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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:19:16 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2508-0.txt b/2508-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4e00d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/2508-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6609 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories in Light and Shadow, 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: Stories in Light and Shadow + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 18, 2006 [EBook #2508] +Last Updated: March 4, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson + + + + + +STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW + +By Bret Harte + + +From: “ARGONAUT EDITION” OF THE WORKS OF BRET HARTE, VOL. 13 + +P. F. COLLIER & SON + +NEW YORK + + + +CONTENTS + +“UNSER KARL” + +UNCLE JIM AND UNCLE BILLY + +SEE YUP + +THE DESBOROUGH CONNECTIONS + +SALOMY JANE'S KISS + +THE MAN AND THE MOUNTAIN + +THE PASSING OF ENRIQUEZ + + + + +STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW + + + + +“UNSER KARL” + + +The American consul for Schlachtstadt had just turned out of the broad +Konig's Allee into the little square that held his consulate. Its +residences always seemed to him to wear that singularly uninhabited air +peculiar to a street scene in a theatre. The facades, with their stiff, +striped wooden awnings over the windows, were of the regularity, color, +and pattern only seen on the stage, and conversation carried on in the +street below always seemed to be invested with that perfect confidence +and security which surrounds the actor in his painted desert of urban +perspective. Yet it was a peaceful change to the other byways and +highways of Schlachtstadt which were always filled with an equally +unreal and mechanical soldiery, who appeared to be daily taken out of +their boxes of “caserne” or “depot” and loosely scattered all over +the pretty linden-haunted German town. There were soldiers standing on +street corners; soldiers staring woodenly into shop windows; soldiers +halted suddenly into stone, like lizards, at the approach of Offiziere; +Offiziere lounging stiffly four abreast, sweeping the pavement with +their trailing sabres all at one angle. There were cavalcades of +red hussars, cavalcades of blue hussars, cavalcades of Uhlans, with +glittering lances and pennons--with or without a band--formally +parading; there were straggling “fatigues” or “details” coming round +the corners; there were dusty, businesslike columns of infantry, going +nowhere and to no purpose. And they one and all seemed to be WOUND +UP--for that service--and apparently always in the same place. In the +band of their caps--invariably of one pattern--was a button, in the +centre of which was a square opening or keyhole. The consul was always +convinced that through this keyhole opening, by means of a key, the +humblest caporal wound up his file, the Hauptmann controlled his +lieutenants and non-commissioned officers, and even the general himself, +wearing the same cap, was subject through his cap to a higher moving +power. In the suburbs, when the supply of soldiers gave out, there +were sentry-boxes; when these dropped off, there were “caissons,” or +commissary wagons. And, lest the military idea should ever fail from +out the Schlachtstadt's burgher's mind, there were police in uniform, +street-sweepers in uniform; the ticket-takers, guards, and sweepers at +the Bahnhof were in uniform,--but all wearing the same kind of cap, with +the probability of having been wound up freshly each morning for their +daily work. Even the postman delivered peaceful invoices to the consul +with his side-arms and the air of bringing dispatches from the field +of battle; and the consul saluted, and felt for a few moments the whole +weight of his consular responsibility. + +Yet, in spite of this military precedence, it did not seem in the least +inconsistent with the decidedly peaceful character of the town, and this +again suggested its utter unreality; wandering cows sometimes got mixed +up with squadrons of cavalry, and did not seem to mind it; sheep passed +singly between files of infantry, or preceded them in a flock when on +the march; indeed, nothing could be more delightful and innocent than +to see a regiment of infantry in heavy marching order, laden with every +conceivable thing they could want for a week, returning after a cheerful +search for an invisible enemy in the suburbs, to bivouac peacefully +among the cabbages in the market-place. Nobody was ever imposed upon +for a moment by their tremendous energy and severe display; drums might +beat, trumpets blow, dragoons charge furiously all over the Exercier +Platz, or suddenly flash their naked swords in the streets to the +guttural command of an officer--nobody seemed to mind it. People glanced +up to recognize Rudolf or Max “doing their service,” nodded, and went +about their business. And although the officers always wore their +side-arms, and at the most peaceful of social dinners only relinquished +their swords in the hall, apparently that they might be ready to buckle +them on again and rush out to do battle for the Fatherland between the +courses, the other guests only looked upon these weapons in the light +of sticks and umbrellas, and possessed their souls in peace. And +when, added to this singular incongruity, many of these warriors were +spectacled, studious men, and, despite their lethal weapons, wore a +slightly professional air, and were--to a man--deeply sentimental and +singularly simple, their attitude in this eternal Kriegspiel seemed to +the consul more puzzling than ever. + +As he entered his consulate he was confronted with another aspect of +Schlachtstadt quite as wonderful, yet already familiar to him. For, +in spite of these “alarums without,” which, however, never seem to +penetrate beyond the town itself, Schlachtstadt and its suburbs were +known all over the world for the manufactures of certain beautiful +textile fabrics, and many of the rank and file of those warriors had +built up the fame and prosperity of the district over their peaceful +looms in wayside cottages. There were great depots and counting-houses, +larger than even the cavalry barracks, where no other uniform but that +of the postman was known. Hence it was that the consul's chief duty +was to uphold the flag of his own country by the examination +and certification of divers invoices sent to his office by the +manufacturers. But, oddly enough, these business messengers were chiefly +women,--not clerks, but ordinary household servants, and, on busy days, +the consulate might have been mistaken for a female registry office, +so filled and possessed it was by waiting Madchen. Here it was that +Gretchen, Lieschen, and Clarchen, in the cleanest of blue gowns, and +stoutly but smartly shod, brought their invoices in a piece of clean +paper, or folded in a blue handkerchief, and laid them, with fingers +more or less worn and stubby from hard service, before the consul for +his signature. Once, in the case of a very young Madchen, that signature +was blotted by the sweep of a flaxen braid upon it as the child turned +to go; but generally there was a grave, serious business instinct and +sense of responsibility in these girls of ordinary peasant origin which, +equally with their sisters of France, were unknown to the English or +American woman of any class. + +That morning, however, there was a slight stir among those who, with +their knitting, were waiting their turn in the outer office as the +vice-consul ushered the police inspector into the consul's private +office. He was in uniform, of course, and it took him a moment to +recover from his habitual stiff, military salute,--a little stiffer than +that of the actual soldier. + +It was a matter of importance! A stranger had that morning been arrested +in the town and identified as a military deserter. He claimed to be an +American citizen; he was now in the outer office, waiting the consul's +interrogation. + +The consul knew, however, that the ominous accusation had only a mild +significance here. The term “military deserter” included any one who +had in youth emigrated to a foreign country without first fulfilling his +military duty to his fatherland. His first experiences of these cases +had been tedious and difficult,--involving a reference to his Minister +at Berlin, a correspondence with the American State Department, a +condition of unpleasant tension, and finally the prolonged detention of +some innocent German--naturalized--American citizen, who had forgotten +to bring his papers with him in revisiting his own native country. It so +chanced, however, that the consul enjoyed the friendship and confidence +of the General Adlerkreutz, who commanded the 20th Division, and it +further chanced that the same Adlerkreutz was as gallant a soldier as +ever cried Vorwarts! at the head of his men, as profound a military +strategist and organizer as ever carried his own and his enemy's +plans in his iron head and spiked helmet, and yet with as simple and +unaffected a soul breathing under his gray mustache as ever issued from +the lips of a child. So this grim but gentle veteran had arranged +with the consul that in cases where the presumption of nationality +was strong, although the evidence was not present, he would take the +consul's parole for the appearance of the “deserter” or his papers, +without the aid of prolonged diplomacy. In this way the consul had saved +to Milwaukee a worthy but imprudent brewer, and to New York an excellent +sausage butcher and possible alderman; but had returned to martial duty +one or two tramps or journeymen who had never seen America except from +the decks of the ships in which they were “stowaways,” and on which they +were returned,--and thus the temper and peace of two great nations were +preserved. + +“He says,” said the inspector severely, “that he is an American citizen, +but has lost his naturalization papers. Yet he has made the damaging +admission to others that he lived several years in Rome! And,” continued +the inspector, looking over his shoulder at the closed door as he placed +his finger beside his nose, “he says he has relations living +at Palmyra, whom he frequently visited. Ach! Observe this +unheard-of-and-not-to-be-trusted statement!” + +The consul, however, smiled with a slight flash of intelligence. “Let me +see him,” he said. + +They passed into the outer office; another policeman and a corporal of +infantry saluted and rose. In the centre of an admiring and sympathetic +crowd of Dienstmadchen sat the culprit, the least concerned of the +party; a stripling--a boy--scarcely out of his teens! Indeed, it was +impossible to conceive of a more innocent, bucolic, and almost angelic +looking derelict. With a skin that had the peculiar white and rosiness +of fresh pork, he had blue eyes, celestially wide open and staring, and +the thick flocculent yellow curls of the sun god! He might have been +an overgrown and badly dressed Cupid who had innocently wandered from +Paphian shores. He smiled as the consul entered, and wiped from his +full red lips with the back of his hand the traces of a sausage he was +eating. The consul recognized the flavor at once,--he had smelled it +before in Lieschen's little hand-basket. + +“You say you lived at Rome?” began the consul pleasantly. “Did you take +out your first declaration of your intention of becoming an American +citizen there?” + +The inspector cast an approving glance at the consul, fixed a stern eye +on the cherubic prisoner, and leaned back in his chair to hear the reply +to this terrible question. + +“I don't remember,” said the culprit, knitting his brows in infantine +thought. “It was either there, or at Madrid or Syracuse.” + +The inspector was about to rise; this was really trifling with the +dignity of the municipality. But the consul laid his hand on the +official's sleeve, and, opening an American atlas to a map of the State +of New York, said to the prisoner, as he placed the inspector's hand on +the sheet, “I see you know the names of the TOWNS on the Erie and New +York Central Railroad. But”-- + +“I can tell you the number of people in each town and what are the +manufactures,” interrupted the young fellow, with youthful vanity. +“Madrid has six thousand, and there are over sixty thousand in”-- + +“That will do,” said the consul, as a murmur of Wunderschon! went round +the group of listening servant girls, while glances of admiration were +shot at the beaming accused. “But you ought to remember the name of the +town where your naturalization papers were afterwards sent.” + +“But I was a citizen from the moment I made my declaration,” said the +stranger smiling, and looking triumphantly at his admirers, “and I could +vote!” + +The inspector, since he had come to grief over American geographical +nomenclature, was grimly taciturn. The consul, however, was by no means +certain of his victory. His alleged fellow citizen was too encyclopaedic +in his knowledge: a clever youth might have crammed for this with a +textbook, but then he did not LOOK at all clever; indeed, he had rather +the stupidity of the mythological subject he represented. “Leave him +with me,” said the consul. The inspector handed him a precis of the +case. The cherub's name was Karl Schwartz, an orphan, missing from +Schlachtstadt since the age of twelve. Relations not living, or in +emigration. Identity established by prisoner's admission and record. + +“Now, Karl,” said the consul cheerfully, as the door of his private +office closed upon them, “what is your little game? Have you EVER had +any papers? And if you were clever enough to study the map of New York +State, why weren't you clever enough to see that it wouldn't stand you +in place of your papers?” + +“Dot's joost it,” said Karl in English; “but you see dot if I haf +declairet mine intention of begomming a citizen, it's all the same, +don't it?” + +“By no means, for you seem to have no evidence of the DECLARATION; no +papers at all.” + +“Zo!” said Karl. Nevertheless, he pushed his small, rosy, +pickled-pig's-feet of fingers through his fleecy curls and beamed +pleasantly at the consul. “Dot's vot's der matter,” he said, as if +taking a kindly interest in some private trouble of the consul's. “Dot's +vere you vos, eh?” + +The consul looked steadily at him for a moment. Such stupidity was by +no means phenomenal, nor at all inconsistent with his appearance. “And,” + continued the consul gravely, “I must tell you that, unless you have +other proofs than you have shown, it will be my duty to give you up to +the authorities.” + +“Dot means I shall serve my time, eh?” said Karl, with an unchanged +smile. + +“Exactly so,” returned the consul. + +“Zo!” said karl. “Dese town--dose Schlachtstadt--is fine town, eh? Fine +vomens. Goot men. Und beer und sausage. Blenty to eat and drink, eh? +Und,” looking around the room, “you and te poys haf a gay times.” + +“Yes,” said the consul shortly, turning away. But he presently faced +round again on the unfettered Karl, who was evidently indulging in a +gormandizing reverie. + +“What on earth brought you here, anyway?” + +“Was it das?” + +“What brought you here from America, or wherever you ran away from?” + +“To see der, volks.” + +“But you are an ORPHAN, you know, and you have no folks living here.” + +“But all Shermany is mine volks,--de whole gountry, don't it? Pet your +poots! How's dot, eh?” + +The consul turned back to his desk and wrote a short note to General +Adlerkreutz in his own American German. He did not think it his duty +in the present case to interfere with the authorities or to offer his +parole for Karl Schwartz. But he would claim that, as the offender +was evidently an innocent emigrant and still young, any punishment or +military degradation be omitted, and he be allowed to take his place +like any other recruit in the ranks. If he might have the temerity to +the undoubted, far-seeing military authority of suggestion making here, +he would suggest that Karl was for the commissariat fitted! Of course, +he still retained the right, on production of satisfactory proof, his +discharge to claim. + +The consul read this aloud to Karl. The cherubic youth smiled and said, +“Zo!” Then, extending his hand, he added the word “Zshake!” + +The consul shook his hand a little remorsefully, and, preceding him to +the outer room, resigned him with the note into the inspector's hands. A +universal sigh went up from the girls, and glances of appeal sought the +consul; but he wisely concluded that it would be well, for a while, that +Karl--a helpless orphan--should be under some sort of discipline! And +the securer business of certifying invoices recommenced. + +Late that afternoon he received a folded bit of blue paper from the +waistbelt of an orderly, which contained in English characters and as +a single word “Alright,” followed by certain jagged pen-marks, which he +recognized as Adlerkreutz's signature. But it was not until a week later +that he learned anything definite. He was returning one night to his +lodgings in the residential part of the city, and, in opening the door +with his pass-key, perceived in the rear of the hall his handmaiden +Trudschen, attended by the usual blue or yellow or red shadow. He was +passing by them with the local 'n' Abend! on his lips when the soldier +turned his face and saluted. The consul stopped. It was the cherub Karl +in uniform! + +But it had not subdued a single one of his characteristics. His hair +had been cropped a little more closely under his cap, but there was its +color and woolliness still intact; his plump figure was girt by belt and +buttons, but he only looked the more unreal, and more like a combination +of pen-wiper and pincushion, until his puffy breast and shoulders seemed +to offer a positive invitation to any one who had picked up a pin. But, +wonderful!--according to his brief story--he had been so proficient +in the goose step that he had been put in uniform already, and allowed +certain small privileges,--among them, evidently the present one. +The consul smiled and passed on. But it seemed strange to him that +Trudschen, who was a tall strapping girl, exceedingly popular with +the military, and who had never looked lower than a corporal at least, +should accept the attentions of an Einjahriger like that. Later he +interrogated her. + +Ach! it was only Unser Karl! And the consul knew he was Amerikanisch! + +“Indeed!” + +“Yes! It was such a tearful story!” + +“Tell me what it is,” said the consul, with a faint hope that Karl had +volunteered some communication of his past. + +“Ach Gott! There in America he was a man, and could 'vote,' make laws, +and, God willing, become a town councilor,--or Ober Intendant,--and +here he was nothing but a soldier for years. And this America was a +fine country. Wunderschon? There were such big cities, and one +'Booflo'--could hold all Schlachtstadt, and had of people five hundred +thousand!” + +The consul sighed. Karl had evidently not yet got off the line of the +New York Central and Erie roads. “But does he remember yet what he did +with his papers?” said the consul persuasively. + +“Ach! What does he want with PAPERS when he could make the laws? They +were dumb, stupid things--these papers--to him.” + +“But his appetite remains good, I hope?” suggested the consul. + +This closed the conversation, although Karl came on many other nights, +and his toy figure quite supplanted the tall corporal of hussars in the +remote shadows of the hall. One night, however, the consul returned home +from a visit to a neighboring town a day earlier than he was expected. +As he neared his house he was a little surprised to find the windows of +his sitting-room lit up, and that there were no signs of Trudschen in +the lower hall or passages. He made his way upstairs in the dark and +pushed open the door of his apartment. To his astonishment, Karl was +sitting comfortably in his own chair, his cap off before a student-lamp +on the table, deeply engaged in apparent study. So profound was his +abstraction that it was a moment before he looked up, and the consul had +a good look at his usually beaming and responsive face, which, however, +now struck him as wearing a singular air of thought and concentration. +When their eyes at last met, he rose instantly and saluted, and +his beaming smile returned. But, either from his natural phlegm or +extraordinary self-control he betrayed neither embarrassment nor alarm. + +The explanation he gave was direct and simple. Trudschen had gone out +with the Corporal Fritz for a short walk, and had asked him to “keep +house” during their absence. He had no books, no papers, nothing to read +in the barracks, and no chance to improve his mind. He thought the Herr +Consul would not object to his looking at his books. The consul was +touched; it was really a trivial indiscretion and as much Trudschen's +fault as Karl's! And if the poor fellow had any mind to improve,--his +recent attitude certainly suggested thought and reflection,--the consul +were a brute to reprove him. He smiled pleasantly as Karl returned a +stubby bit of pencil and some greasy memoranda to his breast pocket, and +glanced at the table. But to his surprise it was a large map that Karl +had been studying, and, to his still greater surprise, a map of the +consul's own district. + +“You seem to be fond of map-studying,” said the consul pleasantly. “You +are not thinking of emigrating again?” + +“Ach, no!” said Karl simply; “it is my cousine vot haf lif near here. I +find her.” + +But he left on Trudschen's return, and the consul was surprised to +see that, while Karl's attitude towards her had not changed, the girl +exhibited less effusiveness than before. Believing it to be partly +the effect of the return of the corporal, the consul taxed her with +faithlessness. But Trudschen looked grave. + +“Ah! He has new friends, this Karl of ours. He cares no more for poor +girls like us. When fine ladies like the old Frau von Wimpfel make much +of him, what will you?” + +It appeared, indeed, from Trudschen's account, that the widow of a +wealthy shopkeeper had made a kind of protege of the young soldier, +and given him presents. Furthermore, that the wife of his colonel had +employed him to act as page or attendant at an afternoon Gesellschaft, +and that since then the wives of other officers had sought him. Did not +the Herr Consul think it was dreadful that this American, who could vote +and make laws, should be subjected to such things? + +The consul did not know what to think. It seemed to him, however, that +Karl was “getting on,” and that he was not in need of his assistance. +It was in the expectation of hearing more about him, however, that +he cheerfully accepted an invitation from Adlerkreutz to dine at the +Caserne one evening with the staff. Here he found, somewhat to his +embarrassment, that the dinner was partly in his own honor, and at the +close of five courses, and the emptying of many bottles, his health was +proposed by the gallant veteran Adlerkreutz in a neat address of many +syllables containing all the parts of speech and a single verb. It was +to the effect that in his soul-friend the Herr Consul and himself was +the never-to-be-severed union of Germania and Columbia, and in their +perfect understanding was the war-defying alliance of two great nations, +and that in the consul's noble restoration of Unser Karl to the German +army there was the astute diplomacy of a great mind. He was satisfied +that himself and the Herr Consul still united in the great future, +looking down upon a common brotherhood,--the great Germanic-American +Confederation,--would feel satisfied with themselves and each other +and their never-to-be-forgotten earth-labors. Cries of “Hoch! Hoch!” + resounded through the apartment with the grinding roll of heavy-bottomed +beer-glasses, and the consul, tremulous with emotion and a reserve verb +in his pocket, rose to reply. Fully embarked upon this perilous voyage, +and steering wide and clear of any treacherous shore of intelligence or +fancied harbor of understanding and rest, he kept boldly out at sea. He +said that, while his loving adversary in this battle of compliment had +disarmed him and left him no words to reply to his generous panegyric, +he could not but join with that gallant soldier in his heartfelt +aspirations for the peaceful alliance of both countries. But while he +fully reciprocated all his host's broader and higher sentiments, he must +point out to this gallant assembly, this glorious brotherhood, that +even a greater tie of sympathy knitted him to the general,--the tie of +kinship! For while it was well known to the present company that their +gallant commander had married an Englishwoman, he, the consul, although +always an American, would now for the first time confess to them that he +HIMSELF was of Dutch descent on his mother's side! He would say no more, +but confidently leave them in possession of the tremendous significance +of this until-then-unknown fact! He sat down, with the forgotten verb +still in his pocket, but the applause that followed this perfectly +conclusive, satisfying, and logical climax convinced him of his success. +His hand was grasped eagerly by successive warriors; the general turned +and embraced him before the breathless assembly; there were tears in the +consul's eyes. + +As the festivities progressed, however, he found to his surprise that +Karl had not only become the fashion as a military page, but that his +naive stupidity and sublime simplicity was the wondering theme and +inexhaustible delight of the whole barracks. Stories were told of his +genius for blundering which rivaled Handy Andy's; old stories of fatuous +ignorance were rearranged and fitted to “our Karl.” It was “our Karl” + who, on receiving a tip of two marks from the hands of a young lady to +whom he had brought the bouquet of a gallant lieutenant, exhibited some +hesitation, and finally said, “Yes, but, gnadiges Fraulein, that COST us +nine marks!” It was “our Karl” who, interrupting the regrets of another +lady that she was unable to accept his master's invitation, said +politely, “Ah! what matter, Gnadigste? I have still a letter for +Fraulein Kopp [her rival], and I was told that I must not invite you +both.” It was “our Karl” who astonished the hostess to whom he was sent +at the last moment with apologies from an officer, unexpectedly detained +at barrack duty, by suggesting that he should bring that unfortunate +officer his dinner from the just served table. Nor were these charming +infelicities confined to his social and domestic service. Although +ready, mechanical, and invariably docile in the manual and physical +duties of a soldier,--which endeared him to the German drill-master,--he +was still invincibly ignorant as to its purport, or even the meaning +and structure of the military instruments he handled or vacantly +looked upon. It was “our Karl” who suggested to his instructors that in +field-firing it was quicker and easier to load his musket to the +muzzle at once, and get rid of its death-dealing contents at a single +discharge, than to load and fire consecutively. It was “our Karl” who +nearly killed the instructor at sentry drill by adhering to the letter +of his instructions when that instructor had forgotten the password. +It was the same Karl who, severely admonished for his recklessness, the +next time added to his challenge the precaution, “Unless you instantly +say 'Fatherland' I'll fire!” Yet his perfect good humor and childlike +curiosity were unmistakable throughout, and incited his comrades and +his superiors to show him everything in the hope of getting some +characteristic comment from him. Everything and everybody were open to +Karl and his good-humored simplicity. + +That evening, as the general accompanied the consul down to the gateway +and the waiting carriage, a figure in uniform ran spontaneously before +them and shouted “Heraus!” to the sentries. But the general promptly +checked “the turning out” of the guard with a paternal shake of his +finger to the over-zealous soldier, in whom the consul recognized Karl. +“He is my Bursche now,” said the general explanatorily. “My wife has +taken a fancy to him. Ach! he is very popular with these women.” The +consul was still more surprised. The Frau Generalin Adlerkreutz he +knew to be a pronounced Englishwoman,--carrying out her English +ways, proprieties, and prejudices in the very heart of Schlachtstadt, +uncompromisingly, without fear and without reproach. That she should +follow a merely foreign society craze, or alter her English household so +as to admit the impossible Karl, struck him oddly. + +A month or two elapsed without further news of Karl, when one afternoon +he suddenly turned up at the consulate. He had again sought the consular +quiet to write a few letters home; he had no chance in the confinement +of the barracks. + +“But by this time you must be in the family of a field-marshal, at +least,” suggested the consul pleasantly. + +“Not to-day, but next week,” said Karl, with sublime simplicity; “THEN I +am going to serve with the governor commandant of Rheinfestung.” + +The consul smiled, motioned him to a seat at a table in the outer +office, and left him undisturbed to his correspondence. + +Returning later, he found Karl, his letters finished, gazing with +childish curiosity and admiration at some thick official envelopes, +bearing the stamp of the consulate, which were lying on the table. He +was evidently struck with the contrast between them and the thin, flimsy +affairs he was holding in his hand. He appeared still more impressed +when the consul told him what they were. + +“Are you writing to your friends?” continued the consul, touched by his +simplicity. + +“Ach ja!” said Karl eagerly. + +“Would you like to put your letter in one of these envelopes?” continued +the official. + +The beaming face and eyes of Karl were a sufficient answer. After all, +it was a small favor granted to this odd waif, who seemed to still cling +to the consular protection. He handed him the envelope and left him +addressing it in boyish pride. + +It was Karl's last visit to the consulate. He appeared to have spoken +truly, and the consul presently learned that he had indeed been +transferred, through some high official manipulation, to the personal +service of the governor of Rheinfestung. There was weeping among the +Dienstmadchen of Schlachtstadt, and a distinct loss of originality and +lightness in the gatherings of the gentler Hausfrauen. His memory +still survived in the barracks through the later editions of his +former delightful stupidities,--many of them, it is to be feared, +were inventions,--and stories that were supposed to have come from +Rheinfestung were described in the slang of the Offiziere as being +“colossal.” But the consul remembered Rheinfestung, and could not +imagine it as a home for Karl, or in any way fostering his peculiar +qualities. For it was eminently a fortress of fortresses, a magazine of +magazines, a depot of depots. It was the key of the Rhine, the citadel +of Westphalia, the “Clapham Junction” of German railways, but defended, +fortified, encompassed, and controlled by the newest as well as the +oldest devices of military strategy and science. Even in the pipingest +time of peace, whole railway trains went into it like a rat in a trap, +and might have never come out of it; it stretched out an inviting +hand and arm across the river that might in the twinkling of an eye be +changed into a closed fist of menace. You “defiled” into it, commanded +at every step by enfilading walls; you “debouched” out of it, as you +thought, and found yourself only before the walls; you “reentered” it at +every possible angle; you did everything apparently but pass through it. +You thought yourself well out of it, and were stopped by a bastion. Its +circumvallations haunted you until you came to the next station. It had +pressed even the current of the river into its defensive service. There +were secrets of its foundations and mines that only the highest military +despots knew and kept to themselves. In a word--it was impregnable. + +That such a place could not be trifled with or misunderstood in its +right-and-acute-angled severities seemed plain to every one. But set on +by his companions, who were showing him its defensive foundations, or +in his own idle curiosity, Karl managed to fall into the Rhine and was +fished out with difficulty. The immersion may have chilled his military +ardor or soured his good humor, for later the consul heard that he had +visited the American consular agent at an adjacent town with the old +story of his American citizenship. “He seemed,” said the consul's +colleague, “to be well posted about American railways and American +towns, but he had no papers. He lounged around the office for a while +and”-- + +“Wrote letters home?” suggested the consul, with a flash of +reminiscence. + +“Yes, the poor chap had no privacy at the barracks, and I reckon was +overlooked or bedeviled.” + +This was the last the consul heard of Karl Schwartz directly; for a +week or two later he again fell into the Rhine, this time so fatally and +effectually that in spite of the efforts of his companions he was swept +away by the rapid current, and thus ended his service to his country. +His body was never recovered. + +A few months before the consul was transferred from Schlachtstadt to +another post his memory of the departed Karl was revived by a visit from +Adlerkreutz. The general looked grave. + +“You remember Unser Karl?” he said. + +“Yes.” + +“Do you think he was an impostor?” + +“As regards his American citizenship, yes! But I could not say more.” + +“So!” said the general. “A very singular thing has happened,” he added, +twirling his mustache. “The Inspector of police has notified us of the +arrival of a Karl Schwartz in this town. It appears he is the REAL Karl +Schwartz, identified by his sister as the only one. The other, who was +drowned, was an impostor. Hein?” + +“Then you have secured another recruit?” said the consul smilingly. + +“No. For this one has already served his time in Elsass, where he went +when he left here as a boy. But, Donnerwetter, why should that dumb fool +take his name?” + +“By chance, I fancy. Then he stupidly stuck to it, and had to take the +responsibilities with it. Don't you see?” said the consul, pleased with +his own cleverness. + +“Zo-o!” said the general slowly, in his deepest voice. But the German +exclamation has a variety of significance, according to the inflection, +and Adlerkreutz's ejaculation seemed to contain them all. + +***** + +It was in Paris, where the consul had lingered on his way to his new +post. He was sitting in a well-known cafe, among whose habitues were +several military officers of high rank. A group of them were gathered +round a table near him. He was idly watching them with an odd +recollection of Schlachtstadt in his mind, and as idly glancing from +them to the more attractive Boulevard without. The consul was getting a +little tired of soldiers. + +Suddenly there was a slight stir in the gesticulating group and a cry of +greeting. The consul looked up mechanically, and then his eyes remained +fixed and staring at the newcomer. For it was the dead Karl; Karl, +surely! Karl!--his plump figure belted in a French officer's tunic; his +flaxen hair clipped a little closer, but still its fleece showing under +his kepi. Karl, his cheeks more cherubic than ever--unchanged but for a +tiny yellow toy mustache curling up over the corners of his full lips. +Karl, beaming at his companions in his old way, but rattling off French +vivacities without the faintest trace of accent. Could he be mistaken? +Was it some phenomenal resemblance, or had the soul of the German +private been transmigrated to the French officer. + +The consul hurriedly called the garcon. “Who is that officer who has +just arrived?” + +“It is the Captain Christian, of the Intelligence Bureau,” said the +waiter, with proud alacrity. “A famous officer, brave as a rabbit,--un +fier lapin,--and one of our best clients. So drole, too, such a farceur +and mimic. M'sieur would be ravished to hear his imitations.” + +“But he looks like a German; and his name!” + +“Ah, he is from Alsace. But not a German!” said the waiter, absolutely +whitening with indignation. “He was at Belfort. So was I. Mon Dieu! No, +a thousand times no!” + +“But has he been living here long?” said the consul. + +“In Paris, a few months. But his Department, M'sieur understands, takes +him EVERYWHERE! Everywhere where he can gain information.” + +The consul's eyes were still on the Captain Christian. Presently the +officer, perhaps instinctively conscious of the scrutiny, looked towards +him. Their eyes met. To the consul's surprise, the ci-devant Karl beamed +upon him, and advanced with outstretched hand. + +But the consul stiffened slightly, and remained so with his glass in his +hand. At which Captain Christian brought his own easily to a military +salute, and said politely:-- + +“Monsieur le Consul has been promoted from his post. Permit me to +congratulate him.” + +“You have heard, then?” said the consul dryly. + +“Otherwise I should not presume. For our Department makes it a +business--in Monsieur le Consul's case it becomes a pleasure--to know +everything.” + +“Did your Department know that the real Karl Schwartz has returned?” + said the consul dryly. + +Captain Christian shrugged his shoulders. “Then it appears that the sham +Karl died none too soon,” he said lightly. “And yet”--he bent his eyes +with mischievous reproach upon the consul. + +“Yet what?” demanded the consul sternly. + +“Monsieur le Consul might have saved the unfortunate man by accepting +him as an American citizen and not helping to force him into the German +service.” + +The consul saw in a flash the full military significance of this logic, +and could not repress a smile. At which Captain Christian dropped easily +into a chair beside him, and as easily into broken German English:-- + +“Und,” he went on, “dees town--dees Schlachtstadt is fine town, eh? Fine +womens? Goot men? Und peer and sausage? Blenty to eat and trink, eh? Und +you und te poys haf a gay times?” + +The consul tried to recover his dignity. The waiter behind him, +recognizing only the delightful mimicry of this adorable officer, was in +fits of laughter. Nevertheless, the consul managed to say dryly:-- + +“And the barracks, the magazines, the commissariat, the details, the +reserves of Schlachtstadt were very interesting?” + +“Assuredly.” + +“And Rheinfestung--its plans--its details, even its dangerous +foundations by the river--they were to a soldier singularly +instructive?” + +“You have reason to say so,” said Captain Christian, curling his little +mustache. + +“And the fortress--you think?” + +“Imprenable! Mais”-- + +The consul remembered General Adlerkreutz's “Zo-o,” and wondered. + + + + +UNCLE JIM AND UNCLE BILLY + + +They were partners. The avuncular title was bestowed on them by Cedar +Camp, possibly in recognition of a certain matured good humor, quite +distinct from the spasmodic exuberant spirits of its other members, +and possibly from what, to its youthful sense, seemed their advanced +ages--which must have been at least forty! They had also set habits +even in their improvidence, lost incalculable and unpayable sums to +each other over euchre regularly every evening, and inspected their +sluice-boxes punctually every Saturday for repairs--which they never +made. They even got to resemble each other, after the fashion of old +married couples, or, rather, as in matrimonial partnerships, were +subject to the domination of the stronger character; although in +their case it is to be feared that it was the feminine Uncle +Billy--enthusiastic, imaginative, and loquacious--who swayed the +masculine, steady-going, and practical Uncle Jim. They had lived in the +camp since its foundation in 1849; there seemed to be no reason why +they should not remain there until its inevitable evolution into a +mining-town. The younger members might leave through restless ambition +or a desire for change or novelty; they were subject to no such trifling +mutation. Yet Cedar Camp was surprised one day to hear that Uncle Billy +was going away. + +The rain was softly falling on the bark thatch of the cabin with a +muffled murmur, like a sound heard through sleep. The southwest trades +were warm even at that altitude, as the open door testified, although +a fire of pine bark was flickering on the adobe hearth and striking out +answering fires from the freshly scoured culinary utensils on the rude +sideboard, which Uncle Jim had cleaned that morning with his usual +serious persistency. Their best clothes, which were interchangeable and +worn alternately by each other on festal occasions, hung on the +walls, which were covered with a coarse sailcloth canvas instead of +lath-and-plaster, and were diversified by pictures from illustrated +papers and stains from the exterior weather. Two “bunks,” like ships' +berths,--an upper and lower one,--occupied the gable-end of this single +apartment, and on beds of coarse sacking, filled with dry moss, were +carefully rolled their respective blankets and pillows. They were the +only articles not used in common, and whose individuality was respected. + +Uncle Jim, who had been sitting before the fire, rose as the square bulk +of his partner appeared at the doorway with an armful of wood for the +evening stove. By that sign he knew it was nine o'clock: for the last +six years Uncle Billy had regularly brought in the wood at that hour, +and Uncle Jim had as regularly closed the door after him, and set out +their single table, containing a greasy pack of cards taken from its +drawer, a bottle of whiskey, and two tin drinking-cups. To this was +added a ragged memorandum-book and a stick of pencil. The two men drew +their stools to the table. + +“Hol' on a minit,” said Uncle Billy. + +His partner laid down the cards as Uncle Billy extracted from his pocket +a pill-box, and, opening it, gravely took a pill. This was clearly an +innovation on their regular proceedings, for Uncle Billy was always in +perfect health. + +“What's this for?” asked Uncle Jim half scornfully. + +“Agin ager.” + +“You ain't got no ager,” said Uncle Jim, with the assurance of intimate +cognizance of his partner's physical condition. + +“But it's a pow'ful preventive! Quinine! Saw this box at Riley's store, +and laid out a quarter on it. We kin keep it here, comfortable, for +evenings. It's mighty soothin' arter a man's done a hard day's work on +the river-bar. Take one.” + +Uncle Jim gravely took a pill and swallowed it, and handed the box back +to his partner. + +“We'll leave it on the table, sociable like, in case any of the boys +come in,” said Uncle Billy, taking up the cards. “Well. How do we +stand?” + +Uncle Jim consulted the memorandum-book. “You were owin' me sixty-two +thousand dollars on the last game, and the limit's seventy-five +thousand!” + +“Je whillikins!” ejaculated Uncle Billy. “Let me see.” + +He examined the book, feebly attempted to challenge the additions, but +with no effect on the total. “We oughter hev made the limit a hundred +thousand,” he said seriously; “seventy-five thousand is only triflin' +in a game like ours. And you've set down my claim at Angel's?” he +continued. + +“I allowed you ten thousand dollars for that,” said Uncle Jim, with +equal gravity, “and it's a fancy price too.” + +The claim in question being an unprospected hillside ten miles distant, +which Uncle Jim had never seen, and Uncle Billy had not visited for +years, the statement was probably true; nevertheless, Uncle Billy +retorted:-- + +“Ye kin never tell how these things will pan out. Why, only this mornin' +I was taking a turn round Shot Up Hill, that ye know is just rotten with +quartz and gold, and I couldn't help thinkin' how much it was like my +ole claim at Angel's. I must take a day off to go on there and strike a +pick in it, if only for luck.” + +Suddenly he paused and said, “Strange, ain't it, you should speak of it +to-night? Now I call that queer!” + +He laid down his cards and gazed mysteriously at his companion. Uncle +Jim knew perfectly that Uncle Billy had regularly once a week for +many years declared his final determination to go over to Angel's and +prospect his claim, yet nevertheless he half responded to his partner's +suggestion of mystery, and a look of fatuous wonder crept into his eyes. +But he contented himself by saying cautiously, “You spoke of it first.” + +“That's the more sing'lar,” said Uncle Billy confidently. “And I've been +thinking about it, and kinder seeing myself thar all day. It's mighty +queer!” He got up and began to rummage among some torn and coverless +books in the corner. + +“Where's that 'Dream Book' gone to?” + +“The Carson boys borrowed it,” replied Uncle Jim. “Anyhow, yours wasn't +no dream--only a kind o' vision, and the book don't take no stock in +visions.” Nevertheless, he watched his partner with some sympathy, and +added, “That reminds me that I had a dream the other night of being in +'Frisco at a small hotel, with heaps o' money, and all the time being +sort o' scared and bewildered over it.” + +“No?” queried his partner eagerly yet reproachfully. “You never let +on anything about it to ME! It's mighty queer you havin' these strange +feelin's, for I've had 'em myself. And only to-night, comin' up from +the spring, I saw two crows hopping in the trail, and I says, 'If I see +another, it's luck, sure!' And you'll think I'm lyin', but when I went +to the wood-pile just now there was the THIRD one sittin' up on a log as +plain as I see you. Tell 'e what folks ken laugh--but that's just what +Jim Filgee saw the night before he made the big strike!” + +They were both smiling, yet with an underlying credulity and seriousness +as singularly pathetic as it seemed incongruous to their years and +intelligence. Small wonder, however, that in their occupation and +environment--living daily in an atmosphere of hope, expectation, and +chance, looking forward each morning to the blind stroke of a pick that +might bring fortune--they should see signs in nature and hear mystic +voices in the trackless woods that surrounded them. Still less strange +that they were peculiarly susceptible to the more recognized diversions +of chance, and were gamblers on the turning of a card who trusted to the +revelation of a shovelful of upturned earth. + +It was quite natural, therefore, that they should return from their +abstract form of divination to the table and their cards. But they were +scarcely seated before they heard a crackling step in the brush outside, +and the free latch of their door was lifted. A younger member of the +camp entered. He uttered a peevish “Halloo!” which might have passed +for a greeting, or might have been a slight protest at finding the door +closed, drew the stool from which Uncle Jim had just risen before the +fire, shook his wet clothes like a Newfoundland dog, and sat down. Yet +he was by no means churlish nor coarse-looking, and this act was rather +one of easy-going, selfish, youthful familiarity than of rudeness. The +cabin of Uncles Billy and Jim was considered a public right or “common” + of the camp. Conferences between individual miners were appointed there. +“I'll meet you at Uncle Billy's” was a common tryst. Added to this was a +tacit claim upon the partners' arbitrative powers, or the equal right to +request them to step outside if the interviews were of a private nature. +Yet there was never any objection on the part of the partners, and +to-night there was not a shadow of resentment of this intrusion in the +patient, good-humored, tolerant eyes of Uncles Jim and Billy as they +gazed at their guest. Perhaps there was a slight gleam of relief in +Uncle Jim's when he found that the guest was unaccompanied by any one, +and that it was not a tryst. It would have been unpleasant for the +two partners to have stayed out in the rain while their guests were +exchanging private confidences in their cabin. While there might have +been no limit to their good will, there might have been some to their +capacity for exposure. + +Uncle Jim drew a huge log from beside the hearth and sat on the driest +end of it, while their guest occupied the stool. The young man, without +turning away from his discontented, peevish brooding over the fire, +vaguely reached backward for the whiskey-bottle and Uncle Billy's tin +cup, to which he was assisted by the latter's hospitable hand. But on +setting down the cup his eye caught sight of the pill-box. + +“Wot's that?” he said, with gloomy scorn. “Rat poison?” + +“Quinine pills--agin ager,” said Uncle Jim. “The newest thing out. Keeps +out damp like Injin-rubber! Take one to follow yer whiskey. Me and Uncle +Billy wouldn't think o' settin' down, quiet like, in the evening arter +work, without 'em. Take one--ye 'r' welcome! We keep 'em out here for +the boys.” + +Accustomed as the partners were to adopt and wear each other's opinions +before folks, as they did each other's clothing, Uncle Billy was, +nevertheless, astonished and delighted at Uncle Jim's enthusiasm over +HIS pills. The guest took one and swallowed it. + +“Mighty bitter!” he said, glancing at his hosts with the quick +Californian suspicion of some practical joke. But the honest faces of +the partners reassured him. + +“That bitterness ye taste,” said Uncle Jim quickly, “is whar the +thing's gittin' in its work. Sorter sickenin' the malaria--and kinder +water-proofin' the insides all to onct and at the same lick! Don't yer +see? Put another in yer vest pocket; you'll be cryin' for 'em like a +child afore ye get home. Thar! Well, how's things agoin' on your claim, +Dick? Boomin', eh?” + +The guest raised his head and turned it sufficiently to fling his answer +back over his shoulder at his hosts. “I don't know what YOU'D call' +boomin','” he said gloomily; “I suppose you two men sitting here +comfortably by the fire, without caring whether school keeps or not, +would call two feet of backwater over one's claim 'boomin';' I reckon +YOU'D consider a hundred and fifty feet of sluicing carried away, +and drifting to thunder down the South Fork, something in the way of +advertising to your old camp! I suppose YOU'd think it was an inducement +to investors! I shouldn't wonder,” he added still more gloomily, as a +sudden dash of rain down the wide-throated chimney dropped in his +tin cup--“and it would be just like you two chaps, sittin' there +gormandizing over your quinine--if yer said this rain that's lasted +three weeks was something to be proud of!” + +It was the cheerful and the satisfying custom of the rest of the camp, +for no reason whatever, to hold Uncle Jim and Uncle Billy responsible +for its present location, its vicissitudes, the weather, or any +convulsion of nature; and it was equally the partners' habit, for no +reason whatever, to accept these animadversions and apologize. + +“It's a rain that's soft and mellowin',” said Uncle Billy gently, +“and supplin' to the sinews and muscles. Did ye ever notice, +Jim”--ostentatiously to his partner--“did ye ever notice that you get +inter a kind o' sweaty lather workin' in it? Sorter openin' to the +pores!” + +“Fetches 'em every time,” said Uncle Billy. “Better nor fancy soap.” + +Their guest laughed bitterly. “Well, I'm going to leave it to you. I +reckon to cut the whole concern to-morrow, and 'lite' out for something +new. It can't be worse than this.” + +The two partners looked grieved, albeit they were accustomed to these +outbursts. Everybody who thought of going away from Cedar Camp used it +first as a threat to these patient men, after the fashion of runaway +nephews, or made an exemplary scene of their going. + +“Better think twice afore ye go,” said Uncle Billy. + +“I've seen worse weather afore ye came,” said Uncle Jim slowly. “Water +all over the Bar; the mud so deep ye couldn't get to Angel's for a +sack o' flour, and we had to grub on pine nuts and jackass-rabbits. And +yet--we stuck by the camp, and here we are!” + +The mild answer apparently goaded their guest to fury. He rose from his +seat, threw back his long dripping hair from his handsome but querulous +face, and scattered a few drops on the partners. “Yes, that's just it. +That's what gets me! Here you stick, and here you are! And here you'll +stick and rust until you starve or drown! Here you are,--two men who +ought to be out in the world, playing your part as grown men,--stuck +here like children 'playing house' in the woods; playing work in your +wretched mud-pie ditches, and content. Two men not so old that you +mightn't be taking your part in the fun of the world, going to balls +or theatres, or paying attention to girls, and yet old enough to have +married and have your families around you, content to stay in this +God-forsaken place; old bachelors, pigging together like poorhouse +paupers. That's what gets me! Say you LIKE it? Say you expect by +hanging on to make a strike--and what does that amount to? What are YOUR +chances? How many of us have made, or are making, more than grub wages? +Say you're willing to share and share alike as you do--have you got +enough for two? Aren't you actually living off each other? Aren't you +grinding each other down, choking each other's struggles, as you sink +together deeper and deeper in the mud of this cussed camp? And while +you're doing this, aren't you, by your age and position here, holding +out hopes to others that you know cannot be fulfilled?” + +Accustomed as they were to the half-querulous, half-humorous, but always +extravagant, criticism of the others, there was something so new in this +arraignment of themselves that the partners for a moment sat silent. +There was a slight flush on Uncle Billy's cheek, there was a slight +paleness on Uncle Jim's. He was the first to reply. But he did so with a +certain dignity which neither his partner nor their guest had ever seen +on his face before. + +“As it's OUR fire that's warmed ye up like this, Dick Bullen,” he said, +slowly rising, with his hand resting on Uncle Billy's shoulder, “and as +it's OUR whiskey that's loosened your tongue, I reckon we must put up +with what ye 'r' saying, just as we've managed to put up with our own +way o' living, and not quo'll with ye under our own roof.” + +The young fellow saw the change in Uncle Jim's face and quickly extended +his hand, with an apologetic backward shake of his long hair. “Hang +it all, old man,” he said, with a laugh of mingled contrition and +amusement, “you mustn't mind what I said just now. I've been so worried +thinking of things about MYSELF, and, maybe, a little about you, that I +quite forgot I hadn't a call to preach to anybody--least of all to you. +So we part friends, Uncle Jim, and you too, Uncle Billy, and you'll +forget what I said. In fact, I don't know why I spoke at all--only I +was passing your claim just now, and wondering how much longer your old +sluice-boxes would hold out, and where in thunder you'd get others when +they caved in! I reckon that sent me off. That's all, old chap!” + +Uncle Billy's face broke into a beaming smile of relief, and it was HIS +hand that first grasped his guest's; Uncle Jim quickly followed with +as honest a pressure, but with eyes that did not seem to be looking at +Bullen, though all trace of resentment had died out of them. He walked +to the door with him, again shook hands, but remained looking out in the +darkness some time after Dick Bullen's tangled hair and broad shoulders +had disappeared. + +Meantime, Uncle Billy had resumed his seat and was chuckling and +reminiscent as he cleaned out his pipe. + +“Kinder reminds me of Jo Sharp, when he was cleaned out at poker by his +own partners in his own cabin, comin' up here and bedevilin' US about +it! What was it you lint him?” + +But Uncle Jim did not reply; and Uncle Billy, taking up the cards, +began to shuffle them, smiling vaguely, yet at the same time somewhat +painfully. “Arter all, Dick was mighty cut up about what he said, and I +felt kinder sorry for him. And, you know, I rather cotton to a man that +speaks his mind. Sorter clears him out, you know, of all the slumgullion +that's in him. It's just like washin' out a pan o' prospecting: you pour +in the water, and keep slushing it round and round, and out comes first +the mud and dirt, and then the gravel, and then the black sand, and +then--it's all out, and there's a speck o' gold glistenin' at the +bottom!” + +“Then you think there WAS suthin' in what he said?” said Uncle Jim, +facing about slowly. + +An odd tone in his voice made Uncle Billy look up. “No,” he said +quickly, shying with the instinct of an easy pleasure-loving nature from +a possible grave situation. “No, I don't think he ever got the color! +But wot are ye moonin' about for? Ain't ye goin' to play? It's mor' 'n +half past nine now.” + +Thus adjured, Uncle Jim moved up to the table and sat down, while Uncle +Billy dealt the cards, turning up the Jack or right bower--but WITHOUT +that exclamation of delight which always accompanied his good fortune, +nor did Uncle Jim respond with the usual corresponding simulation of +deep disgust. Such a circumstance had not occurred before in the history +of their partnership. They both played in silence--a silence only +interrupted by a larger splash of raindrops down the chimney. + +“We orter put a couple of stones on the chimney-top, edgewise, like Jack +Curtis does. It keeps out the rain without interferin' with the draft,” + said Uncle Billy musingly. + +“What's the use if”-- + +“If what?” said Uncle Billy quietly. + +“If we don't make it broader,” said Uncle Jim half wearily. + +They both stared at the chimney, but Uncle Jim's eye followed the wall +around to the bunks. There were many discolorations on the canvas, and +a picture of the Goddess of Liberty from an illustrated paper had broken +out in a kind of damp, measly eruption. “I'll stick that funny handbill +of the 'Washin' Soda' I got at the grocery store the other day right +over the Liberty gal. It's a mighty perty woman washin' with short +sleeves,” said Uncle Billy. “That's the comfort of them picters, you kin +always get somethin' new, and it adds thickness to the wall.” + +Uncle Jim went back to the cards in silence. After a moment he rose +again, and hung his overcoat against the door. + +“Wind's comin' in,” he said briefly. + +“Yes,” said Uncle Billy cheerfully, “but it wouldn't seem nat'ral if +there wasn't that crack in the door to let the sunlight in o mornin's. +Makes a kind o' sundial, you know. When the streak o' light's in +that corner, I says 'six o'clock!' when it's across the chimney I say +'seven!' and so 'tis!” + +It certainly had grown chilly, and the wind was rising. The +candle guttered and flickered; the embers on the hearth brightened +occasionally, as if trying to dispel the gathering shadows, but always +ineffectually. The game was frequently interrupted by the necessity of +stirring the fire. After an interval of gloom, in which each partner +successively drew the candle to his side to examine his cards, Uncle Jim +said:-- + +“Say?” + +“Well!” responded Uncle Billy. + +“Are you sure you saw that third crow on the wood-pile?” + +“Sure as I see you now--and a darned sight plainer. Why?” + +“Nothin', I was just thinkin'. Look here! How do we stand now?” + +Uncle Billy was still losing. “Nevertheless,” he said cheerfully, “I'm +owin' you a matter of sixty thousand dollars.” + +Uncle Jim examined the book abstractedly. “Suppose,” he said slowly, but +without looking at his partner, “suppose, as it's gettin' late now, we +play for my half share of the claim agin the limit--seventy thousand--to +square up.” + +“Your half share!” repeated Uncle Billy, with amused incredulity. + +“My half share of the claim,--of this yer house, you know,--one half of +all that Dick Bullen calls our rotten starvation property,” reiterated +Uncle Jim, with a half smile. + +Uncle Billy laughed. It was a novel idea; it was, of course, “all in the +air,” like the rest of their game, yet even then he had an odd feeling +that he would have liked Dick Bullen to have known it. “Wade in, old +pard,” he said. “I'm on it.” + +Uncle Jim lit another candle to reinforce the fading light, and the deal +fell to Uncle Billy. He turned up Jack of clubs. He also turned a little +redder as he took up his cards, looked at them, and glanced hastily at +his partner. “It's no use playing,” he said. “Look here!” He laid down +his cards on the table. They were the ace, king and queen of clubs, +and Jack of spades,--or left bower,--which, with the turned-up Jack of +clubs,--or right bower,--comprised ALL the winning cards! + +“By jingo! If we'd been playin' four-handed, say you an' me agin some +other ducks, we'd have made 'four' in that deal, and h'isted some +money--eh?” and his eyes sparkled. Uncle Jim, also, had a slight +tremulous light in his own. + +“Oh no! I didn't see no three crows this afternoon,” added Uncle Billy +gleefully, as his partner, in turn, began to shuffle the cards with +laborious and conscientious exactitude. Then dealing, he turned up a +heart for trumps. Uncle Billy took up his cards one by one, but when +he had finished his face had become as pale as it had been red before. +“What's the matter?” said Uncle Jim quickly, his own face growing white. + +Uncle Billy slowly and with breathless awe laid down his cards, face up +on the table. It was exactly the same sequence IN HEARTS, with the knave +of diamonds added. He could again take every trick. + +They stared at each other with vacant faces and a half-drawn smile of +fear. They could hear the wind moaning in the trees beyond; there was a +sudden rattling at the door. Uncle Billy started to his feet, but Uncle +Jim caught his arm. “DON'T LEAVE THE CARDS! It's only the wind; sit +down,” he said in a low awe-hushed voice, “it's your deal; you were two +before, and two now, that makes your four; you've only one point to make +to win the game. Go on.” + +They both poured out a cup of whiskey, smiling vaguely, yet with a +certain terror in their eyes. Their hands were cold; the cards slipped +from Uncle Billy's benumbed fingers; when he had shuffled them he passed +them to his partner to shuffle them also, but did not speak. When Uncle +Jim had shuffled them methodically he handed them back fatefully to his +partner. Uncle Billy dealt them with a trembling hand. He turned up a +club. “If you are sure of these tricks you know you've won,” said Uncle +Jim in a voice that was scarcely audible. Uncle Billy did not reply, but +tremulously laid down the ace and right and left bowers. + +He had won! + +A feeling of relief came over each, and they laughed hysterically and +discordantly. Ridiculous and childish as their contest might have seemed +to a looker-on, to each the tension had been as great as that of the +greatest gambler, without the gambler's trained restraint, coolness, and +composure. Uncle Billy nervously took up the cards again. + +“Don't,” said Uncle Jim gravely; “it's no use--the luck's gone now.” + +“Just one more deal,” pleaded his partner. + +Uncle Jim looked at the fire, Uncle Billy hastily dealt, and threw the +two hands face up on the table. They were the ordinary average cards. +He dealt again, with the same result. “I told you so,” said Uncle Jim, +without looking up. + +It certainly seemed a tame performance after their wonderful hands, and +after another trial Uncle Billy threw the cards aside and drew his stool +before the fire. “Mighty queer, warn't it?” he said, with reminiscent +awe. “Three times running. Do you know, I felt a kind o' creepy feelin' +down my back all the time. Criky! what luck! None of the boys would +believe it if we told 'em--least of all that Dick Bullen, who don't +believe in luck, anyway. Wonder what he'd have said! and, Lord! how he'd +have looked! Wall! what are you starin' so for?” + +Uncle Jim had faced around, and was gazing at Uncle Billy's +good-humored, simple face. “Nothin'!” he said briefly, and his eyes +again sought the fire. + +“Then don't look as if you was seein' suthin'--you give me the creeps,” + returned Uncle Billy a little petulantly. “Let's turn in, afore the fire +goes out!” + +The fateful cards were put back into the drawer, the table shoved +against the wall. The operation of undressing was quickly got over, +the clothes they wore being put on top of their blankets. Uncle Billy +yawned, “I wonder what kind of a dream I'll have tonight--it oughter be +suthin' to explain that luck.” This was his “good-night” to his partner. +In a few moments he was sound asleep. + +Not so Uncle Jim. He heard the wind gradually go down, and in the +oppressive silence that followed could detect the deep breathing of +his companion and the far-off yelp of a coyote. His eyesight becoming +accustomed to the semi-darkness, broken only by the scintillation of +the dying embers of their fire, he could take in every detail of their +sordid cabin and the rude environment in which they had lived so long. +The dismal patches on the bark roof, the wretched makeshifts of each +day, the dreary prolongation of discomfort, were all plain to him now, +without the sanguine hope that had made them bearable. And when he +shut his eyes upon them, it was only to travel in fancy down the steep +mountain side that he had trodden so often to the dreary claim on the +overflowed river, to the heaps of “tailings” that encumbered it, like +empty shells of the hollow, profitless days spent there, which they +were always waiting for the stroke of good fortune to clear away. He saw +again the rotten “sluicing,” through whose hopeless rifts and holes even +their scant daily earnings had become scantier. At last he arose, +and with infinite gentleness let himself down from his berth without +disturbing his sleeping partner, and wrapping himself in his blanket, +went to the door, which he noiselessly opened. From the position of a +few stars that were glittering in the northern sky he knew that it was +yet scarcely midnight; there were still long, restless hours before the +day! In the feverish state into which he had gradually worked himself it +seemed to him impossible to wait the coming of the dawn. + +But he was mistaken. For even as he stood there all nature seemed to +invade his humble cabin with its free and fragrant breath, and invest +him with its great companionship. He felt again, in that breath, that +strange sense of freedom, that mystic touch of partnership with the +birds and beasts, the shrubs and trees, in this greater home before him. +It was this vague communion that had kept him there, that still held +these world-sick, weary workers in their rude cabins on the slopes +around him; and he felt upon his brow that balm that had nightly lulled +him and them to sleep and forgetfulness. He closed the door, turned +away, crept as noiselessly as before into his bunk again, and presently +fell into a profound slumber. + +But when Uncle Billy awoke the next morning he saw it was late; for +the sun, piercing the crack of the closed door, was sending a pencil of +light across the cold hearth, like a match to rekindle its dead embers. +His first thought was of his strange luck the night before, and of +disappointment that he had not had the dream of divination that he had +looked for. He sprang to the floor, but as he stood upright his +glance fell on Uncle Jim's bunk. It was empty. Not only that, but his +BLANKETS--Uncle Jim's own particular blankets--WERE GONE! + +A sudden revelation of his partner's manner the night before struck him +now with the cruelty of a blow; a sudden intelligence, perhaps the very +divination he had sought, flashed upon him like lightning! He glanced +wildly around the cabin. The table was drawn out from the wall a little +ostentatiously, as if to catch his eye. On it was lying the stained +chamois-skin purse in which they had kept the few grains of gold +remaining from their last week's “clean up.” The grains had been +carefully divided, and half had been taken! But near it lay the little +memorandum-book, open, with the stick of pencil lying across it. A deep +line was drawn across the page on which was recorded their imaginary +extravagant gains and losses, even to the entry of Uncle Jim's half +share of the claim which he had risked and lost! Underneath were +hurriedly scrawled the words:-- + +“Settled by YOUR luck, last night, old pard.--JAMES FOSTER.” + + +It was nearly a month before Cedar Camp was convinced that Uncle Billy +and Uncle Jim had dissolved partnership. Pride had prevented Uncle Billy +from revealing his suspicions of the truth, or of relating the events +that preceded Uncle Jim's clandestine flight, and Dick Bullen had gone +to Sacramento by stage-coach the same morning. He briefly gave out that +his partner had been called to San Francisco on important business of +their own, that indeed might necessitate his own removal there later. In +this he was singularly assisted by a letter from the absent Jim, dated +at San Francisco, begging him not to be anxious about his success, as he +had hopes of presently entering into a profitable business, but with no +further allusions to his precipitate departure, nor any suggestion of +a reason for it. For two or three days Uncle Billy was staggered and +bewildered; in his profound simplicity he wondered if his extraordinary +good fortune that night had made him deaf to some explanation of his +partner's, or, more terrible, if he had shown some “low” and incredible +intimation of taking his partner's extravagant bet as REAL and binding. +In this distress he wrote to Uncle Jim an appealing and apologetic +letter, albeit somewhat incoherent and inaccurate, and bristling +with misspelling, camp slang, and old partnership jibes. But to this +elaborate epistle he received only Uncle Jim's repeated assurances of +his own bright prospects, and his hopes that his old partner would be +more fortunate, single-handed, on the old claim. For a whole week or two +Uncle Billy sulked, but his invincible optimism and good humor got the +better of him, and he thought only of his old partner's good fortune. +He wrote him regularly, but always to one address--a box at the San +Francisco post-office, which to the simple-minded Uncle Billy suggested +a certain official importance. To these letters Uncle Jim responded +regularly but briefly. + +From a certain intuitive pride in his partner and his affection, Uncle +Billy did not show these letters openly to the camp, although he spoke +freely of his former partner's promising future, and even read them +short extracts. It is needless to say that the camp did not accept Uncle +Billy's story with unsuspecting confidence. On the contrary, a hundred +surmises, humorous or serious, but always extravagant, were afloat in +Cedar Camp. The partners had quarreled over their clothes--Uncle Jim, +who was taller than Uncle Billy, had refused to wear his partner's +trousers. They had quarreled over cards--Uncle Jim had discovered that +Uncle Billy was in possession of a “cold deck,” or marked pack. They had +quarreled over Uncle Billy's carelessness in grinding up half a box +of “bilious pills” in the morning's coffee. A gloomily imaginative +mule-driver had darkly suggested that, as no one had really seen Uncle +Jim leave the camp, he was still there, and his bones would yet be found +in one of the ditches; while a still more credulous miner averred that +what he had thought was the cry of a screech-owl the night previous to +Uncle Jim's disappearance, might have been the agonized utterance of +that murdered man. It was highly characteristic of that camp--and, +indeed, of others in California--that nobody, not even the ingenious +theorists themselves, believed their story, and that no one took the +slightest pains to verify or disprove it. Happily, Uncle Billy never +knew it, and moved all unconsciously in this atmosphere of burlesque +suspicion. And then a singular change took place in the attitude of the +camp towards him and the disrupted partnership. Hitherto, for no reason +whatever, all had agreed to put the blame upon Billy--possibly because +he was present to receive it. As days passed that slight reticence and +dejection in his manner, which they had at first attributed to remorse +and a guilty conscience, now began to tell as absurdly in his favor. +Here was poor Uncle Billy toiling though the ditches, while his selfish +partner was lolling in the lap of luxury in San Francisco! Uncle Billy's +glowing accounts of Uncle Jim's success only contributed to the sympathy +now fully given in his behalf and their execration of the absconding +partner. It was proposed at Biggs's store that a letter expressing the +indignation of the camp over his heartless conduct to his late partner, +William Fall, should be forwarded to him. Condolences were offered to +Uncle Billy, and uncouth attempts were made to cheer his loneliness. A +procession of half a dozen men twice a week to his cabin, carrying their +own whiskey and winding up with a “stag dance” before the premises, was +sufficient to lighten his eclipsed gayety and remind him of a happier +past. “Surprise” working parties visited his claim with spasmodic essays +towards helping him, and great good humor and hilarity prevailed. It was +not an unusual thing for an honest miner to arise from an idle gathering +in some cabin and excuse himself with the remark that he “reckoned he'd +put in an hour's work in Uncle Billy's tailings!” And yet, as before, it +was very improbable if any of these reckless benefactors REALLY believed +in their own earnestness or in the gravity of the situation. Indeed, a +kind of hopeful cynicism ran through their performances. “Like as not, +Uncle Billy is still in 'cahoots' [i. e., shares] with his old pard, and +is just laughin' at us as he's sendin' him accounts of our tomfoolin'.” + +And so the winter passed and the rains, and the days of cloudless skies +and chill starlit nights began. There were still freshets from the snow +reservoirs piled high in the Sierran passes, and the Bar was flooded, +but that passed too, and only the sunshine remained. Monotonous as the +seasons were, there was a faint movement in the camp with the stirring +of the sap in the pines and cedars. And then, one day, there was a +strange excitement on the Bar. Men were seen running hither and thither, +but mainly gathering in a crowd on Uncle Billy's claim, that still +retained the old partners' names in “The Fall and Foster.” To add to the +excitement, there was the quickly repeated report of a revolver, to all +appearance aimlessly exploded in the air by some one on the outskirts +of the assemblage. As the crowd opened, Uncle Billy appeared, pale, +hysterical, breathless, and staggering a little under the back-slapping +and hand-shaking of the whole camp. For Uncle Billy had “struck it +rich”--had just discovered a “pocket,” roughly estimated to be worth +fifteen thousand dollars! + +Although in that supreme moment he missed the face of his old partner, +he could not help seeing the unaffected delight and happiness shining +in the eyes of all who surrounded him. It was characteristic of that +sanguine but uncertain life that success and good fortune brought no +jealousy nor envy to the unfortunate, but was rather a promise +and prophecy of the fulfillment of their own hopes. The gold was +there--Nature but yielded up her secret. There was no prescribed limit +to her bounty. So strong was this conviction that a long-suffering but +still hopeful miner, in the enthusiasm of the moment, stooped down and +patted a large boulder with the apostrophic “Good old gal!” + +Then followed a night of jubilee, a next morning of hurried consultation +with a mining expert and speculator lured to the camp by the good +tidings; and then the very next night--to the utter astonishment of +Cedar Camp--Uncle Billy, with a draft for twenty thousand dollars in his +pocket, started for San Francisco, and took leave of his claim and the +camp forever! + +***** + +When Uncle Billy landed at the wharves of San Francisco he was a little +bewildered. The Golden Gate beyond was obliterated by the incoming +sea-fog, which had also roofed in the whole city, and lights already +glittered along the gray streets that climbed the grayer sand-hills. +As a Western man, brought up by inland rivers, he was fascinated and +thrilled by the tall-masted seagoing ships, and he felt a strange sense +of the remoter mysterious ocean, which he had never seen. But he was +impressed and startled by smartly dressed men and women, the passing of +carriages, and a sudden conviction that he was strange and foreign to +what he saw. It had been his cherished intention to call upon his old +partner in his working clothes, and then clap down on the table before +him a draft for ten thousand dollars as HIS share of their old claim. +But in the face of these brilliant strangers a sudden and unexpected +timidity came upon him. He had heard of a cheap popular hotel, much +frequented by the returning gold-miner, who entered its hospitable +doors--which held an easy access to shops--and emerged in a few hours +a gorgeous butterfly of fashion, leaving his old chrysalis behind him. +Thence he inquired his way; hence he afterwards issued in garments +glaringly new and ill fitting. But he had not sacrificed his beard, and +there was still something fine and original in his handsome weak face +that overcame the cheap convention of his clothes. Making his way to the +post-office, he was again discomfited by the great size of the building, +and bewildered by the array of little square letter-boxes behind glass +which occupied one whole wall, and an equal number of opaque and locked +wooden ones legibly numbered. His heart leaped; he remembered the +number, and before him was a window with a clerk behind it. Uncle Billy +leaned forward. + +“Kin you tell me if the man that box 690 b'longs to is in?” + +The clerk stared, made him repeat the question, and then turned away. +But he returned almost instantly, with two or three grinning heads +besides his own, apparently set behind his shoulders. Uncle Billy was +again asked to repeat his question. He did so. + +“Why don't you go and see if 690 is in his box?” said the first clerk, +turning with affected asperity to one of the others. + +The clerk went away, returned, and said with singular gravity, “He was +there a moment ago, but he's gone out to stretch his legs. It's rather +crampin' at first; and he can't stand it more than ten hours at a time, +you know.” + +But simplicity has its limits. Uncle Billy had already guessed his +real error in believing his partner was officially connected with the +building; his cheek had flushed and then paled again. The pupils of his +blue eyes had contracted into suggestive black points. “Ef you'll let +me in at that winder, young fellers,” he said, with equal gravity, +“I'll show yer how I kin make YOU small enough to go in a box without +crampin'! But I only wanted to know where Jim Foster LIVED.” + +At which the first clerk became perfunctory again, but civil. “A letter +left in his box would get you that information,” he said, “and here's +paper and pencil to write it now.” + +Uncle Billy took the paper and began to write, “Just got here. Come and +see me at”--He paused. A brilliant idea had struck him; He could impress +both his old partner and the upstarts at the window; he would put in the +name of the latest “swell” hotel in San Francisco, said to be a fairy +dream of opulence. He added “The Oriental,” and without folding the +paper shoved it in the window. + +“Don't you want an envelope?” asked the clerk. + +“Put a stamp on the corner of it,” responded Uncle Billy, laying down a +coin, “and she'll go through.” The clerk smiled, but affixed the stamp, +and Uncle Billy turned away. + +But it was a short-lived triumph. The disappointment at finding Uncle +Jim's address conveyed no idea of his habitation seemed to remove him +farther away, and lose his identity in the great city. Besides, he must +now make good his own address, and seek rooms at the Oriental. He went +thither. The furniture and decorations, even in these early days of +hotel-building in San Francisco, were extravagant and over-strained, +and Uncle Billy felt lost and lonely in his strange surroundings. But +he took a handsome suite of rooms, paid for them in advance on the spot, +and then, half frightened, walked out of them to ramble vaguely through +the city in the feverish hope of meeting his old partner. At night his +inquietude increased; he could not face the long row of tables in the +pillared dining-room, filled with smartly dressed men and women; +he evaded his bedroom, with its brocaded satin chairs and its gilt +bedstead, and fled to his modest lodgings at the Good Cheer House, and +appeased his hunger at its cheap restaurant, in the company of retired +miners and freshly arrived Eastern emigrants. Two or three days passed +thus in this quaint double existence. Three or four times a day he would +enter the gorgeous Oriental with affected ease and carelessness, demand +his key from the hotel-clerk, ask for the letter that did not come, go +to his room, gaze vaguely from his window on the passing crowd below for +the partner he could not find, and then return to the Good Cheer House +for rest and sustenance. On the fourth day he received a short note +from Uncle Jim; it was couched in his usual sanguine but brief and +businesslike style. He was very sorry, but important and profitable +business took him out of town, but he trusted to return soon and welcome +his old partner. He was also, for the first time, jocose, and hoped +that Uncle Billy would not “see all the sights” before he, Uncle Jim, +returned. Disappointing as this procrastination was to Uncle Billy, a +gleam of hope irradiated it: the letter had bridged over that gulf which +seemed to yawn between them at the post-office. His old partner had +accepted his visit to San Francisco without question, and had alluded to +a renewal of their old intimacy. For Uncle Billy, with all his trustful +simplicity, had been tortured by two harrowing doubts: one, whether +Uncle Jim in his new-fledged smartness as a “city” man--such as he +saw in the streets--would care for his rough companionship; the other, +whether he, Uncle Billy, ought not to tell him at once of his changed +fortune. But, like all weak, unreasoning men, he clung desperately to +a detail--he could not forego his old idea of astounding Uncle Jim by +giving him his share of the “strike” as his first intimation of it, and +he doubted, with more reason perhaps, if Jim would see him after he +had heard of his good fortune. For Uncle Billy had still a frightened +recollection of Uncle Jim's sudden stroke for independence, and +that rigid punctiliousness which had made him doggedly accept the +responsibility of his extravagant stake at euchre. + +With a view of educating himself for Uncle Jim's company, he “saw the +sights” of San Francisco--as an overgrown and somewhat stupid child +might have seen them--with great curiosity, but little contamination or +corruption. But I think he was chiefly pleased with watching the arrival +of the Sacramento and Stockton steamers at the wharves, in the hope +of discovering his old partner among the passengers on the gang-plank. +Here, with his old superstitious tendency and gambler's instinct, he +would augur great success in his search that day if any one of the +passengers bore the least resemblance to Uncle Jim, if a man or woman +stepped off first, or if he met a single person's questioning eye. +Indeed, this got to be the real occupation of the day, which he would on +no account have omitted, and to a certain extent revived each day in +his mind the morning's work of their old partnership. He would say to +himself, “It's time to go and look up Jim,” and put off what he +was pleased to think were his pleasures until this act of duty was +accomplished. + +In this singleness of purpose he made very few and no entangling +acquaintances, nor did he impart to any one the secret of his fortune, +loyally reserving it for his partner's first knowledge. To a man of +his natural frankness and simplicity this was a great trial, and was, +perhaps, a crucial test of his devotion. When he gave up his rooms at +the Oriental--as not necessary after his partner's absence--he sent +a letter, with his humble address, to the mysterious lock-box of his +partner without fear or false shame. He would explain it all when they +met. But he sometimes treated unlucky and returning miners to a dinner +and a visit to the gallery of some theatre. Yet while he had an active +sympathy with and understanding of the humblest, Uncle Billy, who +for many years had done his own and his partner's washing, scrubbing, +mending, and cooking, and saw no degradation in it, was somewhat +inconsistently irritated by menial functions in men, and although +he gave extravagantly to waiters, and threw a dollar to the +crossing-sweeper, there was always a certain shy avoidance of them in +his manner. Coming from the theatre one night Uncle Billy was, however, +seriously concerned by one of these crossing-sweepers turning hastily +before them and being knocked down by a passing carriage. The man rose +and limped hurriedly away; but Uncle Billy was amazed and still more +irritated to hear from his companion that this kind of menial occupation +was often profitable, and that at some of the principal crossings the +sweepers were already rich men. + +But a few days later brought a more notable event to Uncle Billy. One +afternoon in Montgomery Street he recognized in one of its smartly +dressed frequenters a man who had a few years before been a member of +Cedar Camp. Uncle Billy's childish delight at this meeting, which +seemed to bridge over his old partner's absence, was, however, only +half responded to by the ex-miner, and then somewhat satirically. In the +fullness of his emotion, Uncle Billy confided to him that he was seeking +his old partner, Jim Foster, and, reticent of his own good fortune, +spoke glowingly of his partner's brilliant expectations, but deplored +his inability to find him. And just now he was away on important +business. “I reckon he's got back,” said the man dryly. “I didn't know +he had a lock-box at the post-office, but I can give you his other +address. He lives at the Presidio, at Washerwoman's Bay.” He stopped and +looked with a satirical smile at Uncle Billy. But the latter, familiar +with Californian mining-camp nomenclature, saw nothing strange in it, +and merely repeated his companion's words. + +“You'll find him there! Good-by! So long! Sorry I'm in a hurry,” said +the ex-miner, and hurried away. + +Uncle Billy was too delighted with the prospect of a speedy meeting with +Uncle Jim to resent his former associate's supercilious haste, or even +to wonder why Uncle Jim had not informed him that he had returned. It +was not the first time that he had felt how wide was the gulf between +himself and these others, and the thought drew him closer to his old +partner, as well as his old idea, as it was now possible to surprise +him with the draft. But as he was going to surprise him in his own +boarding-house--probably a handsome one--Uncle Billy reflected that he +would do so in a certain style. + +He accordingly went to a livery stable and ordered a landau and pair, +with a negro coachman. Seated in it, in his best and most ill-fitting +clothes, he asked the coachman to take him to the Presidio, and leaned +back in the cushions as they drove through the streets with such an +expression of beaming gratification on his good-humored face that the +passers-by smiled at the equipage and its extravagant occupant. To them +it seemed the not unusual sight of the successful miner “on a spree.” To +the unsophisticated Uncle Billy their smiling seemed only a natural and +kindly recognition of his happiness, and he nodded and smiled back +to them with unsuspecting candor and innocent playfulness. “These yer +'Frisco fellers ain't ALL slouches, you bet,” he added to himself half +aloud, at the back of the grinning coachman. + +Their way led through well-built streets to the outskirts, or rather +to that portion of the city which seemed to have been overwhelmed by +shifting sand-dunes, from which half-submerged fences and even low +houses barely marked the line of highway. The resistless trade-winds +which had marked this change blew keenly in his face and slightly +chilled his ardor. At a turn in the road the sea came in sight, and +sloping towards it the great Cemetery of Lone Mountain, with white +shafts and marbles that glittered in the sunlight like the sails of +ships waiting to be launched down that slope into the Eternal Ocean. +Uncle Billy shuddered. What if it had been his fate to seek Uncle Jim +there! + +“Dar's yar Presidio!” said the negro coachman a few moments later, +pointing with his whip, “and dar's yar Wash'woman's Bay!” + +Uncle Billy stared. A huge quadrangular fort of stone with a flag flying +above its battlements stood at a little distance, pressed against the +rocks, as if beating back the encroaching surges; between him and the +fort but farther inland was a lagoon with a number of dilapidated, +rudely patched cabins or cottages, like stranded driftwood around its +shore. But there was no mansion, no block of houses, no street, not +another habitation or dwelling to be seen! + +Uncle Billy's first shock of astonishment was succeeded by a feeling of +relief. He had secretly dreaded a meeting with his old partner in the +“haunts of fashion;” whatever was the cause that made Uncle Jim seek +this obscure retirement affected him but slightly; he even was thrilled +with a vague memory of the old shiftless camp they had both abandoned. A +certain instinct--he knew not why, or less still that it might be one of +delicacy--made him alight before they reached the first house. Bidding +the carriage wait, Uncle Billy entered, and was informed by a blowzy +Irish laundress at a tub that Jim Foster, or “Arkansaw Jim,” lived at +the fourth shanty “beyant.” He was at home, for “he'd shprained his +fut.” Uncle Billy hurried on, stopped before the door of a shanty +scarcely less rude than their old cabin, and half timidly pushed it +open. A growling voice from within, a figure that rose hurriedly, +leaning on a stick, with an attempt to fly, but in the same moment sank +back in a chair with an hysterical laugh--and Uncle Billy stood in the +presence of his old partner! But as Uncle Billy darted forward, Uncle +Jim rose again, and this time with outstretched hands. Uncle Billy +caught them, and in one supreme pressure seemed to pour out and +transfuse his whole simple soul into his partner's. There they swayed +each other backwards and forwards and sideways by their still clasped +hands, until Uncle Billy, with a glance at Uncle Jim's bandaged ankle, +shoved him by sheer force down into his chair. + +Uncle Jim was first to speak. “Caught, b' gosh! I mighter known you'd be +as big a fool as me! Look you, Billy Fall, do you know what you've done? +You've druv me out er the streets whar I was makin' an honest livin', by +day, on three crossin's! Yes,” he laughed forgivingly, “you druv me out +er it, by day, jest because I reckoned that some time I might run into +your darned fool face,”--another laugh and a grasp of the hand,--“and +then, b'gosh! not content with ruinin' my business BY DAY, when I +took to it at night, YOU took to goin' out at nights too, and so put a +stopper on me there! Shall I tell you what else you did? Well, by the +holy poker! I owe this sprained foot to your darned foolishness and my +own, for it was getting away from YOU one night after the theatre that I +got run into and run over! + +“Ye see,” he went on, unconscious of Uncle Billy's paling face, and with +a naivete, though perhaps not a delicacy, equal to Uncle Billy's own, “I +had to play roots on you with that lock-box business and these letters, +because I did not want you to know what I was up to, for you mightn't +like it, and might think it was lowerin' to the old firm, don't yer +see? I wouldn't hev gone into it, but I was played out, and I don't +mind tellin' you NOW, old man, that when I wrote you that first chipper +letter from the lock-box I hedn't eat anythin' for two days. But it's +all right NOW,” with a laugh. “Then I got into this business--thinkin' +it nothin'--jest the very last thing--and do you know, old pard, I +couldn't tell anybody but YOU--and, in fact, I kept it jest to tell +you--I've made nine hundred and fifty-six dollars! Yes, sir, NINE +HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX DOLLARS! solid money, in Adams and Co.'s Bank, +just out er my trade.” + +“Wot trade?” asked Uncle Billy. + +Uncle Jim pointed to the corner, where stood a large, heavy +crossing-sweeper's broom. “That trade.” + +“Certingly,” said Uncle Billy, with a quick laugh. + +“It's an outdoor trade,” said Uncle Jim gravely, but with no suggestion +of awkwardness or apology in his manner; “and thar ain't much difference +between sweepin' a crossin' with a broom and raking over tailing with a +rake, ONLY--WOT YE GET with a broom YOU HAVE HANDED TO YE, and ye don't +have to PICK IT UP AND FISH IT OUT ER the wet rocks and sluice-gushin'; +and it's a heap less tiring to the back.” + +“Certingly, you bet!” said Uncle Billy enthusiastically, yet with a +certain nervous abstraction. + +“I'm glad ye say so; for yer see I didn't know at first how you'd tumble +to my doing it, until I'd made my pile. And ef I hadn't made it, I +wouldn't hev set eyes on ye agin, old pard--never!” + +“Do you mind my runnin' out a minit,” said Uncle Billy, rising. “You +see, I've got a friend waitin' for me outside--and I reckon”--he +stammered--“I'll jest run out and send him off, so I kin talk comf'ble +to ye.” + +“Ye ain't got anybody you're owin' money to,” said Uncle Jim earnestly, +“anybody follerin' you to get paid, eh? For I kin jest set down right +here and write ye off a check on the bank!” + +“No,” said Uncle Billy. He slipped out of the door, and ran like a deer +to the waiting carriage. Thrusting a twenty-dollar gold-piece into the +coachman's hand, he said hoarsely, “I ain't wantin' that kerridge just +now; ye ken drive around and hev a private jamboree all by yourself the +rest of the afternoon, and then come and wait for me at the top o' the +hill yonder.” + +Thus quit of his gorgeous equipage, he hurried back to Uncle Jim, +grasping his ten-thousand dollar draft in his pocket. He was nervous, he +was frightened, but he must get rid of the draft and his story, and have +it over. But before he could speak he was unexpectedly stopped by Uncle +Jim. + +“Now, look yer, Billy boy!” said Uncle Jim; “I got suthin' to say to +ye--and I might as well clear it off my mind at once, and then we can +start fair agin. Now,” he went on, with a half laugh, “wasn't it enough +for ME to go on pretendin' I was rich and doing a big business, and +gettin' up that lock-box dodge so as ye couldn't find out whar I hung +out and what I was doin'--wasn't it enough for ME to go on with all this +play-actin', but YOU, you long-legged or nary cuss! must get up and go +to lyin' and play-actin', too!” + +“ME play-actin'? ME lyin'?” gasped Uncle Billy. + +Uncle Jim leaned back in his chair and laughed. “Do you think you could +fool ME? Do you think I didn't see through your little game o' going +to that swell Oriental, jest as if ye'd made a big strike--and all the +while ye wasn't sleepin' or eatin' there, but jest wrastlin' yer hash +and having a roll down at the Good Cheer! Do you think I didn't spy on +ye and find that out? Oh, you long-eared jackass-rabbit!” + +He laughed until the tears came into his eyes, and Uncle Billy laughed +too, albeit until the laugh on his face became quite fixed, and he was +fain to bury his head in his handkerchief. + +“And yet,” said Uncle Jim, with a deep breath, “gosh! I was +frighted--jest for a minit! I thought, mebbe, you HAD made a big +strike--when I got your first letter--and I made up my mind what I'd +do! And then I remembered you was jest that kind of an open sluice that +couldn't keep anythin' to yourself, and you'd have been sure to have +yelled it out to ME the first thing. So I waited. And I found you out, +you old sinner!” He reached forward and dug Uncle Billy in the ribs. + +“What WOULD you hev done?” said Uncle Billy, after an hysterical +collapse. + +Uncle Jim's face grew grave again. “I'd hev--I'd--hev cl'ared out! Out +er 'Frisco! out er Californy! out er Ameriky! I couldn't have stud it! +Don't think I would hev begrudged ye yer luck! No man would have been +gladder than me.” He leaned forward again, and laid his hand caressingly +upon his partner's arm--“Don't think I'd hev wanted to take a penny of +it--but I--thar! I COULDN'T hev stood up under it! To hev had YOU, you +that I left behind, comin' down here rollin' in wealth and new partners +and friends, and arrive upon me--and this shanty--and”--he threw towards +the corner of the room a terrible gesture, none the less terrible +that it was illogical and inconsequent to all that had gone +before--“and--and--THAT BROOM!” + +There was a dead silence in the room. With it Uncle Billy seemed to feel +himself again transported to the homely cabin at Cedar Camp and that +fateful night, with his partner's strange, determined face before him +as then. He even fancied that he heard the roaring of the pines without, +and did not know that it was the distant sea. + +But after a minute Uncle Jim resumed:-- + +“Of course you've made a little raise somehow, or you wouldn't be here?” + +“Yes,” said Uncle Billy eagerly. “Yes! I've got”--He stopped and +stammered. “I've got--a--few hundreds.” + +“Oh, oh!” said Uncle Jim cheerfully. He paused, and then added +earnestly, “I say! You ain't got left, over and above your d--d +foolishness at the Oriental, as much as five hundred dollars?” + +“I've got,” said Uncle Billy, blushing a little over his first +deliberate and affected lie, “I've got at least five hundred and +seventy-two dollars. Yes,” he added tentatively, gazing anxiously at his +partner, “I've got at least that.” + +“Je whillikins!” said Uncle Jim, with a laugh. Then eagerly, “Look here, +pard! Then we're on velvet! I've got NINE hundred; put your FIVE with +that, and I know a little ranch that we can get for twelve hundred. +That's what I've been savin' up for--that's my little game! No more +minin' for ME. It's got a shanty twice as big as our old cabin, nigh on +a hundred acres, and two mustangs. We can run it with two Chinamen and +jest make it howl! Wot yer say--eh?” He extended his hand. + +“I'm in,” said Uncle Billy, radiantly grasping Uncle Jim's. But his +smile faded, and his clear simple brow wrinkled in two lines. + +Happily Uncle Jim did not notice it. “Now, then, old pard,” he said +brightly, “we'll have a gay old time to-night--one of our jamborees! +I've got some whiskey here and a deck o' cards, and we'll have a little +game, you understand, but not for 'keeps' now! No, siree; we'll play for +beans.” + +A sudden light illuminated Uncle Billy's face again, but he said, with a +grim desperation, “Not to-night! I've got to go into town. That fren' +o' mine expects me to go to the theayter, don't ye see? But I'll be out +to-morrow at sun-up, and we'll fix up this thing o' the ranch.” + +“Seems to me you're kinder stuck on this fren',” grunted Uncle Jim. + +Uncle Billy's heart bounded at his partner's jealousy. “No--but I MUST, +you know,” he returned, with a faint laugh. + +“I say--it ain't a HER, is it?” said Uncle Jim. + +Uncle Billy achieved a diabolical wink and a creditable blush at his +lie. + +“Billy?” + +“Jim!” + +And under cover of this festive gallantry Uncle Billy escaped. He ran +through the gathering darkness, and toiled up the shifting sands to the +top of the hill, where he found the carriage waiting. + +“Wot,” said Uncle Billy in a low confidential tone to the coachman, +“wot do you 'Frisco fellers allow to be the best, biggest, and riskiest +gamblin'-saloon here? Suthin' high-toned, you know?” + +The negro grinned. It was the usual case of the extravagant spendthrift +miner, though perhaps he had expected a different question and order. + +“Dey is de 'Polka,' de 'El Dorado,' and de 'Arcade' saloon, boss,” he +said, flicking his whip meditatively. “Most gents from de mines prefer +de 'Polka,' for dey is dancing wid de gals frown in. But de real prima +facie place for gents who go for buckin' agin de tiger and straight-out +gamblin' is de 'Arcade.'” + +“Drive there like thunder!” said Uncle Billy, leaping into the carriage. + +***** + +True to his word, Uncle Billy was at his partner's shanty early the next +morning. He looked a little tired, but happy, and had brought a draft +with him for five hundred and seventy-five dollars, which he explained +was the total of his capital. Uncle Jim was overjoyed. They would start +for Napa that very day, and conclude the purchase of the ranch; Uncle +Jim's sprained foot was a sufficient reason for his giving up his +present vocation, which he could also sell at a small profit. His +domestic arrangements were very simple; there was nothing to take +with him--there was everything to leave behind. And that afternoon, at +sunset, the two reunited partners were seated on the deck of the Napa +boat as she swung into the stream. + +Uncle Billy was gazing over the railing with a look of abstracted relief +towards the Golden Gate, where the sinking sun seemed to be drawing +towards him in the ocean a golden stream that was forever pouring +from the Bay and the three-hilled city beside it. What Uncle Billy was +thinking of, or what the picture suggested to him, did not transpire; +for Uncle Jim, who, emboldened by his holiday, was luxuriating in an +evening paper, suddenly uttered a long-drawn whistle, and moved closer +to his abstracted partner. “Look yer,” he said, pointing to a paragraph +he had evidently just read, “just you listen to this, and see if we +ain't lucky, you and me, to be jest wot we air--trustin' to our own hard +work--and not thinkin' o' 'strikes' and 'fortins.' Jest unbutton yer +ears, Billy, while I reel off this yer thing I've jest struck in the +paper, and see what d--d fools some men kin make o' themselves. And that +theer reporter wot wrote it--must hev seed it reely!” + +Uncle Jim cleared his throat, and holding the paper close to his eyes +read aloud slowly:-- + +“'A scene of excitement that recalled the palmy days of '49 was +witnessed last night at the Arcade Saloon. A stranger, who might have +belonged to that reckless epoch, and who bore every evidence of being +a successful Pike County miner out on a “spree,” appeared at one of the +tables with a negro coachman bearing two heavy bags of gold. Selecting +a faro-bank as his base of operations, he began to bet heavily and with +apparent recklessness, until his play excited the breathless attention +of every one. In a few moments he had won a sum variously estimated at +from eighty to a hundred thousand dollars. A rumor went round the room +that it was a concerted attempt to “break the bank” rather than the +drunken freak of a Western miner, dazzled by some successful strike. +To this theory the man's careless and indifferent bearing towards his +extraordinary gains lent great credence. The attempt, if such it was, +however, was unsuccessful. After winning ten times in succession the +luck turned, and the unfortunate “bucker” was cleared out not only of +his gains, but of his original investment, which may be placed roughly +at twenty thousand dollars. This extraordinary play was witnessed by a +crowd of excited players, who were less impressed by even the magnitude +of the stakes than the perfect sang-froid and recklessness of the +player, who, it is said, at the close of the game tossed a twenty-dollar +gold-piece to the banker and smilingly withdrew. The man was not +recognized by any of the habitues of the place.' + +“There!” said Uncle Jim, as he hurriedly slurred over the French +substantive at the close, “did ye ever see such God-forsaken +foolishness?” + +Uncle Billy lifted his abstracted eyes from the current, still pouring +its unreturning gold into the sinking sun, and said, with a deprecatory +smile, “Never!” + +Nor even in the days of prosperity that visited the Great Wheat Ranch of +“Fall and Foster” did he ever tell his secret to his partner. + + + + +SEE YUP + + +I don't suppose that his progenitors ever gave him that name, or, +indeed, that it was a NAME at all; but it was currently believed +that--as pronounced “See UP”--it meant that lifting of the outer angle +of the eye common to the Mongolian. On the other hand, I had been told +that there was an old Chinese custom of affixing some motto or legend, +or even a sentence from Confucius, as a sign above their shops, and that +two or more words, which might be merely equivalent to “Virtue is its +own reward,” or “Riches are deceitful,” were believed by the simple +Californian miner to be the name of the occupant himself. Howbeit, “See +Yup” accepted it with the smiling patience of his race, and never +went by any other. If one of the tunnelmen always addressed him as +“Brigadier-General,” “Judge,” or “Commodore,” it was understood to be +only the American fondness for ironic title, and was never used except +in personal conversation. In appearance he looked like any other +Chinaman, wore the ordinary blue cotton blouse and white drawers of the +Sampan coolie, and, in spite of the apparent cleanliness and freshness +of these garments, always exhaled that singular medicated odor--half +opium, half ginger--which we recognized as the common “Chinese smell.” + +Our first interview was characteristic of his patient quality. He had +done my washing for several months, but I had never yet seen him. +A meeting at last had become necessary to correct his impressions +regarding “buttons”--which he had seemed to consider as mere +excrescences, to be removed like superfluous dirt from soiled linen. +I had expected him to call at my lodgings, but he had not yet made his +appearance. One day, during the noontide recess of the little frontier +school over which I presided, I returned rather early. Two or three of +the smaller boys, who were loitering about the school-yard, disappeared +with a certain guilty precipitation that I suspected for the moment, +but which I presently dismissed from my mind. I passed through the +empty school-room to my desk, sat down, and began to prepare the coming +lessons. Presently I heard a faint sigh. Looking up, to my intense +concern, I discovered a solitary Chinaman whom I had overlooked, sitting +in a rigid attitude on a bench with his back to the window. He caught my +eye and smiled sadly, but without moving. + +“What are you doing here?” I asked sternly. + +“Me washee shilts; me talkee 'buttons.'” + +“Oh! you're See Yup, are you?” + +“Allee same, John.” + +“Well, come here.” + +I continued my work, but he did not move. + +“Come here, hang it! Don't you understand?” + +“Me shabbee, 'comme yea.' But me no shabbee Mellican boy, who catchee +me, allee same. YOU 'comme yea'--YOU shabbee?” + +Indignant, but believing that the unfortunate man was still in fear +of persecution from the mischievous urchins whom I had evidently just +interrupted, I put down my pen and went over to him. Here I discovered, +to my surprise and mortification, that his long pigtail was held hard +and fast by the closed window behind him which the young rascals had +shut down upon it, after having first noiselessly fished it outside with +a hook and line. I apologized, opened the window, and released him. He +did not complain, although he must have been fixed in that uncomfortable +position for some minutes, but plunged at once into the business that +brought him there. + +“But WHY didn't you come to my lodgings?” I asked. + +He smiled sadly but intelligently. + +“Mishtel Bally [Mr. Barry, my landlord] he owce me five dollee fo +washee, washee. He no payee me. He say he knock hellee outee me allee +time I come for payee. So me no come HOUSEE, me come SCHOOLEE, Shabbee? +Mellican boy no good, but not so big as Mellican man. No can hurtee +Chinaman so much. Shabbee?” + +Alas! I knew that this was mainly true. Mr. James Barry was an Irishman, +whose finer religious feelings revolted against paying money to a +heathen. I could not find it in my heart to say anything to See Yup +about the buttons; indeed, I spoke in complimentary terms about the +gloss of my shirts, and I think I meekly begged him to come again for my +washing. When I went home I expostulated with Mr. Barry, but succeeded +only in extracting from him the conviction that I was one of “thim black +Republican fellys that worshiped naygurs.” I had simply made an enemy of +him. But I did not know that, at the same time, I had made a friend of +See Yup! + +I became aware of this a few days later, by the appearance on my desk of +a small pot containing a specimen of camellia japonica in flower. I knew +the school-children were in the habit of making presents to me in this +furtive fashion,--leaving their own nosegays of wild flowers, or perhaps +a cluster of roses from their parents' gardens,--but I also knew that +this exotic was too rare to come from them. I remembered that See Yup +had a Chinese taste for gardening, and a friend, another Chinaman, who +kept a large nursery in the adjoining town. But my doubts were set at +rest by the discovery of a small roll of red rice-paper containing my +washing-bill, fastened to the camellia stalk. It was plain that this +mingling of business and delicate gratitude was clearly See Yup's +own idea. As the finest flower was the topmost one, I plucked it for +wearing, when I found, to my astonishment, that it was simply wired to +the stalk. This led me to look at the others, which I found also wired! +More than that, they seemed to be an inferior flower, and exhaled that +cold, earthy odor peculiar to the camellia, even, as I thought, to an +excess. A closer examination resulted in the discovery that, with the +exception of the first flower I had plucked, they were one and all +ingeniously constructed of thin slices of potato, marvelously cut to +imitate the vegetable waxiness and formality of the real flower. The +work showed an infinite and almost pathetic patience in detail, +yet strangely incommensurate with the result, admirable as it was. +Nevertheless, this was also like See Yup. But whether he had tried to +deceive me, or whether he only wished me to admire his skill, I could +not say. And as his persecution by my scholars had left a balance of +consideration in his favor, I sent him a warm note of thanks, and said +nothing of my discovery. + +As our acquaintance progressed, I became frequently the recipient of +other small presents from him: a pot of preserves of a quality I could +not purchase in shops, and whose contents in their crafty, gingery +dissimulation so defied definition that I never knew whether they were +animal, vegetable, or mineral; two or three hideous Chinese idols, “for +luckee,” and a diabolical fire-work with an irregular spasmodic activity +that would sometimes be prolonged until the next morning. In return, I +gave him some apparently hopeless oral lessons in English, and certain +sentences to be copied, which he did with marvelous precision. I +remember one instance when this peculiar faculty of imitation was +disastrous in result. In setting him a copy, I had blurred a word which +I promptly erased, and then traced the letters more distinctly over the +scratched surface. To my surprise, See Yup triumphantly produced HIS +copy with the erasion itself carefully imitated, and, in fact, much more +neatly done than mine. + +In our confidential intercourse, I never seemed to really get nearer +to him. His sympathy and simplicity appeared like his flowers--to be a +good-humored imitation of my own. I am satisfied that his particularly +soulless laugh was not derived from any amusement he actually felt, yet +I could not say it was forced. In his accurate imitations, I fancied he +was only trying to evade any responsibility of his own. THAT devolved +upon his taskmaster! In the attention he displayed when new ideas +were presented to him, there was a slight condescension, as if he were +looking down upon them from his three thousand years of history. + +“Don't you think the electric telegraph wonderful?” I asked one day. + +“Very good for Mellican man,” he said, with his aimless laugh; “plenty +makee him jump!” + +I never could tell whether he had confounded it with electro-galvanism, +or was only satirizing our American haste and feverishness. He was +capable of either. For that matter, we knew that the Chinese themselves +possessed some means of secretly and quickly communicating with one +another. Any news of good or ill import to their race was quickly +disseminated through the settlement before WE knew anything about it. An +innocent basket of clothes from the wash, sent up from the river-bank, +became in some way a library of information; a single slip of +rice-paper, aimlessly fluttering in the dust of the road, had the +mysterious effect of diverging a whole gang of coolie tramps away from +our settlement. + +When See Yup was not subject to the persecutions of the more ignorant +and brutal he was always a source of amusement to all, and I cannot +recall an instance when he was ever taken seriously. The miners found +diversions even in his alleged frauds and trickeries, whether innocent +or retaliatory, and were fond of relating with great gusto his evasion +of the Foreign Miners' Tax. This was an oppressive measure aimed +principally at the Chinese, who humbly worked the worn-out “tailings” of +their Christian fellow miners. It was stated that See Yup, knowing the +difficulty--already alluded to--of identifying any particular Chinaman +by NAME, conceived the additional idea of confusing recognition by +intensifying the monotonous facial expression. Having paid his tax +himself to the collector, he at once passed the receipt to his fellows, +so that the collector found himself confronted in different parts of the +settlement with the receipt and the aimless laugh of, apparently, See +Yup himself. Although we all knew that there were a dozen Chinamen or +more at work at the mines, the collector never was able to collect the +tax from more than TWO,--See Yup and one See Yin,--and so great was +THEIR facial resemblance that the unfortunate official for a long time +hugged himself with the conviction that he had made See Yup PAY TWICE, +and withheld the money from the government! It is very probable that the +Californian's recognition of the sanctity of a joke, and his belief that +“cheating the government was only cheating himself,” largely accounted +for the sympathies of the rest of the miners. + +But these sympathies were not always unanimous. + +One evening I strolled into the bar-room of the principal saloon, which, +so far as mere upholstery and comfort went, was also the principal house +in the settlement. The first rains had commenced; the windows were open, +for the influence of the southwest trades penetrated even this far-off +mountain mining settlement, but, oddly enough, there was a fire in the +large central stove, around which the miners had collected, with their +steaming boots elevated on a projecting iron railing that encircled it. +They were not attracted by the warmth, but the stove formed a social +pivot for gossip, and suggested that mystic circle dear to the +gregarious instinct. Yet they were decidedly a despondent group. For +some moments the silence was only broken by a gasp, a sigh, a muttered +oath, or an impatient change of position. There was nothing in the +fortunes of the settlement, nor in their own individual affairs to +suggest this gloom. The singular truth was that they were, one and all, +suffering from the pangs of dyspepsia. + +Incongruous as such a complaint might seem to their healthy +environment,--their outdoor life, their daily exercise, the healing +balsam of the mountain air, their enforced temperance in diet, and +the absence of all enervating pleasures,--it was nevertheless the +incontestable fact. Whether it was the result of the nervous, excitable +temperament which had brought them together in this feverish hunt for +gold; whether it was the quality of the tinned meats or half-cooked +provisions they hastily bolted, begrudging the time it took to prepare +and to consume them; whether they too often supplanted their meals by +tobacco or whiskey, the singular physiological truth remained that these +young, finely selected adventurers, living the lives of the natural, +aboriginal man, and looking the picture of health and strength, actually +suffered more from indigestion than the pampered dwellers of the cities. +The quantity of “patent medicines,” “bitters,” “pills,” “panaceas,” + and “lozenges” sold in the settlement almost exceeded the amount of +the regular provisions whose effects they were supposed to correct. +The sufferers eagerly scanned advertisements and placards. There +were occasional “runs” on new “specifics,” and general conversation +eventually turned into a discussion of their respective merits. A +certain childlike faith and trust in each new remedy was not the least +distressing and pathetic of the symptoms of these grown-up, bearded men. + +“Well, gentlemen,” said Cyrus Parker, glancing around at his fellow +sufferers, “ye kin talk of your patent medicines, and I've tackled 'em +all, but only the other day I struck suthin' that I'm goin' to hang on +to, you bet.” + +Every eye was turned moodily to the speaker, but no one said anything. + +“And I didn't get it outer advertisements, nor off of circulars. I got +it outer my head, just by solid thinking,” continued Parker. + +“What was it, Cy?” said one unsophisticated and inexperienced sufferer. + +Instead of replying, Parker, like a true artist, knowing he had the ear +of his audience, dramatically flashed a question upon them. + +“Did you ever hear of a Chinaman having dyspepsy?” + +“Never heard he had sabe enough to hev ANYTHING,” said a scorner. + +“No, but DID ye?” insisted Parker. + +“Well, no!” chorused the group. They were evidently struck with the +fact. + +“Of course you didn't,” said Parker triumphantly. “'Cos they AIN'T. +Well, gentlemen, it didn't seem to me the square thing that a pesky lot +o' yellow-skinned heathens should be built different to a white man, +and never know the tortur' that a Christian feels; and one day, arter +dinner, when I was just a-lyin' flat down on the bank, squirmin', and +clutching the short grass to keep from yellin', who should go by but +that pizened See Yup, with a grin on his face. + +“'Mellican man plenty playee to him Joss after eatin',' sez he; 'but +Chinaman smellee punk, allee same, and no hab got.' + +“I knew the slimy cuss was just purtendin' he thought I was prayin' to +my Joss, but I was that weak I hadn't stren'th, boys, to heave a rock at +him. Yet it gave me an idea.” + +“What was it?” they asked eagerly. + +“I went down to his shop the next day, when he was alone, and I was +feeling mighty bad, and I got hold of his pigtail and I allowed I'd +stuff it down his throat if he didn't tell me what he meant. Then he +took a piece of punk and lit it, and put it under my nose, and, darn my +skin, gentlemen, you migh'n't believe me, but in a minute I felt better, +and after a whiff or two I was all right.” + +“Was it pow'ful strong, Cy?” asked the inexperienced one. + +“No,” said Parker, “and that's just what's got me. It was a sort o' +dreamy, spicy smell, like a hot night. But as I couldn't go 'round 'mong +you boys with a lighted piece o' punk in my hand, ez if I was settin' +off Fourth of July firecrackers, I asked him if he couldn't fix me up +suthin' in another shape that would be handier to use when I was took +bad, and I'd reckon to pay him for it like ez I'd pay for any other +patent medicine. So he fixed me up this.” + +He put his hand in his pocket, and drew out a small red paper which, +when opened, disclosed a pink powder. It was gravely passed around the +group. + +“Why, it smells and tastes like ginger,” said one. + +“It is only ginger!” said another scornfully. + +“Mebbe it is, and mebbe it isn't,” returned Cy Parker stoutly. “Mebbe +ut's only my fancy. But if it's the sort o' stuff to bring on that +fancy, and that fancy CURES me, it's all the same. I've got about two +dollars' worth o' that fancy or that ginger, and I'm going to stick to +it. You hear me!” And he carefully put it back in his pocket. + +At which criticisms and gibes broke forth. If he (Cy Parker), a white +man, was going to “demean himself” by consulting a Chinese quack, he'd +better buy up a lot o' idols and stand 'em up around his cabin. If he +had that sort o' confidences with See Yup, he ought to go to work with +him on his cheap tailings, and be fumigated all at the same time. If +he'd been smoking an opium pipe, instead of smelling punk, he ought to +be man enough to confess it. Yet it was noticeable that they were +all very anxious to examine the packet again, but Cy Parker was alike +indifferent to demand or entreaty. + +A few days later I saw Abe Wynford, one of the party, coming out of See +Yup's wash-house. He muttered something in passing about the infamous +delay in sending home his washing, but did not linger long in +conversation. The next day I met another miner AT the wash-house, but HE +lingered so long on some trifling details that I finally left him there +alone with See Yup. When I called upon Poker Jack of Shasta, there was a +singular smell of incense in HIS cabin, which he attributed to the very +resinous quality of the fir logs he was burning. I did not attempt +to probe these mysteries by any direct appeal to See Yup himself: I +respected his reticence; indeed, if I had not, I was quite satisfied +that he would have lied to me. Enough that his wash-house was well +patronized, and he was decidedly “getting on.” + +It might have been a month afterwards that Dr. Duchesne was setting a +broken bone in the settlement, and after the operation was over, had +strolled into the Palmetto Saloon. He was an old army surgeon, much +respected and loved in the district, although perhaps a little feared +for the honest roughness and military precision of his speech. After he +had exchanged salutations with the miners in his usual hearty fashion, +and accepted their invitation to drink, Cy Parker, with a certain +affected carelessness which did not, however, conceal a singular +hesitation in his speech, began:-- + +“I've been wantin' to ask ye a question, Doc,--a sort o' darned fool +question, ye know,--nothing in the way of consultation, don't you see, +though it's kin er in the way o' your purfeshun. Sabe?” + +“Go on, Cy,” said the doctor good-humoredly, “this is my dispensary +hour.” + +“Oh! it ain't anything about symptoms, Doc, and there ain't anything the +matter with me. It's only just to ask ye if ye happened to know anything +about the medical practice of these yer Chinamen?” + +“I don't know,” said the doctor bluntly, “and I don't know ANYBODY who +does.” + +There was a sudden silence in the bar, and the doctor, putting down his +glass, continued with slight professional precision:-- + +“You see, the Chinese know nothing of anatomy from personal observation. +Autopsies and dissection are against their superstitions, which declare +the human body sacred, and are consequently never practiced.” + +There was a slight movement of inquiring interest among the party, +and Cy Parker, after a meaning glance at the others, went on half +aggressively, half apologetically:-- + +“In course, they ain't surgeons like you, Doc, but that don't keep them +from having their own little medicines, just as dogs eat grass, you +know. Now I want to put it to you, as a fa'r-minded man, if you mean ter +say that, jest because those old women who sarve out yarbs and spring +medicines in families don't know anything of anatomy, they ain't fit to +give us their simple and nat'ral medicines?” + +“But the Chinese medicines are not simple or natural,” said the doctor +coolly. + +“Not simple?” echoed the party, closing round him. + +“I don't mean to say,” continued the doctor, glancing around at their +eager, excited faces with an appearance of wonder, “that they are +positively noxious, unless taken in large quantities, for they are not +drugs at all, but I certainly should not call them 'simple.' Do YOU know +what they principally are?” + +“Well, no,” said Parker cautiously, “perhaps not EXACTLY.” + +“Come a little closer, and I'll tell you.” + +Not only Parker's head but the others were bent over the counter. Dr. +Duchesne uttered a few words in a tone inaudible to the rest of the +company. There was a profound silence, broken at last by Abe Wynford's +voice:-- + +“Ye kin pour me out about three fingers o' whiskey, Barkeep. I'll take +it straight.” + +“Same to me,” said the others. + +The men gulped down their liquor; two of them quietly passed out. The +doctor wiped his lips, buttoned his coat, and began to draw on his +riding-gloves. + +“I've heerd,” said Poker Jack of Shasta, with a faint smile on his white +face, as he toyed with the last drops of liquor in his glass, “that the +darned fools sometimes smell punk as a medicine, eh?” + +“Yes, THAT'S comparatively decent,” said the doctor reflectively. “It's +only sawdust mixed with a little gum and formic acid.” + +“Formic acid? Wot's that?” + +“A very peculiar acid secreted by ants. It is supposed to be used by +them offensively in warfare--just as the skunk, eh?” + +But Poker Jack of Shasta had hurriedly declared that he wanted to speak +to a man who was passing, and had disappeared. The doctor walked to the +door, mounted his horse, and rode away. I noticed, however, that there +was a slight smile on his bronzed, impassive face. This led me to +wonder if he was entirely ignorant of the purpose for which he had been +questioned, and the effect of his information. I was confirmed in the +belief by the remarkable circumstances that nothing more was said of it; +the incident seemed to have terminated there, and the victims made no +attempt to revenge themselves on See Yup. That they had one and all, +secretly and unknown to one another, patronized him, there was no doubt; +but, at the same time, as they evidently were not sure that Dr. Duchesne +had not hoaxed them in regard to the quality of See Yup's medicines, +they knew that an attack on the unfortunate Chinaman would in either +case reveal their secret and expose them to the ridicule of their +brother miners. So the matter dropped, and See Yup remained master of +the situation. + +Meantime he was prospering. The coolie gang he worked on the river, when +not engaged in washing clothes, were “picking over” the “tailings,” + or refuse of gravel, left on abandoned claims by successful miners. +As there was no more expense attending this than in stone-breaking or +rag-picking, and the feeding of the coolies, which was ridiculously +cheap, there was no doubt that See Yup was reaping a fair weekly return +from it; but, as he sent his receipts to San Francisco through coolie +managers, after the Chinese custom, and did not use the regular Express +Company, there was no way of ascertaining the amount. Again, neither +See Yup nor his fellow countrymen ever appeared to have any money about +them. In ruder times and more reckless camps, raids were often made by +ruffians on their cabins or their traveling gangs, but never with any +pecuniary result. This condition, however, it seemed was destined to +change. + +One Saturday See Yup walked into Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express office +with a package of gold-dust, which, when duly weighed, was valued at +five hundred dollars. It was consigned to a Chinese company in San +Francisco. When the clerk handed See Yup a receipt, he remarked +casually:-- + +“Washing seems to pay, See Yup.” + +“Washee velly good pay. You wantee washee, John?” said See Yup eagerly. + +“No, no,” said the clerk, with a laugh. “I was only thinking five +hundred dollars would represent the washing of a good many shirts.” + +“No leplesent washee shirts at all! Catchee gold-dust when washee +tailings. Shabbee?” + +The clerk DID “shabbee,” and lifted his eyebrows. The next Saturday See +Yup appeared with another package, worth about four hundred dollars, +directed to the same consignee. + +“Didn't pan out quite so rich this week, eh?” said the clerk engagingly. + +“No,” returned See Yup impassively; “next time he payee more.” + +When the third Saturday came, with the appearance of See Yup and four +hundred and fifty dollars' worth of gold-dust, the clerk felt he was no +longer bound to keep the secret. He communicated it to others, and +in twenty-four hours the whole settlement knew that See Yup's coolie +company were taking out an average of four hundred dollars per week from +the refuse and tailings of the old abandoned Palmetto claim! + +The astonishment of the settlement was profound. In earlier days +jealousy and indignation at the success of these degraded heathens might +have taken a more active and aggressive shape, and it would have fared +ill with See Yup and his companions. But the settlement had become more +prosperous and law-abiding; there were one or two Eastern families and +some foreign capital already there, and its jealousy and indignation +were restricted to severe investigation and legal criticism. Fortunately +for See Yup, it was an old-established mining law that an abandoned +claim and its tailings became the property of whoever chose to work +it. But it was alleged that See Yup's company had in reality “struck a +lead,”--discovered a hitherto unknown vein or original deposit of gold, +not worked by the previous company, and having failed legally to declare +it by preemption and public registry, in their foolish desire for +secrecy, had thus forfeited their right to the property. A surveillance +of their working, however, did not establish this theory; the gold that +See Yup had sent away was of the kind that might have been found in the +tailings overlooked by the late Palmetto owners. Yet it was a very large +yield for mere refuse. + +“Them Palmetto boys were mighty keerless after they'd made their big +'strike' and got to work on the vein, and I reckon they threw a lot +of gold away,” said Cy Parker, who remembered their large-handed +recklessness in the “flush days.” “On'y that WE didn't think it was +white man's work to rake over another man's leavin's, we might hev had +what them derned Chinamen hev dropped into. Tell ye what, boys, we've +been a little too 'high and mighty,' and we'll hev to climb down.” + +At last the excitement reached its climax, and diplomacy was employed to +effect what neither intimidation nor espionage could secure. Under the +pretense of desiring to buy out See Yup's company, a select committee of +the miners was permitted to examine the property and its workings. They +found the great bank of stones and gravel, representing the cast-out +debris of the old claim, occupied by See Yup and four or five plodding +automatic coolies. At the end of two hours the committee returned to +the saloon bursting with excitement. They spoke under their breath, but +enough was gathered to satisfy the curious crowd that See Yup's pile of +tailings was rich beyond their expectations. The committee had seen with +their own eyes gold taken out of the sand and gravel to the amount of +twenty dollars in the two short hours of their examination. And the work +had been performed in the stupidest, clumsiest, yet PATIENT Chinese way. +What might not white men do with better appointed machinery! A syndicate +was at once formed. See Yup was offered twenty thousand dollars if +he would sell out and put the syndicate in possession of the claim +in twenty-four hours. The Chinaman received the offer stolidly. As he +seemed inclined to hesitate, I am grieved to say that it was intimated +to him that if he declined he might be subject to embarrassing and +expensive legal proceedings to prove his property, and that companies +would be formed to “prospect” the ground on either side of his heap of +tailings. See Yup at last consented, with the proviso that the money +should be paid in gold into the hands of a Chinese agent in San +Francisco on the day of the delivery of the claim. The syndicate made +no opposition to this characteristic precaution of the Chinaman. It +was like them not to travel with money, and the implied uncomplimentary +suspicion of danger from the community was overlooked. See Yup departed +the day that the syndicate took possession. He came to see me before he +went. I congratulated him upon his good fortune; at the same time, I was +embarrassed by the conviction that he was unfairly forced into a sale of +his property at a figure far below its real value. + +I think differently now. + +At the end of the week it was said that the new company cleared up +about three hundred dollars. This was not so much as the community +had expected, but the syndicate was apparently satisfied, and the new +machinery was put up. At the end of the next week the syndicate were +silent as to their returns. One of them made a hurried visit to San +Francisco. It was said that he was unable to see either See Yup or the +agent to whom the money was paid. It was also noticed that there was no +Chinaman remaining in the settlement. Then the fatal secret was out. + +The heap of tailings had probably never yielded the See Yup company more +than twenty dollars a week, the ordinary wage of such a company. See Yup +had conceived the brilliant idea of “booming” it on a borrowed capital +of five hundred dollars in gold-dust, which he OPENLY transmitted by +express to his confederate and creditor in San Francisco, who in turn +SECRETLY sent it back to See Yup by coolie messengers, to be again +openly transmitted to San Francisco. The package of gold-dust was thus +passed backwards and forwards between debtor and creditor, to the +grave edification of the Express Company and the fatal curiosity of the +settlement. When the syndicate had gorged the bait thus thrown out, See +Yup, on the day the self-invited committee inspected the claim, promptly +“salted” the tailings by CONSCIENTIOUSLY DISTRIBUTING THE GOLD-DUST OVER +IT so deftly that it appeared to be its natural composition and yield. + +I have only to bid farewell to See Yup, and close this reminiscence of +a misunderstood man, by adding the opinion of an eminent jurist in San +Francisco, to whom the facts were submitted: “So clever was this alleged +fraud, that it is extremely doubtful if an action would lie against See +Yup in the premises, there being no legal evidence of the 'salting,' +and none whatever of his actual allegation that the gold-dust was the +ORDINARY yield of the tailings, that implication resting entirely with +the committee who examined it under false pretense, and who subsequently +forced the sale by intimidation.” + + + + +THE DESBOROUGH CONNECTIONS + + +“Then it isn't a question of property or next of kin?” said the consul. + +“Lord! no,” said the lady vivaciously. “Why, goodness me! I reckon +old Desborough could, at any time before he died, have 'bought up' or +'bought out' the whole lot of his relatives on this side of the +big pond, no matter what they were worth. No, it's only a matter of +curiosity and just sociableness.” + +The American consul at St. Kentigorn felt much relieved. He had feared +it was only the old story of delusive quests for imaginary estates and +impossible inheritances which he had confronted so often in nervous +wan-eyed enthusiasts and obstreperous claimants from his own land. +Certainly there was no suggestion of this in the richly dressed and +be-diamonded matron before him, nor in her pretty daughter, charming in +a Paris frock, alive with the consciousness of beauty and admiration, +and yet a little ennuye from gratified indulgence. He knew the mother to +be the wealthy widow of a New York millionaire, that she was traveling +for pleasure in Europe, and a chance meeting with her at dinner a +few nights before had led to this half-capricious, half-confidential +appointment at the consulate. + +“No,” continued Mrs. Desborough; “Mr. Desborough came to America, when +a small boy, with an uncle who died some years ago. Mr. Desborough never +seemed to hanker much after his English relatives as long as I knew him, +but now that I and Sadie are over here, why we guessed we might look 'em +up and sort of sample 'em! 'Desborough' 's rather a good name,” added +the lady, with a complacency that, however, had a suggestion of query in +it. + +“Yes,” said the consul; “from the French, I fancy.” + +“Mr. Desborough was English--very English,” corrected the lady. + +“I mean it may be an old Norman name,” said the consul. + +“Norman's good enough for ME,” said the daughter, reflecting. “We'll +just settle it as Norman. I never thought about that DES.” + +“Only you may find it called 'Debborough' here, and spelt so,” said the +consul, smiling. + +Miss Desborough lifted her pretty shoulders and made a charming grimace. +“Then we won't acknowledge 'em. No Debborough for me!” + +“You might put an advertisement in the papers, like the 'next of +kin' notice, intimating, in the regular way, that they would 'hear of +something to their advantage'--as they certainly would,” continued the +consul, with a bow. “It would be such a refreshing change to the kind +of thing I'm accustomed to, don't you know--this idea of one of my +countrywomen coming over just to benefit English relatives! By Jove! I +wouldn't mind undertaking the whole thing for you--it's such a novelty.” + He was quite carried away with the idea. + +But the two ladies were far from participating in this joyous outlook. +“No,” said Mrs. Desborough promptly, “that wouldn't do. You see,” she +went on with superb frankness, “that would be just giving ourselves +away, and saying who WE were before we found out what THEY were like. +Mr. Desborough was all right in HIS way, but we don't know anything +about his FOLKS! We ain't here on a mission to improve the Desboroughs, +nor to gather in any 'lost tribes.'” + +It was evident that, in spite of the humor of the situation and the +levity of the ladies, there was a characteristic national practicalness +about them, and the consul, with a sigh, at last gave the address of one +or two responsible experts in genealogical inquiry, as he had often +done before. He felt it was impossible to offer any advice to ladies +as thoroughly capable of managing their own affairs as his fair +countrywomen, yet he was not without some curiosity to know the result +of their practical sentimental quest. That he should ever hear of them +again he doubted. He knew that after their first loneliness had worn off +in their gregarious gathering at a London hotel they were not likely to +consort with their own country people, who indeed were apt to fight +shy of one another, and even to indulge in invidious criticism of one +another when admitted in that society to which they were all equally +strangers. So he took leave of them on their way back to London with the +belief that their acquaintance terminated with that brief incident. But +he was mistaken. + +In the year following he was spending his autumn vacation at a +country house. It was an historic house, and had always struck him as +being--even in that country of historic seats--a singular example of the +vicissitudes of English manorial estates and the mutations of its +lords. His host in his prime had been recalled from foreign service +to unexpectedly succeed to an uncle's title and estate. That estate, +however, had come into the possession of the uncle only through his +marriage with the daughter of an old family whose portraits still looked +down from the walls upon the youngest and alien branch. There were +likenesses, effigies, memorials, and reminiscences of still older +families who had occupied it through forfeiture by war or the favoritism +of kings, and in its stately cloisters and ruined chapel was still felt +the dead hand of its evicted religious founders, which could not be +shaken off. + +It was this strange individuality that affected all who saw it. For, +however changed were those within its walls, whoever were its inheritors +or inhabiters, Scrooby Priory never changed nor altered its own +character. However incongruous or ill-assorted the portraits that looked +from its walls,--so ill met that they might have flown at one another's +throats in the long nights when the family were away,--the great +house itself was independent of them all. The be-wigged, be-laced, and +be-furbelowed of one day's gathering, the round-headed, steel-fronted, +and prim-kerchiefed congregation of another day, and even the +black-coated, bare-armed, and bare-shouldered assemblage of to-day had +no effect on the austerities of the Priory. Modern houses might show +the tastes and prepossessions of their dwellers, might have caught some +passing trick of the hour, or have recorded the augmented fortunes or +luxuriousness of the owner, but Scrooby Priory never! No one had dared +even to disturb its outer rigid integrity; the breaches of time and +siege were left untouched. It held its calm indifferent sway over all +who passed its low-arched portals, and the consul was fain to believe +that he--a foreign visitor--was no more alien to the house than its +present owner. + +“I'm expecting a very charming compatriot of yours to-morrow,” said Lord +Beverdale as they drove from the station together. “You must tell me +what to show her.” + +“I should think any countrywoman of mine would be quite satisfied with +the Priory,” said the consul, glancing thoughtfully towards the pile +dimly seen through the park. + +“I shouldn't like her to be bored here,” continued Beverdale. “Algy met +her at Rome, where she was occupying a palace with her mother--they're +very rich, you know. He found she was staying with Lady Minever at +Hedham Towers, and I went over and invited her with a little party. +She's a Miss Desborough.” + +The consul gave a slight start, and was aware that Beverdale was looking +at him. + +“Perhaps you know her?” said Beverdale. + +“Just enough to agree with you that she is charming,” said the consul. +“I dined with them, and saw them at the consulate.” + +“Oh yes; I always forget you are a consul. Then, of course, you know +all about them. I suppose they're very rich, and in society over there?” + said Beverdale in a voice that was quite animated. + +It was on the consul's lips to say that the late Mr. Desborough was an +Englishman, and even to speak playfully of their proposed quest, but a +sudden instinct withheld him. After all, perhaps it was only a caprice, +or idea, they had forgotten,--perhaps, who knows?--that they were +already ashamed of. They had evidently “got on” in English society, if +that was their real intent, and doubtless Miss Desborough, by this time, +was quite as content with the chance of becoming related to the Earl of +Beverdale, through his son and heir, Algernon, as if they had found a +real Lord Desborough among their own relatives. The consul knew that +Lord Beverdale was not a rich man, that like most men of old family he +was not a slave to class prejudice; indeed, the consul had seen very few +noblemen off the stage or out of the pages of a novel who were. So he +said, with a slight affectation of authority, that there was as +little doubt of the young lady's wealth as there was of her personal +attractions. + +They were nearing the house through a long avenue of chestnuts whose +variegated leaves were already beginning to strew the ground beneath, +and they could see the vista open upon the mullioned windows of the +Priory, lighted up by the yellow October sunshine. In that sunshine +stood a tall, clean-limbed young fellow, dressed in a shooting-suit, +whom the consul recognized at once as Lord Algernon, the son of his +companion. As if to accent the graces of this vision of youth and vigor, +near him, in the shadow, an old man had halted, hat in hand, still +holding the rake with which he had been gathering the dead leaves in the +avenue; his back bent, partly with years, partly with the obeisance of +a servitor. There was something so marked in this contrast, in this +old man standing in the shadow of the fading year, himself as dried and +withered as the leaves he was raking, yet pausing to make his reverence +to this passing sunshine of youth and prosperity in the presence of his +coming master, that the consul, as they swept by, looked after him with +a stirring of pain. + +“Rather an old man to be still at work,” said the consul. + +Beverdale laughed. “You must not let him hear you say so; he considers +himself quite as fit as any younger man in the place, and, by Jove! +though he's nearly eighty, I'm inclined to believe it. He's not one of +our people, however; he comes from the village, and is taken on at odd +times, partly to please himself. His great aim is to be independent of +his children,--he has a granddaughter who is one of the maids at the +Priory,--and to keep himself out of the workhouse. He does not come from +these parts--somewhere farther north, I fancy. But he's a tough lot, and +has a deal of work in him yet.” + +“Seems to be going a bit stale lately,” said Lord Algernon, “and I think +is getting a little queer in his head. He has a trick of stopping and +staring straight ahead, at times, when he seems to go off for a minute +or two. There!” continued the young man, with a light laugh. “I say! +he's doing it now!” They both turned quickly and gazed at the bent +figure--not fifty yards away--standing in exactly the same attitude as +before. But, even as they gazed, he slowly lifted his rake and began his +monotonous work again. + +At Scrooby Priory, the consul found that the fame of his fair +countrywoman had indeed preceded her, and that the other guests were +quite as anxious to see Miss Desborough as he was. One of them had +already met her in London; another knew her as one of the house party at +the Duke of Northforeland's, where she had been a central figure. Some +of her naive sallies and frank criticisms were repeated with great +unction by the gentlemen, and with some slight trepidation and a +“fearful joy” by the ladies. He was more than ever convinced that mother +and daughter had forgotten their lineal Desboroughs, and he resolved to +leave any allusion to it to the young lady herself. + +She, however, availed herself of that privilege the evening after her +arrival. “Who'd have thought of meeting YOU here?” she said, sweeping +her skirts away to make room for him on a sofa. “It's a coon's age +since I saw you--not since you gave us that letter to those genealogical +gentlemen in London.” + +The consul hoped that it had proved successful. + +“Yes, but maw guessed we didn't care to go back to Hengist and Horsa, +and when they let loose a lot of 'Debboroughs' and 'Daybrooks' upon us, +maw kicked! We've got a drawing ten yards long, that looks like a sour +apple tree, with lots of Desboroughs hanging up on the branches like +last year's pippins, and I guess about as worm-eaten. We took that well +enough, but when it came to giving us a map of straight lines and dashes +with names written under them like an old Morse telegraph slip, struck +by lightning, then maw and I guessed that it made us tired. + +“You know,” she went on, opening her clear gray eyes on the consul, with +a characteristic flash of shrewd good sense through her quaint humor, +“we never reckoned where this thing would land us, and we found we +were paying a hundred pounds, not only for the Desboroughs, but all the +people they'd MARRIED, and their CHILDREN, and children's children, and +there were a lot of outsiders we'd never heard of, nor wanted to hear +of. Maw once thought she'd got on the trail of a Plantagenet, and +followed it keen, until she found she had been reading the dreadful +thing upside down. Then we concluded we wouldn't take any more stock in +the family until it had risen.” + +During this speech the consul could not help noticing that, although her +attitude was playfully confidential to him, her voice really was pitched +high enough to reach the ears of smaller groups around her, who were not +only following her with the intensest admiration, but had shamelessly +abandoned their own conversation, and had even faced towards her. Was +she really posing in her naivete? There was a certain mischievous, +even aggressive, consciousness in her pretty eyelids. Then she suddenly +dropped both eyes and voice, and said to the consul in a genuine aside, +“I like this sort of thing much better.” + +The consul looked puzzled. “What sort of thing?” + +“Why, all these swell people, don't you see? those pictures on the +walls! this elegant room! everything that has come down from the past, +all ready and settled for you, you know--ages ago! Something you haven't +to pick up for yourself and worry over.” + +But here the consul pointed out that the place itself was not +“ancestral” as regarded the present earl, and that even the original +title of his predecessors had passed away from it. “In fact, it came +into the family by one of those 'outsiders' you deprecate. But I dare +say you'd find the place quite as comfortable with Lord Beverdale for a +host as you would if you had found out he were a cousin,” he added. + +“Better,” said the young lady frankly. + +“I suppose your mother participates in these preferences?” said the +consul, with a smile. + +“No,” said Miss Desborough, with the same frankness, “I think maw's +rather cut up at not finding a Desborough. She was invited down here, +but SHE'S rather independent, you know, so she allowed I could take care +of myself, while she went off to stay with the old Dowager Lady Mistowe, +who thinks maw a very proper womanly person. I made maw mad by telling +her that's just what old Lady Mistowe would say of her cook--for I can't +stand these people's patronage. However, I shouldn't wonder if I was +invited here as a 'most original person.'” + +But here Lord Algernon came up to implore her to sing them one of “those +plantation songs;” and Miss Desborough, with scarcely a change of voice +or manner, allowed herself to be led to the piano. The consul had +little chance to speak with her again, but he saw enough that evening to +convince him not only that Lord Algernon was very much in love with +her, but that the fact had been equally and complacently accepted by the +family and guests. That her present visit was only an opportunity for a +formal engagement was clear to every woman in the house--not excepting, +I fear, even the fair subject of gossip herself. Yet she seemed so +unconcerned and self-contained that the consul wondered if she really +cared for Lord Algernon. And having thus wondered, he came to the +conclusion that it didn't much matter, for the happiness of so +practically organized a young lady, if she loved him or not. + +It is highly probable that Miss Sadie Desborough had not even gone so +far as to ask herself that question. She awoke the next morning with a +sense of easy victory and calm satisfaction that had, however, none of +the transports of affection. Her taste was satisfied by the love of +a handsome young fellow,--a typical Englishman,--who, if not exactly +original or ideal, was, she felt, of an universally accepted, +“hall-marked” standard, the legitimate outcome of a highly ordered, +carefully guarded civilization, whose repose was the absence of struggle +or ambition; a man whose regular features were not yet differentiated +from the rest of his class by any of those disturbing lines which people +call character. Everything was made ready for her, without care or +preparation; she had not even an ideal to realize or to modify. She +could slip without any jar or dislocation into this life which was just +saved from self-indulgence and sybaritic luxury by certain conventional +rules of activity and the occupation of amusement which, as obligations +of her position, even appeared to suggest the novel aspect of a DUTY! +She could accept all this without the sense of being an intruder in +an unbroken lineage--thanks to the consul's account of the Beverdales' +inheritance. She already pictured herself as the mistress of this fair +domain, the custodian of its treasures and traditions, and the dispenser +of its hospitalities, but--as she conscientiously believed--without +pride or vanity, in her position; only an intense and thoughtful +appreciation of it. Nor did she dream of ever displaying it +ostentatiously before her less fortunate fellow countrywomen; on the +contrary, she looked forward to their possible criticism of her casting +off all transatlantic ties with an uneasy consciousness that was perhaps +her nearest approach to patriotism. Yet, again, she reasoned that, as +her father was an Englishman, she was only returning to her old home. +As to her mother, she had already comforted herself by noticing certain +discrepancies in that lady's temperament, which led her to believe that +she herself alone inherited her father's nature--for her mother was, of +course, distinctly American! So little conscious was she of any possible +snobbishness in this belief, that in her superb naivete she would have +argued the point with the consul, and employed a wit and dialect that +were purely American. + +She had slipped out of the Priory early that morning that she might +enjoy alone, unattended and unciceroned, the aspect of that vast estate +which might be hers for the mere accepting. Perhaps there was some +instinct of delicacy in her avoiding Lord Algernon that morning; not +wishing, as she herself might have frankly put it, “to take stock” of +his inheritance in his presence. As she passed into the garden through +the low postern door, she turned to look along the stretching facade of +the main building, with the high stained windows of its banqueting-hall +and the state chamber where a king had slept. Even in that crisp October +air, and with the green of its ivied battlements against the gold of +the distant wood, it seemed to lie in the languid repose of an eternal +summer. She hurried on down the other terrace into the Italian garden, a +quaint survival of past grandeur, passed the great orangery and numerous +conservatories, making a crystal hamlet in themselves--seeing everywhere +the same luxury. But it was a luxury that she fancied was redeemed +from the vulgarity of ostentation by the long custom of years and +generations, so unlike the millionaire palaces of her own land; and, in +her enthusiasm, she even fancied it was further sanctified by the grim +monastic founders who had once been content with bread and pulse in the +crumbling and dismantled refectory. In the plenitude of her feelings she +felt a slight recognition of some beneficent being who had rolled this +golden apple at her feet, and felt as if she really should like to “do +good” in her sphere. + +It so chanced that, passing through a small gate in the park, she saw +walking, a little ahead of her, a young girl whom she at once recognized +as a Miss Amelyn, one of the guests of the evening before. Miss +Desborough remembered that she played the accompaniment of one or two +songs upon the piano, and had even executed a long solo during the +general conversation, without attention from the others, and apparently +with little irritation to herself, subsiding afterwards into an +armchair, quite on the fringe of other people's conversation. She had +been called “my dear” by one or two dowagers, and by her Christian name +by the earl, and had a way of impalpably melting out of sight at times. +These trifles led Miss Desborough to conclude that she was some kind of +dependent or poor relation. Here was an opportunity to begin her work of +“doing good.” She quickened her pace and overtook Miss Amelyn. + +“Let me walk with you,” she said graciously. + +The young English girl smiled assent, but looked her surprise at seeing +the cynosure of last night's eyes unattended. + +“Oh,” said Sadie, answering the mute query, “I didn't want to be 'shown +round' by anybody, and I'm not going to bore YOU with asking to see +sights either. We'll just walk together; wherever YOU'RE going is good +enough for me.” + +“I'm going as far as the village,” said Miss Amelyn, looking down +doubtfully at Sadie's smart French shoes--“if you care to walk so far.” + +Sadie noticed that her companion was more solidly booted, and that +her straight, short skirts, although less stylish than her own, had +a certain character, better fitted to the freer outdoor life of the +country. But she only said, however, “The village will do,” and gayly +took her companion's arm. + +“But I'm afraid you'll find it very uninteresting, for I am going to +visit some poor cottages,” persisted Miss Amelyn, with a certain +timid ingenuousness of manner which, however, was as distinct as Miss +Desborough's bolder frankness. “I promised the rector's daughter to take +her place to-day.” + +“And I feel as if I was ready to pour oil and wine to any extent,” said +Miss Desborough, “so come along!” + +Miss Amelyn laughed, and yet glanced around her timidly, as if she +thought that Miss Desborough ought to have a larger and more important +audience. Then she continued more confidentially and boldly, “But it +isn't at all like 'slumming,' you know. These poor people here are not +very bad, and are not at all extraordinary.” + +“Never mind,” said Sadie, hurrying her along. After a pause she went on, +“You know the Priory very well, I guess?” + +“I lived there when I was a little girl, with my aunt, the Dowager Lady +Beverdale,” said Miss Amelyn. “When my cousin Fred, who was the young +heir, died, and the present Lord Beverdale succeeded,--HE never expected +it, you know, for there were two lives, his two elder brothers, besides +poor Fred's, between, but they both died,--we went to live in the Dower +House.” + +“The Dower House?” repeated Sadie. + +“Yes, Lady Beverdale's separate property.” + +“But I thought all this property--the Priory--came into the family +through HER.” + +“It did--this was the Amelyns' place; but the oldest son or nearest male +heir always succeeds to the property and title.” + +“Do you mean to say that the present Lord Beverdale turned that old lady +out?” + +Miss Amelyn looked shocked. “I mean to say,” she said gravely, “Lady +Beverdale would have had to go when her own son became of age, had +he lived.” She paused, and then said timidly, “Isn't it that way in +America?” + +“Dear no!” Miss Desborough had a faint recollection that there was +something in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence against +primogeniture. “No! the men haven't it ALL their own way THERE--not +much!” + +Miss Amelyn looked as if she did not care to discuss this problem. After +a few moments Sadie continued, “You and Lord Algernon are pretty old +friends, I guess?” + +“No,” replied Miss Amelyn. “He came once or twice to the Priory for the +holidays, when he was quite a boy at Marlborough--for the family weren't +very well off, and his father was in India. He was a very shy boy, and +of course no one ever thought of him succeeding.” + +Miss Desborough felt half inclined to be pleased with this, and yet half +inclined to resent this possible snubbing of her future husband. But +they were nearing the village, and Miss Amelyn turned the conversation +to the object of her visit. It was a new village--an unhandsome village, +for all that it stood near one of the gates of the park. It had been +given over to some mines that were still worked in its vicinity, and to +the railway, which the uncle of the present earl had resisted; but the +railway had triumphed, and the station for Scrooby Priory was there. +There was a grim church, of a blackened or weather-beaten stone, on the +hill, with a few grim Amelyns reposing cross-legged in the chancel, but +the character of the village was as different from the Priory as if it +were in another county. They stopped at the rectory, where Miss Amelyn +provided herself with certain doles and gifts, which the American +girl would have augmented with a five-pound note but for Miss Amelyn's +horrified concern. “As many shillings would do, and they would be as +grateful,” she said. “More they wouldn't understand.” + +“Then keep it, and dole it out as you like,” said Sadie quickly. + +“But I don't think that--that Lord Beverdale would quite approve,” + hesitated Miss Amelyn. + +The pretty brow of her companion knit, and her gray eyes flashed +vivaciously. “What has HE to do with it?” she said pertly; “besides, you +say these are not HIS poor. Take that five-pound note--or--I'll DOUBLE +it, get it changed into sovereigns at the station, and hand 'em round to +every man, woman, and child.” + +Miss Amelyn hesitated. The American girl looked capable of doing what +she said; perhaps it was a national way of almsgiving! She took the +note, with the mental reservation of making a full confession to the +rector and Lord Beverdale. + +She was right in saying that the poor of Scrooby village were not +interesting. There was very little squalor or degradation; their poverty +seemed not a descent, but a condition to which they had been born; the +faces which Sadie saw were dulled and apathetic rather than sullen +or rebellious; they stood up when Miss Amelyn entered, paying HER the +deference, but taking little note of the pretty butterfly who was with +her, or rather submitting to her frank curiosity with that dull consent +of the poor, as if they had lost even the sense of privacy, or a right +to respect. It seemed to the American girl that their poverty was more +indicated by what they were SATISFIED with than what she thought they +MISSED. It is to be feared that this did not add to Sadie's sympathy; +all the beggars she had seen in America wanted all they could get, and +she felt as if she were confronted with an inferior animal. + +“There's a wonderful old man lives here,” said Miss Amelyn, as they +halted before a stone and thatch cottage quite on the outskirts of +the village. “We can't call him one of our poor, for he still works, +although over eighty, and it's his pride to keep out of the poorhouse, +and, as he calls it, 'off' the hands of his granddaughters. But we +manage to do something for THEM, and we hope he profits by it. One of +them is at the Priory; they're trying to make a maid of her, but her +queer accent--they're from the north--is against her with the servants. +I am afraid we won't see old Debs, for he's at work again to-day, though +the doctor has warned him.” + +“Debs! What a funny name!” + +“Yes, but as many of these people cannot read or write, the name is +carried by the ear, and not always correctly. Some of the railway +navvies, who come from the north as he does, call him 'Debbers.'” + +They were obliged to descend into the cottage, which was so low that it +seemed to have sunk into the earth until its drooping eaves of thatch +mingled with the straw heap beside it. Debs was not at home. But his +granddaughter was there, who, after a preliminary “bob,” continued the +stirring of the pot before the fire in tentative silence. + +“I am sorry to find that your grandfather has gone to work again in +spite of the doctor's orders,” said Miss Amelyn. + +The girl continued to stir the pot, and then said without looking +up, but as if also continuing a train of aggressive thoughts with her +occupation: “Eay, but 'e's so set oop in 'issen 'ee doan't take orders +from nobbut--leastways doctor. Moinds 'em now moor nor a floy. Says 'ee +knaws there nowt wrong wi' 'is 'eart. Mout be roight--how'siver, sarten +sewer, 'is 'EAD'S a' in a muddle! Toims 'ee goes off stamrin' and +starin' at nowt, as if 'ee a'nt a n'aporth o' sense. How'siver I be +doing my duty by 'em--and 'ere's 'is porritch when a' cooms--'gin a' be +sick or maad.” + +What the American understood of the girl's speech and manner struck +her as having very little sympathy with either her aged relative or her +present visitor. And there was a certain dogged selfish independence +about her that Miss Desborough half liked and half resented. However, +Miss Amelyn did not seem to notice it, and, after leaving a bottle of +port for the grandfather, she took her leave and led Sadie away. As they +passed into the village a carriage, returning to the Priory, filled with +their fellow guests, dashed by, but was instantly pulled up at a word +from Lord Algernon, who leaped from the vehicle, hat in hand, and +implored the fair truant and her companion to join them. + +“We're just making a tour around Windover Hill, and back to luncheon,” + he said, with a rising color. “We missed you awfully! If we had known +you were so keen on 'good works,' and so early at it, by Jove! we'd have +got up a 'slummin' party,' and all joined!” + +“And you haven't seen half,” said Lord Beverdale from the box. “Miss +Amelyn's too partial to the village. There's an old drunken retired +poacher somewhere in a hut in Crawley Woods, whom it's death to +approach, except with a large party. There's malignant diphtheria over +at the South Farm, eight down with measles at the keeper's, and an old +woman who has been bedridden for years.” + +But Miss Desborough was adamant, though sparkling. She thanked him, +but said she had just seen an old woman “who had been lying in bed for +twenty years, and hadn't spoken the truth once!” She proposed “going +outside of Lord Beverdale's own preserves of grain-fed poor,” and +starting up her own game. She would return in time for luncheon--if she +could; if not, she “should annex the gruel of the first kind incapable +she met.” + +Yet, actually, she was far from displeased at being accidentally +discovered by these people while following out her capricious whim of +the morning. One or two elder ladies, who had fought shy of her frocks +and her frankness the evening before, were quite touched now by this +butterfly who was willing to forego the sunlight of society, and soil +her pretty wings on the haunts of the impoverished, with only a single +companion,--of her own sex!--and smiled approvingly. And in her present +state of mind, remembering her companion's timid attitude towards Lord +Beverdale's opinions, she was not above administering this slight snub +to him in her presence. + +When they had driven away, with many regrets, Miss Amelyn was deeply +concerned. “I am afraid,” she said, with timid conscientiousness, “I +have kept you from going with them. And you must be bored with what you +have seen, I know. I don't believe you really care one bit for it--and +you are only doing it to please me.” + +“Trot out the rest of your show,” said Sadie promptly, “and we'll wind +up by lunching with the rector.” + +“He'd be too delighted,” said Miss Amelyn, with disaster written all +over her girlish, truthful face, “but--but--you know--it really wouldn't +be quite right to Lord Beverdale. You're his principal guest--you know, +and--they'd think I had taken you off.” + +“Well,” said Miss Desborough impetuously, “what's the matter with that +inn--the Red Lion? We can get a sandwich there, I guess. I'm not VERY +hungry.” + +Miss Amelyn looked horrified for a moment, and then laughed; but +immediately became concerned again. “No! listen to me, REALLY now! Let +me finish my round alone! You'll have ample time if you go NOW to reach +the Priory for luncheon. Do, please! It would be ever so much better for +everybody. I feel quite guilty as it is, and I suppose I am already in +Lord Beverdale's black books.” + +The trouble in the young girl's face was unmistakable, and as it suited +Miss Desborough's purpose just as well to show her independence by +returning, as she had set out, alone, she consented to go. Miss Amelyn +showed her a short cut across the park, and they separated--to meet at +dinner. In this brief fellowship, the American girl had kept a certain +supremacy and half-fascination over the English girl, even while she was +conscious of an invincible character in Miss Amelyn entirely different +from and superior to her own. Certainly there was a difference in the +two peoples. Why else this inherited conscientious reverence for Lord +Beverdale's position, shown by Miss Amelyn, which she, an American alive +to its practical benefits, could not understand? Would Miss Amelyn and +Lord Algernon have made a better match? The thought irritated her, even +while she knew that she herself possessed the young man's affections, +the power to marry him, and, as she believed, kept her own independence +in the matter. + +As she entered the iron gates at the lower end of the park, and glanced +at the interwoven cipher and crest of the Amelyns still above, she was +conscious that the wind was blowing more chill, and that a few clouds +had gathered. As she walked on down the long winding avenue, the sky +became overcast, and, in one of those strange contrasts of the English +climate, the glory of the whole day went out with the sunshine. The +woods suddenly became wrinkled and gray, the distant hills sombre, the +very English turf beneath her feet grew brown; a mile and a half away, +through the opening of the trees, the west part of the Priory looked +a crumbling, ivy-eaten ruin. A few drops of rain fell. She hurried +on. Suddenly she remembered that the avenue made a long circuit before +approaching the house, and that its lower end, where she was walking, +was but a fringe of the park. Consequently there must be a short cut +across some fields and farm buildings to the back of the park and the +Priory. She at once diverged to the right, presently found a low fence, +which she clambered over, and again found a footpath which led to a +stile. Crossing that, she could see the footpath now led directly to the +Priory,--now a grim and austere looking pile in the suddenly dejected +landscape,--and that it was probably used only by the servants and +farmers. A gust of wind brought some swift needles of rain to her cheek; +she could see the sad hills beyond the Priory already veiling their +faces; she gathered her skirts and ran. The next field was a long one, +but beside the further stile was a small clump of trees, the only ones +between her and the park. Hurrying on to that shelter, she saw that the +stile was already occupied by a tall but bent figure, holding a long +stick in his hand, which gave him the appearance, against the horizon, +of the figure of Time leaning on his scythe. As she came nearer she saw +it was, indeed, an old man, half resting on his rake. He was very +rugged and weather-beaten, and although near the shelter of the trees, +apparently unmindful of the rain that was falling on his bald head, and +the limp cap he was holding uselessly in one hand. He was staring at +her, yet apparently unconscious of her presence. A sudden instinct came +upon her--it was “Debs”! + +She went directly up to him, and with that frank common sense which +ordinarily distinguished her, took his cap from his hand and put it +on his head, grasped his arm firmly, and led him to the shelter of the +tree. Then she wiped the raindrops from his face with her handkerchief, +shook out her own dress and her wet parasol, and, propping her companion +against the tree, said:-- + +“There, Mr. Debs! I've heard of people who didn't know enough to come in +when it rained, but I never met one before.” + +The old man started, lifted his hairy, sinewy arm, bared to the elbow, +and wiped his bare throat with the dry side of it. Then a look of +intelligence--albeit half aggressive--came into his face. “Wheer beest +tha going?” he asked. + +Something in his voice struck Sadie like a vague echo. Perhaps it was +only the queer dialect--or some resemblance to his granddaughter's +voice. She looked at him a little more closely as she said:-- + +“To the Priory.” + +“Whaat?” + +She pointed with her parasol to the gray pile in the distance. It was +possible that this demented peasant didn't even UNDERSTAND English. + +“The hall. Oh, ay!” Suddenly his brows knit ominously as he faced her. +“An' wassist tha doin' drest oop in this foinery? Wheer gettist thee +that goawn? Thissen, or thy maester? Nowt even a napron, fit for thy +wark as maaid at serviss; an' parson a gettin' tha plaace at Hall! So +thou'lt be high and moity will tha! thou'lt not walk wi' maaids, but +traipse by thissen like a slut in the toon--dang tha!” + +Although it was plain to Sadie that the old man, in his wandering +perception, had mistaken her for his granddaughter in service at the +Priory, there was still enough rudeness in his speech for her to have +resented it. But, strange to say, there was a kind of authority in it +that touched her with an uneasiness and repulsion that was stronger than +any other feeling. “I think you have mistaken me for some one else,” + she said hurriedly, yet wondering why she had admitted it, and even +irritated at the admission. “I am a stranger here, a visitor at the +Priory. I called with Miss Amelyn at your cottage, and saw your other +granddaughter; that's how I knew your name.” + +The old man's face changed. A sad, senile smile of hopeless bewilderment +crept into his hard mouth; he plucked his limp cap from his head and +let it hang submissively in his fingers, as if it were his sole apology. +Then he tried to straighten himself, and said, “Naw offins, miss, naw +offins! If tha knaws mea tha'll knaw I'm grandfeyther to two galls as +moight be tha owern age; tha'll tell 'ee that old Debs at haaty years +'as warked and niver lost a day as man or boy; has niver coome oopen 'em +for n'aporth. An' 'e'll keep out o' warkus till he doy. An' 'ee's put by +enow to by wi' his own feythers in Lanksheer, an' not liggen aloane in +parson's choorchyard.” + +It was part of her uneasiness that, scarcely understanding or, indeed, +feeling any interest in these maundering details, she still seemed +to have an odd comprehension of his character and some reminiscent +knowledge of him, as if she were going through the repetition of some +unpleasant dream. Even his wrinkled face was becoming familiar to her. +Some weird attraction was holding her; she wanted to get away from it as +much as she wanted to analyze it. She glanced ostentatiously at the sky, +prepared to open her parasol, and began to edge cautiously away. + +“Then tha beant from these pearts?” he said suddenly. + +“No, no,” she said quickly and emphatically,--“no, I'm an American.” + +The old man started and moved towards her, eagerly, his keen eyes +breaking through the film that at times obscured them. “'Merrikan! tha +baist 'Merrikan? Then tha knaws ma son John, 'ee war nowt but a bairn +when brether Dick took un to 'Merriky! Naw! Now! that wor fifty years +sen!--niver wroate to his old feyther--niver coomed back, 'Ee wor +tall-loike, an' thea said 'e feavored mea.” He stopped, threw up his +head, and with his skinny fingers drew back his long, straggling locks +from his sunken cheeks, and stared in her face. The quick transition +of fascination, repulsion, shock, and indefinable apprehension made her +laugh hysterically. To her terror he joined in it, and eagerly clasped +her wrists. “Eh, lass! tha knaws John--tha coomes from un to ole +grandfeyther. Who-rr-u! Eay! but tha tho't to fool mea, did tha, lass? +Whoy, I knoawed tha voice, for a' tha foine peacock feathers. So tha be +John's gell coom from Ameriky. Dear! a dear! Coom neaur, lass! let's see +what tha's loike. Eh, but thou'lt kiss tha grandfather, sewerly?” + +A wild terror and undefined consternation had completely overpowered +her! But she made a desperate effort to free her wrists, and burst out +madly:-- + +“Let me go! How dare you! I don't know you or yours! I'm nothing to you +or your kin! My name is Desborough--do you understand--do you hear me, +Mr. Debs?--DESBOROUGH!” + +At the word the old man's fingers stiffened like steel around her +wrists, as he turned upon her a hard, invincible face. + +“So thou'lt call thissen Des-borough, wilt tha? Let me tell tha, then, +that 'Debs,' 'Debban,' 'Debbrook,' and 'Des-borough' are all a seame! +Ay! thy feyther and thy feyther's feyther! Thou'lt be a Des-borough, +will tha? Dang tha! and look doon on tha kin, and dress thissen in silks +o' shame! Tell 'ee thou'rt an ass, gell! Don't tha hear? An ass! for all +tha bean John's bairn! An ass! that's what tha beast!” + +With flashing eyes and burning cheeks she made one more supreme +effort, lifting her arms, freeing her wrists, and throwing the old man +staggering from her. Then she leaped the stile, turned, and fled through +the rain. But before she reached the end of the field she stopped! She +had freed herself--she was stronger than he--what had she to fear? He +was crazy! Yes, he MUST be crazy, and he had insulted her, but he was an +old man--and God knows what! Her heart was beating rapidly, her breath +was hurried, but she ran back to the stile. + +He was not there. The field sloped away on either side of it. But she +could distinguish nothing in the pouring rain above the wind-swept +meadow. He must have gone home. Relieved for a moment she turned and +hurried on towards the Priory. + +But at every step she was followed, not by the old man's presence, but +by what he had said to her, which she could not shake off as she had +shaken off his detaining fingers. Was it the ravings of insanity, or had +she stumbled unwittingly upon some secret--was it after all a SECRET? +Perhaps it was something they all knew, or would know later. And she had +come down here for this. For back of her indignation, back even of her +disbelief in his insanity, there was an awful sense of truth! The names +he had flung out, of “Debs,” “Debban,” and “Debbrook” now flashed upon +her as something she had seen before, but had not understood. Until she +satisfied herself of this, she felt she could not live or breathe! She +loathed the Priory, with its austere exclusiveness, as it rose before +her; she wished she had never entered it; but it contained that which +she must know, and know at once! She entered the nearest door and ran +up the grand staircase. Her flushed face and disordered appearance were +easily accounted for by her exposure to the sudden storm. She went to +her bedroom, sent her maid to another room to prepare a change of dress, +and sinking down before her traveling-desk, groped for a document. Ah! +there it was--the expensive toy that she had played with! She hastily +ran over its leaves to the page she already remembered. And there, among +the dashes and perpendicular lines she had jested over last night, on +which she had thought was a collateral branch of the line, stood her +father's name and that of Richard, his uncle, with the bracketed note in +red ink, “see Debbrook, Daybrook, Debbers, and Debs.” Yes! this gaunt, +half-crazy, overworked peasant, content to rake the dead leaves before +the rolling chariots of the Beverdales, was her grandfather; that poorly +clad girl in the cottage, and even the menial in the scullery of this +very house that might be HERS, were her COUSINS! She burst into a laugh, +and then refolded the document and put it away. + +At luncheon she was radiant and sparkling. Her drenched clothes were +an excuse for a new and ravishing toilette. She had never looked so +beautiful before, and significant glances were exchanged between some +of the guests, who believed that the expected proposal had already come. +But those who were of the carriage party knew otherwise, and of Lord +Algernon's disappointment. Lord Beverdale contented himself with +rallying his fair guest on the becomingness of “good works.” But he +continued, “You're offering a dreadful example to these ladies, Miss +Desborough, and I know I shall never hereafter be able to content them +with any frivolous morning amusement at the Priory. For myself, when +I am grown gouty and hideous, I know I shall bloom again as a district +visitor.” + +Yet under this surface sparkle and nervous exaltation Sadie never lost +consciousness of the gravity of the situation. If her sense of humor +enabled her to see one side of its grim irony; if she experienced a +wicked satisfaction in accepting the admiration and easy confidence of +the high-born guests, knowing that her cousin had assisted in preparing +the meal they were eating, she had never lost sight of the practical +effect of the discovery she had made. And she had come to a final +resolution. She should leave the Priory at once, and abandon all idea of +a matrimonial alliance with its heir! Inconsistent as this might seem +to her selfish, worldly nature, it was nevertheless in keeping with a +certain pride and independence that was in her blood. She did not love +Lord Algernon, neither did she love her grandfather; she was equally +willing to sacrifice either or both; she knew that neither Lord Algernon +nor his father would make her connections an objection, however they +might wish to keep the fact a secret, or otherwise dispose of them by +pensions or emigration, but she could not bear to KNOW IT HERSELF! +She never could be happy as the mistress of Scrooby Priory with that +knowledge; she did not idealize it as a principle! Carefully weighing it +by her own practical common sense, she said to herself that “it wouldn't +pay.” The highest independence is often akin to the lowest selfishness; +she did not dream that the same pride which kept her grandfather from +the workhouse and support by his daughters, and had even kept him from +communicating with his own son, now kept her from acknowledging them, +even for the gift of a title and domain. There was only one question +before her: should she stay long enough to receive the proposal of Lord +Algernon, and then decline it? Why should she not snatch that single +feminine joy out of the ashes of her burnt-up illusion? She knew that an +opportunity would be offered that afternoon. The party were to take tea +at Broxby Hall, and Lord Algernon was to drive her there in his dogcart. +Miss Desborough had gone up to her bedroom to put on a warmer cloak, and +had rung twice or thrice impatiently for her maid. + +When the girl made her appearance, apologetic, voluble, and excited, +Miss Desborough scarcely listened to her excuses, until a single word +suddenly arrested her attention. It was “old Debs.” + +“What ARE you talking about?” said Sadie, pausing in the adjustment of +her hat on her brown hair. + +“Old Debs, miss,--that's what they call him; an old park-keeper, just +found dead in a pool of water in the fields; the grandfather of one of +the servants here; and there's such an excitement in the servants' hall. +The gentlemen all knew it, too, for I heard Lord Algernon say that +he was looking very queer lately, and might have had a fit; and Lord +Beverdale has sent word to the coroner. And only think, the people here +are such fools that they daren't touch or move the poor man, and him +lyin' there in the rain all the time, until the coroner comes!” + +Miss Desborough had been steadily regarding herself in the glass to see +if she had turned pale. She had. She set her teeth together until +the color partly returned. But she kept her face away from the maid. +“That'll do,” she said quietly. “You can tell me all later. I have some +important news myself, and I may not go out after all. I want you to +take a note for me.” She went to her table, wrote a line in pencil, +folded it, scribbled an address upon it, handed it to the girl, and +gently pushed her from the room. + +***** + +The consul was lingering on the terrace beside one of the carriages; at +a little distance a groom was holding the nervous thoroughbred of Lord +Algernon's dog-cart. Suddenly he felt a touch on his shoulder, and Miss +Desborough's maid put a note in his hand. It contained only a line:-- + + +Please come and see me in the library, but without making any fuss about +it--at once. S. D. + + +The consul glanced around him; no one had apparently noticed the +incident. He slipped back into the house and made his way to the +library. It was a long gallery; at the further end Miss Desborough stood +cloaked, veiled, and coquettishly hatted. She was looking very beautiful +and animated. “I want you to please do me a great favor,” she said, with +an adorable smile, “as your own countrywoman, you know--for the sake of +Fourth of July and Pumpkin Pie and the Old Flag! I don't want to go +to this circus to-day. I am going to leave here to-night! I am! Honest +Injin! I want YOU to manage it. I want you to say that as consul you've +received important news for me: the death of some relative, if you like; +or better, something AFFECTING MY PROPERTY, you know,” with a little +satirical laugh. “I guess that would fetch 'em! So go at once.” + +“But really, Miss Desborough, do let us talk this over before you +decide!” implored the bewildered consul. “Think what a disappointment to +your host and these ladies. Lord Algernon expects to drive you there; he +is already waiting! The party was got up for you!” Miss Desborough made +a slight grimace. “I mean you ought to sacrifice something--but I trust +there is really nothing serious--to them!” + +“If YOU do not speak to them, I will!” said Miss Desborough firmly. “If +you say what I tell you, it will come the more plausibly from you. Come! +My mind is made up. One of us must break the news! Shall it be you or +I?” She drew her cloak over her shoulders and made a step forwards. + +The consul saw she was determined. “Then wait here till I return, but +keep yourself out of sight,” he said, and hurried away. Between the +library and the terrace he conceived a plan. His perplexity lent him a +seriousness which befitted the gravity of the news he had to disclose. +“I am sorry to have to tell you,” he said, taking Lord Beverdale aside, +“that I was the unlucky bearer of some sad news to Miss Desborough this +morning, through my consular letters--some matter concerning the death +of a relation of hers, and some wearisome question of property. I +thought that it was of little importance, and that she would not take +it seriously, but I find I was mistaken. It may even oblige her to catch +the London train to-night. I promised to make her excuses to you for the +present, and I'm afraid I must add my own to them, as she wishes me to +stay and advise her in this matter, which requires some prompt action.” + +Miss Desborough was right: the magic word “property” changed the slight +annoyance on the earl's face to a sympathetic concern. “Dear me! I trust +it is nothing really serious,” he said. “Of course, you will advise her, +and, by the way, if my solicitor, Withers, who'll be here to-morrow, +can do anything, you know, call him in. I hope she'll be able to see +me later. It could not be a NEAR relation who died, I fancy; she has no +brothers or sisters, I understand.” + +“A cousin, I think; an old friend,” said the consul hastily. He heard +Lord Beverdale say a few words to his companions, saw with a tinge of +remorse a cloud settle upon Lord Algernon's fresh face, as he appealed +in a whisper to old Lady Mesthyn, who leaned forward from the carriage, +and said, “If the dear child thought I could be of any service, I should +only be too glad to stay with her.” + +“I knew she would appreciate Lady Mesthyn's sympathy,” said the +ingenious consul quickly, “but I really think the question is more a +business one--and”-- + +“Ah, yes,” said the old lady, shaking her head, “it's dreadful, of +course, but we must all think of THAT!” + +As the carriage drove away, the consul hurried back a little viciously +to his fair countrywoman. “There!” he said, “I have done it! If I have +managed to convey either the idea that you are a penniless orphan, or +that I have official information that you are suspected of a dynamite +conspiracy, don't blame me! And now,” he said, “as I have excused myself +on the ground that I must devote myself to this dreadful business of +yours, perhaps you'll tell me WHAT it really is.” + +“Not a word more,” said Miss Desborough; “except,” she added,--checking +her smile with a weary gesture,--“except that I want to leave this +dreadful place at once! There! don't ask me any more!” + +There could be no doubt of the girl's sincerity. Nor was it the +extravagant caprice of a petted idol. What had happened? He might have +believed in a lovers' quarrel, but he knew that she and Lord Algernon +could have had no private interview that evening. He must perforce +accept her silence, yet he could not help saying:-- + +“You seemed to like the place so much last night. I say, you haven't +seen the Priory ghost, have you?” + +“The Priory ghost,” she said quickly. “What's that?” + +“The old monk who passes through the cloisters with the sacred oil, the +bell, and the smell of incense whenever any one is to die here. By Jove! +it would have been a good story to tell instead of this cock-and-bull +one about your property. And there WAS a death here to-day. You'd have +added the sibyl's gifts to your other charms.” + +“Tell me about that old man,” she said, looking past him out of the +window. “I was at his cottage this morning. But, no! first let us go +out. You can take me for a walk, if you like. You see I am all ready, +and I'm just stifling here.” + +They descended to the terrace together. “Where would you like to go?” he +asked. + +“To the village. I may want to telegraph, you know.” + +They turned into the avenue, but Miss Desborough stopped. + +“Is there not a shorter cut across the fields,” she asked, “over there?” + +“There is,” said the consul. + +They both turned into the footpath which led to the farm and stile. +After a pause she said, “Did you ever talk with that poor old man?” + +“No.” + +“Then you don't know if he really was crazy, as they think.” + +“No. But they may have thought an old man's forgetfulness of present +things and his habit of communing with the past was insanity. For all +that he was a plucky, independent old fellow, with a grim purpose that +was certainly rational.” + +“I suppose in his independence he would not have taken favors from these +people, or anybody?” + +“I should think not.” + +“Don't you think it was just horrid--their leaving him alone in the +rain, when he might have been only in a fit?” + +“The doctor says he died suddenly of heart disease,” said the consul. +“It might have happened at any moment and without warning.” + +“Ah, that was the coroner's verdict, then,” said Miss Desborough +quickly. + +“The coroner did not think it necessary to have any inquest after Lord +Beverdale's statement. It wouldn't have been very joyous for the Priory +party. And I dare say he thought it might not be very cheerful for YOU.” + +“How very kind!” said the young girl, with a quick laugh. “But do you +know that it's about the only thing human, original, and striking that +has happened in this place since I've been here! And so unexpected, +considering how comfortably everything is ordered here beforehand.” + +“Yet you seemed to like that kind of thing very well, last evening,” + said the consul mischievously. + +“That was last night,” retorted Miss Desborough; “and you know the line, +'Colors seen by candlelight do not look the same by day.' But I'm going +to be very consistent to-day, for I intend to go over to that poor man's +cottage again, and see if I can be of any service. Will you go with me?” + +“Certainly,” said the consul, mystified by his companion's extraordinary +conduct, yet apparent coolness of purpose, and hoping for some further +explanation. Was she only an inexperienced flirt who had found herself +on the point of a serious entanglement she had not contemplated? Yet +even then he knew she was clever enough to extricate herself in some +other way than this abrupt and brutal tearing through the meshes. Or was +it possible that she really had any intelligence affecting her property? +He reflected that he knew very little of the Desboroughs, but on the +other hand he knew that Beverdale knew them much better, and was a +prudent man. He had no right to demand her confidence as a reward for +his secrecy; he must wait her pleasure. Perhaps she would still explain; +women seldom could resist the triumph of telling the secret that puzzled +others. + +When they reached the village she halted before the low roof of Debs's +cottage. “I had better go in first,” she said; “you can come in later, +and in the meantime you might go to the station for me and find out the +exact time that the express train leaves for the north.” + +“But,” said the astonished consul, “I thought you were going to London?” + +“No,” said Miss Desborough quietly, “I am going to join some friends at +Harrogate.” + +“But that train goes much earlier than the train south, and--and I'm +afraid Lord Beverdale will not have returned so soon.” + +“How sad!” said Miss Desborough, with a faint smile, “but we must bear +up under it, and--I'll write him. I will be here until you return.” + +She turned away and entered the cottage. The granddaughter she had +already seen and her sister, the servant at the Priory, were both +chatting comfortably, but ceased as she entered, and both rose with +awkward respect. There was little to suggest that the body of their +grandfather, already in a rough oak shell, was lying upon trestles +beside them. + +“You have carried out my orders, I see,” said Miss Desborough, laying +down her parasol. + +“Ay, miss; but it was main haard gettin' et dooan so soon, and et +cooast”-- + +“Never mind the cost. I've given you money enough, I think, and if I +haven't, I guess I can give you more.” + +“Ay, miss! Abbut the pa'son 'ead gi' un a funeral for nowt.” + +“But I understood you to say,” said Miss Desborough, with an impatient +flash of eye, “that your grandfather wished to be buried with his +kindred in the north?” + +“Ay, miss,” said the girl apologetically, “an naw 'ees savit th' munny. +Abbut e'd bean tickled 'ad 'ee knowed it! Dear! dear! 'ee niver thowt et +'ud be gi'en by stranger an' not 'es ownt fammaly.” + +“For all that, you needn't tell anybody it was given by ME,” said Miss +Desborough. “And you'll be sure to be ready to take the train this +afternoon--without delay.” There was a certain peremptoriness in her +voice very unlike Miss Amelyn's, yet apparently much more effective with +the granddaughter. + +“Ay, miss. Then, if tha'll excoose mea, I'll go streight to 'oory oop +sexten.” + +She bustled away. “Now,” said Miss Desborough, turning to the other +girl, “I shall take the same train, and will probably see you on the +platform at York to give my final directions. That's all. Go and see if +the gentleman who came with me has returned from the station.” + +The girl obeyed. Left entirely alone, Miss Desborough glanced around +the room, and then went quietly up to the unlidded coffin. The repose of +death had softened the hard lines of the old man's mouth and brow into a +resemblance she now more than ever understood. She had stood thus only +a few years before, looking at the same face in a gorgeously inlaid +mahogany casket, smothered amidst costly flowers, and surrounded by +friends attired in all the luxurious trappings of woe; yet it was the +same face that was now rigidly upturned to the bare thatch and rafters +of that crumbling cottage, herself its only companion. She lifted her +delicate veil with both hands, and, stooping down, kissed the hard, cold +forehead, without a tremor. Then she dropped her veil again over her dry +eyes, readjusted it in the little, cheap, black-framed mirror that hung +against the wall, and opened the door as the granddaughter returned. The +gentleman was just coming from the station. + +“Remember to look out for me at York,” said Miss Desborough, extending +her gloved hand. “Good-by till then.” The young girl respectfully +touched the ends of Miss Desborough's fingers, dropped a curtsy, and +Miss Desborough rejoined the consul. + +“You have barely time to return to the Priory and see to your luggage,” + said the consul, “if you must go. But let me hope that you have changed +your mind.” + +“I have not changed my mind,” said Miss Desborough quietly, “and my +baggage is already packed.” After a pause, she said thoughtfully, “I've +been wondering”-- + +“What?” said the consul eagerly. + +“I've been wondering if people brought up to speak in a certain dialect, +where certain words have their own significance and color, and are part +of their own lives and experience--if, even when they understand another +dialect, they really feel any sympathy with it, or the person who speaks +it?” + +“Apropos of”--asked the consul. + +“These people I've just left! I don't think I quite felt with them, and +I guess they didn't feel with me.” + +“But,” said the consul laughingly, “you know that we Americans speak +with a decided dialect of our own, and attach the same occult meaning to +it. Yet, upon my word, I think that Lord Beverdale--or shall I say Lord +Algernon?--would not only understand that American word 'guess' as you +mean it, but would perfectly sympathize with you.” + +Miss Desborough's eyes sparkled even through her veil as she glanced at +her companion and said, “I GUESS NOT.” + +As the “tea” party had not yet returned, it fell to the consul to +accompany Miss Desborough and her maid to the station. But here he was +startled to find a collection of villagers upon the platform, gathered +round two young women in mourning, and an ominous-looking box. +He mingled for a moment with the crowd, and then returned to Miss +Desborough's side. + +“Really,” he said, with a concern that was scarcely assumed, “I ought +not to let you go. The omens are most disastrous! You came here to a +death; you are going away with a funeral!” + +“Then it's high time I took myself off!” said the lady lightly. + +“Unless, like the ghostly monk, you came here on a mission, and have +fulfilled it.” + +“Perhaps I have. Good-by!” + +***** + +In spite of the bright and characteristic letter which Miss Desborough +left for her host,--a letter which mingled her peculiar shrewd sense +with her humorous extravagance of expression,--the consul spent a +somewhat uneasy evening under the fire of questions that assailed him +in reference to the fair deserter. But he kept loyal faith with her, +adhering even to the letter of her instructions, and only once was +goaded into more active mendacity. The conversation had turned upon +“Debs,” and the consul had remarked on the singularity of the name. A +guest from the north observed, however, that the name was undoubtedly a +contraction. “Possibly it might have been 'Debborough,' or even the same +name as our fair friend.” + +“But didn't Miss Desborough tell you last night that she had been +hunting up her people, with a family tree, or something like that?” said +Lord Algernon eagerly. “I just caught a word here and there, for you +were both laughing.” + +The consul smiled blandly. “You may well say so, for it was all the most +delightful piece of pure invention and utter extravagance. It would have +amused her still more if she had thought you were listening and took it +seriously!” + +“Of course; I see!” said the young fellow, with a laugh and a slight +rise of color. “I knew she was taking some kind of a rise out of YOU, +and that remark reminded me of it.” + +Nevertheless, within a year, Lord Algernon was happily married to the +daughter of a South African millionaire, whose bridal offerings alone +touched the sum of half a million. It was also said that the mother +was “impossible” and the father “unspeakable,” the relations +“inextinguishable;” but the wedding was an “occasion,” and in the +succeeding year of festivity it is presumed that the names of “Debs” and +“Desborough” were alike forgotten. + +But they existed still in a little hamlet near the edge of a bleak +northern moor, where they were singularly exalted on a soaring shaft of +pure marble above the submerged and moss-grown tombstones of a simple +country churchyard. So great was the contrast between the modern and +pretentious monument and the graves of the humbler forefathers of the +village, that even the Americans who chanced to visit it were shocked at +what they believed was the ostentatious and vulgar pride of one of their +own countrywomen. For on its pedestal was inscribed:-- + + Sacred to the Memory + of + JOHN DEBS DESBOROUGH, + Formerly of this parish, + Who departed this life October 20th, 1892, + At Scrooby Priory, + At the age of eighty-two years. + This monument was erected as a loving testimony + by his granddaughter, + Sadie Desborough, of New York, U. S. A. + + “And evening brings us home.” + + + + +SALOMY JANE'S KISS + + +Only one shot had been fired. It had gone wide of its mark,--the +ringleader of the Vigilantes,--and had left Red Pete, who had fired +it, covered by their rifles and at their mercy. For his hand had been +cramped by hard riding, and his eye distracted by their sudden onset, +and so the inevitable end had come. He submitted sullenly to his +captors; his companion fugitive and horse-thief gave up the protracted +struggle with a feeling not unlike relief. Even the hot and revengeful +victors were content. They had taken their men alive. At any time during +the long chase they could have brought them down by a rifle shot, but it +would have been unsportsmanlike, and have ended in a free fight, instead +of an example. And, for the matter of that, their doom was already +sealed. Their end, by a rope and a tree, although not sanctified by law, +would have at least the deliberation of justice. It was the tribute paid +by the Vigilantes to that order which they had themselves disregarded in +the pursuit and capture. Yet this strange logic of the frontier sufficed +them, and gave a certain dignity to the climax. + +“Ef you've got anything to say to your folks, say it NOW, and say it +quick,” said the ringleader. + +Red Pete glanced around him. He had been run to earth at his own cabin +in the clearing, whence a few relations and friends, mostly women and +children, non-combatants, had outflowed, gazing vacantly at the twenty +Vigilantes who surrounded them. All were accustomed to scenes of +violence, blood-feud, chase, and hardship; it was only the suddenness of +the onset and its quick result that had surprised them. They looked on +with dazed curiosity and some disappointment; there had been no fight +to speak of--no spectacle! A boy, nephew of Red Pete, got upon the +rain-barrel to view the proceedings more comfortably; a tall, handsome, +lazy Kentucky girl, a visiting neighbor, leaned against the doorpost, +chewing gum. Only a yellow hound was actively perplexed. He could +not make out if a hunt were just over or beginning, and ran eagerly +backwards and forwards, leaping alternately upon the captives and the +captors. + +The ringleader repeated his challenge. Red Pete gave a reckless laugh +and looked at his wife. + +At which Mrs. Red Pete came forward. It seemed that she had much to say, +incoherently, furiously, vindictively, to the ringleader. His soul would +roast in hell for that day's work! He called himself a man, skunkin' +in the open and afraid to show himself except with a crowd of other +“Kiyi's” around a house of women and children. Heaping insult upon +insult, inveighing against his low blood, his ancestors, his dubious +origin, she at last flung out a wild taunt of his invalid wife, the +insult of a woman to a woman, until his white face grew rigid, and only +that Western-American fetich of the sanctity of sex kept his twitching +fingers from the lock of his rifle. Even her husband noticed it, and +with a half-authoritative “Let up on that, old gal,” and a pat of his +freed left hand on her back, took his last parting. The ringleader, +still white under the lash of the woman's tongue, turned abruptly to the +second captive. “And if YOU'VE got anybody to say 'good-by' to, now's +your chance.” + +The man looked up. Nobody stirred or spoke. He was a stranger there, +being a chance confederate picked up by Red Pete, and known to no one. +Still young, but an outlaw from his abandoned boyhood, of which father +and mother were only a forgotten dream, he loved horses and stole them, +fully accepting the frontier penalty of life for the interference with +that animal on which a man's life so often depended. But he understood +the good points of a horse, as was shown by the ones he bestrode--until +a few days before the property of Judge Boompointer. This was his sole +distinction. + +The unexpected question stirred him for a moment out of the attitude +of reckless indifference, for attitude it was, and a part of his +profession. But it may have touched him that at that moment he was less +than his companion and his virago wife. However, he only shook his head. +As he did so his eye casually fell on the handsome girl by the doorpost, +who was looking at him. The ringleader, too, may have been touched by +his complete loneliness, for HE hesitated. At the same moment he saw +that the girl was looking at his friendless captive. + +A grotesque idea struck him. + +“Salomy Jane, ye might do worse than come yere and say 'good-by' to a +dying man, and him a stranger,” he said. + +There seemed to be a subtle stroke of poetry and irony in this that +equally struck the apathetic crowd. It was well known that Salomy Jane +Clay thought no small potatoes of herself, and always held off the local +swain with a lazy nymph-like scorn. Nevertheless, she slowly disengaged +herself from the doorpost, and, to everybody's astonishment, lounged +with languid grace and outstretched hand towards the prisoner. The color +came into the gray reckless mask which the doomed man wore as her right +hand grasped his left, just loosed by his captors. Then she paused; her +shy, fawn-like eyes grew bold, and fixed themselves upon him. She took +the chewing-gum from her mouth, wiped her red lips with the back of +her hand, by a sudden lithe spring placed her foot on his stirrup, and, +bounding to the saddle, threw her arms about his neck and pressed a kiss +upon his lips. + +They remained thus for a hushed moment--the man on the threshold of +death, the young woman in the fullness of youth and beauty--linked +together. Then the crowd laughed; in the audacious effrontery of the +girl's act the ultimate fate of the two men was forgotten. She slipped +languidly to the ground; SHE was the focus of all eyes,--she only! The +ringleader saw it and his opportunity. He shouted: “Time's up--Forward!” + urged his horse beside his captives, and the next moment the whole +cavalcade was sweeping over the clearing into the darkening woods. + +Their destination was Sawyer's Crossing, the headquarters of the +committee, where the council was still sitting, and where both culprits +were to expiate the offense of which that council had already found +them guilty. They rode in great and breathless haste,--a haste in which, +strangely enough, even the captives seemed to join. That haste possibly +prevented them from noticing the singular change which had taken place +in the second captive since the episode of the kiss. His high color +remained, as if it had burned through his mask of indifference; his eyes +were quick, alert, and keen, his mouth half open as if the girl's kiss +still lingered there. And that haste had made them careless, for the +horse of the man who led him slipped in a gopher-hole, rolled over, +unseated his rider, and even dragged the bound and helpless second +captive from Judge Boompointer's favorite mare. In an instant they were +all on their feet again, but in that supreme moment the second captive +felt the cords which bound his arms had slipped to his wrists. By +keeping his elbows to his sides, and obliging the others to help him +mount, it escaped their notice. By riding close to his captors, and +keeping in the crush of the throng, he further concealed the accident, +slowly working his hands downwards out of his bonds. + +Their way lay through a sylvan wilderness, mid-leg deep in ferns, whose +tall fronds brushed their horses' sides in their furious gallop and +concealed the flapping of the captive's loosened cords. The peaceful +vista, more suggestive of the offerings of nymph and shepherd than of +human sacrifice, was in a strange contrast to this whirlwind rush of +stern, armed men. The westering sun pierced the subdued light and the +tremor of leaves with yellow lances; birds started into song on blue and +dove-like wings, and on either side of the trail of this vengeful +storm could be heard the murmur of hidden and tranquil waters. In a +few moments they would be on the open ridge, whence sloped the common +turnpike to “Sawyer's,” a mile away. It was the custom of returning +cavalcades to take this hill at headlong speed, with shouts and cries +that heralded their coming. They withheld the latter that day, as +inconsistent with their dignity; but, emerging from the wood, swept +silently like an avalanche down the slope. They were well under way, +looking only to their horses, when the second captive slipped his right +arm from the bonds and succeeded in grasping the reins that lay trailing +on the horse's neck. A sudden vaquero jerk, which the well-trained +animal understood, threw him on his haunches with his forelegs firmly +planted on the slope. The rest of the cavalcade swept on; the man who +was leading the captive's horse by the riata, thinking only of another +accident, dropped the line to save himself from being dragged backwards +from his horse. The captive wheeled, and the next moment was galloping +furiously up the slope. + +It was the work of a moment; a trained horse and an experienced hand. +The cavalcade had covered nearly fifty yards before they could pull up; +the freed captive had covered half that distance uphill. The road was +so narrow that only two shots could be fired, and these broke dust two +yards ahead of the fugitive. They had not dared to fire low; the horse +was the more valuable animal. The fugitive knew this in his extremity +also, and would have gladly taken a shot in his own leg to spare that of +his horse. Five men were detached to recapture or kill him. The latter +seemed inevitable. But he had calculated his chances; before they could +reload he had reached the woods again; winding in and out between +the pillared tree trunks, he offered no mark. They knew his horse was +superior to their own; at the end of two hours they returned, for he +had disappeared without track or trail. The end was briefly told in the +“Sierra Record:”-- + +“Red Pete, the notorious horse-thief, who had so long eluded justice, +was captured and hung by the Sawyer's Crossing Vigilantes last week; +his confederate, unfortunately, escaped on a valuable horse belonging +to Judge Boompointer. The judge had refused one thousand dollars for +the horse only a week before. As the thief, who is still at large, would +find it difficult to dispose of so valuable an animal without detection, +the chances are against either of them turning up again.” + +***** + +Salomy Jane watched the cavalcade until it had disappeared. Then she +became aware that her brief popularity had passed. Mrs. Red Pete, in +stormy hysterics, had included her in a sweeping denunciation of the +whole universe, possibly for simulating an emotion in which she herself +was deficient. The other women hated her for her momentary exaltation +above them; only the children still admired her as one who had +undoubtedly “canoodled” with a man “a-going to be hung”--a daring flight +beyond their wildest ambition. Salomy Jane accepted the change with +charming unconcern. She put on her yellow nankeen sunbonnet,--a hideous +affair that would have ruined any other woman, but which only enhanced +the piquancy of her fresh brunette skin,--tied the strings, letting the +blue-black braids escape below its frilled curtain behind, jumped on +her mustang with a casual display of agile ankles in shapely white +stockings, whistled to the hound, and waving her hand with a “So long, +sonny!” to the lately bereft but admiring nephew, flapped and fluttered +away in her short brown holland gown. + +Her father's house was four miles distant. Contrasted with the cabin she +had just quitted, it was a superior dwelling, with a long “lean-to” at +the rear, which brought the eaves almost to the ground and made it look +like a low triangle. It had a long barn and cattle sheds, for Madison +Clay was a “great” stock-raiser and the owner of a “quarter section.” It +had a sitting-room and a parlor organ, whose transportation thither had +been a marvel of “packing.” These things were supposed to give Salomy +Jane an undue importance, but the girl's reserve and inaccessibility to +local advances were rather the result of a cool, lazy temperament and +the preoccupation of a large, protecting admiration for her father, for +some years a widower. For Mr. Madison Clay's life had been threatened in +one or two feuds,--it was said, not without cause,--and it is possible +that the pathetic spectacle of her father doing his visiting with a +shotgun may have touched her closely and somewhat prejudiced her against +the neighboring masculinity. The thought that cattle, horses, and +“quarter section” would one day be hers did not disturb her calm. As for +Mr. Clay, he accepted her as housewifely, though somewhat “interfering,” + and, being one of “his own womankind,” therefore not without some degree +of merit. + +“Wot's this yer I'm hearin' of your doin's over at Red Pete's? +Honeyfoglin' with a horse-thief, eh?” said Mr. Clay two days later at +breakfast. + +“I reckon you heard about the straight thing, then,” said Salomy Jane +unconcernedly, without looking round. + +“What do you kalkilate Rube will say to it? What are you goin' to tell +HIM?” said Mr. Clay sarcastically. + +“Rube,” or Reuben Waters, was a swain supposed to be favored +particularly by Mr. Clay. Salomy Jane looked up. + +“I'll tell him that when HE'S on his way to be hung, I'll kiss him,--not +till then,” said the young lady brightly. + +This delightful witticism suited the paternal humor, and Mr. Clay +smiled; but, nevertheless, he frowned a moment afterwards. + +“But this yer hoss-thief got away arter all, and that's a hoss of a +different color,” he said grimly. + +Salomy Jane put down her knife and fork. This was certainly a new and +different phase of the situation. She had never thought of it before, +and, strangely enough, for the first time she became interested in the +man. “Got away?” she repeated. “Did they let him off?” + +“Not much,” said her father briefly. “Slipped his cords, and going down +the grade pulled up short, just like a vaquero agin a lassoed bull, +almost draggin' the man leadin' him off his hoss, and then skyuted up +the grade. For that matter, on that hoss o' Judge Boompointer's he mout +have dragged the whole posse of 'em down on their knees ef he liked! +Sarved 'em right, too. Instead of stringin' him up afore the door, or +shootin' him on sight, they must allow to take him down afore the hull +committee 'for an example.' 'Example' be blowed! Ther' 's example enough +when some stranger comes unbeknownst slap onter a man hanged to a tree +and plugged full of holes. THAT'S an example, and HE knows what it +means. Wot more do ye want? But then those Vigilantes is allus clingin' +and hangin' onter some mere scrap o' the law they're pretendin' to +despise. It makes me sick! Why, when Jake Myers shot your ole Aunt +Viney's second husband, and I laid in wait for Jake afterwards in the +Butternut Hollow, did I tie him to his hoss and fetch him down to your +Aunt Viney's cabin 'for an example' before I plugged him? No!” in deep +disgust. “No! Why, I just meandered through the wood, careless-like, +till he comes out, and I just rode up to him, and I said”-- + +But Salomy Jane had heard her father's story before. Even one's dearest +relatives are apt to become tiresome in narration. “I know, dad,” she +interrupted; “but this yer man,--this hoss-thief,--did HE get clean away +without gettin' hurt at all?” + +“He did, and unless he's fool enough to sell the hoss he kin keep away, +too. So ye see, ye can't ladle out purp stuff about a 'dyin' stranger' +to Rube. He won't swaller it.” + +“All the same, dad,” returned the girl cheerfully, “I reckon to say it, +and say MORE; I'll tell him that ef HE manages to get away too, I'll +marry him--there! But ye don't ketch Rube takin' any such risks in +gettin' ketched, or in gettin' away arter!” + +Madison Clay smiled grimly, pushed back his chair, rose, dropped a +perfunctory kiss on his daughter's hair, and, taking his shotgun from +the corner, departed on a peaceful Samaritan mission to a cow who had +dropped a calf in the far pasture. Inclined as he was to Reuben's wooing +from his eligibility as to property, he was conscious that he was sadly +deficient in certain qualities inherent in the Clay family. It certainly +would be a kind of mesalliance. + +Left to herself, Salomy Jane stared a long while at the coffee-pot, and +then called the two squaws who assisted her in her household duties, to +clear away the things while she went up to her own room to make her bed. +Here she was confronted with a possible prospect of that proverbial bed +she might be making in her willfulness, and on which she must lie, +in the photograph of a somewhat serious young man of refined +features--Reuben Waters--stuck in her window-frame. Salomy Jane smiled +over her last witticism regarding him and enjoyed, it, like your true +humorist, and then, catching sight of her own handsome face in the +little mirror, smiled again. But wasn't it funny about that horse-thief +getting off after all? Good Lordy! Fancy Reuben hearing he was alive and +going round with that kiss of hers set on his lips! She laughed again, a +little more abstractedly. And he had returned it like a man, holding her +tight and almost breathless, and he going to be hung the next minute! +Salomy Jane had been kissed at other times, by force, chance, or +stratagem. In a certain ingenuous forfeit game of the locality known as +“I'm a-pinin',” many had “pined” for a “sweet kiss” from Salomy Jane, +which she had yielded in a sense of honor and fair play. She had never +been kissed like this before--she would never again; and yet the man was +alive! And behold, she could see in the mirror that she was blushing! + +She should hardly know him again. A young man with very bright eyes, +a flushed and sunburnt cheek, a kind of fixed look in the face, and no +beard; no, none that she could feel. Yet he was not at all like Reuben, +not a bit. She took Reuben's picture from the window, and laid it on her +workbox. And to think she did not even know this young man's name! That +was queer. To be kissed by a man whom she might never know! Of course +he knew hers. She wondered if he remembered it and her. But of course he +was so glad to get off with his life that he never thought of anything +else. Yet she did not give more than four or five minutes to these +speculations, and, like a sensible girl, thought of something else. Once +again, however, in opening the closet, she found the brown holland +gown she had worn on the day before; thought it very unbecoming, and +regretted that she had not worn her best gown on her visit to Red Pete's +cottage. On such an occasion she really might have been more impressive. + +When her father came home that night she asked him the news. No, they +had NOT captured the second horse-thief, who was still at large. Judge +Boompointer talked of invoking the aid of the despised law. It remained, +then, to see whether the horse-thief was fool enough to try to get rid +of the animal. Red Pete's body had been delivered to his widow. Perhaps +it would only be neighborly for Salomy Jane to ride over to the funeral. +But Salomy Jane did not take to the suggestion kindly, nor yet did she +explain to her father that, as the other man was still living, she +did not care to undergo a second disciplining at the widow's hands. +Nevertheless, she contrasted her situation with that of the widow with +a new and singular satisfaction. It might have been Red Pete who had +escaped. But he had not the grit of the nameless one. She had already +settled his heroic quality. + +“Ye ain't harkenin' to me, Salomy.” + +Salomy Jane started. + +“Here I'm askin' ye if ye've see that hound Phil Larrabee sneaking by +yer today?” + +Salomy Jane had not. But she became interested and self-reproachful, +for she knew that Phil Larrabee was one of her father's enemies. “He +wouldn't dare to go by here unless he knew you were out,” she said +quickly. + +“That's what gets me,” he said, scratching his grizzled head. “I've been +kind o' thinkin' o' him all day, and one of them Chinamen said he saw +him at Sawyer's Crossing. He was a kind of friend o' Pete's wife. That's +why I thought yer might find out ef he'd been there.” Salomy Jane +grew more self-reproachful at her father's self-interest in her +“neighborliness.” “But that ain't all,” continued Mr. Clay. “Thar was +tracks over the far pasture that warn't mine. I followed them, and they +went round and round the house two or three times, ez ef they mout hev +bin prowlin', and then I lost 'em in the woods again. It's just like +that sneakin' hound Larrabee to hev bin lyin' in wait for me and afraid +to meet a man fair and square in the open.” + +“You just lie low, dad, for a day or two more, and let me do a little +prowlin',” said the girl, with sympathetic indignation in her dark eyes. +“Ef it's that skunk, I'll spot him soon enough and let you know whar +he's hiding.” + +“You'll just stay where ye are, Salomy,” said her father decisively. +“This ain't no woman's work--though I ain't sayin' you haven't got more +head for it than some men I know.” + +Nevertheless, that night, after her father had gone to bed, Salomy Jane +sat by the open window of the sitting-room in an apparent attitude of +languid contemplation, but alert and intent of eye and ear. It was a +fine moonlit night. Two pines near the door, solitary pickets of the +serried ranks of distant forest, cast long shadows like paths to the +cottage, and sighed their spiced breath in the windows. For there was no +frivolity of vine or flower round Salomy Jane's bower. The clearing was +too recent, the life too practical for vanities like these. But the moon +added a vague elusiveness to everything, softened the rigid outlines +of the sheds, gave shadows to the lidless windows, and touched with +merciful indirectness the hideous debris of refuse gravel and the gaunt +scars of burnt vegetation before the door. Even Salomy Jane was affected +by it, and exhaled something between a sigh and a yawn with the breath +of the pines. Then she suddenly sat upright. + +Her quick ear had caught a faint “click, click,” in the direction of the +wood; her quicker instinct and rustic training enabled her to determine +that it was the ring of a horse's shoe on flinty ground; her knowledge +of the locality told her it came from the spot where the trail passed +over an outcrop of flint scarcely a quarter of a mile from where she +sat, and within the clearing. It was no errant “stock,” for the foot was +shod with iron; it was a mounted trespasser by night, and boded no good +to a man like Clay. + +She rose, threw her shawl over her head, more for disguise than shelter, +and passed out of the door. A sudden impulse made her seize her father's +shotgun from the corner where it stood,--not that she feared any danger +to herself, but that it was an excuse. She made directly for the wood, +keeping in the shadow of the pines as long as she could. At the fringe +she halted; whoever was there must pass her before reaching the house. + +Then there seemed to be a suspense of all nature. Everything was deadly +still--even the moonbeams appeared no longer tremulous; soon there was a +rustle as of some stealthy animal among the ferns, and then a dismounted +man stepped into the moonlight. It was the horse-thief--the man she had +kissed! + +For a wild moment a strange fancy seized her usually sane intellect and +stirred her temperate blood. The news they had told her was NOT true; +he had been hung, and this was his ghost! He looked as white and +spirit-like in the moonlight, dressed in the same clothes, as when she +saw him last. He had evidently seen her approaching, and moved quickly +to meet her. But in his haste he stumbled slightly; she reflected +suddenly that ghosts did not stumble, and a feeling of relief came +over her. And it was no assassin of her father that had been prowling +around--only this unhappy fugitive. A momentary color came into her +cheek; her coolness and hardihood returned; it was with a tinge of +sauciness in her voice that she said:-- + +“I reckoned you were a ghost.” + +“I mout have been,” he said, looking at her fixedly; “but I reckon I'd +have come back here all the same.” + +“It's a little riskier comin' back alive,” she said, with a levity +that died on her lips, for a singular nervousness, half fear and half +expectation, was beginning to take the place of her relief of a moment +ago. “Then it was YOU who was prowlin' round and makin' tracks in the +far pasture?” + +“Yes; I came straight here when I got away.” + +She felt his eyes were burning her, but did not dare to raise her own. +“Why,” she began, hesitated, and ended vaguely. “HOW did you get here?” + +“You helped me!” + +“I?” + +“Yes. That kiss you gave me put life into me--gave me strength to get +away. I swore to myself I'd come back and thank you, alive or dead.” + +Every word he said she could have anticipated, so plain the situation +seemed to her now. And every word he said she knew was the truth. Yet +her cool common sense struggled against it. + +“What's the use of your escaping, ef you're comin' back here to be +ketched again?” she said pertly. + +He drew a little nearer to her, but seemed to her the more awkward as +she resumed her self-possession. His voice, too, was broken, as if by +exhaustion, as he said, catching his breath at intervals:-- + +“I'll tell you. You did more for me than you think. You made another man +o' me. I never had a man, woman, or child do to me what you did. I never +had a friend--only a pal like Red Pete, who picked me up 'on shares.' +I want to quit this yer--what I'm doin'. I want to begin by doin' the +square thing to you”--He stopped, breathed hard, and then said brokenly, +“My hoss is over thar, staked out. I want to give him to you. Judge +Boompointer will give you a thousand dollars for him. I ain't lyin'; +it's God's truth! I saw it on the handbill agin a tree. Take him, and +I'll get away afoot. Take him. It's the only thing I can do for you, and +I know it don't half pay for what you did. Take it; your father can get +a reward for you, if you can't.” + +Such were the ethics of this strange locality that neither the man who +made the offer nor the girl to whom it was made was struck by anything +that seemed illogical or indelicate, or at all inconsistent with +justice or the horse-thief's real conversion. Salomy Jane nevertheless +dissented, from another and weaker reason. + +“I don't want your hoss, though I reckon dad might; but you're just +starvin'. I'll get suthin'.” She turned towards the house. + +“Say you'll take the hoss first,” he said, grasping her hand. At the +touch she felt herself coloring and struggled, expecting perhaps another +kiss. But he dropped her hand. She turned again with a saucy gesture, +said, “Hol' on; I'll come right back,” and slipped away, the mere shadow +of a coy and flying nymph in the moonlight, until she reached the house. + +Here she not only procured food and whiskey, but added a long dust-coat +and hat of her father's to her burden. They would serve as a disguise +for him and hide that heroic figure, which she thought everybody must +now know as she did. Then she rejoined him breathlessly. But he put the +food and whiskey aside. + +“Listen,” he said; “I've turned the hoss into your corral. You'll find +him there in the morning, and no one will know but that he got lost and +joined the other hosses.” + +Then she burst out. “But you--YOU--what will become of you? You'll be +ketched!” + +“I'll manage to get away,” he said in a low voice, “ef--ef”-- + +“Ef what?” she said tremblingly. “Ef you'll put the heart in me +again,--as you did!” he gasped. + +She tried to laugh--to move away. She could do neither. Suddenly he +caught her in his arms, with a long kiss, which she returned again and +again. Then they stood embraced as they had embraced two days before, +but no longer the same. For the cool, lazy Salomy Jane had been +transformed into another woman--a passionate, clinging savage. Perhaps +something of her father's blood had surged within her at that supreme +moment. The man stood erect and determined. + +“Wot's your name?” she whispered quickly. It was a woman's quickest way +of defining her feelings. + +“Dart.” + +“Yer first name?” + +“Jack.” + +“Let me go now, Jack. Lie low in the woods till to-morrow sunup. I'll +come again.” + +He released her. Yet she lingered a moment. “Put on those things,” she +said, with a sudden happy flash of eyes and teeth, “and lie close till I +come.” And then she sped away home. + +But midway up the distance she felt her feet going slower, and something +at her heartstrings seemed to be pulling her back. She stopped, turned, +and glanced to where he had been standing. Had she seen him then, she +might have returned. But he had disappeared. She gave her first sigh, +and then ran quickly again. It must be nearly ten o'clock! It was not +very long to morning! + +She was within a few steps of her own door, when the sleeping woods and +silent air appeared to suddenly awake with a sharp “crack!” + +She stopped, paralyzed. Another “crack!” followed, that echoed over to +the far corral. She recalled herself instantly and dashed off wildly to +the woods again. + +As she ran she thought of one thing only. He had been “dogged” by one +of his old pursuers and attacked. But there were two shots, and he was +unarmed. Suddenly she remembered that she had left her father's gun +standing against the tree where they were talking. Thank God! she may +again have saved him. She ran to the tree; the gun was gone. She ran +hither and thither, dreading at every step to fall upon his lifeless +body. A new thought struck her; she ran to the corral. The horse was not +there! He must have been able to regain it, and escaped, AFTER the shots +had been fired. She drew a long breath of relief, but it was caught up +in an apprehension of alarm. Her father, awakened from his sleep by the +shots, was hurriedly approaching her. + +“What's up now, Salomy Jane?” he demanded excitedly. + +“Nothin',” said the girl with an effort. “Nothin', at least, that I can +find.” She was usually truthful because fearless, and a lie stuck in her +throat; but she was no longer fearless, thinking of HIM. “I wasn't abed; +so I ran out as soon as I heard the shots fired,” she answered in return +to his curious gaze. + +“And you've hid my gun somewhere where it can't be found,” he said +reproachfully. “Ef it was that sneak Larrabee, and he fired them shots +to lure me out, he might have potted me, without a show, a dozen times +in the last five minutes.” + +She had not thought since of her father's enemy! It might indeed +have been he who had attacked Jack. But she made a quick point of the +suggestion. “Run in, dad, run in and find the gun; you've got no show +out here without it.” She seized him by the shoulders from behind, +shielding him from the woods, and hurried him, half expostulating, half +struggling, to the house. + +But there no gun was to be found. It was strange; it must have been +mislaid in some corner! Was he sure he had not left it in the barn? But +no matter now. The danger was over; the Larrabee trick had failed; +he must go to bed now, and in the morning they would make a search +together. At the same time she had inwardly resolved to rise before him +and make another search of the wood, and perhaps--fearful joy as she +recalled her promise!--find Jack alive and well, awaiting her! + +Salomy Jane slept little that night, nor did her father. But towards +morning he fell into a tired man's slumber until the sun was well up the +horizon. Far different was it with his daughter: she lay with her face +to the window, her head half lifted to catch every sound, from the +creaking of the sun-warped shingles above her head to the far-off +moan of the rising wind in the pine trees. Sometimes she fell into a +breathless, half-ecstatic trance, living over every moment of the stolen +interview; feeling the fugitive's arm still around her, his kisses on +her lips; hearing his whispered voice in her ears--the birth of her new +life! This was followed again by a period of agonizing dread--that he +might even then be lying, his life ebbing away, in the woods, with her +name on his lips, and she resting here inactive, until she half started +from her bed to go to his succor. And this went on until a pale opal +glow came into the sky, followed by a still paler pink on the summit of +the white Sierras, when she rose and hurriedly began to dress. Still so +sanguine was her hope of meeting him, that she lingered yet a moment to +select the brown holland skirt and yellow sunbonnet she had worn when +she first saw him. And she had only seen him twice! Only TWICE! It would +be cruel, too cruel, not to see him again! + +She crept softly down the stairs, listening to the long-drawn breathing +of her father in his bedroom, and then, by the light of a guttering +candle, scrawled a note to him, begging him not to trust himself out of +the house until she returned from her search, and leaving the note open +on the table, swiftly ran out into the growing day. + +Three hours afterwards Mr. Madison Clay awoke to the sound of loud +knocking. At first this forced itself upon his consciousness as his +daughter's regular morning summons, and was responded to by a grunt of +recognition and a nestling closer in the blankets. Then he awoke with a +start and a muttered oath, remembering the events of last night, and his +intention to get up early, and rolled out of bed. Becoming aware by this +time that the knocking was at the outer door, and hearing the shout of +a familiar voice, he hastily pulled on his boots, his jean trousers, +and fastening a single suspender over his shoulder as he clattered +downstairs, stood in the lower room. The door was open, and waiting +upon the threshold was his kinsman, an old ally in many a +blood-feud--Breckenridge Clay! + +“You ARE a cool one, Mad!” said the latter in half-admiring indignation. + +“What's up?” said the bewildered Madison. + +“YOU ought to be, and scootin' out o' this,” said Breckenridge grimly. +“It's all very well to 'know nothin';' but here Phil Larrabee's friends +hev just picked him up, drilled through with slugs and deader nor a +crow, and now they're lettin' loose Larrabee's two half-brothers on you. +And you must go like a derned fool and leave these yer things behind you +in the bresh,” he went on querulously, lifting Madison Clay's dust-coat, +hat, and shotgun from his horse, which stood saddled at the door. +“Luckily I picked them up in the woods comin' here. Ye ain't got more +than time to get over the state line and among your folks thar afore +they'll be down on you. Hustle, old man! What are you gawkin' and +starin' at?” + +Madison Clay had stared amazed and bewildered--horror-stricken. +The incidents of the past night for the first time flashed upon him +clearly--hopelessly! The shot; his finding Salomy Jane alone in +the woods; her confusion and anxiety to rid herself of him; the +disappearance of the shotgun; and now this new discovery of the taking +of his hat and coat for a disguise! SHE had killed Phil Larrabee in that +disguise, after provoking his first harmless shot! She, his own child, +Salomy Jane, had disgraced herself by a man's crime; had disgraced him +by usurping his right, and taking a mean advantage, by deceit, of a foe! + +“Gimme that gun,” he said hoarsely. + +Breckenridge handed him the gun in wonder and slowly gathering +suspicion. Madison examined nipple and muzzle; one barrel had been +discharged. It was true! The gun dropped from his hand. + +“Look here, old man,” said Breckenridge, with a darkening face, “there's +bin no foul play here. Thar's bin no hiring of men, no deputy to do this +job. YOU did it fair and square--yourself?” + +“Yes, by God!” burst out Madison Clay in a hoarse voice. “Who says I +didn't?” + +Reassured, yet believing that Madison Clay had nerved himself for +the act by an over-draught of whiskey, which had affected his memory, +Breckenridge said curtly, “Then wake up and 'lite' out, ef ye want me to +stand by you.” + +“Go to the corral and pick me out a hoss,” said Madison slowly, yet not +without a certain dignity of manner. “I've suthin' to say to Salomy +Jane afore I go.” He was holding her scribbled note, which he had just +discovered, in his shaking hand. + +Struck by his kinsman's manner, and knowing the dependent relations +of father and daughter, Breckenridge nodded and hurried away. Left to +himself, Madison Clay ran his fingers through his hair, and straightened +out the paper on which Salomy Jane had scrawled her note, turned it +over, and wrote on the back:-- + + +You might have told me you did it, and not leave your ole father to +find it out how you disgraced yourself and him, too, by a low-down, +underhanded, woman's trick! I've said I done it, and took the blame +myself, and all the sneakiness of it that folks suspect. If I get away +alive--and I don't care much which--you needn't foller. The house and +stock are yours; but you ain't any longer the daughter of your disgraced +father, + +MADISON CLAY. + + +He had scarcely finished the note when, with a clatter of hoofs and a +led horse, Breckenridge reappeared at the door elate and triumphant. +“You're in nigger luck, Mad! I found that stole hoss of Judge +Boompointer's had got away and strayed among your stock in the corral. +Take him and you're safe; he can't be outrun this side of the state +line.” + +“I ain't no hoss-thief,” said Madison grimly. + +“Nobody sez ye are, but you'd be wuss--a fool--ef you didn't take him. +I'm testimony that you found him among your hosses; I'll tell Judge +Boompointer you've got him, and ye kin send him back when you're safe. +The judge will be mighty glad to get him back, and call it quits. So ef +you've writ to Salomy Jane, come.” + +Madison Clay no longer hesitated. Salomy Jane might return at any +moment,--it would be part of her “fool womanishness,”--and he was in +no mood to see her before a third party. He laid the note on the table, +gave a hurried glance around the house, which he grimly believed he was +leaving forever, and, striding to the door, leaped on the stolen horse, +and swept away with his kinsman. + +But that note lay for a week undisturbed on the table in full view of +the open door. The house was invaded by leaves, pine cones, birds, +and squirrels during the hot, silent, empty days, and at night by shy, +stealthy creatures, but never again, day or night, by any of the Clay +family. It was known in the district that Clay had flown across the +state line, his daughter was believed to have joined him the next day, +and the house was supposed to be locked up. It lay off the main road, +and few passed that way. The starving cattle in the corral at last broke +bounds and spread over the woods. And one night a stronger blast than +usual swept through the house, carried the note from the table to the +floor, where, whirled into a crack in the flooring, it slowly rotted. + +But though the sting of her father's reproach was spared her, Salomy +Jane had no need of the letter to know what had happened. For as she +entered the woods in the dim light of that morning she saw the figure of +Dart gliding from the shadow of a pine towards her. The unaffected cry +of joy that rose from her lips died there as she caught sight of his +face in the open light. + +“You are hurt,” she said, clutching his arm passionately. + +“No,” he said. “But I wouldn't mind that if”-- + +“You're thinkin' I was afeard to come back last night when I heard the +shootin', but I DID come,” she went on feverishly. “I ran back here when +I heard the two shots, but you were gone. I went to the corral, but your +hoss wasn't there, and I thought you'd got away.” + +“I DID get away,” said Dart gloomily. “I killed the man, thinkin' he +was huntin' ME, and forgettin' I was disguised. He thought I was your +father.” + +“Yes,” said the girl joyfully, “he was after dad, and YOU--you killed +him.” She again caught his hand admiringly. + +But he did not respond. Possibly there were points of honor which this +horse-thief felt vaguely with her father. “Listen,” he said grimly. +“Others think it was your father killed him. When I did it--for he fired +at me first--I ran to the corral again and took my hoss, thinkin' I +might be follered. I made a clear circuit of the house, and when I found +he was the only one, and no one was follerin', I come back here and took +off my disguise. Then I heard his friends find him in the wood, and I +know they suspected your father. And then another man come through the +woods while I was hidin' and found the clothes and took them away.” He +stopped and stared at her gloomily. + +But all this was unintelligible to the girl. “Dad would have got +the better of him ef you hadn't,” she said eagerly, “so what's the +difference?” + +“All the same,” he said gloomily, “I must take his place.” + +She did not understand, but turned her head to her master. “Then you'll +go back with me and tell him ALL?” she said obediently. + +“Yes,” he said. + +She put her hand in his, and they crept out of the wood together. She +foresaw a thousand difficulties, but, chiefest of all, that he did not +love as she did. SHE would not have taken these risks against their +happiness. + +But alas for ethics and heroism. As they were issuing from the wood +they heard the sound of galloping hoofs, and had barely time to +hide themselves before Madison Clay, on the stolen horse of Judge +Boompointer, swept past them with his kinsman. + +Salomy Jane turned to her lover. + +***** + +And here I might, as a moral romancer, pause, leaving the guilty, +passionate girl eloped with her disreputable lover, destined to lifelong +shame and misery, misunderstood to the last by a criminal, fastidious +parent. But I am confronted by certain facts, on which this romance is +based. A month later a handbill was posted on one of the sentinel pines, +announcing that the property would be sold by auction to the highest +bidder by Mrs. John Dart, daughter of Madison Clay, Esq., and it was +sold accordingly. Still later--by ten years--the chronicler of these +pages visited a certain “stock” or “breeding farm,” in the “Blue Grass +Country,” famous for the popular racers it has produced. He was told +that the owner was the “best judge of horse-flesh in the country.” + “Small wonder,” added his informant, “for they say as a young man out in +California he was a horse-thief, and only saved himself by eloping with +some rich farmer's daughter. But he's a straight-out and respectable man +now, whose word about horses can't be bought; and as for his wife, she's +a beauty! To see her at the 'Springs,' rigged out in the latest fashion, +you'd never think she had ever lived out of New York or wasn't the wife +of one of its millionaires.” + + + + +THE MAN AND THE MOUNTAIN + + +He was such a large, strong man that, when he first set foot in the +little parallelogram I called my garden, it seemed to shrink to half its +size and become preposterous. But I noticed at the same time that he was +holding in the open palm of his huge hand the roots of a violet, with +such infinite tenderness and delicacy that I would have engaged him as +my gardener on the spot. But this could not be, as he was already the +proud proprietor of a market-garden and nursery on the outskirts of the +suburban Californian town where I lived. He would, however, come for two +days in the week, stock and look after my garden, and impart to my +urban intellect such horticultural hints as were necessary. His name was +“Rutli,” which I presumed to be German, but which my neighbors rendered +as “Rootleigh,” possibly from some vague connection with his occupation. +His own knowledge of English was oral and phonetic. I have a delightful +recollection of a bill of his in which I was charged for “fioletz,” with +the vague addition of “maine cains.” Subsequent explanation proved it to +be “many kinds.” + +Nevertheless, my little garden bourgeoned and blossomed under his +large, protecting hand. I became accustomed to walk around his feet +respectfully when they blocked the tiny paths, and to expect the total +eclipse of that garden-bed on which he worked, by his huge bulk. For the +tiniest and most reluctant rootlet seemed to respond to his caressing +paternal touch; it was a pretty sight to see his huge fingers tying up +some slender stalk to its stick with the smallest thread, and he had +a reverent way of laying a bulb or seed in the ground, and then gently +shaping and smoothing a small mound over it, which made the little +inscription on the stick above more like an affecting epitaph than +ever. Much of this gentleness may have been that apology for his great +strength, common with large men; but his face was distinctly amiable, +and his very light blue eyes were at times wistful and doglike in their +kindliness. I was soon to learn, however, that placability was not +entirely his nature. + +The garden was part of a fifty vara lot of land, on which I was +simultaneously erecting a house. But the garden was finished before the +house was, through certain circumstances very characteristic of that +epoch and civilization. I had purchased the Spanish title, the only +LEGAL one, to the land, which, however, had been in POSSESSION of a +“squatter.” But he had been unable to hold that possession against a +“jumper,”--another kind of squatter who had entered upon it covertly, +fenced it in, and marked it out in building sites. Neither having legal +rights, they could not invoke the law; the last man held possession. +There was no doubt that in due course of litigation and time both these +ingenuous gentlemen would have been dispossessed in favor of the real +owner,--myself,--but that course would be a protracted one. Following +the usual custom of the locality, I paid a certain sum to the jumper to +yield up peaceably HIS possession of the land, and began to build upon +it. It might be reasonably supposed that the question was settled. +But it was not. The house was nearly finished when, one morning, I was +called out of my editorial sanctum by a pallid painter, looking even +more white-leaded than usual, who informed me that my house was in the +possession of five armed men! The entry had been made peaceably +during the painters' absence to dinner under a wayside tree. When they +returned, they had found their pots and brushes in the road, and an +intimation from the windows that their reentrance would be forcibly +resisted as a trespass. + +I honestly believe that Rutli was more concerned than myself over +this dispossession. While he loyally believed that I would get back +my property, he was dreadfully grieved over the inevitable damage +that would be done to the garden during this interval of neglect and +carelessness. I even think he would have made a truce with my enemies, +if they would only have let him look after his beloved plants. As it +was, he kept a passing but melancholy surveillance of them, and was +indeed a better spy of the actions of the intruders than any I could +have employed. One day, to my astonishment, he brought me a moss-rose +bud from a bush which had been trained against a column of the veranda. +It appeared that he had called, from over the fence, the attention of +one of the men to the neglected condition of the plant, and had obtained +permission to “come in and tie it up.” The men, being merely hirelings +of the chief squatter, had no personal feeling, and I was not therefore +surprised to hear that they presently allowed Rutli to come in +occasionally and look after his precious “slips.” If they had any +suspicions of his great strength, it was probably offset by his peaceful +avocation and his bland, childlike face. Meantime, I had begun the usual +useless legal proceeding, but had also engaged a few rascals of my own +to be ready to take advantage of any want of vigilance on the part of my +adversaries. I never thought of Rutli in that connection any more than +they had. + +A few Sundays later I was sitting in the little tea-arbor of Rutli's +nursery, peacefully smoking with him. Presently he took his long +china-bowled pipe from his mouth, and, looking at me blandly over his +yellow mustache, said:-- + +“You vonts sometimes to go in dot house, eh?” + +I said, “Decidedly.” + +“Mit a revolver, and keep dot house dose men out?” + +“Yes!” + +“Vell! I put you in dot house--today!” + +“Sunday?” + +“Shoost so! It is a goot day! On der Suntay DREE men vill out go to +valk mit demselluffs, and visky trinken. TWO,” holding up two gigantic +fingers, apparently only a shade or two smaller than his destined +victims, “stay dere. Dose I lift de fence over.” + +I hastened to inform him that any violence attempted against the parties +WHILE IN POSSESSION, although that possession was illegal, would, by a +fatuity of the law, land him in the county jail. I said I would not hear +of it. + +“But suppose dere vos no fiolence? Suppose dose men vos villin', eh? How +vos dot for high?” + +“I don't understand.” + +“So! You shall NOT understand! Dot is better. Go away now and dell your +men to coom dot house arount at halluff past dree. But YOU coom, mit +yourselluff alone, shoost as if you vos spazieren gehen, for a valk, by +dat fence at dree! Ven you shall dot front door vide open see, go in, +and dere you vos! You vill der rest leef to me!” + +It was in vain that I begged Rutli to divulge his plan, and pointed out +again the danger of his technically breaking the law. But he was firm, +assuring me that I myself would be a witness that no assault would be +made. I looked into his clear, good-humored eyes, and assented. I had a +burning desire to right my wrongs, but I think I also had considerable +curiosity. + +I passed a miserable quarter of an hour after I had warned my partisans, +and then walked alone slowly down the broad leafy street towards the +scene of contest. I have a very vivid recollection of my conflicting +emotions. I did not believe that I would be killed; I had no distinct +intention of killing any of my adversaries; but I had some considerable +concern for my loyal friend Rutli, whom I foresaw might be in some peril +from the revolver in my unpracticed hand. If I could only avoid shooting +HIM, I would be satisfied. I remember that the bells were ringing for +church,--a church of which my enemy, the chief squatter, was a deacon +in good standing,--and I felt guiltily conscious of my revolver in my +hip-pocket, as two or three church-goers passed me with their hymn-books +in their hands. I walked leisurely, so as not to attract attention, +and to appear at the exact time, a not very easy task in my youthful +excitement. At last I reached the front gate with a beating heart. There +was no one on the high veranda, which occupied three sides of the low +one-storied house, nor in the garden before it. But the front door was +open; I softly passed through the gate, darted up the veranda and into +the house. A single glance around the hall and bare, deserted rooms, +still smelling of paint, showed me it was empty, and with my pistol in +one hand and the other on the lock of the door, I stood inside, ready to +bolt it against any one but Rutli. But where was HE? + +The sound of laughter and a noise like skylarking came from the rear of +the house and the back yard. Then I suddenly heard Rutli's heavy tread +on the veranda, but it was slow, deliberate, and so exaggerated in +its weight that the whole house seemed to shake with it. Then from the +window I beheld an extraordinary sight! It was Rutli, swaying from +side to side, but steadily carrying with outstretched arms two of the +squatter party, his hands tightly grasping their collars. Yet I +believe his touch was as gentle as with the violets. His face was +preternaturally grave; theirs, to my intense astonishment, while they +hung passive from his arms, wore that fatuous, imbecile smile seen on +the faces of those who lend themselves to tricks of acrobats and strong +men in the arena. He slowly traversed the whole length of one side of +the house, walked down the steps to the gate, and then gravely deposited +them OUTSIDE. I heard him say, “Dot vins der pet, ain't it?” and +immediately after the sharp click of the gate-latch. + +Without understanding a thing that had happened, I rightly conceived +this was the cue for my appearance with my revolver at the front door. +As I opened it I still heard the sound of laughter, which, however, +instantly stopped at a sentence from Rutli, which I could not hear. +There was an oath, the momentary apparition of two furious and indignant +faces over the fence; but these, however, seemed to be instantly +extinguished and put down by the enormous palms of Rutli clapped upon +their heads. There was a pause, and then Rutli turned around and quietly +joined me in the doorway. But the gate was not again opened until the +arrival of my partisans, when the house was clearly in my possession. + +Safe inside with the door bolted, I turned eagerly to Rutli for an +explanation. It then appeared that during his occasional visits to the +garden he had often been an object of amusement and criticism to the men +on account of his size, which seemed to them ridiculously inconsistent +with his great good humor, gentleness, and delicacy of touch. They had +doubted his strength and challenged his powers. He had responded once +or twice before, lifting weights or even carrying one of his critics +at arm's length for a few steps. But he had reserved his final feat +for this day and this purpose. It was for a bet, which they had eagerly +accepted, secure in their belief in his simplicity, the sincerity of his +motives in coming there, and glad of the opportunity of a little Sunday +diversion. In their security they had not locked the door when they +came out, and had not noticed that HE had opened it. This was his simple +story. His only comment, “I haf von der pet, but I dinks I shall nod +gollect der money.” The two men did not return that afternoon, nor did +their comrades. Whether they wisely conceived that a man who was so +powerful in play might be terrible in earnest; whether they knew that +his act, in which they had been willing performers, had been witnessed +by passing citizens, who supposed it was skylarking; or whether their +employer got tired of his expensive occupation, I never knew. The public +believed the latter; Rutli, myself, and the two men he had evicted alone +kept our secret. + +From that time Rutli and I became firm friends, and, long after I had +no further need of his services in the recaptured house, I often found +myself in the little tea-arbor of his prosperous nursery. He was frugal, +sober, and industrious; small wonder that in that growing town he waxed +rich, and presently opened a restaurant in the main street, connected +with his market-garden, which became famous. His relations to me +never changed with his changed fortunes; he was always the simple +market-gardener and florist who had aided my first housekeeping, and +stood by me in an hour of need. Of all things regarding himself he was +singularly reticent; I do not think he had any confidants or intimates, +even among his own countrymen, whom I believed to be German. But one day +he quite accidentally admitted he was a Swiss. As a youthful admirer +of the race I was delighted, and told him so, with the enthusiastic +addition that I could now quite understand his independence, with his +devoted adherence to another's cause. He smiled sadly, and astonished me +by saying that he had not heard from Switzerland since he left six years +ago. He did not want to hear anything; he even avoided his countrymen +lest he should. I was confounded. + +“But,” I said, “surely you have a longing to return to your country; all +Swiss have! You will go back some day just to breathe the air of your +native mountains.” + +“I shall go back some days,” said Rutli, “after I have made mooch, mooch +money, but not for dot air.” + +“What for, then?” + +“For revenge--to get efen.” + +Surprised, and for a moment dismayed as I was, I could not help +laughing. “Rutli and revenge!” Impossible! And to make it the more +absurd, he was still smoking gently and regarding me with soft, +complacent eyes. So unchanged was his face and manner that he might have +told me he was going back to be married. + +“You do not oonderstand,” he said forgivingly. “Some days I shall dell +to you id. Id is a story. You shall make it yourselluff for dose babers +dot you write. It is not bretty, berhaps, ain't it, but it is droo. And +de endt is not yet.” + +Only that Rutli never joked, except in a ponderous fashion with many +involved sentences, I should have thought he was taking a good-humored +rise out of me. But it was not funny. I am afraid I dismissed it from my +mind as a revelation of something weak and puerile, quite inconsistent +with his practical common sense and strong simplicity, and wished he had +not alluded to it. I never asked him to tell me the story. It was a year +later, and only when he had invited me to come to the opening of a new +hotel, erected by him at a mountain spa of great resort, that he himself +alluded to it. + +The hotel was a wonderful affair, even for those days, and Rutli's +outlay of capital convinced me that by this time he must have made the +“mooch money” he coveted. Something of this was in my mind when we sat +by the window of his handsomely furnished private office, overlooking +the pines of a Californian canyon. I asked him if the scenery was like +Switzerland. + +“Ach! no!” he replied; “but I vill puild a hotel shoost like dis dare.” + +“Is that a part of your revenge?” I asked, with a laugh. + +“Ah! so! a bart.” + +I felt relieved; a revenge so practical did not seem very malicious or +idiotic. After a pause he puffed contemplatively at his pipe, and then +said, “I dell you somedings of dot story now.” + +He began. I should like to tell it in his own particular English, mixed +with American slang, but it would not convey the simplicity of the +narrator. He was the son of a large family who had lived for centuries +in one of the highest villages in the Bernese Oberland. He attained his +size and strength early, but with a singular distaste to use them in +the rough regular work on the farm, although he was a great climber and +mountaineer, and, what was at first overlooked as mere boyish fancy, had +an insatiable love and curious knowledge of plants and flowers. He knew +the haunts of Edelweiss, Alpine rose, and blue gentian, and had brought +home rare and unknown blossoms from under the icy lips of glaciers. +But as he did this when his time was supposed to be occupied in looking +after the cows in the higher pastures and making cheeses, there was +trouble in that hard-working, practical family. A giant with the tastes +and disposition of a schoolgirl was an anomaly in a Swiss village. +Unfortunately again, he was not studious; his record in the village +school had been on a par with his manual work, and the family had not +even the consolation of believing that they were fostering a genius. In +a community where practical industry was the highest virtue, it was not +strange, perhaps, that he was called “lazy” and “shiftless;” no one knew +the long climbs and tireless vigils he had undergone in remote solitudes +in quest of his favorites, or, knowing, forgave him for it. Abstemious, +frugal, and patient as he was, even the crusts of his father's table +were given him grudgingly. He often went hungry rather than ask the +bread he had failed to earn. How his great frame was nurtured in those +days he never knew; perhaps the giant mountains recognized some kin +in him and fed and strengthened him after their own fashion. Even his +gentleness was confounded with cowardice. “Dot vos de hardtest,” he said +simply; “it is not goot to be opligit to half crush your brudder, ven he +would make a laugh of you to your sweetheart.” The end came sooner than +he expected, and, oddly enough, through this sweetheart. “Gottlieb,” she +said to him one day, “the English Fremde who stayed here last night met +me when I was carrying some of those beautiful flowers you gave me. He +asked me where they were to be found, and I told him only YOU knew. He +wants to see you; go to him. It may be luck to you.” Rutli went. The +stranger, an English Alpine climber of scientific tastes, talked with +him for an hour. At the end of that time, to everybody's astonishment, +he engaged this hopeless idler as his personal guide for three months, +at the sum of five francs a day! It was inconceivable, it was unheard +of! The Englander was as mad as Gottlieb, whose intellect had always +been under suspicion! The schoolmaster pursed up his lips, the pastor +shook his head; no good could come of it; the family looked upon it as +another freak of Gottlieb's, but there was one big mouth less to feed +and more room in the kitchen, and they let him go. They parted from him +as ungraciously as they had endured his presence. + +Then followed two months of sunshine in Rutli's life--association with +his beloved plants, and the intelligent sympathy and direction of a +cultivated man. Even in altitudes so dangerous that they had to take +other and more experienced guides, Rutli was always at his master's +side. That savant's collection of Alpine flora excelled all previous +ones; he talked freely with Rutli of further work in the future, and +relaxed his English reserve so far as to confide to him that the outcome +of their collection and observation might be a book. He gave a flower +a Latin name, in which even the ignorant and delighted Rutli could +distinguish some likeness to his own. But the book was never compiled. +In one of their later and more difficult ascents they and their two +additional guides were overtaken by a sudden storm. Swept from their +feet down an ice-bound slope, Rutli alone of the roped-together party +kept a foothold on the treacherous incline. Here this young Titan, with +bleeding fingers clenched in a rock cleft, sustained the struggles and +held up the lives of his companions by that precious thread for more +than an hour. Perhaps he might have saved them, but in their desperate +efforts to regain their footing the rope slipped upon a jagged edge of +outcrop and parted as if cut by a knife. The two guides passed without +an outcry into obscurity and death; Rutli, with a last despairing +exertion, dragged to his own level his unconscious master, crippled by a +broken leg. + +Your true hero is apt to tell his tale simply. Rutli did not dwell upon +these details, nor need I. Left alone upon a treacherous ice slope +in benumbing cold, with a helpless man, eight hours afterwards he +staggered, half blind, incoherent, and inarticulate, into a “shelter” + hut, with the dead body of his master in his stiffened arms. The +shelter-keepers turned their attention to Rutli, who needed it most. +Blind and delirious, with scarce a chance for life, he was sent the next +day to a hospital, where he lay for three months, helpless, imbecile, +and unknown. The dead body of the Englishman was identified, and sent +home; the bodies of the guides were recovered by their friends; but no +one knew aught of Rutli, even his name. While the event was still fresh +in the minds of those who saw him enter the hut with the body of his +master, a paragraph appeared in a Berne journal recording the heroism of +this nameless man. But it could not be corroborated nor explained by the +demented hero, and was presently forgotten. Six months from the day he +had left his home he was discharged cured. He had not a kreutzer in his +pocket; he had never drawn his wages from his employer; he had preferred +to have it in a lump sum that he might astonish his family on his +return. His eyes were still weak, his memory feeble; only his great +physical strength remained through his long illness. A few sympathizing +travelers furnished him the means to reach his native village, many +miles away. He found his family had heard of the loss of the Englishman +and the guides, and had believed he was one of them. Already he was +forgotten. + +“Ven you vos once peliefed to be det,” said Rutli, after a philosophic +pause and puff, “it vos not goot to ondeceif beoples. You oopset +somedings, soomdimes always. Der hole dot you hef made in der grount, +among your frients and your family, vos covered up alretty. You are +loocky if you vill not fint some vellars shtanding upon id! My frent, +ven you vos DINK det, SHTAY det, BE det, and you vill lif happy!” + +“But your sweetheart?” I said eagerly. + +A slight gleam of satire stole into Rutli's light eyes. “My sweetheart, +ven I vos dinks det, is der miller engaged do bromply! It is mooch +better dan to a man dot vos boor and plint and grazy! So! Vell, der next +day I pids dem goot-py, und from der door I say, 'I am det now; but ven +I next comes pack alife, I shall dis village py! der lants, der houses +all togedders. And den for yourselluffs look oudt!'” + +“Then that's your revenge? That is what you really intend to do?” I +said, half laughing, yet with an uneasy recollection of his illness and +enfeebled mind. + +“Yes. Look here! I show you somedings.” He opened a drawer of his desk +and took out what appeared to be some diagrams, plans, and a small +water-colored map, like a surveyor's tracing. “Look,” he said, laying +his finger on the latter, “dat is a map from my fillage. I hef myselluff +made it out from my memory. Dot,” pointing to a blank space, “is der +mountain side high up, so far. It is no goot until I vill a tunnel make +or der grade lefel. Dere vas mine fader's house, dere vos der church, +der schoolhouse, dot vos de burgomaster's house,” he went on, pointing +to the respective plots in this old curving parallelogram of the +mountain shelf. “So was the fillage when I leave him on the 5th of +March, eighteen hundred and feefty. Now you shall see him shoost as I +vill make him ven I go back.” He took up another plan, beautifully +drawn and colored, and evidently done by a professional hand. It was +a practical, yet almost fairylike transformation of the same spot! +The narrow mountain shelf was widened by excavation, and a boulevard +stretched on either side. A great hotel, not unlike the one in which we +sat, stood in an open terrace, with gardens and fountains--the site of +his father's house. Blocks of pretty dwellings, shops, and cafes filled +the intermediate space. I laid down the paper. + +“How long have you had this idea?” + +“Efer since I left dere, fifteen years ago.” + +“But your father and mother may be dead by this time?” + +“So, but dere vill be odders. Und der blace--it vill remain.” + +“But all this will cost a fortune, and you are not sure”-- + +“I know shoost vot id vill gost, to a cend.” + +“And you think you can ever afford to carry out your idea?” + +“I VILL affort id. Ven you shall make yet some moneys and go to Europe, +you shall see. I VILL infite you dere first. Now coom and look der house +around.” + +***** + +I did NOT make “some moneys,” but I DID go to Europe. Three years after +this last interview with Rutli I was coming from Interlaken to Berne +by rail. I had not heard from him, and I had forgotten the name of his +village, but as I looked up from the paper I was reading, I suddenly +recognized him in the further end of the same compartment I occupied. +His recognition of me was evidently as sudden and unexpected. After our +first hand-grasp and greeting, I said:-- + +“And how about our new village?” + +“Dere is no fillage.” + +“What! You have given up the idea?” + +“Yes. There is no fillage, olt or new.” + +“I don't understand.” + +He looked at me a moment. “You have not heard?” + +“No.” + +He gently picked up a little local guidebook that lay in my lap, and +turning its leaves, pointed to a page, and read as follows:-- + +“5 M. beyond, the train passes a curve R., where a fine view of the lake +may be seen. A little to the R. rises the steep slopes of the ----, the +scene of a terrible disaster. At three o'clock on March 5, 1850, the +little village of ----, lying midway of the slope, with its population +of 950 souls, was completely destroyed by a landslip from the top of +the mountain. So sudden was the catastrophe that not a single escape +is recorded. A large portion of the mountain crest, as will be observed +when it is seen in profile, descended to the valley, burying the +unfortunate village to a depth variously estimated at from 1000 ft. +to 1800 ft. The geological causes which produced this extraordinary +displacement have been fully discussed, but the greater evidence points +to the theory of subterranean glaciers. 5 M. beyond ---- the train +crosses the R. bridge.” + +I laid down the guide-book in breathless astonishment. + +“And you never heard of this in all these years?” + +“Nefer! I asked no questions, I read no pooks. I have no ledders from +home.” + +“And yet you”--I stopped, I could not call him a fool; neither could +I, in the face of his perfect composure and undisturbed eyes, exhibit +a concern greater than his own. An uneasy recollection of what he +confessed had been his mental condition immediately after his accident +came over me. Had he been the victim of a strange hallucination +regarding his house and family all these years? Were these dreams of +revenge, this fancy of creating a new village, only an outcome of +some shock arising out of the disaster itself, which he had long since +forgotten? + +He was looking from the window. “Coom,” he said, “ve are near der blace. +I vill show id to you.” He rose and passed out to the rear platform. +We were in the rear car, and a new panorama of the lake and mountains +flashed upon us at every curve of the line. I followed him. Presently +he pointed to what appeared to be a sheer wall of rock and stunted +vegetation towering two or three thousand feet above us, which started +out of a gorge we were passing. “Dere it vos!” he said. I saw the vast +stretch of rock face rising upward and onward, but nothing else. No +debris, no ruins, nor even a swelling or rounding of the mountain flank +over that awful tomb. Yet, stay! as we dashed across the gorge, and the +face of the mountain shifted, high up, the sky-line was slightly broken +as if a few inches, a mere handful, of the crest was crumbled away. And +then--both gorge and mountain vanished. + +I was still embarrassed and uneasy, and knew not what to say to this man +at my side, whose hopes and ambition had been as quickly overthrown and +buried, and whose life-dream had as quickly vanished. But he himself, +taking his pipe from his lips, broke the silence. + +“It vos a narrow esgabe!” + +“What was?” + +“Vy, dis dings. If I had stayed in my fader's house, I vould haf been +det for goot, and perried too! Somedimes dose dings cooms oudt apout +right, don't id?” + +Unvanquished philosopher! As we stood there looking at the flying +landscape and sinking lesser hills, one by one the great snow peaks +slowly arose behind them, lifting themselves, as if to take a last +wondering look at the man they had triumphed over, but had not subdued. + + + + +THE PASSING OF ENRIQUEZ + + +When Enriquez Saltillo ran away with Miss Mannersley, as already +recorded in these chronicles,* her relatives and friends found it much +easier to forgive that ill-assorted union than to understand it. For, +after all, Enriquez was the scion of an old Spanish-Californian family, +and in due time would have his share of his father's three square +leagues, whatever incongruity there was between his lively Latin +extravagance and Miss Mannersley's Puritan precision and intellectual +superiority. They had gone to Mexico; Mrs. Saltillo, as was known, +having an interest in Aztec antiquities, and he being utterly submissive +to her wishes. For myself from my knowledge of Enriquez's nature, I had +grave doubts of his entire subjugation, although I knew the prevailing +opinion was that Mrs. Saltillo's superiority would speedily tame him. +Since his brief and characteristic note apprising me of his marriage, +I had not heard from him. It was, therefore, with some surprise, a good +deal of reminiscent affection, and a slight twinge of reproach that, two +years after, I looked up from some proofs, in the sanctum of the “Daily +Excelsior,” to recognize his handwriting on a note that was handed to me +by a yellow Mexican boy. + + * See “The Devotion of Enriquez,” in Selected Stories by + Bret Harte Gutenberg #1312. + +A single glance at its contents showed me that Mrs. Saltillo's +correct Bostonian speech had not yet subdued Enriquez's peculiar +Spanish-American slang:-- + +“Here we are again,--right side up with care,--at 1110 Dupont Street, +Telegraph Hill. Second floor from top. 'Ring and push.' 'No book agents +need apply.' How's your royal nibs? I kiss your hand! Come at six,--the +band shall play at seven,--and regard your friend 'Mees Boston,' who +will tell you about the little old nigger boys, and your old Uncle +'Ennery.” + +Two things struck me: Enriquez had not changed; Mrs. Saltillo had +certainly yielded up some of her peculiar prejudices. For the address +given, far from being a fashionable district, was known as the “Spanish +quarter,” which, while it still held some old Spanish families, was +chiefly given over to half-castes and obscurer foreigners. Even poverty +could not have driven Mrs. Saltillo to such a refuge against her will; +nevertheless, a good deal of concern for Enriquez's fortune mingled with +my curiosity, as I impatiently waited for six o'clock to satisfy it. + +It was a breezy climb to 1110 Dupont Street; and although the street +had been graded, the houses retained their airy elevation, and were +accessible only by successive flights of wooden steps to the front door, +which still gave perilously upon the street, sixty feet below. I now +painfully appreciated Enriquez's adaptation of the time-honored joke +about the second floor. An invincible smell of garlic almost took my +remaining breath away as the door was opened to me by a swarthy Mexican +woman, whose loose camisa seemed to be slipping from her unstable bust, +and was held on only by the mantua-like shawl which supplemented it, +gripped by one brown hand. Dizzy from my ascent to that narrow perch, +which looked upon nothing but the distant bay and shores of Contra +Costa, I felt as apologetic as if I had landed from a balloon; but the +woman greeted me with a languid Spanish smile and a lazy display of +white teeth, as if my arrival was quite natural. Don Enriquez, “of a +fact,” was not himself in the casa, but was expected “on the instant.” + “Donna Urania” was at home. + +“Donna Urania”? For an instant I had forgotten that Mrs. Saltillo's +first name was Urania, so pleasantly and spontaneously did it fall +from the Spanish lips. Nor was I displeased at this chance of learning +something of Don Enriquez's fortunes and the Saltillo menage before +confronting my old friend. The servant preceded me to the next floor, +and, opening a door, ushered me into the lady's presence. + +I had carried with me, on that upward climb, a lively recollection of +Miss Mannersley as I had known her two years before. I remembered her +upright, almost stiff, slight figure, the graceful precision of her +poses, the faultless symmetry and taste of her dress, and the atmosphere +of a fastidious and wholesome cleanliness which exhaled from her. In the +lady I saw before me, half reclining in a rocking-chair, there was +none of the stiffness and nicety. Habited in a loose gown of some easy, +flexible, but rich material, worn with that peculiarly indolent +slouch of the Mexican woman, Mrs. Saltillo had parted with half her +individuality. Even her arched feet and thin ankles, the close-fitting +boots or small slippers of which were wont to accent their delicacy, +were now lost in a short, low-quartered kid shoe of the Spanish type, +in which they moved loosely. Her hair, which she had always worn with a +certain Greek simplicity, was parted at one side. Yet her face, with +its regularity of feature, and small, thin, red-lipped mouth, was quite +unchanged; and her velvety brown eyes were as beautiful and inscrutable +as ever. + +With the same glance I had taken in her surroundings, quite as +incongruous to her former habits. The furniture, though of old and heavy +mahogany, had suffered from careless alien hands, and was interspersed +with modern and unmatchable makeshifts, yet preserving the distinctly +scant and formal attitude of furnished lodgings. It was certainly +unlike the artistic trifles and delicate refinements of her uncle's +drawing-room, which we all knew her taste had dictated and ruled. The +black and white engravings, the outlined heads of Minerva and Diana, +were excluded from the walls for two cheap colored Catholic prints,--a +soulless Virgin, and the mystery of the Bleeding Heart. Against the +wall, in one corner, hung the only object which seemed a memento of +their travels,--a singular-looking upright Indian “papoose-case” or +cradle, glaringly decorated with beads and paint, probably an Aztec +relic. On a round table, the velvet cover of which showed marks of usage +and abusage, there were scattered books and writing materials; and my +editorial instinct suddenly recognized, with a thrill of apprehension, +the loose leaves of an undoubted manuscript. This circumstance, taken +with the fact of Donna Urania's hair being parted on one side, and the +general negligee of her appearance, was a disturbing revelation. + +My wandering eye apparently struck her, for after the first greeting she +pointed to the manuscript with a smile. + +“Yes; that is THE manuscript. I suppose Enriquez told you all about it? +He said he had written.” + +I was dumfounded. I certainly had not understood ALL of Enriquez's +slang; it was always so decidedly his own, and peculiar. Yet I could not +recall any allusion to this. + +“He told me something of it, but very vaguely,” I ventured to say +deprecatingly; “but I am afraid that I thought more of seeing my old +friend again than of anything else.” + +“During our stay in Mexico,” continued Mrs. Saltillo, with something of +her old precision, “I made some researches into Aztec history, a subject +always deeply interesting to me, and I thought I would utilize the +result by throwing it on paper. Of course it is better fitted for a +volume of reference than for a newspaper, but Enriquez thought you might +want to use it for your journal.” + +I knew that Enriquez had no taste for literature, and had even rather +depreciated it in the old days, with his usual extravagance; but I +managed to say very pleasantly that I was delighted with his suggestion +and should be glad to read the manuscript. After all, it was not +improbable that Mrs. Saltillo, who was educated and intelligent, should +write well, if not popularly. “Then Enriquez does not begrudge you the +time that your work takes from him,” I added laughingly. “You seem to +have occupied your honeymoon practically.” + +“We quite comprehend our respective duties,” said Mrs. Saltillo dryly; +“and have from the first. We have our own lives to live, independent +of my uncle and Enriquez's father. We have not only accepted the +responsibility of our own actions, but we both feel the higher +privilege of creating our own conditions without extraneous aid from our +relatives.” + +It struck me that this somewhat exalted statement was decidedly a pose, +or a return of Urania Mannersley's old ironical style. I looked quietly +into her brown, near-sighted eyes; but, as once before, my glance seemed +to slip from their moist surface without penetrating the inner thought +beneath. “And what does Enriquez do for HIS part?” I asked smilingly. + +I fully expected to hear that the energetic Enriquez was utilizing +his peculiar tastes and experiences by horse-breaking, stock-raising, +professional bull-fighting, or even horse-racing, but was quite +astonished when she answered quietly:-- + +“Enriquez is giving himself up to geology and practical metallurgy, with +a view to scientific, purely scientific, mining.” + +Enriquez and geology! In that instant all I could remember of it were +his gibes at the “geologian,” as he was wont to term Professor Dobbs, +a former admirer of Miss Mannersley's. To add to my confusion Mrs. +Saltillo at the same moment absolutely voiced my thought. + +“You may remember Professor Dobbs,” she went on calmly, “one of the most +eminent scientists over here, and a very old Boston friend. He has +taken Enriquez in hand. His progress is most satisfactory; we have the +greatest hopes of him.” + +“And how soon do you both hope to have some practical results of his +study?” I could not help asking a little mischievously; for I somehow +resented the plural pronoun in her last sentence. + +“Very soon,” said Mrs. Saltillo, ignoring everything but the question. +“You know Enriquez's sanguine temperament. Perhaps he is already given +to evolving theories without a sufficient basis of fact. Still, he has +the daring of a discoverer. His ideas of the oolitic formation are not +without originality, and Professor Dobbs says that in his conception of +the Silurian beach there are gleams that are distinctly precious.” + +I looked at Mrs. Saltillo, who had reinforced her eyes with her old +piquant pince-nez, but could detect no irony in them. She was prettily +imperturbable, that was all. There was an awkward silence. Then it was +broken by a bounding step on the stairs, a wide-open fling of the door, +and Enriquez pirouetted into the room: Enriquez, as of old, unchanged +from the crown of his smooth, coal-black hair to the tips of his small, +narrow Arabian feet; Enriquez, with his thin, curling mustache, his +dancing eyes set in his immovable face, just as I had always known him! + +He affected to lapse against the door for a minute, as if staggered by a +resplendent vision. Then he said:-- + +“What do I regard? Is it a dream, or have I again got them--thees +jimjams? My best friend and my best--I mean my ONLY--wife! Embrace me!” + +He gave me an enthusiastic embrace and a wink like sheet-lightning, +passed quickly to his wife, before whom he dropped on one knee, raised +the toe of her slipper to his lips, and then sank on the sofa in +simulated collapse, murmuring, “Thees is too mooch of white stone for +one day!” + +Through all this I saw his wife regarding him with exactly the same +critically amused expression with which she had looked upon him in the +days of their strange courtship. She evidently had not tired of his +extravagance, and yet I feel as puzzled by her manner as then. She rose +and said: “I suppose you have a good deal to say to each other, and I +will leave you by yourselves.” Turning to her husband, she added, “I +have already spoken about the Aztec manuscript.” + +The word brought Enriquez to his feet again. “Ah! The little old +nigger--you have read?” I began to understand. “My wife, my best +friend, and the little old nigger, all in one day. Eet is perfect!” + Nevertheless, in spite of this ecstatic and overpowering combination, +he hurried to take his wife's hand; kissing it, he led her to a door +opening into another room, made her a low bow to the ground as she +passed out, and then rejoined me. + +“So these are the little old niggers you spoke of in your note,” I said, +pointing to the manuscript. “Deuce take me if I understood you!” + +“Ah, my leetle brother, it is YOU who have changed!” said Enriquez +dolorously. “Is it that you no more understand American, or have the +'big head' of the editor? Regard me! Of these Aztecs my wife have made +study. She have pursued the little nigger to his cave, his grotto, where +he is dead a thousand year. I have myself assist, though I like it not, +because thees mummy, look you, Pancho, is not lively. And the mummy who +is not dead, believe me! even the young lady mummy, you shall not take +to your heart. But my wife”--he stopped, and kissed his hand toward the +door whence she had flitted--“ah, SHE is wonderful! She has made the +story of them, the peecture of them, from the life and on the instant! +You shall take them, my leetle brother, for your journal; you shall +announce in the big letter: 'Mooch Importance. The Aztec, He is Found.' +'How He Look and Lif.' 'The Everlasting Nigger.' You shall sell many +paper, and Urania shall have scoop in much spondulics and rocks. +Hoop-la! For--you comprehend?--my wife and I have settled that she shall +forgif her oncle; I shall forgif my father; but from them we take no +cent, not a red, not a scad! We are independent! Of ourselves we make a +Fourth of July. United we stand; divided we shall fall over! There you +are! Bueno!” + +It was impossible to resist his wild, yet perfectly sincere, +extravagance, his dancing black eyes and occasional flash of white teeth +in his otherwise immovable and serious countenance. Nevertheless, I +managed to say:-- + +“But how about yourself, Enriquez, and this geology, you know?” + +His eyes twinkled. “Ah, you shall hear. But first you shall take a +drink. I have the very old Bourbon. He is not so old as the Aztec, but, +believe me, he is very much liflier. Attend! Hol' on!” He was already +rummaging on a shelf, but apparently without success; then he explored +a buffet, with no better results, and finally attacked a large drawer, +throwing out on the floor, with his old impetuosity, a number of +geological specimens, carefully labeled. I picked up one that had rolled +near me. It was labeled “Conglomerate sandstone.” I picked up another: +it had the same label. + +“Then you are really collecting?” I said, with astonishment. + +“Ciertamente,” responded Enriquez,--“what other fool shall I look? I +shall relate of this geology when I shall have found this beast of a +bottle. Ah, here he have hide!” He extracted from a drawer a bottle +nearly full of spirits,--tippling was not one of Enriquez's vices. “You +shall say 'when.' 'Ere's to our noble selfs!” + +When he had drunk, I picked up another fragment of his collection. It +had the same label. “You are very rich in 'conglomerate sandstone,'” I +said. “Where do you find it?” + +“In the street,” said Enriquez, with great calmness. + +“In the street?” I echoed. + +“Yes, my friend! He ees call the 'cobblestone,' also the +'pouding-stone,' when he ees at his home in the country. He ees also +a small 'boulder.' I pick him up; I crack him; he made three separate +piece of conglomerate sandstone. I bring him home to my wife in my +pocket. She rejoice; we are happy. When comes the efening, I sit down +and make him a label; while my wife, she sit down and write of the +Aztec. Ah, my friend, you shall say of the geology it ees a fine, a +BEAUTIFUL study; but the study of the wife, and what shall please her, +believe me, ees much finer! Believe your old Uncle 'Ennery every time! +On thees question he gets there; he gets left, nevarre!” + +“But Professor Dobbs, your geologian, what does HE say to this frequent +recurrence of the conglomerate sandstone period in your study?” I asked +quickly. + +“He say nothing. You comprehend? He ees a profound geologian, but he +also has the admiration excessif for my wife Urania.” He stopped to kiss +his hand again toward the door, and lighted a cigarette. “The geologian +would not that he should break up the happy efening of his friends +by thees small detail. He put aside his head--so; he say, 'A leetle +freestone, a leetle granite, now and then, for variety; they are +building in Montgomery Street.' I take the hint, like a wink to the +horse that has gone blind. I attach to myself part of the edifice that +is erecting himself in Montgomery Street. I crack him; I bring him +home. I sit again at the feet of my beautiful Urania, and I label him +'Freestone,' 'Granite;' but I do not say 'from Parrott's Bank'--eet is +not necessary for our happiness.” + +“And you do this sort of thing only because you think it pleases your +wife?” I asked bluntly. + +“My friend,” rejoined Enriquez, perching himself on the back of the +sofa, and caressing his knees as he puffed his cigarette meditatively, +“you have ask a conundrum. Gif to me an easier one! It is of truth that +I make much of these thing to please Urania. But I shall confess all. +Behold, I appear to you, my leetle brother, in my camisa--my shirt! I +blow on myself; I gif myself away.” + +He rose gravely from the sofa, and drew a small box from one of the +drawers of the wardrobe. Opening it, he discovered several specimens of +gold-bearing quartz, and one or two scales of gold. “Thees,” he said, +“friend Pancho, is my own geology; for thees I am what you see. But I +say nothing to Urania; for she have much disgust of mere gold,--of what +she calls 'vulgar mining,'--and believe me, a fear of the effect of +'speculation' upon my temperamento--you comprehend my complexion, my +brother? Reflect upon it, Pancho! I, who am the filosofo, if that I am +anything!” He looked at me with great levity of eye and supernatural +gravity of demeanor. “But eet ees the jealous affection of the wife, +my friend, for which I make play to her with the humble leetle +pouding-stone rather than the gold quartz that affrights.” + +“But what do you want with them, if you have no shares in anything and +do not speculate?” I asked. + +“Pardon! That ees where you slip up, my leetle friend.” He took from the +same drawer a clasped portfolio, and unlocked it, producing half a dozen +prospectuses and certificates of mining shares. I stood aghast as I +recognized the names of one or two extravagant failures of the last ten +years,--“played-out” mines that had been galvanized into deceptive life +in London, Paris, and New York, to the grief of shareholders abroad +and the laughter of the initiated at home. I could scarcely keep my +equanimity. “You do not mean to say that you have any belief or interest +in this rubbish?” I said quickly. + +“What you call 'rubbish,' my good Pancho, ees the rubbish that the +American speculator have dump himself upon them in the shaft, the +rubbish of the advertisement, of the extravagant expense, of the salary, +of the assessment, of the 'freeze-out.' For thees, look you, is the old +Mexican mine. My grandfather and hees father have both seen them work +before you were born, and the American knew not there was gold in +California.” + +I knew he spoke truly. One or two were original silver mines in the +south, worked by peons and Indian slaves, a rope windlass, and a +venerable donkey. + +“But those were silver mines,” I said suspiciously, “and these are gold +specimens.” + +“They are from the same mother,” said the imperturbable Enriquez,--“the +same mine. The old peons worked him for SILVER, the precious dollar that +buy everything, that he send in the galleon to the Philippines for +the silk and spice! THAT is good enough for HIM! For the gold he made +nothing, even as my leetle wife Urania. And regard me here! There ees a +proverb of my father's which say that 'it shall take a gold mine to +work a silver mine,' so mooch more he cost. You work him, you are lost! +Naturalmente, if you turn him round, if it take you only a silver mine +to work a gold mine, you are gain. Thees ees logic!” + +The intense gravity of his face at this extraordinary deduction upset +my own. But as I was never certain that Enriquez was not purposely +mystifying me, with some ulterior object, I could not help saying a +little wickedly:-- + +“Yes, I understand all that; but how about this geologian? Will he not +tell your wife? You know he was a great admirer of hers.” + +“That shall show the great intelligence of him, my Pancho. He will have +the four S's,' especially the secreto!” + +There could be no serious discussion in his present mood. I gathered up +the pages of his wife's manuscript, said lightly that, as she had the +first claim upon my time, I should examine the Aztec material and report +in a day or two. As I knew I had little chance in the hands of these two +incomprehensibles together, I begged him not to call his wife, but +to convey my adieus to her, and, in spite of his embraces and +protestations, I managed to get out of the room. But I had scarcely +reached the front door when I heard Enriquez's voice and his bounding +step on the stairs. In another moment his arm was round my neck. + +“You must return on the instant! Mother of God! I haf forget, SHE haf +forget, WE all haf forget! But you have not seen him!” + +“Seen whom?” + +“El nino, the baby! You comprehend, pig! The criaturica, the leetle +child of ourselfs!” + +“The baby?” I said confusedly. “IS there--is there a BABY?” + +“You hear him?” said Enriquez, sending an appealing voice upward. “You +hear him, Urania? You comprehend. This beast of a leetle brother demands +if there ees one!” + +“I beg your pardon,” I said, hurriedly reascending the stairs. On the +landing I met Mrs. Saltillo, but as calm, composed, and precise as +her husband was extravagant and vehement. “It was an oversight of +Enriquez's,” she said quietly, reentering the room with us; “and was all +the more strange, as the child was in the room with you all the time.” + +She pointed to the corner of the wall, where hung what I had believed +to be an old Indian relic. To my consternation, it WAS a bark +“papoose-case,” occupied by a LIVING child, swathed and bandaged after +the approved Indian fashion. It was asleep, I believe, but it opened a +pair of bright huckleberry eyes, set in the smallest of features, that +were like those of a carved ivory idol, and uttered a “coo” at the sound +of its mother's voice. She stood on one side with unruffled composure, +while Enriquez threw himself into an attitude before it, with clasped +hands, as if it had been an image of the Holy Child. For myself, I was +too astounded to speak; luckily, my confusion was attributed to the +inexperience of a bachelor. + +“I have adopted,” said Mrs. Saltillo, with the faintest touch of +maternal pride in her manner, “what I am convinced is the only natural +and hygienic mode of treating the human child. It may be said to be +a reversion to the aborigine, but I have yet to learn that it is not +superior to our civilized custom. By these bandages the limbs of the +infant are kept in proper position until they are strong enough to +support the body, and such a thing as malformation is unknown. It is +protected by its cradle, which takes the place of its incubating-shell, +from external injury, the injudicious coddling of nurses, the so-called +'dancings' and pernicious rockings. The supine position, as in the +adult, is imposed only at night. By the aid of this strap it may be +carried on long journeys, either by myself or by Enriquez, who thus +shares with me, as he fully recognizes, its equal responsibility and +burden.” + +“It--certainly does not--cry,” I stammered. + +“Crying,” said Mrs. Saltillo, with a curve of her pretty red lip, “is +the protest of the child against insanitary and artificial treatment. +In its upright, unostentatious cradle it is protected against that +injudicious fondling and dangerous promiscuous osculation to which, as +an infant in human arms, it is so often subjected. Above all, it is kept +from that shameless and mortifying publicity so unjust to the weak and +unformed animal. The child repays this consideration by a gratifying +silence. It cannot be expected to understand our thoughts, speech, or +actions; it cannot participate in our pleasures. Why should it be +forced into premature contact with them, merely to feed our vanity or +selfishness? Why should we assume our particular parental accident +as superior to the common lot? If we do not give our offspring that +prominence before our visitors so common to the young wife and husband, +it is for that reason solely; and this may account for what seemed the +forgetfulness of Enriquez in speaking of it or pointing it out to +you. And I think his action in calling you back to see it was somewhat +precipitate. As one does not usually introduce an unknown and inferior +stranger without some previous introduction, he might have asked you if +you wished to see the baby before he recalled you.” + +I looked from Urania's unfathomable eyes to Enriquez's impenetrable +countenance. I might have been equal to either of them alone, but +together they were invincible. I looked hopelessly at the baby. With +its sharp little eyes and composed face, it certainly was a marvelous +miniature of Enriquez. I said so. + +“It would be singular if it was not,” said Mrs. Saltillo dryly; “and as +I believe it is by no means an uncommon fact in human nature, it seems +to me strange that people should insist upon it as a discovery. It is +an inheritance, however, that in due time progress and science will no +doubt interrupt, to the advancement of the human race. I need not +say that both Enriquez and myself look forward to it with confident +tranquillity.” + +There was clearly nothing for me to do now but to shake hands again and +take my leave. Yet I was so much impressed with the unreality of the +whole scene that when I reached the front door I had a strong impulse +to return suddenly and fall in upon them in their relaxed and natural +attitudes. They could not keep up this pose between themselves; and I +half expected to see their laughing faces at the window, as I glanced up +before wending my perilous way to the street. + +I found Mrs. Saltillo's manuscript well written and, in the narrative +parts, even graphic and sparkling. I suppressed some general remarks +on the universe, and some correlative theories of existence, as +not appertaining particularly to the Aztecs, and as not meeting any +unquenchable thirst for information on the part of the readers of the +“Daily Excelsior.” I even promoted my fair contributor to the position +of having been commissioned, at great expense, to make the Mexican +journey especially for the “Excelsior.” This, with Mrs. Saltillo's +somewhat precise preraphaelite drawings and water-colors, vilely +reproduced by woodcuts, gave quite a sensational air to her production, +which, divided into parts, for two or three days filled a whole page +of the paper. I am not aware of any particular service that it did to +ethnology; but, as I pointed out in the editorial column, it showed that +the people of California were not given over by material greed to the +exclusion of intellectual research; and as it was attacked instantly +in long communications from one or two scientific men, it thus produced +more copy. + +Briefly, it was a boom for the author and the “Daily Excelsior.” I +should add, however, that a rival newspaper intimated that it was also a +boom for Mrs. Saitillo's HUSBAND, and called attention to the fact that +a deserted Mexican mine, known as “El Bolero,” was described graphically +in the Aztec article among the news, and again appeared in the +advertising columns of the same paper. I turned somewhat indignantly +to the file of the “Excelsior,” and, singularly enough, found in the +elaborate prospectus of a new gold-mining company the description of the +El Bolero mine as a QUOTATION from the Aztec article, with extraordinary +inducements for the investment of capital in the projected working of an +old mine. If I had had any difficulty in recognizing in the extravagant +style the flamboyant hand of Enriquez in English writing, I might have +read his name plainly enough displayed as president of the company. It +was evidently the prospectus of one of the ventures he had shown me. I +was more amused than indignant at the little trick he had played upon +my editorial astuteness. After all, if I had thus benefited the young +couple I was satisfied. I had not seen them since my first visit, as I +was very busy,--my communications with Mrs. Saltillo had been carried on +by letters and proofs,--and when I did finally call at their house, it +was only to find that they were visiting at San Jose. I wondered whether +the baby was still hanging on the wall, or, if he was taken with them, +who carried him. + +A week later the stock of El Bolero was quoted at par. More than that, +an incomprehensible activity had been given to all the deserted Mexican +mines, and people began to look up scrip hitherto thrown aside as +worthless. Whether it was one of those extraordinary fevers which +attacked Californian speculation in the early days, or whether Enriquez +Saltillo had infected the stock-market with his own extravagance, I +never knew; but plans as wild, inventions as fantastic, and arguments +as illogical as ever emanated from his own brain, were set forth “on +'Change” with a gravity equal to his own. The most reasonable hypothesis +was that it was the effect of the well-known fact that the Spanish +Californian hitherto had not been a mining speculator, nor connected +in any way with the gold production on his native soil, deeming it +inconsistent with his patriarchal life and landed dignity, and that when +a “son of one of the oldest Spanish families, identified with the land +and its peculiar character for centuries, lent himself to its mineral +exploitations,”--I beg to say that I am quoting from the advertisement +in the “Excelsior,”--“it was a guerdon of success.” This was so far true +that in a week Enriquez Saltillo was rich, and in a fair way to become a +millionaire. + + +It was a hot afternoon when I alighted from the stifling Wingdam coach, +and stood upon the cool, deep veranda of the Carquinez Springs Hotel. +After I had shaken off the dust which had lazily followed us, in our +descent of the mountain road, like a red smoke, occasionally overflowing +the coach windows, I went up to the room I had engaged for my brief +holiday. I knew the place well, although I could see that the hotel +itself had lately been redecorated and enlarged to meet the increasing +requirements of fashion. I knew the forest of enormous redwoods where +one might lose one's self in a five minutes' walk from the veranda. I +knew the rocky trail that climbed the mountain to the springs, twisting +between giant boulders. I knew the arid garden, deep in the wayside +dust, with its hurriedly planted tropical plants, already withering in +the dry autumn sunshine, and washed into fictitious freshness, night +and morning by the hydraulic irrigating-hose. I knew, too, the cool, +reposeful night winds that swept down from invisible snow-crests beyond, +with the hanging out of monstrous stars, that too often failed to bring +repose to the feverish guests. For the overstrained neurotic workers +who fled hither from the baking plains of Sacramento, or from the chill +sea-fogs of San Francisco, never lost the fierce unrest that had driven +them here. Unaccustomed to leisure, their enforced idleness impelled +them to seek excitement in the wildest gayeties; the bracing mountain +air only reinvigorated them to pursue pleasure as they had pursued the +occupations they had left behind. Their sole recreations were furious +drives over break-neck roads; mad, scampering cavalcades through the +sedate woods; gambling parties in private rooms, where large sums were +lost by capitalists on leave; champagne suppers; and impromptu balls +that lasted through the calm, reposeful night to the first rays of light +on the distant snowline. Unimaginative men, in their temporary sojourn +they more often outraged or dispossessed nature in her own fastnesses +than courted her for sympathy or solitude. There were playing-cards left +lying behind boulders, and empty champagne bottles forgotten in forest +depths. + +I remembered all this when, refreshed by a bath, I leaned from the +balcony of my room and watched the pulling up of a brake, drawn by six +dusty, foam-bespattered horses, driven by a noted capitalist. As +its hot, perspiring, closely veiled yet burning-faced fair occupants +descended, in all the dazzling glory of summer toilets, and I saw the +gentlemen consult their watches with satisfaction, and congratulate +their triumphant driver, I knew the characteristic excitement they had +enjoyed from a “record run,” probably for a bet, over a mountain road in +a burning sun. + +“Not bad, eh? Forty-four minutes from the summit!” + +The voice seemed at my elbow. I turned quickly, to recognize an +acquaintance, a young San Francisco broker, leaning from the next +balcony to mine. But my attention was just then preoccupied by the face +and figure, which seemed familiar to me, of a woman who was alighting +from the brake. + +“Who is that?” I asked; “the straight slim woman in gray, with the white +veil twisted round her felt hat?” + +“Mrs. Saltillo,” he answered; “wife of 'El Bolero' Saltillo, don't you +know. Mighty pretty woman, if she is a little stiffish and set up.” + +Then I had not been mistaken! “Is Enriquez--is her husband--here?” I +asked quickly. + +The man laughed. “I reckon not. This is the place for other people's +husbands, don't you know.” + +Alas! I DID know; and as there flashed upon me all the miserable +scandals and gossip connected with this reckless, frivolous caravansary, +I felt like resenting his suggestion. But my companion's next words were +more significant:-- + +“Besides, if what they say is true, Saltillo wouldn't be very popular +here.” + +“I don't understand,” I said quickly. + +“Why, after all that row he had with the El Bolero Company.” + +“I never heard of any row,” I said, in astonishment. + +The broker laughed incredulously. “Come! and YOU a newspaper man! Well, +maybe they DID try to hush it up, and keep it out of the papers, on +account of the stock. But it seems he got up a reg'lar shindy with the +board, one day; called 'em thieves and swindlers, and allowed he was +disgracing himself as a Spanish hidalgo by having anything to do with +'em. Talked, they say, about Charles V. of Spain, or some other royal +galoot, giving his ancestors the land in trust! Clean off his head, +I reckon. Then shunted himself off the company, and sold out. You can +guess he wouldn't be very popular around here, with Jim Bestley, there,” + pointing to the capitalist who had driven the brake, “who used to be on +the board with him. No, sir. He was either lying low for something, or +was off his head. Think of his throwing up a place like that!” + +“Nonsense!” I said indignantly. “He is mercurial, and has the quick +impulsiveness of his race, but I believe him as sane as any who sat with +him on the board. There must be some mistake, or you haven't got the +whole story.” Nevertheless, I did not care to discuss an old friend +with a mere acquaintance, and I felt secretly puzzled to account for his +conduct, in the face of his previous cleverness in manipulating the El +Bolero, and the undoubted fascination he had previously exercised over +the stockholders. The story had, of course, been garbled in repetition. +I had never before imagined what might be the effect of Enriquez's +peculiar eccentricities upon matter-of-fact people,--I had found them +only amusing,--and the broker's suggestion annoyed me. However, Mrs. +Saltillo was here in the hotel, and I should, of course, meet her. Would +she be as frank with me? + +I was disappointed at not finding her in the drawing-room or on the +veranda; and the heat being still unusually oppressive, I strolled out +toward the redwoods, hesitating for a moment in the shade before I ran +the fiery gauntlet of the garden. To my surprise, I had scarcely passed +the giant sentinels on its outskirts before I found that, from some +unusual condition of the atmosphere, the cold undercurrent of air +which generally drew through these pillared aisles was withheld that +afternoon; it was absolutely hotter than in the open, and the wood was +charged throughout with the acrid spices of the pine. I turned back to +the hotel, reascended to my bedroom, and threw myself in an armchair by +the open window. My room was near the end of a wing; the corner room at +the end was next to mine, on the same landing. Its closed door, at right +angles to my open one, gave upon the staircase, but was plainly visible +from where I sat. I remembered being glad that it was shut, as it +enabled me without offense to keep my own door open. + +The house was very quiet. The leaves of a catalpa, across the roadway, +hung motionless. Somebody yawned on the veranda below. I threw away +my half-finished cigar, and closed my eyes. I think I had not lost +consciousness for more than a few seconds before I was awakened by the +shaking and thrilling of the whole building. As I staggered to my feet, +I saw the four pictures hanging against the wall swing outwardly from +it on their cords, and my door swing back against the wall. At the same +moment, acted upon by the same potential impulse, the door of the end +room in the hall, opposite the stairs, also swung open. In that brief +moment I had a glimpse of the interior of the room, of two figures, a +man and a woman, the latter clinging to her companion in abject terror. +It was only for an instant, for a second thrill passed through the +house, the pictures clattered back against the wall, the door of the end +room closed violently on its strange revelation, and my own door swung +back also. Apprehensive of what might happen, I sprang toward it, but +only to arrest it an inch or two before it should shut, when, as my +experience had taught me, it might stick by the subsidence of the walls. +But it did stick ajar, and remained firmly fixed in that position. From +the clattering of the knob of the other door, and the sound of hurried +voices behind it, I knew that the same thing had happened there when +that door had fully closed. + +I was familiar enough with earthquakes to know that, with the second +shock or subsidence of the earth, the immediate danger was passed, and +so I was able to note more clearly what else was passing. There was the +usual sudden stampede of hurrying feet, the solitary oath and scream, +the half-hysterical laughter, and silence. Then the tumult was +reawakened to the sound of high voices, talking all together, or the +impatient calling of absentees in halls and corridors. Then I heard +the quick swish of female skirts on the staircase, and one of the fair +guests knocked impatiently at the door of the end room, still immovably +fixed. At the first knock there was a sudden cessation of the hurried +whisperings and turning of the doorknob. + +“Mrs. Saltillo, are you there? Are you frightened?” she called. + +“Mrs. Saltillo”! It was SHE, then, who was in the room! I drew nearer +my door, which was still fixed ajar. Presently a voice,--Mrs. Saltillo's +voice,--with a constrained laugh in it, came from behind the door: “Not +a bit. I'll come down in a minute.” + +“Do,” persisted the would-be intruder. “It's all over now, but we're all +going out into the garden; it's safer.” + +“All right,” answered Mrs. Saltillo. “Don't wait, dear. I'll follow. Run +away, now.” + +The visitor, who was evidently still nervous, was glad to hurry away, +and I heard her retreating step on the staircase. The rattling of the +door began again, and at last it seemed to yield to a stronger pull, +and opened sufficiently to allow Mrs. Saltillo to squeeze through. I +withdrew behind my door. I fancied that it creaked as she passed, as if, +noticing it ajar, she had laid an inquiring hand upon it. I waited, but +she was not followed by any one. I wondered if I had been mistaken. I +was going to the bell-rope to summon assistance to move my own door when +a sudden instinct withheld me. If there was any one still in that room, +he might come from it just as the servant answered my call, and a public +discovery would be unavoidable. I was right. In another instant the +figure of a man, whose face I could not discern, slipped out of the +room, passed my door, and went stealthily down the staircase. + +Convinced of this, I resolved not to call public attention to my being +in my own room at the time of the incident; so I did not summon any one, +but, redoubling my efforts, I at last opened the door sufficiently to +pass out, and at once joined the other guests in the garden. Already, +with characteristic recklessness and audacity, the earthquake was +made light of; the only dictate of prudence had resolved itself into +a hilarious proposal to “camp out” in the woods all night, and have +a “torch-light picnic.” Even then preparations were being made for +carrying tents, blankets, and pillows to the adjacent redwoods; dinner +and supper, cooked at campfires, were to be served there on stumps of +trees and fallen logs. The convulsion of nature had been used as an +excuse for one of the wildest freaks of extravagance that Carquinez +Springs had ever known. Perhaps that quick sense of humor which +dominates the American male in exigencies of this kind kept the +extravagances from being merely bizarre and grotesque, and it was +presently known that the hotel and its menage were to be appropriately +burlesqued by some of the guests, who, attired as Indians, would +personate the staff, from the oracular hotel proprietor himself down to +the smart hotel clerk. + +During these arrangements I had a chance of drawing near Mrs. Saltillo. +I fancied she gave a slight start as she recognized me; but her +greetings were given with her usual precision. “Have you been here +long?” she asked. + +“I have only just come,” I replied laughingly; “in time for the shock.” + +“Ah, you felt it, then? I was telling these ladies that our eminent +geologist, Professor Dobbs, assured me that these seismic disturbances +in California have a very remote centre, and are seldom serious.” + +“It must be very satisfactory to have the support of geology at such a +moment,” I could not help saying, though I had not the slightest idea +whose the figure was that I had seen, nor, indeed, had I recognized +it among the guests. She did not seem to detect any significance in +my speech, and I added: “And where is Enriquez? He would enjoy this +proposed picnic to-night.” + +“Enriquez is at Salvatierra Rancho, which he lately bought from his +cousin.” + +“And the baby? Surely, here is a chance for you to hang him up on a +redwood tonight, in his cradle.” + +“The boy,” said Mrs. Saltillo quickly, “is no longer in his cradle; he +has passed the pupa state, and is now free to develop his own perfected +limbs. He is with his father. I do not approve of children being +submitted to the indiscriminate attentions of a hotel. I am here myself +only for that supply of ozone indicated for brain exhaustion.” + +She looked so pretty and prim in her gray dress, so like her old correct +self, that I could not think of anything but her mental attitude, which +did not, by the way, seem much like mental depression. Yet I was aware +that I was getting no information of Enriquez's condition or affairs, +unless the whole story told by the broker was an exaggeration. I did +not, however, dare to ask more particularly. + +“You remember Professor Dobbs?” she asked abruptly. + +This recalled a suspicion awakened by my vision, so suddenly that I +felt myself blushing. She did not seem to notice it, and was perfectly +composed. + +“I do remember him. Is he here?” + +“He is; that is what makes it so particularly unfortunate for me. You +see, after that affair of the board, and Enriquez's withdrawal, although +Enriquez may have been a little precipitate in his energetic way, I +naturally took my husband's part in public; for although we preserve +our own independence inviolable, we believe in absolute confederation as +against society.” + +“But what has Professor Dobbs to do with the board?” I interrupted. + +“The professor was scientific and geological adviser to the board, and +it was upon some report or suggestion of his that Enriquez took issue, +against the sentiment of the board. It was a principle affecting +Enriquez's Spanish sense of honor.” + +“Do tell me all about it,” I said eagerly; “I am very anxious to know +the truth.” + +“As I was not present at the time,” said Mrs. Saltillo, rebuking my +eagerness with a gentle frigidity, “I am unable to do so. Anything else +would be mere hearsay, and more or less ex parte. I do not approve of +gossip.” + +“But what did Enriquez tell you? You surely know that.” + +“THAT, being purely confidential, as between husband and wife,--perhaps +I should say partner and partner,--of course you do not expect me to +disclose. Enough that I was satisfied with it. I should not have spoken +to you about it at all, but that, through myself and Enriquez, you are +an acquaintance of the professor's, and I might save you the awkwardness +of presenting yourself with him. Otherwise, although you are a friend of +Enriquez, it need not affect your acquaintance with the professor.” + +“Hang the professor!” I ejaculated. “I don't care a rap for HIM.” + +“Then I differ with you,” said Mrs. Saltillo, with precision. “He is +distinctly an able man, and one cannot but miss the contact of his +original mind and his liberal teachings.” + +Here she was joined by one of the ladies, and I lounged away. I dare say +it was very mean and very illogical, but the unsatisfactory character +of this interview made me revert again to the singular revelation I had +seen a few hours before. I looked anxiously for Professor Dobbs; but +when I did meet him, with an indifferent nod of recognition, I found +I could by no means identify him with the figure of her mysterious +companion. And why should I suspect him at all, in the face of Mrs. +Saltillo's confessed avoidance of him? Who, then, could it have been? I +had seen them but an instant, in the opening and the shutting of a door. +It was merely the shadowy bulk of a man that flitted past my door, +after all. Could I have imagined the whole thing? Were my perceptive +faculties--just aroused from slumber, too insufficiently clear to be +relied upon? Would I not have laughed had Urania, or even Enriquez +himself, told me such a story? + +As I reentered the hotel the clerk handed me a telegram. “There's been +a pretty big shake all over the country,” he said eagerly. “Everybody +is getting news and inquiries from their friends. Anything fresh?” He +paused interrogatively as I tore open the envelope. The dispatch had +been redirected from the office of the “Daily Excelsior.” It was dated, +“Salvatierra Rancho,” and contained a single line: “Come and see your +old uncle 'Ennery.” + +There was nothing in the wording of the message that was unlike +Enriquez's usual light-hearted levity, but the fact that he should have +TELEGRAPHED it to me struck me uneasily. That I should have received it +at the hotel where his wife and Professor Dobbs were both staying, and +where I had had such a singular experience, seemed to me more than a +mere coincidence. An instinct that the message was something personal +to Enriquez and myself kept me from imparting it to Mrs. Saltillo. After +worrying half the night in our bizarre camp in the redwoods, in the +midst of a restless festivity which was scarcely the repose I had been +seeking at Carquinez Springs, I resolved to leave the next day for +Salvatierra Rancho. I remembered the rancho,--a low, golden-brown, +adobe-walled quadrangle, sleeping like some monstrous ruminant in a +hollow of the Contra Costa Range. I recalled, in the midst of this noisy +picnic, the slumberous coolness of its long corridors and soundless +courtyard, and hailed it as a relief. The telegram was a sufficient +excuse for my abrupt departure. In the morning I left, but without again +seeing either Mrs. Saltillo or the professor. + +It was late the next afternoon when I rode through the canada that led +to the rancho. I confess my thoughts were somewhat gloomy, in spite of +my escape from the noisy hotel; but this was due to the sombre scenery +through which I had just ridden, and the monotonous russet of the +leagues of wild oats. As I approached the rancho, I saw that Enriquez +had made no attempt to modernize the old casa, and that even the garden +was left in its lawless native luxuriance, while the rude tiled sheds +near the walled corral contained the old farming implements, unchanged +for a century, even to the ox-carts, the wheels of which were made of a +single block of wood. A few peons, in striped shirts and velvet +jackets, were sunning themselves against a wall, and near them hung +a half-drained pellejo, or goatskin water-bag. The air of absolute +shiftlessness must have been repellent to Mrs. Saltillo's orderly +precision, and for a moment I pitied her. But it was equally +inconsistent with Enriquez's enthusiastic ideas of American progress, +and the extravagant designs he had often imparted to me of the +improvements he would make when he had a fortune. I was feeling uneasy +again, when I suddenly heard the rapid clack of unshod hoofs on a rocky +trail that joined my own. At the same instant a horseman dashed past me +at full speed. I had barely time to swerve my own horse aside to avoid a +collision, yet in that brief moment I recognized the figure of Enriquez. +But his face I should have scarcely known. It was hard and fixed. His +upper lip and thin, penciled mustache were drawn up over his teeth, +which were like a white gash in his dark face. He turned into the +courtyard of the rancho. I put spurs to my horse, and followed, in +nervous expectation. He turned in his saddle as I entered. But the next +moment he bounded from his horse, and, before I could dismount, flew to +my side and absolutely lifted me from the saddle to embrace me. It was +the old Enriquez again; his face seemed to have utterly changed in that +brief moment. + +“This is all very well, old chap,” I said; “but do you know that you +nearly ran me down, just now, with that infernal half-broken mustang? Do +you usually charge the casa at that speed?” + +“Pardon, my leetle brother! But here you shall slip up. The mustang is +not HALF-broken; he is not broke at all! Look at his hoof--never have +a shoe been there. For myself--attend me! When I ride alone, I +think mooch; when I think mooch I think fast; my idea he go like a +cannon-ball! Consequent, if I ride not thees horse like the cannon-ball, +my thought HE arrive first, and where are you? You get left! Believe +me that I fly thees horse, thees old Mexican plug, and your de' uncle +'Ennery and his leetle old idea arrive all the same time, and on the +instant.” + +It WAS the old Enriquez! I perfectly understood his extravagant speech +and illustration, and yet for the first time I wondered if others did. + +“Tak'-a-drink!” he said, all in one word. “You shall possess the old +Bourbon or the rhum from the Santa Cruz! Name your poison, gentlemen!” + +He had already dragged me up the steps from the patio to the veranda, +and seated me before a small round table still covered with the +chocolate equipage of the morning. A little dried-up old Indian woman +took it away, and brought the spirits and glasses. + +“Mirar the leetle old one!” said Enriquez, with unflinching gravity. +“Consider her, Pancho, to the bloosh! She is not truly an Aztec, but +she is of years one hundred and one, and LIFS! Possibly she haf not the +beauty which ravishes, which devastates. But she shall attent you to the +hot water, to the bath. Thus shall you be protect, my leetle brother, +from scandal.” + +“Enriquez,” I burst out suddenly, “tell me about yourself. Why did you +leave the El Bolero board? What was the row about?” + +Enriquez's eyes for a moment glittered; then they danced as before. + +“Ah,” he said, “you have heard?” + +“Something; but I want to know the truth from you.” + +He lighted a cigarette, lifted himself backward into a grass hammock, on +which he sat, swinging his feet. Then, pointing to another hammock, he +said: “Tranquillize yourself there. I will relate; but, truly, it ees +nothing.” + +He took a long pull at his cigarette, and for a few moments +seemed quietly to exude smoke from his eyes, ears, nose, even his +finger-ends--everywhere, in fact, but his mouth. That and his mustache +remained fixed. Then he said slowly, flicking away the ashes with his +little finger:-- + +“First you understand, friend Pancho, that I make no row. The other +themself make the row, the shindig. They make the dance, the howl, the +snap of the finger, the oath, the 'Helen blazes,' the 'Wot the devil,' +the 'That be d--d,' the bad language; they themselves finger the +revolver, advance the bowie-knife, throw off the coat, square off, and +say 'Come on.' I remain as you see me now, little brother--tranquil.” + He lighted another cigarette, made his position more comfortable in the +hammock, and resumed: “The Professor Dobbs, who is the geologian of the +company, made a report for which he got two thousand dollar. But thees +report--look you, friend Pancho--he is not good for the mine. For in the +hole in the ground the Professor Dobbs have found a 'hoss.'” + +“A what?” I asked. + +“A hoss,” repeated Enriquez, with infinite gravity. “But not, leetle +Pancho, the hoss that run, the hoss that buck-jump, but what the miner +call a 'hoss,' a something that rear up in the vein and stop him. You +pick around the hoss; you pick under him; sometimes you find the vein, +sometimes you do not. The hoss rear up, and remain! Eet ees not good for +the mine. The board say, 'D--- the hoss!' 'Get rid of the hoss.' 'Chuck +out the hoss.' Then they talk together, and one say to the Professor +Dobbs: 'Eef you cannot thees hoss remove from the mine, you can take +him out of the report.' He look to me, thees professor. I see nothing; I +remain tranquil. Then the board say: 'Thees report with the hoss in +him is worth two thousand dollar, but WITHOUT the hoss he is worth five +thousand dollar. For the stockholder is frighted of the rearing hoss. It +is of a necessity that the stockholder should remain tranquil. Without +the hoss the report is good; the stock shall errise; the director +shall sell out, and leave the stockholder the hoss to play with.' The +professor he say, 'Al-right;' he scratch out the hoss, sign his name, +and get a check for three thousand dollar.” + +“Then I errise--so!” He got up from the hammock, suiting the action +to the word, and during the rest of his narrative, I honestly believe, +assumed the same attitude and deliberate intonation he had exhibited at +the board. I could even fancy I saw the reckless, cynical faces of +his brother directors turned upon his grim, impassive features. “I am +tranquil. I smoke my cigarette. I say that for three hundred year my +family have held the land of thees mine; that it pass from father to +son, and from son to son; it pass by gift, it pass by grant, but that +NEVARRE THERE PASS A LIE WITH IT! I say it was a gift by a Spanish +Christian king to a Christian hidalgo for the spread of the gospel, and +not for the cheat and the swindle! I say that this mine was worked +by the slave, and by the mule, by the ass, but never by the cheat and +swindler. I say that if they have struck the hoss in the mine, they have +struck a hoss IN THE LAND, a Spanish hoss; a hoss that have no bridle +worth five thousand dollar in his mouth, but a hoss to rear, and a +hoss that cannot be struck out by a Yankee geologian; and that hoss is +Enriquez Saltillo!” + +He paused, and laid aside his cigarette. + +“Then they say, 'Dry up,' and 'Sell out;' and the great bankers say, +'Name your own price for your stock, and resign.' And I say, 'There is +not enough gold in your bank, in your San Francisco, in the mines of +California, that shall buy a Spanish gentleman. When I leave, I leave +the stock at my back; I shall take it, nevarre! Then the banker he say, +'And you will go and blab, I suppose?' And then, Pancho, I smile, I +pick up my mustache--so! and I say: 'Pardon, senor, you haf mistake, The +Saltillo haf for three hundred year no stain, no blot upon him. Eet is +not now--the last of the race--who shall confess that he haf sit at a +board of disgrace and dishonor!' And then it is that the band begin to +play, and the animals stand on their hind leg and waltz, and behold, the +row he haf begin!” + +I ran over to him, and fairly hugged him. But he put me aside with +a gentle and philosophical calm. “Ah, eet is nothing, Pancho. It is, +believe me, all the same a hundred years to come, and where are you, +then? The earth he turn round, and then come el temblor, the earthquake, +and there you are! Bah! eet is not of the board that I have asked you +to come; it is something else I would tell you. Go and wash yourself +of thees journey, my leetle brother, as I have”--looking at his narrow, +brown, well-bred hands--“wash myself of the board. Be very careful of +the leetle old woman, Pancho; do not wink to her of the eye! Consider, +my leetle brother, for one hundred and one year he haf been as a nun, a +saint! Disturb not her tranquillity.” + +Yes, it was the old Enriquez; but he seemed graver,--if I could use that +word of one of such persistent gravity; only his gravity heretofore had +suggested a certain irony rather than a melancholy which I now fancied I +detected. And what was this “something else” he was to “tell me later”? +Did it refer to Mrs. Saltillo? I had purposely waited for him to speak +of her, before I should say anything of my visit to Carquinez Springs. +I hurried through my ablutions in the hot water, brought in a bronze jar +on the head of the centenarian handmaid; and even while I was smiling +over Enriquez's caution regarding this aged Ruth, I felt I was getting +nervous to hear his news. + +I found him in his sitting-room, or study,--a long, low apartment with +small, deep windows like embrasures in the outer adobe wall, but glazed +in lightly upon the veranda. He was sitting quite abstractedly, with a +pen in his hand, before a table, on which a number of sealed envelopes +were lying. He looked SO formal and methodical for Enriquez. + +“You like the old casa, Pancho?” he said in reply to my praise of its +studious and monastic gloom. “Well, my leetle brother, some day that is +fair--who knows?--it may be at your disposicion; not of our politeness, +but of a truth, friend Pancho. For, if I leave it to my wife”--it was +the first time he had spoken of her--“for my leetle child,” he added +quickly, “I shall put in a bond, an obligacion, that my friend Pancho +shall come and go as he will.” + +“The Saltillos are a long-lived race,” I laughed. “I shall be a +gray-haired man, with a house and family of my own by that time.” But I +did not like the way he had spoken. + +“Quien sabe?” he only said, dismissing the question with the national +gesture. After a moment he added: “I shall tell you something that is +strrange, so strrange that you shall say, like the banker say, 'Thees +Enriquez, he ees off his head; he ees a crank, a lunatico;' but it ees a +FACT; believe me, I have said!” + +He rose, and, going to the end of the room, opened a door. It showed +a pretty little room, femininely arranged in Mrs. Saltillo's refined +taste. “Eet is pretty; eet is the room of my wife. Bueno! attend me +now.” He closed the door, and walked back to the table. “I have sit here +and write when the earthquake arrive. I have feel the shock, the grind +of the walls on themselves, the tremor, the stagger, and--that--door--he +swing open!” + +“The door?” I said, with a smile that I felt was ghastly. + +“Comprehend me,” he said quickly; “it ees not THAT which ees strrange. +The wall lift, the lock slip, the door he fell open; it is frequent; it +comes so ever when the earthquake come. But eet is not my wife's room +I see; it is ANOTHER ROOM, a room I know not. My wife Urania, she stand +there, of a fear, of a tremble; she grasp, she cling to someone. The +earth shake again; the door shut. I jump from my table; I shake and +tumble to the door. I fling him open. Maravilloso! it is the room of my +wife again. She is NOT there; it is empty; it is nothing!” + +I felt myself turning hot and cold by turns. I was horrified, and--and I +blundered. “And who was the other figure?” I gasped. + +“Who?” repeated Enriquez, with a pause, a fixed look at me, and a +sublime gesture. “Who SHOULD it be, but myself, Enriquez Saltillo?” + +A terrible premonition that this was a chivalrous LIE, that it was NOT +himself he had seen, but that our two visions were identical, came upon +me. “After all,” I said, with a fixed smile, “if you could imagine you +saw your wife, you could easily imagine you saw yourself too. In the +shock of the moment you thought of HER naturally, for then she would as +naturally seek your protection. You have written for news of her?” + +“No,” said Enriquez quietly. + +“No?” I repeated amazedly. + +“You understand, Pancho! Eef it was the trick of my eyes, why should +I affright her for the thing that is not? If it is the truth, and it +arrive to ME, as a warning, why shall I affright her before it come?” + +“Before WHAT comes? What is it a warning of?” I asked impetuously. + +“That we shall be separated! That I go, and she do not.” + +To my surprise, his dancing eyes had a slight film over them. “I don't +understand you,” I said awkwardly. + +“Your head is not of a level, my Pancho. Thees earthquake he remain for +only ten seconds, and he fling open the door. If he remain for twenty +seconds, he fling open the wall, the hoose toomble, and your friend +Enriquez is feenish.” + +“Nonsense!” I said. “Professor--I mean the geologists--say that the +centre of disturbance of these Californian earthquakes is some far-away +point in the Pacific and there never will be any serious convulsions +here.” + +“Ah, the geologist,” said Enriquez gravely, “understand the hoss that +rear in the mine, and the five thousand dollar, believe me, no more. +He haf lif here three year. My family haf lif here three hundred. My +grandfather saw the earth swallow the church of San Juan Baptista.” + +I laughed, until, looking up, I was shocked to see for the first time +that his dancing eyes were moist and shining. But almost instantly he +jumped up, and declared that I had not seen the garden and the corral, +and, linking his arm in mine, swept me like a whirlwind into the patio. +For an hour or two he was in his old invincible spirits. I was glad +I had said nothing of my visit to Carquinez Springs and of seeing his +wife; I determined to avoid it as long as possible; and as he did not +again refer to her, except in the past, it was not difficult. At last +he infected me with his extravagance, and for a while I forgot even the +strangeness of his conduct and his confidences. We walked and talked +together as of old. I understood and enjoyed him perfectly, and it +was not strange that in the end I began to believe that this strange +revelation was a bit of his extravagant acting, got up to amuse me. The +coincidence of his story with my own experience was not, after all, +such a wonderful thing, considering what must have been the nervous +and mental disturbance produced by the earthquake. We dined together, +attended only by Pedro, an old half-caste body-servant. It was easy to +see that the household was carried on economically, and, from a word +or two casually dropped by Enriquez, it appeared that the rancho and +a small sum of money were all that he retained from his former fortune +when he left the El Bolero. The stock he kept intact, refusing to take +the dividend upon it until that collapse of the company should occur +which he confidently predicted, when he would make good the swindled +stockholders. I had no reason to doubt his perfect faith in this. + +The next morning we were up early for a breezy gallop over the three +square miles of Enriquez's estate. I was astounded, when I descended to +the patio, to find Enriquez already mounted, and carrying before him, +astride of the horn of his saddle, a small child,--the identical papoose +of my memorable first visit. But the boy was no longer swathed and +bandaged, although, for security, his plump little body was engirt by +the same sash that encircled his father's own waist. I felt a stirring +of self-reproach; I had forgotten all about him! To my suggestion +that the exercise might be fatiguing to him, Enriquez shrugged his +shoulders:-- + +“Believe me, no! He is ever with me when I go on the pasear. He is not +too yonge. For he shall learn 'to rride, to shoot, and to speak the +truth,' even as the Persian chile. Eet ees all I can gif to him.” + +Nevertheless, I think the boy enjoyed it, and I knew he was safe with +such an accomplished horseman as his father. Indeed, it was a fine sight +to see them both careering over the broad plain, Enriquez with jingling +spurs and whirling riata, and the boy, with a face as composed as his +father's, and his tiny hand grasping the end of the flapping rein with +a touch scarcely lighter than the skillful rider's own. It was a lovely +morning; though warm and still, there was a faint haze--a rare thing in +that climate--on the distant range. The sun-baked soil, arid and thirsty +from the long summer drought, and cracked into long fissures, broke +into puffs of dust, with a slight detonation like a pistol-shot, at each +stroke of our pounding hoofs. Suddenly my horse swerved in full gallop, +almost lost his footing, “broke,” and halted with braced fore feet, +trembling in every limb. I heard a shout from Enriquez at the same +instant, and saw that he too had halted about a hundred paces from me, +with his hand uplifted in warning, and between us a long chasm in the +dry earth, extending across the whole field. But the trembling of the +horse continued until it communicated itself to me. I was shaking, +too, and, looking about for the cause, when I beheld the most weird and +remarkable spectacle I had ever witnessed. The whole llano, or plain, +stretching to the horizon-line, was DISTINCTLY UNDULATING! The faint +haze of the hills was repeated over its surface, as if a dust had arisen +from some grinding displacement of the soil. I threw myself from my +horse, but the next moment was fain to cling to him, as I felt the +thrill under my very feet. Then there was a pause, and I lifted my +head to look for Enriquez. He was nowhere to be seen! With a terrible +recollection of the fissure that had yawned between us, I sprang to the +saddle again, and spurred the frightened beast toward that point. BUT +IT WAS GONE, TOO! I rode backward and forward repeatedly along the line +where I had seen it only a moment before. The plain lay compact and +uninterrupted, without a crack or fissure. The dusty haze that had +arisen had passed as mysteriously away; the clear outline of the valley +returned; the great field was empty! + +Presently I was aware of the sound of galloping hoofs. I remembered +then--what I had at first forgotten--that a few moments before we had +crossed an arroyo, or dried bed of a stream, depressed below the level +of the field. How foolish that I had not remembered! He had evidently +sought that refuge; there were his returning hoofs. I galloped toward +it, but only to meet a frightened vaquero, who had taken that avenue of +escape to the rancho. + +“Did you see Don Enriquez?” I asked impatiently. + +I saw that the man's terror was extreme, and his eyes were staring in +their sockets. He hastily crossed himself:-- + +“Ah, God, yes!” + +“Where is he?” I demanded. + +“Gone!” + +“Where?” + +He looked at me with staring, vacant eyes, and, pointing to the ground, +said in Spanish: “He has returned to the land of his fathers!” + +We searched for him that day and the next, when the country was aroused +and his neighbors joined in a quest that proved useless. Neither he +nor his innocent burden was ever seen again of men. Whether he had been +engulfed by mischance in some unsuspected yawning chasm in that brief +moment, or had fulfilled his own prophecy by deliberately erasing +himself for some purpose known only to himself, no one ever knew. His +country-people shook their heads and said “it was like a Saltillo.” And +the few among his retainers who knew him and loved him, whispered +still more ominously: “He will yet return to his land to confound the +Americanos.” + +Yet the widow of Enriquez did NOT marry Professor Dobbs. But she too +disappeared from California, and years afterward I was told that she was +well known to the ingenuous Parisians as the usual wealthy widow “from +South America.” + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Stories in Light and Shadow, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW *** + +***** This file should be named 2508-0.txt or 2508-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/0/2508/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/2508-0.zip b/2508-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..49caec4 --- /dev/null +++ b/2508-0.zip diff --git a/2508-h.zip b/2508-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3979c59 --- /dev/null +++ b/2508-h.zip diff --git a/2508-h/2508-h.htm b/2508-h/2508-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..16d977d --- /dev/null +++ b/2508-h/2508-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7480 @@ +<?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> + Stories in Light and Shadow, 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 Stories in Light and Shadow, 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: Stories in Light and Shadow + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 18, 2006 [EBook #2508] +Last Updated: March 4, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Bret Harte + </h2> + <p> + From: “ARGONAUT EDITION” OF THE WORKS OF BRET HARTE, VOL. 13 <br /> <br /> + P. F. COLLIER & SON <br /> <br /> NEW YORK <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW</b></big> + </a> + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> “UNSER KARL” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> UNCLE JIM AND UNCLE BILLY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> SEE YUP </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> THE DESBOROUGH CONNECTIONS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> SALOMY JANE'S KISS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> THE MAN AND THE MOUNTAIN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> THE PASSING OF ENRIQUEZ </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “UNSER KARL” + </h2> + <p> + The American consul for Schlachtstadt had just turned out of the broad + Konig's Allee into the little square that held his consulate. Its + residences always seemed to him to wear that singularly uninhabited air + peculiar to a street scene in a theatre. The facades, with their stiff, + striped wooden awnings over the windows, were of the regularity, color, + and pattern only seen on the stage, and conversation carried on in the + street below always seemed to be invested with that perfect confidence and + security which surrounds the actor in his painted desert of urban + perspective. Yet it was a peaceful change to the other byways and highways + of Schlachtstadt which were always filled with an equally unreal and + mechanical soldiery, who appeared to be daily taken out of their boxes of + “caserne” or “depot” and loosely scattered all over the pretty + linden-haunted German town. There were soldiers standing on street + corners; soldiers staring woodenly into shop windows; soldiers halted + suddenly into stone, like lizards, at the approach of Offiziere; Offiziere + lounging stiffly four abreast, sweeping the pavement with their trailing + sabres all at one angle. There were cavalcades of red hussars, cavalcades + of blue hussars, cavalcades of Uhlans, with glittering lances and pennons—with + or without a band—formally parading; there were straggling + “fatigues” or “details” coming round the corners; there were dusty, + businesslike columns of infantry, going nowhere and to no purpose. And + they one and all seemed to be WOUND UP—for that service—and + apparently always in the same place. In the band of their caps—invariably + of one pattern—was a button, in the centre of which was a square + opening or keyhole. The consul was always convinced that through this + keyhole opening, by means of a key, the humblest caporal wound up his + file, the Hauptmann controlled his lieutenants and non-commissioned + officers, and even the general himself, wearing the same cap, was subject + through his cap to a higher moving power. In the suburbs, when the supply + of soldiers gave out, there were sentry-boxes; when these dropped off, + there were “caissons,” or commissary wagons. And, lest the military idea + should ever fail from out the Schlachtstadt's burgher's mind, there were + police in uniform, street-sweepers in uniform; the ticket-takers, guards, + and sweepers at the Bahnhof were in uniform,—but all wearing the + same kind of cap, with the probability of having been wound up freshly + each morning for their daily work. Even the postman delivered peaceful + invoices to the consul with his side-arms and the air of bringing + dispatches from the field of battle; and the consul saluted, and felt for + a few moments the whole weight of his consular responsibility. + </p> + <p> + Yet, in spite of this military precedence, it did not seem in the least + inconsistent with the decidedly peaceful character of the town, and this + again suggested its utter unreality; wandering cows sometimes got mixed up + with squadrons of cavalry, and did not seem to mind it; sheep passed + singly between files of infantry, or preceded them in a flock when on the + march; indeed, nothing could be more delightful and innocent than to see a + regiment of infantry in heavy marching order, laden with every conceivable + thing they could want for a week, returning after a cheerful search for an + invisible enemy in the suburbs, to bivouac peacefully among the cabbages + in the market-place. Nobody was ever imposed upon for a moment by their + tremendous energy and severe display; drums might beat, trumpets blow, + dragoons charge furiously all over the Exercier Platz, or suddenly flash + their naked swords in the streets to the guttural command of an officer—nobody + seemed to mind it. People glanced up to recognize Rudolf or Max “doing + their service,” nodded, and went about their business. And although the + officers always wore their side-arms, and at the most peaceful of social + dinners only relinquished their swords in the hall, apparently that they + might be ready to buckle them on again and rush out to do battle for the + Fatherland between the courses, the other guests only looked upon these + weapons in the light of sticks and umbrellas, and possessed their souls in + peace. And when, added to this singular incongruity, many of these + warriors were spectacled, studious men, and, despite their lethal weapons, + wore a slightly professional air, and were—to a man—deeply + sentimental and singularly simple, their attitude in this eternal + Kriegspiel seemed to the consul more puzzling than ever. + </p> + <p> + As he entered his consulate he was confronted with another aspect of + Schlachtstadt quite as wonderful, yet already familiar to him. For, in + spite of these “alarums without,” which, however, never seem to penetrate + beyond the town itself, Schlachtstadt and its suburbs were known all over + the world for the manufactures of certain beautiful textile fabrics, and + many of the rank and file of those warriors had built up the fame and + prosperity of the district over their peaceful looms in wayside cottages. + There were great depots and counting-houses, larger than even the cavalry + barracks, where no other uniform but that of the postman was known. Hence + it was that the consul's chief duty was to uphold the flag of his own + country by the examination and certification of divers invoices sent to + his office by the manufacturers. But, oddly enough, these business + messengers were chiefly women,—not clerks, but ordinary household + servants, and, on busy days, the consulate might have been mistaken for a + female registry office, so filled and possessed it was by waiting Madchen. + Here it was that Gretchen, Lieschen, and Clarchen, in the cleanest of blue + gowns, and stoutly but smartly shod, brought their invoices in a piece of + clean paper, or folded in a blue handkerchief, and laid them, with fingers + more or less worn and stubby from hard service, before the consul for his + signature. Once, in the case of a very young Madchen, that signature was + blotted by the sweep of a flaxen braid upon it as the child turned to go; + but generally there was a grave, serious business instinct and sense of + responsibility in these girls of ordinary peasant origin which, equally + with their sisters of France, were unknown to the English or American + woman of any class. + </p> + <p> + That morning, however, there was a slight stir among those who, with their + knitting, were waiting their turn in the outer office as the vice-consul + ushered the police inspector into the consul's private office. He was in + uniform, of course, and it took him a moment to recover from his habitual + stiff, military salute,—a little stiffer than that of the actual + soldier. + </p> + <p> + It was a matter of importance! A stranger had that morning been arrested + in the town and identified as a military deserter. He claimed to be an + American citizen; he was now in the outer office, waiting the consul's + interrogation. + </p> + <p> + The consul knew, however, that the ominous accusation had only a mild + significance here. The term “military deserter” included any one who had + in youth emigrated to a foreign country without first fulfilling his + military duty to his fatherland. His first experiences of these cases had + been tedious and difficult,—involving a reference to his Minister at + Berlin, a correspondence with the American State Department, a condition + of unpleasant tension, and finally the prolonged detention of some + innocent German—naturalized—American citizen, who had + forgotten to bring his papers with him in revisiting his own native + country. It so chanced, however, that the consul enjoyed the friendship + and confidence of the General Adlerkreutz, who commanded the 20th + Division, and it further chanced that the same Adlerkreutz was as gallant + a soldier as ever cried Vorwarts! at the head of his men, as profound a + military strategist and organizer as ever carried his own and his enemy's + plans in his iron head and spiked helmet, and yet with as simple and + unaffected a soul breathing under his gray mustache as ever issued from + the lips of a child. So this grim but gentle veteran had arranged with the + consul that in cases where the presumption of nationality was strong, + although the evidence was not present, he would take the consul's parole + for the appearance of the “deserter” or his papers, without the aid of + prolonged diplomacy. In this way the consul had saved to Milwaukee a + worthy but imprudent brewer, and to New York an excellent sausage butcher + and possible alderman; but had returned to martial duty one or two tramps + or journeymen who had never seen America except from the decks of the + ships in which they were “stowaways,” and on which they were returned,—and + thus the temper and peace of two great nations were preserved. + </p> + <p> + “He says,” said the inspector severely, “that he is an American citizen, + but has lost his naturalization papers. Yet he has made the damaging + admission to others that he lived several years in Rome! And,” continued + the inspector, looking over his shoulder at the closed door as he placed + his finger beside his nose, “he says he has relations living at Palmyra, + whom he frequently visited. Ach! Observe this + unheard-of-and-not-to-be-trusted statement!” + </p> + <p> + The consul, however, smiled with a slight flash of intelligence. “Let me + see him,” he said. + </p> + <p> + They passed into the outer office; another policeman and a corporal of + infantry saluted and rose. In the centre of an admiring and sympathetic + crowd of Dienstmadchen sat the culprit, the least concerned of the party; + a stripling—a boy—scarcely out of his teens! Indeed, it was + impossible to conceive of a more innocent, bucolic, and almost angelic + looking derelict. With a skin that had the peculiar white and rosiness of + fresh pork, he had blue eyes, celestially wide open and staring, and the + thick flocculent yellow curls of the sun god! He might have been an + overgrown and badly dressed Cupid who had innocently wandered from Paphian + shores. He smiled as the consul entered, and wiped from his full red lips + with the back of his hand the traces of a sausage he was eating. The + consul recognized the flavor at once,—he had smelled it before in + Lieschen's little hand-basket. + </p> + <p> + “You say you lived at Rome?” began the consul pleasantly. “Did you take + out your first declaration of your intention of becoming an American + citizen there?” + </p> + <p> + The inspector cast an approving glance at the consul, fixed a stern eye on + the cherubic prisoner, and leaned back in his chair to hear the reply to + this terrible question. + </p> + <p> + “I don't remember,” said the culprit, knitting his brows in infantine + thought. “It was either there, or at Madrid or Syracuse.” + </p> + <p> + The inspector was about to rise; this was really trifling with the dignity + of the municipality. But the consul laid his hand on the official's + sleeve, and, opening an American atlas to a map of the State of New York, + said to the prisoner, as he placed the inspector's hand on the sheet, “I + see you know the names of the TOWNS on the Erie and New York Central + Railroad. But”— + </p> + <p> + “I can tell you the number of people in each town and what are the + manufactures,” interrupted the young fellow, with youthful vanity. “Madrid + has six thousand, and there are over sixty thousand in”— + </p> + <p> + “That will do,” said the consul, as a murmur of Wunderschon! went round + the group of listening servant girls, while glances of admiration were + shot at the beaming accused. “But you ought to remember the name of the + town where your naturalization papers were afterwards sent.” + </p> + <p> + “But I was a citizen from the moment I made my declaration,” said the + stranger smiling, and looking triumphantly at his admirers, “and I could + vote!” + </p> + <p> + The inspector, since he had come to grief over American geographical + nomenclature, was grimly taciturn. The consul, however, was by no means + certain of his victory. His alleged fellow citizen was too encyclopaedic + in his knowledge: a clever youth might have crammed for this with a + textbook, but then he did not LOOK at all clever; indeed, he had rather + the stupidity of the mythological subject he represented. “Leave him with + me,” said the consul. The inspector handed him a precis of the case. The + cherub's name was Karl Schwartz, an orphan, missing from Schlachtstadt + since the age of twelve. Relations not living, or in emigration. Identity + established by prisoner's admission and record. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Karl,” said the consul cheerfully, as the door of his private office + closed upon them, “what is your little game? Have you EVER had any papers? + And if you were clever enough to study the map of New York State, why + weren't you clever enough to see that it wouldn't stand you in place of + your papers?” + </p> + <p> + “Dot's joost it,” said Karl in English; “but you see dot if I haf + declairet mine intention of begomming a citizen, it's all the same, don't + it?” + </p> + <p> + “By no means, for you seem to have no evidence of the DECLARATION; no + papers at all.” + </p> + <p> + “Zo!” said Karl. Nevertheless, he pushed his small, rosy, + pickled-pig's-feet of fingers through his fleecy curls and beamed + pleasantly at the consul. “Dot's vot's der matter,” he said, as if taking + a kindly interest in some private trouble of the consul's. “Dot's vere you + vos, eh?” + </p> + <p> + The consul looked steadily at him for a moment. Such stupidity was by no + means phenomenal, nor at all inconsistent with his appearance. “And,” + continued the consul gravely, “I must tell you that, unless you have other + proofs than you have shown, it will be my duty to give you up to the + authorities.” + </p> + <p> + “Dot means I shall serve my time, eh?” said Karl, with an unchanged smile. + </p> + <p> + “Exactly so,” returned the consul. + </p> + <p> + “Zo!” said karl. “Dese town—dose Schlachtstadt—is fine town, + eh? Fine vomens. Goot men. Und beer und sausage. Blenty to eat and drink, + eh? Und,” looking around the room, “you and te poys haf a gay times.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the consul shortly, turning away. But he presently faced round + again on the unfettered Karl, who was evidently indulging in a + gormandizing reverie. + </p> + <p> + “What on earth brought you here, anyway?” + </p> + <p> + “Was it das?” + </p> + <p> + “What brought you here from America, or wherever you ran away from?” + </p> + <p> + “To see der, volks.” + </p> + <p> + “But you are an ORPHAN, you know, and you have no folks living here.” + </p> + <p> + “But all Shermany is mine volks,—de whole gountry, don't it? Pet + your poots! How's dot, eh?” + </p> + <p> + The consul turned back to his desk and wrote a short note to General + Adlerkreutz in his own American German. He did not think it his duty in + the present case to interfere with the authorities or to offer his parole + for Karl Schwartz. But he would claim that, as the offender was evidently + an innocent emigrant and still young, any punishment or military + degradation be omitted, and he be allowed to take his place like any other + recruit in the ranks. If he might have the temerity to the undoubted, + far-seeing military authority of suggestion making here, he would suggest + that Karl was for the commissariat fitted! Of course, he still retained + the right, on production of satisfactory proof, his discharge to claim. + </p> + <p> + The consul read this aloud to Karl. The cherubic youth smiled and said, + “Zo!” Then, extending his hand, he added the word “Zshake!” + </p> + <p> + The consul shook his hand a little remorsefully, and, preceding him to the + outer room, resigned him with the note into the inspector's hands. A + universal sigh went up from the girls, and glances of appeal sought the + consul; but he wisely concluded that it would be well, for a while, that + Karl—a helpless orphan—should be under some sort of + discipline! And the securer business of certifying invoices recommenced. + </p> + <p> + Late that afternoon he received a folded bit of blue paper from the + waistbelt of an orderly, which contained in English characters and as a + single word “Alright,” followed by certain jagged pen-marks, which he + recognized as Adlerkreutz's signature. But it was not until a week later + that he learned anything definite. He was returning one night to his + lodgings in the residential part of the city, and, in opening the door + with his pass-key, perceived in the rear of the hall his handmaiden + Trudschen, attended by the usual blue or yellow or red shadow. He was + passing by them with the local 'n' Abend! on his lips when the soldier + turned his face and saluted. The consul stopped. It was the cherub Karl in + uniform! + </p> + <p> + But it had not subdued a single one of his characteristics. His hair had + been cropped a little more closely under his cap, but there was its color + and woolliness still intact; his plump figure was girt by belt and + buttons, but he only looked the more unreal, and more like a combination + of pen-wiper and pincushion, until his puffy breast and shoulders seemed + to offer a positive invitation to any one who had picked up a pin. But, + wonderful!—according to his brief story—he had been so + proficient in the goose step that he had been put in uniform already, and + allowed certain small privileges,—among them, evidently the present + one. The consul smiled and passed on. But it seemed strange to him that + Trudschen, who was a tall strapping girl, exceedingly popular with the + military, and who had never looked lower than a corporal at least, should + accept the attentions of an Einjahriger like that. Later he interrogated + her. + </p> + <p> + Ach! it was only Unser Karl! And the consul knew he was Amerikanisch! + </p> + <p> + “Indeed!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes! It was such a tearful story!” + </p> + <p> + “Tell me what it is,” said the consul, with a faint hope that Karl had + volunteered some communication of his past. + </p> + <p> + “Ach Gott! There in America he was a man, and could 'vote,' make laws, + and, God willing, become a town councilor,—or Ober Intendant,—and + here he was nothing but a soldier for years. And this America was a fine + country. Wunderschon? There were such big cities, and one 'Booflo'—could + hold all Schlachtstadt, and had of people five hundred thousand!” + </p> + <p> + The consul sighed. Karl had evidently not yet got off the line of the New + York Central and Erie roads. “But does he remember yet what he did with + his papers?” said the consul persuasively. + </p> + <p> + “Ach! What does he want with PAPERS when he could make the laws? They were + dumb, stupid things—these papers—to him.” + </p> + <p> + “But his appetite remains good, I hope?” suggested the consul. + </p> + <p> + This closed the conversation, although Karl came on many other nights, and + his toy figure quite supplanted the tall corporal of hussars in the remote + shadows of the hall. One night, however, the consul returned home from a + visit to a neighboring town a day earlier than he was expected. As he + neared his house he was a little surprised to find the windows of his + sitting-room lit up, and that there were no signs of Trudschen in the + lower hall or passages. He made his way upstairs in the dark and pushed + open the door of his apartment. To his astonishment, Karl was sitting + comfortably in his own chair, his cap off before a student-lamp on the + table, deeply engaged in apparent study. So profound was his abstraction + that it was a moment before he looked up, and the consul had a good look + at his usually beaming and responsive face, which, however, now struck him + as wearing a singular air of thought and concentration. When their eyes at + last met, he rose instantly and saluted, and his beaming smile returned. + But, either from his natural phlegm or extraordinary self-control he + betrayed neither embarrassment nor alarm. + </p> + <p> + The explanation he gave was direct and simple. Trudschen had gone out with + the Corporal Fritz for a short walk, and had asked him to “keep house” + during their absence. He had no books, no papers, nothing to read in the + barracks, and no chance to improve his mind. He thought the Herr Consul + would not object to his looking at his books. The consul was touched; it + was really a trivial indiscretion and as much Trudschen's fault as Karl's! + And if the poor fellow had any mind to improve,—his recent attitude + certainly suggested thought and reflection,—the consul were a brute + to reprove him. He smiled pleasantly as Karl returned a stubby bit of + pencil and some greasy memoranda to his breast pocket, and glanced at the + table. But to his surprise it was a large map that Karl had been studying, + and, to his still greater surprise, a map of the consul's own district. + </p> + <p> + “You seem to be fond of map-studying,” said the consul pleasantly. “You + are not thinking of emigrating again?” + </p> + <p> + “Ach, no!” said Karl simply; “it is my cousine vot haf lif near here. I + find her.” + </p> + <p> + But he left on Trudschen's return, and the consul was surprised to see + that, while Karl's attitude towards her had not changed, the girl + exhibited less effusiveness than before. Believing it to be partly the + effect of the return of the corporal, the consul taxed her with + faithlessness. But Trudschen looked grave. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! He has new friends, this Karl of ours. He cares no more for poor + girls like us. When fine ladies like the old Frau von Wimpfel make much of + him, what will you?” + </p> + <p> + It appeared, indeed, from Trudschen's account, that the widow of a wealthy + shopkeeper had made a kind of protege of the young soldier, and given him + presents. Furthermore, that the wife of his colonel had employed him to + act as page or attendant at an afternoon Gesellschaft, and that since then + the wives of other officers had sought him. Did not the Herr Consul think + it was dreadful that this American, who could vote and make laws, should + be subjected to such things? + </p> + <p> + The consul did not know what to think. It seemed to him, however, that + Karl was “getting on,” and that he was not in need of his assistance. It + was in the expectation of hearing more about him, however, that he + cheerfully accepted an invitation from Adlerkreutz to dine at the Caserne + one evening with the staff. Here he found, somewhat to his embarrassment, + that the dinner was partly in his own honor, and at the close of five + courses, and the emptying of many bottles, his health was proposed by the + gallant veteran Adlerkreutz in a neat address of many syllables containing + all the parts of speech and a single verb. It was to the effect that in + his soul-friend the Herr Consul and himself was the never-to-be-severed + union of Germania and Columbia, and in their perfect understanding was the + war-defying alliance of two great nations, and that in the consul's noble + restoration of Unser Karl to the German army there was the astute + diplomacy of a great mind. He was satisfied that himself and the Herr + Consul still united in the great future, looking down upon a common + brotherhood,—the great Germanic-American Confederation,—would + feel satisfied with themselves and each other and their + never-to-be-forgotten earth-labors. Cries of “Hoch! Hoch!” resounded + through the apartment with the grinding roll of heavy-bottomed + beer-glasses, and the consul, tremulous with emotion and a reserve verb in + his pocket, rose to reply. Fully embarked upon this perilous voyage, and + steering wide and clear of any treacherous shore of intelligence or + fancied harbor of understanding and rest, he kept boldly out at sea. He + said that, while his loving adversary in this battle of compliment had + disarmed him and left him no words to reply to his generous panegyric, he + could not but join with that gallant soldier in his heartfelt aspirations + for the peaceful alliance of both countries. But while he fully + reciprocated all his host's broader and higher sentiments, he must point + out to this gallant assembly, this glorious brotherhood, that even a + greater tie of sympathy knitted him to the general,—the tie of + kinship! For while it was well known to the present company that their + gallant commander had married an Englishwoman, he, the consul, although + always an American, would now for the first time confess to them that he + HIMSELF was of Dutch descent on his mother's side! He would say no more, + but confidently leave them in possession of the tremendous significance of + this until-then-unknown fact! He sat down, with the forgotten verb still + in his pocket, but the applause that followed this perfectly conclusive, + satisfying, and logical climax convinced him of his success. His hand was + grasped eagerly by successive warriors; the general turned and embraced + him before the breathless assembly; there were tears in the consul's eyes. + </p> + <p> + As the festivities progressed, however, he found to his surprise that Karl + had not only become the fashion as a military page, but that his naive + stupidity and sublime simplicity was the wondering theme and inexhaustible + delight of the whole barracks. Stories were told of his genius for + blundering which rivaled Handy Andy's; old stories of fatuous ignorance + were rearranged and fitted to “our Karl.” It was “our Karl” who, on + receiving a tip of two marks from the hands of a young lady to whom he had + brought the bouquet of a gallant lieutenant, exhibited some hesitation, + and finally said, “Yes, but, gnadiges Fraulein, that COST us nine marks!” + It was “our Karl” who, interrupting the regrets of another lady that she + was unable to accept his master's invitation, said politely, “Ah! what + matter, Gnadigste? I have still a letter for Fraulein Kopp [her rival], + and I was told that I must not invite you both.” It was “our Karl” who + astonished the hostess to whom he was sent at the last moment with + apologies from an officer, unexpectedly detained at barrack duty, by + suggesting that he should bring that unfortunate officer his dinner from + the just served table. Nor were these charming infelicities confined to + his social and domestic service. Although ready, mechanical, and + invariably docile in the manual and physical duties of a soldier,—which + endeared him to the German drill-master,—he was still invincibly + ignorant as to its purport, or even the meaning and structure of the + military instruments he handled or vacantly looked upon. It was “our Karl” + who suggested to his instructors that in field-firing it was quicker and + easier to load his musket to the muzzle at once, and get rid of its + death-dealing contents at a single discharge, than to load and fire + consecutively. It was “our Karl” who nearly killed the instructor at + sentry drill by adhering to the letter of his instructions when that + instructor had forgotten the password. It was the same Karl who, severely + admonished for his recklessness, the next time added to his challenge the + precaution, “Unless you instantly say 'Fatherland' I'll fire!” Yet his + perfect good humor and childlike curiosity were unmistakable throughout, + and incited his comrades and his superiors to show him everything in the + hope of getting some characteristic comment from him. Everything and + everybody were open to Karl and his good-humored simplicity. + </p> + <p> + That evening, as the general accompanied the consul down to the gateway + and the waiting carriage, a figure in uniform ran spontaneously before + them and shouted “Heraus!” to the sentries. But the general promptly + checked “the turning out” of the guard with a paternal shake of his finger + to the over-zealous soldier, in whom the consul recognized Karl. “He is my + Bursche now,” said the general explanatorily. “My wife has taken a fancy + to him. Ach! he is very popular with these women.” The consul was still + more surprised. The Frau Generalin Adlerkreutz he knew to be a pronounced + Englishwoman,—carrying out her English ways, proprieties, and + prejudices in the very heart of Schlachtstadt, uncompromisingly, without + fear and without reproach. That she should follow a merely foreign society + craze, or alter her English household so as to admit the impossible Karl, + struck him oddly. + </p> + <p> + A month or two elapsed without further news of Karl, when one afternoon he + suddenly turned up at the consulate. He had again sought the consular + quiet to write a few letters home; he had no chance in the confinement of + the barracks. + </p> + <p> + “But by this time you must be in the family of a field-marshal, at least,” + suggested the consul pleasantly. + </p> + <p> + “Not to-day, but next week,” said Karl, with sublime simplicity; “THEN I + am going to serve with the governor commandant of Rheinfestung.” + </p> + <p> + The consul smiled, motioned him to a seat at a table in the outer office, + and left him undisturbed to his correspondence. + </p> + <p> + Returning later, he found Karl, his letters finished, gazing with childish + curiosity and admiration at some thick official envelopes, bearing the + stamp of the consulate, which were lying on the table. He was evidently + struck with the contrast between them and the thin, flimsy affairs he was + holding in his hand. He appeared still more impressed when the consul told + him what they were. + </p> + <p> + “Are you writing to your friends?” continued the consul, touched by his + simplicity. + </p> + <p> + “Ach ja!” said Karl eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Would you like to put your letter in one of these envelopes?” continued + the official. + </p> + <p> + The beaming face and eyes of Karl were a sufficient answer. After all, it + was a small favor granted to this odd waif, who seemed to still cling to + the consular protection. He handed him the envelope and left him + addressing it in boyish pride. + </p> + <p> + It was Karl's last visit to the consulate. He appeared to have spoken + truly, and the consul presently learned that he had indeed been + transferred, through some high official manipulation, to the personal + service of the governor of Rheinfestung. There was weeping among the + Dienstmadchen of Schlachtstadt, and a distinct loss of originality and + lightness in the gatherings of the gentler Hausfrauen. His memory still + survived in the barracks through the later editions of his former + delightful stupidities,—many of them, it is to be feared, were + inventions,—and stories that were supposed to have come from + Rheinfestung were described in the slang of the Offiziere as being + “colossal.” But the consul remembered Rheinfestung, and could not imagine + it as a home for Karl, or in any way fostering his peculiar qualities. For + it was eminently a fortress of fortresses, a magazine of magazines, a + depot of depots. It was the key of the Rhine, the citadel of Westphalia, + the “Clapham Junction” of German railways, but defended, fortified, + encompassed, and controlled by the newest as well as the oldest devices of + military strategy and science. Even in the pipingest time of peace, whole + railway trains went into it like a rat in a trap, and might have never + come out of it; it stretched out an inviting hand and arm across the river + that might in the twinkling of an eye be changed into a closed fist of + menace. You “defiled” into it, commanded at every step by enfilading + walls; you “debouched” out of it, as you thought, and found yourself only + before the walls; you “reentered” it at every possible angle; you did + everything apparently but pass through it. You thought yourself well out + of it, and were stopped by a bastion. Its circumvallations haunted you + until you came to the next station. It had pressed even the current of the + river into its defensive service. There were secrets of its foundations + and mines that only the highest military despots knew and kept to + themselves. In a word—it was impregnable. + </p> + <p> + That such a place could not be trifled with or misunderstood in its + right-and-acute-angled severities seemed plain to every one. But set on by + his companions, who were showing him its defensive foundations, or in his + own idle curiosity, Karl managed to fall into the Rhine and was fished out + with difficulty. The immersion may have chilled his military ardor or + soured his good humor, for later the consul heard that he had visited the + American consular agent at an adjacent town with the old story of his + American citizenship. “He seemed,” said the consul's colleague, “to be + well posted about American railways and American towns, but he had no + papers. He lounged around the office for a while and”— + </p> + <p> + “Wrote letters home?” suggested the consul, with a flash of reminiscence. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, the poor chap had no privacy at the barracks, and I reckon was + overlooked or bedeviled.” + </p> + <p> + This was the last the consul heard of Karl Schwartz directly; for a week + or two later he again fell into the Rhine, this time so fatally and + effectually that in spite of the efforts of his companions he was swept + away by the rapid current, and thus ended his service to his country. His + body was never recovered. + </p> + <p> + A few months before the consul was transferred from Schlachtstadt to + another post his memory of the departed Karl was revived by a visit from + Adlerkreutz. The general looked grave. + </p> + <p> + “You remember Unser Karl?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think he was an impostor?” + </p> + <p> + “As regards his American citizenship, yes! But I could not say more.” + </p> + <p> + “So!” said the general. “A very singular thing has happened,” he added, + twirling his mustache. “The Inspector of police has notified us of the + arrival of a Karl Schwartz in this town. It appears he is the REAL Karl + Schwartz, identified by his sister as the only one. The other, who was + drowned, was an impostor. Hein?” + </p> + <p> + “Then you have secured another recruit?” said the consul smilingly. + </p> + <p> + “No. For this one has already served his time in Elsass, where he went + when he left here as a boy. But, Donnerwetter, why should that dumb fool + take his name?” + </p> + <p> + “By chance, I fancy. Then he stupidly stuck to it, and had to take the + responsibilities with it. Don't you see?” said the consul, pleased with + his own cleverness. + </p> + <p> + “Zo-o!” said the general slowly, in his deepest voice. But the German + exclamation has a variety of significance, according to the inflection, + and Adlerkreutz's ejaculation seemed to contain them all. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + It was in Paris, where the consul had lingered on his way to his new post. + He was sitting in a well-known cafe, among whose habitues were several + military officers of high rank. A group of them were gathered round a + table near him. He was idly watching them with an odd recollection of + Schlachtstadt in his mind, and as idly glancing from them to the more + attractive Boulevard without. The consul was getting a little tired of + soldiers. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly there was a slight stir in the gesticulating group and a cry of + greeting. The consul looked up mechanically, and then his eyes remained + fixed and staring at the newcomer. For it was the dead Karl; Karl, surely! + Karl!—his plump figure belted in a French officer's tunic; his + flaxen hair clipped a little closer, but still its fleece showing under + his kepi. Karl, his cheeks more cherubic than ever—unchanged but for + a tiny yellow toy mustache curling up over the corners of his full lips. + Karl, beaming at his companions in his old way, but rattling off French + vivacities without the faintest trace of accent. Could he be mistaken? Was + it some phenomenal resemblance, or had the soul of the German private been + transmigrated to the French officer. + </p> + <p> + The consul hurriedly called the garcon. “Who is that officer who has just + arrived?” + </p> + <p> + “It is the Captain Christian, of the Intelligence Bureau,” said the + waiter, with proud alacrity. “A famous officer, brave as a rabbit,—un + fier lapin,—and one of our best clients. So drole, too, such a + farceur and mimic. M'sieur would be ravished to hear his imitations.” + </p> + <p> + “But he looks like a German; and his name!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, he is from Alsace. But not a German!” said the waiter, absolutely + whitening with indignation. “He was at Belfort. So was I. Mon Dieu! No, a + thousand times no!” + </p> + <p> + “But has he been living here long?” said the consul. + </p> + <p> + “In Paris, a few months. But his Department, M'sieur understands, takes + him EVERYWHERE! Everywhere where he can gain information.” + </p> + <p> + The consul's eyes were still on the Captain Christian. Presently the + officer, perhaps instinctively conscious of the scrutiny, looked towards + him. Their eyes met. To the consul's surprise, the ci-devant Karl beamed + upon him, and advanced with outstretched hand. + </p> + <p> + But the consul stiffened slightly, and remained so with his glass in his + hand. At which Captain Christian brought his own easily to a military + salute, and said politely:— + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le Consul has been promoted from his post. Permit me to + congratulate him.” + </p> + <p> + “You have heard, then?” said the consul dryly. + </p> + <p> + “Otherwise I should not presume. For our Department makes it a business—in + Monsieur le Consul's case it becomes a pleasure—to know everything.” + </p> + <p> + “Did your Department know that the real Karl Schwartz has returned?” said + the consul dryly. + </p> + <p> + Captain Christian shrugged his shoulders. “Then it appears that the sham + Karl died none too soon,” he said lightly. “And yet”—he bent his + eyes with mischievous reproach upon the consul. + </p> + <p> + “Yet what?” demanded the consul sternly. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le Consul might have saved the unfortunate man by accepting him + as an American citizen and not helping to force him into the German + service.” + </p> + <p> + The consul saw in a flash the full military significance of this logic, + and could not repress a smile. At which Captain Christian dropped easily + into a chair beside him, and as easily into broken German English:— + </p> + <p> + “Und,” he went on, “dees town—dees Schlachtstadt is fine town, eh? + Fine womens? Goot men? Und peer and sausage? Blenty to eat and trink, eh? + Und you und te poys haf a gay times?” + </p> + <p> + The consul tried to recover his dignity. The waiter behind him, + recognizing only the delightful mimicry of this adorable officer, was in + fits of laughter. Nevertheless, the consul managed to say dryly:— + </p> + <p> + “And the barracks, the magazines, the commissariat, the details, the + reserves of Schlachtstadt were very interesting?” + </p> + <p> + “Assuredly.” + </p> + <p> + “And Rheinfestung—its plans—its details, even its dangerous + foundations by the river—they were to a soldier singularly + instructive?” + </p> + <p> + “You have reason to say so,” said Captain Christian, curling his little + mustache. + </p> + <p> + “And the fortress—you think?” + </p> + <p> + “Imprenable! Mais”— + </p> + <p> + The consul remembered General Adlerkreutz's “Zo-o,” and wondered. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + UNCLE JIM AND UNCLE BILLY + </h2> + <p> + They were partners. The avuncular title was bestowed on them by Cedar + Camp, possibly in recognition of a certain matured good humor, quite + distinct from the spasmodic exuberant spirits of its other members, and + possibly from what, to its youthful sense, seemed their advanced ages—which + must have been at least forty! They had also set habits even in their + improvidence, lost incalculable and unpayable sums to each other over + euchre regularly every evening, and inspected their sluice-boxes + punctually every Saturday for repairs—which they never made. They + even got to resemble each other, after the fashion of old married couples, + or, rather, as in matrimonial partnerships, were subject to the domination + of the stronger character; although in their case it is to be feared that + it was the feminine Uncle Billy—enthusiastic, imaginative, and + loquacious—who swayed the masculine, steady-going, and practical + Uncle Jim. They had lived in the camp since its foundation in 1849; there + seemed to be no reason why they should not remain there until its + inevitable evolution into a mining-town. The younger members might leave + through restless ambition or a desire for change or novelty; they were + subject to no such trifling mutation. Yet Cedar Camp was surprised one day + to hear that Uncle Billy was going away. + </p> + <p> + The rain was softly falling on the bark thatch of the cabin with a muffled + murmur, like a sound heard through sleep. The southwest trades were warm + even at that altitude, as the open door testified, although a fire of pine + bark was flickering on the adobe hearth and striking out answering fires + from the freshly scoured culinary utensils on the rude sideboard, which + Uncle Jim had cleaned that morning with his usual serious persistency. + Their best clothes, which were interchangeable and worn alternately by + each other on festal occasions, hung on the walls, which were covered with + a coarse sailcloth canvas instead of lath-and-plaster, and were + diversified by pictures from illustrated papers and stains from the + exterior weather. Two “bunks,” like ships' berths,—an upper and + lower one,—occupied the gable-end of this single apartment, and on + beds of coarse sacking, filled with dry moss, were carefully rolled their + respective blankets and pillows. They were the only articles not used in + common, and whose individuality was respected. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim, who had been sitting before the fire, rose as the square bulk + of his partner appeared at the doorway with an armful of wood for the + evening stove. By that sign he knew it was nine o'clock: for the last six + years Uncle Billy had regularly brought in the wood at that hour, and + Uncle Jim had as regularly closed the door after him, and set out their + single table, containing a greasy pack of cards taken from its drawer, a + bottle of whiskey, and two tin drinking-cups. To this was added a ragged + memorandum-book and a stick of pencil. The two men drew their stools to + the table. + </p> + <p> + “Hol' on a minit,” said Uncle Billy. + </p> + <p> + His partner laid down the cards as Uncle Billy extracted from his pocket a + pill-box, and, opening it, gravely took a pill. This was clearly an + innovation on their regular proceedings, for Uncle Billy was always in + perfect health. + </p> + <p> + “What's this for?” asked Uncle Jim half scornfully. + </p> + <p> + “Agin ager.” + </p> + <p> + “You ain't got no ager,” said Uncle Jim, with the assurance of intimate + cognizance of his partner's physical condition. + </p> + <p> + “But it's a pow'ful preventive! Quinine! Saw this box at Riley's store, + and laid out a quarter on it. We kin keep it here, comfortable, for + evenings. It's mighty soothin' arter a man's done a hard day's work on the + river-bar. Take one.” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim gravely took a pill and swallowed it, and handed the box back to + his partner. + </p> + <p> + “We'll leave it on the table, sociable like, in case any of the boys come + in,” said Uncle Billy, taking up the cards. “Well. How do we stand?” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim consulted the memorandum-book. “You were owin' me sixty-two + thousand dollars on the last game, and the limit's seventy-five thousand!” + </p> + <p> + “Je whillikins!” ejaculated Uncle Billy. “Let me see.” + </p> + <p> + He examined the book, feebly attempted to challenge the additions, but + with no effect on the total. “We oughter hev made the limit a hundred + thousand,” he said seriously; “seventy-five thousand is only triflin' in a + game like ours. And you've set down my claim at Angel's?” he continued. + </p> + <p> + “I allowed you ten thousand dollars for that,” said Uncle Jim, with equal + gravity, “and it's a fancy price too.” + </p> + <p> + The claim in question being an unprospected hillside ten miles distant, + which Uncle Jim had never seen, and Uncle Billy had not visited for years, + the statement was probably true; nevertheless, Uncle Billy retorted:— + </p> + <p> + “Ye kin never tell how these things will pan out. Why, only this mornin' I + was taking a turn round Shot Up Hill, that ye know is just rotten with + quartz and gold, and I couldn't help thinkin' how much it was like my ole + claim at Angel's. I must take a day off to go on there and strike a pick + in it, if only for luck.” + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he paused and said, “Strange, ain't it, you should speak of it + to-night? Now I call that queer!” + </p> + <p> + He laid down his cards and gazed mysteriously at his companion. Uncle Jim + knew perfectly that Uncle Billy had regularly once a week for many years + declared his final determination to go over to Angel's and prospect his + claim, yet nevertheless he half responded to his partner's suggestion of + mystery, and a look of fatuous wonder crept into his eyes. But he + contented himself by saying cautiously, “You spoke of it first.” + </p> + <p> + “That's the more sing'lar,” said Uncle Billy confidently. “And I've been + thinking about it, and kinder seeing myself thar all day. It's mighty + queer!” He got up and began to rummage among some torn and coverless books + in the corner. + </p> + <p> + “Where's that 'Dream Book' gone to?” + </p> + <p> + “The Carson boys borrowed it,” replied Uncle Jim. “Anyhow, yours wasn't no + dream—only a kind o' vision, and the book don't take no stock in + visions.” Nevertheless, he watched his partner with some sympathy, and + added, “That reminds me that I had a dream the other night of being in + 'Frisco at a small hotel, with heaps o' money, and all the time being sort + o' scared and bewildered over it.” + </p> + <p> + “No?” queried his partner eagerly yet reproachfully. “You never let on + anything about it to ME! It's mighty queer you havin' these strange + feelin's, for I've had 'em myself. And only to-night, comin' up from the + spring, I saw two crows hopping in the trail, and I says, 'If I see + another, it's luck, sure!' And you'll think I'm lyin', but when I went to + the wood-pile just now there was the THIRD one sittin' up on a log as + plain as I see you. Tell 'e what folks ken laugh—but that's just + what Jim Filgee saw the night before he made the big strike!” + </p> + <p> + They were both smiling, yet with an underlying credulity and seriousness + as singularly pathetic as it seemed incongruous to their years and + intelligence. Small wonder, however, that in their occupation and + environment—living daily in an atmosphere of hope, expectation, and + chance, looking forward each morning to the blind stroke of a pick that + might bring fortune—they should see signs in nature and hear mystic + voices in the trackless woods that surrounded them. Still less strange + that they were peculiarly susceptible to the more recognized diversions of + chance, and were gamblers on the turning of a card who trusted to the + revelation of a shovelful of upturned earth. + </p> + <p> + It was quite natural, therefore, that they should return from their + abstract form of divination to the table and their cards. But they were + scarcely seated before they heard a crackling step in the brush outside, + and the free latch of their door was lifted. A younger member of the camp + entered. He uttered a peevish “Halloo!” which might have passed for a + greeting, or might have been a slight protest at finding the door closed, + drew the stool from which Uncle Jim had just risen before the fire, shook + his wet clothes like a Newfoundland dog, and sat down. Yet he was by no + means churlish nor coarse-looking, and this act was rather one of + easy-going, selfish, youthful familiarity than of rudeness. The cabin of + Uncles Billy and Jim was considered a public right or “common” of the + camp. Conferences between individual miners were appointed there. “I'll + meet you at Uncle Billy's” was a common tryst. Added to this was a tacit + claim upon the partners' arbitrative powers, or the equal right to request + them to step outside if the interviews were of a private nature. Yet there + was never any objection on the part of the partners, and to-night there + was not a shadow of resentment of this intrusion in the patient, + good-humored, tolerant eyes of Uncles Jim and Billy as they gazed at their + guest. Perhaps there was a slight gleam of relief in Uncle Jim's when he + found that the guest was unaccompanied by any one, and that it was not a + tryst. It would have been unpleasant for the two partners to have stayed + out in the rain while their guests were exchanging private confidences in + their cabin. While there might have been no limit to their good will, + there might have been some to their capacity for exposure. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim drew a huge log from beside the hearth and sat on the driest end + of it, while their guest occupied the stool. The young man, without + turning away from his discontented, peevish brooding over the fire, + vaguely reached backward for the whiskey-bottle and Uncle Billy's tin cup, + to which he was assisted by the latter's hospitable hand. But on setting + down the cup his eye caught sight of the pill-box. + </p> + <p> + “Wot's that?” he said, with gloomy scorn. “Rat poison?” + </p> + <p> + “Quinine pills—agin ager,” said Uncle Jim. “The newest thing out. + Keeps out damp like Injin-rubber! Take one to follow yer whiskey. Me and + Uncle Billy wouldn't think o' settin' down, quiet like, in the evening + arter work, without 'em. Take one—ye 'r' welcome! We keep 'em out + here for the boys.” + </p> + <p> + Accustomed as the partners were to adopt and wear each other's opinions + before folks, as they did each other's clothing, Uncle Billy was, + nevertheless, astonished and delighted at Uncle Jim's enthusiasm over HIS + pills. The guest took one and swallowed it. + </p> + <p> + “Mighty bitter!” he said, glancing at his hosts with the quick Californian + suspicion of some practical joke. But the honest faces of the partners + reassured him. + </p> + <p> + “That bitterness ye taste,” said Uncle Jim quickly, “is whar the thing's + gittin' in its work. Sorter sickenin' the malaria—and kinder + water-proofin' the insides all to onct and at the same lick! Don't yer + see? Put another in yer vest pocket; you'll be cryin' for 'em like a child + afore ye get home. Thar! Well, how's things agoin' on your claim, Dick? + Boomin', eh?” + </p> + <p> + The guest raised his head and turned it sufficiently to fling his answer + back over his shoulder at his hosts. “I don't know what YOU'D call' + boomin','” he said gloomily; “I suppose you two men sitting here + comfortably by the fire, without caring whether school keeps or not, would + call two feet of backwater over one's claim 'boomin';' I reckon YOU'D + consider a hundred and fifty feet of sluicing carried away, and drifting + to thunder down the South Fork, something in the way of advertising to + your old camp! I suppose YOU'd think it was an inducement to investors! I + shouldn't wonder,” he added still more gloomily, as a sudden dash of rain + down the wide-throated chimney dropped in his tin cup—“and it would + be just like you two chaps, sittin' there gormandizing over your quinine—if + yer said this rain that's lasted three weeks was something to be proud + of!” + </p> + <p> + It was the cheerful and the satisfying custom of the rest of the camp, for + no reason whatever, to hold Uncle Jim and Uncle Billy responsible for its + present location, its vicissitudes, the weather, or any convulsion of + nature; and it was equally the partners' habit, for no reason whatever, to + accept these animadversions and apologize. + </p> + <p> + “It's a rain that's soft and mellowin',” said Uncle Billy gently, “and + supplin' to the sinews and muscles. Did ye ever notice, Jim”—ostentatiously + to his partner—“did ye ever notice that you get inter a kind o' + sweaty lather workin' in it? Sorter openin' to the pores!” + </p> + <p> + “Fetches 'em every time,” said Uncle Billy. “Better nor fancy soap.” + </p> + <p> + Their guest laughed bitterly. “Well, I'm going to leave it to you. I + reckon to cut the whole concern to-morrow, and 'lite' out for something + new. It can't be worse than this.” + </p> + <p> + The two partners looked grieved, albeit they were accustomed to these + outbursts. Everybody who thought of going away from Cedar Camp used it + first as a threat to these patient men, after the fashion of runaway + nephews, or made an exemplary scene of their going. + </p> + <p> + “Better think twice afore ye go,” said Uncle Billy. + </p> + <p> + “I've seen worse weather afore ye came,” said Uncle Jim slowly. “Water all + over the Bar; the mud so deep ye couldn't get to Angel's for a sack o' + flour, and we had to grub on pine nuts and jackass-rabbits. And yet—we + stuck by the camp, and here we are!” + </p> + <p> + The mild answer apparently goaded their guest to fury. He rose from his + seat, threw back his long dripping hair from his handsome but querulous + face, and scattered a few drops on the partners. “Yes, that's just it. + That's what gets me! Here you stick, and here you are! And here you'll + stick and rust until you starve or drown! Here you are,—two men who + ought to be out in the world, playing your part as grown men,—stuck + here like children 'playing house' in the woods; playing work in your + wretched mud-pie ditches, and content. Two men not so old that you + mightn't be taking your part in the fun of the world, going to balls or + theatres, or paying attention to girls, and yet old enough to have married + and have your families around you, content to stay in this God-forsaken + place; old bachelors, pigging together like poorhouse paupers. That's what + gets me! Say you LIKE it? Say you expect by hanging on to make a strike—and + what does that amount to? What are YOUR chances? How many of us have made, + or are making, more than grub wages? Say you're willing to share and share + alike as you do—have you got enough for two? Aren't you actually + living off each other? Aren't you grinding each other down, choking each + other's struggles, as you sink together deeper and deeper in the mud of + this cussed camp? And while you're doing this, aren't you, by your age and + position here, holding out hopes to others that you know cannot be + fulfilled?” + </p> + <p> + Accustomed as they were to the half-querulous, half-humorous, but always + extravagant, criticism of the others, there was something so new in this + arraignment of themselves that the partners for a moment sat silent. There + was a slight flush on Uncle Billy's cheek, there was a slight paleness on + Uncle Jim's. He was the first to reply. But he did so with a certain + dignity which neither his partner nor their guest had ever seen on his + face before. + </p> + <p> + “As it's OUR fire that's warmed ye up like this, Dick Bullen,” he said, + slowly rising, with his hand resting on Uncle Billy's shoulder, “and as + it's OUR whiskey that's loosened your tongue, I reckon we must put up with + what ye 'r' saying, just as we've managed to put up with our own way o' + living, and not quo'll with ye under our own roof.” + </p> + <p> + The young fellow saw the change in Uncle Jim's face and quickly extended + his hand, with an apologetic backward shake of his long hair. “Hang it + all, old man,” he said, with a laugh of mingled contrition and amusement, + “you mustn't mind what I said just now. I've been so worried thinking of + things about MYSELF, and, maybe, a little about you, that I quite forgot I + hadn't a call to preach to anybody—least of all to you. So we part + friends, Uncle Jim, and you too, Uncle Billy, and you'll forget what I + said. In fact, I don't know why I spoke at all—only I was passing + your claim just now, and wondering how much longer your old sluice-boxes + would hold out, and where in thunder you'd get others when they caved in! + I reckon that sent me off. That's all, old chap!” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy's face broke into a beaming smile of relief, and it was HIS + hand that first grasped his guest's; Uncle Jim quickly followed with as + honest a pressure, but with eyes that did not seem to be looking at + Bullen, though all trace of resentment had died out of them. He walked to + the door with him, again shook hands, but remained looking out in the + darkness some time after Dick Bullen's tangled hair and broad shoulders + had disappeared. + </p> + <p> + Meantime, Uncle Billy had resumed his seat and was chuckling and + reminiscent as he cleaned out his pipe. + </p> + <p> + “Kinder reminds me of Jo Sharp, when he was cleaned out at poker by his + own partners in his own cabin, comin' up here and bedevilin' US about it! + What was it you lint him?” + </p> + <p> + But Uncle Jim did not reply; and Uncle Billy, taking up the cards, began + to shuffle them, smiling vaguely, yet at the same time somewhat painfully. + “Arter all, Dick was mighty cut up about what he said, and I felt kinder + sorry for him. And, you know, I rather cotton to a man that speaks his + mind. Sorter clears him out, you know, of all the slumgullion that's in + him. It's just like washin' out a pan o' prospecting: you pour in the + water, and keep slushing it round and round, and out comes first the mud + and dirt, and then the gravel, and then the black sand, and then—it's + all out, and there's a speck o' gold glistenin' at the bottom!” + </p> + <p> + “Then you think there WAS suthin' in what he said?” said Uncle Jim, facing + about slowly. + </p> + <p> + An odd tone in his voice made Uncle Billy look up. “No,” he said quickly, + shying with the instinct of an easy pleasure-loving nature from a possible + grave situation. “No, I don't think he ever got the color! But wot are ye + moonin' about for? Ain't ye goin' to play? It's mor' 'n half past nine + now.” + </p> + <p> + Thus adjured, Uncle Jim moved up to the table and sat down, while Uncle + Billy dealt the cards, turning up the Jack or right bower—but + WITHOUT that exclamation of delight which always accompanied his good + fortune, nor did Uncle Jim respond with the usual corresponding simulation + of deep disgust. Such a circumstance had not occurred before in the + history of their partnership. They both played in silence—a silence + only interrupted by a larger splash of raindrops down the chimney. + </p> + <p> + “We orter put a couple of stones on the chimney-top, edgewise, like Jack + Curtis does. It keeps out the rain without interferin' with the draft,” + said Uncle Billy musingly. + </p> + <p> + “What's the use if”— + </p> + <p> + “If what?” said Uncle Billy quietly. + </p> + <p> + “If we don't make it broader,” said Uncle Jim half wearily. + </p> + <p> + They both stared at the chimney, but Uncle Jim's eye followed the wall + around to the bunks. There were many discolorations on the canvas, and a + picture of the Goddess of Liberty from an illustrated paper had broken out + in a kind of damp, measly eruption. “I'll stick that funny handbill of the + 'Washin' Soda' I got at the grocery store the other day right over the + Liberty gal. It's a mighty perty woman washin' with short sleeves,” said + Uncle Billy. “That's the comfort of them picters, you kin always get + somethin' new, and it adds thickness to the wall.” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim went back to the cards in silence. After a moment he rose again, + and hung his overcoat against the door. + </p> + <p> + “Wind's comin' in,” he said briefly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Uncle Billy cheerfully, “but it wouldn't seem nat'ral if there + wasn't that crack in the door to let the sunlight in o mornin's. Makes a + kind o' sundial, you know. When the streak o' light's in that corner, I + says 'six o'clock!' when it's across the chimney I say 'seven!' and so + 'tis!” + </p> + <p> + It certainly had grown chilly, and the wind was rising. The candle + guttered and flickered; the embers on the hearth brightened occasionally, + as if trying to dispel the gathering shadows, but always ineffectually. + The game was frequently interrupted by the necessity of stirring the fire. + After an interval of gloom, in which each partner successively drew the + candle to his side to examine his cards, Uncle Jim said:— + </p> + <p> + “Say?” + </p> + <p> + “Well!” responded Uncle Billy. + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure you saw that third crow on the wood-pile?” + </p> + <p> + “Sure as I see you now—and a darned sight plainer. Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothin', I was just thinkin'. Look here! How do we stand now?” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy was still losing. “Nevertheless,” he said cheerfully, “I'm + owin' you a matter of sixty thousand dollars.” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim examined the book abstractedly. “Suppose,” he said slowly, but + without looking at his partner, “suppose, as it's gettin' late now, we + play for my half share of the claim agin the limit—seventy thousand—to + square up.” + </p> + <p> + “Your half share!” repeated Uncle Billy, with amused incredulity. + </p> + <p> + “My half share of the claim,—of this yer house, you know,—one + half of all that Dick Bullen calls our rotten starvation property,” + reiterated Uncle Jim, with a half smile. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy laughed. It was a novel idea; it was, of course, “all in the + air,” like the rest of their game, yet even then he had an odd feeling + that he would have liked Dick Bullen to have known it. “Wade in, old + pard,” he said. “I'm on it.” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim lit another candle to reinforce the fading light, and the deal + fell to Uncle Billy. He turned up Jack of clubs. He also turned a little + redder as he took up his cards, looked at them, and glanced hastily at his + partner. “It's no use playing,” he said. “Look here!” He laid down his + cards on the table. They were the ace, king and queen of clubs, and Jack + of spades,—or left bower,—which, with the turned-up Jack of + clubs,—or right bower,—comprised ALL the winning cards! + </p> + <p> + “By jingo! If we'd been playin' four-handed, say you an' me agin some + other ducks, we'd have made 'four' in that deal, and h'isted some money—eh?” + and his eyes sparkled. Uncle Jim, also, had a slight tremulous light in + his own. + </p> + <p> + “Oh no! I didn't see no three crows this afternoon,” added Uncle Billy + gleefully, as his partner, in turn, began to shuffle the cards with + laborious and conscientious exactitude. Then dealing, he turned up a heart + for trumps. Uncle Billy took up his cards one by one, but when he had + finished his face had become as pale as it had been red before. “What's + the matter?” said Uncle Jim quickly, his own face growing white. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy slowly and with breathless awe laid down his cards, face up on + the table. It was exactly the same sequence IN HEARTS, with the knave of + diamonds added. He could again take every trick. + </p> + <p> + They stared at each other with vacant faces and a half-drawn smile of + fear. They could hear the wind moaning in the trees beyond; there was a + sudden rattling at the door. Uncle Billy started to his feet, but Uncle + Jim caught his arm. “DON'T LEAVE THE CARDS! It's only the wind; sit down,” + he said in a low awe-hushed voice, “it's your deal; you were two before, + and two now, that makes your four; you've only one point to make to win + the game. Go on.” + </p> + <p> + They both poured out a cup of whiskey, smiling vaguely, yet with a certain + terror in their eyes. Their hands were cold; the cards slipped from Uncle + Billy's benumbed fingers; when he had shuffled them he passed them to his + partner to shuffle them also, but did not speak. When Uncle Jim had + shuffled them methodically he handed them back fatefully to his partner. + Uncle Billy dealt them with a trembling hand. He turned up a club. “If you + are sure of these tricks you know you've won,” said Uncle Jim in a voice + that was scarcely audible. Uncle Billy did not reply, but tremulously laid + down the ace and right and left bowers. + </p> + <p> + He had won! + </p> + <p> + A feeling of relief came over each, and they laughed hysterically and + discordantly. Ridiculous and childish as their contest might have seemed + to a looker-on, to each the tension had been as great as that of the + greatest gambler, without the gambler's trained restraint, coolness, and + composure. Uncle Billy nervously took up the cards again. + </p> + <p> + “Don't,” said Uncle Jim gravely; “it's no use—the luck's gone now.” + </p> + <p> + “Just one more deal,” pleaded his partner. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim looked at the fire, Uncle Billy hastily dealt, and threw the two + hands face up on the table. They were the ordinary average cards. He dealt + again, with the same result. “I told you so,” said Uncle Jim, without + looking up. + </p> + <p> + It certainly seemed a tame performance after their wonderful hands, and + after another trial Uncle Billy threw the cards aside and drew his stool + before the fire. “Mighty queer, warn't it?” he said, with reminiscent awe. + “Three times running. Do you know, I felt a kind o' creepy feelin' down my + back all the time. Criky! what luck! None of the boys would believe it if + we told 'em—least of all that Dick Bullen, who don't believe in + luck, anyway. Wonder what he'd have said! and, Lord! how he'd have looked! + Wall! what are you starin' so for?” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim had faced around, and was gazing at Uncle Billy's good-humored, + simple face. “Nothin'!” he said briefly, and his eyes again sought the + fire. + </p> + <p> + “Then don't look as if you was seein' suthin'—you give me the + creeps,” returned Uncle Billy a little petulantly. “Let's turn in, afore + the fire goes out!” + </p> + <p> + The fateful cards were put back into the drawer, the table shoved against + the wall. The operation of undressing was quickly got over, the clothes + they wore being put on top of their blankets. Uncle Billy yawned, “I + wonder what kind of a dream I'll have tonight—it oughter be suthin' + to explain that luck.” This was his “good-night” to his partner. In a few + moments he was sound asleep. + </p> + <p> + Not so Uncle Jim. He heard the wind gradually go down, and in the + oppressive silence that followed could detect the deep breathing of his + companion and the far-off yelp of a coyote. His eyesight becoming + accustomed to the semi-darkness, broken only by the scintillation of the + dying embers of their fire, he could take in every detail of their sordid + cabin and the rude environment in which they had lived so long. The dismal + patches on the bark roof, the wretched makeshifts of each day, the dreary + prolongation of discomfort, were all plain to him now, without the + sanguine hope that had made them bearable. And when he shut his eyes upon + them, it was only to travel in fancy down the steep mountain side that he + had trodden so often to the dreary claim on the overflowed river, to the + heaps of “tailings” that encumbered it, like empty shells of the hollow, + profitless days spent there, which they were always waiting for the stroke + of good fortune to clear away. He saw again the rotten “sluicing,” through + whose hopeless rifts and holes even their scant daily earnings had become + scantier. At last he arose, and with infinite gentleness let himself down + from his berth without disturbing his sleeping partner, and wrapping + himself in his blanket, went to the door, which he noiselessly opened. + From the position of a few stars that were glittering in the northern sky + he knew that it was yet scarcely midnight; there were still long, restless + hours before the day! In the feverish state into which he had gradually + worked himself it seemed to him impossible to wait the coming of the dawn. + </p> + <p> + But he was mistaken. For even as he stood there all nature seemed to + invade his humble cabin with its free and fragrant breath, and invest him + with its great companionship. He felt again, in that breath, that strange + sense of freedom, that mystic touch of partnership with the birds and + beasts, the shrubs and trees, in this greater home before him. It was this + vague communion that had kept him there, that still held these world-sick, + weary workers in their rude cabins on the slopes around him; and he felt + upon his brow that balm that had nightly lulled him and them to sleep and + forgetfulness. He closed the door, turned away, crept as noiselessly as + before into his bunk again, and presently fell into a profound slumber. + </p> + <p> + But when Uncle Billy awoke the next morning he saw it was late; for the + sun, piercing the crack of the closed door, was sending a pencil of light + across the cold hearth, like a match to rekindle its dead embers. His + first thought was of his strange luck the night before, and of + disappointment that he had not had the dream of divination that he had + looked for. He sprang to the floor, but as he stood upright his glance + fell on Uncle Jim's bunk. It was empty. Not only that, but his BLANKETS—Uncle + Jim's own particular blankets—WERE GONE! + </p> + <p> + A sudden revelation of his partner's manner the night before struck him + now with the cruelty of a blow; a sudden intelligence, perhaps the very + divination he had sought, flashed upon him like lightning! He glanced + wildly around the cabin. The table was drawn out from the wall a little + ostentatiously, as if to catch his eye. On it was lying the stained + chamois-skin purse in which they had kept the few grains of gold remaining + from their last week's “clean up.” The grains had been carefully divided, + and half had been taken! But near it lay the little memorandum-book, open, + with the stick of pencil lying across it. A deep line was drawn across the + page on which was recorded their imaginary extravagant gains and losses, + even to the entry of Uncle Jim's half share of the claim which he had + risked and lost! Underneath were hurriedly scrawled the words:— + </p> + <p> + “Settled by YOUR luck, last night, old pard.—JAMES FOSTER.” + </p> + <p> + It was nearly a month before Cedar Camp was convinced that Uncle Billy and + Uncle Jim had dissolved partnership. Pride had prevented Uncle Billy from + revealing his suspicions of the truth, or of relating the events that + preceded Uncle Jim's clandestine flight, and Dick Bullen had gone to + Sacramento by stage-coach the same morning. He briefly gave out that his + partner had been called to San Francisco on important business of their + own, that indeed might necessitate his own removal there later. In this he + was singularly assisted by a letter from the absent Jim, dated at San + Francisco, begging him not to be anxious about his success, as he had + hopes of presently entering into a profitable business, but with no + further allusions to his precipitate departure, nor any suggestion of a + reason for it. For two or three days Uncle Billy was staggered and + bewildered; in his profound simplicity he wondered if his extraordinary + good fortune that night had made him deaf to some explanation of his + partner's, or, more terrible, if he had shown some “low” and incredible + intimation of taking his partner's extravagant bet as REAL and binding. In + this distress he wrote to Uncle Jim an appealing and apologetic letter, + albeit somewhat incoherent and inaccurate, and bristling with misspelling, + camp slang, and old partnership jibes. But to this elaborate epistle he + received only Uncle Jim's repeated assurances of his own bright prospects, + and his hopes that his old partner would be more fortunate, single-handed, + on the old claim. For a whole week or two Uncle Billy sulked, but his + invincible optimism and good humor got the better of him, and he thought + only of his old partner's good fortune. He wrote him regularly, but always + to one address—a box at the San Francisco post-office, which to the + simple-minded Uncle Billy suggested a certain official importance. To + these letters Uncle Jim responded regularly but briefly. + </p> + <p> + From a certain intuitive pride in his partner and his affection, Uncle + Billy did not show these letters openly to the camp, although he spoke + freely of his former partner's promising future, and even read them short + extracts. It is needless to say that the camp did not accept Uncle Billy's + story with unsuspecting confidence. On the contrary, a hundred surmises, + humorous or serious, but always extravagant, were afloat in Cedar Camp. + The partners had quarreled over their clothes—Uncle Jim, who was + taller than Uncle Billy, had refused to wear his partner's trousers. They + had quarreled over cards—Uncle Jim had discovered that Uncle Billy + was in possession of a “cold deck,” or marked pack. They had quarreled + over Uncle Billy's carelessness in grinding up half a box of “bilious + pills” in the morning's coffee. A gloomily imaginative mule-driver had + darkly suggested that, as no one had really seen Uncle Jim leave the camp, + he was still there, and his bones would yet be found in one of the + ditches; while a still more credulous miner averred that what he had + thought was the cry of a screech-owl the night previous to Uncle Jim's + disappearance, might have been the agonized utterance of that murdered + man. It was highly characteristic of that camp—and, indeed, of + others in California—that nobody, not even the ingenious theorists + themselves, believed their story, and that no one took the slightest pains + to verify or disprove it. Happily, Uncle Billy never knew it, and moved + all unconsciously in this atmosphere of burlesque suspicion. And then a + singular change took place in the attitude of the camp towards him and the + disrupted partnership. Hitherto, for no reason whatever, all had agreed to + put the blame upon Billy—possibly because he was present to receive + it. As days passed that slight reticence and dejection in his manner, + which they had at first attributed to remorse and a guilty conscience, now + began to tell as absurdly in his favor. Here was poor Uncle Billy toiling + though the ditches, while his selfish partner was lolling in the lap of + luxury in San Francisco! Uncle Billy's glowing accounts of Uncle Jim's + success only contributed to the sympathy now fully given in his behalf and + their execration of the absconding partner. It was proposed at Biggs's + store that a letter expressing the indignation of the camp over his + heartless conduct to his late partner, William Fall, should be forwarded + to him. Condolences were offered to Uncle Billy, and uncouth attempts were + made to cheer his loneliness. A procession of half a dozen men twice a + week to his cabin, carrying their own whiskey and winding up with a “stag + dance” before the premises, was sufficient to lighten his eclipsed gayety + and remind him of a happier past. “Surprise” working parties visited his + claim with spasmodic essays towards helping him, and great good humor and + hilarity prevailed. It was not an unusual thing for an honest miner to + arise from an idle gathering in some cabin and excuse himself with the + remark that he “reckoned he'd put in an hour's work in Uncle Billy's + tailings!” And yet, as before, it was very improbable if any of these + reckless benefactors REALLY believed in their own earnestness or in the + gravity of the situation. Indeed, a kind of hopeful cynicism ran through + their performances. “Like as not, Uncle Billy is still in 'cahoots' [i. + e., shares] with his old pard, and is just laughin' at us as he's sendin' + him accounts of our tomfoolin'.” + </p> + <p> + And so the winter passed and the rains, and the days of cloudless skies + and chill starlit nights began. There were still freshets from the snow + reservoirs piled high in the Sierran passes, and the Bar was flooded, but + that passed too, and only the sunshine remained. Monotonous as the seasons + were, there was a faint movement in the camp with the stirring of the sap + in the pines and cedars. And then, one day, there was a strange excitement + on the Bar. Men were seen running hither and thither, but mainly gathering + in a crowd on Uncle Billy's claim, that still retained the old partners' + names in “The Fall and Foster.” To add to the excitement, there was the + quickly repeated report of a revolver, to all appearance aimlessly + exploded in the air by some one on the outskirts of the assemblage. As the + crowd opened, Uncle Billy appeared, pale, hysterical, breathless, and + staggering a little under the back-slapping and hand-shaking of the whole + camp. For Uncle Billy had “struck it rich”—had just discovered a + “pocket,” roughly estimated to be worth fifteen thousand dollars! + </p> + <p> + Although in that supreme moment he missed the face of his old partner, he + could not help seeing the unaffected delight and happiness shining in the + eyes of all who surrounded him. It was characteristic of that sanguine but + uncertain life that success and good fortune brought no jealousy nor envy + to the unfortunate, but was rather a promise and prophecy of the + fulfillment of their own hopes. The gold was there—Nature but + yielded up her secret. There was no prescribed limit to her bounty. So + strong was this conviction that a long-suffering but still hopeful miner, + in the enthusiasm of the moment, stooped down and patted a large boulder + with the apostrophic “Good old gal!” + </p> + <p> + Then followed a night of jubilee, a next morning of hurried consultation + with a mining expert and speculator lured to the camp by the good tidings; + and then the very next night—to the utter astonishment of Cedar Camp—Uncle + Billy, with a draft for twenty thousand dollars in his pocket, started for + San Francisco, and took leave of his claim and the camp forever! + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + When Uncle Billy landed at the wharves of San Francisco he was a little + bewildered. The Golden Gate beyond was obliterated by the incoming + sea-fog, which had also roofed in the whole city, and lights already + glittered along the gray streets that climbed the grayer sand-hills. As a + Western man, brought up by inland rivers, he was fascinated and thrilled + by the tall-masted seagoing ships, and he felt a strange sense of the + remoter mysterious ocean, which he had never seen. But he was impressed + and startled by smartly dressed men and women, the passing of carriages, + and a sudden conviction that he was strange and foreign to what he saw. It + had been his cherished intention to call upon his old partner in his + working clothes, and then clap down on the table before him a draft for + ten thousand dollars as HIS share of their old claim. But in the face of + these brilliant strangers a sudden and unexpected timidity came upon him. + He had heard of a cheap popular hotel, much frequented by the returning + gold-miner, who entered its hospitable doors—which held an easy + access to shops—and emerged in a few hours a gorgeous butterfly of + fashion, leaving his old chrysalis behind him. Thence he inquired his way; + hence he afterwards issued in garments glaringly new and ill fitting. But + he had not sacrificed his beard, and there was still something fine and + original in his handsome weak face that overcame the cheap convention of + his clothes. Making his way to the post-office, he was again discomfited + by the great size of the building, and bewildered by the array of little + square letter-boxes behind glass which occupied one whole wall, and an + equal number of opaque and locked wooden ones legibly numbered. His heart + leaped; he remembered the number, and before him was a window with a clerk + behind it. Uncle Billy leaned forward. + </p> + <p> + “Kin you tell me if the man that box 690 b'longs to is in?” + </p> + <p> + The clerk stared, made him repeat the question, and then turned away. But + he returned almost instantly, with two or three grinning heads besides his + own, apparently set behind his shoulders. Uncle Billy was again asked to + repeat his question. He did so. + </p> + <p> + “Why don't you go and see if 690 is in his box?” said the first clerk, + turning with affected asperity to one of the others. + </p> + <p> + The clerk went away, returned, and said with singular gravity, “He was + there a moment ago, but he's gone out to stretch his legs. It's rather + crampin' at first; and he can't stand it more than ten hours at a time, + you know.” + </p> + <p> + But simplicity has its limits. Uncle Billy had already guessed his real + error in believing his partner was officially connected with the building; + his cheek had flushed and then paled again. The pupils of his blue eyes + had contracted into suggestive black points. “Ef you'll let me in at that + winder, young fellers,” he said, with equal gravity, “I'll show yer how I + kin make YOU small enough to go in a box without crampin'! But I only + wanted to know where Jim Foster LIVED.” + </p> + <p> + At which the first clerk became perfunctory again, but civil. “A letter + left in his box would get you that information,” he said, “and here's + paper and pencil to write it now.” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy took the paper and began to write, “Just got here. Come and + see me at”—He paused. A brilliant idea had struck him; He could + impress both his old partner and the upstarts at the window; he would put + in the name of the latest “swell” hotel in San Francisco, said to be a + fairy dream of opulence. He added “The Oriental,” and without folding the + paper shoved it in the window. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you want an envelope?” asked the clerk. + </p> + <p> + “Put a stamp on the corner of it,” responded Uncle Billy, laying down a + coin, “and she'll go through.” The clerk smiled, but affixed the stamp, + and Uncle Billy turned away. + </p> + <p> + But it was a short-lived triumph. The disappointment at finding Uncle + Jim's address conveyed no idea of his habitation seemed to remove him + farther away, and lose his identity in the great city. Besides, he must + now make good his own address, and seek rooms at the Oriental. He went + thither. The furniture and decorations, even in these early days of + hotel-building in San Francisco, were extravagant and over-strained, and + Uncle Billy felt lost and lonely in his strange surroundings. But he took + a handsome suite of rooms, paid for them in advance on the spot, and then, + half frightened, walked out of them to ramble vaguely through the city in + the feverish hope of meeting his old partner. At night his inquietude + increased; he could not face the long row of tables in the pillared + dining-room, filled with smartly dressed men and women; he evaded his + bedroom, with its brocaded satin chairs and its gilt bedstead, and fled to + his modest lodgings at the Good Cheer House, and appeased his hunger at + its cheap restaurant, in the company of retired miners and freshly arrived + Eastern emigrants. Two or three days passed thus in this quaint double + existence. Three or four times a day he would enter the gorgeous Oriental + with affected ease and carelessness, demand his key from the hotel-clerk, + ask for the letter that did not come, go to his room, gaze vaguely from + his window on the passing crowd below for the partner he could not find, + and then return to the Good Cheer House for rest and sustenance. On the + fourth day he received a short note from Uncle Jim; it was couched in his + usual sanguine but brief and businesslike style. He was very sorry, but + important and profitable business took him out of town, but he trusted to + return soon and welcome his old partner. He was also, for the first time, + jocose, and hoped that Uncle Billy would not “see all the sights” before + he, Uncle Jim, returned. Disappointing as this procrastination was to + Uncle Billy, a gleam of hope irradiated it: the letter had bridged over + that gulf which seemed to yawn between them at the post-office. His old + partner had accepted his visit to San Francisco without question, and had + alluded to a renewal of their old intimacy. For Uncle Billy, with all his + trustful simplicity, had been tortured by two harrowing doubts: one, + whether Uncle Jim in his new-fledged smartness as a “city” man—such + as he saw in the streets—would care for his rough companionship; the + other, whether he, Uncle Billy, ought not to tell him at once of his + changed fortune. But, like all weak, unreasoning men, he clung desperately + to a detail—he could not forego his old idea of astounding Uncle Jim + by giving him his share of the “strike” as his first intimation of it, and + he doubted, with more reason perhaps, if Jim would see him after he had + heard of his good fortune. For Uncle Billy had still a frightened + recollection of Uncle Jim's sudden stroke for independence, and that rigid + punctiliousness which had made him doggedly accept the responsibility of + his extravagant stake at euchre. + </p> + <p> + With a view of educating himself for Uncle Jim's company, he “saw the + sights” of San Francisco—as an overgrown and somewhat stupid child + might have seen them—with great curiosity, but little contamination + or corruption. But I think he was chiefly pleased with watching the + arrival of the Sacramento and Stockton steamers at the wharves, in the + hope of discovering his old partner among the passengers on the + gang-plank. Here, with his old superstitious tendency and gambler's + instinct, he would augur great success in his search that day if any one + of the passengers bore the least resemblance to Uncle Jim, if a man or + woman stepped off first, or if he met a single person's questioning eye. + Indeed, this got to be the real occupation of the day, which he would on + no account have omitted, and to a certain extent revived each day in his + mind the morning's work of their old partnership. He would say to himself, + “It's time to go and look up Jim,” and put off what he was pleased to + think were his pleasures until this act of duty was accomplished. + </p> + <p> + In this singleness of purpose he made very few and no entangling + acquaintances, nor did he impart to any one the secret of his fortune, + loyally reserving it for his partner's first knowledge. To a man of his + natural frankness and simplicity this was a great trial, and was, perhaps, + a crucial test of his devotion. When he gave up his rooms at the Oriental—as + not necessary after his partner's absence—he sent a letter, with his + humble address, to the mysterious lock-box of his partner without fear or + false shame. He would explain it all when they met. But he sometimes + treated unlucky and returning miners to a dinner and a visit to the + gallery of some theatre. Yet while he had an active sympathy with and + understanding of the humblest, Uncle Billy, who for many years had done + his own and his partner's washing, scrubbing, mending, and cooking, and + saw no degradation in it, was somewhat inconsistently irritated by menial + functions in men, and although he gave extravagantly to waiters, and threw + a dollar to the crossing-sweeper, there was always a certain shy avoidance + of them in his manner. Coming from the theatre one night Uncle Billy was, + however, seriously concerned by one of these crossing-sweepers turning + hastily before them and being knocked down by a passing carriage. The man + rose and limped hurriedly away; but Uncle Billy was amazed and still more + irritated to hear from his companion that this kind of menial occupation + was often profitable, and that at some of the principal crossings the + sweepers were already rich men. + </p> + <p> + But a few days later brought a more notable event to Uncle Billy. One + afternoon in Montgomery Street he recognized in one of its smartly dressed + frequenters a man who had a few years before been a member of Cedar Camp. + Uncle Billy's childish delight at this meeting, which seemed to bridge + over his old partner's absence, was, however, only half responded to by + the ex-miner, and then somewhat satirically. In the fullness of his + emotion, Uncle Billy confided to him that he was seeking his old partner, + Jim Foster, and, reticent of his own good fortune, spoke glowingly of his + partner's brilliant expectations, but deplored his inability to find him. + And just now he was away on important business. “I reckon he's got back,” + said the man dryly. “I didn't know he had a lock-box at the post-office, + but I can give you his other address. He lives at the Presidio, at + Washerwoman's Bay.” He stopped and looked with a satirical smile at Uncle + Billy. But the latter, familiar with Californian mining-camp nomenclature, + saw nothing strange in it, and merely repeated his companion's words. + </p> + <p> + “You'll find him there! Good-by! So long! Sorry I'm in a hurry,” said the + ex-miner, and hurried away. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy was too delighted with the prospect of a speedy meeting with + Uncle Jim to resent his former associate's supercilious haste, or even to + wonder why Uncle Jim had not informed him that he had returned. It was not + the first time that he had felt how wide was the gulf between himself and + these others, and the thought drew him closer to his old partner, as well + as his old idea, as it was now possible to surprise him with the draft. + But as he was going to surprise him in his own boarding-house—probably + a handsome one—Uncle Billy reflected that he would do so in a + certain style. + </p> + <p> + He accordingly went to a livery stable and ordered a landau and pair, with + a negro coachman. Seated in it, in his best and most ill-fitting clothes, + he asked the coachman to take him to the Presidio, and leaned back in the + cushions as they drove through the streets with such an expression of + beaming gratification on his good-humored face that the passers-by smiled + at the equipage and its extravagant occupant. To them it seemed the not + unusual sight of the successful miner “on a spree.” To the unsophisticated + Uncle Billy their smiling seemed only a natural and kindly recognition of + his happiness, and he nodded and smiled back to them with unsuspecting + candor and innocent playfulness. “These yer 'Frisco fellers ain't ALL + slouches, you bet,” he added to himself half aloud, at the back of the + grinning coachman. + </p> + <p> + Their way led through well-built streets to the outskirts, or rather to + that portion of the city which seemed to have been overwhelmed by shifting + sand-dunes, from which half-submerged fences and even low houses barely + marked the line of highway. The resistless trade-winds which had marked + this change blew keenly in his face and slightly chilled his ardor. At a + turn in the road the sea came in sight, and sloping towards it the great + Cemetery of Lone Mountain, with white shafts and marbles that glittered in + the sunlight like the sails of ships waiting to be launched down that + slope into the Eternal Ocean. Uncle Billy shuddered. What if it had been + his fate to seek Uncle Jim there! + </p> + <p> + “Dar's yar Presidio!” said the negro coachman a few moments later, + pointing with his whip, “and dar's yar Wash'woman's Bay!” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy stared. A huge quadrangular fort of stone with a flag flying + above its battlements stood at a little distance, pressed against the + rocks, as if beating back the encroaching surges; between him and the fort + but farther inland was a lagoon with a number of dilapidated, rudely + patched cabins or cottages, like stranded driftwood around its shore. But + there was no mansion, no block of houses, no street, not another + habitation or dwelling to be seen! + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy's first shock of astonishment was succeeded by a feeling of + relief. He had secretly dreaded a meeting with his old partner in the + “haunts of fashion;” whatever was the cause that made Uncle Jim seek this + obscure retirement affected him but slightly; he even was thrilled with a + vague memory of the old shiftless camp they had both abandoned. A certain + instinct—he knew not why, or less still that it might be one of + delicacy—made him alight before they reached the first house. + Bidding the carriage wait, Uncle Billy entered, and was informed by a + blowzy Irish laundress at a tub that Jim Foster, or “Arkansaw Jim,” lived + at the fourth shanty “beyant.” He was at home, for “he'd shprained his + fut.” Uncle Billy hurried on, stopped before the door of a shanty scarcely + less rude than their old cabin, and half timidly pushed it open. A + growling voice from within, a figure that rose hurriedly, leaning on a + stick, with an attempt to fly, but in the same moment sank back in a chair + with an hysterical laugh—and Uncle Billy stood in the presence of + his old partner! But as Uncle Billy darted forward, Uncle Jim rose again, + and this time with outstretched hands. Uncle Billy caught them, and in one + supreme pressure seemed to pour out and transfuse his whole simple soul + into his partner's. There they swayed each other backwards and forwards + and sideways by their still clasped hands, until Uncle Billy, with a + glance at Uncle Jim's bandaged ankle, shoved him by sheer force down into + his chair. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim was first to speak. “Caught, b' gosh! I mighter known you'd be + as big a fool as me! Look you, Billy Fall, do you know what you've done? + You've druv me out er the streets whar I was makin' an honest livin', by + day, on three crossin's! Yes,” he laughed forgivingly, “you druv me out er + it, by day, jest because I reckoned that some time I might run into your + darned fool face,”—another laugh and a grasp of the hand,—“and + then, b'gosh! not content with ruinin' my business BY DAY, when I took to + it at night, YOU took to goin' out at nights too, and so put a stopper on + me there! Shall I tell you what else you did? Well, by the holy poker! I + owe this sprained foot to your darned foolishness and my own, for it was + getting away from YOU one night after the theatre that I got run into and + run over! + </p> + <p> + “Ye see,” he went on, unconscious of Uncle Billy's paling face, and with a + naivete, though perhaps not a delicacy, equal to Uncle Billy's own, “I had + to play roots on you with that lock-box business and these letters, + because I did not want you to know what I was up to, for you mightn't like + it, and might think it was lowerin' to the old firm, don't yer see? I + wouldn't hev gone into it, but I was played out, and I don't mind tellin' + you NOW, old man, that when I wrote you that first chipper letter from the + lock-box I hedn't eat anythin' for two days. But it's all right NOW,” with + a laugh. “Then I got into this business—thinkin' it nothin'—jest + the very last thing—and do you know, old pard, I couldn't tell + anybody but YOU—and, in fact, I kept it jest to tell you—I've + made nine hundred and fifty-six dollars! Yes, sir, NINE HUNDRED AND + FIFTY-SIX DOLLARS! solid money, in Adams and Co.'s Bank, just out er my + trade.” + </p> + <p> + “Wot trade?” asked Uncle Billy. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim pointed to the corner, where stood a large, heavy + crossing-sweeper's broom. “That trade.” + </p> + <p> + “Certingly,” said Uncle Billy, with a quick laugh. + </p> + <p> + “It's an outdoor trade,” said Uncle Jim gravely, but with no suggestion of + awkwardness or apology in his manner; “and thar ain't much difference + between sweepin' a crossin' with a broom and raking over tailing with a + rake, ONLY—WOT YE GET with a broom YOU HAVE HANDED TO YE, and ye + don't have to PICK IT UP AND FISH IT OUT ER the wet rocks and + sluice-gushin'; and it's a heap less tiring to the back.” + </p> + <p> + “Certingly, you bet!” said Uncle Billy enthusiastically, yet with a + certain nervous abstraction. + </p> + <p> + “I'm glad ye say so; for yer see I didn't know at first how you'd tumble + to my doing it, until I'd made my pile. And ef I hadn't made it, I + wouldn't hev set eyes on ye agin, old pard—never!” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mind my runnin' out a minit,” said Uncle Billy, rising. “You see, + I've got a friend waitin' for me outside—and I reckon”—he + stammered—“I'll jest run out and send him off, so I kin talk + comf'ble to ye.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye ain't got anybody you're owin' money to,” said Uncle Jim earnestly, + “anybody follerin' you to get paid, eh? For I kin jest set down right here + and write ye off a check on the bank!” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Uncle Billy. He slipped out of the door, and ran like a deer to + the waiting carriage. Thrusting a twenty-dollar gold-piece into the + coachman's hand, he said hoarsely, “I ain't wantin' that kerridge just + now; ye ken drive around and hev a private jamboree all by yourself the + rest of the afternoon, and then come and wait for me at the top o' the + hill yonder.” + </p> + <p> + Thus quit of his gorgeous equipage, he hurried back to Uncle Jim, grasping + his ten-thousand dollar draft in his pocket. He was nervous, he was + frightened, but he must get rid of the draft and his story, and have it + over. But before he could speak he was unexpectedly stopped by Uncle Jim. + </p> + <p> + “Now, look yer, Billy boy!” said Uncle Jim; “I got suthin' to say to ye—and + I might as well clear it off my mind at once, and then we can start fair + agin. Now,” he went on, with a half laugh, “wasn't it enough for ME to go + on pretendin' I was rich and doing a big business, and gettin' up that + lock-box dodge so as ye couldn't find out whar I hung out and what I was + doin'—wasn't it enough for ME to go on with all this play-actin', + but YOU, you long-legged or nary cuss! must get up and go to lyin' and + play-actin', too!” + </p> + <p> + “ME play-actin'? ME lyin'?” gasped Uncle Billy. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim leaned back in his chair and laughed. “Do you think you could + fool ME? Do you think I didn't see through your little game o' going to + that swell Oriental, jest as if ye'd made a big strike—and all the + while ye wasn't sleepin' or eatin' there, but jest wrastlin' yer hash and + having a roll down at the Good Cheer! Do you think I didn't spy on ye and + find that out? Oh, you long-eared jackass-rabbit!” + </p> + <p> + He laughed until the tears came into his eyes, and Uncle Billy laughed + too, albeit until the laugh on his face became quite fixed, and he was + fain to bury his head in his handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + “And yet,” said Uncle Jim, with a deep breath, “gosh! I was frighted—jest + for a minit! I thought, mebbe, you HAD made a big strike—when I got + your first letter—and I made up my mind what I'd do! And then I + remembered you was jest that kind of an open sluice that couldn't keep + anythin' to yourself, and you'd have been sure to have yelled it out to ME + the first thing. So I waited. And I found you out, you old sinner!” He + reached forward and dug Uncle Billy in the ribs. + </p> + <p> + “What WOULD you hev done?” said Uncle Billy, after an hysterical collapse. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim's face grew grave again. “I'd hev—I'd—hev cl'ared + out! Out er 'Frisco! out er Californy! out er Ameriky! I couldn't have + stud it! Don't think I would hev begrudged ye yer luck! No man would have + been gladder than me.” He leaned forward again, and laid his hand + caressingly upon his partner's arm—“Don't think I'd hev wanted to + take a penny of it—but I—thar! I COULDN'T hev stood up under + it! To hev had YOU, you that I left behind, comin' down here rollin' in + wealth and new partners and friends, and arrive upon me—and this + shanty—and”—he threw towards the corner of the room a terrible + gesture, none the less terrible that it was illogical and inconsequent to + all that had gone before—“and—and—THAT BROOM!” + </p> + <p> + There was a dead silence in the room. With it Uncle Billy seemed to feel + himself again transported to the homely cabin at Cedar Camp and that + fateful night, with his partner's strange, determined face before him as + then. He even fancied that he heard the roaring of the pines without, and + did not know that it was the distant sea. + </p> + <p> + But after a minute Uncle Jim resumed:— + </p> + <p> + “Of course you've made a little raise somehow, or you wouldn't be here?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Uncle Billy eagerly. “Yes! I've got”—He stopped and + stammered. “I've got—a—few hundreds.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, oh!” said Uncle Jim cheerfully. He paused, and then added earnestly, + “I say! You ain't got left, over and above your d—d foolishness at + the Oriental, as much as five hundred dollars?” + </p> + <p> + “I've got,” said Uncle Billy, blushing a little over his first deliberate + and affected lie, “I've got at least five hundred and seventy-two dollars. + Yes,” he added tentatively, gazing anxiously at his partner, “I've got at + least that.” + </p> + <p> + “Je whillikins!” said Uncle Jim, with a laugh. Then eagerly, “Look here, + pard! Then we're on velvet! I've got NINE hundred; put your FIVE with + that, and I know a little ranch that we can get for twelve hundred. That's + what I've been savin' up for—that's my little game! No more minin' + for ME. It's got a shanty twice as big as our old cabin, nigh on a hundred + acres, and two mustangs. We can run it with two Chinamen and jest make it + howl! Wot yer say—eh?” He extended his hand. + </p> + <p> + “I'm in,” said Uncle Billy, radiantly grasping Uncle Jim's. But his smile + faded, and his clear simple brow wrinkled in two lines. + </p> + <p> + Happily Uncle Jim did not notice it. “Now, then, old pard,” he said + brightly, “we'll have a gay old time to-night—one of our jamborees! + I've got some whiskey here and a deck o' cards, and we'll have a little + game, you understand, but not for 'keeps' now! No, siree; we'll play for + beans.” + </p> + <p> + A sudden light illuminated Uncle Billy's face again, but he said, with a + grim desperation, “Not to-night! I've got to go into town. That fren' o' + mine expects me to go to the theayter, don't ye see? But I'll be out + to-morrow at sun-up, and we'll fix up this thing o' the ranch.” + </p> + <p> + “Seems to me you're kinder stuck on this fren',” grunted Uncle Jim. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy's heart bounded at his partner's jealousy. “No—but I + MUST, you know,” he returned, with a faint laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I say—it ain't a HER, is it?” said Uncle Jim. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy achieved a diabolical wink and a creditable blush at his lie. + </p> + <p> + “Billy?” + </p> + <p> + “Jim!” + </p> + <p> + And under cover of this festive gallantry Uncle Billy escaped. He ran + through the gathering darkness, and toiled up the shifting sands to the + top of the hill, where he found the carriage waiting. + </p> + <p> + “Wot,” said Uncle Billy in a low confidential tone to the coachman, “wot + do you 'Frisco fellers allow to be the best, biggest, and riskiest + gamblin'-saloon here? Suthin' high-toned, you know?” + </p> + <p> + The negro grinned. It was the usual case of the extravagant spendthrift + miner, though perhaps he had expected a different question and order. + </p> + <p> + “Dey is de 'Polka,' de 'El Dorado,' and de 'Arcade' saloon, boss,” he + said, flicking his whip meditatively. “Most gents from de mines prefer de + 'Polka,' for dey is dancing wid de gals frown in. But de real prima facie + place for gents who go for buckin' agin de tiger and straight-out gamblin' + is de 'Arcade.'” + </p> + <p> + “Drive there like thunder!” said Uncle Billy, leaping into the carriage. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + True to his word, Uncle Billy was at his partner's shanty early the next + morning. He looked a little tired, but happy, and had brought a draft with + him for five hundred and seventy-five dollars, which he explained was the + total of his capital. Uncle Jim was overjoyed. They would start for Napa + that very day, and conclude the purchase of the ranch; Uncle Jim's + sprained foot was a sufficient reason for his giving up his present + vocation, which he could also sell at a small profit. His domestic + arrangements were very simple; there was nothing to take with him—there + was everything to leave behind. And that afternoon, at sunset, the two + reunited partners were seated on the deck of the Napa boat as she swung + into the stream. + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy was gazing over the railing with a look of abstracted relief + towards the Golden Gate, where the sinking sun seemed to be drawing + towards him in the ocean a golden stream that was forever pouring from the + Bay and the three-hilled city beside it. What Uncle Billy was thinking of, + or what the picture suggested to him, did not transpire; for Uncle Jim, + who, emboldened by his holiday, was luxuriating in an evening paper, + suddenly uttered a long-drawn whistle, and moved closer to his abstracted + partner. “Look yer,” he said, pointing to a paragraph he had evidently + just read, “just you listen to this, and see if we ain't lucky, you and + me, to be jest wot we air—trustin' to our own hard work—and + not thinkin' o' 'strikes' and 'fortins.' Jest unbutton yer ears, Billy, + while I reel off this yer thing I've jest struck in the paper, and see + what d—d fools some men kin make o' themselves. And that theer + reporter wot wrote it—must hev seed it reely!” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Jim cleared his throat, and holding the paper close to his eyes read + aloud slowly:— + </p> + <p> + “'A scene of excitement that recalled the palmy days of '49 was witnessed + last night at the Arcade Saloon. A stranger, who might have belonged to + that reckless epoch, and who bore every evidence of being a successful + Pike County miner out on a “spree,” appeared at one of the tables with a + negro coachman bearing two heavy bags of gold. Selecting a faro-bank as + his base of operations, he began to bet heavily and with apparent + recklessness, until his play excited the breathless attention of every + one. In a few moments he had won a sum variously estimated at from eighty + to a hundred thousand dollars. A rumor went round the room that it was a + concerted attempt to “break the bank” rather than the drunken freak of a + Western miner, dazzled by some successful strike. To this theory the man's + careless and indifferent bearing towards his extraordinary gains lent + great credence. The attempt, if such it was, however, was unsuccessful. + After winning ten times in succession the luck turned, and the unfortunate + “bucker” was cleared out not only of his gains, but of his original + investment, which may be placed roughly at twenty thousand dollars. This + extraordinary play was witnessed by a crowd of excited players, who were + less impressed by even the magnitude of the stakes than the perfect + sang-froid and recklessness of the player, who, it is said, at the close + of the game tossed a twenty-dollar gold-piece to the banker and smilingly + withdrew. The man was not recognized by any of the habitues of the place.' + </p> + <p> + “There!” said Uncle Jim, as he hurriedly slurred over the French + substantive at the close, “did ye ever see such God-forsaken foolishness?” + </p> + <p> + Uncle Billy lifted his abstracted eyes from the current, still pouring its + unreturning gold into the sinking sun, and said, with a deprecatory smile, + “Never!” + </p> + <p> + Nor even in the days of prosperity that visited the Great Wheat Ranch of + “Fall and Foster” did he ever tell his secret to his partner. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SEE YUP + </h2> + <p> + I don't suppose that his progenitors ever gave him that name, or, indeed, + that it was a NAME at all; but it was currently believed that—as + pronounced “See UP”—it meant that lifting of the outer angle of the + eye common to the Mongolian. On the other hand, I had been told that there + was an old Chinese custom of affixing some motto or legend, or even a + sentence from Confucius, as a sign above their shops, and that two or more + words, which might be merely equivalent to “Virtue is its own reward,” or + “Riches are deceitful,” were believed by the simple Californian miner to + be the name of the occupant himself. Howbeit, “See Yup” accepted it with + the smiling patience of his race, and never went by any other. If one of + the tunnelmen always addressed him as “Brigadier-General,” “Judge,” or + “Commodore,” it was understood to be only the American fondness for ironic + title, and was never used except in personal conversation. In appearance + he looked like any other Chinaman, wore the ordinary blue cotton blouse + and white drawers of the Sampan coolie, and, in spite of the apparent + cleanliness and freshness of these garments, always exhaled that singular + medicated odor—half opium, half ginger—which we recognized as + the common “Chinese smell.” + </p> + <p> + Our first interview was characteristic of his patient quality. He had done + my washing for several months, but I had never yet seen him. A meeting at + last had become necessary to correct his impressions regarding “buttons”—which + he had seemed to consider as mere excrescences, to be removed like + superfluous dirt from soiled linen. I had expected him to call at my + lodgings, but he had not yet made his appearance. One day, during the + noontide recess of the little frontier school over which I presided, I + returned rather early. Two or three of the smaller boys, who were + loitering about the school-yard, disappeared with a certain guilty + precipitation that I suspected for the moment, but which I presently + dismissed from my mind. I passed through the empty school-room to my desk, + sat down, and began to prepare the coming lessons. Presently I heard a + faint sigh. Looking up, to my intense concern, I discovered a solitary + Chinaman whom I had overlooked, sitting in a rigid attitude on a bench + with his back to the window. He caught my eye and smiled sadly, but + without moving. + </p> + <p> + “What are you doing here?” I asked sternly. + </p> + <p> + “Me washee shilts; me talkee 'buttons.'” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! you're See Yup, are you?” + </p> + <p> + “Allee same, John.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, come here.” + </p> + <p> + I continued my work, but he did not move. + </p> + <p> + “Come here, hang it! Don't you understand?” + </p> + <p> + “Me shabbee, 'comme yea.' But me no shabbee Mellican boy, who catchee me, + allee same. YOU 'comme yea'—YOU shabbee?” + </p> + <p> + Indignant, but believing that the unfortunate man was still in fear of + persecution from the mischievous urchins whom I had evidently just + interrupted, I put down my pen and went over to him. Here I discovered, to + my surprise and mortification, that his long pigtail was held hard and + fast by the closed window behind him which the young rascals had shut down + upon it, after having first noiselessly fished it outside with a hook and + line. I apologized, opened the window, and released him. He did not + complain, although he must have been fixed in that uncomfortable position + for some minutes, but plunged at once into the business that brought him + there. + </p> + <p> + “But WHY didn't you come to my lodgings?” I asked. + </p> + <p> + He smiled sadly but intelligently. + </p> + <p> + “Mishtel Bally [Mr. Barry, my landlord] he owce me five dollee fo washee, + washee. He no payee me. He say he knock hellee outee me allee time I come + for payee. So me no come HOUSEE, me come SCHOOLEE, Shabbee? Mellican boy + no good, but not so big as Mellican man. No can hurtee Chinaman so much. + Shabbee?” + </p> + <p> + Alas! I knew that this was mainly true. Mr. James Barry was an Irishman, + whose finer religious feelings revolted against paying money to a heathen. + I could not find it in my heart to say anything to See Yup about the + buttons; indeed, I spoke in complimentary terms about the gloss of my + shirts, and I think I meekly begged him to come again for my washing. When + I went home I expostulated with Mr. Barry, but succeeded only in + extracting from him the conviction that I was one of “thim black + Republican fellys that worshiped naygurs.” I had simply made an enemy of + him. But I did not know that, at the same time, I had made a friend of See + Yup! + </p> + <p> + I became aware of this a few days later, by the appearance on my desk of a + small pot containing a specimen of camellia japonica in flower. I knew the + school-children were in the habit of making presents to me in this furtive + fashion,—leaving their own nosegays of wild flowers, or perhaps a + cluster of roses from their parents' gardens,—but I also knew that + this exotic was too rare to come from them. I remembered that See Yup had + a Chinese taste for gardening, and a friend, another Chinaman, who kept a + large nursery in the adjoining town. But my doubts were set at rest by the + discovery of a small roll of red rice-paper containing my washing-bill, + fastened to the camellia stalk. It was plain that this mingling of + business and delicate gratitude was clearly See Yup's own idea. As the + finest flower was the topmost one, I plucked it for wearing, when I found, + to my astonishment, that it was simply wired to the stalk. This led me to + look at the others, which I found also wired! More than that, they seemed + to be an inferior flower, and exhaled that cold, earthy odor peculiar to + the camellia, even, as I thought, to an excess. A closer examination + resulted in the discovery that, with the exception of the first flower I + had plucked, they were one and all ingeniously constructed of thin slices + of potato, marvelously cut to imitate the vegetable waxiness and formality + of the real flower. The work showed an infinite and almost pathetic + patience in detail, yet strangely incommensurate with the result, + admirable as it was. Nevertheless, this was also like See Yup. But whether + he had tried to deceive me, or whether he only wished me to admire his + skill, I could not say. And as his persecution by my scholars had left a + balance of consideration in his favor, I sent him a warm note of thanks, + and said nothing of my discovery. + </p> + <p> + As our acquaintance progressed, I became frequently the recipient of other + small presents from him: a pot of preserves of a quality I could not + purchase in shops, and whose contents in their crafty, gingery + dissimulation so defied definition that I never knew whether they were + animal, vegetable, or mineral; two or three hideous Chinese idols, “for + luckee,” and a diabolical fire-work with an irregular spasmodic activity + that would sometimes be prolonged until the next morning. In return, I + gave him some apparently hopeless oral lessons in English, and certain + sentences to be copied, which he did with marvelous precision. I remember + one instance when this peculiar faculty of imitation was disastrous in + result. In setting him a copy, I had blurred a word which I promptly + erased, and then traced the letters more distinctly over the scratched + surface. To my surprise, See Yup triumphantly produced HIS copy with the + erasion itself carefully imitated, and, in fact, much more neatly done + than mine. + </p> + <p> + In our confidential intercourse, I never seemed to really get nearer to + him. His sympathy and simplicity appeared like his flowers—to be a + good-humored imitation of my own. I am satisfied that his particularly + soulless laugh was not derived from any amusement he actually felt, yet I + could not say it was forced. In his accurate imitations, I fancied he was + only trying to evade any responsibility of his own. THAT devolved upon his + taskmaster! In the attention he displayed when new ideas were presented to + him, there was a slight condescension, as if he were looking down upon + them from his three thousand years of history. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you think the electric telegraph wonderful?” I asked one day. + </p> + <p> + “Very good for Mellican man,” he said, with his aimless laugh; “plenty + makee him jump!” + </p> + <p> + I never could tell whether he had confounded it with electro-galvanism, or + was only satirizing our American haste and feverishness. He was capable of + either. For that matter, we knew that the Chinese themselves possessed + some means of secretly and quickly communicating with one another. Any + news of good or ill import to their race was quickly disseminated through + the settlement before WE knew anything about it. An innocent basket of + clothes from the wash, sent up from the river-bank, became in some way a + library of information; a single slip of rice-paper, aimlessly fluttering + in the dust of the road, had the mysterious effect of diverging a whole + gang of coolie tramps away from our settlement. + </p> + <p> + When See Yup was not subject to the persecutions of the more ignorant and + brutal he was always a source of amusement to all, and I cannot recall an + instance when he was ever taken seriously. The miners found diversions + even in his alleged frauds and trickeries, whether innocent or + retaliatory, and were fond of relating with great gusto his evasion of the + Foreign Miners' Tax. This was an oppressive measure aimed principally at + the Chinese, who humbly worked the worn-out “tailings” of their Christian + fellow miners. It was stated that See Yup, knowing the difficulty—already + alluded to—of identifying any particular Chinaman by NAME, conceived + the additional idea of confusing recognition by intensifying the + monotonous facial expression. Having paid his tax himself to the + collector, he at once passed the receipt to his fellows, so that the + collector found himself confronted in different parts of the settlement + with the receipt and the aimless laugh of, apparently, See Yup himself. + Although we all knew that there were a dozen Chinamen or more at work at + the mines, the collector never was able to collect the tax from more than + TWO,—See Yup and one See Yin,—and so great was THEIR facial + resemblance that the unfortunate official for a long time hugged himself + with the conviction that he had made See Yup PAY TWICE, and withheld the + money from the government! It is very probable that the Californian's + recognition of the sanctity of a joke, and his belief that “cheating the + government was only cheating himself,” largely accounted for the + sympathies of the rest of the miners. + </p> + <p> + But these sympathies were not always unanimous. + </p> + <p> + One evening I strolled into the bar-room of the principal saloon, which, + so far as mere upholstery and comfort went, was also the principal house + in the settlement. The first rains had commenced; the windows were open, + for the influence of the southwest trades penetrated even this far-off + mountain mining settlement, but, oddly enough, there was a fire in the + large central stove, around which the miners had collected, with their + steaming boots elevated on a projecting iron railing that encircled it. + They were not attracted by the warmth, but the stove formed a social pivot + for gossip, and suggested that mystic circle dear to the gregarious + instinct. Yet they were decidedly a despondent group. For some moments the + silence was only broken by a gasp, a sigh, a muttered oath, or an + impatient change of position. There was nothing in the fortunes of the + settlement, nor in their own individual affairs to suggest this gloom. The + singular truth was that they were, one and all, suffering from the pangs + of dyspepsia. + </p> + <p> + Incongruous as such a complaint might seem to their healthy environment,—their + outdoor life, their daily exercise, the healing balsam of the mountain + air, their enforced temperance in diet, and the absence of all enervating + pleasures,—it was nevertheless the incontestable fact. Whether it + was the result of the nervous, excitable temperament which had brought + them together in this feverish hunt for gold; whether it was the quality + of the tinned meats or half-cooked provisions they hastily bolted, + begrudging the time it took to prepare and to consume them; whether they + too often supplanted their meals by tobacco or whiskey, the singular + physiological truth remained that these young, finely selected + adventurers, living the lives of the natural, aboriginal man, and looking + the picture of health and strength, actually suffered more from + indigestion than the pampered dwellers of the cities. The quantity of + “patent medicines,” “bitters,” “pills,” “panaceas,” and “lozenges” sold in + the settlement almost exceeded the amount of the regular provisions whose + effects they were supposed to correct. The sufferers eagerly scanned + advertisements and placards. There were occasional “runs” on new + “specifics,” and general conversation eventually turned into a discussion + of their respective merits. A certain childlike faith and trust in each + new remedy was not the least distressing and pathetic of the symptoms of + these grown-up, bearded men. + </p> + <p> + “Well, gentlemen,” said Cyrus Parker, glancing around at his fellow + sufferers, “ye kin talk of your patent medicines, and I've tackled 'em + all, but only the other day I struck suthin' that I'm goin' to hang on to, + you bet.” + </p> + <p> + Every eye was turned moodily to the speaker, but no one said anything. + </p> + <p> + “And I didn't get it outer advertisements, nor off of circulars. I got it + outer my head, just by solid thinking,” continued Parker. + </p> + <p> + “What was it, Cy?” said one unsophisticated and inexperienced sufferer. + </p> + <p> + Instead of replying, Parker, like a true artist, knowing he had the ear of + his audience, dramatically flashed a question upon them. + </p> + <p> + “Did you ever hear of a Chinaman having dyspepsy?” + </p> + <p> + “Never heard he had sabe enough to hev ANYTHING,” said a scorner. + </p> + <p> + “No, but DID ye?” insisted Parker. + </p> + <p> + “Well, no!” chorused the group. They were evidently struck with the fact. + </p> + <p> + “Of course you didn't,” said Parker triumphantly. “'Cos they AIN'T. Well, + gentlemen, it didn't seem to me the square thing that a pesky lot o' + yellow-skinned heathens should be built different to a white man, and + never know the tortur' that a Christian feels; and one day, arter dinner, + when I was just a-lyin' flat down on the bank, squirmin', and clutching + the short grass to keep from yellin', who should go by but that pizened + See Yup, with a grin on his face. + </p> + <p> + “'Mellican man plenty playee to him Joss after eatin',' sez he; 'but + Chinaman smellee punk, allee same, and no hab got.' + </p> + <p> + “I knew the slimy cuss was just purtendin' he thought I was prayin' to my + Joss, but I was that weak I hadn't stren'th, boys, to heave a rock at him. + Yet it gave me an idea.” + </p> + <p> + “What was it?” they asked eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “I went down to his shop the next day, when he was alone, and I was + feeling mighty bad, and I got hold of his pigtail and I allowed I'd stuff + it down his throat if he didn't tell me what he meant. Then he took a + piece of punk and lit it, and put it under my nose, and, darn my skin, + gentlemen, you migh'n't believe me, but in a minute I felt better, and + after a whiff or two I was all right.” + </p> + <p> + “Was it pow'ful strong, Cy?” asked the inexperienced one. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Parker, “and that's just what's got me. It was a sort o' + dreamy, spicy smell, like a hot night. But as I couldn't go 'round 'mong + you boys with a lighted piece o' punk in my hand, ez if I was settin' off + Fourth of July firecrackers, I asked him if he couldn't fix me up suthin' + in another shape that would be handier to use when I was took bad, and I'd + reckon to pay him for it like ez I'd pay for any other patent medicine. So + he fixed me up this.” + </p> + <p> + He put his hand in his pocket, and drew out a small red paper which, when + opened, disclosed a pink powder. It was gravely passed around the group. + </p> + <p> + “Why, it smells and tastes like ginger,” said one. + </p> + <p> + “It is only ginger!” said another scornfully. + </p> + <p> + “Mebbe it is, and mebbe it isn't,” returned Cy Parker stoutly. “Mebbe ut's + only my fancy. But if it's the sort o' stuff to bring on that fancy, and + that fancy CURES me, it's all the same. I've got about two dollars' worth + o' that fancy or that ginger, and I'm going to stick to it. You hear me!” + And he carefully put it back in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + At which criticisms and gibes broke forth. If he (Cy Parker), a white man, + was going to “demean himself” by consulting a Chinese quack, he'd better + buy up a lot o' idols and stand 'em up around his cabin. If he had that + sort o' confidences with See Yup, he ought to go to work with him on his + cheap tailings, and be fumigated all at the same time. If he'd been + smoking an opium pipe, instead of smelling punk, he ought to be man enough + to confess it. Yet it was noticeable that they were all very anxious to + examine the packet again, but Cy Parker was alike indifferent to demand or + entreaty. + </p> + <p> + A few days later I saw Abe Wynford, one of the party, coming out of See + Yup's wash-house. He muttered something in passing about the infamous + delay in sending home his washing, but did not linger long in + conversation. The next day I met another miner AT the wash-house, but HE + lingered so long on some trifling details that I finally left him there + alone with See Yup. When I called upon Poker Jack of Shasta, there was a + singular smell of incense in HIS cabin, which he attributed to the very + resinous quality of the fir logs he was burning. I did not attempt to + probe these mysteries by any direct appeal to See Yup himself: I respected + his reticence; indeed, if I had not, I was quite satisfied that he would + have lied to me. Enough that his wash-house was well patronized, and he + was decidedly “getting on.” + </p> + <p> + It might have been a month afterwards that Dr. Duchesne was setting a + broken bone in the settlement, and after the operation was over, had + strolled into the Palmetto Saloon. He was an old army surgeon, much + respected and loved in the district, although perhaps a little feared for + the honest roughness and military precision of his speech. After he had + exchanged salutations with the miners in his usual hearty fashion, and + accepted their invitation to drink, Cy Parker, with a certain affected + carelessness which did not, however, conceal a singular hesitation in his + speech, began:— + </p> + <p> + “I've been wantin' to ask ye a question, Doc,—a sort o' darned fool + question, ye know,—nothing in the way of consultation, don't you + see, though it's kin er in the way o' your purfeshun. Sabe?” + </p> + <p> + “Go on, Cy,” said the doctor good-humoredly, “this is my dispensary hour.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! it ain't anything about symptoms, Doc, and there ain't anything the + matter with me. It's only just to ask ye if ye happened to know anything + about the medical practice of these yer Chinamen?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” said the doctor bluntly, “and I don't know ANYBODY who + does.” + </p> + <p> + There was a sudden silence in the bar, and the doctor, putting down his + glass, continued with slight professional precision:— + </p> + <p> + “You see, the Chinese know nothing of anatomy from personal observation. + Autopsies and dissection are against their superstitions, which declare + the human body sacred, and are consequently never practiced.” + </p> + <p> + There was a slight movement of inquiring interest among the party, and Cy + Parker, after a meaning glance at the others, went on half aggressively, + half apologetically:— + </p> + <p> + “In course, they ain't surgeons like you, Doc, but that don't keep them + from having their own little medicines, just as dogs eat grass, you know. + Now I want to put it to you, as a fa'r-minded man, if you mean ter say + that, jest because those old women who sarve out yarbs and spring + medicines in families don't know anything of anatomy, they ain't fit to + give us their simple and nat'ral medicines?” + </p> + <p> + “But the Chinese medicines are not simple or natural,” said the doctor + coolly. + </p> + <p> + “Not simple?” echoed the party, closing round him. + </p> + <p> + “I don't mean to say,” continued the doctor, glancing around at their + eager, excited faces with an appearance of wonder, “that they are + positively noxious, unless taken in large quantities, for they are not + drugs at all, but I certainly should not call them 'simple.' Do YOU know + what they principally are?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, no,” said Parker cautiously, “perhaps not EXACTLY.” + </p> + <p> + “Come a little closer, and I'll tell you.” + </p> + <p> + Not only Parker's head but the others were bent over the counter. Dr. + Duchesne uttered a few words in a tone inaudible to the rest of the + company. There was a profound silence, broken at last by Abe Wynford's + voice:— + </p> + <p> + “Ye kin pour me out about three fingers o' whiskey, Barkeep. I'll take it + straight.” + </p> + <p> + “Same to me,” said the others. + </p> + <p> + The men gulped down their liquor; two of them quietly passed out. The + doctor wiped his lips, buttoned his coat, and began to draw on his + riding-gloves. + </p> + <p> + “I've heerd,” said Poker Jack of Shasta, with a faint smile on his white + face, as he toyed with the last drops of liquor in his glass, “that the + darned fools sometimes smell punk as a medicine, eh?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, THAT'S comparatively decent,” said the doctor reflectively. “It's + only sawdust mixed with a little gum and formic acid.” + </p> + <p> + “Formic acid? Wot's that?” + </p> + <p> + “A very peculiar acid secreted by ants. It is supposed to be used by them + offensively in warfare—just as the skunk, eh?” + </p> + <p> + But Poker Jack of Shasta had hurriedly declared that he wanted to speak to + a man who was passing, and had disappeared. The doctor walked to the door, + mounted his horse, and rode away. I noticed, however, that there was a + slight smile on his bronzed, impassive face. This led me to wonder if he + was entirely ignorant of the purpose for which he had been questioned, and + the effect of his information. I was confirmed in the belief by the + remarkable circumstances that nothing more was said of it; the incident + seemed to have terminated there, and the victims made no attempt to + revenge themselves on See Yup. That they had one and all, secretly and + unknown to one another, patronized him, there was no doubt; but, at the + same time, as they evidently were not sure that Dr. Duchesne had not + hoaxed them in regard to the quality of See Yup's medicines, they knew + that an attack on the unfortunate Chinaman would in either case reveal + their secret and expose them to the ridicule of their brother miners. So + the matter dropped, and See Yup remained master of the situation. + </p> + <p> + Meantime he was prospering. The coolie gang he worked on the river, when + not engaged in washing clothes, were “picking over” the “tailings,” or + refuse of gravel, left on abandoned claims by successful miners. As there + was no more expense attending this than in stone-breaking or rag-picking, + and the feeding of the coolies, which was ridiculously cheap, there was no + doubt that See Yup was reaping a fair weekly return from it; but, as he + sent his receipts to San Francisco through coolie managers, after the + Chinese custom, and did not use the regular Express Company, there was no + way of ascertaining the amount. Again, neither See Yup nor his fellow + countrymen ever appeared to have any money about them. In ruder times and + more reckless camps, raids were often made by ruffians on their cabins or + their traveling gangs, but never with any pecuniary result. This + condition, however, it seemed was destined to change. + </p> + <p> + One Saturday See Yup walked into Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express office + with a package of gold-dust, which, when duly weighed, was valued at five + hundred dollars. It was consigned to a Chinese company in San Francisco. + When the clerk handed See Yup a receipt, he remarked casually:— + </p> + <p> + “Washing seems to pay, See Yup.” + </p> + <p> + “Washee velly good pay. You wantee washee, John?” said See Yup eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” said the clerk, with a laugh. “I was only thinking five hundred + dollars would represent the washing of a good many shirts.” + </p> + <p> + “No leplesent washee shirts at all! Catchee gold-dust when washee + tailings. Shabbee?” + </p> + <p> + The clerk DID “shabbee,” and lifted his eyebrows. The next Saturday See + Yup appeared with another package, worth about four hundred dollars, + directed to the same consignee. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't pan out quite so rich this week, eh?” said the clerk engagingly. + </p> + <p> + “No,” returned See Yup impassively; “next time he payee more.” + </p> + <p> + When the third Saturday came, with the appearance of See Yup and four + hundred and fifty dollars' worth of gold-dust, the clerk felt he was no + longer bound to keep the secret. He communicated it to others, and in + twenty-four hours the whole settlement knew that See Yup's coolie company + were taking out an average of four hundred dollars per week from the + refuse and tailings of the old abandoned Palmetto claim! + </p> + <p> + The astonishment of the settlement was profound. In earlier days jealousy + and indignation at the success of these degraded heathens might have taken + a more active and aggressive shape, and it would have fared ill with See + Yup and his companions. But the settlement had become more prosperous and + law-abiding; there were one or two Eastern families and some foreign + capital already there, and its jealousy and indignation were restricted to + severe investigation and legal criticism. Fortunately for See Yup, it was + an old-established mining law that an abandoned claim and its tailings + became the property of whoever chose to work it. But it was alleged that + See Yup's company had in reality “struck a lead,”—discovered a + hitherto unknown vein or original deposit of gold, not worked by the + previous company, and having failed legally to declare it by preemption + and public registry, in their foolish desire for secrecy, had thus + forfeited their right to the property. A surveillance of their working, + however, did not establish this theory; the gold that See Yup had sent + away was of the kind that might have been found in the tailings overlooked + by the late Palmetto owners. Yet it was a very large yield for mere + refuse. + </p> + <p> + “Them Palmetto boys were mighty keerless after they'd made their big + 'strike' and got to work on the vein, and I reckon they threw a lot of + gold away,” said Cy Parker, who remembered their large-handed recklessness + in the “flush days.” “On'y that WE didn't think it was white man's work to + rake over another man's leavin's, we might hev had what them derned + Chinamen hev dropped into. Tell ye what, boys, we've been a little too + 'high and mighty,' and we'll hev to climb down.” + </p> + <p> + At last the excitement reached its climax, and diplomacy was employed to + effect what neither intimidation nor espionage could secure. Under the + pretense of desiring to buy out See Yup's company, a select committee of + the miners was permitted to examine the property and its workings. They + found the great bank of stones and gravel, representing the cast-out + debris of the old claim, occupied by See Yup and four or five plodding + automatic coolies. At the end of two hours the committee returned to the + saloon bursting with excitement. They spoke under their breath, but enough + was gathered to satisfy the curious crowd that See Yup's pile of tailings + was rich beyond their expectations. The committee had seen with their own + eyes gold taken out of the sand and gravel to the amount of twenty dollars + in the two short hours of their examination. And the work had been + performed in the stupidest, clumsiest, yet PATIENT Chinese way. What might + not white men do with better appointed machinery! A syndicate was at once + formed. See Yup was offered twenty thousand dollars if he would sell out + and put the syndicate in possession of the claim in twenty-four hours. The + Chinaman received the offer stolidly. As he seemed inclined to hesitate, I + am grieved to say that it was intimated to him that if he declined he + might be subject to embarrassing and expensive legal proceedings to prove + his property, and that companies would be formed to “prospect” the ground + on either side of his heap of tailings. See Yup at last consented, with + the proviso that the money should be paid in gold into the hands of a + Chinese agent in San Francisco on the day of the delivery of the claim. + The syndicate made no opposition to this characteristic precaution of the + Chinaman. It was like them not to travel with money, and the implied + uncomplimentary suspicion of danger from the community was overlooked. See + Yup departed the day that the syndicate took possession. He came to see me + before he went. I congratulated him upon his good fortune; at the same + time, I was embarrassed by the conviction that he was unfairly forced into + a sale of his property at a figure far below its real value. + </p> + <p> + I think differently now. + </p> + <p> + At the end of the week it was said that the new company cleared up about + three hundred dollars. This was not so much as the community had expected, + but the syndicate was apparently satisfied, and the new machinery was put + up. At the end of the next week the syndicate were silent as to their + returns. One of them made a hurried visit to San Francisco. It was said + that he was unable to see either See Yup or the agent to whom the money + was paid. It was also noticed that there was no Chinaman remaining in the + settlement. Then the fatal secret was out. + </p> + <p> + The heap of tailings had probably never yielded the See Yup company more + than twenty dollars a week, the ordinary wage of such a company. See Yup + had conceived the brilliant idea of “booming” it on a borrowed capital of + five hundred dollars in gold-dust, which he OPENLY transmitted by express + to his confederate and creditor in San Francisco, who in turn SECRETLY + sent it back to See Yup by coolie messengers, to be again openly + transmitted to San Francisco. The package of gold-dust was thus passed + backwards and forwards between debtor and creditor, to the grave + edification of the Express Company and the fatal curiosity of the + settlement. When the syndicate had gorged the bait thus thrown out, See + Yup, on the day the self-invited committee inspected the claim, promptly + “salted” the tailings by CONSCIENTIOUSLY DISTRIBUTING THE GOLD-DUST OVER + IT so deftly that it appeared to be its natural composition and yield. + </p> + <p> + I have only to bid farewell to See Yup, and close this reminiscence of a + misunderstood man, by adding the opinion of an eminent jurist in San + Francisco, to whom the facts were submitted: “So clever was this alleged + fraud, that it is extremely doubtful if an action would lie against See + Yup in the premises, there being no legal evidence of the 'salting,' and + none whatever of his actual allegation that the gold-dust was the ORDINARY + yield of the tailings, that implication resting entirely with the + committee who examined it under false pretense, and who subsequently + forced the sale by intimidation.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE DESBOROUGH CONNECTIONS + </h2> + <p> + “Then it isn't a question of property or next of kin?” said the consul. + </p> + <p> + “Lord! no,” said the lady vivaciously. “Why, goodness me! I reckon old + Desborough could, at any time before he died, have 'bought up' or 'bought + out' the whole lot of his relatives on this side of the big pond, no + matter what they were worth. No, it's only a matter of curiosity and just + sociableness.” + </p> + <p> + The American consul at St. Kentigorn felt much relieved. He had feared it + was only the old story of delusive quests for imaginary estates and + impossible inheritances which he had confronted so often in nervous + wan-eyed enthusiasts and obstreperous claimants from his own land. + Certainly there was no suggestion of this in the richly dressed and + be-diamonded matron before him, nor in her pretty daughter, charming in a + Paris frock, alive with the consciousness of beauty and admiration, and + yet a little ennuye from gratified indulgence. He knew the mother to be + the wealthy widow of a New York millionaire, that she was traveling for + pleasure in Europe, and a chance meeting with her at dinner a few nights + before had led to this half-capricious, half-confidential appointment at + the consulate. + </p> + <p> + “No,” continued Mrs. Desborough; “Mr. Desborough came to America, when a + small boy, with an uncle who died some years ago. Mr. Desborough never + seemed to hanker much after his English relatives as long as I knew him, + but now that I and Sadie are over here, why we guessed we might look 'em + up and sort of sample 'em! 'Desborough' 's rather a good name,” added the + lady, with a complacency that, however, had a suggestion of query in it. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the consul; “from the French, I fancy.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Desborough was English—very English,” corrected the lady. + </p> + <p> + “I mean it may be an old Norman name,” said the consul. + </p> + <p> + “Norman's good enough for ME,” said the daughter, reflecting. “We'll just + settle it as Norman. I never thought about that DES.” + </p> + <p> + “Only you may find it called 'Debborough' here, and spelt so,” said the + consul, smiling. + </p> + <p> + Miss Desborough lifted her pretty shoulders and made a charming grimace. + “Then we won't acknowledge 'em. No Debborough for me!” + </p> + <p> + “You might put an advertisement in the papers, like the 'next of kin' + notice, intimating, in the regular way, that they would 'hear of something + to their advantage'—as they certainly would,” continued the consul, + with a bow. “It would be such a refreshing change to the kind of thing I'm + accustomed to, don't you know—this idea of one of my countrywomen + coming over just to benefit English relatives! By Jove! I wouldn't mind + undertaking the whole thing for you—it's such a novelty.” He was + quite carried away with the idea. + </p> + <p> + But the two ladies were far from participating in this joyous outlook. + “No,” said Mrs. Desborough promptly, “that wouldn't do. You see,” she went + on with superb frankness, “that would be just giving ourselves away, and + saying who WE were before we found out what THEY were like. Mr. Desborough + was all right in HIS way, but we don't know anything about his FOLKS! We + ain't here on a mission to improve the Desboroughs, nor to gather in any + 'lost tribes.'” + </p> + <p> + It was evident that, in spite of the humor of the situation and the levity + of the ladies, there was a characteristic national practicalness about + them, and the consul, with a sigh, at last gave the address of one or two + responsible experts in genealogical inquiry, as he had often done before. + He felt it was impossible to offer any advice to ladies as thoroughly + capable of managing their own affairs as his fair countrywomen, yet he was + not without some curiosity to know the result of their practical + sentimental quest. That he should ever hear of them again he doubted. He + knew that after their first loneliness had worn off in their gregarious + gathering at a London hotel they were not likely to consort with their own + country people, who indeed were apt to fight shy of one another, and even + to indulge in invidious criticism of one another when admitted in that + society to which they were all equally strangers. So he took leave of them + on their way back to London with the belief that their acquaintance + terminated with that brief incident. But he was mistaken. + </p> + <p> + In the year following he was spending his autumn vacation at a country + house. It was an historic house, and had always struck him as being—even + in that country of historic seats—a singular example of the + vicissitudes of English manorial estates and the mutations of its lords. + His host in his prime had been recalled from foreign service to + unexpectedly succeed to an uncle's title and estate. That estate, however, + had come into the possession of the uncle only through his marriage with + the daughter of an old family whose portraits still looked down from the + walls upon the youngest and alien branch. There were likenesses, effigies, + memorials, and reminiscences of still older families who had occupied it + through forfeiture by war or the favoritism of kings, and in its stately + cloisters and ruined chapel was still felt the dead hand of its evicted + religious founders, which could not be shaken off. + </p> + <p> + It was this strange individuality that affected all who saw it. For, + however changed were those within its walls, whoever were its inheritors + or inhabiters, Scrooby Priory never changed nor altered its own character. + However incongruous or ill-assorted the portraits that looked from its + walls,—so ill met that they might have flown at one another's + throats in the long nights when the family were away,—the great + house itself was independent of them all. The be-wigged, be-laced, and + be-furbelowed of one day's gathering, the round-headed, steel-fronted, and + prim-kerchiefed congregation of another day, and even the black-coated, + bare-armed, and bare-shouldered assemblage of to-day had no effect on the + austerities of the Priory. Modern houses might show the tastes and + prepossessions of their dwellers, might have caught some passing trick of + the hour, or have recorded the augmented fortunes or luxuriousness of the + owner, but Scrooby Priory never! No one had dared even to disturb its + outer rigid integrity; the breaches of time and siege were left untouched. + It held its calm indifferent sway over all who passed its low-arched + portals, and the consul was fain to believe that he—a foreign + visitor—was no more alien to the house than its present owner. + </p> + <p> + “I'm expecting a very charming compatriot of yours to-morrow,” said Lord + Beverdale as they drove from the station together. “You must tell me what + to show her.” + </p> + <p> + “I should think any countrywoman of mine would be quite satisfied with the + Priory,” said the consul, glancing thoughtfully towards the pile dimly + seen through the park. + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't like her to be bored here,” continued Beverdale. “Algy met + her at Rome, where she was occupying a palace with her mother—they're + very rich, you know. He found she was staying with Lady Minever at Hedham + Towers, and I went over and invited her with a little party. She's a Miss + Desborough.” + </p> + <p> + The consul gave a slight start, and was aware that Beverdale was looking + at him. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you know her?” said Beverdale. + </p> + <p> + “Just enough to agree with you that she is charming,” said the consul. “I + dined with them, and saw them at the consulate.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes; I always forget you are a consul. Then, of course, you know all + about them. I suppose they're very rich, and in society over there?” said + Beverdale in a voice that was quite animated. + </p> + <p> + It was on the consul's lips to say that the late Mr. Desborough was an + Englishman, and even to speak playfully of their proposed quest, but a + sudden instinct withheld him. After all, perhaps it was only a caprice, or + idea, they had forgotten,—perhaps, who knows?—that they were + already ashamed of. They had evidently “got on” in English society, if + that was their real intent, and doubtless Miss Desborough, by this time, + was quite as content with the chance of becoming related to the Earl of + Beverdale, through his son and heir, Algernon, as if they had found a real + Lord Desborough among their own relatives. The consul knew that Lord + Beverdale was not a rich man, that like most men of old family he was not + a slave to class prejudice; indeed, the consul had seen very few noblemen + off the stage or out of the pages of a novel who were. So he said, with a + slight affectation of authority, that there was as little doubt of the + young lady's wealth as there was of her personal attractions. + </p> + <p> + They were nearing the house through a long avenue of chestnuts whose + variegated leaves were already beginning to strew the ground beneath, and + they could see the vista open upon the mullioned windows of the Priory, + lighted up by the yellow October sunshine. In that sunshine stood a tall, + clean-limbed young fellow, dressed in a shooting-suit, whom the consul + recognized at once as Lord Algernon, the son of his companion. As if to + accent the graces of this vision of youth and vigor, near him, in the + shadow, an old man had halted, hat in hand, still holding the rake with + which he had been gathering the dead leaves in the avenue; his back bent, + partly with years, partly with the obeisance of a servitor. There was + something so marked in this contrast, in this old man standing in the + shadow of the fading year, himself as dried and withered as the leaves he + was raking, yet pausing to make his reverence to this passing sunshine of + youth and prosperity in the presence of his coming master, that the + consul, as they swept by, looked after him with a stirring of pain. + </p> + <p> + “Rather an old man to be still at work,” said the consul. + </p> + <p> + Beverdale laughed. “You must not let him hear you say so; he considers + himself quite as fit as any younger man in the place, and, by Jove! though + he's nearly eighty, I'm inclined to believe it. He's not one of our + people, however; he comes from the village, and is taken on at odd times, + partly to please himself. His great aim is to be independent of his + children,—he has a granddaughter who is one of the maids at the + Priory,—and to keep himself out of the workhouse. He does not come + from these parts—somewhere farther north, I fancy. But he's a tough + lot, and has a deal of work in him yet.” + </p> + <p> + “Seems to be going a bit stale lately,” said Lord Algernon, “and I think + is getting a little queer in his head. He has a trick of stopping and + staring straight ahead, at times, when he seems to go off for a minute or + two. There!” continued the young man, with a light laugh. “I say! he's + doing it now!” They both turned quickly and gazed at the bent figure—not + fifty yards away—standing in exactly the same attitude as before. + But, even as they gazed, he slowly lifted his rake and began his + monotonous work again. + </p> + <p> + At Scrooby Priory, the consul found that the fame of his fair countrywoman + had indeed preceded her, and that the other guests were quite as anxious + to see Miss Desborough as he was. One of them had already met her in + London; another knew her as one of the house party at the Duke of + Northforeland's, where she had been a central figure. Some of her naive + sallies and frank criticisms were repeated with great unction by the + gentlemen, and with some slight trepidation and a “fearful joy” by the + ladies. He was more than ever convinced that mother and daughter had + forgotten their lineal Desboroughs, and he resolved to leave any allusion + to it to the young lady herself. + </p> + <p> + She, however, availed herself of that privilege the evening after her + arrival. “Who'd have thought of meeting YOU here?” she said, sweeping her + skirts away to make room for him on a sofa. “It's a coon's age since I saw + you—not since you gave us that letter to those genealogical + gentlemen in London.” + </p> + <p> + The consul hoped that it had proved successful. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but maw guessed we didn't care to go back to Hengist and Horsa, and + when they let loose a lot of 'Debboroughs' and 'Daybrooks' upon us, maw + kicked! We've got a drawing ten yards long, that looks like a sour apple + tree, with lots of Desboroughs hanging up on the branches like last year's + pippins, and I guess about as worm-eaten. We took that well enough, but + when it came to giving us a map of straight lines and dashes with names + written under them like an old Morse telegraph slip, struck by lightning, + then maw and I guessed that it made us tired. + </p> + <p> + “You know,” she went on, opening her clear gray eyes on the consul, with a + characteristic flash of shrewd good sense through her quaint humor, “we + never reckoned where this thing would land us, and we found we were paying + a hundred pounds, not only for the Desboroughs, but all the people they'd + MARRIED, and their CHILDREN, and children's children, and there were a lot + of outsiders we'd never heard of, nor wanted to hear of. Maw once thought + she'd got on the trail of a Plantagenet, and followed it keen, until she + found she had been reading the dreadful thing upside down. Then we + concluded we wouldn't take any more stock in the family until it had + risen.” + </p> + <p> + During this speech the consul could not help noticing that, although her + attitude was playfully confidential to him, her voice really was pitched + high enough to reach the ears of smaller groups around her, who were not + only following her with the intensest admiration, but had shamelessly + abandoned their own conversation, and had even faced towards her. Was she + really posing in her naivete? There was a certain mischievous, even + aggressive, consciousness in her pretty eyelids. Then she suddenly dropped + both eyes and voice, and said to the consul in a genuine aside, “I like + this sort of thing much better.” + </p> + <p> + The consul looked puzzled. “What sort of thing?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, all these swell people, don't you see? those pictures on the walls! + this elegant room! everything that has come down from the past, all ready + and settled for you, you know—ages ago! Something you haven't to + pick up for yourself and worry over.” + </p> + <p> + But here the consul pointed out that the place itself was not “ancestral” + as regarded the present earl, and that even the original title of his + predecessors had passed away from it. “In fact, it came into the family by + one of those 'outsiders' you deprecate. But I dare say you'd find the + place quite as comfortable with Lord Beverdale for a host as you would if + you had found out he were a cousin,” he added. + </p> + <p> + “Better,” said the young lady frankly. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose your mother participates in these preferences?” said the + consul, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Miss Desborough, with the same frankness, “I think maw's rather + cut up at not finding a Desborough. She was invited down here, but SHE'S + rather independent, you know, so she allowed I could take care of myself, + while she went off to stay with the old Dowager Lady Mistowe, who thinks + maw a very proper womanly person. I made maw mad by telling her that's + just what old Lady Mistowe would say of her cook—for I can't stand + these people's patronage. However, I shouldn't wonder if I was invited + here as a 'most original person.'” + </p> + <p> + But here Lord Algernon came up to implore her to sing them one of “those + plantation songs;” and Miss Desborough, with scarcely a change of voice or + manner, allowed herself to be led to the piano. The consul had little + chance to speak with her again, but he saw enough that evening to convince + him not only that Lord Algernon was very much in love with her, but that + the fact had been equally and complacently accepted by the family and + guests. That her present visit was only an opportunity for a formal + engagement was clear to every woman in the house—not excepting, I + fear, even the fair subject of gossip herself. Yet she seemed so + unconcerned and self-contained that the consul wondered if she really + cared for Lord Algernon. And having thus wondered, he came to the + conclusion that it didn't much matter, for the happiness of so practically + organized a young lady, if she loved him or not. + </p> + <p> + It is highly probable that Miss Sadie Desborough had not even gone so far + as to ask herself that question. She awoke the next morning with a sense + of easy victory and calm satisfaction that had, however, none of the + transports of affection. Her taste was satisfied by the love of a handsome + young fellow,—a typical Englishman,—who, if not exactly + original or ideal, was, she felt, of an universally accepted, + “hall-marked” standard, the legitimate outcome of a highly ordered, + carefully guarded civilization, whose repose was the absence of struggle + or ambition; a man whose regular features were not yet differentiated from + the rest of his class by any of those disturbing lines which people call + character. Everything was made ready for her, without care or preparation; + she had not even an ideal to realize or to modify. She could slip without + any jar or dislocation into this life which was just saved from + self-indulgence and sybaritic luxury by certain conventional rules of + activity and the occupation of amusement which, as obligations of her + position, even appeared to suggest the novel aspect of a DUTY! She could + accept all this without the sense of being an intruder in an unbroken + lineage—thanks to the consul's account of the Beverdales' + inheritance. She already pictured herself as the mistress of this fair + domain, the custodian of its treasures and traditions, and the dispenser + of its hospitalities, but—as she conscientiously believed—without + pride or vanity, in her position; only an intense and thoughtful + appreciation of it. Nor did she dream of ever displaying it ostentatiously + before her less fortunate fellow countrywomen; on the contrary, she looked + forward to their possible criticism of her casting off all transatlantic + ties with an uneasy consciousness that was perhaps her nearest approach to + patriotism. Yet, again, she reasoned that, as her father was an + Englishman, she was only returning to her old home. As to her mother, she + had already comforted herself by noticing certain discrepancies in that + lady's temperament, which led her to believe that she herself alone + inherited her father's nature—for her mother was, of course, + distinctly American! So little conscious was she of any possible + snobbishness in this belief, that in her superb naivete she would have + argued the point with the consul, and employed a wit and dialect that were + purely American. + </p> + <p> + She had slipped out of the Priory early that morning that she might enjoy + alone, unattended and unciceroned, the aspect of that vast estate which + might be hers for the mere accepting. Perhaps there was some instinct of + delicacy in her avoiding Lord Algernon that morning; not wishing, as she + herself might have frankly put it, “to take stock” of his inheritance in + his presence. As she passed into the garden through the low postern door, + she turned to look along the stretching facade of the main building, with + the high stained windows of its banqueting-hall and the state chamber + where a king had slept. Even in that crisp October air, and with the green + of its ivied battlements against the gold of the distant wood, it seemed + to lie in the languid repose of an eternal summer. She hurried on down the + other terrace into the Italian garden, a quaint survival of past grandeur, + passed the great orangery and numerous conservatories, making a crystal + hamlet in themselves—seeing everywhere the same luxury. But it was a + luxury that she fancied was redeemed from the vulgarity of ostentation by + the long custom of years and generations, so unlike the millionaire + palaces of her own land; and, in her enthusiasm, she even fancied it was + further sanctified by the grim monastic founders who had once been content + with bread and pulse in the crumbling and dismantled refectory. In the + plenitude of her feelings she felt a slight recognition of some beneficent + being who had rolled this golden apple at her feet, and felt as if she + really should like to “do good” in her sphere. + </p> + <p> + It so chanced that, passing through a small gate in the park, she saw + walking, a little ahead of her, a young girl whom she at once recognized + as a Miss Amelyn, one of the guests of the evening before. Miss Desborough + remembered that she played the accompaniment of one or two songs upon the + piano, and had even executed a long solo during the general conversation, + without attention from the others, and apparently with little irritation + to herself, subsiding afterwards into an armchair, quite on the fringe of + other people's conversation. She had been called “my dear” by one or two + dowagers, and by her Christian name by the earl, and had a way of + impalpably melting out of sight at times. These trifles led Miss + Desborough to conclude that she was some kind of dependent or poor + relation. Here was an opportunity to begin her work of “doing good.” She + quickened her pace and overtook Miss Amelyn. + </p> + <p> + “Let me walk with you,” she said graciously. + </p> + <p> + The young English girl smiled assent, but looked her surprise at seeing + the cynosure of last night's eyes unattended. + </p> + <p> + “Oh,” said Sadie, answering the mute query, “I didn't want to be 'shown + round' by anybody, and I'm not going to bore YOU with asking to see sights + either. We'll just walk together; wherever YOU'RE going is good enough for + me.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm going as far as the village,” said Miss Amelyn, looking down + doubtfully at Sadie's smart French shoes—“if you care to walk so + far.” + </p> + <p> + Sadie noticed that her companion was more solidly booted, and that her + straight, short skirts, although less stylish than her own, had a certain + character, better fitted to the freer outdoor life of the country. But she + only said, however, “The village will do,” and gayly took her companion's + arm. + </p> + <p> + “But I'm afraid you'll find it very uninteresting, for I am going to visit + some poor cottages,” persisted Miss Amelyn, with a certain timid + ingenuousness of manner which, however, was as distinct as Miss + Desborough's bolder frankness. “I promised the rector's daughter to take + her place to-day.” + </p> + <p> + “And I feel as if I was ready to pour oil and wine to any extent,” said + Miss Desborough, “so come along!” + </p> + <p> + Miss Amelyn laughed, and yet glanced around her timidly, as if she thought + that Miss Desborough ought to have a larger and more important audience. + Then she continued more confidentially and boldly, “But it isn't at all + like 'slumming,' you know. These poor people here are not very bad, and + are not at all extraordinary.” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind,” said Sadie, hurrying her along. After a pause she went on, + “You know the Priory very well, I guess?” + </p> + <p> + “I lived there when I was a little girl, with my aunt, the Dowager Lady + Beverdale,” said Miss Amelyn. “When my cousin Fred, who was the young + heir, died, and the present Lord Beverdale succeeded,—HE never + expected it, you know, for there were two lives, his two elder brothers, + besides poor Fred's, between, but they both died,—we went to live in + the Dower House.” + </p> + <p> + “The Dower House?” repeated Sadie. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Lady Beverdale's separate property.” + </p> + <p> + “But I thought all this property—the Priory—came into the + family through HER.” + </p> + <p> + “It did—this was the Amelyns' place; but the oldest son or nearest + male heir always succeeds to the property and title.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean to say that the present Lord Beverdale turned that old lady + out?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Amelyn looked shocked. “I mean to say,” she said gravely, “Lady + Beverdale would have had to go when her own son became of age, had he + lived.” She paused, and then said timidly, “Isn't it that way in America?” + </p> + <p> + “Dear no!” Miss Desborough had a faint recollection that there was + something in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence against + primogeniture. “No! the men haven't it ALL their own way THERE—not + much!” + </p> + <p> + Miss Amelyn looked as if she did not care to discuss this problem. After a + few moments Sadie continued, “You and Lord Algernon are pretty old + friends, I guess?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied Miss Amelyn. “He came once or twice to the Priory for the + holidays, when he was quite a boy at Marlborough—for the family + weren't very well off, and his father was in India. He was a very shy boy, + and of course no one ever thought of him succeeding.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Desborough felt half inclined to be pleased with this, and yet half + inclined to resent this possible snubbing of her future husband. But they + were nearing the village, and Miss Amelyn turned the conversation to the + object of her visit. It was a new village—an unhandsome village, for + all that it stood near one of the gates of the park. It had been given + over to some mines that were still worked in its vicinity, and to the + railway, which the uncle of the present earl had resisted; but the railway + had triumphed, and the station for Scrooby Priory was there. There was a + grim church, of a blackened or weather-beaten stone, on the hill, with a + few grim Amelyns reposing cross-legged in the chancel, but the character + of the village was as different from the Priory as if it were in another + county. They stopped at the rectory, where Miss Amelyn provided herself + with certain doles and gifts, which the American girl would have augmented + with a five-pound note but for Miss Amelyn's horrified concern. “As many + shillings would do, and they would be as grateful,” she said. “More they + wouldn't understand.” + </p> + <p> + “Then keep it, and dole it out as you like,” said Sadie quickly. + </p> + <p> + “But I don't think that—that Lord Beverdale would quite approve,” + hesitated Miss Amelyn. + </p> + <p> + The pretty brow of her companion knit, and her gray eyes flashed + vivaciously. “What has HE to do with it?” she said pertly; “besides, you + say these are not HIS poor. Take that five-pound note—or—I'll + DOUBLE it, get it changed into sovereigns at the station, and hand 'em + round to every man, woman, and child.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Amelyn hesitated. The American girl looked capable of doing what she + said; perhaps it was a national way of almsgiving! She took the note, with + the mental reservation of making a full confession to the rector and Lord + Beverdale. + </p> + <p> + She was right in saying that the poor of Scrooby village were not + interesting. There was very little squalor or degradation; their poverty + seemed not a descent, but a condition to which they had been born; the + faces which Sadie saw were dulled and apathetic rather than sullen or + rebellious; they stood up when Miss Amelyn entered, paying HER the + deference, but taking little note of the pretty butterfly who was with + her, or rather submitting to her frank curiosity with that dull consent of + the poor, as if they had lost even the sense of privacy, or a right to + respect. It seemed to the American girl that their poverty was more + indicated by what they were SATISFIED with than what she thought they + MISSED. It is to be feared that this did not add to Sadie's sympathy; all + the beggars she had seen in America wanted all they could get, and she + felt as if she were confronted with an inferior animal. + </p> + <p> + “There's a wonderful old man lives here,” said Miss Amelyn, as they halted + before a stone and thatch cottage quite on the outskirts of the village. + “We can't call him one of our poor, for he still works, although over + eighty, and it's his pride to keep out of the poorhouse, and, as he calls + it, 'off' the hands of his granddaughters. But we manage to do something + for THEM, and we hope he profits by it. One of them is at the Priory; + they're trying to make a maid of her, but her queer accent—they're + from the north—is against her with the servants. I am afraid we + won't see old Debs, for he's at work again to-day, though the doctor has + warned him.” + </p> + <p> + “Debs! What a funny name!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but as many of these people cannot read or write, the name is + carried by the ear, and not always correctly. Some of the railway navvies, + who come from the north as he does, call him 'Debbers.'” + </p> + <p> + They were obliged to descend into the cottage, which was so low that it + seemed to have sunk into the earth until its drooping eaves of thatch + mingled with the straw heap beside it. Debs was not at home. But his + granddaughter was there, who, after a preliminary “bob,” continued the + stirring of the pot before the fire in tentative silence. + </p> + <p> + “I am sorry to find that your grandfather has gone to work again in spite + of the doctor's orders,” said Miss Amelyn. + </p> + <p> + The girl continued to stir the pot, and then said without looking up, but + as if also continuing a train of aggressive thoughts with her occupation: + “Eay, but 'e's so set oop in 'issen 'ee doan't take orders from nobbut—leastways + doctor. Moinds 'em now moor nor a floy. Says 'ee knaws there nowt wrong + wi' 'is 'eart. Mout be roight—how'siver, sarten sewer, 'is 'EAD'S a' + in a muddle! Toims 'ee goes off stamrin' and starin' at nowt, as if 'ee + a'nt a n'aporth o' sense. How'siver I be doing my duty by 'em—and + 'ere's 'is porritch when a' cooms—'gin a' be sick or maad.” + </p> + <p> + What the American understood of the girl's speech and manner struck her as + having very little sympathy with either her aged relative or her present + visitor. And there was a certain dogged selfish independence about her + that Miss Desborough half liked and half resented. However, Miss Amelyn + did not seem to notice it, and, after leaving a bottle of port for the + grandfather, she took her leave and led Sadie away. As they passed into + the village a carriage, returning to the Priory, filled with their fellow + guests, dashed by, but was instantly pulled up at a word from Lord + Algernon, who leaped from the vehicle, hat in hand, and implored the fair + truant and her companion to join them. + </p> + <p> + “We're just making a tour around Windover Hill, and back to luncheon,” he + said, with a rising color. “We missed you awfully! If we had known you + were so keen on 'good works,' and so early at it, by Jove! we'd have got + up a 'slummin' party,' and all joined!” + </p> + <p> + “And you haven't seen half,” said Lord Beverdale from the box. “Miss + Amelyn's too partial to the village. There's an old drunken retired + poacher somewhere in a hut in Crawley Woods, whom it's death to approach, + except with a large party. There's malignant diphtheria over at the South + Farm, eight down with measles at the keeper's, and an old woman who has + been bedridden for years.” + </p> + <p> + But Miss Desborough was adamant, though sparkling. She thanked him, but + said she had just seen an old woman “who had been lying in bed for twenty + years, and hadn't spoken the truth once!” She proposed “going outside of + Lord Beverdale's own preserves of grain-fed poor,” and starting up her own + game. She would return in time for luncheon—if she could; if not, + she “should annex the gruel of the first kind incapable she met.” + </p> + <p> + Yet, actually, she was far from displeased at being accidentally + discovered by these people while following out her capricious whim of the + morning. One or two elder ladies, who had fought shy of her frocks and her + frankness the evening before, were quite touched now by this butterfly who + was willing to forego the sunlight of society, and soil her pretty wings + on the haunts of the impoverished, with only a single companion,—of + her own sex!—and smiled approvingly. And in her present state of + mind, remembering her companion's timid attitude towards Lord Beverdale's + opinions, she was not above administering this slight snub to him in her + presence. + </p> + <p> + When they had driven away, with many regrets, Miss Amelyn was deeply + concerned. “I am afraid,” she said, with timid conscientiousness, “I have + kept you from going with them. And you must be bored with what you have + seen, I know. I don't believe you really care one bit for it—and you + are only doing it to please me.” + </p> + <p> + “Trot out the rest of your show,” said Sadie promptly, “and we'll wind up + by lunching with the rector.” + </p> + <p> + “He'd be too delighted,” said Miss Amelyn, with disaster written all over + her girlish, truthful face, “but—but—you know—it really + wouldn't be quite right to Lord Beverdale. You're his principal guest—you + know, and—they'd think I had taken you off.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Miss Desborough impetuously, “what's the matter with that inn—the + Red Lion? We can get a sandwich there, I guess. I'm not VERY hungry.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Amelyn looked horrified for a moment, and then laughed; but + immediately became concerned again. “No! listen to me, REALLY now! Let me + finish my round alone! You'll have ample time if you go NOW to reach the + Priory for luncheon. Do, please! It would be ever so much better for + everybody. I feel quite guilty as it is, and I suppose I am already in + Lord Beverdale's black books.” + </p> + <p> + The trouble in the young girl's face was unmistakable, and as it suited + Miss Desborough's purpose just as well to show her independence by + returning, as she had set out, alone, she consented to go. Miss Amelyn + showed her a short cut across the park, and they separated—to meet + at dinner. In this brief fellowship, the American girl had kept a certain + supremacy and half-fascination over the English girl, even while she was + conscious of an invincible character in Miss Amelyn entirely different + from and superior to her own. Certainly there was a difference in the two + peoples. Why else this inherited conscientious reverence for Lord + Beverdale's position, shown by Miss Amelyn, which she, an American alive + to its practical benefits, could not understand? Would Miss Amelyn and + Lord Algernon have made a better match? The thought irritated her, even + while she knew that she herself possessed the young man's affections, the + power to marry him, and, as she believed, kept her own independence in the + matter. + </p> + <p> + As she entered the iron gates at the lower end of the park, and glanced at + the interwoven cipher and crest of the Amelyns still above, she was + conscious that the wind was blowing more chill, and that a few clouds had + gathered. As she walked on down the long winding avenue, the sky became + overcast, and, in one of those strange contrasts of the English climate, + the glory of the whole day went out with the sunshine. The woods suddenly + became wrinkled and gray, the distant hills sombre, the very English turf + beneath her feet grew brown; a mile and a half away, through the opening + of the trees, the west part of the Priory looked a crumbling, ivy-eaten + ruin. A few drops of rain fell. She hurried on. Suddenly she remembered + that the avenue made a long circuit before approaching the house, and that + its lower end, where she was walking, was but a fringe of the park. + Consequently there must be a short cut across some fields and farm + buildings to the back of the park and the Priory. She at once diverged to + the right, presently found a low fence, which she clambered over, and + again found a footpath which led to a stile. Crossing that, she could see + the footpath now led directly to the Priory,—now a grim and austere + looking pile in the suddenly dejected landscape,—and that it was + probably used only by the servants and farmers. A gust of wind brought + some swift needles of rain to her cheek; she could see the sad hills + beyond the Priory already veiling their faces; she gathered her skirts and + ran. The next field was a long one, but beside the further stile was a + small clump of trees, the only ones between her and the park. Hurrying on + to that shelter, she saw that the stile was already occupied by a tall but + bent figure, holding a long stick in his hand, which gave him the + appearance, against the horizon, of the figure of Time leaning on his + scythe. As she came nearer she saw it was, indeed, an old man, half + resting on his rake. He was very rugged and weather-beaten, and although + near the shelter of the trees, apparently unmindful of the rain that was + falling on his bald head, and the limp cap he was holding uselessly in one + hand. He was staring at her, yet apparently unconscious of her presence. A + sudden instinct came upon her—it was “Debs”! + </p> + <p> + She went directly up to him, and with that frank common sense which + ordinarily distinguished her, took his cap from his hand and put it on his + head, grasped his arm firmly, and led him to the shelter of the tree. Then + she wiped the raindrops from his face with her handkerchief, shook out her + own dress and her wet parasol, and, propping her companion against the + tree, said:— + </p> + <p> + “There, Mr. Debs! I've heard of people who didn't know enough to come in + when it rained, but I never met one before.” + </p> + <p> + The old man started, lifted his hairy, sinewy arm, bared to the elbow, and + wiped his bare throat with the dry side of it. Then a look of intelligence—albeit + half aggressive—came into his face. “Wheer beest tha going?” he + asked. + </p> + <p> + Something in his voice struck Sadie like a vague echo. Perhaps it was only + the queer dialect—or some resemblance to his granddaughter's voice. + She looked at him a little more closely as she said:— + </p> + <p> + “To the Priory.” + </p> + <p> + “Whaat?” + </p> + <p> + She pointed with her parasol to the gray pile in the distance. It was + possible that this demented peasant didn't even UNDERSTAND English. + </p> + <p> + “The hall. Oh, ay!” Suddenly his brows knit ominously as he faced her. + “An' wassist tha doin' drest oop in this foinery? Wheer gettist thee that + goawn? Thissen, or thy maester? Nowt even a napron, fit for thy wark as + maaid at serviss; an' parson a gettin' tha plaace at Hall! So thou'lt be + high and moity will tha! thou'lt not walk wi' maaids, but traipse by + thissen like a slut in the toon—dang tha!” + </p> + <p> + Although it was plain to Sadie that the old man, in his wandering + perception, had mistaken her for his granddaughter in service at the + Priory, there was still enough rudeness in his speech for her to have + resented it. But, strange to say, there was a kind of authority in it that + touched her with an uneasiness and repulsion that was stronger than any + other feeling. “I think you have mistaken me for some one else,” she said + hurriedly, yet wondering why she had admitted it, and even irritated at + the admission. “I am a stranger here, a visitor at the Priory. I called + with Miss Amelyn at your cottage, and saw your other granddaughter; that's + how I knew your name.” + </p> + <p> + The old man's face changed. A sad, senile smile of hopeless bewilderment + crept into his hard mouth; he plucked his limp cap from his head and let + it hang submissively in his fingers, as if it were his sole apology. Then + he tried to straighten himself, and said, “Naw offins, miss, naw offins! + If tha knaws mea tha'll knaw I'm grandfeyther to two galls as moight be + tha owern age; tha'll tell 'ee that old Debs at haaty years 'as warked and + niver lost a day as man or boy; has niver coome oopen 'em for n'aporth. + An' 'e'll keep out o' warkus till he doy. An' 'ee's put by enow to by wi' + his own feythers in Lanksheer, an' not liggen aloane in parson's + choorchyard.” + </p> + <p> + It was part of her uneasiness that, scarcely understanding or, indeed, + feeling any interest in these maundering details, she still seemed to have + an odd comprehension of his character and some reminiscent knowledge of + him, as if she were going through the repetition of some unpleasant dream. + Even his wrinkled face was becoming familiar to her. Some weird attraction + was holding her; she wanted to get away from it as much as she wanted to + analyze it. She glanced ostentatiously at the sky, prepared to open her + parasol, and began to edge cautiously away. + </p> + <p> + “Then tha beant from these pearts?” he said suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” she said quickly and emphatically,—“no, I'm an American.” + </p> + <p> + The old man started and moved towards her, eagerly, his keen eyes breaking + through the film that at times obscured them. “'Merrikan! tha baist + 'Merrikan? Then tha knaws ma son John, 'ee war nowt but a bairn when + brether Dick took un to 'Merriky! Naw! Now! that wor fifty years sen!—niver + wroate to his old feyther—niver coomed back, 'Ee wor tall-loike, an' + thea said 'e feavored mea.” He stopped, threw up his head, and with his + skinny fingers drew back his long, straggling locks from his sunken + cheeks, and stared in her face. The quick transition of fascination, + repulsion, shock, and indefinable apprehension made her laugh + hysterically. To her terror he joined in it, and eagerly clasped her + wrists. “Eh, lass! tha knaws John—tha coomes from un to ole + grandfeyther. Who-rr-u! Eay! but tha tho't to fool mea, did tha, lass? + Whoy, I knoawed tha voice, for a' tha foine peacock feathers. So tha be + John's gell coom from Ameriky. Dear! a dear! Coom neaur, lass! let's see + what tha's loike. Eh, but thou'lt kiss tha grandfather, sewerly?” + </p> + <p> + A wild terror and undefined consternation had completely overpowered her! + But she made a desperate effort to free her wrists, and burst out madly:— + </p> + <p> + “Let me go! How dare you! I don't know you or yours! I'm nothing to you or + your kin! My name is Desborough—do you understand—do you hear + me, Mr. Debs?—DESBOROUGH!” + </p> + <p> + At the word the old man's fingers stiffened like steel around her wrists, + as he turned upon her a hard, invincible face. + </p> + <p> + “So thou'lt call thissen Des-borough, wilt tha? Let me tell tha, then, + that 'Debs,' 'Debban,' 'Debbrook,' and 'Des-borough' are all a seame! Ay! + thy feyther and thy feyther's feyther! Thou'lt be a Des-borough, will tha? + Dang tha! and look doon on tha kin, and dress thissen in silks o' shame! + Tell 'ee thou'rt an ass, gell! Don't tha hear? An ass! for all tha bean + John's bairn! An ass! that's what tha beast!” + </p> + <p> + With flashing eyes and burning cheeks she made one more supreme effort, + lifting her arms, freeing her wrists, and throwing the old man staggering + from her. Then she leaped the stile, turned, and fled through the rain. + But before she reached the end of the field she stopped! She had freed + herself—she was stronger than he—what had she to fear? He was + crazy! Yes, he MUST be crazy, and he had insulted her, but he was an old + man—and God knows what! Her heart was beating rapidly, her breath + was hurried, but she ran back to the stile. + </p> + <p> + He was not there. The field sloped away on either side of it. But she + could distinguish nothing in the pouring rain above the wind-swept meadow. + He must have gone home. Relieved for a moment she turned and hurried on + towards the Priory. + </p> + <p> + But at every step she was followed, not by the old man's presence, but by + what he had said to her, which she could not shake off as she had shaken + off his detaining fingers. Was it the ravings of insanity, or had she + stumbled unwittingly upon some secret—was it after all a SECRET? + Perhaps it was something they all knew, or would know later. And she had + come down here for this. For back of her indignation, back even of her + disbelief in his insanity, there was an awful sense of truth! The names he + had flung out, of “Debs,” “Debban,” and “Debbrook” now flashed upon her as + something she had seen before, but had not understood. Until she satisfied + herself of this, she felt she could not live or breathe! She loathed the + Priory, with its austere exclusiveness, as it rose before her; she wished + she had never entered it; but it contained that which she must know, and + know at once! She entered the nearest door and ran up the grand staircase. + Her flushed face and disordered appearance were easily accounted for by + her exposure to the sudden storm. She went to her bedroom, sent her maid + to another room to prepare a change of dress, and sinking down before her + traveling-desk, groped for a document. Ah! there it was—the + expensive toy that she had played with! She hastily ran over its leaves to + the page she already remembered. And there, among the dashes and + perpendicular lines she had jested over last night, on which she had + thought was a collateral branch of the line, stood her father's name and + that of Richard, his uncle, with the bracketed note in red ink, “see + Debbrook, Daybrook, Debbers, and Debs.” Yes! this gaunt, half-crazy, + overworked peasant, content to rake the dead leaves before the rolling + chariots of the Beverdales, was her grandfather; that poorly clad girl in + the cottage, and even the menial in the scullery of this very house that + might be HERS, were her COUSINS! She burst into a laugh, and then refolded + the document and put it away. + </p> + <p> + At luncheon she was radiant and sparkling. Her drenched clothes were an + excuse for a new and ravishing toilette. She had never looked so beautiful + before, and significant glances were exchanged between some of the guests, + who believed that the expected proposal had already come. But those who + were of the carriage party knew otherwise, and of Lord Algernon's + disappointment. Lord Beverdale contented himself with rallying his fair + guest on the becomingness of “good works.” But he continued, “You're + offering a dreadful example to these ladies, Miss Desborough, and I know I + shall never hereafter be able to content them with any frivolous morning + amusement at the Priory. For myself, when I am grown gouty and hideous, I + know I shall bloom again as a district visitor.” + </p> + <p> + Yet under this surface sparkle and nervous exaltation Sadie never lost + consciousness of the gravity of the situation. If her sense of humor + enabled her to see one side of its grim irony; if she experienced a wicked + satisfaction in accepting the admiration and easy confidence of the + high-born guests, knowing that her cousin had assisted in preparing the + meal they were eating, she had never lost sight of the practical effect of + the discovery she had made. And she had come to a final resolution. She + should leave the Priory at once, and abandon all idea of a matrimonial + alliance with its heir! Inconsistent as this might seem to her selfish, + worldly nature, it was nevertheless in keeping with a certain pride and + independence that was in her blood. She did not love Lord Algernon, + neither did she love her grandfather; she was equally willing to sacrifice + either or both; she knew that neither Lord Algernon nor his father would + make her connections an objection, however they might wish to keep the + fact a secret, or otherwise dispose of them by pensions or emigration, but + she could not bear to KNOW IT HERSELF! She never could be happy as the + mistress of Scrooby Priory with that knowledge; she did not idealize it as + a principle! Carefully weighing it by her own practical common sense, she + said to herself that “it wouldn't pay.” The highest independence is often + akin to the lowest selfishness; she did not dream that the same pride + which kept her grandfather from the workhouse and support by his + daughters, and had even kept him from communicating with his own son, now + kept her from acknowledging them, even for the gift of a title and domain. + There was only one question before her: should she stay long enough to + receive the proposal of Lord Algernon, and then decline it? Why should she + not snatch that single feminine joy out of the ashes of her burnt-up + illusion? She knew that an opportunity would be offered that afternoon. + The party were to take tea at Broxby Hall, and Lord Algernon was to drive + her there in his dogcart. Miss Desborough had gone up to her bedroom to + put on a warmer cloak, and had rung twice or thrice impatiently for her + maid. + </p> + <p> + When the girl made her appearance, apologetic, voluble, and excited, Miss + Desborough scarcely listened to her excuses, until a single word suddenly + arrested her attention. It was “old Debs.” + </p> + <p> + “What ARE you talking about?” said Sadie, pausing in the adjustment of her + hat on her brown hair. + </p> + <p> + “Old Debs, miss,—that's what they call him; an old park-keeper, just + found dead in a pool of water in the fields; the grandfather of one of the + servants here; and there's such an excitement in the servants' hall. The + gentlemen all knew it, too, for I heard Lord Algernon say that he was + looking very queer lately, and might have had a fit; and Lord Beverdale + has sent word to the coroner. And only think, the people here are such + fools that they daren't touch or move the poor man, and him lyin' there in + the rain all the time, until the coroner comes!” + </p> + <p> + Miss Desborough had been steadily regarding herself in the glass to see if + she had turned pale. She had. She set her teeth together until the color + partly returned. But she kept her face away from the maid. “That'll do,” + she said quietly. “You can tell me all later. I have some important news + myself, and I may not go out after all. I want you to take a note for me.” + She went to her table, wrote a line in pencil, folded it, scribbled an + address upon it, handed it to the girl, and gently pushed her from the + room. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The consul was lingering on the terrace beside one of the carriages; at a + little distance a groom was holding the nervous thoroughbred of Lord + Algernon's dog-cart. Suddenly he felt a touch on his shoulder, and Miss + Desborough's maid put a note in his hand. It contained only a line:— + </p> + <p> + Please come and see me in the library, but without making any fuss about + it—at once. S. D. + </p> + <p> + The consul glanced around him; no one had apparently noticed the incident. + He slipped back into the house and made his way to the library. It was a + long gallery; at the further end Miss Desborough stood cloaked, veiled, + and coquettishly hatted. She was looking very beautiful and animated. “I + want you to please do me a great favor,” she said, with an adorable smile, + “as your own countrywoman, you know—for the sake of Fourth of July + and Pumpkin Pie and the Old Flag! I don't want to go to this circus + to-day. I am going to leave here to-night! I am! Honest Injin! I want YOU + to manage it. I want you to say that as consul you've received important + news for me: the death of some relative, if you like; or better, something + AFFECTING MY PROPERTY, you know,” with a little satirical laugh. “I guess + that would fetch 'em! So go at once.” + </p> + <p> + “But really, Miss Desborough, do let us talk this over before you decide!” + implored the bewildered consul. “Think what a disappointment to your host + and these ladies. Lord Algernon expects to drive you there; he is already + waiting! The party was got up for you!” Miss Desborough made a slight + grimace. “I mean you ought to sacrifice something—but I trust there + is really nothing serious—to them!” + </p> + <p> + “If YOU do not speak to them, I will!” said Miss Desborough firmly. “If + you say what I tell you, it will come the more plausibly from you. Come! + My mind is made up. One of us must break the news! Shall it be you or I?” + She drew her cloak over her shoulders and made a step forwards. + </p> + <p> + The consul saw she was determined. “Then wait here till I return, but keep + yourself out of sight,” he said, and hurried away. Between the library and + the terrace he conceived a plan. His perplexity lent him a seriousness + which befitted the gravity of the news he had to disclose. “I am sorry to + have to tell you,” he said, taking Lord Beverdale aside, “that I was the + unlucky bearer of some sad news to Miss Desborough this morning, through + my consular letters—some matter concerning the death of a relation + of hers, and some wearisome question of property. I thought that it was of + little importance, and that she would not take it seriously, but I find I + was mistaken. It may even oblige her to catch the London train to-night. I + promised to make her excuses to you for the present, and I'm afraid I must + add my own to them, as she wishes me to stay and advise her in this + matter, which requires some prompt action.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Desborough was right: the magic word “property” changed the slight + annoyance on the earl's face to a sympathetic concern. “Dear me! I trust + it is nothing really serious,” he said. “Of course, you will advise her, + and, by the way, if my solicitor, Withers, who'll be here to-morrow, can + do anything, you know, call him in. I hope she'll be able to see me later. + It could not be a NEAR relation who died, I fancy; she has no brothers or + sisters, I understand.” + </p> + <p> + “A cousin, I think; an old friend,” said the consul hastily. He heard Lord + Beverdale say a few words to his companions, saw with a tinge of remorse a + cloud settle upon Lord Algernon's fresh face, as he appealed in a whisper + to old Lady Mesthyn, who leaned forward from the carriage, and said, “If + the dear child thought I could be of any service, I should only be too + glad to stay with her.” + </p> + <p> + “I knew she would appreciate Lady Mesthyn's sympathy,” said the ingenious + consul quickly, “but I really think the question is more a business one—and”— + </p> + <p> + “Ah, yes,” said the old lady, shaking her head, “it's dreadful, of course, + but we must all think of THAT!” + </p> + <p> + As the carriage drove away, the consul hurried back a little viciously to + his fair countrywoman. “There!” he said, “I have done it! If I have + managed to convey either the idea that you are a penniless orphan, or that + I have official information that you are suspected of a dynamite + conspiracy, don't blame me! And now,” he said, “as I have excused myself + on the ground that I must devote myself to this dreadful business of + yours, perhaps you'll tell me WHAT it really is.” + </p> + <p> + “Not a word more,” said Miss Desborough; “except,” she added,—checking + her smile with a weary gesture,—“except that I want to leave this + dreadful place at once! There! don't ask me any more!” + </p> + <p> + There could be no doubt of the girl's sincerity. Nor was it the + extravagant caprice of a petted idol. What had happened? He might have + believed in a lovers' quarrel, but he knew that she and Lord Algernon + could have had no private interview that evening. He must perforce accept + her silence, yet he could not help saying:— + </p> + <p> + “You seemed to like the place so much last night. I say, you haven't seen + the Priory ghost, have you?” + </p> + <p> + “The Priory ghost,” she said quickly. “What's that?” + </p> + <p> + “The old monk who passes through the cloisters with the sacred oil, the + bell, and the smell of incense whenever any one is to die here. By Jove! + it would have been a good story to tell instead of this cock-and-bull one + about your property. And there WAS a death here to-day. You'd have added + the sibyl's gifts to your other charms.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell me about that old man,” she said, looking past him out of the + window. “I was at his cottage this morning. But, no! first let us go out. + You can take me for a walk, if you like. You see I am all ready, and I'm + just stifling here.” + </p> + <p> + They descended to the terrace together. “Where would you like to go?” he + asked. + </p> + <p> + “To the village. I may want to telegraph, you know.” + </p> + <p> + They turned into the avenue, but Miss Desborough stopped. + </p> + <p> + “Is there not a shorter cut across the fields,” she asked, “over there?” + </p> + <p> + “There is,” said the consul. + </p> + <p> + They both turned into the footpath which led to the farm and stile. After + a pause she said, “Did you ever talk with that poor old man?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you don't know if he really was crazy, as they think.” + </p> + <p> + “No. But they may have thought an old man's forgetfulness of present + things and his habit of communing with the past was insanity. For all that + he was a plucky, independent old fellow, with a grim purpose that was + certainly rational.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose in his independence he would not have taken favors from these + people, or anybody?” + </p> + <p> + “I should think not.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't you think it was just horrid—their leaving him alone in the + rain, when he might have been only in a fit?” + </p> + <p> + “The doctor says he died suddenly of heart disease,” said the consul. “It + might have happened at any moment and without warning.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, that was the coroner's verdict, then,” said Miss Desborough quickly. + </p> + <p> + “The coroner did not think it necessary to have any inquest after Lord + Beverdale's statement. It wouldn't have been very joyous for the Priory + party. And I dare say he thought it might not be very cheerful for YOU.” + </p> + <p> + “How very kind!” said the young girl, with a quick laugh. “But do you know + that it's about the only thing human, original, and striking that has + happened in this place since I've been here! And so unexpected, + considering how comfortably everything is ordered here beforehand.” + </p> + <p> + “Yet you seemed to like that kind of thing very well, last evening,” said + the consul mischievously. + </p> + <p> + “That was last night,” retorted Miss Desborough; “and you know the line, + 'Colors seen by candlelight do not look the same by day.' But I'm going to + be very consistent to-day, for I intend to go over to that poor man's + cottage again, and see if I can be of any service. Will you go with me?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” said the consul, mystified by his companion's extraordinary + conduct, yet apparent coolness of purpose, and hoping for some further + explanation. Was she only an inexperienced flirt who had found herself on + the point of a serious entanglement she had not contemplated? Yet even + then he knew she was clever enough to extricate herself in some other way + than this abrupt and brutal tearing through the meshes. Or was it possible + that she really had any intelligence affecting her property? He reflected + that he knew very little of the Desboroughs, but on the other hand he knew + that Beverdale knew them much better, and was a prudent man. He had no + right to demand her confidence as a reward for his secrecy; he must wait + her pleasure. Perhaps she would still explain; women seldom could resist + the triumph of telling the secret that puzzled others. + </p> + <p> + When they reached the village she halted before the low roof of Debs's + cottage. “I had better go in first,” she said; “you can come in later, and + in the meantime you might go to the station for me and find out the exact + time that the express train leaves for the north.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said the astonished consul, “I thought you were going to London?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Miss Desborough quietly, “I am going to join some friends at + Harrogate.” + </p> + <p> + “But that train goes much earlier than the train south, and—and I'm + afraid Lord Beverdale will not have returned so soon.” + </p> + <p> + “How sad!” said Miss Desborough, with a faint smile, “but we must bear up + under it, and—I'll write him. I will be here until you return.” + </p> + <p> + She turned away and entered the cottage. The granddaughter she had already + seen and her sister, the servant at the Priory, were both chatting + comfortably, but ceased as she entered, and both rose with awkward + respect. There was little to suggest that the body of their grandfather, + already in a rough oak shell, was lying upon trestles beside them. + </p> + <p> + “You have carried out my orders, I see,” said Miss Desborough, laying down + her parasol. + </p> + <p> + “Ay, miss; but it was main haard gettin' et dooan so soon, and et cooast”— + </p> + <p> + “Never mind the cost. I've given you money enough, I think, and if I + haven't, I guess I can give you more.” + </p> + <p> + “Ay, miss! Abbut the pa'son 'ead gi' un a funeral for nowt.” + </p> + <p> + “But I understood you to say,” said Miss Desborough, with an impatient + flash of eye, “that your grandfather wished to be buried with his kindred + in the north?” + </p> + <p> + “Ay, miss,” said the girl apologetically, “an naw 'ees savit th' munny. + Abbut e'd bean tickled 'ad 'ee knowed it! Dear! dear! 'ee niver thowt et + 'ud be gi'en by stranger an' not 'es ownt fammaly.” + </p> + <p> + “For all that, you needn't tell anybody it was given by ME,” said Miss + Desborough. “And you'll be sure to be ready to take the train this + afternoon—without delay.” There was a certain peremptoriness in her + voice very unlike Miss Amelyn's, yet apparently much more effective with + the granddaughter. + </p> + <p> + “Ay, miss. Then, if tha'll excoose mea, I'll go streight to 'oory oop + sexten.” + </p> + <p> + She bustled away. “Now,” said Miss Desborough, turning to the other girl, + “I shall take the same train, and will probably see you on the platform at + York to give my final directions. That's all. Go and see if the gentleman + who came with me has returned from the station.” + </p> + <p> + The girl obeyed. Left entirely alone, Miss Desborough glanced around the + room, and then went quietly up to the unlidded coffin. The repose of death + had softened the hard lines of the old man's mouth and brow into a + resemblance she now more than ever understood. She had stood thus only a + few years before, looking at the same face in a gorgeously inlaid mahogany + casket, smothered amidst costly flowers, and surrounded by friends attired + in all the luxurious trappings of woe; yet it was the same face that was + now rigidly upturned to the bare thatch and rafters of that crumbling + cottage, herself its only companion. She lifted her delicate veil with + both hands, and, stooping down, kissed the hard, cold forehead, without a + tremor. Then she dropped her veil again over her dry eyes, readjusted it + in the little, cheap, black-framed mirror that hung against the wall, and + opened the door as the granddaughter returned. The gentleman was just + coming from the station. + </p> + <p> + “Remember to look out for me at York,” said Miss Desborough, extending her + gloved hand. “Good-by till then.” The young girl respectfully touched the + ends of Miss Desborough's fingers, dropped a curtsy, and Miss Desborough + rejoined the consul. + </p> + <p> + “You have barely time to return to the Priory and see to your luggage,” + said the consul, “if you must go. But let me hope that you have changed + your mind.” + </p> + <p> + “I have not changed my mind,” said Miss Desborough quietly, “and my + baggage is already packed.” After a pause, she said thoughtfully, “I've + been wondering”— + </p> + <p> + “What?” said the consul eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “I've been wondering if people brought up to speak in a certain dialect, + where certain words have their own significance and color, and are part of + their own lives and experience—if, even when they understand another + dialect, they really feel any sympathy with it, or the person who speaks + it?” + </p> + <p> + “Apropos of”—asked the consul. + </p> + <p> + “These people I've just left! I don't think I quite felt with them, and I + guess they didn't feel with me.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said the consul laughingly, “you know that we Americans speak with + a decided dialect of our own, and attach the same occult meaning to it. + Yet, upon my word, I think that Lord Beverdale—or shall I say Lord + Algernon?—would not only understand that American word 'guess' as + you mean it, but would perfectly sympathize with you.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Desborough's eyes sparkled even through her veil as she glanced at + her companion and said, “I GUESS NOT.” + </p> + <p> + As the “tea” party had not yet returned, it fell to the consul to + accompany Miss Desborough and her maid to the station. But here he was + startled to find a collection of villagers upon the platform, gathered + round two young women in mourning, and an ominous-looking box. He mingled + for a moment with the crowd, and then returned to Miss Desborough's side. + </p> + <p> + “Really,” he said, with a concern that was scarcely assumed, “I ought not + to let you go. The omens are most disastrous! You came here to a death; + you are going away with a funeral!” + </p> + <p> + “Then it's high time I took myself off!” said the lady lightly. + </p> + <p> + “Unless, like the ghostly monk, you came here on a mission, and have + fulfilled it.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps I have. Good-by!” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + In spite of the bright and characteristic letter which Miss Desborough + left for her host,—a letter which mingled her peculiar shrewd sense + with her humorous extravagance of expression,—the consul spent a + somewhat uneasy evening under the fire of questions that assailed him in + reference to the fair deserter. But he kept loyal faith with her, adhering + even to the letter of her instructions, and only once was goaded into more + active mendacity. The conversation had turned upon “Debs,” and the consul + had remarked on the singularity of the name. A guest from the north + observed, however, that the name was undoubtedly a contraction. “Possibly + it might have been 'Debborough,' or even the same name as our fair + friend.” + </p> + <p> + “But didn't Miss Desborough tell you last night that she had been hunting + up her people, with a family tree, or something like that?” said Lord + Algernon eagerly. “I just caught a word here and there, for you were both + laughing.” + </p> + <p> + The consul smiled blandly. “You may well say so, for it was all the most + delightful piece of pure invention and utter extravagance. It would have + amused her still more if she had thought you were listening and took it + seriously!” + </p> + <p> + “Of course; I see!” said the young fellow, with a laugh and a slight rise + of color. “I knew she was taking some kind of a rise out of YOU, and that + remark reminded me of it.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, within a year, Lord Algernon was happily married to the + daughter of a South African millionaire, whose bridal offerings alone + touched the sum of half a million. It was also said that the mother was + “impossible” and the father “unspeakable,” the relations + “inextinguishable;” but the wedding was an “occasion,” and in the + succeeding year of festivity it is presumed that the names of “Debs” and + “Desborough” were alike forgotten. + </p> + <p> + But they existed still in a little hamlet near the edge of a bleak + northern moor, where they were singularly exalted on a soaring shaft of + pure marble above the submerged and moss-grown tombstones of a simple + country churchyard. So great was the contrast between the modern and + pretentious monument and the graves of the humbler forefathers of the + village, that even the Americans who chanced to visit it were shocked at + what they believed was the ostentatious and vulgar pride of one of their + own countrywomen. For on its pedestal was inscribed:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Sacred to the Memory + of + JOHN DEBS DESBOROUGH, + Formerly of this parish, + Who departed this life October 20th, 1892, + At Scrooby Priory, + At the age of eighty-two years. + This monument was erected as a loving testimony + by his granddaughter, + Sadie Desborough, of New York, U. S. A. + + “And evening brings us home.” + </pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SALOMY JANE'S KISS + </h2> + <p> + Only one shot had been fired. It had gone wide of its mark,—the + ringleader of the Vigilantes,—and had left Red Pete, who had fired + it, covered by their rifles and at their mercy. For his hand had been + cramped by hard riding, and his eye distracted by their sudden onset, and + so the inevitable end had come. He submitted sullenly to his captors; his + companion fugitive and horse-thief gave up the protracted struggle with a + feeling not unlike relief. Even the hot and revengeful victors were + content. They had taken their men alive. At any time during the long chase + they could have brought them down by a rifle shot, but it would have been + unsportsmanlike, and have ended in a free fight, instead of an example. + And, for the matter of that, their doom was already sealed. Their end, by + a rope and a tree, although not sanctified by law, would have at least the + deliberation of justice. It was the tribute paid by the Vigilantes to that + order which they had themselves disregarded in the pursuit and capture. + Yet this strange logic of the frontier sufficed them, and gave a certain + dignity to the climax. + </p> + <p> + “Ef you've got anything to say to your folks, say it NOW, and say it + quick,” said the ringleader. + </p> + <p> + Red Pete glanced around him. He had been run to earth at his own cabin in + the clearing, whence a few relations and friends, mostly women and + children, non-combatants, had outflowed, gazing vacantly at the twenty + Vigilantes who surrounded them. All were accustomed to scenes of violence, + blood-feud, chase, and hardship; it was only the suddenness of the onset + and its quick result that had surprised them. They looked on with dazed + curiosity and some disappointment; there had been no fight to speak of—no + spectacle! A boy, nephew of Red Pete, got upon the rain-barrel to view the + proceedings more comfortably; a tall, handsome, lazy Kentucky girl, a + visiting neighbor, leaned against the doorpost, chewing gum. Only a yellow + hound was actively perplexed. He could not make out if a hunt were just + over or beginning, and ran eagerly backwards and forwards, leaping + alternately upon the captives and the captors. + </p> + <p> + The ringleader repeated his challenge. Red Pete gave a reckless laugh and + looked at his wife. + </p> + <p> + At which Mrs. Red Pete came forward. It seemed that she had much to say, + incoherently, furiously, vindictively, to the ringleader. His soul would + roast in hell for that day's work! He called himself a man, skunkin' in + the open and afraid to show himself except with a crowd of other “Kiyi's” + around a house of women and children. Heaping insult upon insult, + inveighing against his low blood, his ancestors, his dubious origin, she + at last flung out a wild taunt of his invalid wife, the insult of a woman + to a woman, until his white face grew rigid, and only that + Western-American fetich of the sanctity of sex kept his twitching fingers + from the lock of his rifle. Even her husband noticed it, and with a + half-authoritative “Let up on that, old gal,” and a pat of his freed left + hand on her back, took his last parting. The ringleader, still white under + the lash of the woman's tongue, turned abruptly to the second captive. + “And if YOU'VE got anybody to say 'good-by' to, now's your chance.” + </p> + <p> + The man looked up. Nobody stirred or spoke. He was a stranger there, being + a chance confederate picked up by Red Pete, and known to no one. Still + young, but an outlaw from his abandoned boyhood, of which father and + mother were only a forgotten dream, he loved horses and stole them, fully + accepting the frontier penalty of life for the interference with that + animal on which a man's life so often depended. But he understood the good + points of a horse, as was shown by the ones he bestrode—until a few + days before the property of Judge Boompointer. This was his sole + distinction. + </p> + <p> + The unexpected question stirred him for a moment out of the attitude of + reckless indifference, for attitude it was, and a part of his profession. + But it may have touched him that at that moment he was less than his + companion and his virago wife. However, he only shook his head. As he did + so his eye casually fell on the handsome girl by the doorpost, who was + looking at him. The ringleader, too, may have been touched by his complete + loneliness, for HE hesitated. At the same moment he saw that the girl was + looking at his friendless captive. + </p> + <p> + A grotesque idea struck him. + </p> + <p> + “Salomy Jane, ye might do worse than come yere and say 'good-by' to a + dying man, and him a stranger,” he said. + </p> + <p> + There seemed to be a subtle stroke of poetry and irony in this that + equally struck the apathetic crowd. It was well known that Salomy Jane + Clay thought no small potatoes of herself, and always held off the local + swain with a lazy nymph-like scorn. Nevertheless, she slowly disengaged + herself from the doorpost, and, to everybody's astonishment, lounged with + languid grace and outstretched hand towards the prisoner. The color came + into the gray reckless mask which the doomed man wore as her right hand + grasped his left, just loosed by his captors. Then she paused; her shy, + fawn-like eyes grew bold, and fixed themselves upon him. She took the + chewing-gum from her mouth, wiped her red lips with the back of her hand, + by a sudden lithe spring placed her foot on his stirrup, and, bounding to + the saddle, threw her arms about his neck and pressed a kiss upon his + lips. + </p> + <p> + They remained thus for a hushed moment—the man on the threshold of + death, the young woman in the fullness of youth and beauty—linked + together. Then the crowd laughed; in the audacious effrontery of the + girl's act the ultimate fate of the two men was forgotten. She slipped + languidly to the ground; SHE was the focus of all eyes,—she only! + The ringleader saw it and his opportunity. He shouted: “Time's up—Forward!” + urged his horse beside his captives, and the next moment the whole + cavalcade was sweeping over the clearing into the darkening woods. + </p> + <p> + Their destination was Sawyer's Crossing, the headquarters of the + committee, where the council was still sitting, and where both culprits + were to expiate the offense of which that council had already found them + guilty. They rode in great and breathless haste,—a haste in which, + strangely enough, even the captives seemed to join. That haste possibly + prevented them from noticing the singular change which had taken place in + the second captive since the episode of the kiss. His high color remained, + as if it had burned through his mask of indifference; his eyes were quick, + alert, and keen, his mouth half open as if the girl's kiss still lingered + there. And that haste had made them careless, for the horse of the man who + led him slipped in a gopher-hole, rolled over, unseated his rider, and + even dragged the bound and helpless second captive from Judge + Boompointer's favorite mare. In an instant they were all on their feet + again, but in that supreme moment the second captive felt the cords which + bound his arms had slipped to his wrists. By keeping his elbows to his + sides, and obliging the others to help him mount, it escaped their notice. + By riding close to his captors, and keeping in the crush of the throng, he + further concealed the accident, slowly working his hands downwards out of + his bonds. + </p> + <p> + Their way lay through a sylvan wilderness, mid-leg deep in ferns, whose + tall fronds brushed their horses' sides in their furious gallop and + concealed the flapping of the captive's loosened cords. The peaceful + vista, more suggestive of the offerings of nymph and shepherd than of + human sacrifice, was in a strange contrast to this whirlwind rush of + stern, armed men. The westering sun pierced the subdued light and the + tremor of leaves with yellow lances; birds started into song on blue and + dove-like wings, and on either side of the trail of this vengeful storm + could be heard the murmur of hidden and tranquil waters. In a few moments + they would be on the open ridge, whence sloped the common turnpike to + “Sawyer's,” a mile away. It was the custom of returning cavalcades to take + this hill at headlong speed, with shouts and cries that heralded their + coming. They withheld the latter that day, as inconsistent with their + dignity; but, emerging from the wood, swept silently like an avalanche + down the slope. They were well under way, looking only to their horses, + when the second captive slipped his right arm from the bonds and succeeded + in grasping the reins that lay trailing on the horse's neck. A sudden + vaquero jerk, which the well-trained animal understood, threw him on his + haunches with his forelegs firmly planted on the slope. The rest of the + cavalcade swept on; the man who was leading the captive's horse by the + riata, thinking only of another accident, dropped the line to save himself + from being dragged backwards from his horse. The captive wheeled, and the + next moment was galloping furiously up the slope. + </p> + <p> + It was the work of a moment; a trained horse and an experienced hand. The + cavalcade had covered nearly fifty yards before they could pull up; the + freed captive had covered half that distance uphill. The road was so + narrow that only two shots could be fired, and these broke dust two yards + ahead of the fugitive. They had not dared to fire low; the horse was the + more valuable animal. The fugitive knew this in his extremity also, and + would have gladly taken a shot in his own leg to spare that of his horse. + Five men were detached to recapture or kill him. The latter seemed + inevitable. But he had calculated his chances; before they could reload he + had reached the woods again; winding in and out between the pillared tree + trunks, he offered no mark. They knew his horse was superior to their own; + at the end of two hours they returned, for he had disappeared without + track or trail. The end was briefly told in the “Sierra Record:”— + </p> + <p> + “Red Pete, the notorious horse-thief, who had so long eluded justice, was + captured and hung by the Sawyer's Crossing Vigilantes last week; his + confederate, unfortunately, escaped on a valuable horse belonging to Judge + Boompointer. The judge had refused one thousand dollars for the horse only + a week before. As the thief, who is still at large, would find it + difficult to dispose of so valuable an animal without detection, the + chances are against either of them turning up again.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Salomy Jane watched the cavalcade until it had disappeared. Then she + became aware that her brief popularity had passed. Mrs. Red Pete, in + stormy hysterics, had included her in a sweeping denunciation of the whole + universe, possibly for simulating an emotion in which she herself was + deficient. The other women hated her for her momentary exaltation above + them; only the children still admired her as one who had undoubtedly + “canoodled” with a man “a-going to be hung”—a daring flight beyond + their wildest ambition. Salomy Jane accepted the change with charming + unconcern. She put on her yellow nankeen sunbonnet,—a hideous affair + that would have ruined any other woman, but which only enhanced the + piquancy of her fresh brunette skin,—tied the strings, letting the + blue-black braids escape below its frilled curtain behind, jumped on her + mustang with a casual display of agile ankles in shapely white stockings, + whistled to the hound, and waving her hand with a “So long, sonny!” to the + lately bereft but admiring nephew, flapped and fluttered away in her short + brown holland gown. + </p> + <p> + Her father's house was four miles distant. Contrasted with the cabin she + had just quitted, it was a superior dwelling, with a long “lean-to” at the + rear, which brought the eaves almost to the ground and made it look like a + low triangle. It had a long barn and cattle sheds, for Madison Clay was a + “great” stock-raiser and the owner of a “quarter section.” It had a + sitting-room and a parlor organ, whose transportation thither had been a + marvel of “packing.” These things were supposed to give Salomy Jane an + undue importance, but the girl's reserve and inaccessibility to local + advances were rather the result of a cool, lazy temperament and the + preoccupation of a large, protecting admiration for her father, for some + years a widower. For Mr. Madison Clay's life had been threatened in one or + two feuds,—it was said, not without cause,—and it is possible + that the pathetic spectacle of her father doing his visiting with a + shotgun may have touched her closely and somewhat prejudiced her against + the neighboring masculinity. The thought that cattle, horses, and “quarter + section” would one day be hers did not disturb her calm. As for Mr. Clay, + he accepted her as housewifely, though somewhat “interfering,” and, being + one of “his own womankind,” therefore not without some degree of merit. + </p> + <p> + “Wot's this yer I'm hearin' of your doin's over at Red Pete's? + Honeyfoglin' with a horse-thief, eh?” said Mr. Clay two days later at + breakfast. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon you heard about the straight thing, then,” said Salomy Jane + unconcernedly, without looking round. + </p> + <p> + “What do you kalkilate Rube will say to it? What are you goin' to tell + HIM?” said Mr. Clay sarcastically. + </p> + <p> + “Rube,” or Reuben Waters, was a swain supposed to be favored particularly + by Mr. Clay. Salomy Jane looked up. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell him that when HE'S on his way to be hung, I'll kiss him,—not + till then,” said the young lady brightly. + </p> + <p> + This delightful witticism suited the paternal humor, and Mr. Clay smiled; + but, nevertheless, he frowned a moment afterwards. + </p> + <p> + “But this yer hoss-thief got away arter all, and that's a hoss of a + different color,” he said grimly. + </p> + <p> + Salomy Jane put down her knife and fork. This was certainly a new and + different phase of the situation. She had never thought of it before, and, + strangely enough, for the first time she became interested in the man. + “Got away?” she repeated. “Did they let him off?” + </p> + <p> + “Not much,” said her father briefly. “Slipped his cords, and going down + the grade pulled up short, just like a vaquero agin a lassoed bull, almost + draggin' the man leadin' him off his hoss, and then skyuted up the grade. + For that matter, on that hoss o' Judge Boompointer's he mout have dragged + the whole posse of 'em down on their knees ef he liked! Sarved 'em right, + too. Instead of stringin' him up afore the door, or shootin' him on sight, + they must allow to take him down afore the hull committee 'for an + example.' 'Example' be blowed! Ther' 's example enough when some stranger + comes unbeknownst slap onter a man hanged to a tree and plugged full of + holes. THAT'S an example, and HE knows what it means. Wot more do ye want? + But then those Vigilantes is allus clingin' and hangin' onter some mere + scrap o' the law they're pretendin' to despise. It makes me sick! Why, + when Jake Myers shot your ole Aunt Viney's second husband, and I laid in + wait for Jake afterwards in the Butternut Hollow, did I tie him to his + hoss and fetch him down to your Aunt Viney's cabin 'for an example' before + I plugged him? No!” in deep disgust. “No! Why, I just meandered through + the wood, careless-like, till he comes out, and I just rode up to him, and + I said”— + </p> + <p> + But Salomy Jane had heard her father's story before. Even one's dearest + relatives are apt to become tiresome in narration. “I know, dad,” she + interrupted; “but this yer man,—this hoss-thief,—did HE get + clean away without gettin' hurt at all?” + </p> + <p> + “He did, and unless he's fool enough to sell the hoss he kin keep away, + too. So ye see, ye can't ladle out purp stuff about a 'dyin' stranger' to + Rube. He won't swaller it.” + </p> + <p> + “All the same, dad,” returned the girl cheerfully, “I reckon to say it, + and say MORE; I'll tell him that ef HE manages to get away too, I'll marry + him—there! But ye don't ketch Rube takin' any such risks in gettin' + ketched, or in gettin' away arter!” + </p> + <p> + Madison Clay smiled grimly, pushed back his chair, rose, dropped a + perfunctory kiss on his daughter's hair, and, taking his shotgun from the + corner, departed on a peaceful Samaritan mission to a cow who had dropped + a calf in the far pasture. Inclined as he was to Reuben's wooing from his + eligibility as to property, he was conscious that he was sadly deficient + in certain qualities inherent in the Clay family. It certainly would be a + kind of mesalliance. + </p> + <p> + Left to herself, Salomy Jane stared a long while at the coffee-pot, and + then called the two squaws who assisted her in her household duties, to + clear away the things while she went up to her own room to make her bed. + Here she was confronted with a possible prospect of that proverbial bed + she might be making in her willfulness, and on which she must lie, in the + photograph of a somewhat serious young man of refined features—Reuben + Waters—stuck in her window-frame. Salomy Jane smiled over her last + witticism regarding him and enjoyed, it, like your true humorist, and + then, catching sight of her own handsome face in the little mirror, smiled + again. But wasn't it funny about that horse-thief getting off after all? + Good Lordy! Fancy Reuben hearing he was alive and going round with that + kiss of hers set on his lips! She laughed again, a little more + abstractedly. And he had returned it like a man, holding her tight and + almost breathless, and he going to be hung the next minute! Salomy Jane + had been kissed at other times, by force, chance, or stratagem. In a + certain ingenuous forfeit game of the locality known as “I'm a-pinin',” + many had “pined” for a “sweet kiss” from Salomy Jane, which she had + yielded in a sense of honor and fair play. She had never been kissed like + this before—she would never again; and yet the man was alive! And + behold, she could see in the mirror that she was blushing! + </p> + <p> + She should hardly know him again. A young man with very bright eyes, a + flushed and sunburnt cheek, a kind of fixed look in the face, and no + beard; no, none that she could feel. Yet he was not at all like Reuben, + not a bit. She took Reuben's picture from the window, and laid it on her + workbox. And to think she did not even know this young man's name! That + was queer. To be kissed by a man whom she might never know! Of course he + knew hers. She wondered if he remembered it and her. But of course he was + so glad to get off with his life that he never thought of anything else. + Yet she did not give more than four or five minutes to these speculations, + and, like a sensible girl, thought of something else. Once again, however, + in opening the closet, she found the brown holland gown she had worn on + the day before; thought it very unbecoming, and regretted that she had not + worn her best gown on her visit to Red Pete's cottage. On such an occasion + she really might have been more impressive. + </p> + <p> + When her father came home that night she asked him the news. No, they had + NOT captured the second horse-thief, who was still at large. Judge + Boompointer talked of invoking the aid of the despised law. It remained, + then, to see whether the horse-thief was fool enough to try to get rid of + the animal. Red Pete's body had been delivered to his widow. Perhaps it + would only be neighborly for Salomy Jane to ride over to the funeral. But + Salomy Jane did not take to the suggestion kindly, nor yet did she explain + to her father that, as the other man was still living, she did not care to + undergo a second disciplining at the widow's hands. Nevertheless, she + contrasted her situation with that of the widow with a new and singular + satisfaction. It might have been Red Pete who had escaped. But he had not + the grit of the nameless one. She had already settled his heroic quality. + </p> + <p> + “Ye ain't harkenin' to me, Salomy.” + </p> + <p> + Salomy Jane started. + </p> + <p> + “Here I'm askin' ye if ye've see that hound Phil Larrabee sneaking by yer + today?” + </p> + <p> + Salomy Jane had not. But she became interested and self-reproachful, for + she knew that Phil Larrabee was one of her father's enemies. “He wouldn't + dare to go by here unless he knew you were out,” she said quickly. + </p> + <p> + “That's what gets me,” he said, scratching his grizzled head. “I've been + kind o' thinkin' o' him all day, and one of them Chinamen said he saw him + at Sawyer's Crossing. He was a kind of friend o' Pete's wife. That's why I + thought yer might find out ef he'd been there.” Salomy Jane grew more + self-reproachful at her father's self-interest in her “neighborliness.” + “But that ain't all,” continued Mr. Clay. “Thar was tracks over the far + pasture that warn't mine. I followed them, and they went round and round + the house two or three times, ez ef they mout hev bin prowlin', and then I + lost 'em in the woods again. It's just like that sneakin' hound Larrabee + to hev bin lyin' in wait for me and afraid to meet a man fair and square + in the open.” + </p> + <p> + “You just lie low, dad, for a day or two more, and let me do a little + prowlin',” said the girl, with sympathetic indignation in her dark eyes. + “Ef it's that skunk, I'll spot him soon enough and let you know whar he's + hiding.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll just stay where ye are, Salomy,” said her father decisively. “This + ain't no woman's work—though I ain't sayin' you haven't got more + head for it than some men I know.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, that night, after her father had gone to bed, Salomy Jane + sat by the open window of the sitting-room in an apparent attitude of + languid contemplation, but alert and intent of eye and ear. It was a fine + moonlit night. Two pines near the door, solitary pickets of the serried + ranks of distant forest, cast long shadows like paths to the cottage, and + sighed their spiced breath in the windows. For there was no frivolity of + vine or flower round Salomy Jane's bower. The clearing was too recent, the + life too practical for vanities like these. But the moon added a vague + elusiveness to everything, softened the rigid outlines of the sheds, gave + shadows to the lidless windows, and touched with merciful indirectness the + hideous debris of refuse gravel and the gaunt scars of burnt vegetation + before the door. Even Salomy Jane was affected by it, and exhaled + something between a sigh and a yawn with the breath of the pines. Then she + suddenly sat upright. + </p> + <p> + Her quick ear had caught a faint “click, click,” in the direction of the + wood; her quicker instinct and rustic training enabled her to determine + that it was the ring of a horse's shoe on flinty ground; her knowledge of + the locality told her it came from the spot where the trail passed over an + outcrop of flint scarcely a quarter of a mile from where she sat, and + within the clearing. It was no errant “stock,” for the foot was shod with + iron; it was a mounted trespasser by night, and boded no good to a man + like Clay. + </p> + <p> + She rose, threw her shawl over her head, more for disguise than shelter, + and passed out of the door. A sudden impulse made her seize her father's + shotgun from the corner where it stood,—not that she feared any + danger to herself, but that it was an excuse. She made directly for the + wood, keeping in the shadow of the pines as long as she could. At the + fringe she halted; whoever was there must pass her before reaching the + house. + </p> + <p> + Then there seemed to be a suspense of all nature. Everything was deadly + still—even the moonbeams appeared no longer tremulous; soon there + was a rustle as of some stealthy animal among the ferns, and then a + dismounted man stepped into the moonlight. It was the horse-thief—the + man she had kissed! + </p> + <p> + For a wild moment a strange fancy seized her usually sane intellect and + stirred her temperate blood. The news they had told her was NOT true; he + had been hung, and this was his ghost! He looked as white and spirit-like + in the moonlight, dressed in the same clothes, as when she saw him last. + He had evidently seen her approaching, and moved quickly to meet her. But + in his haste he stumbled slightly; she reflected suddenly that ghosts did + not stumble, and a feeling of relief came over her. And it was no assassin + of her father that had been prowling around—only this unhappy + fugitive. A momentary color came into her cheek; her coolness and + hardihood returned; it was with a tinge of sauciness in her voice that she + said:— + </p> + <p> + “I reckoned you were a ghost.” + </p> + <p> + “I mout have been,” he said, looking at her fixedly; “but I reckon I'd + have come back here all the same.” + </p> + <p> + “It's a little riskier comin' back alive,” she said, with a levity that + died on her lips, for a singular nervousness, half fear and half + expectation, was beginning to take the place of her relief of a moment + ago. “Then it was YOU who was prowlin' round and makin' tracks in the far + pasture?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; I came straight here when I got away.” + </p> + <p> + She felt his eyes were burning her, but did not dare to raise her own. + “Why,” she began, hesitated, and ended vaguely. “HOW did you get here?” + </p> + <p> + “You helped me!” + </p> + <p> + “I?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. That kiss you gave me put life into me—gave me strength to get + away. I swore to myself I'd come back and thank you, alive or dead.” + </p> + <p> + Every word he said she could have anticipated, so plain the situation + seemed to her now. And every word he said she knew was the truth. Yet her + cool common sense struggled against it. + </p> + <p> + “What's the use of your escaping, ef you're comin' back here to be ketched + again?” she said pertly. + </p> + <p> + He drew a little nearer to her, but seemed to her the more awkward as she + resumed her self-possession. His voice, too, was broken, as if by + exhaustion, as he said, catching his breath at intervals:— + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell you. You did more for me than you think. You made another man + o' me. I never had a man, woman, or child do to me what you did. I never + had a friend—only a pal like Red Pete, who picked me up 'on shares.' + I want to quit this yer—what I'm doin'. I want to begin by doin' the + square thing to you”—He stopped, breathed hard, and then said + brokenly, “My hoss is over thar, staked out. I want to give him to you. + Judge Boompointer will give you a thousand dollars for him. I ain't lyin'; + it's God's truth! I saw it on the handbill agin a tree. Take him, and I'll + get away afoot. Take him. It's the only thing I can do for you, and I know + it don't half pay for what you did. Take it; your father can get a reward + for you, if you can't.” + </p> + <p> + Such were the ethics of this strange locality that neither the man who + made the offer nor the girl to whom it was made was struck by anything + that seemed illogical or indelicate, or at all inconsistent with justice + or the horse-thief's real conversion. Salomy Jane nevertheless dissented, + from another and weaker reason. + </p> + <p> + “I don't want your hoss, though I reckon dad might; but you're just + starvin'. I'll get suthin'.” She turned towards the house. + </p> + <p> + “Say you'll take the hoss first,” he said, grasping her hand. At the touch + she felt herself coloring and struggled, expecting perhaps another kiss. + But he dropped her hand. She turned again with a saucy gesture, said, + “Hol' on; I'll come right back,” and slipped away, the mere shadow of a + coy and flying nymph in the moonlight, until she reached the house. + </p> + <p> + Here she not only procured food and whiskey, but added a long dust-coat + and hat of her father's to her burden. They would serve as a disguise for + him and hide that heroic figure, which she thought everybody must now know + as she did. Then she rejoined him breathlessly. But he put the food and + whiskey aside. + </p> + <p> + “Listen,” he said; “I've turned the hoss into your corral. You'll find him + there in the morning, and no one will know but that he got lost and joined + the other hosses.” + </p> + <p> + Then she burst out. “But you—YOU—what will become of you? + You'll be ketched!” + </p> + <p> + “I'll manage to get away,” he said in a low voice, “ef—ef”— + </p> + <p> + “Ef what?” she said tremblingly. “Ef you'll put the heart in me again,—as + you did!” he gasped. + </p> + <p> + She tried to laugh—to move away. She could do neither. Suddenly he + caught her in his arms, with a long kiss, which she returned again and + again. Then they stood embraced as they had embraced two days before, but + no longer the same. For the cool, lazy Salomy Jane had been transformed + into another woman—a passionate, clinging savage. Perhaps something + of her father's blood had surged within her at that supreme moment. The + man stood erect and determined. + </p> + <p> + “Wot's your name?” she whispered quickly. It was a woman's quickest way of + defining her feelings. + </p> + <p> + “Dart.” + </p> + <p> + “Yer first name?” + </p> + <p> + “Jack.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me go now, Jack. Lie low in the woods till to-morrow sunup. I'll come + again.” + </p> + <p> + He released her. Yet she lingered a moment. “Put on those things,” she + said, with a sudden happy flash of eyes and teeth, “and lie close till I + come.” And then she sped away home. + </p> + <p> + But midway up the distance she felt her feet going slower, and something + at her heartstrings seemed to be pulling her back. She stopped, turned, + and glanced to where he had been standing. Had she seen him then, she + might have returned. But he had disappeared. She gave her first sigh, and + then ran quickly again. It must be nearly ten o'clock! It was not very + long to morning! + </p> + <p> + She was within a few steps of her own door, when the sleeping woods and + silent air appeared to suddenly awake with a sharp “crack!” + </p> + <p> + She stopped, paralyzed. Another “crack!” followed, that echoed over to the + far corral. She recalled herself instantly and dashed off wildly to the + woods again. + </p> + <p> + As she ran she thought of one thing only. He had been “dogged” by one of + his old pursuers and attacked. But there were two shots, and he was + unarmed. Suddenly she remembered that she had left her father's gun + standing against the tree where they were talking. Thank God! she may + again have saved him. She ran to the tree; the gun was gone. She ran + hither and thither, dreading at every step to fall upon his lifeless body. + A new thought struck her; she ran to the corral. The horse was not there! + He must have been able to regain it, and escaped, AFTER the shots had been + fired. She drew a long breath of relief, but it was caught up in an + apprehension of alarm. Her father, awakened from his sleep by the shots, + was hurriedly approaching her. + </p> + <p> + “What's up now, Salomy Jane?” he demanded excitedly. + </p> + <p> + “Nothin',” said the girl with an effort. “Nothin', at least, that I can + find.” She was usually truthful because fearless, and a lie stuck in her + throat; but she was no longer fearless, thinking of HIM. “I wasn't abed; + so I ran out as soon as I heard the shots fired,” she answered in return + to his curious gaze. + </p> + <p> + “And you've hid my gun somewhere where it can't be found,” he said + reproachfully. “Ef it was that sneak Larrabee, and he fired them shots to + lure me out, he might have potted me, without a show, a dozen times in the + last five minutes.” + </p> + <p> + She had not thought since of her father's enemy! It might indeed have been + he who had attacked Jack. But she made a quick point of the suggestion. + “Run in, dad, run in and find the gun; you've got no show out here without + it.” She seized him by the shoulders from behind, shielding him from the + woods, and hurried him, half expostulating, half struggling, to the house. + </p> + <p> + But there no gun was to be found. It was strange; it must have been + mislaid in some corner! Was he sure he had not left it in the barn? But no + matter now. The danger was over; the Larrabee trick had failed; he must go + to bed now, and in the morning they would make a search together. At the + same time she had inwardly resolved to rise before him and make another + search of the wood, and perhaps—fearful joy as she recalled her + promise!—find Jack alive and well, awaiting her! + </p> + <p> + Salomy Jane slept little that night, nor did her father. But towards + morning he fell into a tired man's slumber until the sun was well up the + horizon. Far different was it with his daughter: she lay with her face to + the window, her head half lifted to catch every sound, from the creaking + of the sun-warped shingles above her head to the far-off moan of the + rising wind in the pine trees. Sometimes she fell into a breathless, + half-ecstatic trance, living over every moment of the stolen interview; + feeling the fugitive's arm still around her, his kisses on her lips; + hearing his whispered voice in her ears—the birth of her new life! + This was followed again by a period of agonizing dread—that he might + even then be lying, his life ebbing away, in the woods, with her name on + his lips, and she resting here inactive, until she half started from her + bed to go to his succor. And this went on until a pale opal glow came into + the sky, followed by a still paler pink on the summit of the white + Sierras, when she rose and hurriedly began to dress. Still so sanguine was + her hope of meeting him, that she lingered yet a moment to select the + brown holland skirt and yellow sunbonnet she had worn when she first saw + him. And she had only seen him twice! Only TWICE! It would be cruel, too + cruel, not to see him again! + </p> + <p> + She crept softly down the stairs, listening to the long-drawn breathing of + her father in his bedroom, and then, by the light of a guttering candle, + scrawled a note to him, begging him not to trust himself out of the house + until she returned from her search, and leaving the note open on the + table, swiftly ran out into the growing day. + </p> + <p> + Three hours afterwards Mr. Madison Clay awoke to the sound of loud + knocking. At first this forced itself upon his consciousness as his + daughter's regular morning summons, and was responded to by a grunt of + recognition and a nestling closer in the blankets. Then he awoke with a + start and a muttered oath, remembering the events of last night, and his + intention to get up early, and rolled out of bed. Becoming aware by this + time that the knocking was at the outer door, and hearing the shout of a + familiar voice, he hastily pulled on his boots, his jean trousers, and + fastening a single suspender over his shoulder as he clattered downstairs, + stood in the lower room. The door was open, and waiting upon the threshold + was his kinsman, an old ally in many a blood-feud—Breckenridge Clay! + </p> + <p> + “You ARE a cool one, Mad!” said the latter in half-admiring indignation. + </p> + <p> + “What's up?” said the bewildered Madison. + </p> + <p> + “YOU ought to be, and scootin' out o' this,” said Breckenridge grimly. + “It's all very well to 'know nothin';' but here Phil Larrabee's friends + hev just picked him up, drilled through with slugs and deader nor a crow, + and now they're lettin' loose Larrabee's two half-brothers on you. And you + must go like a derned fool and leave these yer things behind you in the + bresh,” he went on querulously, lifting Madison Clay's dust-coat, hat, and + shotgun from his horse, which stood saddled at the door. “Luckily I picked + them up in the woods comin' here. Ye ain't got more than time to get over + the state line and among your folks thar afore they'll be down on you. + Hustle, old man! What are you gawkin' and starin' at?” + </p> + <p> + Madison Clay had stared amazed and bewildered—horror-stricken. The + incidents of the past night for the first time flashed upon him clearly—hopelessly! + The shot; his finding Salomy Jane alone in the woods; her confusion and + anxiety to rid herself of him; the disappearance of the shotgun; and now + this new discovery of the taking of his hat and coat for a disguise! SHE + had killed Phil Larrabee in that disguise, after provoking his first + harmless shot! She, his own child, Salomy Jane, had disgraced herself by a + man's crime; had disgraced him by usurping his right, and taking a mean + advantage, by deceit, of a foe! + </p> + <p> + “Gimme that gun,” he said hoarsely. + </p> + <p> + Breckenridge handed him the gun in wonder and slowly gathering suspicion. + Madison examined nipple and muzzle; one barrel had been discharged. It was + true! The gun dropped from his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Look here, old man,” said Breckenridge, with a darkening face, “there's + bin no foul play here. Thar's bin no hiring of men, no deputy to do this + job. YOU did it fair and square—yourself?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, by God!” burst out Madison Clay in a hoarse voice. “Who says I + didn't?” + </p> + <p> + Reassured, yet believing that Madison Clay had nerved himself for the act + by an over-draught of whiskey, which had affected his memory, Breckenridge + said curtly, “Then wake up and 'lite' out, ef ye want me to stand by you.” + </p> + <p> + “Go to the corral and pick me out a hoss,” said Madison slowly, yet not + without a certain dignity of manner. “I've suthin' to say to Salomy Jane + afore I go.” He was holding her scribbled note, which he had just + discovered, in his shaking hand. + </p> + <p> + Struck by his kinsman's manner, and knowing the dependent relations of + father and daughter, Breckenridge nodded and hurried away. Left to + himself, Madison Clay ran his fingers through his hair, and straightened + out the paper on which Salomy Jane had scrawled her note, turned it over, + and wrote on the back:— + </p> + <p> + You might have told me you did it, and not leave your ole father to find + it out how you disgraced yourself and him, too, by a low-down, + underhanded, woman's trick! I've said I done it, and took the blame + myself, and all the sneakiness of it that folks suspect. If I get away + alive—and I don't care much which—you needn't foller. The + house and stock are yours; but you ain't any longer the daughter of your + disgraced father, + </p> + <p> + MADISON CLAY. + </p> + <p> + He had scarcely finished the note when, with a clatter of hoofs and a led + horse, Breckenridge reappeared at the door elate and triumphant. “You're + in nigger luck, Mad! I found that stole hoss of Judge Boompointer's had + got away and strayed among your stock in the corral. Take him and you're + safe; he can't be outrun this side of the state line.” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't no hoss-thief,” said Madison grimly. + </p> + <p> + “Nobody sez ye are, but you'd be wuss—a fool—ef you didn't + take him. I'm testimony that you found him among your hosses; I'll tell + Judge Boompointer you've got him, and ye kin send him back when you're + safe. The judge will be mighty glad to get him back, and call it quits. So + ef you've writ to Salomy Jane, come.” + </p> + <p> + Madison Clay no longer hesitated. Salomy Jane might return at any moment,—it + would be part of her “fool womanishness,”—and he was in no mood to + see her before a third party. He laid the note on the table, gave a + hurried glance around the house, which he grimly believed he was leaving + forever, and, striding to the door, leaped on the stolen horse, and swept + away with his kinsman. + </p> + <p> + But that note lay for a week undisturbed on the table in full view of the + open door. The house was invaded by leaves, pine cones, birds, and + squirrels during the hot, silent, empty days, and at night by shy, + stealthy creatures, but never again, day or night, by any of the Clay + family. It was known in the district that Clay had flown across the state + line, his daughter was believed to have joined him the next day, and the + house was supposed to be locked up. It lay off the main road, and few + passed that way. The starving cattle in the corral at last broke bounds + and spread over the woods. And one night a stronger blast than usual swept + through the house, carried the note from the table to the floor, where, + whirled into a crack in the flooring, it slowly rotted. + </p> + <p> + But though the sting of her father's reproach was spared her, Salomy Jane + had no need of the letter to know what had happened. For as she entered + the woods in the dim light of that morning she saw the figure of Dart + gliding from the shadow of a pine towards her. The unaffected cry of joy + that rose from her lips died there as she caught sight of his face in the + open light. + </p> + <p> + “You are hurt,” she said, clutching his arm passionately. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he said. “But I wouldn't mind that if”— + </p> + <p> + “You're thinkin' I was afeard to come back last night when I heard the + shootin', but I DID come,” she went on feverishly. “I ran back here when I + heard the two shots, but you were gone. I went to the corral, but your + hoss wasn't there, and I thought you'd got away.” + </p> + <p> + “I DID get away,” said Dart gloomily. “I killed the man, thinkin' he was + huntin' ME, and forgettin' I was disguised. He thought I was your father.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the girl joyfully, “he was after dad, and YOU—you killed + him.” She again caught his hand admiringly. + </p> + <p> + But he did not respond. Possibly there were points of honor which this + horse-thief felt vaguely with her father. “Listen,” he said grimly. + “Others think it was your father killed him. When I did it—for he + fired at me first—I ran to the corral again and took my hoss, + thinkin' I might be follered. I made a clear circuit of the house, and + when I found he was the only one, and no one was follerin', I come back + here and took off my disguise. Then I heard his friends find him in the + wood, and I know they suspected your father. And then another man come + through the woods while I was hidin' and found the clothes and took them + away.” He stopped and stared at her gloomily. + </p> + <p> + But all this was unintelligible to the girl. “Dad would have got the + better of him ef you hadn't,” she said eagerly, “so what's the + difference?” + </p> + <p> + “All the same,” he said gloomily, “I must take his place.” + </p> + <p> + She did not understand, but turned her head to her master. “Then you'll go + back with me and tell him ALL?” she said obediently. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he said. + </p> + <p> + She put her hand in his, and they crept out of the wood together. She + foresaw a thousand difficulties, but, chiefest of all, that he did not + love as she did. SHE would not have taken these risks against their + happiness. + </p> + <p> + But alas for ethics and heroism. As they were issuing from the wood they + heard the sound of galloping hoofs, and had barely time to hide themselves + before Madison Clay, on the stolen horse of Judge Boompointer, swept past + them with his kinsman. + </p> + <p> + Salomy Jane turned to her lover. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + And here I might, as a moral romancer, pause, leaving the guilty, + passionate girl eloped with her disreputable lover, destined to lifelong + shame and misery, misunderstood to the last by a criminal, fastidious + parent. But I am confronted by certain facts, on which this romance is + based. A month later a handbill was posted on one of the sentinel pines, + announcing that the property would be sold by auction to the highest + bidder by Mrs. John Dart, daughter of Madison Clay, Esq., and it was sold + accordingly. Still later—by ten years—the chronicler of these + pages visited a certain “stock” or “breeding farm,” in the “Blue Grass + Country,” famous for the popular racers it has produced. He was told that + the owner was the “best judge of horse-flesh in the country.” “Small + wonder,” added his informant, “for they say as a young man out in + California he was a horse-thief, and only saved himself by eloping with + some rich farmer's daughter. But he's a straight-out and respectable man + now, whose word about horses can't be bought; and as for his wife, she's a + beauty! To see her at the 'Springs,' rigged out in the latest fashion, + you'd never think she had ever lived out of New York or wasn't the wife of + one of its millionaires.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE MAN AND THE MOUNTAIN + </h2> + <p> + He was such a large, strong man that, when he first set foot in the little + parallelogram I called my garden, it seemed to shrink to half its size and + become preposterous. But I noticed at the same time that he was holding in + the open palm of his huge hand the roots of a violet, with such infinite + tenderness and delicacy that I would have engaged him as my gardener on + the spot. But this could not be, as he was already the proud proprietor of + a market-garden and nursery on the outskirts of the suburban Californian + town where I lived. He would, however, come for two days in the week, + stock and look after my garden, and impart to my urban intellect such + horticultural hints as were necessary. His name was “Rutli,” which I + presumed to be German, but which my neighbors rendered as “Rootleigh,” + possibly from some vague connection with his occupation. His own knowledge + of English was oral and phonetic. I have a delightful recollection of a + bill of his in which I was charged for “fioletz,” with the vague addition + of “maine cains.” Subsequent explanation proved it to be “many kinds.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, my little garden bourgeoned and blossomed under his large, + protecting hand. I became accustomed to walk around his feet respectfully + when they blocked the tiny paths, and to expect the total eclipse of that + garden-bed on which he worked, by his huge bulk. For the tiniest and most + reluctant rootlet seemed to respond to his caressing paternal touch; it + was a pretty sight to see his huge fingers tying up some slender stalk to + its stick with the smallest thread, and he had a reverent way of laying a + bulb or seed in the ground, and then gently shaping and smoothing a small + mound over it, which made the little inscription on the stick above more + like an affecting epitaph than ever. Much of this gentleness may have been + that apology for his great strength, common with large men; but his face + was distinctly amiable, and his very light blue eyes were at times wistful + and doglike in their kindliness. I was soon to learn, however, that + placability was not entirely his nature. + </p> + <p> + The garden was part of a fifty vara lot of land, on which I was + simultaneously erecting a house. But the garden was finished before the + house was, through certain circumstances very characteristic of that epoch + and civilization. I had purchased the Spanish title, the only LEGAL one, + to the land, which, however, had been in POSSESSION of a “squatter.” But + he had been unable to hold that possession against a “jumper,”—another + kind of squatter who had entered upon it covertly, fenced it in, and + marked it out in building sites. Neither having legal rights, they could + not invoke the law; the last man held possession. There was no doubt that + in due course of litigation and time both these ingenuous gentlemen would + have been dispossessed in favor of the real owner,—myself,—but + that course would be a protracted one. Following the usual custom of the + locality, I paid a certain sum to the jumper to yield up peaceably HIS + possession of the land, and began to build upon it. It might be reasonably + supposed that the question was settled. But it was not. The house was + nearly finished when, one morning, I was called out of my editorial + sanctum by a pallid painter, looking even more white-leaded than usual, + who informed me that my house was in the possession of five armed men! The + entry had been made peaceably during the painters' absence to dinner under + a wayside tree. When they returned, they had found their pots and brushes + in the road, and an intimation from the windows that their reentrance + would be forcibly resisted as a trespass. + </p> + <p> + I honestly believe that Rutli was more concerned than myself over this + dispossession. While he loyally believed that I would get back my + property, he was dreadfully grieved over the inevitable damage that would + be done to the garden during this interval of neglect and carelessness. I + even think he would have made a truce with my enemies, if they would only + have let him look after his beloved plants. As it was, he kept a passing + but melancholy surveillance of them, and was indeed a better spy of the + actions of the intruders than any I could have employed. One day, to my + astonishment, he brought me a moss-rose bud from a bush which had been + trained against a column of the veranda. It appeared that he had called, + from over the fence, the attention of one of the men to the neglected + condition of the plant, and had obtained permission to “come in and tie it + up.” The men, being merely hirelings of the chief squatter, had no + personal feeling, and I was not therefore surprised to hear that they + presently allowed Rutli to come in occasionally and look after his + precious “slips.” If they had any suspicions of his great strength, it was + probably offset by his peaceful avocation and his bland, childlike face. + Meantime, I had begun the usual useless legal proceeding, but had also + engaged a few rascals of my own to be ready to take advantage of any want + of vigilance on the part of my adversaries. I never thought of Rutli in + that connection any more than they had. + </p> + <p> + A few Sundays later I was sitting in the little tea-arbor of Rutli's + nursery, peacefully smoking with him. Presently he took his long + china-bowled pipe from his mouth, and, looking at me blandly over his + yellow mustache, said:— + </p> + <p> + “You vonts sometimes to go in dot house, eh?” + </p> + <p> + I said, “Decidedly.” + </p> + <p> + “Mit a revolver, and keep dot house dose men out?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes!” + </p> + <p> + “Vell! I put you in dot house—today!” + </p> + <p> + “Sunday?” + </p> + <p> + “Shoost so! It is a goot day! On der Suntay DREE men vill out go to valk + mit demselluffs, and visky trinken. TWO,” holding up two gigantic fingers, + apparently only a shade or two smaller than his destined victims, “stay + dere. Dose I lift de fence over.” + </p> + <p> + I hastened to inform him that any violence attempted against the parties + WHILE IN POSSESSION, although that possession was illegal, would, by a + fatuity of the law, land him in the county jail. I said I would not hear + of it. + </p> + <p> + “But suppose dere vos no fiolence? Suppose dose men vos villin', eh? How + vos dot for high?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand.” + </p> + <p> + “So! You shall NOT understand! Dot is better. Go away now and dell your + men to coom dot house arount at halluff past dree. But YOU coom, mit + yourselluff alone, shoost as if you vos spazieren gehen, for a valk, by + dat fence at dree! Ven you shall dot front door vide open see, go in, and + dere you vos! You vill der rest leef to me!” + </p> + <p> + It was in vain that I begged Rutli to divulge his plan, and pointed out + again the danger of his technically breaking the law. But he was firm, + assuring me that I myself would be a witness that no assault would be + made. I looked into his clear, good-humored eyes, and assented. I had a + burning desire to right my wrongs, but I think I also had considerable + curiosity. + </p> + <p> + I passed a miserable quarter of an hour after I had warned my partisans, + and then walked alone slowly down the broad leafy street towards the scene + of contest. I have a very vivid recollection of my conflicting emotions. I + did not believe that I would be killed; I had no distinct intention of + killing any of my adversaries; but I had some considerable concern for my + loyal friend Rutli, whom I foresaw might be in some peril from the + revolver in my unpracticed hand. If I could only avoid shooting HIM, I + would be satisfied. I remember that the bells were ringing for church,—a + church of which my enemy, the chief squatter, was a deacon in good + standing,—and I felt guiltily conscious of my revolver in my + hip-pocket, as two or three church-goers passed me with their hymn-books + in their hands. I walked leisurely, so as not to attract attention, and to + appear at the exact time, a not very easy task in my youthful excitement. + At last I reached the front gate with a beating heart. There was no one on + the high veranda, which occupied three sides of the low one-storied house, + nor in the garden before it. But the front door was open; I softly passed + through the gate, darted up the veranda and into the house. A single + glance around the hall and bare, deserted rooms, still smelling of paint, + showed me it was empty, and with my pistol in one hand and the other on + the lock of the door, I stood inside, ready to bolt it against any one but + Rutli. But where was HE? + </p> + <p> + The sound of laughter and a noise like skylarking came from the rear of + the house and the back yard. Then I suddenly heard Rutli's heavy tread on + the veranda, but it was slow, deliberate, and so exaggerated in its weight + that the whole house seemed to shake with it. Then from the window I + beheld an extraordinary sight! It was Rutli, swaying from side to side, + but steadily carrying with outstretched arms two of the squatter party, + his hands tightly grasping their collars. Yet I believe his touch was as + gentle as with the violets. His face was preternaturally grave; theirs, to + my intense astonishment, while they hung passive from his arms, wore that + fatuous, imbecile smile seen on the faces of those who lend themselves to + tricks of acrobats and strong men in the arena. He slowly traversed the + whole length of one side of the house, walked down the steps to the gate, + and then gravely deposited them OUTSIDE. I heard him say, “Dot vins der + pet, ain't it?” and immediately after the sharp click of the gate-latch. + </p> + <p> + Without understanding a thing that had happened, I rightly conceived this + was the cue for my appearance with my revolver at the front door. As I + opened it I still heard the sound of laughter, which, however, instantly + stopped at a sentence from Rutli, which I could not hear. There was an + oath, the momentary apparition of two furious and indignant faces over the + fence; but these, however, seemed to be instantly extinguished and put + down by the enormous palms of Rutli clapped upon their heads. There was a + pause, and then Rutli turned around and quietly joined me in the doorway. + But the gate was not again opened until the arrival of my partisans, when + the house was clearly in my possession. + </p> + <p> + Safe inside with the door bolted, I turned eagerly to Rutli for an + explanation. It then appeared that during his occasional visits to the + garden he had often been an object of amusement and criticism to the men + on account of his size, which seemed to them ridiculously inconsistent + with his great good humor, gentleness, and delicacy of touch. They had + doubted his strength and challenged his powers. He had responded once or + twice before, lifting weights or even carrying one of his critics at arm's + length for a few steps. But he had reserved his final feat for this day + and this purpose. It was for a bet, which they had eagerly accepted, + secure in their belief in his simplicity, the sincerity of his motives in + coming there, and glad of the opportunity of a little Sunday diversion. In + their security they had not locked the door when they came out, and had + not noticed that HE had opened it. This was his simple story. His only + comment, “I haf von der pet, but I dinks I shall nod gollect der money.” + The two men did not return that afternoon, nor did their comrades. Whether + they wisely conceived that a man who was so powerful in play might be + terrible in earnest; whether they knew that his act, in which they had + been willing performers, had been witnessed by passing citizens, who + supposed it was skylarking; or whether their employer got tired of his + expensive occupation, I never knew. The public believed the latter; Rutli, + myself, and the two men he had evicted alone kept our secret. + </p> + <p> + From that time Rutli and I became firm friends, and, long after I had no + further need of his services in the recaptured house, I often found myself + in the little tea-arbor of his prosperous nursery. He was frugal, sober, + and industrious; small wonder that in that growing town he waxed rich, and + presently opened a restaurant in the main street, connected with his + market-garden, which became famous. His relations to me never changed with + his changed fortunes; he was always the simple market-gardener and florist + who had aided my first housekeeping, and stood by me in an hour of need. + Of all things regarding himself he was singularly reticent; I do not think + he had any confidants or intimates, even among his own countrymen, whom I + believed to be German. But one day he quite accidentally admitted he was a + Swiss. As a youthful admirer of the race I was delighted, and told him so, + with the enthusiastic addition that I could now quite understand his + independence, with his devoted adherence to another's cause. He smiled + sadly, and astonished me by saying that he had not heard from Switzerland + since he left six years ago. He did not want to hear anything; he even + avoided his countrymen lest he should. I was confounded. + </p> + <p> + “But,” I said, “surely you have a longing to return to your country; all + Swiss have! You will go back some day just to breathe the air of your + native mountains.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall go back some days,” said Rutli, “after I have made mooch, mooch + money, but not for dot air.” + </p> + <p> + “What for, then?” + </p> + <p> + “For revenge—to get efen.” + </p> + <p> + Surprised, and for a moment dismayed as I was, I could not help laughing. + “Rutli and revenge!” Impossible! And to make it the more absurd, he was + still smoking gently and regarding me with soft, complacent eyes. So + unchanged was his face and manner that he might have told me he was going + back to be married. + </p> + <p> + “You do not oonderstand,” he said forgivingly. “Some days I shall dell to + you id. Id is a story. You shall make it yourselluff for dose babers dot + you write. It is not bretty, berhaps, ain't it, but it is droo. And de + endt is not yet.” + </p> + <p> + Only that Rutli never joked, except in a ponderous fashion with many + involved sentences, I should have thought he was taking a good-humored + rise out of me. But it was not funny. I am afraid I dismissed it from my + mind as a revelation of something weak and puerile, quite inconsistent + with his practical common sense and strong simplicity, and wished he had + not alluded to it. I never asked him to tell me the story. It was a year + later, and only when he had invited me to come to the opening of a new + hotel, erected by him at a mountain spa of great resort, that he himself + alluded to it. + </p> + <p> + The hotel was a wonderful affair, even for those days, and Rutli's outlay + of capital convinced me that by this time he must have made the “mooch + money” he coveted. Something of this was in my mind when we sat by the window + of his handsomely furnished private office, overlooking the pines of a + Californian canyon. I asked him if the scenery was like Switzerland. + </p> + <p> + “Ach! no!” he replied; “but I vill puild a hotel shoost like dis dare.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that a part of your revenge?” I asked, with a laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! so! a bart.” + </p> + <p> + I felt relieved; a revenge so practical did not seem very malicious or + idiotic. After a pause he puffed contemplatively at his pipe, and then + said, “I dell you somedings of dot story now.” + </p> + <p> + He began. I should like to tell it in his own particular English, mixed + with American slang, but it would not convey the simplicity of the + narrator. He was the son of a large family who had lived for centuries in + one of the highest villages in the Bernese Oberland. He attained his size + and strength early, but with a singular distaste to use them in the rough + regular work on the farm, although he was a great climber and mountaineer, + and, what was at first overlooked as mere boyish fancy, had an insatiable + love and curious knowledge of plants and flowers. He knew the haunts of + Edelweiss, Alpine rose, and blue gentian, and had brought home rare and + unknown blossoms from under the icy lips of glaciers. But as he did this + when his time was supposed to be occupied in looking after the cows in the + higher pastures and making cheeses, there was trouble in that + hard-working, practical family. A giant with the tastes and disposition of + a schoolgirl was an anomaly in a Swiss village. Unfortunately again, he + was not studious; his record in the village school had been on a par with + his manual work, and the family had not even the consolation of believing + that they were fostering a genius. In a community where practical industry + was the highest virtue, it was not strange, perhaps, that he was called + “lazy” and “shiftless;” no one knew the long climbs and tireless vigils he + had undergone in remote solitudes in quest of his favorites, or, knowing, + forgave him for it. Abstemious, frugal, and patient as he was, even the + crusts of his father's table were given him grudgingly. He often went + hungry rather than ask the bread he had failed to earn. How his great + frame was nurtured in those days he never knew; perhaps the giant + mountains recognized some kin in him and fed and strengthened him after + their own fashion. Even his gentleness was confounded with cowardice. “Dot + vos de hardtest,” he said simply; “it is not goot to be opligit to half + crush your brudder, ven he would make a laugh of you to your sweetheart.” + The end came sooner than he expected, and, oddly enough, through this + sweetheart. “Gottlieb,” she said to him one day, “the English Fremde who + stayed here last night met me when I was carrying some of those beautiful + flowers you gave me. He asked me where they were to be found, and I told + him only YOU knew. He wants to see you; go to him. It may be luck to you.” + Rutli went. The stranger, an English Alpine climber of scientific tastes, + talked with him for an hour. At the end of that time, to everybody's + astonishment, he engaged this hopeless idler as his personal guide for + three months, at the sum of five francs a day! It was inconceivable, it + was unheard of! The Englander was as mad as Gottlieb, whose intellect had + always been under suspicion! The schoolmaster pursed up his lips, the + pastor shook his head; no good could come of it; the family looked upon it + as another freak of Gottlieb's, but there was one big mouth less to feed + and more room in the kitchen, and they let him go. They parted from him as + ungraciously as they had endured his presence. + </p> + <p> + Then followed two months of sunshine in Rutli's life—association + with his beloved plants, and the intelligent sympathy and direction of a + cultivated man. Even in altitudes so dangerous that they had to take other + and more experienced guides, Rutli was always at his master's side. That + savant's collection of Alpine flora excelled all previous ones; he talked + freely with Rutli of further work in the future, and relaxed his English + reserve so far as to confide to him that the outcome of their collection + and observation might be a book. He gave a flower a Latin name, in which + even the ignorant and delighted Rutli could distinguish some likeness to + his own. But the book was never compiled. In one of their later and more + difficult ascents they and their two additional guides were overtaken by a + sudden storm. Swept from their feet down an ice-bound slope, Rutli alone + of the roped-together party kept a foothold on the treacherous incline. + Here this young Titan, with bleeding fingers clenched in a rock cleft, + sustained the struggles and held up the lives of his companions by that + precious thread for more than an hour. Perhaps he might have saved them, + but in their desperate efforts to regain their footing the rope slipped + upon a jagged edge of outcrop and parted as if cut by a knife. The two + guides passed without an outcry into obscurity and death; Rutli, with a + last despairing exertion, dragged to his own level his unconscious master, + crippled by a broken leg. + </p> + <p> + Your true hero is apt to tell his tale simply. Rutli did not dwell upon + these details, nor need I. Left alone upon a treacherous ice slope in + benumbing cold, with a helpless man, eight hours afterwards he staggered, + half blind, incoherent, and inarticulate, into a “shelter” hut, with the + dead body of his master in his stiffened arms. The shelter-keepers turned + their attention to Rutli, who needed it most. Blind and delirious, with + scarce a chance for life, he was sent the next day to a hospital, where he + lay for three months, helpless, imbecile, and unknown. The dead body of + the Englishman was identified, and sent home; the bodies of the guides + were recovered by their friends; but no one knew aught of Rutli, even his + name. While the event was still fresh in the minds of those who saw him + enter the hut with the body of his master, a paragraph appeared in a Berne + journal recording the heroism of this nameless man. But it could not be + corroborated nor explained by the demented hero, and was presently + forgotten. Six months from the day he had left his home he was discharged + cured. He had not a kreutzer in his pocket; he had never drawn his wages + from his employer; he had preferred to have it in a lump sum that he might + astonish his family on his return. His eyes were still weak, his memory + feeble; only his great physical strength remained through his long + illness. A few sympathizing travelers furnished him the means to reach his + native village, many miles away. He found his family had heard of the loss + of the Englishman and the guides, and had believed he was one of them. + Already he was forgotten. + </p> + <p> + “Ven you vos once peliefed to be det,” said Rutli, after a philosophic + pause and puff, “it vos not goot to ondeceif beoples. You oopset + somedings, soomdimes always. Der hole dot you hef made in der grount, + among your frients and your family, vos covered up alretty. You are loocky + if you vill not fint some vellars shtanding upon id! My frent, ven you vos + DINK det, SHTAY det, BE det, and you vill lif happy!” + </p> + <p> + “But your sweetheart?” I said eagerly. + </p> + <p> + A slight gleam of satire stole into Rutli's light eyes. “My sweetheart, + ven I vos dinks det, is der miller engaged do bromply! It is mooch better + dan to a man dot vos boor and plint and grazy! So! Vell, der next day I + pids dem goot-py, und from der door I say, 'I am det now; but ven I next + comes pack alife, I shall dis village py! der lants, der houses all + togedders. And den for yourselluffs look oudt!'” + </p> + <p> + “Then that's your revenge? That is what you really intend to do?” I said, + half laughing, yet with an uneasy recollection of his illness and + enfeebled mind. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Look here! I show you somedings.” He opened a drawer of his desk and + took out what appeared to be some diagrams, plans, and a small + water-colored map, like a surveyor's tracing. “Look,” he said, laying his + finger on the latter, “dat is a map from my fillage. I hef myselluff made + it out from my memory. Dot,” pointing to a blank space, “is der mountain + side high up, so far. It is no goot until I vill a tunnel make or der + grade lefel. Dere vas mine fader's house, dere vos der church, der + schoolhouse, dot vos de burgomaster's house,” he went on, pointing to the + respective plots in this old curving parallelogram of the mountain shelf. + “So was the fillage when I leave him on the 5th of March, eighteen hundred + and feefty. Now you shall see him shoost as I vill make him ven I go + back.” He took up another plan, beautifully drawn and colored, and + evidently done by a professional hand. It was a practical, yet almost + fairylike transformation of the same spot! The narrow mountain shelf was + widened by excavation, and a boulevard stretched on either side. A great + hotel, not unlike the one in which we sat, stood in an open terrace, with + gardens and fountains—the site of his father's house. Blocks of + pretty dwellings, shops, and cafes filled the intermediate space. I laid + down the paper. + </p> + <p> + “How long have you had this idea?” + </p> + <p> + “Efer since I left dere, fifteen years ago.” + </p> + <p> + “But your father and mother may be dead by this time?” + </p> + <p> + “So, but dere vill be odders. Und der blace—it vill remain.” + </p> + <p> + “But all this will cost a fortune, and you are not sure”— + </p> + <p> + “I know shoost vot id vill gost, to a cend.” + </p> + <p> + “And you think you can ever afford to carry out your idea?” + </p> + <p> + “I VILL affort id. Ven you shall make yet some moneys and go to Europe, + you shall see. I VILL infite you dere first. Now coom and look der house + around.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I did NOT make “some moneys,” but I DID go to Europe. Three years after + this last interview with Rutli I was coming from Interlaken to Berne by + rail. I had not heard from him, and I had forgotten the name of his + village, but as I looked up from the paper I was reading, I suddenly + recognized him in the further end of the same compartment I occupied. His + recognition of me was evidently as sudden and unexpected. After our first + hand-grasp and greeting, I said:— + </p> + <p> + “And how about our new village?” + </p> + <p> + “Dere is no fillage.” + </p> + <p> + “What! You have given up the idea?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. There is no fillage, olt or new.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand.” + </p> + <p> + He looked at me a moment. “You have not heard?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + He gently picked up a little local guidebook that lay in my lap, and + turning its leaves, pointed to a page, and read as follows:— + </p> + <p> + “5 M. beyond, the train passes a curve R., where a fine view of the lake + may be seen. A little to the R. rises the steep slopes of the ——, + the scene of a terrible disaster. At three o'clock on March 5, 1850, the + little village of ——, lying midway of the slope, with its + population of 950 souls, was completely destroyed by a landslip from the + top of the mountain. So sudden was the catastrophe that not a single + escape is recorded. A large portion of the mountain crest, as will be + observed when it is seen in profile, descended to the valley, burying the + unfortunate village to a depth variously estimated at from 1000 ft. to + 1800 ft. The geological causes which produced this extraordinary + displacement have been fully discussed, but the greater evidence points to + the theory of subterranean glaciers. 5 M. beyond —— the train + crosses the R. bridge.” + </p> + <p> + I laid down the guide-book in breathless astonishment. + </p> + <p> + “And you never heard of this in all these years?” + </p> + <p> + “Nefer! I asked no questions, I read no pooks. I have no ledders from + home.” + </p> + <p> + “And yet you”—I stopped, I could not call him a fool; neither could + I, in the face of his perfect composure and undisturbed eyes, exhibit a + concern greater than his own. An uneasy recollection of what he confessed + had been his mental condition immediately after his accident came over me. + Had he been the victim of a strange hallucination regarding his house and + family all these years? Were these dreams of revenge, this fancy of + creating a new village, only an outcome of some shock arising out of the + disaster itself, which he had long since forgotten? + </p> + <p> + He was looking from the window. “Coom,” he said, “ve are near der blace. I + vill show id to you.” He rose and passed out to the rear platform. We were + in the rear car, and a new panorama of the lake and mountains flashed upon + us at every curve of the line. I followed him. Presently he pointed to + what appeared to be a sheer wall of rock and stunted vegetation towering + two or three thousand feet above us, which started out of a gorge we were + passing. “Dere it vos!” he said. I saw the vast stretch of rock face + rising upward and onward, but nothing else. No debris, no ruins, nor even + a swelling or rounding of the mountain flank over that awful tomb. Yet, + stay! as we dashed across the gorge, and the face of the mountain shifted, + high up, the sky-line was slightly broken as if a few inches, a mere + handful, of the crest was crumbled away. And then—both gorge and + mountain vanished. + </p> + <p> + I was still embarrassed and uneasy, and knew not what to say to this man + at my side, whose hopes and ambition had been as quickly overthrown and + buried, and whose life-dream had as quickly vanished. But he himself, + taking his pipe from his lips, broke the silence. + </p> + <p> + “It vos a narrow esgabe!” + </p> + <p> + “What was?” + </p> + <p> + “Vy, dis dings. If I had stayed in my fader's house, I vould haf been det + for goot, and perried too! Somedimes dose dings cooms oudt apout right, + don't id?” + </p> + <p> + Unvanquished philosopher! As we stood there looking at the flying + landscape and sinking lesser hills, one by one the great snow peaks slowly + arose behind them, lifting themselves, as if to take a last wondering look + at the man they had triumphed over, but had not subdued. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE PASSING OF ENRIQUEZ + </h2> + <p> + When Enriquez Saltillo ran away with Miss Mannersley, as already recorded + in these chronicles,* her relatives and friends found it much easier to + forgive that ill-assorted union than to understand it. For, after all, + Enriquez was the scion of an old Spanish-Californian family, and in due + time would have his share of his father's three square leagues, whatever + incongruity there was between his lively Latin extravagance and Miss + Mannersley's Puritan precision and intellectual superiority. They had gone + to Mexico; Mrs. Saltillo, as was known, having an interest in Aztec + antiquities, and he being utterly submissive to her wishes. For myself + from my knowledge of Enriquez's nature, I had grave doubts of his entire + subjugation, although I knew the prevailing opinion was that Mrs. + Saltillo's superiority would speedily tame him. Since his brief and + characteristic note apprising me of his marriage, I had not heard from + him. It was, therefore, with some surprise, a good deal of reminiscent + affection, and a slight twinge of reproach that, two years after, I looked + up from some proofs, in the sanctum of the “Daily Excelsior,” to recognize + his handwriting on a note that was handed to me by a yellow Mexican boy. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * See “The Devotion of Enriquez,” in Selected Stories by + Bret Harte Gutenberg #1312. +</pre> + <p> + A single glance at its contents showed me that Mrs. Saltillo's correct + Bostonian speech had not yet subdued Enriquez's peculiar Spanish-American + slang:— + </p> + <p> + “Here we are again,—right side up with care,—at 1110 Dupont + Street, Telegraph Hill. Second floor from top. 'Ring and push.' 'No book + agents need apply.' How's your royal nibs? I kiss your hand! Come at six,—the + band shall play at seven,—and regard your friend 'Mees Boston,' who + will tell you about the little old nigger boys, and your old Uncle + 'Ennery.” + </p> + <p> + Two things struck me: Enriquez had not changed; Mrs. Saltillo had + certainly yielded up some of her peculiar prejudices. For the address + given, far from being a fashionable district, was known as the “Spanish + quarter,” which, while it still held some old Spanish families, was + chiefly given over to half-castes and obscurer foreigners. Even poverty + could not have driven Mrs. Saltillo to such a refuge against her will; + nevertheless, a good deal of concern for Enriquez's fortune mingled with + my curiosity, as I impatiently waited for six o'clock to satisfy it. + </p> + <p> + It was a breezy climb to 1110 Dupont Street; and although the street had + been graded, the houses retained their airy elevation, and were accessible + only by successive flights of wooden steps to the front door, which still + gave perilously upon the street, sixty feet below. I now painfully + appreciated Enriquez's adaptation of the time-honored joke about the + second floor. An invincible smell of garlic almost took my remaining + breath away as the door was opened to me by a swarthy Mexican woman, whose + loose camisa seemed to be slipping from her unstable bust, and was held on + only by the mantua-like shawl which supplemented it, gripped by one brown + hand. Dizzy from my ascent to that narrow perch, which looked upon nothing + but the distant bay and shores of Contra Costa, I felt as apologetic as if + I had landed from a balloon; but the woman greeted me with a languid + Spanish smile and a lazy display of white teeth, as if my arrival was + quite natural. Don Enriquez, “of a fact,” was not himself in the casa, but + was expected “on the instant.” “Donna Urania” was at home. + </p> + <p> + “Donna Urania”? For an instant I had forgotten that Mrs. Saltillo's first + name was Urania, so pleasantly and spontaneously did it fall from the + Spanish lips. Nor was I displeased at this chance of learning something of + Don Enriquez's fortunes and the Saltillo menage before confronting my old + friend. The servant preceded me to the next floor, and, opening a door, + ushered me into the lady's presence. + </p> + <p> + I had carried with me, on that upward climb, a lively recollection of Miss + Mannersley as I had known her two years before. I remembered her upright, + almost stiff, slight figure, the graceful precision of her poses, the + faultless symmetry and taste of her dress, and the atmosphere of a + fastidious and wholesome cleanliness which exhaled from her. In the lady I + saw before me, half reclining in a rocking-chair, there was none of the + stiffness and nicety. Habited in a loose gown of some easy, flexible, but + rich material, worn with that peculiarly indolent slouch of the Mexican + woman, Mrs. Saltillo had parted with half her individuality. Even her + arched feet and thin ankles, the close-fitting boots or small slippers of + which were wont to accent their delicacy, were now lost in a short, + low-quartered kid shoe of the Spanish type, in which they moved loosely. + Her hair, which she had always worn with a certain Greek simplicity, was + parted at one side. Yet her face, with its regularity of feature, and + small, thin, red-lipped mouth, was quite unchanged; and her velvety brown + eyes were as beautiful and inscrutable as ever. + </p> + <p> + With the same glance I had taken in her surroundings, quite as incongruous + to her former habits. The furniture, though of old and heavy mahogany, had + suffered from careless alien hands, and was interspersed with modern and + unmatchable makeshifts, yet preserving the distinctly scant and formal + attitude of furnished lodgings. It was certainly unlike the artistic + trifles and delicate refinements of her uncle's drawing-room, which we all + knew her taste had dictated and ruled. The black and white engravings, the + outlined heads of Minerva and Diana, were excluded from the walls for two + cheap colored Catholic prints,—a soulless Virgin, and the mystery of + the Bleeding Heart. Against the wall, in one corner, hung the only object + which seemed a memento of their travels,—a singular-looking upright + Indian “papoose-case” or cradle, glaringly decorated with beads and paint, + probably an Aztec relic. On a round table, the velvet cover of which + showed marks of usage and abusage, there were scattered books and writing + materials; and my editorial instinct suddenly recognized, with a thrill of + apprehension, the loose leaves of an undoubted manuscript. This + circumstance, taken with the fact of Donna Urania's hair being parted on + one side, and the general negligee of her appearance, was a disturbing + revelation. + </p> + <p> + My wandering eye apparently struck her, for after the first greeting she + pointed to the manuscript with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; that is THE manuscript. I suppose Enriquez told you all about it? He + said he had written.” + </p> + <p> + I was dumfounded. I certainly had not understood ALL of Enriquez's slang; + it was always so decidedly his own, and peculiar. Yet I could not recall + any allusion to this. + </p> + <p> + “He told me something of it, but very vaguely,” I ventured to say + deprecatingly; “but I am afraid that I thought more of seeing my old + friend again than of anything else.” + </p> + <p> + “During our stay in Mexico,” continued Mrs. Saltillo, with something of + her old precision, “I made some researches into Aztec history, a subject + always deeply interesting to me, and I thought I would utilize the result + by throwing it on paper. Of course it is better fitted for a volume of + reference than for a newspaper, but Enriquez thought you might want to use + it for your journal.” + </p> + <p> + I knew that Enriquez had no taste for literature, and had even rather + depreciated it in the old days, with his usual extravagance; but I managed + to say very pleasantly that I was delighted with his suggestion and should + be glad to read the manuscript. After all, it was not improbable that Mrs. + Saltillo, who was educated and intelligent, should write well, if not + popularly. “Then Enriquez does not begrudge you the time that your work + takes from him,” I added laughingly. “You seem to have occupied your + honeymoon practically.” + </p> + <p> + “We quite comprehend our respective duties,” said Mrs. Saltillo dryly; + “and have from the first. We have our own lives to live, independent of my + uncle and Enriquez's father. We have not only accepted the responsibility + of our own actions, but we both feel the higher privilege of creating our + own conditions without extraneous aid from our relatives.” + </p> + <p> + It struck me that this somewhat exalted statement was decidedly a pose, or + a return of Urania Mannersley's old ironical style. I looked quietly into + her brown, near-sighted eyes; but, as once before, my glance seemed to + slip from their moist surface without penetrating the inner thought + beneath. “And what does Enriquez do for HIS part?” I asked smilingly. + </p> + <p> + I fully expected to hear that the energetic Enriquez was utilizing his + peculiar tastes and experiences by horse-breaking, stock-raising, + professional bull-fighting, or even horse-racing, but was quite astonished + when she answered quietly:— + </p> + <p> + “Enriquez is giving himself up to geology and practical metallurgy, with a + view to scientific, purely scientific, mining.” + </p> + <p> + Enriquez and geology! In that instant all I could remember of it were his + gibes at the “geologian,” as he was wont to term Professor Dobbs, a former + admirer of Miss Mannersley's. To add to my confusion Mrs. Saltillo at the + same moment absolutely voiced my thought. + </p> + <p> + “You may remember Professor Dobbs,” she went on calmly, “one of the most + eminent scientists over here, and a very old Boston friend. He has taken + Enriquez in hand. His progress is most satisfactory; we have the greatest + hopes of him.” + </p> + <p> + “And how soon do you both hope to have some practical results of his + study?” I could not help asking a little mischievously; for I somehow + resented the plural pronoun in her last sentence. + </p> + <p> + “Very soon,” said Mrs. Saltillo, ignoring everything but the question. + “You know Enriquez's sanguine temperament. Perhaps he is already given to + evolving theories without a sufficient basis of fact. Still, he has the + daring of a discoverer. His ideas of the oolitic formation are not without + originality, and Professor Dobbs says that in his conception of the + Silurian beach there are gleams that are distinctly precious.” + </p> + <p> + I looked at Mrs. Saltillo, who had reinforced her eyes with her old + piquant pince-nez, but could detect no irony in them. She was prettily + imperturbable, that was all. There was an awkward silence. Then it was + broken by a bounding step on the stairs, a wide-open fling of the door, + and Enriquez pirouetted into the room: Enriquez, as of old, unchanged from + the crown of his smooth, coal-black hair to the tips of his small, narrow + Arabian feet; Enriquez, with his thin, curling mustache, his dancing eyes + set in his immovable face, just as I had always known him! + </p> + <p> + He affected to lapse against the door for a minute, as if staggered by a + resplendent vision. Then he said:— + </p> + <p> + “What do I regard? Is it a dream, or have I again got them—thees + jimjams? My best friend and my best—I mean my ONLY—wife! + Embrace me!” + </p> + <p> + He gave me an enthusiastic embrace and a wink like sheet-lightning, passed + quickly to his wife, before whom he dropped on one knee, raised the toe of + her slipper to his lips, and then sank on the sofa in simulated collapse, + murmuring, “Thees is too mooch of white stone for one day!” + </p> + <p> + Through all this I saw his wife regarding him with exactly the same + critically amused expression with which she had looked upon him in the + days of their strange courtship. She evidently had not tired of his + extravagance, and yet I feel as puzzled by her manner as then. She rose + and said: “I suppose you have a good deal to say to each other, and I will + leave you by yourselves.” Turning to her husband, she added, “I have + already spoken about the Aztec manuscript.” + </p> + <p> + The word brought Enriquez to his feet again. “Ah! The little old nigger—you + have read?” I began to understand. “My wife, my best friend, and the + little old nigger, all in one day. Eet is perfect!” Nevertheless, in spite + of this ecstatic and overpowering combination, he hurried to take his + wife's hand; kissing it, he led her to a door opening into another room, + made her a low bow to the ground as she passed out, and then rejoined me. + </p> + <p> + “So these are the little old niggers you spoke of in your note,” I said, + pointing to the manuscript. “Deuce take me if I understood you!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, my leetle brother, it is YOU who have changed!” said Enriquez + dolorously. “Is it that you no more understand American, or have the 'big + head' of the editor? Regard me! Of these Aztecs my wife have made study. + She have pursued the little nigger to his cave, his grotto, where he is + dead a thousand year. I have myself assist, though I like it not, because + thees mummy, look you, Pancho, is not lively. And the mummy who is not + dead, believe me! even the young lady mummy, you shall not take to your + heart. But my wife”—he stopped, and kissed his hand toward the door + whence she had flitted—“ah, SHE is wonderful! She has made the story + of them, the peecture of them, from the life and on the instant! You shall + take them, my leetle brother, for your journal; you shall announce in the + big letter: 'Mooch Importance. The Aztec, He is Found.' 'How He Look and + Lif.' 'The Everlasting Nigger.' You shall sell many paper, and Urania + shall have scoop in much spondulics and rocks. Hoop-la! For—you + comprehend?—my wife and I have settled that she shall forgif her + oncle; I shall forgif my father; but from them we take no cent, not a red, + not a scad! We are independent! Of ourselves we make a Fourth of July. + United we stand; divided we shall fall over! There you are! Bueno!” + </p> + <p> + It was impossible to resist his wild, yet perfectly sincere, extravagance, + his dancing black eyes and occasional flash of white teeth in his + otherwise immovable and serious countenance. Nevertheless, I managed to + say:— + </p> + <p> + “But how about yourself, Enriquez, and this geology, you know?” + </p> + <p> + His eyes twinkled. “Ah, you shall hear. But first you shall take a drink. + I have the very old Bourbon. He is not so old as the Aztec, but, believe + me, he is very much liflier. Attend! Hol' on!” He was already rummaging on + a shelf, but apparently without success; then he explored a buffet, with + no better results, and finally attacked a large drawer, throwing out on + the floor, with his old impetuosity, a number of geological specimens, + carefully labeled. I picked up one that had rolled near me. It was labeled + “Conglomerate sandstone.” I picked up another: it had the same label. + </p> + <p> + “Then you are really collecting?” I said, with astonishment. + </p> + <p> + “Ciertamente,” responded Enriquez,—“what other fool shall I look? I + shall relate of this geology when I shall have found this beast of a + bottle. Ah, here he have hide!” He extracted from a drawer a bottle nearly + full of spirits,—tippling was not one of Enriquez's vices. “You + shall say 'when.' 'Ere's to our noble selfs!” + </p> + <p> + When he had drunk, I picked up another fragment of his collection. It had + the same label. “You are very rich in 'conglomerate sandstone,'” I said. + “Where do you find it?” + </p> + <p> + “In the street,” said Enriquez, with great calmness. + </p> + <p> + “In the street?” I echoed. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, my friend! He ees call the 'cobblestone,' also the 'pouding-stone,' + when he ees at his home in the country. He ees also a small 'boulder.' I + pick him up; I crack him; he made three separate piece of conglomerate + sandstone. I bring him home to my wife in my pocket. She rejoice; we are + happy. When comes the efening, I sit down and make him a label; while my + wife, she sit down and write of the Aztec. Ah, my friend, you shall say of + the geology it ees a fine, a BEAUTIFUL study; but the study of the wife, + and what shall please her, believe me, ees much finer! Believe your old + Uncle 'Ennery every time! On thees question he gets there; he gets left, + nevarre!” + </p> + <p> + “But Professor Dobbs, your geologian, what does HE say to this frequent + recurrence of the conglomerate sandstone period in your study?” I asked + quickly. + </p> + <p> + “He say nothing. You comprehend? He ees a profound geologian, but he also + has the admiration excessif for my wife Urania.” He stopped to kiss his + hand again toward the door, and lighted a cigarette. “The geologian would + not that he should break up the happy efening of his friends by thees + small detail. He put aside his head—so; he say, 'A leetle freestone, + a leetle granite, now and then, for variety; they are building in + Montgomery Street.' I take the hint, like a wink to the horse that has + gone blind. I attach to myself part of the edifice that is erecting + himself in Montgomery Street. I crack him; I bring him home. I sit again + at the feet of my beautiful Urania, and I label him 'Freestone,' + 'Granite;' but I do not say 'from Parrott's Bank'—eet is not + necessary for our happiness.” + </p> + <p> + “And you do this sort of thing only because you think it pleases your + wife?” I asked bluntly. + </p> + <p> + “My friend,” rejoined Enriquez, perching himself on the back of the sofa, + and caressing his knees as he puffed his cigarette meditatively, “you have + ask a conundrum. Gif to me an easier one! It is of truth that I make much + of these thing to please Urania. But I shall confess all. Behold, I appear + to you, my leetle brother, in my camisa—my shirt! I blow on myself; + I gif myself away.” + </p> + <p> + He rose gravely from the sofa, and drew a small box from one of the + drawers of the wardrobe. Opening it, he discovered several specimens of + gold-bearing quartz, and one or two scales of gold. “Thees,” he said, + “friend Pancho, is my own geology; for thees I am what you see. But I say + nothing to Urania; for she have much disgust of mere gold,—of what + she calls 'vulgar mining,'—and believe me, a fear of the effect of + 'speculation' upon my temperamento—you comprehend my complexion, my + brother? Reflect upon it, Pancho! I, who am the filosofo, if that I am + anything!” He looked at me with great levity of eye and supernatural + gravity of demeanor. “But eet ees the jealous affection of the wife, my + friend, for which I make play to her with the humble leetle pouding-stone + rather than the gold quartz that affrights.” + </p> + <p> + “But what do you want with them, if you have no shares in anything and do + not speculate?” I asked. + </p> + <p> + “Pardon! That ees where you slip up, my leetle friend.” He took from the + same drawer a clasped portfolio, and unlocked it, producing half a dozen + prospectuses and certificates of mining shares. I stood aghast as I + recognized the names of one or two extravagant failures of the last ten + years,—“played-out” mines that had been galvanized into deceptive + life in London, Paris, and New York, to the grief of shareholders abroad + and the laughter of the initiated at home. I could scarcely keep my + equanimity. “You do not mean to say that you have any belief or interest + in this rubbish?” I said quickly. + </p> + <p> + “What you call 'rubbish,' my good Pancho, ees the rubbish that the + American speculator have dump himself upon them in the shaft, the rubbish + of the advertisement, of the extravagant expense, of the salary, of the + assessment, of the 'freeze-out.' For thees, look you, is the old Mexican + mine. My grandfather and hees father have both seen them work before you + were born, and the American knew not there was gold in California.” + </p> + <p> + I knew he spoke truly. One or two were original silver mines in the south, + worked by peons and Indian slaves, a rope windlass, and a venerable + donkey. + </p> + <p> + “But those were silver mines,” I said suspiciously, “and these are gold + specimens.” + </p> + <p> + “They are from the same mother,” said the imperturbable Enriquez,—“the + same mine. The old peons worked him for SILVER, the precious dollar that + buy everything, that he send in the galleon to the Philippines for the + silk and spice! THAT is good enough for HIM! For the gold he made nothing, + even as my leetle wife Urania. And regard me here! There ees a proverb of + my father's which say that 'it shall take a gold mine to work a silver + mine,' so mooch more he cost. You work him, you are lost! Naturalmente, if + you turn him round, if it take you only a silver mine to work a gold mine, + you are gain. Thees ees logic!” + </p> + <p> + The intense gravity of his face at this extraordinary deduction upset my + own. But as I was never certain that Enriquez was not purposely mystifying + me, with some ulterior object, I could not help saying a little wickedly:— + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I understand all that; but how about this geologian? Will he not + tell your wife? You know he was a great admirer of hers.” + </p> + <p> + “That shall show the great intelligence of him, my Pancho. He will have + the four S's,' especially the secreto!” + </p> + <p> + There could be no serious discussion in his present mood. I gathered up + the pages of his wife's manuscript, said lightly that, as she had the + first claim upon my time, I should examine the Aztec material and report + in a day or two. As I knew I had little chance in the hands of these two + incomprehensibles together, I begged him not to call his wife, but to + convey my adieus to her, and, in spite of his embraces and protestations, + I managed to get out of the room. But I had scarcely reached the front + door when I heard Enriquez's voice and his bounding step on the stairs. In + another moment his arm was round my neck. + </p> + <p> + “You must return on the instant! Mother of God! I haf forget, SHE haf + forget, WE all haf forget! But you have not seen him!” + </p> + <p> + “Seen whom?” + </p> + <p> + “El nino, the baby! You comprehend, pig! The criaturica, the leetle child + of ourselfs!” + </p> + <p> + “The baby?” I said confusedly. “IS there—is there a BABY?” + </p> + <p> + “You hear him?” said Enriquez, sending an appealing voice upward. “You + hear him, Urania? You comprehend. This beast of a leetle brother demands + if there ees one!” + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” I said, hurriedly reascending the stairs. On the + landing I met Mrs. Saltillo, but as calm, composed, and precise as her + husband was extravagant and vehement. “It was an oversight of Enriquez's,” + she said quietly, reentering the room with us; “and was all the more + strange, as the child was in the room with you all the time.” + </p> + <p> + She pointed to the corner of the wall, where hung what I had believed to + be an old Indian relic. To my consternation, it WAS a bark “papoose-case,” + occupied by a LIVING child, swathed and bandaged after the approved Indian + fashion. It was asleep, I believe, but it opened a pair of bright + huckleberry eyes, set in the smallest of features, that were like those of + a carved ivory idol, and uttered a “coo” at the sound of its mother's + voice. She stood on one side with unruffled composure, while Enriquez + threw himself into an attitude before it, with clasped hands, as if it had + been an image of the Holy Child. For myself, I was too astounded to speak; + luckily, my confusion was attributed to the inexperience of a bachelor. + </p> + <p> + “I have adopted,” said Mrs. Saltillo, with the faintest touch of maternal + pride in her manner, “what I am convinced is the only natural and hygienic + mode of treating the human child. It may be said to be a reversion to the + aborigine, but I have yet to learn that it is not superior to our + civilized custom. By these bandages the limbs of the infant are kept in + proper position until they are strong enough to support the body, and such + a thing as malformation is unknown. It is protected by its cradle, which + takes the place of its incubating-shell, from external injury, the + injudicious coddling of nurses, the so-called 'dancings' and pernicious + rockings. The supine position, as in the adult, is imposed only at night. + By the aid of this strap it may be carried on long journeys, either by + myself or by Enriquez, who thus shares with me, as he fully recognizes, + its equal responsibility and burden.” + </p> + <p> + “It—certainly does not—cry,” I stammered. + </p> + <p> + “Crying,” said Mrs. Saltillo, with a curve of her pretty red lip, “is the + protest of the child against insanitary and artificial treatment. In its + upright, unostentatious cradle it is protected against that injudicious + fondling and dangerous promiscuous osculation to which, as an infant in + human arms, it is so often subjected. Above all, it is kept from that + shameless and mortifying publicity so unjust to the weak and unformed + animal. The child repays this consideration by a gratifying silence. It + cannot be expected to understand our thoughts, speech, or actions; it + cannot participate in our pleasures. Why should it be forced into + premature contact with them, merely to feed our vanity or selfishness? Why + should we assume our particular parental accident as superior to the + common lot? If we do not give our offspring that prominence before our + visitors so common to the young wife and husband, it is for that reason + solely; and this may account for what seemed the forgetfulness of Enriquez + in speaking of it or pointing it out to you. And I think his action in + calling you back to see it was somewhat precipitate. As one does not + usually introduce an unknown and inferior stranger without some previous + introduction, he might have asked you if you wished to see the baby before + he recalled you.” + </p> + <p> + I looked from Urania's unfathomable eyes to Enriquez's impenetrable + countenance. I might have been equal to either of them alone, but together + they were invincible. I looked hopelessly at the baby. With its sharp + little eyes and composed face, it certainly was a marvelous miniature of + Enriquez. I said so. + </p> + <p> + “It would be singular if it was not,” said Mrs. Saltillo dryly; “and as I + believe it is by no means an uncommon fact in human nature, it seems to me + strange that people should insist upon it as a discovery. It is an + inheritance, however, that in due time progress and science will no doubt + interrupt, to the advancement of the human race. I need not say that both + Enriquez and myself look forward to it with confident tranquillity.” + </p> + <p> + There was clearly nothing for me to do now but to shake hands again and + take my leave. Yet I was so much impressed with the unreality of the whole + scene that when I reached the front door I had a strong impulse to return + suddenly and fall in upon them in their relaxed and natural attitudes. + They could not keep up this pose between themselves; and I half expected + to see their laughing faces at the window, as I glanced up before wending + my perilous way to the street. + </p> + <p> + I found Mrs. Saltillo's manuscript well written and, in the narrative + parts, even graphic and sparkling. I suppressed some general remarks on + the universe, and some correlative theories of existence, as not + appertaining particularly to the Aztecs, and as not meeting any + unquenchable thirst for information on the part of the readers of the + “Daily Excelsior.” I even promoted my fair contributor to the position of + having been commissioned, at great expense, to make the Mexican journey + especially for the “Excelsior.” This, with Mrs. Saltillo's somewhat + precise preraphaelite drawings and water-colors, vilely reproduced by + woodcuts, gave quite a sensational air to her production, which, divided + into parts, for two or three days filled a whole page of the paper. I am + not aware of any particular service that it did to ethnology; but, as I + pointed out in the editorial column, it showed that the people of + California were not given over by material greed to the exclusion of + intellectual research; and as it was attacked instantly in long + communications from one or two scientific men, it thus produced more copy. + </p> + <p> + Briefly, it was a boom for the author and the “Daily Excelsior.” I should + add, however, that a rival newspaper intimated that it was also a boom for + Mrs. Saitillo's HUSBAND, and called attention to the fact that a deserted + Mexican mine, known as “El Bolero,” was described graphically in the Aztec + article among the news, and again appeared in the advertising columns of + the same paper. I turned somewhat indignantly to the file of the + “Excelsior,” and, singularly enough, found in the elaborate prospectus of + a new gold-mining company the description of the El Bolero mine as a + QUOTATION from the Aztec article, with extraordinary inducements for the + investment of capital in the projected working of an old mine. If I had + had any difficulty in recognizing in the extravagant style the flamboyant + hand of Enriquez in English writing, I might have read his name plainly + enough displayed as president of the company. It was evidently the + prospectus of one of the ventures he had shown me. I was more amused than + indignant at the little trick he had played upon my editorial astuteness. + After all, if I had thus benefited the young couple I was satisfied. I had + not seen them since my first visit, as I was very busy,—my + communications with Mrs. Saltillo had been carried on by letters and + proofs,—and when I did finally call at their house, it was only to + find that they were visiting at San Jose. I wondered whether the baby was + still hanging on the wall, or, if he was taken with them, who carried him. + </p> + <p> + A week later the stock of El Bolero was quoted at par. More than that, an + incomprehensible activity had been given to all the deserted Mexican + mines, and people began to look up scrip hitherto thrown aside as + worthless. Whether it was one of those extraordinary fevers which attacked + Californian speculation in the early days, or whether Enriquez Saltillo + had infected the stock-market with his own extravagance, I never knew; but + plans as wild, inventions as fantastic, and arguments as illogical as ever + emanated from his own brain, were set forth “on 'Change” with a gravity + equal to his own. The most reasonable hypothesis was that it was the + effect of the well-known fact that the Spanish Californian hitherto had + not been a mining speculator, nor connected in any way with the gold + production on his native soil, deeming it inconsistent with his + patriarchal life and landed dignity, and that when a “son of one of the + oldest Spanish families, identified with the land and its peculiar + character for centuries, lent himself to its mineral exploitations,”—I + beg to say that I am quoting from the advertisement in the “Excelsior,”—“it + was a guerdon of success.” This was so far true that in a week Enriquez + Saltillo was rich, and in a fair way to become a millionaire. + </p> + <p> + It was a hot afternoon when I alighted from the stifling Wingdam coach, + and stood upon the cool, deep veranda of the Carquinez Springs Hotel. + After I had shaken off the dust which had lazily followed us, in our + descent of the mountain road, like a red smoke, occasionally overflowing + the coach windows, I went up to the room I had engaged for my brief + holiday. I knew the place well, although I could see that the hotel itself + had lately been redecorated and enlarged to meet the increasing + requirements of fashion. I knew the forest of enormous redwoods where one + might lose one's self in a five minutes' walk from the veranda. I knew the + rocky trail that climbed the mountain to the springs, twisting between + giant boulders. I knew the arid garden, deep in the wayside dust, with its + hurriedly planted tropical plants, already withering in the dry autumn + sunshine, and washed into fictitious freshness, night and morning by the + hydraulic irrigating-hose. I knew, too, the cool, reposeful night winds + that swept down from invisible snow-crests beyond, with the hanging out of + monstrous stars, that too often failed to bring repose to the feverish + guests. For the overstrained neurotic workers who fled hither from the + baking plains of Sacramento, or from the chill sea-fogs of San Francisco, + never lost the fierce unrest that had driven them here. Unaccustomed to + leisure, their enforced idleness impelled them to seek excitement in the + wildest gayeties; the bracing mountain air only reinvigorated them to + pursue pleasure as they had pursued the occupations they had left behind. + Their sole recreations were furious drives over break-neck roads; mad, + scampering cavalcades through the sedate woods; gambling parties in + private rooms, where large sums were lost by capitalists on leave; + champagne suppers; and impromptu balls that lasted through the calm, + reposeful night to the first rays of light on the distant snowline. + Unimaginative men, in their temporary sojourn they more often outraged or + dispossessed nature in her own fastnesses than courted her for sympathy or + solitude. There were playing-cards left lying behind boulders, and empty + champagne bottles forgotten in forest depths. + </p> + <p> + I remembered all this when, refreshed by a bath, I leaned from the balcony + of my room and watched the pulling up of a brake, drawn by six dusty, + foam-bespattered horses, driven by a noted capitalist. As its hot, + perspiring, closely veiled yet burning-faced fair occupants descended, in + all the dazzling glory of summer toilets, and I saw the gentlemen consult + their watches with satisfaction, and congratulate their triumphant driver, + I knew the characteristic excitement they had enjoyed from a “record run,” + probably for a bet, over a mountain road in a burning sun. + </p> + <p> + “Not bad, eh? Forty-four minutes from the summit!” + </p> + <p> + The voice seemed at my elbow. I turned quickly, to recognize an + acquaintance, a young San Francisco broker, leaning from the next balcony + to mine. But my attention was just then preoccupied by the face and + figure, which seemed familiar to me, of a woman who was alighting from the + brake. + </p> + <p> + “Who is that?” I asked; “the straight slim woman in gray, with the white + veil twisted round her felt hat?” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Saltillo,” he answered; “wife of 'El Bolero' Saltillo, don't you + know. Mighty pretty woman, if she is a little stiffish and set up.” + </p> + <p> + Then I had not been mistaken! “Is Enriquez—is her husband—here?” + I asked quickly. + </p> + <p> + The man laughed. “I reckon not. This is the place for other people's + husbands, don't you know.” + </p> + <p> + Alas! I DID know; and as there flashed upon me all the miserable scandals + and gossip connected with this reckless, frivolous caravansary, I felt + like resenting his suggestion. But my companion's next words were more + significant:— + </p> + <p> + “Besides, if what they say is true, Saltillo wouldn't be very popular + here.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand,” I said quickly. + </p> + <p> + “Why, after all that row he had with the El Bolero Company.” + </p> + <p> + “I never heard of any row,” I said, in astonishment. + </p> + <p> + The broker laughed incredulously. “Come! and YOU a newspaper man! Well, + maybe they DID try to hush it up, and keep it out of the papers, on + account of the stock. But it seems he got up a reg'lar shindy with the + board, one day; called 'em thieves and swindlers, and allowed he was + disgracing himself as a Spanish hidalgo by having anything to do with 'em. + Talked, they say, about Charles V. of Spain, or some other royal galoot, + giving his ancestors the land in trust! Clean off his head, I reckon. Then + shunted himself off the company, and sold out. You can guess he wouldn't + be very popular around here, with Jim Bestley, there,” pointing to the + capitalist who had driven the brake, “who used to be on the board with + him. No, sir. He was either lying low for something, or was off his head. + Think of his throwing up a place like that!” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense!” I said indignantly. “He is mercurial, and has the quick + impulsiveness of his race, but I believe him as sane as any who sat with + him on the board. There must be some mistake, or you haven't got the whole + story.” Nevertheless, I did not care to discuss an old friend with a mere + acquaintance, and I felt secretly puzzled to account for his conduct, in + the face of his previous cleverness in manipulating the El Bolero, and the + undoubted fascination he had previously exercised over the stockholders. + The story had, of course, been garbled in repetition. I had never before + imagined what might be the effect of Enriquez's peculiar eccentricities + upon matter-of-fact people,—I had found them only amusing,—and + the broker's suggestion annoyed me. However, Mrs. Saltillo was here in the + hotel, and I should, of course, meet her. Would she be as frank with me? + </p> + <p> + I was disappointed at not finding her in the drawing-room or on the + veranda; and the heat being still unusually oppressive, I strolled out + toward the redwoods, hesitating for a moment in the shade before I ran the + fiery gauntlet of the garden. To my surprise, I had scarcely passed the + giant sentinels on its outskirts before I found that, from some unusual + condition of the atmosphere, the cold undercurrent of air which generally + drew through these pillared aisles was withheld that afternoon; it was + absolutely hotter than in the open, and the wood was charged throughout + with the acrid spices of the pine. I turned back to the hotel, reascended + to my bedroom, and threw myself in an armchair by the open window. My room + was near the end of a wing; the corner room at the end was next to mine, + on the same landing. Its closed door, at right angles to my open one, gave + upon the staircase, but was plainly visible from where I sat. I remembered + being glad that it was shut, as it enabled me without offense to keep my + own door open. + </p> + <p> + The house was very quiet. The leaves of a catalpa, across the roadway, + hung motionless. Somebody yawned on the veranda below. I threw away my + half-finished cigar, and closed my eyes. I think I had not lost + consciousness for more than a few seconds before I was awakened by the + shaking and thrilling of the whole building. As I staggered to my feet, I + saw the four pictures hanging against the wall swing outwardly from it on + their cords, and my door swing back against the wall. At the same moment, + acted upon by the same potential impulse, the door of the end room in the + hall, opposite the stairs, also swung open. In that brief moment I had a + glimpse of the interior of the room, of two figures, a man and a woman, + the latter clinging to her companion in abject terror. It was only for an + instant, for a second thrill passed through the house, the pictures + clattered back against the wall, the door of the end room closed violently + on its strange revelation, and my own door swung back also. Apprehensive + of what might happen, I sprang toward it, but only to arrest it an inch or + two before it should shut, when, as my experience had taught me, it might + stick by the subsidence of the walls. But it did stick ajar, and remained + firmly fixed in that position. From the clattering of the knob of the + other door, and the sound of hurried voices behind it, I knew that the + same thing had happened there when that door had fully closed. + </p> + <p> + I was familiar enough with earthquakes to know that, with the second shock + or subsidence of the earth, the immediate danger was passed, and so I was + able to note more clearly what else was passing. There was the usual + sudden stampede of hurrying feet, the solitary oath and scream, the + half-hysterical laughter, and silence. Then the tumult was reawakened to + the sound of high voices, talking all together, or the impatient calling + of absentees in halls and corridors. Then I heard the quick swish of + female skirts on the staircase, and one of the fair guests knocked + impatiently at the door of the end room, still immovably fixed. At the + first knock there was a sudden cessation of the hurried whisperings and + turning of the doorknob. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Saltillo, are you there? Are you frightened?” she called. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Saltillo”! It was SHE, then, who was in the room! I drew nearer my + door, which was still fixed ajar. Presently a voice,—Mrs. Saltillo's + voice,—with a constrained laugh in it, came from behind the door: + “Not a bit. I'll come down in a minute.” + </p> + <p> + “Do,” persisted the would-be intruder. “It's all over now, but we're all + going out into the garden; it's safer.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” answered Mrs. Saltillo. “Don't wait, dear. I'll follow. Run + away, now.” + </p> + <p> + The visitor, who was evidently still nervous, was glad to hurry away, and + I heard her retreating step on the staircase. The rattling of the door + began again, and at last it seemed to yield to a stronger pull, and opened + sufficiently to allow Mrs. Saltillo to squeeze through. I withdrew behind + my door. I fancied that it creaked as she passed, as if, noticing it ajar, + she had laid an inquiring hand upon it. I waited, but she was not followed + by any one. I wondered if I had been mistaken. I was going to the + bell-rope to summon assistance to move my own door when a sudden instinct + withheld me. If there was any one still in that room, he might come from + it just as the servant answered my call, and a public discovery would be + unavoidable. I was right. In another instant the figure of a man, whose + face I could not discern, slipped out of the room, passed my door, and + went stealthily down the staircase. + </p> + <p> + Convinced of this, I resolved not to call public attention to my being in + my own room at the time of the incident; so I did not summon any one, but, + redoubling my efforts, I at last opened the door sufficiently to pass out, + and at once joined the other guests in the garden. Already, with + characteristic recklessness and audacity, the earthquake was made light + of; the only dictate of prudence had resolved itself into a hilarious + proposal to “camp out” in the woods all night, and have a “torch-light + picnic.” Even then preparations were being made for carrying tents, + blankets, and pillows to the adjacent redwoods; dinner and supper, cooked + at campfires, were to be served there on stumps of trees and fallen logs. + The convulsion of nature had been used as an excuse for one of the wildest + freaks of extravagance that Carquinez Springs had ever known. Perhaps that + quick sense of humor which dominates the American male in exigencies of + this kind kept the extravagances from being merely bizarre and grotesque, + and it was presently known that the hotel and its menage were to be + appropriately burlesqued by some of the guests, who, attired as Indians, + would personate the staff, from the oracular hotel proprietor himself down + to the smart hotel clerk. + </p> + <p> + During these arrangements I had a chance of drawing near Mrs. Saltillo. I + fancied she gave a slight start as she recognized me; but her greetings + were given with her usual precision. “Have you been here long?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “I have only just come,” I replied laughingly; “in time for the shock.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, you felt it, then? I was telling these ladies that our eminent + geologist, Professor Dobbs, assured me that these seismic disturbances in + California have a very remote centre, and are seldom serious.” + </p> + <p> + “It must be very satisfactory to have the support of geology at such a + moment,” I could not help saying, though I had not the slightest idea + whose the figure was that I had seen, nor, indeed, had I recognized it + among the guests. She did not seem to detect any significance in my + speech, and I added: “And where is Enriquez? He would enjoy this proposed + picnic to-night.” + </p> + <p> + “Enriquez is at Salvatierra Rancho, which he lately bought from his + cousin.” + </p> + <p> + “And the baby? Surely, here is a chance for you to hang him up on a + redwood tonight, in his cradle.” + </p> + <p> + “The boy,” said Mrs. Saltillo quickly, “is no longer in his cradle; he has + passed the pupa state, and is now free to develop his own perfected limbs. + He is with his father. I do not approve of children being submitted to the + indiscriminate attentions of a hotel. I am here myself only for that + supply of ozone indicated for brain exhaustion.” + </p> + <p> + She looked so pretty and prim in her gray dress, so like her old correct + self, that I could not think of anything but her mental attitude, which + did not, by the way, seem much like mental depression. Yet I was aware + that I was getting no information of Enriquez's condition or affairs, + unless the whole story told by the broker was an exaggeration. I did not, + however, dare to ask more particularly. + </p> + <p> + “You remember Professor Dobbs?” she asked abruptly. + </p> + <p> + This recalled a suspicion awakened by my vision, so suddenly that I felt + myself blushing. She did not seem to notice it, and was perfectly + composed. + </p> + <p> + “I do remember him. Is he here?” + </p> + <p> + “He is; that is what makes it so particularly unfortunate for me. You see, + after that affair of the board, and Enriquez's withdrawal, although + Enriquez may have been a little precipitate in his energetic way, I + naturally took my husband's part in public; for although we preserve our + own independence inviolable, we believe in absolute confederation as + against society.” + </p> + <p> + “But what has Professor Dobbs to do with the board?” I interrupted. + </p> + <p> + “The professor was scientific and geological adviser to the board, and it + was upon some report or suggestion of his that Enriquez took issue, + against the sentiment of the board. It was a principle affecting + Enriquez's Spanish sense of honor.” + </p> + <p> + “Do tell me all about it,” I said eagerly; “I am very anxious to know the + truth.” + </p> + <p> + “As I was not present at the time,” said Mrs. Saltillo, rebuking my + eagerness with a gentle frigidity, “I am unable to do so. Anything else + would be mere hearsay, and more or less ex parte. I do not approve of + gossip.” + </p> + <p> + “But what did Enriquez tell you? You surely know that.” + </p> + <p> + “THAT, being purely confidential, as between husband and wife,—perhaps + I should say partner and partner,—of course you do not expect me to + disclose. Enough that I was satisfied with it. I should not have spoken to + you about it at all, but that, through myself and Enriquez, you are an + acquaintance of the professor's, and I might save you the awkwardness of + presenting yourself with him. Otherwise, although you are a friend of + Enriquez, it need not affect your acquaintance with the professor.” + </p> + <p> + “Hang the professor!” I ejaculated. “I don't care a rap for HIM.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I differ with you,” said Mrs. Saltillo, with precision. “He is + distinctly an able man, and one cannot but miss the contact of his + original mind and his liberal teachings.” + </p> + <p> + Here she was joined by one of the ladies, and I lounged away. I dare say + it was very mean and very illogical, but the unsatisfactory character of + this interview made me revert again to the singular revelation I had seen + a few hours before. I looked anxiously for Professor Dobbs; but when I did + meet him, with an indifferent nod of recognition, I found I could by no + means identify him with the figure of her mysterious companion. And why + should I suspect him at all, in the face of Mrs. Saltillo's confessed + avoidance of him? Who, then, could it have been? I had seen them but an + instant, in the opening and the shutting of a door. It was merely the + shadowy bulk of a man that flitted past my door, after all. Could I have + imagined the whole thing? Were my perceptive faculties—just aroused + from slumber, too insufficiently clear to be relied upon? Would I not have + laughed had Urania, or even Enriquez himself, told me such a story? + </p> + <p> + As I reentered the hotel the clerk handed me a telegram. “There's been a + pretty big shake all over the country,” he said eagerly. “Everybody is + getting news and inquiries from their friends. Anything fresh?” He paused + interrogatively as I tore open the envelope. The dispatch had been + redirected from the office of the “Daily Excelsior.” It was dated, + “Salvatierra Rancho,” and contained a single line: “Come and see your old + uncle 'Ennery.” + </p> + <p> + There was nothing in the wording of the message that was unlike Enriquez's + usual light-hearted levity, but the fact that he should have TELEGRAPHED + it to me struck me uneasily. That I should have received it at the hotel + where his wife and Professor Dobbs were both staying, and where I had had + such a singular experience, seemed to me more than a mere coincidence. An + instinct that the message was something personal to Enriquez and myself + kept me from imparting it to Mrs. Saltillo. After worrying half the night + in our bizarre camp in the redwoods, in the midst of a restless festivity + which was scarcely the repose I had been seeking at Carquinez Springs, I + resolved to leave the next day for Salvatierra Rancho. I remembered the + rancho,—a low, golden-brown, adobe-walled quadrangle, sleeping like + some monstrous ruminant in a hollow of the Contra Costa Range. I recalled, + in the midst of this noisy picnic, the slumberous coolness of its long + corridors and soundless courtyard, and hailed it as a relief. The telegram + was a sufficient excuse for my abrupt departure. In the morning I left, + but without again seeing either Mrs. Saltillo or the professor. + </p> + <p> + It was late the next afternoon when I rode through the canada that led to + the rancho. I confess my thoughts were somewhat gloomy, in spite of my + escape from the noisy hotel; but this was due to the sombre scenery + through which I had just ridden, and the monotonous russet of the leagues + of wild oats. As I approached the rancho, I saw that Enriquez had made no + attempt to modernize the old casa, and that even the garden was left in + its lawless native luxuriance, while the rude tiled sheds near the walled + corral contained the old farming implements, unchanged for a century, even + to the ox-carts, the wheels of which were made of a single block of wood. + A few peons, in striped shirts and velvet jackets, were sunning themselves + against a wall, and near them hung a half-drained pellejo, or goatskin + water-bag. The air of absolute shiftlessness must have been repellent to + Mrs. Saltillo's orderly precision, and for a moment I pitied her. But it + was equally inconsistent with Enriquez's enthusiastic ideas of American + progress, and the extravagant designs he had often imparted to me of the + improvements he would make when he had a fortune. I was feeling uneasy + again, when I suddenly heard the rapid clack of unshod hoofs on a rocky + trail that joined my own. At the same instant a horseman dashed past me at + full speed. I had barely time to swerve my own horse aside to avoid a + collision, yet in that brief moment I recognized the figure of Enriquez. + But his face I should have scarcely known. It was hard and fixed. His + upper lip and thin, penciled mustache were drawn up over his teeth, which + were like a white gash in his dark face. He turned into the courtyard of + the rancho. I put spurs to my horse, and followed, in nervous expectation. + He turned in his saddle as I entered. But the next moment he bounded from + his horse, and, before I could dismount, flew to my side and absolutely + lifted me from the saddle to embrace me. It was the old Enriquez again; + his face seemed to have utterly changed in that brief moment. + </p> + <p> + “This is all very well, old chap,” I said; “but do you know that you + nearly ran me down, just now, with that infernal half-broken mustang? Do + you usually charge the casa at that speed?” + </p> + <p> + “Pardon, my leetle brother! But here you shall slip up. The mustang is not + HALF-broken; he is not broke at all! Look at his hoof—never have a + shoe been there. For myself—attend me! When I ride alone, I think + mooch; when I think mooch I think fast; my idea he go like a cannon-ball! + Consequent, if I ride not thees horse like the cannon-ball, my thought HE + arrive first, and where are you? You get left! Believe me that I fly thees + horse, thees old Mexican plug, and your de' uncle 'Ennery and his leetle + old idea arrive all the same time, and on the instant.” + </p> + <p> + It WAS the old Enriquez! I perfectly understood his extravagant speech and + illustration, and yet for the first time I wondered if others did. + </p> + <p> + “Tak'-a-drink!” he said, all in one word. “You shall possess the old + Bourbon or the rhum from the Santa Cruz! Name your poison, gentlemen!” + </p> + <p> + He had already dragged me up the steps from the patio to the veranda, and + seated me before a small round table still covered with the chocolate + equipage of the morning. A little dried-up old Indian woman took it away, + and brought the spirits and glasses. + </p> + <p> + “Mirar the leetle old one!” said Enriquez, with unflinching gravity. + “Consider her, Pancho, to the bloosh! She is not truly an Aztec, but she + is of years one hundred and one, and LIFS! Possibly she haf not the beauty + which ravishes, which devastates. But she shall attent you to the hot + water, to the bath. Thus shall you be protect, my leetle brother, from + scandal.” + </p> + <p> + “Enriquez,” I burst out suddenly, “tell me about yourself. Why did you + leave the El Bolero board? What was the row about?” + </p> + <p> + Enriquez's eyes for a moment glittered; then they danced as before. + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” he said, “you have heard?” + </p> + <p> + “Something; but I want to know the truth from you.” + </p> + <p> + He lighted a cigarette, lifted himself backward into a grass hammock, on + which he sat, swinging his feet. Then, pointing to another hammock, he + said: “Tranquillize yourself there. I will relate; but, truly, it ees + nothing.” + </p> + <p> + He took a long pull at his cigarette, and for a few moments seemed quietly + to exude smoke from his eyes, ears, nose, even his finger-ends—everywhere, + in fact, but his mouth. That and his mustache remained fixed. Then he said + slowly, flicking away the ashes with his little finger:— + </p> + <p> + “First you understand, friend Pancho, that I make no row. The other + themself make the row, the shindig. They make the dance, the howl, the + snap of the finger, the oath, the 'Helen blazes,' the 'Wot the devil,' the + 'That be d—d,' the bad language; they themselves finger the + revolver, advance the bowie-knife, throw off the coat, square off, and say + 'Come on.' I remain as you see me now, little brother—tranquil.” He + lighted another cigarette, made his position more comfortable in the + hammock, and resumed: “The Professor Dobbs, who is the geologian of the + company, made a report for which he got two thousand dollar. But thees + report—look you, friend Pancho—he is not good for the mine. + For in the hole in the ground the Professor Dobbs have found a 'hoss.'” + </p> + <p> + “A what?” I asked. + </p> + <p> + “A hoss,” repeated Enriquez, with infinite gravity. “But not, leetle + Pancho, the hoss that run, the hoss that buck-jump, but what the miner + call a 'hoss,' a something that rear up in the vein and stop him. You pick + around the hoss; you pick under him; sometimes you find the vein, + sometimes you do not. The hoss rear up, and remain! Eet ees not good for + the mine. The board say, 'D—- the hoss!' 'Get rid of the hoss.' + 'Chuck out the hoss.' Then they talk together, and one say to the + Professor Dobbs: 'Eef you cannot thees hoss remove from the mine, you can + take him out of the report.' He look to me, thees professor. I see + nothing; I remain tranquil. Then the board say: 'Thees report with the + hoss in him is worth two thousand dollar, but WITHOUT the hoss he is worth + five thousand dollar. For the stockholder is frighted of the rearing hoss. + It is of a necessity that the stockholder should remain tranquil. Without + the hoss the report is good; the stock shall errise; the director shall + sell out, and leave the stockholder the hoss to play with.' The professor + he say, 'Al-right;' he scratch out the hoss, sign his name, and get a + check for three thousand dollar.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I errise—so!” He got up from the hammock, suiting the action + to the word, and during the rest of his narrative, I honestly believe, + assumed the same attitude and deliberate intonation he had exhibited at + the board. I could even fancy I saw the reckless, cynical faces of his + brother directors turned upon his grim, impassive features. “I am + tranquil. I smoke my cigarette. I say that for three hundred year my + family have held the land of thees mine; that it pass from father to son, + and from son to son; it pass by gift, it pass by grant, but that NEVARRE + THERE PASS A LIE WITH IT! I say it was a gift by a Spanish Christian king + to a Christian hidalgo for the spread of the gospel, and not for the cheat + and the swindle! I say that this mine was worked by the slave, and by the + mule, by the ass, but never by the cheat and swindler. I say that if they + have struck the hoss in the mine, they have struck a hoss IN THE LAND, a + Spanish hoss; a hoss that have no bridle worth five thousand dollar in his + mouth, but a hoss to rear, and a hoss that cannot be struck out by a + Yankee geologian; and that hoss is Enriquez Saltillo!” + </p> + <p> + He paused, and laid aside his cigarette. + </p> + <p> + “Then they say, 'Dry up,' and 'Sell out;' and the great bankers say, 'Name + your own price for your stock, and resign.' And I say, 'There is not + enough gold in your bank, in your San Francisco, in the mines of + California, that shall buy a Spanish gentleman. When I leave, I leave the + stock at my back; I shall take it, nevarre! Then the banker he say, 'And + you will go and blab, I suppose?' And then, Pancho, I smile, I pick up my + mustache—so! and I say: 'Pardon, senor, you haf mistake, The + Saltillo haf for three hundred year no stain, no blot upon him. Eet is not + now—the last of the race—who shall confess that he haf sit at + a board of disgrace and dishonor!' And then it is that the band begin to + play, and the animals stand on their hind leg and waltz, and behold, the + row he haf begin!” + </p> + <p> + I ran over to him, and fairly hugged him. But he put me aside with a + gentle and philosophical calm. “Ah, eet is nothing, Pancho. It is, believe + me, all the same a hundred years to come, and where are you, then? The + earth he turn round, and then come el temblor, the earthquake, and there + you are! Bah! eet is not of the board that I have asked you to come; it is + something else I would tell you. Go and wash yourself of thees journey, my + leetle brother, as I have”—looking at his narrow, brown, well-bred + hands—“wash myself of the board. Be very careful of the leetle old + woman, Pancho; do not wink to her of the eye! Consider, my leetle brother, + for one hundred and one year he haf been as a nun, a saint! Disturb not + her tranquillity.” + </p> + <p> + Yes, it was the old Enriquez; but he seemed graver,—if I could use + that word of one of such persistent gravity; only his gravity heretofore + had suggested a certain irony rather than a melancholy which I now fancied + I detected. And what was this “something else” he was to “tell me later”? + Did it refer to Mrs. Saltillo? I had purposely waited for him to speak of + her, before I should say anything of my visit to Carquinez Springs. I + hurried through my ablutions in the hot water, brought in a bronze jar on + the head of the centenarian handmaid; and even while I was smiling over + Enriquez's caution regarding this aged Ruth, I felt I was getting nervous + to hear his news. + </p> + <p> + I found him in his sitting-room, or study,—a long, low apartment + with small, deep windows like embrasures in the outer adobe wall, but + glazed in lightly upon the veranda. He was sitting quite abstractedly, + with a pen in his hand, before a table, on which a number of sealed + envelopes were lying. He looked SO formal and methodical for Enriquez. + </p> + <p> + “You like the old casa, Pancho?” he said in reply to my praise of its + studious and monastic gloom. “Well, my leetle brother, some day that is + fair—who knows?—it may be at your disposicion; not of our + politeness, but of a truth, friend Pancho. For, if I leave it to my wife”—it + was the first time he had spoken of her—“for my leetle child,” he + added quickly, “I shall put in a bond, an obligacion, that my friend + Pancho shall come and go as he will.” + </p> + <p> + “The Saltillos are a long-lived race,” I laughed. “I shall be a + gray-haired man, with a house and family of my own by that time.” But I + did not like the way he had spoken. + </p> + <p> + “Quien sabe?” he only said, dismissing the question with the national + gesture. After a moment he added: “I shall tell you something that is + strrange, so strrange that you shall say, like the banker say, 'Thees + Enriquez, he ees off his head; he ees a crank, a lunatico;' but it ees a + FACT; believe me, I have said!” + </p> + <p> + He rose, and, going to the end of the room, opened a door. It showed a + pretty little room, femininely arranged in Mrs. Saltillo's refined taste. + “Eet is pretty; eet is the room of my wife. Bueno! attend me now.” He + closed the door, and walked back to the table. “I have sit here and write + when the earthquake arrive. I have feel the shock, the grind of the walls + on themselves, the tremor, the stagger, and—that—door—he + swing open!” + </p> + <p> + “The door?” I said, with a smile that I felt was ghastly. + </p> + <p> + “Comprehend me,” he said quickly; “it ees not THAT which ees strrange. The + wall lift, the lock slip, the door he fell open; it is frequent; it comes + so ever when the earthquake come. But eet is not my wife's room I see; it + is ANOTHER ROOM, a room I know not. My wife Urania, she stand there, of a + fear, of a tremble; she grasp, she cling to someone. The earth shake + again; the door shut. I jump from my table; I shake and tumble to the + door. I fling him open. Maravilloso! it is the room of my wife again. She + is NOT there; it is empty; it is nothing!” + </p> + <p> + I felt myself turning hot and cold by turns. I was horrified, and—and + I blundered. “And who was the other figure?” I gasped. + </p> + <p> + “Who?” repeated Enriquez, with a pause, a fixed look at me, and a sublime + gesture. “Who SHOULD it be, but myself, Enriquez Saltillo?” + </p> + <p> + A terrible premonition that this was a chivalrous LIE, that it was NOT + himself he had seen, but that our two visions were identical, came upon + me. “After all,” I said, with a fixed smile, “if you could imagine you saw + your wife, you could easily imagine you saw yourself too. In the shock of + the moment you thought of HER naturally, for then she would as naturally + seek your protection. You have written for news of her?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Enriquez quietly. + </p> + <p> + “No?” I repeated amazedly. + </p> + <p> + “You understand, Pancho! Eef it was the trick of my eyes, why should I + affright her for the thing that is not? If it is the truth, and it arrive + to ME, as a warning, why shall I affright her before it come?” + </p> + <p> + “Before WHAT comes? What is it a warning of?” I asked impetuously. + </p> + <p> + “That we shall be separated! That I go, and she do not.” + </p> + <p> + To my surprise, his dancing eyes had a slight film over them. “I don't + understand you,” I said awkwardly. + </p> + <p> + “Your head is not of a level, my Pancho. Thees earthquake he remain for + only ten seconds, and he fling open the door. If he remain for twenty + seconds, he fling open the wall, the hoose toomble, and your friend + Enriquez is feenish.” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense!” I said. “Professor—I mean the geologists—say that + the centre of disturbance of these Californian earthquakes is some + far-away point in the Pacific and there never will be any serious + convulsions here.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, the geologist,” said Enriquez gravely, “understand the hoss that rear + in the mine, and the five thousand dollar, believe me, no more. He haf lif + here three year. My family haf lif here three hundred. My grandfather saw + the earth swallow the church of San Juan Baptista.” + </p> + <p> + I laughed, until, looking up, I was shocked to see for the first time that + his dancing eyes were moist and shining. But almost instantly he jumped + up, and declared that I had not seen the garden and the corral, and, + linking his arm in mine, swept me like a whirlwind into the patio. For an + hour or two he was in his old invincible spirits. I was glad I had said + nothing of my visit to Carquinez Springs and of seeing his wife; I + determined to avoid it as long as possible; and as he did not again refer + to her, except in the past, it was not difficult. At last he infected me + with his extravagance, and for a while I forgot even the strangeness of + his conduct and his confidences. We walked and talked together as of old. + I understood and enjoyed him perfectly, and it was not strange that in the + end I began to believe that this strange revelation was a bit of his + extravagant acting, got up to amuse me. The coincidence of his story with + my own experience was not, after all, such a wonderful thing, considering + what must have been the nervous and mental disturbance produced by the + earthquake. We dined together, attended only by Pedro, an old half-caste + body-servant. It was easy to see that the household was carried on + economically, and, from a word or two casually dropped by Enriquez, it + appeared that the rancho and a small sum of money were all that he + retained from his former fortune when he left the El Bolero. The stock he + kept intact, refusing to take the dividend upon it until that collapse of + the company should occur which he confidently predicted, when he would + make good the swindled stockholders. I had no reason to doubt his perfect + faith in this. + </p> + <p> + The next morning we were up early for a breezy gallop over the three + square miles of Enriquez's estate. I was astounded, when I descended to + the patio, to find Enriquez already mounted, and carrying before him, + astride of the horn of his saddle, a small child,—the identical + papoose of my memorable first visit. But the boy was no longer swathed and + bandaged, although, for security, his plump little body was engirt by the + same sash that encircled his father's own waist. I felt a stirring of + self-reproach; I had forgotten all about him! To my suggestion that the + exercise might be fatiguing to him, Enriquez shrugged his shoulders:— + </p> + <p> + “Believe me, no! He is ever with me when I go on the pasear. He is not too + yonge. For he shall learn 'to rride, to shoot, and to speak the truth,' + even as the Persian chile. Eet ees all I can gif to him.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, I think the boy enjoyed it, and I knew he was safe with such + an accomplished horseman as his father. Indeed, it was a fine sight to see + them both careering over the broad plain, Enriquez with jingling spurs and + whirling riata, and the boy, with a face as composed as his father's, and + his tiny hand grasping the end of the flapping rein with a touch scarcely + lighter than the skillful rider's own. It was a lovely morning; though + warm and still, there was a faint haze—a rare thing in that climate—on + the distant range. The sun-baked soil, arid and thirsty from the long + summer drought, and cracked into long fissures, broke into puffs of dust, + with a slight detonation like a pistol-shot, at each stroke of our + pounding hoofs. Suddenly my horse swerved in full gallop, almost lost his + footing, “broke,” and halted with braced fore feet, trembling in every + limb. I heard a shout from Enriquez at the same instant, and saw that he + too had halted about a hundred paces from me, with his hand uplifted in + warning, and between us a long chasm in the dry earth, extending across + the whole field. But the trembling of the horse continued until it + communicated itself to me. I was shaking, too, and, looking about for the + cause, when I beheld the most weird and remarkable spectacle I had ever + witnessed. The whole llano, or plain, stretching to the horizon-line, was + DISTINCTLY UNDULATING! The faint haze of the hills was repeated over its + surface, as if a dust had arisen from some grinding displacement of the + soil. I threw myself from my horse, but the next moment was fain to cling + to him, as I felt the thrill under my very feet. Then there was a pause, + and I lifted my head to look for Enriquez. He was nowhere to be seen! With + a terrible recollection of the fissure that had yawned between us, I + sprang to the saddle again, and spurred the frightened beast toward that + point. BUT IT WAS GONE, TOO! I rode backward and forward repeatedly along + the line where I had seen it only a moment before. The plain lay compact + and uninterrupted, without a crack or fissure. The dusty haze that had + arisen had passed as mysteriously away; the clear outline of the valley + returned; the great field was empty! + </p> + <p> + Presently I was aware of the sound of galloping hoofs. I remembered then—what + I had at first forgotten—that a few moments before we had crossed an + arroyo, or dried bed of a stream, depressed below the level of the field. + How foolish that I had not remembered! He had evidently sought that + refuge; there were his returning hoofs. I galloped toward it, but only to + meet a frightened vaquero, who had taken that avenue of escape to the + rancho. + </p> + <p> + “Did you see Don Enriquez?” I asked impatiently. + </p> + <p> + I saw that the man's terror was extreme, and his eyes were staring in + their sockets. He hastily crossed himself:— + </p> + <p> + “Ah, God, yes!” + </p> + <p> + “Where is he?” I demanded. + </p> + <p> + “Gone!” + </p> + <p> + “Where?” + </p> + <p> + He looked at me with staring, vacant eyes, and, pointing to the ground, + said in Spanish: “He has returned to the land of his fathers!” + </p> + <p> + We searched for him that day and the next, when the country was aroused + and his neighbors joined in a quest that proved useless. Neither he nor + his innocent burden was ever seen again of men. Whether he had been + engulfed by mischance in some unsuspected yawning chasm in that brief + moment, or had fulfilled his own prophecy by deliberately erasing himself + for some purpose known only to himself, no one ever knew. His + country-people shook their heads and said “it was like a Saltillo.” And + the few among his retainers who knew him and loved him, whispered still + more ominously: “He will yet return to his land to confound the + Americanos.” + </p> + <p> + Yet the widow of Enriquez did NOT marry Professor Dobbs. But she too + disappeared from California, and years afterward I was told that she was + well known to the ingenuous Parisians as the usual wealthy widow “from + South America.” + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Stories in Light and Shadow, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW *** + +***** This file should be named 2508-h.htm or 2508-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/0/2508/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Stories in Light and Shadow + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 18, 2006 [EBook #2508] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson + + + + + +STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW + +By Bret Harte + + +From: "ARGONAUT EDITION" OF THE WORKS OF BRET HARTE, VOL. 13 + +P. F. COLLIER & SON + +NEW YORK + + + +CONTENTS + +"UNSER KARL" + +UNCLE JIM AND UNCLE BILLY + +SEE YUP + +THE DESBOROUGH CONNECTIONS + +SALOMY JANE'S KISS + +THE MAN AND THE MOUNTAIN + +THE PASSING OF ENRIQUEZ + + + + +STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW + + + + +"UNSER KARL" + + +The American consul for Schlachtstadt had just turned out of the broad +Konig's Allee into the little square that held his consulate. Its +residences always seemed to him to wear that singularly uninhabited air +peculiar to a street scene in a theatre. The facades, with their stiff, +striped wooden awnings over the windows, were of the regularity, color, +and pattern only seen on the stage, and conversation carried on in the +street below always seemed to be invested with that perfect confidence +and security which surrounds the actor in his painted desert of urban +perspective. Yet it was a peaceful change to the other byways and +highways of Schlachtstadt which were always filled with an equally +unreal and mechanical soldiery, who appeared to be daily taken out of +their boxes of "caserne" or "depot" and loosely scattered all over +the pretty linden-haunted German town. There were soldiers standing on +street corners; soldiers staring woodenly into shop windows; soldiers +halted suddenly into stone, like lizards, at the approach of Offiziere; +Offiziere lounging stiffly four abreast, sweeping the pavement with +their trailing sabres all at one angle. There were cavalcades of +red hussars, cavalcades of blue hussars, cavalcades of Uhlans, with +glittering lances and pennons--with or without a band--formally +parading; there were straggling "fatigues" or "details" coming round +the corners; there were dusty, businesslike columns of infantry, going +nowhere and to no purpose. And they one and all seemed to be WOUND +UP--for that service--and apparently always in the same place. In the +band of their caps--invariably of one pattern--was a button, in the +centre of which was a square opening or keyhole. The consul was always +convinced that through this keyhole opening, by means of a key, the +humblest caporal wound up his file, the Hauptmann controlled his +lieutenants and non-commissioned officers, and even the general himself, +wearing the same cap, was subject through his cap to a higher moving +power. In the suburbs, when the supply of soldiers gave out, there +were sentry-boxes; when these dropped off, there were "caissons," or +commissary wagons. And, lest the military idea should ever fail from +out the Schlachtstadt's burgher's mind, there were police in uniform, +street-sweepers in uniform; the ticket-takers, guards, and sweepers at +the Bahnhof were in uniform,--but all wearing the same kind of cap, with +the probability of having been wound up freshly each morning for their +daily work. Even the postman delivered peaceful invoices to the consul +with his side-arms and the air of bringing dispatches from the field +of battle; and the consul saluted, and felt for a few moments the whole +weight of his consular responsibility. + +Yet, in spite of this military precedence, it did not seem in the least +inconsistent with the decidedly peaceful character of the town, and this +again suggested its utter unreality; wandering cows sometimes got mixed +up with squadrons of cavalry, and did not seem to mind it; sheep passed +singly between files of infantry, or preceded them in a flock when on +the march; indeed, nothing could be more delightful and innocent than +to see a regiment of infantry in heavy marching order, laden with every +conceivable thing they could want for a week, returning after a cheerful +search for an invisible enemy in the suburbs, to bivouac peacefully +among the cabbages in the market-place. Nobody was ever imposed upon +for a moment by their tremendous energy and severe display; drums might +beat, trumpets blow, dragoons charge furiously all over the Exercier +Platz, or suddenly flash their naked swords in the streets to the +guttural command of an officer--nobody seemed to mind it. People glanced +up to recognize Rudolf or Max "doing their service," nodded, and went +about their business. And although the officers always wore their +side-arms, and at the most peaceful of social dinners only relinquished +their swords in the hall, apparently that they might be ready to buckle +them on again and rush out to do battle for the Fatherland between the +courses, the other guests only looked upon these weapons in the light +of sticks and umbrellas, and possessed their souls in peace. And +when, added to this singular incongruity, many of these warriors were +spectacled, studious men, and, despite their lethal weapons, wore a +slightly professional air, and were--to a man--deeply sentimental and +singularly simple, their attitude in this eternal Kriegspiel seemed to +the consul more puzzling than ever. + +As he entered his consulate he was confronted with another aspect of +Schlachtstadt quite as wonderful, yet already familiar to him. For, +in spite of these "alarums without," which, however, never seem to +penetrate beyond the town itself, Schlachtstadt and its suburbs were +known all over the world for the manufactures of certain beautiful +textile fabrics, and many of the rank and file of those warriors had +built up the fame and prosperity of the district over their peaceful +looms in wayside cottages. There were great depots and counting-houses, +larger than even the cavalry barracks, where no other uniform but that +of the postman was known. Hence it was that the consul's chief duty +was to uphold the flag of his own country by the examination +and certification of divers invoices sent to his office by the +manufacturers. But, oddly enough, these business messengers were chiefly +women,--not clerks, but ordinary household servants, and, on busy days, +the consulate might have been mistaken for a female registry office, +so filled and possessed it was by waiting Madchen. Here it was that +Gretchen, Lieschen, and Clarchen, in the cleanest of blue gowns, and +stoutly but smartly shod, brought their invoices in a piece of clean +paper, or folded in a blue handkerchief, and laid them, with fingers +more or less worn and stubby from hard service, before the consul for +his signature. Once, in the case of a very young Madchen, that signature +was blotted by the sweep of a flaxen braid upon it as the child turned +to go; but generally there was a grave, serious business instinct and +sense of responsibility in these girls of ordinary peasant origin which, +equally with their sisters of France, were unknown to the English or +American woman of any class. + +That morning, however, there was a slight stir among those who, with +their knitting, were waiting their turn in the outer office as the +vice-consul ushered the police inspector into the consul's private +office. He was in uniform, of course, and it took him a moment to +recover from his habitual stiff, military salute,--a little stiffer than +that of the actual soldier. + +It was a matter of importance! A stranger had that morning been arrested +in the town and identified as a military deserter. He claimed to be an +American citizen; he was now in the outer office, waiting the consul's +interrogation. + +The consul knew, however, that the ominous accusation had only a mild +significance here. The term "military deserter" included any one who +had in youth emigrated to a foreign country without first fulfilling his +military duty to his fatherland. His first experiences of these cases +had been tedious and difficult,--involving a reference to his Minister +at Berlin, a correspondence with the American State Department, a +condition of unpleasant tension, and finally the prolonged detention of +some innocent German--naturalized--American citizen, who had forgotten +to bring his papers with him in revisiting his own native country. It so +chanced, however, that the consul enjoyed the friendship and confidence +of the General Adlerkreutz, who commanded the 20th Division, and it +further chanced that the same Adlerkreutz was as gallant a soldier as +ever cried Vorwarts! at the head of his men, as profound a military +strategist and organizer as ever carried his own and his enemy's +plans in his iron head and spiked helmet, and yet with as simple and +unaffected a soul breathing under his gray mustache as ever issued from +the lips of a child. So this grim but gentle veteran had arranged +with the consul that in cases where the presumption of nationality +was strong, although the evidence was not present, he would take the +consul's parole for the appearance of the "deserter" or his papers, +without the aid of prolonged diplomacy. In this way the consul had saved +to Milwaukee a worthy but imprudent brewer, and to New York an excellent +sausage butcher and possible alderman; but had returned to martial duty +one or two tramps or journeymen who had never seen America except from +the decks of the ships in which they were "stowaways," and on which they +were returned,--and thus the temper and peace of two great nations were +preserved. + +"He says," said the inspector severely, "that he is an American citizen, +but has lost his naturalization papers. Yet he has made the damaging +admission to others that he lived several years in Rome! And," continued +the inspector, looking over his shoulder at the closed door as he placed +his finger beside his nose, "he says he has relations living +at Palmyra, whom he frequently visited. Ach! Observe this +unheard-of-and-not-to-be-trusted statement!" + +The consul, however, smiled with a slight flash of intelligence. "Let me +see him," he said. + +They passed into the outer office; another policeman and a corporal of +infantry saluted and rose. In the centre of an admiring and sympathetic +crowd of Dienstmadchen sat the culprit, the least concerned of the +party; a stripling--a boy--scarcely out of his teens! Indeed, it was +impossible to conceive of a more innocent, bucolic, and almost angelic +looking derelict. With a skin that had the peculiar white and rosiness +of fresh pork, he had blue eyes, celestially wide open and staring, and +the thick flocculent yellow curls of the sun god! He might have been +an overgrown and badly dressed Cupid who had innocently wandered from +Paphian shores. He smiled as the consul entered, and wiped from his +full red lips with the back of his hand the traces of a sausage he was +eating. The consul recognized the flavor at once,--he had smelled it +before in Lieschen's little hand-basket. + +"You say you lived at Rome?" began the consul pleasantly. "Did you take +out your first declaration of your intention of becoming an American +citizen there?" + +The inspector cast an approving glance at the consul, fixed a stern eye +on the cherubic prisoner, and leaned back in his chair to hear the reply +to this terrible question. + +"I don't remember," said the culprit, knitting his brows in infantine +thought. "It was either there, or at Madrid or Syracuse." + +The inspector was about to rise; this was really trifling with the +dignity of the municipality. But the consul laid his hand on the +official's sleeve, and, opening an American atlas to a map of the State +of New York, said to the prisoner, as he placed the inspector's hand on +the sheet, "I see you know the names of the TOWNS on the Erie and New +York Central Railroad. But"-- + +"I can tell you the number of people in each town and what are the +manufactures," interrupted the young fellow, with youthful vanity. +"Madrid has six thousand, and there are over sixty thousand in"-- + +"That will do," said the consul, as a murmur of Wunderschon! went round +the group of listening servant girls, while glances of admiration were +shot at the beaming accused. "But you ought to remember the name of the +town where your naturalization papers were afterwards sent." + +"But I was a citizen from the moment I made my declaration," said the +stranger smiling, and looking triumphantly at his admirers, "and I could +vote!" + +The inspector, since he had come to grief over American geographical +nomenclature, was grimly taciturn. The consul, however, was by no means +certain of his victory. His alleged fellow citizen was too encyclopaedic +in his knowledge: a clever youth might have crammed for this with a +textbook, but then he did not LOOK at all clever; indeed, he had rather +the stupidity of the mythological subject he represented. "Leave him +with me," said the consul. The inspector handed him a precis of the +case. The cherub's name was Karl Schwartz, an orphan, missing from +Schlachtstadt since the age of twelve. Relations not living, or in +emigration. Identity established by prisoner's admission and record. + +"Now, Karl," said the consul cheerfully, as the door of his private +office closed upon them, "what is your little game? Have you EVER had +any papers? And if you were clever enough to study the map of New York +State, why weren't you clever enough to see that it wouldn't stand you +in place of your papers?" + +"Dot's joost it," said Karl in English; "but you see dot if I haf +declairet mine intention of begomming a citizen, it's all the same, +don't it?" + +"By no means, for you seem to have no evidence of the DECLARATION; no +papers at all." + +"Zo!" said Karl. Nevertheless, he pushed his small, rosy, +pickled-pig's-feet of fingers through his fleecy curls and beamed +pleasantly at the consul. "Dot's vot's der matter," he said, as if +taking a kindly interest in some private trouble of the consul's. "Dot's +vere you vos, eh?" + +The consul looked steadily at him for a moment. Such stupidity was by +no means phenomenal, nor at all inconsistent with his appearance. "And," +continued the consul gravely, "I must tell you that, unless you have +other proofs than you have shown, it will be my duty to give you up to +the authorities." + +"Dot means I shall serve my time, eh?" said Karl, with an unchanged +smile. + +"Exactly so," returned the consul. + +"Zo!" said karl. "Dese town--dose Schlachtstadt--is fine town, eh? Fine +vomens. Goot men. Und beer und sausage. Blenty to eat and drink, eh? +Und," looking around the room, "you and te poys haf a gay times." + +"Yes," said the consul shortly, turning away. But he presently faced +round again on the unfettered Karl, who was evidently indulging in a +gormandizing reverie. + +"What on earth brought you here, anyway?" + +"Was it das?" + +"What brought you here from America, or wherever you ran away from?" + +"To see der, volks." + +"But you are an ORPHAN, you know, and you have no folks living here." + +"But all Shermany is mine volks,--de whole gountry, don't it? Pet your +poots! How's dot, eh?" + +The consul turned back to his desk and wrote a short note to General +Adlerkreutz in his own American German. He did not think it his duty +in the present case to interfere with the authorities or to offer his +parole for Karl Schwartz. But he would claim that, as the offender +was evidently an innocent emigrant and still young, any punishment or +military degradation be omitted, and he be allowed to take his place +like any other recruit in the ranks. If he might have the temerity to +the undoubted, far-seeing military authority of suggestion making here, +he would suggest that Karl was for the commissariat fitted! Of course, +he still retained the right, on production of satisfactory proof, his +discharge to claim. + +The consul read this aloud to Karl. The cherubic youth smiled and said, +"Zo!" Then, extending his hand, he added the word "Zshake!" + +The consul shook his hand a little remorsefully, and, preceding him to +the outer room, resigned him with the note into the inspector's hands. A +universal sigh went up from the girls, and glances of appeal sought the +consul; but he wisely concluded that it would be well, for a while, that +Karl--a helpless orphan--should be under some sort of discipline! And +the securer business of certifying invoices recommenced. + +Late that afternoon he received a folded bit of blue paper from the +waistbelt of an orderly, which contained in English characters and as +a single word "Alright," followed by certain jagged pen-marks, which he +recognized as Adlerkreutz's signature. But it was not until a week later +that he learned anything definite. He was returning one night to his +lodgings in the residential part of the city, and, in opening the door +with his pass-key, perceived in the rear of the hall his handmaiden +Trudschen, attended by the usual blue or yellow or red shadow. He was +passing by them with the local 'n' Abend! on his lips when the soldier +turned his face and saluted. The consul stopped. It was the cherub Karl +in uniform! + +But it had not subdued a single one of his characteristics. His hair +had been cropped a little more closely under his cap, but there was its +color and woolliness still intact; his plump figure was girt by belt and +buttons, but he only looked the more unreal, and more like a combination +of pen-wiper and pincushion, until his puffy breast and shoulders seemed +to offer a positive invitation to any one who had picked up a pin. But, +wonderful!--according to his brief story--he had been so proficient +in the goose step that he had been put in uniform already, and allowed +certain small privileges,--among them, evidently the present one. +The consul smiled and passed on. But it seemed strange to him that +Trudschen, who was a tall strapping girl, exceedingly popular with +the military, and who had never looked lower than a corporal at least, +should accept the attentions of an Einjahriger like that. Later he +interrogated her. + +Ach! it was only Unser Karl! And the consul knew he was Amerikanisch! + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes! It was such a tearful story!" + +"Tell me what it is," said the consul, with a faint hope that Karl had +volunteered some communication of his past. + +"Ach Gott! There in America he was a man, and could 'vote,' make laws, +and, God willing, become a town councilor,--or Ober Intendant,--and +here he was nothing but a soldier for years. And this America was a +fine country. Wunderschon? There were such big cities, and one +'Booflo'--could hold all Schlachtstadt, and had of people five hundred +thousand!" + +The consul sighed. Karl had evidently not yet got off the line of the +New York Central and Erie roads. "But does he remember yet what he did +with his papers?" said the consul persuasively. + +"Ach! What does he want with PAPERS when he could make the laws? They +were dumb, stupid things--these papers--to him." + +"But his appetite remains good, I hope?" suggested the consul. + +This closed the conversation, although Karl came on many other nights, +and his toy figure quite supplanted the tall corporal of hussars in the +remote shadows of the hall. One night, however, the consul returned home +from a visit to a neighboring town a day earlier than he was expected. +As he neared his house he was a little surprised to find the windows of +his sitting-room lit up, and that there were no signs of Trudschen in +the lower hall or passages. He made his way upstairs in the dark and +pushed open the door of his apartment. To his astonishment, Karl was +sitting comfortably in his own chair, his cap off before a student-lamp +on the table, deeply engaged in apparent study. So profound was his +abstraction that it was a moment before he looked up, and the consul had +a good look at his usually beaming and responsive face, which, however, +now struck him as wearing a singular air of thought and concentration. +When their eyes at last met, he rose instantly and saluted, and +his beaming smile returned. But, either from his natural phlegm or +extraordinary self-control he betrayed neither embarrassment nor alarm. + +The explanation he gave was direct and simple. Trudschen had gone out +with the Corporal Fritz for a short walk, and had asked him to "keep +house" during their absence. He had no books, no papers, nothing to read +in the barracks, and no chance to improve his mind. He thought the Herr +Consul would not object to his looking at his books. The consul was +touched; it was really a trivial indiscretion and as much Trudschen's +fault as Karl's! And if the poor fellow had any mind to improve,--his +recent attitude certainly suggested thought and reflection,--the consul +were a brute to reprove him. He smiled pleasantly as Karl returned a +stubby bit of pencil and some greasy memoranda to his breast pocket, and +glanced at the table. But to his surprise it was a large map that Karl +had been studying, and, to his still greater surprise, a map of the +consul's own district. + +"You seem to be fond of map-studying," said the consul pleasantly. "You +are not thinking of emigrating again?" + +"Ach, no!" said Karl simply; "it is my cousine vot haf lif near here. I +find her." + +But he left on Trudschen's return, and the consul was surprised to +see that, while Karl's attitude towards her had not changed, the girl +exhibited less effusiveness than before. Believing it to be partly +the effect of the return of the corporal, the consul taxed her with +faithlessness. But Trudschen looked grave. + +"Ah! He has new friends, this Karl of ours. He cares no more for poor +girls like us. When fine ladies like the old Frau von Wimpfel make much +of him, what will you?" + +It appeared, indeed, from Trudschen's account, that the widow of a +wealthy shopkeeper had made a kind of protege of the young soldier, +and given him presents. Furthermore, that the wife of his colonel had +employed him to act as page or attendant at an afternoon Gesellschaft, +and that since then the wives of other officers had sought him. Did not +the Herr Consul think it was dreadful that this American, who could vote +and make laws, should be subjected to such things? + +The consul did not know what to think. It seemed to him, however, that +Karl was "getting on," and that he was not in need of his assistance. +It was in the expectation of hearing more about him, however, that +he cheerfully accepted an invitation from Adlerkreutz to dine at the +Caserne one evening with the staff. Here he found, somewhat to his +embarrassment, that the dinner was partly in his own honor, and at the +close of five courses, and the emptying of many bottles, his health was +proposed by the gallant veteran Adlerkreutz in a neat address of many +syllables containing all the parts of speech and a single verb. It was +to the effect that in his soul-friend the Herr Consul and himself was +the never-to-be-severed union of Germania and Columbia, and in their +perfect understanding was the war-defying alliance of two great nations, +and that in the consul's noble restoration of Unser Karl to the German +army there was the astute diplomacy of a great mind. He was satisfied +that himself and the Herr Consul still united in the great future, +looking down upon a common brotherhood,--the great Germanic-American +Confederation,--would feel satisfied with themselves and each other +and their never-to-be-forgotten earth-labors. Cries of "Hoch! Hoch!" +resounded through the apartment with the grinding roll of heavy-bottomed +beer-glasses, and the consul, tremulous with emotion and a reserve verb +in his pocket, rose to reply. Fully embarked upon this perilous voyage, +and steering wide and clear of any treacherous shore of intelligence or +fancied harbor of understanding and rest, he kept boldly out at sea. He +said that, while his loving adversary in this battle of compliment had +disarmed him and left him no words to reply to his generous panegyric, +he could not but join with that gallant soldier in his heartfelt +aspirations for the peaceful alliance of both countries. But while he +fully reciprocated all his host's broader and higher sentiments, he must +point out to this gallant assembly, this glorious brotherhood, that +even a greater tie of sympathy knitted him to the general,--the tie of +kinship! For while it was well known to the present company that their +gallant commander had married an Englishwoman, he, the consul, although +always an American, would now for the first time confess to them that he +HIMSELF was of Dutch descent on his mother's side! He would say no more, +but confidently leave them in possession of the tremendous significance +of this until-then-unknown fact! He sat down, with the forgotten verb +still in his pocket, but the applause that followed this perfectly +conclusive, satisfying, and logical climax convinced him of his success. +His hand was grasped eagerly by successive warriors; the general turned +and embraced him before the breathless assembly; there were tears in the +consul's eyes. + +As the festivities progressed, however, he found to his surprise that +Karl had not only become the fashion as a military page, but that his +naive stupidity and sublime simplicity was the wondering theme and +inexhaustible delight of the whole barracks. Stories were told of his +genius for blundering which rivaled Handy Andy's; old stories of fatuous +ignorance were rearranged and fitted to "our Karl." It was "our Karl" +who, on receiving a tip of two marks from the hands of a young lady to +whom he had brought the bouquet of a gallant lieutenant, exhibited some +hesitation, and finally said, "Yes, but, gnadiges Fraulein, that COST us +nine marks!" It was "our Karl" who, interrupting the regrets of another +lady that she was unable to accept his master's invitation, said +politely, "Ah! what matter, Gnadigste? I have still a letter for +Fraulein Kopp [her rival], and I was told that I must not invite you +both." It was "our Karl" who astonished the hostess to whom he was sent +at the last moment with apologies from an officer, unexpectedly detained +at barrack duty, by suggesting that he should bring that unfortunate +officer his dinner from the just served table. Nor were these charming +infelicities confined to his social and domestic service. Although +ready, mechanical, and invariably docile in the manual and physical +duties of a soldier,--which endeared him to the German drill-master,--he +was still invincibly ignorant as to its purport, or even the meaning +and structure of the military instruments he handled or vacantly +looked upon. It was "our Karl" who suggested to his instructors that in +field-firing it was quicker and easier to load his musket to the +muzzle at once, and get rid of its death-dealing contents at a single +discharge, than to load and fire consecutively. It was "our Karl" who +nearly killed the instructor at sentry drill by adhering to the letter +of his instructions when that instructor had forgotten the password. +It was the same Karl who, severely admonished for his recklessness, the +next time added to his challenge the precaution, "Unless you instantly +say 'Fatherland' I'll fire!" Yet his perfect good humor and childlike +curiosity were unmistakable throughout, and incited his comrades and +his superiors to show him everything in the hope of getting some +characteristic comment from him. Everything and everybody were open to +Karl and his good-humored simplicity. + +That evening, as the general accompanied the consul down to the gateway +and the waiting carriage, a figure in uniform ran spontaneously before +them and shouted "Heraus!" to the sentries. But the general promptly +checked "the turning out" of the guard with a paternal shake of his +finger to the over-zealous soldier, in whom the consul recognized Karl. +"He is my Bursche now," said the general explanatorily. "My wife has +taken a fancy to him. Ach! he is very popular with these women." The +consul was still more surprised. The Frau Generalin Adlerkreutz he +knew to be a pronounced Englishwoman,--carrying out her English +ways, proprieties, and prejudices in the very heart of Schlachtstadt, +uncompromisingly, without fear and without reproach. That she should +follow a merely foreign society craze, or alter her English household so +as to admit the impossible Karl, struck him oddly. + +A month or two elapsed without further news of Karl, when one afternoon +he suddenly turned up at the consulate. He had again sought the consular +quiet to write a few letters home; he had no chance in the confinement +of the barracks. + +"But by this time you must be in the family of a field-marshal, at +least," suggested the consul pleasantly. + +"Not to-day, but next week," said Karl, with sublime simplicity; "THEN I +am going to serve with the governor commandant of Rheinfestung." + +The consul smiled, motioned him to a seat at a table in the outer +office, and left him undisturbed to his correspondence. + +Returning later, he found Karl, his letters finished, gazing with +childish curiosity and admiration at some thick official envelopes, +bearing the stamp of the consulate, which were lying on the table. He +was evidently struck with the contrast between them and the thin, flimsy +affairs he was holding in his hand. He appeared still more impressed +when the consul told him what they were. + +"Are you writing to your friends?" continued the consul, touched by his +simplicity. + +"Ach ja!" said Karl eagerly. + +"Would you like to put your letter in one of these envelopes?" continued +the official. + +The beaming face and eyes of Karl were a sufficient answer. After all, +it was a small favor granted to this odd waif, who seemed to still cling +to the consular protection. He handed him the envelope and left him +addressing it in boyish pride. + +It was Karl's last visit to the consulate. He appeared to have spoken +truly, and the consul presently learned that he had indeed been +transferred, through some high official manipulation, to the personal +service of the governor of Rheinfestung. There was weeping among the +Dienstmadchen of Schlachtstadt, and a distinct loss of originality and +lightness in the gatherings of the gentler Hausfrauen. His memory +still survived in the barracks through the later editions of his +former delightful stupidities,--many of them, it is to be feared, +were inventions,--and stories that were supposed to have come from +Rheinfestung were described in the slang of the Offiziere as being +"colossal." But the consul remembered Rheinfestung, and could not +imagine it as a home for Karl, or in any way fostering his peculiar +qualities. For it was eminently a fortress of fortresses, a magazine of +magazines, a depot of depots. It was the key of the Rhine, the citadel +of Westphalia, the "Clapham Junction" of German railways, but defended, +fortified, encompassed, and controlled by the newest as well as the +oldest devices of military strategy and science. Even in the pipingest +time of peace, whole railway trains went into it like a rat in a trap, +and might have never come out of it; it stretched out an inviting +hand and arm across the river that might in the twinkling of an eye be +changed into a closed fist of menace. You "defiled" into it, commanded +at every step by enfilading walls; you "debouched" out of it, as you +thought, and found yourself only before the walls; you "reentered" it at +every possible angle; you did everything apparently but pass through it. +You thought yourself well out of it, and were stopped by a bastion. Its +circumvallations haunted you until you came to the next station. It had +pressed even the current of the river into its defensive service. There +were secrets of its foundations and mines that only the highest military +despots knew and kept to themselves. In a word--it was impregnable. + +That such a place could not be trifled with or misunderstood in its +right-and-acute-angled severities seemed plain to every one. But set on +by his companions, who were showing him its defensive foundations, or +in his own idle curiosity, Karl managed to fall into the Rhine and was +fished out with difficulty. The immersion may have chilled his military +ardor or soured his good humor, for later the consul heard that he had +visited the American consular agent at an adjacent town with the old +story of his American citizenship. "He seemed," said the consul's +colleague, "to be well posted about American railways and American +towns, but he had no papers. He lounged around the office for a while +and"-- + +"Wrote letters home?" suggested the consul, with a flash of +reminiscence. + +"Yes, the poor chap had no privacy at the barracks, and I reckon was +overlooked or bedeviled." + +This was the last the consul heard of Karl Schwartz directly; for a +week or two later he again fell into the Rhine, this time so fatally and +effectually that in spite of the efforts of his companions he was swept +away by the rapid current, and thus ended his service to his country. +His body was never recovered. + +A few months before the consul was transferred from Schlachtstadt to +another post his memory of the departed Karl was revived by a visit from +Adlerkreutz. The general looked grave. + +"You remember Unser Karl?" he said. + +"Yes." + +"Do you think he was an impostor?" + +"As regards his American citizenship, yes! But I could not say more." + +"So!" said the general. "A very singular thing has happened," he added, +twirling his mustache. "The Inspector of police has notified us of the +arrival of a Karl Schwartz in this town. It appears he is the REAL Karl +Schwartz, identified by his sister as the only one. The other, who was +drowned, was an impostor. Hein?" + +"Then you have secured another recruit?" said the consul smilingly. + +"No. For this one has already served his time in Elsass, where he went +when he left here as a boy. But, Donnerwetter, why should that dumb fool +take his name?" + +"By chance, I fancy. Then he stupidly stuck to it, and had to take the +responsibilities with it. Don't you see?" said the consul, pleased with +his own cleverness. + +"Zo-o!" said the general slowly, in his deepest voice. But the German +exclamation has a variety of significance, according to the inflection, +and Adlerkreutz's ejaculation seemed to contain them all. + +***** + +It was in Paris, where the consul had lingered on his way to his new +post. He was sitting in a well-known cafe, among whose habitues were +several military officers of high rank. A group of them were gathered +round a table near him. He was idly watching them with an odd +recollection of Schlachtstadt in his mind, and as idly glancing from +them to the more attractive Boulevard without. The consul was getting a +little tired of soldiers. + +Suddenly there was a slight stir in the gesticulating group and a cry of +greeting. The consul looked up mechanically, and then his eyes remained +fixed and staring at the newcomer. For it was the dead Karl; Karl, +surely! Karl!--his plump figure belted in a French officer's tunic; his +flaxen hair clipped a little closer, but still its fleece showing under +his kepi. Karl, his cheeks more cherubic than ever--unchanged but for a +tiny yellow toy mustache curling up over the corners of his full lips. +Karl, beaming at his companions in his old way, but rattling off French +vivacities without the faintest trace of accent. Could he be mistaken? +Was it some phenomenal resemblance, or had the soul of the German +private been transmigrated to the French officer. + +The consul hurriedly called the garcon. "Who is that officer who has +just arrived?" + +"It is the Captain Christian, of the Intelligence Bureau," said the +waiter, with proud alacrity. "A famous officer, brave as a rabbit,--un +fier lapin,--and one of our best clients. So drole, too, such a farceur +and mimic. M'sieur would be ravished to hear his imitations." + +"But he looks like a German; and his name!" + +"Ah, he is from Alsace. But not a German!" said the waiter, absolutely +whitening with indignation. "He was at Belfort. So was I. Mon Dieu! No, +a thousand times no!" + +"But has he been living here long?" said the consul. + +"In Paris, a few months. But his Department, M'sieur understands, takes +him EVERYWHERE! Everywhere where he can gain information." + +The consul's eyes were still on the Captain Christian. Presently the +officer, perhaps instinctively conscious of the scrutiny, looked towards +him. Their eyes met. To the consul's surprise, the ci-devant Karl beamed +upon him, and advanced with outstretched hand. + +But the consul stiffened slightly, and remained so with his glass in his +hand. At which Captain Christian brought his own easily to a military +salute, and said politely:-- + +"Monsieur le Consul has been promoted from his post. Permit me to +congratulate him." + +"You have heard, then?" said the consul dryly. + +"Otherwise I should not presume. For our Department makes it a +business--in Monsieur le Consul's case it becomes a pleasure--to know +everything." + +"Did your Department know that the real Karl Schwartz has returned?" +said the consul dryly. + +Captain Christian shrugged his shoulders. "Then it appears that the sham +Karl died none too soon," he said lightly. "And yet"--he bent his eyes +with mischievous reproach upon the consul. + +"Yet what?" demanded the consul sternly. + +"Monsieur le Consul might have saved the unfortunate man by accepting +him as an American citizen and not helping to force him into the German +service." + +The consul saw in a flash the full military significance of this logic, +and could not repress a smile. At which Captain Christian dropped easily +into a chair beside him, and as easily into broken German English:-- + +"Und," he went on, "dees town--dees Schlachtstadt is fine town, eh? Fine +womens? Goot men? Und peer and sausage? Blenty to eat and trink, eh? Und +you und te poys haf a gay times?" + +The consul tried to recover his dignity. The waiter behind him, +recognizing only the delightful mimicry of this adorable officer, was in +fits of laughter. Nevertheless, the consul managed to say dryly:-- + +"And the barracks, the magazines, the commissariat, the details, the +reserves of Schlachtstadt were very interesting?" + +"Assuredly." + +"And Rheinfestung--its plans--its details, even its dangerous +foundations by the river--they were to a soldier singularly +instructive?" + +"You have reason to say so," said Captain Christian, curling his little +mustache. + +"And the fortress--you think?" + +"Imprenable! Mais"-- + +The consul remembered General Adlerkreutz's "Zo-o," and wondered. + + + + +UNCLE JIM AND UNCLE BILLY + + +They were partners. The avuncular title was bestowed on them by Cedar +Camp, possibly in recognition of a certain matured good humor, quite +distinct from the spasmodic exuberant spirits of its other members, +and possibly from what, to its youthful sense, seemed their advanced +ages--which must have been at least forty! They had also set habits +even in their improvidence, lost incalculable and unpayable sums to +each other over euchre regularly every evening, and inspected their +sluice-boxes punctually every Saturday for repairs--which they never +made. They even got to resemble each other, after the fashion of old +married couples, or, rather, as in matrimonial partnerships, were +subject to the domination of the stronger character; although in +their case it is to be feared that it was the feminine Uncle +Billy--enthusiastic, imaginative, and loquacious--who swayed the +masculine, steady-going, and practical Uncle Jim. They had lived in the +camp since its foundation in 1849; there seemed to be no reason why +they should not remain there until its inevitable evolution into a +mining-town. The younger members might leave through restless ambition +or a desire for change or novelty; they were subject to no such trifling +mutation. Yet Cedar Camp was surprised one day to hear that Uncle Billy +was going away. + +The rain was softly falling on the bark thatch of the cabin with a +muffled murmur, like a sound heard through sleep. The southwest trades +were warm even at that altitude, as the open door testified, although +a fire of pine bark was flickering on the adobe hearth and striking out +answering fires from the freshly scoured culinary utensils on the rude +sideboard, which Uncle Jim had cleaned that morning with his usual +serious persistency. Their best clothes, which were interchangeable and +worn alternately by each other on festal occasions, hung on the +walls, which were covered with a coarse sailcloth canvas instead of +lath-and-plaster, and were diversified by pictures from illustrated +papers and stains from the exterior weather. Two "bunks," like ships' +berths,--an upper and lower one,--occupied the gable-end of this single +apartment, and on beds of coarse sacking, filled with dry moss, were +carefully rolled their respective blankets and pillows. They were the +only articles not used in common, and whose individuality was respected. + +Uncle Jim, who had been sitting before the fire, rose as the square bulk +of his partner appeared at the doorway with an armful of wood for the +evening stove. By that sign he knew it was nine o'clock: for the last +six years Uncle Billy had regularly brought in the wood at that hour, +and Uncle Jim had as regularly closed the door after him, and set out +their single table, containing a greasy pack of cards taken from its +drawer, a bottle of whiskey, and two tin drinking-cups. To this was +added a ragged memorandum-book and a stick of pencil. The two men drew +their stools to the table. + +"Hol' on a minit," said Uncle Billy. + +His partner laid down the cards as Uncle Billy extracted from his pocket +a pill-box, and, opening it, gravely took a pill. This was clearly an +innovation on their regular proceedings, for Uncle Billy was always in +perfect health. + +"What's this for?" asked Uncle Jim half scornfully. + +"Agin ager." + +"You ain't got no ager," said Uncle Jim, with the assurance of intimate +cognizance of his partner's physical condition. + +"But it's a pow'ful preventive! Quinine! Saw this box at Riley's store, +and laid out a quarter on it. We kin keep it here, comfortable, for +evenings. It's mighty soothin' arter a man's done a hard day's work on +the river-bar. Take one." + +Uncle Jim gravely took a pill and swallowed it, and handed the box back +to his partner. + +"We'll leave it on the table, sociable like, in case any of the boys +come in," said Uncle Billy, taking up the cards. "Well. How do we +stand?" + +Uncle Jim consulted the memorandum-book. "You were owin' me sixty-two +thousand dollars on the last game, and the limit's seventy-five +thousand!" + +"Je whillikins!" ejaculated Uncle Billy. "Let me see." + +He examined the book, feebly attempted to challenge the additions, but +with no effect on the total. "We oughter hev made the limit a hundred +thousand," he said seriously; "seventy-five thousand is only triflin' +in a game like ours. And you've set down my claim at Angel's?" he +continued. + +"I allowed you ten thousand dollars for that," said Uncle Jim, with +equal gravity, "and it's a fancy price too." + +The claim in question being an unprospected hillside ten miles distant, +which Uncle Jim had never seen, and Uncle Billy had not visited for +years, the statement was probably true; nevertheless, Uncle Billy +retorted:-- + +"Ye kin never tell how these things will pan out. Why, only this mornin' +I was taking a turn round Shot Up Hill, that ye know is just rotten with +quartz and gold, and I couldn't help thinkin' how much it was like my +ole claim at Angel's. I must take a day off to go on there and strike a +pick in it, if only for luck." + +Suddenly he paused and said, "Strange, ain't it, you should speak of it +to-night? Now I call that queer!" + +He laid down his cards and gazed mysteriously at his companion. Uncle +Jim knew perfectly that Uncle Billy had regularly once a week for +many years declared his final determination to go over to Angel's and +prospect his claim, yet nevertheless he half responded to his partner's +suggestion of mystery, and a look of fatuous wonder crept into his eyes. +But he contented himself by saying cautiously, "You spoke of it first." + +"That's the more sing'lar," said Uncle Billy confidently. "And I've been +thinking about it, and kinder seeing myself thar all day. It's mighty +queer!" He got up and began to rummage among some torn and coverless +books in the corner. + +"Where's that 'Dream Book' gone to?" + +"The Carson boys borrowed it," replied Uncle Jim. "Anyhow, yours wasn't +no dream--only a kind o' vision, and the book don't take no stock in +visions." Nevertheless, he watched his partner with some sympathy, and +added, "That reminds me that I had a dream the other night of being in +'Frisco at a small hotel, with heaps o' money, and all the time being +sort o' scared and bewildered over it." + +"No?" queried his partner eagerly yet reproachfully. "You never let +on anything about it to ME! It's mighty queer you havin' these strange +feelin's, for I've had 'em myself. And only to-night, comin' up from +the spring, I saw two crows hopping in the trail, and I says, 'If I see +another, it's luck, sure!' And you'll think I'm lyin', but when I went +to the wood-pile just now there was the THIRD one sittin' up on a log as +plain as I see you. Tell 'e what folks ken laugh--but that's just what +Jim Filgee saw the night before he made the big strike!" + +They were both smiling, yet with an underlying credulity and seriousness +as singularly pathetic as it seemed incongruous to their years and +intelligence. Small wonder, however, that in their occupation and +environment--living daily in an atmosphere of hope, expectation, and +chance, looking forward each morning to the blind stroke of a pick that +might bring fortune--they should see signs in nature and hear mystic +voices in the trackless woods that surrounded them. Still less strange +that they were peculiarly susceptible to the more recognized diversions +of chance, and were gamblers on the turning of a card who trusted to the +revelation of a shovelful of upturned earth. + +It was quite natural, therefore, that they should return from their +abstract form of divination to the table and their cards. But they were +scarcely seated before they heard a crackling step in the brush outside, +and the free latch of their door was lifted. A younger member of the +camp entered. He uttered a peevish "Halloo!" which might have passed +for a greeting, or might have been a slight protest at finding the door +closed, drew the stool from which Uncle Jim had just risen before the +fire, shook his wet clothes like a Newfoundland dog, and sat down. Yet +he was by no means churlish nor coarse-looking, and this act was rather +one of easy-going, selfish, youthful familiarity than of rudeness. The +cabin of Uncles Billy and Jim was considered a public right or "common" +of the camp. Conferences between individual miners were appointed there. +"I'll meet you at Uncle Billy's" was a common tryst. Added to this was a +tacit claim upon the partners' arbitrative powers, or the equal right to +request them to step outside if the interviews were of a private nature. +Yet there was never any objection on the part of the partners, and +to-night there was not a shadow of resentment of this intrusion in the +patient, good-humored, tolerant eyes of Uncles Jim and Billy as they +gazed at their guest. Perhaps there was a slight gleam of relief in +Uncle Jim's when he found that the guest was unaccompanied by any one, +and that it was not a tryst. It would have been unpleasant for the +two partners to have stayed out in the rain while their guests were +exchanging private confidences in their cabin. While there might have +been no limit to their good will, there might have been some to their +capacity for exposure. + +Uncle Jim drew a huge log from beside the hearth and sat on the driest +end of it, while their guest occupied the stool. The young man, without +turning away from his discontented, peevish brooding over the fire, +vaguely reached backward for the whiskey-bottle and Uncle Billy's tin +cup, to which he was assisted by the latter's hospitable hand. But on +setting down the cup his eye caught sight of the pill-box. + +"Wot's that?" he said, with gloomy scorn. "Rat poison?" + +"Quinine pills--agin ager," said Uncle Jim. "The newest thing out. Keeps +out damp like Injin-rubber! Take one to follow yer whiskey. Me and Uncle +Billy wouldn't think o' settin' down, quiet like, in the evening arter +work, without 'em. Take one--ye 'r' welcome! We keep 'em out here for +the boys." + +Accustomed as the partners were to adopt and wear each other's opinions +before folks, as they did each other's clothing, Uncle Billy was, +nevertheless, astonished and delighted at Uncle Jim's enthusiasm over +HIS pills. The guest took one and swallowed it. + +"Mighty bitter!" he said, glancing at his hosts with the quick +Californian suspicion of some practical joke. But the honest faces of +the partners reassured him. + +"That bitterness ye taste," said Uncle Jim quickly, "is whar the +thing's gittin' in its work. Sorter sickenin' the malaria--and kinder +water-proofin' the insides all to onct and at the same lick! Don't yer +see? Put another in yer vest pocket; you'll be cryin' for 'em like a +child afore ye get home. Thar! Well, how's things agoin' on your claim, +Dick? Boomin', eh?" + +The guest raised his head and turned it sufficiently to fling his answer +back over his shoulder at his hosts. "I don't know what YOU'D call' +boomin','" he said gloomily; "I suppose you two men sitting here +comfortably by the fire, without caring whether school keeps or not, +would call two feet of backwater over one's claim 'boomin';' I reckon +YOU'D consider a hundred and fifty feet of sluicing carried away, +and drifting to thunder down the South Fork, something in the way of +advertising to your old camp! I suppose YOU'd think it was an inducement +to investors! I shouldn't wonder," he added still more gloomily, as a +sudden dash of rain down the wide-throated chimney dropped in his +tin cup--"and it would be just like you two chaps, sittin' there +gormandizing over your quinine--if yer said this rain that's lasted +three weeks was something to be proud of!" + +It was the cheerful and the satisfying custom of the rest of the camp, +for no reason whatever, to hold Uncle Jim and Uncle Billy responsible +for its present location, its vicissitudes, the weather, or any +convulsion of nature; and it was equally the partners' habit, for no +reason whatever, to accept these animadversions and apologize. + +"It's a rain that's soft and mellowin'," said Uncle Billy gently, +"and supplin' to the sinews and muscles. Did ye ever notice, +Jim"--ostentatiously to his partner--"did ye ever notice that you get +inter a kind o' sweaty lather workin' in it? Sorter openin' to the +pores!" + +"Fetches 'em every time," said Uncle Billy. "Better nor fancy soap." + +Their guest laughed bitterly. "Well, I'm going to leave it to you. I +reckon to cut the whole concern to-morrow, and 'lite' out for something +new. It can't be worse than this." + +The two partners looked grieved, albeit they were accustomed to these +outbursts. Everybody who thought of going away from Cedar Camp used it +first as a threat to these patient men, after the fashion of runaway +nephews, or made an exemplary scene of their going. + +"Better think twice afore ye go," said Uncle Billy. + +"I've seen worse weather afore ye came," said Uncle Jim slowly. "Water +all over the Bar; the mud so deep ye couldn't get to Angel's for a +sack o' flour, and we had to grub on pine nuts and jackass-rabbits. And +yet--we stuck by the camp, and here we are!" + +The mild answer apparently goaded their guest to fury. He rose from his +seat, threw back his long dripping hair from his handsome but querulous +face, and scattered a few drops on the partners. "Yes, that's just it. +That's what gets me! Here you stick, and here you are! And here you'll +stick and rust until you starve or drown! Here you are,--two men who +ought to be out in the world, playing your part as grown men,--stuck +here like children 'playing house' in the woods; playing work in your +wretched mud-pie ditches, and content. Two men not so old that you +mightn't be taking your part in the fun of the world, going to balls +or theatres, or paying attention to girls, and yet old enough to have +married and have your families around you, content to stay in this +God-forsaken place; old bachelors, pigging together like poorhouse +paupers. That's what gets me! Say you LIKE it? Say you expect by +hanging on to make a strike--and what does that amount to? What are YOUR +chances? How many of us have made, or are making, more than grub wages? +Say you're willing to share and share alike as you do--have you got +enough for two? Aren't you actually living off each other? Aren't you +grinding each other down, choking each other's struggles, as you sink +together deeper and deeper in the mud of this cussed camp? And while +you're doing this, aren't you, by your age and position here, holding +out hopes to others that you know cannot be fulfilled?" + +Accustomed as they were to the half-querulous, half-humorous, but always +extravagant, criticism of the others, there was something so new in this +arraignment of themselves that the partners for a moment sat silent. +There was a slight flush on Uncle Billy's cheek, there was a slight +paleness on Uncle Jim's. He was the first to reply. But he did so with a +certain dignity which neither his partner nor their guest had ever seen +on his face before. + +"As it's OUR fire that's warmed ye up like this, Dick Bullen," he said, +slowly rising, with his hand resting on Uncle Billy's shoulder, "and as +it's OUR whiskey that's loosened your tongue, I reckon we must put up +with what ye 'r' saying, just as we've managed to put up with our own +way o' living, and not quo'll with ye under our own roof." + +The young fellow saw the change in Uncle Jim's face and quickly extended +his hand, with an apologetic backward shake of his long hair. "Hang +it all, old man," he said, with a laugh of mingled contrition and +amusement, "you mustn't mind what I said just now. I've been so worried +thinking of things about MYSELF, and, maybe, a little about you, that I +quite forgot I hadn't a call to preach to anybody--least of all to you. +So we part friends, Uncle Jim, and you too, Uncle Billy, and you'll +forget what I said. In fact, I don't know why I spoke at all--only I +was passing your claim just now, and wondering how much longer your old +sluice-boxes would hold out, and where in thunder you'd get others when +they caved in! I reckon that sent me off. That's all, old chap!" + +Uncle Billy's face broke into a beaming smile of relief, and it was HIS +hand that first grasped his guest's; Uncle Jim quickly followed with +as honest a pressure, but with eyes that did not seem to be looking at +Bullen, though all trace of resentment had died out of them. He walked +to the door with him, again shook hands, but remained looking out in the +darkness some time after Dick Bullen's tangled hair and broad shoulders +had disappeared. + +Meantime, Uncle Billy had resumed his seat and was chuckling and +reminiscent as he cleaned out his pipe. + +"Kinder reminds me of Jo Sharp, when he was cleaned out at poker by his +own partners in his own cabin, comin' up here and bedevilin' US about +it! What was it you lint him?" + +But Uncle Jim did not reply; and Uncle Billy, taking up the cards, +began to shuffle them, smiling vaguely, yet at the same time somewhat +painfully. "Arter all, Dick was mighty cut up about what he said, and I +felt kinder sorry for him. And, you know, I rather cotton to a man that +speaks his mind. Sorter clears him out, you know, of all the slumgullion +that's in him. It's just like washin' out a pan o' prospecting: you pour +in the water, and keep slushing it round and round, and out comes first +the mud and dirt, and then the gravel, and then the black sand, and +then--it's all out, and there's a speck o' gold glistenin' at the +bottom!" + +"Then you think there WAS suthin' in what he said?" said Uncle Jim, +facing about slowly. + +An odd tone in his voice made Uncle Billy look up. "No," he said +quickly, shying with the instinct of an easy pleasure-loving nature from +a possible grave situation. "No, I don't think he ever got the color! +But wot are ye moonin' about for? Ain't ye goin' to play? It's mor' 'n +half past nine now." + +Thus adjured, Uncle Jim moved up to the table and sat down, while Uncle +Billy dealt the cards, turning up the Jack or right bower--but WITHOUT +that exclamation of delight which always accompanied his good fortune, +nor did Uncle Jim respond with the usual corresponding simulation of +deep disgust. Such a circumstance had not occurred before in the history +of their partnership. They both played in silence--a silence only +interrupted by a larger splash of raindrops down the chimney. + +"We orter put a couple of stones on the chimney-top, edgewise, like Jack +Curtis does. It keeps out the rain without interferin' with the draft," +said Uncle Billy musingly. + +"What's the use if"-- + +"If what?" said Uncle Billy quietly. + +"If we don't make it broader," said Uncle Jim half wearily. + +They both stared at the chimney, but Uncle Jim's eye followed the wall +around to the bunks. There were many discolorations on the canvas, and +a picture of the Goddess of Liberty from an illustrated paper had broken +out in a kind of damp, measly eruption. "I'll stick that funny handbill +of the 'Washin' Soda' I got at the grocery store the other day right +over the Liberty gal. It's a mighty perty woman washin' with short +sleeves," said Uncle Billy. "That's the comfort of them picters, you kin +always get somethin' new, and it adds thickness to the wall." + +Uncle Jim went back to the cards in silence. After a moment he rose +again, and hung his overcoat against the door. + +"Wind's comin' in," he said briefly. + +"Yes," said Uncle Billy cheerfully, "but it wouldn't seem nat'ral if +there wasn't that crack in the door to let the sunlight in o mornin's. +Makes a kind o' sundial, you know. When the streak o' light's in +that corner, I says 'six o'clock!' when it's across the chimney I say +'seven!' and so 'tis!" + +It certainly had grown chilly, and the wind was rising. The +candle guttered and flickered; the embers on the hearth brightened +occasionally, as if trying to dispel the gathering shadows, but always +ineffectually. The game was frequently interrupted by the necessity of +stirring the fire. After an interval of gloom, in which each partner +successively drew the candle to his side to examine his cards, Uncle Jim +said:-- + +"Say?" + +"Well!" responded Uncle Billy. + +"Are you sure you saw that third crow on the wood-pile?" + +"Sure as I see you now--and a darned sight plainer. Why?" + +"Nothin', I was just thinkin'. Look here! How do we stand now?" + +Uncle Billy was still losing. "Nevertheless," he said cheerfully, "I'm +owin' you a matter of sixty thousand dollars." + +Uncle Jim examined the book abstractedly. "Suppose," he said slowly, but +without looking at his partner, "suppose, as it's gettin' late now, we +play for my half share of the claim agin the limit--seventy thousand--to +square up." + +"Your half share!" repeated Uncle Billy, with amused incredulity. + +"My half share of the claim,--of this yer house, you know,--one half of +all that Dick Bullen calls our rotten starvation property," reiterated +Uncle Jim, with a half smile. + +Uncle Billy laughed. It was a novel idea; it was, of course, "all in the +air," like the rest of their game, yet even then he had an odd feeling +that he would have liked Dick Bullen to have known it. "Wade in, old +pard," he said. "I'm on it." + +Uncle Jim lit another candle to reinforce the fading light, and the deal +fell to Uncle Billy. He turned up Jack of clubs. He also turned a little +redder as he took up his cards, looked at them, and glanced hastily at +his partner. "It's no use playing," he said. "Look here!" He laid down +his cards on the table. They were the ace, king and queen of clubs, +and Jack of spades,--or left bower,--which, with the turned-up Jack of +clubs,--or right bower,--comprised ALL the winning cards! + +"By jingo! If we'd been playin' four-handed, say you an' me agin some +other ducks, we'd have made 'four' in that deal, and h'isted some +money--eh?" and his eyes sparkled. Uncle Jim, also, had a slight +tremulous light in his own. + +"Oh no! I didn't see no three crows this afternoon," added Uncle Billy +gleefully, as his partner, in turn, began to shuffle the cards with +laborious and conscientious exactitude. Then dealing, he turned up a +heart for trumps. Uncle Billy took up his cards one by one, but when +he had finished his face had become as pale as it had been red before. +"What's the matter?" said Uncle Jim quickly, his own face growing white. + +Uncle Billy slowly and with breathless awe laid down his cards, face up +on the table. It was exactly the same sequence IN HEARTS, with the knave +of diamonds added. He could again take every trick. + +They stared at each other with vacant faces and a half-drawn smile of +fear. They could hear the wind moaning in the trees beyond; there was a +sudden rattling at the door. Uncle Billy started to his feet, but Uncle +Jim caught his arm. "DON'T LEAVE THE CARDS! It's only the wind; sit +down," he said in a low awe-hushed voice, "it's your deal; you were two +before, and two now, that makes your four; you've only one point to make +to win the game. Go on." + +They both poured out a cup of whiskey, smiling vaguely, yet with a +certain terror in their eyes. Their hands were cold; the cards slipped +from Uncle Billy's benumbed fingers; when he had shuffled them he passed +them to his partner to shuffle them also, but did not speak. When Uncle +Jim had shuffled them methodically he handed them back fatefully to his +partner. Uncle Billy dealt them with a trembling hand. He turned up a +club. "If you are sure of these tricks you know you've won," said Uncle +Jim in a voice that was scarcely audible. Uncle Billy did not reply, but +tremulously laid down the ace and right and left bowers. + +He had won! + +A feeling of relief came over each, and they laughed hysterically and +discordantly. Ridiculous and childish as their contest might have seemed +to a looker-on, to each the tension had been as great as that of the +greatest gambler, without the gambler's trained restraint, coolness, and +composure. Uncle Billy nervously took up the cards again. + +"Don't," said Uncle Jim gravely; "it's no use--the luck's gone now." + +"Just one more deal," pleaded his partner. + +Uncle Jim looked at the fire, Uncle Billy hastily dealt, and threw the +two hands face up on the table. They were the ordinary average cards. +He dealt again, with the same result. "I told you so," said Uncle Jim, +without looking up. + +It certainly seemed a tame performance after their wonderful hands, and +after another trial Uncle Billy threw the cards aside and drew his stool +before the fire. "Mighty queer, warn't it?" he said, with reminiscent +awe. "Three times running. Do you know, I felt a kind o' creepy feelin' +down my back all the time. Criky! what luck! None of the boys would +believe it if we told 'em--least of all that Dick Bullen, who don't +believe in luck, anyway. Wonder what he'd have said! and, Lord! how he'd +have looked! Wall! what are you starin' so for?" + +Uncle Jim had faced around, and was gazing at Uncle Billy's +good-humored, simple face. "Nothin'!" he said briefly, and his eyes +again sought the fire. + +"Then don't look as if you was seein' suthin'--you give me the creeps," +returned Uncle Billy a little petulantly. "Let's turn in, afore the fire +goes out!" + +The fateful cards were put back into the drawer, the table shoved +against the wall. The operation of undressing was quickly got over, +the clothes they wore being put on top of their blankets. Uncle Billy +yawned, "I wonder what kind of a dream I'll have tonight--it oughter be +suthin' to explain that luck." This was his "good-night" to his partner. +In a few moments he was sound asleep. + +Not so Uncle Jim. He heard the wind gradually go down, and in the +oppressive silence that followed could detect the deep breathing of +his companion and the far-off yelp of a coyote. His eyesight becoming +accustomed to the semi-darkness, broken only by the scintillation of +the dying embers of their fire, he could take in every detail of their +sordid cabin and the rude environment in which they had lived so long. +The dismal patches on the bark roof, the wretched makeshifts of each +day, the dreary prolongation of discomfort, were all plain to him now, +without the sanguine hope that had made them bearable. And when he +shut his eyes upon them, it was only to travel in fancy down the steep +mountain side that he had trodden so often to the dreary claim on the +overflowed river, to the heaps of "tailings" that encumbered it, like +empty shells of the hollow, profitless days spent there, which they +were always waiting for the stroke of good fortune to clear away. He saw +again the rotten "sluicing," through whose hopeless rifts and holes even +their scant daily earnings had become scantier. At last he arose, +and with infinite gentleness let himself down from his berth without +disturbing his sleeping partner, and wrapping himself in his blanket, +went to the door, which he noiselessly opened. From the position of a +few stars that were glittering in the northern sky he knew that it was +yet scarcely midnight; there were still long, restless hours before the +day! In the feverish state into which he had gradually worked himself it +seemed to him impossible to wait the coming of the dawn. + +But he was mistaken. For even as he stood there all nature seemed to +invade his humble cabin with its free and fragrant breath, and invest +him with its great companionship. He felt again, in that breath, that +strange sense of freedom, that mystic touch of partnership with the +birds and beasts, the shrubs and trees, in this greater home before him. +It was this vague communion that had kept him there, that still held +these world-sick, weary workers in their rude cabins on the slopes +around him; and he felt upon his brow that balm that had nightly lulled +him and them to sleep and forgetfulness. He closed the door, turned +away, crept as noiselessly as before into his bunk again, and presently +fell into a profound slumber. + +But when Uncle Billy awoke the next morning he saw it was late; for +the sun, piercing the crack of the closed door, was sending a pencil of +light across the cold hearth, like a match to rekindle its dead embers. +His first thought was of his strange luck the night before, and of +disappointment that he had not had the dream of divination that he had +looked for. He sprang to the floor, but as he stood upright his +glance fell on Uncle Jim's bunk. It was empty. Not only that, but his +BLANKETS--Uncle Jim's own particular blankets--WERE GONE! + +A sudden revelation of his partner's manner the night before struck him +now with the cruelty of a blow; a sudden intelligence, perhaps the very +divination he had sought, flashed upon him like lightning! He glanced +wildly around the cabin. The table was drawn out from the wall a little +ostentatiously, as if to catch his eye. On it was lying the stained +chamois-skin purse in which they had kept the few grains of gold +remaining from their last week's "clean up." The grains had been +carefully divided, and half had been taken! But near it lay the little +memorandum-book, open, with the stick of pencil lying across it. A deep +line was drawn across the page on which was recorded their imaginary +extravagant gains and losses, even to the entry of Uncle Jim's half +share of the claim which he had risked and lost! Underneath were +hurriedly scrawled the words:-- + +"Settled by YOUR luck, last night, old pard.--JAMES FOSTER." + + +It was nearly a month before Cedar Camp was convinced that Uncle Billy +and Uncle Jim had dissolved partnership. Pride had prevented Uncle Billy +from revealing his suspicions of the truth, or of relating the events +that preceded Uncle Jim's clandestine flight, and Dick Bullen had gone +to Sacramento by stage-coach the same morning. He briefly gave out that +his partner had been called to San Francisco on important business of +their own, that indeed might necessitate his own removal there later. In +this he was singularly assisted by a letter from the absent Jim, dated +at San Francisco, begging him not to be anxious about his success, as he +had hopes of presently entering into a profitable business, but with no +further allusions to his precipitate departure, nor any suggestion of +a reason for it. For two or three days Uncle Billy was staggered and +bewildered; in his profound simplicity he wondered if his extraordinary +good fortune that night had made him deaf to some explanation of his +partner's, or, more terrible, if he had shown some "low" and incredible +intimation of taking his partner's extravagant bet as REAL and binding. +In this distress he wrote to Uncle Jim an appealing and apologetic +letter, albeit somewhat incoherent and inaccurate, and bristling +with misspelling, camp slang, and old partnership jibes. But to this +elaborate epistle he received only Uncle Jim's repeated assurances of +his own bright prospects, and his hopes that his old partner would be +more fortunate, single-handed, on the old claim. For a whole week or two +Uncle Billy sulked, but his invincible optimism and good humor got the +better of him, and he thought only of his old partner's good fortune. +He wrote him regularly, but always to one address--a box at the San +Francisco post-office, which to the simple-minded Uncle Billy suggested +a certain official importance. To these letters Uncle Jim responded +regularly but briefly. + +From a certain intuitive pride in his partner and his affection, Uncle +Billy did not show these letters openly to the camp, although he spoke +freely of his former partner's promising future, and even read them +short extracts. It is needless to say that the camp did not accept Uncle +Billy's story with unsuspecting confidence. On the contrary, a hundred +surmises, humorous or serious, but always extravagant, were afloat in +Cedar Camp. The partners had quarreled over their clothes--Uncle Jim, +who was taller than Uncle Billy, had refused to wear his partner's +trousers. They had quarreled over cards--Uncle Jim had discovered that +Uncle Billy was in possession of a "cold deck," or marked pack. They had +quarreled over Uncle Billy's carelessness in grinding up half a box +of "bilious pills" in the morning's coffee. A gloomily imaginative +mule-driver had darkly suggested that, as no one had really seen Uncle +Jim leave the camp, he was still there, and his bones would yet be found +in one of the ditches; while a still more credulous miner averred that +what he had thought was the cry of a screech-owl the night previous to +Uncle Jim's disappearance, might have been the agonized utterance of +that murdered man. It was highly characteristic of that camp--and, +indeed, of others in California--that nobody, not even the ingenious +theorists themselves, believed their story, and that no one took the +slightest pains to verify or disprove it. Happily, Uncle Billy never +knew it, and moved all unconsciously in this atmosphere of burlesque +suspicion. And then a singular change took place in the attitude of the +camp towards him and the disrupted partnership. Hitherto, for no reason +whatever, all had agreed to put the blame upon Billy--possibly because +he was present to receive it. As days passed that slight reticence and +dejection in his manner, which they had at first attributed to remorse +and a guilty conscience, now began to tell as absurdly in his favor. +Here was poor Uncle Billy toiling though the ditches, while his selfish +partner was lolling in the lap of luxury in San Francisco! Uncle Billy's +glowing accounts of Uncle Jim's success only contributed to the sympathy +now fully given in his behalf and their execration of the absconding +partner. It was proposed at Biggs's store that a letter expressing the +indignation of the camp over his heartless conduct to his late partner, +William Fall, should be forwarded to him. Condolences were offered to +Uncle Billy, and uncouth attempts were made to cheer his loneliness. A +procession of half a dozen men twice a week to his cabin, carrying their +own whiskey and winding up with a "stag dance" before the premises, was +sufficient to lighten his eclipsed gayety and remind him of a happier +past. "Surprise" working parties visited his claim with spasmodic essays +towards helping him, and great good humor and hilarity prevailed. It was +not an unusual thing for an honest miner to arise from an idle gathering +in some cabin and excuse himself with the remark that he "reckoned he'd +put in an hour's work in Uncle Billy's tailings!" And yet, as before, it +was very improbable if any of these reckless benefactors REALLY believed +in their own earnestness or in the gravity of the situation. Indeed, a +kind of hopeful cynicism ran through their performances. "Like as not, +Uncle Billy is still in 'cahoots' [i. e., shares] with his old pard, and +is just laughin' at us as he's sendin' him accounts of our tomfoolin'." + +And so the winter passed and the rains, and the days of cloudless skies +and chill starlit nights began. There were still freshets from the snow +reservoirs piled high in the Sierran passes, and the Bar was flooded, +but that passed too, and only the sunshine remained. Monotonous as the +seasons were, there was a faint movement in the camp with the stirring +of the sap in the pines and cedars. And then, one day, there was a +strange excitement on the Bar. Men were seen running hither and thither, +but mainly gathering in a crowd on Uncle Billy's claim, that still +retained the old partners' names in "The Fall and Foster." To add to the +excitement, there was the quickly repeated report of a revolver, to all +appearance aimlessly exploded in the air by some one on the outskirts +of the assemblage. As the crowd opened, Uncle Billy appeared, pale, +hysterical, breathless, and staggering a little under the back-slapping +and hand-shaking of the whole camp. For Uncle Billy had "struck it +rich"--had just discovered a "pocket," roughly estimated to be worth +fifteen thousand dollars! + +Although in that supreme moment he missed the face of his old partner, +he could not help seeing the unaffected delight and happiness shining +in the eyes of all who surrounded him. It was characteristic of that +sanguine but uncertain life that success and good fortune brought no +jealousy nor envy to the unfortunate, but was rather a promise +and prophecy of the fulfillment of their own hopes. The gold was +there--Nature but yielded up her secret. There was no prescribed limit +to her bounty. So strong was this conviction that a long-suffering but +still hopeful miner, in the enthusiasm of the moment, stooped down and +patted a large boulder with the apostrophic "Good old gal!" + +Then followed a night of jubilee, a next morning of hurried consultation +with a mining expert and speculator lured to the camp by the good +tidings; and then the very next night--to the utter astonishment of +Cedar Camp--Uncle Billy, with a draft for twenty thousand dollars in his +pocket, started for San Francisco, and took leave of his claim and the +camp forever! + +***** + +When Uncle Billy landed at the wharves of San Francisco he was a little +bewildered. The Golden Gate beyond was obliterated by the incoming +sea-fog, which had also roofed in the whole city, and lights already +glittered along the gray streets that climbed the grayer sand-hills. +As a Western man, brought up by inland rivers, he was fascinated and +thrilled by the tall-masted seagoing ships, and he felt a strange sense +of the remoter mysterious ocean, which he had never seen. But he was +impressed and startled by smartly dressed men and women, the passing of +carriages, and a sudden conviction that he was strange and foreign to +what he saw. It had been his cherished intention to call upon his old +partner in his working clothes, and then clap down on the table before +him a draft for ten thousand dollars as HIS share of their old claim. +But in the face of these brilliant strangers a sudden and unexpected +timidity came upon him. He had heard of a cheap popular hotel, much +frequented by the returning gold-miner, who entered its hospitable +doors--which held an easy access to shops--and emerged in a few hours +a gorgeous butterfly of fashion, leaving his old chrysalis behind him. +Thence he inquired his way; hence he afterwards issued in garments +glaringly new and ill fitting. But he had not sacrificed his beard, and +there was still something fine and original in his handsome weak face +that overcame the cheap convention of his clothes. Making his way to the +post-office, he was again discomfited by the great size of the building, +and bewildered by the array of little square letter-boxes behind glass +which occupied one whole wall, and an equal number of opaque and locked +wooden ones legibly numbered. His heart leaped; he remembered the +number, and before him was a window with a clerk behind it. Uncle Billy +leaned forward. + +"Kin you tell me if the man that box 690 b'longs to is in?" + +The clerk stared, made him repeat the question, and then turned away. +But he returned almost instantly, with two or three grinning heads +besides his own, apparently set behind his shoulders. Uncle Billy was +again asked to repeat his question. He did so. + +"Why don't you go and see if 690 is in his box?" said the first clerk, +turning with affected asperity to one of the others. + +The clerk went away, returned, and said with singular gravity, "He was +there a moment ago, but he's gone out to stretch his legs. It's rather +crampin' at first; and he can't stand it more than ten hours at a time, +you know." + +But simplicity has its limits. Uncle Billy had already guessed his +real error in believing his partner was officially connected with the +building; his cheek had flushed and then paled again. The pupils of his +blue eyes had contracted into suggestive black points. "Ef you'll let +me in at that winder, young fellers," he said, with equal gravity, +"I'll show yer how I kin make YOU small enough to go in a box without +crampin'! But I only wanted to know where Jim Foster LIVED." + +At which the first clerk became perfunctory again, but civil. "A letter +left in his box would get you that information," he said, "and here's +paper and pencil to write it now." + +Uncle Billy took the paper and began to write, "Just got here. Come and +see me at"--He paused. A brilliant idea had struck him; He could impress +both his old partner and the upstarts at the window; he would put in the +name of the latest "swell" hotel in San Francisco, said to be a fairy +dream of opulence. He added "The Oriental," and without folding the +paper shoved it in the window. + +"Don't you want an envelope?" asked the clerk. + +"Put a stamp on the corner of it," responded Uncle Billy, laying down a +coin, "and she'll go through." The clerk smiled, but affixed the stamp, +and Uncle Billy turned away. + +But it was a short-lived triumph. The disappointment at finding Uncle +Jim's address conveyed no idea of his habitation seemed to remove him +farther away, and lose his identity in the great city. Besides, he must +now make good his own address, and seek rooms at the Oriental. He went +thither. The furniture and decorations, even in these early days of +hotel-building in San Francisco, were extravagant and over-strained, +and Uncle Billy felt lost and lonely in his strange surroundings. But +he took a handsome suite of rooms, paid for them in advance on the spot, +and then, half frightened, walked out of them to ramble vaguely through +the city in the feverish hope of meeting his old partner. At night his +inquietude increased; he could not face the long row of tables in the +pillared dining-room, filled with smartly dressed men and women; +he evaded his bedroom, with its brocaded satin chairs and its gilt +bedstead, and fled to his modest lodgings at the Good Cheer House, and +appeased his hunger at its cheap restaurant, in the company of retired +miners and freshly arrived Eastern emigrants. Two or three days passed +thus in this quaint double existence. Three or four times a day he would +enter the gorgeous Oriental with affected ease and carelessness, demand +his key from the hotel-clerk, ask for the letter that did not come, go +to his room, gaze vaguely from his window on the passing crowd below for +the partner he could not find, and then return to the Good Cheer House +for rest and sustenance. On the fourth day he received a short note +from Uncle Jim; it was couched in his usual sanguine but brief and +businesslike style. He was very sorry, but important and profitable +business took him out of town, but he trusted to return soon and welcome +his old partner. He was also, for the first time, jocose, and hoped +that Uncle Billy would not "see all the sights" before he, Uncle Jim, +returned. Disappointing as this procrastination was to Uncle Billy, a +gleam of hope irradiated it: the letter had bridged over that gulf which +seemed to yawn between them at the post-office. His old partner had +accepted his visit to San Francisco without question, and had alluded to +a renewal of their old intimacy. For Uncle Billy, with all his trustful +simplicity, had been tortured by two harrowing doubts: one, whether +Uncle Jim in his new-fledged smartness as a "city" man--such as he +saw in the streets--would care for his rough companionship; the other, +whether he, Uncle Billy, ought not to tell him at once of his changed +fortune. But, like all weak, unreasoning men, he clung desperately to +a detail--he could not forego his old idea of astounding Uncle Jim by +giving him his share of the "strike" as his first intimation of it, and +he doubted, with more reason perhaps, if Jim would see him after he +had heard of his good fortune. For Uncle Billy had still a frightened +recollection of Uncle Jim's sudden stroke for independence, and +that rigid punctiliousness which had made him doggedly accept the +responsibility of his extravagant stake at euchre. + +With a view of educating himself for Uncle Jim's company, he "saw the +sights" of San Francisco--as an overgrown and somewhat stupid child +might have seen them--with great curiosity, but little contamination or +corruption. But I think he was chiefly pleased with watching the arrival +of the Sacramento and Stockton steamers at the wharves, in the hope +of discovering his old partner among the passengers on the gang-plank. +Here, with his old superstitious tendency and gambler's instinct, he +would augur great success in his search that day if any one of the +passengers bore the least resemblance to Uncle Jim, if a man or woman +stepped off first, or if he met a single person's questioning eye. +Indeed, this got to be the real occupation of the day, which he would on +no account have omitted, and to a certain extent revived each day in +his mind the morning's work of their old partnership. He would say to +himself, "It's time to go and look up Jim," and put off what he +was pleased to think were his pleasures until this act of duty was +accomplished. + +In this singleness of purpose he made very few and no entangling +acquaintances, nor did he impart to any one the secret of his fortune, +loyally reserving it for his partner's first knowledge. To a man of +his natural frankness and simplicity this was a great trial, and was, +perhaps, a crucial test of his devotion. When he gave up his rooms at +the Oriental--as not necessary after his partner's absence--he sent +a letter, with his humble address, to the mysterious lock-box of his +partner without fear or false shame. He would explain it all when they +met. But he sometimes treated unlucky and returning miners to a dinner +and a visit to the gallery of some theatre. Yet while he had an active +sympathy with and understanding of the humblest, Uncle Billy, who +for many years had done his own and his partner's washing, scrubbing, +mending, and cooking, and saw no degradation in it, was somewhat +inconsistently irritated by menial functions in men, and although +he gave extravagantly to waiters, and threw a dollar to the +crossing-sweeper, there was always a certain shy avoidance of them in +his manner. Coming from the theatre one night Uncle Billy was, however, +seriously concerned by one of these crossing-sweepers turning hastily +before them and being knocked down by a passing carriage. The man rose +and limped hurriedly away; but Uncle Billy was amazed and still more +irritated to hear from his companion that this kind of menial occupation +was often profitable, and that at some of the principal crossings the +sweepers were already rich men. + +But a few days later brought a more notable event to Uncle Billy. One +afternoon in Montgomery Street he recognized in one of its smartly +dressed frequenters a man who had a few years before been a member of +Cedar Camp. Uncle Billy's childish delight at this meeting, which +seemed to bridge over his old partner's absence, was, however, only +half responded to by the ex-miner, and then somewhat satirically. In the +fullness of his emotion, Uncle Billy confided to him that he was seeking +his old partner, Jim Foster, and, reticent of his own good fortune, +spoke glowingly of his partner's brilliant expectations, but deplored +his inability to find him. And just now he was away on important +business. "I reckon he's got back," said the man dryly. "I didn't know +he had a lock-box at the post-office, but I can give you his other +address. He lives at the Presidio, at Washerwoman's Bay." He stopped and +looked with a satirical smile at Uncle Billy. But the latter, familiar +with Californian mining-camp nomenclature, saw nothing strange in it, +and merely repeated his companion's words. + +"You'll find him there! Good-by! So long! Sorry I'm in a hurry," said +the ex-miner, and hurried away. + +Uncle Billy was too delighted with the prospect of a speedy meeting with +Uncle Jim to resent his former associate's supercilious haste, or even +to wonder why Uncle Jim had not informed him that he had returned. It +was not the first time that he had felt how wide was the gulf between +himself and these others, and the thought drew him closer to his old +partner, as well as his old idea, as it was now possible to surprise +him with the draft. But as he was going to surprise him in his own +boarding-house--probably a handsome one--Uncle Billy reflected that he +would do so in a certain style. + +He accordingly went to a livery stable and ordered a landau and pair, +with a negro coachman. Seated in it, in his best and most ill-fitting +clothes, he asked the coachman to take him to the Presidio, and leaned +back in the cushions as they drove through the streets with such an +expression of beaming gratification on his good-humored face that the +passers-by smiled at the equipage and its extravagant occupant. To them +it seemed the not unusual sight of the successful miner "on a spree." To +the unsophisticated Uncle Billy their smiling seemed only a natural and +kindly recognition of his happiness, and he nodded and smiled back +to them with unsuspecting candor and innocent playfulness. "These yer +'Frisco fellers ain't ALL slouches, you bet," he added to himself half +aloud, at the back of the grinning coachman. + +Their way led through well-built streets to the outskirts, or rather +to that portion of the city which seemed to have been overwhelmed by +shifting sand-dunes, from which half-submerged fences and even low +houses barely marked the line of highway. The resistless trade-winds +which had marked this change blew keenly in his face and slightly +chilled his ardor. At a turn in the road the sea came in sight, and +sloping towards it the great Cemetery of Lone Mountain, with white +shafts and marbles that glittered in the sunlight like the sails of +ships waiting to be launched down that slope into the Eternal Ocean. +Uncle Billy shuddered. What if it had been his fate to seek Uncle Jim +there! + +"Dar's yar Presidio!" said the negro coachman a few moments later, +pointing with his whip, "and dar's yar Wash'woman's Bay!" + +Uncle Billy stared. A huge quadrangular fort of stone with a flag flying +above its battlements stood at a little distance, pressed against the +rocks, as if beating back the encroaching surges; between him and the +fort but farther inland was a lagoon with a number of dilapidated, +rudely patched cabins or cottages, like stranded driftwood around its +shore. But there was no mansion, no block of houses, no street, not +another habitation or dwelling to be seen! + +Uncle Billy's first shock of astonishment was succeeded by a feeling of +relief. He had secretly dreaded a meeting with his old partner in the +"haunts of fashion;" whatever was the cause that made Uncle Jim seek +this obscure retirement affected him but slightly; he even was thrilled +with a vague memory of the old shiftless camp they had both abandoned. A +certain instinct--he knew not why, or less still that it might be one of +delicacy--made him alight before they reached the first house. Bidding +the carriage wait, Uncle Billy entered, and was informed by a blowzy +Irish laundress at a tub that Jim Foster, or "Arkansaw Jim," lived at +the fourth shanty "beyant." He was at home, for "he'd shprained his +fut." Uncle Billy hurried on, stopped before the door of a shanty +scarcely less rude than their old cabin, and half timidly pushed it +open. A growling voice from within, a figure that rose hurriedly, +leaning on a stick, with an attempt to fly, but in the same moment sank +back in a chair with an hysterical laugh--and Uncle Billy stood in the +presence of his old partner! But as Uncle Billy darted forward, Uncle +Jim rose again, and this time with outstretched hands. Uncle Billy +caught them, and in one supreme pressure seemed to pour out and +transfuse his whole simple soul into his partner's. There they swayed +each other backwards and forwards and sideways by their still clasped +hands, until Uncle Billy, with a glance at Uncle Jim's bandaged ankle, +shoved him by sheer force down into his chair. + +Uncle Jim was first to speak. "Caught, b' gosh! I mighter known you'd be +as big a fool as me! Look you, Billy Fall, do you know what you've done? +You've druv me out er the streets whar I was makin' an honest livin', by +day, on three crossin's! Yes," he laughed forgivingly, "you druv me out +er it, by day, jest because I reckoned that some time I might run into +your darned fool face,"--another laugh and a grasp of the hand,--"and +then, b'gosh! not content with ruinin' my business BY DAY, when I +took to it at night, YOU took to goin' out at nights too, and so put a +stopper on me there! Shall I tell you what else you did? Well, by the +holy poker! I owe this sprained foot to your darned foolishness and my +own, for it was getting away from YOU one night after the theatre that I +got run into and run over! + +"Ye see," he went on, unconscious of Uncle Billy's paling face, and with +a naivete, though perhaps not a delicacy, equal to Uncle Billy's own, "I +had to play roots on you with that lock-box business and these letters, +because I did not want you to know what I was up to, for you mightn't +like it, and might think it was lowerin' to the old firm, don't yer +see? I wouldn't hev gone into it, but I was played out, and I don't +mind tellin' you NOW, old man, that when I wrote you that first chipper +letter from the lock-box I hedn't eat anythin' for two days. But it's +all right NOW," with a laugh. "Then I got into this business--thinkin' +it nothin'--jest the very last thing--and do you know, old pard, I +couldn't tell anybody but YOU--and, in fact, I kept it jest to tell +you--I've made nine hundred and fifty-six dollars! Yes, sir, NINE +HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX DOLLARS! solid money, in Adams and Co.'s Bank, +just out er my trade." + +"Wot trade?" asked Uncle Billy. + +Uncle Jim pointed to the corner, where stood a large, heavy +crossing-sweeper's broom. "That trade." + +"Certingly," said Uncle Billy, with a quick laugh. + +"It's an outdoor trade," said Uncle Jim gravely, but with no suggestion +of awkwardness or apology in his manner; "and thar ain't much difference +between sweepin' a crossin' with a broom and raking over tailing with a +rake, ONLY--WOT YE GET with a broom YOU HAVE HANDED TO YE, and ye don't +have to PICK IT UP AND FISH IT OUT ER the wet rocks and sluice-gushin'; +and it's a heap less tiring to the back." + +"Certingly, you bet!" said Uncle Billy enthusiastically, yet with a +certain nervous abstraction. + +"I'm glad ye say so; for yer see I didn't know at first how you'd tumble +to my doing it, until I'd made my pile. And ef I hadn't made it, I +wouldn't hev set eyes on ye agin, old pard--never!" + +"Do you mind my runnin' out a minit," said Uncle Billy, rising. "You +see, I've got a friend waitin' for me outside--and I reckon"--he +stammered--"I'll jest run out and send him off, so I kin talk comf'ble +to ye." + +"Ye ain't got anybody you're owin' money to," said Uncle Jim earnestly, +"anybody follerin' you to get paid, eh? For I kin jest set down right +here and write ye off a check on the bank!" + +"No," said Uncle Billy. He slipped out of the door, and ran like a deer +to the waiting carriage. Thrusting a twenty-dollar gold-piece into the +coachman's hand, he said hoarsely, "I ain't wantin' that kerridge just +now; ye ken drive around and hev a private jamboree all by yourself the +rest of the afternoon, and then come and wait for me at the top o' the +hill yonder." + +Thus quit of his gorgeous equipage, he hurried back to Uncle Jim, +grasping his ten-thousand dollar draft in his pocket. He was nervous, he +was frightened, but he must get rid of the draft and his story, and have +it over. But before he could speak he was unexpectedly stopped by Uncle +Jim. + +"Now, look yer, Billy boy!" said Uncle Jim; "I got suthin' to say to +ye--and I might as well clear it off my mind at once, and then we can +start fair agin. Now," he went on, with a half laugh, "wasn't it enough +for ME to go on pretendin' I was rich and doing a big business, and +gettin' up that lock-box dodge so as ye couldn't find out whar I hung +out and what I was doin'--wasn't it enough for ME to go on with all this +play-actin', but YOU, you long-legged or nary cuss! must get up and go +to lyin' and play-actin', too!" + +"ME play-actin'? ME lyin'?" gasped Uncle Billy. + +Uncle Jim leaned back in his chair and laughed. "Do you think you could +fool ME? Do you think I didn't see through your little game o' going +to that swell Oriental, jest as if ye'd made a big strike--and all the +while ye wasn't sleepin' or eatin' there, but jest wrastlin' yer hash +and having a roll down at the Good Cheer! Do you think I didn't spy on +ye and find that out? Oh, you long-eared jackass-rabbit!" + +He laughed until the tears came into his eyes, and Uncle Billy laughed +too, albeit until the laugh on his face became quite fixed, and he was +fain to bury his head in his handkerchief. + +"And yet," said Uncle Jim, with a deep breath, "gosh! I was +frighted--jest for a minit! I thought, mebbe, you HAD made a big +strike--when I got your first letter--and I made up my mind what I'd +do! And then I remembered you was jest that kind of an open sluice that +couldn't keep anythin' to yourself, and you'd have been sure to have +yelled it out to ME the first thing. So I waited. And I found you out, +you old sinner!" He reached forward and dug Uncle Billy in the ribs. + +"What WOULD you hev done?" said Uncle Billy, after an hysterical +collapse. + +Uncle Jim's face grew grave again. "I'd hev--I'd--hev cl'ared out! Out +er 'Frisco! out er Californy! out er Ameriky! I couldn't have stud it! +Don't think I would hev begrudged ye yer luck! No man would have been +gladder than me." He leaned forward again, and laid his hand caressingly +upon his partner's arm--"Don't think I'd hev wanted to take a penny of +it--but I--thar! I COULDN'T hev stood up under it! To hev had YOU, you +that I left behind, comin' down here rollin' in wealth and new partners +and friends, and arrive upon me--and this shanty--and"--he threw towards +the corner of the room a terrible gesture, none the less terrible +that it was illogical and inconsequent to all that had gone +before--"and--and--THAT BROOM!" + +There was a dead silence in the room. With it Uncle Billy seemed to feel +himself again transported to the homely cabin at Cedar Camp and that +fateful night, with his partner's strange, determined face before him +as then. He even fancied that he heard the roaring of the pines without, +and did not know that it was the distant sea. + +But after a minute Uncle Jim resumed:-- + +"Of course you've made a little raise somehow, or you wouldn't be here?" + +"Yes," said Uncle Billy eagerly. "Yes! I've got"--He stopped and +stammered. "I've got--a--few hundreds." + +"Oh, oh!" said Uncle Jim cheerfully. He paused, and then added +earnestly, "I say! You ain't got left, over and above your d--d +foolishness at the Oriental, as much as five hundred dollars?" + +"I've got," said Uncle Billy, blushing a little over his first +deliberate and affected lie, "I've got at least five hundred and +seventy-two dollars. Yes," he added tentatively, gazing anxiously at his +partner, "I've got at least that." + +"Je whillikins!" said Uncle Jim, with a laugh. Then eagerly, "Look here, +pard! Then we're on velvet! I've got NINE hundred; put your FIVE with +that, and I know a little ranch that we can get for twelve hundred. +That's what I've been savin' up for--that's my little game! No more +minin' for ME. It's got a shanty twice as big as our old cabin, nigh on +a hundred acres, and two mustangs. We can run it with two Chinamen and +jest make it howl! Wot yer say--eh?" He extended his hand. + +"I'm in," said Uncle Billy, radiantly grasping Uncle Jim's. But his +smile faded, and his clear simple brow wrinkled in two lines. + +Happily Uncle Jim did not notice it. "Now, then, old pard," he said +brightly, "we'll have a gay old time to-night--one of our jamborees! +I've got some whiskey here and a deck o' cards, and we'll have a little +game, you understand, but not for 'keeps' now! No, siree; we'll play for +beans." + +A sudden light illuminated Uncle Billy's face again, but he said, with a +grim desperation, "Not to-night! I've got to go into town. That fren' +o' mine expects me to go to the theayter, don't ye see? But I'll be out +to-morrow at sun-up, and we'll fix up this thing o' the ranch." + +"Seems to me you're kinder stuck on this fren'," grunted Uncle Jim. + +Uncle Billy's heart bounded at his partner's jealousy. "No--but I MUST, +you know," he returned, with a faint laugh. + +"I say--it ain't a HER, is it?" said Uncle Jim. + +Uncle Billy achieved a diabolical wink and a creditable blush at his +lie. + +"Billy?" + +"Jim!" + +And under cover of this festive gallantry Uncle Billy escaped. He ran +through the gathering darkness, and toiled up the shifting sands to the +top of the hill, where he found the carriage waiting. + +"Wot," said Uncle Billy in a low confidential tone to the coachman, +"wot do you 'Frisco fellers allow to be the best, biggest, and riskiest +gamblin'-saloon here? Suthin' high-toned, you know?" + +The negro grinned. It was the usual case of the extravagant spendthrift +miner, though perhaps he had expected a different question and order. + +"Dey is de 'Polka,' de 'El Dorado,' and de 'Arcade' saloon, boss," he +said, flicking his whip meditatively. "Most gents from de mines prefer +de 'Polka,' for dey is dancing wid de gals frown in. But de real prima +facie place for gents who go for buckin' agin de tiger and straight-out +gamblin' is de 'Arcade.'" + +"Drive there like thunder!" said Uncle Billy, leaping into the carriage. + +***** + +True to his word, Uncle Billy was at his partner's shanty early the next +morning. He looked a little tired, but happy, and had brought a draft +with him for five hundred and seventy-five dollars, which he explained +was the total of his capital. Uncle Jim was overjoyed. They would start +for Napa that very day, and conclude the purchase of the ranch; Uncle +Jim's sprained foot was a sufficient reason for his giving up his +present vocation, which he could also sell at a small profit. His +domestic arrangements were very simple; there was nothing to take +with him--there was everything to leave behind. And that afternoon, at +sunset, the two reunited partners were seated on the deck of the Napa +boat as she swung into the stream. + +Uncle Billy was gazing over the railing with a look of abstracted relief +towards the Golden Gate, where the sinking sun seemed to be drawing +towards him in the ocean a golden stream that was forever pouring +from the Bay and the three-hilled city beside it. What Uncle Billy was +thinking of, or what the picture suggested to him, did not transpire; +for Uncle Jim, who, emboldened by his holiday, was luxuriating in an +evening paper, suddenly uttered a long-drawn whistle, and moved closer +to his abstracted partner. "Look yer," he said, pointing to a paragraph +he had evidently just read, "just you listen to this, and see if we +ain't lucky, you and me, to be jest wot we air--trustin' to our own hard +work--and not thinkin' o' 'strikes' and 'fortins.' Jest unbutton yer +ears, Billy, while I reel off this yer thing I've jest struck in the +paper, and see what d--d fools some men kin make o' themselves. And that +theer reporter wot wrote it--must hev seed it reely!" + +Uncle Jim cleared his throat, and holding the paper close to his eyes +read aloud slowly:-- + +"'A scene of excitement that recalled the palmy days of '49 was +witnessed last night at the Arcade Saloon. A stranger, who might have +belonged to that reckless epoch, and who bore every evidence of being +a successful Pike County miner out on a "spree," appeared at one of the +tables with a negro coachman bearing two heavy bags of gold. Selecting +a faro-bank as his base of operations, he began to bet heavily and with +apparent recklessness, until his play excited the breathless attention +of every one. In a few moments he had won a sum variously estimated at +from eighty to a hundred thousand dollars. A rumor went round the room +that it was a concerted attempt to "break the bank" rather than the +drunken freak of a Western miner, dazzled by some successful strike. +To this theory the man's careless and indifferent bearing towards his +extraordinary gains lent great credence. The attempt, if such it was, +however, was unsuccessful. After winning ten times in succession the +luck turned, and the unfortunate "bucker" was cleared out not only of +his gains, but of his original investment, which may be placed roughly +at twenty thousand dollars. This extraordinary play was witnessed by a +crowd of excited players, who were less impressed by even the magnitude +of the stakes than the perfect sang-froid and recklessness of the +player, who, it is said, at the close of the game tossed a twenty-dollar +gold-piece to the banker and smilingly withdrew. The man was not +recognized by any of the habitues of the place.' + +"There!" said Uncle Jim, as he hurriedly slurred over the French +substantive at the close, "did ye ever see such God-forsaken +foolishness?" + +Uncle Billy lifted his abstracted eyes from the current, still pouring +its unreturning gold into the sinking sun, and said, with a deprecatory +smile, "Never!" + +Nor even in the days of prosperity that visited the Great Wheat Ranch of +"Fall and Foster" did he ever tell his secret to his partner. + + + + +SEE YUP + + +I don't suppose that his progenitors ever gave him that name, or, +indeed, that it was a NAME at all; but it was currently believed +that--as pronounced "See UP"--it meant that lifting of the outer angle +of the eye common to the Mongolian. On the other hand, I had been told +that there was an old Chinese custom of affixing some motto or legend, +or even a sentence from Confucius, as a sign above their shops, and that +two or more words, which might be merely equivalent to "Virtue is its +own reward," or "Riches are deceitful," were believed by the simple +Californian miner to be the name of the occupant himself. Howbeit, "See +Yup" accepted it with the smiling patience of his race, and never +went by any other. If one of the tunnelmen always addressed him as +"Brigadier-General," "Judge," or "Commodore," it was understood to be +only the American fondness for ironic title, and was never used except +in personal conversation. In appearance he looked like any other +Chinaman, wore the ordinary blue cotton blouse and white drawers of the +Sampan coolie, and, in spite of the apparent cleanliness and freshness +of these garments, always exhaled that singular medicated odor--half +opium, half ginger--which we recognized as the common "Chinese smell." + +Our first interview was characteristic of his patient quality. He had +done my washing for several months, but I had never yet seen him. +A meeting at last had become necessary to correct his impressions +regarding "buttons"--which he had seemed to consider as mere +excrescences, to be removed like superfluous dirt from soiled linen. +I had expected him to call at my lodgings, but he had not yet made his +appearance. One day, during the noontide recess of the little frontier +school over which I presided, I returned rather early. Two or three of +the smaller boys, who were loitering about the school-yard, disappeared +with a certain guilty precipitation that I suspected for the moment, +but which I presently dismissed from my mind. I passed through the +empty school-room to my desk, sat down, and began to prepare the coming +lessons. Presently I heard a faint sigh. Looking up, to my intense +concern, I discovered a solitary Chinaman whom I had overlooked, sitting +in a rigid attitude on a bench with his back to the window. He caught my +eye and smiled sadly, but without moving. + +"What are you doing here?" I asked sternly. + +"Me washee shilts; me talkee 'buttons.'" + +"Oh! you're See Yup, are you?" + +"Allee same, John." + +"Well, come here." + +I continued my work, but he did not move. + +"Come here, hang it! Don't you understand?" + +"Me shabbee, 'comme yea.' But me no shabbee Mellican boy, who catchee +me, allee same. YOU 'comme yea'--YOU shabbee?" + +Indignant, but believing that the unfortunate man was still in fear +of persecution from the mischievous urchins whom I had evidently just +interrupted, I put down my pen and went over to him. Here I discovered, +to my surprise and mortification, that his long pigtail was held hard +and fast by the closed window behind him which the young rascals had +shut down upon it, after having first noiselessly fished it outside with +a hook and line. I apologized, opened the window, and released him. He +did not complain, although he must have been fixed in that uncomfortable +position for some minutes, but plunged at once into the business that +brought him there. + +"But WHY didn't you come to my lodgings?" I asked. + +He smiled sadly but intelligently. + +"Mishtel Bally [Mr. Barry, my landlord] he owce me five dollee fo +washee, washee. He no payee me. He say he knock hellee outee me allee +time I come for payee. So me no come HOUSEE, me come SCHOOLEE, Shabbee? +Mellican boy no good, but not so big as Mellican man. No can hurtee +Chinaman so much. Shabbee?" + +Alas! I knew that this was mainly true. Mr. James Barry was an Irishman, +whose finer religious feelings revolted against paying money to a +heathen. I could not find it in my heart to say anything to See Yup +about the buttons; indeed, I spoke in complimentary terms about the +gloss of my shirts, and I think I meekly begged him to come again for my +washing. When I went home I expostulated with Mr. Barry, but succeeded +only in extracting from him the conviction that I was one of "thim black +Republican fellys that worshiped naygurs." I had simply made an enemy of +him. But I did not know that, at the same time, I had made a friend of +See Yup! + +I became aware of this a few days later, by the appearance on my desk of +a small pot containing a specimen of camellia japonica in flower. I knew +the school-children were in the habit of making presents to me in this +furtive fashion,--leaving their own nosegays of wild flowers, or perhaps +a cluster of roses from their parents' gardens,--but I also knew that +this exotic was too rare to come from them. I remembered that See Yup +had a Chinese taste for gardening, and a friend, another Chinaman, who +kept a large nursery in the adjoining town. But my doubts were set at +rest by the discovery of a small roll of red rice-paper containing my +washing-bill, fastened to the camellia stalk. It was plain that this +mingling of business and delicate gratitude was clearly See Yup's +own idea. As the finest flower was the topmost one, I plucked it for +wearing, when I found, to my astonishment, that it was simply wired to +the stalk. This led me to look at the others, which I found also wired! +More than that, they seemed to be an inferior flower, and exhaled that +cold, earthy odor peculiar to the camellia, even, as I thought, to an +excess. A closer examination resulted in the discovery that, with the +exception of the first flower I had plucked, they were one and all +ingeniously constructed of thin slices of potato, marvelously cut to +imitate the vegetable waxiness and formality of the real flower. The +work showed an infinite and almost pathetic patience in detail, +yet strangely incommensurate with the result, admirable as it was. +Nevertheless, this was also like See Yup. But whether he had tried to +deceive me, or whether he only wished me to admire his skill, I could +not say. And as his persecution by my scholars had left a balance of +consideration in his favor, I sent him a warm note of thanks, and said +nothing of my discovery. + +As our acquaintance progressed, I became frequently the recipient of +other small presents from him: a pot of preserves of a quality I could +not purchase in shops, and whose contents in their crafty, gingery +dissimulation so defied definition that I never knew whether they were +animal, vegetable, or mineral; two or three hideous Chinese idols, "for +luckee," and a diabolical fire-work with an irregular spasmodic activity +that would sometimes be prolonged until the next morning. In return, I +gave him some apparently hopeless oral lessons in English, and certain +sentences to be copied, which he did with marvelous precision. I +remember one instance when this peculiar faculty of imitation was +disastrous in result. In setting him a copy, I had blurred a word which +I promptly erased, and then traced the letters more distinctly over the +scratched surface. To my surprise, See Yup triumphantly produced HIS +copy with the erasion itself carefully imitated, and, in fact, much more +neatly done than mine. + +In our confidential intercourse, I never seemed to really get nearer +to him. His sympathy and simplicity appeared like his flowers--to be a +good-humored imitation of my own. I am satisfied that his particularly +soulless laugh was not derived from any amusement he actually felt, yet +I could not say it was forced. In his accurate imitations, I fancied he +was only trying to evade any responsibility of his own. THAT devolved +upon his taskmaster! In the attention he displayed when new ideas +were presented to him, there was a slight condescension, as if he were +looking down upon them from his three thousand years of history. + +"Don't you think the electric telegraph wonderful?" I asked one day. + +"Very good for Mellican man," he said, with his aimless laugh; "plenty +makee him jump!" + +I never could tell whether he had confounded it with electro-galvanism, +or was only satirizing our American haste and feverishness. He was +capable of either. For that matter, we knew that the Chinese themselves +possessed some means of secretly and quickly communicating with one +another. Any news of good or ill import to their race was quickly +disseminated through the settlement before WE knew anything about it. An +innocent basket of clothes from the wash, sent up from the river-bank, +became in some way a library of information; a single slip of +rice-paper, aimlessly fluttering in the dust of the road, had the +mysterious effect of diverging a whole gang of coolie tramps away from +our settlement. + +When See Yup was not subject to the persecutions of the more ignorant +and brutal he was always a source of amusement to all, and I cannot +recall an instance when he was ever taken seriously. The miners found +diversions even in his alleged frauds and trickeries, whether innocent +or retaliatory, and were fond of relating with great gusto his evasion +of the Foreign Miners' Tax. This was an oppressive measure aimed +principally at the Chinese, who humbly worked the worn-out "tailings" of +their Christian fellow miners. It was stated that See Yup, knowing the +difficulty--already alluded to--of identifying any particular Chinaman +by NAME, conceived the additional idea of confusing recognition by +intensifying the monotonous facial expression. Having paid his tax +himself to the collector, he at once passed the receipt to his fellows, +so that the collector found himself confronted in different parts of the +settlement with the receipt and the aimless laugh of, apparently, See +Yup himself. Although we all knew that there were a dozen Chinamen or +more at work at the mines, the collector never was able to collect the +tax from more than TWO,--See Yup and one See Yin,--and so great was +THEIR facial resemblance that the unfortunate official for a long time +hugged himself with the conviction that he had made See Yup PAY TWICE, +and withheld the money from the government! It is very probable that the +Californian's recognition of the sanctity of a joke, and his belief that +"cheating the government was only cheating himself," largely accounted +for the sympathies of the rest of the miners. + +But these sympathies were not always unanimous. + +One evening I strolled into the bar-room of the principal saloon, which, +so far as mere upholstery and comfort went, was also the principal house +in the settlement. The first rains had commenced; the windows were open, +for the influence of the southwest trades penetrated even this far-off +mountain mining settlement, but, oddly enough, there was a fire in the +large central stove, around which the miners had collected, with their +steaming boots elevated on a projecting iron railing that encircled it. +They were not attracted by the warmth, but the stove formed a social +pivot for gossip, and suggested that mystic circle dear to the +gregarious instinct. Yet they were decidedly a despondent group. For +some moments the silence was only broken by a gasp, a sigh, a muttered +oath, or an impatient change of position. There was nothing in the +fortunes of the settlement, nor in their own individual affairs to +suggest this gloom. The singular truth was that they were, one and all, +suffering from the pangs of dyspepsia. + +Incongruous as such a complaint might seem to their healthy +environment,--their outdoor life, their daily exercise, the healing +balsam of the mountain air, their enforced temperance in diet, and +the absence of all enervating pleasures,--it was nevertheless the +incontestable fact. Whether it was the result of the nervous, excitable +temperament which had brought them together in this feverish hunt for +gold; whether it was the quality of the tinned meats or half-cooked +provisions they hastily bolted, begrudging the time it took to prepare +and to consume them; whether they too often supplanted their meals by +tobacco or whiskey, the singular physiological truth remained that these +young, finely selected adventurers, living the lives of the natural, +aboriginal man, and looking the picture of health and strength, actually +suffered more from indigestion than the pampered dwellers of the cities. +The quantity of "patent medicines," "bitters," "pills," "panaceas," +and "lozenges" sold in the settlement almost exceeded the amount of +the regular provisions whose effects they were supposed to correct. +The sufferers eagerly scanned advertisements and placards. There +were occasional "runs" on new "specifics," and general conversation +eventually turned into a discussion of their respective merits. A +certain childlike faith and trust in each new remedy was not the least +distressing and pathetic of the symptoms of these grown-up, bearded men. + +"Well, gentlemen," said Cyrus Parker, glancing around at his fellow +sufferers, "ye kin talk of your patent medicines, and I've tackled 'em +all, but only the other day I struck suthin' that I'm goin' to hang on +to, you bet." + +Every eye was turned moodily to the speaker, but no one said anything. + +"And I didn't get it outer advertisements, nor off of circulars. I got +it outer my head, just by solid thinking," continued Parker. + +"What was it, Cy?" said one unsophisticated and inexperienced sufferer. + +Instead of replying, Parker, like a true artist, knowing he had the ear +of his audience, dramatically flashed a question upon them. + +"Did you ever hear of a Chinaman having dyspepsy?" + +"Never heard he had sabe enough to hev ANYTHING," said a scorner. + +"No, but DID ye?" insisted Parker. + +"Well, no!" chorused the group. They were evidently struck with the +fact. + +"Of course you didn't," said Parker triumphantly. "'Cos they AIN'T. +Well, gentlemen, it didn't seem to me the square thing that a pesky lot +o' yellow-skinned heathens should be built different to a white man, +and never know the tortur' that a Christian feels; and one day, arter +dinner, when I was just a-lyin' flat down on the bank, squirmin', and +clutching the short grass to keep from yellin', who should go by but +that pizened See Yup, with a grin on his face. + +"'Mellican man plenty playee to him Joss after eatin',' sez he; 'but +Chinaman smellee punk, allee same, and no hab got.' + +"I knew the slimy cuss was just purtendin' he thought I was prayin' to +my Joss, but I was that weak I hadn't stren'th, boys, to heave a rock at +him. Yet it gave me an idea." + +"What was it?" they asked eagerly. + +"I went down to his shop the next day, when he was alone, and I was +feeling mighty bad, and I got hold of his pigtail and I allowed I'd +stuff it down his throat if he didn't tell me what he meant. Then he +took a piece of punk and lit it, and put it under my nose, and, darn my +skin, gentlemen, you migh'n't believe me, but in a minute I felt better, +and after a whiff or two I was all right." + +"Was it pow'ful strong, Cy?" asked the inexperienced one. + +"No," said Parker, "and that's just what's got me. It was a sort o' +dreamy, spicy smell, like a hot night. But as I couldn't go 'round 'mong +you boys with a lighted piece o' punk in my hand, ez if I was settin' +off Fourth of July firecrackers, I asked him if he couldn't fix me up +suthin' in another shape that would be handier to use when I was took +bad, and I'd reckon to pay him for it like ez I'd pay for any other +patent medicine. So he fixed me up this." + +He put his hand in his pocket, and drew out a small red paper which, +when opened, disclosed a pink powder. It was gravely passed around the +group. + +"Why, it smells and tastes like ginger," said one. + +"It is only ginger!" said another scornfully. + +"Mebbe it is, and mebbe it isn't," returned Cy Parker stoutly. "Mebbe +ut's only my fancy. But if it's the sort o' stuff to bring on that +fancy, and that fancy CURES me, it's all the same. I've got about two +dollars' worth o' that fancy or that ginger, and I'm going to stick to +it. You hear me!" And he carefully put it back in his pocket. + +At which criticisms and gibes broke forth. If he (Cy Parker), a white +man, was going to "demean himself" by consulting a Chinese quack, he'd +better buy up a lot o' idols and stand 'em up around his cabin. If he +had that sort o' confidences with See Yup, he ought to go to work with +him on his cheap tailings, and be fumigated all at the same time. If +he'd been smoking an opium pipe, instead of smelling punk, he ought to +be man enough to confess it. Yet it was noticeable that they were +all very anxious to examine the packet again, but Cy Parker was alike +indifferent to demand or entreaty. + +A few days later I saw Abe Wynford, one of the party, coming out of See +Yup's wash-house. He muttered something in passing about the infamous +delay in sending home his washing, but did not linger long in +conversation. The next day I met another miner AT the wash-house, but HE +lingered so long on some trifling details that I finally left him there +alone with See Yup. When I called upon Poker Jack of Shasta, there was a +singular smell of incense in HIS cabin, which he attributed to the very +resinous quality of the fir logs he was burning. I did not attempt +to probe these mysteries by any direct appeal to See Yup himself: I +respected his reticence; indeed, if I had not, I was quite satisfied +that he would have lied to me. Enough that his wash-house was well +patronized, and he was decidedly "getting on." + +It might have been a month afterwards that Dr. Duchesne was setting a +broken bone in the settlement, and after the operation was over, had +strolled into the Palmetto Saloon. He was an old army surgeon, much +respected and loved in the district, although perhaps a little feared +for the honest roughness and military precision of his speech. After he +had exchanged salutations with the miners in his usual hearty fashion, +and accepted their invitation to drink, Cy Parker, with a certain +affected carelessness which did not, however, conceal a singular +hesitation in his speech, began:-- + +"I've been wantin' to ask ye a question, Doc,--a sort o' darned fool +question, ye know,--nothing in the way of consultation, don't you see, +though it's kin er in the way o' your purfeshun. Sabe?" + +"Go on, Cy," said the doctor good-humoredly, "this is my dispensary +hour." + +"Oh! it ain't anything about symptoms, Doc, and there ain't anything the +matter with me. It's only just to ask ye if ye happened to know anything +about the medical practice of these yer Chinamen?" + +"I don't know," said the doctor bluntly, "and I don't know ANYBODY who +does." + +There was a sudden silence in the bar, and the doctor, putting down his +glass, continued with slight professional precision:-- + +"You see, the Chinese know nothing of anatomy from personal observation. +Autopsies and dissection are against their superstitions, which declare +the human body sacred, and are consequently never practiced." + +There was a slight movement of inquiring interest among the party, +and Cy Parker, after a meaning glance at the others, went on half +aggressively, half apologetically:-- + +"In course, they ain't surgeons like you, Doc, but that don't keep them +from having their own little medicines, just as dogs eat grass, you +know. Now I want to put it to you, as a fa'r-minded man, if you mean ter +say that, jest because those old women who sarve out yarbs and spring +medicines in families don't know anything of anatomy, they ain't fit to +give us their simple and nat'ral medicines?" + +"But the Chinese medicines are not simple or natural," said the doctor +coolly. + +"Not simple?" echoed the party, closing round him. + +"I don't mean to say," continued the doctor, glancing around at their +eager, excited faces with an appearance of wonder, "that they are +positively noxious, unless taken in large quantities, for they are not +drugs at all, but I certainly should not call them 'simple.' Do YOU know +what they principally are?" + +"Well, no," said Parker cautiously, "perhaps not EXACTLY." + +"Come a little closer, and I'll tell you." + +Not only Parker's head but the others were bent over the counter. Dr. +Duchesne uttered a few words in a tone inaudible to the rest of the +company. There was a profound silence, broken at last by Abe Wynford's +voice:-- + +"Ye kin pour me out about three fingers o' whiskey, Barkeep. I'll take +it straight." + +"Same to me," said the others. + +The men gulped down their liquor; two of them quietly passed out. The +doctor wiped his lips, buttoned his coat, and began to draw on his +riding-gloves. + +"I've heerd," said Poker Jack of Shasta, with a faint smile on his white +face, as he toyed with the last drops of liquor in his glass, "that the +darned fools sometimes smell punk as a medicine, eh?" + +"Yes, THAT'S comparatively decent," said the doctor reflectively. "It's +only sawdust mixed with a little gum and formic acid." + +"Formic acid? Wot's that?" + +"A very peculiar acid secreted by ants. It is supposed to be used by +them offensively in warfare--just as the skunk, eh?" + +But Poker Jack of Shasta had hurriedly declared that he wanted to speak +to a man who was passing, and had disappeared. The doctor walked to the +door, mounted his horse, and rode away. I noticed, however, that there +was a slight smile on his bronzed, impassive face. This led me to +wonder if he was entirely ignorant of the purpose for which he had been +questioned, and the effect of his information. I was confirmed in the +belief by the remarkable circumstances that nothing more was said of it; +the incident seemed to have terminated there, and the victims made no +attempt to revenge themselves on See Yup. That they had one and all, +secretly and unknown to one another, patronized him, there was no doubt; +but, at the same time, as they evidently were not sure that Dr. Duchesne +had not hoaxed them in regard to the quality of See Yup's medicines, +they knew that an attack on the unfortunate Chinaman would in either +case reveal their secret and expose them to the ridicule of their +brother miners. So the matter dropped, and See Yup remained master of +the situation. + +Meantime he was prospering. The coolie gang he worked on the river, when +not engaged in washing clothes, were "picking over" the "tailings," +or refuse of gravel, left on abandoned claims by successful miners. +As there was no more expense attending this than in stone-breaking or +rag-picking, and the feeding of the coolies, which was ridiculously +cheap, there was no doubt that See Yup was reaping a fair weekly return +from it; but, as he sent his receipts to San Francisco through coolie +managers, after the Chinese custom, and did not use the regular Express +Company, there was no way of ascertaining the amount. Again, neither +See Yup nor his fellow countrymen ever appeared to have any money about +them. In ruder times and more reckless camps, raids were often made by +ruffians on their cabins or their traveling gangs, but never with any +pecuniary result. This condition, however, it seemed was destined to +change. + +One Saturday See Yup walked into Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express office +with a package of gold-dust, which, when duly weighed, was valued at +five hundred dollars. It was consigned to a Chinese company in San +Francisco. When the clerk handed See Yup a receipt, he remarked +casually:-- + +"Washing seems to pay, See Yup." + +"Washee velly good pay. You wantee washee, John?" said See Yup eagerly. + +"No, no," said the clerk, with a laugh. "I was only thinking five +hundred dollars would represent the washing of a good many shirts." + +"No leplesent washee shirts at all! Catchee gold-dust when washee +tailings. Shabbee?" + +The clerk DID "shabbee," and lifted his eyebrows. The next Saturday See +Yup appeared with another package, worth about four hundred dollars, +directed to the same consignee. + +"Didn't pan out quite so rich this week, eh?" said the clerk engagingly. + +"No," returned See Yup impassively; "next time he payee more." + +When the third Saturday came, with the appearance of See Yup and four +hundred and fifty dollars' worth of gold-dust, the clerk felt he was no +longer bound to keep the secret. He communicated it to others, and +in twenty-four hours the whole settlement knew that See Yup's coolie +company were taking out an average of four hundred dollars per week from +the refuse and tailings of the old abandoned Palmetto claim! + +The astonishment of the settlement was profound. In earlier days +jealousy and indignation at the success of these degraded heathens might +have taken a more active and aggressive shape, and it would have fared +ill with See Yup and his companions. But the settlement had become more +prosperous and law-abiding; there were one or two Eastern families and +some foreign capital already there, and its jealousy and indignation +were restricted to severe investigation and legal criticism. Fortunately +for See Yup, it was an old-established mining law that an abandoned +claim and its tailings became the property of whoever chose to work +it. But it was alleged that See Yup's company had in reality "struck a +lead,"--discovered a hitherto unknown vein or original deposit of gold, +not worked by the previous company, and having failed legally to declare +it by preemption and public registry, in their foolish desire for +secrecy, had thus forfeited their right to the property. A surveillance +of their working, however, did not establish this theory; the gold that +See Yup had sent away was of the kind that might have been found in the +tailings overlooked by the late Palmetto owners. Yet it was a very large +yield for mere refuse. + +"Them Palmetto boys were mighty keerless after they'd made their big +'strike' and got to work on the vein, and I reckon they threw a lot +of gold away," said Cy Parker, who remembered their large-handed +recklessness in the "flush days." "On'y that WE didn't think it was +white man's work to rake over another man's leavin's, we might hev had +what them derned Chinamen hev dropped into. Tell ye what, boys, we've +been a little too 'high and mighty,' and we'll hev to climb down." + +At last the excitement reached its climax, and diplomacy was employed to +effect what neither intimidation nor espionage could secure. Under the +pretense of desiring to buy out See Yup's company, a select committee of +the miners was permitted to examine the property and its workings. They +found the great bank of stones and gravel, representing the cast-out +debris of the old claim, occupied by See Yup and four or five plodding +automatic coolies. At the end of two hours the committee returned to +the saloon bursting with excitement. They spoke under their breath, but +enough was gathered to satisfy the curious crowd that See Yup's pile of +tailings was rich beyond their expectations. The committee had seen with +their own eyes gold taken out of the sand and gravel to the amount of +twenty dollars in the two short hours of their examination. And the work +had been performed in the stupidest, clumsiest, yet PATIENT Chinese way. +What might not white men do with better appointed machinery! A syndicate +was at once formed. See Yup was offered twenty thousand dollars if +he would sell out and put the syndicate in possession of the claim +in twenty-four hours. The Chinaman received the offer stolidly. As he +seemed inclined to hesitate, I am grieved to say that it was intimated +to him that if he declined he might be subject to embarrassing and +expensive legal proceedings to prove his property, and that companies +would be formed to "prospect" the ground on either side of his heap of +tailings. See Yup at last consented, with the proviso that the money +should be paid in gold into the hands of a Chinese agent in San +Francisco on the day of the delivery of the claim. The syndicate made +no opposition to this characteristic precaution of the Chinaman. It +was like them not to travel with money, and the implied uncomplimentary +suspicion of danger from the community was overlooked. See Yup departed +the day that the syndicate took possession. He came to see me before he +went. I congratulated him upon his good fortune; at the same time, I was +embarrassed by the conviction that he was unfairly forced into a sale of +his property at a figure far below its real value. + +I think differently now. + +At the end of the week it was said that the new company cleared up +about three hundred dollars. This was not so much as the community +had expected, but the syndicate was apparently satisfied, and the new +machinery was put up. At the end of the next week the syndicate were +silent as to their returns. One of them made a hurried visit to San +Francisco. It was said that he was unable to see either See Yup or the +agent to whom the money was paid. It was also noticed that there was no +Chinaman remaining in the settlement. Then the fatal secret was out. + +The heap of tailings had probably never yielded the See Yup company more +than twenty dollars a week, the ordinary wage of such a company. See Yup +had conceived the brilliant idea of "booming" it on a borrowed capital +of five hundred dollars in gold-dust, which he OPENLY transmitted by +express to his confederate and creditor in San Francisco, who in turn +SECRETLY sent it back to See Yup by coolie messengers, to be again +openly transmitted to San Francisco. The package of gold-dust was thus +passed backwards and forwards between debtor and creditor, to the +grave edification of the Express Company and the fatal curiosity of the +settlement. When the syndicate had gorged the bait thus thrown out, See +Yup, on the day the self-invited committee inspected the claim, promptly +"salted" the tailings by CONSCIENTIOUSLY DISTRIBUTING THE GOLD-DUST OVER +IT so deftly that it appeared to be its natural composition and yield. + +I have only to bid farewell to See Yup, and close this reminiscence of +a misunderstood man, by adding the opinion of an eminent jurist in San +Francisco, to whom the facts were submitted: "So clever was this alleged +fraud, that it is extremely doubtful if an action would lie against See +Yup in the premises, there being no legal evidence of the 'salting,' +and none whatever of his actual allegation that the gold-dust was the +ORDINARY yield of the tailings, that implication resting entirely with +the committee who examined it under false pretense, and who subsequently +forced the sale by intimidation." + + + + +THE DESBOROUGH CONNECTIONS + + +"Then it isn't a question of property or next of kin?" said the consul. + +"Lord! no," said the lady vivaciously. "Why, goodness me! I reckon +old Desborough could, at any time before he died, have 'bought up' or +'bought out' the whole lot of his relatives on this side of the +big pond, no matter what they were worth. No, it's only a matter of +curiosity and just sociableness." + +The American consul at St. Kentigorn felt much relieved. He had feared +it was only the old story of delusive quests for imaginary estates and +impossible inheritances which he had confronted so often in nervous +wan-eyed enthusiasts and obstreperous claimants from his own land. +Certainly there was no suggestion of this in the richly dressed and +be-diamonded matron before him, nor in her pretty daughter, charming in +a Paris frock, alive with the consciousness of beauty and admiration, +and yet a little ennuye from gratified indulgence. He knew the mother to +be the wealthy widow of a New York millionaire, that she was traveling +for pleasure in Europe, and a chance meeting with her at dinner a +few nights before had led to this half-capricious, half-confidential +appointment at the consulate. + +"No," continued Mrs. Desborough; "Mr. Desborough came to America, when +a small boy, with an uncle who died some years ago. Mr. Desborough never +seemed to hanker much after his English relatives as long as I knew him, +but now that I and Sadie are over here, why we guessed we might look 'em +up and sort of sample 'em! 'Desborough' 's rather a good name," added +the lady, with a complacency that, however, had a suggestion of query in +it. + +"Yes," said the consul; "from the French, I fancy." + +"Mr. Desborough was English--very English," corrected the lady. + +"I mean it may be an old Norman name," said the consul. + +"Norman's good enough for ME," said the daughter, reflecting. "We'll +just settle it as Norman. I never thought about that DES." + +"Only you may find it called 'Debborough' here, and spelt so," said the +consul, smiling. + +Miss Desborough lifted her pretty shoulders and made a charming grimace. +"Then we won't acknowledge 'em. No Debborough for me!" + +"You might put an advertisement in the papers, like the 'next of +kin' notice, intimating, in the regular way, that they would 'hear of +something to their advantage'--as they certainly would," continued the +consul, with a bow. "It would be such a refreshing change to the kind +of thing I'm accustomed to, don't you know--this idea of one of my +countrywomen coming over just to benefit English relatives! By Jove! I +wouldn't mind undertaking the whole thing for you--it's such a novelty." +He was quite carried away with the idea. + +But the two ladies were far from participating in this joyous outlook. +"No," said Mrs. Desborough promptly, "that wouldn't do. You see," she +went on with superb frankness, "that would be just giving ourselves +away, and saying who WE were before we found out what THEY were like. +Mr. Desborough was all right in HIS way, but we don't know anything +about his FOLKS! We ain't here on a mission to improve the Desboroughs, +nor to gather in any 'lost tribes.'" + +It was evident that, in spite of the humor of the situation and the +levity of the ladies, there was a characteristic national practicalness +about them, and the consul, with a sigh, at last gave the address of one +or two responsible experts in genealogical inquiry, as he had often +done before. He felt it was impossible to offer any advice to ladies +as thoroughly capable of managing their own affairs as his fair +countrywomen, yet he was not without some curiosity to know the result +of their practical sentimental quest. That he should ever hear of them +again he doubted. He knew that after their first loneliness had worn off +in their gregarious gathering at a London hotel they were not likely to +consort with their own country people, who indeed were apt to fight +shy of one another, and even to indulge in invidious criticism of one +another when admitted in that society to which they were all equally +strangers. So he took leave of them on their way back to London with the +belief that their acquaintance terminated with that brief incident. But +he was mistaken. + +In the year following he was spending his autumn vacation at a +country house. It was an historic house, and had always struck him as +being--even in that country of historic seats--a singular example of the +vicissitudes of English manorial estates and the mutations of its +lords. His host in his prime had been recalled from foreign service +to unexpectedly succeed to an uncle's title and estate. That estate, +however, had come into the possession of the uncle only through his +marriage with the daughter of an old family whose portraits still looked +down from the walls upon the youngest and alien branch. There were +likenesses, effigies, memorials, and reminiscences of still older +families who had occupied it through forfeiture by war or the favoritism +of kings, and in its stately cloisters and ruined chapel was still felt +the dead hand of its evicted religious founders, which could not be +shaken off. + +It was this strange individuality that affected all who saw it. For, +however changed were those within its walls, whoever were its inheritors +or inhabiters, Scrooby Priory never changed nor altered its own +character. However incongruous or ill-assorted the portraits that looked +from its walls,--so ill met that they might have flown at one another's +throats in the long nights when the family were away,--the great +house itself was independent of them all. The be-wigged, be-laced, and +be-furbelowed of one day's gathering, the round-headed, steel-fronted, +and prim-kerchiefed congregation of another day, and even the +black-coated, bare-armed, and bare-shouldered assemblage of to-day had +no effect on the austerities of the Priory. Modern houses might show +the tastes and prepossessions of their dwellers, might have caught some +passing trick of the hour, or have recorded the augmented fortunes or +luxuriousness of the owner, but Scrooby Priory never! No one had dared +even to disturb its outer rigid integrity; the breaches of time and +siege were left untouched. It held its calm indifferent sway over all +who passed its low-arched portals, and the consul was fain to believe +that he--a foreign visitor--was no more alien to the house than its +present owner. + +"I'm expecting a very charming compatriot of yours to-morrow," said Lord +Beverdale as they drove from the station together. "You must tell me +what to show her." + +"I should think any countrywoman of mine would be quite satisfied with +the Priory," said the consul, glancing thoughtfully towards the pile +dimly seen through the park. + +"I shouldn't like her to be bored here," continued Beverdale. "Algy met +her at Rome, where she was occupying a palace with her mother--they're +very rich, you know. He found she was staying with Lady Minever at +Hedham Towers, and I went over and invited her with a little party. +She's a Miss Desborough." + +The consul gave a slight start, and was aware that Beverdale was looking +at him. + +"Perhaps you know her?" said Beverdale. + +"Just enough to agree with you that she is charming," said the consul. +"I dined with them, and saw them at the consulate." + +"Oh yes; I always forget you are a consul. Then, of course, you know +all about them. I suppose they're very rich, and in society over there?" +said Beverdale in a voice that was quite animated. + +It was on the consul's lips to say that the late Mr. Desborough was an +Englishman, and even to speak playfully of their proposed quest, but a +sudden instinct withheld him. After all, perhaps it was only a caprice, +or idea, they had forgotten,--perhaps, who knows?--that they were +already ashamed of. They had evidently "got on" in English society, if +that was their real intent, and doubtless Miss Desborough, by this time, +was quite as content with the chance of becoming related to the Earl of +Beverdale, through his son and heir, Algernon, as if they had found a +real Lord Desborough among their own relatives. The consul knew that +Lord Beverdale was not a rich man, that like most men of old family he +was not a slave to class prejudice; indeed, the consul had seen very few +noblemen off the stage or out of the pages of a novel who were. So he +said, with a slight affectation of authority, that there was as +little doubt of the young lady's wealth as there was of her personal +attractions. + +They were nearing the house through a long avenue of chestnuts whose +variegated leaves were already beginning to strew the ground beneath, +and they could see the vista open upon the mullioned windows of the +Priory, lighted up by the yellow October sunshine. In that sunshine +stood a tall, clean-limbed young fellow, dressed in a shooting-suit, +whom the consul recognized at once as Lord Algernon, the son of his +companion. As if to accent the graces of this vision of youth and vigor, +near him, in the shadow, an old man had halted, hat in hand, still +holding the rake with which he had been gathering the dead leaves in the +avenue; his back bent, partly with years, partly with the obeisance of +a servitor. There was something so marked in this contrast, in this +old man standing in the shadow of the fading year, himself as dried and +withered as the leaves he was raking, yet pausing to make his reverence +to this passing sunshine of youth and prosperity in the presence of his +coming master, that the consul, as they swept by, looked after him with +a stirring of pain. + +"Rather an old man to be still at work," said the consul. + +Beverdale laughed. "You must not let him hear you say so; he considers +himself quite as fit as any younger man in the place, and, by Jove! +though he's nearly eighty, I'm inclined to believe it. He's not one of +our people, however; he comes from the village, and is taken on at odd +times, partly to please himself. His great aim is to be independent of +his children,--he has a granddaughter who is one of the maids at the +Priory,--and to keep himself out of the workhouse. He does not come from +these parts--somewhere farther north, I fancy. But he's a tough lot, and +has a deal of work in him yet." + +"Seems to be going a bit stale lately," said Lord Algernon, "and I think +is getting a little queer in his head. He has a trick of stopping and +staring straight ahead, at times, when he seems to go off for a minute +or two. There!" continued the young man, with a light laugh. "I say! +he's doing it now!" They both turned quickly and gazed at the bent +figure--not fifty yards away--standing in exactly the same attitude as +before. But, even as they gazed, he slowly lifted his rake and began his +monotonous work again. + +At Scrooby Priory, the consul found that the fame of his fair +countrywoman had indeed preceded her, and that the other guests were +quite as anxious to see Miss Desborough as he was. One of them had +already met her in London; another knew her as one of the house party at +the Duke of Northforeland's, where she had been a central figure. Some +of her naive sallies and frank criticisms were repeated with great +unction by the gentlemen, and with some slight trepidation and a +"fearful joy" by the ladies. He was more than ever convinced that mother +and daughter had forgotten their lineal Desboroughs, and he resolved to +leave any allusion to it to the young lady herself. + +She, however, availed herself of that privilege the evening after her +arrival. "Who'd have thought of meeting YOU here?" she said, sweeping +her skirts away to make room for him on a sofa. "It's a coon's age +since I saw you--not since you gave us that letter to those genealogical +gentlemen in London." + +The consul hoped that it had proved successful. + +"Yes, but maw guessed we didn't care to go back to Hengist and Horsa, +and when they let loose a lot of 'Debboroughs' and 'Daybrooks' upon us, +maw kicked! We've got a drawing ten yards long, that looks like a sour +apple tree, with lots of Desboroughs hanging up on the branches like +last year's pippins, and I guess about as worm-eaten. We took that well +enough, but when it came to giving us a map of straight lines and dashes +with names written under them like an old Morse telegraph slip, struck +by lightning, then maw and I guessed that it made us tired. + +"You know," she went on, opening her clear gray eyes on the consul, with +a characteristic flash of shrewd good sense through her quaint humor, +"we never reckoned where this thing would land us, and we found we +were paying a hundred pounds, not only for the Desboroughs, but all the +people they'd MARRIED, and their CHILDREN, and children's children, and +there were a lot of outsiders we'd never heard of, nor wanted to hear +of. Maw once thought she'd got on the trail of a Plantagenet, and +followed it keen, until she found she had been reading the dreadful +thing upside down. Then we concluded we wouldn't take any more stock in +the family until it had risen." + +During this speech the consul could not help noticing that, although her +attitude was playfully confidential to him, her voice really was pitched +high enough to reach the ears of smaller groups around her, who were not +only following her with the intensest admiration, but had shamelessly +abandoned their own conversation, and had even faced towards her. Was +she really posing in her naivete? There was a certain mischievous, +even aggressive, consciousness in her pretty eyelids. Then she suddenly +dropped both eyes and voice, and said to the consul in a genuine aside, +"I like this sort of thing much better." + +The consul looked puzzled. "What sort of thing?" + +"Why, all these swell people, don't you see? those pictures on the +walls! this elegant room! everything that has come down from the past, +all ready and settled for you, you know--ages ago! Something you haven't +to pick up for yourself and worry over." + +But here the consul pointed out that the place itself was not +"ancestral" as regarded the present earl, and that even the original +title of his predecessors had passed away from it. "In fact, it came +into the family by one of those 'outsiders' you deprecate. But I dare +say you'd find the place quite as comfortable with Lord Beverdale for a +host as you would if you had found out he were a cousin," he added. + +"Better," said the young lady frankly. + +"I suppose your mother participates in these preferences?" said the +consul, with a smile. + +"No," said Miss Desborough, with the same frankness, "I think maw's +rather cut up at not finding a Desborough. She was invited down here, +but SHE'S rather independent, you know, so she allowed I could take care +of myself, while she went off to stay with the old Dowager Lady Mistowe, +who thinks maw a very proper womanly person. I made maw mad by telling +her that's just what old Lady Mistowe would say of her cook--for I can't +stand these people's patronage. However, I shouldn't wonder if I was +invited here as a 'most original person.'" + +But here Lord Algernon came up to implore her to sing them one of "those +plantation songs;" and Miss Desborough, with scarcely a change of voice +or manner, allowed herself to be led to the piano. The consul had +little chance to speak with her again, but he saw enough that evening to +convince him not only that Lord Algernon was very much in love with +her, but that the fact had been equally and complacently accepted by the +family and guests. That her present visit was only an opportunity for a +formal engagement was clear to every woman in the house--not excepting, +I fear, even the fair subject of gossip herself. Yet she seemed so +unconcerned and self-contained that the consul wondered if she really +cared for Lord Algernon. And having thus wondered, he came to the +conclusion that it didn't much matter, for the happiness of so +practically organized a young lady, if she loved him or not. + +It is highly probable that Miss Sadie Desborough had not even gone so +far as to ask herself that question. She awoke the next morning with a +sense of easy victory and calm satisfaction that had, however, none of +the transports of affection. Her taste was satisfied by the love of +a handsome young fellow,--a typical Englishman,--who, if not exactly +original or ideal, was, she felt, of an universally accepted, +"hall-marked" standard, the legitimate outcome of a highly ordered, +carefully guarded civilization, whose repose was the absence of struggle +or ambition; a man whose regular features were not yet differentiated +from the rest of his class by any of those disturbing lines which people +call character. Everything was made ready for her, without care or +preparation; she had not even an ideal to realize or to modify. She +could slip without any jar or dislocation into this life which was just +saved from self-indulgence and sybaritic luxury by certain conventional +rules of activity and the occupation of amusement which, as obligations +of her position, even appeared to suggest the novel aspect of a DUTY! +She could accept all this without the sense of being an intruder in +an unbroken lineage--thanks to the consul's account of the Beverdales' +inheritance. She already pictured herself as the mistress of this fair +domain, the custodian of its treasures and traditions, and the dispenser +of its hospitalities, but--as she conscientiously believed--without +pride or vanity, in her position; only an intense and thoughtful +appreciation of it. Nor did she dream of ever displaying it +ostentatiously before her less fortunate fellow countrywomen; on the +contrary, she looked forward to their possible criticism of her casting +off all transatlantic ties with an uneasy consciousness that was perhaps +her nearest approach to patriotism. Yet, again, she reasoned that, as +her father was an Englishman, she was only returning to her old home. +As to her mother, she had already comforted herself by noticing certain +discrepancies in that lady's temperament, which led her to believe that +she herself alone inherited her father's nature--for her mother was, of +course, distinctly American! So little conscious was she of any possible +snobbishness in this belief, that in her superb naivete she would have +argued the point with the consul, and employed a wit and dialect that +were purely American. + +She had slipped out of the Priory early that morning that she might +enjoy alone, unattended and unciceroned, the aspect of that vast estate +which might be hers for the mere accepting. Perhaps there was some +instinct of delicacy in her avoiding Lord Algernon that morning; not +wishing, as she herself might have frankly put it, "to take stock" of +his inheritance in his presence. As she passed into the garden through +the low postern door, she turned to look along the stretching facade of +the main building, with the high stained windows of its banqueting-hall +and the state chamber where a king had slept. Even in that crisp October +air, and with the green of its ivied battlements against the gold of +the distant wood, it seemed to lie in the languid repose of an eternal +summer. She hurried on down the other terrace into the Italian garden, a +quaint survival of past grandeur, passed the great orangery and numerous +conservatories, making a crystal hamlet in themselves--seeing everywhere +the same luxury. But it was a luxury that she fancied was redeemed +from the vulgarity of ostentation by the long custom of years and +generations, so unlike the millionaire palaces of her own land; and, in +her enthusiasm, she even fancied it was further sanctified by the grim +monastic founders who had once been content with bread and pulse in the +crumbling and dismantled refectory. In the plenitude of her feelings she +felt a slight recognition of some beneficent being who had rolled this +golden apple at her feet, and felt as if she really should like to "do +good" in her sphere. + +It so chanced that, passing through a small gate in the park, she saw +walking, a little ahead of her, a young girl whom she at once recognized +as a Miss Amelyn, one of the guests of the evening before. Miss +Desborough remembered that she played the accompaniment of one or two +songs upon the piano, and had even executed a long solo during the +general conversation, without attention from the others, and apparently +with little irritation to herself, subsiding afterwards into an +armchair, quite on the fringe of other people's conversation. She had +been called "my dear" by one or two dowagers, and by her Christian name +by the earl, and had a way of impalpably melting out of sight at times. +These trifles led Miss Desborough to conclude that she was some kind of +dependent or poor relation. Here was an opportunity to begin her work of +"doing good." She quickened her pace and overtook Miss Amelyn. + +"Let me walk with you," she said graciously. + +The young English girl smiled assent, but looked her surprise at seeing +the cynosure of last night's eyes unattended. + +"Oh," said Sadie, answering the mute query, "I didn't want to be 'shown +round' by anybody, and I'm not going to bore YOU with asking to see +sights either. We'll just walk together; wherever YOU'RE going is good +enough for me." + +"I'm going as far as the village," said Miss Amelyn, looking down +doubtfully at Sadie's smart French shoes--"if you care to walk so far." + +Sadie noticed that her companion was more solidly booted, and that +her straight, short skirts, although less stylish than her own, had +a certain character, better fitted to the freer outdoor life of the +country. But she only said, however, "The village will do," and gayly +took her companion's arm. + +"But I'm afraid you'll find it very uninteresting, for I am going to +visit some poor cottages," persisted Miss Amelyn, with a certain +timid ingenuousness of manner which, however, was as distinct as Miss +Desborough's bolder frankness. "I promised the rector's daughter to take +her place to-day." + +"And I feel as if I was ready to pour oil and wine to any extent," said +Miss Desborough, "so come along!" + +Miss Amelyn laughed, and yet glanced around her timidly, as if she +thought that Miss Desborough ought to have a larger and more important +audience. Then she continued more confidentially and boldly, "But it +isn't at all like 'slumming,' you know. These poor people here are not +very bad, and are not at all extraordinary." + +"Never mind," said Sadie, hurrying her along. After a pause she went on, +"You know the Priory very well, I guess?" + +"I lived there when I was a little girl, with my aunt, the Dowager Lady +Beverdale," said Miss Amelyn. "When my cousin Fred, who was the young +heir, died, and the present Lord Beverdale succeeded,--HE never expected +it, you know, for there were two lives, his two elder brothers, besides +poor Fred's, between, but they both died,--we went to live in the Dower +House." + +"The Dower House?" repeated Sadie. + +"Yes, Lady Beverdale's separate property." + +"But I thought all this property--the Priory--came into the family +through HER." + +"It did--this was the Amelyns' place; but the oldest son or nearest male +heir always succeeds to the property and title." + +"Do you mean to say that the present Lord Beverdale turned that old lady +out?" + +Miss Amelyn looked shocked. "I mean to say," she said gravely, "Lady +Beverdale would have had to go when her own son became of age, had +he lived." She paused, and then said timidly, "Isn't it that way in +America?" + +"Dear no!" Miss Desborough had a faint recollection that there was +something in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence against +primogeniture. "No! the men haven't it ALL their own way THERE--not +much!" + +Miss Amelyn looked as if she did not care to discuss this problem. After +a few moments Sadie continued, "You and Lord Algernon are pretty old +friends, I guess?" + +"No," replied Miss Amelyn. "He came once or twice to the Priory for the +holidays, when he was quite a boy at Marlborough--for the family weren't +very well off, and his father was in India. He was a very shy boy, and +of course no one ever thought of him succeeding." + +Miss Desborough felt half inclined to be pleased with this, and yet half +inclined to resent this possible snubbing of her future husband. But +they were nearing the village, and Miss Amelyn turned the conversation +to the object of her visit. It was a new village--an unhandsome village, +for all that it stood near one of the gates of the park. It had been +given over to some mines that were still worked in its vicinity, and to +the railway, which the uncle of the present earl had resisted; but the +railway had triumphed, and the station for Scrooby Priory was there. +There was a grim church, of a blackened or weather-beaten stone, on the +hill, with a few grim Amelyns reposing cross-legged in the chancel, but +the character of the village was as different from the Priory as if it +were in another county. They stopped at the rectory, where Miss Amelyn +provided herself with certain doles and gifts, which the American +girl would have augmented with a five-pound note but for Miss Amelyn's +horrified concern. "As many shillings would do, and they would be as +grateful," she said. "More they wouldn't understand." + +"Then keep it, and dole it out as you like," said Sadie quickly. + +"But I don't think that--that Lord Beverdale would quite approve," +hesitated Miss Amelyn. + +The pretty brow of her companion knit, and her gray eyes flashed +vivaciously. "What has HE to do with it?" she said pertly; "besides, you +say these are not HIS poor. Take that five-pound note--or--I'll DOUBLE +it, get it changed into sovereigns at the station, and hand 'em round to +every man, woman, and child." + +Miss Amelyn hesitated. The American girl looked capable of doing what +she said; perhaps it was a national way of almsgiving! She took the +note, with the mental reservation of making a full confession to the +rector and Lord Beverdale. + +She was right in saying that the poor of Scrooby village were not +interesting. There was very little squalor or degradation; their poverty +seemed not a descent, but a condition to which they had been born; the +faces which Sadie saw were dulled and apathetic rather than sullen +or rebellious; they stood up when Miss Amelyn entered, paying HER the +deference, but taking little note of the pretty butterfly who was with +her, or rather submitting to her frank curiosity with that dull consent +of the poor, as if they had lost even the sense of privacy, or a right +to respect. It seemed to the American girl that their poverty was more +indicated by what they were SATISFIED with than what she thought they +MISSED. It is to be feared that this did not add to Sadie's sympathy; +all the beggars she had seen in America wanted all they could get, and +she felt as if she were confronted with an inferior animal. + +"There's a wonderful old man lives here," said Miss Amelyn, as they +halted before a stone and thatch cottage quite on the outskirts of +the village. "We can't call him one of our poor, for he still works, +although over eighty, and it's his pride to keep out of the poorhouse, +and, as he calls it, 'off' the hands of his granddaughters. But we +manage to do something for THEM, and we hope he profits by it. One of +them is at the Priory; they're trying to make a maid of her, but her +queer accent--they're from the north--is against her with the servants. +I am afraid we won't see old Debs, for he's at work again to-day, though +the doctor has warned him." + +"Debs! What a funny name!" + +"Yes, but as many of these people cannot read or write, the name is +carried by the ear, and not always correctly. Some of the railway +navvies, who come from the north as he does, call him 'Debbers.'" + +They were obliged to descend into the cottage, which was so low that it +seemed to have sunk into the earth until its drooping eaves of thatch +mingled with the straw heap beside it. Debs was not at home. But his +granddaughter was there, who, after a preliminary "bob," continued the +stirring of the pot before the fire in tentative silence. + +"I am sorry to find that your grandfather has gone to work again in +spite of the doctor's orders," said Miss Amelyn. + +The girl continued to stir the pot, and then said without looking +up, but as if also continuing a train of aggressive thoughts with her +occupation: "Eay, but 'e's so set oop in 'issen 'ee doan't take orders +from nobbut--leastways doctor. Moinds 'em now moor nor a floy. Says 'ee +knaws there nowt wrong wi' 'is 'eart. Mout be roight--how'siver, sarten +sewer, 'is 'EAD'S a' in a muddle! Toims 'ee goes off stamrin' and +starin' at nowt, as if 'ee a'nt a n'aporth o' sense. How'siver I be +doing my duty by 'em--and 'ere's 'is porritch when a' cooms--'gin a' be +sick or maad." + +What the American understood of the girl's speech and manner struck +her as having very little sympathy with either her aged relative or her +present visitor. And there was a certain dogged selfish independence +about her that Miss Desborough half liked and half resented. However, +Miss Amelyn did not seem to notice it, and, after leaving a bottle of +port for the grandfather, she took her leave and led Sadie away. As they +passed into the village a carriage, returning to the Priory, filled with +their fellow guests, dashed by, but was instantly pulled up at a word +from Lord Algernon, who leaped from the vehicle, hat in hand, and +implored the fair truant and her companion to join them. + +"We're just making a tour around Windover Hill, and back to luncheon," +he said, with a rising color. "We missed you awfully! If we had known +you were so keen on 'good works,' and so early at it, by Jove! we'd have +got up a 'slummin' party,' and all joined!" + +"And you haven't seen half," said Lord Beverdale from the box. "Miss +Amelyn's too partial to the village. There's an old drunken retired +poacher somewhere in a hut in Crawley Woods, whom it's death to +approach, except with a large party. There's malignant diphtheria over +at the South Farm, eight down with measles at the keeper's, and an old +woman who has been bedridden for years." + +But Miss Desborough was adamant, though sparkling. She thanked him, +but said she had just seen an old woman "who had been lying in bed for +twenty years, and hadn't spoken the truth once!" She proposed "going +outside of Lord Beverdale's own preserves of grain-fed poor," and +starting up her own game. She would return in time for luncheon--if she +could; if not, she "should annex the gruel of the first kind incapable +she met." + +Yet, actually, she was far from displeased at being accidentally +discovered by these people while following out her capricious whim of +the morning. One or two elder ladies, who had fought shy of her frocks +and her frankness the evening before, were quite touched now by this +butterfly who was willing to forego the sunlight of society, and soil +her pretty wings on the haunts of the impoverished, with only a single +companion,--of her own sex!--and smiled approvingly. And in her present +state of mind, remembering her companion's timid attitude towards Lord +Beverdale's opinions, she was not above administering this slight snub +to him in her presence. + +When they had driven away, with many regrets, Miss Amelyn was deeply +concerned. "I am afraid," she said, with timid conscientiousness, "I +have kept you from going with them. And you must be bored with what you +have seen, I know. I don't believe you really care one bit for it--and +you are only doing it to please me." + +"Trot out the rest of your show," said Sadie promptly, "and we'll wind +up by lunching with the rector." + +"He'd be too delighted," said Miss Amelyn, with disaster written all +over her girlish, truthful face, "but--but--you know--it really wouldn't +be quite right to Lord Beverdale. You're his principal guest--you know, +and--they'd think I had taken you off." + +"Well," said Miss Desborough impetuously, "what's the matter with that +inn--the Red Lion? We can get a sandwich there, I guess. I'm not VERY +hungry." + +Miss Amelyn looked horrified for a moment, and then laughed; but +immediately became concerned again. "No! listen to me, REALLY now! Let +me finish my round alone! You'll have ample time if you go NOW to reach +the Priory for luncheon. Do, please! It would be ever so much better for +everybody. I feel quite guilty as it is, and I suppose I am already in +Lord Beverdale's black books." + +The trouble in the young girl's face was unmistakable, and as it suited +Miss Desborough's purpose just as well to show her independence by +returning, as she had set out, alone, she consented to go. Miss Amelyn +showed her a short cut across the park, and they separated--to meet at +dinner. In this brief fellowship, the American girl had kept a certain +supremacy and half-fascination over the English girl, even while she was +conscious of an invincible character in Miss Amelyn entirely different +from and superior to her own. Certainly there was a difference in the +two peoples. Why else this inherited conscientious reverence for Lord +Beverdale's position, shown by Miss Amelyn, which she, an American alive +to its practical benefits, could not understand? Would Miss Amelyn and +Lord Algernon have made a better match? The thought irritated her, even +while she knew that she herself possessed the young man's affections, +the power to marry him, and, as she believed, kept her own independence +in the matter. + +As she entered the iron gates at the lower end of the park, and glanced +at the interwoven cipher and crest of the Amelyns still above, she was +conscious that the wind was blowing more chill, and that a few clouds +had gathered. As she walked on down the long winding avenue, the sky +became overcast, and, in one of those strange contrasts of the English +climate, the glory of the whole day went out with the sunshine. The +woods suddenly became wrinkled and gray, the distant hills sombre, the +very English turf beneath her feet grew brown; a mile and a half away, +through the opening of the trees, the west part of the Priory looked +a crumbling, ivy-eaten ruin. A few drops of rain fell. She hurried +on. Suddenly she remembered that the avenue made a long circuit before +approaching the house, and that its lower end, where she was walking, +was but a fringe of the park. Consequently there must be a short cut +across some fields and farm buildings to the back of the park and the +Priory. She at once diverged to the right, presently found a low fence, +which she clambered over, and again found a footpath which led to a +stile. Crossing that, she could see the footpath now led directly to the +Priory,--now a grim and austere looking pile in the suddenly dejected +landscape,--and that it was probably used only by the servants and +farmers. A gust of wind brought some swift needles of rain to her cheek; +she could see the sad hills beyond the Priory already veiling their +faces; she gathered her skirts and ran. The next field was a long one, +but beside the further stile was a small clump of trees, the only ones +between her and the park. Hurrying on to that shelter, she saw that the +stile was already occupied by a tall but bent figure, holding a long +stick in his hand, which gave him the appearance, against the horizon, +of the figure of Time leaning on his scythe. As she came nearer she saw +it was, indeed, an old man, half resting on his rake. He was very +rugged and weather-beaten, and although near the shelter of the trees, +apparently unmindful of the rain that was falling on his bald head, and +the limp cap he was holding uselessly in one hand. He was staring at +her, yet apparently unconscious of her presence. A sudden instinct came +upon her--it was "Debs"! + +She went directly up to him, and with that frank common sense which +ordinarily distinguished her, took his cap from his hand and put it +on his head, grasped his arm firmly, and led him to the shelter of the +tree. Then she wiped the raindrops from his face with her handkerchief, +shook out her own dress and her wet parasol, and, propping her companion +against the tree, said:-- + +"There, Mr. Debs! I've heard of people who didn't know enough to come in +when it rained, but I never met one before." + +The old man started, lifted his hairy, sinewy arm, bared to the elbow, +and wiped his bare throat with the dry side of it. Then a look of +intelligence--albeit half aggressive--came into his face. "Wheer beest +tha going?" he asked. + +Something in his voice struck Sadie like a vague echo. Perhaps it was +only the queer dialect--or some resemblance to his granddaughter's +voice. She looked at him a little more closely as she said:-- + +"To the Priory." + +"Whaat?" + +She pointed with her parasol to the gray pile in the distance. It was +possible that this demented peasant didn't even UNDERSTAND English. + +"The hall. Oh, ay!" Suddenly his brows knit ominously as he faced her. +"An' wassist tha doin' drest oop in this foinery? Wheer gettist thee +that goawn? Thissen, or thy maester? Nowt even a napron, fit for thy +wark as maaid at serviss; an' parson a gettin' tha plaace at Hall! So +thou'lt be high and moity will tha! thou'lt not walk wi' maaids, but +traipse by thissen like a slut in the toon--dang tha!" + +Although it was plain to Sadie that the old man, in his wandering +perception, had mistaken her for his granddaughter in service at the +Priory, there was still enough rudeness in his speech for her to have +resented it. But, strange to say, there was a kind of authority in it +that touched her with an uneasiness and repulsion that was stronger than +any other feeling. "I think you have mistaken me for some one else," +she said hurriedly, yet wondering why she had admitted it, and even +irritated at the admission. "I am a stranger here, a visitor at the +Priory. I called with Miss Amelyn at your cottage, and saw your other +granddaughter; that's how I knew your name." + +The old man's face changed. A sad, senile smile of hopeless bewilderment +crept into his hard mouth; he plucked his limp cap from his head and +let it hang submissively in his fingers, as if it were his sole apology. +Then he tried to straighten himself, and said, "Naw offins, miss, naw +offins! If tha knaws mea tha'll knaw I'm grandfeyther to two galls as +moight be tha owern age; tha'll tell 'ee that old Debs at haaty years +'as warked and niver lost a day as man or boy; has niver coome oopen 'em +for n'aporth. An' 'e'll keep out o' warkus till he doy. An' 'ee's put by +enow to by wi' his own feythers in Lanksheer, an' not liggen aloane in +parson's choorchyard." + +It was part of her uneasiness that, scarcely understanding or, indeed, +feeling any interest in these maundering details, she still seemed +to have an odd comprehension of his character and some reminiscent +knowledge of him, as if she were going through the repetition of some +unpleasant dream. Even his wrinkled face was becoming familiar to her. +Some weird attraction was holding her; she wanted to get away from it as +much as she wanted to analyze it. She glanced ostentatiously at the sky, +prepared to open her parasol, and began to edge cautiously away. + +"Then tha beant from these pearts?" he said suddenly. + +"No, no," she said quickly and emphatically,--"no, I'm an American." + +The old man started and moved towards her, eagerly, his keen eyes +breaking through the film that at times obscured them. "'Merrikan! tha +baist 'Merrikan? Then tha knaws ma son John, 'ee war nowt but a bairn +when brether Dick took un to 'Merriky! Naw! Now! that wor fifty years +sen!--niver wroate to his old feyther--niver coomed back, 'Ee wor +tall-loike, an' thea said 'e feavored mea." He stopped, threw up his +head, and with his skinny fingers drew back his long, straggling locks +from his sunken cheeks, and stared in her face. The quick transition +of fascination, repulsion, shock, and indefinable apprehension made her +laugh hysterically. To her terror he joined in it, and eagerly clasped +her wrists. "Eh, lass! tha knaws John--tha coomes from un to ole +grandfeyther. Who-rr-u! Eay! but tha tho't to fool mea, did tha, lass? +Whoy, I knoawed tha voice, for a' tha foine peacock feathers. So tha be +John's gell coom from Ameriky. Dear! a dear! Coom neaur, lass! let's see +what tha's loike. Eh, but thou'lt kiss tha grandfather, sewerly?" + +A wild terror and undefined consternation had completely overpowered +her! But she made a desperate effort to free her wrists, and burst out +madly:-- + +"Let me go! How dare you! I don't know you or yours! I'm nothing to you +or your kin! My name is Desborough--do you understand--do you hear me, +Mr. Debs?--DESBOROUGH!" + +At the word the old man's fingers stiffened like steel around her +wrists, as he turned upon her a hard, invincible face. + +"So thou'lt call thissen Des-borough, wilt tha? Let me tell tha, then, +that 'Debs,' 'Debban,' 'Debbrook,' and 'Des-borough' are all a seame! +Ay! thy feyther and thy feyther's feyther! Thou'lt be a Des-borough, +will tha? Dang tha! and look doon on tha kin, and dress thissen in silks +o' shame! Tell 'ee thou'rt an ass, gell! Don't tha hear? An ass! for all +tha bean John's bairn! An ass! that's what tha beast!" + +With flashing eyes and burning cheeks she made one more supreme +effort, lifting her arms, freeing her wrists, and throwing the old man +staggering from her. Then she leaped the stile, turned, and fled through +the rain. But before she reached the end of the field she stopped! She +had freed herself--she was stronger than he--what had she to fear? He +was crazy! Yes, he MUST be crazy, and he had insulted her, but he was an +old man--and God knows what! Her heart was beating rapidly, her breath +was hurried, but she ran back to the stile. + +He was not there. The field sloped away on either side of it. But she +could distinguish nothing in the pouring rain above the wind-swept +meadow. He must have gone home. Relieved for a moment she turned and +hurried on towards the Priory. + +But at every step she was followed, not by the old man's presence, but +by what he had said to her, which she could not shake off as she had +shaken off his detaining fingers. Was it the ravings of insanity, or had +she stumbled unwittingly upon some secret--was it after all a SECRET? +Perhaps it was something they all knew, or would know later. And she had +come down here for this. For back of her indignation, back even of her +disbelief in his insanity, there was an awful sense of truth! The names +he had flung out, of "Debs," "Debban," and "Debbrook" now flashed upon +her as something she had seen before, but had not understood. Until she +satisfied herself of this, she felt she could not live or breathe! She +loathed the Priory, with its austere exclusiveness, as it rose before +her; she wished she had never entered it; but it contained that which +she must know, and know at once! She entered the nearest door and ran +up the grand staircase. Her flushed face and disordered appearance were +easily accounted for by her exposure to the sudden storm. She went to +her bedroom, sent her maid to another room to prepare a change of dress, +and sinking down before her traveling-desk, groped for a document. Ah! +there it was--the expensive toy that she had played with! She hastily +ran over its leaves to the page she already remembered. And there, among +the dashes and perpendicular lines she had jested over last night, on +which she had thought was a collateral branch of the line, stood her +father's name and that of Richard, his uncle, with the bracketed note in +red ink, "see Debbrook, Daybrook, Debbers, and Debs." Yes! this gaunt, +half-crazy, overworked peasant, content to rake the dead leaves before +the rolling chariots of the Beverdales, was her grandfather; that poorly +clad girl in the cottage, and even the menial in the scullery of this +very house that might be HERS, were her COUSINS! She burst into a laugh, +and then refolded the document and put it away. + +At luncheon she was radiant and sparkling. Her drenched clothes were +an excuse for a new and ravishing toilette. She had never looked so +beautiful before, and significant glances were exchanged between some +of the guests, who believed that the expected proposal had already come. +But those who were of the carriage party knew otherwise, and of Lord +Algernon's disappointment. Lord Beverdale contented himself with +rallying his fair guest on the becomingness of "good works." But he +continued, "You're offering a dreadful example to these ladies, Miss +Desborough, and I know I shall never hereafter be able to content them +with any frivolous morning amusement at the Priory. For myself, when +I am grown gouty and hideous, I know I shall bloom again as a district +visitor." + +Yet under this surface sparkle and nervous exaltation Sadie never lost +consciousness of the gravity of the situation. If her sense of humor +enabled her to see one side of its grim irony; if she experienced a +wicked satisfaction in accepting the admiration and easy confidence of +the high-born guests, knowing that her cousin had assisted in preparing +the meal they were eating, she had never lost sight of the practical +effect of the discovery she had made. And she had come to a final +resolution. She should leave the Priory at once, and abandon all idea of +a matrimonial alliance with its heir! Inconsistent as this might seem +to her selfish, worldly nature, it was nevertheless in keeping with a +certain pride and independence that was in her blood. She did not love +Lord Algernon, neither did she love her grandfather; she was equally +willing to sacrifice either or both; she knew that neither Lord Algernon +nor his father would make her connections an objection, however they +might wish to keep the fact a secret, or otherwise dispose of them by +pensions or emigration, but she could not bear to KNOW IT HERSELF! +She never could be happy as the mistress of Scrooby Priory with that +knowledge; she did not idealize it as a principle! Carefully weighing it +by her own practical common sense, she said to herself that "it wouldn't +pay." The highest independence is often akin to the lowest selfishness; +she did not dream that the same pride which kept her grandfather from +the workhouse and support by his daughters, and had even kept him from +communicating with his own son, now kept her from acknowledging them, +even for the gift of a title and domain. There was only one question +before her: should she stay long enough to receive the proposal of Lord +Algernon, and then decline it? Why should she not snatch that single +feminine joy out of the ashes of her burnt-up illusion? She knew that an +opportunity would be offered that afternoon. The party were to take tea +at Broxby Hall, and Lord Algernon was to drive her there in his dogcart. +Miss Desborough had gone up to her bedroom to put on a warmer cloak, and +had rung twice or thrice impatiently for her maid. + +When the girl made her appearance, apologetic, voluble, and excited, +Miss Desborough scarcely listened to her excuses, until a single word +suddenly arrested her attention. It was "old Debs." + +"What ARE you talking about?" said Sadie, pausing in the adjustment of +her hat on her brown hair. + +"Old Debs, miss,--that's what they call him; an old park-keeper, just +found dead in a pool of water in the fields; the grandfather of one of +the servants here; and there's such an excitement in the servants' hall. +The gentlemen all knew it, too, for I heard Lord Algernon say that +he was looking very queer lately, and might have had a fit; and Lord +Beverdale has sent word to the coroner. And only think, the people here +are such fools that they daren't touch or move the poor man, and him +lyin' there in the rain all the time, until the coroner comes!" + +Miss Desborough had been steadily regarding herself in the glass to see +if she had turned pale. She had. She set her teeth together until +the color partly returned. But she kept her face away from the maid. +"That'll do," she said quietly. "You can tell me all later. I have some +important news myself, and I may not go out after all. I want you to +take a note for me." She went to her table, wrote a line in pencil, +folded it, scribbled an address upon it, handed it to the girl, and +gently pushed her from the room. + +***** + +The consul was lingering on the terrace beside one of the carriages; at +a little distance a groom was holding the nervous thoroughbred of Lord +Algernon's dog-cart. Suddenly he felt a touch on his shoulder, and Miss +Desborough's maid put a note in his hand. It contained only a line:-- + + +Please come and see me in the library, but without making any fuss about +it--at once. S. D. + + +The consul glanced around him; no one had apparently noticed the +incident. He slipped back into the house and made his way to the +library. It was a long gallery; at the further end Miss Desborough stood +cloaked, veiled, and coquettishly hatted. She was looking very beautiful +and animated. "I want you to please do me a great favor," she said, with +an adorable smile, "as your own countrywoman, you know--for the sake of +Fourth of July and Pumpkin Pie and the Old Flag! I don't want to go +to this circus to-day. I am going to leave here to-night! I am! Honest +Injin! I want YOU to manage it. I want you to say that as consul you've +received important news for me: the death of some relative, if you like; +or better, something AFFECTING MY PROPERTY, you know," with a little +satirical laugh. "I guess that would fetch 'em! So go at once." + +"But really, Miss Desborough, do let us talk this over before you +decide!" implored the bewildered consul. "Think what a disappointment to +your host and these ladies. Lord Algernon expects to drive you there; he +is already waiting! The party was got up for you!" Miss Desborough made +a slight grimace. "I mean you ought to sacrifice something--but I trust +there is really nothing serious--to them!" + +"If YOU do not speak to them, I will!" said Miss Desborough firmly. "If +you say what I tell you, it will come the more plausibly from you. Come! +My mind is made up. One of us must break the news! Shall it be you or +I?" She drew her cloak over her shoulders and made a step forwards. + +The consul saw she was determined. "Then wait here till I return, but +keep yourself out of sight," he said, and hurried away. Between the +library and the terrace he conceived a plan. His perplexity lent him a +seriousness which befitted the gravity of the news he had to disclose. +"I am sorry to have to tell you," he said, taking Lord Beverdale aside, +"that I was the unlucky bearer of some sad news to Miss Desborough this +morning, through my consular letters--some matter concerning the death +of a relation of hers, and some wearisome question of property. I +thought that it was of little importance, and that she would not take +it seriously, but I find I was mistaken. It may even oblige her to catch +the London train to-night. I promised to make her excuses to you for the +present, and I'm afraid I must add my own to them, as she wishes me to +stay and advise her in this matter, which requires some prompt action." + +Miss Desborough was right: the magic word "property" changed the slight +annoyance on the earl's face to a sympathetic concern. "Dear me! I trust +it is nothing really serious," he said. "Of course, you will advise her, +and, by the way, if my solicitor, Withers, who'll be here to-morrow, +can do anything, you know, call him in. I hope she'll be able to see +me later. It could not be a NEAR relation who died, I fancy; she has no +brothers or sisters, I understand." + +"A cousin, I think; an old friend," said the consul hastily. He heard +Lord Beverdale say a few words to his companions, saw with a tinge of +remorse a cloud settle upon Lord Algernon's fresh face, as he appealed +in a whisper to old Lady Mesthyn, who leaned forward from the carriage, +and said, "If the dear child thought I could be of any service, I should +only be too glad to stay with her." + +"I knew she would appreciate Lady Mesthyn's sympathy," said the +ingenious consul quickly, "but I really think the question is more a +business one--and"-- + +"Ah, yes," said the old lady, shaking her head, "it's dreadful, of +course, but we must all think of THAT!" + +As the carriage drove away, the consul hurried back a little viciously +to his fair countrywoman. "There!" he said, "I have done it! If I have +managed to convey either the idea that you are a penniless orphan, or +that I have official information that you are suspected of a dynamite +conspiracy, don't blame me! And now," he said, "as I have excused myself +on the ground that I must devote myself to this dreadful business of +yours, perhaps you'll tell me WHAT it really is." + +"Not a word more," said Miss Desborough; "except," she added,--checking +her smile with a weary gesture,--"except that I want to leave this +dreadful place at once! There! don't ask me any more!" + +There could be no doubt of the girl's sincerity. Nor was it the +extravagant caprice of a petted idol. What had happened? He might have +believed in a lovers' quarrel, but he knew that she and Lord Algernon +could have had no private interview that evening. He must perforce +accept her silence, yet he could not help saying:-- + +"You seemed to like the place so much last night. I say, you haven't +seen the Priory ghost, have you?" + +"The Priory ghost," she said quickly. "What's that?" + +"The old monk who passes through the cloisters with the sacred oil, the +bell, and the smell of incense whenever any one is to die here. By Jove! +it would have been a good story to tell instead of this cock-and-bull +one about your property. And there WAS a death here to-day. You'd have +added the sibyl's gifts to your other charms." + +"Tell me about that old man," she said, looking past him out of the +window. "I was at his cottage this morning. But, no! first let us go +out. You can take me for a walk, if you like. You see I am all ready, +and I'm just stifling here." + +They descended to the terrace together. "Where would you like to go?" he +asked. + +"To the village. I may want to telegraph, you know." + +They turned into the avenue, but Miss Desborough stopped. + +"Is there not a shorter cut across the fields," she asked, "over there?" + +"There is," said the consul. + +They both turned into the footpath which led to the farm and stile. +After a pause she said, "Did you ever talk with that poor old man?" + +"No." + +"Then you don't know if he really was crazy, as they think." + +"No. But they may have thought an old man's forgetfulness of present +things and his habit of communing with the past was insanity. For all +that he was a plucky, independent old fellow, with a grim purpose that +was certainly rational." + +"I suppose in his independence he would not have taken favors from these +people, or anybody?" + +"I should think not." + +"Don't you think it was just horrid--their leaving him alone in the +rain, when he might have been only in a fit?" + +"The doctor says he died suddenly of heart disease," said the consul. +"It might have happened at any moment and without warning." + +"Ah, that was the coroner's verdict, then," said Miss Desborough +quickly. + +"The coroner did not think it necessary to have any inquest after Lord +Beverdale's statement. It wouldn't have been very joyous for the Priory +party. And I dare say he thought it might not be very cheerful for YOU." + +"How very kind!" said the young girl, with a quick laugh. "But do you +know that it's about the only thing human, original, and striking that +has happened in this place since I've been here! And so unexpected, +considering how comfortably everything is ordered here beforehand." + +"Yet you seemed to like that kind of thing very well, last evening," +said the consul mischievously. + +"That was last night," retorted Miss Desborough; "and you know the line, +'Colors seen by candlelight do not look the same by day.' But I'm going +to be very consistent to-day, for I intend to go over to that poor man's +cottage again, and see if I can be of any service. Will you go with me?" + +"Certainly," said the consul, mystified by his companion's extraordinary +conduct, yet apparent coolness of purpose, and hoping for some further +explanation. Was she only an inexperienced flirt who had found herself +on the point of a serious entanglement she had not contemplated? Yet +even then he knew she was clever enough to extricate herself in some +other way than this abrupt and brutal tearing through the meshes. Or was +it possible that she really had any intelligence affecting her property? +He reflected that he knew very little of the Desboroughs, but on the +other hand he knew that Beverdale knew them much better, and was a +prudent man. He had no right to demand her confidence as a reward for +his secrecy; he must wait her pleasure. Perhaps she would still explain; +women seldom could resist the triumph of telling the secret that puzzled +others. + +When they reached the village she halted before the low roof of Debs's +cottage. "I had better go in first," she said; "you can come in later, +and in the meantime you might go to the station for me and find out the +exact time that the express train leaves for the north." + +"But," said the astonished consul, "I thought you were going to London?" + +"No," said Miss Desborough quietly, "I am going to join some friends at +Harrogate." + +"But that train goes much earlier than the train south, and--and I'm +afraid Lord Beverdale will not have returned so soon." + +"How sad!" said Miss Desborough, with a faint smile, "but we must bear +up under it, and--I'll write him. I will be here until you return." + +She turned away and entered the cottage. The granddaughter she had +already seen and her sister, the servant at the Priory, were both +chatting comfortably, but ceased as she entered, and both rose with +awkward respect. There was little to suggest that the body of their +grandfather, already in a rough oak shell, was lying upon trestles +beside them. + +"You have carried out my orders, I see," said Miss Desborough, laying +down her parasol. + +"Ay, miss; but it was main haard gettin' et dooan so soon, and et +cooast"-- + +"Never mind the cost. I've given you money enough, I think, and if I +haven't, I guess I can give you more." + +"Ay, miss! Abbut the pa'son 'ead gi' un a funeral for nowt." + +"But I understood you to say," said Miss Desborough, with an impatient +flash of eye, "that your grandfather wished to be buried with his +kindred in the north?" + +"Ay, miss," said the girl apologetically, "an naw 'ees savit th' munny. +Abbut e'd bean tickled 'ad 'ee knowed it! Dear! dear! 'ee niver thowt et +'ud be gi'en by stranger an' not 'es ownt fammaly." + +"For all that, you needn't tell anybody it was given by ME," said Miss +Desborough. "And you'll be sure to be ready to take the train this +afternoon--without delay." There was a certain peremptoriness in her +voice very unlike Miss Amelyn's, yet apparently much more effective with +the granddaughter. + +"Ay, miss. Then, if tha'll excoose mea, I'll go streight to 'oory oop +sexten." + +She bustled away. "Now," said Miss Desborough, turning to the other +girl, "I shall take the same train, and will probably see you on the +platform at York to give my final directions. That's all. Go and see if +the gentleman who came with me has returned from the station." + +The girl obeyed. Left entirely alone, Miss Desborough glanced around +the room, and then went quietly up to the unlidded coffin. The repose of +death had softened the hard lines of the old man's mouth and brow into a +resemblance she now more than ever understood. She had stood thus only +a few years before, looking at the same face in a gorgeously inlaid +mahogany casket, smothered amidst costly flowers, and surrounded by +friends attired in all the luxurious trappings of woe; yet it was the +same face that was now rigidly upturned to the bare thatch and rafters +of that crumbling cottage, herself its only companion. She lifted her +delicate veil with both hands, and, stooping down, kissed the hard, cold +forehead, without a tremor. Then she dropped her veil again over her dry +eyes, readjusted it in the little, cheap, black-framed mirror that hung +against the wall, and opened the door as the granddaughter returned. The +gentleman was just coming from the station. + +"Remember to look out for me at York," said Miss Desborough, extending +her gloved hand. "Good-by till then." The young girl respectfully +touched the ends of Miss Desborough's fingers, dropped a curtsy, and +Miss Desborough rejoined the consul. + +"You have barely time to return to the Priory and see to your luggage," +said the consul, "if you must go. But let me hope that you have changed +your mind." + +"I have not changed my mind," said Miss Desborough quietly, "and my +baggage is already packed." After a pause, she said thoughtfully, "I've +been wondering"-- + +"What?" said the consul eagerly. + +"I've been wondering if people brought up to speak in a certain dialect, +where certain words have their own significance and color, and are part +of their own lives and experience--if, even when they understand another +dialect, they really feel any sympathy with it, or the person who speaks +it?" + +"Apropos of"--asked the consul. + +"These people I've just left! I don't think I quite felt with them, and +I guess they didn't feel with me." + +"But," said the consul laughingly, "you know that we Americans speak +with a decided dialect of our own, and attach the same occult meaning to +it. Yet, upon my word, I think that Lord Beverdale--or shall I say Lord +Algernon?--would not only understand that American word 'guess' as you +mean it, but would perfectly sympathize with you." + +Miss Desborough's eyes sparkled even through her veil as she glanced at +her companion and said, "I GUESS NOT." + +As the "tea" party had not yet returned, it fell to the consul to +accompany Miss Desborough and her maid to the station. But here he was +startled to find a collection of villagers upon the platform, gathered +round two young women in mourning, and an ominous-looking box. +He mingled for a moment with the crowd, and then returned to Miss +Desborough's side. + +"Really," he said, with a concern that was scarcely assumed, "I ought +not to let you go. The omens are most disastrous! You came here to a +death; you are going away with a funeral!" + +"Then it's high time I took myself off!" said the lady lightly. + +"Unless, like the ghostly monk, you came here on a mission, and have +fulfilled it." + +"Perhaps I have. Good-by!" + +***** + +In spite of the bright and characteristic letter which Miss Desborough +left for her host,--a letter which mingled her peculiar shrewd sense +with her humorous extravagance of expression,--the consul spent a +somewhat uneasy evening under the fire of questions that assailed him +in reference to the fair deserter. But he kept loyal faith with her, +adhering even to the letter of her instructions, and only once was +goaded into more active mendacity. The conversation had turned upon +"Debs," and the consul had remarked on the singularity of the name. A +guest from the north observed, however, that the name was undoubtedly a +contraction. "Possibly it might have been 'Debborough,' or even the same +name as our fair friend." + +"But didn't Miss Desborough tell you last night that she had been +hunting up her people, with a family tree, or something like that?" said +Lord Algernon eagerly. "I just caught a word here and there, for you +were both laughing." + +The consul smiled blandly. "You may well say so, for it was all the most +delightful piece of pure invention and utter extravagance. It would have +amused her still more if she had thought you were listening and took it +seriously!" + +"Of course; I see!" said the young fellow, with a laugh and a slight +rise of color. "I knew she was taking some kind of a rise out of YOU, +and that remark reminded me of it." + +Nevertheless, within a year, Lord Algernon was happily married to the +daughter of a South African millionaire, whose bridal offerings alone +touched the sum of half a million. It was also said that the mother +was "impossible" and the father "unspeakable," the relations +"inextinguishable;" but the wedding was an "occasion," and in the +succeeding year of festivity it is presumed that the names of "Debs" and +"Desborough" were alike forgotten. + +But they existed still in a little hamlet near the edge of a bleak +northern moor, where they were singularly exalted on a soaring shaft of +pure marble above the submerged and moss-grown tombstones of a simple +country churchyard. So great was the contrast between the modern and +pretentious monument and the graves of the humbler forefathers of the +village, that even the Americans who chanced to visit it were shocked at +what they believed was the ostentatious and vulgar pride of one of their +own countrywomen. For on its pedestal was inscribed:-- + + Sacred to the Memory + of + JOHN DEBS DESBOROUGH, + Formerly of this parish, + Who departed this life October 20th, 1892, + At Scrooby Priory, + At the age of eighty-two years. + This monument was erected as a loving testimony + by his granddaughter, + Sadie Desborough, of New York, U. S. A. + + "And evening brings us home." + + + + +SALOMY JANE'S KISS + + +Only one shot had been fired. It had gone wide of its mark,--the +ringleader of the Vigilantes,--and had left Red Pete, who had fired +it, covered by their rifles and at their mercy. For his hand had been +cramped by hard riding, and his eye distracted by their sudden onset, +and so the inevitable end had come. He submitted sullenly to his +captors; his companion fugitive and horse-thief gave up the protracted +struggle with a feeling not unlike relief. Even the hot and revengeful +victors were content. They had taken their men alive. At any time during +the long chase they could have brought them down by a rifle shot, but it +would have been unsportsmanlike, and have ended in a free fight, instead +of an example. And, for the matter of that, their doom was already +sealed. Their end, by a rope and a tree, although not sanctified by law, +would have at least the deliberation of justice. It was the tribute paid +by the Vigilantes to that order which they had themselves disregarded in +the pursuit and capture. Yet this strange logic of the frontier sufficed +them, and gave a certain dignity to the climax. + +"Ef you've got anything to say to your folks, say it NOW, and say it +quick," said the ringleader. + +Red Pete glanced around him. He had been run to earth at his own cabin +in the clearing, whence a few relations and friends, mostly women and +children, non-combatants, had outflowed, gazing vacantly at the twenty +Vigilantes who surrounded them. All were accustomed to scenes of +violence, blood-feud, chase, and hardship; it was only the suddenness of +the onset and its quick result that had surprised them. They looked on +with dazed curiosity and some disappointment; there had been no fight +to speak of--no spectacle! A boy, nephew of Red Pete, got upon the +rain-barrel to view the proceedings more comfortably; a tall, handsome, +lazy Kentucky girl, a visiting neighbor, leaned against the doorpost, +chewing gum. Only a yellow hound was actively perplexed. He could +not make out if a hunt were just over or beginning, and ran eagerly +backwards and forwards, leaping alternately upon the captives and the +captors. + +The ringleader repeated his challenge. Red Pete gave a reckless laugh +and looked at his wife. + +At which Mrs. Red Pete came forward. It seemed that she had much to say, +incoherently, furiously, vindictively, to the ringleader. His soul would +roast in hell for that day's work! He called himself a man, skunkin' +in the open and afraid to show himself except with a crowd of other +"Kiyi's" around a house of women and children. Heaping insult upon +insult, inveighing against his low blood, his ancestors, his dubious +origin, she at last flung out a wild taunt of his invalid wife, the +insult of a woman to a woman, until his white face grew rigid, and only +that Western-American fetich of the sanctity of sex kept his twitching +fingers from the lock of his rifle. Even her husband noticed it, and +with a half-authoritative "Let up on that, old gal," and a pat of his +freed left hand on her back, took his last parting. The ringleader, +still white under the lash of the woman's tongue, turned abruptly to the +second captive. "And if YOU'VE got anybody to say 'good-by' to, now's +your chance." + +The man looked up. Nobody stirred or spoke. He was a stranger there, +being a chance confederate picked up by Red Pete, and known to no one. +Still young, but an outlaw from his abandoned boyhood, of which father +and mother were only a forgotten dream, he loved horses and stole them, +fully accepting the frontier penalty of life for the interference with +that animal on which a man's life so often depended. But he understood +the good points of a horse, as was shown by the ones he bestrode--until +a few days before the property of Judge Boompointer. This was his sole +distinction. + +The unexpected question stirred him for a moment out of the attitude +of reckless indifference, for attitude it was, and a part of his +profession. But it may have touched him that at that moment he was less +than his companion and his virago wife. However, he only shook his head. +As he did so his eye casually fell on the handsome girl by the doorpost, +who was looking at him. The ringleader, too, may have been touched by +his complete loneliness, for HE hesitated. At the same moment he saw +that the girl was looking at his friendless captive. + +A grotesque idea struck him. + +"Salomy Jane, ye might do worse than come yere and say 'good-by' to a +dying man, and him a stranger," he said. + +There seemed to be a subtle stroke of poetry and irony in this that +equally struck the apathetic crowd. It was well known that Salomy Jane +Clay thought no small potatoes of herself, and always held off the local +swain with a lazy nymph-like scorn. Nevertheless, she slowly disengaged +herself from the doorpost, and, to everybody's astonishment, lounged +with languid grace and outstretched hand towards the prisoner. The color +came into the gray reckless mask which the doomed man wore as her right +hand grasped his left, just loosed by his captors. Then she paused; her +shy, fawn-like eyes grew bold, and fixed themselves upon him. She took +the chewing-gum from her mouth, wiped her red lips with the back of +her hand, by a sudden lithe spring placed her foot on his stirrup, and, +bounding to the saddle, threw her arms about his neck and pressed a kiss +upon his lips. + +They remained thus for a hushed moment--the man on the threshold of +death, the young woman in the fullness of youth and beauty--linked +together. Then the crowd laughed; in the audacious effrontery of the +girl's act the ultimate fate of the two men was forgotten. She slipped +languidly to the ground; SHE was the focus of all eyes,--she only! The +ringleader saw it and his opportunity. He shouted: "Time's up--Forward!" +urged his horse beside his captives, and the next moment the whole +cavalcade was sweeping over the clearing into the darkening woods. + +Their destination was Sawyer's Crossing, the headquarters of the +committee, where the council was still sitting, and where both culprits +were to expiate the offense of which that council had already found +them guilty. They rode in great and breathless haste,--a haste in which, +strangely enough, even the captives seemed to join. That haste possibly +prevented them from noticing the singular change which had taken place +in the second captive since the episode of the kiss. His high color +remained, as if it had burned through his mask of indifference; his eyes +were quick, alert, and keen, his mouth half open as if the girl's kiss +still lingered there. And that haste had made them careless, for the +horse of the man who led him slipped in a gopher-hole, rolled over, +unseated his rider, and even dragged the bound and helpless second +captive from Judge Boompointer's favorite mare. In an instant they were +all on their feet again, but in that supreme moment the second captive +felt the cords which bound his arms had slipped to his wrists. By +keeping his elbows to his sides, and obliging the others to help him +mount, it escaped their notice. By riding close to his captors, and +keeping in the crush of the throng, he further concealed the accident, +slowly working his hands downwards out of his bonds. + +Their way lay through a sylvan wilderness, mid-leg deep in ferns, whose +tall fronds brushed their horses' sides in their furious gallop and +concealed the flapping of the captive's loosened cords. The peaceful +vista, more suggestive of the offerings of nymph and shepherd than of +human sacrifice, was in a strange contrast to this whirlwind rush of +stern, armed men. The westering sun pierced the subdued light and the +tremor of leaves with yellow lances; birds started into song on blue and +dove-like wings, and on either side of the trail of this vengeful +storm could be heard the murmur of hidden and tranquil waters. In a +few moments they would be on the open ridge, whence sloped the common +turnpike to "Sawyer's," a mile away. It was the custom of returning +cavalcades to take this hill at headlong speed, with shouts and cries +that heralded their coming. They withheld the latter that day, as +inconsistent with their dignity; but, emerging from the wood, swept +silently like an avalanche down the slope. They were well under way, +looking only to their horses, when the second captive slipped his right +arm from the bonds and succeeded in grasping the reins that lay trailing +on the horse's neck. A sudden vaquero jerk, which the well-trained +animal understood, threw him on his haunches with his forelegs firmly +planted on the slope. The rest of the cavalcade swept on; the man who +was leading the captive's horse by the riata, thinking only of another +accident, dropped the line to save himself from being dragged backwards +from his horse. The captive wheeled, and the next moment was galloping +furiously up the slope. + +It was the work of a moment; a trained horse and an experienced hand. +The cavalcade had covered nearly fifty yards before they could pull up; +the freed captive had covered half that distance uphill. The road was +so narrow that only two shots could be fired, and these broke dust two +yards ahead of the fugitive. They had not dared to fire low; the horse +was the more valuable animal. The fugitive knew this in his extremity +also, and would have gladly taken a shot in his own leg to spare that of +his horse. Five men were detached to recapture or kill him. The latter +seemed inevitable. But he had calculated his chances; before they could +reload he had reached the woods again; winding in and out between +the pillared tree trunks, he offered no mark. They knew his horse was +superior to their own; at the end of two hours they returned, for he +had disappeared without track or trail. The end was briefly told in the +"Sierra Record:"-- + +"Red Pete, the notorious horse-thief, who had so long eluded justice, +was captured and hung by the Sawyer's Crossing Vigilantes last week; +his confederate, unfortunately, escaped on a valuable horse belonging +to Judge Boompointer. The judge had refused one thousand dollars for +the horse only a week before. As the thief, who is still at large, would +find it difficult to dispose of so valuable an animal without detection, +the chances are against either of them turning up again." + +***** + +Salomy Jane watched the cavalcade until it had disappeared. Then she +became aware that her brief popularity had passed. Mrs. Red Pete, in +stormy hysterics, had included her in a sweeping denunciation of the +whole universe, possibly for simulating an emotion in which she herself +was deficient. The other women hated her for her momentary exaltation +above them; only the children still admired her as one who had +undoubtedly "canoodled" with a man "a-going to be hung"--a daring flight +beyond their wildest ambition. Salomy Jane accepted the change with +charming unconcern. She put on her yellow nankeen sunbonnet,--a hideous +affair that would have ruined any other woman, but which only enhanced +the piquancy of her fresh brunette skin,--tied the strings, letting the +blue-black braids escape below its frilled curtain behind, jumped on +her mustang with a casual display of agile ankles in shapely white +stockings, whistled to the hound, and waving her hand with a "So long, +sonny!" to the lately bereft but admiring nephew, flapped and fluttered +away in her short brown holland gown. + +Her father's house was four miles distant. Contrasted with the cabin she +had just quitted, it was a superior dwelling, with a long "lean-to" at +the rear, which brought the eaves almost to the ground and made it look +like a low triangle. It had a long barn and cattle sheds, for Madison +Clay was a "great" stock-raiser and the owner of a "quarter section." It +had a sitting-room and a parlor organ, whose transportation thither had +been a marvel of "packing." These things were supposed to give Salomy +Jane an undue importance, but the girl's reserve and inaccessibility to +local advances were rather the result of a cool, lazy temperament and +the preoccupation of a large, protecting admiration for her father, for +some years a widower. For Mr. Madison Clay's life had been threatened in +one or two feuds,--it was said, not without cause,--and it is possible +that the pathetic spectacle of her father doing his visiting with a +shotgun may have touched her closely and somewhat prejudiced her against +the neighboring masculinity. The thought that cattle, horses, and +"quarter section" would one day be hers did not disturb her calm. As for +Mr. Clay, he accepted her as housewifely, though somewhat "interfering," +and, being one of "his own womankind," therefore not without some degree +of merit. + +"Wot's this yer I'm hearin' of your doin's over at Red Pete's? +Honeyfoglin' with a horse-thief, eh?" said Mr. Clay two days later at +breakfast. + +"I reckon you heard about the straight thing, then," said Salomy Jane +unconcernedly, without looking round. + +"What do you kalkilate Rube will say to it? What are you goin' to tell +HIM?" said Mr. Clay sarcastically. + +"Rube," or Reuben Waters, was a swain supposed to be favored +particularly by Mr. Clay. Salomy Jane looked up. + +"I'll tell him that when HE'S on his way to be hung, I'll kiss him,--not +till then," said the young lady brightly. + +This delightful witticism suited the paternal humor, and Mr. Clay +smiled; but, nevertheless, he frowned a moment afterwards. + +"But this yer hoss-thief got away arter all, and that's a hoss of a +different color," he said grimly. + +Salomy Jane put down her knife and fork. This was certainly a new and +different phase of the situation. She had never thought of it before, +and, strangely enough, for the first time she became interested in the +man. "Got away?" she repeated. "Did they let him off?" + +"Not much," said her father briefly. "Slipped his cords, and going down +the grade pulled up short, just like a vaquero agin a lassoed bull, +almost draggin' the man leadin' him off his hoss, and then skyuted up +the grade. For that matter, on that hoss o' Judge Boompointer's he mout +have dragged the whole posse of 'em down on their knees ef he liked! +Sarved 'em right, too. Instead of stringin' him up afore the door, or +shootin' him on sight, they must allow to take him down afore the hull +committee 'for an example.' 'Example' be blowed! Ther' 's example enough +when some stranger comes unbeknownst slap onter a man hanged to a tree +and plugged full of holes. THAT'S an example, and HE knows what it +means. Wot more do ye want? But then those Vigilantes is allus clingin' +and hangin' onter some mere scrap o' the law they're pretendin' to +despise. It makes me sick! Why, when Jake Myers shot your ole Aunt +Viney's second husband, and I laid in wait for Jake afterwards in the +Butternut Hollow, did I tie him to his hoss and fetch him down to your +Aunt Viney's cabin 'for an example' before I plugged him? No!" in deep +disgust. "No! Why, I just meandered through the wood, careless-like, +till he comes out, and I just rode up to him, and I said"-- + +But Salomy Jane had heard her father's story before. Even one's dearest +relatives are apt to become tiresome in narration. "I know, dad," she +interrupted; "but this yer man,--this hoss-thief,--did HE get clean away +without gettin' hurt at all?" + +"He did, and unless he's fool enough to sell the hoss he kin keep away, +too. So ye see, ye can't ladle out purp stuff about a 'dyin' stranger' +to Rube. He won't swaller it." + +"All the same, dad," returned the girl cheerfully, "I reckon to say it, +and say MORE; I'll tell him that ef HE manages to get away too, I'll +marry him--there! But ye don't ketch Rube takin' any such risks in +gettin' ketched, or in gettin' away arter!" + +Madison Clay smiled grimly, pushed back his chair, rose, dropped a +perfunctory kiss on his daughter's hair, and, taking his shotgun from +the corner, departed on a peaceful Samaritan mission to a cow who had +dropped a calf in the far pasture. Inclined as he was to Reuben's wooing +from his eligibility as to property, he was conscious that he was sadly +deficient in certain qualities inherent in the Clay family. It certainly +would be a kind of mesalliance. + +Left to herself, Salomy Jane stared a long while at the coffee-pot, and +then called the two squaws who assisted her in her household duties, to +clear away the things while she went up to her own room to make her bed. +Here she was confronted with a possible prospect of that proverbial bed +she might be making in her willfulness, and on which she must lie, +in the photograph of a somewhat serious young man of refined +features--Reuben Waters--stuck in her window-frame. Salomy Jane smiled +over her last witticism regarding him and enjoyed, it, like your true +humorist, and then, catching sight of her own handsome face in the +little mirror, smiled again. But wasn't it funny about that horse-thief +getting off after all? Good Lordy! Fancy Reuben hearing he was alive and +going round with that kiss of hers set on his lips! She laughed again, a +little more abstractedly. And he had returned it like a man, holding her +tight and almost breathless, and he going to be hung the next minute! +Salomy Jane had been kissed at other times, by force, chance, or +stratagem. In a certain ingenuous forfeit game of the locality known as +"I'm a-pinin'," many had "pined" for a "sweet kiss" from Salomy Jane, +which she had yielded in a sense of honor and fair play. She had never +been kissed like this before--she would never again; and yet the man was +alive! And behold, she could see in the mirror that she was blushing! + +She should hardly know him again. A young man with very bright eyes, +a flushed and sunburnt cheek, a kind of fixed look in the face, and no +beard; no, none that she could feel. Yet he was not at all like Reuben, +not a bit. She took Reuben's picture from the window, and laid it on her +workbox. And to think she did not even know this young man's name! That +was queer. To be kissed by a man whom she might never know! Of course +he knew hers. She wondered if he remembered it and her. But of course he +was so glad to get off with his life that he never thought of anything +else. Yet she did not give more than four or five minutes to these +speculations, and, like a sensible girl, thought of something else. Once +again, however, in opening the closet, she found the brown holland +gown she had worn on the day before; thought it very unbecoming, and +regretted that she had not worn her best gown on her visit to Red Pete's +cottage. On such an occasion she really might have been more impressive. + +When her father came home that night she asked him the news. No, they +had NOT captured the second horse-thief, who was still at large. Judge +Boompointer talked of invoking the aid of the despised law. It remained, +then, to see whether the horse-thief was fool enough to try to get rid +of the animal. Red Pete's body had been delivered to his widow. Perhaps +it would only be neighborly for Salomy Jane to ride over to the funeral. +But Salomy Jane did not take to the suggestion kindly, nor yet did she +explain to her father that, as the other man was still living, she +did not care to undergo a second disciplining at the widow's hands. +Nevertheless, she contrasted her situation with that of the widow with +a new and singular satisfaction. It might have been Red Pete who had +escaped. But he had not the grit of the nameless one. She had already +settled his heroic quality. + +"Ye ain't harkenin' to me, Salomy." + +Salomy Jane started. + +"Here I'm askin' ye if ye've see that hound Phil Larrabee sneaking by +yer today?" + +Salomy Jane had not. But she became interested and self-reproachful, +for she knew that Phil Larrabee was one of her father's enemies. "He +wouldn't dare to go by here unless he knew you were out," she said +quickly. + +"That's what gets me," he said, scratching his grizzled head. "I've been +kind o' thinkin' o' him all day, and one of them Chinamen said he saw +him at Sawyer's Crossing. He was a kind of friend o' Pete's wife. That's +why I thought yer might find out ef he'd been there." Salomy Jane +grew more self-reproachful at her father's self-interest in her +"neighborliness." "But that ain't all," continued Mr. Clay. "Thar was +tracks over the far pasture that warn't mine. I followed them, and they +went round and round the house two or three times, ez ef they mout hev +bin prowlin', and then I lost 'em in the woods again. It's just like +that sneakin' hound Larrabee to hev bin lyin' in wait for me and afraid +to meet a man fair and square in the open." + +"You just lie low, dad, for a day or two more, and let me do a little +prowlin'," said the girl, with sympathetic indignation in her dark eyes. +"Ef it's that skunk, I'll spot him soon enough and let you know whar +he's hiding." + +"You'll just stay where ye are, Salomy," said her father decisively. +"This ain't no woman's work--though I ain't sayin' you haven't got more +head for it than some men I know." + +Nevertheless, that night, after her father had gone to bed, Salomy Jane +sat by the open window of the sitting-room in an apparent attitude of +languid contemplation, but alert and intent of eye and ear. It was a +fine moonlit night. Two pines near the door, solitary pickets of the +serried ranks of distant forest, cast long shadows like paths to the +cottage, and sighed their spiced breath in the windows. For there was no +frivolity of vine or flower round Salomy Jane's bower. The clearing was +too recent, the life too practical for vanities like these. But the moon +added a vague elusiveness to everything, softened the rigid outlines +of the sheds, gave shadows to the lidless windows, and touched with +merciful indirectness the hideous debris of refuse gravel and the gaunt +scars of burnt vegetation before the door. Even Salomy Jane was affected +by it, and exhaled something between a sigh and a yawn with the breath +of the pines. Then she suddenly sat upright. + +Her quick ear had caught a faint "click, click," in the direction of the +wood; her quicker instinct and rustic training enabled her to determine +that it was the ring of a horse's shoe on flinty ground; her knowledge +of the locality told her it came from the spot where the trail passed +over an outcrop of flint scarcely a quarter of a mile from where she +sat, and within the clearing. It was no errant "stock," for the foot was +shod with iron; it was a mounted trespasser by night, and boded no good +to a man like Clay. + +She rose, threw her shawl over her head, more for disguise than shelter, +and passed out of the door. A sudden impulse made her seize her father's +shotgun from the corner where it stood,--not that she feared any danger +to herself, but that it was an excuse. She made directly for the wood, +keeping in the shadow of the pines as long as she could. At the fringe +she halted; whoever was there must pass her before reaching the house. + +Then there seemed to be a suspense of all nature. Everything was deadly +still--even the moonbeams appeared no longer tremulous; soon there was a +rustle as of some stealthy animal among the ferns, and then a dismounted +man stepped into the moonlight. It was the horse-thief--the man she had +kissed! + +For a wild moment a strange fancy seized her usually sane intellect and +stirred her temperate blood. The news they had told her was NOT true; +he had been hung, and this was his ghost! He looked as white and +spirit-like in the moonlight, dressed in the same clothes, as when she +saw him last. He had evidently seen her approaching, and moved quickly +to meet her. But in his haste he stumbled slightly; she reflected +suddenly that ghosts did not stumble, and a feeling of relief came +over her. And it was no assassin of her father that had been prowling +around--only this unhappy fugitive. A momentary color came into her +cheek; her coolness and hardihood returned; it was with a tinge of +sauciness in her voice that she said:-- + +"I reckoned you were a ghost." + +"I mout have been," he said, looking at her fixedly; "but I reckon I'd +have come back here all the same." + +"It's a little riskier comin' back alive," she said, with a levity +that died on her lips, for a singular nervousness, half fear and half +expectation, was beginning to take the place of her relief of a moment +ago. "Then it was YOU who was prowlin' round and makin' tracks in the +far pasture?" + +"Yes; I came straight here when I got away." + +She felt his eyes were burning her, but did not dare to raise her own. +"Why," she began, hesitated, and ended vaguely. "HOW did you get here?" + +"You helped me!" + +"I?" + +"Yes. That kiss you gave me put life into me--gave me strength to get +away. I swore to myself I'd come back and thank you, alive or dead." + +Every word he said she could have anticipated, so plain the situation +seemed to her now. And every word he said she knew was the truth. Yet +her cool common sense struggled against it. + +"What's the use of your escaping, ef you're comin' back here to be +ketched again?" she said pertly. + +He drew a little nearer to her, but seemed to her the more awkward as +she resumed her self-possession. His voice, too, was broken, as if by +exhaustion, as he said, catching his breath at intervals:-- + +"I'll tell you. You did more for me than you think. You made another man +o' me. I never had a man, woman, or child do to me what you did. I never +had a friend--only a pal like Red Pete, who picked me up 'on shares.' +I want to quit this yer--what I'm doin'. I want to begin by doin' the +square thing to you"--He stopped, breathed hard, and then said brokenly, +"My hoss is over thar, staked out. I want to give him to you. Judge +Boompointer will give you a thousand dollars for him. I ain't lyin'; +it's God's truth! I saw it on the handbill agin a tree. Take him, and +I'll get away afoot. Take him. It's the only thing I can do for you, and +I know it don't half pay for what you did. Take it; your father can get +a reward for you, if you can't." + +Such were the ethics of this strange locality that neither the man who +made the offer nor the girl to whom it was made was struck by anything +that seemed illogical or indelicate, or at all inconsistent with +justice or the horse-thief's real conversion. Salomy Jane nevertheless +dissented, from another and weaker reason. + +"I don't want your hoss, though I reckon dad might; but you're just +starvin'. I'll get suthin'." She turned towards the house. + +"Say you'll take the hoss first," he said, grasping her hand. At the +touch she felt herself coloring and struggled, expecting perhaps another +kiss. But he dropped her hand. She turned again with a saucy gesture, +said, "Hol' on; I'll come right back," and slipped away, the mere shadow +of a coy and flying nymph in the moonlight, until she reached the house. + +Here she not only procured food and whiskey, but added a long dust-coat +and hat of her father's to her burden. They would serve as a disguise +for him and hide that heroic figure, which she thought everybody must +now know as she did. Then she rejoined him breathlessly. But he put the +food and whiskey aside. + +"Listen," he said; "I've turned the hoss into your corral. You'll find +him there in the morning, and no one will know but that he got lost and +joined the other hosses." + +Then she burst out. "But you--YOU--what will become of you? You'll be +ketched!" + +"I'll manage to get away," he said in a low voice, "ef--ef"-- + +"Ef what?" she said tremblingly. "Ef you'll put the heart in me +again,--as you did!" he gasped. + +She tried to laugh--to move away. She could do neither. Suddenly he +caught her in his arms, with a long kiss, which she returned again and +again. Then they stood embraced as they had embraced two days before, +but no longer the same. For the cool, lazy Salomy Jane had been +transformed into another woman--a passionate, clinging savage. Perhaps +something of her father's blood had surged within her at that supreme +moment. The man stood erect and determined. + +"Wot's your name?" she whispered quickly. It was a woman's quickest way +of defining her feelings. + +"Dart." + +"Yer first name?" + +"Jack." + +"Let me go now, Jack. Lie low in the woods till to-morrow sunup. I'll +come again." + +He released her. Yet she lingered a moment. "Put on those things," she +said, with a sudden happy flash of eyes and teeth, "and lie close till I +come." And then she sped away home. + +But midway up the distance she felt her feet going slower, and something +at her heartstrings seemed to be pulling her back. She stopped, turned, +and glanced to where he had been standing. Had she seen him then, she +might have returned. But he had disappeared. She gave her first sigh, +and then ran quickly again. It must be nearly ten o'clock! It was not +very long to morning! + +She was within a few steps of her own door, when the sleeping woods and +silent air appeared to suddenly awake with a sharp "crack!" + +She stopped, paralyzed. Another "crack!" followed, that echoed over to +the far corral. She recalled herself instantly and dashed off wildly to +the woods again. + +As she ran she thought of one thing only. He had been "dogged" by one +of his old pursuers and attacked. But there were two shots, and he was +unarmed. Suddenly she remembered that she had left her father's gun +standing against the tree where they were talking. Thank God! she may +again have saved him. She ran to the tree; the gun was gone. She ran +hither and thither, dreading at every step to fall upon his lifeless +body. A new thought struck her; she ran to the corral. The horse was not +there! He must have been able to regain it, and escaped, AFTER the shots +had been fired. She drew a long breath of relief, but it was caught up +in an apprehension of alarm. Her father, awakened from his sleep by the +shots, was hurriedly approaching her. + +"What's up now, Salomy Jane?" he demanded excitedly. + +"Nothin'," said the girl with an effort. "Nothin', at least, that I can +find." She was usually truthful because fearless, and a lie stuck in her +throat; but she was no longer fearless, thinking of HIM. "I wasn't abed; +so I ran out as soon as I heard the shots fired," she answered in return +to his curious gaze. + +"And you've hid my gun somewhere where it can't be found," he said +reproachfully. "Ef it was that sneak Larrabee, and he fired them shots +to lure me out, he might have potted me, without a show, a dozen times +in the last five minutes." + +She had not thought since of her father's enemy! It might indeed +have been he who had attacked Jack. But she made a quick point of the +suggestion. "Run in, dad, run in and find the gun; you've got no show +out here without it." She seized him by the shoulders from behind, +shielding him from the woods, and hurried him, half expostulating, half +struggling, to the house. + +But there no gun was to be found. It was strange; it must have been +mislaid in some corner! Was he sure he had not left it in the barn? But +no matter now. The danger was over; the Larrabee trick had failed; +he must go to bed now, and in the morning they would make a search +together. At the same time she had inwardly resolved to rise before him +and make another search of the wood, and perhaps--fearful joy as she +recalled her promise!--find Jack alive and well, awaiting her! + +Salomy Jane slept little that night, nor did her father. But towards +morning he fell into a tired man's slumber until the sun was well up the +horizon. Far different was it with his daughter: she lay with her face +to the window, her head half lifted to catch every sound, from the +creaking of the sun-warped shingles above her head to the far-off +moan of the rising wind in the pine trees. Sometimes she fell into a +breathless, half-ecstatic trance, living over every moment of the stolen +interview; feeling the fugitive's arm still around her, his kisses on +her lips; hearing his whispered voice in her ears--the birth of her new +life! This was followed again by a period of agonizing dread--that he +might even then be lying, his life ebbing away, in the woods, with her +name on his lips, and she resting here inactive, until she half started +from her bed to go to his succor. And this went on until a pale opal +glow came into the sky, followed by a still paler pink on the summit of +the white Sierras, when she rose and hurriedly began to dress. Still so +sanguine was her hope of meeting him, that she lingered yet a moment to +select the brown holland skirt and yellow sunbonnet she had worn when +she first saw him. And she had only seen him twice! Only TWICE! It would +be cruel, too cruel, not to see him again! + +She crept softly down the stairs, listening to the long-drawn breathing +of her father in his bedroom, and then, by the light of a guttering +candle, scrawled a note to him, begging him not to trust himself out of +the house until she returned from her search, and leaving the note open +on the table, swiftly ran out into the growing day. + +Three hours afterwards Mr. Madison Clay awoke to the sound of loud +knocking. At first this forced itself upon his consciousness as his +daughter's regular morning summons, and was responded to by a grunt of +recognition and a nestling closer in the blankets. Then he awoke with a +start and a muttered oath, remembering the events of last night, and his +intention to get up early, and rolled out of bed. Becoming aware by this +time that the knocking was at the outer door, and hearing the shout of +a familiar voice, he hastily pulled on his boots, his jean trousers, +and fastening a single suspender over his shoulder as he clattered +downstairs, stood in the lower room. The door was open, and waiting +upon the threshold was his kinsman, an old ally in many a +blood-feud--Breckenridge Clay! + +"You ARE a cool one, Mad!" said the latter in half-admiring indignation. + +"What's up?" said the bewildered Madison. + +"YOU ought to be, and scootin' out o' this," said Breckenridge grimly. +"It's all very well to 'know nothin';' but here Phil Larrabee's friends +hev just picked him up, drilled through with slugs and deader nor a +crow, and now they're lettin' loose Larrabee's two half-brothers on you. +And you must go like a derned fool and leave these yer things behind you +in the bresh," he went on querulously, lifting Madison Clay's dust-coat, +hat, and shotgun from his horse, which stood saddled at the door. +"Luckily I picked them up in the woods comin' here. Ye ain't got more +than time to get over the state line and among your folks thar afore +they'll be down on you. Hustle, old man! What are you gawkin' and +starin' at?" + +Madison Clay had stared amazed and bewildered--horror-stricken. +The incidents of the past night for the first time flashed upon him +clearly--hopelessly! The shot; his finding Salomy Jane alone in +the woods; her confusion and anxiety to rid herself of him; the +disappearance of the shotgun; and now this new discovery of the taking +of his hat and coat for a disguise! SHE had killed Phil Larrabee in that +disguise, after provoking his first harmless shot! She, his own child, +Salomy Jane, had disgraced herself by a man's crime; had disgraced him +by usurping his right, and taking a mean advantage, by deceit, of a foe! + +"Gimme that gun," he said hoarsely. + +Breckenridge handed him the gun in wonder and slowly gathering +suspicion. Madison examined nipple and muzzle; one barrel had been +discharged. It was true! The gun dropped from his hand. + +"Look here, old man," said Breckenridge, with a darkening face, "there's +bin no foul play here. Thar's bin no hiring of men, no deputy to do this +job. YOU did it fair and square--yourself?" + +"Yes, by God!" burst out Madison Clay in a hoarse voice. "Who says I +didn't?" + +Reassured, yet believing that Madison Clay had nerved himself for +the act by an over-draught of whiskey, which had affected his memory, +Breckenridge said curtly, "Then wake up and 'lite' out, ef ye want me to +stand by you." + +"Go to the corral and pick me out a hoss," said Madison slowly, yet not +without a certain dignity of manner. "I've suthin' to say to Salomy +Jane afore I go." He was holding her scribbled note, which he had just +discovered, in his shaking hand. + +Struck by his kinsman's manner, and knowing the dependent relations +of father and daughter, Breckenridge nodded and hurried away. Left to +himself, Madison Clay ran his fingers through his hair, and straightened +out the paper on which Salomy Jane had scrawled her note, turned it +over, and wrote on the back:-- + + +You might have told me you did it, and not leave your ole father to +find it out how you disgraced yourself and him, too, by a low-down, +underhanded, woman's trick! I've said I done it, and took the blame +myself, and all the sneakiness of it that folks suspect. If I get away +alive--and I don't care much which--you needn't foller. The house and +stock are yours; but you ain't any longer the daughter of your disgraced +father, + +MADISON CLAY. + + +He had scarcely finished the note when, with a clatter of hoofs and a +led horse, Breckenridge reappeared at the door elate and triumphant. +"You're in nigger luck, Mad! I found that stole hoss of Judge +Boompointer's had got away and strayed among your stock in the corral. +Take him and you're safe; he can't be outrun this side of the state +line." + +"I ain't no hoss-thief," said Madison grimly. + +"Nobody sez ye are, but you'd be wuss--a fool--ef you didn't take him. +I'm testimony that you found him among your hosses; I'll tell Judge +Boompointer you've got him, and ye kin send him back when you're safe. +The judge will be mighty glad to get him back, and call it quits. So ef +you've writ to Salomy Jane, come." + +Madison Clay no longer hesitated. Salomy Jane might return at any +moment,--it would be part of her "fool womanishness,"--and he was in +no mood to see her before a third party. He laid the note on the table, +gave a hurried glance around the house, which he grimly believed he was +leaving forever, and, striding to the door, leaped on the stolen horse, +and swept away with his kinsman. + +But that note lay for a week undisturbed on the table in full view of +the open door. The house was invaded by leaves, pine cones, birds, +and squirrels during the hot, silent, empty days, and at night by shy, +stealthy creatures, but never again, day or night, by any of the Clay +family. It was known in the district that Clay had flown across the +state line, his daughter was believed to have joined him the next day, +and the house was supposed to be locked up. It lay off the main road, +and few passed that way. The starving cattle in the corral at last broke +bounds and spread over the woods. And one night a stronger blast than +usual swept through the house, carried the note from the table to the +floor, where, whirled into a crack in the flooring, it slowly rotted. + +But though the sting of her father's reproach was spared her, Salomy +Jane had no need of the letter to know what had happened. For as she +entered the woods in the dim light of that morning she saw the figure of +Dart gliding from the shadow of a pine towards her. The unaffected cry +of joy that rose from her lips died there as she caught sight of his +face in the open light. + +"You are hurt," she said, clutching his arm passionately. + +"No," he said. "But I wouldn't mind that if"-- + +"You're thinkin' I was afeard to come back last night when I heard the +shootin', but I DID come," she went on feverishly. "I ran back here when +I heard the two shots, but you were gone. I went to the corral, but your +hoss wasn't there, and I thought you'd got away." + +"I DID get away," said Dart gloomily. "I killed the man, thinkin' he +was huntin' ME, and forgettin' I was disguised. He thought I was your +father." + +"Yes," said the girl joyfully, "he was after dad, and YOU--you killed +him." She again caught his hand admiringly. + +But he did not respond. Possibly there were points of honor which this +horse-thief felt vaguely with her father. "Listen," he said grimly. +"Others think it was your father killed him. When I did it--for he fired +at me first--I ran to the corral again and took my hoss, thinkin' I +might be follered. I made a clear circuit of the house, and when I found +he was the only one, and no one was follerin', I come back here and took +off my disguise. Then I heard his friends find him in the wood, and I +know they suspected your father. And then another man come through the +woods while I was hidin' and found the clothes and took them away." He +stopped and stared at her gloomily. + +But all this was unintelligible to the girl. "Dad would have got +the better of him ef you hadn't," she said eagerly, "so what's the +difference?" + +"All the same," he said gloomily, "I must take his place." + +She did not understand, but turned her head to her master. "Then you'll +go back with me and tell him ALL?" she said obediently. + +"Yes," he said. + +She put her hand in his, and they crept out of the wood together. She +foresaw a thousand difficulties, but, chiefest of all, that he did not +love as she did. SHE would not have taken these risks against their +happiness. + +But alas for ethics and heroism. As they were issuing from the wood +they heard the sound of galloping hoofs, and had barely time to +hide themselves before Madison Clay, on the stolen horse of Judge +Boompointer, swept past them with his kinsman. + +Salomy Jane turned to her lover. + +***** + +And here I might, as a moral romancer, pause, leaving the guilty, +passionate girl eloped with her disreputable lover, destined to lifelong +shame and misery, misunderstood to the last by a criminal, fastidious +parent. But I am confronted by certain facts, on which this romance is +based. A month later a handbill was posted on one of the sentinel pines, +announcing that the property would be sold by auction to the highest +bidder by Mrs. John Dart, daughter of Madison Clay, Esq., and it was +sold accordingly. Still later--by ten years--the chronicler of these +pages visited a certain "stock" or "breeding farm," in the "Blue Grass +Country," famous for the popular racers it has produced. He was told +that the owner was the "best judge of horse-flesh in the country." +"Small wonder," added his informant, "for they say as a young man out in +California he was a horse-thief, and only saved himself by eloping with +some rich farmer's daughter. But he's a straight-out and respectable man +now, whose word about horses can't be bought; and as for his wife, she's +a beauty! To see her at the 'Springs,' rigged out in the latest fashion, +you'd never think she had ever lived out of New York or wasn't the wife +of one of its millionaires." + + + + +THE MAN AND THE MOUNTAIN + + +He was such a large, strong man that, when he first set foot in the +little parallelogram I called my garden, it seemed to shrink to half its +size and become preposterous. But I noticed at the same time that he was +holding in the open palm of his huge hand the roots of a violet, with +such infinite tenderness and delicacy that I would have engaged him as +my gardener on the spot. But this could not be, as he was already the +proud proprietor of a market-garden and nursery on the outskirts of the +suburban Californian town where I lived. He would, however, come for two +days in the week, stock and look after my garden, and impart to my +urban intellect such horticultural hints as were necessary. His name was +"Rutli," which I presumed to be German, but which my neighbors rendered +as "Rootleigh," possibly from some vague connection with his occupation. +His own knowledge of English was oral and phonetic. I have a delightful +recollection of a bill of his in which I was charged for "fioletz," with +the vague addition of "maine cains." Subsequent explanation proved it to +be "many kinds." + +Nevertheless, my little garden bourgeoned and blossomed under his +large, protecting hand. I became accustomed to walk around his feet +respectfully when they blocked the tiny paths, and to expect the total +eclipse of that garden-bed on which he worked, by his huge bulk. For the +tiniest and most reluctant rootlet seemed to respond to his caressing +paternal touch; it was a pretty sight to see his huge fingers tying up +some slender stalk to its stick with the smallest thread, and he had +a reverent way of laying a bulb or seed in the ground, and then gently +shaping and smoothing a small mound over it, which made the little +inscription on the stick above more like an affecting epitaph than +ever. Much of this gentleness may have been that apology for his great +strength, common with large men; but his face was distinctly amiable, +and his very light blue eyes were at times wistful and doglike in their +kindliness. I was soon to learn, however, that placability was not +entirely his nature. + +The garden was part of a fifty vara lot of land, on which I was +simultaneously erecting a house. But the garden was finished before the +house was, through certain circumstances very characteristic of that +epoch and civilization. I had purchased the Spanish title, the only +LEGAL one, to the land, which, however, had been in POSSESSION of a +"squatter." But he had been unable to hold that possession against a +"jumper,"--another kind of squatter who had entered upon it covertly, +fenced it in, and marked it out in building sites. Neither having legal +rights, they could not invoke the law; the last man held possession. +There was no doubt that in due course of litigation and time both these +ingenuous gentlemen would have been dispossessed in favor of the real +owner,--myself,--but that course would be a protracted one. Following +the usual custom of the locality, I paid a certain sum to the jumper to +yield up peaceably HIS possession of the land, and began to build upon +it. It might be reasonably supposed that the question was settled. +But it was not. The house was nearly finished when, one morning, I was +called out of my editorial sanctum by a pallid painter, looking even +more white-leaded than usual, who informed me that my house was in the +possession of five armed men! The entry had been made peaceably +during the painters' absence to dinner under a wayside tree. When they +returned, they had found their pots and brushes in the road, and an +intimation from the windows that their reentrance would be forcibly +resisted as a trespass. + +I honestly believe that Rutli was more concerned than myself over +this dispossession. While he loyally believed that I would get back +my property, he was dreadfully grieved over the inevitable damage +that would be done to the garden during this interval of neglect and +carelessness. I even think he would have made a truce with my enemies, +if they would only have let him look after his beloved plants. As it +was, he kept a passing but melancholy surveillance of them, and was +indeed a better spy of the actions of the intruders than any I could +have employed. One day, to my astonishment, he brought me a moss-rose +bud from a bush which had been trained against a column of the veranda. +It appeared that he had called, from over the fence, the attention of +one of the men to the neglected condition of the plant, and had obtained +permission to "come in and tie it up." The men, being merely hirelings +of the chief squatter, had no personal feeling, and I was not therefore +surprised to hear that they presently allowed Rutli to come in +occasionally and look after his precious "slips." If they had any +suspicions of his great strength, it was probably offset by his peaceful +avocation and his bland, childlike face. Meantime, I had begun the usual +useless legal proceeding, but had also engaged a few rascals of my own +to be ready to take advantage of any want of vigilance on the part of my +adversaries. I never thought of Rutli in that connection any more than +they had. + +A few Sundays later I was sitting in the little tea-arbor of Rutli's +nursery, peacefully smoking with him. Presently he took his long +china-bowled pipe from his mouth, and, looking at me blandly over his +yellow mustache, said:-- + +"You vonts sometimes to go in dot house, eh?" + +I said, "Decidedly." + +"Mit a revolver, and keep dot house dose men out?" + +"Yes!" + +"Vell! I put you in dot house--today!" + +"Sunday?" + +"Shoost so! It is a goot day! On der Suntay DREE men vill out go to +valk mit demselluffs, and visky trinken. TWO," holding up two gigantic +fingers, apparently only a shade or two smaller than his destined +victims, "stay dere. Dose I lift de fence over." + +I hastened to inform him that any violence attempted against the parties +WHILE IN POSSESSION, although that possession was illegal, would, by a +fatuity of the law, land him in the county jail. I said I would not hear +of it. + +"But suppose dere vos no fiolence? Suppose dose men vos villin', eh? How +vos dot for high?" + +"I don't understand." + +"So! You shall NOT understand! Dot is better. Go away now and dell your +men to coom dot house arount at halluff past dree. But YOU coom, mit +yourselluff alone, shoost as if you vos spazieren gehen, for a valk, by +dat fence at dree! Ven you shall dot front door vide open see, go in, +and dere you vos! You vill der rest leef to me!" + +It was in vain that I begged Rutli to divulge his plan, and pointed out +again the danger of his technically breaking the law. But he was firm, +assuring me that I myself would be a witness that no assault would be +made. I looked into his clear, good-humored eyes, and assented. I had a +burning desire to right my wrongs, but I think I also had considerable +curiosity. + +I passed a miserable quarter of an hour after I had warned my partisans, +and then walked alone slowly down the broad leafy street towards the +scene of contest. I have a very vivid recollection of my conflicting +emotions. I did not believe that I would be killed; I had no distinct +intention of killing any of my adversaries; but I had some considerable +concern for my loyal friend Rutli, whom I foresaw might be in some peril +from the revolver in my unpracticed hand. If I could only avoid shooting +HIM, I would be satisfied. I remember that the bells were ringing for +church,--a church of which my enemy, the chief squatter, was a deacon +in good standing,--and I felt guiltily conscious of my revolver in my +hip-pocket, as two or three church-goers passed me with their hymn-books +in their hands. I walked leisurely, so as not to attract attention, +and to appear at the exact time, a not very easy task in my youthful +excitement. At last I reached the front gate with a beating heart. There +was no one on the high veranda, which occupied three sides of the low +one-storied house, nor in the garden before it. But the front door was +open; I softly passed through the gate, darted up the veranda and into +the house. A single glance around the hall and bare, deserted rooms, +still smelling of paint, showed me it was empty, and with my pistol in +one hand and the other on the lock of the door, I stood inside, ready to +bolt it against any one but Rutli. But where was HE? + +The sound of laughter and a noise like skylarking came from the rear of +the house and the back yard. Then I suddenly heard Rutli's heavy tread +on the veranda, but it was slow, deliberate, and so exaggerated in +its weight that the whole house seemed to shake with it. Then from the +window I beheld an extraordinary sight! It was Rutli, swaying from +side to side, but steadily carrying with outstretched arms two of the +squatter party, his hands tightly grasping their collars. Yet I +believe his touch was as gentle as with the violets. His face was +preternaturally grave; theirs, to my intense astonishment, while they +hung passive from his arms, wore that fatuous, imbecile smile seen on +the faces of those who lend themselves to tricks of acrobats and strong +men in the arena. He slowly traversed the whole length of one side of +the house, walked down the steps to the gate, and then gravely deposited +them OUTSIDE. I heard him say, "Dot vins der pet, ain't it?" and +immediately after the sharp click of the gate-latch. + +Without understanding a thing that had happened, I rightly conceived +this was the cue for my appearance with my revolver at the front door. +As I opened it I still heard the sound of laughter, which, however, +instantly stopped at a sentence from Rutli, which I could not hear. +There was an oath, the momentary apparition of two furious and indignant +faces over the fence; but these, however, seemed to be instantly +extinguished and put down by the enormous palms of Rutli clapped upon +their heads. There was a pause, and then Rutli turned around and quietly +joined me in the doorway. But the gate was not again opened until the +arrival of my partisans, when the house was clearly in my possession. + +Safe inside with the door bolted, I turned eagerly to Rutli for an +explanation. It then appeared that during his occasional visits to the +garden he had often been an object of amusement and criticism to the men +on account of his size, which seemed to them ridiculously inconsistent +with his great good humor, gentleness, and delicacy of touch. They had +doubted his strength and challenged his powers. He had responded once +or twice before, lifting weights or even carrying one of his critics +at arm's length for a few steps. But he had reserved his final feat +for this day and this purpose. It was for a bet, which they had eagerly +accepted, secure in their belief in his simplicity, the sincerity of his +motives in coming there, and glad of the opportunity of a little Sunday +diversion. In their security they had not locked the door when they +came out, and had not noticed that HE had opened it. This was his simple +story. His only comment, "I haf von der pet, but I dinks I shall nod +gollect der money." The two men did not return that afternoon, nor did +their comrades. Whether they wisely conceived that a man who was so +powerful in play might be terrible in earnest; whether they knew that +his act, in which they had been willing performers, had been witnessed +by passing citizens, who supposed it was skylarking; or whether their +employer got tired of his expensive occupation, I never knew. The public +believed the latter; Rutli, myself, and the two men he had evicted alone +kept our secret. + +From that time Rutli and I became firm friends, and, long after I had +no further need of his services in the recaptured house, I often found +myself in the little tea-arbor of his prosperous nursery. He was frugal, +sober, and industrious; small wonder that in that growing town he waxed +rich, and presently opened a restaurant in the main street, connected +with his market-garden, which became famous. His relations to me +never changed with his changed fortunes; he was always the simple +market-gardener and florist who had aided my first housekeeping, and +stood by me in an hour of need. Of all things regarding himself he was +singularly reticent; I do not think he had any confidants or intimates, +even among his own countrymen, whom I believed to be German. But one day +he quite accidentally admitted he was a Swiss. As a youthful admirer +of the race I was delighted, and told him so, with the enthusiastic +addition that I could now quite understand his independence, with his +devoted adherence to another's cause. He smiled sadly, and astonished me +by saying that he had not heard from Switzerland since he left six years +ago. He did not want to hear anything; he even avoided his countrymen +lest he should. I was confounded. + +"But," I said, "surely you have a longing to return to your country; all +Swiss have! You will go back some day just to breathe the air of your +native mountains." + +"I shall go back some days," said Rutli, "after I have made mooch, mooch +money, but not for dot air." + +"What for, then?" + +"For revenge--to get efen." + +Surprised, and for a moment dismayed as I was, I could not help +laughing. "Rutli and revenge!" Impossible! And to make it the more +absurd, he was still smoking gently and regarding me with soft, +complacent eyes. So unchanged was his face and manner that he might have +told me he was going back to be married. + +"You do not oonderstand," he said forgivingly. "Some days I shall dell +to you id. Id is a story. You shall make it yourselluff for dose babers +dot you write. It is not bretty, berhaps, ain't it, but it is droo. And +de endt is not yet." + +Only that Rutli never joked, except in a ponderous fashion with many +involved sentences, I should have thought he was taking a good-humored +rise out of me. But it was not funny. I am afraid I dismissed it from my +mind as a revelation of something weak and puerile, quite inconsistent +with his practical common sense and strong simplicity, and wished he had +not alluded to it. I never asked him to tell me the story. It was a year +later, and only when he had invited me to come to the opening of a new +hotel, erected by him at a mountain spa of great resort, that he himself +alluded to it. + +The hotel was a wonderful affair, even for those days, and Rutli's +outlay of capital convinced me that by this time he must have made the +"mooch money" he coveted. Something of this was in my mind when we sat +by the window of his handsomely furnished private office, overlooking +the pines of a Californian canyon. I asked him if the scenery was like +Switzerland. + +"Ach! no!" he replied; "but I vill puild a hotel shoost like dis dare." + +"Is that a part of your revenge?" I asked, with a laugh. + +"Ah! so! a bart." + +I felt relieved; a revenge so practical did not seem very malicious or +idiotic. After a pause he puffed contemplatively at his pipe, and then +said, "I dell you somedings of dot story now." + +He began. I should like to tell it in his own particular English, mixed +with American slang, but it would not convey the simplicity of the +narrator. He was the son of a large family who had lived for centuries +in one of the highest villages in the Bernese Oberland. He attained his +size and strength early, but with a singular distaste to use them in +the rough regular work on the farm, although he was a great climber and +mountaineer, and, what was at first overlooked as mere boyish fancy, had +an insatiable love and curious knowledge of plants and flowers. He knew +the haunts of Edelweiss, Alpine rose, and blue gentian, and had brought +home rare and unknown blossoms from under the icy lips of glaciers. +But as he did this when his time was supposed to be occupied in looking +after the cows in the higher pastures and making cheeses, there was +trouble in that hard-working, practical family. A giant with the tastes +and disposition of a schoolgirl was an anomaly in a Swiss village. +Unfortunately again, he was not studious; his record in the village +school had been on a par with his manual work, and the family had not +even the consolation of believing that they were fostering a genius. In +a community where practical industry was the highest virtue, it was not +strange, perhaps, that he was called "lazy" and "shiftless;" no one knew +the long climbs and tireless vigils he had undergone in remote solitudes +in quest of his favorites, or, knowing, forgave him for it. Abstemious, +frugal, and patient as he was, even the crusts of his father's table +were given him grudgingly. He often went hungry rather than ask the +bread he had failed to earn. How his great frame was nurtured in those +days he never knew; perhaps the giant mountains recognized some kin +in him and fed and strengthened him after their own fashion. Even his +gentleness was confounded with cowardice. "Dot vos de hardtest," he said +simply; "it is not goot to be opligit to half crush your brudder, ven he +would make a laugh of you to your sweetheart." The end came sooner than +he expected, and, oddly enough, through this sweetheart. "Gottlieb," she +said to him one day, "the English Fremde who stayed here last night met +me when I was carrying some of those beautiful flowers you gave me. He +asked me where they were to be found, and I told him only YOU knew. He +wants to see you; go to him. It may be luck to you." Rutli went. The +stranger, an English Alpine climber of scientific tastes, talked with +him for an hour. At the end of that time, to everybody's astonishment, +he engaged this hopeless idler as his personal guide for three months, +at the sum of five francs a day! It was inconceivable, it was unheard +of! The Englander was as mad as Gottlieb, whose intellect had always +been under suspicion! The schoolmaster pursed up his lips, the pastor +shook his head; no good could come of it; the family looked upon it as +another freak of Gottlieb's, but there was one big mouth less to feed +and more room in the kitchen, and they let him go. They parted from him +as ungraciously as they had endured his presence. + +Then followed two months of sunshine in Rutli's life--association with +his beloved plants, and the intelligent sympathy and direction of a +cultivated man. Even in altitudes so dangerous that they had to take +other and more experienced guides, Rutli was always at his master's +side. That savant's collection of Alpine flora excelled all previous +ones; he talked freely with Rutli of further work in the future, and +relaxed his English reserve so far as to confide to him that the outcome +of their collection and observation might be a book. He gave a flower +a Latin name, in which even the ignorant and delighted Rutli could +distinguish some likeness to his own. But the book was never compiled. +In one of their later and more difficult ascents they and their two +additional guides were overtaken by a sudden storm. Swept from their +feet down an ice-bound slope, Rutli alone of the roped-together party +kept a foothold on the treacherous incline. Here this young Titan, with +bleeding fingers clenched in a rock cleft, sustained the struggles and +held up the lives of his companions by that precious thread for more +than an hour. Perhaps he might have saved them, but in their desperate +efforts to regain their footing the rope slipped upon a jagged edge of +outcrop and parted as if cut by a knife. The two guides passed without +an outcry into obscurity and death; Rutli, with a last despairing +exertion, dragged to his own level his unconscious master, crippled by a +broken leg. + +Your true hero is apt to tell his tale simply. Rutli did not dwell upon +these details, nor need I. Left alone upon a treacherous ice slope +in benumbing cold, with a helpless man, eight hours afterwards he +staggered, half blind, incoherent, and inarticulate, into a "shelter" +hut, with the dead body of his master in his stiffened arms. The +shelter-keepers turned their attention to Rutli, who needed it most. +Blind and delirious, with scarce a chance for life, he was sent the next +day to a hospital, where he lay for three months, helpless, imbecile, +and unknown. The dead body of the Englishman was identified, and sent +home; the bodies of the guides were recovered by their friends; but no +one knew aught of Rutli, even his name. While the event was still fresh +in the minds of those who saw him enter the hut with the body of his +master, a paragraph appeared in a Berne journal recording the heroism of +this nameless man. But it could not be corroborated nor explained by the +demented hero, and was presently forgotten. Six months from the day he +had left his home he was discharged cured. He had not a kreutzer in his +pocket; he had never drawn his wages from his employer; he had preferred +to have it in a lump sum that he might astonish his family on his +return. His eyes were still weak, his memory feeble; only his great +physical strength remained through his long illness. A few sympathizing +travelers furnished him the means to reach his native village, many +miles away. He found his family had heard of the loss of the Englishman +and the guides, and had believed he was one of them. Already he was +forgotten. + +"Ven you vos once peliefed to be det," said Rutli, after a philosophic +pause and puff, "it vos not goot to ondeceif beoples. You oopset +somedings, soomdimes always. Der hole dot you hef made in der grount, +among your frients and your family, vos covered up alretty. You are +loocky if you vill not fint some vellars shtanding upon id! My frent, +ven you vos DINK det, SHTAY det, BE det, and you vill lif happy!" + +"But your sweetheart?" I said eagerly. + +A slight gleam of satire stole into Rutli's light eyes. "My sweetheart, +ven I vos dinks det, is der miller engaged do bromply! It is mooch +better dan to a man dot vos boor and plint and grazy! So! Vell, der next +day I pids dem goot-py, und from der door I say, 'I am det now; but ven +I next comes pack alife, I shall dis village py! der lants, der houses +all togedders. And den for yourselluffs look oudt!'" + +"Then that's your revenge? That is what you really intend to do?" I +said, half laughing, yet with an uneasy recollection of his illness and +enfeebled mind. + +"Yes. Look here! I show you somedings." He opened a drawer of his desk +and took out what appeared to be some diagrams, plans, and a small +water-colored map, like a surveyor's tracing. "Look," he said, laying +his finger on the latter, "dat is a map from my fillage. I hef myselluff +made it out from my memory. Dot," pointing to a blank space, "is der +mountain side high up, so far. It is no goot until I vill a tunnel make +or der grade lefel. Dere vas mine fader's house, dere vos der church, +der schoolhouse, dot vos de burgomaster's house," he went on, pointing +to the respective plots in this old curving parallelogram of the +mountain shelf. "So was the fillage when I leave him on the 5th of +March, eighteen hundred and feefty. Now you shall see him shoost as I +vill make him ven I go back." He took up another plan, beautifully +drawn and colored, and evidently done by a professional hand. It was +a practical, yet almost fairylike transformation of the same spot! +The narrow mountain shelf was widened by excavation, and a boulevard +stretched on either side. A great hotel, not unlike the one in which we +sat, stood in an open terrace, with gardens and fountains--the site of +his father's house. Blocks of pretty dwellings, shops, and cafes filled +the intermediate space. I laid down the paper. + +"How long have you had this idea?" + +"Efer since I left dere, fifteen years ago." + +"But your father and mother may be dead by this time?" + +"So, but dere vill be odders. Und der blace--it vill remain." + +"But all this will cost a fortune, and you are not sure"-- + +"I know shoost vot id vill gost, to a cend." + +"And you think you can ever afford to carry out your idea?" + +"I VILL affort id. Ven you shall make yet some moneys and go to Europe, +you shall see. I VILL infite you dere first. Now coom and look der house +around." + +***** + +I did NOT make "some moneys," but I DID go to Europe. Three years after +this last interview with Rutli I was coming from Interlaken to Berne +by rail. I had not heard from him, and I had forgotten the name of his +village, but as I looked up from the paper I was reading, I suddenly +recognized him in the further end of the same compartment I occupied. +His recognition of me was evidently as sudden and unexpected. After our +first hand-grasp and greeting, I said:-- + +"And how about our new village?" + +"Dere is no fillage." + +"What! You have given up the idea?" + +"Yes. There is no fillage, olt or new." + +"I don't understand." + +He looked at me a moment. "You have not heard?" + +"No." + +He gently picked up a little local guidebook that lay in my lap, and +turning its leaves, pointed to a page, and read as follows:-- + +"5 M. beyond, the train passes a curve R., where a fine view of the lake +may be seen. A little to the R. rises the steep slopes of the ----, the +scene of a terrible disaster. At three o'clock on March 5, 1850, the +little village of ----, lying midway of the slope, with its population +of 950 souls, was completely destroyed by a landslip from the top of +the mountain. So sudden was the catastrophe that not a single escape +is recorded. A large portion of the mountain crest, as will be observed +when it is seen in profile, descended to the valley, burying the +unfortunate village to a depth variously estimated at from 1000 ft. +to 1800 ft. The geological causes which produced this extraordinary +displacement have been fully discussed, but the greater evidence points +to the theory of subterranean glaciers. 5 M. beyond ---- the train +crosses the R. bridge." + +I laid down the guide-book in breathless astonishment. + +"And you never heard of this in all these years?" + +"Nefer! I asked no questions, I read no pooks. I have no ledders from +home." + +"And yet you"--I stopped, I could not call him a fool; neither could +I, in the face of his perfect composure and undisturbed eyes, exhibit +a concern greater than his own. An uneasy recollection of what he +confessed had been his mental condition immediately after his accident +came over me. Had he been the victim of a strange hallucination +regarding his house and family all these years? Were these dreams of +revenge, this fancy of creating a new village, only an outcome of +some shock arising out of the disaster itself, which he had long since +forgotten? + +He was looking from the window. "Coom," he said, "ve are near der blace. +I vill show id to you." He rose and passed out to the rear platform. +We were in the rear car, and a new panorama of the lake and mountains +flashed upon us at every curve of the line. I followed him. Presently +he pointed to what appeared to be a sheer wall of rock and stunted +vegetation towering two or three thousand feet above us, which started +out of a gorge we were passing. "Dere it vos!" he said. I saw the vast +stretch of rock face rising upward and onward, but nothing else. No +debris, no ruins, nor even a swelling or rounding of the mountain flank +over that awful tomb. Yet, stay! as we dashed across the gorge, and the +face of the mountain shifted, high up, the sky-line was slightly broken +as if a few inches, a mere handful, of the crest was crumbled away. And +then--both gorge and mountain vanished. + +I was still embarrassed and uneasy, and knew not what to say to this man +at my side, whose hopes and ambition had been as quickly overthrown and +buried, and whose life-dream had as quickly vanished. But he himself, +taking his pipe from his lips, broke the silence. + +"It vos a narrow esgabe!" + +"What was?" + +"Vy, dis dings. If I had stayed in my fader's house, I vould haf been +det for goot, and perried too! Somedimes dose dings cooms oudt apout +right, don't id?" + +Unvanquished philosopher! As we stood there looking at the flying +landscape and sinking lesser hills, one by one the great snow peaks +slowly arose behind them, lifting themselves, as if to take a last +wondering look at the man they had triumphed over, but had not subdued. + + + + +THE PASSING OF ENRIQUEZ + + +When Enriquez Saltillo ran away with Miss Mannersley, as already +recorded in these chronicles,* her relatives and friends found it much +easier to forgive that ill-assorted union than to understand it. For, +after all, Enriquez was the scion of an old Spanish-Californian family, +and in due time would have his share of his father's three square +leagues, whatever incongruity there was between his lively Latin +extravagance and Miss Mannersley's Puritan precision and intellectual +superiority. They had gone to Mexico; Mrs. Saltillo, as was known, +having an interest in Aztec antiquities, and he being utterly submissive +to her wishes. For myself from my knowledge of Enriquez's nature, I had +grave doubts of his entire subjugation, although I knew the prevailing +opinion was that Mrs. Saltillo's superiority would speedily tame him. +Since his brief and characteristic note apprising me of his marriage, +I had not heard from him. It was, therefore, with some surprise, a good +deal of reminiscent affection, and a slight twinge of reproach that, two +years after, I looked up from some proofs, in the sanctum of the "Daily +Excelsior," to recognize his handwriting on a note that was handed to me +by a yellow Mexican boy. + + * See "The Devotion of Enriquez," in Selected Stories by + Bret Harte Gutenberg #1312. + +A single glance at its contents showed me that Mrs. Saltillo's +correct Bostonian speech had not yet subdued Enriquez's peculiar +Spanish-American slang:-- + +"Here we are again,--right side up with care,--at 1110 Dupont Street, +Telegraph Hill. Second floor from top. 'Ring and push.' 'No book agents +need apply.' How's your royal nibs? I kiss your hand! Come at six,--the +band shall play at seven,--and regard your friend 'Mees Boston,' who +will tell you about the little old nigger boys, and your old Uncle +'Ennery." + +Two things struck me: Enriquez had not changed; Mrs. Saltillo had +certainly yielded up some of her peculiar prejudices. For the address +given, far from being a fashionable district, was known as the "Spanish +quarter," which, while it still held some old Spanish families, was +chiefly given over to half-castes and obscurer foreigners. Even poverty +could not have driven Mrs. Saltillo to such a refuge against her will; +nevertheless, a good deal of concern for Enriquez's fortune mingled with +my curiosity, as I impatiently waited for six o'clock to satisfy it. + +It was a breezy climb to 1110 Dupont Street; and although the street +had been graded, the houses retained their airy elevation, and were +accessible only by successive flights of wooden steps to the front door, +which still gave perilously upon the street, sixty feet below. I now +painfully appreciated Enriquez's adaptation of the time-honored joke +about the second floor. An invincible smell of garlic almost took my +remaining breath away as the door was opened to me by a swarthy Mexican +woman, whose loose camisa seemed to be slipping from her unstable bust, +and was held on only by the mantua-like shawl which supplemented it, +gripped by one brown hand. Dizzy from my ascent to that narrow perch, +which looked upon nothing but the distant bay and shores of Contra +Costa, I felt as apologetic as if I had landed from a balloon; but the +woman greeted me with a languid Spanish smile and a lazy display of +white teeth, as if my arrival was quite natural. Don Enriquez, "of a +fact," was not himself in the casa, but was expected "on the instant." +"Donna Urania" was at home. + +"Donna Urania"? For an instant I had forgotten that Mrs. Saltillo's +first name was Urania, so pleasantly and spontaneously did it fall +from the Spanish lips. Nor was I displeased at this chance of learning +something of Don Enriquez's fortunes and the Saltillo menage before +confronting my old friend. The servant preceded me to the next floor, +and, opening a door, ushered me into the lady's presence. + +I had carried with me, on that upward climb, a lively recollection of +Miss Mannersley as I had known her two years before. I remembered her +upright, almost stiff, slight figure, the graceful precision of her +poses, the faultless symmetry and taste of her dress, and the atmosphere +of a fastidious and wholesome cleanliness which exhaled from her. In the +lady I saw before me, half reclining in a rocking-chair, there was +none of the stiffness and nicety. Habited in a loose gown of some easy, +flexible, but rich material, worn with that peculiarly indolent +slouch of the Mexican woman, Mrs. Saltillo had parted with half her +individuality. Even her arched feet and thin ankles, the close-fitting +boots or small slippers of which were wont to accent their delicacy, +were now lost in a short, low-quartered kid shoe of the Spanish type, +in which they moved loosely. Her hair, which she had always worn with a +certain Greek simplicity, was parted at one side. Yet her face, with +its regularity of feature, and small, thin, red-lipped mouth, was quite +unchanged; and her velvety brown eyes were as beautiful and inscrutable +as ever. + +With the same glance I had taken in her surroundings, quite as +incongruous to her former habits. The furniture, though of old and heavy +mahogany, had suffered from careless alien hands, and was interspersed +with modern and unmatchable makeshifts, yet preserving the distinctly +scant and formal attitude of furnished lodgings. It was certainly +unlike the artistic trifles and delicate refinements of her uncle's +drawing-room, which we all knew her taste had dictated and ruled. The +black and white engravings, the outlined heads of Minerva and Diana, +were excluded from the walls for two cheap colored Catholic prints,--a +soulless Virgin, and the mystery of the Bleeding Heart. Against the +wall, in one corner, hung the only object which seemed a memento of +their travels,--a singular-looking upright Indian "papoose-case" or +cradle, glaringly decorated with beads and paint, probably an Aztec +relic. On a round table, the velvet cover of which showed marks of usage +and abusage, there were scattered books and writing materials; and my +editorial instinct suddenly recognized, with a thrill of apprehension, +the loose leaves of an undoubted manuscript. This circumstance, taken +with the fact of Donna Urania's hair being parted on one side, and the +general negligee of her appearance, was a disturbing revelation. + +My wandering eye apparently struck her, for after the first greeting she +pointed to the manuscript with a smile. + +"Yes; that is THE manuscript. I suppose Enriquez told you all about it? +He said he had written." + +I was dumfounded. I certainly had not understood ALL of Enriquez's +slang; it was always so decidedly his own, and peculiar. Yet I could not +recall any allusion to this. + +"He told me something of it, but very vaguely," I ventured to say +deprecatingly; "but I am afraid that I thought more of seeing my old +friend again than of anything else." + +"During our stay in Mexico," continued Mrs. Saltillo, with something of +her old precision, "I made some researches into Aztec history, a subject +always deeply interesting to me, and I thought I would utilize the +result by throwing it on paper. Of course it is better fitted for a +volume of reference than for a newspaper, but Enriquez thought you might +want to use it for your journal." + +I knew that Enriquez had no taste for literature, and had even rather +depreciated it in the old days, with his usual extravagance; but I +managed to say very pleasantly that I was delighted with his suggestion +and should be glad to read the manuscript. After all, it was not +improbable that Mrs. Saltillo, who was educated and intelligent, should +write well, if not popularly. "Then Enriquez does not begrudge you the +time that your work takes from him," I added laughingly. "You seem to +have occupied your honeymoon practically." + +"We quite comprehend our respective duties," said Mrs. Saltillo dryly; +"and have from the first. We have our own lives to live, independent +of my uncle and Enriquez's father. We have not only accepted the +responsibility of our own actions, but we both feel the higher +privilege of creating our own conditions without extraneous aid from our +relatives." + +It struck me that this somewhat exalted statement was decidedly a pose, +or a return of Urania Mannersley's old ironical style. I looked quietly +into her brown, near-sighted eyes; but, as once before, my glance seemed +to slip from their moist surface without penetrating the inner thought +beneath. "And what does Enriquez do for HIS part?" I asked smilingly. + +I fully expected to hear that the energetic Enriquez was utilizing +his peculiar tastes and experiences by horse-breaking, stock-raising, +professional bull-fighting, or even horse-racing, but was quite +astonished when she answered quietly:-- + +"Enriquez is giving himself up to geology and practical metallurgy, with +a view to scientific, purely scientific, mining." + +Enriquez and geology! In that instant all I could remember of it were +his gibes at the "geologian," as he was wont to term Professor Dobbs, +a former admirer of Miss Mannersley's. To add to my confusion Mrs. +Saltillo at the same moment absolutely voiced my thought. + +"You may remember Professor Dobbs," she went on calmly, "one of the most +eminent scientists over here, and a very old Boston friend. He has +taken Enriquez in hand. His progress is most satisfactory; we have the +greatest hopes of him." + +"And how soon do you both hope to have some practical results of his +study?" I could not help asking a little mischievously; for I somehow +resented the plural pronoun in her last sentence. + +"Very soon," said Mrs. Saltillo, ignoring everything but the question. +"You know Enriquez's sanguine temperament. Perhaps he is already given +to evolving theories without a sufficient basis of fact. Still, he has +the daring of a discoverer. His ideas of the oolitic formation are not +without originality, and Professor Dobbs says that in his conception of +the Silurian beach there are gleams that are distinctly precious." + +I looked at Mrs. Saltillo, who had reinforced her eyes with her old +piquant pince-nez, but could detect no irony in them. She was prettily +imperturbable, that was all. There was an awkward silence. Then it was +broken by a bounding step on the stairs, a wide-open fling of the door, +and Enriquez pirouetted into the room: Enriquez, as of old, unchanged +from the crown of his smooth, coal-black hair to the tips of his small, +narrow Arabian feet; Enriquez, with his thin, curling mustache, his +dancing eyes set in his immovable face, just as I had always known him! + +He affected to lapse against the door for a minute, as if staggered by a +resplendent vision. Then he said:-- + +"What do I regard? Is it a dream, or have I again got them--thees +jimjams? My best friend and my best--I mean my ONLY--wife! Embrace me!" + +He gave me an enthusiastic embrace and a wink like sheet-lightning, +passed quickly to his wife, before whom he dropped on one knee, raised +the toe of her slipper to his lips, and then sank on the sofa in +simulated collapse, murmuring, "Thees is too mooch of white stone for +one day!" + +Through all this I saw his wife regarding him with exactly the same +critically amused expression with which she had looked upon him in the +days of their strange courtship. She evidently had not tired of his +extravagance, and yet I feel as puzzled by her manner as then. She rose +and said: "I suppose you have a good deal to say to each other, and I +will leave you by yourselves." Turning to her husband, she added, "I +have already spoken about the Aztec manuscript." + +The word brought Enriquez to his feet again. "Ah! The little old +nigger--you have read?" I began to understand. "My wife, my best +friend, and the little old nigger, all in one day. Eet is perfect!" +Nevertheless, in spite of this ecstatic and overpowering combination, +he hurried to take his wife's hand; kissing it, he led her to a door +opening into another room, made her a low bow to the ground as she +passed out, and then rejoined me. + +"So these are the little old niggers you spoke of in your note," I said, +pointing to the manuscript. "Deuce take me if I understood you!" + +"Ah, my leetle brother, it is YOU who have changed!" said Enriquez +dolorously. "Is it that you no more understand American, or have the +'big head' of the editor? Regard me! Of these Aztecs my wife have made +study. She have pursued the little nigger to his cave, his grotto, where +he is dead a thousand year. I have myself assist, though I like it not, +because thees mummy, look you, Pancho, is not lively. And the mummy who +is not dead, believe me! even the young lady mummy, you shall not take +to your heart. But my wife"--he stopped, and kissed his hand toward the +door whence she had flitted--"ah, SHE is wonderful! She has made the +story of them, the peecture of them, from the life and on the instant! +You shall take them, my leetle brother, for your journal; you shall +announce in the big letter: 'Mooch Importance. The Aztec, He is Found.' +'How He Look and Lif.' 'The Everlasting Nigger.' You shall sell many +paper, and Urania shall have scoop in much spondulics and rocks. +Hoop-la! For--you comprehend?--my wife and I have settled that she shall +forgif her oncle; I shall forgif my father; but from them we take no +cent, not a red, not a scad! We are independent! Of ourselves we make a +Fourth of July. United we stand; divided we shall fall over! There you +are! Bueno!" + +It was impossible to resist his wild, yet perfectly sincere, +extravagance, his dancing black eyes and occasional flash of white teeth +in his otherwise immovable and serious countenance. Nevertheless, I +managed to say:-- + +"But how about yourself, Enriquez, and this geology, you know?" + +His eyes twinkled. "Ah, you shall hear. But first you shall take a +drink. I have the very old Bourbon. He is not so old as the Aztec, but, +believe me, he is very much liflier. Attend! Hol' on!" He was already +rummaging on a shelf, but apparently without success; then he explored +a buffet, with no better results, and finally attacked a large drawer, +throwing out on the floor, with his old impetuosity, a number of +geological specimens, carefully labeled. I picked up one that had rolled +near me. It was labeled "Conglomerate sandstone." I picked up another: +it had the same label. + +"Then you are really collecting?" I said, with astonishment. + +"Ciertamente," responded Enriquez,--"what other fool shall I look? I +shall relate of this geology when I shall have found this beast of a +bottle. Ah, here he have hide!" He extracted from a drawer a bottle +nearly full of spirits,--tippling was not one of Enriquez's vices. "You +shall say 'when.' 'Ere's to our noble selfs!" + +When he had drunk, I picked up another fragment of his collection. It +had the same label. "You are very rich in 'conglomerate sandstone,'" I +said. "Where do you find it?" + +"In the street," said Enriquez, with great calmness. + +"In the street?" I echoed. + +"Yes, my friend! He ees call the 'cobblestone,' also the +'pouding-stone,' when he ees at his home in the country. He ees also +a small 'boulder.' I pick him up; I crack him; he made three separate +piece of conglomerate sandstone. I bring him home to my wife in my +pocket. She rejoice; we are happy. When comes the efening, I sit down +and make him a label; while my wife, she sit down and write of the +Aztec. Ah, my friend, you shall say of the geology it ees a fine, a +BEAUTIFUL study; but the study of the wife, and what shall please her, +believe me, ees much finer! Believe your old Uncle 'Ennery every time! +On thees question he gets there; he gets left, nevarre!" + +"But Professor Dobbs, your geologian, what does HE say to this frequent +recurrence of the conglomerate sandstone period in your study?" I asked +quickly. + +"He say nothing. You comprehend? He ees a profound geologian, but he +also has the admiration excessif for my wife Urania." He stopped to kiss +his hand again toward the door, and lighted a cigarette. "The geologian +would not that he should break up the happy efening of his friends +by thees small detail. He put aside his head--so; he say, 'A leetle +freestone, a leetle granite, now and then, for variety; they are +building in Montgomery Street.' I take the hint, like a wink to the +horse that has gone blind. I attach to myself part of the edifice that +is erecting himself in Montgomery Street. I crack him; I bring him +home. I sit again at the feet of my beautiful Urania, and I label him +'Freestone,' 'Granite;' but I do not say 'from Parrott's Bank'--eet is +not necessary for our happiness." + +"And you do this sort of thing only because you think it pleases your +wife?" I asked bluntly. + +"My friend," rejoined Enriquez, perching himself on the back of the +sofa, and caressing his knees as he puffed his cigarette meditatively, +"you have ask a conundrum. Gif to me an easier one! It is of truth that +I make much of these thing to please Urania. But I shall confess all. +Behold, I appear to you, my leetle brother, in my camisa--my shirt! I +blow on myself; I gif myself away." + +He rose gravely from the sofa, and drew a small box from one of the +drawers of the wardrobe. Opening it, he discovered several specimens of +gold-bearing quartz, and one or two scales of gold. "Thees," he said, +"friend Pancho, is my own geology; for thees I am what you see. But I +say nothing to Urania; for she have much disgust of mere gold,--of what +she calls 'vulgar mining,'--and believe me, a fear of the effect of +'speculation' upon my temperamento--you comprehend my complexion, my +brother? Reflect upon it, Pancho! I, who am the filosofo, if that I am +anything!" He looked at me with great levity of eye and supernatural +gravity of demeanor. "But eet ees the jealous affection of the wife, +my friend, for which I make play to her with the humble leetle +pouding-stone rather than the gold quartz that affrights." + +"But what do you want with them, if you have no shares in anything and +do not speculate?" I asked. + +"Pardon! That ees where you slip up, my leetle friend." He took from the +same drawer a clasped portfolio, and unlocked it, producing half a dozen +prospectuses and certificates of mining shares. I stood aghast as I +recognized the names of one or two extravagant failures of the last ten +years,--"played-out" mines that had been galvanized into deceptive life +in London, Paris, and New York, to the grief of shareholders abroad +and the laughter of the initiated at home. I could scarcely keep my +equanimity. "You do not mean to say that you have any belief or interest +in this rubbish?" I said quickly. + +"What you call 'rubbish,' my good Pancho, ees the rubbish that the +American speculator have dump himself upon them in the shaft, the +rubbish of the advertisement, of the extravagant expense, of the salary, +of the assessment, of the 'freeze-out.' For thees, look you, is the old +Mexican mine. My grandfather and hees father have both seen them work +before you were born, and the American knew not there was gold in +California." + +I knew he spoke truly. One or two were original silver mines in the +south, worked by peons and Indian slaves, a rope windlass, and a +venerable donkey. + +"But those were silver mines," I said suspiciously, "and these are gold +specimens." + +"They are from the same mother," said the imperturbable Enriquez,--"the +same mine. The old peons worked him for SILVER, the precious dollar that +buy everything, that he send in the galleon to the Philippines for +the silk and spice! THAT is good enough for HIM! For the gold he made +nothing, even as my leetle wife Urania. And regard me here! There ees a +proverb of my father's which say that 'it shall take a gold mine to +work a silver mine,' so mooch more he cost. You work him, you are lost! +Naturalmente, if you turn him round, if it take you only a silver mine +to work a gold mine, you are gain. Thees ees logic!" + +The intense gravity of his face at this extraordinary deduction upset +my own. But as I was never certain that Enriquez was not purposely +mystifying me, with some ulterior object, I could not help saying a +little wickedly:-- + +"Yes, I understand all that; but how about this geologian? Will he not +tell your wife? You know he was a great admirer of hers." + +"That shall show the great intelligence of him, my Pancho. He will have +the four S's,' especially the secreto!" + +There could be no serious discussion in his present mood. I gathered up +the pages of his wife's manuscript, said lightly that, as she had the +first claim upon my time, I should examine the Aztec material and report +in a day or two. As I knew I had little chance in the hands of these two +incomprehensibles together, I begged him not to call his wife, but +to convey my adieus to her, and, in spite of his embraces and +protestations, I managed to get out of the room. But I had scarcely +reached the front door when I heard Enriquez's voice and his bounding +step on the stairs. In another moment his arm was round my neck. + +"You must return on the instant! Mother of God! I haf forget, SHE haf +forget, WE all haf forget! But you have not seen him!" + +"Seen whom?" + +"El nino, the baby! You comprehend, pig! The criaturica, the leetle +child of ourselfs!" + +"The baby?" I said confusedly. "IS there--is there a BABY?" + +"You hear him?" said Enriquez, sending an appealing voice upward. "You +hear him, Urania? You comprehend. This beast of a leetle brother demands +if there ees one!" + +"I beg your pardon," I said, hurriedly reascending the stairs. On the +landing I met Mrs. Saltillo, but as calm, composed, and precise as +her husband was extravagant and vehement. "It was an oversight of +Enriquez's," she said quietly, reentering the room with us; "and was all +the more strange, as the child was in the room with you all the time." + +She pointed to the corner of the wall, where hung what I had believed +to be an old Indian relic. To my consternation, it WAS a bark +"papoose-case," occupied by a LIVING child, swathed and bandaged after +the approved Indian fashion. It was asleep, I believe, but it opened a +pair of bright huckleberry eyes, set in the smallest of features, that +were like those of a carved ivory idol, and uttered a "coo" at the sound +of its mother's voice. She stood on one side with unruffled composure, +while Enriquez threw himself into an attitude before it, with clasped +hands, as if it had been an image of the Holy Child. For myself, I was +too astounded to speak; luckily, my confusion was attributed to the +inexperience of a bachelor. + +"I have adopted," said Mrs. Saltillo, with the faintest touch of +maternal pride in her manner, "what I am convinced is the only natural +and hygienic mode of treating the human child. It may be said to be +a reversion to the aborigine, but I have yet to learn that it is not +superior to our civilized custom. By these bandages the limbs of the +infant are kept in proper position until they are strong enough to +support the body, and such a thing as malformation is unknown. It is +protected by its cradle, which takes the place of its incubating-shell, +from external injury, the injudicious coddling of nurses, the so-called +'dancings' and pernicious rockings. The supine position, as in the +adult, is imposed only at night. By the aid of this strap it may be +carried on long journeys, either by myself or by Enriquez, who thus +shares with me, as he fully recognizes, its equal responsibility and +burden." + +"It--certainly does not--cry," I stammered. + +"Crying," said Mrs. Saltillo, with a curve of her pretty red lip, "is +the protest of the child against insanitary and artificial treatment. +In its upright, unostentatious cradle it is protected against that +injudicious fondling and dangerous promiscuous osculation to which, as +an infant in human arms, it is so often subjected. Above all, it is kept +from that shameless and mortifying publicity so unjust to the weak and +unformed animal. The child repays this consideration by a gratifying +silence. It cannot be expected to understand our thoughts, speech, or +actions; it cannot participate in our pleasures. Why should it be +forced into premature contact with them, merely to feed our vanity or +selfishness? Why should we assume our particular parental accident +as superior to the common lot? If we do not give our offspring that +prominence before our visitors so common to the young wife and husband, +it is for that reason solely; and this may account for what seemed the +forgetfulness of Enriquez in speaking of it or pointing it out to +you. And I think his action in calling you back to see it was somewhat +precipitate. As one does not usually introduce an unknown and inferior +stranger without some previous introduction, he might have asked you if +you wished to see the baby before he recalled you." + +I looked from Urania's unfathomable eyes to Enriquez's impenetrable +countenance. I might have been equal to either of them alone, but +together they were invincible. I looked hopelessly at the baby. With +its sharp little eyes and composed face, it certainly was a marvelous +miniature of Enriquez. I said so. + +"It would be singular if it was not," said Mrs. Saltillo dryly; "and as +I believe it is by no means an uncommon fact in human nature, it seems +to me strange that people should insist upon it as a discovery. It is +an inheritance, however, that in due time progress and science will no +doubt interrupt, to the advancement of the human race. I need not +say that both Enriquez and myself look forward to it with confident +tranquillity." + +There was clearly nothing for me to do now but to shake hands again and +take my leave. Yet I was so much impressed with the unreality of the +whole scene that when I reached the front door I had a strong impulse +to return suddenly and fall in upon them in their relaxed and natural +attitudes. They could not keep up this pose between themselves; and I +half expected to see their laughing faces at the window, as I glanced up +before wending my perilous way to the street. + +I found Mrs. Saltillo's manuscript well written and, in the narrative +parts, even graphic and sparkling. I suppressed some general remarks +on the universe, and some correlative theories of existence, as +not appertaining particularly to the Aztecs, and as not meeting any +unquenchable thirst for information on the part of the readers of the +"Daily Excelsior." I even promoted my fair contributor to the position +of having been commissioned, at great expense, to make the Mexican +journey especially for the "Excelsior." This, with Mrs. Saltillo's +somewhat precise preraphaelite drawings and water-colors, vilely +reproduced by woodcuts, gave quite a sensational air to her production, +which, divided into parts, for two or three days filled a whole page +of the paper. I am not aware of any particular service that it did to +ethnology; but, as I pointed out in the editorial column, it showed that +the people of California were not given over by material greed to the +exclusion of intellectual research; and as it was attacked instantly +in long communications from one or two scientific men, it thus produced +more copy. + +Briefly, it was a boom for the author and the "Daily Excelsior." I +should add, however, that a rival newspaper intimated that it was also a +boom for Mrs. Saitillo's HUSBAND, and called attention to the fact that +a deserted Mexican mine, known as "El Bolero," was described graphically +in the Aztec article among the news, and again appeared in the +advertising columns of the same paper. I turned somewhat indignantly +to the file of the "Excelsior," and, singularly enough, found in the +elaborate prospectus of a new gold-mining company the description of the +El Bolero mine as a QUOTATION from the Aztec article, with extraordinary +inducements for the investment of capital in the projected working of an +old mine. If I had had any difficulty in recognizing in the extravagant +style the flamboyant hand of Enriquez in English writing, I might have +read his name plainly enough displayed as president of the company. It +was evidently the prospectus of one of the ventures he had shown me. I +was more amused than indignant at the little trick he had played upon +my editorial astuteness. After all, if I had thus benefited the young +couple I was satisfied. I had not seen them since my first visit, as I +was very busy,--my communications with Mrs. Saltillo had been carried on +by letters and proofs,--and when I did finally call at their house, it +was only to find that they were visiting at San Jose. I wondered whether +the baby was still hanging on the wall, or, if he was taken with them, +who carried him. + +A week later the stock of El Bolero was quoted at par. More than that, +an incomprehensible activity had been given to all the deserted Mexican +mines, and people began to look up scrip hitherto thrown aside as +worthless. Whether it was one of those extraordinary fevers which +attacked Californian speculation in the early days, or whether Enriquez +Saltillo had infected the stock-market with his own extravagance, I +never knew; but plans as wild, inventions as fantastic, and arguments +as illogical as ever emanated from his own brain, were set forth "on +'Change" with a gravity equal to his own. The most reasonable hypothesis +was that it was the effect of the well-known fact that the Spanish +Californian hitherto had not been a mining speculator, nor connected +in any way with the gold production on his native soil, deeming it +inconsistent with his patriarchal life and landed dignity, and that when +a "son of one of the oldest Spanish families, identified with the land +and its peculiar character for centuries, lent himself to its mineral +exploitations,"--I beg to say that I am quoting from the advertisement +in the "Excelsior,"--"it was a guerdon of success." This was so far true +that in a week Enriquez Saltillo was rich, and in a fair way to become a +millionaire. + + +It was a hot afternoon when I alighted from the stifling Wingdam coach, +and stood upon the cool, deep veranda of the Carquinez Springs Hotel. +After I had shaken off the dust which had lazily followed us, in our +descent of the mountain road, like a red smoke, occasionally overflowing +the coach windows, I went up to the room I had engaged for my brief +holiday. I knew the place well, although I could see that the hotel +itself had lately been redecorated and enlarged to meet the increasing +requirements of fashion. I knew the forest of enormous redwoods where +one might lose one's self in a five minutes' walk from the veranda. I +knew the rocky trail that climbed the mountain to the springs, twisting +between giant boulders. I knew the arid garden, deep in the wayside +dust, with its hurriedly planted tropical plants, already withering in +the dry autumn sunshine, and washed into fictitious freshness, night +and morning by the hydraulic irrigating-hose. I knew, too, the cool, +reposeful night winds that swept down from invisible snow-crests beyond, +with the hanging out of monstrous stars, that too often failed to bring +repose to the feverish guests. For the overstrained neurotic workers +who fled hither from the baking plains of Sacramento, or from the chill +sea-fogs of San Francisco, never lost the fierce unrest that had driven +them here. Unaccustomed to leisure, their enforced idleness impelled +them to seek excitement in the wildest gayeties; the bracing mountain +air only reinvigorated them to pursue pleasure as they had pursued the +occupations they had left behind. Their sole recreations were furious +drives over break-neck roads; mad, scampering cavalcades through the +sedate woods; gambling parties in private rooms, where large sums were +lost by capitalists on leave; champagne suppers; and impromptu balls +that lasted through the calm, reposeful night to the first rays of light +on the distant snowline. Unimaginative men, in their temporary sojourn +they more often outraged or dispossessed nature in her own fastnesses +than courted her for sympathy or solitude. There were playing-cards left +lying behind boulders, and empty champagne bottles forgotten in forest +depths. + +I remembered all this when, refreshed by a bath, I leaned from the +balcony of my room and watched the pulling up of a brake, drawn by six +dusty, foam-bespattered horses, driven by a noted capitalist. As +its hot, perspiring, closely veiled yet burning-faced fair occupants +descended, in all the dazzling glory of summer toilets, and I saw the +gentlemen consult their watches with satisfaction, and congratulate +their triumphant driver, I knew the characteristic excitement they had +enjoyed from a "record run," probably for a bet, over a mountain road in +a burning sun. + +"Not bad, eh? Forty-four minutes from the summit!" + +The voice seemed at my elbow. I turned quickly, to recognize an +acquaintance, a young San Francisco broker, leaning from the next +balcony to mine. But my attention was just then preoccupied by the face +and figure, which seemed familiar to me, of a woman who was alighting +from the brake. + +"Who is that?" I asked; "the straight slim woman in gray, with the white +veil twisted round her felt hat?" + +"Mrs. Saltillo," he answered; "wife of 'El Bolero' Saltillo, don't you +know. Mighty pretty woman, if she is a little stiffish and set up." + +Then I had not been mistaken! "Is Enriquez--is her husband--here?" I +asked quickly. + +The man laughed. "I reckon not. This is the place for other people's +husbands, don't you know." + +Alas! I DID know; and as there flashed upon me all the miserable +scandals and gossip connected with this reckless, frivolous caravansary, +I felt like resenting his suggestion. But my companion's next words were +more significant:-- + +"Besides, if what they say is true, Saltillo wouldn't be very popular +here." + +"I don't understand," I said quickly. + +"Why, after all that row he had with the El Bolero Company." + +"I never heard of any row," I said, in astonishment. + +The broker laughed incredulously. "Come! and YOU a newspaper man! Well, +maybe they DID try to hush it up, and keep it out of the papers, on +account of the stock. But it seems he got up a reg'lar shindy with the +board, one day; called 'em thieves and swindlers, and allowed he was +disgracing himself as a Spanish hidalgo by having anything to do with +'em. Talked, they say, about Charles V. of Spain, or some other royal +galoot, giving his ancestors the land in trust! Clean off his head, +I reckon. Then shunted himself off the company, and sold out. You can +guess he wouldn't be very popular around here, with Jim Bestley, there," +pointing to the capitalist who had driven the brake, "who used to be on +the board with him. No, sir. He was either lying low for something, or +was off his head. Think of his throwing up a place like that!" + +"Nonsense!" I said indignantly. "He is mercurial, and has the quick +impulsiveness of his race, but I believe him as sane as any who sat with +him on the board. There must be some mistake, or you haven't got the +whole story." Nevertheless, I did not care to discuss an old friend +with a mere acquaintance, and I felt secretly puzzled to account for his +conduct, in the face of his previous cleverness in manipulating the El +Bolero, and the undoubted fascination he had previously exercised over +the stockholders. The story had, of course, been garbled in repetition. +I had never before imagined what might be the effect of Enriquez's +peculiar eccentricities upon matter-of-fact people,--I had found them +only amusing,--and the broker's suggestion annoyed me. However, Mrs. +Saltillo was here in the hotel, and I should, of course, meet her. Would +she be as frank with me? + +I was disappointed at not finding her in the drawing-room or on the +veranda; and the heat being still unusually oppressive, I strolled out +toward the redwoods, hesitating for a moment in the shade before I ran +the fiery gauntlet of the garden. To my surprise, I had scarcely passed +the giant sentinels on its outskirts before I found that, from some +unusual condition of the atmosphere, the cold undercurrent of air +which generally drew through these pillared aisles was withheld that +afternoon; it was absolutely hotter than in the open, and the wood was +charged throughout with the acrid spices of the pine. I turned back to +the hotel, reascended to my bedroom, and threw myself in an armchair by +the open window. My room was near the end of a wing; the corner room at +the end was next to mine, on the same landing. Its closed door, at right +angles to my open one, gave upon the staircase, but was plainly visible +from where I sat. I remembered being glad that it was shut, as it +enabled me without offense to keep my own door open. + +The house was very quiet. The leaves of a catalpa, across the roadway, +hung motionless. Somebody yawned on the veranda below. I threw away +my half-finished cigar, and closed my eyes. I think I had not lost +consciousness for more than a few seconds before I was awakened by the +shaking and thrilling of the whole building. As I staggered to my feet, +I saw the four pictures hanging against the wall swing outwardly from +it on their cords, and my door swing back against the wall. At the same +moment, acted upon by the same potential impulse, the door of the end +room in the hall, opposite the stairs, also swung open. In that brief +moment I had a glimpse of the interior of the room, of two figures, a +man and a woman, the latter clinging to her companion in abject terror. +It was only for an instant, for a second thrill passed through the +house, the pictures clattered back against the wall, the door of the end +room closed violently on its strange revelation, and my own door swung +back also. Apprehensive of what might happen, I sprang toward it, but +only to arrest it an inch or two before it should shut, when, as my +experience had taught me, it might stick by the subsidence of the walls. +But it did stick ajar, and remained firmly fixed in that position. From +the clattering of the knob of the other door, and the sound of hurried +voices behind it, I knew that the same thing had happened there when +that door had fully closed. + +I was familiar enough with earthquakes to know that, with the second +shock or subsidence of the earth, the immediate danger was passed, and +so I was able to note more clearly what else was passing. There was the +usual sudden stampede of hurrying feet, the solitary oath and scream, +the half-hysterical laughter, and silence. Then the tumult was +reawakened to the sound of high voices, talking all together, or the +impatient calling of absentees in halls and corridors. Then I heard +the quick swish of female skirts on the staircase, and one of the fair +guests knocked impatiently at the door of the end room, still immovably +fixed. At the first knock there was a sudden cessation of the hurried +whisperings and turning of the doorknob. + +"Mrs. Saltillo, are you there? Are you frightened?" she called. + +"Mrs. Saltillo"! It was SHE, then, who was in the room! I drew nearer +my door, which was still fixed ajar. Presently a voice,--Mrs. Saltillo's +voice,--with a constrained laugh in it, came from behind the door: "Not +a bit. I'll come down in a minute." + +"Do," persisted the would-be intruder. "It's all over now, but we're all +going out into the garden; it's safer." + +"All right," answered Mrs. Saltillo. "Don't wait, dear. I'll follow. Run +away, now." + +The visitor, who was evidently still nervous, was glad to hurry away, +and I heard her retreating step on the staircase. The rattling of the +door began again, and at last it seemed to yield to a stronger pull, +and opened sufficiently to allow Mrs. Saltillo to squeeze through. I +withdrew behind my door. I fancied that it creaked as she passed, as if, +noticing it ajar, she had laid an inquiring hand upon it. I waited, but +she was not followed by any one. I wondered if I had been mistaken. I +was going to the bell-rope to summon assistance to move my own door when +a sudden instinct withheld me. If there was any one still in that room, +he might come from it just as the servant answered my call, and a public +discovery would be unavoidable. I was right. In another instant the +figure of a man, whose face I could not discern, slipped out of the +room, passed my door, and went stealthily down the staircase. + +Convinced of this, I resolved not to call public attention to my being +in my own room at the time of the incident; so I did not summon any one, +but, redoubling my efforts, I at last opened the door sufficiently to +pass out, and at once joined the other guests in the garden. Already, +with characteristic recklessness and audacity, the earthquake was +made light of; the only dictate of prudence had resolved itself into +a hilarious proposal to "camp out" in the woods all night, and have +a "torch-light picnic." Even then preparations were being made for +carrying tents, blankets, and pillows to the adjacent redwoods; dinner +and supper, cooked at campfires, were to be served there on stumps of +trees and fallen logs. The convulsion of nature had been used as an +excuse for one of the wildest freaks of extravagance that Carquinez +Springs had ever known. Perhaps that quick sense of humor which +dominates the American male in exigencies of this kind kept the +extravagances from being merely bizarre and grotesque, and it was +presently known that the hotel and its menage were to be appropriately +burlesqued by some of the guests, who, attired as Indians, would +personate the staff, from the oracular hotel proprietor himself down to +the smart hotel clerk. + +During these arrangements I had a chance of drawing near Mrs. Saltillo. +I fancied she gave a slight start as she recognized me; but her +greetings were given with her usual precision. "Have you been here +long?" she asked. + +"I have only just come," I replied laughingly; "in time for the shock." + +"Ah, you felt it, then? I was telling these ladies that our eminent +geologist, Professor Dobbs, assured me that these seismic disturbances +in California have a very remote centre, and are seldom serious." + +"It must be very satisfactory to have the support of geology at such a +moment," I could not help saying, though I had not the slightest idea +whose the figure was that I had seen, nor, indeed, had I recognized +it among the guests. She did not seem to detect any significance in +my speech, and I added: "And where is Enriquez? He would enjoy this +proposed picnic to-night." + +"Enriquez is at Salvatierra Rancho, which he lately bought from his +cousin." + +"And the baby? Surely, here is a chance for you to hang him up on a +redwood tonight, in his cradle." + +"The boy," said Mrs. Saltillo quickly, "is no longer in his cradle; he +has passed the pupa state, and is now free to develop his own perfected +limbs. He is with his father. I do not approve of children being +submitted to the indiscriminate attentions of a hotel. I am here myself +only for that supply of ozone indicated for brain exhaustion." + +She looked so pretty and prim in her gray dress, so like her old correct +self, that I could not think of anything but her mental attitude, which +did not, by the way, seem much like mental depression. Yet I was aware +that I was getting no information of Enriquez's condition or affairs, +unless the whole story told by the broker was an exaggeration. I did +not, however, dare to ask more particularly. + +"You remember Professor Dobbs?" she asked abruptly. + +This recalled a suspicion awakened by my vision, so suddenly that I +felt myself blushing. She did not seem to notice it, and was perfectly +composed. + +"I do remember him. Is he here?" + +"He is; that is what makes it so particularly unfortunate for me. You +see, after that affair of the board, and Enriquez's withdrawal, although +Enriquez may have been a little precipitate in his energetic way, I +naturally took my husband's part in public; for although we preserve +our own independence inviolable, we believe in absolute confederation as +against society." + +"But what has Professor Dobbs to do with the board?" I interrupted. + +"The professor was scientific and geological adviser to the board, and +it was upon some report or suggestion of his that Enriquez took issue, +against the sentiment of the board. It was a principle affecting +Enriquez's Spanish sense of honor." + +"Do tell me all about it," I said eagerly; "I am very anxious to know +the truth." + +"As I was not present at the time," said Mrs. Saltillo, rebuking my +eagerness with a gentle frigidity, "I am unable to do so. Anything else +would be mere hearsay, and more or less ex parte. I do not approve of +gossip." + +"But what did Enriquez tell you? You surely know that." + +"THAT, being purely confidential, as between husband and wife,--perhaps +I should say partner and partner,--of course you do not expect me to +disclose. Enough that I was satisfied with it. I should not have spoken +to you about it at all, but that, through myself and Enriquez, you are +an acquaintance of the professor's, and I might save you the awkwardness +of presenting yourself with him. Otherwise, although you are a friend of +Enriquez, it need not affect your acquaintance with the professor." + +"Hang the professor!" I ejaculated. "I don't care a rap for HIM." + +"Then I differ with you," said Mrs. Saltillo, with precision. "He is +distinctly an able man, and one cannot but miss the contact of his +original mind and his liberal teachings." + +Here she was joined by one of the ladies, and I lounged away. I dare say +it was very mean and very illogical, but the unsatisfactory character +of this interview made me revert again to the singular revelation I had +seen a few hours before. I looked anxiously for Professor Dobbs; but +when I did meet him, with an indifferent nod of recognition, I found +I could by no means identify him with the figure of her mysterious +companion. And why should I suspect him at all, in the face of Mrs. +Saltillo's confessed avoidance of him? Who, then, could it have been? I +had seen them but an instant, in the opening and the shutting of a door. +It was merely the shadowy bulk of a man that flitted past my door, +after all. Could I have imagined the whole thing? Were my perceptive +faculties--just aroused from slumber, too insufficiently clear to be +relied upon? Would I not have laughed had Urania, or even Enriquez +himself, told me such a story? + +As I reentered the hotel the clerk handed me a telegram. "There's been +a pretty big shake all over the country," he said eagerly. "Everybody +is getting news and inquiries from their friends. Anything fresh?" He +paused interrogatively as I tore open the envelope. The dispatch had +been redirected from the office of the "Daily Excelsior." It was dated, +"Salvatierra Rancho," and contained a single line: "Come and see your +old uncle 'Ennery." + +There was nothing in the wording of the message that was unlike +Enriquez's usual light-hearted levity, but the fact that he should have +TELEGRAPHED it to me struck me uneasily. That I should have received it +at the hotel where his wife and Professor Dobbs were both staying, and +where I had had such a singular experience, seemed to me more than a +mere coincidence. An instinct that the message was something personal +to Enriquez and myself kept me from imparting it to Mrs. Saltillo. After +worrying half the night in our bizarre camp in the redwoods, in the +midst of a restless festivity which was scarcely the repose I had been +seeking at Carquinez Springs, I resolved to leave the next day for +Salvatierra Rancho. I remembered the rancho,--a low, golden-brown, +adobe-walled quadrangle, sleeping like some monstrous ruminant in a +hollow of the Contra Costa Range. I recalled, in the midst of this noisy +picnic, the slumberous coolness of its long corridors and soundless +courtyard, and hailed it as a relief. The telegram was a sufficient +excuse for my abrupt departure. In the morning I left, but without again +seeing either Mrs. Saltillo or the professor. + +It was late the next afternoon when I rode through the canada that led +to the rancho. I confess my thoughts were somewhat gloomy, in spite of +my escape from the noisy hotel; but this was due to the sombre scenery +through which I had just ridden, and the monotonous russet of the +leagues of wild oats. As I approached the rancho, I saw that Enriquez +had made no attempt to modernize the old casa, and that even the garden +was left in its lawless native luxuriance, while the rude tiled sheds +near the walled corral contained the old farming implements, unchanged +for a century, even to the ox-carts, the wheels of which were made of a +single block of wood. A few peons, in striped shirts and velvet +jackets, were sunning themselves against a wall, and near them hung +a half-drained pellejo, or goatskin water-bag. The air of absolute +shiftlessness must have been repellent to Mrs. Saltillo's orderly +precision, and for a moment I pitied her. But it was equally +inconsistent with Enriquez's enthusiastic ideas of American progress, +and the extravagant designs he had often imparted to me of the +improvements he would make when he had a fortune. I was feeling uneasy +again, when I suddenly heard the rapid clack of unshod hoofs on a rocky +trail that joined my own. At the same instant a horseman dashed past me +at full speed. I had barely time to swerve my own horse aside to avoid a +collision, yet in that brief moment I recognized the figure of Enriquez. +But his face I should have scarcely known. It was hard and fixed. His +upper lip and thin, penciled mustache were drawn up over his teeth, +which were like a white gash in his dark face. He turned into the +courtyard of the rancho. I put spurs to my horse, and followed, in +nervous expectation. He turned in his saddle as I entered. But the next +moment he bounded from his horse, and, before I could dismount, flew to +my side and absolutely lifted me from the saddle to embrace me. It was +the old Enriquez again; his face seemed to have utterly changed in that +brief moment. + +"This is all very well, old chap," I said; "but do you know that you +nearly ran me down, just now, with that infernal half-broken mustang? Do +you usually charge the casa at that speed?" + +"Pardon, my leetle brother! But here you shall slip up. The mustang is +not HALF-broken; he is not broke at all! Look at his hoof--never have +a shoe been there. For myself--attend me! When I ride alone, I +think mooch; when I think mooch I think fast; my idea he go like a +cannon-ball! Consequent, if I ride not thees horse like the cannon-ball, +my thought HE arrive first, and where are you? You get left! Believe +me that I fly thees horse, thees old Mexican plug, and your de' uncle +'Ennery and his leetle old idea arrive all the same time, and on the +instant." + +It WAS the old Enriquez! I perfectly understood his extravagant speech +and illustration, and yet for the first time I wondered if others did. + +"Tak'-a-drink!" he said, all in one word. "You shall possess the old +Bourbon or the rhum from the Santa Cruz! Name your poison, gentlemen!" + +He had already dragged me up the steps from the patio to the veranda, +and seated me before a small round table still covered with the +chocolate equipage of the morning. A little dried-up old Indian woman +took it away, and brought the spirits and glasses. + +"Mirar the leetle old one!" said Enriquez, with unflinching gravity. +"Consider her, Pancho, to the bloosh! She is not truly an Aztec, but +she is of years one hundred and one, and LIFS! Possibly she haf not the +beauty which ravishes, which devastates. But she shall attent you to the +hot water, to the bath. Thus shall you be protect, my leetle brother, +from scandal." + +"Enriquez," I burst out suddenly, "tell me about yourself. Why did you +leave the El Bolero board? What was the row about?" + +Enriquez's eyes for a moment glittered; then they danced as before. + +"Ah," he said, "you have heard?" + +"Something; but I want to know the truth from you." + +He lighted a cigarette, lifted himself backward into a grass hammock, on +which he sat, swinging his feet. Then, pointing to another hammock, he +said: "Tranquillize yourself there. I will relate; but, truly, it ees +nothing." + +He took a long pull at his cigarette, and for a few moments +seemed quietly to exude smoke from his eyes, ears, nose, even his +finger-ends--everywhere, in fact, but his mouth. That and his mustache +remained fixed. Then he said slowly, flicking away the ashes with his +little finger:-- + +"First you understand, friend Pancho, that I make no row. The other +themself make the row, the shindig. They make the dance, the howl, the +snap of the finger, the oath, the 'Helen blazes,' the 'Wot the devil,' +the 'That be d--d,' the bad language; they themselves finger the +revolver, advance the bowie-knife, throw off the coat, square off, and +say 'Come on.' I remain as you see me now, little brother--tranquil." +He lighted another cigarette, made his position more comfortable in the +hammock, and resumed: "The Professor Dobbs, who is the geologian of the +company, made a report for which he got two thousand dollar. But thees +report--look you, friend Pancho--he is not good for the mine. For in the +hole in the ground the Professor Dobbs have found a 'hoss.'" + +"A what?" I asked. + +"A hoss," repeated Enriquez, with infinite gravity. "But not, leetle +Pancho, the hoss that run, the hoss that buck-jump, but what the miner +call a 'hoss,' a something that rear up in the vein and stop him. You +pick around the hoss; you pick under him; sometimes you find the vein, +sometimes you do not. The hoss rear up, and remain! Eet ees not good for +the mine. The board say, 'D--- the hoss!' 'Get rid of the hoss.' 'Chuck +out the hoss.' Then they talk together, and one say to the Professor +Dobbs: 'Eef you cannot thees hoss remove from the mine, you can take +him out of the report.' He look to me, thees professor. I see nothing; I +remain tranquil. Then the board say: 'Thees report with the hoss in +him is worth two thousand dollar, but WITHOUT the hoss he is worth five +thousand dollar. For the stockholder is frighted of the rearing hoss. It +is of a necessity that the stockholder should remain tranquil. Without +the hoss the report is good; the stock shall errise; the director +shall sell out, and leave the stockholder the hoss to play with.' The +professor he say, 'Al-right;' he scratch out the hoss, sign his name, +and get a check for three thousand dollar." + +"Then I errise--so!" He got up from the hammock, suiting the action +to the word, and during the rest of his narrative, I honestly believe, +assumed the same attitude and deliberate intonation he had exhibited at +the board. I could even fancy I saw the reckless, cynical faces of +his brother directors turned upon his grim, impassive features. "I am +tranquil. I smoke my cigarette. I say that for three hundred year my +family have held the land of thees mine; that it pass from father to +son, and from son to son; it pass by gift, it pass by grant, but that +NEVARRE THERE PASS A LIE WITH IT! I say it was a gift by a Spanish +Christian king to a Christian hidalgo for the spread of the gospel, and +not for the cheat and the swindle! I say that this mine was worked +by the slave, and by the mule, by the ass, but never by the cheat and +swindler. I say that if they have struck the hoss in the mine, they have +struck a hoss IN THE LAND, a Spanish hoss; a hoss that have no bridle +worth five thousand dollar in his mouth, but a hoss to rear, and a +hoss that cannot be struck out by a Yankee geologian; and that hoss is +Enriquez Saltillo!" + +He paused, and laid aside his cigarette. + +"Then they say, 'Dry up,' and 'Sell out;' and the great bankers say, +'Name your own price for your stock, and resign.' And I say, 'There is +not enough gold in your bank, in your San Francisco, in the mines of +California, that shall buy a Spanish gentleman. When I leave, I leave +the stock at my back; I shall take it, nevarre! Then the banker he say, +'And you will go and blab, I suppose?' And then, Pancho, I smile, I +pick up my mustache--so! and I say: 'Pardon, senor, you haf mistake, The +Saltillo haf for three hundred year no stain, no blot upon him. Eet is +not now--the last of the race--who shall confess that he haf sit at a +board of disgrace and dishonor!' And then it is that the band begin to +play, and the animals stand on their hind leg and waltz, and behold, the +row he haf begin!" + +I ran over to him, and fairly hugged him. But he put me aside with +a gentle and philosophical calm. "Ah, eet is nothing, Pancho. It is, +believe me, all the same a hundred years to come, and where are you, +then? The earth he turn round, and then come el temblor, the earthquake, +and there you are! Bah! eet is not of the board that I have asked you +to come; it is something else I would tell you. Go and wash yourself +of thees journey, my leetle brother, as I have"--looking at his narrow, +brown, well-bred hands--"wash myself of the board. Be very careful of +the leetle old woman, Pancho; do not wink to her of the eye! Consider, +my leetle brother, for one hundred and one year he haf been as a nun, a +saint! Disturb not her tranquillity." + +Yes, it was the old Enriquez; but he seemed graver,--if I could use that +word of one of such persistent gravity; only his gravity heretofore had +suggested a certain irony rather than a melancholy which I now fancied I +detected. And what was this "something else" he was to "tell me later"? +Did it refer to Mrs. Saltillo? I had purposely waited for him to speak +of her, before I should say anything of my visit to Carquinez Springs. +I hurried through my ablutions in the hot water, brought in a bronze jar +on the head of the centenarian handmaid; and even while I was smiling +over Enriquez's caution regarding this aged Ruth, I felt I was getting +nervous to hear his news. + +I found him in his sitting-room, or study,--a long, low apartment with +small, deep windows like embrasures in the outer adobe wall, but glazed +in lightly upon the veranda. He was sitting quite abstractedly, with a +pen in his hand, before a table, on which a number of sealed envelopes +were lying. He looked SO formal and methodical for Enriquez. + +"You like the old casa, Pancho?" he said in reply to my praise of its +studious and monastic gloom. "Well, my leetle brother, some day that is +fair--who knows?--it may be at your disposicion; not of our politeness, +but of a truth, friend Pancho. For, if I leave it to my wife"--it was +the first time he had spoken of her--"for my leetle child," he added +quickly, "I shall put in a bond, an obligacion, that my friend Pancho +shall come and go as he will." + +"The Saltillos are a long-lived race," I laughed. "I shall be a +gray-haired man, with a house and family of my own by that time." But I +did not like the way he had spoken. + +"Quien sabe?" he only said, dismissing the question with the national +gesture. After a moment he added: "I shall tell you something that is +strrange, so strrange that you shall say, like the banker say, 'Thees +Enriquez, he ees off his head; he ees a crank, a lunatico;' but it ees a +FACT; believe me, I have said!" + +He rose, and, going to the end of the room, opened a door. It showed +a pretty little room, femininely arranged in Mrs. Saltillo's refined +taste. "Eet is pretty; eet is the room of my wife. Bueno! attend me +now." He closed the door, and walked back to the table. "I have sit here +and write when the earthquake arrive. I have feel the shock, the grind +of the walls on themselves, the tremor, the stagger, and--that--door--he +swing open!" + +"The door?" I said, with a smile that I felt was ghastly. + +"Comprehend me," he said quickly; "it ees not THAT which ees strrange. +The wall lift, the lock slip, the door he fell open; it is frequent; it +comes so ever when the earthquake come. But eet is not my wife's room +I see; it is ANOTHER ROOM, a room I know not. My wife Urania, she stand +there, of a fear, of a tremble; she grasp, she cling to someone. The +earth shake again; the door shut. I jump from my table; I shake and +tumble to the door. I fling him open. Maravilloso! it is the room of my +wife again. She is NOT there; it is empty; it is nothing!" + +I felt myself turning hot and cold by turns. I was horrified, and--and I +blundered. "And who was the other figure?" I gasped. + +"Who?" repeated Enriquez, with a pause, a fixed look at me, and a +sublime gesture. "Who SHOULD it be, but myself, Enriquez Saltillo?" + +A terrible premonition that this was a chivalrous LIE, that it was NOT +himself he had seen, but that our two visions were identical, came upon +me. "After all," I said, with a fixed smile, "if you could imagine you +saw your wife, you could easily imagine you saw yourself too. In the +shock of the moment you thought of HER naturally, for then she would as +naturally seek your protection. You have written for news of her?" + +"No," said Enriquez quietly. + +"No?" I repeated amazedly. + +"You understand, Pancho! Eef it was the trick of my eyes, why should +I affright her for the thing that is not? If it is the truth, and it +arrive to ME, as a warning, why shall I affright her before it come?" + +"Before WHAT comes? What is it a warning of?" I asked impetuously. + +"That we shall be separated! That I go, and she do not." + +To my surprise, his dancing eyes had a slight film over them. "I don't +understand you," I said awkwardly. + +"Your head is not of a level, my Pancho. Thees earthquake he remain for +only ten seconds, and he fling open the door. If he remain for twenty +seconds, he fling open the wall, the hoose toomble, and your friend +Enriquez is feenish." + +"Nonsense!" I said. "Professor--I mean the geologists--say that the +centre of disturbance of these Californian earthquakes is some far-away +point in the Pacific and there never will be any serious convulsions +here." + +"Ah, the geologist," said Enriquez gravely, "understand the hoss that +rear in the mine, and the five thousand dollar, believe me, no more. +He haf lif here three year. My family haf lif here three hundred. My +grandfather saw the earth swallow the church of San Juan Baptista." + +I laughed, until, looking up, I was shocked to see for the first time +that his dancing eyes were moist and shining. But almost instantly he +jumped up, and declared that I had not seen the garden and the corral, +and, linking his arm in mine, swept me like a whirlwind into the patio. +For an hour or two he was in his old invincible spirits. I was glad +I had said nothing of my visit to Carquinez Springs and of seeing his +wife; I determined to avoid it as long as possible; and as he did not +again refer to her, except in the past, it was not difficult. At last +he infected me with his extravagance, and for a while I forgot even the +strangeness of his conduct and his confidences. We walked and talked +together as of old. I understood and enjoyed him perfectly, and it +was not strange that in the end I began to believe that this strange +revelation was a bit of his extravagant acting, got up to amuse me. The +coincidence of his story with my own experience was not, after all, +such a wonderful thing, considering what must have been the nervous +and mental disturbance produced by the earthquake. We dined together, +attended only by Pedro, an old half-caste body-servant. It was easy to +see that the household was carried on economically, and, from a word +or two casually dropped by Enriquez, it appeared that the rancho and +a small sum of money were all that he retained from his former fortune +when he left the El Bolero. The stock he kept intact, refusing to take +the dividend upon it until that collapse of the company should occur +which he confidently predicted, when he would make good the swindled +stockholders. I had no reason to doubt his perfect faith in this. + +The next morning we were up early for a breezy gallop over the three +square miles of Enriquez's estate. I was astounded, when I descended to +the patio, to find Enriquez already mounted, and carrying before him, +astride of the horn of his saddle, a small child,--the identical papoose +of my memorable first visit. But the boy was no longer swathed and +bandaged, although, for security, his plump little body was engirt by +the same sash that encircled his father's own waist. I felt a stirring +of self-reproach; I had forgotten all about him! To my suggestion +that the exercise might be fatiguing to him, Enriquez shrugged his +shoulders:-- + +"Believe me, no! He is ever with me when I go on the pasear. He is not +too yonge. For he shall learn 'to rride, to shoot, and to speak the +truth,' even as the Persian chile. Eet ees all I can gif to him." + +Nevertheless, I think the boy enjoyed it, and I knew he was safe with +such an accomplished horseman as his father. Indeed, it was a fine sight +to see them both careering over the broad plain, Enriquez with jingling +spurs and whirling riata, and the boy, with a face as composed as his +father's, and his tiny hand grasping the end of the flapping rein with +a touch scarcely lighter than the skillful rider's own. It was a lovely +morning; though warm and still, there was a faint haze--a rare thing in +that climate--on the distant range. The sun-baked soil, arid and thirsty +from the long summer drought, and cracked into long fissures, broke +into puffs of dust, with a slight detonation like a pistol-shot, at each +stroke of our pounding hoofs. Suddenly my horse swerved in full gallop, +almost lost his footing, "broke," and halted with braced fore feet, +trembling in every limb. I heard a shout from Enriquez at the same +instant, and saw that he too had halted about a hundred paces from me, +with his hand uplifted in warning, and between us a long chasm in the +dry earth, extending across the whole field. But the trembling of the +horse continued until it communicated itself to me. I was shaking, +too, and, looking about for the cause, when I beheld the most weird and +remarkable spectacle I had ever witnessed. The whole llano, or plain, +stretching to the horizon-line, was DISTINCTLY UNDULATING! The faint +haze of the hills was repeated over its surface, as if a dust had arisen +from some grinding displacement of the soil. I threw myself from my +horse, but the next moment was fain to cling to him, as I felt the +thrill under my very feet. Then there was a pause, and I lifted my +head to look for Enriquez. He was nowhere to be seen! With a terrible +recollection of the fissure that had yawned between us, I sprang to the +saddle again, and spurred the frightened beast toward that point. BUT +IT WAS GONE, TOO! I rode backward and forward repeatedly along the line +where I had seen it only a moment before. The plain lay compact and +uninterrupted, without a crack or fissure. The dusty haze that had +arisen had passed as mysteriously away; the clear outline of the valley +returned; the great field was empty! + +Presently I was aware of the sound of galloping hoofs. I remembered +then--what I had at first forgotten--that a few moments before we had +crossed an arroyo, or dried bed of a stream, depressed below the level +of the field. How foolish that I had not remembered! He had evidently +sought that refuge; there were his returning hoofs. I galloped toward +it, but only to meet a frightened vaquero, who had taken that avenue of +escape to the rancho. + +"Did you see Don Enriquez?" I asked impatiently. + +I saw that the man's terror was extreme, and his eyes were staring in +their sockets. He hastily crossed himself:-- + +"Ah, God, yes!" + +"Where is he?" I demanded. + +"Gone!" + +"Where?" + +He looked at me with staring, vacant eyes, and, pointing to the ground, +said in Spanish: "He has returned to the land of his fathers!" + +We searched for him that day and the next, when the country was aroused +and his neighbors joined in a quest that proved useless. Neither he +nor his innocent burden was ever seen again of men. Whether he had been +engulfed by mischance in some unsuspected yawning chasm in that brief +moment, or had fulfilled his own prophecy by deliberately erasing +himself for some purpose known only to himself, no one ever knew. His +country-people shook their heads and said "it was like a Saltillo." And +the few among his retainers who knew him and loved him, whispered +still more ominously: "He will yet return to his land to confound the +Americanos." + +Yet the widow of Enriquez did NOT marry Professor Dobbs. But she too +disappeared from California, and years afterward I was told that she was +well known to the ingenuous Parisians as the usual wealthy widow "from +South America." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Stories in Light and Shadow, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW *** + +***** This file should be named 2508.txt or 2508.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/0/2508/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + +STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW + +by + +Bret Harte + + +From: "ARGONAUT EDITION" OF THE WORKS OF BRET HARTE, VOL. 13 + +P. F. COLLIER & SON + +NEW YORK + + +CONTENTS + +"UNSER KARL" + +UNCLE JIM AND UNCLE BILLY + +SEE YUP + +THE DESBOROUGH CONNECTIONS + +SALOMY JANE'S KISS + +THE MAN AND THE MOUNTAIN + +THE PASSING OF ENRIQUEZ + + + +STORIES IN LIGHT AND SHADOW + + +"UNSER KARL" + + +The American consul for Schlachtstadt had just turned out of the +broad Konig's Allee into the little square that held his consulate. +Its residences always seemed to him to wear that singularly +uninhabited air peculiar to a street scene in a theatre. The +facades, with their stiff, striped wooden awnings over the windows, +were of the regularity, color, and pattern only seen on the stage, +and conversation carried on in the street below always seemed to be +invested with that perfect confidence and security which surrounds +the actor in his painted desert of urban perspective. Yet it was a +peaceful change to the other byways and highways of Schlachtstadt +which were always filled with an equally unreal and mechanical +soldiery, who appeared to be daily taken out of their boxes of +"caserne" or "depot" and loosely scattered all over the pretty +linden-haunted German town. There were soldiers standing on street +corners; soldiers staring woodenly into shop windows; soldiers +halted suddenly into stone, like lizards, at the approach of +Offiziere; Offiziere lounging stiffly four abreast, sweeping the +pavement with their trailing sabres all at one angle. There were +cavalcades of red hussars, cavalcades of blue hussars, cavalcades +of Uhlans, with glittering lances and pennons--with or without a +band--formally parading; there were straggling "fatigues" or +"details" coming round the corners; there were dusty, businesslike +columns of infantry, going nowhere and to no purpose. And they one +and all seemed to be WOUND UP--for that service--and apparently +always in the same place. In the band of their caps--invariably of +one pattern--was a button, in the centre of which was a square +opening or keyhole. The consul was always convinced that through +this keyhole opening, by means of a key, the humblest caporal wound +up his file, the Hauptmann controlled his lieutenants and non- +commissioned officers, and even the general himself, wearing the +same cap, was subject through his cap to a higher moving power. In +the suburbs, when the supply of soldiers gave out, there were +sentry-boxes; when these dropped off, there were "caissons," or +commissary wagons. And, lest the military idea should ever fail +from out the Schlachtstadt's burgher's mind, there were police in +uniform, street-sweepers in uniform; the ticket-takers, guards, and +sweepers at the Bahnhof were in uniform,--but all wearing the same +kind of cap, with the probability of having been wound up freshly +each morning for their daily work. Even the postman delivered +peaceful invoices to the consul with his side-arms and the air of +bringing dispatches from the field of battle; and the consul +saluted, and felt for a few moments the whole weight of his +consular responsibility. + +Yet, in spite of this military precedence, it did not seem in the +least inconsistent with the decidedly peaceful character of the +town, and this again suggested its utter unreality; wandering cows +sometimes got mixed up with squadrons of cavalry, and did not seem +to mind it; sheep passed singly between files of infantry, or +preceded them in a flock when on the march; indeed, nothing could +be more delightful and innocent than to see a regiment of infantry +in heavy marching order, laden with every conceivable thing they +could want for a week, returning after a cheerful search for an +invisible enemy in the suburbs, to bivouac peacefully among the +cabbages in the market-place. Nobody was ever imposed upon for a +moment by their tremendous energy and severe display; drums might +beat, trumpets blow, dragoons charge furiously all over the +Exercier Platz, or suddenly flash their naked swords in the streets +to the guttural command of an officer--nobody seemed to mind it. +People glanced up to recognize Rudolf or Max "doing their service," +nodded, and went about their business. And although the officers +always wore their side-arms, and at the most peaceful of social +dinners only relinquished their swords in the hall, apparently that +they might be ready to buckle them on again and rush out to do +battle for the Fatherland between the courses, the other guests +only looked upon these weapons in the light of sticks and +umbrellas, and possessed their souls in peace. And when, added to +this singular incongruity, many of these warriors were spectacled, +studious men, and, despite their lethal weapons, wore a slightly +professional air, and were--to a man--deeply sentimental and +singularly simple, their attitude in this eternal Kriegspiel seemed +to the consul more puzzling than ever. + +As he entered his consulate he was confronted with another aspect +of Schlachtstadt quite as wonderful, yet already familiar to him. +For, in spite of these "alarums without," which, however, never +seem to penetrate beyond the town itself, Schlachtstadt and its +suburbs were known all over the world for the manufactures of +certain beautiful textile fabrics, and many of the rank and file of +those warriors had built up the fame and prosperity of the district +over their peaceful looms in wayside cottages. There were great +depots and counting-houses, larger than even the cavalry barracks, +where no other uniform but that of the postman was known. Hence it +was that the consul's chief duty was to uphold the flag of his own +country by the examination and certification of divers invoices +sent to his office by the manufacturers. But, oddly enough, these +business messengers were chiefly women,--not clerks, but ordinary +household servants, and, on busy days, the consulate might have +been mistaken for a female registry office, so filled and possessed +it was by waiting Madchen. Here it was that Gretchen, Lieschen, +and Clarchen, in the cleanest of blue gowns, and stoutly but +smartly shod, brought their invoices in a piece of clean paper, or +folded in a blue handkerchief, and laid them, with fingers more or +less worn and stubby from hard service, before the consul for his +signature. Once, in the case of a very young Madchen, that +signature was blotted by the sweep of a flaxen braid upon it as the +child turned to go; but generally there was a grave, serious +business instinct and sense of responsibility in these girls of +ordinary peasant origin which, equally with their sisters of +France, were unknown to the English or American woman of any class. + +That morning, however, there was a slight stir among those who, +with their knitting, were waiting their turn in the outer office as +the vice-consul ushered the police inspector into the consul's +private office. He was in uniform, of course, and it took him a +moment to recover from his habitual stiff, military salute,--a +little stiffer than that of the actual soldier. + +It was a matter of importance! A stranger had that morning been +arrested in the town and identified as a military deserter. He +claimed to be an American citizen; he was now in the outer office, +waiting the consul's interrogation. + +The consul knew, however, that the ominous accusation had only a +mild significance here. The term "military deserter" included any +one who had in youth emigrated to a foreign country without first +fulfilling his military duty to his fatherland. His first +experiences of these cases had been tedious and difficult,-- +involving a reference to his Minister at Berlin, a correspondence +with the American State Department, a condition of unpleasant +tension, and finally the prolonged detention of some innocent +German--naturalized--American citizen, who had forgotten to bring +his papers with him in revisiting his own native country. It so +chanced, however, that the consul enjoyed the friendship and +confidence of the General Adlerkreutz, who commanded the 20th +Division, and it further chanced that the same Adlerkreutz was as +gallant a soldier as ever cried Vorwarts! at the head of his men, +as profound a military strategist and organizer as ever carried his +own and his enemy's plans in his iron head and spiked helmet, and +yet with as simple and unaffected a soul breathing under his gray +mustache as ever issued from the lips of a child. So this grim but +gentle veteran had arranged with the consul that in cases where the +presumption of nationality was strong, although the evidence was +not present, he would take the consul's parole for the appearance +of the "deserter" or his papers, without the aid of prolonged +diplomacy. In this way the consul had saved to Milwaukee a worthy +but imprudent brewer, and to New York an excellent sausage butcher +and possible alderman; but had returned to martial duty one or two +tramps or journeymen who had never seen America except from the +decks of the ships in which they were "stowaways," and on which +they were returned,--and thus the temper and peace of two great +nations were preserved. + +"He says," said the inspector severely, "that he is an American +citizen, but has lost his naturalization papers. Yet he has made +the damaging admission to others that he lived several years in +Rome! And," continued the inspector, looking over his shoulder at +the closed door as he placed his finger beside his nose, "he says +he has relations living at Palmyra, whom he frequently visited. +Ach! Observe this unheard-of-and-not-to-be-trusted statement!" + +The consul, however, smiled with a slight flash of intelligence. +"Let me see him," he said. + +They passed into the outer office; another policeman and a corporal +of infantry saluted and rose. In the centre of an admiring and +sympathetic crowd of Dienstmadchen sat the culprit, the least +concerned of the party; a stripling--a boy--scarcely out of his +teens! Indeed, it was impossible to conceive of a more innocent, +bucolic, and almost angelic looking derelict. With a skin that had +the peculiar white and rosiness of fresh pork, he had blue eyes, +celestially wide open and staring, and the thick flocculent yellow +curls of the sun god! He might have been an overgrown and badly +dressed Cupid who had innocently wandered from Paphian shores. He +smiled as the consul entered, and wiped from his full red lips with +the back of his hand the traces of a sausage he was eating. The +consul recognized the flavor at once,--he had smelled it before in +Lieschen's little hand-basket. + +"You say you lived at Rome?" began the consul pleasantly. "Did you +take out your first declaration of your intention of becoming an +American citizen there?" + +The inspector cast an approving glance at the consul, fixed a stern +eye on the cherubic prisoner, and leaned back in his chair to hear +the reply to this terrible question. + +"I don't remember," said the culprit, knitting his brows in infantine +thought. "It was either there, or at Madrid or Syracuse." + +The inspector was about to rise; this was really trifling with the +dignity of the municipality. But the consul laid his hand on the +official's sleeve, and, opening an American atlas to a map of the +State of New York, said to the prisoner, as he placed the +inspector's hand on the sheet, "I see you know the names of the +TOWNS on the Erie and New York Central Railroad. But"-- + +"I can tell you the number of people in each town and what are the +manufactures," interrupted the young fellow, with youthful vanity. +"Madrid has six thousand, and there are over sixty thousand in"-- + +"That will do," said the consul, as a murmur of Wunderschon! went +round the group of listening servant girls, while glances of +admiration were shot at the beaming accused. "But you ought to +remember the name of the town where your naturalization papers were +afterwards sent." + +"But I was a citizen from the moment I made my declaration," said +the stranger smiling, and looking triumphantly at his admirers, +"and I could vote!" + +The inspector, since he had come to grief over American geographical +nomenclature, was grimly taciturn. The consul, however, was by no +means certain of his victory. His alleged fellow citizen was too +encyclopaedic in his knowledge: a clever youth might have crammed +for this with a textbook, but then he did not LOOK at all clever; +indeed, he had rather the stupidity of the mythological subject he +represented. "Leave him with me," said the consul. The inspector +handed him a precis of the case. The cherub's name was Karl +Schwartz, an orphan, missing from Schlachtstadt since the age of +twelve. Relations not living, or in emigration. Identity +established by prisoner's admission and record. + +"Now, Karl," said the consul cheerfully, as the door of his private +office closed upon them, "what is your little game? Have you EVER +had any papers? And if you were clever enough to study the map of +New York State, why weren't you clever enough to see that it +wouldn't stand you in place of your papers?" + +"Dot's joost it," said Karl in English; "but you see dot if I haf +declairet mine intention of begomming a citizen, it's all the same, +don't it?" + +"By no means, for you seem to have no evidence of the DECLARATION; +no papers at all." + +"Zo!" said Karl. Nevertheless, he pushed his small, rosy, pickled- +pig's-feet of fingers through his fleecy curls and beamed +pleasantly at the consul. "Dot's vot's der matter," he said, as if +taking a kindly interest in some private trouble of the consul's. +"Dot's vere you vos, eh?" + +The consul looked steadily at him for a moment. Such stupidity was +by no means phenomenal, nor at all inconsistent with his +appearance. "And," continued the consul gravely, "I must tell you +that, unless you have other proofs than you have shown, it will be +my duty to give you up to the authorities." + +"Dot means I shall serve my time, eh?" said Karl, with an unchanged +smile. + +"Exactly so," returned the consul. + +"Zo!" said karl. "Dese town--dose Schlachtstadt--is fine town, eh? +Fine vomens. Goot men. Und beer und sausage. Blenty to eat and +drink, eh? Und," looking around the room, "you and te poys haf a +gay times." + +"Yes," said the consul shortly, turning away. But he presently +faced round again on the unfettered Karl, who was evidently +indulging in a gormandizing reverie. + +"What on earth brought you here, anyway?" + +"Was it das?" + +"What brought you here from America, or wherever you ran away from?" + +"To see der, volks." + +"But you are an ORPHAN, you know, and you have no folks living +here." + +"But all Shermany is mine volks,--de whole gountry, don't it? Pet +your poots! How's dot, eh?" + +The consul turned back to his desk and wrote a short note to +General Adlerkreutz in his own American German. He did not think +it his duty in the present case to interfere with the authorities +or to offer his parole for Karl Schwartz. But he would claim that, +as the offender was evidently an innocent emigrant and still young, +any punishment or military degradation be omitted, and he be +allowed to take his place like any other recruit in the ranks. If +he might have the temerity to the undoubted, far-seeing military +authority of suggestion making here, he would suggest that Karl was +for the commissariat fitted! Of course, he still retained the +right, on production of satisfactory proof, his discharge to claim. + +The consul read this aloud to Karl. The cherubic youth smiled and +said, "Zo!" Then, extending his hand, he added the word "Zshake!" + +The consul shook his hand a little remorsefully, and, preceding him +to the outer room, resigned him with the note into the inspector's +hands. A universal sigh went up from the girls, and glances of +appeal sought the consul; but he wisely concluded that it would be +well, for a while, that Karl--a helpless orphan--should be under +some sort of discipline! And the securer business of certifying +invoices recommenced. + +Late that afternoon he received a folded bit of blue paper from the +waistbelt of an orderly, which contained in English characters and +as a single word "Alright," followed by certain jagged pen-marks, +which he recognized as Adlerkreutz's signature. But it was not +until a week later that he learned anything definite. He was +returning one night to his lodgings in the residential part of the +city, and, in opening the door with his pass-key, perceived in the +rear of the hall his handmaiden Trudschen, attended by the usual +blue or yellow or red shadow. He was passing by them with the +local 'n' Abend! on his lips when the soldier turned his face and +saluted. The consul stopped. It was the cherub Karl in uniform! + +But it had not subdued a single one of his characteristics. His +hair had been cropped a little more closely under his cap, but +there was its color and woolliness still intact; his plump figure +was girt by belt and buttons, but he only looked the more unreal, +and more like a combination of pen-wiper and pincushion, until his +puffy breast and shoulders seemed to offer a positive invitation to +any one who had picked up a pin. But, wonderful!--according to his +brief story--he had been so proficient in the goose step that he +had been put in uniform already, and allowed certain small +privileges,--among them, evidently the present one. The consul +smiled and passed on. But it seemed strange to him that Trudschen, +who was a tall strapping girl, exceedingly popular with the +military, and who had never looked lower than a corporal at least, +should accept the attentions of an Einjahriger like that. Later he +interrogated her. + +Ach! it was only Unser Karl! And the consul knew he was Amerikanisch! + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes! It was such a tearful story!" + +"Tell me what it is," said the consul, with a faint hope that Karl +had volunteered some communication of his past. + +"Ach Gott! There in America he was a man, and could 'vote,' make +laws, and, God willing, become a town councilor,--or Ober +Intendant,--and here he was nothing but a soldier for years. And +this America was a fine country. Wunderschon? There were such big +cities, and one 'Booflo'--could hold all Schlachtstadt, and had of +people five hundred thousand!" + +The consul sighed. Karl had evidently not yet got off the line of +the New York Central and Erie roads. "But does he remember yet +what he did with his papers?" said the consul persuasively. + +"Ach! What does he want with PAPERS when he could make the laws? +They were dumb, stupid things--these papers--to him." + +"But his appetite remains good, I hope?" suggested the consul. + +This closed the conversation, although Karl came on many other +nights, and his toy figure quite supplanted the tall corporal of +hussars in the remote shadows of the hall. One night, however, the +consul returned home from a visit to a neighboring town a day +earlier than he was expected. As he neared his house he was a +little surprised to find the windows of his sitting-room lit up, +and that there were no signs of Trudschen in the lower hall or +passages. He made his way upstairs in the dark and pushed open the +door of his apartment. To his astonishment, Karl was sitting +comfortably in his own chair, his cap off before a student-lamp on +the table, deeply engaged in apparent study. So profound was his +abstraction that it was a moment before he looked up, and the +consul had a good look at his usually beaming and responsive face, +which, however, now struck him as wearing a singular air of thought +and concentration. When their eyes at last met, he rose instantly +and saluted, and his beaming smile returned. But, either from his +natural phlegm or extraordinary self-control he betrayed neither +embarrassment nor alarm. + +The explanation he gave was direct and simple. Trudschen had gone +out with the Corporal Fritz for a short walk, and had asked him to +"keep house" during their absence. He had no books, no papers, +nothing to read in the barracks, and no chance to improve his mind. +He thought the Herr Consul would not object to his looking at his +books. The consul was touched; it was really a trivial indiscretion +and as much Trudschen's fault as Karl's! And if the poor fellow had +any mind to improve,--his recent attitude certainly suggested +thought and reflection,--the consul were a brute to reprove him. He +smiled pleasantly as Karl returned a stubby bit of pencil and some +greasy memoranda to his breast pocket, and glanced at the table. +But to his surprise it was a large map that Karl had been studying, +and, to his still greater surprise, a map of the consul's own +district. + +"You seem to be fond of map-studying," said the consul pleasantly. +"You are not thinking of emigrating again?" + +"Ach, no!" said Karl simply; "it is my cousine vot haf lif near +here. I find her." + +But he left on Trudschen's return, and the consul was surprised to +see that, while Karl's attitude towards her had not changed, the +girl exhibited less effusiveness than before. Believing it to be +partly the effect of the return of the corporal, the consul taxed +her with faithlessness. But Trudschen looked grave. + +"Ah! He has new friends, this Karl of ours. He cares no more for +poor girls like us. When fine ladies like the old Frau von Wimpfel +make much of him, what will you?" + +It appeared, indeed, from Trudschen's account, that the widow of a +wealthy shopkeeper had made a kind of protege of the young soldier, +and given him presents. Furthermore, that the wife of his colonel +had employed him to act as page or attendant at an afternoon +Gesellschaft, and that since then the wives of other officers had +sought him. Did not the Herr Consul think it was dreadful that +this American, who could vote and make laws, should be subjected to +such things? + +The consul did not know what to think. It seemed to him, however, +that Karl was "getting on," and that he was not in need of his +assistance. It was in the expectation of hearing more about him, +however, that he cheerfully accepted an invitation from Adlerkreutz +to dine at the Caserne one evening with the staff. Here he found, +somewhat to his embarrassment, that the dinner was partly in his +own honor, and at the close of five courses, and the emptying of +many bottles, his health was proposed by the gallant veteran +Adlerkreutz in a neat address of many syllables containing all the +parts of speech and a single verb. It was to the effect that in +his soul-friend the Herr Consul and himself was the never-to-be- +severed union of Germania and Columbia, and in their perfect +understanding was the war-defying alliance of two great nations, +and that in the consul's noble restoration of Unser Karl to the +German army there was the astute diplomacy of a great mind. He was +satisfied that himself and the Herr Consul still united in the +great future, looking down upon a common brotherhood,--the great +Germanic-American Confederation,--would feel satisfied with +themselves and each other and their never-to-be-forgotten earth- +labors. Cries of "Hoch! Hoch!" resounded through the apartment +with the grinding roll of heavy-bottomed beer-glasses, and the +consul, tremulous with emotion and a reserve verb in his pocket, +rose to reply. Fully embarked upon this perilous voyage, and +steering wide and clear of any treacherous shore of intelligence or +fancied harbor of understanding and rest, he kept boldly out at +sea. He said that, while his loving adversary in this battle of +compliment had disarmed him and left him no words to reply to his +generous panegyric, he could not but join with that gallant soldier +in his heartfelt aspirations for the peaceful alliance of both +countries. But while he fully reciprocated all his host's broader +and higher sentiments, he must point out to this gallant assembly, +this glorious brotherhood, that even a greater tie of sympathy +knitted him to the general,--the tie of kinship! For while it was +well known to the present company that their gallant commander had +married an Englishwoman, he, the consul, although always an +American, would now for the first time confess to them that he +HIMSELF was of Dutch descent on his mother's side! He would say no +more, but confidently leave them in possession of the tremendous +significance of this until-then-unknown fact! He sat down, with +the forgotten verb still in his pocket, but the applause that +followed this perfectly conclusive, satisfying, and logical climax +convinced him of his success. His hand was grasped eagerly by +successive warriors; the general turned and embraced him before the +breathless assembly; there were tears in the consul's eyes. + +As the festivities progressed, however, he found to his surprise +that Karl had not only become the fashion as a military page, but +that his naive stupidity and sublime simplicity was the wondering +theme and inexhaustible delight of the whole barracks. Stories +were told of his genius for blundering which rivaled Handy Andy's; +old stories of fatuous ignorance were rearranged and fitted to "our +Karl." It was "our Karl" who, on receiving a tip of two marks from +the hands of a young lady to whom he had brought the bouquet of a +gallant lieutenant, exhibited some hesitation, and finally said, +"Yes, but, gnadiges Fraulein, that COST us nine marks!" It was +"our Karl" who, interrupting the regrets of another lady that she +was unable to accept his master's invitation, said politely, "Ah! +what matter, Gnadigste? I have still a letter for Fraulein Kopp +[her rival], and I was told that I must not invite you both." It +was "our Karl" who astonished the hostess to whom he was sent at +the last moment with apologies from an officer, unexpectedly +detained at barrack duty, by suggesting that he should bring that +unfortunate officer his dinner from the just served table. Nor +were these charming infelicities confined to his social and +domestic service. Although ready, mechanical, and invariably +docile in the manual and physical duties of a soldier,--which +endeared him to the German drill-master,--he was still invincibly +ignorant as to its purport, or even the meaning and structure of +the military instruments he handled or vacantly looked upon. It +was "our Karl" who suggested to his instructors that in field- +firing it was quicker and easier to load his musket to the muzzle +at once, and get rid of its death-dealing contents at a single +discharge, than to load and fire consecutively. It was "our Karl" +who nearly killed the instructor at sentry drill by adhering to the +letter of his instructions when that instructor had forgotten the +password. It was the same Karl who, severely admonished for his +recklessness, the next time added to his challenge the precaution, +"Unless you instantly say 'Fatherland' I'll fire!" Yet his perfect +good humor and childlike curiosity were unmistakable throughout, +and incited his comrades and his superiors to show him everything +in the hope of getting some characteristic comment from him. +Everything and everybody were open to Karl and his good-humored +simplicity. + +That evening, as the general accompanied the consul down to the +gateway and the waiting carriage, a figure in uniform ran +spontaneously before them and shouted "Heraus!" to the sentries. +But the general promptly checked "the turning out" of the guard +with a paternal shake of his finger to the over-zealous soldier, in +whom the consul recognized Karl. "He is my Bursche now," said the +general explanatorily. "My wife has taken a fancy to him. Ach! he +is very popular with these women." The consul was still more +surprised. The Frau Generalin Adlerkreutz he knew to be a +pronounced Englishwoman,--carrying out her English ways, +proprieties, and prejudices in the very heart of Schlachtstadt, +uncompromisingly, without fear and without reproach. That she +should follow a merely foreign society craze, or alter her English +household so as to admit the impossible Karl, struck him oddly. + +A month or two elapsed without further news of Karl, when one +afternoon he suddenly turned up at the consulate. He had again +sought the consular quiet to write a few letters home; he had no +chance in the confinement of the barracks. + +"But by this time you must be in the family of a field-marshal, at +least," suggested the consul pleasantly. + +"Not to-day, but next week," said Karl, with sublime simplicity; +"THEN I am going to serve with the governor commandant of +Rheinfestung." + +The consul smiled, motioned him to a seat at a table in the outer +office, and left him undisturbed to his correspondence. + +Returning later, he found Karl, his letters finished, gazing with +childish curiosity and admiration at some thick official envelopes, +bearing the stamp of the consulate, which were lying on the table. +He was evidently struck with the contrast between them and the +thin, flimsy affairs he was holding in his hand. He appeared still +more impressed when the consul told him what they were. + +"Arc you writing to your friends?" continued the consul, touched by +his simplicity. + +"Ach ja!" said Karl eagerly. + +"Would you like to put your letter in one of these envelopes?" +continued the official. + +The beaming face and eyes of Karl were a sufficient answer. After +all, it was a small favor granted to this odd waif, who seemed to +still cling to the consular protection. He handed him the envelope +and left him addressing it in boyish pride. + +It was Karl's last visit to the consulate. He appeared to have +spoken truly, and the consul presently learned that he had indeed +been transferred, through some high official manipulation, to the +personal service of the governor of Rheinfestung. There was +weeping among the Dienstmadchen of Schlachtstadt, and a distinct +loss of originality and lightness in the gatherings of the gentler +Hausfrauen. His memory still survived in the barracks through the +later editions of his former delightful stupidities,--many of them, +it is to be feared, were inventions,--and stories that were +supposed to have come from Rheinfestung were described in the slang +of the Offiziere as being "colossal." But the consul remembered +Rheinfestung, and could not imagine it as a home for Karl, or in +any way fostering his peculiar qualities. For it was eminently a +fortress of fortresses, a magazine of magazines, a depot of depots. +It was the key of the Rhine, the citadel of Westphalia, the +"Clapham Junction" of German railways, but defended, fortified, +encompassed, and controlled by the newest as well as the oldest +devices of military strategy and science. Even in the pipingest +time of peace, whole railway trains went into it like a rat in a +trap, and might have never come out of it; it stretched out an +inviting hand and arm across the river that might in the twinkling +of an eye be changed into a closed fist of menace. You "defiled" +into it, commanded at every step by enfilading walls; you +"debouched" out of it, as you thought, and found yourself only +before the walls; you "reentered" it at every possible angle; you +did everything apparently but pass through it. You thought +yourself well out of it, and were stopped by a bastion. Its +circumvallations haunted you until you came to the next station. +It had pressed even the current of the river into its defensive +service. There were secrets of its foundations and mines that only +the highest military despots knew and kept to themselves. In a +word--it was impregnable. + +That such a place could not be trifled with or misunderstood in its +right-and-acute-angled severities seemed plain to every one. But +set on by his companions, who were showing him its defensive +foundations, or in his own idle curiosity, Karl managed to fall +into the Rhine and was fished out with difficulty. The immersion +may have chilled his military ardor or soured his good humor, for +later the consul heard that he had visited the American consular +agent at an adjacent town with the old story of his American +citizenship. "He seemed," said the consul's colleague, "to be well +posted about American railways and American towns, but he had no +papers. He lounged around the office for a while and"-- + +"Wrote letters home?" suggested the consul, with a flash of +reminiscence. + +"Yes, the poor chap had no privacy at the barracks, and I reckon +was overlooked or bedeviled." + +This was the last the consul heard of Karl Schwartz directly; for a +week or two later he again fell into the Rhine, this time so +fatally and effectually that in spite of the efforts of his +companions he was swept away by the rapid current, and thus ended +his service to his country. His body was never recovered. + +A few months before the consul was transferred from Schlachtstadt +to another post his memory of the departed Karl was revived by a +visit from Adlerkreutz. The general looked grave. + +"You remember Unser Karl?" he said. + +"Yes." + +"Do you think he was an impostor?" + +"As regards his American citizenship, yes! But I could not say +more." + +"So!" said the general. "A very singular thing has happened," he +added, twirling his mustache. "The Inspector of police has +notified us of the arrival of a Karl Schwartz in this town. It +appears he is the REAL Karl Schwartz, identified by his sister as +the only one. The other, who was drowned, was an impostor. Hein?" + +"Then you have secured another recruit?" said the consul smilingly. + +"No. For this one has already served his time in Elsass, where he +went when he left here as a boy. But, Donnerwetter, why should +that dumb fool take his name?" + +"By chance, I fancy. Then he stupidly stuck to it, and had to take +the responsibilities with it. Don't you see?" said the consul, +pleased with his own cleverness. + +"Zo-o!" said the general slowly, in his deepest voice. But the +German exclamation has a variety of significance, according to the +inflection, and Adlerkreutz's ejaculation seemed to contain them +all. + + . . . . . . + +It was in Paris, where the consul had lingered on his way to his +new post. He was sitting in a well-known cafe, among whose +habitues were several military officers of high rank. A group of +them were gathered round a table near him. He was idly watching +them with an odd recollection of Schlachtstadt in his mind, and as +idly glancing from them to the more attractive Boulevard without. +The consul was getting a little tired of soldiers. + +Suddenly there was a slight stir in the gesticulating group and a +cry of greeting. The consul looked up mechanically, and then his +eyes remained fixed and staring at the newcomer. For it was the +dead Karl; Karl, surely! Karl!--his plump figure belted in a +French officer's tunic; his flaxen hair clipped a little closer, +but still its fleece showing under his kepi. Karl, his cheeks more +cherubic than ever--unchanged but for a tiny yellow toy mustache +curling up over the corners of his full lips. Karl, beaming at his +companions in his old way, but rattling off French vivacities +without the faintest trace of accent. Could he be mistaken? Was +it some phenomenal resemblance, or had the soul of the German +private been transmigrated to the French officer. + +The consul hurriedly called the garcon. "Who is that officer who +has just arrived?" + +"It is the Captain Christian, of the Intelligence Bureau," said the +waiter, with proud alacrity. "A famous officer, brave as a +rabbit,--un fier lapin,--and one of our best clients. So drole, +too, such a farceur and mimic. M'sieur would be ravished to hear +his imitations." + +"But he looks like a German; and his name!" + +"Ah, he is from Alsace. But not a German!" said the waiter, +absolutely whitening with indignation. "He was at Belfort. So +was I. Mon Dieu! No, a thousand times no!" + +"But has he been living here long?" said the consul. + +"In Paris, a few months. But his Department, M'sieur understands, +takes him EVERYWHERE! Everywhere where he can gain information." + +The consul's eyes were still on the Captain Christian. Presently +the officer, perhaps instinctively conscious of the scrutiny, +looked towards him. Their eyes met. To the consul's surprise, the +ci-devant Karl beamed upon him, and advanced with outstretched +hand. + +But the consul stiffened slightly, and remained so with his glass +in his hand. At which Captain Christian brought his own easily to +a military salute, and said politely:-- + +"Monsieur le Consul has been promoted from his post. Permit me to +congratulate him." + +"You have heard, then?" said the consul dryly. + +"Otherwise I should not presume. For our Department makes it a +business--in Monsieur le Consul's case it becomes a pleasure--to +know everything." + +"Did your Department know that the real Karl Schwartz has +returned?" said the consul dryly. + +Captain Christian shrugged his shoulders. "Then it appears that +the sham Karl died none too soon," he said lightly. "And yet"--he +bent his eyes with mischievous reproach upon the consul. + +"Yet what?" demanded the consul sternly. + +"Monsieur le Consul might have saved the unfortunate man by +accepting him as an American citizen and not helping to force him +into the German service." + +The consul saw in a flash the full military significance of this +logic, and could not repress a smile. At which Captain Christian +dropped easily into a chair beside him, and as easily into broken +German English:-- + +"Und," he went on, "dees town--dees Schlachtstadt is fine town, eh? +Fine womens? Goot men? Und peer and sausage? Blenty to eat and +trink, eh? Und you und te poys haf a gay times?" + +The consul tried to recover his dignity. The waiter behind him, +recognizing only the delightful mimicry of this adorable officer, +was in fits of laughter. Nevertheless, the consul managed to say +dryly:-- + +"And the barracks, the magazines, the commissariat, the details, +the reserves of Schlachtstadt were very interesting?" + +"Assuredly." + +"And Rheinfestung--its plans--its details, even its dangerous +foundations by the river--they were to a soldier singularly +instructive?" + +"You have reason to say so," said Captain Christian, curling his +little mustache. + +"And the fortress--you think?" + +"Imprenable! Mais"-- + +The consul remembered General Adlerkreutz's "Zo-o," and wondered. + + + +UNCLE JIM AND UNCLE BILLY + + +They were partners. The avuncular title was bestowed on them by +Cedar Camp, possibly in recognition of a certain matured good +humor, quite distinct from the spasmodic exuberant spirits of its +other members, and possibly from what, to its youthful sense, +seemed their advanced ages--which must have been at least forty! +They had also set habits even in their improvidence, lost +incalculable and unpayable sums to each other over euchre regularly +every evening, and inspected their sluice-boxes punctually every +Saturday for repairs--which they never made. They even got to +resemble each other, after the fashion of old married couples, or, +rather, as in matrimonial partnerships, were subject to the +domination of the stronger character; although in their case it is +to be feared that it was the feminine Uncle Billy--enthusiastic, +imaginative, and loquacious--who swayed the masculine, steady- +going, and practical Uncle Jim. They had lived in the camp since +its foundation in 1849; there seemed to be no reason why they +should not remain there until its inevitable evolution into a +mining-town. The younger members might leave through restless +ambition or a desire for change or novelty; they were subject to no +such trifling mutation. Yet Cedar Camp was surprised one day to +hear that Uncle Billy was going away. + +The rain was softly falling on the bark thatch of the cabin with a +muffled murmur, like a sound heard through sleep. The southwest +trades were warm even at that altitude, as the open door testified, +although a fire of pine bark was flickering on the adobe hearth and +striking out answering fires from the freshly scoured culinary +utensils on the rude sideboard, which Uncle Jim had cleaned that +morning with his usual serious persistency. Their best clothes, +which were interchangeable and worn alternately by each other on +festal occasions, hung on the walls, which were covered with a +coarse sailcloth canvas instead of lath-and-plaster, and were +diversified by pictures from illustrated papers and stains from the +exterior weather. Two "bunks," like ships' berths,--an upper and +lower one,--occupied the gable-end of this single apartment, and on +beds of coarse sacking, filled with dry moss, were carefully rolled +their respective blankets and pillows. They were the only articles +not used in common, and whose individuality was respected. + +Uncle Jim, who had been sitting before the fire, rose as the square +bulk of his partner appeared at the doorway with an armful of wood +for the evening stove. By that sign he knew it was nine o'clock: +for the last six years Uncle Billy had regularly brought in the +wood at that hour, and Uncle Jim had as regularly closed the door +after him, and set out their single table, containing a greasy pack +of cards taken from its drawer, a bottle of whiskey, and two tin +drinking-cups. To this was added a ragged memorandum-book and a +stick of pencil. The two men drew their stools to the table. + +"Hol' on a minit," said Uncle Billy. + +His partner laid down the cards as Uncle Billy extracted from his +pocket a pill-box, and, opening it, gravely took a pill. This was +clearly an innovation on their regular proceedings, for Uncle Billy +was always in perfect health. + +"What's this for?" asked Uncle Jim half scornfully. + +"Agin ager." + +"You ain't got no ager," said Uncle Jim, with the assurance of +intimate cognizance of his partner's physical condition. + +"But it's a pow'ful preventive! Quinine! Saw this box at Riley's +store, and laid out a quarter on it. We kin keep it here, +comfortable, for evenings. It's mighty soothin' arter a man's done +a hard day's work on the river-bar. Take one." + +Uncle Jim gravely took a pill and swallowed it, and handed the box +back to his partner. + +"We'll leave it on the table, sociable like, in case any of the +boys come in," said Uncle Billy, taking up the cards. "Well. How +do we stand?" + +Uncle Jim consulted the memorandum-book. "You were owin' me sixty- +two thousand dollars on the last game, and the limit's seventy-five +thousand!" + +"Je whillikins!" ejaculated Uncle Billy. "Let me see." + +He examined the book, feebly attempted to challenge the additions, +but with no effect on the total. "We oughter hev made the limit a +hundred thousand," he said seriously; "seventy-five thousand is +only triflin' in a game like ours. And you've set down my claim at +Angel's?" he continued. + +"I allowed you ten thousand dollars for that," said Uncle Jim, with +equal gravity, "and it's a fancy price too." + +The claim in question being an unprospected hillside ten miles +distant, which Uncle Jim had never seen, and Uncle Billy had not +visited for years, the statement was probably true; nevertheless, +Uncle Billy retorted:-- + +"Ye kin never tell how these things will pan out. Why, only this +mornin' I was taking a turn round Shot Up Hill, that ye know is +just rotten with quartz and gold, and I couldn't help thinkin' how +much it was like my ole claim at Angel's. I must take a day off to +go on there and strike a pick in it, if only for luck." + +Suddenly he paused and said, "Strange, ain't it, you should speak +of it to-night? Now I call that queer!" + +He laid down his cards and gazed mysteriously at his companion. +Uncle Jim knew perfectly that Uncle Billy had regularly once a week +for many years declared his final determination to go over to +Angel's and prospect his claim, yet nevertheless he half responded +to his partner's suggestion of mystery, and a look of fatuous +wonder crept into his eyes. But he contented himself by saying +cautiously, "You spoke of it first." + +"That's the more sing'lar," said Uncle Billy confidently. "And +I've been thinking about it, and kinder seeing myself thar all day. +It's mighty queer!" He got up and began to rummage among some torn +and coverless books in the corner. + +"Where's that 'Dream Book' gone to?" + +"The Carson boys borrowed it," replied Uncle Jim. "Anyhow, yours +wasn't no dream--only a kind o' vision, and the book don't take no +stock in visions." Nevertheless, he watched his partner with some +sympathy, and added, "That reminds me that I had a dream the other +night of being in 'Frisco at a small hotel, with heaps o' money, +and all the time being sort o' scared and bewildered over it." + +"No?" queried his partner eagerly yet reproachfully. "You never +let on anything about it to ME! It's mighty queer you havin' these +strange feelin's, for I've had 'em myself. And only to-night, +comin' up from the spring, I saw two crows hopping in the trail, +and I says, 'If I see another, it's luck, sure!' And you'll think +I'm lyin', but when I went to the wood-pile just now there was the +THIRD one sittin' up on a log as plain as I see you. Tell 'e what +folks ken laugh--but that's just what Jim Filgee saw the night +before he made the big strike!" + +They were both smiling, yet with an underlying credulity and +seriousness as singularly pathetic as it seemed incongruous to +their years and intelligence. Small wonder, however, that in their +occupation and environment--living daily in an atmosphere of hope, +expectation, and chance, looking forward each morning to the blind +stroke of a pick that might bring fortune--they should see signs in +nature and hear mystic voices in the trackless woods that +surrounded them. Still less strange that they were peculiarly +susceptible to the more recognized diversions of chance, and were +gamblers on the turning of a card who trusted to the revelation of +a shovelful of upturned earth. + +It was quite natural, therefore, that they should return from their +abstract form of divination to the table and their cards. But they +were scarcely seated before they heard a crackling step in the +brush outside, and the free latch of their door was lifted. A +younger member of the camp entered. He uttered a peevish "Halloo!" +which might have passed for a greeting, or might have been a slight +protest at finding the door closed, drew the stool from which Uncle +Jim had just risen before the fire, shook his wet clothes like a +Newfoundland dog, and sat down. Yet he was by no means churlish +nor coarse-looking, and this act was rather one of easy-going, +selfish, youthful familiarity than of rudeness. The cabin of +Uncles Billy and Jim was considered a public right or "common" of +the camp. Conferences between individual miners were appointed +there. "I'll meet you at Uncle Billy's" was a common tryst. Added +to this was a tacit claim upon the partners' arbitrative powers, or +the equal right to request them to step outside if the interviews +were of a private nature. Yet there was never any objection on the +part of the partners, and to-night there was not a shadow of +resentment of this intrusion in the patient, good-humored, tolerant +eyes of Uncles Jim and Billy as they gazed at their guest. Perhaps +there was a slight gleam of relief in Uncle Jim's when he found +that the guest was unaccompanied by any one, and that it was not a +tryst. It would have been unpleasant for the two partners to have +stayed out in the rain while their guests were exchanging private +confidences in their cabin. While there might have been no limit +to their good will, there might have been some to their capacity +for exposure. + +Uncle Jim drew a huge log from beside the hearth and sat on the +driest end of it, while their guest occupied the stool. The young +man, without turning away from his discontented, peevish brooding +over the fire, vaguely reached backward for the whiskey-bottle and +Uncle Billy's tin cup, to which he was assisted by the latter's +hospitable hand. But on setting down the cup his eye caught sight +of the pill-box. + +"Wot's that?" he said, with gloomy scorn. "Rat poison?" + +"Quinine pills--agin ager," said Uncle Jim. "The newest thing out. +Keeps out damp like Injin-rubber! Take one to follow yer whiskey. +Me and Uncle Billy wouldn't think o' settin' down, quiet like, in +the evening arter work, without 'em. Take one--ye 'r' welcome! We +keep 'em out here for the boys." + +Accustomed as the partners were to adopt and wear each other's +opinions before folks, as they did each other's clothing, Uncle +Billy was, nevertheless, astonished and delighted at Uncle Jim's +enthusiasm over HIS pills. The guest took one and swallowed it. + +"Mighty bitter!" he said, glancing at his hosts with the quick +Californian suspicion of some practical joke. But the honest faces +of the partners reassured him. + +"That bitterness ye taste," said Uncle Jim quickly, "is whar the +thing's gittin' in its work. Sorter sickenin' the malaria--and +kinder water-proofin' the insides all to onct and at the same lick! +Don't yer see? Put another in yer vest pocket; you'll be cryin' +for 'em like a child afore ye get home. Thar! Well, how's things +agoin' on your claim, Dick? Boomin', eh?" + +The guest raised his head and turned it sufficiently to fling his +answer back over his shoulder at his hosts. "I don't know what +YOU'D call' boomin','" he said gloomily; "I suppose you two men +sitting here comfortably by the fire, without caring whether school +keeps or not, would call two feet of backwater over one's claim +'boomin';' I reckon YOU'D consider a hundred and fifty feet of +sluicing carried away, and drifting to thunder down the South Fork, +something in the way of advertising to your old camp! I suppose +YOU'd think it was an inducement to investors! I shouldn't +wonder," he added still more gloomily, as a sudden dash of rain +down the wide-throated chimney dropped in his tin cup--"and it +would be just like you two chaps, sittin' there gormandizing over +your quinine--if yer said this rain that's lasted three weeks was +something to be proud of!" + +It was the cheerful and the satisfying custom of the rest of the +camp, for no reason whatever, to hold Uncle Jim and Uncle Billy +responsible for its present location, its vicissitudes, the +weather, or any convulsion of nature; and it was equally the +partners' habit, for no reason whatever, to accept these +animadversions and apologize. + +"It's a rain that's soft and mellowin'," said Uncle Billy gently, +"and supplin' to the sinews and muscles. Did ye ever notice, Jim"-- +ostentatiously to his partner--"did ye ever notice that you get +inter a kind o' sweaty lather workin' in it? Sorter openin' to the +pores!" + +"Fetches 'em every time," said Uncle Billy. "Better nor fancy +soap." + +Their guest laughed bitterly. "Well, I'm going to leave it to you. +I reckon to cut the whole concern to-morrow, and 'lite' out for +something new. It can't be worse than this." + +The two partners looked grieved, albeit they were accustomed to +these outbursts. Everybody who thought of going away from Cedar +Camp used it first as a threat to these patient men, after the +fashion of runaway nephews, or made an exemplary scene of their +going. + +"Better think twice afore ye go," said Uncle Billy. + +"I've seen worse weather afore ye came," said Uncle Jim slowly. +"Water all over the Bar; the mud so deep ye couldn't get to Angel's +for a sack o' flour, and we had to grub on pine nuts and jackass- +rabbits. And yet--we stuck by the camp, and here we are!" + +The mild answer apparently goaded their guest to fury. He rose +from his seat, threw back his long dripping hair from his handsome +but querulous face, and scattered a few drops on the partners. +"Yes, that's just it. That's what gets me! Here you stick, and +here you are! And here you'll stick and rust until you starve or +drown! Here you are,--two men who ought to be out in the world, +playing your part as grown men,--stuck here like children 'playing +house' in the woods; playing work in your wretched mud-pie ditches, +and content. Two men not so old that you mightn't be taking your +part in the fun of the world, going to balls or theatres, or paying +attention to girls, and yet old enough to have married and have +your families around you, content to stay in this God-forsaken +place; old bachelors, pigging together like poorhouse paupers. +That's what gets me! Say you LIKE it? Say you expect by hanging +on to make a strike--and what does that amount to? What are YOUR +chances? How many of us have made, or are making, more than grub +wages? Say you're willing to share and share alike as you do--have +you got enough for two? Aren't you actually living off each other? +Aren't you grinding each other down, choking each other's +struggles, as you sink together deeper and deeper in the mud of +this cussed camp? And while you're doing this, aren't you, by your +age and position here, holding out hopes to others that you know +cannot be fulfilled?" + +Accustomed as they were to the half-querulous, half-humorous, but +always extravagant, criticism of the others, there was something so +new in this arraignment of themselves that the partners for a +moment sat silent. There was a slight flush on Uncle Billy's +cheek, there was a slight paleness on Uncle Jim's. He was the +first to reply. But he did so with a certain dignity which neither +his partner nor their guest had ever seen on his face before. + +"As it's OUR fire that's warmed ye up like this, Dick Bullen," he +said, slowly rising, with his hand resting on Uncle Billy's +shoulder, "and as it's OUR whiskey that's loosened your tongue, I +reckon we must put up with what ye 'r' saying, just as we've +managed to put up with our own way o' living, and not quo'll with +ye under our own roof." + +The young fellow saw the change in Uncle Jim's face and quickly +extended his hand, with an apologetic backward shake of his long +hair. "Hang it all, old man," he said, with a laugh of mingled +contrition and amusement, "you mustn't mind what I said just now. +I've been so worried thinking of things about MYSELF, and, maybe, a +little about you, that I quite forgot I hadn't a call to preach to +anybody--least of all to you. So we part friends, Uncle Jim, and +you too, Uncle Billy, and you'll forget what I said. In fact, I +don't know why I spoke at all--only I was passing your claim just +now, and wondering how much longer your old sluice-boxes would hold +out, and where in thunder you'd get others when they caved in! I +reckon that sent me off. That's all, old chap!" + +Uncle Billy's face broke into a beaming smile of relief, and it was +HIS hand that first grasped his guest's; Uncle Jim quickly followed +with as honest a pressure, but with eyes that did not seem to be +looking at Bullen, though all trace of resentment had died out of +them. He walked to the door with him, again shook hands, but +remained looking out in the darkness some time after Dick Bullen's +tangled hair and broad shoulders had disappeared. + +Meantime, Uncle Billy had resumed his seat and was chuckling and +reminiscent as he cleaned out his pipe. + +"Kinder reminds me of Jo Sharp, when he was cleaned out at poker by +his own partners in his own cabin, comin' up here and bedevilin' US +about it! What was it you lint him?" + +But Uncle Jim did not reply; and Uncle Billy, taking up the cards, +began to shuffle them, smiling vaguely, yet at the same time +somewhat painfully. "Arter all, Dick was mighty cut up about what +he said, and I felt kinder sorry for him. And, you know, I rather +cotton to a man that speaks his mind. Sorter clears him out, you +know, of all the slumgullion that's in him. It's just like washin' +out a pan o' prospecting: you pour in the water, and keep slushing +it round and round, and out comes first the mud and dirt, and then +the gravel, and then the black sand, and then--it's all out, and +there's a speck o' gold glistenin' at the bottom!" + +"Then you think there WAS suthin' in what he said?" said Uncle Jim, +facing about slowly. + +An odd tone in his voice made Uncle Billy look up. "No," he said +quickly, shying with the instinct of an easy pleasure-loving nature +from a possible grave situation. "No, I don't think he ever got +the color! But wot are ye moonin' about for? Ain't ye goin' to +play? It's mor' 'n half past nine now." + +Thus adjured, Uncle Jim moved up to the table and sat down, while +Uncle Billy dealt the cards, turning up the Jack or right bower-- +but WITHOUT that exclamation of delight which always accompanied +his good fortune, nor did Uncle Jim respond with the usual +corresponding simulation of deep disgust. Such a circumstance had +not occurred before in the history of their partnership. They both +played in silence--a silence only interrupted by a larger splash of +raindrops down the chimney. + +"We orter put a couple of stones on the chimney-top, edgewise, like +Jack Curtis does. It keeps out the rain without interferin' with +the draft," said Uncle Billy musingly. + +"What's the use if"-- + +"If what?" said Uncle Billy quietly. + +"If we don't make it broader," said Uncle Jim half wearily. + +They both stared at the chimney, but Uncle Jim's eye followed the +wall around to the bunks. There were many discolorations on the +canvas, and a picture of the Goddess of Liberty from an illustrated +paper had broken out in a kind of damp, measly eruption. "I'll +stick that funny handbill of the 'Washin' Soda' I got at the +grocery store the other day right over the Liberty gal. It's a +mighty perty woman washin' with short sleeves," said Uncle Billy. +"That's the comfort of them picters, you kin always get somethin' +new, and it adds thickness to the wall." + +Uncle Jim went back to the cards in silence. After a moment he +rose again, and hung his overcoat against the door. + +"Wind's comin' in," he said briefly. + +"Yes," said Uncle Billy cheerfully, "but it wouldn't seem nat'ral +if there wasn't that crack in the door to let the sunlight in o +mornin's. Makes a kind o' sundial, you know. When the streak o' +light's in that corner, I says 'six o'clock!' when it's across the +chimney I say 'seven!' and so 'tis!" + +It certainly had grown chilly, and the wind was rising. The candle +guttered and flickered; the embers on the hearth brightened +occasionally, as if trying to dispel the gathering shadows, but +always ineffectually. The game was frequently interrupted by the +necessity of stirring the fire. After an interval of gloom, in +which each partner successively drew the candle to his side to +examine his cards, Uncle Jim said:-- + +"Say?" + +"Well!" responded Uncle Billy. + +"Are you sure you saw that third crow on the wood-pile?" + +"Sure as I see you now--and a darned sight plainer. Why?" + +"Nothin', I was just thinkin'. Look here! How do we stand now?" + +Uncle Billy was still losing. "Nevertheless," he said cheerfully, +"I'm owin' you a matter of sixty thousand dollars." + +Uncle Jim examined the book abstractedly. "Suppose," he said +slowly, but without looking at his partner, "suppose, as it's +gettin' late now, we play for my half share of the claim agin the +limit--seventy thousand--to square up." + +"Your half share!" repeated Uncle Billy, with amused incredulity. + +"My half share of the claim,--of this yer house, you know,--one +half of all that Dick Bullen calls our rotten starvation property," +reiterated Uncle Jim, with a half smile. + +Uncle Billy laughed. It was a novel idea; it was, of course, "all +in the air," like the rest of their game, yet even then he had an +odd feeling that he would have liked Dick Bullen to have known it. +"Wade in, old pard," he said. "I'm on it." + +Uncle Jim lit another candle to reinforce the fading light, and the +deal fell to Uncle Billy. He turned up Jack of clubs. He also +turned a little redder as he took up his cards, looked at them, and +glanced hastily at his partner. "It's no use playing," he said. +"Look here!" He laid down his cards on the table. They were the +ace, king and queen of clubs, and Jack of spades,--or left bower,-- +which, with the turned-up Jack of clubs,--or right bower,-- +comprised ALL the winning cards! + +"By jingo! If we'd been playin' four-handed, say you an' me agin +some other ducks, we'd have made 'four' in that deal, and h'isted +some money--eh?" and his eyes sparkled. Uncle Jim, also, had a +slight tremulous light in his own. + +"Oh no! I didn't see no three crows this afternoon," added Uncle +Billy gleefully, as his partner, in turn, began to shuffle the +cards with laborious and conscientious exactitude. Then dealing, +he turned up a heart for trumps. Uncle Billy took up his cards one +by one, but when he had finished his face had become as pale as it +had been red before. "What's the matter?" said Uncle Jim quickly, +his own face growing white. + +Uncle Billy slowly and with breathless awe laid down his cards, +face up on the table. It was exactly the same sequence IN HEARTS, +with the knave of diamonds added. He could again take every trick. + +They stared at each other with vacant faces and a half-drawn smile +of fear. They could hear the wind moaning in the trees beyond; +there was a sudden rattling at the door. Uncle Billy started to +his feet, but Uncle Jim caught his arm. "DON'T LEAVE THE CARDS! +It's only the wind; sit down," he said in a low awe-hushed voice, +"it's your deal; you were two before, and two now, that makes your +four; you've only one point to make to win the game. Go on." + +They both poured out a cup of whiskey, smiling vaguely, yet with a +certain terror in their eyes. Their hands were cold; the cards +slipped from Uncle Billy's benumbed fingers; when he had shuffled +them he passed them to his partner to shuffle them also, but did +not speak. When Uncle Jim had shuffled them methodically he handed +them back fatefully to his partner. Uncle Billy dealt them with a +trembling hand. He turned up a club. "If you are sure of these +tricks you know you've won," said Uncle Jim in a voice that was +scarcely audible. Uncle Billy did not reply, but tremulously laid +down the ace and right and left bowers. + +He had won! + +A feeling of relief came over each, and they laughed hysterically +and discordantly. Ridiculous and childish as their contest might +have seemed to a looker-on, to each the tension had been as great +as that of the greatest gambler, without the gambler's trained +restraint, coolness, and composure. Uncle Billy nervously took up +the cards again. + +"Don't," said Uncle Jim gravely; "it's no use--the luck's gone now." + +"Just one more deal," pleaded his partner. + +Uncle Jim looked at the fire, Uncle Billy hastily dealt, and threw +the two hands face up on the table. They were the ordinary average +cards. He dealt again, with the same result. "I told you so," +said Uncle Jim, without looking up. + +It certainly seemed a tame performance after their wonderful hands, +and after another trial Uncle Billy threw the cards aside and drew +his stool before the fire. "Mighty queer, warn't it?" he said, +with reminiscent awe. "Three times running. Do you know, I felt a +kind o' creepy feelin' down my back all the time. Criky! what +luck! None of the boys would believe it if we told 'em--least of +all that Dick Bullen, who don't believe in luck, anyway. Wonder +what he'd have said! and, Lord! how he'd have looked! Wall! what +are you starin' so for?" + +Uncle Jim had faced around, and was gazing at Uncle Billy's good- +humored, simple face. "Nothin'!" he said briefly, and his eyes +again sought the fire. + +"Then don't look as if you was seein' suthin'--you give me the +creeps," returned Uncle Billy a little petulantly. "Let's turn in, +afore the fire goes out!" + +The fateful cards were put back into the drawer, the table shoved +against the wall. The operation of undressing was quickly got +over, the clothes they wore being put on top of their blankets. +Uncle Billy yawned, "I wonder what kind of a dream I'll have +tonight--it oughter be suthin' to explain that luck." This was his +"good-night" to his partner. In a few moments he was sound asleep. + +Not so Uncle Jim. He heard the wind gradually go down, and in the +oppressive silence that followed could detect the deep breathing of +his companion and the far-off yelp of a coyote. His eyesight +becoming accustomed to the semi-darkness, broken only by the +scintillation of the dying embers of their fire, he could take in +every detail of their sordid cabin and the rude environment in +which they had lived so long. The dismal patches on the bark roof, +the wretched makeshifts of each day, the dreary prolongation of +discomfort, were all plain to him now, without the sanguine hope +that had made them bearable. And when he shut his eyes upon them, +it was only to travel in fancy down the steep mountain side that he +had trodden so often to the dreary claim on the overflowed river, +to the heaps of "tailings" that encumbered it, like empty shells of +the hollow, profitless days spent there, which they were always +waiting for the stroke of good fortune to clear away. He saw again +the rotten "sluicing," through whose hopeless rifts and holes even +their scant daily earnings had become scantier. At last he arose, +and with infinite gentleness let himself down from his berth +without disturbing his sleeping partner, and wrapping himself in +his blanket, went to the door, which he noiselessly opened. From +the position of a few stars that were glittering in the northern +sky he knew that it was yet scarcely midnight; there were still +long, restless hours before the day! In the feverish state into +which he had gradually worked himself it seemed to him impossible +to wait the coming of the dawn. + +But he was mistaken. For even as he stood there all nature seemed +to invade his humble cabin with its free and fragrant breath, and +invest him with its great companionship. He felt again, in that +breath, that strange sense of freedom, that mystic touch of +partnership with the birds and beasts, the shrubs and trees, in +this greater home before him. It was this vague communion that had +kept him there, that still held these world-sick, weary workers in +their rude cabins on the slopes around him; and he felt upon his +brow that balm that had nightly lulled him and them to sleep and +forgetfulness. He closed the door, turned away, crept as +noiselessly as before into his bunk again, and presently fell into +a profound slumber. + +But when Uncle Billy awoke the next morning he saw it was late; for +the sun, piercing the crack of the closed door, was sending a +pencil of light across the cold hearth, like a match to rekindle +its dead embers. His first thought was of his strange luck the +night before, and of disappointment that he had not had the dream +of divination that he had looked for. He sprang to the floor, but +as he stood upright his glance fell on Uncle Jim's bunk. It was +empty. Not only that, but his BLANKETS--Uncle Jim's own particular +blankets--WERE GONE! + +A sudden revelation of his partner's manner the night before struck +him now with the cruelty of a blow; a sudden intelligence, perhaps +the very divination he had sought, flashed upon him like lightning! +He glanced wildly around the cabin. The table was drawn out from +the wall a little ostentatiously, as if to catch his eye. On it +was lying the stained chamois-skin purse in which they had kept the +few grains of gold remaining from their last week's "clean up." +The grains had been carefully divided, and half had been taken! +But near it lay the little memorandum-book, open, with the stick of +pencil lying across it. A deep line was drawn across the page on +which was recorded their imaginary extravagant gains and losses, +even to the entry of Uncle Jim's half share of the claim which he +had risked and lost! Underneath were hurriedly scrawled the +words:-- + +"Settled by YOUR luck, last night, old pard.--JAMES FOSTER." + + +It was nearly a month before Cedar Camp was convinced that Uncle +Billy and Uncle Jim had dissolved partnership. Pride had prevented +Uncle Billy from revealing his suspicions of the truth, or of +relating the events that preceded Uncle Jim's clandestine flight, +and Dick Bullen had gone to Sacramento by stage-coach the same +morning. He briefly gave out that his partner had been called to +San Francisco on important business of their own, that indeed might +necessitate his own removal there later. In this he was singularly +assisted by a letter from the absent Jim, dated at San Francisco, +begging him not to be anxious about his success, as he had hopes of +presently entering into a profitable business, but with no further +allusions to his precipitate departure, nor any suggestion of a +reason for it. For two or three days Uncle Billy was staggered and +bewildered; in his profound simplicity he wondered if his +extraordinary good fortune that night had made him deaf to some +explanation of his partner's, or, more terrible, if he had shown +some "low" and incredible intimation of taking his partner's +extravagant bet as REAL and binding. In this distress he wrote to +Uncle Jim an appealing and apologetic letter, albeit somewhat +incoherent and inaccurate, and bristling with misspelling, camp +slang, and old partnership jibes. But to this elaborate epistle he +received only Uncle Jim's repeated assurances of his own bright +prospects, and his hopes that his old partner would be more +fortunate, single-handed, on the old claim. For a whole week or +two Uncle Billy sulked, but his invincible optimism and good humor +got the better of him, and he thought only of his old partner's +good fortune. He wrote him regularly, but always to one address--a +box at the San Francisco post-office, which to the simple-minded +Uncle Billy suggested a certain official importance. To these +letters Uncle Jim responded regularly but briefly. + +From a certain intuitive pride in his partner and his affection, +Uncle Billy did not show these letters openly to the camp, although +he spoke freely of his former partner's promising future, and even +read them short extracts. It is needless to say that the camp did +not accept Uncle Billy's story with unsuspecting confidence. On +the contrary, a hundred surmises, humorous or serious, but always +extravagant, were afloat in Cedar Camp. The partners had quarreled +over their clothes--Uncle Jim, who was taller than Uncle Billy, had +refused to wear his partner's trousers. They had quarreled over +cards--Uncle Jim had discovered that Uncle Billy was in possession +of a "cold deck," or marked pack. They had quarreled over Uncle +Billy's carelessness in grinding up half a box of "bilious pills" +in the morning's coffee. A gloomily imaginative mule-driver had +darkly suggested that, as no one had really seen Uncle Jim leave +the camp, he was still there, and his bones would yet be found in +one of the ditches; while a still more credulous miner averred that +what he had thought was the cry of a screech-owl the night previous +to Uncle Jim's disappearance, might have been the agonized +utterance of that murdered man. It was highly characteristic of +that camp--and, indeed, of others in California--that nobody, not +even the ingenious theorists themselves, believed their story, and +that no one took the slightest pains to verify or disprove it. +Happily, Uncle Billy never knew it, and moved all unconsciously in +this atmosphere of burlesque suspicion. And then a singular change +took place in the attitude of the camp towards him and the +disrupted partnership. Hitherto, for no reason whatever, all had +agreed to put the blame upon Billy--possibly because he was present +to receive it. As days passed that slight reticence and dejection +in his manner, which they had at first attributed to remorse and a +guilty conscience, now began to tell as absurdly in his favor. +Here was poor Uncle Billy toiling though the ditches, while his +selfish partner was lolling in the lap of luxury in San Francisco! +Uncle Billy's glowing accounts of Uncle Jim's success only +contributed to the sympathy now fully given in his behalf and their +execration of the absconding partner. It was proposed at Biggs's +store that a letter expressing the indignation of the camp over his +heartless conduct to his late partner, William Fall, should be +forwarded to him. Condolences were offered to Uncle Billy, and +uncouth attempts were made to cheer his loneliness. A procession +of half a dozen men twice a week to his cabin, carrying their own +whiskey and winding up with a "stag dance" before the premises, was +sufficient to lighten his eclipsed gayety and remind him of a +happier past. "Surprise" working parties visited his claim with +spasmodic essays towards helping him, and great good humor and +hilarity prevailed. It was not an unusual thing for an honest +miner to arise from an idle gathering in some cabin and excuse +himself with the remark that he "reckoned he'd put in an hour's +work in Uncle Billy's tailings!" And yet, as before, it was very +improbable if any of these reckless benefactors REALLY believed in +their own earnestness or in the gravity of the situation. Indeed, +a kind of hopeful cynicism ran through their performances. "Like +as not, Uncle Billy is still in 'cahoots' [i. e., shares] with his +old pard, and is just laughin' at us as he's sendin' him accounts +of our tomfoolin'." + +And so the winter passed and the rains, and the days of cloudless +skies and chill starlit nights began. There were still freshets +from the snow reservoirs piled high in the Sierran passes, and the +Bar was flooded, but that passed too, and only the sunshine +remained. Monotonous as the seasons were, there was a faint +movement in the camp with the stirring of the sap in the pines and +cedars. And then, one day, there was a strange excitement on the +Bar. Men were seen running hither and thither, but mainly +gathering in a crowd on Uncle Billy's claim, that still retained +the old partners' names in "The Fall and Foster." To add to the +excitement, there was the quickly repeated report of a revolver, to +all appearance aimlessly exploded in the air by some one on the +outskirts of the assemblage. As the crowd opened, Uncle Billy +appeared, pale, hysterical, breathless, and staggering a little +under the back-slapping and hand-shaking of the whole camp. For +Uncle Billy had "struck it rich"--had just discovered a "pocket," +roughly estimated to be worth fifteen thousand dollars! + +Although in that supreme moment he missed the face of his old +partner, he could not help seeing the unaffected delight and +happiness shining in the eyes of all who surrounded him. It was +characteristic of that sanguine but uncertain life that success and +good fortune brought no jealousy nor envy to the unfortunate, but +was rather a promise and prophecy of the fulfillment of their own +hopes. The gold was there--Nature but yielded up her secret. +There was no prescribed limit to her bounty. So strong was this +conviction that a long-suffering but still hopeful miner, in the +enthusiasm of the moment, stooped down and patted a large boulder +with the apostrophic "Good old gal!" + +Then followed a night of jubilee, a next morning of hurried +consultation with a mining expert and speculator lured to the camp +by the good tidings; and then the very next night--to the utter +astonishment of Cedar Camp--Uncle Billy, with a draft for twenty +thousand dollars in his pocket, started for San Francisco, and took +leave of his claim and the camp forever! + + . . . . . . + +When Uncle Billy landed at the wharves of San Francisco he was a +little bewildered. The Golden Gate beyond was obliterated by the +incoming sea-fog, which had also roofed in the whole city, and +lights already glittered along the gray streets that climbed the +grayer sand-hills. As a Western man, brought up by inland rivers, +he was fascinated and thrilled by the tall-masted seagoing ships, +and he felt a strange sense of the remoter mysterious ocean, which +he had never seen. But he was impressed and startled by smartly +dressed men and women, the passing of carriages, and a sudden +conviction that he was strange and foreign to what he saw. It had +been his cherished intention to call upon his old partner in his +working clothes, and then clap down on the table before him a draft +for ten thousand dollars as HIS share of their old claim. But in +the face of these brilliant strangers a sudden and unexpected +timidity came upon him. He had heard of a cheap popular hotel, +much frequented by the returning gold-miner, who entered its +hospitable doors--which held an easy access to shops--and emerged +in a few hours a gorgeous butterfly of fashion, leaving his old +chrysalis behind him. Thence he inquired his way; hence he +afterwards issued in garments glaringly new and ill fitting. But +he had not sacrificed his beard, and there was still something fine +and original in his handsome weak face that overcame the cheap +convention of his clothes. Making his way to the post-office, he +was again discomfited by the great size of the building, and +bewildered by the array of little square letter-boxes behind glass +which occupied one whole wall, and an equal number of opaque and +locked wooden ones legibly numbered. His heart leaped; he +remembered the number, and before him was a window with a clerk +behind it. Uncle Billy leaned forward. + +"Kin you tell me if the man that box 690 b'longs to is in?" + +The clerk stared, made him repeat the question, and then turned +away. But he returned almost instantly, with two or three grinning +heads besides his own, apparently set behind his shoulders. Uncle +Billy was again asked to repeat his question. He did so. + +"Why don't you go and see if 690 is in his box?" said the first +clerk, turning with affected asperity to one of the others. + +The clerk went away, returned, and said with singular gravity, "He +was there a moment ago, but he's gone out to stretch his legs. +It's rather crampin' at first; and he can't stand it more than ten +hours at a time, you know." + +But simplicity has its limits. Uncle Billy had already guessed his +real error in believing his partner was officially connected with +the building; his cheek had flushed and then paled again. The +pupils of his blue eyes had contracted into suggestive black +points. "Ef you'll let me in at that winder, young fellers," he +said, with equal gravity, "I'll show yer how I kin make YOU small +enough to go in a box without crampin'! But I only wanted to know +where Jim Foster LIVED." + +At which the first clerk became perfunctory again, but civil. "A +letter left in his box would get you that information," he said, +"and here's paper and pencil to write it now." + +Uncle Billy took the paper and began to write, "Just got here. +Come and see me at"-- He paused. A brilliant idea had struck him; +He could impress both his old partner and the upstarts at the +window; he would put in the name of the latest "swell" hotel in San +Francisco, said to be a fairy dream of opulence. He added "The +Oriental," and without folding the paper shoved it in the window. + +"Don't you want an envelope?" asked the clerk. + +"Put a stamp on the corner of it," responded Uncle Billy, laying +down a coin, "and she'll go through." The clerk smiled, but +affixed the stamp, and Uncle Billy turned away. + +But it was a short-lived triumph. The disappointment at finding +Uncle Jim's address conveyed no idea of his habitation seemed to +remove him farther away, and lose his identity in the great city. +Besides, he must now make good his own address, and seek rooms at +the Oriental. He went thither. The furniture and decorations, +even in these early days of hotel-building in San Francisco, were +extravagant and over-strained, and Uncle Billy felt lost and lonely +in his strange surroundings. But he took a handsome suite of +rooms, paid for them in advance on the spot, and then, half +frightened, walked out of them to ramble vaguely through the city +in the feverish hope of meeting his old partner. At night his +inquietude increased; he could not face the long row of tables in +the pillared dining-room, filled with smartly dressed men and +women; he evaded his bedroom, with its brocaded satin chairs and +its gilt bedstead, and fled to his modest lodgings at the Good +Cheer House, and appeased his hunger at its cheap restaurant, in +the company of retired miners and freshly arrived Eastern +emigrants. Two or three days passed thus in this quaint double +existence. Three or four times a day he would enter the gorgeous +Oriental with affected ease and carelessness, demand his key from +the hotel-clerk, ask for the letter that did not come, go to his +room, gaze vaguely from his window on the passing crowd below for +the partner he could not find, and then return to the Good Cheer +House for rest and sustenance. On the fourth day he received a +short note from Uncle Jim; it was couched in his usual sanguine but +brief and businesslike style. He was very sorry, but important and +profitable business took him out of town, but he trusted to return +soon and welcome his old partner. He was also, for the first time, +jocose, and hoped that Uncle Billy would not "see all the sights" +before he, Uncle Jim, returned. Disappointing as this +procrastination was to Uncle Billy, a gleam of hope irradiated it: +the letter had bridged over that gulf which seemed to yawn between +them at the post-office. His old partner had accepted his visit to +San Francisco without question, and had alluded to a renewal of +their old intimacy. For Uncle Billy, with all his trustful +simplicity, had been tortured by two harrowing doubts: one, whether +Uncle Jim in his new-fledged smartness as a "city" man--such as he +saw in the streets--would care for his rough companionship; the +other, whether he, Uncle Billy, ought not to tell him at once of +his changed fortune. But, like all weak, unreasoning men, he clung +desperately to a detail--he could not forego his old idea of +astounding Uncle Jim by giving him his share of the "strike" as his +first intimation of it, and he doubted, with more reason perhaps, +if Jim would see him after he had heard of his good fortune. For +Uncle Billy had still a frightened recollection of Uncle Jim's +sudden stroke for independence, and that rigid punctiliousness +which had made him doggedly accept the responsibility of his +extravagant stake at euchre. + +With a view of educating himself for Uncle Jim's company, he "saw +the sights" of San Francisco--as an overgrown and somewhat stupid +child might have seen them--with great curiosity, but little +contamination or corruption. But I think he was chiefly pleased +with watching the arrival of the Sacramento and Stockton steamers +at the wharves, in the hope of discovering his old partner among +the passengers on the gang-plank. Here, with his old superstitious +tendency and gambler's instinct, he would augur great success in +his search that day if any one of the passengers bore the least +resemblance to Uncle Jim, if a man or woman stepped off first, or +if he met a single person's questioning eye. Indeed, this got to +be the real occupation of the day, which he would on no account +have omitted, and to a certain extent revived each day in his mind +the morning's work of their old partnership. He would say to +himself, "It's time to go and look up Jim," and put off what he was +pleased to think were his pleasures until this act of duty was +accomplished. + +In this singleness of purpose he made very few and no entangling +acquaintances, nor did he impart to any one the secret of his +fortune, loyally reserving it for his partner's first knowledge. +To a man of his natural frankness and simplicity this was a great +trial, and was, perhaps, a crucial test of his devotion. When he +gave up his rooms at the Oriental--as not necessary after his +partner's absence--he sent a letter, with his humble address, to +the mysterious lock-box of his partner without fear or false shame. +He would explain it all when they met. But he sometimes treated +unlucky and returning miners to a dinner and a visit to the gallery +of some theatre. Yet while he had an active sympathy with and +understanding of the humblest, Uncle Billy, who for many years had +done his own and his partner's washing, scrubbing, mending, and +cooking, and saw no degradation in it, was somewhat inconsistently +irritated by menial functions in men, and although he gave +extravagantly to waiters, and threw a dollar to the crossing- +sweeper, there was always a certain shy avoidance of them in his +manner. Coming from the theatre one night Uncle Billy was, +however, seriously concerned by one of these crossing-sweepers +turning hastily before them and being knocked down by a passing +carriage. The man rose and limped hurriedly away; but Uncle Billy +was amazed and still more irritated to hear from his companion that +this kind of menial occupation was often profitable, and that at +some of the principal crossings the sweepers were already rich men. + +But a few days later brought a more notable event to Uncle Billy. +One afternoon in Montgomery Street he recognized in one of its +smartly dressed frequenters a man who had a few years before been a +member of Cedar Camp. Uncle Billy's childish delight at this +meeting, which seemed to bridge over his old partner's absence, +was, however, only half responded to by the ex-miner, and then +somewhat satirically. In the fullness of his emotion, Uncle Billy +confided to him that he was seeking his old partner, Jim Foster, +and, reticent of his own good fortune, spoke glowingly of his +partner's brilliant expectations, but deplored his inability to +find him. And just now he was away on important business. "I +reckon he's got back," said the man dryly. "I didn't know he had a +lock-box at the post-office, but I can give you his other address. +He lives at the Presidio, at Washerwoman's Bay." He stopped and +looked with a satirical smile at Uncle Billy. But the latter, +familiar with Californian mining-camp nomenclature, saw nothing +strange in it, and merely repeated his companion's words. + +"You'll find him there! Good-by! So long! Sorry I'm in a hurry," +said the ex-miner, and hurried away. + +Uncle Billy was too delighted with the prospect of a speedy meeting +with Uncle Jim to resent his former associate's supercilious haste, +or even to wonder why Uncle Jim had not informed him that he had +returned. It was not the first time that he had felt how wide was +the gulf between himself and these others, and the thought drew him +closer to his old partner, as well as his old idea, as it was now +possible to surprise him with the draft. But as he was going to +surprise him in his own boarding-house--probably a handsome one-- +Uncle Billy reflected that he would do so in a certain style. + +He accordingly went to a livery stable and ordered a landau and +pair, with a negro coachman. Seated in it, in his best and most +ill-fitting clothes, he asked the coachman to take him to the +Presidio, and leaned back in the cushions as they drove through the +streets with such an expression of beaming gratification on his +good-humored face that the passers-by smiled at the equipage and +its extravagant occupant. To them it seemed the not unusual sight +of the successful miner "on a spree." To the unsophisticated Uncle +Billy their smiling seemed only a natural and kindly recognition of +his happiness, and he nodded and smiled back to them with +unsuspecting candor and innocent playfulness. "These yer 'Frisco +fellers ain't ALL slouches, you bet," he added to himself half +aloud, at the back of the grinning coachman. + +Their way led through well-built streets to the outskirts, or +rather to that portion of the city which seemed to have been +overwhelmed by shifting sand-dunes, from which half-submerged +fences and even low houses barely marked the line of highway. The +resistless trade-winds which had marked this change blew keenly in +his face and slightly chilled his ardor. At a turn in the road the +sea came in sight, and sloping towards it the great Cemetery of +Lone Mountain, with white shafts and marbles that glittered in the +sunlight like the sails of ships waiting to be launched down that +slope into the Eternal Ocean. Uncle Billy shuddered. What if it +had been his fate to seek Uncle Jim there! + +"Dar's yar Presidio!" said the negro coachman a few moments later, +pointing with his whip, "and dar's yar Wash'woman's Bay!" + +Uncle Billy stared. A huge quadrangular fort of stone with a flag +flying above its battlements stood at a little distance, pressed +against the rocks, as if beating back the encroaching surges; +between him and the fort but farther inland was a lagoon with a +number of dilapidated, rudely patched cabins or cottages, like +stranded driftwood around its shore. But there was no mansion, no +block of houses, no street, not another habitation or dwelling to +be seen! + +Uncle Billy's first shock of astonishment was succeeded by a +feeling of relief. He had secretly dreaded a meeting with his old +partner in the "haunts of fashion;" whatever was the cause that +made Uncle Jim seek this obscure retirement affected him but +slightly; he even was thrilled with a vague memory of the old +shiftless camp they had both abandoned. A certain instinct--he +knew not why, or less still that it might be one of delicacy--made +him alight before they reached the first house. Bidding the +carriage wait, Uncle Billy entered, and was informed by a blowzy +Irish laundress at a tub that Jim Foster, or "Arkansaw Jim," lived +at the fourth shanty "beyant." He was at home, for "he'd shprained +his fut." Uncle Billy hurried on, stopped before the door of a +shanty scarcely less rude than their old cabin, and half timidly +pushed it open. A growling voice from within, a figure that rose +hurriedly, leaning on a stick, with an attempt to fly, but in the +same moment sank back in a chair with an hysterical laugh--and +Uncle Billy stood in the presence of his old partner! But as Uncle +Billy darted forward, Uncle Jim rose again, and this time with +outstretched hands. Uncle Billy caught them, and in one supreme +pressure seemed to pour out and transfuse his whole simple soul +into his partner's. There they swayed each other backwards and +forwards and sideways by their still clasped hands, until Uncle +Billy, with a glance at Uncle Jim's bandaged ankle, shoved him by +sheer force down into his chair. + +Uncle Jim was first to speak. "Caught, b' gosh! I mighter known +you'd be as big a fool as me! Look you, Billy Fall, do you know +what you've done? You've druv me out er the streets whar I was +makin' an honest livin', by day, on three crossin's! Yes," he +laughed forgivingly, "you druv me out er it, by day, jest because I +reckoned that some time I might run into your darned fool face,"-- +another laugh and a grasp of the hand,--"and then, b'gosh! not +content with ruinin' my business BY DAY, when I took to it at +night, YOU took to goin' out at nights too, and so put a stopper on +me there! Shall I tell you what else you did? Well, by the holy +poker! I owe this sprained foot to your darned foolishness and my +own, for it was getting away from YOU one night after the theatre +that I got run into and run over! + +"Ye see," he went on, unconscious of Uncle Billy's paling face, and +with a naivete, though perhaps not a delicacy, equal to Uncle +Billy's own, "I had to play roots on you with that lock-box +business and these letters, because I did not want you to know what +I was up to, for you mightn't like it, and might think it was +lowerin' to the old firm, don't yer see? I wouldn't hev gone into +it, but I was played out, and I don't mind tellin' you NOW, old +man, that when I wrote you that first chipper letter from the lock- +box I hedn't eat anythin' for two days. But it's all right NOW," +with a laugh. "Then I got into this business--thinkin' it nothin'-- +jest the very last thing--and do you know, old pard, I couldn't +tell anybody but YOU--and, in fact, I kept it jest to tell you-- +I've made nine hundred and fifty-six dollars! Yes, sir, NINE +HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX DOLLARS! solid money, in Adams and Co.'s +Bank, just out er my trade." + +"Wot trade?" asked Uncle Billy. + +Uncle Jim pointed to the corner, where stood a large, heavy +crossing-sweeper's broom. "That trade." + +"Certingly," said Uncle Billy, with a quick laugh. + +"It's an outdoor trade," said Uncle Jim gravely, but with no +suggestion of awkwardness or apology in his manner; "and thar ain't +much difference between sweepin' a crossin' with a broom and raking +over tailing with a rake, ONLY--WOT YE GET with a broom YOU HAVE +HANDED TO YE, and ye don't have to PICK IT UP AND FISH IT OUT ER +the wet rocks and sluice-gushin'; and it's a heap less tiring to +the back." + +"Certingly, you bet!" said Uncle Billy enthusiastically, yet with a +certain nervous abstraction. + +"I'm glad ye say so; for yer see I didn't know at first how you'd +tumble to my doing it, until I'd made my pile. And ef I hadn't +made it, I wouldn't hev set eyes on ye agin, old pard--never!" + +"Do you mind my runnin' out a minit," said Uncle Billy, rising. +"You see, I've got a friend waitin' for me outside--and I reckon"-- +he stammered--"I'll jest run out and send him off, so I kin talk +comf'ble to ye." + +"Ye ain't got anybody you're owin' money to," said Uncle Jim +earnestly, "anybody follerin' you to get paid, eh? For I kin jest +set down right here and write ye off a check on the bank!" + +"No," said Uncle Billy. He slipped out of the door, and ran like a +deer to the waiting carriage. Thrusting a twenty-dollar gold-piece +into the coachman's hand, he said hoarsely, "I ain't wantin' that +kerridge just now; ye ken drive around and hev a private jamboree +all by yourself the rest of the afternoon, and then come and wait +for me at the top o' the hill yonder." + +Thus quit of his gorgeous equipage, he hurried back to Uncle Jim, +grasping his ten-thousand dollar draft in his pocket. He was +nervous, he was frightened, but he must get rid of the draft and +his story, and have it over. But before he could speak he was +unexpectedly stopped by Uncle Jim. + +"Now, look yer, Billy boy!" said Uncle Jim; "I got suthin' to say +to ye--and I might as well clear it off my mind at once, and then +we can start fair agin. Now," he went on, with a half laugh, +"wasn't it enough for ME to go on pretendin' I was rich and doing a +big business, and gettin' up that lock-box dodge so as ye couldn't +find out whar I hung out and what I was doin'--wasn't it enough for +ME to go on with all this play-actin', but YOU, you long-legged or +nary cuss! must get up and go to lyin' and play-actin', too!" + +"ME play-actin'? ME lyin'?" gasped Uncle Billy. + +Uncle Jim leaned back in his chair and laughed. "Do you think you +could fool ME? Do you think I didn't see through your little game +o' going to that swell Oriental, jest as if ye'd made a big strike-- +and all the while ye wasn't sleepin' or eatin' there, but jest +wrastlin' yer hash and having a roll down at the Good Cheer! Do +you think I didn't spy on ye and find that out? Oh, you long-eared +jackass-rabbit!" + +He laughed until the tears came into his eyes, and Uncle Billy +laughed too, albeit until the laugh on his face became quite fixed, +and he was fain to bury his head in his handkerchief. + +"And yet," said Uncle Jim, with a deep breath, "gosh! I was +frighted--jest for a minit! I thought, mebbe, you HAD made a big +strike--when I got your first letter--and I made up my mind what +I'd do! And then I remembered you was jest that kind of an open +sluice that couldn't keep anythin' to yourself, and you'd have been +sure to have yelled it out to ME the first thing. So I waited. +And I found you out, you old sinner!" He reached forward and dug +Uncle Billy in the ribs. + +"What WOULD you hev done?" said Uncle Billy, after an hysterical +collapse. + +Uncle Jim's face grew grave again. "I'd hev--I'd--hev cl'ared out! +Out er 'Frisco! out er Californy! out er Ameriky! I couldn't have +stud it! Don't think I would hev begrudged ye yer luck! No man +would have been gladder than me." He leaned forward again, and +laid his hand caressingly upon his partner's arm--"Don't think I'd +hev wanted to take a penny of it--but I--thar! I COULDN'T hev stood +up under it! To hev had YOU, you that I left behind, comin' down +here rollin' in wealth and new partners and friends, and arrive +upon me--and this shanty--and"--he threw towards the corner of the +room a terrible gesture, none the less terrible that it was +illogical and inconsequent to all that had gone before--"and--and-- +THAT BROOM!" + +There was a dead silence in the room. With it Uncle Billy seemed +to feel himself again transported to the homely cabin at Cedar Camp +and that fateful night, with his partner's strange, determined face +before him as then. He even fancied that he heard the roaring of +the pines without, and did not know that it was the distant sea. + +But after a minute Uncle Jim resumed:-- + +"Of course you've made a little raise somehow, or you wouldn't be +here?" + +"Yes," said Uncle Billy eagerly. "Yes! I've got"-- He stopped +and stammered. "I've got--a--few hundreds." + +"Oh, oh!" said Uncle Jim cheerfully. He paused, and then added +earnestly, "I say! You ain't got left, over and above your d--d +foolishness at the Oriental, as much as five hundred dollars?" + +"I've got," said Uncle Billy, blushing a little over his first +deliberate and affected lie, "I've got at least five hundred and +seventy-two dollars. Yes," he added tentatively, gazing anxiously +at his partner, "I've got at least that." + +"Je whillikins!" said Uncle Jim, with a laugh. Then eagerly, "Look +here, pard! Then we're on velvet! I've got NINE hundred; put your +FIVE with that, and I know a little ranch that we can get for +twelve hundred. That's what I've been savin' up for--that's my +little game! No more minin' for ME. It's got a shanty twice as +big as our old cabin, nigh on a hundred acres, and two mustangs. +We can run it with two Chinamen and jest make it howl! Wot yer +say--eh?" He extended his hand. + +"I'm in," said Uncle Billy, radiantly grasping Uncle Jim's. But +his smile faded, and his clear simple brow wrinkled in two lines. + +Happily Uncle Jim did not notice it. "Now, then, old pard," he +said brightly, "we'll have a gay old time to-night--one of our +jamborees! I've got some whiskey here and a deck o' cards, and +we'll have a little game, you understand, but not for 'keeps' now! +No, siree; we'll play for beans." + +A sudden light illuminated Uncle Billy's face again, but he said, +with a grim desperation, "Not to-night! I've got to go into town. +That fren' o' mine expects me to go to the theayter, don't ye see? +But I'll be out to-morrow at sun-up, and we'll fix up this thing o' +the ranch." + +"Seems to me you're kinder stuck on this fren'," grunted Uncle Jim. + +Uncle Billy's heart bounded at his partner's jealousy. "No--but I +MUST, you know," he returned, with a faint laugh. + +"I say--it ain't a HER, is it?" said Uncle Jim. + +Uncle Billy achieved a diabolical wink and a creditable blush at +his lie. + +"Billy?" + +"Jim!" + +And under cover of this festive gallantry Uncle Billy escaped. He +ran through the gathering darkness, and toiled up the shifting +sands to the top of the hill, where he found the carriage waiting. + +"Wot," said Uncle Billy in a low confidential tone to the coachman, +"wot do you 'Frisco fellers allow to be the best, biggest, and +riskiest gamblin'-saloon here? Suthin' high-toned, you know?" + +The negro grinned. It was the usual case of the extravagant +spendthrift miner, though perhaps he had expected a different +question and order. + +"Dey is de 'Polka,' de 'El Dorado,' and de 'Arcade' saloon, boss," +he said, flicking his whip meditatively. "Most gents from de mines +prefer de 'Polka,' for dey is dancing wid de gals frown in. But de +real prima facie place for gents who go for buckin' agin de tiger +and straight-out gamblin' is de 'Arcade.'" + +"Drive there like thunder!" said Uncle Billy, leaping into the +carriage. + + . . . . . . + +True to his word, Uncle Billy was at his partner's shanty early the +next morning. He looked a little tired, but happy, and had brought +a draft with him for five hundred and seventy-five dollars, which +he explained was the total of his capital. Uncle Jim was +overjoyed. They would start for Napa that very day, and conclude +the purchase of the ranch; Uncle Jim's sprained foot was a +sufficient reason for his giving up his present vocation, which he +could also sell at a small profit. His domestic arrangements were +very simple; there was nothing to take with him--there was +everything to leave behind. And that afternoon, at sunset, the two +reunited partners were seated on the deck of the Napa boat as she +swung into the stream. + +Uncle Billy was gazing over the railing with a look of abstracted +relief towards the Golden Gate, where the sinking sun seemed to be +drawing towards him in the ocean a golden stream that was forever +pouring from the Bay and the three-hilled city beside it. What +Uncle Billy was thinking of, or what the picture suggested to him, +did not transpire; for Uncle Jim, who, emboldened by his holiday, +was luxuriating in an evening paper, suddenly uttered a long-drawn +whistle, and moved closer to his abstracted partner. "Look yer," +he said, pointing to a paragraph he had evidently just read, "just +you listen to this, and see if we ain't lucky, you and me, to be +jest wot we air--trustin' to our own hard work--and not thinkin' o' +'strikes' and 'fortins.' Jest unbutton yer ears, Billy, while I +reel off this yer thing I've jest struck in the paper, and see what +d--d fools some men kin make o' themselves. And that theer +reporter wot wrote it--must hev seed it reely!" + +Uncle Jim cleared his throat, and holding the paper close to his +eyes read aloud slowly:-- + +"'A scene of excitement that recalled the palmy days of '49 was +witnessed last night at the Arcade Saloon. A stranger, who might +have belonged to that reckless epoch, and who bore every evidence +of being a successful Pike County miner out on a "spree," appeared +at one of the tables with a negro coachman bearing two heavy bags +of gold. Selecting a faro-bank as his base of operations, he began +to bet heavily and with apparent recklessness, until his play +excited the breathless attention of every one. In a few moments he +had won a sum variously estimated at from eighty to a hundred +thousand dollars. A rumor went round the room that it was a +concerted attempt to "break the bank" rather than the drunken freak +of a Western miner, dazzled by some successful strike. To this +theory the man's careless and indifferent bearing towards his +extraordinary gains lent great credence. The attempt, if such it +was, however, was unsuccessful. After winning ten times in +succession the luck turned, and the unfortunate "bucker" was +cleared out not only of his gains, but of his original investment, +which may be placed roughly at twenty thousand dollars. This +extraordinary play was witnessed by a crowd of excited players, who +were less impressed by even the magnitude of the stakes than the +perfect sang-froid and recklessness of the player, who, it is said, +at the close of the game tossed a twenty-dollar gold-piece to the +banker and smilingly withdrew. The man was not recognized by any +of the habitues of the place.' + +"There!" said Uncle Jim, as he hurriedly slurred over the French +substantive at the close, "did ye ever see such God-forsaken +foolishness?" + +Uncle Billy lifted his abstracted eyes from the current, still +pouring its unreturning gold into the sinking sun, and said, with a +deprecatory smile, "Never!" + +Nor even in the days of prosperity that visited the Great Wheat +Ranch of "Fall and Foster" did he ever tell his secret to his +partner. + + + +SEE YUP + + +I don't suppose that his progenitors ever gave him that name, or, +indeed, that it was a NAME at all; but it was currently believed +that--as pronounced "See UP"--it meant that lifting of the outer +angle of the eye common to the Mongolian. On the other hand, I had +been told that there was an old Chinese custom of affixing some +motto or legend, or even a sentence from Confucius, as a sign above +their shops, and that two or more words, which might be merely +equivalent to "Virtue is its own reward," or "Riches are +deceitful," were believed by the simple Californian miner to be the +name of the occupant himself. Howbeit, "See Yup" accepted it with +the smiling patience of his race, and never went by any other. If +one of the tunnelmen always addressed him as "Brigadier-General," +"Judge," or "Commodore," it was understood to be only the American +fondness for ironic title, and was never used except in personal +conversation. In appearance he looked like any other Chinaman, +wore the ordinary blue cotton blouse and white drawers of the +Sampan coolie, and, in spite of the apparent cleanliness and +freshness of these garments, always exhaled that singular medicated +odor--half opium, half ginger--which we recognized as the common +"Chinese smell." + +Our first interview was characteristic of his patient quality. He +had done my washing for several months, but I had never yet seen +him. A meeting at last had become necessary to correct his +impressions regarding "buttons"--which he had seemed to consider as +mere excrescences, to be removed like superfluous dirt from soiled +linen. I had expected him to call at my lodgings, but he had not +yet made his appearance. One day, during the noontide recess of +the little frontier school over which I presided, I returned rather +early. Two or three of the smaller boys, who were loitering about +the school-yard, disappeared with a certain guilty precipitation +that I suspected for the moment, but which I presently dismissed +from my mind. I passed through the empty school-room to my desk, +sat down, and began to prepare the coming lessons. Presently I +heard a faint sigh. Looking up, to my intense concern, I +discovered a solitary Chinaman whom I had overlooked, sitting in a +rigid attitude on a bench with his back to the window. He caught +my eye and smiled sadly, but without moving. + +"What are you doing here?" I asked sternly. + +"Me washee shilts; me talkee 'buttons.'" + +"Oh! you're See Yup, are you?" + +"Allee same, John." + +"Well, come here." + +I continued my work, but he did not move. + +"Come here, hang it! Don't you understand?" + +"Me shabbee, 'comme yea.' But me no shabbee Mellican boy, who +catchee me, allee same. YOU 'comme yea'--YOU shabbee?" + +Indignant, but believing that the unfortunate man was still in fear +of persecution from the mischievous urchins whom I had evidently +just interrupted, I put down my pen and went over to him. Here I +discovered, to my surprise and mortification, that his long pigtail +was held hard and fast by the closed window behind him which the +young rascals had shut down upon it, after having first noiselessly +fished it outside with a hook and line. I apologized, opened the +window, and released him. He did not complain, although he must +have been fixed in that uncomfortable position for some minutes, +but plunged at once into the business that brought him there. + +"But WHY didn't you come to my lodgings?" I asked. + +He smiled sadly but intelligently. + +"Mishtel Bally [Mr. Barry, my landlord] he owce me five dollee fo +washee, washee. He no payee me. He say he knock hellee outee me +allee time I come for payee. So me no come HOUSEE, me come +SCHOOLEE, Shabbee? Mellican boy no good, but not so big as +Mellican man. No can hurtee Chinaman so much. Shabbee?" + +Alas! I knew that this was mainly true. Mr. James Barry was an +Irishman, whose finer religious feelings revolted against paying +money to a heathen. I could not find it in my heart to say +anything to See Yup about the buttons; indeed, I spoke in +complimentary terms about the gloss of my shirts, and I think I +meekly begged him to come again for my washing. When I went home I +expostulated with Mr. Barry, but succeeded only in extracting from +him the conviction that I was one of "thim black Republican fellys +that worshiped naygurs." I had simply made an enemy of him. But I +did not know that, at the same time, I had made a friend of See +Yup! + +I became aware of this a few days later, by the appearance on my +desk of a small pot containing a specimen of camellia japonica in +flower. I knew the school-children were in the habit of making +presents to me in this furtive fashion,--leaving their own nosegays +of wild flowers, or perhaps a cluster of roses from their parents' +gardens,--but I also knew that this exotic was too rare to come +from them. I remembered that See Yup had a Chinese taste for +gardening, and a friend, another Chinaman, who kept a large nursery +in the adjoining town. But my doubts were set at rest by the +discovery of a small roll of red rice-paper containing my washing- +bill, fastened to the camellia stalk. It was plain that this +mingling of business and delicate gratitude was clearly See Yup's +own idea. As the finest flower was the topmost one, I plucked it +for wearing, when I found, to my astonishment, that it was simply +wired to the stalk. This led me to look at the others, which I +found also wired! More than that, they seemed to be an inferior +flower, and exhaled that cold, earthy odor peculiar to the +camellia, even, as I thought, to an excess. A closer examination +resulted in the discovery that, with the exception of the first +flower I had plucked, they were one and all ingeniously constructed +of thin slices of potato, marvelously cut to imitate the vegetable +waxiness and formality of the real flower. The work showed an +infinite and almost pathetic patience in detail, yet strangely +incommensurate with the result, admirable as it was. Nevertheless, +this was also like See Yup. But whether he had tried to deceive +me, or whether he only wished me to admire his skill, I could not +say. And as his persecution by my scholars had left a balance of +consideration in his favor, I sent him a warm note of thanks, and +said nothing of my discovery. + +As our acquaintance progressed, I became frequently the recipient +of other small presents from him: a pot of preserves of a quality I +could not purchase in shops, and whose contents in their crafty, +gingery dissimulation so defied definition that I never knew +whether they were animal, vegetable, or mineral; two or three +hideous Chinese idols, "for luckee," and a diabolical fire-work +with an irregular spasmodic activity that would sometimes be +prolonged until the next morning. In return, I gave him some +apparently hopeless oral lessons in English, and certain sentences +to be copied, which he did with marvelous precision. I remember +one instance when this peculiar faculty of imitation was disastrous +in result. In setting him a copy, I had blurred a word which I +promptly erased, and then traced the letters more distinctly over +the scratched surface. To my surprise, See Yup triumphantly +produced HIS copy with the erasion itself carefully imitated, and, +in fact, much more neatly done than mine. + +In our confidential intercourse, I never seemed to really get +nearer to him. His sympathy and simplicity appeared like his +flowers--to be a good-humored imitation of my own. I am satisfied +that his particularly soulless laugh was not derived from any +amusement he actually felt, yet I could not say it was forced. In +his accurate imitations, I fancied he was only trying to evade any +responsibility of his own. THAT devolved upon his taskmaster! In +the attention he displayed when new ideas were presented to him, +there was a slight condescension, as if he were looking down upon +them from his three thousand years of history. + +"Don't you think the electric telegraph wonderful?" I asked one +day. + +"Very good for Mellican man," he said, with his aimless laugh; +"plenty makee him jump!" + +I never could tell whether he had confounded it with electro- +galvanism, or was only satirizing our American haste and +feverishness. He was capable of either. For that matter, we knew +that the Chinese themselves possessed some means of secretly and +quickly communicating with one another. Any news of good or ill +import to their race was quickly disseminated through the +settlement before WE knew anything about it. An innocent basket of +clothes from the wash, sent up from the river-bank, became in some +way a library of information; a single slip of rice-paper, +aimlessly fluttering in the dust of the road, had the mysterious +effect of diverging a whole gang of coolie tramps away from our +settlement. + +When See Yup was not subject to the persecutions of the more +ignorant and brutal he was always a source of amusement to all, and +I cannot recall an instance when he was ever taken seriously. The +miners found diversions even in his alleged frauds and trickeries, +whether innocent or retaliatory, and were fond of relating with +great gusto his evasion of the Foreign Miners' Tax. This was an +oppressive measure aimed principally at the Chinese, who humbly +worked the worn-out "tailings" of their Christian fellow miners. +It was stated that See Yup, knowing the difficulty--already alluded +to--of identifying any particular Chinaman by NAME, conceived the +additional idea of confusing recognition by intensifying the +monotonous facial expression. Having paid his tax himself to the +collector, he at once passed the receipt to his fellows, so that +the collector found himself confronted in different parts of the +settlement with the receipt and the aimless laugh of, apparently, +See Yup himself. Although we all knew that there were a dozen +Chinamen or more at work at the mines, the collector never was able +to collect the tax from more than TWO, --See Yup and one See Yin,-- +and so great was THEIR facial resemblance that the unfortunate +official for a long time hugged himself with the conviction that he +had made See Yup PAY TWICE, and withheld the money from the +government! It is very probable that the Californian's recognition +of the sanctity of a joke, and his belief that "cheating the +government was only cheating himself," largely accounted for the +sympathies of the rest of the miners. + +But these sympathies were not always unanimous. + +One evening I strolled into the bar-room of the principal saloon, +which, so far as mere upholstery and comfort went, was also the +principal house in the settlement. The first rains had commenced; +the windows were open, for the influence of the southwest trades +penetrated even this far-off mountain mining settlement, but, oddly +enough, there was a fire in the large central stove, around which +the miners had collected, with their steaming boots elevated on a +projecting iron railing that encircled it. They were not attracted +by the warmth, but the stove formed a social pivot for gossip, and +suggested that mystic circle dear to the gregarious instinct. Yet +they were decidedly a despondent group. For some moments the +silence was only broken by a gasp, a sigh, a muttered oath, or an +impatient change of position. There was nothing in the fortunes of +the settlement, nor in their own individual affairs to suggest this +gloom. The singular truth was that they were, one and all, +suffering from the pangs of dyspepsia. + +Incongruous as such a complaint might seem to their healthy +environment,--their outdoor life, their daily exercise, the healing +balsam of the mountain air, their enforced temperance in diet, and +the absence of all enervating pleasures,--it was nevertheless the +incontestable fact. Whether it was the result of the nervous, +excitable temperament which had brought them together in this +feverish hunt for gold; whether it was the quality of the tinned +meats or half-cooked provisions they hastily bolted, begrudging the +time it took to prepare and to consume them; whether they too often +supplanted their meals by tobacco or whiskey, the singular +physiological truth remained that these young, finely selected +adventurers, living the lives of the natural, aboriginal man, and +looking the picture of health and strength, actually suffered more +from indigestion than the pampered dwellers of the cities. The +quantity of "patent medicines," "bitters," "pills," "panaceas," and +"lozenges" sold in the settlement almost exceeded the amount of the +regular provisions whose effects they were supposed to correct. +The sufferers eagerly scanned advertisements and placards. There +were occasional "runs" on new "specifics," and general conversation +eventually turned into a discussion of their respective merits. A +certain childlike faith and trust in each new remedy was not the +least distressing and pathetic of the symptoms of these grown-up, +bearded men. + +"Well, gentlemen," said Cyrus Parker, glancing around at his fellow +sufferers, "ye kin talk of your patent medicines, and I've tackled +'em all, but only the other day I struck suthin' that I'm goin' to +hang on to, you bet." + +Every eye was turned moodily to the speaker, but no one said +anything. + +"And I didn't get it outer advertisements, nor off of circulars. I +got it outer my head, just by solid thinking," continued Parker. + +"What was it, Cy?" said one unsophisticated and inexperienced +sufferer. + +Instead of replying, Parker, like a true artist, knowing he had the +ear of his audience, dramatically flashed a question upon them. + +"Did you ever hear of a Chinaman having dyspepsy?" + +"Never heard he had sabe enough to hev ANYTHING," said a scorner. + +"No, but DID ye?" insisted Parker. + +"Well, no!" chorused the group. They were evidently struck with +the fact. + +"Of course you didn't," said Parker triumphantly. "'Cos they +AIN'T. Well, gentlemen, it didn't seem to me the square thing that +a pesky lot o' yellow-skinned heathens should be built different to +a white man, and never know the tortur' that a Christian feels; and +one day, arter dinner, when I was just a-lyin' flat down on the +bank, squirmin', and clutching the short grass to keep from +yellin', who should go by but that pizened See Yup, with a grin on +his face. + +"'Mellican man plenty playee to him Joss after eatin',' sez he; 'but +Chinaman smellee punk, allee same, and no hab got.' + +"I knew the slimy cuss was just purtendin' he thought I was prayin' +to my Joss, but I was that weak I hadn't stren'th, boys, to heave a +rock at him. Yet it gave me an idea." + +"What was it?" they asked eagerly. + +"I went down to his shop the next day, when he was alone, and I was +feeling mighty bad, and I got hold of his pigtail and I allowed I'd +stuff it down his throat if he didn't tell me what he meant. Then +he took a piece of punk and lit it, and put it under my nose, and, +darn my skin, gentlemen, you migh'n't believe me, but in a minute I +felt better, and after a whiff or two I was all right." + +"Was it pow'ful strong, Cy?" asked the inexperienced one. + +"No," said Parker, "and that's just what's got me. It was a sort +o' dreamy, spicy smell, like a hot night. But as I couldn't go +'round 'mong you boys with a lighted piece o' punk in my hand, ez +if I was settin' off Fourth of July firecrackers, I asked him if he +couldn't fix me up suthin' in another shape that would be handier +to use when I was took bad, and I'd reckon to pay him for it like +ez I'd pay for any other patent medicine. So he fixed me up this." + +He put his hand in his pocket, and drew out a small red paper +which, when opened, disclosed a pink powder. It was gravely passed +around the group. + +"Why, it smells and tastes like ginger," said one. + +"It is only ginger!" said another scornfully. + +"Mebbe it is, and mebbe it isn't," returned Cy Parker stoutly. +"Mebbe ut's only my fancy. But if it's the sort o' stuff to bring +on that fancy, and that fancy CURES me, it's all the same. I've +got about two dollars' worth o' that fancy or that ginger, and I'm +going to stick to it. You hear me!" And he carefully put it back +in his pocket. + +At which criticisms and gibes broke forth. If he (Cy Parker), a +white man, was going to "demean himself" by consulting a Chinese +quack, he'd better buy up a lot o' idols and stand 'em up around +his cabin. If he had that sort o' confidences with See Yup, he +ought to go to work with him on his cheap tailings, and be +fumigated all at the same time. If he'd been smoking an opium +pipe, instead of smelling punk, he ought to be man enough to +confess it. Yet it was noticeable that they were all very anxious +to examine the packet again, but Cy Parker was alike indifferent to +demand or entreaty. + +A few days later I saw Abe Wynford, one of the party, coming out of +See Yup's wash-house. He muttered something in passing about the +infamous delay in sending home his washing, but did not linger long +in conversation. The next day I met another miner AT the wash- +house, but HE lingered so long on some trifling details that I +finally left him there alone with See Yup. When I called upon +Poker Jack of Shasta, there was a singular smell of incense in HIS +cabin, which he attributed to the very resinous quality of the fir +logs he was burning. I did not attempt to probe these mysteries by +any direct appeal to See Yup himself: I respected his reticence; +indeed, if I had not, I was quite satisfied that he would have lied +to me. Enough that his wash-house was well patronized, and he was +decidedly "getting on." + +It might have been a month afterwards that Dr. Duchesne was setting +a broken bone in the settlement, and after the operation was over, +had strolled into the Palmetto Saloon. He was an old army surgeon, +much respected and loved in the district, although perhaps a little +feared for the honest roughness and military precision of his +speech. After he had exchanged salutations with the miners in his +usual hearty fashion, and accepted their invitation to drink, Cy +Parker, with a certain affected carelessness which did not, +however, conceal a singular hesitation in his speech, began:-- + +"I've been wantin' to ask ye a question, Doc,--a sort o' darned +fool question, ye know,--nothing in the way of consultation, don't +you see, though it's kin er in the way o' your purfeshun. Sabe?" + +"Go on, Cy," said the doctor good-humoredly, "this is my dispensary +hour." + +"Oh! it ain't anything about symptoms, Doc, and there ain't +anything the matter with me. It's only just to ask ye if ye +happened to know anything about the medical practice of these yer +Chinamen?" + +"I don't know," said the doctor bluntly, "and I don't know ANYBODY +who does." + +There was a sudden silence in the bar, and the doctor, putting down +his glass, continued with slight professional precision:-- + +"You see, the Chinese know nothing of anatomy from personal +observation. Autopsies and dissection are against their +superstitions, which declare the human body sacred, and are +consequently never practiced." + +There was a slight movement of inquiring interest among the party, +and Cy Parker, after a meaning glance at the others, went on half +aggressively, half apologetically:-- + +"In course, they ain't surgeons like you, Doc, but that don't keep +them from having their own little medicines, just as dogs eat +grass, you know. Now I want to put it to you, as a fa'r-minded +man, if you mean ter say that, jest because those old women who +sarve out yarbs and spring medicines in families don't know +anything of anatomy, they ain't fit to give us their simple and +nat'ral medicines?" + +"But the Chinese medicines are not simple or natural," said the +doctor coolly. + +"Not simple?" echoed the party, closing round him. + +"I don't mean to say," continued the doctor, glancing around at +their eager, excited faces with an appearance of wonder, "that they +are positively noxious, unless taken in large quantities, for they +are not drugs at all, but I certainly should not call them +'simple.' Do YOU know what they principally are?" + +"Well, no," said Parker cautiously, "perhaps not EXACTLY." + +"Come a little closer, and I'll tell you." + +Not only Parker's head but the others were bent over the counter. +Dr. Duchesne uttered a few words in a tone inaudible to the rest of +the company. There was a profound silence, broken at last by Abe +Wynford's voice:-- + +"Ye kin pour me out about three fingers o' whiskey, Barkeep. I'll +take it straight." + +"Same to me," said the others. + +The men gulped down their liquor; two of them quietly passed out. +The doctor wiped his lips, buttoned his coat, and began to draw on +his riding-gloves. + +"I've heerd," said Poker Jack of Shasta, with a faint smile on his +white face, as he toyed with the last drops of liquor in his glass, +"that the darned fools sometimes smell punk as a medicine, eh?" + +"Yes, THAT'S comparatively decent," said the doctor reflectively. +"It's only sawdust mixed with a little gum and formic acid." + +"Formic acid? Wot's that?" + +"A very peculiar acid secreted by ants. It is supposed to be used +by them offensively in warfare--just as the skunk, eh?" + +But Poker Jack of Shasta had hurriedly declared that he wanted to +speak to a man who was passing, and had disappeared. The doctor +walked to the door, mounted his horse, and rode away. I noticed, +however, that there was a slight smile on his bronzed, impassive +face. This led me to wonder if he was entirely ignorant of the +purpose for which he had been questioned, and the effect of his +information. I was confirmed in the belief by the remarkable +circumstances that nothing more was said of it; the incident seemed +to have terminated there, and the victims made no attempt to +revenge themselves on See Yup. That they had one and all, secretly +and unknown to one another, patronized him, there was no doubt; +but, at the same time, as they evidently were not sure that Dr. +Duchesne had not hoaxed them in regard to the quality of See Yup's +medicines, they knew that an attack on the unfortunate Chinaman +would in either case reveal their secret and expose them to the +ridicule of their brother miners. So the matter dropped, and See +Yup remained master of the situation. + +Meantime he was prospering. The coolie gang he worked on the +river, when not engaged in washing clothes, were "picking over" the +"tailings," or refuse of gravel, left on abandoned claims by +successful miners. As there was no more expense attending this +than in stone-breaking or rag-picking, and the feeding of the +coolies, which was ridiculously cheap, there was no doubt that See +Yup was reaping a fair weekly return from it; but, as he sent his +receipts to San Francisco through coolie managers, after the +Chinese custom, and did not use the regular Express Company, there +was no way of ascertaining the amount. Again, neither See Yup nor +his fellow countrymen ever appeared to have any money about them. +In ruder times and more reckless camps, raids were often made by +ruffians on their cabins or their traveling gangs, but never with +any pecuniary result. This condition, however, it seemed was +destined to change. + +One Saturday See Yup walked into Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express +office with a package of gold-dust, which, when duly weighed, was +valued at five hundred dollars. It was consigned to a Chinese +company in San Francisco. When the clerk handed See Yup a receipt, +he remarked casually:-- + +"Washing seems to pay, See Yup." + +"Washee velly good pay. You wantee washee, John?" said See Yup +eagerly. + +"No, no," said the clerk, with a laugh. "I was only thinking five +hundred dollars would represent the washing of a good many shirts." + +"No leplesent washee shirts at all! Catchee gold-dust when washee +tailings. Shabbee?" + +The clerk DID "shabbee," and lifted his eyebrows. The next +Saturday See Yup appeared with another package, worth about four +hundred dollars, directed to the same consignee. + +"Didn't pan out quite so rich this week, eh?" said the clerk +engagingly. + +"No," returned See Yup impassively; "next time he payee more." + +When the third Saturday came, with the appearance of See Yup and +four hundred and fifty dollars' worth of gold-dust, the clerk felt +he was no longer bound to keep the secret. He communicated it to +others, and in twenty-four hours the whole settlement knew that See +Yup's coolie company were taking out an average of four hundred +dollars per week from the refuse and tailings of the old abandoned +Palmetto claim! + +The astonishment of the settlement was profound. In earlier days +jealousy and indignation at the success of these degraded heathens +might have taken a more active and aggressive shape, and it would +have fared ill with See Yup and his companions. But the settlement +had become more prosperous and law-abiding; there were one or two +Eastern families and some foreign capital already there, and its +jealousy and indignation were restricted to severe investigation +and legal criticism. Fortunately for See Yup, it was an old- +established mining law that an abandoned claim and its tailings +became the property of whoever chose to work it. But it was +alleged that See Yup's company had in reality "struck a lead,"-- +discovered a hitherto unknown vein or original deposit of gold, not +worked by the previous company, and having failed legally to +declare it by preemption and public registry, in their foolish +desire for secrecy, had thus forfeited their right to the property. +A surveillance of their working, however, did not establish this +theory; the gold that See Yup had sent away was of the kind that +might have been found in the tailings overlooked by the late +Palmetto owners. Yet it was a very large yield for mere refuse. + +"Them Palmetto boys were mighty keerless after they'd made their +big 'strike' and got to work on the vein, and I reckon they threw a +lot of gold away," said Cy Parker, who remembered their large- +handed recklessness in the "flush days." "On'y that WE didn't +think it was white man's work to rake over another man's leavin's, +we might hev had what them derned Chinamen hev dropped into. Tell +ye what, boys, we've been a little too 'high and mighty,' and we'll +hev to climb down." + +At last the excitement reached its climax, and diplomacy was +employed to effect what neither intimidation nor espionage could +secure. Under the pretense of desiring to buy out See Yup's +company, a select committee of the miners was permitted to examine +the property and its workings. They found the great bank of stones +and gravel, representing the cast-out debris of the old claim, +occupied by See Yup and four or five plodding automatic coolies. +At the end of two hours the committee returned to the saloon +bursting with excitement. They spoke under their breath, but +enough was gathered to satisfy the curious crowd that See Yup's +pile of tailings was rich beyond their expectations. The committee +had seen with their own eyes gold taken out of the sand and gravel +to the amount of twenty dollars in the two short hours of their +examination. And the work had been performed in the stupidest, +clumsiest, yet PATIENT Chinese way. What might not white men do +with better appointed machinery! A syndicate was at once formed. +See Yup was offered twenty thousand dollars if he would sell out +and put the syndicate in possession of the claim in twenty-four +hours. The Chinaman received the offer stolidly. As he seemed +inclined to hesitate, I am grieved to say that it was intimated to +him that if he declined he might be subject to embarrassing and +expensive legal proceedings to prove his property, and that +companies would be formed to "prospect" the ground on either side +of his heap of tailings. See Yup at last consented, with the +proviso that the money should be paid in gold into the hands of a +Chinese agent in San Francisco on the day of the delivery of the +claim. The syndicate made no opposition to this characteristic +precaution of the Chinaman. It was like them not to travel with +money, and the implied uncomplimentary suspicion of danger from the +community was overlooked. See Yup departed the day that the +syndicate took possession. He came to see me before he went. I +congratulated him upon his good fortune; at the same time, I was +embarrassed by the conviction that he was unfairly forced into a +sale of his property at a figure far below its real value. + +I think differently now. + +At the end of the week it was said that the new company cleared up +about three hundred dollars. This was not so much as the community +had expected, but the syndicate was apparently satisfied, and the +new machinery was put up. At the end of the next week the +syndicate were silent as to their returns. One of them made a +hurried visit to San Francisco. It was said that he was unable to +see either See Yup or the agent to whom the money was paid. It was +also noticed that there was no Chinaman remaining in the settlement. +Then the fatal secret was out. + +The heap of tailings had probably never yielded the See Yup company +more than twenty dollars a week, the ordinary wage of such a +company. See Yup had conceived the brilliant idea of "booming" it +on a borrowed capital of five hundred dollars in gold-dust, which +he OPENLY transmitted by express to his confederate and creditor in +San Francisco, who in turn SECRETLY sent it back to See Yup by +coolie messengers, to be again openly transmitted to San Francisco. +The package of gold-dust was thus passed backwards and forwards +between debtor and creditor, to the grave edification of the +Express Company and the fatal curiosity of the settlement. When +the syndicate had gorged the bait thus thrown out, See Yup, on the +day the self-invited committee inspected the claim, promptly +"salted" the tailings by CONSCIENTIOUSLY DISTRIBUTING THE GOLD-DUST +OVER IT so deftly that it appeared to be its natural composition +and yield. + +I have only to bid farewell to See Yup, and close this reminiscence +of a misunderstood man, by adding the opinion of an eminent jurist +in San Francisco, to whom the facts were submitted: "So clever was +this alleged fraud, that it is extremely doubtful if an action +would lie against See Yup in the premises, there being no legal +evidence of the 'salting,' and none whatever of his actual +allegation that the gold-dust was the ORDINARY yield of the +tailings, that implication resting entirely with the committee who +examined it under false pretense, and who subsequently forced the +sale by intimidation." + + + +THE DESBOROUGH CONNECTIONS + + +"Then it isn't a question of property or next of kin?" said the +consul. + +"Lord! no," said the lady vivaciously. "Why, goodness me! I +reckon old Desborough could, at any time before he died, have +'bought up' or 'bought out' the whole lot of his relatives on this +side of the big pond, no matter what they were worth. No, it's +only a matter of curiosity and just sociableness." + +The American consul at St. Kentigorn felt much relieved. He had +feared it was only the old story of delusive quests for imaginary +estates and impossible inheritances which he had confronted so often +in nervous wan-eyed enthusiasts and obstreperous claimants from his +own land. Certainly there was no suggestion of this in the richly +dressed and be-diamonded matron before him, nor in her pretty +daughter, charming in a Paris frock, alive with the consciousness of +beauty and admiration, and yet a little ennuye from gratified +indulgence. He knew the mother to be the wealthy widow of a New +York millionaire, that she was traveling for pleasure in Europe, and +a chance meeting with her at dinner a few nights before had led to +this half-capricious, half-confidential appointment at the consulate. + +"No," continued Mrs. Desborough; "Mr. Desborough came to America, +when a small boy, with an uncle who died some years ago. Mr. +Desborough never seemed to hanker much after his English relatives +as long as I knew him, but now that I and Sadie are over here, why +we guessed we might look 'em up and sort of sample 'em! 'Desborough' +'s rather a good name," added the lady, with a complacency that, +however, had a suggestion of query in it. + +"Yes," said the consul; "from the French, I fancy." + +"Mr. Desborough was English--very English," corrected the lady. + +"I mean it may be an old Norman name," said the consul. + +'Norman's good enough for ME," said the daughter, reflecting. +"We'll just settle it as Norman. I never thought about that DES." + +"Only you may find it called 'Debborough' here, and spelt so," said +the consul, smiling. + +Miss Desborough lifted her pretty shoulders and made a charming +grimace. "Then we won't acknowledge 'em. No Debborough for me!" + +"You might put an advertisement in the papers, like the 'next of +kin' notice, intimating, in the regular way, that they would 'hear +of something to their advantage'--as they certainly would," +continued the consul, with a bow. "It would be such a refreshing +change to the kind of thing I'm accustomed to, don't you know--this +idea of one of my countrywomen coming over just to benefit English +relatives! By Jove! I wouldn't mind undertaking the whole thing +for you--it's such a novelty." He was quite carried away with the +idea. + +But the two ladies were far from participating in this joyous +outlook. "No," said Mrs. Desborough promptly, "that wouldn't do. +You see," she went on with superb frankness, "that would be just +giving ourselves away, and saying who WE were before we found out +what THEY were like. Mr. Desborough was all right in HIS way, but +we don't know anything about his FOLKS! We ain't here on a mission +to improve the Desboroughs, nor to gather in any 'lost tribes.'" + +It was evident that, in spite of the humor of the situation and the +levity of the ladies, there was a characteristic national +practicalness about them, and the consul, with a sigh, at last gave +the address of one or two responsible experts in genealogical +inquiry, as he had often done before. He felt it was impossible to +offer any advice to ladies as thoroughly capable of managing their +own affairs as his fair countrywomen, yet he was not without some +curiosity to know the result of their practical sentimental quest. +That he should ever hear of them again he doubted. He knew that +after their first loneliness had worn off in their gregarious +gathering at a London hotel they were not likely to consort with +their own country people, who indeed were apt to fight shy of one +another, and even to indulge in invidious criticism of one another +when admitted in that society to which they were all equally +strangers. So he took leave of them on their way back to London +with the belief that their acquaintance terminated with that brief +incident. But he was mistaken. + +In the year following he was spending his autumn vacation at a +country house. It was an historic house, and had always struck him +as being--even in that country of historic seats--a singular +example of the vicissitudes of English manorial estates and the +mutations of its lords. His host in his prime had been recalled +from foreign service to unexpectedly succeed to an uncle's title +and estate. That estate, however, had come into the possession of +the uncle only through his marriage with the daughter of an old +family whose portraits still looked down from the walls upon the +youngest and alien branch. There were likenesses, effigies, +memorials, and reminiscences of still older families who had +occupied it through forfeiture by war or the favoritism of kings, +and in its stately cloisters and ruined chapel was still felt the +dead hand of its evicted religious founders, which could not be +shaken off. + +It was this strange individuality that affected all who saw it. +For, however changed were those within its walls, whoever were its +inheritors or inhabiters, Scrooby Priory never changed nor altered +its own character. However incongruous or ill-assorted the +portraits that looked from its walls,--so ill met that they might +have flown at one another's throats in the long nights when the +family were away,--the great house itself was independent of them +all. The be-wigged, be-laced, and be-furbelowed of one day's +gathering, the round-headed, steel-fronted, and prim-kerchiefed +congregation of another day, and even the black-coated, bare-armed, +and bare-shouldered assemblage of to-day had no effect on the +austerities of the Priory. Modern houses might show the tastes and +prepossessions of their dwellers, might have caught some passing +trick of the hour, or have recorded the augmented fortunes or +luxuriousness of the owner, but Scrooby Priory never! No one had +dared even to disturb its outer rigid integrity; the breaches of +time and siege were left untouched. It held its calm indifferent +sway over all who passed its low-arched portals, and the consul was +fain to believe that he--a foreign visitor--was no more alien to +the house than its present owner. + +"I'm expecting a very charming compatriot of yours to-morrow," said +Lord Beverdale as they drove from the station together. "You must +tell me what to show her." + +"I should think any countrywoman of mine would be quite satisfied +with the Priory," said the consul, glancing thoughtfully towards +the pile dimly seen through the park. + +"I shouldn't like her to be bored here," continued Beverdale. +"Algy met her at Rome, where she was occupying a palace with her +mother--they're very rich, you know. He found she was staying with +Lady Minever at Hedham Towers, and I went over and invited her with +a little party. She's a Miss Desborough." + +The consul gave a slight start, and was aware that Beverdale was +looking at him. + +"Perhaps you know her?" said Beverdale. + +"Just enough to agree with you that she is charming," said the +consul. "I dined with them, and saw them at the consulate." + +"Oh yes; I always forget you are a consul. Then, of course, you +know all about them. I suppose they're very rich, and in society +over there?" said Beverdale in a voice that was quite animated. + +It was on the consul's lips to say that the late Mr. Desborough was +an Englishman, and even to speak playfully of their proposed quest, +but a sudden instinct withheld him. After all, perhaps it was only +a caprice, or idea, they had forgotten,--perhaps, who knows?--that +they were already ashamed of. They had evidently "got on" in +English society, if that was their real intent, and doubtless Miss +Desborough, by this time, was quite as content with the chance of +becoming related to the Earl of Beverdale, through his son and +heir, Algernon, as if they had found a real Lord Desborough among +their own relatives. The consul knew that Lord Beverdale was not a +rich man, that like most men of old family he was not a slave to +class prejudice; indeed, the consul had seen very few noblemen off +the stage or out of the pages of a novel who were. So he said, +with a slight affectation of authority, that there was as little +doubt of the young lady's wealth as there was of her personal +attractions. + +They were nearing the house through a long avenue of chestnuts +whose variegated leaves were already beginning to strew the ground +beneath, and they could see the vista open upon the mullioned +windows of the Priory, lighted up by the yellow October sunshine. +In that sunshine stood a tall, clean-limbed young fellow, dressed +in a shooting-suit, whom the consul recognized at once as Lord +Algernon, the son of his companion. As if to accent the graces of +this vision of youth and vigor, near him, in the shadow, an old man +had halted, hat in hand, still holding the rake with which he had +been gathering the dead leaves in the avenue; his back bent, partly +with years, partly with the obeisance of a servitor. There was +something so marked in this contrast, in this old man standing in +the shadow of the fading year, himself as dried and withered as the +leaves he was raking, yet pausing to make his reverence to this +passing sunshine of youth and prosperity in the presence of his +coming master, that the consul, as they swept by, looked after him +with a stirring of pain. + +"Rather an old man to be still at work," said the consul. + +Beverdale laughed. "You must not let him hear you say so; he +considers himself quite as fit as any younger man in the place, +and, by Jove! though he's nearly eighty, I'm inclined to believe +it. He's not one of our people, however; he comes from the +village, and is taken on at odd times, partly to please himself. +His great aim is to be independent of his children,--he has a +granddaughter who is one of the maids at the Priory,--and to keep +himself out of the workhouse. He does not come from these parts-- +somewhere farther north, I fancy. But he's a tough lot, and has a +deal of work in him yet." + +"Seems to be going a bit stale lately," said Lord Algernon, "and I +think is getting a little queer in his head. He has a trick of +stopping and staring straight ahead, at times, when he seems to go +off for a minute or two. There!" continued the young man, with a +light laugh. "I say! he's doing it now!" They both turned quickly +and gazed at the bent figure--not fifty yards away--standing in +exactly the same attitude as before. But, even as they gazed, he +slowly lifted his rake and began his monotonous work again. + +At Scrooby Priory, the consul found that the fame of his fair +countrywoman had indeed preceded her, and that the other guests +were quite as anxious to see Miss Desborough as he was. One of +them had already met her in London; another knew her as one of the +house party at the Duke of Northforeland's, where she had been a +central figure. Some of her naive sallies and frank criticisms +were repeated with great unction by the gentlemen, and with some +slight trepidation and a "fearful joy" by the ladies. He was more +than ever convinced that mother and daughter had forgotten their +lineal Desboroughs, and he resolved to leave any allusion to it to +the young lady herself. + +She, however, availed herself of that privilege the evening after +her arrival. "Who'd have thought of meeting YOU here?" she said, +sweeping her skirts away to make room for him on a sofa. "It's a +coon's age since I saw you--not since you gave us that letter to +those genealogical gentlemen in London." + +The consul hoped that it had proved successful. + +"Yes, but maw guessed we didn't care to go back to Hengist and +Horsa, and when they let loose a lot of 'Debboroughs' and +'Daybrooks' upon us, maw kicked! We've got a drawing ten yards +long, that looks like a sour apple tree, with lots of Desboroughs +hanging up on the branches like last year's pippins, and I guess +about as worm-eaten. We took that well enough, but when it came to +giving us a map of straight lines and dashes with names written +under them like an old Morse telegraph slip, struck by lightning, +then maw and I guessed that it made us tired. + +"You know," she went on, opening her clear gray eyes on the consul, +with a characteristic flash of shrewd good sense through her quaint +humor, "we never reckoned where this thing would land us, and we +found we were paying a hundred pounds, not only for the Desboroughs, +but all the people they'd MARRIED, and their CHILDREN, and +children's children, and there were a lot of outsiders we'd never +heard of, nor wanted to hear of. Maw once thought she'd got on the +trail of a Plantagenet, and followed it keen, until she found she +had been reading the dreadful thing upside down. Then we concluded +we wouldn't take any more stock in the family until it had risen." + +During this speech the consul could not help noticing that, +although her attitude was playfully confidential to him, her voice +really was pitched high enough to reach the ears of smaller groups +around her, who were not only following her with the intensest +admiration, but had shamelessly abandoned their own conversation, +and had even faced towards her. Was she really posing in her +naivete? There was a certain mischievous, even aggressive, +consciousness in her pretty eyelids. Then she suddenly dropped +both eyes and voice, and said to the consul in a genuine aside, "I +like this sort of thing much better." + +The consul looked puzzled. "What sort of thing?" + +"Why, all these swell people, don't you see? those pictures on the +walls! this elegant room! everything that has come down from the +past, all ready and settled for you, you know--ages ago! Something +you haven't to pick up for yourself and worry over." + +But here the consul pointed out that the place itself was not +"ancestral" as regarded the present earl, and that even the +original title of his predecessors had passed away from it. "In +fact, it came into the family by one of those 'outsiders' you +deprecate. But I dare say you'd find the place quite as +comfortable with Lord Beverdale for a host as you would if you had +found out he were a cousin," he added. + +"Better," said the young lady frankly. + +"I suppose your mother participates in these preferences?" said the +consul, with a smile. + +"No," said Miss Desborough, with the same frankness, "I think maw's +rather cut up at not finding a Desborough. She was invited down +here, but SHE'S rather independent, you know, so she allowed I +could take care of myself, while she went off to stay with the old +Dowager Lady Mistowe, who thinks maw a very proper womanly person. +I made maw mad by telling her that's just what old Lady Mistowe +would say of her cook--for I can't stand these people's patronage. +However, I shouldn't wonder if I was invited here as a 'most +original person.'" + +But here Lord Algernon came up to implore her to sing them one of +"those plantation songs;" and Miss Desborough, with scarcely a +change of voice or manner, allowed herself to be led to the piano. +The consul had little chance to speak with her again, but he saw +enough that evening to convince him not only that Lord Algernon was +very much in love with her, but that the fact had been equally and +complacently accepted by the family and guests. That her present +visit was only an opportunity for a formal engagement was clear to +every woman in the house--not excepting, I fear, even the fair +subject of gossip herself. Yet she seemed so unconcerned and self- +contained that the consul wondered if she really cared for Lord +Algernon. And having thus wondered, he came to the conclusion that +it didn't much matter, for the happiness of so practically +organized a young lady, if she loved him or not. + +It is highly probable that Miss Sadie Desborough had not even gone +so far as to ask herself that question. She awoke the next morning +with a sense of easy victory and calm satisfaction that had, +however, none of the transports of affection. Her taste was +satisfied by the love of a handsome young fellow,--a typical +Englishman,--who, if not exactly original or ideal, was, she felt, +of an universally accepted, "hall-marked" standard, the legitimate +outcome of a highly ordered, carefully guarded civilization, whose +repose was the absence of struggle or ambition; a man whose regular +features were not yet differentiated from the rest of his class by +any of those disturbing lines which people call character. +Everything was made ready for her, without care or preparation; she +had not even an ideal to realize or to modify. She could slip +without any jar or dislocation into this life which was just saved +from self-indulgence and sybaritic luxury by certain conventional +rules of activity and the occupation of amusement which, as +obligations of her position, even appeared to suggest the novel +aspect of a DUTY! She could accept all this without the sense of +being an intruder in an unbroken lineage--thanks to the consul's +account of the Beverdales' inheritance. She already pictured +herself as the mistress of this fair domain, the custodian of its +treasures and traditions, and the dispenser of its hospitalities, +but--as she conscientiously believed--without pride or vanity, in +her position; only an intense and thoughtful appreciation of it. +Nor did she dream of ever displaying it ostentatiously before her +less fortunate fellow countrywomen; on the contrary, she looked +forward to their possible criticism of her casting off all +transatlantic ties with an uneasy consciousness that was perhaps +her nearest approach to patriotism. Yet, again, she reasoned that, +as her father was an Englishman, she was only returning to her old +home. As to her mother, she had already comforted herself by +noticing certain discrepancies in that lady's temperament, which +led her to believe that she herself alone inherited her father's +nature--for her mother was, of course, distinctly American! So +little conscious was she of any possible snobbishness in this +belief, that in her superb naivete she would have argued the point +with the consul, and employed a wit and dialect that were purely +American. + +She had slipped out of the Priory early that morning that she might +enjoy alone, unattended and unciceroned, the aspect of that vast +estate which might be hers for the mere accepting. Perhaps there +was some instinct of delicacy in her avoiding Lord Algernon that +morning; not wishing, as she herself might have frankly put it, "to +take stock" of his inheritance in his presence. As she passed into +the garden through the low postern door, she turned to look along +the stretching facade of the main building, with the high stained +windows of its banqueting-hall and the state chamber where a king +had slept. Even in that crisp October air, and with the green of +its ivied battlements against the gold of the distant wood, it +seemed to lie in the languid repose of an eternal summer. She +hurried on down the other terrace into the Italian garden, a quaint +survival of past grandeur, passed the great orangery and numerous +conservatories, making a crystal hamlet in themselves--seeing +everywhere the same luxury. But it was a luxury that she fancied +was redeemed from the vulgarity of ostentation by the long custom +of years and generations, so unlike the millionaire palaces of her +own land; and, in her enthusiasm, she even fancied it was further +sanctified by the grim monastic founders who had once been content +with bread and pulse in the crumbling and dismantled refectory. In +the plenitude of her feelings she felt a slight recognition of some +beneficent being who had rolled this golden apple at her feet, and +felt as if she really should like to "do good" in her sphere. + +It so chanced that, passing through a small gate in the park, she +saw walking, a little ahead of her, a young girl whom she at once +recognized as a Miss Amelyn, one of the guests of the evening +before. Miss Desborough remembered that she played the accompaniment +of one or two songs upon the piano, and had even executed a long +solo during the general conversation, without attention from the +others, and apparently with little irritation to herself, subsiding +afterwards into an armchair, quite on the fringe of other people's +conversation. She had been called "my dear" by one or two dowagers, +and by her Christian name by the earl, and had a way of impalpably +melting out of sight at times. These trifles led Miss Desborough to +conclude that she was some kind of dependent or poor relation. Here +was an opportunity to begin her work of "doing good." She quickened +her pace and overtook Miss Amelyn. + +"Let me walk with you," she said graciously. + +The young English girl smiled assent, but looked her surprise at +seeing the cynosure of last night's eyes unattended. + +"Oh," said Sadie, answering the mute query, "I didn't want to be +'shown round' by anybody, and I'm not going to bore YOU with asking +to see sights either. We'll just walk together; wherever YOU'RE +going is good enough for me." + +"I'm going as far as the village," said Miss Amelyn, looking down +doubtfully at Sadie's smart French shoes--"if you care to walk so +far." + +Sadie noticed that her companion was more solidly booted, and that +her straight, short skirts, although less stylish than her own, had +a certain character, better fitted to the freer outdoor life of the +country. But she only said, however, "The village will do," and +gayly took her companion's arm. + +"But I'm afraid you'll find it very uninteresting, for I am going +to visit some poor cottages," persisted Miss Amelyn, with a certain +timid ingenuousness of manner which, however, was as distinct as +Miss Desborough's bolder frankness. "I promised the rector's +daughter to take her place to-day." + +"And I feel as if I was ready to pour oil and wine to any extent," +said Miss Desborough, "so come along!" + +Miss Amelyn laughed, and yet glanced around her timidly, as if she +thought that Miss Desborough ought to have a larger and more +important audience. Then she continued more confidentially and +boldly, "But it isn't at all like 'slumming,' you know. These poor +people here are not very bad, and are not at all extraordinary." + +"Never mind," said Sadie, hurrying her along. After a pause she +went on, "You know the Priory very well, I guess?" + +"I lived there when I was a little girl, with my aunt, the Dowager +Lady Beverdale," said Miss Amelyn. "When my cousin Fred, who was +the young heir, died, and the present Lord Beverdale succeeded,--HE +never expected it, you know, for there were two lives, his two +elder brothers, besides poor Fred's, between, but they both died,-- +we went to live in the Dower House." + +"The Dower House?" repeated Sadie. + +"Yes, Lady Beverdale's separate property." + +"But I thought all this property--the Priory--came into the family +through HER." + +"It did--this was the Amelyns' place; but the oldest son or nearest +male heir always succeeds to the property and title." + +"Do you mean to say that the present Lord Beverdale turned that old +lady out?" + +Miss Amelyn looked shocked. "I mean to say," she said gravely, +"Lady Beverdale would have had to go when her own son became of +age, had he lived." She paused, and then said timidly, "Isn't it +that way in America?" + +"Dear no!" Miss Desborough had a faint recollection that there was +something in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence +against primogeniture. "No! the men haven't it ALL their own way +THERE--not much!" + +Miss Amelyn looked as if she did not care to discuss this problem. +After a few moments Sadie continued, "You and Lord Algernon are +pretty old friends, I guess?" + +"No," replied Miss Amelyn. "He came once or twice to the Priory +for the holidays, when he was quite a boy at Marlborough--for the +family weren't very well off, and his father was in India. He was +a very shy boy, and of course no one ever thought of him succeeding." + +Miss Desborough felt half inclined to be pleased with this, and yet +half inclined to resent this possible snubbing of her future +husband. But they were nearing the village, and Miss Amelyn turned +the conversation to the object of her visit. It was a new village-- +an unhandsome village, for all that it stood near one of the gates +of the park. It had been given over to some mines that were still +worked in its vicinity, and to the railway, which the uncle of the +present earl had resisted; but the railway had triumphed, and the +station for Scrooby Priory was there. There was a grim church, of +a blackened or weather-beaten stone, on the hill, with a few grim +Amelyns reposing cross-legged in the chancel, but the character of +the village was as different from the Priory as if it were in +another county. They stopped at the rectory, where Miss Amelyn +provided herself with certain doles and gifts, which the American +girl would have augmented with a five-pound note but for Miss +Amelyn's horrified concern. "As many shillings would do, and they +would be as grateful," she said. "More they wouldn't understand." + +"Then keep it, and dole it out as you like," said Sadie quickly. + +"But I don't think that--that Lord Beverdale would quite approve," +hesitated Miss Amelyn. + +The pretty brow of her companion knit, and her gray eyes flashed +vivaciously. "What has HE to do with it?" she said pertly; +"besides, you say these are not HIS poor. Take that five-pound +note--or--I'll DOUBLE it, get it changed into sovereigns at the +station, and hand 'em round to every man, woman, and child." + +Miss Amelyn hesitated. The American girl looked capable of doing +what she said; perhaps it was a national way of almsgiving! She +took the note, with the mental reservation of making a full +confession to the rector and Lord Beverdale. + +She was right in saying that the poor of Scrooby village were not +interesting. There was very little squalor or degradation; their +poverty seemed not a descent, but a condition to which they had +been born; the faces which Sadie saw were dulled and apathetic +rather than sullen or rebellious; they stood up when Miss Amelyn +entered, paying HER the deference, but taking little note of the +pretty butterfly who was with her, or rather submitting to her +frank curiosity with that dull consent of the poor, as if they had +lost even the sense of privacy, or a right to respect. It seemed +to the American girl that their poverty was more indicated by what +they were SATISFIED with than what she thought they MISSED. It is +to be feared that this did not add to Sadie's sympathy; all the +beggars she had seen in America wanted all they could get, and she +felt as if she were confronted with an inferior animal. + +"There's a wonderful old man lives here," said Miss Amelyn, as they +halted before a stone and thatch cottage quite on the outskirts of +the village. "We can't call him one of our poor, for he still +works, although over eighty, and it's his pride to keep out of the +poorhouse, and, as he calls it, 'off' the hands of his +granddaughters. But we manage to do something for THEM, and we +hope he profits by it. One of them is at the Priory; they're +trying to make a maid of her, but her queer accent--they're from +the north--is against her with the servants. I am afraid we won't +see old Debs, for he's at work again to-day, though the doctor has +warned him." + +"Debs! What a funny name!" + +"Yes, but as many of these people cannot read or write, the name is +carried by the ear, and not always correctly. Some of the railway +navvies, who come from the north as he does, call him 'Debbers.'" + +They were obliged to descend into the cottage, which was so low +that it seemed to have sunk into the earth until its drooping eaves +of thatch mingled with the straw heap beside it. Debs was not at +home. But his granddaughter was there, who, after a preliminary +"bob," continued the stirring of the pot before the fire in +tentative silence. + +"I am sorry to find that your grandfather has gone to work again in +spite of the doctor's orders," said Miss Amelyn. + +The girl continued to stir the pot, and then said without looking +up, but as if also continuing a train of aggressive thoughts with +her occupation: "Eay, but 'e's so set oop in 'issen 'ee doan't take +orders from nobbut--leastways doctor. Moinds 'em now moor nor a +floy. Says 'ee knaws there nowt wrong wi' 'is 'eart. Mout be +roight--how'siver, sarten sewer, 'is 'EAD'S a' in a muddle! Toims +'ee goes off stamrin' and starin' at nowt, as if 'ee a'nt a +n'aporth o' sense. How'siver I be doing my duty by 'em--and 'ere's +'is porritch when a' cooms--'gin a' be sick or maad." + +What the American understood of the girl's speech and manner struck +her as having very little sympathy with either her aged relative or +her present visitor. And there was a certain dogged selfish +independence about her that Miss Desborough half liked and half +resented. However, Miss Amelyn did not seem to notice it, and, +after leaving a bottle of port for the grandfather, she took her +leave and led Sadie away. As they passed into the village a +carriage, returning to the Priory, filled with their fellow guests, +dashed by, but was instantly pulled up at a word from Lord +Algernon, who leaped from the vehicle, hat in hand, and implored +the fair truant and her companion to join them. + +"We're just making a tour around Windover Hill, and back to +luncheon," he said, with a rising color. "We missed you awfully! +If we had known you were so keen on 'good works,' and so early at +it, by Jove! we'd have got up a 'slummin' party,' and all joined!" + +"And you haven't seen half," said Lord Beverdale from the box. +"Miss Amelyn's too partial to the village. There's an old drunken +retired poacher somewhere in a hut in Crawley Woods, whom it's +death to approach, except with a large party. There's malignant +diphtheria over at the South Farm, eight down with measles at the +keeper's, and an old woman who has been bedridden for years." + +But Miss Desborough was adamant, though sparkling. She thanked +him, but said she had just seen an old woman "who had been lying in +bed for twenty years, and hadn't spoken the truth once!" She +proposed "going outside of Lord Beverdale's own preserves of grain- +fed poor," and starting up her own game. She would return in time +for luncheon--if she could; if not, she "should annex the gruel of +the first kind incapable she met." + +Yet, actually, she was far from displeased at being accidentally +discovered by these people while following out her capricious whim +of the morning. One or two elder ladies, who had fought shy of her +frocks and her frankness the evening before, were quite touched now +by this butterfly who was willing to forego the sunlight of society, +and soil her pretty wings on the haunts of the impoverished, with +only a single companion,--of her own sex!--and smiled approvingly. +And in her present state of mind, remembering her companion's timid +attitude towards Lord Beverdale's opinions, she was not above +administering this slight snub to him in her presence. + +When they had driven away, with many regrets, Miss Amelyn was deeply +concerned. "I am afraid," she said, with timid conscientiousness, +"I have kept you from going with them. And you must be bored with +what you have seen, I know. I don't believe you really care one bit +for it--and you are only doing it to please me." + +"Trot out the rest of your show," said Sadie promptly, "and we'll +wind up by lunching with the rector." + +"He'd be too delighted," said Miss Amelyn, with disaster written +all over her girlish, truthful face, "but--but--you know--it really +wouldn't be quite right to Lord Beverdale. You're his principal +guest--you know, and--they'd think I had taken you off." + +"Well," said Miss Desborough impetuously, "what's the matter with +that inn--the Red Lion? We can get a sandwich there, I guess. I'm +not VERY hungry." + +Miss Amelyn looked horrified for a moment, and then laughed; but +immediately became concerned again. "No! listen to me, REALLY now! +Let me finish my round alone! You'll have ample time if you go NOW +to reach the Priory for luncheon. Do, please! It would be ever so +much better for everybody. I feel quite guilty as it is, and I +suppose I am already in Lord Beverdale's black books." + +The trouble in the young girl's face was unmistakable, and as it +suited Miss Desborough's purpose just as well to show her +independence by returning, as she had set out, alone, she consented +to go. Miss Amelyn showed her a short cut across the park, and they +separated--to meet at dinner. In this brief fellowship, the +American girl had kept a certain supremacy and half-fascination over +the English girl, even while she was conscious of an invincible +character in Miss Amelyn entirely different from and superior to her +own. Certainly there was a difference in the two peoples. Why else +this inherited conscientious reverence for Lord Beverdale's +position, shown by Miss Amelyn, which she, an American alive to its +practical benefits, could not understand? Would Miss Amelyn and +Lord Algernon have made a better match? The thought irritated her, +even while she knew that she herself possessed the young man's +affections, the power to marry him, and, as she believed, kept her +own independence in the matter. + +As she entered the iron gates at the lower end of the park, and +glanced at the interwoven cipher and crest of the Amelyns still +above, she was conscious that the wind was blowing more chill, and +that a few clouds had gathered. As she walked on down the long +winding avenue, the sky became overcast, and, in one of those +strange contrasts of the English climate, the glory of the whole +day went out with the sunshine. The woods suddenly became wrinkled +and gray, the distant hills sombre, the very English turf beneath +her feet grew brown; a mile and a half away, through the opening of +the trees, the west part of the Priory looked a crumbling, ivy- +eaten ruin. A few drops of rain fell. She hurried on. Suddenly +she remembered that the avenue made a long circuit before +approaching the house, and that its lower end, where she was +walking, was but a fringe of the park. Consequently there must be +a short cut across some fields and farm buildings to the back of +the park and the Priory. She at once diverged to the right, +presently found a low fence, which she clambered over, and again +found a footpath which led to a stile. Crossing that, she could +see the footpath now led directly to the Priory,--now a grim and +austere looking pile in the suddenly dejected landscape,--and that +it was probably used only by the servants and farmers. A gust of +wind brought some swift needles of rain to her cheek; she could see +the sad hills beyond the Priory already veiling their faces; she +gathered her skirts and ran. The next field was a long one, but +beside the further stile was a small clump of trees, the only ones +between her and the park. Hurrying on to that shelter, she saw +that the stile was already occupied by a tall but bent figure, +holding a long stick in his hand, which gave him the appearance, +against the horizon, of the figure of Time leaning on his scythe. +As she came nearer she saw it was, indeed, an old man, half resting +on his rake. He was very rugged and weather-beaten, and although +near the shelter of the trees, apparently unmindful of the rain +that was falling on his bald head, and the limp cap he was holding +uselessly in one hand. He was staring at her, yet apparently +unconscious of her presence. A sudden instinct came upon her--it +was "Debs"! + +She went directly up to him, and with that frank common sense which +ordinarily distinguished her, took his cap from his hand and put it +on his head, grasped his arm firmly, and led him to the shelter of +the tree. Then she wiped the raindrops from his face with her +handkerchief, shook out her own dress and her wet parasol, and, +propping her companion against the tree, said:-- + +"There, Mr. Debs! I've heard of people who didn't know enough to +come in when it rained, but I never met one before." + +The old man started, lifted his hairy, sinewy arm, bared to the +elbow, and wiped his bare throat with the dry side of it. Then a +look of intelligence--albeit half aggressive--came into his face. +"Wheer beest tha going?" he asked. + +Something in his voice struck Sadie like a vague echo. Perhaps it +was only the queer dialect--or some resemblance to his +granddaughter's voice. She looked at him a little more closely as +she said:-- + +"To the Priory." + +"Whaat?" + +She pointed with her parasol to the gray pile in the distance. It +was possible that this demented peasant didn't even UNDERSTAND +English. + +"The hall. Oh, ay!" Suddenly his brows knit ominously as he faced +her. "An' wassist tha doin' drest oop in this foinery? Wheer +gettist thee that goawn? Thissen, or thy maester? Nowt even a +napron, fit for thy wark as maaid at serviss; an' parson a gettin' +tha plaace at Hall! So thou'lt be high and moity will tha! thou'lt +not walk wi' maaids, but traipse by thissen like a slut in the +toon--dang tha!" + +Although it was plain to Sadie that the old man, in his wandering +perception, had mistaken her for his granddaughter in service at +the Priory, there was still enough rudeness in his speech for her +to have resented it. But, strange to say, there was a kind of +authority in it that touched her with an uneasiness and repulsion +that was stronger than any other feeling. "I think you have +mistaken me for some one else," she said hurriedly, yet wondering +why she had admitted it, and even irritated at the admission. "I +am a stranger here, a visitor at the Priory. I called with Miss +Amelyn at your cottage, and saw your other granddaughter; that's +how I knew your name." + +The old man's face changed. A sad, senile smile of hopeless +bewilderment crept into his hard mouth; he plucked his limp cap +from his head and let it hang submissively in his fingers, as if it +were his sole apology. Then he tried to straighten himself, and +said, "Naw offins, miss, naw offins! If tha knaws mea tha'll knaw +I'm grandfeyther to two galls as moight be tha owern age; tha'll +tell 'ee that old Debs at haaty years 'as warked and niver lost a +day as man or boy; has niver coome oopen 'em for n'aporth. An' +'e'll keep out o' warkus till he doy. An' 'ee's put by enow to by +wi' his own feythers in Lanksheer, an' not liggen aloane in +parson's choorchyard." + +It was part of her uneasiness that, scarcely understanding or, +indeed, feeling any interest in these maundering details, she still +seemed to have an odd comprehension of his character and some +reminiscent knowledge of him, as if she were going through the +repetition of some unpleasant dream. Even his wrinkled face was +becoming familiar to her. Some weird attraction was holding her; +she wanted to get away from it as much as she wanted to analyze it. +She glanced ostentatiously at the sky, prepared to open her +parasol, and began to edge cautiously away. + +"Then tha beant from these pearts?" he said suddenly. + +"No, no," she said quickly and emphatically,--"no, I'm an American." + +The old man started and moved towards her, eagerly, his keen eyes +breaking through the film that at times obscured them. "'Merrikan! +tha baist 'Merrikan? Then tha knaws ma son John, 'ee war nowt but +a bairn when brether Dick took un to 'Merriky! Naw! Now! that wor +fifty years sen!--niver wroate to his old feyther--niver coomed +back, 'Ee wor tall-loike, an' thea said 'e feavored mea." He +stopped, threw up his head, and with his skinny fingers drew back +his long, straggling locks from his sunken cheeks, and stared in +her face. The quick transition of fascination, repulsion, shock, +and indefinable apprehension made her laugh hysterically. To her +terror he joined in it, and eagerly clasped her wrists. "Eh, lass! +tha knaws John--tha coomes from un to ole grandfeyther. Who-rr-u! +Eay! but tha tho't to fool mea, did tha, lass? Whoy, I knoawed tha +voice, for a' tha foine peacock feathers. So tha be John's gell +coom from Ameriky. Dear! a dear! Coom neaur, lass! let's see what +tha's loike. Eh, but thou'lt kiss tha grandfather, sewerly?" + +A wild terror and undefined consternation had completely +overpowered her! But she made a desperate effort to free her +wrists, and burst out madly:-- + +"Let me go! How dare you! I don't know you or yours! I'm nothing +to you or your kin! My name is Desborough--do you understand--do +you hear me, Mr. Debs?--DESBOROUGH!" + +At the word the old man's fingers stiffened like steel around her +wrists, as he turned upon her a hard, invincible face. + +"So thou'lt call thissen Des-borough, wilt tha? Let me tell tha, +then, that 'Debs,' 'Debban,' 'Debbrook,' and 'Des-borough' are all +a seame! Ay! thy feyther and thy feyther's feyther! Thou'lt be a +Des-borough, will tha? Dang tha! and look doon on tha kin, and +dress thissen in silks o' shame! Tell 'ee thou'rt an ass, gell! +Don't tha hear? An ass! for all tha bean John's bairn! An ass! +that's what tha beast!" + +With flashing eyes and burning cheeks she made one more supreme +effort, lifting her arms, freeing her wrists, and throwing the old +man staggering from her. Then she leaped the stile, turned, and +fled through the rain. But before she reached the end of the field +she stopped! She had freed herself--she was stronger than he--what +had she to fear? He was crazy! Yes, he MUST be crazy, and he had +insulted her, but he was an old man--and God knows what! Her heart +was beating rapidly, her breath was hurried, but she ran back to +the stile. + +He was not there. The field sloped away on either side of it. But +she could distinguish nothing in the pouring rain above the wind- +swept meadow. He must have gone home. Relieved for a moment she +turned and hurried on towards the Priory. + +But at every step she was followed, not by the old man's presence, +but by what he had said to her, which she could not shake off as +she had shaken off his detaining fingers. Was it the ravings of +insanity, or had she stumbled unwittingly upon some secret--was it +after all a SECRET? Perhaps it was something they all knew, or +would know later. And she had come down here for this. For back +of her indignation, back even of her disbelief in his insanity, +there was an awful sense of truth! The names he had flung out, of +"Debs," "Debban," and "Debbrook" now flashed upon her as something +she had seen before, but had not understood. Until she satisfied +herself of this, she felt she could not live or breathe! She +loathed the Priory, with its austere exclusiveness, as it rose +before her; she wished she had never entered it; but it contained +that which she must know, and know at once! She entered the +nearest door and ran up the grand staircase. Her flushed face and +disordered appearance were easily accounted for by her exposure to +the sudden storm. She went to her bedroom, sent her maid to +another room to prepare a change of dress, and sinking down before +her traveling-desk, groped for a document. Ah! there it was--the +expensive toy that she had played with! She hastily ran over its +leaves to the page she already remembered. And there, among the +dashes and perpendicular lines she had jested over last night, on +which she had thought was a collateral branch of the line, stood +her father's name and that of Richard, his uncle, with the +bracketed note in red ink, "see Debbrook, Daybrook, Debbers, and +Debs." Yes! this gaunt, half-crazy, overworked peasant, content to +rake the dead leaves before the rolling chariots of the Beverdales, +was her grandfather; that poorly clad girl in the cottage, and even +the menial in the scullery of this very house that might be HERS, +were her COUSINS! She burst into a laugh, and then refolded the +document and put it away. + +At luncheon she was radiant and sparkling. Her drenched clothes +were an excuse for a new and ravishing toilette. She had never +looked so beautiful before, and significant glances were exchanged +between some of the guests, who believed that the expected proposal +had already come. But those who were of the carriage party knew +otherwise, and of Lord Algernon's disappointment. Lord Beverdale +contented himself with rallying his fair guest on the becomingness +of "good works." But he continued, "You're offering a dreadful +example to these ladies, Miss Desborough, and I know I shall never +hereafter be able to content them with any frivolous morning +amusement at the Priory. For myself, when I am grown gouty and +hideous, I know I shall bloom again as a district visitor." + +Yet under this surface sparkle and nervous exaltation Sadie never +lost consciousness of the gravity of the situation. If her sense +of humor enabled her to see one side of its grim irony; if she +experienced a wicked satisfaction in accepting the admiration and +easy confidence of the high-born guests, knowing that her cousin +had assisted in preparing the meal they were eating, she had never +lost sight of the practical effect of the discovery she had made. +And she had come to a final resolution. She should leave the +Priory at once, and abandon all idea of a matrimonial alliance with +its heir! Inconsistent as this might seem to her selfish, worldly +nature, it was nevertheless in keeping with a certain pride and +independence that was in her blood. She did not love Lord +Algernon, neither did she love her grandfather; she was equally +willing to sacrifice either or both; she knew that neither Lord +Algernon nor his father would make her connections an objection, +however they might wish to keep the fact a secret, or otherwise +dispose of them by pensions or emigration, but she could not bear +to KNOW IT HERSELF! She never could be happy as the mistress of +Scrooby Priory with that knowledge; she did not idealize it as a +principle! Carefully weighing it by her own practical common +sense, she said to herself that "it wouldn't pay." The highest +independence is often akin to the lowest selfishness; she did not +dream that the same pride which kept her grandfather from the +workhouse and support by his daughters, and had even kept him from +communicating with his own son, now kept her from acknowledging +them, even for the gift of a title and domain. There was only one +question before her: should she stay long enough to receive the +proposal of Lord Algernon, and then decline it? Why should she not +snatch that single feminine joy out of the ashes of her burnt-up +illusion? She knew that an opportunity would be offered that +afternoon. The party were to take tea at Broxby Hall, and Lord +Algernon was to drive her there in his dogcart. Miss Desborough +had gone up to her bedroom to put on a warmer cloak, and had rung +twice or thrice impatiently for her maid. + +When the girl made her appearance, apologetic, voluble, and +excited, Miss Desborough scarcely listened to her excuses, until a +single word suddenly arrested her attention. It was "old Debs." + +"What ARE you talking about?" said Sadie, pausing in the adjustment +of her hat on her brown hair. + +"Old Debs, miss,--that's what they call him; an old park-keeper, +just found dead in a pool of water in the fields; the grandfather +of one of the servants here; and there's such an excitement in the +servants' hall. The gentlemen all knew it, too, for I heard Lord +Algernon say that he was looking very queer lately, and might have +had a fit; and Lord Beverdale has sent word to the coroner. And +only think, the people here are such fools that they daren't touch +or move the poor man, and him lyin' there in the rain all the time, +until the coroner comes!" + +Miss Desborough had been steadily regarding herself in the glass to +see if she had turned pale. She had. She set her teeth together +until the color partly returned. But she kept her face away from +the maid. "That'll do," she said quietly. "You can tell me all +later. I have some important news myself, and I may not go out +after all. I want you to take a note for me." She went to her +table, wrote a line in pencil, folded it, scribbled an address upon +it, handed it to the girl, and gently pushed her from the room. + + . . . . . . + +The consul was lingering on the terrace beside one of the +carriages; at a little distance a groom was holding the nervous +thoroughbred of Lord Algernon's dog-cart. Suddenly he felt a touch +on his shoulder, and Miss Desborough's maid put a note in his hand. +It contained only a line:-- + + +Please come and see me in the library, but without making any fuss +about it--at once. S. D. + + +The consul glanced around him; no one had apparently noticed the +incident. He slipped back into the house and made his way to the +library. It was a long gallery; at the further end Miss Desborough +stood cloaked, veiled, and coquettishly hatted. She was looking +very beautiful and animated. "I want you to please do me a great +favor," she said, with an adorable smile, "as your own countrywoman, +you know--for the sake of Fourth of July and Pumpkin Pie and the Old +Flag! I don't want to go to this circus to-day. I am going to +leave here to-night! I am! Honest Injin! I want YOU to manage it. +I want you to say that as consul you've received important news for +me: the death of some relative, if you like; or better, something +AFFECTING MY PROPERTY, you know," with a little satirical laugh. +"I guess that would fetch 'em! So go at once." + +"But really, Miss Desborough, do let us talk this over before you +decide!" implored the bewildered consul. "Think what a +disappointment to your host and these ladies. Lord Algernon +expects to drive you there; he is already waiting! The party was +got up for you!" Miss Desborough made a slight grimace. "I mean +you ought to sacrifice something--but I trust there is really +nothing serious--to them!" + +"If YOU do not speak to them, I will!" said Miss Desborough firmly. +"If you say what I tell you, it will come the more plausibly from +you. Come! My mind is made up. One of us must break the news! +Shall it be you or I?" She drew her cloak over her shoulders and +made a step forwards. + +The consul saw she was determined. "Then wait here till I return, +but keep yourself out of sight," he said, and hurried away. +Between the library and the terrace he conceived a plan. His +perplexity lent him a seriousness which befitted the gravity of the +news he had to disclose. "I am sorry to have to tell you," he +said, taking Lord Beverdale aside, "that I was the unlucky bearer +of some sad news to Miss Desborough this morning, through my +consular letters--some matter concerning the death of a relation of +hers, and some wearisome question of property. I thought that it +was of little importance, and that she would not take it seriously, +but I find I was mistaken. It may even oblige her to catch the +London train to-night. I promised to make her excuses to you for +the present, and I'm afraid I must add my own to them, as she +wishes me to stay and advise her in this matter, which requires +some prompt action." + +Miss Desborough was right: the magic word "property" changed the +slight annoyance on the earl's face to a sympathetic concern. +"Dear me! I trust it is nothing really serious," he said. "Of +course, you will advise her, and, by the way, if my solicitor, +Withers, who'll be here to-morrow, can do anything, you know, call +him in. I hope she'll be able to see me later. It could not be a +NEAR relation who died, I fancy; she has no brothers or sisters, I +understand." + +"A cousin, I think; an old friend," said the consul hastily. He +heard Lord Beverdale say a few words to his companions, saw with a +tinge of remorse a cloud settle upon Lord Algernon's fresh face, as +he appealed in a whisper to old Lady Mesthyn, who leaned forward +from the carriage, and said, "If the dear child thought I could be +of any service, I should only be too glad to stay with her." + +"I knew she would appreciate Lady Mesthyn's sympathy," said the +ingenious consul quickly, "but I really think the question is more +a business one--and"-- + +"Ah, yes," said the old lady, shaking her head, "it's dreadful, of +course, but we must all think of THAT!" + +As the carriage drove away, the consul hurried back a little +viciously to his fair countrywoman. "There!" he said, "I have done +it! If I have managed to convey either the idea that you are a +penniless orphan, or that I have official information that you are +suspected of a dynamite conspiracy, don't blame me! And now," he +said, "as I have excused myself on the ground that I must devote +myself to this dreadful business of yours, perhaps you'll tell me +WHAT it really is." + +"Not a word more," said Miss Desborough; "except," she added,-- +checking her smile with a weary gesture,--"except that I want to +leave this dreadful place at once! There! don't ask me any more!" + +There could be no doubt of the girl's sincerity. Nor was it the +extravagant caprice of a petted idol. What had happened? He might +have believed in a lovers' quarrel, but he knew that she and Lord +Algernon could have had no private interview that evening. He must +perforce accept her silence, yet he could not help saying:-- + +"You seemed to like the place so much last night. I say, you +haven't seen the Priory ghost, have you?" + +"The Priory ghost," she said quickly. "What's that?" + +"The old monk who passes through the cloisters with the sacred oil, +the bell, and the smell of incense whenever any one is to die here. +By Jove! it would have been a good story to tell instead of this +cock-and-bull one about your property. And there WAS a death here +to-day. You'd have added the sibyl's gifts to your other charms." + +"Tell me about that old man," she said, looking past him out of the +window. "I was at his cottage this morning. But, no! first let us +go out. You can take me for a walk, if you like. You see I am all +ready, and I'm just stifling here." + +They descended to the terrace together. "Where would you like to +go?" he asked. + +"To the village. I may want to telegraph, you know." + +They turned into the avenue, but Miss Desborough stopped. + +"Is there not a shorter cut across the fields," she asked, "over +there?" + +"There is," said the consul. + +They both turned into the footpath which led to the farm and stile. +After a pause she said, "Did you ever talk with that poor old man?" + +"No." + +"Then you don't know if he really was crazy, as they think." + +"No. But they may have thought an old man's forgetfulness of +present things and his habit of communing with the past was +insanity. For all that he was a plucky, independent old fellow, +with a grim purpose that was certainly rational." + +"I suppose in his independence he would not have taken favors from +these people, or anybody?" + +"I should think not." + +"Don't you think it was just horrid--their leaving him alone in the +rain, when he might have been only in a fit?" + +"The doctor says he died suddenly of heart disease," said the +consul. "It might have happened at any moment and without +warning." + +"Ah, that was the coroner's verdict, then," said Miss Desborough +quickly. + +"The coroner did not think it necessary to have any inquest after +Lord Beverdale's statement. It wouldn't have been very joyous for +the Priory party. And I dare say he thought it might not be very +cheerful for YOU." + +"How very kind!" said the young girl, with a quick laugh. "But do +you know that it's about the only thing human, original, and +striking that has happened in this place since I've been here! And +so unexpected, considering how comfortably everything is ordered +here beforehand." + +"Yet you seemed to like that kind of thing very well, last evening," +said the consul mischievously. + +"That was last night," retorted Miss Desborough; "and you know the +line, 'Colors seen by candlelight do not look the same by day.' +But I'm going to be very consistent to-day, for I intend to go over +to that poor man's cottage again, and see if I can be of any +service. Will you go with me?" + +"Certainly," said the consul, mystified by his companion's +extraordinary conduct, yet apparent coolness of purpose, and hoping +for some further explanation. Was she only an inexperienced flirt +who had found herself on the point of a serious entanglement she +had not contemplated? Yet even then he knew she was clever enough +to extricate herself in some other way than this abrupt and brutal +tearing through the meshes. Or was it possible that she really had +any intelligence affecting her property? He reflected that he knew +very little of the Desboroughs, but on the other hand he knew that +Beverdale knew them much better, and was a prudent man. He had no +right to demand her confidence as a reward for his secrecy; he must +wait her pleasure. Perhaps she would still explain; women seldom +could resist the triumph of telling the secret that puzzled others. + +When they reached the village she halted before the low roof of +Debs's cottage. "I had better go in first," she said; "you can +come in later, and in the meantime you might go to the station for +me and find out the exact time that the express train leaves for +the north." + +"But," said the astonished consul, "I thought you were going to +London?" + +"No," said Miss Desborough quietly, "I am going to join some +friends at Harrogate." + +"But that train goes much earlier than the train south, and--and +I'm afraid Lord Beverdale will not have returned so soon." + +"How sad!" said Miss Desborough, with a faint smile, "but we must +bear up under it, and--I'll write him. I will be here until you +return." + +She turned away and entered the cottage. The granddaughter she had +already seen and her sister, the servant at the Priory, were both +chatting comfortably, but ceased as she entered, and both rose with +awkward respect. There was little to suggest that the body of +their grandfather, already in a rough oak shell, was lying upon +trestles beside them. + +"You have carried out my orders, I see," said Miss Desborough, +laying down her parasol. + +"Ay, miss; but it was main haard gettin' et dooan so soon, and et +cooast"-- + +"Never mind the cost. I've given you money enough, I think, and if +I haven't, I guess I can give you more." + +"Ay, miss! Abbut the pa'son 'ead gi' un a funeral for nowt." + +"But I understood you to say," said Miss Desborough, with an +impatient flash of eye, "that your grandfather wished to be buried +with his kindred in the north?" + +"Ay, miss," said the girl apologetically, "an naw 'ees savit th' +munny. Abbut e'd bean tickled 'ad 'ee knowed it! Dear! dear! 'ee +niver thowt et 'ud be gi'en by stranger an' not 'es ownt fammaly." + +"For all that, you needn't tell anybody it was given by ME," said +Miss Desborough. "And you'll be sure to be ready to take the train +this afternoon--without delay." There was a certain peremptoriness +in her voice very unlike Miss Amelyn's, yet apparently much more +effective with the granddaughter. + +"Ay, miss. Then, if tha'll excoose mea, I'll go streight to 'oory +oop sexten." + +She bustled away. "Now," said Miss Desborough, turning to the +other girl, "I shall take the same train, and will probably see you +on the platform at York to give my final directions. That's all. +Go and see if the gentleman who came with me has returned from the +station." + +The girl obeyed. Left entirely alone, Miss Desborough glanced +around the room, and then went quietly up to the unlidded coffin. +The repose of death had softened the hard lines of the old man's +mouth and brow into a resemblance she now more than ever +understood. She had stood thus only a few years before, looking at +the same face in a gorgeously inlaid mahogany casket, smothered +amidst costly flowers, and surrounded by friends attired in all the +luxurious trappings of woe; yet it was the same face that was now +rigidly upturned to the bare thatch and rafters of that crumbling +cottage, herself its only companion. She lifted her delicate veil +with both hands, and, stooping down, kissed the hard, cold +forehead, without a tremor. Then she dropped her veil again over +her dry eyes, readjusted it in the little, cheap, black-framed +mirror that hung against the wall, and opened the door as the +granddaughter returned. The gentleman was just coming from the +station. + +"Remember to look out for me at York," said Miss Desborough, +extending her gloved hand. "Good-by till then." The young girl +respectfully touched the ends of Miss Desborough's fingers, dropped +a curtsy, and Miss Desborough rejoined the consul. + +"You have barely time to return to the Priory and see to your +luggage," said the consul, "if you must go. But let me hope that +you have changed your mind." + +"I have not changed my mind," said Miss Desborough quietly, "and my +baggage is already packed." After a pause, she said thoughtfully, +"I've been wondering"-- + +"What?" said the consul eagerly. + +"I've been wondering if people brought up to speak in a certain +dialect, where certain words have their own significance and color, +and are part of their own lives and experience--if, even when they +understand another dialect, they really feel any sympathy with it, +or the person who speaks it?" + +"Apropos of"--asked the consul. + +"These people I've just left! I don't think I quite felt with them, +and I guess they didn't feel with me." + +"But," said the consul laughingly, "you know that we Americans +speak with a decided dialect of our own, and attach the same occult +meaning to it. Yet, upon my word, I think that Lord Beverdale--or +shall I say Lord Algernon?--would not only understand that American +word 'guess' as you mean it, but would perfectly sympathize with +you." + +Miss Desborough's eyes sparkled even through her veil as she +glanced at her companion and said, "I GUESS NOT." + +As the "tea" party had not yet returned, it fell to the consul to +accompany Miss Desborough and her maid to the station. But here he +was startled to find a collection of villagers upon the platform, +gathered round two young women in mourning, and an ominous-looking +box. He mingled for a moment with the crowd, and then returned to +Miss Desborough's side. + +"Really," he said, with a concern that was scarcely assumed, "I +ought not to let you go. The omens are most disastrous! You came +here to a death; you are going away with a funeral!" + +"Then it's high time I took myself off!" said the lady lightly. + +"Unless, like the ghostly monk, you came here on a mission, and +have fulfilled it." + +"Perhaps I have. Good-by!" + + . . . . . . + +In spite of the bright and characteristic letter which Miss +Desborough left for her host,--a letter which mingled her peculiar +shrewd sense with her humorous extravagance of expression,--the +consul spent a somewhat uneasy evening under the fire of questions +that assailed him in reference to the fair deserter. But he kept +loyal faith with her, adhering even to the letter of her +instructions, and only once was goaded into more active mendacity. +The conversation had turned upon "Debs," and the consul had +remarked on the singularity of the name. A guest from the north +observed, however, that the name was undoubtedly a contraction. +"Possibly it might have been 'Debborough,' or even the same name as +our fair friend." + +"But didn't Miss Desborough tell you last night that she had been +hunting up her people, with a family tree, or something like that?" +said Lord Algernon eagerly. "I just caught a word here and there, +for you were both laughing." + +The consul smiled blandly. "You may well say so, for it was all +the most delightful piece of pure invention and utter extravagance. +It would have amused her still more if she had thought you were +listening and took it seriously!" + +"Of course; I see!" said the young fellow, with a laugh and a +slight rise of color. "I knew she was taking some kind of a rise +out of YOU, and that remark reminded me of it." + +Nevertheless, within a year, Lord Algernon was happily married to +the daughter of a South African millionaire, whose bridal offerings +alone touched the sum of half a million. It was also said that the +mother was "impossible" and the father "unspeakable," the relations +"inextinguishable;" but the wedding was an "occasion," and in the +succeeding year of festivity it is presumed that the names of +"Debs" and "Desborough" were alike forgotten. + +But they existed still in a little hamlet near the edge of a bleak +northern moor, where they were singularly exalted on a soaring +shaft of pure marble above the submerged and moss-grown tombstones +of a simple country churchyard. So great was the contrast between +the modern and pretentious monument and the graves of the humbler +forefathers of the village, that even the Americans who chanced to +visit it were shocked at what they believed was the ostentatious +and vulgar pride of one of their own countrywomen. For on its +pedestal was inscribed:-- + + + Sacred to the Memory + of + JOHN DEBS DESBOROUGH, + Formerly of this parish, + Who departed this life October 20th, 1892, + At Scrooby Priory, + At the age of eighty-two years. + This monument was erected as a loving testimony + by his granddaughter, + Sadie Desborough, of New York, U. S. A. + + "And evening brings us home." + + + +SALOMY JANE'S KISS + + +Only one shot had been fired. It had gone wide of its mark,--the +ringleader of the Vigilantes,--and had left Red Pete, who had fired +it, covered by their rifles and at their mercy. For his hand had +been cramped by hard riding, and his eye distracted by their sudden +onset, and so the inevitable end had come. He submitted sullenly +to his captors; his companion fugitive and horse-thief gave up the +protracted struggle with a feeling not unlike relief. Even the hot +and revengeful victors were content. They had taken their men +alive. At any time during the long chase they could have brought +them down by a rifle shot, but it would have been unsportsmanlike, +and have ended in a free fight, instead of an example. And, for +the matter of that, their doom was already sealed. Their end, by a +rope and a tree, although not sanctified by law, would have at +least the deliberation of justice. It was the tribute paid by the +Vigilantes to that order which they had themselves disregarded in +the pursuit and capture. Yet this strange logic of the frontier +sufficed them, and gave a certain dignity to the climax. + +"Ef you've got anything to say to your folks, say it NOW, and say +it quick," said the ringleader. + +Red Pete glanced around him. He had been run to earth at his own +cabin in the clearing, whence a few relations and friends, mostly +women and children, non-combatants, had outflowed, gazing vacantly +at the twenty Vigilantes who surrounded them. All were accustomed +to scenes of violence, blood-feud, chase, and hardship; it was only +the suddenness of the onset and its quick result that had surprised +them. They looked on with dazed curiosity and some disappointment; +there had been no fight to speak of--no spectacle! A boy, nephew +of Red Pete, got upon the rain-barrel to view the proceedings more +comfortably; a tall, handsome, lazy Kentucky girl, a visiting +neighbor, leaned against the doorpost, chewing gum. Only a yellow +hound was actively perplexed. He could not make out if a hunt were +just over or beginning, and ran eagerly backwards and forwards, +leaping alternately upon the captives and the captors. + +The ringleader repeated his challenge. Red Pete gave a reckless +laugh and looked at his wife. + +At which Mrs. Red Pete came forward. It seemed that she had much +to say, incoherently, furiously, vindictively, to the ringleader. +His soul would roast in hell for that day's work! He called +himself a man, skunkin' in the open and afraid to show himself +except with a crowd of other "Kiyi's" around a house of women and +children. Heaping insult upon insult, inveighing against his low +blood, his ancestors, his dubious origin, she at last flung out a +wild taunt of his invalid wife, the insult of a woman to a woman, +until his white face grew rigid, and only that Western-American +fetich of the sanctity of sex kept his twitching fingers from the +lock of his rifle. Even her husband noticed it, and with a half- +authoritative "Let up on that, old gal," and a pat of his freed +left hand on her back, took his last parting. The ringleader, +still white under the lash of the woman's tongue, turned abruptly +to the second captive. "And if YOU'VE got anybody to say 'good-by' +to, now's your chance." + +The man looked up. Nobody stirred or spoke. He was a stranger +there, being a chance confederate picked up by Red Pete, and known +to no one. Still young, but an outlaw from his abandoned boyhood, +of which father and mother were only a forgotten dream, he loved +horses and stole them, fully accepting the frontier penalty of life +for the interference with that animal on which a man's life so +often depended. But he understood the good points of a horse, as +was shown by the ones he bestrode--until a few days before the +property of Judge Boompointer. This was his sole distinction. + +The unexpected question stirred him for a moment out of the +attitude of reckless indifference, for attitude it was, and a part +of his profession. But it may have touched him that at that moment +he was less than his companion and his virago wife. However, he +only shook his head. As he did so his eye casually fell on the +handsome girl by the doorpost, who was looking at him. The +ringleader, too, may have been touched by his complete loneliness, +for HE hesitated. At the same moment he saw that the girl was +looking at his friendless captive. + +A grotesque idea struck him. + +"Salomy Jane, ye might do worse than come yere and say 'good-by' to +a dying man, and him a stranger," he said. + +There seemed to be a subtle stroke of poetry and irony in this that +equally struck the apathetic crowd. It was well known that Salomy +Jane Clay thought no small potatoes of herself, and always held off +the local swain with a lazy nymph-like scorn. Nevertheless, she +slowly disengaged herself from the doorpost, and, to everybody's +astonishment, lounged with languid grace and outstretched hand +towards the prisoner. The color came into the gray reckless mask +which the doomed man wore as her right hand grasped his left, just +loosed by his captors. Then she paused; her shy, fawn-like eyes +grew bold, and fixed themselves upon him. She took the chewing-gum +from her mouth, wiped her red lips with the back of her hand, by a +sudden lithe spring placed her foot on his stirrup, and, bounding +to the saddle, threw her arms about his neck and pressed a kiss +upon his lips. + +They remained thus for a hushed moment--the man on the threshold of +death, the young woman in the fullness of youth and beauty--linked +together. Then the crowd laughed; in the audacious effrontery of +the girl's act the ultimate fate of the two men was forgotten. She +slipped languidly to the ground; SHE was the focus of all eyes,-- +she only! The ringleader saw it and his opportunity. He shouted: +"Time's up--Forward!" urged his horse beside his captives, and the +next moment the whole cavalcade was sweeping over the clearing into +the darkening woods. + +Their destination was Sawyer's Crossing, the headquarters of the +committee, where the council was still sitting, and where both +culprits were to expiate the offense of which that council had +already found them guilty. They rode in great and breathless +haste,--a haste in which, strangely enough, even the captives +seemed to join. That haste possibly prevented them from noticing +the singular change which had taken place in the second captive +since the episode of the kiss. His high color remained, as if it +had burned through his mask of indifference; his eyes were quick, +alert, and keen, his mouth half open as if the girl's kiss still +lingered there. And that haste had made them careless, for the +horse of the man who led him slipped in a gopher-hole, rolled over, +unseated his rider, and even dragged the bound and helpless second +captive from Judge Boompointer's favorite mare. In an instant they +were all on their feet again, but in that supreme moment the second +captive felt the cords which bound his arms had slipped to his +wrists. By keeping his elbows to his sides, and obliging the +others to help him mount, it escaped their notice. By riding close +to his captors, and keeping in the crush of the throng, he further +concealed the accident, slowly working his hands downwards out of +his bonds. + +Their way lay through a sylvan wilderness, mid-leg deep in ferns, +whose tall fronds brushed their horses' sides in their furious +gallop and concealed the flapping of the captive's loosened cords. +The peaceful vista, more suggestive of the offerings of nymph and +shepherd than of human sacrifice, was in a strange contrast to this +whirlwind rush of stern, armed men. The westering sun pierced the +subdued light and the tremor of leaves with yellow lances; birds +started into song on blue and dove-like wings, and on either side +of the trail of this vengeful storm could be heard the murmur of +hidden and tranquil waters. In a few moments they would be on the +open ridge, whence sloped the common turnpike to "Sawyer's," a mile +away. It was the custom of returning cavalcades to take this hill +at headlong speed, with shouts and cries that heralded their +coming. They withheld the latter that day, as inconsistent with +their dignity; but, emerging from the wood, swept silently like an +avalanche down the slope. They were well under way, looking only +to their horses, when the second captive slipped his right arm from +the bonds and succeeded in grasping the reins that lay trailing on +the horse's neck. A sudden vaquero jerk, which the well-trained +animal understood, threw him on his haunches with his forelegs +firmly planted on the slope. The rest of the cavalcade swept on; +the man who was leading the captive's horse by the riata, thinking +only of another accident, dropped the line to save himself from +being dragged backwards from his horse. The captive wheeled, and +the next moment was galloping furiously up the slope. + +It was the work of a moment; a trained horse and an experienced +hand. The cavalcade had covered nearly fifty yards before they +could pull up; the freed captive had covered half that distance +uphill. The road was so narrow that only two shots could be fired, +and these broke dust two yards ahead of the fugitive. They had not +dared to fire low; the horse was the more valuable animal. The +fugitive knew this in his extremity also, and would have gladly +taken a shot in his own leg to spare that of his horse. Five men +were detached to recapture or kill him. The latter seemed +inevitable. But he had calculated his chances; before they could +reload he had reached the woods again; winding in and out between +the pillared tree trunks, he offered no mark. They knew his horse +was superior to their own; at the end of two hours they returned, +for he had disappeared without track or trail. The end was briefly +told in the "Sierra Record:"-- + +"Red Pete, the notorious horse-thief, who had so long eluded +justice, was captured and hung by the Sawyer's Crossing Vigilantes +last week; his confederate, unfortunately, escaped on a valuable +horse belonging to Judge Boompointer. The judge had refused one +thousand dollars for the horse only a week before. As the thief, +who is still at large, would find it difficult to dispose of so +valuable an animal without detection, the chances are against +either of them turning up again." + + . . . . . . + +Salomy Jane watched the cavalcade until it had disappeared. Then +she became aware that her brief popularity had passed. Mrs. Red +Pete, in stormy hysterics, had included her in a sweeping +denunciation of the whole universe, possibly for simulating an +emotion in which she herself was deficient. The other women hated +her for her momentary exaltation above them; only the children +still admired her as one who had undoubtedly "canoodled" with a man +"a-going to be hung"--a daring flight beyond their wildest +ambition. Salomy Jane accepted the change with charming unconcern. +She put on her yellow nankeen sunbonnet,--a hideous affair that +would have ruined any other woman, but which only enhanced the +piquancy of her fresh brunette skin,--tied the strings, letting the +blue-black braids escape below its frilled curtain behind, jumped +on her mustang with a casual display of agile ankles in shapely +white stockings, whistled to the hound, and waving her hand with a +"So long, sonny!" to the lately bereft but admiring nephew, flapped +and fluttered away in her short brown holland gown. + +Her father's house was four miles distant. Contrasted with the +cabin she had just quitted, it was a superior dwelling, with a long +"lean-to" at the rear, which brought the eaves almost to the ground +and made it look like a low triangle. It had a long barn and +cattle sheds, for Madison Clay was a "great" stock-raiser and the +owner of a "quarter section." It had a sitting-room and a parlor +organ, whose transportation thither had been a marvel of "packing." +These things were supposed to give Salomy Jane an undue importance, +but the girl's reserve and inaccessibility to local advances were +rather the result of a cool, lazy temperament and the preoccupation +of a large, protecting admiration for her father, for some years a +widower. For Mr. Madison Clay's life had been threatened in one or +two feuds,--it was said, not without cause,--and it is possible +that the pathetic spectacle of her father doing his visiting with a +shotgun may have touched her closely and somewhat prejudiced her +against the neighboring masculinity. The thought that cattle, +horses, and "quarter section" would one day be hers did not disturb +her calm. As for Mr. Clay, he accepted her as housewifely, though +somewhat "interfering," and, being one of "his own womankind," +therefore not without some degree of merit. + +"Wot's this yer I'm hearin' of your doin's over at Red Pete's? +Honeyfoglin' with a horse-thief, eh?" said Mr. Clay two days later +at breakfast. + +"I reckon you heard about the straight thing, then," said Salomy +Jane unconcernedly, without looking round. + +"What do you kalkilate Rube will say to it? What are you goin' to +tell HIM?" said Mr. Clay sarcastically. + +"Rube," or Reuben Waters, was a swain supposed to be favored +particularly by Mr. Clay. Salomy Jane looked up. + +"I'll tell him that when HE'S on his way to be hung, I'll kiss +him,--not till then," said the young lady brightly. + +This delightful witticism suited the paternal humor, and Mr. Clay +smiled; but, nevertheless, he frowned a moment afterwards. + +"But this yer hoss-thief got away arter all, and that's a hoss of a +different color," he said grimly. + +Salomy Jane put down her knife and fork. This was certainly a new +and different phase of the situation. She had never thought of it +before, and, strangely enough, for the first time she became +interested in the man. "Got away?" she repeated. "Did they let +him off?" + +"Not much," said her father briefly. "Slipped his cords, and going +down the grade pulled up short, just like a vaquero agin a lassoed +bull, almost draggin' the man leadin' him off his hoss, and then +skyuted up the grade. For that matter, on that hoss o' Judge +Boompointer's he mout have dragged the whole posse of 'em down on +their knees ef he liked! Sarved 'em right, too. Instead of +stringin' him up afore the door, or shootin' him on sight, they +must allow to take him down afore the hull committee 'for an +example.' 'Example' be blowed! Ther' 's example enough when some +stranger comes unbeknownst slap onter a man hanged to a tree and +plugged full of holes. THAT'S an example, and HE knows what it +means. Wot more do ye want? But then those Vigilantes is allus +clingin' and hangin' onter some mere scrap o' the law they're +pretendin' to despise. It makes me sick! Why, when Jake Myers +shot your ole Aunt Viney's second husband, and I laid in wait for +Jake afterwards in the Butternut Hollow, did I tie him to his hoss +and fetch him down to your Aunt Viney's cabin 'for an example' +before I plugged him? No!" in deep disgust. "No! Why, I just +meandered through the wood, careless-like, till he comes out, and I +just rode up to him, and I said"-- + +But Salomy Jane had heard her father's story before. Even one's +dearest relatives are apt to become tiresome in narration. "I +know, dad," she interrupted; "but this yer man,--this hoss-thief,-- +did HE get clean away without gettin' hurt at all?" + +"He did, and unless he's fool enough to sell the hoss he kin keep +away, too. So ye see, ye can't ladle out purp stuff about a 'dyin' +stranger' to Rube. He won't swaller it." + +"All the same, dad," returned the girl cheerfully, "I reckon to say +it, and say MORE; I'll tell him that ef HE manages to get away too, +I'll marry him--there! But ye don't ketch Rube takin' any such +risks in gettin' ketched, or in gettin' away arter!" + +Madison Clay smiled grimly, pushed back his chair, rose, dropped a +perfunctory kiss on his daughter's hair, and, taking his shotgun +from the corner, departed on a peaceful Samaritan mission to a cow +who had dropped a calf in the far pasture. Inclined as he was to +Reuben's wooing from his eligibility as to property, he was +conscious that he was sadly deficient in certain qualities inherent +in the Clay family. It certainly would be a kind of mesalliance. + +Left to herself, Salomy Jane stared a long while at the coffee-pot, +and then called the two squaws who assisted her in her household +duties, to clear away the things while she went up to her own room +to make her bed. Here she was confronted with a possible prospect +of that proverbial bed she might be making in her willfulness, and +on which she must lie, in the photograph of a somewhat serious +young man of refined features--Reuben Waters--stuck in her window- +frame. Salomy Jane smiled over her last witticism regarding him +and enjoyed, it, like your true humorist, and then, catching sight +of her own handsome face in the little mirror, smiled again. But +wasn't it funny about that horse-thief getting off after all? Good +Lordy! Fancy Reuben hearing he was alive and going round with that +kiss of hers set on his lips! She laughed again, a little more +abstractedly. And he had returned it like a man, holding her tight +and almost breathless, and he going to be hung the next minute! +Salomy Jane had been kissed at other times, by force, chance, or +stratagem. In a certain ingenuous forfeit game of the locality +known as "I'm a-pinin'," many had "pined" for a "sweet kiss" from +Salomy Jane, which she had yielded in a sense of honor and fair +play. She had never been kissed like this before--she would never +again; and yet the man was alive! And behold, she could see in the +mirror that she was blushing! + +She should hardly know him again. A young man with very bright +eyes, a flushed and sunburnt cheek, a kind of fixed look in the +face, and no beard; no, none that she could feel. Yet he was not +at all like Reuben, not a bit. She took Reuben's picture from the +window, and laid it on her workbox. And to think she did not even +know this young man's name! That was queer. To be kissed by a man +whom she might never know! Of course he knew hers. She wondered +if he remembered it and her. But of course he was so glad to get +off with his life that he never thought of anything else. Yet she +did not give more than four or five minutes to these speculations, +and, like a sensible girl, thought of something else. Once again, +however, in opening the closet, she found the brown holland gown +she had worn on the day before; thought it very unbecoming, and +regretted that she had not worn her best gown on her visit to Red +Pete's cottage. On such an occasion she really might have been +more impressive. + +When her father came home that night she asked him the news. No, +they had NOT captured the second horse-thief, who was still at +large. Judge Boompointer talked of invoking the aid of the +despised law. It remained, then, to see whether the horse-thief +was fool enough to try to get rid of the animal. Red Pete's body +had been delivered to his widow. Perhaps it would only be +neighborly for Salomy Jane to ride over to the funeral. But Salomy +Jane did not take to the suggestion kindly, nor yet did she explain +to her father that, as the other man was still living, she did not +care to undergo a second disciplining at the widow's hands. +Nevertheless, she contrasted her situation with that of the widow +with a new and singular satisfaction. It might have been Red Pete +who had escaped. But he had not the grit of the nameless one. She +had already settled his heroic quality. + +"Ye ain't harkenin' to me, Salomy." + +Salomy Jane started. + +"Here I'm askin' ye if ye've see that hound Phil Larrabee sneaking +by yer today?" + +Salomy Jane had not. But she became interested and self-reproachful, +for she knew that Phil Larrabee was one of her father's enemies. +"He wouldn't dare to go by here unless he knew you were out," she +said quickly. + +"That's what gets me," he said, scratching his grizzled head. +"I've been kind o' thinkin' o' him all day, and one of them +Chinamen said he saw him at Sawyer's Crossing. He was a kind of +friend o' Pete's wife. That's why I thought yer might find out ef +he'd been there." Salomy Jane grew more self-reproachful at her +father's self-interest in her "neighborliness." "But that ain't +all," continued Mr. Clay. "Thar was tracks over the far pasture +that warn't mine. I followed them, and they went round and round +the house two or three times, ez ef they mout hev bin prowlin', and +then I lost 'em in the woods again. It's just like that sneakin' +hound Larrabee to hev bin lyin' in wait for me and afraid to meet a +man fair and square in the open." + +"You just lie low, dad, for a day or two more, and let me do a +little prowlin'," said the girl, with sympathetic indignation in +her dark eyes. "Ef it's that skunk, I'll spot him soon enough and +let you know whar he's hiding." + +"You'll just stay where ye are, Salomy," said her father decisively. +"This ain't no woman's work--though I ain't sayin' you haven't got +more head for it than some men I know." + +Nevertheless, that night, after her father had gone to bed, Salomy +Jane sat by the open window of the sitting-room in an apparent +attitude of languid contemplation, but alert and intent of eye and +ear. It was a fine moonlit night. Two pines near the door, +solitary pickets of the serried ranks of distant forest, cast long +shadows like paths to the cottage, and sighed their spiced breath +in the windows. For there was no frivolity of vine or flower round +Salomy Jane's bower. The clearing was too recent, the life too +practical for vanities like these. But the moon added a vague +elusiveness to everything, softened the rigid outlines of the +sheds, gave shadows to the lidless windows, and touched with +merciful indirectness the hideous debris of refuse gravel and the +gaunt scars of burnt vegetation before the door. Even Salomy Jane +was affected by it, and exhaled something between a sigh and a yawn +with the breath of the pines. Then she suddenly sat upright. + +Her quick ear had caught a faint "click, click," in the direction +of the wood; her quicker instinct and rustic training enabled her +to determine that it was the ring of a horse's shoe on flinty +ground; her knowledge of the locality told her it came from the +spot where the trail passed over an outcrop of flint scarcely a +quarter of a mile from where she sat, and within the clearing. It +was no errant "stock," for the foot was shod with iron; it was a +mounted trespasser by night, and boded no good to a man like Clay. + +She rose, threw her shawl over her head, more for disguise than +shelter, and passed out of the door. A sudden impulse made her +seize her father's shotgun from the corner where it stood,--not +that she feared any danger to herself, but that it was an excuse. +She made directly for the wood, keeping in the shadow of the pines +as long as she could. At the fringe she halted; whoever was there +must pass her before reaching the house. + +Then there seemed to be a suspense of all nature. Everything was +deadly still--even the moonbeams appeared no longer tremulous; soon +there was a rustle as of some stealthy animal among the ferns, and +then a dismounted man stepped into the moonlight. It was the +horse-thief--the man she had kissed! + +For a wild moment a strange fancy seized her usually sane intellect +and stirred her temperate blood. The news they had told her was +NOT true; he had been hung, and this was his ghost! He looked as +white and spirit-like in the moonlight, dressed in the same +clothes, as when she saw him last. He had evidently seen her +approaching, and moved quickly to meet her. But in his haste he +stumbled slightly; she reflected suddenly that ghosts did not +stumble, and a feeling of relief came over her. And it was no +assassin of her father that had been prowling around--only this +unhappy fugitive. A momentary color came into her cheek; her +coolness and hardihood returned; it was with a tinge of sauciness +in her voice that she said:-- + +"I reckoned you were a ghost." + +"I mout have been," he said, looking at her fixedly; "but I reckon +I'd have come back here all the same." + +"It's a little riskier comin' back alive," she said, with a levity +that died on her lips, for a singular nervousness, half fear and +half expectation, was beginning to take the place of her relief of +a moment ago. "Then it was YOU who was prowlin' round and makin' +tracks in the far pasture?" + +"Yes; I came straight here when I got away." + +She felt his eyes were burning her, but did not dare to raise her +own. "Why," she began, hesitated, and ended vaguely. "HOW did you +get here?" + +"You helped me!" + +"I?" + +"Yes. That kiss you gave me put life into me--gave me strength to +get away. I swore to myself I'd come back and thank you, alive or +dead." + +Every word he said she could have anticipated, so plain the +situation seemed to her now. And every word he said she knew was +the truth. Yet her cool common sense struggled against it. + +"What's the use of your escaping, ef you're comin' back here to be +ketched again?" she said pertly. + +He drew a little nearer to her, but seemed to her the more awkward +as she resumed her self-possession. His voice, too, was broken, as +if by exhaustion, as he said, catching his breath at intervals:-- + +"I'll tell you. You did more for me than you think. You made +another man o' me. I never had a man, woman, or child do to me +what you did. I never had a friend--only a pal like Red Pete, who +picked me up 'on shares.' I want to quit this yer--what I'm doin'. +I want to begin by doin' the square thing to you"-- He stopped, +breathed hard, and then said brokenly, "My hoss is over thar, +staked out. I want to give him to you. Judge Boompointer will +give you a thousand dollars for him. I ain't lyin'; it's God's +truth! I saw it on the handbill agin a tree. Take him, and I'll +get away afoot. Take him. It's the only thing I can do for you, +and I know it don't half pay for what you did. Take it; your +father can get a reward for you, if you can't." + +Such were the ethics of this strange locality that neither the man +who made the offer nor the girl to whom it was made was struck by +anything that seemed illogical or indelicate, or at all inconsistent +with justice or the horse-thief's real conversion. Salomy Jane +nevertheless dissented, from another and weaker reason. + +"I don't want your hoss, though I reckon dad might; but you're just +starvin'. I'll get suthin'." She turned towards the house. + +"Say you'll take the hoss first," he said, grasping her hand. At +the touch she felt herself coloring and struggled, expecting +perhaps another kiss. But he dropped her hand. She turned again +with a saucy gesture, said, "Hol' on; I'll come right back," and +slipped away, the mere shadow of a coy and flying nymph in the +moonlight, until she reached the house. + +Here she not only procured food and whiskey, but added a long dust- +coat and hat of her father's to her burden. They would serve as a +disguise for him and hide that heroic figure, which she thought +everybody must now know as she did. Then she rejoined him +breathlessly. But he put the food and whiskey aside. + +"Listen," he said; "I've turned the hoss into your corral. You'll +find him there in the morning, and no one will know but that he got +lost and joined the other hosses." + +Then she burst out. "But you--YOU--what will become of you? +You'll be ketched!" + +"I'll manage to get away," he said in a low voice, "ef--ef"-- + +"Ef what?" she said tremblingly. "Ef you'll put the heart in me +again,--as you did!" he gasped. + +She tried to laugh--to move away. She could do neither. Suddenly +he caught her in his arms, with a long kiss, which she returned +again and again. Then they stood embraced as they had embraced two +days before, but no longer the same. For the cool, lazy Salomy +Jane had been transformed into another woman--a passionate, +clinging savage. Perhaps something of her father's blood had +surged within her at that supreme moment. The man stood erect and +determined. + +"Wot's your name?" she whispered quickly. It was a woman's quickest +way of defining her feelings. + +"Dart." + +"Yer first name?" + +"Jack." + +"Let me go now, Jack. Lie low in the woods till to-morrow sunup. +I'll come again." + +He released her. Yet she lingered a moment. "Put on those +things," she said, with a sudden happy flash of eyes and teeth, +"and lie close till I come." And then she sped away home. + +But midway up the distance she felt her feet going slower, and +something at her heartstrings seemed to be pulling her back. She +stopped, turned, and glanced to where he had been standing. Had +she seen him then, she might have returned. But he had +disappeared. She gave her first sigh, and then ran quickly again. +It must be nearly ten o'clock! It was not very long to morning! + +She was within a few steps of her own door, when the sleeping woods +and silent air appeared to suddenly awake with a sharp "crack!" + +She stopped, paralyzed. Another "crack!' followed, that echoed +over to the far corral. She recalled herself instantly and dashed +off wildly to the woods again. + +As she ran she thought of one thing only. He had been "dogged" by +one of his old pursuers and attacked. But there were two shots, +and he was unarmed. Suddenly she remembered that she had left her +father's gun standing against the tree where they were talking. +Thank God! she may again have saved him. She ran to the tree; the +gun was gone. She ran hither and thither, dreading at every step +to fall upon his lifeless body. A new thought struck her; she ran +to the corral. The horse was not there! He must have been able to +regain it, and escaped, AFTER the shots had been fired. She drew a +long breath of relief, but it was caught up in an apprehension of +alarm. Her father, awakened from his sleep by the shots, was +hurriedly approaching her. + +"What's up now, Salomy Jane?" he demanded excitedly. + +"Nothin'," said the girl with an effort. "Nothin', at least, that +I can find." She was usually truthful because fearless, and a lie +stuck in her throat; but she was no longer fearless, thinking of +HIM. "I wasn't abed; so I ran out as soon as I heard the shots +fired," she answered in return to his curious gaze. + +"And you've hid my gun somewhere where it can't be found," he said +reproachfully. "Ef it was that sneak Larrabee, and he fired them +shots to lure me out, he might have potted me, without a show, a +dozen times in the last five minutes." + +She had not thought since of her father's enemy! It might indeed +have been he who had attacked Jack. But she made a quick point of +the suggestion. "Run in, dad, run in and find the gun; you've got +no show out here without it." She seized him by the shoulders from +behind, shielding him from the woods, and hurried him, half +expostulating, half struggling, to the house. + +But there no gun was to be found. It was strange; it must have +been mislaid in some corner! Was he sure he had not left it in the +barn? But no matter now. The danger was over; the Larrabee trick +had failed; he must go to bed now, and in the morning they would +make a search together. At the same time she had inwardly resolved +to rise before him and make another search of the wood, and +perhaps--fearful joy as she recalled her promise!--find Jack alive +and well, awaiting her! + +Salomy Jane slept little that night, nor did her father. But +towards morning he fell into a tired man's slumber until the sun +was well up the horizon. Far different was it with his daughter: +she lay with her face to the window, her head half lifted to catch +every sound, from the creaking of the sun-warped shingles above her +head to the far-off moan of the rising wind in the pine trees. +Sometimes she fell into a breathless, half-ecstatic trance, living +over every moment of the stolen interview; feeling the fugitive's +arm still around her, his kisses on her lips; hearing his whispered +voice in her ears--the birth of her new life! This was followed +again by a period of agonizing dread--that he might even then be +lying, his life ebbing away, in the woods, with her name on his +lips, and she resting here inactive, until she half started from +her bed to go to his succor. And this went on until a pale opal +glow came into the sky, followed by a still paler pink on the +summit of the white Sierras, when she rose and hurriedly began to +dress. Still so sanguine was her hope of meeting him, that she +lingered yet a moment to select the brown holland skirt and yellow +sunbonnet she had worn when she first saw him. And she had only +seen him twice! Only TWICE! It would be cruel, too cruel, not to +see him again! + +She crept softly down the stairs, listening to the long-drawn +breathing of her father in his bedroom, and then, by the light of a +guttering candle, scrawled a note to him, begging him not to trust +himself out of the house until she returned from her search, and +leaving the note open on the table, swiftly ran out into the +growing day. + +Three hours afterwards Mr. Madison Clay awoke to the sound of loud +knocking. At first this forced itself upon his consciousness as +his daughter's regular morning summons, and was responded to by a +grunt of recognition and a nestling closer in the blankets. Then +he awoke with a start and a muttered oath, remembering the events +of last night, and his intention to get up early, and rolled out of +bed. Becoming aware by this time that the knocking was at the +outer door, and hearing the shout of a familiar voice, he hastily +pulled on his boots, his jean trousers, and fastening a single +suspender over his shoulder as he clattered downstairs, stood in +the lower room. The door was open, and waiting upon the threshold +was his kinsman, an old ally in many a blood-feud--Breckenridge +Clay! + +"You ARE a cool one, Mad!" said the latter in half-admiring +indignation. + +"What's up?" said the bewildered Madison. + +"YOU ought to be, and scootin' out o' this," said Breckenridge +grimly. "It's all very well to 'know nothin';' but here Phil +Larrabee's friends hev just picked him up, drilled through with +slugs and deader nor a crow, and now they're lettin' loose +Larrabee's two half-brothers on you. And you must go like a derned +fool and leave these yer things behind you in the bresh," he went +on querulously, lifting Madison Clay's dust-coat, hat, and shotgun +from his horse, which stood saddled at the door. "Luckily I picked +them up in the woods comin' here. Ye ain't got more than time to +get over the state line and among your folks thar afore they'll be +down on you. Hustle, old man! What are you gawkin' and starin' +at?" + +Madison Clay had stared amazed and bewildered--horror-stricken. +The incidents of the past night for the first time flashed upon him +clearly--hopelessly! The shot; his finding Salomy Jane alone in +the woods; her confusion and anxiety to rid herself of him; the +disappearance of the shotgun; and now this new discovery of the +taking of his hat and coat for a disguise! SHE had killed Phil +Larrabee in that disguise, after provoking his first harmless shot! +She, his own child, Salomy Jane, had disgraced herself by a man's +crime; had disgraced him by usurping his right, and taking a mean +advantage, by deceit, of a foe! + +"Gimme that gun," he said hoarsely. + +Breckenridge handed him the gun in wonder and slowly gathering +suspicion. Madison examined nipple and muzzle; one barrel had been +discharged. It was true! The gun dropped from his hand. + +"Look here, old man," said Breckenridge, with a darkening face, +"there's bin no foul play here. Thar's bin no hiring of men, no +deputy to do this job. YOU did it fair and square--yourself?" + +"Yes, by God!" burst out Madison Clay in a hoarse voice. "Who says +I didn't?" + +Reassured, yet believing that Madison Clay had nerved himself for +the act by an over-draught of whiskey, which had affected his +memory, Breckenridge said curtly, "Then wake up and 'lite' out, ef +ye want me to stand by you." + +"Go to the corral and pick me out a hoss," said Madison slowly, yet +not without a certain dignity of manner. "I've suthin' to say to +Salomy Jane afore I go." He was holding her scribbled note, which +he had just discovered, in his shaking hand. + +Struck by his kinsman's manner, and knowing the dependent relations +of father and daughter, Breckenridge nodded and hurried away. Left +to himself, Madison Clay ran his fingers through his hair, and +straightened out the paper on which Salomy Jane had scrawled her +note, turned it over, and wrote on the back:-- + + +You might have told me you did it, and not leave your ole father to +find it out how you disgraced yourself and him, too, by a low-down, +underhanded, woman's trick! I've said I done it, and took the +blame myself, and all the sneakiness of it that folks suspect. If +I get away alive--and I don't care much which--you needn't foller. +The house and stock are yours; but you ain't any longer the +daughter of your disgraced father, + +MADISON CLAY. + + +He had scarcely finished the note when, with a clatter of hoofs and +a led horse, Breckenridge reappeared at the door elate and +triumphant. "You're in nigger luck, Mad! I found that stole hoss +of Judge Boompointer's had got away and strayed among your stock in +the corral. Take him and you're safe; he can't be outrun this side +of the state line." + +"I ain't no hoss-thief," said Madison grimly. + +"Nobody sez ye are, but you'd be wuss--a fool--ef you didn't take +him. I'm testimony that you found him among your hosses; I'll tell +Judge Boompointer you've got him, and ye kin send him back when +you're safe. The judge will be mighty glad to get him back, and +call it quits. So ef you've writ to Salomy Jane, come." + +Madison Clay no longer hesitated. Salomy Jane might return at any +moment,--it would be part of her "fool womanishness,"--and he was +in no mood to see her before a third party. He laid the note on +the table, gave a hurried glance around the house, which he grimly +believed he was leaving forever, and, striding to the door, leaped +on the stolen horse, and swept away with his kinsman. + +But that note lay for a week undisturbed on the table in full view +of the open door. The house was invaded by leaves, pine cones, +birds, and squirrels during the hot, silent, empty days, and at +night by shy, stealthy creatures, but never again, day or night, by +any of the Clay family. It was known in the district that Clay had +flown across the state line, his daughter was believed to have +joined him the next day, and the house was supposed to be locked +up. It lay off the main road, and few passed that way. The +starving cattle in the corral at last broke bounds and spread over +the woods. And one night a stronger blast than usual swept through +the house, carried the note from the table to the floor, where, +whirled into a crack in the flooring, it slowly rotted. + +But though the sting of her father's reproach was spared her, +Salomy Jane had no need of the letter to know what had happened. +For as she entered the woods in the dim light of that morning she +saw the figure of Dart gliding from the shadow of a pine towards +her. The unaffected cry of joy that rose from her lips died there +as she caught sight of his face in the open light. + +"You are hurt," she said, clutching his arm passionately. + +"No," he said. "But I wouldn't mind that if"-- + +"You're thinkin' I was afeard to come back last night when I heard +the shootin', but I DID come," she went on feverishly. "I ran back +here when I heard the two shots, but you were gone. I went to the +corral, but your hoss wasn't there, and I thought you'd got away." + +"I DID get away," said Dart gloomily. "I killed the man, thinkin' +he was huntin' ME, and forgettin' I was disguised. He thought I +was your father." + +"Yes," said the girl joyfully, "he was after dad, and YOU--you +killed him." She again caught his hand admiringly. + +But he did not respond. Possibly there were points of honor which +this horse-thief felt vaguely with her father. "Listen," he said +grimly. "Others think it was your father killed him. When I did +it--for he fired at me first--I ran to the corral again and took my +hoss, thinkin' I might be follered. I made a clear circuit of the +house, and when I found he was the only one, and no one was +follerin', I come back here and took off my disguise. Then I heard +his friends find him in the wood, and I know they suspected your +father. And then another man come through the woods while I was +hidin' and found the clothes and took them away." He stopped and +stared at her gloomily. + +But all this was unintelligible to the girl. "Dad would have got +the better of him ef you hadn't," she said eagerly, "so what's the +difference?" + +"All the same," he said gloomily, "I must take his place." + +She did not understand, but turned her head to her master. "Then +you'll go back with me and tell him ALL?" she said obediently. + +"Yes," he said. + +She put her hand in his, and they crept out of the wood together. +She foresaw a thousand difficulties, but, chiefest of all, that he +did not love as she did. SHE would not have taken these risks +against their happiness. + +But alas for ethics and heroism. As they were issuing from the +wood they heard the sound of galloping hoofs, and had barely time +to hide themselves before Madison Clay, on the stolen horse of +Judge Boompointer, swept past them with his kinsman. + +Salomy Jane turned to her lover. + + . . . . . . + +And here I might, as a moral romancer, pause, leaving the guilty, +passionate girl eloped with her disreputable lover, destined to +lifelong shame and misery, misunderstood to the last by a criminal, +fastidious parent. But I am confronted by certain facts, on which +this romance is based. A month later a handbill was posted on one +of the sentinel pines, announcing that the property would be sold +by auction to the highest bidder by Mrs. John Dart, daughter of +Madison Clay, Esq., and it was sold accordingly. Still later--by +ten years--the chronicler of these pages visited a certain "stock" +or "breeding farm," in the "Blue Grass Country," famous for the +popular racers it has produced. He was told that the owner was the +"best judge of horse-flesh in the country." "Small wonder," added +his informant, "for they say as a young man out in California he +was a horse-thief, and only saved himself by eloping with some rich +farmer's daughter. But he's a straight-out and respectable man +now, whose word about horses can't be bought; and as for his wife, +she's a beauty! To see her at the 'Springs,' rigged out in the +latest fashion, you'd never think she had ever lived out of New +York or wasn't the wife of one of its millionaires." + + + +THE MAN AND THE MOUNTAIN + + +He was such a large, strong man that, when he first set foot in the +little parallelogram I called my garden, it seemed to shrink to +half its size and become preposterous. But I noticed at the same +time that he was holding in the open palm of his huge hand the +roots of a violet, with such infinite tenderness and delicacy that +I would have engaged him as my gardener on the spot. But this +could not be, as he was already the proud proprietor of a market- +garden and nursery on the outskirts of the suburban Californian +town where I lived. He would, however, come for two days in the +week, stock and look after my garden, and impart to my urban +intellect such horticultural hints as were necessary. His name was +"Rutli," which I presumed to be German, but which my neighbors +rendered as "Rootleigh," possibly from some vague connection with +his occupation. His own knowledge of English was oral and +phonetic. I have a delightful recollection of a bill of his in +which I was charged for "fioletz," with the vague addition of +"maine cains." Subsequent explanation proved it to be "many +kinds." + +Nevertheless, my little garden bourgeoned and blossomed under his +large, protecting hand. I became accustomed to walk around his +feet respectfully when they blocked the tiny paths, and to expect +the total eclipse of that garden-bed on which he worked, by his +huge bulk. For the tiniest and most reluctant rootlet seemed to +respond to his caressing paternal touch; it was a pretty sight to +see his huge fingers tying up some slender stalk to its stick with +the smallest thread, and he had a reverent way of laying a bulb or +seed in the ground, and then gently shaping and smoothing a small +mound over it, which made the little inscription on the stick above +more like an affecting epitaph than ever. Much of this gentleness +may have been that apology for his great strength, common with +large men; but his face was distinctly amiable, and his very light +blue eyes were at times wistful and doglike in their kindliness. I +was soon to learn, however, that placability was not entirely his +nature. + +The garden was part of a fifty vara lot of land, on which I was +simultaneously erecting a house. But the garden was finished +before the house was, through certain circumstances very +characteristic of that epoch and civilization. I had purchased the +Spanish title, the only LEGAL one, to the land, which, however, had +been in POSSESSION of a "squatter." But he had been unable to hold +that possession against a "jumper,"--another kind of squatter who +had entered upon it covertly, fenced it in, and marked it out in +building sites. Neither having legal rights, they could not invoke +the law; the last man held possession. There was no doubt that in +due course of litigation and time both these ingenuous gentlemen +would have been dispossessed in favor of the real owner,--myself,-- +but that course would be a protracted one. Following the usual +custom of the locality, I paid a certain sum to the jumper to yield +up peaceably HIS possession of the land, and began to build upon +it. It might be reasonably supposed that the question was settled. +But it was not. The house was nearly finished when, one morning, I +was called out of my editorial sanctum by a pallid painter, looking +even more white-leaded than usual, who informed me that my house +was in the possession of five armed men! The entry had been made +peaceably during the painters' absence to dinner under a wayside +tree. When they returned, they had found their pots and brushes in +the road, and an intimation from the windows that their reentrance +would be forcibly resisted as a trespass. + +I honestly believe that Rutli was more concerned than myself over +this dispossession. While he loyally believed that I would get +back my property, he was dreadfully grieved over the inevitable +damage that would be done to the garden during this interval of +neglect and carelessness. I even think he would have made a truce +with my enemies, if they would only have let him look after his +beloved plants. As it was, he kept a passing but melancholy +surveillance of them, and was indeed a better spy of the actions of +the intruders than any I could have employed. One day, to my +astonishment, he brought me a moss-rose bud from a bush which had +been trained against a column of the veranda. It appeared that he +had called, from over the fence, the attention of one of the men to +the neglected condition of the plant, and had obtained permission +to "come in and tie it up." The men, being merely hirelings of the +chief squatter, had no personal feeling, and I was not therefore +surprised to hear that they presently allowed Rutli to come in +occasionally and look after his precious "slips." If they had any +suspicions of his great strength, it was probably offset by his +peaceful avocation and his bland, childlike face. Meantime, I had +begun the usual useless legal proceeding, but had also engaged a +few rascals of my own to be ready to take advantage of any want of +vigilance on the part of my adversaries. I never thought of Rutli +in that connection any more than they had. + +A few Sundays later I was sitting in the little tea-arbor of +Rutli's nursery, peacefully smoking with him. Presently he took +his long china-bowled pipe from his mouth, and, looking at me +blandly over his yellow mustache, said:-- + +"You vonts sometimes to go in dot house, eh?" + +I said, "Decidedly." + +"Mit a revolver, and keep dot house dose men out?" + +"Yes!" + +"Vell! I put you in dot house--today!" + +"Sunday?" + +"Shoost so! It is a goot day! On der Suntay DREE men vill out go +to valk mit demselluffs, and visky trinken. TWO," holding up two +gigantic fingers, apparently only a shade or two smaller than his +destined victims, "stay dere. Dose I lift de fence over." + +I hastened to inform him that any violence attempted against the +parties WHILE IN POSSESSION, although that possession was illegal, +would, by a fatuity of the law, land him in the county jail. I +said I would not hear of it. + +"But suppose dere vos no fiolence? Suppose dose men vos villin', +eh? How vos dot for high?" + +"I don't understand." + +"So! You shall NOT understand! Dot is better. Go away now and +dell your men to coom dot house arount at halluff past dree. But +YOU coom, mit yourselluff alone, shoost as if you vos spazieren +gehen, for a valk, by dat fence at dree! Ven you shall dot front +door vide open see, go in, and dere you vos! You vill der rest +leef to me!" + +It was in vain that I begged Rutli to divulge his plan, and pointed +out again the danger of his technically breaking the law. But he +was firm, assuring me that I myself would be a witness that no +assault would be made. I looked into his clear, good-humored eyes, +and assented. I had a burning desire to right my wrongs, but I +think I also had considerable curiosity. + +I passed a miserable quarter of an hour after I had warned my +partisans, and then walked alone slowly down the broad leafy street +towards the scene of contest. I have a very vivid recollection of +my conflicting emotions. I did not believe that I would be killed; +I had no distinct intention of killing any of my adversaries; but I +had some considerable concern for my loyal friend Rutli, whom I +foresaw might be in some peril from the revolver in my unpracticed +hand. If I could only avoid shooting HIM, I would be satisfied. I +remember that the bells were ringing for church,--a church of which +my enemy, the chief squatter, was a deacon in good standing,--and I +felt guiltily conscious of my revolver in my hip-pocket, as two or +three church-goers passed me with their hymn-books in their hands. +I walked leisurely, so as not to attract attention, and to appear +at the exact time, a not very easy task in my youthful excitement. +At last I reached the front gate with a beating heart. There was +no one on the high veranda, which occupied three sides of the low +one-storied house, nor in the garden before it. But the front door +was open; I softly passed through the gate, darted up the veranda +and into the house. A single glance around the hall and bare, +deserted rooms, still smelling of paint, showed me it was empty, +and with my pistol in one hand and the other on the lock of the +door, I stood inside, ready to bolt it against any one but Rutli. +But where was HE? + +The sound of laughter and a noise like skylarking came from the +rear of the house and the back yard. Then I suddenly heard Rutli's +heavy tread on the veranda, but it was slow, deliberate, and so +exaggerated in its weight that the whole house seemed to shake with +it. Then from the window I beheld an extraordinary sight! It was +Rutli, swaying from side to side, but steadily carrying with +outstretched arms two of the squatter party, his hands tightly +grasping their collars. Yet I believe his touch was as gentle as +with the violets. His face was preternaturally grave; theirs, to +my intense astonishment, while they hung passive from his arms, +wore that fatuous, imbecile smile seen on the faces of those who +lend themselves to tricks of acrobats and strong men in the arena. +He slowly traversed the whole length of one side of the house, +walked down the steps to the gate, and then gravely deposited them +OUTSIDE. I heard him say, "Dot vins der pet, ain't it?" and +immediately after the sharp click of the gate-latch. + +Without understanding a thing that had happened, I rightly +conceived this was the cue for my appearance with my revolver at +the front door. As I opened it I still heard the sound of +laughter, which, however, instantly stopped at a sentence from +Rutli, which I could not hear. There was an oath, the momentary +apparition of two furious and indignant faces over the fence; but +these, however, seemed to be instantly extinguished and put down by +the enormous palms of Rutli clapped upon their heads. There was a +pause, and then Rutli turned around and quietly joined me in the +doorway. But the gate was not again opened until the arrival of my +partisans, when the house was clearly in my possession. + +Safe inside with the door bolted, I turned eagerly to Rutli for an +explanation. It then appeared that during his occasional visits to +the garden he had often been an object of amusement and criticism +to the men on account of his size, which seemed to them ridiculously +inconsistent with his great good humor, gentleness, and delicacy of +touch. They had doubted his strength and challenged his powers. He +had responded once or twice before, lifting weights or even carrying +one of his critics at arm's length for a few steps. But he had +reserved his final feat for this day and this purpose. It was for a +bet, which they had eagerly accepted, secure in their belief in his +simplicity, the sincerity of his motives in coming there, and glad +of the opportunity of a little Sunday diversion. In their security +they had not locked the door when they came out, and had not noticed +that HE had opened it. This was his simple story. His only comment, +"I haf von der pet, but I dinks I shall nod gollect der money." The +two men did not return that afternoon, nor did their comrades. +Whether they wisely conceived that a man who was so powerful in play +might be terrible in earnest; whether they knew that his act, in +which they had been willing performers, had been witnessed by +passing citizens, who supposed it was skylarking; or whether their +employer got tired of his expensive occupation, I never knew. The +public believed the latter; Rutli, myself, and the two men he had +evicted alone kept our secret. + +From that time Rutli and I became firm friends, and, long after I +had no further need of his services in the recaptured house, I often +found myself in the little tea-arbor of his prosperous nursery. He +was frugal, sober, and industrious; small wonder that in that +growing town he waxed rich, and presently opened a restaurant in the +main street, connected with his market-garden, which became famous. +His relations to me never changed with his changed fortunes; he was +always the simple market-gardener and florist who had aided my first +housekeeping, and stood by me in an hour of need. Of all things +regarding himself he was singularly reticent; I do not think he had +any confidants or intimates, even among his own countrymen, whom I +believed to be German. But one day he quite accidentally admitted +he was a Swiss. As a youthful admirer of the race I was delighted, +and told him so, with the enthusiastic addition that I could now +quite understand his independence, with his devoted adherence to +another's cause. He smiled sadly, and astonished me by saying that +he had not heard from Switzerland since he left six years ago. He +did not want to hear anything; he even avoided his countrymen lest +he should. I was confounded. + +"But," I said, "surely you have a longing to return to your +country; all Swiss have! You will go back some day just to breathe +the air of your native mountains." + +"I shall go back some days," said Rutli, "after I have made mooch, +mooch money, but not for dot air." + +"What for, then?" + +"For revenge--to get efen." + +Surprised, and for a moment dismayed as I was, I could not help +laughing. "Rutli and revenge!" Impossible! And to make it the +more absurd, he was still smoking gently and regarding me with +soft, complacent eyes. So unchanged was his face and manner that +he might have told me he was going back to be married. + +"You do not oonderstand," he said forgivingly. "Some days I shall +dell to you id. Id is a story. You shall make it yourselluff for +dose babers dot you write. It is not bretty, berhaps, ain't it, +but it is droo. And de endt is not yet." + +Only that Rutli never joked, except in a ponderous fashion with +many involved sentences, I should have thought he was taking a +good-humored rise out of me. But it was not funny. I am afraid I +dismissed it from my mind as a revelation of something weak and +puerile, quite inconsistent with his practical common sense and +strong simplicity, and wished he had not alluded to it. I never +asked him to tell me the story. It was a year later, and only when +he had invited me to come to the opening of a new hotel, erected by +him at a mountain spa of great resort, that he himself alluded to it. + +The hotel was a wonderful affair, even for those days, and Rutli's +outlay of capital convinced me that by this time he must have made +the "mooch money" he coveted. Something of this was in my mind +when we sat by the window of his handsomely furnished private +office, overlooking the pines of a Californian canyon. I asked him +if the scenery was like Switzerland. + +"Ach! no!" he replied; "but I vill puild a hotel shoost like dis +dare." + +"Is that a part of your revenge?" I asked, with a laugh. + +"Ah! so! a bart." + +I felt relieved; a revenge so practical did not seem very malicious +or idiotic. After a pause he puffed contemplatively at his pipe, +and then said, "I dell you somedings of dot story now." + +He began. I should like to tell it in his own particular English, +mixed with American slang, but it would not convey the simplicity +of the narrator. He was the son of a large family who had lived +for centuries in one of the highest villages in the Bernese +Oberland. He attained his size and strength early, but with a +singular distaste to use them in the rough regular work on the +farm, although he was a great climber and mountaineer, and, what +was at first overlooked as mere boyish fancy, had an insatiable +love and curious knowledge of plants and flowers. He knew the +haunts of Edelweiss, Alpine rose, and blue gentian, and had brought +home rare and unknown blossoms from under the icy lips of glaciers. +But as he did this when his time was supposed to be occupied in +looking after the cows in the higher pastures and making cheeses, +there was trouble in that hard-working, practical family. A giant +with the tastes and disposition of a schoolgirl was an anomaly in a +Swiss village. Unfortunately again, he was not studious; his +record in the village school had been on a par with his manual +work, and the family had not even the consolation of believing that +they were fostering a genius. In a community where practical +industry was the highest virtue, it was not strange, perhaps, that +he was called "lazy" and "shiftless;" no one knew the long climbs +and tireless vigils he had undergone in remote solitudes in quest +of his favorites, or, knowing, forgave him for it. Abstemious, +frugal, and patient as he was, even the crusts of his father's +table were given him grudgingly. He often went hungry rather than +ask the bread he had failed to earn. How his great frame was +nurtured in those days he never knew; perhaps the giant mountains +recognized some kin in him and fed and strengthened him after their +own fashion. Even his gentleness was confounded with cowardice. +"Dot vos de hardtest," he said simply; "it is not goot to be +opligit to half crush your brudder, ven he would make a laugh of +you to your sweetheart." The end came sooner than he expected, +and, oddly enough, through this sweetheart. "Gottlieb," she said +to him one day, "the English Fremde who stayed here last night met +me when I was carrying some of those beautiful flowers you gave me. +He asked me where they were to be found, and I told him only YOU +knew. He wants to see you; go to him. It may be luck to you." +Rutli went. The stranger, an English Alpine climber of scientific +tastes, talked with him for an hour. At the end of that time, to +everybody's astonishment, he engaged this hopeless idler as his +personal guide for three months, at the sum of five francs a day! +It was inconceivable, it was unheard of! The Englander was as mad +as Gottlieb, whose intellect had always been under suspicion! The +schoolmaster pursed up his lips, the pastor shook his head; no good +could come of it; the family looked upon it as another freak of +Gottlieb's, but there was one big mouth less to feed and more room +in the kitchen, and they let him go. They parted from him as +ungraciously as they had endured his presence. + +Then followed two months of sunshine in Rutli's life--association +with his beloved plants, and the intelligent sympathy and direction +of a cultivated man. Even in altitudes so dangerous that they had +to take other and more experienced guides, Rutli was always at his +master's side. That savant's collection of Alpine flora excelled +all previous ones; he talked freely with Rutli of further work in +the future, and relaxed his English reserve so far as to confide to +him that the outcome of their collection and observation might be a +book. He gave a flower a Latin name, in which even the ignorant +and delighted Rutli could distinguish some likeness to his own. +But the book was never compiled. In one of their later and more +difficult ascents they and their two additional guides were +overtaken by a sudden storm. Swept from their feet down an ice- +bound slope, Rutli alone of the roped-together party kept a +foothold on the treacherous incline. Here this young Titan, with +bleeding fingers clenched in a rock cleft, sustained the struggles +and held up the lives of his companions by that precious thread for +more than an hour. Perhaps he might have saved them, but in their +desperate efforts to regain their footing the rope slipped upon a +jagged edge of outcrop and parted as if cut by a knife. The two +guides passed without an outcry into obscurity and death; Rutli, +with a last despairing exertion, dragged to his own level his +unconscious master, crippled by a broken leg. + +Your true hero is apt to tell his tale simply. Rutli did not dwell +upon these details, nor need I. Left alone upon a treacherous ice +slope in benumbing cold, with a helpless man, eight hours +afterwards he staggered, half blind, incoherent, and inarticulate, +into a "shelter" hut, with the dead body of his master in his +stiffened arms. The shelter-keepers turned their attention to +Rutli, who needed it most. Blind and delirious, with scarce a +chance for life, he was sent the next day to a hospital, where he +lay for three months, helpless, imbecile, and unknown. The dead +body of the Englishman was identified, and sent home; the bodies of +the guides were recovered by their friends; but no one knew aught +of Rutli, even his name. While the event was still fresh in the +minds of those who saw him enter the hut with the body of his +master, a paragraph appeared in a Berne journal recording the +heroism of this nameless man. But it could not be corroborated nor +explained by the demented hero, and was presently forgotten. Six +months from the day he had left his home he was discharged cured. +He had not a kreutzer in his pocket; he had never drawn his wages +from his employer; he had preferred to have it in a lump sum that +he might astonish his family on his return. His eyes were still +weak, his memory feeble; only his great physical strength remained +through his long illness. A few sympathizing travelers furnished +him the means to reach his native village, many miles away. He +found his family had heard of the loss of the Englishman and the +guides, and had believed he was one of them. Already he was +forgotten. + +"Ven you vos once peliefed to be det," said Rutli, after a +philosophic pause and puff, "it vos not goot to ondeceif beoples. +You oopset somedings, soomdimes always. Der hole dot you hef made +in der grount, among your frients and your family, vos covered up +alretty. You are loocky if you vill not fint some vellars +shtanding upon id! My frent, ven you vos DINK det, SHTAY det, BE +det, and you vill lif happy!" + +"But your sweetheart?" I said eagerly. + +A slight gleam of satire stole into Rutli's light eyes. "My +sweetheart, ven I vos dinks det, is der miller engaged do bromply! +It is mooch better dan to a man dot vos boor and plint and grazy! +So! Vell, der next day I pids dem goot-py, und from der door I +say, 'I am det now; but ven I next comes pack alife, I shall dis +village py! der lants, der houses all togedders. And den for +yourselluffs look oudt!'" + +"Then that's your revenge? That is what you really intend to do?" +I said, half laughing, yet with an uneasy recollection of his +illness and enfeebled mind. + +"Yes. Look here! I show you somedings." He opened a drawer of +his desk and took out what appeared to be some diagrams, plans, and +a small water-colored map, like a surveyor's tracing. "Look," he +said, laying his finger on the latter, "dat is a map from my +fillage. I hef myselluff made it out from my memory. Dot," +pointing to a blank space, "is der mountain side high up, so far. +It is no goot until I vill a tunnel make or der grade lefel. Dere +vas mine fader's house, dere vos der church, der schoolhouse, dot +vos de burgomaster's house," he went on, pointing to the respective +plots in this old curving parallelogram of the mountain shelf. "So +was the fillage when I leave him on the 5th of March, eighteen +hundred and feefty. Now you shall see him shoost as I vill make +him ven I go back." He took up another plan, beautifully drawn and +colored, and evidently done by a professional hand. It was a +practical, yet almost fairylike transformation of the same spot! +The narrow mountain shelf was widened by excavation, and a +boulevard stretched on either side. A great hotel, not unlike the +one in which we sat, stood in an open terrace, with gardens and +fountains--the site of his father's house. Blocks of pretty +dwellings, shops, and cafes filled the intermediate space. I laid +down the paper. + +"How long have you had this idea?" + +"Efer since I left dere, fifteen years ago." + +"But your father and mother may be dead by this time?" + +"So, but dere vill be odders. Und der blace--it vill remain." + +"But all this will cost a fortune, and you are not sure"-- + +"I know shoost vot id vill gost, to a cend." + +"And you think you can ever afford to carry out your idea?" + +"I VILL affort id. Ven you shall make yet some moneys and go to +Europe, you shall see. I VILL infite you dere first. Now coom and +look der house around." + + . . . . . . + +I did NOT make "some moneys," but I DID go to Europe. Three years +after this last interview with Rutli I was coming from Interlaken +to Berne by rail. I had not heard from him, and I had forgotten +the name of his village, but as I looked up from the paper I was +reading, I suddenly recognized him in the further end of the same +compartment I occupied. His recognition of me was evidently as +sudden and unexpected. After our first hand-grasp and greeting, I +said:-- + +"And how about our new village?" + +"Dere is no fillage." + +"What! You have given up the idea?" + +"Yes. There is no fillage, olt or new." + +"I don't understand." + +He looked at me a moment. "You have not heard?" + +"No." + +He gently picked up a little local guidebook that lay in my lap, +and turning its leaves, pointed to a page, and read as follows:-- + +"5 M. beyond, the train passes a curve R., where a fine view of the +lake may be seen. A little to the R. rises the steep slopes of the +----, the scene of a terrible disaster. At three o'clock on March +5, 1850, the little village of ----, lying midway of the slope, +with its population of 950 souls, was completely destroyed by a +landslip from the top of the mountain. So sudden was the +catastrophe that not a single escape is recorded. A large portion +of the mountain crest, as will be observed when it is seen in +profile, descended to the valley, burying the unfortunate village +to a depth variously estimated at from 1000 ft. to 1800 ft. The +geological causes which produced this extraordinary displacement +have been fully discussed, but the greater evidence points to the +theory of subterranean glaciers. 5 M. beyond ---- the train +crosses the R. bridge." + +I laid down the guide-book in breathless astonishment. + +"And you never heard of this in all these years?" + +"Nefer! I asked no questions, I read no pooks. I have no ledders +from home." + +"And yet you"-- I stopped, I could not call him a fool; neither +could I, in the face of his perfect composure and undisturbed eyes, +exhibit a concern greater than his own. An uneasy recollection of +what he confessed had been his mental condition immediately after +his accident came over me. Had he been the victim of a strange +hallucination regarding his house and family all these years? Were +these dreams of revenge, this fancy of creating a new village, only +an outcome of some shock arising out of the disaster itself, which +he had long since forgotten? + +He was looking from the window. "Coom," he said, "ve are near der +blace. I vill show id to you." He rose and passed out to the rear +platform. We were in the rear car, and a new panorama of the lake +and mountains flashed upon us at every curve of the line. I +followed him. Presently he pointed to what appeared to be a sheer +wall of rock and stunted vegetation towering two or three thousand +feet above us, which started out of a gorge we were passing. "Dere +it vos!" he said. I saw the vast stretch of rock face rising +upward and onward, but nothing else. No debris, no ruins, nor even +a swelling or rounding of the mountain flank over that awful tomb. +Yet, stay! as we dashed across the gorge, and the face of the +mountain shifted, high up, the sky-line was slightly broken as if a +few inches, a mere handful, of the crest was crumbled away. And +then--both gorge and mountain vanished. + +I was still embarrassed and uneasy, and knew not what to say to +this man at my side, whose hopes and ambition had been as quickly +overthrown and buried, and whose life-dream had as quickly +vanished. But he himself, taking his pipe from his lips, broke the +silence. + +"It vos a narrow esgabe!" + +"What was?" + +"Vy, dis dings. If I had stayed in my fader's house, I vould haf +been det for goot, and perried too! Somedimes dose dings cooms +oudt apout right, don't id?" + +Unvanquished philosopher! As we stood there looking at the flying +landscape and sinking lesser hills, one by one the great snow peaks +slowly arose behind them, lifting themselves, as if to take a last +wondering look at the man they had triumphed over, but had not +subdued. + + + +THE PASSING OF ENRIQUEZ + + +When Enriquez Saltillo ran away with Miss Mannersley, as already +recorded in these chronicles,* her relatives and friends found it +much easier to forgive that ill-assorted union than to understand +it. For, after all, Enriquez was the scion of an old Spanish- +Californian family, and in due time would have his share of his +father's three square leagues, whatever incongruity there was +between his lively Latin extravagance and Miss Mannersley's Puritan +precision and intellectual superiority. They had gone to Mexico; +Mrs. Saltillo, as was known, having an interest in Aztec +antiquities, and he being utterly submissive to her wishes. For +myself from my knowledge of Enriquez's nature, I had grave doubts +of his entire subjugation, although I knew the prevailing opinion +was that Mrs. Saltillo's superiority would speedily tame him. +Since his brief and characteristic note apprising me of his +marriage, I had not heard from him. It was, therefore, with some +surprise, a good deal of reminiscent affection, and a slight twinge +of reproach that, two years after, I looked up from some proofs, in +the sanctum of the "Daily Excelsior," to recognize his handwriting +on a note that was handed to me by a yellow Mexican boy. + + +* See "The Devotion of Enriquez," in Selected Stories by Bret Harte +Gutenberg #1312. + + +A single glance at its contents showed me that Mrs. Saltillo's +correct Bostonian speech had not yet subdued Enriquez's peculiar +Spanish-American slang:-- + +"Here we are again,--right side up with care,--at 1110 Dupont +Street, Telegraph Hill. Second floor from top. 'Ring and push.' +'No book agents need apply.' How's your royal nibs? I kiss your +hand! Come at six,--the band shall play at seven,--and regard your +friend 'Mees Boston,' who will tell you about the little old nigger +boys, and your old Uncle 'Ennery." + +Two things struck me: Enriquez had not changed; Mrs. Saltillo had +certainly yielded up some of her peculiar prejudices. For the +address given, far from being a fashionable district, was known as +the "Spanish quarter," which, while it still held some old Spanish +families, was chiefly given over to half-castes and obscurer +foreigners. Even poverty could not have driven Mrs. Saltillo to +such a refuge against her will; nevertheless, a good deal of +concern for Enriquez's fortune mingled with my curiosity, as I +impatiently waited for six o'clock to satisfy it. + +It was a breezy climb to 1110 Dupont Street; and although the +street had been graded, the houses retained their airy elevation, +and were accessible only by successive flights of wooden steps to +the front door, which still gave perilously upon the street, sixty +feet below. I now painfully appreciated Enriquez's adaptation of +the time-honored joke about the second floor. An invincible smell +of garlic almost took my remaining breath away as the door was +opened to me by a swarthy Mexican woman, whose loose camisa seemed +to be slipping from her unstable bust, and was held on only by the +mantua-like shawl which supplemented it, gripped by one brown hand. +Dizzy from my ascent to that narrow perch, which looked upon +nothing but the distant bay and shores of Contra Costa, I felt as +apologetic as if I had landed from a balloon; but the woman greeted +me with a languid Spanish smile and a lazy display of white teeth, +as if my arrival was quite natural. Don Enriquez, "of a fact," was +not himself in the casa, but was expected "on the instant." "Donna +Urania" was at home. + +"Donna Urania"? For an instant I had forgotten that Mrs. Saltillo's +first name was Urania, so pleasantly and spontaneously did it fall +from the Spanish lips. Nor was I displeased at this chance of +learning something of Don Enriquez's fortunes and the Saltillo +menage before confronting my old friend. The servant preceded me to +the next floor, and, opening a door, ushered me into the lady's +presence. + +I had carried with me, on that upward climb, a lively recollection +of Miss Mannersley as I had known her two years before. I +remembered her upright, almost stiff, slight figure, the graceful +precision of her poses, the faultless symmetry and taste of her +dress, and the atmosphere of a fastidious and wholesome cleanliness +which exhaled from her. In the lady I saw before me, half +reclining in a rocking-chair, there was none of the stiffness and +nicety. Habited in a loose gown of some easy, flexible, but rich +material, worn with that peculiarly indolent slouch of the Mexican +woman, Mrs. Saltillo had parted with half her individuality. Even +her arched feet and thin ankles, the close-fitting boots or small +slippers of which were wont to accent their delicacy, were now lost +in a short, low-quartered kid shoe of the Spanish type, in which +they moved loosely. Her hair, which she had always worn with a +certain Greek simplicity, was parted at one side. Yet her face, +with its regularity of feature, and small, thin, red-lipped mouth, +was quite unchanged; and her velvety brown eyes were as beautiful +and inscrutable as ever. + +With the same glance I had taken in her surroundings, quite as +incongruous to her former habits. The furniture, though of old and +heavy mahogany, had suffered from careless alien hands, and was +interspersed with modern and unmatchable makeshifts, yet preserving +the distinctly scant and formal attitude of furnished lodgings. It +was certainly unlike the artistic trifles and delicate refinements +of her uncle's drawing-room, which we all knew her taste had +dictated and ruled. The black and white engravings, the outlined +heads of Minerva and Diana, were excluded from the walls for two +cheap colored Catholic prints,--a soulless Virgin, and the mystery +of the Bleeding Heart. Against the wall, in one corner, hung the +only object which seemed a memento of their travels,--a singular- +looking upright Indian "papoose-case" or cradle, glaringly +decorated with beads and paint, probably an Aztec relic. On a +round table, the velvet cover of which showed marks of usage and +abusage, there were scattered books and writing materials; and my +editorial instinct suddenly recognized, with a thrill of +apprehension, the loose leaves of an undoubted manuscript. This +circumstance, taken with the fact of Donna Urania's hair being +parted on one side, and the general negligee of her appearance, was +a disturbing revelation. + +My wandering eye apparently struck her, for after the first +greeting she pointed to the manuscript with a smile. + +"Yes; that is THE manuscript. I suppose Enriquez told you all +about it? He said he had written." + +I was dumfounded. I certainly had not understood ALL of Enriquez's +slang; it was always so decidedly his own, and peculiar. Yet I +could not recall any allusion to this. + +"He told me something of it, but very vaguely," I ventured to say +deprecatingly; "but I am afraid that I thought more of seeing my +old friend again than of anything else." + +"During our stay in Mexico," continued Mrs. Saltillo, with +something of her old precision, "I made some researches into Aztec +history, a subject always deeply interesting to me, and I thought I +would utilize the result by throwing it on paper. Of course it is +better fitted for a volume of reference than for a newspaper, but +Enriquez thought you might want to use it for your journal." + +I knew that Enriquez had no taste for literature, and had even +rather depreciated it in the old days, with his usual extravagance; +but I managed to say very pleasantly that I was delighted with his +suggestion and should be glad to read the manuscript. After all, +it was not improbable that Mrs. Saltillo, who was educated and +intelligent, should write well, if not popularly. "Then Enriquez +does not begrudge you the time that your work takes from him," I +added laughingly. "You seem to have occupied your honeymoon +practically." + +"We quite comprehend our respective duties," said Mrs. Saltillo +dryly; "and have from the first. We have our own lives to live, +independent of my uncle and Enriquez's father. We have not only +accepted the responsibility of our own actions, but we both feel +the higher privilege of creating our own conditions without +extraneous aid from our relatives." + +It struck me that this somewhat exalted statement was decidedly a +pose, or a return of Urania Mannersley's old ironical style. I +looked quietly into her brown, near-sighted eyes; but, as once +before, my glance seemed to slip from their moist surface without +penetrating the inner thought beneath. "And what does Enriquez do +for HIS part?" I asked smilingly. + +I fully expected to hear that the energetic Enriquez was utilizing +his peculiar tastes and experiences by horse-breaking, stock- +raising, professional bull-fighting, or even horse-racing, but was +quite astonished when she answered quietly:-- + +"Enriquez is giving himself up to geology and practical metallurgy, +with a view to scientific, purely scientific, mining." + +Enriquez and geology! In that instant all I could remember of it +were his gibes at the "geologian," as he was wont to term Professor +Dobbs, a former admirer of Miss Mannersley's. To add to my +confusion Mrs. Saltillo at the same moment absolutely voiced my +thought. + +"You may remember Professor Dobbs," she went on calmly, "one of the +most eminent scientists over here, and a very old Boston friend. +He has taken Enriquez in hand. His progress is most satisfactory; +we have the greatest hopes of him." + +"And how soon do you both hope to have some practical results of +his study?" I could not help asking a little mischievously; for I +somehow resented the plural pronoun in her last sentence. + +"Very soon," said Mrs. Saltillo, ignoring everything but the +question. "You know Enriquez's sanguine temperament. Perhaps he +is already given to evolving theories without a sufficient basis of +fact. Still, he has the daring of a discoverer. His ideas of the +oolitic formation are not without originality, and Professor Dobbs +says that in his conception of the Silurian beach there are gleams +that are distinctly precious." + +I looked at Mrs. Saltillo, who had reinforced her eyes with her old +piquant pince-nez, but could detect no irony in them. She was +prettily imperturbable, that was all. There was an awkward +silence. Then it was broken by a bounding step on the stairs, a +wide-open fling of the door, and Enriquez pirouetted into the room: +Enriquez, as of old, unchanged from the crown of his smooth, coal- +black hair to the tips of his small, narrow Arabian feet; Enriquez, +with his thin, curling mustache, his dancing eyes set in his +immovable face, just as I had always known him! + +He affected to lapse against the door for a minute, as if staggered +by a resplendent vision. Then he said:-- + +"What do I regard? Is it a dream, or have I again got them--thees +jimjams? My best friend and my best--I mean my ONLY--wife! +Embrace me!" + +He gave me an enthusiastic embrace and a wink like sheet-lightning, +passed quickly to his wife, before whom he dropped on one knee, +raised the toe of her slipper to his lips, and then sank on the +sofa in simulated collapse, murmuring, "Thees is too mooch of white +stone for one day!" + +Through all this I saw his wife regarding him with exactly the same +critically amused expression with which she had looked upon him in +the days of their strange courtship. She evidently had not tired +of his extravagance, and yet I feel as puzzled by her manner as +then. She rose and said: "I suppose you have a good deal to say to +each other, and I will leave you by yourselves." Turning to her +husband, she added, "I have already spoken about the Aztec +manuscript." + +The word brought Enriquez to his feet again. "Ah! The little old +nigger--you have read?" I began to understand. "My wife, my best +friend, and the little old nigger, all in one day. Eet is +perfect!" Nevertheless, in spite of this ecstatic and overpowering +combination, he hurried to take his wife's hand; kissing it, he led +her to a door opening into another room, made her a low bow to the +ground as she passed out, and then rejoined me. + +"So these are the little old niggers you spoke of in your note," I +said, pointing to the manuscript. "Deuce take me if I understood +you!" + +"Ah, my leetle brother, it is YOU who have changed!" said Enriquez +dolorously. "Is it that you no more understand American, or have +the 'big head' of the editor? Regard me! Of these Aztecs my wife +have made study. She have pursued the little nigger to his cave, +his grotto, where he is dead a thousand year. I have myself +assist, though I like it not, because thees mummy, look you, +Pancho, is not lively. And the mummy who is not dead, believe me! +even the young lady mummy, you shall not take to your heart. But +my wife"--he stopped, and kissed his hand toward the door whence +she had flitted--"ah, SHE is wonderful! She has made the story of +them, the peecture of them, from the life and on the instant! You +shall take them, my leetle brother, for your journal; you shall +announce in the big letter: 'Mooch Importance. The Aztec, He is +Found.' 'How He Look and Lif.' 'The Everlasting Nigger.' You +shall sell many paper, and Urania shall have scoop in much +spondulics and rocks. Hoop-la! For--you comprehend?--my wife and +I have settled that she shall forgif her oncle; I shall forgif my +father; but from them we take no cent, not a red, not a scad! We +are independent! Of ourselves we make a Fourth of July. United we +stand; divided we shall fall over! There you are! Bueno!" + +It was impossible to resist his wild, yet perfectly sincere, +extravagance, his dancing black eyes and occasional flash of white +teeth in his otherwise immovable and serious countenance. +Nevertheless, I managed to say:-- + +"But how about yourself, Enriquez, and this geology, you know?" + +His eyes twinkled. "Ah, you shall hear. But first you shall take +a drink. I have the very old Bourbon. He is not so old as the +Aztec, but, believe me, he is very much liflier. Attend! Hol' +on!" He was already rummaging on a shelf, but apparently without +success; then he explored a buffet, with no better results, and +finally attacked a large drawer, throwing out on the floor, with +his old impetuosity, a number of geological specimens, carefully +labeled. I picked up one that had rolled near me. It was labeled +"Conglomerate sandstone." I picked up another: it had the same +label. + +"Then you are really collecting?" I said, with astonishment. + +"Ciertamente," responded Enriquez,--"what other fool shall I look? +I shall relate of this geology when I shall have found this beast +of a bottle. Ah, here he have hide!" He extracted from a drawer a +bottle nearly full of spirits,--tippling was not one of Enriquez's +vices. "You shall say 'when.' 'Ere's to our noble selfs!" + +When he had drunk, I picked up another fragment of his collection. +It had the same label. "You are very rich in 'conglomerate +sandstone,'" I said. "Where do you find it?" + +"In the street," said Enriquez, with great calmness. + +"In the street?" I echoed. + +"Yes, my friend! He ees call the 'cobblestone,' also the 'pouding- +stone,' when he ees at his home in the country. He ees also a +small 'boulder.' I pick him up; I crack him; he made three +separate piece of conglomerate sandstone. I bring him home to my +wife in my pocket. She rejoice; we are happy. When comes the +efening, I sit down and make him a label; while my wife, she sit +down and write of the Aztec. Ah, my friend, you shall say of the +geology it ees a fine, a BEAUTIFUL study; but the study of the +wife, and what shall please her, believe me, ees much finer! +Believe your old Uncle 'Ennery every time! On thees question he +gets there; he gets left, nevarre!" + +"But Professor Dobbs, your geologian, what does HE say to this +frequent recurrence of the conglomerate sandstone period in your +study?" I asked quickly. + +"He say nothing. You comprehend? He ees a profound geologian, but +he also has the admiration excessif for my wife Urania." He +stopped to kiss his hand again toward the door, and lighted a +cigarette. "The geologian would not that he should break up the +happy efening of his friends by thees small detail. He put aside +his head--so; he say, 'A leetle freestone, a leetle granite, now +and then, for variety; they are building in Montgomery Street.' I +take the hint, like a wink to the horse that has gone blind. I +attach to myself part of the edifice that is erecting himself in +Montgomery Street. I crack him; I bring him home. I sit again at +the feet of my beautiful Urania, and I label him 'Freestone,' +'Granite;' but I do not say 'from Parrott's Bank'--eet is not +necessary for our happiness." + +"And you do this sort of thing only because you think it pleases +your wife?" I asked bluntly. + +"My friend," rejoined Enriquez, perching himself on the back of the +sofa, and caressing his knees as he puffed his cigarette +meditatively, "you have ask a conundrum. Gif to me an easier one! +It is of truth that I make much of these thing to please Urania. +But I shall confess all. Behold, I appear to you, my leetle +brother, in my camisa--my shirt! I blow on myself; I gif myself +away." + +He rose gravely from the sofa, and drew a small box from one of the +drawers of the wardrobe. Opening it, he discovered several +specimens of gold-bearing quartz, and one or two scales of gold. +"Thees," he said, "friend Pancho, is my own geology; for thees I am +what you see. But I say nothing to Urania; for she have much +disgust of mere gold,--of what she calls 'vulgar mining,'--and +believe me, a fear of the effect of 'speculation' upon my +temperamento--you comprehend my complexion, my brother? Reflect +upon it, Pancho! I, who am the filosofo, if that I am anything!" +He looked at me with great levity of eye and supernatural gravity +of demeanor. "But eet ees the jealous affection of the wife, my +friend, for which I make play to her with the humble leetle +pouding-stone rather than the gold quartz that affrights." + +"But what do you want with them, if you have no shares in anything +and do not speculate?" I asked. + +"Pardon! That ees where you slip up, my leetle friend." He took +from the same drawer a clasped portfolio, and unlocked it, +producing half a dozen prospectuses and certificates of mining +shares. I stood aghast as I recognized the names of one or two +extravagant failures of the last ten years,--"played-out" mines +that had been galvanized into deceptive life in London, Paris, and +New York, to the grief of shareholders abroad and the laughter of +the initiated at home. I could scarcely keep my equanimity. "You +do not mean to say that you have any belief or interest in this +rubbish?" I said quickly. + +"What you call 'rubbish,' my good Pancho, ees the rubbish that the +American speculator have dump himself upon them in the shaft, the +rubbish of the advertisement, of the extravagant expense, of the +salary, of the assessment, of the 'freeze-out.' For thees, look +you, is the old Mexican mine. My grandfather and hees father have +both seen them work before you were born, and the American knew not +there was gold in California." + +I knew he spoke truly. One or two were original silver mines in +the south, worked by peons and Indian slaves, a rope windlass, and +a venerable donkey. + +"But those were silver mines," I said suspiciously, "and these are +gold specimens." + +"They are from the same mother," said the imperturbable Enriquez,-- +"the same mine. The old peons worked him for SILVER, the precious +dollar that buy everything, that he send in the galleon to the +Philippines for the silk and spice! THAT is good enough for HIM! +For the gold he made nothing, even as my leetle wife Urania. And +regard me here! There ees a proverb of my father's which say that +'it shall take a gold mine to work a silver mine,' so mooch more he +cost. You work him, you are lost! Naturalmente, if you turn him +round, if it take you only a silver mine to work a gold mine, you +are gain. Thees ees logic!" + +The intense gravity of his face at this extraordinary deduction +upset my own. But as I was never certain that Enriquez was not +purposely mystifying me, with some ulterior object, I could not +help saying a little wickedly:-- + +"Yes, I understand all that; but how about this geologian? Will he +not tell your wife? You know he was a great admirer of hers." + +"That shall show the great intelligence of him, my Pancho. He will +have the four S's,' especially the secreto!" + +There could be no serious discussion in his present mood. I +gathered up the pages of his wife's manuscript, said lightly that, +as she had the first claim upon my time, I should examine the Aztec +material and report in a day or two. As I knew I had little chance +in the hands of these two incomprehensibles together, I begged him +not to call his wife, but to convey my adieus to her, and, in spite +of his embraces and protestations, I managed to get out of the +room. But I had scarcely reached the front door when I heard +Enriquez's voice and his bounding step on the stairs. In another +moment his arm was round my neck. + +"You must return on the instant! Mother of God! I haf forget, SHE +haf forget, WE all haf forget! But you have not seen him!" + +"Seen whom?" + +"El nino, the baby! You comprehend, pig! The criaturica, the +leetle child of ourselfs!" + +"The baby?" I said confusedly. "IS there--is there a BABY?" + +"You hear him?" said Enriquez, sending an appealing voice upward. +"You hear him, Urania? You comprehend. This beast of a leetle +brother demands if there ees one!" + +"I beg your pardon," I said, hurriedly reascending the stairs. On +the landing I met Mrs. Saltillo, but as calm, composed, and precise +as her husband was extravagant and vehement. "It was an oversight +of Enriquez's," she said quietly, reentering the room with us; "and +was all the more strange, as the child was in the room with you all +the time." + +She pointed to the corner of the wall, where hung what I had +believed to be an old Indian relic. To my consternation, it WAS a +bark "papoose-case," occupied by a LIVING child, swathed and +bandaged after the approved Indian fashion. It was asleep, I +believe, but it opened a pair of bright huckleberry eyes, set in +the smallest of features, that were like those of a carved ivory +idol, and uttered a "coo" at the sound of its mother's voice. She +stood on one side with unruffled composure, while Enriquez threw +himself into an attitude before it, with clasped hands, as if it +had been an image of the Holy Child. For myself, I was too +astounded to speak; luckily, my confusion was attributed to the +inexperience of a bachelor. + +"I have adopted," said Mrs. Saltillo, with the faintest touch of +maternal pride in her manner, "what I am convinced is the only +natural and hygienic mode of treating the human child. It may be +said to be a reversion to the aborigine, but I have yet to learn +that it is not superior to our civilized custom. By these bandages +the limbs of the infant are kept in proper position until they are +strong enough to support the body, and such a thing as malformation +is unknown. It is protected by its cradle, which takes the place +of its incubating-shell, from external injury, the injudicious +coddling of nurses, the so-called 'dancings' and pernicious +rockings. The supine position, as in the adult, is imposed only at +night. By the aid of this strap it may be carried on long +journeys, either by myself or by Enriquez, who thus shares with me, +as he fully recognizes, its equal responsibility and burden." + +"It--certainly does not--cry," I stammered. + +"Crying," said Mrs. Saltillo, with a curve of her pretty red lip. +"is the protest of the child against insanitary and artificial +treatment. In its upright, unostentatious cradle it is protected +against that injudicious fondling and dangerous promiscuous +osculation to which, as an infant in human arms, it is so often +subjected. Above all, it is kept from that shameless and +mortifying publicity so unjust to the weak and unformed animal. +The child repays this consideration by a gratifying silence. It +cannot be expected to understand our thoughts, speech, or actions; +it cannot participate in our pleasures. Why should it be forced +into premature contact with them, merely to feed our vanity or +selfishness? Why should we assume our particular parental accident +as superior to the common lot? If we do not give our offspring +that prominence before our visitors so common to the young wife and +husband, it is for that reason solely; and this may account for +what seemed the forgetfulness of Enriquez in speaking of it or +pointing it out to you. And I think his action in calling you back +to see it was somewhat precipitate. As one does not usually +introduce an unknown and inferior stranger without some previous +introduction, he might have asked you if you wished to see the baby +before he recalled you." + +I looked from Urania's unfathomable eyes to Enriquez's impenetrable +countenance. I might have been equal to either of them alone, but +together they were invincible. I looked hopelessly at the baby. +With its sharp little eyes and composed face, it certainly was a +marvelous miniature of Enriquez. I said so. + +"It would be singular if it was not," said Mrs. Saltillo dryly; +"and as I believe it is by no means an uncommon fact in human +nature, it seems to me strange that people should insist upon it as +a discovery. It is an inheritance, however, that in due time +progress and science will no doubt interrupt, to the advancement of +the human race. I need not say that both Enriquez and myself look +forward to it with confident tranquillity." + +There was clearly nothing for me to do now but to shake hands again +and take my leave. Yet I was so much impressed with the unreality +of the whole scene that when I reached the front door I had a +strong impulse to return suddenly and fall in upon them in their +relaxed and natural attitudes. They could not keep up this pose +between themselves; and I half expected to see their laughing faces +at the window, as I glanced up before wending my perilous way to +the street. + +I found Mrs. Saltillo's manuscript well written and, in the +narrative parts, even graphic and sparkling. I suppressed some +general remarks on the universe, and some correlative theories of +existence, as not appertaining particularly to the Aztecs, and as +not meeting any unquenchable thirst for information on the part of +the readers of the "Daily Excelsior." I even promoted my fair +contributor to the position of having been commissioned, at great +expense, to make the Mexican journey especially for the "Excelsior." +This, with Mrs. Saltillo's somewhat precise preraphaelite drawings +and water-colors, vilely reproduced by woodcuts, gave quite a +sensational air to her production, which, divided into parts, for +two or three days filled a whole page of the paper. I am not aware +of any particular service that it did to ethnology; but, as I +pointed out in the editorial column, it showed that the people of +California were not given over by material greed to the exclusion of +intellectual research; and as it was attacked instantly in long +communications from one or two scientific men, it thus produced more +copy. + +Briefly, it was a boom for the author and the "Daily Excelsior." I +should add, however, that a rival newspaper intimated that it was +also a boom for Mrs. Saitillo's HUSBAND, and called attention to +the fact that a deserted Mexican mine, known as "El Bolero," was +described graphically in the Aztec article among the news, and +again appeared in the advertising columns of the same paper. I +turned somewhat indignantly to the file of the "Excelsior," and, +singularly enough, found in the elaborate prospectus of a new gold- +mining company the description of the El Bolero mine as a QUOTATION +from the Aztec article, with extraordinary inducements for the +investment of capital in the projected working of an old mine. If +I had had any difficulty in recognizing in the extravagant style +the flamboyant hand of Enriquez in English writing, I might have +read his name plainly enough displayed as president of the company. +It was evidently the prospectus of one of the ventures he had shown +me. I was more amused than indignant at the little trick he had +played upon my editorial astuteness. After all, if I had thus +benefited the young couple I was satisfied. I had not seen them +since my first visit, as I was very busy,--my communications with +Mrs. Saltillo had been carried on by letters and proofs,--and when +I did finally call at their house, it was only to find that they +were visiting at San Jose. I wondered whether the baby was still +hanging on the wall, or, if he was taken with them, who carried +him. + +A week later the stock of El Bolero was quoted at par. More than +that, an incomprehensible activity had been given to all the +deserted Mexican mines, and people began to look up scrip hitherto +thrown aside as worthless. Whether it was one of those extraordinary +fevers which attacked Californian speculation in the early days, or +whether Enriquez Saltillo had infected the stock-market with his +own extravagance, I never knew; but plans as wild, inventions as +fantastic, and arguments as illogical as ever emanated from his own +brain, were set forth "on 'Change" with a gravity equal to his own. +The most reasonable hypothesis was that it was the effect of the +well-known fact that the Spanish Californian hitherto had not been a +mining speculator, nor connected in any way with the gold production +on his native soil, deeming it inconsistent with his patriarchal +life and landed dignity, and that when a "son of one of the oldest +Spanish families, identified with the land and its peculiar character +for centuries, lent himself to its mineral exploitations,"--I beg to +say that I am quoting from the advertisement in the "Excelsior,"-- +"it was a guerdon of success." This was so far true that in a week +Enriquez Saltillo was rich, and in a fair way to become a millionaire. + + +It was a hot afternoon when I alighted from the stifling Wingdam +coach, and stood upon the cool, deep veranda of the Carquinez +Springs Hotel. After I had shaken off the dust which had lazily +followed us, in our descent of the mountain road, like a red smoke, +occasionally overflowing the coach windows, I went up to the room I +had engaged for my brief holiday. I knew the place well, although +I could see that the hotel itself had lately been redecorated and +enlarged to meet the increasing requirements of fashion. I knew +the forest of enormous redwoods where one might lose one's self in +a five minutes' walk from the veranda. I knew the rocky trail that +climbed the mountain to the springs, twisting between giant +boulders. I knew the arid garden, deep in the wayside dust, with +its hurriedly planted tropical plants, already withering in the dry +autumn sunshine, and washed into fictitious freshness, night and +morning by the hydraulic irrigating-hose. I knew, too, the cool, +reposeful night winds that swept down from invisible snow-crests +beyond, with the hanging out of monstrous stars, that too often +failed to bring repose to the feverish guests. For the +overstrained neurotic workers who fled hither from the baking +plains of Sacramento, or from the chill sea-fogs of San Francisco, +never lost the fierce unrest that had driven them here. +Unaccustomed to leisure, their enforced idleness impelled them to +seek excitement in the wildest gayeties; the bracing mountain air +only reinvigorated them to pursue pleasure as they had pursued the +occupations they had left behind. Their sole recreations were +furious drives over break-neck roads; mad, scampering cavalcades +through the sedate woods; gambling parties in private rooms, where +large sums were lost by capitalists on leave; champagne suppers; +and impromptu balls that lasted through the calm, reposeful night +to the first rays of light on the distant snowline. Unimaginative +men, in their temporary sojourn they more often outraged or +dispossessed nature in her own fastnesses than courted her for +sympathy or solitude. There were playing-cards left lying behind +boulders, and empty champagne bottles forgotten in forest depths. + +I remembered all this when, refreshed by a bath, I leaned from the +balcony of my room and watched the pulling up of a brake, drawn by +six dusty, foam-bespattered horses, driven by a noted capitalist. +As its hot, perspiring, closely veiled yet burning-faced fair +occupants descended, in all the dazzling glory of summer toilets, +and I saw the gentlemen consult their watches with satisfaction, +and congratulate their triumphant driver, I knew the characteristic +excitement they had enjoyed from a "record run," probably for a +bet, over a mountain road in a burning sun. + +"Not bad, eh? Forty-four minutes from the summit!" + +The voice seemed at my elbow. I turned quickly, to recognize an +acquaintance, a young San Francisco broker, leaning from the next +balcony to mine. But my attention was just then preoccupied by the +face and figure, which seemed familiar to me, of a woman who was +alighting from the brake. + +"Who is that?" I asked; "the straight slim woman in gray, with the +white veil twisted round her felt hat?" + +"Mrs. Saltillo," he answered; "wife of 'El Bolero' Saltillo, don't +you know. Mighty pretty woman, if she is a little stiffish and set +up." + +Then I had not been mistaken! "Is Enriquez--is her husband--here?" +I asked quickly. + +The man laughed. "I reckon not. This is the place for other +people's husbands, don't you know." + +Alas! I DID know; and as there flashed upon me all the miserable +scandals and gossip connected with this reckless, frivolous +caravansary, I felt like resenting his suggestion. But my +companion's next words were more significant:-- + +"Besides, if what they say is true, Saltillo wouldn't be very +popular here." + +"I don't understand," I said quickly. + +"Why, after all that row he had with the El Bolero Company." + +"I never heard of any row," I said, in astonishment. + +The broker laughed incredulously. "Come! and YOU a newspaper man! +Well, maybe they DID try to hush it up, and keep it out of the +papers, on account of the stock. But it seems he got up a reg'lar +shindy with the board, one day; called 'em thieves and swindlers, +and allowed he was disgracing himself as a Spanish hidalgo by +having anything to do with 'em. Talked, they say, about Charles V. +of Spain, or some other royal galoot, giving his ancestors the land +in trust! Clean off his head, I reckon. Then shunted himself off +the company, and sold out. You can guess he wouldn't be very +popular around here, with Jim Bestley, there," pointing to the +capitalist who had driven the brake, "who used to be on the board +with him. No, sir. He was either lying low for something, or was +off his head. Think of his throwing up a place like that!" + +"Nonsense!" I said indignantly. "He is mercurial, and has the +quick impulsiveness of his race, but I believe him as sane as any +who sat with him on the board. There must be some mistake, or you +haven't got the whole story." Nevertheless, I did not care to +discuss an old friend with a mere acquaintance, and I felt secretly +puzzled to account for his conduct, in the face of his previous +cleverness in manipulating the El Bolero, and the undoubted +fascination he had previously exercised over the stockholders. The +story had, of course, been garbled in repetition. I had never +before imagined what might be the effect of Enriquez's peculiar +eccentricities upon matter-of-fact people,--I had found them only +amusing,--and the broker's suggestion annoyed me. However, Mrs. +Saltillo was here in the hotel, and I should, of course, meet her. +Would she be as frank with me? + +I was disappointed at not finding her in the drawing-room or on the +veranda; and the heat being still unusually oppressive, I strolled +out toward the redwoods, hesitating for a moment in the shade +before I ran the fiery gauntlet of the garden. To my surprise, I +had scarcely passed the giant sentinels on its outskirts before I +found that, from some unusual condition of the atmosphere, the cold +undercurrent of air which generally drew through these pillared +aisles was withheld that afternoon; it was absolutely hotter than +in the open, and the wood was charged throughout with the acrid +spices of the pine. I turned back to the hotel, reascended to my +bedroom, and threw myself in an armchair by the open window. My +room was near the end of a wing; the corner room at the end was +next to mine, on the same landing. Its closed door, at right +angles to my open one, gave upon the staircase, but was plainly +visible from where I sat. I remembered being glad that it was +shut, as it enabled me without offense to keep my own door open. + +The house was very quiet. The leaves of a catalpa, across the +roadway, hung motionless. Somebody yawned on the veranda below. I +threw away my half-finished cigar, and closed my eyes. I think I +had not lost consciousness for more than a few seconds before I was +awakened by the shaking and thrilling of the whole building. As I +staggered to my feet, I saw the four pictures hanging against the +wall swing outwardly from it on their cords, and my door swing back +against the wall. At the same moment, acted upon by the same +potential impulse, the door of the end room in the hall, opposite +the stairs, also swung open. In that brief moment I had a glimpse +of the interior of the room, of two figures, a man and a woman, the +latter clinging to her companion in abject terror. It was only for +an instant, for a second thrill passed through the house, the +pictures clattered back against the wall, the door of the end room +closed violently on its strange revelation, and my own door swung +back also. Apprehensive of what might happen, I sprang toward it, +but only to arrest it an inch or two before it should shut, when, +as my experience had taught me, it might stick by the subsidence of +the walls. But it did stick ajar, and remained firmly fixed in +that position. From the clattering of the knob of the other door, +and the sound of hurried voices behind it, I knew that the same +thing had happened there when that door had fully closed. + +I was familiar enough with earthquakes to know that, with the +second shock or subsidence of the earth, the immediate danger was +passed, and so I was able to note more clearly what else was +passing. There was the usual sudden stampede of hurrying feet, the +solitary oath and scream, the half-hysterical laughter, and +silence. Then the tumult was reawakened to the sound of high +voices, talking all together, or the impatient calling of absentees +in halls and corridors. Then I heard the quick swish of female +skirts on the staircase, and one of the fair guests knocked +impatiently at the door of the end room, still immovably fixed. At +the first knock there was a sudden cessation of the hurried +whisperings and turning of the doorknob. + +"Mrs. Saltillo, are you there? Are you frightened?" she called. + +"Mrs. Saltillo"! It was SHE, then, who was in the room! I drew +nearer my door, which was still fixed ajar. Presently a voice,-- +Mrs. Saltillo's voice,--with a constrained laugh in it, came from +behind the door: "Not a bit. I'll come down in a minute." + +"Do," persisted the would-be intruder. "It's all over now, but +we're all going out into the garden; it's safer." + +"All right," answered Mrs. Saltillo. "Don't wait, dear. I'll +follow. Run away, now." + +The visitor, who was evidently still nervous, was glad to hurry +away, and I heard her retreating step on the staircase. The +rattling of the door began again, and at last it seemed to yield to +a stronger pull, and opened sufficiently to allow Mrs. Saltillo to +squeeze through. I withdrew behind my door. I fancied that it +creaked as she passed, as if, noticing it ajar, she had laid an +inquiring hand upon it. I waited, but she was not followed by any +one. I wondered if I had been mistaken. I was going to the bell- +rope to summon assistance to move my own door when a sudden +instinct withheld me. If there was any one still in that room, he +might come from it just as the servant answered my call, and a +public discovery would be unavoidable. I was right. In another +instant the figure of a man, whose face I could not discern, +slipped out of the room, passed my door, and went stealthily down +the staircase. + +Convinced of this, I resolved not to call public attention to my +being in my own room at the time of the incident; so I did not +summon any one, but, redoubling my efforts, I at last opened the +door sufficiently to pass out, and at once joined the other guests +in the garden. Already, with characteristic recklessness and +audacity, the earthquake was made light of; the only dictate of +prudence had resolved itself into a hilarious proposal to "camp +out" in the woods all night, and have a "torch-light picnic." Even +then preparations were being made for carrying tents, blankets, and +pillows to the adjacent redwoods; dinner and supper, cooked at +campfires, were to be served there on stumps of trees and fallen +logs. The convulsion of nature had been used as an excuse for one +of the wildest freaks of extravagance that Carquinez Springs had +ever known. Perhaps that quick sense of humor which dominates the +American male in exigencies of this kind kept the extravagances +from being merely bizarre and grotesque, and it was presently known +that the hotel and its menage were to be appropriately burlesqued +by some of the guests, who, attired as Indians, would personate the +staff, from the oracular hotel proprietor himself down to the smart +hotel clerk. + +During these arrangements I had a chance of drawing near Mrs. +Saltillo. I fancied she gave a slight start as she recognized me; +but her greetings were given with her usual precision. "Have you +been here long?" she asked. + +"I have only just come," I replied laughingly; "in time for the +shock." + +"Ah, you felt it, then? I was telling these ladies that our +eminent geologist, Professor Dobbs, assured me that these seismic +disturbances in California have a very remote centre, and are +seldom serious." + +"It must be very satisfactory to have the support of geology at +such a moment," I could not help saying, though I had not the +slightest idea whose the figure was that I had seen, nor, indeed, +had I recognized it among the guests. She did not seem to detect +any significance in my speech, and I added: "And where is Enriquez? +He would enjoy this proposed picnic to-night." + +"Enriquez is at Salvatierra Rancho, which he lately bought from his +cousin." + +"And the baby? Surely, here is a chance for you to hang him up on +a redwood tonight, in his cradle." + +"The boy," said Mrs. Saltillo quickly, "is no longer in his cradle; +he has passed the pupa state, and is now free to develop his own +perfected limbs. He is with his father. I do not approve of +children being submitted to the indiscriminate attentions of a +hotel. I am here myself only for that supply of ozone indicated +for brain exhaustion." + +She looked so pretty and prim in her gray dress, so like her old +correct self, that I could not think of anything but her mental +attitude, which did not, by the way, seem much like mental +depression. Yet I was aware that I was getting no information of +Enriquez's condition or affairs, unless the whole story told by the +broker was an exaggeration. I did not, however, dare to ask more +particularly. + +"You remember Professor Dobbs?" she asked abruptly. + +This recalled a suspicion awakened by my vision, so suddenly that I +felt myself blushing. She did not seem to notice it, and was +perfectly composed. + +"I do remember him. Is he here?" + +"He is; that is what makes it so particularly unfortunate for me. +You see, after that affair of the board, and Enriquez's withdrawal, +although Enriquez may have been a little precipitate in his +energetic way, I naturally took my husband's part in public; for +although we preserve our own independence inviolable, we believe in +absolute confederation as against society." + +"But what has Professor Dobbs to do with the board?" I interrupted. + +"The professor was scientific and geological adviser to the board, +and it was upon some report or suggestion of his that Enriquez took +issue, against the sentiment of the board. It was a principle +affecting Enriquez's Spanish sense of honor." + +"Do tell me all about it," I said eagerly; "I am very anxious to +know the truth." + +"As I was not present at the time," said Mrs. Saltillo, rebuking my +eagerness with a gentle frigidity, "I am unable to do so. Anything +else would be mere hearsay, and more or less ex parte. I do not +approve of gossip." + +"But what did Enriquez tell you? You surely know that." + +"THAT, being purely confidential, as between husband and wife,-- +perhaps I should say partner and partner,--of course you do not +expect me to disclose. Enough that I was satisfied with it. I +should not have spoken to you about it at all, but that, through +myself and Enriquez, you are an acquaintance of the professor's, +and I might save you the awkwardness of presenting yourself with +him. Otherwise, although you are a friend of Enriquez, it need not +affect your acquaintance with the professor." + +"Hang the professor!" I ejaculated. "I don't care a rap for HIM." + +"Then I differ with you," said Mrs. Saltillo, with precision. "He +is distinctly an able man, and one cannot but miss the contact of +his original mind and his liberal teachings." + +Here she was joined by one of the ladies, and I lounged away. I +dare say it was very mean and very illogical, but the unsatisfactory +character of this interview made me revert again to the singular +revelation I had seen a few hours before. I looked anxiously for +Professor Dobbs; but when I did meet him, with an indifferent nod of +recognition, I found I could by no means identify him with the +figure of her mysterious companion. And why should I suspect him at +all, in the face of Mrs. Saltillo's confessed avoidance of him? +Who, then, could it have been? I had seen them but an instant, in +the opening and the shutting of a door. It was merely the shadowy +bulk of a man that flitted past my door, after all. Could I have +imagined the whole thing? Were my perceptive faculties--just +aroused from slumber, too insufficiently clear to be relied upon? +Would I not have laughed had Urania, or even Enriquez himself, told +me such a story? + +As I reentered the hotel the clerk handed me a telegram. "There's +been a pretty big shake all over the country," he said eagerly. +"Everybody is getting news and inquiries from their friends. +Anything fresh?" He paused interrogatively as I tore open the +envelope. The dispatch had been redirected from the office of the +"Daily Excelsior." It was dated, "Salvatierra Rancho," and +contained a single line: "Come and see your old uncle 'Ennery." + +There was nothing in the wording of the message that was unlike +Enriquez's usual light-hearted levity, but the fact that he should +have TELEGRAPHED it to me struck me uneasily. That I should have +received it at the hotel where his wife and Professor Dobbs were +both staying, and where I had had such a singular experience, +seemed to me more than a mere coincidence. An instinct that the +message was something personal to Enriquez and myself kept me from +imparting it to Mrs. Saltillo. After worrying half the night in +our bizarre camp in the redwoods, in the midst of a restless +festivity which was scarcely the repose I had been seeking at +Carquinez Springs, I resolved to leave the next day for Salvatierra +Rancho. I remembered the rancho,--a low, golden-brown, adobe- +walled quadrangle, sleeping like some monstrous ruminant in a +hollow of the Contra Costa Range. I recalled, in the midst of this +noisy picnic, the slumberous coolness of its long corridors and +soundless courtyard, and hailed it as a relief. The telegram was a +sufficient excuse for my abrupt departure. In the morning I left, +but without again seeing either Mrs. Saltillo or the professor. + +It was late the next afternoon when I rode through the canada that +led to the rancho. I confess my thoughts were somewhat gloomy, in +spite of my escape from the noisy hotel; but this was due to the +sombre scenery through which I had just ridden, and the monotonous +russet of the leagues of wild oats. As I approached the rancho, I +saw that Enriquez had made no attempt to modernize the old casa, +and that even the garden was left in its lawless native luxuriance, +while the rude tiled sheds near the walled corral contained the old +farming implements, unchanged for a century, even to the ox-carts, +the wheels of which were made of a single block of wood. A few +peons, in striped shirts and velvet jackets, were sunning +themselves against a wall, and near them hung a half-drained +pellejo, or goatskin water-bag. The air of absolute shiftlessness +must have been repellent to Mrs. Saltillo's orderly precision, and +for a moment I pitied her. But it was equally inconsistent with +Enriquez's enthusiastic ideas of American progress, and the +extravagant designs he had often imparted to me of the improvements +he would make when he had a fortune. I was feeling uneasy again, +when I suddenly heard the rapid clack of unshod hoofs on a rocky +trail that joined my own. At the same instant a horseman dashed +past me at full speed. I had barely time to swerve my own horse +aside to avoid a collision, yet in that brief moment I recognized +the figure of Enriquez. But his face I should have scarcely known. +It was hard and fixed. His upper lip and thin, penciled mustache +were drawn up over his teeth, which were like a white gash in his +dark face. He turned into the courtyard of the rancho. I put +spurs to my horse, and followed, in nervous expectation. He turned +in his saddle as I entered. But the next moment he bounded from +his horse, and, before I could dismount, flew to my side and +absolutely lifted me from the saddle to embrace me. It was the old +Enriquez again; his face seemed to have utterly changed in that +brief moment. + +"This is all very well, old chap," I said; "but do you know that +you nearly ran me down, just now, with that infernal half-broken +mustang? Do you usually charge the casa at that speed?" + +"Pardon, my leetle brother! But here you shall slip up. The +mustang is not HALF-broken; he is not broke at all! Look at his +hoof--never have a shoe been there. For myself--attend me! When I +ride alone, I think mooch; when I think mooch I think fast; my idea +he go like a cannon-ball! Consequent, if I ride not thees horse +like the cannon-ball, my thought HE arrive first, and where are +you? You get left! Believe me that I fly thees horse, thees old +Mexican plug, and your de' uncle 'Ennery and his leetle old idea +arrive all the same time, and on the instant." + +It WAS the old Enriquez! I perfectly understood his extravagant +speech and illustration, and yet for the first time I wondered if +others did. + +"Tak'-a-drink!" he said, all in one word. "You shall possess the +old Bourbon or the rhum from the Santa Cruz! Name your poison, +gentlemen!" + +He had already dragged me up the steps from the patio to the +veranda, and seated me before a small round table still covered +with the chocolate equipage of the morning. A little dried-up old +Indian woman took it away, and brought the spirits and glasses. + +"Mirar the leetle old one!" said Enriquez, with unflinching +gravity. "Consider her, Pancho, to the bloosh! She is not truly +an Aztec, but she is of years one hundred and one, and LIFS! +Possibly she haf not the beauty which ravishes, which devastates. +But she shall attent you to the hot water, to the bath. Thus shall +you be protect, my leetle brother, from scandal." + +"Enriquez," I burst out suddenly, "tell me about yourself. Why did +you leave the El Bolero board? What was the row about?" + +Enriquez's eyes for a moment glittered; then they danced as before. + +"Ah," he said, "you have heard?" + +"Something; but I want to know the truth from you." + +He lighted a cigarette, lifted himself backward into a grass +hammock, on which he sat, swinging his feet. Then, pointing to +another hammock, he said: "Tranquillize yourself there. I will +relate; but, truly, it ees nothing." + +He took a long pull at his cigarette, and for a few moments seemed +quietly to exude smoke from his eyes, ears, nose, even his finger- +ends--everywhere, in fact, but his mouth. That and his mustache +remained fixed. Then he said slowly, flicking away the ashes with +his little finger:-- + +"First you understand, friend Pancho, that I make no row. The +other themself make the row, the shindig. They make the dance, the +howl, the snap of the finger, the oath, the 'Helen blazes,' the +'Wot the devil,' the 'That be d--d,' the bad language; they +themselves finger the revolver, advance the bowie-knife, throw off +the coat, square off, and say 'Come on.' I remain as you see me +now, little brother--tranquil." He lighted another cigarette, made +his position more comfortable in the hammock, and resumed: "The +Professor Dobbs, who is the geologian of the company, made a report +for which he got two thousand dollar. But thees report--look you, +friend Pancho--he is not good for the mine. For in the hole in the +ground the Professor Dobbs have found a 'hoss.'" + +"A what?" I asked. + +"A hoss," repeated Enriquez, with infinite gravity. "But not, +leetle Pancho, the hoss that run, the hoss that buck-jump, but what +the miner call a 'hoss,' a something that rear up in the vein and +stop him. You pick around the hoss; you pick under him; sometimes +you find the vein, sometimes you do not. The hoss rear up, and +remain! Eet ees not good for the mine. The board say, 'D--- the +hoss!' 'Get rid of the hoss.' 'Chuck out the hoss.' Then they +talk together, and one say to the Professor Dobbs: 'Eef you cannot +thees hoss remove from the mine, you can take him out of the +report.' He look to me, thees professor. I see nothing; I remain +tranquil. Then the board say: 'Thees report with the hoss in him +is worth two thousand dollar, but WITHOUT the hoss he is worth five +thousand dollar. For the stockholder is frighted of the rearing +hoss. It is of a necessity that the stockholder should remain +tranquil. Without the hoss the report is good; the stock shall +errise; the director shall sell out, and leave the stockholder the +hoss to play with.' The professor he say, 'Al-right;' he scratch +out the hoss, sign his name, and get a check for three thousand +dollar." + +"Then I errise--so!" He got up from the hammock, suiting the +action to the word, and during the rest of his narrative, I +honestly believe, assumed the same attitude and deliberate +intonation he had exhibited at the board. I could even fancy I saw +the reckless, cynical faces of his brother directors turned upon +his grim, impassive features. "I am tranquil. I smoke my +cigarette. I say that for three hundred year my family have held +the land of thees mine; that it pass from father to son, and from +son to son; it pass by gift, it pass by grant, but that NEVARRE +THERE PASS A LIE WITH IT! I say it was a gift by a Spanish +Christian king to a Christian hidalgo for the spread of the gospel, +and not for the cheat and the swindle! I say that this mine was +worked by the slave, and by the mule, by the ass, but never by the +cheat and swindler. I say that if they have struck the hoss in the +mine, they have struck a hoss IN THE LAND, a Spanish hoss; a hoss +that have no bridle worth five thousand dollar in his mouth, but a +hoss to rear, and a hoss that cannot be struck out by a Yankee +geologian; and that hoss is Enriquez Saltillo!" + +He paused, and laid aside his cigarette. + +"Then they say, 'Dry up,' and 'Sell out;' and the great bankers +say, 'Name your own price for your stock, and resign.' And I say, +'There is not enough gold in your bank, in your San Francisco, in +the mines of California, that shall buy a Spanish gentleman. When +I leave, I leave the stock at my back; I shall take it, nevarre! +Then the banker he say, 'And you will go and blab, I suppose?' And +then, Pancho, I smile, I pick up my mustache--so! and I say: +'Pardon, senor, you haf mistake, The Saltillo haf for three hundred +year no stain, no blot upon him. Eet is not now--the last of the +race--who shall confess that he haf sit at a board of disgrace and +dishonor!' And then it is that the band begin to play, and the +animals stand on their hind leg and waltz, and behold, the row he +haf begin!" + +I ran over to him, and fairly hugged him. But he put me aside with +a gentle and philosophical calm. "Ah, eet is nothing, Pancho. It +is, believe me, all the same a hundred years to come, and where are +you, then? The earth he turn round, and then come el temblor, the +earthquake, and there you are! Bah! eet is not of the board that I +have asked you to come; it is something else I would tell you. Go +and wash yourself of thees journey, my leetle brother, as I have"-- +looking at his narrow, brown, well-bred hands--"wash myself of the +board. Be very careful of the leetle old woman, Pancho; do not +wink to her of the eye! Consider, my leetle brother, for one +hundred and one year he haf been as a nun, a saint! Disturb not +her tranquillity." + +Yes, it was the old Enriquez; but he seemed graver,--if I could use +that word of one of such persistent gravity; only his gravity +heretofore had suggested a certain irony rather than a melancholy +which I now fancied I detected. And what was this "something else" +he was to "tell me later"? Did it refer to Mrs. Saltillo? I had +purposely waited for him to speak of her, before I should say +anything of my visit to Carquinez Springs. I hurried through my +ablutions in the hot water, brought in a bronze jar on the head of +the centenarian handmaid; and even while I was smiling over +Enriquez's caution regarding this aged Ruth, I felt I was getting +nervous to hear his news. + +I found him in his sitting-room, or study,--a long, low apartment +with small, deep windows like embrasures in the outer adobe wall, +but glazed in lightly upon the veranda. He was sitting quite +abstractedly, with a pen in his hand, before a table, on which a +number of sealed envelopes were lying. He looked SO formal and +methodical for Enriquez. + +"You like the old casa, Pancho?" he said in reply to my praise of +its studious and monastic gloom. "Well, my leetle brother, some +day that is fair--who knows?--it may be at your disposicion; not of +our politeness, but of a truth, friend Pancho. For, if I leave it +to my wife"--it was the first time he had spoken of her--"for my +leetle child," he added quickly, "I shall put in a bond, an +obligacion, that my friend Pancho shall come and go as he will." + +"The Saltillos are a long-lived race," I laughed. "I shall be a +gray-haired man, with a house and family of my own by that time." +But I did not like the way he had spoken. + +"Quien sabe?" he only said, dismissing the question with the +national gesture. After a moment he added: "I shall tell you +something that is strrange, so strrange that you shall say, like +the banker say, 'Thees Enriquez, he ees off his head; he ees a +crank, a lunatico;' but it ees a FACT; believe me, I have said!" + +He rose, and, going to the end of the room, opened a door. It +showed a pretty little room, femininely arranged in Mrs. Saltillo's +refined taste. "Eet is pretty; eet is the room of my wife. Bueno! +attend me now." He closed the door, and walked back to the table. +"I have sit here and write when the earthquake arrive. I have feel +the shock, the grind of the walls on themselves, the tremor, the +stagger, and--that--door--he swing open!" + +"The door?" I said, with a smile that I felt was ghastly. + +"Comprehend me," he said quickly; "it ees not THAT which ees +strrange. The wall lift, the lock slip, the door he fell open; it +is frequent; it comes so ever when the earthquake come. But eet is +not my wife's room I see; it is ANOTHER ROOM, a room I know not. +My wife Urania, she stand there, of a fear, of a tremble; she +grasp, she cling to someone. The earth shake again; the door shut. +I jump from my table; I shake and tumble to the door. I fling him +open. Maravilloso! it is the room of my wife again. She is NOT +there; it is empty; it is nothing!" + +I felt myself turning hot and cold by turns. I was horrified, and-- +and I blundered. "And who was the other figure?" I gasped. + +"Who?" repeated Enriquez, with a pause, a fixed look at me, and a +sublime gesture. "Who SHOULD it be, but myself, Enriquez Saltillo?" + +A terrible premonition that this was a chivalrous LIE, that it was +NOT himself he had seen, but that our two visions were identical, +came upon me. "After all," I said, with a fixed smile, "if you +could imagine you saw your wife, you could easily imagine you saw +yourself too. In the shock of the moment you thought of HER +naturally, for then she would as naturally seek your protection. +You have written for news of her?" + +"No," said Enriquez quietly. + +"No?" I repeated amazedly. + +"You understand, Pancho! Eef it was the trick of my eyes, why +should I affright her for the thing that is not? If it is the +truth, and it arrive to ME, as a warning, why shall I affright her +before it come?" + +"Before WHAT comes? What is it a warning of?" I asked impetuously. + +"That we shall be separated! That I go, and she do not." + +To my surprise, his dancing eyes had a slight film over them. "I +don't understand you," I said awkwardly. + +"Your head is not of a level, my Pancho. Thees earthquake he +remain for only ten seconds, and he fling open the door. If he +remain for twenty seconds, he fling open the wall, the hoose +toomble, and your friend Enriquez is feenish." + +"Nonsense!" I said. "Professor--I mean the geologists--say that +the centre of disturbance of these Californian earthquakes is some +far-away point in the Pacific and there never will be any serious +convulsions here." + +"Ah, the geologist," said Enriquez gravely, "understand the hoss +that rear in the mine, and the five thousand dollar, believe me, no +more. He haf lif here three year. My family haf lif here three +hundred. My grandfather saw the earth swallow the church of San +Juan Baptista." + +I laughed, until, looking up, I was shocked to see for the first +time that his dancing eyes were moist and shining. But almost +instantly he jumped up, and declared that I had not seen the garden +and the corral, and, linking his arm in mine, swept me like a +whirlwind into the patio. For an hour or two he was in his old +invincible spirits. I was glad I had said nothing of my visit to +Carquinez Springs and of seeing his wife; I determined to avoid it +as long as possible; and as he did not again refer to her, except +in the past, it was not difficult. At last he infected me with his +extravagance, and for a while I forgot even the strangeness of his +conduct and his confidences. We walked and talked together as of +old. I understood and enjoyed him perfectly, and it was not +strange that in the end I began to believe that this strange +revelation was a bit of his extravagant acting, got up to amuse me. +The coincidence of his story with my own experience was not, after +all, such a wonderful thing, considering what must have been the +nervous and mental disturbance produced by the earthquake. We +dined together, attended only by Pedro, an old half-caste body- +servant. It was easy to see that the household was carried on +economically, and, from a word or two casually dropped by Enriquez, +it appeared that the rancho and a small sum of money were all that +he retained from his former fortune when he left the El Bolero. +The stock he kept intact, refusing to take the dividend upon it +until that collapse of the company should occur which he +confidently predicted, when he would make good the swindled +stockholders. I had no reason to doubt his perfect faith in this. + +The next morning we were up early for a breezy gallop over the +three square miles of Enriquez's estate. I was astounded, when I +descended to the patio, to find Enriquez already mounted, and +carrying before him, astride of the horn of his saddle, a small +child,--the identical papoose of my memorable first visit. But the +boy was no longer swathed and bandaged, although, for security, his +plump little body was engirt by the same sash that encircled his +father's own waist. I felt a stirring of self-reproach; I had +forgotten all about him! To my suggestion that the exercise might +be fatiguing to him, Enriquez shrugged his shoulders:-- + +"Believe me, no! He is ever with me when I go on the pasear. He +is not too yonge. For he shall learn 'to rride, to shoot, and to +speak the truth,' even as the Persian chile. Eet ees all I can gif +to him." + +Nevertheless, I think the boy enjoyed it, and I knew he was safe +with such an accomplished horseman as his father. Indeed, it was a +fine sight to see them both careering over the broad plain, +Enriquez with jingling spurs and whirling riata, and the boy, with +a face as composed as his father's, and his tiny hand grasping the +end of the flapping rein with a touch scarcely lighter than the +skillful rider's own. It was a lovely morning; though warm and +still, there was a faint haze--a rare thing in that climate--on the +distant range. The sun-baked soil, arid and thirsty from the long +summer drought, and cracked into long fissures, broke into puffs of +dust, with a slight detonation like a pistol-shot, at each stroke +of our pounding hoofs. Suddenly my horse swerved in full gallop, +almost lost his footing, "broke," and halted with braced fore feet, +trembling in every limb. I heard a shout from Enriquez at the same +instant, and saw that he too had halted about a hundred paces from +me, with his hand uplifted in warning, and between us a long chasm +in the dry earth, extending across the whole field. But the +trembling of the horse continued until it communicated itself to +me. I was shaking, too, and, looking about for the cause, when I +beheld the most weird and remarkable spectacle I had ever +witnessed. The whole llano, or plain, stretching to the horizon- +line, was DISTINCTLY UNDULATING! The faint haze of the hills was +repeated over its surface, as if a dust had arisen from some +grinding displacement of the soil. I threw myself from my horse, +but the next moment was fain to cling to him, as I felt the thrill +under my very feet. Then there was a pause, and I lifted my head +to look for Enriquez. He was nowhere to be seen! With a terrible +recollection of the fissure that had yawned between us, I sprang to +the saddle again, and spurred the frightened beast toward that +point. BUT IT WAS GONE, TOO! I rode backward and forward +repeatedly along the line where I had seen it only a moment before. +The plain lay compact and uninterrupted, without a crack or +fissure. The dusty haze that had arisen had passed as mysteriously +away; the clear outline of the valley returned; the great field was +empty! + +Presently I was aware of the sound of galloping hoofs. I remembered +then--what I had at first forgotten--that a few moments before we +had crossed an arroyo, or dried bed of a stream, depressed below the +level of the field. How foolish that I had not remembered! He had +evidently sought that refuge; there were his returning hoofs. I +galloped toward it, but only to meet a frightened vaquero, who had +taken that avenue of escape to the rancho. + +"Did you see Don Enriquez?" I asked impatiently. + +I saw that the man's terror was extreme, and his eyes were staring +in their sockets. He hastily crossed himself:-- + +"Ah, God, yes!" + +"Where is he?" I demanded. + +"Gone!" + +"Where?" + +He looked at me with staring, vacant eyes, and, pointing to the +ground, said in Spanish: "He has returned to the land of his +fathers!" + +We searched for him that day and the next, when the country was +aroused and his neighbors joined in a quest that proved useless. +Neither he nor his innocent burden was ever seen again of men. +Whether he had been engulfed by mischance in some unsuspected +yawning chasm in that brief moment, or had fulfilled his own +prophecy by deliberately erasing himself for some purpose known +only to himself, no one ever knew. His country-people shook their +heads and said "it was like a Saltillo." And the few among his +retainers who knew him and loved him, whispered still more +ominously: "He will yet return to his land to confound the +Americanos." + +Yet the widow of Enriquez did NOT marry Professor Dobbs. But she +too disappeared from California, and years afterward I was told +that she was well known to the ingenuous Parisians as the usual +wealthy widow "from South America." + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg etext of Stories in Light and Shadow. diff --git a/old/slgts10.zip b/old/slgts10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b330d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/slgts10.zip |