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diff --git a/2286-h/2286-h.htm b/2286-h/2286-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3634810 --- /dev/null +++ b/2286-h/2286-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3777 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Devil's Ford, by Bret Harte + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Devil's Ford, by Bret Harte + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Devil's Ford + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 13, 2006 [EBook #2286] +Last Updated: March 4, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEVIL'S FORD *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + DEVIL'S FORD + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + by Bret Harte + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>DEVIL'S FORD</b></big> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + DEVIL'S FORD + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <p> + It was a season of unequalled prosperity in Devil's Ford. The half a dozen + cabins scattered along the banks of the North Fork, as if by some overflow + of that capricious river, had become augmented during a week of fierce + excitement by twenty or thirty others, that were huddled together on the + narrow gorge of Devil's Spur, or cast up on its steep sides. So sudden and + violent had been the change of fortune, that the dwellers in the older + cabins had not had time to change with it, but still kept their old + habits, customs, and even their old clothes. The flour pan in which their + daily bread was mixed stood on the rude table side by side with the + “prospecting pans,” half full of gold washed up from their morning's work; + the front windows of the newer tenements looked upon the one single + thoroughfare, but the back door opened upon the uncleared wilderness, + still haunted by the misshapen bulk of bear or the nightly gliding of + catamount. + </p> + <p> + Neither had success as yet affected their boyish simplicity and the + frankness of old frontier habits; they played with their new-found riches + with the naive delight of children, and rehearsed their glowing future + with the importance and triviality of school-boys. + </p> + <p> + “I've bin kalklatin',” said Dick Mattingly, leaning on his long-handled + shovel with lazy gravity, “that when I go to Rome this winter, I'll get + one o' them marble sharps to chisel me a statoo o' some kind to set up on + the spot where we made our big strike. Suthin' to remember it by, you + know.” + </p> + <p> + “What kind o' statoo—Washington or Webster?” asked one of the + Kearney brothers, without looking up from his work. + </p> + <p> + “No—I reckon one o' them fancy groups—one o' them Latin + goddesses that Fairfax is always gassin' about, sorter leadin', directin' + and bossin' us where to dig.” + </p> + <p> + “You'd make a healthy-lookin' figger in a group,” responded Kearney, + critically regarding an enormous patch in Mattingly's trousers. “Why don't + you have a fountain instead?” + </p> + <p> + “Where'll you get the water?” demanded the first speaker, in return. “You + know there ain't enough in the North Fork to do a week's washing for the + camp—to say nothin' of its color.” + </p> + <p> + “Leave that to me,” said Kearney, with self-possession. “When I've built + that there reservoir on Devil's Spur, and bring the water over the ridge + from Union Ditch, there'll be enough to spare for that.” + </p> + <p> + “Better mix it up, I reckon—have suthin' half statoo, half + fountain,” interposed the elder Mattingly, better known as “Maryland Joe,” + “and set it up afore the Town Hall and Free Library I'm kalklatin' to + give. Do THAT, and you can count on me.” + </p> + <p> + After some further discussion, it was gravely settled that Kearney should + furnish water brought from the Union Ditch, twenty miles away, at a cost + of two hundred thousand dollars, to feed a memorial fountain erected by + Mattingly, worth a hundred thousand dollars, as a crowning finish to + public buildings contributed by Maryland Joe, to the extent of half a + million more. The disposition of these vast sums by gentlemen wearing + patched breeches awakened no sense of the ludicrous, nor did any doubt, + reservation, or contingency enter into the plans of the charming + enthusiasts themselves. The foundation of their airy castles lay already + before them in the strip of rich alluvium on the river bank, where the + North Fork, sharply curving round the base of Devil's Spur, had for + centuries swept the detritus of gulch and canyon. They had barely crossed + the threshold of this treasure-house, to find themselves rich men; what + possibilities of affluence might be theirs when they had fully exploited + their possessions? So confident were they of that ultimate prospect, that + the wealth already thus obtained was religiously expended in engines and + machinery for the boring of wells and the conveyance of that precious + water which the exhausted river had long since ceased to yield. It seemed + as if the gold they had taken out was by some ironical compensation + gradually making its way back to the soil again through ditch and flume + and reservoir. + </p> + <p> + Such was the position of affairs at Devil's Ford on the 13th of August, + 1860. It was noon of a hot day. Whatever movement there was in the + stifling air was seen rather than felt in a tremulous, quivering, + upward-moving dust along the flank of the mountain, through which the + spires of the pines were faintly visible. There was no water in the bared + and burning bars of the river to reflect the vertical sun, but under its + direct rays one or two tinned roofs and corrugated zinc cabins struck + fire, a few canvas tents became dazzling to the eye, and the white wooded + corral of the stage office and hotel insupportable. For two hours no one + ventured in the glare of the open, or even to cross the narrow, unshadowed + street, whose dull red dust seemed to glow between the lines of straggling + houses. The heated shells of these green unseasoned tenements gave out a + pungent odor of scorching wood and resin. The usual hurried, feverish toil + in the claim was suspended; the pick and shovel were left sticking in the + richest “pay gravel;” the toiling millionaires themselves, ragged, dirty, + and perspiring, lay panting under the nearest shade, where the pipes went + out listlessly, and conversation sank to monosyllables. + </p> + <p> + “There's Fairfax,” said Dick Mattingly, at last, with a lazy effort. His + face was turned to the hillside, where a man had just emerged from the + woods, and was halting irresolutely before the glaring expanse of upheaved + gravel and glistening boulders that stretched between him and the shaded + group. “He's going to make a break for it,” he added, as the stranger, + throwing his linen coat over his head, suddenly started into an Indian + trot through the pelting sunbeams toward them. This strange act was + perfectly understood by the group, who knew that in that intensely dry + heat the danger of exposure was lessened by active exercise and the + profuse perspiration that followed it. In another moment the stranger had + reached their side, dripping as if rained upon, mopping his damp curls and + handsome bearded face with his linen coat, as he threw himself pantingly + on the ground. + </p> + <p> + “I struck out over here first, boys, to give you a little warning,” he + said, as soon as he had gained breath. “That engineer will be down here to + take charge as soon as the six o'clock stage comes in. He's an oldish + chap, has got a family of two daughters, and—I—am—d——d + if he is not bringing them down here with him.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, go long!” exclaimed the five men in one voice, raising themselves on + their hands and elbows, and glaring at the speaker. + </p> + <p> + “Fact, boys! Soon as I found it out I just waltzed into that Jew shop at + the Crossing and bought up all the clothes that would be likely to suit + you fellows, before anybody else got a show. I reckon I cleared out the + shop. The duds are a little mixed in style, but I reckon they're clean and + whole, and a man might face a lady in 'em. I left them round at the old + Buckeye Spring, where they're handy without attracting attention. You boys + can go there for a general wash-up, rig yourselves up without saying + anything, and then meander back careless and easy in your store clothes, + just as the stage is coming in, sabe?” + </p> + <p> + “Why didn't you let us know earlier?” asked Mattingly aggrievedly; “you've + been back here at least an hour.” + </p> + <p> + “I've been getting some place ready for THEM,” returned the new-comer. “We + might have managed to put the man somewhere, if he'd been alone, but these + women want family accommodation. There was nothing left for me to do but + to buy up Thompson's saloon.” + </p> + <p> + “No?” interrupted his audience, half in incredulity, half in protestation. + </p> + <p> + “Fact! You boys will have to take your drinks under canvas again, I + reckon! But I made Thompson let those gold-framed mirrors that used to + stand behind the bar go into the bargain, and they sort of furnish the + room. You know the saloon is one of them patent houses you can take to + pieces, and I've been reckoning you boys will have to pitch in and help me + to take the whole shanty over to the laurel bushes, and put it up agin + Kearney's cabin.” + </p> + <p> + “What's all that?” said the younger Kearney, with an odd mingling of + astonishment and bashful gratification. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I reckon yours is the cleanest house, because it's the newest, so + you'll just step out and let us knock in one o' the gables, and clap it on + to the saloon, and make ONE house of it, don't you see? There'll be two + rooms, one for the girls and the other for the old man.” + </p> + <p> + The astonishment and bewilderment of the party had gradually given way to + a boyish and impatient interest. + </p> + <p> + “Hadn't we better do the job at once?” suggested Dick Mattingly. + </p> + <p> + “Or throw ourselves into those new clothes, so as to be ready,” added the + younger Kearney, looking down at his ragged trousers. “I say, Fairfax, + what are the girls like, eh?” + </p> + <p> + All the others had been dying to ask the question, yet one and all laughed + at the conscious manner and blushing cheek of the questioner. + </p> + <p> + “You'll find out quick enough,” returned Fairfax, whose curt carelessness + did not, however, prevent a slight increase of color on his own cheek. + “We'd better get that job off our hands before doing anything else. So, if + you're ready, boys, we'll just waltz down to Thompson's and pack up the + shanty. He's out of it by this time, I reckon. You might as well be + perspiring to some purpose over there as gaspin' under this tree. We won't + go back to work this afternoon, but knock off now, and call it half a day. + Come! Hump yourselves, gentlemen. Are you ready? One, two, three, and + away!” + </p> + <p> + In another instant the tree was deserted; the figures of the five + millionaires of Devil's Ford, crossing the fierce glare of the open space, + with boyish alacrity, glistened in the sunlight, and then disappeared in + the nearest fringe of thickets. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <p> + Six hours later, when the shadow of Devil's Spur had crossed the river, + and spread a slight coolness over the flat beyond, the Pioneer coach, + leaving the summit, began also to bathe its heated bulk in the long + shadows of the descent. Conspicuous among the dusty passengers, the two + pretty and youthful faces of the daughters of Philip Carr, mining + superintendent and engineer, looked from the windows with no little + anxiety towards their future home in the straggling settlement below, that + occasionally came in view at the turns of the long zigzagging road. A + slight look of comical disappointment passed between them as they gazed + upon the sterile flat, dotted with unsightly excrescences that stood + equally for cabins or mounds of stone and gravel. It was so feeble and + inconsistent a culmination to the beautiful scenery they had passed + through, so hopeless and imbecile a conclusion to the preparation of that + long picturesque journey, with its glimpses of sylvan and pastoral glades + and canyons, that, as the coach swept down the last incline, and the + remorseless monotony of the dead level spread out before them, furrowed by + ditches and indented by pits, under cover of shielding their cheeks from + the impalpable dust that rose beneath the plunging wheels, they buried + their faces in their handkerchiefs, to hide a few half-hysterical tears. + Happily, their father, completely absorbed in a practical, scientific, and + approving contemplation of the topography and material resources of the + scene of his future labors, had no time to notice their defection. It was + not until the stage drew up before a rambling tenement bearing the + inscription, “Hotel and Stage Office,” that he became fully aware of it. + </p> + <p> + “We can't stop HERE, papa,” said Christie Carr decidedly, with a shake of + her pretty head. “You can't expect that.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Carr looked up at the building; it was half grocery, half saloon. + Whatever other accommodations it contained must have been hidden in the + rear, as the flat roof above was almost level with the raftered ceiling of + the shop. + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” he replied hurriedly; “we'll see to that in a moment. I dare + say it's all right. I told Fairfax we were coming. Somebody ought to be + here.” + </p> + <p> + “But they're not,” said Jessie Carr indignantly; “and the few that were + here scampered off like rabbits to their burrows as soon as they saw us + get down.” + </p> + <p> + It was true. The little group of loungers before the building had suddenly + disappeared. There was the flash of a red shirt vanishing in an adjacent + doorway; the fading apparition of a pair of high boots and blue overalls + in another; the abrupt withdrawal of a curly blond head from a sashless + window over the way. Even the saloon was deserted, although a back door in + the dim recess seemed to creak mysteriously. The stage-coach, with the + other passengers, had already rattled away. + </p> + <p> + “I certainly think Fairfax understood that I—” began Mr. Carr. + </p> + <p> + He was interrupted by the pressure of Christie's fingers on his arm and a + subdued exclamation from Jessie, who was staring down the street. + </p> + <p> + “What are they?” she whispered in her sister's ear. “Nigger minstrels, a + circus, or what?” + </p> + <p> + The five millionaires of Devil's Ford had just turned the corner of the + straggling street, and were approaching in single file. One glance was + sufficient to show that they had already availed themselves of the new + clothing bought by Fairfax, had washed, and one or two had shaved. But the + result was startling. + </p> + <p> + Through some fortunate coincidence in size, Dick Mattingly was the only + one who had achieved an entire new suit. But it was of funereal black + cloth, and although relieved at one extremity by a pair of high riding + boots, in which his too short trousers were tucked, and at the other by a + tall white hat, and cravat of aggressive yellow, the effect was + depressing. In agreeable contrast, his brother, Maryland Joe, was attired + in a thin fawn-colored summer overcoat, lightly worn open, so as to show + the unstarched bosom of a white embroidered shirt, and a pair of nankeen + trousers and pumps. + </p> + <p> + The Kearney brothers had divided a suit between them, the elder wearing a + tightly-fitting, single-breasted blue frock-coat and a pair of pink + striped cotton trousers, while the younger candidly displayed the trousers + of his brother's suit, as a harmonious change to a shining black alpaca + coat and crimson neckerchief. Fairfax, who brought up the rear, had, with + characteristic unselfishness, contented himself with a French workman's + blue blouse and a pair of white duck trousers. Had they shown the least + consciousness of their finery, or of its absurdity, they would have seemed + despicable. But only one expression beamed on the five sunburnt and + shining faces—a look of unaffected boyish gratification and + unrestricted welcome. + </p> + <p> + They halted before Mr. Carr and his daughters, simultaneously removed + their various and remarkable head coverings, and waited until Fairfax + advanced and severally presented them. Jessie Carr's half-frightened smile + took refuge in the trembling shadows of her dark lashes; Christie Carr + stiffened slightly, and looked straight before her. + </p> + <p> + “We reckoned—that is—we intended to meet you and the young + ladies at the grade,” said Fairfax, reddening a little as he endeavored to + conceal his too ready slang, “and save you from trapesing—from + dragging yourselves up grade again to your house.” + </p> + <p> + “Then there IS a house?” said Jessie, with an alarming frank laugh of + relief, that was, however, as frankly reflected in the boyishly + appreciative eyes of the young men. + </p> + <p> + “Such as it is,” responded Fairfax, with a shade of anxiety, as he glanced + at the fresh and pretty costumes of the young women, and dubiously + regarded the two Saratoga trunks resting hopelessly on the veranda. “I'm + afraid it isn't much, for what you're accustomed to. But,” he added more + cheerfully, “it will do for a day or two, and perhaps you'll give us the + pleasure of showing you the way there now.” + </p> + <p> + The procession was quickly formed. Mr. Carr, alive only to the actual + business that had brought him there, at once took possession of Fairfax, + and began to disclose his plans for the working of the mine, occasionally + halting to look at the work already done in the ditches, and to examine + the field of his future operations. Fairfax, not displeased at being thus + relieved of a lighter attendance on Mr. Carr's daughters, nevertheless + from time to time cast a paternal glance backwards upon their escorts, who + had each seized a handle of the two trunks, and were carrying them in + couples at the young ladies' side. The occupation did not offer much + freedom for easy gallantry, but no sign of discomfiture or uneasiness was + visible in the grateful faces of the young men. The necessity of changing + hands at times with their burdens brought a corresponding change of + cavalier at the lady's side, although it was observed that the younger + Kearney, for the sake of continuing a conversation with Miss Jessie, kept + his grasp of the handle nearest the young lady until his hand was nearly + cut through, and his arm worn out by exhaustion. + </p> + <p> + “The only thing on wheels in the camp is a mule wagon, and the mules are + packin' gravel from the river this afternoon,” explained Dick Mattingly + apologetically to Christie, “or we'd have toted—I mean carried—you + and your baggage up to the shant—the—your house. Give us two + weeks more, Miss Carr—only two weeks to wash up our work and realize—and + we'll give you a pair of 2.40 steppers and a skeleton buggy to meet you at + the top of the hill and drive you over to the cabin. Perhaps you'd prefer + a regular carriage; some ladies do. And a nigger driver. But what's the + use of planning anything? Afore that time comes we'll have run you up a + house on the hill, and you shall pick out the spot. It wouldn't take long—unless + you preferred brick. I suppose we could get brick over from La Grange, if + you cared for it, but it would take longer. If you could put up for a time + with something of stained glass and a mahogany veranda—” + </p> + <p> + In spite of her cold indignation, and the fact that she could understand + only a part of Mattingly's speech, Christie comprehended enough to make + her lift her clear eyes to the speaker, as she replied freezingly that she + feared she would not trouble them long with her company. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you'll get over that,” responded Mattingly, with an exasperating + confidence that drove her nearly frantic, from the manifest kindliness of + intent that made it impossible for her to resent it. “I felt that way + myself at first. Things will look strange and unsociable for a while, + until you get the hang of them. You'll naturally stamp round and cuss a + little—” He stopped in conscious consternation. + </p> + <p> + With ready tact, and before Christie could reply, Maryland Joe had put + down the trunk and changed hands with his brother. + </p> + <p> + “You mustn't mind Dick, or he'll go off and kill himself with shame,” he + whispered laughingly in her ear. “He means all right, but he's picked up + so much slang here that he's about forgotten how to talk English, and it's + nigh on to four years since he's met a young lady.” + </p> + <p> + Christie did not reply. Yet the laughter of her sister in advance with the + Kearney brothers seemed to make the reserve with which she tried to crush + further familiarity only ridiculous. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know many operas, Miss Carr?” + </p> + <p> + She looked at the boyish, interested, sunburnt face so near to her own, + and hesitated. After all, why should she add to her other real + disappointments by taking this absurd creature seriously? + </p> + <p> + “In what way?” she returned, with a half smile. + </p> + <p> + “To play. On the piano, of course. There isn't one nearer here than + Sacramento; but I reckon we could get a small one by Thursday. You + couldn't do anything on a banjo?” he added doubtfully; “Kearney's got + one.” + </p> + <p> + “I imagine it would be very difficult to carry a piano over those + mountains,” said Christie laughingly, to avoid the collateral of the + banjo. + </p> + <p> + “We got a billiard-table over from Stockton,” half bashfully interrupted + Dick Mattingly, struggling from his end of the trunk to recover his + composure, “and it had to be brought over in sections on the back of a + mule, so I don't see why—” He stopped short again in confusion, at a + sign from his brother, and then added, “I mean, of course, that a piano is + a heap more delicate, and valuable, and all that sort of thing, but it's + worth trying for.” + </p> + <p> + “Fairfax was always saying he'd get one for himself, so I reckon it's + possible,” said Joe. + </p> + <p> + “Does he play?” asked Christie. + </p> + <p> + “You bet,” said Joe, quite forgetting himself in his enthusiasm. “He can + snatch Mozart and Beethoven bald-headed.” + </p> + <p> + In the embarrassing silence that followed this speech the fringe of pine + wood nearest the flat was reached. Here there was a rude “clearing,” and + beneath an enormous pine stood the two recently joined tenements. There + was no attempt to conceal the point of junction between Kearney's cabin + and the newly-transported saloon from the flat—no architectural + illusion of the palpable collusion of the two buildings, which seemed to + be telescoped into each other. The front room or living room occupied the + whole of Kearney's cabin. It contained, in addition to the necessary + articles for housekeeping, a “bunk” or berth for Mr. Carr, so as to leave + the second building entirely to the occupation of his daughters as bedroom + and boudoir. + </p> + <p> + There was a half-humorous, half-apologetic exhibition of the rude utensils + of the living room, and then the young men turned away as the two girls + entered the open door of the second room. Neither Christie nor Jessie + could for a moment understand the delicacy which kept these young men from + accompanying them into the room they had but a few moments before + decorated and arranged with their own hands, and it was not until they + turned to thank their strange entertainers that they found that they were + gone. + </p> + <p> + The arrangement of the second room was rude and bizarre, but not without a + singular originality and even tastefulness of conception. What had been + the counter or “bar” of the saloon, gorgeous in white and gold, now sawn + in two and divided, was set up on opposite sides of the room as separate + dressing-tables, decorated with huge bunches of azaleas, that hid the + rough earthenware bowls, and gave each table the appearance of a vestal + altar. + </p> + <p> + The huge gilt plate-glass mirror which had hung behind the bar still + occupied one side of the room, but its length was artfully divided by an + enormous rosette of red, white, and blue muslin—one of the surviving + Fourth of July decorations of Thompson's saloon. On either side of the + door two pathetic-looking, convent-like cots, covered with spotless + sheeting, and heaped up in the middle, like a snow-covered grave, had + attracted their attention. They were still staring at them when Mr. Carr + anticipated their curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “I ought to tell you that the young men confided to me the fact that there + was neither bed nor mattress to be had on the Ford. They have filled some + flour sacks with clean dry moss from the woods, and put half a dozen + blankets on the top, and they hope you can get along until the messenger + who starts to-night for La Grange can bring some bedding over.” + </p> + <p> + Jessie flew with mischievous delight to satisfy herself of the truth of + this marvel. “It's so, Christie,” she said laughingly—“three + flour-sacks apiece; but I'm jealous: yours are all marked 'superfine,' and + mine 'middlings.'” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Carr had remained uneasily watching Christie's shadowed face. + </p> + <p> + “What matters?” she said drily. “The accommodation is all in keeping.” + </p> + <p> + “It will be better in a day or two,” he continued, casting a longing look + towards the door—the first refuge of masculine weakness in an + impending domestic emergency. “I'll go and see what can be done,” he said + feebly, with a sidelong impulse towards the opening and freedom. “I've got + to see Fairfax again to-night any way.” + </p> + <p> + “One moment, father,” said Christie, wearily. “Did you know anything of + this place and these—these people—before you came?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly—of course I did,” he returned, with the sudden testiness + of disturbed abstraction. “What are you thinking of? I knew the geological + strata and the—the report of Fairfax and his partners before I + consented to take charge of the works. And I can tell you that there is a + fortune here. I intend to make my own terms, and share in it.” + </p> + <p> + “And not take a salary or some sum of money down?” said Christie, slowly + removing her bonnet in the same resigned way. + </p> + <p> + “I am not a hired man, or a workman, Christie,” said her father sharply. + “You ought not to oblige me to remind you of that.” + </p> + <p> + “But the hired men—the superintendent and his workmen—were the + only ones who ever got anything out of your last experience with Colonel + Waters at La Grange, and—and we at least lived among civilized + people there.” + </p> + <p> + “These young men are not common people, Christie; even if they have + forgotten the restraints of speech and manners, they're gentlemen.” + </p> + <p> + “Who are willing to live like—like negroes.” + </p> + <p> + “You can make them what you please.” + </p> + <p> + Christie raised her eyes. There was a certain cynical ring in her father's + voice that was unlike his usual hesitating abstraction. It both puzzled + and pained her. + </p> + <p> + “I mean,” he said hastily, “that you have the same opportunity to direct + the lives of these young men into more regular, disciplined channels that + I have to regulate and correct their foolish waste of industry and + material here. It would at least beguile the time for you.” + </p> + <p> + Fortunately for Mr. Carr's escape and Christie's uneasiness, Jessie, who + had been examining the details of the living-room, broke in upon this + conversation. + </p> + <p> + “I'm sure it will be as good as a perpetual picnic. George Kearney says we + can have a cooking-stove under the tree outside at the back, and as there + will be no rain for three months we can do the cooking there, and that + will give us more room for—for the piano when it comes; and there's + an old squaw to do the cleaning and washing-up any day—and—and—it + will be real fun.” + </p> + <p> + She stopped breathlessly, with glowing cheeks and sparkling eyes—a + charming picture of youth and trustfulness. Mr. Carr had seized the + opportunity to escape. + </p> + <p> + “Really, now, Christie,” said Jessie confidentially, when they were alone, + and Christie had begun to unpack her trunk, and to mechanically put her + things away, “they're not so bad.” + </p> + <p> + “Who?” asked Christie. + </p> + <p> + “Why, the Kearneys, and Mattinglys, and Fairfax, and the lot, provided you + don't look at their clothes. And think of it! they told me—for they + tell one EVERYTHING in the most alarming way—that those clothes were + bought to please US. A scramble of things bought at La Grange, without + reference to size or style. And to hear these creatures talk, why, you'd + think they were Astors or Rothschilds. Think of that little one with the + curls—I don't believe he is over seventeen, for all his baby + moustache—says he's going to build an assembly hall for us to give a + dance in next month; and apologizes the next breath to tell us that there + isn't any milk to be had nearer than La Grange, and we must do without it, + and use syrup in our tea to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “And where is all this wealth?” said Christie, forcing herself to smile at + her sister's animation. + </p> + <p> + “Under our very feet, my child, and all along the river. Why, what we + thought was pure and simple mud is what they call 'gold-bearing cement.'” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose that is why they don't brush their boots and trousers, it's so + precious,” returned Christie drily. “And have they ever translated this + precious dirt into actual coin?” + </p> + <p> + “Bless you, yes. Why, that dirty little gutter, you know, that ran along + the side of the road and followed us down the hill all the way here, that + cost them—let me see—yes, nearly sixty thousand dollars. And + fancy! papa's just condemned it—says it won't do; and they've got to + build another.” + </p> + <p> + An impatient sigh from Christie drew Jessie's attention to her troubled + eyebrows. + </p> + <p> + “Don't worry about our disappointment, dear. It isn't so very great. I + dare say we'll be able to get along here in some way, until papa is rich + again. You know they intend to make him share with them.” + </p> + <p> + “It strikes me that he is sharing with them already,” said Christie, + glancing bitterly round the cabin; “sharing everything—ourselves, + our lives, our tastes.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye-e-s!” said Jessie, with vaguely hesitating assent. “Yes, even these:” + she showed two dice in the palm of her little hand. “I found 'em in the + drawer of our dressing-table.” + </p> + <p> + “Throw them away,” said Christie impatiently. + </p> + <p> + But Jessie's small fingers closed over the dice. “I'll give them to the + little Kearney. I dare say they were the poor boy's playthings.” + </p> + <p> + The appearance of these relics of wild dissipation, however, had lifted + Christie out of her sublime resignation. “For Heaven's sake, Jessie,” she + said, “look around and see if there is anything more!” + </p> + <p> + To make sure, they each began to scrimmage; the broken-spirited Christie + exhibiting both alacrity and penetration in searching obscure corners. In + the dining-room, behind the dresser, three or four books were discovered: + an odd volume of Thackeray, another of Dickens, a memorandum-book or + diary. “This seems to be Latin,” said Jessie, fishing out a smaller book. + “I can't read it.” + </p> + <p> + “It's just as well you shouldn't,” said Christie shortly, whose ideas of a + general classical impropriety had been gathered from pages of Lempriere's + dictionary. “Put it back directly.” + </p> + <p> + Jessie returned certain odes of one Horatius Flaccus to the corner, and + uttered an exclamation. “Oh, Christie! here are some letters tied up with + a ribbon.” + </p> + <p> + They were two or three prettily written letters, exhaling a faint odor of + refinement and of the pressed flowers that peeped from between the loose + leaves. “I see, 'My darling Fairfax.' It's from some woman.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think much of her, whosoever she is,” said Christie, tossing the + intact packet back into the corner. + </p> + <p> + “Nor I,” echoed Jessie. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, by some feminine inconsistency, evidently the circumstance + did make them think more of HIM, for a minute later, when they had + reentered their own room, Christie remarked, “The idea of petting a man by + his family name! Think of mamma ever having called papa 'darling Carr'!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, but his family name isn't Fairfax,” said Jessie hastily; “that's his + FIRST name, his Christian name. I forget what's his other name, but nobody + ever calls him by it.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean,” said Christie, with glistening eyes and awful deliberation—“do + you mean to say that we're expected to fall in with this insufferable + familiarity? I suppose they'll be calling US by our Christian names next.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, but they do!” said Jessie, mischievously. + </p> + <p> + “What!” + </p> + <p> + “They call me Miss Jessie; and Kearney, the little one, asked me if + Christie played.” + </p> + <p> + “And what did you say?” + </p> + <p> + “I said that you did,” answered Jessie, with an affectation of cherubic + simplicity. “You do, dear; don't you? . . . There, don't get angry, + darling; I couldn't flare up all of a sudden in the face of that poor + little creature; he looked so absurd—and so—so honest.” + </p> + <p> + Christie turned away, relapsing into her old resigned manner, and assuming + her household duties in a quiet, temporizing way that was, however, + without hope or expectation. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Carr, who had dined with his friends under the excuse of not adding to + the awkwardness of the first day's housekeeping returned late at night + with a mass of papers and drawings, into which he afterwards withdrew, but + not until he had delivered himself of a mysterious package entrusted to + him by the young men for his daughters. It contained a contribution to + their board in the shape of a silver spoon and battered silver mug, which + Jessie chose to facetiously consider as an affecting reminiscence of the + youthful Kearney's christening days—which it probably was. + </p> + <p> + The young girls retired early to their white snow-drifts: Jessie not + without some hilarious struggles with hers, in which she was, however, + quickly surprised by the deep and refreshing sleep of youth; Christie to + lie awake and listen to the night wind, that had changed from the first + cool whispers of sunset to the sturdy breath of the mountain. At times the + frail house shook and trembled. Wandering gusts laden with the deep + resinous odors of the wood found their way through the imperfect jointure + of the two cabins, swept her cheek and even stirred her long, wide-open + lashes. A broken spray of pine needles rustled along the roof, or a pine + cone dropped with a quick reverberating tap-tap that for an instant + startled her. Lying thus, wide awake, she fell into a dreamy reminiscence + of the past, hearing snatches of old melody in the moving pines, fragments + of sentences, old words, and familiar epithets in the murmuring wind at + her ear, and even the faint breath of long-forgotten kisses on her cheek. + She remembered her mother—a pallid creature, who had slowly faded + out of one of her father's vague speculations in a vaguer speculation of + her own, beyond his ken—whose place she had promised to take at her + father's side. The words, “Watch over him, Christie; he needs a woman's + care,” again echoed in her ears, as if borne on the night wind from the + lonely grave in the lonelier cemetery by the distant sea. She had devoted + herself to him with some little sacrifices of self, only remembered now + for their uselessness in saving her father the disappointment that sprang + from his sanguine and one-idea'd temperament. She thought of him lying + asleep in the other room, ready on the morrow to devote those fateful + qualities to the new enterprise that with equally fateful disposition she + believed would end in failure. It did not occur to her that the doubts of + her own practical nature were almost as dangerous and illogical as his + enthusiasm, and that for that reason she was fast losing what little + influence she possessed over him. With the example of her mother's + weakness before her eyes, she had become an unsparing and distrustful + critic, with the sole effect of awakening his distrust and withdrawing his + confidence from her. + </p> + <p> + He was beginning to deceive her as he had never deceived her mother. Even + Jessie knew more of this last enterprise than she did herself. + </p> + <p> + All that did not tend to decrease her utter restlessness. It was already + past midnight when she noticed that the wind had again abated. The + mountain breeze had by this time possessed the stifling valleys and heated + bars of the river in its strong, cold embraces; the equilibrium of Nature + was restored, and a shadowy mist rose from the hollow. A stillness, more + oppressive and intolerable than the previous commotion, began to pervade + the house and the surrounding woods. She could hear the regular breathing + of the sleepers; she even fancied she could detect the faint impulses of + the more distant life in the settlement. The far-off barking of a dog, a + lost shout, the indistinct murmur of some nearer watercourse—mere + phantoms of sound—made the silence more irritating. With a sudden + resolution she arose, dressed herself quietly and completely, threw a + heavy cloak over her head and shoulders, and opened the door between the + living-room and her own. Her father was sleeping soundly in his bunk in + the corner. She passed noiselessly through the room, opened the lightly + fastened door, and stepped out into the night. + </p> + <p> + In the irritation and disgust of her walk hither, she had never noticed + the situation of the cabin, as it nestled on the slope at the fringe of + the woods; in the preoccupation of her disappointment and the mechanical + putting away of her things, she had never looked once from the window of + her room, or glanced backward out of the door that she had entered. The + view before her was a revelation—a reproach, a surprise that took + away her breath. Over her shoulders the newly risen moon poured a flood of + silvery light, stretching from her feet across the shining bars of the + river to the opposite bank, and on up to the very crest of the Devil's + Spur—no longer a huge bulk of crushing shadow, but the steady + exaltation of plateau, spur, and terrace clothed with replete and + unutterable beauty. In this magical light that beauty seemed to be + sustained and carried along by the river winding at its base, lifted again + to the broad shoulder of the mountain, and lost only in the distant vista + of death-like, overcrowning snow. Behind and above where she stood the + towering woods seemed to be waiting with opened ranks to absorb her with + the little cabin she had quitted, dwarfed into insignificance in the vast + prospect; but nowhere was there another sign or indication of human life + and habitation. She looked in vain for the settlement, for the rugged + ditches, the scattered cabins, and the unsightly heaps of gravel. In the + glamour of the moonlight they had vanished; a veil of silver-gray vapor + touched here and there with ebony shadows masked its site. A black strip + beyond was the river bank. All else was changed. With a sudden sense of + awe and loneliness she turned to the cabin and its sleeping inmates—all + that seemed left to her in the vast and stupendous domination of rock and + wood and sky. + </p> + <p> + But in another moment the loneliness passed. A new and delicious sense of + an infinite hospitality and friendliness in their silent presence began to + possess her. This same slighted, forgotten, uncomprehended, but still + foolish and forgiving Nature seemed to be bending over her frightened and + listening ear with vague but thrilling murmurings of freedom and + independence. She felt her heart expand with its wholesome breath, her + soul fill with its sustaining truth. + </p> + <p> + She felt— + </p> + <p> + What was that? + </p> + <p> + An unmistakable outburst of a drunken song at the foot of the slope:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Oh, my name it is Johnny from Pike, + I'm h-ll on a spree or a strike.” . . . +</pre> + <p> + She stopped as crimson with shame and indignation as if the viewless + singer had risen before her. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “I knew when to bet, and get up and get—” + </pre> + <p> + “Hush! D—n it all. Don't you hear?” + </p> + <p> + There was the sound of hurried whispers, a “No” and “Yes,” and then a dead + silence. + </p> + <p> + Christie crept nearer to the edge of the slope in the shadow of a buckeye. + In the clearer view she could distinguish a staggering figure in the trail + below who had evidently been stopped by two other expostulating shadows + that were approaching from the shelter of a tree. + </p> + <p> + “Sho!—didn't know!” + </p> + <p> + The staggering figure endeavored to straighten itself, and then slouched + away in the direction of the settlement. The two mysterious shadows + retreated again to the tree, and were lost in its deeper shadow. Christie + darted back to the cabin, and softly reentered her room. + </p> + <p> + “I thought I heard a noise that woke me, and I missed you,” said Jessie, + rubbing her eyes. “Did you see anything?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Christie, beginning to undress. + </p> + <p> + “You weren't frightened, dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Not in the least,” said Christie, with a strange little laugh. “Go to + sleep.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <p> + The five impulsive millionaires of Devil's Ford fulfilled not a few of + their most extravagant promises. In less than six weeks Mr. Carr and his + daughters were installed in a new house, built near the site of the double + cabin, which was again transferred to the settlement, in order to give + greater seclusion to the fair guests. It was a long, roomy, one-storied + villa, with a not unpicturesque combination of deep veranda and trellis + work, which relieved the flat monotony of the interior and the barrenness + of the freshly-cleared ground. An upright piano, brought from Sacramento, + occupied the corner of the parlor. A suite of gorgeous furniture, whose + pronounced and extravagant glories the young girls instinctively hid under + home-made linen covers, had also been spoils from afar. Elsewhere the + house was filled with ornaments and decorations that in their incongruity + forcibly recalled the gilded plate-glass mirrors of the bedroom in the old + cabin. In the hasty furnishing of this Aladdin's palace, the slaves of the + ring had evidently seized upon anything that would add to its glory, + without reference always to fitness. + </p> + <p> + “I wish it didn't look so cussedly like a robber's cave,” said George + Kearney, when they were taking a quiet preliminary survey of the + unclassified treasures, before the Carrs took possession. + </p> + <p> + “Or a gambling hell,” said his brother reflectively. + </p> + <p> + “It's about the same thing, I reckon,” said Dick Mattingly, who was + supposed, in his fiery youth, to have encountered the similarity. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the two girls managed to bestow the heterogeneous collection + with tasteful adaptation to their needs. A crystal chandelier, which had + once lent a fascinating illusion to the game of Monte, hung unlighted in + the broad hall, where a few other bizarre and public articles were + relegated. A long red sofa or bench, which had done duty beside a + billiard-table found a place here also. Indeed, it is to be feared that + some of the more rustic and bashful youths of Devil's Ford, who had felt + it incumbent upon them to pay their respects to the new-comers, were more + at ease in this vestibule than in the arcana beyond, whose glories they + could see through the open door. To others, it represented a recognized + state of probation before their re-entree into civilization again. “I + reckon, if you don't mind, miss,” said the spokesman of one party, “ez + this is our first call, we'll sorter hang out in the hall yer, until you'r + used to us.” On another occasion, one Whiskey Dick, impelled by a sense of + duty, paid a visit to the new house and its fair occupants, in a fashion + frankly recounted by him afterwards at the bar of the Tecumseh Saloon. + </p> + <p> + “You see, boys, I dropped in there the other night, when some of you + fellers was doin' the high-toned 'thankee, marm' business in the parlor. I + just came to anchor in the corner of the sofy in the hall, without lettin' + on to say that I was there, and took up a Webster's dictionary that was on + the table and laid it open—keerless like, on my knees, ez if I was + sorter consultin' it—and kinder dozed off there, listenin' to you + fellows gassin' with the young ladies, and that yer Miss Christie just + snakin' music outer that pianner, and I reckon I fell asleep. Anyhow, I + was there nigh on to two hours. It's mighty soothin', them fashionable + calls; sorter knocks the old camp dust outer a fellow, and sets him up + again.” + </p> + <p> + It would have been well if the new life of the Devil's Ford had shown no + other irregularity than the harmless eccentricities of its original + locaters. But the news of its sudden fortune, magnified by report, began + presently to flood the settlement with another class of adventurers. A + tide of waifs, strays, and malcontents of old camps along the river began + to set towards Devil's Ford, in very much the same fashion as the debris, + drift, and alluvium had been carried down in bygone days and cast upon its + banks. A few immigrant wagons, diverted from the highways of travel by the + fame of the new diggings, halted upon the slopes of Devil's Spur and on + the arid flats of the Ford, and disgorged their sallow freight of + alkali-poisoned, prematurely-aged women and children and maimed and + fever-stricken men. Against this rude form of domesticity were opposed the + chromo-tinted dresses and extravagant complexions of a few single + unattended women—happily seen more often at night behind gilded bars + than in the garish light of day—and an equal number of pale-faced, + dark-moustached, well-dressed, and suspiciously idle men. A dozen rivals + of Thompson's Saloon had sprung up along the narrow main street. There + were two new hotels—one a “Temperance House,” whose ascetic quality + was confined only to the abnegation of whiskey—a rival stage office, + and a small one-storied building, from which the “Sierran Banner” + fluttered weekly, for “ten dollars a year, in advance.” Insufferable in + the glare of a Sabbath sun, bleak, windy, and flaring in the gloom of a + Sabbath night, and hopelessly depressing on all days of the week, the + First Presbyterian Church lifted its blunt steeple from the barrenest area + of the flats, and was hideous! The civic improvements so enthusiastically + contemplated by the five millionaires in the earlier pages of this + veracious chronicle—the fountain, reservoir, town-hall, and free + library—had not yet been erected. Their sites had been anticipated + by more urgent buildings and mining works, unfortunately not considered in + the sanguine dreams of the enthusiasts, and, more significant still, their + cost and expense had been also anticipated by the enormous outlay of their + earnings in the work upon Devil's Ditch. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the liberal fulfilment of their promise in the new house in + the suburbs blinded the young girls' eyes to their shortcomings in the + town. Their own remoteness and elevation above its feverish life kept them + from the knowledge of much that was strange, and perhaps disturbing to + their equanimity. As they did not mix with the immigrant women—Miss + Jessie's good-natured intrusion into one of their half-nomadic camps one + day having been met with rudeness and suspicion—they gradually fell + into the way of trusting the responsibility of new acquaintances to the + hands of their original hosts, and of consulting them in the matter of + local recreation. It thus occurred that one day the two girls, on their + way to the main street for an hour's shopping at the Villa de Paris and + Variety Store, were stopped by Dick Mattingly a few yards from their + house, with the remark that, as the county election was then in progress, + it would be advisable for them to defer their intention for a few hours. + As he did not deem it necessary to add that two citizens, in the exercise + of a freeman's franchise, had been supplementing their ballots with + bullets, in front of an admiring crowd, they knew nothing of that accident + that removed from Devil's Ford an entertaining stranger, who had only the + night before partaken of their hospitality. + </p> + <p> + A week or two later, returning one morning from a stroll in the forest, + Christie and Jessie were waylaid by George Kearney and Fairfax, and, under + pretext of being shown a new and romantic trail, were diverted from the + regular path. This enabled Mattingly and Maryland Joe to cut down the body + of a man hanged by the Vigilance Committee a few hours before on the + regular trail, and to remonstrate with the committee on the + incompatibility of such exhibitions with a maidenly worship of nature. + </p> + <p> + “With the whole county to hang a man in,” expostulated Joe, “you might + keep clear of Carr's woods.” + </p> + <p> + It is needless to add that the young girls never knew of this act of + violence, or the delicacy that kept them in ignorance of it. Mr. Carr was + too absorbed in business to give heed to what he looked upon as a + convulsion of society as natural as a geological upheaval, and too prudent + to provoke the criticism of his daughters by comment in their presence. + </p> + <p> + An equally unexpected confidence, however, took its place. Mr. Carr having + finished his coffee one morning, lingered a moment over his perfunctory + paternal embraces, with the awkwardness of a preoccupied man endeavoring + by the assumption of a lighter interest to veil another abstraction. + </p> + <p> + “And what are we doing to-day, Christie?” he asked, as Jessie left the + dining-room. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, pretty much the usual thing—nothing in particular. If George + Kearney gets the horses from the summit, we're going to ride over to + Indian Spring to picnic. Fairfax—Mr. Munroe—I always forget + that man's real name in this dreadfully familiar country—well, he's + coming to escort us, and take me, I suppose—that is, if Kearney + takes Jessie.” + </p> + <p> + “A very nice arrangement,” returned her father, with a slight nervous + contraction of the corners of his mouth and eyelids to indicate + mischievousness. “I've no doubt they'll both be here. You know they + usually are—ha! ha! And what about the two Mattinglys and Philip + Kearney, eh?” he continued; “won't they be jealous?” + </p> + <p> + “It isn't their turn,” said Christie carelessly; “besides, they'll + probably be there.” + </p> + <p> + “And I suppose they're beginning to be resigned,” said Carr, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “What on earth are you talking of, father?” + </p> + <p> + She turned her clear brown eyes upon him, and was regarding him with such + manifest unconsciousness of the drift of his speech, and, withal, a little + vague impatience of his archness, that Mr. Carr was feebly alarmed. It had + the effect of banishing his assumed playfulness, which made his serious + explanation the more irritating. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I rather thought that—that young Kearney was paying + considerable attention to—to—to Jessie,” replied her father, + with hesitating gravity. + </p> + <p> + “What! that boy?” + </p> + <p> + “Young Kearney is one of the original locators, and an equal partner in + the mine. A very enterprising young fellow. In fact, much more advanced + and bolder in his conceptions than the others. I find no difficulty with + him.” + </p> + <p> + At another time Christie would have questioned the convincing quality of + this proof, but she was too much shocked at her father's first suggestion, + to think of anything else. + </p> + <p> + “You don't mean to say, father, that you are talking seriously of these + men—your friends—whom we see every day—and our only + company?” + </p> + <p> + “No, no!” said Mr. Carr hastily; “you misunderstand. I don't suppose that + Jessie or you—” + </p> + <p> + “Or ME! Am I included?” + </p> + <p> + “You don't let me speak, Christie. I mean, I am not talking seriously,” + continued Mr. Carr, with his most serious aspect, “of you and Jessie in + this matter; but it may be a serious thing to these young men to be thrown + continually in the company of two attractive girls.” + </p> + <p> + “I understand—you mean that we should not see so much of them,” said + Christie, with a frank expression of relief so genuine as to utterly + discompose her father. “Perhaps you are right, though I fail to discover + anything serious in the attentions of young Kearney to Jessie—or—whoever + it may be—to me. But it will be very easy to remedy it, and see less + of them. Indeed, we might begin to-day with some excuse.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes—certainly. Of course!” said Mr. Carr, fully convinced of his + utter failure, but, like most weak creatures, consoling himself with the + reflection that he had not shown his hand or committed himself. “Yes; but + it would perhaps be just as well for the present to let things go on as + they were. We'll talk of it again—I'm in a hurry now,” and, edging + himself through the door, he slipped away. + </p> + <p> + “What do you think is father's last idea?” said Christie, with, I fear, a + slight lack of reverence in her tone, as her sister reentered the room. + “He thinks George Kearney is paying you too much attention.” + </p> + <p> + “No!” said Jessie, replying to her sister's half-interrogative, + half-amused glance with a frank, unconscious smile. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and he says that Fairfax—I think it's Fairfax—is equally + fascinated with ME.” + </p> + <p> + Jessie's brow slightly contracted as she looked curiously at her sister. + </p> + <p> + “Of all things,” she said, “I wonder if any one has put that idea into his + dear old head. He couldn't have thought it himself.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” said Christie musingly; “but perhaps it's just as well if + we kept a little more to ourselves for a while.” + </p> + <p> + “Did father say so?” said Jessie quickly. + </p> + <p> + “No, but that is evidently what he meant.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye-es,” said Jessie slowly, “unless—” + </p> + <p> + “Unless what?” said Christie sharply. “Jessie, you don't for a moment mean + to say that you could possibly conceive of anything else?” + </p> + <p> + “I mean to say,” said Jessie, stealing her arm around her sister's waist + demurely, “that you are perfectly right. We'll keep away from these + fascinating Devil's Forders, and particularly the youngest Kearney. I + believe there has been some ill-natured gossip. I remember that the other + day, when we passed the shanty of that Pike County family on the slope, + there were three women at the door, and one of them said something that + made poor little Kearney turn white and pink alternately, and dance with + suppressed rage. I suppose the old lady—M'Corkle, that's her name—would + like to have a share of our cavaliers for her Euphemy and Mamie. I dare + say it's only right; I would lend them the cherub occasionally, and you + might let them have Mr. Munroe twice a week.” + </p> + <p> + She laughed, but her eyes sought her sister's with a certain watchfulness + of expression. + </p> + <p> + Christie shrugged her shoulders, with a suggestion of disgust. + </p> + <p> + “Don't joke. We ought to have thought of all this before.” + </p> + <p> + “But when we first knew them, in the dear old cabin, there wasn't any + other woman and nobody to gossip, and that's what made it so nice. I don't + think so very much of civilization, do you?” said the young lady pertly. + </p> + <p> + Christie did not reply. Perhaps she was thinking the same thing. It + certainly had been very pleasant to enjoy the spontaneous and chivalrous + homage of these men, with no further suggestion of recompense or + responsibility than the permission to be worshipped; but beyond that she + racked her brain in vain to recall any look or act that proclaimed the + lover. These men, whom she had found so relapsed into barbarism that they + had forgotten the most ordinary forms of civilization; these men, even in + whose extravagant admiration there was a certain loss of self-respect, + that as a woman she would never forgive; these men, who seemed to belong + to another race—impossible! Yet it was so. + </p> + <p> + “What construction must they have put upon her father's acceptance of + their presents—of their company—of her freedom in their + presence? No! they must have understood from the beginning that she and + her sister had never looked upon them except as transient hosts and chance + acquaintances. Any other idea was preposterous. And yet—” + </p> + <p> + It was the recurrence of this “yet” that alarmed her. For she remembered + now that but for their slavish devotion they might claim to be her equal. + According to her father's account, they had come from homes as good as + their own; they were certainly more than her equal in fortune; and her + father had come to them as an employee, until they had taken him into + partnership. If there had only been sentiment of any kind connected with + any of them! But they were all alike, brave, unselfish, humorous—and + often ridiculous. If anything, Dick Mattingly was funniest by nature, and + made her laugh more. Maryland Joe, his brother, told better stories + (sometimes of Dick), though not so good a mimic as the other Kearney, who + had a fairly sympathetic voice in singing. They were all good-looking + enough; perhaps they set store on that—men are so vain. + </p> + <p> + And as for her own rejected suitor, Fairfax Munroe, except for a kind of + grave and proper motherliness about his protecting manner, he absolutely + was the most indistinctive of them all. He had once brought her some rare + tea from the Chinese camp, and had taught her how to make it; he had + cautioned her against sitting under the trees at nightfall; he had once + taken off his coat to wrap around her. Really, if this were the only + evidence of devotion that could be shown, she was safe! + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Jessie, “it amuses you, I see.” + </p> + <p> + Christie checked the smile that had been dimpling the cheek nearest + Jessie, and turned upon her the face of an elder sister. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me, have YOU noticed this extraordinary attention of Mr. Munroe to + me?” + </p> + <p> + “Candidly?” asked Jessie, seating herself comfortably on the table + sideways, and endeavoring, to pull her skirt over her little feet. “Honest + Injun?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be idiotic, and, above all, don't be slangy! Of course, candidly.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, no. I can't say that I have.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said Christie, “why in the name of all that's preposterous, do + they persist in pairing me off with the least interesting man of the lot?” + </p> + <p> + Jessie leaped from the table. + </p> + <p> + “Come now,” she said, with a little nervous laugh, “he's not so bad as all + that. You don't know him. But what does it matter now, as long as we're + not going to see them any more?” + </p> + <p> + “They're coming here for the ride to-day,” said Christie resignedly. + “Father thought it better not to break it off at once.” + </p> + <p> + “Father thought so!” echoed Jessie, stopping with her hand on the door. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; why do you ask?” + </p> + <p> + But Jessie had already left the room, and was singing in the hall. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <p> + The afternoon did not, however, bring their expected visitors. It brought, + instead, a brief note by the hands of Whiskey Dick from Fairfax, + apologizing for some business that kept him and George Kearney from + accompanying the ladies. It added that the horses were at the disposal of + themselves and any escort they might select, if they would kindly give the + message to Whiskey Dick. + </p> + <p> + The two girls looked at each other awkwardly; Jessie did not attempt to + conceal a slight pout. + </p> + <p> + “It looks as if they were anticipating us,” she said, with a half-forced + smile. “I wonder, now, if there really has been any gossip? But no! They + wouldn't have stopped for that, unless—” She looked curiously at her + sister. + </p> + <p> + “Unless what?” repeated Christie; “you are horribly mysterious this + morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I? It's nothing. But they're wanting an answer. Of course you'll + decline.” + </p> + <p> + “And intimate we only care for their company! No! We'll say we're sorry + they can't come, and—accept their horses. We can do without an + escort, we two.” + </p> + <p> + “Capital!” said Jessie, clapping her hands. “We'll show them—” + </p> + <p> + “We'll show them nothing,” interrupted Christie decidedly. “In our place + there's only the one thing to do. Where is this—Whiskey Dick?” + </p> + <p> + “In the parlor.” + </p> + <p> + “The parlor!” echoed Christie. “Whiskey Dick? What—is he—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; he's all right,” said Jessie confidently. “He's been here before, + but he stayed in the hall; he was so shy. I don't think you saw him.” + </p> + <p> + “I should think not—Whiskey Dick!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you can call him Mr. Hall, if you like,” said Jessie, laughing. “His + real name is Dick Hall. If you want to be funny, you can say Alky Hall, as + the others do.” + </p> + <p> + Christie's only reply to this levity was a look of superior resignation as + she crossed the hall and entered the parlor. + </p> + <p> + Then ensued one of those surprising, mystifying, and utterly inexplicable + changes that leave the masculine being so helpless in the hands of his + feminine master. Before Christie opened the door her face underwent a + rapid transformation: the gentle glow of a refined woman's welcome + suddenly beamed in her interested eyes; the impulsive courtesy of an + expectant hostess eagerly seizing a long-looked-for opportunity broke in a + smile upon her lips as she swept across the room, and stopped with her two + white outstretched hands before Whiskey Dick. + </p> + <p> + It needed only the extravagant contrast presented by that gentleman to + complete the tableau. Attired in a suit of shining black alpaca, the + visitor had evidently prepared himself with some care for a possible + interview. He was seated by the French window opening upon the veranda, as + if to secure a retreat in case of an emergency. Scrupulously washed and + shaven, some of the soap appeared to have lingered in his eyes and + inflamed the lids, even while it lent a sleek and shining lustre, not + unlike his coat, to his smooth black hair. Nevertheless, leaning back in + his chair, he had allowed a large white handkerchief to depend gracefully + from his fingers—a pose at once suggesting easy and elegant langour. + </p> + <p> + “How kind of you to give me an opportunity to make up for my misfortune + when you last called! I was so sorry to have missed you. But it was + entirely my fault! You were hurried, I think—you conversed with + others in the hall—you—” + </p> + <p> + She stopped to assist him to pick up the handkerchief that had fallen, and + the Panama hat that had rolled from his lap towards the window when he had + started suddenly to his feet at the apparition of grace and beauty. As he + still nervously retained the two hands he had grasped, this would have + been a difficult feat, even had he not endeavored at the same moment, by a + backward furtive kick, to propel the hat out of the window, at which she + laughingly broke from his grasp and flew to the rescue. + </p> + <p> + “Don't mind it, miss,” he said hurriedly. “It is not worth your demeaning + yourself to touch it. Leave it outside thar, miss. I wouldn't have toted + it in, anyhow, if some of those high-falutin' fellows hadn't allowed, the + other night, ez it were the reg'lar thing to do; as if, miss, any + gentleman kalkilated to ever put on his hat in the house afore a lady!” + </p> + <p> + But Christie had already possessed herself of the unlucky object, and had + placed it upon the table. This compelled Whiskey Dick to rise again, and + as an act of careless good breeding to drop his handkerchief in it. He + then leaned one elbow upon the piano, and, crossing one foot over the + other, remained standing in an attitude he remembered to have seen in the + pages of an illustrated paper as portraying the hero in some drawing-room + scene. It was easy and effective, but seemed to be more favorable to + revery than conversation. Indeed, he remembered that he had forgotten to + consult the letterpress as to which it represented. + </p> + <p> + “I see you agree with me, that politeness is quite a matter of intention,” + said Christie, “and not of mere fashion and rules. Now, for instance,” she + continued, with a dazzling smile, “I suppose, according to the rules, I + ought to give you a note to Mr. Munroe, accepting his offer. That is all + that is required; but it seems so much nicer, don't you think, to tell it + to YOU for HIM, and have the pleasure of your company and a little chat at + the same time.” + </p> + <p> + “That's it, that's just it, Miss Carr; you've hit it in the centre this + time,” said Whiskey Dick, now quite convinced that his attitude was not + intended for eloquence, and shifting back to his own seat, hat and all; + “that's tantamount to what I said to the boys just now. 'You want an + excuse,' sez I, 'for not goin' out with the young ladies. So, accorden' to + rules, you writes a letter allowin' buzziness and that sorter thing + detains you. But wot's the facts? You're a gentleman, and as gentlemen you + and George comes to the opinion that you're rather playin' it for all it's + worth in this yer house, you know—comin' here night and day, off and + on, reg'lar sociable and fam'ly like, and makin' people talk about things + they ain't any call to talk about, and, what's a darned sight more, YOU + FELLOWS ain't got any right YET to allow 'em to talk about, d'ye see?” he + paused, out of breath. + </p> + <p> + It was Miss Christie's turn to move about. In changing her seat to the + piano-stool, so as to be nearer her visitor, she brushed down some loose + music, which Whiskey Dick hastened to pick up. + </p> + <p> + “Pray don't mind it,” she said, “pray don't, really—let it be—” + But Whiskey Dick, feeling himself on safe ground in this attention, + persisted to the bitter end of a disintegrated and well-worn “Travatore.” + “So that is what Mr. Munroe said,” she remarked quietly. + </p> + <p> + “Not just then, in course, but it's what's bin on his mind and in his talk + for days off and on,” returned Dick, with a knowing smile and a nod of + mysterious confidence. “Bless your soul, Miss Carr, folks like you and me + don't need to have them things explained. That's what I said to him, sez + I. 'Don't send no note, but just go up there and hev it out fair and + square, and say what you do mean.' But they would hev the note, and I + kalkilated to bring it. But when I set my eyes on you, and heard you + express yourself as you did just now, I sez to myself, sez I, 'Dick, yer's + a young lady, and a fash'nable lady at that, ez don't go foolin' round on + rules and etiketts'—excuse my freedom, Miss Carr—'and you and + her, sez I, 'kin just discuss this yer matter in a sociable, off-hand, + fash'nable way.' They're a good lot o' boys, Miss Carr, a square lot—white + men all of 'em; but they're a little soft and green, may be, from livin' + in these yer pine woods along o' the other sap. They just worship the + ground you and your sister tread on—certain! of course! of course!” + he added hurriedly, recognizing Christie's half-conscious, deprecating + gesture with more exaggerated deprecation. “I understand. But what I + wanter say is that they'd be willin' to be that ground, and lie down and + let you walk over them—so to speak, Miss Carr, so to speak—if + it would keep the hem of your gown from gettin' soiled in the mud o' the + camp. But it wouldn't do for them to make a reg'lar curderoy road o' + themselves for the houl camp to trapse over, on the mere chance of your + some time passin' that way, would it now?” + </p> + <p> + “Won't you let me offer you some refreshment, Mr. Hall?” said Christie, + rising, with a slight color. “I'm really ashamed of my forgetfulness + again, but I'm afraid it's partly YOUR fault for entertaining me to the + exclusion of yourself. No, thank you, let me fetch it for you.” + </p> + <p> + She turned to a handsome sideboard near the door, and presently faced him + again with a decanter of whiskey and a glass in her hand, and a return of + the bewitching smile she had worn on entering. + </p> + <p> + “But perhaps you don't take whiskey?” suggested the arch deceiver, with a + sudden affected but pretty perplexity of eye, brow, and lips. + </p> + <p> + For the first time in his life Whiskey Dick hesitated between two forms of + intoxication. But he was still nervous and uneasy; habit triumphed, and he + took the whiskey. He, however, wiped his lips with a slight wave of his + handkerchief, to support a certain easy elegance which he firmly believed + relieved the act of any vulgar quality. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, ma'am,” he continued, after an exhilarated pause. “Ez I said afore, + this yer's a matter you and me can discuss after the fashion o' society. + My idea is that these yer boys should kinder let up on you and Miss Jessie + for a while, and do a little more permiskus attention round the Ford. + There's one or two families yer with grown-up gals ez oughter be squared; + that is—the boys mighter put in a few fancy touches among them—kinder + take 'em buggy riding—or to church—once in a while—just + to take the pizen outer their tongues, and make a kind o' bluff to the + parents, d'ye see? That would sorter divert their own minds; and even if + it didn't, it would kinder get 'em accustomed agin to the old style and + their own kind. I want to warn ye agin an idea that might occur to you in + a giniral way. I don't say you hev the idea, but it's kind o' nat'ral you + might be thinkin' of it some time, and I thought I'd warn you agin it.” + </p> + <p> + “I think we understand each other too well to differ much, Mr. Hall,” said + Christie, still smiling; “but what is the idea?” + </p> + <p> + The delicate compliment to their confidential relations and the slight + stimulus of liquor had tremulously exalted Whiskey Dick. Affecting to look + cautiously out of the window and around the room, he ventured to draw + nearer the young woman with a half-paternal, half-timid familiarity. + </p> + <p> + “It might have occurred to you,” he said, laying his handkerchief as if to + veil mere vulgar contact, on Christie's shoulder, “that it would be a good + thing on YOUR side to invite down some of your high-toned gentlemen + friends from 'Frisco to visit you and escort you round. It seems quite + nat'ral like, and I don't say it ain't, but—the boys wouldn't stand + for it.” + </p> + <p> + In spite of her self-possession, Christie's eyes suddenly darkened, and + she involuntarily drew herself up. But Whiskey Dick, guiltily attributing + the movement to his own indiscreet gesture, said, “Excuse me, miss,” + recovered himself by lightly dusting her shoulder with his handkerchief, + as if to remove the impression, and her smile returned. + </p> + <p> + “They wouldn't stand for it,” said Dick, “and there'd be some shooting! + Not afore you, miss—not afore you, in course! But they'd adjourn to + the woods some morning with them city folks, and hev it out with rifles at + a hundred yards. Or, seein' ez they're city folks, the boys would do the + square thing with pistols at twelve paces. They're good boys, as I said + afore; but they're quick and tetchy—George, being the youngest, + nat'rally is the tetchiest. You know how it is, Miss Carr; his pretty, + gal-like face and little moustaches haz cost him half a dozen scrimmages + already. He'z had a fight for every hair that's growed in his moustache + since he kem here.” + </p> + <p> + “Say no more, Mr. Hall!” said Christie, rising and pressing her hands + lightly on Dick's tremulous fingers. “If I ever had any such idea, I + should abandon it now; you are quite right in this as in your other + opinions. I shall never cease to be thankful to Mr. Munroe and Mr. Kearney + that they intrusted this delicate matter to your hands.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the gratified and reddening visitor, “it ain't perhaps the + square thing to them or myself to say that they reckoned to have me + discuss their delicate affairs for them, but—” + </p> + <p> + “I understand,” interrupted Christie. “They simply gave you the letter as + a friend. It was my good fortune to find you a sympathizing and liberal + man of the world.” The delighted Dick, with conscious vanity beaming from + every feature of his shining face, lightly waved the compliment aside with + his handkerchief, as she continued, “But I am forgetting the message. We + accept the horses. Of course we COULD do without an escort; but forgive my + speaking so frankly, are YOU engaged this afternoon?” + </p> + <p> + “Excuse me, miss, I don't take—” stammered Dick, scarcely believing + his ears. + </p> + <p> + “Could you give us your company as an escort?” repeated Christie with a + smile. + </p> + <p> + Was he awake or dreaming, or was this some trick of liquor in his often + distorted fancy? He, Whiskey Dick! the butt of his friends, the chartered + oracle of the barrooms, even in whose wretched vanity there was always the + haunting suspicion that he was despised and scorned; he, who had dared so + much in speech, and achieved so little in fact! he, whose habitual + weakness had even led him into the wildest indiscretion here; he—now + offered a reward for that indiscretion! He, Whiskey Dick, the solicited + escort of these two beautiful and peerless girls! What would they say at + the Ford? What would his friends think? It would be all over the Ford the + next day. His past would be vindicated, his future secured. He grew erect + at the thought. It was almost in other voice, and with no trace of his + previous exaggeration, that he said, “With pleasure.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, if you will bring the horses at once, we shall be ready when you + return.” + </p> + <p> + In another instant he had vanished, as if afraid to trust the reality of + his good fortune to the dangers of delay. At the end of half an hour he + reappeared, leading the two horses, himself mounted on a half-broken + mustang. A pair of large, jingling silver spurs and a stiff sombrero, + borrowed with the mustang from some mysterious source, were donned to do + honor to the occasion. + </p> + <p> + The young girls were not yet ready, but he was shown by the Chinese + servant into the parlor to wait for them. The decanter of whiskey and + glasses were still invitingly there. He was hot, trembling, and flushed + with triumph. He walked to the table and laid his hand on the decanter, + when an odd thought flashed upon him. He would not drink this time. No, it + should not be said that he, the selected escort of the elite of Devil's + Ford, had to fill himself up with whiskey before they started. The boys + might turn to each other in their astonishment, as he proudly passed with + his fair companions, and say, “It's Whiskey Dick,” but he'd be d——d + if they should add, “and full as ever.” No, sir! Nor when he was riding + beside these real ladies, and leaning over them at some confidential + moment, should they even know it from his breath! No. . . . Yet a + thimbleful, taken straight, only a thimbleful, wouldn't be much, and might + help to pull him together. He again reached his trembling hand for the + decanter, hesitated, and then, turning his back upon it, resolutely walked + to the open window. Almost at the same instant he found himself face to + face with Christie on the veranda. + </p> + <p> + She looked into his bloodshot eyes, and cast a swift glance at the + decanter. + </p> + <p> + “Won't you take something before you go?” she said sweetly. + </p> + <p> + “I—reckon—not, jest now,” stammered Whiskey Dick, with a + heroic effort. + </p> + <p> + “You're right,” said Christie. “I see you are like me. It's too hot for + anything fiery. Come with me.” + </p> + <p> + She led him into the dining-room, and pouring out a glass of iced tea + handed it to him. Poor Dick was not prepared for this terrible + culmination. Whiskey Dick and iced tea! But under pretence of seeing if it + was properly flavored, Christie raised it to her own lips. + </p> + <p> + “Try it, to please me.” + </p> + <p> + He drained the goblet. + </p> + <p> + “Now, then,” said Christie gayly, “let's find Jessie, and be off!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <p> + Whatever might have been his other deficiencies as an escort, Whiskey Dick + was a good horseman, and, in spite of his fractious brute, exhibited such + skill and confidence as to at once satisfy the young girls of his value to + them in the management of their own horses, to whom side-saddles were + still an alarming novelty. Jessie, who had probably already learned from + her sister the purport of Dick's confidences, had received him with equal + cordiality and perhaps a more unqualified amusement; and now, when fairly + lifted into the saddle by his tremulous but respectful hands, made a very + charming picture of youthful and rosy satisfaction. And when Christie, + more fascinating than ever in her riding-habit, took her place on the + other side of Dick, as they sallied from the gate, that gentleman felt his + cup of happiness complete. His triumphal entree into the world of + civilization and fashion was secure. He did not regret the untasted + liquor; here was an experience in after years to lean his back against + comfortably in bar-rooms, to entrance or defy mankind. He had even got so + far as to formulate in fancy the sentence: “I remember, gentlemen, that + one afternoon, being on a pasear with two fash'nable young ladies,” etc., + etc. + </p> + <p> + At present, however, he was obliged to confine himself to the functions of + an elegant guide and cicerone—when not engaged in “having it out” + with his horse. Their way lay along the slope, crossing the high-road at + right angles, to reach the deeper woods beyond. Dick would have lingered + on the highway—ostensibly to point out to his companions the new + flume that had taken the place of the condemned ditch, but really in the + hope of exposing himself in his glory to the curious eyes of the wayfaring + world. + </p> + <p> + Unhappily the road was deserted in the still powerful sunlight, and he was + obliged to seek the cover of the woods, with a passing compliment to the + parent of his charges. Waving his hands towards the flume, he said, “Look + at that work of your father's; there ain't no other man in Californy but + Philip Carr ez would hev the grit to hold up such a bluff agin natur and + agin luck ez that yer flume stands for. I don't say it 'cause you're his + daughters, ladies! That ain't the style, ez YOU know, in sassiety, Miss + Carr,” he added, turning to Christie as the more socially experienced. + “No! but there ain't another man to be found ez could do it. It cost + already two hundred thousand; it'll cost five hundred thousand afore it's + done; and every cent of it is got out of the yearth beneath it, or HEZ got + to be out of it. 'Tain't ev'ry man, Miss Carr, ez hev got the pluck to + pledge not only what he's got, but what he reckons to git.” + </p> + <p> + “But suppose he don't get it?” said Christie, slightly contracting her + brows. + </p> + <p> + “Then there's the flume to show for it,” said Dick. + </p> + <p> + “But of what use is the flume, if there isn't any more gold?” continued + Christie, almost angrily. + </p> + <p> + “That's good from YOU, miss,” said Dick, giving way to a fit of hilarity. + “That's good for a fash'nable young lady—own daughter of Philip + Carr. She sez, says she,” continued Dick, appealing to the sedate pines + for appreciation of Christie's rare humor, “'Wot's the use of a flume, + when gold ain't there?' I must tell that to the boys.” + </p> + <p> + “And what's the use of the gold in the ground when the flume isn't there + to work it out?” said Jessie to her sister, with a cautioning glance + towards Dick. + </p> + <p> + But Dick did not notice the look that passed between the sisters. The + richer humor of Jessie's retort had thrown him into convulsions of + laughter. + </p> + <p> + “And now SHE says, wot's the use o' the gold without the flume? 'Xcuse me, + ladies, but that's just puttin' the hull question that's agitatin' this + yer camp inter two speeches as clear as crystal. There's the hull crowd + outside—and some on 'em inside, like Fairfax, hez their doubts—ez + says with Miss Christie; and there's all of us inside, ez holds Miss + Jessie's views.” + </p> + <p> + “I never heard Mr. Munroe say that the flume was wrong,” said Jessie + quickly. + </p> + <p> + “Not to you, nat'rally,” said Dick, with a confidential look at Christie; + “but I reckon he'd like some of the money it cost laid out for suthin' + else. But what's the odds? The gold is there, and WE'RE bound to get it.” + </p> + <p> + Dick was the foreman of a gang of paid workmen, who had replaced the + millionaires in mere manual labor, and the WE was a polite figure of + speech. + </p> + <p> + The conversation seemed to have taken an unfortunate turn, and both the + girls experienced a feeling of relief when they entered the long gulch or + defile that led to Indian Spring. The track now becoming narrow, they were + obliged to pass in single file along the precipitous hillside, led by this + escort. This effectually precluded any further speech, and Christie at + once surrendered herself to the calm, obliterating influences of the + forest. The settlement and its gossip were far behind and forgotten. In + the absorption of nature, her companions passed out of her mind, even as + they sometimes passed out of her sight in the windings of the shadowy + trail. As she rode alone, the fronds of breast-high ferns seemed to caress + her with outstretched and gently-detaining hands; strange wildflowers + sprang up through the parting underbrush; even the granite rocks that at + times pressed closely upon the trail appeared as if cushioned to her + contact with star-rayed mosses, or lightly flung after her long lassoes of + delicate vines. She recalled the absolute freedom of their al-fresco life + in the old double cabin, when she spent the greater part of her waking + hours under the mute trees in the encompassing solitude, and, half + regretting the more civilized restraints of this newer and more ambitious + abode, forgot that she had ever rebelled against it. The social + complication that threatened her now seemed to her rather the outcome of + her half-civilized parlor than of the sylvan glade. How easy it would have + been to have kept the cabin, and then to have gone away entirely, than for + her father to have allowed them to be compromised with the growing + fortunes of the settlement! The suspicions and distrust that she had + always felt of their fortunes seemed to grow with the involuntary + admission of Whiskey Dick that they were shared by others who were + practical men. She was fain to have recourse to the prospect again to + banish these thoughts, and this opened her eyes to the fact that her + companions had been missing from the trail ahead of her for some time. She + quickened her pace slightly to reach a projecting point of rock that gave + her a more extended prospect. But they had evidently disappeared. + </p> + <p> + She was neither alarmed nor annoyed. She could easily overtake them soon, + for they would miss her, and return or wait for her at the spring. At the + worst she would have no difficulty in retracing her steps home. In her + present mood, she could readily spare their company; indeed she was not + sorry that no other being should interrupt that sympathy with the free + woods which was beginning to possess her. + </p> + <p> + She was destined, however, to be disappointed. She had not proceeded a + hundred yards before she noticed the moving figure of a man beyond her in + the hillside chaparral above the trail. He seemed to be going in the same + direction as herself, and, as she fancied, endeavoring to avoid her. This + excited her curiosity to the point of urging her horse forward until the + trail broadened into the level forest again, which she now remembered was + a part of the environs of Indian Spring. The stranger hesitated, pausing + once or twice with his back towards her, as if engaged in carefully + examining the dwarf willows to select a switch. Christie slightly checked + her speed as she drew nearer; when, as if obedient to a sudden resolution, + he turned and advanced towards her. She was relieved and yet surprised to + recognize the boyish face and figure of George Kearney. He was quite pale + and agitated, although attempting, by a jaunty swinging of the switch he + had just cut, to assume the appearance of ease and confidence. + </p> + <p> + Here was an opportunity. Christie resolved to profit by it. She did not + doubt that the young fellow had already passed her sister on the trail, + but, from bashfulness, had not dared to approach her. By inviting his + confidence, she would doubtless draw something from him that would deny or + corroborate her father's opinion of his sentiments. If he was really in + love with Jessie, she would learn what reasons he had for expecting a + serious culmination of his suit, and perhaps she might be able delicately + to open his eyes to the truth. If, as she believed, it was only a boyish + fancy, she would laugh him out of it with that camaraderie which had + always existed between them. A half motherly sympathy, albeit born quite + as much from a contemplation of his beautiful yearning eyes as from his + interesting position, lightened the smile with which she greeted him. + </p> + <p> + “So you contrived to throw over your stupid business and join us, after + all,” she said; “or was it that you changed your mind at the last moment?” + she added mischievously. “I thought only we women were permitted that!” + Indeed, she could not help noticing that there was really a strong + feminine suggestion in the shifting color and slightly conscious eyelids + of the young fellow. + </p> + <p> + “Do young girls always change their minds?” asked George, with an + embarrassed smile. + </p> + <p> + “Not, always; but sometimes they don't know their own mind—particularly + if they are very young; and when they do at last, you clever creatures of + men, who have interpreted their ignorance to please yourselves, abuse them + for being fickle.” She stopped to observe the effect of what she believed + a rather clear and significant exposition of Jessie's and George's + possible situation. But she was not prepared for the look of blank + resignation that seemed to drive the color from his face and moisten the + fire of his dark eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon you're right,” he said, looking down. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! we're not accusing you of fickleness,” said Christie gayly; “although + you didn't come, and we were obliged to ask Mr. Hall to join us. I suppose + you found him and Jessie just now?” + </p> + <p> + But George made no reply. The color was slowly coming back to his face, + which, as she glanced covertly at him, seemed to have grown so much older + that his returning blood might have brought two or three years with it. + </p> + <p> + “Really, Mr. Kearney,” she said dryly, “one would think that some silly, + conceited girl”—she was quite earnest in her epithets, for a sudden, + angry conviction of some coquetry and disingenuousness in Jessie had come + to her in contemplating its effects upon the young fellow at her side—“some + country jilt, had been trying her rustic hand upon you.” + </p> + <p> + “She is not silly, conceited, nor countrified,” said George, slowly + raising his beautiful eyes to the young girl half reproachfully. “It is I + who am all that. No, she is right, and you know it.” + </p> + <p> + Much as Christie admired and valued her sister's charms, she thought this + was really going too far. What had Jessie ever done—what was Jessie—to + provoke and remain insensible to such a blind devotion as this? And + really, looking at him now, he was not so VERY YOUNG for Jessie; whether + his unfortunate passion had brought out all his latent manliness, or + whether he had hitherto kept his serious nature in the background, + certainly he was not a boy. And certainly his was not a passion that he + could be laughed out of. It was getting very tiresome. She wished she had + not met him—at least until she had had some clearer understanding + with her sister. He was still walking beside her, with his hand on her + bridle rein, partly to lead her horse over some boulders in the trail, and + partly to conceal his first embarrassment. When they had fairly reached + the woods, he stopped. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to say good-by, Miss Carr.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you not coming further? We must be near Indian Spring, now; Mr. Hall + and—and Jessie—cannot be far away. You will keep me company + until we meet them?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” he replied quietly. “I only stopped you to say good-by. I am going + away.” + </p> + <p> + “Not from Devil's Ford?” she asked, in half-incredulous astonishment. “At + least, not for long?” + </p> + <p> + “I am not coming back,” he replied. + </p> + <p> + “But this is very abrupt,” she said hurriedly, feeling that in some + ridiculous way she had precipitated an equally ridiculous catastrophe. + “Surely you are not going away in this fashion, without saying good-by to + Jessie and—and father?” + </p> + <p> + “I shall see your father, of course—and you will give my regards to + Miss Jessie.” + </p> + <p> + He evidently was in earnest. Was there ever anything so perfectly + preposterous? She became indignant. + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” she said coldly, “I won't detain you; your business must be + urgent, and I forgot—at least I had forgotten until to-day—that + you have other duties more important than that of squire of dames. I am + afraid this forgetfulness made me think you would not part from us in + quite such a business fashion. I presume, if you had not met me just now, + we should none of us have seen you again?” + </p> + <p> + He did not reply. + </p> + <p> + “Will you say good-by, Miss Carr?” + </p> + <p> + He held out his hand. + </p> + <p> + “One moment, Mr. Kearney. If I have said anything which you think + justifies this very abrupt leave-taking, I beg you will forgive and forget + it—or, at least, let it have no more weight with you than the idle + words of any woman. I only spoke generally. You know—I—I might + be mistaken.” + </p> + <p> + His eyes, which had dilated when she began to speak, darkened; his color, + which had quickly come, as quickly sank when she had ended. + </p> + <p> + “Don't say that, Miss Carr. It is not like you, and—it is useless. + You know what I meant a moment ago. I read it in your reply. You meant + that I, like others, had deceived myself. Did you not?” + </p> + <p> + She could not meet those honest eyes with less than equal honesty. She + knew that Jessie did not love him—would not marry him—whatever + coquetry she might have shown. + </p> + <p> + “I did not mean to offend you,” she said hesitatingly; “I only half + suspected it when I spoke.” + </p> + <p> + “And you wish to spare me the avowal?” he said bitterly. + </p> + <p> + “To me, perhaps, yes, by anticipating it. I could not tell what ideas you + might have gathered from some indiscreet frankness of Jessie—or my + father,” she added, with almost equal bitterness. + </p> + <p> + “I have never spoken to either,” he replied quickly. He stopped, and + added, after a moment's mortifying reflection, “I've been brought up in + the woods, Miss Carr, and I suppose I have followed my feelings, instead + of the etiquette of society.” + </p> + <p> + Christie was too relieved at the rehabilitation of Jessie's truthfulness + to notice the full significance of his speech. + </p> + <p> + “Good-by,” he said again, holding out his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Good-by!” + </p> + <p> + She extended her own, ungloved, with a frank smile. He held it for a + moment, with his eyes fixed upon hers. Then suddenly, as if obeying an + uncontrollable impulse, he crushed it like a flower again and again + against his burning lips, and darted away. + </p> + <p> + Christie sank back in her saddle with a little cry, half of pain and half + of frightened surprise. Had the poor boy suddenly gone mad, or was this + vicarious farewell a part of the courtship of Devil's Ford? She looked at + her little hand, which had reddened under the pressure, and suddenly felt + the flush extending to her cheeks and the roots of her hair. This was + intolerable. + </p> + <p> + “Christie!” + </p> + <p> + It was her sister emerging from the wood to seek her. In another moment + she was at her side. + </p> + <p> + “We thought you were following,” said Jessie. “Good heavens! how you look! + What has happened?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing. I met Mr. Kearney a moment ago on the trail. He is going away, + and—and—” She stopped, furious and flushing. + </p> + <p> + “And,” said Jessie, with a burst of merriment, “he told you at last he + loved you. Oh, Christie!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <p> + The abrupt departure of George Kearney from Devil's Ford excited but + little interest in the community, and was soon forgotten. It was generally + attributed to differences between himself and his partners on the question + of further outlay of their earnings on mining improvements—he and + Philip Carr alone representing a sanguine minority whose faith in the + future of the mine accepted any risks. It was alleged by some that he had + sold out to his brother; it was believed by others that he had simply gone + to Sacramento to borrow money on his share, in order to continue the + improvements on his own responsibility. The partners themselves were + uncommunicative; even Whiskey Dick, who since his remarkable social + elevation had become less oracular, much to his own astonishment, + contributed nothing to the gossip except a suggestion that as the fiery + temper of George Kearney brooked no opposition, even from his brother, it + was better they should separate before the estrangement became serious. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Carr did not disguise his annoyance at the loss of his young disciple + and firm ally. But an unlucky allusion to his previous remarks on + Kearney's attentions to Jessie, and a querulous regret that he had + permitted a disruption of their social intimacy, brought such an ominous + and frigid opposition, not only from Christie, but even the frivolous + Jessie herself, that Carr sank back in a crushed and terrified silence. “I + only meant to say,” he stammered after a pause, in which he, however, + resumed his aggrieved manner, “that FAIRFAX seems to come here still, and + HE is not such a particular friend of mine.” + </p> + <p> + “But she is—and has your interest entirely at heart,” said Jessie, + stoutly, “and he only comes here to tell us how things are going on at the + works.” + </p> + <p> + “And criticise your father, I suppose,” said Mr. Carr, with an attempt at + jocularity that did not, however, disguise an irritated suspiciousness. + “He really seems to have supplanted ME as he has poor Kearney in your + estimation.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, father,” said Jessie, suddenly seizing him by the shoulders in + affected indignation, but really to conceal a certain embarrassment that + sprang quite as much from her sister's quietly observant eye as her + father's speech, “you promised to let this ridiculous discussion drop. You + will make me and Christie so nervous that we will not dare to open the + door to a visitor, until he declares his innocence of any matrimonial + intentions. You don't want to give color to the gossip that agreement with + your views about the improvements is necessary to getting on with us.” + </p> + <p> + “Who dares talk such rubbish?” said Carr, reddening; “is that the kind of + gossip that Fairfax brings here?” + </p> + <p> + “Hardly, when it's known that he don't quite agree with you, and DOES come + here. That's the best denial of the gossip.” + </p> + <p> + Christie, who had of late loftily ignored these discussions, waited until + her father had taken his departure. + </p> + <p> + “Then that is the reason why you still see Mr. Munroe, after what you + said,” she remarked quietly to Jessie. + </p> + <p> + Jessie, who would have liked to escape with her father, was obliged to + pause on the threshold of the door, with a pretty assumption of blank + forgetfulness in her blue eyes and lifted eyebrows. + </p> + <p> + “Said what? when?” she asked vacantly. + </p> + <p> + “When—when Mr. Kearney that day—in the woods—went away,” + said Christie, faintly coloring. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! THAT day,” said Jessie briskly; “the day he just gloved your hand + with kisses, and then fled wildly into the forest to conceal his emotion.” + </p> + <p> + “The day he behaved very foolishly,” said Christie, with reproachful + calmness, that did not, however, prevent a suspicion of indignant moisture + in her eyes—“when you explained”— + </p> + <p> + “That it wasn't meant for ME,” interrupted Jessie. + </p> + <p> + “That it was to you that MR. MUNROE'S attentions were directed. And then + we agreed that it was better to prevent any further advances of this kind + by avoiding any familiar relations with either of them.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jessie, “I remember; but you're not confounding my seeing + Fairfax occasionally now with that sort of thing. HE doesn't kiss my hand + like anything,” she added, as if in abstract reflection. + </p> + <p> + “Nor run away, either,” suggested the trodden worm, turning. + </p> + <p> + There was an ominous silence. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know we are nearly out of coffee?” said Jessie choking, but moving + towards the door with Spartan-like calmness. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. And something must be done this very day about the washing,” said + Christie, with suppressed emotion, going towards the opposite entrance. + </p> + <p> + Tears stood in each other's eyes with this terrible exchange of domestic + confidences. Nevertheless, after a moment's pause, they deliberately + turned again, and, facing each other with frightful calmness, left the + room by purposeless and deliberate exits other than those they had + contemplated—a crushing abnegation of self, that, to some extent, + relieved their surcharged feelings. + </p> + <p> + Meantime the material prosperity of Devil's Ford increased, if a + prosperity based upon no visible foundation but the confidences and hopes + of its inhabitants could be called material. Few, if any, stopped to + consider that the improvements, buildings, and business were simply the + outlay of capital brought from elsewhere, and as yet the settlement or + town, as it was now called, had neither produced nor exported capital of + itself equal to half the amount expended. It was true that some land was + cultivated on the further slope, some mills erected and lumber furnished + from the inexhaustible forest; but the consumers were the inhabitants + themselves, who paid for their produce in borrowed capital or unlimited + credit. It was never discovered that while all roads led to Devil's Ford, + Devil's Ford led to nowhere. The difficulties overcome in getting things + into the settlement were never surmounted for getting things out of it. + The lumber was practically valueless for export to other settlements + across the mountain roads, which were equally rich in timber. The theory + so enthusiastically held by the original locators, that Devil's Ford was a + vast sink that had, through ages, exhausted and absorbed the trickling + wealth of the adjacent hills and valleys, was suffering an ironical + corroboration. + </p> + <p> + One morning it was known that work was stopped at the Devil's Ford Ditch—temporarily + only, it was alleged, and many of the old workmen simply had their labor + for the present transferred to excavating the river banks, and the + collection of vast heaps of “pay gravel.” Specimens from these mounds, + taken from different localities, and at different levels, were sent to San + Francisco for more rigid assay and analysis. It was believed that this + would establish the fact of the permanent richness of the drifts, and not + only justify past expenditure, but a renewed outlay of credit and capital. + The suspension of engineering work gave Mr. Carr an opportunity to visit + San Francisco on general business of the mine, which could not, however, + prevent him from arranging further combinations with capital. His two + daughters accompanied him. It offered an admirable opportunity for a + shopping expedition, a change of scene, and a peaceful solution of their + perplexing and anomalous social relations with Devil's Ford. In the first + flush of gratitude to their father for this opportune holiday, something + of harmony had been restored to the family circle that had of late been + shaken by discord. + </p> + <p> + But their sanguine hopes of enjoyment were not entirely fulfilled. Both + Jessie and Christie were obliged to confess to a certain disappointment in + the aspect of the civilization they were now reentering. They at first + attributed it to the change in their own habits during the last three + months, and their having become barbarous and countrified in their + seclusion. Certainly in the matter of dress they were behind the fashions + as revealed in Montgomery Street. But when the brief solace afforded them + by the modiste and dressmaker was past, there seemed little else to be + gained. They missed at first, I fear, the chivalrous and loyal devotion + that had only amused them at Devil's Ford, and were the more inclined, I + think, to distrust the conscious and more civilized gallantry of the + better dressed and more carefully presented men they met. For it must be + admitted that, for obvious reasons, their criticisms were at first + confined to the sex they had been most in contact with. They could not + help noticing that the men were more eager, annoyingly feverish, and + self-asserting in their superior elegance and external show than their old + associates were in their frank, unrestrained habits. It seemed to them + that the five millionaires of Devil's Ford, in their radical simplicity + and thoroughness, were perhaps nearer the type of true gentlemanhood than + these citizens who imitated a civilization they were unable yet to reach. + </p> + <p> + The women simply frightened them, as being, even more than the men, + demonstrative and excessive in their fine looks, their fine dresses, their + extravagant demand for excitement. In less than a week they found + themselves regretting—not the new villa on the slope of Devil's + Ford, which even in its own bizarre fashion was exceeded by the barbarous + ostentation of the villas and private houses around them—but the + double cabin under the trees, which now seemed to them almost aristocratic + in its grave simplicity and abstention. In the mysterious forests of masts + that thronged the city's quays they recalled the straight shafts of the + pines on Devil's slopes, only to miss the sedate repose and infinite calm + that used to environ them. In the feverish, pulsating life of the young + metropolis they often stopped oppressed, giddy, and choking; the roar of + the streets and thoroughfares was meaningless to them, except to revive + strange memories of the deep, unvarying monotone of the evening wind over + their humbler roof on the Sierran hillside. Civic bred and nurtured as + they were, the recurrence of these sensations perplexed and alarmed them. + </p> + <p> + “It seems so perfectly ridiculous,” said Jessie, “for us to feel as out of + place here as that Pike County servant girl in Sacramento who had never + seen a steamboat before; do you know, I quite had a turn the other day at + seeing a man on the Stockton wharf in a red shirt, with a rifle on his + shoulder.” + </p> + <p> + “And you wanted to go and speak to him?” said Christie, with a sad smile. + </p> + <p> + “No, that's just it; I felt awfully hurt and injured that he did not come + up and speak to ME! I wonder if we got any fever or that sort of thing up + there; it makes one quite superstitious.” + </p> + <p> + Christie did not reply; more than once before she had felt that + inexplicable misgiving. It had sometimes seemed to her that she had never + been quite herself since that memorable night when she had slipped out of + their sleeping-cabin, and stood alone in the gracious and commanding + presence of the woods and hills. In the solitude of night, with the hum of + the great city rising below her—at times even in theatres or crowded + assemblies of men and women—she forgot herself, and again stood in + the weird brilliancy of that moonlight night in mute worship at the foot + of that slowly-rising mystic altar of piled terraces, hanging forests, and + lifted plateaus that climbed forever to the lonely skies. Again she felt + before her the expanding and opening arms of the protecting woods. Had + they really closed upon her in some pantheistic embrace that made her a + part of them? Had she been baptized in that moonlight as a child of the + great forest? It was easy to believe in the myths of the poets of an + idyllic life under those trees, where, free from conventional + restrictions, one loved and was loved. If she, with her own worldly + experience, could think of this now, why might not George Kearney have + thought? . . . She stopped, and found herself blushing even in the + darkness. As the thought and blush were the usual sequel of her + reflections, it is to be feared that they may have been at times the + impelling cause. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Carr, however, made up for his daughters' want of sympathy with + metropolitan life. To their astonishment, he not only plunged into the + fashionable gayeties and amusements of the town, but in dress and manner + assumed the role of a leader of society. The invariable answer to their + half-humorous comment was the necessities of the mine, and the policy of + frequenting the company of capitalists, to enlist their support and + confidence. There was something in this so unlike their father, that what + at any other time they would have hailed as a relief to his habitual + abstraction now half alarmed them. Yet he was not dissipated—he did + not drink nor gamble. There certainly did not seem any harm in his + frequenting the society of ladies, with a gallantry that appeared to be + forced and a pleasure that to their critical eyes was certainly + apocryphal. He did not drag his daughters into the mixed society of that + period; he did not press upon them the company of those he most + frequented, and whose accepted position in that little world of fashion + was considered equal to their own. When Jessie strongly objected to the + pronounced manners of a certain widow, whose actual present wealth and + pecuniary influence condoned for a more uncertain prehistoric past, Mr. + Carr did not urge a further acquaintance. “As long as you're not thinking + of marrying again, papa,” Jessie had said finally, “I don't see the + necessity of our knowing her.” “But suppose I were,” had replied Mr. Carr + with affected humor. “Then you certainly wouldn't care for any one like + her,” his daughter had responded triumphantly. Mr. Carr smiled, and + dropped the subject, but it is probable that his daughters' want of + sympathy with his acquaintances did not in the least interfere with his + social prestige. A gentleman in all his relations and under all + circumstances, even his cold scientific abstraction was provocative; rich + men envied his lofty ignorance of the smaller details of money-making, + even while they mistrusted his judgment. A man still well preserved, and + free from weakening vices, he was a dangerous rival to younger and faster + San Francisco, in the eyes of the sex, who knew how to value a repose they + did not themselves possess. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly Mr. Carr announced his intention of proceeding to Sacramento, on + further business of the mine, leaving his two daughters in the family of a + wealthy friend until he should return for them. He opposed their ready + suggestion to return to Devil's Ford with a new and unnecessary + inflexibility: he even met their compromise to accompany him to Sacramento + with equal decision. + </p> + <p> + “You will be only in my way,” he said curtly. “Enjoy yourselves here while + you can.” + </p> + <p> + Thus left to themselves, they tried to accept his advice. Possibly some + slight reaction to their previous disappointment may have already set in; + perhaps they felt any distraction to be a relief to their anxiety about + their father. They went out more; they frequented concerts and parties; + they accepted, with their host and his family, an invitation to one of + those opulent and barbaric entertainments with which a noted San Francisco + millionaire distracted his rare moments of reflection in his gorgeous + palace on the hills. Here they could at least be once more in the country + they loved, albeit of a milder and less heroic type, and a little degraded + by the overlapping tinsel and scattered spangles of the palace. + </p> + <p> + It was a three days' fete; the style and choice of amusements left to the + guests, and an equal and active participation by no means necessary or + indispensable. Consequently, when Christie and Jessie Carr proposed a ride + through the adjacent canyon on the second morning, they had no difficulty + in finding horses in the well-furnished stables of their opulent + entertainers, nor cavaliers among the other guests, who were too happy to + find favor in the eyes of the two pretty girls who were supposed to be + abnormally fastidious and refined. Christie's escort was a good-natured + young banker, shrewd enough to avoid demonstrative attentions, and lucky + enough to interest her during the ride with his clear and half-humorous + reflections on some of the business speculations of the day. If his ideas + were occasionally too clever, and not always consistent with a high sense + of honor, she was none the less interested to know the ethics of that + world of speculation into which her father had plunged, and the more + convinced, with mingled sense of pride and anxiety, that his still + dominant gentlemanhood would prevent his coping with it on equal terms. + Nor could she help contrasting the conversation of the sharp-witted man at + her side with what she still remembered of the vague, touching, boyish + enthusiasm of the millionaires of Devil's Ford. Had her escort guessed the + result of this contrast, he would hardly have been as gratified as he was + with the grave attention of her beautiful eyes. + </p> + <p> + The fascination of a gracious day and the leafy solitude of the canyon led + them to prolong their ride beyond the proposed limit, and it became + necessary towards sunset for them to seek some shorter cut home. + </p> + <p> + “There's a vaquero in yonder field,” said Christie's escort, who was + riding with her a little in advance of the others, “and those fellows know + every trail that a horse can follow. I'll ride on, intercept him, and try + my Spanish on him. If I miss him, as he's galloping on, you might try your + hand on him yourself. He'll understand your eyes, Miss Carr, in any + language.” + </p> + <p> + As he dashed away, to cover his first audacity of compliment, Christie + lifted the eyes thus apostrophized to the opposite field. The vaquero, who + was chasing some cattle, was evidently too preoccupied to heed the shouts + of her companion, and wheeling round suddenly to intercept one of the + deviating fugitives, permitted Christie's escort to dash past him before + that gentleman could rein in his excited steed. This brought the vaquero + directly in her path. Perceiving her, he threw his horse back on its + haunches, to prevent a collision. Christie rode up to him, suddenly + uttered a cry, and halted. For before her, sunburnt in cheek and throat, + darker in the free growth of moustache and curling hair, clad in the + coarse, picturesque finery of his class, undisguised only in his boyish + beauty, sat George Kearney. + </p> + <p> + The blood, that had forsaken her astonished face, rushed as quickly back. + His eyes, which had suddenly sparkled with an electrical glow, sank before + hers. His hand dropped, and his cheek flushed with a dark embarrassment. + </p> + <p> + “You here, Mr. Kearney? How strange!—but how glad I am to meet you + again!” + </p> + <p> + She tried to smile; her voice trembled, and her little hand shook as she + extended it to him. + </p> + <p> + He raised his dark eyes quickly, and impulsively urged his horse to her + side. But, as if suddenly awakening to the reality of the situation, he + glanced at her hurriedly, down at his barbaric finery, and threw a + searching look towards her escort. + </p> + <p> + In an instant Christie saw the infelicity of her position, and its + dangers. The words of Whiskey Dick, “He wouldn't stand that,” flashed + across her mind. There was no time to lose. The banker had already gained + control over his horse, and was approaching them, all unconscious of the + fixed stare with which George was regarding him. Christie hastily seized + the hand which he had allowed to fall at his side, and said quickly:— + </p> + <p> + “Will you ride with me a little way, Mr. Kearney?” + </p> + <p> + He turned the same searching look upon her. She met it clearly and + steadily; he even thought reproachfully. + </p> + <p> + “Do!” she said hurriedly. “I ask it as a favor. I want to speak to you. + Jessie and I are here alone. Father is away. YOU are one of our oldest + friends.” + </p> + <p> + He hesitated. She turned to the astonished young banker, who rode up. + </p> + <p> + “I have just met an old friend. Will you please ride back as quickly as + you can, and tell Jessie that Mr. Kearney is here, and ask her to join + us?” + </p> + <p> + She watched her dazed escort, still speechless from the spectacle of the + fastidious Miss Carr tete-a-tete with a common Mexican vaquero, gallop off + in the direction of the canyon, and then turned to George. + </p> + <p> + “Now take me home, the shortest way, as quick as you can.” + </p> + <p> + “Home?” echoed George. + </p> + <p> + “I mean to Mr. Prince's house. Quick! before they can come up to us.” + </p> + <p> + He mechanically put spurs to his horse; she followed. They presently + struck into a trail that soon diverged again into a disused logging track + through the woods. + </p> + <p> + “This is the short cut to Prince's, by two miles,” he said, as they + entered the woods. + </p> + <p> + As they were still galloping, without exchanging a word, Christie began to + slacken her speed; George did the same. They were safe from intrusion at + the present, even if the others had found the short cut. Christie, bold + and self-reliant a moment ago, suddenly found herself growing weak and + embarrassed. What had she done? + </p> + <p> + She checked her horse suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps we had better wait for them,” she said timidly. + </p> + <p> + George had not raised his eyes to hers. + </p> + <p> + “You said you wanted to hurry home,” he replied gently, passing his hand + along his mustang's velvety neck, “and—and you had something to say + to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” she answered, with a faint laugh. “I'm so astonished at + meeting you here. I'm quite bewildered. You are living here; you have + forsaken us to buy a ranche?” she continued, looking at him attentively. + </p> + <p> + His brow colored slightly. + </p> + <p> + “No, I'm living here, but I have bought no ranche. I'm only a hired man on + somebody else's ranche, to look after the cattle.” + </p> + <p> + He saw her beautiful eyes fill with astonishment and—something else. + His brow cleared; he went on, with his old boyish laugh: + </p> + <p> + “No, Miss Carr. The fact is, I'm dead broke. I've lost everything since I + saw you last. But as I know how to ride, and I'm not afraid of work, I + manage to keep along.” + </p> + <p> + “You have lost money in—in the mines?” said Christie suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “No”—he replied quickly, evading her eyes. “My brother has my + interest, you know. I've been foolish on my own account solely. You know + I'm rather inclined to that sort of thing. But as long as my folly don't + affect others, I can stand it.” + </p> + <p> + “But it may affect others—and THEY may not think of it as folly—” + She stopped short, confused by his brightening color and eyes. “I mean—Oh, + Mr. Kearney, I want you to be frank with me. I know nothing of business, + but I know there has been trouble about the mine at Devil's Ford. Tell me + honestly, has my father anything to do with it? If I thought that through + any imprudence of his, you had suffered—if I believed that you could + trace any misfortune of yours to him—to US—I should never + forgive myself”—she stopped and flashed a single look at him—“I + should never forgive YOU for abandoning us.” + </p> + <p> + The look of pain which had at first shown itself in his face, which never + concealed anything, passed, and a quick smile followed her feminine + anticlimax. + </p> + <p> + “Miss Carr,” he said, with boyish eagerness, “if any man suggested to me + that your father wasn't the brightest and best of his kind—too wise + and clever for the fools about him to understand—I'd—I'd shoot + him.” + </p> + <p> + Confused by his ready and gracious disclaimer of what she had NOT intended + to say, there was nothing left for her but to rush upon what she really + intended to say, with what she felt was shameful precipitation. + </p> + <p> + “One word more, Mr. Kearney,” she began, looking down, but feeling the + color come to her face as she spoke. “When you spoke to me the day you + left, you must have thought me hard and cruel. When I tell you that I + thought you were alluding to Jessie and some feeling you had for her—” + </p> + <p> + “For Jessie!” echoed George. + </p> + <p> + “You will understand that—that—” + </p> + <p> + “That what?” said George, drawing nearer to her. + </p> + <p> + “That I was only speaking as she might have spoken had you talked to her + of me,” added Christie hurriedly, slightly backing her horse away from + him. + </p> + <p> + But this was not so easy, as George was the better rider, and by an + imperceptible movement of his wrist and foot had glued his horse to her + side. “He will go now,” she had thought, but he didn't. + </p> + <p> + “We must ride on,” she suggested faintly. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he said with a sudden dropping of his boyish manner and a slight + lifting of his head. “We must ride together no further, Miss Carr. I must + go back to the work I am hired to do, and you must go on with your party, + whom I hear coming. But when we part here you must bid me good-by—not + as Jessie's sister—but as Christie—the one—the only + woman that I love, or that I ever have loved.” + </p> + <p> + He held out his hand. With the recollection of their previous parting, she + tremblingly advanced her own. He took it, but did not raise it to his + lips. And it was she who found herself half confusedly retaining his hand + in hers, until she dropped it with a blush. + </p> + <p> + “Then is this the reason you give for deserting us as you have deserted + Devil's Ford?” she said coldly. + </p> + <p> + He lifted his eyes to her with a strange smile, and said, “Yes,” wheeled + his horse, and disappeared in the forest. + </p> + <p> + He had left her thus abruptly once before, kissed, blushing, and + indignant. He was leaving her now, unkissed, but white and indignant. Yet + she was so self-possessed when the party joined her, that the singular + rencontre and her explanation of the stranger's sudden departure excited + no further comment. Only Jessie managed to whisper in her ear,— + </p> + <p> + “I hope you are satisfied now that it wasn't me he meant?” + </p> + <p> + “Not at all,” said Christie coldly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <p> + A few days after the girls had returned to San Francisco, they received a + letter from their father. His business, he wrote, would detain him in + Sacramento some days longer. There was no reason why they should return to + Devil's Ford in the heat of the summer; their host had written to beg him + to allow them a more extended visit, and, if they were enjoying + themselves, he thought it would be well not to disoblige an old friend. He + had heard they had a pleasant visit to Mr. Prince's place, and that a + certain young banker had been very attentive to Christie. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know what all this means, dear?” asked Jessie, who had been + watching her sister with an unusually grave face. + </p> + <p> + Christie whose thoughts had wandered from the letter, replied carelessly,— + </p> + <p> + “I suppose it means that we are to wait here until father sends for us.” + </p> + <p> + “It means a good deal more. It means that papa has had another reverse; it + means that the assay has turned out badly for the mine—that the + further they go from the flat the worse it gets—that all the gold + they will probably ever see at Devil's Ford is what they have already + found or will find on the flat; it means that all Devil's Ford is only a + 'pocket,' and not a 'lead.'” She stopped, with unexpected tears in her + eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Who told you this?” asked Christie breathlessly. + </p> + <p> + “Fairfax—Mr. Munroe,” stammered her sister, “writes to me as if we + already knew it—tells me not to be alarmed, that it isn't so bad—and + all that.” + </p> + <p> + “How long has this happened, Jessie?” said Christie, taking her hand, with + a white but calm face. + </p> + <p> + “Nearly ever since we've been here, I suppose. It must be so, for he says + poor papa is still hopeful of doing something yet.” + </p> + <p> + “And Mr. Munroe writes to you?” said Christie abstractedly. + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” said Jessie quickly. “He feels interested in—us.” + </p> + <p> + “Nobody tells ME anything,” said Christie. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't—” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Christie bitterly. + </p> + <p> + “What on earth DID you talk about? But people don't confide in you because + they're afraid of you. You're so—” + </p> + <p> + “So what?” + </p> + <p> + “So gently patronizing, and so 'I-don't-suppose-you-can-help-it, + poor-thing,' in your general style,” said Jessie, kissing her. “There! I + only wish I was like you. What do you say if we write to father that we'll + go back to Devil's Ford? Mr. Munroe thinks we will be of service there + just now. If the men are dissatisfied, and think we're spending money—” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid Mr. Munroe is hardly a disinterested adviser. At least, I + don't think it would look quite decent for you to fly back without your + father, at his suggestion,” said Christie coldly. “He is not the only + partner. We are spending no money. Besides, we have engaged to go to Mr. + Prince's again next week.” + </p> + <p> + “As you like, dear,” said Jessie, turning away to hide a faint smile. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, when they returned from their visit to Mr. Prince's, and one + or two uneventful rides, Christie looked grave. It was only a few days + later that Jessie burst upon her one morning. + </p> + <p> + “You were saying that nobody ever tells you anything. Well, here's your + chance. Whiskey Dick is below.” + </p> + <p> + “Whiskey Dick?” repeated Christie. “What does he want?” + </p> + <p> + “YOU, love. Who else? You know he always scorns me as not being high-toned + and elegant enough for his social confidences. He asked for you only.” + </p> + <p> + With an uneasy sense of some impending revelation, Christie descended to + the drawing-room. As she opened the door, a strong flavor of that toilet + soap and eau de Cologne with which Whiskey Dick was in the habit of + gracefully effacing the traces of dissipation made known his presence. In + spite of a new suit of clothes, whose pristine folds refused to adapt + themselves entirely to the contour of his figure, he was somewhat subdued + by the unexpected elegance of the drawing-room of Christie's host. But a + glance at Christie's sad but gracious face quickly reassured him. Taking + from his hat a three-cornered parcel, he unfolded a handsome saffrona + rose, which he gravely presented to her. Having thus reestablished his + position, he sank elegantly into a tete-a-tete ottoman. Finding the + position inconvenient to face Christie, who had seated herself on a chair, + he transferred himself to the other side of the ottoman, and addressed her + over its back as from a pulpit. + </p> + <p> + “Is this really a fortunate accident, Mr. Hall, or did you try to find + us?” said Christie pleasantly. + </p> + <p> + “Partly promiskuss, and partly coincident, Miss Christie, one up and + t'other down,” said Dick lightly. “Work being slack at present at Devil's + Ford, I reck'ned I'd take a pasear down to 'Frisco, and dip into the + vortex o' fash'nable society and out again.” He lightly waved a new + handkerchief to illustrate his swallow-like intrusion. “This yer minglin' + with the bo-tong is apt to be wearisome, ez you and me knows, unless + combined with experience and judgment. So when them boys up there allows + that there's a little too much fash'nable society and San Francisco + capital and high-falutin' about the future goin' on fer square surface + mining, I sez, 'Look yere, gentlemen,' sez I, 'you don't see the pint. The + pint is to get the pop'lar eye fixed, so to speak, on Devil's Ford. When a + fash'nable star rises above the 'Frisco horizon—like Miss Carr—and, + so to speak, dazzles the gineral eye, people want to know who she is. And + when people say that's the accomplished daughter o' the accomplished + superintendent of the Devil's Ford claim—otherwise known as the + Star-eyed Goddess o' Devil's Ford—every eye is fixed on the mine, + and Capital, so to speak, tumbles to her.' And when they sez that the old + man—excuse my freedom, but that's the way the boys talk of your + father, meaning no harm—the old man, instead o' trying to corral + rich widders—grass or otherwise—to spend their money on the + big works for the gold that ain't there yet—should stay in Devil's + Ford and put all his sabe and genius into grindin' out the little gold + that is there, I sez to them that it ain't your father's style. 'His + style,' sez I, 'ez to go in and build them works.' When they're done he + turns round to Capital, and sez he—'Look yer,' sez he, 'thar's all + the works you want, first quality—cost a million; thar's all the + water you want, onlimited—cost another million; thar's all the pay + gravel you want in and outer the ground—call it two millions more. + Now my time's too vally'ble; my professhun's too high-toned to WORK mines. + I MAKE 'em. Hand me over a check for ten millions and call it square, and + work it for yourself.' So Capital hands over the money and waltzes down to + run the mine, and you original locators walks round with yer hands in yer + pockets a-top of your six million profit, and you let's Capital take the + work and the responsibility.” + </p> + <p> + Preposterous as this seemed from the lips of Whiskey Dick, Christie had a + haunting suspicion that it was not greatly unlike the theories expounded + by the clever young banker who had been her escort. She did not interrupt + his flow of reminiscent criticism; when he paused for breath, she said, + quietly: + </p> + <p> + “I met Mr. George Kearney the other day in the country.” + </p> + <p> + Whiskey Dick stopped awkwardly, glanced hurriedly at Christie, and coughed + behind his handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Kearney—eh—er—certengly—yes—er—met + him, you say. Was he—er—er—well?” + </p> + <p> + “In health, yes; but otherwise he has lost everything,” said Christie, + fixing her eyes on the embarrassed Dick. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—er—in course—in course—” continued Dick, + nervously glancing round the apartment as if endeavoring to find an + opening to some less abrupt statement of the fact. + </p> + <p> + “And actually reduced to take some menial employment,” added Christie, + still regarding Dick with her clear glance. + </p> + <p> + “That's it—that's just it,” said Dick, beaming as he suddenly found + his delicate and confidential opportunity. “That's it, Miss Christie; + that's just what I was sayin' to the boys. 'Ez it the square thing,' sez + I, 'jest because George hez happened to hypothecate every dollar he has, + or expects to hev, to put into them works, only to please Mr. Carr, and + just because he don't want to distress that intelligent gentleman by + letting him see he's dead broke—for him to go and demean himself and + Devil's Ford by rushing away and hiring out as a Mexican vaquero on + Mexican wages? Look,' sez I, 'at the disgrace he brings upon a high-toned, + fash'nable girl, at whose side he's walked and danced, and passed rings, + and sentiments, and bokays in the changes o' the cotillion and the + mizzourka. And wot,' sez I, 'if some day, prancing along in a fash'nable + cavalcade, she all of a suddents comes across him drivin' a Mexican + steer?' That's what I said to the boys. And so you met him, Miss Christie, + as usual,” continued Dick, endeavoring under the appearance of a large + social experience to conceal an eager anxiety to know the details—“so + you met him; and, in course, you didn't let on yer knew him, so to speak, + nat'rally, or p'raps you kinder like asked him to fix your saddle-girth, + and give him a five-dollar piece—eh?” + </p> + <p> + Christie, who had risen and gone to the window, suddenly turned a very + pale face and shining eyes on Dick. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hall,” she said, with a faint attempt at a smile, “we are old + friends, and I feel I can ask you a favor. You once before acted as our + escort—it was for a short but a happy time—will you accept a + larger trust? My father is busy in Sacramento for the mine: will you, + without saying anything to anybody, take Jessie and me back at once to + Devil's Ford?” + </p> + <p> + “Will I? Miss Christie,” said Dick, choking between an intense + gratification and a desire to keep back its vulgar exhibition, “I shall be + proud!” + </p> + <p> + “When I say keep it a secret”—she hesitated—“I don't mean that + I object to your letting Mr. Kearney, if you happen to know where he is, + understand that we are going back to Devil's Ford.” + </p> + <p> + “Cert'nly—nat'rally,” said Dick, waving his hand gracefully; “sorter + drop him a line, saying that bizness of a social and delicate nature—being + the escort of Miss Christie and Jessie Carr to Devil's Ford—prevents + my having the pleasure of calling.” + </p> + <p> + “That will do very well, Mr. Hall,” said Christie, faintly smiling through + her moist eyelashes. “Then will you go at once and secure tickets for + to-night's boat, and bring them here? Jessie and I will arrange everything + else.” + </p> + <p> + “Cert'nly,” said Dick impulsively, and preparing to take a graceful leave. + </p> + <p> + “We'll be impatient until you return with the tickets,” said Christie + graciously. + </p> + <p> + Dick shook hands gravely, got as far as the door, and paused. + </p> + <p> + “You think it better to take the tickets now?” he said dubiously. + </p> + <p> + “By all means,” said Christie impetuously. “I've set my heart on going + to-night—and unless you secure berths early—” + </p> + <p> + “In course—in course,” interrupted Dick nervously. “But—” + </p> + <p> + “But what?” said Christie impatiently. + </p> + <p> + Dick hesitated, shut the door carefully, and, looking round the room, + lightly shook out his handkerchief, apparently flicked away an + embarrassing suggestion, and said, with a little laugh: + </p> + <p> + “It's ridiklous, perfectly ridiklous, Miss Christie; but not bein' in the + habit of carryin' ready money, and havin' omitted to cash a draft on + Wells, Fargo & Co.—” + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” said Christie rapidly. “How forgetful I am! Pray forgive me, + Mr. Hall. I didn't think. I'll run up and get it from our host; he will be + glad to be our banker.” + </p> + <p> + “One moment, Miss Christie,” said Dick lightly, as his thumb and finger + relaxed in his waistcoat pocket over the only piece of money in the world + that had remained to him after his extravagant purchase of Christie's + saffrona rose, “one moment: in this yer monetary transaction, if you like, + you are at liberty to use MY name.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <p> + As Christie and Jessie Carr looked from the windows of the coach, whose + dust-clogged wheels were slowly dragging them, as if reluctant, nearer the + last stage of their journey to Devil's Ford, they were conscious of a + change in the landscape, which they could not entirely charge upon their + changed feelings. The few bared open spaces on the upland, the long + stretch of rocky ridge near the summit, so vivid and so velvety during + their first journey, were now burnt and yellow; even the brief openings in + the forest were seared as if by a hot iron in the scorching rays of a half + year's sun. The pastoral slopes of the valley below were cloaked in + lustre-leather: the rare watercourses along the road had faded from the + waiting eye and ear; it seemed as if the long and dry summer had even + invaded the close-set ranks of pines, and had blown a simoom breath + through the densest woods, leaving its charred red ashes on every leaf and + spray along the tunnelled shade. As they leaned out of the window and + inhaled the half-dead spices of the evergreens, they seemed to have + entered the atmosphere of some exhausted passion—of some fierce + excitement that was even now slowly burning itself out. + </p> + <p> + It was a relief at last to see the straggling houses of Devil's Ford far + below come once more into view, as they rounded the shoulder of Devil's + Spur and began the long descent. But as they entered the town a change + more ominous and startling than the desiccation of the landscape forced + itself upon them. The town was still there, but where were the + inhabitants? Four months ago they had left the straggling street thronged + with busy citizens—groups at every corner, and a chaos of + merchandise and traders in the open plaza or square beside the + Presbyterian church. Now all was changed. Only a few wayfarers lifted + their heads lazily as the coach rattled by, crossing the deserted square + littered with empty boxes, and gliding past empty cabins or vacant shop + windows, from which not only familiar faces, but even the window sashes + themselves, were gone. The great unfinished serpent-like flume, crossing + the river on gigantic trestles, had advanced as far as the town, stooping + over it like some enormous reptile that had sucked its life blood and was + gorged with its prey. + </p> + <p> + Whiskey Dick, who had left the stage on the summit to avail himself of a + shorter foot trail to the house, that would give him half an hour's grace + to make preparations, met them at the stage office with a buggy. A glance + at the young girls, perhaps, convinced him that the graces of elegant + worldly conversation were out of place with the revelation he read on + their faces. Perhaps, he, too, was a trifle indisposed. The short journey + to the house was made in profound silence. + </p> + <p> + The villa had been repainted and decorated, and it looked fresher, and + even, to their preoccupied minds, appeared more attractive than ever. + Thoughtful hands had taken care of the vines and rose-bushes on the + trellises; water—that precious element in Devil's Ford—had not + been spared in keeping green through the long drought the plants which the + girls had so tenderly nurtured. It was the one oasis in which the summer + still lingered; and yet a singular sense of loss came over the girls as + they once more crossed its threshold. It seemed no longer their own. + </p> + <p> + “Ef I was you, Miss Christie, I'd keep close to the house for a day or + two, until—until—things is settled,” said Dick; “there's a + heap o' tramps and sich cattle trapsin' round. P'raps you wouldn't feel so + lonesome if you was nearer town—for instance, 'bout wher' you useter + live.” + </p> + <p> + “In the dear old cabin,” said Christie quickly; “I remember it; I wish we + were there now.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you really? Do you?” said Whiskey Dick, with suddenly twinkling eyes. + “That's like you to say it. That's what I allus said,” continued Dick, + addressing space generally; “if there's any one ez knows how to come + square down to the bottom rock without flinchin', it's your high-toned, + fash'nable gals. But I must meander back to town, and let the boys know + you're in possession, safe and sound. It's right mean that Fairfax and + Mattingly had to go down to Lagrange on some low business yesterday, but + they'll be back to-morrow. So long.” + </p> + <p> + Left alone, the girls began to realize their strange position. They had + conceived no settled plan. The night they left San Francisco they had + written an earnest letter to their father, telling him that on learning + the truth about the reverses of Devil's Ford, they thought it their duty + to return and share them with others, without obliging him to prefer the + request, and with as little worry to him as possible. He would find them + ready to share his trials, and in what must be the scene of their work + hereafter. + </p> + <p> + “It will bring father back,” said Christie; “he won't leave us here alone; + and then together we must come to some understanding with him—with + THEM—for somehow I feel as if this house belonged to us no longer.” + </p> + <p> + Her surmise was not far wrong. When Mr. Carr arrived hurriedly from + Sacramento the next evening, he found the house deserted. His daughters + were gone; there were indications that they had arrived, and, for some + reason, suddenly departed. The vague fear that had haunted his guilty soul + after receiving their letter, and during his breathless journey, now + seemed to be realized. He was turning from the empty house, whose + reproachful solitude frightened him, when he was confronted on the + threshold by the figure of Fairfax Munroe. + </p> + <p> + “I came to the stage office to meet you,” he said; “you must have left the + stage at the summit.” + </p> + <p> + “I did,” said Carr angrily. “I was anxious to meet my daughters quickly, + to know the reason of their foolish alarm, and to know also who had been + frightening them. Where are they?” + </p> + <p> + “They are safe in the old cabin beyond, that has been put up ready to + receive them again,” said Fairfax quietly. + </p> + <p> + “But what is the meaning of this? Why are they not here?” demanded Carr, + hiding his agitation in a burst of querulous rage. + </p> + <p> + “Do YOU ask, Mr. Carr?” said Fairfax sadly. “Did you expect them to remain + here until the sheriff took possession? No one knows better than yourself + that the money advanced you on the deeds of this homestead has never been + repaid.” + </p> + <p> + Carr staggered, but recovered himself with feeble violence. + </p> + <p> + “Since you know so much of my affairs, how do you know that this claim + will ever be pressed for payment? How do you know it is not the advance of + a—a—friend?” + </p> + <p> + “Because I have seen the woman who advanced it,” said Fairfax hopelessly. + “She was here to look at the property before your daughters came.” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” said Carr nervously. + </p> + <p> + “Well! You force me to tell you something I should like to forget. You + force me to anticipate a disclosure I expected to make to you only when I + came to ask permission to woo your daughter Jessie; and when I tell you + what it is, you will understand that I have no right to criticise your + conduct. I am only explaining my own.” + </p> + <p> + “Go on,” said Carr impatiently. + </p> + <p> + “When I first came to this country, there was a woman I loved + passionately. She treated me as women of her kind only treat men like me; + she ruined me, and left me. That was four years ago. I love your daughter, + Mr. Carr, but she has never heard it from my lips. I would not woo her + until I had told you all. I have tried to do it ere this, and failed. + Perhaps I should not now, but—” + </p> + <p> + “But what?” said Carr furiously; “speak out!” + </p> + <p> + “But this. Look!” said Fairfax, producing from his pocket the packet of + letters Jessie had found; “perhaps you know the handwriting?” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean?” gasped Carr. + </p> + <p> + “That woman—my mistress—is the woman who advanced you money, + and who claims this house.” + </p> + <p> + The interview, and whatever came of it, remained a secret with the two + men. When Mr. Carr accepted the hospitality of the old cabin again, it was + understood that he had sacrificed the new house and its furniture to some + of the more pressing debts of the mine, and the act went far to restore + his waning popularity. But a more genuine feeling of relief was + experienced by Devil's Ford when it was rumored that Fairfax Munroe had + asked for the hand of Jessie Carr, and that some promise contingent upon + the equitable adjustment of the affairs of the mine had been given by Mr. + Carr. To the superstitious mind of Devil's Ford and its few remaining + locators, this new partnership seemed to promise that unity of interest + and stability of fortune that Devil's Ford had lacked. But nothing could + be done until the rainy season had fairly set in; until the + long-looked-for element that was to magically separate the gold from the + dross in those dull mounds of dust and gravel had come of its own free + will, and in its own appointed channels, independent of the feeble + auxiliaries that had hopelessly riven the rocks on the hillside, or hung + incomplete and unfinished in lofty scaffoldings above the settlement. + </p> + <p> + The rainy season came early. At first in gathered mists on the higher + peaks that were lifted in the morning sun only to show a fresher field of + dazzling white below; in white clouds that at first seemed to be mere + drifts blown across from those fresh snowfields, and obscuring the clear + blue above; in far-off murmurs in the hollow hills and gulches; in nearer + tinkling melody and baby prattling in the leaves. It came with bright + flashes of sunlight by day, with deep, monotonous shadow at night; with + the onset of heavy winds, the roar of turbulent woods, the tumultuous + tossing of leafy arms, and with what seemed the silent dissolution of the + whole landscape in days of steady and uninterrupted downfall. It came + extravagantly, for every canyon had grown into a torrent, every gulch a + waterspout, every watercourse a river, and all pouring into the North + Fork, that, rushing past the settlement, seemed to threaten it with lifted + crest and flying mane. It came dangerously, for one night the river, + leaping the feeble barrier of Devil's Ford, swept away houses and banks, + scattered with unconscious irony the laboriously collected heaps of gravel + left for hydraulic machinery, and spread out a vast and silent lake across + the submerged flat. + </p> + <p> + In the hurry and confusion of that night the girls had thrown open their + cabin to the escaping miners, who hurried along the slope that was now the + bank of the river. Suddenly Christie felt her arm grasped, and she was + half-led, half-dragged, into the inner room. Her father stood before her. + </p> + <p> + “Where is George Kearney?” he asked tremulously. + </p> + <p> + “George Kearney!” echoed Christie, for a moment believing the excitement + had turned her father's brain. “You know he is not here; he is in San + Francisco.” + </p> + <p> + “He is here—I tell you,” said Carr impatiently; “he has been here + ever since the high water, trying to save the flume and reservoir.” + </p> + <p> + “George—here!” Christie could only gasp. + </p> + <p> + “Yes! He passed here a few moments ago, to see if you were all safe, and + he has gone on towards the flume. But what he is trying to do is madness. + If you see him, implore him to do no more. Let him abandon the accursed + flume to its fate. It has worked already too much woe upon us all; why + should it carry his brave and youthful soul down with it?” + </p> + <p> + The words were still ringing in her ears, when he suddenly passed away, + with the hurrying crowd. Scarcely knowing what she did, she ran out, + vaguely intent only on one thought, seeking only the one face, lately so + dear in recollection that she felt she would die if she never saw it + again. Perplexed by confused voices in the woods, she lost track of the + crowd, until the voices suddenly were raised in one loud outcry, followed + by the crashing of timber, the splashing of water, a silence, and then a + dull, continuous roar. She ran vaguely on in the direction of the + reservoir, with her father's injunction still in her mind, until a + terrible idea displaced it, and she turned at right angles suddenly, and + ran towards the slope leading down to the submerged flat. She had barely + left the shelter of the trees behind her before the roar of water seemed + to rise at her very feet. She stopped, dazed, bewildered, and + horror-stricken, on the edge of the slope. It was the slope no longer, but + the bank of the river itself! + </p> + <p> + Even in the gray light of early morning, and with inexperienced eyes, she + saw all too clearly now. The trestle-work had given way; the curving mile + of flume, fallen into the stream, and, crushed and dammed against the + opposite shore, had absolutely turned the whole river through the + half-finished ditch and partly excavated mine in its way, a few rods + further on to join the old familiar channel. The bank of the river was + changed; the flat had become an island, between which and the slope where + she stood the North Fork was rolling its resistless yellow torrent. As she + gazed spellbound, a portion of the slope beneath her suddenly seemed to + sink and crumble, and was swallowed up in the rushing stream. She heard a + cry of warning behind her, but, rooted to the spot by a fearful + fascination, she heeded it not. + </p> + <p> + Again there was a sudden disruption, and another part of the slope sank to + rise no more; but this time she felt herself seized by the waist and + dragged back. It was her father standing by her side. + </p> + <p> + He was flushed and excited, gazing at the water with a strange exultation. + </p> + <p> + “Do you see it? Do you know what has happened?” he asked quickly. + </p> + <p> + “The flume has fallen and turned the river,” said Christie hurriedly. “But—have + you seen him—is he safe?” + </p> + <p> + “He—who?” he answered vacantly. + </p> + <p> + “George Kearney!” + </p> + <p> + “He is safe,” he said impatiently. “But, do you see, Christie? Do you know + what this means?” + </p> + <p> + He pointed with his tremulous hand to the stream before them. + </p> + <p> + “It means we are ruined,” said Christie coldly. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing of the kind! It means that the river is doing the work of the + flume. It is sluicing off the gravel, deepening the ditch, and altering + the slope which was the old bend of the river. It will do in ten minutes + the work that would take us a year. If we can stop it in time, or control + it, we are safe; but if we can not, it will carry away the bed and deposit + with the rest, and we are ruined again.” + </p> + <p> + With a gesture of impotent fury, he dashed away in the direction of an + equally excited crowd, that on a point of the slope nearer the island were + gesticulating and shouting to a second group of men, who on the opposite + shore were clambering on over the choked debris of the flume that had + dammed and diverted the current. It was evident that the same idea had + occurred to them, and they were risking their lives in the attempt to set + free the impediments. Shocked and indignant as Christie had been at the + degrading absorption of material interests at such a moment, the element + of danger lifted the labors of these men into heroism, and she began to + feel a strange exultation as she watched them. Under the skilful blows of + their axes, in a few moments the vast body of drift began to disintegrate, + and then to swing round and move towards the old channel. A cheer went up, + but as suddenly died away again. An overlapping fringe of wreckage had + caught on the point of the island and arrested the whole mass. + </p> + <p> + The men, who had gained the shore with difficulty, looked back with a cry + of despair. But the next moment from among them leaped a figure, alert, + buoyant, invincible, and, axe in hand, once more essayed the passage. + Springing from timber to timber, he at last reached the point of + obstruction. A few strokes of the axe were sufficient to clear it; but at + the first stroke it was apparent that the striker was also losing his hold + upon the shore, and that he must inevitably be carried away with the + tossing debris. But this consideration did not seem to affect him; the + last blow was struck, and as the freed timbers rolled on, over and over, + he boldly plunged into the flood. Christie gave a little cry—her + heart had bounded with him; it seemed as if his plunge had splashed the + water in her eyes. He did not come to the surface until he had passed the + point below where her father stood, and then struggling feebly, as if + stunned or disabled by a blow. It seemed to her that he was trying to + approach the side of the river where she was. Would he do it? Could she + help him? She was alone; he was hidden from the view of the men on the + point, and no succor could come from them. There was a fringe of alder + nearly opposite their cabin that almost overhung the stream. She ran to + it, clutched it with a frantic hand, and, leaning over the boiling water, + uttered for the first time his name: + </p> + <p> + “George!” + </p> + <p> + As if called to the surface by the magic of her voice, he rose a few yards + from her in mid-current, and turned his fading eyes towards the bank. In + another moment he would have been swept beyond her reach, but with a + supreme effort he turned on one side; the current, striking him sideways, + threw him towards the bank, and she caught him by his sleeve. For an + instant it seemed as if she would be dragged down with him. For one + dangerous moment she did not care, and almost yielded to the spell; but as + the rush of water pressed him against the bank, she recovered herself, and + managed to lift him beyond its reach. And then she sat down, + half-fainting, with his white face and damp curls upon her breast. + </p> + <p> + “George, darling, speak to me! Only one word! Tell me, have I saved you?” + </p> + <p> + His eyes opened. A faint twinkle of the old days came to them—a + boyish smile played upon his lips. + </p> + <p> + “For yourself—or Jessie?” + </p> + <p> + She looked around her with a little frightened air. They were alone. There + was but one way of sealing those mischievous lips, and she found it! + </p> + <p> + “That's what I allus said, gentlemen,” lazily remarked Whiskey Dick, a few + weeks later, leaning back against the bar, with his glass in his hand. + “'George,' sez I, 'it ain't what you SAY to a fash'nable, high-toned young + lady; it's what you DOES ez makes or breaks you.' And that's what I sez + gin'rally o' things in the Ford. It ain't what Carr and you boys allows to + do; it's the gin'ral average o' things ez IS done that gives tone to the + hull, and hez brought this yer new luck to you all!” + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Devil's Ford, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEVIL'S FORD *** + +***** This file should be named 2286-h.htm or 2286-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/2286/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + +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. 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