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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2297-0.txt b/2297-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9510007 --- /dev/null +++ b/2297-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4224 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Snow-Bound at Eagle's, 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: Snow-Bound at Eagle's + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 13, 2006 [EBook #2297] +Last Updated: March 4, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson + + + + + +SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S + +by Bret Harte + + + + +SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +For some moments profound silence and darkness had accompanied a Sierran +stage-coach towards the summit. The huge, dim bulk of the vehicle, +swaying noiselessly on its straps, glided onward and upward as if +obeying some mysterious impulse from behind, so faint and indefinite +appeared its relation to the viewless and silent horses ahead. The +shadowy trunks of tall trees that seemed to approach the coach windows, +look in, and then move hurriedly away, were the only distinguishable +objects. Yet even these were so vague and unreal that they might have +been the mere phantoms of some dream of the half-sleeping passengers; +for the thickly-strewn needles of the pine, that choked the way and +deadened all sound, yielded under the silently-crushing wheels a faint +soporific odor that seemed to benumb their senses, already slipping back +into unconsciousness during the long ascent. Suddenly the stage stopped. + +Three of the four passengers inside struggled at once into upright +wakefulness. The fourth passenger, John Hale, had not been sleeping, and +turned impatiently towards the window. It seemed to him that two of the +moving trees had suddenly become motionless outside. One of them moved +again, and the door opened quickly but quietly, as of itself. + +“Git down,” said a voice in the darkness. + +All the passengers except Hale started. The man next to him moved his +right hand suddenly behind him, but as quickly stopped. One of the +motionless trees had apparently closed upon the vehicle, and what had +seemed to be a bough projecting from it at right angles changed slowly +into the faintly shining double-barrels of a gun at the window. + +“Drop that!” said the voice. + +The man who had moved uttered a short laugh, and returned his hand empty +to his knees. The two others perceptibly shrugged their shoulders as +over a game that was lost. The remaining passenger, John Hale, fearless +by nature, inexperienced by habit, awaking suddenly to the truth, +conceived desperate resistance. But without his making a gesture this +was instinctively felt by the others; the muzzle of the gun turned +spontaneously on him, and he was vaguely conscious of a certain contempt +and impatience of him in his companions. + +“Git down,” repeated the voice imperatively. + +The three passengers descended. Hale, furious, alert, but helpless of +any opportunity, followed. He was surprised to find the stage-driver and +express messenger standing beside him; he had not heard them dismount. +He instinctively looked towards the horses. He could see nothing. + +“Hold up your hands!” + +One of the passengers had already lifted his, in a weary, perfunctory +way. The others did the same reluctantly and awkwardly, but apparently +more from the consciousness of the ludicrousness of their attitude +than from any sense of danger. The rays of a bull's-eye lantern, deftly +managed by invisible hands, while it left the intruders in shadow, +completely illuminated the faces and figures of the passengers. In spite +of the majestic obscurity and silence of surrounding nature, the group +of humanity thus illuminated was more farcical than dramatic. A scrap of +newspaper, part of a sandwich, and an orange peel that had fallen from +the floor of the coach, brought into equal prominence by the searching +light, completed the absurdity. + +“There's a man here with a package of greenbacks,” said the voice, with +an official coolness that lent a certain suggestion of Custom House +inspection to the transaction; “who is it?” The passengers looked at +each other, and their glance finally settled on Hale. + +“It's not HIM,” continued the voice, with a slight tinge of contempt on +the emphasis. “You'll save time and searching, gentlemen, if you'll tote +it out. If we've got to go through every one of you we'll try to make it +pay.” + +The significant threat was not unheeded. The passenger who had first +moved when the stage stopped put his hand to his breast. + +“T'other pocket first, if you please,” said the voice. + +The man laughed, drew a pistol from his hip pocket, and, under the +strong light of the lantern, laid it on a spot in the road indicated +by the voice. A thick envelope, taken from his breast pocket, was laid +beside it. “I told the d--d fools that gave it to me, instead of sending +it by express, it would be at their own risk,” he said apologetically. + +“As it's going with the express now it's all the same,” said the +inevitable humorist of the occasion, pointing to the despoiled express +treasure-box already in the road. + +The intention and deliberation of the outrage was plain enough to Hale's +inexperience now. Yet he could not understand the cool acquiescence of +his fellow-passengers, and was furious. His reflections were interrupted +by a voice which seemed to come from a greater distance. He fancied it +was even softer in tone, as if a certain austerity was relaxed. + +“Step in as quick as you like, gentlemen. You've five minutes to wait, +Bill.” + +The passengers reentered the coach; the driver and express messenger +hurriedly climbed to their places. Hale would have spoken, but an +impatient gesture from his companions stopped him. They were evidently +listening for something; he listened too. + +Yet the silence remained unbroken. It seemed incredible that there +should be no indication near or far of that forceful presence which a +moment ago had been so dominant. No rustle in the wayside “brush,” nor +echo from the rocky canyon below, betrayed a sound of their flight. A +faint breeze stirred the tall tips of the pines, a cone dropped on the +stage roof, one of the invisible horses that seemed to be listening too +moved slightly in his harness. But this only appeared to accentuate +the profound stillness. The moments were growing interminable, when the +voice, so near as to startle Hale, broke once more from the surrounding +obscurity. + +“Good-night!” + +It was the signal that they were free. The driver's whip cracked like +a pistol shot, the horses sprang furiously forward, the huge vehicle +lurched ahead, and then bounded violently after them. When Hale could +make his voice heard in the confusion--a confusion which seemed greater +from the colorless intensity of their last few moments' experience--he +said hurriedly, “Then that fellow was there all the time?” + +“I reckon,” returned his companion, “he stopped five minutes to cover +the driver with his double-barrel, until the two other men got off with +the treasure.” + +“The TWO others!” gasped Hale. “Then there were only THREE men, and we +SIX.” + +The man shrugged his shoulders. The passenger who had given up the +greenbacks drawled, with a slow, irritating tolerance, “I reckon you're +a stranger here?” + +“I am--to this sort of thing, certainly, though I live a dozen miles +from here, at Eagle's Court,” returned Hale scornfully. + +“Then you're the chap that's doin' that fancy ranchin' over at Eagle's,” + continued the man lazily. + +“Whatever I'm doing at Eagle's Court, I'm not ashamed of it,” said Hale +tartly; “and that's more than I can say of what I've done--or HAVEN'T +done--to-night. I've been one of six men over-awed and robbed by THREE.” + +“As to the over-awin', ez you call it--mebbee you know more about +it than us. As to the robbin'--ez far as I kin remember, YOU haven't +onloaded much. Ef you're talkin' about what OUGHTER have been done, +I'll tell you what COULD have happened. P'r'aps ye noticed that when he +pulled up I made a kind of grab for my wepping behind me?” + +“I did; and you wern't quick enough,” said Hale shortly. + +“I wasn't quick enough, and that saved YOU. For ef I got that pistol out +and in sight o' that man that held the gun--” + +“Well,” said Hale impatiently, “he'd have hesitated.” + +“He'd hev blown YOU with both barrels outer the window, and that before +I'd got a half-cock on my revolver.” + +“But that would have been only one man gone, and there would have been +five of you left,” said Hale haughtily. + +“That might have been, ef you'd contracted to take the hull charge of +two handfuls of buck-shot and slugs; but ez one eighth o' that amount +would have done your business, and yet left enough to have gone round, +promiskiss, and satisfied the other passengers, it wouldn't do to +kalkilate upon.” + +“But the express messenger and the driver were armed,” continued Hale. + +“They were armed, but not FIXED; that makes all the difference.” + +“I don't understand.” + +“I reckon you know what a duel is?” + +“Yes.” + +“Well, the chances agin US was about the same as you'd have ef you was +put up agin another chap who was allowed to draw a bead on you, and the +signal to fire was YOUR DRAWIN' YOUR WEAPON. You may be a stranger to +this sort o' thing, and p'r'aps you never fought a duel, but even then +you wouldn't go foolin' your life away on any such chances.” + +Something in the man's manner, as in a certain sly amusement the other +passengers appeared to extract from the conversation, impressed Hale, +already beginning to be conscious of the ludicrous insufficiency of his +own grievance beside that of his interlocutor. + +“Then you mean to say this thing is inevitable,” said he bitterly, but +less aggressively. + +“Ez long ez they hunt YOU; when you hunt THEM you've got the advantage, +allus provided you know how to get at them ez well as they know how to +get at you. This yer coach is bound to go regular, and on certain +days. THEY ain't. By the time the sheriff gets out his posse they've +skedaddled, and the leader, like as not, is takin' his quiet cocktail at +the Bank Exchange, or mebbe losin' his earnings to the sheriff over draw +poker, in Sacramento. You see you can't prove anything agin them unless +you take them 'on the fly.' It may be a part of Joaquim Murietta's band, +though I wouldn't swear to it.” + +“The leader might have been Gentleman George, from up-country,” + interposed a passenger. “He seemed to throw in a few fancy touches, +particlerly in that 'Good night.' Sorter chucked a little sentiment in +it. Didn't seem to be the same thing ez, 'Git, yer d--d suckers,' on the +other line.” + +“Whoever he was, he knew the road and the men who travelled on it. Like +ez not, he went over the line beside the driver on the box on the down +trip, and took stock of everything. He even knew I had those greenbacks; +though they were handed to me in the bank at Sacramento. He must have +been hanging 'round there.” + +For some moments Hale remained silent. He was a civic-bred man, with an +intense love of law and order; the kind of man who is the first to take +that law and order into his own hands when he does not find it existing +to please him. He had a Bostonian's respect for respectability, +tradition, and propriety, but was willing to face irregularity and +impropriety to create order elsewhere. He was fond of Nature with these +limitations, never quite trusting her unguided instincts, and finding +her as an instructress greatly inferior to Harvard University, though +possibly not to Cornell. With dauntless enterprise and energy he had +built and stocked a charming cottage farm in a nook in the Sierras, +whence he opposed, like the lesser Englishman that he was, his own +tastes to those of the alien West. In the present instance he felt it +incumbent upon him not only to assert his principles, but to act +upon them with his usual energy. How far he was impelled by the +half-contemptuous passiveness of his companions it would be difficult to +say. + +“What is to prevent the pursuit of them at once?” he asked suddenly. “We +are a few miles from the station, where horses can be procured.” + +“Who's to do it?” replied the other lazily. “The stage company will +lodge the complaint with the authorities, but it will take two days to +get the county officers out, and it's nobody else's funeral.” + +“I will go for one,” said Hale quietly. “I have a horse waiting for me +at the station, and can start at once.” + +There was an instant of silence. The stage-coach had left the obscurity +of the forest, and by the stronger light Hale could perceive that his +companion was examining him with two colorless, lazy eyes. Presently +he said, meeting Hale's clear glance, but rather as if yielding to a +careless reflection,-- + +“It MIGHT be done with four men. We oughter raise one man at the +station.” He paused. “I don't know ez I'd mind taking a hand myself,” he +added, stretching out his legs with a slight yawn. + +“Ye can count ME in, if you're goin', Kernel. I reckon I'm talkin' to +Kernel Clinch,” said the passenger beside Hale with sudden alacrity. +“I'm Rawlins, of Frisco. Heerd of ye afore, Kernel, and kinder spotted +you jist now from your talk.” + +To Hale's surprise the two men, after awkwardly and perfunctorily +grasping each other's hand, entered at once into a languid conversation +on the recent election at Fresno, without the slightest further +reference to the pursuit of the robbers. It was not until the remaining +and undenominated passenger turned to Hale, and, regretting that he had +immediate business at the Summit, offered to accompany the party if they +would wait a couple of hours, that Colonel Clinch briefly returned to +the subject. + +“FOUR men will do, and ez we'll hev to take horses from the station +we'll hev to take the fourth man from there.” + +With these words he resumed his uninteresting conversation with the +equally uninterested Rawlins, and the undenominated passenger subsided +into an admiring and dreamy contemplation of them both. With all his +principle and really high-minded purpose, Hale could not help feeling +constrained and annoyed at the sudden subordinate and auxiliary position +to which he, the projector of the enterprise, had been reduced. It was +true that he had never offered himself as their leader; it was true that +the principle he wished to uphold and the effect he sought to obtain +would be equally demonstrated under another; it was true that the +execution of his own conception gravitated by some occult impulse to +the man who had not sought it, and whom he had always regarded as an +incapable. But all this was so unlike precedent or tradition that, after +the fashion of conservative men, he was suspicious of it, and only that +his honor was now involved he would have withdrawn from the enterprise. +There was still a chance of reasserting himself at the station, where he +was known, and where some authority might be deputed to him. + +But even this prospect failed. The station, half hotel and half stable, +contained only the landlord, who was also express agent, and the new +volunteer who Clinch had suggested would be found among the stable-men. +The nearest justice of the peace was ten miles away, and Hale had to +abandon even his hope of being sworn in as a deputy constable. This +introduction of a common and illiterate ostler into the party on equal +terms with himself did not add to his satisfaction, and a remark from +Rawlins seemed to complete his embarrassment. + +“Ye had a mighty narrer escape down there just now,” said that gentleman +confidentially, as Hale buckled his saddle girths. + +“I thought, as we were not supposed to defend ourselves, there was no +danger,” said Hale scornfully. + +“Oh, I don't mean them road agents. But HIM.” + +“Who?” + +“Kernel Clinch. You jist ez good as allowed he hadn't any grit.” + +“Whatever I said, I suppose I am responsible for it,” answered Hale +haughtily. + +“That's what gits me,” was the imperturbable reply. “He's the best shot +in Southern California, and hez let daylight through a dozen chaps afore +now for half what you said.” + +“Indeed!” + +“Howsummever,” continued Rawlins philosophically, “ez he's concluded to +go WITH ye instead of FOR ye, you're likely to hev your ideas on this +matter carried out up to the handle. He'll make short work of it, you +bet. Ef, ez I suspect, the leader is an airy young feller from Frisco, +who hez took to the road lately, Clinch hez got a personal grudge agin +him from a quarrel over draw poker.” + +This was the last blow to Hale's ideal crusade. Here he was--an honest, +respectable citizen--engaged as simple accessory to a lawless vendetta +originating at a gambling table! When the first shock was over that +grim philosophy which is the reaction of all imaginative and sensitive +natures came to his aid. He felt better; oddly enough he began to be +conscious that he was thinking and acting like his companions. With this +feeling a vague sympathy, before absent, faintly showed itself in their +actions. The Sharpe's rifle put into his hands by the stable-man was +accompanied by a familiar word of suggestion as to an equal, which +he was ashamed to find flattered him. He was able to continue the +conversation with Rawlins more coolly. + +“Then you suspect who is the leader?” + +“Only on giniral principles. There was a finer touch, so to speak, in +this yer robbery that wasn't in the old-fashioned style. Down in my +country they hed crude ideas about them things--used to strip the +passengers of everything, includin' their clothes. They say that at the +station hotels, when the coach came in, the folks used to stand round +with blankets to wrap up the passengers so ez not to skeer the wimen. +Thar's a story that the driver and express manager drove up one day with +only a copy of the Alty Californy wrapped around 'em; but thin,” added +Rawlins grimly, “there WAS folks ez said the hull story was only an +advertisement got up for the Alty.” + +“Time's up.” + +“Are you ready, gentlemen?” said Colonel Clinch. + +Hale started. He had forgotten his wife and family at Eagle's Court, +ten miles away. They would be alarmed at his absence, would perhaps hear +some exaggerated version of the stage coach robbery, and fear the worst. + +“Is there any way I could send a line to Eagle's Court before daybreak?” + he asked eagerly. + +The station was already drained of its spare men and horses. The +undenominated passenger stepped forward and offered to take it himself +when his business, which he would despatch as quickly as possible, was +concluded. + +“That ain't a bad idea,” said Clinch reflectively, “for ef yer hurry +you'll head 'em off in case they scent us, and try to double back on the +North Ridge. They'll fight shy of the trail if they see anybody on it, +and one man's as good as a dozen.” + +Hale could not help thinking that he might have been that one man, and +had his opportunity for independent action but for his rash proposal, +but it was too late to withdraw now. He hastily scribbled a few lines to +his wife on a sheet of the station paper, handed it to the man, and took +his place in the little cavalcade as it filed silently down the road. + +They had ridden in silence for nearly an hour, and had passed the scene +of the robbery by a higher track. Morning had long ago advanced its +colors on the cold white peaks to their right, and was taking possession +of the spur where they rode. + +“It looks like snow,” said Rawlins quietly. + +Hale turned towards him in astonishment. Nothing on earth or sky looked +less likely. It had been cold, but that might have been only a current +from the frozen peaks beyond, reaching the lower valley. The ridge +on which they had halted was still thick with yellowish-green summer +foliage, mingled with the darker evergreen of pine and fir. Oven-like +canyons in the long flanks of the mountain seemed still to glow with the +heat of yesterday's noon; the breathless air yet trembled and quivered +over stifling gorges and passes in the granite rocks, while far at their +feet sixty miles of perpetual summer stretched away over the winding +American River, now and then lost in a gossamer haze. It was scarcely +ripe October where they stood; they could see the plenitude of August +still lingering in the valleys. + +“I've seen Thomson's Pass choked up with fifteen feet o' snow earlier +than this,” said Rawlins, answering Hale's gaze; “and last September the +passengers sledded over the road we came last night, and all the time +Thomson, a mile lower down over the ridge in the hollow, smoking his +pipes under roses in his piazzy! Mountains is mighty uncertain; they +make their own weather ez they want it. I reckon you ain't wintered here +yet.” + +Hale was obliged to admit that he had only taken Eagle's Court in the +early spring. + +“Oh, you're all right at Eagle's--when you're there! But it's like +Thomson's--it's the gettin' there that--Hallo! What's that?” + +A shot, distant but distinct, had rung through the keen air. It was +followed by another so alike as to seem an echo. + +“That's over yon, on the North Ridge,” said the ostler, “about two miles +as the crow flies and five by the trail. Somebody's shootin' b'ar.” + +“Not with a shot gun,” said Clinch, quickly wheeling his horse with a +gesture that electrified them. “It's THEM, and the've doubled on us! To +the North Ridge, gentlemen, and ride all you know!” + +It needed no second challenge to completely transform that quiet +cavalcade. The wild man-hunting instinct, inseparable to most +humanity, rose at their leader's look and word. With an incoherent and +unintelligible cry, giving voice to the chase like the commonest hound +of their fields, the order-loving Hale and the philosophical Rawlins +wheeled with the others, and in another instant the little band swept +out of sight in the forest. + +An immense and immeasurable quiet succeeded. The sunlight glistened +silently on cliff and scar, the vast distance below seemed to stretch +out and broaden into repose. It might have been fancy, but over the +sharp line of the North Ridge a light smoke lifted as of an escaping +soul. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Eagle's Court, one of the highest canyons of the Sierras, was in reality +a plateau of table-land, embayed like a green lake in a semi-circular +sweep of granite, that, lifting itself three thousand feet higher, +became a foundation for the eternal snows. The mountain genii of space +and atmosphere jealously guarded its seclusion and surrounded it with +illusions; it never looked to be exactly what it was: the traveller who +saw it from the North Ridge apparently at his feet in descending found +himself separated from it by a mile-long abyss and a rushing river; +those who sought it by a seeming direct trail at the end of an hour lost +sight of it completely, or, abandoning the quest and retracing their +steps, suddenly came upon the gap through which it was entered. That +which from the Ridge appeared to be a copse of bushes beside the tiny +dwelling were trees three hundred feet high; the cultivated lawn before +it, which might have been covered by the traveller's handkerchief, was a +field of a thousand acres. + +The house itself was a long, low, irregular structure, chiefly of roof +and veranda, picturesquely upheld by rustic pillars of pine, with the +bark still adhering, and covered with vines and trailing roses. Yet it +was evident that the coolness produced by this vast extent of cover was +more than the architect, who had planned it under the influence of a +staring and bewildering sky, had trustfully conceived, for it had to be +mitigated by blazing fires in open hearths when the thermometer marked +a hundred degrees in the field beyond. The dry, restless wind that +continually rocked the tall masts of the pines with a sound like the +distant sea, while it stimulated out-door physical exertion and defied +fatigue, left the sedentary dwellers in these altitudes chilled in the +shade they courted, or scorched them with heat when they ventured to +bask supinely in the sun. White muslin curtains at the French windows, +and rugs, skins, and heavy furs dispersed in the interior, with +certain other charming but incongruous details of furniture, marked the +inconsistencies of the climate. + +There was a coquettish indication of this in the costume of Miss +Kate Scott as she stepped out on the veranda that morning. A man's +broad-brimmed Panama hat, partly unsexed by a twisted gayly-colored +scarf, but retaining enough character to give piquancy to the pretty +curves of the face beneath, protected her from the sun; a red flannel +shirt--another spoil from the enemy--and a thick jacket shielded her +from the austerities of the morning breeze. But the next inconsistency +was peculiarly her own. Miss Kate always wore the freshest and lightest +of white cambric skirts, without the least reference to the temperature. +To the practical sanatory remonstrances of her brother-in-law, and to +the conventional criticism of her sister, she opposed the same defence: +“How else is one to tell when it is summer in this ridiculous climate? +And then, woollen is stuffy, color draws the sun, and one at least +knows when one is clean or dirty.” Artistically the result was far from +unsatisfactory. It was a pretty figure under the sombre pines, against +the gray granite and the steely sky, and seemed to lend the yellowing +fields from which the flowers had already fled a floral relief of color. +I do not think the few masculine wayfarers of that locality objected +to it; indeed, some had betrayed an indiscreet admiration, and had +curiously followed the invitation of Miss Kate's warmly-colored figure +until they had encountered the invincible indifference of Miss Kate's +cold gray eyes. With these manifestations her brother-in-law did +not concern himself; he had perfect confidence in her unqualified +disinterest in the neighboring humanity, and permitted her to wander in +her solitary picturesqueness, or accompanied her when she rode in her +dark green habit, with equal freedom from anxiety. + +For Miss Scott, although only twenty, had already subjected most of +her maidenly illusions to mature critical analyses. She had voluntarily +accompanied her sister and mother to California, in the earnest +hope that nature contained something worth saying to her, and was +disappointed to find she had already discounted its value in the pages +of books. She hoped to find a vague freedom in this unconventional +life thus opened to her, or rather to show others that she knew how +intelligently to appreciate it, but as yet she was only able to express +it in the one detail of dress already alluded to. Some of the men, and +nearly all the women, she had met thus far, she was amazed to find, +valued the conventionalities she believed she despised, and were +voluntarily assuming the chains she thought she had thrown off. Instead +of learning anything from them, these children of nature had bored her +with eager questionings regarding the civilization she had abandoned, or +irritated her with crude imitations of it for her benefit. “Fancy,” + she had written to a friend in Boston, “my calling on Sue Murphy, who +remembered the Donner tragedy, and who once shot a grizzly that was +prowling round her cabin, and think of her begging me to lend her my +sack for a pattern, and wanting to know if 'polonays' were still worn.” + She remembered more bitterly the romance that had tickled her earlier +fancy, told of two college friends of her brother-in-law's who were +living the “perfect life” in the mines, laboring in the ditches with +a copy of Homer in their pockets, and writing letters of the purest +philosophy under the free air of the pines. How, coming unexpectedly on +them in their Arcadia, the party found them unpresentable through dirt, +and thenceforth unknowable through domestic complications that had +filled their Arcadian cabin with half-breed children. + +Much of this disillusion she had kept within her own heart, from a +feeling of pride, or only lightly touched upon it in her relations with +her mother and sister. For Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Scott had no idols to +shatter, no enthusiasm to subdue. Firmly and unalterably conscious +of their own superiority to the life they led and the community that +surrounded them, they accepted their duties cheerfully, and performed +them conscientiously. Those duties were loyalty to Hale's interests and +a vague missionary work among the neighbors, which, like most missionary +work, consisted rather in making their own ideas understood than in +understanding the ideas of their audience. Old Mrs. Scott's zeal was +partly religious, an inheritance from her Puritan ancestry; Mrs. Hale's +was the affability of a gentlewoman and the obligation of her position. +To this was added the slight languor of the cultivated American wife, +whose health has been affected by the birth of her first child, and +whose views of marriage and maternity were slightly tinged with gentle +scepticism. She was sincerely attached to her husband, “who dominated +the household” like the rest of his “women folk,” with the faint +consciousness of that division of service which renders the position +of the sultan of a seraglio at once so prominent and so precarious. The +attitude of John Hale in his family circle was dominant because it had +never been subjected to criticism or comparison; and perilous for the +same reason. + +Mrs. Hale presently joined her sister in the veranda, and, shading her +eyes with a narrow white hand, glanced on the prospect with a polite +interest and ladylike urbanity. The searching sun, which, as Miss Kate +once intimated, was “vulgarity itself,” stared at her in return, but +could not call a blush to her somewhat sallow cheek. Neither could it +detract, however, from the delicate prettiness of her refined face with +its soft gray shadows, or the dark gentle eyes, whose blue-veined lids +were just then wrinkled into coquettishly mischievous lines by the +strong light. She was taller and thinner than Kate, and had at times a +certain shy, coy sinuosity of movement which gave her a more virginal +suggestion than her unmarried sister. For Miss Kate, from her earliest +youth, had been distinguished by that matronly sedateness of voice and +step, and completeness of figure, which indicates some members of the +gallinaceous tribe from their callow infancy. + +“I suppose John must have stopped at the Summit on some business,” said +Mrs. Hale, “or he would have been here already. It's scarcely worth +while waiting for him, unless you choose to ride over and meet him. You +might change your dress,” she continued, looking doubtfully at Kate's +costume. “Put on your riding-habit, and take Manuel with you.” + +“And take the only man we have, and leave you alone?” returned Kate +slowly. “No!” + +“There are the Chinese field hands,” said Mrs. Hale; “you must correct +your ideas, and really allow them some humanity, Kate. John says they +have a very good compulsory school system in their own country, and can +read and write.” + +“That would be of little use to you here alone if--if--” Kate hesitated. + +“If what?” said Mrs. Hale smiling. “Are you thinking of Manuel's +dreadful story of the grizzly tracks across the fields this morning? I +promise you that neither I, nor mother, nor Minnie shall stir out of the +house until you return, if you wish it.” + +“I wasn't thinking of that,” said Kate; “though I don't believe the +beating of a gong and the using of strong language is the best way to +frighten a grizzly from the house. Besides, the Chinese are going +down the river to-day to a funeral, or a wedding, or a feast of stolen +chickens--they're all the same--and won't be here.” + +“Then take Manuel,” repeated Mrs. Hale. “We have the Chinese servants +and Indian Molly in the house to protect us from Heaven knows what! I +have the greatest confidence in Chy-Lee as a warrior, and in Chinese +warfare generally. One has only to hear him pipe in time of peace to +imagine what a terror he might become in war time. Indeed, anything more +deadly and soul-harrowing than that love song he sang for us last night +I cannot conceive. But really, Kate, I am not afraid to stay alone. You +know what John says: we ought to be always prepared for anything that +might happen. + +“My dear Josie,” returned Kate, putting her arm around her sister's +waist, “I am perfectly convinced that if three-fingered Jack, +or two-toed Bill, or even Joaquim Murietta himself, should step, +red-handed, on that veranda, you would gently invite him to take a cup +of tea, inquire about the state of the road, and refrain delicately +from any allusions to the sheriff. But I shan't take Manuel from you. +I really cannot undertake to look after his morals at the station, and +keep him from drinking aguardiente with suspicious characters at the +bar. It is true he 'kisses my hand' in his speech, even when it is +thickest, and offers his back to me for a horse-block, but I think +I prefer the sober and honest familiarity of even that Pike County +landlord who is satisfied to say, 'Jump, girl, and I'll ketch ye!'” + +“I hope you didn't change your manner to either of them for that,” said +Mrs. Hale with a faint sigh. “John wants to be good friends with them, +and they are behaving quite decently lately, considering that they can't +speak a grammatical sentence nor know the use of a fork.” + +“And now the man puts on gloves and a tall hat to come here on Sundays, +and the woman won't call until you've called first,” retorted Kate; +“perhaps you call that improvement. The fact is, Josephine,” continued +the young girl, folding her arms demurely, “we might as well admit it at +once--these people don't like us.” + +“That's impossible!” said Mrs. Hale, with sublime simplicity. “You don't +like them, you mean.” + +“I like them better than you do, Josie, and that's the reason why I feel +it and YOU don't.” She checked herself, and after a pause resumed in a +lighter tone: “No; I sha'n't go to the station; I'll commune with nature +to-day, and won't 'take any humanity in mine, thank you,' as Bill the +driver says. Adios.” + +“I wish Kate would not use that dreadful slang, even in jest,” said +Mrs. Scott, in her rocking-chair at the French window, when Josephine +reentered the parlor as her sister walked briskly away. “I am afraid +she is being infected by the people at the station. She ought to have a +change.” + +“I was just thinking,” said Josephine, looking abstractedly at her +mother, “that I would try to get John to take her to San Francisco this +winter. The Careys are expected, you know; she might visit them.” + +“I'm afraid, if she stays here much longer, she won't care to see them +at all. She seems to care for nothing now that she ever liked before,” + returned the old lady ominously. + +Meantime the subject of these criticisms was carrying away her own +reflections tightly buttoned up in her short jacket. She had driven back +her dog Spot--another one of her disillusions, who, giving way to +his lower nature, had once killed a sheep--as she did not wish her +Jacques-like contemplation of any wounded deer to be inconsistently +interrupted by a fresh outrage from her companion. The air was really +very chilly, and for the first time in her mountain experience the +direct rays of the sun seemed to be shorn of their power. This compelled +her to walk more briskly than she was conscious of, for in less than an +hour she came suddenly and breathlessly upon the mouth of the canyon, or +natural gateway to Eagle's Court. + +To her always a profound spectacle of mountain magnificence, it seemed +to-day almost terrible in its cold, strong grandeur. The narrowing pass +was choked for a moment between two gigantic buttresses of granite, +approaching each other so closely at their towering summits that trees +growing in opposite clefts of the rock intermingled their branches and +pointed the soaring Gothic arch of a stupendous gateway. She raised her +eyes with a quickly beating heart. She knew that the interlacing trees +above her were as large as those she had just quitted; she knew also +that the point where they met was only half-way up the cliff, for she +had once gazed down upon them, dwindled to shrubs from the airy summit; +she knew that their shaken cones fell a thousand feet perpendicularly, +or bounded like shot from the scarred walls they bombarded. She +remembered that one of these pines, dislodged from its high foundations, +had once dropped like a portcullis in the archway, blocking the pass, +and was only carried afterwards by assault of steel and fire. Bending +her head mechanically, she ran swiftly through the shadowy passage, and +halted only at the beginning of the ascent on the other side. + +It was here that the actual position of the plateau, so indefinite +of approach, began to be realized. It now appeared an independent +elevation, surrounded on three sides by gorges and watercourses, so +narrow as to be overlooked from the principal mountain range, with which +it was connected by a long canyon that led to the ridge. At the outlet +of this canyon--in bygone ages a mighty river--it had the appearance of +having been slowly raised by the diluvium of that river, and the debris +washed down from above--a suggestion repeated in miniature by the +artificial plateaus of excavated soil raised before the mouths of mining +tunnels in the lower flanks of the mountain. It was the realization of a +fact--often forgotten by the dwellers in Eagle's Court--that the valley +below them, which was their connecting link with the surrounding world, +was only reached by ascending the mountain, and the nearest road was +over the higher mountain ridge. Never before had this impressed itself +so strongly upon the young girl as when she turned that morning to look +upon the plateau below her. It seemed to illustrate the conviction +that had been slowly shaping itself out of her reflections on the +conversation of that morning. It was possible that the perfect +understanding of a higher life was only reached from a height still +greater, and that to those half-way up the mountain the summit was never +as truthfully revealed as to the humbler dwellers in the valley. + +I do not know that these profound truths prevented her from gathering +some quaint ferns and berries, or from keeping her calm gray eyes open +to certain practical changes that were taking place around her. She had +noticed a singular thickening in the atmosphere that seemed to prevent +the passage of the sun's rays, yet without diminishing the transparent +quality of the air. The distant snow-peaks were as plainly seen, though +they appeared as if in moonlight. This seemed due to no cloud or mist, +but rather to a fading of the sun itself. The occasional flurry of wings +overhead, the whirring of larger birds in the cover, and a frequent +rustling in the undergrowth, as of the passage of some stealthy animal, +began equally to attract her attention. It was so different from the +habitual silence of these sedate solitudes. Kate had no vague fear of +wild beasts; she had been long enough a mountaineer to understand the +general immunity enjoyed by the unmolesting wayfarer, and kept her way +undismayed. She was descending an abrupt trail when she was stopped by a +sudden crash in the bushes. It seemed to come from the opposite incline, +directly in a line with her, and apparently on the very trail that she +was pursuing. The crash was then repeated again and again lower down, as +of a descending body. Expecting the apparition of some fallen tree, or +detached boulder bursting through the thicket, in its way to the bottom +of the gulch, she waited. The foliage was suddenly brushed aside, and +a large grizzly bear half rolled, half waddled, into the trail on the +opposite side of the hill. A few moments more would have brought them +face to face at the foot of the gulch; when she stopped there were not +fifty yards between them. + +She did not scream; she did not faint; she was not even frightened. +There did not seem to be anything terrifying in this huge, stupid beast, +who, arrested by the rustle of a stone displaced by her descending feet, +rose slowly on his haunches and gazed at her with small, wondering eyes. +Nor did it seem strange to her, seeing that he was in her way, to pick +up a stone, throw it in his direction, and say simply, “Sho! get away!” + as she would have done to an intruding cow. Nor did it seem odd that +he should actually “go away” as he did, scrambling back into the bushes +again, and disappearing like some grotesque figure in a transformation +scene. It was not until after he had gone that she was taken with +a slight nervousness and giddiness, and retraced her steps somewhat +hurriedly, shying a little at every rustle in the thicket. By the time +she had reached the great gateway she was doubtful whether to be pleased +or frightened at the incident, but she concluded to keep it to herself. + +It was still intensely cold. The light of the midday sun had decreased +still more, and on reaching the plateau again she saw that a dark cloud, +not unlike the precursor of a thunder-storm, was brooding over the snowy +peaks beyond. In spite of the cold this singular suggestion of summer +phenomena was still borne out by the distant smiling valley, and even +in the soft grasses at her feet. It seemed to her the crowning +inconsistency of the climate, and with a half-serious, half-playful +protest on her lips she hurried forward to seek the shelter of the +house. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +To Kate's surprise, the lower part of the house was deserted, but there +was an unusual activity on the floor above, and the sound of heavy +steps. There were alien marks of dusty feet on the scrupulously clean +passage, and on the first step of the stairs a spot of blood. With a +sudden genuine alarm that drove her previous adventure from her mind, +she impatiently called her sister's name. There was a hasty yet subdued +rustle of skirts on the staircase, and Mrs. Hale, with her finger on her +lip, swept Kate unceremoniously into the sitting-room, closed the door, +and leaned back against it, with a faint smile. She had a crumpled paper +in her hand. + +“Don't be alarmed, but read that first,” she said, handing her sister +the paper. “It was brought just now.” + +Kate instantly recognized her brother's distinct hand. She read +hurriedly, “The coach was robbed last night; nobody hurt. I've lost +nothing but a day's time, as this business will keep me here until +to-morrow, when Manuel can join me with a fresh horse. No cause for +alarm. As the bearer goes out of his way to bring you this, see that he +wants for nothing.” + +“Well,” said Kate expectantly. + +“Well, the 'bearer' was fired upon by the robbers, who were lurking on +the Ridge. He was wounded in the leg. Luckily he was picked up by his +friend, who was coming to meet him, and brought here as the nearest +place. He's up-stairs in the spare bed in the spare room, with his +friend, who won't leave his side. He won't even have mother in the room. +They've stopped the bleeding with John's ambulance things, and now, +Kate, here's a chance for you to show the value of your education in +the ambulance class. The ball has got to be extracted. Here's your +opportunity.” + +Kate looked at her sister curiously. There was a faint pink flush on her +pale cheeks, and her eyes were gently sparkling. She had never seen her +look so pretty before. + +“Why not have sent Manuel for a doctor at once?” asked Kate. + +“The nearest doctor is fifteen miles away, and Manuel is nowhere to be +found. Perhaps he's gone to look after the stock. There's some talk of +snow; imagine the absurdity of it!” + +“But who are they?” + +“They speak of themselves as 'friends,' as if it were a profession. The +wounded one was a passenger, I suppose.” + +“But what are they like?” continued Kate. “I suppose they're like them +all.” + +Mrs. Hale shrugged her shoulders. + +“The wounded one, when he's not fainting away, is laughing. The other is +a creature with a moustache, and gloomy beyond expression.” + +“What are you going to do with them?” said Kate. + +“What should I do? Even without John's letter I could not refuse the +shelter of my house to a wounded and helpless man. I shall keep him, +of course, until John comes. Why, Kate, I really believe you are so +prejudiced against these people you'd like to turn them out. But I +forget! It's because you LIKE them so well. Well, you need not fear to +expose yourself to the fascinations of the wounded Christy Minstrel--I'm +sure he's that--or to the unspeakable one, who is shyness itself, and +would not dare to raise his eyes to you.” + +There was a timid, hesitating step in the passage. It paused before the +door, moved away, returned, and finally asserted its intentions in the +gentlest of taps. + +“It's him; I'm sure of it,” said Mrs. Hale, with a suppressed smile. + +Kate threw open the door smartly, to the extreme discomfiture of a tall, +dark figure that already had slunk away from it. For all that, he was +a good-looking enough fellow, with a moustache as long and almost as +flexible as a ringlet. Kate could not help noticing also that his hand, +which was nervously pulling the moustache, was white and thin. + +“Excuse me,” he stammered, without raising his eyes, “I was looking +for--for--the old lady. I--I beg your pardon. I didn't know that +you--the young ladies--company--were here. I intended--I only wanted to +say that my friend--” He stopped at the slight smile that passed quickly +over Mrs. Hale's mouth, and his pale face reddened with an angry flush. + +“I hope he is not worse,” said Mrs. Hale, with more than her usual +languid gentleness. “My mother is not here at present. Can I--can +WE--this is my sister--do as well?” + +Without looking up he made a constrained recognition of Kate's presence, +that embarrassed and curt as it was, had none of the awkwardness of +rusticity. + +“Thank you; you're very kind. But my friend is a little stronger, and +if you can lend me an extra horse I'll try to get him on the Summit +to-night.” + +“But you surely will not take him away from us so soon?” said Mrs. Hale, +with a languid look of alarm, in which Kate, however, detected a certain +real feeling. “Wait at least until my husband returns to-morrow.” + +“He won't be here to-morrow,” said the stranger hastily. He stopped, +and as quickly corrected himself. “That is, his business is so very +uncertain, my friend says.” + +Only Kate noticed the slip; but she noticed also that her sister was +apparently unconscious of it. “You think,” she said, “that Mr. Hale may +be delayed?” + +He turned upon her almost brusquely. “I mean that it is already snowing +up there;” he pointed through the window to the cloud Kate had noticed; +“if it comes down lower in the pass the roads will be blocked up. That +is why it would be better for us to try and get on at once.” + +“But if Mr. Hale is likely to be stopped by snow, so are you,” said +Mrs. Hale playfully; “and you had better let us try to make your friend +comfortable here rather than expose him to that uncertainty in his +weak condition. We will do our best for him. My sister is dying for +an opportunity to show her skill in surgery,” she continued, with +an unexpected mischievousness that only added to Kate's surprised +embarrassment. “Aren't you, Kate?” + +Equivocal as the young girl knew her silence appeared, she was unable to +utter the simplest polite evasion. Some unaccountable impulse kept her +constrained and speechless. The stranger did not, however, wait for her +reply, but, casting a swift, hurried glance around the room, said, “It's +impossible; we must go. In fact, I've already taken the liberty to order +the horses round. They are at the door now. You may be certain,” he +added, with quick earnestness, suddenly lifting his dark eyes to Mrs. +Hale, and as rapidly withdrawing them, “that your horse will be returned +at once, and--and--we won't forget your kindness.” He stopped and turned +towards the hall. “I--I have brought my friend down-stairs. He wants to +thank you before he goes.” + +As he remained standing in the hall the two women stepped to the door. +To their surprise, half reclining on a cane sofa was the wounded man, +and what could be seen of his slight figure was wrapped in a dark +serape. His beardless face gave him a quaint boyishness quite +inconsistent with the mature lines of his temples and forehead. Pale, +and in pain, as he evidently was, his blue eyes twinkled with intense +amusement. Not only did his manner offer a marked contrast to the sombre +uneasiness of his companion, but he seemed to be the only one perfectly +at his ease in the group around him. + +“It's rather rough making you come out here to see me off,” he said, +with a not unmusical laugh that was very infectious, “but Ned there, +who carried me downstairs, wanted to tote me round the house in his arms +like a baby to say ta-ta to you all. Excuse my not rising, but I feel as +uncertain below as a mermaid, and as out of my element,” he added, with +a mischievous glance at his friend. “Ned concluded I must go on. But I +must say good-by to the old lady first. Ah! here she is.” + +To Kate's complete bewilderment, not only did the utter familiarity of +this speech, pass unnoticed and unrebuked by her sister, but actually +her own mother advanced quickly with every expression of lively +sympathy, and with the authority of her years and an almost maternal +anxiety endeavored to dissuade the invalid from going. “This is not my +house,” she said, looking at her daughter, “but if it were I should +not hear of your leaving, not only to-night, but until you were out of +danger. Josephine! Kate! What are you thinking of to permit it? Well, +then I forbid it--there!” + +Had they become suddenly insane, or were they bewitched by this morose +intruder and his insufferably familiar confidant? The man was wounded, +it was true; they might have to put him up in common humanity; but here +was her austere mother, who wouldn't come in the room when Whisky Dick +called on business, actually pressing both of the invalid's hands, +while her sister, who never extended a finger to the ordinary visiting +humanity of the neighborhood, looked on with evident complacency. + +The wounded man suddenly raised Mrs. Scott's hand to his lips, kissed +it gently, and, with his smile quite vanished, endeavored to rise to his +feet. “It's of no use--we must go. Give me your arm, Ned. Quick! Are the +horses there?” + +“Dear me,” said Mrs. Scott quickly. “I forgot to say the horse cannot be +found anywhere. Manuel must have taken him this morning to look up the +stock. But he will be back to-night certainly, and if to-morrow--” + +The wounded man sank back to a sitting position. “Is Manuel your man?” + he asked grimly. + +“Yes.” + +The two men exchanged glances. + +“Marked on his left cheek and drinks a good deal?” + +“Yes,” said Kate, finding her voice. “Why?” + +The amused look came back to the man's eyes. “That kind of man isn't +safe to wait for. We must take our own horse, Ned. Are you ready?” + +“Yes.” + +The wounded man again attempted to rise. He fell back, but this time +quite heavily. He had fainted. + +Involuntarily and simultaneously the three women rushed to his side. “He +cannot go,” said Kate suddenly. + +“He will be better in a moment.” + +“But only for a moment. Will nothing induce you to change your mind?” + +As if in reply a sudden gust of wind brought a volley of rain against +the window. + +“THAT will,” said the stranger bitterly. + +“The rain?” + +“A mile from here it is SNOW; and before we could reach the Summit with +these horses the road would be impassable.” + +He made a slight gesture to himself, as if accepting an inevitable +defeat, and turned to his companion, who was slowly reviving under the +active ministration of the two women. The wounded man looked around with +a weak smile. “This is one way of going off,” he said faintly, “but I +could do this sort of thing as well on the road.” + +“You can do nothing now,” said his friend, decidedly. “Before we get to +the Gate the road will be impassable for our horses.” + +“For ANY horses?” asked Kate. + +“For any horses. For any man or beast I might say. Where we cannot get +out, no one can get in,” he added, as if answering her thoughts. “I +am afraid that you won't see your brother to-morrow morning. But I'll +reconnoitre as soon as I can do so without torturing HIM,” he said, +looking anxiously at the helpless man; “he's got about his share of +pain, I reckon, and the first thing is to get him easier.” It was the +longest speech he had made to her; it was the first time he had fairly +looked her in the face. His shy restlessness had suddenly given way to +dogged resignation, less abstracted, but scarcely more flattering to +his entertainers. Lifting his companion gently in his arms, as if he +had been a child, he reascended the staircase, Mrs. Scott and the +hastily-summoned Molly following with overflowing solicitude. As soon as +they were alone in the parlor Mrs. Hale turned to her sister: “Only that +our guests seemed to be as anxious to go just now as you were to pack +them off, I should have been shocked at your inhospitality. What has +come over you, Kate? These are the very people you have reproached me so +often with not being civil enough to.” + +“But WHO are they?” + +“How do I know? There is YOUR BROTHER'S letter.” + +She usually spoke of her husband as “John.” This slight shifting of +relationship and responsibility to the feminine mind was significant. +Kate was a little frightened and remorseful. + +“I only meant you don't even know their names.” + +“That wasn't necessary for giving them a bed and bandages. Do you +suppose the good Samaritan ever asked the wounded Jew's name, and that +the Levite did not excuse himself because the thieves had taken the +poor man's card-case? Do the directions, 'In case of accident,' in your +ambulance rules, read, 'First lay the sufferer on his back and inquire +his name and family connections'? Besides, you can call one 'Ned' and +the other 'George,' if you like.” + +“Oh, you know what I mean,” said Kate, irrelevantly. “Which is George?” + +“George is the wounded man,” said Mrs. Hale; “NOT the one who talked +to you more than he did to any one else. I suppose the poor man was +frightened and read dismissal in your eyes.” + +“I wish John were here.” + +“I don't think we have anything to fear in his absence from men whose +only wish is to get away from us. If it is a question of propriety, +my dear Kate, surely there is the presence of mother to prevent any +scandal--although really her own conduct with the wounded one is not +above suspicion,” she added, with that novel mischievousness that seemed +a return of her lost girlhood. “We must try to do the best we can with +them and for them,” she said decidedly, “and meantime I'll see if I +can't arrange John's room for them.” + +“John's room?” + +“Oh, mother is perfectly satisfied; indeed, suggested it. It's larger +and will hold two beds, for 'Ned,' the friend, must attend to him at +night. And, Kate, don't you think, if you're not going out again, you +might change your costume? It does very well while we are alone--” + +“Well,” said Kate indignantly, “as I am not going into his room--” + +“I'm not so sure about that, if we can't get a regular doctor. But he +is very restless, and wanders all over the house like a timid and +apologetic spaniel.” + +“Who?” + +“Why 'Ned.' But I must go and look after the patient. I suppose they've +got him safe in his bed again,” and with a nod to her sister she tripped +up-stairs. + +Uncomfortable and embarrassed, she knew not why, Kate sought her mother. +But that good lady was already in attendance on the patient, and +Kate hurried past that baleful centre of attraction with a feeling of +loneliness and strangeness she had never experienced before. Entering +her own room she went to the window--that first and last refuge of the +troubled mind--and gazed out. Turning her eyes in the direction of her +morning's walk, she started back with a sense of being dazzled. She +rubbed first her eyes and then the rain-dimmed pane. It was no illusion! +The whole landscape, so familiar to her, was one vast field of dead, +colorless white! Trees, rocks, even distance itself, had vanished in +those few hours. An even shadowless, motionless white sea filled the +horizon. On either side a vast wall of snow seemed to shut out the +world like a shroud. Only the green plateau before her, with its sloping +meadows and fringe of pines and cottonwood, lay alone like a summer +island in this frozen sea. + +A sudden desire to view this phenomenon more closely, and to learn for +herself the limits of this new tethered life, completely possessed +her, and, accustomed to act upon her independent impulses, she seized a +hooded waterproof cloak, and slipped out of the house unperceived. The +rain was falling steadily along the descending trail where she walked, +but beyond, scarcely a mile across the chasm, the wintry distance began +to confuse her brain with the inextricable swarming of snow. Hurrying +down with feverish excitement, she at last came in sight of the arching +granite portals of their domain. But her first glance through the +gateway showed it closed as if with a white portcullis. Kate remembered +that the trail began to ascend beyond the arch, and knew that what she +saw was only the mountain side she had partly climbed this morning. But +the snow had already crept down its flank, and the exit by trail was +practically closed. Breathlessly making her way back to the highest part +of the plateau--the cliff behind the house that here descended abruptly +to the rain-dimmed valley--she gazed at the dizzy depths in vain for +some undiscovered or forgotten trail along its face. But a single glance +convinced her of its inaccessibility. The gateway was indeed their only +outlet to the plain below. She looked back at the falling snow beyond +until she fancied she could see in the crossing and recrossing lines +the moving meshes of a fateful web woven around them by viewless but +inexorable fingers. + +Half frightened, she was turning away, when she perceived, a few paces +distant, the figure of the stranger, “Ned,” also apparently absorbed +in the gloomy prospect. He was wrapped in the clinging folds of a black +serape braided with silver; the broad flap of a slouch hat beaten back +by the wind exposed the dark, glistening curls on his white forehead. He +was certainly very handsome and picturesque, and that apparently without +effort or consciousness. Neither was there anything in his costume or +appearance inconsistent with his surroundings, or, even with what Kate +could judge were his habits or position. Nevertheless, she instantly +decided that he was TOO handsome and too picturesque, without suspecting +that her ideas of the limits of masculine beauty were merely personal +experience. + +As he turned away from the cliff they were brought face to face. “It +doesn't look very encouraging over there,” he said quietly, as if the +inevitableness of the situation had relieved him of his previous shyness +and effort; “it's even worse than I expected. The snow must have begun +there last night, and it looks as if it meant to stay.” He stopped for a +moment, and then, lifting his eyes to her, said:-- + +“I suppose you know what this means?” + +“I don't understand you.” + +“I thought not. Well! it means that you are absolutely cut off here from +any communication or intercourse with any one outside of that canyon. +By this time the snow is five feet deep over the only trail by which one +can pass in and out of that gateway. I am not alarming you, I hope, for +there is no real physical danger; a place like this ought to be +well garrisoned, and certainly is self-supporting so far as the mere +necessities and even comforts are concerned. You have wood, water, +cattle, and game at your command, but for two weeks at least you are +completely isolated.” + +“For two weeks,” said Kate, growing pale--“and my brother!” + +“He knows all by this time, and is probably as assured as I am of the +safety of his family.” + +“For two weeks,” continued Kate; “impossible! You don't know my brother! +He will find some way to get to us.” + +“I hope so,” returned the stranger gravely, “for what is possible for +him is possible for us.” + +“Then you are anxious to get away,” Kate could not help saying. + +“Very.” + +The reply was not discourteous in manner, but was so far from gallant +that Kate felt a new and inconsistent resentment. Before she could say +anything he added, “And I hope you will remember, whatever may happen, +that I did my best to avoid staying here longer than was necessary to +keep my friend from bleeding to death in the road.” + +“Certainly,” said Kate; then added awkwardly, “I hope he'll be better +soon.” She was silent, and then, quickening her pace, said hurriedly, “I +must tell my sister this dreadful news.” + +“I think she is prepared for it. If there is anything I can do to help +you I hope you will let me know. Perhaps I may be of some service. I +shall begin by exploring the trails to-morrow, for the best service we +can do you possibly is to take ourselves off; but I can carry a gun, and +the woods are full of game driven down from the mountains. Let me show +you something you may not have noticed.” He stopped, and pointed to a +small knoll of sheltered shrubbery and granite on the opposite mountain, +which still remained black against the surrounding snow. It seemed to be +thickly covered with moving objects. “They are wild animals driven out +of the snow,” said the stranger. “That larger one is a grizzly; there is +a panther, wolves, wild cats, a fox, and some mountain goats.” + +“An ill-assorted party,” said the young girl. + +“Ill luck makes them companions. They are too frightened to hurt one +another now.” + +“But they will eat each other later on,” said Kate, stealing a glance at +her companion. + +He lifted his long lashes and met her eyes. “Not on a haven of refuge.” + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Kate found her sister, as the stranger had intimated, fully prepared. A +hasty inventory of provisions and means of subsistence showed that they +had ample resources for a much longer isolation. + +“They tell me it is by no means an uncommon case, Kate; somebody over at +somebody's place was snowed in for four weeks, and now it appears that +even the Summit House is not always accessible. John ought to have known +it when he bought the place; in fact, I was ashamed to admit that he did +not. But that is like John to prefer his own theories to the experience +of others. However, I don't suppose we should even notice the privation +except for the mails. It will be a lesson to John, though. As Mr. Lee +says, he is on the outside, and can probably go wherever he likes from +the Summit except to come here.” + +“Mr. Lee?” echoed Kate. + +“Yes, the wounded one; and the other's name is Falkner. I asked them in +order that you might be properly introduced. There were very respectable +Falkners in Charlestown, you remember; I thought you might warm to +the name, and perhaps trace the connection, now that you are such good +friends. It's providential they are here, as we haven't got a horse or +a man in the place since Manuel disappeared, though Mr. Falkner says +he can't be far away, or they would have met him on the trail if he had +gone towards the Summit.” + +“Did they say anything more of Manuel?” + +“Nothing; though I am inclined to agree with you that he isn't +trustworthy. But that again is the result of John's idea of employing +native skill at the expense of retaining native habits.” + +The evening closed early, and with no diminution in the falling rain and +rising wind. Falkner kept his word, and unostentatiously performed the +out-door work in the barn and stables, assisted by the only Chinese +servant remaining, and under the advice and supervision of Kate. +Although he seemed to understand horses, she was surprised to find that +he betrayed a civic ignorance of the ordinary details of the farm and +rustic household. It was quite impossible that she should retain her +distrustful attitude, or he his reserve in their enforced companionship. +They talked freely of subjects suggested by the situation, Falkner +exhibiting a general knowledge and intuition of things without parade or +dogmatism. Doubtful of all versatility as Kate was, she could not help +admitting to herself that his truths were none the less true for their +quantity or that he got at them without ostentatious processes. His talk +certainly was more picturesque than her brother's, and less subduing to +her faculties. John had always crushed her. + +When they returned to the house he did not linger in the parlor or +sitting-room, but at once rejoined his friend. When dinner was ready in +the dining-room, a little more deliberately arranged and ornamented than +usual, the two women were somewhat surprised to receive an excuse from +Falkner, begging them to allow him for the present to take his meals +with the patient, and thus save the necessity of another attendant. + +“It is all shyness, Kate,” said Mrs. Hale, confidently, “and must not be +permitted for a moment.” + +“I'm sure I should be quite willing to stay with the poor boy myself,” + said Mrs. Scott, simply, “and take Mr. Falkner's place while he dines.” + +“You are too willing, mother,” said Mrs. Hale, pertly, “and your 'poor +boy,' as you call him, will never see thirty-five again.” + +“He will never see any other birthday!” retorted her mother, “unless you +keep him more quiet. He only talks when you're in the room.” + +“He wants some relief to his friend's long face and moustachios that +make him look prematurely in mourning,” said Mrs. Hale, with a slight +increase of animation. “I don't propose to leave them too much together. +After dinner we'll adjourn to their room and lighten it up a little. +You must come, Kate, to look at the patient, and counteract the baleful +effects of my frivolity.” + +Mrs. Hale's instincts were truer than her mother's experience; not only +that the wounded man's eyes became brighter under the provocation of her +presence, but it was evident that his naturally exuberant spirits were +a part of his vital strength, and were absolutely essential to his quick +recovery. Encouraged by Falkner's grave and practical assistance, which +she could not ignore, Kate ventured to make an examination of Lee's +wound. Even to her unpractised eye it was less serious than at first +appeared. The great loss of blood had been due to the laceration of +certain small vessels below the knee, but neither artery nor bone was +injured. A recurrence of the haemorrhage or fever was the only thing to +be feared, and these could be averted by bandaging, repose, and simple +nursing. + +The unfailing good humor of the patient under this manipulation, the +quaint originality of his speech, the freedom of his fancy, which was, +however, always controlled by a certain instinctive tact, began to +affect Kate nearly as it had the others. She found herself laughing over +the work she had undertaken in a pure sense of duty; she joined in the +hilarity produced by Lee's affected terror of her surgical mania, and +offered to undo the bandages in search of the thimble he declared she +had left in the wound with a view to further experiments. + +“You ought to broaden your practice,” he suggested. “A good deal might +be made out of Ned and a piece of soap left carelessly on the first step +of the staircase, while mountains of surgical opportunities lie in +a humble orange peel judiciously exposed. Only I warn you that you +wouldn't find him as docile as I am. Decoyed into a snow-drift and +frozen, you might get some valuable experiences in resuscitation by +thawing him.” + +“I fancied you had done that already, Kate,” whispered Mrs. Hale. + +“Freezing is the new suggestion for painless surgery,” said Lee, coming +to Kate's relief with ready tact, “only the knowledge should be +more generally spread. There was a man up at Strawberry fell under a +sledge-load of wood in the snow. Stunned by the shock, he was slowly +freezing to death, when, with a tremendous effort, he succeeded in +freeing himself all but his right leg, pinned down by a small log. His +axe happened to have fallen within reach, and a few blows on the log +freed him.” + +“And saved the poor fellow's life,” said Mrs. Scott, who was listening +with sympathizing intensity. + +“At the expense of his LEFT LEG, which he had unknowingly cut off under +the pleasing supposition that it was a log,” returned Lee demurely. + +Nevertheless, in a few moments he managed to divert the slightly shocked +susceptibilities of the old lady with some raillery of himself, and did +not again interrupt the even good-humored communion of the party. The +rain beating against the windows and the fire sparkling on the hearth +seemed to lend a charm to their peculiar isolation, and it was not until +Mrs. Scott rose with a warning that they were trespassing upon the rest +of their patient that they discovered that the evening had slipped by +unnoticed. When the door at last closed on the bright, sympathetic +eyes of the two young women and the motherly benediction of the elder, +Falkner walked to the window, and remained silent, looking into the +darkness. Suddenly he turned bitterly to his companion. + +“This is just h-ll, George.” + +George Lee, with a smile on his boyish face, lazily moved his head. + +“I don't know! If it wasn't for the old woman, who is the one solid +chunk of absolute goodness here, expecting nothing, wanting nothing, +it would be good fun enough! These two women, cooped up in this house, +wanted excitement. They've got it! That man Hale wanted to show off by +going for us; he's had his chance, and will have it again before I've +done with him. That d--d fool of a messenger wanted to go out of his way +to exchange shots with me; I reckon he's the most satisfied of the lot! +I don't know why YOU should growl. You did your level best to get away +from here, and the result is, that little Puritan is ready to worship +you.” + +“Yes--but this playing it on them--George--this--” + +“Who's playing it? Not you; I see you've given away our names already.” + +“I couldn't lie, and they know nothing by that.” + +“Do you think they would be happier by knowing it? Do you think that +soft little creature would be as happy as she was to-night if she knew +that her husband had been indirectly the means of laying me by the heels +here? Where is the swindle? This hole in my leg? If you had been five +minutes under that girl's d--d sympathetic fingers you'd have thought it +was genuine. Is it in our trying to get away? Do you call that ten-feet +drift in the pass a swindle? Is it in the chance of Hale getting back +while we're here? That's real enough, isn't it? I say, Ned, did you ever +give your unfettered intellect to the contemplation of THAT?” + +Falkner did not reply. There was an interval of silence, but he could +see from the movement of George's shoulders that he was shaking with +suppressed laughter. + +“Fancy Mrs. Hale archly introducing her husband! My offering him a +chair, but being all the time obliged to cover him with a derringer +under the bedclothes. Your rushing in from your peaceful pastoral +pursuits in the barn, with a pitchfork in one hand and the girl in the +other, and dear old mammy sympathizing all round and trying to make +everything comfortable.” + +“I should not be alive to see it, George,” said Falkner gloomily. + +“You'd manage to pitchfork me and those two women on Hale's horse and +ride away; that's what you'd do, or I don't know you! Look here, Ned,” + he added more seriously, “the only swindling was our bringing that note +here. That was YOUR idea. You thought it would remove suspicion, and as +you believed I was bleeding to death you played that game for all it was +worth to save me. You might have done what I asked you to do--propped +me up in the bushes, and got away yourself. I was good for a couple of +shots yet, and after that--what mattered? That night, the next day, the +next time I take the road, or a year hence? It will come when it will +come, all the same!” + +He did not speak bitterly, nor relax his smile. Falkner, without +speaking, slid his hand along the coverlet. Lee grasped it, and their +hands remained clasped together for a few minutes in silence. + +“How is this to end? We cannot go on here in this way,” said Falkner +suddenly. + +“If we cannot get away it must go on. Look here, Ned. I don't reckon +to take anything out of this house that I didn't bring in it, or isn't +freely offered to me; yet I don't otherwise, you understand, intend +making myself out a d--d bit better than I am. That's the only excuse I +have for not making myself out JUST WHAT I am. I don't know the fellow +who's obliged to tell every one the last company he was in, or the last +thing he did! Do you suppose even these pretty little women tell US +their whole story? Do you fancy that this St. John in the wilderness is +canonized in his family? Perhaps, when I take the liberty to intrude in +his affairs, as he has in mine, he'd see he isn't. I don't blame you for +being sensitive, Ned. It's natural. When a man lives outside the revised +statutes of his own State he is apt to be awfully fine on points of +etiquette in his own household. As for me, I find it rather comfortable +here. The beds of other people's making strike me as being more +satisfactory than my own. Good-night.” + +In a few moments he was sleeping the peaceful sleep of that youth which +seemed to be his own dominant quality. Falkner stood for a little space +and watched him, following the boyish lines of his cheek on the pillow, +from the shadow of the light brown lashes under his closed lids to the +lifting of his short upper lip over his white teeth, with his regular +respiration. Only a sharp accenting of the line of nostril and jaw and a +faint depression of the temple betrayed his already tried manhood. + +The house had long sunk to repose when Falkner returned to the window, +and remained looking out upon the storm. Suddenly he extinguished the +light, and passing quickly to the bed laid his hand upon the sleeper. +Lee opened his eyes instantly. + +“Are you awake?” + +“Perfectly.” + +“Somebody is trying to get into the house!” + +“Not HIM, eh?” said Lee gayly. + +“No; two men. Mexicans, I think. One looks like Manuel.” + +“Ah,” said Lee, drawing himself up to a sitting posture. + +“Well?” + +“Don't you see? He believes the women are alone.” + +“The dog--d--d hound!” + +“Speak respectfully of one of my people, if you please, and hand me my +derringer. Light the candle again, and open the door. Let them get in +quietly. They'll come here first. It's HIS room, you understand, and if +there's any money it's here. Anyway, they must pass here to get to the +women's rooms. Leave Manuel to me, and you take care of the other.” + +“I see.” + +“Manuel knows the house, and will come first. When he's fairly in the +room shut the door and go for the other. But no noise. This is just one +of the SW-EETEST things out--if it's done properly.” + +“But YOU, George?” + +“If I couldn't manage that fellow without turning down the bedclothes +I'd kick myself. Hush. Steady now.” + +He lay down and shut his eyes as if in natural repose. Only his right +hand, carelessly placed under his pillow, closed on the handle of his +pistol. Falkner quietly slipped into the passage. The light of the +candle faintly illuminated the floor and opposite wall, but left it on +either side in pitchy obscurity. + +For some moments the silence was broken only by the sound of the rain +without. The recumbent figure in bed seemed to have actually succumbed +to sleep. The multitudinous small noises of a house in repose might have +been misinterpreted by ears less keen than the sleeper's; but when +the apparent creaking of a far-off shutter was followed by the sliding +apparition of a dark head of tangled hair at the door, Lee had not been +deceived, and was as prepared as if he had seen it. Another step, and +the figure entered the room. The door closed instantly behind it. The +sound of a heavy body struggling against the partition outside followed, +and then suddenly ceased. + +The intruder turned, and violently grasped the handle of the door, but +recoiled at a quiet voice from the bed. + +“Drop that, and come here.” + +He started back with an exclamation. The sleeper's eyes were wide open; +the sleeper's extended arm and pistol covered him. + +“Silence! or I'll let that candle shine through you!” + +“Yes, captain!” growled the astounded and frightened half-breed. “I +didn't know you were here.” + +Lee raised himself, and grasped the long whip in his left hand and +whirled it round his head. + +“WILL YOU dry up?” + +The man sank back against the wall in silent terror. + +“Open that door now--softly.” + +Manuel obeyed with trembling fingers. + +“Ned” said Lee in a low voice, “bring him in here--quick.” + +There was a slight rustle, and Falkner appeared, backing in another +gasping figure, whose eyes were starting under the strong grasp of the +captor at his throat. + +“Silence,” said Lee, “all of you.” + +There was a breathless pause. The sound of a door hesitatingly opened +in the passage broke the stillness, followed by the gentle voice of Mrs. +Scott. + +“Is anything the matter?” + +Lee made a slight gesture of warning to Falkner, of menace to the +others. “Everything's the matter,” he called out cheerily. “Ned's +managed to half pull down the house trying to get at something from my +saddle-bags.” + +“I hope he has not hurt himself,” broke in another voice mischievously. + +“Answer, you clumsy villain,” whispered Lee, with twinkling eyes. + +“I'm all right, thank you,” responded Falkner, with unaffected +awkwardness. + +There was a slight murmuring of voices, and then the door was heard to +close. Lee turned to Falkner. + +“Disarm that hound and turn him loose outside, and make no noise. And +you, Manuel! tell him what his and your chances are if he shows his +black face here again.” + +Manuel cast a single, terrified, supplicating glance, more suggestive +than words, at his confederate, as Falkner shoved him before him from +the room. The next moment they were silently descending the stairs. + +“May I go too, captain?” entreated Manuel. “I swear to God--” + +“Shut the door!” The man obeyed. + +“Now, then,” said Lee, with a broad, gratified smile, laying down his +whip and pistol within reach, and comfortably settling the pillows +behind his back, “we'll have a quiet confab. A sort of old-fashioned +talk, eh? You're not looking well, Manuel. You're drinking too much +again. It spoils your complexion.” + +“Let me go, captain,” pleaded the man, emboldened by the good-humored +voice, but not near enough to notice a peculiar light in the speaker's +eye. + +“You've only just come, Manuel; and at considerable trouble, too. Well, +what have you got to say? What's all this about? What are you doing +here?” + +The captured man shuffled his feet nervously, and only uttered an uneasy +laugh of coarse discomfiture. + +“I see. You're bashful. Well, I'll help you along. Come! You knew that +Hale was away and these women were here without a man to help them. You +thought you'd find some money here, and have your own way generally, +eh?” + +The tone of Lee's voice inspired him to confidence; unfortunately, it +inspired him with familiarity also. + +“I reckoned I had the right to a little fun on my own account, cap. +I reckoned ez one gentleman in the profession wouldn't interfere with +another gentleman's little game,” he continued coarsely. + +“Stand up.” + +“Wot for?” + +“Up, I say!” + +Manuel stood up and glanced at him. + +“Utter a cry that might frighten these women, and by the living God +they'll rush in here only to find you lying dead on the floor of the +house you'd have polluted.” + +He grasped the whip and laid the lash of it heavily twice over the +ruffian's shoulders. Writhing in suppressed agony, the man fell +imploringly on his knees. + +“Now, listen!” said Lee, softly twirling the whip in the air. “I want to +refresh your memory. Did you ever learn, when you were with me--before +I was obliged to kick you out of gentlemen's company--to break into a +private house? Answer!” + +“No,” stammered the wretch. + +“Did you ever learn to rob a woman, a child, or any but a man, and that +face to face?” + +“No,” repeated Manuel. + +“Did you ever learn from me to lay a finger upon a woman, old or young, +in anger or kindness?” + +“No.” + +“Then, my poor Manuel, it's as I feared; civilization has ruined you. +Farming and a simple, bucolic life have perverted your morals. So you +were running off with the stock and that mustang, when you got stuck in +the snow; and the luminous idea of this little game struck you? Eh? That +was another mistake, Manuel; I never allowed you to think when you were +with me.” + +“No, captain.” + +“Who's your friend?” + +“A d--d cowardly nigger from the Summit.” + +“I agree with you for once; but he hasn't had a very brilliant example. +Where's he gone now?” + +“To h-ll, for all I care!” + +“Then I want you to go with him. Listen. If there's a way out of the +place, you know it or can find it. I give you two days to do it--you and +he. At the end of that time the order will be to shoot you on sight. Now +take off your boots.” + +The man's dark face visibly whitened, his teeth chattered in +superstitious terror. + +“I'm not going to shoot you now,” said Lee, smiling, “so you will have a +chance to die with your boots on,* if you are superstitious. I only want +you to exchange them for that pair of Hale's in the corner. The fact +is I have taken a fancy to yours. That fashion of wearing the stockings +outside strikes me as one of the neatest things out.” + + * “To die with one's boots on.” A synonym for death by + violence, popular among Southwestern desperadoes, and the + subject of superstitious dread. + +Manuel suddenly drew off his boots with their muffled covering, and put +on the ones designated. + +“Now open the door.” + +He did so. Falkner was already waiting at the threshold, “Turn Manuel +loose with the other, Ned, but disarm him first. They might quarrel. The +habit of carrying arms, Manuel,” added Lee, as Falkner took a pistol and +bowie-knife from the half-breed, “is of itself provocative of violence, +and inconsistent with a bucolic and pastoral life.” + +When Falkner returned he said hurriedly to his companion, “Do you think +it wise, George, to let those hell-hounds loose? Good God! I could +scarcely let my grip of his throat go, when I thought of what they were +hunting.” + +“My dear Ned,” said Lee, luxuriously ensconcing himself under the +bedclothes again with a slight shiver of delicious warmth, “I must warn +you against allowing the natural pride of a higher walk to prejudice you +against the general level of our profession. Indeed, I was quite struck +with the justice of Manuel's protest that I was interfering with certain +rude processes of his own towards results aimed at by others.” + +“George!” interrupted Falkner, almost savagely. + +“Well. I admit it's getting rather late in the evening for pure +philosophical inquiry, and you are tired. Practically, then, it WAS wise +to let them get away before they discovered two things. One, our exact +relations here with these women; and the other, HOW MANY of us were +here. At present they think we are three or four in possession and with +the consent of the women.” + +“The dogs!” + +“They are paying us the highest compliment they can conceive of by +supposing us cleverer scoundrels than themselves. You are very unjust, +Ned.” + +“If they escape and tell their story?” + +“We shall have the rare pleasure of knowing we are better than people +believe us. And now put those boots away somewhere where we can produce +them if necessary, as evidence of Manuel's evening call. At present +we'll keep the thing quiet, and in the early morning you can find out +where they got in and remove any traces they have left. It is no use to +frighten the women. There's no fear of their returning.” + +“And if they get away?” + +“We can follow in their tracks.” + +“If Manuel gives the alarm?” + +“With his burglarious boots left behind in the house? Not much! +Good-night, Ned. Go to bed.” + +With these words Lee turned on his side and quietly resumed his +interrupted slumber. Falkner did not, however, follow this sensible +advice. When he was satisfied that his friend was sleeping he opened the +door softly and looked out. He did not appear to be listening, for +his eyes were fixed upon a small pencil of light that stole across the +passage from the foot of Kate's door. He watched it until it suddenly +disappeared, when, leaving the door partly open, he threw himself on +his couch without removing his clothes. The slight movement awakened +the sleeper, who was beginning to feel the accession of fever. He moved +restlessly. + +“George,” said Falkner, softly. + +“Yes.” + +“Where was it we passed that old Mission Church on the road one dark +night, and saw the light burning before the figure of the Virgin through +the window?” + +There was a moment of crushing silence. “Does that mean you're wanting +to light the candle again?” + +“No.” + +“Then don't lie there inventing sacrilegious conundrums, but go to +sleep.” + +Nevertheless, in the morning his fever was slightly worse. Mrs. Hale, +offering her condolence, said, “I know that you have not been resting +well, for even after your friend met with that mishap in the hall, I +heard your voices, and Kate says your door was open all night. You have +a little fever too, Mr. Falkner.” + +George looked curiously at Falkner's pale face--it was burning. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The speed and fury with which Clinch's cavalcade swept on in the +direction of the mysterious shot left Hale no chance for reflection. He +was conscious of shouting incoherently with the others, of urging his +horse irresistibly forward, of momentarily expecting to meet or overtake +something, but without any further thought. The figures of Clinch and +Rawlins immediately before him shut out the prospect of the narrowing +trail. Once only, taking advantage of a sudden halt that threw them +confusedly together, he managed to ask a question. + +“Lost their track--found it again!” shouted the ostler, as Clinch, with +a cry like the baying of a hound, again darted forward. Their horses +were panting and trembling under them, the ascent seemed to be growing +steeper, a singular darkness, which even the density of the wood did not +sufficiently account for, surrounded them, but still their leader +madly urged them on. To Hale's returning senses they did not seem in a +condition to engage a single resolute man, who might have ambushed in +the woods or beaten them in detail in the narrow gorge, but in another +instant the reason of their furious haste was manifest. Spurring his +horse ahead, Clinch dashed out into the open with a cheering shout--a +shout that as quickly changed to a yell of imprecation. They were on +the Ridge in a blinding snow-storm! The road had already vanished under +their feet, and with it the fresh trail they had so closely followed! +They stood helplessly on the shore of a trackless white sea, blank and +spotless of any trace or sign of the fugitives. + +“'Pears to me, boys,” said the ostler, suddenly ranging before them, +“ef you're not kalkilatin' on gittin' another party to dig ye out, ye'd +better be huntin' fodder and cover instead of road agents. 'Skuse me, +gentlemen, but I'm responsible for the hosses, and this ain't no time +for circus-ridin'. We're a matter o' six miles from the station in a bee +line.” + +“Back to the trail, then,” said Clinch, wheeling his horse towards the +road they had just quitted. + +“'Skuse me, Kernel,” said the ostler, laying his hand on Clinch's rein, +“but that way only brings us back the road we kem--the stage road--three +miles further from home. That three miles is on the divide, and by the +time we get there it will be snowed up worse nor this. The shortest cut +is along the Ridge. If we hump ourselves we ken cross the divide afore +the road is blocked. And that, 'skuse me, gentlemen, is MY road.” + +There was no time for discussion. The road was already palpably +thickening under their feet. Hale's arm was stiffened to his side by +a wet, clinging snow-wreath. The figures of the others were almost +obliterated and shapeless. It was not snowing--it was snowballing! The +huge flakes, shaken like enormous feathers out of a vast blue-black +cloud, commingled and fell in sprays and patches. All idea of their +former pursuit was forgotten; the blind rage and enthusiasm that had +possessed them was gone. They dashed after their new leader with only an +instinct for shelter and succor. + +They had not ridden long when fortunately, as it seemed to Hale, the +character of the storm changed. The snow no longer fell in such large +flakes, nor as heavily. A bitter wind succeeded; the soft snow began +to stiffen and crackle under the horses' hoofs; they were no longer +weighted and encumbered by the drifts upon their bodies; the smaller +flakes now rustled and rasped against them like sand, or bounded from +them like hail. They seemed to be moving more easily and rapidly, their +spirits were rising with the stimulus of cold and motion, when suddenly +their leader halted. + +“It's no use, boys. It can't be done! This is no blizzard, but a regular +two days' snifter! It's no longer meltin', but packin' and driftin' +now. Even if we get over the divide, we're sure to be blocked up in the +pass.” + +It was true! To their bitter disappointment they could now see that +the snow had not really diminished in quantity, but that the now +finely-powdered particles were rapidly filling all inequalities of +the surface, packing closely against projections, and swirling in +long furrows across the levels. They looked with anxiety at their +self-constituted leader. + +“We must make a break to get down in the woods again before it's too +late,” he said briefly. + +But they had already drifted away from the fringe of larches and dwarf +pines that marked the sides of the Ridge, and lower down merged into +the dense forest that clothed the flank of the mountain they had lately +climbed, and it was with the greatest difficulty that they again reached +it, only to find that at that point it was too precipitous for the +descent of their horses. Benumbed and speechless, they continued to toil +on, opposed to the full fury of the stinging snow, and at times obliged +to turn their horses to the blast to keep from being blown over the +Ridge. At the end of half an hour the ostler dismounted, and, beckoning +to the others, took his horse by the bridle, and began the descent. When +it came to Hale's turn to dismount he could not help at first recoiling +from the prospect before him. The trail--if it could be so called--was +merely the track or furrow of some fallen tree dragged, by accident +or design, diagonally across the sides of the mountain. At times it +appeared scarcely a foot in width; at other times a mere crumbling +gully, or a narrow shelf made by the projections of dead boughs and +collected debris. It seemed perilous for a foot passenger, it appeared +impossible for a horse. Nevertheless, he had taken a step forward when +Clinch laid his hand on his arm. + +“You'll bring up the rear,” he said not unkindly, “ez you're a stranger +here. Wait until we sing out to you.” + +“But if I prefer to take the same risks as you all?” said Hale stiffly. + +“You kin,” said Clinch grimly. “But I reckoned, as you wern't familiar +with this sort o' thing, you wouldn't keer, by any foolishness o' yours, +to stampede the rocks ahead of us, and break down the trail, or send +down an avalanche on top of us. But just ez you like.” + +“I will wait, then,” said Hale hastily. + +The rebuke, however, did him good service. It preoccupied his mind, +so that it remained unaffected by the dizzy depths, and enabled him +to abandon himself mechanically to the sagacity of his horse, who was +contented simply to follow the hoofprints of the preceding animal, and +in a few moments they reached the broader trail without a mishap. A +discussion regarding their future movements was already taking place. +The impossibility of regaining the station at the Summit was admitted; +the way down the mountain to the next settlement was still left to them, +or the adjacent woods, if they wished for an encampment. The ostler once +more assumed authority. + +“'Skuse me, gentlemen, but them horses don't take no pasear down the +mountain to-night. The stage-road ain't a mile off, and I kalkilate to +wait here till the up stage comes. She's bound to stop on account of the +snow; and I've done my dooty when I hand the horses over to the driver.” + +“But if she hears of the block up yer, and waits at the lower station?” + said Rawlins. + +“Then I've done my dooty all the same. 'Skuse me, gentlemen, but them ez +hez their own horses kin do ez they like.” + +As this clearly pointed to Hale, he briefly assured his companions that +he had no intention of deserting them. “If I cannot reach Eagle's Court, +I shall at least keep as near it as possible. I suppose any messenger +from my house to the Summit will learn where I am and why I am delayed?” + +“Messenger from your house!” gasped Rawlins. “Are you crazy, stranger? +Only a bird would get outer Eagle's now; and it would hev to be an eagle +at that! Between your house and the Summit the snow must be ten feet by +this time, to say nothing of the drift in the pass.” + +Hale felt it was the truth. At any other time he would have worried over +this unexpected situation, and utter violation of all his traditions. +He was past that now, and even felt a certain relief. He knew his +family were safe; it was enough. That they were locked up securely, +and incapable of interfering with HIM, seemed to enhance his new, +half-conscious, half-shy enjoyment of an adventurous existence. + +The ostler, who had been apparently lost in contemplation of the steep +trail he had just descended, suddenly clapped his hand to his leg with +an ejaculation of gratified astonishment. + +“Waal, darn my skin ef that ain't Hennicker's 'slide' all the time! I +heard it was somewhat about here.” + +Rawlins briefly explained to Hale that a slide was a rude incline for +the transit of heavy goods that could not be carried down a trail. + +“And Hennicker's,” continued the man, “ain't more nor a mile away. Ye +might try Hennicker's at a push, eh?” + +By a common instinct the whole party looked dubiously at Hale. “Who's +Hennicker?” he felt compelled to ask. + +The ostler hesitated, and glanced at the others to reply. “There ARE +folks,” he said lazily, at last, “ez beleeves that Hennicker ain't much +better nor the crowd we're hunting; but they don't say it TO Hennicker. +We needn't let on what we're after.” + +“I for one,” said Hale stoutly, “decidedly object to any concealment of +our purpose.” + +“It don't follow,” said Rawlins carelessly, “that Hennicker even knows +of this yer robbery. It's his gineral gait we refer to. Ef yer think it +more polite, and it makes it more sociable to discuss this matter afore +him, I'm agreed.” + +“Hale means,” said Clinch, “that it wouldn't be on the square to take +and make use of any points we might pick up there agin the road agents.” + +“Certainly,” said Hale. It was not at all what he had meant, but he felt +singularly relieved at the compromise. + +“And ez I reckon Hennicker ain't such a fool ez not to know who we are +and what we're out for,” continued Clinch, “I reckon there ain't any +concealment.” + +“Then it's Hennicker's?” said the ostler, with swift deduction. + +“Hennicker's it is! Lead on.” + +The ostler remounted his horse, and the others followed. The trail +presently turned into a broader track, that bore some signs of +approaching habitations, and at the end of five minutes they came upon +a clearing. It was part of one of the fragmentary mountain terraces, and +formed by itself a vast niche, or bracketed shelf, in the hollow flank +of the mountain that, to Hale's first glance, bore a rude resemblance +to Eagle's Court. But there was neither meadow nor open field; the few +acres of ground had been wrested from the forest by axe and fire, and +unsightly stumps everywhere marked the rude and difficult attempts at +cultivation. Two or three rough buildings of unplaned and unpainted +boards, connected by rambling sheds, stood in the centre of the +amphitheatre. Far from being protected by the encircling rampart, it +seemed to be the selected arena for the combating elements. A whirlwind +from the outer abyss continually filled this cave of AEolus with driving +snow, which, however, melted as it fell, or was quickly whirled away +again. + +A few dogs barked and ran out to meet the cavalcade, but there was no +other sign of any life disturbed or concerned at their approach. + +“I reckon Hennicker ain't home, or he'd hev been on the lookout afore +this,” said the ostler, dismounting and rapping on the door. + +After a silence, a female voice, unintelligibly to the others, +apparently had some colloquy with the ostler, who returned to the party. + +“Must go in through the kitchin--can't open the door for the wind.” + +Leaving their horses in the shed, they entered the kitchen, which +communicated, and presently came upon a square room filled with smoke +from a fire of green pine logs. The doors and windows were tightly +fastened; the only air came in through the large-throated chimney in +voluminous gusts, which seemed to make the hollow shell of the apartment +swell and expand to the point of bursting. Despite the stinging of the +resinous smoke, the temperature was grateful to the benumbed travellers. +Several cushionless arm-chairs, such as were used in bar-rooms, two +tables, a sideboard, half bar and half cupboard, and a rocking-chair +comprised the furniture, and a few bear and buffalo skins covered +the floor. Hale sank into one of the arm-chairs, and, with a lazy +satisfaction, partly born of his fatigue and partly from some +newly-discovered appreciative faculty, gazed around the room, and then +at the mistress of the house, with whom the others were talking. + +She was tall, gaunt, and withered; in spite of her evident years, her +twisted hair was still dark and full, and her eyes bright and piercing; +her complexion and teeth had long since succumbed to the vitiating +effects of frontier cookery, and her lips were stained with the yellow +juice of a brier-wood pipe she held in her mouth. The ostler had +explained their intrusion, and veiled their character under the vague +epithet of a “hunting party,” and was now evidently describing them +personally. In his new-found philosophy the fact that the interest of +his hostess seemed to be excited only by the names of his companions, +that he himself was carelessly, and even deprecatingly, alluded to as +the “stranger from Eagle's” by the ostler, and completely overlooked by +the old woman, gave him no concern. + +“You'll have to talk to Zenobia yourself. Dod rot ef I'm gine to +interfere. She knows Hennicker's ways, and if she chooses to take in +transients it ain't no funeral o' mine. Zeenie! You, Zeenie! Look yer!” + +A tall, lazy-looking, handsome girl appeared on the threshold of the +next room, and with a hand on each door-post slowly swung herself +backwards and forwards, without entering. “Well, Maw?” + +The old woman briefly and unalluringly pictured the condition of the +travellers. + +“Paw ain't here,” began the girl doubtfully, “and--How dy, Dick! is that +you?” The interruption was caused by her recognition of the ostler, and +she lounged into the room. In spite of a skimp, slatternly gown, whose +straight skirt clung to her lower limbs, there was a quaint, nymph-like +contour to her figure. Whether from languor, ill-health, or more +probably from a morbid consciousness of her own height, she moved with +a slightly affected stoop that had become a habit. It did not seem +ungraceful to Hale, already attracted by her delicate profile, her +large dark eyes, and a certain weird resemblance she had to some +half-domesticated dryad. + +“That'll do, Maw,” she said, dismissing her parent with a nod. “I'll +talk to Dick.” + +As the door closed on the old woman, Zenobia leaned her hands on +the back of a chair, and confronted the admiring eyes of Dick with a +goddess-like indifference. + +“Now wot's the use of your playin' this yer game on me, Dick? Wot's the +good of your ladlin' out that hogwash about huntin'? HUNTIN'! I'll tell +yer the huntin' you-uns hev been at! You've been huntin' George Lee +and his boys since an hour before sun up. You've been followin' a blind +trail up to the Ridge, until the snow got up and hunted YOU right here! +You've been whoopin' and yellin' and circus-ridin' on the roads like +ez yer wos Comanches, and frightening all the women folk within +miles--that's your huntin'! You've been climbin' down Paw's old slide +at last, and makin' tracks for here to save the skins of them condemned +government horses of the Kempany! And THAT'S your huntin'!” + +To Hale's surprise, a burst of laughter from the party followed this +speech. He tried to join in, but this ridiculous summary of the result +of his enthusiastic sense of duty left him--the only earnest believer +mortified and embarrassed. Nor was he the less concerned as he found the +girl's dark eyes had rested once or twice upon him curiously. Zenobia +laughed too, and, lazily turning the chair around, dropped into it. “And +by this time George Lee's loungin' back in his chyar and smokin' his +cigyar somewhar in Sacramento,” she added, stretching her feet out to +the fire, and suiting the action to the word with an imaginary cigar +between the long fingers of a thin and not over-clean hand. + +“We cave, Zeenie!” said Rawlins, when their hilarity had subsided to a +more subdued and scarcely less flattering admiration of the unconcerned +goddess before them. “That's about the size of it. You kin rake down the +pile. I forgot you're an old friend of George's.” + +“He's a white man!” said the girl decidedly. + +“Ye used to know him?” continued Rawlins. + +“Once. Paw ain't in that line now,” she said simply. + +There was such a sublime unconsciousness of any moral degradation +involved in this allusion that even Hale accepted it without a shock. +She rose presently, and, going to the little sideboard, brought out +a number of glasses; these she handed to each of the party, and then, +producing a demijohn of whiskey, slung it dexterously and gracefully +over her arm, so that it rested on her elbow like a cradle, and, going +to each one in succession, filled their glasses. It obliged each one to +rise to accept the libation, and as Hale did so in his turn he met the +dark eyes of the girl full on his own. There was a pleased curiosity in +her glance that made this married man of thirty-five color as awkwardly +as a boy. + +The tender of refreshment being understood as a tacit recognition of +their claims to a larger hospitality, all further restraint was removed. +Zenobia resumed her seat, and placing her elbow on the arm of her chair, +and her small round chin in her hand, looked thoughtfully in the fire. +“When I say George Lee's a white man, it ain't because I know him. +It's his general gait. Wot's he ever done that's underhanded or mean? +Nothin'! You kant show the poor man he's ever took a picayune from. When +he's helped himself to a pile it's been outer them banks or them express +companies, that think it mighty fine to bust up themselves, and swindle +the poor folks o' their last cent, and nobody talks o' huntin' THEM! +And does he keep their money? No; he passes it round among the boys that +help him, and they put it in circulation. HE don't keep it for himself; +he ain't got fine houses in Frisco; he don't keep fast horses for show. +Like ez not the critter he did that job with--ef it was him--none of +you boys would have rid! And he takes all the risks himself; you ken bet +your life that every man with him was safe and away afore he turned his +back on you-uns.” + +“He certainly drops a little of his money at draw poker, Zeenie,” said +Clinch, laughing. “He lost five thousand dollars to Sheriff Kelly last +week.” + +“Well, I don't hear of the sheriff huntin' him to give it back, nor do +I reckon Kelly handed it over to the Express it was taken from. I heard +YOU won suthin' from him a spell ago. I reckon you've been huntin' him +to find out whar you should return it.” The laugh was clearly against +Clinch. He was about to make some rallying rejoinder when the young girl +suddenly interrupted him. “Ef you're wantin' to hunt somebody, why don't +you take higher game? Thar's that Jim Harkins: go for him, and I'll join +you.” + +“Harkins!” exclaimed Clinch and Hale simultaneously. + +“Yes, Jim Harkins; do you know him?” she said, glancing from one to the +other. + +“One of my friends do,” said Clinch laughing; “but don't let that stop +you.” + +“And YOU--over there,” continued Zenobia, bending her head and eyes +towards Hale. + +“The fact is--I believe he was my banker,” said Hale, with a smile. “I +don't know him personally.” + +“Then you'd better hunt him before he does you.” + +“What's HE done, Zeenie?” asked Rawlins, keenly enjoying the +discomfiture of the others. + +“What?” She stopped, threw her long black braids over her shoulder, +clasped her knee with her hands, and rocking backwards and forwards, +sublimely unconscious of the apparition of a slim ankle and +half-dropped-off slipper from under her shortened gown, continued, “It +mightn't please HIM,” she said slyly, nodding towards Hale. + +“Pray don't mind me,” said Hale, with unnecessary eagerness. + +“Well,” said Zenobia, “I reckon you all know Ned Falkner and the +Excelsior Ditch?” + +“Yes, Falkner's the superintendent of it,” said Rawlins. “And a square +man too. Thar ain't anything mean about him.” + +“Shake,” said Zenobia, extending her hand. Rawlins shook the proffered +hand with eager spontaneousness, and the girl resumed: “He's about +ez good ez they make 'em--you bet. Well, you know Ned has put all his +money, and all his strength, and all his sabe, and--” + +“His good looks,” added Clinch mischievously. + +“Into that Ditch,” continued Zenobia, ignoring the interruption. “It's +his mother, it's his sweetheart, it's his everything! When other chaps +of his age was cavortin' round Frisco, and havin' high jinks, Ned was in +his Ditch. 'Wait till the Ditch is done,' he used to say. 'Wait till she +begins to boom, and then you just stand round.' Mor'n that, he got all +the boys to put in their last cent--for they loved Ned, and love him +now, like ez ef he wos a woman.” + +“That's so,” said Clinch and Rawlins simultaneously, “and he's worth +it.” + +“Well,” continued Zenobia, “the Ditch didn't boom ez soon ez they +kalkilated. And then the boys kept gettin' poorer and poorer, and Ned +he kept gettin' poorer and poorer in everything but his hopefulness and +grit. Then he looks around for more capital. And about this time, that +coyote Harkins smelt suthin' nice up there, and he gits Ned to give him +control of it, and he'll lend him his name and fix up a company. Soon ez +he gets control, the first thing he does is to say that it wants half a +million o' money to make it pay, and levies an assessment of two hundred +dollars a share. That's nothin' for them rich fellows to pay, or pretend +to pay, but for boys on grub wages it meant only ruin. They couldn't +pay, and had to forfeit their shares for next to nothing. And Ned made +one more desperate attempt to save them and himself by borrowing money +on his shares; when that hound Harkins got wind of it, and let it be +buzzed around that the Ditch is a failure, and that he was goin' out +of it; that brought the shares down to nothing. As Ned couldn't raise +a dollar, the new company swooped down on his shares for the debts THEY +had put up, and left him and the boys to help themselves. Ned couldn't +bear to face the boys that he'd helped to ruin, and put out, and ain't +been heard from since. After Harkins had got rid of Ned and the boys +he manages to pay off that wonderful debt, and sells out for a hundred +thousand dollars. That money--Ned's money--he sends to Sacramento, for +he don't dare to travel with it himself, and is kalkilatin' to leave the +kentry, for some of the boys allow to kill him on sight. So ef you're +wantin' to hunt suthin', thar's yer chance, and you needn't go inter the +snow to do it.” + +“But surely the law can recover this money?” said Hale indignantly. “It +is as infamous a robbery as--” He stopped as he caught Zenobia's eye. + +“Ez last night's, you were goin' to say. I'll call it MORE. Them road +agents don't pretend to be your friend--but take yer money and run their +risks. For ez to the law--that can't help yer.” + +“It's a skin game, and you might ez well expect to recover a gambling +debt from a short-card sharp,” explained Clinch; “Falkner oughter shot +him on sight.” + +“Or the boys lynched him,” suggested Rawlins. + +“I think,” said Hale, more reflectively, “that in the absence of legal +remedy a man of that kind should have been forced under strong physical +menace to give up his ill-gotten gains. The money was the primary +object, and if that could be got without bloodshed--which seems to me a +useless crime--it would be quite as effective. Of course, if there was +resistance or retaliation, it might be necessary to kill him.” + +He had unconsciously fallen into his old didactic and dogmatic habit of +speech, and perhaps, under the spur of Zenobia's eyes, he had given +it some natural emphasis. A dead silence followed, in which the others +regarded him with amused and gratified surprise, and it was broken only +by Zenobia rising and holding out her hand. “Shake!” + +Hale raised it gallantly, and pressed his lips on the one spotless +finger. + +“That's gospel truth. And you ain't the first white man to say it.” + +“Indeed,” laughed Hale. “Who was the other?” + +“George Lee!” + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The laughter that followed was interrupted by a sudden barking of +the dogs in the outer clearing. Zenobia rose lazily and strode to the +window. It relieved Hale of certain embarrassing reflections suggested +by her comment. + +“Ef it ain't that God-forsaken fool Dick bringing up passengers from +the snow-bound up stage in the road! I reckon I'VE got suthin' to say +to that!” But the later appearance of the apologetic Dick, with the +assurance that the party carried a permission from her father, granted +at the lower station in view of such an emergency, checked her active +opposition. “That's like Paw,” she soliloquized aggrievedly; “shuttin' +us up and settin' dogs on everybody for a week, and then lettin' the +whole stage service pass through one door and out at another. Well, it's +HIS house and HIS whiskey, and they kin take it, but they don't get me +to help 'em.” + +They certainly were not a prepossessing or good-natured acquisition to +the party. Apart from the natural antagonism which, on such occasions, +those in possession always feel towards the new-comer, they were +strongly inclined to resist the dissatisfied querulousness and +aggressive attitude of these fresh applicants for hospitality. The most +offensive one was a person who appeared to exercise some authority over +the others. He was loud, assuming, and dressed with vulgar pretension. +He quickly disposed himself in the chair vacated by Zenobia, and called +for some liquor. + +“I reckon you'll hev to help yourself,” said Rawlins dryly, as the +summons met with no response. “There are only two women in the house, +and I reckon their hands are full already.” + +“I call it d--d uncivil treatment,” said the man, raising his voice; +“and Hennicker had better sing smaller if he don't want his old den +pulled down some day. He ain't any better than men that hev been picked +up afore now.” + +“You oughter told him that, and mebbe he'd hev come over with yer,” + returned Rawlins. “He's a mild, soft, easy-going man, is Hennicker! +Ain't he, Colonel Clinch?” + +The casual mention of Clinch's name produced the effect which the +speaker probably intended. The stranger stared at Clinch, who, +apparently oblivious of the conversation, was blinking his cold gray +eyes at the fire. Dropping his aggressive tone to mere querulousness, +the man sought the whiskey demijohn, and helped himself and his +companions. Fortified by liquor he returned to the fire. + +“I reckon you've heard about this yer robbery, Colonel,” he said, +addressing Clinch, with an attempt at easy familiarity. + +Without raising his eyes from the fire, Clinch briefly assented, “I +reckon.” + +“I'm up yer, examining into it, for the Express.” + +“Lost much?” asked Rawlins. + +“Not so much ez they might hev. That fool Harkins had a hundred thousand +dollars in greenbacks sealed up like an ordinary package of a thousand +dollars, and gave it to a friend, Bill Guthrie, in the bank to pick out +some unlikely chap among the passengers to take charge of it to Reno. He +wouldn't trust the Express. Ha! ha!” + +The dead, oppressive silence that followed his empty laughter made it +seem almost artificial. Rawlins held his breath and looked at Clinch. +Hale, with the instincts of a refined, sensitive man, turned hot with +the embarrassment Clinch should have shown. For that gentleman, without +lifting his eyes from the fire, and with no apparent change in his +demeanor, lazily asked-- + +“Ye didn't ketch the name o' that passenger?” + +“Naturally, no! For when Guthrie heard what was said agin him he +wouldn't give his name until he heard from him.” + +“And WHAT was said agin him?” asked Clinch musingly. + +“What would be said agin a man that give up that sum o' money, like a +chaw of tobacco, for the asking? Why, there were but three men, as far +ez we kin hear, that did the job. And there were four passengers inside, +armed, and the driver and express messenger on the box. Six were robbed +by THREE!--they were a sweet-scented lot! Reckon they must hev felt +mighty small, for I hear they got up and skedaddled from the station +under the pretext of lookin' for the robbers.” He laughed again, and the +laugh was noisily repeated by his five companions at the other end of +the room. + +Hale, who had forgotten that the stranger was only echoing a part of +his own criticism of eight hours before, was on the point of rising with +burning cheeks and angry indignation, when the lazily uplifted eye of +Clinch caught his, and absolutely held him down with its paralyzing and +deadly significance. Murder itself seemed to look from those cruelly +quiet and remorseless gray pupils. For a moment he forgot his own rage +in this glimpse of Clinch's implacable resentment; for a moment he +felt a thrill of pity for the wretch who had provoked it. He remained +motionless and fascinated in his chair as the lazy lids closed like a +sheath over Clinch's eyes again. Rawlins, who had probably received the +same glance of warning, remained equally still. + +“They haven't heard the last of it yet, you bet,” continued the +infatuated stranger. “I've got a little statement here for the +newspaper,” he added, drawing some papers from his pocket; “suthin' I +just run off in the coach as I came along. I reckon it'll show things up +in a new light. It's time there should be some change. All the cussin' +that's been usually done hez been by the passengers agin the express and +stage companies. I propose that the Company should do a little cussin' +themselves. See? P'r'aps you don't mind my readin' it to ye? It's just +spicy enough to suit them newspaper chaps.” + +“Go on,” said Colonel Clinch quietly. + +The man cleared his throat, with the preliminary pose of authorship, and +his five friends, to whom the composition was evidently not unfamiliar, +assumed anticipatory smiles. + +“I call it 'Prize Pusillanimous Passengers.' Sort of runs easy off the +tongue, you know. + +“'It now appears that the success of the late stagecoach robbery near +the Summit was largely due to the pusillanimity--not to use a more +serious word'”--He stopped, and looked explanatorily towards Clinch: +“Ye'll see in a minit what I'm gettin' at by that pusillanimity of the +passengers themselves. 'It now transpires that there were only three +robbers who attacked the coach, and that although passengers, driver, +and express messenger were fully armed, and were double the number of +their assailants, not a shot was fired. We mean no reflections upon +the well-known courage of Yuba Bill, nor the experience and coolness of +Bracy Tibbetts, the courteous express messenger, both of whom have +since confessed to have been more than astonished at the Christian and +lamb-like submission of the insiders. Amusing stories of some laughable +yet sickening incidents of the occasion--such as grown men kneeling in +the road, and offering to strip themselves completely, if their lives +were only spared; of one of the passengers hiding under the seat, and +only being dislodged by pulling his coat-tails; of incredible sums +promised, and even offers of menial service, for the preservation of +their wretched carcases--are received with the greatest gusto; but we +are in possession of facts which may lead to more serious accusations. +Although one of the passengers is said to have lost a large sum of +money intrusted to him, while attempting with barefaced effrontery to +establish a rival “carrying” business in one of the Express Company's +own coaches--'I call that a good point.” He interrupted himself to allow +the unrestrained applause of his own party. “Don't you?” + +“It's just h-ll,” said Clinch musingly. + +“'Yet the affair,” resumed the stranger from his manuscript, “'is locked +up in great and suspicious mystery. The presence of Jackson N. Stanner, +Esq.' (that's me), 'special detective agent to the Company, and his +staff in town, is a guaranty that the mystery will be thoroughly +probed.' Hed to put that in to please the Company,” he again +deprecatingly explained. “'We are indebted to this gentleman for the +facts.'” + +“The pint you want to make in that article,” said Clinch, rising, but +still directing his face and his conversation to the fire, “ez far ez I +ken see ez that no three men kin back down six unless they be cowards, +or are willing to be backed down.” + +“That's the point what I start from,” rejoined Stanner, “and work up. I +leave it to you ef it ain't so.” + +“I can't say ez I agree with you,” said the Colonel dryly. He turned, +and still without lifting his eyes walked towards the door of the room +which Zenobia had entered. The key was on the inside, but Clinch gently +opened the door, removed the key, and closing the door again locked +it from his side. Hale and Rawlins felt their hearts beat quickly; the +others followed Clinch's slow movements and downcast mien with amused +curiosity. After locking the other outlet from the room, and putting the +keys in his pocket, Clinch returned to the fire. For the first time he +lifted his eyes; the man nearest him shrank back in terror. + +“I am the man,” he said slowly, taking deliberate breath between his +sentences, “who gave up those greenbacks to the robbers. I am one of the +three passengers you have lampooned in that paper, and these gentlemen +beside me are the other two.” He stopped and looked around him. “You +don't believe that three men can back down six! Well, I'll show you how +it can be done. More than that, I'll show you how ONE man can do it; +for, by the living G-d, if you don't hand over that paper I'll kill you +where you sit! I'll give you until I count ten; if one of you moves he +and you are dead men--but YOU first!” + +Before he had finished speaking Hale and Rawlins had both risen, as if +in concert, with their weapons drawn. Hale could not tell how or why +he had done so, but he was equally conscious, without knowing why, of +fixing his eye on one of the other party, and that he should, in the +event of an affray, try to kill him. He did not attempt to reason; +he only knew that he should do his best to kill that man and perhaps +others. + +“One,” said Clinch, lifting his derringer, “two--three--” + +“Look here, Colonel--I swear I didn't know it was you. Come--d--m it! +I say--see here,” stammered Stanner, with white cheeks, not daring to +glance for aid to his stupefied party. + +“Four--five--six--” + +“Wait! Here!” He produced the paper and threw it on the floor. + +“Pick it up and hand it to me. Seven--eight--” + +Stanner hastily scrambled to his feet, picked up the paper, and handed +it to the Colonel. “I was only joking, Colonel,” he said, with a forced +laugh. + +“I'm glad to hear it. But as this joke is in black and white, you +wouldn't mind saying so in the same fashion. Take that pen and ink +and write as I dictate. 'I certify that I am satisfied that the above +statement is a base calumny against the characters of Ringwood Clinch, +Robert Rawlins, and John Hale, passengers, and that I do hereby +apologize to the same.' Sign it. That'll do. Now let the rest of your +party sign as witnesses.” + +They complied without hesitation; some, seizing the opportunity of +treating the affair as a joke, suggested a drink. + +“Excuse me,” said Clinch quietly, “but ez this house ain't big enough +for me and that man, and ez I've got business at Wild Cat Station with +this paper, I think I'll go without drinkin'.” He took the keys from his +pocket, unlocked the doors, and taking up his overcoat and rifle turned +as if to go. + +Rawlins rose to follow him; Hale alone hesitated. The rapid occurrences +of the last half hour gave him no time for reflection. But he was by +no means satisfied of the legality of the last act he had aided and +abetted, although he admitted its rude justice, and felt he would have +done so again. A fear of this, and an instinct that he might be led into +further complications if he continued to identify himself with Clinch +and Rawlins; the fact that they had professedly abandoned their quest, +and that it was really supplanted by the presence of an authorized +party whom they had already come in conflict with--all this urged him to +remain behind. On the other hand, the apparent desertion of his comrades +at the last moment was opposed both to his sense of honor and the liking +he had taken to them. But he reflected that he had already shown his +active partisanship, that he could be of little service to them at Wild +Cat Station, and would be only increasing the distance from his home; +and above all, an impatient longing for independent action finally +decided him. “I think I'll stay here,” he said to Clinch, “unless you +want me.” + +Clinch cast a swift and meaning glance at the enemy, but looked +approval. “Keep your eyes skinned, and you're good for a dozen of 'em,” + he said sotto voce, and then turned to Stanner. “I'm going to take this +paper to Wild Cat. If you want to communicate with me hereafter you know +where I am to be found, unless”--he smiled grimly--“you'd like to see me +outside for a few minutes before I go?” + +“It is a matter that concerns the Stage Company, not me,” said Stanner, +with an attempt to appear at his ease. + +Hale accompanied Clinch and Rawlins through the kitchen to the stables. +The ostler, Dick, had already returned to the rescue of the snow-bound +coach. + +“I shouldn't like to leave many men alone with that crowd,” said Clinch, +pressing Hale's hand; “and I wouldn't have allowed your staying behind +ef I didn't know I could bet my pile on you. Your offerin' to stay just +puts a clean finish on it. Look yer, Hale, I didn't cotton much to you +at first; but ef you ever want a friend, call on Ringwood Clinch.” + +“The same here, old man,” said Rawlins, extending his hand as he +appeared from a hurried conference with the old woman at the woodshed, +“and trust to Zeenie to give you a hint ef there's anythin' underhanded +goin' on. So long.” + +Half inclined to resent this implied suggestion of protection, yet half +pleased at the idea of a confidence with the handsome girl he had seen, +Hale returned to the room. A whispered discussion among the party ceased +on his entering, and an awkward silence followed, which Hale did not +attempt to break as he quietly took his seat again by the fire. He +was presently confronted by Stanner, who with an affectation of easy +familiarity crossed over to the hearth. + +“The old Kernel's d--d peppery and high toned when he's got a little +more than his reg'lar three fingers o' corn juice, eh?” + +“I must beg you to understand distinctly, Mr. Stanner,” said Hale, with +a return of his habitual precision of statement, “that I regard any +slighting allusion to the gentleman who has just left not only as in +exceedingly bad taste coming from YOU, but very offensive to myself. If +you mean to imply that he was under the influence of liquor, it is +my duty to undeceive you; he was so perfectly in possession of his +faculties as to express not only his own but MY opinion of your conduct. +You must also admit that he was discriminating enough to show his +objection to your company by leaving it. I regret that circumstances do +not make it convenient for me to exercise that privilege; but if I am +obliged to put up with your presence in this room, I strongly insist +that it is not made unendurable with the addition of your conversation.” + +The effect of this deliberate and passionless declaration was more +discomposing to the party than Clinch's fury. Utterly unaccustomed to +the ideas and language suddenly confronting them, they were unable to +determine whether it was the real expression of the speaker, or whether +it was a vague badinage or affectation to which any reply would involve +them in ridicule. In a country terrorized by practical joking, they did +not doubt but that this was a new form of hoaxing calculated to provoke +some response that would constitute them as victims. The immediate +effect upon them was that complete silence in regard to himself that +Hale desired. They drew together again and conversed in whispers, while +Hale, with his eyes fixed on the fire, gave himself up to somewhat late +and useless reflection. + +He could scarcely realize his position. For however he might look at it, +within a space of twelve hours he had not only changed some of his most +cherished opinions, but he had acted in accordance with that change in +a way that made it seem almost impossible for him ever to recant. In the +interests of law and order he had engaged in an unlawful and disorderly +pursuit of criminals, and had actually come in conflict not with the +criminals, but with the only party apparently authorized to pursue them. +More than that, he was finding himself committed to a certain sympathy +with the criminals. Twenty-four hours ago, if anyone had told him that +he would have condoned an illegal act for its abstract justice, or +assisted to commit an illegal act for the same purpose, he would have +felt himself insulted. That he knew he would not now feel it as an +insult perplexed him still more. In these circumstances the fact that he +was separated from his family, and as it were from all his past life and +traditions, by a chance accident, did not disturb him greatly; indeed, +he was for the first time a little doubtful of their probable criticism +on his inconsistency, and was by no means in a hurry to subject himself +to it. + +Lifting his eyes, he was suddenly aware that the door leading to the +kitchen was slowly opening. He had thought he heard it creak once or +twice during his deliberate reply to Stanner. It was evidently moving +now so as to attract his attention, without disturbing the others. It +presently opened sufficiently wide to show the face of Zeenie, who, with +a gesture of caution towards his companions, beckoned him to join her. +He rose carelessly as if going out, and, putting on his hat, entered +the kitchen as the retreating figure of the young girl glided lightly +towards the stables. She ascended a few open steps as if to a hay-loft, +but stopped before a low door. Pushing it open, she preceded him into +a small room, apparently under the roof, which scarcely allowed her to +stand upright. By the light of a stable lantern hanging from a beam he +saw that, though poorly furnished, it bore some evidence of feminine +taste and habitation. Motioning to the only chair, she seated herself on +the edge of the bed, with her hands clasping her knees in her familiar +attitude. Her face bore traces of recent agitation, and her eyes were +shining with tears. By the closer light of the lantern he was surprised +to find it was from laughter. + +“I reckoned you'd be right lonely down there with that Stanner crowd, +particklerly after that little speech o' your'n, so I sez to Maw I'd get +you up yer for a spell. Maw and I heerd you exhort 'em! Maw allowed you +woz talkin' a furrin' tongue all along, but I--sakes alive!--I hed to +hump myself to keep from bustin' into a yell when yer jist drawed them +Webster-unabridged sentences on 'em.” She stopped and rocked backwards +and forwards with a laugh that, subdued by the proximity of the roof and +the fear of being overheard, was by no means unmusical. “I'll tell ye +whot got me, though! That part commencing, 'Suckamstances over which +I've no controul.'” + +“Oh, come! I didn't say that,” interrupted Hale, laughing. + +“'Don't make it convenient for me to exercise the privilege of kickin' +yer out to that extent,'” she continued; “'but if I cannot dispense with +your room, the least I can say is that it's a d--d sight better than +your company--'or suthin' like that! And then the way you minded your +stops, and let your voice rise and fall just ez easy ez if you wos a +First Reader in large type. Why, the Kernel wasn't nowhere. HIS cussin' +didn't come within a mile o' yourn. That Stanner jist turned yaller.” + +“I'm afraid you are laughing at me,” said Hale, not knowing whether to +be pleased or vexed at the girl's amusement. + +“I reckon I'm the only one that dare do it, then,” said the girl simply. +“The Kernel sez the way you turned round after he'd done his cussin', +and said yer believed you'd stay and take the responsibility of the +whole thing--and did, in that kam, soft, did-anybody-speak-to-me +style--was the neatest thing he'd seen yet. No! Maw says I ain't much on +manners, but I know a man when I see him.” + +For an instant Hale gave himself up to the delicious flattery of +unexpected, unintended, and apparently uninterested compliment. Becoming +at last a little embarrassed under the frank curiosity of the girl's +dark eyes, he changed the subject. + +“Do you always come up here through the stables?” he asked, glancing +round the room, which was evidently her own. + +“I reckon,” she answered half abstractedly. “There's a ladder down thar +to Maw's room”--pointing to a trapdoor beside the broad chimney that +served as a wall--“but it's handier the other way, and nearer the bosses +if you want to get away quick.” + +This palpable suggestion--borne out by what he remembered of the other +domestic details--that the house had been planned with reference to +sudden foray or escape reawakened his former uneasy reflections. Zeenie, +who had been watching his face, added, “It's no slouch, when b'ar or +painters hang round nights and stampede the stock, to be able to swing +yourself on to a boss whenever you hear a row going on outside.” + +“Do you mean that YOU--” + +“Paw USED, and I do NOW, sense I've come into the room.” She pointed +to a nondescript garment, half cloak, half habit, hanging on the wall. +“I've been outer bed and on Pitchpine's back as far ez the trail five +minutes arter I heard the first bellow.” + +Hale regarded her with undisguised astonishment. There was nothing at +all Amazonian or horsey in her manners, nor was there even the +robust physical contour that might have been developed through such +experiences. On the contrary, she seemed to be lazily effeminate in body +and mind. Heedless of his critical survey of her, she beckoned him to +draw his chair nearer, and, looking into his eyes, said-- + +“Whatever possessed YOU to take to huntin' men?” + +Hale was staggered by the question, but nevertheless endeavored to +explain. But he was surprised to find that his explanation appeared +stilted even to himself, and, he could not doubt, was utterly +incomprehensible to the girl. She nodded her head, however, and +continued-- + +“Then you haven't anythin' agin' George?” + +“I don't know George,” said Hale, smiling. “My proceeding was against +the highwayman.” + +“Well, HE was the highwayman.” + +“I mean, it was the principle I objected to--a principle that I consider +highly dangerous.” + +“Well HE is the principal, for the others only HELPED, I reckon,” said +Zeenie with a sigh, “and I reckon he IS dangerous.” + +Hale saw it was useless to explain. The girl continued-- + +“What made you stay here instead of going on with the Kernel? There was +suthin' else besides your wanting to make that Stanner take water. What +is it?” + +A light sense of the propinquity of beauty, of her confidence, of their +isolation, of the eloquence of her dark eyes, at first tempted Hale to +a reply of simple gallantry; a graver consideration of the same +circumstances froze it upon his lips. + +“I don't know,” he returned awkwardly. + +“Well, I'll tell you,” she said. “You didn't cotton to the Kernel and +Rawlins much more than you did to Stanner. They ain't your kind.” + +In his embarrassment Hale blundered upon the thought he had honorably +avoided. + +“Suppose,” he said, with a constrained laugh, “I had stayed to see you.” + +“I reckon I ain't your kind, neither,” she replied promptly. There was +a momentary pause when she rose and walked to the chimney. “It's +very quiet down there,” she said, stooping and listening over the +roughly-boarded floor that formed the ceiling of the room below. “I +wonder what's going on.” + +In the belief that this was a delicate hint for his return to the party +he had left, Hale rose, but the girl passed him hurriedly, and, opening +the door, cast a quick glance into the stable beyond. + +“Just as I reckoned--the horses are gone too. They've skedaddled,” she +said blankly. + +Hale did not reply. In his embarrassment a moment ago the idea of taking +an equally sudden departure had flashed upon him. Should he take this as +a justification of that impulse, or how? He stood irresolutely gazing +at the girl, who turned and began to descend the stairs silently. He +followed. When they reached the lower room they found it as they had +expected--deserted. + +“I hope I didn't drive them away,” said Hale, with an uneasy look at the +troubled face of the girl. “For I really had an idea of going myself a +moment ago.” + +She remained silent, gazing out of the window. Then, turning with a +slight shrug of her shoulders, said half defiantly: “What's the use now? +Oh, Maw! the Stanner crowd has vamosed the ranch, and this yer stranger +kalkilates to stay!” + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A week had passed at Eagle's Court--a week of mingled clouds and +sunshine by day, of rain over the green plateau and snow on the +mountain by night. Each morning had brought its fresh greenness to the +winter-girt domain, and a fresh coat of dazzling white to the barrier +that separated its dwellers from the world beyond. There was little +change in the encompassing wall of their prison; if anything, the snowy +circle round them seemed to have drawn its lines nearer day by day. The +immediate result of this restricted limit had been to confine the range +of cattle to the meadows nearer the house, and at a safe distance from +the fringe of wilderness now invaded by the prowling tread of predatory +animals. + +Nevertheless, the two figures lounging on the slope at sunset gave very +little indication of any serious quality in the situation. Indeed, +so far as appearances were concerned, Kate, who was returning from an +afternoon stroll with Falkner, exhibited, with feminine inconsistency, +a decided return to the world of fashion and conventionality apparently +just as she was effectually excluded from it. She had not only discarded +her white dress as a concession to the practical evidence of the +surrounding winter, but she had also brought out a feather hat and sable +muff which had once graced a fashionable suburb of Boston. Even Falkner +had exchanged his slouch hat and picturesque serape for a beaver +overcoat and fur cap of Hale's which had been pressed upon him by Kate, +under the excuse of the exigencies of the season. Within a stone's throw +of the thicket, turbulent with the savage forces of nature, they walked +with the abstraction of people hearing only their own voices; in the +face of the solemn peaks clothed with white austerity they talked +gravely of dress. + +“I don't mean to say,” said Kate demurely, “that you're to give up the +serape entirely; you can wear it on rainy nights and when you ride over +here from your friend's house to spend the evening--for the sake of old +times,” she added, with an unconscious air of referring to an already +antiquated friendship; “but you must admit it's a little too gorgeous +and theatrical for the sunlight of day and the public highway.” + +“But why should that make it wrong, if the experience of a people has +shown it to be a garment best fitted for their wants and requirements?” + said Falkner argumentatively. + +“But you are not one of those people,” said Kate, “and that makes all +the difference. You look differently and act differently, so that there +is something irreconcilable between your clothes and you that makes you +look odd.” + +“And to look odd, according to your civilized prejudices, is to be +wrong,” said Falkner bitterly. + +“It is to seem different from what one really is--which IS wrong. Now, +you are a mining superintendent, you tell me. Then you don't want to +look like a Spanish brigand, as you do in that serape. I am sure if you +had ridden up to a stage-coach while I was in it, I'd have handed you my +watch and purse without a word. There! you are not offended?” she added, +with a laugh, which did not, however, conceal a certain earnestness. +“I suppose I ought to have said I would have given it gladly to such +a romantic figure, and perhaps have got out and danced a saraband or +bolero with you--if that is the thing to do nowadays. Well!” she said, +after a dangerous pause, “consider that I've said it.” + +He had been walking a little before her, with his face turned towards +the distant mountain. Suddenly he stopped and faced her. “You would have +given enough of your time to the highwayman, Miss Scott, as would have +enabled you to identify him for the police--and no more. Like your +brother, you would have been willing to sacrifice yourself for the +benefit of the laws of civilization and good order.” + +If a denial to this assertion could have been expressed without the +use of speech, it was certainly transparent in the face and eyes of the +young girl at that moment. If Falkner had been less self-conscious he +would have seen it plainly. But Kate only buried her face in her lifted +muff, slightly raised her pretty shoulders, and, dropping her tremulous +eyelids, walked on. “It seems a pity,” she said, after a pause, “that +we cannot preserve our own miserable existence without taking something +from others--sometimes even a life!” He started. “And it's horrid to +have to remind you that you have yet to kill something for the invalid's +supper,” she continued. “I saw a hare in the field yonder.” + +“You mean that jackass rabbit?” he said, abstractedly. + +“What you please. It's a pity you didn't take your gun instead of your +rifle.” + +“I brought the rifle for protection.” + +“And a shot gun is only aggressive, I suppose?” + +Falkner looked at her for a moment, and then, as the hare suddenly +started across the open a hundred yards away, brought the rifle to his +shoulder. A long interval--as it seemed to Kate--elapsed; the animal +appeared to be already safely out of range, when the rifle suddenly +cracked; the hare bounded in the air like a ball, and dropped +motionless. The girl looked at the marksman in undisguised admiration. +“Is it quite dead?” she said timidly. + +“It never knew what struck it.” + +“It certainly looks less brutal than shooting it with a shot gun, as +John does, and then not killing it outright,” said Kate. “I hate what is +called sport and sportsmen, but a rifle seems--” + +“What?” said Falkner. + +“More--gentlemanly.” + +She had raised her pretty head in the air, and, with her hand shading +her eyes, was looking around the clear ether, and said meditatively, “I +wonder--no matter.” + +“What is it?” + +“Oh, nothing.” + +“It is something,” said Falkner, with an amused smile, reloading his +rifle. + +“Well, you once promised me an eagle's feather for my hat. Isn't that +thing an eagle?” + +“I am afraid it's only a hawk.” + +“Well, that will do. Shoot that!” + +Her eyes were sparkling. Falkner withdrew his own with a slight smile, +and raised his rifle with provoking deliberation. + +“Are you quite sure it's what you want?” he asked demurely. + +“Yes--quick!” + +Nevertheless, it was some minutes before the rifle cracked again. The +wheeling bird suddenly struck the wind with its wings aslant, and then +fell like a plummet at a distance which showed the difficulty of the +feat. Falkner started from her side before the bird reached the ground. +He returned to her after a lapse of a few moments, bearing a trailing +wing in his hand. “You shall make your choice,” he said gayly. + +“Are you sure it was killed outright?” + +“Head shot off,” said Falkner briefly. + +“And besides, the fall would have killed it,” said Kate conclusively. +“It's lovely. I suppose they call you a very good shot?” + +“They--who?” + +“Oh! the people you know--your friends, and their sisters.” + +“George shoots better than I do, and has had more experience. I've seen +him do that with a pistol. Of course not such a long shot, but a more +difficult one.” + +Kate did not reply, but her face showed a conviction that as an artistic +and gentlemanly performance it was probably inferior to the one she +had witnessed. Falkner, who had picked up the hare also, again took his +place by her side, as they turned towards the house. + +“Do you remember the day you came, when we were walking here, you +pointed out that rock on the mountain where the poor animals had taken +refuge from the snow?” said Kate suddenly. + +“Yes,” answered Falkner; “they seem to have diminished. I am afraid you +were right; they have either eaten each other or escaped. Let us hope +the latter.” + +“I looked at them with a glass every day,” said Kate, “and they've got +down to only four. There's a bear and that shabby, over-grown cat you +call a California lion, and a wolf, and a creature like a fox or a +squirrel.” + +“It's a pity they're not all of a kind,” said Falkner. + +“Why?” + +“There'd be nothing to keep them from being comfortable together.” + +“On the contrary, I should think it would be simply awful to be shut up +entirely with one's own kind.” + +“Then you believe it is possible for them, with their different +natures and habits, to be happy together?” said Falkner, with sudden +earnestness. + +“I believe,” said Kate hurriedly, “that the bear and the lion find the +fox and the wolf very amusing, and that the fox and the wolf--” + +“Well?” said Falkner, stopping short. + +“Well, the fox and the wolf will carry away a much better opinion of the +lion and bear than they had before.” + +They had reached the house by this time, and for some occult reason Kate +did not immediately enter the parlor, where she had left her sister and +the invalid, who had already been promoted to a sofa and a cushion by +the window, but proceeded directly to her own room. As a manoeuvre to +avoid meeting Mrs. Hale, it was scarcely necessary, for that lady was +already in advance of her on the staircase, as if she had left the +parlor for a moment before they entered the house. Falkner, too, would +have preferred the company of his own thoughts, but Lee, apparently +the only unpreoccupied, all-pervading, and boyishly alert spirit in the +party, hailed him from within, and obliged him to present himself on +the threshold of the parlor with the hare and hawk's wing he was still +carrying. Eying the latter with affected concern, Lee said gravely: +“Of course, I CAN eat it, Ned, and I dare say it's the best part of the +fowl, and the hare isn't more than enough for the women, but I had no +idea we were so reduced. Three hours and a half gunning, and only one +hare and a hawk's wing. It's terrible.” + +Perceiving that his friend was alone, Falkner dropped his burden in the +hall and strode rapidly to his side. “Look here, George, we must, I must +leave this place at once. It's no use talking; I can stand this sort of +thing no longer.” + +“Nor can I, with the door open. Shut it, and say what you want quick, +before Mrs. Hale comes back. Have you found a trail?” + +“No, no; that's not what I mean.” + +“Well, it strikes me it ought to be, if you expect to get away. Have +you proposed to Beacon Street, and she thinks it rather premature on a +week's acquaintance?” + +“No; but--” + +“But you WILL, you mean? DON'T, just yet.” + +“But I cannot live this perpetual lie.” + +“That depends. I don't know HOW you're lying when I'm not with you. If +you're walking round with that girl, singing hymns and talking of +your class in Sunday-school, or if you're insinuating that you're a +millionaire, and think of buying the place for a summer hotel, I should +say you'd better quit that kind of lying. But, on the other hand, I +don't see the necessity of your dancing round here with a shot gun, and +yelling for Harkins's blood, or counting that package of greenbacks in +the lap of Miss Scott, to be truthful. It seems to me there ought to be +something between the two.” + +“But, George, don't you think--you are on such good terms with Mrs. Hale +and her mother--that you might tell them the whole story? That is, tell +it in your own way; they will hear anything from you, and believe it.” + +“Thank you; but suppose I don't believe in lying, either?” + +“You know what I mean! You have a way, d--n it, of making everything +seem like a matter of course, and the most natural thing going.” + +“Well, suppose I did. Are you prepared for the worst?” + +Falkner was silent for a moment, and then replied, “Yes, anything would +be better than this suspense.” + +“I don't agree with you. Then you would be willing to have them forgive +us?” + +“I don't understand you.” + +“I mean that their forgiveness would be the worst thing that could +happen. Look here, Ned. Stop a moment; listen at that door. Mrs. Hale +has the tread of an angel, with the pervading capacity of a cat. Now +listen! I don't pretend to be in love with anybody here, but if I were I +should hardly take advantage of a woman's helplessness and solitude with +a sensational story about myself. It's not giving her a fair show. You +know she won't turn you out of the house.” + +“No,” said Falkner, reddening; “but I should expect to go at once, and +that would be my only excuse for telling her.” + +“Go! where? In your preoccupation with that girl you haven't even found +the trail by which Manuel escaped. Do you intend to camp outside the +house, and make eyes at her when she comes to the window?” + +“Because you think nothing of flirting with Mrs. Hale,” said Falkner +bitterly, “you care little--” + +“My dear Ned,” said Lee, “the fact that Mrs. Hale has a husband, and +knows that she can't marry me, puts us on equal terms. Nothing that she +could learn about me hereafter would make a flirtation with me any less +wrong than it would be now, or make her seem more a victim. Can you say +the same of yourself and that Puritan girl?” + +“But you did not advise me to keep aloof from her; on the contrary, +you--” + +“I thought you might make the best of the situation, and pay her some +attention, BECAUSE you could not go any further.” + +“You thought I was utterly heartless and selfish, like--” + +“Ned!” + +Falkner walked rapidly to the fireplace, and returned. + +“Forgive me, George--I'm a fool--and an ungrateful one.” + +Lee did not reply at once, although he took and retained the hand +Falkner had impulsively extended. “Promise me,” he said slowly, after a +pause, “that you will say nothing yet to either of these women. I ask it +for your own sake, and this girl's, not for mine. If, on the contrary, +you are tempted to do so from any Quixotic idea of honor, remember that +you will only precipitate something that will oblige you, from that same +sense of honor, to separate from the girl forever.” + +“I don't understand.” + +“Enough!” said he, with a quick return of his old reckless gayety. +“Shoot-Off-His-Mouth--the Beardless Boy Chief of the Sierras--has +spoken! Let the Pale Face with the black moustache ponder and beware how +he talks hereafter to the Rippling Cochituate Water! Go!” + +Nevertheless, as soon as the door had closed upon Falkner, Lee's smile +vanished. With his colorless face turned to the fading light at the +window, the hollows in his temples and the lines in the corners of his +eyes seemed to have grown more profound. He remained motionless and +absorbed in thought so deep that the light rustle of a skirt, that would +at other times have thrilled his sensitive ear, passed unheeded. At +last, throwing off his reverie with the full and unrestrained sigh of +a man who believes himself alone, he was startled by the soft laugh of +Mrs. Hale, who had entered the room unperceived. + +“Dear me! How portentous! Really, I almost feel as if I were +interrupting a tete-a-tete between yourself and some old flame. I +haven't heard anything so old-fashioned and conservative as that sigh +since I have been in California. I thought you never had any Past out +here?” + +Fortunately his face was between her and the light, and the unmistakable +expression of annoyance and impatience which was passed over it was +spared her. There was, however, still enough dissonance in his manner to +affect her quick feminine sense, and when she drew nearer to him it was +with a certain maiden-like timidity. + +“You are not worse, Mr. Lee, I hope? You have not over-exerted +yourself?” + +“There's little chance of that with one leg--if not in the grave at +least mummified with bandages,” he replied, with a bitterness new to +him. + +“Shall I loosen them? Perhaps they are too tight. There is nothing so +irritating to one as the sensation of being tightly bound.” + +The light touch of her hand upon the rug that covered his knees, +the thoughtful tenderness of the blue-veined lids, and the delicate +atmosphere that seemed to surround her like a perfume cleared his face +of its shadow and brought back the reckless fire into his blue eyes. + +“I suppose I'm intolerant of all bonds,” he said, looking at her +intently, “in others as well as myself!” + +Whether or not she detected any double meaning in his words, she was +obliged to accept the challenge of his direct gaze, and, raising her +eyes to his, drew back a little from him with a slight increase of +color. “I was afraid you had heard bad news just now.” + +“What would you call bad news?” asked Lee, clasping his hands behind +his head, and leaning back on the sofa, but without withdrawing his eyes +from her face. + +“Oh, any news that would interrupt your convalescence, or break up our +little family party,” said Mrs. Hale. “You have been getting on so well +that really it would seem cruel to have anything interfere with our life +of forgetting and being forgotten. But,” she added with apprehensive +quickness, “has anything happened? Is there really any news from--from, +the trails? Yesterday Mr. Falkner said the snow had recommenced in the +pass. Has he seen anything, noticed anything different?” + +She looked so very pretty, with the rare, genuine, and youthful +excitement that transfigured her wearied and wearying regularity of +feature, that Lee contented himself with drinking in her prettiness as +he would have inhaled the perfume of some flower. + +“Why do you look at me so, Mr. Lee?” she asked, with a slight smile. +“I believe something HAS happened. Mr. Falkner HAS brought you some +intelligence.” + +“He has certainly found out something I did not foresee.” + +“And that troubles you?” + +“It does.” + +“Is it a secret?” + +“No.” + +“Then I suppose you will tell it to me at dinner,” she said, with a +little tone of relief. + +“I am afraid, if I tell it at all, I must tell it now,” he said, +glancing at the door. + +“You must do as you think best,” she said coldly, “as it seems to be a +secret, after all.” She hesitated. “Kate is dressing, and will not be +down for some time.” + +“So much the better. For I'm afraid that Ned has made a poor return to +your hospitality by falling in love with her.” + +“Impossible! He has known her for scarcely a week.” + +“I am afraid we won't agree as to the length of time necessary to +appreciate and love a woman. I think it can be done in seven days and +four hours, the exact time we have been here.” + +“Yes; but as Kate was not in when you arrived, and did not come until +later, you must take off at least one hour,” said Mrs. Hale gayly. + +“Ned can. I shall not abate a second.” + +“But are you not mistaken in his feelings?” she continued hurriedly. “He +certainly has not said anything to her.” + +“That is his last hold on honor and reason. And to preserve that little +intact he wants to run away at once.” + +“But that would be very silly.” + +“Do you think so?” he said, looking at her fixedly. + +“Why not?” she asked in her turn, but rather faintly. + +“I'll tell you why,” he said, lowering his voice with a certain +intensity of passion unlike his usual boyish lightheartedness. “Think of +a man whose life has been one of alternate hardness and aggression, of +savage disappointment and equally savage successes, who has known no +other relaxation than dissipation and extravagance; a man to whom +the idea of the domestic hearth and family ties only meant weakness, +effeminacy, or--worse; who had looked for loyalty and devotion only in +the man who battled for him at his right hand in danger, or shared his +privations and sufferings. Think of such a man, and imagine that an +accident has suddenly placed him in an atmosphere of purity, gentleness, +and peace, surrounded him by the refinements of a higher life than he +had ever known, and that he found himself as in a dream, on terms of +equality with a pure woman who had never known any other life, and yet +would understand and pity his. Imagine his loving her! Imagine that the +first effect of that love was to show him his own inferiority and the +immeasurable gulf that lay between his life and hers! Would he not fly +rather than brave the disgrace of her awakening to the truth? Would +he not fly rather than accept even the pity that might tempt her to a +sacrifice?” + +“But--is Mr. Falkner all that?” + +“Nothing of the kind, I assure you!” said he demurely. “But that's the +way a man in love feels.” + +“Really! Mr. Falkner should get you to plead his cause with Kate,” said +Mrs. Hale with a faint laugh. + +“I need all my persuasive powers in that way for myself,” said Lee +boldly. + +Mrs. Hale rose. “I think I hear Kate coming,” she said. Nevertheless, +she did not move away. “It IS Kate coming,” she added hurriedly, +stooping to pick up her work-basket, which had slipped with Lee's hand +from her own. + +It was Kate, who at once flew to her sister's assistance, Lee deploring +from the sofa his own utter inability to aid her. “It's all my fault, +too,” he said to Kate, but looking at Mrs. Hale. “It seems I have +a faculty of upsetting existing arrangements without the power of +improving them, or even putting them back in their places. What shall I +do? I am willing to hold any number of skeins or rewind any quantity of +spools. I am even willing to forgive Ned for spending the whole day with +you, and only bringing me the wing of a hawk for supper.” + +“That was all my folly, Mr. Lee,” said Kate, with swift mendacity; “he +was all the time looking after something for you, when I begged him to +shoot a bird to get a feather for my hat. And that wing is SO pretty.” + +“It is a pity that mere beauty is not edible,” said Lee, gravely, “and +that if the worst comes to the worst here you would probably prefer me +to Ned and his moustachios, merely because I've been tied by the leg to +this sofa and slowly fattened like a Strasbourg goose.” + +Nevertheless, his badinage failed somehow to amuse Kate, and she +presently excused herself to rejoin her sister, who had already slipped +from the room. For the first time during their enforced seclusion a +sense of restraint and uneasiness affected Mrs. Hale, her sister, and +Falkner at dinner. The latter addressed himself to Mrs. Scott, almost +entirely. Mrs. Hale was fain to bestow an exceptional and marked +tenderness on her little daughter Minnie, who, however, by some +occult childish instinct, insisted upon sharing it with Lee--her great +friend--to Mrs. Hale's uneasy consciousness. Nor was Lee slow to profit +by the child's suggestion, but responded with certain vicarious caresses +that increased the mother's embarrassment. That evening they retired +early, but in the intervals of a restless night Kate was aware, from +the sound of voices in the opposite room, that the friends were equally +wakeful. + +A morning of bright sunshine and soft warm air did not, however, bring +any change to their new and constrained relations. It only seemed to +offer a reason for Falkner to leave the house very early for his +daily rounds, and gave Lee that occasion for unaided exercise with an +extempore crutch on the veranda which allowed Mrs. Hale to pursue her +manifold duties without the necessity of keeping him company. Kate also, +as if to avoid an accidental meeting with Falkner, had remained at home +with her sister. With one exception, they did not make their guests the +subject of their usual playful comments, nor, after the fashion of their +sex, quote their ideas and opinions. That exception was made by Mrs. +Hale. + +“You have had no difference with Mr. Falkner?” she said carelessly. + +“No,” said Kate quickly. “Why?” + +“I only thought he seemed rather put out at dinner last night, and you +didn't propose to go and meet him to-day.” + +“He must be bored with my company at times, I dare say,” said Kate, with +an indifference quite inconsistent with her rising color. “I shouldn't +wonder if he was a little vexed with Mr. Lee's chaffing him about his +sport yesterday, and probably intends to go further to-day, and bring +home larger game. I think Mr. Lee very amusing always, but I sometimes +fancy he lacks feeling.” + +“Feeling! You don't know him, Kate,” said Mrs. Hale quickly. She stopped +herself, but with a half-smiling recollection in her dropped eyelids. + +“Well, he doesn't look very amiable now, stamping up and down the +veranda. Perhaps you'd better go and soothe him.” + +“I'm really SO busy just now,” said Mrs. Hale, with sudden and +inconsequent energy; “things have got dreadfully behind in the last +week. You had better go, Kate, and make him sit down, or he'll be +overdoing it. These men never know any medium--in anything.” + +Contrary to Kate's expectation, Falkner returned earlier than usual, +and, taking the invalid's arm, supported him in a more ambitious walk +along the terrace before the house. They were apparently absorbed in +conversation, but the two women who observed them from the window could +not help noticing the almost feminine tenderness of Falkner's manner +towards his wounded friend, and the thoughtful tenderness of his +ministering care. + +“I wonder,” said Mrs. Hale, following them with softly appreciative +eyes, “if women are capable of as disinterested friendship as men? I +never saw anything like the devotion of these two creatures. Look! if +Mr. Falkner hasn't got his arm round Mr. Lee's waist, and Lee, with his +own arm over Falkner's neck, is looking up in his eyes. I declare, Kate, +it almost seems an indiscretion to look at them.” + +Kate, however, to Mrs. Hale's indignation, threw her pretty head back +and sniffed the air contemptuously. “I really don't see anything but +some absurd sentimentalism of their own, or some mannish wickedness +they're concocting by themselves. I am by no means certain, Josephine, +that Lee's influence over that young man is the best thing for him.” + +“On the contrary! Lee's influence seems the only thing that checks +his waywardness,” said Mrs. Hale quickly. “I'm sure, if anyone makes +sacrifices, it is Lee; I shouldn't wonder that even now he is making +some concession to Falkner, and all those caressing ways of your friend +are for a purpose. They're not much different from us, dear.” + +“Well, I wouldn't stand there and let them see me looking at them as if +I couldn't bear them out of my sight for a moment,” said Kate, whisking +herself out of the room. “They're conceited enough, Heaven knows, +already.” + +That evening, at dinner, however, the two men exhibited no trace of the +restraint or uneasiness of the previous day. If they were less impulsive +and exuberant, they were still frank and interested, and if the term +could be used in connection with men apparently trained to neither +self-control nor repose, there was a certain gentle dignity in their +manner which for the time had the effect of lifting them a little +above the social level of their entertainers. For even with all their +predisposition to the strangers, Kate and Mrs. Hale had always retained +a conscious attitude of gentle condescension and superiority towards +them--an attitude not inconsistent with a stronger feeling, nor +altogether unprovocative of it; yet this evening they found themselves +impressed with something more than an equality in the men who had amused +and interested them, and they were perhaps a little more critical +and doubtful of their own power. Mrs. Hale's little girl, who had +appreciated only the seriousness of the situation, had made her own +application of it. “Are you dow'in' away from aunt Kate and mamma?” she +asked, in an interval of silence. + +“How else can I get you the red snow we saw at sunset, the other day, on +the peak yonder?” said Lee gayly. “I'll have to get up some morning very +early, and catch it when it comes at sunrise.” + +“What is this wonderful snow, Minnie, that you are tormenting Mr. Lee +for?” asked Mrs. Hale. + +“Oh! it's a fairy snow that he told me all about; it only comes when +the sun comes up and goes down, and if you catch ever so little of it +in your hand it makes all you fink you want come true! Wouldn't that be +nice?” But to the child's astonishment her little circle of auditors, +even while assenting, sighed. + +The red snow was there plain enough the next morning before the valley +was warm with light, and while Minnie, her mother, and aunt Kate were +still peacefully sleeping. And Mr. Lee had kept his word, and was +evidently seeking it, for he and Falkner were already urging their +horses through the pass, with their faces towards and lit up by its +glow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Kate was stirring early, but not as early as her sister, who met her +on the threshold of her room. Her face was quite pale, and she held a +letter in her hand. “What does this mean, Kate?” + +“What is the matter?” asked Kate, her own color fading from her cheek. + +“They are gone--with their horses. Left before day, and left this.” + +She handed Kate an open letter. The girl took it hurriedly, and read-- + +“When you get this we shall be no more; perhaps not even as much. Ned +found the trail yesterday, and we are taking the first advantage of it +before day. We dared not trust ourselves to say 'Good-by!' last evening; +we were too cowardly to face you this morning; we must go as we came, +without warning, but not without regret. We leave a package and a letter +for your husband. It is not only our poor return for your gentleness and +hospitality, but, since it was accidentally the means of giving us the +pleasure of your society, we beg you to keep it in safety until his +return. We kiss your mother's hands. Ned wants to say something more, +but time presses, and I only allow him to send his love to Minnie, and +to tell her that he is trying to find the red snow. + +“GEORGE LEE.” + + +“But he is not fit to travel,” said Mrs. Hale. “And the trail--it may +not be passable.” + +“It was passable the day before yesterday,” said Kate drearily, “for I +discovered it, and went as far as the buck-eyes.” + +“Then it was you who told them about it,” said Mrs. Hale reproachfully. + +“No,” said Kate indignantly. “Of course I didn't.” She stopped, and, +reading the significance of her speech in the glistening eyes of her +sister, she blushed. Josephine kissed her, and said-- + +“It WAS treating us like children, Kate, but we must make them pay for +it hereafter. For that package and letter to John means something, and +we shall probably see them before long. I wonder what the letter is +about, and what is in the package?” + +“Probably one of Mr. Lee's jokes. He is quite capable of turning the +whole thing into ridicule. I dare say he considers his visit here a +prolonged jest.” + +“With his poor leg, Kate? You are as unfair to him as you were to +Falkner when they first came.” + +Kate, however, kept her dark eyebrows knitted in a piquant frown. + +“To think of his intimating WHAT he would allow Falkner to say! And yet +you believe he has no evil influence over the young man.” + +Mrs. Hale laughed. “Where are you going so fast, Kate?” she called +mischievously, as the young lady flounced out of the room. + +“Where? Why, to tidy John's room. He may be coming at any moment now. Or +do you want to do it yourself?” + +“No, no,” returned Mrs. Hale hurriedly; “you do it. I'll look in a +little later on.” + +She turned away with a sigh. The sun was shining brilliantly outside. +Through the half-open blinds its long shafts seemed to be searching the +house for the lost guests, and making the hollow shell appear doubly +empty. What a contrast to the dear dark days of mysterious seclusion +and delicious security, lit by Lee's laughter and the sparkling hearth, +which had passed so quickly! The forgotten outer world seemed to have +returned to the house through those open windows and awakened its +dwellers from a dream. + +The morning seemed interminable, and it was past noon, while they +were deep in a sympathetic conference with Mrs. Scott, who had drawn a +pathetic word-picture of the two friends perishing in the snow-drift, +without flannels, brandy, smelling-salts, or jelly, which they had +forgotten, when they were startled by the loud barking of “Spot” on the +lawn before the house. The women looked hurriedly at each other. + +“They have returned,” said Mrs. Hale. + +Kate ran to the window. A horseman was approaching the house. A single +glance showed her that it was neither Falkner, Lee, nor Hale, but a +stranger. + +“Perhaps he brings some news of them,” said Mrs. Scott quickly. So +complete had been their preoccupation with the loss of their guests that +they could not yet conceive of anything that did not pertain to it. + +The stranger, who was at once ushered into the parlor, was evidently +disconcerted by the presence of the three women. + +“I reckoned to see John Hale yer,” he began, awkwardly. + +A slight look of disappointment passed over their faces. “He has not yet +returned,” said Mrs. Hale briefly. + +“Sho! I wanter know. He's hed time to do it, I reckon,” said the +stranger. + +“I suppose he hasn't been able to get over from the Summit,” returned +Mrs. Hale. “The trail is closed.” + +“It ain't now, for I kem over it this mornin' myself.” + +“You didn't--meet--anyone?” asked Mrs. Hale timidly, with a glance at +the others. + +“No.” + +A long silence ensued. The unfortunate visitor plainly perceived +an evident abatement of interest in himself, yet he still struggled +politely to say something. “Then I reckon you know what kept Hale away?” + he said dubiously. + +“Oh, certainly--the stage robbery.” + +“I wish I'd known that,” said the stranger reflectively, “for I ez good +ez rode over jist to tell it to ye. Ye see John Hale, he sent a note to +ye 'splainin' matters by a gentleman; but the road agents tackled that +man, and left him for dead in the road.” + +“Yes,” said Mrs. Hale impatiently. + +“Luckily he didn't die, but kem to, and managed to crawl inter the +brush, whar I found him when I was lookin' for stock, and brought him to +my house--” + +“YOU found him? YOUR house?” interrupted Mrs. Hale. + +“Inter MY house,” continued the man doggedly. “I'm Thompson of +Thompson's Pass over yon; mebbe it ain't much of a house; but I brought +him thar. Well, ez he couldn't find the note that Hale had guv him, and +like ez not the road agents had gone through him and got it, ez soon ez +the weather let up I made a break over yer to tell ye.” + +“You say Mr. Lee came to your house,” repeated Mrs. Hale, “and is there +now?” + +“Not much,” said the man grimly; “and I never said LEE was thar. I mean +that Bilson waz shot by Lee and kem--” + +“Certainly, Josephine!” said Kate, suddenly stepping between her sister +and Thompson, and turning upon her a white face and eyes of silencing +significance; “certainly--don't you remember?--that's the story we got +from the Chinaman, you know, only muddled. Go on sir,” she continued, +turning to Thompson calmly; “you say that the man who brought the note +from my brother was shot by Lee?” + +“And another fellow they call Falkner. Yes, that's about the size of +it.” + +“Thank you; it's nearly the same story that we heard. But you have had +a long ride, Mr. Thompson; let me offer you a glass of whiskey in the +dining-room. This way, please.” + +The door closed upon them none too soon. For Mrs. Hale already felt the +room whirling around her, and sank back into her chair with a hysterical +laugh. Old Mrs. Scott did not move from her seat, but, with her eyes +fixed on the door, impatiently waited Kate's return. Neither spoke, but +each felt that the young, untried girl was equal to the emergency, and +would get at the truth. + +The sound of Thompson's feet in the hall and the closing of the front +door was followed by Kate's reappearance. Her face was still pale, but +calm. + +“Well?” said the two women in a breath. + +“Well,” returned Kate slowly; “Mr. Lee and Mr. Falkner were undoubtedly +the two men who took the paper from John's messenger and brought it +here.” + +“You are sure?” said Mrs. Scott. + +“There can be no mistake, mother.” + +“THEN,” said Mrs. Scott, with triumphant feminine logic, “I don't want +anything more to satisfy me that they are PERFECTLY INNOCENT!” + +More convincing than the most perfect masculine deduction, this +single expression of their common nature sent a thrill of sympathy and +understanding through each. They cried for a few moments on each other's +shoulders. “To think,” said Mrs. Scott, “what that poor boy must have +suffered to have been obliged to do--that to--to--Bilson--isn't that the +creature's name? I suppose we ought to send over there and inquire after +him, with some chicken and jelly, Kate. It's only common humanity, and +we must be just, my dear; for even if he shot Mr. Lee and provoked the +poor boy to shoot him, he may have thought it his duty. And then, it +will avert suspicions.” + +“To think,” murmured Mrs. Hale, “what they must have gone through while +they were here--momentarily expecting John to come, and yet keeping up +such a light heart.” + +“I believe, if they had stayed any longer, they would have told us +everything,” said Mrs. Scott. + +Both the younger women were silent. Kate was thinking of Falkner's +significant speech as they neared the house on their last walk; +Josephine was recalling the remorseful picture drawn by Lee, which she +knew was his own portrait. Suddenly she started. + +“But John will be here soon; what are we to tell him? And then that +package and that letter.” + +“Don't be in a hurry to tell him anything at present, my child,” said +Mrs. Scott gently. “It is unfortunate this Mr. Thompson called here, but +we are not obliged to understand what he says now about John's message, +or to connect our visitors with his story. I'm sure, Kate, I should have +treated them exactly as we did if they had come without any message from +John; so I do not know why we should lay any stress on that, or even +speak of it. The simple fact is that we have opened our house to +two strangers in distress. Your husband,” continued Mr. Hale's +mother-in-law, “does not require to know more. As to the letter and +package, we will keep that for further consideration. It cannot be of +much importance, or they would have spoken of it before; it is probably +some trifling present as a return for your hospitality. I should use no +INDECOROUS haste in having it opened.” + +The two women kissed Mrs. Scott with a feeling of relief, and fell +back into the monotony of their household duties. It is to be feared, +however, that the absence of their outlawed guests was nearly as +dangerous as their presence in the opportunity it afforded for +uninterrupted and imaginative reflection. Both Kate and Josephine were +at first shocked and wounded by the discovery of the real character of +the two men with whom they had associated so familiarly, but it was no +disparagement to their sense of propriety to say that the shock did not +last long, and was accompanied with the fascination of danger. This was +succeeded by a consciousness of the delicate flattery implied in their +indirect influence over the men who had undoubtedly risked their lives +for the sake of remaining with them. The best woman is not above being +touched by the effect of her power over the worst man, and Kate at first +allowed herself to think of Falkner in that light. But if in her later +reflections he suffered as a heroic experience to be forgotten, he +gained something as an actual man to be remembered. Now that the +proposed rides from “his friend's house” were a part of the illusion, +would he ever dare to visit them again? Would she dare to see him? She +held her breath with a sudden pain of parting that was new to her; she +tried to think of something else, to pick up the scattered threads of +her life before that eventful day. But in vain; that one week had filled +the place with implacable memories, or more terrible, as it seemed to +her and her sister, they had both lost their feeble, alien hold +upon Eagle's Court in the sudden presence of the real genii of these +solitudes, and henceforth they alone would be the strangers there. +They scarcely dared to confess it to each other, but this return to the +dazzling sunlight and cloudless skies of the past appeared to them to be +the one unreal experience; they had never known the true wild flavor +of their home, except in that week of delicious isolation. Without +breathing it aloud, they longed for some vague denoument to this +experience that should take them from Eagle's Court forever. + +It was noon the next day when the little household beheld the last shred +of their illusion vanish like the melting snow in the strong sunlight +of John Hale's return. He was accompanied by Colonel Clinch and Rawlins, +two strangers to the women. Was it fancy, or the avenging spirit of +their absent companions? but HE too looked a stranger, and as the little +cavalcade wound its way up the slope he appeared to sit his horse and +wear his hat with a certain slouch and absence of his usual restraint +that strangely shocked them. Even the old half-condescending, +half-punctilious gallantry of his greeting of his wife and family was +changed, as he introduced his companions with a mingling of familiarity +and shyness that was new to him. Did Mrs. Hale regret it, or feel a +sense of relief in the absence of his usual seignorial formality? She +only knew that she was grateful for the presence of the strangers, which +for the moment postponed a matrimonial confidence from which she shrank. + +“Proud to know you,” said Colonel Clinch, with a sudden outbreak of the +antique gallantry of some remote Huguenot ancestor. “My friend, Judge +Hale, must be a regular Roman citizen to leave such a family and such a +house at the call of public duty. Eh, Rawlins?” + +“You bet,” said Rawlins, looking from Kate to her sister in undisguised +admiration. + +“And I suppose the duty could not have been a very pleasant one,” said +Mrs. Hale, timidly, without looking at her husband. + +“Gad, madam, that's just it,” said the gallant Colonel, seating himself +with a comfortable air, and an easy, though by no means disrespectful, +familiarity. “We went into this fight a little more than a week ago. The +only scrimmage we've had has been with the detectives that were on the +robbers' track. Ha! ha! The best people we've met have been the friends +of the men we were huntin', and we've generally come to the conclusion +to vote the other ticket! Ez Judge Hale and me agreed ez we came along, +the two men ez we'd most like to see just now and shake hands with are +George Lee and Ned Falkner.” + +“The two leaders of the party who robbed the coach,” explained Mr. Hale, +with a slight return of his usual precision of statement. + +The three women looked at each other with a blaze of thanksgiving in +their grateful eyes. Without comprehending all that Colonel Clinch had +said, they understood enough to know that their late guests were safe +from the pursuit of that party, and that their own conduct was spared +criticism. I hardly dare write it, but they instantly assumed the +appearance of aggrieved martyrs, and felt as if they were! + +“Yes, ladies!” continued the Colonel, inspired by the bright eyes fixed +upon him. “We haven't taken the road ourselves yet, but--pohn honor--we +wouldn't mind doing it in a case like this.” Then with the fluent, but +somewhat exaggerated, phraseology of a man trained to “stump” speaking, +he gave an account of the robbery and his own connection with it. He +spoke of the swindling and treachery which had undoubtedly provoked +Falkner to obtain restitution of his property by an overt act of +violence under the leadership of Lee. He added that he had learned since +at Wild Cat Station that Harkins had fled the country, that a suit had +been commenced by the Excelsior Ditch Company, and that all available +property of Harkins had been seized by the sheriff. + +“Of course it can't be proved yet, but there's no doubt in my mind that +Lee, who is an old friend of Ned Falkner's, got up that job to help him, +and that Ned's off with the money by this time--and I'm right glad of +it. I can't say ez we've done much towards it, except to keep tumbling +in the way of that detective party of Stanner's, and so throw them off +the trail--ha, ha! The Judge here, I reckon, has had his share of +fun, for while he was at Hennicker's trying to get some facts from +Hennicker's pretty daughter, Stanner tried to get up some sort of +vigilance committee of the stage passengers to burn down Hennicker's +ranch out of spite, but the Judge here stepped in and stopped that.” + +“It was really a high-handed proceeding, Josephine, but I managed to +check it,” said Hale, meeting somewhat consciously the first direct +look his wife had cast upon him, and falling back for support on his old +manner. “In its way, I think it was worse than the robbery by Lee and +Falkner, for it was done in the name of law and order; while, as far +as I can judge from the facts, the affair that we were following up +was simply a rude and irregular restitution of property that had been +morally stolen.” + +“I have no doubt you did quite right, though I don't understand it,” + said Mrs. Hale languidly; “but I trust these gentlemen will stay to +luncheon, and in the meantime excuse us for running away, as we are +short of servants, and Manuel seems to have followed the example of the +head of the house and left us, in pursuit of somebody or something.” + +When the three women had gained the vantage-ground of the drawing-room, +Kate said, earnestly, “As it's all right, hadn't we better tell him +now?” + +“Decidedly not, child,” said Mrs. Scott, imperatively. “Do you suppose +they are in a hurry to tell us THEIR whole story? Who are those +Hennicker people? and they were there a week ago!” + +“And did you notice John's hat when he came in, and the vulgar +familiarity of calling him 'Judge'?” said Mrs. Hale. + +“Well, certainly anything like the familiarity of this man Clinch I +never saw,” said Kate. “Contrast his manner with Mr. Falkner's.” + +At luncheon the three suffering martyrs finally succeeded in reducing +Hale and his two friends to an attitude of vague apology. But their +triumph was short-lived. At the end of the meal they were startled by +the trampling of hoofs without, followed by loud knocking. In another +moment the door was opened, and Mr. Stanner strode into the room. Hale +rose with a look of indignation. + +“I thought, as Mr. Stanner understood that I had no desire for his +company elsewhere, he would hardly venture to intrude upon me in my +house, and certainly not after--” + +“Ef you're alluding to the Vigilantes shakin' you and Zeenie up at +Hennicker's, you can't make ME responsible for that. I'm here now on +business--you understand--reg'lar business. Ef you want to see the +papers yer ken. I suppose you know what a warrant is?” + +“I know what YOU are,” said Hale hotly; “and if you don't leave my +house--” + +“Steady, boys,” interrupted Stanner, as his five henchmen filed into the +hall. “There's no backin' down here, Colonel Clinch, unless you and Hale +kalkilate to back down the State of Californy! The matter stands like +this. There's a half-breed Mexican, called Manuel, arrested over at the +Summit, who swears he saw George Lee and Edward Falkner in this house +the night after the robbery. He says that they were makin' themselves +at home here, as if they were among friends, and considerin' the kind of +help we've had from Mr. John Hale, it looks ez if it might be true.” + +“It's an infamous lie!” said Hale. + +“It may be true, John,” said Mrs. Scott, suddenly stepping in front of +her pale-cheeked daughters. “A wounded man was brought here out of +the storm by his friend, who claimed the shelter of your roof. As your +mother I should have been unworthy to stay beneath it and have denied +that shelter or withheld it until I knew his name and what he was. He +stayed here until he could be removed. He left a letter for you. It will +probably tell you if he was the man this person is seeking.” + +“Thank you, mother,” said Hale, lifting her hand to his lips quietly; +“and perhaps you will kindly tell these gentlemen that, as your son does +not care to know who or what the stranger was, there is no necessity for +opening the letter, or keeping Mr. Stanner a moment longer.” + +“But you will oblige ME, John, by opening it before these gentlemen,” + said Mrs. Hale recovering her voice and color. “Please to follow me,” + she said preceding them to the staircase. + +They entered Mr. Hale's room, now restored to its original condition. On +the table lay a letter and a small package. The eyes of Mr. Stanner, a +little abashed by the attitude of the two women, fastened upon it and +glistened. + +Josephine handed her husband the letter. He opened it in breathless +silence and read-- + +“JOHN HALE, + +“We owe you no return for voluntarily making yourself a champion of +justice and pursuing us, except it was to offer you a fair field and no +favor. We didn't get that much from you, but accident brought us into +your house and into your family, where we DID get it, and were fairly +vanquished. To the victors belong the spoils. We leave the package of +greenbacks which we took from Colonel Clinch in the Sierra coach, but +which was first stolen by Harkins from forty-four shareholders of the +Excelsior Ditch. We have no right to say what YOU should do with it, but +if you aren't tired of following the same line of justice that induced +you to run after US, you will try to restore it to its rightful owners. + +“We leave you another trifle as an evidence that our intrusion into your +affairs was not without some service to you, even if the service was as +accidental as the intrusion. You will find a pair of boots in the corner +of your closet. They were taken from the burglarious feet of Manuel, +your peon, who, believing the three ladies were alone and at his mercy, +entered your house with an accomplice at two o'clock on the morning of +the 21st, and was kicked out by + +“Your obedient servants, + +“GEORGE LEE & EDWARD FALKNER” + + +Hale's voice and color changed on reading this last paragraph. He turned +quickly towards his wife; Kate flew to the closet, where the muffled +boots of Manuel confronted them. “We never knew it. I always suspected +something that night,” said Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Scott in the same breath. + +“That's all very well, and like George Lee's high falutin',” said +Stanner, approaching the table, “but as long ez the greenbacks are here +he can make what capital he likes outer Manuel. I'll trouble you to pass +over that package.” + +“Excuse me,” said Hale, “but I believe this is the package taken from +Colonel Clinch. Is it not?” he added, appealing to the Colonel. + +“It is,” said Clinch. + +“Then take it,” said Hale, handing him the package. “The first +restitution is to you, but I believe you will fulfil Lee's instructions +as well as myself.” + +“But,” said Stanner, furiously interposing, “I've a warrant to seize +that wherever found, and I dare you to disobey the law.” + +“Mr. Stanner,” said Clinch, slowly, “there are ladies present. If you +insist upon having that package I must ask them to withdraw, and I'm +afraid you'll find me better prepared to resist a SECOND robbery than I +was the first. Your warrant, which was taken out by the Express Company, +is supplanted by civil proceedings taken the day before yesterday +against the property of the fugitive swindler Harkins! You should have +consulted the sheriff before you came here.” + +Stanner saw his mistake. But in the faces of his grinning followers he +was obliged to keep up his bluster. “You shall hear from me again, sir,” + he said, turning on his heel. + +“I beg your pardon,” said Clinch grimly, “but do I understand that at +last I am to have the honor--” + +“You shall hear from the Company's lawyers, sir,” said Stanner turning +red, and noisily leaving the room. + +“And so, my dear ladies,” said Colonel Clinch, “you have spent a week +with a highwayman. I say A highwayman, for it would be hard to call my +young friend Falkner by that name for his first offence, committed under +great provocation, and undoubtedly instigated by Lee, who was an old +friend of his, and to whom he came, no doubt, in desperation.” + +Kate stole a triumphant glance at her sister, who dropped her lids over +her glistening eyes. “And this Mr. Lee,” she continued more gently, “is +he really a highwayman?” + +“George Lee,” said Clinch, settling himself back oratorically in his +chair, “my dear young lady, IS a highwayman, but not of the common sort. +He is a gentleman born, madam, comes from one of the oldest families of +the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He never mixes himself up with anything +but some of the biggest strikes, and he's an educated man. He is very +popular with ladies and children; he was never known to do or say +anything that could bring a blush to the cheek of beauty or a tear to +the eye of innocence. I think I may say I'm sure you found him so.” + +“I shall never believe him anything but a gentleman,” said Mrs. Scott, +firmly. + +“If he has a defect, it is perhaps a too reckless indulgence in draw +poker,” said the Colonel, musingly; “not unbecoming a gentleman, +understand me, Mrs. Scott, but perhaps too reckless for his own good. +George played a grand game, a glittering game, but pardon me if I say an +UNCERTAIN game. I've told him so; it's the only point on which we ever +differed.” + +“Then you know him?” said Mrs. Hale, lifting her soft eyes to the +Colonel. + +“I have that honor.” + +“Did his appearance, Josephine,” broke in Hale, somewhat ostentatiously, +“appear to--er--er--correspond with these qualities? You know what I +mean.” + +“He certainly seemed very simple and natural,” said Mrs. Hale, slightly +drawing her pretty lips together. “He did not wear his trousers rolled +up over his boots in the company of ladies, as you're doing now, nor did +he make his first appearance in this house with such a hat as you wore +this morning, or I should not have admitted him.” + +There were a few moments of embarrassing silence. + +“Do you intend to give that package to Mr. Falkner yourself, Colonel?” + asked Mrs. Scott. + +“I shall hand it over to the Excelsior Company,” said the Colonel, “but +I shall inform Ned of what I have done.” + +“Then,” said Mrs. Scott, “will you kindly take a message from us to +him?” + +“If you wish it.” + +“You will be doing ME a great favor, Colonel,” said Hale, politely. + + +Whatever the message was, six months later it brought Edward Falkner, +the reestablished superintendent of the Excelsior Ditch, to Eagle's +Court. As he and Kate stood again on the plateau, looking towards the +distant slopes once more green with verdure, Falkner said-- + +“Everything here looks as it did the first day I saw it, except your +sister.” + +“The place does not agree with her,” said Kate hurriedly. “That is why +my brother thinks of leaving it before the winter sets in.” + +“It seems so sad,” said Falkner, “for the last words poor George said to +me, as he left to join his cousin's corps at Richmond, were: 'If I'm +not killed, Ned, I hope some day to stand again beside Mrs. Hale, at the +window in Eagle's Court, and watch you and Kate coming home!'” + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Snow-Bound at Eagle's, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S *** + +***** This file should be named 2297-0.txt or 2297-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/9/2297/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/2297-0.zip b/2297-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cbb8614 --- /dev/null +++ b/2297-0.zip diff --git a/2297-h.zip b/2297-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..48e174e --- /dev/null +++ b/2297-h.zip diff --git a/2297-h/2297-h.htm b/2297-h/2297-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd04eb8 --- /dev/null +++ b/2297-h/2297-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5040 @@ +<?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> + Snow-bound at Eagle's, 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 Snow-Bound at Eagle's, 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: Snow-Bound at Eagle's + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 13, 2006 [EBook #2297] +Last Updated: March 4, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S + </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>SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S</b></big> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </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> + SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S + </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> + For some moments profound silence and darkness had accompanied a Sierran + stage-coach towards the summit. The huge, dim bulk of the vehicle, swaying + noiselessly on its straps, glided onward and upward as if obeying some + mysterious impulse from behind, so faint and indefinite appeared its + relation to the viewless and silent horses ahead. The shadowy trunks of + tall trees that seemed to approach the coach windows, look in, and then + move hurriedly away, were the only distinguishable objects. Yet even these + were so vague and unreal that they might have been the mere phantoms of + some dream of the half-sleeping passengers; for the thickly-strewn needles + of the pine, that choked the way and deadened all sound, yielded under the + silently-crushing wheels a faint soporific odor that seemed to benumb + their senses, already slipping back into unconsciousness during the long + ascent. Suddenly the stage stopped. + </p> + <p> + Three of the four passengers inside struggled at once into upright + wakefulness. The fourth passenger, John Hale, had not been sleeping, and + turned impatiently towards the window. It seemed to him that two of the + moving trees had suddenly become motionless outside. One of them moved + again, and the door opened quickly but quietly, as of itself. + </p> + <p> + “Git down,” said a voice in the darkness. + </p> + <p> + All the passengers except Hale started. The man next to him moved his + right hand suddenly behind him, but as quickly stopped. One of the + motionless trees had apparently closed upon the vehicle, and what had + seemed to be a bough projecting from it at right angles changed slowly + into the faintly shining double-barrels of a gun at the window. + </p> + <p> + “Drop that!” said the voice. + </p> + <p> + The man who had moved uttered a short laugh, and returned his hand empty + to his knees. The two others perceptibly shrugged their shoulders as over + a game that was lost. The remaining passenger, John Hale, fearless by + nature, inexperienced by habit, awaking suddenly to the truth, conceived + desperate resistance. But without his making a gesture this was + instinctively felt by the others; the muzzle of the gun turned + spontaneously on him, and he was vaguely conscious of a certain contempt + and impatience of him in his companions. + </p> + <p> + “Git down,” repeated the voice imperatively. + </p> + <p> + The three passengers descended. Hale, furious, alert, but helpless of any + opportunity, followed. He was surprised to find the stage-driver and + express messenger standing beside him; he had not heard them dismount. He + instinctively looked towards the horses. He could see nothing. + </p> + <p> + “Hold up your hands!” + </p> + <p> + One of the passengers had already lifted his, in a weary, perfunctory way. + The others did the same reluctantly and awkwardly, but apparently more + from the consciousness of the ludicrousness of their attitude than from + any sense of danger. The rays of a bull's-eye lantern, deftly managed by + invisible hands, while it left the intruders in shadow, completely + illuminated the faces and figures of the passengers. In spite of the + majestic obscurity and silence of surrounding nature, the group of + humanity thus illuminated was more farcical than dramatic. A scrap of + newspaper, part of a sandwich, and an orange peel that had fallen from the + floor of the coach, brought into equal prominence by the searching light, + completed the absurdity. + </p> + <p> + “There's a man here with a package of greenbacks,” said the voice, with an + official coolness that lent a certain suggestion of Custom House + inspection to the transaction; “who is it?” The passengers looked at each + other, and their glance finally settled on Hale. + </p> + <p> + “It's not HIM,” continued the voice, with a slight tinge of contempt on + the emphasis. “You'll save time and searching, gentlemen, if you'll tote + it out. If we've got to go through every one of you we'll try to make it + pay.” + </p> + <p> + The significant threat was not unheeded. The passenger who had first moved + when the stage stopped put his hand to his breast. + </p> + <p> + “T'other pocket first, if you please,” said the voice. + </p> + <p> + The man laughed, drew a pistol from his hip pocket, and, under the strong + light of the lantern, laid it on a spot in the road indicated by the + voice. A thick envelope, taken from his breast pocket, was laid beside it. + “I told the d—d fools that gave it to me, instead of sending it by + express, it would be at their own risk,” he said apologetically. + </p> + <p> + “As it's going with the express now it's all the same,” said the + inevitable humorist of the occasion, pointing to the despoiled express + treasure-box already in the road. + </p> + <p> + The intention and deliberation of the outrage was plain enough to Hale's + inexperience now. Yet he could not understand the cool acquiescence of his + fellow-passengers, and was furious. His reflections were interrupted by a + voice which seemed to come from a greater distance. He fancied it was even + softer in tone, as if a certain austerity was relaxed. + </p> + <p> + “Step in as quick as you like, gentlemen. You've five minutes to wait, + Bill.” + </p> + <p> + The passengers reentered the coach; the driver and express messenger + hurriedly climbed to their places. Hale would have spoken, but an + impatient gesture from his companions stopped him. They were evidently + listening for something; he listened too. + </p> + <p> + Yet the silence remained unbroken. It seemed incredible that there should + be no indication near or far of that forceful presence which a moment ago + had been so dominant. No rustle in the wayside “brush,” nor echo from the + rocky canyon below, betrayed a sound of their flight. A faint breeze + stirred the tall tips of the pines, a cone dropped on the stage roof, one + of the invisible horses that seemed to be listening too moved slightly in + his harness. But this only appeared to accentuate the profound stillness. + The moments were growing interminable, when the voice, so near as to + startle Hale, broke once more from the surrounding obscurity. + </p> + <p> + “Good-night!” + </p> + <p> + It was the signal that they were free. The driver's whip cracked like a + pistol shot, the horses sprang furiously forward, the huge vehicle lurched + ahead, and then bounded violently after them. When Hale could make his + voice heard in the confusion—a confusion which seemed greater from + the colorless intensity of their last few moments' experience—he + said hurriedly, “Then that fellow was there all the time?” + </p> + <p> + “I reckon,” returned his companion, “he stopped five minutes to cover the + driver with his double-barrel, until the two other men got off with the + treasure.” + </p> + <p> + “The TWO others!” gasped Hale. “Then there were only THREE men, and we + SIX.” + </p> + <p> + The man shrugged his shoulders. The passenger who had given up the + greenbacks drawled, with a slow, irritating tolerance, “I reckon you're a + stranger here?” + </p> + <p> + “I am—to this sort of thing, certainly, though I live a dozen miles + from here, at Eagle's Court,” returned Hale scornfully. + </p> + <p> + “Then you're the chap that's doin' that fancy ranchin' over at Eagle's,” + continued the man lazily. + </p> + <p> + “Whatever I'm doing at Eagle's Court, I'm not ashamed of it,” said Hale + tartly; “and that's more than I can say of what I've done—or HAVEN'T + done—to-night. I've been one of six men over-awed and robbed by + THREE.” + </p> + <p> + “As to the over-awin', ez you call it—mebbee you know more about it + than us. As to the robbin'—ez far as I kin remember, YOU haven't + onloaded much. Ef you're talkin' about what OUGHTER have been done, I'll + tell you what COULD have happened. P'r'aps ye noticed that when he pulled + up I made a kind of grab for my wepping behind me?” + </p> + <p> + “I did; and you wern't quick enough,” said Hale shortly. + </p> + <p> + “I wasn't quick enough, and that saved YOU. For ef I got that pistol out + and in sight o' that man that held the gun—” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Hale impatiently, “he'd have hesitated.” + </p> + <p> + “He'd hev blown YOU with both barrels outer the window, and that before + I'd got a half-cock on my revolver.” + </p> + <p> + “But that would have been only one man gone, and there would have been + five of you left,” said Hale haughtily. + </p> + <p> + “That might have been, ef you'd contracted to take the hull charge of two + handfuls of buck-shot and slugs; but ez one eighth o' that amount would + have done your business, and yet left enough to have gone round, + promiskiss, and satisfied the other passengers, it wouldn't do to + kalkilate upon.” + </p> + <p> + “But the express messenger and the driver were armed,” continued Hale. + </p> + <p> + “They were armed, but not FIXED; that makes all the difference.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand.” + </p> + <p> + “I reckon you know what a duel is?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, the chances agin US was about the same as you'd have ef you was put + up agin another chap who was allowed to draw a bead on you, and the signal + to fire was YOUR DRAWIN' YOUR WEAPON. You may be a stranger to this sort + o' thing, and p'r'aps you never fought a duel, but even then you wouldn't + go foolin' your life away on any such chances.” + </p> + <p> + Something in the man's manner, as in a certain sly amusement the other + passengers appeared to extract from the conversation, impressed Hale, + already beginning to be conscious of the ludicrous insufficiency of his + own grievance beside that of his interlocutor. + </p> + <p> + “Then you mean to say this thing is inevitable,” said he bitterly, but + less aggressively. + </p> + <p> + “Ez long ez they hunt YOU; when you hunt THEM you've got the advantage, + allus provided you know how to get at them ez well as they know how to get + at you. This yer coach is bound to go regular, and on certain days. THEY + ain't. By the time the sheriff gets out his posse they've skedaddled, and + the leader, like as not, is takin' his quiet cocktail at the Bank + Exchange, or mebbe losin' his earnings to the sheriff over draw poker, in + Sacramento. You see you can't prove anything agin them unless you take + them 'on the fly.' It may be a part of Joaquim Murietta's band, though I + wouldn't swear to it.” + </p> + <p> + “The leader might have been Gentleman George, from up-country,” interposed + a passenger. “He seemed to throw in a few fancy touches, particlerly in + that 'Good night.' Sorter chucked a little sentiment in it. Didn't seem to + be the same thing ez, 'Git, yer d—d suckers,' on the other line.” + </p> + <p> + “Whoever he was, he knew the road and the men who travelled on it. Like ez + not, he went over the line beside the driver on the box on the down trip, + and took stock of everything. He even knew I had those greenbacks; though + they were handed to me in the bank at Sacramento. He must have been + hanging 'round there.” + </p> + <p> + For some moments Hale remained silent. He was a civic-bred man, with an + intense love of law and order; the kind of man who is the first to take + that law and order into his own hands when he does not find it existing to + please him. He had a Bostonian's respect for respectability, tradition, + and propriety, but was willing to face irregularity and impropriety to + create order elsewhere. He was fond of Nature with these limitations, + never quite trusting her unguided instincts, and finding her as an + instructress greatly inferior to Harvard University, though possibly not + to Cornell. With dauntless enterprise and energy he had built and stocked + a charming cottage farm in a nook in the Sierras, whence he opposed, like + the lesser Englishman that he was, his own tastes to those of the alien + West. In the present instance he felt it incumbent upon him not only to + assert his principles, but to act upon them with his usual energy. How far + he was impelled by the half-contemptuous passiveness of his companions it + would be difficult to say. + </p> + <p> + “What is to prevent the pursuit of them at once?” he asked suddenly. “We + are a few miles from the station, where horses can be procured.” + </p> + <p> + “Who's to do it?” replied the other lazily. “The stage company will lodge + the complaint with the authorities, but it will take two days to get the + county officers out, and it's nobody else's funeral.” + </p> + <p> + “I will go for one,” said Hale quietly. “I have a horse waiting for me at + the station, and can start at once.” + </p> + <p> + There was an instant of silence. The stage-coach had left the obscurity of + the forest, and by the stronger light Hale could perceive that his + companion was examining him with two colorless, lazy eyes. Presently he + said, meeting Hale's clear glance, but rather as if yielding to a careless + reflection,— + </p> + <p> + “It MIGHT be done with four men. We oughter raise one man at the station.” + He paused. “I don't know ez I'd mind taking a hand myself,” he added, + stretching out his legs with a slight yawn. + </p> + <p> + “Ye can count ME in, if you're goin', Kernel. I reckon I'm talkin' to + Kernel Clinch,” said the passenger beside Hale with sudden alacrity. “I'm + Rawlins, of Frisco. Heerd of ye afore, Kernel, and kinder spotted you jist + now from your talk.” + </p> + <p> + To Hale's surprise the two men, after awkwardly and perfunctorily grasping + each other's hand, entered at once into a languid conversation on the + recent election at Fresno, without the slightest further reference to the + pursuit of the robbers. It was not until the remaining and undenominated + passenger turned to Hale, and, regretting that he had immediate business + at the Summit, offered to accompany the party if they would wait a couple + of hours, that Colonel Clinch briefly returned to the subject. + </p> + <p> + “FOUR men will do, and ez we'll hev to take horses from the station we'll + hev to take the fourth man from there.” + </p> + <p> + With these words he resumed his uninteresting conversation with the + equally uninterested Rawlins, and the undenominated passenger subsided + into an admiring and dreamy contemplation of them both. With all his + principle and really high-minded purpose, Hale could not help feeling + constrained and annoyed at the sudden subordinate and auxiliary position + to which he, the projector of the enterprise, had been reduced. It was + true that he had never offered himself as their leader; it was true that + the principle he wished to uphold and the effect he sought to obtain would + be equally demonstrated under another; it was true that the execution of + his own conception gravitated by some occult impulse to the man who had + not sought it, and whom he had always regarded as an incapable. But all + this was so unlike precedent or tradition that, after the fashion of + conservative men, he was suspicious of it, and only that his honor was now + involved he would have withdrawn from the enterprise. There was still a + chance of reasserting himself at the station, where he was known, and + where some authority might be deputed to him. + </p> + <p> + But even this prospect failed. The station, half hotel and half stable, + contained only the landlord, who was also express agent, and the new + volunteer who Clinch had suggested would be found among the stable-men. + The nearest justice of the peace was ten miles away, and Hale had to + abandon even his hope of being sworn in as a deputy constable. This + introduction of a common and illiterate ostler into the party on equal + terms with himself did not add to his satisfaction, and a remark from + Rawlins seemed to complete his embarrassment. + </p> + <p> + “Ye had a mighty narrer escape down there just now,” said that gentleman + confidentially, as Hale buckled his saddle girths. + </p> + <p> + “I thought, as we were not supposed to defend ourselves, there was no + danger,” said Hale scornfully. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I don't mean them road agents. But HIM.” + </p> + <p> + “Who?” + </p> + <p> + “Kernel Clinch. You jist ez good as allowed he hadn't any grit.” + </p> + <p> + “Whatever I said, I suppose I am responsible for it,” answered Hale + haughtily. + </p> + <p> + “That's what gits me,” was the imperturbable reply. “He's the best shot in + Southern California, and hez let daylight through a dozen chaps afore now + for half what you said.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed!” + </p> + <p> + “Howsummever,” continued Rawlins philosophically, “ez he's concluded to go + WITH ye instead of FOR ye, you're likely to hev your ideas on this matter + carried out up to the handle. He'll make short work of it, you bet. Ef, ez + I suspect, the leader is an airy young feller from Frisco, who hez took to + the road lately, Clinch hez got a personal grudge agin him from a quarrel + over draw poker.” + </p> + <p> + This was the last blow to Hale's ideal crusade. Here he was—an + honest, respectable citizen—engaged as simple accessory to a lawless + vendetta originating at a gambling table! When the first shock was over + that grim philosophy which is the reaction of all imaginative and + sensitive natures came to his aid. He felt better; oddly enough he began + to be conscious that he was thinking and acting like his companions. With + this feeling a vague sympathy, before absent, faintly showed itself in + their actions. The Sharpe's rifle put into his hands by the stable-man was + accompanied by a familiar word of suggestion as to an equal, which he was + ashamed to find flattered him. He was able to continue the conversation + with Rawlins more coolly. + </p> + <p> + “Then you suspect who is the leader?” + </p> + <p> + “Only on giniral principles. There was a finer touch, so to speak, in this + yer robbery that wasn't in the old-fashioned style. Down in my country + they hed crude ideas about them things—used to strip the passengers + of everything, includin' their clothes. They say that at the station + hotels, when the coach came in, the folks used to stand round with + blankets to wrap up the passengers so ez not to skeer the wimen. Thar's a + story that the driver and express manager drove up one day with only a + copy of the Alty Californy wrapped around 'em; but thin,” added Rawlins + grimly, “there WAS folks ez said the hull story was only an advertisement + got up for the Alty.” + </p> + <p> + “Time's up.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you ready, gentlemen?” said Colonel Clinch. + </p> + <p> + Hale started. He had forgotten his wife and family at Eagle's Court, ten + miles away. They would be alarmed at his absence, would perhaps hear some + exaggerated version of the stage coach robbery, and fear the worst. + </p> + <p> + “Is there any way I could send a line to Eagle's Court before daybreak?” + he asked eagerly. + </p> + <p> + The station was already drained of its spare men and horses. The + undenominated passenger stepped forward and offered to take it himself + when his business, which he would despatch as quickly as possible, was + concluded. + </p> + <p> + “That ain't a bad idea,” said Clinch reflectively, “for ef yer hurry + you'll head 'em off in case they scent us, and try to double back on the + North Ridge. They'll fight shy of the trail if they see anybody on it, and + one man's as good as a dozen.” + </p> + <p> + Hale could not help thinking that he might have been that one man, and had + his opportunity for independent action but for his rash proposal, but it + was too late to withdraw now. He hastily scribbled a few lines to his wife + on a sheet of the station paper, handed it to the man, and took his place + in the little cavalcade as it filed silently down the road. + </p> + <p> + They had ridden in silence for nearly an hour, and had passed the scene of + the robbery by a higher track. Morning had long ago advanced its colors on + the cold white peaks to their right, and was taking possession of the spur + where they rode. + </p> + <p> + “It looks like snow,” said Rawlins quietly. + </p> + <p> + Hale turned towards him in astonishment. Nothing on earth or sky looked + less likely. It had been cold, but that might have been only a current + from the frozen peaks beyond, reaching the lower valley. The ridge on + which they had halted was still thick with yellowish-green summer foliage, + mingled with the darker evergreen of pine and fir. Oven-like canyons in + the long flanks of the mountain seemed still to glow with the heat of + yesterday's noon; the breathless air yet trembled and quivered over + stifling gorges and passes in the granite rocks, while far at their feet + sixty miles of perpetual summer stretched away over the winding American + River, now and then lost in a gossamer haze. It was scarcely ripe October + where they stood; they could see the plenitude of August still lingering + in the valleys. + </p> + <p> + “I've seen Thomson's Pass choked up with fifteen feet o' snow earlier than + this,” said Rawlins, answering Hale's gaze; “and last September the + passengers sledded over the road we came last night, and all the time + Thomson, a mile lower down over the ridge in the hollow, smoking his pipes + under roses in his piazzy! Mountains is mighty uncertain; they make their + own weather ez they want it. I reckon you ain't wintered here yet.” + </p> + <p> + Hale was obliged to admit that he had only taken Eagle's Court in the + early spring. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you're all right at Eagle's—when you're there! But it's like + Thomson's—it's the gettin' there that—Hallo! What's that?” + </p> + <p> + A shot, distant but distinct, had rung through the keen air. It was + followed by another so alike as to seem an echo. + </p> + <p> + “That's over yon, on the North Ridge,” said the ostler, “about two miles + as the crow flies and five by the trail. Somebody's shootin' b'ar.” + </p> + <p> + “Not with a shot gun,” said Clinch, quickly wheeling his horse with a + gesture that electrified them. “It's THEM, and the've doubled on us! To + the North Ridge, gentlemen, and ride all you know!” + </p> + <p> + It needed no second challenge to completely transform that quiet + cavalcade. The wild man-hunting instinct, inseparable to most humanity, + rose at their leader's look and word. With an incoherent and + unintelligible cry, giving voice to the chase like the commonest hound of + their fields, the order-loving Hale and the philosophical Rawlins wheeled + with the others, and in another instant the little band swept out of sight + in the forest. + </p> + <p> + An immense and immeasurable quiet succeeded. The sunlight glistened + silently on cliff and scar, the vast distance below seemed to stretch out + and broaden into repose. It might have been fancy, but over the sharp line + of the North Ridge a light smoke lifted as of an escaping soul. + </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> + Eagle's Court, one of the highest canyons of the Sierras, was in reality a + plateau of table-land, embayed like a green lake in a semi-circular sweep + of granite, that, lifting itself three thousand feet higher, became a + foundation for the eternal snows. The mountain genii of space and + atmosphere jealously guarded its seclusion and surrounded it with + illusions; it never looked to be exactly what it was: the traveller who + saw it from the North Ridge apparently at his feet in descending found + himself separated from it by a mile-long abyss and a rushing river; those + who sought it by a seeming direct trail at the end of an hour lost sight + of it completely, or, abandoning the quest and retracing their steps, + suddenly came upon the gap through which it was entered. That which from + the Ridge appeared to be a copse of bushes beside the tiny dwelling were + trees three hundred feet high; the cultivated lawn before it, which might + have been covered by the traveller's handkerchief, was a field of a + thousand acres. + </p> + <p> + The house itself was a long, low, irregular structure, chiefly of roof and + veranda, picturesquely upheld by rustic pillars of pine, with the bark + still adhering, and covered with vines and trailing roses. Yet it was + evident that the coolness produced by this vast extent of cover was more + than the architect, who had planned it under the influence of a staring + and bewildering sky, had trustfully conceived, for it had to be mitigated + by blazing fires in open hearths when the thermometer marked a hundred + degrees in the field beyond. The dry, restless wind that continually + rocked the tall masts of the pines with a sound like the distant sea, + while it stimulated out-door physical exertion and defied fatigue, left + the sedentary dwellers in these altitudes chilled in the shade they + courted, or scorched them with heat when they ventured to bask supinely in + the sun. White muslin curtains at the French windows, and rugs, skins, and + heavy furs dispersed in the interior, with certain other charming but + incongruous details of furniture, marked the inconsistencies of the + climate. + </p> + <p> + There was a coquettish indication of this in the costume of Miss Kate + Scott as she stepped out on the veranda that morning. A man's + broad-brimmed Panama hat, partly unsexed by a twisted gayly-colored scarf, + but retaining enough character to give piquancy to the pretty curves of + the face beneath, protected her from the sun; a red flannel shirt—another + spoil from the enemy—and a thick jacket shielded her from the + austerities of the morning breeze. But the next inconsistency was + peculiarly her own. Miss Kate always wore the freshest and lightest of + white cambric skirts, without the least reference to the temperature. To + the practical sanatory remonstrances of her brother-in-law, and to the + conventional criticism of her sister, she opposed the same defence: “How + else is one to tell when it is summer in this ridiculous climate? And + then, woollen is stuffy, color draws the sun, and one at least knows when + one is clean or dirty.” Artistically the result was far from + unsatisfactory. It was a pretty figure under the sombre pines, against the + gray granite and the steely sky, and seemed to lend the yellowing fields + from which the flowers had already fled a floral relief of color. I do not + think the few masculine wayfarers of that locality objected to it; indeed, + some had betrayed an indiscreet admiration, and had curiously followed the + invitation of Miss Kate's warmly-colored figure until they had encountered + the invincible indifference of Miss Kate's cold gray eyes. With these + manifestations her brother-in-law did not concern himself; he had perfect + confidence in her unqualified disinterest in the neighboring humanity, and + permitted her to wander in her solitary picturesqueness, or accompanied + her when she rode in her dark green habit, with equal freedom from + anxiety. + </p> + <p> + For Miss Scott, although only twenty, had already subjected most of her + maidenly illusions to mature critical analyses. She had voluntarily + accompanied her sister and mother to California, in the earnest hope that + nature contained something worth saying to her, and was disappointed to + find she had already discounted its value in the pages of books. She hoped + to find a vague freedom in this unconventional life thus opened to her, or + rather to show others that she knew how intelligently to appreciate it, + but as yet she was only able to express it in the one detail of dress + already alluded to. Some of the men, and nearly all the women, she had met + thus far, she was amazed to find, valued the conventionalities she + believed she despised, and were voluntarily assuming the chains she + thought she had thrown off. Instead of learning anything from them, these + children of nature had bored her with eager questionings regarding the + civilization she had abandoned, or irritated her with crude imitations of + it for her benefit. “Fancy,” she had written to a friend in Boston, “my + calling on Sue Murphy, who remembered the Donner tragedy, and who once + shot a grizzly that was prowling round her cabin, and think of her begging + me to lend her my sack for a pattern, and wanting to know if 'polonays' + were still worn.” She remembered more bitterly the romance that had + tickled her earlier fancy, told of two college friends of her + brother-in-law's who were living the “perfect life” in the mines, laboring + in the ditches with a copy of Homer in their pockets, and writing letters + of the purest philosophy under the free air of the pines. How, coming + unexpectedly on them in their Arcadia, the party found them unpresentable + through dirt, and thenceforth unknowable through domestic complications + that had filled their Arcadian cabin with half-breed children. + </p> + <p> + Much of this disillusion she had kept within her own heart, from a feeling + of pride, or only lightly touched upon it in her relations with her mother + and sister. For Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Scott had no idols to shatter, no + enthusiasm to subdue. Firmly and unalterably conscious of their own + superiority to the life they led and the community that surrounded them, + they accepted their duties cheerfully, and performed them conscientiously. + Those duties were loyalty to Hale's interests and a vague missionary work + among the neighbors, which, like most missionary work, consisted rather in + making their own ideas understood than in understanding the ideas of their + audience. Old Mrs. Scott's zeal was partly religious, an inheritance from + her Puritan ancestry; Mrs. Hale's was the affability of a gentlewoman and + the obligation of her position. To this was added the slight languor of + the cultivated American wife, whose health has been affected by the birth + of her first child, and whose views of marriage and maternity were + slightly tinged with gentle scepticism. She was sincerely attached to her + husband, “who dominated the household” like the rest of his “women folk,” + with the faint consciousness of that division of service which renders the + position of the sultan of a seraglio at once so prominent and so + precarious. The attitude of John Hale in his family circle was dominant + because it had never been subjected to criticism or comparison; and + perilous for the same reason. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Hale presently joined her sister in the veranda, and, shading her + eyes with a narrow white hand, glanced on the prospect with a polite + interest and ladylike urbanity. The searching sun, which, as Miss Kate + once intimated, was “vulgarity itself,” stared at her in return, but could + not call a blush to her somewhat sallow cheek. Neither could it detract, + however, from the delicate prettiness of her refined face with its soft + gray shadows, or the dark gentle eyes, whose blue-veined lids were just + then wrinkled into coquettishly mischievous lines by the strong light. She + was taller and thinner than Kate, and had at times a certain shy, coy + sinuosity of movement which gave her a more virginal suggestion than her + unmarried sister. For Miss Kate, from her earliest youth, had been + distinguished by that matronly sedateness of voice and step, and + completeness of figure, which indicates some members of the gallinaceous + tribe from their callow infancy. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose John must have stopped at the Summit on some business,” said + Mrs. Hale, “or he would have been here already. It's scarcely worth while + waiting for him, unless you choose to ride over and meet him. You might + change your dress,” she continued, looking doubtfully at Kate's costume. + “Put on your riding-habit, and take Manuel with you.” + </p> + <p> + “And take the only man we have, and leave you alone?” returned Kate + slowly. “No!” + </p> + <p> + “There are the Chinese field hands,” said Mrs. Hale; “you must correct + your ideas, and really allow them some humanity, Kate. John says they have + a very good compulsory school system in their own country, and can read + and write.” + </p> + <p> + “That would be of little use to you here alone if—if—” Kate + hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “If what?” said Mrs. Hale smiling. “Are you thinking of Manuel's dreadful + story of the grizzly tracks across the fields this morning? I promise you + that neither I, nor mother, nor Minnie shall stir out of the house until + you return, if you wish it.” + </p> + <p> + “I wasn't thinking of that,” said Kate; “though I don't believe the + beating of a gong and the using of strong language is the best way to + frighten a grizzly from the house. Besides, the Chinese are going down the + river to-day to a funeral, or a wedding, or a feast of stolen chickens—they're + all the same—and won't be here.” + </p> + <p> + “Then take Manuel,” repeated Mrs. Hale. “We have the Chinese servants and + Indian Molly in the house to protect us from Heaven knows what! I have the + greatest confidence in Chy-Lee as a warrior, and in Chinese warfare + generally. One has only to hear him pipe in time of peace to imagine what + a terror he might become in war time. Indeed, anything more deadly and + soul-harrowing than that love song he sang for us last night I cannot + conceive. But really, Kate, I am not afraid to stay alone. You know what + John says: we ought to be always prepared for anything that might happen. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Josie,” returned Kate, putting her arm around her sister's waist, + “I am perfectly convinced that if three-fingered Jack, or two-toed Bill, + or even Joaquim Murietta himself, should step, red-handed, on that + veranda, you would gently invite him to take a cup of tea, inquire about + the state of the road, and refrain delicately from any allusions to the + sheriff. But I shan't take Manuel from you. I really cannot undertake to + look after his morals at the station, and keep him from drinking + aguardiente with suspicious characters at the bar. It is true he 'kisses + my hand' in his speech, even when it is thickest, and offers his back to + me for a horse-block, but I think I prefer the sober and honest + familiarity of even that Pike County landlord who is satisfied to say, + 'Jump, girl, and I'll ketch ye!'” + </p> + <p> + “I hope you didn't change your manner to either of them for that,” said + Mrs. Hale with a faint sigh. “John wants to be good friends with them, and + they are behaving quite decently lately, considering that they can't speak + a grammatical sentence nor know the use of a fork.” + </p> + <p> + “And now the man puts on gloves and a tall hat to come here on Sundays, + and the woman won't call until you've called first,” retorted Kate; + “perhaps you call that improvement. The fact is, Josephine,” continued the + young girl, folding her arms demurely, “we might as well admit it at once—these + people don't like us.” + </p> + <p> + “That's impossible!” said Mrs. Hale, with sublime simplicity. “You don't + like them, you mean.” + </p> + <p> + “I like them better than you do, Josie, and that's the reason why I feel + it and YOU don't.” She checked herself, and after a pause resumed in a + lighter tone: “No; I sha'n't go to the station; I'll commune with nature + to-day, and won't 'take any humanity in mine, thank you,' as Bill the + driver says. Adios.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish Kate would not use that dreadful slang, even in jest,” said Mrs. + Scott, in her rocking-chair at the French window, when Josephine reentered + the parlor as her sister walked briskly away. “I am afraid she is being + infected by the people at the station. She ought to have a change.” + </p> + <p> + “I was just thinking,” said Josephine, looking abstractedly at her mother, + “that I would try to get John to take her to San Francisco this winter. + The Careys are expected, you know; she might visit them.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid, if she stays here much longer, she won't care to see them at + all. She seems to care for nothing now that she ever liked before,” + returned the old lady ominously. + </p> + <p> + Meantime the subject of these criticisms was carrying away her own + reflections tightly buttoned up in her short jacket. She had driven back + her dog Spot—another one of her disillusions, who, giving way to his + lower nature, had once killed a sheep—as she did not wish her + Jacques-like contemplation of any wounded deer to be inconsistently + interrupted by a fresh outrage from her companion. The air was really very + chilly, and for the first time in her mountain experience the direct rays + of the sun seemed to be shorn of their power. This compelled her to walk + more briskly than she was conscious of, for in less than an hour she came + suddenly and breathlessly upon the mouth of the canyon, or natural gateway + to Eagle's Court. + </p> + <p> + To her always a profound spectacle of mountain magnificence, it seemed + to-day almost terrible in its cold, strong grandeur. The narrowing pass + was choked for a moment between two gigantic buttresses of granite, + approaching each other so closely at their towering summits that trees + growing in opposite clefts of the rock intermingled their branches and + pointed the soaring Gothic arch of a stupendous gateway. She raised her + eyes with a quickly beating heart. She knew that the interlacing trees + above her were as large as those she had just quitted; she knew also that + the point where they met was only half-way up the cliff, for she had once + gazed down upon them, dwindled to shrubs from the airy summit; she knew + that their shaken cones fell a thousand feet perpendicularly, or bounded + like shot from the scarred walls they bombarded. She remembered that one + of these pines, dislodged from its high foundations, had once dropped like + a portcullis in the archway, blocking the pass, and was only carried + afterwards by assault of steel and fire. Bending her head mechanically, + she ran swiftly through the shadowy passage, and halted only at the + beginning of the ascent on the other side. + </p> + <p> + It was here that the actual position of the plateau, so indefinite of + approach, began to be realized. It now appeared an independent elevation, + surrounded on three sides by gorges and watercourses, so narrow as to be + overlooked from the principal mountain range, with which it was connected + by a long canyon that led to the ridge. At the outlet of this canyon—in + bygone ages a mighty river—it had the appearance of having been + slowly raised by the diluvium of that river, and the debris washed down + from above—a suggestion repeated in miniature by the artificial + plateaus of excavated soil raised before the mouths of mining tunnels in + the lower flanks of the mountain. It was the realization of a fact—often + forgotten by the dwellers in Eagle's Court—that the valley below + them, which was their connecting link with the surrounding world, was only + reached by ascending the mountain, and the nearest road was over the + higher mountain ridge. Never before had this impressed itself so strongly + upon the young girl as when she turned that morning to look upon the + plateau below her. It seemed to illustrate the conviction that had been + slowly shaping itself out of her reflections on the conversation of that + morning. It was possible that the perfect understanding of a higher life + was only reached from a height still greater, and that to those half-way + up the mountain the summit was never as truthfully revealed as to the + humbler dwellers in the valley. + </p> + <p> + I do not know that these profound truths prevented her from gathering some + quaint ferns and berries, or from keeping her calm gray eyes open to + certain practical changes that were taking place around her. She had + noticed a singular thickening in the atmosphere that seemed to prevent the + passage of the sun's rays, yet without diminishing the transparent quality + of the air. The distant snow-peaks were as plainly seen, though they + appeared as if in moonlight. This seemed due to no cloud or mist, but + rather to a fading of the sun itself. The occasional flurry of wings + overhead, the whirring of larger birds in the cover, and a frequent + rustling in the undergrowth, as of the passage of some stealthy animal, + began equally to attract her attention. It was so different from the + habitual silence of these sedate solitudes. Kate had no vague fear of wild + beasts; she had been long enough a mountaineer to understand the general + immunity enjoyed by the unmolesting wayfarer, and kept her way undismayed. + She was descending an abrupt trail when she was stopped by a sudden crash + in the bushes. It seemed to come from the opposite incline, directly in a + line with her, and apparently on the very trail that she was pursuing. The + crash was then repeated again and again lower down, as of a descending + body. Expecting the apparition of some fallen tree, or detached boulder + bursting through the thicket, in its way to the bottom of the gulch, she + waited. The foliage was suddenly brushed aside, and a large grizzly bear + half rolled, half waddled, into the trail on the opposite side of the + hill. A few moments more would have brought them face to face at the foot + of the gulch; when she stopped there were not fifty yards between them. + </p> + <p> + She did not scream; she did not faint; she was not even frightened. There + did not seem to be anything terrifying in this huge, stupid beast, who, + arrested by the rustle of a stone displaced by her descending feet, rose + slowly on his haunches and gazed at her with small, wondering eyes. Nor + did it seem strange to her, seeing that he was in her way, to pick up a + stone, throw it in his direction, and say simply, “Sho! get away!” as she + would have done to an intruding cow. Nor did it seem odd that he should + actually “go away” as he did, scrambling back into the bushes again, and + disappearing like some grotesque figure in a transformation scene. It was + not until after he had gone that she was taken with a slight nervousness + and giddiness, and retraced her steps somewhat hurriedly, shying a little + at every rustle in the thicket. By the time she had reached the great + gateway she was doubtful whether to be pleased or frightened at the + incident, but she concluded to keep it to herself. + </p> + <p> + It was still intensely cold. The light of the midday sun had decreased + still more, and on reaching the plateau again she saw that a dark cloud, + not unlike the precursor of a thunder-storm, was brooding over the snowy + peaks beyond. In spite of the cold this singular suggestion of summer + phenomena was still borne out by the distant smiling valley, and even in + the soft grasses at her feet. It seemed to her the crowning inconsistency + of the climate, and with a half-serious, half-playful protest on her lips + she hurried forward to seek the shelter of the house. + </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> + To Kate's surprise, the lower part of the house was deserted, but there + was an unusual activity on the floor above, and the sound of heavy steps. + There were alien marks of dusty feet on the scrupulously clean passage, + and on the first step of the stairs a spot of blood. With a sudden genuine + alarm that drove her previous adventure from her mind, she impatiently + called her sister's name. There was a hasty yet subdued rustle of skirts + on the staircase, and Mrs. Hale, with her finger on her lip, swept Kate + unceremoniously into the sitting-room, closed the door, and leaned back + against it, with a faint smile. She had a crumpled paper in her hand. + </p> + <p> + “Don't be alarmed, but read that first,” she said, handing her sister the + paper. “It was brought just now.” + </p> + <p> + Kate instantly recognized her brother's distinct hand. She read hurriedly, + “The coach was robbed last night; nobody hurt. I've lost nothing but a + day's time, as this business will keep me here until to-morrow, when + Manuel can join me with a fresh horse. No cause for alarm. As the bearer + goes out of his way to bring you this, see that he wants for nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Kate expectantly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, the 'bearer' was fired upon by the robbers, who were lurking on the + Ridge. He was wounded in the leg. Luckily he was picked up by his friend, + who was coming to meet him, and brought here as the nearest place. He's + up-stairs in the spare bed in the spare room, with his friend, who won't + leave his side. He won't even have mother in the room. They've stopped the + bleeding with John's ambulance things, and now, Kate, here's a chance for + you to show the value of your education in the ambulance class. The ball + has got to be extracted. Here's your opportunity.” + </p> + <p> + Kate looked at her sister curiously. There was a faint pink flush on her + pale cheeks, and her eyes were gently sparkling. She had never seen her + look so pretty before. + </p> + <p> + “Why not have sent Manuel for a doctor at once?” asked Kate. + </p> + <p> + “The nearest doctor is fifteen miles away, and Manuel is nowhere to be + found. Perhaps he's gone to look after the stock. There's some talk of + snow; imagine the absurdity of it!” + </p> + <p> + “But who are they?” + </p> + <p> + “They speak of themselves as 'friends,' as if it were a profession. The + wounded one was a passenger, I suppose.” + </p> + <p> + “But what are they like?” continued Kate. “I suppose they're like them + all.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Hale shrugged her shoulders. + </p> + <p> + “The wounded one, when he's not fainting away, is laughing. The other is a + creature with a moustache, and gloomy beyond expression.” + </p> + <p> + “What are you going to do with them?” said Kate. + </p> + <p> + “What should I do? Even without John's letter I could not refuse the + shelter of my house to a wounded and helpless man. I shall keep him, of + course, until John comes. Why, Kate, I really believe you are so + prejudiced against these people you'd like to turn them out. But I forget! + It's because you LIKE them so well. Well, you need not fear to expose + yourself to the fascinations of the wounded Christy Minstrel—I'm + sure he's that—or to the unspeakable one, who is shyness itself, and + would not dare to raise his eyes to you.” + </p> + <p> + There was a timid, hesitating step in the passage. It paused before the + door, moved away, returned, and finally asserted its intentions in the + gentlest of taps. + </p> + <p> + “It's him; I'm sure of it,” said Mrs. Hale, with a suppressed smile. + </p> + <p> + Kate threw open the door smartly, to the extreme discomfiture of a tall, + dark figure that already had slunk away from it. For all that, he was a + good-looking enough fellow, with a moustache as long and almost as + flexible as a ringlet. Kate could not help noticing also that his hand, + which was nervously pulling the moustache, was white and thin. + </p> + <p> + “Excuse me,” he stammered, without raising his eyes, “I was looking for—for—the + old lady. I—I beg your pardon. I didn't know that you—the + young ladies—company—were here. I intended—I only wanted + to say that my friend—” He stopped at the slight smile that passed + quickly over Mrs. Hale's mouth, and his pale face reddened with an angry + flush. + </p> + <p> + “I hope he is not worse,” said Mrs. Hale, with more than her usual languid + gentleness. “My mother is not here at present. Can I—can WE—this + is my sister—do as well?” + </p> + <p> + Without looking up he made a constrained recognition of Kate's presence, + that embarrassed and curt as it was, had none of the awkwardness of + rusticity. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you; you're very kind. But my friend is a little stronger, and if + you can lend me an extra horse I'll try to get him on the Summit + to-night.” + </p> + <p> + “But you surely will not take him away from us so soon?” said Mrs. Hale, + with a languid look of alarm, in which Kate, however, detected a certain + real feeling. “Wait at least until my husband returns to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “He won't be here to-morrow,” said the stranger hastily. He stopped, and + as quickly corrected himself. “That is, his business is so very uncertain, + my friend says.” + </p> + <p> + Only Kate noticed the slip; but she noticed also that her sister was + apparently unconscious of it. “You think,” she said, “that Mr. Hale may be + delayed?” + </p> + <p> + He turned upon her almost brusquely. “I mean that it is already snowing up + there;” he pointed through the window to the cloud Kate had noticed; “if + it comes down lower in the pass the roads will be blocked up. That is why + it would be better for us to try and get on at once.” + </p> + <p> + “But if Mr. Hale is likely to be stopped by snow, so are you,” said Mrs. + Hale playfully; “and you had better let us try to make your friend + comfortable here rather than expose him to that uncertainty in his weak + condition. We will do our best for him. My sister is dying for an + opportunity to show her skill in surgery,” she continued, with an + unexpected mischievousness that only added to Kate's surprised + embarrassment. “Aren't you, Kate?” + </p> + <p> + Equivocal as the young girl knew her silence appeared, she was unable to + utter the simplest polite evasion. Some unaccountable impulse kept her + constrained and speechless. The stranger did not, however, wait for her + reply, but, casting a swift, hurried glance around the room, said, “It's + impossible; we must go. In fact, I've already taken the liberty to order + the horses round. They are at the door now. You may be certain,” he added, + with quick earnestness, suddenly lifting his dark eyes to Mrs. Hale, and + as rapidly withdrawing them, “that your horse will be returned at once, + and—and—we won't forget your kindness.” He stopped and turned + towards the hall. “I—I have brought my friend down-stairs. He wants + to thank you before he goes.” + </p> + <p> + As he remained standing in the hall the two women stepped to the door. To + their surprise, half reclining on a cane sofa was the wounded man, and + what could be seen of his slight figure was wrapped in a dark serape. His + beardless face gave him a quaint boyishness quite inconsistent with the + mature lines of his temples and forehead. Pale, and in pain, as he + evidently was, his blue eyes twinkled with intense amusement. Not only did + his manner offer a marked contrast to the sombre uneasiness of his + companion, but he seemed to be the only one perfectly at his ease in the + group around him. + </p> + <p> + “It's rather rough making you come out here to see me off,” he said, with + a not unmusical laugh that was very infectious, “but Ned there, who + carried me downstairs, wanted to tote me round the house in his arms like + a baby to say ta-ta to you all. Excuse my not rising, but I feel as + uncertain below as a mermaid, and as out of my element,” he added, with a + mischievous glance at his friend. “Ned concluded I must go on. But I must + say good-by to the old lady first. Ah! here she is.” + </p> + <p> + To Kate's complete bewilderment, not only did the utter familiarity of + this speech, pass unnoticed and unrebuked by her sister, but actually her + own mother advanced quickly with every expression of lively sympathy, and + with the authority of her years and an almost maternal anxiety endeavored + to dissuade the invalid from going. “This is not my house,” she said, + looking at her daughter, “but if it were I should not hear of your + leaving, not only to-night, but until you were out of danger. Josephine! + Kate! What are you thinking of to permit it? Well, then I forbid it—there!” + </p> + <p> + Had they become suddenly insane, or were they bewitched by this morose + intruder and his insufferably familiar confidant? The man was wounded, it + was true; they might have to put him up in common humanity; but here was + her austere mother, who wouldn't come in the room when Whisky Dick called + on business, actually pressing both of the invalid's hands, while her + sister, who never extended a finger to the ordinary visiting humanity of + the neighborhood, looked on with evident complacency. + </p> + <p> + The wounded man suddenly raised Mrs. Scott's hand to his lips, kissed it + gently, and, with his smile quite vanished, endeavored to rise to his + feet. “It's of no use—we must go. Give me your arm, Ned. Quick! Are + the horses there?” + </p> + <p> + “Dear me,” said Mrs. Scott quickly. “I forgot to say the horse cannot be + found anywhere. Manuel must have taken him this morning to look up the + stock. But he will be back to-night certainly, and if to-morrow—” + </p> + <p> + The wounded man sank back to a sitting position. “Is Manuel your man?” he + asked grimly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + The two men exchanged glances. + </p> + <p> + “Marked on his left cheek and drinks a good deal?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Kate, finding her voice. “Why?” + </p> + <p> + The amused look came back to the man's eyes. “That kind of man isn't safe + to wait for. We must take our own horse, Ned. Are you ready?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + The wounded man again attempted to rise. He fell back, but this time quite + heavily. He had fainted. + </p> + <p> + Involuntarily and simultaneously the three women rushed to his side. “He + cannot go,” said Kate suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “He will be better in a moment.” + </p> + <p> + “But only for a moment. Will nothing induce you to change your mind?” + </p> + <p> + As if in reply a sudden gust of wind brought a volley of rain against the + window. + </p> + <p> + “THAT will,” said the stranger bitterly. + </p> + <p> + “The rain?” + </p> + <p> + “A mile from here it is SNOW; and before we could reach the Summit with + these horses the road would be impassable.” + </p> + <p> + He made a slight gesture to himself, as if accepting an inevitable defeat, + and turned to his companion, who was slowly reviving under the active + ministration of the two women. The wounded man looked around with a weak + smile. “This is one way of going off,” he said faintly, “but I could do + this sort of thing as well on the road.” + </p> + <p> + “You can do nothing now,” said his friend, decidedly. “Before we get to + the Gate the road will be impassable for our horses.” + </p> + <p> + “For ANY horses?” asked Kate. + </p> + <p> + “For any horses. For any man or beast I might say. Where we cannot get + out, no one can get in,” he added, as if answering her thoughts. “I am + afraid that you won't see your brother to-morrow morning. But I'll + reconnoitre as soon as I can do so without torturing HIM,” he said, + looking anxiously at the helpless man; “he's got about his share of pain, + I reckon, and the first thing is to get him easier.” It was the longest + speech he had made to her; it was the first time he had fairly looked her + in the face. His shy restlessness had suddenly given way to dogged + resignation, less abstracted, but scarcely more flattering to his + entertainers. Lifting his companion gently in his arms, as if he had been + a child, he reascended the staircase, Mrs. Scott and the hastily-summoned + Molly following with overflowing solicitude. As soon as they were alone in + the parlor Mrs. Hale turned to her sister: “Only that our guests seemed to + be as anxious to go just now as you were to pack them off, I should have + been shocked at your inhospitality. What has come over you, Kate? These + are the very people you have reproached me so often with not being civil + enough to.” + </p> + <p> + “But WHO are they?” + </p> + <p> + “How do I know? There is YOUR BROTHER'S letter.” + </p> + <p> + She usually spoke of her husband as “John.” This slight shifting of + relationship and responsibility to the feminine mind was significant. Kate + was a little frightened and remorseful. + </p> + <p> + “I only meant you don't even know their names.” + </p> + <p> + “That wasn't necessary for giving them a bed and bandages. Do you suppose + the good Samaritan ever asked the wounded Jew's name, and that the Levite + did not excuse himself because the thieves had taken the poor man's + card-case? Do the directions, 'In case of accident,' in your ambulance + rules, read, 'First lay the sufferer on his back and inquire his name and + family connections'? Besides, you can call one 'Ned' and the other + 'George,' if you like.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you know what I mean,” said Kate, irrelevantly. “Which is George?” + </p> + <p> + “George is the wounded man,” said Mrs. Hale; “NOT the one who talked to + you more than he did to any one else. I suppose the poor man was + frightened and read dismissal in your eyes.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish John were here.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think we have anything to fear in his absence from men whose only + wish is to get away from us. If it is a question of propriety, my dear + Kate, surely there is the presence of mother to prevent any scandal—although + really her own conduct with the wounded one is not above suspicion,” she + added, with that novel mischievousness that seemed a return of her lost + girlhood. “We must try to do the best we can with them and for them,” she + said decidedly, “and meantime I'll see if I can't arrange John's room for + them.” + </p> + <p> + “John's room?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, mother is perfectly satisfied; indeed, suggested it. It's larger and + will hold two beds, for 'Ned,' the friend, must attend to him at night. + And, Kate, don't you think, if you're not going out again, you might + change your costume? It does very well while we are alone—” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Kate indignantly, “as I am not going into his room—” + </p> + <p> + “I'm not so sure about that, if we can't get a regular doctor. But he is + very restless, and wanders all over the house like a timid and apologetic + spaniel.” + </p> + <p> + “Who?” + </p> + <p> + “Why 'Ned.' But I must go and look after the patient. I suppose they've + got him safe in his bed again,” and with a nod to her sister she tripped + up-stairs. + </p> + <p> + Uncomfortable and embarrassed, she knew not why, Kate sought her mother. + But that good lady was already in attendance on the patient, and Kate + hurried past that baleful centre of attraction with a feeling of + loneliness and strangeness she had never experienced before. Entering her + own room she went to the window—that first and last refuge of the + troubled mind—and gazed out. Turning her eyes in the direction of + her morning's walk, she started back with a sense of being dazzled. She + rubbed first her eyes and then the rain-dimmed pane. It was no illusion! + The whole landscape, so familiar to her, was one vast field of dead, + colorless white! Trees, rocks, even distance itself, had vanished in those + few hours. An even shadowless, motionless white sea filled the horizon. On + either side a vast wall of snow seemed to shut out the world like a + shroud. Only the green plateau before her, with its sloping meadows and + fringe of pines and cottonwood, lay alone like a summer island in this + frozen sea. + </p> + <p> + A sudden desire to view this phenomenon more closely, and to learn for + herself the limits of this new tethered life, completely possessed her, + and, accustomed to act upon her independent impulses, she seized a hooded + waterproof cloak, and slipped out of the house unperceived. The rain was + falling steadily along the descending trail where she walked, but beyond, + scarcely a mile across the chasm, the wintry distance began to confuse her + brain with the inextricable swarming of snow. Hurrying down with feverish + excitement, she at last came in sight of the arching granite portals of + their domain. But her first glance through the gateway showed it closed as + if with a white portcullis. Kate remembered that the trail began to ascend + beyond the arch, and knew that what she saw was only the mountain side she + had partly climbed this morning. But the snow had already crept down its + flank, and the exit by trail was practically closed. Breathlessly making + her way back to the highest part of the plateau—the cliff behind the + house that here descended abruptly to the rain-dimmed valley—she + gazed at the dizzy depths in vain for some undiscovered or forgotten trail + along its face. But a single glance convinced her of its inaccessibility. + The gateway was indeed their only outlet to the plain below. She looked + back at the falling snow beyond until she fancied she could see in the + crossing and recrossing lines the moving meshes of a fateful web woven + around them by viewless but inexorable fingers. + </p> + <p> + Half frightened, she was turning away, when she perceived, a few paces + distant, the figure of the stranger, “Ned,” also apparently absorbed in + the gloomy prospect. He was wrapped in the clinging folds of a black + serape braided with silver; the broad flap of a slouch hat beaten back by + the wind exposed the dark, glistening curls on his white forehead. He was + certainly very handsome and picturesque, and that apparently without + effort or consciousness. Neither was there anything in his costume or + appearance inconsistent with his surroundings, or, even with what Kate + could judge were his habits or position. Nevertheless, she instantly + decided that he was TOO handsome and too picturesque, without suspecting + that her ideas of the limits of masculine beauty were merely personal + experience. + </p> + <p> + As he turned away from the cliff they were brought face to face. “It + doesn't look very encouraging over there,” he said quietly, as if the + inevitableness of the situation had relieved him of his previous shyness + and effort; “it's even worse than I expected. The snow must have begun + there last night, and it looks as if it meant to stay.” He stopped for a + moment, and then, lifting his eyes to her, said:— + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you know what this means?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand you.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought not. Well! it means that you are absolutely cut off here from + any communication or intercourse with any one outside of that canyon. By + this time the snow is five feet deep over the only trail by which one can + pass in and out of that gateway. I am not alarming you, I hope, for there + is no real physical danger; a place like this ought to be well garrisoned, + and certainly is self-supporting so far as the mere necessities and even + comforts are concerned. You have wood, water, cattle, and game at your + command, but for two weeks at least you are completely isolated.” + </p> + <p> + “For two weeks,” said Kate, growing pale—“and my brother!” + </p> + <p> + “He knows all by this time, and is probably as assured as I am of the + safety of his family.” + </p> + <p> + “For two weeks,” continued Kate; “impossible! You don't know my brother! + He will find some way to get to us.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope so,” returned the stranger gravely, “for what is possible for him + is possible for us.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you are anxious to get away,” Kate could not help saying. + </p> + <p> + “Very.” + </p> + <p> + The reply was not discourteous in manner, but was so far from gallant that + Kate felt a new and inconsistent resentment. Before she could say anything + he added, “And I hope you will remember, whatever may happen, that I did + my best to avoid staying here longer than was necessary to keep my friend + from bleeding to death in the road.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” said Kate; then added awkwardly, “I hope he'll be better + soon.” She was silent, and then, quickening her pace, said hurriedly, “I + must tell my sister this dreadful news.” + </p> + <p> + “I think she is prepared for it. If there is anything I can do to help you + I hope you will let me know. Perhaps I may be of some service. I shall + begin by exploring the trails to-morrow, for the best service we can do + you possibly is to take ourselves off; but I can carry a gun, and the + woods are full of game driven down from the mountains. Let me show you + something you may not have noticed.” He stopped, and pointed to a small + knoll of sheltered shrubbery and granite on the opposite mountain, which + still remained black against the surrounding snow. It seemed to be thickly + covered with moving objects. “They are wild animals driven out of the + snow,” said the stranger. “That larger one is a grizzly; there is a + panther, wolves, wild cats, a fox, and some mountain goats.” + </p> + <p> + “An ill-assorted party,” said the young girl. + </p> + <p> + “Ill luck makes them companions. They are too frightened to hurt one + another now.” + </p> + <p> + “But they will eat each other later on,” said Kate, stealing a glance at + her companion. + </p> + <p> + He lifted his long lashes and met her eyes. “Not on a haven of refuge.” + </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> + Kate found her sister, as the stranger had intimated, fully prepared. A + hasty inventory of provisions and means of subsistence showed that they + had ample resources for a much longer isolation. + </p> + <p> + “They tell me it is by no means an uncommon case, Kate; somebody over at + somebody's place was snowed in for four weeks, and now it appears that + even the Summit House is not always accessible. John ought to have known + it when he bought the place; in fact, I was ashamed to admit that he did + not. But that is like John to prefer his own theories to the experience of + others. However, I don't suppose we should even notice the privation + except for the mails. It will be a lesson to John, though. As Mr. Lee + says, he is on the outside, and can probably go wherever he likes from the + Summit except to come here.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Lee?” echoed Kate. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, the wounded one; and the other's name is Falkner. I asked them in + order that you might be properly introduced. There were very respectable + Falkners in Charlestown, you remember; I thought you might warm to the + name, and perhaps trace the connection, now that you are such good + friends. It's providential they are here, as we haven't got a horse or a + man in the place since Manuel disappeared, though Mr. Falkner says he + can't be far away, or they would have met him on the trail if he had gone + towards the Summit.” + </p> + <p> + “Did they say anything more of Manuel?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing; though I am inclined to agree with you that he isn't + trustworthy. But that again is the result of John's idea of employing + native skill at the expense of retaining native habits.” + </p> + <p> + The evening closed early, and with no diminution in the falling rain and + rising wind. Falkner kept his word, and unostentatiously performed the + out-door work in the barn and stables, assisted by the only Chinese + servant remaining, and under the advice and supervision of Kate. Although + he seemed to understand horses, she was surprised to find that he betrayed + a civic ignorance of the ordinary details of the farm and rustic + household. It was quite impossible that she should retain her distrustful + attitude, or he his reserve in their enforced companionship. They talked + freely of subjects suggested by the situation, Falkner exhibiting a + general knowledge and intuition of things without parade or dogmatism. + Doubtful of all versatility as Kate was, she could not help admitting to + herself that his truths were none the less true for their quantity or that + he got at them without ostentatious processes. His talk certainly was more + picturesque than her brother's, and less subduing to her faculties. John + had always crushed her. + </p> + <p> + When they returned to the house he did not linger in the parlor or + sitting-room, but at once rejoined his friend. When dinner was ready in + the dining-room, a little more deliberately arranged and ornamented than + usual, the two women were somewhat surprised to receive an excuse from + Falkner, begging them to allow him for the present to take his meals with + the patient, and thus save the necessity of another attendant. + </p> + <p> + “It is all shyness, Kate,” said Mrs. Hale, confidently, “and must not be + permitted for a moment.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm sure I should be quite willing to stay with the poor boy myself,” + said Mrs. Scott, simply, “and take Mr. Falkner's place while he dines.” + </p> + <p> + “You are too willing, mother,” said Mrs. Hale, pertly, “and your 'poor + boy,' as you call him, will never see thirty-five again.” + </p> + <p> + “He will never see any other birthday!” retorted her mother, “unless you + keep him more quiet. He only talks when you're in the room.” + </p> + <p> + “He wants some relief to his friend's long face and moustachios that make + him look prematurely in mourning,” said Mrs. Hale, with a slight increase + of animation. “I don't propose to leave them too much together. After + dinner we'll adjourn to their room and lighten it up a little. You must + come, Kate, to look at the patient, and counteract the baleful effects of + my frivolity.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Hale's instincts were truer than her mother's experience; not only + that the wounded man's eyes became brighter under the provocation of her + presence, but it was evident that his naturally exuberant spirits were a + part of his vital strength, and were absolutely essential to his quick + recovery. Encouraged by Falkner's grave and practical assistance, which + she could not ignore, Kate ventured to make an examination of Lee's wound. + Even to her unpractised eye it was less serious than at first appeared. + The great loss of blood had been due to the laceration of certain small + vessels below the knee, but neither artery nor bone was injured. A + recurrence of the haemorrhage or fever was the only thing to be feared, + and these could be averted by bandaging, repose, and simple nursing. + </p> + <p> + The unfailing good humor of the patient under this manipulation, the + quaint originality of his speech, the freedom of his fancy, which was, + however, always controlled by a certain instinctive tact, began to affect + Kate nearly as it had the others. She found herself laughing over the work + she had undertaken in a pure sense of duty; she joined in the hilarity + produced by Lee's affected terror of her surgical mania, and offered to + undo the bandages in search of the thimble he declared she had left in the + wound with a view to further experiments. + </p> + <p> + “You ought to broaden your practice,” he suggested. “A good deal might be + made out of Ned and a piece of soap left carelessly on the first step of + the staircase, while mountains of surgical opportunities lie in a humble + orange peel judiciously exposed. Only I warn you that you wouldn't find + him as docile as I am. Decoyed into a snow-drift and frozen, you might get + some valuable experiences in resuscitation by thawing him.” + </p> + <p> + “I fancied you had done that already, Kate,” whispered Mrs. Hale. + </p> + <p> + “Freezing is the new suggestion for painless surgery,” said Lee, coming to + Kate's relief with ready tact, “only the knowledge should be more + generally spread. There was a man up at Strawberry fell under a + sledge-load of wood in the snow. Stunned by the shock, he was slowly + freezing to death, when, with a tremendous effort, he succeeded in freeing + himself all but his right leg, pinned down by a small log. His axe + happened to have fallen within reach, and a few blows on the log freed + him.” + </p> + <p> + “And saved the poor fellow's life,” said Mrs. Scott, who was listening + with sympathizing intensity. + </p> + <p> + “At the expense of his LEFT LEG, which he had unknowingly cut off under + the pleasing supposition that it was a log,” returned Lee demurely. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, in a few moments he managed to divert the slightly shocked + susceptibilities of the old lady with some raillery of himself, and did + not again interrupt the even good-humored communion of the party. The rain + beating against the windows and the fire sparkling on the hearth seemed to + lend a charm to their peculiar isolation, and it was not until Mrs. Scott + rose with a warning that they were trespassing upon the rest of their + patient that they discovered that the evening had slipped by unnoticed. + When the door at last closed on the bright, sympathetic eyes of the two + young women and the motherly benediction of the elder, Falkner walked to + the window, and remained silent, looking into the darkness. Suddenly he + turned bitterly to his companion. + </p> + <p> + “This is just h-ll, George.” + </p> + <p> + George Lee, with a smile on his boyish face, lazily moved his head. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know! If it wasn't for the old woman, who is the one solid chunk + of absolute goodness here, expecting nothing, wanting nothing, it would be + good fun enough! These two women, cooped up in this house, wanted + excitement. They've got it! That man Hale wanted to show off by going for + us; he's had his chance, and will have it again before I've done with him. + That d—d fool of a messenger wanted to go out of his way to exchange + shots with me; I reckon he's the most satisfied of the lot! I don't know + why YOU should growl. You did your level best to get away from here, and + the result is, that little Puritan is ready to worship you.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes—but this playing it on them—George—this—” + </p> + <p> + “Who's playing it? Not you; I see you've given away our names already.” + </p> + <p> + “I couldn't lie, and they know nothing by that.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think they would be happier by knowing it? Do you think that soft + little creature would be as happy as she was to-night if she knew that her + husband had been indirectly the means of laying me by the heels here? + Where is the swindle? This hole in my leg? If you had been five minutes + under that girl's d—d sympathetic fingers you'd have thought it was + genuine. Is it in our trying to get away? Do you call that ten-feet drift + in the pass a swindle? Is it in the chance of Hale getting back while + we're here? That's real enough, isn't it? I say, Ned, did you ever give + your unfettered intellect to the contemplation of THAT?” + </p> + <p> + Falkner did not reply. There was an interval of silence, but he could see + from the movement of George's shoulders that he was shaking with + suppressed laughter. + </p> + <p> + “Fancy Mrs. Hale archly introducing her husband! My offering him a chair, + but being all the time obliged to cover him with a derringer under the + bedclothes. Your rushing in from your peaceful pastoral pursuits in the + barn, with a pitchfork in one hand and the girl in the other, and dear old + mammy sympathizing all round and trying to make everything comfortable.” + </p> + <p> + “I should not be alive to see it, George,” said Falkner gloomily. + </p> + <p> + “You'd manage to pitchfork me and those two women on Hale's horse and ride + away; that's what you'd do, or I don't know you! Look here, Ned,” he added + more seriously, “the only swindling was our bringing that note here. That + was YOUR idea. You thought it would remove suspicion, and as you believed + I was bleeding to death you played that game for all it was worth to save + me. You might have done what I asked you to do—propped me up in the + bushes, and got away yourself. I was good for a couple of shots yet, and + after that—what mattered? That night, the next day, the next time I + take the road, or a year hence? It will come when it will come, all the + same!” + </p> + <p> + He did not speak bitterly, nor relax his smile. Falkner, without speaking, + slid his hand along the coverlet. Lee grasped it, and their hands remained + clasped together for a few minutes in silence. + </p> + <p> + “How is this to end? We cannot go on here in this way,” said Falkner + suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “If we cannot get away it must go on. Look here, Ned. I don't reckon to + take anything out of this house that I didn't bring in it, or isn't freely + offered to me; yet I don't otherwise, you understand, intend making myself + out a d—d bit better than I am. That's the only excuse I have for + not making myself out JUST WHAT I am. I don't know the fellow who's + obliged to tell every one the last company he was in, or the last thing he + did! Do you suppose even these pretty little women tell US their whole + story? Do you fancy that this St. John in the wilderness is canonized in + his family? Perhaps, when I take the liberty to intrude in his affairs, as + he has in mine, he'd see he isn't. I don't blame you for being sensitive, + Ned. It's natural. When a man lives outside the revised statutes of his + own State he is apt to be awfully fine on points of etiquette in his own + household. As for me, I find it rather comfortable here. The beds of other + people's making strike me as being more satisfactory than my own. + Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + In a few moments he was sleeping the peaceful sleep of that youth which + seemed to be his own dominant quality. Falkner stood for a little space + and watched him, following the boyish lines of his cheek on the pillow, + from the shadow of the light brown lashes under his closed lids to the + lifting of his short upper lip over his white teeth, with his regular + respiration. Only a sharp accenting of the line of nostril and jaw and a + faint depression of the temple betrayed his already tried manhood. + </p> + <p> + The house had long sunk to repose when Falkner returned to the window, and + remained looking out upon the storm. Suddenly he extinguished the light, + and passing quickly to the bed laid his hand upon the sleeper. Lee opened + his eyes instantly. + </p> + <p> + “Are you awake?” + </p> + <p> + “Perfectly.” + </p> + <p> + “Somebody is trying to get into the house!” + </p> + <p> + “Not HIM, eh?” said Lee gayly. + </p> + <p> + “No; two men. Mexicans, I think. One looks like Manuel.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” said Lee, drawing himself up to a sitting posture. + </p> + <p> + “Well?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't you see? He believes the women are alone.” + </p> + <p> + “The dog—d—d hound!” + </p> + <p> + “Speak respectfully of one of my people, if you please, and hand me my + derringer. Light the candle again, and open the door. Let them get in + quietly. They'll come here first. It's HIS room, you understand, and if + there's any money it's here. Anyway, they must pass here to get to the + women's rooms. Leave Manuel to me, and you take care of the other.” + </p> + <p> + “I see.” + </p> + <p> + “Manuel knows the house, and will come first. When he's fairly in the room + shut the door and go for the other. But no noise. This is just one of the + SW-EETEST things out—if it's done properly.” + </p> + <p> + “But YOU, George?” + </p> + <p> + “If I couldn't manage that fellow without turning down the bedclothes I'd + kick myself. Hush. Steady now.” + </p> + <p> + He lay down and shut his eyes as if in natural repose. Only his right + hand, carelessly placed under his pillow, closed on the handle of his + pistol. Falkner quietly slipped into the passage. The light of the candle + faintly illuminated the floor and opposite wall, but left it on either + side in pitchy obscurity. + </p> + <p> + For some moments the silence was broken only by the sound of the rain + without. The recumbent figure in bed seemed to have actually succumbed to + sleep. The multitudinous small noises of a house in repose might have been + misinterpreted by ears less keen than the sleeper's; but when the apparent + creaking of a far-off shutter was followed by the sliding apparition of a + dark head of tangled hair at the door, Lee had not been deceived, and was + as prepared as if he had seen it. Another step, and the figure entered the + room. The door closed instantly behind it. The sound of a heavy body + struggling against the partition outside followed, and then suddenly + ceased. + </p> + <p> + The intruder turned, and violently grasped the handle of the door, but + recoiled at a quiet voice from the bed. + </p> + <p> + “Drop that, and come here.” + </p> + <p> + He started back with an exclamation. The sleeper's eyes were wide open; + the sleeper's extended arm and pistol covered him. + </p> + <p> + “Silence! or I'll let that candle shine through you!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, captain!” growled the astounded and frightened half-breed. “I didn't + know you were here.” + </p> + <p> + Lee raised himself, and grasped the long whip in his left hand and whirled + it round his head. + </p> + <p> + “WILL YOU dry up?” + </p> + <p> + The man sank back against the wall in silent terror. + </p> + <p> + “Open that door now—softly.” + </p> + <p> + Manuel obeyed with trembling fingers. + </p> + <p> + “Ned” said Lee in a low voice, “bring him in here—quick.” + </p> + <p> + There was a slight rustle, and Falkner appeared, backing in another + gasping figure, whose eyes were starting under the strong grasp of the + captor at his throat. + </p> + <p> + “Silence,” said Lee, “all of you.” + </p> + <p> + There was a breathless pause. The sound of a door hesitatingly opened in + the passage broke the stillness, followed by the gentle voice of Mrs. + Scott. + </p> + <p> + “Is anything the matter?” + </p> + <p> + Lee made a slight gesture of warning to Falkner, of menace to the others. + “Everything's the matter,” he called out cheerily. “Ned's managed to half + pull down the house trying to get at something from my saddle-bags.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope he has not hurt himself,” broke in another voice mischievously. + </p> + <p> + “Answer, you clumsy villain,” whispered Lee, with twinkling eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I'm all right, thank you,” responded Falkner, with unaffected + awkwardness. + </p> + <p> + There was a slight murmuring of voices, and then the door was heard to + close. Lee turned to Falkner. + </p> + <p> + “Disarm that hound and turn him loose outside, and make no noise. And you, + Manuel! tell him what his and your chances are if he shows his black face + here again.” + </p> + <p> + Manuel cast a single, terrified, supplicating glance, more suggestive than + words, at his confederate, as Falkner shoved him before him from the room. + The next moment they were silently descending the stairs. + </p> + <p> + “May I go too, captain?” entreated Manuel. “I swear to God—” + </p> + <p> + “Shut the door!” The man obeyed. + </p> + <p> + “Now, then,” said Lee, with a broad, gratified smile, laying down his whip + and pistol within reach, and comfortably settling the pillows behind his + back, “we'll have a quiet confab. A sort of old-fashioned talk, eh? You're + not looking well, Manuel. You're drinking too much again. It spoils your + complexion.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me go, captain,” pleaded the man, emboldened by the good-humored + voice, but not near enough to notice a peculiar light in the speaker's + eye. + </p> + <p> + “You've only just come, Manuel; and at considerable trouble, too. Well, + what have you got to say? What's all this about? What are you doing here?” + </p> + <p> + The captured man shuffled his feet nervously, and only uttered an uneasy + laugh of coarse discomfiture. + </p> + <p> + “I see. You're bashful. Well, I'll help you along. Come! You knew that + Hale was away and these women were here without a man to help them. You + thought you'd find some money here, and have your own way generally, eh?” + </p> + <p> + The tone of Lee's voice inspired him to confidence; unfortunately, it + inspired him with familiarity also. + </p> + <p> + “I reckoned I had the right to a little fun on my own account, cap. I + reckoned ez one gentleman in the profession wouldn't interfere with + another gentleman's little game,” he continued coarsely. + </p> + <p> + “Stand up.” + </p> + <p> + “Wot for?” + </p> + <p> + “Up, I say!” + </p> + <p> + Manuel stood up and glanced at him. + </p> + <p> + “Utter a cry that might frighten these women, and by the living God + they'll rush in here only to find you lying dead on the floor of the house + you'd have polluted.” + </p> + <p> + He grasped the whip and laid the lash of it heavily twice over the + ruffian's shoulders. Writhing in suppressed agony, the man fell + imploringly on his knees. + </p> + <p> + “Now, listen!” said Lee, softly twirling the whip in the air. “I want to + refresh your memory. Did you ever learn, when you were with me—before + I was obliged to kick you out of gentlemen's company—to break into a + private house? Answer!” + </p> + <p> + “No,” stammered the wretch. + </p> + <p> + “Did you ever learn to rob a woman, a child, or any but a man, and that + face to face?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” repeated Manuel. + </p> + <p> + “Did you ever learn from me to lay a finger upon a woman, old or young, in + anger or kindness?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, my poor Manuel, it's as I feared; civilization has ruined you. + Farming and a simple, bucolic life have perverted your morals. So you were + running off with the stock and that mustang, when you got stuck in the + snow; and the luminous idea of this little game struck you? Eh? That was + another mistake, Manuel; I never allowed you to think when you were with + me.” + </p> + <p> + “No, captain.” + </p> + <p> + “Who's your friend?” + </p> + <p> + “A d—d cowardly nigger from the Summit.” + </p> + <p> + “I agree with you for once; but he hasn't had a very brilliant example. + Where's he gone now?” + </p> + <p> + “To h-ll, for all I care!” + </p> + <p> + “Then I want you to go with him. Listen. If there's a way out of the + place, you know it or can find it. I give you two days to do it—you + and he. At the end of that time the order will be to shoot you on sight. + Now take off your boots.” + </p> + <p> + The man's dark face visibly whitened, his teeth chattered in superstitious + terror. + </p> + <p> + “I'm not going to shoot you now,” said Lee, smiling, “so you will have a + chance to die with your boots on,* if you are superstitious. I only want + you to exchange them for that pair of Hale's in the corner. The fact is I + have taken a fancy to yours. That fashion of wearing the stockings outside + strikes me as one of the neatest things out.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * “To die with one's boots on.” A synonym for death by + violence, popular among Southwestern desperadoes, and the + subject of superstitious dread. +</pre> + <p> + Manuel suddenly drew off his boots with their muffled covering, and put on + the ones designated. + </p> + <p> + “Now open the door.” + </p> + <p> + He did so. Falkner was already waiting at the threshold, “Turn Manuel + loose with the other, Ned, but disarm him first. They might quarrel. The + habit of carrying arms, Manuel,” added Lee, as Falkner took a pistol and + bowie-knife from the half-breed, “is of itself provocative of violence, + and inconsistent with a bucolic and pastoral life.” + </p> + <p> + When Falkner returned he said hurriedly to his companion, “Do you think it + wise, George, to let those hell-hounds loose? Good God! I could scarcely + let my grip of his throat go, when I thought of what they were hunting.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Ned,” said Lee, luxuriously ensconcing himself under the + bedclothes again with a slight shiver of delicious warmth, “I must warn + you against allowing the natural pride of a higher walk to prejudice you + against the general level of our profession. Indeed, I was quite struck + with the justice of Manuel's protest that I was interfering with certain + rude processes of his own towards results aimed at by others.” + </p> + <p> + “George!” interrupted Falkner, almost savagely. + </p> + <p> + “Well. I admit it's getting rather late in the evening for pure + philosophical inquiry, and you are tired. Practically, then, it WAS wise + to let them get away before they discovered two things. One, our exact + relations here with these women; and the other, HOW MANY of us were here. + At present they think we are three or four in possession and with the + consent of the women.” + </p> + <p> + “The dogs!” + </p> + <p> + “They are paying us the highest compliment they can conceive of by + supposing us cleverer scoundrels than themselves. You are very unjust, + Ned.” + </p> + <p> + “If they escape and tell their story?” + </p> + <p> + “We shall have the rare pleasure of knowing we are better than people + believe us. And now put those boots away somewhere where we can produce + them if necessary, as evidence of Manuel's evening call. At present we'll + keep the thing quiet, and in the early morning you can find out where they + got in and remove any traces they have left. It is no use to frighten the + women. There's no fear of their returning.” + </p> + <p> + “And if they get away?” + </p> + <p> + “We can follow in their tracks.” + </p> + <p> + “If Manuel gives the alarm?” + </p> + <p> + “With his burglarious boots left behind in the house? Not much! + Good-night, Ned. Go to bed.” + </p> + <p> + With these words Lee turned on his side and quietly resumed his + interrupted slumber. Falkner did not, however, follow this sensible + advice. When he was satisfied that his friend was sleeping he opened the + door softly and looked out. He did not appear to be listening, for his + eyes were fixed upon a small pencil of light that stole across the passage + from the foot of Kate's door. He watched it until it suddenly disappeared, + when, leaving the door partly open, he threw himself on his couch without + removing his clothes. The slight movement awakened the sleeper, who was + beginning to feel the accession of fever. He moved restlessly. + </p> + <p> + “George,” said Falkner, softly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Where was it we passed that old Mission Church on the road one dark + night, and saw the light burning before the figure of the Virgin through + the window?” + </p> + <p> + There was a moment of crushing silence. “Does that mean you're wanting to + light the candle again?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Then don't lie there inventing sacrilegious conundrums, but go to sleep.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, in the morning his fever was slightly worse. Mrs. Hale, + offering her condolence, said, “I know that you have not been resting + well, for even after your friend met with that mishap in the hall, I heard + your voices, and Kate says your door was open all night. You have a little + fever too, Mr. Falkner.” + </p> + <p> + George looked curiously at Falkner's pale face—it was burning. + </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> + The speed and fury with which Clinch's cavalcade swept on in the direction + of the mysterious shot left Hale no chance for reflection. He was + conscious of shouting incoherently with the others, of urging his horse + irresistibly forward, of momentarily expecting to meet or overtake + something, but without any further thought. The figures of Clinch and + Rawlins immediately before him shut out the prospect of the narrowing + trail. Once only, taking advantage of a sudden halt that threw them + confusedly together, he managed to ask a question. + </p> + <p> + “Lost their track—found it again!” shouted the ostler, as Clinch, + with a cry like the baying of a hound, again darted forward. Their horses + were panting and trembling under them, the ascent seemed to be growing + steeper, a singular darkness, which even the density of the wood did not + sufficiently account for, surrounded them, but still their leader madly + urged them on. To Hale's returning senses they did not seem in a condition + to engage a single resolute man, who might have ambushed in the woods or + beaten them in detail in the narrow gorge, but in another instant the + reason of their furious haste was manifest. Spurring his horse ahead, + Clinch dashed out into the open with a cheering shout—a shout that + as quickly changed to a yell of imprecation. They were on the Ridge in a + blinding snow-storm! The road had already vanished under their feet, and + with it the fresh trail they had so closely followed! They stood + helplessly on the shore of a trackless white sea, blank and spotless of + any trace or sign of the fugitives. + </p> + <p> + “'Pears to me, boys,” said the ostler, suddenly ranging before them, “ef + you're not kalkilatin' on gittin' another party to dig ye out, ye'd better + be huntin' fodder and cover instead of road agents. 'Skuse me, gentlemen, + but I'm responsible for the hosses, and this ain't no time for + circus-ridin'. We're a matter o' six miles from the station in a bee + line.” + </p> + <p> + “Back to the trail, then,” said Clinch, wheeling his horse towards the + road they had just quitted. + </p> + <p> + “'Skuse me, Kernel,” said the ostler, laying his hand on Clinch's rein, + “but that way only brings us back the road we kem—the stage road—three + miles further from home. That three miles is on the divide, and by the + time we get there it will be snowed up worse nor this. The shortest cut is + along the Ridge. If we hump ourselves we ken cross the divide afore the + road is blocked. And that, 'skuse me, gentlemen, is MY road.” + </p> + <p> + There was no time for discussion. The road was already palpably thickening + under their feet. Hale's arm was stiffened to his side by a wet, clinging + snow-wreath. The figures of the others were almost obliterated and + shapeless. It was not snowing—it was snowballing! The huge flakes, + shaken like enormous feathers out of a vast blue-black cloud, commingled + and fell in sprays and patches. All idea of their former pursuit was + forgotten; the blind rage and enthusiasm that had possessed them was gone. + They dashed after their new leader with only an instinct for shelter and + succor. + </p> + <p> + They had not ridden long when fortunately, as it seemed to Hale, the + character of the storm changed. The snow no longer fell in such large + flakes, nor as heavily. A bitter wind succeeded; the soft snow began to + stiffen and crackle under the horses' hoofs; they were no longer weighted + and encumbered by the drifts upon their bodies; the smaller flakes now + rustled and rasped against them like sand, or bounded from them like hail. + They seemed to be moving more easily and rapidly, their spirits were + rising with the stimulus of cold and motion, when suddenly their leader + halted. + </p> + <p> + “It's no use, boys. It can't be done! This is no blizzard, but a regular + two days' snifter! It's no longer meltin', but packin' and driftin' now. + Even if we get over the divide, we're sure to be blocked up in the pass.” + </p> + <p> + It was true! To their bitter disappointment they could now see that the + snow had not really diminished in quantity, but that the now + finely-powdered particles were rapidly filling all inequalities of the + surface, packing closely against projections, and swirling in long furrows + across the levels. They looked with anxiety at their self-constituted + leader. + </p> + <p> + “We must make a break to get down in the woods again before it's too + late,” he said briefly. + </p> + <p> + But they had already drifted away from the fringe of larches and dwarf + pines that marked the sides of the Ridge, and lower down merged into the + dense forest that clothed the flank of the mountain they had lately + climbed, and it was with the greatest difficulty that they again reached + it, only to find that at that point it was too precipitous for the descent + of their horses. Benumbed and speechless, they continued to toil on, + opposed to the full fury of the stinging snow, and at times obliged to + turn their horses to the blast to keep from being blown over the Ridge. At + the end of half an hour the ostler dismounted, and, beckoning to the + others, took his horse by the bridle, and began the descent. When it came + to Hale's turn to dismount he could not help at first recoiling from the + prospect before him. The trail—if it could be so called—was + merely the track or furrow of some fallen tree dragged, by accident or + design, diagonally across the sides of the mountain. At times it appeared + scarcely a foot in width; at other times a mere crumbling gully, or a + narrow shelf made by the projections of dead boughs and collected debris. + It seemed perilous for a foot passenger, it appeared impossible for a + horse. Nevertheless, he had taken a step forward when Clinch laid his hand + on his arm. + </p> + <p> + “You'll bring up the rear,” he said not unkindly, “ez you're a stranger + here. Wait until we sing out to you.” + </p> + <p> + “But if I prefer to take the same risks as you all?” said Hale stiffly. + </p> + <p> + “You kin,” said Clinch grimly. “But I reckoned, as you wern't familiar + with this sort o' thing, you wouldn't keer, by any foolishness o' yours, + to stampede the rocks ahead of us, and break down the trail, or send down + an avalanche on top of us. But just ez you like.” + </p> + <p> + “I will wait, then,” said Hale hastily. + </p> + <p> + The rebuke, however, did him good service. It preoccupied his mind, so + that it remained unaffected by the dizzy depths, and enabled him to + abandon himself mechanically to the sagacity of his horse, who was + contented simply to follow the hoofprints of the preceding animal, and in + a few moments they reached the broader trail without a mishap. A + discussion regarding their future movements was already taking place. The + impossibility of regaining the station at the Summit was admitted; the way + down the mountain to the next settlement was still left to them, or the + adjacent woods, if they wished for an encampment. The ostler once more + assumed authority. + </p> + <p> + “'Skuse me, gentlemen, but them horses don't take no pasear down the + mountain to-night. The stage-road ain't a mile off, and I kalkilate to + wait here till the up stage comes. She's bound to stop on account of the + snow; and I've done my dooty when I hand the horses over to the driver.” + </p> + <p> + “But if she hears of the block up yer, and waits at the lower station?” + said Rawlins. + </p> + <p> + “Then I've done my dooty all the same. 'Skuse me, gentlemen, but them ez + hez their own horses kin do ez they like.” + </p> + <p> + As this clearly pointed to Hale, he briefly assured his companions that he + had no intention of deserting them. “If I cannot reach Eagle's Court, I + shall at least keep as near it as possible. I suppose any messenger from + my house to the Summit will learn where I am and why I am delayed?” + </p> + <p> + “Messenger from your house!” gasped Rawlins. “Are you crazy, stranger? + Only a bird would get outer Eagle's now; and it would hev to be an eagle + at that! Between your house and the Summit the snow must be ten feet by + this time, to say nothing of the drift in the pass.” + </p> + <p> + Hale felt it was the truth. At any other time he would have worried over + this unexpected situation, and utter violation of all his traditions. He + was past that now, and even felt a certain relief. He knew his family were + safe; it was enough. That they were locked up securely, and incapable of + interfering with HIM, seemed to enhance his new, half-conscious, half-shy + enjoyment of an adventurous existence. + </p> + <p> + The ostler, who had been apparently lost in contemplation of the steep + trail he had just descended, suddenly clapped his hand to his leg with an + ejaculation of gratified astonishment. + </p> + <p> + “Waal, darn my skin ef that ain't Hennicker's 'slide' all the time! I + heard it was somewhat about here.” + </p> + <p> + Rawlins briefly explained to Hale that a slide was a rude incline for the + transit of heavy goods that could not be carried down a trail. + </p> + <p> + “And Hennicker's,” continued the man, “ain't more nor a mile away. Ye + might try Hennicker's at a push, eh?” + </p> + <p> + By a common instinct the whole party looked dubiously at Hale. “Who's + Hennicker?” he felt compelled to ask. + </p> + <p> + The ostler hesitated, and glanced at the others to reply. “There ARE + folks,” he said lazily, at last, “ez beleeves that Hennicker ain't much + better nor the crowd we're hunting; but they don't say it TO Hennicker. We + needn't let on what we're after.” + </p> + <p> + “I for one,” said Hale stoutly, “decidedly object to any concealment of + our purpose.” + </p> + <p> + “It don't follow,” said Rawlins carelessly, “that Hennicker even knows of + this yer robbery. It's his gineral gait we refer to. Ef yer think it more + polite, and it makes it more sociable to discuss this matter afore him, + I'm agreed.” + </p> + <p> + “Hale means,” said Clinch, “that it wouldn't be on the square to take and + make use of any points we might pick up there agin the road agents.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” said Hale. It was not at all what he had meant, but he felt + singularly relieved at the compromise. + </p> + <p> + “And ez I reckon Hennicker ain't such a fool ez not to know who we are and + what we're out for,” continued Clinch, “I reckon there ain't any + concealment.” + </p> + <p> + “Then it's Hennicker's?” said the ostler, with swift deduction. + </p> + <p> + “Hennicker's it is! Lead on.” + </p> + <p> + The ostler remounted his horse, and the others followed. The trail + presently turned into a broader track, that bore some signs of approaching + habitations, and at the end of five minutes they came upon a clearing. It + was part of one of the fragmentary mountain terraces, and formed by itself + a vast niche, or bracketed shelf, in the hollow flank of the mountain + that, to Hale's first glance, bore a rude resemblance to Eagle's Court. + But there was neither meadow nor open field; the few acres of ground had + been wrested from the forest by axe and fire, and unsightly stumps + everywhere marked the rude and difficult attempts at cultivation. Two or + three rough buildings of unplaned and unpainted boards, connected by + rambling sheds, stood in the centre of the amphitheatre. Far from being + protected by the encircling rampart, it seemed to be the selected arena + for the combating elements. A whirlwind from the outer abyss continually + filled this cave of AEolus with driving snow, which, however, melted as it + fell, or was quickly whirled away again. + </p> + <p> + A few dogs barked and ran out to meet the cavalcade, but there was no + other sign of any life disturbed or concerned at their approach. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon Hennicker ain't home, or he'd hev been on the lookout afore + this,” said the ostler, dismounting and rapping on the door. + </p> + <p> + After a silence, a female voice, unintelligibly to the others, apparently + had some colloquy with the ostler, who returned to the party. + </p> + <p> + “Must go in through the kitchin—can't open the door for the wind.” + </p> + <p> + Leaving their horses in the shed, they entered the kitchen, which + communicated, and presently came upon a square room filled with smoke from + a fire of green pine logs. The doors and windows were tightly fastened; + the only air came in through the large-throated chimney in voluminous + gusts, which seemed to make the hollow shell of the apartment swell and + expand to the point of bursting. Despite the stinging of the resinous + smoke, the temperature was grateful to the benumbed travellers. Several + cushionless arm-chairs, such as were used in bar-rooms, two tables, a + sideboard, half bar and half cupboard, and a rocking-chair comprised the + furniture, and a few bear and buffalo skins covered the floor. Hale sank + into one of the arm-chairs, and, with a lazy satisfaction, partly born of + his fatigue and partly from some newly-discovered appreciative faculty, + gazed around the room, and then at the mistress of the house, with whom + the others were talking. + </p> + <p> + She was tall, gaunt, and withered; in spite of her evident years, her + twisted hair was still dark and full, and her eyes bright and piercing; + her complexion and teeth had long since succumbed to the vitiating effects + of frontier cookery, and her lips were stained with the yellow juice of a + brier-wood pipe she held in her mouth. The ostler had explained their + intrusion, and veiled their character under the vague epithet of a + “hunting party,” and was now evidently describing them personally. In his + new-found philosophy the fact that the interest of his hostess seemed to + be excited only by the names of his companions, that he himself was + carelessly, and even deprecatingly, alluded to as the “stranger from + Eagle's” by the ostler, and completely overlooked by the old woman, gave + him no concern. + </p> + <p> + “You'll have to talk to Zenobia yourself. Dod rot ef I'm gine to + interfere. She knows Hennicker's ways, and if she chooses to take in + transients it ain't no funeral o' mine. Zeenie! You, Zeenie! Look yer!” + </p> + <p> + A tall, lazy-looking, handsome girl appeared on the threshold of the next + room, and with a hand on each door-post slowly swung herself backwards and + forwards, without entering. “Well, Maw?” + </p> + <p> + The old woman briefly and unalluringly pictured the condition of the + travellers. + </p> + <p> + “Paw ain't here,” began the girl doubtfully, “and—How dy, Dick! is + that you?” The interruption was caused by her recognition of the ostler, + and she lounged into the room. In spite of a skimp, slatternly gown, whose + straight skirt clung to her lower limbs, there was a quaint, nymph-like + contour to her figure. Whether from languor, ill-health, or more probably + from a morbid consciousness of her own height, she moved with a slightly + affected stoop that had become a habit. It did not seem ungraceful to + Hale, already attracted by her delicate profile, her large dark eyes, and + a certain weird resemblance she had to some half-domesticated dryad. + </p> + <p> + “That'll do, Maw,” she said, dismissing her parent with a nod. “I'll talk + to Dick.” + </p> + <p> + As the door closed on the old woman, Zenobia leaned her hands on the back + of a chair, and confronted the admiring eyes of Dick with a goddess-like + indifference. + </p> + <p> + “Now wot's the use of your playin' this yer game on me, Dick? Wot's the + good of your ladlin' out that hogwash about huntin'? HUNTIN'! I'll tell + yer the huntin' you-uns hev been at! You've been huntin' George Lee and + his boys since an hour before sun up. You've been followin' a blind trail + up to the Ridge, until the snow got up and hunted YOU right here! You've + been whoopin' and yellin' and circus-ridin' on the roads like ez yer wos + Comanches, and frightening all the women folk within miles—that's + your huntin'! You've been climbin' down Paw's old slide at last, and + makin' tracks for here to save the skins of them condemned government + horses of the Kempany! And THAT'S your huntin'!” + </p> + <p> + To Hale's surprise, a burst of laughter from the party followed this + speech. He tried to join in, but this ridiculous summary of the result of + his enthusiastic sense of duty left him—the only earnest believer + mortified and embarrassed. Nor was he the less concerned as he found the + girl's dark eyes had rested once or twice upon him curiously. Zenobia + laughed too, and, lazily turning the chair around, dropped into it. “And + by this time George Lee's loungin' back in his chyar and smokin' his + cigyar somewhar in Sacramento,” she added, stretching her feet out to the + fire, and suiting the action to the word with an imaginary cigar between + the long fingers of a thin and not over-clean hand. + </p> + <p> + “We cave, Zeenie!” said Rawlins, when their hilarity had subsided to a + more subdued and scarcely less flattering admiration of the unconcerned + goddess before them. “That's about the size of it. You kin rake down the + pile. I forgot you're an old friend of George's.” + </p> + <p> + “He's a white man!” said the girl decidedly. + </p> + <p> + “Ye used to know him?” continued Rawlins. + </p> + <p> + “Once. Paw ain't in that line now,” she said simply. + </p> + <p> + There was such a sublime unconsciousness of any moral degradation involved + in this allusion that even Hale accepted it without a shock. She rose + presently, and, going to the little sideboard, brought out a number of + glasses; these she handed to each of the party, and then, producing a + demijohn of whiskey, slung it dexterously and gracefully over her arm, so + that it rested on her elbow like a cradle, and, going to each one in + succession, filled their glasses. It obliged each one to rise to accept + the libation, and as Hale did so in his turn he met the dark eyes of the + girl full on his own. There was a pleased curiosity in her glance that + made this married man of thirty-five color as awkwardly as a boy. + </p> + <p> + The tender of refreshment being understood as a tacit recognition of their + claims to a larger hospitality, all further restraint was removed. Zenobia + resumed her seat, and placing her elbow on the arm of her chair, and her + small round chin in her hand, looked thoughtfully in the fire. “When I say + George Lee's a white man, it ain't because I know him. It's his general + gait. Wot's he ever done that's underhanded or mean? Nothin'! You kant + show the poor man he's ever took a picayune from. When he's helped himself + to a pile it's been outer them banks or them express companies, that think + it mighty fine to bust up themselves, and swindle the poor folks o' their + last cent, and nobody talks o' huntin' THEM! And does he keep their money? + No; he passes it round among the boys that help him, and they put it in + circulation. HE don't keep it for himself; he ain't got fine houses in + Frisco; he don't keep fast horses for show. Like ez not the critter he did + that job with—ef it was him—none of you boys would have rid! + And he takes all the risks himself; you ken bet your life that every man + with him was safe and away afore he turned his back on you-uns.” + </p> + <p> + “He certainly drops a little of his money at draw poker, Zeenie,” said + Clinch, laughing. “He lost five thousand dollars to Sheriff Kelly last + week.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't hear of the sheriff huntin' him to give it back, nor do I + reckon Kelly handed it over to the Express it was taken from. I heard YOU + won suthin' from him a spell ago. I reckon you've been huntin' him to find + out whar you should return it.” The laugh was clearly against Clinch. He + was about to make some rallying rejoinder when the young girl suddenly + interrupted him. “Ef you're wantin' to hunt somebody, why don't you take + higher game? Thar's that Jim Harkins: go for him, and I'll join you.” + </p> + <p> + “Harkins!” exclaimed Clinch and Hale simultaneously. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Jim Harkins; do you know him?” she said, glancing from one to the + other. + </p> + <p> + “One of my friends do,” said Clinch laughing; “but don't let that stop + you.” + </p> + <p> + “And YOU—over there,” continued Zenobia, bending her head and eyes + towards Hale. + </p> + <p> + “The fact is—I believe he was my banker,” said Hale, with a smile. + “I don't know him personally.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you'd better hunt him before he does you.” + </p> + <p> + “What's HE done, Zeenie?” asked Rawlins, keenly enjoying the discomfiture + of the others. + </p> + <p> + “What?” She stopped, threw her long black braids over her shoulder, + clasped her knee with her hands, and rocking backwards and forwards, + sublimely unconscious of the apparition of a slim ankle and + half-dropped-off slipper from under her shortened gown, continued, “It + mightn't please HIM,” she said slyly, nodding towards Hale. + </p> + <p> + “Pray don't mind me,” said Hale, with unnecessary eagerness. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Zenobia, “I reckon you all know Ned Falkner and the Excelsior + Ditch?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Falkner's the superintendent of it,” said Rawlins. “And a square man + too. Thar ain't anything mean about him.” + </p> + <p> + “Shake,” said Zenobia, extending her hand. Rawlins shook the proffered + hand with eager spontaneousness, and the girl resumed: “He's about ez good + ez they make 'em—you bet. Well, you know Ned has put all his money, + and all his strength, and all his sabe, and—” + </p> + <p> + “His good looks,” added Clinch mischievously. + </p> + <p> + “Into that Ditch,” continued Zenobia, ignoring the interruption. “It's his + mother, it's his sweetheart, it's his everything! When other chaps of his + age was cavortin' round Frisco, and havin' high jinks, Ned was in his + Ditch. 'Wait till the Ditch is done,' he used to say. 'Wait till she + begins to boom, and then you just stand round.' Mor'n that, he got all the + boys to put in their last cent—for they loved Ned, and love him now, + like ez ef he wos a woman.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” said Clinch and Rawlins simultaneously, “and he's worth it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” continued Zenobia, “the Ditch didn't boom ez soon ez they + kalkilated. And then the boys kept gettin' poorer and poorer, and Ned he + kept gettin' poorer and poorer in everything but his hopefulness and grit. + Then he looks around for more capital. And about this time, that coyote + Harkins smelt suthin' nice up there, and he gits Ned to give him control + of it, and he'll lend him his name and fix up a company. Soon ez he gets + control, the first thing he does is to say that it wants half a million o' + money to make it pay, and levies an assessment of two hundred dollars a + share. That's nothin' for them rich fellows to pay, or pretend to pay, but + for boys on grub wages it meant only ruin. They couldn't pay, and had to + forfeit their shares for next to nothing. And Ned made one more desperate + attempt to save them and himself by borrowing money on his shares; when + that hound Harkins got wind of it, and let it be buzzed around that the + Ditch is a failure, and that he was goin' out of it; that brought the + shares down to nothing. As Ned couldn't raise a dollar, the new company + swooped down on his shares for the debts THEY had put up, and left him and + the boys to help themselves. Ned couldn't bear to face the boys that he'd + helped to ruin, and put out, and ain't been heard from since. After + Harkins had got rid of Ned and the boys he manages to pay off that + wonderful debt, and sells out for a hundred thousand dollars. That money—Ned's + money—he sends to Sacramento, for he don't dare to travel with it + himself, and is kalkilatin' to leave the kentry, for some of the boys + allow to kill him on sight. So ef you're wantin' to hunt suthin', thar's + yer chance, and you needn't go inter the snow to do it.” + </p> + <p> + “But surely the law can recover this money?” said Hale indignantly. “It is + as infamous a robbery as—” He stopped as he caught Zenobia's eye. + </p> + <p> + “Ez last night's, you were goin' to say. I'll call it MORE. Them road + agents don't pretend to be your friend—but take yer money and run + their risks. For ez to the law—that can't help yer.” + </p> + <p> + “It's a skin game, and you might ez well expect to recover a gambling debt + from a short-card sharp,” explained Clinch; “Falkner oughter shot him on + sight.” + </p> + <p> + “Or the boys lynched him,” suggested Rawlins. + </p> + <p> + “I think,” said Hale, more reflectively, “that in the absence of legal + remedy a man of that kind should have been forced under strong physical + menace to give up his ill-gotten gains. The money was the primary object, + and if that could be got without bloodshed—which seems to me a + useless crime—it would be quite as effective. Of course, if there + was resistance or retaliation, it might be necessary to kill him.” + </p> + <p> + He had unconsciously fallen into his old didactic and dogmatic habit of + speech, and perhaps, under the spur of Zenobia's eyes, he had given it + some natural emphasis. A dead silence followed, in which the others + regarded him with amused and gratified surprise, and it was broken only by + Zenobia rising and holding out her hand. “Shake!” + </p> + <p> + Hale raised it gallantly, and pressed his lips on the one spotless finger. + </p> + <p> + “That's gospel truth. And you ain't the first white man to say it.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed,” laughed Hale. “Who was the other?” + </p> + <p> + “George Lee!” + </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 laughter that followed was interrupted by a sudden barking of the dogs + in the outer clearing. Zenobia rose lazily and strode to the window. It + relieved Hale of certain embarrassing reflections suggested by her + comment. + </p> + <p> + “Ef it ain't that God-forsaken fool Dick bringing up passengers from the + snow-bound up stage in the road! I reckon I'VE got suthin' to say to + that!” But the later appearance of the apologetic Dick, with the assurance + that the party carried a permission from her father, granted at the lower + station in view of such an emergency, checked her active opposition. + “That's like Paw,” she soliloquized aggrievedly; “shuttin' us up and + settin' dogs on everybody for a week, and then lettin' the whole stage + service pass through one door and out at another. Well, it's HIS house and + HIS whiskey, and they kin take it, but they don't get me to help 'em.” + </p> + <p> + They certainly were not a prepossessing or good-natured acquisition to the + party. Apart from the natural antagonism which, on such occasions, those + in possession always feel towards the new-comer, they were strongly + inclined to resist the dissatisfied querulousness and aggressive attitude + of these fresh applicants for hospitality. The most offensive one was a + person who appeared to exercise some authority over the others. He was + loud, assuming, and dressed with vulgar pretension. He quickly disposed + himself in the chair vacated by Zenobia, and called for some liquor. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon you'll hev to help yourself,” said Rawlins dryly, as the summons + met with no response. “There are only two women in the house, and I reckon + their hands are full already.” + </p> + <p> + “I call it d—d uncivil treatment,” said the man, raising his voice; + “and Hennicker had better sing smaller if he don't want his old den pulled + down some day. He ain't any better than men that hev been picked up afore + now.” + </p> + <p> + “You oughter told him that, and mebbe he'd hev come over with yer,” + returned Rawlins. “He's a mild, soft, easy-going man, is Hennicker! Ain't + he, Colonel Clinch?” + </p> + <p> + The casual mention of Clinch's name produced the effect which the speaker + probably intended. The stranger stared at Clinch, who, apparently + oblivious of the conversation, was blinking his cold gray eyes at the + fire. Dropping his aggressive tone to mere querulousness, the man sought + the whiskey demijohn, and helped himself and his companions. Fortified by + liquor he returned to the fire. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon you've heard about this yer robbery, Colonel,” he said, + addressing Clinch, with an attempt at easy familiarity. + </p> + <p> + Without raising his eyes from the fire, Clinch briefly assented, “I + reckon.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm up yer, examining into it, for the Express.” + </p> + <p> + “Lost much?” asked Rawlins. + </p> + <p> + “Not so much ez they might hev. That fool Harkins had a hundred thousand + dollars in greenbacks sealed up like an ordinary package of a thousand + dollars, and gave it to a friend, Bill Guthrie, in the bank to pick out + some unlikely chap among the passengers to take charge of it to Reno. He + wouldn't trust the Express. Ha! ha!” + </p> + <p> + The dead, oppressive silence that followed his empty laughter made it seem + almost artificial. Rawlins held his breath and looked at Clinch. Hale, + with the instincts of a refined, sensitive man, turned hot with the + embarrassment Clinch should have shown. For that gentleman, without + lifting his eyes from the fire, and with no apparent change in his + demeanor, lazily asked— + </p> + <p> + “Ye didn't ketch the name o' that passenger?” + </p> + <p> + “Naturally, no! For when Guthrie heard what was said agin him he wouldn't + give his name until he heard from him.” + </p> + <p> + “And WHAT was said agin him?” asked Clinch musingly. + </p> + <p> + “What would be said agin a man that give up that sum o' money, like a chaw + of tobacco, for the asking? Why, there were but three men, as far ez we + kin hear, that did the job. And there were four passengers inside, armed, + and the driver and express messenger on the box. Six were robbed by THREE!—they + were a sweet-scented lot! Reckon they must hev felt mighty small, for I + hear they got up and skedaddled from the station under the pretext of + lookin' for the robbers.” He laughed again, and the laugh was noisily + repeated by his five companions at the other end of the room. + </p> + <p> + Hale, who had forgotten that the stranger was only echoing a part of his + own criticism of eight hours before, was on the point of rising with + burning cheeks and angry indignation, when the lazily uplifted eye of + Clinch caught his, and absolutely held him down with its paralyzing and + deadly significance. Murder itself seemed to look from those cruelly quiet + and remorseless gray pupils. For a moment he forgot his own rage in this + glimpse of Clinch's implacable resentment; for a moment he felt a thrill + of pity for the wretch who had provoked it. He remained motionless and + fascinated in his chair as the lazy lids closed like a sheath over + Clinch's eyes again. Rawlins, who had probably received the same glance of + warning, remained equally still. + </p> + <p> + “They haven't heard the last of it yet, you bet,” continued the infatuated + stranger. “I've got a little statement here for the newspaper,” he added, + drawing some papers from his pocket; “suthin' I just run off in the coach + as I came along. I reckon it'll show things up in a new light. It's time + there should be some change. All the cussin' that's been usually done hez + been by the passengers agin the express and stage companies. I propose + that the Company should do a little cussin' themselves. See? P'r'aps you + don't mind my readin' it to ye? It's just spicy enough to suit them + newspaper chaps.” + </p> + <p> + “Go on,” said Colonel Clinch quietly. + </p> + <p> + The man cleared his throat, with the preliminary pose of authorship, and + his five friends, to whom the composition was evidently not unfamiliar, + assumed anticipatory smiles. + </p> + <p> + “I call it 'Prize Pusillanimous Passengers.' Sort of runs easy off the + tongue, you know. + </p> + <p> + “'It now appears that the success of the late stagecoach robbery near the + Summit was largely due to the pusillanimity—not to use a more + serious word'”—He stopped, and looked explanatorily towards Clinch: + “Ye'll see in a minit what I'm gettin' at by that pusillanimity of the + passengers themselves. 'It now transpires that there were only three + robbers who attacked the coach, and that although passengers, driver, and + express messenger were fully armed, and were double the number of their + assailants, not a shot was fired. We mean no reflections upon the + well-known courage of Yuba Bill, nor the experience and coolness of Bracy + Tibbetts, the courteous express messenger, both of whom have since + confessed to have been more than astonished at the Christian and lamb-like + submission of the insiders. Amusing stories of some laughable yet + sickening incidents of the occasion—such as grown men kneeling in + the road, and offering to strip themselves completely, if their lives were + only spared; of one of the passengers hiding under the seat, and only + being dislodged by pulling his coat-tails; of incredible sums promised, + and even offers of menial service, for the preservation of their wretched + carcases—are received with the greatest gusto; but we are in + possession of facts which may lead to more serious accusations. Although + one of the passengers is said to have lost a large sum of money intrusted + to him, while attempting with barefaced effrontery to establish a rival + “carrying” business in one of the Express Company's own coaches—'I + call that a good point.” He interrupted himself to allow the unrestrained + applause of his own party. “Don't you?” + </p> + <p> + “It's just h-ll,” said Clinch musingly. + </p> + <p> + “'Yet the affair,” resumed the stranger from his manuscript, “'is locked + up in great and suspicious mystery. The presence of Jackson N. Stanner, + Esq.' (that's me), 'special detective agent to the Company, and his staff + in town, is a guaranty that the mystery will be thoroughly probed.' Hed to + put that in to please the Company,” he again deprecatingly explained. “'We + are indebted to this gentleman for the facts.'” + </p> + <p> + “The pint you want to make in that article,” said Clinch, rising, but + still directing his face and his conversation to the fire, “ez far ez I + ken see ez that no three men kin back down six unless they be cowards, or + are willing to be backed down.” + </p> + <p> + “That's the point what I start from,” rejoined Stanner, “and work up. I + leave it to you ef it ain't so.” + </p> + <p> + “I can't say ez I agree with you,” said the Colonel dryly. He turned, and + still without lifting his eyes walked towards the door of the room which + Zenobia had entered. The key was on the inside, but Clinch gently opened + the door, removed the key, and closing the door again locked it from his + side. Hale and Rawlins felt their hearts beat quickly; the others followed + Clinch's slow movements and downcast mien with amused curiosity. After + locking the other outlet from the room, and putting the keys in his + pocket, Clinch returned to the fire. For the first time he lifted his + eyes; the man nearest him shrank back in terror. + </p> + <p> + “I am the man,” he said slowly, taking deliberate breath between his + sentences, “who gave up those greenbacks to the robbers. I am one of the + three passengers you have lampooned in that paper, and these gentlemen + beside me are the other two.” He stopped and looked around him. “You don't + believe that three men can back down six! Well, I'll show you how it can + be done. More than that, I'll show you how ONE man can do it; for, by the + living G-d, if you don't hand over that paper I'll kill you where you sit! + I'll give you until I count ten; if one of you moves he and you are dead + men—but YOU first!” + </p> + <p> + Before he had finished speaking Hale and Rawlins had both risen, as if in + concert, with their weapons drawn. Hale could not tell how or why he had + done so, but he was equally conscious, without knowing why, of fixing his + eye on one of the other party, and that he should, in the event of an + affray, try to kill him. He did not attempt to reason; he only knew that + he should do his best to kill that man and perhaps others. + </p> + <p> + “One,” said Clinch, lifting his derringer, “two—three—” + </p> + <p> + “Look here, Colonel—I swear I didn't know it was you. Come—d—m + it! I say—see here,” stammered Stanner, with white cheeks, not + daring to glance for aid to his stupefied party. + </p> + <p> + “Four—five—six—” + </p> + <p> + “Wait! Here!” He produced the paper and threw it on the floor. + </p> + <p> + “Pick it up and hand it to me. Seven—eight—” + </p> + <p> + Stanner hastily scrambled to his feet, picked up the paper, and handed it + to the Colonel. “I was only joking, Colonel,” he said, with a forced + laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I'm glad to hear it. But as this joke is in black and white, you wouldn't + mind saying so in the same fashion. Take that pen and ink and write as I + dictate. 'I certify that I am satisfied that the above statement is a base + calumny against the characters of Ringwood Clinch, Robert Rawlins, and + John Hale, passengers, and that I do hereby apologize to the same.' Sign + it. That'll do. Now let the rest of your party sign as witnesses.” + </p> + <p> + They complied without hesitation; some, seizing the opportunity of + treating the affair as a joke, suggested a drink. + </p> + <p> + “Excuse me,” said Clinch quietly, “but ez this house ain't big enough for + me and that man, and ez I've got business at Wild Cat Station with this + paper, I think I'll go without drinkin'.” He took the keys from his + pocket, unlocked the doors, and taking up his overcoat and rifle turned as + if to go. + </p> + <p> + Rawlins rose to follow him; Hale alone hesitated. The rapid occurrences of + the last half hour gave him no time for reflection. But he was by no means + satisfied of the legality of the last act he had aided and abetted, + although he admitted its rude justice, and felt he would have done so + again. A fear of this, and an instinct that he might be led into further + complications if he continued to identify himself with Clinch and Rawlins; + the fact that they had professedly abandoned their quest, and that it was + really supplanted by the presence of an authorized party whom they had + already come in conflict with—all this urged him to remain behind. + On the other hand, the apparent desertion of his comrades at the last + moment was opposed both to his sense of honor and the liking he had taken + to them. But he reflected that he had already shown his active + partisanship, that he could be of little service to them at Wild Cat + Station, and would be only increasing the distance from his home; and + above all, an impatient longing for independent action finally decided + him. “I think I'll stay here,” he said to Clinch, “unless you want me.” + </p> + <p> + Clinch cast a swift and meaning glance at the enemy, but looked approval. + “Keep your eyes skinned, and you're good for a dozen of 'em,” he said + sotto voce, and then turned to Stanner. “I'm going to take this paper to + Wild Cat. If you want to communicate with me hereafter you know where I am + to be found, unless”—he smiled grimly—“you'd like to see me + outside for a few minutes before I go?” + </p> + <p> + “It is a matter that concerns the Stage Company, not me,” said Stanner, + with an attempt to appear at his ease. + </p> + <p> + Hale accompanied Clinch and Rawlins through the kitchen to the stables. + The ostler, Dick, had already returned to the rescue of the snow-bound + coach. + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't like to leave many men alone with that crowd,” said Clinch, + pressing Hale's hand; “and I wouldn't have allowed your staying behind ef + I didn't know I could bet my pile on you. Your offerin' to stay just puts + a clean finish on it. Look yer, Hale, I didn't cotton much to you at + first; but ef you ever want a friend, call on Ringwood Clinch.” + </p> + <p> + “The same here, old man,” said Rawlins, extending his hand as he appeared + from a hurried conference with the old woman at the woodshed, “and trust + to Zeenie to give you a hint ef there's anythin' underhanded goin' on. So + long.” + </p> + <p> + Half inclined to resent this implied suggestion of protection, yet half + pleased at the idea of a confidence with the handsome girl he had seen, + Hale returned to the room. A whispered discussion among the party ceased + on his entering, and an awkward silence followed, which Hale did not + attempt to break as he quietly took his seat again by the fire. He was + presently confronted by Stanner, who with an affectation of easy + familiarity crossed over to the hearth. + </p> + <p> + “The old Kernel's d—d peppery and high toned when he's got a little + more than his reg'lar three fingers o' corn juice, eh?” + </p> + <p> + “I must beg you to understand distinctly, Mr. Stanner,” said Hale, with a + return of his habitual precision of statement, “that I regard any + slighting allusion to the gentleman who has just left not only as in + exceedingly bad taste coming from YOU, but very offensive to myself. If + you mean to imply that he was under the influence of liquor, it is my duty + to undeceive you; he was so perfectly in possession of his faculties as to + express not only his own but MY opinion of your conduct. You must also + admit that he was discriminating enough to show his objection to your + company by leaving it. I regret that circumstances do not make it + convenient for me to exercise that privilege; but if I am obliged to put + up with your presence in this room, I strongly insist that it is not made + unendurable with the addition of your conversation.” + </p> + <p> + The effect of this deliberate and passionless declaration was more + discomposing to the party than Clinch's fury. Utterly unaccustomed to the + ideas and language suddenly confronting them, they were unable to + determine whether it was the real expression of the speaker, or whether it + was a vague badinage or affectation to which any reply would involve them + in ridicule. In a country terrorized by practical joking, they did not + doubt but that this was a new form of hoaxing calculated to provoke some + response that would constitute them as victims. The immediate effect upon + them was that complete silence in regard to himself that Hale desired. + They drew together again and conversed in whispers, while Hale, with his + eyes fixed on the fire, gave himself up to somewhat late and useless + reflection. + </p> + <p> + He could scarcely realize his position. For however he might look at it, + within a space of twelve hours he had not only changed some of his most + cherished opinions, but he had acted in accordance with that change in a + way that made it seem almost impossible for him ever to recant. In the + interests of law and order he had engaged in an unlawful and disorderly + pursuit of criminals, and had actually come in conflict not with the + criminals, but with the only party apparently authorized to pursue them. + More than that, he was finding himself committed to a certain sympathy + with the criminals. Twenty-four hours ago, if anyone had told him that he + would have condoned an illegal act for its abstract justice, or assisted + to commit an illegal act for the same purpose, he would have felt himself + insulted. That he knew he would not now feel it as an insult perplexed him + still more. In these circumstances the fact that he was separated from his + family, and as it were from all his past life and traditions, by a chance + accident, did not disturb him greatly; indeed, he was for the first time a + little doubtful of their probable criticism on his inconsistency, and was + by no means in a hurry to subject himself to it. + </p> + <p> + Lifting his eyes, he was suddenly aware that the door leading to the + kitchen was slowly opening. He had thought he heard it creak once or twice + during his deliberate reply to Stanner. It was evidently moving now so as + to attract his attention, without disturbing the others. It presently + opened sufficiently wide to show the face of Zeenie, who, with a gesture + of caution towards his companions, beckoned him to join her. He rose + carelessly as if going out, and, putting on his hat, entered the kitchen + as the retreating figure of the young girl glided lightly towards the + stables. She ascended a few open steps as if to a hay-loft, but stopped + before a low door. Pushing it open, she preceded him into a small room, + apparently under the roof, which scarcely allowed her to stand upright. By + the light of a stable lantern hanging from a beam he saw that, though + poorly furnished, it bore some evidence of feminine taste and habitation. + Motioning to the only chair, she seated herself on the edge of the bed, + with her hands clasping her knees in her familiar attitude. Her face bore + traces of recent agitation, and her eyes were shining with tears. By the + closer light of the lantern he was surprised to find it was from laughter. + </p> + <p> + “I reckoned you'd be right lonely down there with that Stanner crowd, + particklerly after that little speech o' your'n, so I sez to Maw I'd get + you up yer for a spell. Maw and I heerd you exhort 'em! Maw allowed you + woz talkin' a furrin' tongue all along, but I—sakes alive!—I + hed to hump myself to keep from bustin' into a yell when yer jist drawed + them Webster-unabridged sentences on 'em.” She stopped and rocked + backwards and forwards with a laugh that, subdued by the proximity of the + roof and the fear of being overheard, was by no means unmusical. “I'll + tell ye whot got me, though! That part commencing, 'Suckamstances over + which I've no controul.'” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, come! I didn't say that,” interrupted Hale, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “'Don't make it convenient for me to exercise the privilege of kickin' yer + out to that extent,'” she continued; “'but if I cannot dispense with your + room, the least I can say is that it's a d—d sight better than your + company—'or suthin' like that! And then the way you minded your + stops, and let your voice rise and fall just ez easy ez if you wos a First + Reader in large type. Why, the Kernel wasn't nowhere. HIS cussin' didn't + come within a mile o' yourn. That Stanner jist turned yaller.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid you are laughing at me,” said Hale, not knowing whether to be + pleased or vexed at the girl's amusement. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon I'm the only one that dare do it, then,” said the girl simply. + “The Kernel sez the way you turned round after he'd done his cussin', and + said yer believed you'd stay and take the responsibility of the whole + thing—and did, in that kam, soft, did-anybody-speak-to-me style—was + the neatest thing he'd seen yet. No! Maw says I ain't much on manners, but + I know a man when I see him.” + </p> + <p> + For an instant Hale gave himself up to the delicious flattery of + unexpected, unintended, and apparently uninterested compliment. Becoming + at last a little embarrassed under the frank curiosity of the girl's dark + eyes, he changed the subject. + </p> + <p> + “Do you always come up here through the stables?” he asked, glancing round + the room, which was evidently her own. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon,” she answered half abstractedly. “There's a ladder down thar to + Maw's room”—pointing to a trapdoor beside the broad chimney that + served as a wall—“but it's handier the other way, and nearer the + bosses if you want to get away quick.” + </p> + <p> + This palpable suggestion—borne out by what he remembered of the + other domestic details—that the house had been planned with + reference to sudden foray or escape reawakened his former uneasy + reflections. Zeenie, who had been watching his face, added, “It's no + slouch, when b'ar or painters hang round nights and stampede the stock, to + be able to swing yourself on to a boss whenever you hear a row going on + outside.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean that YOU—” + </p> + <p> + “Paw USED, and I do NOW, sense I've come into the room.” She pointed to a + nondescript garment, half cloak, half habit, hanging on the wall. “I've + been outer bed and on Pitchpine's back as far ez the trail five minutes + arter I heard the first bellow.” + </p> + <p> + Hale regarded her with undisguised astonishment. There was nothing at all + Amazonian or horsey in her manners, nor was there even the robust physical + contour that might have been developed through such experiences. On the + contrary, she seemed to be lazily effeminate in body and mind. Heedless of + his critical survey of her, she beckoned him to draw his chair nearer, + and, looking into his eyes, said— + </p> + <p> + “Whatever possessed YOU to take to huntin' men?” + </p> + <p> + Hale was staggered by the question, but nevertheless endeavored to + explain. But he was surprised to find that his explanation appeared + stilted even to himself, and, he could not doubt, was utterly + incomprehensible to the girl. She nodded her head, however, and continued— + </p> + <p> + “Then you haven't anythin' agin' George?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know George,” said Hale, smiling. “My proceeding was against the + highwayman.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, HE was the highwayman.” + </p> + <p> + “I mean, it was the principle I objected to—a principle that I + consider highly dangerous.” + </p> + <p> + “Well HE is the principal, for the others only HELPED, I reckon,” said + Zeenie with a sigh, “and I reckon he IS dangerous.” + </p> + <p> + Hale saw it was useless to explain. The girl continued— + </p> + <p> + “What made you stay here instead of going on with the Kernel? There was + suthin' else besides your wanting to make that Stanner take water. What is + it?” + </p> + <p> + A light sense of the propinquity of beauty, of her confidence, of their + isolation, of the eloquence of her dark eyes, at first tempted Hale to a + reply of simple gallantry; a graver consideration of the same + circumstances froze it upon his lips. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” he returned awkwardly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'll tell you,” she said. “You didn't cotton to the Kernel and + Rawlins much more than you did to Stanner. They ain't your kind.” + </p> + <p> + In his embarrassment Hale blundered upon the thought he had honorably + avoided. + </p> + <p> + “Suppose,” he said, with a constrained laugh, “I had stayed to see you.” + </p> + <p> + “I reckon I ain't your kind, neither,” she replied promptly. There was a + momentary pause when she rose and walked to the chimney. “It's very quiet + down there,” she said, stooping and listening over the roughly-boarded + floor that formed the ceiling of the room below. “I wonder what's going + on.” + </p> + <p> + In the belief that this was a delicate hint for his return to the party he + had left, Hale rose, but the girl passed him hurriedly, and, opening the + door, cast a quick glance into the stable beyond. + </p> + <p> + “Just as I reckoned—the horses are gone too. They've skedaddled,” + she said blankly. + </p> + <p> + Hale did not reply. In his embarrassment a moment ago the idea of taking + an equally sudden departure had flashed upon him. Should he take this as a + justification of that impulse, or how? He stood irresolutely gazing at the + girl, who turned and began to descend the stairs silently. He followed. + When they reached the lower room they found it as they had expected—deserted. + </p> + <p> + “I hope I didn't drive them away,” said Hale, with an uneasy look at the + troubled face of the girl. “For I really had an idea of going myself a + moment ago.” + </p> + <p> + She remained silent, gazing out of the window. Then, turning with a slight + shrug of her shoulders, said half defiantly: “What's the use now? Oh, Maw! + the Stanner crowd has vamosed the ranch, and this yer stranger kalkilates + to stay!” + </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 week had passed at Eagle's Court—a week of mingled clouds and + sunshine by day, of rain over the green plateau and snow on the mountain + by night. Each morning had brought its fresh greenness to the winter-girt + domain, and a fresh coat of dazzling white to the barrier that separated + its dwellers from the world beyond. There was little change in the + encompassing wall of their prison; if anything, the snowy circle round + them seemed to have drawn its lines nearer day by day. The immediate + result of this restricted limit had been to confine the range of cattle to + the meadows nearer the house, and at a safe distance from the fringe of + wilderness now invaded by the prowling tread of predatory animals. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the two figures lounging on the slope at sunset gave very + little indication of any serious quality in the situation. Indeed, so far + as appearances were concerned, Kate, who was returning from an afternoon + stroll with Falkner, exhibited, with feminine inconsistency, a decided + return to the world of fashion and conventionality apparently just as she + was effectually excluded from it. She had not only discarded her white + dress as a concession to the practical evidence of the surrounding winter, + but she had also brought out a feather hat and sable muff which had once + graced a fashionable suburb of Boston. Even Falkner had exchanged his + slouch hat and picturesque serape for a beaver overcoat and fur cap of + Hale's which had been pressed upon him by Kate, under the excuse of the + exigencies of the season. Within a stone's throw of the thicket, turbulent + with the savage forces of nature, they walked with the abstraction of + people hearing only their own voices; in the face of the solemn peaks + clothed with white austerity they talked gravely of dress. + </p> + <p> + “I don't mean to say,” said Kate demurely, “that you're to give up the + serape entirely; you can wear it on rainy nights and when you ride over + here from your friend's house to spend the evening—for the sake of + old times,” she added, with an unconscious air of referring to an already + antiquated friendship; “but you must admit it's a little too gorgeous and + theatrical for the sunlight of day and the public highway.” + </p> + <p> + “But why should that make it wrong, if the experience of a people has + shown it to be a garment best fitted for their wants and requirements?” + said Falkner argumentatively. + </p> + <p> + “But you are not one of those people,” said Kate, “and that makes all the + difference. You look differently and act differently, so that there is + something irreconcilable between your clothes and you that makes you look + odd.” + </p> + <p> + “And to look odd, according to your civilized prejudices, is to be wrong,” + said Falkner bitterly. + </p> + <p> + “It is to seem different from what one really is—which IS wrong. + Now, you are a mining superintendent, you tell me. Then you don't want to + look like a Spanish brigand, as you do in that serape. I am sure if you + had ridden up to a stage-coach while I was in it, I'd have handed you my + watch and purse without a word. There! you are not offended?” she added, + with a laugh, which did not, however, conceal a certain earnestness. “I + suppose I ought to have said I would have given it gladly to such a + romantic figure, and perhaps have got out and danced a saraband or bolero + with you—if that is the thing to do nowadays. Well!” she said, after + a dangerous pause, “consider that I've said it.” + </p> + <p> + He had been walking a little before her, with his face turned towards the + distant mountain. Suddenly he stopped and faced her. “You would have given + enough of your time to the highwayman, Miss Scott, as would have enabled + you to identify him for the police—and no more. Like your brother, + you would have been willing to sacrifice yourself for the benefit of the + laws of civilization and good order.” + </p> + <p> + If a denial to this assertion could have been expressed without the use of + speech, it was certainly transparent in the face and eyes of the young + girl at that moment. If Falkner had been less self-conscious he would have + seen it plainly. But Kate only buried her face in her lifted muff, + slightly raised her pretty shoulders, and, dropping her tremulous eyelids, + walked on. “It seems a pity,” she said, after a pause, “that we cannot + preserve our own miserable existence without taking something from others—sometimes + even a life!” He started. “And it's horrid to have to remind you that you + have yet to kill something for the invalid's supper,” she continued. “I + saw a hare in the field yonder.” + </p> + <p> + “You mean that jackass rabbit?” he said, abstractedly. + </p> + <p> + “What you please. It's a pity you didn't take your gun instead of your + rifle.” + </p> + <p> + “I brought the rifle for protection.” + </p> + <p> + “And a shot gun is only aggressive, I suppose?” + </p> + <p> + Falkner looked at her for a moment, and then, as the hare suddenly started + across the open a hundred yards away, brought the rifle to his shoulder. A + long interval—as it seemed to Kate—elapsed; the animal + appeared to be already safely out of range, when the rifle suddenly + cracked; the hare bounded in the air like a ball, and dropped motionless. + The girl looked at the marksman in undisguised admiration. “Is it quite + dead?” she said timidly. + </p> + <p> + “It never knew what struck it.” + </p> + <p> + “It certainly looks less brutal than shooting it with a shot gun, as John + does, and then not killing it outright,” said Kate. “I hate what is called + sport and sportsmen, but a rifle seems—” + </p> + <p> + “What?” said Falkner. + </p> + <p> + “More—gentlemanly.” + </p> + <p> + She had raised her pretty head in the air, and, with her hand shading her + eyes, was looking around the clear ether, and said meditatively, “I wonder—no + matter.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “It is something,” said Falkner, with an amused smile, reloading his + rifle. + </p> + <p> + “Well, you once promised me an eagle's feather for my hat. Isn't that + thing an eagle?” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid it's only a hawk.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that will do. Shoot that!” + </p> + <p> + Her eyes were sparkling. Falkner withdrew his own with a slight smile, and + raised his rifle with provoking deliberation. + </p> + <p> + “Are you quite sure it's what you want?” he asked demurely. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—quick!” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, it was some minutes before the rifle cracked again. The + wheeling bird suddenly struck the wind with its wings aslant, and then + fell like a plummet at a distance which showed the difficulty of the feat. + Falkner started from her side before the bird reached the ground. He + returned to her after a lapse of a few moments, bearing a trailing wing in + his hand. “You shall make your choice,” he said gayly. + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure it was killed outright?” + </p> + <p> + “Head shot off,” said Falkner briefly. + </p> + <p> + “And besides, the fall would have killed it,” said Kate conclusively. + “It's lovely. I suppose they call you a very good shot?” + </p> + <p> + “They—who?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! the people you know—your friends, and their sisters.” + </p> + <p> + “George shoots better than I do, and has had more experience. I've seen + him do that with a pistol. Of course not such a long shot, but a more + difficult one.” + </p> + <p> + Kate did not reply, but her face showed a conviction that as an artistic + and gentlemanly performance it was probably inferior to the one she had + witnessed. Falkner, who had picked up the hare also, again took his place + by her side, as they turned towards the house. + </p> + <p> + “Do you remember the day you came, when we were walking here, you pointed + out that rock on the mountain where the poor animals had taken refuge from + the snow?” said Kate suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Falkner; “they seem to have diminished. I am afraid you + were right; they have either eaten each other or escaped. Let us hope the + latter.” + </p> + <p> + “I looked at them with a glass every day,” said Kate, “and they've got + down to only four. There's a bear and that shabby, over-grown cat you call + a California lion, and a wolf, and a creature like a fox or a squirrel.” + </p> + <p> + “It's a pity they're not all of a kind,” said Falkner. + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “There'd be nothing to keep them from being comfortable together.” + </p> + <p> + “On the contrary, I should think it would be simply awful to be shut up + entirely with one's own kind.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you believe it is possible for them, with their different natures + and habits, to be happy together?” said Falkner, with sudden earnestness. + </p> + <p> + “I believe,” said Kate hurriedly, “that the bear and the lion find the fox + and the wolf very amusing, and that the fox and the wolf—” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” said Falkner, stopping short. + </p> + <p> + “Well, the fox and the wolf will carry away a much better opinion of the + lion and bear than they had before.” + </p> + <p> + They had reached the house by this time, and for some occult reason Kate + did not immediately enter the parlor, where she had left her sister and + the invalid, who had already been promoted to a sofa and a cushion by the + window, but proceeded directly to her own room. As a manoeuvre to avoid + meeting Mrs. Hale, it was scarcely necessary, for that lady was already in + advance of her on the staircase, as if she had left the parlor for a + moment before they entered the house. Falkner, too, would have preferred + the company of his own thoughts, but Lee, apparently the only + unpreoccupied, all-pervading, and boyishly alert spirit in the party, + hailed him from within, and obliged him to present himself on the + threshold of the parlor with the hare and hawk's wing he was still + carrying. Eying the latter with affected concern, Lee said gravely: “Of + course, I CAN eat it, Ned, and I dare say it's the best part of the fowl, + and the hare isn't more than enough for the women, but I had no idea we + were so reduced. Three hours and a half gunning, and only one hare and a + hawk's wing. It's terrible.” + </p> + <p> + Perceiving that his friend was alone, Falkner dropped his burden in the + hall and strode rapidly to his side. “Look here, George, we must, I must + leave this place at once. It's no use talking; I can stand this sort of + thing no longer.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor can I, with the door open. Shut it, and say what you want quick, + before Mrs. Hale comes back. Have you found a trail?” + </p> + <p> + “No, no; that's not what I mean.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, it strikes me it ought to be, if you expect to get away. Have you + proposed to Beacon Street, and she thinks it rather premature on a week's + acquaintance?” + </p> + <p> + “No; but—” + </p> + <p> + “But you WILL, you mean? DON'T, just yet.” + </p> + <p> + “But I cannot live this perpetual lie.” + </p> + <p> + “That depends. I don't know HOW you're lying when I'm not with you. If + you're walking round with that girl, singing hymns and talking of your + class in Sunday-school, or if you're insinuating that you're a + millionaire, and think of buying the place for a summer hotel, I should + say you'd better quit that kind of lying. But, on the other hand, I don't + see the necessity of your dancing round here with a shot gun, and yelling + for Harkins's blood, or counting that package of greenbacks in the lap of + Miss Scott, to be truthful. It seems to me there ought to be something + between the two.” + </p> + <p> + “But, George, don't you think—you are on such good terms with Mrs. + Hale and her mother—that you might tell them the whole story? That + is, tell it in your own way; they will hear anything from you, and believe + it.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you; but suppose I don't believe in lying, either?” + </p> + <p> + “You know what I mean! You have a way, d—n it, of making everything + seem like a matter of course, and the most natural thing going.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, suppose I did. Are you prepared for the worst?” + </p> + <p> + Falkner was silent for a moment, and then replied, “Yes, anything would be + better than this suspense.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't agree with you. Then you would be willing to have them forgive + us?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand you.” + </p> + <p> + “I mean that their forgiveness would be the worst thing that could happen. + Look here, Ned. Stop a moment; listen at that door. Mrs. Hale has the + tread of an angel, with the pervading capacity of a cat. Now listen! I + don't pretend to be in love with anybody here, but if I were I should + hardly take advantage of a woman's helplessness and solitude with a + sensational story about myself. It's not giving her a fair show. You know + she won't turn you out of the house.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Falkner, reddening; “but I should expect to go at once, and + that would be my only excuse for telling her.” + </p> + <p> + “Go! where? In your preoccupation with that girl you haven't even found + the trail by which Manuel escaped. Do you intend to camp outside the + house, and make eyes at her when she comes to the window?” + </p> + <p> + “Because you think nothing of flirting with Mrs. Hale,” said Falkner + bitterly, “you care little—” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Ned,” said Lee, “the fact that Mrs. Hale has a husband, and knows + that she can't marry me, puts us on equal terms. Nothing that she could + learn about me hereafter would make a flirtation with me any less wrong + than it would be now, or make her seem more a victim. Can you say the same + of yourself and that Puritan girl?” + </p> + <p> + “But you did not advise me to keep aloof from her; on the contrary, you—” + </p> + <p> + “I thought you might make the best of the situation, and pay her some + attention, BECAUSE you could not go any further.” + </p> + <p> + “You thought I was utterly heartless and selfish, like—” + </p> + <p> + “Ned!” + </p> + <p> + Falkner walked rapidly to the fireplace, and returned. + </p> + <p> + “Forgive me, George—I'm a fool—and an ungrateful one.” + </p> + <p> + Lee did not reply at once, although he took and retained the hand Falkner + had impulsively extended. “Promise me,” he said slowly, after a pause, + “that you will say nothing yet to either of these women. I ask it for your + own sake, and this girl's, not for mine. If, on the contrary, you are + tempted to do so from any Quixotic idea of honor, remember that you will + only precipitate something that will oblige you, from that same sense of + honor, to separate from the girl forever.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand.” + </p> + <p> + “Enough!” said he, with a quick return of his old reckless gayety. + “Shoot-Off-His-Mouth—the Beardless Boy Chief of the Sierras—has + spoken! Let the Pale Face with the black moustache ponder and beware how + he talks hereafter to the Rippling Cochituate Water! Go!” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, as soon as the door had closed upon Falkner, Lee's smile + vanished. With his colorless face turned to the fading light at the + window, the hollows in his temples and the lines in the corners of his + eyes seemed to have grown more profound. He remained motionless and + absorbed in thought so deep that the light rustle of a skirt, that would + at other times have thrilled his sensitive ear, passed unheeded. At last, + throwing off his reverie with the full and unrestrained sigh of a man who + believes himself alone, he was startled by the soft laugh of Mrs. Hale, + who had entered the room unperceived. + </p> + <p> + “Dear me! How portentous! Really, I almost feel as if I were interrupting + a tete-a-tete between yourself and some old flame. I haven't heard + anything so old-fashioned and conservative as that sigh since I have been + in California. I thought you never had any Past out here?” + </p> + <p> + Fortunately his face was between her and the light, and the unmistakable + expression of annoyance and impatience which was passed over it was spared + her. There was, however, still enough dissonance in his manner to affect + her quick feminine sense, and when she drew nearer to him it was with a + certain maiden-like timidity. + </p> + <p> + “You are not worse, Mr. Lee, I hope? You have not over-exerted yourself?” + </p> + <p> + “There's little chance of that with one leg—if not in the grave at + least mummified with bandages,” he replied, with a bitterness new to him. + </p> + <p> + “Shall I loosen them? Perhaps they are too tight. There is nothing so + irritating to one as the sensation of being tightly bound.” + </p> + <p> + The light touch of her hand upon the rug that covered his knees, the + thoughtful tenderness of the blue-veined lids, and the delicate atmosphere + that seemed to surround her like a perfume cleared his face of its shadow + and brought back the reckless fire into his blue eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose I'm intolerant of all bonds,” he said, looking at her intently, + “in others as well as myself!” + </p> + <p> + Whether or not she detected any double meaning in his words, she was + obliged to accept the challenge of his direct gaze, and, raising her eyes + to his, drew back a little from him with a slight increase of color. “I + was afraid you had heard bad news just now.” + </p> + <p> + “What would you call bad news?” asked Lee, clasping his hands behind his + head, and leaning back on the sofa, but without withdrawing his eyes from + her face. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, any news that would interrupt your convalescence, or break up our + little family party,” said Mrs. Hale. “You have been getting on so well + that really it would seem cruel to have anything interfere with our life + of forgetting and being forgotten. But,” she added with apprehensive + quickness, “has anything happened? Is there really any news from—from, + the trails? Yesterday Mr. Falkner said the snow had recommenced in the + pass. Has he seen anything, noticed anything different?” + </p> + <p> + She looked so very pretty, with the rare, genuine, and youthful excitement + that transfigured her wearied and wearying regularity of feature, that Lee + contented himself with drinking in her prettiness as he would have inhaled + the perfume of some flower. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you look at me so, Mr. Lee?” she asked, with a slight smile. “I + believe something HAS happened. Mr. Falkner HAS brought you some + intelligence.” + </p> + <p> + “He has certainly found out something I did not foresee.” + </p> + <p> + “And that troubles you?” + </p> + <p> + “It does.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it a secret?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I suppose you will tell it to me at dinner,” she said, with a little + tone of relief. + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid, if I tell it at all, I must tell it now,” he said, glancing + at the door. + </p> + <p> + “You must do as you think best,” she said coldly, “as it seems to be a + secret, after all.” She hesitated. “Kate is dressing, and will not be down + for some time.” + </p> + <p> + “So much the better. For I'm afraid that Ned has made a poor return to + your hospitality by falling in love with her.” + </p> + <p> + “Impossible! He has known her for scarcely a week.” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid we won't agree as to the length of time necessary to + appreciate and love a woman. I think it can be done in seven days and four + hours, the exact time we have been here.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; but as Kate was not in when you arrived, and did not come until + later, you must take off at least one hour,” said Mrs. Hale gayly. + </p> + <p> + “Ned can. I shall not abate a second.” + </p> + <p> + “But are you not mistaken in his feelings?” she continued hurriedly. “He + certainly has not said anything to her.” + </p> + <p> + “That is his last hold on honor and reason. And to preserve that little + intact he wants to run away at once.” + </p> + <p> + “But that would be very silly.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think so?” he said, looking at her fixedly. + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” she asked in her turn, but rather faintly. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell you why,” he said, lowering his voice with a certain intensity + of passion unlike his usual boyish lightheartedness. “Think of a man whose + life has been one of alternate hardness and aggression, of savage + disappointment and equally savage successes, who has known no other + relaxation than dissipation and extravagance; a man to whom the idea of + the domestic hearth and family ties only meant weakness, effeminacy, or—worse; + who had looked for loyalty and devotion only in the man who battled for + him at his right hand in danger, or shared his privations and sufferings. + Think of such a man, and imagine that an accident has suddenly placed him + in an atmosphere of purity, gentleness, and peace, surrounded him by the + refinements of a higher life than he had ever known, and that he found + himself as in a dream, on terms of equality with a pure woman who had + never known any other life, and yet would understand and pity his. Imagine + his loving her! Imagine that the first effect of that love was to show him + his own inferiority and the immeasurable gulf that lay between his life + and hers! Would he not fly rather than brave the disgrace of her awakening + to the truth? Would he not fly rather than accept even the pity that might + tempt her to a sacrifice?” + </p> + <p> + “But—is Mr. Falkner all that?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing of the kind, I assure you!” said he demurely. “But that's the way + a man in love feels.” + </p> + <p> + “Really! Mr. Falkner should get you to plead his cause with Kate,” said + Mrs. Hale with a faint laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I need all my persuasive powers in that way for myself,” said Lee boldly. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Hale rose. “I think I hear Kate coming,” she said. Nevertheless, she + did not move away. “It IS Kate coming,” she added hurriedly, stooping to + pick up her work-basket, which had slipped with Lee's hand from her own. + </p> + <p> + It was Kate, who at once flew to her sister's assistance, Lee deploring + from the sofa his own utter inability to aid her. “It's all my fault, + too,” he said to Kate, but looking at Mrs. Hale. “It seems I have a + faculty of upsetting existing arrangements without the power of improving + them, or even putting them back in their places. What shall I do? I am + willing to hold any number of skeins or rewind any quantity of spools. I + am even willing to forgive Ned for spending the whole day with you, and + only bringing me the wing of a hawk for supper.” + </p> + <p> + “That was all my folly, Mr. Lee,” said Kate, with swift mendacity; “he was + all the time looking after something for you, when I begged him to shoot a + bird to get a feather for my hat. And that wing is SO pretty.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a pity that mere beauty is not edible,” said Lee, gravely, “and + that if the worst comes to the worst here you would probably prefer me to + Ned and his moustachios, merely because I've been tied by the leg to this + sofa and slowly fattened like a Strasbourg goose.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, his badinage failed somehow to amuse Kate, and she presently + excused herself to rejoin her sister, who had already slipped from the + room. For the first time during their enforced seclusion a sense of + restraint and uneasiness affected Mrs. Hale, her sister, and Falkner at + dinner. The latter addressed himself to Mrs. Scott, almost entirely. Mrs. + Hale was fain to bestow an exceptional and marked tenderness on her little + daughter Minnie, who, however, by some occult childish instinct, insisted + upon sharing it with Lee—her great friend—to Mrs. Hale's + uneasy consciousness. Nor was Lee slow to profit by the child's + suggestion, but responded with certain vicarious caresses that increased + the mother's embarrassment. That evening they retired early, but in the + intervals of a restless night Kate was aware, from the sound of voices in + the opposite room, that the friends were equally wakeful. + </p> + <p> + A morning of bright sunshine and soft warm air did not, however, bring any + change to their new and constrained relations. It only seemed to offer a + reason for Falkner to leave the house very early for his daily rounds, and + gave Lee that occasion for unaided exercise with an extempore crutch on + the veranda which allowed Mrs. Hale to pursue her manifold duties without + the necessity of keeping him company. Kate also, as if to avoid an + accidental meeting with Falkner, had remained at home with her sister. + With one exception, they did not make their guests the subject of their + usual playful comments, nor, after the fashion of their sex, quote their + ideas and opinions. That exception was made by Mrs. Hale. + </p> + <p> + “You have had no difference with Mr. Falkner?” she said carelessly. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Kate quickly. “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “I only thought he seemed rather put out at dinner last night, and you + didn't propose to go and meet him to-day.” + </p> + <p> + “He must be bored with my company at times, I dare say,” said Kate, with + an indifference quite inconsistent with her rising color. “I shouldn't + wonder if he was a little vexed with Mr. Lee's chaffing him about his + sport yesterday, and probably intends to go further to-day, and bring home + larger game. I think Mr. Lee very amusing always, but I sometimes fancy he + lacks feeling.” + </p> + <p> + “Feeling! You don't know him, Kate,” said Mrs. Hale quickly. She stopped + herself, but with a half-smiling recollection in her dropped eyelids. + </p> + <p> + “Well, he doesn't look very amiable now, stamping up and down the veranda. + Perhaps you'd better go and soothe him.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm really SO busy just now,” said Mrs. Hale, with sudden and + inconsequent energy; “things have got dreadfully behind in the last week. + You had better go, Kate, and make him sit down, or he'll be overdoing it. + These men never know any medium—in anything.” + </p> + <p> + Contrary to Kate's expectation, Falkner returned earlier than usual, and, + taking the invalid's arm, supported him in a more ambitious walk along the + terrace before the house. They were apparently absorbed in conversation, + but the two women who observed them from the window could not help + noticing the almost feminine tenderness of Falkner's manner towards his + wounded friend, and the thoughtful tenderness of his ministering care. + </p> + <p> + “I wonder,” said Mrs. Hale, following them with softly appreciative eyes, + “if women are capable of as disinterested friendship as men? I never saw + anything like the devotion of these two creatures. Look! if Mr. Falkner + hasn't got his arm round Mr. Lee's waist, and Lee, with his own arm over + Falkner's neck, is looking up in his eyes. I declare, Kate, it almost + seems an indiscretion to look at them.” + </p> + <p> + Kate, however, to Mrs. Hale's indignation, threw her pretty head back and + sniffed the air contemptuously. “I really don't see anything but some + absurd sentimentalism of their own, or some mannish wickedness they're + concocting by themselves. I am by no means certain, Josephine, that Lee's + influence over that young man is the best thing for him.” + </p> + <p> + “On the contrary! Lee's influence seems the only thing that checks his + waywardness,” said Mrs. Hale quickly. “I'm sure, if anyone makes + sacrifices, it is Lee; I shouldn't wonder that even now he is making some + concession to Falkner, and all those caressing ways of your friend are for + a purpose. They're not much different from us, dear.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I wouldn't stand there and let them see me looking at them as if I + couldn't bear them out of my sight for a moment,” said Kate, whisking + herself out of the room. “They're conceited enough, Heaven knows, + already.” + </p> + <p> + That evening, at dinner, however, the two men exhibited no trace of the + restraint or uneasiness of the previous day. If they were less impulsive + and exuberant, they were still frank and interested, and if the term could + be used in connection with men apparently trained to neither self-control + nor repose, there was a certain gentle dignity in their manner which for + the time had the effect of lifting them a little above the social level of + their entertainers. For even with all their predisposition to the + strangers, Kate and Mrs. Hale had always retained a conscious attitude of + gentle condescension and superiority towards them—an attitude not + inconsistent with a stronger feeling, nor altogether unprovocative of it; + yet this evening they found themselves impressed with something more than + an equality in the men who had amused and interested them, and they were + perhaps a little more critical and doubtful of their own power. Mrs. + Hale's little girl, who had appreciated only the seriousness of the + situation, had made her own application of it. “Are you dow'in' away from + aunt Kate and mamma?” she asked, in an interval of silence. + </p> + <p> + “How else can I get you the red snow we saw at sunset, the other day, on + the peak yonder?” said Lee gayly. “I'll have to get up some morning very + early, and catch it when it comes at sunrise.” + </p> + <p> + “What is this wonderful snow, Minnie, that you are tormenting Mr. Lee + for?” asked Mrs. Hale. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! it's a fairy snow that he told me all about; it only comes when the + sun comes up and goes down, and if you catch ever so little of it in your + hand it makes all you fink you want come true! Wouldn't that be nice?” But + to the child's astonishment her little circle of auditors, even while + assenting, sighed. + </p> + <p> + The red snow was there plain enough the next morning before the valley was + warm with light, and while Minnie, her mother, and aunt Kate were still + peacefully sleeping. And Mr. Lee had kept his word, and was evidently + seeking it, for he and Falkner were already urging their horses through + the pass, with their faces towards and lit up by its glow. + </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> + Kate was stirring early, but not as early as her sister, who met her on + the threshold of her room. Her face was quite pale, and she held a letter + in her hand. “What does this mean, Kate?” + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter?” asked Kate, her own color fading from her cheek. + </p> + <p> + “They are gone—with their horses. Left before day, and left this.” + </p> + <p> + She handed Kate an open letter. The girl took it hurriedly, and read— + </p> + <p> + “When you get this we shall be no more; perhaps not even as much. Ned + found the trail yesterday, and we are taking the first advantage of it + before day. We dared not trust ourselves to say 'Good-by!' last evening; + we were too cowardly to face you this morning; we must go as we came, + without warning, but not without regret. We leave a package and a letter + for your husband. It is not only our poor return for your gentleness and + hospitality, but, since it was accidentally the means of giving us the + pleasure of your society, we beg you to keep it in safety until his + return. We kiss your mother's hands. Ned wants to say something more, but + time presses, and I only allow him to send his love to Minnie, and to tell + her that he is trying to find the red snow. + </p> + <p> + “GEORGE LEE.” + </p> + <p> + “But he is not fit to travel,” said Mrs. Hale. “And the trail—it may + not be passable.” + </p> + <p> + “It was passable the day before yesterday,” said Kate drearily, “for I + discovered it, and went as far as the buck-eyes.” + </p> + <p> + “Then it was you who told them about it,” said Mrs. Hale reproachfully. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Kate indignantly. “Of course I didn't.” She stopped, and, + reading the significance of her speech in the glistening eyes of her + sister, she blushed. Josephine kissed her, and said— + </p> + <p> + “It WAS treating us like children, Kate, but we must make them pay for it + hereafter. For that package and letter to John means something, and we + shall probably see them before long. I wonder what the letter is about, + and what is in the package?” + </p> + <p> + “Probably one of Mr. Lee's jokes. He is quite capable of turning the whole + thing into ridicule. I dare say he considers his visit here a prolonged + jest.” + </p> + <p> + “With his poor leg, Kate? You are as unfair to him as you were to Falkner + when they first came.” + </p> + <p> + Kate, however, kept her dark eyebrows knitted in a piquant frown. + </p> + <p> + “To think of his intimating WHAT he would allow Falkner to say! And yet + you believe he has no evil influence over the young man.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Hale laughed. “Where are you going so fast, Kate?” she called + mischievously, as the young lady flounced out of the room. + </p> + <p> + “Where? Why, to tidy John's room. He may be coming at any moment now. Or + do you want to do it yourself?” + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” returned Mrs. Hale hurriedly; “you do it. I'll look in a little + later on.” + </p> + <p> + She turned away with a sigh. The sun was shining brilliantly outside. + Through the half-open blinds its long shafts seemed to be searching the + house for the lost guests, and making the hollow shell appear doubly + empty. What a contrast to the dear dark days of mysterious seclusion and + delicious security, lit by Lee's laughter and the sparkling hearth, which + had passed so quickly! The forgotten outer world seemed to have returned + to the house through those open windows and awakened its dwellers from a + dream. + </p> + <p> + The morning seemed interminable, and it was past noon, while they were + deep in a sympathetic conference with Mrs. Scott, who had drawn a pathetic + word-picture of the two friends perishing in the snow-drift, without + flannels, brandy, smelling-salts, or jelly, which they had forgotten, when + they were startled by the loud barking of “Spot” on the lawn before the + house. The women looked hurriedly at each other. + </p> + <p> + “They have returned,” said Mrs. Hale. + </p> + <p> + Kate ran to the window. A horseman was approaching the house. A single + glance showed her that it was neither Falkner, Lee, nor Hale, but a + stranger. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps he brings some news of them,” said Mrs. Scott quickly. So + complete had been their preoccupation with the loss of their guests that + they could not yet conceive of anything that did not pertain to it. + </p> + <p> + The stranger, who was at once ushered into the parlor, was evidently + disconcerted by the presence of the three women. + </p> + <p> + “I reckoned to see John Hale yer,” he began, awkwardly. + </p> + <p> + A slight look of disappointment passed over their faces. “He has not yet + returned,” said Mrs. Hale briefly. + </p> + <p> + “Sho! I wanter know. He's hed time to do it, I reckon,” said the stranger. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose he hasn't been able to get over from the Summit,” returned Mrs. + Hale. “The trail is closed.” + </p> + <p> + “It ain't now, for I kem over it this mornin' myself.” + </p> + <p> + “You didn't—meet—anyone?” asked Mrs. Hale timidly, with a + glance at the others. + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + A long silence ensued. The unfortunate visitor plainly perceived an + evident abatement of interest in himself, yet he still struggled politely + to say something. “Then I reckon you know what kept Hale away?” he said + dubiously. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, certainly—the stage robbery.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish I'd known that,” said the stranger reflectively, “for I ez good ez + rode over jist to tell it to ye. Ye see John Hale, he sent a note to ye + 'splainin' matters by a gentleman; but the road agents tackled that man, + and left him for dead in the road.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Mrs. Hale impatiently. + </p> + <p> + “Luckily he didn't die, but kem to, and managed to crawl inter the brush, + whar I found him when I was lookin' for stock, and brought him to my house—” + </p> + <p> + “YOU found him? YOUR house?” interrupted Mrs. Hale. + </p> + <p> + “Inter MY house,” continued the man doggedly. “I'm Thompson of Thompson's + Pass over yon; mebbe it ain't much of a house; but I brought him thar. + Well, ez he couldn't find the note that Hale had guv him, and like ez not + the road agents had gone through him and got it, ez soon ez the weather + let up I made a break over yer to tell ye.” + </p> + <p> + “You say Mr. Lee came to your house,” repeated Mrs. Hale, “and is there + now?” + </p> + <p> + “Not much,” said the man grimly; “and I never said LEE was thar. I mean + that Bilson waz shot by Lee and kem—” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, Josephine!” said Kate, suddenly stepping between her sister + and Thompson, and turning upon her a white face and eyes of silencing + significance; “certainly—don't you remember?—that's the story + we got from the Chinaman, you know, only muddled. Go on sir,” she + continued, turning to Thompson calmly; “you say that the man who brought + the note from my brother was shot by Lee?” + </p> + <p> + “And another fellow they call Falkner. Yes, that's about the size of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you; it's nearly the same story that we heard. But you have had a + long ride, Mr. Thompson; let me offer you a glass of whiskey in the + dining-room. This way, please.” + </p> + <p> + The door closed upon them none too soon. For Mrs. Hale already felt the + room whirling around her, and sank back into her chair with a hysterical + laugh. Old Mrs. Scott did not move from her seat, but, with her eyes fixed + on the door, impatiently waited Kate's return. Neither spoke, but each + felt that the young, untried girl was equal to the emergency, and would + get at the truth. + </p> + <p> + The sound of Thompson's feet in the hall and the closing of the front door + was followed by Kate's reappearance. Her face was still pale, but calm. + </p> + <p> + “Well?” said the two women in a breath. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” returned Kate slowly; “Mr. Lee and Mr. Falkner were undoubtedly + the two men who took the paper from John's messenger and brought it here.” + </p> + <p> + “You are sure?” said Mrs. Scott. + </p> + <p> + “There can be no mistake, mother.” + </p> + <p> + “THEN,” said Mrs. Scott, with triumphant feminine logic, “I don't want + anything more to satisfy me that they are PERFECTLY INNOCENT!” + </p> + <p> + More convincing than the most perfect masculine deduction, this single + expression of their common nature sent a thrill of sympathy and + understanding through each. They cried for a few moments on each other's + shoulders. “To think,” said Mrs. Scott, “what that poor boy must have + suffered to have been obliged to do—that to—to—Bilson—isn't + that the creature's name? I suppose we ought to send over there and + inquire after him, with some chicken and jelly, Kate. It's only common + humanity, and we must be just, my dear; for even if he shot Mr. Lee and + provoked the poor boy to shoot him, he may have thought it his duty. And + then, it will avert suspicions.” + </p> + <p> + “To think,” murmured Mrs. Hale, “what they must have gone through while + they were here—momentarily expecting John to come, and yet keeping + up such a light heart.” + </p> + <p> + “I believe, if they had stayed any longer, they would have told us + everything,” said Mrs. Scott. + </p> + <p> + Both the younger women were silent. Kate was thinking of Falkner's + significant speech as they neared the house on their last walk; Josephine + was recalling the remorseful picture drawn by Lee, which she knew was his + own portrait. Suddenly she started. + </p> + <p> + “But John will be here soon; what are we to tell him? And then that + package and that letter.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be in a hurry to tell him anything at present, my child,” said Mrs. + Scott gently. “It is unfortunate this Mr. Thompson called here, but we are + not obliged to understand what he says now about John's message, or to + connect our visitors with his story. I'm sure, Kate, I should have treated + them exactly as we did if they had come without any message from John; so + I do not know why we should lay any stress on that, or even speak of it. + The simple fact is that we have opened our house to two strangers in + distress. Your husband,” continued Mr. Hale's mother-in-law, “does not + require to know more. As to the letter and package, we will keep that for + further consideration. It cannot be of much importance, or they would have + spoken of it before; it is probably some trifling present as a return for + your hospitality. I should use no INDECOROUS haste in having it opened.” + </p> + <p> + The two women kissed Mrs. Scott with a feeling of relief, and fell back + into the monotony of their household duties. It is to be feared, however, + that the absence of their outlawed guests was nearly as dangerous as their + presence in the opportunity it afforded for uninterrupted and imaginative + reflection. Both Kate and Josephine were at first shocked and wounded by + the discovery of the real character of the two men with whom they had + associated so familiarly, but it was no disparagement to their sense of + propriety to say that the shock did not last long, and was accompanied + with the fascination of danger. This was succeeded by a consciousness of + the delicate flattery implied in their indirect influence over the men who + had undoubtedly risked their lives for the sake of remaining with them. + The best woman is not above being touched by the effect of her power over + the worst man, and Kate at first allowed herself to think of Falkner in + that light. But if in her later reflections he suffered as a heroic + experience to be forgotten, he gained something as an actual man to be + remembered. Now that the proposed rides from “his friend's house” were a + part of the illusion, would he ever dare to visit them again? Would she + dare to see him? She held her breath with a sudden pain of parting that + was new to her; she tried to think of something else, to pick up the + scattered threads of her life before that eventful day. But in vain; that + one week had filled the place with implacable memories, or more terrible, + as it seemed to her and her sister, they had both lost their feeble, alien + hold upon Eagle's Court in the sudden presence of the real genii of these + solitudes, and henceforth they alone would be the strangers there. They + scarcely dared to confess it to each other, but this return to the + dazzling sunlight and cloudless skies of the past appeared to them to be + the one unreal experience; they had never known the true wild flavor of + their home, except in that week of delicious isolation. Without breathing + it aloud, they longed for some vague denoument to this experience that + should take them from Eagle's Court forever. + </p> + <p> + It was noon the next day when the little household beheld the last shred + of their illusion vanish like the melting snow in the strong sunlight of + John Hale's return. He was accompanied by Colonel Clinch and Rawlins, two + strangers to the women. Was it fancy, or the avenging spirit of their + absent companions? but HE too looked a stranger, and as the little + cavalcade wound its way up the slope he appeared to sit his horse and wear + his hat with a certain slouch and absence of his usual restraint that + strangely shocked them. Even the old half-condescending, half-punctilious + gallantry of his greeting of his wife and family was changed, as he + introduced his companions with a mingling of familiarity and shyness that + was new to him. Did Mrs. Hale regret it, or feel a sense of relief in the + absence of his usual seignorial formality? She only knew that she was + grateful for the presence of the strangers, which for the moment postponed + a matrimonial confidence from which she shrank. + </p> + <p> + “Proud to know you,” said Colonel Clinch, with a sudden outbreak of the + antique gallantry of some remote Huguenot ancestor. “My friend, Judge + Hale, must be a regular Roman citizen to leave such a family and such a + house at the call of public duty. Eh, Rawlins?” + </p> + <p> + “You bet,” said Rawlins, looking from Kate to her sister in undisguised + admiration. + </p> + <p> + “And I suppose the duty could not have been a very pleasant one,” said + Mrs. Hale, timidly, without looking at her husband. + </p> + <p> + “Gad, madam, that's just it,” said the gallant Colonel, seating himself + with a comfortable air, and an easy, though by no means disrespectful, + familiarity. “We went into this fight a little more than a week ago. The + only scrimmage we've had has been with the detectives that were on the + robbers' track. Ha! ha! The best people we've met have been the friends of + the men we were huntin', and we've generally come to the conclusion to + vote the other ticket! Ez Judge Hale and me agreed ez we came along, the + two men ez we'd most like to see just now and shake hands with are George + Lee and Ned Falkner.” + </p> + <p> + “The two leaders of the party who robbed the coach,” explained Mr. Hale, + with a slight return of his usual precision of statement. + </p> + <p> + The three women looked at each other with a blaze of thanksgiving in their + grateful eyes. Without comprehending all that Colonel Clinch had said, + they understood enough to know that their late guests were safe from the + pursuit of that party, and that their own conduct was spared criticism. I + hardly dare write it, but they instantly assumed the appearance of + aggrieved martyrs, and felt as if they were! + </p> + <p> + “Yes, ladies!” continued the Colonel, inspired by the bright eyes fixed + upon him. “We haven't taken the road ourselves yet, but—pohn honor—we + wouldn't mind doing it in a case like this.” Then with the fluent, but + somewhat exaggerated, phraseology of a man trained to “stump” speaking, he + gave an account of the robbery and his own connection with it. He spoke of + the swindling and treachery which had undoubtedly provoked Falkner to + obtain restitution of his property by an overt act of violence under the + leadership of Lee. He added that he had learned since at Wild Cat Station + that Harkins had fled the country, that a suit had been commenced by the + Excelsior Ditch Company, and that all available property of Harkins had + been seized by the sheriff. + </p> + <p> + “Of course it can't be proved yet, but there's no doubt in my mind that + Lee, who is an old friend of Ned Falkner's, got up that job to help him, + and that Ned's off with the money by this time—and I'm right glad of + it. I can't say ez we've done much towards it, except to keep tumbling in + the way of that detective party of Stanner's, and so throw them off the + trail—ha, ha! The Judge here, I reckon, has had his share of fun, + for while he was at Hennicker's trying to get some facts from Hennicker's + pretty daughter, Stanner tried to get up some sort of vigilance committee + of the stage passengers to burn down Hennicker's ranch out of spite, but + the Judge here stepped in and stopped that.” + </p> + <p> + “It was really a high-handed proceeding, Josephine, but I managed to check + it,” said Hale, meeting somewhat consciously the first direct look his + wife had cast upon him, and falling back for support on his old manner. + “In its way, I think it was worse than the robbery by Lee and Falkner, for + it was done in the name of law and order; while, as far as I can judge + from the facts, the affair that we were following up was simply a rude and + irregular restitution of property that had been morally stolen.” + </p> + <p> + “I have no doubt you did quite right, though I don't understand it,” said + Mrs. Hale languidly; “but I trust these gentlemen will stay to luncheon, + and in the meantime excuse us for running away, as we are short of + servants, and Manuel seems to have followed the example of the head of the + house and left us, in pursuit of somebody or something.” + </p> + <p> + When the three women had gained the vantage-ground of the drawing-room, + Kate said, earnestly, “As it's all right, hadn't we better tell him now?” + </p> + <p> + “Decidedly not, child,” said Mrs. Scott, imperatively. “Do you suppose + they are in a hurry to tell us THEIR whole story? Who are those Hennicker + people? and they were there a week ago!” + </p> + <p> + “And did you notice John's hat when he came in, and the vulgar familiarity + of calling him 'Judge'?” said Mrs. Hale. + </p> + <p> + “Well, certainly anything like the familiarity of this man Clinch I never + saw,” said Kate. “Contrast his manner with Mr. Falkner's.” + </p> + <p> + At luncheon the three suffering martyrs finally succeeded in reducing Hale + and his two friends to an attitude of vague apology. But their triumph was + short-lived. At the end of the meal they were startled by the trampling of + hoofs without, followed by loud knocking. In another moment the door was + opened, and Mr. Stanner strode into the room. Hale rose with a look of + indignation. + </p> + <p> + “I thought, as Mr. Stanner understood that I had no desire for his company + elsewhere, he would hardly venture to intrude upon me in my house, and + certainly not after—” + </p> + <p> + “Ef you're alluding to the Vigilantes shakin' you and Zeenie up at + Hennicker's, you can't make ME responsible for that. I'm here now on + business—you understand—reg'lar business. Ef you want to see + the papers yer ken. I suppose you know what a warrant is?” + </p> + <p> + “I know what YOU are,” said Hale hotly; “and if you don't leave my house—” + </p> + <p> + “Steady, boys,” interrupted Stanner, as his five henchmen filed into the + hall. “There's no backin' down here, Colonel Clinch, unless you and Hale + kalkilate to back down the State of Californy! The matter stands like + this. There's a half-breed Mexican, called Manuel, arrested over at the + Summit, who swears he saw George Lee and Edward Falkner in this house the + night after the robbery. He says that they were makin' themselves at home + here, as if they were among friends, and considerin' the kind of help + we've had from Mr. John Hale, it looks ez if it might be true.” + </p> + <p> + “It's an infamous lie!” said Hale. + </p> + <p> + “It may be true, John,” said Mrs. Scott, suddenly stepping in front of her + pale-cheeked daughters. “A wounded man was brought here out of the storm + by his friend, who claimed the shelter of your roof. As your mother I + should have been unworthy to stay beneath it and have denied that shelter + or withheld it until I knew his name and what he was. He stayed here until + he could be removed. He left a letter for you. It will probably tell you + if he was the man this person is seeking.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, mother,” said Hale, lifting her hand to his lips quietly; “and + perhaps you will kindly tell these gentlemen that, as your son does not + care to know who or what the stranger was, there is no necessity for + opening the letter, or keeping Mr. Stanner a moment longer.” + </p> + <p> + “But you will oblige ME, John, by opening it before these gentlemen,” said + Mrs. Hale recovering her voice and color. “Please to follow me,” she said + preceding them to the staircase. + </p> + <p> + They entered Mr. Hale's room, now restored to its original condition. On + the table lay a letter and a small package. The eyes of Mr. Stanner, a + little abashed by the attitude of the two women, fastened upon it and + glistened. + </p> + <p> + Josephine handed her husband the letter. He opened it in breathless + silence and read— + </p> + <p> + “JOHN HALE, + </p> + <p> + “We owe you no return for voluntarily making yourself a champion of + justice and pursuing us, except it was to offer you a fair field and no + favor. We didn't get that much from you, but accident brought us into your + house and into your family, where we DID get it, and were fairly + vanquished. To the victors belong the spoils. We leave the package of + greenbacks which we took from Colonel Clinch in the Sierra coach, but + which was first stolen by Harkins from forty-four shareholders of the + Excelsior Ditch. We have no right to say what YOU should do with it, but + if you aren't tired of following the same line of justice that induced you + to run after US, you will try to restore it to its rightful owners. + </p> + <p> + “We leave you another trifle as an evidence that our intrusion into your + affairs was not without some service to you, even if the service was as + accidental as the intrusion. You will find a pair of boots in the corner + of your closet. They were taken from the burglarious feet of Manuel, your + peon, who, believing the three ladies were alone and at his mercy, entered + your house with an accomplice at two o'clock on the morning of the 21st, + and was kicked out by + </p> + <p> + “Your obedient servants, + </p> + <p> + “GEORGE LEE & EDWARD FALKNER” + </p> + <p> + Hale's voice and color changed on reading this last paragraph. He turned + quickly towards his wife; Kate flew to the closet, where the muffled boots + of Manuel confronted them. “We never knew it. I always suspected something + that night,” said Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Scott in the same breath. + </p> + <p> + “That's all very well, and like George Lee's high falutin',” said Stanner, + approaching the table, “but as long ez the greenbacks are here he can make + what capital he likes outer Manuel. I'll trouble you to pass over that + package.” + </p> + <p> + “Excuse me,” said Hale, “but I believe this is the package taken from + Colonel Clinch. Is it not?” he added, appealing to the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “It is,” said Clinch. + </p> + <p> + “Then take it,” said Hale, handing him the package. “The first restitution + is to you, but I believe you will fulfil Lee's instructions as well as + myself.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Stanner, furiously interposing, “I've a warrant to seize that + wherever found, and I dare you to disobey the law.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Stanner,” said Clinch, slowly, “there are ladies present. If you + insist upon having that package I must ask them to withdraw, and I'm + afraid you'll find me better prepared to resist a SECOND robbery than I + was the first. Your warrant, which was taken out by the Express Company, + is supplanted by civil proceedings taken the day before yesterday against + the property of the fugitive swindler Harkins! You should have consulted + the sheriff before you came here.” + </p> + <p> + Stanner saw his mistake. But in the faces of his grinning followers he was + obliged to keep up his bluster. “You shall hear from me again, sir,” he + said, turning on his heel. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” said Clinch grimly, “but do I understand that at last + I am to have the honor—” + </p> + <p> + “You shall hear from the Company's lawyers, sir,” said Stanner turning + red, and noisily leaving the room. + </p> + <p> + “And so, my dear ladies,” said Colonel Clinch, “you have spent a week with + a highwayman. I say A highwayman, for it would be hard to call my young + friend Falkner by that name for his first offence, committed under great + provocation, and undoubtedly instigated by Lee, who was an old friend of + his, and to whom he came, no doubt, in desperation.” + </p> + <p> + Kate stole a triumphant glance at her sister, who dropped her lids over + her glistening eyes. “And this Mr. Lee,” she continued more gently, “is he + really a highwayman?” + </p> + <p> + “George Lee,” said Clinch, settling himself back oratorically in his + chair, “my dear young lady, IS a highwayman, but not of the common sort. + He is a gentleman born, madam, comes from one of the oldest families of + the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He never mixes himself up with anything but + some of the biggest strikes, and he's an educated man. He is very popular + with ladies and children; he was never known to do or say anything that + could bring a blush to the cheek of beauty or a tear to the eye of + innocence. I think I may say I'm sure you found him so.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall never believe him anything but a gentleman,” said Mrs. Scott, + firmly. + </p> + <p> + “If he has a defect, it is perhaps a too reckless indulgence in draw + poker,” said the Colonel, musingly; “not unbecoming a gentleman, + understand me, Mrs. Scott, but perhaps too reckless for his own good. + George played a grand game, a glittering game, but pardon me if I say an + UNCERTAIN game. I've told him so; it's the only point on which we ever + differed.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you know him?” said Mrs. Hale, lifting her soft eyes to the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “I have that honor.” + </p> + <p> + “Did his appearance, Josephine,” broke in Hale, somewhat ostentatiously, + “appear to—er—er—correspond with these qualities? You + know what I mean.” + </p> + <p> + “He certainly seemed very simple and natural,” said Mrs. Hale, slightly + drawing her pretty lips together. “He did not wear his trousers rolled up + over his boots in the company of ladies, as you're doing now, nor did he + make his first appearance in this house with such a hat as you wore this + morning, or I should not have admitted him.” + </p> + <p> + There were a few moments of embarrassing silence. + </p> + <p> + “Do you intend to give that package to Mr. Falkner yourself, Colonel?” + asked Mrs. Scott. + </p> + <p> + “I shall hand it over to the Excelsior Company,” said the Colonel, “but I + shall inform Ned of what I have done.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said Mrs. Scott, “will you kindly take a message from us to him?” + </p> + <p> + “If you wish it.” + </p> + <p> + “You will be doing ME a great favor, Colonel,” said Hale, politely. + </p> + <p> + Whatever the message was, six months later it brought Edward Falkner, the + reestablished superintendent of the Excelsior Ditch, to Eagle's Court. As + he and Kate stood again on the plateau, looking towards the distant slopes + once more green with verdure, Falkner said— + </p> + <p> + “Everything here looks as it did the first day I saw it, except your + sister.” + </p> + <p> + “The place does not agree with her,” said Kate hurriedly. “That is why my + brother thinks of leaving it before the winter sets in.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems so sad,” said Falkner, “for the last words poor George said to + me, as he left to join his cousin's corps at Richmond, were: 'If I'm not + killed, Ned, I hope some day to stand again beside Mrs. Hale, at the + window in Eagle's Court, and watch you and Kate coming home!'” + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Snow-Bound at Eagle's, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S *** + +***** This file should be named 2297-h.htm or 2297-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/9/2297/ + +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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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: Snow-Bound at Eagle's + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 13, 2006 [EBook #2297] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson + + + + + +SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S + +by Bret Harte + + + + +SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +For some moments profound silence and darkness had accompanied a Sierran +stage-coach towards the summit. The huge, dim bulk of the vehicle, +swaying noiselessly on its straps, glided onward and upward as if +obeying some mysterious impulse from behind, so faint and indefinite +appeared its relation to the viewless and silent horses ahead. The +shadowy trunks of tall trees that seemed to approach the coach windows, +look in, and then move hurriedly away, were the only distinguishable +objects. Yet even these were so vague and unreal that they might have +been the mere phantoms of some dream of the half-sleeping passengers; +for the thickly-strewn needles of the pine, that choked the way and +deadened all sound, yielded under the silently-crushing wheels a faint +soporific odor that seemed to benumb their senses, already slipping back +into unconsciousness during the long ascent. Suddenly the stage stopped. + +Three of the four passengers inside struggled at once into upright +wakefulness. The fourth passenger, John Hale, had not been sleeping, and +turned impatiently towards the window. It seemed to him that two of the +moving trees had suddenly become motionless outside. One of them moved +again, and the door opened quickly but quietly, as of itself. + +"Git down," said a voice in the darkness. + +All the passengers except Hale started. The man next to him moved his +right hand suddenly behind him, but as quickly stopped. One of the +motionless trees had apparently closed upon the vehicle, and what had +seemed to be a bough projecting from it at right angles changed slowly +into the faintly shining double-barrels of a gun at the window. + +"Drop that!" said the voice. + +The man who had moved uttered a short laugh, and returned his hand empty +to his knees. The two others perceptibly shrugged their shoulders as +over a game that was lost. The remaining passenger, John Hale, fearless +by nature, inexperienced by habit, awaking suddenly to the truth, +conceived desperate resistance. But without his making a gesture this +was instinctively felt by the others; the muzzle of the gun turned +spontaneously on him, and he was vaguely conscious of a certain contempt +and impatience of him in his companions. + +"Git down," repeated the voice imperatively. + +The three passengers descended. Hale, furious, alert, but helpless of +any opportunity, followed. He was surprised to find the stage-driver and +express messenger standing beside him; he had not heard them dismount. +He instinctively looked towards the horses. He could see nothing. + +"Hold up your hands!" + +One of the passengers had already lifted his, in a weary, perfunctory +way. The others did the same reluctantly and awkwardly, but apparently +more from the consciousness of the ludicrousness of their attitude +than from any sense of danger. The rays of a bull's-eye lantern, deftly +managed by invisible hands, while it left the intruders in shadow, +completely illuminated the faces and figures of the passengers. In spite +of the majestic obscurity and silence of surrounding nature, the group +of humanity thus illuminated was more farcical than dramatic. A scrap of +newspaper, part of a sandwich, and an orange peel that had fallen from +the floor of the coach, brought into equal prominence by the searching +light, completed the absurdity. + +"There's a man here with a package of greenbacks," said the voice, with +an official coolness that lent a certain suggestion of Custom House +inspection to the transaction; "who is it?" The passengers looked at +each other, and their glance finally settled on Hale. + +"It's not HIM," continued the voice, with a slight tinge of contempt on +the emphasis. "You'll save time and searching, gentlemen, if you'll tote +it out. If we've got to go through every one of you we'll try to make it +pay." + +The significant threat was not unheeded. The passenger who had first +moved when the stage stopped put his hand to his breast. + +"T'other pocket first, if you please," said the voice. + +The man laughed, drew a pistol from his hip pocket, and, under the +strong light of the lantern, laid it on a spot in the road indicated +by the voice. A thick envelope, taken from his breast pocket, was laid +beside it. "I told the d--d fools that gave it to me, instead of sending +it by express, it would be at their own risk," he said apologetically. + +"As it's going with the express now it's all the same," said the +inevitable humorist of the occasion, pointing to the despoiled express +treasure-box already in the road. + +The intention and deliberation of the outrage was plain enough to Hale's +inexperience now. Yet he could not understand the cool acquiescence of +his fellow-passengers, and was furious. His reflections were interrupted +by a voice which seemed to come from a greater distance. He fancied it +was even softer in tone, as if a certain austerity was relaxed. + +"Step in as quick as you like, gentlemen. You've five minutes to wait, +Bill." + +The passengers reentered the coach; the driver and express messenger +hurriedly climbed to their places. Hale would have spoken, but an +impatient gesture from his companions stopped him. They were evidently +listening for something; he listened too. + +Yet the silence remained unbroken. It seemed incredible that there +should be no indication near or far of that forceful presence which a +moment ago had been so dominant. No rustle in the wayside "brush," nor +echo from the rocky canyon below, betrayed a sound of their flight. A +faint breeze stirred the tall tips of the pines, a cone dropped on the +stage roof, one of the invisible horses that seemed to be listening too +moved slightly in his harness. But this only appeared to accentuate +the profound stillness. The moments were growing interminable, when the +voice, so near as to startle Hale, broke once more from the surrounding +obscurity. + +"Good-night!" + +It was the signal that they were free. The driver's whip cracked like +a pistol shot, the horses sprang furiously forward, the huge vehicle +lurched ahead, and then bounded violently after them. When Hale could +make his voice heard in the confusion--a confusion which seemed greater +from the colorless intensity of their last few moments' experience--he +said hurriedly, "Then that fellow was there all the time?" + +"I reckon," returned his companion, "he stopped five minutes to cover +the driver with his double-barrel, until the two other men got off with +the treasure." + +"The TWO others!" gasped Hale. "Then there were only THREE men, and we +SIX." + +The man shrugged his shoulders. The passenger who had given up the +greenbacks drawled, with a slow, irritating tolerance, "I reckon you're +a stranger here?" + +"I am--to this sort of thing, certainly, though I live a dozen miles +from here, at Eagle's Court," returned Hale scornfully. + +"Then you're the chap that's doin' that fancy ranchin' over at Eagle's," +continued the man lazily. + +"Whatever I'm doing at Eagle's Court, I'm not ashamed of it," said Hale +tartly; "and that's more than I can say of what I've done--or HAVEN'T +done--to-night. I've been one of six men over-awed and robbed by THREE." + +"As to the over-awin', ez you call it--mebbee you know more about +it than us. As to the robbin'--ez far as I kin remember, YOU haven't +onloaded much. Ef you're talkin' about what OUGHTER have been done, +I'll tell you what COULD have happened. P'r'aps ye noticed that when he +pulled up I made a kind of grab for my wepping behind me?" + +"I did; and you wern't quick enough," said Hale shortly. + +"I wasn't quick enough, and that saved YOU. For ef I got that pistol out +and in sight o' that man that held the gun--" + +"Well," said Hale impatiently, "he'd have hesitated." + +"He'd hev blown YOU with both barrels outer the window, and that before +I'd got a half-cock on my revolver." + +"But that would have been only one man gone, and there would have been +five of you left," said Hale haughtily. + +"That might have been, ef you'd contracted to take the hull charge of +two handfuls of buck-shot and slugs; but ez one eighth o' that amount +would have done your business, and yet left enough to have gone round, +promiskiss, and satisfied the other passengers, it wouldn't do to +kalkilate upon." + +"But the express messenger and the driver were armed," continued Hale. + +"They were armed, but not FIXED; that makes all the difference." + +"I don't understand." + +"I reckon you know what a duel is?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, the chances agin US was about the same as you'd have ef you was +put up agin another chap who was allowed to draw a bead on you, and the +signal to fire was YOUR DRAWIN' YOUR WEAPON. You may be a stranger to +this sort o' thing, and p'r'aps you never fought a duel, but even then +you wouldn't go foolin' your life away on any such chances." + +Something in the man's manner, as in a certain sly amusement the other +passengers appeared to extract from the conversation, impressed Hale, +already beginning to be conscious of the ludicrous insufficiency of his +own grievance beside that of his interlocutor. + +"Then you mean to say this thing is inevitable," said he bitterly, but +less aggressively. + +"Ez long ez they hunt YOU; when you hunt THEM you've got the advantage, +allus provided you know how to get at them ez well as they know how to +get at you. This yer coach is bound to go regular, and on certain +days. THEY ain't. By the time the sheriff gets out his posse they've +skedaddled, and the leader, like as not, is takin' his quiet cocktail at +the Bank Exchange, or mebbe losin' his earnings to the sheriff over draw +poker, in Sacramento. You see you can't prove anything agin them unless +you take them 'on the fly.' It may be a part of Joaquim Murietta's band, +though I wouldn't swear to it." + +"The leader might have been Gentleman George, from up-country," +interposed a passenger. "He seemed to throw in a few fancy touches, +particlerly in that 'Good night.' Sorter chucked a little sentiment in +it. Didn't seem to be the same thing ez, 'Git, yer d--d suckers,' on the +other line." + +"Whoever he was, he knew the road and the men who travelled on it. Like +ez not, he went over the line beside the driver on the box on the down +trip, and took stock of everything. He even knew I had those greenbacks; +though they were handed to me in the bank at Sacramento. He must have +been hanging 'round there." + +For some moments Hale remained silent. He was a civic-bred man, with an +intense love of law and order; the kind of man who is the first to take +that law and order into his own hands when he does not find it existing +to please him. He had a Bostonian's respect for respectability, +tradition, and propriety, but was willing to face irregularity and +impropriety to create order elsewhere. He was fond of Nature with these +limitations, never quite trusting her unguided instincts, and finding +her as an instructress greatly inferior to Harvard University, though +possibly not to Cornell. With dauntless enterprise and energy he had +built and stocked a charming cottage farm in a nook in the Sierras, +whence he opposed, like the lesser Englishman that he was, his own +tastes to those of the alien West. In the present instance he felt it +incumbent upon him not only to assert his principles, but to act +upon them with his usual energy. How far he was impelled by the +half-contemptuous passiveness of his companions it would be difficult to +say. + +"What is to prevent the pursuit of them at once?" he asked suddenly. "We +are a few miles from the station, where horses can be procured." + +"Who's to do it?" replied the other lazily. "The stage company will +lodge the complaint with the authorities, but it will take two days to +get the county officers out, and it's nobody else's funeral." + +"I will go for one," said Hale quietly. "I have a horse waiting for me +at the station, and can start at once." + +There was an instant of silence. The stage-coach had left the obscurity +of the forest, and by the stronger light Hale could perceive that his +companion was examining him with two colorless, lazy eyes. Presently +he said, meeting Hale's clear glance, but rather as if yielding to a +careless reflection,-- + +"It MIGHT be done with four men. We oughter raise one man at the +station." He paused. "I don't know ez I'd mind taking a hand myself," he +added, stretching out his legs with a slight yawn. + +"Ye can count ME in, if you're goin', Kernel. I reckon I'm talkin' to +Kernel Clinch," said the passenger beside Hale with sudden alacrity. +"I'm Rawlins, of Frisco. Heerd of ye afore, Kernel, and kinder spotted +you jist now from your talk." + +To Hale's surprise the two men, after awkwardly and perfunctorily +grasping each other's hand, entered at once into a languid conversation +on the recent election at Fresno, without the slightest further +reference to the pursuit of the robbers. It was not until the remaining +and undenominated passenger turned to Hale, and, regretting that he had +immediate business at the Summit, offered to accompany the party if they +would wait a couple of hours, that Colonel Clinch briefly returned to +the subject. + +"FOUR men will do, and ez we'll hev to take horses from the station +we'll hev to take the fourth man from there." + +With these words he resumed his uninteresting conversation with the +equally uninterested Rawlins, and the undenominated passenger subsided +into an admiring and dreamy contemplation of them both. With all his +principle and really high-minded purpose, Hale could not help feeling +constrained and annoyed at the sudden subordinate and auxiliary position +to which he, the projector of the enterprise, had been reduced. It was +true that he had never offered himself as their leader; it was true that +the principle he wished to uphold and the effect he sought to obtain +would be equally demonstrated under another; it was true that the +execution of his own conception gravitated by some occult impulse to +the man who had not sought it, and whom he had always regarded as an +incapable. But all this was so unlike precedent or tradition that, after +the fashion of conservative men, he was suspicious of it, and only that +his honor was now involved he would have withdrawn from the enterprise. +There was still a chance of reasserting himself at the station, where he +was known, and where some authority might be deputed to him. + +But even this prospect failed. The station, half hotel and half stable, +contained only the landlord, who was also express agent, and the new +volunteer who Clinch had suggested would be found among the stable-men. +The nearest justice of the peace was ten miles away, and Hale had to +abandon even his hope of being sworn in as a deputy constable. This +introduction of a common and illiterate ostler into the party on equal +terms with himself did not add to his satisfaction, and a remark from +Rawlins seemed to complete his embarrassment. + +"Ye had a mighty narrer escape down there just now," said that gentleman +confidentially, as Hale buckled his saddle girths. + +"I thought, as we were not supposed to defend ourselves, there was no +danger," said Hale scornfully. + +"Oh, I don't mean them road agents. But HIM." + +"Who?" + +"Kernel Clinch. You jist ez good as allowed he hadn't any grit." + +"Whatever I said, I suppose I am responsible for it," answered Hale +haughtily. + +"That's what gits me," was the imperturbable reply. "He's the best shot +in Southern California, and hez let daylight through a dozen chaps afore +now for half what you said." + +"Indeed!" + +"Howsummever," continued Rawlins philosophically, "ez he's concluded to +go WITH ye instead of FOR ye, you're likely to hev your ideas on this +matter carried out up to the handle. He'll make short work of it, you +bet. Ef, ez I suspect, the leader is an airy young feller from Frisco, +who hez took to the road lately, Clinch hez got a personal grudge agin +him from a quarrel over draw poker." + +This was the last blow to Hale's ideal crusade. Here he was--an honest, +respectable citizen--engaged as simple accessory to a lawless vendetta +originating at a gambling table! When the first shock was over that +grim philosophy which is the reaction of all imaginative and sensitive +natures came to his aid. He felt better; oddly enough he began to be +conscious that he was thinking and acting like his companions. With this +feeling a vague sympathy, before absent, faintly showed itself in their +actions. The Sharpe's rifle put into his hands by the stable-man was +accompanied by a familiar word of suggestion as to an equal, which +he was ashamed to find flattered him. He was able to continue the +conversation with Rawlins more coolly. + +"Then you suspect who is the leader?" + +"Only on giniral principles. There was a finer touch, so to speak, in +this yer robbery that wasn't in the old-fashioned style. Down in my +country they hed crude ideas about them things--used to strip the +passengers of everything, includin' their clothes. They say that at the +station hotels, when the coach came in, the folks used to stand round +with blankets to wrap up the passengers so ez not to skeer the wimen. +Thar's a story that the driver and express manager drove up one day with +only a copy of the Alty Californy wrapped around 'em; but thin," added +Rawlins grimly, "there WAS folks ez said the hull story was only an +advertisement got up for the Alty." + +"Time's up." + +"Are you ready, gentlemen?" said Colonel Clinch. + +Hale started. He had forgotten his wife and family at Eagle's Court, +ten miles away. They would be alarmed at his absence, would perhaps hear +some exaggerated version of the stage coach robbery, and fear the worst. + +"Is there any way I could send a line to Eagle's Court before daybreak?" +he asked eagerly. + +The station was already drained of its spare men and horses. The +undenominated passenger stepped forward and offered to take it himself +when his business, which he would despatch as quickly as possible, was +concluded. + +"That ain't a bad idea," said Clinch reflectively, "for ef yer hurry +you'll head 'em off in case they scent us, and try to double back on the +North Ridge. They'll fight shy of the trail if they see anybody on it, +and one man's as good as a dozen." + +Hale could not help thinking that he might have been that one man, and +had his opportunity for independent action but for his rash proposal, +but it was too late to withdraw now. He hastily scribbled a few lines to +his wife on a sheet of the station paper, handed it to the man, and took +his place in the little cavalcade as it filed silently down the road. + +They had ridden in silence for nearly an hour, and had passed the scene +of the robbery by a higher track. Morning had long ago advanced its +colors on the cold white peaks to their right, and was taking possession +of the spur where they rode. + +"It looks like snow," said Rawlins quietly. + +Hale turned towards him in astonishment. Nothing on earth or sky looked +less likely. It had been cold, but that might have been only a current +from the frozen peaks beyond, reaching the lower valley. The ridge +on which they had halted was still thick with yellowish-green summer +foliage, mingled with the darker evergreen of pine and fir. Oven-like +canyons in the long flanks of the mountain seemed still to glow with the +heat of yesterday's noon; the breathless air yet trembled and quivered +over stifling gorges and passes in the granite rocks, while far at their +feet sixty miles of perpetual summer stretched away over the winding +American River, now and then lost in a gossamer haze. It was scarcely +ripe October where they stood; they could see the plenitude of August +still lingering in the valleys. + +"I've seen Thomson's Pass choked up with fifteen feet o' snow earlier +than this," said Rawlins, answering Hale's gaze; "and last September the +passengers sledded over the road we came last night, and all the time +Thomson, a mile lower down over the ridge in the hollow, smoking his +pipes under roses in his piazzy! Mountains is mighty uncertain; they +make their own weather ez they want it. I reckon you ain't wintered here +yet." + +Hale was obliged to admit that he had only taken Eagle's Court in the +early spring. + +"Oh, you're all right at Eagle's--when you're there! But it's like +Thomson's--it's the gettin' there that--Hallo! What's that?" + +A shot, distant but distinct, had rung through the keen air. It was +followed by another so alike as to seem an echo. + +"That's over yon, on the North Ridge," said the ostler, "about two miles +as the crow flies and five by the trail. Somebody's shootin' b'ar." + +"Not with a shot gun," said Clinch, quickly wheeling his horse with a +gesture that electrified them. "It's THEM, and the've doubled on us! To +the North Ridge, gentlemen, and ride all you know!" + +It needed no second challenge to completely transform that quiet +cavalcade. The wild man-hunting instinct, inseparable to most +humanity, rose at their leader's look and word. With an incoherent and +unintelligible cry, giving voice to the chase like the commonest hound +of their fields, the order-loving Hale and the philosophical Rawlins +wheeled with the others, and in another instant the little band swept +out of sight in the forest. + +An immense and immeasurable quiet succeeded. The sunlight glistened +silently on cliff and scar, the vast distance below seemed to stretch +out and broaden into repose. It might have been fancy, but over the +sharp line of the North Ridge a light smoke lifted as of an escaping +soul. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Eagle's Court, one of the highest canyons of the Sierras, was in reality +a plateau of table-land, embayed like a green lake in a semi-circular +sweep of granite, that, lifting itself three thousand feet higher, +became a foundation for the eternal snows. The mountain genii of space +and atmosphere jealously guarded its seclusion and surrounded it with +illusions; it never looked to be exactly what it was: the traveller who +saw it from the North Ridge apparently at his feet in descending found +himself separated from it by a mile-long abyss and a rushing river; +those who sought it by a seeming direct trail at the end of an hour lost +sight of it completely, or, abandoning the quest and retracing their +steps, suddenly came upon the gap through which it was entered. That +which from the Ridge appeared to be a copse of bushes beside the tiny +dwelling were trees three hundred feet high; the cultivated lawn before +it, which might have been covered by the traveller's handkerchief, was a +field of a thousand acres. + +The house itself was a long, low, irregular structure, chiefly of roof +and veranda, picturesquely upheld by rustic pillars of pine, with the +bark still adhering, and covered with vines and trailing roses. Yet it +was evident that the coolness produced by this vast extent of cover was +more than the architect, who had planned it under the influence of a +staring and bewildering sky, had trustfully conceived, for it had to be +mitigated by blazing fires in open hearths when the thermometer marked +a hundred degrees in the field beyond. The dry, restless wind that +continually rocked the tall masts of the pines with a sound like the +distant sea, while it stimulated out-door physical exertion and defied +fatigue, left the sedentary dwellers in these altitudes chilled in the +shade they courted, or scorched them with heat when they ventured to +bask supinely in the sun. White muslin curtains at the French windows, +and rugs, skins, and heavy furs dispersed in the interior, with +certain other charming but incongruous details of furniture, marked the +inconsistencies of the climate. + +There was a coquettish indication of this in the costume of Miss +Kate Scott as she stepped out on the veranda that morning. A man's +broad-brimmed Panama hat, partly unsexed by a twisted gayly-colored +scarf, but retaining enough character to give piquancy to the pretty +curves of the face beneath, protected her from the sun; a red flannel +shirt--another spoil from the enemy--and a thick jacket shielded her +from the austerities of the morning breeze. But the next inconsistency +was peculiarly her own. Miss Kate always wore the freshest and lightest +of white cambric skirts, without the least reference to the temperature. +To the practical sanatory remonstrances of her brother-in-law, and to +the conventional criticism of her sister, she opposed the same defence: +"How else is one to tell when it is summer in this ridiculous climate? +And then, woollen is stuffy, color draws the sun, and one at least +knows when one is clean or dirty." Artistically the result was far from +unsatisfactory. It was a pretty figure under the sombre pines, against +the gray granite and the steely sky, and seemed to lend the yellowing +fields from which the flowers had already fled a floral relief of color. +I do not think the few masculine wayfarers of that locality objected +to it; indeed, some had betrayed an indiscreet admiration, and had +curiously followed the invitation of Miss Kate's warmly-colored figure +until they had encountered the invincible indifference of Miss Kate's +cold gray eyes. With these manifestations her brother-in-law did +not concern himself; he had perfect confidence in her unqualified +disinterest in the neighboring humanity, and permitted her to wander in +her solitary picturesqueness, or accompanied her when she rode in her +dark green habit, with equal freedom from anxiety. + +For Miss Scott, although only twenty, had already subjected most of +her maidenly illusions to mature critical analyses. She had voluntarily +accompanied her sister and mother to California, in the earnest +hope that nature contained something worth saying to her, and was +disappointed to find she had already discounted its value in the pages +of books. She hoped to find a vague freedom in this unconventional +life thus opened to her, or rather to show others that she knew how +intelligently to appreciate it, but as yet she was only able to express +it in the one detail of dress already alluded to. Some of the men, and +nearly all the women, she had met thus far, she was amazed to find, +valued the conventionalities she believed she despised, and were +voluntarily assuming the chains she thought she had thrown off. Instead +of learning anything from them, these children of nature had bored her +with eager questionings regarding the civilization she had abandoned, or +irritated her with crude imitations of it for her benefit. "Fancy," +she had written to a friend in Boston, "my calling on Sue Murphy, who +remembered the Donner tragedy, and who once shot a grizzly that was +prowling round her cabin, and think of her begging me to lend her my +sack for a pattern, and wanting to know if 'polonays' were still worn." +She remembered more bitterly the romance that had tickled her earlier +fancy, told of two college friends of her brother-in-law's who were +living the "perfect life" in the mines, laboring in the ditches with +a copy of Homer in their pockets, and writing letters of the purest +philosophy under the free air of the pines. How, coming unexpectedly on +them in their Arcadia, the party found them unpresentable through dirt, +and thenceforth unknowable through domestic complications that had +filled their Arcadian cabin with half-breed children. + +Much of this disillusion she had kept within her own heart, from a +feeling of pride, or only lightly touched upon it in her relations with +her mother and sister. For Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Scott had no idols to +shatter, no enthusiasm to subdue. Firmly and unalterably conscious +of their own superiority to the life they led and the community that +surrounded them, they accepted their duties cheerfully, and performed +them conscientiously. Those duties were loyalty to Hale's interests and +a vague missionary work among the neighbors, which, like most missionary +work, consisted rather in making their own ideas understood than in +understanding the ideas of their audience. Old Mrs. Scott's zeal was +partly religious, an inheritance from her Puritan ancestry; Mrs. Hale's +was the affability of a gentlewoman and the obligation of her position. +To this was added the slight languor of the cultivated American wife, +whose health has been affected by the birth of her first child, and +whose views of marriage and maternity were slightly tinged with gentle +scepticism. She was sincerely attached to her husband, "who dominated +the household" like the rest of his "women folk," with the faint +consciousness of that division of service which renders the position +of the sultan of a seraglio at once so prominent and so precarious. The +attitude of John Hale in his family circle was dominant because it had +never been subjected to criticism or comparison; and perilous for the +same reason. + +Mrs. Hale presently joined her sister in the veranda, and, shading her +eyes with a narrow white hand, glanced on the prospect with a polite +interest and ladylike urbanity. The searching sun, which, as Miss Kate +once intimated, was "vulgarity itself," stared at her in return, but +could not call a blush to her somewhat sallow cheek. Neither could it +detract, however, from the delicate prettiness of her refined face with +its soft gray shadows, or the dark gentle eyes, whose blue-veined lids +were just then wrinkled into coquettishly mischievous lines by the +strong light. She was taller and thinner than Kate, and had at times a +certain shy, coy sinuosity of movement which gave her a more virginal +suggestion than her unmarried sister. For Miss Kate, from her earliest +youth, had been distinguished by that matronly sedateness of voice and +step, and completeness of figure, which indicates some members of the +gallinaceous tribe from their callow infancy. + +"I suppose John must have stopped at the Summit on some business," said +Mrs. Hale, "or he would have been here already. It's scarcely worth +while waiting for him, unless you choose to ride over and meet him. You +might change your dress," she continued, looking doubtfully at Kate's +costume. "Put on your riding-habit, and take Manuel with you." + +"And take the only man we have, and leave you alone?" returned Kate +slowly. "No!" + +"There are the Chinese field hands," said Mrs. Hale; "you must correct +your ideas, and really allow them some humanity, Kate. John says they +have a very good compulsory school system in their own country, and can +read and write." + +"That would be of little use to you here alone if--if--" Kate hesitated. + +"If what?" said Mrs. Hale smiling. "Are you thinking of Manuel's +dreadful story of the grizzly tracks across the fields this morning? I +promise you that neither I, nor mother, nor Minnie shall stir out of the +house until you return, if you wish it." + +"I wasn't thinking of that," said Kate; "though I don't believe the +beating of a gong and the using of strong language is the best way to +frighten a grizzly from the house. Besides, the Chinese are going +down the river to-day to a funeral, or a wedding, or a feast of stolen +chickens--they're all the same--and won't be here." + +"Then take Manuel," repeated Mrs. Hale. "We have the Chinese servants +and Indian Molly in the house to protect us from Heaven knows what! I +have the greatest confidence in Chy-Lee as a warrior, and in Chinese +warfare generally. One has only to hear him pipe in time of peace to +imagine what a terror he might become in war time. Indeed, anything more +deadly and soul-harrowing than that love song he sang for us last night +I cannot conceive. But really, Kate, I am not afraid to stay alone. You +know what John says: we ought to be always prepared for anything that +might happen. + +"My dear Josie," returned Kate, putting her arm around her sister's +waist, "I am perfectly convinced that if three-fingered Jack, +or two-toed Bill, or even Joaquim Murietta himself, should step, +red-handed, on that veranda, you would gently invite him to take a cup +of tea, inquire about the state of the road, and refrain delicately +from any allusions to the sheriff. But I shan't take Manuel from you. +I really cannot undertake to look after his morals at the station, and +keep him from drinking aguardiente with suspicious characters at the +bar. It is true he 'kisses my hand' in his speech, even when it is +thickest, and offers his back to me for a horse-block, but I think +I prefer the sober and honest familiarity of even that Pike County +landlord who is satisfied to say, 'Jump, girl, and I'll ketch ye!'" + +"I hope you didn't change your manner to either of them for that," said +Mrs. Hale with a faint sigh. "John wants to be good friends with them, +and they are behaving quite decently lately, considering that they can't +speak a grammatical sentence nor know the use of a fork." + +"And now the man puts on gloves and a tall hat to come here on Sundays, +and the woman won't call until you've called first," retorted Kate; +"perhaps you call that improvement. The fact is, Josephine," continued +the young girl, folding her arms demurely, "we might as well admit it at +once--these people don't like us." + +"That's impossible!" said Mrs. Hale, with sublime simplicity. "You don't +like them, you mean." + +"I like them better than you do, Josie, and that's the reason why I feel +it and YOU don't." She checked herself, and after a pause resumed in a +lighter tone: "No; I sha'n't go to the station; I'll commune with nature +to-day, and won't 'take any humanity in mine, thank you,' as Bill the +driver says. Adios." + +"I wish Kate would not use that dreadful slang, even in jest," said +Mrs. Scott, in her rocking-chair at the French window, when Josephine +reentered the parlor as her sister walked briskly away. "I am afraid +she is being infected by the people at the station. She ought to have a +change." + +"I was just thinking," said Josephine, looking abstractedly at her +mother, "that I would try to get John to take her to San Francisco this +winter. The Careys are expected, you know; she might visit them." + +"I'm afraid, if she stays here much longer, she won't care to see them +at all. She seems to care for nothing now that she ever liked before," +returned the old lady ominously. + +Meantime the subject of these criticisms was carrying away her own +reflections tightly buttoned up in her short jacket. She had driven back +her dog Spot--another one of her disillusions, who, giving way to +his lower nature, had once killed a sheep--as she did not wish her +Jacques-like contemplation of any wounded deer to be inconsistently +interrupted by a fresh outrage from her companion. The air was really +very chilly, and for the first time in her mountain experience the +direct rays of the sun seemed to be shorn of their power. This compelled +her to walk more briskly than she was conscious of, for in less than an +hour she came suddenly and breathlessly upon the mouth of the canyon, or +natural gateway to Eagle's Court. + +To her always a profound spectacle of mountain magnificence, it seemed +to-day almost terrible in its cold, strong grandeur. The narrowing pass +was choked for a moment between two gigantic buttresses of granite, +approaching each other so closely at their towering summits that trees +growing in opposite clefts of the rock intermingled their branches and +pointed the soaring Gothic arch of a stupendous gateway. She raised her +eyes with a quickly beating heart. She knew that the interlacing trees +above her were as large as those she had just quitted; she knew also +that the point where they met was only half-way up the cliff, for she +had once gazed down upon them, dwindled to shrubs from the airy summit; +she knew that their shaken cones fell a thousand feet perpendicularly, +or bounded like shot from the scarred walls they bombarded. She +remembered that one of these pines, dislodged from its high foundations, +had once dropped like a portcullis in the archway, blocking the pass, +and was only carried afterwards by assault of steel and fire. Bending +her head mechanically, she ran swiftly through the shadowy passage, and +halted only at the beginning of the ascent on the other side. + +It was here that the actual position of the plateau, so indefinite +of approach, began to be realized. It now appeared an independent +elevation, surrounded on three sides by gorges and watercourses, so +narrow as to be overlooked from the principal mountain range, with which +it was connected by a long canyon that led to the ridge. At the outlet +of this canyon--in bygone ages a mighty river--it had the appearance of +having been slowly raised by the diluvium of that river, and the debris +washed down from above--a suggestion repeated in miniature by the +artificial plateaus of excavated soil raised before the mouths of mining +tunnels in the lower flanks of the mountain. It was the realization of a +fact--often forgotten by the dwellers in Eagle's Court--that the valley +below them, which was their connecting link with the surrounding world, +was only reached by ascending the mountain, and the nearest road was +over the higher mountain ridge. Never before had this impressed itself +so strongly upon the young girl as when she turned that morning to look +upon the plateau below her. It seemed to illustrate the conviction +that had been slowly shaping itself out of her reflections on the +conversation of that morning. It was possible that the perfect +understanding of a higher life was only reached from a height still +greater, and that to those half-way up the mountain the summit was never +as truthfully revealed as to the humbler dwellers in the valley. + +I do not know that these profound truths prevented her from gathering +some quaint ferns and berries, or from keeping her calm gray eyes open +to certain practical changes that were taking place around her. She had +noticed a singular thickening in the atmosphere that seemed to prevent +the passage of the sun's rays, yet without diminishing the transparent +quality of the air. The distant snow-peaks were as plainly seen, though +they appeared as if in moonlight. This seemed due to no cloud or mist, +but rather to a fading of the sun itself. The occasional flurry of wings +overhead, the whirring of larger birds in the cover, and a frequent +rustling in the undergrowth, as of the passage of some stealthy animal, +began equally to attract her attention. It was so different from the +habitual silence of these sedate solitudes. Kate had no vague fear of +wild beasts; she had been long enough a mountaineer to understand the +general immunity enjoyed by the unmolesting wayfarer, and kept her way +undismayed. She was descending an abrupt trail when she was stopped by a +sudden crash in the bushes. It seemed to come from the opposite incline, +directly in a line with her, and apparently on the very trail that she +was pursuing. The crash was then repeated again and again lower down, as +of a descending body. Expecting the apparition of some fallen tree, or +detached boulder bursting through the thicket, in its way to the bottom +of the gulch, she waited. The foliage was suddenly brushed aside, and +a large grizzly bear half rolled, half waddled, into the trail on the +opposite side of the hill. A few moments more would have brought them +face to face at the foot of the gulch; when she stopped there were not +fifty yards between them. + +She did not scream; she did not faint; she was not even frightened. +There did not seem to be anything terrifying in this huge, stupid beast, +who, arrested by the rustle of a stone displaced by her descending feet, +rose slowly on his haunches and gazed at her with small, wondering eyes. +Nor did it seem strange to her, seeing that he was in her way, to pick +up a stone, throw it in his direction, and say simply, "Sho! get away!" +as she would have done to an intruding cow. Nor did it seem odd that +he should actually "go away" as he did, scrambling back into the bushes +again, and disappearing like some grotesque figure in a transformation +scene. It was not until after he had gone that she was taken with +a slight nervousness and giddiness, and retraced her steps somewhat +hurriedly, shying a little at every rustle in the thicket. By the time +she had reached the great gateway she was doubtful whether to be pleased +or frightened at the incident, but she concluded to keep it to herself. + +It was still intensely cold. The light of the midday sun had decreased +still more, and on reaching the plateau again she saw that a dark cloud, +not unlike the precursor of a thunder-storm, was brooding over the snowy +peaks beyond. In spite of the cold this singular suggestion of summer +phenomena was still borne out by the distant smiling valley, and even +in the soft grasses at her feet. It seemed to her the crowning +inconsistency of the climate, and with a half-serious, half-playful +protest on her lips she hurried forward to seek the shelter of the +house. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +To Kate's surprise, the lower part of the house was deserted, but there +was an unusual activity on the floor above, and the sound of heavy +steps. There were alien marks of dusty feet on the scrupulously clean +passage, and on the first step of the stairs a spot of blood. With a +sudden genuine alarm that drove her previous adventure from her mind, +she impatiently called her sister's name. There was a hasty yet subdued +rustle of skirts on the staircase, and Mrs. Hale, with her finger on her +lip, swept Kate unceremoniously into the sitting-room, closed the door, +and leaned back against it, with a faint smile. She had a crumpled paper +in her hand. + +"Don't be alarmed, but read that first," she said, handing her sister +the paper. "It was brought just now." + +Kate instantly recognized her brother's distinct hand. She read +hurriedly, "The coach was robbed last night; nobody hurt. I've lost +nothing but a day's time, as this business will keep me here until +to-morrow, when Manuel can join me with a fresh horse. No cause for +alarm. As the bearer goes out of his way to bring you this, see that he +wants for nothing." + +"Well," said Kate expectantly. + +"Well, the 'bearer' was fired upon by the robbers, who were lurking on +the Ridge. He was wounded in the leg. Luckily he was picked up by his +friend, who was coming to meet him, and brought here as the nearest +place. He's up-stairs in the spare bed in the spare room, with his +friend, who won't leave his side. He won't even have mother in the room. +They've stopped the bleeding with John's ambulance things, and now, +Kate, here's a chance for you to show the value of your education in +the ambulance class. The ball has got to be extracted. Here's your +opportunity." + +Kate looked at her sister curiously. There was a faint pink flush on her +pale cheeks, and her eyes were gently sparkling. She had never seen her +look so pretty before. + +"Why not have sent Manuel for a doctor at once?" asked Kate. + +"The nearest doctor is fifteen miles away, and Manuel is nowhere to be +found. Perhaps he's gone to look after the stock. There's some talk of +snow; imagine the absurdity of it!" + +"But who are they?" + +"They speak of themselves as 'friends,' as if it were a profession. The +wounded one was a passenger, I suppose." + +"But what are they like?" continued Kate. "I suppose they're like them +all." + +Mrs. Hale shrugged her shoulders. + +"The wounded one, when he's not fainting away, is laughing. The other is +a creature with a moustache, and gloomy beyond expression." + +"What are you going to do with them?" said Kate. + +"What should I do? Even without John's letter I could not refuse the +shelter of my house to a wounded and helpless man. I shall keep him, +of course, until John comes. Why, Kate, I really believe you are so +prejudiced against these people you'd like to turn them out. But I +forget! It's because you LIKE them so well. Well, you need not fear to +expose yourself to the fascinations of the wounded Christy Minstrel--I'm +sure he's that--or to the unspeakable one, who is shyness itself, and +would not dare to raise his eyes to you." + +There was a timid, hesitating step in the passage. It paused before the +door, moved away, returned, and finally asserted its intentions in the +gentlest of taps. + +"It's him; I'm sure of it," said Mrs. Hale, with a suppressed smile. + +Kate threw open the door smartly, to the extreme discomfiture of a tall, +dark figure that already had slunk away from it. For all that, he was +a good-looking enough fellow, with a moustache as long and almost as +flexible as a ringlet. Kate could not help noticing also that his hand, +which was nervously pulling the moustache, was white and thin. + +"Excuse me," he stammered, without raising his eyes, "I was looking +for--for--the old lady. I--I beg your pardon. I didn't know that +you--the young ladies--company--were here. I intended--I only wanted to +say that my friend--" He stopped at the slight smile that passed quickly +over Mrs. Hale's mouth, and his pale face reddened with an angry flush. + +"I hope he is not worse," said Mrs. Hale, with more than her usual +languid gentleness. "My mother is not here at present. Can I--can +WE--this is my sister--do as well?" + +Without looking up he made a constrained recognition of Kate's presence, +that embarrassed and curt as it was, had none of the awkwardness of +rusticity. + +"Thank you; you're very kind. But my friend is a little stronger, and +if you can lend me an extra horse I'll try to get him on the Summit +to-night." + +"But you surely will not take him away from us so soon?" said Mrs. Hale, +with a languid look of alarm, in which Kate, however, detected a certain +real feeling. "Wait at least until my husband returns to-morrow." + +"He won't be here to-morrow," said the stranger hastily. He stopped, +and as quickly corrected himself. "That is, his business is so very +uncertain, my friend says." + +Only Kate noticed the slip; but she noticed also that her sister was +apparently unconscious of it. "You think," she said, "that Mr. Hale may +be delayed?" + +He turned upon her almost brusquely. "I mean that it is already snowing +up there;" he pointed through the window to the cloud Kate had noticed; +"if it comes down lower in the pass the roads will be blocked up. That +is why it would be better for us to try and get on at once." + +"But if Mr. Hale is likely to be stopped by snow, so are you," said +Mrs. Hale playfully; "and you had better let us try to make your friend +comfortable here rather than expose him to that uncertainty in his +weak condition. We will do our best for him. My sister is dying for +an opportunity to show her skill in surgery," she continued, with +an unexpected mischievousness that only added to Kate's surprised +embarrassment. "Aren't you, Kate?" + +Equivocal as the young girl knew her silence appeared, she was unable to +utter the simplest polite evasion. Some unaccountable impulse kept her +constrained and speechless. The stranger did not, however, wait for her +reply, but, casting a swift, hurried glance around the room, said, "It's +impossible; we must go. In fact, I've already taken the liberty to order +the horses round. They are at the door now. You may be certain," he +added, with quick earnestness, suddenly lifting his dark eyes to Mrs. +Hale, and as rapidly withdrawing them, "that your horse will be returned +at once, and--and--we won't forget your kindness." He stopped and turned +towards the hall. "I--I have brought my friend down-stairs. He wants to +thank you before he goes." + +As he remained standing in the hall the two women stepped to the door. +To their surprise, half reclining on a cane sofa was the wounded man, +and what could be seen of his slight figure was wrapped in a dark +serape. His beardless face gave him a quaint boyishness quite +inconsistent with the mature lines of his temples and forehead. Pale, +and in pain, as he evidently was, his blue eyes twinkled with intense +amusement. Not only did his manner offer a marked contrast to the sombre +uneasiness of his companion, but he seemed to be the only one perfectly +at his ease in the group around him. + +"It's rather rough making you come out here to see me off," he said, +with a not unmusical laugh that was very infectious, "but Ned there, +who carried me downstairs, wanted to tote me round the house in his arms +like a baby to say ta-ta to you all. Excuse my not rising, but I feel as +uncertain below as a mermaid, and as out of my element," he added, with +a mischievous glance at his friend. "Ned concluded I must go on. But I +must say good-by to the old lady first. Ah! here she is." + +To Kate's complete bewilderment, not only did the utter familiarity of +this speech, pass unnoticed and unrebuked by her sister, but actually +her own mother advanced quickly with every expression of lively +sympathy, and with the authority of her years and an almost maternal +anxiety endeavored to dissuade the invalid from going. "This is not my +house," she said, looking at her daughter, "but if it were I should +not hear of your leaving, not only to-night, but until you were out of +danger. Josephine! Kate! What are you thinking of to permit it? Well, +then I forbid it--there!" + +Had they become suddenly insane, or were they bewitched by this morose +intruder and his insufferably familiar confidant? The man was wounded, +it was true; they might have to put him up in common humanity; but here +was her austere mother, who wouldn't come in the room when Whisky Dick +called on business, actually pressing both of the invalid's hands, +while her sister, who never extended a finger to the ordinary visiting +humanity of the neighborhood, looked on with evident complacency. + +The wounded man suddenly raised Mrs. Scott's hand to his lips, kissed +it gently, and, with his smile quite vanished, endeavored to rise to his +feet. "It's of no use--we must go. Give me your arm, Ned. Quick! Are the +horses there?" + +"Dear me," said Mrs. Scott quickly. "I forgot to say the horse cannot be +found anywhere. Manuel must have taken him this morning to look up the +stock. But he will be back to-night certainly, and if to-morrow--" + +The wounded man sank back to a sitting position. "Is Manuel your man?" +he asked grimly. + +"Yes." + +The two men exchanged glances. + +"Marked on his left cheek and drinks a good deal?" + +"Yes," said Kate, finding her voice. "Why?" + +The amused look came back to the man's eyes. "That kind of man isn't +safe to wait for. We must take our own horse, Ned. Are you ready?" + +"Yes." + +The wounded man again attempted to rise. He fell back, but this time +quite heavily. He had fainted. + +Involuntarily and simultaneously the three women rushed to his side. "He +cannot go," said Kate suddenly. + +"He will be better in a moment." + +"But only for a moment. Will nothing induce you to change your mind?" + +As if in reply a sudden gust of wind brought a volley of rain against +the window. + +"THAT will," said the stranger bitterly. + +"The rain?" + +"A mile from here it is SNOW; and before we could reach the Summit with +these horses the road would be impassable." + +He made a slight gesture to himself, as if accepting an inevitable +defeat, and turned to his companion, who was slowly reviving under the +active ministration of the two women. The wounded man looked around with +a weak smile. "This is one way of going off," he said faintly, "but I +could do this sort of thing as well on the road." + +"You can do nothing now," said his friend, decidedly. "Before we get to +the Gate the road will be impassable for our horses." + +"For ANY horses?" asked Kate. + +"For any horses. For any man or beast I might say. Where we cannot get +out, no one can get in," he added, as if answering her thoughts. "I +am afraid that you won't see your brother to-morrow morning. But I'll +reconnoitre as soon as I can do so without torturing HIM," he said, +looking anxiously at the helpless man; "he's got about his share of +pain, I reckon, and the first thing is to get him easier." It was the +longest speech he had made to her; it was the first time he had fairly +looked her in the face. His shy restlessness had suddenly given way to +dogged resignation, less abstracted, but scarcely more flattering to +his entertainers. Lifting his companion gently in his arms, as if he +had been a child, he reascended the staircase, Mrs. Scott and the +hastily-summoned Molly following with overflowing solicitude. As soon as +they were alone in the parlor Mrs. Hale turned to her sister: "Only that +our guests seemed to be as anxious to go just now as you were to pack +them off, I should have been shocked at your inhospitality. What has +come over you, Kate? These are the very people you have reproached me so +often with not being civil enough to." + +"But WHO are they?" + +"How do I know? There is YOUR BROTHER'S letter." + +She usually spoke of her husband as "John." This slight shifting of +relationship and responsibility to the feminine mind was significant. +Kate was a little frightened and remorseful. + +"I only meant you don't even know their names." + +"That wasn't necessary for giving them a bed and bandages. Do you +suppose the good Samaritan ever asked the wounded Jew's name, and that +the Levite did not excuse himself because the thieves had taken the +poor man's card-case? Do the directions, 'In case of accident,' in your +ambulance rules, read, 'First lay the sufferer on his back and inquire +his name and family connections'? Besides, you can call one 'Ned' and +the other 'George,' if you like." + +"Oh, you know what I mean," said Kate, irrelevantly. "Which is George?" + +"George is the wounded man," said Mrs. Hale; "NOT the one who talked +to you more than he did to any one else. I suppose the poor man was +frightened and read dismissal in your eyes." + +"I wish John were here." + +"I don't think we have anything to fear in his absence from men whose +only wish is to get away from us. If it is a question of propriety, +my dear Kate, surely there is the presence of mother to prevent any +scandal--although really her own conduct with the wounded one is not +above suspicion," she added, with that novel mischievousness that seemed +a return of her lost girlhood. "We must try to do the best we can with +them and for them," she said decidedly, "and meantime I'll see if I +can't arrange John's room for them." + +"John's room?" + +"Oh, mother is perfectly satisfied; indeed, suggested it. It's larger +and will hold two beds, for 'Ned,' the friend, must attend to him at +night. And, Kate, don't you think, if you're not going out again, you +might change your costume? It does very well while we are alone--" + +"Well," said Kate indignantly, "as I am not going into his room--" + +"I'm not so sure about that, if we can't get a regular doctor. But he +is very restless, and wanders all over the house like a timid and +apologetic spaniel." + +"Who?" + +"Why 'Ned.' But I must go and look after the patient. I suppose they've +got him safe in his bed again," and with a nod to her sister she tripped +up-stairs. + +Uncomfortable and embarrassed, she knew not why, Kate sought her mother. +But that good lady was already in attendance on the patient, and +Kate hurried past that baleful centre of attraction with a feeling of +loneliness and strangeness she had never experienced before. Entering +her own room she went to the window--that first and last refuge of the +troubled mind--and gazed out. Turning her eyes in the direction of her +morning's walk, she started back with a sense of being dazzled. She +rubbed first her eyes and then the rain-dimmed pane. It was no illusion! +The whole landscape, so familiar to her, was one vast field of dead, +colorless white! Trees, rocks, even distance itself, had vanished in +those few hours. An even shadowless, motionless white sea filled the +horizon. On either side a vast wall of snow seemed to shut out the +world like a shroud. Only the green plateau before her, with its sloping +meadows and fringe of pines and cottonwood, lay alone like a summer +island in this frozen sea. + +A sudden desire to view this phenomenon more closely, and to learn for +herself the limits of this new tethered life, completely possessed +her, and, accustomed to act upon her independent impulses, she seized a +hooded waterproof cloak, and slipped out of the house unperceived. The +rain was falling steadily along the descending trail where she walked, +but beyond, scarcely a mile across the chasm, the wintry distance began +to confuse her brain with the inextricable swarming of snow. Hurrying +down with feverish excitement, she at last came in sight of the arching +granite portals of their domain. But her first glance through the +gateway showed it closed as if with a white portcullis. Kate remembered +that the trail began to ascend beyond the arch, and knew that what she +saw was only the mountain side she had partly climbed this morning. But +the snow had already crept down its flank, and the exit by trail was +practically closed. Breathlessly making her way back to the highest part +of the plateau--the cliff behind the house that here descended abruptly +to the rain-dimmed valley--she gazed at the dizzy depths in vain for +some undiscovered or forgotten trail along its face. But a single glance +convinced her of its inaccessibility. The gateway was indeed their only +outlet to the plain below. She looked back at the falling snow beyond +until she fancied she could see in the crossing and recrossing lines +the moving meshes of a fateful web woven around them by viewless but +inexorable fingers. + +Half frightened, she was turning away, when she perceived, a few paces +distant, the figure of the stranger, "Ned," also apparently absorbed +in the gloomy prospect. He was wrapped in the clinging folds of a black +serape braided with silver; the broad flap of a slouch hat beaten back +by the wind exposed the dark, glistening curls on his white forehead. He +was certainly very handsome and picturesque, and that apparently without +effort or consciousness. Neither was there anything in his costume or +appearance inconsistent with his surroundings, or, even with what Kate +could judge were his habits or position. Nevertheless, she instantly +decided that he was TOO handsome and too picturesque, without suspecting +that her ideas of the limits of masculine beauty were merely personal +experience. + +As he turned away from the cliff they were brought face to face. "It +doesn't look very encouraging over there," he said quietly, as if the +inevitableness of the situation had relieved him of his previous shyness +and effort; "it's even worse than I expected. The snow must have begun +there last night, and it looks as if it meant to stay." He stopped for a +moment, and then, lifting his eyes to her, said:-- + +"I suppose you know what this means?" + +"I don't understand you." + +"I thought not. Well! it means that you are absolutely cut off here from +any communication or intercourse with any one outside of that canyon. +By this time the snow is five feet deep over the only trail by which one +can pass in and out of that gateway. I am not alarming you, I hope, for +there is no real physical danger; a place like this ought to be +well garrisoned, and certainly is self-supporting so far as the mere +necessities and even comforts are concerned. You have wood, water, +cattle, and game at your command, but for two weeks at least you are +completely isolated." + +"For two weeks," said Kate, growing pale--"and my brother!" + +"He knows all by this time, and is probably as assured as I am of the +safety of his family." + +"For two weeks," continued Kate; "impossible! You don't know my brother! +He will find some way to get to us." + +"I hope so," returned the stranger gravely, "for what is possible for +him is possible for us." + +"Then you are anxious to get away," Kate could not help saying. + +"Very." + +The reply was not discourteous in manner, but was so far from gallant +that Kate felt a new and inconsistent resentment. Before she could say +anything he added, "And I hope you will remember, whatever may happen, +that I did my best to avoid staying here longer than was necessary to +keep my friend from bleeding to death in the road." + +"Certainly," said Kate; then added awkwardly, "I hope he'll be better +soon." She was silent, and then, quickening her pace, said hurriedly, "I +must tell my sister this dreadful news." + +"I think she is prepared for it. If there is anything I can do to help +you I hope you will let me know. Perhaps I may be of some service. I +shall begin by exploring the trails to-morrow, for the best service we +can do you possibly is to take ourselves off; but I can carry a gun, and +the woods are full of game driven down from the mountains. Let me show +you something you may not have noticed." He stopped, and pointed to a +small knoll of sheltered shrubbery and granite on the opposite mountain, +which still remained black against the surrounding snow. It seemed to be +thickly covered with moving objects. "They are wild animals driven out +of the snow," said the stranger. "That larger one is a grizzly; there is +a panther, wolves, wild cats, a fox, and some mountain goats." + +"An ill-assorted party," said the young girl. + +"Ill luck makes them companions. They are too frightened to hurt one +another now." + +"But they will eat each other later on," said Kate, stealing a glance at +her companion. + +He lifted his long lashes and met her eyes. "Not on a haven of refuge." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Kate found her sister, as the stranger had intimated, fully prepared. A +hasty inventory of provisions and means of subsistence showed that they +had ample resources for a much longer isolation. + +"They tell me it is by no means an uncommon case, Kate; somebody over at +somebody's place was snowed in for four weeks, and now it appears that +even the Summit House is not always accessible. John ought to have known +it when he bought the place; in fact, I was ashamed to admit that he did +not. But that is like John to prefer his own theories to the experience +of others. However, I don't suppose we should even notice the privation +except for the mails. It will be a lesson to John, though. As Mr. Lee +says, he is on the outside, and can probably go wherever he likes from +the Summit except to come here." + +"Mr. Lee?" echoed Kate. + +"Yes, the wounded one; and the other's name is Falkner. I asked them in +order that you might be properly introduced. There were very respectable +Falkners in Charlestown, you remember; I thought you might warm to +the name, and perhaps trace the connection, now that you are such good +friends. It's providential they are here, as we haven't got a horse or +a man in the place since Manuel disappeared, though Mr. Falkner says +he can't be far away, or they would have met him on the trail if he had +gone towards the Summit." + +"Did they say anything more of Manuel?" + +"Nothing; though I am inclined to agree with you that he isn't +trustworthy. But that again is the result of John's idea of employing +native skill at the expense of retaining native habits." + +The evening closed early, and with no diminution in the falling rain and +rising wind. Falkner kept his word, and unostentatiously performed the +out-door work in the barn and stables, assisted by the only Chinese +servant remaining, and under the advice and supervision of Kate. +Although he seemed to understand horses, she was surprised to find that +he betrayed a civic ignorance of the ordinary details of the farm and +rustic household. It was quite impossible that she should retain her +distrustful attitude, or he his reserve in their enforced companionship. +They talked freely of subjects suggested by the situation, Falkner +exhibiting a general knowledge and intuition of things without parade or +dogmatism. Doubtful of all versatility as Kate was, she could not help +admitting to herself that his truths were none the less true for their +quantity or that he got at them without ostentatious processes. His talk +certainly was more picturesque than her brother's, and less subduing to +her faculties. John had always crushed her. + +When they returned to the house he did not linger in the parlor or +sitting-room, but at once rejoined his friend. When dinner was ready in +the dining-room, a little more deliberately arranged and ornamented than +usual, the two women were somewhat surprised to receive an excuse from +Falkner, begging them to allow him for the present to take his meals +with the patient, and thus save the necessity of another attendant. + +"It is all shyness, Kate," said Mrs. Hale, confidently, "and must not be +permitted for a moment." + +"I'm sure I should be quite willing to stay with the poor boy myself," +said Mrs. Scott, simply, "and take Mr. Falkner's place while he dines." + +"You are too willing, mother," said Mrs. Hale, pertly, "and your 'poor +boy,' as you call him, will never see thirty-five again." + +"He will never see any other birthday!" retorted her mother, "unless you +keep him more quiet. He only talks when you're in the room." + +"He wants some relief to his friend's long face and moustachios that +make him look prematurely in mourning," said Mrs. Hale, with a slight +increase of animation. "I don't propose to leave them too much together. +After dinner we'll adjourn to their room and lighten it up a little. +You must come, Kate, to look at the patient, and counteract the baleful +effects of my frivolity." + +Mrs. Hale's instincts were truer than her mother's experience; not only +that the wounded man's eyes became brighter under the provocation of her +presence, but it was evident that his naturally exuberant spirits were +a part of his vital strength, and were absolutely essential to his quick +recovery. Encouraged by Falkner's grave and practical assistance, which +she could not ignore, Kate ventured to make an examination of Lee's +wound. Even to her unpractised eye it was less serious than at first +appeared. The great loss of blood had been due to the laceration of +certain small vessels below the knee, but neither artery nor bone was +injured. A recurrence of the haemorrhage or fever was the only thing to +be feared, and these could be averted by bandaging, repose, and simple +nursing. + +The unfailing good humor of the patient under this manipulation, the +quaint originality of his speech, the freedom of his fancy, which was, +however, always controlled by a certain instinctive tact, began to +affect Kate nearly as it had the others. She found herself laughing over +the work she had undertaken in a pure sense of duty; she joined in the +hilarity produced by Lee's affected terror of her surgical mania, and +offered to undo the bandages in search of the thimble he declared she +had left in the wound with a view to further experiments. + +"You ought to broaden your practice," he suggested. "A good deal might +be made out of Ned and a piece of soap left carelessly on the first step +of the staircase, while mountains of surgical opportunities lie in +a humble orange peel judiciously exposed. Only I warn you that you +wouldn't find him as docile as I am. Decoyed into a snow-drift and +frozen, you might get some valuable experiences in resuscitation by +thawing him." + +"I fancied you had done that already, Kate," whispered Mrs. Hale. + +"Freezing is the new suggestion for painless surgery," said Lee, coming +to Kate's relief with ready tact, "only the knowledge should be +more generally spread. There was a man up at Strawberry fell under a +sledge-load of wood in the snow. Stunned by the shock, he was slowly +freezing to death, when, with a tremendous effort, he succeeded in +freeing himself all but his right leg, pinned down by a small log. His +axe happened to have fallen within reach, and a few blows on the log +freed him." + +"And saved the poor fellow's life," said Mrs. Scott, who was listening +with sympathizing intensity. + +"At the expense of his LEFT LEG, which he had unknowingly cut off under +the pleasing supposition that it was a log," returned Lee demurely. + +Nevertheless, in a few moments he managed to divert the slightly shocked +susceptibilities of the old lady with some raillery of himself, and did +not again interrupt the even good-humored communion of the party. The +rain beating against the windows and the fire sparkling on the hearth +seemed to lend a charm to their peculiar isolation, and it was not until +Mrs. Scott rose with a warning that they were trespassing upon the rest +of their patient that they discovered that the evening had slipped by +unnoticed. When the door at last closed on the bright, sympathetic +eyes of the two young women and the motherly benediction of the elder, +Falkner walked to the window, and remained silent, looking into the +darkness. Suddenly he turned bitterly to his companion. + +"This is just h-ll, George." + +George Lee, with a smile on his boyish face, lazily moved his head. + +"I don't know! If it wasn't for the old woman, who is the one solid +chunk of absolute goodness here, expecting nothing, wanting nothing, +it would be good fun enough! These two women, cooped up in this house, +wanted excitement. They've got it! That man Hale wanted to show off by +going for us; he's had his chance, and will have it again before I've +done with him. That d--d fool of a messenger wanted to go out of his way +to exchange shots with me; I reckon he's the most satisfied of the lot! +I don't know why YOU should growl. You did your level best to get away +from here, and the result is, that little Puritan is ready to worship +you." + +"Yes--but this playing it on them--George--this--" + +"Who's playing it? Not you; I see you've given away our names already." + +"I couldn't lie, and they know nothing by that." + +"Do you think they would be happier by knowing it? Do you think that +soft little creature would be as happy as she was to-night if she knew +that her husband had been indirectly the means of laying me by the heels +here? Where is the swindle? This hole in my leg? If you had been five +minutes under that girl's d--d sympathetic fingers you'd have thought it +was genuine. Is it in our trying to get away? Do you call that ten-feet +drift in the pass a swindle? Is it in the chance of Hale getting back +while we're here? That's real enough, isn't it? I say, Ned, did you ever +give your unfettered intellect to the contemplation of THAT?" + +Falkner did not reply. There was an interval of silence, but he could +see from the movement of George's shoulders that he was shaking with +suppressed laughter. + +"Fancy Mrs. Hale archly introducing her husband! My offering him a +chair, but being all the time obliged to cover him with a derringer +under the bedclothes. Your rushing in from your peaceful pastoral +pursuits in the barn, with a pitchfork in one hand and the girl in the +other, and dear old mammy sympathizing all round and trying to make +everything comfortable." + +"I should not be alive to see it, George," said Falkner gloomily. + +"You'd manage to pitchfork me and those two women on Hale's horse and +ride away; that's what you'd do, or I don't know you! Look here, Ned," +he added more seriously, "the only swindling was our bringing that note +here. That was YOUR idea. You thought it would remove suspicion, and as +you believed I was bleeding to death you played that game for all it was +worth to save me. You might have done what I asked you to do--propped +me up in the bushes, and got away yourself. I was good for a couple of +shots yet, and after that--what mattered? That night, the next day, the +next time I take the road, or a year hence? It will come when it will +come, all the same!" + +He did not speak bitterly, nor relax his smile. Falkner, without +speaking, slid his hand along the coverlet. Lee grasped it, and their +hands remained clasped together for a few minutes in silence. + +"How is this to end? We cannot go on here in this way," said Falkner +suddenly. + +"If we cannot get away it must go on. Look here, Ned. I don't reckon +to take anything out of this house that I didn't bring in it, or isn't +freely offered to me; yet I don't otherwise, you understand, intend +making myself out a d--d bit better than I am. That's the only excuse I +have for not making myself out JUST WHAT I am. I don't know the fellow +who's obliged to tell every one the last company he was in, or the last +thing he did! Do you suppose even these pretty little women tell US +their whole story? Do you fancy that this St. John in the wilderness is +canonized in his family? Perhaps, when I take the liberty to intrude in +his affairs, as he has in mine, he'd see he isn't. I don't blame you for +being sensitive, Ned. It's natural. When a man lives outside the revised +statutes of his own State he is apt to be awfully fine on points of +etiquette in his own household. As for me, I find it rather comfortable +here. The beds of other people's making strike me as being more +satisfactory than my own. Good-night." + +In a few moments he was sleeping the peaceful sleep of that youth which +seemed to be his own dominant quality. Falkner stood for a little space +and watched him, following the boyish lines of his cheek on the pillow, +from the shadow of the light brown lashes under his closed lids to the +lifting of his short upper lip over his white teeth, with his regular +respiration. Only a sharp accenting of the line of nostril and jaw and a +faint depression of the temple betrayed his already tried manhood. + +The house had long sunk to repose when Falkner returned to the window, +and remained looking out upon the storm. Suddenly he extinguished the +light, and passing quickly to the bed laid his hand upon the sleeper. +Lee opened his eyes instantly. + +"Are you awake?" + +"Perfectly." + +"Somebody is trying to get into the house!" + +"Not HIM, eh?" said Lee gayly. + +"No; two men. Mexicans, I think. One looks like Manuel." + +"Ah," said Lee, drawing himself up to a sitting posture. + +"Well?" + +"Don't you see? He believes the women are alone." + +"The dog--d--d hound!" + +"Speak respectfully of one of my people, if you please, and hand me my +derringer. Light the candle again, and open the door. Let them get in +quietly. They'll come here first. It's HIS room, you understand, and if +there's any money it's here. Anyway, they must pass here to get to the +women's rooms. Leave Manuel to me, and you take care of the other." + +"I see." + +"Manuel knows the house, and will come first. When he's fairly in the +room shut the door and go for the other. But no noise. This is just one +of the SW-EETEST things out--if it's done properly." + +"But YOU, George?" + +"If I couldn't manage that fellow without turning down the bedclothes +I'd kick myself. Hush. Steady now." + +He lay down and shut his eyes as if in natural repose. Only his right +hand, carelessly placed under his pillow, closed on the handle of his +pistol. Falkner quietly slipped into the passage. The light of the +candle faintly illuminated the floor and opposite wall, but left it on +either side in pitchy obscurity. + +For some moments the silence was broken only by the sound of the rain +without. The recumbent figure in bed seemed to have actually succumbed +to sleep. The multitudinous small noises of a house in repose might have +been misinterpreted by ears less keen than the sleeper's; but when +the apparent creaking of a far-off shutter was followed by the sliding +apparition of a dark head of tangled hair at the door, Lee had not been +deceived, and was as prepared as if he had seen it. Another step, and +the figure entered the room. The door closed instantly behind it. The +sound of a heavy body struggling against the partition outside followed, +and then suddenly ceased. + +The intruder turned, and violently grasped the handle of the door, but +recoiled at a quiet voice from the bed. + +"Drop that, and come here." + +He started back with an exclamation. The sleeper's eyes were wide open; +the sleeper's extended arm and pistol covered him. + +"Silence! or I'll let that candle shine through you!" + +"Yes, captain!" growled the astounded and frightened half-breed. "I +didn't know you were here." + +Lee raised himself, and grasped the long whip in his left hand and +whirled it round his head. + +"WILL YOU dry up?" + +The man sank back against the wall in silent terror. + +"Open that door now--softly." + +Manuel obeyed with trembling fingers. + +"Ned" said Lee in a low voice, "bring him in here--quick." + +There was a slight rustle, and Falkner appeared, backing in another +gasping figure, whose eyes were starting under the strong grasp of the +captor at his throat. + +"Silence," said Lee, "all of you." + +There was a breathless pause. The sound of a door hesitatingly opened +in the passage broke the stillness, followed by the gentle voice of Mrs. +Scott. + +"Is anything the matter?" + +Lee made a slight gesture of warning to Falkner, of menace to the +others. "Everything's the matter," he called out cheerily. "Ned's +managed to half pull down the house trying to get at something from my +saddle-bags." + +"I hope he has not hurt himself," broke in another voice mischievously. + +"Answer, you clumsy villain," whispered Lee, with twinkling eyes. + +"I'm all right, thank you," responded Falkner, with unaffected +awkwardness. + +There was a slight murmuring of voices, and then the door was heard to +close. Lee turned to Falkner. + +"Disarm that hound and turn him loose outside, and make no noise. And +you, Manuel! tell him what his and your chances are if he shows his +black face here again." + +Manuel cast a single, terrified, supplicating glance, more suggestive +than words, at his confederate, as Falkner shoved him before him from +the room. The next moment they were silently descending the stairs. + +"May I go too, captain?" entreated Manuel. "I swear to God--" + +"Shut the door!" The man obeyed. + +"Now, then," said Lee, with a broad, gratified smile, laying down his +whip and pistol within reach, and comfortably settling the pillows +behind his back, "we'll have a quiet confab. A sort of old-fashioned +talk, eh? You're not looking well, Manuel. You're drinking too much +again. It spoils your complexion." + +"Let me go, captain," pleaded the man, emboldened by the good-humored +voice, but not near enough to notice a peculiar light in the speaker's +eye. + +"You've only just come, Manuel; and at considerable trouble, too. Well, +what have you got to say? What's all this about? What are you doing +here?" + +The captured man shuffled his feet nervously, and only uttered an uneasy +laugh of coarse discomfiture. + +"I see. You're bashful. Well, I'll help you along. Come! You knew that +Hale was away and these women were here without a man to help them. You +thought you'd find some money here, and have your own way generally, +eh?" + +The tone of Lee's voice inspired him to confidence; unfortunately, it +inspired him with familiarity also. + +"I reckoned I had the right to a little fun on my own account, cap. +I reckoned ez one gentleman in the profession wouldn't interfere with +another gentleman's little game," he continued coarsely. + +"Stand up." + +"Wot for?" + +"Up, I say!" + +Manuel stood up and glanced at him. + +"Utter a cry that might frighten these women, and by the living God +they'll rush in here only to find you lying dead on the floor of the +house you'd have polluted." + +He grasped the whip and laid the lash of it heavily twice over the +ruffian's shoulders. Writhing in suppressed agony, the man fell +imploringly on his knees. + +"Now, listen!" said Lee, softly twirling the whip in the air. "I want to +refresh your memory. Did you ever learn, when you were with me--before +I was obliged to kick you out of gentlemen's company--to break into a +private house? Answer!" + +"No," stammered the wretch. + +"Did you ever learn to rob a woman, a child, or any but a man, and that +face to face?" + +"No," repeated Manuel. + +"Did you ever learn from me to lay a finger upon a woman, old or young, +in anger or kindness?" + +"No." + +"Then, my poor Manuel, it's as I feared; civilization has ruined you. +Farming and a simple, bucolic life have perverted your morals. So you +were running off with the stock and that mustang, when you got stuck in +the snow; and the luminous idea of this little game struck you? Eh? That +was another mistake, Manuel; I never allowed you to think when you were +with me." + +"No, captain." + +"Who's your friend?" + +"A d--d cowardly nigger from the Summit." + +"I agree with you for once; but he hasn't had a very brilliant example. +Where's he gone now?" + +"To h-ll, for all I care!" + +"Then I want you to go with him. Listen. If there's a way out of the +place, you know it or can find it. I give you two days to do it--you and +he. At the end of that time the order will be to shoot you on sight. Now +take off your boots." + +The man's dark face visibly whitened, his teeth chattered in +superstitious terror. + +"I'm not going to shoot you now," said Lee, smiling, "so you will have a +chance to die with your boots on,* if you are superstitious. I only want +you to exchange them for that pair of Hale's in the corner. The fact +is I have taken a fancy to yours. That fashion of wearing the stockings +outside strikes me as one of the neatest things out." + + * "To die with one's boots on." A synonym for death by + violence, popular among Southwestern desperadoes, and the + subject of superstitious dread. + +Manuel suddenly drew off his boots with their muffled covering, and put +on the ones designated. + +"Now open the door." + +He did so. Falkner was already waiting at the threshold, "Turn Manuel +loose with the other, Ned, but disarm him first. They might quarrel. The +habit of carrying arms, Manuel," added Lee, as Falkner took a pistol and +bowie-knife from the half-breed, "is of itself provocative of violence, +and inconsistent with a bucolic and pastoral life." + +When Falkner returned he said hurriedly to his companion, "Do you think +it wise, George, to let those hell-hounds loose? Good God! I could +scarcely let my grip of his throat go, when I thought of what they were +hunting." + +"My dear Ned," said Lee, luxuriously ensconcing himself under the +bedclothes again with a slight shiver of delicious warmth, "I must warn +you against allowing the natural pride of a higher walk to prejudice you +against the general level of our profession. Indeed, I was quite struck +with the justice of Manuel's protest that I was interfering with certain +rude processes of his own towards results aimed at by others." + +"George!" interrupted Falkner, almost savagely. + +"Well. I admit it's getting rather late in the evening for pure +philosophical inquiry, and you are tired. Practically, then, it WAS wise +to let them get away before they discovered two things. One, our exact +relations here with these women; and the other, HOW MANY of us were +here. At present they think we are three or four in possession and with +the consent of the women." + +"The dogs!" + +"They are paying us the highest compliment they can conceive of by +supposing us cleverer scoundrels than themselves. You are very unjust, +Ned." + +"If they escape and tell their story?" + +"We shall have the rare pleasure of knowing we are better than people +believe us. And now put those boots away somewhere where we can produce +them if necessary, as evidence of Manuel's evening call. At present +we'll keep the thing quiet, and in the early morning you can find out +where they got in and remove any traces they have left. It is no use to +frighten the women. There's no fear of their returning." + +"And if they get away?" + +"We can follow in their tracks." + +"If Manuel gives the alarm?" + +"With his burglarious boots left behind in the house? Not much! +Good-night, Ned. Go to bed." + +With these words Lee turned on his side and quietly resumed his +interrupted slumber. Falkner did not, however, follow this sensible +advice. When he was satisfied that his friend was sleeping he opened the +door softly and looked out. He did not appear to be listening, for +his eyes were fixed upon a small pencil of light that stole across the +passage from the foot of Kate's door. He watched it until it suddenly +disappeared, when, leaving the door partly open, he threw himself on +his couch without removing his clothes. The slight movement awakened +the sleeper, who was beginning to feel the accession of fever. He moved +restlessly. + +"George," said Falkner, softly. + +"Yes." + +"Where was it we passed that old Mission Church on the road one dark +night, and saw the light burning before the figure of the Virgin through +the window?" + +There was a moment of crushing silence. "Does that mean you're wanting +to light the candle again?" + +"No." + +"Then don't lie there inventing sacrilegious conundrums, but go to +sleep." + +Nevertheless, in the morning his fever was slightly worse. Mrs. Hale, +offering her condolence, said, "I know that you have not been resting +well, for even after your friend met with that mishap in the hall, I +heard your voices, and Kate says your door was open all night. You have +a little fever too, Mr. Falkner." + +George looked curiously at Falkner's pale face--it was burning. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The speed and fury with which Clinch's cavalcade swept on in the +direction of the mysterious shot left Hale no chance for reflection. He +was conscious of shouting incoherently with the others, of urging his +horse irresistibly forward, of momentarily expecting to meet or overtake +something, but without any further thought. The figures of Clinch and +Rawlins immediately before him shut out the prospect of the narrowing +trail. Once only, taking advantage of a sudden halt that threw them +confusedly together, he managed to ask a question. + +"Lost their track--found it again!" shouted the ostler, as Clinch, with +a cry like the baying of a hound, again darted forward. Their horses +were panting and trembling under them, the ascent seemed to be growing +steeper, a singular darkness, which even the density of the wood did not +sufficiently account for, surrounded them, but still their leader +madly urged them on. To Hale's returning senses they did not seem in a +condition to engage a single resolute man, who might have ambushed in +the woods or beaten them in detail in the narrow gorge, but in another +instant the reason of their furious haste was manifest. Spurring his +horse ahead, Clinch dashed out into the open with a cheering shout--a +shout that as quickly changed to a yell of imprecation. They were on +the Ridge in a blinding snow-storm! The road had already vanished under +their feet, and with it the fresh trail they had so closely followed! +They stood helplessly on the shore of a trackless white sea, blank and +spotless of any trace or sign of the fugitives. + +"'Pears to me, boys," said the ostler, suddenly ranging before them, +"ef you're not kalkilatin' on gittin' another party to dig ye out, ye'd +better be huntin' fodder and cover instead of road agents. 'Skuse me, +gentlemen, but I'm responsible for the hosses, and this ain't no time +for circus-ridin'. We're a matter o' six miles from the station in a bee +line." + +"Back to the trail, then," said Clinch, wheeling his horse towards the +road they had just quitted. + +"'Skuse me, Kernel," said the ostler, laying his hand on Clinch's rein, +"but that way only brings us back the road we kem--the stage road--three +miles further from home. That three miles is on the divide, and by the +time we get there it will be snowed up worse nor this. The shortest cut +is along the Ridge. If we hump ourselves we ken cross the divide afore +the road is blocked. And that, 'skuse me, gentlemen, is MY road." + +There was no time for discussion. The road was already palpably +thickening under their feet. Hale's arm was stiffened to his side by +a wet, clinging snow-wreath. The figures of the others were almost +obliterated and shapeless. It was not snowing--it was snowballing! The +huge flakes, shaken like enormous feathers out of a vast blue-black +cloud, commingled and fell in sprays and patches. All idea of their +former pursuit was forgotten; the blind rage and enthusiasm that had +possessed them was gone. They dashed after their new leader with only an +instinct for shelter and succor. + +They had not ridden long when fortunately, as it seemed to Hale, the +character of the storm changed. The snow no longer fell in such large +flakes, nor as heavily. A bitter wind succeeded; the soft snow began +to stiffen and crackle under the horses' hoofs; they were no longer +weighted and encumbered by the drifts upon their bodies; the smaller +flakes now rustled and rasped against them like sand, or bounded from +them like hail. They seemed to be moving more easily and rapidly, their +spirits were rising with the stimulus of cold and motion, when suddenly +their leader halted. + +"It's no use, boys. It can't be done! This is no blizzard, but a regular +two days' snifter! It's no longer meltin', but packin' and driftin' +now. Even if we get over the divide, we're sure to be blocked up in the +pass." + +It was true! To their bitter disappointment they could now see that +the snow had not really diminished in quantity, but that the now +finely-powdered particles were rapidly filling all inequalities of +the surface, packing closely against projections, and swirling in +long furrows across the levels. They looked with anxiety at their +self-constituted leader. + +"We must make a break to get down in the woods again before it's too +late," he said briefly. + +But they had already drifted away from the fringe of larches and dwarf +pines that marked the sides of the Ridge, and lower down merged into +the dense forest that clothed the flank of the mountain they had lately +climbed, and it was with the greatest difficulty that they again reached +it, only to find that at that point it was too precipitous for the +descent of their horses. Benumbed and speechless, they continued to toil +on, opposed to the full fury of the stinging snow, and at times obliged +to turn their horses to the blast to keep from being blown over the +Ridge. At the end of half an hour the ostler dismounted, and, beckoning +to the others, took his horse by the bridle, and began the descent. When +it came to Hale's turn to dismount he could not help at first recoiling +from the prospect before him. The trail--if it could be so called--was +merely the track or furrow of some fallen tree dragged, by accident +or design, diagonally across the sides of the mountain. At times it +appeared scarcely a foot in width; at other times a mere crumbling +gully, or a narrow shelf made by the projections of dead boughs and +collected debris. It seemed perilous for a foot passenger, it appeared +impossible for a horse. Nevertheless, he had taken a step forward when +Clinch laid his hand on his arm. + +"You'll bring up the rear," he said not unkindly, "ez you're a stranger +here. Wait until we sing out to you." + +"But if I prefer to take the same risks as you all?" said Hale stiffly. + +"You kin," said Clinch grimly. "But I reckoned, as you wern't familiar +with this sort o' thing, you wouldn't keer, by any foolishness o' yours, +to stampede the rocks ahead of us, and break down the trail, or send +down an avalanche on top of us. But just ez you like." + +"I will wait, then," said Hale hastily. + +The rebuke, however, did him good service. It preoccupied his mind, +so that it remained unaffected by the dizzy depths, and enabled him +to abandon himself mechanically to the sagacity of his horse, who was +contented simply to follow the hoofprints of the preceding animal, and +in a few moments they reached the broader trail without a mishap. A +discussion regarding their future movements was already taking place. +The impossibility of regaining the station at the Summit was admitted; +the way down the mountain to the next settlement was still left to them, +or the adjacent woods, if they wished for an encampment. The ostler once +more assumed authority. + +"'Skuse me, gentlemen, but them horses don't take no pasear down the +mountain to-night. The stage-road ain't a mile off, and I kalkilate to +wait here till the up stage comes. She's bound to stop on account of the +snow; and I've done my dooty when I hand the horses over to the driver." + +"But if she hears of the block up yer, and waits at the lower station?" +said Rawlins. + +"Then I've done my dooty all the same. 'Skuse me, gentlemen, but them ez +hez their own horses kin do ez they like." + +As this clearly pointed to Hale, he briefly assured his companions that +he had no intention of deserting them. "If I cannot reach Eagle's Court, +I shall at least keep as near it as possible. I suppose any messenger +from my house to the Summit will learn where I am and why I am delayed?" + +"Messenger from your house!" gasped Rawlins. "Are you crazy, stranger? +Only a bird would get outer Eagle's now; and it would hev to be an eagle +at that! Between your house and the Summit the snow must be ten feet by +this time, to say nothing of the drift in the pass." + +Hale felt it was the truth. At any other time he would have worried over +this unexpected situation, and utter violation of all his traditions. +He was past that now, and even felt a certain relief. He knew his +family were safe; it was enough. That they were locked up securely, +and incapable of interfering with HIM, seemed to enhance his new, +half-conscious, half-shy enjoyment of an adventurous existence. + +The ostler, who had been apparently lost in contemplation of the steep +trail he had just descended, suddenly clapped his hand to his leg with +an ejaculation of gratified astonishment. + +"Waal, darn my skin ef that ain't Hennicker's 'slide' all the time! I +heard it was somewhat about here." + +Rawlins briefly explained to Hale that a slide was a rude incline for +the transit of heavy goods that could not be carried down a trail. + +"And Hennicker's," continued the man, "ain't more nor a mile away. Ye +might try Hennicker's at a push, eh?" + +By a common instinct the whole party looked dubiously at Hale. "Who's +Hennicker?" he felt compelled to ask. + +The ostler hesitated, and glanced at the others to reply. "There ARE +folks," he said lazily, at last, "ez beleeves that Hennicker ain't much +better nor the crowd we're hunting; but they don't say it TO Hennicker. +We needn't let on what we're after." + +"I for one," said Hale stoutly, "decidedly object to any concealment of +our purpose." + +"It don't follow," said Rawlins carelessly, "that Hennicker even knows +of this yer robbery. It's his gineral gait we refer to. Ef yer think it +more polite, and it makes it more sociable to discuss this matter afore +him, I'm agreed." + +"Hale means," said Clinch, "that it wouldn't be on the square to take +and make use of any points we might pick up there agin the road agents." + +"Certainly," said Hale. It was not at all what he had meant, but he felt +singularly relieved at the compromise. + +"And ez I reckon Hennicker ain't such a fool ez not to know who we are +and what we're out for," continued Clinch, "I reckon there ain't any +concealment." + +"Then it's Hennicker's?" said the ostler, with swift deduction. + +"Hennicker's it is! Lead on." + +The ostler remounted his horse, and the others followed. The trail +presently turned into a broader track, that bore some signs of +approaching habitations, and at the end of five minutes they came upon +a clearing. It was part of one of the fragmentary mountain terraces, and +formed by itself a vast niche, or bracketed shelf, in the hollow flank +of the mountain that, to Hale's first glance, bore a rude resemblance +to Eagle's Court. But there was neither meadow nor open field; the few +acres of ground had been wrested from the forest by axe and fire, and +unsightly stumps everywhere marked the rude and difficult attempts at +cultivation. Two or three rough buildings of unplaned and unpainted +boards, connected by rambling sheds, stood in the centre of the +amphitheatre. Far from being protected by the encircling rampart, it +seemed to be the selected arena for the combating elements. A whirlwind +from the outer abyss continually filled this cave of AEolus with driving +snow, which, however, melted as it fell, or was quickly whirled away +again. + +A few dogs barked and ran out to meet the cavalcade, but there was no +other sign of any life disturbed or concerned at their approach. + +"I reckon Hennicker ain't home, or he'd hev been on the lookout afore +this," said the ostler, dismounting and rapping on the door. + +After a silence, a female voice, unintelligibly to the others, +apparently had some colloquy with the ostler, who returned to the party. + +"Must go in through the kitchin--can't open the door for the wind." + +Leaving their horses in the shed, they entered the kitchen, which +communicated, and presently came upon a square room filled with smoke +from a fire of green pine logs. The doors and windows were tightly +fastened; the only air came in through the large-throated chimney in +voluminous gusts, which seemed to make the hollow shell of the apartment +swell and expand to the point of bursting. Despite the stinging of the +resinous smoke, the temperature was grateful to the benumbed travellers. +Several cushionless arm-chairs, such as were used in bar-rooms, two +tables, a sideboard, half bar and half cupboard, and a rocking-chair +comprised the furniture, and a few bear and buffalo skins covered +the floor. Hale sank into one of the arm-chairs, and, with a lazy +satisfaction, partly born of his fatigue and partly from some +newly-discovered appreciative faculty, gazed around the room, and then +at the mistress of the house, with whom the others were talking. + +She was tall, gaunt, and withered; in spite of her evident years, her +twisted hair was still dark and full, and her eyes bright and piercing; +her complexion and teeth had long since succumbed to the vitiating +effects of frontier cookery, and her lips were stained with the yellow +juice of a brier-wood pipe she held in her mouth. The ostler had +explained their intrusion, and veiled their character under the vague +epithet of a "hunting party," and was now evidently describing them +personally. In his new-found philosophy the fact that the interest of +his hostess seemed to be excited only by the names of his companions, +that he himself was carelessly, and even deprecatingly, alluded to as +the "stranger from Eagle's" by the ostler, and completely overlooked by +the old woman, gave him no concern. + +"You'll have to talk to Zenobia yourself. Dod rot ef I'm gine to +interfere. She knows Hennicker's ways, and if she chooses to take in +transients it ain't no funeral o' mine. Zeenie! You, Zeenie! Look yer!" + +A tall, lazy-looking, handsome girl appeared on the threshold of the +next room, and with a hand on each door-post slowly swung herself +backwards and forwards, without entering. "Well, Maw?" + +The old woman briefly and unalluringly pictured the condition of the +travellers. + +"Paw ain't here," began the girl doubtfully, "and--How dy, Dick! is that +you?" The interruption was caused by her recognition of the ostler, and +she lounged into the room. In spite of a skimp, slatternly gown, whose +straight skirt clung to her lower limbs, there was a quaint, nymph-like +contour to her figure. Whether from languor, ill-health, or more +probably from a morbid consciousness of her own height, she moved with +a slightly affected stoop that had become a habit. It did not seem +ungraceful to Hale, already attracted by her delicate profile, her +large dark eyes, and a certain weird resemblance she had to some +half-domesticated dryad. + +"That'll do, Maw," she said, dismissing her parent with a nod. "I'll +talk to Dick." + +As the door closed on the old woman, Zenobia leaned her hands on +the back of a chair, and confronted the admiring eyes of Dick with a +goddess-like indifference. + +"Now wot's the use of your playin' this yer game on me, Dick? Wot's the +good of your ladlin' out that hogwash about huntin'? HUNTIN'! I'll tell +yer the huntin' you-uns hev been at! You've been huntin' George Lee +and his boys since an hour before sun up. You've been followin' a blind +trail up to the Ridge, until the snow got up and hunted YOU right here! +You've been whoopin' and yellin' and circus-ridin' on the roads like +ez yer wos Comanches, and frightening all the women folk within +miles--that's your huntin'! You've been climbin' down Paw's old slide +at last, and makin' tracks for here to save the skins of them condemned +government horses of the Kempany! And THAT'S your huntin'!" + +To Hale's surprise, a burst of laughter from the party followed this +speech. He tried to join in, but this ridiculous summary of the result +of his enthusiastic sense of duty left him--the only earnest believer +mortified and embarrassed. Nor was he the less concerned as he found the +girl's dark eyes had rested once or twice upon him curiously. Zenobia +laughed too, and, lazily turning the chair around, dropped into it. "And +by this time George Lee's loungin' back in his chyar and smokin' his +cigyar somewhar in Sacramento," she added, stretching her feet out to +the fire, and suiting the action to the word with an imaginary cigar +between the long fingers of a thin and not over-clean hand. + +"We cave, Zeenie!" said Rawlins, when their hilarity had subsided to a +more subdued and scarcely less flattering admiration of the unconcerned +goddess before them. "That's about the size of it. You kin rake down the +pile. I forgot you're an old friend of George's." + +"He's a white man!" said the girl decidedly. + +"Ye used to know him?" continued Rawlins. + +"Once. Paw ain't in that line now," she said simply. + +There was such a sublime unconsciousness of any moral degradation +involved in this allusion that even Hale accepted it without a shock. +She rose presently, and, going to the little sideboard, brought out +a number of glasses; these she handed to each of the party, and then, +producing a demijohn of whiskey, slung it dexterously and gracefully +over her arm, so that it rested on her elbow like a cradle, and, going +to each one in succession, filled their glasses. It obliged each one to +rise to accept the libation, and as Hale did so in his turn he met the +dark eyes of the girl full on his own. There was a pleased curiosity in +her glance that made this married man of thirty-five color as awkwardly +as a boy. + +The tender of refreshment being understood as a tacit recognition of +their claims to a larger hospitality, all further restraint was removed. +Zenobia resumed her seat, and placing her elbow on the arm of her chair, +and her small round chin in her hand, looked thoughtfully in the fire. +"When I say George Lee's a white man, it ain't because I know him. +It's his general gait. Wot's he ever done that's underhanded or mean? +Nothin'! You kant show the poor man he's ever took a picayune from. When +he's helped himself to a pile it's been outer them banks or them express +companies, that think it mighty fine to bust up themselves, and swindle +the poor folks o' their last cent, and nobody talks o' huntin' THEM! +And does he keep their money? No; he passes it round among the boys that +help him, and they put it in circulation. HE don't keep it for himself; +he ain't got fine houses in Frisco; he don't keep fast horses for show. +Like ez not the critter he did that job with--ef it was him--none of +you boys would have rid! And he takes all the risks himself; you ken bet +your life that every man with him was safe and away afore he turned his +back on you-uns." + +"He certainly drops a little of his money at draw poker, Zeenie," said +Clinch, laughing. "He lost five thousand dollars to Sheriff Kelly last +week." + +"Well, I don't hear of the sheriff huntin' him to give it back, nor do +I reckon Kelly handed it over to the Express it was taken from. I heard +YOU won suthin' from him a spell ago. I reckon you've been huntin' him +to find out whar you should return it." The laugh was clearly against +Clinch. He was about to make some rallying rejoinder when the young girl +suddenly interrupted him. "Ef you're wantin' to hunt somebody, why don't +you take higher game? Thar's that Jim Harkins: go for him, and I'll join +you." + +"Harkins!" exclaimed Clinch and Hale simultaneously. + +"Yes, Jim Harkins; do you know him?" she said, glancing from one to the +other. + +"One of my friends do," said Clinch laughing; "but don't let that stop +you." + +"And YOU--over there," continued Zenobia, bending her head and eyes +towards Hale. + +"The fact is--I believe he was my banker," said Hale, with a smile. "I +don't know him personally." + +"Then you'd better hunt him before he does you." + +"What's HE done, Zeenie?" asked Rawlins, keenly enjoying the +discomfiture of the others. + +"What?" She stopped, threw her long black braids over her shoulder, +clasped her knee with her hands, and rocking backwards and forwards, +sublimely unconscious of the apparition of a slim ankle and +half-dropped-off slipper from under her shortened gown, continued, "It +mightn't please HIM," she said slyly, nodding towards Hale. + +"Pray don't mind me," said Hale, with unnecessary eagerness. + +"Well," said Zenobia, "I reckon you all know Ned Falkner and the +Excelsior Ditch?" + +"Yes, Falkner's the superintendent of it," said Rawlins. "And a square +man too. Thar ain't anything mean about him." + +"Shake," said Zenobia, extending her hand. Rawlins shook the proffered +hand with eager spontaneousness, and the girl resumed: "He's about +ez good ez they make 'em--you bet. Well, you know Ned has put all his +money, and all his strength, and all his sabe, and--" + +"His good looks," added Clinch mischievously. + +"Into that Ditch," continued Zenobia, ignoring the interruption. "It's +his mother, it's his sweetheart, it's his everything! When other chaps +of his age was cavortin' round Frisco, and havin' high jinks, Ned was in +his Ditch. 'Wait till the Ditch is done,' he used to say. 'Wait till she +begins to boom, and then you just stand round.' Mor'n that, he got all +the boys to put in their last cent--for they loved Ned, and love him +now, like ez ef he wos a woman." + +"That's so," said Clinch and Rawlins simultaneously, "and he's worth +it." + +"Well," continued Zenobia, "the Ditch didn't boom ez soon ez they +kalkilated. And then the boys kept gettin' poorer and poorer, and Ned +he kept gettin' poorer and poorer in everything but his hopefulness and +grit. Then he looks around for more capital. And about this time, that +coyote Harkins smelt suthin' nice up there, and he gits Ned to give him +control of it, and he'll lend him his name and fix up a company. Soon ez +he gets control, the first thing he does is to say that it wants half a +million o' money to make it pay, and levies an assessment of two hundred +dollars a share. That's nothin' for them rich fellows to pay, or pretend +to pay, but for boys on grub wages it meant only ruin. They couldn't +pay, and had to forfeit their shares for next to nothing. And Ned made +one more desperate attempt to save them and himself by borrowing money +on his shares; when that hound Harkins got wind of it, and let it be +buzzed around that the Ditch is a failure, and that he was goin' out +of it; that brought the shares down to nothing. As Ned couldn't raise +a dollar, the new company swooped down on his shares for the debts THEY +had put up, and left him and the boys to help themselves. Ned couldn't +bear to face the boys that he'd helped to ruin, and put out, and ain't +been heard from since. After Harkins had got rid of Ned and the boys +he manages to pay off that wonderful debt, and sells out for a hundred +thousand dollars. That money--Ned's money--he sends to Sacramento, for +he don't dare to travel with it himself, and is kalkilatin' to leave the +kentry, for some of the boys allow to kill him on sight. So ef you're +wantin' to hunt suthin', thar's yer chance, and you needn't go inter the +snow to do it." + +"But surely the law can recover this money?" said Hale indignantly. "It +is as infamous a robbery as--" He stopped as he caught Zenobia's eye. + +"Ez last night's, you were goin' to say. I'll call it MORE. Them road +agents don't pretend to be your friend--but take yer money and run their +risks. For ez to the law--that can't help yer." + +"It's a skin game, and you might ez well expect to recover a gambling +debt from a short-card sharp," explained Clinch; "Falkner oughter shot +him on sight." + +"Or the boys lynched him," suggested Rawlins. + +"I think," said Hale, more reflectively, "that in the absence of legal +remedy a man of that kind should have been forced under strong physical +menace to give up his ill-gotten gains. The money was the primary +object, and if that could be got without bloodshed--which seems to me a +useless crime--it would be quite as effective. Of course, if there was +resistance or retaliation, it might be necessary to kill him." + +He had unconsciously fallen into his old didactic and dogmatic habit of +speech, and perhaps, under the spur of Zenobia's eyes, he had given +it some natural emphasis. A dead silence followed, in which the others +regarded him with amused and gratified surprise, and it was broken only +by Zenobia rising and holding out her hand. "Shake!" + +Hale raised it gallantly, and pressed his lips on the one spotless +finger. + +"That's gospel truth. And you ain't the first white man to say it." + +"Indeed," laughed Hale. "Who was the other?" + +"George Lee!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The laughter that followed was interrupted by a sudden barking of +the dogs in the outer clearing. Zenobia rose lazily and strode to the +window. It relieved Hale of certain embarrassing reflections suggested +by her comment. + +"Ef it ain't that God-forsaken fool Dick bringing up passengers from +the snow-bound up stage in the road! I reckon I'VE got suthin' to say +to that!" But the later appearance of the apologetic Dick, with the +assurance that the party carried a permission from her father, granted +at the lower station in view of such an emergency, checked her active +opposition. "That's like Paw," she soliloquized aggrievedly; "shuttin' +us up and settin' dogs on everybody for a week, and then lettin' the +whole stage service pass through one door and out at another. Well, it's +HIS house and HIS whiskey, and they kin take it, but they don't get me +to help 'em." + +They certainly were not a prepossessing or good-natured acquisition to +the party. Apart from the natural antagonism which, on such occasions, +those in possession always feel towards the new-comer, they were +strongly inclined to resist the dissatisfied querulousness and +aggressive attitude of these fresh applicants for hospitality. The most +offensive one was a person who appeared to exercise some authority over +the others. He was loud, assuming, and dressed with vulgar pretension. +He quickly disposed himself in the chair vacated by Zenobia, and called +for some liquor. + +"I reckon you'll hev to help yourself," said Rawlins dryly, as the +summons met with no response. "There are only two women in the house, +and I reckon their hands are full already." + +"I call it d--d uncivil treatment," said the man, raising his voice; +"and Hennicker had better sing smaller if he don't want his old den +pulled down some day. He ain't any better than men that hev been picked +up afore now." + +"You oughter told him that, and mebbe he'd hev come over with yer," +returned Rawlins. "He's a mild, soft, easy-going man, is Hennicker! +Ain't he, Colonel Clinch?" + +The casual mention of Clinch's name produced the effect which the +speaker probably intended. The stranger stared at Clinch, who, +apparently oblivious of the conversation, was blinking his cold gray +eyes at the fire. Dropping his aggressive tone to mere querulousness, +the man sought the whiskey demijohn, and helped himself and his +companions. Fortified by liquor he returned to the fire. + +"I reckon you've heard about this yer robbery, Colonel," he said, +addressing Clinch, with an attempt at easy familiarity. + +Without raising his eyes from the fire, Clinch briefly assented, "I +reckon." + +"I'm up yer, examining into it, for the Express." + +"Lost much?" asked Rawlins. + +"Not so much ez they might hev. That fool Harkins had a hundred thousand +dollars in greenbacks sealed up like an ordinary package of a thousand +dollars, and gave it to a friend, Bill Guthrie, in the bank to pick out +some unlikely chap among the passengers to take charge of it to Reno. He +wouldn't trust the Express. Ha! ha!" + +The dead, oppressive silence that followed his empty laughter made it +seem almost artificial. Rawlins held his breath and looked at Clinch. +Hale, with the instincts of a refined, sensitive man, turned hot with +the embarrassment Clinch should have shown. For that gentleman, without +lifting his eyes from the fire, and with no apparent change in his +demeanor, lazily asked-- + +"Ye didn't ketch the name o' that passenger?" + +"Naturally, no! For when Guthrie heard what was said agin him he +wouldn't give his name until he heard from him." + +"And WHAT was said agin him?" asked Clinch musingly. + +"What would be said agin a man that give up that sum o' money, like a +chaw of tobacco, for the asking? Why, there were but three men, as far +ez we kin hear, that did the job. And there were four passengers inside, +armed, and the driver and express messenger on the box. Six were robbed +by THREE!--they were a sweet-scented lot! Reckon they must hev felt +mighty small, for I hear they got up and skedaddled from the station +under the pretext of lookin' for the robbers." He laughed again, and the +laugh was noisily repeated by his five companions at the other end of +the room. + +Hale, who had forgotten that the stranger was only echoing a part of +his own criticism of eight hours before, was on the point of rising with +burning cheeks and angry indignation, when the lazily uplifted eye of +Clinch caught his, and absolutely held him down with its paralyzing and +deadly significance. Murder itself seemed to look from those cruelly +quiet and remorseless gray pupils. For a moment he forgot his own rage +in this glimpse of Clinch's implacable resentment; for a moment he +felt a thrill of pity for the wretch who had provoked it. He remained +motionless and fascinated in his chair as the lazy lids closed like a +sheath over Clinch's eyes again. Rawlins, who had probably received the +same glance of warning, remained equally still. + +"They haven't heard the last of it yet, you bet," continued the +infatuated stranger. "I've got a little statement here for the +newspaper," he added, drawing some papers from his pocket; "suthin' I +just run off in the coach as I came along. I reckon it'll show things up +in a new light. It's time there should be some change. All the cussin' +that's been usually done hez been by the passengers agin the express and +stage companies. I propose that the Company should do a little cussin' +themselves. See? P'r'aps you don't mind my readin' it to ye? It's just +spicy enough to suit them newspaper chaps." + +"Go on," said Colonel Clinch quietly. + +The man cleared his throat, with the preliminary pose of authorship, and +his five friends, to whom the composition was evidently not unfamiliar, +assumed anticipatory smiles. + +"I call it 'Prize Pusillanimous Passengers.' Sort of runs easy off the +tongue, you know. + +"'It now appears that the success of the late stagecoach robbery near +the Summit was largely due to the pusillanimity--not to use a more +serious word'"--He stopped, and looked explanatorily towards Clinch: +"Ye'll see in a minit what I'm gettin' at by that pusillanimity of the +passengers themselves. 'It now transpires that there were only three +robbers who attacked the coach, and that although passengers, driver, +and express messenger were fully armed, and were double the number of +their assailants, not a shot was fired. We mean no reflections upon +the well-known courage of Yuba Bill, nor the experience and coolness of +Bracy Tibbetts, the courteous express messenger, both of whom have +since confessed to have been more than astonished at the Christian and +lamb-like submission of the insiders. Amusing stories of some laughable +yet sickening incidents of the occasion--such as grown men kneeling in +the road, and offering to strip themselves completely, if their lives +were only spared; of one of the passengers hiding under the seat, and +only being dislodged by pulling his coat-tails; of incredible sums +promised, and even offers of menial service, for the preservation of +their wretched carcases--are received with the greatest gusto; but we +are in possession of facts which may lead to more serious accusations. +Although one of the passengers is said to have lost a large sum of +money intrusted to him, while attempting with barefaced effrontery to +establish a rival "carrying" business in one of the Express Company's +own coaches--'I call that a good point." He interrupted himself to allow +the unrestrained applause of his own party. "Don't you?" + +"It's just h-ll," said Clinch musingly. + +"'Yet the affair," resumed the stranger from his manuscript, "'is locked +up in great and suspicious mystery. The presence of Jackson N. Stanner, +Esq.' (that's me), 'special detective agent to the Company, and his +staff in town, is a guaranty that the mystery will be thoroughly +probed.' Hed to put that in to please the Company," he again +deprecatingly explained. "'We are indebted to this gentleman for the +facts.'" + +"The pint you want to make in that article," said Clinch, rising, but +still directing his face and his conversation to the fire, "ez far ez I +ken see ez that no three men kin back down six unless they be cowards, +or are willing to be backed down." + +"That's the point what I start from," rejoined Stanner, "and work up. I +leave it to you ef it ain't so." + +"I can't say ez I agree with you," said the Colonel dryly. He turned, +and still without lifting his eyes walked towards the door of the room +which Zenobia had entered. The key was on the inside, but Clinch gently +opened the door, removed the key, and closing the door again locked +it from his side. Hale and Rawlins felt their hearts beat quickly; the +others followed Clinch's slow movements and downcast mien with amused +curiosity. After locking the other outlet from the room, and putting the +keys in his pocket, Clinch returned to the fire. For the first time he +lifted his eyes; the man nearest him shrank back in terror. + +"I am the man," he said slowly, taking deliberate breath between his +sentences, "who gave up those greenbacks to the robbers. I am one of the +three passengers you have lampooned in that paper, and these gentlemen +beside me are the other two." He stopped and looked around him. "You +don't believe that three men can back down six! Well, I'll show you how +it can be done. More than that, I'll show you how ONE man can do it; +for, by the living G-d, if you don't hand over that paper I'll kill you +where you sit! I'll give you until I count ten; if one of you moves he +and you are dead men--but YOU first!" + +Before he had finished speaking Hale and Rawlins had both risen, as if +in concert, with their weapons drawn. Hale could not tell how or why +he had done so, but he was equally conscious, without knowing why, of +fixing his eye on one of the other party, and that he should, in the +event of an affray, try to kill him. He did not attempt to reason; +he only knew that he should do his best to kill that man and perhaps +others. + +"One," said Clinch, lifting his derringer, "two--three--" + +"Look here, Colonel--I swear I didn't know it was you. Come--d--m it! +I say--see here," stammered Stanner, with white cheeks, not daring to +glance for aid to his stupefied party. + +"Four--five--six--" + +"Wait! Here!" He produced the paper and threw it on the floor. + +"Pick it up and hand it to me. Seven--eight--" + +Stanner hastily scrambled to his feet, picked up the paper, and handed +it to the Colonel. "I was only joking, Colonel," he said, with a forced +laugh. + +"I'm glad to hear it. But as this joke is in black and white, you +wouldn't mind saying so in the same fashion. Take that pen and ink +and write as I dictate. 'I certify that I am satisfied that the above +statement is a base calumny against the characters of Ringwood Clinch, +Robert Rawlins, and John Hale, passengers, and that I do hereby +apologize to the same.' Sign it. That'll do. Now let the rest of your +party sign as witnesses." + +They complied without hesitation; some, seizing the opportunity of +treating the affair as a joke, suggested a drink. + +"Excuse me," said Clinch quietly, "but ez this house ain't big enough +for me and that man, and ez I've got business at Wild Cat Station with +this paper, I think I'll go without drinkin'." He took the keys from his +pocket, unlocked the doors, and taking up his overcoat and rifle turned +as if to go. + +Rawlins rose to follow him; Hale alone hesitated. The rapid occurrences +of the last half hour gave him no time for reflection. But he was by +no means satisfied of the legality of the last act he had aided and +abetted, although he admitted its rude justice, and felt he would have +done so again. A fear of this, and an instinct that he might be led into +further complications if he continued to identify himself with Clinch +and Rawlins; the fact that they had professedly abandoned their quest, +and that it was really supplanted by the presence of an authorized +party whom they had already come in conflict with--all this urged him to +remain behind. On the other hand, the apparent desertion of his comrades +at the last moment was opposed both to his sense of honor and the liking +he had taken to them. But he reflected that he had already shown his +active partisanship, that he could be of little service to them at Wild +Cat Station, and would be only increasing the distance from his home; +and above all, an impatient longing for independent action finally +decided him. "I think I'll stay here," he said to Clinch, "unless you +want me." + +Clinch cast a swift and meaning glance at the enemy, but looked +approval. "Keep your eyes skinned, and you're good for a dozen of 'em," +he said sotto voce, and then turned to Stanner. "I'm going to take this +paper to Wild Cat. If you want to communicate with me hereafter you know +where I am to be found, unless"--he smiled grimly--"you'd like to see me +outside for a few minutes before I go?" + +"It is a matter that concerns the Stage Company, not me," said Stanner, +with an attempt to appear at his ease. + +Hale accompanied Clinch and Rawlins through the kitchen to the stables. +The ostler, Dick, had already returned to the rescue of the snow-bound +coach. + +"I shouldn't like to leave many men alone with that crowd," said Clinch, +pressing Hale's hand; "and I wouldn't have allowed your staying behind +ef I didn't know I could bet my pile on you. Your offerin' to stay just +puts a clean finish on it. Look yer, Hale, I didn't cotton much to you +at first; but ef you ever want a friend, call on Ringwood Clinch." + +"The same here, old man," said Rawlins, extending his hand as he +appeared from a hurried conference with the old woman at the woodshed, +"and trust to Zeenie to give you a hint ef there's anythin' underhanded +goin' on. So long." + +Half inclined to resent this implied suggestion of protection, yet half +pleased at the idea of a confidence with the handsome girl he had seen, +Hale returned to the room. A whispered discussion among the party ceased +on his entering, and an awkward silence followed, which Hale did not +attempt to break as he quietly took his seat again by the fire. He +was presently confronted by Stanner, who with an affectation of easy +familiarity crossed over to the hearth. + +"The old Kernel's d--d peppery and high toned when he's got a little +more than his reg'lar three fingers o' corn juice, eh?" + +"I must beg you to understand distinctly, Mr. Stanner," said Hale, with +a return of his habitual precision of statement, "that I regard any +slighting allusion to the gentleman who has just left not only as in +exceedingly bad taste coming from YOU, but very offensive to myself. If +you mean to imply that he was under the influence of liquor, it is +my duty to undeceive you; he was so perfectly in possession of his +faculties as to express not only his own but MY opinion of your conduct. +You must also admit that he was discriminating enough to show his +objection to your company by leaving it. I regret that circumstances do +not make it convenient for me to exercise that privilege; but if I am +obliged to put up with your presence in this room, I strongly insist +that it is not made unendurable with the addition of your conversation." + +The effect of this deliberate and passionless declaration was more +discomposing to the party than Clinch's fury. Utterly unaccustomed to +the ideas and language suddenly confronting them, they were unable to +determine whether it was the real expression of the speaker, or whether +it was a vague badinage or affectation to which any reply would involve +them in ridicule. In a country terrorized by practical joking, they did +not doubt but that this was a new form of hoaxing calculated to provoke +some response that would constitute them as victims. The immediate +effect upon them was that complete silence in regard to himself that +Hale desired. They drew together again and conversed in whispers, while +Hale, with his eyes fixed on the fire, gave himself up to somewhat late +and useless reflection. + +He could scarcely realize his position. For however he might look at it, +within a space of twelve hours he had not only changed some of his most +cherished opinions, but he had acted in accordance with that change in +a way that made it seem almost impossible for him ever to recant. In the +interests of law and order he had engaged in an unlawful and disorderly +pursuit of criminals, and had actually come in conflict not with the +criminals, but with the only party apparently authorized to pursue them. +More than that, he was finding himself committed to a certain sympathy +with the criminals. Twenty-four hours ago, if anyone had told him that +he would have condoned an illegal act for its abstract justice, or +assisted to commit an illegal act for the same purpose, he would have +felt himself insulted. That he knew he would not now feel it as an +insult perplexed him still more. In these circumstances the fact that he +was separated from his family, and as it were from all his past life and +traditions, by a chance accident, did not disturb him greatly; indeed, +he was for the first time a little doubtful of their probable criticism +on his inconsistency, and was by no means in a hurry to subject himself +to it. + +Lifting his eyes, he was suddenly aware that the door leading to the +kitchen was slowly opening. He had thought he heard it creak once or +twice during his deliberate reply to Stanner. It was evidently moving +now so as to attract his attention, without disturbing the others. It +presently opened sufficiently wide to show the face of Zeenie, who, with +a gesture of caution towards his companions, beckoned him to join her. +He rose carelessly as if going out, and, putting on his hat, entered +the kitchen as the retreating figure of the young girl glided lightly +towards the stables. She ascended a few open steps as if to a hay-loft, +but stopped before a low door. Pushing it open, she preceded him into +a small room, apparently under the roof, which scarcely allowed her to +stand upright. By the light of a stable lantern hanging from a beam he +saw that, though poorly furnished, it bore some evidence of feminine +taste and habitation. Motioning to the only chair, she seated herself on +the edge of the bed, with her hands clasping her knees in her familiar +attitude. Her face bore traces of recent agitation, and her eyes were +shining with tears. By the closer light of the lantern he was surprised +to find it was from laughter. + +"I reckoned you'd be right lonely down there with that Stanner crowd, +particklerly after that little speech o' your'n, so I sez to Maw I'd get +you up yer for a spell. Maw and I heerd you exhort 'em! Maw allowed you +woz talkin' a furrin' tongue all along, but I--sakes alive!--I hed to +hump myself to keep from bustin' into a yell when yer jist drawed them +Webster-unabridged sentences on 'em." She stopped and rocked backwards +and forwards with a laugh that, subdued by the proximity of the roof and +the fear of being overheard, was by no means unmusical. "I'll tell ye +whot got me, though! That part commencing, 'Suckamstances over which +I've no controul.'" + +"Oh, come! I didn't say that," interrupted Hale, laughing. + +"'Don't make it convenient for me to exercise the privilege of kickin' +yer out to that extent,'" she continued; "'but if I cannot dispense with +your room, the least I can say is that it's a d--d sight better than +your company--'or suthin' like that! And then the way you minded your +stops, and let your voice rise and fall just ez easy ez if you wos a +First Reader in large type. Why, the Kernel wasn't nowhere. HIS cussin' +didn't come within a mile o' yourn. That Stanner jist turned yaller." + +"I'm afraid you are laughing at me," said Hale, not knowing whether to +be pleased or vexed at the girl's amusement. + +"I reckon I'm the only one that dare do it, then," said the girl simply. +"The Kernel sez the way you turned round after he'd done his cussin', +and said yer believed you'd stay and take the responsibility of the +whole thing--and did, in that kam, soft, did-anybody-speak-to-me +style--was the neatest thing he'd seen yet. No! Maw says I ain't much on +manners, but I know a man when I see him." + +For an instant Hale gave himself up to the delicious flattery of +unexpected, unintended, and apparently uninterested compliment. Becoming +at last a little embarrassed under the frank curiosity of the girl's +dark eyes, he changed the subject. + +"Do you always come up here through the stables?" he asked, glancing +round the room, which was evidently her own. + +"I reckon," she answered half abstractedly. "There's a ladder down thar +to Maw's room"--pointing to a trapdoor beside the broad chimney that +served as a wall--"but it's handier the other way, and nearer the bosses +if you want to get away quick." + +This palpable suggestion--borne out by what he remembered of the other +domestic details--that the house had been planned with reference to +sudden foray or escape reawakened his former uneasy reflections. Zeenie, +who had been watching his face, added, "It's no slouch, when b'ar or +painters hang round nights and stampede the stock, to be able to swing +yourself on to a boss whenever you hear a row going on outside." + +"Do you mean that YOU--" + +"Paw USED, and I do NOW, sense I've come into the room." She pointed +to a nondescript garment, half cloak, half habit, hanging on the wall. +"I've been outer bed and on Pitchpine's back as far ez the trail five +minutes arter I heard the first bellow." + +Hale regarded her with undisguised astonishment. There was nothing at +all Amazonian or horsey in her manners, nor was there even the +robust physical contour that might have been developed through such +experiences. On the contrary, she seemed to be lazily effeminate in body +and mind. Heedless of his critical survey of her, she beckoned him to +draw his chair nearer, and, looking into his eyes, said-- + +"Whatever possessed YOU to take to huntin' men?" + +Hale was staggered by the question, but nevertheless endeavored to +explain. But he was surprised to find that his explanation appeared +stilted even to himself, and, he could not doubt, was utterly +incomprehensible to the girl. She nodded her head, however, and +continued-- + +"Then you haven't anythin' agin' George?" + +"I don't know George," said Hale, smiling. "My proceeding was against +the highwayman." + +"Well, HE was the highwayman." + +"I mean, it was the principle I objected to--a principle that I consider +highly dangerous." + +"Well HE is the principal, for the others only HELPED, I reckon," said +Zeenie with a sigh, "and I reckon he IS dangerous." + +Hale saw it was useless to explain. The girl continued-- + +"What made you stay here instead of going on with the Kernel? There was +suthin' else besides your wanting to make that Stanner take water. What +is it?" + +A light sense of the propinquity of beauty, of her confidence, of their +isolation, of the eloquence of her dark eyes, at first tempted Hale to +a reply of simple gallantry; a graver consideration of the same +circumstances froze it upon his lips. + +"I don't know," he returned awkwardly. + +"Well, I'll tell you," she said. "You didn't cotton to the Kernel and +Rawlins much more than you did to Stanner. They ain't your kind." + +In his embarrassment Hale blundered upon the thought he had honorably +avoided. + +"Suppose," he said, with a constrained laugh, "I had stayed to see you." + +"I reckon I ain't your kind, neither," she replied promptly. There was +a momentary pause when she rose and walked to the chimney. "It's +very quiet down there," she said, stooping and listening over the +roughly-boarded floor that formed the ceiling of the room below. "I +wonder what's going on." + +In the belief that this was a delicate hint for his return to the party +he had left, Hale rose, but the girl passed him hurriedly, and, opening +the door, cast a quick glance into the stable beyond. + +"Just as I reckoned--the horses are gone too. They've skedaddled," she +said blankly. + +Hale did not reply. In his embarrassment a moment ago the idea of taking +an equally sudden departure had flashed upon him. Should he take this as +a justification of that impulse, or how? He stood irresolutely gazing +at the girl, who turned and began to descend the stairs silently. He +followed. When they reached the lower room they found it as they had +expected--deserted. + +"I hope I didn't drive them away," said Hale, with an uneasy look at the +troubled face of the girl. "For I really had an idea of going myself a +moment ago." + +She remained silent, gazing out of the window. Then, turning with a +slight shrug of her shoulders, said half defiantly: "What's the use now? +Oh, Maw! the Stanner crowd has vamosed the ranch, and this yer stranger +kalkilates to stay!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A week had passed at Eagle's Court--a week of mingled clouds and +sunshine by day, of rain over the green plateau and snow on the +mountain by night. Each morning had brought its fresh greenness to the +winter-girt domain, and a fresh coat of dazzling white to the barrier +that separated its dwellers from the world beyond. There was little +change in the encompassing wall of their prison; if anything, the snowy +circle round them seemed to have drawn its lines nearer day by day. The +immediate result of this restricted limit had been to confine the range +of cattle to the meadows nearer the house, and at a safe distance from +the fringe of wilderness now invaded by the prowling tread of predatory +animals. + +Nevertheless, the two figures lounging on the slope at sunset gave very +little indication of any serious quality in the situation. Indeed, +so far as appearances were concerned, Kate, who was returning from an +afternoon stroll with Falkner, exhibited, with feminine inconsistency, +a decided return to the world of fashion and conventionality apparently +just as she was effectually excluded from it. She had not only discarded +her white dress as a concession to the practical evidence of the +surrounding winter, but she had also brought out a feather hat and sable +muff which had once graced a fashionable suburb of Boston. Even Falkner +had exchanged his slouch hat and picturesque serape for a beaver +overcoat and fur cap of Hale's which had been pressed upon him by Kate, +under the excuse of the exigencies of the season. Within a stone's throw +of the thicket, turbulent with the savage forces of nature, they walked +with the abstraction of people hearing only their own voices; in the +face of the solemn peaks clothed with white austerity they talked +gravely of dress. + +"I don't mean to say," said Kate demurely, "that you're to give up the +serape entirely; you can wear it on rainy nights and when you ride over +here from your friend's house to spend the evening--for the sake of old +times," she added, with an unconscious air of referring to an already +antiquated friendship; "but you must admit it's a little too gorgeous +and theatrical for the sunlight of day and the public highway." + +"But why should that make it wrong, if the experience of a people has +shown it to be a garment best fitted for their wants and requirements?" +said Falkner argumentatively. + +"But you are not one of those people," said Kate, "and that makes all +the difference. You look differently and act differently, so that there +is something irreconcilable between your clothes and you that makes you +look odd." + +"And to look odd, according to your civilized prejudices, is to be +wrong," said Falkner bitterly. + +"It is to seem different from what one really is--which IS wrong. Now, +you are a mining superintendent, you tell me. Then you don't want to +look like a Spanish brigand, as you do in that serape. I am sure if you +had ridden up to a stage-coach while I was in it, I'd have handed you my +watch and purse without a word. There! you are not offended?" she added, +with a laugh, which did not, however, conceal a certain earnestness. +"I suppose I ought to have said I would have given it gladly to such +a romantic figure, and perhaps have got out and danced a saraband or +bolero with you--if that is the thing to do nowadays. Well!" she said, +after a dangerous pause, "consider that I've said it." + +He had been walking a little before her, with his face turned towards +the distant mountain. Suddenly he stopped and faced her. "You would have +given enough of your time to the highwayman, Miss Scott, as would have +enabled you to identify him for the police--and no more. Like your +brother, you would have been willing to sacrifice yourself for the +benefit of the laws of civilization and good order." + +If a denial to this assertion could have been expressed without the +use of speech, it was certainly transparent in the face and eyes of the +young girl at that moment. If Falkner had been less self-conscious he +would have seen it plainly. But Kate only buried her face in her lifted +muff, slightly raised her pretty shoulders, and, dropping her tremulous +eyelids, walked on. "It seems a pity," she said, after a pause, "that +we cannot preserve our own miserable existence without taking something +from others--sometimes even a life!" He started. "And it's horrid to +have to remind you that you have yet to kill something for the invalid's +supper," she continued. "I saw a hare in the field yonder." + +"You mean that jackass rabbit?" he said, abstractedly. + +"What you please. It's a pity you didn't take your gun instead of your +rifle." + +"I brought the rifle for protection." + +"And a shot gun is only aggressive, I suppose?" + +Falkner looked at her for a moment, and then, as the hare suddenly +started across the open a hundred yards away, brought the rifle to his +shoulder. A long interval--as it seemed to Kate--elapsed; the animal +appeared to be already safely out of range, when the rifle suddenly +cracked; the hare bounded in the air like a ball, and dropped +motionless. The girl looked at the marksman in undisguised admiration. +"Is it quite dead?" she said timidly. + +"It never knew what struck it." + +"It certainly looks less brutal than shooting it with a shot gun, as +John does, and then not killing it outright," said Kate. "I hate what is +called sport and sportsmen, but a rifle seems--" + +"What?" said Falkner. + +"More--gentlemanly." + +She had raised her pretty head in the air, and, with her hand shading +her eyes, was looking around the clear ether, and said meditatively, "I +wonder--no matter." + +"What is it?" + +"Oh, nothing." + +"It is something," said Falkner, with an amused smile, reloading his +rifle. + +"Well, you once promised me an eagle's feather for my hat. Isn't that +thing an eagle?" + +"I am afraid it's only a hawk." + +"Well, that will do. Shoot that!" + +Her eyes were sparkling. Falkner withdrew his own with a slight smile, +and raised his rifle with provoking deliberation. + +"Are you quite sure it's what you want?" he asked demurely. + +"Yes--quick!" + +Nevertheless, it was some minutes before the rifle cracked again. The +wheeling bird suddenly struck the wind with its wings aslant, and then +fell like a plummet at a distance which showed the difficulty of the +feat. Falkner started from her side before the bird reached the ground. +He returned to her after a lapse of a few moments, bearing a trailing +wing in his hand. "You shall make your choice," he said gayly. + +"Are you sure it was killed outright?" + +"Head shot off," said Falkner briefly. + +"And besides, the fall would have killed it," said Kate conclusively. +"It's lovely. I suppose they call you a very good shot?" + +"They--who?" + +"Oh! the people you know--your friends, and their sisters." + +"George shoots better than I do, and has had more experience. I've seen +him do that with a pistol. Of course not such a long shot, but a more +difficult one." + +Kate did not reply, but her face showed a conviction that as an artistic +and gentlemanly performance it was probably inferior to the one she +had witnessed. Falkner, who had picked up the hare also, again took his +place by her side, as they turned towards the house. + +"Do you remember the day you came, when we were walking here, you +pointed out that rock on the mountain where the poor animals had taken +refuge from the snow?" said Kate suddenly. + +"Yes," answered Falkner; "they seem to have diminished. I am afraid you +were right; they have either eaten each other or escaped. Let us hope +the latter." + +"I looked at them with a glass every day," said Kate, "and they've got +down to only four. There's a bear and that shabby, over-grown cat you +call a California lion, and a wolf, and a creature like a fox or a +squirrel." + +"It's a pity they're not all of a kind," said Falkner. + +"Why?" + +"There'd be nothing to keep them from being comfortable together." + +"On the contrary, I should think it would be simply awful to be shut up +entirely with one's own kind." + +"Then you believe it is possible for them, with their different +natures and habits, to be happy together?" said Falkner, with sudden +earnestness. + +"I believe," said Kate hurriedly, "that the bear and the lion find the +fox and the wolf very amusing, and that the fox and the wolf--" + +"Well?" said Falkner, stopping short. + +"Well, the fox and the wolf will carry away a much better opinion of the +lion and bear than they had before." + +They had reached the house by this time, and for some occult reason Kate +did not immediately enter the parlor, where she had left her sister and +the invalid, who had already been promoted to a sofa and a cushion by +the window, but proceeded directly to her own room. As a manoeuvre to +avoid meeting Mrs. Hale, it was scarcely necessary, for that lady was +already in advance of her on the staircase, as if she had left the +parlor for a moment before they entered the house. Falkner, too, would +have preferred the company of his own thoughts, but Lee, apparently +the only unpreoccupied, all-pervading, and boyishly alert spirit in the +party, hailed him from within, and obliged him to present himself on +the threshold of the parlor with the hare and hawk's wing he was still +carrying. Eying the latter with affected concern, Lee said gravely: +"Of course, I CAN eat it, Ned, and I dare say it's the best part of the +fowl, and the hare isn't more than enough for the women, but I had no +idea we were so reduced. Three hours and a half gunning, and only one +hare and a hawk's wing. It's terrible." + +Perceiving that his friend was alone, Falkner dropped his burden in the +hall and strode rapidly to his side. "Look here, George, we must, I must +leave this place at once. It's no use talking; I can stand this sort of +thing no longer." + +"Nor can I, with the door open. Shut it, and say what you want quick, +before Mrs. Hale comes back. Have you found a trail?" + +"No, no; that's not what I mean." + +"Well, it strikes me it ought to be, if you expect to get away. Have +you proposed to Beacon Street, and she thinks it rather premature on a +week's acquaintance?" + +"No; but--" + +"But you WILL, you mean? DON'T, just yet." + +"But I cannot live this perpetual lie." + +"That depends. I don't know HOW you're lying when I'm not with you. If +you're walking round with that girl, singing hymns and talking of +your class in Sunday-school, or if you're insinuating that you're a +millionaire, and think of buying the place for a summer hotel, I should +say you'd better quit that kind of lying. But, on the other hand, I +don't see the necessity of your dancing round here with a shot gun, and +yelling for Harkins's blood, or counting that package of greenbacks in +the lap of Miss Scott, to be truthful. It seems to me there ought to be +something between the two." + +"But, George, don't you think--you are on such good terms with Mrs. Hale +and her mother--that you might tell them the whole story? That is, tell +it in your own way; they will hear anything from you, and believe it." + +"Thank you; but suppose I don't believe in lying, either?" + +"You know what I mean! You have a way, d--n it, of making everything +seem like a matter of course, and the most natural thing going." + +"Well, suppose I did. Are you prepared for the worst?" + +Falkner was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Yes, anything would +be better than this suspense." + +"I don't agree with you. Then you would be willing to have them forgive +us?" + +"I don't understand you." + +"I mean that their forgiveness would be the worst thing that could +happen. Look here, Ned. Stop a moment; listen at that door. Mrs. Hale +has the tread of an angel, with the pervading capacity of a cat. Now +listen! I don't pretend to be in love with anybody here, but if I were I +should hardly take advantage of a woman's helplessness and solitude with +a sensational story about myself. It's not giving her a fair show. You +know she won't turn you out of the house." + +"No," said Falkner, reddening; "but I should expect to go at once, and +that would be my only excuse for telling her." + +"Go! where? In your preoccupation with that girl you haven't even found +the trail by which Manuel escaped. Do you intend to camp outside the +house, and make eyes at her when she comes to the window?" + +"Because you think nothing of flirting with Mrs. Hale," said Falkner +bitterly, "you care little--" + +"My dear Ned," said Lee, "the fact that Mrs. Hale has a husband, and +knows that she can't marry me, puts us on equal terms. Nothing that she +could learn about me hereafter would make a flirtation with me any less +wrong than it would be now, or make her seem more a victim. Can you say +the same of yourself and that Puritan girl?" + +"But you did not advise me to keep aloof from her; on the contrary, +you--" + +"I thought you might make the best of the situation, and pay her some +attention, BECAUSE you could not go any further." + +"You thought I was utterly heartless and selfish, like--" + +"Ned!" + +Falkner walked rapidly to the fireplace, and returned. + +"Forgive me, George--I'm a fool--and an ungrateful one." + +Lee did not reply at once, although he took and retained the hand +Falkner had impulsively extended. "Promise me," he said slowly, after a +pause, "that you will say nothing yet to either of these women. I ask it +for your own sake, and this girl's, not for mine. If, on the contrary, +you are tempted to do so from any Quixotic idea of honor, remember that +you will only precipitate something that will oblige you, from that same +sense of honor, to separate from the girl forever." + +"I don't understand." + +"Enough!" said he, with a quick return of his old reckless gayety. +"Shoot-Off-His-Mouth--the Beardless Boy Chief of the Sierras--has +spoken! Let the Pale Face with the black moustache ponder and beware how +he talks hereafter to the Rippling Cochituate Water! Go!" + +Nevertheless, as soon as the door had closed upon Falkner, Lee's smile +vanished. With his colorless face turned to the fading light at the +window, the hollows in his temples and the lines in the corners of his +eyes seemed to have grown more profound. He remained motionless and +absorbed in thought so deep that the light rustle of a skirt, that would +at other times have thrilled his sensitive ear, passed unheeded. At +last, throwing off his reverie with the full and unrestrained sigh of +a man who believes himself alone, he was startled by the soft laugh of +Mrs. Hale, who had entered the room unperceived. + +"Dear me! How portentous! Really, I almost feel as if I were +interrupting a tete-a-tete between yourself and some old flame. I +haven't heard anything so old-fashioned and conservative as that sigh +since I have been in California. I thought you never had any Past out +here?" + +Fortunately his face was between her and the light, and the unmistakable +expression of annoyance and impatience which was passed over it was +spared her. There was, however, still enough dissonance in his manner to +affect her quick feminine sense, and when she drew nearer to him it was +with a certain maiden-like timidity. + +"You are not worse, Mr. Lee, I hope? You have not over-exerted +yourself?" + +"There's little chance of that with one leg--if not in the grave at +least mummified with bandages," he replied, with a bitterness new to +him. + +"Shall I loosen them? Perhaps they are too tight. There is nothing so +irritating to one as the sensation of being tightly bound." + +The light touch of her hand upon the rug that covered his knees, +the thoughtful tenderness of the blue-veined lids, and the delicate +atmosphere that seemed to surround her like a perfume cleared his face +of its shadow and brought back the reckless fire into his blue eyes. + +"I suppose I'm intolerant of all bonds," he said, looking at her +intently, "in others as well as myself!" + +Whether or not she detected any double meaning in his words, she was +obliged to accept the challenge of his direct gaze, and, raising her +eyes to his, drew back a little from him with a slight increase of +color. "I was afraid you had heard bad news just now." + +"What would you call bad news?" asked Lee, clasping his hands behind +his head, and leaning back on the sofa, but without withdrawing his eyes +from her face. + +"Oh, any news that would interrupt your convalescence, or break up our +little family party," said Mrs. Hale. "You have been getting on so well +that really it would seem cruel to have anything interfere with our life +of forgetting and being forgotten. But," she added with apprehensive +quickness, "has anything happened? Is there really any news from--from, +the trails? Yesterday Mr. Falkner said the snow had recommenced in the +pass. Has he seen anything, noticed anything different?" + +She looked so very pretty, with the rare, genuine, and youthful +excitement that transfigured her wearied and wearying regularity of +feature, that Lee contented himself with drinking in her prettiness as +he would have inhaled the perfume of some flower. + +"Why do you look at me so, Mr. Lee?" she asked, with a slight smile. +"I believe something HAS happened. Mr. Falkner HAS brought you some +intelligence." + +"He has certainly found out something I did not foresee." + +"And that troubles you?" + +"It does." + +"Is it a secret?" + +"No." + +"Then I suppose you will tell it to me at dinner," she said, with a +little tone of relief. + +"I am afraid, if I tell it at all, I must tell it now," he said, +glancing at the door. + +"You must do as you think best," she said coldly, "as it seems to be a +secret, after all." She hesitated. "Kate is dressing, and will not be +down for some time." + +"So much the better. For I'm afraid that Ned has made a poor return to +your hospitality by falling in love with her." + +"Impossible! He has known her for scarcely a week." + +"I am afraid we won't agree as to the length of time necessary to +appreciate and love a woman. I think it can be done in seven days and +four hours, the exact time we have been here." + +"Yes; but as Kate was not in when you arrived, and did not come until +later, you must take off at least one hour," said Mrs. Hale gayly. + +"Ned can. I shall not abate a second." + +"But are you not mistaken in his feelings?" she continued hurriedly. "He +certainly has not said anything to her." + +"That is his last hold on honor and reason. And to preserve that little +intact he wants to run away at once." + +"But that would be very silly." + +"Do you think so?" he said, looking at her fixedly. + +"Why not?" she asked in her turn, but rather faintly. + +"I'll tell you why," he said, lowering his voice with a certain +intensity of passion unlike his usual boyish lightheartedness. "Think of +a man whose life has been one of alternate hardness and aggression, of +savage disappointment and equally savage successes, who has known no +other relaxation than dissipation and extravagance; a man to whom +the idea of the domestic hearth and family ties only meant weakness, +effeminacy, or--worse; who had looked for loyalty and devotion only in +the man who battled for him at his right hand in danger, or shared his +privations and sufferings. Think of such a man, and imagine that an +accident has suddenly placed him in an atmosphere of purity, gentleness, +and peace, surrounded him by the refinements of a higher life than he +had ever known, and that he found himself as in a dream, on terms of +equality with a pure woman who had never known any other life, and yet +would understand and pity his. Imagine his loving her! Imagine that the +first effect of that love was to show him his own inferiority and the +immeasurable gulf that lay between his life and hers! Would he not fly +rather than brave the disgrace of her awakening to the truth? Would +he not fly rather than accept even the pity that might tempt her to a +sacrifice?" + +"But--is Mr. Falkner all that?" + +"Nothing of the kind, I assure you!" said he demurely. "But that's the +way a man in love feels." + +"Really! Mr. Falkner should get you to plead his cause with Kate," said +Mrs. Hale with a faint laugh. + +"I need all my persuasive powers in that way for myself," said Lee +boldly. + +Mrs. Hale rose. "I think I hear Kate coming," she said. Nevertheless, +she did not move away. "It IS Kate coming," she added hurriedly, +stooping to pick up her work-basket, which had slipped with Lee's hand +from her own. + +It was Kate, who at once flew to her sister's assistance, Lee deploring +from the sofa his own utter inability to aid her. "It's all my fault, +too," he said to Kate, but looking at Mrs. Hale. "It seems I have +a faculty of upsetting existing arrangements without the power of +improving them, or even putting them back in their places. What shall I +do? I am willing to hold any number of skeins or rewind any quantity of +spools. I am even willing to forgive Ned for spending the whole day with +you, and only bringing me the wing of a hawk for supper." + +"That was all my folly, Mr. Lee," said Kate, with swift mendacity; "he +was all the time looking after something for you, when I begged him to +shoot a bird to get a feather for my hat. And that wing is SO pretty." + +"It is a pity that mere beauty is not edible," said Lee, gravely, "and +that if the worst comes to the worst here you would probably prefer me +to Ned and his moustachios, merely because I've been tied by the leg to +this sofa and slowly fattened like a Strasbourg goose." + +Nevertheless, his badinage failed somehow to amuse Kate, and she +presently excused herself to rejoin her sister, who had already slipped +from the room. For the first time during their enforced seclusion a +sense of restraint and uneasiness affected Mrs. Hale, her sister, and +Falkner at dinner. The latter addressed himself to Mrs. Scott, almost +entirely. Mrs. Hale was fain to bestow an exceptional and marked +tenderness on her little daughter Minnie, who, however, by some +occult childish instinct, insisted upon sharing it with Lee--her great +friend--to Mrs. Hale's uneasy consciousness. Nor was Lee slow to profit +by the child's suggestion, but responded with certain vicarious caresses +that increased the mother's embarrassment. That evening they retired +early, but in the intervals of a restless night Kate was aware, from +the sound of voices in the opposite room, that the friends were equally +wakeful. + +A morning of bright sunshine and soft warm air did not, however, bring +any change to their new and constrained relations. It only seemed to +offer a reason for Falkner to leave the house very early for his +daily rounds, and gave Lee that occasion for unaided exercise with an +extempore crutch on the veranda which allowed Mrs. Hale to pursue her +manifold duties without the necessity of keeping him company. Kate also, +as if to avoid an accidental meeting with Falkner, had remained at home +with her sister. With one exception, they did not make their guests the +subject of their usual playful comments, nor, after the fashion of their +sex, quote their ideas and opinions. That exception was made by Mrs. +Hale. + +"You have had no difference with Mr. Falkner?" she said carelessly. + +"No," said Kate quickly. "Why?" + +"I only thought he seemed rather put out at dinner last night, and you +didn't propose to go and meet him to-day." + +"He must be bored with my company at times, I dare say," said Kate, with +an indifference quite inconsistent with her rising color. "I shouldn't +wonder if he was a little vexed with Mr. Lee's chaffing him about his +sport yesterday, and probably intends to go further to-day, and bring +home larger game. I think Mr. Lee very amusing always, but I sometimes +fancy he lacks feeling." + +"Feeling! You don't know him, Kate," said Mrs. Hale quickly. She stopped +herself, but with a half-smiling recollection in her dropped eyelids. + +"Well, he doesn't look very amiable now, stamping up and down the +veranda. Perhaps you'd better go and soothe him." + +"I'm really SO busy just now," said Mrs. Hale, with sudden and +inconsequent energy; "things have got dreadfully behind in the last +week. You had better go, Kate, and make him sit down, or he'll be +overdoing it. These men never know any medium--in anything." + +Contrary to Kate's expectation, Falkner returned earlier than usual, +and, taking the invalid's arm, supported him in a more ambitious walk +along the terrace before the house. They were apparently absorbed in +conversation, but the two women who observed them from the window could +not help noticing the almost feminine tenderness of Falkner's manner +towards his wounded friend, and the thoughtful tenderness of his +ministering care. + +"I wonder," said Mrs. Hale, following them with softly appreciative +eyes, "if women are capable of as disinterested friendship as men? I +never saw anything like the devotion of these two creatures. Look! if +Mr. Falkner hasn't got his arm round Mr. Lee's waist, and Lee, with his +own arm over Falkner's neck, is looking up in his eyes. I declare, Kate, +it almost seems an indiscretion to look at them." + +Kate, however, to Mrs. Hale's indignation, threw her pretty head back +and sniffed the air contemptuously. "I really don't see anything but +some absurd sentimentalism of their own, or some mannish wickedness +they're concocting by themselves. I am by no means certain, Josephine, +that Lee's influence over that young man is the best thing for him." + +"On the contrary! Lee's influence seems the only thing that checks +his waywardness," said Mrs. Hale quickly. "I'm sure, if anyone makes +sacrifices, it is Lee; I shouldn't wonder that even now he is making +some concession to Falkner, and all those caressing ways of your friend +are for a purpose. They're not much different from us, dear." + +"Well, I wouldn't stand there and let them see me looking at them as if +I couldn't bear them out of my sight for a moment," said Kate, whisking +herself out of the room. "They're conceited enough, Heaven knows, +already." + +That evening, at dinner, however, the two men exhibited no trace of the +restraint or uneasiness of the previous day. If they were less impulsive +and exuberant, they were still frank and interested, and if the term +could be used in connection with men apparently trained to neither +self-control nor repose, there was a certain gentle dignity in their +manner which for the time had the effect of lifting them a little +above the social level of their entertainers. For even with all their +predisposition to the strangers, Kate and Mrs. Hale had always retained +a conscious attitude of gentle condescension and superiority towards +them--an attitude not inconsistent with a stronger feeling, nor +altogether unprovocative of it; yet this evening they found themselves +impressed with something more than an equality in the men who had amused +and interested them, and they were perhaps a little more critical +and doubtful of their own power. Mrs. Hale's little girl, who had +appreciated only the seriousness of the situation, had made her own +application of it. "Are you dow'in' away from aunt Kate and mamma?" she +asked, in an interval of silence. + +"How else can I get you the red snow we saw at sunset, the other day, on +the peak yonder?" said Lee gayly. "I'll have to get up some morning very +early, and catch it when it comes at sunrise." + +"What is this wonderful snow, Minnie, that you are tormenting Mr. Lee +for?" asked Mrs. Hale. + +"Oh! it's a fairy snow that he told me all about; it only comes when +the sun comes up and goes down, and if you catch ever so little of it +in your hand it makes all you fink you want come true! Wouldn't that be +nice?" But to the child's astonishment her little circle of auditors, +even while assenting, sighed. + +The red snow was there plain enough the next morning before the valley +was warm with light, and while Minnie, her mother, and aunt Kate were +still peacefully sleeping. And Mr. Lee had kept his word, and was +evidently seeking it, for he and Falkner were already urging their +horses through the pass, with their faces towards and lit up by its +glow. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Kate was stirring early, but not as early as her sister, who met her +on the threshold of her room. Her face was quite pale, and she held a +letter in her hand. "What does this mean, Kate?" + +"What is the matter?" asked Kate, her own color fading from her cheek. + +"They are gone--with their horses. Left before day, and left this." + +She handed Kate an open letter. The girl took it hurriedly, and read-- + +"When you get this we shall be no more; perhaps not even as much. Ned +found the trail yesterday, and we are taking the first advantage of it +before day. We dared not trust ourselves to say 'Good-by!' last evening; +we were too cowardly to face you this morning; we must go as we came, +without warning, but not without regret. We leave a package and a letter +for your husband. It is not only our poor return for your gentleness and +hospitality, but, since it was accidentally the means of giving us the +pleasure of your society, we beg you to keep it in safety until his +return. We kiss your mother's hands. Ned wants to say something more, +but time presses, and I only allow him to send his love to Minnie, and +to tell her that he is trying to find the red snow. + +"GEORGE LEE." + + +"But he is not fit to travel," said Mrs. Hale. "And the trail--it may +not be passable." + +"It was passable the day before yesterday," said Kate drearily, "for I +discovered it, and went as far as the buck-eyes." + +"Then it was you who told them about it," said Mrs. Hale reproachfully. + +"No," said Kate indignantly. "Of course I didn't." She stopped, and, +reading the significance of her speech in the glistening eyes of her +sister, she blushed. Josephine kissed her, and said-- + +"It WAS treating us like children, Kate, but we must make them pay for +it hereafter. For that package and letter to John means something, and +we shall probably see them before long. I wonder what the letter is +about, and what is in the package?" + +"Probably one of Mr. Lee's jokes. He is quite capable of turning the +whole thing into ridicule. I dare say he considers his visit here a +prolonged jest." + +"With his poor leg, Kate? You are as unfair to him as you were to +Falkner when they first came." + +Kate, however, kept her dark eyebrows knitted in a piquant frown. + +"To think of his intimating WHAT he would allow Falkner to say! And yet +you believe he has no evil influence over the young man." + +Mrs. Hale laughed. "Where are you going so fast, Kate?" she called +mischievously, as the young lady flounced out of the room. + +"Where? Why, to tidy John's room. He may be coming at any moment now. Or +do you want to do it yourself?" + +"No, no," returned Mrs. Hale hurriedly; "you do it. I'll look in a +little later on." + +She turned away with a sigh. The sun was shining brilliantly outside. +Through the half-open blinds its long shafts seemed to be searching the +house for the lost guests, and making the hollow shell appear doubly +empty. What a contrast to the dear dark days of mysterious seclusion +and delicious security, lit by Lee's laughter and the sparkling hearth, +which had passed so quickly! The forgotten outer world seemed to have +returned to the house through those open windows and awakened its +dwellers from a dream. + +The morning seemed interminable, and it was past noon, while they +were deep in a sympathetic conference with Mrs. Scott, who had drawn a +pathetic word-picture of the two friends perishing in the snow-drift, +without flannels, brandy, smelling-salts, or jelly, which they had +forgotten, when they were startled by the loud barking of "Spot" on the +lawn before the house. The women looked hurriedly at each other. + +"They have returned," said Mrs. Hale. + +Kate ran to the window. A horseman was approaching the house. A single +glance showed her that it was neither Falkner, Lee, nor Hale, but a +stranger. + +"Perhaps he brings some news of them," said Mrs. Scott quickly. So +complete had been their preoccupation with the loss of their guests that +they could not yet conceive of anything that did not pertain to it. + +The stranger, who was at once ushered into the parlor, was evidently +disconcerted by the presence of the three women. + +"I reckoned to see John Hale yer," he began, awkwardly. + +A slight look of disappointment passed over their faces. "He has not yet +returned," said Mrs. Hale briefly. + +"Sho! I wanter know. He's hed time to do it, I reckon," said the +stranger. + +"I suppose he hasn't been able to get over from the Summit," returned +Mrs. Hale. "The trail is closed." + +"It ain't now, for I kem over it this mornin' myself." + +"You didn't--meet--anyone?" asked Mrs. Hale timidly, with a glance at +the others. + +"No." + +A long silence ensued. The unfortunate visitor plainly perceived +an evident abatement of interest in himself, yet he still struggled +politely to say something. "Then I reckon you know what kept Hale away?" +he said dubiously. + +"Oh, certainly--the stage robbery." + +"I wish I'd known that," said the stranger reflectively, "for I ez good +ez rode over jist to tell it to ye. Ye see John Hale, he sent a note to +ye 'splainin' matters by a gentleman; but the road agents tackled that +man, and left him for dead in the road." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Hale impatiently. + +"Luckily he didn't die, but kem to, and managed to crawl inter the +brush, whar I found him when I was lookin' for stock, and brought him to +my house--" + +"YOU found him? YOUR house?" interrupted Mrs. Hale. + +"Inter MY house," continued the man doggedly. "I'm Thompson of +Thompson's Pass over yon; mebbe it ain't much of a house; but I brought +him thar. Well, ez he couldn't find the note that Hale had guv him, and +like ez not the road agents had gone through him and got it, ez soon ez +the weather let up I made a break over yer to tell ye." + +"You say Mr. Lee came to your house," repeated Mrs. Hale, "and is there +now?" + +"Not much," said the man grimly; "and I never said LEE was thar. I mean +that Bilson waz shot by Lee and kem--" + +"Certainly, Josephine!" said Kate, suddenly stepping between her sister +and Thompson, and turning upon her a white face and eyes of silencing +significance; "certainly--don't you remember?--that's the story we got +from the Chinaman, you know, only muddled. Go on sir," she continued, +turning to Thompson calmly; "you say that the man who brought the note +from my brother was shot by Lee?" + +"And another fellow they call Falkner. Yes, that's about the size of +it." + +"Thank you; it's nearly the same story that we heard. But you have had +a long ride, Mr. Thompson; let me offer you a glass of whiskey in the +dining-room. This way, please." + +The door closed upon them none too soon. For Mrs. Hale already felt the +room whirling around her, and sank back into her chair with a hysterical +laugh. Old Mrs. Scott did not move from her seat, but, with her eyes +fixed on the door, impatiently waited Kate's return. Neither spoke, but +each felt that the young, untried girl was equal to the emergency, and +would get at the truth. + +The sound of Thompson's feet in the hall and the closing of the front +door was followed by Kate's reappearance. Her face was still pale, but +calm. + +"Well?" said the two women in a breath. + +"Well," returned Kate slowly; "Mr. Lee and Mr. Falkner were undoubtedly +the two men who took the paper from John's messenger and brought it +here." + +"You are sure?" said Mrs. Scott. + +"There can be no mistake, mother." + +"THEN," said Mrs. Scott, with triumphant feminine logic, "I don't want +anything more to satisfy me that they are PERFECTLY INNOCENT!" + +More convincing than the most perfect masculine deduction, this +single expression of their common nature sent a thrill of sympathy and +understanding through each. They cried for a few moments on each other's +shoulders. "To think," said Mrs. Scott, "what that poor boy must have +suffered to have been obliged to do--that to--to--Bilson--isn't that the +creature's name? I suppose we ought to send over there and inquire after +him, with some chicken and jelly, Kate. It's only common humanity, and +we must be just, my dear; for even if he shot Mr. Lee and provoked the +poor boy to shoot him, he may have thought it his duty. And then, it +will avert suspicions." + +"To think," murmured Mrs. Hale, "what they must have gone through while +they were here--momentarily expecting John to come, and yet keeping up +such a light heart." + +"I believe, if they had stayed any longer, they would have told us +everything," said Mrs. Scott. + +Both the younger women were silent. Kate was thinking of Falkner's +significant speech as they neared the house on their last walk; +Josephine was recalling the remorseful picture drawn by Lee, which she +knew was his own portrait. Suddenly she started. + +"But John will be here soon; what are we to tell him? And then that +package and that letter." + +"Don't be in a hurry to tell him anything at present, my child," said +Mrs. Scott gently. "It is unfortunate this Mr. Thompson called here, but +we are not obliged to understand what he says now about John's message, +or to connect our visitors with his story. I'm sure, Kate, I should have +treated them exactly as we did if they had come without any message from +John; so I do not know why we should lay any stress on that, or even +speak of it. The simple fact is that we have opened our house to +two strangers in distress. Your husband," continued Mr. Hale's +mother-in-law, "does not require to know more. As to the letter and +package, we will keep that for further consideration. It cannot be of +much importance, or they would have spoken of it before; it is probably +some trifling present as a return for your hospitality. I should use no +INDECOROUS haste in having it opened." + +The two women kissed Mrs. Scott with a feeling of relief, and fell +back into the monotony of their household duties. It is to be feared, +however, that the absence of their outlawed guests was nearly as +dangerous as their presence in the opportunity it afforded for +uninterrupted and imaginative reflection. Both Kate and Josephine were +at first shocked and wounded by the discovery of the real character of +the two men with whom they had associated so familiarly, but it was no +disparagement to their sense of propriety to say that the shock did not +last long, and was accompanied with the fascination of danger. This was +succeeded by a consciousness of the delicate flattery implied in their +indirect influence over the men who had undoubtedly risked their lives +for the sake of remaining with them. The best woman is not above being +touched by the effect of her power over the worst man, and Kate at first +allowed herself to think of Falkner in that light. But if in her later +reflections he suffered as a heroic experience to be forgotten, he +gained something as an actual man to be remembered. Now that the +proposed rides from "his friend's house" were a part of the illusion, +would he ever dare to visit them again? Would she dare to see him? She +held her breath with a sudden pain of parting that was new to her; she +tried to think of something else, to pick up the scattered threads of +her life before that eventful day. But in vain; that one week had filled +the place with implacable memories, or more terrible, as it seemed to +her and her sister, they had both lost their feeble, alien hold +upon Eagle's Court in the sudden presence of the real genii of these +solitudes, and henceforth they alone would be the strangers there. +They scarcely dared to confess it to each other, but this return to the +dazzling sunlight and cloudless skies of the past appeared to them to be +the one unreal experience; they had never known the true wild flavor +of their home, except in that week of delicious isolation. Without +breathing it aloud, they longed for some vague denoument to this +experience that should take them from Eagle's Court forever. + +It was noon the next day when the little household beheld the last shred +of their illusion vanish like the melting snow in the strong sunlight +of John Hale's return. He was accompanied by Colonel Clinch and Rawlins, +two strangers to the women. Was it fancy, or the avenging spirit of +their absent companions? but HE too looked a stranger, and as the little +cavalcade wound its way up the slope he appeared to sit his horse and +wear his hat with a certain slouch and absence of his usual restraint +that strangely shocked them. Even the old half-condescending, +half-punctilious gallantry of his greeting of his wife and family was +changed, as he introduced his companions with a mingling of familiarity +and shyness that was new to him. Did Mrs. Hale regret it, or feel a +sense of relief in the absence of his usual seignorial formality? She +only knew that she was grateful for the presence of the strangers, which +for the moment postponed a matrimonial confidence from which she shrank. + +"Proud to know you," said Colonel Clinch, with a sudden outbreak of the +antique gallantry of some remote Huguenot ancestor. "My friend, Judge +Hale, must be a regular Roman citizen to leave such a family and such a +house at the call of public duty. Eh, Rawlins?" + +"You bet," said Rawlins, looking from Kate to her sister in undisguised +admiration. + +"And I suppose the duty could not have been a very pleasant one," said +Mrs. Hale, timidly, without looking at her husband. + +"Gad, madam, that's just it," said the gallant Colonel, seating himself +with a comfortable air, and an easy, though by no means disrespectful, +familiarity. "We went into this fight a little more than a week ago. The +only scrimmage we've had has been with the detectives that were on the +robbers' track. Ha! ha! The best people we've met have been the friends +of the men we were huntin', and we've generally come to the conclusion +to vote the other ticket! Ez Judge Hale and me agreed ez we came along, +the two men ez we'd most like to see just now and shake hands with are +George Lee and Ned Falkner." + +"The two leaders of the party who robbed the coach," explained Mr. Hale, +with a slight return of his usual precision of statement. + +The three women looked at each other with a blaze of thanksgiving in +their grateful eyes. Without comprehending all that Colonel Clinch had +said, they understood enough to know that their late guests were safe +from the pursuit of that party, and that their own conduct was spared +criticism. I hardly dare write it, but they instantly assumed the +appearance of aggrieved martyrs, and felt as if they were! + +"Yes, ladies!" continued the Colonel, inspired by the bright eyes fixed +upon him. "We haven't taken the road ourselves yet, but--pohn honor--we +wouldn't mind doing it in a case like this." Then with the fluent, but +somewhat exaggerated, phraseology of a man trained to "stump" speaking, +he gave an account of the robbery and his own connection with it. He +spoke of the swindling and treachery which had undoubtedly provoked +Falkner to obtain restitution of his property by an overt act of +violence under the leadership of Lee. He added that he had learned since +at Wild Cat Station that Harkins had fled the country, that a suit had +been commenced by the Excelsior Ditch Company, and that all available +property of Harkins had been seized by the sheriff. + +"Of course it can't be proved yet, but there's no doubt in my mind that +Lee, who is an old friend of Ned Falkner's, got up that job to help him, +and that Ned's off with the money by this time--and I'm right glad of +it. I can't say ez we've done much towards it, except to keep tumbling +in the way of that detective party of Stanner's, and so throw them off +the trail--ha, ha! The Judge here, I reckon, has had his share of +fun, for while he was at Hennicker's trying to get some facts from +Hennicker's pretty daughter, Stanner tried to get up some sort of +vigilance committee of the stage passengers to burn down Hennicker's +ranch out of spite, but the Judge here stepped in and stopped that." + +"It was really a high-handed proceeding, Josephine, but I managed to +check it," said Hale, meeting somewhat consciously the first direct +look his wife had cast upon him, and falling back for support on his old +manner. "In its way, I think it was worse than the robbery by Lee and +Falkner, for it was done in the name of law and order; while, as far +as I can judge from the facts, the affair that we were following up +was simply a rude and irregular restitution of property that had been +morally stolen." + +"I have no doubt you did quite right, though I don't understand it," +said Mrs. Hale languidly; "but I trust these gentlemen will stay to +luncheon, and in the meantime excuse us for running away, as we are +short of servants, and Manuel seems to have followed the example of the +head of the house and left us, in pursuit of somebody or something." + +When the three women had gained the vantage-ground of the drawing-room, +Kate said, earnestly, "As it's all right, hadn't we better tell him +now?" + +"Decidedly not, child," said Mrs. Scott, imperatively. "Do you suppose +they are in a hurry to tell us THEIR whole story? Who are those +Hennicker people? and they were there a week ago!" + +"And did you notice John's hat when he came in, and the vulgar +familiarity of calling him 'Judge'?" said Mrs. Hale. + +"Well, certainly anything like the familiarity of this man Clinch I +never saw," said Kate. "Contrast his manner with Mr. Falkner's." + +At luncheon the three suffering martyrs finally succeeded in reducing +Hale and his two friends to an attitude of vague apology. But their +triumph was short-lived. At the end of the meal they were startled by +the trampling of hoofs without, followed by loud knocking. In another +moment the door was opened, and Mr. Stanner strode into the room. Hale +rose with a look of indignation. + +"I thought, as Mr. Stanner understood that I had no desire for his +company elsewhere, he would hardly venture to intrude upon me in my +house, and certainly not after--" + +"Ef you're alluding to the Vigilantes shakin' you and Zeenie up at +Hennicker's, you can't make ME responsible for that. I'm here now on +business--you understand--reg'lar business. Ef you want to see the +papers yer ken. I suppose you know what a warrant is?" + +"I know what YOU are," said Hale hotly; "and if you don't leave my +house--" + +"Steady, boys," interrupted Stanner, as his five henchmen filed into the +hall. "There's no backin' down here, Colonel Clinch, unless you and Hale +kalkilate to back down the State of Californy! The matter stands like +this. There's a half-breed Mexican, called Manuel, arrested over at the +Summit, who swears he saw George Lee and Edward Falkner in this house +the night after the robbery. He says that they were makin' themselves +at home here, as if they were among friends, and considerin' the kind of +help we've had from Mr. John Hale, it looks ez if it might be true." + +"It's an infamous lie!" said Hale. + +"It may be true, John," said Mrs. Scott, suddenly stepping in front of +her pale-cheeked daughters. "A wounded man was brought here out of +the storm by his friend, who claimed the shelter of your roof. As your +mother I should have been unworthy to stay beneath it and have denied +that shelter or withheld it until I knew his name and what he was. He +stayed here until he could be removed. He left a letter for you. It will +probably tell you if he was the man this person is seeking." + +"Thank you, mother," said Hale, lifting her hand to his lips quietly; +"and perhaps you will kindly tell these gentlemen that, as your son does +not care to know who or what the stranger was, there is no necessity for +opening the letter, or keeping Mr. Stanner a moment longer." + +"But you will oblige ME, John, by opening it before these gentlemen," +said Mrs. Hale recovering her voice and color. "Please to follow me," +she said preceding them to the staircase. + +They entered Mr. Hale's room, now restored to its original condition. On +the table lay a letter and a small package. The eyes of Mr. Stanner, a +little abashed by the attitude of the two women, fastened upon it and +glistened. + +Josephine handed her husband the letter. He opened it in breathless +silence and read-- + +"JOHN HALE, + +"We owe you no return for voluntarily making yourself a champion of +justice and pursuing us, except it was to offer you a fair field and no +favor. We didn't get that much from you, but accident brought us into +your house and into your family, where we DID get it, and were fairly +vanquished. To the victors belong the spoils. We leave the package of +greenbacks which we took from Colonel Clinch in the Sierra coach, but +which was first stolen by Harkins from forty-four shareholders of the +Excelsior Ditch. We have no right to say what YOU should do with it, but +if you aren't tired of following the same line of justice that induced +you to run after US, you will try to restore it to its rightful owners. + +"We leave you another trifle as an evidence that our intrusion into your +affairs was not without some service to you, even if the service was as +accidental as the intrusion. You will find a pair of boots in the corner +of your closet. They were taken from the burglarious feet of Manuel, +your peon, who, believing the three ladies were alone and at his mercy, +entered your house with an accomplice at two o'clock on the morning of +the 21st, and was kicked out by + +"Your obedient servants, + +"GEORGE LEE & EDWARD FALKNER" + + +Hale's voice and color changed on reading this last paragraph. He turned +quickly towards his wife; Kate flew to the closet, where the muffled +boots of Manuel confronted them. "We never knew it. I always suspected +something that night," said Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Scott in the same breath. + +"That's all very well, and like George Lee's high falutin'," said +Stanner, approaching the table, "but as long ez the greenbacks are here +he can make what capital he likes outer Manuel. I'll trouble you to pass +over that package." + +"Excuse me," said Hale, "but I believe this is the package taken from +Colonel Clinch. Is it not?" he added, appealing to the Colonel. + +"It is," said Clinch. + +"Then take it," said Hale, handing him the package. "The first +restitution is to you, but I believe you will fulfil Lee's instructions +as well as myself." + +"But," said Stanner, furiously interposing, "I've a warrant to seize +that wherever found, and I dare you to disobey the law." + +"Mr. Stanner," said Clinch, slowly, "there are ladies present. If you +insist upon having that package I must ask them to withdraw, and I'm +afraid you'll find me better prepared to resist a SECOND robbery than I +was the first. Your warrant, which was taken out by the Express Company, +is supplanted by civil proceedings taken the day before yesterday +against the property of the fugitive swindler Harkins! You should have +consulted the sheriff before you came here." + +Stanner saw his mistake. But in the faces of his grinning followers he +was obliged to keep up his bluster. "You shall hear from me again, sir," +he said, turning on his heel. + +"I beg your pardon," said Clinch grimly, "but do I understand that at +last I am to have the honor--" + +"You shall hear from the Company's lawyers, sir," said Stanner turning +red, and noisily leaving the room. + +"And so, my dear ladies," said Colonel Clinch, "you have spent a week +with a highwayman. I say A highwayman, for it would be hard to call my +young friend Falkner by that name for his first offence, committed under +great provocation, and undoubtedly instigated by Lee, who was an old +friend of his, and to whom he came, no doubt, in desperation." + +Kate stole a triumphant glance at her sister, who dropped her lids over +her glistening eyes. "And this Mr. Lee," she continued more gently, "is +he really a highwayman?" + +"George Lee," said Clinch, settling himself back oratorically in his +chair, "my dear young lady, IS a highwayman, but not of the common sort. +He is a gentleman born, madam, comes from one of the oldest families of +the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He never mixes himself up with anything +but some of the biggest strikes, and he's an educated man. He is very +popular with ladies and children; he was never known to do or say +anything that could bring a blush to the cheek of beauty or a tear to +the eye of innocence. I think I may say I'm sure you found him so." + +"I shall never believe him anything but a gentleman," said Mrs. Scott, +firmly. + +"If he has a defect, it is perhaps a too reckless indulgence in draw +poker," said the Colonel, musingly; "not unbecoming a gentleman, +understand me, Mrs. Scott, but perhaps too reckless for his own good. +George played a grand game, a glittering game, but pardon me if I say an +UNCERTAIN game. I've told him so; it's the only point on which we ever +differed." + +"Then you know him?" said Mrs. Hale, lifting her soft eyes to the +Colonel. + +"I have that honor." + +"Did his appearance, Josephine," broke in Hale, somewhat ostentatiously, +"appear to--er--er--correspond with these qualities? You know what I +mean." + +"He certainly seemed very simple and natural," said Mrs. Hale, slightly +drawing her pretty lips together. "He did not wear his trousers rolled +up over his boots in the company of ladies, as you're doing now, nor did +he make his first appearance in this house with such a hat as you wore +this morning, or I should not have admitted him." + +There were a few moments of embarrassing silence. + +"Do you intend to give that package to Mr. Falkner yourself, Colonel?" +asked Mrs. Scott. + +"I shall hand it over to the Excelsior Company," said the Colonel, "but +I shall inform Ned of what I have done." + +"Then," said Mrs. Scott, "will you kindly take a message from us to +him?" + +"If you wish it." + +"You will be doing ME a great favor, Colonel," said Hale, politely. + + +Whatever the message was, six months later it brought Edward Falkner, +the reestablished superintendent of the Excelsior Ditch, to Eagle's +Court. As he and Kate stood again on the plateau, looking towards the +distant slopes once more green with verdure, Falkner said-- + +"Everything here looks as it did the first day I saw it, except your +sister." + +"The place does not agree with her," said Kate hurriedly. "That is why +my brother thinks of leaving it before the winter sets in." + +"It seems so sad," said Falkner, "for the last words poor George said to +me, as he left to join his cousin's corps at Richmond, were: 'If I'm +not killed, Ned, I hope some day to stand again beside Mrs. Hale, at the +window in Eagle's Court, and watch you and Kate coming home!'" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Snow-Bound at Eagle's, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SNOW-BOUND AT EAGLE'S *** + +***** This file should be named 2297.txt or 2297.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/9/2297/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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The huge, dim bulk of the +vehicle, swaying noiselessly on its straps, glided onward and +upward as if obeying some mysterious impulse from behind, so faint +and indefinite appeared its relation to the viewless and silent +horses ahead. The shadowy trunks of tall trees that seemed to +approach the coach windows, look in, and then move hurriedly away, +were the only distinguishable objects. Yet even these were so +vague and unreal that they might have been the mere phantoms of +some dream of the half-sleeping passengers; for the thickly-strewn +needles of the pine, that choked the way and deadened all sound, +yielded under the silently-crushing wheels a faint soporific odor +that seemed to benumb their senses, already slipping back into +unconsciousness during the long ascent. Suddenly the stage stopped. + +Three of the four passengers inside struggled at once into upright +wakefulness. The fourth passenger, John Hale, had not been +sleeping, and turned impatiently towards the window. It seemed to +him that two of the moving trees had suddenly become motionless +outside. One of them moved again, and the door opened quickly but +quietly, as of itself. + +"Git down," said a voice in the darkness. + +All the passengers except Hale started. The man next to him moved +his right hand suddenly behind him, but as quickly stopped. One of +the motionless trees had apparently closed upon the vehicle, and +what had seemed to be a bough projecting from it at right angles +changed slowly into the faintly shining double-barrels of a gun at +the window. + +"Drop that!" said the voice. + +The man who had moved uttered a short laugh, and returned his hand +empty to his knees. The two others perceptibly shrugged their +shoulders as over a game that was lost. The remaining passenger, +John Hale, fearless by nature, inexperienced by habit, awaking +suddenly to the truth, conceived desperate resistance. But without +his making a gesture this was instinctively felt by the others; the +muzzle of the gun turned spontaneously on him, and he was vaguely +conscious of a certain contempt and impatience of him in his +companions. + +"Git down," repeated the voice imperatively. + +The three passengers descended. Hale, furious, alert, but helpless +of any opportunity, followed. He was surprised to find the stage- +driver and express messenger standing beside him; he had not heard +them dismount. He instinctively looked towards the horses. He +could see nothing. + +"Hold up your hands!" + +One of the passengers had already lifted his, in a weary, +perfunctory way. The others did the same reluctantly and +awkwardly, but apparently more from the consciousness of the +ludicrousness of their attitude than from any sense of danger. The +rays of a bull's-eye lantern, deftly managed by invisible hands, +while it left the intruders in shadow, completely illuminated the +faces and figures of the passengers. In spite of the majestic +obscurity and silence of surrounding nature, the group of humanity +thus illuminated was more farcical than dramatic. A scrap of +newspaper, part of a sandwich, and an orange peel that had fallen +from the floor of the coach, brought into equal prominence by the +searching light, completed the absurdity. + +"There's a man here with a package of greenbacks," said the voice, +with an official coolness that lent a certain suggestion of Custom +House inspection to the transaction; "who is it?" The passengers +looked at each other, and their glance finally settled on Hale. + +"It's not HIM," continued the voice, with a slight tinge of +contempt on the emphasis. "You'll save time and searching, +gentlemen, if you'll tote it out. If we've got to go through every +one of you we'll try to make it pay." + +The significant threat was not unheeded. The passenger who had +first moved when the stage stopped put his hand to his breast. + +"T'other pocket first, if you please," said the voice. + +The man laughed, drew a pistol from his hip pocket, and, under the +strong light of the lantern, laid it on a spot in the road +indicated by the voice. A thick envelope, taken from his breast +pocket, was laid beside it. "I told the d--d fools that gave it to +me, instead of sending it by express, it would be at their own +risk," he said apologetically. + +"As it's going with the express now it's all the same," said the +inevitable humorist of the occasion, pointing to the despoiled +express treasure-box already in the road. + +The intention and deliberation of the outrage was plain enough to +Hale's inexperience now. Yet he could not understand the cool +acquiescence of his fellow-passengers, and was furious. His +reflections were interrupted by a voice which seemed to come from a +greater distance. He fancied it was even softer in tone, as if a +certain austerity was relaxed. + +"Step in as quick as you like, gentlemen. You've five minutes to +wait, Bill." + +The passengers reentered the coach; the driver and express +messenger hurriedly climbed to their places. Hale would have +spoken, but an impatient gesture from his companions stopped him. +They were evidently listening for something; he listened too. + +Yet the silence remained unbroken. It seemed incredible that there +should be no indication near or far of that forceful presence which +a moment ago had been so dominant. No rustle in the wayside +"brush," nor echo from the rocky canyon below, betrayed a sound of +their flight. A faint breeze stirred the tall tips of the pines, a +cone dropped on the stage roof, one of the invisible horses that +seemed to be listening too moved slightly in his harness. But this +only appeared to accentuate the profound stillness. The moments +were growing interminable, when the voice, so near as to startle +Hale, broke once more from the surrounding obscurity. + +"Good-night!" + +It was the signal that they were free. The driver's whip cracked +like a pistol shot, the horses sprang furiously forward, the huge +vehicle lurched ahead, and then bounded violently after them. When +Hale could make his voice heard in the confusion--a confusion which +seemed greater from the colorless intensity of their last few +moments' experience--he said hurriedly, "Then that fellow was there +all the time?" + +"I reckon," returned his companion, "he stopped five minutes to +cover the driver with his double-barrel, until the two other men +got off with the treasure." + +"The TWO others!" gasped Hale. "Then there were only THREE men, +and we SIX." + +The man shrugged his shoulders. The passenger who had given up the +greenbacks drawled, with a slow, irritating tolerance, "I reckon +you're a stranger here?" + +"I am--to this sort of thing, certainly, though I live a dozen +miles from here, at Eagle's Court," returned Hale scornfully. + +"Then you're the chap that's doin' that fancy ranchin' over at +Eagle's," continued the man lazily. + +"Whatever I'm doing at Eagle's Court, I'm not ashamed of it," said +Hale tartly; "and that's more than I can say of what I've done--or +HAVEN'T done--to-night. I've been one of six men over-awed and +robbed by THREE." + +"As to the over-awin', ez you call it--mebbee you know more about +it than us. As to the robbin'--ez far as I kin remember, YOU +haven't onloaded much. Ef you're talkin' about what OUGHTER have +been done, I'll tell you what COULD have happened. P'r'aps ye +noticed that when he pulled up I made a kind of grab for my wepping +behind me?" + +"I did; and you wern't quick enough," said Hale shortly. + +"I wasn't quick enough, and that saved YOU. For ef I got that +pistol out and in sight o' that man that held the gun--" + +"Well," said Hale impatiently, "he'd have hesitated." + +"He'd hev blown YOU with both barrels outer the window, and that +before I'd got a half-cock on my revolver." + +"But that would have been only one man gone, and there would have +been five of you left," said Hale haughtily. + +"That might have been, ef you'd contracted to take the hull charge +of two handfuls of buck-shot and slugs; but ez one eighth o' that +amount would have done your business, and yet left enough to have +gone round, promiskiss, and satisfied the other passengers, it +wouldn't do to kalkilate upon." + +"But the express messenger and the driver were armed," continued +Hale. + +"They were armed, but not FIXED; that makes all the difference." + +"I don't understand." + +"I reckon you know what a duel is?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, the chances agin US was about the same as you'd have ef you +was put up agin another chap who was allowed to draw a bead on you, +and the signal to fire was YOUR DRAWIN' YOUR WEAPON. You may be a +stranger to this sort o' thing, and p'r'aps you never fought a +duel, but even then you wouldn't go foolin' your life away on any +such chances." + +Something in the man's manner, as in a certain sly amusement the +other passengers appeared to extract from the conversation, +impressed Hale, already beginning to be conscious of the ludicrous +insufficiency of his own grievance beside that of his interlocutor. + +"Then you mean to say this thing is inevitable," said he bitterly, +but less aggressively. + +"Ez long ez they hunt YOU; when you hunt THEM you've got the +advantage, allus provided you know how to get at them ez well as +they know how to get at you. This yer coach is bound to go +regular, and on certain days. THEY ain't. By the time the sheriff +gets out his posse they've skedaddled, and the leader, like as not, +is takin' his quiet cocktail at the Bank Exchange, or mebbe losin' +his earnings to the sheriff over draw poker, in Sacramento. You +see you can't prove anything agin them unless you take them 'on the +fly.' It may be a part of Joaquim Murietta's band, though I +wouldn't swear to it." + +"The leader might have been Gentleman George, from up-country," +interposed a passenger. "He seemed to throw in a few fancy +touches, particlerly in that 'Good night.' Sorter chucked a little +sentiment in it. Didn't seem to be the same thing ez, 'Git, yer d--d +suckers,' on the other line." + +"Whoever he was, he knew the road and the men who travelled on it. +Like ez not, he went over the line beside the driver on the box on +the down trip, and took stock of everything. He even knew I had +those greenbacks; though they were handed to me in the bank at +Sacramento. He must have been hanging 'round there." + +For some moments Hale remained silent. He was a civic-bred man, +with an intense love of law and order; the kind of man who is the +first to take that law and order into his own hands when he does +not find it existing to please him. He had a Bostonian's respect +for respectability, tradition, and propriety, but was willing to +face irregularity and impropriety to create order elsewhere. He +was fond of Nature with these limitations, never quite trusting her +unguided instincts, and finding her as an instructress greatly +inferior to Harvard University, though possibly not to Cornell. +With dauntless enterprise and energy he had built and stocked a +charming cottage farm in a nook in the Sierras, whence he opposed, +like the lesser Englishman that he was, his own tastes to those of +the alien West. In the present instance he felt it incumbent upon +him not only to assert his principles, but to act upon them with +his usual energy. How far he was impelled by the half-contemptuous +passiveness of his companions it would be difficult to say. + +"What is to prevent the pursuit of them at once?" he asked +suddenly. "We are a few miles from the station, where horses can +be procured." + +"Who's to do it?" replied the other lazily. "The stage company +will lodge the complaint with the authorities, but it will take two +days to get the county officers out, and it's nobody else's +funeral." + +"I will go for one," said Hale quietly. "I have a horse waiting +for me at the station, and can start at once." + +There was an instant of silence. The stage-coach had left the +obscurity of the forest, and by the stronger light Hale could +perceive that his companion was examining him with two colorless, +lazy eyes. Presently he said, meeting Hale's clear glance, but +rather as if yielding to a careless reflection,-- + +"It MIGHT be done with four men. We oughter raise one man at the +station." He paused. "I don't know ez I'd mind taking a hand +myself," he added, stretching out his legs with a slight yawn. + +"Ye can count ME in, if you're goin', Kernel. I reckon I'm talkin' +to Kernel Clinch," said the passenger beside Hale with sudden +alacrity. "I'm Rawlins, of Frisco. Heerd of ye afore, Kernel, and +kinder spotted you jist now from your talk." + +To Hale's surprise the two men, after awkwardly and perfunctorily +grasping each other's hand, entered at once into a languid +conversation on the recent election at Fresno, without the +slightest further reference to the pursuit of the robbers. It was +not until the remaining and undenominated passenger turned to Hale, +and, regretting that he had immediate business at the Summit, +offered to accompany the party if they would wait a couple of +hours, that Colonel Clinch briefly returned to the subject. + +"FOUR men will do, and ez we'll hev to take horses from the station +we'll hev to take the fourth man from there." + +With these words he resumed his uninteresting conversation with the +equally uninterested Rawlins, and the undenominated passenger +subsided into an admiring and dreamy contemplation of them both. +With all his principle and really high-minded purpose, Hale could +not help feeling constrained and annoyed at the sudden subordinate +and auxiliary position to which he, the projector of the +enterprise, had been reduced. It was true that he had never +offered himself as their leader; it was true that the principle he +wished to uphold and the effect he sought to obtain would be +equally demonstrated under another; it was true that the execution +of his own conception gravitated by some occult impulse to the man +who had not sought it, and whom he had always regarded as an +incapable. But all this was so unlike precedent or tradition that, +after the fashion of conservative men, he was suspicious of it, and +only that his honor was now involved he would have withdrawn from +the enterprise. There was still a chance of reasserting himself at +the station, where he was known, and where some authority might be +deputed to him. + +But even this prospect failed. The station, half hotel and half +stable, contained only the landlord, who was also express agent, +and the new volunteer who Clinch had suggested would be found among +the stable-men. The nearest justice of the peace was ten miles +away, and Hale had to abandon even his hope of being sworn in as a +deputy constable. This introduction of a common and illiterate +ostler into the party on equal terms with himself did not add to +his satisfaction, and a remark from Rawlins seemed to complete his +embarrassment. + +"Ye had a mighty narrer escape down there just now," said that +gentleman confidentially, as Hale buckled his saddle girths. + +"I thought, as we were not supposed to defend ourselves, there was +no danger," said Hale scornfully. + +"Oh, I don't mean them road agents. But HIM." + +"Who?" + +"Kernel Clinch. You jist ez good as allowed he hadn't any grit." + +"Whatever I said, I suppose I am responsible for it," answered Hale +haughtily. + +"That's what gits me," was the imperturbable reply. "He's the best +shot in Southern California, and hez let daylight through a dozen +chaps afore now for half what you said." + +"Indeed!" + +"Howsummever," continued Rawlins philosophically, "ez he's +concluded to go WITH ye instead of FOR ye, you're likely to hev +your ideas on this matter carried out up to the handle. He'll make +short work of it, you bet. Ef, ez I suspect, the leader is an airy +young feller from Frisco, who hez took to the road lately, Clinch +hez got a personal grudge agin him from a quarrel over draw poker." + +This was the last blow to Hale's ideal crusade. Here he was--an +honest, respectable citizen--engaged as simple accessory to a +lawless vendetta originating at a gambling table! When the first +shock was over that grim philosophy which is the reaction of all +imaginative and sensitive natures came to his aid. He felt better; +oddly enough he began to be conscious that he was thinking and +acting like his companions. With this feeling a vague sympathy, +before absent, faintly showed itself in their actions. The +Sharpe's rifle put into his hands by the stable-man was accompanied +by a familiar word of suggestion as to an equal, which he was +ashamed to find flattered him. He was able to continue the +conversation with Rawlins more coolly. + +"Then you suspect who is the leader?" + +"Only on giniral principles. There was a finer touch, so to speak, +in this yer robbery that wasn't in the old-fashioned style. Down +in my country they hed crude ideas about them things--used to strip +the passengers of everything, includin' their clothes. They say +that at the station hotels, when the coach came in, the folks used +to stand round with blankets to wrap up the passengers so ez not to +skeer the wimen. Thar's a story that the driver and express +manager drove up one day with only a copy of the Alty Californy +wrapped around 'em; but thin," added Rawlins grimly, "there WAS +folks ez said the hull story was only an advertisement got up for +the Alty." + +"Time's up." + +"Are you ready, gentlemen?" said Colonel Clinch. + +Hale started. He had forgotten his wife and family at Eagle's +Court, ten miles away. They would be alarmed at his absence, would +perhaps hear some exaggerated version of the stage coach robbery, +and fear the worst. + +"Is there any way I could send a line to Eagle's Court before +daybreak?" he asked eagerly. + +The station was already drained of its spare men and horses. The +undenominated passenger stepped forward and offered to take it +himself when his business, which he would despatch as quickly as +possible, was concluded. + +"That ain't a bad idea," said Clinch reflectively, "for ef yer +hurry you'll head 'em off in case they scent us, and try to double +back on the North Ridge. They'll fight shy of the trail if they +see anybody on it, and one man's as good as a dozen." + +Hale could not help thinking that he might have been that one man, +and had his opportunity for independent action but for his rash +proposal, but it was too late to withdraw now. He hastily +scribbled a few lines to his wife on a sheet of the station paper, +handed it to the man, and took his place in the little cavalcade as +it filed silently down the road. + +They had ridden in silence for nearly an hour, and had passed the +scene of the robbery by a higher track. Morning had long ago +advanced its colors on the cold white peaks to their right, and was +taking possession of the spur where they rode. + +"It looks like snow," said Rawlins quietly. + +Hale turned towards him in astonishment. Nothing on earth or sky +looked less likely. It had been cold, but that might have been +only a current from the frozen peaks beyond, reaching the lower +valley. The ridge on which they had halted was still thick with +yellowish-green summer foliage, mingled with the darker evergreen +of pine and fir. Oven-like canyons in the long flanks of the +mountain seemed still to glow with the heat of yesterday's noon; +the breathless air yet trembled and quivered over stifling gorges +and passes in the granite rocks, while far at their feet sixty +miles of perpetual summer stretched away over the winding American +River, now and then lost in a gossamer haze. It was scarcely ripe +October where they stood; they could see the plenitude of August +still lingering in the valleys. + +"I've seen Thomson's Pass choked up with fifteen feet o' snow +earlier than this," said Rawlins, answering Hale's gaze; "and last +September the passengers sledded over the road we came last night, +and all the time Thomson, a mile lower down over the ridge in the +hollow, smoking his pipes under roses in his piazzy! Mountains is +mighty uncertain; they make their own weather ez they want it. I +reckon you ain't wintered here yet." + +Hale was obliged to admit that he had only taken Eagle's Court in +the early spring. + +"Oh, you're all right at Eagle's--when you're there! But it's like +Thomson's--it's the gettin' there that-- Hallo! What's that?" + +A shot, distant but distinct, had rung through the keen air. It +was followed by another so alike as to seem an echo. + +"That's over yon, on the North Ridge," said the ostler, "about two +miles as the crow flies and five by the trail. Somebody's shootin' +b'ar." + +"Not with a shot gun," said Clinch, quickly wheeling his horse with +a gesture that electrified them. "It's THEM, and the've doubled on +us! To the North Ridge, gentlemen, and ride all you know!" + +It needed no second challenge to completely transform that quiet +cavalcade. The wild man-hunting instinct, inseparable to most +humanity, rose at their leader's look and word. With an incoherent +and unintelligible cry, giving voice to the chase like the +commonest hound of their fields, the order-loving Hale and the +philosophical Rawlins wheeled with the others, and in another +instant the little band swept out of sight in the forest. + +An immense and immeasurable quiet succeeded. The sunlight +glistened silently on cliff and scar, the vast distance below +seemed to stretch out and broaden into repose. It might have been +fancy, but over the sharp line of the North Ridge a light smoke +lifted as of an escaping soul. + + +CHAPTER II + + +Eagle's Court, one of the highest canyons of the Sierras, was in +reality a plateau of table-land, embayed like a green lake in a +semi-circular sweep of granite, that, lifting itself three thousand +feet higher, became a foundation for the eternal snows. The +mountain genii of space and atmosphere jealously guarded its +seclusion and surrounded it with illusions; it never looked to be +exactly what it was: the traveller who saw it from the North Ridge +apparently at his feet in descending found himself separated from +it by a mile-long abyss and a rushing river; those who sought it by +a seeming direct trail at the end of an hour lost sight of it +completely, or, abandoning the quest and retracing their steps, +suddenly came upon the gap through which it was entered. That +which from the Ridge appeared to be a copse of bushes beside the +tiny dwelling were trees three hundred feet high; the cultivated +lawn before it, which might have been covered by the traveller's +handkerchief, was a field of a thousand acres. + +The house itself was a long, low, irregular structure, chiefly of +roof and veranda, picturesquely upheld by rustic pillars of pine, +with the bark still adhering, and covered with vines and trailing +roses. Yet it was evident that the coolness produced by this vast +extent of cover was more than the architect, who had planned it +under the influence of a staring and bewildering sky, had +trustfully conceived, for it had to be mitigated by blazing fires +in open hearths when the thermometer marked a hundred degrees in +the field beyond. The dry, restless wind that continually rocked +the tall masts of the pines with a sound like the distant sea, +while it stimulated out-door physical exertion and defied fatigue, +left the sedentary dwellers in these altitudes chilled in the shade +they courted, or scorched them with heat when they ventured to bask +supinely in the sun. White muslin curtains at the French windows, +and rugs, skins, and heavy furs dispersed in the interior, with +certain other charming but incongruous details of furniture, marked +the inconsistencies of the climate. + +There was a coquettish indication of this in the costume of Miss +Kate Scott as she stepped out on the veranda that morning. A man's +broad-brimmed Panama hat, partly unsexed by a twisted gayly-colored +scarf, but retaining enough character to give piquancy to the +pretty curves of the face beneath, protected her from the sun; a +red flannel shirt--another spoil from the enemy--and a thick jacket +shielded her from the austerities of the morning breeze. But the +next inconsistency was peculiarly her own. Miss Kate always wore +the freshest and lightest of white cambric skirts, without the +least reference to the temperature. To the practical sanatory +remonstrances of her brother-in-law, and to the conventional +criticism of her sister, she opposed the same defence: "How else is +one to tell when it is summer in this ridiculous climate? And +then, woollen is stuffy, color draws the sun, and one at least +knows when one is clean or dirty." Artistically the result was far +from unsatisfactory. It was a pretty figure under the sombre +pines, against the gray granite and the steely sky, and seemed to +lend the yellowing fields from which the flowers had already fled a +floral relief of color. I do not think the few masculine wayfarers +of that locality objected to it; indeed, some had betrayed an +indiscreet admiration, and had curiously followed the invitation of +Miss Kate's warmly-colored figure until they had encountered the +invincible indifference of Miss Kate's cold gray eyes. With these +manifestations her brother-in-law did not concern himself; he had +perfect confidence in her unqualified disinterest in the +neighboring humanity, and permitted her to wander in her solitary +picturesqueness, or accompanied her when she rode in her dark green +habit, with equal freedom from anxiety. + +For Miss Scott, although only twenty, had already subjected most of +her maidenly illusions to mature critical analyses. She had +voluntarily accompanied her sister and mother to California, in the +earnest hope that nature contained something worth saying to her, +and was disappointed to find she had already discounted its value +in the pages of books. She hoped to find a vague freedom in this +unconventional life thus opened to her, or rather to show others +that she knew how intelligently to appreciate it, but as yet she +was only able to express it in the one detail of dress already +alluded to. Some of the men, and nearly all the women, she had met +thus far, she was amazed to find, valued the conventionalities she +believed she despised, and were voluntarily assuming the chains she +thought she had thrown off. Instead of learning anything from +them, these children of nature had bored her with eager +questionings regarding the civilization she had abandoned, or +irritated her with crude imitations of it for her benefit. +"Fancy," she had written to a friend in Boston, "my calling on Sue +Murphy, who remembered the Donner tragedy, and who once shot a +grizzly that was prowling round her cabin, and think of her begging +me to lend her my sack for a pattern, and wanting to know if +'polonays' were still worn." She remembered more bitterly the +romance that had tickled her earlier fancy, told of two college +friends of her brother-in-law's who were living the "perfect life" +in the mines, laboring in the ditches with a copy of Homer in their +pockets, and writing letters of the purest philosophy under the +free air of the pines. How, coming unexpectedly on them in their +Arcadia, the party found them unpresentable through dirt, and +thenceforth unknowable through domestic complications that had +filled their Arcadian cabin with half-breed children. + +Much of this disillusion she had kept within her own heart, from a +feeling of pride, or only lightly touched upon it in her relations +with her mother and sister. For Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Scott had no +idols to shatter, no enthusiasm to subdue. Firmly and unalterably +conscious of their own superiority to the life they led and the +community that surrounded them, they accepted their duties +cheerfully, and performed them conscientiously. Those duties were +loyalty to Hale's interests and a vague missionary work among the +neighbors, which, like most missionary work, consisted rather in +making their own ideas understood than in understanding the ideas +of their audience. Old Mrs. Scott's zeal was partly religious, an +inheritance from her Puritan ancestry; Mrs. Hale's was the +affability of a gentlewoman and the obligation of her position. To +this was added the slight languor of the cultivated American wife, +whose health has been affected by the birth of her first child, and +whose views of marriage and maternity were slightly tinged with +gentle scepticism. She was sincerely attached to her husband, "who +dominated the household" like the rest of his "women folk," with +the faint consciousness of that division of service which renders +the position of the sultan of a seraglio at once so prominent and +so precarious. The attitude of John Hale in his family circle was +dominant because it had never been subjected to criticism or +comparison; and perilous for the same reason. + +Mrs. Hale presently joined her sister in the veranda, and, shading +her eyes with a narrow white hand, glanced on the prospect with a +polite interest and ladylike urbanity. The searching sun, which, +as Miss Kate once intimated, was "vulgarity itself," stared at her +in return, but could not call a blush to her somewhat sallow cheek. +Neither could it detract, however, from the delicate prettiness of +her refined face with its soft gray shadows, or the dark gentle +eyes, whose blue-veined lids were just then wrinkled into +coquettishly mischievous lines by the strong light. She was taller +and thinner than Kate, and had at times a certain shy, coy +sinuosity of movement which gave her a more virginal suggestion +than her unmarried sister. For Miss Kate, from her earliest youth, +had been distinguished by that matronly sedateness of voice and +step, and completeness of figure, which indicates some members of +the gallinaceous tribe from their callow infancy. + +"I suppose John must have stopped at the Summit on some business," +said Mrs. Hale, "or he would have been here already. It's scarcely +worth while waiting for him, unless you choose to ride over and +meet him. You might change your dress," she continued, looking +doubtfully at Kate's costume. "Put on your riding-habit, and take +Manuel with you." + +"And take the only man we have, and leave you alone?" returned Kate +slowly. "No!" + +"There are the Chinese field hands," said Mrs. Hale; "you must +correct your ideas, and really allow them some humanity, Kate. +John says they have a very good compulsory school system in their +own country, and can read and write." + +"That would be of little use to you here alone if--if--" Kate +hesitated. + +"If what?" said Mrs. Hale smiling. "Are you thinking of Manuel's +dreadful story of the grizzly tracks across the fields this +morning? I promise you that neither I, nor mother, nor Minnie +shall stir out of the house until you return, if you wish it." + +"I wasn't thinking of that," said Kate; "though I don't believe the +beating of a gong and the using of strong language is the best way +to frighten a grizzly from the house. Besides, the Chinese are +going down the river to-day to a funeral, or a wedding, or a feast +of stolen chickens--they're all the same--and won't be here." + +"Then take Manuel," repeated Mrs. Hale. "We have the Chinese +servants and Indian Molly in the house to protect us from Heaven +knows what! I have the greatest confidence in Chy-Lee as a +warrior, and in Chinese warfare generally. One has only to hear +him pipe in time of peace to imagine what a terror he might become +in war time. Indeed, anything more deadly and soul-harrowing than +that love song he sang for us last night I cannot conceive. But +really, Kate, I am not afraid to stay alone. You know what John +says: we ought to be always prepared for anything that might +happen. + +"My dear Josie," returned Kate, putting her arm around her sister's +waist, "I am perfectly convinced that if three-fingered Jack, or +two-toed Bill, or even Joaquim Murietta himself, should step, red- +handed, on that veranda, you would gently invite him to take a cup +of tea, inquire about the state of the road, and refrain delicately +from any allusions to the sheriff. But I shan't take Manuel from +you. I really cannot undertake to look after his morals at the +station, and keep him from drinking aguardiente with suspicious +characters at the bar. It is true he 'kisses my hand' in his +speech, even when it is thickest, and offers his back to me for a +horse-block, but I think I prefer the sober and honest familiarity +of even that Pike County landlord who is satisfied to say, 'Jump, +girl, and I'll ketch ye!'" + +"I hope you didn't change your manner to either of them for that," +said Mrs. Hale with a faint sigh. "John wants to be good friends +with them, and they are behaving quite decently lately, considering +that they can't speak a grammatical sentence nor know the use of a +fork." + +"And now the man puts on gloves and a tall hat to come here on +Sundays, and the woman won't call until you've called first," +retorted Kate; "perhaps you call that improvement. The fact is, +Josephine," continued the young girl, folding her arms demurely, +"we might as well admit it at once--these people don't like us." + +"That's impossible!" said Mrs. Hale, with sublime simplicity. "You +don't like them, you mean." + +"I like them better than you do, Josie, and that's the reason why I +feel it and YOU don't." She checked herself, and after a pause +resumed in a lighter tone: "No; I sha'n't go to the station; I'll +commune with nature to-day, and won't 'take any humanity in mine, +thank you,' as Bill the driver says. Adios." + +"I wish Kate would not use that dreadful slang, even in jest," said +Mrs. Scott, in her rocking-chair at the French window, when +Josephine reentered the parlor as her sister walked briskly away. +"I am afraid she is being infected by the people at the station. +She ought to have a change." + +"I was just thinking," said Josephine, looking abstractedly at her +mother, "that I would try to get John to take her to San Francisco +this winter. The Careys are expected, you know; she might visit +them." + +"I'm afraid, if she stays here much longer, she won't care to see +them at all. She seems to care for nothing now that she ever liked +before," returned the old lady ominously. + +Meantime the subject of these criticisms was carrying away her own +reflections tightly buttoned up in her short jacket. She had +driven back her dog Spot--another one of her disillusions, who, +giving way to his lower nature, had once killed a sheep--as she did +not wish her Jacques-like contemplation of any wounded deer to be +inconsistently interrupted by a fresh outrage from her companion. +The air was really very chilly, and for the first time in her +mountain experience the direct rays of the sun seemed to be shorn +of their power. This compelled her to walk more briskly than she +was conscious of, for in less than an hour she came suddenly and +breathlessly upon the mouth of the canyon, or natural gateway to +Eagle's Court. + +To her always a profound spectacle of mountain magnificence, it +seemed to-day almost terrible in its cold, strong grandeur. The +narrowing pass was choked for a moment between two gigantic +buttresses of granite, approaching each other so closely at their +towering summits that trees growing in opposite clefts of the rock +intermingled their branches and pointed the soaring Gothic arch of +a stupendous gateway. She raised her eyes with a quickly beating +heart. She knew that the interlacing trees above her were as large +as those she had just quitted; she knew also that the point where +they met was only half-way up the cliff, for she had once gazed +down upon them, dwindled to shrubs from the airy summit; she knew +that their shaken cones fell a thousand feet perpendicularly, or +bounded like shot from the scarred walls they bombarded. She +remembered that one of these pines, dislodged from its high +foundations, had once dropped like a portcullis in the archway, +blocking the pass, and was only carried afterwards by assault of +steel and fire. Bending her head mechanically, she ran swiftly +through the shadowy passage, and halted only at the beginning of +the ascent on the other side. + +It was here that the actual position of the plateau, so indefinite +of approach, began to be realized. It now appeared an independent +elevation, surrounded on three sides by gorges and watercourses, so +narrow as to be overlooked from the principal mountain range, with +which it was connected by a long canyon that led to the ridge. At +the outlet of this canyon--in bygone ages a mighty river--it had +the appearance of having been slowly raised by the diluvium of that +river, and the debris washed down from above--a suggestion repeated +in miniature by the artificial plateaus of excavated soil raised +before the mouths of mining tunnels in the lower flanks of the +mountain. It was the realization of a fact--often forgotten by the +dwellers in Eagle's Court--that the valley below them, which was +their connecting link with the surrounding world, was only reached +by ascending the mountain, and the nearest road was over the higher +mountain ridge. Never before had this impressed itself so strongly +upon the young girl as when she turned that morning to look upon +the plateau below her. It seemed to illustrate the conviction that +had been slowly shaping itself out of her reflections on the +conversation of that morning. It was possible that the perfect +understanding of a higher life was only reached from a height still +greater, and that to those half-way up the mountain the summit was +never as truthfully revealed as to the humbler dwellers in the +valley. + +I do not know that these profound truths prevented her from +gathering some quaint ferns and berries, or from keeping her calm +gray eyes open to certain practical changes that were taking place +around her. She had noticed a singular thickening in the +atmosphere that seemed to prevent the passage of the sun's rays, +yet without diminishing the transparent quality of the air. The +distant snow-peaks were as plainly seen, though they appeared as if +in moonlight. This seemed due to no cloud or mist, but rather to a +fading of the sun itself. The occasional flurry of wings overhead, +the whirring of larger birds in the cover, and a frequent rustling +in the undergrowth, as of the passage of some stealthy animal, +began equally to attract her attention. It was so different from +the habitual silence of these sedate solitudes. Kate had no vague +fear of wild beasts; she had been long enough a mountaineer to +understand the general immunity enjoyed by the unmolesting +wayfarer, and kept her way undismayed. She was descending an +abrupt trail when she was stopped by a sudden crash in the bushes. +It seemed to come from the opposite incline, directly in a line +with her, and apparently on the very trail that she was pursuing. +The crash was then repeated again and again lower down, as of a +descending body. Expecting the apparition of some fallen tree, or +detached boulder bursting through the thicket, in its way to the +bottom of the gulch, she waited. The foliage was suddenly brushed +aside, and a large grizzly bear half rolled, half waddled, into the +trail on the opposite side of the hill. A few moments more would +have brought them face to face at the foot of the gulch; when she +stopped there were not fifty yards between them. + +She did not scream; she did not faint; she was not even frightened. +There did not seem to be anything terrifying in this huge, stupid +beast, who, arrested by the rustle of a stone displaced by her +descending feet, rose slowly on his haunches and gazed at her with +small, wondering eyes. Nor did it seem strange to her, seeing that +he was in her way, to pick up a stone, throw it in his direction, +and say simply, "Sho! get away!" as she would have done to an +intruding cow. Nor did it seem odd that he should actually "go +away" as he did, scrambling back into the bushes again, and +disappearing like some grotesque figure in a transformation scene. +It was not until after he had gone that she was taken with a slight +nervousness and giddiness, and retraced her steps somewhat +hurriedly, shying a little at every rustle in the thicket. By the +time she had reached the great gateway she was doubtful whether to +be pleased or frightened at the incident, but she concluded to keep +it to herself. + +It was still intensely cold. The light of the midday sun had +decreased still more, and on reaching the plateau again she saw +that a dark cloud, not unlike the precursor of a thunder-storm, was +brooding over the snowy peaks beyond. In spite of the cold this +singular suggestion of summer phenomena was still borne out by the +distant smiling valley, and even in the soft grasses at her feet. +It seemed to her the crowning inconsistency of the climate, and +with a half-serious, half-playful protest on her lips she hurried +forward to seek the shelter of the house. + + +CHAPTER III + + +To Kate's surprise, the lower part of the house was deserted, but +there was an unusual activity on the floor above, and the sound of +heavy steps. There were alien marks of dusty feet on the +scrupulously clean passage, and on the first step of the stairs a +spot of blood. With a sudden genuine alarm that drove her previous +adventure from her mind, she impatiently called her sister's name. +There was a hasty yet subdued rustle of skirts on the staircase, +and Mrs. Hale, with her finger on her lip, swept Kate +unceremoniously into the sitting-room, closed the door, and leaned +back against it, with a faint smile. She had a crumpled paper in +her hand. + +"Don't be alarmed, but read that first," she said, handing her +sister the paper. "It was brought just now." + +Kate instantly recognized her brother's distinct hand. She read +hurriedly, "The coach was robbed last night; nobody hurt. I've +lost nothing but a day's time, as this business will keep me here +until to-morrow, when Manuel can join me with a fresh horse. No +cause for alarm. As the bearer goes out of his way to bring you +this, see that he wants for nothing." + +"Well," said Kate expectantly. + +"Well, the 'bearer' was fired upon by the robbers, who were lurking +on the Ridge. He was wounded in the leg. Luckily he was picked up +by his friend, who was coming to meet him, and brought here as the +nearest place. He's up-stairs in the spare bed in the spare room, +with his friend, who won't leave his side. He won't even have +mother in the room. They've stopped the bleeding with John's +ambulance things, and now, Kate, here's a chance for you to show +the value of your education in the ambulance class. The ball has +got to be extracted. Here's your opportunity." + +Kate looked at her sister curiously. There was a faint pink flush +on her pale cheeks, and her eyes were gently sparkling. She had +never seen her look so pretty before. + +"Why not have sent Manuel for a doctor at once?" asked Kate. + +"The nearest doctor is fifteen miles away, and Manuel is nowhere to +be found. Perhaps he's gone to look after the stock. There's some +talk of snow; imagine the absurdity of it!" + +"But who are they?" + +"They speak of themselves as 'friends,' as if it were a profession. +The wounded one was a passenger, I suppose." + +"But what are they like?" continued Kate. "I suppose they're like +them all." + +Mrs. Hale shrugged her shoulders. + +"The wounded one, when he's not fainting away, is laughing. The +other is a creature with a moustache, and gloomy beyond expression." + +"What are you going to do with them?" said Kate. + +"What should I do? Even without John's letter I could not refuse +the shelter of my house to a wounded and helpless man. I shall +keep him, of course, until John comes. Why, Kate, I really believe +you are so prejudiced against these people you'd like to turn them +out. But I forget! It's because you LIKE them so well. Well, you +need not fear to expose yourself to the fascinations of the wounded +Christy Minstrel--I'm sure he's that--or to the unspeakable one, +who is shyness itself, and would not dare to raise his eyes to you." + +There was a timid, hesitating step in the passage. It paused +before the door, moved away, returned, and finally asserted its +intentions in the gentlest of taps. + +"It's him; I'm sure of it," said Mrs. Hale, with a suppressed +smile. + +Kate threw open the door smartly, to the extreme discomfiture of a +tall, dark figure that already had slunk away from it. For all +that, he was a good-looking enough fellow, with a moustache as long +and almost as flexible as a ringlet. Kate could not help noticing +also that his hand, which was nervously pulling the moustache, was +white and thin. + +"Excuse me," he stammered, without raising his eyes, "I was looking +for--for--the old lady. I--I beg your pardon. I didn't know that +you--the young ladies--company--were here. I intended--I only +wanted to say that my friend--" He stopped at the slight smile +that passed quickly over Mrs. Hale's mouth, and his pale face +reddened with an angry flush. + +"I hope he is not worse," said Mrs. Hale, with more than her usual +languid gentleness. "My mother is not here at present. Can I--can +WE--this is my sister--do as well?" + +Without looking up he made a constrained recognition of Kate's +presence, that embarrassed and curt as it was, had none of the +awkwardness of rusticity. + +"Thank you; you're very kind. But my friend is a little stronger, +and if you can lend me an extra horse I'll try to get him on the +Summit to-night." + +"But you surely will not take him away from us so soon?" said Mrs. +Hale, with a languid look of alarm, in which Kate, however, +detected a certain real feeling. "Wait at least until my husband +returns to-morrow." + +"He won't be here to-morrow," said the stranger hastily. He +stopped, and as quickly corrected himself. "That is, his business +is so very uncertain, my friend says." + +Only Kate noticed the slip; but she noticed also that her sister +was apparently unconscious of it. "You think," she said, "that Mr. +Hale may be delayed?" + +He turned upon her almost brusquely. "I mean that it is already +snowing up there;" he pointed through the window to the cloud Kate +had noticed; "if it comes down lower in the pass the roads will be +blocked up. That is why it would be better for us to try and get +on at once." + +"But if Mr. Hale is likely to be stopped by snow, so are you," said +Mrs. Hale playfully; "and you had better let us try to make your +friend comfortable here rather than expose him to that uncertainty +in his weak condition. We will do our best for him. My sister is +dying for an opportunity to show her skill in surgery," she +continued, with an unexpected mischievousness that only added to +Kate's surprised embarrassment. "Aren't you, Kate?" + +Equivocal as the young girl knew her silence appeared, she was +unable to utter the simplest polite evasion. Some unaccountable +impulse kept her constrained and speechless. The stranger did not, +however, wait for her reply, but, casting a swift, hurried glance +around the room, said, "It's impossible; we must go. In fact, I've +already taken the liberty to order the horses round. They are at +the door now. You may be certain," he added, with quick +earnestness, suddenly lifting his dark eyes to Mrs. Hale, and as +rapidly withdrawing them, "that your horse will be returned at +once, and--and--we won't forget your kindness." He stopped and +turned towards the hall. "I--I have brought my friend down-stairs. +He wants to thank you before he goes." + +As he remained standing in the hall the two women stepped to the +door. To their surprise, half reclining on a cane sofa was the +wounded man, and what could be seen of his slight figure was +wrapped in a dark serape. His beardless face gave him a quaint +boyishness quite inconsistent with the mature lines of his temples +and forehead. Pale, and in pain, as he evidently was, his blue +eyes twinkled with intense amusement. Not only did his manner +offer a marked contrast to the sombre uneasiness of his companion, +but he seemed to be the only one perfectly at his ease in the group +around him. + +"It's rather rough making you come out here to see me off," he +said, with a not unmusical laugh that was very infectious, "but Ned +there, who carried me downstairs, wanted to tote me round the house +in his arms like a baby to say ta-ta to you all. Excuse my not +rising, but I feel as uncertain below as a mermaid, and as out of +my element," he added, with a mischievous glance at his friend. +"Ned concluded I must go on. But I must say good-by to the old +lady first. Ah! here she is." + +To Kate's complete bewilderment, not only did the utter familiarity +of this speech, pass unnoticed and unrebuked by her sister, but +actually her own mother advanced quickly with every expression of +lively sympathy, and with the authority of her years and an almost +maternal anxiety endeavored to dissuade the invalid from going. +"This is not my house," she said, looking at her daughter, "but if +it were I should not hear of your leaving, not only to-night, but +until you were out of danger. Josephine! Kate! What are you +thinking of to permit it? Well, then I forbid it--there!" + +Had they become suddenly insane, or were they bewitched by this +morose intruder and his insufferably familiar confidant? The man +was wounded, it was true; they might have to put him up in common +humanity; but here was her austere mother, who wouldn't come in the +room when Whisky Dick called on business, actually pressing both of +the invalid's hands, while her sister, who never extended a finger +to the ordinary visiting humanity of the neighborhood, looked on +with evident complacency. + +The wounded man suddenly raised Mrs. Scott's hand to his lips, +kissed it gently, and, with his smile quite vanished, endeavored to +rise to his feet. "It's of no use--we must go. Give me your arm, +Ned. Quick! Are the horses there?" + +"Dear me," said Mrs. Scott quickly. "I forgot to say the horse +cannot be found anywhere. Manuel must have taken him this morning +to look up the stock. But he will be back to-night certainly, and +if to-morrow--" + +The wounded man sank back to a sitting position. "Is Manuel your +man?" he asked grimly. + +"Yes." + +The two men exchanged glances. + +"Marked on his left cheek and drinks a good deal?" + +"Yes," said Kate, finding her voice. "Why?" + +The amused look came back to the man's eyes. "That kind of man +isn't safe to wait for. We must take our own horse, Ned. Are you +ready?" + +"Yes." + +The wounded man again attempted to rise. He fell back, but this +time quite heavily. He had fainted. + +Involuntarily and simultaneously the three women rushed to his +side. "He cannot go," said Kate suddenly. + +"He will be better in a moment." + +"But only for a moment. Will nothing induce you to change your +mind?" + +As if in reply a sudden gust of wind brought a volley of rain +against the window. + +"THAT will," said the stranger bitterly. + +"The rain?" + +"A mile from here it is SNOW; and before we could reach the Summit +with these horses the road would be impassable." + +He made a slight gesture to himself, as if accepting an inevitable +defeat, and turned to his companion, who was slowly reviving under +the active ministration of the two women. The wounded man looked +around with a weak smile. "This is one way of going off," he said +faintly, "but I could do this sort of thing as well on the road." + +"You can do nothing now," said his friend, decidedly. "Before we +get to the Gate the road will be impassable for our horses." + +"For ANY horses?" asked Kate. + +"For any horses. For any man or beast I might say. Where we +cannot get out, no one can get in," he added, as if answering her +thoughts. "I am afraid that you won't see your brother to-morrow +morning. But I'll reconnoitre as soon as I can do so without +torturing HIM," he said, looking anxiously at the helpless man; +"he's got about his share of pain, I reckon, and the first thing is +to get him easier." It was the longest speech he had made to her; +it was the first time he had fairly looked her in the face. His +shy restlessness had suddenly given way to dogged resignation, less +abstracted, but scarcely more flattering to his entertainers. +Lifting his companion gently in his arms, as if he had been a +child, he reascended the staircase, Mrs. Scott and the hastily- +summoned Molly following with overflowing solicitude. As soon as +they were alone in the parlor Mrs. Hale turned to her sister: "Only +that our guests seemed to be as anxious to go just now as you were +to pack them off, I should have been shocked at your inhospitality. +What has come over you, Kate? These are the very people you have +reproached me so often with not being civil enough to." + +"But WHO are they?" + +"How do I know? There is YOUR BROTHER'S letter." + +She usually spoke of her husband as "John." This slight shifting +of relationship and responsibility to the feminine mind was +significant. Kate was a little frightened and remorseful. + +"I only meant you don't even know their names." + +"That wasn't necessary for giving them a bed and bandages. Do you +suppose the good Samaritan ever asked the wounded Jew's name, and +that the Levite did not excuse himself because the thieves had +taken the poor man's card-case? Do the directions, 'In case of +accident,' in your ambulance rules, read, 'First lay the sufferer +on his back and inquire his name and family connections'? Besides, +you can call one 'Ned' and the other 'George,' if you like." + +"Oh, you know what I mean," said Kate, irrelevantly. "Which is +George?" + +"George is the wounded man," said Mrs. Hale; "NOT the one who +talked to you more than he did to any one else. I suppose the poor +man was frightened and read dismissal in your eyes." + +"I wish John were here." + +"I don't think we have anything to fear in his absence from men +whose only wish is to get away from us. If it is a question of +propriety, my dear Kate, surely there is the presence of mother to +prevent any scandal--although really her own conduct with the +wounded one is not above suspicion," she added, with that novel +mischievousness that seemed a return of her lost girlhood. "We +must try to do the best we can with them and for them," she said +decidedly, "and meantime I'll see if I can't arrange John's room +for them." + +"John's room?" + +"Oh, mother is perfectly satisfied; indeed, suggested it. It's +larger and will hold two beds, for 'Ned,' the friend, must attend +to him at night. And, Kate, don't you think, if you're not going +out again, you might change your costume? It does very well while +we are alone--" + +"Well," said Kate indignantly, "as I am not going into his room--" + +"I'm not so sure about that, if we can't get a regular doctor. But +he is very restless, and wanders all over the house like a timid +and apologetic spaniel." + +"Who?" + +"Why 'Ned.' But I must go and look after the patient. I suppose +they've got him safe in his bed again," and with a nod to her +sister she tripped up-stairs. + +Uncomfortable and embarrassed, she knew not why, Kate sought her +mother. But that good lady was already in attendance on the +patient, and Kate hurried past that baleful centre of attraction +with a feeling of loneliness and strangeness she had never +experienced before. Entering her own room she went to the window-- +that first and last refuge of the troubled mind--and gazed out. +Turning her eyes in the direction of her morning's walk, she +started back with a sense of being dazzled. She rubbed first her +eyes and then the rain-dimmed pane. It was no illusion! The whole +landscape, so familiar to her, was one vast field of dead, +colorless white! Trees, rocks, even distance itself, had vanished +in those few hours. An even shadowless, motionless white sea +filled the horizon. On either side a vast wall of snow seemed to +shut out the world like a shroud. Only the green plateau before +her, with its sloping meadows and fringe of pines and cottonwood, +lay alone like a summer island in this frozen sea. + +A sudden desire to view this phenomenon more closely, and to learn +for herself the limits of this new tethered life, completely +possessed her, and, accustomed to act upon her independent +impulses, she seized a hooded waterproof cloak, and slipped out of +the house unperceived. The rain was falling steadily along the +descending trail where she walked, but beyond, scarcely a mile +across the chasm, the wintry distance began to confuse her brain +with the inextricable swarming of snow. Hurrying down with +feverish excitement, she at last came in sight of the arching +granite portals of their domain. But her first glance through the +gateway showed it closed as if with a white portcullis. Kate +remembered that the trail began to ascend beyond the arch, and knew +that what she saw was only the mountain side she had partly climbed +this morning. But the snow had already crept down its flank, and +the exit by trail was practically closed. Breathlessly making her +way back to the highest part of the plateau--the cliff behind the +house that here descended abruptly to the rain-dimmed valley--she +gazed at the dizzy depths in vain for some undiscovered or +forgotten trail along its face. But a single glance convinced her +of its inaccessibility. The gateway was indeed their only outlet +to the plain below. She looked back at the falling snow beyond +until she fancied she could see in the crossing and recrossing +lines the moving meshes of a fateful web woven around them by +viewless but inexorable fingers. + +Half frightened, she was turning away, when she perceived, a few +paces distant, the figure of the stranger, "Ned," also apparently +absorbed in the gloomy prospect. He was wrapped in the clinging +folds of a black serape braided with silver; the broad flap of a +slouch hat beaten back by the wind exposed the dark, glistening +curls on his white forehead. He was certainly very handsome and +picturesque, and that apparently without effort or consciousness. +Neither was there anything in his costume or appearance +inconsistent with his surroundings, or, even with what Kate could +judge were his habits or position. Nevertheless, she instantly +decided that he was TOO handsome and too picturesque, without +suspecting that her ideas of the limits of masculine beauty were +merely personal experience. + +As he turned away from the cliff they were brought face to face. +"It doesn't look very encouraging over there," he said quietly, as +if the inevitableness of the situation had relieved him of his +previous shyness and effort; "it's even worse than I expected. The +snow must have begun there last night, and it looks as if it meant +to stay." He stopped for a moment, and then, lifting his eyes to +her, said:-- + +"I suppose you know what this means?" + +"I don't understand you." + +"I thought not. Well! it means that you are absolutely cut off +here from any communication or intercourse with any one outside of +that canyon. By this time the snow is five feet deep over the only +trail by which one can pass in and out of that gateway. I am not +alarming you, I hope, for there is no real physical danger; a place +like this ought to be well garrisoned, and certainly is self- +supporting so far as the mere necessities and even comforts are +concerned. You have wood, water, cattle, and game at your command, +but for two weeks at least you are completely isolated." + +"For two weeks," said Kate, growing pale--"and my brother!" + +"He knows all by this time, and is probably as assured as I am of +the safety of his family." + +"For two weeks," continued Kate; "impossible! You don't know my +brother! He will find some way to get to us." + +"I hope so," returned the stranger gravely, "for what is possible +for him is possible for us." + +"Then you are anxious to get away," Kate could not help saying. + +"Very." + +The reply was not discourteous in manner, but was so far from +gallant that Kate felt a new and inconsistent resentment. Before +she could say anything he added, "And I hope you will remember, +whatever may happen, that I did my best to avoid staying here +longer than was necessary to keep my friend from bleeding to death +in the road." + +"Certainly," said Kate; then added awkwardly, "I hope he'll be +better soon." She was silent, and then, quickening her pace, said +hurriedly, "I must tell my sister this dreadful news." + +"I think she is prepared for it. If there is anything I can do to +help you I hope you will let me know. Perhaps I may be of some +service. I shall begin by exploring the trails to-morrow, for the +best service we can do you possibly is to take ourselves off; but I +can carry a gun, and the woods are full of game driven down from +the mountains. Let me show you something you may not have +noticed." He stopped, and pointed to a small knoll of sheltered +shrubbery and granite on the opposite mountain, which still +remained black against the surrounding snow. It seemed to be +thickly covered with moving objects. "They are wild animals driven +out of the snow," said the stranger. "That larger one is a +grizzly; there is a panther, wolves, wild cats, a fox, and some +mountain goats." + +"An ill-assorted party," said the young girl. + +"Ill luck makes them companions. They are too frightened to hurt +one another now." + +"But they will eat each other later on," said Kate, stealing a +glance at her companion. + +He lifted his long lashes and met her eyes. "Not on a haven of +refuge." + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Kate found her sister, as the stranger had intimated, fully +prepared. A hasty inventory of provisions and means of subsistence +showed that they had ample resources for a much longer isolation. + +"They tell me it is by no means an uncommon case, Kate; somebody +over at somebody's place was snowed in for four weeks, and now it +appears that even the Summit House is not always accessible. John +ought to have known it when he bought the place; in fact, I was +ashamed to admit that he did not. But that is like John to prefer +his own theories to the experience of others. However, I don't +suppose we should even notice the privation except for the mails. +It will be a lesson to John, though. As Mr. Lee says, he is on the +outside, and can probably go wherever he likes from the Summit +except to come here." + +"Mr. Lee?" echoed Kate. + +"Yes, the wounded one; and the other's name is Falkner. I asked +them in order that you might be properly introduced. There were +very respectable Falkners in Charlestown, you remember; I thought +you might warm to the name, and perhaps trace the connection, now +that you are such good friends. It's providential they are here, +as we haven't got a horse or a man in the place since Manuel +disappeared, though Mr. Falkner says he can't be far away, or they +would have met him on the trail if he had gone towards the Summit." + +"Did they say anything more of Manuel?" + +"Nothing; though I am inclined to agree with you that he isn't +trustworthy. But that again is the result of John's idea of +employing native skill at the expense of retaining native habits." + +The evening closed early, and with no diminution in the falling +rain and rising wind. Falkner kept his word, and unostentatiously +performed the out-door work in the barn and stables, assisted by +the only Chinese servant remaining, and under the advice and +supervision of Kate. Although he seemed to understand horses, she +was surprised to find that he betrayed a civic ignorance of the +ordinary details of the farm and rustic household. It was quite +impossible that she should retain her distrustful attitude, or he +his reserve in their enforced companionship. They talked freely of +subjects suggested by the situation, Falkner exhibiting a general +knowledge and intuition of things without parade or dogmatism. +Doubtful of all versatility as Kate was, she could not help +admitting to herself that his truths were none the less true for +their quantity or that he got at them without ostentatious +processes. His talk certainly was more picturesque than her +brother's, and less subduing to her faculties. John had always +crushed her. + +When they returned to the house he did not linger in the parlor or +sitting-room, but at once rejoined his friend. When dinner was +ready in the dining-room, a little more deliberately arranged and +ornamented than usual, the two women were somewhat surprised to +receive an excuse from Falkner, begging them to allow him for the +present to take his meals with the patient, and thus save the +necessity of another attendant. + +"It is all shyness, Kate," said Mrs. Hale, confidently, "and must +not be permitted for a moment." + +"I'm sure I should be quite willing to stay with the poor boy +myself," said Mrs. Scott, simply, "and take Mr. Falkner's place +while he dines." + +"You are too willing, mother," said Mrs. Hale, pertly, "and your +'poor boy,' as you call him, will never see thirty-five again." + +"He will never see any other birthday!" retorted her mother, +"unless you keep him more quiet. He only talks when you're in the +room." + +"He wants some relief to his friend's long face and moustachios +that make him look prematurely in mourning," said Mrs. Hale, with a +slight increase of animation. "I don't propose to leave them too +much together. After dinner we'll adjourn to their room and +lighten it up a little. You must come, Kate, to look at the +patient, and counteract the baleful effects of my frivolity." + +Mrs. Hale's instincts were truer than her mother's experience; not +only that the wounded man's eyes became brighter under the +provocation of her presence, but it was evident that his naturally +exuberant spirits were a part of his vital strength, and were +absolutely essential to his quick recovery. Encouraged by +Falkner's grave and practical assistance, which she could not +ignore, Kate ventured to make an examination of Lee's wound. Even +to her unpractised eye it was less serious than at first appeared. +The great loss of blood had been due to the laceration of certain +small vessels below the knee, but neither artery nor bone was +injured. A recurrence of the haemorrhage or fever was the only +thing to be feared, and these could be averted by bandaging, +repose, and simple nursing. + +The unfailing good humor of the patient under this manipulation, +the quaint originality of his speech, the freedom of his fancy, +which was, however, always controlled by a certain instinctive +tact, began to affect Kate nearly as it had the others. She found +herself laughing over the work she had undertaken in a pure sense +of duty; she joined in the hilarity produced by Lee's affected +terror of her surgical mania, and offered to undo the bandages in +search of the thimble he declared she had left in the wound with a +view to further experiments. + +"You ought to broaden your practice," he suggested. "A good deal +might be made out of Ned and a piece of soap left carelessly on the +first step of the staircase, while mountains of surgical +opportunities lie in a humble orange peel judiciously exposed. +Only I warn you that you wouldn't find him as docile as I am. +Decoyed into a snow-drift and frozen, you might get some valuable +experiences in resuscitation by thawing him." + +"I fancied you had done that already, Kate," whispered Mrs. Hale. + +"Freezing is the new suggestion for painless surgery," said Lee, +coming to Kate's relief with ready tact, "only the knowledge should +be more generally spread. There was a man up at Strawberry fell +under a sledge-load of wood in the snow. Stunned by the shock, he +was slowly freezing to death, when, with a tremendous effort, he +succeeded in freeing himself all but his right leg, pinned down by +a small log. His axe happened to have fallen within reach, and a +few blows on the log freed him." + +"And saved the poor fellow's life," said Mrs. Scott, who was +listening with sympathizing intensity. + +"At the expense of his LEFT LEG, which he had unknowingly cut off +under the pleasing supposition that it was a log," returned Lee +demurely. + +Nevertheless, in a few moments he managed to divert the slightly +shocked susceptibilities of the old lady with some raillery of +himself, and did not again interrupt the even good-humored +communion of the party. The rain beating against the windows and +the fire sparkling on the hearth seemed to lend a charm to their +peculiar isolation, and it was not until Mrs. Scott rose with a +warning that they were trespassing upon the rest of their patient +that they discovered that the evening had slipped by unnoticed. +When the door at last closed on the bright, sympathetic eyes of the +two young women and the motherly benediction of the elder, Falkner +walked to the window, and remained silent, looking into the +darkness. Suddenly he turned bitterly to his companion. + +"This is just h-ll, George." + +George Lee, with a smile on his boyish face, lazily moved his head. + +"I don't know! If it wasn't for the old woman, who is the one +solid chunk of absolute goodness here, expecting nothing, wanting +nothing, it would be good fun enough! These two women, cooped up +in this house, wanted excitement. They've got it! That man Hale +wanted to show off by going for us; he's had his chance, and will +have it again before I've done with him. That d--d fool of a +messenger wanted to go out of his way to exchange shots with me; I +reckon he's the most satisfied of the lot! I don't know why YOU +should growl. You did your level best to get away from here, and +the result is, that little Puritan is ready to worship you." + +"Yes--but this playing it on them--George--this--" + +"Who's playing it? Not you; I see you've given away our names +already." + +"I couldn't lie, and they know nothing by that." + +"Do you think they would be happier by knowing it? Do you think +that soft little creature would be as happy as she was to-night if +she knew that her husband had been indirectly the means of laying +me by the heels here? Where is the swindle? This hole in my leg? +If you had been five minutes under that girl's d--d sympathetic +fingers you'd have thought it was genuine. Is it in our trying to +get away? Do you call that ten-feet drift in the pass a swindle? +Is it in the chance of Hale getting back while we're here? That's +real enough, isn't it? I say, Ned, did you ever give your +unfettered intellect to the contemplation of THAT?" + +Falkner did not reply. There was an interval of silence, but he +could see from the movement of George's shoulders that he was +shaking with suppressed laughter. + +"Fancy Mrs. Hale archly introducing her husband! My offering him a +chair, but being all the time obliged to cover him with a derringer +under the bedclothes. Your rushing in from your peaceful pastoral +pursuits in the barn, with a pitchfork in one hand and the girl in +the other, and dear old mammy sympathizing all round and trying to +make everything comfortable." + +"I should not be alive to see it, George," said Falkner gloomily. + +"You'd manage to pitchfork me and those two women on Hale's horse +and ride away; that's what you'd do, or I don't know you! Look +here, Ned," he added more seriously, "the only swindling was our +bringing that note here. That was YOUR idea. You thought it would +remove suspicion, and as you believed I was bleeding to death you +played that game for all it was worth to save me. You might have +done what I asked you to do--propped me up in the bushes, and got +away yourself. I was good for a couple of shots yet, and after +that--what mattered? That night, the next day, the next time I +take the road, or a year hence? It will come when it will come, +all the same!" + +He did not speak bitterly, nor relax his smile. Falkner, without +speaking, slid his hand along the coverlet. Lee grasped it, and +their hands remained clasped together for a few minutes in silence. + +"How is this to end? We cannot go on here in this way," said +Falkner suddenly. + +"If we cannot get away it must go on. Look here, Ned. I don't +reckon to take anything out of this house that I didn't bring in +it, or isn't freely offered to me; yet I don't otherwise, you +understand, intend making myself out a d--d bit better than I am. +That's the only excuse I have for not making myself out JUST WHAT I +am. I don't know the fellow who's obliged to tell every one the +last company he was in, or the last thing he did! Do you suppose +even these pretty little women tell US their whole story? Do you +fancy that this St. John in the wilderness is canonized in his +family? Perhaps, when I take the liberty to intrude in his +affairs, as he has in mine, he'd see he isn't. I don't blame you +for being sensitive, Ned. It's natural. When a man lives outside +the revised statutes of his own State he is apt to be awfully fine +on points of etiquette in his own household. As for me, I find it +rather comfortable here. The beds of other people's making strike +me as being more satisfactory than my own. Good-night." + +In a few moments he was sleeping the peaceful sleep of that youth +which seemed to be his own dominant quality. Falkner stood for a +little space and watched him, following the boyish lines of his +cheek on the pillow, from the shadow of the light brown lashes +under his closed lids to the lifting of his short upper lip over +his white teeth, with his regular respiration. Only a sharp +accenting of the line of nostril and jaw and a faint depression of +the temple betrayed his already tried manhood. + +The house had long sunk to repose when Falkner returned to the +window, and remained looking out upon the storm. Suddenly he +extinguished the light, and passing quickly to the bed laid his +hand upon the sleeper. Lee opened his eyes instantly. + +"Are you awake?" + +"Perfectly." + +"Somebody is trying to get into the house!" + +"Not HIM, eh?" said Lee gayly. + +"No; two men. Mexicans, I think. One looks like Manuel." + +"Ah," said Lee, drawing himself up to a sitting posture. + +"Well?" + +"Don't you see? He believes the women are alone." + +"The dog--d--d hound!" + +"Speak respectfully of one of my people, if you please, and hand me +my derringer. Light the candle again, and open the door. Let them +get in quietly. They'll come here first. It's HIS room, you +understand, and if there's any money it's here. Anyway, they must +pass here to get to the women's rooms. Leave Manuel to me, and you +take care of the other." + +"I see." + +"Manuel knows the house, and will come first. When he's fairly in +the room shut the door and go for the other. But no noise. This +is just one of the SW-EETEST things out--if it's done properly." + +"But YOU, George?" + +"If I couldn't manage that fellow without turning down the +bedclothes I'd kick myself. Hush. Steady now." + +He lay down and shut his eyes as if in natural repose. Only his +right hand, carelessly placed under his pillow, closed on the +handle of his pistol. Falkner quietly slipped into the passage. +The light of the candle faintly illuminated the floor and opposite +wall, but left it on either side in pitchy obscurity. + +For some moments the silence was broken only by the sound of the +rain without. The recumbent figure in bed seemed to have actually +succumbed to sleep. The multitudinous small noises of a house in +repose might have been misinterpreted by ears less keen than the +sleeper's; but when the apparent creaking of a far-off shutter was +followed by the sliding apparition of a dark head of tangled hair +at the door, Lee had not been deceived, and was as prepared as if +he had seen it. Another step, and the figure entered the room. +The door closed instantly behind it. The sound of a heavy body +struggling against the partition outside followed, and then +suddenly ceased. + +The intruder turned, and violently grasped the handle of the door, +but recoiled at a quiet voice from the bed. + +"Drop that, and come here." + +He started back with an exclamation. The sleeper's eyes were wide +open; the sleeper's extended arm and pistol covered him. + +"Silence! or I'll let that candle shine through you!" + +"Yes, captain!" growled the astounded and frightened half-breed. +"I didn't know you were here." + +Lee raised himself, and grasped the long whip in his left hand and +whirled it round his head. + +"WILL YOU dry up?" + +The man sank back against the wall in silent terror. + +"Open that door now--softly." + +Manuel obeyed with trembling fingers. + +"Ned" said Lee in a low voice, "bring him in here--quick." + +There was a slight rustle, and Falkner appeared, backing in another +gasping figure, whose eyes were starting under the strong grasp of +the captor at his throat. + +"Silence," said Lee, "all of you." + +There was a breathless pause. The sound of a door hesitatingly +opened in the passage broke the stillness, followed by the gentle +voice of Mrs. Scott. + +"Is anything the matter?" + +Lee made a slight gesture of warning to Falkner, of menace to the +others. "Everything's the matter," he called out cheerily. "Ned's +managed to half pull down the house trying to get at something from +my saddle-bags." + +"I hope he has not hurt himself," broke in another voice +mischievously. + +"Answer, you clumsy villain," whispered Lee, with twinkling eyes. + +"I'm all right, thank you," responded Falkner, with unaffected +awkwardness. + +There was a slight murmuring of voices, and then the door was heard +to close. Lee turned to Falkner. + +"Disarm that hound and turn him loose outside, and make no noise. +And you, Manuel! tell him what his and your chances are if he shows +his black face here again." + +Manuel cast a single, terrified, supplicating glance, more +suggestive than words, at his confederate, as Falkner shoved him +before him from the room. The next moment they were silently +descending the stairs. + +"May I go too, captain?" entreated Manuel. "I swear to God--" + +"Shut the door!" The man obeyed. + +"Now, then," said Lee, with a broad, gratified smile, laying down +his whip and pistol within reach, and comfortably settling the +pillows behind his back, "we'll have a quiet confab. A sort of +old-fashioned talk, eh? You're not looking well, Manuel. You're +drinking too much again. It spoils your complexion." + +"Let me go, captain," pleaded the man, emboldened by the good- +humored voice, but not near enough to notice a peculiar light in +the speaker's eye. + +"You've only just come, Manuel; and at considerable trouble, too. +Well, what have you got to say? What's all this about? What are +you doing here?" + +The captured man shuffled his feet nervously, and only uttered an +uneasy laugh of coarse discomfiture. + +"I see. You're bashful. Well, I'll help you along. Come! You +knew that Hale was away and these women were here without a man to +help them. You thought you'd find some money here, and have your +own way generally, eh?" + +The tone of Lee's voice inspired him to confidence; unfortunately, +it inspired him with familiarity also. + +"I reckoned I had the right to a little fun on my own account, cap. +I reckoned ez one gentleman in the profession wouldn't interfere +with another gentleman's little game," he continued coarsely. + +"Stand up." + +"Wot for?" + +"Up, I say!" + +Manuel stood up and glanced at him. + +"Utter a cry that might frighten these women, and by the living God +they'll rush in here only to find you lying dead on the floor of +the house you'd have polluted." + +He grasped the whip and laid the lash of it heavily twice over the +ruffian's shoulders. Writhing in suppressed agony, the man fell +imploringly on his knees. + +"Now, listen!" said Lee, softly twirling the whip in the air. "I +want to refresh your memory. Did you ever learn, when you were +with me--before I was obliged to kick you out of gentlemen's +company--to break into a private house? Answer!" + +"No," stammered the wretch. + +"Did you ever learn to rob a woman, a child, or any but a man, and +that face to face?" + +"No," repeated Manuel. + +"Did you ever learn from me to lay a finger upon a woman, old or +young, in anger or kindness?" + +"No." + +"Then, my poor Manuel, it's as I feared; civilization has ruined +you. Farming and a simple, bucolic life have perverted your +morals. So you were running off with the stock and that mustang, +when you got stuck in the snow; and the luminous idea of this +little game struck you? Eh? That was another mistake, Manuel; I +never allowed you to think when you were with me." + +"No, captain." + +"Who's your friend?" + +"A d--d cowardly nigger from the Summit." + +"I agree with you for once; but he hasn't had a very brilliant +example. Where's he gone now?" + +"To h-ll, for all I care!" + +"Then I want you to go with him. Listen. If there's a way out of +the place, you know it or can find it. I give you two days to do +it--you and he. At the end of that time the order will be to shoot +you on sight. Now take off your boots." + +The man's dark face visibly whitened, his teeth chattered in +superstitious terror. + +"I'm not going to shoot you now," said Lee, smiling, "so you will +have a chance to die with your boots on,* if you are superstitious. +I only want you to exchange them for that pair of Hale's in the +corner. The fact is I have taken a fancy to yours. That fashion +of wearing the stockings outside strikes me as one of the neatest +things out." + + +* "To die with one's boots on." A synonym for death by violence, +popular among Southwestern desperadoes, and the subject of +superstitious dread. + + +Manuel suddenly drew off his boots with their muffled covering, and +put on the ones designated. + +"Now open the door." + +He did so. Falkner was already waiting at the threshold, "Turn +Manuel loose with the other, Ned, but disarm him first. They might +quarrel. The habit of carrying arms, Manuel," added Lee, as +Falkner took a pistol and bowie-knife from the half-breed, "is of +itself provocative of violence, and inconsistent with a bucolic and +pastoral life." + +When Falkner returned he said hurriedly to his companion, "Do you +think it wise, George, to let those hell-hounds loose? Good God! +I could scarcely let my grip of his throat go, when I thought of +what they were hunting." + +"My dear Ned," said Lee, luxuriously ensconcing himself under the +bedclothes again with a slight shiver of delicious warmth, "I must +warn you against allowing the natural pride of a higher walk to +prejudice you against the general level of our profession. Indeed, +I was quite struck with the justice of Manuel's protest that I was +interfering with certain rude processes of his own towards results +aimed at by others." + +"George!" interrupted Falkner, almost savagely. + +"Well. I admit it's getting rather late in the evening for pure +philosophical inquiry, and you are tired. Practically, then, it +WAS wise to let them get away before they discovered two things. +One, our exact relations here with these women; and the other, HOW +MANY of us were here. At present they think we are three or four +in possession and with the consent of the women." + +"The dogs!" + +"They are paying us the highest compliment they can conceive of by +supposing us cleverer scoundrels than themselves. You are very +unjust, Ned." + +"If they escape and tell their story?" + +"We shall have the rare pleasure of knowing we are better than +people believe us. And now put those boots away somewhere where we +can produce them if necessary, as evidence of Manuel's evening +call. At present we'll keep the thing quiet, and in the early +morning you can find out where they got in and remove any traces +they have left. It is no use to frighten the women. There's no +fear of their returning." + +"And if they get away?" + +"We can follow in their tracks." + +"If Manuel gives the alarm?" + +"With his burglarious boots left behind in the house? Not much! +Good-night, Ned. Go to bed." + +With these words Lee turned on his side and quietly resumed his +interrupted slumber. Falkner did not, however, follow this +sensible advice. When he was satisfied that his friend was +sleeping he opened the door softly and looked out. He did not +appear to be listening, for his eyes were fixed upon a small pencil +of light that stole across the passage from the foot of Kate's +door. He watched it until it suddenly disappeared, when, leaving +the door partly open, he threw himself on his couch without +removing his clothes. The slight movement awakened the sleeper, +who was beginning to feel the accession of fever. He moved +restlessly. + +"George," said Falkner, softly. + +"Yes." + +"Where was it we passed that old Mission Church on the road one +dark night, and saw the light burning before the figure of the +Virgin through the window?" + +There was a moment of crushing silence. "Does that mean you're +wanting to light the candle again?" + +"No." + +"Then don't lie there inventing sacrilegious conundrums, but go to +sleep." + +Nevertheless, in the morning his fever was slightly worse. Mrs. +Hale, offering her condolence, said, "I know that you have not been +resting well, for even after your friend met with that mishap in +the hall, I heard your voices, and Kate says your door was open all +night. You have a little fever too, Mr. Falkner." + +George looked curiously at Falkner's pale face--it was burning. + + +CHAPTER V + + +The speed and fury with which Clinch's cavalcade swept on in the +direction of the mysterious shot left Hale no chance for +reflection. He was conscious of shouting incoherently with the +others, of urging his horse irresistibly forward, of momentarily +expecting to meet or overtake something, but without any further +thought. The figures of Clinch and Rawlins immediately before him +shut out the prospect of the narrowing trail. Once only, taking +advantage of a sudden halt that threw them confusedly together, he +managed to ask a question. + +"Lost their track--found it again!" shouted the ostler, as Clinch, +with a cry like the baying of a hound, again darted forward. Their +horses were panting and trembling under them, the ascent seemed to +be growing steeper, a singular darkness, which even the density of +the wood did not sufficiently account for, surrounded them, but +still their leader madly urged them on. To Hale's returning senses +they did not seem in a condition to engage a single resolute man, +who might have ambushed in the woods or beaten them in detail in +the narrow gorge, but in another instant the reason of their +furious haste was manifest. Spurring his horse ahead, Clinch +dashed out into the open with a cheering shout--a shout that as +quickly changed to a yell of imprecation. They were on the Ridge +in a blinding snow-storm! The road had already vanished under +their feet, and with it the fresh trail they had so closely +followed! They stood helplessly on the shore of a trackless white +sea, blank and spotless of any trace or sign of the fugitives. + +"'Pears to me, boys," said the ostler, suddenly ranging before +them, "ef you're not kalkilatin' on gittin' another party to dig ye +out, ye'd better be huntin' fodder and cover instead of road +agents. 'Skuse me, gentlemen, but I'm responsible for the hosses, +and this ain't no time for circus-ridin'. We're a matter o' six +miles from the station in a bee line." + +"Back to the trail, then," said Clinch, wheeling his horse towards +the road they had just quitted. + +"'Skuse me, Kernel," said the ostler, laying his hand on Clinch's +rein, "but that way only brings us back the road we kem--the stage +road--three miles further from home. That three miles is on the +divide, and by the time we get there it will be snowed up worse nor +this. The shortest cut is along the Ridge. If we hump ourselves +we ken cross the divide afore the road is blocked. And that, +'skuse me, gentlemen, is MY road." + +There was no time for discussion. The road was already palpably +thickening under their feet. Hale's arm was stiffened to his side +by a wet, clinging snow-wreath. The figures of the others were +almost obliterated and shapeless. It was not snowing--it was +snowballing! The huge flakes, shaken like enormous feathers out of +a vast blue-black cloud, commingled and fell in sprays and patches. +All idea of their former pursuit was forgotten; the blind rage and +enthusiasm that had possessed them was gone. They dashed after +their new leader with only an instinct for shelter and succor. + +They had not ridden long when fortunately, as it seemed to Hale, +the character of the storm changed. The snow no longer fell in +such large flakes, nor as heavily. A bitter wind succeeded; the +soft snow began to stiffen and crackle under the horses' hoofs; +they were no longer weighted and encumbered by the drifts upon +their bodies; the smaller flakes now rustled and rasped against +them like sand, or bounded from them like hail. They seemed to be +moving more easily and rapidly, their spirits were rising with the +stimulus of cold and motion, when suddenly their leader halted. + +"It's no use, boys. It can't be done! This is no blizzard, but a +regular two days' snifter! It's no longer meltin', but packin' and +driftin' now. Even if we get over the divide, we're sure to be +blocked up in the pass." + +It was true! To their bitter disappointment they could now see +that the snow had not really diminished in quantity, but that the +now finely-powdered particles were rapidly filling all inequalities +of the surface, packing closely against projections, and swirling +in long furrows across the levels. They looked with anxiety at +their self-constituted leader. + +"We must make a break to get down in the woods again before it's +too late," he said briefly. + +But they had already drifted away from the fringe of larches and +dwarf pines that marked the sides of the Ridge, and lower down +merged into the dense forest that clothed the flank of the mountain +they had lately climbed, and it was with the greatest difficulty +that they again reached it, only to find that at that point it was +too precipitous for the descent of their horses. Benumbed and +speechless, they continued to toil on, opposed to the full fury of +the stinging snow, and at times obliged to turn their horses to the +blast to keep from being blown over the Ridge. At the end of half +an hour the ostler dismounted, and, beckoning to the others, took +his horse by the bridle, and began the descent. When it came to +Hale's turn to dismount he could not help at first recoiling from +the prospect before him. The trail--if it could be so called--was +merely the track or furrow of some fallen tree dragged, by accident +or design, diagonally across the sides of the mountain. At times +it appeared scarcely a foot in width; at other times a mere +crumbling gully, or a narrow shelf made by the projections of dead +boughs and collected debris. It seemed perilous for a foot +passenger, it appeared impossible for a horse. Nevertheless, he +had taken a step forward when Clinch laid his hand on his arm. + +"You'll bring up the rear," he said not unkindly, "ez you're a +stranger here. Wait until we sing out to you." + +"But if I prefer to take the same risks as you all?" said Hale +stiffly. + +"You kin," said Clinch grimly. "But I reckoned, as you wern't +familiar with this sort o' thing, you wouldn't keer, by any +foolishness o' yours, to stampede the rocks ahead of us, and break +down the trail, or send down an avalanche on top of us. But just +ez you like." + +"I will wait, then," said Hale hastily. + +The rebuke, however, did him good service. It preoccupied his +mind, so that it remained unaffected by the dizzy depths, and +enabled him to abandon himself mechanically to the sagacity of his +horse, who was contented simply to follow the hoofprints of the +preceding animal, and in a few moments they reached the broader +trail without a mishap. A discussion regarding their future +movements was already taking place. The impossibility of regaining +the station at the Summit was admitted; the way down the mountain +to the next settlement was still left to them, or the adjacent +woods, if they wished for an encampment. The ostler once more +assumed authority. + +"'Skuse me, gentlemen, but them horses don't take no pasear down +the mountain to-night. The stage-road ain't a mile off, and I +kalkilate to wait here till the up stage comes. She's bound to +stop on account of the snow; and I've done my dooty when I hand the +horses over to the driver." + +"But if she hears of the block up yer, and waits at the lower +station?" said Rawlins. + +"Then I've done my dooty all the same. 'Skuse me, gentlemen, but +them ez hez their own horses kin do ez they like." + +As this clearly pointed to Hale, he briefly assured his companions +that he had no intention of deserting them. "If I cannot reach +Eagle's Court, I shall at least keep as near it as possible. I +suppose any messenger from my house to the Summit will learn where +I am and why I am delayed?" + +"Messenger from your house!" gasped Rawlins. "Are you crazy, +stranger? Only a bird would get outer Eagle's now; and it would +hev to be an eagle at that! Between your house and the Summit the +snow must be ten feet by this time, to say nothing of the drift in +the pass." + +Hale felt it was the truth. At any other time he would have +worried over this unexpected situation, and utter violation of all +his traditions. He was past that now, and even felt a certain +relief. He knew his family were safe; it was enough. That they +were locked up securely, and incapable of interfering with HIM, +seemed to enhance his new, half-conscious, half-shy enjoyment of an +adventurous existence. + +The ostler, who had been apparently lost in contemplation of the +steep trail he had just descended, suddenly clapped his hand to his +leg with an ejaculation of gratified astonishment. + +"Waal, darn my skin ef that ain't Hennicker's 'slide' all the time! +I heard it was somewhat about here." + +Rawlins briefly explained to Hale that a slide was a rude incline +for the transit of heavy goods that could not be carried down a +trail. + +"And Hennicker's," continued the man, "ain't more nor a mile away. +Ye might try Hennicker's at a push, eh?" + +By a common instinct the whole party looked dubiously at Hale. +"Who's Hennicker?" he felt compelled to ask. + +The ostler hesitated, and glanced at the others to reply. "There +ARE folks," he said lazily, at last, "ez beleeves that Hennicker +ain't much better nor the crowd we're hunting; but they don't say +it TO Hennicker. We needn't let on what we're after." + +"I for one," said Hale stoutly, "decidedly object to any +concealment of our purpose." + +"It don't follow," said Rawlins carelessly, "that Hennicker even +knows of this yer robbery. It's his gineral gait we refer to. Ef +yer think it more polite, and it makes it more sociable to discuss +this matter afore him, I'm agreed." + +"Hale means," said Clinch, "that it wouldn't be on the square to +take and make use of any points we might pick up there agin the +road agents." + +"Certainly," said Hale. It was not at all what he had meant, but +he felt singularly relieved at the compromise. + +"And ez I reckon Hennicker ain't such a fool ez not to know who we +are and what we're out for," continued Clinch, "I reckon there +ain't any concealment." + +"Then it's Hennicker's?" said the ostler, with swift deduction. + +"Hennicker's it is! Lead on." + +The ostler remounted his horse, and the others followed. The trail +presently turned into a broader track, that bore some signs of +approaching habitations, and at the end of five minutes they came +upon a clearing. It was part of one of the fragmentary mountain +terraces, and formed by itself a vast niche, or bracketed shelf, in +the hollow flank of the mountain that, to Hale's first glance, bore +a rude resemblance to Eagle's Court. But there was neither meadow +nor open field; the few acres of ground had been wrested from the +forest by axe and fire, and unsightly stumps everywhere marked the +rude and difficult attempts at cultivation. Two or three rough +buildings of unplaned and unpainted boards, connected by rambling +sheds, stood in the centre of the amphitheatre. Far from being +protected by the encircling rampart, it seemed to be the selected +arena for the combating elements. A whirlwind from the outer abyss +continually filled this cave of AEolus with driving snow, which, +however, melted as it fell, or was quickly whirled away again. + +A few dogs barked and ran out to meet the cavalcade, but there was +no other sign of any life disturbed or concerned at their approach. + +"I reckon Hennicker ain't home, or he'd hev been on the lookout +afore this," said the ostler, dismounting and rapping on the door. + +After a silence, a female voice, unintelligibly to the others, +apparently had some colloquy with the ostler, who returned to the +party. + +"Must go in through the kitchin--can't open the door for the wind." + +Leaving their horses in the shed, they entered the kitchen, which +communicated, and presently came upon a square room filled with +smoke from a fire of green pine logs. The doors and windows were +tightly fastened; the only air came in through the large-throated +chimney in voluminous gusts, which seemed to make the hollow shell +of the apartment swell and expand to the point of bursting. +Despite the stinging of the resinous smoke, the temperature was +grateful to the benumbed travellers. Several cushionless arm- +chairs, such as were used in bar-rooms, two tables, a sideboard, +half bar and half cupboard, and a rocking-chair comprised the +furniture, and a few bear and buffalo skins covered the floor. +Hale sank into one of the arm-chairs, and, with a lazy +satisfaction, partly born of his fatigue and partly from some +newly-discovered appreciative faculty, gazed around the room, and +then at the mistress of the house, with whom the others were +talking. + +She was tall, gaunt, and withered; in spite of her evident years, +her twisted hair was still dark and full, and her eyes bright and +piercing; her complexion and teeth had long since succumbed to the +vitiating effects of frontier cookery, and her lips were stained +with the yellow juice of a brier-wood pipe she held in her mouth. +The ostler had explained their intrusion, and veiled their +character under the vague epithet of a "hunting party," and was now +evidently describing them personally. In his new-found philosophy +the fact that the interest of his hostess seemed to be excited only +by the names of his companions, that he himself was carelessly, and +even deprecatingly, alluded to as the "stranger from Eagle's" by +the ostler, and completely overlooked by the old woman, gave him no +concern. + +"You'll have to talk to Zenobia yourself. Dod rot ef I'm gine to +interfere. She knows Hennicker's ways, and if she chooses to take +in transients it ain't no funeral o' mine. Zeenie! You, Zeenie! +Look yer!" + +A tall, lazy-looking, handsome girl appeared on the threshold of +the next room, and with a hand on each door-post slowly swung +herself backwards and forwards, without entering. "Well, Maw?" + +The old woman briefly and unalluringly pictured the condition of +the travellers. + +"Paw ain't here," began the girl doubtfully, "and--How dy, Dick! +is that you?" The interruption was caused by her recognition of +the ostler, and she lounged into the room. In spite of a skimp, +slatternly gown, whose straight skirt clung to her lower limbs, +there was a quaint, nymph-like contour to her figure. Whether from +languor, ill-health, or more probably from a morbid consciousness +of her own height, she moved with a slightly affected stoop that +had become a habit. It did not seem ungraceful to Hale, already +attracted by her delicate profile, her large dark eyes, and a +certain weird resemblance she had to some half-domesticated dryad. + +"That'll do, Maw," she said, dismissing her parent with a nod. +"I'll talk to Dick." + +As the door closed on the old woman, Zenobia leaned her hands on +the back of a chair, and confronted the admiring eyes of Dick with +a goddess-like indifference. + +"Now wot's the use of your playin' this yer game on me, Dick? +Wot's the good of your ladlin' out that hogwash about huntin'? +HUNTIN'! I'll tell yer the huntin' you-uns hev been at! You've +been huntin' George Lee and his boys since an hour before sun up. +You've been followin' a blind trail up to the Ridge, until the snow +got up and hunted YOU right here! You've been whoopin' and yellin' +and circus-ridin' on the roads like ez yer wos Comanches, and +frightening all the women folk within miles--that's your huntin'! +You've been climbin' down Paw's old slide at last, and makin' +tracks for here to save the skins of them condemned government +horses of the Kempany! And THAT'S your huntin'!" + +To Hale's surprise, a burst of laughter from the party followed +this speech. He tried to join in, but this ridiculous summary of +the result of his enthusiastic sense of duty left him--the only +earnest believer mortified and embarrassed. Nor was he the less +concerned as he found the girl's dark eyes had rested once or twice +upon him curiously. Zenobia laughed too, and, lazily turning the +chair around, dropped into it. "And by this time George Lee's +loungin' back in his chyar and smokin' his cigyar somewhar in +Sacramento," she added, stretching her feet out to the fire, and +suiting the action to the word with an imaginary cigar between the +long fingers of a thin and not over-clean hand. + +"We cave, Zeenie!" said Rawlins, when their hilarity had subsided +to a more subdued and scarcely less flattering admiration of the +unconcerned goddess before them. "That's about the size of it. +You kin rake down the pile. I forgot you're an old friend of +George's." + +"He's a white man!" said the girl decidedly. + +"Ye used to know him?" continued Rawlins. + +"Once. Paw ain't in that line now," she said simply. + +There was such a sublime unconsciousness of any moral degradation +involved in this allusion that even Hale accepted it without a +shock. She rose presently, and, going to the little sideboard, +brought out a number of glasses; these she handed to each of the +party, and then, producing a demijohn of whiskey, slung it +dexterously and gracefully over her arm, so that it rested on her +elbow like a cradle, and, going to each one in succession, filled +their glasses. It obliged each one to rise to accept the libation, +and as Hale did so in his turn he met the dark eyes of the girl +full on his own. There was a pleased curiosity in her glance that +made this married man of thirty-five color as awkwardly as a boy. + +The tender of refreshment being understood as a tacit recognition +of their claims to a larger hospitality, all further restraint was +removed. Zenobia resumed her seat, and placing her elbow on the +arm of her chair, and her small round chin in her hand, looked +thoughtfully in the fire. "When I say George Lee's a white man, it +ain't because I know him. It's his general gait. Wot's he ever +done that's underhanded or mean? Nothin'! You kant show the poor +man he's ever took a picayune from. When he's helped himself to a +pile it's been outer them banks or them express companies, that +think it mighty fine to bust up themselves, and swindle the poor +folks o' their last cent, and nobody talks o' huntin' THEM! And +does he keep their money? No; he passes it round among the boys +that help him, and they put it in circulation. HE don't keep it +for himself; he ain't got fine houses in Frisco; he don't keep fast +horses for show. Like ez not the critter he did that job with--ef +it was him--none of you boys would have rid! And he takes all the +risks himself; you ken bet your life that every man with him was +safe and away afore he turned his back on you-uns." + +"He certainly drops a little of his money at draw poker, Zeenie," +said Clinch, laughing. "He lost five thousand dollars to Sheriff +Kelly last week." + +"Well, I don't hear of the sheriff huntin' him to give it back, nor +do I reckon Kelly handed it over to the Express it was taken from. +I heard YOU won suthin' from him a spell ago. I reckon you've been +huntin' him to find out whar you should return it." The laugh was +clearly against Clinch. He was about to make some rallying +rejoinder when the young girl suddenly interrupted him. "Ef you're +wantin' to hunt somebody, why don't you take higher game? Thar's +that Jim Harkins: go for him, and I'll join you." + +"Harkins!" exclaimed Clinch and Hale simultaneously. + +"Yes, Jim Harkins; do you know him?" she said, glancing from one to +the other. + +"One of my friends do," said Clinch laughing; "but don't let that +stop you." + +"And YOU--over there," continued Zenobia, bending her head and eyes +towards Hale. + +"The fact is--I believe he was my banker," said Hale, with a smile. +"I don't know him personally." + +"Then you'd better hunt him before he does you." + +"What's HE done, Zeenie?" asked Rawlins, keenly enjoying the +discomfiture of the others. + +"What?" She stopped, threw her long black braids over her +shoulder, clasped her knee with her hands, and rocking backwards +and forwards, sublimely unconscious of the apparition of a slim +ankle and half-dropped-off slipper from under her shortened gown, +continued, "It mightn't please HIM," she said slyly, nodding +towards Hale. + +"Pray don't mind me," said Hale, with unnecessary eagerness. + +"Well," said Zenobia, "I reckon you all know Ned Falkner and the +Excelsior Ditch?" + +"Yes, Falkner's the superintendent of it," said Rawlins. "And a +square man too. Thar ain't anything mean about him." + +"Shake," said Zenobia, extending her hand. Rawlins shook the +proffered hand with eager spontaneousness, and the girl resumed: +"He's about ez good ez they make 'em--you bet. Well, you know Ned +has put all his money, and all his strength, and all his sabe, and--" + +"His good looks," added Clinch mischievously. + +"Into that Ditch," continued Zenobia, ignoring the interruption. +"It's his mother, it's his sweetheart, it's his everything! When +other chaps of his age was cavortin' round Frisco, and havin' high +jinks, Ned was in his Ditch. 'Wait till the Ditch is done,' he +used to say. 'Wait till she begins to boom, and then you just +stand round.' Mor'n that, he got all the boys to put in their last +cent--for they loved Ned, and love him now, like ez ef he wos a +woman." + +"That's so," said Clinch and Rawlins simultaneously, "and he's +worth it." + +"Well," continued Zenobia, "the Ditch didn't boom ez soon ez they +kalkilated. And then the boys kept gettin' poorer and poorer, and +Ned he kept gettin' poorer and poorer in everything but his +hopefulness and grit. Then he looks around for more capital. And +about this time, that coyote Harkins smelt suthin' nice up there, +and he gits Ned to give him control of it, and he'll lend him his +name and fix up a company. Soon ez he gets control, the first +thing he does is to say that it wants half a million o' money to +make it pay, and levies an assessment of two hundred dollars a +share. That's nothin' for them rich fellows to pay, or pretend to +pay, but for boys on grub wages it meant only ruin. They couldn't +pay, and had to forfeit their shares for next to nothing. And Ned +made one more desperate attempt to save them and himself by +borrowing money on his shares; when that hound Harkins got wind of +it, and let it be buzzed around that the Ditch is a failure, and +that he was goin' out of it; that brought the shares down to +nothing. As Ned couldn't raise a dollar, the new company swooped +down on his shares for the debts THEY had put up, and left him and +the boys to help themselves. Ned couldn't bear to face the boys +that he'd helped to ruin, and put out, and ain't been heard from +since. After Harkins had got rid of Ned and the boys he manages to +pay off that wonderful debt, and sells out for a hundred thousand +dollars. That money--Ned's money--he sends to Sacramento, for he +don't dare to travel with it himself, and is kalkilatin' to leave +the kentry, for some of the boys allow to kill him on sight. So ef +you're wantin' to hunt suthin', thar's yer chance, and you needn't +go inter the snow to do it." + +"But surely the law can recover this money?" said Hale indignantly. +"It is as infamous a robbery as--" He stopped as he caught +Zenobia's eye. + +"Ez last night's, you were goin' to say. I'll call it MORE. Them +road agents don't pretend to be your friend--but take yer money and +run their risks. For ez to the law--that can't help yer." + +"It's a skin game, and you might ez well expect to recover a +gambling debt from a short-card sharp," explained Clinch; "Falkner +oughter shot him on sight." + +"Or the boys lynched him," suggested Rawlins. + +"I think," said Hale, more reflectively, "that in the absence of +legal remedy a man of that kind should have been forced under +strong physical menace to give up his ill-gotten gains. The money +was the primary object, and if that could be got without bloodshed-- +which seems to me a useless crime--it would be quite as effective. +Of course, if there was resistance or retaliation, it might be +necessary to kill him." + +He had unconsciously fallen into his old didactic and dogmatic +habit of speech, and perhaps, under the spur of Zenobia's eyes, he +had given it some natural emphasis. A dead silence followed, in +which the others regarded him with amused and gratified surprise, +and it was broken only by Zenobia rising and holding out her hand. +"Shake!" + +Hale raised it gallantly, and pressed his lips on the one spotless +finger. + +"That's gospel truth. And you ain't the first white man to say +it." + +"Indeed," laughed Hale. "Who was the other?" + +"George Lee!" + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The laughter that followed was interrupted by a sudden barking of +the dogs in the outer clearing. Zenobia rose lazily and strode to +the window. It relieved Hale of certain embarrassing reflections +suggested by her comment. + +"Ef it ain't that God-forsaken fool Dick bringing up passengers +from the snow-bound up stage in the road! I reckon I'VE got +suthin' to say to that!" But the later appearance of the +apologetic Dick, with the assurance that the party carried a +permission from her father, granted at the lower station in view of +such an emergency, checked her active opposition. "That's like +Paw," she soliloquized aggrievedly; "shuttin' us up and settin' +dogs on everybody for a week, and then lettin' the whole stage +service pass through one door and out at another. Well, it's HIS +house and HIS whiskey, and they kin take it, but they don't get me +to help 'em." + +They certainly were not a prepossessing or good-natured acquisition +to the party. Apart from the natural antagonism which, on such +occasions, those in possession always feel towards the new-comer, +they were strongly inclined to resist the dissatisfied +querulousness and aggressive attitude of these fresh applicants for +hospitality. The most offensive one was a person who appeared to +exercise some authority over the others. He was loud, assuming, +and dressed with vulgar pretension. He quickly disposed himself in +the chair vacated by Zenobia, and called for some liquor. + +"I reckon you'll hev to help yourself," said Rawlins dryly, as the +summons met with no response. "There are only two women in the +house, and I reckon their hands are full already." + +"I call it d--d uncivil treatment," said the man, raising his +voice; "and Hennicker had better sing smaller if he don't want his +old den pulled down some day. He ain't any better than men that +hev been picked up afore now." + +"You oughter told him that, and mebbe he'd hev come over with yer," +returned Rawlins. "He's a mild, soft, easy-going man, is +Hennicker! Ain't he, Colonel Clinch?" + +The casual mention of Clinch's name produced the effect which the +speaker probably intended. The stranger stared at Clinch, who, +apparently oblivious of the conversation, was blinking his cold +gray eyes at the fire. Dropping his aggressive tone to mere +querulousness, the man sought the whiskey demijohn, and helped +himself and his companions. Fortified by liquor he returned to the +fire. + +"I reckon you've heard about this yer robbery, Colonel," he said, +addressing Clinch, with an attempt at easy familiarity. + +Without raising his eyes from the fire, Clinch briefly assented, "I +reckon." + +"I'm up yer, examining into it, for the Express." + +"Lost much?" asked Rawlins. + +"Not so much ez they might hev. That fool Harkins had a hundred +thousand dollars in greenbacks sealed up like an ordinary package +of a thousand dollars, and gave it to a friend, Bill Guthrie, in +the bank to pick out some unlikely chap among the passengers to +take charge of it to Reno. He wouldn't trust the Express. Ha! ha!" + +The dead, oppressive silence that followed his empty laughter made +it seem almost artificial. Rawlins held his breath and looked at +Clinch. Hale, with the instincts of a refined, sensitive man, +turned hot with the embarrassment Clinch should have shown. For +that gentleman, without lifting his eyes from the fire, and with no +apparent change in his demeanor, lazily asked-- + +"Ye didn't ketch the name o' that passenger?" + +"Naturally, no! For when Guthrie heard what was said agin him he +wouldn't give his name until he heard from him." + +"And WHAT was said agin him?" asked Clinch musingly. + +"What would be said agin a man that give up that sum o' money, like +a chaw of tobacco, for the asking? Why, there were but three men, +as far ez we kin hear, that did the job. And there were four +passengers inside, armed, and the driver and express messenger on +the box. Six were robbed by THREE!--they were a sweet-scented lot! +Reckon they must hev felt mighty small, for I hear they got up and +skedaddled from the station under the pretext of lookin' for the +robbers." He laughed again, and the laugh was noisily repeated by +his five companions at the other end of the room. + +Hale, who had forgotten that the stranger was only echoing a part +of his own criticism of eight hours before, was on the point of +rising with burning cheeks and angry indignation, when the lazily +uplifted eye of Clinch caught his, and absolutely held him down +with its paralyzing and deadly significance. Murder itself seemed +to look from those cruelly quiet and remorseless gray pupils. For +a moment he forgot his own rage in this glimpse of Clinch's +implacable resentment; for a moment he felt a thrill of pity for +the wretch who had provoked it. He remained motionless and +fascinated in his chair as the lazy lids closed like a sheath over +Clinch's eyes again. Rawlins, who had probably received the same +glance of warning, remained equally still. + +"They haven't heard the last of it yet, you bet," continued the +infatuated stranger. "I've got a little statement here for the +newspaper," he added, drawing some papers from his pocket; "suthin' +I just run off in the coach as I came along. I reckon it'll show +things up in a new light. It's time there should be some change. +All the cussin' that's been usually done hez been by the passengers +agin the express and stage companies. I propose that the Company +should do a little cussin' themselves. See? P'r'aps you don't +mind my readin' it to ye? It's just spicy enough to suit them +newspaper chaps." + +"Go on," said Colonel Clinch quietly. + +The man cleared his throat, with the preliminary pose of +authorship, and his five friends, to whom the composition was +evidently not unfamiliar, assumed anticipatory smiles. + +"I call it 'Prize Pusillanimous Passengers.' Sort of runs easy off +the tongue, you know. + +"'It now appears that the success of the late stagecoach robbery +near the Summit was largely due to the pusillanimity--not to use a +more serious word'"-- He stopped, and looked explanatorily towards +Clinch: "Ye'll see in a minit what I'm gettin' at by that +pusillanimity of the passengers themselves. 'It now transpires +that there were only three robbers who attacked the coach, and that +although passengers, driver, and express messenger were fully +armed, and were double the number of their assailants, not a shot +was fired. We mean no reflections upon the well-known courage of +Yuba Bill, nor the experience and coolness of Bracy Tibbetts, the +courteous express messenger, both of whom have since confessed to +have been more than astonished at the Christian and lamb-like +submission of the insiders. Amusing stories of some laughable yet +sickening incidents of the occasion--such as grown men kneeling in +the road, and offering to strip themselves completely, if their +lives were only spared; of one of the passengers hiding under the +seat, and only being dislodged by pulling his coat-tails; of +incredible sums promised, and even offers of menial service, for +the preservation of their wretched carcases--are received with the +greatest gusto; but we are in possession of facts which may lead to +more serious accusations. Although one of the passengers is said +to have lost a large sum of money intrusted to him, while +attempting with barefaced effrontery to establish a rival +"carrying" business in one of the Express Company's own coaches--'I +call that a good point." He interrupted himself to allow the +unrestrained applause of his own party. "Don't you?" + +"It's just h-ll," said Clinch musingly. + +"'Yet the affair," resumed the stranger from his manuscript, "'is +locked up in great and suspicious mystery. The presence of Jackson +N. Stanner, Esq.' (that's me), 'special detective agent to the +Company, and his staff in town, is a guaranty that the mystery will +be thoroughly probed.' Hed to put that in to please the Company," +he again deprecatingly explained. "'We are indebted to this +gentleman for the facts.'" + +"The pint you want to make in that article," said Clinch, rising, +but still directing his face and his conversation to the fire, "ez +far ez I ken see ez that no three men kin back down six unless they +be cowards, or are willing to be backed down." + +"That's the point what I start from," rejoined Stanner, "and work +up. I leave it to you ef it ain't so." + +"I can't say ez I agree with you," said the Colonel dryly. He +turned, and still without lifting his eyes walked towards the door +of the room which Zenobia had entered. The key was on the inside, +but Clinch gently opened the door, removed the key, and closing the +door again locked it from his side. Hale and Rawlins felt their +hearts beat quickly; the others followed Clinch's slow movements +and downcast mien with amused curiosity. After locking the other +outlet from the room, and putting the keys in his pocket, Clinch +returned to the fire. For the first time he lifted his eyes; the +man nearest him shrank back in terror. + +"I am the man," he said slowly, taking deliberate breath between +his sentences, "who gave up those greenbacks to the robbers. I am +one of the three passengers you have lampooned in that paper, and +these gentlemen beside me are the other two." He stopped and +looked around him. "You don't believe that three men can back down +six! Well, I'll show you how it can be done. More than that, I'll +show you how ONE man can do it; for, by the living G-d, if you +don't hand over that paper I'll kill you where you sit! I'll give +you until I count ten; if one of you moves he and you are dead men-- +but YOU first!" + +Before he had finished speaking Hale and Rawlins had both risen, as +if in concert, with their weapons drawn. Hale could not tell how +or why he had done so, but he was equally conscious, without +knowing why, of fixing his eye on one of the other party, and that +he should, in the event of an affray, try to kill him. He did not +attempt to reason; he only knew that he should do his best to kill +that man and perhaps others. + +"One," said Clinch, lifting his derringer, "two--three--" + +"Look here, Colonel--I swear I didn't know it was you. Come--d--m +it! I say--see here," stammered Stanner, with white cheeks, not +daring to glance for aid to his stupefied party. + +"Four--five--six--" + +"Wait! Here!" He produced the paper and threw it on the floor. + +"Pick it up and hand it to me. Seven--eight--" + +Stanner hastily scrambled to his feet, picked up the paper, and +handed it to the Colonel. "I was only joking, Colonel," he said, +with a forced laugh. + +"I'm glad to hear it. But as this joke is in black and white, you +wouldn't mind saying so in the same fashion. Take that pen and ink +and write as I dictate. 'I certify that I am satisfied that the +above statement is a base calumny against the characters of +Ringwood Clinch, Robert Rawlins, and John Hale, passengers, and +that I do hereby apologize to the same.' Sign it. That'll do. +Now let the rest of your party sign as witnesses." + +They complied without hesitation; some, seizing the opportunity of +treating the affair as a joke, suggested a drink. + +"Excuse me," said Clinch quietly, "but ez this house ain't big +enough for me and that man, and ez I've got business at Wild Cat +Station with this paper, I think I'll go without drinkin'." He +took the keys from his pocket, unlocked the doors, and taking up +his overcoat and rifle turned as if to go. + +Rawlins rose to follow him; Hale alone hesitated. The rapid +occurrences of the last half hour gave him no time for reflection. +But he was by no means satisfied of the legality of the last act he +had aided and abetted, although he admitted its rude justice, and +felt he would have done so again. A fear of this, and an instinct +that he might be led into further complications if he continued to +identify himself with Clinch and Rawlins; the fact that they had +professedly abandoned their quest, and that it was really +supplanted by the presence of an authorized party whom they had +already come in conflict with--all this urged him to remain behind. +On the other hand, the apparent desertion of his comrades at the +last moment was opposed both to his sense of honor and the liking +he had taken to them. But he reflected that he had already shown +his active partisanship, that he could be of little service to them +at Wild Cat Station, and would be only increasing the distance from +his home; and above all, an impatient longing for independent +action finally decided him. "I think I'll stay here," he said to +Clinch, "unless you want me." + +Clinch cast a swift and meaning glance at the enemy, but looked +approval. "Keep your eyes skinned, and you're good for a dozen of +'em," he said sotto voce, and then turned to Stanner. "I'm going +to take this paper to Wild Cat. If you want to communicate with me +hereafter you know where I am to be found, unless--"he smiled +grimly--"you'd like to see me outside for a few minutes before I +go?" + +"It is a matter that concerns the Stage Company, not me," said +Stanner, with an attempt to appear at his ease. + +Hale accompanied Clinch and Rawlins through the kitchen to the +stables. The ostler, Dick, had already returned to the rescue of +the snow-bound coach. + +"I shouldn't like to leave many men alone with that crowd," said +Clinch, pressing Hale's hand; "and I wouldn't have allowed your +staying behind ef I didn't know I could bet my pile on you. Your +offerin' to stay just puts a clean finish on it. Look yer, Hale, I +didn't cotton much to you at first; but ef you ever want a friend, +call on Ringwood Clinch." + +"The same here, old man," said Rawlins, extending his hand as he +appeared from a hurried conference with the old woman at the +woodshed, "and trust to Zeenie to give you a hint ef there's +anythin' underhanded goin' on. So long." + +Half inclined to resent this implied suggestion of protection, yet +half pleased at the idea of a confidence with the handsome girl he +had seen, Hale returned to the room. A whispered discussion among +the party ceased on his entering, and an awkward silence followed, +which Hale did not attempt to break as he quietly took his seat +again by the fire. He was presently confronted by Stanner, who +with an affectation of easy familiarity crossed over to the hearth. + +"The old Kernel's d--d peppery and high toned when he's got a +little more than his reg'lar three fingers o' corn juice, eh?" + +"I must beg you to understand distinctly, Mr. Stanner," said Hale, +with a return of his habitual precision of statement, "that I +regard any slighting allusion to the gentleman who has just left +not only as in exceedingly bad taste coming from YOU, but very +offensive to myself. If you mean to imply that he was under the +influence of liquor, it is my duty to undeceive you; he was so +perfectly in possession of his faculties as to express not only his +own but MY opinion of your conduct. You must also admit that he +was discriminating enough to show his objection to your company by +leaving it. I regret that circumstances do not make it convenient +for me to exercise that privilege; but if I am obliged to put up +with your presence in this room, I strongly insist that it is not +made unendurable with the addition of your conversation." + +The effect of this deliberate and passionless declaration was more +discomposing to the party than Clinch's fury. Utterly unaccustomed +to the ideas and language suddenly confronting them, they were +unable to determine whether it was the real expression of the +speaker, or whether it was a vague badinage or affectation to which +any reply would involve them in ridicule. In a country terrorized +by practical joking, they did not doubt but that this was a new +form of hoaxing calculated to provoke some response that would +constitute them as victims. The immediate effect upon them was +that complete silence in regard to himself that Hale desired. They +drew together again and conversed in whispers, while Hale, with his +eyes fixed on the fire, gave himself up to somewhat late and +useless reflection. + +He could scarcely realize his position. For however he might look +at it, within a space of twelve hours he had not only changed some +of his most cherished opinions, but he had acted in accordance with +that change in a way that made it seem almost impossible for him +ever to recant. In the interests of law and order he had engaged +in an unlawful and disorderly pursuit of criminals, and had +actually come in conflict not with the criminals, but with the only +party apparently authorized to pursue them. More than that, he was +finding himself committed to a certain sympathy with the criminals. +Twenty-four hours ago, if anyone had told him that he would have +condoned an illegal act for its abstract justice, or assisted to +commit an illegal act for the same purpose, he would have felt +himself insulted. That he knew he would not now feel it as an +insult perplexed him still more. In these circumstances the fact +that he was separated from his family, and as it were from all his +past life and traditions, by a chance accident, did not disturb him +greatly; indeed, he was for the first time a little doubtful of +their probable criticism on his inconsistency, and was by no means +in a hurry to subject himself to it. + +Lifting his eyes, he was suddenly aware that the door leading to +the kitchen was slowly opening. He had thought he heard it creak +once or twice during his deliberate reply to Stanner. It was +evidently moving now so as to attract his attention, without +disturbing the others. It presently opened sufficiently wide to +show the face of Zeenie, who, with a gesture of caution towards his +companions, beckoned him to join her. He rose carelessly as if +going out, and, putting on his hat, entered the kitchen as the +retreating figure of the young girl glided lightly towards the +stables. She ascended a few open steps as if to a hay-loft, but +stopped before a low door. Pushing it open, she preceded him into +a small room, apparently under the roof, which scarcely allowed her +to stand upright. By the light of a stable lantern hanging from a +beam he saw that, though poorly furnished, it bore some evidence of +feminine taste and habitation. Motioning to the only chair, she +seated herself on the edge of the bed, with her hands clasping her +knees in her familiar attitude. Her face bore traces of recent +agitation, and her eyes were shining with tears. By the closer +light of the lantern he was surprised to find it was from laughter. + +"I reckoned you'd be right lonely down there with that Stanner +crowd, particklerly after that little speech o' your'n, so I sez to +Maw I'd get you up yer for a spell. Maw and I heerd you exhort +'em! Maw allowed you woz talkin' a furrin' tongue all along, but +I--sakes alive!--I hed to hump myself to keep from bustin' into a +yell when yer jist drawed them Webster-unabridged sentences on +'em." She stopped and rocked backwards and forwards with a laugh +that, subdued by the proximity of the roof and the fear of being +overheard, was by no means unmusical. "I'll tell ye whot got me, +though! That part commencing, 'Suckamstances over which I've no +controul.'" + +"Oh, come! I didn't say that," interrupted Hale, laughing. + +"'Don't make it convenient for me to exercise the privilege of +kickin' yer out to that extent,'" she continued; "'but if I cannot +dispense with your room, the least I can say is that it's a d--d +sight better than your company--'or suthin' like that! And then +the way you minded your stops, and let your voice rise and fall +just ez easy ez if you wos a First Reader in large type. Why, the +Kernel wasn't nowhere. HIS cussin' didn't come within a mile o' +yourn. That Stanner jist turned yaller." + +"I'm afraid you are laughing at me," said Hale, not knowing whether +to be pleased or vexed at the girl's amusement. + +"I reckon I'm the only one that dare do it, then," said the girl +simply. "The Kernel sez the way you turned round after he'd done +his cussin', and said yer believed you'd stay and take the +responsibility of the whole thing--and did, in that kam, soft, did- +anybody-speak-to-me style--was the neatest thing he'd seen yet. +No! Maw says I ain't much on manners, but I know a man when I see +him." + +For an instant Hale gave himself up to the delicious flattery of +unexpected, unintended, and apparently uninterested compliment. +Becoming at last a little embarrassed under the frank curiosity of +the girl's dark eyes, he changed the subject. + +"Do you always come up here through the stables?" he asked, +glancing round the room, which was evidently her own. + +"I reckon," she answered half abstractedly. "There's a ladder down +thar to Maw's room--"pointing to a trapdoor beside the broad +chimney that served as a wall--"but it's handier the other way, and +nearer the bosses if you want to get away quick." + +This palpable suggestion--borne out by what he remembered of the +other domestic details--that the house had been planned with +reference to sudden foray or escape reawakened his former uneasy +reflections. Zeenie, who had been watching his face, added, "It's +no slouch, when b'ar or painters hang round nights and stampede the +stock, to be able to swing yourself on to a boss whenever you hear +a row going on outside." + +"Do you mean that YOU--" + +"Paw USED, and I do NOW, sense I've come into the room." She +pointed to a nondescript garment, half cloak, half habit, hanging +on the wall. "I've been outer bed and on Pitchpine's back as far +ez the trail five minutes arter I heard the first bellow." + +Hale regarded her with undisguised astonishment. There was nothing +at all Amazonian or horsey in her manners, nor was there even the +robust physical contour that might have been developed through such +experiences. On the contrary, she seemed to be lazily effeminate +in body and mind. Heedless of his critical survey of her, she +beckoned him to draw his chair nearer, and, looking into his eyes, +said-- + +"Whatever possessed YOU to take to huntin' men?" + +Hale was staggered by the question, but nevertheless endeavored to +explain. But he was surprised to find that his explanation +appeared stilted even to himself, and, he could not doubt, was +utterly incomprehensible to the girl. She nodded her head, +however, and continued-- + +"Then you haven't anythin' agin' George?" + +"I don't know George," said Hale, smiling. "My proceeding was +against the highwayman." + +"Well, HE was the highwayman." + +"I mean, it was the principle I objected to--a principle that I +consider highly dangerous." + +"Well HE is the principal, for the others only HELPED, I reckon," +said Zeenie with a sigh, "and I reckon he IS dangerous." + +Hale saw it was useless to explain. The girl continued-- + +"What made you stay here instead of going on with the Kernel? +There was suthin' else besides your wanting to make that Stanner +take water. What is it?" + +A light sense of the propinquity of beauty, of her confidence, of +their isolation, of the eloquence of her dark eyes, at first +tempted Hale to a reply of simple gallantry; a graver consideration +of the same circumstances froze it upon his lips. + +"I don't know," he returned awkwardly. + +"Well, I'll tell you," she said. "You didn't cotton to the Kernel +and Rawlins much more than you did to Stanner. They ain't your +kind." + +In his embarrassment Hale blundered upon the thought he had +honorably avoided. + +"Suppose," he said, with a constrained laugh, "I had stayed to see +you." + +"I reckon I ain't your kind, neither," she replied promptly. There +was a momentary pause when she rose and walked to the chimney. +"It's very quiet down there," she said, stooping and listening over +the roughly-boarded floor that formed the ceiling of the room +below. "I wonder what's going on." + +In the belief that this was a delicate hint for his return to the +party he had left, Hale rose, but the girl passed him hurriedly, +and, opening the door, cast a quick glance into the stable beyond. + +"Just as I reckoned--the horses are gone too. They've skedaddled," +she said blankly. + +Hale did not reply. In his embarrassment a moment ago the idea of +taking an equally sudden departure had flashed upon him. Should he +take this as a justification of that impulse, or how? He stood +irresolutely gazing at the girl, who turned and began to descend +the stairs silently. He followed. When they reached the lower +room they found it as they had expected--deserted. + +"I hope I didn't drive them away," said Hale, with an uneasy look +at the troubled face of the girl. "For I really had an idea of +going myself a moment ago." + +She remained silent, gazing out of the window. Then, turning with +a slight shrug of her shoulders, said half defiantly: "What's the +use now? Oh, Maw! the Stanner crowd has vamosed the ranch, and +this yer stranger kalkilates to stay!" + + +CHAPTER VII + + +A week had passed at Eagle's Court--a week of mingled clouds and +sunshine by day, of rain over the green plateau and snow on the +mountain by night. Each morning had brought its fresh greenness to +the winter-girt domain, and a fresh coat of dazzling white to the +barrier that separated its dwellers from the world beyond. There +was little change in the encompassing wall of their prison; if +anything, the snowy circle round them seemed to have drawn its +lines nearer day by day. The immediate result of this restricted +limit had been to confine the range of cattle to the meadows nearer +the house, and at a safe distance from the fringe of wilderness now +invaded by the prowling tread of predatory animals. + +Nevertheless, the two figures lounging on the slope at sunset gave +very little indication of any serious quality in the situation. +Indeed, so far as appearances were concerned, Kate, who was +returning from an afternoon stroll with Falkner, exhibited, with +feminine inconsistency, a decided return to the world of fashion +and conventionality apparently just as she was effectually excluded +from it. She had not only discarded her white dress as a +concession to the practical evidence of the surrounding winter, but +she had also brought out a feather hat and sable muff which had +once graced a fashionable suburb of Boston. Even Falkner had +exchanged his slouch hat and picturesque serape for a beaver +overcoat and fur cap of Hale's which had been pressed upon him by +Kate, under the excuse of the exigencies of the season. Within a +stone's throw of the thicket, turbulent with the savage forces of +nature, they walked with the abstraction of people hearing only +their own voices; in the face of the solemn peaks clothed with +white austerity they talked gravely of dress. + +"I don't mean to say," said Kate demurely, "that you're to give up +the serape entirely; you can wear it on rainy nights and when you +ride over here from your friend's house to spend the evening--for +the sake of old times," she added, with an unconscious air of +referring to an already antiquated friendship; "but you must admit +it's a little too gorgeous and theatrical for the sunlight of day +and the public highway." + +"But why should that make it wrong, if the experience of a people +has shown it to be a garment best fitted for their wants and +requirements?" said Falkner argumentatively. + +"But you are not one of those people," said Kate, "and that makes +all the difference. You look differently and act differently, so +that there is something irreconcilable between your clothes and you +that makes you look odd." + +"And to look odd, according to your civilized prejudices, is to be +wrong," said Falkner bitterly. + +"It is to seem different from what one really is--which IS wrong. +Now, you are a mining superintendent, you tell me. Then you don't +want to look like a Spanish brigand, as you do in that serape. I +am sure if you had ridden up to a stage-coach while I was in it, +I'd have handed you my watch and purse without a word. There! you +are not offended?" she added, with a laugh, which did not, however, +conceal a certain earnestness. "I suppose I ought to have said I +would have given it gladly to such a romantic figure, and perhaps +have got out and danced a saraband or bolero with you--if that is +the thing to do nowadays. Well!" she said, after a dangerous +pause, "consider that I've said it." + +He had been walking a little before her, with his face turned +towards the distant mountain. Suddenly he stopped and faced her. +"You would have given enough of your time to the highwayman, Miss +Scott, as would have enabled you to identify him for the police-- +and no more. Like your brother, you would have been willing to +sacrifice yourself for the benefit of the laws of civilization and +good order." + +If a denial to this assertion could have been expressed without the +use of speech, it was certainly transparent in the face and eyes of +the young girl at that moment. If Falkner had been less self- +conscious he would have seen it plainly. But Kate only buried her +face in her lifted muff, slightly raised her pretty shoulders, and, +dropping her tremulous eyelids, walked on. "It seems a pity," she +said, after a pause, "that we cannot preserve our own miserable +existence without taking something from others--sometimes even a +life!" He started. "And it's horrid to have to remind you that +you have yet to kill something for the invalid's supper," she +continued. "I saw a hare in the field yonder." + +"You mean that jackass rabbit?" he said, abstractedly. + +"What you please. It's a pity you didn't take your gun instead of +your rifle." + +"I brought the rifle for protection." + +"And a shot gun is only aggressive, I suppose?" + +Falkner looked at her for a moment, and then, as the hare suddenly +started across the open a hundred yards away, brought the rifle to +his shoulder. A long interval--as it seemed to Kate--elapsed; the +animal appeared to be already safely out of range, when the rifle +suddenly cracked; the hare bounded in the air like a ball, and +dropped motionless. The girl looked at the marksman in undisguised +admiration. "Is it quite dead?" she said timidly. + +"It never knew what struck it." + +"It certainly looks less brutal than shooting it with a shot gun, +as John does, and then not killing it outright," said Kate. "I +hate what is called sport and sportsmen, but a rifle seems--" + +"What?" said Falkner. + +"More--gentlemanly." + +She had raised her pretty head in the air, and, with her hand +shading her eyes, was looking around the clear ether, and said +meditatively, "I wonder--no matter." + +"What is it?" + +"Oh, nothing." + +"It is something," said Falkner, with an amused smile, reloading +his rifle. + +"Well, you once promised me an eagle's feather for my hat. Isn't +that thing an eagle?" + +"I am afraid it's only a hawk." + +"Well, that will do. Shoot that!" + +Her eyes were sparkling. Falkner withdrew his own with a slight +smile, and raised his rifle with provoking deliberation. + +"Are you quite sure it's what you want?" he asked demurely. + +"Yes--quick!" + +Nevertheless, it was some minutes before the rifle cracked again. +The wheeling bird suddenly struck the wind with its wings aslant, +and then fell like a plummet at a distance which showed the +difficulty of the feat. Falkner started from her side before the +bird reached the ground. He returned to her after a lapse of a few +moments, bearing a trailing wing in his hand. "You shall make your +choice," he said gayly. + +"Are you sure it was killed outright?" + +"Head shot off," said Falkner briefly. + +"And besides, the fall would have killed it," said Kate conclusively. +"It's lovely. I suppose they call you a very good shot?" + +"They--who?" + +"Oh! the people you know--your friends, and their sisters." + +"George shoots better than I do, and has had more experience. I've +seen him do that with a pistol. Of course not such a long shot, +but a more difficult one." + +Kate did not reply, but her face showed a conviction that as an +artistic and gentlemanly performance it was probably inferior to +the one she had witnessed. Falkner, who had picked up the hare +also, again took his place by her side, as they turned towards the +house. + +"Do you remember the day you came, when we were walking here, you +pointed out that rock on the mountain where the poor animals had +taken refuge from the snow?" said Kate suddenly. + +"Yes," answered Falkner; "they seem to have diminished. I am +afraid you were right; they have either eaten each other or +escaped. Let us hope the latter." + +"I looked at them with a glass every day," said Kate, "and they've +got down to only four. There's a bear and that shabby, over-grown +cat you call a California lion, and a wolf, and a creature like a +fox or a squirrel." + +"It's a pity they're not all of a kind," said Falkner. + +"Why?" + +"There'd be nothing to keep them from being comfortable together." + +"On the contrary, I should think it would be simply awful to be +shut up entirely with one's own kind." + +"Then you believe it is possible for them, with their different +natures and habits, to be happy together?" said Falkner, with +sudden earnestness. + +"I believe," said Kate hurriedly, "that the bear and the lion find +the fox and the wolf very amusing, and that the fox and the wolf--" + +"Well?" said Falkner, stopping short. + +"Well, the fox and the wolf will carry away a much better opinion +of the lion and bear than they had before." + +They had reached the house by this time, and for some occult reason +Kate did not immediately enter the parlor, where she had left her +sister and the invalid, who had already been promoted to a sofa and +a cushion by the window, but proceeded directly to her own room. +As a manoeuvre to avoid meeting Mrs. Hale, it was scarcely +necessary, for that lady was already in advance of her on the +staircase, as if she had left the parlor for a moment before they +entered the house. Falkner, too, would have preferred the company +of his own thoughts, but Lee, apparently the only unpreoccupied, +all-pervading, and boyishly alert spirit in the party, hailed him +from within, and obliged him to present himself on the threshold of +the parlor with the hare and hawk's wing he was still carrying. +Eying the latter with affected concern, Lee said gravely: "Of +course, I CAN eat it, Ned, and I dare say it's the best part of the +fowl, and the hare isn't more than enough for the women, but I had +no idea we were so reduced. Three hours and a half gunning, and +only one hare and a hawk's wing. It's terrible." + +Perceiving that his friend was alone, Falkner dropped his burden in +the hall and strode rapidly to his side. "Look here, George, we +must, I must leave this place at once. It's no use talking; I can +stand this sort of thing no longer." + +"Nor can I, with the door open. Shut it, and say what you want +quick, before Mrs. Hale comes back. Have you found a trail?" + +"No, no; that's not what I mean." + +"Well, it strikes me it ought to be, if you expect to get away. +Have you proposed to Beacon Street, and she thinks it rather +premature on a week's acquaintance?" + +"No; but--" + +"But you WILL, you mean? DON'T, just yet." + +"But I cannot live this perpetual lie." + +"That depends. I don't know HOW you're lying when I'm not with +you. If you're walking round with that girl, singing hymns and +talking of your class in Sunday-school, or if you're insinuating +that you're a millionaire, and think of buying the place for a +summer hotel, I should say you'd better quit that kind of lying. +But, on the other hand, I don't see the necessity of your dancing +round here with a shot gun, and yelling for Harkins's blood, or +counting that package of greenbacks in the lap of Miss Scott, to be +truthful. It seems to me there ought to be something between the +two." + +"But, George, don't you think--you are on such good terms with Mrs. +Hale and her mother--that you might tell them the whole story? +That is, tell it in your own way; they will hear anything from you, +and believe it." + +"Thank you; but suppose I don't believe in lying, either?" + +"You know what I mean! You have a way, d--n it, of making +everything seem like a matter of course, and the most natural thing +going." + +"Well, suppose I did. Are you prepared for the worst?" + +Falkner was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Yes, anything +would be better than this suspense." + +"I don't agree with you. Then you would be willing to have them +forgive us?" + +"I don't understand you." + +"I mean that their forgiveness would be the worst thing that could +happen. Look here, Ned. Stop a moment; listen at that door. Mrs. +Hale has the tread of an angel, with the pervading capacity of a +cat. Now listen! I don't pretend to be in love with anybody here, +but if I were I should hardly take advantage of a woman's +helplessness and solitude with a sensational story about myself. +It's not giving her a fair show. You know she won't turn you out +of the house." + +"No," said Falkner, reddening; "but I should expect to go at once, +and that would be my only excuse for telling her." + +"Go! where? In your preoccupation with that girl you haven't even +found the trail by which Manuel escaped. Do you intend to camp +outside the house, and make eyes at her when she comes to the +window?" + +"Because you think nothing of flirting with Mrs. Hale," said +Falkner bitterly, "you care little--" + +"My dear Ned," said Lee, "the fact that Mrs. Hale has a husband, +and knows that she can't marry me, puts us on equal terms. Nothing +that she could learn about me hereafter would make a flirtation +with me any less wrong than it would be now, or make her seem more +a victim. Can you say the same of yourself and that Puritan girl?" + +"But you did not advise me to keep aloof from her; on the contrary, +you--" + +"I thought you might make the best of the situation, and pay her +some attention, BECAUSE you could not go any further." + +"You thought I was utterly heartless and selfish, like--" + +"Ned!" + +Falkner walked rapidly to the fireplace, and returned. + +"Forgive me, George--I'm a fool--and an ungrateful one." + +Lee did not reply at once, although he took and retained the hand +Falkner had impulsively extended. "Promise me, he said slowly, +after a pause, "that you will say nothing yet to either of these +women. I ask it for your own sake, and this girl's, not for mine. +If, on the contrary, you are tempted to do so from any Quixotic +idea of honor, remember that you will only precipitate something +that will oblige you, from that same sense of honor, to separate +from the girl forever." + +"I don't understand." + +"Enough!" said he, with a quick return of his old reckless gayety. +"Shoot-Off-His-Mouth--the Beardless Boy Chief of the Sierras--has +spoken! Let the Pale Face with the black moustache ponder and +beware how he talks hereafter to the Rippling Cochituate Water! +Go!" + +Nevertheless, as soon as the door had closed upon Falkner, Lee's +smile vanished. With his colorless face turned to the fading light +at the window, the hollows in his temples and the lines in the +corners of his eyes seemed to have grown more profound. He +remained motionless and absorbed in thought so deep that the light +rustle of a skirt, that would at other times have thrilled his +sensitive ear, passed unheeded. At last, throwing off his reverie +with the full and unrestrained sigh of a man who believes himself +alone, he was startled by the soft laugh of Mrs. Hale, who had +entered the room unperceived. + +"Dear me! How portentous! Really, I almost feel as if I were +interrupting a tete-a-tete between yourself and some old flame. I +haven't heard anything so old-fashioned and conservative as that +sigh since I have been in California. I thought you never had any +Past out here?" + +Fortunately his face was between her and the light, and the +unmistakable expression of annoyance and impatience which was +passed over it was spared her. There was, however, still enough +dissonance in his manner to affect her quick feminine sense, and +when she drew nearer to him it was with a certain maiden-like +timidity. + +"You are not worse, Mr. Lee, I hope? You have not over-exerted +yourself?" + +"There's little chance of that with one leg--if not in the grave at +least mummified with bandages," he replied, with a bitterness new +to him. + +"Shall I loosen them? Perhaps they are too tight. There is +nothing so irritating to one as the sensation of being tightly +bound." + +The light touch of her hand upon the rug that covered his knees, +the thoughtful tenderness of the blue-veined lids, and the delicate +atmosphere that seemed to surround her like a perfume cleared his +face of its shadow and brought back the reckless fire into his blue +eyes. + +"I suppose I'm intolerant of all bonds," he said, looking at her +intently, "in others as well as myself!" + +Whether or not she detected any double meaning in his words, she +was obliged to accept the challenge of his direct gaze, and, +raising her eyes to his, drew back a little from him with a slight +increase of color. "I was afraid you had heard bad news just now." + +"What would you call bad news?" asked Lee, clasping his hands +behind his head, and leaning back on the sofa, but without +withdrawing his eyes from her face. + +"Oh, any news that would interrupt your convalescence, or break up +our little family party," said Mrs. Hale. "You have been getting +on so well that really it would seem cruel to have anything +interfere with our life of forgetting and being forgotten. But," +she added with apprehensive quickness, "has anything happened? Is +there really any news from--from, the trails? Yesterday Mr. +Falkner said the snow had recommenced in the pass. Has he seen +anything, noticed anything different?" + +She looked so very pretty, with the rare, genuine, and youthful +excitement that transfigured her wearied and wearying regularity of +feature, that Lee contented himself with drinking in her prettiness +as he would have inhaled the perfume of some flower. + +"Why do you look at me so, Mr. Lee?" she asked, with a slight +smile. "I believe something HAS happened. Mr. Falkner HAS brought +you some intelligence." + +"He has certainly found out something I did not foresee." + +"And that troubles you?" + +"It does." + +"Is it a secret?" + +"No." + +"Then I suppose you will tell it to me at dinner," she said, with a +little tone of relief. + +"I am afraid, if I tell it at all, I must tell it now," he said, +glancing at the door. + +"You must do as you think best," she said coldly, "as it seems to +be a secret, after all." She hesitated. "Kate is dressing, and +will not be down for some time." + +"So much the better. For I'm afraid that Ned has made a poor +return to your hospitality by falling in love with her." + +"Impossible! He has known her for scarcely a week." + +"I am afraid we won't agree as to the length of time necessary to +appreciate and love a woman. I think it can be done in seven days +and four hours, the exact time we have been here." + +"Yes; but as Kate was not in when you arrived, and did not come +until later, you must take off at least one hour," said Mrs. Hale +gayly. + +"Ned can. I shall not abate a second." + +"But are you not mistaken in his feelings?" she continued +hurriedly. "He certainly has not said anything to her." + +"That is his last hold on honor and reason. And to preserve that +little intact he wants to run away at once." + +"But that would be very silly." + +"Do you think so?" he said, looking at her fixedly. + +"Why not?" she asked in her turn, but rather faintly. + +"I'll tell you why," he said, lowering his voice with a certain +intensity of passion unlike his usual boyish lightheartedness. +"Think of a man whose life has been one of alternate hardness and +aggression, of savage disappointment and equally savage successes, +who has known no other relaxation than dissipation and +extravagance; a man to whom the idea of the domestic hearth and +family ties only meant weakness, effeminacy, or--worse; who had +looked for loyalty and devotion only in the man who battled for him +at his right hand in danger, or shared his privations and +sufferings. Think of such a man, and imagine that an accident has +suddenly placed him in an atmosphere of purity, gentleness, and +peace, surrounded him by the refinements of a higher life than he +had ever known, and that he found himself as in a dream, on terms +of equality with a pure woman who had never known any other life, +and yet would understand and pity his. Imagine his loving her! +Imagine that the first effect of that love was to show him his own +inferiority and the immeasurable gulf that lay between his life and +hers! Would he not fly rather than brave the disgrace of her +awakening to the truth? Would he not fly rather than accept even +the pity that might tempt her to a sacrifice?" + +"But--is Mr. Falkner all that?" + +"Nothing of the kind, I assure you!" said he demurely. "But that's +the way a man in love feels." + +"Really! Mr. Falkner should get you to plead his cause with Kate," +said Mrs. Hale with a faint laugh. + +"I need all my persuasive powers in that way for myself," said Lee +boldly. + +Mrs. Hale rose. "I think I hear Kate coming," she said. +Nevertheless, she did not move away. "It IS Kate coming," she +added hurriedly, stooping to pick up her work-basket, which had +slipped with Lee's hand from her own. + +It was Kate, who at once flew to her sister's assistance, Lee +deploring from the sofa his own utter inability to aid her. "It's +all my fault, too," he said to Kate, but looking at Mrs. Hale. "It +seems I have a faculty of upsetting existing arrangements without +the power of improving them, or even putting them back in their +places. What shall I do? I am willing to hold any number of +skeins or rewind any quantity of spools. I am even willing to +forgive Ned for spending the whole day with you, and only bringing +me the wing of a hawk for supper." + +"That was all my folly, Mr. Lee," said Kate, with swift mendacity; +"he was all the time looking after something for you, when I begged +him to shoot a bird to get a feather for my hat. And that wing is +SO pretty." + +"It is a pity that mere beauty is not edible," said Lee, gravely, +"and that if the worst comes to the worst here you would probably +prefer me to Ned and his moustachios, merely because I've been tied +by the leg to this sofa and slowly fattened like a Strasbourg +goose." + +Nevertheless, his badinage failed somehow to amuse Kate, and she +presently excused herself to rejoin her sister, who had already +slipped from the room. For the first time during their enforced +seclusion a sense of restraint and uneasiness affected Mrs. Hale, +her sister, and Falkner at dinner. The latter addressed himself to +Mrs. Scott, almost entirely. Mrs. Hale was fain to bestow an +exceptional and marked tenderness on her little daughter Minnie, +who, however, by some occult childish instinct, insisted upon +sharing it with Lee--her great friend--to Mrs. Hale's uneasy +consciousness. Nor was Lee slow to profit by the child's +suggestion, but responded with certain vicarious caresses that +increased the mother's embarrassment. That evening they retired +early, but in the intervals of a restless night Kate was aware, +from the sound of voices in the opposite room, that the friends +were equally wakeful. + +A morning of bright sunshine and soft warm air did not, however, +bring any change to their new and constrained relations. It only +seemed to offer a reason for Falkner to leave the house very early +for his daily rounds, and gave Lee that occasion for unaided +exercise with an extempore crutch on the veranda which allowed Mrs. +Hale to pursue her manifold duties without the necessity of keeping +him company. Kate also, as if to avoid an accidental meeting with +Falkner, had remained at home with her sister. With one exception, +they did not make their guests the subject of their usual playful +comments, nor, after the fashion of their sex, quote their ideas +and opinions. That exception was made by Mrs. Hale. + +"You have had no difference with Mr. Falkner?" she said carelessly. + +"No," said Kate quickly. "Why?" + +"I only thought he seemed rather put out at dinner last night, and +you didn't propose to go and meet him to-day." + +"He must be bored with my company at times, I dare say," said Kate, +with an indifference quite inconsistent with her rising color. "I +shouldn't wonder if he was a little vexed with Mr. Lee's chaffing +him about his sport yesterday, and probably intends to go further +to-day, and bring home larger game. I think Mr. Lee very amusing +always, but I sometimes fancy he lacks feeling." + +"Feeling! You don't know him, Kate," said Mrs. Hale quickly. She +stopped herself, but with a half-smiling recollection in her +dropped eyelids. + +"Well, he doesn't look very amiable now, stamping up and down the +veranda. Perhaps you'd better go and soothe him." + +"I'm really SO busy just now," said Mrs. Hale, with sudden and +inconsequent energy; "things have got dreadfully behind in the last +week. You had better go, Kate, and make him sit down, or he'll be +overdoing it. These men never know any medium--in anything." + +Contrary to Kate's expectation, Falkner returned earlier than +usual, and, taking the invalid's arm, supported him in a more +ambitious walk along the terrace before the house. They were +apparently absorbed in conversation, but the two women who observed +them from the window could not help noticing the almost feminine +tenderness of Falkner's manner towards his wounded friend, and the +thoughtful tenderness of his ministering care. + +"I wonder," said Mrs. Hale, following them with softly appreciative +eyes, "if women are capable of as disinterested friendship as men? +I never saw anything like the devotion of these two creatures. +Look! if Mr. Falkner hasn't got his arm round Mr. Lee's waist, and +Lee, with his own arm over Falkner's neck, is looking up in his +eyes. I declare, Kate, it almost seems an indiscretion to look at +them." + +Kate, however, to Mrs. Hale's indignation, threw her pretty head +back and sniffed the air contemptuously. "I really don't see +anything but some absurd sentimentalism of their own, or some +mannish wickedness they're concocting by themselves. I am by no +means certain, Josephine, that Lee's influence over that young man +is the best thing for him." + +"On the contrary! Lee's influence seems the only thing that checks +his waywardness," said Mrs. Hale quickly. "I'm sure, if anyone +makes sacrifices, it is Lee; I shouldn't wonder that even now he is +making some concession to Falkner, and all those caressing ways of +your friend are for a purpose. They're not much different from us, +dear." + +"Well, I wouldn't stand there and let them see me looking at them +as if I couldn't bear them out of my sight for a moment," said +Kate, whisking herself out of the room. "They're conceited enough, +Heaven knows, already." + +That evening, at dinner, however, the two men exhibited no trace of +the restraint or uneasiness of the previous day. If they were less +impulsive and exuberant, they were still frank and interested, and +if the term could be used in connection with men apparently trained +to neither self-control nor repose, there was a certain gentle +dignity in their manner which for the time had the effect of +lifting them a little above the social level of their entertainers. +For even with all their predisposition to the strangers, Kate and +Mrs. Hale had always retained a conscious attitude of gentle +condescension and superiority towards them--an attitude not +inconsistent with a stronger feeling, nor altogether unprovocative +of it; yet this evening they found themselves impressed with +something more than an equality in the men who had amused and +interested them, and they were perhaps a little more critical and +doubtful of their own power. Mrs. Hale's little girl, who had +appreciated only the seriousness of the situation, had made her own +application of it. "Are you dow'in' away from aunt Kate and +mamma?" she asked, in an interval of silence. + +"How else can I get you the red snow we saw at sunset, the other +day, on the peak yonder?" said Lee gayly. "I'll have to get up +some morning very early, and catch it when it comes at sunrise." + +"What is this wonderful snow, Minnie, that you are tormenting Mr. +Lee for?" asked Mrs. Hale. + +"Oh! it's a fairy snow that he told me all about; it only comes +when the sun comes up and goes down, and if you catch ever so +little of it in your hand it makes all you fink you want come true! +Wouldn't that be nice?" But to the child's astonishment her little +circle of auditors, even while assenting, sighed. + +The red snow was there plain enough the next morning before the +valley was warm with light, and while Minnie, her mother, and aunt +Kate were still peacefully sleeping. And Mr. Lee had kept his +word, and was evidently seeking it, for he and Falkner were already +urging their horses through the pass, with their faces towards and +lit up by its glow. + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Kate was stirring early, but not as early as her sister, who met +her on the threshold of her room. Her face was quite pale, and she +held a letter in her hand. "What does this mean, Kate?" + +"What is the matter?" asked Kate, her own color fading from her +cheek. + +"They are gone--with their horses. Left before day, and left +this." + +She handed Kate an open letter. The girl took it hurriedly, and +read-- + + +"When you get this we shall be no more; perhaps not even as much. +Ned found the trail yesterday, and we are taking the first +advantage of it before day. We dared not trust ourselves to say +'Good-by!' last evening; we were too cowardly to face you this +morning; we must go as we came, without warning, but not without +regret. We leave a package and a letter for your husband. It is +not only our poor return for your gentleness and hospitality, but, +since it was accidentally the means of giving us the pleasure of +your society, we beg you to keep it in safety until his return. We +kiss your mother's hands. Ned wants to say something more, but +time presses, and I only allow him to send his love to Minnie, and +to tell her that he is trying to find the red snow. + +"GEORGE LEE." + + +"But he is not fit to travel," said Mrs. Hale. "And the trail--it +may not be passable." + +"It was passable the day before yesterday," said Kate drearily, +"for I discovered it, and went as far as the buck-eyes." + +"Then it was you who told them about it," said Mrs. Hale +reproachfully. + +"No," said Kate indignantly. "Of course I didn't." She stopped, +and, reading the significance of her speech in the glistening eyes +of her sister, she blushed. Josephine kissed her, and said-- + +"It WAS treating us like children, Kate, but we must make them pay +for it hereafter. For that package and letter to John means +something, and we shall probably see them before long. I wonder +what the letter is about, and what is in the package?" + +"Probably one of Mr. Lee's jokes. He is quite capable of turning +the whole thing into ridicule. I dare say he considers his visit +here a prolonged jest." + +"With his poor leg, Kate? You are as unfair to him as you were to +Falkner when they first came." + +Kate, however, kept her dark eyebrows knitted in a piquant frown. + +"To think of his intimating WHAT he would allow Falkner to say! +And yet you believe he has no evil influence over the young man." + +Mrs. Hale laughed. "Where are you going so fast, Kate?" she called +mischievously, as the young lady flounced out of the room. + +"Where? Why, to tidy John's room. He may be coming at any moment +now. Or do you want to do it yourself?" + +"No, no," returned Mrs. Hale hurriedly; "you do it. I'll look in a +little later on." + +She turned away with a sigh. The sun was shining brilliantly +outside. Through the half-open blinds its long shafts seemed to be +searching the house for the lost guests, and making the hollow +shell appear doubly empty. What a contrast to the dear dark days +of mysterious seclusion and delicious security, lit by Lee's +laughter and the sparkling hearth, which had passed so quickly! +The forgotten outer world seemed to have returned to the house +through those open windows and awakened its dwellers from a dream. + +The morning seemed interminable, and it was past noon, while they +were deep in a sympathetic conference with Mrs. Scott, who had +drawn a pathetic word-picture of the two friends perishing in the +snow-drift, without flannels, brandy, smelling-salts, or jelly, +which they had forgotten, when they were startled by the loud +barking of "Spot" on the lawn before the house. The women looked +hurriedly at each other. + +"They have returned," said Mrs. Hale. + +Kate ran to the window. A horseman was approaching the house. A +single glance showed her that it was neither Falkner, Lee, nor +Hale, but a stranger. + +"Perhaps he brings some news of them," said Mrs. Scott quickly. So +complete had been their preoccupation with the loss of their guests +that they could not yet conceive of anything that did not pertain +to it. + +The stranger, who was at once ushered into the parlor, was +evidently disconcerted by the presence of the three women. + +"I reckoned to see John Hale yer," he began, awkwardly. + +A slight look of disappointment passed over their faces. "He has +not yet returned," said Mrs. Hale briefly. + +"Sho! I wanter know. He's hed time to do it, I reckon," said the +stranger. + +"I suppose he hasn't been able to get over from the Summit," +returned Mrs. Hale. "The trail is closed." + +"It ain't now, for I kem over it this mornin' myself." + +"You didn't--meet--anyone?" asked Mrs. Hale timidly, with a glance +at the others. + +"No." + +A long silence ensued. The unfortunate visitor plainly perceived +an evident abatement of interest in himself, yet he still struggled +politely to say something. "Then I reckon you know what kept Hale +away?" he said dubiously. + +"Oh, certainly--the stage robbery." + +"I wish I'd known that," said the stranger reflectively, "for I ez +good ez rode over jist to tell it to ye. Ye see John Hale, he sent +a note to ye 'splainin' matters by a gentleman; but the road agents +tackled that man, and left him for dead in the road." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Hale impatiently. + +"Luckily he didn't die, but kem to, and managed to crawl inter the +brush, whar I found him when I was lookin' for stock, and brought +him to my house--" + +"YOU found him? YOUR house?" interrupted Mrs. Hale. + +"Inter MY house," continued the man doggedly. "I'm Thompson of +Thompson's Pass over yon; mebbe it ain't much of a house; but I +brought him thar. Well, ez he couldn't find the note that Hale had +guv him, and like ez not the road agents had gone through him and +got it, ez soon ez the weather let up I made a break over yer to +tell ye." + +"You say Mr. Lee came to your house," repeated Mrs. Hale, "and is +there now?" + +"Not much," said the man grimly; "and I never said LEE was thar. I +mean that Bilson waz shot by Lee and kem--" + +"Certainly, Josephine!" said Kate, suddenly stepping between her +sister and Thompson, and turning upon her a white face and eyes of +silencing significance; "certainly--don't you remember?--that's the +story we got from the Chinaman, you know, only muddled. Go on +sir," she continued, turning to Thompson calmly; "you say that the +man who brought the note from my brother was shot by Lee?" + +"And another fellow they call Falkner. Yes, that's about the size +of it." + +"Thank you; it's nearly the same story that we heard. But you have +had a long ride, Mr. Thompson; let me offer you a glass of whiskey +in the dining-room. This way, please." + +The door closed upon them none too soon. For Mrs. Hale already +felt the room whirling around her, and sank back into her chair +with a hysterical laugh. Old Mrs. Scott did not move from her +seat, but, with her eyes fixed on the door, impatiently waited +Kate's return. Neither spoke, but each felt that the young, +untried girl was equal to the emergency, and would get at the +truth. + +The sound of Thompson's feet in the hall and the closing of the +front door was followed by Kate's reappearance. Her face was still +pale, but calm. + +"Well?" said the two women in a breath. + +"Well," returned Kate slowly; "Mr. Lee and Mr. Falkner were +undoubtedly the two men who took the paper from John's messenger +and brought it here." + +"You are sure?" said Mrs. Scott. + +"There can be no mistake, mother." + +"THEN," said Mrs. Scott, with triumphant feminine logic, "I don't +want anything more to satisfy me that they are PERFECTLY INNOCENT!" + +More convincing than the most perfect masculine deduction, this +single expression of their common nature sent a thrill of sympathy +and understanding through each. They cried for a few moments on +each other's shoulders. "To think," said Mrs. Scott, "what that +poor boy must have suffered to have been obliged to do--that to-- +to--Bilson--isn't that the creature's name? I suppose we ought to +send over there and inquire after him, with some chicken and jelly, +Kate. It's only common humanity, and we must be just, my dear; for +even if he shot Mr. Lee and provoked the poor boy to shoot him, he +may have thought it his duty. And then, it will avert suspicions." + +"To think," murmured Mrs. Hale, "what they must have gone through +while they were here--momentarily expecting John to come, and yet +keeping up such a light heart." + +"I believe, if they had stayed any longer, they would have told us +everything," said Mrs. Scott. + +Both the younger women were silent. Kate was thinking of Falkner's +significant speech as they neared the house on their last walk; +Josephine was recalling the remorseful picture drawn by Lee, which +she knew was his own portrait. Suddenly she started. + +"But John will be here soon; what are we to tell him? And then +that package and that letter." + +"Don't be in a hurry to tell him anything at present, my child," +said Mrs. Scott gently. "It is unfortunate this Mr. Thompson +called here, but we are not obliged to understand what he says now +about John's message, or to connect our visitors with his story. +I'm sure, Kate, I should have treated them exactly as we did if +they had come without any message from John; so I do not know why +we should lay any stress on that, or even speak of it. The simple +fact is that we have opened our house to two strangers in distress. +Your husband," continued Mr. Hale's mother-in-law, "does not +require to know more. As to the letter and package, we will keep +that for further consideration. It cannot be of much importance, +or they would have spoken of it before; it is probably some +trifling present as a return for your hospitality. I should use no +INDECOROUS haste in having it opened." + +The two women kissed Mrs. Scott with a feeling of relief, and fell +back into the monotony of their household duties. It is to be +feared, however, that the absence of their outlawed guests was +nearly as dangerous as their presence in the opportunity it +afforded for uninterrupted and imaginative reflection. Both Kate +and Josephine were at first shocked and wounded by the discovery of +the real character of the two men with whom they had associated so +familiarly, but it was no disparagement to their sense of propriety +to say that the shock did not last long, and was accompanied with +the fascination of danger. This was succeeded by a consciousness +of the delicate flattery implied in their indirect influence over +the men who had undoubtedly risked their lives for the sake of +remaining with them. The best woman is not above being touched by +the effect of her power over the worst man, and Kate at first +allowed herself to think of Falkner in that light. But if in her +later reflections he suffered as a heroic experience to be +forgotten, he gained something as an actual man to be remembered. +Now that the proposed rides from "his friend's house" were a part +of the illusion, would he ever dare to visit them again? Would she +dare to see him? She held her breath with a sudden pain of parting +that was new to her; she tried to think of something else, to pick +up the scattered threads of her life before that eventful day. But +in vain; that one week had filled the place with implacable +memories, or more terrible, as it seemed to her and her sister, +they had both lost their feeble, alien hold upon Eagle's Court in +the sudden presence of the real genii of these solitudes, and +henceforth they alone would be the strangers there. They scarcely +dared to confess it to each other, but this return to the dazzling +sunlight and cloudless skies of the past appeared to them to be the +one unreal experience; they had never known the true wild flavor of +their home, except in that week of delicious isolation. Without +breathing it aloud, they longed for some vague denoument to this +experience that should take them from Eagle's Court forever. + +It was noon the next day when the little household beheld the last +shred of their illusion vanish like the melting snow in the strong +sunlight of John Hale's return. He was accompanied by Colonel +Clinch and Rawlins, two strangers to the women. Was it fancy, or +the avenging spirit of their absent companions? but HE too looked a +stranger, and as the little cavalcade wound its way up the slope he +appeared to sit his horse and wear his hat with a certain slouch +and absence of his usual restraint that strangely shocked them. +Even the old half-condescending, half-punctilious gallantry of his +greeting of his wife and family was changed, as he introduced his +companions with a mingling of familiarity and shyness that was new +to him. Did Mrs. Hale regret it, or feel a sense of relief in the +absence of his usual seignorial formality? She only knew that she +was grateful for the presence of the strangers, which for the +moment postponed a matrimonial confidence from which she shrank. + +"Proud to know you," said Colonel Clinch, with a sudden outbreak of +the antique gallantry of some remote Huguenot ancestor. "My +friend, Judge Hale, must be a regular Roman citizen to leave such a +family and such a house at the call of public duty. Eh, Rawlins?" + +"You bet," said Rawlins, looking from Kate to her sister in +undisguised admiration. + +"And I suppose the duty could not have been a very pleasant one," +said Mrs. Hale, timidly, without looking at her husband. + +"Gad, madam, that's just it," said the gallant Colonel, seating +himself with a comfortable air, and an easy, though by no means +disrespectful, familiarity. "We went into this fight a little more +than a week ago. The only scrimmage we've had has been with the +detectives that were on the robbers' track. Ha! ha! The best +people we've met have been the friends of the men we were huntin', +and we've generally come to the conclusion to vote the other +ticket! Ez Judge Hale and me agreed ez we came along, the two men +ez we'd most like to see just now and shake hands with are George +Lee and Ned Falkner." + +"The two leaders of the party who robbed the coach," explained Mr. +Hale, with a slight return of his usual precision of statement. + +The three women looked at each other with a blaze of thanksgiving +in their grateful eyes. Without comprehending all that Colonel +Clinch had said, they understood enough to know that their late +guests were safe from the pursuit of that party, and that their own +conduct was spared criticism. I hardly dare write it, but they +instantly assumed the appearance of aggrieved martyrs, and felt as +if they were! + +"Yes, ladies!" continued the Colonel, inspired by the bright eyes +fixed upon him. "We haven't taken the road ourselves yet, but-- +pohn honor--we wouldn't mind doing it in a case like this." Then +with the fluent, but somewhat exaggerated, phraseology of a man +trained to "stump" speaking, he gave an account of the robbery and +his own connection with it. He spoke of the swindling and +treachery which had undoubtedly provoked Falkner to obtain +restitution of his property by an overt act of violence under the +leadership of Lee. He added that he had learned since at Wild Cat +Station that Harkins had fled the country, that a suit had been +commenced by the Excelsior Ditch Company, and that all available +property of Harkins had been seized by the sheriff. + +"Of course it can't be proved yet, but there's no doubt in my mind +that Lee, who is an old friend of Ned Falkner's, got up that job to +help him, and that Ned's off with the money by this time--and I'm +right glad of it. I can't say ez we've done much towards it, +except to keep tumbling in the way of that detective party of +Stanner's, and so throw them off the trail--ha, ha! The Judge +here, I reckon, has had his share of fun, for while he was at +Hennicker's trying to get some facts from Hennicker's pretty +daughter, Stanner tried to get up some sort of vigilance committee +of the stage passengers to burn down Hennicker's ranch out of +spite, but the Judge here stepped in and stopped that." + +"It was really a high-handed proceeding, Josephine, but I managed +to check it," said Hale, meeting somewhat consciously the first +direct look his wife had cast upon him, and falling back for +support on his old manner. "In its way, I think it was worse than +the robbery by Lee and Falkner, for it was done in the name of law +and order; while, as far as I can judge from the facts, the affair +that we were following up was simply a rude and irregular +restitution of property that had been morally stolen." + +"I have no doubt you did quite right, though I don't understand +it," said Mrs. Hale languidly; "but I trust these gentlemen will +stay to luncheon, and in the meantime excuse us for running away, +as we are short of servants, and Manuel seems to have followed the +example of the head of the house and left us, in pursuit of +somebody or something." + +When the three women had gained the vantage-ground of the drawing- +room, Kate said, earnestly, "As it's all right, hadn't we better +tell him now?" + +"Decidedly not, child," said Mrs. Scott, imperatively. "Do you +suppose they are in a hurry to tell us THEIR whole story? Who are +those Hennicker people? and they were there a week ago!" + +"And did you notice John's hat when he came in, and the vulgar +familiarity of calling him 'Judge'?" said Mrs. Hale. + +"Well, certainly anything like the familiarity of this man Clinch I +never saw," said Kate. "Contrast his manner with Mr. Falkner's." + +At luncheon the three suffering martyrs finally succeeded in +reducing Hale and his two friends to an attitude of vague apology. +But their triumph was short-lived. At the end of the meal they +were startled by the trampling of hoofs without, followed by loud +knocking. In another moment the door was opened, and Mr. Stanner +strode into the room. Hale rose with a look of indignation. + +"I thought, as Mr. Stanner understood that I had no desire for his +company elsewhere, he would hardly venture to intrude upon me in my +house, and certainly not after--" + +"Ef you're alluding to the Vigilantes shakin' you and Zeenie up at +Hennicker's, you can't make ME responsible for that. I'm here now +on business--you understand--reg'lar business. Ef you want to see +the papers yer ken. I suppose you know what a warrant is?" + +"I know what YOU are," said Hale hotly; "and if you don't leave my +house--" + +"Steady, boys," interrupted Stanner, as his five henchmen filed +into the hall. "There's no backin' down here, Colonel Clinch, +unless you and Hale kalkilate to back down the State of Californy! +The matter stands like this. There's a half-breed Mexican, called +Manuel, arrested over at the Summit, who swears he saw George Lee +and Edward Falkner in this house the night after the robbery. He +says that they were makin' themselves at home here, as if they were +among friends, and considerin' the kind of help we've had from Mr. +John Hale, it looks ez if it might be true." + +"It's an infamous lie!" said Hale. + +"It may be true, John," said Mrs. Scott, suddenly stepping in front +of her pale-cheeked daughters. "A wounded man was brought here out +of the storm by his friend, who claimed the shelter of your roof. +As your mother I should have been unworthy to stay beneath it and +have denied that shelter or withheld it until I knew his name and +what he was. He stayed here until he could be removed. He left a +letter for you. It will probably tell you if he was the man this +person is seeking." + +"Thank you, mother," said Hale, lifting her hand to his lips +quietly; "and perhaps you will kindly tell these gentlemen that. +as your son does not care to know who or what the stranger was, +there is no necessity for opening the letter, or keeping Mr. +Stanner a moment longer." + +"But you will oblige ME, John, by opening it before these +gentlemen," said Mrs. Hale recovering her voice and color. +"Please to follow me," she said preceding them to the staircase. + +They entered Mr. Hale's room, now restored to its original +condition. On the table lay a letter and a small package. The +eyes of Mr. Stanner, a little abashed by the attitude of the two +women, fastened upon it and glistened. + +Josephine handed her husband the letter. He opened it in +breathless silence and read-- + + +"JOHN HALE, + +"We owe you no return for voluntarily making yourself a champion of +justice and pursuing us, except it was to offer you a fair field +and no favor. We didn't get that much from you, but accident +brought us into your house and into your family, where we DID get +it, and were fairly vanquished. To the victors belong the spoils. +We leave the package of greenbacks which we took from Colonel +Clinch in the Sierra coach, but which was first stolen by Harkins +from forty-four shareholders of the Excelsior Ditch. We have no +right to say what YOU should do with it, but if you aren't tired of +following the same line of justice that induced you to run after +US, you will try to restore it to its rightful owners. + +"We leave you another trifle as an evidence that our intrusion into +your affairs was not without some service to you, even if the +service was as accidental as the intrusion. You will find a pair +of boots in the corner of your closet. They were taken from the +burglarious feet of Manuel, your peon, who, believing the three +ladies were alone and at his mercy, entered your house with an +accomplice at two o'clock on the morning of the 21st, and was +kicked out by + +"Your obedient servants, + +"GEORGE LEE & EDWARD FALKNER" + + +Hale's voice and color changed on reading this last paragraph. He +turned quickly towards his wife; Kate flew to the closet, where the +muffled boots of Manuel confronted them. "We never knew it. I +always suspected something that night," said Mrs. Hale and Mrs. +Scott in the same breath. + +"That's all very well, and like George Lee's high falutin'," said +Stanner, approaching the table, "but as long ez the greenbacks are +here he can make what capital he likes outer Manuel. I'll trouble +you to pass over that package." + +"Excuse me," said Hale, "but I believe this is the package taken +from Colonel Clinch. Is it not?" he added, appealing to the +Colonel. + +"It is," said Clinch. + +"Then take it," said Hale, handing him the package. "The first +restitution is to you, but I believe you will fulfil Lee's +instructions as well as myself." + +"But," said Stanner, furiously interposing, "I've a warrant to +seize that wherever found, and I dare you to disobey the law." + +"Mr. Stanner," said Clinch, slowly, "there are ladies present. If +you insist upon having that package I must ask them to withdraw, +and I'm afraid you'll find me better prepared to resist a SECOND +robbery than I was the first. Your warrant, which was taken out by +the Express Company, is supplanted by civil proceedings taken the +day before yesterday against the property of the fugitive swindler +Harkins! You should have consulted the sheriff before you came +here." + +Stanner saw his mistake. But in the faces of his grinning +followers he was obliged to keep up his bluster. "You shall hear +from me again, sir," he said, turning on his heel. + +"I beg your pardon," said Clinch grimly, "but do I understand that +at last I am to have the honor--" + +"You shall hear from the Company's lawyers, sir," said Stanner. +turning red, and noisily leaving the room. + +"And so, my dear ladies," said Colonel Clinch, "you have spent a +week with a highwayman. I say A highwayman, for it would be hard +to call my young friend Falkner by that name for his first offence, +committed under great provocation, and undoubtedly instigated by +Lee, who was an old friend of his, and to whom he came, no doubt, +in desperation." + +Kate stole a triumphant glance at her sister, who dropped her lids +over her glistening eyes. "And this Mr. Lee," she continued more +gently, "is he really a highwayman?" + +"George Lee," said Clinch, settling himself back oratorically in +his chair, "my dear young lady, IS a highwayman, but not of the +common sort. He is a gentleman born, madam, comes from one of the +oldest families of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He never mixes +himself up with anything but some of the biggest strikes, and he's +an educated man. He is very popular with ladies and children; he +was never known to do or say anything that could bring a blush to +the cheek of beauty or a tear to the eye of innocence. I think I +may say I'm sure you found him so." + +"I shall never believe him anything but a gentleman," said Mrs. +Scott, firmly. + +"If he has a defect, it is perhaps a too reckless indulgence in +draw poker," said the Colonel, musingly; "not unbecoming a +gentleman, understand me, Mrs. Scott, but perhaps too reckless for +his own good. George played a grand game, a glittering game, but +pardon me if I say an UNCERTAIN game. I've told him so; it's the +only point on which we ever differed." + +"Then you know him?" said Mrs. Hale, lifting her soft eyes to the +Colonel. + +"I have that honor." + +"Did his appearance, Josephine," broke in Hale, somewhat +ostentatiously, "appear to--er--er--correspond with these +qualities? You know what I mean." + +"He certainly seemed very simple and natural," said Mrs. Hale, +slightly drawing her pretty lips together. "He did not wear his +trousers rolled up over his boots in the company of ladies, as +you're doing now, nor did he make his first appearance in this +house with such a hat as you wore this morning, or I should not +have admitted him." + +There were a few moments of embarrassing silence. + +"Do you intend to give that package to Mr. Falkner yourself, +Colonel?" asked Mrs. Scott. + +"I shall hand it over to the Excelsior Company," said the Colonel, +"but I shall inform Ned of what I have done." + +"Then," said Mrs. Scott, "will you kindly take a message from us to +him?" + +"If you wish it." + +"You will be doing ME a great favor, Colonel," said Hale, politely. + + +Whatever the message was, six months later it brought Edward +Falkner, the reestablished superintendent of the Excelsior Ditch, +to Eagle's Court. As he and Kate stood again on the plateau, +looking towards the distant slopes once more green with verdure, +Falkner said-- + +"Everything here looks as it did the first day I saw it, except +your sister." + +"The place does not agree with her," said Kate hurriedly. "That is +why my brother thinks of leaving it before the winter sets in." + +"It seems so sad," said Falkner, "for the last words poor George +said to me, as he left to join his cousin's corps at Richmond, +were: 'If I'm not killed, Ned, I hope some day to stand again +beside Mrs. Hale, at the window in Eagle's Court, and watch you and +Kate coming home!'" + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of Snow-Bound at Eagle's, by Bret Harte + diff --git a/old/sbdae10.zip b/old/sbdae10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c31c687 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/sbdae10.zip |