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diff --git a/2550-h/2550-h.htm b/2550-h/2550-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..32ab03e --- /dev/null +++ b/2550-h/2550-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8002 @@ +<?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> + Tales of Trail and Town, 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 Tales of Trail and Town, 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: Tales of Trail and Town + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 18, 2006 [EBook #2550] +Last Updated: March 5, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TRAIL AND TOWN *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + TALES OF TRAIL AND TOWN + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Bret Harte + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>TALES OF TRAIL AND TOWN</b></big> + </a> <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>THE ANCESTORS OF PETER + ATHERLY</b></big> </a><br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> TWO AMERICANS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> THE JUDGMENT OF BOLINAS PLAIN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> THE STRANGE EXPERIENCE OF ALKALI DICK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> A NIGHT ON THE DIVIDE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> A TALE OF THREE TRUANTS </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + TALES OF TRAIL AND TOWN + </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> + THE ANCESTORS OF PETER ATHERLY + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <p> + It must be admitted that the civilizing processes of Rough and Ready were + not marked by any of the ameliorating conditions of other improved camps. + After the discovery of the famous “Eureka” lead, there was the usual + influx of gamblers and saloon-keepers; but that was accepted as a matter + of course. But it was thought hard that, after a church was built and a + new school erected, it should suddenly be found necessary to have doors + that locked, instead of standing shamelessly open to the criticism and + temptation of wayfarers, or that portable property could no longer be left + out at night in the old fond reliance on universal brotherhood. The habit + of borrowing was stopped with the introduction of more money into the + camp, and the establishment of rates of interest; the poorer people either + took what they wanted, or as indiscreetly bought on credit. There were + better clothes to be seen in its one long straggling street, but those who + wore them generally lacked the grim virtue of the old pioneers, and the + fairer faces that were to be seen were generally rouged. There was a year + or two of this kind of mutation, in which the youthful barbarism of Rough + and Ready might have been said to struggle with adult civilized + wickedness, and then the name itself disappeared. By an Act of the + Legislature the growing town was called “Atherly,” after the owner of the + Eureka mine,—Peter Atherly,—who had given largess to the town + in its “Waterworks” and a “Gin Mill,” as the new Atherly Hotel and its + gilded bar-rooms were now called. Even at the last moment, however, the + new title of “Atherly” hung in the balance. The romantic daughter of the + pastor had said that Mr. Atherly should be called “Atherly of Atherly,” an + aristocratic title so strongly suggestive of an innovation upon democratic + principles that it was not until it was discreetly suggested that + everybody was still free to call him “Atherly, late of Rough and Ready,” + that opposition ceased. + </p> + <p> + Possibly this incident may have first awakened him to the value of his + name, and some anxiety as to its origin. Roughly speaking, Atherly's + father was only a bucolic emigrant from “Mizzouri,” and his mother had + done the washing for the camp on her first arrival. The Atherlys had + suffered on their overland journey from drought and famine, with the + addition of being captured by Indians, who had held them captive for ten + months. Indeed, Mr. Atherly, senior, never recovered from the effects of + his captivity, and died shortly after Mrs. Atherly had given birth to + twins, Peter and Jenny Atherly. This was scant knowledge for Peter in the + glorification of his name through his immediate progenitors; but “Atherly + of Atherly” still sounded pleasantly, and, as the young lady had said, + smacked of old feudal days and honors. It was believed beyond doubt, even + in their simple family records,—the flyleaf of a Bible,—that + Peter Atherly's great-grandfather was an Englishman who brought over to + his Majesty's Virginian possessions his only son, then a boy. It was not + established, however, to what class of deportation he belonged: whether he + was suffering exile from religious or judicial conviction, or if he were + only one of the articled “apprentices” who largely made up the American + immigration of those days. Howbeit, “Atherly” was undoubtedly an English + name, even suggesting respectable and landed ancestry, and Peter Atherly + was proud of it. He looked somewhat askance upon his Irish and German + fellow citizens, and talked a good deal about “race.” Two things, however, + concerned him: he was not in looks certainly like any type of modern + Englishman as seen either on the stage in San Francisco, or as an actual + tourist in the mining regions, and his accent was undoubtedly + Southwestern. He was tall and dark, with deep-set eyes in a singularly + immobile countenance; he had an erect but lithe and sinewy figure even for + his thirty odd years, and might easily have been taken for any other + American except for the single exception that his nose was distinctly + Roman, and gave him a distinguished air. There was a suggestion of Abraham + Lincoln (and even of Don Quixote) in his tall, melancholy figure and + length of limb, but nothing whatever that suggested an Englishman. + </p> + <p> + It was shortly after the christening of Atherly town that an incident + occurred which at first shook, and then the more firmly established, his + mild monomania. His widowed mother had been for the last two years an + inmate of a private asylum for inebriates, through certain habits + contracted while washing for the camp in the first year of her widowhood. + This had always been a matter of open sympathy to Rough and Ready; but it + was a secret reproach hinted at in Atherly, although it was known that the + rich Peter Atherly kept his mother liberally supplied, and that both he + and his sister “Jinny” or Jenny Atherly visited her frequently. One day he + was telegraphed for, and on going to the asylum found Mrs. Atherly + delirious and raving. Through her son's liberality she had bribed an + attendant, and was fast succumbing to a private debauch. In the intervals + of her delirium she called Peter by name, talked frenziedly and + mysteriously of his “high connections”—alluded to himself and his + sister as being of the “true breed”—and with a certain vigor of + epithet, picked up in the familiarity of the camp during the days when she + was known as “Old Ma'am Atherly” or “Aunt Sally,” declared that they were + “no corn-cracking Hoosiers,” “hayseed pikes,” nor “northern Yankee scum,” + and that she should yet live to see them “holding their own lands again + and the lands of their forefathers.” Quieted at last by opiates, she fell + into a more lucid but scarcely less distressing attitude. Recognizing her + son again, as well as her own fast failing condition, she sarcastically + thanked him for coming to “see her off,” congratulated him that he would + soon be spared the lie and expense of keeping her here on account of his + pride, under the thin pretext of trying to “cure” her. She knew that Sally + Atherly of Rough and Ready wasn't considered fit company for “Atherly of + Atherly” by his fine new friends. This and much more in a voice mingling + maudlin sentiment with bitter resentment, and with an ominous glitter in + her bloodshot and glairy eyes. Peter winced with a consciousness of the + half-truth of her reproaches, but the curiosity and excitement awakened by + the revelations of her frenzy were greater than his remorse. He said + quickly:— + </p> + <p> + “You were speaking of father!—of his family—his lands and + possessions. Tell me again!” + </p> + <p> + “Wot are ye givin' us?” she ejaculated in husky suspicion, opening upon + him her beady eyes, in which the film of death was already gathering. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me of father,—my father and his family! his great-grandfather!—the + Atherlys, my relations—what you were saying. What do you know about + them?” + </p> + <p> + “THAT'S all ye wanter know—is it? THAT'S what ye'r' comin' to the + old washer-woman for—is it?” she burst out with the desperation of + disgust. “Well—give it up! Ask me another!” + </p> + <p> + “But, mother—the old records, you know! The family Bible—what + you once told us—me and Jinny!” + </p> + <p> + Something gurgled in her throat like a chuckle. With the energy of + malevolence, she stammered: “There wasn't no records—there wasn't no + family Bible! it's all a lie—you hear me! Your Atherly that you're + so proud of was just a British bummer who was kicked outer his family in + England and sent to buzz round in Americky. He honey-fogled me—Sally + Magregor—out of a better family than his'n, in Kansas, and skyugled + me away, but it was a straight out marriage, and I kin prove it. It was in + the St. Louis papers, and I've got it stored away safe enough in my trunk! + You hear me! I'm shoutin'! But he wasn't no old settler in Mizzouri—he + wasn't descended from any settler, either! He was a new man outer England—fresh + caught—and talked down his throat. And he fooled ME—the darter + of an old family that was settled on the right bank of the Mizzouri afore + Dan'l Boone came to Kentucky—with his new philanderings. Then he + broke up, and went all to pieces when we struck Californy, and left ME—Sally + Magregor, whose father had niggers of his own—to wash for Rough and + Ready! THAT'S your Atherly! Take him! I don't want him—I've done + with him! I was done with him long afore—afore”—a cough + checked her utterance,—“afore”—She gasped again, but the words + seemed to strangle in her throat. Intent only on her words and scarcely + heeding her sufferings, Peter was bending over her eagerly, when the + doctor rudely pulled him away and lifted her to a sitting posture. But she + never spoke again. The strongest restoratives quickly administered only + left her in a state of scarcely breathing unconsciousness. + </p> + <p> + “Is she dying? Can't you bring her to,” said the anxious Peter, “if only + for a moment, doctor?” + </p> + <p> + “I'm thinkin',” said the visiting doctor, an old Scotch army surgeon, + looking at the rich Mr. Atherly with cool, professional contempt, “that + your mother willna do any more washing for me as in the old time, nor give + up her life again to support her bairns. And it isna my eentention to + bring her back to pain for the purposes of geeneral conversation!” + </p> + <p> + Nor, indeed, did she ever come back to any purpose, but passed away with + her unfinished sentence. And her limbs were scarcely decently composed by + the attendants before Peter was rummaging the trunk in her room for the + paper she had spoken of. It was in an old work-box—a now faded + yellow clipping from a newspaper, lying amidst spoils of cotton thread, + buttons, and beeswax, which he even then remembered to have seen upon his + mother's lap when she superadded the sewing on of buttons to her washing + of the miners' shirts. And his dark and hollow cheek glowed with gratified + sentiment as he read the clipping. + </p> + <p> + “We hear with regret of the death of Philip Atherly, Esq., of Rough and + Ready, California. Mr. Atherly will be remembered by some of our readers + as the hero of the romantic elopement of Miss Sallie Magregor, daughter of + Colonel 'Bob' Magregor, which created such a stir in well-to-do circles + some thirty years ago. It was known vaguely that the young couple had + 'gone West,'—a then unknown region,—but it seems that after + severe trials and tribulations on the frontier with savages, they + emigrated early to Oregon, and then, on the outbreak of the gold fever, to + California. But it will be a surprise to many to know that it has just + transpired that Mr. Atherly was the second son of Sir Ashley Atherly, an + English baronet, and by the death of his brother might have succeeded to + the property and title.” + </p> + <p> + He remained for some moments looking fixedly at the paper, until the + commonplace paragraph imprinted itself upon his brain as no line of sage + or poet had ever done, and then he folded it up and put it in his pocket. + In his exaltation he felt that even the mother he had never loved was + promoted to a certain respect as his father's wife, although he was + equally conscious of a new resentment against her for her contemptuous + allusions to HIS father, and her evident hopeless inability to comprehend + his position. His mother, he feared, was indeed low!—but HE was his + father's son! Nevertheless, he gave her a funeral at Atherly, long + remembered for its barbaric opulence and display. Thirty carriages, + procured from Sacramento at great expense, were freely offered to his + friends to join in the astounding pageant. A wonderful casket of iron and + silver, brought from San Francisco, held the remains of the ex-washerwoman + of Rough and Ready. But a more remarkable innovation was the addition of a + royal crown to the other ornamentation of the casket. Peter Atherly's + ideas of heraldry were very vague,—Sacramento at that time offered + him no opportunity of knowing what were the arms of the Atherlys,—and + the introduction of the royal crown seemed to satisfy Peter's mind as to + what a crest MIGHT be, while to the ordinary democratic mind it simply + suggested that the corpse was English! Political criticism being thus + happily averted, Mrs. Atherly's body was laid in the little cemetery, not + far away from certain rude wooden crosses which marked the burial-place of + wanderers whose very names were unknown, and in due time a marble shaft + was erected over it. But when, the next day, the county paper contained, + in addition to the column-and-a-half description of the funeral, the more + formal announcement of the death of “Mrs. Sallie Atherly, wife of the late + Philip Atherly, second son of Sir Ashley Atherly, of England,” criticism + and comment broke out. The old pioneers of Rough and Ready felt that they + had been imposed upon, and that in some vague way the unfortunate woman + had made them the victims of a huge practical joke during all these years. + That she had grimly enjoyed their ignorance of her position they did not + doubt. “Why, I remember onct when I was sorter bullyraggin' her about + mixin' up my duds with Doc Simmons's, and sendin' me Whiskey Dick's old + rags, she turned round sudden with a kind of screech, and ran out into the + brush. I reckoned, at the time, that it was either 'drink' or feelin's, + and could hev kicked myself for being sassy to the old woman, but I know + now that all this time that air critter—that barrownet's + daughter-in-law—was just laughin' herself into fits in the brush! + No, sir, she played this yer camp for all it was worth, year in and out, + and we just gave ourselves away like speckled idiots! and now she's lyin' + out thar in the bone yard, and keeps on p'intin' the joke, and a-roarin' + at us in marble.” + </p> + <p> + Even the later citizens in Atherly felt an equal resentment against her, + but from different motives. That her drinking habits and her powerful + vocabulary were all the effect of her aristocratic alliance they never + doubted. And, although it brought the virtues of their own superior + republican sobriety into greater contrast, they felt a scandal at having + been tricked into attending this gilded funeral of dissipated rank. Peter + Atherly found himself unpopular in his own town. The sober who drank from + his free “Waterworks,” and the giddy ones who imbibed at his “Gin Mill,” + equally criticised him. He could not understand it; his peculiar + predilections had been accepted before, when they were mere presumptions; + why should they not NOW, when they were admitted facts? He was conscious + of no change in himself since the funeral! Yet the criticism went on. + Presently it took the milder but more contagious form of ridicule. In his + own hotel, built with his own money, and in his own presence, he had heard + a reckless frequenter of the bar-room decline some proffered refreshment + on the ground that “he only drank with his titled relatives.” A local + humorist, amidst the applause of an admiring crowd at the post-office + window, had openly accused the postmaster of withholding letters to him + from his only surviving brother, “the Dook of Doncherknow.” “The ole dooky + never onct missed the mail to let me know wot's goin' on in me childhood's + home,” remarked the humorist plaintively; “and yer's this dod-blasted + gov'ment mule of a postmaster keepin' me letters back!” Letters with + pretentious and gilded coats of arms, taken from the decorated inner + lining of cigar-boxes, were posted to prominent citizens. The neighboring + and unregenerated settlement of Red Dog was more outrageous in its + contribution. The Red Dog “Sentinel,” in commenting on the death of + “Haulbowline Tom,” a drunken English man-o'-war's man, said: “It may not + be generally known that our regretted fellow citizen, while serving on H. + M. S. Boxer, was secretly married to Queen Kikalu of the Friendly Group; + but, unlike some of our prosperous neighbors, he never boasted of his + royal alliance, and resisted with steady British pluck any invitation to + share the throne. Indeed, any allusion to the subject affected him deeply. + There are those among us who will remember the beautiful portrait of his + royal bride tattooed upon his left arm with the royal crest and the + crossed flags of the two nations.” Only Peter Atherly and his sister + understood the sting inflicted either by accident or design in the latter + sentence. Both he and his sister had some singular hieroglyphic branded on + their arms,—probably a reminiscence of their life on the plains in + their infant Indian captivity. But there was no mistaking the general + sentiment. The criticisms of a small town may become inevasible. Atherly + determined to take the first opportunity to leave Rough and Ready. He was + rich; his property was secure; there was no reason why he should stay + where his family pretensions were a drawback. And a further circumstance + determined his resolution. + </p> + <p> + He was awaiting his sister in his new house on a little crest above the + town. She had been at the time of her mother's death, and since, a private + boarder in the Sacred Heart Convent at Santa Clara, whence she had been + summoned to the funeral, but had returned the next day. Few people had + noticed in her brother's carriage the veiled figure which might have + belonged to one of the religious orders; still less did they remember the + dark, lank, heavy-browed girl who had sometimes been seen about Rough and + Ready. For she had her brother's melancholy, and greater reticence, and + had continued of her own free will, long after her girlish pupilage at the + convent, to live secluded under its maternal roof without taking orders. A + general suspicion that she was either a religious “crank,” or considered + herself too good to live in a mountain mining town, had not contributed to + her brother's popularity. In her abstraction from worldly ambitions she + had, naturally, taken no part in her brother's family pretensions. He had + given her an independent allowance, and she was supposed to be equally a + sharer in his good fortune. Yet she had suddenly declared her intention of + returning to Atherly, to consult him on affairs of importance. Peter was + both surprised and eager; there was but little affection between them, + but, preoccupied with his one idea, he was satisfied that she wanted to + talk about the family. + </p> + <p> + But he was amazed, disappointed, and disconcerted. For Jenny Atherly, the + sober recluse of Santa Clara, hidden in her sombre draperies at the + funeral, was no longer to be recognized in the fashionable, smartly but + somewhat over-dressed woman he saw before him. In spite of her large + features and the distinguishing Roman nose, like his own, she looked even + pretty in her excitement. She had left the convent, she was tired of the + life there, she was satisfied that a religious vocation would not suit + her. In brief, she intended to enjoy herself like other women. If he + really felt a pride in the family he ought to take her out, like other + brothers, and “give her a show.” He could do it there if he liked, and she + would keep house for him. If he didn't want to, she must have enough money + to keep her fashionably in San Francisco. But she wanted excitement, and + that she WOULD HAVE! She wanted to go to balls, theatres, and + entertainments, and she intended to! Her voice grew quite high, and her + dark cheek glowed with some new-found emotion. + </p> + <p> + Astounded as he was, Peter succumbed. It was better that she should + indulge her astounding caprice under his roof than elsewhere. It would not + do for the sister of an Atherly to provoke scandal. He gave + entertainments, picnics, and parties, and “Jinny” Atherly plunged into + these mild festivities with the enthusiasm of a schoolgirl. She not only + could dance with feverish energy all night, but next day could mount a + horse—she was a fearless rider—and lead the most accomplished + horsemen. She was a good shot, she walked with the untiring foot of a + coyote, she threaded the woods with the instinct of a pioneer. Peter + regarded her with a singular mingling of astonishment and fear. Surely she + had not learned this at school! These were not the teachings nor the + sports of the good sisters! He once dared to interrogate her regarding + this change in her habits. “I always FELT like it,” she answered quickly, + “but I kept it down. I used sometimes to feel that I couldn't stand it any + longer, but must rush out and do something,” she said passionately; “but,” + she went on with furtive eyes, and a sudden wild timidity like that of a + fawn, “I was afraid! I was afraid IT WAS LIKE MOTHER! It seemed to me to + be HER blood that was rising in me, and I kept it down,—I didn't + want to be like her,—and I prayed and struggled against it. Did + you,” she said, suddenly grasping his hand, “ever feel like that?” + </p> + <p> + But Peter never had. His melancholy faith in his father's race had left no + thought of his mother's blood mingling with it. “But,” he said gravely, + “believing this, why did you change?” + </p> + <p> + “Because I could hold out no longer. I should have gone crazy. Times I + wanted to take some of those meek nuns, some of those white-faced pupils + with their blue eyes and wavy flaxen hair, and strangle them. I couldn't + strive and pray and struggle any longer THERE, and so I came here to let + myself out! I suppose when I get married—and I ought to, with my + money—it may change me! You don't suppose,” she said, with a return + of her wild-animal-like timidity, “it is anything that was in FATHER, in + those ATHERLYS,—do you?” + </p> + <p> + But Peter had no idea of anything but virtue in the Atherly blood; he had + heard that the upper class of Europeans were fond of field sports and of + hunting; it was odd that his sister should inherit this propensity and not + he. He regarded her more kindly for this evidence of race. “You think of + getting married?” he said more gently, yet with a certain brotherly doubt + that any man could like her enough, even with her money. “Is there any one + here would—suit you?” he added diplomatically. + </p> + <p> + “No—I hate them all!” she burst out. “There isn't one I don't + despise for his sickening, foppish, womanish airs.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, it was quite evident that some of the men were attracted by + her singular originality and a certain good comradeship in her ways. And + it was on one of their riding excursions that Peter noticed that she was + singled out by a good-looking, blond-haired young lawyer of the town for + his especial attentions. As the cavalcade straggled in climbing the + mountain, the young fellow rode close to her saddle-bow, and as the + distance lengthened between the other stragglers, they at last were quite + alone. When the trail became more densely wooded, Peter quite lost sight + of them. But when, a few moments later, having lost the trail himself, + they again appeared in the distance before him, he was so amazed that he + unconsciously halted. For the two horses were walking side by side, and + the stranger's arm was round his sister's waist. + </p> + <p> + Had Peter any sense of humor he might have smiled at this weakness in his + Amazonian sister, but he saw only the serious, practical side of the + situation, with, of course, its inevitable relation to his one controlling + idea. The young man was in good practice, and would have made an eligible + husband to any one else. But was he fit to mate with an Atherly? What + would those as yet unknown and powerful relatives say to it? At the same + time he could not help knowing that “Jinny,” in the eccentricities of her + virgin spinsterhood, might be equally objectionable to them, as she + certainly was a severe trial to him here. If she were off his hands he + might be able to prosecute his search for his relatives with more freedom. + After all, there were mesalliances in all families, and being a woman she + was not in the direct line. Instead, therefore, of spurring forward to + join them, he lingered a little until they passed out of sight, and until + he was joined by a companion from behind. Him, too, he purposely delayed. + They were walking slowly, breathing their mustangs, when his companion + suddenly uttered a cry of alarm, and sprang from his horse. For on the + trail before them lay the young lawyer quite unconscious, with his + riderless steed nipping the young leaves of the underbrush. He was + evidently stunned by a fall, although across his face was a livid welt + which might have been caused by collision with the small elastic limb of a + sapling, or a blow from a riding-whip; happily the last idea was only in + Peter's mind. As they lifted him up he came slowly to consciousness. He + was bewildered and dazed at first, but as he began to speak the color came + back freshly to his face. He could not conceive, he stammered, what had + happened. He was riding with Miss Atherly, and he supposed his horse had + slipped upon some withered pine needles and thrown him! A spasm of pain + crossed his face suddenly, and he lifted his hand to the top of his head. + Was he hurt THERE? No, but perhaps his hair, which was flowing and curly, + had caught in the branches—like Absalom's! He tried to smile, and + even begged them to assist him to his horse that he might follow his fair + companion, who would be wondering where he was; but Peter, satisfied that + he had received no serious injury, hurriedly enjoined him to stay, while + he himself would follow his sister. Putting spurs to his horse, he + succeeded, in spite of the slippery trail, in overtaking her near the + summit. At the sound of his horse's hoofs she wheeled quickly, came + dashing furiously towards him, and only pulled up at the sound of his + voice. But she had not time to change her first attitude and expression, + which was something which perplexed and alarmed him. Her long lithe figure + was half crouching, half clinging to the horse's back, her loosened hair + flying over her shoulders, her dark eyes gleaming with an odd nymph-like + mischief. Her white teeth flashed as she recognized him, but her laugh was + still mocking and uncanny. He took refuge in indignation. + </p> + <p> + “What has happened?” he said sharply. + </p> + <p> + “The fool tried to kiss me!” she said simply. “And I—I—let out + at him—like mother!” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, she gave him one of those shy, timid glances he had noticed + before, and began coiling something around her fingers, with a suggestion + of coy embarrassment, indescribably inconsistent with her previous + masculine independence. + </p> + <p> + “You might have killed him,” said Peter angrily. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps I might! OUGHT I have killed him, Peter?” she said anxiously, yet + with the same winning, timid smile. If she had not been his sister, he + would have thought her quite handsome. + </p> + <p> + “As it is,” he said impetuously, “you have made a frightful scandal here.” + </p> + <p> + “HE won't say anything about it—will he?” she inquired shyly, still + twisting the something around her finger. + </p> + <p> + Peter did not reply; perhaps the young lawyer really loved her and would + keep her secret! But he was vexed, and there was something maniacal in her + twisting fingers. “What have you got there?” he said sharply. + </p> + <p> + She shook the object in the air before her with a laugh. “Only a lock of + his hair,” she said gayly; “but I didn't CUT it off!” + </p> + <p> + “Throw it away, and come here!” he said angrily. + </p> + <p> + But she only tucked the little blond curl into her waist belt and shook + her head. He urged his horse forward, but she turned and fled, laughing as + he pursued her. Being the better rider she could easily evade him whenever + he got too near, and in this way they eventually reached the town and + their house long before their companions. But she was far enough ahead of + her brother to be able to dismount and hide her trophy with childish glee + before he arrived. + </p> + <p> + She was right in believing that her unfortunate cavalier would make no + revelation of her conduct, and his catastrophe passed as an accident. But + Peter could not disguise the fact that much of his unpopularity was shared + by his sister. The matrons of Atherly believed that she was “fast,” and + remembered more distinctly than ever the evil habits of her mother. That + she would, in the due course of time, “take to drink,” they never doubted. + Her dancing was considered outrageous in its unfettered freedom, and her + extraordinary powers of endurance were looked upon as “masculine” by the + weaker girls whose partners she took from them. She reciprocally looked + down upon them, and made no secret of her contempt for their small + refinements and fancies. She affected only the society of men, and even + treated them with a familiarity that was both fearless and scornful. Peter + saw that it was useless to face the opposition; Miss Atherly did not seem + to encourage the renewal of the young lawyer's attentions, although it was + evident that he was still attracted by her, nor did she seem to invite + advances from others. He must go away—and he would have to take her + with him. It seemed ridiculous that a woman of thirty, of masculine + character, should require a chaperon in a brother of equal age; but Peter + knew the singular blending of childlike ignorance with this Amazonian + quality. He had made his arrangements for an absence from Atherly of three + or four years, and they departed together. The young fair-haired lawyer + came to the stage-coach office to see them off. Peter could detect no + sentiment in his sister's familiar farewell of her unfortunate suitor. At + New York, however, it was arranged that “Jinny” should stay with some + friends whom they had made en route, and that, if she wished, she could + come to Europe later, and join him in London. + </p> + <p> + Thus relieved of one, Peter Atherly of Atherly started on his cherished + quest of his other and more remote relations. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <p> + Peter Atherly had been four months in England, but knew little of the + country until one summer afternoon when his carriage rolled along the + well-ordered road between Nonningsby Station and Ashley Grange. + </p> + <p> + In that four months he had consulted authorities, examined records, + visited the Heralds' College, written letters, and made a few friends. A + rich American, tracing his genealogical tree, was not a new thing—even + in that day—in London; but there was something original and simple + in his methods, and so much that was grave, reserved, and un-American in + his personality, that it awakened interest. A recognition that he was a + foreigner, but a puzzled doubt, however, of his exact nationality, which + he found everywhere, at first pained him, but he became reconciled to it + at about the same time that his English acquaintances abandoned their own + reserve and caution before the greater reticence of this melancholy + American, and actually became the questioners! In this way his quest + became known only as a disclosure of his own courtesy, and offers of + assistance were pressed eagerly upon him. That was why Sir Edward Atherly + found himself gravely puzzled, as he sat with his family solicitor one + morning in the library of Ashley Grange. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” said Sir Edward. “And you say he has absolutely no other purpose + in making these inquiries?” + </p> + <p> + “Positively none,” returned the solicitor. “He is even willing to sign a + renunciation of any claim which might arise out of this information. It is + rather a singular case, but he seems to be a rich man and quite able to + indulge his harmless caprices.” + </p> + <p> + “And you are quite sure he is Philip's son?” + </p> + <p> + “Quite, from the papers he brings me. Of course I informed him that even + if he should be able to establish a legal marriage he could expect nothing + as next of kin, as you had children of your own. He seemed to know that + already, and avowed that his only wish was to satisfy his own mind.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose he wants to claim kinship and all that sort of thing for + society's sake?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not think so,” said the solicitor dryly. “I suggested an interview + with you, but he seemed to think it quite unnecessary, if I could give him + the information he required.” + </p> + <p> + “Ha!” said Sir Edward promptly, “we'll invite him here. Lady Atherly can + bring in some people to see him. Is he—ahem—What is he like? + The usual American, I suppose?” + </p> + <p> + “Not at all. Quite foreign-looking—dark, and rather like an Italian. + There is no resemblance to Mr. Philip,” he said, glancing at the painting + of a flaxen-haired child fondling a greyhound under the elms of Ashley + Park. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Yes, yes! Perhaps the mother was one of those Southern creoles, or + mulattoes,” said Sir Edward with an Englishman's tolerant regard for the + vagaries of people who were clearly not English; “they're rather + attractive women, I hear.” + </p> + <p> + “I think you do quite well to be civil to him,” said the solicitor. “He + seems to take an interest in the family, and being rich, and apparently + only anxious to enhance the family prestige, you ought to know him. Now, + in reference to those mortgages on Appleby Farm, if you could get”— + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes!” said Sir Edward quickly; “we'll have him down here; and, I + say! YOU'LL come too?” + </p> + <p> + The solicitor bowed. “And, by the way,” continued Sir Edward, “there was a + girl too,—wasn't there? He has a sister, I believe?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but he has left her in America.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, yes!—very good—yes!—of course. We'll have Lord + Greyshott and Sir Roger and old Lady Everton,—she knows all about + Sir Ashley and the family. And—er—is he young or old?” + </p> + <p> + “About thirty, I should say, Sir Edward.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, well! We'll have Lady Elfrida over from the Towers.” + </p> + <p> + Had Peter known of these preparations he might have turned back to + Nonningsby without even visiting the old church in Ashley Park, which he + had been told held the ashes of his ancestors. For during these four + months the conviction that he was a foreigner and that he had little or + nothing in common with things here had been clearly forced upon him. He + could recognize some kinship in the manners and customs of the people to + those he had known in the West and on the Atlantic coast, but not to his + own individuality, and he seemed even more a stranger here—where he + had expected to feel the thrill of consanguinity—than in the West. + He had accepted the invitation of the living Atherly for the sake of the + Atherlys long dead and forgotten. As the great quadrangle of stone and ivy + lifted itself out of the park, he looked longingly towards the little + square tower which peeped from between the yews nearer the road. As the + carriage drove up to the carved archway whence so many Atherlys had issued + into the world, he could not believe that any of his blood had gone forth + from it, or, except himself, had ever entered it before. Once in the great + house he felt like a prisoner as he wandered through the long corridors to + his room; even the noble trees beyond his mullioned windows seemed of + another growth than those he had known. + </p> + <p> + There was no doubt that he created a sensation at Ashley Grange, not only + from his singular kinship, but from his striking individuality. The + Atherlys and their guests were fascinated and freely admiring. His very + originality, which prevented them from comparing him with any English or + American standard of excellence, gave them a comfortable assurance of + safety in their admiration. His reserve, his seriousness, his simplicity, + very unlike their own, and yet near enough to suggest a delicate flattery, + was in his favor. So was his naive frankness in regard to his status in + the family, shown in the few words of greeting with Sir Ashley, and in his + later simple yet free admissions regarding his obscure youth, his former + poverty, and his present wealth. He boasted of neither; he was disturbed + by neither. Standing alone, a stranger, for the first time in an + assemblage of distinguished and titled men and women, he betrayed no + consciousness; surrounded for the first time by objects which he knew his + wealth could not buy, he showed the most unmistakable indifference,—the + indifference of temperament. The ladies vied with each other to attack + this unimpressible nature,—this profound isolation from external + attraction. They followed him about, they looked into his dark, melancholy + eyes; it was impossible, they thought, that he could continue this superb + acting forever. A glance, a smile, a burst of ingenuous confidence, a + covert appeal to his chivalry would yet catch him tripping. But the + melancholy eyes that had gazed at the treasures of Ashley Grange and the + opulent ease of its guests without kindling, opened to their first + emotion,—wonder! At which Lady Elfrida, who had ingenuously admired + him, hated him a little, as the first step towards a kindlier feeling. + </p> + <p> + The next day, having declared his intention of visiting Ashley Church, + and, as frankly, his intention of going there alone, he slipped out in the + afternoon and made his way quietly through the park to the square ivied + tower he had first seen. In this tranquil level length of the wood there + was the one spot, the churchyard, where, oddly enough, the green earth + heaved into little billows as if to show the turbulence of that life which + those who lay below them had lately quitted. It was a relief to the + somewhat studied and formal monotony of the well-ordered woodland,—every + rood, of which had been paced by visitors, keepers, or poachers,—to + find those decrepit and bending tombstones, lurching at every angle, or + deeply sinking into the green sea of forgetfulness around them. All this, + and the trodden paths of the villagers towards that common place of + meeting, struck him as being more human than anything he had left behind + him at the Grange. + </p> + <p> + He entered the ivy-grown porch and stared for a moment at the half-legal + official parochial notices posted on the oaken door,—his first + obtrusive intimation of the combination of church and state,—and + hesitated. He was not prepared to find that this last resting-place of his + people had something to do with taxes and tithes, and that a certain + material respectability and security attended his votive sigh. God and the + reigning sovereign of the realm preserved a decorous alliance in the royal + arms that appeared above the official notices. Presently he pushed open + the door gently and entered the nave. For a moment it seemed to him as if + the arched gloom of the woods he had left behind was repeated in the dim + aisle and vaulted roof; there was an earthy odor, as if the church itself, + springing from the fertilizing dust below, had taken root in the soil; the + chequers of light from the faded stained-glass windows fell like the + flicker of leaves on the pavement. He paused before the cold altar, and + started, for beside him lay the recumbent figure of a warrior pillowed on + his helmet with the paraphernalia of his trade around him. A sudden + childish memory of the great Western plains, and the biers of the Indian + “braves” raised on upright poles against the staring sky and above the + sunbaked prairie, rushed upon him. There, too, had lain the weapons of the + departed chieftain; there, too, lay the Indian's “faithful hound,” here + simulated by the cross-legged crusader's canine effigy. And now, strangest + of all, he found that this unlooked-for recollection and remembrance + thrilled him more at that moment than the dead before him. Here they + rested,—the Atherlys of centuries; recumbent in armor or priestly + robes, upright in busts that were periwigged or hidden in long curls, + above the marble record of their deeds and virtues. Some of these records + were in Latin,—an unknown tongue to Peter,—some in a quaint + English almost as unintelligible; but none as foreign to him as the dead + themselves. Their banners waved above his head; their voices filled the + silent church, but fell upon his vacant eye and duller ear. He was none of + them. + </p> + <p> + Presently he was conscious of a footstep, so faint, so subtle, that it + might have come from a peregrinating ghost. He turned quickly and saw Lady + Elfrida, half bold, yet half frightened, halting beside a pillar of the + chancel. But there was nothing of the dead about her: she was radiating + and pulsating with the uncompromising and material freshness of English + girlhood. The wild rose in the hedgerow was not more tangible than her + cheek, nor the summer sky more clearly cool and blue than her eyes. The + vigor of health and unfettered freedom of limb was in her figure from her + buckled walking-shoe to her brown hair topped by a sailor hat. The + assurance and contentment of a well-ordered life, of secured position and + freedom from vain anxieties or expectations, were visible in every line of + her refined, delicate, and evenly quiescent features. And yet Lady + Elfrida, for the first time in her girlhood, felt a little nervous. + </p> + <p> + Yet she was frank, too, with the frankness of those who have no thought of + being misunderstood. She said she had come there out of curiosity to see + how he would “get on” with his ancestors. She had been watching him from + the chancel ever since he came,—and she was disappointed. As far as + emotion went she thought he had the advantage of the stoniest and longest + dead of them all. Perhaps he did not like them? But he must be careful + what he SAID, for some of her own people were there,—manifestly this + one. (She put the toe of her buckled shoe on the crusader Peter had just + looked at.) And then there was another in the corner. So she had a right + to come there as well as he,—and she could act as cicerone! This one + was a De Brecy, one of King John's knights, who married an Atherly. (She + swung herself into a half-sitting posture on the effigy of the dead + knight, composed her straight short skirt over her trim ankles, and looked + up in Peter's dark face.) That would make them some kind of relations,—wouldn't + it? He must come over to Bentley Towers and see the rest of the De Brecys + in the chapel there to-morrow. Perhaps there might be some he liked + better, and who looked more like him. For there was no one here or at the + Grange who resembled him in the least. + </p> + <p> + He assented to the truth of this with such grave, disarming courtesy, and + yet with such undisguised wonder,—as she appeared to talk with + greater freedom to a stranger than an American girl would,—that she + at once popped off the crusader, and accompanied him somewhat more + demurely around the church. Suddenly she stopped with a slight + exclamation. + </p> + <p> + They had halted before a tablet to the memory of a later Atherly, an + officer of his Majesty's 100th Foot, who was killed at Braddock's defeat. + The tablet was supported on the one side by a weeping Fame, and on the + other by a manacled North American Indian. She stammered and said: “You + see there are other Atherlys who went to America even before your father,” + and then stopped with a sense of having made a slip. + </p> + <p> + A wild and inexplicable resentment against this complacent historical + outrage suddenly took possession of Peter. He knew that his rage was + inconsistent with his usual calm, but he could not help it! His swarthy + cheek glowed, his dark eyes flashed, he almost trembled with excitement as + he hurriedly pointed out to Lady Elfrida that the Indians were VICTORIOUS + in that ill-fated expedition of the British forces, and that the captive + savage was an allegorical lie. So swift and convincing was his emotion + that the young girl, knowing nothing of the subject and caring less, + shared his indignation, followed him with anxious eyes, and their hands + for an instant touched in innocent and generous sympathy. And then—he + knew not how or why—a still more wild and terrible idea sprang up in + his fancy. He knew it was madness, yet for a moment he could only stand + and grapple with it silently and breathlessly. It was to seize this young + and innocent girl, this witness of his disappointment, this complacent and + beautiful type of all they valued here, and bear her away—a + prisoner, a hostage—he knew not why—on a galloping horse in + the dust of the prairie—far beyond the seas! It was only when he saw + her cheek flush and pale, when he saw her staring at him with helpless, + frightened, but fascinated eyes,—the eyes of the fluttering bird + under the spell of the rattlesnake,—that he drew his breath and + turned bewildered away. “And do you know, dear,” she said with naive + simplicity to her sister that evening, “that although he was an American, + and everybody says that they don't care at all for those poor Indians, he + was so magnanimous in his indignation that I fancied he looked like one of + Cooper's heroes himself rather than an Atherly. It was such a stupid thing + for me to show him that tomb of Major Atherly, you know, who fought the + Americans,—didn't he?—or was it later?—but I quite + forgot he was an American.” And with this belief in her mind, and in the + high expiation of a noble nature, she forbore her characteristic raillery, + and followed him meekly, manacled in spirit like the allegorical figure, + to the church porch, where they separated, to meet on the morrow. But that + morrow never came. + </p> + <p> + For late in the afternoon a cable message reached him from California + asking him to return to accept a nomination to Congress from his own + district. It determined his resolution, which for a moment at the church + porch had wavered under the bright eyes of Lady Elfrida. He telegraphed + his acceptance, hurriedly took leave of his honestly lamenting kinsman, + followed his dispatch to London, and in a few days was on the Atlantic. + </p> + <p> + How he was received in California, how he found his sister married to the + blond lawyer, how he recovered his popularity and won his election, are + details that do not belong to this chronicle of his quest. And that quest + seems to have terminated forever with his appearance at Washington to take + his seat as Congressman. + </p> + <p> + It was the night of a levee at the White House. The East Room was crowded + with smartly dressed men and women of the capital, quaintly simple + legislators from remote States in bygone fashions, officers in uniform, + and the diplomatic circle blazing with orders. The invoker of this + brilliant assembly stood in simple evening dress near the door,—unattended + and hedged by no formality. He shook the hand of the new Congressman + heartily, congratulated him by name, and turned smilingly to the next + comer. Presently there was a slight stir at one of the opposite doors, the + crowd fell back, and five figures stalked majestically into the centre of + the room. They were the leading chiefs of an Indian reservation coming to + pay their respects to their “Great Father,” the President. Their costumes + were a mingling of the picturesque with the grotesque; of tawdriness with + magnificence; of artificial tinsel and glitter with the regal spoils of + the chase; of childlike vanity with barbaric pride. Yet before these the + glittering orders and ribbons of the diplomats became dull and + meaningless, the uniforms of the officers mere servile livery. Their + painted, immobile faces and plumed heads towered with grave dignity above + the meaner crowd; their inscrutable eyes returned no response to the timid + glances directed towards them. They stood by themselves, alone and + impassive,—yet their presence filled the room with the sense of + kings. The unostentatious, simple republican court suddenly seemed to have + become royal. Even the interpreter who stood between their remote dignity + and the nearer civilized world acquired the status of a court chamberlain. + </p> + <p> + When their “Great Father,” apparently the less important personage, had + smilingly received them, a political colleague approached Peter and took + his arm. “Gray Eagle would like to speak with you. Come on! Here's your + chance! You may be put on the Committee on Indian Relations, and pick up a + few facts. Remember we want a firm policy; no more palaver about the + 'Great Father' and no more blankets and guns! You know what we used to say + out West, 'The only “Good Indian” is a dead one.' So wade in, and hear + what the old plug hat has to say.” + </p> + <p> + Peter permitted himself to be led to the group. Even at that moment he + remembered the figure of the Indian on the tomb at Ashley Grange, and felt + a slight flash of satisfaction over the superior height and bearing of + Gray Eagle. + </p> + <p> + “How!” said Gray Eagle. “How!” said the other four chiefs. “How!” repeated + Peter instinctively. At a gesture from Gray Eagle the interpreter said: + “Let your friend stand back; Gray Eagle has nothing to say to him. He + wishes to speak only with you.” + </p> + <p> + Peter's friend reluctantly withdrew, but threw a cautioning glance towards + him. “Ugh!” said Gray Eagle. “Ugh!” said the other chiefs. A few guttural + words followed to the interpreter, who turned, and facing Peter with the + monotonous impassiveness which he had caught from the chiefs, said: “He + says he knew your father. He was a great chief,—with many horses and + many squaws. He is dead.” + </p> + <p> + “My father was an Englishman,—Philip Atherly!” said Peter, with an + odd nervousness creeping over him. + </p> + <p> + The interpreter repeated the words to Grey Eagle, who, after a guttural + “Ugh!” answered in his own tongue. + </p> + <p> + “He says,” continued the interpreter with a slight shrug, yet relapsing + into his former impassiveness, “that your father was a great chief, and + your mother a pale face, or white woman. She was captured with an + Englishman, but she became the wife of the chief while in captivity. She + was only released before the birth of her children, but a year or two + afterwards she brought them as infants to see their father,—the + Great Chief,—and to get the mark of their tribe. He says you and + your sister are each marked on the left arm.” + </p> + <p> + Then Gray Eagle opened his mouth and uttered his first English sentence. + “His father, big Injin, take common white squaw! Papoose no good,—too + much white squaw mother, not enough big Injin father! Look! He big man, + but no can bear pain! Ugh!” + </p> + <p> + The interpreter turned in time to catch Peter. He had fainted. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <p> + A hot afternoon on the plains. A dusty cavalcade of United States cavalry + and commissary wagons, which from a distance preserved a certain military + precision of movement, but on nearer view resolved itself into straggling + troopers in twos and fours interspersed between the wagons, two + noncommissioned officers and a guide riding ahead, who had already fallen + into the cavalry slouch, but off to the right, smartly erect and + cadet-like, the young lieutenant in command. A wide road that had the + appearance of being at once well traveled and yet deserted, and that, + although well defined under foot, still seemed to disappear and lose + itself a hundred feet ahead in the monotonous level. A horizon that in + that clear, dry, hazeless atmosphere never mocked you, yet never changed, + but kept its eternal rim of mountains at the same height and distance from + hour to hour and day to day. Dust—a parching alkaline powder that + cracked the skin—everywhere, clinging to the hubs and spokes of the + wheels, without being disturbed by movement, incrusting the cavalryman + from his high boots to the crossed sabres of his cap; going off in small + puffs like explosions under the plunging hoofs of the horses, but too + heavy to rise and follow them. A reeking smell of horse sweat and boot + leather that lingered in the road long after the train had passed. An + external silence broken only by the cough of a jaded horse in the + suffocating dust, or the cracking of harness leather. Within one of the + wagons that seemed a miracle of military neatness and methodical stowage, + a lazy conversation carried on by a grizzled driver and sunbrowned + farrier. + </p> + <p> + “'Who be you?' sezee. 'I'm Philip Atherly, a member of Congress,' sez the + long, dark-complected man, sezee, 'and I'm on a commission for looking + into this yer Injin grievance,' sezee. 'You may be God Almighty,' sez + Nebraska Bill, sezee, 'but you look a d—d sight more like a + hoss-stealin' Apache, and we don't want any of your psalm-singing, + big-talkin' peacemakers interferin' with our ways of treatin' pizen,—you + hear me? I'm shoutin',' sezee. With that the dark-complected man's eyes + began to glisten, and he sorter squirmed all over to get at Bill, and Bill + outs with his battery.—Whoa, will ye; what's up with YOU now?” The + latter remark was directed to the young spirited near horse he was + driving, who was beginning to be strangely excited. + </p> + <p> + “What happened then?” said the farrier lazily. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” continued the driver, having momentarily quieted his horse, “I + reckoned it was about time for me to wheel into line, for fellers of the + Bill stripe, out on the plains, would ez leave plug a man in citizen's + clothes, even if he was the President himself, as they would drop on an + Injin or a nigger. 'Look here, Bill,' sez I, 'I'm escortin' this stranger + under gov'ment orders, and I'm responsible for him. I ain't allowed to + waste gov'ment powder and shot on YOUR kind onless I've orders, but if + you'll wait till I strip off this shell* I'll lam the stuffin' outer ye, + afore the stranger.' With that Bill just danced with rage, but dassent + fire, for HE knew, and I knew, that if he'd plugged me he'd been a dead + frontiersman afore the next mornin'.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Cavalry jacket. +</pre> + <p> + “But you'd have had to give him up to the authorities, and a jury of his + own kind would have set him free.” + </p> + <p> + “Not much! If you hadn't just joined, you'd know that ain't the way o' + 30th Cavalry,” returned the driver. “The kernel would have issued his + orders to bring in Bill dead or alive, and the 30th would have managed to + bring him in DEAD! Then your jury might have sat on him! Tell you what, + chaps of the Bill stripe don't care overmuch to tackle the yaller braid.” * + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Characteristic trimming of cavalry jacket. +</pre> + <p> + “But what's this yer Congressman interferin' for, anyway?” + </p> + <p> + “He's a rich Californian. Thinks he's got a 'call,' I reckon, to look + arter Injins, just as them Abolitionists looked arter slaves. And get + hated just as they was by the folks here,—and as WE are, too, for + the matter of that.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I dunno,” rejoined the farrier, “it don't seem nateral for white + men to quarrel with each other about the way to treat an Injin, and that + Injin lyin' in ambush to shoot 'em both. And ef gov'ment would only make + up its mind how to treat 'em, instead of one day pretendin' to be their + 'Great Father' and treatin' them like babies, and the next makin' treaties + with 'em like as they wos forriners, and the next sendin' out a handful of + us to lick ten thousand of them—Wot's the use of ONE regiment—even + two—agin a nation—on their own ground?” + </p> + <p> + “A nation,—and on their own ground,—that's just whar you've + hit it, Softy. That's the argument of that Congressman Atherly, as I've + heard him talk with the kernel.” + </p> + <p> + “And what did the kernel say?” + </p> + <p> + “The kernel reckoned it was his business to obey orders,—and so + should you. So shut your head! If ye wanted to talk about gov'ment ye + might say suthin' about its usin' us to convoy picnics and excursion + parties around, who come out here to have a day's shootin', under some + big-wig of a political boss or a railroad president, with a letter to the + general. And WE'RE told off to look arter their precious skins, and keep + the Injins off 'em,—and they shootin' or skeerin' off the Injins' + nat'ral game, and our provender! Darn my skin ef there'll be much to scout + for ef this goes on. And b'gosh!—of they aren't now ringin' in a lot + of titled forriners to hunt 'big game,' as they call it,—Lord + This-and-That and Count So-and-So,—all of 'em with letters to the + general from the Washington cabinet to show 'hospitality,' or from + millionaires who've bin hobnobbin' with 'em in the old country. And darn + my skin ef some of 'em ain't bringin' their wives and sisters along too. + There was a lord and lady passed through here under escort last week, and + we're goin' to pick up some more of 'em at Fort Biggs tomorrow,—and + I reckon some of us will be told off to act as ladies' maids or milliners. + Nothin' short of a good Injin scare, I reckon, would send them and us + about our reg'lar business. Whoa, then, will ye? At it again, are ye? + What's gone of the d—d critter?” + </p> + <p> + Here the fractious near horse was again beginning to show signs of + disturbance and active terror. His quivering nostrils were turned towards + the wind, and he almost leaped the centre pole in his frantic effort to + avoid it. The eyes of the two men were turned instinctively in that + direction. Nothing was to be seen,—the illimitable plain and the + sinking sun were all that met the eye. But the horse continued to + struggle, and the wagon stopped. Then it was discovered that the horse of + an adjacent trooper was also laboring under the same mysterious + excitement, and at the same moment wagon No. 3 halted. The infection of + some inexplicable terror was spreading among them. Then two + non-commissioned officers came riding down the line at a sharp canter, and + were joined quickly by the young lieutenant, who gave an order. The + trumpeter instinctively raised his instrument to his lips, but was stopped + by another order. + </p> + <p> + And then, as seen by a distant observer, a singular spectacle was + unfolded. The straggling train suddenly seemed to resolve itself into a + large widening circle of horsemen, revolving round and partly hiding the + few heavy wagons that were being rapidly freed from their struggling + teams. These, too, joined the circle, and were driven before the whirling + troopers. Gradually the circle seemed to grow smaller under the + “winding-up” of those evolutions, until the horseless wagons reappeared + again, motionless, fronting the four points of the compass, thus making + the radii of a smaller inner circle, into which the teams of the wagons as + well as the troopers' horses were closely “wound up” and densely packed + together in an immovable mass. As the circle became smaller the troopers + leaped from their horses,—which, however, continued to blindly + follow each other in the narrower circle,—and ran to the wagons, + carbines in hand. In five minutes from the time of giving the order the + straggling train was a fortified camp, the horses corralled in the centre, + the dismounted troopers securely posted with their repeating carbines in + the angles of the rude bastions formed by the deserted wagons, and ready + for an attack. The stampede, if such it was, was stopped. + </p> + <p> + And yet no cause for it was to be seen! Nothing in earth or sky suggested + a reason for this extraordinary panic, or the marvelous evolution that + suppressed it. The guide, with three men in open order, rode out and + radiated across the empty plain, returning as empty of result. In an hour + the horses were sufficiently calmed and fed, the camp slowly unwound + itself, the teams were set to and were led out of the circle, and as the + rays of the setting sun began to expand fanlike across the plain the + cavalcade moved on. But between them and the sinking sun, and visible + through its last rays, was a faint line of haze parallel with their track. + Yet even this, too, quickly faded away. + </p> + <p> + Had the guide, however, penetrated half a mile further to the west he + would have come upon the cause of the panic, and a spectacle more + marvelous than that he had just witnessed. For the illimitable plain with + its monotonous prospect was far from being level; a hundred yards further + on he would have slowly and imperceptibly descended into a depression + nearly a mile in width. Here he not only would have completely lost sight + of his own cavalcade, but have come upon another thrice its length. For + here was a trailing line of jog-trotting dusky shapes, some crouching on + dwarf ponies half their size, some trailing lances, lodge-poles, rifles, + women and children after them, all moving with a monotonous rhythmic + motion as marked as the military precision of the other cavalcade, and + always on a parallel line with it. They had done so all day, keeping touch + and distance by stealthy videttes that crept and crawled along the + imperceptible slope towards the unconscious white men. It was, no doubt, + the near proximity of one of those watchers that had touched the keen + scent of the troopers' horses. + </p> + <p> + The moon came up; the two cavalcades, scarcely a mile apart, moved on in + unison together. Then suddenly the dusky caravan seemed to arise, stretch + itself out, and swept away like a morning mist towards the west. The + bugles of Fort Biggs had just rung out. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Peter Atherly was up early the next morning pacing the veranda of the + commandant's house at Fort Biggs. It had been his intention to visit the + new Indian Reservation that day, but he had just received a letter + announcing an unexpected visit from his sister, who wished to join him. He + had never told her the secret of their Indian paternity, as it had been + revealed to him from the scornful lips of Gray Eagle a year ago; he knew + her strangely excitable nature; besides, she was a wife now, and the + secret would have to be shared with her husband. When he himself had + recovered from the shock of the revelation, two things had impressed + themselves upon his reserved and gloomy nature: a horror of his previous + claim upon the Atherlys, and an infinite pity and sense of duty towards + his own race. He had devoted himself and his increasing wealth to this one + object; it seemed to him at times almost providential that his position as + a legislator, which he had accepted as a whim or fancy, should have given + him this singular opportunity. + </p> + <p> + Yet it was not an easy task or an enviable position. He was obliged to + divorce himself from his political party as well as keep clear of the wild + schemes of impractical enthusiasts, too practical “contractors,” and the + still more helpless bigotry of Christian civilizers, who would have + regenerated the Indian with a text which he did not understand and they + were unable to illustrate by example. He had expected the opposition of + lawless frontiersmen and ignorant settlers—as roughly indicated in + the conversation already recorded; indeed he had felt it difficult to + argue his humane theories under the smoking roof of a raided settler's + cabin, whose owner, however, had forgotten his own repeated provocations, + or the trespass of which he was proud. But Atherly's unaffected and + unobtrusive zeal, his fixity of purpose, his undoubted courage, his + self-abnegation, and above all the gentle melancholy and + half-philosophical wisdom of this new missionary, won him the respect and + assistance of even the most callous or the most skeptical of officials. + The Secretary of the Interior had given him carte blanche; the President + trusted him, and it was said had granted him extraordinary powers. Oddly + enough it was only his own Californian constituency, who had once laughed + at what they deemed his early aristocratic pretensions, who now found + fault with his democratic philanthropy. That a man who had been so well + received in England—the news of his visit to Ashley Grange had been + duly recorded—should sink so low as “to take up with the Injins” of + his own country galled their republican pride. A few of his personal + friends regretted that he had not brought back from England more + conservative and fashionable graces, and had not improved his + opportunities. Unfortunately there was no essentially English policy of + trusting aborigines that they knew of. + </p> + <p> + In his gloomy self-scrutiny he had often wondered if he ought not to + openly proclaim his kinship with the despised race, but he was always + deterred by the thought of his sister and her husband, as well as by the + persistent doubt whether his advocacy of Indian rights with his fellow + countrymen would be as well served by such a course. And here again he was + perplexed by a singular incident of his early missionary efforts which he + had at first treated with cold surprise, but to which later reflection had + given a new significance. After Gray Eagle's revelation he had made a + pilgrimage to the Indian country to verify the statements regarding his + dead father,—the Indian chief Silver Cloud. Despite the confusion of + tribal dialects he was amazed to find that the Indian tongue came back to + him almost as a forgotten boyish memory, so that he was soon able to do + without an interpreter; but not until that functionary, who knew his + secret, appeared one day as a more significant ambassador. “Gray Eagle + says if you want truly to be a brother to his people you must take a wife + among them. He loves you—take one of his!” Peter, through whose + veins—albeit of mixed blood—ran that Puritan ice so often + found throughout the Great West, was frigidly amazed. In vain did the + interpreter assure him that the wife in question, Little Daybreak, was a + wife only in name, a prudent reserve kept by Gray Eagle in the orphan + daughter of a brother brave. But Peter was adamant. Whatever answer the + interpreter returned to Gray Eagle he never knew. But to his alarm he + presently found that the Indian maiden Little Daybreak had been aware of + Gray Eagle's offer, and had with pathetic simplicity already considered + herself Peter's spouse. During his stay at the encampment he found her + sitting before his lodge every morning. A girl of sixteen in years, a + child of six in intellect, she flashed her little white teeth upon him + when he lifted his tent flap, content to receive his grave, melancholy + bow, or patiently trotted at his side carrying things he did not want, + which she had taken from the lodge. When he sat down to work, she remained + seated at a distance, looking at him with glistening beady eyes like + blackberries set in milk, and softly scratching the little bare brown + ankle of one foot with the turned-in toes of the other, after an infantine + fashion. Yet after he had left—a still single man, solely though his + interpreter's diplomacy, as he always believed—he was very worried + as to the wisdom of his course. Why should he not in this way ally himself + to his unfortunate race irrevocably? Perhaps there was an answer somewhere + in his consciousness which he dared not voice to himself. Since his visit + to the English Atherlys, he had put resolutely aside everything that + related to that episode, which he now considered was an unhappy imposture. + But there were times when a vision of Lady Elfrida, gazing at him with + wondering, fascinated eyes, passed across his fancy; even the contact with + his own race and his thoughts of their wrongs recalled to him the tomb of + the soldier Atherly and the carven captive savage supporter. He could not + pass the upright supported bier of an Indian brave—slowly + desiccating in the desert air—without seeing in the dead warrior's + paraphernalia of arms and trophies some resemblance to the cross-legged + crusader on whose marble effigy SHE had girlishly perched herself as she + told the story of her ancestors. Yet only the peaceful gloom and repose of + the old church touched him now; even she, too, with all her glory of + English girlhood, seemed to belong to that remote past. She was part of + the restful quiet of the church; the yews in the quaint old churchyard + might have waved over her as well. + </p> + <p> + Still, he was eager to see his sister, and if he should conclude to impart + to her his secret, she might advise him. At all events, he decided to + delay his departure until her arrival, a decision with which the + commanding officer concurred, as a foraging party had that morning + discovered traces of Indians in the vicinity of the fort, and the lately + arrived commissary train had reported the unaccountable but promptly + prevented stampede. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, his sister Jenny appeared accompanied by her husband, who + seized an early opportunity to take Peter aside and confide to him his + anxiety about her health, and the strange fits of excitement under which + she occasionally labored. Remembering the episode of the Californian woods + three years ago, Peter stared at this good-natured, good-looking man, + whose life he had always believed she once imperiled, and wondered more + than ever at their strange union. + </p> + <p> + “Do you ever quarrel?” asked Peter bluntly. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the good-hearted fellow warmly, “never! We have never had a + harsh word; she's the dearest girl,—the best wife in the world to + me, but”—he hesitated, “you know there are times when I think she + confounds me with somebody else, and is strange! Sometimes when we are in + company she stands alone and stares at everybody, without saying a word, + as if she didn't understand them. Or else she gets painfully excited and + dances all night until she is exhausted. I thought, perhaps,” he added + timidly, “that you might know, and would tell me if she had any singular + experience as a child,—any illness, or,” he went on still more + gently, “if perhaps her mother or father”— + </p> + <p> + “No,” interrupted Peter almost brusquely, with the sudden conviction that + this was no time for revelation of his secret, “no, nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “The doctor says,” continued Lascelles with that hesitating, almost mystic + delicacy with which most gentlemen approach a subject upon which their + wives talk openly, “that it may be owing to Jenny's peculiar state of + health just now, you know, and that if—all went well, you know, and + there should be—don't you see—a little child”— + </p> + <p> + Peter interrupted him with a start. A child! Jenny's child! Silver Cloud's + grandchild! This was a complication he had not thought of. No! It was too + late to tell his secret now. He only nodded his head abstractedly and said + coldly, “I dare say he is right.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, Jenny was looking remarkably well. Perhaps it was the + excitement of travel and new surroundings; but her tall, lithe figure, + nearly half a head taller than her husband's, was a striking one among the + officers' wives in the commandant's sitting-room. Her olive cheek glowed + with a faint illuminating color; there was something even patrician in her + slightly curved nose and high cheek bones, and her smile, rare even in her + most excited moments, was, like her brother's, singularly fascinating. The + officers evidently thought so too, and when the young lieutenant of the + commissary escort, fresh from West Point and Flirtation Walk, gallantly + attached himself to her, the ladies were slightly scandalized at the naive + air of camaraderie with which Mrs. Lascelles received his attentions. Even + Peter was a little disturbed. Only Lascelles, delighted with his wife's + animation, and pleased at her success, gazed at her with unqualified + admiration. Indeed, he was so satisfied with her improvement, and so + sanguine of her ultimate recovery, that he felt justified in leaving her + with her brother and returning to Omaha by the regular mail wagon next + day. There was no danger to be apprehended in her accompanying Peter; they + would have a full escort; the reservation lay in a direction unfrequented + by marauding tribes; the road was the principal one used by the government + to connect the fort with the settlements, and well traveled; the officers' + wives had often journeyed thither. + </p> + <p> + The childish curiosity and high spirits which Jenny showed on the journey + to the reservation was increased when she reached it and drew up before + the house of the Indian agent. Peter was relieved; he had been anxious and + nervous as to any instinctive effect which might be produced on her + excitable nature by a first view of her own kinsfolk, although she was + still ignorant of her relationship. Her interest and curiosity, however, + had nothing abnormal in it. But he was not prepared for the effect + produced upon THEM at her first appearance. A few of the braves gathered + eagerly around her, and one even addressed her in his own guttural tongue, + at which she betrayed a slight feeling of alarm; and Peter saw with + satisfaction that she drew close to him. Knowing that his old interpreter + and Gray Eagle were of a different and hostile tribe a hundred miles away, + and that his secret was safe with them, he simply introduced her as his + sister. But he presently found that the braves had added to their + curiosity a certain suspiciousness and sullen demeanor, and he was glad to + resign his sister into the hands of the agent's wife, while he prosecuted + his business of examination and inspection. Later, on his return to the + cabin, he was met by the agent, who seemed to be with difficulty + suppressing a laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Your sister is exciting quite a sensation here,” he said. “Do you know + that some of these idiotic braves and the Medicine Man insist upon it that + she's A SQUAW, and that you're keeping her in captivity against your + plighted faith to them! You'll excuse me,” he went on with an attempt to + recover his gravity, “troubling you with their d—d fool talk, and + you won't say anything to HER about it, but I thought you ought to know it + on account of your position among 'em. You don't want to lose their + confidence, and you know how easily their skeery faculties are stampeded + with an idea!” + </p> + <p> + “Where is she now?” demanded Peter, with a darkening face. + </p> + <p> + “Somewhere with the squaws, I reckon. I thought she might be a little + skeered of the braves, and I've kept them away. SHE'S all right, you know; + only if you intend to stay here long I'd”— + </p> + <p> + But Peter was already striding away in the direction of a thicket of + cottonwood where he heard the ripple of women's and children's voices. + When he had penetrated it, he found his sister sitting on a stump, + surrounded by a laughing, gesticulating crowd of young girls and old + women, with a tightly swaddled papoose in her lap. Some of them had + already half mischievously, half curiously possessed themselves of her + dust cloak, hat, parasol, and gloves, and were parading before her in + their grotesque finery, apparently as much to her childish excited + amusement as their own. She was even answering their gesticulations with + equivalent gestures in her attempt to understand them, and trying amidst + shouts of laughter to respond to the monotonous chant of the old women who + were zigzagging a dance before her. With the gayly striped blankets lying + on the ground, the strings of beads, wampum, and highly colored feathers + hanging from the trees, and the flickering lights and shadows, it was an + innocent and even idyllic picture, but the more experienced Peter saw in + the performances only the uncertain temper and want of consecutive idea of + playing animals, and the stolid unwinking papoose in his sister's lap gave + his sentiment a momentary shock. + </p> + <p> + Seeing him approach she ran to meet him, the squaws and children slinking + away from his grave face. “I have had such a funny time, Peter! Only to + think of it, I believe they've never seen men or women with decent clothes + before,—of course the settlers' wives don't dress much,—and I + believe they'd have had everything I possess if you hadn't come. But + they're TOO funny for anything. It was killing to see them put on my hat + wrong side before, and try to make one out of my parasol. But I like them + a great deal better than those gloomy chiefs, and I think I understand + them almost. And do you know, Peter, somehow I seem to have known them all + before. And those dear little papooses, aren't they ridiculously lovely. I + only wish”—she stopped, for Peter had somewhat hurriedly taken the + Indian boy from her arms and restored it to the frightened mother. A + singular change came over her face, and she glanced at him quickly. But + she resumed, with a heightened color, “I like it ever so much better here + than down at the fort. And ever so much better than New York. I don't + wonder that you like them so much, Peter, and are so devoted to them. + Don't be angry, dear, because I let them have my things; I'm sure I never + cared particularly for them, and I think it would be such fun to dress as + they do.” Peter remembered keenly his sudden shock at her precipitate + change to bright colors after leaving her novitiate at the Sacred Heart. + “I do hope,” she went on eagerly, “that we are going to stay a long time + here.” + </p> + <p> + “We are leaving to-morrow,” he said curtly. “I find I have urgent business + at the fort.” + </p> + <p> + And they did leave. None too soon, thought Peter and the Indian agent, as + they glanced at the faces of the dusky chiefs who had gathered around the + cabin. Luckily the presence of their cavalry escort rendered any outbreak + impossible, and the stoical taciturnity of the race kept Peter from any + verbal insult. But Mrs. Lascelles noticed their lowering dissatisfaction, + and her eyes flashed. “I wonder you don't punish them,” she said simply. + </p> + <p> + For a few days after their return she did not allude to her visit, and + Peter was beginning to think that her late impressions were as volatile as + they were childlike. He devoted himself to his government report, and + while he kept up his communications with the reservation and the agent, + for the present domiciled himself at the fort. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Bryce, the commandant though doubtful of civilians, was not slow + to appreciate the difference of playing host to a man of Atherly's wealth + and position and even found in Peter's reserve and melancholy an agreeable + relief to the somewhat boisterous and material recreations of garrison + life, and a gentle check upon the younger officers. For, while Peter did + not gamble or drink, there was yet an unobtrusive and gentle dignity in + his abstention that relieved him from the attitude of a prig or an + “example.” Mrs. Lascelles was popular with the officers, and accepted more + tolerantly by the wives, since they recognized her harmlessness. Once or + twice she was found apparently interested in the gesticulations of a few + “friendlies” who had penetrated the parade ground of the fort to barter + beads and wampum. The colonel was obliged at last to caution her against + this, as it was found that in her inexperience she had given them certain + articles that were contraband of the rules, and finally to stop them from + an intrusion which was becoming more frequent and annoying. Left thus to + herself, she relieved her isolation by walks beyond the precincts of the + garrison, where she frequently met those “friendly” wanderers, chiefly + squaws and children. Here she was again cautioned by the commander,— + </p> + <p> + “Don't put too much faith in those creatures, Mrs. Lascelles.” + </p> + <p> + Jenny elevated her black brows and threw up her arched nose like a + charger. “I'm not afraid of old women and children,” she said loftily. + </p> + <p> + “But I am,” said the colonel gravely. “It's a horrible thing to think of, + but these feeble old women and innocent children are always selected to + torture the prisoners taken by the braves, and, by Jove, they seem to like + it.” + </p> + <p> + Thus restricted, Mrs. Lascelles fell back upon the attentions of + Lieutenant Forsyth, whose gallantry was always as fresh as his smart + cadet-like tunics, and they took some rides together. Whether it was + military caution or the feminine discretion of the colonel's wife,—to + the quiet amusement of the other officers,—a trooper was added to + the riding party by the order of the colonel, and thereafter it consisted + of three. One night, however, the riders did not appear at dinner, and + there was considerable uneasiness mingled with some gossip throughout the + garrison. It was already midnight before they arrived, and then with + horses blown and trembling with exhaustion, and the whole party bearing + every sign of fatigue and disturbance. The colonel said a few sharp, + decisive words to the subaltern, who, pale and reticent, plucked at his + little moustache, but took the whole blame upon himself. HE and Mrs. + Lascelles had, he said, outridden the trooper and got lost; it was late + when Cassidy (the trooper) found them, but it was no fault of HIS, and + they had to ride at the top of their speed to cover the ground between + them and the fort. It was noticed that Mrs. Lascelles scarcely spoke to + Forsyth, and turned abruptly away from the colonel's interrogations and + went to her room. + </p> + <p> + Peter, absorbed in his report, scarcely noticed the incident, nor the + singular restraint that seemed to fall upon the little military household + for a day or two afterwards. He had accepted the lieutenant's story + without comment or question; he knew his own sister too well to believe + that she had lent herself to a flirtation with Forsyth; indeed, he had + rather pitied the young officer when he remembered Lascelles' experience + in his early courtship. But he was somewhat astonished one afternoon to + find the trooper Cassidy alone in his office. + </p> + <p> + “Oi thought Oi'd make bould to have a word wid ye, sorr,” he said, + recovering from a stiff salute with his fingers nipping the cord of his + trousers. “It's not for meeself, sorr, although the ould man was harrd on + me, nor for the leddy, your sister, but for the sake of the leftenant, + sorr, who the ould man was harrdest on of all. Oi was of the parrty that + rode with your sister.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, I remember, I heard the story,” said Peter. “She and Mr. + Forsyth got lost.” + </p> + <p> + “Axin' your pardin, sorr, she didn't. Mr. Forsyth loid. Loid like an + officer and a jintleman—as he is, God bless him—to save a + leddy, more betoken your sister, sorr. They never got lost, sorr. We was + all three together from the toime we shtarted till we got back, and it's + the love av God that we ever got back at all. And it's breaking me hearrt, + sorr, to see HIM goin' round with the black looks of everybody upon him, + and he a-twirlin' his moustache and purtending not to mind.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean?” said Peter, uneasily. + </p> + <p> + “Oi mane to be tellin' you what happened, sorr,” said Cassidy stoutly. + “When we shtarted out Oi fell three files to the rear, as became me, so as + not to be in the way o' their colloguing, but sorra a bit o' stragglin' + was there, and Oi kept them afore me all the toime. When we got to Post + Oak Bottom the leddy p'ints her whip off to the roight, and sez she: 'It's + a fine bit of turf there, Misther Forsyth,' invitin' like, and with that + she gallops away to the right. The leftenant follys her, and Oi closed up + the rear. So we rides away innoshent like amongst the trees, me thinkin' + only it wor a mighty queer place for manoovrin', until we seed, just + beyond us in the hollow, the smoke of an Injin camp and a lot of women and + childer. And Mrs. Lascelles gets off and goes to discoursin' and + blarneying wid 'em: and Oi sees Mr. Forsyth glancin' round and lookin' + oneasy. Then he goes up and sez something to your sister, and she won't + give him a hearin'. And then he tells her she must mount and be off. And + she turns upon him, bedad, like a tayger, and bids him be off himself. + Then he comes to me and sez he, 'Oi don't like the look o' this, Cassidy,' + sez he; 'the woods behind is full of braves,' sez he. 'Thrue for you, + leftenant,' sez Oi, 'it's into a trap that the leddy hez led us, God save + her!' 'Whisht,' he sez, 'take my horse, it's the strongest. Go beside her, + and when Oi say the word lift her up into the saddle before ye, and gallop + like blazes. Oi'll bring up the rear and the other horse.' Wid that we + changed horses and cantered up to where she was standing, and he gives the + word when she isn't lookin', and Oi grabs her up—she sthrugglin' + like mad but not utterin' a cry—and Oi lights out for the trail + agin. And sure enough the braves made as if they would folly, but the + leftenant throws the reins of her horse over the horn of his saddle, and + whips out his revolver and houlds 'em back till I've got well away to the + trail again. And then they let fly their arrows, and begorra the next + thing a BULLET whizzes by him. And then he knows they have arrms wid 'em + and are 'hostiles,' and he rowls the nearest one over, wheelin' and + fightin' and coverin' our retreat till we gets to the road agin. And they + daren't folly us out of cover. Then the lady gets more sinsible, and the + leftenant pershuades her to mount her horse agin. But before we comes to + the fort, he sez to me: 'Cassidy,' sez he, 'not a word o' this on account + of the leddy.' And I was mum, sorr, while he was shootin' off his mouth + about him bein' lost and all that, and him bein' bully-ragged by the + kernel, and me knowin' that but for him your sister wouldn't be between + these walls here, and Oi wouldn't be talkin' to ye. And shure, sorr, ye + might be tellin's the kernel as how the leddy was took by the hysterics, + and was that loony that she didn't know whatever she was sayin', and so + get the leftenant in favor again.” + </p> + <p> + “I will speak with the colonel to-night,” said Peter gloomily. + </p> + <p> + “Lord save yer honor,” returned the trooper gratefully, “and if ye could + be sayin' that the LEDDY tould you,—it would only be the merest + taste of a loi ye'd be tellin',—and you'd save me from breakin' me + word to the leftenant.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall of course speak to my sister first,” returned Peter, with a + guilty consciousness that he had accepted the trooper's story mainly from + his previous knowledge of his sister's character. Nevertheless, in spite + of this foregone conclusion, he DID speak to her. To his surprise she did + not deny it. Lieutenant Forsyth,—a vain and conceited fool,—whose + silly attentions she had accepted solely that she might get recreation + beyond the fort,—had presumed to tell her what SHE must do! As if + SHE was one of those stupid officers' wives or sisters! And it never would + have happened if he—Peter—had let her remain at the + reservation with the Indian agent's wife, or if “Charley” (the gentle + Lascelles) were here! HE would have let her go, or taken her there. + Besides all the while she was among friends; HIS, Peter's own friends,—the + people whose cause he was championing! In vain did Peter try to point out + to her that these “people” were still children in mind and impulse, and + capable of vacillation or even treachery. He remembered he was talking to + a child in mind and impulse, who had shown the same qualities, and in + trying to convince her of her danger he felt he was only voicing the + common arguments of his opponents. + </p> + <p> + He spoke also to the colonel, excusing her through her ignorance, her + trust in his influence with the savages, and the general derangement of + her health. The colonel, relieved of his suspicions of a promising young + officer, was gentle and sympathetic, but firm as to Peter's future course. + In a moment of caprice and willfulness she might imperil the garrison as + she had her escort, and, more than that, she was imperiling Peter's + influence with the Indians. Absurd stories had come to his ears regarding + the attitude of the reservation towards him. He thought she ought to + return home as quickly as possible. Fortunately an opportunity offered. + The general commanding had advised him of the visit to the fort of a party + of English tourists who had been shooting in the vicinity, and who were + making the fort the farthest point of their western excursion. There were + three or four ladies in the party, and as they would be returning to the + line of railroad under escort, she could easily accompany them. This, + added Colonel Carter, was also Mrs. Carter's opinion,—she was a + woman of experience, and had a married daughter of her own. In the mean + time Peter had better not broach the subject to his sister, but trust to + the arrival of the strangers, who would remain for a week, and who would + undoubtedly divert Mrs. Lascelles' impressible mind, and eventually make + the proposition more natural and attractive. + </p> + <p> + In the interval Peter revisited the reservation, and endeavored to pacify + the irritation that had sprung from his previous inspection. The outrage + at Post Oak Bottom he was assured had no relation to the incident at the + reservation, but was committed by some stragglers from other tribes who + had not yet accepted the government bounty, yet had not been thus far + classified as “hostile.” There had been no “Ghost Dancing” nor other + indication of disturbance. The colonel had not deemed it necessary to send + out an exemplary force, or make a counter demonstration. The incident was + allowed to drop. At the reservation Peter had ignored the previous conduct + of the chiefs towards him; had with quiet courage exposed himself fully—unarmed + and unattended—amongst them, and had as fully let it be known that + this previous incident was the reason that his sister had not accompanied + him on his second visit. He left them at the close of the second day more + satisfied in his mind, and perhaps in a more enthusiastic attitude towards + his report. + </p> + <p> + As he came within sound of the sunset bugles, he struck a narrower trail + which led to the fort, through an oasis of oaks and cottonwoods and a + small stream or “branch,” which afterwards lost itself in the dusty plain. + He had already passed a few settler's cabins, a sutler's shop, and other + buildings that had sprung up around this armed nucleus of civilization—which, + in due season, was to become a frontier town. But as yet the brief wood + was wild and secluded; frequented only by the women and children of the + fort, within whose protecting bounds it stood, and to whose formal + “parade,” and trim white and green cottage “quarters,” it afforded an + agreeable relief. As he rode abstractedly forward under the low cottonwood + vault he felt a strange influence stealing over him, an influence that was + not only a present experience but at the same time a far-off memory. The + concave vault above deepened; the sunset light from the level horizon + beyond streamed through the leaves as through the chequers of stained + glass windows; through the two shafts before him stretched the pillared + aisles of Ashley Church! He was riding as in a dream, and when a figure + suddenly slipped across his pathway from a column-like tree trunk, he woke + with the disturbance and sense of unreality of a dream. For he saw Lady + Elfrida standing before him! + </p> + <p> + It was not a mere memory conjured up by association, for although the + figure, face, and attitude were the same, there were certain changes of + costume which the eye of recollection noticed. In place of the smart + narrow-brimmed sailor hat he remembered, she was wearing a slouched + cavalry hat with a gold cord around its crown, that, with all its + becomingness and picturesque audacity, seemed to become characteristic and + respectable, as a crest to her refined head, and as historic as a Lely + canvas. She wore a flannel shirt, belted in at her slight waist with a + band of yellow leather, defining her small hips, and short straight + pleatless skirts that fell to her trim ankles and buckled leather shoes. + She was fresh and cool, wholesome and clean, free and unfettered; indeed, + her beauty seemed only an afterthought or accident. So much so that when + Peter saw her afterwards, amidst the billowy, gauzy, and challenging + graces of the officer's wives, who were dressed in their best and + prettiest frocks to welcome her, the eye turned naturally from that + suggestion of enhancement to the girl who seemed to defy it. She was + clearly not an idealized memory, a spirit or a ghost, but naturalistic and + rosy; he thought a trifle rosier, as she laughingly addressed him:— + </p> + <p> + “I suppose it isn't quite fair to surprise you like that,” she said, with + an honest girlish hand-shake, “for you see I know all about you now, and + what you are doing here, and even when you were expected; and I dare say + you thought we were still in England, if you remembered us at all. And we + haven't met since that day at Ashley Church when I put my foot in it,—or + rather on your pet protege's, the Indian's: you remember Major Atherly's + tomb? And to think that all the while we didn't know that you were a + public man and a great political reformer, and had a fad like this. Why, + we'd have got up meetings for you, and my father would have presided,—he's + always fond of doing these things,—and we'd have passed resolutions, + and given you subscriptions, and Bibles, and flannel shirts, and revolvers—but + I believe you draw the line at that. My brother was saying only the other + day that you weren't half praised enough for going in for this sort of + thing when you were so rich, and needn't care. And so that's why you + rushed away from Ashley Grange,—just to come here and work out your + mission?” + </p> + <p> + His whole life, his first wild Californian dream, his English visit, the + revelation of Gray Eagle, the final collapse of his old beliefs, were + whirling through his brain to the music of this clear young voice. And by + some cruel irony of circumstance it seemed now to even mock his later + dreams of expiation as it also called back his unhappy experience of the + last week. + </p> + <p> + “Have you—have you”—he stammered with a faint smile, “seen my + sister?” + </p> + <p> + “Not yet,” said Lady Elfrida. “I believe she is not well and is confined + to her room; you will introduce me, won't you?” she added eagerly. “Of + course, when we heard that there was an Atherly here we inquired about + you; and I told them you were a relation of ours,” she went on with a + half-mischievous shyness,—“you remember the de Bracys,—and + they seemed surprised and rather curious. I suppose one does not talk so + much about these things over here, and I dare say you have so much to + occupy your mind you don't talk of us in England.” With the quickness of a + refined perception she saw a slight shade in his face, and changed the + subject. “And we have had such a jolly time; we have met so many pleasant + people; and they've all been so awfully good to us, from the officials and + officers down to the plainest working-man. And all so naturally too—so + different from us. I sometimes think we have to work ourselves up to be + civil to strangers.” “No,” she went on gayly, in answer to his protesting + gesture, and his stammered reminder of his own reception. “No. You came as + a sort of kinsman, and Sir Edward knew all about you before he asked you + down to the Grange—or even sent over for me from the Towers. No! you + Americans take people on their 'face value,' as my brother Reggy says, and + we always want to know what are the 'securities.' And then American men + are more gallant, though,” she declared mischievously, “I think you are an + exception in that way. Indeed,” she went on, “the more I see of your + countrymen the less you seem like them. You are more like us,—more + like an Englishman—indeed, more like an Englishman than most + Englishmen,—I mean in the matter of reserve and all that sort of + thing, you know. It's odd,—isn't it? Is your sister like you?” + </p> + <p> + “You shall judge for yourself,” said Peter with a gayety that was forced + in proportion as his forebodings became more gloomy. Would his sister's + peculiarities—even her secret—be safe from the clear eyes of + the young girl? + </p> + <p> + “I know I shall like her,” said Lady Elfrida, simply. “I mean to make + friends with her before we leave, and I hope to see a great deal of her; + and,” she said with a naive non sequitur, that, however, had its painful + significance to Peter, “I do want you to show me some Indians—your + Indians, you know YOUR friends. I've seen some of them, of course; I am + afraid I am a little prejudiced, for I did not like them. You see my taste + has to be educated, I suppose; but I thought them so foolishly vain and + presuming.” + </p> + <p> + “That is their perfect childishness,” said Peter quickly. “It is not, I + believe, considered a moral defect,” he added bitterly. + </p> + <p> + Lady Elfrida laughed, and yet at the same moment a look of appeal that was + in itself quite as childlike shone in her blue eyes. “There, I have + blundered again, I know; but I told you I have such ridiculous prejudices! + And I really want to like them as you do. Only,” she laughed again, “it + seems strange that YOU, of all men, should have interested yourself in + people so totally different to you. But what will be the result if your + efforts are successful? Will they remain a distinct race? Will you make + citizens, soldiers, congressmen, governors of them? Will they intermarry + with the whites? Is that a part of your plan? I hope not!” + </p> + <p> + It was a part of Peter's sensitive excitement that even through the + unconscious irony of this speech he was noticing the difference between + the young English girl's evident interest in a political problem and the + utter indifference of his own countrywomen. Here was a girl scarcely out + of her teens, with no pretension to being a blue stocking, with half the + aplomb of an American girl of her own age, gravely considering a question + of political economy. Oddly enough, it added to his other irritation, and + he said almost abruptly, “Why not?” + </p> + <p> + She took the question literally and with a little youthful timidity. “But + these mixed races never attain to anything, do they? I thought that was + understood. But,” she added with feminine quickness, “and I suppose it's + again only a PERSONAL argument, YOU wouldn't like your sister to have + married an Indian, would you?” + </p> + <p> + The irony of the situation had reached its climax to Peter. It didn't seem + to be his voice that said, “I can answer by an argument still more + personal. I have even thought myself of marrying an Indian woman.” + </p> + <p> + It seemed to him that what he said was irrevocable, but he was desperate. + It seemed to him that in a moment more he would have told her his whole + secret. But the young girl drew back from him with a slight start of + surprise. There may have been something in the tone of his voice and in + his manner that verged upon a seriousness she was never contemplating in + her random talk; it may have been an uneasiness of some youthful + imprudence in pressing the subject upon a man of his superiority, and that + his abrupt climax was a rebuke. But it was only for a moment; her youthful + buoyancy, and, above all, a certain common sense that was not incompatible + to her high nature, came to her rescue. “But that,” she said with quick + mischievousness, “would be a SACRIFICE taken in the interest of these + people, don't you see; and being a sacrifice, it's no argument.” + </p> + <p> + Peter saw his mistake, but there was something so innocent and delightful + in the youthful triumph of this red-lipped logician, that he was forced to + smile. I have said that his smile was rare and fascinating, a concession + wrung from his dark face and calm beardless lips that most people found + irresistible, but it was odd, nevertheless, that Lady Elfrida now for the + first time felt a sudden and not altogether unpleasant embarrassment over + the very subject she had approached with such innocent fearlessness. There + was a new light in her eyes, a fresher color in her cheeks as she turned + her face—she knew not why—away from him. But it enabled her to + see a figure approaching them from the fort. And I grieve to say that, + perhaps for the first time in her life, Lady Elfrida was guilty of an + affected start. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, here's Reggy coming to look for me. I'd quite forgotten, but I'm so + glad. I want you to know my brother Reggy. He was always so sorry he + missed you at the Grange.” + </p> + <p> + The tall, young, good-looking brown Englishman who had sauntered up + bestowed a far more critical glance upon Peter's horse than upon Peter, + but nevertheless grasped his hand heartily as his sister introduced him. + Perhaps both men were equally undemonstrative, although the reserve of one + was from temperament and the other from education. Nevertheless Lord + Reginald remarked, with a laugh, that it was awfully jolly to be there, + and that it had been a beastly shame that he was in Scotland when Atherly + was at the Grange. That none of them had ever suspected till they came to + the fort that he, Atherly, was one of those government chappies, and so + awfully keen on Indian politics. “Friddy” had been the first to find it + out, but they thought she was chaffing. At which “Friddy,” who had + suddenly resolved herself into the youthfulest of schoolgirls in the + presence of her brother, put her parasol like an Indian club behind her + back, and still rosy, beamed admiringly upon Reggy. Then the three, Peter + leading his horse, moved on towards the fort, presently meeting “Georgy,” + the six-foot Guardsman cousin in extraordinary tweeds and flannel shirt; + Lord Runnybroke, uncle of Friddy, middle-aged and flannel-shirted, a + mighty hunter; Lady Runnybroke, in a brown duster, but with a stately head + that suggested ostrich feathers; Moyler-Spence, M. P., with an eyeglass, + and the Hon. Evelyn Kayne, closely attended by the always gallant + Lieutenant Forsyth. Peter began to feel a nervous longing to be alone on + the burning plain and the empty horizon beyond them, until he could + readjust himself to these new conditions, and glanced half-wearily around + him. But his eye met Friddy's, who seemed to have evoked this gathering + with a wave of her parasol, like the fairy of a pantomime, and he walked + on in silence. + </p> + <p> + A day or two of unexpected pleasure passed for Peter. In these new + surroundings he found he could separate Lady Elfrida from his miserable + past, and the conventional restraint of Ashley Grange. Again, the + revelation of her familiar name Friddy seemed to make her more accessible + and human to him than her formal title, and suited the girlish simplicity + that lay at the foundation of her character, of which he had seen so + little before. At least so he fancied, and so excused himself; it was + delightful to find her referring to him as an older friend; pleasant, + indeed, to see that her family tacitly recognized it, and frequently + appealed to him with the introduction, “Friddy says you can tell us,” or + “You and Friddy had better arrange it between you.” Even the dreaded + introduction of his sister was an agreeable surprise, owing to Lady + Elfrida's frank and sympathetic prepossession, which Jenny could not + resist. In a few moments they were walking together in serious and + apparently confidential conversation. For to Peter's wonder it was the + “Lady Elfrida” side of the English girl's nature that seemed to have + attracted Jenny, and not the playfulness of “Friddy,” and he was delighted + to see that the young girl had assumed a grave chaperonship of the tall + Mrs. Lascelles that would have done credit to Mrs. Carter or Lady + Runnybroke. Had he been less serious he might have been amused, too, at + the importance of his own position in the military outpost, through the + arrival of the strangers. That this grave political enthusiast and + civilian should be on familiar terms with a young Englishwoman of rank was + at first inconceivable to the officers. And that he had never alluded to + it before seemed to them still more remarkable. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, there was much liveliness and good fellowship at the fort. + Captains and lieutenants down to the youngest “cub,” Forsyth, vied with + each other to please the Englishmen, supplied them with that + characteristic American humor and anecdote which it is an Englishman's + privilege to bring away with him, and were picturesquely and chivalrously + devoted in their attentions to the ladies, who were pleased and amused by + it, though it is to be doubted if it increased their respect for the + giver, although they were more grateful for it than the average American + woman. Lady Elfrida found the officers very entertaining and gallant. + Accustomed to the English officer, and his somewhat bored way of treating + his profession and his duties, she may have been amused at the zeal, + earnestness, and enthusiasm of these youthful warriors, who aspired to + appear as nothing but soldiers, when she contrasted them with her + Guardsmen relatives who aspired to be everything else but that; but she + kept it to herself. It was a recognized, respectable, and even superior + occupation for gentlemen in England; what it might be in America,—who + knows? She certainly found Peter, the civilian, more attractive, for there + really was nothing English to compare him with, and she had something of + the same feeling in her friendship for Jenny, except the patronage which + Jenny seemed to solicit, and perhaps require, as a foreigner. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon the English guests, accompanied by a few of their hosts and + a small escort, were making a shooting expedition to the vicinity of Green + Spring, when Peter, plunged in his report, looked up to find his sister + entering his office. Her face was pale, and there was something in her + expression which reawakened his old anxiety. Nevertheless he smiled, and + said gently:— + </p> + <p> + “Why are you not enjoying yourself with the others?” + </p> + <p> + “I have a headache,” she said, languidly, “but,” lifting her eyes suddenly + to his, “why are YOU not? You are their good friend, you know,—even + their relation.” + </p> + <p> + “No more than you are,” he returned, with affected gayety. “But look at + the report—it is only half finished! I have already been shirking it + for them.” + </p> + <p> + “You mustn't let your devotion to the Indians keep you from your older + friends,” said Mrs. Lascelles, with an odd laugh. “But you never told me + about these people before, Peter; tell me now. They were very kind to you, + weren't they, on account of your relationship?” + </p> + <p> + “Entirely on account of that,” said Peter, with a sudden bitterness he + could not repress. “But they are very pleasant,” he added quickly, “and + very simple and unaffected, in spite of their rank; perhaps I ought to + say, BECAUSE of it.” + </p> + <p> + “You mean they are kind to us because they feel themselves superior,—just + as you are kind to the Indians, Peter.” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid they have no such sense of political equality towards us, + Jenny, as impels me to be just to the Indian,” he said with affected + lightness. “But Lady Elfrida sympathizes with the Indians—very + much.” + </p> + <p> + “She!” The emphasis which his sister put upon the personal pronoun was + unmistakable, but Peter ignored it, and so apparently did she, as she said + the next moment in a different voice, “She's very pretty, don't you + think?” + </p> + <p> + “Very,” said Peter coldly. + </p> + <p> + There was a long pause. Peter slightly fingered one of the sheets of his + delayed report on his desk. His sister looked up. “I'm afraid I'm as bad + as Lady Elfrida in keeping you from your Indians; but I had something to + say to you. No matter, another time will do when you're not so busy.” + </p> + <p> + “Please go on now,” said Peter, with affected unconcern, yet with a + feeling of uneasiness creeping over him. + </p> + <p> + “It was only this,” said Jenny, seating herself with her elbow on the desk + and her chin in a cup-like hollow of her hand, “did you ever think that in + the interests of these poor Indians, you know, purely for the sake of your + belief in them, and just to show that you were above vulgar prejudices,—did + you ever think you could marry one of them?” + </p> + <p> + Two thoughts flashed quickly on Peter's mind,—first, that Lady + Elfrida had repeated something of their conversation to his sister; + secondly, that some one had told her of Little Daybreak. Each was equally + disturbing. But he recovered himself quickly and said, “I might if I + thought it was required. But even a sacrifice is not always an example.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you think it would be a sacrifice?” she said, slowly raising her + dark eyes to his. + </p> + <p> + “If I did something against received opinion, against precedent, and for + aught I know against even the prejudices of those I wish to serve, however + lofty my intention was and however great the benefit to them in the end, + it would still be a sacrifice in the present.” He saw his own miserable + logic and affected didactics, but he went on lightly, “But why do you ask + such a question? You haven't any one in your mind for me, have you?” + </p> + <p> + She had risen thoughtfully and was moving towards the door. Suddenly she + turned with a quick, odd vivacity: “Perhaps I had. Oh, Peter, there was + such a lovely little squaw I saw the last time I was at Oak Bottom! She + was no darker than I am, but so beautiful. Even in her little cotton gown + and blanket, with only a string of beads around her throat, she was as + pretty as any one here. And I dare say she could be educated and appear as + well as any white woman. I should so like to have you see her. I would + have tried to bring her to the fort, but the braves are very jealous of + their wives or daughters seeing white men, you know, and I was afraid of + the colonel.” + </p> + <p> + She had spoken volubly and with a strange excitement, but even at the + moment her face changed again, and as she left the office, with a quick + laugh and parting gesture, there were tears in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + Accustomed to her moods and caprices, Peter thought little of the + intrusion, relieved as he was of his first fears. She had come to him from + loneliness and curiosity, and, perhaps, he thought with a sad smile, from + a little sisterly jealousy of the young girl who had evinced such an + interest in him, and had known him before. He took up his pen and + continued the interrupted paragraph of his report. + </p> + <p> + “I am satisfied that much of the mischievous and extravagant prejudice + against the half breed and all alliances of the white and red races + springs from the ignorance of the frontiersman and his hasty + generalization of facts. There is no doubt that an intermixture of blood + brings out purely superficial contrasts the more strongly, and that + against the civilizing habits and even costumes of the half breed, certain + Indian defects appear the more strongly as in the case of the color line + of the quadroon and octoroon, but it must not be forgotten that these are + only the contrasts of specific improvement, and the inference that the + borrowed defects of a half breed exceed the original defects of the + full-blooded aborigine is utterly illogical.” He stopped suddenly and laid + down his pen with a heightened color; the bugle had blown, the guard was + turning out to receive the commandant and his returning party, among whom + was Friddy. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Through the illusions of depression and distance the “sink” of Butternut + Creek seemed only an incrustation of blackish moss on the dull gray plain. + It was not until one approached within half a mile of it that it resolved + itself into a copse of butternut-trees sunken below the distant levels. + Here once, in geological story, the waters of Butternut Creek, despairing + of ever crossing the leagues of arid waste before them, had suddenly + disappeared in the providential interposition of an area of looser soil, + and so given up the effort and the ghost forever, their grave being marked + by the butternut copse, chance-sown by bird or beast in the saturated + ground. In Indian legend the “sink” commemorated the equally providential + escape of a great tribe who, surrounded by enemies, appealed to the Great + Spirit for protection, and was promptly conveyed by subterraneous passages + to the banks of the Great River a hundred miles away. Its outer edges were + already invaded by the dust of the plain, but within them ran cool + recesses, a few openings, and the ashes of some long-forgotten camp-fires. + To-day its sombre shadows were relieved by bright colored dresses, the + jackets of the drivers of a large sutler's wagon, whose white canvas head + marked the entrance of the copse, and all the paraphernalia of a picnic. + It was a party gotten up by the foreign guests to the ladies of the fort, + prepared and arranged by the active Lady Elfrida, assisted by the only + gentleman of the party, Peter Atherly, who, from his acquaintance with the + locality, was allowed to accompany them. The other gentlemen, who with a + large party of officers and soldiers were shooting in the vicinity, were + sufficiently near for protection. They would rejoin the ladies later. + </p> + <p> + “It does not seem in the least as if we were miles away from any town or + habitation,” said Lady Runnybroke, complacently seating herself on a + stump, “and I shouldn't be surprised to see a church tower through those + trees. It's very like the hazel copse at Longworth, you know. Not at all + what I expected.” + </p> + <p> + “For the matter of that neither are the Indians,” said the Hon. Evelyn + Rayne. “Did you ever see such grotesque creatures in their cast-off boots + and trousers? They're no better than gypsies. I wonder what Mr. Atherly + can find in them.” + </p> + <p> + “And he a rich man, too,—they say he's got a mine in California + worth a million,—to take up a craze like this,” added the lively + Mrs. Captain Joyce, “that's what gets me! You know,” she went on + confidentially, “that cranks and reformers are always poor—it's + quite natural; but I don't see what he, a rich man, expects to make by his + reforms, I'm sure.” + </p> + <p> + “He'll get over it in time,” said the Hon. Evelyn Kayne, “they all do. At + least he expects to get the reforms he wants in a year, and then he's + coming over to England again.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, how very nice,” responded Lady Runnybroke quickly. “Did he say + so?” + </p> + <p> + “No. But Friddy says he is.” + </p> + <p> + The two officers' wives glanced at each other. Lady Runnybroke put up her + eyeglass in default of ostrich feathers, and said didactically, “I'm sure + Mr. Atherly is very much in earnest, and sincerely devoted to his work. + And in a man of his wealth and position here it's most estimable. My + dear,” she said, getting up and moving towards Mrs. Lascelles, “we were + just saying how good and unselfish your brother was in his work for these + poor people.” + </p> + <p> + But Jenny Lascelles must have been in one of those abstracted moods which + so troubled her husband, for she seemed to be staring straight before her + into the recesses of the wood. In her there was a certain resemblance to + the attitude of a listening animal. + </p> + <p> + “I wish Mr. Atherly was a little more unselfish to US poor people,” said + the Hon. Evelyn Kayne, “for he and Friddy have been nearly an hour looking + for a place to spread our luncheon baskets. I wish they'd leave the future + of the brown races to look after itself and look a little more after us. + I'm famished.” + </p> + <p> + “I fancy they find it difficult to select a clear space for so large a + party as we will be when the gentlemen come in,” returned Lady Runnybroke, + glancing in the direction of Jenny's abstracted eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you must feel like chicken and salad, too, Lady Runnybroke,” + suggested Mrs. Captain Joyce. + </p> + <p> + “I don't think I quite know HOW chicken and salad feel, dear,” said Lady + Runnybroke with a puzzled air, “but if that's one of your husband's + delightful American stories, do tell us. I never CAN get Runnybroke to + tell me any, although he roars over them all. And I dare say he gets them + all wrong. But look, here comes our luncheon.” + </p> + <p> + Peter and Lady Elfrida were advancing towards them. The scrutiny of a + dozen pairs of eyes—wondering, mischievous, critical, impertinent, + or resentful—would have been a trying ordeal to any errant couple; + but there was little if any change in Peter's grave and gentle demeanor, + albeit his dark eyes were shining with a peculiar light, and Lady Elfrida + had only the animation, color, and slight excitability that became the + responsible leader of the little party. They neither apologized or alluded + to their delay. They had selected a spot on the other side of the copse, + and the baskets could be sent around by the wagon; they had seen a slight + haze on the plain towards the east which betokened the vicinity of the + rest of the party, and they were about to propose that as the gentlemen + were so near they had better postpone the picnic until they came up. Lady + Runnybroke smiled affably; the only thing she had noticed was that Lady + Elfrida in joining them had gone directly to the side of the abstracted + Jenny, and placed her arm around her waist. At which Lady Runnybroke + airily joined them. + </p> + <p> + The surmises of Peter and Friddy appeared to be correct. The transfer of + the provisions and the party to the other side was barely concluded before + they could see the gentlemen coming; they were riding a little more + rapidly than when they had set out, and were arriving fully three hours + before their time. They burst upon the ladies a little boisterously but + gayly; they had had a glorious time, but little sport; they had hurried + back to join the ladies so as to be able to return with them betimes. They + were ravenously hungry; they wanted to fall to at once. Only the officers' + wives noticed that the two files of troopers DID NOT DISMOUNT, but filed + slowly before the entrance to the woods. Lady Elfrida as hostess was + prettily distressed by it, but was told by Captain Joyce that it was + “against rules,” and that she could “feed” them at the fort. The officers' + wives put a few questions in whispers, and were promptly frowned down. + Nevertheless, the luncheon was a successful festivity: the gentlemen were + loud in the praises of their gracious hostess; the delicacies she had + provided by express from distant stations, and much that was distinctly + English and despoiled from her own stores, were gratefully appreciated by + the officers of a remote frontier garrison. Lady Elfrida's health was + toasted by the gallant colonel in a speech that was the soul of chivalry. + Lord Runnybroke responded, perhaps without the American abandon, but with + the steady conscientiousness of an hereditary legislator, but the M. P. + summed up a slightly exaggerated but well meaning episode by pointing out + that it was on occasions like this that the two nations showed their + common ancestry by standing side by side. Only one thing troubled the + rosy, excited, but still clear-headed Friddy; the plates were whisked away + like magic after each delicacy, by the military servants, and vanished; + the tables were in the same mysterious way cleared as rapidly as they were + set, and any attempt to recall a dish was met by the declaration that it + was already packed away in the wagon. As they at last rose from the + actually empty board, and saw even the tables disappear, Lady Elfrida + plaintively protested that she felt as if she had been presiding over an + Arabian Nights entertainment, served by genii, and she knew that they + would all awaken hungry when they were well on their way back. + Nevertheless, in spite of this expedition, the officers lounged about + smoking until every trace of the festivity had vanished. Reggy found + himself standing near Peter. “You know,” he said, confidentially, “I don't + think the colonel has a very high opinion of your pets,—the Indians. + And, by Jove, if the 'friendlies' are as nasty towards you as they were to + us this morning, I wonder what you call the 'hostile' tribes.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you have any difficulty with them?” said Peter quickly. + </p> + <p> + “No, not exactly, don't you know—we were too many, I fancy; but, by + Jove, the beggars whenever we met them,—and we met one or two gypsy + bands of them,—you know, they seemed to look upon us as TRESPASSERS, + don't you know.” + </p> + <p> + “And you were, in point of fact,” said Peter, smiling grimly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I say, come now!” said Reggy, opening his eyes. After a moment he + laughed. “Oh, yes, I see—of course, looking at it from their point + of view. By Jove, I dare say the beggars were right, you know; all the + same,—don't you see,—YOUR people were poaching too.” + </p> + <p> + “So we were,” said Peter gravely. + </p> + <p> + But here, at a word from the major, the whole party debouched from the + woods. Everything appeared to be awaiting them,—the large covered + carryall for the guests, and the two saddle horses for Mrs. Lascelles and + Lady Elfrida, who had ridden there together. Peter, also mounted, + accompanied the carryall with two of the officers; the troopers and wagons + brought up the rear. + </p> + <p> + It was very hot, with little or no wind. On this part of the plain the + dust seemed lighter and finer, and rose with the wheels of the carryall + and the horses of the escort, trailing a white cloud over the cavalcade + like the smoke of an engine over a train. It was with difficulty the + troopers could be kept from opening out on both sides of the highway to + escape it. The whole atmosphere seemed charged with it; it even appeared + in a long bank to the right, rising and obscuring the declining sun. But + they were already within sight of the fort and the little copse beside it. + Then trooper Cassidy trotted up to the colonel, who was riding in a dusty + cloud beside the carryall, “Captain Fleetwood's compliments, sorr, and + there are two sthragglers,—Mrs. Lascelles and the English lady.” He + pointed to the rapidly flying figures of Jenny and Friddy making towards + the wood. + </p> + <p> + The colonel made a movement of impatience. “Tell Mr. Forsyth to bring them + back at once,” he said. + </p> + <p> + But here a feminine chorus of excuses and expostulations rose from the + carryall. “It's only Mrs. Lascelles going to show Friddy where the squaws + and children bathe,” said Lady Runnybroke, “it's near the fort, and + they'll be there as quick as we shall.” + </p> + <p> + “One moment, colonel,” said Peter, with mortified concern. “It's another + folly of my sister's! pray let me take it upon myself to bring them back.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well, but see you don't linger, and,” turning to Cassidy, as Peter + galloped away, he added, “you follow him.” + </p> + <p> + Peter kept the figures of the two women in view, but presently saw them + disappear in the wood. He had no fear for their safety, but he was + indignant at this last untimely caprice of his sister. He knew the idea + had originated with her, and that the officers knew it, and yet she had + made Lady Elfrida bear an equal share of the blame. He reached the edge of + the copse, entered the first opening, but he had scarcely plunged into its + shadow and shut out the plain behind him before he felt his arms and knees + quickly seized from behind. So sudden and unexpected was the attack that + he first thought his horse had stumbled against a coil of wild grapevine + and was entangled, but the next moment he smelled the rank characteristic + odor and saw the brown limbs of the Indian who had leaped on his crupper, + while another rose at his horse's head. Then a warning voice in his ear + said in the native tongue:— + </p> + <p> + “If the great white medicine man calls to his fighting men, the pale-faced + girl and the squaw he calls his sister die! They are here, he + understands.” + </p> + <p> + But Peter had neither struggled nor uttered a cry. At that touch, and with + the accents of that tongue in his ears, all his own Indian blood seemed to + leap and tingle through his veins. His eyes flashed; pinioned as he was he + drew himself erect and answered haughtily in his captor's own speech:— + </p> + <p> + “Good! The great white medicine man obeys, for he and his sister have no + fear. But if the pale-face girl is not sent back to her people before the + sun sets, then the yellow jackets will swarm the woods, and they will + follow her trail to the death. My brother is wise; let the girl go. I have + spoken.” + </p> + <p> + “My brother is very cunning too. He would call to his fighting men through + the lips of the pale-face girl.” + </p> + <p> + “He will not. The great white medicine man does not lie to his red + brother. He will tell the pale-face girl to say to the chief of the yellow + jackets that he and his sister are with his brothers, and all is peace. + But the pale-face girl must not see the great white medicine man in these + bonds, nor as a captive! I have spoken.” + </p> + <p> + The two Indians fell back. There was so much of force and dignity in the + man, so much of their own stoic calmness, that they at once mechanically + loosened the thongs of plaited deer hide with which they had bound him, + and side by side led him into the recesses of the wood. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + There was some astonishment, although little alarm at the fort, when Lady + Elfrida returned accompanied by the orderly who had followed Peter to the + wood, but without Peter and his sister. The reason given was perfectly + natural and conceivable. Mrs. Lascelles had preceded Lady Elfrida in + entering the wood and taken another opening, so that Lady Elfrida had + found herself suddenly lost, and surrounded by two or three warriors in + dreadful paint. They motioned her to dismount, and said something she did + not understand, but she declined, knowing that she had heard Mr. Atherly + and the orderly following her, and feeling no fear. And sure enough Mr. + Atherly presently came up with a couple of braves, apologized to her for + their mistake, but begged her to return to the fort at once and assure the + colonel that everything was right, and that he and his sister were safe. + He was perfectly cool and collected and like himself; she blushed + slightly, as she said she thought that he wished to impress upon her, for + some reason she could not understand, that he did not want the colonel to + send any assistance. She was positive of that. She told her story + unexcitedly; it was evident that she had not been frightened, but Lady + Runnybroke noticed that there was a shade of anxious abstraction in her + face. + </p> + <p> + When the officers were alone the colonel took hurried counsel of them. “I + think,” said Captain Fleetwood, “that Lady Elfrida's story quite explains + itself. I believe this affair is purely a local one, and has nothing + whatever to do with the suspicious appearances we noticed this afternoon, + or the presence of so large a body of Indians near Butternut. Had this + been a hostile movement they would have scarcely allowed so valuable a + capture as Lady Elfrida to escape them.” + </p> + <p> + “Unless they kept Atherly and his sister as a hostage,” said Captain + Joyce. + </p> + <p> + “But Atherly is one of their friends; indeed he is their mediator and + apostle, a non-combatant, and has their confidence,” returned the colonel. + “It is much more reasonable to suppose that Atherly has noticed some + disaffection among these 'friendlies,' and he fears that our sending a + party to his assistance might precipitate a collision. Or he may have + reason to believe that this stopping of the two women under the very walls + of the fort is only a feint to draw our attention from something more + serious. Did he know anything of our suspicions of the conduct of those + Indians this morning?” + </p> + <p> + “Not unless he gathered it from what Lord Reginald foolishly told him. We + said nothing, of course,” returned Captain Fleetwood, with a soldier's + habitual distrust of the wisdom of the civil arm. + </p> + <p> + “That will do, gentlemen,” said the colonel, as the officers dispersed; + “send Cassidy here.” + </p> + <p> + The colonel was alone on the veranda as Cassidy came up. + </p> + <p> + “You followed Mr. Atherly to-day?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes sorr.” + </p> + <p> + “And you saw him when he gave the message to the young lady?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes sorr.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you form any opinion from anything else you saw, of his object in + sending that message?” + </p> + <p> + “Only from what I saw of HIM.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, what was that?” + </p> + <p> + “I saw him look afther the young leddy as she rode away, and then wheel + about and go straight back into the wood.” + </p> + <p> + “And what did you think of that?” said the colonel, with a half smile. + </p> + <p> + “I thought it was shacrifice, sorr.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean?” said the colonel sharply. + </p> + <p> + “I mane, sorr,” said Cassidy stoutly, “that he was givin' up hisself and + his sister for that young leddy.” + </p> + <p> + The colonel looked at the sergeant. “Ask Mr. Forsyth to come to me + privately, and return here with him.” + </p> + <p> + As darkness fell, some half a dozen dismounted troopers, headed by Forsyth + and Cassidy, passed quietly out of the lower gate and entered the wood. An + hour later the colonel was summoned from the dinner table, and the guests + heard the quick rattle of a wagon turning out of the road gate—but + the colonel did not return. An indefinable uneasiness crept over the + little party, which reached its climax in the summoning of the other + officers, and the sudden flashing out of news. The reconnoitring party had + found the dead bodies of Peter Atherly and his sister on the plains at the + edge of the empty wood. + </p> + <p> + The women were gathered in the commandant's quarters, and for the moment + seemed to have been forgotten. The officers' wives talked with + professional sympathy and disciplined quiet; the English ladies were + equally sympathetic, but collected. Lady Elfrida, rather white, but + patient, asked a few questions in a voice whose contralto was rather + deepened. One and all wished to “do something”—anything “to help”—and + one and all rebelled that the colonel had begged them to remain within + doors. There was an occasional quick step on the veranda, or the clatter + of a hoof on the parade, a continued but subdued murmur from the + whitewashed barracks, but everywhere a sense of keen restraint. + </p> + <p> + When they emerged on the veranda again, the whole aspect of the garrison + seemed to have changed in that brief time. In the faint moonlight they + could see motionless files of troopers filling the parade, the officers in + belted tunics and slouched hats,—but apparently not the same men; + the half lounging ease and lazy dandyism gone, a grim tension in all their + faces, a set abstraction in all their acts. Then there was the rolling of + heavy wheels in the road, and the two horses of the ambulance appeared. + The sentries presented arms; the colonel took off his hat; the officers + uncovered; the wagon wheeled into the parade; the surgeon stepped out. He + exchanged a single word with the colonel, and lifted the curtain of the + ambulance. + </p> + <p> + As the colonel glanced within, a deep but embarrassed voice fell upon his + ear. He turned quickly. It was Lord Reginald, flushed and sympathetic. + </p> + <p> + “He was a friend,—a relation of ours, you know,” he stammered. “My + sister would like—to look at him again.” + </p> + <p> + “Not now,” said the colonel in a low voice. The surgeon added something in + a voice still lower, which scarcely reached the veranda. + </p> + <p> + Lord Reginald turned away with a white face. + </p> + <p> + “Fall back there!” Captain Fleetwood rode up. + </p> + <p> + “All ready, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “One moment, captain,” said the colonel quietly. “File your first half + company before that ambulance, and bid the men look in.” + </p> + <p> + The singular order was obeyed. The men filed slowly forward, each in turn + halting before the motionless wagon and its immobile freight. They were + men inured to frontier bloodshed and savage warfare; some halted and + hurried on; others lingered, others turned to look again. One man burst + into a short laugh, but when the others turned indignantly upon him, they + saw that in his face that held them in awe. What they saw in the ambulance + did not transpire; what they felt was not known. Strangely enough, + however, what they repressed themselves was mysteriously communicated to + their horses, who snorted and quivered with eagerness and impatience as + they rode back again. The horse of the trooper who had laughed almost + leaped into the air. Only Sergeant Cassidy was communicative; he took a + larger circuit in returning to his place, and managed to lean over and + whisper hoarsely in the ear of a camp follower spectator, “Tell the young + leddy that the torturin' divvils couldn't take the smile off him!” + </p> + <p> + The little column filed out of the gateway into the road. As Captain + Fleetwood passed Colonel Carter the two men's eyes met. The colonel said + quietly, “Good night, captain. Let us have a good report from you.” + </p> + <p> + The captain replied only with his gauntleted hand against the brim of his + slouched hat, but the next moment his voice was heard strong and clear + enough in the road. The little column trotted away as evenly as on parade. + But those who climbed the roof of the barracks a quarter of an hour later + saw, in the moonlight, a white cloud drifting rapidly across the plain + towards the west. It was a small cloud in that bare, menacing, cruel, and + illimitable waste; but in its breast was crammed a thunderbolt. + </p> + <p> + It fell thirty miles away, blasting and scattering a thousand warriors and + their camp, giving and taking no quarter, vengeful, exterminating, and + complete. Later there were different opinions about it and the horrible + crime that had provoked it: the opposers of Peter's policy jubilant over + the irony of the assassination of the Apostle of Peace, Peter's disciples + as actively deploring the merciless and indiscriminating vengeance of the + military; and so the problem that Peter had vainly attempted to solve was + left an open question. There were those, too, who believed that Peter had + never sacrificed himself and his sister for the sake of another, but had + provoked and incensed the savages by the blind arrogance of a reformer. + There were wild stories by scouts and interpreters how he had challenged + his fate by an Indian bravado; how himself and his sister had met torture + with an Indian stoicism, and how the Indian braves themselves at last in a + turmoil of revulsion had dipped their arrows and lances in the heroic + heart's blood of their victims, and worshiped their still palpitating + flesh. + </p> + <p> + But there was one honest loyal little heart that carried back—three + thousand miles—to England the man as it had known and loved him. + Lady Elfrida Runnybroke never married; neither did she go into retirement, + but lived her life and fulfilled her duties in her usual clear-eyed + fashion. She was particularly kind to all Americans,—barring, I + fear, a few pretty-faced, finely-frocked title-hunters,—told stories + of the Far West, and had theories of a people of which they knew little, + cared less, and believed to be vulgar. But I think she found a new + pleasure in the old church at Ashley Grange, and loved to linger over the + effigy of the old Crusader,—her kinsman, the swashbuckler De Bracy,—with + a vague but pretty belief that devotion and love do not die with brave + men, but live and flourish even in lands beyond the seas. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TWO AMERICANS + </h2> + <p> + Perhaps if there was anything important in the migration of the Maynard + family to Europe it rested solely upon the singular fact that Mr. Maynard + did not go there in the expectation of marrying his daughter to a + nobleman. A Charleston merchant, whose house represented two honorable + generations, had, thirty years ago, a certain self-respect which did not + require extraneous aid and foreign support, and it is exceedingly probable + that his intention of spending a few years abroad had no ulterior motive + than pleasure seeking and the observation of many things—principally + of the past—which his own country did not possess. His future and + that of his family lay in his own land, yet with practical common sense he + adjusted himself temporarily to his new surroundings. In doing so, he had + much to learn of others, and others had something to learn of him; he + found that the best people had a high simplicity equal to his own; he + corrected their impressions that a Southerner had more or less negro blood + in his veins, and that, although a slave owner, he did not necessarily + represent an aristocracy. With a distinguishing dialect of which he was + not ashamed, a frank familiarity of approach joined to an invincible + courtesy of manner, which made even his republican “Sir” equal to the + ordinary address to royalty, he was always respected and seldom + misunderstood. When he was—it was unfortunate for those who + misunderstood him. His type was as distinctive and original as his + cousin's, the Englishman, whom it was not the fashion then to imitate. So + that, whether in the hotel of a capital, the Kursaal of a Spa, or the + humbler pension of a Swiss village, he was always characteristic. Less so + was his wife, who, with the chameleon quality of her transplanted + countrywomen, was already Parisian in dress; still less so his daughter, + who had by this time absorbed the peculiarities of her French, German, and + Italian governesses. Yet neither had yet learned to evade their + nationality—or apologize for it. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Maynard and his family remained for three years in Europe, his stay + having been prolonged by political excitement in his own State of South + Carolina. Commerce is apt to knock the insularity out of people; distance + from one's own distinctive locality gives a wider range to the vision, and + the retired merchant foresaw ruin in his State's politics, and from the + viewpoint of all Europe beheld instead of the usual collection of + individual States—his whole country. But the excitement increasing, + he was finally impelled to return in a faint hope of doing something to + allay it, taking his wife with him, but leaving his daughter at school in + Paris. At about this time, however, a single cannon shot fired at the + national flag on Fort Sumter shook the whole country, reverberated even in + Europe, sending some earnest hearts back to do battle for State or + country, sending others less earnest into inglorious exile, but, saddest + of all! knocking over the school bench of a girl at the Paris pensionnat. + For that shot had also sunk Maynard's ships at the Charleston wharves, + scattered his piled Cotton bales awaiting shipment at the quays, and drove + him, a ruined man, into the “Home Guard” against his better judgment. + Helen Maynard, like a good girl, had implored her father to let her return + and share his risks. But the answer was “to wait” until this nine days' + madness of an uprising was over. That madness lasted six years, outlived + Maynard, whose gray, misdoubting head bit the dust at Ball's Bluff; + outlived his colorless widow, and left Kelly a penniless orphan. + </p> + <p> + Yet enough of her country was left in her to make her courageous and + independent of her past. They say that when she got the news she cried a + little, and then laid the letter and what was left of her last monthly + allowance in Madame Ablas' lap. Madame was devastated. “But you, + impoverished and desolated angel, what of you?” “I shall get some of it + back,” said the desolated angel with ingenuous candor, “for I speak better + French and English than the other girls, and I shall teach THEM until I + can get into the Conservatoire, for I have a voice. You yourself have told + papa so.” From such angelic directness there was no appeal. Madame Ablas + had a heart,—more, she had a French manageress's discriminating + instinct. The American schoolgirl was installed in a teacher's desk; her + bosom friends and fellow students became her pupils. To some of the + richest, and they were mainly of her own country, she sold her smartest, + latest dresses, jewels, and trinkets at a very good figure, and put the + money away against the Conservatoire in the future. She worked hard, she + endured patiently everything but commiseration. “I'd have you know, Miss,” + she said to Miss de Laine, daughter of the famous house of Musslin, de + Laine & Co., of New York, “that whatever my position HERE may be, it + is not one to be patronized by a tapeseller's daughter. My case is not + such a very 'sad one,' thank you, and I prefer not to be spoken of as + having seen 'better days' by people who haven't. There! Don't rap your + desk with your pencil when you speak to me, or I shall call out 'Cash!' + before the whole class.” So regrettable an exhibition of temper naturally + alienated certain of her compatriots who were unduly sensitive of their + origin, and as they formed a considerable colony who were then reveling in + the dregs of the Empire and the last orgies of a tottering court, + eventually cost her her place. A republican so aristocratic was not to be + tolerated by the true-born Americans who paid court to De Morny for the + phosphorescent splendors of St. Cloud and the Tuileries, and Miss Helen + lost their favor. But she had already saved enough money for the + Conservatoire and a little attic in a very tall house in a narrow street + that trickled into the ceaseless flow of the Rue Lafayette. Here for four + years she trotted backwards and forwards regularly to work with the + freshness of youth and the inflexible set purpose of maturity. Here, rain + or shine, summer or winter, in the mellow season when the large cafes + expanded under the white sunshine into an overflow of little tables on the + pavement, or when the red glow of the Brasserie shone through frosty panes + on the turned-up collars of pinched Parisians who hurried by, she was + always to be seen. + </p> + <p> + Half Paris had looked into her clear, gray eyes and passed on; a smaller + and not very youthful portion of Paris had turned and followed her with + small advantage to itself and happily no fear to her. For even in her + young womanhood she kept her child's loving knowledge of that great city; + she even had an innocent camaraderie with street sweepers, kiosk keepers, + and lemonade venders, and the sternness of conciergedom melted before her. + In this wholesome, practical child's experience she naturally avoided or + overlooked what would not have interested a child, and so kept her + freshness and a certain national shrewd simplicity invincible. There is a + story told of her girlhood that, one day playing in the Tuileries gardens, + she was approached by a gentleman with a waxed mustache and a still more + waxen cheek beneath his heavy-lidded eyes. There was an exchange of polite + amenities. + </p> + <p> + “And your name, ma petite?” + </p> + <p> + “Helen,” responded the young girl naively. “What's yours?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” said the kind gentleman, gallantly pulling at his mustache, “if you + are Helen I am Paris.” + </p> + <p> + The young girl raised her clear eyes to his and said gravely, “I reckon + your majesty is FRANCE!” + </p> + <p> + She retained this childish fearlessness as the poor student of the + Conservatoire; went alone all over Paris with her maiden skirts + untarnished by the gilded dust of the boulevards or the filth of by-ways; + knew all the best shops for her friends, and the cheapest for her own + scant purchases; discovered breakfasts for a few sous with pale + sempstresses, whose sadness she understood, and reckless chorus girls, + whose gayety she didn't; she knew where the earliest chestnut buds were to + be found in the Bois, when the slopes of the Buttes Chaumont were green, + and which was the old woman who sold the cheapest flowers before the + Madeleine. Alone and independent, she earned the affection of Madame + Bibelot, the concierge, and, what was more, her confidence. Her outgoings + and incomings were never questioned. The little American could take care + of herself. Ah, if her son Jacques were only as reasonable! Miss Maynard + might have made more friends had she cared; she might have joined hands + with the innocent and light-hearted poverty of the coterie of her own + artistic compatriots, but something in her blood made her distrust + Bohemianism; her poverty was something to her too sacred for jest or + companionship; her own artistic aim was too long and earnest for mere + temporary enthusiasms. She might have found friends in her own profession. + Her professor opened the sacred doors of his family circle to the young + American girl. She appreciated the delicacy, refinement, and cheerful + equal responsibilities of that household, so widely different from the + accepted Anglo-Saxon belief, but there were certain restrictions that + rightly or wrongly galled her American habits of girlish freedom, and she + resolutely tripped past the first etage four or five flights higher to her + attic, the free sky, and independence! Here she sometimes met another kind + of independence in Monsieur Alphonse, aged twenty two, and she who ought + to have been Madame Alphonse, aged seventeen, and they often exchanged + greetings on the landing with great respect towards each other, and, oddly + enough, no confusion or distrait. Later they even borrowed each other's + matches without fear and without reproach, until one day Monsieur + Alphonse's parents took him away, and the desolated soi-disant Madame + Alphonse, in a cheerful burst of confidence, gave Helen her private + opinion of monsieur, and from her seventeen years' experience warned the + American infant of twenty against possible similar complications. + </p> + <p> + One day—it was near the examination for prizes, and her funds were + running low—she was obliged to seek one of those humbler restaurants + she knew of for her frugal breakfast. But she was not hungry, and after a + few mouthfuls left her meal unfinished as a young man entered and half + abstractedly took a seat at her table. She had already moved towards the + comptoir to pay her few sous, when, chancing to look up in a mirror which + hung above the counter, reflecting the interior of the cafe, she saw the + stranger, after casting a hurried glance around him, remove from her plate + the broken roll and even the crumbs she had left, and as hurriedly sweep + them into his pocket-handkerchief. There was nothing very strange in this; + she had seen something like it before in these humbler cafes,—it was + a crib for the birds in the Tuileries Gardens, or the poor artist's + substitute for rubber in correcting his crayon drawing! But there was a + singular flushing of his handsome face in the act that stirred her with a + strange pity, made her own cheek hot with sympathy, and compelled her to + look at him more attentively. The back that was turned towards her was + broad-shouldered and symmetrical, and showed a frame that seemed to + require stronger nourishment than the simple coffee and roll he had + ordered and was devouring slowly. His clothes, well made though worn, + fitted him in a smart, soldier-like way, and accentuated his decided + military bearing. The singular use of his left hand in lifting his cup + made her uneasy, until a slight movement revealed the fact that his right + sleeve was empty and pinned to his coat. He was one-armed. She turned her + compassionate eyes aside, yet lingered to make a few purchases at the + counter, as he paid his bill and walked away. But she was surprised to see + that he tendered the waiter the unexampled gratuity of a sou. Perhaps he + was some eccentric Englishman; he certainly did not look like a Frenchman. + </p> + <p> + She had quite forgotten the incident, and in the afternoon had strolled + with a few fellow pupils into the galleries of the Louvre. It was + “copying-day,” and as her friends loitered around the easels of the + different students with the easy consciousness of being themselves + “artists,” she strolled on somewhat abstractedly before them. Her own art + was too serious to permit her much sympathy with another, and in the + chatter of her companions with the young painters a certain levity + disturbed her. Suddenly she stopped. She had reached a less frequented + room; there was a single easel at one side, but the stool before it was + empty, and its late occupant was standing in a recess by the window, with + his back towards her. He had drawn a silk handkerchief from his pocket. + She recognized his square shoulders, she recognized the handkerchief, and + as he unrolled it she recognized the fragments of her morning's breakfast + as he began to eat them. It was the one-armed man. + </p> + <p> + She remained so motionless and breathless that he finished his scant meal + without noticing her, and even resumed his place before the easel without + being aware of her presence. The noise of approaching feet gave a fresh + impulse to her own, and she moved towards him. But he was evidently + accustomed to these interruptions, and worked on steadily without turning + his head. As the other footsteps passed her she was emboldened to take a + position behind him and glance at his work. It was an architectural study + of one of Canaletto's palaces. Even her inexperienced eyes were struck + with its vigor and fidelity. But she was also conscious of a sense of + disappointment. Why was he not—like the others—copying one of + the masterpieces? Becoming at last aware of a motionless woman behind him, + he rose, and with a slight gesture of courtesy and a half-hesitating “Vous + verrez mieux la, mademoiselle,” moved to one side. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” said Miss Maynard in English, “but I did not want to disturb + you.” + </p> + <p> + He glanced quickly at her face for the first time. “Ah, you are English!” + he said. + </p> + <p> + “No. I am American.” + </p> + <p> + His face lightened. “So am I.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought so,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “From my bad French?” + </p> + <p> + “No. Because you did not look up to see if the woman you were polite to + was old or young.” + </p> + <p> + He smiled. “And you, mademoiselle,—you did not murmur a compliment + to the copy over the artist's back.” + </p> + <p> + She smiled, too, yet with a little pang over the bread. But she was + relieved to see that he evidently had not recognized her. “You are + modest,” she said; “you do not attempt masterpieces.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no! The giants like Titian and Corregio must be served with both + hands. I have only one,” he said half lightly, half sadly. + </p> + <p> + “But you have been a soldier,” she said with quick intuition. + </p> + <p> + “Not much. Only during our war,—until I was compelled to handle + nothing larger than a palette knife. Then I came home to New York, and, as + I was no use there, I came here to study.” + </p> + <p> + “I am from South Carolina,” she said quietly, with a rising color. + </p> + <p> + He put his palette down, and glanced at her black dress. “Yes,” she went + on doggedly, “my father lost all his property, and was killed in battle + with the Northerners. I am an orphan,—a pupil of the Conservatoire.” + It was never her custom to allude to her family or her lost fortunes; she + knew not why she did it now, but something impelled her to rid her mind of + it to him at once. Yet she was pained at his grave and pitying face. + </p> + <p> + “I am very sorry,” he said simply. Then, after a pause, he added, with a + gentle smile, “At all events you and I will not quarrel here under the + wings of the French eagles that shelter us both.” + </p> + <p> + “I only wanted to explain why I was alone in Paris,” she said, a little + less aggressively. + </p> + <p> + He replied by unhooking his palette, which was ingeniously fastened by a + strap over his shoulder under the missing arm, and opened a portfolio of + sketches at his side. “Perhaps they may interest you more than the copy, + which I have attempted only to get at this man's method. They are sketches + I have done here.” + </p> + <p> + There was a buttress of Notre Dame, a black arch of the Pont Neuf, part of + an old courtyard in the Faubourg St. Germain,—all very fresh and + striking. Yet, with the recollection of his poverty in her mind, she could + not help saying, “But if you copied one of those masterpieces, you know + you could sell it. There is always a demand for that work.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he replied, “but these help me in my line, which is architectural + study. It is, perhaps, not very ambitious,” he added thoughtfully, “but,” + brightening up again, “I sell these sketches, too. They are quite + marketable, I assure you.” + </p> + <p> + Helen's heart sank again. She remembered now to have seen such sketches—she + doubted not they were his—in the cheap shops in the Rue Poissoniere, + ticketed at a few francs each. She was silent as he patiently turned them + over. Suddenly she uttered a little cry. + </p> + <p> + He had just uncovered a little sketch of what seemed at first sight only a + confused cluster of roof tops, dormer windows, and chimneys, level with + the sky-line. But it was bathed in the white sunshine of Paris, against + the blue sky she knew so well. There, too, were the gritty crystals and + rust of the tiles, the red, brown, and greenish mosses of the gutters, and + lower down the more vivid colors of geraniums and pansies in flower-pots + under the white dimity curtains which hid the small panes of garret + windows; yet every sordid detail touched and transfigured with the poetry + and romance of youth and genius. + </p> + <p> + “You have seen this?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; it is a study from my window. One must go high for such effects. You + would be surprised if you could see how different the air and sunshine”— + </p> + <p> + “No,” she interrupted gently, “I HAVE seen it.” + </p> + <p> + “You?” he repeated, gazing at her curiously. + </p> + <p> + Helen ran the point of her slim finger along the sketch until it reached a + tiny dormer window in the left-hand corner, half-hidden by an irregular + chimney-stack. The curtains were closely drawn. Keeping her finger upon + the spot, she said, interrogatively, “And you saw THAT window?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, quite plainly. I remember it was always open, and the room seemed + empty from early morning to evening, when the curtains were drawn.” + </p> + <p> + “It is my room,” she said simply. + </p> + <p> + Their eyes met with this sudden confession of their equal poverty. “And + mine,” he said gayly, “from which this view was taken, is in the rear and + still higher up on the other street.” + </p> + <p> + They both laughed as if some singular restraint had been removed; Helen + even forgot the incident of the bread in her relief. Then they compared + notes of their experiences, of their different concierges, of their + housekeeping, of the cheap stores and the cheaper restaurants of Paris,—except + one. She told him her name, and learned that his was Philip, or, if she + pleased, Major Ostrander. Suddenly glancing at her companions, who were + ostentatiously lingering at a little distance, she became conscious for + the first time that she was talking quite confidentially to a very + handsome man, and for a brief moment wished, she knew not why, that he had + been plainer. This momentary restraint was accented by the entrance of a + lady and gentleman, rather distingue in dress and bearing, who had stopped + before them, and were eying equally the artist, his work, and his + companion with somewhat insolent curiosity. Helen felt herself stiffening; + her companion drew himself up with soldierly rigidity. For a moment it + seemed as if, under that banal influence, they would part with ceremonious + continental politeness, but suddenly their hands met in a national + handshake, and with a frank smile they separated. + </p> + <p> + Helen rejoined her companions. + </p> + <p> + “So you have made a conquest of the recently acquired but unknown Greek + statue?” said Mademoiselle Renee lightly. “You should take up a + subscription to restore his arm, ma petite, if there is a modern sculptor + who can do it. You might suggest it to the two Russian cognoscenti, who + have been hovering around him as if they wanted to buy him as well as his + work. Madame La Princesse is rich enough to indulge her artistic taste.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a countryman of mine,” said Helen simply. + </p> + <p> + “He certainly does not speak French,” said mademoiselle mischievously. + </p> + <p> + “Nor think it,” responded Helen with equal vivacity. Nevertheless, she + wished she had seen him alone. + </p> + <p> + She thought nothing more of him that day in her finishing exercises. But + the next morning as she went to open her window after dressing, she drew + back with a new consciousness, and then, making a peephole in the curtain, + looked over the opposite roofs. She had seen them many times before, but + now they had acquired a new picturesqueness, which as her view was, of + course, the reverse of the poor painter's sketch, must have been a + transfigured memory of her own. Then she glanced curiously along the line + of windows level with hers. All these, however, with their occasional + revelations of the menage behind them, were also familiar to her, but now + she began to wonder which was his. A singular instinct at last impelled + her to lift her eyes. Higher in the corner house, and so near the roof + that it scarcely seemed possible for a grown man to stand upright behind + it, was an oeil de boeuf looking down upon the other roofs, and framed in + that circular opening like a vignette was the handsome face of Major + Ostrander. His eyes seemed to be turned towards her window. Her first + impulse was to open it and recognize him with a friendly nod. But an odd + mingling of mischief and shyness made her turn away quickly. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, she met him the next morning walking slowly so near her + house that their encounter might have been scarcely accidental on his + part. She walked with him as far as the Conservatoire. In the light of the + open street she thought he looked pale and hollow-cheeked; she wondered if + it was from his enforced frugality, and was trying to conceive some + elaborate plan of obliging him to accept her hospitality at least for a + single meal, when he said:— + </p> + <p> + “I think you have brought me luck, Miss Maynard.” + </p> + <p> + Helen opened her eyes wonderingly. + </p> + <p> + “The two Russian connoisseurs who stared at us so rudely were pleased, + however, to also stare at my work. They offered me a fabulous sum for one + or two of my sketches. It didn't seem to me quite the square thing to old + Favel the picture-dealer, whom I had forced to take a lot at one fifteenth + the price, so I simply referred them to him.” + </p> + <p> + “No!” said Miss Helen indignantly; “you were not so foolish?” + </p> + <p> + Ostrander laughed. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid what you call my folly didn't avail, for they wanted what they + saw in my portfolio.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” said Helen. “Why, that sketch of the housetop alone was worth + a hundred times more than what you”—She stopped; she did not like to + reveal what he got for his pictures, and added, “more than what any of + those usurers would give.” + </p> + <p> + “I am glad you think so well of it, for I do not mean to sell it,” he said + simply, yet with a significance that kept her silent. + </p> + <p> + She did not see him again for several days. The preparation for her + examination left her no time, and her earnest concentration in her work + fully preoccupied her thoughts. She was surprised, but not disturbed, on + the day of the awards to see him among the audience of anxious parents and + relations. Miss Helen Maynard did not get the first prize, nor yet the + second; an accessit was her only award. She did not know until afterwards + that this had long been a foregone conclusion of her teachers on account + of some intrinsic defect in her voice. She did not know until long + afterwards that the handsome painter's nervousness on that occasion had + attracted even the sympathy of some of those who were near him. For she + herself had been calm and collected. No one else knew how crushing was the + blow which shattered her hopes and made her three years of labor and + privation a useless struggle. Yet though no longer a pupil she could still + teach; her master had found her a small patronage that saved her from + destitution. That night she circled up quite cheerfully in her usual + swallow flight to her nest under the eaves, and even twittered on the + landing a little over the condolences of the concierge—who knew, mon + Dieu! what a beast the director of the Conservatoire was and how he could + be bribed; but when at last her brown head sank on her pillow she cried—just + a little. + </p> + <p> + But what was all this to that next morning—the glorious spring + morning which bathed all the roofs of Paris with warmth and hope, + rekindling enthusiasm and ambition in the breast of youth, and gilding + even much of the sordid dirt below. It seemed quite natural that she + should meet Major Ostrander not many yards away as she sallied out. In + that bright spring sunshine and the hopeful spring of their youth they + even laughed at the previous day's disappointment. Ah! what a claque it + was, after all! For himself, he, Ostrander, would much rather see that + satin-faced Parisian girl who had got the prize smirking at the critics + from the boards of the Grand Opera than his countrywoman! The + Conservatoire settled things for Paris, but Paris wasn't the world! + America would come to the fore yet in art of all kinds—there was a + free academy there now—there should be a Conservatoire of its own. + Of course, Paris schooling and Paris experience weren't to be despised in + art; but, thank heaven! she had THAT, and no directors could take it from + her! This and much more, until, comparing notes, they suddenly found that + they were both free for that day. Why should they not take advantage of + that rare weather and rarer opportunity to make a little suburban + excursion? But where? There was the Bois, but that was still Paris. + Fontainebleau? Too far; there were always artists sketching in the forest, + and he would like for that day to “sink the shop.” Versailles? Ah, yes! + Versailles! + </p> + <p> + Thither they went. It was not new to either of them. Ostrander knew it as + an artist and as an American reader of that French historic romance—a + reader who hurried over the sham intrigues of the Oeil de Boeuf, the sham + pastorals of the Petit Trianon, and the sham heroics of a shifty court, to + get to Lafayette. Helen knew it as a child who had dodged these lessons + from her patriotic father, but had enjoyed the woods, the parks, the + terraces, and particularly the restaurant at the park gates. That day they + took it like a boy and girl,—with the amused, omniscient tolerance + of youth for a past so inferior to the present. Ostrander thought this + gray-eyed, independent American-French girl far superior to the obsequious + filles d'honneur, whose brocades had rustled through those quinquonces, + and Helen vaguely realized the truth of her fellow pupil's mischievous + criticism of her companion that day at the Louvre. Surely there was no + classical statue here comparable to the one-armed soldier-painter! + </p> + <p> + All this was as yet free from either sentiment or passion, and was only + the frank pride of friendship. But, oddly enough, their mere presence and + companionship seemed to excite in others that tenderness they had not yet + felt themselves. Family groups watched the handsome pair in their innocent + confidences, and, with French exuberant recognition of sentiment, thought + them the incarnation of Love. Something in their manifest equality of + condition kept even the vainest and most susceptible of spectators from + attempted rivalry or cynical interruption. And when at last they dropped + side by side on a sun-warmed stone bench on the terrace, and Helen, + inclining her brown head towards her companion, informed him of the + difficulty she had experienced in getting gumbo soup, rice and chicken, + corn cakes, or any of her favorite home dishes in Paris, an exhausted but + gallant boulevardier rose from a contiguous bench, and, politely lifting + his hat to the handsome couple, turned slowly away from what he believed + were tender confidences he would not permit himself to hear. + </p> + <p> + But the shadow of the trees began to lengthen, casting broad bars across + the alle, and the sun sank lower to the level of their eyes. They were + quite surprised, on looking around a few moments later, to discover that + the gardens were quite deserted, and Ostrander, on consulting his watch, + found that they had just lost a train which the other pleasure-seekers had + evidently availed themselves of. No matter; there was another train an + hour later; they could still linger for a few moments in the brief sunset + and then dine at the local restaurant before they left. They both laughed + at their forgetfulness, and then, without knowing why, suddenly lapsed + into silence. A faint wind blew in their faces and trilled the thin leaves + above their heads. Nothing else moved. The long windows of the palace in + that sunset light seemed to glisten again with the incendiary fires of the + Revolution, and then went out blankly and abruptly. The two companions + felt that they possessed the terrace and all its memories as completely as + the shadows who had lived and died there. + </p> + <p> + “I am so glad we have had this day together,” said the painter, with a + very conscious breaking of the silence, “for I am leaving Paris + to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + Helen raised her eyes quickly to his. + </p> + <p> + “For a few days only,” he continued. “My Russian customers—perhaps I + ought to say my patrons—have given me a commission to make a study + of an old chateau which the princess lately bought.” + </p> + <p> + A swift recollection of her fellow pupil's raillery regarding the + princess's possible attitude towards the painter came over her and gave a + strange artificiality to her response. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you will enjoy it very much,” she said dryly. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he returned with the frankness that she had lacked. “I'd much rather + stay in Paris, but,” he added with a faint smile, “it's a question of + money, and that is not to be despised. Yet I—I—somehow feel + that I am deserting you,—leaving you here all alone in Paris.” + </p> + <p> + “I've been all alone for four years,” she said, with a bitterness she had + never felt before, “and I suppose I'm accustomed to it.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless she leaned a little forward, with her fawn-colored lashes + dropped over her eyes, which were bent upon the ground and the point of + the parasol she was holding with her little gloved hands between her + knees. He wondered why she did not look up; he did not know that it was + partly because there were tears in her eyes and partly for another reason. + As she had leaned forward his arm had quite unconsciously moved along the + back of the bench where her shoulders had rested, and she could not have + resumed her position except in his half embrace. + </p> + <p> + He had not thought of it. He was lost in a greater abstraction. That + infinite tenderness,—far above a woman's,—the tenderness of + strength and manliness towards weakness and delicacy, the tenderness that + looks down and not up, was already possessing him. An instinct of + protection drew him nearer this bowed but charming figure, and if he then + noticed that the shoulders were pretty, and the curves of the slim waist + symmetrical, it was rather with a feeling of timidity and a + half-consciousness of unchivalrous thought. Yet why should he not try to + keep the brave and honest girl near him always? Why should he not claim + the right to protect her? Why should they not—they who were alone in + a strange land—join their two lonely lives for mutual help and + happiness? + </p> + <p> + A sudden perception of delicacy, the thought that he should have spoken + before her failure at the Conservatoire had made her feel her + helplessness, brought a slight color to his cheek. Would it not seem to + her that he was taking an unfair advantage of her misfortune? Yet it would + be so easy now to slip a loving arm around her waist, while he could work + for her and protect her with the other. THE OTHER! His eye fell on his + empty sleeve. Ah, he had forgotten that! He had but ONE arm! + </p> + <p> + He rose up abruptly,—so abruptly that Helen, rising too, almost + touched the arm that was hurriedly withdrawn. Yet in that accidental + contact, which sent a vague tremor through the young girl's frame, there + was still time for him to have spoken. But he only said:— + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps we had better dine.” + </p> + <p> + She assented quickly,—she knew not why,—with a feeling of + relief. They walked very quietly and slowly towards the restaurant. Not a + word of love had been spoken; not even a glance of understanding had + passed between them. Yet they both knew by some mysterious instinct that a + crisis of their lives had come and gone, and that they never again could + be to each other as they were but a brief moment ago. They talked very + sensibly and gravely during their frugal meal; the previous spectator of + their confidences would have now thought them only simple friends and have + been as mistaken as before. They talked freely of their hopes and + prospects,—all save one! They even spoke pleasantly of repeating + their little expedition after his return from the country, while in their + secret hearts they had both resolved never to see each other again. Yet by + that sign each knew that this was love, and were proud of each other's + pride, which kept it a secret. + </p> + <p> + The train was late, and it was past ten o'clock when they at last appeared + before the concierge of Helen's home. During their journey, and while + passing though the crowds at the station and in the streets, Ostrander had + exhibited a new and grave guardianship over the young girl, and, on the + first landing, after a scrutinizing and an almost fierce glance at one or + two of Helen's odd fellow lodgers, he had extended his protection so far + as to accompany her up the four flights to the landing of her apartment. + Here he took leave of her with a grave courtesy that half pained, half + pleased her. She watched his broad shoulders and dangling sleeve as he + went down the stairs, and then quickly turned, entered her room, and + locked the door. The smile had faded from her lips. Going to the window, + she pressed her hot forehead against the cool glass and looked out upon + the stars nearly level with the black roofs around her. She stood there + some moments until another star appeared higher up against the roof ridge, + the star she was looking for. But here the glass pane before her eyes + became presently dim with moisture; she was obliged to rub it out with her + handkerchief; yet, somehow, it soon became clouded, at which she turned + sharply away and went to bed. + </p> + <p> + But Miss Helen did not know that when she had looked after the retreating + figure of her protector as he descended the stairs that night that he was + really carrying away on those broad shoulders the character she had so + laboriously gained during her four years' solitude. For when she came down + the next morning the concierge bowed to her with an air of easy, cynical + abstraction, the result of a long conversation with his wife the night + before. He had taken Helen's part with a kindly cynicism. “Ah! what would + you—it was bound to come. The affair of the Conservatoire had + settled that. The poor child could not starve; penniless, she could not + marry. Only why consort with other swallows under the eaves when she could + have had a gilded cage on the first etage?” But girls were so foolish—in + their first affair; then it was always LOVE! The second time they were + wiser. And this maimed warrior and painter was as poor as she. A + compatriot, too; well, perhaps that saved some scandal; one could never + know what the Americans were accustomed to do. The first floor, which had + been inclined to be civil to the young teacher, was more so, but less + respectful; one or two young men were tentatively familiar until they + looked in her gray eyes and remembered the broad shoulders of the painter. + Oddly enough, only Mademoiselle Fifine, of her own landing, exhibited any + sympathy with her, and for the first time Helen was frightened. She did + not show it, however, only she changed her lodgings the next day. But + before she left she had a few moments' conversation with the concierge and + an exchange of a word or two with some of her fellow lodgers. I have + already hinted that the young lady had great precision of statement; she + had a pretty turn for handling colloquial French and an incisive knowledge + of French character. She left No. 34, Rue de Frivole, working itself into + a white rage, but utterly undecided as to her real character. + </p> + <p> + But all this and much more was presently blown away in the hot breath that + swept the boulevards at the outburst of the Franco-German War, and Miss + Helen Maynard disappeared from Paris with many of her fellow countrymen. + The excitement reached even a quaint old chateau in Brittany where Major + Ostrander was painting. The woman who was standing by his side as he sat + before his easel on the broad terrace observed that he looked disturbed. + </p> + <p> + “What matters?” she said gently. “You have progressed so well in your work + that you can finish it elsewhere. I have no great desire to stay in France + with a frontier garrisoned by troops while I have a villa in Switzerland + where you could still be my guest. Paris can teach you nothing more, my + friend; you have only to create now—and be famous.” + </p> + <p> + “I must go to Paris,” he said quietly. “I have friends—countrymen—there, + who may want me now.” + </p> + <p> + “If you mean the young singer of the Rue de Frivole, you have compromised + her already. You can do her no good.” + </p> + <p> + “Madame!” + </p> + <p> + The pretty face which he had been familiar with for the past six weeks + somehow seemed to change its character. Under the mask of dazzling skin he + fancied he saw the high cheek-bones and square Tartar angle; the brilliant + eyes were even brighter than before, but they showed more of the white + than he had ever seen in them. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless she smiled, with an equally stony revelation of her white + teeth, yet said, still gently, “Forgive me if I thought our friendship + justified me in being frank,—perhaps too frank for my own good.” + </p> + <p> + She stopped as if half expecting an interruption; but as he remained + looking wonderingly at her, she bit her lip, and went on: “You have a + great career before you. Those who help you must do so without entangling + you; a chain of roses may be as impeding as lead. Until you are + independent, you—who may in time compass everything yourself—will + need to be helped. You know,” she added with a smile, “you have but one + arm.” + </p> + <p> + “In your kindness and appreciation you have made me forget it,” he + stammered. Yet he had a swift vision of the little bench at Versailles + where he had NOT forgotten it, and as he glanced around the empty terrace + where they stood he was struck with a fateful resemblance to it. + </p> + <p> + “And I should not remind you now of it,” she went on, “except to say that + money can always take its place. As in the fairy story, the prince must + have a new arm made of gold.” She stopped, and then suddenly coming closer + to him said, hurriedly and almost fiercely, “Can you not see that I am + advising you against my interests,—against myself? Go, then, to + Paris, and go quickly, before I change my mind. Only if you do not find + your friends there, remember you have always ONE here.” Before he could + reply, or even understand that white face, she was gone. + </p> + <p> + He left for Paris that afternoon. He went directly to the Rue de Frivole; + his old resolution to avoid Helen was blown to the winds in the prospect + of losing her utterly. But the concierge only knew that mademoiselle had + left a day or two after monsieur had accompanied her home. And, pointedly, + there was another gentleman who had inquired eagerly—and bountifully + as far as money went—for any trace of the young lady. It was a + Russe. The concierge smiled to himself at Ostrander's flushed cheek. It + served this one-armed, conceited American poseur right. Mademoiselle was + wiser in this SECOND affair. + </p> + <p> + Ostrander did not finish his picture. The princess sent him a cheque, + which he coldly returned. Nevertheless he had acquired through his Russian + patronage a local fame which stood him well with the picture dealers,—in + spite of the excitement of the war. But his heart was no longer in his + work; a fever of unrest seized him, which at another time might have + wasted itself in mere dissipation. Some of his fellow artists had already + gone into the army. After the first great reverses he offered his one arm + and his military experience to that Paris which had given him a home. The + old fighting instinct returned to him with a certain desperation he had + never known before. In the sorties from Paris the one-armed American + became famous, until a few days before the capitulation, when he was + struck down by a bullet through the lung, and left in a temporary + hospital. Here in the whirl and terror of Commune days he was forgotten, + and when Paris revived under the republic he had disappeared as completely + as his compatriot Helen. + </p> + <p> + But Miss Helen Maynard had been only obscured and not extinguished. At the + first outbreak of hostilities a few Americans had still kept giddy state + among the ruins of the tottering empire. A day or two after she left the + Rue de Frivole she was invited by one of her wealthy former schoolmates to + assist with her voice and talent at one of their extravagant + entertainments. “You will understand, dear,” said Miss de Laine, with + ingenious delicacy, as she eyed her old comrade's well-worn dress, “that + Poppa expects to pay you professional prices, and it may be an opening for + you among our other friends.” + </p> + <p> + “I should not come otherwise, dear,” said Miss Helen with equal frankness. + But she played and sang very charmingly to the fashionable assembly in the + Champs Elysees,—so charmingly, indeed, that Miss de Laine + patronizingly expatiated upon her worth and her better days in confidence + to some of the guests. + </p> + <p> + “A most deserving creature,” said Miss de Laine to the dowager duchess of + Soho, who was passing through Paris on her way to England; “you would + hardly believe that Poppa knew her father when he was one of the richest + men in South Carolina.” + </p> + <p> + “Your father seems to have been very fortunate,” said the duchess quietly, + “and so are YOU. Introduce me.” + </p> + <p> + This not being exactly the reply that Miss de Laine expected, she + momentarily hesitated: but the duchess profited by it to walk over to the + piano and introduce herself. When she rose to go she invited Helen to + luncheon with her the next day. “Come early, my dear, and we'll have a + long talk.” Helen pointed out hesitatingly that she was practically a + guest of the de Laines. “Ah, well, that's true, my dear; then you may + bring one of them with you.” + </p> + <p> + Helen went to the luncheon, but was unaccompanied. She had a long talk + with the dowager. “I am not rich, my dear, like your friends, and cannot + afford to pay ten napoleons for a song. Like you I have seen 'better + days.' But this is no place for you, child, and if you can bear with an + old woman's company for a while I think I can find you something to do.” + That evening Helen left for England with the duchess, a piece of + “ingratitude, indelicacy, and shameless snobbery,” which Miss de Laine was + never weary of dilating upon. “And to think I introduced her, though she + was a professional!” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + It was three years after. Paris, reviving under the republic, had + forgotten Helen and the American colony; and the American colony, + emigrating to more congenial courts, had forgotten Paris. + </p> + <p> + It was a bleak day of English summer when Helen, standing by the window of + the breakfast-room at Hamley Court, and looking over the wonderful lawn, + kept perennially green by humid English skies, heard the practical, + masculine voice of the duchess in her ear at the same moment that she felt + the gentle womanly touch of her hand on her shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “We are going to luncheon at Moreland Hall to-day, my dear.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, we were there only last week!” said Helen. + </p> + <p> + “Undoubtedly,” returned the duchess dryly, “and we may luncheon there next + week and the next following. And,” she added, looking into her companion's + gray eyes, “it rests with YOU to stay there if you choose.” + </p> + <p> + Helen stared at her protector. + </p> + <p> + “My dear,” continued the duchess, slipping her arm around Helen's waist, + “Sir James has honored ME—as became my relations to YOU—with + his confidences. As you haven't given me YOURS I suppose you have none, + and that I am telling you news when I say that Sir James wishes to marry + you.” + </p> + <p> + The unmistakable astonishment in the girl's eye satisfied the duchess even + before her voice. + </p> + <p> + “But he scarcely knows me or anything of me!” said the young girl quickly. + </p> + <p> + “On the contrary, my dear, he knows EVERYTHING about you. I have been + particular in telling him all I know—and some things even YOU don't + know and couldn't tell him. For instance, that you are a very nice person. + Come, my dear, don't look so stupefied, or I shall really think there's + something in it that I don't know. It's not a laughing nor a crying matter + yet—at present it's only luncheon again with a civil man who has + three daughters and a place in the county. Don't make the mistake, + however, of refusing him before he offers—whatever you do + afterwards.” + </p> + <p> + “But”—stammered Helen. + </p> + <p> + “But—you are going to say that you don't love him and have never + thought of him as a husband,” interrupted the duchess; “I read it in your + face,—and it's a very proper thing to say.” + </p> + <p> + “It is so unexpected,” urged Helen. + </p> + <p> + “Everything is unexpected from a man in these matters,” said the duchess. + “We women are the only ones that are prepared.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” persisted Helen, “if I don't want to marry at all?” + </p> + <p> + “I should say, then, that it is a sign that you ought; if you were eager, + my dear, I should certainly dissuade you.” She paused, and then drawing + Helen closer to her, said, with a certain masculine tenderness, “As long + as I live, dear, you know that you have a home here. But I am an old woman + living on the smallest of settlements. Death is as inevitable to me as + marriage should be to you.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, they did not renew the conversation, and later received the + greetings of their host at Moreland Hall with a simplicity and frankness + that were, however, perfectly natural and unaffected in both women. Sir + James,—a tall, well-preserved man of middle age, with the + unmistakable bearing of long years of recognized and unchallenged + position,—however, exhibited on this occasion that slight + consciousness of weakness and susceptibility to ridicule which is apt to + indicate the invasion of the tender passion in the heart of the average + Briton. His duty as host towards the elder woman of superior rank, + however, covered his embarrassment, and for a moment left Helen quite + undisturbed to gaze again upon the treasures of the long drawing-room of + Moreland Hall with which she was already familiar. There were the + half-dozen old masters, whose respectability had been as recognized + through centuries as their owner's ancestors; there were the ancestors + themselves,—wigged, ruffled, and white-handed, by Vandyke, Lely, + Romney, and Gainsborough; there were the uniform, expressionless + ancestresses in stiff brocade or short-waisted, clinging draperies, but + all possessing that brilliant coloring which the gray skies outside + lacked, and which seemed to have departed from the dresses of their + descendants. The American girl had sometimes speculated upon what might + have been the appearance of the lime-tree walk, dotted with these gayly + plumaged folk, and wondered if the tyranny of environment had at last + subdued their brilliant colors. And a new feeling touched her. Like most + of her countrywomen, she was strongly affected by the furniture of life; + the thought that all that she saw there MIGHT BE HERS; that she might yet + stand in succession to these strange courtiers and stranger shepherdesses, + and, like them, look down from the canvas upon the intruding foreigner, + thrilled her for a moment with a half-proud, half-passive sense of + yielding to what seemed to be her fate. A narrow-eyed, stiff-haired Dutch + maid of honor before whom she was standing gazed at her with staring + vacancy. Suddenly she started. Before the portrait upon a fanciful easel + stood a small elaborately framed sketch in oils. It was evidently some + recently imported treasure. She had not seen it before. As she moved + quickly forward, she recognized at a glance that it was Ostrander's sketch + from the Paris grenier. + </p> + <p> + The wall, the room, the park beyond, even the gray sky, seemed to fade + away before her. She was standing once more at her attic window looking + across the roofs and chimney stacks upward to the blue sky of Paris. + Through a gap in the roofs she could see the chestnut-trees trilling in + the little square; she could hear the swallows twittering in the leaden + troughs of the gutter before her; the call of the chocolate vender or the + cry of a gamin floated up to her from the street below, or the latest song + of the cafe chantant was whistled by the blue-bloused workman on the + scaffolding hard by. The breath of Paris, of youth, of blended work and + play, of ambition, of joyous freedom, again filled her and mingled with + the scent of the mignonette that used to stand on the old window-ledge. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad you like it. I have only just put it up.” + </p> + <p> + It was the voice of Sir James—a voice that had regained a little of + its naturalness—a calm, even lazy English voice—confident from + the experience of years of respectful listeners. Yet it somehow jarred + upon her nerves with its complacency and its utter incongruousness to her + feelings. Nevertheless, the impulse to know more about the sketch was the + stronger. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean you have just bought it?” asked Helen. “It's not English?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Sir James, gratified with his companion's interest. “I bought + it in Paris just after the Commune.” + </p> + <p> + “From the artist?” continued Helen, in a slightly constrained voice. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Sir James, “although I knew the poor chap well enough. You can + easily see that he was once a painter of great promise. I rather think it + was stolen from him while he was in hospital by those incendiary wretches. + I recognized it, however, and bought for a few francs from them what I + would have paid HIM a thousand for.” + </p> + <p> + “In hospital?” repeated Helen dazedly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Sir James. “The fact is it was the ending of the usual + Bohemian artist's life. Though in this case the man was a real artist,—and + I believe, by the way, was a countryman of yours.” + </p> + <p> + “In hospital?” again repeated Helen. “Then he was poor?” + </p> + <p> + “Reckless, I should rather say; he threw himself into the fighting before + Paris and was badly wounded. But it was all the result of the usual love + affair—the girl, they say, ran off with the usual richer man. At all + events, it ruined him for painting; he never did anything worth having + afterwards.” + </p> + <p> + “And now?” said Helen in the same unmoved voice. + </p> + <p> + Sir James shrugged his shoulders. “He disappeared. Probably he'll turn up + some day on the London pavement—with chalks. That sketch, by the + way, was one that had always attracted me to his studio—though he + never would part with it. I rather fancy, don't you know, that the girl + had something to do with it. It's a wonderfully realistic sketch, don't + you see; and I shouldn't wonder if it was the girl herself who lived + behind one of those queer little windows in the roof there.” + </p> + <p> + “She did live there,” said Helen in a low voice. + </p> + <p> + Sir James uttered a vague laugh. Helen looked around her. The duchess had + quietly and unostentatiously passed into the library, and in full view, + though out of hearing, was examining, with her glass to her eye, some + books upon the shelves. + </p> + <p> + “I mean,” said Helen, in a perfectly clear voice, “that the young girl did + NOT run away from the painter, and that he had neither the right nor the + cause to believe her faithless or attribute his misfortunes to her.” She + hesitated, not from any sense of her indiscretion, but to recover from a + momentary doubt if the girl were really her own self—but only for a + moment. + </p> + <p> + “Then you knew the painter, as I did?” he said in astonishment. + </p> + <p> + “Not as YOU did,” responded Helen. She drew nearer the picture, and, + pointing a slim finger to the canvas, said:— + </p> + <p> + “Do you see that small window with the mignonette?” + </p> + <p> + “Perfectly.” + </p> + <p> + “That was MY room. His was opposite. He told me so when I first saw the + sketch. I am the girl you speak of, for he knew no other, and I believe + him to have been a truthful, honorable man.” + </p> + <p> + “But what were you doing there? Surely you are joking?” said Sir James, + with a forced smile. + </p> + <p> + “I was a poor pupil at the Conservatoire, and lived where I could afford + to live.” + </p> + <p> + “Alone?” + </p> + <p> + “Alone.” + </p> + <p> + “And the man was”— + </p> + <p> + “Major Ostrander was my friend. I even think I have a better right to call + him that than you had.” + </p> + <p> + Sir James coughed slightly and grasped the lapel of his coat. “Of course; + I dare say; I had no idea of this, don't you know, when I spoke.” He + looked around him as if to evade a scene. “Ah! suppose we ask the duchess + to look at the sketch; I don't think she's seen it.” He began to move in + the direction of the library. + </p> + <p> + “She had better wait,” said Helen quietly. + </p> + <p> + “For what?” + </p> + <p> + “Until”—hesitated Helen smilingly. + </p> + <p> + “Until? I am afraid I don't understand,” said Sir James stiffly, coloring + with a slight suspicion. + </p> + <p> + “Until you have APOLOGIZED.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” said Sir James, with a half-hysteric laugh. “I do. You + understand I only repeated a story that was told me, and had no idea of + connecting YOU with it. I beg your pardon, I'm sure. I er—er—in + fact,” he added suddenly, the embarrassed smile fading from his face as he + looked at her fixedly, “I remember now it must have been the concierge of + the house, or the opposite one, who told me. He said it was a Russian who + carried off that young girl. Of course it was some made-up story.” + </p> + <p> + “I left Paris with the duchess,” said Helen quietly, “before the war.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course. And she knows all about your friendship with this man.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think she does. I haven't told her. Why should I?” returned + Helen, raising her clear eyes to his. + </p> + <p> + “Really, I don't know,” stammered Sir James. “But here she is. Of course + if you prefer it, I won't say anything of this to her.” + </p> + <p> + Helen gave him her first glance of genuine emotion; it happened, however, + to be scorn. + </p> + <p> + “How odd!” she said, as the duchess leisurely approached them, her glass + still in her eye. “Sir James, quite unconsciously, has just been showing + me a sketch of my dear old mansarde in Paris. Look! That little window was + my room. And, only think of it, Sir James bought it of an old friend of + mine, who painted it from the opposite attic, where he lived. And quite + unconsciously, too.” + </p> + <p> + “How very singular!” said the duchess; “indeed, quite romantic!” + </p> + <p> + “Very!” said Sir James. + </p> + <p> + “Very!” said Helen. + </p> + <p> + The tone of their voices was so different that the duchess looked from one + to the other. + </p> + <p> + “But that isn't all,” said Helen with a smile, “Sir James actually + fancied”— + </p> + <p> + “Will you excuse me for a moment?” said Sir James, interrupting, and + turning hastily to the duchess with a forced smile and a somewhat + heightened color. “I had forgotten that I had promised Lady Harriet to + drive you over to Deep Hill after luncheon to meet that South American who + has taken such a fancy to your place, and I must send to the stables.” + </p> + <p> + As Sir James disappeared, the duchess turned to Helen. “I see what has + happened, dear; don't mind me, for I frankly confess I shall now eat my + luncheon less guiltily than I feared. But tell me, HOW did you refuse + him?” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't refuse him,” said Helen. “I only prevented his asking me.” + </p> + <p> + “How?” + </p> + <p> + Then Helen told her all,—everything except her first meeting with + Ostrander at the restaurant. A true woman respects the pride of those she + loves more even than her own, and while Helen felt that although that + incident might somewhat condone her subsequent romantic passion in the + duchess's eyes, she could not tell it. + </p> + <p> + The duchess listened in silence. + </p> + <p> + “Then you two incompetents have never seen each other since?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “But you hope to?” + </p> + <p> + “I cannot speak for HIM,” said Helen. + </p> + <p> + “And you have never written to him, and don't know whether he is alive or + dead?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I have been nursing in my bosom for three years at one and the same + time a brave, independent, matter-of-fact young person and the most + idiotic, sentimental heroine that ever figured in a romantic opera or a + country ballad.” Helen did not reply. “Well, my dear,” said the duchess + after a pause, “I see that you are condemned to pass your days with me in + some cheap hotel on the continent.” Helen looked up wonderingly. “Yes,” + she continued, “I suppose I must now make up my mind to sell my place to + this gilded South American, who has taken a fancy to it. But I am not + going to spoil my day by seeing him NOW. No; we will excuse ourselves from + going to Deep Hill to-day, and we will go back home quietly after + luncheon. It will be a mercy to Sir James.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Helen earnestly, “I can go back to my old life, and earn my + own living.” + </p> + <p> + “Not if I can help it,” said the duchess grimly. “Your independence has + made you a charming companion to me, I admit; but I shall see that it does + not again spoil your chances of marrying. Here comes Sir James. Really, my + dear, I don't know which one of you looks the more relieved.” + </p> + <p> + On their way back through the park Helen again urged the duchess to give + up the idea of selling Hamley Court, and to consent to her taking up her + old freedom and independence once more. “I shall never, never forget your + loving kindness and protection,” continued the young girl, tenderly. “You + will let me come to you always when you want me; but you will let me also + shape my life anew, and work for my living.” The duchess turned her grave, + half humorous face towards her. “That means you have determined to seek + HIM. Well! Perhaps if you give up your other absurd idea of independence, + I may assist you. And now I really believe, dear, that there is that + dreadful South American,” pointing to a figure that was crossing the lawn + at Hamley Court, “hovering round like a vulture. Well, I can't see him + to-day if he calls, but YOU may. By the way, they say he is not + bad-looking, was a famous general in the South American War, and is + rolling in money, and comes here on a secret mission from his government. + But I forget—the rest of our life is to be devoted to seeking + ANOTHER. And I begin to think I am not a good matchmaker.” + </p> + <p> + Helen was in no mood for an interview with the stranger, whom, like the + duchess, she was inclined to regard as a portent of fate and sacrifice. + She knew her friend's straitened circumstances, which might make such a + sacrifice necessary to insure a competency for her old age, and, as Helen + feared also, a provision for herself. She knew the strange tenderness of + this masculine woman, which had survived a husband's infidelities and a + son's forgetfulness, to be given to her, and her heart sank at the + prospect of separation, even while her pride demanded that she should + return to her old life again. Then she wondered if the duchess was right; + did she still cherish the hope of meeting Ostrander again? The tears she + had kept back all that day asserted themselves as she flung open the + library door and ran across the garden into the myrtle walk. “In + hospital!” The words had been ringing in her ears though Sir James's + complacent speech, through the oddly constrained luncheon, through the + half-tender, half-masculine reasoning of her companion. He HAD loved her—he + had suffered and perhaps thought her false. Suddenly she stopped. At the + further end of the walk the ominous stranger whom she wished to avoid was + standing looking towards the house. + </p> + <p> + How provoking! She glanced again; he was leaning against a tree and was + obviously as preoccupied as she was herself. He was actually sketching the + ivy-covered gable of the library. What presumption! And he was sketching + with his left hand. A sudden thrill of superstition came over her. She + moved eagerly forward for a better view of him. No! he had two arms! + </p> + <p> + But his quick eye had already caught sight of her, and before she could + retreat she could see that he had thrown away his sketch-book and was + hastening eagerly toward her. Amazed and confounded she would have flown, + but her limbs suddenly refused their office, and as he at last came near + her with the cry of “Helen!” upon his lips, she felt herself staggering, + and was caught in his arms. + </p> + <p> + “Thank God,” he said. “Then she HAS let you come to me!” + </p> + <p> + She disengaged herself slowly and dazedly from him and stood looking at + him with wondering eyes. He was bronzed and worn; there was the second + arm: but still it was HE. And with the love, which she now knew he had + felt, looking from his honest eyes! + </p> + <p> + “SHE has let me come!” she repeated vacantly. “Whom do you mean?” + </p> + <p> + “The duchess.” + </p> + <p> + “The duchess?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” He stopped suddenly, gazing at her blank face, while his own grew + ashy white. “Helen! For God's sake tell me! You have not accepted him?” + </p> + <p> + “I have accepted no one,” she stammered, with a faint color rising to her + cheeks. “I do not understand you.” + </p> + <p> + A look of relief came over him. “But,” he said amazedly, “has not the + duchess told you how I happen to be here? How, when you disappeared from + Paris long ago—with my ambition crushed, and nothing left to me but + my old trade of the fighter—I joined a secret expedition to help the + Chilian revolutionists? How I, who might have starved as a painter, gained + distinction as a partisan general, and was rewarded with an envoyship in + Europe? How I came to Paris to seek you? How I found that even the picture—your + picture, Helen—had been sold. How, in tracing it here, I met the + duchess at Deep Hill, and learning you were with her, in a moment of + impulse told her my whole story. How she told me that though she was your + best friend, you had never spoken of me, and how she begged me not to + spoil your chance of a good match by revealing myself, and so awakening a + past—which she believed you had forgotten. How she implored me at + least to let her make a fair test of your affections and your memory, and + until then to keep away from you—and to spare you, Helen; and for + your sake, I consented. Surely she has told this, NOW!” + </p> + <p> + “Not a word,” said Helen blankly. + </p> + <p> + “Then you mean to say that if I had not haunted the park to-day, in the + hope of seeing you, believing that as you would not recognize me with this + artificial arm, I should not break my promise to her,—you would not + have known I was even living.” + </p> + <p> + “No!—yes!—stay!” A smile broke over her pale face and left it + rosy. “I see it all now. Oh, Philip, don't you understand? She wanted only + to try us!” + </p> + <p> + There was a silence in the lonely wood, broken only by the trills of a + frightened bird whose retreat was invaded. + </p> + <p> + “Not now! Please! Wait! Come with me!” + </p> + <p> + The next moment she had seized Philip's left hand, and, dragging him with + her, was flying down the walk towards the house. But as they neared the + garden door it suddenly opened on the duchess, with her glasses to her + eyes, smiling. + </p> + <p> + The General Don Felipe Ostrander did not buy Hamley Court, but he and his + wife were always welcome guests there. And Sir James, as became an English + gentleman,—amazed though he was at Philip's singular return, and + more singular incognito,—afterwards gallantly presented Philip's + wife with Philip's first picture. + </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 JUDGMENT OF BOLINAS PLAIN + </h2> + <p> + The wind was getting up on the Bolinas Plain. It had started the fine + alkaline dust along the level stage road, so that even that faint track, + the only break in the monotony of the landscape, seemed fainter than ever. + But the dust cloud was otherwise a relief; it took the semblance of + distant woods where there was no timber, of moving teams where there was + no life. And as Sue Beasley, standing in the doorway of One Spring House + that afternoon, shading her sandy lashes with her small red hand, glanced + along the desolate track, even HER eyes, trained to the dreary prospect, + were once or twice deceived. + </p> + <p> + “Sue!” + </p> + <p> + It was a man's voice from within. Sue took no notice of it, but remained + with her hand shading her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Sue! Wot yer yawpin' at thar?” + </p> + <p> + “Yawpin'” would seem to have been the local expression for her + abstraction, since, without turning her head, she answered slowly and + languidly: “Reckoned I see'd som' un on the stage road. But 'tain't + nothin' nor nobody.” + </p> + <p> + Both voices had in their accents and delivery something of the sadness and + infinite protraction of the plain. But the woman's had a musical + possibility in its long-drawn cadence, while the man's was only monotonous + and wearying. And as she turned back into the room again, and confronted + her companion, there was the like difference in their appearance. Ira + Beasley, her husband, had suffered from the combined effects of indolence, + carelessness, misadventure, and disease. Two of his fingers had been cut + off by a scythe, his thumb and part of his left ear had been blown away by + an overcharged gun; his knees were crippled by rheumatism, and one foot + was lame from ingrowing nails,—deviations that, however, did not + tend to correct the original angularities of his frame. His wife, on the + other hand, had a pretty figure, which still retained—they were + childless—the rounded freshness of maidenhood. Her features were + irregular, yet not without a certain piquancy of outline; her hair had the + two shades sometimes seen in imperfect blondes, and her complexion the + sallowness of combined exposure and alkaline assimilation. + </p> + <p> + She had lived there since, an angular girl of fifteen, she had been + awkwardly helped by Ira from the tail-board of the emigrant wagon in which + her mother had died two weeks before, and which was making its first halt + on the Californian plains, before Ira's door. On the second day of their + halt Ira had tried to kiss her while she was drawing water, and had + received the contents of the bucket instead,—the girl knowing her + own value. On the third day Ira had some conversation with her father + regarding locations and stock. On the fourth day this conversation was + continued in the presence of the girl; on the fifth day the three walked + to Parson Davies' house, four miles away, where Ira and Sue were married. + The romance of a week had taken place within the confines of her present + view from the doorway; the episode of her life might have been shut in in + that last sweep of her sandy lashes. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, at that moment some instinct, she knew not what, impelled + her when her husband left the room to put down the dish she was washing, + and, with the towel lapped over her bare pretty arms, to lean once more + against the doorpost, lazily looking down the plain. A cylindrical cloud + of dust trailing its tattered skirt along the stage road suddenly + assaulted the house, and for an instant enveloped it. As it whirled away + again something emerged, or rather dropped from its skirts behind the + little cluster of low bushes which encircled the “One Spring.” It was a + man. + </p> + <p> + “Thar! I knew it was suthin',” she began aloud, but the words somehow died + upon her lips. Then she turned and walked towards the inner door, wherein + her husband had disappeared,—but here stopped again irresolutely. + Then she suddenly walked through the outer door into the road and made + directly for the spring. The figure of a man crouching, covered with dust, + half rose from the bushes when she reached them. She was not frightened, + for he seemed utterly exhausted, and there was a singular mixture of + shame, hesitation, and entreaty in his broken voice as he gasped out:— + </p> + <p> + “Look here!—I say! hide me somewhere, won't you? Just for a little. + You see—the fact is—I'm chased! They're hunting me now,—they're + just behind me. Anywhere will do till they go by! Tell you all about it + another time. Quick! Please do!” + </p> + <p> + In all this there was nothing dramatic nor even startling to her. Nor did + there seem to be any present danger impending to the man. He did not look + like a horse-thief nor a criminal. And he had tried to laugh, + half-apologetically, half-bitterly,—the consciousness of a man who + had to ask help of a woman at such a moment. + </p> + <p> + She gave a quick glance towards the house. He followed her eyes, and said + hurriedly: “Don't tell on me. Don't let any one see me. I'm trusting you. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” she said suddenly. “Get on THIS side.” + </p> + <p> + He understood her, and slipped to her side, half-creeping, half-crouching + like a dog behind her skirts, but keeping her figure between him and the + house as she moved deliberately towards the barn, scarce fifty yards away. + When she reached it she opened the half-door quickly, said: “In there—at + the top—among the hay”—closed it, and was turning away, when + there came a faint rapping from within. She opened the door again + impatiently; the man said hastily: “Wanted to tell you—it was a man + who insulted a WOMAN! I went for him, you see—and”— + </p> + <p> + But she shut the door sharply. The fugitive had made a blunder. The + importation of her own uncertain sex into the explanation did not help + him. She kept on towards the house, however, without the least trace of + excitement or agitation in her manner, entered the front door again, + walked quietly to the door of the inner room, glanced in, saw that her + husband was absorbed in splicing a riata, and had evidently not missed + her, and returned quietly to her dish-washing. With this singular + difference: a few moments before she had seemed inattentive and careless + of what she was doing, as if from some abstraction; now, when she was + actually abstracted, her movements were mechanically perfect and + deliberate. She carefully held up a dish and examined it minutely for + cracks, rubbing it cautiously with the towel, but seeing all the while + only the man she had left in the barn. A few moments elapsed. Then there + came another rush of wind around the house, a drifting cloud of dust + before the door, the clatter of hoofs, and a quick shout. + </p> + <p> + Her husband reached the door, from the inner room, almost as quickly as + she did. They both saw in the road two armed mounted men—one of whom + Ira recognized as the sheriff's deputy. + </p> + <p> + “Has anybody been here, just now?” he asked sharply. + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Seen anybody go by?” he continued. + </p> + <p> + “No. What's up?” + </p> + <p> + “One of them circus jumpers stabbed Hal Dudley over the table in Dolores + monte shop last night, and got away this morning. We hunted him into the + plain and lost him somewhere in this d——d dust.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, Sue reckoned she saw suthin' just now,” said Ira, with a flash of + recollection. “Didn't ye, Sue?” + </p> + <p> + “Why the h-ll didn't she say it before?—I beg your pardon, ma'am; + didn't see you; you'll excuse haste.” + </p> + <p> + Both the men's hats were in their hands, embarrassed yet gratified smiles + on their faces, as Sue came forward. There was the faintest of color in + her sallow cheek, a keen brilliancy in her eyes; she looked singularly + pretty. Even Ira felt a slight antenuptial stirring through his + monotonously wedded years. + </p> + <p> + The young woman walked out, folding the towel around her red hands and + forearms—leaving the rounded whiteness of bared elbow and upper arm + in charming contrast—and looked gravely past the admiring figures + that nearly touched her own. “It was somewhar over thar,” she said lazily, + pointing up the road in the opposite direction to the barn, “but I ain't + sure it WAS any one.” + </p> + <p> + “Then he'd already PASSED the house afore you saw him?” said the deputy. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon—if it WAS him,” returned Sue. + </p> + <p> + “He must have got on,” said the deputy; “but then he runs like a deer; + it's his trade.” + </p> + <p> + “Wot trade?” + </p> + <p> + “Acrobat.” + </p> + <p> + “Wot's that?” + </p> + <p> + The two men were delighted at this divine simplicity. “A man who runs, + jumps, climbs—and all that sort, in the circus.” + </p> + <p> + “But isn't he runnin', jumpin', and climbin' away from ye now?” she + continued with adorable naivete. + </p> + <p> + The deputy smiled, but straightened in the saddle. “We're bound to come up + with him afore he reaches Lowville; and between that and this house it's a + dead level, where a gopher couldn't leave his hole without your spottin' + him a mile off! Good-by!” The words were addressed to Ira, but the parting + glance was directed to the pretty wife as the two men galloped away. + </p> + <p> + An odd uneasiness at this sudden revelation of his wife's prettiness and + its evident effect upon his visitors came over Ira. It resulted in his + addressing the empty space before his door with, “Well, ye won't ketch + much if ye go on yawpin' and dawdlin' with women-folks like this;” and he + was unreasonably delighted at the pretty assent of disdain and scorn which + sparkled in his wife's eyes as she added:— + </p> + <p> + “Not much, I reckon!” + </p> + <p> + “That's the kind of official trash we have to pay taxes to keep up,” said + Ira, who somehow felt that if public policy was not amenable to private + sentiment there was no value in free government. Mrs. Beasley, however, + complacently resumed her dish-washing, and Ira returned to his riata in + the adjoining room. For quite an interval there was no sound but the + occasional click of a dish laid upon its pile, with fingers that, however, + were firm and untremulous. Presently Sue's low voice was heard. + </p> + <p> + “Wonder if that deputy caught anything yet. I've a good mind to meander up + the road and see.” + </p> + <p> + But the question brought Ira to the door with a slight return of his + former uneasiness. He had no idea of subjecting his wife to another + admiring interview. “I reckon I'll go myself,” he said dubiously; “YOU'D + better stay and look after the house.” + </p> + <p> + Her eyes brightened as she carried a pile of plates to the dresser; it was + possible she had foreseen this compromise. “Yes,” she said cheerfully, + “you could go farther than me.” + </p> + <p> + Ira reflected. He could also send them about their business if they + thought of returning. He lifted his hat from the floor, took his rifle + down carefully from its pegs, and slouched out into the road. Sue watched + him until he was well away, then flew to the back door, stopping only an + instant to look at her face in a small mirror on the wall,—yet + without noticing her new prettiness,—then ran to the barn. Casting a + backward glance at the diminishing figure of her husband in the distance, + she threw open the door and shut it quickly behind her. At first the + abrupt change from the dazzling outer plain to the deep shadows of the + barn bewildered her. She saw before her a bucket half filled with dirty + water, and a quantity of wet straw littering the floor; then lifting her + eyes to the hay-loft, she detected the figure of the fugitive, unclothed + from the waist upward, emerging from the loose hay in which he had + evidently been drying himself. Whether it was the excitement of his + perilous situation, or whether the perfect symmetry of his bared bust and + arms—unlike anything she had ever seen before—clothed him with + the cold ideality of a statue, she could not say, but she felt no shock of + modesty; while the man, accustomed to the public half-exposure in tights + and spangles, was more conscious of detected unreadiness than of shame. + </p> + <p> + “Gettin' the dust off me,” he said, in hurried explanation; “be down in a + second.” Indeed, in another moment he had resumed his shirt and flannel + coat, and swung himself to the floor with a like grace and dexterity, that + was to her the revelation of a descending god. She found herself face to + face with him,—his features cleansed of dirt and grime, his hair + plastered in wet curls on his low forehead. It was a face of cheap + adornment, not uncommon in his profession—unintelligent, unrefined, + and even unheroic; but she did not know that. Overcoming a sudden + timidity, she nevertheless told him briefly and concisely of the arrival + and departure of his pursuers. + </p> + <p> + His low forehead wrinkled. “Thar's no getting away until they come back,” + he said without looking at her. “Could ye keep me in here to-night?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she returned simply, as if the idea had already occurred to her; + “but you must lie low in the loft.” + </p> + <p> + “And could you”—he hesitated, and went on with a forced smile—“you + see, I've eaten nothing since last night. Could you”— + </p> + <p> + “I'll bring you something,” she said quickly, nodding her head. + </p> + <p> + “And if you had”—he went on more hesitatingly, glancing down at his + travel-torn and frayed garments—“anything like a coat, or any other + clothing? It would disguise me also, you see, and put 'em off the track.” + </p> + <p> + She nodded her head again rapidly: she had thought of that too; there was + a pair of doeskin trousers and a velvet jacket left by a Mexican vaquero + who had bought stock from them two years ago. Practical as she was, a + sudden conviction that he would look well in the velvet jacket helped her + resolve. + </p> + <p> + “Did they say”—he said, with his forced smile and uneasy glance—“did + they—tell you anything about me?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said abstractedly, gazing at him. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” he began hurriedly, “I'll tell you how it was.” + </p> + <p> + “No, don't!” she said quickly. She meant it. She wanted no facts to stand + between her and this single romance of her life. “I must go and get the + things,” she added, turning away, “before he gets back.” + </p> + <p> + “Who's HE?” asked the man. + </p> + <p> + She was about to reply, “My husband,” but without knowing why stopped and + said, “Mr. Beasley,” and then ran off quickly to the house. + </p> + <p> + She found the vaquero's clothes, took some provisions, filled a flask of + whiskey in the cupboard, and ran back with them, her mouth expanded to a + vague smile, and pulsating like a schoolgirl. She even repressed with + difficulty the ejaculation “There!” as she handed them to him. He thanked + her, but with eyes fixed and fascinated by the provisions. She understood + it with a new sense of delicacy, and saying, “I'll come again when he gets + back,” ran off and returned to the house, leaving him alone to his repast. + </p> + <p> + Meantime her husband, lounging lazily along the high road, had + precipitated the catastrophe he wished to avoid. For his slouching figure, + silhouetted against the horizon on that monotonous level, had been the + only one detected by the deputy sheriff and the constable, his companion, + and they had charged down within fifty yards of him before they discovered + their mistake. They were not slow in making this an excuse for abandoning + their quest as far as Lowville: in fact, after quitting the distraction of + Mrs. Beasley's presence they had, without in the least suspecting the + actual truth, become doubtful if the fugitive had proceeded so far. He + might at that moment be snugly ensconced behind some low wire-grass ridge, + watching their own clearly defined figures, and waiting only for the night + to evade them. The Beasley house seemed a proper place of operation in + beating up the field. Ira's cold reception of the suggestion was duly + disposed of by the deputy. “I have the RIGHT, ye know,” he said, with a + grim pleasantry, “to summon ye as my posse to aid and assist me in + carrying out the law; but I ain't the man to be rough on my friends, and I + reckon it will do jest as well if I 'requisition' your house.” The + dreadful recollection that the deputy had the power to detail him and the + constable to scour the plain while he remained behind in company with Sue + stopped Ira's further objections. Yet, if he could only get rid of her + while the deputy was in the house,—but then his nearest neighbor was + five miles away! There was nothing left for him to do but to return with + the men and watch his wife keenly. Strange to say, there was a certain + stimulus in this which stirred his monotonous pulses and was not without a + vague pleasure. There is a revelation to some natures in newly awakened + jealousy that is a reincarnation of love. + </p> + <p> + As they came into the house a slight circumstance, which an hour ago would + have scarcely touched his sluggish sensibilities, now appeared to + corroborate his fear. His wife had changed her cuffs and collar, taken off + her rough apron, and evidently redressed her hair. This, with the enhanced + brightness of her eyes, which he had before noticed, convinced him that it + was due to the visit of the deputy. There was no doubt that the official + was equally attracted and fascinated by her prettiness, and although her + acceptance of his return was certainly not a cordial one, there was a kind + of demure restraint and over-consciousness in her manner that might be + coquetry. Ira had vaguely observed this quality in other young women, but + had never experienced it in his brief courtship. There had been no + rivalry, no sexual diplomacy nor insincerity in his capture of the + motherless girl who had leaped from the tail-board of her father's wagon + almost into his arms, and no man had since come between them. The idea + that Sue should care for any other than himself had been simply + inconceivable to his placid, matter-of-fact nature. That their sacrament + was final he had never doubted. If his two cows, bought with his own money + or reared by him, should suddenly have developed an inclination to give + milk to a neighbor, he would not have been more astonished. But THEY could + have been brought back with a rope, and without a heart throb. + </p> + <p> + Passion of this kind, which in a less sincere society restricts its + expression to innuendo or forced politeness, left the rustic Ira only dumb + and lethargic. He moved slowly and abstractedly around the room, accenting + his slight lameness more than ever, or dropped helplessly into a chair, + where he sat, inanely conscious of the contiguity of his wife and the + deputy, and stupidly expectant of—he knew not what. The atmosphere + of the little house seemed to him charged with some unwholesome + electricity. It kindled his wife's eyes, stimulating the deputy and his + follower to coarse playfulness, enthralled his own limbs to the convulsive + tightening of his fingers around the rungs of his chair. Yet he managed to + cling to his idea of keeping his wife occupied, and of preventing any + eyeshot between her and her guests, or the indulgence of dangerously + flippant conversation, by ordering her to bring some refreshment. “What's + gone o' the whiskey bottle?” he said, after fumbling in the cupboard. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Beasley did not blench. She only gave her head a slight toss. “Ef you + men can't get along with the coffee and flapjacks I'm going to give ye, + made with my own hands, ye kin just toddle right along to the first bar, + and order your tangle-foot there. Ef it's a barkeeper you're looking for, + and not a lady, say so!” + </p> + <p> + The novel audacity of this speech, and the fact that it suggested that + preoccupation he hoped for, relieved Ira for a moment, while it enchanted + the guests as a stroke of coquettish fascination. Mrs. Beasley + triumphantly disappeared in the kitchen, slipped off her cuffs and set to + work, and in a few moments emerged with a tray bearing the cakes and + steaming coffee. As neither she nor her husband ate anything (possibly + owing to an equal preoccupation) the guests were obliged to confine their + attentions to the repast before them. The sun, too, was already nearing + the horizon, and although its nearly level beams acted like a powerful + search-light over the stretching plain, twilight would soon put an end to + the quest. Yet they lingered. Ira now foresaw a new difficulty: the cows + were to be brought up and fodder taken from the barn; to do this he would + be obliged to leave his wife and the deputy together. I do not know if + Mrs. Beasley divined his perplexity, but she carelessly offered to perform + that evening function herself. Ira's heart leaped and sank again as the + deputy gallantly proposed to assist her. But here rustic simplicity seemed + to be equal to the occasion. “Ef I propose to do Ira's work,” said Mrs. + Beasley, with provocative archness, “it's because I reckon he'll do more + good helpin' you catch your man than you'll do helpin' ME! So clear out, + both of ye!” A feminine audacity that recalled the deputy to himself, and + left him no choice but to accept Ira's aid. I do not know whether Mrs. + Beasley felt a pang of conscience as her husband arose gratefully and + limped after the deputy; I only know that she stood looking at them from + the door, smiling and triumphant. + </p> + <p> + Then she slipped out of the back door again, and ran swiftly to the barn, + fastening on her clean cuffs and collar as she ran. The fugitive was + anxiously awaiting her, with a slight touch of brusqueness in his + eagerness. + </p> + <p> + “Thought you were never coming!” he said. + </p> + <p> + She breathlessly explained, and showed him through the half-opened door + the figures of the three men slowly spreading and diverging over the + plain, like the nearly level sun-rays they were following. The sunlight + fell also on her panting bosom, her electrified sandy hair, her red, + half-opened mouth, and short and freckled upper lip. The relieved fugitive + turned from the three remoter figures to the one beside him, and saw, for + the first time, that it was fair. At which he smiled, and her face flushed + and was irradiated. + </p> + <p> + Then they fell to talk,—he grateful, boastful,—as the distant + figures grew dim; she quickly assenting, but following his expression + rather than his words, with her own girlish face and brightening eyes. But + what he said, or how he explained his position, with what speciousness he + dwelt upon himself, his wrongs, and his manifold manly virtues, is not + necessary for us to know, nor was it, indeed, for her to understand. + Enough for her that she felt she had found the one man of all the world, + and that she was at that moment protecting him against all the world! He + was the unexpected, spontaneous gift to her, the companion her childhood + had never known, the lover she had never dreamed of, even the child of her + unsatisfied maternal yearnings. If she could not comprehend all his + selfish incoherences, she felt it was her own fault; if she could not + follow his ignorant assumptions, she knew it was SHE who was deficient; if + she could not translate his coarse speech, it was because it was the + language of a larger world from which she had been excluded. To this world + belonged the beautiful limbs she gazed on,—a very different world + from that which had produced the rheumatic deformities and useless mayhem + of her husband, or the provincially foppish garments of the deputy. + Sitting in the hayloft together, where she had mounted for greater + security, they forgot themselves in his monologue of cheap vaporing, + broken only by her assenting smiles and her half-checked sighs. The sharp + spices of the heated pine-shingles over their heads and the fragrance of + the clover-scented hay filled the close air around them. The sun was + falling with the wind, but they heeded it not; until the usual fateful + premonition struck the woman, and saying “I must go now,” she only + half-unconsciously precipitated the end. For, as she rose, he caught first + her hand and then her waist, and attempted to raise the face that was + suddenly bending down as if seeking to hide itself in the hay. It was a + brief struggle, ending in a submission as sudden, and their lips met in a + kiss, so eager that it might have been impending for days instead of + minutes. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Sue! where are ye?” + </p> + <p> + It was her husband's voice, out of a darkness that they only then + realized. The man threw her aside with a roughness that momentarily + shocked her above any sense of surprise or shame: SHE would have + confronted her husband in his arms,—glorified and translated,—had + he but kept her there. Yet she answered, with a quiet, level voice that + astonished her lover, “Here! I'm just coming down!” and walked coolly to + the ladder. Looking over, and seeing her husband with the deputy standing + in the barnyard, she quickly returned, put her finger to her lips, made a + gesture for her companion to conceal himself in the hay again, and was + turning away, when, perhaps shamed by her superior calmness, he grasped + her hand tightly and whispered, “Come again tonight, dear; do!” She + hesitated, raised her hand suddenly to her lips, and then quickly + disengaging it, slipped down the ladder. + </p> + <p> + “Ye haven't done much work yet as I kin see,” said Ira wearily. “Whitey + and Red Tip [the cows] are hangin' over the corral, just waitin'.” + </p> + <p> + “The yellow hen we reckoned was lost is sittin' in the hayloft, and + mustn't be disturbed,” said Mrs. Beasley, with decision; “and ye'll have + to take the hay from the stack to-night. And,” with an arch glance at the + deputy, “as I don't see that you two have done much either, you're just in + time to help fodder down.” + </p> + <p> + Setting the three men to work with the same bright audacity, the task was + soon completed—particularly as the deputy found no opportunity for + exclusive dalliance with Mrs. Beasley. She shut the barn door herself, and + led the way to the house, learning incidentally that the deputy had + abandoned the chase, was to occupy a “shake-down” on the kitchen-floor + that night with the constable, and depart at daybreak. The gloom of her + husband's face had settled into a look of heavy resignation and alternate + glances of watchfulness, which only seemed to inspire her with renewed + vivacity. But the cooking of supper withdrew her disturbing presence for a + time from the room, and gave him some relief. When the meal was ready he + sought further surcease from trouble in copious draughts of whiskey, which + she produced from a new bottle, and even pressed upon the deputy in + mischievous contrition for her previous inhospitality. + </p> + <p> + “Now I know that it wasn't whiskey only ye came for, I'll show you that + Sue Beasley is no slouch of a barkeeper either,” she said. + </p> + <p> + Then, rolling her sleeves above her pretty arms, she mixed a cocktail in + such delightful imitation of the fashionable barkeeper's dexterity that + her guests were convulsed with admiration. Even Ira was struck with this + revelation of a youthfulness that five years of household care had + checked, but never yet subdued. He had forgotten that he had married a + child. Only once, when she glanced at the cheap clock on the mantel, had + he noticed another change, more remarkable still from its very + inconsistency with her burst of youthful spirits. It was another face that + he saw,—older and matured with an intensity of abstraction that + struck a chill to his heart. It was not HIS Sue that was standing there, + but another Sue, wrought, as it seemed to his morbid extravagance, by some + one else's hand. + </p> + <p> + Yet there was another interval of relief when his wife, declaring she was + tired, and even jocosely confessing to some effect of the liquor she had + pretended to taste, went early to bed. The deputy, not finding the gloomy + company of the husband to his taste, presently ensconced himself on the + floor, before the kitchen fire, in the blankets that she had provided. The + constable followed his example. In a few moments the house was silent and + sleeping, save for Ira sitting alone, with his head sunk on his chest and + his hands gripping the arms of his chair before the dying embers of his + hearth. + </p> + <p> + He was trying, with the alternate quickness and inaction of an + inexperienced intellect and an imagination morbidly awakened, to grasp the + situation before him. The common sense that had hitherto governed his life + told him that the deputy would go to-morrow, and that there was nothing in + his wife's conduct to show that her coquetry and aberration would not pass + as easily. But it recurred to him that she had never shown this coquetry + or aberration to HIM during their own brief courtship,—that she had + never looked or acted like this before. If this was love, she had never + known it; if it was only “women's ways,” as he had heard men say, and so + dangerously attractive, why had she not shown it to him? He remembered + that matter-of-fact wedding, the bride without timidity, without blushes, + without expectation beyond the transference of her home to his. Would it + have been different with another man?—with the deputy, who had + called this color and animation to her face? What did it all mean? Were + all married people like this? There were the Westons, their neighbors,—was + Mrs. Weston like Sue? But he remembered that Mrs. Weston had run away with + Mr. Weston from her father's house. It was what they called “a love + match.” Would Sue have run away with him? Would she now run away with—? + </p> + <p> + The candle was guttering as he rose with a fierce start—his first + impulse of anger—from the table. He took another gulp of whiskey. It + tasted like water; its fire was quenched in the greater heat of his blood. + He would go to bed. Here a new and indefinable timidity took possession of + him; he remembered the strange look in his wife's face. It seemed suddenly + as if the influence of the sleeping stranger in the next room had not only + isolated her from him, but would make his presence in her bedroom an + intrusion on their hidden secrets. He had to pass the open door of the + kitchen. The head of the unconscious deputy was close to Ira's heavy boot. + He had only to lift his heel to crush that ruddy, good-looking, complacent + face. He hurried past him, up the creaking stairs. His wife lay still on + one side of the bed, apparently asleep, her face half-hidden in her + loosened, fluffy hair. It was well; for in the vague shyness and restraint + that was beginning to take possession of him he felt he could not have + spoken to her, or, if he had, it would have been only to voice the + horrible, unformulated things that seemed to choke him. He crept softly to + the opposite side of the bed, and began to undress. As he pulled off his + boots and stockings, his eye fell upon his bare, malformed feet. This + caused him to look at his maimed hand, to rise, drag himself across the + floor to the mirror, and gaze upon his lacerated ear. She, this prettily + formed woman lying there, must have seen it often; she must have known all + these years that he was not like other men,—not like the deputy, + with his tight riding-boots, his soft hand, and the diamond that sparkled + vulgarly on his fat little finger. A cold sweat broke over him. He drew on + his stockings again, lifted the outer counterpane, and, half undressed, + crept under it, wrapping its corner around his maimed hand, as if to hide + it from the light. Yet he felt that he saw things dimly; there was a + moisture on his cheeks and eyelids he could not account for; it must be + the whiskey “coming out.” + </p> + <p> + His wife lay very still; she scarcely seemed to breathe. What if she + should never breathe again, but die as the old Sue he knew, the lanky girl + he had married, unchanged and uncontaminated? It would be better than + this. Yet at the same moment the picture was before him of her pretty + simulation of the barkeeper, of her white bared arms and laughing eyes, + all so new, so fresh to him! He tried to listen to the slow ticking of the + clock, the occasional stirring of air through the house, and the movement, + like a deep sigh, which was the regular, inarticulate speech of the lonely + plain beyond, and quite distinct from the evening breeze. He had heard it + often, but, like so many things he had learned that day, he never seemed + to have caught its meaning before. Then, perhaps, it was his supine + position, perhaps some cumulative effect of the whiskey he had taken, but + all this presently became confused and whirling. Out of its gyrations he + tried to grasp something, to hear voices that called him to “wake,” and in + the midst of it he fell into a profound sleep. + </p> + <p> + The clock ticked, the wind sighed, the woman at his side lay motionless + for many minutes. + </p> + <p> + Then the deputy on the kitchen floor rolled over with an appalling snort, + struggled, stretched himself, and awoke. A healthy animal, he had shaken + off the fumes of liquor with a dry tongue and a thirst for water and fresh + air. He raised his knees and rubbed his eyes. The water bucket was missing + from the corner. Well, he knew where the spring was, and a turn out of the + close and stifling kitchen would do him good. He yawned, put on his boots + softly, opened the back door, and stepped out. Everything was dark, but + above and around him, to the very level of his feet, all apparently + pricked with bright stars. The bulk of the barn rose dimly before him on + the right, to the left was the spring. He reached it, drank, dipped his + head and hands in it, and arose refreshed. The dry, wholesome breath that + blew over this flat disk around him, rimmed with stars, did the rest. He + began to saunter slowly back, the only reminiscence of his evening's + potations being the figure he recalled of his pretty hostess, with bare + arms and lifted glasses, imitating the barkeeper. A complacent smile + straightened his yellow mustache. How she kept glancing at him and + watching him, the little witch! Ha! no wonder! What could she find in the + surly, slinking, stupid brute yonder? (The gentleman here alluded to was + his host.) But the deputy had not been without a certain provincial + success with the fair. He was true to most men, and fearless to all. One + may not be too hard upon him at this moment of his life. + </p> + <p> + For as he was passing the house he stopped suddenly. Above the dry, dusty, + herbal odors of the plain, above the scent of the new-mown hay within the + barn, there was distinctly another fragrance,—the smell of a pipe. + But where? Was it his host who had risen to take the outer air? Then it + suddenly flashed upon him that Beasley did NOT smoke, nor the constable + either. The smell seemed to come from the barn. Had he followed out the + train of ideas thus awakened, all might have been well; but at this moment + his attention was arrested by a far more exciting incident to him,—the + draped and hooded figure of Mrs. Beasley was just emerging from the house. + He halted instantly in the shadow, and held his breath as she glided + quickly across the intervening space and disappeared in the half-opened + door of the barn. Did she know he was there? A keen thrill passed over + him; his mouth broadened into a breathless smile. It was his last! for, as + he glided forward to the door, the starry heavens broke into a thousand + brilliant fragments around him, the earth gave way beneath his feet, and + he fell forward with half his skull shot away. + </p> + <p> + Where he fell there he lay without an outcry, with only one movement,—the + curved and grasping fingers of the fighter's hand towards his guarded hip. + Where he fell there he lay dead, his face downwards, his good right arm + still curved around across his back. Nothing of him moved but his blood,—broadening + slowly round him in vivid color, and then sluggishly thickening and + darkening until it stopped too, and sank into the earth, a dull brown + stain. For an instant the stillness of death followed the echoless report, + then there was a quick and feverish rustling within the barn, the hurried + opening of a window in the loft, scurrying footsteps, another interval of + silence, and then out of the farther darkness the sounds of horse-hoofs in + the muffled dust of the road. But not a sound or movement in the sleeping + house beyond. + </p> + <p> + The stars at last paled slowly, the horizon lines came back,—a thin + streak of opal fire. A solitary bird twittered in the bush beside the + spring. Then the back door of the house opened, and the constable came + forth, half-awakened and apologetic, and with the bewildered haste of a + belated man. His eyes were level, looking for his missing leader as he + went on, until at last he stumbled and fell over the now cold and rigid + body. He scrambled to his feet again, cast a hurried glance around him,—at + the half-opened door of the barn, at the floor littered with trampled hay. + In one corner lay the ragged blouse and trousers of the fugitive, which + the constable instantly recognized. He went back to the house, and + reappeared in a few moments with Ira, white, stupefied, and hopelessly + bewildered; clear only in his statement that his wife had just fainted at + the news of the catastrophe, and was equally helpless in her own room. The + constable—a man of narrow ideas but quick action—saw it all. + The mystery was plain without further evidence. The deputy had been + awakened by the prowling of the fugitive around the house in search of a + horse. Sallying out, they had met, and Ira's gun, which stood in the + kitchen, and which the deputy had seized, had been wrested from him and + used with fatal effect at arm's length, and the now double assassin had + escaped on the sheriff's horse, which was missing. Turning the body over + to the trembling Ira, he saddled his horse and galloped to Lowville for + assistance. + </p> + <p> + These facts were fully established at the hurried inquest which met that + day. There was no need to go behind the evidence of the constable, the + only companion of the murdered man and first discoverer of the body. The + fact that he, on the ground floor, had slept through the struggle and the + report, made the obliviousness of the couple in the room above a rational + sequence. The dazed Ira was set aside, after half a dozen contemptuous + questions; the chivalry of a Californian jury excused the attendance of a + frightened and hysterical woman confined to her room. By noon they had + departed with the body, and the long afternoon shadows settled over the + lonely plain and silent house. At nightfall Ira appeared at the door, and + stood for some moments scanning the plain; he was seen later by two + packers, who had glanced furtively at the scene of the late tragedy, + sitting outside his doorway, a mere shadow in the darkness; and a mounted + patrol later in the night saw a light in the bedroom window where the + invalid Mrs. Beasley was confined. But no one saw her afterwards. Later, + Ira explained that she had gone to visit a relative until her health was + restored. Having few friends and fewer neighbors, she was not missed; and + even the constable, the sole surviving guest who had enjoyed her brief + eminence of archness and beauty that fatal night, had quite forgotten her + in his vengeful quest of the murderer. So that people became accustomed to + see this lonely man working in the fields by day, or at nightfall gazing + fixedly from his doorway. At the end of three months he was known as the + recluse or “hermit” of Bolinas Plain; in the rapid history-making of that + epoch it was forgotten that he had ever been anything else. + </p> + <p> + But Justice, which in those days was apt to nod over the affairs of the + average citizen, was keenly awake to offenses against its own officers; + and it chanced that the constable, one day walking through the streets of + Marysville, recognized the murderer and apprehended him. He was removed to + Lowville. Here, probably through some modest doubt of the ability of the + County Court, which the constable represented, to deal with purely + circumstantial evidence, he was not above dropping a hint to the local + Vigilance Committee, who, singularly enough, in spite of his resistance, + got possession of the prisoner. It was the rainy season, and business was + slack; the citizens of Lowville were thus enabled to give so notorious a + case their fullest consideration, and to assist cheerfully at the ultimate + hanging of the prisoner, which seemed to be a foregone conclusion. + </p> + <p> + But herein they were mistaken. For when the constable had given his + evidence, already known to the county, there was a disturbance in the + fringe of humanity that lined the walls of the assembly room where the + committee was sitting, and the hermit of Bolinas Plain limped painfully + into the room. He had evidently walked there: he was soaked with rain and + plastered with mud; he was exhausted and inarticulate. But as he staggered + to the witness-bench, and elbowed the constable aside, he arrested the + attention of every one. A few laughed, but were promptly silenced by the + court. It was a reflection upon its only virtue,—sincerity. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know the prisoner?” asked the judge. + </p> + <p> + Ira Beasley glanced at the pale face of the acrobat, and shook his head. + </p> + <p> + “Never saw him before,” he said faintly. + </p> + <p> + “Then what are you doing here?” demanded the judge sternly. + </p> + <p> + Ira collected himself with evident effort, and rose to his halting feet. + First he moistened his dry lips, then he said, slowly and distinctly, + “Because I killed the deputy of Bolinas.” + </p> + <p> + With the thrill which ran through the crowded room, and the relief that + seemed to come upon him with that utterance, he gained strength and even a + certain dignity. + </p> + <p> + “I killed him,” he went on, turning his head slowly around the circle of + eager auditors with the rigidity of a wax figure, “because he made love to + my wife. I killed him because he wanted to run away with her. I killed him + because I found him waiting for her at the door of the barn at the dead o' + night, when she'd got outer bed to jine him. He hadn't no gun. He hadn't + no fight. I killed him in his tracks. That man,” pointing to the prisoner, + “wasn't in it at all.” He stopped, loosened his collar, and, baring his + rugged throat below his disfigured ear, said: “Now take me out and hang + me!” + </p> + <p> + “What proof have we of this? Where's your wife? Does she corroborate it?” + </p> + <p> + A slight tremor ran over him. + </p> + <p> + “She ran away that night, and never came back again. Perhaps,” he added + slowly, “because she loved him and couldn't bear me; perhaps, as I've + sometimes allowed to myself, gentlemen, it was because she didn't want to + bear evidence agin me.” + </p> + <p> + In the silence that followed the prisoner was heard speaking to one that + was near him. Then he rose. All the audacity and confidence that the + husband had lacked were in HIS voice. Nay, there was even a certain + chivalry in his manner which, for the moment, the rascal really believed. + </p> + <p> + “It's true!” he said. “After I stole the horse to get away, I found that + woman running wild down the road, cryin' and sobbin'. At first I thought + she'd done the shooting. It was a risky thing for me to do, gentlemen; but + I took her up on the horse and got her away to Lowville. It was that much + dead weight agin my chances, but I took it. She was a woman and—I + ain't a dog!” + </p> + <p> + He was so exalted and sublimated by his fiction that for the first time + the jury was impressed in his favor. And when Ira Beasley limped across + the room, and, extending his maimed hand to the prisoner, said, “Shake!” + there was another dead silence. + </p> + <p> + It was broken by the voice of the judge addressing the constable. + </p> + <p> + “What do you know of the deputy's attentions to Mrs. Beasley? Were they + enough to justify the husband's jealousy? Did he make love to her?” + </p> + <p> + The constable hesitated. He was a narrow man, with a crude sense of the + principles rather than the methods of justice. He remembered the deputy's + admiration; he now remembered, even more strongly, the object of that + admiration, simulating with her pretty arms the gestures of the barkeeper, + and the delight it gave them. He was loyal to his dead leader, but he + looked up and down, and then said, slowly and half-defiantly: “Well, + judge, he was a MAN.” + </p> + <p> + Everybody laughed. That the strongest and most magic of all human passions + should always awake levity in any public presentment of or allusion to it + was one of the inconsistencies of human nature which even a lynch judge + had to admit. He made no attempt to control the tittering of the court, + for he felt that the element of tragedy was no longer there. The foreman + of the jury arose and whispered to the judge amid another silence. Then + the judge spoke:— + </p> + <p> + “The prisoner and his witness are both discharged. The prisoner to leave + the town within twenty-four hours; the witness to be conducted to his own + house at the expense of, and with the thanks of, the Committee.” + </p> + <p> + They say that one afternoon, when a low mist of rain had settled over the + sodden Bolinas Plain, a haggard, bedraggled, and worn-out woman stepped + down from a common “freighting wagon” before the doorway where Beasley + still sat; that, coming forward, he caught her in his arms and called her + “Sue;” and they say that they lived happily together ever afterwards. But + they say—and this requires some corroboration—that much of + that happiness was due to Mrs. Beasley's keeping forever in her husband's + mind her own heroic sacrifice in disappearing as a witness against him, + her own forgiveness of his fruitless crime, and the gratitude he owed to + the fugitive. + </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 STRANGE EXPERIENCE OF ALKALI DICK + </h2> + <p> + He was a “cowboy.” A reckless and dashing rider, yet mindful of his + horse's needs; good-humored by nature, but quick in quarrel; independent + of circumstance, yet shy and sensitive of opinion; abstemious by education + and general habit, yet intemperate in amusement; self-centred, yet + possessed of a childish vanity,—taken altogether, a characteristic + product of the Western plains, which he never should have left. + </p> + <p> + But reckless adventure after adventure had brought him into difficulties, + from which there was only one equally adventurous escape: he joined a + company of Indians engaged by Buffalo Bill to simulate before civilized + communities the sports and customs of the uncivilized. In divers Christian + arenas of the nineteenth century he rode as a northern barbarian of the + first might have disported before the Roman populace, but harmlessly, of + his own free will, and of some little profit to himself. He threw his + lasso under the curious eyes of languid men and women of the world, eager + for some new sensation, with admiring plaudits from them and a half + contemptuous egotism of his own. But outside of the arena he was lonely, + lost, and impatient for excitement. + </p> + <p> + An ingenious attempt to “paint the town red” did not commend itself as a + spectacle to the householders who lived in the vicinity of Earl's Court, + London, and Alkali Dick was haled before a respectable magistrate by a + serious policeman, and fined as if he had been only a drunken coster. A + later attempt at Paris to “incarnadine” the neighborhood of the Champs de + Mars, and “round up” a number of boulevardiers, met with a more disastrous + result,—the gleam of steel from mounted gendarmes, and a mandate to + his employers. + </p> + <p> + So it came that one night, after the conclusion of the performance, Alkali + Dick rode out of the corral gate of the Hippodrome with his last week's + salary in his pocket and an imprecation on his lips. He had shaken the + sawdust of the sham arena from his high, tight-fitting boots; he would + shake off the white dust of France, and the effeminate soil of all Europe + also, and embark at once for his own country and the Far West! + </p> + <p> + A more practical and experienced man would have sold his horse at the + nearest market and taken train to Havre, but Alkali Dick felt himself + incomplete on terra firma without his mustang,—it would be hard + enough to part from it on embarking,—and he had determined to ride + to the seaport. + </p> + <p> + The spectacle of a lithe horseman, clad in a Rembrandt sombrero, velvet + jacket, turnover collar, almost Van Dyke in its proportions, white + trousers and high boots, with long curling hair falling over his + shoulders, and a pointed beard and mustache, was a picturesque one, but + still not a novelty to the late-supping Parisians who looked up under the + midnight gas as he passed, and only recognized one of those men whom Paris + had agreed to designate as “Booflo-bils,” going home. + </p> + <p> + At three o'clock he pulled up at a wayside cabaret, preferring it to the + publicity of a larger hotel, and lay there till morning. The slight + consternation of the cabaret-keeper and his wife over this long-haired + phantom, with glittering, deep-set eyes, was soothed by a royally-flung + gold coin, and a few words of French slang picked up in the arena, which, + with the name of Havre, comprised Dick's whole knowledge of the language. + But he was touched with their ready and intelligent comprehension of his + needs, and their genial if not so comprehensive loquacity. Luckily for his + quick temper, he did not know that they had taken him for a traveling + quack-doctor going to the Fair of Yvetot, and that madame had been on the + point of asking him for a magic balsam to prevent migraine. + </p> + <p> + He was up betimes and away, giving a wide berth to the larger towns; + taking byways and cut-offs, yet always with the Western pathfinder's + instinct, even among these alien, poplar-haunted plains, low-banked + willow-fringed rivers, and cloverless meadows. The white sun shining + everywhere,—on dazzling arbors, summer-houses, and trellises; on + light green vines and delicate pea-rows; on the white trousers, jackets, + and shoes of smart shopkeepers or holiday makers; on the white headdresses + of nurses and the white-winged caps of the Sisters of St. Vincent,—all + this grew monotonous to this native of still more monotonous wastes. The + long, black shadows of short, blue-skirted, sabotted women and short, + blue-bloused, sabotted men slowly working in the fields, with slow oxen, + or still slower heavy Norman horses; the same horses gayly bedecked, + dragging slowly not only heavy wagons, but their own apparently more + monstrous weight over the white road, fretted his nervous Western energy, + and made him impatient to get on. + </p> + <p> + At the close of the second day he found some relief on entering a + trackless wood,—not the usual formal avenue of equidistant trees, + leading to nowhere, and stopping upon the open field,—but apparently + a genuine forest as wild as one of his own “oak bottoms.” Gnarled roots + and twisted branches flung themselves across his path; his mustang's hoofs + sank in deep pits of moss and last year's withered leaves; trailing vines + caught his heavy-stirruped feet, or brushed his broad sombrero; the vista + before him seemed only to endlessly repeat the same sylvan glade; he was + in fancy once more in the primeval Western forest, and encompassed by its + vast, dim silences. He did not know that he had in fact only penetrated an + ancient park which in former days resounded to the winding fanfare of the + chase, and was still, on stated occasions, swept over by accurately + green-coated Parisians and green-plumed Dianes, who had come down by + train! To him it meant only unfettered and unlimited freedom. + </p> + <p> + He rose in his stirrups, and sent a characteristic yell ringing down the + dim aisles before him. But, alas! at the same moment, his mustang, + accustomed to the firmer grip of the prairie, in lashing out, stepped upon + a slimy root, and fell heavily, rolling over his clinging and still + unlodged rider. For a few moments both lay still. Then Dick extricated + himself with an oath, rose giddily, dragged up his horse,—who, after + the fashion of his race, was meekly succumbing to his reclining position,—and + then became aware that the unfortunate beast was badly sprained in the + shoulder, and temporarily lame. The sudden recollection that he was some + miles from the road, and that the sun was sinking, concentrated his + scattered faculties. The prospect of sleeping out in that summer woodland + was nothing to the pioneer-bred Dick; he could make his horse and himself + comfortable anywhere—but he was delaying his arrival at Havre. He + must regain the high road,—or some wayside inn. He glanced around + him; the westering sun was a guide for his general direction; the road + must follow it north or south; he would find a “clearing” somewhere. But + here Dick was mistaken; there seemed no interruption of, no encroachment + upon this sylvan tract, as in his western woods. There was no track or + trail to be found; he missed even the ordinary woodland signs that denoted + the path of animals to water. For the park, from the time a Northern Duke + had first alienated it from the virgin forest, had been rigidly preserved. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, rising apparently from the ground before him, he saw the high + roof-ridges and tourelles of a long, irregular, gloomy building. A few + steps further showed him that it lay in a cup-like depression of the + forest, and that it was still a long descent from where he had wandered to + where it stood in the gathering darkness. His mustang was moving with + great difficulty; he uncoiled his lariat from the saddle-horn, and, + selecting the most open space, tied one end to the trunk of a large tree,—the + forty feet of horsehair rope giving the animal a sufficient degree of + grazing freedom. + </p> + <p> + Then he strode more quickly down the forest side towards the building, + which now revealed its austere proportions, though Dick could see that + they were mitigated by a strange, formal flower-garden, with quaint + statues and fountains. There were grim black allees of clipped trees, a + curiously wrought iron gate, and twisted iron espaliers. On one side the + edifice was supported by a great stone terrace, which seemed to him as + broad as a Parisian boulevard. Yet everywhere it appeared sleeping in the + desertion and silence of the summer twilight. The evening breeze swayed + the lace curtains at the tall windows, but nothing else moved. To the + unsophisticated Western man it looked like a scene on the stage. + </p> + <p> + His progress was, however, presently checked by the first sight of + preservation he had met in the forest,—a thick hedge, which + interfered between him and a sloping lawn beyond. It was up to his waist, + yet he began to break his way through it, when suddenly he was arrested by + the sound of voices. Before him, on the lawn, a man and woman, evidently + servants, were slowly advancing, peering into the shadows of the wood + which he had just left. He could not understand what they were saying, but + he was about to speak and indicate by signs his desire to find the road + when the woman, turning towards her companion, caught sight of his face + and shoulders above the hedge. To his surprise and consternation, he saw + the color drop out of her fresh cheeks, her round eyes fix in their + sockets, and with a despairing shriek she turned and fled towards the + house. The man turned at his companion's cry, gave the same horrified + glance at Dick's face, uttered a hoarse “Sacre!” crossed himself + violently, and fled also. + </p> + <p> + Amazed, indignant, and for the first time in his life humiliated, Dick + gazed speechlessly after them. The man, of course, was a sneaking coward; + but the woman was rather pretty. It had not been Dick's experience to have + women run from him! Should he follow them, knock the silly fellow's head + against a tree, and demand an explanation? Alas, he knew not the language! + They had already reached the house and disappeared in one of the offices. + Well! let them go—for a mean “lowdown” pair of country bumpkins:—HE + wanted no favors from them! + </p> + <p> + He turned back angrily into the forest to seek his unlucky beast. The + gurgle of water fell on his ear; hard by was a spring, where at least he + could water the mustang. He stooped to examine it; there was yet light + enough in the sunset sky to throw back from that little mirror the + reflection of his thin, oval face, his long, curling hair, and his pointed + beard and mustache. Yes! this was his face,—the face that many women + in Paris had agreed was romantic and picturesque. Had those wretched + greenhorns never seen a real man before? Were they idiots, or insane? A + sudden recollection of the silence and seclusion of the building suggested + certainly an asylum,—but where were the keepers? + </p> + <p> + It was getting darker in the wood; he made haste to recover his horse, to + drag it to the spring, and there bathe its shoulder in the water mixed + with whiskey taken from his flask. His saddle-bag contained enough bread + and meat for his own supper; he would camp for the night where he was, and + with the first light of dawn make his way back through the wood whence he + came. As the light slowly faded from the wood he rolled himself in his + saddle-blanket and lay down. + </p> + <p> + But not to sleep. His strange position, the accident to his horse, an + unusual irritation over the incident of the frightened servants,—trivial + as it might have been to any other man,—and, above all, an + increasing childish curiosity, kept him awake and restless. Presently he + could see also that it was growing lighter beyond the edge of the wood, + and that the rays of a young crescent moon, while it plunged the forest + into darkness and impassable shadow, evidently was illuminating the hollow + below. He threw aside his blanket, and made his way to the hedge again. He + was right; he could see the quaint, formal lines of the old garden more + distinctly,—the broad terrace, the queer, dark bulk of the house, + with lights now gleaming from a few of its open windows. + </p> + <p> + Before one of these windows opening on the terrace was a small, white, + draped table with fruits, cups, and glasses, and two or three chairs. As + he gazed curiously at these new signs of life and occupation, he became + aware of a regular and monotonous tap upon the stone flags of the terrace. + Suddenly he saw three figures slowly turn the corner of the terrace at the + further end of the building, and walk towards the table. The central + figure was that of an elderly woman, yet tall and stately of carriage, + walking with a stick, whose regular tap he had heard, supported on the one + side by an elderly Cure in black soutaine, and on the other by a tall and + slender girl in white. + </p> + <p> + They walked leisurely to the other end of the terrace, as if performing a + regular exercise, and returned, stopping before the open French window; + where, after remaining in conversation a few moments, the elderly lady and + her ecclesiastical companion entered. The young girl sauntered slowly to + the steps of the terrace, and leaning against a huge vase as she looked + over the garden, seemed lost in contemplation. Her face was turned towards + the wood, but in quite another direction from where he stood. + </p> + <p> + There was something so gentle, refined, and graceful in her figure, yet + dominated by a girlish youthfulness of movement and gesture, that Alkali + Dick was singularly interested. He had probably never seen an ingenue + before; he had certainly never come in contact with a girl of that caste + and seclusion in his brief Parisian experience. He was sorely tempted to + leave his hedge and try to obtain a nearer view of her. There was a fringe + of lilac bushes running from the garden up the slope; if he could gain + their shadows, he could descend into the garden. What he should do after + his arrival he had not thought; but he had one idea—he knew not why—that + if he ventured to speak to her he would not be met with the abrupt rustic + terror he had experienced at the hands of the servants. SHE was not of + that kind! He crept through the hedge, reached the lilacs, and began the + descent softly and securely in the shadow. But at the same moment she + arose, called in a youthful voice towards the open window, and began to + descend the steps. A half-expostulating reply came from the window, but + the young girl answered it with the laughing, capricious confidence of a + spoiled child, and continued her way into the garden. Here she paused a + moment and hung over a rose-tree, from which she gathered a flower, + afterwards thrust into her belt. Dick paused, too, half-crouching, + half-leaning over a lichen-stained, cracked stone pedestal from which the + statue had long been overthrown and forgotten. + </p> + <p> + To his surprise, however, the young girl, following the path to the + lilacs, began leisurely to ascend the hill, swaying from side to side with + a youthful movement, and swinging the long stalk of a lily at her side. In + another moment he would be discovered! Dick was frightened; his confidence + of the moment before had all gone; he would fly,—and yet, an + exquisite and fearful joy kept him motionless. She was approaching him, + full and clear in the moonlight. He could see the grace of her delicate + figure in the simple white frock drawn at the waist with broad satin + ribbon, and its love-knots of pale blue ribbons on her shoulders; he could + see the coils of her brown hair, the pale, olive tint of her oval cheek, + the delicate, swelling nostril of her straight, clear-cut nose; he could + even smell the lily she carried in her little hand. Then, suddenly, she + lifted her long lashes, and her large gray eyes met his. + </p> + <p> + Alas! the same look of vacant horror came into her eyes, and fixed and + dilated their clear pupils. But she uttered no outcry,—there was + something in her blood that checked it; something that even gave a dignity + to her recoiling figure, and made Dick flush with admiration. She put her + hand to her side, as if the shock of the exertion of her ascent had set + her heart to beating, but she did not faint. Then her fixed look gave way + to one of infinite sadness, pity, and pathetic appeal. Her lips were + parted; they seemed to be moving, apparently in prayer. At last her voice + came, wonderingly, timidly, tenderly: “Mon Dieu! c'est donc vous? Ici? + C'est vous que Marie a crue voir! Que venez-vous faire ici, Armand de + Fontonelles? Repondez!” + </p> + <p> + Alas, not a word was comprehensible to Dick; nor could he think of a word + to say in reply. He made an uncouth, half-irritated, half-despairing + gesture towards the wood he had quitted, as if to indicate his helpless + horse, but he knew it was meaningless to the frightened yet exalted girl + before him. Her little hand crept to her breast and clutched a rosary + within the folds of her dress, as her soft voice again arose, low but + appealingly: + </p> + <p> + “Vous souffrez! Ah, mon Dieu! Peuton vous secourir? Moi-meme—mes + prieres pourraient elles interceder pour vous? Je supplierai le ciel de + prendre en pitie l'ame de mon ancetre. Monsieur le Cure est la,—je + lui parlerai. Lui et ma mere vous viendront en aide.” + </p> + <p> + She clasped her hands appealingly before him. + </p> + <p> + Dick stood bewildered, hopeless, mystified; he had not understood a word; + he could not say a word. For an instant he had a wild idea of seizing her + hand and leading her to his helpless horse, and then came what he believed + was his salvation,—a sudden flash of recollection that he had seen + the word he wanted, the one word that would explain all, in a placarded + notice at the Cirque of a bracelet that had been LOST,—yes, the + single word “PERDU.” He made a step towards her, and in a voice almost as + faint as her own, stammered, “PERDU!” + </p> + <p> + With a little cry, that was more like a sigh than an outcry, the girl's + arms fell to her side; she took a step backwards, reeled, and fainted + away. + </p> + <p> + Dick caught her as she fell. What had he said!—but, more than all, + what should he do now? He could not leave her alone and helpless,—yet + how could he justify another disconcerting intrusion? He touched her + hands; they were cold and lifeless; her eyes were half closed; her face as + pale and drooping as her lily. Well, he must brave the worst now, and + carry her to the house, even at the risk of meeting the others and + terrifying them as he had her. He caught her up,—he scarcely felt + her weight against his breast and shoulder,—and ran hurriedly down + the slope to the terrace, which was still deserted. If he had time to + place her on some bench beside the window within their reach, he might + still fly undiscovered! But as he panted up the steps of the terrace with + his burden, he saw that the French window was still open, but the light + seemed to have been extinguished. It would be safer for her if he could + place her INSIDE the house,—if he but dared to enter. He was + desperate, and he dared! + </p> + <p> + He found himself alone, in a long salon of rich but faded white and gold + hangings, lit at the further end by two tall candles on either side of the + high marble mantel, whose rays, however, scarcely reached the window where + he had entered. He laid his burden on a high-backed sofa. In so doing, the + rose fell from her belt. He picked it up, put it in his breast, and turned + to go. But he was arrested by a voice from the terrace:— + </p> + <p> + “Renee!” + </p> + <p> + It was the voice of the elderly lady, who, with the Cure at her side, had + just appeared from the rear of the house, and from the further end of the + terrace was looking towards the garden in search of the young girl. His + escape in that way was cut off. To add to his dismay, the young girl, + perhaps roused by her mother's voice, was beginning to show signs of + recovering consciousness. Dick looked quickly around him. There was an + open door, opposite the window, leading to a hall which, no doubt, offered + some exit on the other side of the house. It was his only remaining + chance! He darted through it, closed it behind him, and found himself at + the end of a long hall or picture-gallery, strangely illuminated through + high windows, reaching nearly to the roof, by the moon, which on that side + of the building threw nearly level bars of light and shadows across the + floor and the quaint portraits on the wall. + </p> + <p> + But to his delight he could see at the other end a narrow, lance-shaped + open postern door showing the moonlit pavement without—evidently the + door through which the mother and the Cure had just passed out. He ran + rapidly towards it. As he did so he heard the hurried ringing of bells and + voices in the room he had quitted—the young girl had evidently been + discovered—and this would give him time. He had nearly reached the + door, when he stopped suddenly—his blood chilled with awe! It was + his turn to be terrified—he was standing, apparently, before + HIMSELF! + </p> + <p> + His first recovering thought was that it was a mirror—so accurately + was every line and detail of his face and figure reflected. But a second + scrutiny showed some discrepancies of costume, and he saw it was a + panelled portrait on the wall. It was of a man of his own age, height, + beard, complexion, and features, with long curls like his own, falling + over a lace Van Dyke collar, which, however, again simulated the + appearance of his own hunting-shirt. The broad-brimmed hat in the picture, + whose drooping plume was lost in shadow, was scarcely different from + Dick's sombrero. But the likeness of the face to Dick was marvelous—convincing! + As he gazed at it, the wicked black eyes seemed to flash and kindle at his + own,—its lip curled with Dick's own sardonic humor! + </p> + <p> + He was recalled to himself by a step in the gallery. It was the Cure who + had entered hastily, evidently in search of one of the servants. Partly + because it was a man and not a woman, partly from a feeling of bravado—and + partly from a strange sense, excited by the picture, that he had some + claim to be there, he turned and faced the pale priest with a slight dash + of impatient devilry that would have done credit to the portrait. But he + was sorry for it the next moment! + </p> + <p> + The priest, looking up suddenly, discovered what seemed to him to be the + portrait standing before its own frame and glaring at him. Throwing up his + hands with an averted head and an “EXORCIS—!” he wheeled and + scuffled away. Dick seized the opportunity, darted through the narrow door + on to the rear terrace, and ran, under cover of the shadow of the house, + to the steps into the garden. Luckily for him, this new and unexpected + diversion occupied the inmates too much with what was going on in the + house to give them time to search outside. Dick reached the lilac hedge, + tore up the hill, and in a few moments threw himself, panting, on his + blanket. In the single look he had cast behind, he had seen that the + half-dark salon was now brilliantly lighted—where no doubt the whole + terrified household was now assembled. He had no fear of being followed; + since his confrontation with his own likeness in the mysterious portrait, + he understood everything. The apparently supernatural character of his + visitation was made plain; his ruffled vanity was soothed—his + vindication was complete. He laughed to himself and rolled about, until in + his suppressed merriment the rose fell from his bosom, and—he + stopped! Its freshness and fragrance recalled the innocent young girl he + had frightened. He remembered her gentle, pleading voice, and his cheek + flushed. Well, he had done the best he could in bringing her back to the + house—at the risk of being taken for a burglar—and she was + safe now! If that stupid French parson didn't know the difference between + a living man and a dead and painted one, it wasn't his fault. But he fell + asleep with the rose in his fingers. + </p> + <p> + He was awake at the first streak of dawn. He again bathed his horse's + shoulder, saddled, but did not mount him, as the beast, although better, + was still stiff, and Dick wished to spare him for the journey to still + distant Havre, although he had determined to lie over that night at the + first wayside inn. Luckily for him, the disturbance at the chateau had not + extended to the forest, for Dick had to lead his horse slowly and could + not have escaped; but no suspicion of external intrusion seemed to have + been awakened, and the woodland was, evidently, seldom invaded. + </p> + <p> + By dint of laying his course by the sun and the exercise of a little + woodcraft, in the course of two hours he heard the creaking of a hay-cart, + and knew that he was near a traveled road. But to his discomfiture he + presently came to a high wall, which had evidently guarded this portion of + the woods from the public. Time, however, had made frequent breaches in + the stones; these had been roughly filled in with a rude abatis of logs + and treetops pointing towards the road. But as these were mainly designed + to prevent intrusion into the park rather than egress from it, Dick had no + difficulty in rolling them aside and emerging at last with his limping + steed upon the white high-road. The creaking cart had passed; it was yet + early for traffic, and Dick presently came upon a wine-shop, a bakery, a + blacksmith's shop, laundry, and a somewhat pretentious cafe and hotel in a + broader space which marked the junction of another road. + </p> + <p> + Directly before it, however, to his consternation, were the massive, but + timeworn, iron gates of a park, which Dick did not doubt was the one in + which he had spent the previous night. But it was impossible to go further + in his present plight, and he boldly approached the restaurant. As he was + preparing to make his usual explanatory signs, to his great delight he was + addressed in a quaint, broken English, mixed with forgotten American + slang, by the white-trousered, black-alpaca coated proprietor. More than + that—he was a Social Democrat and an enthusiastic lover of America—had + he not been to “Bos-town” and New York, and penetrated as far west as + “Booflo,” and had much pleasure in that beautiful and free country? Yes! + it was a “go-a-'ed” country—you “bet-your-lif'.” One had reason to + say so: there was your electricity—your street cars—your + “steambots”—ah! such steambots—and your “r-rail-r-roads.” Ah! + observe! compare your r-rail-r-roads and the buffet of the Pullman with + the line from Paris, for example—and where is one? Nowhere! + Actually, positively, without doubt, nowhere! + </p> + <p> + Later, at an appetizing breakfast—at which, to Dick's great + satisfaction, the good man had permitted and congratulated himself to sit + at table with a free-born American—he was even more loquacious. For + what then, he would ask, was this incompetence, this imbecility, of + France? He would tell. It was the vile corruption of Paris, the grasping + of capital and companies, the fatal influence of the still clinging + noblesse, and the insidious Jesuitical power of the priests. As for + example, Monsieur “the Booflo-bil” had doubtless noticed the great gates + of the park before the cafe? It was the preserve,—the hunting-park + of one of the old grand seigneurs, still kept up by his descendants, the + Comtes de Fontonelles—hundreds of acres that had never been tilled, + and kept as wild waste wilderness,—kept for a day's pleasure in a + year! And, look you! the peasants starving around its walls in their small + garden patches and pinched farms! And the present Comte de Fontonelles + cascading gold on his mistresses in Paris; and the Comtesse, his mother, + and her daughter living there to feed and fatten and pension a brood of + plotting, black-cowled priests. Ah, bah! where was your Republican France, + then? But a time would come. The “Booflo-bil” had, without doubt, noticed, + as he came along the road, the breaches in the wall of the park? + </p> + <p> + Dick, with a slight dry reserve, “reckoned that he had.” + </p> + <p> + “They were made by the scythes and pitchforks of the peasants in the + Revolution of '93, when the count was emigre, as one says with reason + 'skedadelle,' to England. Let them look the next time that they burn not + the chateau,—'bet your lif'!'” + </p> + <p> + “The chateau,” said Dick, with affected carelessness. “Wot's the blamed + thing like?” + </p> + <p> + It was an old affair,—with armor and a picture-gallery,—and + bricabrac. He had never seen it. Not even as a boy,—it was kept very + secluded then. As a man—you understand—he could not ask the + favor. The Comtes de Fontonelles and himself were not friends. The family + did not like a cafe near their sacred gates,—where had stood only + the huts of their retainers. The American would observe that he had not + called it “Cafe de Chateau,” nor “Cafe de Fontonelles,”—the gold of + California would not induce him. Why did he remain there? Naturally, to + goad them! It was a principle, one understood. To GOAD them and hold them + in check! One kept a cafe,—why not? One had one's principles,—one's + conviction,—that was another thing! That was the kind of “'air-pin”—was + it not?—that HE, Gustav Ribaud, was like! + </p> + <p> + Yet for all his truculent socialism, he was quick, obliging, and + charmingly attentive to Dick and his needs. As to Dick's horse, he should + have the best veterinary surgeon—there was an incomparable one in + the person of the blacksmith—see to him, and if it were an affair of + days, and Dick must go, he himself would be glad to purchase the beast, + his saddle, and accoutrements. It was an affair of business,—an + advertisement for the cafe! He would ride the horse himself before the + gates of the park. It would please his customers. Ha! he had learned a + trick or two in free America. + </p> + <p> + Dick's first act had been to shave off his characteristic beard and + mustache, and even to submit his long curls to the village barber's + shears, while a straw hat, which he bought to take the place of his + slouched sombrero, completed his transformation. His host saw in the + change only the natural preparation of a voyager, but Dick had really made + the sacrifice, not from fear of detection, for he had recovered his old + swaggering audacity, but from a quick distaste he had taken to his + resemblance to the portrait. He was too genuine a Westerner, and too vain + a man, to feel flattered at his resemblance to an aristocratic bully, as + he believed the ancestral De Fontonelles to be. Even his momentary + sensation as he faced the Cure in the picture-gallery was more from a + vague sense that liberties had been taken with his, Dick's, personality, + than that he had borrowed anything from the portrait. + </p> + <p> + But he was not so clear about the young girl. Her tender, appealing voice, + although he knew it had been addressed only to a vision, still thrilled + his fancy. The pluck that had made her withstand her fear so long—until + he had uttered that dreadful word—still excited his admiration. His + curiosity to know what mistake he had made—for he knew it must have + been some frightful blunder—was all the more keen, as he had no + chance to rectify it. What a brute she must have thought him—or DID + she really think him a brute even then?—for her look was one more of + despair and pity! Yet she would remember him only by that last word, and + never know that he had risked insult and ejection from her friends to + carry her to her place of safety. He could not bear to go across the seas + carrying the pale, unsatisfied face of that gentle girl ever before his + eyes! A sense of delicacy—new to Dick, but always the accompaniment + of deep feeling—kept him from even hinting his story to his host, + though he knew—perhaps BECAUSE he knew—that it would gratify + his enmity to the family. A sudden thought struck Dick. He knew her house, + and her name. He would write her a note. Somebody would be sure to + translate it for her. + </p> + <p> + He borrowed pen, ink, and paper, and in the clean solitude of his fresh + chintz bedroom, indited the following letter:— + </p> + <p> + DEAR MISS FONTONELLES,—Please excuse me for having skeert you. I + hadn't any call to do it, I never reckoned to do it—it was all jest + my derned luck; I only reckoned to tell you I was lost—in them + blamed woods—don't you remember?—“lost”—PERDOO!—and + then you up and fainted! I wouldn't have come into your garden, only, you + see, I'd just skeered by accident two of your helps, reg'lar softies, and + I wanted to explain. I reckon they allowed I was that man that that + picture in the hall was painted after. I reckon they took ME for him—see? + But he ain't MY style, nohow, and I never saw the picture at all until + after I'd toted you, when you fainted, up to your house, or I'd have made + my kalkilations and acted according. I'd have laid low in the woods, and + got away without skeerin' you. You see what I mean? It was mighty mean of + me, I suppose, to have tetched you at all, without saying, “Excuse me, + miss,” and toted you out of the garden and up the steps into your own + parlor without asking your leave. But the whole thing tumbled so suddent. + And it didn't seem the square thing for me to lite out and leave you lying + there on the grass. That's why! I'm sorry I skeert that old preacher, but + he came upon me in the picture hall so suddent, that it was a mighty close + call, I tell you, to get off without a shindy. Please forgive me, Miss + Fontonelles. When you get this, I shall be going back home to America, but + you might write to me at Denver City, saying you're all right. I liked + your style; I liked your grit in standing up to me in the garden until you + had your say, when you thought I was the Lord knows what—though I + never understood a word you got off—not knowing French. But it's all + the same now. Say! I've got your rose! + </p> + <p> + Yours very respectfully, + </p> + <p> + RICHARD FOUNTAINS. + </p> + <p> + Dick folded the epistle and put it in his pocket. He would post it himself + on the morning before he left. When he came downstairs he found his + indefatigable host awaiting him, with the report of the veterinary + blacksmith. There was nothing seriously wrong with the mustang, but it + would be unfit to travel for several days. The landlord repeated his + former offer. Dick, whose money was pretty well exhausted, was fain to + accept, reflecting that SHE had never seen the mustang and would not + recognize it. But he drew the line at the sombrero, to which his host had + taken a great fancy. He had worn it before HER! + </p> + <p> + Later in the evening Dick was sitting on the low veranda of the cafe, + overlooking the white road. A round white table was beside him, his feet + were on the railing, but his eyes were resting beyond on the high, mouldy + iron gates of the mysterious park. What he was thinking of did not matter, + but he was a little impatient at the sudden appearance of his host—whom + he had evaded during the afternoon—at his side. The man's manner was + full of bursting loquacity and mysterious levity. + </p> + <p> + Truly, it was a good hour when Dick had arrived at Fontonelles,—“just + in time.” He could see now what a world of imbeciles was France. What + stupid ignorance ruled, what low cunning and low tact could achieve,—in + effect, what jugglers and mountebanks, hypocritical priests and licentious + and lying noblesse went to make up existing society. Ah, there had been a + fine excitement, a regular coup d'theatre at Fontonelles,—the + chateau yonder; here at the village, where the news was brought by + frightened grooms and silly women! He had been in the thick of it all the + afternoon! He had examined it,—interrogated them like a juge + d'instruction,—winnowed it, sifted it. And what was it all? An + attempt by these wretched priests and noblesse to revive in the nineteenth + century—the age of electricity and Pullman cars—a miserable + mediaeval legend of an apparition, a miracle! Yes; one is asked to believe + that at the chateau yonder was seen last night three times the apparition + of Armand de Fontonelles! + </p> + <p> + Dick started. “Armand de Fontonelles!” He remembered that she had repeated + that name. + </p> + <p> + “Who's he?” he demanded abruptly. + </p> + <p> + “The first Comte de Fontonelles! When monsieur knows that the first comte + has been dead three hundred years, he will see the imbecility of the + affair!” + </p> + <p> + “Wot did he come back for?” growled Dick. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! it was a legend. Consider its artfulness! The Comte Armand had been a + hard liver, a dissipated scoundrel, a reckless beast, but a mighty hunter + of the stag. It was said that on one of these occasions he had been warned + by the apparition of St. Hubert; but he had laughed,—for, observe, + HE always jeered at the priests too; hence this story!—and had + declared that the flaming cross seen between the horns of the sacred stag + was only the torch of a poacher, and he would shoot it! Good! the body of + the comte, dead, but without a wound, was found in the wood the next day, + with his discharged arquebus in his hand. The Archbishop of Rouen refused + his body the rites of the Church until a number of masses were said every + year and—paid for! One understands! one sees their 'little game;' + the count now appears,—he is in purgatory! More masses,—more + money! There you are. Bah! One understands, too, that the affair takes + place, not in a cafe like this,—not in a public place,—but at + a chateau of the noblesse, and is seen by—the proprietor checked the + characters on his fingers—TWO retainers; one young demoiselle of the + noblesse, daughter of the chatelaine herself; and, my faith, it goes + without saying, by a fat priest, the Cure! In effect, two interested ones! + And the priest,—his lie is magnificent! Superb! For he saw the comte + in the picture-gallery,—in effect, stepping into his frame!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, come off the roof,” said Dick impatiently; “they must have seen + SOMETHING, you know. The young lady wouldn't lie!” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Ribaud leaned over, with a mysterious, cynical smile, and + lowering his voice said:— + </p> + <p> + “You have reason to say so. You have hit it, my friend. There WAS a + something! And if we regard the young lady, you shall hear. The story of + Mademoiselle de Fontonelles is that she has walked by herself alone in the + garden,—you observe, ALONE—in the moonlight, near the edge of + the wood. You comprehend? The mother and the Cure are in the house,—for + the time effaced! Here at the edge of the wood—though why she + continues, a young demoiselle, to the edge of the wood does not make + itself clear—she beholds her ancestor, as on a pedestal, young, + pale, but very handsome and exalte,—pardon!” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing,” said Dick hurriedly; “go on!” + </p> + <p> + “She beseeches him why! He says he is lost! She faints away, on the + instant, there—regard me!—ON THE EDGE OF THE WOOD, she says. + But her mother and Monsieur le Cure find her pale, agitated, distressed, + ON THE SOFA IN THE SALON. One is asked to believe that she is transported + through the air—like an angel—by the spirit of Armand de + Fontonelles. Incredible!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, wot do YOU think?” said Dick sharply. + </p> + <p> + The cafe proprietor looked around him carefully, and then lowered his + voice significantly:— + </p> + <p> + “A lover!” + </p> + <p> + “A what?” said Dick, with a gasp. + </p> + <p> + “A lover!” repeated Ribaud. “You comprehend! Mademoiselle has no dot,—the + property is nothing,—the brother has everything. A Mademoiselle de + Fontonelles cannot marry out of her class, and the noblesse are all poor. + Mademoiselle is young,—pretty, they say, of her kind. It is an + intolerable life at the old chateau; mademoiselle consoles herself!” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Ribaud never knew how near he was to the white road below the + railing at that particular moment. Luckily, Dick controlled himself, and + wisely, as Monsieur Ribaud's next sentence showed him. + </p> + <p> + “A romance,—an innocent, foolish liaison, if you like,—but, + all the same, if known of a Mademoiselle de Fontonelles, a compromising, a + fatal entanglement. There you are. Look! for this, then, all this story of + cock and bulls and spirits! Mademoiselle has been discovered with her + lover by some one. This pretty story shall stop their mouths!” + </p> + <p> + “But wot,” said Dick brusquely, “wot if the girl was really skeert at + something she'd seen, and fainted dead away, as she said she did,—and—and”—he + hesitated—“some stranger came along and picked her up?” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Ribaud looked at him pityingly. + </p> + <p> + “A Mademoiselle de Fontonelle is picked up by her servants, by her family, + but not by the young man in the woods, alone. It is even more + compromising!” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean to say,” said Dick furiously, “that the ragpickers and sneaks + that wade around in the slumgallion of this country would dare to spatter + that young gal?” + </p> + <p> + “I mean to say, yes,—assuredly, positively yes!” said Ribaud, + rubbing his hands with a certain satisfaction at Dick's fury. “For you + comprehend not the position of la jeune fille in all France! Ah! in + America the young lady she go everywhere alone; I have seen her—pretty, + charming, fascinating—alone with the young man. But here, no, never! + Regard me, my friend. The French mother, she say to her daughter's fiance, + 'Look! there is my daughter. She has never been alone with a young man for + five minutes,—not even with you. Take her for your wife!' It is + monstrous! it is impossible! it is so!” + </p> + <p> + There was a silence of a few minutes, and Dick looked blankly at the iron + gates of the park of Fontonelles. Then he said: “Give me a cigar.” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Ribaud instantly produced his cigar case. Dick took a cigar, but + waved aside the proffered match, and entering the cafe, took from his + pocket the letter to Mademoiselle de Fontonelles, twisted it in a spiral, + lighted it at a candle, lit his cigar with it, and returning to the + veranda held it in his hand until the last ashes dropped on the floor. + Then he said, gravely, to Ribaud:— + </p> + <p> + “You've treated me like a white man, Frenchy, and I ain't goin' back on + yer—though your ways ain't my ways—nohow; but I reckon in this + yer matter at the shotto you're a little too previous! For though I don't + as a gin'ral thing take stock in ghosts, I BELIEVE EVERY WORD THAT THEM + FOLK SAID UP THAR. And,” he added, leaning his hand somewhat heavily on + Ribaud's shoulder, “if you're the man I take you for, you'll believe it + too! And if that chap, Armand de Fontonelles, hadn't hev picked up that + gal at that moment, he would hev deserved to roast in hell another three + hundred years! That's why I believe her story. So you'll let these yer + Fontonelles keep their ghosts for all they're worth; and when you next + feel inclined to talk about that girl's LOVER, you'll think of me, and + shut your head! You hear me, Frenchy, I'm shoutin'! And don't you forget + it!” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, early the next morning, Monsieur Ribaud accompanied his + guest to the railway station, and parted from him with great effusion. On + his way back an old-fashioned carriage with a postilion passed him. At a + sign from its occupant, the postilion pulled up, and Monsieur Ribaud, + bowing to the dust, approached the window, and the pale, stern face of a + dignified, white-haired woman of sixty that looked from it. + </p> + <p> + “Has he gone?” said the lady. + </p> + <p> + “Assuredly, madame; I was with him at the station.” + </p> + <p> + “And you think no one saw him?” + </p> + <p> + “No one, madame, but myself.” + </p> + <p> + “And—what kind of a man was he?” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Ribaud lifted his shoulders, threw out his hands despairingly, + yet with a world of significance, and said:— + </p> + <p> + “An American.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” + </p> + <p> + The carriage drove on and entered the gates of the chateau. And Monsieur + Ribaud, cafe proprietor and Social Democrat, straightened himself in the + dust and shook his fist after it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A NIGHT ON THE DIVIDE + </h2> + <p> + With the lulling of the wind towards evening it came on to snow—heavily, + in straight, quickly succeeding flakes, dropping like white lances from + the sky. This was followed by the usual Sierran phenomenon. The deep + gorge, which, as the sun went down, had lapsed into darkness, presently + began to reappear; at first the vanished trail came back as a vividly + whitening streak before them; then the larches and pines that ascended + from it like buttresses against the hillsides glimmered in ghostly + distinctness, until at last the two slopes curved out of the darkness as + if hewn in marble. For the sudden storm, which extended scarcely two + miles, had left no trace upon the steep granite face of the high cliffs + above; the snow, slipping silently from them, left them still hidden in + the obscurity of night. In the vanished landscape the gorge alone stood + out, set in a chaos of cloud and storm through which the moonbeams + struggled ineffectually. + </p> + <p> + It was this unexpected sight which burst upon the occupants of a large + covered “station wagon” who had chanced upon the lower end of the gorge. + Coming from a still lower altitude, they had known nothing of the storm, + which had momentarily ceased, but had left a record of its intensity in + nearly two feet of snow. For some moments the horses floundered and + struggled on, in what the travelers believed to be some old forgotten + drift or avalanche, until the extent and freshness of the fall became + apparent. To add to their difficulties, the storm recommenced, and not + comprehending its real character and limit, they did not dare to attempt + to return the way they came. To go on, however, was impossible. In this + quandary they looked about them in vain for some other exit from the + gorge. The sides of that gigantic white furrow terminated in darkness. + Hemmed in from the world in all directions, it might have been their tomb. + </p> + <p> + But although THEY could see nothing beyond their prison walls, they + themselves were perfectly visible from the heights above them. And Jack + Tenbrook, quartz miner, who was sinking a tunnel in the rocky ledge of + shelf above the gorge, stepping out from his cabin at ten o'clock to take + a look at the weather before turning in, could observe quite distinctly + the outline of the black wagon, the floundering horses, and the crouching + figures by their side, scarcely larger than pygmies on the white surface + of the snow, six hundred feet below him. Jack had courage and strength, + and the good humor that accompanies them, but he contented himself for a + few moments with lazily observing the travelers' discomfiture. He had + taken in the situation with a glance; he would have helped a brother miner + or mountaineer, although he knew that it could only have been drink or + bravado that brought HIM into the gorge in a snowstorm, but it was very + evident that these were “greenhorns,” or eastern tourists, and it served + their stupidity and arrogance right! He remembered also how he, having + once helped an Eastern visitor catch the mustang that had “bucked” him, + had been called “my man,” and presented with five dollars; he recalled how + he had once spread the humble resources of his cabin before some straying + members of the San Francisco party who were “opening” the new railroad, + and heard the audible wonder of a lady that a civilized being could live + so “coarsely”? With these recollections in his mind, he managed to survey + the distant struggling horses with a fine sense of humor, not unmixed with + self-righteousness. There was no real danger in the situation; it meant at + the worst a delay and a camping in the snow till morning, when he would go + down to their assistance. They had a spacious traveling equipage, and + were, no doubt, well supplied with furs, robes, and provisions for a + several hours' journey; his own pork barrel was quite empty, and his + blankets worn. He half smiled, extended his long arms in a decided yawn, + and turned back into his cabin to go to bed. Then he cast a final glance + around the interior. Everything was all right; his loaded rifle stood + against the wall; he had just raked ashes over the embers of his fire to + keep it intact till morning. Only one thing slightly troubled him; a + grizzly bear, two-thirds grown, but only half tamed, which had been given + to him by a young lady named “Miggles,” when that charming and historic + girl had decided to accompany her paralytic lover to the San Francisco + hospital, was missing that evening. It had been its regular habit to come + to the door every night for some sweet biscuit or sugar before going to + its lair in the underbrush behind the cabin. Everybody knew it along the + length and breadth of Hemlock Ridge, as well as the fact of its being a + legacy from the fair exile. No rifle had ever yet been raised against its + lazy bulk or the stupid, small-eyed head and ruff of circling hairs made + more erect by its well-worn leather collar. Consoling himself with the + thought that the storm had probably delayed its return, Jack took off his + coat and threw it on his bunk. But from thinking of the storm his thoughts + naturally returned again to the impeded travelers below him, and he half + mechanically stepped out in his shirt-sleeves for a final look at them. + </p> + <p> + But here something occurred that changed his resolution entirely. He had + previously noticed only the three foreshortened, crawling figures around + the now stationary wagon bulk. They were now apparently making + arrangements to camp for the night. But another figure had been added to + the group, and as it stood perched upon a wagon seat laid on the snow Jack + could see that its outline was not bifurcated like the others. But even + that general suggestion was not needed! the little head, the symmetrical + curves visible even at that distance, were quite enough to indicate that + it was a woman! The easy smile faded from Jack's face, and was succeeded + by a look of concern and then of resignation. He had no choice now; he + MUST go! There was a woman there, and that settled it. Yet he had arrived + at this conclusion from no sense of gallantry, nor, indeed, of chivalrous + transport, but as a matter of simple duty to the sex. He was giving up his + sleep, was going down six hundred feet of steep trail to offer his + services during the rest of the night as much as a matter of course as an + Eastern man would have offered his seat in an omnibus to a woman, and with + as little expectation of return for his courtesy. + </p> + <p> + Having resumed his coat, with a bottle of whiskey thrust into its pocket, + he put on a pair of india-rubber boots reaching to his thighs, and, + catching the blanket from his bunk, started with an axe and shovel on his + shoulder on his downward journey. When the distance was half completed he + shouted to the travelers below; the cry was joyously answered by the three + men; he saw the fourth figure, now unmistakably that of a slender youthful + woman, in a cloak, helped back into the wagon, as if deliverance was now + sure and immediate. But Jack on arriving speedily dissipated that illusive + hope; they could only get through the gorge by taking off the wheels of + the wagon, placing the axle on rude sledge-runners of split saplings, + which, with their assistance, he would fashion in a couple of hours at his + cabin and bring down to the gorge. The only other alternative would be for + them to come to his cabin and remain there while he went for assistance to + the nearest station, but that would take several hours and necessitate a + double journey for the sledge if he was lucky enough to find one. The + party quickly acquiesced in Jack's first suggestion. + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” said Jack, “then there's no time to be lost; unhitch your + horses and we'll dig a hole in that bank for them to stand in out of the + snow.” This was speedily done. “Now,” continued Jack, “you'll just follow + me up to my cabin; it's a pretty tough climb, but I'll want your help to + bring down the runners.” + </p> + <p> + Here the man who seemed to be the head of the party—of middle age + and a superior, professional type—for the first time hesitated. “I + forgot to say that there is a lady with us,—my daughter,” he began, + glancing towards the wagon. + </p> + <p> + “I reckoned as much,” interrupted Jack simply, “and I allowed to carry her + up myself the roughest part of the way. She kin make herself warm and + comf'ble in the cabin until we've got the runners ready.” + </p> + <p> + “You hear what our friend says, Amy?” suggested the gentleman, + appealingly, to the closed leather curtains of the wagon. + </p> + <p> + There was a pause. The curtain was suddenly drawn aside, and a charming + little head and shoulders, furred to the throat and topped with a + bewitching velvet cap, were thrust out. In the obscurity little could be + seen of the girl's features, but there was a certain willfulness and + impatience in her attitude. Being in the shadow, she had the advantage of + the others, particularly of Jack, as his figure was fully revealed in the + moonlight against the snowbank. Her eyes rested for a moment on his high + boots, his heavy mustache, so long as to mingle with the unkempt locks + which fell over his broad shoulders, on his huge red hands streaked with + black grease from the wagon wheels, and some blood, stanched with snow, + drawn from bruises in cutting out brambles in the brush; on—more + awful than all—a monstrous, shiny “specimen” gold ring encircling + one of his fingers,—on the whiskey bottle that shamelessly bulged + from his side pocket, and then—slowly dropped her dissatisfied + eyelids. + </p> + <p> + “Why can't I stay HERE?” she said languidly. “It's quite nice and + comfortable.” + </p> + <p> + “Because we can't leave you alone, and we must go with this gentleman to + help him.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Amy let the tail of her eye again creep shudderingly over this + impossible Jack. “I thought the—the gentleman was going to help US,” + she said dryly. + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense, Amy, you don't understand,” said her father impatiently. “This + gentleman is kind enough to offer to make some sledge-runners for us at + his cabin, and we must help him.” + </p> + <p> + “But I can stay here while you go. I'm not afraid.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but you're ALONE here, and something might happen.” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing could happen,” interrupted Jack, quickly and cheerfully. He had + flushed at first, but he was now considering that the carrying of a lady + as expensively attired and apparently as delicate and particular as this + one might be somewhat difficult. “There's nothin' that would hurt ye + here,” he continued, addressing the velvet cap and furred throat in the + darkness, “and if there was it couldn't get at ye, bein', so to speak, in + the same sort o' fix as you. So you're all right,” he added positively. + </p> + <p> + Inconsistently enough, the young lady did not accept this as gratefully as + might have been imagined, but Jack did not see the slight flash of her eye + as, ignoring him, she replied markedly to her father, “I'd much rather + stop here, papa.” + </p> + <p> + “And,” continued Jack, turning also to her father, “you can keep the wagon + and the whole gorge in sight from the trail all the way up. So you can see + that everything's all right. Why, I saw YOU from the first.” He stopped + awkwardly, and added, “Come along; the sooner we're off the quicker the + job's over.” + </p> + <p> + “Pray don't delay the gentleman and—the job,” said Miss Amy sweetly. + </p> + <p> + Reassured by Jack's last suggestion, her father followed him with the + driver and the second man of the party, a youngish and somewhat + undistinctive individual, but to whose gallant anxieties Miss Amy + responded effusively. Nevertheless, the young lady had especially noted + Jack's confession that he had seen them when they first entered the gorge. + “And I suppose,” she added to herself mentally, “that he sat there with + his boozing companions, laughing and jeering at our struggles.” + </p> + <p> + But when the sound of her companions' voices died away, and their figures + were swallowed up in the darkness behind the snow, she forgot all this, + and much else that was mundane and frivolous, in the impressive and + majestic solitude which seemed to descend upon her from the obscurity + above. + </p> + <p> + At first it was accompanied with a slight thrill of vague fear, but this + passed presently into that profound peace which the mountains alone can + give their lonely or perturbed children. It seemed to her that Nature was + never the same, on the great plains where men and cities always loomed + into such ridiculous proportions, as when the Great Mother raised herself + to comfort them with smiling hillsides, or encompassed them and drew them + closer in the loving arms of her mountains. The long white canada + stretched before her in a purity that did not seem of the earth; the vague + bulk of the mountains rose on either side of her in a mystery that was not + of this life. Yet it was not oppressive; neither was its restfulness and + quiet suggestive of obliviousness and slumber; on the contrary, the highly + rarefied air seemed to give additional keenness to her senses; her hearing + had become singularly acute; her eyesight pierced the uttermost extremity + of the gorge, lit by the full moon that occasionally shone through slowly + drifting clouds. Her nerves thrilled with a delicious sense of freedom and + a strange desire to run or climb. It seemed to her, in her exalted fancy, + that these solitudes should be peopled only by a kingly race, and not by + such gross and material churls as this mountaineer who helped them. And, I + grieve to say,—writing of an idealist that WAS, and a heroine that + IS to be,—she was getting outrageously hungry. + </p> + <p> + There were a few biscuits in her traveling-bag, and she remembered that + she had been presented with a small jar of California honey at San Jose. + This she took out and opened on the seat before her, and spreading the + honey on the biscuits, ate them with a keen schoolgirl relish and a + pleasant suggestion of a sylvan picnic in spite of the cold. It was all + very strange; quite an experience for her to speak of afterwards. People + would hardly believe that she had spent an hour or two, all alone, in a + deserted wagon in a mountain snow pass. It was an adventure such as one + reads of in the magazines. Only something was lacking which the magazines + always supplied,—something heroic, something done by somebody. If + that awful-looking mountaineer—that man with the long hair and + mustache, and that horrible gold ring,—why such a ring?—was + only different! But he was probably gorging beefsteak or venison with her + father and Mr. Waterhouse,—men were always such selfish creatures!—and + had quite forgotten all about her. It would have been only decent for them + to have brought her down something hot; biscuits and honey were certainly + cloying, and somehow didn't agree with the temperature. She was really + half starved! And much they cared! It would just serve them right if + something DID happen to her,—or SEEM to happen to her,—if only + to frighten them. And the pretty face that was turned up in the moonlight + wore a charming but decided pout. + </p> + <p> + Good gracious, what was that? The horses were either struggling or + fighting in their snow shelters. Then one with a frightened neigh broke + from its halter and dashed into the road, only to be plunged snorting and + helpless into the drifts. Then the other followed. How silly! Something + had frightened them. Perhaps only a rabbit or a mole; horses were such + absurdly nervous creatures! However, it is just as well; somebody would + see them or hear them,—that neigh was quite human and awful,—and + they would hurry down to see what was the matter. SHE couldn't be expected + to get out and look after the horses in the snow. Anyhow, she WOULDN'T! + She was a good deal safer where she was; it might have been rats or mice + about that frightened them! Goodness! + </p> + <p> + She was still watching with curious wonder the continued fright of the + animals, when suddenly she felt the wagon half bumped, half lifted from + behind. It was such a lazy, deliberate movement that for a moment she + thought it came from the party, who had returned noiselessly with the + runners. She scrambled over to the back seat, unbuttoned the leather + curtain, lifted it, but nothing was to be seen. Consequently, with + feminine quickness, she said, “I see you perfectly, Mr. Waterhouse—don't + be silly!” But at this moment there was another shock to the wagon, and + from beneath it arose what at first seemed to her to be an uplifting of + the drift itself, but, as the snow was shaken away from its heavy bulk, + proved to be the enormous head and shoulders of a bear! + </p> + <p> + Yet even then she was not WHOLLY frightened, for the snout that confronted + her had a feeble inoffensiveness; the small eyes were bright with an + eager, almost childish curiosity rather than a savage ardor, and the whole + attitude of the creature lifted upon its hind legs was circus-like and + ludicrous rather than aggressive. She was enabled to say with some + dignity, “Go away! Shoo!” and to wave her luncheon basket at it with + exemplary firmness. But here the creature laid one paw on the back seat as + if to steady itself, with the singular effect of collapsing the whole side + of the wagon, and then opened its mouth as if in some sort of inarticulate + reply. But the revelation of its red tongue, its glistening teeth, and, + above all, the hot, suggestive fume of its breath, brought the first + scream from the lips of Miss Amy. It was real and convincing; the horses + joined in it; the three screamed together! The bear hesitated for an + instant, then, catching sight of the honey-pot on the front seat, which + the shrinking-back of the young girl had disclosed, he slowly reached + forward his other paw and attempted to grasp it. This exceedingly simple + movement, however, at once doubled up the front seat, sent the honey-pot a + dozen feet into the air, and dropped Miss Amy upon her knees in the bed of + the wagon. The combined mental and physical shock was too much for her; + she instantly and sincerely fainted; the last thing in her ears amidst + this wreck of matter being the “wheep” of a bullet and the sharp crack of + a rifle. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + She recovered her consciousness in the flickering light of a fire of bark, + that played upon the rafters of a roof thatched with bark and upon a floor + of strewn and shredded bark. She even suspected she was lying upon a + mattress of bark underneath the heavy bearskin she could feel and touch. + She had a delicious sense of warmth, and, mingled with this strange + spicing of woodland freedom, even a sense of home protection. And surely + enough, looking around, she saw her father at her side. + </p> + <p> + He briefly explained the situation. They had been at first attracted by + the cry of the frightened horses and their plunging, which they could see + distinctly, although they saw nothing else. “But, Mr. Tenbrook”— + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Who?” said Amy, staring at the rafters. + </p> + <p> + “The owner of this cabin—the man who helped us—caught up his + gun, and, calling us to follow, ran like lightning down the trail. At + first we followed blindly, and unknowingly, for we could only see the + struggling horses, who, however, seemed to be ALONE, and the wagon from + which you did not seem to have stirred. Then, for the first time, my dear + child, we suddenly saw your danger. Imagine how we felt as that hideous + brute rose up in the road and began attacking the wagon. We called on + Tenbrook to fire, but for some inconceivable reason he did not, although + he still kept running at the top of his speed. Then we heard you shriek—” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't shriek, papa; it was the horses.” + </p> + <p> + “My child, I knew your voice.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, it was only a VERY LITTLE scream—because I had tumbled.” The + color was coming back rapidly to her pink cheeks. + </p> + <p> + “And, then, at your scream, Tenbrook fired!—it was a wonderful shot + for the distance, so everybody says—and killed the bear, though + Tenbrook says it oughtn't to. I believe he wanted to capture the creature + alive. They've queer notions, those hunters. And then, as you were + unconscious, he brought you up here.” + </p> + <p> + “WHO brought me?” + </p> + <p> + “Tenbrook; he's as strong as a horse. Slung you up on his shoulders like a + feather pillow.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” + </p> + <p> + “And then, as the wagon required some repairing from the brute's attack, + we concluded to take it leisurely, and let you rest here for a while.” + </p> + <p> + “And where is—where are THEY?” + </p> + <p> + “At work on the wagon. I determined to stay with you, though you are + perfectly safe here.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose I ought—to thank—this man, papa?” + </p> + <p> + “Most certainly, though of course, I have already done so. But he was + rather curt in reply. These half-savage men have such singular ideas. He + said the beast would never have attacked you except for the honey-pot + which it scented. That's absurd.” + </p> + <p> + “Then it's all my fault?” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense! How could YOU know?” + </p> + <p> + “And I've made all this trouble. And frightened the horses. And spoilt the + wagon. And made the man run down and bring me up here when he didn't want + to!” + </p> + <p> + “My dear child! Don't be idiotic! Amy! Well, really!” + </p> + <p> + For the idiotic one was really wiping two large tears from her lovely blue + eyes. She subsided into an ominous silence, broken by a single sniffle. + “Try to go to sleep, dear; you've had quite a shock to your nerves, added + her father soothingly. She continued silent, but not sleeping. + </p> + <p> + “I smell coffee.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, dear.” + </p> + <p> + “You've been having coffee, papa?” + </p> + <p> + “We DID have some, I think,” said the wretched man apologetically, though + why he could not determine. + </p> + <p> + “Before I came up? while the bear was trying to eat me?” + </p> + <p> + “No, after.” + </p> + <p> + “I've a horrid taste in my mouth. It's the honey. I'll never eat honey + again. Never!” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it's the whiskey.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “The whiskey. You were quite faint and chilled, you know. We gave you + some.” + </p> + <p> + “Out of—that—black—bottle?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + Another silence. + </p> + <p> + “I'd like some coffee. I don't think he'd begrudge me that, if he did save + my life.” + </p> + <p> + “I dare say there's some left.” Her father at once bestirred himself and + presently brought her some coffee in a tin cup. It was part of Miss Amy's + rapid convalescence, or equally of her debilitated condition, that she + made no comment on the vessel. She lay for some moments looking curiously + around the cabin; she had no doubt it had a worse look in the daylight, + but somehow the firelight brought out a wondrous luxury of color in the + bark floor and thatching. Besides, it was not “smelly,” as she feared it + would be; on the contrary the spicy aroma of the woods was always + dominant. She remembered that it was this that always made a greasy, oily + picnic tolerable. She raised herself on her elbow, seeing which her father + continued confidently, “Perhaps, dear, if you sat up for a few moments you + might be strong enough presently to walk down with me to the wagon. It + would save time.” + </p> + <p> + Amy instantly lay down again. “I don't know what you can be thinking of, + papa. After this shock really I don't feel as if I could STAND alone, much + less WALK. But, of course,” with pathetic resignation, “if you and Mr. + Waterhouse supported me, perhaps I might crawl a few steps at a time.” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense, Amy. Of course, this man Tenbrook will carry you down as he + brought you up. Only I thought,—but there are steps, they're coming + now. No!—only HE.” + </p> + <p> + The sound of crackling in the underbrush was followed by a momentary + darkening of the open door of the cabin. It was the tall figure of the + mountaineer. But he did not even make the pretense of entering; standing + at the door he delivered his news to the interior generally. It was to the + effect that everything was ready, and the two other men were even then + harnessing the horses. Then he drew back into the darkness. + </p> + <p> + “Papa,” said Amy, in a sudden frightened voice, “I've lost my bracelet.” + </p> + <p> + “Haven't you dropped it somewhere there in the bunk?” asked her father. + </p> + <p> + “No. It's on the floor of the wagon. I remember now it fell off when I + tumbled! And it will be trodden upon and crushed! Couldn't you run down, + ahead of me, and warn them, papa, dear? Mr. Tenbrook will have to go so + slowly with me.” She tumbled out of the bunk with singular alacrity, shook + herself and her skirts into instantaneous gracefulness, and fitted the + velvet cap on her straying hair. Then she said hurriedly, “Run quick, papa + dear, and as you go, call him in and say I am quite ready.” + </p> + <p> + Thus adjured, the obedient parent disappeared in the darkness. With him + also disappeared Miss Amy's singular alacrity. Sitting down carefully + again on the edge of the bunk, she leaned against the post with a certain + indefinable languor that was as touching as it was graceful. I need not + tell any feminine readers that there was no dissimulation in all this,—no + coquetry, no ostentation,—and that the young girl was perfectly + sincere! But the masculine reader might like to know that the simple fact + was that, since she had regained consciousness, she had been filled with + remorse for her capricious and ungenerous rejection of Tenbrook's + proffered service. More than that, she felt she had periled her life in + that moment of folly, and that this man—this hero—had saved + her. For hero he was, even if he did not fulfill her ideal,—it was + only SHE that was not a heroine. Perhaps if he had been more like what she + wished she would have felt this less keenly; love leaves little room for + the exercise of moral ethics. So Miss Amy Forester, being a good girl at + bottom, and not exactly loving this man, felt towards him a frank and + tender consideration which a more romantic passion would have shrunk from + showing. Consequently, when Tenbrook entered a moment later, he found Amy + paler and more thoughtful, but, as he fancied, much prettier than before, + looking up at him with eyes of the sincerest solicitude. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he remained standing near the door, as if indicating a + possible intrusion, his face wearing a look of lowering abstraction. It + struck her that this might be the effect of his long hair and general + uncouthness, and this only spurred her to a fuller recognition of his + other qualities. + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid,” she began, with a charming embarrassment, “that instead of + resting satisfied with your kindness in carrying me up here, I will have + to burden you again with my dreadful weakness, and ask you to carry me + down also. But all this seems so little after what you have just done and + for which I can never, NEVER hope to thank you!” She clasped her two + little hands together, holding her gloves between, and brought them down + upon her lap in a gesture as prettily helpless as it was unaffected. + </p> + <p> + “I have done scarcely anything,” he said, glancing away towards the fire, + “and—your father has thanked me.” + </p> + <p> + “You have saved my life!” + </p> + <p> + “No! no!” he said quickly. “Not that! You were in no danger, except from + my rifle, had I missed.” + </p> + <p> + “I see,” she said eagerly, with a little posthumous thrill at having been + after all a kind of heroine, “and it was a wonderful shot, for you were so + careful not to touch me.” + </p> + <p> + “Please don't say any more,” he said, with a slight movement of half + awkwardness, half impatience. “It was a rough job, but it's over now.” + </p> + <p> + He stopped and chafed his red hands abstractedly together. She could see + that he had evidently just washed them—and the glaring ring was more + in evidence than ever. But the thought gave her an inspiration. + </p> + <p> + “You'll at least let me shake hands with you!” she said, extending both + her own with childish frankness. + </p> + <p> + “Hold on, Miss Forester,” he said, with sudden desperation. “It ain't the + square thing! Look here! I can't play this thing on you!—I can't let + you play it on me any longer! You weren't in any danger,—you NEVER + were! That bear was only a half-wild thing I helped to ra'r myself! It's + taken sugar from my hand night after night at the door of this cabin as it + might have taken it from yours here if it was alive now. It slept night + after night in the brush, not fifty yards away. The morning's never come + yet—till now,” he said hastily, to cover an odd break in his voice, + “when it didn't brush along the whole side of this cabin to kinder wake me + up and say 'So long,' afore it browsed away into the canyon. Thar ain't a + man along the whole Divide who didn't know it; thar ain't a man along the + whole Divide that would have drawn a bead or pulled a trigger on it till + now. It never had an enemy but the bees; it never even knew why horses and + cattle were frightened of it. It wasn't much of a pet, you'd say, Miss + Forester; it wasn't much to meet a lady's eye; but we of the woods must + take our friends where we find 'em and of our own kind. It ain't no fault + of yours, Miss, that you didn't know it; it ain't no fault of yours what + happened; but when it comes to your THANKING me for it, why—it's—it's + rather rough, you see—and gets me.” He stopped short as desperately + and as abruptly as he had begun, and stared blankly at the fire. + </p> + <p> + A wave of pity and shame swept over the young girl and left its high tide + on her cheek. But even then it was closely followed by the feminine + instinct of defence and defiance. The REAL hero—the GENTLEMAN—she + reasoned bitterly, would have spared her all this knowledge. + </p> + <p> + “But why,” she said, with knitted brows, “why, if you knew it was so + precious and so harmless—why did you fire upon it?” + </p> + <p> + “Because,” he said almost fiercely, turning upon her, “because you + SCREAMED, and THEN I KNEW IT HAD FRIGHTENED YOU!” He stopped instantly as + she momentarily recoiled from him, but the very brusqueness of his action + had dislodged a tear from his dark eyes that fell warm on the back of her + hand, and seemed to blot out the indignity. “Listen, Miss,” he went on + hurriedly, as if to cover up his momentary unmanliness. “I knew the bear + was missing to-night, and when I heard the horses scurrying about I + reckoned what was up. I knew no harm could come to you, for the horses + were unharnessed and away from the wagon. I pelted down that trail ahead + of them all like grim death, calkilatin' to get there before the bear; + they wouldn't have understood me; I was too high up to call to the + creature when he did come out, and I kinder hoped you wouldn't see him. + Even when he turned towards the wagon, I knew it wasn't YOU he was after, + but suthin' else, and I kinder hoped, Miss, that you, being different and + quicker-minded than the rest, would see it too. All the while them folks + were yellin' behind me to fire—as if I didn't know my work. I was + half-way down—and then you screamed! And then I forgot everything,—everything + but standing clear of hitting you,—and I fired. I was that savage + that I wanted to believe that he'd gone mad, and would have touched you, + till I got down there and found the honey-pot lying alongside of him. But + there,—it's all over now! I wouldn't have let on a word to you only + I couldn't bear to take YOUR THANKS for it, and I couldn't bear to have + you thinking me a brute for dodgin' them.” He stopped, walked to the fire, + leaned against the chimney under the shallow pretext of kicking the dull + embers into a blaze, which, however, had only the effect of revealing his + two glistening eyes as he turned back again and came towards her. “Well,” + he said, with an ineffectual laugh, “it's all over now, it's all in the + day's work, I reckon,—and now, Miss, if you're ready, and will just + fix yourself your own way so as to ride easy, I'll carry you down.” And + slightly bending his strong figure, he dropped on one knee beside her with + extended arms. + </p> + <p> + Now it is one thing to be carried up a hill in temperate, unconscious + blood and practical business fashion by a tall, powerful man with + steadfast, glowering eyes, but quite another thing to be carried down + again by the same man, who has been crying, and when you are conscious + that you are going to cry too, and your tears may be apt to mingle. So + Miss Amy Forester said: “Oh, wait, please! Sit down a moment. Oh, Mr. + Tenbrook, I am so very, very sorry,” and, clapping her hand to her eyes, + burst into tears. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, please, please don't, Miss Forester,” said Jack, sitting down on the + end of the bunk with frightened eyes, “please don't do that! It ain't + worth it. I'm only a brute to have said anything.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no! You are SO noble, SO forgiving!” sobbed Miss Forester, “and I + have made you go and kill the only thing you cared for, that was all your + own.” + </p> + <p> + “No, Miss,—not all my own, either,—and that makes it so rough. + For it was only left in trust with me by a friend. It was her only + companion.” + </p> + <p> + “HER only companion?” echoed Miss Forester, sharply lifting her bowed + head. + </p> + <p> + “Except,” said Jack hurriedly, miscomprehending the emphasis with + masculine fatuity,—“except the dying man for whom she lived and + sacrificed her whole life. She gave me this ring, to always remind me of + my trust. I suppose,” he added ruefully, looking down upon it, “it's no + use now. I'd better take it off.” + </p> + <p> + Then Amy eyed the monstrous object with angelic simplicity. “I certainly + should,” she said with infinite sweetness; “it would only remind you of + your loss. But,” she added, with a sudden, swift, imploring look of her + blue eyes, “if you could part with it to me, it would be such a reminder + and token of—of your forgiveness.” + </p> + <p> + Jack instantly handed it to her. “And now,” he said, “let me carry you + down.” + </p> + <p> + “I think,” she said hesitatingly, “that—I had better try to walk,” + and she rose to her feet. + </p> + <p> + “Then I shall know that you have not forgiven me,” said Jack sadly. + </p> + <p> + “But I have no right to trouble”— + </p> + <p> + Alas! she had no time to finish her polite objection, for the next moment + she felt herself lifted in the air, smelled the bark thatch within an inch + of her nose, saw the firelight vanish behind her, and subsiding into his + curved arms as in a hammock, the two passed forth into the night together. + </p> + <p> + “I can't find, your bracelet anywhere, Amy,” said her father, when they + reached the wagon. + </p> + <p> + “It was on the floor in the lint,” said Amy reproachfully. “But, of + course, you never thought of that!” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + My pen halts with some diffidence between two conclusions to this + veracious chronicle. As they agree in result, though not in theory or + intention, I may venture to give them both. To one coming from the lips of + the charming heroine herself I naturally yield the precedence. “Oh, the + bear story! I don't really remember whether that was before I was engaged + to John or after. But I had known him for some time; father introduced him + at the Governor's ball at Sacramento. Let me see!—I think it was in + the winter of '56. Yes! it was very amusing; I always used to charge John + with having trained that bear to attack our carriage so that he might come + in as a hero! Oh, of course, there are a hundred absurd stories about him,—they + used to say that he lived all alone in a cabin like a savage, and all that + sort of thing, and was a friend of a dubious woman in the locality, whom + the common people made a heroine of,—Miggles, or Wiggles, or some + such preposterous name. But look at John there; can you conceive it?” The + listener, glancing at a very handsome, clean-shaven fellow, faultlessly + attired, could not conceive such an absurdity. So I therefore simply give + the opinion of Joshua Bixley, Superintendent of the Long Divide Tunnel + Company, for what it is worth: “I never took much stock in that bear + story, and its captivating old Forester's daughter. Old Forester knew a + thing or two, and when he was out here consolidating tunnels, he found out + that Jack Tenbrook was about headed for the big lead, and brought him out + and introduced him to Amy. You see, Jack, clear grit as he was, was mighty + rough style, and about as simple as they make 'em, and they had to get up + something to account for that girl's taking a shine to him. But they seem + to be happy enough—and what are you going to do about it?” + </p> + <p> + And I transfer this philosophic query to the reader. + </p> + <p> + THE YOUNGEST PROSPECTOR IN CALAVERAS + </p> + <p> + He was scarcely eight when it was believed that he could have reasonably + laid claim to the above title. But he never did. He was a small boy, + intensely freckled to the roots of his tawny hair, with even a suspicion + of it in his almond-shaped but somewhat full eyes, which were the greenish + hue of a ripe gooseberry. All this was very unlike his parents, from whom + he diverged in resemblance in that fashion so often seen in the Southwest + of America, as if the youth of the boundless West had struck a new note of + independence and originality, overriding all conservative and established + rules of heredity. Something of this was also shown in a singular and + remarkable reticence and firmness of purpose, quite unlike his family or + schoolfellows. His mother was the wife of a teamster, who had apparently + once “dumped” his family, consisting of a boy and two girls, on the + roadside at Burnt Spring, with the canvas roof of his wagon to cover them, + while he proceeded to deliver other freight, not so exclusively his own, + at other stations along the road, returning to them on distant and + separate occasions with slight additions to their stock, habitation, and + furniture. In this way the canvas roof was finally shingled and the hut + enlarged, and, under the quickening of a smiling California sky and the + forcing of a teeming California soil, the chance-sown seed took root and + became known as Medliker's Ranch, or “Medliker's,” with its bursting + garden patch and its three sheds or “lean-to's.” + </p> + <p> + The girls helped their mother in a childish, imitative way; the boy, John + Bunyan, after a more desultory and original fashion—when he was not + “going to” or ostensibly “coming from” school, for he was seldom actually + there. Something of this fear was in the mind of Mrs. Medliker one morning + as she looked up from the kettle she was scrubbing, with premonition of + “more worriting,” to behold the Reverend Mr. Staples, the local minister, + hale John Bunyan Medliker into the shanty with one hand. Letting Johnny + go, he placed his back against the door and wiped his face with a red + handkerchief. Johnny dropped into a chair, furtively glancing at the arm + by which Mr. Staples had dragged him, and feeling it with the other hand + to see if it was really longer. + </p> + <p> + “I've been requested by the schoolmaster,” said the Rev. Mr. Staples, + putting his handkerchief back into his broad felt hat with a gasping + smile, “to bring our young friend before you for a matter of counsel and + discipline. I have done so, Sister Medliker, with some difficulty,”—he + looked down at John Bunyan, who again felt his arm and was satisfied that + it WAS longer—“but we must do our dooty, even with difficulty to + ourselves, and, perhaps, to others. Our young friend, John Bunyan, stands + on a giddy height—on slippery places, and,” continued Mr. Staples, + with a lofty disregard to consecutive metaphor, “his feet are taking fast + hold of destruction.” Here the child drew a breath of relief, possibly at + the prospect of being on firm ground of any kind at last; but Sister + Medliker, to whom the Staples style of exordium had only a Sabbath + significance, turned to her offspring abruptly:— + </p> + <p> + “And what's these yer doin's now, John? and me a slavin' to send ye to + school?” + </p> + <p> + Thus appealed to, Johnny looked for a reply at his feet, at his arm, and + at the kettle. Then he said: “I ain't done nothin', but he”—indicating + Staples—“hez been nigh onter pullin' off my arm.” + </p> + <p> + “It's now almost a week ago,” continued Mr. Staples, waving aside the + interruption with a smile of painful Christian tolerance, “or perhaps ten + days—I won't be too sure—that the schoolmaster discovered that + Johnny had in his possession two or three flakes of fine river gold—each + of the value of half a dollar, or perhaps sixty-two and one half cents. On + being questioned where he got them he refused to say; although + subsequently he alleged that he had 'found' them. It being a single + instance, he was given the benefit of the doubt, and nothing more was said + about it. But a few days after he was found trying to pass off, at Mr. + Smith's store, two other flakes of a different size, and a small nugget of + the value of four or five dollars. At this point I was called in; he + repeated to me, I grieve to say, the same untruthfulness, and when I + suggested to him the obvious fact that he had taken it from one of the + miner's sluice boxes and committed the grievous sin of theft, he wickedly + denied it—so that we are prevented from carrying out the Christian + command of restoring it even ONE fold, instead of four or five fold as the + Mosaic Law might have required. We were, alas! unable to ascertain + anything from the miners themselves, though I grieve to say they one and + all agreed that their 'take' that week was not at all what they had + expected. I even went so far as to admit the possibility of his own + statement, and besought him at least to show me where he had found it. He + at first refused with great stubbornness of temper, but later consented to + accompany me privately this afternoon to the spot.” Mr. Staples paused, + and sinking his voice gloomily, and with his eyes fixed upon Johnny, + continued slowly: “When I state that, after several times trying to evade + me on the way, he finally led me to the top of Bald Hill, where there is + not a scrap of soil, and not the slightest indication, and still persisted + that he found it THERE, you will understand, Sister Medliker, the + incorrigibility of his conduct, and how he has added the sin of 'false + witness' to his breaking the Eighth Commandment. But I leave him to your + Christian discipline! Let us hope that if, through his stiff-necked + obduracy, he has haply escaped the vengeance of man's law, he will not + escape the rod of the domestic tabernacle.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye kin leave him to me,” said Mrs. Medliker, in her anxiety to get rid of + the parson, assuming a confidence she was far from feeling. + </p> + <p> + “So be it, Sister Medliker,” said Staples, drawing a long, satisfactory + breath; “and let us trust that when you have rastled with his flesh and + spirit, you will bring us joyful tidings to Wednesday's Mother's Meeting.” + </p> + <p> + He clapped his soft hat on his head, cast another glance at the wicked + Johnny, opened the door with his hand behind him, and backed himself into + the road. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Johnny,” said Mrs. Medliker, setting her lips together as the door + closed, “look me right in the face, and say where you stole that gold.” + </p> + <p> + But Johnny evidently did not think that his mother's face at that moment + offered any moral support, for he did not look at her; but, after gazing + at the kettle, said slowly, “I didn't steal no gold.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said Mrs. Medliker triumphantly, “if ye didn't steal it, you'd say + right off HOW ye got it.” + </p> + <p> + Children are often better logicians than their elders. To John Bunyan the + stealing of gold and the mere refusal to say where he got it were two + distinct and separate things; that the negation of the second proposition + meant the affirmation of the first he could not accept. But then children + are also imitative, and fearful of the older intellect. It struck Johnny + that his mother might be right, and that to her it really meant the same + thing. So, after a moment's silence he replied more confidently, “I + suppose I stoled it.” + </p> + <p> + But he was utterly unprepared for the darkening change in his mother's + face, and her furious accents. “You stole it?—you STOLE it, you + limb! And you sit there and brazenly tell me! Who did you steal it from? + Tell me quick, afore I wring it out of you!” + </p> + <p> + Completely astounded and bewildered at this new turn of affairs, Johnny + again fell back upon the dreadful truth, and gasped, “I don't know.” + </p> + <p> + “You don't know, you devil! Did you take it from Frazer's?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “From the Simmons Brothers?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “From the Blazing Star Company?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “From a store?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, in created goodness!—WHERE did you get it?” + </p> + <p> + Johnny raised his brown-gooseberry eyes for a single instant to his + mother's and said, “I found it.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Medliker gasped again and stared hopelessly at the ceiling. Yet she + was conscious of a certain relief. After all, it was POSSIBLE that he had + found it—liar as he undoubtedly was. + </p> + <p> + “Then why don't you say where, you awful child?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't want to!” + </p> + <p> + Johnny would have liked to add that he saw no reason why he should tell. + Other people who found gold were not obliged to tell. There was Jim Brody, + who had struck a lead and kept the locality secret. Nobody forced him to + tell. Nobody called him a thief; nobody had dragged him about by the arm + until he showed it. Why was it wrong that a little boy should find gold? + It wasn't agin the Commandments. Mr. Staples had never got up and said, + “Thou shalt not find gold!” His mother had never made him pray not to find + it! The schoolmaster had never read him awful stories of boys who found + gold and never said anything about it, and so came to a horrid end. All + this crowded his small boy's mind, and, crowding, choked his small boy's + utterance. + </p> + <p> + “You jest wait till your father comes home,” said Mrs. Medliker, “and + he'll see whether you 'want to' or not. And now get yourself off to bed + and stay there.” + </p> + <p> + Johnny knew that his father—whose teams had increased to five + wagons, and whose route extended forty miles further—was not due for + a week, and that the catastrophe was yet remote. His present punishment he + had expected. He went into the adjoining bedroom, which he occupied with + his sister, and began to undress. He lingered for some time over one + stocking, and finally cautiously removed from it a small piece of flake + gold which he had kept concealed all day under his big toe, to the great + discomfort of that member. But this was only a small, ordinary + self-martyrdom of boyhood. He scratched a boyish hieroglyphic on the + metal, and when his mother's back was turned scraped a small hole in the + adobe wall, inserted the gold in it, and covered it up with a plaster made + of the moistened debris. It was safe—so was his secret—for it + need not, perhaps, be stated here that Johnny HAD told the truth and HAD + honestly found the gold! But where?—yes, that was his own secret! + And now, Johnny, with the instinct of all young animals, dismissed the + whole subject from his mind, and, reclining comfortably upon his arm, fell + into an interesting study of the habits of the red ant as exemplified in a + crack of the adobe wall, and with the aid of a burnt match succeeded in + diverting for the rest of the afternoon the attention of a whole laborious + colony. + </p> + <p> + The next morning, however, brought trouble to him in the curiosity of his + sisters, heightened by their belief that he could at any moment be taken + off to prison—which was their understanding of their mother's story. + I grieve to say that to them this invested him with a certain romantic + heroism, from the gratification of which the hero himself was not exempt. + Nevertheless, he successfully evaded their questioning, and on broader + impersonal grounds. As girls, it was none of their business! He wasn't + a-going to tell them HIS secrets! And what did they know about gold, + anyway? They couldn't tell it from brass! The attitude of his mother was, + however, still perplexing. She was no longer actively indignant, but + treated him with a mysterious reserve that was the more appalling. The + fact was that she no longer believed in his theft,—indeed, she had + never seriously accepted it,—but his strange reticence and + secretiveness piqued her curiosity, and even made her a little afraid of + him. The capacity for keeping a secret she believed was manlike, and + reminded her—for no reason in the world—of Jim Medliker, her + husband, whom she feared. Well, she would let them fight it out between + them. More than that, she was finally obliged to sink her reserve in + employing him in the necessary “chores” for the house, and he was sent on + an errand to the country store at the cross-roads. But he first extracted + his gold-flake from the wall, and put it in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + On arriving at the store, it was plain even to his boyish perceptions that + the minister had circulated his miserable story. Two or three of the + customers spoke to each other in a whisper, and looked at him. More than + that, when he began his homeward journey he saw that two of the loungers + were evidently following him. Half in timidity and half in boyish mischief + he once or twice strayed from the direct road, and snatched a fearful joy + in observing their equal divergence. As he passed Mr. Staples's house he + saw that reverend gentleman sneak out of his back gate, and, without + seeing the two others, join in the inquisitorial procession. But the + events of the past day had had their quickening effect upon Johnny's + intellect. A brilliantly wicked thought struck him. As he was passing a + perfectly bare spot on the road he managed, without being noticed, to cast + his glittering flake of gold on the sterile ground at the other side of + the road, where the minister's path would lie. Then, at a point where the + road turned, he concealed himself in the brush. The Reverend Mr. Staples + hurried forward as he lost sight of the boy in the sweep of the road, but + halted suddenly. Johnny's heart leaped. The minister looked around him, + stooped, picked up the piece of gold, thrust it hurriedly in his waistcoat + pocket, and continued his way. When he reached the turn of the road, + before passing it, he availed himself of his solitude to pause and again + examine the treasure, and again return it to his pocket. But, to Johnny's + surprise, he here turned back, walked quickly to the spot where he had + found it, carefully examined the locality, kicking the loose soil and + stones around with his feet until he had apparently satisfied himself that + there was no more, and no gold-bearing indications in the soil. At this + moment, however, the two other inquisitors came in sight, and Mr. Staples + turned quickly and hurried on. Before he had passed the brush where Johnny + was concealed, the two men overtook him and exchanged greetings. They both + spoke of “Johnny” and his crime; of having followed him with a view of + finding out where he went to procure his gold, and of his having again + evaded them. Mr. Staples agreed with their purpose, but, to Johnny's + intense astonishment, SAID NOTHING ABOUT HIS OWN FIND! When they had + passed on, the boy slipped from his place of concealment and followed them + at a distance until his own house came in view. Here the two men diverged, + but the minister continued on towards the other “store” and post-office on + the main road. + </p> + <p> + He would have told his mother what he had seen, and his surprise that the + minister had not spoken of finding the gold to the other men, but he was + checked, first by his mother's attitude towards him, which was clearly the + same as the minister's, and, second, by the knowledge that she would have + condemned his dropping the gold in the minister's path,—though he + knew not WHY,—or asked his reason for it, which he was equally sure + he could not formulate, though he also knew not why. But that evening, as + he was returning from the spring with water, he heard the minister's voice + in the kitchen. It had been a day of surprises and revelations to Johnny, + but the climax seemed to be reached as he entered the room; and he now + stood transfixed and open-mouthed as he heard Mr. Staples say:— + </p> + <p> + “It's all very well, Sister Medliker, to comfort your heart with vain + hopes and delusions. A mother's leanin's is the soul's deceivin's,—and + yer leanin' on a broken reed. If the boy truly found that gold he'd have + come to ye and said: 'Behold, mother, I have found gold in the highways + and byways; rejoice and be exceedin' glad!' and hev poured it inter yer + lap. Yes,” continued Mr. Staples aggressively to the boy, as he saw him + stagger back with his pail in hand, “yes, sir, THAT would have been the + course of a Christian child!” + </p> + <p> + For a moment Johnny felt the blood boiling in his ears, and a thousand + words seemed crowding in his throat. “Then”—he gasped and choked. + “Then”—he began again, and stopped with the suffocation of + indignation. + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Staples saw in his agitation only an awakened conscience, and, + nudging Mrs. Medliker, leaned eagerly forward for a reply. “Then,” he + repeated, with suave encouragement, “go on, Johnny! Speak it out!” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said Johnny, in a high, shrill falsetto that startled them, “then + wot for did YOU pick up that piece o' gold in the road this arternoon, and + say nothin' of it to the men who followed ye? Ye did; I seed yer! And ye + didn't say nothin' of it to anybody; and ye ain't sayin' nothin' of it now + ter maw! and ye've got it in yer vest! And it's mine, and I dropped it! + Gimme it.” + </p> + <p> + Astonishment, confusion, and rage swelled and empurpled Staples' face. It + was HIS turn to gasp for breath. Yet in the same moment he made an angry + dash at the boy. But Mrs. Medliker interfered. This was an entirely new + feature in the case. Great is the power of gold. A single glance at the + minister's confusion had convinced her that Johnny's accusation was true, + and it was Johnny's MONEY—constructively HERS—that the + minister was concealing. His mere possession of that gold had more effect + in straightening out her loose logic than any sense of hypocrisy. + </p> + <p> + “You leave the boy be, Brother Staples,” said Mrs. Medliker sharply. “I + reckon wot's his is hisn, spite of whar he got it.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Staples saw his mistake, and smiled painfully as he fumbled in his + waistcoat pocket. “I believe I DID pick up something,” he said, “that may + or may not have been gold, but I have dropped it again or thrown it away; + and really it is of little concern in our moral lesson. For we have only + HIS word that it was really his! How do we KNOW it?” + </p> + <p> + “Cos it has my marks on it,” said Johnny quickly; “it had a criss-cross I + scratched on it. I kin tell it good enuf.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Staples turned suddenly pale and rose. “Of course,” he said to Mrs. + Medliker with painful dignity, “if you set so much value upon a mere + worldly trifle, I will endeavor to find it. It may be in my other pocket.” + He backed out of the door in his usual fashion, but instantly went over to + the post-office, where, as he afterwards alleged, he had changed the ore + for coin in a moment of inadvertence. But Johnny's hieroglyphics were + found on it, and in some mysterious way the story got about. It had two + effects that Johnny did not dream of. It had forced his mother into an + attitude of complicity with him; it had raised up for him a single friend. + Jake Stielitzer, quartz miner, had declared that Burnt Spring was “playing + it low down” on Johnny! That if they really believed that the boy took + gold from their sluice boxes, it was their duty to watch their CLAIMS and + not the boy. That it was only their excuse for “snooping” after him, and + they only wanted to find his “strike,” which was as much his as their + claims were their own! All this with great proficiency of epithet, but + also a still more recognized proficiency with the revolver, which made the + former respected. + </p> + <p> + “That's the real nigger in the fence, Johnny,” said Jake, twirling his + huge mustache, “and they only want to know where your lead is,—and + don't yer tell 'em! Let 'em bile over with waitin' first, and that'll put + the fire out. Does yer pop know?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Johnny. + </p> + <p> + “Nor yer mar?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + Jake whistled. “Then it's only YOU, yourself?” + </p> + <p> + Johnny nodded violently, and his brown eyes glistened. + </p> + <p> + “It's a heap of information to be packed away in a chap of your size, + Johnny. Makes you feel kinder crowded inside, eh? MUST keep it to + yourself, eh?” + </p> + <p> + “Have to,” said Johnny with a gasp that was a little like a sigh. + </p> + <p> + It caused Jake to look at him attentively. “See here, Johnny,” he said, + “now ef ye wanted to tell somebody about it,—somebody as was a + friend of yours,—ME, f'r instance?” + </p> + <p> + Johnny slowly withdrew the freckled, warty little hand that had been + resting confidingly in Jake's and gently sidled away from him. Jake burst + into a loud laugh. + </p> + <p> + “All right, Johnny boy,” he said with a hearty slap upon the boy's back, + “keep yer head shut ef yer wanter! Only ef anybody else comes bummin' + round ye, like this, jest turn him over TO ME, and I'll lift him outer his + boots!” + </p> + <p> + Jake kept his word, and his distance thereafter. Indeed, it was after this + first and last conversation with him that the influence of his powerful + protection was so strong that all active criticisms of Johnny ceased, and + only a respectful surveillance of his movements lingered in the + settlement. I do not know that this was altogether distasteful to the + child; it would have been strange, indeed, if he had not felt at times + exalted by this mysterious influence that he seemed to have acquired over + his fellow creatures. If he were merely hunting blackberries in the brush, + he was always sure, sooner or later, to find a ready hand offered to help + and accompany him; if he trapped a squirrel or tracked down a wild bees' + hoard, he generally found a smiling face watching him. Prospectors + sometimes stopped him with: “Well, Johnny, as a chipper and far-minded + boy, now WHAR would YOU advise us to dig?” I grieve to say that Johnny was + not above giving his advice,—and that it was invariably of not the + smallest use to the recipient. + </p> + <p> + And so the days passed. Mr. Medliker's absence was protracted, and the + hour of retribution and punishment still seemed far away. The blackberries + ripened and dried upon the hillside, and the squirrels had gathered their + hoards; the bees no longer came and went through the thicket, but Johnny + was still in daily mysterious possession of his grains of gold! And then + one day—after the fate of all heroic humanity—his secret was + imperilled by the blandishments and machinations of the all-powerful sex. + </p> + <p> + Florry Fraser was a little playmate of Johnny's. Why, with his doubts of + his elder sister's intelligence and integrity, he should have selected a + child two years younger, and of singular simplicity, was, like his other + secret, his own. What SHE saw in him to attract her was equally strange; + possibly it may have been his brown-gooseberry eyes or his warts; but she + was quite content to trot after him, like a young squaw, carrying his + “bow-arrow,” or his “trap,” supremely satisfied to share his woodland + knowledge or his scanter confidences. For nobody who knew Johnny suspected + that she was privy to his great secret. Howbeit, wherever his ragged straw + hat, thatched with his tawny hair, was detected in the brush, the little + nankeen sunbonnet of Florry was sure to be discerned not far behind. For + two weeks they had not seen each other. A fell disease, nurtured in + ignorance, dirt, and carelessness, was striking right and left through the + valleys of the foothills, and Florry, whose sister had just recovered from + an attack, had been sequestered with her. But one morning, as Johnny was + bringing his wood from the stack behind the house, he saw, to his intense + delight, a picket of the road fence slipped aside by a small red hand, and + a moment after Florry squeezed herself through the narrow opening. Her + round cheeks were slightly flushed, and there was a scrap of red flannel + around her plump throat that heightened the whiteness of her skin. + </p> + <p> + “My!” said Johnny, with half-real, half-affected admiration, “how + splendiferous!” + </p> + <p> + “Sore froat,” said Florry, in a whisper, trying to insert her two chubby + fingers between the bandage and her chin. “I mussent go outer the garden + patch! I mussent play in the woods, for I'll be seed! I mussent stay long, + for they'll ketch me outer bed!” + </p> + <p> + “Outer bed?” repeated Johnny, with intense admiration, as he perceived for + the first time that Florry was in a flannel nightgown, with bare legs and + feet. + </p> + <p> + “Ess.” + </p> + <p> + Whereupon these two delightful imps chuckled and wagged their heads with a + sincere enjoyment that this mere world could not give! Johnny slipped off + his shoes and stockings and hurriedly put them on the infant Florry, + securing them from falling off with a thick cord. This added to their + enjoyment. + </p> + <p> + “We can play cubby house in the stone heap,” whispered Florry. + </p> + <p> + “Hol' on till I tote in this wood,” said Johnny. “You hide till I come + back.” + </p> + <p> + Johnny swiftly delivered his load with an alacrity he had never shown + before. Then they played “cubby house”—not fifty feet from the + cabin, with a hushed but guilty satisfaction. But presently it palled. + Their domain was too circumscribed for variety. “Robinson Crusoe up the + tree” was impossible, as being visible from the house windows. Johnny was + at his wits' end. Florry was fretful and fastidious. Then a great thought + struck him and left him cold. “If I show you a show, you won't tell?” he + said suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Wish yer-ma-die?” + </p> + <p> + “Ess.” + </p> + <p> + “Got any penny?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Got any slate pencil?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Ain't got any pins nor nuthin'? You kin go in for a pin.” + </p> + <p> + But Florry had none of childhood's fluctuating currency with her, having, + so to speak, no pockets. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Johnny, brightening up, “ye kin go in for luv.” + </p> + <p> + The child clipped him with her small arms and smiled, and, Johnny leading + the way, they crept on all fours through the thick ferns until they paused + before a deep fissure in the soil half overgrown with bramble. In its + depths they could hear the monotonous trickle of water. It was really the + source of the spring that afterwards reappeared fifty yards nearer the + road, and trickled into an unfailing pool known as the Burnt Spring, from + the brown color of the surrounding bracken. It was the water supply of the + ranch, and the reason for Mr. Medliker's original selection of that site. + Johnny lingered for an instant, looked carefully around, and then lowered + himself into the fissure. A moment later he reached up his arms to Florry, + lowered her also, and both disappeared from view. Yet from time to time + their voices came faintly from below—with the gurgle of water—as + of festive gnomes at play. + </p> + <p> + At the end of ten minutes they reappeared, a little muddy, a little + bedraggled, but flushed and happy. There were two pink spots on Florry's + cheeks, and she clasped something tightly in her little red fist. + </p> + <p> + “There,” said Johnny, when they were seated in the straw again, “now mind + you don't tell.” + </p> + <p> + But here suddenly Florry's lips began to quiver, and she gave vent to a + small howl of anguish. + </p> + <p> + “You ain't bit by a trant'ler nor nuthin'?” said Johnny anxiously. “Hush + up!” + </p> + <p> + “N—o—o! But”— + </p> + <p> + “But what?” said Johnny. + </p> + <p> + “Mar said I MUST tell! Mar said I was to fin' out where you get the truly + gold! Mar said I was to get you to take me,” howled Florry, in an agony of + remorse. + </p> + <p> + Johnny gasped. “You Injin!” he began. + </p> + <p> + “But I won't—Johnny!” said Florry, clutching his leg frantically. “I + won't and I sha'n't! I ain't no Injin!” + </p> + <p> + Then, between her sobs, she told him how her mother and Mr. Staples had + said that she was to ask Johnny the next time they met to take her where + they found the “truly gold,” and she was to remember where it was and to + tell them. And they were going to give her a new dolly and a hunk of + gingerbread. “But I won't—and I sha'n't!” she said passionately. She + was quite pale again. + </p> + <p> + Johnny was convinced, but thoughtful. “Tell 'em,” he said hoarsely, “tell + 'em a big whopper! They won't know no better. They'll never guess where.” + And he briefly recounted the wild-goose chase he had given the minister. + </p> + <p> + “And get the dolly and the cake,” said Florry, her eyes shining through + her tears. + </p> + <p> + “In course,” said Johnny. “They'll get the dolly back, but you kin have + eated the cake first.” They looked at each other, and their eyes danced + together over this heaven-sent inspiration. Then Johnny took off her shoes + and stockings, rubbed her cold feet with his dirty handkerchief, and said: + “Now you trot over to your mar!” + </p> + <p> + He helped her through the loose picket of the fence and was turning away + when her faint voice again called him. + </p> + <p> + “Johnny!” + </p> + <p> + He turned back; she was standing on the other side of the fence holding + out her arms to him. He went to her with shining eyes, lifted her up, and + from her hot but loving little lips took a fatal kiss. + </p> + <p> + For only an hour later Mrs. Fraser found Florry in her bed, tossing with a + high fever and a light head. She was talking of “Johnny” and “gold,” and + had a flake of the metal in her tiny fist. When Mr. Staples was sent for, + and with the mother and father, hung anxiously above her bed, to their + eager questioning they could only find out that Florry had been to a high + mountain, ever so far away, and on the top of it there was gold lying + around, and a shining figure was giving it away to the people. + </p> + <p> + “And who were the people, Florry dear,” said Mr. Staples persuasively; + “anybody ye know here?” + </p> + <p> + “They woz angels,” said Florry, with a frightened glance over her + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + I grieve to say that Mr. Staples did not look as pleased at the celestial + vision as he might have, and poor Mrs. Fraser probably saw that in her + child's face which drove other things from her mind. Yet Mr. Staples + persisted:— + </p> + <p> + “And who led you to this beautiful mountain? Was it Johnny?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Who then?” + </p> + <p> + Florry opened her eyes on the speaker. “I fink it was Dod,” she said, and + closed them again. + </p> + <p> + But here Dr. Duchesne hurried in, and after a single glance at the child + hustled Mr. Staples from the room. For there were grave complications that + puzzled him, Florry seemed easier and quieter under his kindly voice and + touch, but did not speak again,—and so, slowly sinking, passed away + that night in a dreamless sleep. This was followed by a mad panic at Burnt + Spring the next day, and Mrs. Medliker fled with her two girls to + Sacramento, leaving Johnny, ostensibly strong and active, to keep house + until his father's return. But Mr. Medliker's return was again delayed, + and in the epidemic, which had now taken a fast hold of the settlement, + Johnny's secret—and indeed the boy himself—was quite + forgotten. It was only on Mr. Medliker's arrival it was known that he had + been lying dangerously ill, alone, in the abandoned house. In his strange + reticence and firmness of purpose he had kept his sufferings to himself,—as + he had his other secret,—and they were revealed only in the wasted, + hollow figure that feebly opened the door to his father. + </p> + <p> + On which intelligence Mr. Staples was, as usual, promptly on the spot with + his story of Johnny's secret to the father, and his usual eager + questioning to the fast-sinking boy. “And now, Johnny,” he said, leaning + over the bed, “tell us ALL. There is One from whom no secrets are hid. + Remember, too, that dear Florry, who is now with the angels, has already + confessed.” + </p> + <p> + Perhaps it was because Johnny, even at that moment, hated the man; perhaps + it was because at that moment he loved and believed in Florry, or perhaps + it was only that because at that moment he was nearer the greater Truth + than his questioner, but he said, in a husky voice, “You lie!” + </p> + <p> + Staples drew back with a flushed face, but lips that writhed in a pained + and still persistent eagerness. “But, Johnny, at least tell us where—wh—wow—wow.” + </p> + <p> + I am obliged to admit that these undignified accents came from Mr. + Staples' own lips, and were due to the sudden pressure of Mr. Medliker's + arm around his throat. The teamster was irascible and prompt through much + mule-driving, and his arm was, from the same reason, strong and sinewy. + Mr. Staples felt himself garroted and dragged from the room, and only came + to under the stars outside, with the hoarse voice of Mr. Medliker in his + ears:— + </p> + <p> + “You're a minister of the gospel, I know, but ef ye say another word to my + Johnny, I'll knock the gospel stuffin' out of ye. Ye hear me! I'VE DRIVEN + MULES AFORE!” + </p> + <p> + He then strode back into the room. “Ye needn't answer, Johnny, he's gone.” + </p> + <p> + But so, too, had Johnny, for he never answered the question in this world, + nor, please God, was he required to in the next. He lay still and dead. + The community was scandalized the next day when Mr. Medliker sent for a + minister from Sacramento to officiate at his child's funeral, in place of + Mr. Staples, and then the subject was dropped. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + But the influence of Johnny's hidden treasure still remained as a + superstition in the locality. Prospecting parties were continually made up + to discover the unknown claim, but always from evidence and data + altogether apocryphal. It was even alleged that a miner had one night seen + the little figures of Johnny and Florry walking over the hilltop, hand in + hand, but that they had vanished among the stars at the very moment he + thought he had discovered their secret. And then it was forgotten; the + prosperous Mr. Medliker, now the proprietor of a stage-coach route, moved + away to Sacramento; Medliker's Ranch became a station for changing horses, + and, as the new railway in time superseded even that, sank into a + blacksmith's shop on the outskirts of the new town of Burnt Spring. And + then one day, six years after, news fell as a bolt from the blue! + </p> + <p> + It was thus recorded in the county paper: “A piece of rare good fortune, + involving, it is said, the development of a lead of extraordinary value, + has lately fallen to the lot of Mr. John Silsbee, the popular blacksmith, + on the site of the old Medliker Ranch. In clearing out the failing + water-course known as Burnt Spring, Mr. Silsbee came upon a rich ledge or + pocket at the actual source of the spring,—a fissure in the ground a + few rods from the road. The present yield has been estimated to be from + eight to ten thousand dollars. But the event is considered as one of the + most remarkable instances of the vagaries of 'prospecting' ever known, as + this valuable 'pot-hole' existed undisturbed for EIGHT YEARS not FIFTY + YARDS from the old cabin that was in former times the residence of J. + Medliker, Esq., and the station of the Pioneer Stage Company, and was + utterly unknown and unsuspected by the previous inhabitants! Verily truth + is stranger than fiction!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A TALE OF THREE TRUANTS + </h2> + <p> + The schoolmaster at Hemlock Hill was troubled that morning. Three of his + boys were missing. This was not only a notable deficit in a roll-call of + twenty, but the absentees were his three most original and distinctive + scholars. He had received no preliminary warning or excuse. Nor could he + attribute their absence to any common local detention or difficulty of + travel. They lived widely apart and in different directions. Neither were + they generally known as “chums,” or comrades, who might have entered into + an unhallowed combination to “play hookey.” + </p> + <p> + He looked at the vacant places before him with a concern which his other + scholars little shared, having, after their first lively curiosity, not + unmixed with some envy of the derelicts, apparently forgotten them. He + missed the cropped head and inquisitive glances of Jackson Tribbs on the + third bench, the red hair and brown eyes of Providence Smith in the + corner, and there was a blank space in the first bench where Julian + Fleming, a lanky giant of seventeen, had sat. Still, it would not do to + show his concern openly, and, as became a man who was at least three years + the senior of the eldest, Julian Fleming, he reflected that they were + “only boys,” and that their friends were probably ignorant of the good he + was doing them, and so dismissed the subject. Nevertheless, it struck him + as wonderful how the little world beneath him got on without them. Hanky + Rogers, bully, who had been kept in wholesome check by Julian Fleming, was + lively and exuberant, and his conduct was quietly accepted by the whole + school; Johnny Stebbins, Tribbs's bosom friend, consorted openly with + Tribbs's particular enemy; some of the girls were singularly gay and + conceited. It was evident that some superior masculine oppression had been + removed. + </p> + <p> + He was particularly struck by this last fact, when, the next morning, no + news coming of the absentees, he was impelled to question his flock + somewhat precisely concerning them. There was the usual shy silence which + follows a general inquiry from the teacher's desk; the children looked at + one another, giggled nervously, and said nothing. + </p> + <p> + “Can you give me any idea as to what might have kept them away?” said the + master. + </p> + <p> + Hanky Rogers looked quickly around, began, “Playin' hook—” in a loud + voice, but stopped suddenly without finishing the word, and became + inaudible. The master saw fit to ignore him. + </p> + <p> + “Bee-huntin',” said Annie Roker vivaciously. + </p> + <p> + “Who is?” asked the master. + </p> + <p> + “Provy Smith, of course. Allers bee-huntin'. Gets lots o' honey. Got two + full combs in his desk last week. He's awful on bees and honey. Ain't he, + Jinny?” This in a high voice to her sister. + </p> + <p> + The younger Miss Roker, thus appealed to, was heard to murmur that of all + the sneakin' bee-hunters she had ever seed, Provy Smith was the worst. + “And squirrels—for nuts,” she added. + </p> + <p> + The master became attentive,—a clue seemed probable here. “Would + Tribbs and Fleming be likely to go with him?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + A significant silence followed. The master felt that the children + recognized a doubt of this, knowing the boys were not “chums;” possibly + they also recognized something incriminating to them, and with + characteristic freemasonry looked at one another and were dumb. + </p> + <p> + He asked no further questions, but, when school was dismissed, mounted his + horse and started for the dwelling of the nearest culprit, Jackson Tribbs, + four miles distant. He had often admired the endurance of the boy, who had + accomplished the distance, including the usual meanderings of a country + youth, twice a day, on foot, in all weathers, with no diminution of + spirits or energy. He was still more surprised when he found it a mountain + road, and that the house lay well up on the ascent of the pass. Autumn was + visible only in a few flaming sumacs set among the climbing pines, and + here, in a little clearing to the right, appeared the dwelling he was + seeking. + </p> + <p> + “Tribbses,” or “Tribbs's Run,” was devoted to the work of cutting down the + pines midway on a long regularly sloping mountain-side, which allowed the + trunks, after they were trimmed and cut into suitable lengths, to be slid + down through rude runs, or artificial channels, into the valley below, + where they were collected by teams and conveyed to the nearest mills. The + business was simple in the extreme, and was carried on by Tribbs senior, + two men with saws and axes, and the natural laws of gravitation. The house + was a long log cabin; several sheds roofed with bark or canvas seemed + consistent with the still lingering summer and the heated odors of the + pines, but were strangely incongruous to those white patches on the + table-land and the white tongue stretching from the ridge to the valley. + But the master was familiar with those Sierran contrasts, and as he had + never ascended the trail before, it might be only the usual prospect of + the dwellers there. At this moment Mr. Tribbs appeared from the cabin, + with his axe on his shoulder. Nodding carelessly to the master, he was + moving away, when the latter stopped him. + </p> + <p> + “Is Jackson here?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the father, half impatiently, still moving on. “Hain't seen him + since yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor has he been at school,” said the master, “either yesterday or + to-day.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Tribbs looked puzzled and grieved. “Now I reckoned you had kep' him in + for some devilment of his'n, or lessons.” + </p> + <p> + “Not ALL NIGHT!” said the master, somewhat indignant at this presumption + of his arbitrary functions. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” said Mr. Tribbs. “Mariar!” Mrs. Tribbs made her appearance in the + doorway. “The schoolmaster allows that Jackson ain't bin to school at + all.” Then, turning to the master, he added, “Thar! you settle it between + ye,” and quietly walked away. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Tribbs looked by no means satisfied with or interested in the + proposed tete-a-tete. “Hev ye looked in the bresh” (i. e., brush or + underwood) “for him?” she said querulously. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the master, “I came here first. There are two other boys + missing,—Providence Smith and Julian Fleming. Did either of them”— + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Tribbs had interrupted him with a gesture of impatient relief. + “Oh, that's all, is it? Playin' hookey together, in course. 'Scuse me, I + must go back to my bakin'.” She turned away, but stopped suddenly, + touched, as the master fondly believed, by some tardy maternal solicitude. + But she only said: “When he DOES come back, you just give him a whalin', + will ye?” and vanished into her kitchen. + </p> + <p> + The master rode away, half ashamed of his foolish concern for the + derelicts. But he determined to try Smith's father, who owned a small + rancho lower down on a spur of the same ridge. But the spur was really + nearer Hemlock Hill, and could have been reached more directly by a road + from there. He, however, kept along the ridge, and after half an hour's + ride was convinced that Jackson Tribbs could have communicated with Provy + Smith without coming nearer Hemlock Hill, and this revived his former + belief that they were together. He found the paternal Smith engaged in + hoeing potatoes in a stony field. The look of languid curiosity with which + he had regarded the approach of the master changed to one of equally + languid aggression as he learned the object of his visit. + </p> + <p> + “Wot are ye comin' to ME for? I ain't runnin' your school,” he said slowly + and aggressively. “I started Providence all right for it mornin' afore + last, since when I never set eyes on him. That lets ME out. My business, + young feller, is lookin' arter the ranch. Yours, I reckon, is lookin' + arter your scholars.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought it my business to tell you your son was absent from school,” + said the master coldly, turning away. “If you are satisfied, I have + nothing more to say.” Nevertheless, for the moment he was so startled by + this remarkable theory of his own responsibility in the case that he quite + accepted the father's callousness,—or rather it seemed to him that + his unfortunate charges more than ever needed his protection. There was + still the chance of his hearing some news from Julian Fleming's father; he + lived at some distance, in the valley on the opposite side of Hemlock + Hill; and thither the master made his way. Luckily he had not gone far + before he met Mr. Fleming, who was a teamster, en route. Like the fathers + of the other truants, he was also engaged in his vocation. But, unlike the + others, Fleming senior was jovial and talkative. He pulled up his long + team promptly, received the master's news with amused interest, and an + invitation to spirituous refreshment from a demijohn in his wagon. + </p> + <p> + “Me and the ole woman kind o' spekilated that Jule might hev been over + with Aunt Marthy; but don't you worry, Mr. Schoolmaster. They're limbs, + every one o' them, but they'll fetch up somewhere, all square! Just you + put two fingers o' that corn juice inside ye, and let 'em slide. Ye didn't + hear what the 'lekshun news was when ye was at Smith's, did ye?” + </p> + <p> + The master had not inquired. He confessed he had been worried about the + boys. He had even thought that Julian might have met with an accident. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fleming wiped his mouth, with a humorous affectation of concern. “Met + with an ACCIDENT? Yes, I reckon not ONE accident, but TWO of 'em. These + yer accidents Jule's met with had two legs, and were mighty lively + accidents, you bet, and took him off with 'em; or mebbe they had four + legs, and he's huntin' 'em yet. Accidents! Now I never thought o' that! + Well, when you come across him and THEM ACCIDENTS, you just whale 'em, all + three! And ye won't take another drink? Well, so long, then! Gee up!” He + rolled away, with a laugh, in the heavy dust kicked up by his plunging + mules, and the master made his way back to the schoolhouse. His quest for + that day was ended. + </p> + <p> + But the next morning he was both astounded and relieved, at the assembling + of school, to find the three truants back in their places. His urgent + questioning of them brought only the one and same response from each: “Got + lost on the ridge.” He further gathered that they had slept out for two + nights, and were together all the time, but nothing further, and no + details were given. The master was puzzled. They evidently expected + punishment; that was no doubt also the wish of their parents; but if their + story was true, it was a serious question if he ought to inflict it. There + was no means of testing their statement; there was equally none by which + he could controvert it. It was evident that the whole school accepted it + without doubt; whether they were in possession of details gained from the + truants themselves which they had withheld from him, or whether from some + larger complicity with the culprits, he could not say. He told them + gravely that he should withhold equally their punishment and their pardon + until he could satisfy himself of their veracity, and that there had been + no premeditation in their act. They seemed relieved, but here, again, he + could not tell whether it sprang from confidence in their own integrity or + merely from youthful hopefulness that delayed retribution never arrived! + </p> + <p> + It was a month before their secret was fully disclosed. It was slowly + evolved from corroborating circumstances, but always with a shy reluctance + from the boys themselves, and a surprise that any one should think it of + importance. It was gathered partly from details picked up at recess or on + the playground, from the voluntary testimony of teamsters and packers, + from a record in the county newspaper, but always shaping itself into a + consecutive and harmonious narrative. + </p> + <p> + It was a story so replete with marvelous escape and adventure that the + master hesitated to accept it in its entirety until after it had long + become a familiar history, and was even forgotten by the actors + themselves. And even now he transcribes it more from the circumstances + that surrounded it than from a hope that the story will be believed. + </p> + <p> + WHAT HAPPENED + </p> + <p> + Master Provy Smith had started out that eventful morning with the + intention of fighting Master Jackson Tribbs for the “Kingship” of Table + Ridge—a trifling territory of ten leagues square—Tribbs having + infringed on his boundaries and claimed absolute sovereignty over the + whole mountain range. Julian Fleming was present as referee and + bottle-holder. The battle ground selected was the highest part of the + ridge. The hour was six o'clock, which would allow them time to reach + school before its opening, with all traces of their conflict removed. The + air was crisp and cold,—a trifle colder than usual,—and there + was a singular thickening of the sun's rays on the ridge, which made the + distant peaks indistinct and ghostlike. However, the two combatants + stripped “to the buff,” and Fleming patronizingly took position at the + “corner,” leaning upon a rifle, which, by reason of his superior years, + and the wilderness he was obliged to traverse in going to school, his + father had lent him to carry. It was that day a providential weapon. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, Fleming uttered the word, “Sho!” The two combatants paused in + their first “squaring off” to see, to their surprise, that their referee + had faced round, with his gun in his hand, and was staring in another + direction. + </p> + <p> + “B'ar!” shouted the three voices together. A huge bear, followed by its + cubs, was seen stumbling awkwardly away to the right, making for the + timber below. In an instant the boys had hurried into their jackets again, + and the glory of fight was forgotten in the fever of the chase. Why should + they pound each other when there was something to really KILL? They + started in instant pursuit, Julian leading. + </p> + <p> + But the wind was now keen and bitter in their faces, and that peculiar + thickening of the air which they had noticed had become first a dark blue + and then a whitening pall, in which the bear was lost. They still kept on. + Suddenly Julian felt himself struck between the eyes by what seemed a + snowball, and his companions were as quickly spattered by gouts of + monstrous clinging snowflakes. Others as quickly followed—it was not + snowing, it was snowballing. They at first laughed, affecting to retaliate + with these whirling, flying masses shaken like clinging feathers from a + pillow; but in a few seconds they were covered from head to foot by snow, + their limbs impeded or pinioned against them by its weight, their breath + gone. They stopped blindly, breathlessly. Then, with a common instinct, + they turned back. But the next moment they heard Julian cry, “Look out!” + Coming towards them out of the storm was the bear, who had evidently + turned back by the same instinct. An ungovernable instinct seized the + younger boys, and they fled. But Julian stopped with leveled rifle. The + bear stopped too, with sullen, staring eyes. But the eyes that glanced + along the rifle were young, true, and steady. Julian fired. The hot smoke + was swept back by the gale into his face, but the bear turned and + disappeared in the storm again. Julian ran on to where his companions had + halted at the report, a little ashamed of their cowardice. “Keep on that + way!” he shouted hoarsely. “No use tryin' to go where the b'ar couldn't. + Keep on!” + </p> + <p> + “Keep on—whar? There ain't no trail—no nuthin'!” said Jackson + querulously, to hold down a rising fear. It was true. The trail had long + since disappeared; even their footprints of a moment before were filled up + by the piling snow; they were isolated in this stony upland, high in air, + without a rock or tree to guide them across its vast white level. They + were bitterly cold and benumbed. The stimulus of the storm and chase had + passed, but Julian kept driving them before him, himself driven along by + the furious blast, yet trying to keep some vague course along the waste. + So an hour passed. Then the wind seemed to have changed, or else they had + traveled in a circle—they knew not which, but the snow was in their + faces now. But, worst of all, the snow had changed too; it no longer fell + in huge blue flakes, but in millions of stinging gray granules. Julian's + face grew hard and his eyes bright. He knew it was no longer a + snow-squall, but a lasting storm. He stopped; the boys tumbled against + him. He looked at them with a strange smile. + </p> + <p> + “Hev you two made up?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “No—o!” + </p> + <p> + “Make up, then.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “Shake hands.” + </p> + <p> + They clasped each other's red, benumbed fingers and laughed, albeit a + little frightened at Julian. “Go on!” he said, curtly. + </p> + <p> + They went on dazedly, stupidly, for another hour. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly Provy Smith's keen eyes sparkled. He pointed to a singular + irregular mound of snow before them, plainly seen above the dreary level. + Julian ran to it with a cry, and began wildly digging. “I knew I hit him,” + he cried, as he brushed the snow from a huge and hairy leg. It was the + bear—dead, but not yet cold. He had succumbed with his huge back to + the blast, the snow piling a bulwark behind him, where it had slowly + roofed him in. The half-frozen lads threw themselves fearlessly against + his furry coat and crept between his legs, nestling themselves beneath his + still warm body with screams of joy. The snow they had thrown back + increased the bulwark, and drifting over it, in a few moments inclosed + them in a thin shell of snow. Thoroughly exhausted, after a few grunts of + satisfaction, a deep sleep fell upon them, from which they were awakened + only by the pangs of hunger. Alas! their dinners—the school dinners—had + been left on the inglorious battlefield. Nevertheless, they talked of + eating the bear if it came to the worst. They would have tried it even + then, but they were far above the belt of timber; they had matches—what + boy has not?—but no WOOD. Still, they were reassured, and even + delighted, with this prospect, and so fell asleep again, stewing with the + dead bear in the half-impervious snow, and woke up in the morning + ravenous, yet to see the sun shining in their faces through the melted + snow, and for Jackson Tribbs to quickly discover, four miles away as the + crow flies, the cabin of his father among the flaming sumacs. + </p> + <p> + They started up in the glare of the sun, which at first almost blinded + them. They then discovered that they were in a depression of the + table-land that sloped before them to a deep gully in the mountainside, + which again dropped into the canyon below. The trail they had lost, they + now remembered, must be near this edge. But it was still hidden, and in + seeking it there was danger of some fatal misstep in the treacherous snow. + Nevertheless, they sallied out bravely, although they would fain have + stopped to skin the bear, but Julian's mandate was peremptory. They spread + themselves along the ridge, at times scraping the loose snow away in their + search for the lost trail. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly they all slipped and fell, but rose again quickly, laughing. Then + they slipped and fell again, but this time with the startling + consciousness that it was not THEY who had slipped, but THE SNOW! As they + regained their feet they could plainly see now that a large crack on the + white field, some twenty feet in width, extended between them and the + carcass of the bear, showing the glistening rock below. Again they were + thrown down with a sharp shock. Jackson Tribbs, who had been showing a + strange excitement, suddenly gave a cry of warning. “Lie flat, fellers! + but keep a-crawlin' and jumpin'. We're goin' down a slide!” And the next + moment they were sliding and tossing, apparently with the whole + snow-field, down towards the gullied precipice. + </p> + <p> + What happened after this, and how long it lasted, they never knew. For, + hurried along with increasing momentum, but always mechanically clutching + at the snow, and bounding from it as they swept on, they sometimes lost + breath, and even consciousness. At times they were half suffocated in + rolling masses of drift, and again free and skimming over its arrested + surface, but always falling, as it seemed to them, almost perpendicularly. + In one of these shocks they seemed to be going through a thicket of + underbrush; but Provy Smith knew that they were the tops of pine-trees. At + last there was one shock longer and lasting, followed by a deepening + thunder below them. The avalanche had struck a ledge in the mountain side, + and precipitated its lower part into the valley. + </p> + <p> + Then everything was still, until Provy heard Julian's voice calling. He + answered, but there was no response from Tribbs. Had he gone over into the + valley? They set up a despairing shout! A voice—a smothered one—that + might be his, came apparently from the snow beneath them. They shouted + again; the voice, vague and hollow, responded, but it was now surely his. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you?” screamed Provy. + </p> + <p> + “Down the chimbley.” + </p> + <p> + There was a black square of adobe sticking out of the snow near them. They + ran to it. There was a hole. They peered down, but could see nothing at + first but a faint glimmer. + </p> + <p> + “Come down, fellows! It ain't far!” said Tribbs's voice. + </p> + <p> + “Wot yer got there?” asked Julian cautiously. + </p> + <p> + “Suthin' to eat.” + </p> + <p> + That was enough. In another instant Julian and Provy went down the + chimney. What was a matter of fifteen feet after a thousand? Tribbs had + already lit a candle by which they could see that they were in the cabin + of some tunnel-man at work on the ridge. He had probably been in the + tunnel when the avalanche fell, and escaped, though his cabin was buried. + The three discoverers helped themselves to his larder. They laughed and + ate as at a picnic, played cards, pretended it was a robber's cave, and + finally, wrapping themselves in the miner's blankets, slept soundly, + knowing where they were, and confident also that they could find the trail + early the next morning. They did so, and without going to their homes came + directly to school—having been absent about fifty hours. They were + in high spirits, except for the thought of approaching punishment, never + dreaming to evade it by anything miraculous in their adventures. + </p> + <p> + Such was briefly their story. Its truth was corroborated by the discovery + of the bear's carcass, by the testimony of the tunnel-man, who found his + larder mysteriously ransacked in his buried cabin, and, above all, by the + long white tongue that for many months hung from the ledge into the + valley. Nobody thought the lanky Julian a hero,—least of all + himself. Nobody suspected that Jackson Tribbs's treatment of a “slide” had + been gathered from experiments in his father's “runs”—and he was + glad they did not. The master's pardon obtained, the three truants cared + little for the opinion of Hemlock Hill. They knew THEMSELVES, that was + enough. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of Trail and Town, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF TRAIL AND TOWN *** + +***** This file should be named 2550-h.htm or 2550-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/2550/ + +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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