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diff --git a/2495-h/2495-h.htm b/2495-h/2495-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9898047 --- /dev/null +++ b/2495-h/2495-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6424 @@ +<?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> + Susy, a Story of the Plains, 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 Susy, A Story of the Plains, 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: Susy, A Story of the Plains + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 16, 2006 [EBook #2495] +Last Updated: March 4, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUSY, A STORY OF THE PLAINS *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + SUSY, <br /> <br /> A STORY OF THE PLAINS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Bret Harte + </h2> + <h4> + From: “ARGONAUT EDITION” OF THE WORKS OF BRET HARTE, VOL. 7 <br /> <br /> P. + F. COLLIER & SON <br /> <br /> NEW YORK + </h4> + <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>SUSY, A STORY OF THE PLAINS</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> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. </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> + SUSY, A STORY OF THE PLAINS + </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> + Where the San Leandro turnpike stretches its dusty, hot, and interminable + length along the valley, at a point where the heat and dust have become + intolerable, the monotonous expanse of wild oats on either side + illimitable, and the distant horizon apparently remoter than ever, it + suddenly slips between a stunted thicket or hedge of “scrub oaks,” which + until that moment had been undistinguishable above the long, misty, + quivering level of the grain. The thicket rising gradually in height, but + with a regular slope whose gradient had been determined by centuries of + western trade winds, presently becomes a fair wood of live-oak, and a few + hundred yards further at last assumes the aspect of a primeval forest. A + delicious coolness fills the air; the long, shadowy aisles greet the + aching eye with a soothing twilight; the murmur of unseen brooks is heard, + and, by a strange irony, the enormous, widely-spaced stacks of wild oats + are replaced by a carpet of tiny-leaved mosses and chickweed at the roots + of trees, and the minutest clover in more open spaces. The baked and + cracked adobe soil of the now vanished plains is exchanged for a heavy red + mineral dust and gravel, rocks and boulders make their appearance, and at + times the road is crossed by the white veins of quartz. It is still the + San Leandro turnpike,—a few miles later to rise from this canada + into the upper plains again,—but it is also the actual gateway and + avenue to the Robles Rancho. When the departing visitors of Judge Peyton, + now owner of the rancho, reach the outer plains again, after twenty + minutes' drive from the house, the canada, rancho, and avenue have as + completely disappeared from view as if they had been swallowed up in the + plain. + </p> + <p> + A cross road from the turnpike is the usual approach to the casa or + mansion,—a long, low quadrangle of brown adobe wall in a bare but + gently sloping eminence. And here a second surprise meets the stranger. He + seems to have emerged from the forest upon another illimitable plain, but + one utterly trackless, wild, and desolate. It is, however, only a lower + terrace of the same valley, and, in fact, comprises the three square + leagues of the Robles Rancho. Uncultivated and savage as it appears, given + over to wild cattle and horses that sometimes sweep in frightened bands + around the very casa itself, the long south wall of the corral embraces an + orchard of gnarled pear-trees, an old vineyard, and a venerable garden of + olives and oranges. A manor, formerly granted by Charles V. to Don + Vincente Robles, of Andalusia, of pious and ascetic memory, it had + commended itself to Judge Peyton, of Kentucky, a modern heretic pioneer of + bookish tastes and secluded habits, who had bought it of Don Vincente's + descendants. Here Judge Peyton seemed to have realized his idea of a + perfect climate, and a retirement, half-studious, half-active, with + something of the seignioralty of the old slaveholder that he had been. + Here, too, he had seen the hope of restoring his wife's health—for + which he had undertaken the overland emigration—more than fulfilled + in Mrs. Peyton's improved physical condition, albeit at the expense, + perhaps, of some of the languorous graces of ailing American wifehood. + </p> + <p> + It was with a curious recognition of this latter fact that Judge Peyton + watched his wife crossing the patio or courtyard with her arm around the + neck of her adopted daughter “Suzette.” A sudden memory crossed his mind + of the first day that he had seen them together,—the day that he had + brought the child and her boy-companion—two estrays from an emigrant + train on the plains—to his wife in camp. Certainly Mrs. Peyton was + stouter and stronger fibred; the wonderful Californian climate had + materialized her figure, as it had their Eastern fruits and flowers, but + it was stranger that “Susy”—the child of homelier frontier blood and + parentage, whose wholesome peasant plumpness had at first attracted them—should + have grown thinner and more graceful, and even seemed to have gained the + delicacy his wife had lost. Six years had imperceptibly wrought this + change; it had never struck him before so forcibly as on this day of + Susy's return from the convent school at Santa Clara for the holidays. + </p> + <p> + The woman and child had reached the broad veranda which, on one side of + the patio, replaced the old Spanish corridor. It was the single modern + innovation that Peyton had allowed himself when he had broken the + quadrangular symmetry of the old house with a wooden “annexe” or addition + beyond the walls. It made a pleasant lounging-place, shadowed from the hot + midday sun by sloping roofs and awnings, and sheltered from the boisterous + afternoon trade winds by the opposite side of the court. But Susy did not + seem inclined to linger there long that morning, in spite of Mrs. Peyton's + evident desire for a maternal tete-a-tete. The nervous preoccupation and + capricious ennui of an indulged child showed in her pretty but + discontented face, and knit her curved eyebrows, and Peyton saw a look of + pain pass over his wife's face as the young girl suddenly and + half-laughingly broke away and fluttered off towards the old garden. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Peyton looked up and caught her husband's eye. + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid Susy finds it more dull here every time she returns,” she + said, with an apologetic smile. “I am glad she has invited one of her + school friends to come for a visit to-morrow. You know, yourself, John,” + she added, with a slight partisan attitude, “that the lonely old house and + wild plain are not particularly lively for young people, however much they + may suit YOUR ways.” + </p> + <p> + “It certainly must be dull if she can't stand it for three weeks in the + year,” said her husband dryly. “But we really cannot open the San + Francisco house for her summer vacation, nor can we move from the rancho + to a more fashionable locality. Besides, it will do her good to run wild + here. I can remember when she wasn't so fastidious. In fact, I was + thinking just now how changed she was from the day when we picked her up”— + </p> + <p> + “How often am I to remind you, John,” interrupted the lady, with some + impatience, “that we agreed never to speak of her past, or even to think + of her as anything but our own child. You know how it pains me! And the + poor dear herself has forgotten it, and thinks of us only as her own + parents. I really believe that if that wretched father and mother of hers + had not been killed by the Indians, or were to come to life again, she + would neither know them nor care for them. I mean, of course, John,” she + said, averting her eyes from a slightly cynical smile on her husband's + face, “that it's only natural for young children to be forgetful, and + ready to take new impressions.” + </p> + <p> + “And as long, dear, as WE are not the subjects of this youthful + forgetfulness, and she isn't really finding US as stupid as the rancho,” + replied her husband cheerfully, “I suppose we mustn't complain.” + </p> + <p> + “John, how can you talk such nonsense?” said Mrs. Peyton impatiently. “But + I have no fear of that,” she added, with a slightly ostentatious + confidence. “I only wish I was as sure”— + </p> + <p> + “Of what?” + </p> + <p> + “Of nothing happening that could take her from us. I do not mean death, + John,—like our first little one. That does not happen to one twice; + but I sometimes dread”— + </p> + <p> + “What? She's only fifteen, and it's rather early to think about the only + other inevitable separation,—marriage. Come, Ally, this is mere + fancy. She has been given up to us by her family,—at least, by all + that we know are left of them. I have legally adopted her. If I have not + made her my heiress, it is because I prefer to leave everything to YOU, + and I would rather she should know that she was dependent upon you for the + future than upon me.” + </p> + <p> + “And I can make a will in her favor if I want to?” said Mrs. Peyton + quickly. + </p> + <p> + “Always,” responded her husband smilingly; “but you have ample time to + think of that, I trust. Meanwhile I have some news for you which may make + Susy's visit to the rancho this time less dull to her. You remember + Clarence Brant, the boy who was with her when we picked her up, and who + really saved her life?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I don't,” said Mrs. Peyton pettishly, “nor do I want to! You know, + John, how distasteful and unpleasant it is for me to have those dreary, + petty, and vulgar details of the poor child's past life recalled, and, + thank Heaven, I have forgotten them except when you choose to drag them + before me. You agreed, long ago, that we were never to talk of the Indian + massacre of her parents, so that we could also ignore it before her; then + why do you talk of her vulgar friends, who are just as unpleasant? Please + let us drop the past.” + </p> + <p> + “Willingly, my dear; but, unfortunately, we cannot make others do it. And + this is a case in point. It appears that this boy, whom we brought to + Sacramento to deliver to a relative”— + </p> + <p> + “And who was a wicked little impostor,—you remember that yourself, + John, for he said that he was the son of Colonel Brant, and that he was + dead; and you know, and my brother Harry knew, that Colonel Brant was + alive all the time, and that he was lying, and Colonel Brant was not his + father,” broke in Mrs. Peyton impatiently. + </p> + <p> + “As it seems you do remember that much,” said Peyton dryly, “it is only + just to him that I should tell you that it appears that he was not an + impostor. His story was TRUE. I have just learned that Colonel Brant WAS + actually his father, but had concealed his lawless life here, as well as + his identity, from the boy. He was really that vague relative to whom + Clarence was confided, and under that disguise he afterwards protected the + boy, had him carefully educated at the Jesuit College of San Jose, and, + dying two years ago in that filibuster raid in Mexico, left him a + considerable fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “And what has he to do with Susy's holidays?” said Mrs. Peyton, with + uneasy quickness. “John, you surely cannot expect her ever to meet this + common creature again, with his vulgar ways. His wretched associates like + that Jim Hooker, and, as you yourself admit, the blood of an assassin, + duelist, and—Heaven knows what kind of a pirate his father wasn't at + the last—in his veins! You don't believe that a lad of this type, + however much of his father's ill-gotten money he may have, can be fit + company for your daughter? You never could have thought of inviting him + here?” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid that's exactly what I have done, Ally,” said the smiling but + unmoved Peyton; “but I'm still more afraid that your conception of his + present condition is an unfair one, like your remembrance of his past. + Father Sobriente, whom I met at San Jose yesterday, says he is very + intelligent, and thoroughly educated, with charming manners and refined + tastes. His father's money, which they say was an investment for him in + Carson's Bank five years ago, is as good as any one's, and his father's + blood won't hurt him in California or the Southwest. At least, he is + received everywhere, and Don Juan Robinson was his guardian. Indeed, as + far as social status goes, it might be a serious question if the actual + daughter of the late John Silsbee, of Pike County, and the adopted child + of John Peyton was in the least his superior. As Father Sobriente + evidently knew Clarence's former companionship with Susy and her parents, + it would be hardly politic for us to ignore it or seem to be ashamed of + it. So I intrusted Sobriente with an invitation to young Brant on the + spot.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Peyton's impatience, indignation, and opposition, which had + successively given way before her husband's quiet, masterful good humor, + here took the form of a neurotic fatalism. She shook her head with + superstitious resignation. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't I tell you, John, that I always had a dread of something coming”— + </p> + <p> + “But if it comes in the shape of a shy young lad, I see nothing singularly + portentous in it. They have not met since they were quite small; their + tastes have changed; if they don't quarrel and fight they may be equally + bored with each other. Yet until then, in one way or another, Clarence + will occupy the young lady's vacant caprice, and her school friend, Mary + Rogers, will be here, you know, to divide his attentions, and,” added + Peyton, with mock solemnity, “preserve the interest of strict propriety. + Shall I break it to her,—or will you?” + </p> + <p> + “No,—yes,” hesitated Mrs. Peyton; “perhaps I had better.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well, I leave his character in your hands; only don't prejudice her + into a romantic fancy for him.” And Judge Peyton lounged smilingly away. + </p> + <p> + Then two little tears forced themselves from Mrs. Peyton's eyes. Again she + saw that prospect of uninterrupted companionship with Susy, upon which + each successive year she had built so many maternal hopes and confidences, + fade away before her. She dreaded the coming of Susy's school friend, who + shared her daughter's present thoughts and intimacy, although she had + herself invited her in a more desperate dread of the child's abstracted, + discontented eyes; she dreaded the advent of the boy who had shared Susy's + early life before she knew her; she dreaded the ordeal of breaking the + news and perhaps seeing that pretty animation spring into her eyes, which + she had begun to believe no solicitude or tenderness of her own ever again + awakened,—and yet she dreaded still more that her husband should see + it too. For the love of this recreated woman, although not entirely + materialized with her changed fibre, had nevertheless become a coarser + selfishness fostered by her loneliness and limited experience. The + maternal yearning left unsatisfied by the loss of her first-born had never + been filled by Susy's thoughtless acceptance of it; she had been led + astray by the child's easy transference of dependence and the + forgetfulness of youth, and was only now dimly conscious of finding + herself face to face with an alien nature. + </p> + <p> + She started to her feet and followed the direction that Susy had taken. + For a moment she had to front the afternoon trade wind which chilled her + as it swept the plain beyond the gateway, but was stopped by the adobe + wall, above whose shelter the stunted treetops—through years of + exposure—slanted as if trimmed by gigantic shears. At first, looking + down the venerable alley of fantastic, knotted shapes, she saw no trace of + Susy. But half way down the gleam of a white skirt against a thicket of + dark olives showed her the young girl sitting on a bench in a neglected + arbor. In the midst of this formal and faded pageantry she looked + charmingly fresh, youthful, and pretty; and yet the unfortunate woman + thought that her attitude and expression at that moment suggested more + than her fifteen years of girlhood. Her golden hair still hung unfettered + over her straight, boy-like back and shoulders; her short skirt still + showed her childish feet and ankles; yet there seemed to be some undefined + maturity or a vague womanliness about her that stung Mrs. Peyton's heart. + The child was growing away from her, too! + </p> + <p> + “Susy!” + </p> + <p> + The young girl raised her head quickly; her deep violet eyes seemed also + to leap with a sudden suspicion, and with a half-mechanical, secretive + movement, that might have been only a schoolgirl's instinct, her right + hand had slipped a paper on which she was scribbling between the leaves of + her book. Yet the next moment, even while looking interrogatively at her + mother, she withdrew the paper quietly, tore it up into small pieces, and + threw them on the ground. + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Peyton was too preoccupied with her news to notice the + circumstance, and too nervous in her haste to be tactful. “Susy, your + father has invited that boy, Clarence Brant,—you know that creature + we picked up and assisted on the plains, when you were a mere baby,—to + come down here and make us a visit.” + </p> + <p> + Her heart seemed to stop beating as she gazed breathlessly at the girl. + But Susy's face, unchanged except for the alert, questioning eyes, + remained fixed for a moment; then a childish smile of wonder opened her + small red mouth, expanded it slightly as she said simply:— + </p> + <p> + “Lor, mar! He hasn't, really!” + </p> + <p> + Inexpressibly, yet unreasonably reassured, Mrs. Peyton hurriedly recounted + her husband's story of Clarence's fortune, and was even joyfully surprised + into some fairness of statement. + </p> + <p> + “But you don't remember him much, do you, dear? It was so long ago, and—you + are quite a young lady now,” she added eagerly. + </p> + <p> + The open mouth was still fixed; the wondering smile would have been + idiotic in any face less dimpled, rosy, and piquant than Susy's. After a + slight gasp, as if in still incredulous and partly reminiscent + preoccupation, she said without replying:— + </p> + <p> + “How funny! When is he coming?” + </p> + <p> + “Day after to-morrow,” returned Mrs. Peyton, with a contented smile. + </p> + <p> + “And Mary Rogers will be here, too. It will be real fun for her.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Peyton was more than reassured. Half ashamed of her jealous fears, + she drew Susy's golden head towards her and kissed it. And the young girl, + still reminiscent, with smilingly abstracted toleration, returned the + caress. + </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> + It was not thought inconsistent with Susy's capriciousness that she should + declare her intention the next morning of driving her pony buggy to Santa + Inez to anticipate the stage-coach and fetch Mary Rogers from the station. + Mrs. Peyton, as usual, supported the young lady's whim and opposed her + husband's objections. + </p> + <p> + “Because the stage-coach happens to pass our gate, John, it is no reason + why Susy shouldn't drive her friend from Santa Inez if she prefers it. + It's only seven miles, and you can send Pedro to follow her on horseback + to see that she comes to no harm.” + </p> + <p> + “But that isn't Pedro's business,” said Peyton. + </p> + <p> + “He ought to be proud of the privilege,” returned the lady, with a toss of + her head. + </p> + <p> + Peyton smiled grimly, but yielded; and when the stage-coach drew up the + next afternoon at the Santa Inez Hotel, Susy was already waiting in her + pony carriage before it. Although the susceptible driver, expressman, and + passengers generally, charmed with this golden-haired vision, would have + gladly protracted the meeting of the two young friends, the transfer of + Mary Rogers from the coach to the carriage was effected with considerable + hauteur and youthful dignity by Susy. Even Mary Rogers, two years Susy's + senior, a serious brunette, whose good-humor did not, however, impair her + capacity for sentiment, was impressed and even embarrassed by her + demeanor; but only for a moment. When they had driven from the hotel and + were fairly hidden again in the dust of the outlying plain, with the + discreet Pedro hovering in the distance, Susy dropped the reins, and, + grasping her companion's arm, gasped, in tones of dramatic intensity:— + </p> + <p> + “He's been heard from, and is coming HERE!” + </p> + <p> + “Who?” + </p> + <p> + A sickening sense that her old confidante had already lost touch with her—they + had been separated for nearly two weeks—might have passed through + Susy's mind. + </p> + <p> + “Who?” she repeated, with a vicious shake of Mary's arm, “why, Clarence + Brant, of course.” + </p> + <p> + “No!” said Mary, vaguely. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, Susy went on rapidly, as if to neutralize the effect of her + comrade's vacuity. + </p> + <p> + “You never could have imagined it! Never! Even I, when mother told me, I + thought I should have fainted, and ALL would have been revealed!” + </p> + <p> + “But,” hesitated the still wondering confidante, “I thought that was all + over long ago. You haven't seen him nor heard from him since that day you + met accidentally at Santa Clara, two years ago, have you?” + </p> + <p> + Susy's eyes shot a blue ray of dark but unutterable significance into + Mary's, and then were carefully averted. Mary Rogers, although perfectly + satisfied that Susy had never seen Clarence since, nevertheless instantly + accepted and was even thrilled with this artful suggestion of a + clandestine correspondence. Such was the simple faith of youthful + friendship. + </p> + <p> + “Mother knows nothing of it, of course, and a word from you or him would + ruin everything,” continued the breathless Susy. “That's why I came to + fetch you and warn you. You must see him first, and warn him at any cost. + If I hadn't run every risk to come here to-day, Heaven knows what might + have happened! What do you think of the ponies, dear? They're my own, and + the sweetest! This one's Susy, that one Clarence,—but privately, you + know. Before the world and in the stables he's only Birdie.” + </p> + <p> + “But I thought you wrote to me that you called them 'Paul and Virginie,'” + said Mary doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + “I do, sometimes,” said Susy calmly. “But one has to learn to suppress + one's feelings, dear!” Then quickly, “I do so hate deceit, don't you? Tell + me, don't you think deceit perfectly hateful?” + </p> + <p> + Without waiting for her friend's loyal assent, she continued rapidly: “And + he's just rolling in wealth! and educated, papa says, to the highest + degree!” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” began Mary, “if he's coming with your mother's consent, and if you + haven't quarreled, and it is not broken off, I should think you'd be just + delighted.” + </p> + <p> + But another quick flash from Susy's eyes dispersed these beatific visions + of the future. “Hush!” she said, with suppressed dramatic intensity. “You + know not what you say! There's an awful mystery hangs over him. Mary + Rogers,” continued the young girl, approaching her small mouth to her + confidante's ear in an appalling whisper. “His father was—a PIRATE! + Yes—lived a pirate and was killed a pirate!” + </p> + <p> + The statement, however, seemed to be partly ineffective. Mary Rogers was + startled but not alarmed, and even protested feebly. “But,” she said, “if + the father's dead, what's that to do with Clarence? He was always with + your papa—so you told me, dear—or other people, and couldn't + catch anything from his own father. And I'm sure, dearest, he always + seemed nice and quiet.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, SEEMED,” returned Susy darkly, “but that's all you know! It was in + his BLOOD. You know it always is,—you read it in the books,—you + could see it in his eye. There were times, my dear, when he was thwarted,—when + the slightest attention from another person to me revealed it! I have kept + it to myself,—but think, dearest, of the effects of jealousy on that + passionate nature! Sometimes I tremble to look back upon it.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, she raised her hands and threw back her lovely golden mane + from her childish shoulders with an easy, untroubled gesture. It was + singular that Mary Rogers, leaning back comfortably in the buggy, also + accepted these heart-rending revelations with comfortably knitted brows + and luxuriously contented concern. If she found it difficult to recognize + in the picture just drawn by Susy the quiet, gentle, and sadly reserved + youth she had known, she said nothing. After a silence, lazily watching + the distant wheeling vacquero, she said:— + </p> + <p> + “And your father always sends an outrider like that with you? How nice! So + picturesque—and like the old Spanish days.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” said Susy, with another unutterable glance. + </p> + <p> + But this time Mary was in full sympathetic communion with her friend, and + equal to any incoherent hiatus of revelation. + </p> + <p> + “No!” she said promptly, “you don't mean it!” + </p> + <p> + “Don't ask me, I daren't say anything to papa, for he'd be simply furious. + But there are times when we're alone, and Pedro wheels down so near with + SUCH a look in his black eyes, that I'm all in a tremble. It's dreadful! + They say he's a real Briones,—and he sometimes says something in + Spanish, ending with 'senorita,' but I pretend I don't understand.” + </p> + <p> + “And I suppose that if anything should happen to the ponies, he'd just + risk his life to save you.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,—and it would be so awful,—for I just hate him!” + </p> + <p> + “But if I was with you, dear, he couldn't expect you to be as grateful as + if you were alone. Susy!” she continued after a pause, “if you just + stirred up the ponies a little so as to make 'em go fast, perhaps he might + think they'd got away from you, and come dashing down here. It would be so + funny to see him,—wouldn't it?” + </p> + <p> + The two girls looked at each other; their eyes sparkled already with a + fearful joy,—they drew a long breath of guilty anticipation. For a + moment Susy even believed in her imaginary sketch of Pedro's devotion. + </p> + <p> + “Papa said I wasn't to use the whip except in a case of necessity,” she + said, reaching for the slender silver-handled toy, and setting her pretty + lips together with the added determination of disobedience. “G'long!”—and + she laid the lash smartly on the shining backs of the animals. + </p> + <p> + They were wiry, slender brutes of Mojave Indian blood, only lately broken + to harness, and still undisciplined in temper. The lash sent them rearing + into the air, where, forgetting themselves in the slackened traces and + loose reins, they came down with a succession of bounds that brought the + light buggy leaping after them with its wheels scarcely touching the + ground. That unlucky lash had knocked away the bonds of a few months' + servitude and sent the half-broken brutes instinctively careering with + arched backs and kicking heels into the field towards the nearest cover. + </p> + <p> + Mary Rogers cast a hurried glance over her shoulder. Alas, they had not + calculated on the insidious levels of the terraced plain, and the faithful + Pedro had suddenly disappeared; the intervention of six inches of rising + wild oats had wiped him out of the prospect and their possible salvation + as completely as if he had been miles away. Nevertheless, the girls were + not frightened; perhaps they had not time. There was, however, the + briefest interval for the most dominant of feminine emotions, and it was + taken advantage of by Susy. + </p> + <p> + “It was all YOUR fault, dear!” she gasped, as the forewheels of the buggy, + dropping into a gopher rut, suddenly tilted up the back of the vehicle and + shot its fair occupants into the yielding palisades of dusty grain. The + shock detached the whiffletree from the splinter-bar, snapped the light + pole, and, turning the now thoroughly frightened animals again from their + course, sent them, goaded by the clattering fragments, flying down the + turnpike. Half a mile farther on they overtook the gleaming white canvas + hood of a slowly moving wagon drawn by two oxen, and, swerving again, the + nearer pony stepped upon a trailing trace and ingloriously ended their + career by rolling himself and his companion in the dust at the very feet + of the peacefully plodding team. + </p> + <p> + Equally harmless and inglorious was the catastrophe of Susy and her + friend. The strong, elastic stalks of the tall grain broke their fall and + enabled them to scramble to their feet, dusty, disheveled, but unhurt, and + even unstunned by the shock. Their first instinctive cries over a damaged + hat or ripped skirt were followed by the quick reaction of childish + laughter. They were alone; the very defection of Pedro consoled them, in + its absence of any witness to their disaster; even their previous slight + attitude to each other was forgotten. They groped their way, pushing and + panting, to the road again, where, beholding the overset buggy with its + wheels ludicrously in the air, they suddenly seized and shook each other, + and in an outburst of hilarious ecstasy, fairly laughed until the tears + came into their eyes. + </p> + <p> + Then there was a breathless silence. + </p> + <p> + “The stage will be coming by in a moment,” composedly said Susy. “Fix me, + dear.” + </p> + <p> + Mary Rogers calmly walked around her friend, bestowing a practical shake + there, a pluck here, completely retying one bow and restoring an engaging + fullness to another, yet critically examining, with her head on one side, + the fascinating result. Then Susy performed the same function for Mary + with equal deliberation and deftness. Suddenly Mary started and looked up. + </p> + <p> + “It's coming,” she said quickly, “and they've SEEN US.” + </p> + <p> + The expression of the faces of the two girls instantly changed. A pained + dignity and resignation, apparently born of the most harrowing experiences + and controlled only by perfect good breeding, was distinctly suggested in + their features and attitude as they stood patiently by the wreck of their + overturned buggy awaiting the oncoming coach. In sharp contrast was the + evident excitement among the passengers. A few rose from their seats in + their eagerness; as the stage pulled up in the road beside the buggy four + or five of the younger men leaped to the ground. + </p> + <p> + “Are you hurt, miss?” they gasped sympathetically. + </p> + <p> + Susy did not immediately reply, but ominously knitted her pretty eyebrows + as if repressing a spasm of pain. Then she said, “Not at all,” coldly, + with the suggestion of stoically concealing some lasting or perhaps fatal + injury, and took the arm of Mary Rogers, who had, in the mean time, + established a touching yet graceful limp. + </p> + <p> + Declining the proffered assistance of the passengers, they helped each + other into the coach, and freezingly requesting the driver to stop at Mr. + Peyton's gate, maintained a statuesque and impressive silence. At the + gates they got down, followed by the sympathetic glances of the others. + </p> + <p> + To all appearance their escapade, albeit fraught with dangerous + possibilities, had happily ended. But in the economy of human affairs, as + in nature, forces are not suddenly let loose without more or less + sympathetic disturbance which is apt to linger after the impelling cause + is harmlessly spent. The fright which the girls had unsuccessfully + attempted to produce in the heart of their escort had passed him to become + a panic elsewhere. Judge Peyton, riding near the gateway of his rancho, + was suddenly confronted by the spectacle of one of his vacqueros driving + on before him the two lassoed and dusty ponies, with a face that broke + into violent gesticulating at his master's quick interrogation. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Mother of God! It was an evil day! For the bronchos had run away, + upset the buggy, and had only been stopped by a brave Americano of an + ox-team, whose lasso was even now around their necks, to prove it, and who + had been dragged a matter of a hundred varas, like a calf, at their heels. + The senoritas,—ah! had he not already said they were safe, by the + mercy of Jesus!—picked up by the coach, and would be here at this + moment.” + </p> + <p> + “But where was Pedro all the time? What was he doing?” demanded Peyton, + with a darkened face and gathering anger. + </p> + <p> + The vacquero looked at his master, and shrugged his shoulders + significantly. At any other time Peyton would have remembered that Pedro, + as the reputed scion of a decayed Spanish family, and claiming + superiority, was not a favorite with his fellow-retainers. But the + gesture, half of suggestion, half of depreciation, irritated Peyton still + more. + </p> + <p> + “Well, where is this American who DID something when there wasn't a man + among you all able to stop a child's runaway ponies?” he said + sarcastically. “Let me see him.” + </p> + <p> + The vacquero became still more deprecatory. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! He had driven on with his team towards San Antonio. He would not stop + to be thanked. But that was the whole truth. He, Incarnacion, could swear + to it as to the Creed. There was nothing more.” + </p> + <p> + “Take those beasts around the back way to the corral,” said Peyton, + thoroughly enraged, “and not a word of this to any one at the casa, do you + hear? Not a word to Mrs. Peyton or the servants, or, by Heaven, I'll clear + the rancho of the whole lazy crew of you at once. Out of the way there, + and be off!” + </p> + <p> + He spurred his horse past the frightened menial, and dashed down the + narrow lane that led to the gate. But, as Incarnacion had truly said, “It + was an evil day,” for at the bottom of the lane, ambling slowly along as + he lazily puffed a yellow cigarette, appeared the figure of the erring + Pedro. Utterly unconscious of the accident, attributing the disappearance + of his charges to the inequalities of the plain, and, in truth, little + interested in what he firmly believed was his purely artificial function, + he had even made a larger circuit to stop at a wayside fonda for + refreshments. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, there is no more illogical sequence of human emotion than + the exasperation produced by the bland manner of the unfortunate object + who has excited it, although that very unconcern may be the convincing + proof of innocence of intention. Judge Peyton, already influenced, was + furious at the comfortable obliviousness of his careless henchman, and + rode angrily towards him. Only a quick turn of Pedro's wrist kept the two + men from coming into collision. + </p> + <p> + “Is this the way you attend to your duty?” demanded Peyton, in a thick, + suppressed voice, “Where is the buggy? Where is my daughter?” + </p> + <p> + There was no mistaking Judge Peyton's manner, even if the reason of it was + not so clear to Pedro's mind, and his hot Latin blood flew instinctively + to his face. But for that, he might have shown some concern or asked an + explanation. As it was, he at once retorted with the national shrug and + the national half-scornful, half-lazy “Quien sabe?” + </p> + <p> + “Who knows?” repeated Peyton, hotly. “I do! She was thrown out of her + buggy through your negligence and infernal laziness! The ponies ran away, + and were stopped by a stranger who wasn't afraid of risking his bones, + while you were limping around somewhere like a slouching, cowardly + coyote.” + </p> + <p> + The vacquero struggled a moment between blank astonishment and + inarticulate rage. At last he burst out:— + </p> + <p> + “I am no coyote! I was there! I saw no runaway!” + </p> + <p> + “Don't lie to me, sir!” roared Peyton. “I tell you the buggy was smashed, + the girls were thrown out and nearly killed”—He stopped suddenly. + The sound of youthful laughter had come from the bottom of the lane, where + Susy Peyton and Mary Rogers, just alighted from the coach, in the reaction + of their previous constrained attitude, were flying hilariously into view. + A slight embarrassment crossed Peyton's face; a still deeper flush of + anger overspread Pedro's sullen cheek. + </p> + <p> + Then Pedro found tongue again, his native one, rapidly, violently, half + incoherently. “Ah, yes! It had come to this. It seems he was not a + vacquero, a companion of the padrone on lands that had been his own before + the Americanos robbed him of it, but a servant, a lackey of muchachas, an + attendant on children to amuse them, or—why not?—an appendage + to his daughter's state! Ah, Jesus Maria! such a state! such a muchacha! A + picked-up foundling—a swineherd's daughter—to be ennobled by + his, Pedro's, attendance, and for whose vulgar, clownish tricks,—tricks + of a swineherd's daughter,—he, Pedro, was to be brought to book and + insulted as if she were of Hidalgo blood! Ah, Caramba! Don Juan Peyton + would find he could no more make a servant of him than he could make a + lady of her!” + </p> + <p> + The two young girls were rapidly approaching. Judge Peyton spurred his + horse beside the vacquero's, and, swinging the long thong of his bridle + ominously in his clenched fingers, said, with a white face:— + </p> + <p> + “Vamos!” + </p> + <p> + Pedro's hand slid towards his sash. Peyton only looked at him with a rigid + smile of scorn. + </p> + <p> + “Or I'll lash you here before them both,” he added in a lower voice. + </p> + <p> + The vacquero met Peyton's relentless eyes with a yellow flash of hate, + drew his reins sharply, until his mustang, galled by the cruel bit, reared + suddenly as if to strike at the immovable American, then, apparently with + the same action, he swung it around on its hind legs, as on a pivot, and + dashed towards the corral at a furious gallop. + </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> + Meantime the heroic proprietor of the peaceful ox-team, whose valor + Incarnacion had so infelicitously celebrated, was walking listlessly in + the dust beside his wagon. At a first glance his slouching figure, taken + in connection with his bucolic conveyance, did not immediately suggest a + hero. As he emerged from the dusty cloud it could be seen that he was + wearing a belt from which a large dragoon revolver and hunting knife were + slung, and placed somewhat ostentatiously across the wagon seat was a + rifle. Yet the other contents of the wagon were of a singularly + inoffensive character, and even suggested articles of homely barter. + Culinary utensils of all sizes, tubs, scullery brushes, and clocks, with + several rolls of cheap carpeting and calico, might have been the wares of + some traveling vender. Yet, as they were only visible through a flap of + the drawn curtains of the canvas hood, they did not mitigate the general + aggressive effect of their owner's appearance. A red bandanna handkerchief + knotted and thrown loosely over his shoulders, a slouched hat pulled + darkly over a head of long tangled hair, which, however, shadowed a round, + comfortable face, scantily and youthfully bearded, were part of these + confusing inconsistencies. + </p> + <p> + The shadows of the team wagon were already lengthening grotesquely over + the flat, cultivated fields, which for some time had taken the place of + the plains of wild oats in the branch road into which they had turned. The + gigantic shadow of the proprietor, occasionally projected before it, was + in characteristic exaggeration, and was often obliterated by a puff of + dust, stirred by the plodding hoofs of the peaceful oxen, and swept across + the field by the strong afternoon trades. The sun sank lower, although a + still potent presence above the horizon line; the creaking wagon lumbered + still heavily along. Yet at intervals its belligerent proprietor would + start up from his slouching, silent march, break out into violent, + disproportionate, but utterly ineffective objurgation of his cattle, jump + into the air and kick his heels together in some paroxysm of indignation + against them,—an act, however, which was received always with heavy + bovine indifference, the dogged scorn of swaying, repudiating heads, or + the dull contempt of lazily flicking tails. + </p> + <p> + Towards sunset one or two straggling barns and cottages indicated their + approach to the outskirts of a country town or settlement. Here the team + halted, as if the belligerent-looking teamster had felt his appearance was + inconsistent with an effeminate civilization, and the oxen were turned + into an open waste opposite a nondescript wooden tenement, half farmhouse + and half cabin, evidently of the rudest Western origin. He may have + recognized the fact that these “shanties” were not, as the ordinary + traveler might infer, the first rude shelter of the original pioneers or + settlers, but the later makeshifts of some recent Western immigrants who, + like himself, probably found themselves unequal to the settled habits of + the village, and who still retained their nomadic instincts. It chanced, + however, that the cabin at present was occupied by a New England mechanic + and his family, who had emigrated by ship around Cape Horn, and who had no + experience of the West, the plains, or its people. It was therefore with + some curiosity and a certain amount of fascinated awe that the mechanic's + only daughter regarded from the open door of her dwelling the arrival of + this wild and lawless-looking stranger. + </p> + <p> + Meantime he had opened the curtains of the wagon and taken from its + interior a number of pots, pans, and culinary utensils, which he proceeded + to hang upon certain hooks that were placed on the outer ribs of the board + and the sides of the vehicle. To this he added a roll of rag carpet, the + end of which hung from the tailboard, and a roll of pink calico temptingly + displayed on the seat. The mystification and curiosity of the young girl + grew more intense at these proceedings. It looked like the ordinary + exhibition of a traveling peddler, but the gloomy and embattled appearance + of the man himself scouted so peaceful and commonplace a suggestion. Under + the pretense of chasing away a marauding hen, she sallied out upon the + waste near the wagon. It then became evident that the traveler had seen + her, and was not averse to her interest in his movements, although he had + not changed his attitude of savage retrospection. An occasional + ejaculation of suppressed passion, as if the memory of some past conflict + was too much for him, escaped him even in this peaceful occupation. As + this possibly caused the young girl to still hover timidly in the + distance, he suddenly entered the wagon and reappeared carrying a tin + bucket, with which he somewhat ostentatiously crossed her path, his eyes + darkly wandering as if seeking something. + </p> + <p> + “If you're lookin' for the spring, it's a spell furder on—by the + willows.” + </p> + <p> + It was a pleasant voice, the teamster thought, albeit with a dry, crisp, + New England accent unfamiliar to his ears. He looked into the depths of an + unlovely blue-check sunbonnet, and saw certain small, irregular features + and a sallow check, lit up by a pair of perfectly innocent, trustful, and + wondering brown eyes. Their timid possessor seemed to be a girl of + seventeen, whose figure, although apparently clad in one of her mother's + gowns, was still undeveloped and repressed by rustic hardship and + innutrition. As her eyes met his she saw that the face of this gloomy + stranger was still youthful, by no means implacable, and, even at that + moment, was actually suffused by a brick-colored blush! In matters of mere + intuition, the sex, even in its most rustic phase, is still our superior; + and this unsophisticated girl, as the trespasser stammered, “Thank ye, + miss,” was instinctively emboldened to greater freedom. + </p> + <p> + “Dad ain't tu hum, but ye kin have a drink o' milk if ye keer for it.” + </p> + <p> + She motioned shyly towards the cabin, and then led the way. The stranger, + with an inarticulate murmur, afterwards disguised as a cough, followed her + meekly. Nevertheless, by the time they had reached the cabin he had shaken + his long hair over his eyes again, and a dark abstraction gathered chiefly + in his eyebrows. But it did not efface from the girl's mind the previous + concession of a blush, and, although it added to her curiosity, did not + alarm her. He drank the milk awkwardly. But by the laws of courtesy, even + among the most savage tribes, she felt he was, at that moment at least, + harmless. A timid smile fluttered around her mouth as she said:— + </p> + <p> + “When ye hung up them things I thought ye might be havin' suthing to swap + or sell. That is,”—with tactful politeness,—“mother was + wantin' a new skillet, and it would have been handy if you'd had one. But”—with + an apologetic glance at his equipments—“if it ain't your business, + it's all right, and no offense.” + </p> + <p> + “I've got a lot o' skillets,” said the strange teamster, with marked + condescension, “and she can have one. They're all that's left outer a heap + o' trader's stuff captured by Injuns t'other side of Laramie. We had a big + fight to get 'em back. Lost two of our best men,—scalped at Bloody + Creek,—and had to drop a dozen redskins in their tracks,—me + and another man,—lyin' flat in er wagon and firin' under the flaps + o' the canvas. I don't know ez they waz wuth it,” he added in gloomy + retrospect; “but I've got to get rid of 'em, I reckon, somehow, afore I + work over to Deadman's Gulch again.” + </p> + <p> + The young girl's eyes brightened timidly with a feminine mingling of + imaginative awe and personal, pitying interest. He was, after all, so + young and amiable looking for such hardships and adventures. And with all + this, he—this Indian fighter—was a little afraid of HER! + </p> + <p> + “Then that's why you carry that knife and six-shooter?” she said. “But you + won't want 'em now, here in the settlement.” + </p> + <p> + “That's ez mebbe,” said the stranger darkly. He paused, and then suddenly, + as if recklessly accepting a dangerous risk, unbuckled his revolver and + handed it abstractedly to the young girl. But the sheath of the + bowie-knife was a fixture in his body-belt, and he was obliged to withdraw + the glittering blade by itself, and to hand it to her in all its naked + terrors. The young girl received the weapons with a smiling complacency. + Upon such altars as these the skeptical reader will remember that Mars had + once hung his “battered shield,” his lance, and “uncontrolled crest.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the warlike teamster was not without embarrassment. + Muttering something about the necessity of “looking after his stock,” he + achieved a hesitating bow, backed awkwardly out of the door, and receiving + from the conquering hands of the young girl his weapons again, was obliged + to carry them somewhat ingloriously in his hands across the road, and put + them on the wagon seat, where, in company with the culinary articles, they + seemed to lose their distinctively aggressive character. Here, although + his cheek was still flushed from his peaceful encounter, his voice + regained some of its hoarse severity as he drove the oxen from the muddy + pool into which they had luxuriantly wandered, and brought their fodder + from the wagon. Later, as the sun was setting, he lit a corn-cob pipe, and + somewhat ostentatiously strolled down the road, with a furtive eye + lingering upon the still open door of the farmhouse. Presently two angular + figures appeared from it, the farmer and his wife, intent on barter. + </p> + <p> + These he received with his previous gloomy preoccupation, and a slight + variation of the story he had told their daughter. It is possible that his + suggestive indifference piqued and heightened the bargaining instincts of + the woman, for she not only bought the skillet, but purchased a clock and + a roll of carpeting. Still more, in some effusion of rustic courtesy, she + extended an invitation to him to sup with them, which he declined and + accepted in the same embarrassed breath, returning the proffered + hospitality by confidentially showing them a couple of dried scalps, + presumably of Indian origin. It was in the same moment of human weakness + that he answered their polite query as to “what they might call him,” by + intimating that his name was “Red Jim,”—a title of achievement by + which he was generally known, which for the present must suffice them. But + during the repast that followed this was shortened to “Mister Jim,” and + even familiarly by the elders to plain “Jim.” Only the young girl + habitually used the formal prefix in return for the “Miss Phoebe” that he + called her. + </p> + <p> + With three such sympathetic and unexperienced auditors the gloomy + embarrassment of Red Jim was soon dissipated, although it could hardly be + said that he was generally communicative. Dark tales of Indian warfare, of + night attacks and wild stampedes, in which he had always taken a prominent + part, flowed freely from his lips, but little else of his past history or + present prospects. And even his narratives of adventure were more or less + fragmentary and imperfect in detail. + </p> + <p> + “You woz saying,” said the farmer, with slow, matter of fact, New England + deliberation, “ez how you guessed you woz beguiled amongst the Injins by + your Mexican partner, a pow'ful influential man, and yet you woz the only + one escaped the gen'ral slarterin'. How came the Injins to kill HIM,—their + friend?” + </p> + <p> + “They didn't,” returned Jim, with ominously averted eyes. + </p> + <p> + “What became of him?” continued the farmer. + </p> + <p> + Red Jim shadowed his eyes with his hand, and cast a dark glance of + scrutiny out of the doors and windows. The young girl perceived it with + timid, fascinated concern, and said hurriedly:— + </p> + <p> + “Don't ask him, father! Don't you see he mustn't tell?” + </p> + <p> + “Not when spies may be hangin' round, and doggin' me at every step,” said + Red Jim, as if reflecting, with another furtive glance towards the already + fading prospect without. “They've sworn to revenge him,” he added moodily. + </p> + <p> + A momentary silence followed. The farmer coughed slightly, and looked + dubiously at his wife. But the two women had already exchanged feminine + glances of sympathy for this evident slayer of traitors, and were + apparently inclined to stop any adverse criticism. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of which a shout was heard from the road. The farmer and his + family instinctively started. Red Jim alone remained unmoved,—a fact + which did not lessen the admiration of his feminine audience. The host + rose quickly, and went out. The figure of a horseman had halted in the + road, but after a few moments' conversation with the farmer they both + moved towards the house and disappeared. When the farmer returned, it was + to say that “one of them 'Frisco dandies, who didn't keer about stoppin' + at the hotel in the settlement,” had halted to give his “critter” a feed + and drink that he might continue his journey. He had asked him to come in + while the horse was feeding, but the stranger had “guessed he'd stretch + his legs outside and smoke his cigar;” he might have thought the company + “not fine enough for him,” but he was “civil spoken enough, and had an + all-fired smart hoss, and seemed to know how to run him.” To the anxious + inquiries of his wife and daughter he added that the stranger didn't seem + like a spy or a Mexican; was “as young as HIM,” pointing to the moody Red + Jim, “and a darned sight more peaceful-like in style.” + </p> + <p> + Perhaps owing to the criticism of the farmer, perhaps from some still + lurking suspicion of being overheard by eavesdroppers, or possibly from a + humane desire to relieve the strained apprehension of the women, Red Jim, + as the farmer disappeared to rejoin the stranger, again dropped into a + lighter and gentler vein of reminiscence. He told them how, when a mere + boy, he had been lost from an emigrant train in company with a little girl + some years his junior. How, when they found themselves alone on the + desolate plain, with the vanished train beyond their reach, he endeavored + to keep the child from a knowledge of the real danger of their position, + and to soothe and comfort her. How he carried her on his back, until, + exhausted, he sank in a heap of sage-brush. How he was surrounded by + Indians, who, however, never suspected his hiding-place; and how he + remained motionless and breathless with the sleeping child for three + hours, until they departed. How, at the last moment, he had perceived a + train in the distance, and had staggered with her thither, although shot + at and wounded by the trainmen in the belief that he was an Indian. How it + was afterwards discovered that the child was the long-lost daughter of a + millionaire; how he had resolutely refused any gratuity for saving her, + and she was now a peerless young heiress, famous in California. Whether + this lighter tone of narrative suited him better, or whether the active + feminine sympathy of his auditors helped him along, certain it was that + his story was more coherent and intelligible and his voice less hoarse and + constrained than in his previous belligerent reminiscences; his expression + changed, and even his features worked into something like gentler emotion. + The bright eyes of Phoebe, fastened upon him, turned dim with a faint + moisture, and her pale cheek took upon itself a little color. The mother, + after interjecting “Du tell,” and “I wanter know,” remained open-mouthed, + staring at her visitor. And in the silence that followed, a pleasant, but + somewhat melancholy voice came from the open door. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon, but I thought I couldn't be mistaken. It IS my old + friend, Jim Hooker!” + </p> + <p> + Everybody started. Red Jim stumbled to his feet with an inarticulate and + hysteric exclamation. Yet the apparition that now stood in the doorway was + far from being terrifying or discomposing. It was evidently the stranger,—a + slender, elegantly-knit figure, whose upper lip was faintly shadowed by a + soft, dark mustache indicating early manhood, and whose unstudied ease in + his well-fitting garments bespoke the dweller of cities. Good-looking and + well-dressed, without the consciousness of being either; self-possessed + through easy circumstances, yet without self-assertion; courteous by + nature and instinct as well as from an experience of granting favors, he + might have been a welcome addition to even a more critical company. But + Red Jim, hurriedly seizing his outstretched hand, instantly dragged him + away from the doorway into the road and out of hearing of his audience. + </p> + <p> + “Did you hear what I was saying?” he asked hoarsely. + </p> + <p> + “Well, yes,—I think so,” returned the stranger, with a quiet smile. + </p> + <p> + “Ye ain't goin' back on me, Clarence, are ye,—ain't goin' to gimme + away afore them, old pard, are ye?” said Jim, with a sudden change to + almost pathetic pleading. + </p> + <p> + “No,” returned the stranger, smiling. “And certainly not before that + interested young lady, Jim. But stop. Let me look at you.” + </p> + <p> + He held out both hands, took Jim's, spread them apart for a moment with a + boyish gesture, and, looking in his face, said half mischievously, half + sadly, “Yes, it's the same old Jim Hooker,—unchanged.” + </p> + <p> + “But YOU'RE changed,—reg'lar war paint, Big Injin style!” said + Hooker, looking up at him with an awkward mingling of admiration and envy. + “Heard you struck it rich with the old man, and was Mister Brant now!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Clarence gently, yet with a smile that had not only a tinge of + weariness but even of sadness in it. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, the act, which was quite natural to Clarence's + sensitiveness, and indeed partly sprang from some concern in his old + companion's fortunes, translated itself by a very human process to + Hooker's consciousness as a piece of rank affectation. HE would have been + exalted and exultant in Clarence's place, consequently any other + exhibition was only “airs.” Nevertheless, at the present moment Clarence + was to be placated. + </p> + <p> + “You didn't mind my telling that story about your savin' Susy as my own, + did ye?” he said, with a hasty glance over his shoulder. “I only did it to + fool the old man and women-folks, and make talk. You won't blow on me? Ye + ain't mad about it?” + </p> + <p> + It had crossed Clarence's memory that when they were both younger Jim + Hooker had once not only borrowed his story, but his name and personality + as well. Yet in his loyalty to old memories there was mingled no + resentment for past injury. “Of course not,” he said, with a smile that + was, however, still thoughtful. “Why should I? Only I ought to tell you + that Susy Peyton is living with her adopted parents not ten miles from + here, and it might reach their ears. She's quite a young lady now, and if + I wouldn't tell her story to strangers, I don't think YOU ought to, Jim.” + </p> + <p> + He said this so pleasantly that even the skeptical Jim forgot what he + believed were the “airs and graces” of self-abnegation, and said, “Let's + go inside, and I'll introduce you,” and turned to the house. But Clarence + Brant drew back. “I'm going on as soon as my horse is fed, for I'm on a + visit to Peyton, and I intend to push as far as Santa Inez still to-night. + I want to talk with you about yourself, Jim,” he added gently; “your + prospects and your future. I heard,” he went on hesitatingly, “that you + were—at work—in a restaurant in San Francisco. I'm glad to see + that you are at least your own master here,”—he glanced at the + wagon. “You are selling things, I suppose? For yourself, or another? Is + that team yours? Come,” he added, still pleasantly, but in an older and + graver voice, with perhaps the least touch of experienced authority, “be + frank, Jim. Which is it? Never mind what things you've told IN THERE, tell + ME the truth about yourself. Can I help you in any way? Believe me, I + should like to. We have been old friends, whatever difference in our luck, + I am yours still.” + </p> + <p> + Thus adjured, the redoubtable Jim, in a hoarse whisper, with a furtive eye + on the house, admitted that he was traveling for an itinerant peddler, + whom he expected to join later in the settlement; that he had his own + methods of disposing of his wares, and (darkly) that his proprietor and + the world generally had better not interfere with him; that (with a return + to more confidential lightness) he had already “worked the Wild West + Injin” business so successfully as to dispose of his wares, particularly + in yonder house, and might do even more if not prematurely and wantonly + “blown upon,” “gone back on,” or “given away.” + </p> + <p> + “But wouldn't you like to settle down on some bit of land like this, and + improve it for yourself?” said Clarence. “All these valley terraces are + bound to rise in value, and meantime you would be independent. It could be + managed, Jim. I think I could arrange it for you,” he went on, with a + slight glow of youthful enthusiasm. “Write to me at Peyton's ranch, and + I'll see you when I come back, and we'll hunt up something for you + together.” As Jim received the proposition with a kind of gloomy + embarrassment, he added lightly, with a glance at the farmhouse, “It might + be near HERE, you know; and you'd have pleasant neighbors, and even eager + listeners to your old adventures.” + </p> + <p> + “You'd better come in a minit before you go,” said Jim, clumsily evading a + direct reply. Clarence hesitated a moment, and then yielded. For an equal + moment Jim Hooker was torn between secret jealousy of his old comrade's + graces and a desire to present them as familiar associations of his own. + But his vanity was quickly appeased. + </p> + <p> + Need it be said that the two women received this fleck and foam of a + super-civilization they knew little of as almost an impertinence compared + to the rugged, gloomy, pathetic, and equally youthful hero of an + adventurous wilderness of which they knew still less? What availed the + courtesy and gentle melancholy of Clarence Brant beside the mysterious + gloom and dark savagery of Red Jim? Yet they received him patronizingly, + as one who was, like themselves, an admirer of manly grace and power, and + the recipient of Jim's friendship. The farmer alone seemed to prefer + Clarence, and yet the latter's tacit indorsement of Red Jim, through his + evident previous intimacy with him, impressed the man in Jim's favor. All + of which Clarence saw with that sensitive perception which had given him + an early insight into human weakness, yet still had never shaken his + youthful optimism. He smiled a little thoughtfully, but was openly + fraternal to Jim, courteous to his host and family, and, as he rode away + in the faint moonlight, magnificently opulent in his largess to the + farmer,—his first and only assertion of his position. + </p> + <p> + The farmhouse, straggling barn, and fringe of dusty willows, the white + dome of the motionless wagon, with the hanging frying pans and kettles + showing in the moonlight like black silhouettes against the staring + canvas, all presently sank behind Clarence like the details of a dream, + and he was alone with the moon, the hazy mystery of the level, grassy + plain, and the monotony of the unending road. As he rode slowly along he + thought of that other dreary plain, white with alkali patches and brown + with rings of deserted camp-fires, known to his boyhood of deprivation, + dependency, danger, and adventure, oddly enough, with a strange delight; + and his later years of study, monastic seclusion, and final ease and + independence, with an easy sense of wasted existence and useless waiting. + He remembered his homeless childhood in the South, where servants and + slaves took the place of the father he had never known, and the mother + that he rarely saw; he remembered his abandonment to a mysterious female + relation, where his natural guardians seemed to have overlooked and + forgotten him, until he was sent, an all too young adventurer, to work his + passage on an overland emigrant train across the plains; he remembered, as + yesterday, the fears, the hopes, the dreams and dangers of that momentous + journey. He recalled his little playmate, Susy, and their strange + adventures—the whole incident that the imaginative Jim Hooker had + translated and rehearsed as his own—rose vividly before him. He + thought of the cruel end of that pilgrimage, which again left him homeless + and forgotten by even the relative he was seeking in a strange land. He + remembered his solitary journey to the gold mines, taken with a boy's + trust and a boy's fearlessness, and the strange protector he had found + there, who had news of his missing kinsman; he remembered how this + protector—whom he had at once instinctively loved—transferred + him to the house of this new-found relation, who treated him kindly and + sent him to the Jesuit school, but who never awakened in him a feeling of + kinship. He dreamed again of his life at school, his accidental meeting + with Susy at Santa Clara, the keen revival of his boyish love for his old + playmate, now a pretty schoolgirl, the petted adopted child of wealthy + parents. He recalled the terrible shock that interrupted this boyish + episode: the news of the death of his protector, and the revelation that + this hard, silent, and mysterious man was his own father, whose reckless + life and desperate reputation had impelled him to assume a disguise. + </p> + <p> + He remembered how his sudden accession to wealth and independence had half + frightened him, and had always left a lurking sensitiveness that he was + unfairly favored, by some mere accident, above his less lucky companions. + The rude vices of his old associates had made him impatient of the feebler + sensual indulgences of the later companions of his luxury, and exposed + their hollow fascinations; his sensitive fastidiousness kept him clean + among vulgar temptations; his clear perceptions were never blinded by + selfish sophistry. Meantime his feeling for Susy remained unchanged. Pride + had kept him from seeking the Peytons. His present visit was as + unpremeditated as Peyton's invitation had been unlooked for by him. Yet he + had not allowed himself to be deceived. He knew that this courtesy was + probably due to the change in his fortune, although he had hoped it might + have been some change in their opinion brought about by Susy. But he would + at least see her again, not in the pretty, half-clandestine way she had + thought necessary, but openly and as her equal. + </p> + <p> + In his rapid ride he seemed to have suddenly penetrated the peaceful calm + of the night. The restless irritation of the afternoon trade winds had + subsided; the tender moonlight had hushed and tranquilly possessed the + worried plain; the unending files of wild oats, far spaced and distinct, + stood erect and motionless as trees; something of the sedate solemnity of + a great forest seemed to have fallen upon their giant stalks. There was no + dew. In that light, dry air, the heavier dust no longer rose beneath the + heels of his horse, whose flying shadow passed over the field like a + cloud, leaving no trail or track behind it. In the preoccupation of his + thought and his breathless retrospect, the young man had ridden faster + than he intended, and he now checked his panting horse. The influence of + the night and the hushed landscape stole over him; his thoughts took a + gentler turn; in that dim, mysterious horizon line before him, his future + seemed to be dreamily peopled with airy, graceful shapes that more or less + took the likeness of Susy. She was bright, coquettish, romantic, as he had + last seen her; she was older, graver, and thoughtfully welcome of him; or + she was cold, distant, and severely forgetful of the past. How would her + adopted father and mother receive him? Would they ever look upon him in + the light of a suitor to the young girl? He had no fear of Peyton,—he + understood his own sex, and, young as he was, knew already how to make + himself respected; but how could he overcome that instinctive aversion + which Mrs. Peyton had so often made him feel he had provoked? Yet in this + dreamy hush of earth and sky, what was not possible? His boyish heart beat + high with daring visions. + </p> + <p> + He saw Mrs. Peyton in the porch, welcoming him with that maternal smile + which his childish longing had so often craved to share with Susy. Peyton + would be there, too,—Peyton, who had once pushed back his torn straw + hat to look approvingly in his boyish eyes; and Peyton, perhaps, might be + proud of him. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he started. A voice in his very ear! + </p> + <p> + “Bah! A yoke of vulgar cattle grazing on lands that were thine by right + and law. Neither more nor less than that. And I tell thee, Pancho, like + cattle, to be driven off or caught and branded for one's own. Ha! There + are those who could swear to the truth of this on the Creed. Ay! and bring + papers stamped and signed by the governor's rubric to prove it. And not + that I hate them,—bah! what are those heretic swine to me? But thou + dost comprehend me? It galls and pricks me to see them swelling themselves + with stolen husks, and men like thee, Pancho, ousted from their own land.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence had halted in utter bewilderment. No one was visible before him, + behind him, on either side. The words, in Spanish, came from the air, the + sky, the distant horizon, he knew not which. Was he still dreaming? A + strange shiver crept over his skin as if the air had grown suddenly chill. + Then another mysterious voice arose, incredulous, half mocking, but + equally distinct and clear. + </p> + <p> + “Caramba! What is this? You are wandering, friend Pancho. You are still + smarting from his tongue. He has the grant confirmed by his brigand + government; he has the POSSESSION, stolen by a thief like himself; and he + has the Corregidors with him. For is he not one of them himself, this + Judge Peyton?” + </p> + <p> + Peyton! Clarence felt the blood rush back to his face in astonishment and + indignation. His heels mechanically pressed his horse's flanks, and the + animal sprang forward. + </p> + <p> + “Guarda! Mira!” said the voice again in a quicker, lower tone. But this + time it was evidently in the field beside him, and the heads and shoulders + of two horsemen emerged at the same moment from the tall ranks of wild + oats. The mystery was solved. The strangers had been making their way + along a lower level of the terraced plain, hidden by the grain, not twenty + yards away, and parallel with the road they were now ascending to join. + Their figures were alike formless in long striped serapes, and their + features undistinguishable under stiff black sombreros. + </p> + <p> + “Buenas noches, senor,” said the second voice, in formal and cautious + deliberation. + </p> + <p> + A sudden inspiration made Clarence respond in English, as if he had not + comprehended the stranger's words, “Eh?” + </p> + <p> + “Gooda-nighta,” repeated the stranger. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, good-night,” returned Clarence. They passed him. Their spurs tinkled + twice or thrice, their mustangs sprang forward, and the next moment the + loose folds of their serapes were fluttering at their sides like wings in + their flight. + </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> + After the chill of a dewless night the morning sun was apt to look + ardently upon the Robles Rancho, if so strong an expression could describe + the dry, oven-like heat of a Californian coast-range valley. Before ten + o'clock the adobe wall of the patio was warm enough to permit lingering + vacqueros and idle peons to lean against it, and the exposed annexe was + filled with sharp, resinous odors from the oozing sap of unseasoned + “redwood” boards, warped and drying in the hot sunshine. Even at that + early hour the climbing Castilian roses were drooping against the wooden + columns of the new veranda, scarcely older than themselves, and mingling + an already faded spice with the aroma of baking wood and the more material + fragrance of steaming coffee, that seemed dominant everywhere. + </p> + <p> + In fact, the pretty breakfast-room, whose three broad windows, always open + to the veranda, gave an al fresco effect to every meal, was a pathetic + endeavor of the Southern-bred Peyton to emulate the soft, luxurious, and + open-air indolence of his native South, in a climate that was not only not + tropical, but even austere in its most fervid moments. Yet, although cold + draughts invaded it from the rear that morning, Judge Peyton sat alone, + between the open doors and windows, awaiting the slow coming of his wife + and the young ladies. He was not in an entirely comfortable mood that + morning. Things were not going on well at Robles. That truculent vagabond, + Pedro, had, the night before, taken himself off with a curse that had + frightened even the vacqueros, who most hated him as a companion, but who + now seemed inclined to regard his absence as an injury done to their race. + Peyton, uneasily conscious that his own anger had been excited by an + exaggerated conception of the accident, was now, like most obstinate men, + inclined to exaggerate the importance of Pedro's insolence. He was well + out of it to get rid of this quarrelsome hanger-on, whose presumption and + ill-humor threatened the discipline of the rancho, yet he could not + entirely forget that he had employed him on account of his family claims, + and from a desire to placate racial jealousy and settle local differences. + For the inferior Mexicans and Indian half-breeds still regarded their old + masters with affection; were, in fact, more concerned for the integrity of + their caste than the masters were themselves, and the old Spanish families + who had made alliances with Americans, and shared their land with them, + had rarely succeeded in alienating their retainers with their lands. + Certain experiences in the proving of his grant before the Land Commission + had taught Peyton that they were not to be depended upon. And lately there + had been unpleasant rumors of the discovery of some unlooked-for claimants + to a division of the grant itself, which might affect his own title. + </p> + <p> + He looked up quickly as voices and light steps on the veranda at last + heralded the approach of his tardy household from the corridor. But, in + spite of his preoccupation, he was startled and even awkwardly impressed + with a change in Susy's appearance. She was wearing, for the first time, a + long skirt, and this sudden maturing of her figure struck him, as a man, + much more forcibly than it would probably have impressed a woman, more + familiar with details. He had not noticed certain indications of + womanhood, as significant, perhaps, in her carriage as her outlines, which + had been lately perfectly apparent to her mother and Mary, but which were + to him now, for the first time, indicated by a few inches of skirt. She + not only looked taller to his masculine eyes, but these few inches had + added to the mystery as well as the drapery of the goddess; they were not + so much the revelation of maturity as the suggestion that it was HIDDEN. + So impressed was he, that a half-serious lecture on her yesterday's + childishness, the outcome of his irritated reflections that morning, died + upon his lips. He felt he was no longer dealing with a child. + </p> + <p> + He welcomed them with that smile of bantering approbation, supposed to + keep down inordinate vanity, which for some occult reason one always + reserves for the members of one's own family. He was quite conscious that + Susy was looking very pretty in this new and mature frock, and that as she + stood beside his wife, far from ageing Mrs. Peyton's good looks and + figure, she appeared like an equal companion, and that they mutually + “became” one another. This, and the fact that they were all, including + Mary Rogers, in their freshest, gayest morning dresses, awakened a + half-humorous, half-real apprehension in his mind, that he was now + hopelessly surrounded by a matured sex, and in a weak minority. + </p> + <p> + “I think I ought to have been prepared,” he began grimly, “for this + addition to—to—the skirts of my family.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, John,” returned Mrs. Peyton quickly; “do you mean to say you haven't + noticed that the poor child has for weeks been looking positively + indecent?” + </p> + <p> + “Really, papa, I've been a sight to behold. Haven't I, Mary?” chimed in + Susy. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, dear. Why, Judge, I've been wondering that Susy stood it so well, + and never complained.” + </p> + <p> + Peyton glanced around him at this compact feminine embattlement. It was as + he feared. Yet even here he was again at fault. + </p> + <p> + “And,” said Mrs. Peyton slowly, with the reserved significance of the + feminine postscript in her voice, “if that Mr. Brant is coming here + to-day, it would be just as well for him to see that SHE IS NO LONGER A + CHILD, AS WHEN HE KNEW HER.” + </p> + <p> + An hour later, good-natured Mary Rogers, in her character of “a dear,”—which + was usually indicated by the undertaking of small errands for her friend,—was + gathering roses from the old garden for Susy's adornment, when she saw a + vision which lingered with her for many a day. She had stopped to look + through the iron grille in the adobe wall, across the open wind-swept + plain. Miniature waves were passing over the wild oats, with glittering + disturbances here and there in the depressions like the sparkling of green + foam; the horizon line was sharply defined against the hard, steel-blue + sky; everywhere the brand-new morning was shining with almost painted + brilliancy; the vigor, spirit, and even crudeness of youth were over all. + The young girl was dazzled and bewildered. Suddenly, as if blown out of + the waving grain, or an incarnation of the vivid morning, the bright and + striking figure of a youthful horseman flashed before the grille. It was + Clarence Brant! Mary Rogers had always seen him, in the loyalty of + friendship, with Susy's prepossessed eyes, yet she fancied that morning + that he had never looked so handsome before. Even the foppish fripperies + of his riding-dress and silver trappings seemed as much the natural + expression of conquering youth as the invincible morning sunshine. Perhaps + it might have been a reaction against Susy's caprice or some latent + susceptibility of her own; but a momentary antagonism to her friend + stirred even her kindly nature. What right had Susy to trifle with such an + opportunity? Who was SHE to hesitate over this gallant prince? + </p> + <p> + But Prince Charming's quick eyes had detected her, and the next moment his + beautiful horse was beside the grating, and his ready hand of greeting + extended through the bars. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose I am early and unexpected, but I slept at Santa Inez last + night, that I might ride over in the cool of the morning. My things are + coming by the stage-coach, later. It seemed such a slow way of coming + one's self.” + </p> + <p> + Mary Rogers's black eyes intimated that the way he had taken was the right + one, but she gallantly recovered herself and remembered her position as + confidante. And here was the opportunity of delivering Susy's warning + unobserved. She withdrew her hand from Clarence's frank grasp, and passing + it through the grating, patted the sleek, shining flanks of his horse, + with a discreet division of admiration. + </p> + <p> + “And such a lovely creature, too! And Susy will be so delighted! and oh, + Mr. Brant, please, you're to say nothing of having met her at Santa Clara. + It's just as well not to begin with THAT here, for, you see” (with a + large, maternal manner), “you were both SO young then.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence drew a quick breath. It was the first check to his vision of + independence and equal footing! Then his invitation was NOT the outcome of + a continuous friendship revived by Susy, as he had hoped; the Peytons had + known nothing of his meeting with her, or perhaps they would not have + invited him. He was here as an impostor,—and all because Susy had + chosen to make a mystery of a harmless encounter, which might have been + explained, and which they might have even countenanced. He thought + bitterly of his old playmate for a brief moment,—as brief as Mary's + antagonism. The young girl noticed the change in his face, but + misinterpreted it. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, there's no danger of its coming out if you don't say anything,” she + said, quickly. “Ride on to the house, and don't wait for me. You'll find + them in the patio on the veranda.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence moved on, but not as spiritedly as before. Nevertheless there was + still dash enough about him and the animal he bestrode to stir into + admiration the few lounging vacqueros of a country which was apt to judge + the status of a rider by the quality of his horse. Nor was the favorable + impression confined to them alone. Peyton's gratification rang out + cheerily in his greeting:— + </p> + <p> + “Bravo, Clarence! You are here in true caballero style. Thanks for the + compliment to the rancho.” + </p> + <p> + For a moment the young man was transported back again to his boyhood, and + once more felt Peyton's approving hand pushing back the worn straw hat + from his childish forehead. A faint color rose to his cheeks; his eyes + momentarily dropped. The highest art could have done no more! The slight + aggressiveness of his youthful finery and picturesque good looks was + condoned at once; his modesty conquered where self-assertion might have + provoked opposition, and even Mrs. Peyton felt herself impelled to come + forward with an outstretched hand scarcely less frank than her husband's. + Then Clarence lifted his eyes. He saw before him the woman to whom his + childish heart had gone out with the inscrutable longing and adoration of + a motherless, homeless, companionless boy; the woman who had absorbed the + love of his playmate without sharing it with him; who had showered her + protecting and maternal caresses on Susy, a waif like himself, yet had not + only left his heart lonely and desolate, but had even added to his + childish distrust of himself the thought that he had excited her aversion. + He saw her more beautiful than ever in her restored health, freshness of + coloring, and mature roundness of outline. He was unconsciously touched + with a man's admiration for her without losing his boyish yearnings and + half-filial affection; in her new materialistic womanhood his youthful + imagination had lifted her to a queen and goddess. There was all this + appeal in his still boyish eyes,—eyes that had never yet known shame + or fear in the expression of their emotions; there was all this in the + gesture with which he lifted Mrs. Peyton's fingers to his lips. The little + group saw in this act only a Spanish courtesy in keeping with his accepted + role. But a thrill of surprise, of embarrassment, of intense gratification + passed over her. For he had not even looked at Susy! + </p> + <p> + Her relenting was graceful. She welcomed him with a winning smile. Then + she motioned pleasantly towards Susy. + </p> + <p> + “But here is an older friend, Mr. Brant, whom you do not seem to + recognize,—Susy, whom you have not seen since she was a child.” + </p> + <p> + A quick flush rose to Clarence's cheek. The group smiled at this evident + youthful confession of some boyish admiration. But Clarence knew that his + truthful blood was merely resenting the deceit his lips were sealed from + divulging. He did not dare to glance at Susy; it added to the general + amusement that the young girl was obliged to present herself. But in this + interval she had exchanged glances with Mary Rogers, who had rejoined the + group, and she knew she was safe. She smiled with gracious condescension + at Clarence; observed, with the patronizing superiority of age and + established position, that he had GROWN, but had not greatly changed, and, + it is needless to say, again filled her mother's heart with joy. Clarence, + still intoxicated with Mrs. Peyton's kindliness, and, perhaps, still + embarrassed by remorse, had not time to remark the girl's studied + attitude. He shook hands with her cordially, and then, in the quick + reaction of youth, accepted with humorous gravity the elaborate + introduction to Mary Rogers by Susy, which completed this little comedy. + And if, with a woman's quickness, Mrs. Peyton detected a certain lingering + glance which passed between Mary Rogers and Clarence, and misinterpreted + it, it was only a part of that mystification into which these youthful + actors are apt to throw their mature audiences. + </p> + <p> + “Confess, Ally,” said Peyton, cheerfully, as the three young people + suddenly found their tongues with aimless vivacity and inconsequent + laughter, and started with unintelligible spirits for an exploration of + the garden, “confess now that your bete noir is really a very manly as + well as a very presentable young fellow. By Jove! the padres have made a + Spanish swell out of him without spoiling the Brant grit, either! Come, + now; you're not afraid that Susy's style will suffer from HIS + companionship. 'Pon my soul, she might borrow a little of his courtesy to + his elders without indelicacy. I only wish she had as sincere a way of + showing her respect for you as he has. Did you notice that he really + didn't seem to see anybody else but you at first? And yet you never were a + friend to him, like Susy.” + </p> + <p> + The lady tossed her head slightly, but smiled. + </p> + <p> + “This is the first time he's seen Mary Rogers, isn't it?” she said + meditatively. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon. But what's that to do with his politeness to you?” + </p> + <p> + “And do her parents know him?” she continued, without replying. + </p> + <p> + “How do I know? I suppose everybody has heard of him. Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Because I think they've taken a fancy to each other.” + </p> + <p> + “What in the name of folly, Ally”—began the despairing Peyton. + </p> + <p> + “When you invite a handsome, rich, and fascinating young man into the + company of young ladies, John,” returned Mrs. Peyton, in her severest + manner, “you must not forget you owe a certain responsibility to the + parents. I shall certainly look after Miss Rogers.” + </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> + Although the three young people had left the veranda together, when they + reached the old garden Clarence and Susy found themselves considerably in + advance of Mary Rogers, who had become suddenly and deeply interested in + the beauty of a passion vine near the gate. At the first discovery of + their isolation their voluble exchange of information about themselves and + their occupations since their last meeting stopped simultaneously. + Clarence, who had forgotten his momentary irritation, and had recovered + his old happiness in her presence, was nevertheless conscious of some + other change in her than that suggested by the lengthened skirt and the + later and more delicate accentuation of her prettiness. It was not her + affectation of superiority and older social experience, for that was only + the outcome of what he had found charming in her as a child, and which he + still good-humoredly accepted; nor was it her characteristic exaggeration + of speech, which he still pleasantly recognized. It was something else, + vague and indefinite,—something that had been unnoticed while Mary + was with them, but had now come between them like some unknown presence + which had taken the confidante's place. He remained silent, looking at her + half-brightening cheek and conscious profile. Then he spoke with awkward + directness. + </p> + <p> + “You are changed, Susy, more than in looks.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush,” said the girl in a tragic whisper, with a warning gesture towards + the blandly unconscious Mary. + </p> + <p> + “But,” returned Clarence wonderingly, “she's your—our friend, you + know.” + </p> + <p> + “I DON'T know,” said Susy, in a still deeper tone, “that is—oh, + don't ask me! But when you're always surrounded by spies, when you can't + say your soul is your own, you doubt everybody!” There was such a pretty + distress in her violet eyes and curving eyebrows, that Clarence, albeit + vague as to its origin and particulars, nevertheless possessed himself of + the little hand that was gesticulating dangerously near his own, and + pressed it sympathetically. Perhaps preoccupied with her emotions, she did + not immediately withdraw it, as she went on rapidly: “And if you were + cooped up here, day after day, behind these bars,” pointing to the grille, + “you'd know what I suffer.” + </p> + <p> + “But”—began Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” said Susy, with a stamp of her little foot. + </p> + <p> + Clarence, who had only wished to point out that the whole lower end of the + garden wall was in ruins and the grille really was no prevention, + “hushed.” + </p> + <p> + “And listen! Don't pay me much attention to-day, but talk to HER,” + indicating the still discreet and distant Mary, “before father and mother. + Not a word to her of this confidence, Clarence. To-morrow ride out alone + on your beautiful horse, and come back by way of the woods, beyond our + turning, at four o'clock. There's a trail to the right of the big madrono + tree. Take that. Be careful and keep a good lookout, for she mustn't see + you.” + </p> + <p> + “Who mustn't see me?” said the puzzled Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Mary, of course, you silly boy!” returned the girl impatiently. + “She'll be looking for ME. Go now, Clarence! Stop! Look at that lovely big + maiden's-blush up there,” pointing to a pink-suffused specimen of rose + grandiflora hanging on the wall. “Get it, Clarence,—that one,—I'll + show you where,—there!” They had already plunged into the leafy + bramble, and, standing on tiptoe, with her hand on his shoulder and head + upturned, Susy's cheek had innocently approached Clarence's own. At this + moment Clarence, possibly through some confusion of color, fragrance, or + softness of contact, seemed to have availed himself of the opportunity, in + a way which caused Susy to instantly rejoin Mary Rogers with affected + dignity, leaving him to follow a few moments later with the captured + flower. + </p> + <p> + Without trying to understand the reason of to-morrow's rendezvous, and + perhaps not altogether convinced of the reality of Susy's troubles, he, + however, did not find that difficulty in carrying out her other commands + which he had expected. Mrs. Peyton was still gracious, and, with feminine + tact, induced him to talk of himself, until she was presently in + possession of his whole history, barring the episode of his meeting with + Susy, since he had parted with them. He felt a strange satisfaction in + familiarly pouring out his confidences to this superior woman, whom he had + always held in awe. There was a new delight in her womanly interest in his + trials and adventures, and a subtle pleasure even in her half-motherly + criticism and admonition of some passages. I am afraid he forgot Susy, who + listened with the complacency of an exhibitor; Mary, whose black eyes + dilated alternately with sympathy for the performer and deprecation of + Mrs. Peyton's critical glances; and Peyton, who, however, seemed lost in + thought, and preoccupied. Clarence was happy. The softly shaded lights in + the broad, spacious, comfortably furnished drawing-room shone on the group + before him. It was a picture of refined domesticity which the homeless + Clarence had never known except as a vague, half-painful, boyish + remembrance; it was a realization of welcome that far exceeded his wildest + boyish vision of the preceding night. With that recollection came another,—a + more uneasy one. He remembered how that vision had been interrupted by the + strange voices in the road, and their vague but ominous import to his + host. A feeling of self-reproach came over him. The threats had impressed + him as only mere braggadocio,—he knew the characteristic + exaggeration of the race,—but perhaps he ought to privately tell + Peyton of the incident at once. + </p> + <p> + The opportunity came later, when the ladies had retired, and Peyton, + wrapped in a poncho in a rocking-chair, on the now chilly veranda, looked + up from his reverie and a cigar. Clarence casually introduced the + incident, as if only for the sake of describing the supernatural effect of + the hidden voices, but he was concerned to see that Peyton was + considerably disturbed by their more material import. After questioning + him as to the appearance of the two men, his host said: “I don't mind + telling you, Clarence, that as far as that fellow's intentions go he is + quite sincere, although his threats are only borrowed thunder. He is a man + whom I have just dismissed for carelessness and insolence,—two + things that run in double harness in this country,—but I should be + more afraid to find him at my back on a dark night, alone on the plains; + than to confront him in daylight, in the witness box, against me. He was + only repeating a silly rumor that the title to this rancho and the nine + square leagues beyond would be attacked by some speculators.” + </p> + <p> + “But I thought your title was confirmed two years ago,” said Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “The GRANT was confirmed,” returned Peyton, “which means that the + conveyance of the Mexican government of these lands to the ancestor of + Victor Robles was held to be legally proven by the United States Land + Commission, and a patent issued to all those who held under it. I and my + neighbors hold under it by purchase from Victor Robles, subject to the + confirmation of the Land Commission. But that confirmation was only of + Victor's GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S TITLE, and it is now alleged that as Victor's + father died without making a will, Victor has claimed and disposed of + property which he ought to have divided with his SISTERS. At least, some + speculating rascals in San Francisco have set up what they call 'the + Sisters' title,' and are selling it to actual settlers on the unoccupied + lands beyond. As, by the law, it would hold possession against the mere + ordinary squatters, whose only right is based, as you know, on the + presumption that there is NO TITLE CLAIMED, it gives the possessor + immunity to enjoy the use of the property until the case is decided, and + even should the original title hold good against his, the successful + litigant would probably be willing to pay for improvements and possession + to save the expensive and tedious process of ejectment.” + </p> + <p> + “But this does not affect YOU, who have already possession?” said Clarence + quickly. + </p> + <p> + “No, not as far as THIS HOUSE and the lands I actually OCCUPY AND + CULTIVATE are concerned; and they know that I am safe to fight to the + last, and carry the case to the Supreme Court in that case, until the + swindle is exposed, or they drop it; but I may have to pay them something + to keep the squatters off my UNOCCUPIED land.” + </p> + <p> + “But you surely wouldn't recognize those rascals in any way?” said the + astonished Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “As against other rascals? Why not?” returned Peyton grimly. “I only pay + for the possession which their sham title gives me to my own land. If by + accident that title obtains, I am still on the safe side.” After a pause + he said, more gravely, “What you overheard, Clarence, shows me that the + plan is more forward than I had imagined, and that I may have to fight + traitors here.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope, sir,” said Clarence, with a quick glow in his earnest face, “that + you'll let me help you. You thought I did once, you remember,—with + the Indians.” + </p> + <p> + There was so much of the old Clarence in his boyish appeal and eager, + questioning face that Peyton, who had been talking to him as a younger but + equal man of affairs, was startled into a smile, “You did, Clarence, + though the Indians butchered your friends, after all. I don't know, + though, but that your experiences with those Spaniards—you must have + known a lot of them when you were with Don Juan Robinson and at the + college—might be of service in getting at evidence, or smashing + their witnesses if it comes to a fight. But just now, MONEY is everything. + They must be bought OFF THE LAND if I have to mortgage it for the purpose. + That strikes you as a rather heroic remedy, Clarence, eh?” he continued, + in his old, half-bantering attitude towards Clarence's inexperienced + youth, “don't it?” + </p> + <p> + But Clarence was not thinking of that. Another more audacious but equally + youthful and enthusiastic idea had taken possession of his mind, and he + lay awake half that night revolving it. It was true that it was somewhat + impractically mixed with his visions of Mrs. Peyton and Susy, and even + included his previous scheme of relief for the improvident and + incorrigible Hooker. But it gave a wonderful sincerity and happiness to + his slumbers that night, which the wiser and elder Peyton might have + envied, and I wot not was in the long run as correct and sagacious as + Peyton's sleepless cogitations. And in the early morning Mr. Clarence + Brant, the young capitalist, sat down to his traveling-desk and wrote two + clear-headed, logical, and practical business letters,—one to his + banker, and the other to his former guardian, Don Juan Robinson, as his + first step in a resolve that was, nevertheless, perhaps as wildly quixotic + and enthusiastic as any dream his boyish and unselfish heart had ever + indulged. + </p> + <p> + At breakfast, in the charmed freedom of the domestic circle, Clarence + forgot Susy's capricious commands of yesterday, and began to address + himself to her in his old earnest fashion, until he was warned by a + significant knitting of the young lady's brows and monosyllabic responses. + But in his youthful loyalty to Mrs. Peyton, he was more pained to notice + Susy's occasional unconscious indifference to her adopted mother's + affectionate expression, and a more conscious disregard of her wishes. So + uneasy did he become, in his sensitive concern for Mrs. Peyton's + half-concealed mortification, that he gladly accepted Peyton's offer to go + with him to visit the farm and corral. As the afternoon approached, with + another twinge of self-reproach, he was obliged to invent some excuse to + decline certain hospitable plans of Mrs. Peyton's for his entertainment, + and at half past three stole somewhat guiltily, with his horse, from the + stables. But he had to pass before the outer wall of the garden and + grille, through which he had seen Mary the day before. Raising his eyes + mechanically, he was startled to see Mrs. Peyton standing behind the + grating, with her abstracted gaze fixed upon the wind-tossed, level grain + beyond her. She smiled as she saw him, but there were traces of tears in + her proud, handsome eyes. + </p> + <p> + “You are going to ride?” she said pleasantly. + </p> + <p> + “Y-e-es,” stammered the shamefaced Clarence. + </p> + <p> + She glanced at him wistfully. + </p> + <p> + “You are right. The girls have gone away by themselves. Mr. Peyton has + ridden over to Santa Inez on this dreadful land business, and I suppose + you'd have found him a dull riding companion. It is rather stupid here. I + quite envy you, Mr. Brant, your horse and your freedom.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Mrs. Peyton,” broke in Clarence, impulsively, “you have a horse—I + saw it, a lovely lady's horse—eating its head off in the stable. + Won't you let me run back and order it; and won't you, please, come out + with me for a good, long gallop?” + </p> + <p> + He meant what he said. He had spoken quickly, impulsively, but with the + perfect understanding in his own mind that his proposition meant the + complete abandonment of his rendezvous with Susy. Mrs. Peyton was + astounded and slightly stirred with his earnestness, albeit unaware of all + it implied. + </p> + <p> + “It's a great temptation, Mr. Brant,” she said, with a playful smile, + which dazzled Clarence with its first faint suggestion of a refined + woman's coquetry; “but I'm afraid that Mr. Peyton would think me going mad + in my old age. No. Go on and enjoy your gallop, and if you should see + those giddy girls anywhere, send them home early for chocolate, before the + cold wind gets up.” + </p> + <p> + She turned, waved her slim white hand playfully in acknowledgment of + Clarence's bared head, and moved away. + </p> + <p> + For the first few moments the young man tried to find relief in furious + riding, and in bullying his spirited horse. Then he pulled quickly up. + What was he doing? What was he going to do? What foolish, vapid deceit was + this that he was going to practice upon that noble, queenly, confiding, + generous woman? (He had already forgotten that she had always distrusted + him.) What a fool he was not to tell her half-jokingly that he expected to + meet Susy! But would he have dared to talk half-jokingly to such a woman + on such a topic? And would it have been honorable without disclosing the + WHOLE truth,—that they had met secretly before? And was it fair to + Susy?—dear, innocent, childish Susy! Yet something must be done! It + was such trivial, purposeless deceit, after all; for this noble woman, + Mrs. Peyton, so kind, so gentle, would never object to his loving Susy and + marrying her. And they would all live happily together; and Mrs. Peyton + would never be separated from them, but always beaming tenderly upon them + as she did just now in the garden. Yes, he would have a serious + understanding with Susy, and that would excuse the clandestine meeting + to-day. + </p> + <p> + His rapid pace, meantime, had brought him to the imperceptible incline of + the terrace, and he was astonished, in turning in the saddle, to find that + the casa, corral, and outbuildings had completely vanished, and that + behind him rolled only the long sea of grain, which seemed to have + swallowed them in its yellowing depths. Before him lay the wooded ravine + through which the stagecoach passed, which was also the entrance to the + rancho, and there, too, probably, was the turning of which Susy had + spoken. But it was still early for the rendezvous; indeed, he was in no + hurry to meet her in his present discontented state, and he made a + listless circuit of the field, in the hope of discovering the phenomena + that had caused the rancho's mysterious disappearance. When he had found + that it was the effect of the different levels, his attention was arrested + by a multitude of moving objects in a still more distant field, which + proved to be a band of wild horses. In and out among them, circling + aimlessly, as it seemed to him, appeared two horsemen apparently + performing some mystic evolution. To add to their singular performance, + from time to time one of the flying herd, driven by the horsemen far + beyond the circle of its companions, dropped suddenly and unaccountably in + full career. The field closed over it as if it had been swallowed up. In a + few moments it appeared again, trotting peacefully behind its former + pursuer. It was some time before Clarence grasped the meaning of this + strange spectacle. Although the clear, dry atmosphere sharply accented the + silhouette-like outlines of the men and horses, so great was the distance + that the slender forty-foot lasso, which in the skillful hands of the + horsemen had effected these captures, was COMPLETELY INVISIBLE! The + horsemen were Peyton's vacqueros, making a selection from the young horses + for the market. He remembered now that Peyton had told him that he might + be obliged to raise money by sacrificing some of his stock, and the + thought brought back Clarence's uneasiness as he turned again to the + trail. Indeed, he was hardly in the vein for a gentle tryst, as he entered + the wooded ravine to seek the madrono tree which was to serve as a guide + to his lady's bower. + </p> + <p> + A few rods further, under the cool vault filled with woodland spicing, he + came upon it. In its summer harlequin dress of scarlet and green, with + hanging bells of poly-tinted berries, like some personified sylvan Folly, + it seemed a fitting symbol of Susy's childish masquerade of passion. Its + bizarre beauty, so opposed to the sober gravity of the sedate pines and + hemlocks, made it an unmistakable landmark. Here he dismounted and + picketed his horse. And here, beside it, to the right, ran the little + trail crawling over mossy boulders; a narrow yellow track through the + carpet of pine needles between the closest file of trees; an almost + imperceptible streak across pools of chickweed at their roots, and a brown + and ragged swath through the ferns. As he went on, the anxiety and + uneasiness that had possessed him gave way to a languid intoxication of + the senses; the mysterious seclusion of these woodland depths recovered + the old influence they had exerted over his boyhood. He was not returning + to Susy, as much as to the older love of his youth, of which she was, + perhaps, only an incident. It was therefore with an odd boyish thrill + again that, coming suddenly upon a little hollow, like a deserted nest, + where the lost trail made him hesitate, he heard the crackle of a starched + skirt behind him, was conscious of the subtle odor of freshly ironed and + scented muslin, and felt the gentle pressure of delicate fingers upon his + eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Susy!” + </p> + <p> + “You silly boy! Where were you blundering to? Why didn't you look around + you?” + </p> + <p> + “I thought I would hear your voices.” + </p> + <p> + “Whose voices, idiot?” + </p> + <p> + “Yours and Mary's,” returned Clarence innocently, looking round for the + confidante. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, indeed! Then you wanted to see MARY? Well, she's looking for me + somewhere. Perhaps you'll go and find her, or shall I?” + </p> + <p> + She was offering to pass him when he laid his hand on hers to detain her. + She instantly evaded it, and drew herself up to her full height, + incontestably displaying the dignity of the added inches to her skirt. All + this was charmingly like the old Susy, but it did not bid fair to help him + to a serious interview. And, looking at the pretty, pink, mocking face + before him, with the witchery of the woodland still upon him, he began to + think that he had better put it off. + </p> + <p> + “Never mind about Mary,” he said laughingly. “But you said you wanted to + see me, Susy; and here I am.” + </p> + <p> + “Said I wanted to see you?” repeated Susy, with her blue eyes lifted in + celestial scorn and wonderment. “Said I wanted to see you? Are you not + mistaken, Mr. Brant? Really, I imagined that you came here to see ME.” + </p> + <p> + With her fair head upturned, and the leaf of her scarlet lip temptingly + curled over, Clarence began to think this latest phase of her extravagance + the most fascinating. He drew nearer to her as he said gently, “You know + what I mean, Susy. You said yesterday you were troubled. I thought you + might have something to tell me.” + </p> + <p> + “I should think it was YOU who might have something to tell me after all + these years,” she said poutingly, yet self-possessed. “But I suppose you + came here only to see Mary and mother. I'm sure you let them know that + plainly enough last evening.” + </p> + <p> + “But you said”—began the stupefied Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “Never mind what I said. It's always what I say, never what YOU say; and + you don't say anything.” + </p> + <p> + The woodland influence must have been still very strong upon Clarence that + he did not discover in all this that, while Susy's general capriciousness + was unchanged, there was a new and singular insincerity in her manifest + acting. She was either concealing the existence of some other real + emotion, or assuming one that was absent. But he did not notice it, and + only replied tenderly:— + </p> + <p> + “But I want to say a great deal to you, Susy. I want to say that if you + still feel as I do, and as I have always felt, and you think you could be + happy as I would be if—if—we could be always together, we need + not conceal it from your mother and father any longer. I am old enough to + speak for myself, and I am my own master. Your mother has been very kind + to me,—so kind that it doesn't seem quite right to deceive her,—and + when I tell her that I love you, and that I want you to be my wife, I + believe she will give us her blessing.” + </p> + <p> + Susy uttered a strange little laugh, and with an assumption of coyness, + that was, however, still affected, stooped to pick a few berries from a + manzanita bush. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell you what she'll say, Clarence. She'll say you're frightfully + young, and so you are!” + </p> + <p> + The young fellow tried to echo the laugh, but felt as if he had received a + blow. For the first time he was conscious of the truth: this girl, whom he + had fondly regarded as a child, had already passed him in the race; she + had become a woman before he was yet a man, and now stood before him, + maturer in her knowledge, and older in her understanding, of herself and + of him. This was the change that had perplexed him; this was the presence + that had come between them,—a Susy he had never known before. + </p> + <p> + She laughed at his changed expression, and then swung herself easily to a + sitting posture on the low projecting branch of a hemlock. The act was + still girlish, but, nevertheless, she looked down upon him in a superior, + patronizing way. “Now, Clarence,” she said, with a half-abstracted manner, + “don't you be a big fool! If you talk that way to mother, she'll only tell + you to wait two or three years until you know your own mind, and she'll + pack me off to that horrid school again, besides watching me like a cat + every moment you are here. If you want to stay here, and see me sometimes + like this, you'll just behave as you have done, and say nothing. Do you + see? Perhaps you don't care to come, or are satisfied with Mary and + mother. Say so, then. Goodness knows, I don't want to force you to come + here.” + </p> + <p> + Modest and reserved as Clarence was generally, I fear that bashfulness of + approach to the other sex was not one of these indications. He walked up + to Susy with appalling directness, and passed his arm around her waist. + She did not move, but remained looking at him and his intruding arm with a + certain critical curiosity, as if awaiting some novel sensation. At which + he kissed her. She then slowly disengaged his arm, and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Really, upon my word, Clarence,” in perfectly level tones, and slipped + quietly to the ground. + </p> + <p> + He again caught her in his arms, encircling her disarranged hair and part + of the beribboned hat hanging over her shoulder, and remained for an + instant holding her thus silently and tenderly. Then she freed herself + with an abstracted air, a half smile, and an unchanged color except where + her soft cheek had been abraded by his coat collar. + </p> + <p> + “You're a bold, rude boy, Clarence,” she said, putting back her hair + quietly, and straightening the brim of her hat. “Heaven knows where you + learned manners!” and then, from a safer distance, with the same critical + look in her violet eyes, “I suppose you think mother would allow THAT if + she knew it?” + </p> + <p> + But Clarence, now completely subjugated, with the memory of the kiss upon + him and a heightened color, protested that he only wanted to make their + intercourse less constrained, and to have their relations, even their + engagement, recognized by her parents; still he would take her advice. + Only there was always the danger that if they were discovered she would be + sent back to the convent all the same, and his banishment, instead of + being the probation of a few years, would be a perpetual separation. + </p> + <p> + “We could always run away, Clarence,” responded the young girl calmly. + “There's nothing the matter with THAT.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence was startled. The idea of desolating the sad, proud, handsome + Mrs. Peyton, whom he worshiped, and her kind husband, whom he was just + about to serve, was so grotesque and confusing, that he said hopelessly, + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” she continued, with the same odd affectation of coyness, + which was, however, distinctly uncalled for, as she eyed him from under + her broad hat, “you needn't come with me unless you like. I can run away + by myself,—if I want to! I've thought of it before. One can't stand + everything!” + </p> + <p> + “But, Susy,” said Clarence, with a swift remorseful recollection of her + confidence yesterday, “is there really anything troubles you? Tell me, + dear. What is it?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothing—EVERYTHING! It's no use,—YOU can't understand! + YOU like it, I know you do. I can see it; it's your style. But it's + stupid, it's awful, Clarence! With mamma snooping over you and around you + all day, with her 'dear child,' 'mamma's pet,' and 'What is it, dear?' and + 'Tell it all to your own mamma,' as if I would! And 'my own mamma,' + indeed! As if I didn't know, Clarence, that she ISN'T. And papa, caring + for nothing but this hideous, dreary rancho, and the huge, empty plains. + It's worse than school, for there, at least, when you went out, you could + see something besides cattle and horses and yellow-faced half-breeds! But + here—Lord! it's only a wonder I haven't run away before!” + </p> + <p> + Startled and shocked as Clarence was at this revelation, accompanied as it + was by a hardness of manner that was new to him, the influence of the + young girl was still so strong upon him that he tried to evade it as only + an extravagance, and said with a faint smile, “But where would you run + to?” + </p> + <p> + She looked at him cunningly, with her head on one side, and then said:— + </p> + <p> + “I have friends, and”— + </p> + <p> + She hesitated, pursing up her pretty lips. + </p> + <p> + “And what?” + </p> + <p> + “Relations.” + </p> + <p> + “Relations?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,—an aunt by marriage. She lives in Sacramento. She'd be + overjoyed to have me come to her. Her second husband has a theatre there.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Susy, what does Mrs. Peyton know of this?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing. Do you think I'd tell her, and have her buy them up as she has + my other relations? Do you suppose I don't know that I've been bought up + like a nigger?” + </p> + <p> + She looked indignant, compressing her delicate little nostrils, and yet, + somehow, Clarence had the same singular impression that she was only + acting. + </p> + <p> + The calling of a far-off voice came faintly through the wood. + </p> + <p> + “That's Mary, looking for me,” said Susy composedly. “You must go, now, + Clarence. Quick! Remember what I said,—and don't breathe a word of + this. Good-by.” + </p> + <p> + But Clarence was standing still, breathless, hopelessly disturbed, and + irresolute. Then he turned away mechanically towards the trail. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Clarence?” + </p> + <p> + She was looking at him half reproachfully, half coquettishly, with + smiling, parted lips. He hastened to forget himself and his troubles upon + them twice and thrice. Then she quickly disengaged herself, whispered, + “Go, now,” and, as Mary's call was repeated, Clarence heard her voice, + high and clear, answering, “Here, dear,” as he was plunging into the + thicket. + </p> + <p> + He had scarcely reached the madrono tree again and remounted his horse, + before he heard the sound of hoofs approaching from the road. In his + present uneasiness he did not care to be discovered so near the + rendezvous, and drew back into the shadow until the horseman should pass. + It was Peyton, with a somewhat disturbed face, riding rapidly. Still less + was he inclined to join or immediately follow him, but he was relieved + when his host, instead of taking the direct road to the rancho, through + the wild oats, turned off in the direction of the corral. + </p> + <p> + A moment later Clarence wheeled into the direct road, and presently found + himself in the long afternoon shadows through the thickest of the grain. + He was riding slowly, immersed in thought, when he was suddenly startled + by a hissing noise at his ear, and what seemed to be the uncoiling stroke + of a leaping serpent at his side. Instinctively he threw himself forward + on his horse's neck, and as the animal shied into the grain, felt the + crawling scrape and jerk of a horsehair lariat across his back and down + his horse's flanks. He reined in indignantly and stood up in his stirrups. + Nothing was to be seen above the level of the grain. Beneath him the + trailing riata had as noiselessly vanished as if it had been indeed a + gliding snake. Had he been the victim of a practical joke, or of the + blunder of some stupid vacquero? For he made no doubt that it was the + lasso of one of the performers he had watched that afternoon. But his + preoccupied mind did not dwell long upon it, and by the time he had + reached the wall of the old garden, the incident was forgotten. + </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> + Relieved of Clarence Brant's embarrassing presence, Jim Hooker did not, + however, refuse to avail himself of that opportunity to expound to the + farmer and his family the immense wealth, influence, and importance of the + friend who had just left him. Although Clarence's plan had suggested + reticence, Hooker could not forego the pleasure of informing them that + “Clar” Brant had just offered to let him into an extensive land + speculation. He had previously declined a large share or original location + in a mine of Clarence's, now worth a million, because it was not “his + style.” But the land speculation in a country of unsettled titles and + lawless men, he need not remind them, required some experience of border + warfare. He would not say positively, although he left them to draw their + own conclusions with gloomy significance, that this was why Clarence had + sought him. With this dark suggestion, he took leave of Mr. and Mrs. + Hopkins and their daughter Phoebe the next day, not without some natural + human emotion, and peacefully drove his team and wagon into the settlement + of Fair Plains. + </p> + <p> + He was not prepared, however, for a sudden realization of his imaginative + prospects. A few days after his arrival in Fair Plains, he received a + letter from Clarence, explaining that he had not time to return to Hooker + to consult him, but had, nevertheless, fulfilled his promise, by taking + advantage of an opportunity of purchasing the Spanish “Sisters'” title to + certain unoccupied lands near the settlement. As these lands in part + joined the section already preempted and occupied by Hopkins, Clarence + thought that Jim Hooker would choose that part for the sake of his + neighbor's company. He inclosed a draft on San Francisco, for a sum + sufficient to enable Jim to put up a cabin and “stock” the property, which + he begged he would consider in the light of a loan, to be paid back in + installments, only when the property could afford it. At the same time, if + Jim was in difficulty, he was to inform him. The letter closed with a + characteristic Clarence-like mingling of enthusiasm and older wisdom. “I + wish you luck, Jim, but I see no reason why you should trust to it. I + don't know of anything that could keep you from making yourself + independent of any one, if you go to work with a LONG AIM and don't + fritter away your chances on short ones. If I were you, old fellow, I'd + drop the Plains and the Indians out of my thoughts, or at least out of my + TALK, for a while; they won't help you in the long run. The people who + believe you will be jealous of you; those who don't, will look down upon + you, and if they get to questioning your little Indian romances, Jim, + they'll be apt to question your civilized facts. That won't help you in + the ranching business and that's your only real grip now.” For the space + of two or three hours after this, Jim was reasonably grateful and even + subdued,—so much so that his employer, to whom he confided his good + fortune, frankly confessed that he believed him from that unusual fact + alone. Unfortunately, neither the practical lesson conveyed in this grim + admission, nor the sentiment of gratitude, remained long with Jim. Another + idea had taken possession of his fancy. Although the land nominated in his + bill of sale had been, except on the occasion of his own temporary halt + there, always unoccupied, unsought, and unclaimed, and although he was + amply protected by legal certificates, he gravely collected a posse of + three or four idlers from Fair Plains, armed them at his own expense, and + in the dead of night took belligerent and forcible possession of the + peaceful domain which the weak generosity and unheroic dollars of Clarence + had purchased for him! A martial camp-fire tempered the chill night winds + to the pulses of the invaders, and enabled them to sleep on their arms in + the field they had won. The morning sun revealed to the astonished Hopkins + family the embattled plain beyond, with its armed sentries. Only then did + Jim hooker condescend to explain the reason of his warlike occupation, + with dark hints of the outlying “squatters” and “jumpers,” whose + incursions their boldness alone had repulsed. The effect of this romantic + situation upon the two women, with the slight fascination of danger + imported into their quiet lives, may well be imagined. Possibly owing to + some incautious questioning by Mr. Hopkins, and some doubts of the + discipline and sincerity of his posse, Jim discharged them the next day; + but during the erection of his cabin by some peaceful carpenters from the + settlement, he returned to his gloomy preoccupation and the ostentatious + wearing of his revolvers. As an opulent and powerful neighbor, he took his + meals with the family while his house was being built, and generally + impressed them with a sense of security they had never missed. + </p> + <p> + Meantime, Clarence, duly informed of the installation of Jim as his + tenant, underwent a severe trial. It was necessary for his plans that this + should be kept a secret at present, and this was no easy thing for his + habitually frank and open nature. He had once mentioned that he had met + Jim at the settlement, but the information was received with such + indifference by Susy, and such marked disfavor by Mrs. Peyton, that he + said no more. He accompanied Peyton in his rides around the rancho, fully + possessed himself of the details of its boundaries, the debatable lands + held by the enemy, and listened with beating pulses, but a hushed tongue, + to his host's ill-concealed misgivings. + </p> + <p> + “You see, Clarence, that lower terrace?” he said, pointing to a + far-reaching longitudinal plain beyond the corral; “it extends from my + corral to Fair Plains. That is claimed by the sisters' title, and, as + things appear to be going, if a division of the land is made it will be + theirs. It's bad enough to have this best grazing land lying just on the + flanks of the corral held by these rascals at an absurd prohibitory price, + but I am afraid that it may be made to mean something even worse. + According to the old surveys, these terraces on different levels were the + natural divisions of the property,—one heir or his tenant taking + one, and another taking another,—an easy distinction that saved the + necessity of boundary fencing or monuments, and gave no trouble to people + who were either kinsmen or lived in lazy patriarchal concord. That is the + form of division they are trying to reestablish now. Well,” he continued, + suddenly lifting his eyes to the young man's flushed face, in some + unconscious, sympathetic response to his earnest breathlessness, “although + my boundary line extends half a mile into that field, my house and garden + and corral ARE ACTUALLY UPON THAT TERRACE OR LEVEL.” They certainly + appeared to Clarence to be on the same line as the long field beyond. + “If,” went on Peyton, “such a decision is made, these men will push on and + claim the house and everything on the terrace.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Clarence quickly, “you said their title was only valuable + where they have got or can give POSSESSION. You already have yours. They + can't take it from you except by force.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Peyton grimly, “nor will they dare to do it as long as I live + to fight them.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” persisted Clarence, with the same singular hesitancy of manner, + “why didn't you purchase possession of at least that part of the land + which lies so dangerously near your own house?” + </p> + <p> + “Because it was held by squatters, who naturally preferred buying what + might prove a legal title to their land from these impostors than to sell + out their possession to ME at a fair price.” + </p> + <p> + “But couldn't you have bought from them both?” continued Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Clarence, I am not a Croesus nor a fool. Only a man who was both + would attempt to treat with these rascals, who would now, of course, + insist that THEIR WHOLE claim should be bought up at their own price, by + the man who was most concerned in defeating them.” + </p> + <p> + He turned away a little impatiently. Fortunately he did not observe that + Clarence's averted face was crimson with embarrassment, and that a faint + smile hovered nervously about his mouth. + </p> + <p> + Since his late rendezvous with Susy, Clarence had had no chance to + interrogate her further regarding her mysterious relative. That that + shadowy presence was more or less exaggerated, if not an absolute myth, he + more than half suspected, but of the discontent that had produced it, or + the recklessness it might provoke, there was no doubt. She might be + tempted to some act of folly. He wondered if Mary Rogers knew it. Yet, + with his sensitive ideas of loyalty, he would have shrunk from any + confidence with Mary regarding her friend's secrets, although he fancied + that Mary's dark eyes sometimes dwelt upon him with mournful consciousness + and premonition. He did not imagine the truth, that this romantic + contemplation was only the result of Mary's conviction that Susy was + utterly unworthy of his love. It so chanced one morning that the vacquero + who brought the post from Santa Inez arrived earlier than usual, and so + anticipated the two girls, who usually made a youthful point of meeting + him first as he passed the garden wall. The letter bag was consequently + delivered to Mrs. Peyton in the presence of the others, and a look of + consternation passed between the young girls. But Mary quickly seized upon + the bag as if with girlish and mischievous impatience, opened it, and + glanced within it. + </p> + <p> + “There are only three letters for you,” she said, handing them to + Clarence, with a quick look of significance, which he failed to + comprehend, “and nothing for me or Susy.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” began the innocent Clarence, as his first glance at the letters + showed him that one was directed to Susy, “here is”— + </p> + <p> + A wicked pinch on his arm that was nearest Mary stopped his speech, and he + quickly put the letters in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't you understand that Susy don't want her mother to see that + letter?” asked Mary impatiently, when they were alone a moment later. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Clarence simply, handing her the missive. + </p> + <p> + Mary took it and turned it over in her hands. + </p> + <p> + “It's in a man's handwriting,” she said innocently. + </p> + <p> + “I hadn't noticed it,” returned Clarence with invincible naivete, “but + perhaps it is.” + </p> + <p> + “And you hand it over for me to give to Susy, and ain't a bit curious to + know who it's from?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” returned Clarence, opening his big eyes in smiling and apologetic + wonder. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” responded the young lady, with a long breath of melancholy + astonishment, “certainly, of all things you are—you really ARE!” + With which incoherency—apparently perfectly intelligible to herself—she + left him. She had not herself the slightest idea who the letter was from; + she only knew that Susy wanted it concealed. + </p> + <p> + The incident made little impression on Clarence, except as part of the + general uneasiness he felt in regard to his old playmate. It seemed so odd + to him that this worry should come from HER,—that she herself should + form the one discordant note in the Arcadian dream that he had found so + sweet; in his previous imaginings it was the presence of Mrs. Peyton which + he had dreaded; she whose propinquity now seemed so full of gentleness, + reassurance, and repose. How worthy she seemed of any sacrifice he could + make for her! He had seen little of her for the last two or three days, + although her smile and greeting were always ready for him. Poor Clarence + did not dream that she had found from certain incontestable signs and + tokens, both in the young ladies and himself, that he did not require + watching, and that becoming more resigned to Susy's indifference, which + seemed so general and passive in quality, she was no longer tortured by + the sting of jealousy. + </p> + <p> + Finding himself alone that afternoon, the young man had wandered somewhat + listlessly beyond the low adobe gateway. The habits of the siesta obtained + in a modified form at the rancho. After luncheon, its masters and + employees usually retired, not so much from the torrid heat of the + afternoon sun, but from the first harrying of the afternoon trades, whose + monotonous whistle swept round the walls. A straggling passion vine near + the gate beat and struggled against the wind. Clarence had stopped near + it, and was gazing with worried abstraction across the tossing fields, + when a soft voice called his name. + </p> + <p> + It was a pleasant voice,—Mrs. Peyton's. He glanced back at the + gateway; it was empty. He looked quickly to the right and left; no one was + there. + </p> + <p> + The voice spoke again with the musical addition of a laugh; it seemed to + come from the passion vine. Ah, yes; behind it, and half overgrown by its + branches, was a long, narrow embrasured opening in the wall, defended by + the usual Spanish grating, and still further back, as in the frame of a + picture, the half length figure of Mrs. Peyton, very handsome and + striking, too, with a painted picturesqueness from the effect of the + checkered light and shade. + </p> + <p> + “You looked so tired and bored out there,” she said. “I am afraid you are + finding it very dull at the rancho. The prospect is certainly not very + enlivening from where you stand.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence protested with a visible pleasure in his eyes, as he held back a + spray before the opening. + </p> + <p> + “If you are not afraid of being worse bored, come in here and talk with + me. You have never seen this part of the house, I think,—my own + sitting-room. You reach it from the hall in the gallery. But Lola or Anita + will show you the way.” + </p> + <p> + He reentered the gateway, and quickly found the hall,—a narrow, + arched passage, whose black, tunnel-like shadows were absolutely + unaffected by the vivid, colorless glare of the courtyard without, seen + through an opening at the end. The contrast was sharp, blinding, and + distinct; even the edges of the opening were black; the outer light halted + on the threshold and never penetrated within. The warm odor of verbena and + dried rose leaves stole from a half-open door somewhere in the cloistered + gloom. Guided by it, Clarence presently found himself on the threshold of + a low-vaulted room. Two other narrow embrasured windows like the one he + had just seen, and a fourth, wider latticed casement, hung with gauze + curtains, suffused the apartment with a clear, yet mysterious twilight + that seemed its own. The gloomy walls were warmed by bright-fringed + bookshelves, topped with trifles of light feminine coloring and adornment. + Low easy-chairs and a lounge, small fanciful tables, a dainty desk, gayly + colored baskets of worsteds or mysterious kaleidoscopic fragments, and + vases of flowers pervaded the apartment with a mingled sense of grace and + comfort. There was a womanly refinement in its careless negligence, and + even the delicate wrapper of Japanese silk, gathered at the waist and + falling in easy folds to the feet of the graceful mistress of this + charming disorder, looked a part of its refined abandonment. + </p> + <p> + Clarence hesitated as on the threshold of some sacred shrine. But Mrs. + Peyton, with her own hands, cleared a space for him on the lounge. + </p> + <p> + “You will easily suspect from all this disorder, Mr. Brant, that I spend a + greater part of my time here, and that I seldom see much company. Mr. + Peyton occasionally comes in long enough to stumble over a footstool or + upset a vase, and I think Mary and Susy avoid it from a firm conviction + that there is work concealed in these baskets. But I have my books here, + and in the afternoons, behind these thick walls, one forgets the incessant + stir and restlessness of the dreadful winds outside. Just now you were + foolish enough to tempt them while you were nervous, or worried, or + listless. Take my word for it, it's a great mistake. There is no more use + fighting them, as I tell Mr. Peyton, than of fighting the people born + under them. I have my own opinion that these winds were sent only to stir + this lazy race of mongrels into activity, but they are enough to drive us + Anglo-Saxons into nervous frenzy. Don't you think so? But you are young + and energetic, and perhaps you are not affected by them.” + </p> + <p> + She spoke pleasantly and playfully, yet with a certain nervous tension of + voice and manner that seemed to illustrate her theory. At least, Clarence, + in quick sympathy with her slightest emotion, was touched by it. There is + no more insidious attraction in the persons we admire, than the belief + that we know and understand their unhappiness, and that our admiration for + them is lifted higher than a mere mutual instinctive sympathy with beauty + or strength. This adorable woman had suffered. The very thought aroused + his chivalry. It loosened, also, I fear, his quick, impulsive tongue. + </p> + <p> + Oh, yes; he knew it. He had lived under this whip of air and sky for three + years, alone in a Spanish rancho, with only the native peons around him, + and scarcely speaking his own tongue even to his guardian. He spent his + mornings on horseback in fields like these, until the vientos generales, + as they called them, sprang up and drove him nearly frantic; and his only + relief was to bury himself among the books in his guardian's library, and + shut out the world,—just as she did. The smile which hovered around + the lady's mouth at that moment arrested Clarence, with a quick + remembrance of their former relative positions, and a sudden conviction of + his familiarity in suggesting an equality of experience, and he blushed. + But Mrs. Peyton diverted his embarrassment with an air of interested + absorption in his story, and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Then you know these people thoroughly, Mr. Brant? I am afraid that WE do + not.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence had already gathered that fact within the last few days, and, + with his usual impulsive directness, said so. A slight knitting of Mrs. + Peyton's brows passed off, however, as he quickly and earnestly went on to + say that it was impossible for the Peytons in their present relations to + the natives to judge them, or to be judged by them fairly. How they were a + childlike race, credulous and trustful, but, like all credulous and + trustful people, given to retaliate when imposed upon with a larger + insincerity, exaggeration, and treachery. How they had seen their houses + and lands occupied by strangers, their religion scorned, their customs + derided, their patriarchal society invaded by hollow civilization or + frontier brutality—all this fortified by incident and illustration, + the outcome of some youthful experience, and given with the glowing + enthusiasm of conviction. Mrs. Peyton listened with the usual divided + feminine interest between subject and speaker. + </p> + <p> + Where did this rough, sullen boy—as she had known him—pick up + this delicate and swift perception, this reflective judgment, and this odd + felicity of expression? It was not possible that it was in him while he + was the companion of her husband's servants or the recognized “chum” of + the scamp Hooker. No. But if HE could have changed like this, why not + Susy? Mrs. Peyton, in the conservatism of her sex, had never been quite + free from fears of her adopted daughter's hereditary instincts; but, with + this example before her, she now took heart. Perhaps the change was coming + slowly; perhaps even now what she thought was indifference and coldness + was only some abnormal preparation or condition. But she only smiled and + said:— + </p> + <p> + “Then, if you think those people have been wronged, you are not on our + side, Mr. Brant?” + </p> + <p> + What to an older and more worldly man would have seemed, and probably was, + only a playful reproach, struck Clarence deeply, and brought his pent-up + feelings to his lips. + </p> + <p> + “YOU have never wronged them. You couldn't do it; it isn't in your nature. + I am on YOUR side, and for you and yours always, Mrs. Peyton. From the + first time I saw you on the plains, when I was brought, a ragged boy, + before you by your husband, I think I would gladly have laid down my life + for you. I don't mind telling you now that I was even jealous of poor + Susy, so anxious was I for the smallest share in your thoughts, if only + for a moment. You could have done anything with me you wished, and I + should have been happy,—far happier than I have been ever since. I + tell you this, Mrs. Peyton, now, because you have just doubted if I might + be 'on your side,' but I have been longing to tell it all to you before, + and it is that I am ready to do anything you want,—all you want,—to + be on YOUR SIDE and at YOUR SIDE, now and forever.” + </p> + <p> + He was so earnest and hearty, and above all so appallingly and blissfully + happy, in this relief of his feelings, smiling as if it were the most + natural thing in the world, and so absurdly unconscious of his twenty-two + years, his little brown curling mustache, the fire in his wistful, + yearning eyes, and, above all, of his clasped hands and lover-like + attitude, that Mrs. Peyton—at first rigid as stone, then suffused to + the eyes—cast a hasty glance round the apartment, put her + handkerchief to her face, and laughed like a girl. + </p> + <p> + At which Clarence, by no means discomposed, but rather accepting her + emotion as perfectly natural, joined her heartily, and added:— + </p> + <p> + “It's so, Mrs. Peyton; I'm glad I told you. You don't mind it, do you?” + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Peyton had resumed her gravity, and perhaps a touch of her + previous misgivings. + </p> + <p> + “I should certainly be very sorry,” she said, looking at him critically, + “to object to your sharing your old friendship for your little playmate + with her parents and guardians, or to your expressing it to THEM as + frankly as to her.” + </p> + <p> + She saw the quick change in his mobile face and the momentary arrest of + its happy expression. She was frightened and yet puzzled. It was not the + sensitiveness of a lover at the mention of the loved one's name, and yet + it suggested an uneasy consciousness. If his previous impulsive outburst + had been prompted honestly, or even artfully, by his passion for Susy, why + had he looked so shocked when she spoke of her? + </p> + <p> + But Clarence, whose emotion had been caused by the sudden recall of his + knowledge of Susy's own disloyalty to the woman whose searching eyes were + upon him, in his revulsion against the deceit was, for an instant, upon + the point of divulging all. Perhaps, if Mrs. Peyton had shown more + confidence, he would have done so, and materially altered the evolution of + this story. But, happily, it is upon these slight human weaknesses that + your romancer depends, and Clarence, with no other reason than the + instinctive sympathy of youth with youth in its opposition to wisdom and + experience, let the opportunity pass, and took the responsibility of it + out of the hands of this chronicler. + </p> + <p> + Howbeit, to cover his confusion, he seized upon the second idea that was + in his mind, and stammered, “Susy! Yes, I wanted to speak to you about + her.” Mrs. Peyton held her breath, but the young man went on, although + hesitatingly, with evident sincerity. “Have you heard from any of her + relations since—since—you adopted her?” + </p> + <p> + It seemed a natural enough question, although not the sequitur she had + expected. “No,” she said carelessly. “It was well understood, after the + nearest relation—an aunt by marriage—had signed her consent to + Susy's adoption, that there should be no further intercourse with the + family. There seemed to us no necessity for reopening the past, and Susy + herself expressed no desire.” She stopped, and again fixing her handsome + eyes on Clarence, said, “Do you know any of them?” + </p> + <p> + But Clarence by this time had recovered himself, and was able to answer + carelessly and truthfully that he did not. Mrs. Peyton, still regarding + him closely, added somewhat deliberately, “It matters little now what + relations she has; Mr. Peyton and I have complete legal control over her + until she is of age, and we can easily protect her from any folly of her + own or others, or from any of the foolish fancies that sometimes overtake + girls of her age and inexperience.” + </p> + <p> + To her utter surprise, however, Clarence uttered a faint sigh of relief, + and his face again recovered its expression of boyish happiness. “I'm glad + of it, Mrs. Peyton,” he said heartily. “No one could understand better + what is for her interest in all things than yourself. Not,” he said, with + hasty and equally hearty loyalty to his old playmate, “that I think she + would ever go against your wishes, or do anything that she knows to be + wrong, but she is very young and innocent,—as much of a child as + ever, don't you think so, Mrs. Peyton?” + </p> + <p> + It was amusing, yet nevertheless puzzling, to hear this boyish young man + comment upon Susy's girlishness. And Clarence was serious, for he had + quite forgotten in Mrs. Peyton's presence the impression of superiority + which Susy had lately made upon him. But Mrs. Peyton returned to the + charge, or, rather, to an attack upon what she conceived to be Clarence's + old position. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose she does seem girlish compared to Mary Rogers, who is a much + more reserved and quiet nature. But Mary is very charming, Mr. Brant, and + I am really delighted to have her here with Susy. She has such lovely dark + eyes and such good manners. She has been well brought up, and it is easy + to see that her friends are superior people. I must write to them to thank + them for her visit, and beg them to let her stay longer. I think you said + you didn't know them?” + </p> + <p> + But Clarence, whose eyes had been thoughtfully and admiringly wandering + over every characteristic detail of the charming apartment, here raised + them to its handsome mistress, with an apologetic air and a “No” of such + unaffected and complete abstraction, that she was again dumbfounded. + Certainly, it could not be Mary in whom he was interested. + </p> + <p> + Abandoning any further inquisition for the present, she let the talk + naturally fall upon the books scattered about the tables. The young man + knew them all far better than she did, with a cognate knowledge of others + of which she had never heard. She found herself in the attitude of + receiving information from this boy, whose boyishness, however, seemed to + have evaporated, whose tone had changed with the subject, and who now + spoke with the conscious reserve of knowledge. Decidedly, she must have + grown rusty in her seclusion. This came, she thought bitterly, of living + alone; of her husband's preoccupation with the property; of Susy's + frivolous caprices. At the end of eight years to be outstripped by a + former cattle-boy of her husband's, and to have her French corrected in a + matter of fact way by this recent pupil of the priests, was really too + bad! Perhaps he even looked down upon Susy! She smiled dangerously but + suavely. + </p> + <p> + “You must have worked so hard to educate yourself from nothing, Mr. Brant. + You couldn't read, I think, when you first came to us. No? Could you + really? I know it has been very difficult for Susy to get on with her + studies in proportion. We had so much to first eradicate in the way of + manners, style, and habits of thought which the poor child had picked up + from her companions, and for which SHE was not responsible. Of course, + with a boy that does not signify,” she added, with feline gentleness. + </p> + <p> + But the barbed speech glanced from the young man's smoothly smiling + abstraction. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, yes. But those were happy days, Mrs. Peyton,” he answered, with an + exasperating return of his previous boyish enthusiasm, “perhaps because of + our ignorance. I don't think that Susy and I are any happier for knowing + that the plains are not as flat as we believed they were, and that the sun + doesn't have to burn a hole in them every night when it sets. But I know I + believed that YOU knew everything. When I once saw you smiling over a book + in your hand, I thought it must be a different one from any that I had + ever seen, and perhaps made expressly for you. I can see you there still. + Do you know,” quite confidentially, “that you reminded me—of course + YOU were much younger—of what I remembered of my mother?” + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Peyton's reply of “Ah, indeed,” albeit polite, indicated some + coldness and lack of animation. Clarence rose quickly, but cast a long and + lingering look around him. + </p> + <p> + “You will come again, Mr. Brant,” said the lady more graciously. “If you + are going to ride now, perhaps you would try to meet Mr. Peyton. He is + late already, and I am always uneasy when he is out alone,—particularly + on one of those half-broken horses, which they consider good enough for + riding here. YOU have ridden them before and understand them, but I am + afraid that's another thing WE have got to learn.” + </p> + <p> + When the young man found himself again confronting the glittering light of + the courtyard, he remembered the interview and the soft twilight of the + boudoir only as part of a pleasant dream. There was a rude awakening in + the fierce wind, which had increased with the lengthening shadows. It + seemed to sweep away the half-sensuous comfort that had pervaded him, and + made him coldly realize that he had done nothing to solve the difficulties + of his relations to Susy. He had lost the one chance of confiding to Mrs. + Peyton,—if he had ever really intended to do so. It was impossible + for him to do it hereafter without a confession of prolonged deceit. + </p> + <p> + He reached the stables impatiently, where his attention was attracted by + the sound of excited voices in the corral. Looking within, he was + concerned to see that one of the vacqueros was holding the dragging bridle + of a blown, dusty, and foam-covered horse, around whom a dozen idlers were + gathered. Even beneath its coating of dust and foam and the half-displaced + saddle blanket, Clarence immediately recognized the spirited pinto mustang + which Peyton had ridden that morning. + </p> + <p> + “What's the matter?” said Clarence, from the gateway. + </p> + <p> + The men fell apart, glancing at each other. One said quickly in Spanish:— + </p> + <p> + “Say nothing to HIM. It is an affair of the house.” + </p> + <p> + But this brought Clarence down like a bombshell among them, not to be + overlooked in his equal command of their tongue and of them. “Ah! come, + now. What drunken piggishness is this? Speak!” + </p> + <p> + “The padron has been—perhaps—thrown,” stammered the first + speaker. “His horse arrives,—but he does not. We go to inform the + senora.” + </p> + <p> + “No, you don't! mules and imbeciles! Do you want to frighten her to death? + Mount, every one of you, and follow me!” + </p> + <p> + The men hesitated, but for only a moment. Clarence had a fine assortment + of Spanish epithets, expletives, and objurgations, gathered in his rodeo + experience at El Refugio, and laid them about him with such fervor and + discrimination that two or three mules, presumably with guilty + consciences, mistaking their direction, actually cowered against the + stockade of the corral in fear. In another moment the vacqueros had + hastily mounted, and, with Clarence at their head, were dashing down the + road towards Santa Inez. Here he spread them in open order in the grain, + on either side of the track, himself taking the road. + </p> + <p> + They did not proceed very far. For when they had reached the gradual slope + which marked the decline to the second terrace, Clarence, obeying an + instinct as irresistible as it was unaccountable, which for the last few + moments had been forcing itself upon him, ordered a halt. The casa and + corral had already sunk in the plain behind them; it was the spot where + the lasso had been thrown at him a few evenings before! Bidding the men + converge slowly towards the road, he went on more cautiously, with his + eyes upon the track before him. Presently he stopped. There was a ragged + displacement of the cracked and crumbling soil and the unmistakable scoop + of kicking hoofs. As he stooped to examine them, one of the men at the + right uttered a shout. By the same strange instinct Clarence knew that + Peyton was found! + </p> + <p> + He was, indeed, lying there among the wild oats at the right of the road, + but without trace of life or scarcely human appearance. His clothes, where + not torn and shredded away, were partly turned inside out; his shoulders, + neck, and head were a shapeless, undistinguishable mask of dried earth and + rags, like a mummy wrapping. His left boot was gone. His large frame + seemed boneless, and, except for the cerements of his mud-stiffened + clothing, was limp and sodden. + </p> + <p> + Clarence raised his head suddenly from a quick examination of the body, + and looked at the men around him. One of them was already cantering away. + Clarence instantly threw himself on his horse, and, putting spurs to the + animal, drew a revolver from his holster and fired over the man's head. + The rider turned in his saddle, saw his pursuer, and pulled up. + </p> + <p> + “Go back,” said Clarence, “or my next shot won't MISS you.” + </p> + <p> + “I was only going to inform the senora,” said the man with a shrug and a + forced smile. + </p> + <p> + “I will do that,” said Clarence grimly, driving him back with him into the + waiting circle; then turning to them he said slowly, with deliberate, + smileless irony, “And now, my brave gentlemen,—knights of the bull + and gallant mustang hunters,—I want to inform YOU that I believe + that Mr. Peyton was MURDERED, and if the man who killed him is anywhere + this side of hell, I intend to find him. Good! You understand me! Now lift + up the body,—you two, by the shoulders; you two, by the feet. Let + your horses follow. For I intend that you four shall carry home your + master in your arms, on foot. Now forward to the corral by the back trail. + Disobey me, or step out of line and”—He raised the revolver + ominously. + </p> + <p> + If the change wrought in the dead man before them was weird and + terrifying, no less distinct and ominous was the change that, during the + last few minutes, had come over the living speaker. For it was no longer + the youthful Clarence who sat there, but a haggard, prematurely worn, + desperate-looking avenger, lank of cheek, and injected of eye, whose white + teeth glistened under the brown mustache and thin pale lips that parted + when his restrained breath now and then hurriedly escaped them. + </p> + <p> + As the procession moved on, two men slunk behind with the horses. + </p> + <p> + “Mother of God! Who is this wolf's whelp?” said Manuel. + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” said his companion in a terrified whisper. “Have you not heard? It + is the son of Hamilton Brant, the assassin, the duelist,—he who was + fusiladed in Sonora.” He made the sign of the cross quickly. “Jesus Maria! + Let them look out who have cause, for the blood of his father is in him!” + </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> + What other speech passed between Clarence and Peyton's retainers was not + known, but not a word of the interview seemed to have been divulged by + those present. It was generally believed and accepted that Judge Peyton + met his death by being thrown from his half-broken mustang, and dragged at + its heels, and medical opinion, hastily summoned from Santa Inez after the + body had been borne to the corral, and stripped of its hideous encasings, + declared that the neck had been broken, and death had followed + instantaneously. An inquest was deemed unnecessary. + </p> + <p> + Clarence had selected Mary to break the news to Mrs. Peyton, and the + frightened young girl was too much struck with the change still visible in + his face, and the half authority of his manner, to decline, or even to + fully appreciate the calamity that had befallen them. After the first + benumbing shock, Mrs. Peyton passed into that strange exaltation of + excitement brought on by the immediate necessity for action, followed by a + pallid calm, which the average spectator too often unfairly accepts as + incongruous, inadequate, or artificial. There had also occurred one of + those strange compensations that wait on Death or disrupture by + catastrophe: such as the rude shaking down of an unsettled life, the + forcible realization of what were vague speculations, the breaking of old + habits and traditions, and the unloosing of half-conscious bonds. Mrs. + Peyton, without insensibility to her loss or disloyalty to her affections, + nevertheless felt a relief to know that she was now really Susy's + guardian, free to order her new life wherever and under what conditions + she chose as most favorable to it, and that she could dispose of this + house that was wearying to her when Susy was away, and which the girl + herself had always found insupportable. She could settle this question of + Clarence's relations to her daughter out of hand without advice or + opposition. She had a brother in the East, who would be summoned to take + care of the property. This consideration for the living pursued her, even + while the dead man's presence still awed the hushed house; it was in her + thoughts as she stood beside his bier and adjusted the flowers on his + breast, which no longer moved for or against these vanities; and it stayed + with her even in the solitude of her darkened room. + </p> + <p> + But if Mrs. Peyton was deficient, it was Susy who filled the popular idea + of a mourner, and whose emotional attitude of a grief-stricken daughter + left nothing to be desired. It was she who, when the house was filled with + sympathizing friends from San Francisco and the few near neighbors who had + hurried with condolences, was overflowing in her reminiscences of the dead + man's goodness to her, and her own undying affection; who recalled ominous + things that he had said, and strange premonitions of her own, the result + of her ever-present filial anxiety; it was she who had hurried home that + afternoon, impelled with vague fears of some impending calamity; it was + she who drew a picture of Peyton as a doting and almost too indulgent + parent, which Mary Rogers failed to recognize, and which brought back + vividly to Clarence's recollection her own childish exaggerations of the + Indian massacre. I am far from saying that she was entirely insincere or + merely acting at these moments; at times she was taken with a mild + hysteria, brought on by the exciting intrusion of this real event in her + monotonous life, by the attentions of her friends, the importance of her + suffering as an only child, and the advancement of her position as the + heiress of the Robles Rancho. If her tears were near the surface, they + were at least genuine, and filmed her violet eyes and reddened her pretty + eyelids quite as effectually as if they had welled from the depths of her + being. Her black frock lent a matured dignity to her figure, and paled her + delicate complexion with the refinement of suffering. Even Clarence was + moved in that dark and haggard abstraction that had settled upon him since + his strange outbreak over the body of his old friend. + </p> + <p> + The extent of that change had not been noticed by Mrs. Peyton, who had + only observed that Clarence had treated her grief with a grave and silent + respect. She was grateful for that. A repetition of his boyish + impulsiveness would have been distasteful to her at such a moment. She + only thought him more mature and more subdued, and as the only man now in + her household his services had been invaluable in the emergency. + </p> + <p> + The funeral had taken place at Santa Inez, where half the county gathered + to pay their last respects to their former fellow-citizen and neighbor, + whose legal and combative victories they had admired, and whom death had + lifted into a public character. The family were returning to the house the + same afternoon, Mrs. Peyton and the girls in one carriage, the female + house-servants in another, and Clarence on horseback. They had reached the + first plateau, and Clarence was riding a little in advance, when an + extraordinary figure, rising from the grain beyond, began to gesticulate + to him wildly. Checking the driver of the first carriage, Clarence bore + down upon the stranger. To his amazement it was Jim Hooker. Mounted on a + peaceful, unwieldy plough horse, he was nevertheless accoutred and armed + after his most extravagant fashion. In addition to a heavy rifle across + his saddle-bow he was weighted down with a knife and revolvers. Clarence + was in no mood for trifling, and almost rudely demanded his business. + </p> + <p> + “Gord, Clarence, it ain't foolin'. The Sisters' title was decided + yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “I knew it, you fool! It's YOUR title! You were already on your land and + in possession. What the devil are you doing HERE?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,—but,” stammered Jim, “all the boys holding that title moved up + here to 'make the division' and grab all they could. And I followed. And I + found out that they were going to grab Judge Peyton's house, because it + was on the line, if they could, and findin' you was all away, by Gord THEY + DID! and they're in it! And I stoled out and rode down here to warn ye.” + </p> + <p> + He stopped, looked at Clarence, glanced darkly around him and then down on + his accoutrements. Even in that supreme moment of sincerity, he could not + resist the possibilities of the situation. + </p> + <p> + “It's as much as my life's worth,” he said gloomily. “But,” with a dark + glance at his weapons, “I'll sell it dearly.” + </p> + <p> + “Jim!” said Clarence, in a terrible voice, “you're not lying again?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Jim hurriedly. “I swear it, Clarence! No! Honest Injin this + time. And look. I'll help you. They ain't expectin' you yet, and they + think ye'll come by the road. Ef I raised a scare off there by the corral, + while you're creepin' ROUND BY THE BACK, mebbe you could get in while + they're all lookin' for ye in front, don't you see? I'll raise a big row, + and they needn't know but what ye've got wind of it and brought a party + with you from Santa Inez.” + </p> + <p> + In a flash Clarence had wrought a feasible plan out of Jim's fantasy. + </p> + <p> + “Good,” he said, wringing his old companion's hand. “Go back quietly now; + hang round the corral, and when you see the carriage climbing the last + terrace raise your alarm. Don't mind how loud it is, there'll be nobody + but the servants in the carriages.” + </p> + <p> + He rode quickly back to the first carriage, at whose window Mrs. Peyton's + calm face was already questioning him. He told her briefly and concisely + of the attack, and what he proposed to do. + </p> + <p> + “You have shown yourself so strong in matters of worse moment than this,” + he added quietly, “that I have no fears for your courage. I have only to + ask you to trust yourself to me, to put you back at once in your own home. + Your presence there, just now, is the one important thing, whatever + happens afterwards.” + </p> + <p> + She recognized his maturer tone and determined manner, and nodded assent. + More than that, a faint fire came into her handsome eyes; the two girls + kindled their own at that flaming beacon, and sat with flushed checks and + suspended, indignant breath. They were Western Americans, and not over + much used to imposition. + </p> + <p> + “You must get down before we raise the hill, and follow me on foot through + the grain. I was thinking,” he added, turning to Mrs. Peyton, “of your + boudoir window.” + </p> + <p> + She had been thinking of it, too, and nodded. + </p> + <p> + “The vine has loosened the bars,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “If it hasn't, we must squeeze through them,” she returned simply. + </p> + <p> + At the end of the terrace Clarence dismounted, and helped them from the + carriage. He then gave directions to the coachmen to follow the road + slowly to the corral in front of the casa, and tied his horse behind the + second carriage. Then, with Mrs. Peyton and the two young girls, he + plunged into the grain. + </p> + <p> + It was hot, it was dusty, their thin shoes slipped in the crumbling adobe, + and the great blades caught in their crape draperies, but they uttered no + complaint. Whatever ulterior thought was in their minds, they were bent + only on one thing at that moment,—on entering the house at any + hazard. Mrs. Peyton had lived long enough on the frontier to know the + magic power of POSSESSION. Susy already was old enough to feel the acute + feminine horror of the profanation of her own belongings by alien hands. + Clarence, more cognizant of the whole truth than the others, was equally + silent and determined; and Mary Rogers was fired with the zeal of loyalty. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly a series of blood-curdling yells broke from the direction of the + corral, and they stopped. But Clarence at once recognized the well-known + war-whoop imitation of Jim Hooker,—infinitely more gruesome and + appalling than the genuine aboriginal challenge. A half dozen shots fired + in quick succession had evidently the same friendly origin. + </p> + <p> + “Now is our time,” said Clarence eagerly. “We must run for the house.” + </p> + <p> + They had fortunately reached by this time the angle of the adobe wall of + the casa, and the long afternoon shadows of the building were in their + favor. They pressed forward eagerly with the sounds of Jim Hooker's sham + encounter still in their ears, mingled with answering shouts of defiance + from strange voices within the building towards the front. + </p> + <p> + They rapidly skirted the wall, even passing boldly before the back + gateway, which seemed empty and deserted, and the next moment stood beside + the narrow window of the boudoir. Clarence's surmises were correct; the + iron grating was not only loose, but yielded to a vigorous wrench, the + vine itself acting as a lever to pull out the rusty bars. The young man + held out his hand, but Mrs. Peyton, with the sudden agility of a young + girl, leaped into the window, followed by Mary and Susy. The inner + casement yielded to her touch; the next moment they were within the room. + Then Mrs. Peyton's flushed and triumphant face reappeared at the window. + </p> + <p> + “It's all right; the men are all in the courtyard, or in the front of the + house. The boudoir door is strong, and we can bolt them out.” + </p> + <p> + “It won't be necessary,” said Clarence quietly; “you will not be + disturbed.” + </p> + <p> + “But are you not coming in?” she asked timidly, holding the window open. + </p> + <p> + Clarence looked at her with his first faint smile since Peyton's death. + </p> + <p> + “Of course I am, but not in THAT way. I am going in by THE FRONT GATE.” + </p> + <p> + She would have detained him, but, with a quick wave of his hand, he left + her, and ran swiftly around the wall of the casa toward the front. The + gate was half open; a dozen excited men were gathered before it and in the + archway, and among them, whitened with dust, blackened with powder, and + apparently glutted with rapine, and still holding a revolver in his hand, + was Jim Hooker! As Clarence approached, the men quickly retreated inside + the gate and closed it, but not before he had exchanged a meaning glance + with Jim. When he reached the gate, a man from within roughly demanded his + business. + </p> + <p> + “I wish to see the leader of this party,” said Clarence quietly. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon you do,” returned the man, with a short laugh. “But I kalkilate + HE don't return the compliment.” + </p> + <p> + “He probably will when he reads this note to his employer,” continued + Clarence still coolly, selecting a paper from his pocketbook. It was + addressed to Francisco Robles, Superintendent of the Sisters' Title, and + directed him to give Mr. Clarence Brant free access to the property and + the fullest information concerning it. The man took it, glanced at it, + looked again at Clarence, and then passed the paper to a third man among + the group in the courtyard. The latter read it, and approached the gate + carelessly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, what do you want?” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid you have the advantage of me in being able to transact + business through bars,” said Clarence, with slow but malevolent + distinctness, “and as mine is important, I think you had better open the + gate to me.” + </p> + <p> + The slight laugh that his speech had evoked from the bystanders was + checked as the leader retorted angrily:— + </p> + <p> + “That's all very well; but how do I know that you're the man represented + in that letter? Pancho Robles may know you, but I don't.” + </p> + <p> + “That you can find out very easily,” said Clarence. “There is a man among + your party who knows me,—Mr. Hooker. Ask him.” + </p> + <p> + The man turned, with a quick mingling of surprise and suspicion, to the + gloomy, imperturbable Hooker. Clarence could not hear the reply of that + young gentleman, but it was evidently not wanting in his usual dark, + enigmatical exaggeration. The man surlily opened the gate. + </p> + <p> + “All the same,” he said, still glancing suspiciously at Hooker, “I don't + see what HE'S got to do with you.” + </p> + <p> + “A great deal,” said Clarence, entering the courtyard, and stepping into + the veranda; “HE'S ONE OF MY TENANTS.” + </p> + <p> + “Your WHAT?” said the man, with a coarse laugh of incredulity. + </p> + <p> + “My tenants,” repeated Clarence, glancing around the courtyard carelessly. + Nevertheless, he was relieved to notice that the three or four Mexicans of + the party did not seem to be old retainers of the rancho. There was no + evidence of the internal treachery he had feared. + </p> + <p> + “Your TENANTS!” echoed the man, with an uneasy glance at the faces of the + others. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Clarence, with business brevity; “and, for the matter of that, + although I have no reason to be particularly proud of it, SO ARE YOU ALL. + You ask my business here. It seems to be the same as yours,—to hold + possession of this house! With this difference, however,” he continued, + taking a document from his pocket. “Here is the certificate, signed by the + County Clerk, of the bill of sale of the entire Sisters' title to ME. It + includes the whole two leagues from Fair Plains to the old boundary line + of this rancho, which you forcibly entered this morning. There is the + document; examine it if you like. The only shadow of a claim you could + have to this property you would have to derive from ME. The only excuse + you could have for this act of lawlessness would be orders from ME. And + all that you have done this morning is only the assertion of MY legal + right to this house. If I disavow your act, as I might, I leave you as + helpless as any tramp that was ever kicked from a doorstep,—as any + burglar that was ever collared on the fence by a constable.” + </p> + <p> + It was the truth. There was no denying the authority of the document, the + facts of the situation, or its ultimate power and significance. There was + consternation, stupefaction, and even a half-humorous recognition of the + absurdity of their position on most of the faces around him. Incongruous + as the scene was, it was made still more grotesque by the attitude of Jim + Hooker. Ruthlessly abandoning the party of convicted trespassers, he + stalked gloomily over to the side of Clarence, with the air of having been + all the time scornfully in the secret and a mien of wearied + victoriousness, and thus halting, he disdainfully expectorated tobacco + juice on the ground between him and his late companions, as if to form a + line of demarcation. The few Mexicans began to edge towards the gateway. + This defection of his followers recalled the leader, who was no coward, to + himself again. + </p> + <p> + “Shut the gate, there!” he shouted. + </p> + <p> + As its two sides clashed together again, he turned deliberately to + Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “That's all very well, young man, as regards the TITLE. You may have + BOUGHT up the land, and legally own every square inch of howling + wilderness between this and San Francisco, and I wish you joy of your d—d + fool's bargain; you may have got a whole circus like that,” pointing to + the gloomy Jim, “at your back. But with all your money and all your + friends you've forgotten one thing. You haven't got possession, and we + have.” + </p> + <p> + “That's just where we differ,” said Clarence coolly, “for if you take the + trouble to examine the house, you will see that it is already in + possession of Mrs. Peyton,—MY TENANT.” + </p> + <p> + He paused to give effect to his revelations. But he was, nevertheless, + unprepared for an unrehearsed dramatic situation. Mrs. Peyton, who had + been tired of waiting, and was listening in the passage, at the mention of + her name, entered the gallery, followed by the young ladies. The slight + look of surprise upon her face at the revelation she had just heard of + Clarence's ownership, only gave the suggestion of her having been + unexpectedly disturbed in her peaceful seclusion. One of the Mexicans + turned pale, with a frightened glance at the passage, as if he expected + the figure of the dead man to follow. + </p> + <p> + The group fell back. The game was over,—and lost. No one recognized + it more quickly than the gamblers themselves. More than that, desperate + and lawless as they were, they still retained the chivalry of Western men, + and every hat was slowly doffed to the three black figures that stood + silently in the gallery. And even apologetic speech began to loosen the + clenched teeth of the discomfited leader. + </p> + <p> + “We—were—told there was no one in the house,” he stammered. + </p> + <p> + “And it was the truth,” said a pert, youthful, yet slightly affected + voice. “For we climbed into the window just as you came in at the gate.” + </p> + <p> + It was Susy's words that stung their ears again; but it was Susy's pretty + figure, suddenly advanced and in a slightly theatrical attitude, that + checked their anger. There had been a sudden ominous silence, as the whole + plot of rescue seemed to be revealed to them in those audacious words. But + a sense of the ludicrous, which too often was the only perception that + ever mitigated the passions of such assemblies, here suddenly asserted + itself. The leader burst into a loud laugh, which was echoed by the + others, and, with waving hats, the whole party swept peacefully out + through the gate. + </p> + <p> + “But what does all this mean about YOUR purchasing the land, Mr. Brant?” + said Mrs. Peyton quickly, fixing her eyes intently on Clarence. + </p> + <p> + A faint color—the useless protest of his truthful blood—came + to his cheek. + </p> + <p> + “The house is YOURS, and yours alone, Mrs. Peyton. The purchase of the + sisters' title was a private arrangement between Mr. Peyton and myself, in + view of an emergency like this.” + </p> + <p> + She did not, however, take her proud, searching eyes from his face, and he + was forced to turn away. + </p> + <p> + “It was SO like dear, good, thoughtful papa,” said Susy. “Why, bless me,” + in a lower voice, “if that isn't that lying old Jim Hooker standing there + by the gate!” + </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> + Judge Peyton had bequeathed his entire property unconditionally to his + wife. But his affairs were found to be greatly in disorder, and his papers + in confusion, and although Mrs. Peyton could discover no actual record of + the late transaction with Mr. Brant, which had saved her the possession of + the homestead, it was evident that he had spent large sums in speculative + attempts to maintain the integrity of his estate. That enormous domain, + although perfectly unencumbered, had been nevertheless unremunerative, + partly through the costs of litigation and partly through the systematic + depredations to which its great size and long line of unprotected boundary + had subjected it. It had been invaded by squatters and “jumpers,” who had + sown and reaped crops without discovery; its cattle and wild horses had + strayed or been driven beyond its ill-defined and hopeless limits. Against + these difficulties the widow felt herself unable and unwilling to contend, + and with the advice of her friends and her lawyer, she concluded to sell + the estate, except that portion covered by the Sisters' title, which, with + the homestead, had been reconveyed to her by Clarence. She retired with + Susy to the house in San Francisco, leaving Clarence to occupy and hold + the casa, with her servants, for her until order was restored. The Robles + Rancho thus became the headquarters of the new owner of the Sisters' + title, from which he administered its affairs, visited its incumbencies, + overlooked and surveyed its lands, and—occasionally—collected + its rents. There were not wanting critics who averred that these were + scarcely remunerative, and that the young San Francisco fine gentleman, + who was only Hamilton Brant's son, after all, yet who wished to ape the + dignity and degree of a large landholder, had made a very foolish bargain. + I grieve to say that one of his own tenants, namely, Jim Hooker, in his + secret heart inclined to that belief, and looked upon Clarence's + speculation as an act of far-seeing and inordinate vanity. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, the belligerent Jim had partly—and of course darkly—intimated + something of this to Susy in their brief reunion at the casa during the + few days that followed its successful reoccupation. And Clarence, + remembering her older caprices, and her remark on her first recognition of + him, was quite surprised at the easy familiarity of her reception of this + forgotten companion of their childhood. But he was still more concerned in + noticing, for the first time, a singular sympathetic understanding of each + other, and an odd similarity of occasional action and expression between + them. It was a part of this monstrous peculiarity that neither the + sympathy nor the likeness suggested any particular friendship or amity in + the pair, but rather a mutual antagonism and suspicion. Mrs. Peyton, + coldly polite to Clarence's former COMPANION, but condescendingly gracious + to his present TENANT and retainer, did not notice it, preoccupied with + the annoyance and pain of Susy's frequent references to the old days of + their democratic equality. + </p> + <p> + “You don't remember, Jim, the time that you painted my face in the wagon, + and got me up as an Indian papoose?” she said mischievously. + </p> + <p> + But Jim, who had no desire to recall his previous humble position before + Mrs. Peyton or Clarence, was only vaguely responsive. Clarence, although + joyfully touched at this seeming evidence of Susy's loyalty to the past, + nevertheless found himself even more acutely pained at the distress it + caused Mrs. Peyton, and was as relieved as she was by Hooker's reticence. + For he had seen little of Susy since Peyton's death, and there had been no + repetition of their secret interviews. Neither had he, nor she as far as + he could judge, noticed the omission. He had been more than usually kind, + gentle, and protecting in his manner towards her, with little reference, + however, to any response from her, yet he was vaguely conscious of some + change in his feelings. He attributed it, when he thought of it at all, to + the exciting experiences through which he had passed; to some sentiment of + responsibility to his dead friend; and to another secret preoccupation + that was always in his mind. He believed it would pass in time. Yet he + felt a certain satisfaction that she was no longer able to trouble him, + except, of course, when she pained Mrs. Peyton, and then he was half + conscious of taking the old attitude of the dead husband in mediating + between them. Yet so great was his inexperience that he believed, with + pathetic simplicity of perception, that all this was due to the slow + maturing of his love for her, and that he was still able to make her + happy. But this was something to be thought of later. Just now Providence + seemed to have offered him a vocation and a purpose that his idle + adolescence had never known. He did not dream that his capacity for + patience was only the slow wasting of his love. + </p> + <p> + Meantime that more wonderful change and recreation of the Californian + landscape, so familiar, yet always so young, had come to the rancho. The + league-long terrace that had yellowed, whitened, and wasted for half a + year beneath a staring, monotonous sky, now under sailing clouds, flying + and broken shafts of light, and sharply defined lines of rain, had taken a + faint hue of resurrection. The dust that had muffled the roads and byways, + and choked the low oaks that fringed the sunken canada, had long since + been laid. The warm, moist breath of the southwest trades had softened the + hard, dry lines of the landscape, and restored its color as of a picture + over which a damp sponge had been passed. The broad expanse of plateau + before the casa glistened and grew dark. The hidden woods of the canada, + cleared and strengthened in their solitude, dripped along the trails and + hollows that were now transformed into running streams. The distinguishing + madrono near the entrance to the rancho had changed its crimson summer + suit and masqueraded in buff and green. + </p> + <p> + Yet there were leaden days, when half the prospect seemed to be seen + through palisades of rain; when the slight incline between the terraces + became a tumultuous cascade, and the surest hoofs slipped on trails of + unctuous mud; when cattle were bogged a few yards from the highway, and + the crossing of the turnpike road was a dangerous ford. There were days of + gale and tempest, when the shriveled stalks of giant oats were stricken + like trees, and lay across each other in rigid angles, and a roar as of + the sea came up from the writhing treetops in the sunken valley. There + were long weary nights of steady downpour, hammering on the red tiles of + the casa, and drumming on the shingles of the new veranda, which was more + terrible to be borne. Alone, but for the servants, and an occasional + storm-stayed tenant from Fair Plains, Clarence might have, at such times, + questioned the effect of this seclusion upon his impassioned nature. But + he had already been accustomed to monastic seclusion in his boyish life at + El Refugio, and he did not reflect that, for that very reason, its + indulgences might have been dangerous. From time to time letters reached + him from the outer world of San Francisco,—a few pleasant lines from + Mrs. Peyton, in answer to his own chronicle of his half stewardship, + giving the news of the family, and briefly recounting their movements. She + was afraid that Susy's sensitive nature chafed under the restriction of + mourning in the gay city, but she trusted to bring her back for a change + to Robles when the rains were over. This was a poor substitute for those + brief, happy glimpses of the home circle which had so charmed him, but he + accepted it stoically. He wandered over the old house, from which the + perfume of domesticity seemed to have evaporated, yet, notwithstanding + Mrs. Peyton's playful permission, he never intruded upon the sanctity of + the boudoir, and kept it jealously locked. + </p> + <p> + He was sitting in Peyton's business room one morning, when Incarnacion + entered. Clarence had taken a fancy to this Indian, half steward, half + vacquero, who had reciprocated it with a certain dog-like fidelity, but + also a feline indirectness that was part of his nature. He had been early + prepossessed with Clarence through a kinsman at El Refugio, where the + young American's generosity had left a romantic record among the common + people. He had been pleased to approve of his follies before the knowledge + of his profitless and lordly land purchase had commended itself to him as + corroborative testimony. “Of true hidalgo blood, mark you,” he had said + oracularly. “Wherefore was his father sacrificed by mongrels! As to the + others, believe me,—bah!” + </p> + <p> + He stood there, sombrero in hand, murky and confidential, steaming through + his soaked serape and exhaling a blended odor of equine perspiration and + cigarette smoke. + </p> + <p> + “It was, perhaps, as the master had noticed, a brigand's own day! + Bullying, treacherous, and wicked! It blew you off your horse if you so + much as lifted your arms and let the wind get inside your serape; and as + for the mud,—caramba! in fifty varas your forelegs were like bears, + and your hoofs were earthen plasters!” + </p> + <p> + Clarence knew that Incarnacion had not sought him with mere meteorological + information, and patiently awaited further developments. The vacquero went + on:— + </p> + <p> + “But one of the things this beast of a weather did was to wash down the + stalks of the grain, and to clear out the trough and hollows between, and + to make level the fields, and—look you! to uncover the stones and + rubbish and whatever the summer dust had buried. Indeed, it was even as a + miracle that Jose Mendez one day, after the first showers, came upon a + silver button from his calzas, which he had lost in the early summer. And + it was only that morning that, remembering how much and with what fire Don + Clarencio had sought the missing boot from the foot of the Senor Peyton + when his body was found, he, Incarnacion, had thought he would look for it + on the falda of the second terrace. And behold, Mother of God it was + there! Soaked with mud and rain, but the same as when the senor was alive. + To the very spur!” + </p> + <p> + He drew the boot from beneath his serape and laid it before Clarence. The + young man instantly recognized it, in spite of its weather-beaten + condition and its air of grotesque and drunken inconsistency to the + usually trim and correct appearance of Peyton when alive. “It is the + same,” he said, in a low voice. + </p> + <p> + “Good!” said Incarnacion. “Now, if Don Clarencio will examine the American + spur, he will see—what? A few horse-hairs twisted and caught in the + sharp points of the rowel. Good! Is it the hair of the horse that Senor + rode? Clearly not; and in truth not. It is too long for the flanks and + belly of the horse; it is not the same color as the tail and the mane. How + comes it there? It comes from the twisted horsehair rope of a riata, and + not from the braided cowhide thongs of the regular lasso of a vacquero. + The lasso slips not much, but holds; the riata slips much and strangles.” + </p> + <p> + “But Mr. Peyton was not strangled,” said Clarence quickly. + </p> + <p> + “No, for the noose of the riata was perhaps large,—who knows? It + might have slipped down his arms, pinioned him, and pulled him off. Truly!—such + has been known before. Then on the ground it slipped again, or he perhaps + worked it off to his feet where it caught on his spur, and then he was + dragged until the boot came off, and behold! he was dead.” + </p> + <p> + This had been Clarence's own theory of the murder, but he had only half + confided it to Incarnacion. He silently examined the spur with the + accusing horse-hair, and placed it in his desk. Incarnacion continued:— + </p> + <p> + “There is not a vacquero in the whole rancho who has a horse-hair riata. + We use the braided cowhide; it is heavier and stronger; it is for the bull + and not the man. The horse-hair riata comes from over the range—south.” + </p> + <p> + There was a dead silence, broken only by the drumming of the rain upon the + roof of the veranda. Incarnacion slightly shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + “Don Clarencio does not know the southern county? Francisco Robles, cousin + of the 'Sisters,'—he they call 'Pancho,'—comes from the south. + Surely when Don Clarencio bought the title he saw Francisco, for he was + the steward?” + </p> + <p> + “I dealt only with the actual owners and through my bankers in San + Francisco,” returned Clarence abstractedly. + </p> + <p> + Incarnacion looked through the yellow corners of his murky eyes at his + master. + </p> + <p> + “Pedro Valdez, who was sent away by Senor Peyton, is the foster-brother of + Francisco. They were much together. Now that Francisco is rich from the + gold Don Clarencio paid for the title, they come not much together. But + Pedro is rich, too. Mother of God! He gambles and is a fine gentleman. He + holds his head high,—even over the Americanos he gambles with. + Truly, they say he can shoot with the best of them. He boasts and swells + himself, this Pedro! He says if all the old families were like him, they + would drive those western swine back over the mountains again.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence raised his eyes, caught a subtle yellow flash from Incarnacion's, + gazed at him suddenly, and rose. + </p> + <p> + “I don't think I have ever seen him,” he said quietly. “Thank you for + bringing me the spur. But keep the knowledge of it to yourself, good + Nascio, for the present.” + </p> + <p> + Nascio nevertheless still lingered. Perceiving which, Clarence handed him + a cigarette and proceeded to light one himself. He knew that the vacquero + would reroll his, and that that always deliberate occupation would cover + and be an excuse for further confidence. + </p> + <p> + “The Senora Peyton does not perhaps meet this Pedro in the society of San + Francisco?” + </p> + <p> + “Surely not. The senora is in mourning and goes not out in society, nor + would she probably go anywhere where she would meet a dismissed servant of + her husband.” + </p> + <p> + Incarnacion slowly lit his cigarette, and said between the puffs, “And the + senorita—she would not meet him?” + </p> + <p> + “Assuredly not.” + </p> + <p> + “And,” continued Incarnacion, throwing down the match and putting his foot + on it, “if this boaster, this turkey-cock, says she did, you could put him + out like that?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” said Clarence, with an easy confidence he was, however, far + from feeling, “if he really SAID it—which I doubt.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, truly,” said Incarnacion; “who knows? It may be another Senorita + Silsbee.” + </p> + <p> + “The senora's adopted daughter is called MISS PEYTON, friend Nascio. You + forget yourself,” said Clarence quietly. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, pardon!” said Incarnacion with effusive apology; “but she was born + Silsbee. Everybody knows it; she herself has told it to Pepita. The Senor + Peyton bequeathed his estate to the Senora Peyton. He named not the + senorita! Eh, what would you? It is the common cackle of the barnyard. But + I say 'Mees Silsbee.' For look you. There is a Silsbee of Sacramento, the + daughter of her aunt, who writes letters to her. Pepita has seen them! And + possibly it is only that Mees of whom the brigand Pedro boasts.” + </p> + <p> + “Possibly,” said Clarence, “but as far as this rancho is concerned, friend + Nascio, thou wilt understand—and I look to thee to make the others + understand—that there is no Senorita SILSBEE here, only the Senorita + PEYTON, the respected daughter of the senora thy mistress!” He spoke with + the quaint mingling of familiarity and paternal gravity of the Spanish + master—a faculty he had acquired at El Refugio in a like vicarious + position, and which never failed as a sign of authority. “And now,” he + added gravely, “get out of this, friend, with God's blessing, and see that + thou rememberest what I told thee.” + </p> + <p> + The retainer, with equal gravity, stepped backwards, saluted with his + sombrero until the stiff brim scraped the floor, and then solemnly + withdrew. + </p> + <p> + Left to himself, Clarence remained for an instant silent and thoughtful + before the oven-like hearth. So! everybody knew Susy's real relations to + the Peytons, and everybody but Mrs. Peyton, perhaps, knew that she was + secretly corresponding with some one of her own family. In other + circumstances he might have found some excuse for this assertion of her + independence and love of her kindred, but in her attitude towards Mrs. + Peyton it seemed monstrous. It appeared impossible that Mrs. Peyton should + not have heard of it, or suspected the young girl's disaffection. Perhaps + she had,—it was another burden laid upon her shoulders,—but + the proud woman had kept it to herself. A film of moisture came across his + eyes. I fear he thought less of the suggestion of Susy's secret meeting + with Pedro, or Incarnacion's implied suspicions that Pedro was concerned + in Peyton's death, than of this sentimental possibility. He knew that + Pedro had been hated by the others on account of his position; he knew the + instinctive jealousies of the race and their predisposition to extravagant + misconstruction. From what he had gathered, and particularly from the + voices he had overheard on the Fair Plains Road, it seemed to him that + Pedro was more capable of mercenary intrigue than physical revenge. He was + not aware of the irrevocable affront put upon Pedro by Peyton, and he had + consequently attached no importance to Peyton's own half-scornful + intimation of the only kind of retaliation that Pedro would be likely to + take. The unsuccessful attempt upon himself he had always thought might + have been an accident, or if it was really a premeditated assault, it + might have been intended actually for HIMSELF and not Peyton, as he had + first thought, and his old friend had suffered for HIM, through some + mistake of the assailant. The purpose, which alone seemed wanting, might + have been to remove Clarence as a possible witness who had overheard their + conspiracy—how much of it they did not know—on the Fair Plains + Road that night. The only clue he held to the murderer in the spur locked + in his desk, merely led him beyond the confines of the rancho, but + definitely nowhere else. It was, however, some relief to know that the + crime was not committed by one of Peyton's retainers, nor the outcome of + domestic treachery. + </p> + <p> + After some consideration he resolved to seek Jim Hooker, who might be + possessed of some information respecting Susy's relations, either from the + young girl's own confidences or from Jim's personal knowledge of the old + frontier families. From a sense of loyalty to Susy and Mrs. Peyton, he had + never alluded to the subject before him, but since the young girl's own + indiscretion had made it a matter of common report, however distasteful it + was to his own feelings, he felt he could not plead the sense of delicacy + for her. He had great hopes in what he had always believed was only her + exaggeration of fact as well as feeling. And he had an instinctive + reliance on her fellow poseur's ability to detect it. A few days later, + when he found he could safely leave the rancho alone, he rode to Fair + Plains. + </p> + <p> + The floods were out along the turnpike road, and even seemed to have + increased since his last journey. The face of the landscape had changed + again. One of the lower terraces had become a wild mere of sedge and + reeds. The dry and dusty bed of a forgotten brook had reappeared, a + full-banked river, crossing the turnpike and compelling a long detour + before the traveler could ford it. But as he approached the Hopkins farm + and the opposite clearing and cabin of Jim Hooker, he was quite unprepared + for a still more remarkable transformation. The cabin, a three-roomed + structure, and its cattle-shed had entirely disappeared! There were no + traces or signs of inundation. The land lay on a gentle acclivity above + the farm and secure from the effects of the flood, and a part of the + ploughed and cleared land around the site of the cabin showed no evidence + of overflow on its black, upturned soil. But the house was gone! Only a + few timbers too heavy to be removed, the blighting erasions of a few + months of occupation, and the dull, blackened area of the site itself were + to be seen. The fence alone was intact. + </p> + <p> + Clarence halted before it, perplexed and astonished. Scarcely two weeks + had elapsed since he had last visited it and sat beneath its roof with + Jim, and already its few ruins had taken upon themselves the look of years + of abandonment and decay. The wild land seemed to have thrown off its yoke + of cultivation in a night, and nature rioted again with all its primal + forces over the freed soil. Wild oats and mustard were springing already + in the broken furrows, and lank vines were slimily spreading over a few + scattered but still unseasoned and sappy shingles. Some battered tin cans + and fragments of old clothing looked as remote as if they had been relics + of the earliest immigration. + </p> + <p> + Clarence turned inquiringly towards the Hopkins farmhouse across the road. + His arrival, however, had already been noticed, as the door of the kitchen + opened in an anticipatory fashion, and he could see the slight figure of + Phoebe Hopkins in the doorway, backed by the overlooking heads and + shoulders of her parents. The face of the young girl was pale and drawn + with anxiety, at which Clarence's simple astonishment took a shade of + concern. + </p> + <p> + “I am looking for Mr. Hooker,” he said uneasily. “And I don't seem to be + able to find either him or his house.” + </p> + <p> + “And you don't know what's gone of him?” said the girl quickly. + </p> + <p> + “No; I haven't seen him for two weeks.” + </p> + <p> + “There, I told you so!” said the girl, turning nervously to her parents. + “I knew it. He hasn't seen him for two weeks.” Then, looking almost + tearfully at Clarence's face, she said, “No more have we.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Clarence impatiently, “something must have happened. Where is + his house?” + </p> + <p> + “Taken away by them jumpers,” interrupted the old farmer; “a lot of roughs + that pulled it down and carted it off in a jiffy before our very eyes + without answerin' a civil question to me or her. But he wasn't there, nor + before, nor since.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” added the old woman, with flashing eyes, “or he'd let 'em have what + ther' was in his six-shooters.” + </p> + <p> + “No, he wouldn't, mother,” said the girl impatiently, “he'd CHANGED, and + was agin all them ideas of force and riotin'. He was for peace and law all + the time. Why, the day before we missed him he was tellin' me California + never would be decent until people obeyed the laws and the titles were + settled. And for that reason, because he wouldn't fight agin the law, or + without the consent of the law, they've killed him, or kidnapped him + away.” + </p> + <p> + The girl's lips quivered, and her small brown hands twisted the edges of + her blue checked apron. Although this new picture of Jim's peacefulness + was as astounding and unsatisfactory as his own disappearance, there was + no doubt of the sincerity of poor Phoebe's impression. + </p> + <p> + In vain did Clarence point out to them there must be some mistake; that + the trespassers—the so-called jumpers—really belonged to the + same party as Hooker, and would have no reason to dispossess him; that, in + fact, they were all HIS, Clarence's, tenants. In vain he assured them of + Hooker's perfect security in possession; that he could have driven the + intruders away by the simple exhibition of his lease, or that he could + have even called a constable from the town of Fair Plains to protect him + from mere lawlessness. In vain did he assure them of his intention to find + his missing friend, and reinstate him at any cost. The conviction that the + unfortunate young man had been foully dealt with was fixed in the minds of + the two women. For a moment Clarence himself was staggered by it. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” said the young girl, with a kindling face, “the day before he + came back from Robles, ther' were some queer men hangin' round his cabin, + but as they were the same kind that went off with him the day the Sisters' + title was confirmed, we thought nothing of it. But when he came back from + you he seemed worried and anxious, and wasn't a bit like himself. We + thought perhaps he'd got into some trouble there, or been disappointed. He + hadn't, had he, Mr. Brant?” continued Phoebe, with an appealing look. + </p> + <p> + “By no means,” said Clarence warmly. “On the contrary, he was able to do + his friends good service there, and was successful in what he attempted. + Mrs. Peyton was very grateful. Of course he told you what had happened, + and what he did for us,” continued Clarence, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + He had already amused himself on the way with a fanciful conception of the + exaggerated account Jim had given of his exploits. But the bewildered girl + shook her head. + </p> + <p> + “No, he didn't tell us ANYTHING.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence was really alarmed. This unprecedented abstention of Hooker's was + portentous. + </p> + <p> + “He didn't say anything but what I told you about law and order,” she went + on; “but that same night we heard a good deal of talking and shouting in + the cabin and around it. And the next day he was talking with father, and + wanting to know how HE kept his land without trouble from outsiders.” + </p> + <p> + “And I said,” broke in Hopkins, “that I guessed folks didn't bother a man + with women folks around, and that I kalkilated that I wasn't quite as + notorious for fightin' as he was.” + </p> + <p> + “And he said,” also interrupted Mrs. Hopkins, “and quite in his nat'ral + way, too,—gloomy like, you remember, Cyrus,” appealingly to her + husband,—“that that was his curse.” + </p> + <p> + The smile that flickered around Clarence's mouth faded, however, as he + caught sight of Phoebe's pleading, interrogating eyes. It was really too + bad. Whatever change had come over the rascal it was too evident that his + previous belligerent personality had had its full effect upon the simple + girl, and that, hereafter, one pair of honest eyes would be wistfully + following him. + </p> + <p> + Perplexed and indignant, Clarence again closely questioned her as to the + personnel of the trespassing party who had been seen once or twice since + passing over the field. He had at last elicited enough information to + identify one of them as Gilroy, the leader of the party that had invaded + Robles rancho. His cheek flushed. Even if they had wished to take a + theatrical and momentary revenge on Hooker for the passing treachery to + them which they had just discovered, although such retaliation was only + transitory, and they could not hold the land, it was an insult to Clarence + himself, whose tenant Jim was, and subversive of all their legally + acquired rights. He would confront this Gilroy at once; his half-wild + encampment was only a few miles away, just over the boundaries of the + Robles estate. Without stating his intention, he took leave of the Hopkins + family with the cheerful assurance that he would probably return with some + news of Hooker, and rode away. + </p> + <p> + The trail became more indistinct and unfrequented as it diverged from the + main road, and presently lost itself in the slope towards the east. The + horizon grew larger: there were faint bluish lines upon it which he knew + were distant mountains; beyond this a still fainter white line—the + Sierran snows. Presently he intersected a trail running south, and + remarked that it crossed the highway behind him, where he had once met the + two mysterious horsemen. They had evidently reached the terrace through + the wild oats by that trail. A little farther on were a few groups of + sheds and canvas tents in a bare and open space, with scattered cattle and + horsemen, exactly like an encampment, or the gathering of a country fair. + As Clarence rode down towards them he could see that his approach was + instantly observed, and that a simultaneous movement was made as if to + anticipate him. For the first time he realized the possible consequences + of his visit, single-handed, but it was too late to retrace his steps. + With a glance at his holster, he rode boldly forward to the nearest shed. + A dozen men hovered near him, but something in his quiet, determined + manner held them aloof. Gilroy was on the threshold in his shirtsleeves. A + single look showed him that Clarence was alone, and with a careless + gesture of his hand he warned away his own followers. + </p> + <p> + “You've got a sort of easy way of droppin' in whar you ain't invited, + Brant,” he said with a grim smile, which was not, however, without a + certain air of approval. “Got it from your father, didn't you?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know, but I don't believe HE ever thought it necessary to warn + twenty men of the approach of ONE,” replied Clarence, in the same tone. “I + had no time to stand on ceremony, for I have just come from Hooker's + quarter section at Fair Plains.” + </p> + <p> + Gilroy smiled again, and gazed abstractedly at the sky. + </p> + <p> + “You know as well as I do,” said Clarence, controlling his voice with an + effort, “that what you have done there will have to be undone, if you wish + to hold even those lawless men of yours together, or keep yourself and + them from being run into the brush like highwaymen. I've no fear for that. + Neither do I care to know what was your motive in doing it; but I can only + tell you that if it was retaliation, I alone was and still am responsible + for Hooker's action at the rancho. I came here to know just what you have + done with him, and, if necessary, to take his place.” + </p> + <p> + “You're just a little too previous in your talk, I reckon, Brant,” + returned Gilroy lazily, “and as to legality, I reckon we stand on the same + level with yourself, just here. Beginnin' with what you came for: as we + don't know where your Jim Hooker is, and as we ain't done anythin' to HIM, + we don't exackly see what we could do with YOU in his place. Ez to our + motives,—well, we've got a good deal to say about THAT. We reckoned + that he wasn't exackly the kind of man we wanted for a neighbor. His + pow'ful fightin' style didn't suit us peaceful folks, and we thought it + rather worked agin this new 'law and order' racket to have such a man + about, to say nuthin' of it prejudicin' quiet settlers. He had too many + revolvers for one man to keep his eye on, and was altogether too much + steeped in blood, so to speak, for ordinary washin' and domestic purposes! + His hull get up was too deathlike and clammy; so we persuaded him to + leave. We just went there, all of us, and exhorted him. We stayed round + there two days and nights, takin' turns, talkin' with him, nuthin' more, + only selecting subjects in his own style to please him, until he left! And + then, as we didn't see any use for his house there, we took it away. + Them's the cold facts, Brant,” he added, with a certain convincing + indifference that left no room for doubt, “and you can stand by 'em. Now, + workin' back to the first principle you laid down,—that we'll have + to UNDO what we've DONE,—we don't agree with you, for we've taken a + leaf outer your own book. We've got it here in black and white. We've got + a bill o' sale of Hooker's house and possession, and we're on the land in + place of him,—AS YOUR TENANTS.” He reentered the shanty, took a + piece of paper from a soap-box on the shell, and held it out to Clarence. + “Here it is. It's a fair and square deal, Brant. We gave him, as it says + here, a hundred dollars for it! No humbuggin', but the hard cash, by + Jiminy! AND HE TOOK THE MONEY.” + </p> + <p> + The ring of truth in the man's voice was as unmistakable as the signature + in Jim's own hand. Hooker had sold out! Clarence turned hastily away. + </p> + <p> + “We don't know where he went,” continued Gilroy grimly, “but I reckon you + ain't over anxious to see him NOW. And I kin tell ye something to ease + your mind,—he didn't require much persuadin'. And I kin tell ye + another, if ye ain't above takin' advice from folks that don't pertend to + give it,” he added, with the same curious look of interest in his face. + “You've done well to get shut of him, and if you got shut of a few more of + his kind that you trust to, you'd do better.” + </p> + <p> + As if to avoid noticing any angry reply from the young man, he reentered + the cabin and shut the door behind him. Clarence felt the uselessness of + further parley, and rode away. + </p> + <p> + But Gilroy's Parthian arrow rankled as he rode. He was not greatly shocked + at Jim's defection, for he was always fully conscious of his vanity and + weakness; but he was by no means certain that Jim's extravagance and + braggadocio, which he had found only amusing and, perhaps, even pathetic, + might not be as provocative and prejudicial to others as Gilroy had said. + But, like all sympathetic and unselfish natures, he sought to find some + excuse for his old companion's weakness in his own mistaken judgment. He + had no business to bring poor Jim on the land, to subject his singular + temperament to the temptations of such a life and such surroundings; he + should never have made use of his services at the rancho. He had done him + harm rather than good in his ill-advised, and, perhaps, SELFISH attempts + to help him. I have said that Gilroy's parting warning rankled in his + breast, but not ignobly. It wounded the surface of his sensitive nature, + but could not taint or corrupt the pure, wholesome blood of the gentleman + beneath it. For in Gilroy's warning he saw only his own shortcomings. A + strange fatality had marked his friendships. He had been no help to Jim; + he had brought no happiness to Susy or Mrs. Peyton, whose disagreement his + visit seemed to have accented. Thinking over the mysterious attack upon + himself, it now seemed to him possible that, in some obscure way, his + presence at the rancho had precipitated the more serious attack on Peyton. + If, as it had been said, there was some curse upon his inheritance from + his father, he seemed to have made others share it with him. He was riding + onward abstractedly, with his head sunk on his breast and his eyes fixed + upon some vague point between his horse's sensitive ears, when a sudden, + intelligent, forward pricking of them startled him, and an apparition + arose from the plain before him that seemed to sweep all other sense away. + </p> + <p> + It was the figure of a handsome young horseman as abstracted as himself, + but evidently on better terms with his own personality. He was dark + haired, sallow cheeked, and blue eyed,—the type of the old Spanish + Californian. A burnt-out cigarette was in his mouth, and he was riding a + roan mustang with the lazy grace of his race. But what arrested Clarence's + attention more than his picturesque person was the narrow, flexible, long + coil of gray horse-hair riata which hung from his saddle-bow, but whose + knotted and silver-beaded terminating lash he was swirling idly in his + narrow brown hand. Clarence knew and instantly recognized it as the + ordinary fanciful appendage of a gentleman rider, used for tethering his + horse on lonely plains, and always made the object of the most lavish + expenditure of decoration and artistic skill. But he was as suddenly + filled with a blind, unreasoning sense of repulsion and fury, and lifted + his eyes to the man as he approached. What the stranger saw in Clarence's + blazing eyes no one but himself knew, for his own became fixed and + staring; his sallow cheeks grew lanker and livid; his careless, jaunty + bearing stiffened into rigidity, and swerving his horse to one side he + suddenly passed Clarence at a furious gallop. The young American wheeled + quickly, and for an instant his knees convulsively gripped the flanks of + his horse to follow. But the next moment he recalled himself, and with an + effort began to collect his thoughts. What was he intending to do, and for + what reason! He had met hundreds of such horsemen before, and caparisoned + and accoutred like this, even to the riata. And he certainly was not + dressed like either of the mysterious horsemen whom he had overheard that + moonlight evening. He looked back; the stranger had already slackened his + pace, and was slowly disappearing. Clarence turned and rode on his way. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. + </h2> + <p> + Without disclosing the full extent of Jim's defection and desertion, + Clarence was able to truthfully assure the Hopkins family of his personal + safety, and to promise that he would continue his quest, and send them + further news of the absentee. He believed it would be found that Jim had + been called away on some important business, but that not daring to leave + his new shanty exposed and temptingly unprotected, he had made a virtue of + necessity by selling it to his neighbors, intending to build a better + house on its site after his return. Having comforted Phoebe, and + impulsively conceived further plans for restoring Jim to her,—happily + without any recurrence of his previous doubts as to his own efficacy as a + special Providence,—he returned to the rancho. If he thought again + of Jim's defection and Gilroy's warning, it was only to strengthen himself + to a clearer perception of his unselfish duty and singleness of purpose. + He would give up brooding, apply himself more practically to the + management of the property, carry out his plans for the foundation of a + Landlords' Protective League for the southern counties, become a candidate + for the Legislature, and, in brief, try to fill Peyton's place in the + county as he had at the rancho. He would endeavor to become better + acquainted with the half-breed laborers on the estate and avoid the + friction between them and the Americans; he was conscious that he had not + made that use of his early familiarity with their ways and language which + he might have done. If, occasionally, the figure of the young Spaniard + whom he had met on the lonely road obtruded itself on him, it was always + with the instinctive premonition that he would meet him again, and the + mystery of the sudden repulsion be in some way explained. Thus Clarence! + But the momentary impulse that had driven him to Fair Plains, the + eagerness to set his mind at rest regarding Susy and her relatives, he had + utterly forgotten. + </p> + <p> + Howbeit some of the energy and enthusiasm that he breathed into these + various essays made their impression. He succeeded in forming the + Landlords' League; under a commission suggested by him the straggling + boundaries of Robles and the adjacent claims were resurveyed, defined, and + mutually protected; even the lawless Gilroy, from extending an amused + toleration to the young administrator, grew to recognize and accept him; + the peons and vacqueros began to have faith in a man who acknowledged them + sufficiently to rebuild the ruined Mission Chapel on the estate, and save + them the long pilgrimage to Santa Inez on Sundays and saints' days; the + San Francisco priest imported from Clarence's old college at San Jose, and + an habitual guest at Clarence's hospitable board, was grateful enough to + fill his flock with loyalty to the young padron. + </p> + <p> + He had returned from a long drive one afternoon, and had just thrown + himself into an easy-chair with the comfortable consciousness of a rest + fairly earned. The dull embers of a fire occasionally glowed in the + oven-like hearth, although the open casement of a window let in the soft + breath of the southwest trades. The angelus had just rung from the + restored chapel, and, mellowed by distance, seemed to Clarence to lend + that repose to the wind-swept landscape that it had always lacked. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly his quick ear detected the sound of wheels in the ruts of the + carriage way. Usually his visitors to the casa came on horseback, and + carts and wagons used only the lower road. As the sound approached nearer, + an odd fancy filled his heart with unaccountable pleasure. Could it be + Mrs. Peyton making an unexpected visit to the rancho? He held his breath. + The vehicle was now rolling on into the patio. The clatter of hoofs and a + halt were followed by the accents of women's voices. One seemed familiar. + He rose quickly, as light footsteps ran along the corridor, and then the + door opened impetuously to the laughing face of Susy! + </p> + <p> + He came towards her hastily, yet with only the simple impulse of + astonishment. He had no thought of kissing her, but as he approached, she + threw her charming head archly to one side, with a mischievous knitting of + her brows and a significant gesture towards the passage, that indicated + the proximity of a stranger and the possibility of interruption. + </p> + <p> + “Hush! Mrs. McClosky's here,” she whispered. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. McClosky?” repeated Clarence vaguely. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, of course,” impatiently. “My Aunt Jane. Silly! We just cut away down + here to surprise you. Aunty's never seen the place, and here was a good + chance.” + </p> + <p> + “And your mother—Mrs. Peyton? Has she—does she?”—stammered + Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “Has she—does she?” mimicked Susy, with increasing impatience. “Why, + of course she DOESN'T know anything about it. She thinks I'm visiting Mary + Rogers at Oakland. And I am—AFTERWARDS,” she laughed. “I just wrote + to Aunt Jane to meet me at Alameda, and we took the stage to Santa Inez + and drove on here in a buggy. Wasn't it real fun? Tell me, Clarence! You + don't say anything! Tell me—wasn't it real fun?” + </p> + <p> + This was all so like her old, childlike, charming, irresponsible self, + that Clarence, troubled and bewildered as he was, took her hands and drew + her like a child towards him. + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” she went on, yet stopping to smell a rosebud in his + buttonhole, “I have a perfect right to come to my own home, goodness + knows! and if I bring my own aunt, a married woman, with me,—although,” + loftily, “there may be a young unmarried gentleman alone there,—still + I fail to see any impropriety in it!” + </p> + <p> + He was still holding her; but in that instant her manner had completely + changed again; the old Susy seemed to have slipped away and evaded him, + and he was retaining only a conscious actress in his arms. + </p> + <p> + “Release me, Mr. Brant, please,” she said, with a languid affected glance + behind her; “we are not alone.” + </p> + <p> + Then, as the rustling of a skirt sounded nearer in the passage, she seemed + to change back to her old self once more, and with a lightning flash of + significance whispered,— + </p> + <p> + “She knows everything!” + </p> + <p> + To add to Clarence's confusion, the woman who entered cast a quick glance + of playful meaning on the separating youthful pair. She was an ineffective + blonde with a certain beauty that seemed to be gradually succumbing to the + ravages of paint and powder rather than years; her dress appeared to have + suffered from an equally unwise excess of ornamentation and trimming, and + she gave the general impression of having been intended for exhibition in + almost any other light than the one in which she happened to be. There + were two or three mud-stains on the laces of her sleeve and underskirt + that were obtrusively incongruous. Her voice, which had, however, a ring + of honest intention in it, was somewhat over-strained, and evidently had + not yet adjusted itself to the low-ceilinged, conventual-like building. + </p> + <p> + “There, children, don't mind me! I know I'm not on in this scene, but I + got nervous waiting there, in what you call the 'salon,' with only those + Greaser servants staring round me in a circle, like a regular chorus. My! + but it's anteek here—regular anteek—Spanish.” Then, with a + glance at Clarence, “So this is Clarence Brant,—your Clarence? + Interduce me, Susy.” + </p> + <p> + In his confusion of indignation, pain, and even a certain conception of + the grim ludicrousness of the situation, Clarence grasped despairingly at + the single sentence of Susy's. “In my own home.” Surely, at least, it was + HER OWN HOME, and as he was only the business agent of her adopted mother, + he had no right to dictate to her under what circumstances she should + return to it, or whom she should introduce there. In her independence and + caprice Susy might easily have gone elsewhere with this astounding + relative, and would Mrs. Peyton like it better? Clinging to this idea, his + instinct of hospitality asserted itself. He welcomed Mrs. McClosky with + nervous effusion:— + </p> + <p> + “I am only Mrs. Peyton's major domo here, but any guest of her DAUGHTER'S + is welcome.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Mrs. McClosky, with ostentatious archness, “I reckon Susy and + I understand your position here, and you've got a good berth of it. But we + won't trouble you much on Mrs. Peyton's account, will we, Susy? And now + she and me will just take a look around the shanty,—it is real old + Spanish anteek, ain't it?—and sorter take stock of it, and you young + folks will have to tear yourselves apart for a while, and play propriety + before me. You've got to be on your good behavior while I'm here, I can + tell you! I'm a heavy old 'doo-anna.' Ain't I, Susy? School-ma'ms and + mother superiors ain't in the game with ME for discipline.” + </p> + <p> + She threw her arms around the young girl's waist and drew her towards her + affectionately, an action that slightly precipitated some powder upon the + black dress of her niece. Susy glanced mischievously at Clarence, but + withdrew her eyes presently to let them rest with unmistakable + appreciation and admiration on her relative. A pang shot through + Clarence's breast. He had never seen her look in that way at Mrs. Peyton. + Yet here was this stranger, provincial, overdressed, and extravagant, + whose vulgarity was only made tolerable through her good humor, who had + awakened that interest which the refined Mrs. Peyton had never yet been + able to touch. As Mrs. McClosky swept out of the room with Susy he turned + away with a sinking heart. + </p> + <p> + Yet it was necessary that the Spanish house servants should not suspect + this treason to their mistress, and Clarence stopped their childish + curiosity about the stranger with a careless and easy acceptance of Susy's + sudden visit in the light of an ordinary occurrence, and with a + familiarity towards Mrs. McClosky which became the more distasteful to him + in proportion as he saw that it was evidently agreeable to her. But, + easily responsive, she became speedily confidential. Without a single + question from himself, or a contributing remark from Susy, in half an hour + she had told him her whole history. How, as Jane Silsbee, an elder sister + of Susy's mother, she had early eloped from the paternal home in Kansas + with McClosky, a strolling actor. How she had married him and gone on the + stage under his stage name, effectively preventing any recognition by her + family. How, coming to California, where her husband had become manager of + the theatre at Sacramento, she was indignant to find that her only + surviving relation, a sister-in-law, living in the same place, had for a + money consideration given up all claim to the orphaned Susy, and how she + had resolved to find out “if the poor child was happy.” How she succeeded + in finding out that she was not happy. How she wrote to her, and even met + her secretly at San Francisco and Oakland, and how she had undertaken this + journey partly for “a lark,” and partly to see Clarence and the property. + There was no doubt of the speaker's sincerity; with this outrageous candor + there was an equal obliviousness of any indelicacy in her conduct towards + Mrs. Peyton that seemed hopeless. Yet he must talk plainly to her; he must + say to her what he could not say to Susy; upon HER Mrs. Peyton's happiness—he + believed he was thinking of Susy's also—depended. He must take the + first opportunity of speaking to her alone. + </p> + <p> + That opportunity came sooner than he had expected. After dinner, Mrs. + McClosky turned to Susy, and playfully telling her that she had “to talk + business” with Mr. Brant, bade her go to the salon and await her. When the + young girl left the room, she looked at Clarence, and, with that + assumption of curtness with which coarse but kindly natures believe they + overcome the difficulty of delicate subjects, said abruptly:— + </p> + <p> + “Well, young man, now what's all this between you and Susy? I'm looking + after her interests—same as if she was my own girl. If you've got + anything to say, now's your time. And don't you shilly-shally too long + over it, either, for you might as well know that a girl like that can have + her pick and choice, and be beholden to no one; and when she don't care to + choose, there's me and my husband ready to do for her all the same. We + mightn't be able to do the anteek Spanish Squire, but we've got our own + line of business, and it's a comfortable one.” + </p> + <p> + To have this said to him under the roof of Mrs. Peyton, from whom, in his + sensitiveness, he had thus far jealously guarded his own secret, was even + more than Clarence's gentleness could stand, and fixed his wavering + resolution. + </p> + <p> + “I don't think we quite understand each other, Mrs. McClosky,” he said + coldly, but with glittering eyes. “I have certainly something to say to + you; if it is not on a subject as pleasant as the one you propose, it is, + nevertheless, one that I think you and I are more competent to discuss + together.” + </p> + <p> + Then, with quiet but unrelenting directness, he pointed out to her that + Susy was a legally adopted daughter of Mrs. Peyton, and, as a minor, + utterly under her control; that Mrs. Peyton had no knowledge of any + opposing relatives; and that Susy had not only concealed the fact from + her, but that he was satisfied that Mrs. Peyton did not even know of + Susy's discontent and alienation; that she had tenderly and carefully + brought up the helpless orphan as her own child, and even if she had not + gained her affection was at least entitled to her obedience and respect; + that while Susy's girlish caprice and inexperience excused HER conduct, + Mrs. Peyton and her friends would have a right to expect more + consideration from a person of Mrs. McClosky's maturer judgment. That for + these reasons, and as the friend of Mrs. Peyton, whom he could alone + recognize as Susy's guardian and the arbiter of her affections, he must + decline to discuss the young girl with any reference to himself or his own + intentions. + </p> + <p> + An unmistakable flush asserted itself under the lady's powder. + </p> + <p> + “Suit yourself, young man, suit yourself,” she said, with equally direct + resentment and antagonism; “only mebbee you'll let me tell you that Jim + McClosky ain't no fool, and mebbee knows what lawyers think of an + arrangement with a sister-in-law that leaves a real sister out! Mebbee + that's a 'Sister's title' you ain't thought of, Mr. Brant! And mebbee + you'll find out that your chance o' gettin' Mrs. Peyton's consent ain't as + safe to gamble on as you reckon it is. And mebbee, what's more to the + purpose, if you DID get it, it might not be just the trump card to fetch + Susy with! And to wind up, Mr. Brant, when you DO have to come down to the + bed-rock and me and Jim McClosky, you may find out that him and me have + discovered a better match for Susy than the son of old Ham Brant, who is + trying to play the Spanish grandee off his father's money on a couple of + women. And we mayn't have to go far to do it—or to get THE REAL + THING, Mr. Brant!” + </p> + <p> + Too heartsick and disgusted to even notice the slur upon himself or the + import of her last words, Clarence only rose and bowed as she jumped up + from the table. But as she reached the door he said, half appealingly:— + </p> + <p> + “Whatever are your other intentions, Mrs. McClosky, as we are both Susy's + guests, I beg you will say nothing of this to her while we are here, and + particularly that you will not allow her to think for a moment that I have + discussed MY relations to her with anybody.” + </p> + <p> + She flung herself out of the door without a reply; but on entering the + dark low-ceilinged drawing-room she was surprised to find that Susy was + not there. She was consequently obliged to return to the veranda, where + Clarence had withdrawn, and to somewhat ostentatiously demand of the + servants that Susy should be sent to her room at once. But the young girl + was not in her own room, and was apparently nowhere to be found. Clarence, + who had now fully determined as a last resource to make a direct appeal to + Susy herself, listened to this fruitless search with some concern. She + could not have gone out in the rain, which was again falling. She might be + hiding somewhere to avoid a recurrence of the scene she had perhaps partly + overheard. He turned into the corridor that led to Mrs. Peyton's boudoir. + As he knew that it was locked, he was surprised to see by the dim light of + the hanging lamp that a duplicate key to the one in his desk was in the + lock. It must be Susy's, and the young girl had probably taken refuge + there. He knocked gently. There was a rustle in the room and the sound of + a chair being moved, but no reply. Impelled by a sudden instinct he opened + the door, and was met by a cool current of air from some open window. At + the same moment the figure of Susy approached him from the semi-darkness + of the interior. + </p> + <p> + “I did not know you were here,” said Clarence, much relieved, he knew not + why, “but I am glad, for I wanted to speak with you alone for a few + moments.” + </p> + <p> + She did not reply, but he drew a match from his pocket and lit the two + candles which he knew stood on the table. The wick of one was still warm, + as if it had been recently extinguished. As the light slowly radiated, he + could see that she was regarding him with an air of affected unconcern, + but a somewhat heightened color. It was like her, and not inconsistent + with his idea that she had come there to avoid an after scene with Mrs. + McClosky or himself, or perhaps both. The room was not disarranged in any + way. The window that was opened was the casement of the deep embrasured + one in the rear wall, and the light curtain before it still swayed + occasionally in the night wind. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid I had a row with your aunt, Susy,” he began lightly, in his + old familiar way; “but I had to tell her I didn't think her conduct to + Mrs. Peyton was exactly the square thing towards one who had been as + devoted to you as she has been.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, for goodness' sake, don't go over all that again,” said Susy + impatiently. “I've had enough of it.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence flashed, but recovered himself. + </p> + <p> + “Then you overheard what I said, and know what I think,” he said calmly. + </p> + <p> + “I knew it BEFORE,” said the young girl, with a slight supercilious toss + of the head, and yet a certain abstraction of manner as she went to the + window and closed it. “Anybody could see it! I know you always wanted me + to stay here with Mrs. Peyton, and be coddled and monitored and catechised + and shut up away from any one, until YOU had been coddled and monitored + and catechised by somebody else sufficiently to suit her ideas of your + being a fit husband for me. I told aunty it was no use our coming here to—to”— + </p> + <p> + “To do what?” asked Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “To put some spirit into you,” said the young girl, turning upon him + sharply; “to keep you from being tied to that woman's apron-strings. To + keep her from making a slave of you as she would of me. But it is of no + use. Mary Rogers was right when she said you had no wish to please anybody + but Mrs. Peyton, and no eyes for anybody but her. And if it hadn't been + too ridiculous, considering her age and yours, she'd say you were dead in + love with her.” + </p> + <p> + For an instant Clarence felt the blood rush to his face and then sink + away, leaving him pale and cold. The room, which had seemed to whirl + around him, and then fade away, returned with appalling distinctness,—the + distinctness of memory,—and a vision of the first day that he had + seen Mrs. Peyton sitting there, as he seemed to see her now. For the first + time there flashed upon him the conviction that the young girl had spoken + the truth, and had brusquely brushed the veil from his foolish eyes. He + WAS in love with Mrs. Peyton! That was what his doubts and hesitation + regarding Susy meant. That alone was the source, secret, and limit of his + vague ambition. + </p> + <p> + But with the conviction came a singular calm. In the last few moments he + seemed to have grown older, to have loosed the bonds of old companionship + with Susy, and the later impression she had given him of her mature + knowledge, and moved on far beyond her years and experience. And it was + with an authority that was half paternal, and in a voice he himself + scarcely recognized, that he said:— + </p> + <p> + “If I did not know you were prejudiced by a foolish and indiscreet woman, + I should believe that you were trying to insult me as you have your + adopted mother, and would save you the pain of doing both in HER house by + leaving it now and forever. But because I believe you are controlled + against your best instinct by that woman, I shall remain here with you to + frustrate her as best I can, or until I am able to lay everything before + Mrs. Peyton except the foolish speech you have just made.” + </p> + <p> + The young girl laughed. “Why not THAT one too, while you're about it? See + what she'll say.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall tell her,” continued Clarence calmly, “only what YOU yourself + have made it necessary for me to tell her to save you from folly and + disgrace, and only enough to spare her the mortification of hearing it + first from her own servants.” + </p> + <p> + “Hearing WHAT from her own servants? What do you mean? How dare you?” + demanded the young girl sharply. + </p> + <p> + She was quite real in her anxiety now, although her attitude of virtuous + indignation struck him as being like all her emotional expression, namely, + acting. + </p> + <p> + “I mean that the servants know of your correspondence with Mrs. McClosky, + and that she claims to be your aunt,” returned Clarence. “They know that + you confided to Pepita. They believe that either Mrs. McClosky or you have + seen”— + </p> + <p> + He had stopped suddenly. He was about to say that the servants + (particularly Incarnacion) knew that Pedro had boasted of having met Susy, + when, for the first time, the tremendous significance of what he had + hitherto considered as merely an idle falsehood flashed upon him. + </p> + <p> + “Seen whom?” repeated Susy in a higher voice, impatiently stamping her + foot. + </p> + <p> + Clarence looked at her, and in her excited, questioning face saw a + confirmation of his still half-formed suspicions. In his own abrupt pause + and knitted eyebrows she must have read his thoughts also. Their eyes met. + Her violet pupils dilated, trembled, and then quickly shifted as she + suddenly stiffened into an attitude of scornful indifference, almost + grotesque in its unreality. His eyes slowly turned to the window, the + door, the candles on the table and the chair before it, and then came back + to her face again. Then he drew a deep breath. + </p> + <p> + “I give no heed to the idle gossip of servants, Susy,” he said slowly. “I + have no belief that you have ever contemplated anything worse than an act + of girlish folly, or the gratification of a passing caprice. Neither do I + want to appeal to you or frighten you, but I must tell you now, that I + know certain facts that might make such a simple act of folly monstrous, + inconceivable in YOU, and almost accessory to a crime! I can tell you no + more. But so satisfied am I of such a possibility, that I shall not + scruple to take any means—the strongest—to prevent even the + remotest chance of it. Your aunt has been looking for you; you had better + go to her now. I will close the room and lock the door. Meantime, I should + advise you not to sit so near an open window with a candle at night in + this locality. Even if it might not be dangerous for you, it might be + fatal to the foolish creatures it might attract.” + </p> + <p> + He took the key from the door as he held it open for her to pass out. She + uttered a shrill little laugh, like a nervous, mischievous child, and, + slipping out of her previous artificial attitude as if it had been a + mantle, ran out of the room. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. + </h2> + <p> + As Susy's footsteps died away, Clarence closed the door, walked to the + window, and examined it closely. The bars had been restored since he had + wrenched them off to give ingress to the family on the day of recapture. + He glanced around the room; nothing seemed to have been disturbed. + Nevertheless he was uneasy. The suspicions of a frank, trustful nature + when once aroused are apt to be more general and far-reaching than the + specific distrusts of the disingenuous, for they imply the overthrow of a + whole principle and not a mere detail. Clarence's conviction that Susy had + seen Pedro recently since his dismissal led him into the wildest surmises + of her motives. It was possible that without her having reason to suspect + Pedro's greater crime, he might have confided to her his intention of + reclaiming the property and installing her as the mistress and chatelaine + of the rancho. The idea was one that might have appealed to Susy's + theatrical imagination. He recalled Mrs. McClosky's sneer at his own + pretensions and her vague threats of a rival of more lineal descent. The + possible infidelity of Susy to himself touched him lightly when the first + surprise was over; indeed, it scarcely could be called infidelity, if she + knew and believed Mary Rogers's discovery; and the conviction that he and + she had really never loved each other now enabled him, as he believed, to + look at her conduct dispassionately. Yet it was her treachery to Mrs. + Peyton and not to himself that impressed him most, and perhaps made him + equally unjust, through his affections. + </p> + <p> + He extinguished the candles, partly from some vague precautions he could + not explain, and partly to think over his fears in the abstraction and + obscurity of the semi-darkness. The higher windows suffused a faint light + on the ceiling, and, assisted by the dark lantern-like glow cast on the + opposite wall by the tunnel of the embrasured window, the familiar + outlines of the room and its furniture came back to him. Somewhat in this + fashion also, in the obscurity and quiet, came back to him the events he + had overlooked and forgotten. He recalled now some gossip of the servants, + and hints dropped by Susy of a violent quarrel between Peyton and Pedro, + which resulted in Pedro's dismissal, but which now seemed clearly + attributable to some graver cause than inattention and insolence. He + recalled Mary Rogers's playful pleasantries with Susy about Pedro, and + Susy's mysterious air, which he had hitherto regarded only as part of her + exaggeration. He remembered Mrs. Peyton's unwarrantable uneasiness about + Susy, which he had either overlooked or referred entirely to himself; she + must have suspected something. To his quickened imagination, in this ruin + of his faith and trust, he believed that Hooker's defection was either + part of the conspiracy, or that he had run away to avoid being implicated + with Susy in its discovery. This, too, was the significance of Gilroy's + parting warning. He and Mrs. Peyton alone had been blind and confiding in + the midst of this treachery, and even HE had been blind to his own real + affections. + </p> + <p> + The wind had risen again, and the faint light on the opposite wall grew + tremulous and shifting with the movement of the foliage without. But + presently the glow became quite obliterated, as if by the intervention of + some opaque body outside the window. He rose hurriedly and went to the + casement. But at the same moment he fancied he heard the jamming of a door + or window in quite another direction, and his examination of the casement + before him showed him only the silver light of the thinly clouded sky + falling uninterruptedly through the bars and foliage on the interior of + the whitewashed embrasure. Then a conception of his mistake flashed across + him. The line of the casa was long, straggling, and exposed elsewhere; why + should the attempt to enter or communicate with any one within be confined + only to this single point? And why not satisfy himself at once if any + trespassers were lounging around the walls, and then confront them boldly + in the open? Their discovery and identification was as important as the + defeat of their intentions. + </p> + <p> + He relit the candle, and, placing it on a small table by the wall beyond + the visual range of the window, rearranged the curtain so that, while it + permitted the light to pass out, it left the room in shadow. He then + opened the door softly, locked it behind him, and passed noiselessly into + the hall. Susy's and Mrs. McClosky's rooms were at the further end of the + passage, but between them and the boudoir was the open patio, and the low + murmur of the voices of servants, who still lingered until he should + dismiss them for the night. Turning back, he moved silently down the + passage, until he reached the narrow arched door to the garden. This he + unlocked and opened with the same stealthy caution. The rain had + recommenced. Not daring to risk a return to his room, he took from a peg + in the recess an old waterproof cloak and “sou'wester” of Peyton's, which + still hung there, and passed out into the night, locking the door behind + him. To keep the knowledge of his secret patrol from the stablemen, he did + not attempt to take out his own horse, but trusted to find some vacquero's + mustang in the corral. By good luck an old “Blue Grass” hack of Peyton's, + nearest the stockade as he entered, allowed itself to be quickly caught. + Using its rope headstall for a bridle, Clarence vaulted on its bare back, + and paced cautiously out into the road. Here he kept the curve of the long + line of stockade until he reached the outlying field where, half hidden in + the withered, sapless, but still standing stalks of grain, he slowly began + a circuit of the casa. + </p> + <p> + The misty gray dome above him, which an invisible moon seemed to have + quicksilvered over, alternately lightened and darkened with passing gusts + of fine rain. Nevertheless he could see the outline of the broad + quadrangle of the house quite distinctly, except on the west side, where a + fringe of writhing willows beat the brown adobe walls with their imploring + arms at every gust. Elsewhere nothing moved; the view was uninterrupted to + where the shining, watery sky met the equally shining, watery plain. He + had already made a half circuit of the house, and was still noiselessly + picking his way along the furrows, muffled with soaked and broken-down + blades, and the velvety upspringing of the “volunteer” growth, when + suddenly, not fifty yards before him, without sound or warning, a figure + rode out of the grain upon the open crossroad, and deliberately halted + with a listless, abstracted, waiting air. Clarence instantly recognized + one of his own vacqueros, an undersized half-breed, but he as instantly + divined that he was only an outpost or confederate, stationed to give the + alarm. The same precaution had prevented each hearing the other, and the + lesser height of the vacquero had rendered him indistinguishable as he + preceded Clarence among the grain. As the young man made no doubt that the + real trespasser was nearer the casa, along the line of willows, he wheeled + to intercept him without alarming his sentry. Unfortunately, his horse + answered the rope bridle clumsily, and splashed in striking out. The + watcher quickly raised his head, and Clarence knew that his only chance + was now to suppress him. Determined to do this at any hazard, with a + threatening gesture he charged boldly down upon him. + </p> + <p> + But he had not crossed half the distance between them when the man uttered + an appalling cry, so wild and despairing that it seemed to chill even the + hot blood in Clarence's veins, and dashed frenziedly down the cross-road + into the interminable plain. Before Clarence could determine if that cry + was a signal or an involuntary outburst, it was followed instantly by the + sound of frightened and struggling hoofs clattering against the wall of + the casa, and a swaying of the shrubbery near the back gate of the patio. + Here was his real quarry! Without hesitation he dug his heels into the + flanks of his horse and rode furiously towards it. As he approached, a + long tremor seemed to pass through the shrubbery, with the retreating + sound of horse hoofs. The unseen trespasser had evidently taken the alarm + and was fleeing, and Clarence dashed in pursuit. Following the sound, for + the shrubbery hid the fugitive from view, he passed the last wall of the + casa; but it soon became evident that the unknown had the better horse. + The hoof-beats grew fainter and fainter, and at times appeared even to + cease, until his own approach started them again, eventually to fade away + in the distance. In vain Clarence dug his heels into the flanks of his + heavier steed, and regretted his own mustang; and when at last he reached + the edge of the thicket he had lost both sight and sound of the fugitive. + The descent to the lower terrace lay before him empty and desolate. The + man had escaped! + </p> + <p> + He turned slowly back with baffled anger and vindictiveness. However, he + had prevented something, although he knew not what. The principal had got + away, but he had identified his confederate, and for the first time held a + clue to his mysterious visitant. There was no use to alarm the household, + which did not seem to have been disturbed. The trespassers were far away + by this time, and the attempt would hardly be repeated that night. He made + his way quietly back to the corral, let loose his horse, and regained the + casa unobserved. He unlocked the arched door in the wall, reentered the + darkened passage, stopped a moment to open the door of the boudoir, glance + at the closely fastened casement, and extinguish the still burning candle, + and, relocking the door securely, made his way to his own room. + </p> + <p> + But he could not sleep. The whole incident, over so quickly, had + nevertheless impressed him deeply, and yet like a dream. The strange yell + of the vacquero still rang in his ears, but with an unearthly and + superstitious significance that was even more dreamlike in its meaning. He + awakened from a fitful slumber to find the light of morning in the room, + and Incarnacion standing by his bedside. + </p> + <p> + The yellow face of the steward was greenish with terror, and his lips were + dry. + </p> + <p> + “Get up, Senor Clarencio; get up at once, my master. Strange things have + happened. Mother of God protect us!” + </p> + <p> + Clarence rolled to his feet, with the events of the past night struggling + back upon his consciousness. + </p> + <p> + “What mean you, Nascio?” he said, grasping the man's arm, which was still + mechanically making the sign of the cross, as he muttered incoherently. + “Speak, I command you!” + </p> + <p> + “It is Jose, the little vacquero, who is even now at the padre's house, + raving as a lunatic, stricken as a madman with terror! He has seen him,—the + dead alive! Save us!” + </p> + <p> + “Are you mad yourself, Nascio?” said Clarence. “Whom has he seen?” + </p> + <p> + “Whom? God help us! the old padron—Senor Peyton himself! He rushed + towards him here, in the patio, last night—out of the air, the sky, + the ground, he knew not,—his own self, wrapped in his old storm + cloak and hat, and riding his own horse,—erect, terrible, and + menacing, with an awful hand upholding a rope—so! He saw him with + these eyes, as I see you. What HE said to him, God knows! The priest, + perhaps, for he has made confession!” + </p> + <p> + In a flash of intelligence Clarence comprehended all. He rose grimly and + began to dress himself. + </p> + <p> + “Not a word of this to the women,—to any one, Nascio, dost thou + understand?” he said curtly. “It may be that Jose has been partaking too + freely of aguardiente,—it is possible. I will see the priest myself. + But what possesses thee? Collect thyself, good Nascio.” + </p> + <p> + But the man was still trembling. + </p> + <p> + “It is not all,—Mother of God! it is not all, master!” he stammered, + dropping to his knees and still crossing himself. “This morning, beside + the corral, they find the horse of Pedro Valdez splashed and spattered on + saddle and bridle, and in the stirrup,—dost thou hear? the STIRRUP,—hanging, + the torn-off boot of Valdez! Ah, God! The same as HIS! Now do you + understand? It is HIS vengeance. No! Jesu forgive me! it is the vengeance + of God!” + </p> + <p> + Clarence was staggered. + </p> + <p> + “And you have not found Valdez? You have looked for him?” he said, + hurriedly throwing on his clothes. + </p> + <p> + “Everywhere,—all over the plain. The whole rancho has been out since + sunrise,—here and there and everywhere. And there is nothing! Of + course not. What would you?” He pointed solemnly to the ground. + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense!” said Clarence, buttoning his coat and seizing his hat. “Follow + me.” + </p> + <p> + He ran down the passage, followed by Incarnacion, through the excited, + gesticulating crowd of servants in the patio, and out of the back gate. He + turned first along the wall of the casa towards the barred window of the + boudoir. Then a cry came from Incarnacion. + </p> + <p> + They ran quickly forward. Hanging from the grating of the window, like a + mass of limp and saturated clothes, was the body of Pedro Valdez, with one + unbooted foot dangling within an inch of the ground. His head was passed + inside the grating and fixed as at that moment when the first spring of + the frightened horse had broken his neck between the bars as in a garrote, + and the second plunge of the terrified animal had carried off his boot in + the caught stirrup when it escaped. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. + </h2> + <p> + The winter rains were over and gone, and the whole long line of + Californian coast was dashed with color. There were miles of yellow and + red poppies, leagues of lupines that painted the gently rounded hills with + soft primary hues, and long continuous slopes, like low mountain systems, + of daisies and dandelions. At Sacramento it was already summer; the yellow + river was flashing and intolerable; the tule and marsh grasses were lush + and long; the bloom of cottonwood and sycamore whitened the outskirts of + the city, and as Cyrus Hopkins and his daughter Phoebe looked from the + veranda of the Placer Hotel, accustomed as they were to the cool trade + winds of the coast valleys, they felt homesick from the memory of eastern + heats. + </p> + <p> + Later, when they were surveying the long dinner tables at the table d'hote + with something of the uncomfortable and shamefaced loneliness of the + provincial, Phoebe uttered a slight cry and clutched her father's arm. Mr. + Hopkins stayed the play of his squared elbows and glanced inquiringly at + his daughter's face. There was a pretty animation in it, as she pointed to + a figure that had just entered. It was that of a young man attired in the + extravagance rather than the taste of the prevailing fashion, which did + not, however, in the least conceal a decided rusticity of limb and + movement. A long mustache, which looked unkempt, even in its pomatumed + stiffness, and lank, dark hair that had bent but never curled under the + barber's iron, made him notable even in that heterogeneous assembly. + </p> + <p> + “That's he,” whispered Phoebe. + </p> + <p> + “Who?” said her father. + </p> + <p> + Alas for the inconsistencies of love! The blush came with the name and not + the vision. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hooker,” she stammered. + </p> + <p> + It was, indeed, Jim Hooker. But the role of his exaggeration was no longer + the same; the remorseful gloom in which he had been habitually steeped had + changed into a fatigued, yet haughty, fastidiousness more in keeping with + his fashionable garments. He was more peaceful, yet not entirely placable, + and, as he sat down at a side table and pulled down his striped cuffs with + his clasped fingers, he cast a glance of critical disapproval on the + general company. Nevertheless, he seemed to be furtively watchful of his + effect upon them, and as one or two whispered and looked towards him, his + consciousness became darkly manifest. + </p> + <p> + All of which might have intimidated the gentle Phoebe, but did not + discompose her father. He rose, and crossing over to Hooker's table, + clapped him heartily on the back. + </p> + <p> + “How do, Hooker? I didn't recognize you in them fine clothes, but Phoebe + guessed as how it was you.” + </p> + <p> + Flushed, disconcerted, irritated, but always in wholesome awe of Mr. + Hopkins, Jim returned his greeting awkwardly and half hysterically. How he + would have received the more timid Phoebe is another question. But Mr. + Hopkins, without apparently noticing these symptoms, went on:— + </p> + <p> + “We're only just down, Phoebe and me, and as I guess we'll want to talk + over old times, we'll come alongside o' you. Hold on, and I'll fetch her.” + </p> + <p> + The interval gave the unhappy Jim a chance to recover himself, to regain + his vanished cuffs, display his heavy watch-chain, curl his mustache, and + otherwise reassume his air of blase fastidiousness. But the transfer made, + Phoebe, after shaking hands, became speechless under these perfections. + Not so her father. + </p> + <p> + “If there's anything in looks, you seem to be prospering,” he said grimly; + “unless you're in the tailorin' line, and you're only showin' off stock. + What mout ye be doing?” + </p> + <p> + “Ye ain't bin long in Sacramento, I reckon?” suggested Jim, with + patronizing pity. + </p> + <p> + “No, we only came this morning,” returned Hopkins. + </p> + <p> + “And you ain't bin to the theatre?” continued Jim. + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor moved much in—in—gin'ral fash'nable sassiety?” + </p> + <p> + “Not yet,” interposed Phoebe, with an air of faint apology. + </p> + <p> + “Nor seen any of them large posters on the fences, of 'The Prairie Flower; + or, Red-handed Dick,'—three-act play with five tableaux,—just + the biggest sensation out,—runnin' for forty nights,—money + turned away every night,—standin' room only?” continued Jim, with + prolonged toleration. + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I play Red-handed Dick. I thought you might have seen it and + recognized me. All those people over there,” darkly indicating the long + table, “know me. A fellow can't stand it, you know, being stared at by + such a vulgar, low-bred lot. It's gettin' too fresh here. I'll have to + give the landlord notice and cut the whole hotel. They don't seem to have + ever seen a gentleman and a professional before.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you're a play-actor now?” said the farmer, in a tone which did not, + however, exhibit the exact degree of admiration which shone in Phoebe's + eyes. + </p> + <p> + “For the present,” said Jim, with lofty indifference. “You see I was in—in + partnership with McClosky, the manager, and I didn't like the style of the + chump that was doin' Red-handed Dick, so I offered to take his place one + night to show him how. And by Jinks! the audience, after that night, + wouldn't let anybody else play it,—wouldn't stand even the biggest, + highest-priced stars in it! I reckon,” he added gloomily, “I'll have to + run the darned thing in all the big towns in Californy,—if I don't + have to go East with it after all, just for the business. But it's an + awful grind on a man,—leaves him no time, along of the invitations + he gets, and what with being run after in the streets and stared at in the + hotels he don't get no privacy. There's men, and women, too, over at that + table, that just lie in wait for me here till I come, and don't lift their + eyes off me. I wonder they don't bring their opery-glasses with them.” + </p> + <p> + Concerned, sympathizing, and indignant, poor Phoebe turned her brown head + and honest eyes in that direction. But because they were honest, they + could not help observing that the other table did not seem to be paying + the slightest attention to the distinguished impersonator of Red-handed + Dick. Perhaps he had been overheard. + </p> + <p> + “Then that was the reason ye didn't come back to your location. I always + guessed it was because you'd got wind of the smash-up down there, afore we + did,” said Hopkins grimly. + </p> + <p> + “What smash-up?” asked Jim, with slightly resentful quickness. + </p> + <p> + “Why, the smash-up of the Sisters' title,—didn't you hear that?” + </p> + <p> + There was a slight movement of relief and a return of gloomy hauteur in + Jim's manner. + </p> + <p> + “No, we don't know much of what goes on in the cow counties, up here.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye mout, considerin' it concerns some o' your friends,” returned Hopkins + dryly. “For the Sisters' title went smash as soon as it was known that + Pedro Valdez—the man as started it—had his neck broken outside + the walls o' Robles Rancho; and they do say as this yer Brant, YOUR + friend, had suthin' to do with the breaking of it, though it was laid to + the ghost of old Peyton. Anyhow, there was such a big skeer that one of + the Greaser gang, who thought he'd seen the ghost, being a Papist, to save + his everlasting soul went to the priest and confessed. But the priest + wouldn't give him absolution until he'd blown the hull thing, and made it + public. And then it turned out that all the dockyments for the title, and + even the custom-house paper, were FORGED by Pedro Valdez, and put on the + market by his confederates. And that's just where YOUR friend, Clarence + Brant, comes in, for HE had bought up the whole title from them fellers. + Now, either, as some say, he was in the fraud from the beginnin', and + never paid anything, or else he was an all-fired fool, and had parted with + his money like one. Some allow that the reason was that he was awfully + sweet on Mrs. Peyton's adopted daughter, and ez the parents didn't approve + of him, he did THIS so as to get a holt over them by the property. But + he's a ruined man, anyway, now; for they say he's such a darned fool that + he's goin' to pay for all the improvements that the folks who bought under + him put into the land, and that'll take his last cent. I thought I'd tell + you that, for I suppose YOU'VE lost a heap in your improvements, and will + put in your claim?” + </p> + <p> + “I reckon I put nearly as much into it as Clar Brant did,” said Jim + gloomily, “but I ain't goin' to take a cent from him, or go back on him + now.” + </p> + <p> + The rascal could not resist this last mendacious opportunity, although he + was perfectly sincere in his renunciation, touched in his sympathy, and + there was even a film of moisture in his shifting eyes. + </p> + <p> + Phoebe was thrilled with the generosity of this noble being, who could be + unselfish even in his superior condition. She added softly:— + </p> + <p> + “And they say that the girl did not care for him at all, but was actually + going to run off with Pedro, when he stopped her and sent for Mrs. + Peyton.” + </p> + <p> + To her surprise, Jim's face flushed violently. + </p> + <p> + “It's all a dod-blasted lie,” he said, in a thick stage whisper. “It's + only the hogwash them Greasers and Pike County galoots ladle out to each + other around the stove in a county grocery. But,” recalling himself + loftily, and with a tolerant wave of his be-diamonded hand, “wot kin you + expect from one of them cow counties? They ain't satisfied till they drive + every gentleman out of the darned gopher-holes they call their 'kentry.'” + </p> + <p> + In her admiration of what she believed to be a loyal outburst for his + friend, Phoebe overlooked the implied sneer at her provincial home. But + her father went on with a perfunctory, exasperating, dusty aridity:— + </p> + <p> + “That mebbee ez mebbee, Mr. Hooker, but the story down in our precinct + goes that she gave Mrs. Peyton the slip,—chucked up her situation as + adopted darter, and went off with a queer sort of a cirkiss woman,—one + of her own KIN, and I reckon one of her own KIND.” + </p> + <p> + To this Mr. Hooker offered no further reply than a withering rebuke of the + waiter, a genteel abstraction, and a lofty change of subject. He pressed + upon them two tickets for the performance, of which he seemed to have a + number neatly clasped in an india-rubber band, and advised them to come + early. They would see him after the performance and sup together. He must + leave them now, as he had to be punctually at the theatre, and if he + lingered he should be pestered by interviewers. He withdrew under a + dazzling display of cuff and white handkerchief, and with that inward + swing of the arm and slight bowiness of the leg generally recognized in + his profession as the lounging exit of high comedy. + </p> + <p> + The mingling of awe and an uneasy sense of changed relations which that + meeting with Jim had brought to Phoebe was not lessened when she entered + the theatre with her father that evening, and even Mr. Hopkins seemed to + share her feelings. The theatre was large, and brilliant in decoration, + the seats were well filled with the same heterogeneous mingling she had + seen in the dining-room at the Placer Hotel, but in the parquet were some + fashionable costumes and cultivated faces. Mr. Hopkins was not altogether + so sure that Jim had been “only gassing.” But the gorgeous drop curtain, + representing an allegory of Californian prosperity and abundance, + presently uprolled upon a scene of Western life almost as striking in its + glaring unreality. From a rose-clad English cottage in a subtropical + landscape skipped “Rosalie, the Prairie Flower.” The briefest of skirts, + the most unsullied of stockings, the tiniest of slippers, and the few + diamonds that glittered on her fair neck and fingers, revealed at once the + simple and unpretending daughter of the American backwoodsman. A tumult of + delighted greeting broke from the audience. The bright color came to the + pink, girlish cheeks, gratified vanity danced in her violet eyes, and as + she piquantly bowed her acknowledgments, this great breath of praise + seemed to transfigure and possess her. A very young actor who represented + the giddy world in a straw hat and with an effeminate manner was + alternately petted and girded at by her during the opening exposition of + the plot, until the statement that a “dark destiny” obliged her to follow + her uncle in an emigrant train across the plains closed the act, + apparently extinguished him, and left HER the central figure. So far, she + evidently was the favorite. A singular aversion to her crept into the + heart of Phoebe. + </p> + <p> + But the second act brought an Indian attack upon the emigrant train, and + here “Rosalie” displayed the archest heroism and the pinkest and most + distracting self-possession, in marked contrast to the giddy worldling + who, having accompanied her apparently for comic purposes best known to + himself, cowered abjectly under wagons, and was pulled ignominiously out + of straw, until Red Dick swept out of the wings with a chosen band and a + burst of revolvers and turned the tide of victory. Attired as a + picturesque combination of the Neapolitan smuggler, river-bar miner, and + Mexican vacquero, Jim Hooker instantly began to justify the plaudits that + greeted him and the most sanguinary hopes of the audience. A gloomy but + fascinating cloud of gunpowder and dark intrigue from that moment hung + about the stage. + </p> + <p> + Yet in this sombre obscuration Rosalie had passed a happy six months, + coming out with her character and stockings equally unchanged and + unblemished, to be rewarded with the hand of Red Dick and the discovery of + her father, the governor of New Mexico, as a white-haired, but + objectionable vacquero, at the fall of the curtain. + </p> + <p> + Through this exciting performance Phoebe sat with a vague and increasing + sense of loneliness and distrust. She did not know that Hooker had added + to his ordinary inventive exaggeration the form of dramatic composition. + But she had early detected the singular fact that such shadowy outlines of + plot as the piece possessed were evidently based on his previous narrative + of his OWN experiences, and the saving of Susy Peyton—by himself! + There was the episode of their being lost on the plains, as he had already + related it to her, with the addition of a few years to Susy's age and some + vivid picturesqueness to himself as Red Dick. She was not, of course, + aware that the part of the giddy worldling was Jim's own conception of the + character of Clarence. But what, even to her provincial taste, seemed the + extravagance of the piece, she felt, in some way, reflected upon the + truthfulness of the story she had heard. It seemed to be a parody on + himself, and in the laughter which some of the most thrilling points + produced in certain of the audience, she heard an echo of her own doubts. + But even this she could have borne if Jim's confidence had not been given + to the general public; it was no longer HERS alone, she shared it with + them. And this strange, bold girl, who acted with him,—the “Blanche + Belville” of the bills,—how often he must have told HER the story, + and yet how badly she had learned it! It was not her own idea of it, nor + of HIM. In the last extravagant scene she turned her weary and half-shamed + eyes from the stage and looked around the theatre. Among a group of + loungers by the wall a face that seemed familiar was turned towards her + own with a look of kindly and sympathetic recognition. It was the face of + Clarence Brant. When the curtain fell, and she and her father rose to go, + he was at their side. He seemed older and more superior looking than she + had ever thought him before, and there was a gentle yet sad wisdom in his + eyes and voice that comforted her even while it made her feel like crying. + </p> + <p> + “You are satisfied that no harm has come to our friend,” he said + pleasantly. “Of course you recognized him?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes; we met him to-day,” said Phoebe. Her provincial pride impelled + her to keep up a show of security and indifference. “We are going to + supper with him.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence slightly lifted his brows. + </p> + <p> + “You are more fortunate than I am,” he said smilingly. “I only arrived + here at seven, and I must leave at midnight.” + </p> + <p> + Phoebe hesitated a moment, then said with affected carelessness:— + </p> + <p> + “What do you think of the young girl who plays with him? Do you know her? + Who is she?” + </p> + <p> + He looked at her quickly, and then said, with some surprise:— + </p> + <p> + “Did he not tell you?” + </p> + <p> + “She WAS the adopted daughter of Mrs. Peyton,—Miss Susan Silsbee,” + he said gravely. + </p> + <p> + “Then she DID run away from home as they said,” said Phoebe impulsively. + </p> + <p> + “Not EXACTLY as they said,” said Clarence gently. “She elected to make her + home with her aunt, Mrs. McClosky, who is the wife of the manager of this + theatre, and she adopted the profession a month ago. As it now appears + that there was some informality in the old articles of guardianship, Mrs. + Peyton would have been powerless to prevent her from doing either, even if + she had wished to.” + </p> + <p> + The infelicity of questioning Clarence regarding Susy suddenly flashed + upon the forgetful Phoebe, and she colored. Yet, although sad, he did not + look like a rejected lover. + </p> + <p> + “Of course, if she is here with her own relatives, that makes all the + difference,” she said gently. “It is protection.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” said Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “And,” continued Phoebe hesitatingly, “she is playing with—with—an + old friend—Mr. Hooker!” + </p> + <p> + “That is quite proper, too, considering their relations,” said Clarence + tolerantly. + </p> + <p> + “I—don't—understand,” stammered Phoebe. + </p> + <p> + The slightly cynical smile on Clarence's face changed as he looked into + Phoebe's eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I've just heard that they are married,” he returned gently. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. + </h2> + <p> + Nowhere had the long season of flowers brought such glory as to the broad + plains and slopes of Robles Rancho. By some fortuitous chance of soil, or + flood, or drifting pollen, the three terraces had each taken a distinct + and separate blossom and tint of color. The straggling line of corral, the + crumbling wall of the old garden, the outlying chapel, and even the brown + walls of the casa itself, were half sunken in the tall racemes of crowding + lupines, until from the distance they seemed to be slowly settling in the + profundity of a dark-blue sea. The second terrace was a league-long flow + of gray and gold daisies, in which the cattle dazedly wandered mid-leg + deep. A perpetual sunshine of yellow dandelions lay upon the third. The + gentle slope to the dark-green canada was a broad cataract of crimson + poppies. Everywhere where water had stood, great patches of color had + taken its place. It seemed as if the rains had ceased only that the broken + heavens might drop flowers. + </p> + <p> + Never before had its beauty—a beauty that seemed built upon a cruel, + youthful, obliterating forgetfulness of the past—struck Clarence as + keenly as when he had made up his mind that he must leave the place + forever. For the tale of his mischance and ill-fortune, as told by + Hopkins, was unfortunately true. When he discovered that in his desire to + save Peyton's house by the purchase of the Sisters' title he himself had + been the victim of a gigantic fraud, he accepted the loss of the greater + part of his fortune with resignation, and was even satisfied by the + thought that he had at least effected the possession of the property for + Mrs. Peyton. But when he found that those of his tenants who had bought + under him had acquired only a dubious possession of their lands and no + title, he had unhesitatingly reimbursed them for their improvements with + the last of his capital. Only the lawless Gilroy had good-humoredly + declined. The quiet acceptance of the others did not, unfortunately, + preclude their settled belief that Clarence had participated in the fraud, + and that even now his restitution was making a dangerous precedent, + subversive of the best interests of the State, and discouraging to + immigration. Some doubted his sanity. Only one, struck with the sincerity + of his motive, hesitated to take his money, with a look of commiseration + on his face. + </p> + <p> + “Are you not satisfied?” asked Clarence, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but”— + </p> + <p> + “But what?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothin'. Only I was thinkin' that a man like you must feel awful lonesome + in Calforny!” + </p> + <p> + Lonely he was, indeed; but his loneliness was not the loss of fortune nor + what it might bring. Perhaps he had never fully realized his wealth; it + had been an accident rather than a custom of his life, and when it had + failed in the only test he had made of its power, it is to be feared that + he only sentimentally regretted it. It was too early yet for him to + comprehend the veiled blessings of the catastrophe in its merciful + disruption of habits and ways of life; his loneliness was still the + hopeless solitude left by vanished ideals and overthrown idols. He was + satisfied that he had never cared for Susy, but he still cared for the + belief that he had. + </p> + <p> + After the discovery of Pedro's body that fatal morning, a brief but + emphatic interview between himself and Mrs. McClosky had followed. He had + insisted upon her immediately accompanying Susy and himself to Mrs. Peyton + in San Francisco. Horror-stricken and terrified at the catastrophe, and + frightened by the strange looks of the excited servants, they did not dare + to disobey him. He had left them with Mrs. Peyton in the briefest + preliminary interview, during which he spoke only of the catastrophe, + shielding the woman from the presumption of having provoked it, and urging + only the importance of settling the question of guardianship at once. It + was odd that Mrs. Peyton had been less disturbed than he imagined she + would be at even his charitable version of Susy's unfaithfulness to her; + it even seemed to him that she had already suspected it. But as he was + about to withdraw to leave her to meet them alone, she had stopped him + suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “What would you advise me to do?” + </p> + <p> + It was his first interview with her since the revelation of his own + feelings. He looked into the pleading, troubled eyes of the woman he now + knew he had loved, and stammered:— + </p> + <p> + “You alone can judge. Only you must remember that one cannot force an + affection any more than one can prevent it.” + </p> + <p> + He felt himself blushing, and, conscious of the construction of his words, + he even fancied that she was displeased. + </p> + <p> + “Then you have no preference?” she said, a little impatiently. + </p> + <p> + “None.” + </p> + <p> + She made a slight gesture with her handsome shoulders, but she only said, + “I should have liked to have pleased you in this,” and turned coldly away. + He had left without knowing the result of the interview; but a few days + later he received a letter from her stating that she had allowed Susy to + return to her aunt, and that she had resigned all claims to her + guardianship. + </p> + <p> + “It seemed to be a foregone conclusion,” she wrote; “and although I cannot + think such a change will be for her permanent welfare, it is her present + WISH, and who knows, indeed, if the change will be permanent? I have not + allowed the legal question to interfere with my judgment, although her + friends must know that she forfeits any claim upon the estate by her + action; but at the same time, in the event of her suitable marriage, I + should try to carry out what I believe would have been Mr. Peyton's + wishes.” + </p> + <p> + There were a few lines of postscript: “It seems to me that the change + would leave you more free to consult your own wishes in regard to + continuing your friendship with Susy, and upon such a footing as may + please you. I judge from Mrs. McClosky's conversation that she believed + you thought you were only doing your duty in reporting to me, and that the + circumstances had not altered the good terms in which you all three + formerly stood.” + </p> + <p> + Clarence had dropped the letter with a burning indignation that seemed to + sting his eyes until a scalding moisture hid the words before him. What + might not Susy have said? What exaggeration of his affection was she not + capable of suggesting? He recalled Mrs. McClosky, and remembered her easy + acceptance of him as Susy's lover. What had they told Mrs. Peyton? What + must be her opinion of his deceit towards herself? It was hard enough to + bear this before he knew he loved her. It was intolerable now! And this is + what she meant when she suggested that he should renew his old terms with + Susy; it was for HIM that this ill-disguised, scornful generosity in + regard to Susy's pecuniary expectations was intended. What should he do? + He would write to her, and indignantly deny any clandestine affection for + Susy. But could he do that, in honor, in truthfulness? Would it not be + better to write and confess all? Yes,—EVERYTHING. + </p> + <p> + Fortunately for his still boyish impulsiveness, it was at this time that + the discovery of his own financial ruin came to him. The inquest on the + body of Pedro Valdez and the confession of his confidant had revealed the + facts of the fraudulent title and forged testamentary documents. Although + it was correctly believed that Pedro had met his death in an escapade of + gallantry or intrigue, the coroner's jury had returned a verdict of + “accidental death,” and the lesser scandal was lost in the wider, + far-spreading disclosure of fraud. When he had resolved to assume all the + liabilities of his purchase, he was obliged to write to Mrs. Peyton and + confess his ruin. But he was glad to remind her that it did not alter HER + status or security; he had only given her the possession, and she would + revert to her original and now uncontested title. But as there was now no + reason for his continuing the stewardship, and as he must adopt some + profession and seek his fortune elsewhere, he begged her to relieve him of + his duty. Albeit written with a throbbing heart and suffused eyes, it was + a plain, business-like, and practical letter. Her reply was equally cool + and matter of fact. She was sorry to hear of his losses, although she + could not agree with him that they could logically sever his present + connection with the rancho, or that, placed upon another and distinctly + business footing, the occupation would not be as remunerative to him as + any other. But, of course, if he had a preference for some more + independent position, that was another question, although he would forgive + her for using the privilege of her years to remind him that his financial + and business success had not yet justified his independence. She would + also advise him not to decide hastily, or, at least, to wait until she had + again thoroughly gone over her husband's papers with her lawyer, in + reference to the old purchase of the Sisters' title, and the conditions + under which it was bought. She knew that Mr. Brant would not refuse this + as a matter of business, nor would that friendship, which she valued so + highly, allow him to imperil the possession of the rancho by leaving it at + such a moment. As soon as she had finished the examination of the papers, + she would write again. Her letter seemed to leave him no hope, if, indeed, + he had ever indulged in any. It was the practical kindliness of a woman of + business, nothing more. As to the examination of her husband's papers, + that was a natural precaution. He alone knew that they would give no + record of a transaction which had never occurred. He briefly replied that + his intention to seek another situation was unchanged, but that he would + cheerfully await the arrival of his successor. Two weeks passed. Then Mr. + Sanderson, Mrs. Peyton's lawyer, arrived, bringing an apologetic note from + Mrs. Peyton. She was so sorry her business was still delayed, but as she + had felt that she had no right to detain him entirely at Robles, she had + sent to Mr. Sanderson to TEMPORARILY relieve him, that he might be free to + look around him or visit San Francisco in reference to his own business, + only extracting a promise from him that he would return to Robles to meet + her at the end of the week, before settling upon anything. + </p> + <p> + The bitter smile with which Clarence had read thus far suddenly changed. + Some mysterious touch of unbusiness-like but womanly hesitation, that he + had never noticed in her previous letters, gave him a faint sense of + pleasure, as if her note had been perfumed. He had availed himself of the + offer. It was on this visit to Sacramento that he had accidentally + discovered the marriage of Susy and Hooker. + </p> + <p> + “It's a great deal better business for her to have a husband in the + 'profesh' if she's agoin' to stick to it,” said his informant, Mrs. + McClosky, “and she's nothing if she ain't business and profesh, Mr. Brant. + I never see a girl that was born for the stage—yes, you might say + jess cut out o' the boards of the stage—as that girl Susy is! And + that's jest what's the matter; and YOU know it, and I know it, and there + you are!” + </p> + <p> + It was with these experiences that Clarence was to-day reentering the + wooded and rocky gateway of the rancho from the high road of the canada; + but as he cantered up the first slope, through the drift of scarlet + poppies that almost obliterated the track, and the blue and yellow blooms + of the terraces again broke upon his view, he thought only of Mrs. + Peyton's pleasure in this changed aspect of her old home. She had told him + of it once before, and of her delight in it; and he had once thought how + happy he should be to see it with her. + </p> + <p> + The servant who took his horse told him that the senora had arrived that + morning from Santa Inez, bringing with her the two Senoritas Hernandez + from the rancho of Los Canejos, and that other guests were expected. And + there was the Senor Sanderson and his Reverence Padre Esteban. Truly an + affair of hospitality, the first since the padron died. Whatever dream + Clarence might have had of opportunities for confidential interview was + rudely dispelled. Yet Mrs. Peyton had left orders to be informed at once + of Don Clarencio's arrival. + </p> + <p> + As he crossed the patio and stepped upon the corridor he fancied he + already detected in the internal arrangements the subtle influence of Mrs. + Peyton's taste and the indefinable domination of the mistress. For an + instant he thought of anticipating the servant and seeking her in the + boudoir, but some instinct withheld him, and he turned into the study + which he had used as an office. It was empty; a few embers glimmered on + the hearth. At the same moment there was a light step behind him, and Mrs. + Peyton entered and closed the door behind her. She was very beautiful. + Although paler and thinner, there was an odd sort of animation about her, + so unlike her usual repose that it seemed almost feverish. + </p> + <p> + “I thought we could talk together a few moments before the guests arrive. + The house will be presently so full, and my duties as hostess commence.” + </p> + <p> + “I was—about to seek you—in—in the boudoir,” hesitated + Clarence. + </p> + <p> + She gave an impatient shiver. + </p> + <p> + “Good heavens, not there! I shall never go there again. I should fancy + every time I looked out of the window that I saw the head of that man + between the bars. No! I am only thankful that I wasn't here at the time, + and that I can keep my remembrance of the dear old place unchanged.” She + checked herself a little abruptly, and then added somewhat irrelevantly + but cheerfully, “Well, you have been away? What have you done?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing,” said Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “Then you have kept your promise,” she said, with the same nervous + hilarity. + </p> + <p> + “I have returned here without making any other engagement,” he said + gravely; “but I have not altered my determination.” + </p> + <p> + She shrugged her shoulders again, or, as it seemed, the skin of her + tightly fitting black dress above them, with the sensitive shiver of a + highly groomed horse, and moved to the hearth as if for warmth; put her + slim, slippered foot upon the low fender, drawing, with a quick hand, the + whole width of her skirt behind her until it clingingly accented the long, + graceful curve from her hip to her feet. All this was so unlike her usual + fastidiousness and repose that he was struck by it. With her eyes on the + glowing embers of the hearth, and tentatively advancing her toe to its + warmth and drawing it away, she said:— + </p> + <p> + “Of course, you must please yourself. I am afraid I have no right except + that of habit and custom to keep you here; and you know,” she added, with + an only half-withheld bitterness, “that they are not always very effective + with young people who prefer to have the ordering of their own lives. But + I have something still to tell you before you finally decide. I have, as + you know, been looking over my—over Mr. Peyton's papers very + carefully. Well, as a result, I find, Mr. Brant, that there is no record + whatever of his wonderfully providential purchase of the Sisters' title + from you; that he never entered into any written agreement with you, and + never paid you a cent; and that, furthermore, his papers show me that he + never even contemplated it; nor, indeed, even knew of YOUR owning the + title when he died. Yes, Mr. Brant, it was all to YOUR foresight and + prudence, and YOUR generosity alone, that we owe our present possession of + the rancho. When you helped us into that awful window, it was YOUR house + we were entering; and if it had been YOU, and not those wretches, who had + chosen to shut the doors on us after the funeral, we could never have + entered here again. Don't deny it, Mr. Brant. I have suspected it a long + time, and when you spoke of changing YOUR position, I determined to find + out if it wasn't I who had to leave the house rather than you. One moment, + please. And I did find out, and it WAS I. Don't speak, please, yet. And + now,” she said, with a quick return to her previous nervous hilarity, + “knowing this, as you did, and knowing, too, that I would know it when I + examined the papers,—don't speak, I'm not through yet,—don't + you think that it was just a LITTLE cruel for you to try to hurry me, and + make me come here instead of your coming to ME in San Francisco, when I + gave you leave for that purpose?” + </p> + <p> + “But, Mrs. Peyton,” gasped Clarence. + </p> + <p> + “Please don't interrupt me,” said the lady, with a touch of her old + imperiousness, “for in a moment I must join my guests. When I found you + wouldn't tell me, and left it to me to find out, I could only go away as I + did, and really leave you to control what I believed was your own + property. And I thought, too, that I understood your motives, and, to be + frank with you, that worried me; for I believed I knew the disposition and + feelings of a certain person better than yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “One moment,” broke out Clarence, “you MUST hear me, now. Foolish and + misguided as that purchase may have been, I swear to you I had only one + motive in making it,—to save the homestead for you and your husband, + who had been my first and earliest benefactors. What the result of it was, + you, as a business woman, know; your friends know; your lawyer will tell + you the same. You owe me nothing. I have given you nothing but the + repossession of this property, which any other man could have done, and + perhaps less stupidly than I did. I would not have forced you to come here + to hear this if I had dreamed of your suspicions, or even if I had simply + understood that you would see me in San Francisco as I passed through.” + </p> + <p> + “Passed through? Where were you going?” she said quickly. + </p> + <p> + “To Sacramento.” + </p> + <p> + The abrupt change in her manner startled him to a recollection of Susy, + and he blushed. She bit her lips, and moved towards the window. + </p> + <p> + “Then you saw her?” she said, turning suddenly towards him. The inquiry of + her beautiful eyes was more imperative than her speech. + </p> + <p> + Clarence recognized quickly what he thought was his cruel blunder in + touching the half-healed wound of separation. But he had gone too far to + be other than perfectly truthful now. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; I saw her on the stage,” he said, with a return of his boyish + earnestness; “and I learned something which I wanted you to first hear + from me. She is MARRIED,—and to Mr. Hooker, who is in the same + theatrical company with her. But I want you to think, as I honestly do, + that it is the best for her. She has married in her profession, which is a + great protection and a help to her success, and she has married a man who + can look lightly upon certain qualities in her that others might not be so + lenient to. His worst faults are on the surface, and will wear away in + contact with the world, and he looks up to her as his superior. I gathered + this from her friend, for I did not speak with her myself; I did not go + there to see her. But as I expected to be leaving you soon, I thought it + only right that as I was the humble means of first bringing her into your + life, I should bring you this last news, which I suppose takes her out of + it forever. Only I want you to believe that YOU have nothing to regret, + and that SHE is neither lost nor unhappy.” + </p> + <p> + The expression of suspicious inquiry on her face when he began changed + gradually to perplexity as he continued, and then relaxed into a faint, + peculiar smile. But there was not the slightest trace of that pain, + wounded pride, indignation, or anger, that he had expected to see upon it. + </p> + <p> + “That means, I suppose, Mr. Brant, that YOU no longer care for her?” + </p> + <p> + The smile had passed, yet she spoke now with a half-real, half-affected + archness that was also unlike her. + </p> + <p> + “It means,” said Clarence with a white face, but a steady voice, “that I + care for her now as much as I ever cared for her, no matter to what folly + it once might have led me. But it means, also, that there was no time when + I was not able to tell it to YOU as frankly as I do now”— + </p> + <p> + “One moment, please,” she interrupted, and turned quickly towards the + door. She opened it and looked out. “I thought they were calling me,—and—I—I—MUST + go now, Mr. Brant. And without finishing my business either, or saying + half I had intended to say. But wait”—she put her hand to her head + in a pretty perplexity, “it's a moonlight night, and I'll propose after + dinner a stroll in the gardens, and you can manage to walk a little with + me.” She stopped again, returned, said, “It was very kind of you to think + of me at Sacramento,” held out her hand, allowed it to remain for an + instant, cool but acquiescent, in his warmer grasp, and with the same odd + youthfulness of movement and gesture slipped out of the door. + </p> + <p> + An hour later she was at the head of her dinner table, serene, beautiful, + and calm, in her elegant mourning, provokingly inaccessible in the sweet + deliberation of her widowed years; Padre Esteban was at her side with a + local magnate, who had known Peyton and his wife, while Donna Rosita and a + pair of liquid-tongued, childlike senoritas were near Clarence and + Sanderson. To the priest Mrs. Peyton spoke admiringly of the changes in + the rancho and the restoration of the Mission Chapel, and together they + had commended Clarence from the level of their superior passionless + reserve and years. Clarence felt hopelessly young and hopelessly lonely; + the naive prattle of the young girls beside him appeared infantine. In his + abstraction, he heard Mrs. Peyton allude to the beauty of the night, and + propose that after coffee and chocolate the ladies should put on their + wraps and go with her to the old garden. Clarence raised his eyes; she was + not looking at him, but there was a slight consciousness in her face that + was not there before, and the faintest color in her cheek, still + lingering, no doubt, from the excitement of conversation. + </p> + <p> + It was a cool, tranquil, dewless night when they at last straggled out, + mere black and white patches in the colorless moonlight. The brilliancy of + the flower-hued landscape was subdued under its passive, pale austerity; + even the gray and gold of the second terrace seemed dulled and confused. + At any other time Clarence might have lingered over this strange effect, + but his eyes followed only a tall figure, in a long striped burnous, that + moved gracefully beside the soutaned priest. As he approached, it turned + towards him. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! here you are. I just told Father Esteban that you talked of leaving + to-morrow, and that he would have to excuse me a few moments while you + showed me what you had done to the old garden.” + </p> + <p> + She moved beside him, and, with a hesitation that was not unlike a more + youthful timidity, slipped her hand through his arm. It was for the first + time, and, without thinking, he pressed it impulsively to his side. I have + already intimated that Clarence's reserve was at times qualified by + singular directness. + </p> + <p> + A few steps carried them out of hearing; a few more, and they seemed alone + in the world. The long adobe wall glanced away emptily beside them, and + was lost; the black shadows of the knotted pear-trees were beneath their + feet. They began to walk with the slight affectation of treading the + shadows as if they were patterns on a carpet. Clarence was voiceless, and + yet he seemed to be moving beside a spirit that must be first addressed. + </p> + <p> + But it was flesh and blood nevertheless. + </p> + <p> + “I interrupted you in something you were saying when I left the office,” + she said quietly. + </p> + <p> + “I was speaking of Susy,” returned Clarence eagerly; “and”— + </p> + <p> + “Then you needn't go on,” interrupted Mrs. Peyton quickly. “I understand + you, and believe you. I would rather talk of something else. We have not + yet arranged how I can make restitution to you for the capital you sank in + saving this place. You will be reasonable, Mr. Brant, and not leave me + with the shame and pain of knowing that you ruined yourself for the sake + of your old friends. For it is no more a sentimental idea of mine to feel + in this way than it is a fair and sensible one for you to imply that a + mere quibble of construction absolves me from responsibility. Mr. + Sanderson himself admits that the repossession you gave us is a fair and + legal basis for any arrangement of sharing or division of the property + with you, that might enable you to remain here and continue the work you + have so well begun. Have you no suggestion, or must it come from ME, Mr. + Brant?” + </p> + <p> + “Neither. Let us not talk of that now.” + </p> + <p> + She did not seem to notice the boyish doggedness of his speech, except so + far as it might have increased her inconsequent and nervously pitched + levity. + </p> + <p> + “Then suppose we speak of the Misses Hernandez, with whom you scarcely + exchanged a word at dinner, and whom I invited for you and your fluent + Spanish. They are charming girls, even if they are a little stupid. But + what can I do? If I am to live here, I must have a few young people around + me, if only to make the place cheerful for others. Do you know I have + taken a great fancy to Miss Rogers, and have asked her to visit me. I + think she is a good friend of yours, although perhaps she is a little shy. + What's the matter? You have nothing against her, have you?” + </p> + <p> + Clarence had stopped short. They had reached the end of the pear-tree + shadows. A few steps more would bring them to the fallen south wall of the + garden and the open moonlight beyond, but to the right an olive alley of + deeper shadow diverged. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he said, with slow deliberation; “I have to thank Mary Rogers for + having discovered something in me that I have been blindly, foolishly, and + hopelessly struggling with.” + </p> + <p> + “And, pray, what was that?” said Mrs. Peyton sharply. + </p> + <p> + “That I love you!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Peyton was fairly startled. The embarrassment of any truth is apt to + be in its eternal abruptness, which no deviousness of tact or + circumlocution of diplomacy has ever yet surmounted. Whatever had been in + her heart, or mind, she was unprepared for this directness. The bolt had + dropped from the sky; they were alone; there was nothing between the stars + and the earth but herself and this man and this truth; it could not be + overlooked, surmounted, or escaped from. A step or two more would take her + out of the garden into the moonlight, but always into this awful frankness + of blunt and outspoken nature. She hesitated, and turned the corner into + the olive shadows. It was, perhaps, more dangerous; but less shameless, + and less like truckling. And the appallingly direct Clarence instantly + followed. + </p> + <p> + “I know you will despise me, hate me; and, perhaps, worst of all, + disbelieve me; but I swear to you, now, that I have always loved you,—yes, + ALWAYS! When first I came here, it was not to see my old playmate, but + YOU, for I had kept the memory of you as I first saw you when a boy, and + you have always been my ideal. I have thought of, dreamed of, worshiped, + and lived for no other woman. Even when I found Susy again, grown up here + at your side; even when I thought that I might, with your consent, marry + her, it was that I might be with YOU always; that I might be a part of + YOUR home, your family, and have a place with her in YOUR heart; for it + was you I loved, and YOU only. Don't laugh at me, Mrs. Peyton, it is the + truth, the whole truth, I am telling you. God help me!” + </p> + <p> + If she only COULD have laughed,—harshly, ironically, or even + mercifully and kindly! But it would not come. And she burst out:— + </p> + <p> + “I am not laughing. Good heavens, don't you see? It is ME you are making + ridiculous.” + </p> + <p> + “YOU ridiculous?” he said in a momentarily choked, half-stupefied voice. + “You—a beautiful woman, my superior in everything, the mistress of + these lands where I am only steward—made ridiculous, not by my + presumption, but by my confession? Was the saint you just now admired in + Father Esteban's chapel ridiculous because of the peon clowns who were + kneeling before it?” + </p> + <p> + “Hush! This is wicked! Stop!” + </p> + <p> + She felt she was now on firm ground, and made the most of it in voice and + manner. She must draw the line somewhere, and she would draw it between + passion and impiety. + </p> + <p> + “Not until I have told you all, and I MUST before I leave you. I loved you + when I came here,—even when your husband was alive. Don't be angry, + Mrs. Peyton; HE would not, and need not, have been angry; he would have + pitied the foolish boy, who, in the very innocence and ignorance of his + passion, might have revealed it to him as he did to everybody but ONE. And + yet, I sometimes think you might have guessed it, had you thought of me at + all. It must have been on my lips that day I sat with you in the boudoir. + I know that I was filled with it; with it and with you; with your + presence, with your beauty, your grace of heart and mind,—yes, Mrs. + Peyton, even with your own unrequited love for Susy. Only, then, I knew + not what it was.” + </p> + <p> + “But I think I can tell you what it was then, and now,” said Mrs. Peyton, + recovering her nervous little laugh, though it died a moment after on her + lips. “I remember it very well. You told me then that I REMINDED YOU OF + YOUR MOTHER. Well, I am not old enough to be your mother, Mr. Brant, but I + am old enough to have been, and might have been, the mother of your wife. + That was what you meant then; that is what you mean now. I was wrong to + accuse you of trying to make me ridiculous. I ask your pardon. Let us + leave it as it was that day in the boudoir, as it is NOW. Let me still + remind you of your mother,—I know she must have been a good woman to + have had so good a son,—and when you have found some sweet young + girl to make you happy, come to me for a mother's blessing, and we will + laugh at the recollection and misunderstanding of this evening.” + </p> + <p> + Her voice did not, however, exhibit that exquisite maternal tenderness + which the beatific vision ought to have called up, and the persistent + voice of Clarence could not be evaded in the shadow. + </p> + <p> + “I said you reminded me of my mother,” he went on at her side, “because I + knew her and lost her only as a child. She never was anything to me but a + memory, and yet an ideal of all that was sweet and lovable in woman. + Perhaps it was a dream of what she might have been when she was as young + in years as you. If it pleases you still to misunderstand me, it may + please you also to know that there is a reminder of her even in this. I + have no remembrance of a word of affection from her, nor a caress; I have + been as hopeless in my love for her who was my mother, as of the woman I + would make my wife.” + </p> + <p> + “But you have seen no one, you know no one, you are young, you scarcely + know your own self! You will forget this, you will forget ME! And if—if—I + should—listen to you, what would the world say, what would YOU + yourself say a few years hence? Oh, be reasonable. Think of it,—it + would be so wild,—so mad! so—so—utterly ridiculous!” + </p> + <p> + In proof of its ludicrous quality, two tears escaped her eyes in the + darkness. But Clarence caught the white flash of her withdrawn + handkerchief in the shadow, and captured her returning hand. It was + trembling, but did not struggle, and presently hushed itself to rest in + his. + </p> + <p> + “I'm not only a fool but a brute,” he said in a lower voice. “Forgive me. + I have given you pain,—you, for whom I would have died.” + </p> + <p> + They had both stopped. He was still holding her sleeping hand. His arm had + stolen around the burnous so softly that it followed the curves of her + figure as lightly as a fold of the garment, and was presumably unfelt. + Grief has its privileges, and suffering exonerates a questionable + situation. In another moment her fair head MIGHT have dropped upon his + shoulder. But an approaching voice uprose in the adjoining broad allee. It + might have been the world speaking through the voice of the lawyer + Sanderson. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he is a good fellow, and an intelligent fellow, too, but a perfect + child in his experience of mankind.” + </p> + <p> + They both started, but Mrs. Peyton's hand suddenly woke up and grasped his + firmly. Then she said in a higher, but perfectly level tone:— + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I think with you we had better look at it again in the sunlight + to-morrow. But here come our friends; they have probably been waiting for + us to join them and go in.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The wholesome freshness of early morning was in the room when Clarence + awoke, cleared and strengthened. His resolution had been made. He would + leave the rancho that morning, to enter the world again and seek his + fortune elsewhere. This was only right to HER, whose future it should + never be said he had imperiled by his folly and inexperience; and if, in a + year or two of struggle he could prove his right to address her again, he + would return. He had not spoken to her since they had parted in the + garden, with the grim truths of the lawyer ringing in his ears, but he had + written a few lines of farewell, to be given to her after he had left. He + was calm in his resolution, albeit a little pale and hollow-eyed for it. + </p> + <p> + He crept downstairs in the gray twilight of the scarce-awakened house, and + made his way to the stables. Saddling his horse, and mounting, he paced + forth into the crisp morning air. The sun, just risen, was everywhere + bringing out the fresh color of the flower-strewn terraces, as the last + night's shadows, which had hidden them, were slowly beaten back. He cast a + last look at the brown adobe quadrangle of the quiet house, just touched + with the bronzing of the sun, and then turned his face towards the + highway. As he passed the angle of the old garden he hesitated, but, + strong in his resolution, he put the recollection of last night behind + him, and rode by without raising his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Clarence!” + </p> + <p> + It was HER voice. He wheeled his horse. She was standing behind the grille + in the old wall as he had seen her standing on the day he had ridden to + his rendezvous with Susy. A Spanish manta was thrown over her head and + shoulders, as if she had dressed hastily, and had run out to intercept him + while he was still in the stable. Her beautiful face was pale in its + black-hooded recess, and there were faint circles around her lovely eyes. + </p> + <p> + “You were going without saying 'goodby'!” she said softly. + </p> + <p> + She passed her slim white hand between the grating. Clarence leaped to the + ground, caught it, and pressed it to his lips. But he did not let it go. + </p> + <p> + “No! no!” she said, struggling to withdraw it. “It is better as it is—as—as + you have decided it to be. Only I could not let you go thus,—without + a word. There now,—go, Clarence, go. Please! Don't you see I am + behind these bars? Think of them as the years that separate us, my poor, + dear, foolish boy. Think of them as standing between us, growing closer, + heavier, and more cruel and hopeless as the years go on.” + </p> + <p> + Ah, well! they had been good bars a hundred and fifty years ago, when it + was thought as necessary to repress the innocence that was behind them as + the wickedness that was without. They had done duty in the convent at + Santa Inez, and the monastery of Santa Barbara, and had been brought + hither in Governor Micheltorrenas' time to keep the daughters of Robles + from the insidious contact of the outer world, when they took the air in + their cloistered pleasance. Guitars had tinkled against them in vain, and + they had withstood the stress and storm of love tokens. But, like many + other things which have had their day and time, they had retained their + semblance of power, even while rattling loosely in their sockets, only + because no one had ever thought of putting them to the test, and, in the + strong hand of Clarence, assisted, perhaps, by the leaning figure of Mrs. + Peyton, I grieve to say that the whole grille suddenly collapsed, became a + frame of tinkling iron, and then clanked, bar by bar, into the road. Mrs. + Peyton uttered a little cry and drew back, and Clarence, leaping the + ruins, caught her in his arms. + </p> + <p> + For a moment only, for she quickly withdrew from them, and although the + morning sunlight was quite rosy on her cheeks, she said gravely, pointing + to the dismantled opening:— + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you MUST stay now, for you never could leave me here alone and + defenseless.” + </p> + <p> + He stayed. And with this fulfillment of his youthful dreams the romance of + his young manhood seemed to be completed, and so closed the second volume + of this trilogy. But what effect that fulfillment of youth had upon his + maturer years, or the fortunes of those who were nearly concerned in it, + may be told in a later and final chronicle. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Susy, A Story of the Plains, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUSY, A STORY OF THE PLAINS *** + +***** This file should be named 2495-h.htm or 2495-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/9/2495/ + +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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