I've reached my limit, Abbott, as far as the Brown papers are +concerned. They've got to keep their foul pens off the Department of +the Interior. I'd a little rather kill Brown than not. Why should +decent citizens live in fear of his dirty newsmongers? Life is not so +sweet to me, Abbott, nor the future so full of promise that I greatly +mind sacrificing either." + +"It's just--it's just that I care so much about Miss Allen," reiterated +Charley, miserably and doggedly. + +Enoch drew a quick breath. The two men stared at each other, pain and +hopelessness in both faces. Enoch recovered himself quickly. + +"I'm sorry, my boy," he said gently, "but life, particularly public +life, is full of bitter situations like this. Brown must be stopped +somewhere by somebody. Let's not count the cost. Get in touch with +Cheney and have that statement ready for the morning paper." + +He turned back to his letters and Abbott left the room. Before he went +home that night, Enoch had signed the very readable account of some of +Harden's and Forrester's exploits in the Survey and had added, before +signing, a line to the effect that the slurs and insinuations regarding +the two men which had appeared in the morning papers were entirely +untrue. + +For several days there was no reply from the Brown camp. Enoch's +friends commented to him freely on his temerity in deliberately drawing +Brown on, but Enoch only smiled and shrugged his shoulders, while +Curly's statement lay unopened in his drawer. But underneath his calm, +the still raw wound of Brown's earlier attack tingled as it awaited the +rubbing in of the salt. + +Finally, one morning, Charley laid a Brown paper on Enoch's desk. The +Secretary of the Interior, said the account, had denied the truth of +certain statements made by the publication. A repetition of the story +followed. A careful reinvestigation of the facts, the account went on, +showed the case to be as originally stated. The well-known lawyer had +been interviewed. He had told the reporter that the contents of +Field's letter were surprising beyond words and that as soon as he had +made full preparations some arrests would follow that would startle the +country. The lawyer, whose name was withheld for obvious reasons, was +a man whose integrity was beyond question. He had no intention of +using the funds willed him by Field, for he and Field had grown up +together in a little New England town. The money would be put in trust +for Field's son, who would be sent to college with the lawyer's own +boy. In the meantime, the Secretary of the Interior would not be +beyond a most respectful and discriminating investigation himself. It +was known that he had cut short an unsuccessful speaking tour for very +good reasons, and had disappeared into the desert country for a month. +Where had he been? + +Enoch suddenly laughed as he laid the paper down. "It is so childish, +so preposterous, that even a fool wouldn't swallow it!" he exclaimed. + +"It's just the sort of thing that people swallow whole," returned +Abbott. + +"Even at that, it's absolutely unimportant," said Enoch. Again Charley +disagreed with him. "Mr. Secretary, it's very important, for it's a +threat. It says that if you don't keep still, they will investigate +your desert trip. And you know what they could make of that!" + +"Let them keep their tongues off my Department, then," said Enoch, +sternly. Nevertheless when Abbott had left him alone he did not turn +immediately to his work. His cigar grew cold, and the ink dried on his +pen, while he sat with the look of grim determination in his eyes and +lips, deepening. + +He dined out that night and was tired and depressed when he returned +home. Jonas was smiling when he let the Secretary in and took his coat. + +"Boss, they's a nice little surprise waiting for you up on your desk." + +"Who'd be surprising me, Jonas? No one on earth but you, I'm afraid." + +Jonas chuckled. "You're a bad guesser, boss! A bad guesser! How come +you to think I could do anything to surprise you?" + +Enoch went into his brightly lighted room and stopped before his desk +with a low exclamation of pleasure. A large photograph stood against +the book rack. Three little naked Indian children with feathers in +their hair were dancing in the foreground. Behind them lay an ancient +cliff dwelling half in ruins. To the left an Indian warrior, arms +folded on his broad chest stood watching the children, his face full of +an inscrutable sadness. The children were extraordinarily beautiful. +Diana had worked with a very rapid lens and had caught them atilt, in +the full abandonment of the child to joy in motion. The shadowed, +mysterious, pathetic outline of the cliff dwelling, the somber figure +of the chief only enhanced the vivid sense of motion and glee in the +children. The picture was intrinsically lovely even without that +haunting sense of the desert's significance that made Diana's work +doubly intriguing. + +Enoch's depression dropped from him as if it had never been. "Oh, my +dearest!" he murmured, "you did not forget, did you! It is your very +self you have sent me, your own whimsical joyousness!" + +Jonas tapped softly on the door. + +"Come in, Jonas! Isn't it fine! How do you suppose a photograph can +tell so much!" + +"It's Miss Diana, it ain't the camera!" exclaimed Jonas, with a +chuckle. "Na-che says she ain't never seen her when she couldn't +smile. That buck looks like that fellow Wee-tah. Boss, do you +remember the night he took me out to see that desert charm?" + +"Tell me about it, Jonas. It will rest me more than sleep." + +Enoch sank back in his chair where he could face the photograph, and +Jonas established himself on the hearth rug and told his story with +gusto. "I got a lot of faith in Injun charms," he said, when he had +finished. + +"They didn't get us our trip down Bright Angel," sighed Enoch, even as +he smiled. + +"We'll get it yet, see if we don't!" protested Jonas stoutly. "Na-che +and I ain't give up for a minute. Don't laugh about it, boss." + +"I'm not laughing," replied Enoch gravely. "I'm thinking how fortunate +I am in my friends, you being among those present, Jonas." + +"As I always aim to be," agreed Jonas. "Do you think you could maybe +sleep now, boss?" + +"Yes, I think so, Jonas," and Enoch was as good as his word. + +Nearly two weeks passed before the attack on the Department of the +Interior was renewed. This time it was a deliberate assault on Enoch's +honesty. The Alaskan decision served as a text. This was held up as a +model of corruption and an example of the type of decision to be +expected from a gambling lawyer. Followed a list of half a dozen of +Enoch's rulings on water power control, on forest conservation and on +coal mining, each one interpreted in the light of Enoch's mania for +gambling. A man, the article said in closing, may, if he wishes, take +chances with his own fortune or his own reputation, but what right has +he to risk the public domain? + +Several days went by after the appearance of this edifying story, but +Enoch made no move. Then the President summoned him to the White House. + +"Enoch, shall you let that screed go unchallenged?" he demanded. + +"What can I say, Mr. President?" asked Enoch. "And really, that sort +of thing doesn't bother me much. It is only the usual political mud +slinging. They are feeling me out. They want more than anything to +get me into a newspaper controversy with them. I am going to be +difficult to get." + +"So I see!" retorted the President. "If you are not careful, old man, +people will begin to think Brown is right and you are afraid." + +Enoch laughed. "I am not afraid of him or any other skunk. But also, +in spite of my red hair, I have a good deal of patience. I am waiting +for our friends to trot out their whole bag of tricks." + +"What do you hear from Fowler?" asked the President. + +"Nothing. I am desperately sorry that he has got mixed up with Brown. +He is a brilliant man and the party needs him. I hope his attitude +toward me has made no break in the pleasant relationship between you +and him, Mr. President." + +"It did for a short time. But we got together over the Dutch Guiana +matter and he's quite himself again. As you say, the party can ill +afford to lose him. But a man who works with Brown I consider lost to +the party, no matter if he keeps the name." + +"Fowler used to like me," said Enoch, thoughtfully. + +"He certainly did. But the reason that Fowler will always be a +politician and not a statesman is that he is still blind to the fact +that the biggest thing a man can do for himself politically is to +forget himself and work for the party." + +"You mean for the country, do you not?" asked Enoch. + +"It should be the same thing. If Fowler can get beyond himself, he'll +be a statesman. But he's fifty and characters solidify at fifty. He's +been a first rate Secretary of State, because he's a first rate +international lawyer, because his tact is beyond reproach and because +he is forced by the nature of his work to think nationally and not +personally." + +"I'm sorry he's taken up with Brown," repeated Enoch. "There never was +such a dearth of good men in national politics before." + +"I've known him for many years," the President said thoughtfully, "and +I never knew him to do a dishonest thing. He's full of horse sense. +I've heard rumors that in his early days in the Far West he got in with +a bad crowd, but he threw them off and any one that knew details has +decently forgotten them. I've tried several times to speak to him +about this new alliance but although he's never shown temper as he did +that night when you were here, I get nowhere with him. His ideas for +the party are sane and sound and constructive." + +"You mean for the country, do you not, sir?" asked Enoch again with a +smile. + +The older man smiled too. "Hanged if I don't mean both!" he exclaimed. + +"What do you think of Havisham as presidential material?" asked Enoch. + +"Too good-natured! A splendid fellow but not quite enough chin! By +the way, I understand you refused to commit yourself to him the other +day." + +Enoch rose with a sigh. "Life to some people seems to be a simple aye! +aye! nay! nay! proposition. It never has been to me. Each problem of +my life presents many facets, and the older I grow the more I realize +that most of my decisions concerning myself have been made for one +facet and not for all. This time I'm trying to make a multiple +decision, as it were." + +"I think I understand," said the Chief executive. "Good night, Enoch." + +And Enoch went home to the waiting Jonas. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +REVENGE IS SWEET + + +"And then, after that day on the Colorado was ended, after the agony of +toil, the wrestling with death while our little boats withstood the +shock of destiny itself, oh, then, the wonder and the peace of the +night's camp. Rest! Rest at last!"--_Enoch's Diary_. + + +January slipped swiftly by and February, with its alternate rain and +snow came on. The splendid mental and physical poise that Enoch had +brought back with him from the Canyon stood him in good stead under the +pressure of office business which never had been so heavy. One +morning, late in February, Cheney came to see the Secretary. + +"Well, Mr. Cheney, have you made your discovery?" asked Enoch. + +Cheney nodded slowly. "But I didn't make it until last night, Mr. +Huntingdon. I've followed up all sorts of leads that landed me +nowhere. Last night, a newspaper reporter came to my house. He's with +the News now, but he used to be with Brown. He came round to learn +something about our men finding gold in the Grand Canyon. He wanted +the usual fool thing, an expression of opinion from me as Director. As +soon as he let slip that he'd been on the Brown papers, I began to +question him and I found that he'd been fired because he'd refused to +go out to Arizona and follow up your vacation trip. But, he said, two +weeks ago they started another fellow on the job." + +Enoch did not stir by so much as an eye wink. + +"I thought you ought to know this, although, personally, it may be a +matter of indifference to you." + +Enoch nodded. "And what are your conclusions, Mr. Cheney?" + +"That Brown is determined to discredit the Department of the Interior +and you, until you are ousted and a man in sympathy with his Mexican +policy is put in." + +"I agree with you, entirely. And what are your plans?" + +"I shall stick by my Bureau until we lick him. I haven't the slightest +desire to desert my Chief. When I thought it was I they were after, I +felt differently." + +"Thanks, Mr. Cheney! Will you give me the name of the reporter of whom +you were speaking." + +"James C. Capp. He's not a bad chap, I think." + +Enoch nodded and Cheney took his departure. There were several +important conferences after this which Enoch cleared off rapidly and +with his usual efficiency. When, however, Jonas announced luncheon, +Abbott asked for a little delay. + +"Here is an interesting item from this morning's Brown," he said. +Enoch read the clipping carefully. + +"The visitor to El Tovar, the rim hotel of the Grand Canyon receives +some curious impressions of our governmental prerogatives. Recently a +government expedition down the Colorado was too well equipped with +spirits and had some severe smash-ups. Two of the men became disgusted +and quit, but nothing daunted, Milton, the leader took on two fugitives +from justice in Utah and proceeded on his way. A week later, however, +there was a complete smash-up both moral and material. The boats were +lost and the expedition disbanded. The expensive equipment lies in the +bottom of the Colorado. So much for the efficiency and morale of the +U. S. Geological Survey." + +Enoch laughed, but there was an unpleasant twist to his mouth as he did +it. + +"Abbott," he said, "will you please find out if Brown is in New York. +Wherever he is, I am going to see him, immediately and I want you to go +with me. No, don't be alarmed! There will be no personal violence, +yet." + +The locating of the newspaper publisher was a simple task. An hour +after lunch, Charley reported Brown as in his New York office. + +"Very well," said Enoch, "telegraph him that we will meet him at his +office at nine to-night. We will take the three o'clock train and +return at midnight." + +It was not quite nine o'clock when Enoch and Charley entered Hancock +Brown's office. The building was buzzing with newspaper activities, +but the publisher's office was quiet. A sleepy office attendant was +awaiting them. With considerable ceremony he ushered the two across +the elaborate reception room and throwing open a door, said: + +"The Secretary of the Interior, sir." + +A small man, with a Van Dyke beard and gentle brown eyes crossed the +room with his hand outstretched. + +"Mr. Huntingdon! this is a pleasure and an honor!" + +"It is neither, sir," said Enoch, giving no heed to the outstretched +hand. + +Brown raised his eyebrow. "Will you be seated, Mr. Huntingdon?" + +"Not in your office, sir. Mr. Brown, I have endured from your hands +that which no _man_ would think to make another endure." Enoch's +beautiful voice was low but its resonance filled the office. His eyes +were like blue ice. "I have remained silent, for reasons of my own, +under your personal attacks on me, but now I have come to tell you that +the attacks on the Department of the Interior and on my personal life +must cease." + +Hancock Brown looked at Enoch with gentle reproach in his eyes. +"Surely you don't want to muzzle the press, Mr. Huntingdon?" + +"We're not speaking of the press," returned Enoch, "I have sincere +admiration for the press of this country." + +Brown flushed a little at this. "I shall continue on exactly the line +I have laid down," he said quietly. + +"If," said Enoch, clearly, "Miss Allen is brought into your publication +again either directly or by implication, I shall come to your office, +Mr. Brown, and shoot you. Abbott, you are the witness to what I say +and to the conversation that has led to it." + +"I am, Mr. Secretary," said Charley. "And if for any reason you should +be unable to attend to the matter, I would do the shooting for you." + +"This will make interesting copy," said Brown. + +"I have within my control," Enoch went on, steadily, "the means to +force you to cease to put out lies concerning the Department of the +Interior and me. I seriously consider not waiting for your next move, +but of making use of this in retaliation for what you have done to me. +As to that, I have reached no conclusion. This is all I have to say." + +Enoch turned on his heel and closely followed by Charley left the +office. As they entered the taxicab, Abbott said, "Gee, that did me +more good than getting my salary doubled! I thought you were going to +use this morning's item as a text!" + +"You'd better have Cheney prepare a reply to that, for me to sign," +said Enoch and he lapsed into silence. They went directly to their +train and to bed and the next morning office routine began promptly at +nine as usual. + +February slipped into March. One cold, rainy morning Abbott, with a +broad smile on his face, came in to take dictation. + +"What's happened, Abbott?" asked Enoch. "Some one left you some money?" + +"Better than that!" exclaimed Charley. "I dined at the Indian +Commissioner's last night and whom do you think I took out? Miss +Allen!" + +A slow red suffused Enoch's forehead and died out. "When did she +return to Washington?" he asked, quietly. + +"A day or so ago. She is studying at the Smithsonian. She says she'll +be here two months." + +"She is well, I hope," said Enoch. + +"She looks simply glorious!" + +Enoch nodded. "Instead of dictating letters, this morning, Abbott, +suppose you start the visitors this way. Somehow, the thought of +wading through that pile, right now, sickens me." + +Charley's face showed surprise, but he rose at once. "Mr. Cheney's +been waiting for an hour out there with an interesting chap from the +western field. Perhaps you'd better see them before I let the +committee from California in." + +Cheney came first. "Mr. Secretary, one of my men is in from Arizona. +He is very much worked up over Brown's last effort and he's got so much +to say that I thought you'd better meet him. Incidentally, he's a very +fine geologist." + +"Bring him in," said Enoch. + +The Director swung open the door and moving slowly on a cane, Milton +came into the room. + +"Mr. Secretary, Mr. Milton," said Cheney. "He--" then he stopped with +his mouth open for Milton had turned white and the Secretary was +laughing. + +"Judge!" gasped Milton. + +Enoch left his desk and crossing the room seized both Milton's hands, +cane and all. + +"Milton, old boy, there's no man in the world I'd rather see than you." + +"Why, are you two old friends?" asked Cheney. + +"Intimate friends!" exclaimed Enoch. "Cheney, I'll remember the favor +all my life, if you'll leave me alone with Milton for a little while." + +"Why certainly! Certainly! I didn't know Milton was trying to spring +a surprise on you. I'll be just outside when I'm needed." + +"Sit down, Milton," said Enoch, soberly, when they were alone. "Don't +hold my deception against me. I was not spying. It was the blindest +fate in the world that brought me to the Canyon and to your expedition." + +Milton's freckled face was still pale. "Hold it against you! Of +course not! But you've rattled me, Judge,--Mr. Secretary." + +"No one but Abbott knows of my trip and he in baldest outline. Keep my +secret for me, old man, as long as you possibly can. I suppose it will +leak out eventually." + +Milton was staring at Enoch. "Think of all we said and did!" he gasped. + +"Especially what we did! Oh, it was glorious! Glorious!" cried Enoch. +"It did all for me that you thought it might, Milton. Do you remember?" + +"Yes, I remember. And I remember telling you my personal ambitions! +I'd rather have cut out my tongue!" + +"And once you all told what you thought of Enoch Huntingdon!" The +Secretary burst out laughing, and Milton joined him with a great "Ha! +ha!" + +"So you were the fugitive from justice, that joined my drunken crew," +chuckled Milton, wiping the tears from his eyes. "And I came over to +try to put myself straight as to that with the Big Boss!" + +"The best part of it all is that excepting Abbott and Jonas and now +you, not a living soul knew it was the Secretary of the Interior who +took the trip." + +"Of course, there was Miss Allen!" added Milton. "Don't forget her! +But she's as safe as the Canyon itself at keeping a secret." + +"How about the reporter who's said to be on my trail?" asked Enoch. + +"He's prowling round on the river, running up an expense account +twenty-three hours and making up lies on the twenty-fourth. Capp told +Mr. Cheney that this reporter, whose name is Ames, I believe, was to +write nothing until his return to New York. Mr. Secretary, can't +something be done to shut him off?" + +"Yes," replied Enoch, sternly. The two men were silent for a moment, +then Enoch said with a sudden lighting of his blue eyes. "Where are +you stopping, old man." + +"I haven't located the cheapest hotel in Washington yet. When I do, +that'll be where I'll stop. You remember we used to speak our minds on +the salaries the Department paid." + +"I remember," chuckled Enoch. "Well, Milton, the cheapest stopping +place in Washington is over at Judge Smith's place. I believe you have +the address. By the way, have you seen Jonas?" + +"No, but I want to," replied Milton. + +Enoch pressed the button, and Jonas' black head popped in at the door. +As his eyes fell on Milton, they began to bulge. + +"The Lord have mercy! How come you didn't tell me, boss--" he began. +Then he rushed across the room and shook hands. "Mr. Milton, I'd +rather see you than my own brother. Did you find any pieces of the +Na-che?" + +"No, Jonas, but I've got some fine pictures in my trunk of you shooting +rapids in the old boat." + +"No! My Lordy! Where's your trunk, Mr. Milton?" + +"Jonas," said Enoch, "you get Mr. Milton's trunk check and--but he says +he's going to a hotel." + +Jonas looked at Milton, indignantly. "Going to a hotel! How come you +to try to insult the boss' and my house, Mr. Milton? Huh! Hotel! +Huh!" + +He took the check and left the room, still snorting. Milton rose. "I +mustn't intrude any longer, Mr. Secretary." + +"Luckily I'm free, to-night," said Enoch. "We'll have a great talk. +Ask Cheney to come in, please." + +"Mr. Cheney," asked Enoch, when Milton had gone, "do you think you +could find out whether or not that fellow Ames has returned from +Arizona?" + +"Yes, we can do that without much trouble. Was Milton able to +straighten matters up with you, Mr. Secretary?" + +"He didn't have to. I'm an ardent admirer of Milton's. He's going to +stop at my house, while he's in Washington. Why don't you take him out +of the field and begin to groom him for your job, Mr. Cheney? He +should be ready for it in a few years." + +Cheney nodded. "He's a good man. I'll think it over. And I will +telephone Abbott about Ames." + +It was fortunate for Enoch that Milton was with him that evening, for +the knowledge that Diana was in Washington and that he could not see +her was quite as agonizing as he had suspected it would be. Yet it was +impossible not to enjoy Milton's continual surprise and pleasure at the +change in the Judge's identity and it was a real delight to make once +more the voyage to the Ferry not only for its own sake but because with +the landing at the Ferry came much conversation on the part of Jonas +and Milton about Diana. But Enoch did not sleep well that night and +reached his office in the morning, heavy-eyed and grim. + +Abbott, standing beside the Secretary's desk was even more grim. "Mr. +Cheney was too slow getting us the information about Ames," he said, +pointing to the newspaper that lay on the desk. + +Enoch lighted a cigar very deliberately, then began to read. It was a +detailed account of the vacation trip of the Secretary of the Interior. +It was written with devilish ingenuity, purporting to show that Enoch +in his hours of relaxation was a thorough-going good fellow. The +account said that Enoch had picked up a mining outfit made up of two +notorious gamblers. That the three had then annexed two Indian bucks +and a squaw and had slowly made their way into the Grand Canyon, +ostensibly to placer mine, actually to play cards and hunt. The story +was witty, and contained some good word pictures of the Canyon country. +It was subtle in its wording, but it was from first to last an +unforgettable smirching of Enoch's character. + +Enoch laid the paper down. "Abbott," he said slowly, "the time has +come to act. I want Mr. Fowler, Mr. Brown, this fellow Ames, or +whatever reporter wrote the first article about me to come to my office +tomorrow afternoon at five o'clock. If it is necessary to ask the +President for authority to bring them here, I shall ask for it." + +Abbott's eyes glowed. "Thank God, at last!" he exclaimed. "Shall I +prepare a denial of this stuff." + +"No! At least they have left Miss Allen out. We may be thankful and +let it stand at that. Now, start the procession in, Abbott. I'm in no +mood to dictate letters." + +Enoch threw himself into the day's work with burning intensity. About +three o'clock, he told Abbott to deny all visitors that he might devote +himself to an Alaskan report. + +"Mr. Milton just rushed in. Will you let him have a moment?" asked +Charley. + +"Yes, but--" here Milton came in unceremoniously. + +"Mr. Huntingdon," he said, "I've just finished lunching with Miss +Allen. We are both nearly frantic over this morning's paper. You must +let us publish the truth." + +"No," thundered Enoch. "You know the Brown papers. If they discovered +what Miss Allen did for us all at the Ferry, how she led me back to El +Tovar, what would they do with it?" + +Abbott looked from Enoch to Milton in astonishment. Milton started to +speak, but Enoch interrupted, "You are, of course, thinking that I +should have thought of that long before, when I asked her to let me go +back to El Tovar with her. But I didn't! I had been in the Canyon +long enough to have forgotten what could be made of my adventure by bad +minds. I was a cursed fool, moving in a fool's paradise and I must +take my punishment. If ever--" + +Jonas opened the door from the outer office. "The President, Mr. +Secretary," he said. + +Enoch started toward the telephone, but Jonas spoke impatiently--"No! +No! not that." + +"The President of what, Jonas!" asked Abbott. + +Jonas lifted his chest and flung the door wide. "The President of the +United States of America," he announced, and the President came in. + +Enoch rose. "Don't let me disturb you, Mr. Secretary. I can wait," +said the chief executive. + +"We were quite finished, Mr. President. May I, I wonder, introduce Mr. +Milton to you, the geologist whom Brown said headed the drunken +expedition down the Colorado." + +The President looked keenly at Milton as they shook hands. "Mr. +Huntingdon took great pains to deny that story, publicly," he said. +"Can't you persuade him, Mr. Milton, to do as much for himself, to-day." + +"That's exactly why I'm here, Mr. President!" exclaimed Milton. "But +he's absolutely obdurate!" + +Jonas came into the room and spoke to Enoch softly. "Mr. Fowler's +office is on the outside wire, Mr. Secretary. I wouldn't connect in +here while the President was here. Mr. Fowler wants to speak to you, +hisself, before he catches a train." + +"I'll go into your office to get it, Abbott," said Enoch. "May I +detain you, a moment, Mr. President? Mr. Fowler wants to speak to me." + +The President raised his eyebrows with a little smile. "Yes, if you +tell me what's happened to Fowler." + +Enoch's smile was twisted as he went out. Milton immediately began to +speak. + +"Mr. President, can't you make Mr. Huntingdon tell about his vacation?" + +The chief executive shook his head. "Perhaps it's not best. Perhaps +he did have a lapse into his boyhood habits. Not that it makes any +difference to me." + +"No! No! Mr. President. I know--" began Charley. + +But Milton interrupted, "Mr. President, he was with me and part of the +time Miss Diana Allen, a wonderful woman, was with us. And Mr. +Huntingdon is afraid they'll turn their dirty tongues on her." + +The President's face lighted as if he had received good news. "Really! +With you!" + +"Yes, with me for a week and more. And I want to tell you, sir, that +for nerve and endurance and skill in a boat and as a pal and friend +under life and death conditions I've never seen any one to surpass him. +He scorned cards while he was with us. We had no liquor. We admired +him beyond words and had no idea who he was." + +"No!" cried the President, delightedly. "Why, there must be a real +story in this! Go on with it, Milton! Enoch," as the Secretary came +in, "I'm winning the truth out of your old cruising pal, here!" + +"I can't help it, Mr. Huntingdon!" cried Milton as Enoch turned toward +him indignantly. "Miss Diana said this noon that if you didn't tell +the story, she would." + +"There you are!" exclaimed the President. "Wouldn't you know she'd +take it that way? And on second thoughts I think I'd rather hear the +story from her than any one else." + +"But she can't tell you about the voyage, sir," protested Milton. + +"That's true," agreed the President. "I shall have to arrange one of +my choice little dinners and have you and Miss Diana Allen there to pad +out the Secretary's account." Then, with a sudden change of voice, he +walked over to Enoch and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. +Abbott nodded to Milton and the two slipped out. + +"You are a bit twisted about women, dear old man! Come, you must let +Milton put out the right kind of a denial of Brown's story." + +"Brown will put the denial out for himself," said Enoch sternly. "I've +reached my limit. Mr. President, I have asked Mr. Fowler, Brown, and +the reporter who's been maligning me to come to my office to-morrow +afternoon. I think I shall be able to settle this matter. I would +perhaps have done it before but I could not settle in my own mind just +how I wanted to go about it. Fowler refused to come until I told him +the purpose of the meeting." + +"And you know now how to end this miserable affair?" asked the +President, wonderingly. + +"Yes," replied Enoch. "And now, Mr. President, what can I do for you?" + +"Exactly what you are doing, Enoch. Clear up this disgusting matter." + +"You came to see me for that, sir?" + +The President smiled. "You do not seem to realize that a great many +people, people who never saw you, are deeply troubled about you. You +do not belong to yourself but to us, Mr. Secretary." + +"Perhaps you are right, sir," said Enoch humbly. "I thank you most +sincerely for coming." + +"Will you come to me as soon as you have finished, to-morrow, Enoch?" + +"Yes, Mr. President! Abbott, will you show the President out?" Then +when Charley had returned, he said, "Abbott, the Secretary of State +will be here. How about Brown?" + +"He will be here," replied Charley. "I used the President's name +pretty freely, but I think I finally got him curious enough and worried +enough." + +Enoch nodded. "Abbott, for the first time since I've been in this +office, I'm going to quit early and go for a ride." + +"It's what you ought to do every day," said Abbott. + +"Look here, Abbott, if I get this beastly matter settled to-morrow, I +want you to go away for two months' vacation." + +"Well," said Charley, doubtfully, "if you get it settled!" + +"Don't let that worry you," said Enoch grimly as he pulled on his +overcoat and left the office. "I'll settle it." + +Promptly at three o'clock, the next day, Abbott ushered three men into +the Secretary's office. Enoch rose and bowed to Secretary Fowler, to +Hancock Brown, and to Ames, the reporter. The last was a clear cut +young fellow with a nose a little too sharp and eyes set a trifle too +close together. + +"If you will be seated, gentlemen, I'll tell you the object of this +call upon your time. Mr. Abbott, please remain in the room. + +"On the third of November, Mr. Brown, you published in one of your +evening papers an article about me written under your direction by +Ames. The facts in that article were in the main true. The deductions +you drew from them were vilely false. It is not, Mr. Brown, a pleasant +knowledge for a man to carry through life that his mother was what my +mother was. I have suffered from that knowledge as it is obviously +quite beyond your power to comprehend. I say obviously, because no men +with decency or the most ordinary imagination would have dared to +harrow a man's secret soul as you harrowed mine. Even in my many +battles with Tammany, my unfortunate birth has been respected. It +remained for you to write the unwriteable. + +"As for my gambling, that too is true, to a certain extent. I have +played cards perhaps half a dozen times in as many years. I was taught +to play by the Luigi whom you interviewed. I have a gambler's +instinct, but since I was fourteen I have fought as men can fight and +latterly I have been winning the battle. + +"Your insinuations as to my adult relationship to the underworld and to +women are lies. And your dragging Miss Allen into the dirty tale was a +gratuitous insult which it is fortunate for both of you, her father has +not yet seen. It happened that while I was on the vacation recently in +which you have taken so impertinent an interest, that I joined the camp +of two miners. One of them, Curly Field, told me an interesting story. +He probably would not have told me had I not been calling myself Smith +and had he not discovered that I am a lawyer." + +The smile suddenly disappeared from Brown's face. + +"That fellow Curly always was a liar," he said. + +Enoch shrugged his shoulders. "You should be a good judge of liars, +Brown. Curly told me that Mr. Fowler was his brother-in-law's partner." + +Fowler spoke, his face drawn. "Spare me that story, Mr. Huntingdon, I +beg of you." + +"Did you beg Brown to spare me?" demanded Enoch, sternly. + +"Pshaw!" exclaimed Brown, "that is old stuff. It couldn't be proved +that we had anything to do with it." + +"No?" queried Enoch. "What would you say to my taking the fund left +Judge Smith by Curly and employing a first-class lawyer and a detective +to go on the trail of those mis-appropriated funds?" Brown did not +answer and Enoch went on: "Curly's idea was to get even with Fowler. +It was, in fact, a type of mania with him. He told me that for years +he had been in possession of facts concerning certain doings of Brown +and Fowler in Mexico, which if they were properly blazed across the +country would utterly ruin both of them. He wanted to put me in +possession of those facts." + +Suddenly Fowler rose and went to stand at a window, his back to the +group around the Secretary's desk. Enoch continued, clearly and firmly: + +"I could scarcely believe my good fortune. Here was my chance to pay +Brown in kind." + +"Did Curly give you the facts?" asked Brown, who had grown a little +white around the mouth. + +Enoch did not heed him. "I asked Curly if the story was a reflection +on these two men morally or financially. He said, morally; that it was +bad beyond words. At this point I weakened and told him that I had no +desire to display any man's weakness in the market place. And Curly +laughed at me and asked me what mercy Fowler had shown his brother? +But still I could not make up my mind to take those facts from Curly." + +Mr. Brown eased back in his chair with a sneering smile. Young Ames +sat sickly pale, his mouth open. + +"But when I left him," the calm, rich voice went on, "I told him that +he could write down the story and send it to my house in Washington. +Now the chances are that having drifted so many years without telling +it, he would have drifted on indefinitely. But fate intervened. Curly +went to the Mexican border. Certain gentlemen have seen to it that the +Mexican border is not safe. Curly was shot and he made it his +death-bed duty to dictate this delectable tale to a friend. In due +course of time, the document reached my house in Washington, and here +it is!" He tapped the upper drawer of his desk. + +There was utter silence in the room while Enoch lighted a cigarette. + +"Have you told any one the er--tale?" demanded Brown, hoarsely. "I can +prove that not a word of it is true!" + +"Can you?" Enoch squared round on him. "Are you willing to risk having +the story told with the idea of disproving it, afterward? Isn't your +system of scandal mongering built on the idea that mud once slung +always leaves a stain in the public mind? And Curly was an eye +witness. He is dead, but I do not believe all the other eye witnesses +are dead. At any rate--" + +Brown suddenly leaned forward in his chair. "Mr. Huntingdon, I'll give +you my check for $100,000, if you will give me that document and swear +to keep your mouth shut." + +"Your bribe is not large enough," Enoch answered tersely. + +"Five hundred thousand! I'll agree to make a public retraction of +everything I said about you and to work for you with all the power of +my newspapers." + +"Not enough!" repeated Enoch, watching Brown's white face, keenly. + +"What do you want?" demanded the newspaper publisher. + +"First," Enoch threw his cigarette away, "I want Secretary Fowler to +break with you, absolutely and completely." + +"Curly can't implicate me, in that Mexican affair!" cried Fowler. +"Why, my whole attitude was one of disapproval and disgust. I told +Brown over and over, that he was a fool and after the shooting I broke +with him, absolutely, for years. I am--" + +Enoch interrupted. "Brown, was Fowler in on the trouble?" + +"No!" replied Brown, sullenly. + +"I'm very glad to hear it," Enoch exclaimed. "Mr. Fowler, as far as I +am concerned all that I learned from Field regarding you is a closed +book and forgotten if you will break with Brown." + +"I'd break with him, gladly, if he'd cease to blackmail me about the +Field matter," said Fowler. "Good God! How many of us are there +who've not committed sins that we never forgive ourselves?" + +"None of us!" said Enoch. "Mr. Fowler, why did you break with me?" + +"Didn't you do your best to undermine me with the President? Didn't +you go to Ambassador Johns-Eaton and tell him--" Here, catching a +curious flickering of young Ames' eyelids, Fowler interrupted himself +to demand, "Or was that more of your dirty work, Ames?" + +"Answer, Ames!" Enoch's voice was not to be ignored. + +"Brown paid me for it," muttered Ames. + +Fowler groaned and looked at Enoch, who was lighting a fresh cigarette. + +"Will you agree, Brown, to an absolute break with Fowler and no come +backs?" asked Enoch. + +"Yes," said Brown eagerly. "What else?" + +"You are to go out of the newspaper business." + +There was another silence. Then Brown said, "I'll not do it!" + +"Very well," returned Enoch, "then the Mexican affair will be published +as Curly has written it with all the attendant circumstances." + +Again there was silence, with all the eyes in the room focused on the +pale, gentle face, opposite Enoch. The noise of street traffic beat +against the windows. Telephones sounded remotely in the outer office. +For ten minutes this was all. Then Brown in a husky voice said, + +"Very well! Give me the document!" + +"Not at all," returned Enoch, coolly. "This document goes into my +safety deposit box. In case of my death, it will be left to +responsible parties. When you die, it will be destroyed. I am not a +rich man, Mr. Brown, but I shall devote a part of my income to having +you watched; watched lest indirectly and by the underhand methods you +know so well you again attempt to influence public opinion. After +to-morrow, you are through." + +"To-morrow! Impossible!" gasped Brown. + +"Nothing is impossible except decency to a man of your capacity," said +Enoch. "To-morrow you publish a complete denial of your lies about me +and this Department and then you are no longer a newspaper publisher. +That is all I have to say to you, Mr. Brown." He pressed a button, +"Jonas, please show Mr. Brown out." + +Jonas' black eyes snapped. "How come you think I'd soil my shadow +letting that viper trail it, boss? I never disobeyed you before, Mr. +Secretary, but that trash can show hisself out!" and Jonas withdrew to +his own office, while Brown, shrugging his shoulders, opened and closed +the door for himself. + +Ames would have followed him, but Enoch said, "One moment, Ames! What +assurance are you going to give me that you will keep your mouth shut +as to what you've heard this afternoon?" + +"I give you my word," began Ames, eagerly. + +Enoch raised his hand. "Don't be silly, Ames. Do you know that I can +make serious legal trouble for you for your part in libelling me and +the Department?" + +"But Brown said his lawyers--" + +"Brown's lawyers? Do you think Brown's lawyers will fight for you now?" + +"No, Mr. Secretary," muttered the reporter. + +"Very well! Keep your mouth shut and you'll have no trouble from this, +but let me trace one syllable to you and I shall have no bowels of +compassion. One word more, Ames. You are clever or Brown would not +have used you as he did. Get a job on a clean paper. There is no +finer profession in the world than that of being a good newspaper man. +Newspaper men wield a more potent influence in our American life than +any other single factor. Use your talent nobly, not ignobly, Ames. +And above all things never tell a vile tale about any man's mother. +Don't do it, Ames!" and here Enoch's voice for the first time broke. + +Ames, his hands trembling, picked up his hat. His face had turned an +agonized red. Biting his lips, he made his way blindly from the room. + +"And now," said Enoch, "if you'll leave Mr. Fowler and me alone for a +few minutes, Abbott, I'll appreciate it." As the door closed after +Charley he said, "Sit down, Fowler. I'm sorry to have put you through +such an ordeal, but I knew no other way." + +"I deserve it, I guess." Fowler sat down wearily. "I was an unlicked +whelp in my youth, Huntingdon, but though I got into rotten company, I +never did anything actually crooked." + +"I believe you," Enoch nodded. "Let the guiltless throw the first +stone. We both have paid in our heart's blood, I guess, for all that +we wrought in boyhood." + +"A thousand-fold," agreed Fowler. "Huntingdon, let me try to express +my regret for--" + +"Don't!" interrupted Enoch. "If you are half as eager as I am to +forget it all you'll never mention it even to yourself. But I do want +to talk candidly to you about our political aspirations. Mr. Fowler, I +don't want to go to the White House! I have a number of reasons that I +don't think would interest you particularly. But I want to go back to +the Senate when I finish here. Fowler, if you were not so jealous and +so personal in your ambitions I would be glad to see you get the party +nomination." + +Fowler's fine, tired face expressed incredulity mingled with +bewilderment. + +Enoch went on, "You and I are talking frankly as men rarely talk and as +we probably never shall again. So perhaps you will forgive me if I +make some personal comments. It seems to me that the only permanent +satisfaction a man gets out of public life is the feeling that he has +added in greater or less degree to the sum total of his country's +progress and stability. I think your weakness is that you place +yourself first and your country second." + +"No!" said Fowler, eagerly. "You don't understand me, Huntingdon! My +own aim in life is to make my service to my country compensate for the +selfishness and foolishness of my youth. My methods may, as you say, +have been open to misinterpretation. But God knows my impulses have +been disinterested. And you must realize now, Huntingdon, that it has +been the business of certain people to see that you and I misunderstand +each other." + +"That's true," said Enoch, thoughtfully. "Well, I doubt if that is +possible again." + +"It is absolutely impossible!" exclaimed Fowler. "I am yours to +command!" + +"No, you're not!" laughed Enoch. "Brown is finished and you're your +own man. I look for great things from you, Fowler. I wanted to tell +you that and to tell you that in me you have no rival." + +"No," Fowler spoke slowly, "no, because no one can win, no one deserves +to win the place in the hearts of America that you have. Huntingdon, +your kindness and courtesy is the most exquisite punishment you could +visit upon me." + +Enoch looked quickly from the Secretary of State to the opposite wall. +But he did not see the wall. He saw a crude camp in the bottom of the +Canyon. He heard the epic rush of waters and the sigh of eternal winds +and he saw again the picture of Harden fighting his way up the menacing +walls to rescue Forrester. It seemed to Fowler that the silence had +lasted five minutes before Enoch turned to him with his flashing smile. + +"We are friends, Fowler, are we not?" + +The older man rose and held out his hand. "Yes, Huntingdon, as long as +we live," and he slowly left the room. + +Enoch sank back on his chair, wearily, and opening the top drawer of +his desk, took out the familiar envelope. _The seal was still +unbroken_! He placed it in a heavy document envelope, sealed this and +wrote a memorandum on it, and dropped it on the desk. Then for a long +time he sat staring into the dusk. At last, as if the full realization +of the loneliness of his life had swept over him he dropped his head on +his desk with a groan. + +"O Diana! Diana!" + +He did not hear the door open softly. Abbott with Ames just behind +him, stood on the threshold. The two young men looked at each other, +abashed, and Abbott would have withdrawn, but Ames went doggedly into +the room. + +"Mr. Secretary!" he said, hesitatingly. + +Enoch sat erect. Abbott flashed on the light. "Mr. Ames insists on +seeing you again, Mr. Huntingdon," Charley spoke hesitatingly. + +"Come in, Ames," said Enoch, coldly. "Abbott, see that this envelope +is put in a safe place." + +Abbott left them alone. Ames advanced to the desk, where he stood, his +face eager. + +"Mr. Secretary, you've been so decent. You,--you--well, you're such a +man! I--I want to tell you something but I don't know how you'll take +it. The truth is, I believe that I could prove that Luigi's mistress +was not your mother!" + +Enoch clutched his desk and his face turned to stone. "Don't you think +you went far enough with that matter before?" he asked sternly. + +Ames stumbled on, doggedly. "This last trip out West I just thought +I'd go down to Brown's early stamping grounds and see what kind of a +reputation he had there. I was getting a little fed up on him and I +thought it couldn't hurt me to have a little something on him against a +rainy day, as it were. You see I never did know what this Curly Field +stuff was, but it didn't take me long to run that story down, even if +it was a generation old. Of course, I don't know what Curly told you, +but certainly the official reports of the Field scandal never proved +anything on either Brown or Fowler." + +Enoch moved impatiently. But young Ames, standing rigidly before his +desk exclaimed, "Just a moment longer, please, Mr. Secretary! Some of +these facts you know unless Field was so obsessed with the thought of +his brother's alleged wrongs that he did not mention them, but I'll +state them anyhow. The mining and smelting property that caused the +whole row was originally owned by an old timer named Post who struck it +rich late in life, married and died soon after, leaving everything to +his son, a little chap named Arthur. This is the child Field was +supposed to have robbed. Little Arthur died a couple of years after +Field's suicide but by that time there was nothing left of the property +and no one paid any attention to the child's death. But in reading old +Post's will, something piqued my curiosity. In the event of Arthur's +death, the property was to go to old Post's baby nephew, Huntingdon +Post." + +Enoch knit his brows quickly but he did not speak and Ames went on, +"Being, of course, in a suspicious state of mind, it struck me as an +unusual coincidence that this child should have died, too. So I made +some inquiries. It was difficult to trace the facts because there were +no relatives. Old Post seemed to have been just a solitary prowler, +coming from nowhere, like so many of the old timers. But finally, I +found an old fellow in the back country who had known old Post. He +told me that little Hunt Post, as he called him, had been killed with +his father and mother in a railway accident. I asked where they got +the child's name and he said the mother's name was Huntingdon. He knew +her when she was a girl living alone with her father in the Kanab +country, north of the Grand Canyon. He said her father died when she +was ten or eleven and a family named Smith sort of brought her up and +she was known as Mary Smith. But when she married, she named the boy +after her father who was a raw boned, red headed man named Enoch +Huntingdon." + +Enoch gave Ames a long steady look and the younger man relaxed a little. + +"Now," Ames went on, "knowing Brown as I do, I wonder if little Hunt +Post, who, like his mother was red headed and blue eyed, was burned up +in a railroad accident. Did Field speak of the child?" + +Enoch pressed the desk button and Abbott came. "Give me the Field +envelope, please, Abbott." + +When the envelope was in his hands, Enoch tore the flap up and began to +read the close written pages. When he had finished, he put the +manuscript back with steady hands. "Most of the letter," he said +quietly, "is taken up by the recital of Brown's shady moral career in +Mexico. At the end he speaks of a Mexican woman with red hair and +violet eyes who lived with Brown for some months. She left to act as +nurse to little Hunt Post. Some time after the railroad accident, +Curly was the unsuspected witness to a secret meeting between this +Anita and Brown. The woman demanded money and Brown demanded proof +that little Hunt was dead. The conference ended only when Anita +produced a box containing the child's body. Curly did not know how +much Brown paid her or where she went." + +Ames gave an ugly laugh. "Hoist with his own petard! Think of him +starting me after the Luigi scandal!" + +"Tell Abbott what you've just told me," said Enoch. + +He did not stir while Ames repeated the story. Charley's eyes blazed. +When Ames finished, Charley started to speak but the young reporter +interrupted. + +"Mr. Secretary, I want you to let me tie up the loose ends for you. +We've got to put the screws on Luigi and I'll take another trip West." + +"Wait a bit!" exclaimed Charley. "Mr. Secretary, I'm going to claim +that long deferred vacation. Let me spend it with Ames clearing this +matter up for you." + +Enoch drew a quick breath. "When could you begin, you two?" + +"Now!" the two young men said together. + +Enoch smiled. "Wait until to-morrow. I've more important work +to-night, and I want to go over every detail with you before you start +out. In the meantime, Abbott, guard this envelope as you would your +life." + +"What won't we do to Brown!" exclaimed Charley. + +"I've punished Brown," said Enoch. "He'll never hurt me again. As +soon as this thing is cleared, we'll forget him." + +Again Ames laughed. "Believe me, he's going to be good the rest of his +life. Think of your reading that stuff about little Hunt, Mr. +Secretary, and never realizing its import!" + +"God knows, I didn't want to read the story of another man's ignominy!" +said Enoch, earnestly, "and I never would have, had not--" he paused, +then said as if to himself, "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders +to perform!" + +The two younger men stood in silence. Then Enoch said, "Thank you, +Ames, I'll see you at nine o'clock to-morrow morning. Abbott, get the +White House for me and then go home to dinner." + +A few minutes later Enoch was speaking to the President. "I have to +report victory, Mr. President, all along the line. . . . Yes, sir, +it's a long story and I want to tell it to you to-morrow, not to-night. +Mr. President, I'm going to find Miss Allen and dine with her, +to-night, if I have to take her from a state function. . . . Yes, you +may chuckle if you wish. I thought you'd understand. . . . Thank you! +Good night, Mr. President." + +Enoch hung up the receiver and sat looking at the floor, his face as +white as marble. For five minutes he did not stir, then he heaved a +great sigh and the tense muscles of his face relaxed. He tossed back +the hair from his forehead, sprang to his feet and began to pace the +floor. After a short time of this, he rang for Jonas. + +"Jonas, do you know where Miss Diana is stopping?" + +Jonas did not seem to hear the question. He stood staring at Enoch +with eyes that seemed to start from their sockets. + +"My Lordy, boss, what's happened? You look like I never hoped to see +you look!" Then he paused for he could not express what he saw in the +Secretary's shining eyes. + +"Jonas, old man, I've had the greatest news of my life, but I can't +tell even you, first." + +"Miss Diana!" ejaculated Jonas. "Boss, she's at the Larson; one of +these boarding houses that calls themselves a name. Didn't I tell you +Injun charms was strong? Tell me! Huh!" + +"All right, Jonas! I won't be home to dinner. Better sit up for me +though, for I'll want to talk to you." + +"Did I ever not sit up for you?" demanded Jonas as he gave Enoch his +coat. + +Enoch paced the floor of the Larson while a slatternly maid went in +search of Diana. When, a little pale and breathless, Diana appeared in +the doorway, Enoch did not stir for a moment from under the chandelier. +Nor did he speak. Diana gazed at him as if she never had seen him +before. His eyes were blazing. His lips quivered. He was very pale. + +Suddenly, tossing his hat and cane to a chair, he crossed the room. He +tried to smile. + +"Diana, have you seen your friend, the psychologist yet?" + +"No, Enoch, but I have an appointment with him for next week." + +Enoch seized her hands and held them both against his heart. "You need +never see him, Diana, I have been made whole. I--" his voice broke +hoarsely--"I have something to tell you. Diana, you are going to dine +with me." + +"Yes, Enoch!" + +"Diana! Oh, how lovely you are! Diana, it's a wonderful night, with a +full moon. I want you to walk with me to the Eastern Club. I have +something to tell you. And while I'm telling you, no four walls must +hem us in." + +Diana, her great eyes shining in response to Enoch's, turned without a +word and went back upstairs. She returned at once, clad for the walk. +Enoch opened the street door and paused to look down into her face with +a trembling smile. 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