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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2555-0.txt b/2555-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ee19a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/2555-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6893 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Under the Redwoods, 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: Under the Redwoods + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 18, 2006 [EBook #2555] +Last Updated: March 5, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE REDWOODS *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson + + + + + +UNDER THE REDWOODS + + +By Bret Harte + + + + +CONTENTS + + +JIMMY'S BIG BROTHER FROM CALIFORNIA + +THE YOUNGEST MISS PIPER + +A WIDOW OF THE SANTA ANA VALLEY + +THE MERMAID OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT + +UNDER THE EAVES + +HOW REUBEN ALLEN “SAW LIFE” IN SAN FRANCISCO + +THREE VAGABONDS OF TRINIDAD + +A VISION OF THE FOUNTAIN + +A ROMANCE OF THE LINE + +BOHEMIAN DAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO + + + + + +UNDER THE REDWOODS + + + + +JIMMY'S BIG BROTHER FROM CALIFORNIA + + +As night crept up from the valley that stormy afternoon, Sawyer's +Ledge was at first quite blotted out by wind and rain, but presently +reappeared in little nebulous star-like points along the mountain side, +as the straggling cabins of the settlement were one by one lit up by +the miners returning from tunnel and claim. These stars were of varying +brilliancy that evening, two notably so--one that eventually resolved +itself into a many-candled illumination of a cabin of evident festivity; +the other into a glimmering taper in the window of a silent one. +They might have represented the extreme mutations of fortune in the +settlement that night: the celebration of a strike by Robert Falloner, a +lucky miner; and the sick-bed of Dick Lasham, an unlucky one. + +The latter was, however, not quite alone. He was ministered to by Daddy +Folsom, a weak but emotional and aggressively hopeful neighbor, who was +sitting beside the wooden bunk whereon the invalid lay. Yet there +was something perfunctory in his attitude: his eyes were continually +straying to the window, whence the illuminated Falloner festivities +could be seen between the trees, and his ears were more intent on the +songs and laughter that came faintly from the distance than on the +feverish breathing and unintelligible moans of the sufferer. + +Nevertheless he looked troubled equally by the condition of his charge +and by his own enforced absence from the revels. A more impatient moan +from the sick man, however, brought a change to his abstracted face, and +he turned to him with an exaggerated expression of sympathy. + +“In course! Lordy! I know jest what those pains are: kinder ez ef you +was havin' a tooth pulled that had roots branchin' all over ye! My! I've +jest had 'em so bad I couldn't keep from yellin'! That's hot rheumatics! +Yes, sir, I oughter know! And” (confidentially) “the sing'ler thing +about 'em is that they get worse jest as they're going off--sorter +wringin' yer hand and punchin' ye in the back to say 'Good-by.' There!” + he continued, as the man sank exhaustedly back on his rude pillow of +flour-sacks. “There! didn't I tell ye? Ye'll be all right in a minit, +and ez chipper ez a jay bird in the mornin'. Oh, don't tell me about +rheumatics--I've bin thar! On'y mine was the cold kind--that hangs on +longest--yours is the hot, that burns itself up in no time!” + +If the flushed face and bright eyes of Lasham were not enough to +corroborate this symptom of high fever, the quick, wandering laugh he +gave would have indicated the point of delirium. But the too optimistic +Daddy Folsom referred this act to improvement, and went on cheerfully: +“Yes, sir, you're better now, and”--here he assumed an air of cautious +deliberation, extravagant, as all his assumptions were--“I ain't sayin' +that--ef--you--was--to--rise--up” (very slowly) “and heave a blanket or +two over your shoulders--jest by way o' caution, you know--and leanin' +on me, kinder meander over to Bob Falloner's cabin and the boys, it +wouldn't do you a heap o' good. Changes o' this kind is often prescribed +by the faculty.” Another moan from the sufferer, however, here +apparently corrected Daddy's too favorable prognosis. “Oh, all right! +Well, perhaps ye know best; and I'll jest run over to Bob's and say how +as ye ain't comin', and will be back in a jiffy!” + +“The letter,” said the sick man hurriedly, “the letter, the letter!” + +Daddy leaned suddenly over the bed. It was impossible for even his +hopefulness to avoid the fact that Lasham was delirious. It was a strong +factor in the case--one that would certainly justify his going over +to Falloner's with the news. For the present moment, however, this +aberration was to be accepted cheerfully and humored after Daddy's own +fashion. “Of course--the letter, the letter,” he said convincingly; +“that's what the boys hev bin singin' jest now-- + + 'Good-by, Charley; when you are away, + Write me a letter, love; send me a letter, love!' + +“That's what you heard, and a mighty purty song it is too, and kinder +clings to you. It's wonderful how these things gets in your head.” + +“The letter--write--send money--money--money, and the photograph--the +photograph--photograph--money,” continued the sick man, in the rapid +reiteration of delirium. + +“In course you will--to-morrow--when the mail goes,” returned Daddy +soothingly; “plenty of them. Jest now you try to get a snooze, will ye? +Hol' on!--take some o' this.” + +There was an anodyne mixture on the rude shelf, which the doctor had +left on his morning visit. Daddy had a comfortable belief that what +would relieve pain would also check delirium, and he accordingly +measured out a dose with a liberal margin to allow of waste by the +patient in swallowing in his semi-conscious state. As he lay more quiet, +muttering still, but now unintelligibly, Daddy, waiting for a more +complete unconsciousness and the opportunity to slip away to Falloner's, +cast his eyes around the cabin. He noticed now for the first time since +his entrance that a crumpled envelope bearing a Western post-mark was +lying at the foot of the bed. Daddy knew that the tri-weekly post had +arrived an hour before he came, and that Lasham had evidently received a +letter. Sure enough the letter itself was lying against the wall beside +him. It was open. Daddy felt justified in reading it. + +It was curt and businesslike, stating that unless Lasham at once sent +a remittance for the support of his brother and sister--two children in +charge of the writer--they must find a home elsewhere. That the arrears +were long standing, and the repeated promises of Lasham to send money +had been unfulfilled. That the writer could stand it no longer. This +would be his last communication unless the money were sent forthwith. + +It was by no means a novel or, under the circumstances, a shocking +disclosure to Daddy. He had seen similar missives from daughters, and +even wives, consequent on the varying fortunes of his neighbors; no one +knew better than he the uncertainties of a miner's prospects, and +yet the inevitable hopefulness that buoyed him up. He tossed it aside +impatiently, when his eye caught a strip of paper he had overlooked +lying upon the blanket near the envelope. It contained a few lines in +an unformed boyish hand addressed to “my brother,” and evidently slipped +into the letter after it was written. By the uncertain candlelight Daddy +read as follows:-- + + +Dear Brother, Rite to me and Cissy rite off. Why aint you done it? It's +so long since you rote any. Mister Recketts ses you dont care any more. +Wen you rite send your fotograff. Folks here ses I aint got no big +bruther any way, as I disremember his looks, and cant say wots like him. +Cissy's kryin' all along of it. I've got a hedake. William Walker make +it ake by a blo. So no more at present from your loving little bruther +Jim. + + +The quick, hysteric laugh with which Daddy read this was quite +consistent with his responsive, emotional nature; so, too, were the +ready tears that sprang to his eyes. He put the candle down unsteadily, +with a casual glance at the sick man. It was notable, however, that +this look contained less sympathy for the ailing “big brother” than his +emotion might have suggested. For Daddy was carried quite away by his +own mental picture of the helpless children, and eager only to relate +his impressions of the incident. He cast another glance at the invalid, +thrust the papers into his pocket, and clapping on his hat slipped from +the cabin and ran to the house of festivity. Yet it was characteristic +of the man, and so engrossed was he by his one idea, that to the usual +inquiries regarding his patient he answered, “he's all right,” and +plunged at once into the incident of the dunning letter, reserving--with +the instinct of an emotional artist--the child's missive until the last. +As he expected, the money demand was received with indignant criticisms +of the writer. + +“That's just like 'em in the States,” said Captain Fletcher; “darned if +they don't believe we've only got to bore a hole in the ground and snake +out a hundred dollars. Why, there's my wife--with a heap of hoss sense +in everything else--is allus wonderin' why I can't rake in a cool fifty +betwixt one steamer day and another.” + +“That's nothin' to my old dad,” interrupted Gus Houston, the “infant” + of the camp, a bright-eyed young fellow of twenty; “why, he wrote to me +yesterday that if I'd only pick up a single piece of gold every day and +just put it aside, sayin' 'That's for popper and mommer,' and not fool +it away--it would be all they'd ask of me.” + +“That's so,” added another; “these ignorant relations is just the ruin +o' the mining industry. Bob Falloner hez bin lucky in his strike to-day, +but he's a darned sight luckier in being without kith or kin that he +knows of.” + +Daddy waited until the momentary irritation had subsided, and then drew +the other letter from his pocket. “That ain't all, boys,” he began in a +faltering voice, but gradually working himself up to a pitch of pathos; +“just as I was thinking all them very things, I kinder noticed this yer +poor little bit o' paper lyin' thar lonesome like and forgotten, +and I--read it--and well--gentlemen--it just choked me right up!” He +stopped, and his voice faltered. + +“Go slow, Daddy, go slow!” said an auditor smilingly. It was evident +that Daddy's sympathetic weakness was well known. + +Daddy read the child's letter. But, unfortunately, what with his real +emotion and the intoxication of an audience, he read it extravagantly, +and interpolated a child's lisp (on no authority whatever), and a +simulated infantile delivery, which, I fear, at first provoked the +smiles rather than the tears of his audience. Nevertheless, at its +conclusion the little note was handed round the party, and then there +was a moment of thoughtful silence. + +“Tell you what it is, boys,” said Fletcher, looking around the table, +“we ought to be doin' suthin' for them kids right off! Did you,” turning +to Daddy, “say anythin' about this to Dick?” + +“Nary--why, he's clean off his head with fever--don't understand a +word--and just babbles,” returned Daddy, forgetful of his roseate +diagnosis a moment ago, “and hasn't got a cent.” + +“We must make up what we can amongst us afore the mail goes to-night,” + said the “infant,” feeling hurriedly in his pockets. “Come, ante up, +gentlemen,” he added, laying the contents of his buckskin purse upon the +table. + +“Hold on, boys,” said a quiet voice. It was their host Falloner, who had +just risen and was slipping on his oilskin coat. “You've got enough to +do, I reckon, to look after your own folks. I've none! Let this be my +affair. I've got to go to the Express Office anyhow to see about my +passage home, and I'll just get a draft for a hundred dollars for +that old skeesicks--what's his blamed name? Oh, Ricketts”--he made a +memorandum from the letter--“and I'll send it by express. Meantime, you +fellows sit down there and write something--you know what--saying that +Dick's hurt his hand and can't write--you know; but asked you to send +a draft, which you're doing. Sabe? That's all! I'll skip over to the +express now and get the draft off, and you can mail the letter an hour +later. So put your dust back in your pockets and help yourselves to the +whiskey while I'm gone.” He clapped his hat on his head and disappeared. + +“There goes a white man, you bet!” said Fletcher admiringly, as the door +closed behind their host. “Now, boys,” he added, drawing a chair to the +table, “let's get this yer letter off, and then go back to our game.” + +Pens and ink were produced, and an animated discussion ensued as to +the matter to be conveyed. Daddy's plea for an extended explanatory and +sympathetic communication was overruled, and the letter was written to +Ricketts on the simple lines suggested by Falloner. + +“But what about poor little Jim's letter? That ought to be answered,” + said Daddy pathetically. + +“If Dick hurt his hand so he can't write to Ricketts, how in thunder is +he goin' to write to Jim?” was the reply. + +“But suthin' oughter be said to the poor kid,” urged Daddy piteously. + +“Well, write it yourself--you and Gus Houston make up somethin' +together. I'm going to win some money,” retorted Fletcher, returning +to the card-table, where he was presently followed by all but Daddy and +Houston. + +“Ye can't write it in Dick's name, because that little brother knows +Dick's handwriting, even if he don't remember his face. See?” suggested +Houston. + +“That's so,” said Daddy dubiously; “but,” he added, with elastic +cheerfulness, “we can write that Dick 'says.' See?” + +“Your head's level, old man! Just you wade in on that.” + +Daddy seized the pen and “waded in.” Into somewhat deep and difficult +water, I fancy, for some of it splashed into his eyes, and he sniffled +once or twice as he wrote. “Suthin' like this,” he said, after a +pause:-- + + +DEAR LITTLE JIMMIE,--Your big brother havin' hurt his hand, wants me to +tell you that otherways he is all hunky and A1. He says he don't forget +you and little Cissy, you bet! and he's sendin' money to old Ricketts +straight off. He says don't you and Cissy mind whether school keeps +or not as long as big Brother Dick holds the lines. He says he'd have +written before, but he's bin follerin' up a lead mighty close, and +expects to strike it rich in a few days. + + +“You ain't got no sabe about kids,” said Daddy imperturbably; “they've +got to be humored like sick folks. And they want everythin' big--they +don't take no stock in things ez they are--even ef they hev 'em worse +than they are. 'So,'” continued Daddy, reading to prevent further +interruption, “'he says you're just to keep your eyes skinned lookin' +out for him comin' home any time--day or night. All you've got to do is +to sit up and wait. He might come and even snake you out of your beds! +He might come with four white horses and a nigger driver, or he might +come disguised as an ornary tramp. Only you've got to be keen on +watchin'.' (Ye see,” interrupted Daddy explanatorily, “that'll jest keep +them kids lively.) 'He says Cissy's to stop cryin' right off, and if +Willie Walker hits yer on the right cheek you just slug out with your +left fist, 'cordin' to Scripter.' Gosh,” ejaculated Daddy, stopping +suddenly and gazing anxiously at Houston, “there's that blamed +photograph--I clean forgot that.” + +“And Dick hasn't got one in the shop, and never had,” returned Houston +emphatically. “Golly! that stumps us! Unless,” he added, with diabolical +thoughtfulness, “we take Bob's? The kids don't remember Dick's face, and +Bob's about the same age. And it's a regular star picture--you bet! Bob +had it taken in Sacramento--in all his war paint. See!” He indicated a +photograph pinned against the wall--a really striking likeness which did +full justice to Bob's long silken mustache and large, brown determined +eyes. “I'll snake it off while they ain't lookin', and you jam it in +the letter. Bob won't miss it, and we can fix it up with Dick after he's +well, and send another.” + +Daddy silently grasped the “infant's” hand, who presently secured the +photograph without attracting attention from the card-players. It was +promptly inclosed in the letter, addressed to Master James Lasham. The +“infant” started with it to the post-office, and Daddy Folsom returned +to Lasham's cabin to relieve the watcher that had been detached from +Falloner's to take his place beside the sick man. + +Meanwhile the rain fell steadily and the shadows crept higher and higher +up the mountain. Towards midnight the star points faded out one by one +over Sawyer's Ledge even as they had come, with the difference that the +illumination of Falloner's cabin was extinguished first, while the dim +light of Lasham's increased in number. Later, two stars seemed to shoot +from the centre of the ledge, trailing along the descent, until they +were lost in the obscurity of the slope--the lights of the stage-coach +to Sacramento carrying the mail and Robert Falloner. They met and passed +two fainter lights toiling up the road--the buggy lights of the doctor, +hastily summoned from Carterville to the bedside of the dying Dick +Lasham. + + +The slowing up of his train caused Bob Falloner to start from a half +doze in a Western Pullman car. As he glanced from his window he could +see that the blinding snowstorm which had followed him for the past six +hours had at last hopelessly blocked the line. There was no prospect +beyond the interminable snowy level, the whirling flakes, and the +monotonous palisades of leafless trees seen through it to the distant +banks of the Missouri. It was a prospect that the mountain-bred Falloner +was beginning to loathe, and although it was scarcely six weeks since +he left California, he was already looking back regretfully to the deep +slopes and the free song of the serried ranks of pines. + +The intense cold had chilled his temperate blood, even as the rigors and +conventions of Eastern life had checked his sincerity and spontaneous +flow of animal spirits begotten in the frank intercourse and brotherhood +of camps. He had just fled from the artificialities of the great +Atlantic cities to seek out some Western farming lands in which he +might put his capital and energies. The unlooked-for interruption of his +progress by a long-forgotten climate only deepened his discontent. And +now--that train was actually backing! It appeared they must return to +the last station to wait for a snow-plough to clear the line. It was, +explained the conductor, barely a mile from Shepherdstown, where there +was a good hotel and a chance of breaking the journey for the night. + +Shepherdstown! The name touched some dim chord in Bob Falloner's memory +and conscience--yet one that was vague. Then he suddenly remembered that +before leaving New York he had received a letter from Houston informing +him of Lasham's death, reminding him of his previous bounty, and begging +him--if he went West--to break the news to the Lasham family. There was +also some allusion to a joke about his (Bob's) photograph, which he had +dismissed as unimportant, and even now could not remember clearly. For a +few moments his conscience pricked him that he should have forgotten it +all, but now he could make amends by this providential delay. It was not +a task to his liking; in any other circumstances he would have written, +but he would not shirk it now. + +Shepherdstown was on the main line of the Kansas Pacific Road, and as he +alighted at its station, the big through trains from San Francisco +swept out of the stormy distance and stopped also. He remembered, as he +mingled with the passengers, hearing a childish voice ask if this was +the Californian train. He remembered hearing the amused and patient +reply of the station-master: “Yes, sonny--here she is again, and here's +her passengers,” as he got into the omnibus and drove to the hotel. Here +he resolved to perform his disagreeable duty as quickly as possible, +and on his way to his room stopped for a moment at the office to ask for +Ricketts' address. The clerk, after a quick glance of curiosity at his +new guest, gave it to him readily, with a somewhat familiar smile. It +struck Falloner also as being odd that he had not been asked to write +his name on the hotel register, but this was a saving of time he was not +disposed to question, as he had already determined to make his visit to +Ricketts at once, before dinner. It was still early evening. + +He was washing his hands in his bedroom when there came a light tap at +his sitting-room door. Falloner quickly resumed his coat and entered the +sitting-room as the porter ushered in a young lady holding a small boy +by the hand. But, to Falloner's utter consternation, no sooner had the +door closed on the servant than the boy, with a half-apologetic glance +at the young lady, uttered a childish cry, broke from her, and calling, +“Dick! Dick!” ran forward and leaped into Falloner's arms. + +The mere shock of the onset and his own amazement left Bob without +breath for words. The boy, with arms convulsively clasping his body, was +imprinting kisses on Bob's waistcoat in default of reaching his face. +At last Falloner managed gently but firmly to free himself, and turned +a half-appealing, half-embarrassed look upon the young lady, whose own +face, however, suddenly flushed pink. To add to the confusion, the boy, +in some reaction of instinct, suddenly ran back to her, frantically +clutched at her skirts, and tried to bury his head in their folds. + +“He don't love me,” he sobbed. “He don't care for me any more.” + +The face of the young girl changed. It was a pretty face in its +flushing; in the paleness and thoughtfulness that overcast it it was a +striking face, and Bob's attention was for a moment distracted from +the grotesqueness of the situation. Leaning over the boy she said in a +caressing yet authoritative voice, “Run away for a moment, dear, until +I call you,” opening the door for him in a maternal way so inconsistent +with the youthfulness of her figure that it struck him even in his +confusion. There was something also in her dress and carriage that +equally affected him: her garments were somewhat old-fashioned in style, +yet of good material, with an odd incongruity to the climate and season. + +Under her rough outer cloak she wore a polka jacket and the thinnest of +summer blouses; and her hat, though dark, was of rough straw, plainly +trimmed. Nevertheless, these peculiarities were carried off with an air +of breeding and self-possession that was unmistakable. It was possible +that her cool self-possession might have been due to some instinctive +antagonism, for as she came a step forward with coldly and +clearly-opened gray eyes, he was vaguely conscious that she didn't like +him. Nevertheless, her manner was formally polite, even, as he fancied, +to the point of irony, as she began, in a voice that occasionally +dropped into the lazy Southern intonation, and a speech that easily +slipped at times into Southern dialect:-- + +“I sent the child out of the room, as I could see that his advances +were annoying to you, and a good deal, I reckon, because I knew your +reception of them was still more painful to him. It is quite natural, I +dare say, you should feel as you do, and I reckon consistent with your +attitude towards him. But you must make some allowance for the depth of +his feelings, and how he has looked forward to this meeting. When I +tell you that ever since he received your last letter, he and his +sister--until her illness kept her home--have gone every day when the +Pacific train was due to the station to meet you; that they have taken +literally as Gospel truth every word of your letter”-- + +“My letter?” interrupted Falloner. + +The young girl's scarlet lip curled slightly. “I beg your pardon--I +should have said the letter you dictated. Of course it wasn't in your +handwriting--you had hurt your hand, you know,” she added ironically. +“At all events, they believed it all--that you were coming at any +moment; they lived in that belief, and the poor things went to the +station with your photograph in their hands so that they might be the +first to recognize and greet you.” + +“With my photograph?” interrupted Falloner again. + +The young girl's clear eyes darkened ominously. “I reckon,” she said +deliberately, as she slowly drew from her pocket the photograph Daddy +Folsom had sent, “that that is your photograph. It certainly seems an +excellent likeness,” she added, regarding him with a slight suggestion +of contemptuous triumph. + +In an instant the revelation of the whole mystery flashed upon him! The +forgotten passage in Houston's letter about the stolen photograph stood +clearly before him; the coincidence of his appearance in Shepherdstown, +and the natural mistake of the children and their fair protector, were +made perfectly plain. But with this relief and the certainty that he +could confound her with an explanation came a certain mischievous desire +to prolong the situation and increase his triumph. She certainly had not +shown him any favor. + +“Have you got the letter also?” he asked quietly. + +She whisked it impatiently from her pocket and handed it to him. As he +read Daddy's characteristic extravagance and recognized the familiar +idiosyncrasies of his old companions, he was unable to restrain a smile. +He raised his eyes, to meet with surprise the fair stranger's leveled +eyebrows and brightly indignant eyes, in which, however, the rain was +fast gathering with the lightning. + +“It may be amusing to you, and I reckon likely it was all a California +joke,” she said with slightly trembling lips; “I don't know No'thern +gentlemen and their ways, and you seem to have forgotten our ways as you +have your kindred. Perhaps all this may seem so funny to them: it may +not seem funny to that boy who is now crying his heart out in the hall; +it may not be very amusing to that poor Cissy in her sick-bed longing +to see her brother. It may be so far from amusing to her, that I should +hesitate to bring you there in her excited condition and subject her +to the pain that you have caused him. But I have promised her; she is +already expecting us, and the disappointment may be dangerous, and I +can only implore you--for a few moments at least--to show a little more +affection than you feel.” As he made an impulsive, deprecating gesture, +yet without changing his look of restrained amusement, she stopped him +hopelessly. “Oh, of course, yes, yes, I know it is years since you have +seen them; they have no right to expect more; only--only--feeling as you +do,” she burst impulsively, “why--oh, why did you come?” + +Here was Bob's chance. He turned to her politely; began gravely, “I +simply came to”--when suddenly his face changed; he stopped as if struck +by a blow. His cheek flushed, and then paled! Good God! What had he +come for? To tell them that this brother they were longing for--living +for--perhaps even dying for--was dead! In his crass stupidity, his +wounded vanity over the scorn of the young girl, his anticipation of +triumph, he had forgotten--totally forgotten--what that triumph meant! +Perhaps if he had felt more keenly the death of Lasham the thought of it +would have been uppermost in his mind; but Lasham was not his partner or +associate, only a brother miner, and his single act of generosity was +in the ordinary routine of camp life. If she could think him cold and +heartless before, what would she think of him now? The absurdity of her +mistake had vanished in the grim tragedy he had seemed to have cruelly +prepared for her. The thought struck him so keenly that he stammered, +faltered, and sank helplessly into a chair. + +The shock that he had received was so plain to her that her own +indignation went out in the breath of it. Her lip quivered. “Don't you +mind,” she said hurriedly, dropping into her Southern speech; “I didn't +go to hurt you, but I was just that mad with the thought of those +pickaninnies, and the easy way you took it, that I clean forgot I'd no +call to catechise you! And you don't know me from the Queen of Sheba. +Well,” she went on, still more rapidly, and in odd distinction to her +previous formal slow Southern delivery, “I'm the daughter of Colonel +Boutelle, of Bayou Sara, Louisiana; and his paw, and his paw before him, +had a plantation there since the time of Adam, but he lost it and six +hundred niggers during the Wah! We were pooh as pohverty--paw and maw +and we four girls--and no more idea of work than a baby. But I had +an education at the convent at New Orleans, and could play, and speak +French, and I got a place as school-teacher here; I reckon the first +Southern woman that has taught school in the No'th! Ricketts, who used +to be our steward at Bayou Sara, told me about the pickaninnies, and how +helpless they were, with only a brother who occasionally sent them money +from California. I suppose I cottoned to the pooh little things at first +because I knew what it was to be alone amongst strangers, Mr. Lasham; I +used to teach them at odd times, and look after them, and go with them +to the train to look for you. Perhaps Ricketts made me think you didn't +care for them; perhaps I was wrong in thinking it was true, from the way +you met Jimmy just now. But I've spoken my mind and you know why.” She +ceased and walked to the window. + +Falloner rose. The storm that had swept through him was over. The quick +determination, resolute purpose, and infinite patience which had made +him what he was were all there, and with it a conscientiousness which +his selfish independence had hitherto kept dormant. He accepted the +situation, not passively--it was not in his nature--but threw himself +into it with all his energy. + +“You were quite right,” he said, halting a moment beside her; “I don't +blame you, and let me hope that later you may think me less to blame +than you do now. Now, what's to be done? Clearly, I've first to make it +right with Tommy--I mean Jimmy--and then we must make a straight dash +over to the girl! Whoop!” Before she could understand from his face the +strange change in his voice, he had dashed out of the room. In a moment +he reappeared with the boy struggling in his arms. “Think of the little +scamp not knowing his own brother!” he laughed, giving the boy a really +affectionate, if slightly exaggerated hug, “and expecting me to open my +arms to the first little boy who jumps into them! I've a great mind not +to give him the present I fetched all the way from California. Wait +a moment.” He dashed into the bedroom, opened his valise--where he +providentially remembered he had kept, with a miner's superstition, the +first little nugget of gold he had ever found--seized the tiny bit of +quartz of gold, and dashed out again to display it before Jimmy's eager +eyes. + +If the heartiness, sympathy, and charming kindness of the man's whole +manner and face convinced, even while it slightly startled, the young +girl, it was still more effective with the boy. Children are quick +to detect the false ring of affected emotion, and Bob's was so +genuine--whatever its cause--that it might have easily passed for a +fraternal expression with harder critics. The child trustfully nestled +against him and would have grasped the gold, but the young man +whisked it into his pocket. “Not until we've shown it to our little +sister--where we're going now! I'm off to order a sleigh.” He dashed +out again to the office as if he found some relief in action, or, as +it seemed to Miss Boutelle, to avoid embarrassing conversation. When he +came back again he was carrying an immense bearskin from his luggage. He +cast a critical look at the girl's unseasonable attire. + +“I shall wrap you and Jimmy in this--you know it's snowing frightfully.” + +Miss Boutelle flushed a little. “I'm warm enough when walking,” she +said coldly. Bob glanced at her smart little French shoes, and +thought otherwise. He said nothing, but hastily bundled his two guests +downstairs and into the street. The whirlwind dance of the snow made the +sleigh an indistinct bulk in the glittering darkness, and as the young +girl for an instant stood dazedly still, Bob incontinently lifted her +from her feet, deposited her in the vehicle, dropped Jimmy in her lap, +and wrapped them both tightly in the bearskin. Her weight, which +was scarcely more than a child's, struck him in that moment as being +tantalizingly incongruous to the matronly severity of her manner and its +strange effect upon him. He then jumped in himself, taking the direction +from his companion, and drove off through the storm. + +The wind and darkness were not favorable to conversation, and only +once did he break the silence. “Is there any one who would be likely to +remember--me--where we are going?” he asked, in a lull of the storm. + +Miss Boutelle uncovered enough of her face to glance at him curiously. +“Hardly! You know the children came here from the No'th after your +mother's death, while you were in California.” + +“Of course,” returned Bob hurriedly; “I was only thinking--you know +that some of my old friends might have called,” and then collapsed into +silence. + +After a pause a voice came icily, although under the furs: “Perhaps +you'd prefer that your arrival be kept secret from the public? But they +seem to have already recognized you at the hotel from your inquiry about +Ricketts, and the photograph Jimmy had already shown them two weeks +ago.” Bob remembered the clerk's familiar manner and the omission to ask +him to register. “But it need go no further, if you like,” she added, +with a slight return of her previous scorn. + +“I've no reason for keeping it secret,” said Bob stoutly. + +No other words were exchanged until the sleigh drew up before a plain +wooden house in the suburbs of the town. Bob could see at a glance that +it represented the income of some careful artisan or small shopkeeper, +and that it promised little for an invalid's luxurious comfort. They +were ushered into a chilly sitting-room and Miss Boutelle ran upstairs +with Jimmy to prepare the invalid for Bob's appearance. He noticed that +a word dropped by the woman who opened the door made the young girl's +face grave again, and paled the color that the storm had buffeted to +her cheek. He noticed also that these plain surroundings seemed only +to enhance her own superiority, and that the woman treated her with a +deference in odd contrast to the ill-concealed disfavor with which she +regarded him. Strangely enough, this latter fact was a relief to his +conscience. It would have been terrible to have received their kindness +under false pretenses; to take their just blame of the man he personated +seemed to mitigate the deceit. + +The young girl rejoined him presently with troubled eyes. Cissy was +worse, and only intermittently conscious, but had asked to see him. It +was a short flight of stairs to the bedroom, but before he reached it +Bob's heart beat faster than it had in any mountain climb. In one corner +of the plainly furnished room stood a small truckle bed, and in it lay +the invalid. It needed but a single glance at her flushed face in its +aureole of yellow hair to recognize the likeness to Jimmy, although, +added to that strange refinement produced by suffering, there was a +spiritual exaltation in the child's look--possibly from delirium--that +awed and frightened him; an awful feeling that he could not lie to this +hopeless creature took possession of him, and his step faltered. But +she lifted her small arms pathetically towards him as if she divined his +trouble, and he sank on his knees beside her. With a tiny finger curled +around his long mustache, she lay there silent. Her face was full of +trustfulness, happiness, and consciousness--but she spoke no word. + +There was a pause, and Falloner, slightly lifting his head without +disturbing that faintly clasping finger, beckoned Miss Boutelle to his +side. “Can you drive?” he said, in a low voice. + +“Yes.” + +“Take my sleigh and get the best doctor in town to come here at once. +Bring him with you if you can; if he can't come at once, drive home +yourself. I will stay here.” + +“But”--hesitated Miss Boutelle. + +“I will stay here,” he repeated. + +The door closed on the young girl, and Falloner, still bending over the +child, presently heard the sleigh-bells pass away in the storm. He still +sat with his bent head, held by the tiny clasp of those thin fingers. +But the child's eyes were fixed so intently upon him that Mrs. Ricketts +leaned over the strangely-assorted pair and said-- + +“It's your brother Dick, dearie. Don't you know him?” + +The child's lips moved faintly. “Dick's dead,” she whispered. + +“She's wandering,” said Mrs. Ricketts. “Speak to her.” But Bob, with +his eyes on the child's, lifted a protesting hand. The little sufferer's +lips moved again. “It isn't Dick--it's the angel God sent to tell me.” + +She spoke no more. And when Miss Boutelle returned with the doctor she +was beyond the reach of finite voices. Falloner would have remained all +night with them, but he could see that his presence in the contracted +household was not desired. Even his offer to take Jimmy with him to the +hotel was declined, and at midnight he returned alone. + +What his thoughts were that night may be easily imagined. Cissy's death +had removed the only cause he had for concealing his real identity. +There was nothing more to prevent his revealing all to Miss Boutelle and +to offer to adopt the boy. But he reflected this could not be done until +after the funeral, for it was only due to Cissy's memory that he should +still keep up the role of Dick Lasham as chief mourner. If it seems +strange that Bob did not at this crucial moment take Miss Boutelle into +his confidence, I fear it was because he dreaded the personal effect +of the deceit he had practiced upon her more than any ethical +consideration; she had softened considerably in her attitude towards him +that night; he was human, after all, and while he felt his conduct had +been unselfish in the main, he dared not confess to himself how much her +opinion had influenced him. He resolved that after the funeral he would +continue his journey, and write to her, en route, a full explanation of +his conduct, inclosing Daddy's letter as corroborative evidence. But on +searching his letter-case he found that he had lost even that evidence, +and he must trust solely at present to her faith in his improbable +story. + +It seemed as if his greatest sacrifice was demanded at the funeral! For +it could not be disguised that the neighbors were strongly prejudiced +against him. Even the preacher improved the occasion to warn the +congregation against the dangers of putting off duty until too late. And +when Robert Falloner, pale, but self-restrained, left the church with +Miss Boutelle, equally pale and reserved, on his arm, he could with +difficulty restrain his fury at the passing of a significant smile +across the faces of a few curious bystanders. “It was Amy Boutelle, that +was the 'penitence' that fetched him, you bet!” he overheard, a barely +concealed whisper; and the reply, “And it's a good thing she's made out +of it too, for he's mighty rich!” + +At the church door he took her cold hand into his. “I am leaving +to-morrow morning with Jimmy,” he said, with a white face. “Good-by.” + +“You are quite right; good-by,” she replied as briefly, but with the +faintest color. He wondered if she had heard it too. + +Whether she had heard it or not, she went home with Mrs. Ricketts +in some righteous indignation, which found--after the young lady's +habit--free expression. Whatever were Mr. Lasham's faults of omission it +was most un-Christian to allude to them there, and an insult to the poor +little dear's memory who had forgiven them. Were she in his shoes she +would shake the dust of the town off her feet; and she hoped he would. +She was a little softened on arriving to find Jimmy in tears. He had +lost Dick's photograph--or Dick had forgotten to give it back at +the hotel, for this was all he had in his pocket. And he produced a +letter--the missing letter of Daddy, which by mistake Falloner +had handed back instead of the photograph. Miss Boutelle saw the +superscription and Californian postmark with a vague curiosity. + +“Did you look inside, dear? Perhaps it slipped in.” + +Jimmy had not. Miss Boutelle did--and I grieve to say, ended by reading +the whole letter. + +Bob Falloner had finished packing his things the next morning, and was +waiting for Mr. Ricketts and Jimmy. But when a tap came at the door, he +opened it to find Miss Boutelle standing there. “I have sent Jimmy into +the bedroom,” she said with a faint smile, “to look for the photograph +which you gave him in mistake for this. I think for the present he +prefers his brother's picture to this letter, which I have not explained +to him or any one.” She stopped, and raising her eyes to his, said +gently: “I think it would have only been a part of your goodness to have +trusted me, Mr. Falloner.” + +“Then you will forgive me?” he said eagerly. + +She looked at him frankly, yet with a faint trace of coquetry that the +angels might have pardoned. “Do you want me to say to you what Mrs. +Ricketts says were the last words of poor Cissy?” + +A year later, when the darkness and rain were creeping up Sawyer's +Ledge, and Houston and Daddy Folsom were sitting before their brushwood +fire in the old Lasham cabin, the latter delivered himself oracularly. + +“It's a mighty queer thing, that news about Bob! It's not that he's +married, for that might happen to any one; but this yer account in the +paper of his wedding being attended by his 'little brother.' That gets +me! To think all the while he was here he was lettin' on to us that he +hadn't kith or kin! Well, sir, that accounts to me for one thing,--the +sing'ler way he tumbled to that letter of poor Dick Lasham's little +brother and sent him that draft! Don't ye see? It was a feller feelin'! +Knew how it was himself! I reckon ye all thought I was kinder soft +reading that letter o' Dick Lasham's little brother to him, but ye see +what it did.” + + + + +THE YOUNGEST MISS PIPER + + +I do not think that any of us who enjoyed the acquaintance of the Piper +girls or the hospitality of Judge Piper, their father, ever cared for +the youngest sister. Not on account of her extreme youth, for the eldest +Miss Piper confessed to twenty-six--and the youth of the youngest sister +was established solely, I think, by one big braid down her back. Neither +was it because she was the plainest, for the beauty of the Piper girls +was a recognized general distinction, and the youngest Miss Piper was +not entirely devoid of the family charms. Nor was it from any lack of +intelligence, nor from any defective social quality; for her precocity +was astounding, and her good-humored frankness alarming. Neither do I +think it could be said that a slight deafness, which might impart an +embarrassing publicity to any statement--the reverse of our general +feeling--that might be confided by any one to her private ear, was a +sufficient reason; for it was pointed out that she always understood +everything that Tom Sparrell told her in his ordinary tone of voice. +Briefly, it was very possible that Delaware--the youngest Miss +Piper--did not like us. Yet it was fondly believed by us that the other +sisters failed to show that indifference to our existence shown by Miss +Delaware, although the heartburnings, misunderstandings, jealousies, +hopes and fears, and finally the chivalrous resignation with which we +at last accepted the long foregone conclusion that they were not for +us, and far beyond our reach, is not a part of this veracious chronicle. +Enough that none of the flirtations of her elder sisters affected or +were shared by the youngest Miss Piper. She moved in this heart-breaking +atmosphere with sublime indifference, treating her sisters' affairs with +what we considered rank simplicity or appalling frankness. Their few +admirers who were weak enough to attempt to gain her mediation or +confidence had reason to regret it. + +“It's no kind o' use givin' me goodies,” she said to a helpless suitor +of Louisiana Piper's who had offered to bring her some sweets, “for I +ain't got no influence with Lu, and if I don't give 'em up to her when +she hears of it, she'll nag me and hate you like pizen. Unless,” she +added thoughtfully, “it was wintergreen lozenges; Lu can't stand them, +or anybody who eats them within a mile.” It is needless to add that +the miserable man, thus put upon his gallantry, was obliged in honor to +provide Del with the wintergreen lozenges that kept him in disfavor +and at a distance. Unfortunately, too, any predilection or pity for any +particular suitor of her sister's was attended by even more disastrous +consequences. It was reported that while acting as “gooseberry”--a role +usually assigned to her--between Virginia Piper and an exceptionally +timid young surveyor, during a ramble she conceived a rare sentiment of +humanity towards the unhappy man. After once or twice lingering behind +in the ostentatious picking of a wayside flower, or “running on ahead” + to look at a mountain view, without any apparent effect on the shy and +speechless youth, she decoyed him aside while her elder sister rambled +indifferently and somewhat scornfully on. The youngest Miss Piper leaped +upon the rail of a fence, and with the stalk of a thimbleberry in her +mouth swung her small feet to and fro and surveyed him dispassionately. + +“Ye don't seem to be ketchin' on?” she said tentatively. + +The young man smiled feebly and interrogatively. + +“Don't seem to be either follering suit nor trumpin',” continued Del +bluntly. + +“I suppose so--that is, I fear that Miss Virginia”--he stammered. + +“Speak up! I'm a little deaf. Say it again!” said Del, screwing up her +eyes and eyebrows. + +The young man was obliged to admit in stentorian tones that his progress +had been scarcely satisfactory. + +“You're goin' on too slow--that's it,” said Del critically. “Why, when +Captain Savage meandered along here with Jinny” (Virginia) “last +week, afore we got as far as this he'd reeled off a heap of Byron and +Jamieson” (Tennyson), “and sich; and only yesterday Jinny and Doctor +Beveridge was blowin' thistletops to know which was a flirt all along +the trail past the crossroads. Why, ye ain't picked ez much as a single +berry for Jinny, let alone Lad's Love or Johnny Jumpups and Kissme's, +and ye keep talkin' across me, you two, till I'm tired. Now look here,” + she burst out with sudden decision, “Jinny's gone on ahead in a kind o' +huff; but I reckon she's done that afore too, and you'll find her, jest +as Spinner did, on the rise of the hill, sittin' on a pine stump and +lookin' like this.” (Here the youngest Miss Piper locked her +fingers over her left knee, and drew it slightly up,--with a sublime +indifference to the exposure of considerable small-ankled red +stocking,--and with a far-off, plaintive stare, achieved a colorable +imitation of her elder sister's probable attitude.) “Then you jest go up +softly, like as you was a bear, and clap your hands on her eyes, and +say in a disguised voice like this” (here Del turned on a high falsetto +beyond any masculine compass), “'Who's who?' jest like in forfeits.” + +“But she'll be sure to know me,” said the surveyor timidly. + +“She won't,” said Del in scornful skepticism. + +“I hardly think”--stammered the young man, with an awkward smile, “that +I--in fact--she'll discover me--before I can get beside her.” + +“Not if you go softly, for she'll be sittin' back to the road, +so--gazing away, so”--the youngest Miss Piper again stared dreamily in +the distance, “and you'll creep up just behind, like this.” + +“But won't she be angry? I haven't known her long--that is--don't you +see?” He stopped embarrassedly. + +“Can't hear a word you say,” said Del, shaking her head decisively. +“You've got my deaf ear. Speak louder, or come closer.” + +But here the instruction suddenly ended, once and for all time! For +whether the young man was seriously anxious to perfect himself; whether +he was truly grateful to the young girl and tried to show it; whether he +was emboldened by the childish appeal of the long brown distinguishing +braid down her back, or whether he suddenly found something peculiarly +provocative in the reddish brown eyes between their thickset hedge of +lashes, and with the trim figure and piquant pose, and was seized with +that hysteric desperation which sometimes attacks timidity itself, I +cannot say! Enough that he suddenly put his arm around her waist and +his lips to her soft satin cheek, peppered and salted as it was by +sun-freckles and mountain air, and received a sound box on the ear for +his pains. The incident was closed. He did not repeat the experiment on +either sister. The disclosure of his rebuff seemed, however, to give a +singular satisfaction to Red Gulch. + +While it may be gathered from this that the youngest Miss Piper was +impervious to general masculine advances, it was not until later that +Red Gulch was thrown into skeptical astonishment by the rumors that all +this time she really had a lover! Allusion has been made to the charge +that her deafness did not prevent her from perfectly understanding the +ordinary tone of voice of a certain Mr. Thomas Sparrell. + +No undue significance was attached to this fact through the very +insignificance and “impossibility” of that individual;--a lanky, +red-haired youth, incapacitated for manual labor through lameness,--a +clerk in a general store at the Cross Roads! He had never been the +recipient of Judge Piper's hospitality; he had never visited the house +even with parcels; apparently his only interviews with her or any of +the family had been over the counter. To do him justice he certainly had +never seemed to seek any nearer acquaintance; he was not at the church +door when her sisters, beautiful in their Sunday gowns, filed into the +aisle, with little Delaware bringing up the rear; he was not at the +Democratic barbecue, that we attended without reference to our personal +politics, and solely for the sake of Judge Piper and the girls; nor +did he go to the Agricultural Fair Ball--open to all. His abstention we +believed to be owing to his lameness; to a wholesome consciousness +of his own social defects; or an inordinate passion for reading cheap +scientific textbooks, which did not, however, add fluency nor conviction +to his speech. Neither had he the abstraction of a student, for his +accounts were kept with an accuracy which struck us, who dealt at the +store, as ignobly practical, and even malignant. Possibly we might have +expressed this opinion more strongly but for a certain rude vigor of +repartee which he possessed, and a suggestion that he might have a +temper on occasion. “Them red-haired chaps is like to be tetchy and +to kinder see blood through their eyelashes,” had been suggested by an +observing customer. + +In short, little as we knew of the youngest Miss Piper, he was the last +man we should have suspected her to select as an admirer. What we did +know of their public relations, purely commercial ones, implied the +reverse of any cordial understanding. The provisioning of the Piper +household was entrusted to Del, with other practical odds and ends of +housekeeping, not ornamental, and the following is said to be a truthful +record of one of their overheard interviews at the store:-- + +The youngest Miss Piper, entering, displacing a quantity of goods in the +centre to make a sideways seat for herself, and looking around loftily +as she took a memorandum-book and pencil from her pocket. + +“Ahem! If I ain't taking you away from your studies, Mr. Sparrell, +maybe you'll be good enough to look here a minit;--but” (in affected +politeness) “if I'm disturbing you I can come another time.” + +Sparrell, placing the book he had been reading carefully under the +counter, and advancing to Miss Delaware with a complete ignoring of her +irony: “What can we do for you to-day, Miss Piper?” + +Miss Delaware, with great suavity of manner, examining her +memorandum-book: “I suppose it wouldn't be shocking your delicate +feelings too much to inform you that the canned lobster and oysters you +sent us yesterday wasn't fit for hogs?” + +Sparrell (blandly): “They weren't intended for them, Miss Piper. If +we had known you were having company over from Red Gulch to dinner, we +might have provided something more suitable for them. We have a fair +quality of oil-cake and corn-cobs in stock, at reduced figures. But the +canned provisions were for your own family.” + +Miss Delaware (secretly pleased at this sarcastic allusion to her +sister's friends, but concealing her delight): “I admire to hear you +talk that way, Mr. Sparrell; it's better than minstrels or a circus. I +suppose you get it outer that book,” indicating the concealed volume. +“What do you call it?” + +Sparrell (politely): “The First Principles of Geology.” + +Miss Delaware, leaning sideways and curling her little fingers around +her pink ear: “Did you say the first principles of 'geology' or +'politeness'? You know I am so deaf; but, of course, it couldn't be +that.” + +Sparrell (easily): “Oh no, you seem to have that in your hand”--pointing +to Miss Delaware's memorandum-book--“you were quoting from it when you +came in.” + +Miss Delaware, after an affected silence of deep resignation: “Well! +it's too bad folks can't just spend their lives listenin' to such +elegant talk; I'd admire to do nothing else! But there's my family up at +Cottonwood--and they must eat. They're that low that they expect me +to waste my time getting food for 'em here, instead of drinking in the +First Principles of the Grocery.” + +“Geology,” suggested Sparrell blandly. “The history of rock formation.” + +“Geology,” accepted Miss Delaware apologetically; “the history of rocks, +which is so necessary for knowing just how much sand you can put in the +sugar. So I reckon I'll leave my list here, and you can have the things +toted to Cottonwood when you've got through with your First Principles.” + +She tore out a list of her commissions from a page of her +memorandum-book, leaped lightly from the counter, threw her brown braid +from her left shoulder to its proper place down her back, shook out +her skirts deliberately, and saying, “Thank you for a most improvin' +afternoon, Mr. Sparrell,” sailed demurely out of the store. + +A few auditors of this narrative thought it inconsistent that a daughter +of Judge Piper and a sister of the angelic host should put up with a +mere clerk's familiarity, but it was pointed out that “she gave him as +good as he sent,” and the story was generally credited. But certainly +no one ever dreamed that it pointed to any more precious confidences +between them. + +I think the secret burst upon the family, with other things, at the big +picnic at Reservoir Canyon. This festivity had been arranged for weeks +previously, and was undertaken chiefly by the “Red Gulch Contingent,” + as we were called, as a slight return to the Piper family for their +frequent hospitality. The Piper sisters were expected to bring nothing +but their own personal graces and attend to the ministration of such +viands and delicacies as the boys had profusely supplied. + +The site selected was Reservoir Canyon, a beautiful, triangular valley +with very steep sides, one of which was crowned by the immense reservoir +of the Pioneer Ditch Company. The sheer flanks of the canyon descended +in furrowed lines of vines and clinging bushes, like folds of falling +skirts, until they broke again into flounces of spangled shrubbery over +a broad level carpet of monkshood, mariposas, lupines, poppies, and +daisies. Tempered and secluded from the sun's rays by its lofty shadows, +the delicious obscurity of the canyon was in sharp contrast to the +fiery mountain trail that in the full glare of the noonday sky made +its tortuous way down the hillside, like a stream of lava, to plunge +suddenly into the valley and extinguish itself in its coolness as in a +lake. The heavy odors of wild honeysuckle, syringa, and ceanothus that +hung over it were lightened and freshened by the sharp spicing of pine +and bay. The mountain breeze which sometimes shook the serrated tops of +the large redwoods above with a chill from the remote snow peaks even in +the heart of summer, never reached the little valley. + +It seemed an ideal place for a picnic. Everybody was therefore +astonished to hear that an objection was suddenly raised to this perfect +site. They were still more astonished to know that the objector was the +youngest Miss Piper! Pressed to give her reasons, she had replied that +the locality was dangerous; that the reservoir placed upon the mountain, +notoriously old and worn out, had been rendered more unsafe by +false economy in unskillful and hasty repairs to satisfy speculating +stockbrokers, and that it had lately shown signs of leakage and sapping +of its outer walls; that, in the event of an outbreak, the little +triangular valley, from which there was no outlet, would be instantly +flooded. Asked still more pressingly to give her authority for these +details, she at first hesitated, and then gave the name of Tom Sparrell. + +The derision with which this statement was received by us all, as the +opinion of a sedentary clerk, was quite natural and obvious, but not +the anger which it excited in the breast of Judge Piper; for it was not +generally known that the judge was the holder of a considerable number +of shares in the Pioneer Ditch Company, and that large dividends had +been lately kept up by a false economy of expenditure, to expedite a +“sharp deal” in the stock, by which the judge and others could sell out +of a failing company. Rather, it was believed, that the judge's anger +was due only to the discovery of Sparrell's influence over his daughter +and his interference with the social affairs of Cottonwood. It was said +that there was a sharp scene between the youngest Miss Piper and the +combined forces of the judge and the elder sisters, which ended in the +former's resolute refusal to attend the picnic at all if that site was +selected. + +As Delaware was known to be fearless even to the point of recklessness, +and fond of gayety, her refusal only intensified the belief that she was +merely “stickin' up for Sparrell's judgment” without any reference to +her own personal safety or that of her sisters. The warning was laughed +away; the opinion of Sparrell treated with ridicule as the dyspeptic and +envious expression of an impractical man. It was pointed out that the +reservoir had lasted a long time even in its alleged ruinous state; that +only a miracle of coincidence could make it break down that particular +afternoon of the picnic; that even if it did happen, there was no direct +proof that it would seriously flood the valley, or at best add more than +a spice of excitement to the affair. The “Red Gulch Contingent,” who +WOULD be there, was quite as capable of taking care of the ladies, in +case of any accident, as any lame crank who wouldn't, but could only +croak a warning to them from a distance. A few even wished something +might happen that they might have an opportunity of showing their +superior devotion; indeed, the prospect of carrying the half-submerged +sisters, in a condition of helpless loveliness, in their arms to a place +of safety was a fascinating possibility. The warning was conspicuously +ineffective; everybody looked eagerly forward to the day and the +unchanged locality; to the greatest hopefulness and anticipation was +added the stirring of defiance, and when at last the appointed hour +had arrived, the picnic party passed down the twisting mountain trail +through the heat and glare in a fever of enthusiasm. + +It was a pretty sight to view this sparkling procession--the girls cool +and radiant in their white, blue, and yellow muslins and flying ribbons, +the “Contingent” in its cleanest ducks, and blue and red flannel shirts, +the judge white-waistcoated and panama-hatted, with a new dignity +borrowed from the previous circumstances, and three or four impressive +Chinamen bringing up the rear with hampers--as it at last debouched into +Reservoir Canyon. + +Here they dispersed themselves over the limited area, scarcely half an +acre, with the freedom of escaped school children. They were secure in +their woodland privacy. They were overlooked by no high road and +its passing teams; they were safe from accidental intrusion from the +settlement; indeed they went so far as to effect the exclusiveness of +“clique.” At first they amused themselves by casting humorously defiant +eyes at the long low Ditch Reservoir, which peeped over the green wall +of the ridge, six hundred feet above them; at times they even simulated +an exaggerated terror of it, and one recognized humorist declaimed a +grotesque appeal to its forbearance, with delightful local allusions. +Others pretended to discover near a woodman's hut, among the belt of +pines at the top of the descending trail, the peeping figure of the +ridiculous and envious Sparrell. But all this was presently forgotten +in the actual festivity. Small as was the range of the valley, it +still allowed retreats during the dances for waiting couples among the +convenient laurel and manzanita bushes which flounced the mountain side. +After the dancing, old-fashioned children's games were revived with +great laughter and half-hearted and coy protests from the ladies; +notably one pastime known as “I'm a-pinin',” in which ingenious +performance the victim was obliged to stand in the centre of a circle +and publicly “pine” for a member of the opposite sex. Some hilarity was +occasioned by the mischievous Miss “Georgy” Piper declaring, when it +came to her turn, that she was “pinin'” for a look at the face of Tom +Sparrell just now! + +In this local trifling two hours passed, until the party sat down to the +long-looked for repast. It was here that the health of Judge Piper was +neatly proposed by the editor of the “Argus.” The judge responded with +great dignity and some emotion. He reminded them that it had been his +humble endeavor to promote harmony--that harmony so characteristic +of American principles--in social as he had in political circles, +and particularly among the strangely constituted yet purely American +elements of frontier life. He accepted the present festivity with +its overflowing hospitalities, not in recognition of himself--(“yes! +yes!”)--nor of his family--(enthusiastic protests)--but of that American +principle! If at one time it seemed probable that these festivities +might be marred by the machinations of envy--(groans)--or that +harmony interrupted by the importation of low-toned material +interests--(groans)--he could say that, looking around him, he had never +before felt--er--that--Here the judge stopped short, reeled slightly +forward, caught at a camp-stool, recovered himself with an apologetic +smile, and turned inquiringly to his neighbor. + +A light laugh--instantly suppressed--at what was at first supposed to +be the effect of the “overflowing hospitality” upon the speaker himself, +went around the male circle until it suddenly appeared that half a dozen +others had started to their feet at the same time, with white faces, and +that one of the ladies had screamed. + +“What is it?” everybody was asking with interrogatory smiles. + +It was Judge Piper who replied:-- + +“A little shock of earthquake,” he said blandly; “a mere thrill! I +think,” he added with a faint smile, “we may say that Nature herself has +applauded our efforts in good old Californian fashion, and signified her +assent. What are you saying, Fludder?” + +“I was thinking, sir,” said Fludder deferentially, in a lower voice, +“that if anything was wrong in the reservoir, this shock, you know, +might”-- + +He was interrupted by a faint crashing and crackling sound, and looking +up, beheld a good-sized boulder, evidently detached from some greater +height, strike the upland plateau at the left of the trail and bound +into the fringe of forest beside it. A slight cloud of dust marked its +course, and then lazily floated away in mid air. But it had been watched +agitatedly, and it was evident that that singular loss of nervous +balance which is apt to affect all those who go through the slightest +earthquake experience was felt by all. But some sense of humor, however, +remained. + +“Looks as if the water risks we took ain't goin' to cover earthquakes,” + drawled Dick Frisney; “still that wasn't a bad shot, if we only knew +what they were aiming at.” + +“Do be quiet,” said Virginia Piper, her cheeks pink with excitement. +“Listen, can't you? What's that funny murmuring you hear now and then up +there?” + +“It's only the snow-wind playin' with the pines on the summit. You girls +won't allow anybody any fun but yourselves.” + +But here a scream from “Georgy,” who, assisted by Captain Fairfax, had +mounted a camp-stool at the mouth of the valley, attracted everybody's +attention. She was standing upright, with dilated eyes, staring at +the top of the trail. “Look!” she said excitedly, “if the trail isn't +moving!” + +Everybody faced in that direction. At the first glance it seemed indeed +as if the trail was actually moving; wriggling and undulating its +tortuous way down the mountain like a huge snake, only swollen to twice +its usual size. But the second glance showed it to be no longer a trail +but a channel of water, whose stream, lifted in a bore-like wall four or +five feet high, was plunging down into the devoted valley. + +For an instant they were unable to comprehend even the nature of the +catastrophe. The reservoir was directly over their heads; the bursting +of its wall they had imagined would naturally bring down the water in a +dozen trickling streams or falls over the cliff above them and along the +flanks of the mountain. But that its suddenly liberated volume should +overflow the upland beyond and then descend in a pent-up flood by their +own trail and their only avenue of escape, had been beyond their wildest +fancy. + +They met this smiting truth with that characteristic short laugh +with which the American usually receives the blow of Fate or the +unexpected--as if he recognized only the absurdity of the situation. +Then they ran to the women, collected them together, and dragged them +to vantages of fancied security among the bushes which flounced the long +skirts of the mountain walls. But I leave this part of the description +to the characteristic language of one of the party:-- + +“When the flood struck us, it did not seem to take any stock of us in +particular, but laid itself out to 'go for' that picnic for all it +was worth! It wiped it off the face of the earth in about twenty-five +seconds! It first made a clean break from stem to stern, carrying +everything along with it. The first thing I saw was old Judge Piper, +puttin' on his best licks to get away from a big can of strawberry ice +cream that was trundling after him and trying to empty itself on his +collar, whenever a bigger wave lifted it. He was followed by what was +left of the brass band; the big drum just humpin' itself to keep +abreast o' the ice cream, mixed up with camp-stools, music-stands, a few +Chinamen, and then what they call in them big San Francisco processions +'citizens generally.' The hull thing swept up the canyon inside o' +thirty seconds. Then, what Captain Fairfax called 'the reflex action in +the laws o' motion' happened, and darned if the hull blamed procession +didn't sweep back again--this time all the heavy artillery, such as +camp-kettles, lager beer kegs, bottles, glasses, and crockery that was +left behind takin' the lead now, and Judge Piper and that ice cream can +bringin' up the rear. As the jedge passed us the second time, we noticed +that that ice cream can--hevin' swallowed water--was kinder losing its +wind, and we encouraged the old man by shoutin' out, 'Five to one on +him!' And then, you wouldn't believe what followed. Why, darn my skin, +when that 'reflex' met the current at the other end, it just swirled +around again in what Captain Fairfax called the 'centrifugal curve,' and +just went round and round the canyon like ez when yer washin' the dirt +out o' a prospectin' pan--every now and then washin' some one of the +boys that was in it, like scum, up ag'in the banks. + +“We managed in this way to snake out the judge, jest ez he was sailin' +round on the home stretch, passin' the quarter post two lengths ahead +o' the can. A good deal o' the ice cream had washed away, but it took +us ten minutes to shake the cracked ice and powdered salt out o' the +old man's clothes, and warm him up again in the laurel bush where he +was clinging. This sort o' 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' kep' +on until most o' the humans was got out, and only the furniture o' +the picnic was left in the race. Then it got kinder mixed up, and went +sloshin' round here and there, ez the water kep' comin' down by the +trail. Then Lulu Piper, what I was holdin' up all the time in a laurel +bush, gets an idea, for all she was wet and draggled; and ez the things +went bobbin' round, she calls out the figures o' a cotillon to 'em. +'Two camp-stools forward.' 'Sashay and back to your places.' 'Change +partners.' 'Hands all round.' + +“She was clear grit, you bet! And the joke caught on and the other +girls jined in, and it kinder cheered 'em, for they was wantin' it. Then +Fludder allowed to pacify 'em by sayin' he just figured up the size o' +the reservoir and the size o' the canyon, and he kalkilated that the +cube was about ekal, and the canyon couldn't flood any more. And then +Lulu--who was peart as a jay and couldn't be fooled--speaks up and says, +'What's the matter with the ditch, Dick?' + +“Lord! then we knew that she knew the worst; for of course all the water +in the ditch itself--fifty miles of it!--was drainin' now into that +reservoir and was bound to come down to the canyon.” + +It was at this point that the situation became really desperate, for +they had now crawled up the steep sides as far as the bushes afforded +foothold, and the water was still rising. The chatter of the girls +ceased, there were long silences, in which the men discussed the wildest +plans, and proposed to tear their shirts into strips to make ropes to +support the girls by sticks driven into the mountain side. It was in +one of those intervals that the distinct strokes of a woodman's axe were +heard high on the upland at the point where the trail descended to the +canyon. Every ear was alert, but only those on one side of the canyon +could get a fair view of the spot. This was the good fortune of Captain +Fairfax and Georgy Piper, who had climbed to the highest bush on that +side, and were now standing up, gazing excitedly in that direction. + +“Some one is cutting down a tree at the head of the trail,” shouted +Fairfax. The response and joyful explanation, “for a dam across the +trail,” was on everybody's lips at the same time. + +But the strokes of the axe were slow and painfully intermittent. +Impatience burst out. + +“Yell to him to hurry up! Why haven't they brought two men?” + +“It's only one man,” shouted the captain, “and he seems to be a cripple. +By Jiminy!--it is--yes!--it's Tom Sparrell!” + +There was a dead silence. Then, I grieve to say, shame and its twin +brother rage took possession of their weak humanity. Oh, yes! It was all +of a piece! Why in the name of Folly hadn't he sent for an able-bodied +man. Were they to be drowned through his cranky obstinacy? + +The blows still went on slowly. Presently, however, they seemed to +alternate with other blows--but alas! they were slower, and if possible +feebler! + +“Have they got another cripple to work?” roared the Contingent in one +furious voice. + +“No--it's a woman--a little one--yes! a girl. Hello! Why, sure as you +live, it's Delaware!” + +A spontaneous cheer burst from the Contingent, partly as a rebuke to +Sparrell, I think, partly from some shame over their previous rage. He +could take it as he liked. + +Still the blows went on distressingly slow. The girls were hoisted +on the men's shoulders; the men were half submerged. Then there was a +painful pause; then a crumbling crash. Another cheer went up from the +canyon. + +“It's down! straight across the trail,” shouted Fairfax, “and a part of +the bank on the top of it.” + +There was another moment of suspense. Would it hold or be carried away +by the momentum of the flood? It held! In a few moments Fairfax again +gave voice to the cheering news that the flow had stopped and the +submerged trail was reappearing. In twenty minutes it was clear--a muddy +river bed, but possible of ascent! Of course there was no diminution of +the water in the canyon, which had no outlet, yet it now was possible +for the party to swing from bush to bush along the mountain side until +the foot of the trail--no longer an opposing one--was reached. There +were some missteps and mishaps,--flounderings in the water, and some +dangerous rescues,--but in half an hour the whole concourse stood +upon the trail and commenced the ascent. It was a slow, difficult, and +lugubrious procession--I fear not the best-tempered one, now that the +stimulus of danger and chivalry was past. When they reached the dam made +by the fallen tree, although they were obliged to make a long detour to +avoid its steep sides, they could see how successfully it had diverted +the current to a declivity on the other side. + +But strangely enough they were greeted by nothing else! Sparrell and +the youngest Miss Piper were gone; and when they at last reached the +highroad, they were astounded to hear from a passing teamster that no +one in the settlement knew anything of the disaster! + +This was the last drop in their cup of bitterness! They who had expected +that the settlement was waiting breathlessly for their rescue, who +anticipated that they would be welcomed as heroes, were obliged to +meet the ill-concealed amusement of passengers and friends at their +dishevelled and bedraggled appearance, which suggested only the +blundering mishaps of an ordinary summer outing! “Boatin' in the +reservoir, and fell in?” “Playing at canal-boat in the Ditch?” were some +of the cheerful hypotheses. The fleeting sense of gratitude they had +felt for their deliverers was dissipated by the time they had reached +their homes, and their rancor increased by the information that when the +earthquake occurred Mr. Tom Sparrell and Miss Delaware were enjoying +a “pasear” in the forest--he having a half-holiday by virtue of +the festival--and that the earthquake had revived his fears of a +catastrophe. The two had procured axes in the woodman's hut and did what +they thought was necessary to relieve the situation of the picnickers. +But the very modesty of this account of their own performance had the +effect of belittling the catastrophe itself, and the picnickers' report +of their exceeding peril was received with incredulous laughter. + +For the first time in the history of Red Gulch there was a serious +division between the Piper family, supported by the Contingent, and the +rest of the settlement. Tom Sparrell's warning was remembered by +the latter, and the ingratitude of the picnickers to their rescuers +commented upon; the actual calamity to the reservoir was more or less +attributed to the imprudent and reckless contiguity of the revelers on +that day, and there were not wanting those who referred the accident +itself to the machinations of the scheming Ditch Director Piper! + +It was said that there was a stormy scene in the Piper household that +evening. The judge had demanded that Delaware should break off her +acquaintance with Sparrell, and she had refused; the judge had demanded +of Sparrell's employer that he should discharge him, and had been met +with the astounding information that Sparrell was already a silent +partner in the concern. At this revelation Judge Piper was alarmed; +while he might object to a clerk who could not support a wife, as a +consistent democrat he could not oppose a fairly prosperous tradesman. +A final appeal was made to Delaware; she was implored to consider the +situation of her sisters, who had all made more ambitious marriages +or were about to make them. Why should she now degrade the family by +marrying a country storekeeper? + +It is said that here the youngest Miss Piper made a memorable reply, and +a revelation the truth of which was never gainsaid:-- + +“You all wanter know why I'm going to marry Tom Sparrell?” she queried, +standing up and facing the whole family circle. + +“Yes.” + +“Why I prefer him to the hull caboodle that you girls have married or +are going to marry?” she continued, meditatively biting the end of her +braid. + +“Yes.” + +“Well, he's the only man of the whole lot that hasn't proposed to me +first.” + +It is presumed that Sparrell made good the omission, or that the family +were glad to get rid of her, for they were married that autumn. And +really a later comparison of the family records shows that while Captain +Fairfax remained “Captain Fairfax,” and the other sons-in-law did not +advance proportionately in standing or riches, the lame storekeeper of +Red Gulch became the Hon. Senator Tom Sparrell. + + + + +A WIDOW OF THE SANTA ANA VALLEY + + +The Widow Wade was standing at her bedroom window staring out, in that +vague instinct which compels humanity in moments of doubt and perplexity +to seek this change of observation or superior illumination. Not that +Mrs. Wade's disturbance was of a serious character. She had passed the +acute stage of widowhood by at least two years, and the slight redness +of her soft eyelids as well as the droop of her pretty mouth were +merely the recognized outward and visible signs of the grievously minded +religious community in which she lived. The mourning she still wore +was also partly in conformity with the sad-colored garments of +her neighbors, and the necessities of the rainy season. She was in +comfortable circumstances, the mistress of a large ranch in the valley, +which had lately become more valuable by the extension of a wagon road +through its centre. She was simply worrying whether she should go to +a “sociable” ending with “a dance”--a daring innovation of some +strangers--at the new hotel, or continue to eschew such follies, that +were, according to local belief, unsuited to “a vale of tears.” + +Indeed at this moment the prospect she gazed abstractedly upon seemed +to justify that lugubrious description. The Santa Ana Valley--a long +monotonous level--was dimly visible through moving curtains of rain or +veils of mist, to the black mourning edge of the horizon, and had looked +like that for months. The valley--in some remote epoch an arm of the San +Francisco Bay--every rainy season seemed to be trying to revert to its +original condition, and, long after the early spring had laid on its +liberal color in strips, bands, and patches of blue and yellow, the +blossoms of mustard and lupine glistened like wet paint. Nevertheless on +that rich alluvial soil Nature's tears seemed only to fatten the +widow's acres and increase her crops. Her neighbors, too, were equally +prosperous. Yet for six months of the year the recognized expression +of Santa Ana was one of sadness, and for the other six months--of +resignation. Mrs. Wade had yielded early to this influence, as she had +to others, in the weakness of her gentle nature, and partly as it was +more becoming the singular tragedy that had made her a widow. + +The late Mr. Wade had been found dead with a bullet through his head in +a secluded part of the road over Heavy Tree Hill in Sonora County. Near +him lay two other bodies, one afterwards identified as John Stubbs, a +resident of the Hill, and probably a traveling companion of Wade's, +and the other a noted desperado and highwayman, still masked, as at the +moment of the attack. Wade and his companion had probably sold their +lives dearly, and against odds, for another mask was found on the +ground, indicating that the attack was not single-handed, and as +Wade's body had not yet been rifled, it was evident that the remaining +highwayman had fled in haste. The hue and cry had been given by +apparently the only one of the travelers who escaped, but as he was +hastening to take the overland coach to the East at the time, his +testimony could not be submitted to the coroner's deliberation. The +facts, however, were sufficiently plain for a verdict of willful murder +against the highwayman, although it was believed that the absent witness +had basely deserted his companion and left him to his fate, or, as was +suggested by others, that he might even have been an accomplice. It +was this circumstance which protracted comment on the incident, and +the sufferings of the widow, far beyond that rapid obliteration which +usually overtook such affairs in the feverish haste of the early days. +It caused her to remove to Santa Ana, where her old father had feebly +ranched a “quarter section” in the valley. He survived her husband +only a few months, leaving her the property, and once more in mourning. +Perhaps this continuity of woe endeared her to a neighborhood where +distinctive ravages of diphtheria or scarlet fever gave a kind of social +preeminence to any household, and she was so sympathetically assisted by +her neighbors in the management of the ranch that, from an unkempt +and wasteful wilderness, it became paying property. The slim, willowy +figure, soft red-lidded eyes, and deep crape of “Sister Wade” at church +or prayer-meeting was grateful to the soul of these gloomy worshipers, +and in time she herself found that the arm of these dyspeptics of mind +and body was nevertheless strong and sustaining. Small wonder that she +should hesitate to-night about plunging into inconsistent, even though +trifling, frivolities. + +But apart from this superficial reason, there was another instinctive +one deep down in the recesses of Mrs. Wade's timid heart which she had +kept to herself, and indeed would have tearfully resented had it been +offered by another. The late Mr. Wade had been, in fact, a singular +example of this kind of frivolous existence carried to a man-like +excess. Besides being a patron of amusements, Mr. Wade gambled, raced, +and drank. He was often home late, and sometimes not at all. Not that +this conduct was exceptional in the “roaring days” of Heavy Tree Hill, +but it had given Mrs. Wade perhaps an undue preference for a less +certain, even if a more serious life. His tragic death was, of course, +a kind of martyrdom, which exalted him in the feminine mind to a saintly +memory; yet Mrs. Wade was not without a certain relief in that. It +was voiced, perhaps crudely, by the widow of Abner Drake in a visit of +condolence to the tearful Mrs. Wade a few days after Wade's death. “It's +a vale o' sorrow, Mrs. Wade,” said the sympathizer, “but it has its ups +and downs, and I recken ye'll be feelin' soon pretty much as I did about +Abner when HE was took. It was mighty soothin' and comfortin' to feel +that whatever might happen now, I always knew just whar Abner was +passin' his nights.” Poor slim Mrs. Wade had no disquieting sense of +humor to interfere with her reception of this large truth, and she +accepted it with a burst of reminiscent tears. + +A long volleying shower had just passed down the level landscape, and +was followed by a rolling mist from the warm saturated soil like the +smoke of the discharge. Through it she could see a faint lightening +of the hidden sun, again darkening through a sudden onset of rain, and +changing as with her conflicting doubts and resolutions. Thus gazing, +she was vaguely conscious of an addition to the landscape in the shape +of a man who was passing down the road with a pack on his back like +the tramping “prospectors” she had often seen at Heavy Tree Hill. That +memory apparently settled her vacillating mind; she determined she +would NOT go to the dance. But as she was turning away from the window +a second figure, a horseman, appeared in another direction by a +cross-road, a shorter cut through her domain. This she had no difficulty +in recognizing as one of the strangers who were getting up the dance. +She had noticed him at church on the previous Sunday. As he passed the +house he appeared to be gazing at it so earnestly that she drew back +from the window lest she should be seen. And then, for no reason +whatever, she changed her mind once more, and resolved to go to the +dance. Gravely announcing this fact to the wife of her superintendent +who kept house with her in her loneliness, she thought nothing more +about it. She should go in her mourning, with perhaps the addition of a +white collar and frill. + +It was evident, however, that Santa Ana thought a good deal more than +she did of this new idea, which seemed a part of the innovation already +begun by the building up of the new hotel. It was argued by some that +as the new church and new schoolhouse had been opened by prayer, it was +only natural that a lighter festivity should inaugurate the opening of +the hotel. “I reckon that dancin' is about the next thing to travelin' +for gettin' up an appetite for refreshments, and that's what the +landlord is kalkilatin' to sarve,” was the remark of a gloomy but +practical citizen on the veranda of “The Valley Emporium.” “That's so,” + rejoined a bystander; “and I notice on that last box o' pills I got for +chills the directions say that a little 'agreeable exercise'--not too +violent--is a great assistance to the working o' the pills.” + +“I reckon that that Mr. Brooks who's down here lookin' arter mill +property, got up the dance. He's bin round town canvassin' all the women +folks and drummin' up likely gals for it. They say he actooally sent an +invite to the Widder Wade,” remarked another lounger. “Gosh! he's got +cheek!” + +“Well, gentlemen,” said the proprietor judicially, “while we don't +intend to hev any minin' camp fandangos or 'Frisco falals round Santa +Any--(Santa Ana was proud of its simple agricultural virtues)--I ain't +so hard-shelled as not to give new things a fair trial. And, after all, +it's the women folk that has the say about it. Why, there's old Miss +Ford sez she hasn't kicked a fut sence she left Mizoori, but wouldn't +mind trying it agin. Ez to Brooks takin' that trouble--well, I suppose +it's along o' his bein' HEALTHY!” He heaved a deep dyspeptic sigh, which +was faintly echoed by the others. “Why, look at him now, ridin' round +on that black hoss o' his, in the wet since daylight and not carin' for +blind chills or rhumatiz!” + +He was looking at a serape-draped horseman, the one the widow had seen +on the previous night, who was now cantering slowly up the street. +Seeing the group on the veranda, he rode up, threw himself lightly from +his saddle, and joined them. He was an alert, determined, good-looking +fellow of about thirty-five, whose smooth, smiling face hardly commended +itself to Santa Ana, though his eyes were distinctly sympathetic. He +glanced at the depressed group around him and became ominously serious. + +“When did it happen?” he asked gravely. + +“What happen?” said the nearest bystander. + +“The Funeral, Flood, Fight, or Fire. Which of the four F's was it?” + +“What are ye talkin' about?” said the proprietor stiffly, scenting some +dangerous humor. + +“YOU,” said Brooks promptly. “You're all standing here, croaking like +crows, this fine morning. I passed YOUR farm, Johnson, not an hour ago; +the wheat just climbing out of the black adobe mud as thick as rows of +pins on paper--what have YOU to grumble at? I saw YOUR stock, Briggs, +over on Two-Mile Bottom, waddling along, fat as the adobe they were +sticking in, their coats shining like fresh paint--what's the matter +with YOU? And,” turning to the proprietor, “there's YOUR shed, Saunders, +over on the creek, just bursting with last year's grain that you know +has gone up two hundred per cent. since you bought it at a bargain--what +are YOU growling at? It's enough to provoke a fire or a famine to hear +you groaning--and take care it don't, some day, as a lesson to you.” + +All this was so perfectly true of the prosperous burghers that they +could not for a moment reply. But Briggs had recourse to what he +believed to be a retaliatory taunt. + +“I heard you've been askin' Widow Wade to come to your dance,” he said, +with a wink at the others. “Of course she said 'Yes.'” + +“Of course she did,” returned Brooks coolly. “I've just got her note.” + +“What?” ejaculated the three men together. “Mrs. Wade comin'?” + +“Certainly! Why shouldn't she? And it would do YOU good to come too, +and shake the limp dampness out o' you,” returned Brooks, as he quietly +remounted his horse and cantered away. + +“Darned ef I don't think he's got his eye on the widder,” said Johnson +faintly. + +“Or the quarter section,” added Briggs gloomily. + +For all that, the eventful evening came, with many lights in the +staring, undraped windows of the hotel, coldly bright bunting on the +still damp walls of the long dining-room, and a gentle downpour from the +hidden skies above. A close carryall was especially selected to bring +Mrs. Wade and her housekeeper. The widow arrived, looking a little +slimmer than usual in her closely buttoned black dress, white collar and +cuffs, very glistening in eye and in hair,--whose glossy black ringlets +were perhaps more elaborately arranged than was her custom,--and with +a faint coming and going of color, due perhaps to her agitation at this +tentative reentering into worldly life, which was nevertheless quite +virginal in effect. A vague solemnity pervaded the introductory +proceedings, and a singular want of sociability was visible in the +“sociable” part of the entertainment. People talked in whispers or with +that grave precision which indicates good manners in rural communities; +conversed painfully with other people whom they did not want to talk to +rather than appear to be alone, or rushed aimlessly together like water +drops, and then floated in broken, adherent masses over the floor. The +widow became a helpless, religious centre of deacons and Sunday-school +teachers, which Brooks, untiring, yet fruitless, in his attempt to +produce gayety, tried in vain to break. To this gloom the untried +dangers of the impending dance, duly prefigured by a lonely cottage +piano and two violins in a desert of expanse, added a nervous +chill. When at last the music struck up--somewhat hesitatingly and +protestingly, from the circumstance that the player was the church +organist, and fumbled mechanically for his stops, the attempt to make +up a cotillon set was left to the heroic Brooks. Yet he barely escaped +disaster when, in posing the couples, he incautiously begged them to +look a little less as if they were waiting for the coffin to be borne +down the aisle between them, and was rewarded by a burst of tears from +Mrs. Johnson, who had lost a child two years before, and who had to +be led away, while her place in the set was taken by another. Yet the +cotillon passed off; a Spanish dance succeeded; “Moneymusk,” with the +Virginia Reel, put a slight intoxicating vibration into the air, and +healthy youth at last asserted itself in a score of freckled but buxom +girls in white muslin, with romping figures and laughter, at the lower +end of the room. Still a rigid decorum reigned among the elder dancers, +and the figures were called out in grave formality, as if, to Brooks's +fancy, they were hymns given from the pulpit, until at the close of +the set, in half-real, half-mock despair, he turned desperately to Mrs. +Wade, his partner:-- + +“Do you waltz?” + +Mrs. Wade hesitated. She HAD, before marriage, and was a good waltzer. +“I do,” she said timidly, “but do you think they”-- + +But before the poor widow could formulate her fears as to the reception +of “round dances,” Brooks had darted to the piano, and the next moment +she heard with a “fearful joy” the opening bars of a waltz. It was an +old Julien waltz, fresh still in the fifties, daring, provocative +to foot, swamping to intellect, arresting to judgment, irresistible, +supreme! Before Mrs. Wade could protest, Brooks's arm had gathered up +her slim figure, and with one quick backward sweep and swirl they were +off! The floor was cleared for them in a sudden bewilderment of alarm--a +suspense of burning curiosity. The widow's little feet tripped quickly, +her long black skirt swung out; as she turned the corner there was +not only a sudden revelation of her pretty ankles, but, what was more +startling, a dazzling flash of frilled and laced petticoat, which +at once convinced every woman in the room that the act had been +premeditated for days! Yet even that criticism was presently forgotten +in the pervading intoxication of the music and the movement. The younger +people fell into it with wild rompings, whirlings, and clasping of hands +and waists. And stranger than all, a corybantic enthusiasm seized upon +the emotionally religious, and those priests and priestesses of Cybele +who were famous for their frenzy and passion in camp-meeting devotions +seemed to find an equal expression that night in the waltz. And when, +flushed and panting, Mrs. Wade at last halted on the arm of her partner, +they were nearly knocked over by the revolving Johnson and Mrs. Stubbs +in a whirl of gloomy exultation! Deacons and Sunday-school teachers +waltzed together until the long room shook, and the very bunting on +the walls waved and fluttered with the gyrations of those religious +dervishes. Nobody knew--nobody cared how long this frenzy lasted--it +ceased only with the collapse of the musicians. Then, with much vague +bewilderment, inward trepidation, awkward and incoherent partings, +everybody went dazedly home; there was no other dancing after that--the +waltz was the one event of the festival and of the history of Santa Ana. +And later that night, when the timid Mrs. Wade, in the seclusion of her +own room and the disrobing of her slim figure, glanced at her spotless +frilled and laced petticoat lying on a chair, a faint smile--the first +of her widowhood--curved the corners of her pretty mouth. + +A week of ominous silence regarding the festival succeeded in Santa +Ana. The local paper gave the fullest particulars of the opening of the +hotel, but contented itself with saying: “The entertainment concluded +with a dance.” Mr. Brooks, who felt himself compelled to call upon his +late charming partner twice during the week, characteristically soothed +her anxieties as to the result. “The fact of it is, Mrs. Wade, there's +really nobody in particular to blame--and that's what gets them. They're +all mixed up in it, deacons and Sunday-school teachers; and when +old Johnson tried to be nasty the other evening and hoped you hadn't +suffered from your exertions that night, I told him you hadn't quite +recovered yet from the physical shock of having been run into by him and +Mrs. Stubbs, but that, you being a lady, you didn't tell just how you +felt at the exhibition he and she made of themselves. That shut him up.” + +“But you shouldn't have said that,” said Mrs. Wade with a frightened +little smile. + +“No matter,” returned Brooks cheerfully. “I'll take the blame of it with +the others. You see they'll have to have a scapegoat--and I'm just the +man, for I got up the dance! And as I'm going away, I suppose I shall +bear off the sin with me into the wilderness.” + +“You're going away?” repeated Mrs. Wade in more genuine concern. + +“Not for long,” returned Brooks laughingly. “I came here to look up a +mill site, and I've found it. Meantime I think I've opened their eyes.” + +“You have opened mine,” said the widow with timid frankness. + +They were soft pretty eyes when opened, in spite of their heavy red +lids, and Mr. Brooks thought that Santa Ana would be no worse if they +remained open. Possibly he looked it, for Mrs. Wade said hurriedly, “I +mean--that is--I've been thinking that life needn't ALWAYS be as gloomy +as we make it here. And even HERE, you know, Mr. Brooks, we have six +months' sunshine--though we always forget it in the rainy season.” + +“That's so,” said Brooks cheerfully. “I once lost a heap of money +through my own foolishness, and I've managed to forget it, and I even +reckon to get it back again out of Santa Ana if my mill speculation +holds good. So good-by, Mrs. Wade--but not for long.” He shook her +hand frankly and departed, leaving the widow conscious of a certain +sympathetic confidence and a little grateful for--she knew not what. + +This feeling remained with her most of the afternoon, and even imparted +a certain gayety to her spirits, to the extent of causing her to hum +softly to herself; the air being oddly enough the Julien Waltz. And +when, later in the day, the shadows were closing in with the rain, +word was brought to her that a stranger wished to see her in the +sitting-room, she carried a less mournful mind to this function of her +existence. For Mrs. Wade was accustomed to give audience to traveling +agents, tradesmen, working-hands and servants, as chatelaine of her +ranch, and the occasion was not novel. Yet on entering the room, which +she used partly as an office, she found some difficulty in classifying +the stranger, who at first glance reminded her of the tramping miner +she had seen that night from her window. He was rather incongruously +dressed, some articles of his apparel being finer than others; he wore +a diamond pin in a scarf folded over a rough “hickory” shirt; his light +trousers were tucked in common mining boots that bore stains of travel +and a suggestion that he had slept in his clothes. What she could see +of his unshaven face in that uncertain light expressed a kind of dogged +concentration, overlaid by an assumption of ease. He got up as she came +in, and with a slight “How do, ma'am,” shut the door behind her and +glanced furtively around the room. + +“What I've got to say to ye, Mrs. Wade,--as I reckon you be,--is +strictly private and confidential! Why, ye'll see afore I get through. +But I thought I might just as well caution ye agin our being disturbed.” + +Overcoming a slight instinct of repulsion, Mrs. Wade returned, “You can +speak to me here; no one will interrupt you--unless I call them,” she +added with a little feminine caution. + +“And I reckon ye won't do that,” he said with a grim smile. “You are the +widow o' Pulaski Wade, late o' Heavy Tree Hill, I reckon?” + +“I am,” said Mrs. Wade. + +“And your husband's buried up thar in the graveyard, with a monument +over him setting forth his virtues ez a Christian and a square man and a +high-minded citizen? And that he was foully murdered by highwaymen?” + +“Yes,” said Mrs. Wade, “that is the inscription.” + +“Well, ma'am, a bigger pack o' lies never was cut on stone!” + +Mrs. Wade rose, half in indignation, half in terror. + +“Keep your sittin',” said the stranger, with a warning wave of his +hand. “Wait till I'm through, and then you call in the hull State o' +Californy, ef ye want.” + +The stranger's manner was so doggedly confident that Mrs. Wade sank +back tremblingly in her chair. The man put his slouch hat on his knee, +twirled it round once or twice, and then said with the same stubborn +deliberation:-- + +“The highwayman in that business was your husband--Pulaski Wade--and his +gang, and he was killed by one o' the men he was robbin'. Ye see, +ma'am, it used to be your husband's little game to rope in three or four +strangers in a poker deal at Spanish Jim's saloon--I see you've heard o' +the place,” he interpolated as Mrs. Wade drew back suddenly--“and when +he couldn't clean 'em out in that way, or they showed a little more +money than they played, he'd lay for 'em with his gang in a lone part of +the trail, and go through them like any road agent. That's what he did +that night--and that's how he got killed.” + +“How do you know this?” said Mrs. Wade, with quivering lips. + +“I was one o' the men he went through before he was killed. And I'd hev +got my money back, but the rest o' the gang came up, and I got away jest +in time to save my life and nothin' else. Ye might remember thar was one +man got away and giv' the alarm, but he was goin' on to the States by +the overland coach that night and couldn't stay to be a witness. I was +that man. I had paid my passage through, and I couldn't lose THAT too +with my other money, so I went.” + +Mrs. Wade sat stunned. She remembered the missing witness, and how she +had longed to see the man who was last with her husband; she +remembered Spanish Jim's saloon--his well-known haunt; his frequent and +unaccountable absences, the sudden influx of money which he always said +he had won at cards; the diamond ring he had given her as the result of +“a bet;” the forgotten recurrence of other robberies by a secret masked +gang; a hundred other things that had worried her, instinctively, +vaguely. She knew now, too, the meaning of the unrest that had driven +her from Heavy Tree Hill--the strange unformulated fears that had +haunted her even here. Yet with all this she felt, too, her present +weakness--knew that this man had taken her at a disadvantage, that she +ought to indignantly assert herself, deny everything, demand proof, and +brand him a slanderer! + +“How did--you--know it was my husband?” she stammered. + +“His mask fell off in the fight; you know another mask was found--it +was HIS. I saw him as plainly as I see him there!” he pointed to a +daguerreotype of her husband which stood upon her desk. + +Mrs. Wade could only stare vacantly, hopelessly. After a pause the man +continued in a less aggressive manner and more confidential tone, which, +however, only increased her terror. “I ain't sayin' that YOU knowed +anything about this, ma'am, and whatever other folks might say when THEY +know of it, I'll allers say that you didn't.” + +“What, then, did you come here for?” said the widow desperately. + +“What do I come here for?” repeated the man grimly, looking around the +room; “what did I come to this yer comfortable home--this yer big ranch +and to a rich woman like yourself for? Well, Mrs. Wade, I come to get +the six hundred dollars your husband robbed me of, that's all! I ain't +askin' more! I ain't askin' interest! I ain't askin' compensation for +havin' to run for my life--and,” again looking grimly round the walls, +“I ain't askin' more than you will give--or is my rights.” + +“But this house never was his; it was my father's,” gasped Mrs. Wade; +“you have no right”-- + +“Mebbe 'yes' and mebbe 'no,' Mrs. Wade,” interrupted the man, with +a wave of his hat; “but how about them two checks to bearer for two +hundred dollars each found among your husband's effects, and collected +by your lawyer for you--MY CHECKS, Mrs. Wade?” + +A wave of dreadful recollection overwhelmed her. She remembered the +checks found upon her husband's body, known only to her and her lawyer, +believed to be gambling gains, and collected at once under his legal +advice. Yet she made one more desperate effort in spite of the instinct +that told her he was speaking the truth. + +“But you shall have to prove it--before witnesses.” + +“Do you WANT me to prove it before witnesses?” said the man, coming +nearer her. “Do you want to take my word and keep it between ourselves, +or do you want to call in your superintendent and his men, and all +Santy Any, to hear me prove your husband was a highwayman, thief, and +murderer? Do you want to knock over that monument on Heavy Tree Hill, +and upset your standing here among the deacons and elders? Do you want +to do all this and be forced, even by your neighbors, to pay me in the +end, as you will? Ef you do, call in your witnesses now and let's have +it over. Mebbe it would look better ef I got the money out of YOUR +FRIENDS than ye--a woman! P'raps you're right!” + +He made a step towards the door, but she stopped him. + +“No! no! wait! It's a large sum--I haven't it with me,” she stammered, +thoroughly beaten. + +“Ye kin get it.” + +“Give me time!” she implored. “Look! I'll give you a hundred down +now,--all I have here,--the rest another time!” She nervously opened a +drawer of her desk and taking out a buckskin bag of gold thrust it in +his hand. “There! go away now!” She lifted her thin hands despairingly +to her head. “Go! do!” + +The man seemed struck by her manner. “I don't want to be hard on +a woman,” he said slowly. “I'll go now and come back again at nine +to-night. You can git the money, or what's as good, a check to bearer, +by then. And ef ye'll take my advice, you won't ask no advice from +others, ef you want to keep your secret. Just now it's safe with me; I'm +a square man, ef I seem to be a hard one.” He made a gesture as if to +take her hand, but as she drew shrinkingly away, he changed it to an +awkward bow, and the next moment was gone. + +She started to her feet, but the unwonted strain upon her nerves and +frail body had been greater than she knew. She made a step forward, felt +the room whirl round her and then seem to collapse beneath her feet, +and, clutching at her chair, sank back into it, fainting. + +How long she lay there she never knew. She was at last conscious of some +one bending over her, and a voice--the voice of Mr. Brooks--in her ear, +saying, “I beg your pardon; you seem ill. Shall I call some one?” + +“No!” she gasped, quickly recovering herself with an effort, and staring +round her. “Where is--when did you come in?” + +“Only this moment. I was leaving tonight, sooner than I expected, and +thought I'd say good-by. They told me that you had been engaged with a +stranger, but he had just gone. I beg your pardon--I see you are ill. I +won't detain you any longer.” + +“No! no! don't go! I am better--better,” she said feverishly. As she +glanced at his strong and sympathetic face a wild idea seized her. He +was a stranger here, an alien to these people, like herself. The advice +that she dare not seek from others, from her half-estranged religious +friends, from even her superintendent and his wife, dare she ask from +him? Perhaps he saw this frightened doubt, this imploring appeal, in her +eyes, for he said gently, “Is it anything I can do for you?” + +“Yes,” she said, with the sudden desperation of weakness; “I want you to +keep a secret.” + +“Yours?--yes!” he said promptly. + +Whereat poor Mrs. Wade instantly burst into tears. Then, amidst her +sobs, she told him of the stranger's visit, of his terrible accusations, +of his demands, his expected return, and her own utter helplessness. To +her terror, as she went on she saw a singular change in his kind face; +he was following her with hard, eager intensity. She had half hoped, +even through her fateful instincts, that he might have laughed, manlike, +at her fears, or pooh-poohed the whole thing. But he did not. “You say +he positively recognized your husband?” he repeated quickly. + +“Yes, yes!” sobbed the widow, “and knew that daguerreotype!” she pointed +to the desk. + +Brooks turned quickly in that direction. Luckily his back was towards +her, and she could not see his face, and the quick, startled look that +came into his eyes. But when they again met hers, it was gone, and even +their eager intensity had changed to a gentle commiseration. “You have +only his word for it, Mrs. Wade,” he said gently, “and in telling your +secret to another, you have shorn the rascal of half his power over you. +And he knew it. Now, dismiss the matter from your mind and leave it all +to me. I will be here a few minutes before nine--AND ALONE IN THIS ROOM. +Let your visitor be shown in here, and don't let us be disturbed. Don't +be alarmed,” he added with a faint twinkle in his eye, “there will be no +fuss and no exposure!” + + +It lacked a few minutes of nine when Mr. Brooks was ushered into the +sitting-room. As soon as he was alone he quietly examined the door and +the windows, and having satisfied himself, took his seat in a chair +casually placed behind the door. Presently he heard the sound of voices +and a heavy footstep in the passage. He lightly felt his waistcoat +pocket--it contained a pretty little weapon of power and precision, with +a barrel scarcely two inches long. + +The door opened, and the person outside entered the room. In an instant +Brooks had shut the door and locked it behind him. The man turned +fiercely, but was faced by Brooks quietly, with one finger calmly hooked +in his waistcoat pocket. The man slightly recoiled from him--not as much +from fear as from some vague stupefaction. “What's that for? What's your +little game?” he said half contemptuously. + +“No game at all,” returned Brooks coolly. “You came here to sell a +secret. I don't propose to have it given away first to any listener.” + +“YOU don't--who are YOU?” + +“That's a queer question to ask of the man you are trying to +personate--but I don't wonder! You're doing it d----d badly.” + +“Personate--YOU?” said the stranger, with staring eyes. + +“Yes, ME,” said Brooks quietly. “I am the only man who escaped from the +robbery that night at Heavy Tree Hill and who went home by the Overland +Coach.” + +The stranger stared, but recovered himself with a coarse laugh. “Oh, +well! we're on the same lay, it appears! Both after the widow--afore we +show up her husband.” + +“Not exactly,” said Brooks, with his eyes fixed intently on the +stranger. “You are here to denounce a highwayman who is DEAD and escaped +justice. I am here to denounce one who is LIVING!--Stop! drop your hand; +it's no use. You thought you had to deal only with a woman to-night, and +your revolver isn't quite handy enough. There! down!--down! So! That'll +do.” + +“You can't prove it,” said the man hoarsely. + +“Fool! In your story to that woman you have given yourself away. There +were but two travelers attacked by the highwaymen. One was killed--I am +the other. Where do YOU come in? What witness can you be--except as +the highwayman that you are? Who is left to identify Wade but--his +accomplice!” + +The man's suddenly whitened face made his unshaven beard seem to bristle +over his face like some wild animal's. “Well, ef you kalkilate to blow +me, you've got to blow Wade and his widder too. Jest you remember that,” + he said whiningly. + +“I've thought of that,” said Brooks coolly, “and I calculate that to +prevent it is worth about that hundred dollars you got from that +poor woman--and no more! Now, sit down at that table, and write as I +dictate.” + +The man looked at him in wonder, but obeyed. + +“Write,” said Brooks, “'I hereby certify that my accusations against the +late Pulaski Wade of Heavy Tree Hill are erroneous and groundless, and +the result of mistaken identity, especially in regard to any complicity +of his in the robbery of John Stubbs, deceased, and Henry Brooks, at +Heavy Tree Hill, on the night of the 13th August, 1854.'” + +The man looked up with a repulsive smile. “Who's the fool now, Cap'n? +What's become of your hold on the widder, now?” + +“Write!” said Brooks fiercely. + +The sound of a pen hurriedly scratching paper followed this first +outburst of the quiet Brooks. + +“Sign it,” said Brooks. + +The man signed it. + +“Now go,” said Brooks, unlocking the door, “but remember, if you should +ever be inclined to revisit Santa Ana, you will find ME living here +also.” + +The man slunk out of the door and into the passage like a wild animal +returning to the night and darkness. Brooks took up the paper, rejoined +Mrs. Wade in the parlor, and laid it before her. + +“But,” said the widow, trembling even in her joy, “do you--do you think +he was REALLY mistaken?” + +“Positive,” said Brooks coolly. “It's true, it's a mistake that has cost +you a hundred dollars, but there are some mistakes that are worth that +to be kept quiet.” + +***** + +They were married a year later; but there is no record that in after +years of conjugal relations with a weak, charming, but sometimes trying +woman, Henry Brooks was ever tempted to tell her the whole truth of the +robbery of Heavy Tree Hill. + + + + +THE MERMAID OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT + + +Some forty years ago, on the northern coast of California, near the +Golden Gate, stood a lighthouse. Of a primitive class, since superseded +by a building more in keeping with the growing magnitude of the adjacent +port, it attracted little attention from the desolate shore, and, it was +alleged, still less from the desolate sea beyond. A gray structure of +timber, stone, and glass, it was buffeted and harried by the constant +trade winds, baked by the unclouded six months' sun, lost for a few +hours in the afternoon sea-fog, and laughed over by circling guillemots +from the Farallones. It was kept by a recluse--a preoccupied man of +scientific tastes, who, in shameless contrast to his fellow immigrants, +had applied to the government for this scarcely lucrative position as a +means of securing the seclusion he valued more than gold. Some believed +that he was the victim of an early disappointment in love--a view +charitably taken by those who also believed that the government would +not have appointed “a crank” to a position of responsibility. Howbeit, +he fulfilled his duties, and, with the assistance of an Indian, even +cultivated a small patch of ground beside the lighthouse. His isolation +was complete! There was little to attract wanderers here: the nearest +mines were fifty miles away; the virgin forest on the mountains inland +were penetrated only by sawmills and woodmen from the Bay settlements, +equally remote. Although by the shore-line the lights of the great port +were sometimes plainly visible, yet the solitude around him was +peopled only by Indians,--a branch of the great northern tribe of +“root-diggers,”--peaceful and simple in their habits, as yet +undisturbed by the white man, nor stirred into antagonism by aggression. +Civilization only touched him at stated intervals, and then by the more +expeditious sea from the government boat that brought him supplies. But +for his contiguity to the perpetual turmoil of wind and sea, he might +have passed a restful Arcadian life in his surroundings; for even his +solitude was sometimes haunted by this faint reminder of the great port +hard by that pulsated with an equal unrest. Nevertheless, the sands +before his door and the rocks behind him seemed to have been untrodden +by any other white man's foot since their upheaval from the ocean. It +was true that the little bay beside him was marked on the map as “Sir +Francis Drake's Bay,” tradition having located it as the spot where +that ingenious pirate and empire-maker had once landed his vessels and +scraped the barnacles from his adventurous keels. But of this Edgar +Pomfrey--or “Captain Pomfrey,” as he was called by virtue of his +half-nautical office--had thought little. + +For the first six months he had thoroughly enjoyed his seclusion. In +the company of his books, of which he had brought such a fair store +that their shelves lined his snug corners to the exclusion of more +comfortable furniture, he found his principal recreation. Even his +unwonted manual labor, the trimming of his lamp and cleaning of his +reflectors, and his personal housekeeping, in which his Indian help at +times assisted, he found a novel and interesting occupation. For outdoor +exercise, a ramble on the sands, a climb to the rocky upland, or a pull +in the lighthouse boat, amply sufficed him. “Crank” as he was supposed +to be, he was sane enough to guard against any of those early lapses +into barbarism which marked the lives of some solitary gold-miners. +His own taste, as well as the duty of his office, kept his person and +habitation sweet and clean, and his habits regular. Even the little +cultivated patch of ground on the lee side of the tower was symmetrical +and well ordered. Thus the outward light of Captain Pomfrey shone forth +over the wilderness of shore and wave, even like his beacon, whatever +his inward illumination may have been. + +It was a bright summer morning, remarkable even in the monotonous +excellence of the season, with a slight touch of warmth which the +invincible Northwest Trades had not yet chilled. There was still a faint +haze off the coast, as if last night's fog had been caught in the quick +sunshine, and the shining sands were hot, but without the usual dazzling +glare. A faint perfume from a quaint lilac-colored beach-flower, whose +clustering heads dotted the sand like bits of blown spume, took the +place of that smell of the sea which the odorless Pacific lacked. A few +rocks, half a mile away, lifted themselves above the ebb tide at varying +heights as they lay on the trough of the swell, were crested with foam +by a striking surge, or cleanly erased in the full sweep of the sea. +Beside, and partly upon one of the higher rocks, a singular object was +moving. + +Pomfrey was interested but not startled. He had once or twice seen seals +disporting on these rocks, and on one occasion a sea-lion,--an estray +from the familiar rocks on the other side of the Golden Gate. But he +ceased work in his garden patch, and coming to his house, exchanged +his hoe for a telescope. When he got the mystery in focus he suddenly +stopped and rubbed the object-glass with his handkerchief. But even when +he applied the glass to his eye for a second time, he could scarcely +believe his eyesight. For the object seemed to be a WOMAN, the lower +part of her figure submerged in the sea, her long hair depending over +her shoulders and waist. There was nothing in her attitude to suggest +terror or that she was the victim of some accident. She moved slowly +and complacently with the sea, and even--a more staggering +suggestion--appeared to be combing out the strands of her long hair with +her fingers. With her body half concealed she might have been a mermaid! + +He swept the foreshore and horizon with his glass; there was neither +boat nor ship--nor anything that moved, except the long swell of the +Pacific. She could have come only from the sea; for to reach the rocks +by land she would have had to pass before the lighthouse, while the +narrow strip of shore which curved northward beyond his range of view he +knew was inhabited only by Indians. But the woman was unhesitatingly +and appallingly WHITE, and her hair light even to a golden gleam in the +sunshine. + +Pomfrey was a gentleman, and as such was amazed, dismayed, and cruelly +embarrassed. If she was a simple bather from some vicinity hitherto +unknown and unsuspected by him, it was clearly his business to shut up +his glass and go back to his garden patch--although the propinquity of +himself and the lighthouse must have been as plainly visible to her as +she was to him. On the other hand, if she was the survivor of some wreck +and in distress--or, as he even fancied from her reckless manner, bereft +of her senses, his duty to rescue her was equally clear. In his dilemma +he determined upon a compromise and ran to his boat. He would pull out +to sea, pass between the rocks and the curving sand-spit, and examine +the sands and sea more closely for signs of wreckage, or some overlooked +waiting boat near the shore. He would be within hail if she needed him, +or she could escape to her boat if she had one. + +In another moment his boat was lifting on the swell towards the rocks. +He pulled quickly, occasionally turning to note that the strange figure, +whose movements were quite discernible to the naked eye, was still +there, but gazing more earnestly towards the nearest shore for any sign +of life or occupation. In ten minutes he had reached the curve where the +trend opened northward, and the long line of shore stretched before him. +He swept it eagerly with a single searching glance. Sea and shore were +empty. He turned quickly to the rock, scarcely a hundred yards on his +beam. It was empty too! Forgetting his previous scruples, he pulled +directly for it until his keel grated on its submerged base. There was +nothing there but the rock, slippery with the yellow-green slime of +seaweed and kelp--neither trace nor sign of the figure that had +occupied it a moment ago. He pulled around it; there was no cleft or +hiding-place. For an instant his heart leaped at the sight of something +white, caught in a jagged tooth of the outlying reef, but it was only +the bleached fragment of a bamboo orange-crate, cast from the deck of +some South Sea trader, such as often strewed the beach. He lay off the +rock, keeping way in the swell, and scrutinizing the glittering sea. At +last he pulled back to the lighthouse, perplexed and discomfited. + +Was it simply a sporting seal, transformed by some trick of his vision? +But he had seen it through his glass, and now remembered such details +as the face and features framed in their contour of golden hair, and +believed he could even have identified them. He examined the rock again +with his glass, and was surprised to see how clearly it was outlined now +in its barren loneliness. Yet he must have been mistaken. His scientific +and accurate mind allowed of no errant fancy, and he had always sneered +at the marvelous as the result of hasty or superficial observation. He +was a little worried at this lapse of his healthy accuracy,--fearing +that it might be the result of his seclusion and loneliness,--akin to +the visions of the recluse and solitary. It was strange, too, that it +should take the shape of a woman; for Edgar Pomfrey had a story--the +usual old and foolish one. + +Then his thoughts took a lighter phase, and he turned to the memory of +his books, and finally to the books themselves. From a shelf he picked +out a volume of old voyages, and turned to a remembered passage: “In +other seas doe abound marvells soche as Sea Spyders of the bigness of a +pinnace, the wich they have been known to attack and destroy; Sea Vypers +which reach to the top of a goodly maste, whereby they are able to draw +marinners from the rigging by the suction of their breathes; and +Devill Fyshe, which vomit fire by night which makyth the sea to shine +prodigiously, and mermaydes. They are half fyshe and half mayde of grate +Beauty, and have been seen of divers godly and creditable witnesses +swymming beside rocks, hidden to their waist in the sea, combing of +their hayres, to the help of whych they carry a small mirrore of the +bigness of their fingers.” Pomfrey laid the book aside with a faint +smile. To even this credulity he might come! + +Nevertheless, he used the telescope again that day. But there was no +repetition of the incident, and he was forced to believe that he had +been the victim of some extraordinary illusion. The next morning, +however, with his calmer judgment doubts began to visit him. There was +no one of whom he could make inquiries but his Indian helper, and their +conversation had usually been restricted to the language of signs or the +use of a few words he had picked up. He contrived, however, to ask if +there was a “waugee” (white) woman in the neighborhood. The Indian +shook his head in surprise. There was no “waugee” nearer than the remote +mountain-ridge to which he pointed. Pomfrey was obliged to be content +with this. Even had his vocabulary been larger, he would as soon have +thought of revealing the embarrassing secret of this woman, whom he +believed to be of his own race, to a mere barbarian as he would of +asking him to verify his own impressions by allowing him to look at her +that morning. The next day, however, something happened which forced him +to resume his inquiries. He was rowing around the curving spot when he +saw a number of black objects on the northern sands moving in and out +of the surf, which he presently made out as Indians. A nearer approach +satisfied him that they were wading squaws and children gathering +seaweed and shells. He would have pushed his acquaintance still nearer, +but as his boat rounded the point, with one accord they all scuttled +away like frightened sandpipers. Pomfrey, on his return, asked his +Indian retainer if they could swim. “Oh, yes!” “As far as the rock?” + “Yes.” Yet Pomfrey was not satisfied. The color of his strange +apparition remained unaccounted for, and it was not that of an Indian +woman. + +Trifling events linger long in a monotonous existence, and it was nearly +a week before Pomfrey gave up his daily telescopic inspection of the +rock. Then he fell back upon his books again, and, oddly enough, upon +another volume of voyages, and so chanced upon the account of Sir +Francis Drake's occupation of the bay before him. He had always thought +it strange that the great adventurer had left no trace or sign of +his sojourn there; still stranger that he should have overlooked the +presence of gold, known even to the Indians themselves, and have lost +a discovery far beyond his wildest dreams and a treasure to which the +cargoes of those Philippine galleons he had more or less successfully +intercepted were trifles. Had the restless explorer been content to pace +those dreary sands during three weeks of inactivity, with no thought of +penetrating the inland forests behind the range, or of even entering the +nobler bay beyond? Or was the location of the spot a mere tradition as +wild and unsupported as the “marvells” of the other volume? Pomfrey had +the skepticism of the scientific, inquiring mind. + +Two weeks had passed and he was returning from a long climb inland, when +he stopped to rest in his descent to the sea. The panorama of the +shore was before him, from its uttermost limit to the lighthouse on the +northern point. The sun was still one hour high, it would take him +about that time to reach home. But from this coign of vantage he could +see--what he had not before observed--that what he had always believed +was a little cove on the northern shore was really the estuary of a +small stream which rose near him and eventually descended into the ocean +at that point. He could also see that beside it was a long low erection +of some kind, covered with thatched brush, which looked like a “barrow,” + yet showed signs of habitation in the slight smoke that rose from it and +drifted inland. It was not far out of his way, and he resolved to return +in that direction. On his way down he once or twice heard the barking +of an Indian dog, and knew that he must be in the vicinity of an +encampment. A camp-fire, with the ashes yet warm, proved that he was on +the trail of one of the nomadic tribes, but the declining sun warned +him to hasten home to his duty. When he at last reached the estuary, he +found that the building beside it was little else than a long hut, whose +thatched and mud-plastered mound-like roof gave it the appearance of a +cave. Its single opening and entrance abutted on the water's edge, and +the smoke he had noticed rolled through this entrance from a smouldering +fire within. Pomfrey had little difficulty in recognizing the purpose of +this strange structure from the accounts he had heard from “loggers” of +the Indian customs. The cave was a “sweat-house”--a calorific chamber +in which the Indians closely shut themselves, naked, with a “smudge” or +smouldering fire of leaves, until, perspiring and half suffocated, they +rushed from the entrance and threw themselves into the water before it. +The still smouldering fire told him that the house had been used that +morning, and he made no doubt that the Indians were encamped near by. He +would have liked to pursue his researches further, but he found he +had already trespassed upon his remaining time, and he turned somewhat +abruptly away--so abruptly, in fact, that a figure, which had evidently +been cautiously following him at a distance, had not time to get away. +His heart leaped with astonishment. It was the woman he had seen on the +rock. + +Although her native dress now only disclosed her head and hands, there +was no doubt about her color, and it was distinctly white, save for the +tanning of exposure and a slight red ochre marking on her low forehead. +And her hair, long and unkempt as it was, showed that he had not erred +in his first impression of it. It was a tawny flaxen, with fainter +bleachings where the sun had touched it most. Her eyes were of a clear +Northern blue. Her dress, which was quite distinctive in that it was +neither the cast off finery of civilization nor the cheap “government” + flannels and calicoes usually worn by the Californian tribes, was purely +native, and of fringed deerskin, and consisted of a long, loose shirt +and leggings worked with bright feathers and colored shells. A necklace, +also of shells and fancy pebbles, hung round her neck. She seemed to +be a fully developed woman, in spite of the girlishness of her flowing +hair, and notwithstanding the shapeless length of her gaberdine-like +garment, taller than the ordinary squaw. + +Pomfrey saw all this in a single flash of perception, for the next +instant she was gone, disappearing behind the sweat-house. He ran after +her, catching sight of her again, half doubled up, in the characteristic +Indian trot, dodging around rocks and low bushes as she fled along the +banks of the stream. But for her distinguishing hair, she looked in her +flight like an ordinary frightened squaw. This, which gave a sense of +unmanliness and ridicule to his own pursuit of her, with the fact +that his hour of duty was drawing near and he was still far from the +lighthouse, checked him in full career, and he turned regretfully away. +He had called after her at first, and she had not heeded him. What he +would have said to her he did not know. He hastened home discomfited, +even embarrassed--yet excited to a degree he had not deemed possible in +himself. + +During the morning his thoughts were full of her. Theory after theory +for her strange existence there he examined and dismissed. His first +thought, that she was a white woman--some settler's wife--masquerading +in Indian garb, he abandoned when he saw her moving; no white woman +could imitate that Indian trot, nor would remember to attempt it if +she were frightened. The idea that she was a captive white, held by +the Indians, became ridiculous when he thought of the nearness of +civilization and the peaceful, timid character of the “digger” tribes. +That she was some unfortunate demented creature who had escaped from her +keeper and wandered into the wilderness, a glance at her clear, frank, +intelligent, curious eyes had contradicted. There was but one theory +left--the most sensible and practical one--that she was the offspring +of some white man and Indian squaw. Yet this he found, oddly enough, the +least palatable to his fancy. And the few half-breeds he had seen were +not at all like her. + +The next morning he had recourse to his Indian retainer, “Jim.” With +infinite difficulty, protraction, and not a little embarrassment, he +finally made him understand that he had seen a “white squaw” near the +“sweat-house,” and that he wanted to know more about her. With equal +difficulty Jim finally recognized the fact of the existence of such +a person, but immediately afterwards shook his head in an emphatic +negation. With greater difficulty and greater mortification Pomfrey +presently ascertained that Jim's negative referred to a supposed +abduction of the woman which he understood that his employer seriously +contemplated. But he also learned that she was a real Indian, and that +there were three or four others like her, male and female, in that +vicinity; that from a “skeena mowitch” (little baby) they were all like +that, and that their parents were of the same color, but never a white +or “waugee” man or woman among them; that they were looked upon as a +distinct and superior caste of Indians, and enjoyed certain privileges +with the tribe; that they superstitiously avoided white men, of whom +they had the greatest fear, and that they were protected in this by +the other Indians; that it was marvelous and almost beyond belief that +Pomfrey had been able to see one, for no other white man had, or was +even aware of their existence. + +How much of this he actually understood, how much of it was lying and +due to Jim's belief that he wished to abduct the fair stranger, Pomfrey +was unable to determine. There was enough, however, to excite his +curiosity strongly and occupy his mind to the exclusion of his +books--save one. Among his smaller volumes he had found a travel book of +the “Chinook Jargon,” with a lexicon of many of the words commonly +used by the Northern Pacific tribes. An hour or two's trial with the +astonished Jim gave him an increased vocabulary and a new occupation. +Each day the incongruous pair took a lesson from the lexicon. In a week +Pomfrey felt he would be able to accost the mysterious stranger. But +he did not again surprise her in any of his rambles, or even in a later +visit to the sweat-house. He had learned from Jim that the house was +only used by the “bucks,” or males, and that her appearance there had +been accidental. He recalled that he had had the impression that she had +been stealthily following him, and the recollection gave him a pleasure +he could not account for. But an incident presently occurred which gave +him a new idea of her relations towards him. + +The difficulty of making Jim understand had hitherto prevented Pomfrey +from intrusting him with the care of the lantern; but with the aid of +the lexicon he had been able to make him comprehend its working, and +under Pomfrey's personal guidance the Indian had once or twice lit the +lamp and set its machinery in motion. It remained for him only to +test Jim's unaided capacity, in case of his own absence or illness. It +happened to be a warm, beautiful sunset, when the afternoon fog had for +once delayed its invasion of the shore-line, that he left the lighthouse +to Jim's undivided care, and reclining on a sand-dune still warm from +the sun, lazily watched the result of Jim's first essay. As the twilight +deepened, and the first flash of the lantern strove with the dying +glories of the sun, Pomfrey presently became aware that he was not the +only watcher. A little gray figure creeping on all fours suddenly glided +out of the shadow of another sand-dune and then halted, falling back on +its knees, gazing fixedly at the growing light. It was the woman he had +seen. She was not a dozen yards away, and in her eagerness and utter +absorption in the light had evidently overlooked him. He could see +her face distinctly, her lips parted half in wonder, half with the +breathless absorption of a devotee. A faint sense of disappointment came +over him. It was not HIM she was watching, but the light! As it swelled +out over the darkening gray sand she turned as if to watch its effect +around her, and caught sight of Pomfrey. With a little startled cry--the +first she had uttered--she darted away. He did not follow. A moment +before, when he first saw her, an Indian salutation which he had +learned from Jim had risen to his lips, but in the odd feeling which her +fascination of the light had caused him he had not spoken. He watched +her bent figure scuttling away like some frightened animal, with a +critical consciousness that she was really scarce human, and went back +to the lighthouse. He would not run after her again! Yet that evening he +continued to think of her, and recalled her voice, which struck him now +as having been at once melodious and childlike, and wished he had at +least spoken, and perhaps elicited a reply. + +He did not, however, haunt the sweat-house near the river again. Yet he +still continued his lessons with Jim, and in this way, perhaps, although +quite unpremeditatedly, enlisted a humble ally. A week passed in which +he had not alluded to her, when one morning, as he was returning from a +row, Jim met him mysteriously on the beach. + +“S'pose him come slow, slow,” said Jim gravely, airing his newly +acquired English; “make no noise--plenty catchee Indian maiden.” The +last epithet was the polite lexicon equivalent of squaw. + +Pomfrey, not entirely satisfied in his mind, nevertheless softly +followed the noiselessly gliding Jim to the lighthouse. Here Jim +cautiously opened the door, motioning Pomfrey to enter. + +The base of the tower was composed of two living rooms, a storeroom and +oil-tank. As Pomfrey entered, Jim closed the door softly behind him. +The abrupt transition from the glare of the sands and sun to the +semi-darkness of the storeroom at first prevented him from seeing +anything, but he was instantly distracted by a scurrying flutter and +wild beating of the walls, as of a caged bird. In another moment +he could make out the fair stranger, quivering with excitement, +passionately dashing at the barred window, the walls, the locked door, +and circling around the room in her desperate attempt to find an egress, +like a captured seagull. Amazed, mystified, indignant with Jim, himself, +and even his unfortunate captive, Pomfrey called to her in Chinook to +stop, and going to the door, flung it wide open. She darted by him, +raising her soft blue eyes for an instant in a swift, sidelong glance of +half appeal, half-frightened admiration, and rushed out into the open. +But here, to his surprise, she did not run away. On the contrary, she +drew herself up with a dignity that seemed to increase her height, and +walked majestically towards Jim, who at her unexpected exit had suddenly +thrown himself upon the sand, in utterly abject terror and supplication. +She approached him slowly, with one small hand uplifted in a menacing +gesture. The man writhed and squirmed before her. Then she turned, +caught sight of Pomfrey standing in the doorway, and walked quietly +away. Amazed, yet gratified with this new assertion of herself, Pomfrey +respectfully, but alas! incautiously, called after her. In an instant, +at the sound of his voice, she dropped again into her slouching Indian +trot and glided away over the sandhills. + +Pomfrey did not add any reproof of his own to the discomfiture of his +Indian retainer. Neither did he attempt to inquire the secret of this +savage girl's power over him. It was evident he had spoken truly when he +told his master that she was of a superior caste. Pomfrey recalled her +erect and indignant figure standing over the prostrate Jim, and was +again perplexed and disappointed at her sudden lapse into the timid +savage at the sound of his voice. Would not this well-meant but +miserable trick of Jim's have the effect of increasing her unreasoning +animal-like distrust of him? A few days later brought an unexpected +answer to his question. + +It was the hottest hour of the day. He had been fishing off the reef +of rocks where he had first seen her, and had taken in his line and was +leisurely pulling for the lighthouse. Suddenly a little musical cry not +unlike a bird's struck his ear. He lay on his oars and listened. It was +repeated; but this time it was unmistakably recognizable as the voice of +the Indian girl, although he had heard it but once. He turned eagerly +to the rock, but it was empty; he pulled around it, but saw nothing. +He looked towards the shore, and swung his boat in that direction, +when again the cry was repeated with the faintest quaver of a laugh, +apparently on the level of the sea before him. For the first time he +looked down, and there on the crest of a wave not a dozen yards ahead, +danced the yellow hair and laughing eyes of the girl. The frightened +gravity of her look was gone, lost in the flash of her white teeth and +quivering dimples as her dripping face rose above the sea. When their +eyes met she dived again, but quickly reappeared on the other bow, +swimming with lazy, easy strokes, her smiling head thrown back over +her white shoulder, as if luring him to a race. If her smile was a +revelation to him, still more so was this first touch of feminine +coquetry in her attitude. He pulled eagerly towards her; with a few long +overhand strokes she kept her distance, or, if he approached too near, +she dived like a loon, coming up astern of him with the same childlike, +mocking cry. In vain he pursued her, calling her to stop in her own +tongue, and laughingly protested; she easily avoided his boat at every +turn. Suddenly, when they were nearly abreast of the river estuary, +she rose in the water, and, waving her little hands with a gesture of +farewell, turned, and curving her back like a dolphin, leaped into the +surging swell of the estuary bar and was lost in its foam. It would have +been madness for him to have attempted to follow in his boat, and he +saw that she knew it. He waited until her yellow crest appeared in the +smoother water of the river, and then rowed back. In his excitement and +preoccupation he had quite forgotten his long exposure to the sun +during his active exercise, and that he was poorly equipped for the cold +sea-fog which the heat had brought in earlier, and which now was quietly +obliterating sea and shore. This made his progress slower and more +difficult, and by the time he had reached the lighthouse he was chilled +to the bone. + +The next morning he woke with a dull headache and great weariness, and +it was with considerable difficulty that he could attend to his duties. +At nightfall, feeling worse, he determined to transfer the care of the +light to Jim, but was amazed to find that he had disappeared, and what +was more ominous, a bottle of spirits which Pomfrey had taken from his +locker the night before had disappeared too. Like all Indians, Jim's +rudimentary knowledge of civilization included “fire-water;” he +evidently had been tempted, had fallen, and was too ashamed or too drunk +to face his master. Pomfrey, however, managed to get the light in order +and working, and then, he scarcely knew how, betook himself to bed in +a state of high fever. He turned from side to side racked by pain, with +burning lips and pulses. Strange fancies beset him; he had noticed when +he lit his light that a strange sail was looming off the estuary--a +place where no sail had ever been seen or should be--and was relieved +that the lighting of the tower might show the reckless or ignorant +mariner his real bearings for the “Gate.” At times he had heard voices +above the familiar song of the surf, and tried to rise from his bed, but +could not. Sometimes these voices were strange, outlandish, dissonant, +in his own language, yet only partly intelligible; but through them +always rang a single voice, musical, familiar, yet of a tongue not his +own--hers! And then, out of his delirium--for such it proved afterwards +to be--came a strange vision. He thought that he had just lit the light +when, from some strange and unaccountable reason, it suddenly became dim +and defied all his efforts to revive it. To add to his discomfiture, +he could see quite plainly through the lantern a strange-looking vessel +standing in from the sea. She was so clearly out of her course for the +Gate that he knew she had not seen the light, and his limbs trembled +with shame and terror as he tried in vain to rekindle the dying light. +Yet to his surprise the strange ship kept steadily on, passing the +dangerous reef of rocks, until she was actually in the waters of the +bay. But stranger than all, swimming beneath her bows was the golden +head and laughing face of the Indian girl, even as he had seen it the +day before. A strange revulsion of feeling overtook him. Believing that +she was luring the ship to its destruction, he ran out on the beach +and strove to hail the vessel and warn it of its impending doom. But he +could not speak--no sound came from his lips. And now his attention was +absorbed by the ship itself. High-bowed and pooped, and curved like the +crescent moon, it was the strangest craft that he had ever seen. Even +as he gazed it glided on nearer and nearer, and at last beached itself +noiselessly on the sands before his own feet. A score of figures +as bizarre and outlandish as the ship itself now thronged its high +forecastle--really a castle in shape and warlike purpose--and leaped +from its ports. The common seamen were nearly naked to the waist; the +officers looked more like soldiers than sailors. What struck him more +strangely was that they were one and all seemingly unconscious of the +existence of the lighthouse, sauntering up and down carelessly, as if on +some uninhabited strand, and even talking--so far as he could understand +their old bookish dialect--as if in some hitherto undiscovered land. +Their ignorance of the geography of the whole coast, and even of the sea +from which they came, actually aroused his critical indignation; their +coarse and stupid allusions to the fair Indian swimmer as the “mermaid” + that they had seen upon their bow made him more furious still. Yet +he was helpless to express his contemptuous anger, or even make them +conscious of his presence. Then an interval of incoherency and utter +blankness followed. When he again took up the thread of his fancy +the ship seemed to be lying on her beam ends on the sand; the strange +arrangement of her upper deck and top-hamper, more like a dwelling than +any ship he had ever seen, was fully exposed to view, while the seamen +seemed to be at work with the rudest contrivances, calking and scraping +her barnacled sides. He saw that phantom crew, when not working, at +wassail and festivity; heard the shouts of drunken roisterers; saw the +placing of a guard around some of the most uncontrollable, and later +detected the stealthy escape of half a dozen sailors inland, amidst the +fruitless volley fired upon them from obsolete blunderbusses. Then +his strange vision transported him inland, where he saw these seamen +following some Indian women. Suddenly one of them turned and ran +frenziedly towards him as if seeking succor, closely pursued by one of +the sailors. Pomfrey strove to reach her, struggled violently with the +fearful apathy that seemed to hold his limbs, and then, as she uttered +at last a little musical cry, burst his bonds and--awoke! + +As consciousness slowly struggled back to him, he could see the bare +wooden-like walls of his sleeping-room, the locker, the one window +bright with sunlight, the open door of the tank-room, and the little +staircase to the tower. There was a strange smoky and herb-like smell in +the room. He made an effort to rise, but as he did so a small sunburnt +hand was laid gently yet restrainingly upon his shoulder, and he heard +the same musical cry as before, but this time modulated to a girlish +laugh. He raised his head faintly. Half squatting, half kneeling by his +bed was the yellow-haired stranger. + +With the recollection of his vision still perplexing him, he said in a +weak voice, “Who are you?” + +Her blue eyes met his own with quick intelligence and no trace of her +former timidity. A soft, caressing light had taken its place. Pointing +with her finger to her breast in a childlike gesture, she said, +“Me--Olooya.” + +“Olooya!” He remembered suddenly that Jim had always used that word in +speaking of her, but until then he had always thought it was some Indian +term for her distinct class. + +“Olooya,” he repeated. Then, with difficulty attempting to use her own +tongue, he asked, “When did you come here?” + +“Last night,” she answered in the same tongue. “There was no witch-fire +there,” she continued, pointing to the tower; “when it came not, Olooya +came! Olooya found white chief sick and alone. White chief could not get +up! Olooya lit witch-fire for him.” + +“You?” he repeated in astonishment. “I lit it myself.” + +She looked at him pityingly, as if still recognizing his delirium, +and shook her head. “White chief was sick--how can know? Olooya made +witch-fire.” + +He cast a hurried glance at his watch hanging on the wall beside him. +It had RUN DOWN, although he had wound it the last thing before going to +bed. He had evidently been lying there helpless beyond the twenty-four +hours! + +He groaned and turned to rise, but she gently forced him down again, and +gave him some herbal infusion, in which he recognized the taste of the +Yerba Buena vine which grew by the river. Then she made him comprehend +in her own tongue that Jim had been decoyed, while drunk, aboard a +certain schooner lying off the shore at a spot where she had seen some +men digging in the sands. She had not gone there, for she was afraid +of the bad men, and a slight return of her former terror came into her +changeful eyes. She knew how to light the witch-light; she reminded him +she had been in the tower before. + +“You have saved my light, and perhaps my life,” he said weakly, taking +her hand. + +Possibly she did not understand him, for her only answer was a vague +smile. But the next instant she started up, listening intently, and then +with a frightened cry drew away her hand and suddenly dashed out of +the building. In the midst of his amazement the door was darkened by a +figure--a stranger dressed like an ordinary miner. Pausing a moment +to look after the flying Olooya, the man turned and glanced around the +room, and then with a coarse, familiar smile approached Pomfrey. + +“Hope I ain't disturbin' ye, but I allowed I'd just be neighborly and +drop in--seein' as this is gov'nment property, and me and my pardners, +as American citizens and tax-payers, helps to support it. We're coastin' +from Trinidad down here and prospectin' along the beach for gold in the +sand. Ye seem to hev a mighty soft berth of it here--nothing to do--and +lots of purty half-breeds hangin' round!” + +The man's effrontery was too much for Pomfrey's self-control, weakened +by illness. “It IS government property,” he answered hotly, “and you +have no more right to intrude upon it than you have to decoy away my +servant, a government employee, during my illness, and jeopardize that +property.” + +The unexpectedness of this attack, and the sudden revelation of the fact +of Pomfrey's illness in his flushed face and hollow voice apparently +frightened and confused the stranger. He stammered a surly excuse, +backed out of the doorway, and disappeared. An hour later Jim appeared, +crestfallen, remorseful, and extravagantly penitent. Pomfrey was too +weak for reproaches or inquiry, and he was thinking only of Olooya. + +She did not return. His recovery in that keen air, aided, as he +sometimes thought, by the herbs she had given him, was almost as rapid +as his illness. The miners did not again intrude upon the lighthouse nor +trouble his seclusion. When he was able to sun himself on the sands, he +could see them in the distance at work on the beach. He reflected that +she would not come back while they were there, and was reconciled. +But one morning Jim appeared, awkward and embarrassed, leading another +Indian, whom he introduced as Olooya's brother. Pomfrey's suspicions +were aroused. Except that the stranger had something of the girl's +superiority of manner, there was no likeness whatever to his fair-haired +acquaintance. But a fury of indignation was added to his suspicions when +he learned the amazing purport of their visit. It was nothing less than +an offer from the alleged brother to SELL his sister to Pomfrey for +forty dollars and a jug of whiskey! Unfortunately, Pomfrey's temper once +more got the better of his judgment. With a scathing exposition of the +laws under which the Indian and white man equally lived, and the legal +punishment of kidnaping, he swept what he believed was the impostor from +his presence. He was scarcely alone again before he remembered that his +imprudence might affect the girl's future access to him, but it was too +late now. + +Still he clung to the belief that he should see her when the prospectors +had departed, and he hailed with delight the breaking up of the camp +near the “sweat-house” and the disappearance of the schooner. It seemed +that their gold-seeking was unsuccessful; but Pomfrey was struck, on +visiting the locality, to find that in their excavations in the sand at +the estuary they had uncovered the decaying timbers of a ship's small +boat of some ancient and obsolete construction. This made him think +of his strange dream, with a vague sense of warning which he could not +shake off, and on his return to the lighthouse he took from his shelves +a copy of the old voyages to see how far his fancy had been affected +by his reading. In the account of Drake's visit to the coast he found a +footnote which he had overlooked before, and which ran as follows: “The +Admiral seems to have lost several of his crew by desertion, who were +supposed to have perished miserably by starvation in the inhospitable +interior or by the hands of savages. But later voyagers have suggested +that the deserters married Indian wives, and there is a legend that a +hundred years later a singular race of half-breeds, bearing unmistakable +Anglo-Saxon characteristics, was found in that locality.” Pomfrey fell +into a reverie of strange hypotheses and fancies. He resolved that, +when he again saw Olooya, he would question her; her terror of these men +might be simply racial or some hereditary transmission. + +But his intention was never fulfilled. For when days and weeks had +elapsed, and he had vainly haunted the river estuary and the rocky +reef before the lighthouse without a sign of her, he overcame his +pride sufficiently to question Jim. The man looked at him with dull +astonishment. + +“Olooya gone,” he said. + +“Gone!--where?” + +The Indian made a gesture to seaward which seemed to encompass the whole +Pacific. + +“How? With whom?” repeated his angry yet half-frightened master. + +“With white man in ship. You say YOU no want Olooya--forty dollars too +much. White man give fifty dollars--takee Olooya all same.” + + + + +UNDER THE EAVES + + +The assistant editor of the San Francisco “Daily Informer” was going +home. So much of his time was spent in the office of the “Informer” that +no one ever cared to know where he passed those six hours of sleep which +presumably suggested a domicile. His business appointments outside the +office were generally kept at the restaurant where he breakfasted and +dined, or of evenings in the lobbies of theatres or the anterooms of +public meetings. Yet he had a home and an interval of seclusion of which +he was jealously mindful, and it was to this he was going to-night at +his usual hour. + +His room was in a new building on one of the larger and busier +thoroughfares. The lower floor was occupied by a bank, but as it was +closed before he came home, and not yet opened when he left, it did not +disturb his domestic sensibilities. The same may be said of the next +floor, which was devoted to stockbrokers' and companies offices, and was +equally tomb-like and silent when he passed; the floor above that was a +desert of empty rooms, which echoed to his footsteps night and morning, +with here and there an oasis in the green sign of a mining secretary's +office, with, however, the desolating announcement that it would only +be “open for transfers from two to four on Saturdays.” The top floor +had been frankly abandoned in an unfinished state by the builder, whose +ambition had “o'erleaped itself” in that sanguine era of the city's +growth. There was a smell of plaster and the first coat of paint about +it still, but the whole front of the building was occupied by a long +room with odd “bull's-eye” windows looking out through the heavy +ornamentations of the cornice over the adjacent roofs. + +It had been originally intended for a club-room, but after the ill +fortune which attended the letting of the floor below, and possibly +because the earthquake-fearing San Franciscans had their doubts of +successful hilarity at the top of so tall a building, it remained +unfinished, with the two smaller rooms at its side. Its incomplete and +lonely grandeur had once struck the editor during a visit of inspection, +and the landlord, whom he knew, had offered to make it habitable for him +at a nominal rent. It had a lavatory with a marble basin and a tap of +cold water. The offer was a novel one, but he accepted it, and fitted up +the apartment with some cheap second-hand furniture, quite inconsistent +with the carved mantels and decorations, and made a fair sitting-room +and bedroom of it. Here, on a Sunday, when its stillness was +intensified, and even a passing footstep on the pavement fifty feet +below was quite startling, he would sit and work by one of the quaint +open windows. In the rainy season, through the filmed panes he sometimes +caught a glimpse of the distant, white-capped bay, but never of the +street below him. + +The lights were out, but, groping his way up to the first landing, he +took from a cup-boarded niche in the wall his candlestick and matches +and continued the ascent to his room. The humble candlelight flickered +on the ostentatious gold letters displayed on the ground-glass doors +of opulent companies which he knew were famous, and rooms where +millionaires met in secret conclave, but the contrast awakened only his +sense of humor. Yet he was always relieved after he had reached his own +floor. Possibly its incompleteness and inchoate condition made it seem +less lonely than the desolation of the finished and furnished rooms +below, and it was only this recollection of past human occupancy that +was depressing. + +He opened his door, lit the solitary gas jet that only half illuminated +the long room, and, it being already past midnight, began to undress +himself. This process presently brought him to that corner of his room +where his bed stood, when he suddenly stopped, and his sleepy yawn +changed to a gape of surprise. For, lying in the bed, its head upon +the pillow, and its rigid arms accurately stretched down over the +turned-back sheet, was a child's doll! It was a small doll--a banged and +battered doll, that had seen service, but it had evidently been “tucked +in” with maternal tenderness, and lay there with its staring eyes turned +to the ceiling, the very genius of insomnia! + +His first start of surprise was followed by a natural resentment of +what might have been an impertinent intrusion on his privacy by some +practical-joking adult, for he knew there was no child in the house. + +His room was kept in order by the wife of the night watchman employed +by the bank, and no one else had a right of access to it. But the woman +might have brought a child there and not noticed its disposal of its +plaything. He smiled. It might have been worse! It might have been a +real baby! + +The idea tickled him with a promise of future “copy”--of a story with +farcical complications, or even a dramatic ending, in which the baby, +adopted by him, should turn out to be somebody's stolen offspring. He +lifted the little image that had suggested these fancies, carefully laid +it on his table, went to bed, and presently forgot it all in slumber. + +In the morning his good-humor and interest in it revived to the extent +of writing on a slip of paper, “Good-morning! Thank you--I've slept very +well,” putting the slip in the doll's jointed arms, and leaving it in a +sitting posture outside his door when he left his room. When he returned +late at night it was gone. + +But it so chanced that, a few days later, owing to press of work on the +“Informer,” he was obliged to forego his usual Sunday holiday out of +town, and that morning found him, while the bells were ringing for +church, in his room with a pile of manuscript and proof before him. +For these were troublous days in San Francisco; the great Vigilance +Committee of '56 was in session, and the offices of the daily papers +were thronged with eager seekers of news. Such affairs, indeed, were not +in the functions of the assistant editor, nor exactly to his taste; he +was neither a partisan of the so-called Law and Order Party, nor yet +an enthusiastic admirer of the citizen Revolutionists known as the +Vigilance Committee, both extremes being incompatible with his habits of +thought. Consequently he was not displeased at this opportunity of doing +his work away from the office and the “heady talk” of controversy. + +He worked on until the bells ceased and a more than Sabbath stillness +fell upon the streets. So quiet was it that once or twice the +conversation of passing pedestrians floated up and into his window, as +of voices at his elbow. + +Presently he heard the sound of a child's voice singing in subdued tone, +as if fearful of being overheard. This time he laid aside his pen--it +certainly was no delusion! The sound did not come from the open +window, but from some space on a level with his room. Yet there was no +contiguous building as high. + +He rose and tried to open his door softly, but it creaked, and the +singing instantly ceased. There was nothing before him but the bare, +empty hall, with its lathed and plastered partitions, and the two +smaller rooms, unfinished like his own, on either side of him. Their +doors were shut; the one at his right hand was locked, the other yielded +to his touch. + +For the first moment he saw only the bare walls of the apparently empty +room. But a second glance showed him two children--a boy of seven and +a girl of five--sitting on the floor, which was further littered by +a mattress, pillow, and blanket. There was a cheap tray on one of the +trunks containing two soiled plates and cups and fragments of a meal. +But there was neither a chair nor table nor any other article of +furniture in the room. Yet he was struck by the fact that, in spite of +this poverty of surrounding, the children were decently dressed, and the +few scattered pieces of luggage in quality bespoke a superior condition. + +The children met his astonished stare with an equal wonder and, he +fancied, some little fright. The boy's lips trembled a little as he said +apologetically-- + +“I told Jinny not to sing. But she didn't make MUCH noise.” + +“Mamma said I could play with my dolly. But I fordot and singed,” said +the little girl penitently. + +“Where's your mamma?” asked the young man. The fancy of their being +near relatives of the night watchman had vanished at the sound of their +voices. + +“Dorn out,” said the girl. + +“When did she go out?” + +“Last night.” + +“Were you all alone here last night?” + +“Yes!” + +Perhaps they saw the look of indignation and pity in the editor's face, +for the boy said quickly-- + +“She don't go out EVERY night; last night she went to”-- + +He stopped suddenly, and both children looked at each other with a half +laugh and half cry, and then repeated in hopeless unison, “She's dorn +out.” + +“When is she coming back again?” + +“To-night. But we won't make any more noise.” + +“Who brings you your food?” continued the editor, looking at the tray. + +“Woberts.” + +Evidently Roberts, the night watchman! The editor felt relieved; here +was a clue to some explanation. He instantly sat down on the floor +between them. + +“So that was the dolly that slept in my bed,” he said gayly, taking it +up. + +God gives helplessness a wonderful intuition of its friends. The +children looked up at the face of their grown-up companion, giggled, and +then burst into a shrill fit of laughter. He felt that it was the first +one they had really indulged in for many days. Nevertheless he said, +“Hush!” confidentially; why he scarcely knew, except to intimate to them +that he had taken in their situation thoroughly. “Make no noise,” he +added softly, “and come into my big room.” + +They hung back, however, with frightened yet longing eyes. “Mamma said +we mussent do out of this room,” said the girl. + +“Not ALONE,” responded the editor quickly, “but with ME, you know; +that's different.” + +The logic sufficed them, poor as it was. Their hands slid quite +naturally into his. But at the door he stopped, and motioning to the +locked door of the other room, asked:-- + +“And is that mamma's room, too?” + +Their little hands slipped from his and they were silent. Presently the +boy, as if acted upon by some occult influence of the girl, said in a +half whisper, “Yes.” + +The editor did not question further, but led them into his room. Here +they lost the slight restraint they had shown, and began, child fashion, +to become questioners themselves. + +In a few moments they were in possession of his name, his business, the +kind of restaurant he frequented, where he went when he left his room +all day, the meaning of those funny slips of paper, and the written +manuscripts, and why he was so quiet. But any attempt of his to +retaliate by counter questions was met by a sudden reserve so +unchildlike and painful to him--as it was evidently to themselves--that +he desisted, wisely postponing his inquiries until he could meet +Roberts. + +He was glad when they fell to playing games with each other quite +naturally, yet not entirely forgetting his propinquity, as their +occasional furtive glances at his movements showed him. He, too, became +presently absorbed in his work, until it was finished and it was time +for him to take it to the office of the “Informer.” The wild idea seized +him of also taking the children afterwards for a holiday to the Mission +Dolores, but he prudently remembered that even this negligent mother of +theirs might have some rights over her offspring that he was bound to +respect. + +He took leave of them gayly, suggesting that the doll be replaced in his +bed while he was away, and even assisted in “tucking it up.” But during +the afternoon the recollection of these lonely playfellows in the +deserted house obtruded itself upon his work and the talk of his +companions. Sunday night was his busiest night, and he could not, +therefore, hope to get away in time to assure himself of their mother's +return. + +It was nearly two in the morning when he returned to his room. He paused +for a moment on the threshold to listen for any sound from the adjoining +room. But all was hushed. + +His intention of speaking to the night watchman was, however, +anticipated the next morning by that guardian himself. A tap upon his +door while he was dressing caused him to open it somewhat hurriedly +in the hope of finding one of the children there, but he met only the +embarrassed face of Roberts. Inviting him into the room, the editor +continued dressing. Carefully closing the door behind him, the man +began, with evident hesitation,-- + +“I oughter hev told ye suthin' afore, Mr. Breeze; but I kalkilated, so +to speak, that you wouldn't be bothered one way or another, and so ye +hadn't any call to know that there was folks here”-- + +“Oh, I see,” interrupted Breeze cheerfully; “you're speaking of the +family next door--the landlord's new tenants.” + +“They ain't exactly THAT,” said Roberts, still with embarrassment. “The +fact is--ye see--the thing points THIS way: they ain't no right to be +here, and it's as much as my place is worth if it leaks out that they +are.” + +Mr. Breeze suspended his collar-buttoning, and stared at Roberts. + +“You see, sir, they're mighty poor, and they've nowhere else to go--and +I reckoned to take 'em in here for a spell and say nothing about it.” + +“But the landlord wouldn't object, surely? I'll speak to him myself,” + said Breeze impulsively. + +“Oh, no; don't!” said Roberts in alarm; “he wouldn't like it. You see, +Mr. Breeze, it's just this way: the mother, she's a born lady, and did +my old woman a good turn in old times when the family was rich; but now +she's obliged--just to support herself, you know--to take up with what +she gets, and she acts in the bally in the theatre, you see, and hez +to come in late o' nights. In them cheap boarding-houses, you know, the +folks looks down upon her for that, and won't hev her, and in the cheap +hotels the men are--you know--a darned sight wuss, and that's how I took +her and her kids in here, where no one knows 'em.” + +“I see,” nodded the editor sympathetically; “and very good it was of +you, my man.” + +Roberts looked still more confused, and stammered with a forced laugh, +“And--so--I'm just keeping her on here, unbeknownst, until her husband +gets”--He stopped suddenly. + +“So she has a husband living, then?” said Breeze in surprise. + +“In the mines, yes--in the mines!” repeated Roberts with a monotonous +deliberation quite distinct from his previous hesitation, “and she's +only waitin' until he gets money enough--to--to take her away.” He +stopped and breathed hard. + +“But couldn't you--couldn't WE--get her some more furniture? There's +nothing in that room, you know, not a chair or table; and unless the +other room is better furnished”-- + +“Eh? Oh, yes!” said Roberts quickly, yet still with a certain +embarrassment; “of course THAT'S better furnished, and she's quite +satisfied, and so are the kids, with anything. And now, Mr. Breeze, I +reckon you'll say nothin' o' this, and you'll never go back on me?” + +“My dear Mr. Roberts,” said the editor gravely, “from this moment I am +not only blind, but deaf to the fact that ANYBODY occupies this floor +but myself.” + +“I knew you was white all through, Mr. Breeze,” said the night watchman, +grasping the young man's hand with a grip of iron, “and I telled my wife +so. I sez, 'Jest you let me tell him EVERYTHIN',' but she”--He stopped +again and became confused. + +“And she was quite right, I dare say,” said Breeze, with a laugh; “and I +do not want to know anything. And that poor woman must never know that +I ever knew anything, either. But you may tell your wife that when +the mother is away she can bring the little ones in here whenever she +likes.” + +“Thank ye--thank ye, sir!--and I'll just run down and tell the old woman +now, and won't intrude upon your dressin' any longer.” + +He grasped Breeze's hand again, went out and closed the door behind +him. It might have been the editor's fancy, but he thought there was a +certain interval of silence outside the door before the night watchman's +heavy tread was heard along the hall again. + +For several evenings after this Mr. Breeze paid some attention to the +ballet in his usual round of the theatres. Although he had never seen +his fair neighbor, he had a vague idea that he might recognize her +through some likeness to her children. But in vain. In the opulent +charms of certain nymphs, and in the angular austerities of others, +he failed equally to discern any of those refinements which might have +distinguished the “born lady” of Roberts's story, or which he himself +had seen in her children. + +These he did not meet again during the week, as his duties kept him +late at the office; but from certain signs in his room he knew that Mrs. +Roberts had availed herself of his invitation to bring them in with her, +and he regularly found “Jinny's” doll tucked up in his bed at night, and +he as regularly disposed of it outside his door in the morning, with a +few sweets, like an offering, tucked under its rigid arms. + +But another circumstance touched him more delicately; his room +was arranged with greater care than before, and with an occasional +exhibition of taste that certainly had not distinguished Mrs. Roberts's +previous ministrations. One evening on his return he found a small +bouquet of inexpensive flowers in a glass on his writing-table. He loved +flowers too well not to detect that they were quite fresh, and could +have been put there only an hour or two before he arrived. + +The next evening was Saturday, and, as he usually left the office +earlier on that day, it occurred to him, as he walked home, that it was +about the time his fair neighbor would be leaving the theatre, and that +it was possible he might meet her. + +At the front door, however, he found Roberts, who returned his greeting +with a certain awkwardness which struck him as singular. When he reached +the niche on the landing he found his candle was gone, but he proceeded +on, groping his way up the stairs, with an odd conviction that both +these incidents pointed to the fact that the woman had just returned or +was expected. + +He had also a strange feeling--which may have been owing to the +darkness--that some one was hidden on the landing or on the stairs where +he would pass. This was further accented by a faint odor of patchouli, +as, with his hand on the rail, he turned the corner of the third +landing, and he was convinced that if he had put out his other hand it +would have come in contact with his mysterious neighbor. But a certain +instinct of respect for her secret, which she was even now guarding in +the darkness, withheld him, and he passed on quickly to his own floor. + +Here it was lighter; the moon shot a beam of silver across the passage +from an unshuttered window as he passed. He reached his room door, +entered, but instead of lighting the gas and shutting the door, stood +with it half open, listening in the darkness. + +His suspicions were verified; there was a slight rustling noise, and +a figure which had evidently followed him appeared at the end of the +passage. It was that of a woman habited in a grayish dress and cloak of +the same color; but as she passed across the band of moonlight he had +a distinct view of her anxious, worried face. It was a face no longer +young; it was worn with illness, but still replete with a delicacy and +faded beauty so inconsistent with her avowed profession that he felt a +sudden pang of pain and doubt. The next moment she had vanished in her +room, leaving the same faint perfume behind her. He closed his door +softly, lit the gas, and sat down in a state of perplexity. That swift +glimpse of her face and figure had made her story improbable to the +point of absurdity, or possibly to the extreme of pathos! + +It seemed incredible that a woman of that quality should be forced to +accept a vocation at once so low, so distasteful, and so unremunerative. +With her evident antecedents, had she no friends but this common Western +night watchman of a bank? Had Roberts deceived him? Was his whole story +a fabrication, and was there some complicity between the two? What was +it? He knit his brows. + +Mr. Breeze had that overpowering knowledge of the world which only comes +with the experience of twenty-five, and to this he superadded the active +imagination of a newspaper man. A plot to rob the bank? These mysterious +absences, that luggage which he doubted not was empty and intended for +spoil! But why encumber herself with the two children? Here his common +sense and instinct of the ludicrous returned and he smiled. + +But he could not believe in the ballet dancer! He wondered, indeed, how +any manager could have accepted the grim satire of that pale, worried +face among the fairies, that sad refinement amid their vacant smiles and +rouged checks. And then, growing sad again, he comforted himself with +the reflection that at least the children were not alone that night, and +so went to sleep. + +For some days he had no further meeting with his neighbors. The +disturbed state of the city--for the Vigilance Committee were still in +session--obliged the daily press to issue “extras,” and his work at the +office increased. + +It was not until Sunday again that he was able to be at home. Needless +to say that his solitary little companions were duly installed there, +while he sat at work with his proofs on the table before him. + +The stillness of the empty house was only broken by the habitually +subdued voices of the children at their play, when suddenly the harsh +stroke of a distant bell came through the open window. But it was no +Sabbath bell, and Mr. Breeze knew it. It was the tocsin of the Vigilance +Committee, summoning the members to assemble at their quarters for +a capture, a trial, or an execution of some wrongdoer. To him it was +equally a summons to the office--to distasteful news and excitement. + +He threw his proofs aside in disgust, laid down his pen, seized his hat, +and paused a moment to look round for his playmates. But they were gone! +He went into the hall, looked into the open door of their room, but they +were not there. He tried the door of the second room, but it was locked. + +Satisfied that they had stolen downstairs in their eagerness to +know what the bell meant, he hurried down also, met Roberts in the +passage,--a singularly unusual circumstance at that hour,--called to him +to look after the runaways, and hurried to his office. + +Here he found the staff collected, excitedly discussing the news. One +of the Vigilance Committee prisoners, a notorious bully and ruffian, +detained as a criminal and a witness, had committed suicide in his +cell. Fortunately this was all reportorial work, and the services of Mr. +Breeze were not required. He hurried back, relieved, to his room. + +When he reached his landing, breathlessly, he heard the same quick +rustle he had heard that memorable evening, and was quite satisfied that +he saw a figure glide swiftly out of the open door of his room. It was +no doubt his neighbor, who had been seeking her children, and as he +heard their voices as he passed, his uneasiness and suspicions were +removed. + +He sat down again to his scattered papers and proofs, finished his work, +and took it to the office on his way to dinner. He returned early, in +the hope that he might meet his neighbor again, and had quite settled +his mind that he was justified in offering a civil “Good-evening” to +her, in spite of his previous respectful ignoring of her presence. She +must certainly have become aware by this time of his attention to +her children and consideration for herself, and could not mistake his +motives. But he was disappointed, although he came up softly; he found +the floor in darkness and silence on his return, and he had to be +content with lighting his gas and settling down to work again. + +A near church clock had struck ten when he was startled by the sound of +an unfamiliar and uncertain step in the hall, followed by a tap at his +door. Breeze jumped to his feet, and was astonished to find Dick, the +“printer's devil,” standing on the threshold with a roll of proofs in +his hand. + +“How did you get here?” he asked testily. + +“They told me at the restaurant they reckoned you lived yere, and the +night watchman at the door headed me straight up. When he knew whar I +kem from he wanted to know what the news was, but I told him he'd better +buy an extra and see.” + +“Well, what did you come for?” said the editor impatiently. + +“The foreman said it was important, and he wanted to know afore he went +to press ef this yer correction was YOURS?” + +He went to the table, unrolled the proofs, and, taking out the slip, +pointed to a marked paragraph. “The foreman says the reporter who +brought the news allows he got it straight first-hand! But ef you've +corrected it, he reckons you know best.” + +Breeze saw at a glance that the paragraph alluded to was not of his own +writing, but one of several news items furnished by reporters. These +had been “set up” in the same “galley,” and consequently appeared in the +same proof-slip. He was about to say curtly that neither the matter nor +the correction was his, when something odd in the correction of the item +struck him. It read as follows:-- + +“It appears that the notorious 'Jim Bodine,' who is in hiding and +badly wanted by the Vigilance Committee, has been tempted lately into +a renewal of his old recklessness. He was seen in Sacramento Street the +other night by two separate witnesses, one of whom followed him, but he +escaped in some friendly doorway.” + +The words “in Sacramento Street” were stricken out and replaced by the +correction “on the Saucelito shore,” and the words “friendly doorway” + were changed to “friendly dinghy.” The correction was not his, nor the +handwriting, which was further disguised by being an imitation of print. +A strange idea seized him. + +“Has any one seen these proofs since I left them at the office?” + +“No, only the foreman, sir.” + +He remembered that he had left the proofs lying openly on his table +when he was called to the office at the stroke of the alarm bell; he +remembered the figure he saw gliding from his room on his return. She +had been there alone with the proofs; she only could have tampered with +them. + +The evident object of the correction was to direct the public attention +from Sacramento Street to Saucelito, as the probable whereabouts of this +“Jimmy Bodine.” The street below was Sacramento Street, the “friendly +doorway” might have been their own. + +That she had some knowledge of this Bodine was not more improbable than +the ballet story. Her strange absences, the mystery surrounding her, all +seemed to testify that she had some connection--perhaps only an innocent +one--with these desperate people whom the Vigilance Committee were +hunting down. Her attempt to save the man was, after all, no more +illegal than their attempt to capture him. True, she might have trusted +him, Breeze, without this tampering with his papers; yet perhaps she +thought he was certain to discover it--and it was only a silent appeal +to his mercy. The corrections were ingenious and natural--it was the act +of an intelligent, quick-witted woman. + +Mr. Breeze was prompt in acting upon his intuition, whether right or +wrong. He took up his pen, wrote on the margin of the proof, “Print as +corrected,” said to the boy carelessly, “The corrections are all right,” + and dismissed him quickly. + +The corrected paragraph which appeared in the “Informer” the next +morning seemed to attract little public attention, the greater +excitement being the suicide of the imprisoned bully and the effect it +might have upon the prosecution of other suspected parties, against whom +the dead man had been expected to bear witness. + +Mr. Breeze was unable to obtain any information regarding the desperado +Bodine's associates and relations; his correction of the paragraph had +made the other members of the staff believe he had secret and superior +information regarding the fugitive, and he thus was estopped from +asking questions. But he felt himself justified now in demanding fuller +information from Roberts at the earliest opportunity. + +For this purpose he came home earlier that night, hoping to find the +night watchman still on his first beat in the lower halls. But he was +disappointed. He was amazed, however, on reaching his own landing, to +find the passage piled with new luggage, some of that ruder type of +rolled blanket and knapsack known as a “miner's kit.” He was still more +surprised to hear men's voices and the sound of laughter proceeding +from the room that was always locked. A sudden sense of uneasiness and +disgust, he knew not why, came over him. + +He passed quickly into his room, shut the door sharply, and lit the gas. +But he presently heard the door of the locked room open, a man's voice, +slightly elevated by liquor and opposition, saying, “I know what's due +from one gen'leman to 'nother”--a querulous, objecting voice saying, +“Hole on! not now,” and a fainter feminine protest, all of which were +followed by a rap on his door. + +Breeze opened it to two strangers, one of whom lurched forward +unsteadily with outstretched hand. He had a handsome face and figure, +and a certain consciousness of it even in the abandon of liquor; he +had an aggressive treacherousness of eye which his potations had not +subdued. He grasped Breeze's hand tightly, but dropped it the next +moment perfunctorily as he glanced round the room. + +“I told them I was bound to come in,” he said, without looking at +Breeze, “and say 'Howdy!' to the man that's bin a pal to my women folks +and the kids--and acted white all through! I said to Mame, 'I reckon HE +knows who I am, and that I kin be high-toned to them that's high-toned; +kin return shake for shake and shot for shot!' Aye! that's me! So I was +bound to come in like a gen'leman, sir, and here I am!” + +He threw himself in an unproffered chair and stared at Breeze. + +“I'm afraid,” said Breeze dryly, “that, nevertheless, I never knew who +you were, and that even now I am ignorant whom I am addressing.” + +“That's just it,” said the second man, with a querulous protest, which +did not, however, conceal his admiring vassalage to his friend; “that's +what I'm allus telling Jim. 'Jim,' I says, 'how is folks to know you're +the man that shot Kernel Baxter, and dropped three o' them Mariposa +Vigilants? They didn't see you do it! They just look at your fancy style +and them mustaches of yours, and allow ye might be death on the girls, +but they don't know ye! An' this man yere--he's a scribe in them +papers--writes what the boss editor tells him, and lives up yere on the +roof, 'longside yer wife and the children--what's he knowin' about YOU?' +Jim's all right enough,” he continued, in easy confidence to Breeze, +“but he's too fresh 'bout himself.” + +Mr. James Bodine accepted this tribute and criticism of his henchman +with a complacent laugh, which was not, however, without a certain +contempt for the speaker and the man spoken to. His bold, selfish eyes +wandered round the room as if in search of some other amusement than his +companions offered. + +“I reckon this is the room which that hound of a landlord, Rakes, +allowed he'd fix up for our poker club--the club that Dan Simmons and +me got up, with a few other sports. It was to be a slap-up affair, right +under the roof, where there was no chance of the police raiding us. But +the cur weakened when the Vigilants started out to make war on any game +a gen'leman might hev that wasn't in their gummy-bag, salt pork trade. +Well, it's gettin' a long time between drinks, gen'lemen, ain't it?” He +looked round him significantly. + +Only the thought of the woman and her children in the next room, and +the shame that he believed she was enduring, enabled Breeze to keep his +temper or even a show of civility. + +“I'm afraid,” he said quietly, “that you'll find very little here to +remind you of the club--not even the whiskey; for I use the room only as +a bedroom, and as I am a workingman, and come in late and go out early, +I have never found it available for hospitality, even to my intimate +friends. I am very glad, however, that the little leisure I have had in +it has enabled me to make the floor less lonely for your children.” + +Mr. Bodine got up with an affected yawn, turned an embarrassed yet +darkening eye on Breeze, and lunged unsteadily to the door. “And as I +only happened in to do the reg'lar thing between high-toned gen'lemen, +I reckon we kin say 'Quits.'” He gave a coarse laugh, said “So long,” + nodded, stumbled into the passage, and thence into the other room. + +His companion watched him pass out with a relieved yet protecting air, +and then, closing the door softly, drew nearer to Breeze, and said in +husky confidence,-- + +“Ye ain't seein' him at his best, mister! He's bin drinkin' too much, +and this yer news has upset him.” + +“What news?” asked Breeze. + +“This yer suicide o' Irish Jack!” + +“Was he his friend?” + +“Friend?” ejaculated the man, horrified at the mere suggestion. “Not +much! Why, Irish Jack was the only man that could hev hung Jim! Now he's +dead, in course the Vigilants ain't got no proof agin Jim. Jim wants to +face it out now an' stay here, but his wife and me don't see it noways! +So we are taking advantage o' the lull agin him to get him off down the +coast this very night. That's why he's been off his head drinkin'. Ye +see, when a man has been for weeks hidin'--part o' the time in that +room and part o' the time on the wharf, where them Vigilants has been +watchin' every ship that left in order to ketch him, he's inclined to +celebrate his chance o' getting away”-- + +“Part of the time in that room?” interrupted Breeze quickly. + +“Sartin! Don't ye see? He allus kem in as you went out--sabe!--and got +away before you kem back, his wife all the time just a-hoverin' between +the two places, and keeping watch for him. It was killin' to her, you +see, for she wasn't brought up to it, whiles Jim didn't keer--had two +revolvers and kalkilated to kill a dozen Vigilants afore he dropped. But +that's over now, and when I've got him safe on that 'plunger' down at +the wharf to-night, and put him aboard the schooner that's lying off the +Heads, he's all right agin.” + +“And Roberts knew all this and was one of his friends?” asked Breeze. + +“Roberts knew it, and Roberts's wife used to be a kind of servant +to Jim's wife in the South, when she was a girl, but I don't know ez +Roberts is his FRIEND!” + +“He certainly has shown himself one,” said Breeze. + +“Ye-e-s,” said the stranger meditatively, “ye-e-s.” He stopped, opened +the door softly, and peeped out, and then closed it again softly. “It's +sing'lar, Mr. Breeze,” he went on in a sudden yet embarrassed burst +of confidence, “that Jim thar--a man thet can shoot straight, and hez +frequent; a man thet knows every skin game goin'--that THET man Jim,” + very slowly, “hezn't really--got--any friends--'cept me--and his wife.” + +“Indeed?” said Mr. Breeze dryly. + +“Sure! Why, you yourself didn't cotton to him--I could see THET.” + +Mr. Breeze felt himself redden slightly, and looked curiously at the +man. This vulgar parasite, whom he had set down as a worshiper of sham +heroes, undoubtedly did not look like an associate of Bodine's, and had +a certain seriousness that demanded respect. As he looked closer into +his wide, round face, seamed with small-pox, he fancied he saw even in +its fatuous imbecility something of that haunting devotion he had seen +on the refined features of the wife. He said more gently,-- + +“But one friend like you would seem to be enough.” + +“I ain't what I uster be, Mr. Breeze,” said the man meditatively, +“and mebbe ye don't know who I am. I'm Abe Shuckster, of Shuckster's +Ranch--one of the biggest in Petalumy. I was a rich man until a year +ago, when Jim got inter trouble. What with mortgages and interest, +payin' up Jim's friends and buying off some ez was set agin him, thar +ain't much left, and when I've settled that bill for the schooner lying +off the Heads there I reckon I'm about played out. But I've allus a +shanty at Petalumy, and mebbe when things is froze over and Jim gets +back--you'll come and see him--for you ain't seen him at his best.” + +“I suppose his wife and children go with him?” said Breeze. + +“No! He's agin it, and wants them to come later. But that's all right, +for you see she kin go back to their own house at the Mission, now that +the Vigilants are givin' up shadderin' it. So long, Mr. Breeze! We're +startin' afore daylight. Sorry you didn't see Jim in condition.” + +He grasped Breeze's hand warmly and slipped out of the door softly. For +an instant Mr. Breeze felt inclined to follow him into the room and make +a kinder adieu to the pair, but the reflection that he might embarrass +the wife, who, it would seem, had purposely avoided accompanying her +husband when he entered, withheld him. And for the last few minutes he +had been doubtful if he had any right to pose as her friend. Beside the +devotion of the man who had just left him, his own scant kindness to her +children seemed ridiculous. + +He went to bed, but tossed uneasily until he fancied he heard stealthy +footsteps outside his door and in the passage. Even then he thought of +getting up, dressing, and going out to bid farewell to the fugitives. +But even while he was thinking of it he fell asleep and did not wake +until the sun was shining in at his windows. + +He sprang to his feet, threw on his dressing-gown, and peered into the +passage. Everything was silent. He stepped outside--the light streamed +into the hall from the open doors and windows of both rooms--the floor +was empty; not a trace of the former occupants remained. He was turning +back when his eye fell upon the battered wooden doll set upright against +his doorjamb, holding stiffly in its jointed arms a bit of paper folded +like a note. Opening it, he found a few lines written in pencil. + + +God bless you for your kindness to us, and try to forgive me for +touching your papers. But I thought that you would detect it, know WHY I +did it, and then help us, as you did! Good-by! + +MAMIE BODINE. + + +Mr. Breeze laid down the paper with a slight accession of color, as if +its purport had been ironical. How little had he done compared to the +devotion of this delicate woman or the sacrifices of that rough friend! +How deserted looked this nest under the eaves, which had so long borne +its burden of guilt, innocence, shame, and suffering! For many days +afterwards he avoided it except at night, and even then he often found +himself lying awake to listen to the lost voices of the children. + +But one evening, a fortnight later, he came upon Roberts in the hall. +“Well,” said Breeze, with abrupt directness, “did he get away?” + +Roberts started, uttered an oath which it is possible the Recording +Angel passed to his credit, and said, “Yes, HE got away all right!” + +“Why, hasn't his wife joined him?” + +“No. Never, in this world, I reckon; and if anywhere in the next, I +don't want to go there!” said Roberts furiously. + +“Is he dead?” + +“Dead? That kind don't die!” + +“What do you mean?” + +Roberts's lips writhed, and then, with a strong effort, he said with +deliberate distinctness, “I mean--that the hound went off with another +woman--that--was--in--that schooner, and left that fool Shuckster adrift +in the plunger.” + +“And the wife and children?” + +“Shuckster sold his shanty at Petaluma to pay their passage to the +States. Good-night!” + + + + +HOW REUBEN ALLEN “SAW LIFE” IN SAN FRANCISCO + + +The junior partner of the firm of Sparlow & Kane, “Druggists and +Apothecaries,” of San Francisco, was gazing meditatively out of the +corner of the window of their little shop in Dupont Street. He could see +the dimly lit perspective of the narrow thoroughfare fade off into the +level sand wastes of Market Street on the one side, and plunge into the +half-excavated bulk of Telegraph Hill on the other. He could see the +glow and hear the rumble of Montgomery Street--the great central avenue +farther down the hill. Above the housetops was spread the warm blanket +of sea-fog under which the city was regularly laid to sleep every +summer night to the cool lullaby of the Northwest Trades. It was already +half-past eleven; footsteps on the wooden pavement were getting rarer +and more remote; the last cart had rumbled by; the shutters were up +along the street; the glare of his own red and blue jars was the only +beacon left to guide the wayfarers. Ordinarily he would have been going +home at this hour, when his partner, who occupied the surgery and a +small bedroom at the rear of the shop, always returned to relieve him. +That night, however, a professional visit would detain the “Doctor” + until half-past twelve. There was still an hour to wait. He felt drowsy; +the mysterious incense of the shop, that combined essence of drugs, +spice, scented soap, and orris root--which always reminded him of the +Arabian Nights--was affecting him. He yawned, and then, turning away, +passed behind the counter, took down a jar labeled “Glycyrr. Glabra,” + selected a piece of Spanish licorice, and meditatively sucked it. +Not receiving from it that diversion and sustenance he apparently was +seeking, he also visited, in an equally familiar manner, a jar marked +“Jujubes,” and returned ruminatingly to his previous position. + +If I have not in this incident sufficiently established the youthfulness +of the junior partner, I may add briefly that he was just nineteen, that +he had early joined the emigration to California, and after one or two +previous light-hearted essays at other occupations, for which he was +singularly unfitted, he had saved enough to embark on his present +venture, still less suited to his temperament. In those adventurous days +trades and vocations were not always filled by trained workmen; it was +extremely probable that the experienced chemist was already making his +success as a gold-miner, with a lawyer and a physician for his partners, +and Mr. Kane's inexperienced position was by no means a novel one. A +slight knowledge of Latin as a written language, an American schoolboy's +acquaintance with chemistry and natural philosophy, were deemed +sufficient by his partner, a regular physician, for practical +cooperation in the vending of drugs and putting up of prescriptions. He +knew the difference between acids and alkalies and the peculiar results +which attended their incautious combination. But he was excessively +deliberate, painstaking, and cautious. The legend which adorned the desk +at the counter, “Physicians' prescriptions carefully prepared,” was more +than usually true as regarded the adverb. There was no danger of his +poisoning anybody through haste or carelessness, but it was possible +that an urgent “case” might have succumbed to the disease while he was +putting up the remedy. Nor was his caution entirely passive. In those +days the “heroic” practice of medicine was in keeping with the abnormal +development of the country; there were “record” doses of calomel +and quinine, and he had once or twice incurred the fury of local +practitioners by sending back their prescriptions with a modest query. + +The far-off clatter of carriage wheels presently arrested his attention; +looking down the street, he could see the lights of a hackney carriage +advancing towards him. They had already flashed upon the open crossing +a block beyond before his vague curiosity changed into an active +instinctive presentiment that they were coming to the shop. He withdrew +to a more becoming and dignified position behind the counter as the +carriage drew up with a jerk before the door. + +The driver rolled from his box and opened the carriage door to a woman +whom he assisted, between some hysterical exclamations on her part and +some equally incoherent explanations of his own, into the shop. Kane saw +at a glance that both were under the influence of liquor, and one, the +woman, was disheveled and bleeding about the head. Yet she was elegantly +dressed and evidently en fete, with one or two “tricolor” knots and +ribbons mingled with her finery. Her golden hair, matted and darkened +with blood, had partly escaped from her French bonnet and hung heavily +over her shoulders. The driver, who was supporting her roughly, and with +a familiarity that was part of the incongruous spectacle, was the first +to speak. + +“Madame le Blank! ye know! Got cut about the head down at the fete +at South Park! Tried to dance upon the table, and rolled over on some +champagne bottles. See? Wants plastering up!” + +“Ah brute! Hog! Nozzing of ze kine! Why will you lie? I dance! Ze +cowards, fools, traitors zere upset ze table and I fall. I am cut! Ah, +my God, how I am cut!” + +She stopped suddenly and lapsed heavily against the counter. At which +Kane hurried around to support her into the surgery with the one +fixed idea in his bewildered mind of getting her out of the shop, +and, suggestively, into the domain and under the responsibility of his +partner. The hackman, apparently relieved and washing his hands of any +further complicity in the matter, nodded and smiled, and saying, “I +reckon I'll wait outside, pardner,” retreated incontinently to his +vehicle. To add to Kane's half-ludicrous embarrassment the fair +patient herself slightly resisted his support, accused the hackman of +“abandoning her,” and demanded if Kane knew “zee reason of zees affair,” + yet she presently lapsed again into the large reclining-chair which +he had wheeled forward, with open mouth, half-shut eyes, and a strange +Pierrette mask of face, combined of the pallor of faintness and chalk, +and the rouge of paint and blood. At which Kane's cautiousness again +embarrassed him. A little brandy from the bottle labeled “Vini Galli” + seemed to be indicated, but his inexperience could not determine if her +relaxation was from bloodlessness or the reacting depression of alcohol. +In this dilemma he chose a medium course, with aromatic spirits of +ammonia, and mixing a diluted quantity in a measuring-glass, poured +it between her white lips. A start, a struggle, a cough--a volley +of imprecatory French, and the knocking of the glass from his +hand followed--but she came to! He quickly sponged her head of the +half-coagulated blood, and removed a few fragments of glass from a long +laceration of the scalp. The shock of the cold water and the appearance +of the ensanguined basin frightened her into a momentary passivity. But +when Kane found it necessary to cut her hair in the region of the wound +in order to apply the adhesive plaster, she again endeavored to rise and +grasp the scissors. + +“You'll bleed to death if you're not quiet,” said the young man with +dogged gravity. + +Something in his manner impressed her into silence again. He cut whole +locks away ruthlessly; he was determined to draw the edges of the wound +together with the strip of plaster and stop the bleeding--if he cropped +the whole head. His excessive caution for her physical condition did +not extend to her superficial adornment. Her yellow tresses lay on the +floor, her neck and shoulders were saturated with water from the sponge +which he continually applied, until the heated strips of plaster had +closed the wound almost hermetically. She whimpered, tears ran down her +cheeks; but so long as it was not blood the young man was satisfied. + +In the midst of it he heard the shop door open, and presently the sound +of rapping on the counter. Another customer! + +Mr. Kane called out, “Wait a moment,” and continued his ministrations. +After a pause the rapping recommenced. Kane was just securing the last +strip of plaster and preserved a preoccupied silence. Then the door flew +open abruptly and a figure appeared impatiently on the threshold. It was +that of a miner recently returned from the gold diggings--so recently +that he evidently had not had time to change his clothes at his adjacent +hotel, and stood there in his high boots, duck trousers, and flannel +shirt, over which his coat was slung like a hussar's jacket from his +shoulder. Kane would have uttered an indignant protest at the intrusion, +had not the intruder himself as quickly recoiled with an astonishment +and contrition that was beyond the effect of any reproval. He literally +gasped at the spectacle before him. A handsomely dressed woman reclining +in a chair; lace and jewelry and ribbons depending from her saturated +shoulders; tresses of golden hair filling her lap and lying on the +floor; a pail of ruddy water and a sponge at her feet, and a pale +young man bending over her head with a spirit lamp and strips of yellow +plaster! + +“'Scuse me, pard! I was just dropping in; don't you hurry! I kin wait,” + he stammered, falling back, and then the door closed abruptly behind +him. + +Kane gathered up the shorn locks, wiped the face and neck of his patient +with a clean towel and his own handkerchief, threw her gorgeous opera +cloak over her shoulders, and assisted her to rise. She did so, weakly +but obediently; she was evidently stunned and cowed in some mysterious +way by his material attitude, perhaps, or her sudden realization of her +position; at least the contrast between her aggressive entrance into +the shop and her subdued preparation for her departure was so remarkable +that it affected even Kane's preoccupation. + +“There,” he said, slightly relaxing his severe demeanor with an +encouraging smile, “I think this will do; we've stopped the bleeding. It +will probably smart a little as the plaster sets closer. I can send my +partner, Dr. Sparlow, to you in the morning.” + +She looked at him curiously and with a strange smile. “And zees Doctor +Sparrlow--eez he like you, M'sieu?” + +“He is older, and very well known,” said the young man seriously. “I can +safely recommend him.” + +“Ah,” she repeated, with a pensive smile which made Kane think her quite +pretty. “Ah--he ez older--your Doctor Sparrlow--but YOU are strong, +M'sieu.” + +“And,” said Kane vaguely, “he will tell you what to do.” + +“Ah,” she repeated again softly, with the same smile, “he will tell me +what to do if I shall not know myself. Dat ez good.” + +Kane had already wrapped her shorn locks in a piece of spotless white +paper and tied it up with narrow white ribbon in the dainty fashion dear +to druggists' clerks. As he handed it to her she felt in her pocket and +produced a handful of gold. + +“What shall I pay for zees, M'sieu?” + +Kane reddened a little--solely because of his slow arithmetical +faculties. Adhesive plaster was cheap--he would like to have charged +proportionately for the exact amount he had used; but the division was +beyond him! And he lacked the trader's instinct. + +“Twenty-five cents, I think,” he hazarded briefly. + +She started, but smiled again. “Twenty-five cents for all zees--ze +medicine, ze strips for ze head, ze hair cut”--she glanced at the paper +parcel he had given her--“it is only twenty-five cents?” + +“That's all.” + +He selected from her outstretched palm, with some difficulty, the +exact amount, the smallest coin it held. She again looked at him +curiously--half confusedly--and moved slowly into the shop. The miner, +who was still there, retreated as before with a gaspingly apologetic +gesture--even flattening himself against the window to give her sweeping +silk flounces freer passage. As she passed into the street with a +“Merci, M'sieu, good a'night,” and the hackman started from the vehicle +to receive her, the miner drew a long breath, and bringing his fist down +upon the counter, ejaculated,-- + +“B'gosh! She's a stunner!” + +Kane, a good deal relieved at her departure and the success of his +ministration, smiled benignly. + +The stranger again stared after the retreating carriage, looked around +the shop, and even into the deserted surgery, and approached the +counter confidentially. “Look yer, pardner. I kem straight from St. Jo, +Mizzorri, to Gold Hill--whar I've got a claim--and I reckon this is the +first time I ever struck San Francisker. I ain't up to towny ways nohow, +and I allow that mebbe I'm rather green. So we'll let that pass! Now +look yer!” he added, leaning over the counter with still deeper and even +mysterious confidence, “I suppose this yer kind o' thing is the regular +go here, eh? nothin' new to YOU! in course no! But to me, pard, it's +just fetchin' me! Lifts me clear outer my boots every time! Why, when I +popped into that thar room, and saw that lady--all gold, furbelows, +and spangles--at twelve o'clock at night, sittin' in that cheer and you +a-cuttin' her h'r and swabbin' her head o' blood, and kinder prospectin' +for 'indications,' so to speak, and doin' it so kam and indifferent +like, I sez to myself, 'Rube, Rube,' sez I, 'this yer's life! city life! +San Francisker life! and b'gosh, you've dropped into it! Now, pard, look +yar! don't you answer, ye know, ef it ain't square and above board for +me to know; I ain't askin' you to give the show away, ye know, in the +matter of high-toned ladies like that, but” (very mysteriously, and +sinking his voice to the lowest confidential pitch, as he put his +hand to his ear as if to catch the hushed reply), “what mout hev bin +happening, pard?” + +Considerably amused at the man's simplicity, Kane replied +good-humoredly: “Danced among some champagne bottles on a table at a +party, fell and got cut by glass.” + +The stranger nodded his head slowly and approvingly as he repeated with +infinite deliberateness: “Danced on champagne bottles, champagne! you +said, pard? at a pahty! Yes!” (musingly and approvingly). “I reckon +that's about the gait they take. SHE'D do it.” + +“Is there anything I can do for you? sorry to have kept you waiting,” + said Kane, glancing at the clock. + +“O ME! Lord! ye needn't mind me. Why, I should wait for anythin' o' the +like o' that, and be just proud to do it! And ye see, I sorter helped +myself while you war busy.” + +“Helped yourself?” said Kane in astonishment. + +“Yes, outer that bottle.” He pointed to the ammonia bottle, which still +stood on the counter. “It seemed to be handy and popular.” + +“Man! you might have poisoned yourself.” + +The stranger paused a moment at the idea. “So I mout, I reckon,” he said +musingly, “that's so! pizined myself jest ez you was lookin' arter that +high-toned case, and kinder bothered you! It's like me!” + +“I mean it required diluting; you ought to have taken it in water,” said +Kane. + +“I reckon! It DID sorter h'ist me over to the door for a little fresh +air at first! seemed rayther scaldy to the lips. But wot of it that GOT +THAR,” he put his hand gravely to his stomach, “did me pow'ful good.” + +“What was the matter with you?” asked Kane. + +“Well, ye see, pard” (confidentially again), “I reckon it's suthin' +along o' my heart. Times it gets to poundin' away like a quartz stamp, +and then it stops suddent like, and kinder leaves ME out too.” + +Kane looked at him more attentively. He was a strong, powerfully built +man with a complexion that betrayed nothing more serious than +the effects of mining cookery. It was evidently a common case of +indigestion. + +“I don't say it would not have done you some good if properly +administered,” he replied. “If you like I'll put up a diluted quantity +and directions?” + +“That's me, every time, pardner!” said the stranger with an accent of +relief. “And look yer, don't you stop at that! Ye just put me up some +samples like of anythin' you think mout be likely to hit. I'll go in for +a fair show, and then meander in every now and then, betwixt times, to +let you know. Ye don't mind my drifting in here, do ye? It's about ez +likely a place ez I struck since I've left the Sacramento boat, and my +hotel, just round the corner. Ye just sample me a bit o' everythin'; +don't mind the expense. I'll take YOUR word for it. The way you--a +young fellow--jest stuck to your work in thar, cool and kam as a +woodpecker--not minding how high-toned she was--nor the jewelery and +spangles she had on--jest got me! I sez to myself, 'Rube,' sez I, +'whatever's wrong o' YOUR insides, you jest stick to that feller to set +ye right.'” + +The junior partner's face reddened as he turned to his shelves +ostensibly for consultation. Conscious of his inexperience, the homely +praise of even this ignorant man was not ungrateful. He felt, too, +that his treatment of the Frenchwoman, though successful, might not be +considered remunerative from a business point of view by his partner. He +accordingly acted upon the suggestion of the stranger and put up two or +three specifics for dyspepsia. They were received with grateful alacrity +and the casual display of considerable gold in the stranger's pocket in +the process of payment. He was evidently a successful miner. + +After bestowing the bottles carefully about his person, he again +leaned confidentially towards Kane. “I reckon of course you know this +high-toned lady, being in the way of seein' that kind o' folks. I +suppose you won't mind telling me, ez a stranger. But” (he added +hastily, with a deprecatory wave of his hand), “perhaps ye would.” + +Mr. Kane, in fact, had hesitated. He knew vaguely and by report that +Madame le Blanc was the proprietress of a famous restaurant, over which +she had rooms where private gambling was carried on to a great extent. +It was also alleged that she was protected by a famous gambler and a +somewhat notorious bully. Mr. Kane's caution suggested that he had no +right to expose the reputation of his chance customer. He was silent. + +The stranger's face became intensely sympathetic and apologetic. “I +see!--not another word, pard! It ain't the square thing to be givin' +her away, and I oughtn't to hev asked. Well--so long! I reckon I'll jest +drift back to the hotel. I ain't been in San Francisker mor' 'n three +hours, and I calkilate, pard, that I've jest seen about ez square a +sample of high-toned life as fellers ez haz bin here a year. Well, +hastermanyanner--ez the Greasers say. I'll be droppin' in to-morrow. My +name's Reuben Allen o' Mariposa. I know yours; it's on the sign, and it +ain't Sparlow.” + +He cast another lingering glance around the shop, as if loath to leave +it, and then slowly sauntered out of the door, pausing in the street a +moment, in the glare of the red light, before he faded into darkness. +Without knowing exactly why, Kane had an instinct that the stranger knew +no one in San Francisco, and after leaving the shop was going into utter +silence and obscurity. + +A few moments later Dr. Sparlow returned to relieve his wearied partner. +A pushing, active man, he listened impatiently to Kane's account of his +youthful practice with Madame le Blanc, without, however, dwelling much +on his methods. “You ought to have charged her more,” the elder said +decisively. “She'd have paid it. She only came here because she was +ashamed to go to a big shop in Montgomery Street--and she won't come +again.” + +“But she wants you to see her to-morrow,” urged Kane, “and I told her +you would!” + +“You say it was only a superficial cut?” queried the doctor, “and +you closed it? Umph! what can she want to see ME for?” He paid more +attention, however, to the case of the stranger, Allen. “When he comes +here again, manage to let me see him.” Mr. Kane promised, yet for some +indefinable reason he went home that night not quite as well satisfied +with himself. + +He was much more concerned the next morning when, after relieving the +doctor for his regular morning visits, he was startled an hour later +by the abrupt return of that gentleman. His face was marked by some +excitement and anxiety, which nevertheless struggled with that sense +of the ludicrous which Californians in those days imported into most +situations of perplexity or catastrophe. Putting his hands deeply into +his trousers pockets, he confronted his youthful partner behind the +counter. + +“How much did you charge that French-woman?” he said gravely. + +“Twenty-five cents,” said Kane timidly. + +“Well, I'd give it back and add two hundred and fifty dollars if she had +never entered the shop.” + +“What's the matter?” + +“Her head will be--and a mass of it, in a day, I reckon! Why, man, you +put enough plaster on it to clothe and paper the dome of the Capitol! +You drew her scalp together so that she couldn't shut her eyes without +climbing up the bed-post! You mowed her hair off so that she'll have to +wear a wig for the next two years--and handed it to her in a beau-ti-ful +sealed package! They talk of suing me and killing you out of hand.” + +“She was bleeding a great deal and looked faint,” said the junior +partner; “I thought I ought to stop that.” + +“And you did--by thunder! Though it might have been better business +for the shop if I'd found her a crumbling ruin here, than lathed and +plastered in this fashion, over there! However,” he added, with a laugh, +seeing an angry light in his junior partner's eye, “SHE don't seem to +mind it--the cursing all comes from THEM. SHE rather likes your style +and praises it--that's what gets me! Did you talk to her much,” he +added, looking critically at his partner. + +“I only told her to sit still or she'd bleed to death,” said Kane +curtly. + +“Humph!--she jabbered something about your being 'strong' and knowing +just how to handle her. Well, it can't be helped now. I think I came in +time for the worst of it and have drawn their fire. Don't do it again. +The next time a woman with a cut head and long hair tackles you, fill +up her scalp with lint and tannin, and pack her off to some of the big +shops and make THEM pick it out.” And with a good-humored nod he started +off to finish his interrupted visits. + +With a vague sense of remorse, and yet a consciousness of some injustice +done him, Mr. Kane resumed his occupation with filters and funnels, and +mortars and triturations. He was so gloomily preoccupied that he did +not, as usual, glance out of the window, or he would have observed the +mining stranger of the previous night before it. It was not until the +man's bowed shoulders blocked the light of the doorway that he looked up +and recognized him. Kane was in no mood to welcome his appearance. His +presence, too, actively recalled the last night's adventure of which he +was a witness--albeit a sympathizing one. Kane shrank from the illusions +which he felt he would be sure to make. And with his present ill luck, +he was by no means sure that his ministrations even to HIM had been any +more successful than they had been to the Frenchwoman. But a glance +at his good-humored face and kindling eyes removed that suspicion. +Nevertheless, he felt somewhat embarrassed and impatient, and perhaps +could not entirely conceal it. He forgot that the rudest natures are +sometimes the most delicately sensitive to slights, and the stranger had +noticed his manner and began apologetically. + +“I allowed I'd just drop in anyway to tell ye that these thar pills you +giv' me did me a heap o' good so far--though mebbe it's only fair to +give the others a show too, which I'm reckoning to do.” He paused, and +then in a submissive confidence went on: “But first I wanted to hev you +excuse me for havin' asked all them questions about that high-toned lady +last night, when it warn't none of my business. I am a darned fool.” + +Mr. Kane instantly saw that it was no use to keep up his attitude of +secrecy, or impose upon the ignorant, simple man, and said hurriedly: +“Oh no. The lady is very well known. She is the proprietress of a +restaurant down the street--a house open to everybody. Her name is +Madame le Blanc; you may have heard of her before?” + +To his surprise the man exhibited no diminution of interest nor change +of sentiment at this intelligence. “Then,” he said slowly, “I reckon I +might get to see her again. Ye see, Mr. Kane, I rather took a fancy to +her general style and gait--arter seein' her in that fix last night. It +was rather like them play pictures on the stage. Ye don't think she'd +make any fuss to seein' a rough old 'forty-niner' like me?” + +“Hardly,” said Kane, “but there might be some objection from her +gentlemen friends,” he added, with a smile,--“Jack Lane, a gambler, who +keeps a faro bank in her rooms, and Jimmy O'Ryan, a prize-fighter, who +is one of her 'chuckers out.'” + +His further relation of Madame le Blanc's entourage apparently gave the +miner no concern. He looked at Kane, nodded, and repeated slowly +and appreciatively: “Yes, keeps a gamblin' and faro bank and a +prize-fighter--I reckon that might be about her gait and style too. And +you say she lives”-- + +He stopped, for at this moment a man entered the shop quickly, shut the +door behind him, and turned the key in the lock. It was done so quickly +that Kane instinctively felt that the man had been loitering in the +vicinity and had approached from the side street. A single glance at the +intruder's face and figure showed him that it was the bully of whom +he had just spoken. He had seen that square, brutal face once before, +confronting the police in a riot, and had not forgotten it. But today, +with the flush of liquor on it, it had an impatient awkwardness and +confused embarrassment that he could not account for. He did not +comprehend that the genuine bully is seldom deliberate of attack, and +is obliged--in common with many of the combative lower animals--to lash +himself into a previous fury of provocation. This probably saved him, as +perhaps some instinctive feeling that he was in no immediate danger kept +him cool. He remained standing quietly behind the counter. Allen glanced +around carelessly, looking at the shelves. + +The silence of the two men apparently increased the ruffian's rage and +embarrassment. Suddenly he leaped into the air with a whoop and +clumsily executed a negro double shuffle on the floor, which jarred the +glasses--yet was otherwise so singularly ineffective and void of purpose +that he stopped in the midst of it and had to content himself with +glaring at Kane. + +“Well,” said Kane quietly, “what does all this mean? What do you want +here?” + +“What does it mean?” repeated the bully, finding his voice in a high +falsetto, designed to imitate Kane's. “It means I'm going to play merry +h-ll with this shop! It means I'm goin' to clean it out and the blank +hair-cuttin' blank that keeps it. What do I want here? Well--what I want +I intend to help myself to, and all h-ll can't stop me! And” (working +himself to the striking point) “who the blank are you to ask me?” He +sprang towards the counter, but at the same moment Allen seemed to +slip almost imperceptibly and noiselessly between them, and Kane found +himself confronted only by the miner's broad back. + +“Hol' yer hosses, stranger,” said Allen slowly, as the ruffian suddenly +collided with his impassive figure. “I'm a sick man comin' in yer for +medicine. I've got somethin' wrong with my heart, and goin's on like +this yer kinder sets it to thumpin'.” + +“Blank you and your blank heart!” screamed the bully, turning in a fury +of amazement and contempt at this impotent interruption. “Who”--but his +voice stopped. Allen's powerful right arm had passed over his head and +shoulders like a steel hoop, and pinioned his elbows against his sides. +Held rigidly upright, he attempted to kick, but Allen's right leg here +advanced, and firmly held his lower limbs against the counter that shook +to his struggles and blasphemous outcries. Allen turned quietly to Kane, +and, with a gesture of his unemployed arm, said confidentially: + +“Would ye mind passing me down that ar Romantic Spirits of Ammonyer ye +gave me last night?” + +Kane caught the idea, and handed him the bottle. + +“Thar,” said Allen, taking out the stopper and holding the pungent +spirit against the bully's dilated nostrils and vociferous mouth, “thar, +smell that, and taste it, it will do ye good; it was powerful kammin' to +ME last night.” + +The ruffian gasped, coughed, choked, but his blaspheming voice died away +in a suffocating hiccough. + +“Thar,” continued Allen, as his now subdued captive relaxed his +struggling, “ye 'r' better, and so am I. It's quieter here now, and ye +ain't affectin' my heart so bad. A little fresh air will make us both +all right.” He turned again to Kane in his former subdued confidential +manner. + +“Would ye mind openin' that door?” + +Kane flew to the door, unlocked it, and held it wide open. The bully +again began to struggle, but a second inhalation of the hartshorn +quelled him, and enabled his captor to drag him to the door. As they +emerged upon the sidewalk, the bully, with a final desperate struggle, +freed his arm and grasped his pistol at his hip-pocket, but at the same +moment Allen deliberately caught his hand, and with a powerful side +throw cast him on the pavement, retaining the weapon in his own hand. +“I've one of my own,” he said to the prostrate man, “but I reckon I'll +keep this yer too, until you're better.” + +The crowd that had collected quickly, recognizing the notorious and +discomfited bully, were not of a class to offer him any sympathy, and he +slunk away followed by their jeers. Allen returned quietly to the +shop. Kane was profuse in his thanks, and yet oppressed with his simple +friend's fatuous admiration for a woman who could keep such ruffians in +her employ. “You know who that man was, I suppose?” he said. + +“I reckon it was that 'er prize-fighter belongin' to that high-toned +lady,” returned Allen simply. “But he don't know anything about +RASTLIN', b'gosh; only that I was afraid o' bringin' on that heart +trouble, I mout hev hurt him bad.” + +“They think”--hesitated Kane, “that--I--was rough in my treatment +of that woman and maliciously cut off her hair. This attack was +revenge--or”--he hesitated still more, as he remembered Dr. Sparlow's +indication of the woman's feeling--“or that bully's idea of revenge.” + +“I see,” nodded Allen, opening his small sympathetic eyes on Kane with +an exasperating air of secrecy--“just jealousy.” + +Kane reddened in sheer hopelessness of explanation. “No; it was earning +his wages, as he thought.” + +“Never ye mind, pard,” said Allen confidentially. “I'll set 'em +both right. Ye see, this sorter gives me a show to call at that thar +restaurant and give HIM back his six-shooter, and set her on the right +trail for you. Why, Lordy! I was here when you was fixin' her--I'm +testimony o' the way you did it--and she'll remember me. I'll sorter +waltz round thar this afternoon. But I reckon I won't be keepin' YOU +from your work any longer. And look yar!--I say, pard!--this is seein' +life in 'Frisco--ain't it? Gosh! I've had more high times in this very +shop in two days, than I've had in two years of St. Jo. So long, Mr. +Kane!” He waved his hand, lounged slowly out of the shop, gave a parting +glance up the street, passed the window, and was gone. + +The next day being a half-holiday for Kane, he did not reach the shop +until afternoon. “Your mining friend Allen has been here,” said Doctor +Sparlow. “I took the liberty of introducing myself, and induced him to +let me carefully examine him. He was a little shy, and I am sorry for +it, as I fear he has some serious organic trouble with his heart and +ought to have a more thorough examination.” Seeing Kane's unaffected +concern, he added, “You might influence him to do so. He's a good fellow +and ought to take some care of himself. By the way, he told me to tell +you that he'd seen Madame le Blanc and made it all right about you. He +seems to be quite infatuated with the woman.” + +“I'm sorry he ever saw her,” said Kane bitterly. + +“Well, his seeing her seems to have saved the shop from being smashed +up, and you from getting a punched head,” returned the Doctor with a +laugh. “He's no fool--yet it's a freak of human nature that a simple +hayseed like that--a man who's lived in the backwoods all his life, is +likely to be the first to tumble before a pot of French rouge like her.” + +Indeed, in a couple of weeks, there was no further doubt of Mr. Reuben +Allen's infatuation. He dropped into the shop frequently on his way to +and from the restaurant, where he now regularly took his meals; he spent +his evenings in gambling in its private room. Yet Kane was by no means +sure that he was losing his money there unfairly, or that he was used +as a pigeon by the proprietress and her friends. The bully O'Ryan was +turned away; Sparlow grimly suggested that Allen had simply taken his +place, but Kane ingeniously retorted that the Doctor was only piqued +because Allen had evaded his professional treatment. Certainly the +patient had never consented to another examination, although he +repeatedly and gravely bought medicines, and was a generous customer. +Once or twice Kane thought it his duty to caution Allen against his new +friends and enlighten him as to Madame le Blanc's reputation, but his +suggestions were received with a good-humored submission that was either +the effect of unbelief or of perfect resignation to the fact, and he +desisted. One morning Dr. Sparlow said cheerfully:-- + +“Would you like to hear the last thing about your friend and the +Frenchwoman? The boys can't account for her singling out a fellow like +that for her friend, so they say that the night that she cut herself at +the fete and dropped in here for assistance, she found nobody here but +Allen--a chance customer! That it was HE who cut off her hair and bound +up her wounds in that sincere fashion, and she believed he had saved her +life.” The Doctor grinned maliciously as he added: “And as that's the +way history is written you see your reputation is safe.” + +It may have been a month later that San Francisco was thrown into a +paroxysm of horror and indignation over the assassination of a prominent +citizen and official in the gambling-rooms of Madame le Blanc, at the +hands of a notorious gambler. The gambler had escaped, but in one +of those rare spasms of vengeful morality which sometimes overtakes +communities who have too long winked at and suffered the existence of +evil, the fair proprietress and her whole entourage were arrested and +haled before the coroner's jury at the inquest. The greatest excitement +prevailed; it was said that if the jury failed in their duty, +the Vigilance Committee had arranged for the destruction of the +establishment and the deportation of its inmates. The crowd that had +collected around the building was reinforced by Kane and Dr. Sparlow, +who had closed their shop in the next block to attend. When Kane had +fought his way into the building and the temporary court, held in the +splendidly furnished gambling saloon, whose gilded mirrors reflected the +eager faces of the crowd, the Chief of Police was giving his testimony +in a formal official manner, impressive only for its relentless +and impassive revelation of the character and antecedents of the +proprietress. The house had been long under the espionage of the police; +Madame le Blanc had a dozen aliases; she was “wanted” in New Orleans, +in New York, in Havana! It was in HER house that Dyer, the bank clerk, +committed suicide; it was there that Colonel Hooley was set upon by her +bully, O'Ryan; it was she--Kane heard with reddening cheeks--who defied +the police with riotous conduct at a fete two months ago. As he coolly +recited the counts of this shameful indictment, Kane looked eagerly +around for Allen, whom he knew had been arrested as a witness. How would +HE take this terrible disclosure? He was sitting with the others, his +arm thrown over the back of his chair, and his good-humored face turned +towards the woman, in his old confidential attitude. SHE, gorgeously +dressed, painted, but unblushing, was cool, collected, and cynical. + +The Coroner next called the only witness of the actual tragedy, “Reuben +Allen.” The man did not move nor change his position. The summons was +repeated; a policeman touched him on the shoulder. There was a pause, +and the officer announced: “He has fainted, your Honor!” + +“Is there a physician present?” asked the Coroner. + +Sparlow edged his way quickly to the front. “I'm a medical man,” he said +to the Coroner, as he passed quickly to the still, upright, immovable +figure and knelt beside it with his head upon his heart. There was an +awed silence as, after a pause, he rose slowly to his feet. + +“The witness is a patient, your Honor, whom I examined some weeks ago +and found suffering from valvular disease of the heart. He is dead.” + + + + +THREE VAGABONDS OF TRINIDAD + + +“Oh! it's you, is it?” said the Editor. + +The Chinese boy to whom the colloquialism was addressed answered +literally, after his habit:-- + +“Allee same Li Tee; me no changee. Me no ollee China boy.” + +“That's so,” said the Editor with an air of conviction. “I don't suppose +there's another imp like you in all Trinidad County. Well, next time +don't scratch outside there like a gopher, but come in.” + +“Lass time,” suggested Li Tee blandly, “me tap tappee. You no like tap +tappee. You say, alle same dam woodpeckel.” + +It was quite true--the highly sylvan surroundings of the Trinidad +“Sentinel” office--a little clearing in a pine forest--and its attendant +fauna, made these signals confusing. An accurate imitation of a +woodpecker was also one of Li Tee's accomplishments. + +The Editor without replying finished the note he was writing; at which +Li Tee, as if struck by some coincident recollection, lifted up his long +sleeve, which served him as a pocket, and carelessly shook out a letter +on the table like a conjuring trick. The Editor, with a reproachful +glance at him, opened it. It was only the ordinary request of an +agricultural subscriber--one Johnson--that the Editor would “notice” a +giant radish grown by the subscriber and sent by the bearer. + +“Where's the radish, Li Tee?” said the Editor suspiciously. + +“No hab got. Ask Mellikan boy.” + +“What?” + +Here Li Tee condescended to explain that on passing the schoolhouse he +had been set upon by the schoolboys, and that in the struggle the big +radish--being, like most such monstrosities of the quick Californian +soil, merely a mass of organized water--was “mashed” over the head of +some of his assailants. The Editor, painfully aware of these regular +persecutions of his errand boy, and perhaps realizing that a radish +which could not be used as a bludgeon was not of a sustaining nature, +forebore any reproof. “But I cannot notice what I haven't seen, Li Tee,” + he said good-humoredly. + +“S'pose you lie--allee same as Johnson,” suggested Li with equal +cheerfulness. “He foolee you with lotten stuff--you foolee Mellikan man, +allee same.” + +The Editor preserved a dignified silence until he had addressed his +letter. “Take this to Mrs. Martin,” he said, handing it to the boy; “and +mind you keep clear of the schoolhouse. Don't go by the Flat either if +the men are at work, and don't, if you value your skin, pass Flanigan's +shanty, where you set off those firecrackers and nearly burnt him out +the other day. Look out for Barker's dog at the crossing, and keep +off the main road if the tunnel men are coming over the hill.” Then +remembering that he had virtually closed all the ordinary approaches to +Mrs. Martin's house, he added, “Better go round by the woods, where you +won't meet ANY ONE.” + +The boy darted off through the open door, and the Editor stood for a +moment looking regretfully after him. He liked his little protege ever +since that unfortunate child--a waif from a Chinese wash-house--was +impounded by some indignant miners for bringing home a highly imperfect +and insufficient washing, and kept as hostage for a more proper +return of the garments. Unfortunately, another gang of miners, equally +aggrieved, had at the same time looted the wash-house and driven off the +occupants, so that Li Tee remained unclaimed. For a few weeks he +became a sporting appendage of the miners' camp; the stolid butt +of good-humored practical jokes, the victim alternately of careless +indifference or of extravagant generosity. He received kicks and +half-dollars intermittently, and pocketed both with stoical fortitude. +But under this treatment he presently lost the docility and frugality +which was part of his inheritance, and began to put his small wits +against his tormentors, until they grew tired of their own mischief and +his. But they knew not what to do with him. His pretty nankeen-yellow +skin debarred him from the white “public school,” while, although as +a heathen he might have reasonably claimed attention from the +Sabbath-school, the parents who cheerfully gave their contributions to +the heathen ABROAD, objected to him as a companion of their children in +the church at home. At this juncture the Editor offered to take him +into his printing office as a “devil.” For a while he seemed to be +endeavoring, in his old literal way, to act up to that title. He inked +everything but the press. He scratched Chinese characters of an abusive +import on “leads,” printed them, and stuck them about the office; he put +“punk” in the foreman's pipe, and had been seen to swallow small type +merely as a diabolical recreation. As a messenger he was fleet of foot, +but uncertain of delivery. Some time previously the Editor had enlisted +the sympathies of Mrs. Martin, the good-natured wife of a farmer, to +take him in her household on trial, but on the third day Li Tee had +run away. Yet the Editor had not despaired, and it was to urge her to a +second attempt that he dispatched that letter. + +He was still gazing abstractedly into the depths of the wood when he was +conscious of a slight movement--but no sound--in a clump of hazel near +him, and a stealthy figure glided from it. He at once recognized it as +“Jim,” a well-known drunken Indian vagrant of the settlement--tied +to its civilization by the single link of “fire water,” for which he +forsook equally the Reservation where it was forbidden and his own camps +where it was unknown. Unconscious of his silent observer, he dropped +upon all fours, with his ear and nose alternately to the ground like +some tracking animal. Then having satisfied himself, he rose, and +bending forward in a dogged trot, made a straight line for the woods. +He was followed a few seconds later by his dog--a slinking, rough, +wolf-like brute, whose superior instinct, however, made him detect the +silent presence of some alien humanity in the person of the Editor, and +to recognize it with a yelp of habit, anticipatory of the stone that he +knew was always thrown at him. + +“That's cute,” said a voice, “but it's just what I expected all along.” + +The Editor turned quickly. His foreman was standing behind him, and had +evidently noticed the whole incident. + +“It's what I allus said,” continued the man. “That boy and that Injin +are thick as thieves. Ye can't see one without the other--and they've +got their little tricks and signals by which they follow each other. +T'other day when you was kalkilatin' Li Tee was doin' your errands I +tracked him out on the marsh, just by followin' that ornery, +pizenous dog o' Jim's. There was the whole caboodle of 'em--including +Jim--campin' out, and eatin' raw fish that Jim had ketched, and green +stuff they had both sneaked outer Johnson's garden. Mrs. Martin may TAKE +him, but she won't keep him long while Jim's round. What makes Li foller +that blamed old Injin soaker, and what makes Jim, who, at least, is a +'Merican, take up with a furrin' heathen, just gets me.” + +The Editor did not reply. He had heard something of this before. Yet, +after all, why should not these equal outcasts of civilization cling +together! + +***** + +Li Tee's stay with Mrs. Martin was brief. His departure was hastened by +an untoward event--apparently ushered in, as in the case of other +great calamities, by a mysterious portent in the sky. One morning an +extraordinary bird of enormous dimensions was seen approaching from the +horizon, and eventually began to hover over the devoted town. Careful +scrutiny of this ominous fowl, however, revealed the fact that it was a +monstrous Chinese kite, in the shape of a flying dragon. The spectacle +imparted considerable liveliness to the community, which, however, +presently changed to some concern and indignation. It appeared that +the kite was secretly constructed by Li Tee in a secluded part of Mrs. +Martin's clearing, but when it was first tried by him he found that +through some error of design it required a tail of unusual proportions. +This he hurriedly supplied by the first means he found--Mrs. Martin's +clothes-line, with part of the weekly wash depending from it. This fact +was not at first noticed by the ordinary sightseer, although the tail +seemed peculiar--yet, perhaps, not more peculiar than a dragon's tail +ought to be. But when the actual theft was discovered and reported +through the town, a vivacious interest was created, and spy-glasses were +used to identify the various articles of apparel still hanging on that +ravished clothes-line. These garments, in the course of their slow +disengagement from the clothes-pins through the gyrations of the kite, +impartially distributed themselves over the town--one of Mrs. Martin's +stockings falling upon the veranda of the Polka Saloon, and the other +being afterwards discovered on the belfry of the First Methodist +Church--to the scandal of the congregation. It would have been well if +the result of Li Tee's invention had ended here. Alas! the kite-flyer +and his accomplice, “Injin Jim,” were tracked by means of the kite's +tell-tale cord to a lonely part of the marsh and rudely dispossessed of +their charge by Deacon Hornblower and a constable. Unfortunately, +the captors overlooked the fact that the kite-flyers had taken the +precaution of making a “half-turn” of the stout cord around a log to +ease the tremendous pull of the kite--whose power the captors had not +reckoned upon--and the Deacon incautiously substituted his own body for +the log. A singular spectacle is said to have then presented itself to +the on-lookers. The Deacon was seen to be running wildly by leaps and +bounds over the marsh after the kite, closely followed by the constable +in equally wild efforts to restrain him by tugging at the end of the +line. The extraordinary race continued to the town until the constable +fell, losing his hold of the line. This seemed to impart a singular +specific levity to the Deacon, who, to the astonishment of everybody, +incontinently sailed up into a tree! When he was succored and cut down +from the demoniac kite, he was found to have sustained a dislocation +of the shoulder, and the constable was severely shaken. By that one +infelicitous stroke the two outcasts made an enemy of the Law and the +Gospel as represented in Trinidad County. It is to be feared also that +the ordinary emotional instinct of a frontier community, to which they +were now simply abandoned, was as little to be trusted. In this dilemma +they disappeared from the town the next day--no one knew where. A +pale blue smoke rising from a lonely island in the bay for some days +afterwards suggested their possible refuge. But nobody greatly cared. +The sympathetic mediation of the Editor was characteristically opposed +by Mr. Parkin Skinner, a prominent citizen:-- + +“It's all very well for you to talk sentiment about niggers, Chinamen, +and Injins, and you fellers can laugh about the Deacon being snatched +up to heaven like Elijah in that blamed Chinese chariot of a kite--but +I kin tell you, gentlemen, that this is a white man's country! Yes, sir, +you can't get over it! The nigger of every description--yeller, +brown, or black, call him 'Chinese,' 'Injin,' or 'Kanaka,' or what +you like--hez to clar off of God's footstool when the Anglo-Saxon gets +started! It stands to reason that they can't live alongside o' printin' +presses, M'Cormick's reapers, and the Bible! Yes, sir! the Bible; and +Deacon Hornblower kin prove it to you. It's our manifest destiny to clar +them out--that's what we was put here for--and it's just the work we've +got to do!” + +I have ventured to quote Mr. Skinner's stirring remarks to show that +probably Jim and Li Tee ran away only in anticipation of a possible +lynching, and to prove that advanced sentiments of this high and +ennobling nature really obtained forty years ago in an ordinary American +frontier town which did not then dream of Expansion and Empire! + +Howbeit, Mr. Skinner did not make allowance for mere human nature. +One morning Master Bob Skinner, his son, aged twelve, evaded the +schoolhouse, and started in an old Indian “dug-out” to invade the +island of the miserable refugees. His purpose was not clearly defined +to himself, but was to be modified by circumstances. He would either +capture Li Tee and Jim, or join them in their lawless existence. He +had prepared himself for either event by surreptitiously borrowing +his father's gun. He also carried victuals, having heard that Jim ate +grasshoppers and Li Tee rats, and misdoubting his own capacity for +either diet. He paddled slowly, well in shore, to be secure from +observation at home, and then struck out boldly in his leaky canoe for +the island--a tufted, tussocky shred of the marshy promontory torn off +in some tidal storm. It was a lovely day, the bay being barely ruffled +by the afternoon “trades;” but as he neared the island he came upon the +swell from the bar and the thunders of the distant Pacific, and grew a +little frightened. The canoe, losing way, fell into the trough of the +swell, shipping salt water, still more alarming to the prairie-bred boy. +Forgetting his plan of a stealthy invasion, he shouted lustily as the +helpless and water-logged boat began to drift past the island; at which +a lithe figure emerged from the reeds, threw off a tattered blanket, and +slipped noiselessly, like some animal, into the water. It was Jim, who, +half wading, half swimming, brought the canoe and boy ashore. Master +Skinner at once gave up the idea of invasion, and concluded to join the +refugees. + +This was easy in his defenceless state, and his manifest delight in +their rude encampment and gypsy life, although he had been one of Li +Tee's oppressors in the past. But that stolid pagan had a philosophical +indifference which might have passed for Christian forgiveness, and +Jim's native reticence seemed like assent. And, possibly, in the minds +of these two vagabonds there might have been a natural sympathy for this +other truant from civilization, and some delicate flattery in the fact +that Master Skinner was not driven out, but came of his own accord. +Howbeit, they fished together, gathered cranberries on the marsh, shot +a wild duck and two plovers, and when Master Skinner assisted in the +cooking of their fish in a conical basket sunk in the ground, filled +with water, heated by rolling red-hot stones from their drift-wood fire +into the buried basket, the boy's felicity was supreme. And what an +afternoon! To lie, after this feast, on their bellies in the grass, +replete like animals, hidden from everything but the sunshine above +them; so quiet that gray clouds of sandpipers settled fearlessly around +them, and a shining brown muskrat slipped from the ooze within a few +feet of their faces--was to feel themselves a part of the wild life in +earth and sky. Not that their own predatory instincts were hushed by +this divine peace; that intermitting black spot upon the water, declared +by the Indian to be a seal, the stealthy glide of a yellow fox in the +ambush of a callow brood of mallards, the momentary straying of an elk +from the upland upon the borders of the marsh, awoke their tingling +nerves to the happy but fruitless chase. And when night came, too soon, +and they pigged together around the warm ashes of their camp-fire, under +the low lodge poles of their wigwam of dried mud, reeds, and driftwood, +with the combined odors of fish, wood-smoke, and the warm salt breath of +the marsh in their nostrils, they slept contentedly. The distant lights +of the settlement went out one by one, the stars came out, very large +and very silent, to take their places. The barking of a dog on the +nearest point was followed by another farther inland. But Jim's dog, +curled at the feet of his master, did not reply. What had HE to do with +civilization? + +The morning brought some fear of consequences to Master Skinner, but no +abatement of his resolve not to return. But here he was oddly combated +by Li Tee. “S'pose you go back allee same. You tellee fam'lee canoe go +topside down--you plentee swimee to bush. Allee night in bush. Housee +big way off--how can get? Sabe?” + +“And I'll leave the gun, and tell Dad that when the canoe upset the gun +got drowned,” said the boy eagerly. + +Li Tee nodded. + +“And come again Saturday, and bring more powder and shot and a bottle +for Jim,” said Master Skinner excitedly. + +“Good!” grunted the Indian. + +Then they ferried the boy over to the peninsula, and set him on a trail +across the marshes, known only to themselves, which would bring him +home. And when the Editor the next morning chronicled among his news, +“Adrift on the Bay--A Schoolboy's Miraculous Escape,” he knew as little +what part his missing Chinese errand boy had taken in it as the rest of +his readers. + +Meantime the two outcasts returned to their island camp. It may have +occurred to them that a little of the sunlight had gone from it with +Bob; for they were in a dull, stupid way fascinated by the little white +tyrant who had broken bread with them. He had been delightfully selfish +and frankly brutal to them, as only a schoolboy could be, with the +addition of the consciousness of his superior race. Yet they each +longed for his return, although he was seldom mentioned in their scanty +conversation--carried on in monosyllables, each in his own language, or +with some common English word, or more often restricted solely to signs. +By a delicate flattery, when they did speak of him it was in what they +considered to be his own language. + +“Boston boy, plenty like catchee HIM,” Jim would say, pointing to a +distant swan. Or Li Tee, hunting a striped water snake from the reeds, +would utter stolidly, “Melikan boy no likee snake.” Yet the next two +days brought some trouble and physical discomfort to them. Bob +had consumed, or wasted, all their provisions--and, still more +unfortunately, his righteous visit, his gun, and his superabundant +animal spirits had frightened away the game, which their habitual quiet +and taciturnity had beguiled into trustfulness. They were half starved, +but they did not blame him. It would come all right when he returned. +They counted the days, Jim with secret notches on the long pole, Li Tee +with a string of copper “cash” he always kept with him. The eventful +day came at last,--a warm autumn day, patched with inland fog like blue +smoke and smooth, tranquil, open surfaces of wood and sea; but to their +waiting, confident eyes the boy came not out of either. They kept a +stolid silence all that day until night fell, when Jim said, “Mebbe +Boston boy go dead.” Li Tee nodded. It did not seem possible to these +two heathens that anything else could prevent the Christian child from +keeping his word. + +After that, by the aid of the canoe, they went much on the marsh, +hunting apart, but often meeting on the trail which Bob had taken, with +grunts of mutual surprise. These suppressed feelings, never made known +by word or gesture, at last must have found vicarious outlet in the +taciturn dog, who so far forgot his usual discretion as to once or twice +seat himself on the water's edge and indulge in a fit of howling. It had +been a custom of Jim's on certain days to retire to some secluded place, +where, folded in his blanket, with his back against a tree, he remained +motionless for hours. In the settlement this had been usually referred +to the after effects of drink, known as the “horrors,” but Jim had +explained it by saying it was “when his heart was bad.” And now it +seemed, by these gloomy abstractions, that “his heart was bad” very +often. And then the long withheld rains came one night on the wings of +a fierce southwester, beating down their frail lodge and scattering +it abroad, quenching their camp-fire, and rolling up the bay until it +invaded their reedy island and hissed in their ears. It drove the game +from Jim's gun; it tore the net and scattered the bait of Li Tee, the +fisherman. Cold and half starved in heart and body, but more dogged and +silent than ever, they crept out in their canoe into the storm-tossed +bay, barely escaping with their miserable lives to the marshy peninsula. +Here, on their enemy's ground, skulking in the rushes, or lying close +behind tussocks, they at last reached the fringe of forest below the +settlement. Here, too, sorely pressed by hunger, and doggedly reckless +of consequences, they forgot their caution, and a flight of teal fell to +Jim's gun on the very outskirts of the settlement. + +It was a fatal shot, whose echoes awoke the forces of civilization +against them. For it was heard by a logger in his hut near the +marsh, who, looking out, had seen Jim pass. A careless, good-natured +frontiersman, he might have kept the outcasts' mere presence to himself; +but there was that damning shot! An Indian with a gun! That weapon, +contraband of law, with dire fines and penalties to whoso sold or gave +it to him! A thing to be looked into--some one to be punished! An Indian +with a weapon that made him the equal of the white! Who was safe? +He hurried to town to lay his information before the constable, but, +meeting Mr. Skinner, imparted the news to him. The latter pooh-poohed +the constable, who he alleged had not yet discovered the whereabouts +of Jim, and suggested that a few armed citizens should make the chase +themselves. The fact was that Mr. Skinner, never quite satisfied in his +mind with his son's account of the loss of the gun, had put two and +two together, and was by no means inclined to have his own gun possibly +identified by the legal authority. Moreover, he went home and at once +attacked Master Bob with such vigor and so highly colored a description +of the crime he had committed, and the penalties attached to it, that +Bob confessed. More than that, I grieve to say that Bob lied. The Indian +had “stoled his gun,” and threatened his life if he divulged the theft. +He told how he was ruthlessly put ashore, and compelled to take a trail +only known to them to reach his home. In two hours it was reported +throughout the settlement that the infamous Jim had added robbery with +violence to his illegal possession of the weapon. The secret of the +island and the trail over the marsh was told only to a few. + +Meantime it had fared hard with the fugitives. Their nearness to +the settlement prevented them from lighting a fire, which might have +revealed their hiding-place, and they crept together, shivering all +night in a clump of hazel. Scared thence by passing but unsuspecting +wayfarers wandering off the trail, they lay part of the next day and +night amid some tussocks of salt grass, blown on by the cold sea-breeze; +chilled, but securely hidden from sight. Indeed, thanks to some +mysterious power they had of utter immobility, it was wonderful how they +could efface themselves, through quiet and the simplest environment. The +lee side of a straggling vine in the meadow, or even the thin ridge +of cast-up drift on the shore, behind which they would lie for hours +motionless, was a sufficient barrier against prying eyes. In this +occupation they no longer talked together, but followed each other with +the blind instinct of animals--yet always unerringly, as if conscious +of each other's plans. Strangely enough, it was the REAL animal +alone--their nameless dog--who now betrayed impatience and a certain +human infirmity of temper. The concealment they were resigned to, the +sufferings they mutely accepted, he alone resented! When certain scents +or sounds, imperceptible to their senses, were blown across their +path, he would, with bristling back, snarl himself into guttural and +strangulated fury. Yet, in their apathy, even this would have passed +them unnoticed, but that on the second night he disappeared suddenly, +returning after two hours' absence with bloody jaws--replete, but still +slinking and snappish. It was only in the morning that, creeping on +their hands and knees through the stubble, they came upon the torn and +mangled carcass of a sheep. The two men looked at each other without +speaking--they knew what this act of rapine meant to themselves. It +meant a fresh hue and cry after them--it meant that their starving +companion had helped to draw the net closer round them. The Indian +grunted, Li Tee smiled vacantly; but with their knives and fingers they +finished what the dog had begun, and became equally culpable. But that +they were heathens, they could not have achieved a delicate ethical +responsibility in a more Christian-like way. + +Yet the rice-fed Li Tee suffered most in their privations. His habitual +apathy increased with a certain physical lethargy which Jim could not +understand. When they were apart he sometimes found Li Tee stretched +on his back with an odd stare in his eyes, and once, at a distance, he +thought he saw a vague thin vapor drift from where the Chinese boy was +lying and vanish as he approached. When he tried to arouse him there +was a weak drawl in his voice and a drug-like odor in his breath. Jim +dragged him to a more substantial shelter, a thicket of alder. It was +dangerously near the frequented road, but a vague idea had sprung up in +Jim's now troubled mind that, equal vagabonds though they were, Li Tee +had more claims upon civilization, through those of his own race who +were permitted to live among the white men, and were not hunted to +“reservations” and confined there like Jim's people. If Li Tee was “heap +sick,” other Chinamen might find and nurse him. As for Li Tee, he had +lately said, in a more lucid interval: “Me go dead--allee samee Mellikan +boy. You go dead too--allee samee,” and then lay down again with +a glassy stare in his eyes. Far from being frightened at this, Jim +attributed his condition to some enchantment that Li Tee had evoked from +one of his gods--just as he himself had seen “medicine-men” of his own +tribe fall into strange trances, and was glad that the boy no longer +suffered. The day advanced, and Li Tee still slept. Jim could hear the +church bells ringing; he knew it was Sunday--the day on which he was +hustled from the main street by the constable; the day on which the +shops were closed, and the drinking saloons open only at the back door. +The day whereon no man worked--and for that reason, though he knew it +not, the day selected by the ingenious Mr. Skinner and a few friends as +especially fitting and convenient for a chase of the fugitives. The bell +brought no suggestion of this--though the dog snapped under his breath +and stiffened his spine. And then he heard another sound, far off and +vague, yet one that brought a flash into his murky eye, that lit up the +heaviness of his Hebraic face, and even showed a slight color in his +high cheek-bones. He lay down on the ground, and listened with suspended +breath. He heard it now distinctly. It was the Boston boy calling, and +the word he was calling was “Jim.” + +Then the fire dropped out of his eyes as he turned with his usual +stolidity to where Li Tee was lying. Him he shook, saying briefly: +“Boston boy come back!” But there was no reply, the dead body rolled +over inertly under his hand; the head fell back, and the jaw dropped +under the pinched yellow face. The Indian gazed at him slowly, and then +gravely turned again in the direction of the voice. Yet his dull mind +was perplexed, for, blended with that voice were other sounds like the +tread of clumsily stealthy feet. But again the voice called “Jim!” and +raising his hands to his lips he gave a low whoop in reply. This +was followed by silence, when suddenly he heard the voice--the boy's +voice--once again, this time very near him, saying eagerly:-- + +“There he is!” + +Then the Indian knew all. His face, however, did not change as he took +up his gun, and a man stepped out of the thicket into the trail:-- + +“Drop that gun, you d----d Injin.” + +The Indian did not move. + +“Drop it, I say!” + +The Indian remained erect and motionless. + +A rifle shot broke from the thicket. At first it seemed to have missed +the Indian, and the man who had spoken cocked his own rifle. But the +next moment the tall figure of Jim collapsed where he stood into a mere +blanketed heap. + +The man who had fired the shot walked towards the heap with the easy air +of a conqueror. But suddenly there arose before him an awful phantom, +the incarnation of savagery--a creature of blazing eyeballs, flashing +tusks, and hot carnivorous breath. He had barely time to cry out “A +wolf!” before its jaws met in his throat, and they rolled together on +the ground. + +But it was no wolf--as a second shot proved--only Jim's slinking dog; +the only one of the outcasts who at that supreme moment had gone back to +his original nature. + + + + +A VISION OF THE FOUNTAIN + + +Mr. Jackson Potter halted before the little cottage, half shop, half +hostelry, opposite the great gates of Domesday Park, where tickets of +admission to that venerable domain were sold. Here Mr. Potter revealed +his nationality as a Western American, not only in his accent, but in +a certain half-humorous, half-practical questioning of the +ticket-seller--as that quasi-official stamped his ticket--which was +nevertheless delivered with such unfailing good-humor, and such frank +suggestiveness of the perfect equality of the ticket-seller and the +well-dressed stranger that, far from producing any irritation, it +attracted the pleased attention not only of the official, but his wife +and daughter and a customer. Possibly the good looks of the stranger had +something to do with it. Jackson Potter was a singularly handsome young +fellow, with one of those ideal faces and figures sometimes seen in +Western frontier villages, attributable to no ancestor, but evolved +possibly from novels and books devoured by ancestresses in the long +solitary winter evenings of their lonely cabins on the frontier. A +beardless, classical head, covered by short flocculent blonde curls, +poised on a shapely neck and shoulders, was more Greek in outline +than suggestive of any ordinary American type. Finally, after having +thoroughly amused his small audience, he lifted his straw hat to the +“ladies,” and lounged out across the road to the gateway. Here he +paused, consulting his guide-book, and read aloud: “St. John's +gateway. This massive structure, according to Leland, was built +in”--murmured--“never mind when; we'll pass St. John,” marked the page +with his pencil, and tendering his ticket to the gate-keeper, heard, +with some satisfaction, that, as there were no other visitors just +then, and as the cicerone only accompanied PARTIES, he would be left to +himself, and at once plunged into a by-path. + +It was that loveliest of rare creations--a hot summer day in England, +with all the dampness of that sea-blown isle wrung out of it, exhaled +in the quivering blue vault overhead, or passing as dim wraiths in the +distant wood, and all the long-matured growth of that great old garden +vivified and made resplendent by the fervid sun. The ashes of dead and +gone harvests, even the dust of those who had for ages wrought in it, +turned again and again through incessant cultivation, seemed to move +and live once more in that present sunshine. All color appeared to be +deepened and mellowed, until even the very shadows of the trees were as +velvety as the sward they fell upon. The prairie-bred Potter, accustomed +to the youthful caprices and extravagances of his own virgin soil, could +not help feeling the influence of the ripe restraints of this. + +As he glanced through the leaves across green sunlit spaces to the +ivy-clad ruins of Domesday Abbey, which seemed itself a growth of +the very soil, he murmured to himself: “Things had been made mighty +comfortable for folks here, you bet!” Forgotten books he had read as a +boy, scraps of school histories, or rarer novels, came back to him as he +walked along, and peopled the solitude about him with their heroes. + +Nevertheless, it was unmistakably hot--a heat homelike in its intensity, +yet of a different effect, throwing him into languid reverie rather than +filling his veins with fire. Secure in his seclusion in the leafy chase, +he took off his jacket and rambled on in his shirt sleeves. Through the +opening he presently saw the abbey again, with the restored wing where +the noble owner lived for two or three weeks in the year, but now given +over to the prevailing solitude. And then, issuing from the chase, he +came upon a broad, moss-grown terrace. Before him stretched a tangled +and luxuriant wilderness of shrubs and flowers, darkened by cypress and +cedars of Lebanon; its dun depths illuminated by dazzling white statues, +vases, trellises, and paved paths, choked and lost in the trailing +growths of years of abandonment and forgetfulness. He consulted his +guide-book again. It was the “old Italian garden,” constructed under the +design of a famous Italian gardener by the third duke; but its studied +formality being displeasing to his successor, it was allowed to fall +into picturesque decay and negligent profusion, which were not, however, +disturbed by later descendants,--a fact deplored by the artistic writer +of the guide-book, who mournfully called attention to the rare beauty of +the marble statues, urns, and fountains, ruined by neglect, although one +or two of the rarer objects had been removed to Deep Dene Lodge, another +seat of the present duke. + +It is needless to say that Mr. Potter conceived at once a humorous +opposition to the artistic enthusiasm of the critic, and, plunging +into the garden, took a mischievous delight in its wildness and the +victorious struggle of nature with the formality of art. At every step +through the tangled labyrinth he could see where precision and order +had been invaded, and even the rigid masonry broken or upheaved by the +rebellious force. Yet here and there the two powers had combined to +offer an example of beauty neither could have effected alone. A passion +vine had overrun and enclasped a vase with a perfect symmetry no +sculptor could have achieved. A heavy balustrade was made ethereal with +a delicate fretwork of vegetation between its balusters like lace. Here, +however, the lap and gurgle of water fell gratefully upon the ear of +the perspiring and thirsty Mr. Potter, and turned his attention to more +material things. Following the sound, he presently came upon an enormous +oblong marble basin containing three time-worn fountains with grouped +figures. The pipes were empty, silent, and choked with reeds and water +plants, but the great basin itself was filled with water from some +invisible source. + +A terraced walk occupied one side of the long parallelogram; at +intervals and along the opposite bank, half shadowed by willows, tinted +marble figures of tritons, fauns, and dryads arose half hidden in the +reeds. They were more or less mutilated by time, and here and there only +the empty, moss-covered plinths that had once supported them could be +seen. But they were so lifelike in their subdued color in the shade that +he was for a moment startled. + +The water looked deliciously cool. An audacious thought struck him. He +was alone, and the place was a secluded one. He knew there were no other +visitors; the marble basin was quite hidden from the rest of the garden, +and approached only from the path by which he had come, and whose entire +view he commanded. He quietly and deliberately undressed himself under +the willows, and unhesitatingly plunged into the basin. The water was +four or five feet deep, and its extreme length afforded an excellent +swimming bath, despite the water-lilies and a few aquatic plants that +mottled its clear surface, or the sedge that clung to the bases of the +statues. He disported for some moments in the delicious element, and +then seated himself upon one of the half-submerged plinths, almost +hidden by reeds, that had once upheld a river god. Here, lazily resting +himself upon his elbow, half his body still below the water, his +quick ear was suddenly startled by a rustling noise and the sound of +footsteps. For a moment he was inclined to doubt his senses; he could +see only the empty path before him and the deserted terrace. But the +sound became more distinct, and to his great uneasiness appeared to +come from the OTHER side of the fringe of willows, where there was +undoubtedly a path to the fountain which he had overlooked. His clothes +were under those willows, but he was at least twenty yards from the bank +and an equal distance from the terrace. He was about to slip beneath the +water when, to his crowning horror, before he could do so, a young girl +slowly appeared from the hidden willow path full upon the terrace. She +was walking leisurely with a parasol over her head and a book in her +hand. Even in his intense consternation her whole figure--a charming +one in its white dress, sailor hat, and tan shoes--was imprinted on his +memory as she instinctively halted to look upon the fountain, evidently +an unexpected surprise to her. + +A sudden idea flashed upon him. She was at least sixty yards away; +he was half hidden in the reeds and well in the long shadows of the +willows. If he remained perfectly motionless she might overlook him at +that distance, or take him for one of the statues. He remembered also +that as he was resting on his elbow, his half-submerged body lying on +the plinth below water, he was somewhat in the attitude of one of the +river gods. And there was no other escape. If he dived he might not be +able to keep under water as long as she remained, and any movement +he knew would betray him. He stiffened himself and scarcely breathed. +Luckily for him his attitude had been a natural one and easy to keep. +It was well, too, for she was evidently in no hurry and walked slowly, +stopping from time to time to admire the basin and its figures. Suddenly +he was instinctively aware that she was looking towards him and even +changing her position, moving her pretty head and shading her eyes +with her hand as if for a better view. He remained motionless, scarcely +daring to breathe. Yet there was something so innocently frank and +undisturbed in her observation, that he knew as instinctively that she +suspected nothing, and took him for a half-submerged statue. He breathed +more freely. But presently she stopped, glanced around her, and, keeping +her eyes fixed in his direction, began to walk backwards slowly until +she reached a stone balustrade behind her. On this she leaped, and, +sitting down, opened in her lap the sketch-book she was carrying, and, +taking out a pencil, to his horror began to sketch! + +For a wild moment he recurred to his first idea of diving and swimming +at all hazards to the bank, but the conviction that now his slightest +movement must be detected held him motionless. He must save her the +mortification of knowing she was sketching a living man, if he died +for it. She sketched rapidly but fixedly and absorbedly, evidently +forgetting all else in her work. From time to time she held out her +sketch before her to compare it with her subject. Yet the seconds seemed +minutes and the minutes hours. Suddenly, to his great relief, a distant +voice was heard calling “Lottie.” It was a woman's voice; by its accent +it also seemed to him an American one. + +The young girl made a slight movement of impatience, but did not look +up, and her pencil moved still more rapidly. Again the voice called, +this time nearer. The young girl's pencil fairly flew over the paper, +as, still without looking up, she lifted a pretty voice and answered +back, “Y-e-e-s!” + +It struck him that her accent was also that of a compatriot. + +“Where on earth are you?” continued the first voice, which now appeared +to come from the other side of the willows on the path by which the +young girl had approached. “Here, aunty,” replied the girl, closing her +sketch-book with a snap and starting to her feet. + +A stout woman, fashionably dressed, made her appearance from the willow +path. + +“What have you been doing all this while?” she said querulously. “Not +sketching, I hope,” she added, with a suspicious glance at the book. +“You know your professor expressly forbade you to do so in your +holidays.” + +The young girl shrugged her shoulders. “I've been looking at the +fountains,” she replied evasively. + +“And horrid looking pagan things they are, too,” said the elder woman, +turning from them disgustedly, without vouchsafing a second glance. +“Come. If we expect to do the abbey, we must hurry up, or we won't catch +the train. Your uncle is waiting for us at the top of the garden.” + +And, to Potter's intense relief, she grasped the young girl's arm and +hurried her away, their figures the next moment vanishing in the tangled +shrubbery. + +Potter lost no time in plunging with his cramped limbs into the water +and regaining the other side. Here he quickly half dried himself with +some sun-warmed leaves and baked mosses, hurried on his clothes, and +hastened off in the opposite direction to the path taken by them, yet +with such circuitous skill and speed that he reached the great gateway +without encountering anybody. A brisk walk brought him to the station +in time to catch a stopping train, and in half an hour he was speeding +miles away from Domesday Park and his half-forgotten episode. + +***** + +Meantime the two ladies continued on their way to the abbey. “I don't +see why I mayn't sketch things I see about me,” said the young lady +impatiently. “Of course, I understand that I must go through the +rudimentary drudgery of my art and study from casts, and learn +perspective, and all that; but I can't see what's the difference between +working in a stuffy studio over a hand or arm that I know is only a +STUDY, and sketching a full or half length in the open air with the +wonderful illusion of light and shade and distance--and grouping and +combining them all--that one knows and feels makes a picture. The real +picture one makes is already in one's self.” + +“For goodness' sake, Lottie, don't go on again with your usual +absurdities. Since you are bent on being an artist, and your Popper +has consented and put you under the most expensive master in Paris, the +least you can do is to follow the rules. And I dare say he only wanted +you to 'sink the shop' in company. It's such horrid bad form for you +artistic people to be always dragging out your sketch-books. What would +you say if your Popper came over here, and began to examine every lady's +dress in society to see what material it was, just because he was a big +dry-goods dealer in America?” + +The young girl, accustomed to her aunt's extravagances, made no reply. +But that night she consulted her sketch, and was so far convinced of her +own instincts, and the profound impression the fountain had made upon +her, that she was enabled to secretly finish her interrupted sketch from +memory. For Miss Charlotte Forrest was a born artist, and in no mere +caprice had persuaded her father to let her adopt the profession, and +accepted the drudgery of a novitiate. She looked earnestly upon this +first real work of her hand and found it good! Still, it was but a +pencil sketch, and wanted the vivification of color. + +When she returned to Paris she began--still secretly--a larger study in +oils. She worked upon it in her own room every moment she could spare +from her studio practice, unknown to her professor. It absorbed her +existence; she grew thin and pale. When it was finished, and only then, +she showed it tremblingly to her master. He stood silent, in profound +astonishment. The easel before him showed a foreground of tangled +luxuriance, from which stretched a sheet of water like a darkened +mirror, while through parted reeds on its glossy surface arose the +half-submerged figure of a river god, exquisite in contour, yet whose +delicate outlines were almost a vision by the crowning illusion of +light, shadow, and atmosphere. + +“It is a beautiful copy, mademoiselle, and I forgive you breaking my +rules,” he said, drawing a long breath. “But I cannot now recall the +original picture.” + +“It's no copy of a picture, professor,” said the young girl timidly, and +she disclosed her secret. “It was the only perfect statue there,” she +added diffidently; “but I think it wanted--something.” + +“True,” said the professor abstractedly. “Where the elbow rests there +should be a half-inverted urn flowing with water; but the drawing of +that shoulder is so perfect--as is YOUR study of it--that one guesses +the missing forearm one cannot see, which clasped it. Beautiful! +beautiful!” + +Suddenly he stopped, and turned his eyes almost searchingly on hers. + +“You say you have never drawn from the human model, mademoiselle?” + +“Never,” said the young girl innocently. + +“True,” murmured the professor again. “These are the classic ideal +measurements. There are no limbs like those now. Yet it is wonderful! +And this gem, you say, is in England?” + +“Yes.” + +“Good! I am going there in a few days. I shall make a pilgrimage to see +it. Until then, mademoiselle, I beg you to break as many of my rules as +you like.” + +Three weeks later she found the professor one morning standing before +her picture in her private studio. “You have returned from England,” she +said joyfully. + +“I have,” said the professor gravely. + +“You have seen the original subject?” she said timidly. + +“I have NOT. I have not seen it, mademoiselle,” he said, gazing at +her mildly through his glasses, “because it does not exist, and never +existed.” + +The young girl turned pale. + +“Listen. I have go to England. I arrive at the Park of Domesday. I +penetrate the beautiful, wild garden. I approach the fountain. I see +the wonderful water, the exquisite light and shade, the lilies, the +mysterious reeds--beautiful, yet not as beautiful as you have made it, +mademoiselle, but no statue--no river god! I demand it of the concierge. +He knows of it absolutely nothing. I transport myself to the noble +proprietor, Monsieur le Duc, at a distant chateau where he has collected +the ruined marbles. It is not there.” + +“Yet I saw it,” said the young girl earnestly, yet with a troubled face. +“O professor,” she burst out appealingly, “what do you think it was?” + +“I think, mademoiselle,” said the professor gravely, “that you created +it. Believe me, it is a function of genius! More, it is a proof, a +necessity! You saw the beautiful lake, the ruined fountain, the soft +shadows, the empty plinth, curtained by reeds. You yourself say you feel +there was 'something wanting.' Unconsciously you yourself supplied it. +All that you had ever dreamt of mythology, all that you had ever seen +of statuary, thronged upon you at that supreme moment, and, evolved from +your own fancy, the river god was born. It is your own, chere enfant, as +much the offspring of your genius as the exquisite atmosphere you have +caught, the charm of light and shadow that you have brought away. Accept +my felicitations. You have little more to learn of me.” + +As he bowed himself out and descended the stairs he shrugged his +shoulders slightly. “She is an adorable genius,” he murmured. “Yet she +is also a woman. Being a woman, naturally she has a lover--this river +god! Why not?” + +The extraordinary success of Miss Forrest's picture and the +instantaneous recognition of her merit as an artist, apart from her +novel subject, perhaps went further to remove her uneasiness than any +serious conviction of the professor's theory. Nevertheless, it appealed +to her poetic and mystic imagination, and although other subjects from +her brush met with equally phenomenal success, and she was able in a +year to return to America with a reputation assured beyond criticism, +she never entirely forgot the strange incident connected with her +initial effort. + +And by degrees a singular change came over her. Rich, famous, and +attractive, she began to experience a sentimental and romantic +interest in that episode. Once, when reproached by her friends for her +indifference to her admirers, she had half laughingly replied that she +had once found her “ideal,” but never would again. Yet the jest had +scarcely passed her lips before she became pale and silent. With this +change came also a desire to re-purchase the picture, which she had +sold in her early success to a speculative American picture-dealer. On +inquiry she found, alas! that it had been sold only a day or two before +to a Chicago gentleman, of the name of Potter, who had taken a fancy to +it. + +Miss Forrest curled her pretty lip, but, nothing daunted, resolved +to effect her purpose, and sought the purchaser at his hotel. She was +ushered into a private drawing-room, where, on a handsome easel, stood +the newly acquired purchase. Mr. Potter was out, “but would return in a +moment.” + +Miss Forrest was relieved, for, alone and undisturbed, she could now let +her full soul go out to her romantic creation. As she stood there, she +felt the glamour of the old English garden come back to her, the play of +light and shadow, the silent pool, the godlike face and bust, with its +cast-down, meditative eyes, seen through the parted reeds. She clasped +her hands silently before her. Should she never see it again as then? + +“Pray don't let me disturb you; but won't you take a seat?” + +Miss Forrest turned sharply round. Then she started, uttered a +frightened little cry, and fainted away. + +Mr. Potter was touched, but a master of himself. As she came to, he +said quietly: “I came upon you suddenly--as you stood entranced by this +picture--just as I did when I first saw it. That's why I bought it. +Are you any relative of the Miss Forrest who painted it?” he continued, +quietly looking at her card, which he held in his hand. + +Miss Forrest recovered herself sufficiently to reply, and stated her +business with some dignity. + +“Ah,” said Mr. Potter, “THAT is another question. You see, the picture +has a special value to me, as I once saw an old-fashioned garden like +that in England. But that chap there,--I beg your pardon, I mean that +figure,--I fancy, is your own creation, entirely. However, I'll think +over your proposition, and if you will allow me I'll call and see you +about it.” + +Mr. Potter did call--not once, but many times--and showed quite a +remarkable interest in Miss Forrest's art. The question of the sale of +the picture, however, remained in abeyance. A few weeks later, after a +longer call than usual, Mr. Potter said:-- + +“Don't you think the best thing we can do is to make a kind of +compromise, and let us own the picture together?” + +And they did. + + + + +A ROMANCE OF THE LINE + + +As the train moved slowly out of the station, the Writer of Stories +looked up wearily from the illustrated pages of the magazines and +weeklies on his lap to the illustrated advertisements on the walls of +the station sliding past his carriage windows. It was getting to be +monotonous. For a while he had been hopefully interested in the bustle +of the departing trains, and looked up from his comfortable and early +invested position to the later comers with that sense of superiority +common to travelers; had watched the conventional leave-takings--always +feebly prolonged to the uneasiness of both parties--and contrasted it +with the impassive business promptitude of the railway officials; but +it was the old experience repeated. Falling back on the illustrated +advertisements again, he wondered if their perpetual recurrence at every +station would not at last bring to the tired traveler the loathing of +satiety; whether the passenger in railway carriages, continually offered +Somebody's oats, inks, washing blue, candles, and soap, apparently as +a necessary equipment for a few hours' journey, would not there and +thereafter forever ignore the use of these articles, or recoil from that +particular quality. Or, as an unbiased observer, he wondered if, on +the other hand, impressible passengers, after passing three or four +stations, had ever leaped from the train and refused to proceed further +until they were supplied with one or more of those articles. Had he ever +known any one who confided to him in a moment of expansiveness that he +had dated his use of Somebody's soap to an advertisement persistently +borne upon him through the medium of a railway carriage window? +No! Would he not have connected that man with that other certifying +individual who always appends a name and address singularly obscure and +unconvincing, yet who, at some supreme moment, recommends Somebody's +pills to a dying friend,--afflicted with a similar address,--which +restore him to life and undying obscurity. Yet these pictorial and +literary appeals must have a potency independent of the wares they +advertise, or they wouldn't be there. + +Perhaps he was the more sensitive to this monotony as he was just then +seeking change and novelty in order to write a new story. He was not +looking for material,--his subjects were usually the same,--he was +merely hoping for that relaxation and diversion which should freshen and +fit him for later concentration. Still, he had often heard of the odd +circumstances to which his craft were sometimes indebted for suggestion. +The invasion of an eccentric-looking individual--probably an innocent +tradesman into a railway carriage had given the hint for “A Night with +a Lunatic;” a nervously excited and belated passenger had once +unconsciously sat for an escaped forger; the picking up of a forgotten +novel in the rack, with passages marked in pencil, had afforded the plot +of a love story; or the germ of a romance had been found in an obscure +news paragraph which, under less listless moments, would have +passed unread. On the other hand, he recalled these inconvenient and +inconsistent moments from which the so-called “inspiration” sprang, the +utter incongruity of time and place in some brilliant conception, and +wondered if sheer vacuity of mind were really so favorable. + +Going back to his magazine again, he began to get mildly interested in +a story. Turning the page, however, he was confronted by a pictorial +advertising leaflet inserted between the pages, yet so artistic in +character that it might have been easily mistaken for an illustration of +the story he was reading, and perhaps was not more remote or obscure in +reference than many he had known. But the next moment he recognized +with despair that it was only a smaller copy of one he had seen on the +hoarding at the last station. He threw the leaflet aside, but the flavor +of the story was gone. The peerless detergent of the advertisement had +erased it from the tablets of his memory. He leaned back in his seat +again, and lazily watched the flying suburbs. Here were the usual +promising open spaces and patches of green, quickly succeeded again by +solid blocks of houses whose rear windows gave directly upon the line, +yet seldom showed an inquisitive face--even of a wondering child. It was +a strange revelation of the depressing effects of familiarity. Expresses +might thunder by, goods trains drag their slow length along, shunting +trains pipe all day beneath their windows, but the tenants heeded them +not. Here, too, was the junction, with its labyrinthine interlacing of +tracks that dazed the tired brain; the overburdened telegraph posts, +that looked as if they really could not stand another wire; the long +lines of empty, homeless, and deserted trains in sidings that had seen +better days; the idle trains, with staring vacant windows, which were +eventually seized by a pert engine hissing, “Come along, will you?” + and departed with a discontented grunt from every individual carriage +coupling; the racing trains, that suddenly appeared parallel with one's +carriage windows, begot false hopes of a challenge of speed, and then, +without warning, drew contemptuously and, superciliously away; the swift +eclipse of everything in a tunneled bridge; the long, slithering passage +of an “up” express, and then the flash of a station, incoherent and +unintelligible with pictorial advertisements again. + +He closed his eyes to concentrate his thought, and by degrees a pleasant +languor stole over him. The train had by this time attained that rate of +speed which gave it a slight swing and roll on curves and switches +not unlike the rocking of a cradle. Once or twice he opened his eyes +sleepily upon the waltzing trees in the double planes of distance, and +again closed them. Then, in one of these slight oscillations, he +felt himself ridiculously slipping into slumber, and awoke with some +indignation. Another station was passed, in which process the pictorial +advertisements on the hoardings and the pictures in his lap seemed to +have become jumbled up, confused, and to dance before him, and then +suddenly and strangely, without warning, the train stopped short--at +ANOTHER station. And then he arose, and--what five minutes before he +never conceived of doing--gathered his papers and slipped from the +carriage to the platform. When I say “he” I mean, of course, the +Writer of Stories; yet the man who slipped out was half his age and a +different-looking person. + +***** + +The change from the motion of the train--for it seemed that he had been +traveling several hours--to the firmer platform for a moment bewildered +him. The station looked strange, and he fancied it lacked a certain kind +of distinctness. But that quality was also noticeable in the porters and +loungers on the platform. He thought it singular, until it seemed to him +that they were not characteristic, nor in any way important or necessary +to the business he had in hand. Then, with an effort, he tried to +remember himself and his purpose, and made his way through the station +to the open road beyond. A van, bearing the inscription, “Removals to +Town and Country,” stood before him and blocked his way, but a dogcart +was in waiting, and a grizzled groom, who held the reins, touched his +hat respectfully. Although still dazed by his journey and uncertain of +himself, he seemed to recognize in the man that distinctive character +which was wanting in the others. The correctness of his surmise was +revealed a few moments later, when, after he had taken his seat beside +him, and they were rattling out of the village street, the man turned +towards him and said:-- + +“Tha'll know Sir Jarge?” + +“I do not,” said the young man. + +“Ay! but theer's many as cooms here as doan't, for all they cooms. +Tha'll say it ill becooms mea as war man and boy in Sir Jarge's sarvice +for fifty year, to say owt agen him, but I'm here to do it, or they +couldn't foolfil their business. Tha wast to ax me questions about Sir +Jarge and the Grange, and I wor to answer soa as to make tha think +thar was suthing wrong wi' un. Howbut I may save tha time and tell thea +downroight that Sir Jarge forged his uncle's will, and so gotten the +Grange. That 'ee keeps his niece in mortal fear o' he. That tha'll be +put in haunted chamber wi' a boggle.” + +“I think,” said the young man hesitatingly, “that there must be some +mistake. I do not know any Sir George, and I am NOT going to the +Grange.” + +“Eay! Then thee aren't the 'ero sent down from London by the story +writer?” + +“Not by THAT one,” said the young man diffidently. + +The old man's face changed. It was no mere figure of speech: it actually +was ANOTHER face that looked down upon the traveler. + +“Then mayhap your honor will be bespoken at the Angel's Inn,” he said, +with an entirely distinct and older dialect, “and a finer hostel for a +young gentleman of your condition ye'll not find on this side of Oxford. +A fair chamber, looking to the sun; sheets smelling of lavender from +Dame Margery's own store, and, for the matter of that, spread by the +fair hands of Maudlin, her daughter--the best favored lass that ever +danced under a Maypole. Ha! have at ye there, young sir! Not to speak of +the October ale of old Gregory, her father--ay, nor the rare Hollands, +that never paid excise duties to the king.” + +“I'm afraid,” said the young traveler timidly, “there's over a century +between us. There's really some mistake.” + +“What?” said the groom, “ye are NOT the young spark who is to marry +Mistress Amy at the Hall, yet makes a pother and mess of it all by a +duel with Sir Roger de Cadgerly, the wicked baronet, for his over-free +discourse with our fair Maudlin this very eve? Ye are NOT the traveler +whose post-chaise is now at the Falcon? Ye are not he that was bespoken +by the story writer in London?” + +“I don't think I am,” said the young man apologetically. “Indeed, as I +am feeling far from well, I think I'll get out and walk.” + +He got down--the vehicle and driver vanished in the distance. It did not +surprise him. “I must collect my thoughts,” he said. He did so. Possibly +the collection was not large, for presently he said, with a sigh of +relief:-- + +“I see it all now! My name is Paul Bunker. I am of the young branch of +an old Quaker family, rich and respected in the country, and I am on a +visit to my ancestral home. But I have lived since a child in America, +and am alien to the traditions and customs of the old country, and even +of the seat to which my fathers belong. I have brought with me from the +far West many peculiarities of speech and thought that may startle my +kinsfolk. But I certainly shall not address my uncle as 'Hoss!' nor +shall I say 'guess' oftener than is necessary.” + +Much brightened and refreshed by his settled identity, he had time, +as he walked briskly along, to notice the scenery, which was certainly +varied and conflicting in character, and quite inconsistent with his +preconceived notions of an English landscape. On his right, a lake of +the brightest cobalt blue stretched before a many-towered and terraced +town, which was relieved by a background of luxuriant foliage and +emerald-green mountains; on his left arose a rugged mountain, which he +was surprised to see was snow-capped, albeit a tunnel was observable +midway of its height, and a train just issuing from it. Almost +regretting that he had not continued on his journey, as he was fully +sensible that it was in some way connected with the railway he had +quitted, presently his attention was directed to the gateway of a +handsome park, whose mansion was faintly seen in the distance. Hurrying +towards him, down the avenue of limes, was a strange figure. It was that +of a man of middle age; clad in Quaker garb, yet with an extravagance +of cut and detail which seemed antiquated even for England. He had +evidently seen the young man approaching, and his face was beaming with +welcome. If Paul had doubted that it was his uncle, the first words he +spoke would have reassured him. + +“Welcome to Hawthorn Hall,” said the figure, grasping his hand heartily, +“but thee will excuse me if I do not tarry with thee long at present, +for I am hastening, even now, with some nourishing and sustaining food +for Giles Hayward, a farm laborer.” He pointed to a package he was +carrying. “But thee will find thy cousins Jane and Dorcas Bunker taking +tea in the summer-house. Go to them! Nay--positively--I may not linger, +but will return to thee quickly.” And, to Paul's astonishment, he +trotted away on his sturdy, respectable legs, still beaming and carrying +his package in his hand. + +“Well, I'll be dog-goned! but the old man ain't going to be left, you +bet!” he ejaculated, suddenly remembering his dialect. “He'll get there, +whether school keeps or not!” Then, reflecting that no one heard him, he +added simply, “He certainly was not over civil towards the nephew he +has never seen before. And those girls--whom I don't know! How very +awkward!” + +Nevertheless, he continued his way up the avenue towards the mansion. +The park was beautifully kept. Remembering the native wildness and +virgin seclusion of the Western forest, he could not help contrasting it +with the conservative gardening of this pretty woodland, every rood +of which had been patrolled by keepers and rangers, and preserved and +fostered hundreds of years before he was born, until warmed for human +occupancy. At times the avenue was crossed by grass drives, where +the original woodland had been displaced, not by the exigency of a +“clearing” for tillage, as in his own West, but for the leisurely +pleasure of the owner. Then, a few hundred yards from the house +itself,--a quaint Jacobean mansion,--he came to an open space where the +sylvan landscape had yielded to floral cultivation, and so fell upon a +charming summer-house, or arbor, embowered with roses. It must have +been the one of which his uncle had spoken, for there, to his wondering +admiration, sat two little maids before a rustic table, drinking tea +demurely, yes, with all the evident delight of a childish escapade from +their elders. While in the picturesque quaintness of their attire +there was still a formal suggestion of the sect to which their father +belonged, their summer frocks--differing in color, yet each of the same +subdued tint--were alike in cut and fashion, and short enough to show +their dainty feet in prim slippers and silken hose that matched their +frocks. As the afternoon sun glanced through the leaves upon their pink +cheeks, tied up in quaint hats by ribbons under their chins, they made a +charming picture. At least Paul thought so as he advanced towards them, +hat in hand. They looked up at his approach, but again cast down their +eyes with demure shyness; yet he fancied that they first exchanged +glances with each other, full of mischievous intelligence. + +“I am your cousin Paul,” he said smilingly, “though I am afraid I am +introducing myself almost as briefly as your father just now excused +himself to me. He told me I would find you here, but he himself was +hastening on a Samaritan mission.” + +“With a box in his hand?” said the girls simultaneously, exchanging +glances with each other again. + +“With a box containing some restorative, I think,” responded Paul, a +little wonderingly. + +“Restorative! So THAT'S what he calls it now, is it?” said one of the +girls saucily. “Well, no one knows what's in the box, though he always +carries it with him. Thee never sees him without it”-- + +“And a roll of paper,” suggested the other girl. + +“Yes, a roll of paper--but one never knows what it is!” said the +first speaker. “It's very strange. But no matter now, Paul. Welcome to +Hawthorn Hall. I am Jane Bunker, and this is Dorcas.” She stopped, +and then, looking down demurely, added, “Thee may kiss us both, cousin +Paul.” + +The young man did not wait for a second invitation, but gently touched +his lips to their soft young cheeks. + +“Thee does not speak like an American, Paul. Is thee really and truly +one?” continued Jane. + +Paul remembered that he had forgotten his dialect, but it was too late +now. + +“I am really and truly one, and your own cousin, and I hope you will +find me a very dear”-- + +“Oh!” said Dorcas, starting up primly. “You must really allow me to +withdraw.” To the young man's astonishment, she seized her parasol, and, +with a youthful affectation of dignity, glided from the summer-house and +was lost among the trees. + +“Thy declaration to me was rather sudden,” said Jane quietly, in answer +to his look of surprise, “and Dorcas is peculiarly sensitive and less +like the 'world's people' than I am. And it was just a little cruel, +considering that she has loved thee secretly all these years, followed +thy fortunes in America with breathless eagerness, thrilled at thy +narrow escapes, and wept at thy privations.” + +“But she has never seen me before!” said the astounded Paul. + +“And thee had never seen me before, and yet thee has dared to propose to +me five minutes after thee arrived, and in her presence.” + +“But, my dear girl!” expostulated Paul. + +“Stand off!” she said, rapidly opening her parasol and interposing +it between them. “Another step nearer--ay, even another word of +endearment--and I shall be compelled--nay, forced,” she added in a lower +voice, “to remove this parasol, lest it should be crushed and ruined!” + +“I see,” he said gloomily, “you have been reading novels; but so have +I, and the same ones! Nevertheless, I intended only to tell you that I +hoped you would always find me a kind friend.” + +She shut her parasol up with a snap. “And I only intended to tell thee +that my heart was given to another.” + +“You INTENDED--and now?” + +“Is it the 'kind friend' who asks?” + +“If it were not?” + +“Really?” + +“Yes.” + +“Ah!” + +“Oh!” + +“But thee loves another?” she said, toying with her cup. + +He attempted to toy with his, but broke it. A man lacks delicacy in this +kind of persiflage. “You mean I am loved by another,” he said bluntly. + +“You dare to say that!” she said, flashing, in spite of her prim +demeanor. + +“No, but YOU did just now! You said your sister loved me!” + +“Did I?” she said dreamily. “Dear! dear! That's the trouble of trying to +talk like Mr. Blank's delightful dialogues. One gets so mixed!” + +“Yet you will be a sister to me?” he said. “'Tis an old American joke, +but 'twill serve.” + +There was a long silence. + +“Had thee not better go to sister Dorcas? She is playing with the cows,” + said Jane plaintively. + +“You forget,” he returned gravely, “that, on page 27 of the novel we +have both read, at this point he is supposed to kiss her.” + +She had forgotten, but they both remembered in time. At this moment a +scream came faintly from the distance. They both started, and rose. + +“It is sister Dorcas,” said Jane, sitting down again and pouring out +another cup of tea. “I have always told her that one of those Swiss cows +would hook her.” + +Paul stared at her with a strange revulsion of feeling. “I could +save Dorcas,” he muttered to himself, “in less time than it takes to +describe.” He paused, however, as he reflected that this would depend +entirely upon the methods of the writer of this description. “I could +rescue her! I have only to take the first clothes-line that I find, +and with that knowledge and skill with the lasso which I learned in the +wilds of America, I could stop the charge of the most furious ruminant. +I will!” and without another word he turned and rushed off in the +direction of the sound. + +***** + +He had not gone a hundred yards before he paused, a little bewildered. +To the left could still be seen the cobalt lake with the terraced +background; to the right the rugged mountains. He chose the latter. +Luckily for him a cottager's garden lay in his path, and from a line +supported by a single pole depended the homely linen of the cottager. To +tear these garments from the line was the work of a moment (although +it represented the whole week's washing), and hastily coiling the rope +dexterously in his hand, he sped onward. Already panting with exertion +and excitement, a few roods farther he was confronted with a spectacle +that left him breathless. + +A woman--young, robust, yet gracefully formed--was running ahead of him, +driving before her with an open parasol an animal which he instantly +recognized as one of that simple yet treacherous species most feared by +the sex--known as the “Moo Cow.” + +For a moment he was appalled by the spectacle. But it was only for a +moment! Recalling his manhood and her weakness, he stopped, and bracing +his foot against a stone, with a graceful flourish of his lasso around +his head, threw it in the air. It uncoiled slowly, sped forward with +unerring precision, and missed! With the single cry of “Saved!” the fair +stranger sank fainting in his arms! He held her closely until the color +came back to her pale face. Then he quietly disentangled the lasso from +his legs. + +“Where am I?” she said faintly. + +“In the same place,” he replied, slowly but firmly. “But,” he added, +“you have changed!” + +She had, indeed, even to her dress. It was now of a vivid brick red, and +so much longer in the skirt that it seemed to make her taller. Only her +hat remained the same. + +“Yes,” she said, in a low, reflective voice and a disregard of her +previous dialect, as she gazed up in his eyes with an eloquent lucidity, +“I have changed, Paul! I feel myself changing at those words you uttered +to Jane. There are moments in a woman's life that man knows nothing +of; moments bitter and cruel, sweet and merciful, that change her whole +being; moments in which the simple girl becomes a worldly woman; moments +in which the slow procession of her years is never noted--except by +another woman! Moments that change her outlook on the world and her +relations to it--and her husband's relations! Moments when the maid +becomes a wife, the wife a widow, the widow a re-married woman, by a +simple, swift illumination of the fancy. Moments when, wrought upon by +a single word--a look--an emphasis and rising inflection, all logical +sequence is cast away, processes are lost--inductions lead nowhere. +Moments when the inharmonious becomes harmonious, the indiscreet +discreet, the inefficient efficient, and the inevitable evitable. I +mean,” she corrected herself hurriedly--“You know what I mean! If you +have not felt it you have read it!” + +“I have,” he said thoughtfully. “We have both read it in the same novel. +She is a fine writer.” + +“Ye-e-s.” She hesitated with that slight resentment of praise of another +woman so delightful in her sex. “But you have forgotten the Moo Cow!” + and she pointed to where the distracted animal was careering across the +lawn towards the garden. + +“You are right,” he said, “the incident is not yet closed. Let us pursue +it.” + +They both pursued it. Discarding the useless lasso, he had recourse to a +few well-aimed epithets. The infuriated animal swerved and made directly +towards a small fountain in the centre of the garden. In attempting to +clear it, it fell directly into the deep cup-like basin and remained +helplessly fixed, with its fore-legs projecting uneasily beyond the rim. + +“Let us leave it there,” she said, “and forget it--and all that has +gone before. Believe me,” she added, with a faint sigh, “it is best. Our +paths diverge from this moment. I go to the summer-house, and you go to +the Hall, where my father is expecting you.” He would have detained her +a moment longer, but she glided away and was gone. + +Left to himself again, that slight sense of bewilderment which had +clouded his mind for the last hour began to clear away; his singular +encounter with the girls strangely enough affected him less strongly +than his brief and unsatisfactory interview with his uncle. For, after +all, he was his host, and upon him depended his stay at Hawthorn Hall. +The mysterious and slighting allusions of his cousins to the old man's +eccentricities also piqued his curiosity. Why had they sneered at his +description of the contents of the package he carried--and what did +it really contain? He did not reflect that it was none of his +business,--people in his situation seldom do,--and he eagerly hurried +towards the Hall. But he found in his preoccupation he had taken the +wrong turning in the path, and that he was now close to the wall which +bounded and overlooked the highway. Here a singular spectacle presented +itself. A cyclist covered with dust was seated in the middle of the +road, trying to restore circulation to his bruised and injured leg by +chafing it with his hands, while beside him lay his damaged bicycle. He +had evidently met with an accident. In an instant Paul had climbed the +wall and was at his side. + +“Can I offer you any assistance?” he asked eagerly. + +“Thanks--no! I've come a beastly cropper over something or other on +this road, and I'm only bruised, though the machine has suffered worse,” + replied the stranger, in a fresh, cheery voice. He was a good-looking +fellow of about Paul's own age, and the young American's heart went out +towards him. + +“How did it happen?” asked Paul. + +“That's what puzzles me,” said the stranger. “I was getting out of +the way of a queer old chap in the road, and I ran over something that +seemed only an old scroll of paper; but the shock was so great that +I was thrown, and I fancy I was for a few moments unconscious. Yet I +cannot see any other obstruction in the road, and there's only that bit +of paper.” He pointed to the paper,--a half-crushed roll of ordinary +foolscap, showing the mark of the bicycle upon it. + +A strange idea came into Paul's mind. He picked up the paper and +examined it closely. Besides the mark already indicated, it showed two +sharp creases about nine inches long, and another exactly at the point +of the impact of the bicycle. Taking a folded two-foot rule from +his pocket, he carefully measured these parallel creases and made an +exhaustive geometrical calculation with his pencil on the paper. The +stranger watched him with awed and admiring interest. Rising, he again +carefully examined the road, and was finally rewarded by the discovery +of a sharp indentation in the dust, which, on measurement and comparison +with the creases in the paper and the calculations he had just made, +proved to be identical. + +“There was a solid body in that paper,” said Paul quietly; “a +parallelogram exactly nine inches long and three wide.” + +“I say! you're wonderfully clever, don't you know,” said the stranger, +with unaffected wonder. “I see it all--a brick.” + +Paul smiled gently and shook his head. “That is the hasty inference of +an inexperienced observer. You will observe at the point of impact of +your wheel the parallel crease is CURVED, as from the yielding of the +resisting substances, and not BROKEN, as it would be by the crumbling of +a brick.” + +“I say, you're awfully detective, don't you know! just like that +fellow--what's his name?” said the stranger admiringly. + +The words recalled Paul to himself. Why was he acting like a detective? +and what was he seeking to discover? Nevertheless, he felt impelled +to continue. “And that queer old chap whom you met--why didn't he help +you?” + +“Because I passed him before I ran into the--the parallelogram, and I +suppose he didn't know what happened behind him?” + +“Did he have anything in his hand?” + +“Can't say.” + +“And you say you were unconscious afterwards?” + +“Yes!” + +“Long enough for the culprit to remove the principal evidence of his +crime?” + +“Come! I say, really you are--you know you are!” + +“Have you any secret enemy?” + +“No.” + +“And you don't know Mr. Bunker, the man who owns this vast estate?” + +“Not at all. I'm from Upper Tooting.” + +“Good afternoon,” said Paul abruptly, and turned away. + +It struck him afterwards that his action might have seemed uncivil, and +even inhuman, to the bruised cyclist, who could hardly walk. But it was +getting late, and he was still far from the Hall, which, oddly enough, +seemed to be no longer visible from the road. He wandered on for some +time, half convinced that he had passed the lodge gates, yet hoping to +find some other entrance to the domain. Dusk was falling; the rounded +outlines of the park trees beyond the wall were solid masses of shadow. +The full moon, presently rising, restored them again to symmetry, and at +last he, to his relief, came upon the massive gateway. Two lions ramped +in stone on the side pillars. He thought it strange that he had not +noticed the gateway on his previous entrance, but he remembered that he +was fully preoccupied with the advancing figure of his uncle. In a few +minutes the Hall itself appeared, and here again he was surprised that +he had overlooked before its noble proportions and picturesque outline. +Its broad terraces, dazzlingly white in the moonlight; its long line of +mullioned windows, suffused with a warm red glow from within, made it +look like part of a wintry landscape--and suggested a Christmas card. +The venerable ivy that hid the ravages time had made in its walls looked +like black carving. His heart swelled with strange emotions as he gazed +at his ancestral hall. How many of his blood had lived and died there; +how many had gone forth from that great porch to distant lands! He tried +to think of his father--a little child--peeping between the balustrades +of that terrace. He tried to think of it, and perhaps would have +succeeded had it not occurred to him that it was a known fact that his +uncle had bought the estate and house of an impoverished nobleman only +the year before. Yet--he could not tell why--he seemed to feel higher +and nobler for that trial. + +The terrace was deserted, and so quiet that as he ascended to it his +footsteps seemed to echo from the walls. When he reached the portals, +the great oaken door swung noiselessly on its hinges--opened by some +unseen but waiting servitor--and admitted him to a lofty hall, dark +with hangings and family portraits, but warmed by a red carpet the whole +length of its stone floor. For a moment he waited for the servant to +show him to the drawing-room or his uncle's study. But no one appeared. +Believing this to be a part of the characteristic simplicity of the +Quaker household, he boldly entered the first door, and found himself in +a brilliantly lit and perfectly empty drawing-room. The same experience +met him with the other rooms on that floor--the dining-room displaying +an already set, exquisitely furnished and decorated table, with chairs +for twenty guests! He mechanically ascended the wide oaken staircase +that led to the corridor of bedrooms above a central salon. Here he +found only the same solitude. Bedroom doors yielded to his touch, only +to show the same brilliantly lit vacancy. He presently came upon one +room which seemed to give unmistakable signs of HIS OWN occupancy. +Surely there stood his own dressing-case on the table! and his own +evening clothes carefully laid out on another, as if fresh from a +valet's hands. He stepped hastily into the corridor--there was no one +there; he rang the bell--there was no response! But he noticed that +there was a jug of hot water in his basin, and he began dressing +mechanically. + +There was little doubt that he was in a haunted house, but this did not +particularly disturb him. Indeed, he found himself wondering if it could +be logically called a haunted house--unless he himself was haunting it, +for there seemed to be no other there. Perhaps the apparitions would +come later, when he was dressed. Clearly it was not his uncle's +house--and yet, as he had never been inside his uncle's house, he +reflected that he ought not to be positive. + +He finished dressing and sat down in an armchair with a kind of +thoughtful expectancy. But presently his curiosity became impatient of +the silence and mystery, and he ventured once more to explore the house. +Opening his bedroom door, he found himself again upon the deserted +corridor, but this time he could distinctly hear a buzz of voices from +the drawing-room below. Assured that he was near a solution of the +mystery, he rapidly descended the broad staircase and made his way to +the open door of the drawing-room. But although the sound of voices +increased as he advanced, when he entered the room, to his utter +astonishment, it was as empty as before. + +Yet, in spite of his bewilderment and confusion, he was able to +follow one of the voices, which, in its peculiar distinctness and +half-perfunctory tone, he concluded must belong to the host of the +invisible assembly. + +“Ah,” said the voice, greeting some unseen visitor, “so glad you have +come. Afraid your engagements just now would keep you away.” Then the +voice dropped to a lower and more confidential tone. “You must take down +Lady Dartman, but you will have Miss Morecamp--a clever girl--on the +other side of you. Ah, Sir George! So good of you to come. All well at +the Priory? So glad to hear it.” (Lower and more confidentially.) “You +know Mrs. Monkston. You'll sit by her. A little cut up by her husband +losing his seat. Try to amuse her.” + +Emboldened by desperation, Paul turned in the direction of the voice. +“I am Paul Bunker,” he said hesitatingly. “I'm afraid you'll think me +intrusive, but I was looking for my uncle, and”-- + +“Intrusive, my dear boy! The son of my near neighbor in the country +intrusive? Really, now, I like that! Grace!” (the voice turned in +another direction) “here is the American nephew of our neighbor Bunker +at Widdlestone, who thinks he is 'a stranger.'” + +“We all knew of your expected arrival at Widdlestone--it was so good +of you to waive ceremony and join us,” said a well-bred feminine voice, +which Paul at once assumed to belong to the hostess. “But I must find +some one for your dinner partner. Mary” (here her voice was likewise +turned away), “this is Mr. Bunker, the nephew of an old friend and +neighbor in Upshire;” (the voice again turned to him), “you will take +Miss Morecamp in. My dear” (once again averted), “I must find some one +else to console poor dear Lord Billingtree with.” Here the hostess's +voice was drowned by fresh arrivals. + +Bewildered and confused as he was, standing in this empty desert of +a drawing-room, yet encompassed on every side by human voices, so +marvelous was the power of suggestion, he seemed to almost feel the +impact of the invisible crowd. He was trying desperately to realize his +situation when a singularly fascinating voice at his elbow unexpectedly +assisted him. It was evidently his dinner partner. + +“I suppose you must be tired after your journey. When did you arrive?” + +“Only a few hours ago,” said Paul. + +“And I dare say you haven't slept since you arrived. One doesn't on the +passage, you know; the twenty hours pass so quickly, and the experience +is so exciting--to US at least. But I suppose as an American you are +used to it.” + +Paul gasped. He had passively accepted the bodiless conversation, +because it was at least intelligible! But NOW! Was he going mad? + +She evidently noticed his silence. “Never mind,” she continued, “you +can tell me all about it at dinner. Do you know I always think that +this sort of thing--what we're doing now,--this ridiculous formality +of reception,--which I suppose is after all only a concession to our +English force of habit,--is absurd! We ought to pass, as it were, +directly from our houses to the dinner-table. It saves time.” + +“Yes--no--that is--I'm afraid I don't follow you,” stammered Paul. + +There was a slight pout in her voice as she replied: “No matter now--we +must follow them--for our host is moving off with Lady Billingtree, and +it's our turn now.” + +So great was the illusion that he found himself mechanically offering +his arm as he moved through the empty room towards the door. Then he +descended the staircase without another word, preceded, however, by +the sound of his host's voice. Following this as a blind man might, he +entered the dining-room, which to his discomfiture was as empty as the +salon above. Still following the host's voice, he dropped into a chair +before the empty table, wondering what variation of the Barmecide feast +was in store for him. Yet the hum of voices from the vacant chairs +around the board so strongly impressed him that he could almost believe +that he was actually at dinner. + +“Are you seated?” asked the charming voice at his side. + +“Yes,” a little wonderingly, as his was the only seat visibly occupied. + +“I am so glad that this silly ceremony is over. By the way, where are +you?” + +Paul would have liked to answer, “Lord only knows!” but he reflected +that it might not sound polite. “Where am I?” he feebly repeated. + +“Yes; where are you dining?” + +It seemed a cool question under the circumstances, but he answered +promptly,-- + +“With you.” + +“Of course,” said the charming voice; “but where are you eating your +dinner?” + +Considering that he was not eating anything, Paul thought this cooler +still. But he answered briefly, “In Upshire.” + +“Oh! At your uncle's?” + +“No,” said Paul bluntly; “in the next house.” + +“Why, that's Sir William's--our host's--and he and his family are here +in London. You are joking.” + +“Listen!” said Paul desperately. Then in a voice unconsciously lowered +he hurriedly told her where he was--how he came there--the empty +house--the viewless company! To his surprise the only response was a +musical little laugh. But the next moment her voice rose higher with an +unmistakable concern in it, apparently addressing their invisible host. + +“Oh, Sir William, only think how dreadful. Here's poor Mr. Bunker, alone +in an empty house, which he has mistaken for his uncle's--and without +any dinner!” + +“Really; dear, dear! How provoking! But how does he happen to be WITH +US? James, how is this?” + +“If you please, Sir William,” said a servant's respectful voice, +“Widdlestone is in the circuit and is switched on with the others. We +heard that a gentleman's luggage had arrived at Widdlestone, and we +telegraphed for the rooms to be made ready, thinking we'd have her +ladyship's orders later.” + +A single gleam of intelligence flashed upon Paul. His luggage--yes, had +been sent from the station to the wrong house, and he had unwittingly +followed. But these voices! whence did they come? And where was the +actual dinner at which his host was presiding? It clearly was not at +this empty table. + +“See that he has everything he wants at once,” said Sir William; “there +must be some one there.” Then his voice turned in the direction of +Paul again, and he said laughingly, “Possess your soul and appetite in +patience for a moment, Mr. Bunker; you will be only a course behind us. +But we are lucky in having your company--even at your own discomfort.” + +Still more bewildered, Paul turned to his invisible partner. “May I ask +where YOU are dining?” + +“Certainly; at home in Curzon Street,” returned the pretty voice. “It +was raining so, I did not go out.” + +“And--Lord Billington?” faltered Paul. + +“Oh, he's in Scotland--at his own place.” + +“Then, in fact, nobody is dining here at all,” said Paul desperately. + +There was a slight pause, and then the voice responded, with a touch of +startled suggestion in it: “Good heavens, Mr. Bunker! Is it possible you +don't know we're dining by telephone?” + +“By what?” + +“Telephone. Yes. We're a telephonic dinner-party. We are dining in our +own houses; but, being all friends, we're switched on to each other, +and converse exactly as we would at table. It saves a great trouble and +expense, for any one of us can give the party, and the poorest can equal +the most extravagant. People who are obliged to diet can partake of +their own slops at home, and yet mingle with the gourmets without +awkwardness or the necessity of apology. We are spared the spectacle, at +least, of those who eat and drink too much. We can switch off a bore at +once. We can retire when we are fatigued, without leaving a blank space +before the others. And all this without saying anything of the higher +spiritual and intellectual effect--freed from material grossness of +appetite and show--which the dinner party thus attains. But you are +surely joking! You, an American, and not know it! Why, it comes from +Boston. Haven't you read that book, 'Jumping a Century'? It's by an +American.” + +A strange illumination came upon Paul. Where had he heard something like +this before? But at the same moment his thoughts were diverted by the +material entrance of a footman, bearing a silver salver with his dinner. +It was part of his singular experience that the visible entrance of this +real, commonplace mortal--the only one he had seen--in the midst of this +voiceless solitude was distinctly unreal, and had all the effect of an +apparition. He distrusted it and the dishes before him. But his lively +partner's voice was now addressing an unseen occupant of the next chair. +Had she got tired of his ignorance, or was it feminine tact to enable +him to eat something? He accepted the latter hypothesis, and tried to +eat. But he felt himself following the fascinating voice in all the +charm of its youthful and spiritual inflections. Taking advantage of its +momentary silence, he said gently,-- + +“I confess my ignorance, and am willing to admit all you claim for this +wonderful invention. But do you think it compensates for the loss of the +individual person? Take my own case--if you will not think me personal. +I have never had the pleasure of seeing you; do you believe that I +am content with only that suggestion of your personality which the +satisfaction of hearing your voice affords me?” + +There was a pause, and then a very mischievous ring in the voice +that replied: “It certainly is a personal question, and it is another +blessing of this invention that you'll never know whether I am blushing +or not; but I forgive you, for I never before spoke to any one I had +never seen--and I suppose it's confusion. But do you really think you +would know me--the REAL one--any better? It is the real person who +thinks and speaks, not the outward semblance that we see, which +very often unfairly either attracts or repels us? We can always SHOW +ourselves at our best, but we must, at last, reveal our true colors +through our thoughts and speech. Isn't it better to begin with the real +thing first?” + +“I hope, at least, to have the privilege of judging by myself,” said +Paul gallantly. “You will not be so cruel as not to let me see you +elsewhere, otherwise I shall feel as if I were in some dream, and will +certainly be opposed to your preference for realities.” + +“I am not certain if the dream would not be more interesting to you,” + said the voice laughingly. “But I think your hostess is already saying +'good-by.' You know everybody goes at once at this kind of party; the +ladies don't retire first, and the gentlemen join them afterwards. In +another moment we'll ALL be switched off; but Sir William wants me to +tell you that his coachman will drive you to your uncle's, unless +you prefer to try and make yourself comfortable for the night here. +Good-by!” + +The voices around him seemed to grow fainter, and then utterly cease. +The lights suddenly leaped up, went out, and left him in complete +darkness. He attempted to rise, but in doing so overset the dishes +before him, which slid to the floor. A cold air seemed to blow across +his feet. The “good-by” was still ringing in his ears as he straightened +himself to find he was in his railway carriage, whose door had just been +opened for a young lady who was entering the compartment from a wayside +station. “Good-by,” she repeated to the friend who was seeing her off. +The Writer of Stories hurriedly straightened himself, gathered up the +magazines and papers that had fallen from his lap, and glanced at the +station walls. The old illustrations glanced back at him! He looked at +his watch; he had been asleep just ten minutes! + + + + +BOHEMIAN DAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO + + +It is but just to the respectable memory of San Francisco that in these +vagrant recollections I should deprecate at once any suggestion that the +levity of my title described its dominant tone at any period of my early +experiences. On the contrary, it was a singular fact that while the +rest of California was swayed by an easy, careless unconventionalism, or +swept over by waves of emotion and sentiment, San Francisco preserved +an intensely material and practical attitude, and even a certain austere +morality. I do not, of course, allude to the brief days of '49, when it +was a straggling beach of huts and stranded hulks, but to the earlier +stages of its development into the metropolis of California. Its first +tottering steps in that direction were marked by a distinct gravity and +decorum. Even during the period when the revolver settled small private +difficulties, and Vigilance Committees adjudicated larger public ones, +an unmistakable seriousness and respectability was the ruling sign of +its governing class. It was not improbable that under the reign of the +Committee the lawless and vicious class were more appalled by the moral +spectacle of several thousand black-coated, serious-minded business men +in embattled procession than by mere force of arms, and one “suspect”--a +prize-fighter--is known to have committed suicide in his cell after +confrontation with his grave and passionless shopkeeping judges. Even +that peculiar quality of Californian humor which was apt to mitigate +the extravagances of the revolver and the uncertainties of poker had no +place in the decorous and responsible utterance of San Francisco. The +press was sober, materialistic, practical--when it was not severely +admonitory of existing evil; the few smaller papers that indulged in +levity were considered libelous and improper. Fancy was displaced by +heavy articles on the revenues of the State and inducements to the +investment of capital. Local news was under an implied censorship which +suppressed anything that might tend to discourage timid or cautious +capital. Episodes of romantic lawlessness or pathetic incidents of +mining life were carefully edited--with the comment that these things +belonged to the past, and that life and property were now “as safe in +San Francisco as in New York or London.” + +Wonder-loving visitors in quest of scenes characteristic of the +civilization were coldly snubbed with this assurance. Fires, floods, and +even seismic convulsions were subjected to a like grimly materialistic +optimism. I have a vivid recollection of a ponderous editorial on one +of the severer earthquakes, in which it was asserted that only the +UNEXPECTEDNESS of the onset prevented San Francisco from meeting it in +a way that would be deterrent of all future attacks. The unconsciousness +of the humor was only equaled by the gravity with which it was +received by the whole business community. Strangely enough, this grave +materialism flourished side by side with--and was even sustained by--a +narrow religious strictness more characteristic of the Pilgrim Fathers +of a past century than the Western pioneers of the present. San +Francisco was early a city of churches and church organizations to which +the leading men and merchants belonged. The lax Sundays of the dying +Spanish race seemed only to provoke a revival of the rigors of the +Puritan Sabbath. With the Spaniard and his Sunday afternoon bullfight +scarcely an hour distant, the San Francisco pulpit thundered against +Sunday picnics. One of the popular preachers, declaiming upon the +practice of Sunday dinner-giving, averred that when he saw a guest in +his best Sunday clothes standing shamelessly upon the doorstep of his +host, he felt like seizing him by the shoulder and dragging him from +that threshold of perdition. + +Against the actual heathen the feeling was even stronger, and reached +its climax one Sunday when a Chinaman was stoned to death by a crowd of +children returning from Sunday-school. I am offering these examples +with no ethical purpose, but merely to indicate a singular contradictory +condition which I do not think writers of early Californian history have +fairly recorded. It is not my province to suggest any theory for +these appalling exceptions to the usual good-humored lawlessness and +extravagance of the rest of the State. They may have been essential +agencies to the growth and evolution of the city. They were undoubtedly +sincere. The impressions I propose to give of certain scenes and +incidents of my early experience must, therefore, be taken as purely +personal and Bohemian, and their selection as equally individual and +vagrant. I am writing of what interested me at the time, though not +perhaps of what was more generally characteristic of San Francisco. + +I had been there a week--an idle week, spent in listless outlook for +employment; a full week in my eager absorption of the strange life +around me and a photographic sensitiveness to certain scenes and +incidents of those days, which start out of my memory to-day as freshly +as the day they impressed me. + +One of these recollections is of “steamer night,” as it was called,--the +night of “steamer day,”--preceding the departure of the mail steamship +with the mails for “home.” Indeed, at that time San Francisco may be +said to have lived from steamer day to steamer day; bills were made due +on that day, interest computed to that period, and accounts settled. +The next day was the turning of a new leaf: another essay to fortune, +another inspiration of energy. So recognized was the fact that even +ordinary changes of condition, social and domestic, were put aside until +AFTER steamer day. “I'll see what I can do after next steamer day” was +the common cautious or hopeful formula. It was the “Saturday night” of +many a wage-earner--and to him a night of festivity. The thoroughfares +were animated and crowded; the saloons and theatres full. I can recall +myself at such times wandering along the City Front, as the business +part of San Francisco was then known. Here the lights were burning all +night, the first streaks of dawn finding the merchants still at their +counting-house desks. I remember the dim lines of warehouses lining the +insecure wharves of rotten piles, half filled in--that had ceased to +be wharves, but had not yet become streets,--their treacherous yawning +depths, with the uncertain gleam of tarlike mud below, at times still +vocal with the lap and gurgle of the tide. I remember the weird stories +of disappearing men found afterward imbedded in the ooze in which they +had fallen and gasped their life away. I remember the two or three +ships, still left standing where they were beached a year or two before, +built in between warehouses, their bows projecting into the roadway. +There was the dignity of the sea and its boundless freedom in their +beautiful curves, which the abutting houses could not destroy, and even +something of the sea's loneliness in the far-spaced ports and cabin +windows lit up by the lamps of the prosaic landsmen who plied their +trades behind them. One of these ships, transformed into a hotel, +retained its name, the Niantic, and part of its characteristic interior +unchanged. I remember these ships' old tenants--the rats--who had +increased and multiplied to such an extent that at night they fearlessly +crossed the wayfarer's path at every turn, and even invaded the gilded +saloons of Montgomery Street. In the Niantic their pit-a-pat was met +on every staircase, and it was said that sometimes in an excess of +sociability they accompanied the traveler to his room. In the early +“cloth-and-papered” houses--so called because the ceilings were not +plastered, but simply covered by stretched and whitewashed cloth--their +scamperings were plainly indicated in zigzag movements of the sagging +cloth, or they became actually visible by finally dropping through the +holes they had worn in it! I remember the house whose foundations were +made of boxes of plug tobacco--part of a jettisoned cargo--used instead +of more expensive lumber; and the adjacent warehouse where the trunks of +the early and forgotten “forty-niners” were stored, and--never claimed +by their dead or missing owners--were finally sold at auction. I +remember the strong breath of the sea over all, and the constant onset +of the trade winds which helped to disinfect the deposit of dirt and +grime, decay and wreckage, which were stirred up in the later evolutions +of the city. + +Or I recall, with the same sense of youthful satisfaction and unabated +wonder, my wanderings through the Spanish Quarter, where three centuries +of quaint customs, speech, and dress were still preserved; where the +proverbs of Sancho Panza were still spoken in the language of Cervantes, +and the high-flown illusions of the La Manchian knight still a part +of the Spanish Californian hidalgo's dream. I recall the more modern +“Greaser,” or Mexican--his index finger steeped in cigarette stains; +his velvet jacket and his crimson sash; the many-flounced skirt and lace +manta of his women, and their caressing intonations--the one musical +utterance of the whole hard-voiced city. I suppose I had a boy's +digestion and bluntness of taste in those days, for the combined odor of +tobacco, burned paper, and garlic, which marked that melodious breath, +did not affect me. + +Perhaps from my Puritan training I experienced a more fearful joy in the +gambling saloons. They were the largest and most comfortable, even as +they were the most expensively decorated rooms in San Francisco. Here +again the gravity and decorum which I have already alluded to were +present at that earlier period--though perhaps from concentration of +another kind. People staked and lost their last dollar with a calm +solemnity and a resignation that was almost Christian. The oaths, +exclamations, and feverish interruptions which often characterized more +dignified assemblies were absent here. There was no room for the lesser +vices; there was little or no drunkenness; the gaudily dressed and +painted women who presided over the wheels of fortune or performed on +the harp and piano attracted no attention from those ascetic players. +The man who had won ten thousand dollars and the man who had lost +everything rose from the table with equal silence and imperturbability. +I never witnessed any tragic sequel to those losses; I never heard of +any suicide on account of them. Neither can I recall any quarrel or +murder directly attributable to this kind of gambling. It must be +remembered that these public games were chiefly rouge et noir, monte, +faro, or roulette, in which the antagonist was Fate, Chance, Method, or +the impersonal “bank,” which was supposed to represent them all; there +was no individual opposition or rivalry; nobody challenged the decision +of the “croupier,” or dealer. + +I remember a conversation at the door of one saloon which was as +characteristic for its brevity as it was a type of the prevailing +stoicism. “Hello!” said a departing miner, as he recognized a brother +miner coming in, “when did you come down?” “This morning,” was the +reply. “Made a strike on the bar?” suggested the first speaker. “You +bet!” said the other, and passed in. I chanced an hour later to be at +the same place as they met again--their relative positions changed. +“Hello! Whar now?” said the incomer. “Back to the bar.” “Cleaned out?” + “You bet!” Not a word more explained a common situation. + +My first youthful experience at those tables was an accidental one. +I was watching roulette one evening, intensely absorbed in the mere +movement of the players. Either they were so preoccupied with the game, +or I was really older looking than my actual years, but a bystander laid +his hand familiarly on my shoulder, and said, as to an ordinary habitue, +“Ef you're not chippin' in yourself, pardner, s'pose you give ME a +show.” Now I honestly believe that up to that moment I had no intention, +nor even a desire, to try my own fortune. But in the embarrassment of +the sudden address I put my hand in my pocket, drew out a coin, and laid +it, with an attempt at carelessness, but a vivid consciousness that I +was blushing, upon a vacant number. To my horror I saw that I had +put down a large coin--the bulk of my possessions! I did not flinch, +however; I think any boy who reads this will understand my feeling; it +was not only my coin but my manhood at stake. I gazed with a miserable +show of indifference at the players, at the chandelier--anywhere but at +the dreadful ball spinning round the wheel. There was a pause; the game +was declared, the rake rattled up and down, but still I did not look at +the table. Indeed, in my inexperience of the game and my embarrassment, +I doubt if I should have known if I had won or not. I had made up my +mind that I should lose, but I must do so like a man, and, above all, +without giving the least suspicion that I was a greenhorn. I even +affected to be listening to the music. The wheel spun again; the game +was declared, the rake was busy, but I did not move. At last the man +I had displaced touched me on the arm and whispered, “Better make a +straddle and divide your stake this time.” I did not understand him, but +as I saw he was looking at the board, I was obliged to look, too. I drew +back dazed and bewildered! Where my coin had lain a moment before was a +glittering heap of gold. + +My stake had doubled, quadrupled, and doubled again. I did not know how +much then---I do not know now--it may have been not more than three or +four hundred dollars--but it dazzled and frightened me. “Make your +game, gentlemen,” said the croupier monotonously. I thought he looked +at me--indeed, everybody seemed to be looking at me--and my companion +repeated his warning. But here I must again appeal to the boyish reader +in defense of my idiotic obstinacy. To have taken advice would have +shown my youth. I shook my head--I could not trust my voice. I smiled, +but with a sinking heart, and let my stake remain. The ball again sped +round the wheel, and stopped. There was a pause. The croupier indolently +advanced his rake and swept my whole pile with others into the bank! +I had lost it all. Perhaps it may be difficult for me to explain why I +actually felt relieved, and even to some extent triumphant, but I seemed +to have asserted my grown-up independence--possibly at the cost of +reducing the number of my meals for days; but what of that! I was a man! +I wish I could say that it was a lesson to me. I am afraid it was not. +It was true that I did not gamble again, but then I had no especial +desire to--and there was no temptation. I am afraid it was an incident +without a moral. Yet it had one touch characteristic of the period which +I like to remember. The man who had spoken to me, I think, suddenly +realized, at the moment of my disastrous coup, the fact of my extreme +youth. He moved toward the banker, and leaning over him whispered a few +words. The banker looked up, half impatiently, half kindly--his hand +straying tentatively toward the pile of coin. I instinctively knew what +he meant, and, summoning my determination, met his eyes with all the +indifference I could assume, and walked away. + +I had at that period a small room at the top of a house owned by a +distant relation--a second or third cousin, I think. He was a man of +independent and original character, had a Ulyssean experience of men and +cities, and an old English name of which he was proud. While in London +he had procured from the Heralds' College his family arms, whose +crest was stamped upon a quantity of plate he had brought with him to +California. The plate, together with an exceptionally good cook, which +he had also brought, and his own epicurean tastes, he utilized in the +usual practical Californian fashion by starting a rather expensive +half-club, half-restaurant in the lower part of the building--which he +ruled somewhat autocratically, as became his crest. The restaurant was +too expensive for me to patronize, but I saw many of its frequenters as +well as those who had rooms at the club. They were men of very +distinct personality; a few celebrated, and nearly all notorious. They +represented a Bohemianism--if such it could be called--less innocent +than my later experiences. I remember, however, one handsome young +fellow whom I used to meet occasionally on the staircase, who captured +my youthful fancy. I met him only at midday, as he did not rise till +late, and this fact, with a certain scrupulous elegance and neatness in +his dress, ought to have made me suspect that he was a gambler. In my +inexperience it only invested him with a certain romantic mystery. + +One morning as I was going out to my very early breakfast at a cheap +Italian cafe on Long Wharf, I was surprised to find him also descending +the staircase. He was scrupulously dressed even at that early hour, +but I was struck by the fact that he was all in black, and his slight +figure, buttoned to the throat in a tightly fitting frock coat, gave, I +fancied, a singular melancholy to his pale Southern face. Nevertheless, +he greeted me with more than his usual serene cordiality, and I +remembered that he looked up with a half-puzzled, half-amused expression +at the rosy morning sky as he walked a few steps with me down the +deserted street. I could not help saying that I was astonished to +see him up so early, and he admitted that it was a break in his usual +habits, but added with a smiling significance I afterwards remembered +that it was “an even chance if he did it again.” As we neared the street +corner a man in a buggy drove up impatiently. In spite of the driver's +evident haste, my handsome acquaintance got in leisurely, and, lifting +his glossy hat to me with a pleasant smile, was driven away. I have +a very lasting recollection of his face and figure as the buggy +disappeared down the empty street. I never saw him again. It was not +until a week later that I knew that an hour after he left me that +morning he was lying dead in a little hollow behind the Mission +Dolores--shot through the heart in a duel for which he had risen so +early. + +I recall another incident of that period, equally characteristic, but +happily less tragic in sequel. I was in the restaurant one morning +talking to my cousin when a man entered hastily and said something to +him in a hurried whisper. My cousin contracted his eyebrows and uttered +a suppressed oath. Then with a gesture of warning to the man he crossed +the room quietly to a table where a regular habitue of the restaurant +was lazily finishing his breakfast. A large silver coffee-pot with a +stiff wooden handle stood on the table before him. My cousin leaned over +the guest familiarly and apparently made some hospitable inquiry as +to his wants, with his hand resting lightly on the coffee-pot handle. +Then--possibly because, my curiosity having been excited, I was watching +him more intently than the others--I saw what probably no one else +saw--that he deliberately upset the coffee-pot and its contents over +the guest's shirt and waistcoat. As the victim sprang up with +an exclamation, my cousin overwhelmed him with apologies for his +carelessness, and, with protestations of sorrow for the accident, +actually insisted upon dragging the man upstairs into his own private +room, where he furnished him with a shirt and waistcoat of his own. The +side door had scarcely closed upon them, and I was still lost in wonder +at what I had seen, when a man entered from the street. He was one of +the desperate set I have already spoken of, and thoroughly well known to +those present. He cast a glance around the room, nodded to one or two of +the guests, and then walked to a side table and took up a newspaper. I +was conscious at once that a singular constraint had come over the other +guests--a nervous awkwardness that at last seemed to make itself known +to the man himself, who, after an affected yawn or two, laid down the +paper and walked out. + +“That was a mighty close call,” said one of the guests with a sigh of +relief. + +“You bet! And that coffee-pot spill was the luckiest kind of accident +for Peters,” returned another. + +“For both,” added the first speaker, “for Peters was armed too, and +would have seen him come in!” + +A word or two explained all. Peters and the last comer had quarreled +a day or two before, and had separated with the intention to “shoot +on sight,” that is, wherever they met,--a form of duel common to those +days. The accidental meeting in the restaurant would have been the +occasion, with the usual sanguinary consequence, but for the word +of warning given to my cousin by a passer-by who knew that Peters' +antagonist was coming to the restaurant to look at the papers. Had +my cousin repeated the warning to Peters himself he would only have +prepared him for the conflict--which he would not have shirked--and so +precipitated the affray. + +The ruse of upsetting the coffee-pot, which everybody but myself thought +an accident, was to get him out of the room before the other entered. I +was too young then to venture to intrude upon my cousin's secrets, but +two or three years afterwards I taxed him with the trick and he admitted +it regretfully. I believe that a strict interpretation of the “code” + would have condemned his act as unsportsmanlike, if not UNFAIR! + +I recall another incident connected with the building equally +characteristic of the period. The United States Branch Mint stood very +near it, and its tall, factory-like chimneys overshadowed my cousin's +roof. Some scandal had arisen from an alleged leakage of gold in the +manipulation of that metal during the various processes of smelting +and refining. One of the excuses offered was the volatilization of the +precious metal and its escape through the draft of the tall chimneys. +All San Francisco laughed at this explanation until it learned that a +corroboration of the theory had been established by an assay of the dust +and grime of the roofs in the vicinity of the Mint. These had yielded +distinct traces of gold. San Francisco stopped laughing, and that +portion of it which had roofs in the neighborhood at once began +prospecting. Claims were staked out on these airy placers, and my +cousin's roof, being the very next one to the chimney, and presumably +“in the lead,” was disposed of to a speculative company for a +considerable sum. I remember my cousin telling me the story--for the +occurrence was quite recent--and taking me with him to the roof to +explain it, but I am afraid I was more attracted by the mystery of the +closely guarded building, and the strangely tinted smoke which arose +from this temple where money was actually being “made,” than by anything +else. Nor did I dream as I stood there--a very lanky, open-mouthed +youth--that only three or four years later I should be the secretary of +its superintendent. In my more adventurous ambition I am afraid I would +have accepted the suggestion half-heartedly. Merely to have helped to +stamp the gold which other people had adventurously found was by no +means a part of my youthful dreams. + +At the time of these earlier impressions the Chinese had not yet become +the recognized factors in the domestic and business economy of the city +which they had come to be when I returned from the mines three years +later. Yet they were even then a more remarkable and picturesque +contrast to the bustling, breathless, and brand-new life of San +Francisco than the Spaniard. The latter seldom flaunted his faded +dignity in the principal thoroughfares. “John” was to be met everywhere. +It was a common thing to see a long file of sampan coolies carrying +their baskets slung between them, on poles, jostling a modern, +well-dressed crowd in Montgomery Street, or to get a whiff of their +burned punk in the side streets; while the road leading to their +temporary burial-ground at Lone Mountain was littered with slips of +colored paper scattered from their funerals. They brought an atmosphere +of the Arabian Nights into the hard, modern civilization; their +shops--not always confined at that time to a Chinese quarter--were +replicas of the bazaars of Canton and Peking, with their quaint display +of little dishes on which tidbits of food delicacies were exposed for +sale, all of the dimensions and unreality of a doll's kitchen or a +child's housekeeping. + +They were a revelation to the Eastern immigrant, whose preconceived +ideas of them were borrowed from the ballet or pantomime; they did not +wear scalloped drawers and hats with jingling bells on their points, nor +did I ever see them dance with their forefingers vertically extended. +They were always neatly dressed, even the commonest of coolies, and +their festive dresses were marvels. As traders they were grave and +patient; as servants they were sad and civil, and all were singularly +infantine in their natural simplicity. The living representatives of the +oldest civilization in the world, they seemed like children. Yet they +kept their beliefs and sympathies to themselves, never fraternizing with +the fanqui, or foreign devil, or losing their singular racial qualities. +They indulged in their own peculiar habits; of their social and inner +life, San Francisco knew but little and cared less. Even at this early +period, and before I came to know them more intimately, I remember +an incident of their daring fidelity to their own customs that was +accidentally revealed to me. I had become acquainted with a Chinese +youth of about my own age, as I imagined,--although from mere outward +appearance it was generally impossible to judge of a Chinaman's age +between the limits of seventeen and forty years,--and he had, in a burst +of confidence, taken me to see some characteristic sights in a Chinese +warehouse within a stone's throw of the Plaza. I was struck by the +singular circumstance that while the warehouse was an erection of wood +in the ordinary hasty Californian style, there were certain brick and +stone divisions in its interior, like small rooms or closets, evidently +added by the Chinamen tenants. My companion stopped before a long, very +narrow entrance, a mere longitudinal slit in the brick wall, and with a +wink of infantine deviltry motioned me to look inside. I did so, and saw +a room, really a cell, of fair height but scarcely six feet square, +and barely able to contain a rude, slanting couch of stone covered with +matting, on which lay, at a painful angle, a richly dressed Chinaman. +A single glance at his dull, staring, abstracted eyes and half-opened +mouth showed me he was in an opium trance. This was not in itself a +novel sight, and I was moving away when I was suddenly startled by the +appearance of his hands, which were stretched helplessly before him on +his body, and at first sight seemed to be in a kind of wicker cage. + +I then saw that his finger-nails were seven or eight inches long, and +were supported by bamboo splints. Indeed, they were no longer human +nails, but twisted and distorted quills, giving him the appearance +of having gigantic claws. “Velly big Chinaman,” whispered my cheerful +friend; “first-chop man--high classee--no can washee--no can eat--no +dlinke, no catchee him own glub allee same nothee man--China boy must +catchee glub for him, allee time! Oh, him first-chop man--you bettee!” + +I had heard of this singular custom of indicating caste before, and +was amazed and disgusted, but I was not prepared for what followed. My +companion, evidently thinking he had impressed me, grew more reckless +as showman, and saying to me, “Now me showee you one funny thing--heap +makee you laugh,” led me hurriedly across a little courtyard swarming +with chickens and rabbits, when he stopped before another inclosure. +Suddenly brushing past an astonished Chinaman who seemed to be standing +guard, he thrust me into the inclosure in front of a most extraordinary +object. It was a Chinaman, wearing a huge, square, wooden frame fastened +around his neck like a collar, and fitting so tightly and rigidly that +the flesh rose in puffy weals around his cheeks. He was chained to a +post, although it was as impossible for him to have escaped with his +wooden cage through the narrow doorway as it was for him to lie down +and rest in it. Yet I am bound to say that his eyes and face expressed +nothing but apathy, and there was no appeal to the sympathy of the +stranger. My companion said hurriedly,-- + +“Velly bad man; stealee heap from Chinamen,” and then, apparently +alarmed at his own indiscreet intrusion, hustled me away as quickly as +possible amid a shrill cackling of protestation from a few of his own +countrymen who had joined the one who was keeping guard. In another +moment we were in the street again--scarce a step from the Plaza, in the +full light of Western civilization--not a stone's throw from the courts +of justice. + +My companion took to his heels and left me standing there bewildered +and indignant. I could not rest until I had told my story, but without +betraying my companion, to an elder acquaintance, who laid the +facts before the police authorities. I had expected to be closely +cross-examined--to be doubted--to be disbelieved. To my surprise, I was +told that the police had already cognizance of similar cases of illegal +and barbarous punishments, but that the victims themselves refused to +testify against their countrymen--and it was impossible to convict or +even to identify them. “A white man can't tell one Chinese from another, +and there are always a dozen of 'em ready to swear that the man you've +got isn't the one.” I was startled to reflect that I, too, could not +have conscientiously sworn to either jailor or the tortured prisoner--or +perhaps even to my cheerful companion. The police, on some pretext, made +a raid upon the premises a day or two afterwards, but without result. +I wondered if they had caught sight of the high-class, first-chop +individual, with the helplessly outstretched fingers, as that story I +had kept to myself. + +But these barbaric vestiges in John Chinaman's habits did not affect his +relations with the San Franciscans. He was singularly peaceful, docile, +and harmless as a servant, and, with rare exceptions, honest and +temperate. If he sometimes matched cunning with cunning, it was the +flattery of imitation. He did most of the menial work of San Francisco, +and did it cleanly. Except that he exhaled a peculiar druglike odor, he +was not personally offensive in domestic contact, and by virtue of being +the recognized laundryman of the whole community his own blouses were +always freshly washed and ironed. His conversational reserve arose, not +from his having to deal with an unfamiliar language,--for he had picked +up a picturesque and varied vocabulary with ease,--but from his natural +temperament. He was devoid of curiosity, and utterly unimpressed by +anything but the purely business concerns of those he served. Domestic +secrets were safe with him; his indifference to your thoughts, actions, +and feelings had all the contempt which his three thousand years of +history and his innate belief in your inferiority seemed to justify. He +was blind and deaf in your household because you didn't interest him +in the least. It was said that a gentleman, who wished to test his +impassiveness, arranged with his wife to come home one day and, in the +hearing of his Chinese waiter who was more than usually intelligent--to +disclose with well-simulated emotion the details of a murder he had just +committed. He did so. The Chinaman heard it without a sign of horror +or attention even to the lifting of an eyelid, but continued his duties +unconcerned. Unfortunately, the gentleman, in order to increase the +horror of the situation, added that now there was nothing left for him +but to cut his throat. At this John quietly left the room. The gentleman +was delighted at the success of his ruse until the door reopened and +John reappeared with his master's razor, which he quietly slipped--as +if it had been a forgotten fork--beside his master's plate, and calmly +resumed his serving. I have always considered this story to be quite as +improbable as it was inartistic, from its tacit admission of a certain +interest on the part of the Chinaman. I never knew one who would have +been sufficiently concerned to go for the razor. + +His taciturnity and reticence may have been confounded with rudeness of +address, although he was always civil enough. “I see you have listened +to me and done exactly what I told you,” said a lady, commending some +performance of her servant after a previous lengthy lecture; “that's +very nice.” “Yes,” said John calmly, “you talkee allee time; talkee +allee too much.” “I always find Ling very polite,” said another +lady, speaking of her cook, “but I wish he did not always say to me, +'Goodnight, John,' in a high falsetto voice.” She had not recognized the +fact that he was simply repeating her own salutation with his marvelous +instinct of relentless imitation, even as to voice. I hesitate to record +the endless stories of his misapplication of that faculty which were +then current, from the one of the laundryman who removed the buttons +from the shirts that were sent to him to wash that they might agree with +the condition of the one offered him as a pattern for “doing up,” to +that of the unfortunate employer who, while showing John how to handle +valuable china carefully, had the misfortune to drop a plate himself--an +accident which was followed by the prompt breaking of another by the +neophyte, with the addition of “Oh, hellee!” in humble imitation of his +master. + +I have spoken of his general cleanliness; I am reminded of one or two +exceptions, which I think, however, were errors of zeal. His manner of +sprinkling clothes in preparing them for ironing was peculiar. He would +fill his mouth with perfectly pure water from a glass beside him, and +then, by one dexterous movement of his lips in a prolonged expiration, +squirt the water in an almost invisible misty shower on the article +before him. Shocking as this was at first to the sensibilities of many +American employers, it was finally accepted, and even commended. It was +some time after this that the mistress of a household, admiring the deft +way in which her cook had spread a white sauce on certain dishes, was +cheerfully informed that the method was “allee same.” + +His recreations at that time were chiefly gambling, for the Chinese +theatre wherein the latter produced his plays (which lasted for several +months and comprised the events of a whole dynasty) was not yet built. +But he had one or two companies of jugglers who occasionally performed +also at American theatres. I remember a singular incident which attended +the debut of a newly arrived company. It seemed that the company had +been taken on their Chinese reputation solely, and there had been no +previous rehearsal before the American stage manager. The theatre was +filled with an audience of decorous and respectable San Franciscans of +both sexes. It was suddenly emptied in the middle of the performance; +the curtain came down with an alarmed and blushing manager apologizing +to deserted benches, and the show abruptly terminated. Exactly WHAT +had happened never appeared in the public papers, nor in the published +apology of the manager. It afforded a few days' mirth for wicked San +Francisco, and it was epigrammatically summed up in the remark that “no +woman could be found in San Francisco who was at that performance, and +no man who was not.” Yet it was alleged even by John's worst detractors +that he was innocent of any intended offense. Equally innocent, but +perhaps more morally instructive, was an incident that brought his +career as a singularly successful physician to a disastrous close. +An ordinary native Chinese doctor, practicing entirely among his own +countrymen, was reputed to have made extraordinary cures with two +or three American patients. With no other advertising than this, and +apparently no other inducement offered to the public than what their +curiosity suggested, he was presently besieged by hopeful and eager +sufferers. Hundreds of patients were turned away from his crowded doors. +Two interpreters sat, day and night, translating the ills of ailing +San Francisco to this medical oracle, and dispensing his +prescriptions--usually small powders--in exchange for current coin. In +vain the regular practitioners pointed out that the Chinese possessed +no superior medical knowledge, and that their religion, which proscribed +dissection and autopsies, naturally limited their understanding of the +body into which they put their drugs. Finally they prevailed upon an +eminent Chinese authority to give them a list of the remedies generally +used in the Chinese pharmacopoeia, and this was privately circulated. +For obvious reasons I may not repeat it here. But it was summed +up--again after the usual Californian epigrammatic style--by the remark +that “whatever were the comparative merits of Chinese and American +practice, a simple perusal of the list would prove that the Chinese were +capable of producing the most powerful emetic known.” The craze subsided +in a single day; the interpreters and their oracle vanished; the Chinese +doctors' signs, which had multiplied, disappeared, and San Francisco +awoke cured of its madness, at the cost of some thousand dollars. + +My Bohemian wanderings were confined to the limits of the city, for the +very good reason that there was little elsewhere to go. San Francisco +was then bounded on one side by the monotonously restless waters of the +bay, and on the other by a stretch of equally restless and monotonously +shifting sand dunes as far as the Pacific shore. Two roads penetrated +this waste: one to Lone Mountain--the cemetery; the other to the Cliff +House--happily described as “an eight-mile drive with a cocktail at +the end of it.” Nor was the humor entirely confined to this felicitous +description. The Cliff House itself, half restaurant, half drinking +saloon, fronting the ocean and the Seal Rock, where disporting seals +were the chief object of interest, had its own peculiar symbol. The +decanters, wine-glasses, and tumblers at the bar were all engraved +in old English script with the legal initials “L. S.” (Locus +Sigilli),--“the place of the seal.” + +On the other hand, Lone Mountain, a dreary promontory giving upon the +Golden Gate and its striking sunsets, had little to soften its weird +suggestiveness. As the common goal of the successful and unsuccessful, +the carved and lettered shaft of the man who had made a name, and the +staring blank headboard of the man who had none, climbed the sandy +slopes together. I have seen the funerals of the respectable citizen who +had died peacefully in his bed, and the notorious desperado who had +died “with his boots on,” followed by an equally impressive cortege of +sorrowing friends, and often the self-same priest. But more awful than +its barren loneliness was the utter absence of peacefulness and rest +in this dismal promontory. By some wicked irony of its situation and +climate it was the personification of unrest and change. The incessant +trade winds carried its loose sands hither and thither, uncovering the +decaying coffins of early pioneers, to bury the wreaths and flowers, +laid on a grave of to-day, under their obliterating waves. No tree to +shade them from the glaring sky above could live in those winds, no +turf would lie there to resist the encroaching sand below. The dead +were harried and hustled even in their graves by the persistent sun, the +unremitting wind, and the unceasing sea. The departing mourner saw the +contour of the very mountain itself change with the shifting dunes as +he passed, and his last look beyond rested on the hurrying, eager waves +forever hastening to the Golden Gate. + +If I were asked to say what one thing impressed me as the dominant and +characteristic note of San Francisco, I should say it was this untiring +presence of sun and wind and sea. They typified, even if they were not, +as I sometimes fancied, the actual incentive to the fierce, restless +life of the city. I could not think of San Francisco without the trade +winds; I could not imagine its strange, incongruous, multigenerous +procession marching to any other music. They were always there in my +youthful recollections; they were there in my more youthful dreams of +the past as the mysterious vientes generales that blew the Philippine +galleons home. + +For six months they blew from the northwest, for six months from the +southwest, with unvarying persistency. They were there every morning, +glittering in the equally persistent sunlight, to chase the San +Franciscan from his slumber; they were there at midday, to stir his +pulses with their beat; they were there again at night, to hurry him +through the bleak and flaring gas-lit streets to bed. They left their +mark on every windward street or fence or gable, on the outlying sand +dunes; they lashed the slow coasters home, and hurried them to sea +again; they whipped the bay into turbulence on their way to Contra +Costa, whose level shoreland oaks they had trimmed to windward as +cleanly and sharply as with a pruning-shears. Untiring themselves, they +allowed no laggards; they drove the San Franciscan from the wall against +which he would have leaned, from the scant shade in which at noontide he +might have rested. They turned his smallest fires into conflagrations, +and kept him ever alert, watchful, and eager. In return, they scavenged +his city and held it clean and wholesome; in summer they brought him the +soft sea-fog for a few hours to soothe his abraded surfaces; in winter +they brought the rains and dashed the whole coast-line with flowers, and +the staring sky above it with soft, unwonted clouds. They were always +there--strong, vigilant, relentless, material, unyielding, triumphant. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under the Redwoods, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE REDWOODS *** + +***** This file should be named 2555-0.txt or 2555-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/2555/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Under the Redwoods + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 18, 2006 [EBook #2555] +Last Updated: March 5, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE REDWOODS *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + UNDER THE REDWOODS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Bret Harte + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>UNDER THE REDWOODS</b></big> </a> + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> JIMMY'S BIG BROTHER FROM CALIFORNIA </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> THE YOUNGEST MISS PIPER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> A WIDOW OF THE SANTA ANA VALLEY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> THE MERMAID OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> UNDER THE EAVES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> HOW REUBEN ALLEN “SAW LIFE” IN SAN + FRANCISCO </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> THREE VAGABONDS OF TRINIDAD </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> A VISION OF THE FOUNTAIN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> A ROMANCE OF THE LINE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> BOHEMIAN DAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + UNDER THE REDWOODS + </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> + JIMMY'S BIG BROTHER FROM CALIFORNIA + </h2> + <p> + As night crept up from the valley that stormy afternoon, Sawyer's Ledge + was at first quite blotted out by wind and rain, but presently reappeared + in little nebulous star-like points along the mountain side, as the + straggling cabins of the settlement were one by one lit up by the miners + returning from tunnel and claim. These stars were of varying brilliancy + that evening, two notably so—one that eventually resolved itself + into a many-candled illumination of a cabin of evident festivity; the + other into a glimmering taper in the window of a silent one. They might + have represented the extreme mutations of fortune in the settlement that + night: the celebration of a strike by Robert Falloner, a lucky miner; and + the sick-bed of Dick Lasham, an unlucky one. + </p> + <p> + The latter was, however, not quite alone. He was ministered to by Daddy + Folsom, a weak but emotional and aggressively hopeful neighbor, who was + sitting beside the wooden bunk whereon the invalid lay. Yet there was + something perfunctory in his attitude: his eyes were continually straying + to the window, whence the illuminated Falloner festivities could be seen + between the trees, and his ears were more intent on the songs and laughter + that came faintly from the distance than on the feverish breathing and + unintelligible moans of the sufferer. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless he looked troubled equally by the condition of his charge and + by his own enforced absence from the revels. A more impatient moan from + the sick man, however, brought a change to his abstracted face, and he + turned to him with an exaggerated expression of sympathy. + </p> + <p> + “In course! Lordy! I know jest what those pains are: kinder ez ef you was + havin' a tooth pulled that had roots branchin' all over ye! My! I've jest + had 'em so bad I couldn't keep from yellin'! That's hot rheumatics! Yes, + sir, I oughter know! And” (confidentially) “the sing'ler thing about 'em + is that they get worse jest as they're going off—sorter wringin' yer + hand and punchin' ye in the back to say 'Good-by.' There!” he continued, + as the man sank exhaustedly back on his rude pillow of flour-sacks. + “There! didn't I tell ye? Ye'll be all right in a minit, and ez chipper ez + a jay bird in the mornin'. Oh, don't tell me about rheumatics—I've + bin thar! On'y mine was the cold kind—that hangs on longest—yours + is the hot, that burns itself up in no time!” + </p> + <p> + If the flushed face and bright eyes of Lasham were not enough to + corroborate this symptom of high fever, the quick, wandering laugh he gave + would have indicated the point of delirium. But the too optimistic Daddy + Folsom referred this act to improvement, and went on cheerfully: “Yes, + sir, you're better now, and”—here he assumed an air of cautious + deliberation, extravagant, as all his assumptions were—“I ain't + sayin' that—ef—you—was—to—rise—up” + (very slowly) “and heave a blanket or two over your shoulders—jest + by way o' caution, you know—and leanin' on me, kinder meander over + to Bob Falloner's cabin and the boys, it wouldn't do you a heap o' good. + Changes o' this kind is often prescribed by the faculty.” Another moan + from the sufferer, however, here apparently corrected Daddy's too + favorable prognosis. “Oh, all right! Well, perhaps ye know best; and I'll + jest run over to Bob's and say how as ye ain't comin', and will be back in + a jiffy!” + </p> + <p> + “The letter,” said the sick man hurriedly, “the letter, the letter!” + </p> + <p> + Daddy leaned suddenly over the bed. It was impossible for even his + hopefulness to avoid the fact that Lasham was delirious. It was a strong + factor in the case—one that would certainly justify his going over + to Falloner's with the news. For the present moment, however, this + aberration was to be accepted cheerfully and humored after Daddy's own + fashion. “Of course—the letter, the letter,” he said convincingly; + “that's what the boys hev bin singin' jest now— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Good-by, Charley; when you are away, + Write me a letter, love; send me a letter, love!' +</pre> + <p> + “That's what you heard, and a mighty purty song it is too, and kinder + clings to you. It's wonderful how these things gets in your head.” + </p> + <p> + “The letter—write—send money—money—money, and the + photograph—the photograph—photograph—money,” continued + the sick man, in the rapid reiteration of delirium. + </p> + <p> + “In course you will—to-morrow—when the mail goes,” returned + Daddy soothingly; “plenty of them. Jest now you try to get a snooze, will + ye? Hol' on!—take some o' this.” + </p> + <p> + There was an anodyne mixture on the rude shelf, which the doctor had left + on his morning visit. Daddy had a comfortable belief that what would + relieve pain would also check delirium, and he accordingly measured out a + dose with a liberal margin to allow of waste by the patient in swallowing + in his semi-conscious state. As he lay more quiet, muttering still, but + now unintelligibly, Daddy, waiting for a more complete unconsciousness and + the opportunity to slip away to Falloner's, cast his eyes around the + cabin. He noticed now for the first time since his entrance that a + crumpled envelope bearing a Western post-mark was lying at the foot of the + bed. Daddy knew that the tri-weekly post had arrived an hour before he + came, and that Lasham had evidently received a letter. Sure enough the + letter itself was lying against the wall beside him. It was open. Daddy + felt justified in reading it. + </p> + <p> + It was curt and businesslike, stating that unless Lasham at once sent a + remittance for the support of his brother and sister—two children in + charge of the writer—they must find a home elsewhere. That the + arrears were long standing, and the repeated promises of Lasham to send + money had been unfulfilled. That the writer could stand it no longer. This + would be his last communication unless the money were sent forthwith. + </p> + <p> + It was by no means a novel or, under the circumstances, a shocking + disclosure to Daddy. He had seen similar missives from daughters, and even + wives, consequent on the varying fortunes of his neighbors; no one knew + better than he the uncertainties of a miner's prospects, and yet the + inevitable hopefulness that buoyed him up. He tossed it aside impatiently, + when his eye caught a strip of paper he had overlooked lying upon the + blanket near the envelope. It contained a few lines in an unformed boyish + hand addressed to “my brother,” and evidently slipped into the letter + after it was written. By the uncertain candlelight Daddy read as follows:— + </p> + <p> + Dear Brother, Rite to me and Cissy rite off. Why aint you done it? It's so + long since you rote any. Mister Recketts ses you dont care any more. Wen + you rite send your fotograff. Folks here ses I aint got no big bruther any + way, as I disremember his looks, and cant say wots like him. Cissy's + kryin' all along of it. I've got a hedake. William Walker make it ake by a + blo. So no more at present from your loving little bruther Jim. + </p> + <p> + The quick, hysteric laugh with which Daddy read this was quite consistent + with his responsive, emotional nature; so, too, were the ready tears that + sprang to his eyes. He put the candle down unsteadily, with a casual + glance at the sick man. It was notable, however, that this look contained + less sympathy for the ailing “big brother” than his emotion might have + suggested. For Daddy was carried quite away by his own mental picture of + the helpless children, and eager only to relate his impressions of the + incident. He cast another glance at the invalid, thrust the papers into + his pocket, and clapping on his hat slipped from the cabin and ran to the + house of festivity. Yet it was characteristic of the man, and so engrossed + was he by his one idea, that to the usual inquiries regarding his patient + he answered, “he's all right,” and plunged at once into the incident of + the dunning letter, reserving—with the instinct of an emotional + artist—the child's missive until the last. As he expected, the money + demand was received with indignant criticisms of the writer. + </p> + <p> + “That's just like 'em in the States,” said Captain Fletcher; “darned if + they don't believe we've only got to bore a hole in the ground and snake + out a hundred dollars. Why, there's my wife—with a heap of hoss + sense in everything else—is allus wonderin' why I can't rake in a + cool fifty betwixt one steamer day and another.” + </p> + <p> + “That's nothin' to my old dad,” interrupted Gus Houston, the “infant” of + the camp, a bright-eyed young fellow of twenty; “why, he wrote to me + yesterday that if I'd only pick up a single piece of gold every day and + just put it aside, sayin' 'That's for popper and mommer,' and not fool it + away—it would be all they'd ask of me.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” added another; “these ignorant relations is just the ruin o' + the mining industry. Bob Falloner hez bin lucky in his strike to-day, but + he's a darned sight luckier in being without kith or kin that he knows + of.” + </p> + <p> + Daddy waited until the momentary irritation had subsided, and then drew + the other letter from his pocket. “That ain't all, boys,” he began in a + faltering voice, but gradually working himself up to a pitch of pathos; + “just as I was thinking all them very things, I kinder noticed this yer + poor little bit o' paper lyin' thar lonesome like and forgotten, and I—read + it—and well—gentlemen—it just choked me right up!” He + stopped, and his voice faltered. + </p> + <p> + “Go slow, Daddy, go slow!” said an auditor smilingly. It was evident that + Daddy's sympathetic weakness was well known. + </p> + <p> + Daddy read the child's letter. But, unfortunately, what with his real + emotion and the intoxication of an audience, he read it extravagantly, and + interpolated a child's lisp (on no authority whatever), and a simulated + infantile delivery, which, I fear, at first provoked the smiles rather + than the tears of his audience. Nevertheless, at its conclusion the little + note was handed round the party, and then there was a moment of thoughtful + silence. + </p> + <p> + “Tell you what it is, boys,” said Fletcher, looking around the table, “we + ought to be doin' suthin' for them kids right off! Did you,” turning to + Daddy, “say anythin' about this to Dick?” + </p> + <p> + “Nary—why, he's clean off his head with fever—don't understand + a word—and just babbles,” returned Daddy, forgetful of his roseate + diagnosis a moment ago, “and hasn't got a cent.” + </p> + <p> + “We must make up what we can amongst us afore the mail goes to-night,” + said the “infant,” feeling hurriedly in his pockets. “Come, ante up, + gentlemen,” he added, laying the contents of his buckskin purse upon the + table. + </p> + <p> + “Hold on, boys,” said a quiet voice. It was their host Falloner, who had + just risen and was slipping on his oilskin coat. “You've got enough to do, + I reckon, to look after your own folks. I've none! Let this be my affair. + I've got to go to the Express Office anyhow to see about my passage home, + and I'll just get a draft for a hundred dollars for that old skeesicks—what's + his blamed name? Oh, Ricketts”—he made a memorandum from the letter—“and + I'll send it by express. Meantime, you fellows sit down there and write + something—you know what—saying that Dick's hurt his hand and + can't write—you know; but asked you to send a draft, which you're + doing. Sabe? That's all! I'll skip over to the express now and get the + draft off, and you can mail the letter an hour later. So put your dust + back in your pockets and help yourselves to the whiskey while I'm gone.” + He clapped his hat on his head and disappeared. + </p> + <p> + “There goes a white man, you bet!” said Fletcher admiringly, as the door + closed behind their host. “Now, boys,” he added, drawing a chair to the + table, “let's get this yer letter off, and then go back to our game.” + </p> + <p> + Pens and ink were produced, and an animated discussion ensued as to the + matter to be conveyed. Daddy's plea for an extended explanatory and + sympathetic communication was overruled, and the letter was written to + Ricketts on the simple lines suggested by Falloner. + </p> + <p> + “But what about poor little Jim's letter? That ought to be answered,” said + Daddy pathetically. + </p> + <p> + “If Dick hurt his hand so he can't write to Ricketts, how in thunder is he + goin' to write to Jim?” was the reply. + </p> + <p> + “But suthin' oughter be said to the poor kid,” urged Daddy piteously. + </p> + <p> + “Well, write it yourself—you and Gus Houston make up somethin' + together. I'm going to win some money,” retorted Fletcher, returning to + the card-table, where he was presently followed by all but Daddy and + Houston. + </p> + <p> + “Ye can't write it in Dick's name, because that little brother knows + Dick's handwriting, even if he don't remember his face. See?” suggested + Houston. + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” said Daddy dubiously; “but,” he added, with elastic + cheerfulness, “we can write that Dick 'says.' See?” + </p> + <p> + “Your head's level, old man! Just you wade in on that.” + </p> + <p> + Daddy seized the pen and “waded in.” Into somewhat deep and difficult + water, I fancy, for some of it splashed into his eyes, and he sniffled + once or twice as he wrote. “Suthin' like this,” he said, after a pause:— + </p> + <p> + DEAR LITTLE JIMMIE,—Your big brother havin' hurt his hand, wants me + to tell you that otherways he is all hunky and A1. He says he don't forget + you and little Cissy, you bet! and he's sendin' money to old Ricketts + straight off. He says don't you and Cissy mind whether school keeps or not + as long as big Brother Dick holds the lines. He says he'd have written + before, but he's bin follerin' up a lead mighty close, and expects to + strike it rich in a few days. + </p> + <p> + “You ain't got no sabe about kids,” said Daddy imperturbably; “they've got + to be humored like sick folks. And they want everythin' big—they + don't take no stock in things ez they are—even ef they hev 'em worse + than they are. 'So,'” continued Daddy, reading to prevent further + interruption, “'he says you're just to keep your eyes skinned lookin' out + for him comin' home any time—day or night. All you've got to do is + to sit up and wait. He might come and even snake you out of your beds! He + might come with four white horses and a nigger driver, or he might come + disguised as an ornary tramp. Only you've got to be keen on watchin'.' (Ye + see,” interrupted Daddy explanatorily, “that'll jest keep them kids + lively.) 'He says Cissy's to stop cryin' right off, and if Willie Walker + hits yer on the right cheek you just slug out with your left fist, + 'cordin' to Scripter.' Gosh,” ejaculated Daddy, stopping suddenly and + gazing anxiously at Houston, “there's that blamed photograph—I clean + forgot that.” + </p> + <p> + “And Dick hasn't got one in the shop, and never had,” returned Houston + emphatically. “Golly! that stumps us! Unless,” he added, with diabolical + thoughtfulness, “we take Bob's? The kids don't remember Dick's face, and + Bob's about the same age. And it's a regular star picture—you bet! + Bob had it taken in Sacramento—in all his war paint. See!” He + indicated a photograph pinned against the wall—a really striking + likeness which did full justice to Bob's long silken mustache and large, + brown determined eyes. “I'll snake it off while they ain't lookin', and + you jam it in the letter. Bob won't miss it, and we can fix it up with + Dick after he's well, and send another.” + </p> + <p> + Daddy silently grasped the “infant's” hand, who presently secured the + photograph without attracting attention from the card-players. It was + promptly inclosed in the letter, addressed to Master James Lasham. The + “infant” started with it to the post-office, and Daddy Folsom returned to + Lasham's cabin to relieve the watcher that had been detached from + Falloner's to take his place beside the sick man. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the rain fell steadily and the shadows crept higher and higher + up the mountain. Towards midnight the star points faded out one by one + over Sawyer's Ledge even as they had come, with the difference that the + illumination of Falloner's cabin was extinguished first, while the dim + light of Lasham's increased in number. Later, two stars seemed to shoot + from the centre of the ledge, trailing along the descent, until they were + lost in the obscurity of the slope—the lights of the stage-coach to + Sacramento carrying the mail and Robert Falloner. They met and passed two + fainter lights toiling up the road—the buggy lights of the doctor, + hastily summoned from Carterville to the bedside of the dying Dick Lasham. + </p> + <p> + The slowing up of his train caused Bob Falloner to start from a half doze + in a Western Pullman car. As he glanced from his window he could see that + the blinding snowstorm which had followed him for the past six hours had + at last hopelessly blocked the line. There was no prospect beyond the + interminable snowy level, the whirling flakes, and the monotonous + palisades of leafless trees seen through it to the distant banks of the + Missouri. It was a prospect that the mountain-bred Falloner was beginning + to loathe, and although it was scarcely six weeks since he left + California, he was already looking back regretfully to the deep slopes and + the free song of the serried ranks of pines. + </p> + <p> + The intense cold had chilled his temperate blood, even as the rigors and + conventions of Eastern life had checked his sincerity and spontaneous flow + of animal spirits begotten in the frank intercourse and brotherhood of + camps. He had just fled from the artificialities of the great Atlantic + cities to seek out some Western farming lands in which he might put his + capital and energies. The unlooked-for interruption of his progress by a + long-forgotten climate only deepened his discontent. And now—that + train was actually backing! It appeared they must return to the last + station to wait for a snow-plough to clear the line. It was, explained the + conductor, barely a mile from Shepherdstown, where there was a good hotel + and a chance of breaking the journey for the night. + </p> + <p> + Shepherdstown! The name touched some dim chord in Bob Falloner's memory + and conscience—yet one that was vague. Then he suddenly remembered + that before leaving New York he had received a letter from Houston + informing him of Lasham's death, reminding him of his previous bounty, and + begging him—if he went West—to break the news to the Lasham + family. There was also some allusion to a joke about his (Bob's) + photograph, which he had dismissed as unimportant, and even now could not + remember clearly. For a few moments his conscience pricked him that he + should have forgotten it all, but now he could make amends by this + providential delay. It was not a task to his liking; in any other + circumstances he would have written, but he would not shirk it now. + </p> + <p> + Shepherdstown was on the main line of the Kansas Pacific Road, and as he + alighted at its station, the big through trains from San Francisco swept + out of the stormy distance and stopped also. He remembered, as he mingled + with the passengers, hearing a childish voice ask if this was the + Californian train. He remembered hearing the amused and patient reply of + the station-master: “Yes, sonny—here she is again, and here's her + passengers,” as he got into the omnibus and drove to the hotel. Here he + resolved to perform his disagreeable duty as quickly as possible, and on + his way to his room stopped for a moment at the office to ask for + Ricketts' address. The clerk, after a quick glance of curiosity at his new + guest, gave it to him readily, with a somewhat familiar smile. It struck + Falloner also as being odd that he had not been asked to write his name on + the hotel register, but this was a saving of time he was not disposed to + question, as he had already determined to make his visit to Ricketts at + once, before dinner. It was still early evening. + </p> + <p> + He was washing his hands in his bedroom when there came a light tap at his + sitting-room door. Falloner quickly resumed his coat and entered the + sitting-room as the porter ushered in a young lady holding a small boy by + the hand. But, to Falloner's utter consternation, no sooner had the door + closed on the servant than the boy, with a half-apologetic glance at the + young lady, uttered a childish cry, broke from her, and calling, “Dick! + Dick!” ran forward and leaped into Falloner's arms. + </p> + <p> + The mere shock of the onset and his own amazement left Bob without breath + for words. The boy, with arms convulsively clasping his body, was + imprinting kisses on Bob's waistcoat in default of reaching his face. At + last Falloner managed gently but firmly to free himself, and turned a + half-appealing, half-embarrassed look upon the young lady, whose own face, + however, suddenly flushed pink. To add to the confusion, the boy, in some + reaction of instinct, suddenly ran back to her, frantically clutched at + her skirts, and tried to bury his head in their folds. + </p> + <p> + “He don't love me,” he sobbed. “He don't care for me any more.” + </p> + <p> + The face of the young girl changed. It was a pretty face in its flushing; + in the paleness and thoughtfulness that overcast it it was a striking + face, and Bob's attention was for a moment distracted from the + grotesqueness of the situation. Leaning over the boy she said in a + caressing yet authoritative voice, “Run away for a moment, dear, until I + call you,” opening the door for him in a maternal way so inconsistent with + the youthfulness of her figure that it struck him even in his confusion. + There was something also in her dress and carriage that equally affected + him: her garments were somewhat old-fashioned in style, yet of good + material, with an odd incongruity to the climate and season. + </p> + <p> + Under her rough outer cloak she wore a polka jacket and the thinnest of + summer blouses; and her hat, though dark, was of rough straw, plainly + trimmed. Nevertheless, these peculiarities were carried off with an air of + breeding and self-possession that was unmistakable. It was possible that + her cool self-possession might have been due to some instinctive + antagonism, for as she came a step forward with coldly and clearly-opened + gray eyes, he was vaguely conscious that she didn't like him. + Nevertheless, her manner was formally polite, even, as he fancied, to the + point of irony, as she began, in a voice that occasionally dropped into + the lazy Southern intonation, and a speech that easily slipped at times + into Southern dialect:— + </p> + <p> + “I sent the child out of the room, as I could see that his advances were + annoying to you, and a good deal, I reckon, because I knew your reception + of them was still more painful to him. It is quite natural, I dare say, + you should feel as you do, and I reckon consistent with your attitude + towards him. But you must make some allowance for the depth of his + feelings, and how he has looked forward to this meeting. When I tell you + that ever since he received your last letter, he and his sister—until + her illness kept her home—have gone every day when the Pacific train + was due to the station to meet you; that they have taken literally as + Gospel truth every word of your letter”— + </p> + <p> + “My letter?” interrupted Falloner. + </p> + <p> + The young girl's scarlet lip curled slightly. “I beg your pardon—I + should have said the letter you dictated. Of course it wasn't in your + handwriting—you had hurt your hand, you know,” she added ironically. + “At all events, they believed it all—that you were coming at any + moment; they lived in that belief, and the poor things went to the station + with your photograph in their hands so that they might be the first to + recognize and greet you.” + </p> + <p> + “With my photograph?” interrupted Falloner again. + </p> + <p> + The young girl's clear eyes darkened ominously. “I reckon,” she said + deliberately, as she slowly drew from her pocket the photograph Daddy + Folsom had sent, “that that is your photograph. It certainly seems an + excellent likeness,” she added, regarding him with a slight suggestion of + contemptuous triumph. + </p> + <p> + In an instant the revelation of the whole mystery flashed upon him! The + forgotten passage in Houston's letter about the stolen photograph stood + clearly before him; the coincidence of his appearance in Shepherdstown, + and the natural mistake of the children and their fair protector, were + made perfectly plain. But with this relief and the certainty that he could + confound her with an explanation came a certain mischievous desire to + prolong the situation and increase his triumph. She certainly had not + shown him any favor. + </p> + <p> + “Have you got the letter also?” he asked quietly. + </p> + <p> + She whisked it impatiently from her pocket and handed it to him. As he + read Daddy's characteristic extravagance and recognized the familiar + idiosyncrasies of his old companions, he was unable to restrain a smile. + He raised his eyes, to meet with surprise the fair stranger's leveled + eyebrows and brightly indignant eyes, in which, however, the rain was fast + gathering with the lightning. + </p> + <p> + “It may be amusing to you, and I reckon likely it was all a California + joke,” she said with slightly trembling lips; “I don't know No'thern + gentlemen and their ways, and you seem to have forgotten our ways as you + have your kindred. Perhaps all this may seem so funny to them: it may not + seem funny to that boy who is now crying his heart out in the hall; it may + not be very amusing to that poor Cissy in her sick-bed longing to see her + brother. It may be so far from amusing to her, that I should hesitate to + bring you there in her excited condition and subject her to the pain that + you have caused him. But I have promised her; she is already expecting us, + and the disappointment may be dangerous, and I can only implore you—for + a few moments at least—to show a little more affection than you + feel.” As he made an impulsive, deprecating gesture, yet without changing + his look of restrained amusement, she stopped him hopelessly. “Oh, of + course, yes, yes, I know it is years since you have seen them; they have + no right to expect more; only—only—feeling as you do,” she + burst impulsively, “why—oh, why did you come?” + </p> + <p> + Here was Bob's chance. He turned to her politely; began gravely, “I simply + came to”—when suddenly his face changed; he stopped as if struck by + a blow. His cheek flushed, and then paled! Good God! What had he come for? + To tell them that this brother they were longing for—living for—perhaps + even dying for—was dead! In his crass stupidity, his wounded vanity + over the scorn of the young girl, his anticipation of triumph, he had + forgotten—totally forgotten—what that triumph meant! Perhaps + if he had felt more keenly the death of Lasham the thought of it would + have been uppermost in his mind; but Lasham was not his partner or + associate, only a brother miner, and his single act of generosity was in + the ordinary routine of camp life. If she could think him cold and + heartless before, what would she think of him now? The absurdity of her + mistake had vanished in the grim tragedy he had seemed to have cruelly + prepared for her. The thought struck him so keenly that he stammered, + faltered, and sank helplessly into a chair. + </p> + <p> + The shock that he had received was so plain to her that her own + indignation went out in the breath of it. Her lip quivered. “Don't you + mind,” she said hurriedly, dropping into her Southern speech; “I didn't go + to hurt you, but I was just that mad with the thought of those + pickaninnies, and the easy way you took it, that I clean forgot I'd no + call to catechise you! And you don't know me from the Queen of Sheba. + Well,” she went on, still more rapidly, and in odd distinction to her + previous formal slow Southern delivery, “I'm the daughter of Colonel + Boutelle, of Bayou Sara, Louisiana; and his paw, and his paw before him, + had a plantation there since the time of Adam, but he lost it and six + hundred niggers during the Wah! We were pooh as pohverty—paw and maw + and we four girls—and no more idea of work than a baby. But I had an + education at the convent at New Orleans, and could play, and speak French, + and I got a place as school-teacher here; I reckon the first Southern + woman that has taught school in the No'th! Ricketts, who used to be our + steward at Bayou Sara, told me about the pickaninnies, and how helpless + they were, with only a brother who occasionally sent them money from + California. I suppose I cottoned to the pooh little things at first + because I knew what it was to be alone amongst strangers, Mr. Lasham; I + used to teach them at odd times, and look after them, and go with them to + the train to look for you. Perhaps Ricketts made me think you didn't care + for them; perhaps I was wrong in thinking it was true, from the way you + met Jimmy just now. But I've spoken my mind and you know why.” She ceased + and walked to the window. + </p> + <p> + Falloner rose. The storm that had swept through him was over. The quick + determination, resolute purpose, and infinite patience which had made him + what he was were all there, and with it a conscientiousness which his + selfish independence had hitherto kept dormant. He accepted the situation, + not passively—it was not in his nature—but threw himself into + it with all his energy. + </p> + <p> + “You were quite right,” he said, halting a moment beside her; “I don't + blame you, and let me hope that later you may think me less to blame than + you do now. Now, what's to be done? Clearly, I've first to make it right + with Tommy—I mean Jimmy—and then we must make a straight dash + over to the girl! Whoop!” Before she could understand from his face the + strange change in his voice, he had dashed out of the room. In a moment he + reappeared with the boy struggling in his arms. “Think of the little scamp + not knowing his own brother!” he laughed, giving the boy a really + affectionate, if slightly exaggerated hug, “and expecting me to open my + arms to the first little boy who jumps into them! I've a great mind not to + give him the present I fetched all the way from California. Wait a + moment.” He dashed into the bedroom, opened his valise—where he + providentially remembered he had kept, with a miner's superstition, the + first little nugget of gold he had ever found—seized the tiny bit of + quartz of gold, and dashed out again to display it before Jimmy's eager + eyes. + </p> + <p> + If the heartiness, sympathy, and charming kindness of the man's whole + manner and face convinced, even while it slightly startled, the young + girl, it was still more effective with the boy. Children are quick to + detect the false ring of affected emotion, and Bob's was so genuine—whatever + its cause—that it might have easily passed for a fraternal + expression with harder critics. The child trustfully nestled against him + and would have grasped the gold, but the young man whisked it into his + pocket. “Not until we've shown it to our little sister—where we're + going now! I'm off to order a sleigh.” He dashed out again to the office + as if he found some relief in action, or, as it seemed to Miss Boutelle, + to avoid embarrassing conversation. When he came back again he was + carrying an immense bearskin from his luggage. He cast a critical look at + the girl's unseasonable attire. + </p> + <p> + “I shall wrap you and Jimmy in this—you know it's snowing + frightfully.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Boutelle flushed a little. “I'm warm enough when walking,” she said + coldly. Bob glanced at her smart little French shoes, and thought + otherwise. He said nothing, but hastily bundled his two guests downstairs + and into the street. The whirlwind dance of the snow made the sleigh an + indistinct bulk in the glittering darkness, and as the young girl for an + instant stood dazedly still, Bob incontinently lifted her from her feet, + deposited her in the vehicle, dropped Jimmy in her lap, and wrapped them + both tightly in the bearskin. Her weight, which was scarcely more than a + child's, struck him in that moment as being tantalizingly incongruous to + the matronly severity of her manner and its strange effect upon him. He + then jumped in himself, taking the direction from his companion, and drove + off through the storm. + </p> + <p> + The wind and darkness were not favorable to conversation, and only once + did he break the silence. “Is there any one who would be likely to + remember—me—where we are going?” he asked, in a lull of the + storm. + </p> + <p> + Miss Boutelle uncovered enough of her face to glance at him curiously. + “Hardly! You know the children came here from the No'th after your + mother's death, while you were in California.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” returned Bob hurriedly; “I was only thinking—you know + that some of my old friends might have called,” and then collapsed into + silence. + </p> + <p> + After a pause a voice came icily, although under the furs: “Perhaps you'd + prefer that your arrival be kept secret from the public? But they seem to + have already recognized you at the hotel from your inquiry about Ricketts, + and the photograph Jimmy had already shown them two weeks ago.” Bob + remembered the clerk's familiar manner and the omission to ask him to + register. “But it need go no further, if you like,” she added, with a + slight return of her previous scorn. + </p> + <p> + “I've no reason for keeping it secret,” said Bob stoutly. + </p> + <p> + No other words were exchanged until the sleigh drew up before a plain + wooden house in the suburbs of the town. Bob could see at a glance that it + represented the income of some careful artisan or small shopkeeper, and + that it promised little for an invalid's luxurious comfort. They were + ushered into a chilly sitting-room and Miss Boutelle ran upstairs with + Jimmy to prepare the invalid for Bob's appearance. He noticed that a word + dropped by the woman who opened the door made the young girl's face grave + again, and paled the color that the storm had buffeted to her cheek. He + noticed also that these plain surroundings seemed only to enhance her own + superiority, and that the woman treated her with a deference in odd + contrast to the ill-concealed disfavor with which she regarded him. + Strangely enough, this latter fact was a relief to his conscience. It + would have been terrible to have received their kindness under false + pretenses; to take their just blame of the man he personated seemed to + mitigate the deceit. + </p> + <p> + The young girl rejoined him presently with troubled eyes. Cissy was worse, + and only intermittently conscious, but had asked to see him. It was a + short flight of stairs to the bedroom, but before he reached it Bob's + heart beat faster than it had in any mountain climb. In one corner of the + plainly furnished room stood a small truckle bed, and in it lay the + invalid. It needed but a single glance at her flushed face in its aureole + of yellow hair to recognize the likeness to Jimmy, although, added to that + strange refinement produced by suffering, there was a spiritual exaltation + in the child's look—possibly from delirium—that awed and + frightened him; an awful feeling that he could not lie to this hopeless + creature took possession of him, and his step faltered. But she lifted her + small arms pathetically towards him as if she divined his trouble, and he + sank on his knees beside her. With a tiny finger curled around his long + mustache, she lay there silent. Her face was full of trustfulness, + happiness, and consciousness—but she spoke no word. + </p> + <p> + There was a pause, and Falloner, slightly lifting his head without + disturbing that faintly clasping finger, beckoned Miss Boutelle to his + side. “Can you drive?” he said, in a low voice. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Take my sleigh and get the best doctor in town to come here at once. + Bring him with you if you can; if he can't come at once, drive home + yourself. I will stay here.” + </p> + <p> + “But”—hesitated Miss Boutelle. + </p> + <p> + “I will stay here,” he repeated. + </p> + <p> + The door closed on the young girl, and Falloner, still bending over the + child, presently heard the sleigh-bells pass away in the storm. He still + sat with his bent head, held by the tiny clasp of those thin fingers. But + the child's eyes were fixed so intently upon him that Mrs. Ricketts leaned + over the strangely-assorted pair and said— + </p> + <p> + “It's your brother Dick, dearie. Don't you know him?” + </p> + <p> + The child's lips moved faintly. “Dick's dead,” she whispered. + </p> + <p> + “She's wandering,” said Mrs. Ricketts. “Speak to her.” But Bob, with his + eyes on the child's, lifted a protesting hand. The little sufferer's lips + moved again. “It isn't Dick—it's the angel God sent to tell me.” + </p> + <p> + She spoke no more. And when Miss Boutelle returned with the doctor she was + beyond the reach of finite voices. Falloner would have remained all night + with them, but he could see that his presence in the contracted household + was not desired. Even his offer to take Jimmy with him to the hotel was + declined, and at midnight he returned alone. + </p> + <p> + What his thoughts were that night may be easily imagined. Cissy's death + had removed the only cause he had for concealing his real identity. There + was nothing more to prevent his revealing all to Miss Boutelle and to + offer to adopt the boy. But he reflected this could not be done until + after the funeral, for it was only due to Cissy's memory that he should + still keep up the role of Dick Lasham as chief mourner. If it seems + strange that Bob did not at this crucial moment take Miss Boutelle into + his confidence, I fear it was because he dreaded the personal effect of + the deceit he had practiced upon her more than any ethical consideration; + she had softened considerably in her attitude towards him that night; he + was human, after all, and while he felt his conduct had been unselfish in + the main, he dared not confess to himself how much her opinion had + influenced him. He resolved that after the funeral he would continue his + journey, and write to her, en route, a full explanation of his conduct, + inclosing Daddy's letter as corroborative evidence. But on searching his + letter-case he found that he had lost even that evidence, and he must + trust solely at present to her faith in his improbable story. + </p> + <p> + It seemed as if his greatest sacrifice was demanded at the funeral! For it + could not be disguised that the neighbors were strongly prejudiced against + him. Even the preacher improved the occasion to warn the congregation + against the dangers of putting off duty until too late. And when Robert + Falloner, pale, but self-restrained, left the church with Miss Boutelle, + equally pale and reserved, on his arm, he could with difficulty restrain + his fury at the passing of a significant smile across the faces of a few + curious bystanders. “It was Amy Boutelle, that was the 'penitence' that + fetched him, you bet!” he overheard, a barely concealed whisper; and the + reply, “And it's a good thing she's made out of it too, for he's mighty + rich!” + </p> + <p> + At the church door he took her cold hand into his. “I am leaving to-morrow + morning with Jimmy,” he said, with a white face. “Good-by.” + </p> + <p> + “You are quite right; good-by,” she replied as briefly, but with the + faintest color. He wondered if she had heard it too. + </p> + <p> + Whether she had heard it or not, she went home with Mrs. Ricketts in some + righteous indignation, which found—after the young lady's habit—free + expression. Whatever were Mr. Lasham's faults of omission it was most + un-Christian to allude to them there, and an insult to the poor little + dear's memory who had forgiven them. Were she in his shoes she would shake + the dust of the town off her feet; and she hoped he would. She was a + little softened on arriving to find Jimmy in tears. He had lost Dick's + photograph—or Dick had forgotten to give it back at the hotel, for + this was all he had in his pocket. And he produced a letter—the + missing letter of Daddy, which by mistake Falloner had handed back instead + of the photograph. Miss Boutelle saw the superscription and Californian + postmark with a vague curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Did you look inside, dear? Perhaps it slipped in.” + </p> + <p> + Jimmy had not. Miss Boutelle did—and I grieve to say, ended by + reading the whole letter. + </p> + <p> + Bob Falloner had finished packing his things the next morning, and was + waiting for Mr. Ricketts and Jimmy. But when a tap came at the door, he + opened it to find Miss Boutelle standing there. “I have sent Jimmy into + the bedroom,” she said with a faint smile, “to look for the photograph + which you gave him in mistake for this. I think for the present he prefers + his brother's picture to this letter, which I have not explained to him or + any one.” She stopped, and raising her eyes to his, said gently: “I think + it would have only been a part of your goodness to have trusted me, Mr. + Falloner.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you will forgive me?” he said eagerly. + </p> + <p> + She looked at him frankly, yet with a faint trace of coquetry that the + angels might have pardoned. “Do you want me to say to you what Mrs. + Ricketts says were the last words of poor Cissy?” + </p> + <p> + A year later, when the darkness and rain were creeping up Sawyer's Ledge, + and Houston and Daddy Folsom were sitting before their brushwood fire in + the old Lasham cabin, the latter delivered himself oracularly. + </p> + <p> + “It's a mighty queer thing, that news about Bob! It's not that he's + married, for that might happen to any one; but this yer account in the + paper of his wedding being attended by his 'little brother.' That gets me! + To think all the while he was here he was lettin' on to us that he hadn't + kith or kin! Well, sir, that accounts to me for one thing,—the + sing'ler way he tumbled to that letter of poor Dick Lasham's little + brother and sent him that draft! Don't ye see? It was a feller feelin'! + Knew how it was himself! I reckon ye all thought I was kinder soft reading + that letter o' Dick Lasham's little brother to him, but ye see what it + did.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE YOUNGEST MISS PIPER + </h2> + <p> + I do not think that any of us who enjoyed the acquaintance of the Piper + girls or the hospitality of Judge Piper, their father, ever cared for the + youngest sister. Not on account of her extreme youth, for the eldest Miss + Piper confessed to twenty-six—and the youth of the youngest sister + was established solely, I think, by one big braid down her back. Neither + was it because she was the plainest, for the beauty of the Piper girls was + a recognized general distinction, and the youngest Miss Piper was not + entirely devoid of the family charms. Nor was it from any lack of + intelligence, nor from any defective social quality; for her precocity was + astounding, and her good-humored frankness alarming. Neither do I think it + could be said that a slight deafness, which might impart an embarrassing + publicity to any statement—the reverse of our general feeling—that + might be confided by any one to her private ear, was a sufficient reason; + for it was pointed out that she always understood everything that Tom + Sparrell told her in his ordinary tone of voice. Briefly, it was very + possible that Delaware—the youngest Miss Piper—did not like + us. Yet it was fondly believed by us that the other sisters failed to show + that indifference to our existence shown by Miss Delaware, although the + heartburnings, misunderstandings, jealousies, hopes and fears, and finally + the chivalrous resignation with which we at last accepted the long + foregone conclusion that they were not for us, and far beyond our reach, + is not a part of this veracious chronicle. Enough that none of the + flirtations of her elder sisters affected or were shared by the youngest + Miss Piper. She moved in this heart-breaking atmosphere with sublime + indifference, treating her sisters' affairs with what we considered rank + simplicity or appalling frankness. Their few admirers who were weak enough + to attempt to gain her mediation or confidence had reason to regret it. + </p> + <p> + “It's no kind o' use givin' me goodies,” she said to a helpless suitor of + Louisiana Piper's who had offered to bring her some sweets, “for I ain't + got no influence with Lu, and if I don't give 'em up to her when she hears + of it, she'll nag me and hate you like pizen. Unless,” she added + thoughtfully, “it was wintergreen lozenges; Lu can't stand them, or + anybody who eats them within a mile.” It is needless to add that the + miserable man, thus put upon his gallantry, was obliged in honor to + provide Del with the wintergreen lozenges that kept him in disfavor and at + a distance. Unfortunately, too, any predilection or pity for any + particular suitor of her sister's was attended by even more disastrous + consequences. It was reported that while acting as “gooseberry”—a + role usually assigned to her—between Virginia Piper and an + exceptionally timid young surveyor, during a ramble she conceived a rare + sentiment of humanity towards the unhappy man. After once or twice + lingering behind in the ostentatious picking of a wayside flower, or + “running on ahead” to look at a mountain view, without any apparent effect + on the shy and speechless youth, she decoyed him aside while her elder + sister rambled indifferently and somewhat scornfully on. The youngest Miss + Piper leaped upon the rail of a fence, and with the stalk of a + thimbleberry in her mouth swung her small feet to and fro and surveyed him + dispassionately. + </p> + <p> + “Ye don't seem to be ketchin' on?” she said tentatively. + </p> + <p> + The young man smiled feebly and interrogatively. + </p> + <p> + “Don't seem to be either follering suit nor trumpin',” continued Del + bluntly. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose so—that is, I fear that Miss Virginia”—he + stammered. + </p> + <p> + “Speak up! I'm a little deaf. Say it again!” said Del, screwing up her + eyes and eyebrows. + </p> + <p> + The young man was obliged to admit in stentorian tones that his progress + had been scarcely satisfactory. + </p> + <p> + “You're goin' on too slow—that's it,” said Del critically. “Why, + when Captain Savage meandered along here with Jinny” (Virginia) “last + week, afore we got as far as this he'd reeled off a heap of Byron and + Jamieson” (Tennyson), “and sich; and only yesterday Jinny and Doctor + Beveridge was blowin' thistletops to know which was a flirt all along the + trail past the crossroads. Why, ye ain't picked ez much as a single berry + for Jinny, let alone Lad's Love or Johnny Jumpups and Kissme's, and ye + keep talkin' across me, you two, till I'm tired. Now look here,” she burst + out with sudden decision, “Jinny's gone on ahead in a kind o' huff; but I + reckon she's done that afore too, and you'll find her, jest as Spinner + did, on the rise of the hill, sittin' on a pine stump and lookin' like + this.” (Here the youngest Miss Piper locked her fingers over her left + knee, and drew it slightly up,—with a sublime indifference to the + exposure of considerable small-ankled red stocking,—and with a + far-off, plaintive stare, achieved a colorable imitation of her elder + sister's probable attitude.) “Then you jest go up softly, like as you was + a bear, and clap your hands on her eyes, and say in a disguised voice like + this” (here Del turned on a high falsetto beyond any masculine compass), + “'Who's who?' jest like in forfeits.” + </p> + <p> + “But she'll be sure to know me,” said the surveyor timidly. + </p> + <p> + “She won't,” said Del in scornful skepticism. + </p> + <p> + “I hardly think”—stammered the young man, with an awkward smile, + “that I—in fact—she'll discover me—before I can get + beside her.” + </p> + <p> + “Not if you go softly, for she'll be sittin' back to the road, so—gazing + away, so”—the youngest Miss Piper again stared dreamily in the + distance, “and you'll creep up just behind, like this.” + </p> + <p> + “But won't she be angry? I haven't known her long—that is—don't + you see?” He stopped embarrassedly. + </p> + <p> + “Can't hear a word you say,” said Del, shaking her head decisively. + “You've got my deaf ear. Speak louder, or come closer.” + </p> + <p> + But here the instruction suddenly ended, once and for all time! For + whether the young man was seriously anxious to perfect himself; whether he + was truly grateful to the young girl and tried to show it; whether he was + emboldened by the childish appeal of the long brown distinguishing braid + down her back, or whether he suddenly found something peculiarly + provocative in the reddish brown eyes between their thickset hedge of + lashes, and with the trim figure and piquant pose, and was seized with + that hysteric desperation which sometimes attacks timidity itself, I + cannot say! Enough that he suddenly put his arm around her waist and his + lips to her soft satin cheek, peppered and salted as it was by + sun-freckles and mountain air, and received a sound box on the ear for his + pains. The incident was closed. He did not repeat the experiment on either + sister. The disclosure of his rebuff seemed, however, to give a singular + satisfaction to Red Gulch. + </p> + <p> + While it may be gathered from this that the youngest Miss Piper was + impervious to general masculine advances, it was not until later that Red + Gulch was thrown into skeptical astonishment by the rumors that all this + time she really had a lover! Allusion has been made to the charge that her + deafness did not prevent her from perfectly understanding the ordinary + tone of voice of a certain Mr. Thomas Sparrell. + </p> + <p> + No undue significance was attached to this fact through the very + insignificance and “impossibility” of that individual;—a lanky, + red-haired youth, incapacitated for manual labor through lameness,—a + clerk in a general store at the Cross Roads! He had never been the + recipient of Judge Piper's hospitality; he had never visited the house + even with parcels; apparently his only interviews with her or any of the + family had been over the counter. To do him justice he certainly had never + seemed to seek any nearer acquaintance; he was not at the church door when + her sisters, beautiful in their Sunday gowns, filed into the aisle, with + little Delaware bringing up the rear; he was not at the Democratic + barbecue, that we attended without reference to our personal politics, and + solely for the sake of Judge Piper and the girls; nor did he go to the + Agricultural Fair Ball—open to all. His abstention we believed to be + owing to his lameness; to a wholesome consciousness of his own social + defects; or an inordinate passion for reading cheap scientific textbooks, + which did not, however, add fluency nor conviction to his speech. Neither + had he the abstraction of a student, for his accounts were kept with an + accuracy which struck us, who dealt at the store, as ignobly practical, + and even malignant. Possibly we might have expressed this opinion more + strongly but for a certain rude vigor of repartee which he possessed, and + a suggestion that he might have a temper on occasion. “Them red-haired + chaps is like to be tetchy and to kinder see blood through their + eyelashes,” had been suggested by an observing customer. + </p> + <p> + In short, little as we knew of the youngest Miss Piper, he was the last + man we should have suspected her to select as an admirer. What we did know + of their public relations, purely commercial ones, implied the reverse of + any cordial understanding. The provisioning of the Piper household was + entrusted to Del, with other practical odds and ends of housekeeping, not + ornamental, and the following is said to be a truthful record of one of + their overheard interviews at the store:— + </p> + <p> + The youngest Miss Piper, entering, displacing a quantity of goods in the + centre to make a sideways seat for herself, and looking around loftily as + she took a memorandum-book and pencil from her pocket. + </p> + <p> + “Ahem! If I ain't taking you away from your studies, Mr. Sparrell, maybe + you'll be good enough to look here a minit;—but” (in affected + politeness) “if I'm disturbing you I can come another time.” + </p> + <p> + Sparrell, placing the book he had been reading carefully under the + counter, and advancing to Miss Delaware with a complete ignoring of her + irony: “What can we do for you to-day, Miss Piper?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Delaware, with great suavity of manner, examining her + memorandum-book: “I suppose it wouldn't be shocking your delicate feelings + too much to inform you that the canned lobster and oysters you sent us + yesterday wasn't fit for hogs?” + </p> + <p> + Sparrell (blandly): “They weren't intended for them, Miss Piper. If we had + known you were having company over from Red Gulch to dinner, we might have + provided something more suitable for them. We have a fair quality of + oil-cake and corn-cobs in stock, at reduced figures. But the canned + provisions were for your own family.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Delaware (secretly pleased at this sarcastic allusion to her sister's + friends, but concealing her delight): “I admire to hear you talk that way, + Mr. Sparrell; it's better than minstrels or a circus. I suppose you get it + outer that book,” indicating the concealed volume. “What do you call it?” + </p> + <p> + Sparrell (politely): “The First Principles of Geology.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Delaware, leaning sideways and curling her little fingers around her + pink ear: “Did you say the first principles of 'geology' or 'politeness'? + You know I am so deaf; but, of course, it couldn't be that.” + </p> + <p> + Sparrell (easily): “Oh no, you seem to have that in your hand”—pointing + to Miss Delaware's memorandum-book—“you were quoting from it when + you came in.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Delaware, after an affected silence of deep resignation: “Well! it's + too bad folks can't just spend their lives listenin' to such elegant talk; + I'd admire to do nothing else! But there's my family up at Cottonwood—and + they must eat. They're that low that they expect me to waste my time + getting food for 'em here, instead of drinking in the First Principles of + the Grocery.” + </p> + <p> + “Geology,” suggested Sparrell blandly. “The history of rock formation.” + </p> + <p> + “Geology,” accepted Miss Delaware apologetically; “the history of rocks, + which is so necessary for knowing just how much sand you can put in the + sugar. So I reckon I'll leave my list here, and you can have the things + toted to Cottonwood when you've got through with your First Principles.” + </p> + <p> + She tore out a list of her commissions from a page of her memorandum-book, + leaped lightly from the counter, threw her brown braid from her left + shoulder to its proper place down her back, shook out her skirts + deliberately, and saying, “Thank you for a most improvin' afternoon, Mr. + Sparrell,” sailed demurely out of the store. + </p> + <p> + A few auditors of this narrative thought it inconsistent that a daughter + of Judge Piper and a sister of the angelic host should put up with a mere + clerk's familiarity, but it was pointed out that “she gave him as good as + he sent,” and the story was generally credited. But certainly no one ever + dreamed that it pointed to any more precious confidences between them. + </p> + <p> + I think the secret burst upon the family, with other things, at the big + picnic at Reservoir Canyon. This festivity had been arranged for weeks + previously, and was undertaken chiefly by the “Red Gulch Contingent,” as + we were called, as a slight return to the Piper family for their frequent + hospitality. The Piper sisters were expected to bring nothing but their + own personal graces and attend to the ministration of such viands and + delicacies as the boys had profusely supplied. + </p> + <p> + The site selected was Reservoir Canyon, a beautiful, triangular valley + with very steep sides, one of which was crowned by the immense reservoir + of the Pioneer Ditch Company. The sheer flanks of the canyon descended in + furrowed lines of vines and clinging bushes, like folds of falling skirts, + until they broke again into flounces of spangled shrubbery over a broad + level carpet of monkshood, mariposas, lupines, poppies, and daisies. + Tempered and secluded from the sun's rays by its lofty shadows, the + delicious obscurity of the canyon was in sharp contrast to the fiery + mountain trail that in the full glare of the noonday sky made its tortuous + way down the hillside, like a stream of lava, to plunge suddenly into the + valley and extinguish itself in its coolness as in a lake. The heavy odors + of wild honeysuckle, syringa, and ceanothus that hung over it were + lightened and freshened by the sharp spicing of pine and bay. The mountain + breeze which sometimes shook the serrated tops of the large redwoods above + with a chill from the remote snow peaks even in the heart of summer, never + reached the little valley. + </p> + <p> + It seemed an ideal place for a picnic. Everybody was therefore astonished + to hear that an objection was suddenly raised to this perfect site. They + were still more astonished to know that the objector was the youngest Miss + Piper! Pressed to give her reasons, she had replied that the locality was + dangerous; that the reservoir placed upon the mountain, notoriously old + and worn out, had been rendered more unsafe by false economy in unskillful + and hasty repairs to satisfy speculating stockbrokers, and that it had + lately shown signs of leakage and sapping of its outer walls; that, in the + event of an outbreak, the little triangular valley, from which there was + no outlet, would be instantly flooded. Asked still more pressingly to give + her authority for these details, she at first hesitated, and then gave the + name of Tom Sparrell. + </p> + <p> + The derision with which this statement was received by us all, as the + opinion of a sedentary clerk, was quite natural and obvious, but not the + anger which it excited in the breast of Judge Piper; for it was not + generally known that the judge was the holder of a considerable number of + shares in the Pioneer Ditch Company, and that large dividends had been + lately kept up by a false economy of expenditure, to expedite a “sharp + deal” in the stock, by which the judge and others could sell out of a + failing company. Rather, it was believed, that the judge's anger was due + only to the discovery of Sparrell's influence over his daughter and his + interference with the social affairs of Cottonwood. It was said that there + was a sharp scene between the youngest Miss Piper and the combined forces + of the judge and the elder sisters, which ended in the former's resolute + refusal to attend the picnic at all if that site was selected. + </p> + <p> + As Delaware was known to be fearless even to the point of recklessness, + and fond of gayety, her refusal only intensified the belief that she was + merely “stickin' up for Sparrell's judgment” without any reference to her + own personal safety or that of her sisters. The warning was laughed away; + the opinion of Sparrell treated with ridicule as the dyspeptic and envious + expression of an impractical man. It was pointed out that the reservoir + had lasted a long time even in its alleged ruinous state; that only a + miracle of coincidence could make it break down that particular afternoon + of the picnic; that even if it did happen, there was no direct proof that + it would seriously flood the valley, or at best add more than a spice of + excitement to the affair. The “Red Gulch Contingent,” who WOULD be there, + was quite as capable of taking care of the ladies, in case of any + accident, as any lame crank who wouldn't, but could only croak a warning + to them from a distance. A few even wished something might happen that + they might have an opportunity of showing their superior devotion; indeed, + the prospect of carrying the half-submerged sisters, in a condition of + helpless loveliness, in their arms to a place of safety was a fascinating + possibility. The warning was conspicuously ineffective; everybody looked + eagerly forward to the day and the unchanged locality; to the greatest + hopefulness and anticipation was added the stirring of defiance, and when + at last the appointed hour had arrived, the picnic party passed down the + twisting mountain trail through the heat and glare in a fever of + enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + It was a pretty sight to view this sparkling procession—the girls + cool and radiant in their white, blue, and yellow muslins and flying + ribbons, the “Contingent” in its cleanest ducks, and blue and red flannel + shirts, the judge white-waistcoated and panama-hatted, with a new dignity + borrowed from the previous circumstances, and three or four impressive + Chinamen bringing up the rear with hampers—as it at last debouched + into Reservoir Canyon. + </p> + <p> + Here they dispersed themselves over the limited area, scarcely half an + acre, with the freedom of escaped school children. They were secure in + their woodland privacy. They were overlooked by no high road and its + passing teams; they were safe from accidental intrusion from the + settlement; indeed they went so far as to effect the exclusiveness of + “clique.” At first they amused themselves by casting humorously defiant + eyes at the long low Ditch Reservoir, which peeped over the green wall of + the ridge, six hundred feet above them; at times they even simulated an + exaggerated terror of it, and one recognized humorist declaimed a + grotesque appeal to its forbearance, with delightful local allusions. + Others pretended to discover near a woodman's hut, among the belt of pines + at the top of the descending trail, the peeping figure of the ridiculous + and envious Sparrell. But all this was presently forgotten in the actual + festivity. Small as was the range of the valley, it still allowed retreats + during the dances for waiting couples among the convenient laurel and + manzanita bushes which flounced the mountain side. After the dancing, + old-fashioned children's games were revived with great laughter and + half-hearted and coy protests from the ladies; notably one pastime known + as “I'm a-pinin',” in which ingenious performance the victim was obliged + to stand in the centre of a circle and publicly “pine” for a member of the + opposite sex. Some hilarity was occasioned by the mischievous Miss + “Georgy” Piper declaring, when it came to her turn, that she was “pinin'” + for a look at the face of Tom Sparrell just now! + </p> + <p> + In this local trifling two hours passed, until the party sat down to the + long-looked for repast. It was here that the health of Judge Piper was + neatly proposed by the editor of the “Argus.” The judge responded with + great dignity and some emotion. He reminded them that it had been his + humble endeavor to promote harmony—that harmony so characteristic of + American principles—in social as he had in political circles, and + particularly among the strangely constituted yet purely American elements + of frontier life. He accepted the present festivity with its overflowing + hospitalities, not in recognition of himself—(“yes! yes!”)—nor + of his family—(enthusiastic protests)—but of that American + principle! If at one time it seemed probable that these festivities might + be marred by the machinations of envy—(groans)—or that harmony + interrupted by the importation of low-toned material interests—(groans)—he + could say that, looking around him, he had never before felt—er—that—Here + the judge stopped short, reeled slightly forward, caught at a camp-stool, + recovered himself with an apologetic smile, and turned inquiringly to his + neighbor. + </p> + <p> + A light laugh—instantly suppressed—at what was at first + supposed to be the effect of the “overflowing hospitality” upon the + speaker himself, went around the male circle until it suddenly appeared + that half a dozen others had started to their feet at the same time, with + white faces, and that one of the ladies had screamed. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” everybody was asking with interrogatory smiles. + </p> + <p> + It was Judge Piper who replied:— + </p> + <p> + “A little shock of earthquake,” he said blandly; “a mere thrill! I think,” + he added with a faint smile, “we may say that Nature herself has applauded + our efforts in good old Californian fashion, and signified her assent. + What are you saying, Fludder?” + </p> + <p> + “I was thinking, sir,” said Fludder deferentially, in a lower voice, “that + if anything was wrong in the reservoir, this shock, you know, might”— + </p> + <p> + He was interrupted by a faint crashing and crackling sound, and looking + up, beheld a good-sized boulder, evidently detached from some greater + height, strike the upland plateau at the left of the trail and bound into + the fringe of forest beside it. A slight cloud of dust marked its course, + and then lazily floated away in mid air. But it had been watched + agitatedly, and it was evident that that singular loss of nervous balance + which is apt to affect all those who go through the slightest earthquake + experience was felt by all. But some sense of humor, however, remained. + </p> + <p> + “Looks as if the water risks we took ain't goin' to cover earthquakes,” + drawled Dick Frisney; “still that wasn't a bad shot, if we only knew what + they were aiming at.” + </p> + <p> + “Do be quiet,” said Virginia Piper, her cheeks pink with excitement. + “Listen, can't you? What's that funny murmuring you hear now and then up + there?” + </p> + <p> + “It's only the snow-wind playin' with the pines on the summit. You girls + won't allow anybody any fun but yourselves.” + </p> + <p> + But here a scream from “Georgy,” who, assisted by Captain Fairfax, had + mounted a camp-stool at the mouth of the valley, attracted everybody's + attention. She was standing upright, with dilated eyes, staring at the top + of the trail. “Look!” she said excitedly, “if the trail isn't moving!” + </p> + <p> + Everybody faced in that direction. At the first glance it seemed indeed as + if the trail was actually moving; wriggling and undulating its tortuous + way down the mountain like a huge snake, only swollen to twice its usual + size. But the second glance showed it to be no longer a trail but a + channel of water, whose stream, lifted in a bore-like wall four or five + feet high, was plunging down into the devoted valley. + </p> + <p> + For an instant they were unable to comprehend even the nature of the + catastrophe. The reservoir was directly over their heads; the bursting of + its wall they had imagined would naturally bring down the water in a dozen + trickling streams or falls over the cliff above them and along the flanks + of the mountain. But that its suddenly liberated volume should overflow + the upland beyond and then descend in a pent-up flood by their own trail + and their only avenue of escape, had been beyond their wildest fancy. + </p> + <p> + They met this smiting truth with that characteristic short laugh with + which the American usually receives the blow of Fate or the unexpected—as + if he recognized only the absurdity of the situation. Then they ran to the + women, collected them together, and dragged them to vantages of fancied + security among the bushes which flounced the long skirts of the mountain + walls. But I leave this part of the description to the characteristic + language of one of the party:— + </p> + <p> + “When the flood struck us, it did not seem to take any stock of us in + particular, but laid itself out to 'go for' that picnic for all it was + worth! It wiped it off the face of the earth in about twenty-five seconds! + It first made a clean break from stem to stern, carrying everything along + with it. The first thing I saw was old Judge Piper, puttin' on his best + licks to get away from a big can of strawberry ice cream that was + trundling after him and trying to empty itself on his collar, whenever a + bigger wave lifted it. He was followed by what was left of the brass band; + the big drum just humpin' itself to keep abreast o' the ice cream, mixed + up with camp-stools, music-stands, a few Chinamen, and then what they call + in them big San Francisco processions 'citizens generally.' The hull thing + swept up the canyon inside o' thirty seconds. Then, what Captain Fairfax + called 'the reflex action in the laws o' motion' happened, and darned if + the hull blamed procession didn't sweep back again—this time all the + heavy artillery, such as camp-kettles, lager beer kegs, bottles, glasses, + and crockery that was left behind takin' the lead now, and Judge Piper and + that ice cream can bringin' up the rear. As the jedge passed us the second + time, we noticed that that ice cream can—hevin' swallowed water—was + kinder losing its wind, and we encouraged the old man by shoutin' out, + 'Five to one on him!' And then, you wouldn't believe what followed. Why, + darn my skin, when that 'reflex' met the current at the other end, it just + swirled around again in what Captain Fairfax called the 'centrifugal + curve,' and just went round and round the canyon like ez when yer washin' + the dirt out o' a prospectin' pan—every now and then washin' some + one of the boys that was in it, like scum, up ag'in the banks. + </p> + <p> + “We managed in this way to snake out the judge, jest ez he was sailin' + round on the home stretch, passin' the quarter post two lengths ahead o' + the can. A good deal o' the ice cream had washed away, but it took us ten + minutes to shake the cracked ice and powdered salt out o' the old man's + clothes, and warm him up again in the laurel bush where he was clinging. + This sort o' 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' kep' on until most o' + the humans was got out, and only the furniture o' the picnic was left in + the race. Then it got kinder mixed up, and went sloshin' round here and + there, ez the water kep' comin' down by the trail. Then Lulu Piper, what I + was holdin' up all the time in a laurel bush, gets an idea, for all she + was wet and draggled; and ez the things went bobbin' round, she calls out + the figures o' a cotillon to 'em. 'Two camp-stools forward.' 'Sashay and + back to your places.' 'Change partners.' 'Hands all round.' + </p> + <p> + “She was clear grit, you bet! And the joke caught on and the other girls + jined in, and it kinder cheered 'em, for they was wantin' it. Then Fludder + allowed to pacify 'em by sayin' he just figured up the size o' the + reservoir and the size o' the canyon, and he kalkilated that the cube was + about ekal, and the canyon couldn't flood any more. And then Lulu—who + was peart as a jay and couldn't be fooled—speaks up and says, + 'What's the matter with the ditch, Dick?' + </p> + <p> + “Lord! then we knew that she knew the worst; for of course all the water + in the ditch itself—fifty miles of it!—was drainin' now into + that reservoir and was bound to come down to the canyon.” + </p> + <p> + It was at this point that the situation became really desperate, for they + had now crawled up the steep sides as far as the bushes afforded foothold, + and the water was still rising. The chatter of the girls ceased, there + were long silences, in which the men discussed the wildest plans, and + proposed to tear their shirts into strips to make ropes to support the + girls by sticks driven into the mountain side. It was in one of those + intervals that the distinct strokes of a woodman's axe were heard high on + the upland at the point where the trail descended to the canyon. Every ear + was alert, but only those on one side of the canyon could get a fair view + of the spot. This was the good fortune of Captain Fairfax and Georgy + Piper, who had climbed to the highest bush on that side, and were now + standing up, gazing excitedly in that direction. + </p> + <p> + “Some one is cutting down a tree at the head of the trail,” shouted + Fairfax. The response and joyful explanation, “for a dam across the + trail,” was on everybody's lips at the same time. + </p> + <p> + But the strokes of the axe were slow and painfully intermittent. + Impatience burst out. + </p> + <p> + “Yell to him to hurry up! Why haven't they brought two men?” + </p> + <p> + “It's only one man,” shouted the captain, “and he seems to be a cripple. + By Jiminy!—it is—yes!—it's Tom Sparrell!” + </p> + <p> + There was a dead silence. Then, I grieve to say, shame and its twin + brother rage took possession of their weak humanity. Oh, yes! It was all + of a piece! Why in the name of Folly hadn't he sent for an able-bodied + man. Were they to be drowned through his cranky obstinacy? + </p> + <p> + The blows still went on slowly. Presently, however, they seemed to + alternate with other blows—but alas! they were slower, and if + possible feebler! + </p> + <p> + “Have they got another cripple to work?” roared the Contingent in one + furious voice. + </p> + <p> + “No—it's a woman—a little one—yes! a girl. Hello! Why, + sure as you live, it's Delaware!” + </p> + <p> + A spontaneous cheer burst from the Contingent, partly as a rebuke to + Sparrell, I think, partly from some shame over their previous rage. He + could take it as he liked. + </p> + <p> + Still the blows went on distressingly slow. The girls were hoisted on the + men's shoulders; the men were half submerged. Then there was a painful + pause; then a crumbling crash. Another cheer went up from the canyon. + </p> + <p> + “It's down! straight across the trail,” shouted Fairfax, “and a part of + the bank on the top of it.” + </p> + <p> + There was another moment of suspense. Would it hold or be carried away by + the momentum of the flood? It held! In a few moments Fairfax again gave + voice to the cheering news that the flow had stopped and the submerged + trail was reappearing. In twenty minutes it was clear—a muddy river + bed, but possible of ascent! Of course there was no diminution of the + water in the canyon, which had no outlet, yet it now was possible for the + party to swing from bush to bush along the mountain side until the foot of + the trail—no longer an opposing one—was reached. There were + some missteps and mishaps,—flounderings in the water, and some + dangerous rescues,—but in half an hour the whole concourse stood + upon the trail and commenced the ascent. It was a slow, difficult, and + lugubrious procession—I fear not the best-tempered one, now that the + stimulus of danger and chivalry was past. When they reached the dam made + by the fallen tree, although they were obliged to make a long detour to + avoid its steep sides, they could see how successfully it had diverted the + current to a declivity on the other side. + </p> + <p> + But strangely enough they were greeted by nothing else! Sparrell and the + youngest Miss Piper were gone; and when they at last reached the highroad, + they were astounded to hear from a passing teamster that no one in the + settlement knew anything of the disaster! + </p> + <p> + This was the last drop in their cup of bitterness! They who had expected + that the settlement was waiting breathlessly for their rescue, who + anticipated that they would be welcomed as heroes, were obliged to meet + the ill-concealed amusement of passengers and friends at their dishevelled + and bedraggled appearance, which suggested only the blundering mishaps of + an ordinary summer outing! “Boatin' in the reservoir, and fell in?” + “Playing at canal-boat in the Ditch?” were some of the cheerful + hypotheses. The fleeting sense of gratitude they had felt for their + deliverers was dissipated by the time they had reached their homes, and + their rancor increased by the information that when the earthquake + occurred Mr. Tom Sparrell and Miss Delaware were enjoying a “pasear” in + the forest—he having a half-holiday by virtue of the festival—and + that the earthquake had revived his fears of a catastrophe. The two had + procured axes in the woodman's hut and did what they thought was necessary + to relieve the situation of the picnickers. But the very modesty of this + account of their own performance had the effect of belittling the + catastrophe itself, and the picnickers' report of their exceeding peril + was received with incredulous laughter. + </p> + <p> + For the first time in the history of Red Gulch there was a serious + division between the Piper family, supported by the Contingent, and the + rest of the settlement. Tom Sparrell's warning was remembered by the + latter, and the ingratitude of the picnickers to their rescuers commented + upon; the actual calamity to the reservoir was more or less attributed to + the imprudent and reckless contiguity of the revelers on that day, and + there were not wanting those who referred the accident itself to the + machinations of the scheming Ditch Director Piper! + </p> + <p> + It was said that there was a stormy scene in the Piper household that + evening. The judge had demanded that Delaware should break off her + acquaintance with Sparrell, and she had refused; the judge had demanded of + Sparrell's employer that he should discharge him, and had been met with + the astounding information that Sparrell was already a silent partner in + the concern. At this revelation Judge Piper was alarmed; while he might + object to a clerk who could not support a wife, as a consistent democrat + he could not oppose a fairly prosperous tradesman. A final appeal was made + to Delaware; she was implored to consider the situation of her sisters, + who had all made more ambitious marriages or were about to make them. Why + should she now degrade the family by marrying a country storekeeper? + </p> + <p> + It is said that here the youngest Miss Piper made a memorable reply, and a + revelation the truth of which was never gainsaid:— + </p> + <p> + “You all wanter know why I'm going to marry Tom Sparrell?” she queried, + standing up and facing the whole family circle. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Why I prefer him to the hull caboodle that you girls have married or are + going to marry?” she continued, meditatively biting the end of her braid. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he's the only man of the whole lot that hasn't proposed to me + first.” + </p> + <p> + It is presumed that Sparrell made good the omission, or that the family + were glad to get rid of her, for they were married that autumn. And really + a later comparison of the family records shows that while Captain Fairfax + remained “Captain Fairfax,” and the other sons-in-law did not advance + proportionately in standing or riches, the lame storekeeper of Red Gulch + became the Hon. Senator Tom Sparrell. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A WIDOW OF THE SANTA ANA VALLEY + </h2> + <p> + The Widow Wade was standing at her bedroom window staring out, in that + vague instinct which compels humanity in moments of doubt and perplexity + to seek this change of observation or superior illumination. Not that Mrs. + Wade's disturbance was of a serious character. She had passed the acute + stage of widowhood by at least two years, and the slight redness of her + soft eyelids as well as the droop of her pretty mouth were merely the + recognized outward and visible signs of the grievously minded religious + community in which she lived. The mourning she still wore was also partly + in conformity with the sad-colored garments of her neighbors, and the + necessities of the rainy season. She was in comfortable circumstances, the + mistress of a large ranch in the valley, which had lately become more + valuable by the extension of a wagon road through its centre. She was + simply worrying whether she should go to a “sociable” ending with “a + dance”—a daring innovation of some strangers—at the new hotel, + or continue to eschew such follies, that were, according to local belief, + unsuited to “a vale of tears.” + </p> + <p> + Indeed at this moment the prospect she gazed abstractedly upon seemed to + justify that lugubrious description. The Santa Ana Valley—a long + monotonous level—was dimly visible through moving curtains of rain + or veils of mist, to the black mourning edge of the horizon, and had + looked like that for months. The valley—in some remote epoch an arm + of the San Francisco Bay—every rainy season seemed to be trying to + revert to its original condition, and, long after the early spring had + laid on its liberal color in strips, bands, and patches of blue and + yellow, the blossoms of mustard and lupine glistened like wet paint. + Nevertheless on that rich alluvial soil Nature's tears seemed only to + fatten the widow's acres and increase her crops. Her neighbors, too, were + equally prosperous. Yet for six months of the year the recognized + expression of Santa Ana was one of sadness, and for the other six months—of + resignation. Mrs. Wade had yielded early to this influence, as she had to + others, in the weakness of her gentle nature, and partly as it was more + becoming the singular tragedy that had made her a widow. + </p> + <p> + The late Mr. Wade had been found dead with a bullet through his head in a + secluded part of the road over Heavy Tree Hill in Sonora County. Near him + lay two other bodies, one afterwards identified as John Stubbs, a resident + of the Hill, and probably a traveling companion of Wade's, and the other a + noted desperado and highwayman, still masked, as at the moment of the + attack. Wade and his companion had probably sold their lives dearly, and + against odds, for another mask was found on the ground, indicating that + the attack was not single-handed, and as Wade's body had not yet been + rifled, it was evident that the remaining highwayman had fled in haste. + The hue and cry had been given by apparently the only one of the travelers + who escaped, but as he was hastening to take the overland coach to the + East at the time, his testimony could not be submitted to the coroner's + deliberation. The facts, however, were sufficiently plain for a verdict of + willful murder against the highwayman, although it was believed that the + absent witness had basely deserted his companion and left him to his fate, + or, as was suggested by others, that he might even have been an + accomplice. It was this circumstance which protracted comment on the + incident, and the sufferings of the widow, far beyond that rapid + obliteration which usually overtook such affairs in the feverish haste of + the early days. It caused her to remove to Santa Ana, where her old father + had feebly ranched a “quarter section” in the valley. He survived her + husband only a few months, leaving her the property, and once more in + mourning. Perhaps this continuity of woe endeared her to a neighborhood + where distinctive ravages of diphtheria or scarlet fever gave a kind of + social preeminence to any household, and she was so sympathetically + assisted by her neighbors in the management of the ranch that, from an + unkempt and wasteful wilderness, it became paying property. The slim, + willowy figure, soft red-lidded eyes, and deep crape of “Sister Wade” at + church or prayer-meeting was grateful to the soul of these gloomy + worshipers, and in time she herself found that the arm of these dyspeptics + of mind and body was nevertheless strong and sustaining. Small wonder that + she should hesitate to-night about plunging into inconsistent, even though + trifling, frivolities. + </p> + <p> + But apart from this superficial reason, there was another instinctive one + deep down in the recesses of Mrs. Wade's timid heart which she had kept to + herself, and indeed would have tearfully resented had it been offered by + another. The late Mr. Wade had been, in fact, a singular example of this + kind of frivolous existence carried to a man-like excess. Besides being a + patron of amusements, Mr. Wade gambled, raced, and drank. He was often + home late, and sometimes not at all. Not that this conduct was exceptional + in the “roaring days” of Heavy Tree Hill, but it had given Mrs. Wade + perhaps an undue preference for a less certain, even if a more serious + life. His tragic death was, of course, a kind of martyrdom, which exalted + him in the feminine mind to a saintly memory; yet Mrs. Wade was not + without a certain relief in that. It was voiced, perhaps crudely, by the + widow of Abner Drake in a visit of condolence to the tearful Mrs. Wade a + few days after Wade's death. “It's a vale o' sorrow, Mrs. Wade,” said the + sympathizer, “but it has its ups and downs, and I recken ye'll be feelin' + soon pretty much as I did about Abner when HE was took. It was mighty + soothin' and comfortin' to feel that whatever might happen now, I always + knew just whar Abner was passin' his nights.” Poor slim Mrs. Wade had no + disquieting sense of humor to interfere with her reception of this large + truth, and she accepted it with a burst of reminiscent tears. + </p> + <p> + A long volleying shower had just passed down the level landscape, and was + followed by a rolling mist from the warm saturated soil like the smoke of + the discharge. Through it she could see a faint lightening of the hidden + sun, again darkening through a sudden onset of rain, and changing as with + her conflicting doubts and resolutions. Thus gazing, she was vaguely + conscious of an addition to the landscape in the shape of a man who was + passing down the road with a pack on his back like the tramping + “prospectors” she had often seen at Heavy Tree Hill. That memory + apparently settled her vacillating mind; she determined she would NOT go + to the dance. But as she was turning away from the window a second figure, + a horseman, appeared in another direction by a cross-road, a shorter cut + through her domain. This she had no difficulty in recognizing as one of + the strangers who were getting up the dance. She had noticed him at church + on the previous Sunday. As he passed the house he appeared to be gazing at + it so earnestly that she drew back from the window lest she should be + seen. And then, for no reason whatever, she changed her mind once more, + and resolved to go to the dance. Gravely announcing this fact to the wife + of her superintendent who kept house with her in her loneliness, she + thought nothing more about it. She should go in her mourning, with perhaps + the addition of a white collar and frill. + </p> + <p> + It was evident, however, that Santa Ana thought a good deal more than she + did of this new idea, which seemed a part of the innovation already begun + by the building up of the new hotel. It was argued by some that as the new + church and new schoolhouse had been opened by prayer, it was only natural + that a lighter festivity should inaugurate the opening of the hotel. “I + reckon that dancin' is about the next thing to travelin' for gettin' up an + appetite for refreshments, and that's what the landlord is kalkilatin' to + sarve,” was the remark of a gloomy but practical citizen on the veranda of + “The Valley Emporium.” “That's so,” rejoined a bystander; “and I notice on + that last box o' pills I got for chills the directions say that a little + 'agreeable exercise'—not too violent—is a great assistance to + the working o' the pills.” + </p> + <p> + “I reckon that that Mr. Brooks who's down here lookin' arter mill + property, got up the dance. He's bin round town canvassin' all the women + folks and drummin' up likely gals for it. They say he actooally sent an + invite to the Widder Wade,” remarked another lounger. “Gosh! he's got + cheek!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, gentlemen,” said the proprietor judicially, “while we don't intend + to hev any minin' camp fandangos or 'Frisco falals round Santa Any—(Santa + Ana was proud of its simple agricultural virtues)—I ain't so + hard-shelled as not to give new things a fair trial. And, after all, it's + the women folk that has the say about it. Why, there's old Miss Ford sez + she hasn't kicked a fut sence she left Mizoori, but wouldn't mind trying + it agin. Ez to Brooks takin' that trouble—well, I suppose it's along + o' his bein' HEALTHY!” He heaved a deep dyspeptic sigh, which was faintly + echoed by the others. “Why, look at him now, ridin' round on that black + hoss o' his, in the wet since daylight and not carin' for blind chills or + rhumatiz!” + </p> + <p> + He was looking at a serape-draped horseman, the one the widow had seen on + the previous night, who was now cantering slowly up the street. Seeing the + group on the veranda, he rode up, threw himself lightly from his saddle, + and joined them. He was an alert, determined, good-looking fellow of about + thirty-five, whose smooth, smiling face hardly commended itself to Santa + Ana, though his eyes were distinctly sympathetic. He glanced at the + depressed group around him and became ominously serious. + </p> + <p> + “When did it happen?” he asked gravely. + </p> + <p> + “What happen?” said the nearest bystander. + </p> + <p> + “The Funeral, Flood, Fight, or Fire. Which of the four F's was it?” + </p> + <p> + “What are ye talkin' about?” said the proprietor stiffly, scenting some + dangerous humor. + </p> + <p> + “YOU,” said Brooks promptly. “You're all standing here, croaking like + crows, this fine morning. I passed YOUR farm, Johnson, not an hour ago; + the wheat just climbing out of the black adobe mud as thick as rows of + pins on paper—what have YOU to grumble at? I saw YOUR stock, Briggs, + over on Two-Mile Bottom, waddling along, fat as the adobe they were + sticking in, their coats shining like fresh paint—what's the matter + with YOU? And,” turning to the proprietor, “there's YOUR shed, Saunders, + over on the creek, just bursting with last year's grain that you know has + gone up two hundred per cent. since you bought it at a bargain—what + are YOU growling at? It's enough to provoke a fire or a famine to hear you + groaning—and take care it don't, some day, as a lesson to you.” + </p> + <p> + All this was so perfectly true of the prosperous burghers that they could + not for a moment reply. But Briggs had recourse to what he believed to be + a retaliatory taunt. + </p> + <p> + “I heard you've been askin' Widow Wade to come to your dance,” he said, + with a wink at the others. “Of course she said 'Yes.'” + </p> + <p> + “Of course she did,” returned Brooks coolly. “I've just got her note.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” ejaculated the three men together. “Mrs. Wade comin'?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly! Why shouldn't she? And it would do YOU good to come too, and + shake the limp dampness out o' you,” returned Brooks, as he quietly + remounted his horse and cantered away. + </p> + <p> + “Darned ef I don't think he's got his eye on the widder,” said Johnson + faintly. + </p> + <p> + “Or the quarter section,” added Briggs gloomily. + </p> + <p> + For all that, the eventful evening came, with many lights in the staring, + undraped windows of the hotel, coldly bright bunting on the still damp + walls of the long dining-room, and a gentle downpour from the hidden skies + above. A close carryall was especially selected to bring Mrs. Wade and her + housekeeper. The widow arrived, looking a little slimmer than usual in her + closely buttoned black dress, white collar and cuffs, very glistening in + eye and in hair,—whose glossy black ringlets were perhaps more + elaborately arranged than was her custom,—and with a faint coming + and going of color, due perhaps to her agitation at this tentative + reentering into worldly life, which was nevertheless quite virginal in + effect. A vague solemnity pervaded the introductory proceedings, and a + singular want of sociability was visible in the “sociable” part of the + entertainment. People talked in whispers or with that grave precision + which indicates good manners in rural communities; conversed painfully + with other people whom they did not want to talk to rather than appear to + be alone, or rushed aimlessly together like water drops, and then floated + in broken, adherent masses over the floor. The widow became a helpless, + religious centre of deacons and Sunday-school teachers, which Brooks, + untiring, yet fruitless, in his attempt to produce gayety, tried in vain + to break. To this gloom the untried dangers of the impending dance, duly + prefigured by a lonely cottage piano and two violins in a desert of + expanse, added a nervous chill. When at last the music struck up—somewhat + hesitatingly and protestingly, from the circumstance that the player was + the church organist, and fumbled mechanically for his stops, the attempt + to make up a cotillon set was left to the heroic Brooks. Yet he barely + escaped disaster when, in posing the couples, he incautiously begged them + to look a little less as if they were waiting for the coffin to be borne + down the aisle between them, and was rewarded by a burst of tears from + Mrs. Johnson, who had lost a child two years before, and who had to be led + away, while her place in the set was taken by another. Yet the cotillon + passed off; a Spanish dance succeeded; “Moneymusk,” with the Virginia + Reel, put a slight intoxicating vibration into the air, and healthy youth + at last asserted itself in a score of freckled but buxom girls in white + muslin, with romping figures and laughter, at the lower end of the room. + Still a rigid decorum reigned among the elder dancers, and the figures + were called out in grave formality, as if, to Brooks's fancy, they were + hymns given from the pulpit, until at the close of the set, in half-real, + half-mock despair, he turned desperately to Mrs. Wade, his partner:— + </p> + <p> + “Do you waltz?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Wade hesitated. She HAD, before marriage, and was a good waltzer. “I + do,” she said timidly, “but do you think they”— + </p> + <p> + But before the poor widow could formulate her fears as to the reception of + “round dances,” Brooks had darted to the piano, and the next moment she + heard with a “fearful joy” the opening bars of a waltz. It was an old + Julien waltz, fresh still in the fifties, daring, provocative to foot, + swamping to intellect, arresting to judgment, irresistible, supreme! + Before Mrs. Wade could protest, Brooks's arm had gathered up her slim + figure, and with one quick backward sweep and swirl they were off! The + floor was cleared for them in a sudden bewilderment of alarm—a + suspense of burning curiosity. The widow's little feet tripped quickly, + her long black skirt swung out; as she turned the corner there was not + only a sudden revelation of her pretty ankles, but, what was more + startling, a dazzling flash of frilled and laced petticoat, which at once + convinced every woman in the room that the act had been premeditated for + days! Yet even that criticism was presently forgotten in the pervading + intoxication of the music and the movement. The younger people fell into + it with wild rompings, whirlings, and clasping of hands and waists. And + stranger than all, a corybantic enthusiasm seized upon the emotionally + religious, and those priests and priestesses of Cybele who were famous for + their frenzy and passion in camp-meeting devotions seemed to find an equal + expression that night in the waltz. And when, flushed and panting, Mrs. + Wade at last halted on the arm of her partner, they were nearly knocked + over by the revolving Johnson and Mrs. Stubbs in a whirl of gloomy + exultation! Deacons and Sunday-school teachers waltzed together until the + long room shook, and the very bunting on the walls waved and fluttered + with the gyrations of those religious dervishes. Nobody knew—nobody + cared how long this frenzy lasted—it ceased only with the collapse + of the musicians. Then, with much vague bewilderment, inward trepidation, + awkward and incoherent partings, everybody went dazedly home; there was no + other dancing after that—the waltz was the one event of the festival + and of the history of Santa Ana. And later that night, when the timid Mrs. + Wade, in the seclusion of her own room and the disrobing of her slim + figure, glanced at her spotless frilled and laced petticoat lying on a + chair, a faint smile—the first of her widowhood—curved the + corners of her pretty mouth. + </p> + <p> + A week of ominous silence regarding the festival succeeded in Santa Ana. + The local paper gave the fullest particulars of the opening of the hotel, + but contented itself with saying: “The entertainment concluded with a + dance.” Mr. Brooks, who felt himself compelled to call upon his late + charming partner twice during the week, characteristically soothed her + anxieties as to the result. “The fact of it is, Mrs. Wade, there's really + nobody in particular to blame—and that's what gets them. They're all + mixed up in it, deacons and Sunday-school teachers; and when old Johnson + tried to be nasty the other evening and hoped you hadn't suffered from + your exertions that night, I told him you hadn't quite recovered yet from + the physical shock of having been run into by him and Mrs. Stubbs, but + that, you being a lady, you didn't tell just how you felt at the + exhibition he and she made of themselves. That shut him up.” + </p> + <p> + “But you shouldn't have said that,” said Mrs. Wade with a frightened + little smile. + </p> + <p> + “No matter,” returned Brooks cheerfully. “I'll take the blame of it with + the others. You see they'll have to have a scapegoat—and I'm just + the man, for I got up the dance! And as I'm going away, I suppose I shall + bear off the sin with me into the wilderness.” + </p> + <p> + “You're going away?” repeated Mrs. Wade in more genuine concern. + </p> + <p> + “Not for long,” returned Brooks laughingly. “I came here to look up a mill + site, and I've found it. Meantime I think I've opened their eyes.” + </p> + <p> + “You have opened mine,” said the widow with timid frankness. + </p> + <p> + They were soft pretty eyes when opened, in spite of their heavy red lids, + and Mr. Brooks thought that Santa Ana would be no worse if they remained + open. Possibly he looked it, for Mrs. Wade said hurriedly, “I mean—that + is—I've been thinking that life needn't ALWAYS be as gloomy as we + make it here. And even HERE, you know, Mr. Brooks, we have six months' + sunshine—though we always forget it in the rainy season.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” said Brooks cheerfully. “I once lost a heap of money through + my own foolishness, and I've managed to forget it, and I even reckon to + get it back again out of Santa Ana if my mill speculation holds good. So + good-by, Mrs. Wade—but not for long.” He shook her hand frankly and + departed, leaving the widow conscious of a certain sympathetic confidence + and a little grateful for—she knew not what. + </p> + <p> + This feeling remained with her most of the afternoon, and even imparted a + certain gayety to her spirits, to the extent of causing her to hum softly + to herself; the air being oddly enough the Julien Waltz. And when, later + in the day, the shadows were closing in with the rain, word was brought to + her that a stranger wished to see her in the sitting-room, she carried a + less mournful mind to this function of her existence. For Mrs. Wade was + accustomed to give audience to traveling agents, tradesmen, working-hands + and servants, as chatelaine of her ranch, and the occasion was not novel. + Yet on entering the room, which she used partly as an office, she found + some difficulty in classifying the stranger, who at first glance reminded + her of the tramping miner she had seen that night from her window. He was + rather incongruously dressed, some articles of his apparel being finer + than others; he wore a diamond pin in a scarf folded over a rough + “hickory” shirt; his light trousers were tucked in common mining boots + that bore stains of travel and a suggestion that he had slept in his + clothes. What she could see of his unshaven face in that uncertain light + expressed a kind of dogged concentration, overlaid by an assumption of + ease. He got up as she came in, and with a slight “How do, ma'am,” shut + the door behind her and glanced furtively around the room. + </p> + <p> + “What I've got to say to ye, Mrs. Wade,—as I reckon you be,—is + strictly private and confidential! Why, ye'll see afore I get through. But + I thought I might just as well caution ye agin our being disturbed.” + </p> + <p> + Overcoming a slight instinct of repulsion, Mrs. Wade returned, “You can + speak to me here; no one will interrupt you—unless I call them,” she + added with a little feminine caution. + </p> + <p> + “And I reckon ye won't do that,” he said with a grim smile. “You are the + widow o' Pulaski Wade, late o' Heavy Tree Hill, I reckon?” + </p> + <p> + “I am,” said Mrs. Wade. + </p> + <p> + “And your husband's buried up thar in the graveyard, with a monument over + him setting forth his virtues ez a Christian and a square man and a + high-minded citizen? And that he was foully murdered by highwaymen?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Mrs. Wade, “that is the inscription.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, ma'am, a bigger pack o' lies never was cut on stone!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Wade rose, half in indignation, half in terror. + </p> + <p> + “Keep your sittin',” said the stranger, with a warning wave of his hand. + “Wait till I'm through, and then you call in the hull State o' Californy, + ef ye want.” + </p> + <p> + The stranger's manner was so doggedly confident that Mrs. Wade sank back + tremblingly in her chair. The man put his slouch hat on his knee, twirled + it round once or twice, and then said with the same stubborn deliberation:— + </p> + <p> + “The highwayman in that business was your husband—Pulaski Wade—and + his gang, and he was killed by one o' the men he was robbin'. Ye see, + ma'am, it used to be your husband's little game to rope in three or four + strangers in a poker deal at Spanish Jim's saloon—I see you've heard + o' the place,” he interpolated as Mrs. Wade drew back suddenly—“and + when he couldn't clean 'em out in that way, or they showed a little more + money than they played, he'd lay for 'em with his gang in a lone part of + the trail, and go through them like any road agent. That's what he did + that night—and that's how he got killed.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you know this?” said Mrs. Wade, with quivering lips. + </p> + <p> + “I was one o' the men he went through before he was killed. And I'd hev + got my money back, but the rest o' the gang came up, and I got away jest + in time to save my life and nothin' else. Ye might remember thar was one + man got away and giv' the alarm, but he was goin' on to the States by the + overland coach that night and couldn't stay to be a witness. I was that + man. I had paid my passage through, and I couldn't lose THAT too with my + other money, so I went.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Wade sat stunned. She remembered the missing witness, and how she had + longed to see the man who was last with her husband; she remembered + Spanish Jim's saloon—his well-known haunt; his frequent and + unaccountable absences, the sudden influx of money which he always said he + had won at cards; the diamond ring he had given her as the result of “a + bet;” the forgotten recurrence of other robberies by a secret masked gang; + a hundred other things that had worried her, instinctively, vaguely. She + knew now, too, the meaning of the unrest that had driven her from Heavy + Tree Hill—the strange unformulated fears that had haunted her even + here. Yet with all this she felt, too, her present weakness—knew + that this man had taken her at a disadvantage, that she ought to + indignantly assert herself, deny everything, demand proof, and brand him a + slanderer! + </p> + <p> + “How did—you—know it was my husband?” she stammered. + </p> + <p> + “His mask fell off in the fight; you know another mask was found—it + was HIS. I saw him as plainly as I see him there!” he pointed to a + daguerreotype of her husband which stood upon her desk. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Wade could only stare vacantly, hopelessly. After a pause the man + continued in a less aggressive manner and more confidential tone, which, + however, only increased her terror. “I ain't sayin' that YOU knowed + anything about this, ma'am, and whatever other folks might say when THEY + know of it, I'll allers say that you didn't.” + </p> + <p> + “What, then, did you come here for?” said the widow desperately. + </p> + <p> + “What do I come here for?” repeated the man grimly, looking around the + room; “what did I come to this yer comfortable home—this yer big + ranch and to a rich woman like yourself for? Well, Mrs. Wade, I come to + get the six hundred dollars your husband robbed me of, that's all! I ain't + askin' more! I ain't askin' interest! I ain't askin' compensation for + havin' to run for my life—and,” again looking grimly round the + walls, “I ain't askin' more than you will give—or is my rights.” + </p> + <p> + “But this house never was his; it was my father's,” gasped Mrs. Wade; “you + have no right”— + </p> + <p> + “Mebbe 'yes' and mebbe 'no,' Mrs. Wade,” interrupted the man, with a wave + of his hat; “but how about them two checks to bearer for two hundred + dollars each found among your husband's effects, and collected by your + lawyer for you—MY CHECKS, Mrs. Wade?” + </p> + <p> + A wave of dreadful recollection overwhelmed her. She remembered the checks + found upon her husband's body, known only to her and her lawyer, believed + to be gambling gains, and collected at once under his legal advice. Yet + she made one more desperate effort in spite of the instinct that told her + he was speaking the truth. + </p> + <p> + “But you shall have to prove it—before witnesses.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you WANT me to prove it before witnesses?” said the man, coming nearer + her. “Do you want to take my word and keep it between ourselves, or do you + want to call in your superintendent and his men, and all Santy Any, to + hear me prove your husband was a highwayman, thief, and murderer? Do you + want to knock over that monument on Heavy Tree Hill, and upset your + standing here among the deacons and elders? Do you want to do all this and + be forced, even by your neighbors, to pay me in the end, as you will? Ef + you do, call in your witnesses now and let's have it over. Mebbe it would + look better ef I got the money out of YOUR FRIENDS than ye—a woman! + P'raps you're right!” + </p> + <p> + He made a step towards the door, but she stopped him. + </p> + <p> + “No! no! wait! It's a large sum—I haven't it with me,” she + stammered, thoroughly beaten. + </p> + <p> + “Ye kin get it.” + </p> + <p> + “Give me time!” she implored. “Look! I'll give you a hundred down now,—all + I have here,—the rest another time!” She nervously opened a drawer + of her desk and taking out a buckskin bag of gold thrust it in his hand. + “There! go away now!” She lifted her thin hands despairingly to her head. + “Go! do!” + </p> + <p> + The man seemed struck by her manner. “I don't want to be hard on a woman,” + he said slowly. “I'll go now and come back again at nine to-night. You can + git the money, or what's as good, a check to bearer, by then. And ef ye'll + take my advice, you won't ask no advice from others, ef you want to keep + your secret. Just now it's safe with me; I'm a square man, ef I seem to be + a hard one.” He made a gesture as if to take her hand, but as she drew + shrinkingly away, he changed it to an awkward bow, and the next moment was + gone. + </p> + <p> + She started to her feet, but the unwonted strain upon her nerves and frail + body had been greater than she knew. She made a step forward, felt the + room whirl round her and then seem to collapse beneath her feet, and, + clutching at her chair, sank back into it, fainting. + </p> + <p> + How long she lay there she never knew. She was at last conscious of some + one bending over her, and a voice—the voice of Mr. Brooks—in + her ear, saying, “I beg your pardon; you seem ill. Shall I call some one?” + </p> + <p> + “No!” she gasped, quickly recovering herself with an effort, and staring + round her. “Where is—when did you come in?” + </p> + <p> + “Only this moment. I was leaving tonight, sooner than I expected, and + thought I'd say good-by. They told me that you had been engaged with a + stranger, but he had just gone. I beg your pardon—I see you are ill. + I won't detain you any longer.” + </p> + <p> + “No! no! don't go! I am better—better,” she said feverishly. As she + glanced at his strong and sympathetic face a wild idea seized her. He was + a stranger here, an alien to these people, like herself. The advice that + she dare not seek from others, from her half-estranged religious friends, + from even her superintendent and his wife, dare she ask from him? Perhaps + he saw this frightened doubt, this imploring appeal, in her eyes, for he + said gently, “Is it anything I can do for you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said, with the sudden desperation of weakness; “I want you to + keep a secret.” + </p> + <p> + “Yours?—yes!” he said promptly. + </p> + <p> + Whereat poor Mrs. Wade instantly burst into tears. Then, amidst her sobs, + she told him of the stranger's visit, of his terrible accusations, of his + demands, his expected return, and her own utter helplessness. To her + terror, as she went on she saw a singular change in his kind face; he was + following her with hard, eager intensity. She had half hoped, even through + her fateful instincts, that he might have laughed, manlike, at her fears, + or pooh-poohed the whole thing. But he did not. “You say he positively + recognized your husband?” he repeated quickly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes!” sobbed the widow, “and knew that daguerreotype!” she pointed + to the desk. + </p> + <p> + Brooks turned quickly in that direction. Luckily his back was towards her, + and she could not see his face, and the quick, startled look that came + into his eyes. But when they again met hers, it was gone, and even their + eager intensity had changed to a gentle commiseration. “You have only his + word for it, Mrs. Wade,” he said gently, “and in telling your secret to + another, you have shorn the rascal of half his power over you. And he knew + it. Now, dismiss the matter from your mind and leave it all to me. I will + be here a few minutes before nine—AND ALONE IN THIS ROOM. Let your + visitor be shown in here, and don't let us be disturbed. Don't be + alarmed,” he added with a faint twinkle in his eye, “there will be no fuss + and no exposure!” + </p> + <p> + It lacked a few minutes of nine when Mr. Brooks was ushered into the + sitting-room. As soon as he was alone he quietly examined the door and the + windows, and having satisfied himself, took his seat in a chair casually + placed behind the door. Presently he heard the sound of voices and a heavy + footstep in the passage. He lightly felt his waistcoat pocket—it + contained a pretty little weapon of power and precision, with a barrel + scarcely two inches long. + </p> + <p> + The door opened, and the person outside entered the room. In an instant + Brooks had shut the door and locked it behind him. The man turned + fiercely, but was faced by Brooks quietly, with one finger calmly hooked + in his waistcoat pocket. The man slightly recoiled from him—not as + much from fear as from some vague stupefaction. “What's that for? What's + your little game?” he said half contemptuously. + </p> + <p> + “No game at all,” returned Brooks coolly. “You came here to sell a secret. + I don't propose to have it given away first to any listener.” + </p> + <p> + “YOU don't—who are YOU?” + </p> + <p> + “That's a queer question to ask of the man you are trying to personate—but + I don't wonder! You're doing it d——d badly.” + </p> + <p> + “Personate—YOU?” said the stranger, with staring eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, ME,” said Brooks quietly. “I am the only man who escaped from the + robbery that night at Heavy Tree Hill and who went home by the Overland + Coach.” + </p> + <p> + The stranger stared, but recovered himself with a coarse laugh. “Oh, well! + we're on the same lay, it appears! Both after the widow—afore we + show up her husband.” + </p> + <p> + “Not exactly,” said Brooks, with his eyes fixed intently on the stranger. + “You are here to denounce a highwayman who is DEAD and escaped justice. I + am here to denounce one who is LIVING!—Stop! drop your hand; it's no + use. You thought you had to deal only with a woman to-night, and your + revolver isn't quite handy enough. There! down!—down! So! That'll + do.” + </p> + <p> + “You can't prove it,” said the man hoarsely. + </p> + <p> + “Fool! In your story to that woman you have given yourself away. There + were but two travelers attacked by the highwaymen. One was killed—I + am the other. Where do YOU come in? What witness can you be—except + as the highwayman that you are? Who is left to identify Wade but—his + accomplice!” + </p> + <p> + The man's suddenly whitened face made his unshaven beard seem to bristle + over his face like some wild animal's. “Well, ef you kalkilate to blow me, + you've got to blow Wade and his widder too. Jest you remember that,” he + said whiningly. + </p> + <p> + “I've thought of that,” said Brooks coolly, “and I calculate that to + prevent it is worth about that hundred dollars you got from that poor + woman—and no more! Now, sit down at that table, and write as I + dictate.” + </p> + <p> + The man looked at him in wonder, but obeyed. + </p> + <p> + “Write,” said Brooks, “'I hereby certify that my accusations against the + late Pulaski Wade of Heavy Tree Hill are erroneous and groundless, and the + result of mistaken identity, especially in regard to any complicity of his + in the robbery of John Stubbs, deceased, and Henry Brooks, at Heavy Tree + Hill, on the night of the 13th August, 1854.'” + </p> + <p> + The man looked up with a repulsive smile. “Who's the fool now, Cap'n? + What's become of your hold on the widder, now?” + </p> + <p> + “Write!” said Brooks fiercely. + </p> + <p> + The sound of a pen hurriedly scratching paper followed this first outburst + of the quiet Brooks. + </p> + <p> + “Sign it,” said Brooks. + </p> + <p> + The man signed it. + </p> + <p> + “Now go,” said Brooks, unlocking the door, “but remember, if you should + ever be inclined to revisit Santa Ana, you will find ME living here also.” + </p> + <p> + The man slunk out of the door and into the passage like a wild animal + returning to the night and darkness. Brooks took up the paper, rejoined + Mrs. Wade in the parlor, and laid it before her. + </p> + <p> + “But,” said the widow, trembling even in her joy, “do you—do you + think he was REALLY mistaken?” + </p> + <p> + “Positive,” said Brooks coolly. “It's true, it's a mistake that has cost + you a hundred dollars, but there are some mistakes that are worth that to + be kept quiet.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + They were married a year later; but there is no record that in after years + of conjugal relations with a weak, charming, but sometimes trying woman, + Henry Brooks was ever tempted to tell her the whole truth of the robbery + of Heavy Tree Hill. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE MERMAID OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT + </h2> + <p> + Some forty years ago, on the northern coast of California, near the Golden + Gate, stood a lighthouse. Of a primitive class, since superseded by a + building more in keeping with the growing magnitude of the adjacent port, + it attracted little attention from the desolate shore, and, it was + alleged, still less from the desolate sea beyond. A gray structure of + timber, stone, and glass, it was buffeted and harried by the constant + trade winds, baked by the unclouded six months' sun, lost for a few hours + in the afternoon sea-fog, and laughed over by circling guillemots from the + Farallones. It was kept by a recluse—a preoccupied man of scientific + tastes, who, in shameless contrast to his fellow immigrants, had applied + to the government for this scarcely lucrative position as a means of + securing the seclusion he valued more than gold. Some believed that he was + the victim of an early disappointment in love—a view charitably + taken by those who also believed that the government would not have + appointed “a crank” to a position of responsibility. Howbeit, he fulfilled + his duties, and, with the assistance of an Indian, even cultivated a small + patch of ground beside the lighthouse. His isolation was complete! There + was little to attract wanderers here: the nearest mines were fifty miles + away; the virgin forest on the mountains inland were penetrated only by + sawmills and woodmen from the Bay settlements, equally remote. Although by + the shore-line the lights of the great port were sometimes plainly + visible, yet the solitude around him was peopled only by Indians,—a + branch of the great northern tribe of “root-diggers,”—peaceful and + simple in their habits, as yet undisturbed by the white man, nor stirred + into antagonism by aggression. Civilization only touched him at stated + intervals, and then by the more expeditious sea from the government boat + that brought him supplies. But for his contiguity to the perpetual turmoil + of wind and sea, he might have passed a restful Arcadian life in his + surroundings; for even his solitude was sometimes haunted by this faint + reminder of the great port hard by that pulsated with an equal unrest. + Nevertheless, the sands before his door and the rocks behind him seemed to + have been untrodden by any other white man's foot since their upheaval + from the ocean. It was true that the little bay beside him was marked on + the map as “Sir Francis Drake's Bay,” tradition having located it as the + spot where that ingenious pirate and empire-maker had once landed his + vessels and scraped the barnacles from his adventurous keels. But of this + Edgar Pomfrey—or “Captain Pomfrey,” as he was called by virtue of + his half-nautical office—had thought little. + </p> + <p> + For the first six months he had thoroughly enjoyed his seclusion. In the + company of his books, of which he had brought such a fair store that their + shelves lined his snug corners to the exclusion of more comfortable + furniture, he found his principal recreation. Even his unwonted manual + labor, the trimming of his lamp and cleaning of his reflectors, and his + personal housekeeping, in which his Indian help at times assisted, he + found a novel and interesting occupation. For outdoor exercise, a ramble + on the sands, a climb to the rocky upland, or a pull in the lighthouse + boat, amply sufficed him. “Crank” as he was supposed to be, he was sane + enough to guard against any of those early lapses into barbarism which + marked the lives of some solitary gold-miners. His own taste, as well as + the duty of his office, kept his person and habitation sweet and clean, + and his habits regular. Even the little cultivated patch of ground on the + lee side of the tower was symmetrical and well ordered. Thus the outward + light of Captain Pomfrey shone forth over the wilderness of shore and + wave, even like his beacon, whatever his inward illumination may have + been. + </p> + <p> + It was a bright summer morning, remarkable even in the monotonous + excellence of the season, with a slight touch of warmth which the + invincible Northwest Trades had not yet chilled. There was still a faint + haze off the coast, as if last night's fog had been caught in the quick + sunshine, and the shining sands were hot, but without the usual dazzling + glare. A faint perfume from a quaint lilac-colored beach-flower, whose + clustering heads dotted the sand like bits of blown spume, took the place + of that smell of the sea which the odorless Pacific lacked. A few rocks, + half a mile away, lifted themselves above the ebb tide at varying heights + as they lay on the trough of the swell, were crested with foam by a + striking surge, or cleanly erased in the full sweep of the sea. Beside, + and partly upon one of the higher rocks, a singular object was moving. + </p> + <p> + Pomfrey was interested but not startled. He had once or twice seen seals + disporting on these rocks, and on one occasion a sea-lion,—an estray + from the familiar rocks on the other side of the Golden Gate. But he + ceased work in his garden patch, and coming to his house, exchanged his + hoe for a telescope. When he got the mystery in focus he suddenly stopped + and rubbed the object-glass with his handkerchief. But even when he + applied the glass to his eye for a second time, he could scarcely believe + his eyesight. For the object seemed to be a WOMAN, the lower part of her + figure submerged in the sea, her long hair depending over her shoulders + and waist. There was nothing in her attitude to suggest terror or that she + was the victim of some accident. She moved slowly and complacently with + the sea, and even—a more staggering suggestion—appeared to be + combing out the strands of her long hair with her fingers. With her body + half concealed she might have been a mermaid! + </p> + <p> + He swept the foreshore and horizon with his glass; there was neither boat + nor ship—nor anything that moved, except the long swell of the + Pacific. She could have come only from the sea; for to reach the rocks by + land she would have had to pass before the lighthouse, while the narrow + strip of shore which curved northward beyond his range of view he knew was + inhabited only by Indians. But the woman was unhesitatingly and + appallingly WHITE, and her hair light even to a golden gleam in the + sunshine. + </p> + <p> + Pomfrey was a gentleman, and as such was amazed, dismayed, and cruelly + embarrassed. If she was a simple bather from some vicinity hitherto + unknown and unsuspected by him, it was clearly his business to shut up his + glass and go back to his garden patch—although the propinquity of + himself and the lighthouse must have been as plainly visible to her as she + was to him. On the other hand, if she was the survivor of some wreck and + in distress—or, as he even fancied from her reckless manner, bereft + of her senses, his duty to rescue her was equally clear. In his dilemma he + determined upon a compromise and ran to his boat. He would pull out to + sea, pass between the rocks and the curving sand-spit, and examine the + sands and sea more closely for signs of wreckage, or some overlooked + waiting boat near the shore. He would be within hail if she needed him, or + she could escape to her boat if she had one. + </p> + <p> + In another moment his boat was lifting on the swell towards the rocks. He + pulled quickly, occasionally turning to note that the strange figure, + whose movements were quite discernible to the naked eye, was still there, + but gazing more earnestly towards the nearest shore for any sign of life + or occupation. In ten minutes he had reached the curve where the trend + opened northward, and the long line of shore stretched before him. He + swept it eagerly with a single searching glance. Sea and shore were empty. + He turned quickly to the rock, scarcely a hundred yards on his beam. It + was empty too! Forgetting his previous scruples, he pulled directly for it + until his keel grated on its submerged base. There was nothing there but + the rock, slippery with the yellow-green slime of seaweed and kelp—neither + trace nor sign of the figure that had occupied it a moment ago. He pulled + around it; there was no cleft or hiding-place. For an instant his heart + leaped at the sight of something white, caught in a jagged tooth of the + outlying reef, but it was only the bleached fragment of a bamboo + orange-crate, cast from the deck of some South Sea trader, such as often + strewed the beach. He lay off the rock, keeping way in the swell, and + scrutinizing the glittering sea. At last he pulled back to the lighthouse, + perplexed and discomfited. + </p> + <p> + Was it simply a sporting seal, transformed by some trick of his vision? + But he had seen it through his glass, and now remembered such details as + the face and features framed in their contour of golden hair, and believed + he could even have identified them. He examined the rock again with his + glass, and was surprised to see how clearly it was outlined now in its + barren loneliness. Yet he must have been mistaken. His scientific and + accurate mind allowed of no errant fancy, and he had always sneered at the + marvelous as the result of hasty or superficial observation. He was a + little worried at this lapse of his healthy accuracy,—fearing that + it might be the result of his seclusion and loneliness,—akin to the + visions of the recluse and solitary. It was strange, too, that it should + take the shape of a woman; for Edgar Pomfrey had a story—the usual + old and foolish one. + </p> + <p> + Then his thoughts took a lighter phase, and he turned to the memory of his + books, and finally to the books themselves. From a shelf he picked out a + volume of old voyages, and turned to a remembered passage: “In other seas + doe abound marvells soche as Sea Spyders of the bigness of a pinnace, the + wich they have been known to attack and destroy; Sea Vypers which reach to + the top of a goodly maste, whereby they are able to draw marinners from + the rigging by the suction of their breathes; and Devill Fyshe, which + vomit fire by night which makyth the sea to shine prodigiously, and + mermaydes. They are half fyshe and half mayde of grate Beauty, and have + been seen of divers godly and creditable witnesses swymming beside rocks, + hidden to their waist in the sea, combing of their hayres, to the help of + whych they carry a small mirrore of the bigness of their fingers.” Pomfrey + laid the book aside with a faint smile. To even this credulity he might + come! + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he used the telescope again that day. But there was no + repetition of the incident, and he was forced to believe that he had been + the victim of some extraordinary illusion. The next morning, however, with + his calmer judgment doubts began to visit him. There was no one of whom he + could make inquiries but his Indian helper, and their conversation had + usually been restricted to the language of signs or the use of a few words + he had picked up. He contrived, however, to ask if there was a “waugee” + (white) woman in the neighborhood. The Indian shook his head in surprise. + There was no “waugee” nearer than the remote mountain-ridge to which he + pointed. Pomfrey was obliged to be content with this. Even had his + vocabulary been larger, he would as soon have thought of revealing the + embarrassing secret of this woman, whom he believed to be of his own race, + to a mere barbarian as he would of asking him to verify his own + impressions by allowing him to look at her that morning. The next day, + however, something happened which forced him to resume his inquiries. He + was rowing around the curving spot when he saw a number of black objects + on the northern sands moving in and out of the surf, which he presently + made out as Indians. A nearer approach satisfied him that they were wading + squaws and children gathering seaweed and shells. He would have pushed his + acquaintance still nearer, but as his boat rounded the point, with one + accord they all scuttled away like frightened sandpipers. Pomfrey, on his + return, asked his Indian retainer if they could swim. “Oh, yes!” “As far + as the rock?” “Yes.” Yet Pomfrey was not satisfied. The color of his + strange apparition remained unaccounted for, and it was not that of an + Indian woman. + </p> + <p> + Trifling events linger long in a monotonous existence, and it was nearly a + week before Pomfrey gave up his daily telescopic inspection of the rock. + Then he fell back upon his books again, and, oddly enough, upon another + volume of voyages, and so chanced upon the account of Sir Francis Drake's + occupation of the bay before him. He had always thought it strange that + the great adventurer had left no trace or sign of his sojourn there; still + stranger that he should have overlooked the presence of gold, known even + to the Indians themselves, and have lost a discovery far beyond his + wildest dreams and a treasure to which the cargoes of those Philippine + galleons he had more or less successfully intercepted were trifles. Had + the restless explorer been content to pace those dreary sands during three + weeks of inactivity, with no thought of penetrating the inland forests + behind the range, or of even entering the nobler bay beyond? Or was the + location of the spot a mere tradition as wild and unsupported as the + “marvells” of the other volume? Pomfrey had the skepticism of the + scientific, inquiring mind. + </p> + <p> + Two weeks had passed and he was returning from a long climb inland, when + he stopped to rest in his descent to the sea. The panorama of the shore + was before him, from its uttermost limit to the lighthouse on the northern + point. The sun was still one hour high, it would take him about that time + to reach home. But from this coign of vantage he could see—what he + had not before observed—that what he had always believed was a + little cove on the northern shore was really the estuary of a small stream + which rose near him and eventually descended into the ocean at that point. + He could also see that beside it was a long low erection of some kind, + covered with thatched brush, which looked like a “barrow,” yet showed + signs of habitation in the slight smoke that rose from it and drifted + inland. It was not far out of his way, and he resolved to return in that + direction. On his way down he once or twice heard the barking of an Indian + dog, and knew that he must be in the vicinity of an encampment. A + camp-fire, with the ashes yet warm, proved that he was on the trail of one + of the nomadic tribes, but the declining sun warned him to hasten home to + his duty. When he at last reached the estuary, he found that the building + beside it was little else than a long hut, whose thatched and + mud-plastered mound-like roof gave it the appearance of a cave. Its single + opening and entrance abutted on the water's edge, and the smoke he had + noticed rolled through this entrance from a smouldering fire within. + Pomfrey had little difficulty in recognizing the purpose of this strange + structure from the accounts he had heard from “loggers” of the Indian + customs. The cave was a “sweat-house”—a calorific chamber in which + the Indians closely shut themselves, naked, with a “smudge” or smouldering + fire of leaves, until, perspiring and half suffocated, they rushed from + the entrance and threw themselves into the water before it. The still + smouldering fire told him that the house had been used that morning, and + he made no doubt that the Indians were encamped near by. He would have + liked to pursue his researches further, but he found he had already + trespassed upon his remaining time, and he turned somewhat abruptly away—so + abruptly, in fact, that a figure, which had evidently been cautiously + following him at a distance, had not time to get away. His heart leaped + with astonishment. It was the woman he had seen on the rock. + </p> + <p> + Although her native dress now only disclosed her head and hands, there was + no doubt about her color, and it was distinctly white, save for the + tanning of exposure and a slight red ochre marking on her low forehead. + And her hair, long and unkempt as it was, showed that he had not erred in + his first impression of it. It was a tawny flaxen, with fainter bleachings + where the sun had touched it most. Her eyes were of a clear Northern blue. + Her dress, which was quite distinctive in that it was neither the cast off + finery of civilization nor the cheap “government” flannels and calicoes + usually worn by the Californian tribes, was purely native, and of fringed + deerskin, and consisted of a long, loose shirt and leggings worked with + bright feathers and colored shells. A necklace, also of shells and fancy + pebbles, hung round her neck. She seemed to be a fully developed woman, in + spite of the girlishness of her flowing hair, and notwithstanding the + shapeless length of her gaberdine-like garment, taller than the ordinary + squaw. + </p> + <p> + Pomfrey saw all this in a single flash of perception, for the next instant + she was gone, disappearing behind the sweat-house. He ran after her, + catching sight of her again, half doubled up, in the characteristic Indian + trot, dodging around rocks and low bushes as she fled along the banks of + the stream. But for her distinguishing hair, she looked in her flight like + an ordinary frightened squaw. This, which gave a sense of unmanliness and + ridicule to his own pursuit of her, with the fact that his hour of duty + was drawing near and he was still far from the lighthouse, checked him in + full career, and he turned regretfully away. He had called after her at + first, and she had not heeded him. What he would have said to her he did + not know. He hastened home discomfited, even embarrassed—yet excited + to a degree he had not deemed possible in himself. + </p> + <p> + During the morning his thoughts were full of her. Theory after theory for + her strange existence there he examined and dismissed. His first thought, + that she was a white woman—some settler's wife—masquerading in + Indian garb, he abandoned when he saw her moving; no white woman could + imitate that Indian trot, nor would remember to attempt it if she were + frightened. The idea that she was a captive white, held by the Indians, + became ridiculous when he thought of the nearness of civilization and the + peaceful, timid character of the “digger” tribes. That she was some + unfortunate demented creature who had escaped from her keeper and wandered + into the wilderness, a glance at her clear, frank, intelligent, curious + eyes had contradicted. There was but one theory left—the most + sensible and practical one—that she was the offspring of some white + man and Indian squaw. Yet this he found, oddly enough, the least palatable + to his fancy. And the few half-breeds he had seen were not at all like + her. + </p> + <p> + The next morning he had recourse to his Indian retainer, “Jim.” With + infinite difficulty, protraction, and not a little embarrassment, he + finally made him understand that he had seen a “white squaw” near the + “sweat-house,” and that he wanted to know more about her. With equal + difficulty Jim finally recognized the fact of the existence of such a + person, but immediately afterwards shook his head in an emphatic negation. + With greater difficulty and greater mortification Pomfrey presently + ascertained that Jim's negative referred to a supposed abduction of the + woman which he understood that his employer seriously contemplated. But he + also learned that she was a real Indian, and that there were three or four + others like her, male and female, in that vicinity; that from a “skeena + mowitch” (little baby) they were all like that, and that their parents + were of the same color, but never a white or “waugee” man or woman among + them; that they were looked upon as a distinct and superior caste of + Indians, and enjoyed certain privileges with the tribe; that they + superstitiously avoided white men, of whom they had the greatest fear, and + that they were protected in this by the other Indians; that it was + marvelous and almost beyond belief that Pomfrey had been able to see one, + for no other white man had, or was even aware of their existence. + </p> + <p> + How much of this he actually understood, how much of it was lying and due + to Jim's belief that he wished to abduct the fair stranger, Pomfrey was + unable to determine. There was enough, however, to excite his curiosity + strongly and occupy his mind to the exclusion of his books—save one. + Among his smaller volumes he had found a travel book of the “Chinook + Jargon,” with a lexicon of many of the words commonly used by the Northern + Pacific tribes. An hour or two's trial with the astonished Jim gave him an + increased vocabulary and a new occupation. Each day the incongruous pair + took a lesson from the lexicon. In a week Pomfrey felt he would be able to + accost the mysterious stranger. But he did not again surprise her in any + of his rambles, or even in a later visit to the sweat-house. He had + learned from Jim that the house was only used by the “bucks,” or males, + and that her appearance there had been accidental. He recalled that he had + had the impression that she had been stealthily following him, and the + recollection gave him a pleasure he could not account for. But an incident + presently occurred which gave him a new idea of her relations towards him. + </p> + <p> + The difficulty of making Jim understand had hitherto prevented Pomfrey + from intrusting him with the care of the lantern; but with the aid of the + lexicon he had been able to make him comprehend its working, and under + Pomfrey's personal guidance the Indian had once or twice lit the lamp and + set its machinery in motion. It remained for him only to test Jim's + unaided capacity, in case of his own absence or illness. It happened to be + a warm, beautiful sunset, when the afternoon fog had for once delayed its + invasion of the shore-line, that he left the lighthouse to Jim's undivided + care, and reclining on a sand-dune still warm from the sun, lazily watched + the result of Jim's first essay. As the twilight deepened, and the first + flash of the lantern strove with the dying glories of the sun, Pomfrey + presently became aware that he was not the only watcher. A little gray + figure creeping on all fours suddenly glided out of the shadow of another + sand-dune and then halted, falling back on its knees, gazing fixedly at + the growing light. It was the woman he had seen. She was not a dozen yards + away, and in her eagerness and utter absorption in the light had evidently + overlooked him. He could see her face distinctly, her lips parted half in + wonder, half with the breathless absorption of a devotee. A faint sense of + disappointment came over him. It was not HIM she was watching, but the + light! As it swelled out over the darkening gray sand she turned as if to + watch its effect around her, and caught sight of Pomfrey. With a little + startled cry—the first she had uttered—she darted away. He did + not follow. A moment before, when he first saw her, an Indian salutation + which he had learned from Jim had risen to his lips, but in the odd + feeling which her fascination of the light had caused him he had not + spoken. He watched her bent figure scuttling away like some frightened + animal, with a critical consciousness that she was really scarce human, + and went back to the lighthouse. He would not run after her again! Yet + that evening he continued to think of her, and recalled her voice, which + struck him now as having been at once melodious and childlike, and wished + he had at least spoken, and perhaps elicited a reply. + </p> + <p> + He did not, however, haunt the sweat-house near the river again. Yet he + still continued his lessons with Jim, and in this way, perhaps, although + quite unpremeditatedly, enlisted a humble ally. A week passed in which he + had not alluded to her, when one morning, as he was returning from a row, + Jim met him mysteriously on the beach. + </p> + <p> + “S'pose him come slow, slow,” said Jim gravely, airing his newly acquired + English; “make no noise—plenty catchee Indian maiden.” The last + epithet was the polite lexicon equivalent of squaw. + </p> + <p> + Pomfrey, not entirely satisfied in his mind, nevertheless softly followed + the noiselessly gliding Jim to the lighthouse. Here Jim cautiously opened + the door, motioning Pomfrey to enter. + </p> + <p> + The base of the tower was composed of two living rooms, a storeroom and + oil-tank. As Pomfrey entered, Jim closed the door softly behind him. The + abrupt transition from the glare of the sands and sun to the semi-darkness + of the storeroom at first prevented him from seeing anything, but he was + instantly distracted by a scurrying flutter and wild beating of the walls, + as of a caged bird. In another moment he could make out the fair stranger, + quivering with excitement, passionately dashing at the barred window, the + walls, the locked door, and circling around the room in her desperate + attempt to find an egress, like a captured seagull. Amazed, mystified, + indignant with Jim, himself, and even his unfortunate captive, Pomfrey + called to her in Chinook to stop, and going to the door, flung it wide + open. She darted by him, raising her soft blue eyes for an instant in a + swift, sidelong glance of half appeal, half-frightened admiration, and + rushed out into the open. But here, to his surprise, she did not run away. + On the contrary, she drew herself up with a dignity that seemed to + increase her height, and walked majestically towards Jim, who at her + unexpected exit had suddenly thrown himself upon the sand, in utterly + abject terror and supplication. She approached him slowly, with one small + hand uplifted in a menacing gesture. The man writhed and squirmed before + her. Then she turned, caught sight of Pomfrey standing in the doorway, and + walked quietly away. Amazed, yet gratified with this new assertion of + herself, Pomfrey respectfully, but alas! incautiously, called after her. + In an instant, at the sound of his voice, she dropped again into her + slouching Indian trot and glided away over the sandhills. + </p> + <p> + Pomfrey did not add any reproof of his own to the discomfiture of his + Indian retainer. Neither did he attempt to inquire the secret of this + savage girl's power over him. It was evident he had spoken truly when he + told his master that she was of a superior caste. Pomfrey recalled her + erect and indignant figure standing over the prostrate Jim, and was again + perplexed and disappointed at her sudden lapse into the timid savage at + the sound of his voice. Would not this well-meant but miserable trick of + Jim's have the effect of increasing her unreasoning animal-like distrust + of him? A few days later brought an unexpected answer to his question. + </p> + <p> + It was the hottest hour of the day. He had been fishing off the reef of + rocks where he had first seen her, and had taken in his line and was + leisurely pulling for the lighthouse. Suddenly a little musical cry not + unlike a bird's struck his ear. He lay on his oars and listened. It was + repeated; but this time it was unmistakably recognizable as the voice of + the Indian girl, although he had heard it but once. He turned eagerly to + the rock, but it was empty; he pulled around it, but saw nothing. He + looked towards the shore, and swung his boat in that direction, when again + the cry was repeated with the faintest quaver of a laugh, apparently on + the level of the sea before him. For the first time he looked down, and + there on the crest of a wave not a dozen yards ahead, danced the yellow + hair and laughing eyes of the girl. The frightened gravity of her look was + gone, lost in the flash of her white teeth and quivering dimples as her + dripping face rose above the sea. When their eyes met she dived again, but + quickly reappeared on the other bow, swimming with lazy, easy strokes, her + smiling head thrown back over her white shoulder, as if luring him to a + race. If her smile was a revelation to him, still more so was this first + touch of feminine coquetry in her attitude. He pulled eagerly towards her; + with a few long overhand strokes she kept her distance, or, if he + approached too near, she dived like a loon, coming up astern of him with + the same childlike, mocking cry. In vain he pursued her, calling her to + stop in her own tongue, and laughingly protested; she easily avoided his + boat at every turn. Suddenly, when they were nearly abreast of the river + estuary, she rose in the water, and, waving her little hands with a + gesture of farewell, turned, and curving her back like a dolphin, leaped + into the surging swell of the estuary bar and was lost in its foam. It + would have been madness for him to have attempted to follow in his boat, + and he saw that she knew it. He waited until her yellow crest appeared in + the smoother water of the river, and then rowed back. In his excitement + and preoccupation he had quite forgotten his long exposure to the sun + during his active exercise, and that he was poorly equipped for the cold + sea-fog which the heat had brought in earlier, and which now was quietly + obliterating sea and shore. This made his progress slower and more + difficult, and by the time he had reached the lighthouse he was chilled to + the bone. + </p> + <p> + The next morning he woke with a dull headache and great weariness, and it + was with considerable difficulty that he could attend to his duties. At + nightfall, feeling worse, he determined to transfer the care of the light + to Jim, but was amazed to find that he had disappeared, and what was more + ominous, a bottle of spirits which Pomfrey had taken from his locker the + night before had disappeared too. Like all Indians, Jim's rudimentary + knowledge of civilization included “fire-water;” he evidently had been + tempted, had fallen, and was too ashamed or too drunk to face his master. + Pomfrey, however, managed to get the light in order and working, and then, + he scarcely knew how, betook himself to bed in a state of high fever. He + turned from side to side racked by pain, with burning lips and pulses. + Strange fancies beset him; he had noticed when he lit his light that a + strange sail was looming off the estuary—a place where no sail had + ever been seen or should be—and was relieved that the lighting of + the tower might show the reckless or ignorant mariner his real bearings + for the “Gate.” At times he had heard voices above the familiar song of + the surf, and tried to rise from his bed, but could not. Sometimes these + voices were strange, outlandish, dissonant, in his own language, yet only + partly intelligible; but through them always rang a single voice, musical, + familiar, yet of a tongue not his own—hers! And then, out of his + delirium—for such it proved afterwards to be—came a strange + vision. He thought that he had just lit the light when, from some strange + and unaccountable reason, it suddenly became dim and defied all his + efforts to revive it. To add to his discomfiture, he could see quite + plainly through the lantern a strange-looking vessel standing in from the + sea. She was so clearly out of her course for the Gate that he knew she + had not seen the light, and his limbs trembled with shame and terror as he + tried in vain to rekindle the dying light. Yet to his surprise the strange + ship kept steadily on, passing the dangerous reef of rocks, until she was + actually in the waters of the bay. But stranger than all, swimming beneath + her bows was the golden head and laughing face of the Indian girl, even as + he had seen it the day before. A strange revulsion of feeling overtook + him. Believing that she was luring the ship to its destruction, he ran out + on the beach and strove to hail the vessel and warn it of its impending + doom. But he could not speak—no sound came from his lips. And now + his attention was absorbed by the ship itself. High-bowed and pooped, and + curved like the crescent moon, it was the strangest craft that he had ever + seen. Even as he gazed it glided on nearer and nearer, and at last beached + itself noiselessly on the sands before his own feet. A score of figures as + bizarre and outlandish as the ship itself now thronged its high forecastle—really + a castle in shape and warlike purpose—and leaped from its ports. The + common seamen were nearly naked to the waist; the officers looked more + like soldiers than sailors. What struck him more strangely was that they + were one and all seemingly unconscious of the existence of the lighthouse, + sauntering up and down carelessly, as if on some uninhabited strand, and + even talking—so far as he could understand their old bookish dialect—as + if in some hitherto undiscovered land. Their ignorance of the geography of + the whole coast, and even of the sea from which they came, actually + aroused his critical indignation; their coarse and stupid allusions to the + fair Indian swimmer as the “mermaid” that they had seen upon their bow + made him more furious still. Yet he was helpless to express his + contemptuous anger, or even make them conscious of his presence. Then an + interval of incoherency and utter blankness followed. When he again took + up the thread of his fancy the ship seemed to be lying on her beam ends on + the sand; the strange arrangement of her upper deck and top-hamper, more + like a dwelling than any ship he had ever seen, was fully exposed to view, + while the seamen seemed to be at work with the rudest contrivances, + calking and scraping her barnacled sides. He saw that phantom crew, when + not working, at wassail and festivity; heard the shouts of drunken + roisterers; saw the placing of a guard around some of the most + uncontrollable, and later detected the stealthy escape of half a dozen + sailors inland, amidst the fruitless volley fired upon them from obsolete + blunderbusses. Then his strange vision transported him inland, where he + saw these seamen following some Indian women. Suddenly one of them turned + and ran frenziedly towards him as if seeking succor, closely pursued by + one of the sailors. Pomfrey strove to reach her, struggled violently with + the fearful apathy that seemed to hold his limbs, and then, as she uttered + at last a little musical cry, burst his bonds and—awoke! + </p> + <p> + As consciousness slowly struggled back to him, he could see the bare + wooden-like walls of his sleeping-room, the locker, the one window bright + with sunlight, the open door of the tank-room, and the little staircase to + the tower. There was a strange smoky and herb-like smell in the room. He + made an effort to rise, but as he did so a small sunburnt hand was laid + gently yet restrainingly upon his shoulder, and he heard the same musical + cry as before, but this time modulated to a girlish laugh. He raised his + head faintly. Half squatting, half kneeling by his bed was the + yellow-haired stranger. + </p> + <p> + With the recollection of his vision still perplexing him, he said in a + weak voice, “Who are you?” + </p> + <p> + Her blue eyes met his own with quick intelligence and no trace of her + former timidity. A soft, caressing light had taken its place. Pointing + with her finger to her breast in a childlike gesture, she said, “Me—Olooya.” + </p> + <p> + “Olooya!” He remembered suddenly that Jim had always used that word in + speaking of her, but until then he had always thought it was some Indian + term for her distinct class. + </p> + <p> + “Olooya,” he repeated. Then, with difficulty attempting to use her own + tongue, he asked, “When did you come here?” + </p> + <p> + “Last night,” she answered in the same tongue. “There was no witch-fire + there,” she continued, pointing to the tower; “when it came not, Olooya + came! Olooya found white chief sick and alone. White chief could not get + up! Olooya lit witch-fire for him.” + </p> + <p> + “You?” he repeated in astonishment. “I lit it myself.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at him pityingly, as if still recognizing his delirium, and + shook her head. “White chief was sick—how can know? Olooya made + witch-fire.” + </p> + <p> + He cast a hurried glance at his watch hanging on the wall beside him. It + had RUN DOWN, although he had wound it the last thing before going to bed. + He had evidently been lying there helpless beyond the twenty-four hours! + </p> + <p> + He groaned and turned to rise, but she gently forced him down again, and + gave him some herbal infusion, in which he recognized the taste of the + Yerba Buena vine which grew by the river. Then she made him comprehend in + her own tongue that Jim had been decoyed, while drunk, aboard a certain + schooner lying off the shore at a spot where she had seen some men digging + in the sands. She had not gone there, for she was afraid of the bad men, + and a slight return of her former terror came into her changeful eyes. She + knew how to light the witch-light; she reminded him she had been in the + tower before. + </p> + <p> + “You have saved my light, and perhaps my life,” he said weakly, taking her + hand. + </p> + <p> + Possibly she did not understand him, for her only answer was a vague + smile. But the next instant she started up, listening intently, and then + with a frightened cry drew away her hand and suddenly dashed out of the + building. In the midst of his amazement the door was darkened by a figure—a + stranger dressed like an ordinary miner. Pausing a moment to look after + the flying Olooya, the man turned and glanced around the room, and then + with a coarse, familiar smile approached Pomfrey. + </p> + <p> + “Hope I ain't disturbin' ye, but I allowed I'd just be neighborly and drop + in—seein' as this is gov'nment property, and me and my pardners, as + American citizens and tax-payers, helps to support it. We're coastin' from + Trinidad down here and prospectin' along the beach for gold in the sand. + Ye seem to hev a mighty soft berth of it here—nothing to do—and + lots of purty half-breeds hangin' round!” + </p> + <p> + The man's effrontery was too much for Pomfrey's self-control, weakened by + illness. “It IS government property,” he answered hotly, “and you have no + more right to intrude upon it than you have to decoy away my servant, a + government employee, during my illness, and jeopardize that property.” + </p> + <p> + The unexpectedness of this attack, and the sudden revelation of the fact + of Pomfrey's illness in his flushed face and hollow voice apparently + frightened and confused the stranger. He stammered a surly excuse, backed + out of the doorway, and disappeared. An hour later Jim appeared, + crestfallen, remorseful, and extravagantly penitent. Pomfrey was too weak + for reproaches or inquiry, and he was thinking only of Olooya. + </p> + <p> + She did not return. His recovery in that keen air, aided, as he sometimes + thought, by the herbs she had given him, was almost as rapid as his + illness. The miners did not again intrude upon the lighthouse nor trouble + his seclusion. When he was able to sun himself on the sands, he could see + them in the distance at work on the beach. He reflected that she would not + come back while they were there, and was reconciled. But one morning Jim + appeared, awkward and embarrassed, leading another Indian, whom he + introduced as Olooya's brother. Pomfrey's suspicions were aroused. Except + that the stranger had something of the girl's superiority of manner, there + was no likeness whatever to his fair-haired acquaintance. But a fury of + indignation was added to his suspicions when he learned the amazing + purport of their visit. It was nothing less than an offer from the alleged + brother to SELL his sister to Pomfrey for forty dollars and a jug of + whiskey! Unfortunately, Pomfrey's temper once more got the better of his + judgment. With a scathing exposition of the laws under which the Indian + and white man equally lived, and the legal punishment of kidnaping, he + swept what he believed was the impostor from his presence. He was scarcely + alone again before he remembered that his imprudence might affect the + girl's future access to him, but it was too late now. + </p> + <p> + Still he clung to the belief that he should see her when the prospectors + had departed, and he hailed with delight the breaking up of the camp near + the “sweat-house” and the disappearance of the schooner. It seemed that + their gold-seeking was unsuccessful; but Pomfrey was struck, on visiting + the locality, to find that in their excavations in the sand at the estuary + they had uncovered the decaying timbers of a ship's small boat of some + ancient and obsolete construction. This made him think of his strange + dream, with a vague sense of warning which he could not shake off, and on + his return to the lighthouse he took from his shelves a copy of the old + voyages to see how far his fancy had been affected by his reading. In the + account of Drake's visit to the coast he found a footnote which he had + overlooked before, and which ran as follows: “The Admiral seems to have + lost several of his crew by desertion, who were supposed to have perished + miserably by starvation in the inhospitable interior or by the hands of + savages. But later voyagers have suggested that the deserters married + Indian wives, and there is a legend that a hundred years later a singular + race of half-breeds, bearing unmistakable Anglo-Saxon characteristics, was + found in that locality.” Pomfrey fell into a reverie of strange hypotheses + and fancies. He resolved that, when he again saw Olooya, he would question + her; her terror of these men might be simply racial or some hereditary + transmission. + </p> + <p> + But his intention was never fulfilled. For when days and weeks had + elapsed, and he had vainly haunted the river estuary and the rocky reef + before the lighthouse without a sign of her, he overcame his pride + sufficiently to question Jim. The man looked at him with dull + astonishment. + </p> + <p> + “Olooya gone,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Gone!—where?” + </p> + <p> + The Indian made a gesture to seaward which seemed to encompass the whole + Pacific. + </p> + <p> + “How? With whom?” repeated his angry yet half-frightened master. + </p> + <p> + “With white man in ship. You say YOU no want Olooya—forty dollars + too much. White man give fifty dollars—takee Olooya all same.” + </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> + UNDER THE EAVES + </h2> + <p> + The assistant editor of the San Francisco “Daily Informer” was going home. + So much of his time was spent in the office of the “Informer” that no one + ever cared to know where he passed those six hours of sleep which + presumably suggested a domicile. His business appointments outside the + office were generally kept at the restaurant where he breakfasted and + dined, or of evenings in the lobbies of theatres or the anterooms of + public meetings. Yet he had a home and an interval of seclusion of which + he was jealously mindful, and it was to this he was going to-night at his + usual hour. + </p> + <p> + His room was in a new building on one of the larger and busier + thoroughfares. The lower floor was occupied by a bank, but as it was + closed before he came home, and not yet opened when he left, it did not + disturb his domestic sensibilities. The same may be said of the next + floor, which was devoted to stockbrokers' and companies offices, and was + equally tomb-like and silent when he passed; the floor above that was a + desert of empty rooms, which echoed to his footsteps night and morning, + with here and there an oasis in the green sign of a mining secretary's + office, with, however, the desolating announcement that it would only be + “open for transfers from two to four on Saturdays.” The top floor had been + frankly abandoned in an unfinished state by the builder, whose ambition + had “o'erleaped itself” in that sanguine era of the city's growth. There + was a smell of plaster and the first coat of paint about it still, but the + whole front of the building was occupied by a long room with odd + “bull's-eye” windows looking out through the heavy ornamentations of the + cornice over the adjacent roofs. + </p> + <p> + It had been originally intended for a club-room, but after the ill fortune + which attended the letting of the floor below, and possibly because the + earthquake-fearing San Franciscans had their doubts of successful hilarity + at the top of so tall a building, it remained unfinished, with the two + smaller rooms at its side. Its incomplete and lonely grandeur had once + struck the editor during a visit of inspection, and the landlord, whom he + knew, had offered to make it habitable for him at a nominal rent. It had a + lavatory with a marble basin and a tap of cold water. The offer was a + novel one, but he accepted it, and fitted up the apartment with some cheap + second-hand furniture, quite inconsistent with the carved mantels and + decorations, and made a fair sitting-room and bedroom of it. Here, on a + Sunday, when its stillness was intensified, and even a passing footstep on + the pavement fifty feet below was quite startling, he would sit and work + by one of the quaint open windows. In the rainy season, through the filmed + panes he sometimes caught a glimpse of the distant, white-capped bay, but + never of the street below him. + </p> + <p> + The lights were out, but, groping his way up to the first landing, he took + from a cup-boarded niche in the wall his candlestick and matches and + continued the ascent to his room. The humble candlelight flickered on the + ostentatious gold letters displayed on the ground-glass doors of opulent + companies which he knew were famous, and rooms where millionaires met in + secret conclave, but the contrast awakened only his sense of humor. Yet he + was always relieved after he had reached his own floor. Possibly its + incompleteness and inchoate condition made it seem less lonely than the + desolation of the finished and furnished rooms below, and it was only this + recollection of past human occupancy that was depressing. + </p> + <p> + He opened his door, lit the solitary gas jet that only half illuminated + the long room, and, it being already past midnight, began to undress + himself. This process presently brought him to that corner of his room + where his bed stood, when he suddenly stopped, and his sleepy yawn changed + to a gape of surprise. For, lying in the bed, its head upon the pillow, + and its rigid arms accurately stretched down over the turned-back sheet, + was a child's doll! It was a small doll—a banged and battered doll, + that had seen service, but it had evidently been “tucked in” with maternal + tenderness, and lay there with its staring eyes turned to the ceiling, the + very genius of insomnia! + </p> + <p> + His first start of surprise was followed by a natural resentment of what + might have been an impertinent intrusion on his privacy by some + practical-joking adult, for he knew there was no child in the house. + </p> + <p> + His room was kept in order by the wife of the night watchman employed by + the bank, and no one else had a right of access to it. But the woman might + have brought a child there and not noticed its disposal of its plaything. + He smiled. It might have been worse! It might have been a real baby! + </p> + <p> + The idea tickled him with a promise of future “copy”—of a story with + farcical complications, or even a dramatic ending, in which the baby, + adopted by him, should turn out to be somebody's stolen offspring. He + lifted the little image that had suggested these fancies, carefully laid + it on his table, went to bed, and presently forgot it all in slumber. + </p> + <p> + In the morning his good-humor and interest in it revived to the extent of + writing on a slip of paper, “Good-morning! Thank you—I've slept very + well,” putting the slip in the doll's jointed arms, and leaving it in a + sitting posture outside his door when he left his room. When he returned + late at night it was gone. + </p> + <p> + But it so chanced that, a few days later, owing to press of work on the + “Informer,” he was obliged to forego his usual Sunday holiday out of town, + and that morning found him, while the bells were ringing for church, in + his room with a pile of manuscript and proof before him. For these were + troublous days in San Francisco; the great Vigilance Committee of '56 was + in session, and the offices of the daily papers were thronged with eager + seekers of news. Such affairs, indeed, were not in the functions of the + assistant editor, nor exactly to his taste; he was neither a partisan of + the so-called Law and Order Party, nor yet an enthusiastic admirer of the + citizen Revolutionists known as the Vigilance Committee, both extremes + being incompatible with his habits of thought. Consequently he was not + displeased at this opportunity of doing his work away from the office and + the “heady talk” of controversy. + </p> + <p> + He worked on until the bells ceased and a more than Sabbath stillness fell + upon the streets. So quiet was it that once or twice the conversation of + passing pedestrians floated up and into his window, as of voices at his + elbow. + </p> + <p> + Presently he heard the sound of a child's voice singing in subdued tone, + as if fearful of being overheard. This time he laid aside his pen—it + certainly was no delusion! The sound did not come from the open window, + but from some space on a level with his room. Yet there was no contiguous + building as high. + </p> + <p> + He rose and tried to open his door softly, but it creaked, and the singing + instantly ceased. There was nothing before him but the bare, empty hall, + with its lathed and plastered partitions, and the two smaller rooms, + unfinished like his own, on either side of him. Their doors were shut; the + one at his right hand was locked, the other yielded to his touch. + </p> + <p> + For the first moment he saw only the bare walls of the apparently empty + room. But a second glance showed him two children—a boy of seven and + a girl of five—sitting on the floor, which was further littered by a + mattress, pillow, and blanket. There was a cheap tray on one of the trunks + containing two soiled plates and cups and fragments of a meal. But there + was neither a chair nor table nor any other article of furniture in the + room. Yet he was struck by the fact that, in spite of this poverty of + surrounding, the children were decently dressed, and the few scattered + pieces of luggage in quality bespoke a superior condition. + </p> + <p> + The children met his astonished stare with an equal wonder and, he + fancied, some little fright. The boy's lips trembled a little as he said + apologetically— + </p> + <p> + “I told Jinny not to sing. But she didn't make MUCH noise.” + </p> + <p> + “Mamma said I could play with my dolly. But I fordot and singed,” said the + little girl penitently. + </p> + <p> + “Where's your mamma?” asked the young man. The fancy of their being near + relatives of the night watchman had vanished at the sound of their voices. + </p> + <p> + “Dorn out,” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “When did she go out?” + </p> + <p> + “Last night.” + </p> + <p> + “Were you all alone here last night?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes!” + </p> + <p> + Perhaps they saw the look of indignation and pity in the editor's face, + for the boy said quickly— + </p> + <p> + “She don't go out EVERY night; last night she went to”— + </p> + <p> + He stopped suddenly, and both children looked at each other with a half + laugh and half cry, and then repeated in hopeless unison, “She's dorn + out.” + </p> + <p> + “When is she coming back again?” + </p> + <p> + “To-night. But we won't make any more noise.” + </p> + <p> + “Who brings you your food?” continued the editor, looking at the tray. + </p> + <p> + “Woberts.” + </p> + <p> + Evidently Roberts, the night watchman! The editor felt relieved; here was + a clue to some explanation. He instantly sat down on the floor between + them. + </p> + <p> + “So that was the dolly that slept in my bed,” he said gayly, taking it up. + </p> + <p> + God gives helplessness a wonderful intuition of its friends. The children + looked up at the face of their grown-up companion, giggled, and then burst + into a shrill fit of laughter. He felt that it was the first one they had + really indulged in for many days. Nevertheless he said, “Hush!” + confidentially; why he scarcely knew, except to intimate to them that he + had taken in their situation thoroughly. “Make no noise,” he added softly, + “and come into my big room.” + </p> + <p> + They hung back, however, with frightened yet longing eyes. “Mamma said we + mussent do out of this room,” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “Not ALONE,” responded the editor quickly, “but with ME, you know; that's + different.” + </p> + <p> + The logic sufficed them, poor as it was. Their hands slid quite naturally + into his. But at the door he stopped, and motioning to the locked door of + the other room, asked:— + </p> + <p> + “And is that mamma's room, too?” + </p> + <p> + Their little hands slipped from his and they were silent. Presently the + boy, as if acted upon by some occult influence of the girl, said in a half + whisper, “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + The editor did not question further, but led them into his room. Here they + lost the slight restraint they had shown, and began, child fashion, to + become questioners themselves. + </p> + <p> + In a few moments they were in possession of his name, his business, the + kind of restaurant he frequented, where he went when he left his room all + day, the meaning of those funny slips of paper, and the written + manuscripts, and why he was so quiet. But any attempt of his to retaliate + by counter questions was met by a sudden reserve so unchildlike and + painful to him—as it was evidently to themselves—that he + desisted, wisely postponing his inquiries until he could meet Roberts. + </p> + <p> + He was glad when they fell to playing games with each other quite + naturally, yet not entirely forgetting his propinquity, as their + occasional furtive glances at his movements showed him. He, too, became + presently absorbed in his work, until it was finished and it was time for + him to take it to the office of the “Informer.” The wild idea seized him + of also taking the children afterwards for a holiday to the Mission + Dolores, but he prudently remembered that even this negligent mother of + theirs might have some rights over her offspring that he was bound to + respect. + </p> + <p> + He took leave of them gayly, suggesting that the doll be replaced in his + bed while he was away, and even assisted in “tucking it up.” But during + the afternoon the recollection of these lonely playfellows in the deserted + house obtruded itself upon his work and the talk of his companions. Sunday + night was his busiest night, and he could not, therefore, hope to get away + in time to assure himself of their mother's return. + </p> + <p> + It was nearly two in the morning when he returned to his room. He paused + for a moment on the threshold to listen for any sound from the adjoining + room. But all was hushed. + </p> + <p> + His intention of speaking to the night watchman was, however, anticipated + the next morning by that guardian himself. A tap upon his door while he + was dressing caused him to open it somewhat hurriedly in the hope of + finding one of the children there, but he met only the embarrassed face of + Roberts. Inviting him into the room, the editor continued dressing. + Carefully closing the door behind him, the man began, with evident + hesitation,— + </p> + <p> + “I oughter hev told ye suthin' afore, Mr. Breeze; but I kalkilated, so to + speak, that you wouldn't be bothered one way or another, and so ye hadn't + any call to know that there was folks here”— + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I see,” interrupted Breeze cheerfully; “you're speaking of the family + next door—the landlord's new tenants.” + </p> + <p> + “They ain't exactly THAT,” said Roberts, still with embarrassment. “The + fact is—ye see—the thing points THIS way: they ain't no right + to be here, and it's as much as my place is worth if it leaks out that + they are.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Breeze suspended his collar-buttoning, and stared at Roberts. + </p> + <p> + “You see, sir, they're mighty poor, and they've nowhere else to go—and + I reckoned to take 'em in here for a spell and say nothing about it.” + </p> + <p> + “But the landlord wouldn't object, surely? I'll speak to him myself,” said + Breeze impulsively. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no; don't!” said Roberts in alarm; “he wouldn't like it. You see, Mr. + Breeze, it's just this way: the mother, she's a born lady, and did my old + woman a good turn in old times when the family was rich; but now she's + obliged—just to support herself, you know—to take up with what + she gets, and she acts in the bally in the theatre, you see, and hez to + come in late o' nights. In them cheap boarding-houses, you know, the folks + looks down upon her for that, and won't hev her, and in the cheap hotels + the men are—you know—a darned sight wuss, and that's how I + took her and her kids in here, where no one knows 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “I see,” nodded the editor sympathetically; “and very good it was of you, + my man.” + </p> + <p> + Roberts looked still more confused, and stammered with a forced laugh, + “And—so—I'm just keeping her on here, unbeknownst, until her + husband gets”—He stopped suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “So she has a husband living, then?” said Breeze in surprise. + </p> + <p> + “In the mines, yes—in the mines!” repeated Roberts with a monotonous + deliberation quite distinct from his previous hesitation, “and she's only + waitin' until he gets money enough—to—to take her away.” He + stopped and breathed hard. + </p> + <p> + “But couldn't you—couldn't WE—get her some more furniture? + There's nothing in that room, you know, not a chair or table; and unless + the other room is better furnished”— + </p> + <p> + “Eh? Oh, yes!” said Roberts quickly, yet still with a certain + embarrassment; “of course THAT'S better furnished, and she's quite + satisfied, and so are the kids, with anything. And now, Mr. Breeze, I + reckon you'll say nothin' o' this, and you'll never go back on me?” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Mr. Roberts,” said the editor gravely, “from this moment I am not + only blind, but deaf to the fact that ANYBODY occupies this floor but + myself.” + </p> + <p> + “I knew you was white all through, Mr. Breeze,” said the night watchman, + grasping the young man's hand with a grip of iron, “and I telled my wife + so. I sez, 'Jest you let me tell him EVERYTHIN',' but she”—He + stopped again and became confused. + </p> + <p> + “And she was quite right, I dare say,” said Breeze, with a laugh; “and I + do not want to know anything. And that poor woman must never know that I + ever knew anything, either. But you may tell your wife that when the + mother is away she can bring the little ones in here whenever she likes.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank ye—thank ye, sir!—and I'll just run down and tell the + old woman now, and won't intrude upon your dressin' any longer.” + </p> + <p> + He grasped Breeze's hand again, went out and closed the door behind him. + It might have been the editor's fancy, but he thought there was a certain + interval of silence outside the door before the night watchman's heavy + tread was heard along the hall again. + </p> + <p> + For several evenings after this Mr. Breeze paid some attention to the + ballet in his usual round of the theatres. Although he had never seen his + fair neighbor, he had a vague idea that he might recognize her through + some likeness to her children. But in vain. In the opulent charms of + certain nymphs, and in the angular austerities of others, he failed + equally to discern any of those refinements which might have distinguished + the “born lady” of Roberts's story, or which he himself had seen in her + children. + </p> + <p> + These he did not meet again during the week, as his duties kept him late + at the office; but from certain signs in his room he knew that Mrs. + Roberts had availed herself of his invitation to bring them in with her, + and he regularly found “Jinny's” doll tucked up in his bed at night, and + he as regularly disposed of it outside his door in the morning, with a few + sweets, like an offering, tucked under its rigid arms. + </p> + <p> + But another circumstance touched him more delicately; his room was + arranged with greater care than before, and with an occasional exhibition + of taste that certainly had not distinguished Mrs. Roberts's previous + ministrations. One evening on his return he found a small bouquet of + inexpensive flowers in a glass on his writing-table. He loved flowers too + well not to detect that they were quite fresh, and could have been put + there only an hour or two before he arrived. + </p> + <p> + The next evening was Saturday, and, as he usually left the office earlier + on that day, it occurred to him, as he walked home, that it was about the + time his fair neighbor would be leaving the theatre, and that it was + possible he might meet her. + </p> + <p> + At the front door, however, he found Roberts, who returned his greeting + with a certain awkwardness which struck him as singular. When he reached + the niche on the landing he found his candle was gone, but he proceeded + on, groping his way up the stairs, with an odd conviction that both these + incidents pointed to the fact that the woman had just returned or was + expected. + </p> + <p> + He had also a strange feeling—which may have been owing to the + darkness—that some one was hidden on the landing or on the stairs + where he would pass. This was further accented by a faint odor of + patchouli, as, with his hand on the rail, he turned the corner of the + third landing, and he was convinced that if he had put out his other hand + it would have come in contact with his mysterious neighbor. But a certain + instinct of respect for her secret, which she was even now guarding in the + darkness, withheld him, and he passed on quickly to his own floor. + </p> + <p> + Here it was lighter; the moon shot a beam of silver across the passage + from an unshuttered window as he passed. He reached his room door, + entered, but instead of lighting the gas and shutting the door, stood with + it half open, listening in the darkness. + </p> + <p> + His suspicions were verified; there was a slight rustling noise, and a + figure which had evidently followed him appeared at the end of the + passage. It was that of a woman habited in a grayish dress and cloak of + the same color; but as she passed across the band of moonlight he had a + distinct view of her anxious, worried face. It was a face no longer young; + it was worn with illness, but still replete with a delicacy and faded + beauty so inconsistent with her avowed profession that he felt a sudden + pang of pain and doubt. The next moment she had vanished in her room, + leaving the same faint perfume behind her. He closed his door softly, lit + the gas, and sat down in a state of perplexity. That swift glimpse of her + face and figure had made her story improbable to the point of absurdity, + or possibly to the extreme of pathos! + </p> + <p> + It seemed incredible that a woman of that quality should be forced to + accept a vocation at once so low, so distasteful, and so unremunerative. + With her evident antecedents, had she no friends but this common Western + night watchman of a bank? Had Roberts deceived him? Was his whole story a + fabrication, and was there some complicity between the two? What was it? + He knit his brows. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Breeze had that overpowering knowledge of the world which only comes + with the experience of twenty-five, and to this he superadded the active + imagination of a newspaper man. A plot to rob the bank? These mysterious + absences, that luggage which he doubted not was empty and intended for + spoil! But why encumber herself with the two children? Here his common + sense and instinct of the ludicrous returned and he smiled. + </p> + <p> + But he could not believe in the ballet dancer! He wondered, indeed, how + any manager could have accepted the grim satire of that pale, worried face + among the fairies, that sad refinement amid their vacant smiles and rouged + checks. And then, growing sad again, he comforted himself with the + reflection that at least the children were not alone that night, and so + went to sleep. + </p> + <p> + For some days he had no further meeting with his neighbors. The disturbed + state of the city—for the Vigilance Committee were still in session—obliged + the daily press to issue “extras,” and his work at the office increased. + </p> + <p> + It was not until Sunday again that he was able to be at home. Needless to + say that his solitary little companions were duly installed there, while + he sat at work with his proofs on the table before him. + </p> + <p> + The stillness of the empty house was only broken by the habitually subdued + voices of the children at their play, when suddenly the harsh stroke of a + distant bell came through the open window. But it was no Sabbath bell, and + Mr. Breeze knew it. It was the tocsin of the Vigilance Committee, + summoning the members to assemble at their quarters for a capture, a + trial, or an execution of some wrongdoer. To him it was equally a summons + to the office—to distasteful news and excitement. + </p> + <p> + He threw his proofs aside in disgust, laid down his pen, seized his hat, + and paused a moment to look round for his playmates. But they were gone! + He went into the hall, looked into the open door of their room, but they + were not there. He tried the door of the second room, but it was locked. + </p> + <p> + Satisfied that they had stolen downstairs in their eagerness to know what + the bell meant, he hurried down also, met Roberts in the passage,—a + singularly unusual circumstance at that hour,—called to him to look + after the runaways, and hurried to his office. + </p> + <p> + Here he found the staff collected, excitedly discussing the news. One of + the Vigilance Committee prisoners, a notorious bully and ruffian, detained + as a criminal and a witness, had committed suicide in his cell. + Fortunately this was all reportorial work, and the services of Mr. Breeze + were not required. He hurried back, relieved, to his room. + </p> + <p> + When he reached his landing, breathlessly, he heard the same quick rustle + he had heard that memorable evening, and was quite satisfied that he saw a + figure glide swiftly out of the open door of his room. It was no doubt his + neighbor, who had been seeking her children, and as he heard their voices + as he passed, his uneasiness and suspicions were removed. + </p> + <p> + He sat down again to his scattered papers and proofs, finished his work, + and took it to the office on his way to dinner. He returned early, in the + hope that he might meet his neighbor again, and had quite settled his mind + that he was justified in offering a civil “Good-evening” to her, in spite + of his previous respectful ignoring of her presence. She must certainly + have become aware by this time of his attention to her children and + consideration for herself, and could not mistake his motives. But he was + disappointed, although he came up softly; he found the floor in darkness + and silence on his return, and he had to be content with lighting his gas + and settling down to work again. + </p> + <p> + A near church clock had struck ten when he was startled by the sound of an + unfamiliar and uncertain step in the hall, followed by a tap at his door. + Breeze jumped to his feet, and was astonished to find Dick, the “printer's + devil,” standing on the threshold with a roll of proofs in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “How did you get here?” he asked testily. + </p> + <p> + “They told me at the restaurant they reckoned you lived yere, and the + night watchman at the door headed me straight up. When he knew whar I kem + from he wanted to know what the news was, but I told him he'd better buy + an extra and see.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, what did you come for?” said the editor impatiently. + </p> + <p> + “The foreman said it was important, and he wanted to know afore he went to + press ef this yer correction was YOURS?” + </p> + <p> + He went to the table, unrolled the proofs, and, taking out the slip, + pointed to a marked paragraph. “The foreman says the reporter who brought + the news allows he got it straight first-hand! But ef you've corrected it, + he reckons you know best.” + </p> + <p> + Breeze saw at a glance that the paragraph alluded to was not of his own + writing, but one of several news items furnished by reporters. These had + been “set up” in the same “galley,” and consequently appeared in the same + proof-slip. He was about to say curtly that neither the matter nor the + correction was his, when something odd in the correction of the item + struck him. It read as follows:— + </p> + <p> + “It appears that the notorious 'Jim Bodine,' who is in hiding and badly + wanted by the Vigilance Committee, has been tempted lately into a renewal + of his old recklessness. He was seen in Sacramento Street the other night + by two separate witnesses, one of whom followed him, but he escaped in + some friendly doorway.” + </p> + <p> + The words “in Sacramento Street” were stricken out and replaced by the + correction “on the Saucelito shore,” and the words “friendly doorway” were + changed to “friendly dinghy.” The correction was not his, nor the + handwriting, which was further disguised by being an imitation of print. A + strange idea seized him. + </p> + <p> + “Has any one seen these proofs since I left them at the office?” + </p> + <p> + “No, only the foreman, sir.” + </p> + <p> + He remembered that he had left the proofs lying openly on his table when + he was called to the office at the stroke of the alarm bell; he remembered + the figure he saw gliding from his room on his return. She had been there + alone with the proofs; she only could have tampered with them. + </p> + <p> + The evident object of the correction was to direct the public attention + from Sacramento Street to Saucelito, as the probable whereabouts of this + “Jimmy Bodine.” The street below was Sacramento Street, the “friendly + doorway” might have been their own. + </p> + <p> + That she had some knowledge of this Bodine was not more improbable than + the ballet story. Her strange absences, the mystery surrounding her, all + seemed to testify that she had some connection—perhaps only an + innocent one—with these desperate people whom the Vigilance + Committee were hunting down. Her attempt to save the man was, after all, + no more illegal than their attempt to capture him. True, she might have + trusted him, Breeze, without this tampering with his papers; yet perhaps + she thought he was certain to discover it—and it was only a silent + appeal to his mercy. The corrections were ingenious and natural—it + was the act of an intelligent, quick-witted woman. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Breeze was prompt in acting upon his intuition, whether right or + wrong. He took up his pen, wrote on the margin of the proof, “Print as + corrected,” said to the boy carelessly, “The corrections are all right,” + and dismissed him quickly. + </p> + <p> + The corrected paragraph which appeared in the “Informer” the next morning + seemed to attract little public attention, the greater excitement being + the suicide of the imprisoned bully and the effect it might have upon the + prosecution of other suspected parties, against whom the dead man had been + expected to bear witness. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Breeze was unable to obtain any information regarding the desperado + Bodine's associates and relations; his correction of the paragraph had + made the other members of the staff believe he had secret and superior + information regarding the fugitive, and he thus was estopped from asking + questions. But he felt himself justified now in demanding fuller + information from Roberts at the earliest opportunity. + </p> + <p> + For this purpose he came home earlier that night, hoping to find the night + watchman still on his first beat in the lower halls. But he was + disappointed. He was amazed, however, on reaching his own landing, to find + the passage piled with new luggage, some of that ruder type of rolled + blanket and knapsack known as a “miner's kit.” He was still more surprised + to hear men's voices and the sound of laughter proceeding from the room + that was always locked. A sudden sense of uneasiness and disgust, he knew + not why, came over him. + </p> + <p> + He passed quickly into his room, shut the door sharply, and lit the gas. + But he presently heard the door of the locked room open, a man's voice, + slightly elevated by liquor and opposition, saying, “I know what's due + from one gen'leman to 'nother”—a querulous, objecting voice saying, + “Hole on! not now,” and a fainter feminine protest, all of which were + followed by a rap on his door. + </p> + <p> + Breeze opened it to two strangers, one of whom lurched forward unsteadily + with outstretched hand. He had a handsome face and figure, and a certain + consciousness of it even in the abandon of liquor; he had an aggressive + treacherousness of eye which his potations had not subdued. He grasped + Breeze's hand tightly, but dropped it the next moment perfunctorily as he + glanced round the room. + </p> + <p> + “I told them I was bound to come in,” he said, without looking at Breeze, + “and say 'Howdy!' to the man that's bin a pal to my women folks and the + kids—and acted white all through! I said to Mame, 'I reckon HE knows + who I am, and that I kin be high-toned to them that's high-toned; kin + return shake for shake and shot for shot!' Aye! that's me! So I was bound + to come in like a gen'leman, sir, and here I am!” + </p> + <p> + He threw himself in an unproffered chair and stared at Breeze. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid,” said Breeze dryly, “that, nevertheless, I never knew who you + were, and that even now I am ignorant whom I am addressing.” + </p> + <p> + “That's just it,” said the second man, with a querulous protest, which did + not, however, conceal his admiring vassalage to his friend; “that's what + I'm allus telling Jim. 'Jim,' I says, 'how is folks to know you're the man + that shot Kernel Baxter, and dropped three o' them Mariposa Vigilants? + They didn't see you do it! They just look at your fancy style and them + mustaches of yours, and allow ye might be death on the girls, but they + don't know ye! An' this man yere—he's a scribe in them papers—writes + what the boss editor tells him, and lives up yere on the roof, 'longside + yer wife and the children—what's he knowin' about YOU?' Jim's all + right enough,” he continued, in easy confidence to Breeze, “but he's too + fresh 'bout himself.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. James Bodine accepted this tribute and criticism of his henchman with + a complacent laugh, which was not, however, without a certain contempt for + the speaker and the man spoken to. His bold, selfish eyes wandered round + the room as if in search of some other amusement than his companions + offered. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon this is the room which that hound of a landlord, Rakes, allowed + he'd fix up for our poker club—the club that Dan Simmons and me got + up, with a few other sports. It was to be a slap-up affair, right under + the roof, where there was no chance of the police raiding us. But the cur + weakened when the Vigilants started out to make war on any game a + gen'leman might hev that wasn't in their gummy-bag, salt pork trade. Well, + it's gettin' a long time between drinks, gen'lemen, ain't it?” He looked + round him significantly. + </p> + <p> + Only the thought of the woman and her children in the next room, and the + shame that he believed she was enduring, enabled Breeze to keep his temper + or even a show of civility. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid,” he said quietly, “that you'll find very little here to + remind you of the club—not even the whiskey; for I use the room only + as a bedroom, and as I am a workingman, and come in late and go out early, + I have never found it available for hospitality, even to my intimate + friends. I am very glad, however, that the little leisure I have had in it + has enabled me to make the floor less lonely for your children.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Bodine got up with an affected yawn, turned an embarrassed yet + darkening eye on Breeze, and lunged unsteadily to the door. “And as I only + happened in to do the reg'lar thing between high-toned gen'lemen, I reckon + we kin say 'Quits.'” He gave a coarse laugh, said “So long,” nodded, + stumbled into the passage, and thence into the other room. + </p> + <p> + His companion watched him pass out with a relieved yet protecting air, and + then, closing the door softly, drew nearer to Breeze, and said in husky + confidence,— + </p> + <p> + “Ye ain't seein' him at his best, mister! He's bin drinkin' too much, and + this yer news has upset him.” + </p> + <p> + “What news?” asked Breeze. + </p> + <p> + “This yer suicide o' Irish Jack!” + </p> + <p> + “Was he his friend?” + </p> + <p> + “Friend?” ejaculated the man, horrified at the mere suggestion. “Not much! + Why, Irish Jack was the only man that could hev hung Jim! Now he's dead, + in course the Vigilants ain't got no proof agin Jim. Jim wants to face it + out now an' stay here, but his wife and me don't see it noways! So we are + taking advantage o' the lull agin him to get him off down the coast this + very night. That's why he's been off his head drinkin'. Ye see, when a man + has been for weeks hidin'—part o' the time in that room and part o' + the time on the wharf, where them Vigilants has been watchin' every ship + that left in order to ketch him, he's inclined to celebrate his chance o' + getting away”— + </p> + <p> + “Part of the time in that room?” interrupted Breeze quickly. + </p> + <p> + “Sartin! Don't ye see? He allus kem in as you went out—sabe!—and + got away before you kem back, his wife all the time just a-hoverin' + between the two places, and keeping watch for him. It was killin' to her, + you see, for she wasn't brought up to it, whiles Jim didn't keer—had + two revolvers and kalkilated to kill a dozen Vigilants afore he dropped. + But that's over now, and when I've got him safe on that 'plunger' down at + the wharf to-night, and put him aboard the schooner that's lying off the + Heads, he's all right agin.” + </p> + <p> + “And Roberts knew all this and was one of his friends?” asked Breeze. + </p> + <p> + “Roberts knew it, and Roberts's wife used to be a kind of servant to Jim's + wife in the South, when she was a girl, but I don't know ez Roberts is his + FRIEND!” + </p> + <p> + “He certainly has shown himself one,” said Breeze. + </p> + <p> + “Ye-e-s,” said the stranger meditatively, “ye-e-s.” He stopped, opened the + door softly, and peeped out, and then closed it again softly. “It's + sing'lar, Mr. Breeze,” he went on in a sudden yet embarrassed burst of + confidence, “that Jim thar—a man thet can shoot straight, and hez + frequent; a man thet knows every skin game goin'—that THET man Jim,” + very slowly, “hezn't really—got—any friends—'cept me—and + his wife.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed?” said Mr. Breeze dryly. + </p> + <p> + “Sure! Why, you yourself didn't cotton to him—I could see THET.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Breeze felt himself redden slightly, and looked curiously at the man. + This vulgar parasite, whom he had set down as a worshiper of sham heroes, + undoubtedly did not look like an associate of Bodine's, and had a certain + seriousness that demanded respect. As he looked closer into his wide, + round face, seamed with small-pox, he fancied he saw even in its fatuous + imbecility something of that haunting devotion he had seen on the refined + features of the wife. He said more gently,— + </p> + <p> + “But one friend like you would seem to be enough.” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't what I uster be, Mr. Breeze,” said the man meditatively, “and + mebbe ye don't know who I am. I'm Abe Shuckster, of Shuckster's Ranch—one + of the biggest in Petalumy. I was a rich man until a year ago, when Jim + got inter trouble. What with mortgages and interest, payin' up Jim's + friends and buying off some ez was set agin him, thar ain't much left, and + when I've settled that bill for the schooner lying off the Heads there I + reckon I'm about played out. But I've allus a shanty at Petalumy, and + mebbe when things is froze over and Jim gets back—you'll come and + see him—for you ain't seen him at his best.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose his wife and children go with him?” said Breeze. + </p> + <p> + “No! He's agin it, and wants them to come later. But that's all right, for + you see she kin go back to their own house at the Mission, now that the + Vigilants are givin' up shadderin' it. So long, Mr. Breeze! We're startin' + afore daylight. Sorry you didn't see Jim in condition.” + </p> + <p> + He grasped Breeze's hand warmly and slipped out of the door softly. For an + instant Mr. Breeze felt inclined to follow him into the room and make a + kinder adieu to the pair, but the reflection that he might embarrass the + wife, who, it would seem, had purposely avoided accompanying her husband + when he entered, withheld him. And for the last few minutes he had been + doubtful if he had any right to pose as her friend. Beside the devotion of + the man who had just left him, his own scant kindness to her children + seemed ridiculous. + </p> + <p> + He went to bed, but tossed uneasily until he fancied he heard stealthy + footsteps outside his door and in the passage. Even then he thought of + getting up, dressing, and going out to bid farewell to the fugitives. But + even while he was thinking of it he fell asleep and did not wake until the + sun was shining in at his windows. + </p> + <p> + He sprang to his feet, threw on his dressing-gown, and peered into the + passage. Everything was silent. He stepped outside—the light + streamed into the hall from the open doors and windows of both rooms—the + floor was empty; not a trace of the former occupants remained. He was + turning back when his eye fell upon the battered wooden doll set upright + against his doorjamb, holding stiffly in its jointed arms a bit of paper + folded like a note. Opening it, he found a few lines written in pencil. + </p> + <p> + God bless you for your kindness to us, and try to forgive me for touching + your papers. But I thought that you would detect it, know WHY I did it, + and then help us, as you did! Good-by! + </p> + <p> + MAMIE BODINE. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Breeze laid down the paper with a slight accession of color, as if its + purport had been ironical. How little had he done compared to the devotion + of this delicate woman or the sacrifices of that rough friend! How + deserted looked this nest under the eaves, which had so long borne its + burden of guilt, innocence, shame, and suffering! For many days afterwards + he avoided it except at night, and even then he often found himself lying + awake to listen to the lost voices of the children. + </p> + <p> + But one evening, a fortnight later, he came upon Roberts in the hall. + “Well,” said Breeze, with abrupt directness, “did he get away?” + </p> + <p> + Roberts started, uttered an oath which it is possible the Recording Angel + passed to his credit, and said, “Yes, HE got away all right!” + </p> + <p> + “Why, hasn't his wife joined him?” + </p> + <p> + “No. Never, in this world, I reckon; and if anywhere in the next, I don't + want to go there!” said Roberts furiously. + </p> + <p> + “Is he dead?” + </p> + <p> + “Dead? That kind don't die!” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean?” + </p> + <p> + Roberts's lips writhed, and then, with a strong effort, he said with + deliberate distinctness, “I mean—that the hound went off with + another woman—that—was—in—that schooner, and left + that fool Shuckster adrift in the plunger.” + </p> + <p> + “And the wife and children?” + </p> + <p> + “Shuckster sold his shanty at Petaluma to pay their passage to the States. + Good-night!” + </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> + HOW REUBEN ALLEN “SAW LIFE” IN SAN FRANCISCO + </h2> + <p> + The junior partner of the firm of Sparlow & Kane, “Druggists and + Apothecaries,” of San Francisco, was gazing meditatively out of the corner + of the window of their little shop in Dupont Street. He could see the + dimly lit perspective of the narrow thoroughfare fade off into the level + sand wastes of Market Street on the one side, and plunge into the + half-excavated bulk of Telegraph Hill on the other. He could see the glow + and hear the rumble of Montgomery Street—the great central avenue + farther down the hill. Above the housetops was spread the warm blanket of + sea-fog under which the city was regularly laid to sleep every summer + night to the cool lullaby of the Northwest Trades. It was already + half-past eleven; footsteps on the wooden pavement were getting rarer and + more remote; the last cart had rumbled by; the shutters were up along the + street; the glare of his own red and blue jars was the only beacon left to + guide the wayfarers. Ordinarily he would have been going home at this + hour, when his partner, who occupied the surgery and a small bedroom at + the rear of the shop, always returned to relieve him. That night, however, + a professional visit would detain the “Doctor” until half-past twelve. + There was still an hour to wait. He felt drowsy; the mysterious incense of + the shop, that combined essence of drugs, spice, scented soap, and orris + root—which always reminded him of the Arabian Nights—was + affecting him. He yawned, and then, turning away, passed behind the + counter, took down a jar labeled “Glycyrr. Glabra,” selected a piece of + Spanish licorice, and meditatively sucked it. Not receiving from it that + diversion and sustenance he apparently was seeking, he also visited, in an + equally familiar manner, a jar marked “Jujubes,” and returned ruminatingly + to his previous position. + </p> + <p> + If I have not in this incident sufficiently established the youthfulness + of the junior partner, I may add briefly that he was just nineteen, that + he had early joined the emigration to California, and after one or two + previous light-hearted essays at other occupations, for which he was + singularly unfitted, he had saved enough to embark on his present venture, + still less suited to his temperament. In those adventurous days trades and + vocations were not always filled by trained workmen; it was extremely + probable that the experienced chemist was already making his success as a + gold-miner, with a lawyer and a physician for his partners, and Mr. Kane's + inexperienced position was by no means a novel one. A slight knowledge of + Latin as a written language, an American schoolboy's acquaintance with + chemistry and natural philosophy, were deemed sufficient by his partner, a + regular physician, for practical cooperation in the vending of drugs and + putting up of prescriptions. He knew the difference between acids and + alkalies and the peculiar results which attended their incautious + combination. But he was excessively deliberate, painstaking, and cautious. + The legend which adorned the desk at the counter, “Physicians' + prescriptions carefully prepared,” was more than usually true as regarded + the adverb. There was no danger of his poisoning anybody through haste or + carelessness, but it was possible that an urgent “case” might have + succumbed to the disease while he was putting up the remedy. Nor was his + caution entirely passive. In those days the “heroic” practice of medicine + was in keeping with the abnormal development of the country; there were + “record” doses of calomel and quinine, and he had once or twice incurred + the fury of local practitioners by sending back their prescriptions with a + modest query. + </p> + <p> + The far-off clatter of carriage wheels presently arrested his attention; + looking down the street, he could see the lights of a hackney carriage + advancing towards him. They had already flashed upon the open crossing a + block beyond before his vague curiosity changed into an active instinctive + presentiment that they were coming to the shop. He withdrew to a more + becoming and dignified position behind the counter as the carriage drew up + with a jerk before the door. + </p> + <p> + The driver rolled from his box and opened the carriage door to a woman + whom he assisted, between some hysterical exclamations on her part and + some equally incoherent explanations of his own, into the shop. Kane saw + at a glance that both were under the influence of liquor, and one, the + woman, was disheveled and bleeding about the head. Yet she was elegantly + dressed and evidently en fete, with one or two “tricolor” knots and + ribbons mingled with her finery. Her golden hair, matted and darkened with + blood, had partly escaped from her French bonnet and hung heavily over her + shoulders. The driver, who was supporting her roughly, and with a + familiarity that was part of the incongruous spectacle, was the first to + speak. + </p> + <p> + “Madame le Blank! ye know! Got cut about the head down at the fete at + South Park! Tried to dance upon the table, and rolled over on some + champagne bottles. See? Wants plastering up!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah brute! Hog! Nozzing of ze kine! Why will you lie? I dance! Ze cowards, + fools, traitors zere upset ze table and I fall. I am cut! Ah, my God, how + I am cut!” + </p> + <p> + She stopped suddenly and lapsed heavily against the counter. At which Kane + hurried around to support her into the surgery with the one fixed idea in + his bewildered mind of getting her out of the shop, and, suggestively, + into the domain and under the responsibility of his partner. The hackman, + apparently relieved and washing his hands of any further complicity in the + matter, nodded and smiled, and saying, “I reckon I'll wait outside, + pardner,” retreated incontinently to his vehicle. To add to Kane's + half-ludicrous embarrassment the fair patient herself slightly resisted + his support, accused the hackman of “abandoning her,” and demanded if Kane + knew “zee reason of zees affair,” yet she presently lapsed again into the + large reclining-chair which he had wheeled forward, with open mouth, + half-shut eyes, and a strange Pierrette mask of face, combined of the + pallor of faintness and chalk, and the rouge of paint and blood. At which + Kane's cautiousness again embarrassed him. A little brandy from the bottle + labeled “Vini Galli” seemed to be indicated, but his inexperience could + not determine if her relaxation was from bloodlessness or the reacting + depression of alcohol. In this dilemma he chose a medium course, with + aromatic spirits of ammonia, and mixing a diluted quantity in a + measuring-glass, poured it between her white lips. A start, a struggle, a + cough—a volley of imprecatory French, and the knocking of the glass + from his hand followed—but she came to! He quickly sponged her head + of the half-coagulated blood, and removed a few fragments of glass from a + long laceration of the scalp. The shock of the cold water and the + appearance of the ensanguined basin frightened her into a momentary + passivity. But when Kane found it necessary to cut her hair in the region + of the wound in order to apply the adhesive plaster, she again endeavored + to rise and grasp the scissors. + </p> + <p> + “You'll bleed to death if you're not quiet,” said the young man with + dogged gravity. + </p> + <p> + Something in his manner impressed her into silence again. He cut whole + locks away ruthlessly; he was determined to draw the edges of the wound + together with the strip of plaster and stop the bleeding—if he + cropped the whole head. His excessive caution for her physical condition + did not extend to her superficial adornment. Her yellow tresses lay on the + floor, her neck and shoulders were saturated with water from the sponge + which he continually applied, until the heated strips of plaster had + closed the wound almost hermetically. She whimpered, tears ran down her + cheeks; but so long as it was not blood the young man was satisfied. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of it he heard the shop door open, and presently the sound of + rapping on the counter. Another customer! + </p> + <p> + Mr. Kane called out, “Wait a moment,” and continued his ministrations. + After a pause the rapping recommenced. Kane was just securing the last + strip of plaster and preserved a preoccupied silence. Then the door flew + open abruptly and a figure appeared impatiently on the threshold. It was + that of a miner recently returned from the gold diggings—so recently + that he evidently had not had time to change his clothes at his adjacent + hotel, and stood there in his high boots, duck trousers, and flannel + shirt, over which his coat was slung like a hussar's jacket from his + shoulder. Kane would have uttered an indignant protest at the intrusion, + had not the intruder himself as quickly recoiled with an astonishment and + contrition that was beyond the effect of any reproval. He literally gasped + at the spectacle before him. A handsomely dressed woman reclining in a + chair; lace and jewelry and ribbons depending from her saturated + shoulders; tresses of golden hair filling her lap and lying on the floor; + a pail of ruddy water and a sponge at her feet, and a pale young man + bending over her head with a spirit lamp and strips of yellow plaster! + </p> + <p> + “'Scuse me, pard! I was just dropping in; don't you hurry! I kin wait,” he + stammered, falling back, and then the door closed abruptly behind him. + </p> + <p> + Kane gathered up the shorn locks, wiped the face and neck of his patient + with a clean towel and his own handkerchief, threw her gorgeous opera + cloak over her shoulders, and assisted her to rise. She did so, weakly but + obediently; she was evidently stunned and cowed in some mysterious way by + his material attitude, perhaps, or her sudden realization of her position; + at least the contrast between her aggressive entrance into the shop and + her subdued preparation for her departure was so remarkable that it + affected even Kane's preoccupation. + </p> + <p> + “There,” he said, slightly relaxing his severe demeanor with an + encouraging smile, “I think this will do; we've stopped the bleeding. It + will probably smart a little as the plaster sets closer. I can send my + partner, Dr. Sparlow, to you in the morning.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at him curiously and with a strange smile. “And zees Doctor + Sparrlow—eez he like you, M'sieu?” + </p> + <p> + “He is older, and very well known,” said the young man seriously. “I can + safely recommend him.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” she repeated, with a pensive smile which made Kane think her quite + pretty. “Ah—he ez older—your Doctor Sparrlow—but YOU are + strong, M'sieu.” + </p> + <p> + “And,” said Kane vaguely, “he will tell you what to do.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” she repeated again softly, with the same smile, “he will tell me + what to do if I shall not know myself. Dat ez good.” + </p> + <p> + Kane had already wrapped her shorn locks in a piece of spotless white + paper and tied it up with narrow white ribbon in the dainty fashion dear + to druggists' clerks. As he handed it to her she felt in her pocket and + produced a handful of gold. + </p> + <p> + “What shall I pay for zees, M'sieu?” + </p> + <p> + Kane reddened a little—solely because of his slow arithmetical + faculties. Adhesive plaster was cheap—he would like to have charged + proportionately for the exact amount he had used; but the division was + beyond him! And he lacked the trader's instinct. + </p> + <p> + “Twenty-five cents, I think,” he hazarded briefly. + </p> + <p> + She started, but smiled again. “Twenty-five cents for all zees—ze + medicine, ze strips for ze head, ze hair cut”—she glanced at the + paper parcel he had given her—“it is only twenty-five cents?” + </p> + <p> + “That's all.” + </p> + <p> + He selected from her outstretched palm, with some difficulty, the exact + amount, the smallest coin it held. She again looked at him curiously—half + confusedly—and moved slowly into the shop. The miner, who was still + there, retreated as before with a gaspingly apologetic gesture—even + flattening himself against the window to give her sweeping silk flounces + freer passage. As she passed into the street with a “Merci, M'sieu, good + a'night,” and the hackman started from the vehicle to receive her, the + miner drew a long breath, and bringing his fist down upon the counter, + ejaculated,— + </p> + <p> + “B'gosh! She's a stunner!” + </p> + <p> + Kane, a good deal relieved at her departure and the success of his + ministration, smiled benignly. + </p> + <p> + The stranger again stared after the retreating carriage, looked around the + shop, and even into the deserted surgery, and approached the counter + confidentially. “Look yer, pardner. I kem straight from St. Jo, Mizzorri, + to Gold Hill—whar I've got a claim—and I reckon this is the + first time I ever struck San Francisker. I ain't up to towny ways nohow, + and I allow that mebbe I'm rather green. So we'll let that pass! Now look + yer!” he added, leaning over the counter with still deeper and even + mysterious confidence, “I suppose this yer kind o' thing is the regular go + here, eh? nothin' new to YOU! in course no! But to me, pard, it's just + fetchin' me! Lifts me clear outer my boots every time! Why, when I popped + into that thar room, and saw that lady—all gold, furbelows, and + spangles—at twelve o'clock at night, sittin' in that cheer and you + a-cuttin' her h'r and swabbin' her head o' blood, and kinder prospectin' + for 'indications,' so to speak, and doin' it so kam and indifferent like, + I sez to myself, 'Rube, Rube,' sez I, 'this yer's life! city life! San + Francisker life! and b'gosh, you've dropped into it! Now, pard, look yar! + don't you answer, ye know, ef it ain't square and above board for me to + know; I ain't askin' you to give the show away, ye know, in the matter of + high-toned ladies like that, but” (very mysteriously, and sinking his + voice to the lowest confidential pitch, as he put his hand to his ear as + if to catch the hushed reply), “what mout hev bin happening, pard?” + </p> + <p> + Considerably amused at the man's simplicity, Kane replied good-humoredly: + “Danced among some champagne bottles on a table at a party, fell and got + cut by glass.” + </p> + <p> + The stranger nodded his head slowly and approvingly as he repeated with + infinite deliberateness: “Danced on champagne bottles, champagne! you + said, pard? at a pahty! Yes!” (musingly and approvingly). “I reckon that's + about the gait they take. SHE'D do it.” + </p> + <p> + “Is there anything I can do for you? sorry to have kept you waiting,” said + Kane, glancing at the clock. + </p> + <p> + “O ME! Lord! ye needn't mind me. Why, I should wait for anythin' o' the + like o' that, and be just proud to do it! And ye see, I sorter helped + myself while you war busy.” + </p> + <p> + “Helped yourself?” said Kane in astonishment. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, outer that bottle.” He pointed to the ammonia bottle, which still + stood on the counter. “It seemed to be handy and popular.” + </p> + <p> + “Man! you might have poisoned yourself.” + </p> + <p> + The stranger paused a moment at the idea. “So I mout, I reckon,” he said + musingly, “that's so! pizined myself jest ez you was lookin' arter that + high-toned case, and kinder bothered you! It's like me!” + </p> + <p> + “I mean it required diluting; you ought to have taken it in water,” said + Kane. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon! It DID sorter h'ist me over to the door for a little fresh air + at first! seemed rayther scaldy to the lips. But wot of it that GOT THAR,” + he put his hand gravely to his stomach, “did me pow'ful good.” + </p> + <p> + “What was the matter with you?” asked Kane. + </p> + <p> + “Well, ye see, pard” (confidentially again), “I reckon it's suthin' along + o' my heart. Times it gets to poundin' away like a quartz stamp, and then + it stops suddent like, and kinder leaves ME out too.” + </p> + <p> + Kane looked at him more attentively. He was a strong, powerfully built man + with a complexion that betrayed nothing more serious than the effects of + mining cookery. It was evidently a common case of indigestion. + </p> + <p> + “I don't say it would not have done you some good if properly + administered,” he replied. “If you like I'll put up a diluted quantity and + directions?” + </p> + <p> + “That's me, every time, pardner!” said the stranger with an accent of + relief. “And look yer, don't you stop at that! Ye just put me up some + samples like of anythin' you think mout be likely to hit. I'll go in for a + fair show, and then meander in every now and then, betwixt times, to let + you know. Ye don't mind my drifting in here, do ye? It's about ez likely a + place ez I struck since I've left the Sacramento boat, and my hotel, just + round the corner. Ye just sample me a bit o' everythin'; don't mind the + expense. I'll take YOUR word for it. The way you—a young fellow—jest + stuck to your work in thar, cool and kam as a woodpecker—not minding + how high-toned she was—nor the jewelery and spangles she had on—jest + got me! I sez to myself, 'Rube,' sez I, 'whatever's wrong o' YOUR insides, + you jest stick to that feller to set ye right.'” + </p> + <p> + The junior partner's face reddened as he turned to his shelves ostensibly + for consultation. Conscious of his inexperience, the homely praise of even + this ignorant man was not ungrateful. He felt, too, that his treatment of + the Frenchwoman, though successful, might not be considered remunerative + from a business point of view by his partner. He accordingly acted upon + the suggestion of the stranger and put up two or three specifics for + dyspepsia. They were received with grateful alacrity and the casual + display of considerable gold in the stranger's pocket in the process of + payment. He was evidently a successful miner. + </p> + <p> + After bestowing the bottles carefully about his person, he again leaned + confidentially towards Kane. “I reckon of course you know this high-toned + lady, being in the way of seein' that kind o' folks. I suppose you won't + mind telling me, ez a stranger. But” (he added hastily, with a deprecatory + wave of his hand), “perhaps ye would.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Kane, in fact, had hesitated. He knew vaguely and by report that + Madame le Blanc was the proprietress of a famous restaurant, over which + she had rooms where private gambling was carried on to a great extent. It + was also alleged that she was protected by a famous gambler and a somewhat + notorious bully. Mr. Kane's caution suggested that he had no right to + expose the reputation of his chance customer. He was silent. + </p> + <p> + The stranger's face became intensely sympathetic and apologetic. “I see!—not + another word, pard! It ain't the square thing to be givin' her away, and I + oughtn't to hev asked. Well—so long! I reckon I'll jest drift back + to the hotel. I ain't been in San Francisker mor' 'n three hours, and I + calkilate, pard, that I've jest seen about ez square a sample of + high-toned life as fellers ez haz bin here a year. Well, hastermanyanner—ez + the Greasers say. I'll be droppin' in to-morrow. My name's Reuben Allen o' + Mariposa. I know yours; it's on the sign, and it ain't Sparlow.” + </p> + <p> + He cast another lingering glance around the shop, as if loath to leave it, + and then slowly sauntered out of the door, pausing in the street a moment, + in the glare of the red light, before he faded into darkness. Without + knowing exactly why, Kane had an instinct that the stranger knew no one in + San Francisco, and after leaving the shop was going into utter silence and + obscurity. + </p> + <p> + A few moments later Dr. Sparlow returned to relieve his wearied partner. A + pushing, active man, he listened impatiently to Kane's account of his + youthful practice with Madame le Blanc, without, however, dwelling much on + his methods. “You ought to have charged her more,” the elder said + decisively. “She'd have paid it. She only came here because she was + ashamed to go to a big shop in Montgomery Street—and she won't come + again.” + </p> + <p> + “But she wants you to see her to-morrow,” urged Kane, “and I told her you + would!” + </p> + <p> + “You say it was only a superficial cut?” queried the doctor, “and you + closed it? Umph! what can she want to see ME for?” He paid more attention, + however, to the case of the stranger, Allen. “When he comes here again, + manage to let me see him.” Mr. Kane promised, yet for some indefinable + reason he went home that night not quite as well satisfied with himself. + </p> + <p> + He was much more concerned the next morning when, after relieving the + doctor for his regular morning visits, he was startled an hour later by + the abrupt return of that gentleman. His face was marked by some + excitement and anxiety, which nevertheless struggled with that sense of + the ludicrous which Californians in those days imported into most + situations of perplexity or catastrophe. Putting his hands deeply into his + trousers pockets, he confronted his youthful partner behind the counter. + </p> + <p> + “How much did you charge that French-woman?” he said gravely. + </p> + <p> + “Twenty-five cents,” said Kane timidly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'd give it back and add two hundred and fifty dollars if she had + never entered the shop.” + </p> + <p> + “What's the matter?” + </p> + <p> + “Her head will be—and a mass of it, in a day, I reckon! Why, man, + you put enough plaster on it to clothe and paper the dome of the Capitol! + You drew her scalp together so that she couldn't shut her eyes without + climbing up the bed-post! You mowed her hair off so that she'll have to + wear a wig for the next two years—and handed it to her in a + beau-ti-ful sealed package! They talk of suing me and killing you out of + hand.” + </p> + <p> + “She was bleeding a great deal and looked faint,” said the junior partner; + “I thought I ought to stop that.” + </p> + <p> + “And you did—by thunder! Though it might have been better business + for the shop if I'd found her a crumbling ruin here, than lathed and + plastered in this fashion, over there! However,” he added, with a laugh, + seeing an angry light in his junior partner's eye, “SHE don't seem to mind + it—the cursing all comes from THEM. SHE rather likes your style and + praises it—that's what gets me! Did you talk to her much,” he added, + looking critically at his partner. + </p> + <p> + “I only told her to sit still or she'd bleed to death,” said Kane curtly. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!—she jabbered something about your being 'strong' and knowing + just how to handle her. Well, it can't be helped now. I think I came in + time for the worst of it and have drawn their fire. Don't do it again. The + next time a woman with a cut head and long hair tackles you, fill up her + scalp with lint and tannin, and pack her off to some of the big shops and + make THEM pick it out.” And with a good-humored nod he started off to + finish his interrupted visits. + </p> + <p> + With a vague sense of remorse, and yet a consciousness of some injustice + done him, Mr. Kane resumed his occupation with filters and funnels, and + mortars and triturations. He was so gloomily preoccupied that he did not, + as usual, glance out of the window, or he would have observed the mining + stranger of the previous night before it. It was not until the man's bowed + shoulders blocked the light of the doorway that he looked up and + recognized him. Kane was in no mood to welcome his appearance. His + presence, too, actively recalled the last night's adventure of which he + was a witness—albeit a sympathizing one. Kane shrank from the + illusions which he felt he would be sure to make. And with his present ill + luck, he was by no means sure that his ministrations even to HIM had been + any more successful than they had been to the Frenchwoman. But a glance at + his good-humored face and kindling eyes removed that suspicion. + Nevertheless, he felt somewhat embarrassed and impatient, and perhaps + could not entirely conceal it. He forgot that the rudest natures are + sometimes the most delicately sensitive to slights, and the stranger had + noticed his manner and began apologetically. + </p> + <p> + “I allowed I'd just drop in anyway to tell ye that these thar pills you + giv' me did me a heap o' good so far—though mebbe it's only fair to + give the others a show too, which I'm reckoning to do.” He paused, and + then in a submissive confidence went on: “But first I wanted to hev you + excuse me for havin' asked all them questions about that high-toned lady + last night, when it warn't none of my business. I am a darned fool.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Kane instantly saw that it was no use to keep up his attitude of + secrecy, or impose upon the ignorant, simple man, and said hurriedly: “Oh + no. The lady is very well known. She is the proprietress of a restaurant + down the street—a house open to everybody. Her name is Madame le + Blanc; you may have heard of her before?” + </p> + <p> + To his surprise the man exhibited no diminution of interest nor change of + sentiment at this intelligence. “Then,” he said slowly, “I reckon I might + get to see her again. Ye see, Mr. Kane, I rather took a fancy to her + general style and gait—arter seein' her in that fix last night. It + was rather like them play pictures on the stage. Ye don't think she'd make + any fuss to seein' a rough old 'forty-niner' like me?” + </p> + <p> + “Hardly,” said Kane, “but there might be some objection from her gentlemen + friends,” he added, with a smile,—“Jack Lane, a gambler, who keeps a + faro bank in her rooms, and Jimmy O'Ryan, a prize-fighter, who is one of + her 'chuckers out.'” + </p> + <p> + His further relation of Madame le Blanc's entourage apparently gave the + miner no concern. He looked at Kane, nodded, and repeated slowly and + appreciatively: “Yes, keeps a gamblin' and faro bank and a prize-fighter—I + reckon that might be about her gait and style too. And you say she lives”— + </p> + <p> + He stopped, for at this moment a man entered the shop quickly, shut the + door behind him, and turned the key in the lock. It was done so quickly + that Kane instinctively felt that the man had been loitering in the + vicinity and had approached from the side street. A single glance at the + intruder's face and figure showed him that it was the bully of whom he had + just spoken. He had seen that square, brutal face once before, confronting + the police in a riot, and had not forgotten it. But today, with the flush + of liquor on it, it had an impatient awkwardness and confused + embarrassment that he could not account for. He did not comprehend that + the genuine bully is seldom deliberate of attack, and is obliged—in + common with many of the combative lower animals—to lash himself into + a previous fury of provocation. This probably saved him, as perhaps some + instinctive feeling that he was in no immediate danger kept him cool. He + remained standing quietly behind the counter. Allen glanced around + carelessly, looking at the shelves. + </p> + <p> + The silence of the two men apparently increased the ruffian's rage and + embarrassment. Suddenly he leaped into the air with a whoop and clumsily + executed a negro double shuffle on the floor, which jarred the glasses—yet + was otherwise so singularly ineffective and void of purpose that he + stopped in the midst of it and had to content himself with glaring at + Kane. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Kane quietly, “what does all this mean? What do you want + here?” + </p> + <p> + “What does it mean?” repeated the bully, finding his voice in a high + falsetto, designed to imitate Kane's. “It means I'm going to play merry + h-ll with this shop! It means I'm goin' to clean it out and the blank + hair-cuttin' blank that keeps it. What do I want here? Well—what I + want I intend to help myself to, and all h-ll can't stop me! And” (working + himself to the striking point) “who the blank are you to ask me?” He + sprang towards the counter, but at the same moment Allen seemed to slip + almost imperceptibly and noiselessly between them, and Kane found himself + confronted only by the miner's broad back. + </p> + <p> + “Hol' yer hosses, stranger,” said Allen slowly, as the ruffian suddenly + collided with his impassive figure. “I'm a sick man comin' in yer for + medicine. I've got somethin' wrong with my heart, and goin's on like this + yer kinder sets it to thumpin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Blank you and your blank heart!” screamed the bully, turning in a fury of + amazement and contempt at this impotent interruption. “Who”—but his + voice stopped. Allen's powerful right arm had passed over his head and + shoulders like a steel hoop, and pinioned his elbows against his sides. + Held rigidly upright, he attempted to kick, but Allen's right leg here + advanced, and firmly held his lower limbs against the counter that shook + to his struggles and blasphemous outcries. Allen turned quietly to Kane, + and, with a gesture of his unemployed arm, said confidentially: + </p> + <p> + “Would ye mind passing me down that ar Romantic Spirits of Ammonyer ye + gave me last night?” + </p> + <p> + Kane caught the idea, and handed him the bottle. + </p> + <p> + “Thar,” said Allen, taking out the stopper and holding the pungent spirit + against the bully's dilated nostrils and vociferous mouth, “thar, smell + that, and taste it, it will do ye good; it was powerful kammin' to ME last + night.” + </p> + <p> + The ruffian gasped, coughed, choked, but his blaspheming voice died away + in a suffocating hiccough. + </p> + <p> + “Thar,” continued Allen, as his now subdued captive relaxed his + struggling, “ye 'r' better, and so am I. It's quieter here now, and ye + ain't affectin' my heart so bad. A little fresh air will make us both all + right.” He turned again to Kane in his former subdued confidential manner. + </p> + <p> + “Would ye mind openin' that door?” + </p> + <p> + Kane flew to the door, unlocked it, and held it wide open. The bully again + began to struggle, but a second inhalation of the hartshorn quelled him, + and enabled his captor to drag him to the door. As they emerged upon the + sidewalk, the bully, with a final desperate struggle, freed his arm and + grasped his pistol at his hip-pocket, but at the same moment Allen + deliberately caught his hand, and with a powerful side throw cast him on + the pavement, retaining the weapon in his own hand. “I've one of my own,” + he said to the prostrate man, “but I reckon I'll keep this yer too, until + you're better.” + </p> + <p> + The crowd that had collected quickly, recognizing the notorious and + discomfited bully, were not of a class to offer him any sympathy, and he + slunk away followed by their jeers. Allen returned quietly to the shop. + Kane was profuse in his thanks, and yet oppressed with his simple friend's + fatuous admiration for a woman who could keep such ruffians in her employ. + “You know who that man was, I suppose?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon it was that 'er prize-fighter belongin' to that high-toned + lady,” returned Allen simply. “But he don't know anything about RASTLIN', + b'gosh; only that I was afraid o' bringin' on that heart trouble, I mout + hev hurt him bad.” + </p> + <p> + “They think”—hesitated Kane, “that—I—was rough in my + treatment of that woman and maliciously cut off her hair. This attack was + revenge—or”—he hesitated still more, as he remembered Dr. + Sparlow's indication of the woman's feeling—“or that bully's idea of + revenge.” + </p> + <p> + “I see,” nodded Allen, opening his small sympathetic eyes on Kane with an + exasperating air of secrecy—“just jealousy.” + </p> + <p> + Kane reddened in sheer hopelessness of explanation. “No; it was earning + his wages, as he thought.” + </p> + <p> + “Never ye mind, pard,” said Allen confidentially. “I'll set 'em both + right. Ye see, this sorter gives me a show to call at that thar restaurant + and give HIM back his six-shooter, and set her on the right trail for you. + Why, Lordy! I was here when you was fixin' her—I'm testimony o' the + way you did it—and she'll remember me. I'll sorter waltz round thar + this afternoon. But I reckon I won't be keepin' YOU from your work any + longer. And look yar!—I say, pard!—this is seein' life in + 'Frisco—ain't it? Gosh! I've had more high times in this very shop + in two days, than I've had in two years of St. Jo. So long, Mr. Kane!” He + waved his hand, lounged slowly out of the shop, gave a parting glance up + the street, passed the window, and was gone. + </p> + <p> + The next day being a half-holiday for Kane, he did not reach the shop + until afternoon. “Your mining friend Allen has been here,” said Doctor + Sparlow. “I took the liberty of introducing myself, and induced him to let + me carefully examine him. He was a little shy, and I am sorry for it, as I + fear he has some serious organic trouble with his heart and ought to have + a more thorough examination.” Seeing Kane's unaffected concern, he added, + “You might influence him to do so. He's a good fellow and ought to take + some care of himself. By the way, he told me to tell you that he'd seen + Madame le Blanc and made it all right about you. He seems to be quite + infatuated with the woman.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm sorry he ever saw her,” said Kane bitterly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, his seeing her seems to have saved the shop from being smashed up, + and you from getting a punched head,” returned the Doctor with a laugh. + “He's no fool—yet it's a freak of human nature that a simple hayseed + like that—a man who's lived in the backwoods all his life, is likely + to be the first to tumble before a pot of French rouge like her.” + </p> + <p> + Indeed, in a couple of weeks, there was no further doubt of Mr. Reuben + Allen's infatuation. He dropped into the shop frequently on his way to and + from the restaurant, where he now regularly took his meals; he spent his + evenings in gambling in its private room. Yet Kane was by no means sure + that he was losing his money there unfairly, or that he was used as a + pigeon by the proprietress and her friends. The bully O'Ryan was turned + away; Sparlow grimly suggested that Allen had simply taken his place, but + Kane ingeniously retorted that the Doctor was only piqued because Allen + had evaded his professional treatment. Certainly the patient had never + consented to another examination, although he repeatedly and gravely + bought medicines, and was a generous customer. Once or twice Kane thought + it his duty to caution Allen against his new friends and enlighten him as + to Madame le Blanc's reputation, but his suggestions were received with a + good-humored submission that was either the effect of unbelief or of + perfect resignation to the fact, and he desisted. One morning Dr. Sparlow + said cheerfully:— + </p> + <p> + “Would you like to hear the last thing about your friend and the + Frenchwoman? The boys can't account for her singling out a fellow like + that for her friend, so they say that the night that she cut herself at + the fete and dropped in here for assistance, she found nobody here but + Allen—a chance customer! That it was HE who cut off her hair and + bound up her wounds in that sincere fashion, and she believed he had saved + her life.” The Doctor grinned maliciously as he added: “And as that's the + way history is written you see your reputation is safe.” + </p> + <p> + It may have been a month later that San Francisco was thrown into a + paroxysm of horror and indignation over the assassination of a prominent + citizen and official in the gambling-rooms of Madame le Blanc, at the + hands of a notorious gambler. The gambler had escaped, but in one of those + rare spasms of vengeful morality which sometimes overtakes communities who + have too long winked at and suffered the existence of evil, the fair + proprietress and her whole entourage were arrested and haled before the + coroner's jury at the inquest. The greatest excitement prevailed; it was + said that if the jury failed in their duty, the Vigilance Committee had + arranged for the destruction of the establishment and the deportation of + its inmates. The crowd that had collected around the building was + reinforced by Kane and Dr. Sparlow, who had closed their shop in the next + block to attend. When Kane had fought his way into the building and the + temporary court, held in the splendidly furnished gambling saloon, whose + gilded mirrors reflected the eager faces of the crowd, the Chief of Police + was giving his testimony in a formal official manner, impressive only for + its relentless and impassive revelation of the character and antecedents + of the proprietress. The house had been long under the espionage of the + police; Madame le Blanc had a dozen aliases; she was “wanted” in New + Orleans, in New York, in Havana! It was in HER house that Dyer, the bank + clerk, committed suicide; it was there that Colonel Hooley was set upon by + her bully, O'Ryan; it was she—Kane heard with reddening cheeks—who + defied the police with riotous conduct at a fete two months ago. As he + coolly recited the counts of this shameful indictment, Kane looked eagerly + around for Allen, whom he knew had been arrested as a witness. How would + HE take this terrible disclosure? He was sitting with the others, his arm + thrown over the back of his chair, and his good-humored face turned + towards the woman, in his old confidential attitude. SHE, gorgeously + dressed, painted, but unblushing, was cool, collected, and cynical. + </p> + <p> + The Coroner next called the only witness of the actual tragedy, “Reuben + Allen.” The man did not move nor change his position. The summons was + repeated; a policeman touched him on the shoulder. There was a pause, and + the officer announced: “He has fainted, your Honor!” + </p> + <p> + “Is there a physician present?” asked the Coroner. + </p> + <p> + Sparlow edged his way quickly to the front. “I'm a medical man,” he said + to the Coroner, as he passed quickly to the still, upright, immovable + figure and knelt beside it with his head upon his heart. There was an awed + silence as, after a pause, he rose slowly to his feet. + </p> + <p> + “The witness is a patient, your Honor, whom I examined some weeks ago and + found suffering from valvular disease of the heart. He is dead.” + </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> + THREE VAGABONDS OF TRINIDAD + </h2> + <p> + “Oh! it's you, is it?” said the Editor. + </p> + <p> + The Chinese boy to whom the colloquialism was addressed answered + literally, after his habit:— + </p> + <p> + “Allee same Li Tee; me no changee. Me no ollee China boy.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” said the Editor with an air of conviction. “I don't suppose + there's another imp like you in all Trinidad County. Well, next time don't + scratch outside there like a gopher, but come in.” + </p> + <p> + “Lass time,” suggested Li Tee blandly, “me tap tappee. You no like tap + tappee. You say, alle same dam woodpeckel.” + </p> + <p> + It was quite true—the highly sylvan surroundings of the Trinidad + “Sentinel” office—a little clearing in a pine forest—and its + attendant fauna, made these signals confusing. An accurate imitation of a + woodpecker was also one of Li Tee's accomplishments. + </p> + <p> + The Editor without replying finished the note he was writing; at which Li + Tee, as if struck by some coincident recollection, lifted up his long + sleeve, which served him as a pocket, and carelessly shook out a letter on + the table like a conjuring trick. The Editor, with a reproachful glance at + him, opened it. It was only the ordinary request of an agricultural + subscriber—one Johnson—that the Editor would “notice” a giant + radish grown by the subscriber and sent by the bearer. + </p> + <p> + “Where's the radish, Li Tee?” said the Editor suspiciously. + </p> + <p> + “No hab got. Ask Mellikan boy.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + Here Li Tee condescended to explain that on passing the schoolhouse he had + been set upon by the schoolboys, and that in the struggle the big radish—being, + like most such monstrosities of the quick Californian soil, merely a mass + of organized water—was “mashed” over the head of some of his + assailants. The Editor, painfully aware of these regular persecutions of + his errand boy, and perhaps realizing that a radish which could not be + used as a bludgeon was not of a sustaining nature, forebore any reproof. + “But I cannot notice what I haven't seen, Li Tee,” he said good-humoredly. + </p> + <p> + “S'pose you lie—allee same as Johnson,” suggested Li with equal + cheerfulness. “He foolee you with lotten stuff—you foolee Mellikan + man, allee same.” + </p> + <p> + The Editor preserved a dignified silence until he had addressed his + letter. “Take this to Mrs. Martin,” he said, handing it to the boy; “and + mind you keep clear of the schoolhouse. Don't go by the Flat either if the + men are at work, and don't, if you value your skin, pass Flanigan's + shanty, where you set off those firecrackers and nearly burnt him out the + other day. Look out for Barker's dog at the crossing, and keep off the + main road if the tunnel men are coming over the hill.” Then remembering + that he had virtually closed all the ordinary approaches to Mrs. Martin's + house, he added, “Better go round by the woods, where you won't meet ANY + ONE.” + </p> + <p> + The boy darted off through the open door, and the Editor stood for a + moment looking regretfully after him. He liked his little protege ever + since that unfortunate child—a waif from a Chinese wash-house—was + impounded by some indignant miners for bringing home a highly imperfect + and insufficient washing, and kept as hostage for a more proper return of + the garments. Unfortunately, another gang of miners, equally aggrieved, + had at the same time looted the wash-house and driven off the occupants, + so that Li Tee remained unclaimed. For a few weeks he became a sporting + appendage of the miners' camp; the stolid butt of good-humored practical + jokes, the victim alternately of careless indifference or of extravagant + generosity. He received kicks and half-dollars intermittently, and + pocketed both with stoical fortitude. But under this treatment he + presently lost the docility and frugality which was part of his + inheritance, and began to put his small wits against his tormentors, until + they grew tired of their own mischief and his. But they knew not what to + do with him. His pretty nankeen-yellow skin debarred him from the white + “public school,” while, although as a heathen he might have reasonably + claimed attention from the Sabbath-school, the parents who cheerfully gave + their contributions to the heathen ABROAD, objected to him as a companion + of their children in the church at home. At this juncture the Editor + offered to take him into his printing office as a “devil.” For a while he + seemed to be endeavoring, in his old literal way, to act up to that title. + He inked everything but the press. He scratched Chinese characters of an + abusive import on “leads,” printed them, and stuck them about the office; + he put “punk” in the foreman's pipe, and had been seen to swallow small + type merely as a diabolical recreation. As a messenger he was fleet of + foot, but uncertain of delivery. Some time previously the Editor had + enlisted the sympathies of Mrs. Martin, the good-natured wife of a farmer, + to take him in her household on trial, but on the third day Li Tee had run + away. Yet the Editor had not despaired, and it was to urge her to a second + attempt that he dispatched that letter. + </p> + <p> + He was still gazing abstractedly into the depths of the wood when he was + conscious of a slight movement—but no sound—in a clump of + hazel near him, and a stealthy figure glided from it. He at once + recognized it as “Jim,” a well-known drunken Indian vagrant of the + settlement—tied to its civilization by the single link of “fire + water,” for which he forsook equally the Reservation where it was + forbidden and his own camps where it was unknown. Unconscious of his + silent observer, he dropped upon all fours, with his ear and nose + alternately to the ground like some tracking animal. Then having satisfied + himself, he rose, and bending forward in a dogged trot, made a straight + line for the woods. He was followed a few seconds later by his dog—a + slinking, rough, wolf-like brute, whose superior instinct, however, made + him detect the silent presence of some alien humanity in the person of the + Editor, and to recognize it with a yelp of habit, anticipatory of the + stone that he knew was always thrown at him. + </p> + <p> + “That's cute,” said a voice, “but it's just what I expected all along.” + </p> + <p> + The Editor turned quickly. His foreman was standing behind him, and had + evidently noticed the whole incident. + </p> + <p> + “It's what I allus said,” continued the man. “That boy and that Injin are + thick as thieves. Ye can't see one without the other—and they've got + their little tricks and signals by which they follow each other. T'other + day when you was kalkilatin' Li Tee was doin' your errands I tracked him + out on the marsh, just by followin' that ornery, pizenous dog o' Jim's. + There was the whole caboodle of 'em—including Jim—campin' out, + and eatin' raw fish that Jim had ketched, and green stuff they had both + sneaked outer Johnson's garden. Mrs. Martin may TAKE him, but she won't + keep him long while Jim's round. What makes Li foller that blamed old + Injin soaker, and what makes Jim, who, at least, is a 'Merican, take up + with a furrin' heathen, just gets me.” + </p> + <p> + The Editor did not reply. He had heard something of this before. Yet, + after all, why should not these equal outcasts of civilization cling + together! + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Li Tee's stay with Mrs. Martin was brief. His departure was hastened by an + untoward event—apparently ushered in, as in the case of other great + calamities, by a mysterious portent in the sky. One morning an + extraordinary bird of enormous dimensions was seen approaching from the + horizon, and eventually began to hover over the devoted town. Careful + scrutiny of this ominous fowl, however, revealed the fact that it was a + monstrous Chinese kite, in the shape of a flying dragon. The spectacle + imparted considerable liveliness to the community, which, however, + presently changed to some concern and indignation. It appeared that the + kite was secretly constructed by Li Tee in a secluded part of Mrs. + Martin's clearing, but when it was first tried by him he found that + through some error of design it required a tail of unusual proportions. + This he hurriedly supplied by the first means he found—Mrs. Martin's + clothes-line, with part of the weekly wash depending from it. This fact + was not at first noticed by the ordinary sightseer, although the tail + seemed peculiar—yet, perhaps, not more peculiar than a dragon's tail + ought to be. But when the actual theft was discovered and reported through + the town, a vivacious interest was created, and spy-glasses were used to + identify the various articles of apparel still hanging on that ravished + clothes-line. These garments, in the course of their slow disengagement + from the clothes-pins through the gyrations of the kite, impartially + distributed themselves over the town—one of Mrs. Martin's stockings + falling upon the veranda of the Polka Saloon, and the other being + afterwards discovered on the belfry of the First Methodist Church—to + the scandal of the congregation. It would have been well if the result of + Li Tee's invention had ended here. Alas! the kite-flyer and his + accomplice, “Injin Jim,” were tracked by means of the kite's tell-tale + cord to a lonely part of the marsh and rudely dispossessed of their charge + by Deacon Hornblower and a constable. Unfortunately, the captors + overlooked the fact that the kite-flyers had taken the precaution of + making a “half-turn” of the stout cord around a log to ease the tremendous + pull of the kite—whose power the captors had not reckoned upon—and + the Deacon incautiously substituted his own body for the log. A singular + spectacle is said to have then presented itself to the on-lookers. The + Deacon was seen to be running wildly by leaps and bounds over the marsh + after the kite, closely followed by the constable in equally wild efforts + to restrain him by tugging at the end of the line. The extraordinary race + continued to the town until the constable fell, losing his hold of the + line. This seemed to impart a singular specific levity to the Deacon, who, + to the astonishment of everybody, incontinently sailed up into a tree! + When he was succored and cut down from the demoniac kite, he was found to + have sustained a dislocation of the shoulder, and the constable was + severely shaken. By that one infelicitous stroke the two outcasts made an + enemy of the Law and the Gospel as represented in Trinidad County. It is + to be feared also that the ordinary emotional instinct of a frontier + community, to which they were now simply abandoned, was as little to be + trusted. In this dilemma they disappeared from the town the next day—no + one knew where. A pale blue smoke rising from a lonely island in the bay + for some days afterwards suggested their possible refuge. But nobody + greatly cared. The sympathetic mediation of the Editor was + characteristically opposed by Mr. Parkin Skinner, a prominent citizen:— + </p> + <p> + “It's all very well for you to talk sentiment about niggers, Chinamen, and + Injins, and you fellers can laugh about the Deacon being snatched up to + heaven like Elijah in that blamed Chinese chariot of a kite—but I + kin tell you, gentlemen, that this is a white man's country! Yes, sir, you + can't get over it! The nigger of every description—yeller, brown, or + black, call him 'Chinese,' 'Injin,' or 'Kanaka,' or what you like—hez + to clar off of God's footstool when the Anglo-Saxon gets started! It + stands to reason that they can't live alongside o' printin' presses, + M'Cormick's reapers, and the Bible! Yes, sir! the Bible; and Deacon + Hornblower kin prove it to you. It's our manifest destiny to clar them out—that's + what we was put here for—and it's just the work we've got to do!” + </p> + <p> + I have ventured to quote Mr. Skinner's stirring remarks to show that + probably Jim and Li Tee ran away only in anticipation of a possible + lynching, and to prove that advanced sentiments of this high and ennobling + nature really obtained forty years ago in an ordinary American frontier + town which did not then dream of Expansion and Empire! + </p> + <p> + Howbeit, Mr. Skinner did not make allowance for mere human nature. One + morning Master Bob Skinner, his son, aged twelve, evaded the schoolhouse, + and started in an old Indian “dug-out” to invade the island of the + miserable refugees. His purpose was not clearly defined to himself, but + was to be modified by circumstances. He would either capture Li Tee and + Jim, or join them in their lawless existence. He had prepared himself for + either event by surreptitiously borrowing his father's gun. He also + carried victuals, having heard that Jim ate grasshoppers and Li Tee rats, + and misdoubting his own capacity for either diet. He paddled slowly, well + in shore, to be secure from observation at home, and then struck out + boldly in his leaky canoe for the island—a tufted, tussocky shred of + the marshy promontory torn off in some tidal storm. It was a lovely day, + the bay being barely ruffled by the afternoon “trades;” but as he neared + the island he came upon the swell from the bar and the thunders of the + distant Pacific, and grew a little frightened. The canoe, losing way, fell + into the trough of the swell, shipping salt water, still more alarming to + the prairie-bred boy. Forgetting his plan of a stealthy invasion, he + shouted lustily as the helpless and water-logged boat began to drift past + the island; at which a lithe figure emerged from the reeds, threw off a + tattered blanket, and slipped noiselessly, like some animal, into the + water. It was Jim, who, half wading, half swimming, brought the canoe and + boy ashore. Master Skinner at once gave up the idea of invasion, and + concluded to join the refugees. + </p> + <p> + This was easy in his defenceless state, and his manifest delight in their + rude encampment and gypsy life, although he had been one of Li Tee's + oppressors in the past. But that stolid pagan had a philosophical + indifference which might have passed for Christian forgiveness, and Jim's + native reticence seemed like assent. And, possibly, in the minds of these + two vagabonds there might have been a natural sympathy for this other + truant from civilization, and some delicate flattery in the fact that + Master Skinner was not driven out, but came of his own accord. Howbeit, + they fished together, gathered cranberries on the marsh, shot a wild duck + and two plovers, and when Master Skinner assisted in the cooking of their + fish in a conical basket sunk in the ground, filled with water, heated by + rolling red-hot stones from their drift-wood fire into the buried basket, + the boy's felicity was supreme. And what an afternoon! To lie, after this + feast, on their bellies in the grass, replete like animals, hidden from + everything but the sunshine above them; so quiet that gray clouds of + sandpipers settled fearlessly around them, and a shining brown muskrat + slipped from the ooze within a few feet of their faces—was to feel + themselves a part of the wild life in earth and sky. Not that their own + predatory instincts were hushed by this divine peace; that intermitting + black spot upon the water, declared by the Indian to be a seal, the + stealthy glide of a yellow fox in the ambush of a callow brood of + mallards, the momentary straying of an elk from the upland upon the + borders of the marsh, awoke their tingling nerves to the happy but + fruitless chase. And when night came, too soon, and they pigged together + around the warm ashes of their camp-fire, under the low lodge poles of + their wigwam of dried mud, reeds, and driftwood, with the combined odors + of fish, wood-smoke, and the warm salt breath of the marsh in their + nostrils, they slept contentedly. The distant lights of the settlement + went out one by one, the stars came out, very large and very silent, to + take their places. The barking of a dog on the nearest point was followed + by another farther inland. But Jim's dog, curled at the feet of his + master, did not reply. What had HE to do with civilization? + </p> + <p> + The morning brought some fear of consequences to Master Skinner, but no + abatement of his resolve not to return. But here he was oddly combated by + Li Tee. “S'pose you go back allee same. You tellee fam'lee canoe go + topside down—you plentee swimee to bush. Allee night in bush. Housee + big way off—how can get? Sabe?” + </p> + <p> + “And I'll leave the gun, and tell Dad that when the canoe upset the gun + got drowned,” said the boy eagerly. + </p> + <p> + Li Tee nodded. + </p> + <p> + “And come again Saturday, and bring more powder and shot and a bottle for + Jim,” said Master Skinner excitedly. + </p> + <p> + “Good!” grunted the Indian. + </p> + <p> + Then they ferried the boy over to the peninsula, and set him on a trail + across the marshes, known only to themselves, which would bring him home. + And when the Editor the next morning chronicled among his news, “Adrift on + the Bay—A Schoolboy's Miraculous Escape,” he knew as little what + part his missing Chinese errand boy had taken in it as the rest of his + readers. + </p> + <p> + Meantime the two outcasts returned to their island camp. It may have + occurred to them that a little of the sunlight had gone from it with Bob; + for they were in a dull, stupid way fascinated by the little white tyrant + who had broken bread with them. He had been delightfully selfish and + frankly brutal to them, as only a schoolboy could be, with the addition of + the consciousness of his superior race. Yet they each longed for his + return, although he was seldom mentioned in their scanty conversation—carried + on in monosyllables, each in his own language, or with some common English + word, or more often restricted solely to signs. By a delicate flattery, + when they did speak of him it was in what they considered to be his own + language. + </p> + <p> + “Boston boy, plenty like catchee HIM,” Jim would say, pointing to a + distant swan. Or Li Tee, hunting a striped water snake from the reeds, + would utter stolidly, “Melikan boy no likee snake.” Yet the next two days + brought some trouble and physical discomfort to them. Bob had consumed, or + wasted, all their provisions—and, still more unfortunately, his + righteous visit, his gun, and his superabundant animal spirits had + frightened away the game, which their habitual quiet and taciturnity had + beguiled into trustfulness. They were half starved, but they did not blame + him. It would come all right when he returned. They counted the days, Jim + with secret notches on the long pole, Li Tee with a string of copper + “cash” he always kept with him. The eventful day came at last,—a + warm autumn day, patched with inland fog like blue smoke and smooth, + tranquil, open surfaces of wood and sea; but to their waiting, confident + eyes the boy came not out of either. They kept a stolid silence all that + day until night fell, when Jim said, “Mebbe Boston boy go dead.” Li Tee + nodded. It did not seem possible to these two heathens that anything else + could prevent the Christian child from keeping his word. + </p> + <p> + After that, by the aid of the canoe, they went much on the marsh, hunting + apart, but often meeting on the trail which Bob had taken, with grunts of + mutual surprise. These suppressed feelings, never made known by word or + gesture, at last must have found vicarious outlet in the taciturn dog, who + so far forgot his usual discretion as to once or twice seat himself on the + water's edge and indulge in a fit of howling. It had been a custom of + Jim's on certain days to retire to some secluded place, where, folded in + his blanket, with his back against a tree, he remained motionless for + hours. In the settlement this had been usually referred to the after + effects of drink, known as the “horrors,” but Jim had explained it by + saying it was “when his heart was bad.” And now it seemed, by these gloomy + abstractions, that “his heart was bad” very often. And then the long + withheld rains came one night on the wings of a fierce southwester, + beating down their frail lodge and scattering it abroad, quenching their + camp-fire, and rolling up the bay until it invaded their reedy island and + hissed in their ears. It drove the game from Jim's gun; it tore the net + and scattered the bait of Li Tee, the fisherman. Cold and half starved in + heart and body, but more dogged and silent than ever, they crept out in + their canoe into the storm-tossed bay, barely escaping with their + miserable lives to the marshy peninsula. Here, on their enemy's ground, + skulking in the rushes, or lying close behind tussocks, they at last + reached the fringe of forest below the settlement. Here, too, sorely + pressed by hunger, and doggedly reckless of consequences, they forgot + their caution, and a flight of teal fell to Jim's gun on the very + outskirts of the settlement. + </p> + <p> + It was a fatal shot, whose echoes awoke the forces of civilization against + them. For it was heard by a logger in his hut near the marsh, who, looking + out, had seen Jim pass. A careless, good-natured frontiersman, he might + have kept the outcasts' mere presence to himself; but there was that + damning shot! An Indian with a gun! That weapon, contraband of law, with + dire fines and penalties to whoso sold or gave it to him! A thing to be + looked into—some one to be punished! An Indian with a weapon that + made him the equal of the white! Who was safe? He hurried to town to lay + his information before the constable, but, meeting Mr. Skinner, imparted + the news to him. The latter pooh-poohed the constable, who he alleged had + not yet discovered the whereabouts of Jim, and suggested that a few armed + citizens should make the chase themselves. The fact was that Mr. Skinner, + never quite satisfied in his mind with his son's account of the loss of + the gun, had put two and two together, and was by no means inclined to + have his own gun possibly identified by the legal authority. Moreover, he + went home and at once attacked Master Bob with such vigor and so highly + colored a description of the crime he had committed, and the penalties + attached to it, that Bob confessed. More than that, I grieve to say that + Bob lied. The Indian had “stoled his gun,” and threatened his life if he + divulged the theft. He told how he was ruthlessly put ashore, and + compelled to take a trail only known to them to reach his home. In two + hours it was reported throughout the settlement that the infamous Jim had + added robbery with violence to his illegal possession of the weapon. The + secret of the island and the trail over the marsh was told only to a few. + </p> + <p> + Meantime it had fared hard with the fugitives. Their nearness to the + settlement prevented them from lighting a fire, which might have revealed + their hiding-place, and they crept together, shivering all night in a + clump of hazel. Scared thence by passing but unsuspecting wayfarers + wandering off the trail, they lay part of the next day and night amid some + tussocks of salt grass, blown on by the cold sea-breeze; chilled, but + securely hidden from sight. Indeed, thanks to some mysterious power they + had of utter immobility, it was wonderful how they could efface + themselves, through quiet and the simplest environment. The lee side of a + straggling vine in the meadow, or even the thin ridge of cast-up drift on + the shore, behind which they would lie for hours motionless, was a + sufficient barrier against prying eyes. In this occupation they no longer + talked together, but followed each other with the blind instinct of + animals—yet always unerringly, as if conscious of each other's + plans. Strangely enough, it was the REAL animal alone—their nameless + dog—who now betrayed impatience and a certain human infirmity of + temper. The concealment they were resigned to, the sufferings they mutely + accepted, he alone resented! When certain scents or sounds, imperceptible + to their senses, were blown across their path, he would, with bristling + back, snarl himself into guttural and strangulated fury. Yet, in their + apathy, even this would have passed them unnoticed, but that on the second + night he disappeared suddenly, returning after two hours' absence with + bloody jaws—replete, but still slinking and snappish. It was only in + the morning that, creeping on their hands and knees through the stubble, + they came upon the torn and mangled carcass of a sheep. The two men looked + at each other without speaking—they knew what this act of rapine + meant to themselves. It meant a fresh hue and cry after them—it + meant that their starving companion had helped to draw the net closer + round them. The Indian grunted, Li Tee smiled vacantly; but with their + knives and fingers they finished what the dog had begun, and became + equally culpable. But that they were heathens, they could not have + achieved a delicate ethical responsibility in a more Christian-like way. + </p> + <p> + Yet the rice-fed Li Tee suffered most in their privations. His habitual + apathy increased with a certain physical lethargy which Jim could not + understand. When they were apart he sometimes found Li Tee stretched on + his back with an odd stare in his eyes, and once, at a distance, he + thought he saw a vague thin vapor drift from where the Chinese boy was + lying and vanish as he approached. When he tried to arouse him there was a + weak drawl in his voice and a drug-like odor in his breath. Jim dragged + him to a more substantial shelter, a thicket of alder. It was dangerously + near the frequented road, but a vague idea had sprung up in Jim's now + troubled mind that, equal vagabonds though they were, Li Tee had more + claims upon civilization, through those of his own race who were permitted + to live among the white men, and were not hunted to “reservations” and + confined there like Jim's people. If Li Tee was “heap sick,” other + Chinamen might find and nurse him. As for Li Tee, he had lately said, in a + more lucid interval: “Me go dead—allee samee Mellikan boy. You go + dead too—allee samee,” and then lay down again with a glassy stare + in his eyes. Far from being frightened at this, Jim attributed his + condition to some enchantment that Li Tee had evoked from one of his gods—just + as he himself had seen “medicine-men” of his own tribe fall into strange + trances, and was glad that the boy no longer suffered. The day advanced, + and Li Tee still slept. Jim could hear the church bells ringing; he knew + it was Sunday—the day on which he was hustled from the main street + by the constable; the day on which the shops were closed, and the drinking + saloons open only at the back door. The day whereon no man worked—and + for that reason, though he knew it not, the day selected by the ingenious + Mr. Skinner and a few friends as especially fitting and convenient for a + chase of the fugitives. The bell brought no suggestion of this—though + the dog snapped under his breath and stiffened his spine. And then he + heard another sound, far off and vague, yet one that brought a flash into + his murky eye, that lit up the heaviness of his Hebraic face, and even + showed a slight color in his high cheek-bones. He lay down on the ground, + and listened with suspended breath. He heard it now distinctly. It was the + Boston boy calling, and the word he was calling was “Jim.” + </p> + <p> + Then the fire dropped out of his eyes as he turned with his usual + stolidity to where Li Tee was lying. Him he shook, saying briefly: “Boston + boy come back!” But there was no reply, the dead body rolled over inertly + under his hand; the head fell back, and the jaw dropped under the pinched + yellow face. The Indian gazed at him slowly, and then gravely turned again + in the direction of the voice. Yet his dull mind was perplexed, for, + blended with that voice were other sounds like the tread of clumsily + stealthy feet. But again the voice called “Jim!” and raising his hands to + his lips he gave a low whoop in reply. This was followed by silence, when + suddenly he heard the voice—the boy's voice—once again, this + time very near him, saying eagerly:— + </p> + <p> + “There he is!” + </p> + <p> + Then the Indian knew all. His face, however, did not change as he took up + his gun, and a man stepped out of the thicket into the trail:— + </p> + <p> + “Drop that gun, you d——d Injin.” + </p> + <p> + The Indian did not move. + </p> + <p> + “Drop it, I say!” + </p> + <p> + The Indian remained erect and motionless. + </p> + <p> + A rifle shot broke from the thicket. At first it seemed to have missed the + Indian, and the man who had spoken cocked his own rifle. But the next + moment the tall figure of Jim collapsed where he stood into a mere + blanketed heap. + </p> + <p> + The man who had fired the shot walked towards the heap with the easy air + of a conqueror. But suddenly there arose before him an awful phantom, the + incarnation of savagery—a creature of blazing eyeballs, flashing + tusks, and hot carnivorous breath. He had barely time to cry out “A wolf!” + before its jaws met in his throat, and they rolled together on the ground. + </p> + <p> + But it was no wolf—as a second shot proved—only Jim's slinking + dog; the only one of the outcasts who at that supreme moment had gone back + to his original nature. + </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 VISION OF THE FOUNTAIN + </h2> + <p> + Mr. Jackson Potter halted before the little cottage, half shop, half + hostelry, opposite the great gates of Domesday Park, where tickets of + admission to that venerable domain were sold. Here Mr. Potter revealed his + nationality as a Western American, not only in his accent, but in a + certain half-humorous, half-practical questioning of the ticket-seller—as + that quasi-official stamped his ticket—which was nevertheless + delivered with such unfailing good-humor, and such frank suggestiveness of + the perfect equality of the ticket-seller and the well-dressed stranger + that, far from producing any irritation, it attracted the pleased + attention not only of the official, but his wife and daughter and a + customer. Possibly the good looks of the stranger had something to do with + it. Jackson Potter was a singularly handsome young fellow, with one of + those ideal faces and figures sometimes seen in Western frontier villages, + attributable to no ancestor, but evolved possibly from novels and books + devoured by ancestresses in the long solitary winter evenings of their + lonely cabins on the frontier. A beardless, classical head, covered by + short flocculent blonde curls, poised on a shapely neck and shoulders, was + more Greek in outline than suggestive of any ordinary American type. + Finally, after having thoroughly amused his small audience, he lifted his + straw hat to the “ladies,” and lounged out across the road to the gateway. + Here he paused, consulting his guide-book, and read aloud: “St. John's + gateway. This massive structure, according to Leland, was built in”—murmured—“never + mind when; we'll pass St. John,” marked the page with his pencil, and + tendering his ticket to the gate-keeper, heard, with some satisfaction, + that, as there were no other visitors just then, and as the cicerone only + accompanied PARTIES, he would be left to himself, and at once plunged into + a by-path. + </p> + <p> + It was that loveliest of rare creations—a hot summer day in England, + with all the dampness of that sea-blown isle wrung out of it, exhaled in + the quivering blue vault overhead, or passing as dim wraiths in the + distant wood, and all the long-matured growth of that great old garden + vivified and made resplendent by the fervid sun. The ashes of dead and + gone harvests, even the dust of those who had for ages wrought in it, + turned again and again through incessant cultivation, seemed to move and + live once more in that present sunshine. All color appeared to be deepened + and mellowed, until even the very shadows of the trees were as velvety as + the sward they fell upon. The prairie-bred Potter, accustomed to the + youthful caprices and extravagances of his own virgin soil, could not help + feeling the influence of the ripe restraints of this. + </p> + <p> + As he glanced through the leaves across green sunlit spaces to the + ivy-clad ruins of Domesday Abbey, which seemed itself a growth of the very + soil, he murmured to himself: “Things had been made mighty comfortable for + folks here, you bet!” Forgotten books he had read as a boy, scraps of + school histories, or rarer novels, came back to him as he walked along, + and peopled the solitude about him with their heroes. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, it was unmistakably hot—a heat homelike in its + intensity, yet of a different effect, throwing him into languid reverie + rather than filling his veins with fire. Secure in his seclusion in the + leafy chase, he took off his jacket and rambled on in his shirt sleeves. + Through the opening he presently saw the abbey again, with the restored + wing where the noble owner lived for two or three weeks in the year, but + now given over to the prevailing solitude. And then, issuing from the + chase, he came upon a broad, moss-grown terrace. Before him stretched a + tangled and luxuriant wilderness of shrubs and flowers, darkened by + cypress and cedars of Lebanon; its dun depths illuminated by dazzling + white statues, vases, trellises, and paved paths, choked and lost in the + trailing growths of years of abandonment and forgetfulness. He consulted + his guide-book again. It was the “old Italian garden,” constructed under + the design of a famous Italian gardener by the third duke; but its studied + formality being displeasing to his successor, it was allowed to fall into + picturesque decay and negligent profusion, which were not, however, + disturbed by later descendants,—a fact deplored by the artistic + writer of the guide-book, who mournfully called attention to the rare + beauty of the marble statues, urns, and fountains, ruined by neglect, + although one or two of the rarer objects had been removed to Deep Dene + Lodge, another seat of the present duke. + </p> + <p> + It is needless to say that Mr. Potter conceived at once a humorous + opposition to the artistic enthusiasm of the critic, and, plunging into + the garden, took a mischievous delight in its wildness and the victorious + struggle of nature with the formality of art. At every step through the + tangled labyrinth he could see where precision and order had been invaded, + and even the rigid masonry broken or upheaved by the rebellious force. Yet + here and there the two powers had combined to offer an example of beauty + neither could have effected alone. A passion vine had overrun and + enclasped a vase with a perfect symmetry no sculptor could have achieved. + A heavy balustrade was made ethereal with a delicate fretwork of + vegetation between its balusters like lace. Here, however, the lap and + gurgle of water fell gratefully upon the ear of the perspiring and thirsty + Mr. Potter, and turned his attention to more material things. Following + the sound, he presently came upon an enormous oblong marble basin + containing three time-worn fountains with grouped figures. The pipes were + empty, silent, and choked with reeds and water plants, but the great basin + itself was filled with water from some invisible source. + </p> + <p> + A terraced walk occupied one side of the long parallelogram; at intervals + and along the opposite bank, half shadowed by willows, tinted marble + figures of tritons, fauns, and dryads arose half hidden in the reeds. They + were more or less mutilated by time, and here and there only the empty, + moss-covered plinths that had once supported them could be seen. But they + were so lifelike in their subdued color in the shade that he was for a + moment startled. + </p> + <p> + The water looked deliciously cool. An audacious thought struck him. He was + alone, and the place was a secluded one. He knew there were no other + visitors; the marble basin was quite hidden from the rest of the garden, + and approached only from the path by which he had come, and whose entire + view he commanded. He quietly and deliberately undressed himself under the + willows, and unhesitatingly plunged into the basin. The water was four or + five feet deep, and its extreme length afforded an excellent swimming + bath, despite the water-lilies and a few aquatic plants that mottled its + clear surface, or the sedge that clung to the bases of the statues. He + disported for some moments in the delicious element, and then seated + himself upon one of the half-submerged plinths, almost hidden by reeds, + that had once upheld a river god. Here, lazily resting himself upon his + elbow, half his body still below the water, his quick ear was suddenly + startled by a rustling noise and the sound of footsteps. For a moment he + was inclined to doubt his senses; he could see only the empty path before + him and the deserted terrace. But the sound became more distinct, and to + his great uneasiness appeared to come from the OTHER side of the fringe of + willows, where there was undoubtedly a path to the fountain which he had + overlooked. His clothes were under those willows, but he was at least + twenty yards from the bank and an equal distance from the terrace. He was + about to slip beneath the water when, to his crowning horror, before he + could do so, a young girl slowly appeared from the hidden willow path full + upon the terrace. She was walking leisurely with a parasol over her head + and a book in her hand. Even in his intense consternation her whole figure—a + charming one in its white dress, sailor hat, and tan shoes—was + imprinted on his memory as she instinctively halted to look upon the + fountain, evidently an unexpected surprise to her. + </p> + <p> + A sudden idea flashed upon him. She was at least sixty yards away; he was + half hidden in the reeds and well in the long shadows of the willows. If + he remained perfectly motionless she might overlook him at that distance, + or take him for one of the statues. He remembered also that as he was + resting on his elbow, his half-submerged body lying on the plinth below + water, he was somewhat in the attitude of one of the river gods. And there + was no other escape. If he dived he might not be able to keep under water + as long as she remained, and any movement he knew would betray him. He + stiffened himself and scarcely breathed. Luckily for him his attitude had + been a natural one and easy to keep. It was well, too, for she was + evidently in no hurry and walked slowly, stopping from time to time to + admire the basin and its figures. Suddenly he was instinctively aware that + she was looking towards him and even changing her position, moving her + pretty head and shading her eyes with her hand as if for a better view. He + remained motionless, scarcely daring to breathe. Yet there was something + so innocently frank and undisturbed in her observation, that he knew as + instinctively that she suspected nothing, and took him for a + half-submerged statue. He breathed more freely. But presently she stopped, + glanced around her, and, keeping her eyes fixed in his direction, began to + walk backwards slowly until she reached a stone balustrade behind her. On + this she leaped, and, sitting down, opened in her lap the sketch-book she + was carrying, and, taking out a pencil, to his horror began to sketch! + </p> + <p> + For a wild moment he recurred to his first idea of diving and swimming at + all hazards to the bank, but the conviction that now his slightest + movement must be detected held him motionless. He must save her the + mortification of knowing she was sketching a living man, if he died for + it. She sketched rapidly but fixedly and absorbedly, evidently forgetting + all else in her work. From time to time she held out her sketch before her + to compare it with her subject. Yet the seconds seemed minutes and the + minutes hours. Suddenly, to his great relief, a distant voice was heard + calling “Lottie.” It was a woman's voice; by its accent it also seemed to + him an American one. + </p> + <p> + The young girl made a slight movement of impatience, but did not look up, + and her pencil moved still more rapidly. Again the voice called, this time + nearer. The young girl's pencil fairly flew over the paper, as, still + without looking up, she lifted a pretty voice and answered back, + “Y-e-e-s!” + </p> + <p> + It struck him that her accent was also that of a compatriot. + </p> + <p> + “Where on earth are you?” continued the first voice, which now appeared to + come from the other side of the willows on the path by which the young + girl had approached. “Here, aunty,” replied the girl, closing her + sketch-book with a snap and starting to her feet. + </p> + <p> + A stout woman, fashionably dressed, made her appearance from the willow + path. + </p> + <p> + “What have you been doing all this while?” she said querulously. “Not + sketching, I hope,” she added, with a suspicious glance at the book. “You + know your professor expressly forbade you to do so in your holidays.” + </p> + <p> + The young girl shrugged her shoulders. “I've been looking at the + fountains,” she replied evasively. + </p> + <p> + “And horrid looking pagan things they are, too,” said the elder woman, + turning from them disgustedly, without vouchsafing a second glance. “Come. + If we expect to do the abbey, we must hurry up, or we won't catch the + train. Your uncle is waiting for us at the top of the garden.” + </p> + <p> + And, to Potter's intense relief, she grasped the young girl's arm and + hurried her away, their figures the next moment vanishing in the tangled + shrubbery. + </p> + <p> + Potter lost no time in plunging with his cramped limbs into the water and + regaining the other side. Here he quickly half dried himself with some + sun-warmed leaves and baked mosses, hurried on his clothes, and hastened + off in the opposite direction to the path taken by them, yet with such + circuitous skill and speed that he reached the great gateway without + encountering anybody. A brisk walk brought him to the station in time to + catch a stopping train, and in half an hour he was speeding miles away + from Domesday Park and his half-forgotten episode. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Meantime the two ladies continued on their way to the abbey. “I don't see + why I mayn't sketch things I see about me,” said the young lady + impatiently. “Of course, I understand that I must go through the + rudimentary drudgery of my art and study from casts, and learn + perspective, and all that; but I can't see what's the difference between + working in a stuffy studio over a hand or arm that I know is only a STUDY, + and sketching a full or half length in the open air with the wonderful + illusion of light and shade and distance—and grouping and combining + them all—that one knows and feels makes a picture. The real picture + one makes is already in one's self.” + </p> + <p> + “For goodness' sake, Lottie, don't go on again with your usual + absurdities. Since you are bent on being an artist, and your Popper has + consented and put you under the most expensive master in Paris, the least + you can do is to follow the rules. And I dare say he only wanted you to + 'sink the shop' in company. It's such horrid bad form for you artistic + people to be always dragging out your sketch-books. What would you say if + your Popper came over here, and began to examine every lady's dress in + society to see what material it was, just because he was a big dry-goods + dealer in America?” + </p> + <p> + The young girl, accustomed to her aunt's extravagances, made no reply. But + that night she consulted her sketch, and was so far convinced of her own + instincts, and the profound impression the fountain had made upon her, + that she was enabled to secretly finish her interrupted sketch from + memory. For Miss Charlotte Forrest was a born artist, and in no mere + caprice had persuaded her father to let her adopt the profession, and + accepted the drudgery of a novitiate. She looked earnestly upon this first + real work of her hand and found it good! Still, it was but a pencil + sketch, and wanted the vivification of color. + </p> + <p> + When she returned to Paris she began—still secretly—a larger + study in oils. She worked upon it in her own room every moment she could + spare from her studio practice, unknown to her professor. It absorbed her + existence; she grew thin and pale. When it was finished, and only then, + she showed it tremblingly to her master. He stood silent, in profound + astonishment. The easel before him showed a foreground of tangled + luxuriance, from which stretched a sheet of water like a darkened mirror, + while through parted reeds on its glossy surface arose the half-submerged + figure of a river god, exquisite in contour, yet whose delicate outlines + were almost a vision by the crowning illusion of light, shadow, and + atmosphere. + </p> + <p> + “It is a beautiful copy, mademoiselle, and I forgive you breaking my + rules,” he said, drawing a long breath. “But I cannot now recall the + original picture.” + </p> + <p> + “It's no copy of a picture, professor,” said the young girl timidly, and + she disclosed her secret. “It was the only perfect statue there,” she + added diffidently; “but I think it wanted—something.” + </p> + <p> + “True,” said the professor abstractedly. “Where the elbow rests there + should be a half-inverted urn flowing with water; but the drawing of that + shoulder is so perfect—as is YOUR study of it—that one guesses + the missing forearm one cannot see, which clasped it. Beautiful! + beautiful!” + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he stopped, and turned his eyes almost searchingly on hers. + </p> + <p> + “You say you have never drawn from the human model, mademoiselle?” + </p> + <p> + “Never,” said the young girl innocently. + </p> + <p> + “True,” murmured the professor again. “These are the classic ideal + measurements. There are no limbs like those now. Yet it is wonderful! And + this gem, you say, is in England?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Good! I am going there in a few days. I shall make a pilgrimage to see + it. Until then, mademoiselle, I beg you to break as many of my rules as + you like.” + </p> + <p> + Three weeks later she found the professor one morning standing before her + picture in her private studio. “You have returned from England,” she said + joyfully. + </p> + <p> + “I have,” said the professor gravely. + </p> + <p> + “You have seen the original subject?” she said timidly. + </p> + <p> + “I have NOT. I have not seen it, mademoiselle,” he said, gazing at her + mildly through his glasses, “because it does not exist, and never + existed.” + </p> + <p> + The young girl turned pale. + </p> + <p> + “Listen. I have go to England. I arrive at the Park of Domesday. I + penetrate the beautiful, wild garden. I approach the fountain. I see the + wonderful water, the exquisite light and shade, the lilies, the mysterious + reeds—beautiful, yet not as beautiful as you have made it, + mademoiselle, but no statue—no river god! I demand it of the + concierge. He knows of it absolutely nothing. I transport myself to the + noble proprietor, Monsieur le Duc, at a distant chateau where he has + collected the ruined marbles. It is not there.” + </p> + <p> + “Yet I saw it,” said the young girl earnestly, yet with a troubled face. + “O professor,” she burst out appealingly, “what do you think it was?” + </p> + <p> + “I think, mademoiselle,” said the professor gravely, “that you created it. + Believe me, it is a function of genius! More, it is a proof, a necessity! + You saw the beautiful lake, the ruined fountain, the soft shadows, the + empty plinth, curtained by reeds. You yourself say you feel there was + 'something wanting.' Unconsciously you yourself supplied it. All that you + had ever dreamt of mythology, all that you had ever seen of statuary, + thronged upon you at that supreme moment, and, evolved from your own + fancy, the river god was born. It is your own, chere enfant, as much the + offspring of your genius as the exquisite atmosphere you have caught, the + charm of light and shadow that you have brought away. Accept my + felicitations. You have little more to learn of me.” + </p> + <p> + As he bowed himself out and descended the stairs he shrugged his shoulders + slightly. “She is an adorable genius,” he murmured. “Yet she is also a + woman. Being a woman, naturally she has a lover—this river god! Why + not?” + </p> + <p> + The extraordinary success of Miss Forrest's picture and the instantaneous + recognition of her merit as an artist, apart from her novel subject, + perhaps went further to remove her uneasiness than any serious conviction + of the professor's theory. Nevertheless, it appealed to her poetic and + mystic imagination, and although other subjects from her brush met with + equally phenomenal success, and she was able in a year to return to + America with a reputation assured beyond criticism, she never entirely + forgot the strange incident connected with her initial effort. + </p> + <p> + And by degrees a singular change came over her. Rich, famous, and + attractive, she began to experience a sentimental and romantic interest in + that episode. Once, when reproached by her friends for her indifference to + her admirers, she had half laughingly replied that she had once found her + “ideal,” but never would again. Yet the jest had scarcely passed her lips + before she became pale and silent. With this change came also a desire to + re-purchase the picture, which she had sold in her early success to a + speculative American picture-dealer. On inquiry she found, alas! that it + had been sold only a day or two before to a Chicago gentleman, of the name + of Potter, who had taken a fancy to it. + </p> + <p> + Miss Forrest curled her pretty lip, but, nothing daunted, resolved to + effect her purpose, and sought the purchaser at his hotel. She was ushered + into a private drawing-room, where, on a handsome easel, stood the newly + acquired purchase. Mr. Potter was out, “but would return in a moment.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Forrest was relieved, for, alone and undisturbed, she could now let + her full soul go out to her romantic creation. As she stood there, she + felt the glamour of the old English garden come back to her, the play of + light and shadow, the silent pool, the godlike face and bust, with its + cast-down, meditative eyes, seen through the parted reeds. She clasped her + hands silently before her. Should she never see it again as then? + </p> + <p> + “Pray don't let me disturb you; but won't you take a seat?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Forrest turned sharply round. Then she started, uttered a frightened + little cry, and fainted away. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Potter was touched, but a master of himself. As she came to, he said + quietly: “I came upon you suddenly—as you stood entranced by this + picture—just as I did when I first saw it. That's why I bought it. + Are you any relative of the Miss Forrest who painted it?” he continued, + quietly looking at her card, which he held in his hand. + </p> + <p> + Miss Forrest recovered herself sufficiently to reply, and stated her + business with some dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” said Mr. Potter, “THAT is another question. You see, the picture has + a special value to me, as I once saw an old-fashioned garden like that in + England. But that chap there,—I beg your pardon, I mean that figure,—I + fancy, is your own creation, entirely. However, I'll think over your + proposition, and if you will allow me I'll call and see you about it.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Potter did call—not once, but many times—and showed quite + a remarkable interest in Miss Forrest's art. The question of the sale of + the picture, however, remained in abeyance. A few weeks later, after a + longer call than usual, Mr. Potter said:— + </p> + <p> + “Don't you think the best thing we can do is to make a kind of compromise, + and let us own the picture together?” + </p> + <p> + And they did. + </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 ROMANCE OF THE LINE + </h2> + <p> + As the train moved slowly out of the station, the Writer of Stories looked + up wearily from the illustrated pages of the magazines and weeklies on his + lap to the illustrated advertisements on the walls of the station sliding + past his carriage windows. It was getting to be monotonous. For a while he + had been hopefully interested in the bustle of the departing trains, and + looked up from his comfortable and early invested position to the later + comers with that sense of superiority common to travelers; had watched the + conventional leave-takings—always feebly prolonged to the uneasiness + of both parties—and contrasted it with the impassive business + promptitude of the railway officials; but it was the old experience + repeated. Falling back on the illustrated advertisements again, he + wondered if their perpetual recurrence at every station would not at last + bring to the tired traveler the loathing of satiety; whether the passenger + in railway carriages, continually offered Somebody's oats, inks, washing + blue, candles, and soap, apparently as a necessary equipment for a few + hours' journey, would not there and thereafter forever ignore the use of + these articles, or recoil from that particular quality. Or, as an unbiased + observer, he wondered if, on the other hand, impressible passengers, after + passing three or four stations, had ever leaped from the train and refused + to proceed further until they were supplied with one or more of those + articles. Had he ever known any one who confided to him in a moment of + expansiveness that he had dated his use of Somebody's soap to an + advertisement persistently borne upon him through the medium of a railway + carriage window? No! Would he not have connected that man with that other + certifying individual who always appends a name and address singularly + obscure and unconvincing, yet who, at some supreme moment, recommends + Somebody's pills to a dying friend,—afflicted with a similar + address,—which restore him to life and undying obscurity. Yet these + pictorial and literary appeals must have a potency independent of the + wares they advertise, or they wouldn't be there. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps he was the more sensitive to this monotony as he was just then + seeking change and novelty in order to write a new story. He was not + looking for material,—his subjects were usually the same,—he + was merely hoping for that relaxation and diversion which should freshen + and fit him for later concentration. Still, he had often heard of the odd + circumstances to which his craft were sometimes indebted for suggestion. + The invasion of an eccentric-looking individual—probably an innocent + tradesman into a railway carriage had given the hint for “A Night with a + Lunatic;” a nervously excited and belated passenger had once unconsciously + sat for an escaped forger; the picking up of a forgotten novel in the + rack, with passages marked in pencil, had afforded the plot of a love + story; or the germ of a romance had been found in an obscure news + paragraph which, under less listless moments, would have passed unread. On + the other hand, he recalled these inconvenient and inconsistent moments + from which the so-called “inspiration” sprang, the utter incongruity of + time and place in some brilliant conception, and wondered if sheer vacuity + of mind were really so favorable. + </p> + <p> + Going back to his magazine again, he began to get mildly interested in a + story. Turning the page, however, he was confronted by a pictorial + advertising leaflet inserted between the pages, yet so artistic in + character that it might have been easily mistaken for an illustration of + the story he was reading, and perhaps was not more remote or obscure in + reference than many he had known. But the next moment he recognized with + despair that it was only a smaller copy of one he had seen on the hoarding + at the last station. He threw the leaflet aside, but the flavor of the + story was gone. The peerless detergent of the advertisement had erased it + from the tablets of his memory. He leaned back in his seat again, and + lazily watched the flying suburbs. Here were the usual promising open + spaces and patches of green, quickly succeeded again by solid blocks of + houses whose rear windows gave directly upon the line, yet seldom showed + an inquisitive face—even of a wondering child. It was a strange + revelation of the depressing effects of familiarity. Expresses might + thunder by, goods trains drag their slow length along, shunting trains + pipe all day beneath their windows, but the tenants heeded them not. Here, + too, was the junction, with its labyrinthine interlacing of tracks that + dazed the tired brain; the overburdened telegraph posts, that looked as if + they really could not stand another wire; the long lines of empty, + homeless, and deserted trains in sidings that had seen better days; the + idle trains, with staring vacant windows, which were eventually seized by + a pert engine hissing, “Come along, will you?” and departed with a + discontented grunt from every individual carriage coupling; the racing + trains, that suddenly appeared parallel with one's carriage windows, begot + false hopes of a challenge of speed, and then, without warning, drew + contemptuously and, superciliously away; the swift eclipse of everything + in a tunneled bridge; the long, slithering passage of an “up” express, and + then the flash of a station, incoherent and unintelligible with pictorial + advertisements again. + </p> + <p> + He closed his eyes to concentrate his thought, and by degrees a pleasant + languor stole over him. The train had by this time attained that rate of + speed which gave it a slight swing and roll on curves and switches not + unlike the rocking of a cradle. Once or twice he opened his eyes sleepily + upon the waltzing trees in the double planes of distance, and again closed + them. Then, in one of these slight oscillations, he felt himself + ridiculously slipping into slumber, and awoke with some indignation. + Another station was passed, in which process the pictorial advertisements + on the hoardings and the pictures in his lap seemed to have become jumbled + up, confused, and to dance before him, and then suddenly and strangely, + without warning, the train stopped short—at ANOTHER station. And + then he arose, and—what five minutes before he never conceived of + doing—gathered his papers and slipped from the carriage to the + platform. When I say “he” I mean, of course, the Writer of Stories; yet + the man who slipped out was half his age and a different-looking person. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The change from the motion of the train—for it seemed that he had + been traveling several hours—to the firmer platform for a moment + bewildered him. The station looked strange, and he fancied it lacked a + certain kind of distinctness. But that quality was also noticeable in the + porters and loungers on the platform. He thought it singular, until it + seemed to him that they were not characteristic, nor in any way important + or necessary to the business he had in hand. Then, with an effort, he + tried to remember himself and his purpose, and made his way through the + station to the open road beyond. A van, bearing the inscription, “Removals + to Town and Country,” stood before him and blocked his way, but a dogcart + was in waiting, and a grizzled groom, who held the reins, touched his hat + respectfully. Although still dazed by his journey and uncertain of + himself, he seemed to recognize in the man that distinctive character + which was wanting in the others. The correctness of his surmise was + revealed a few moments later, when, after he had taken his seat beside + him, and they were rattling out of the village street, the man turned + towards him and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Tha'll know Sir Jarge?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not,” said the young man. + </p> + <p> + “Ay! but theer's many as cooms here as doan't, for all they cooms. Tha'll + say it ill becooms mea as war man and boy in Sir Jarge's sarvice for fifty + year, to say owt agen him, but I'm here to do it, or they couldn't foolfil + their business. Tha wast to ax me questions about Sir Jarge and the + Grange, and I wor to answer soa as to make tha think thar was suthing + wrong wi' un. Howbut I may save tha time and tell thea downroight that Sir + Jarge forged his uncle's will, and so gotten the Grange. That 'ee keeps + his niece in mortal fear o' he. That tha'll be put in haunted chamber wi' + a boggle.” + </p> + <p> + “I think,” said the young man hesitatingly, “that there must be some + mistake. I do not know any Sir George, and I am NOT going to the Grange.” + </p> + <p> + “Eay! Then thee aren't the 'ero sent down from London by the story + writer?” + </p> + <p> + “Not by THAT one,” said the young man diffidently. + </p> + <p> + The old man's face changed. It was no mere figure of speech: it actually + was ANOTHER face that looked down upon the traveler. + </p> + <p> + “Then mayhap your honor will be bespoken at the Angel's Inn,” he said, + with an entirely distinct and older dialect, “and a finer hostel for a + young gentleman of your condition ye'll not find on this side of Oxford. A + fair chamber, looking to the sun; sheets smelling of lavender from Dame + Margery's own store, and, for the matter of that, spread by the fair hands + of Maudlin, her daughter—the best favored lass that ever danced + under a Maypole. Ha! have at ye there, young sir! Not to speak of the + October ale of old Gregory, her father—ay, nor the rare Hollands, + that never paid excise duties to the king.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid,” said the young traveler timidly, “there's over a century + between us. There's really some mistake.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” said the groom, “ye are NOT the young spark who is to marry + Mistress Amy at the Hall, yet makes a pother and mess of it all by a duel + with Sir Roger de Cadgerly, the wicked baronet, for his over-free + discourse with our fair Maudlin this very eve? Ye are NOT the traveler + whose post-chaise is now at the Falcon? Ye are not he that was bespoken by + the story writer in London?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think I am,” said the young man apologetically. “Indeed, as I am + feeling far from well, I think I'll get out and walk.” + </p> + <p> + He got down—the vehicle and driver vanished in the distance. It did + not surprise him. “I must collect my thoughts,” he said. He did so. + Possibly the collection was not large, for presently he said, with a sigh + of relief:— + </p> + <p> + “I see it all now! My name is Paul Bunker. I am of the young branch of an + old Quaker family, rich and respected in the country, and I am on a visit + to my ancestral home. But I have lived since a child in America, and am + alien to the traditions and customs of the old country, and even of the + seat to which my fathers belong. I have brought with me from the far West + many peculiarities of speech and thought that may startle my kinsfolk. But + I certainly shall not address my uncle as 'Hoss!' nor shall I say 'guess' + oftener than is necessary.” + </p> + <p> + Much brightened and refreshed by his settled identity, he had time, as he + walked briskly along, to notice the scenery, which was certainly varied + and conflicting in character, and quite inconsistent with his preconceived + notions of an English landscape. On his right, a lake of the brightest + cobalt blue stretched before a many-towered and terraced town, which was + relieved by a background of luxuriant foliage and emerald-green mountains; + on his left arose a rugged mountain, which he was surprised to see was + snow-capped, albeit a tunnel was observable midway of its height, and a + train just issuing from it. Almost regretting that he had not continued on + his journey, as he was fully sensible that it was in some way connected + with the railway he had quitted, presently his attention was directed to + the gateway of a handsome park, whose mansion was faintly seen in the + distance. Hurrying towards him, down the avenue of limes, was a strange + figure. It was that of a man of middle age; clad in Quaker garb, yet with + an extravagance of cut and detail which seemed antiquated even for + England. He had evidently seen the young man approaching, and his face was + beaming with welcome. If Paul had doubted that it was his uncle, the first + words he spoke would have reassured him. + </p> + <p> + “Welcome to Hawthorn Hall,” said the figure, grasping his hand heartily, + “but thee will excuse me if I do not tarry with thee long at present, for + I am hastening, even now, with some nourishing and sustaining food for + Giles Hayward, a farm laborer.” He pointed to a package he was carrying. + “But thee will find thy cousins Jane and Dorcas Bunker taking tea in the + summer-house. Go to them! Nay—positively—I may not linger, but + will return to thee quickly.” And, to Paul's astonishment, he trotted away + on his sturdy, respectable legs, still beaming and carrying his package in + his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'll be dog-goned! but the old man ain't going to be left, you + bet!” he ejaculated, suddenly remembering his dialect. “He'll get there, + whether school keeps or not!” Then, reflecting that no one heard him, he + added simply, “He certainly was not over civil towards the nephew he has + never seen before. And those girls—whom I don't know! How very + awkward!” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he continued his way up the avenue towards the mansion. The + park was beautifully kept. Remembering the native wildness and virgin + seclusion of the Western forest, he could not help contrasting it with the + conservative gardening of this pretty woodland, every rood of which had + been patrolled by keepers and rangers, and preserved and fostered hundreds + of years before he was born, until warmed for human occupancy. At times + the avenue was crossed by grass drives, where the original woodland had + been displaced, not by the exigency of a “clearing” for tillage, as in his + own West, but for the leisurely pleasure of the owner. Then, a few hundred + yards from the house itself,—a quaint Jacobean mansion,—he + came to an open space where the sylvan landscape had yielded to floral + cultivation, and so fell upon a charming summer-house, or arbor, embowered + with roses. It must have been the one of which his uncle had spoken, for + there, to his wondering admiration, sat two little maids before a rustic + table, drinking tea demurely, yes, with all the evident delight of a + childish escapade from their elders. While in the picturesque quaintness + of their attire there was still a formal suggestion of the sect to which + their father belonged, their summer frocks—differing in color, yet + each of the same subdued tint—were alike in cut and fashion, and + short enough to show their dainty feet in prim slippers and silken hose + that matched their frocks. As the afternoon sun glanced through the leaves + upon their pink cheeks, tied up in quaint hats by ribbons under their + chins, they made a charming picture. At least Paul thought so as he + advanced towards them, hat in hand. They looked up at his approach, but + again cast down their eyes with demure shyness; yet he fancied that they + first exchanged glances with each other, full of mischievous intelligence. + </p> + <p> + “I am your cousin Paul,” he said smilingly, “though I am afraid I am + introducing myself almost as briefly as your father just now excused + himself to me. He told me I would find you here, but he himself was + hastening on a Samaritan mission.” + </p> + <p> + “With a box in his hand?” said the girls simultaneously, exchanging + glances with each other again. + </p> + <p> + “With a box containing some restorative, I think,” responded Paul, a + little wonderingly. + </p> + <p> + “Restorative! So THAT'S what he calls it now, is it?” said one of the + girls saucily. “Well, no one knows what's in the box, though he always + carries it with him. Thee never sees him without it”— + </p> + <p> + “And a roll of paper,” suggested the other girl. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, a roll of paper—but one never knows what it is!” said the + first speaker. “It's very strange. But no matter now, Paul. Welcome to + Hawthorn Hall. I am Jane Bunker, and this is Dorcas.” She stopped, and + then, looking down demurely, added, “Thee may kiss us both, cousin Paul.” + </p> + <p> + The young man did not wait for a second invitation, but gently touched his + lips to their soft young cheeks. + </p> + <p> + “Thee does not speak like an American, Paul. Is thee really and truly + one?” continued Jane. + </p> + <p> + Paul remembered that he had forgotten his dialect, but it was too late + now. + </p> + <p> + “I am really and truly one, and your own cousin, and I hope you will find + me a very dear”— + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” said Dorcas, starting up primly. “You must really allow me to + withdraw.” To the young man's astonishment, she seized her parasol, and, + with a youthful affectation of dignity, glided from the summer-house and + was lost among the trees. + </p> + <p> + “Thy declaration to me was rather sudden,” said Jane quietly, in answer to + his look of surprise, “and Dorcas is peculiarly sensitive and less like + the 'world's people' than I am. And it was just a little cruel, + considering that she has loved thee secretly all these years, followed thy + fortunes in America with breathless eagerness, thrilled at thy narrow + escapes, and wept at thy privations.” + </p> + <p> + “But she has never seen me before!” said the astounded Paul. + </p> + <p> + “And thee had never seen me before, and yet thee has dared to propose to + me five minutes after thee arrived, and in her presence.” + </p> + <p> + “But, my dear girl!” expostulated Paul. + </p> + <p> + “Stand off!” she said, rapidly opening her parasol and interposing it + between them. “Another step nearer—ay, even another word of + endearment—and I shall be compelled—nay, forced,” she added in + a lower voice, “to remove this parasol, lest it should be crushed and + ruined!” + </p> + <p> + “I see,” he said gloomily, “you have been reading novels; but so have I, + and the same ones! Nevertheless, I intended only to tell you that I hoped + you would always find me a kind friend.” + </p> + <p> + She shut her parasol up with a snap. “And I only intended to tell thee + that my heart was given to another.” + </p> + <p> + “You INTENDED—and now?” + </p> + <p> + “Is it the 'kind friend' who asks?” + </p> + <p> + “If it were not?” + </p> + <p> + “Really?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” + </p> + <p> + “But thee loves another?” she said, toying with her cup. + </p> + <p> + He attempted to toy with his, but broke it. A man lacks delicacy in this + kind of persiflage. “You mean I am loved by another,” he said bluntly. + </p> + <p> + “You dare to say that!” she said, flashing, in spite of her prim demeanor. + </p> + <p> + “No, but YOU did just now! You said your sister loved me!” + </p> + <p> + “Did I?” she said dreamily. “Dear! dear! That's the trouble of trying to + talk like Mr. Blank's delightful dialogues. One gets so mixed!” + </p> + <p> + “Yet you will be a sister to me?” he said. “'Tis an old American joke, but + 'twill serve.” + </p> + <p> + There was a long silence. + </p> + <p> + “Had thee not better go to sister Dorcas? She is playing with the cows,” + said Jane plaintively. + </p> + <p> + “You forget,” he returned gravely, “that, on page 27 of the novel we have + both read, at this point he is supposed to kiss her.” + </p> + <p> + She had forgotten, but they both remembered in time. At this moment a + scream came faintly from the distance. They both started, and rose. + </p> + <p> + “It is sister Dorcas,” said Jane, sitting down again and pouring out + another cup of tea. “I have always told her that one of those Swiss cows + would hook her.” + </p> + <p> + Paul stared at her with a strange revulsion of feeling. “I could save + Dorcas,” he muttered to himself, “in less time than it takes to describe.” + He paused, however, as he reflected that this would depend entirely upon + the methods of the writer of this description. “I could rescue her! I have + only to take the first clothes-line that I find, and with that knowledge + and skill with the lasso which I learned in the wilds of America, I could + stop the charge of the most furious ruminant. I will!” and without another + word he turned and rushed off in the direction of the sound. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + He had not gone a hundred yards before he paused, a little bewildered. To + the left could still be seen the cobalt lake with the terraced background; + to the right the rugged mountains. He chose the latter. Luckily for him a + cottager's garden lay in his path, and from a line supported by a single + pole depended the homely linen of the cottager. To tear these garments + from the line was the work of a moment (although it represented the whole + week's washing), and hastily coiling the rope dexterously in his hand, he + sped onward. Already panting with exertion and excitement, a few roods + farther he was confronted with a spectacle that left him breathless. + </p> + <p> + A woman—young, robust, yet gracefully formed—was running ahead + of him, driving before her with an open parasol an animal which he + instantly recognized as one of that simple yet treacherous species most + feared by the sex—known as the “Moo Cow.” + </p> + <p> + For a moment he was appalled by the spectacle. But it was only for a + moment! Recalling his manhood and her weakness, he stopped, and bracing + his foot against a stone, with a graceful flourish of his lasso around his + head, threw it in the air. It uncoiled slowly, sped forward with unerring + precision, and missed! With the single cry of “Saved!” the fair stranger + sank fainting in his arms! He held her closely until the color came back + to her pale face. Then he quietly disentangled the lasso from his legs. + </p> + <p> + “Where am I?” she said faintly. + </p> + <p> + “In the same place,” he replied, slowly but firmly. “But,” he added, “you + have changed!” + </p> + <p> + She had, indeed, even to her dress. It was now of a vivid brick red, and + so much longer in the skirt that it seemed to make her taller. Only her + hat remained the same. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said, in a low, reflective voice and a disregard of her + previous dialect, as she gazed up in his eyes with an eloquent lucidity, + “I have changed, Paul! I feel myself changing at those words you uttered + to Jane. There are moments in a woman's life that man knows nothing of; + moments bitter and cruel, sweet and merciful, that change her whole being; + moments in which the simple girl becomes a worldly woman; moments in which + the slow procession of her years is never noted—except by another + woman! Moments that change her outlook on the world and her relations to + it—and her husband's relations! Moments when the maid becomes a + wife, the wife a widow, the widow a re-married woman, by a simple, swift + illumination of the fancy. Moments when, wrought upon by a single word—a + look—an emphasis and rising inflection, all logical sequence is cast + away, processes are lost—inductions lead nowhere. Moments when the + inharmonious becomes harmonious, the indiscreet discreet, the inefficient + efficient, and the inevitable evitable. I mean,” she corrected herself + hurriedly—“You know what I mean! If you have not felt it you have + read it!” + </p> + <p> + “I have,” he said thoughtfully. “We have both read it in the same novel. + She is a fine writer.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye-e-s.” She hesitated with that slight resentment of praise of another + woman so delightful in her sex. “But you have forgotten the Moo Cow!” and + she pointed to where the distracted animal was careering across the lawn + towards the garden. + </p> + <p> + “You are right,” he said, “the incident is not yet closed. Let us pursue + it.” + </p> + <p> + They both pursued it. Discarding the useless lasso, he had recourse to a + few well-aimed epithets. The infuriated animal swerved and made directly + towards a small fountain in the centre of the garden. In attempting to + clear it, it fell directly into the deep cup-like basin and remained + helplessly fixed, with its fore-legs projecting uneasily beyond the rim. + </p> + <p> + “Let us leave it there,” she said, “and forget it—and all that has + gone before. Believe me,” she added, with a faint sigh, “it is best. Our + paths diverge from this moment. I go to the summer-house, and you go to + the Hall, where my father is expecting you.” He would have detained her a + moment longer, but she glided away and was gone. + </p> + <p> + Left to himself again, that slight sense of bewilderment which had clouded + his mind for the last hour began to clear away; his singular encounter + with the girls strangely enough affected him less strongly than his brief + and unsatisfactory interview with his uncle. For, after all, he was his + host, and upon him depended his stay at Hawthorn Hall. The mysterious and + slighting allusions of his cousins to the old man's eccentricities also + piqued his curiosity. Why had they sneered at his description of the + contents of the package he carried—and what did it really contain? + He did not reflect that it was none of his business,—people in his + situation seldom do,—and he eagerly hurried towards the Hall. But he + found in his preoccupation he had taken the wrong turning in the path, and + that he was now close to the wall which bounded and overlooked the + highway. Here a singular spectacle presented itself. A cyclist covered + with dust was seated in the middle of the road, trying to restore + circulation to his bruised and injured leg by chafing it with his hands, + while beside him lay his damaged bicycle. He had evidently met with an + accident. In an instant Paul had climbed the wall and was at his side. + </p> + <p> + “Can I offer you any assistance?” he asked eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Thanks—no! I've come a beastly cropper over something or other on + this road, and I'm only bruised, though the machine has suffered worse,” + replied the stranger, in a fresh, cheery voice. He was a good-looking + fellow of about Paul's own age, and the young American's heart went out + towards him. + </p> + <p> + “How did it happen?” asked Paul. + </p> + <p> + “That's what puzzles me,” said the stranger. “I was getting out of the way + of a queer old chap in the road, and I ran over something that seemed only + an old scroll of paper; but the shock was so great that I was thrown, and + I fancy I was for a few moments unconscious. Yet I cannot see any other + obstruction in the road, and there's only that bit of paper.” He pointed + to the paper,—a half-crushed roll of ordinary foolscap, showing the + mark of the bicycle upon it. + </p> + <p> + A strange idea came into Paul's mind. He picked up the paper and examined + it closely. Besides the mark already indicated, it showed two sharp + creases about nine inches long, and another exactly at the point of the + impact of the bicycle. Taking a folded two-foot rule from his pocket, he + carefully measured these parallel creases and made an exhaustive + geometrical calculation with his pencil on the paper. The stranger watched + him with awed and admiring interest. Rising, he again carefully examined + the road, and was finally rewarded by the discovery of a sharp indentation + in the dust, which, on measurement and comparison with the creases in the + paper and the calculations he had just made, proved to be identical. + </p> + <p> + “There was a solid body in that paper,” said Paul quietly; “a + parallelogram exactly nine inches long and three wide.” + </p> + <p> + “I say! you're wonderfully clever, don't you know,” said the stranger, + with unaffected wonder. “I see it all—a brick.” + </p> + <p> + Paul smiled gently and shook his head. “That is the hasty inference of an + inexperienced observer. You will observe at the point of impact of your + wheel the parallel crease is CURVED, as from the yielding of the resisting + substances, and not BROKEN, as it would be by the crumbling of a brick.” + </p> + <p> + “I say, you're awfully detective, don't you know! just like that fellow—what's + his name?” said the stranger admiringly. + </p> + <p> + The words recalled Paul to himself. Why was he acting like a detective? + and what was he seeking to discover? Nevertheless, he felt impelled to + continue. “And that queer old chap whom you met—why didn't he help + you?” + </p> + <p> + “Because I passed him before I ran into the—the parallelogram, and I + suppose he didn't know what happened behind him?” + </p> + <p> + “Did he have anything in his hand?” + </p> + <p> + “Can't say.” + </p> + <p> + “And you say you were unconscious afterwards?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes!” + </p> + <p> + “Long enough for the culprit to remove the principal evidence of his + crime?” + </p> + <p> + “Come! I say, really you are—you know you are!” + </p> + <p> + “Have you any secret enemy?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “And you don't know Mr. Bunker, the man who owns this vast estate?” + </p> + <p> + “Not at all. I'm from Upper Tooting.” + </p> + <p> + “Good afternoon,” said Paul abruptly, and turned away. + </p> + <p> + It struck him afterwards that his action might have seemed uncivil, and + even inhuman, to the bruised cyclist, who could hardly walk. But it was + getting late, and he was still far from the Hall, which, oddly enough, + seemed to be no longer visible from the road. He wandered on for some + time, half convinced that he had passed the lodge gates, yet hoping to + find some other entrance to the domain. Dusk was falling; the rounded + outlines of the park trees beyond the wall were solid masses of shadow. + The full moon, presently rising, restored them again to symmetry, and at + last he, to his relief, came upon the massive gateway. Two lions ramped in + stone on the side pillars. He thought it strange that he had not noticed + the gateway on his previous entrance, but he remembered that he was fully + preoccupied with the advancing figure of his uncle. In a few minutes the + Hall itself appeared, and here again he was surprised that he had + overlooked before its noble proportions and picturesque outline. Its broad + terraces, dazzlingly white in the moonlight; its long line of mullioned + windows, suffused with a warm red glow from within, made it look like part + of a wintry landscape—and suggested a Christmas card. The venerable + ivy that hid the ravages time had made in its walls looked like black + carving. His heart swelled with strange emotions as he gazed at his + ancestral hall. How many of his blood had lived and died there; how many + had gone forth from that great porch to distant lands! He tried to think + of his father—a little child—peeping between the balustrades + of that terrace. He tried to think of it, and perhaps would have succeeded + had it not occurred to him that it was a known fact that his uncle had + bought the estate and house of an impoverished nobleman only the year + before. Yet—he could not tell why—he seemed to feel higher and + nobler for that trial. + </p> + <p> + The terrace was deserted, and so quiet that as he ascended to it his + footsteps seemed to echo from the walls. When he reached the portals, the + great oaken door swung noiselessly on its hinges—opened by some + unseen but waiting servitor—and admitted him to a lofty hall, dark + with hangings and family portraits, but warmed by a red carpet the whole + length of its stone floor. For a moment he waited for the servant to show + him to the drawing-room or his uncle's study. But no one appeared. + Believing this to be a part of the characteristic simplicity of the Quaker + household, he boldly entered the first door, and found himself in a + brilliantly lit and perfectly empty drawing-room. The same experience met + him with the other rooms on that floor—the dining-room displaying an + already set, exquisitely furnished and decorated table, with chairs for + twenty guests! He mechanically ascended the wide oaken staircase that led + to the corridor of bedrooms above a central salon. Here he found only the + same solitude. Bedroom doors yielded to his touch, only to show the same + brilliantly lit vacancy. He presently came upon one room which seemed to + give unmistakable signs of HIS OWN occupancy. Surely there stood his own + dressing-case on the table! and his own evening clothes carefully laid out + on another, as if fresh from a valet's hands. He stepped hastily into the + corridor—there was no one there; he rang the bell—there was no + response! But he noticed that there was a jug of hot water in his basin, + and he began dressing mechanically. + </p> + <p> + There was little doubt that he was in a haunted house, but this did not + particularly disturb him. Indeed, he found himself wondering if it could + be logically called a haunted house—unless he himself was haunting + it, for there seemed to be no other there. Perhaps the apparitions would + come later, when he was dressed. Clearly it was not his uncle's house—and + yet, as he had never been inside his uncle's house, he reflected that he + ought not to be positive. + </p> + <p> + He finished dressing and sat down in an armchair with a kind of thoughtful + expectancy. But presently his curiosity became impatient of the silence + and mystery, and he ventured once more to explore the house. Opening his + bedroom door, he found himself again upon the deserted corridor, but this + time he could distinctly hear a buzz of voices from the drawing-room + below. Assured that he was near a solution of the mystery, he rapidly + descended the broad staircase and made his way to the open door of the + drawing-room. But although the sound of voices increased as he advanced, + when he entered the room, to his utter astonishment, it was as empty as + before. + </p> + <p> + Yet, in spite of his bewilderment and confusion, he was able to follow one + of the voices, which, in its peculiar distinctness and half-perfunctory + tone, he concluded must belong to the host of the invisible assembly. + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” said the voice, greeting some unseen visitor, “so glad you have + come. Afraid your engagements just now would keep you away.” Then the + voice dropped to a lower and more confidential tone. “You must take down + Lady Dartman, but you will have Miss Morecamp—a clever girl—on + the other side of you. Ah, Sir George! So good of you to come. All well at + the Priory? So glad to hear it.” (Lower and more confidentially.) “You + know Mrs. Monkston. You'll sit by her. A little cut up by her husband + losing his seat. Try to amuse her.” + </p> + <p> + Emboldened by desperation, Paul turned in the direction of the voice. “I + am Paul Bunker,” he said hesitatingly. “I'm afraid you'll think me + intrusive, but I was looking for my uncle, and”— + </p> + <p> + “Intrusive, my dear boy! The son of my near neighbor in the country + intrusive? Really, now, I like that! Grace!” (the voice turned in another + direction) “here is the American nephew of our neighbor Bunker at + Widdlestone, who thinks he is 'a stranger.'” + </p> + <p> + “We all knew of your expected arrival at Widdlestone—it was so good + of you to waive ceremony and join us,” said a well-bred feminine voice, + which Paul at once assumed to belong to the hostess. “But I must find some + one for your dinner partner. Mary” (here her voice was likewise turned + away), “this is Mr. Bunker, the nephew of an old friend and neighbor in + Upshire;” (the voice again turned to him), “you will take Miss Morecamp + in. My dear” (once again averted), “I must find some one else to console + poor dear Lord Billingtree with.” Here the hostess's voice was drowned by + fresh arrivals. + </p> + <p> + Bewildered and confused as he was, standing in this empty desert of a + drawing-room, yet encompassed on every side by human voices, so marvelous + was the power of suggestion, he seemed to almost feel the impact of the + invisible crowd. He was trying desperately to realize his situation when a + singularly fascinating voice at his elbow unexpectedly assisted him. It + was evidently his dinner partner. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you must be tired after your journey. When did you arrive?” + </p> + <p> + “Only a few hours ago,” said Paul. + </p> + <p> + “And I dare say you haven't slept since you arrived. One doesn't on the + passage, you know; the twenty hours pass so quickly, and the experience is + so exciting—to US at least. But I suppose as an American you are + used to it.” + </p> + <p> + Paul gasped. He had passively accepted the bodiless conversation, because + it was at least intelligible! But NOW! Was he going mad? + </p> + <p> + She evidently noticed his silence. “Never mind,” she continued, “you can + tell me all about it at dinner. Do you know I always think that this sort + of thing—what we're doing now,—this ridiculous formality of + reception,—which I suppose is after all only a concession to our + English force of habit,—is absurd! We ought to pass, as it were, + directly from our houses to the dinner-table. It saves time.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes—no—that is—I'm afraid I don't follow you,” + stammered Paul. + </p> + <p> + There was a slight pout in her voice as she replied: “No matter now—we + must follow them—for our host is moving off with Lady Billingtree, + and it's our turn now.” + </p> + <p> + So great was the illusion that he found himself mechanically offering his + arm as he moved through the empty room towards the door. Then he descended + the staircase without another word, preceded, however, by the sound of his + host's voice. Following this as a blind man might, he entered the + dining-room, which to his discomfiture was as empty as the salon above. + Still following the host's voice, he dropped into a chair before the empty + table, wondering what variation of the Barmecide feast was in store for + him. Yet the hum of voices from the vacant chairs around the board so + strongly impressed him that he could almost believe that he was actually + at dinner. + </p> + <p> + “Are you seated?” asked the charming voice at his side. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” a little wonderingly, as his was the only seat visibly occupied. + </p> + <p> + “I am so glad that this silly ceremony is over. By the way, where are + you?” + </p> + <p> + Paul would have liked to answer, “Lord only knows!” but he reflected that + it might not sound polite. “Where am I?” he feebly repeated. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; where are you dining?” + </p> + <p> + It seemed a cool question under the circumstances, but he answered + promptly,— + </p> + <p> + “With you.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” said the charming voice; “but where are you eating your + dinner?” + </p> + <p> + Considering that he was not eating anything, Paul thought this cooler + still. But he answered briefly, “In Upshire.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! At your uncle's?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Paul bluntly; “in the next house.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, that's Sir William's—our host's—and he and his family + are here in London. You are joking.” + </p> + <p> + “Listen!” said Paul desperately. Then in a voice unconsciously lowered he + hurriedly told her where he was—how he came there—the empty + house—the viewless company! To his surprise the only response was a + musical little laugh. But the next moment her voice rose higher with an + unmistakable concern in it, apparently addressing their invisible host. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Sir William, only think how dreadful. Here's poor Mr. Bunker, alone + in an empty house, which he has mistaken for his uncle's—and without + any dinner!” + </p> + <p> + “Really; dear, dear! How provoking! But how does he happen to be WITH US? + James, how is this?” + </p> + <p> + “If you please, Sir William,” said a servant's respectful voice, + “Widdlestone is in the circuit and is switched on with the others. We + heard that a gentleman's luggage had arrived at Widdlestone, and we + telegraphed for the rooms to be made ready, thinking we'd have her + ladyship's orders later.” + </p> + <p> + A single gleam of intelligence flashed upon Paul. His luggage—yes, + had been sent from the station to the wrong house, and he had unwittingly + followed. But these voices! whence did they come? And where was the actual + dinner at which his host was presiding? It clearly was not at this empty + table. + </p> + <p> + “See that he has everything he wants at once,” said Sir William; “there + must be some one there.” Then his voice turned in the direction of Paul + again, and he said laughingly, “Possess your soul and appetite in patience + for a moment, Mr. Bunker; you will be only a course behind us. But we are + lucky in having your company—even at your own discomfort.” + </p> + <p> + Still more bewildered, Paul turned to his invisible partner. “May I ask + where YOU are dining?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly; at home in Curzon Street,” returned the pretty voice. “It was + raining so, I did not go out.” + </p> + <p> + “And—Lord Billington?” faltered Paul. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, he's in Scotland—at his own place.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, in fact, nobody is dining here at all,” said Paul desperately. + </p> + <p> + There was a slight pause, and then the voice responded, with a touch of + startled suggestion in it: “Good heavens, Mr. Bunker! Is it possible you + don't know we're dining by telephone?” + </p> + <p> + “By what?” + </p> + <p> + “Telephone. Yes. We're a telephonic dinner-party. We are dining in our own + houses; but, being all friends, we're switched on to each other, and + converse exactly as we would at table. It saves a great trouble and + expense, for any one of us can give the party, and the poorest can equal + the most extravagant. People who are obliged to diet can partake of their + own slops at home, and yet mingle with the gourmets without awkwardness or + the necessity of apology. We are spared the spectacle, at least, of those + who eat and drink too much. We can switch off a bore at once. We can + retire when we are fatigued, without leaving a blank space before the + others. And all this without saying anything of the higher spiritual and + intellectual effect—freed from material grossness of appetite and + show—which the dinner party thus attains. But you are surely joking! + You, an American, and not know it! Why, it comes from Boston. Haven't you + read that book, 'Jumping a Century'? It's by an American.” + </p> + <p> + A strange illumination came upon Paul. Where had he heard something like + this before? But at the same moment his thoughts were diverted by the + material entrance of a footman, bearing a silver salver with his dinner. + It was part of his singular experience that the visible entrance of this + real, commonplace mortal—the only one he had seen—in the midst + of this voiceless solitude was distinctly unreal, and had all the effect + of an apparition. He distrusted it and the dishes before him. But his + lively partner's voice was now addressing an unseen occupant of the next + chair. Had she got tired of his ignorance, or was it feminine tact to + enable him to eat something? He accepted the latter hypothesis, and tried + to eat. But he felt himself following the fascinating voice in all the + charm of its youthful and spiritual inflections. Taking advantage of its + momentary silence, he said gently,— + </p> + <p> + “I confess my ignorance, and am willing to admit all you claim for this + wonderful invention. But do you think it compensates for the loss of the + individual person? Take my own case—if you will not think me + personal. I have never had the pleasure of seeing you; do you believe that + I am content with only that suggestion of your personality which the + satisfaction of hearing your voice affords me?” + </p> + <p> + There was a pause, and then a very mischievous ring in the voice that + replied: “It certainly is a personal question, and it is another blessing + of this invention that you'll never know whether I am blushing or not; but + I forgive you, for I never before spoke to any one I had never seen—and + I suppose it's confusion. But do you really think you would know me—the + REAL one—any better? It is the real person who thinks and speaks, + not the outward semblance that we see, which very often unfairly either + attracts or repels us? We can always SHOW ourselves at our best, but we + must, at last, reveal our true colors through our thoughts and speech. + Isn't it better to begin with the real thing first?” + </p> + <p> + “I hope, at least, to have the privilege of judging by myself,” said Paul + gallantly. “You will not be so cruel as not to let me see you elsewhere, + otherwise I shall feel as if I were in some dream, and will certainly be + opposed to your preference for realities.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not certain if the dream would not be more interesting to you,” said + the voice laughingly. “But I think your hostess is already saying + 'good-by.' You know everybody goes at once at this kind of party; the + ladies don't retire first, and the gentlemen join them afterwards. In + another moment we'll ALL be switched off; but Sir William wants me to tell + you that his coachman will drive you to your uncle's, unless you prefer to + try and make yourself comfortable for the night here. Good-by!” + </p> + <p> + The voices around him seemed to grow fainter, and then utterly cease. The + lights suddenly leaped up, went out, and left him in complete darkness. He + attempted to rise, but in doing so overset the dishes before him, which + slid to the floor. A cold air seemed to blow across his feet. The + “good-by” was still ringing in his ears as he straightened himself to find + he was in his railway carriage, whose door had just been opened for a + young lady who was entering the compartment from a wayside station. + “Good-by,” she repeated to the friend who was seeing her off. The Writer + of Stories hurriedly straightened himself, gathered up the magazines and + papers that had fallen from his lap, and glanced at the station walls. The + old illustrations glanced back at him! He looked at his watch; he had been + asleep just ten minutes! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOHEMIAN DAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO + </h2> + <p> + It is but just to the respectable memory of San Francisco that in these + vagrant recollections I should deprecate at once any suggestion that the + levity of my title described its dominant tone at any period of my early + experiences. On the contrary, it was a singular fact that while the rest + of California was swayed by an easy, careless unconventionalism, or swept + over by waves of emotion and sentiment, San Francisco preserved an + intensely material and practical attitude, and even a certain austere + morality. I do not, of course, allude to the brief days of '49, when it + was a straggling beach of huts and stranded hulks, but to the earlier + stages of its development into the metropolis of California. Its first + tottering steps in that direction were marked by a distinct gravity and + decorum. Even during the period when the revolver settled small private + difficulties, and Vigilance Committees adjudicated larger public ones, an + unmistakable seriousness and respectability was the ruling sign of its + governing class. It was not improbable that under the reign of the + Committee the lawless and vicious class were more appalled by the moral + spectacle of several thousand black-coated, serious-minded business men in + embattled procession than by mere force of arms, and one “suspect”—a + prize-fighter—is known to have committed suicide in his cell after + confrontation with his grave and passionless shopkeeping judges. Even that + peculiar quality of Californian humor which was apt to mitigate the + extravagances of the revolver and the uncertainties of poker had no place + in the decorous and responsible utterance of San Francisco. The press was + sober, materialistic, practical—when it was not severely admonitory + of existing evil; the few smaller papers that indulged in levity were + considered libelous and improper. Fancy was displaced by heavy articles on + the revenues of the State and inducements to the investment of capital. + Local news was under an implied censorship which suppressed anything that + might tend to discourage timid or cautious capital. Episodes of romantic + lawlessness or pathetic incidents of mining life were carefully edited—with + the comment that these things belonged to the past, and that life and + property were now “as safe in San Francisco as in New York or London.” + </p> + <p> + Wonder-loving visitors in quest of scenes characteristic of the + civilization were coldly snubbed with this assurance. Fires, floods, and + even seismic convulsions were subjected to a like grimly materialistic + optimism. I have a vivid recollection of a ponderous editorial on one of + the severer earthquakes, in which it was asserted that only the + UNEXPECTEDNESS of the onset prevented San Francisco from meeting it in a + way that would be deterrent of all future attacks. The unconsciousness of + the humor was only equaled by the gravity with which it was received by + the whole business community. Strangely enough, this grave materialism + flourished side by side with—and was even sustained by—a + narrow religious strictness more characteristic of the Pilgrim Fathers of + a past century than the Western pioneers of the present. San Francisco was + early a city of churches and church organizations to which the leading men + and merchants belonged. The lax Sundays of the dying Spanish race seemed + only to provoke a revival of the rigors of the Puritan Sabbath. With the + Spaniard and his Sunday afternoon bullfight scarcely an hour distant, the + San Francisco pulpit thundered against Sunday picnics. One of the popular + preachers, declaiming upon the practice of Sunday dinner-giving, averred + that when he saw a guest in his best Sunday clothes standing shamelessly + upon the doorstep of his host, he felt like seizing him by the shoulder + and dragging him from that threshold of perdition. + </p> + <p> + Against the actual heathen the feeling was even stronger, and reached its + climax one Sunday when a Chinaman was stoned to death by a crowd of + children returning from Sunday-school. I am offering these examples with + no ethical purpose, but merely to indicate a singular contradictory + condition which I do not think writers of early Californian history have + fairly recorded. It is not my province to suggest any theory for these + appalling exceptions to the usual good-humored lawlessness and + extravagance of the rest of the State. They may have been essential + agencies to the growth and evolution of the city. They were undoubtedly + sincere. The impressions I propose to give of certain scenes and incidents + of my early experience must, therefore, be taken as purely personal and + Bohemian, and their selection as equally individual and vagrant. I am + writing of what interested me at the time, though not perhaps of what was + more generally characteristic of San Francisco. + </p> + <p> + I had been there a week—an idle week, spent in listless outlook for + employment; a full week in my eager absorption of the strange life around + me and a photographic sensitiveness to certain scenes and incidents of + those days, which start out of my memory to-day as freshly as the day they + impressed me. + </p> + <p> + One of these recollections is of “steamer night,” as it was called,—the + night of “steamer day,”—preceding the departure of the mail + steamship with the mails for “home.” Indeed, at that time San Francisco + may be said to have lived from steamer day to steamer day; bills were made + due on that day, interest computed to that period, and accounts settled. + The next day was the turning of a new leaf: another essay to fortune, + another inspiration of energy. So recognized was the fact that even + ordinary changes of condition, social and domestic, were put aside until + AFTER steamer day. “I'll see what I can do after next steamer day” was the + common cautious or hopeful formula. It was the “Saturday night” of many a + wage-earner—and to him a night of festivity. The thoroughfares were + animated and crowded; the saloons and theatres full. I can recall myself + at such times wandering along the City Front, as the business part of San + Francisco was then known. Here the lights were burning all night, the + first streaks of dawn finding the merchants still at their counting-house + desks. I remember the dim lines of warehouses lining the insecure wharves + of rotten piles, half filled in—that had ceased to be wharves, but + had not yet become streets,—their treacherous yawning depths, with + the uncertain gleam of tarlike mud below, at times still vocal with the + lap and gurgle of the tide. I remember the weird stories of disappearing + men found afterward imbedded in the ooze in which they had fallen and + gasped their life away. I remember the two or three ships, still left + standing where they were beached a year or two before, built in between + warehouses, their bows projecting into the roadway. There was the dignity + of the sea and its boundless freedom in their beautiful curves, which the + abutting houses could not destroy, and even something of the sea's + loneliness in the far-spaced ports and cabin windows lit up by the lamps + of the prosaic landsmen who plied their trades behind them. One of these + ships, transformed into a hotel, retained its name, the Niantic, and part + of its characteristic interior unchanged. I remember these ships' old + tenants—the rats—who had increased and multiplied to such an + extent that at night they fearlessly crossed the wayfarer's path at every + turn, and even invaded the gilded saloons of Montgomery Street. In the + Niantic their pit-a-pat was met on every staircase, and it was said that + sometimes in an excess of sociability they accompanied the traveler to his + room. In the early “cloth-and-papered” houses—so called because the + ceilings were not plastered, but simply covered by stretched and + whitewashed cloth—their scamperings were plainly indicated in zigzag + movements of the sagging cloth, or they became actually visible by finally + dropping through the holes they had worn in it! I remember the house whose + foundations were made of boxes of plug tobacco—part of a jettisoned + cargo—used instead of more expensive lumber; and the adjacent + warehouse where the trunks of the early and forgotten “forty-niners” were + stored, and—never claimed by their dead or missing owners—were + finally sold at auction. I remember the strong breath of the sea over all, + and the constant onset of the trade winds which helped to disinfect the + deposit of dirt and grime, decay and wreckage, which were stirred up in + the later evolutions of the city. + </p> + <p> + Or I recall, with the same sense of youthful satisfaction and unabated + wonder, my wanderings through the Spanish Quarter, where three centuries + of quaint customs, speech, and dress were still preserved; where the + proverbs of Sancho Panza were still spoken in the language of Cervantes, + and the high-flown illusions of the La Manchian knight still a part of the + Spanish Californian hidalgo's dream. I recall the more modern “Greaser,” + or Mexican—his index finger steeped in cigarette stains; his velvet + jacket and his crimson sash; the many-flounced skirt and lace manta of his + women, and their caressing intonations—the one musical utterance of + the whole hard-voiced city. I suppose I had a boy's digestion and + bluntness of taste in those days, for the combined odor of tobacco, burned + paper, and garlic, which marked that melodious breath, did not affect me. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps from my Puritan training I experienced a more fearful joy in the + gambling saloons. They were the largest and most comfortable, even as they + were the most expensively decorated rooms in San Francisco. Here again the + gravity and decorum which I have already alluded to were present at that + earlier period—though perhaps from concentration of another kind. + People staked and lost their last dollar with a calm solemnity and a + resignation that was almost Christian. The oaths, exclamations, and + feverish interruptions which often characterized more dignified assemblies + were absent here. There was no room for the lesser vices; there was little + or no drunkenness; the gaudily dressed and painted women who presided over + the wheels of fortune or performed on the harp and piano attracted no + attention from those ascetic players. The man who had won ten thousand + dollars and the man who had lost everything rose from the table with equal + silence and imperturbability. I never witnessed any tragic sequel to those + losses; I never heard of any suicide on account of them. Neither can I + recall any quarrel or murder directly attributable to this kind of + gambling. It must be remembered that these public games were chiefly rouge + et noir, monte, faro, or roulette, in which the antagonist was Fate, + Chance, Method, or the impersonal “bank,” which was supposed to represent + them all; there was no individual opposition or rivalry; nobody challenged + the decision of the “croupier,” or dealer. + </p> + <p> + I remember a conversation at the door of one saloon which was as + characteristic for its brevity as it was a type of the prevailing + stoicism. “Hello!” said a departing miner, as he recognized a brother + miner coming in, “when did you come down?” “This morning,” was the reply. + “Made a strike on the bar?” suggested the first speaker. “You bet!” said + the other, and passed in. I chanced an hour later to be at the same place + as they met again—their relative positions changed. “Hello! Whar + now?” said the incomer. “Back to the bar.” “Cleaned out?” “You bet!” Not a + word more explained a common situation. + </p> + <p> + My first youthful experience at those tables was an accidental one. I was + watching roulette one evening, intensely absorbed in the mere movement of + the players. Either they were so preoccupied with the game, or I was + really older looking than my actual years, but a bystander laid his hand + familiarly on my shoulder, and said, as to an ordinary habitue, “Ef you're + not chippin' in yourself, pardner, s'pose you give ME a show.” Now I + honestly believe that up to that moment I had no intention, nor even a + desire, to try my own fortune. But in the embarrassment of the sudden + address I put my hand in my pocket, drew out a coin, and laid it, with an + attempt at carelessness, but a vivid consciousness that I was blushing, + upon a vacant number. To my horror I saw that I had put down a large coin—the + bulk of my possessions! I did not flinch, however; I think any boy who + reads this will understand my feeling; it was not only my coin but my + manhood at stake. I gazed with a miserable show of indifference at the + players, at the chandelier—anywhere but at the dreadful ball + spinning round the wheel. There was a pause; the game was declared, the + rake rattled up and down, but still I did not look at the table. Indeed, + in my inexperience of the game and my embarrassment, I doubt if I should + have known if I had won or not. I had made up my mind that I should lose, + but I must do so like a man, and, above all, without giving the least + suspicion that I was a greenhorn. I even affected to be listening to the + music. The wheel spun again; the game was declared, the rake was busy, but + I did not move. At last the man I had displaced touched me on the arm and + whispered, “Better make a straddle and divide your stake this time.” I did + not understand him, but as I saw he was looking at the board, I was + obliged to look, too. I drew back dazed and bewildered! Where my coin had + lain a moment before was a glittering heap of gold. + </p> + <p> + My stake had doubled, quadrupled, and doubled again. I did not know how + much then—-I do not know now—it may have been not more than + three or four hundred dollars—but it dazzled and frightened me. + “Make your game, gentlemen,” said the croupier monotonously. I thought he + looked at me—indeed, everybody seemed to be looking at me—and + my companion repeated his warning. But here I must again appeal to the + boyish reader in defense of my idiotic obstinacy. To have taken advice + would have shown my youth. I shook my head—I could not trust my + voice. I smiled, but with a sinking heart, and let my stake remain. The + ball again sped round the wheel, and stopped. There was a pause. The + croupier indolently advanced his rake and swept my whole pile with others + into the bank! I had lost it all. Perhaps it may be difficult for me to + explain why I actually felt relieved, and even to some extent triumphant, + but I seemed to have asserted my grown-up independence—possibly at + the cost of reducing the number of my meals for days; but what of that! I + was a man! I wish I could say that it was a lesson to me. I am afraid it + was not. It was true that I did not gamble again, but then I had no + especial desire to—and there was no temptation. I am afraid it was + an incident without a moral. Yet it had one touch characteristic of the + period which I like to remember. The man who had spoken to me, I think, + suddenly realized, at the moment of my disastrous coup, the fact of my + extreme youth. He moved toward the banker, and leaning over him whispered + a few words. The banker looked up, half impatiently, half kindly—his + hand straying tentatively toward the pile of coin. I instinctively knew + what he meant, and, summoning my determination, met his eyes with all the + indifference I could assume, and walked away. + </p> + <p> + I had at that period a small room at the top of a house owned by a distant + relation—a second or third cousin, I think. He was a man of + independent and original character, had a Ulyssean experience of men and + cities, and an old English name of which he was proud. While in London he + had procured from the Heralds' College his family arms, whose crest was + stamped upon a quantity of plate he had brought with him to California. + The plate, together with an exceptionally good cook, which he had also + brought, and his own epicurean tastes, he utilized in the usual practical + Californian fashion by starting a rather expensive half-club, + half-restaurant in the lower part of the building—which he ruled + somewhat autocratically, as became his crest. The restaurant was too + expensive for me to patronize, but I saw many of its frequenters as well + as those who had rooms at the club. They were men of very distinct + personality; a few celebrated, and nearly all notorious. They represented + a Bohemianism—if such it could be called—less innocent than my + later experiences. I remember, however, one handsome young fellow whom I + used to meet occasionally on the staircase, who captured my youthful + fancy. I met him only at midday, as he did not rise till late, and this + fact, with a certain scrupulous elegance and neatness in his dress, ought + to have made me suspect that he was a gambler. In my inexperience it only + invested him with a certain romantic mystery. + </p> + <p> + One morning as I was going out to my very early breakfast at a cheap + Italian cafe on Long Wharf, I was surprised to find him also descending + the staircase. He was scrupulously dressed even at that early hour, but I + was struck by the fact that he was all in black, and his slight figure, + buttoned to the throat in a tightly fitting frock coat, gave, I fancied, a + singular melancholy to his pale Southern face. Nevertheless, he greeted me + with more than his usual serene cordiality, and I remembered that he + looked up with a half-puzzled, half-amused expression at the rosy morning + sky as he walked a few steps with me down the deserted street. I could not + help saying that I was astonished to see him up so early, and he admitted + that it was a break in his usual habits, but added with a smiling + significance I afterwards remembered that it was “an even chance if he did + it again.” As we neared the street corner a man in a buggy drove up + impatiently. In spite of the driver's evident haste, my handsome + acquaintance got in leisurely, and, lifting his glossy hat to me with a + pleasant smile, was driven away. I have a very lasting recollection of his + face and figure as the buggy disappeared down the empty street. I never + saw him again. It was not until a week later that I knew that an hour + after he left me that morning he was lying dead in a little hollow behind + the Mission Dolores—shot through the heart in a duel for which he + had risen so early. + </p> + <p> + I recall another incident of that period, equally characteristic, but + happily less tragic in sequel. I was in the restaurant one morning talking + to my cousin when a man entered hastily and said something to him in a + hurried whisper. My cousin contracted his eyebrows and uttered a + suppressed oath. Then with a gesture of warning to the man he crossed the + room quietly to a table where a regular habitue of the restaurant was + lazily finishing his breakfast. A large silver coffee-pot with a stiff + wooden handle stood on the table before him. My cousin leaned over the + guest familiarly and apparently made some hospitable inquiry as to his + wants, with his hand resting lightly on the coffee-pot handle. Then—possibly + because, my curiosity having been excited, I was watching him more + intently than the others—I saw what probably no one else saw—that + he deliberately upset the coffee-pot and its contents over the guest's + shirt and waistcoat. As the victim sprang up with an exclamation, my + cousin overwhelmed him with apologies for his carelessness, and, with + protestations of sorrow for the accident, actually insisted upon dragging + the man upstairs into his own private room, where he furnished him with a + shirt and waistcoat of his own. The side door had scarcely closed upon + them, and I was still lost in wonder at what I had seen, when a man + entered from the street. He was one of the desperate set I have already + spoken of, and thoroughly well known to those present. He cast a glance + around the room, nodded to one or two of the guests, and then walked to a + side table and took up a newspaper. I was conscious at once that a + singular constraint had come over the other guests—a nervous + awkwardness that at last seemed to make itself known to the man himself, + who, after an affected yawn or two, laid down the paper and walked out. + </p> + <p> + “That was a mighty close call,” said one of the guests with a sigh of + relief. + </p> + <p> + “You bet! And that coffee-pot spill was the luckiest kind of accident for + Peters,” returned another. + </p> + <p> + “For both,” added the first speaker, “for Peters was armed too, and would + have seen him come in!” + </p> + <p> + A word or two explained all. Peters and the last comer had quarreled a day + or two before, and had separated with the intention to “shoot on sight,” + that is, wherever they met,—a form of duel common to those days. The + accidental meeting in the restaurant would have been the occasion, with + the usual sanguinary consequence, but for the word of warning given to my + cousin by a passer-by who knew that Peters' antagonist was coming to the + restaurant to look at the papers. Had my cousin repeated the warning to + Peters himself he would only have prepared him for the conflict—which + he would not have shirked—and so precipitated the affray. + </p> + <p> + The ruse of upsetting the coffee-pot, which everybody but myself thought + an accident, was to get him out of the room before the other entered. I + was too young then to venture to intrude upon my cousin's secrets, but two + or three years afterwards I taxed him with the trick and he admitted it + regretfully. I believe that a strict interpretation of the “code” would + have condemned his act as unsportsmanlike, if not UNFAIR! + </p> + <p> + I recall another incident connected with the building equally + characteristic of the period. The United States Branch Mint stood very + near it, and its tall, factory-like chimneys overshadowed my cousin's + roof. Some scandal had arisen from an alleged leakage of gold in the + manipulation of that metal during the various processes of smelting and + refining. One of the excuses offered was the volatilization of the + precious metal and its escape through the draft of the tall chimneys. All + San Francisco laughed at this explanation until it learned that a + corroboration of the theory had been established by an assay of the dust + and grime of the roofs in the vicinity of the Mint. These had yielded + distinct traces of gold. San Francisco stopped laughing, and that portion + of it which had roofs in the neighborhood at once began prospecting. + Claims were staked out on these airy placers, and my cousin's roof, being + the very next one to the chimney, and presumably “in the lead,” was + disposed of to a speculative company for a considerable sum. I remember my + cousin telling me the story—for the occurrence was quite recent—and + taking me with him to the roof to explain it, but I am afraid I was more + attracted by the mystery of the closely guarded building, and the + strangely tinted smoke which arose from this temple where money was + actually being “made,” than by anything else. Nor did I dream as I stood + there—a very lanky, open-mouthed youth—that only three or four + years later I should be the secretary of its superintendent. In my more + adventurous ambition I am afraid I would have accepted the suggestion + half-heartedly. Merely to have helped to stamp the gold which other people + had adventurously found was by no means a part of my youthful dreams. + </p> + <p> + At the time of these earlier impressions the Chinese had not yet become + the recognized factors in the domestic and business economy of the city + which they had come to be when I returned from the mines three years + later. Yet they were even then a more remarkable and picturesque contrast + to the bustling, breathless, and brand-new life of San Francisco than the + Spaniard. The latter seldom flaunted his faded dignity in the principal + thoroughfares. “John” was to be met everywhere. It was a common thing to + see a long file of sampan coolies carrying their baskets slung between + them, on poles, jostling a modern, well-dressed crowd in Montgomery + Street, or to get a whiff of their burned punk in the side streets; while + the road leading to their temporary burial-ground at Lone Mountain was + littered with slips of colored paper scattered from their funerals. They + brought an atmosphere of the Arabian Nights into the hard, modern + civilization; their shops—not always confined at that time to a + Chinese quarter—were replicas of the bazaars of Canton and Peking, + with their quaint display of little dishes on which tidbits of food + delicacies were exposed for sale, all of the dimensions and unreality of a + doll's kitchen or a child's housekeeping. + </p> + <p> + They were a revelation to the Eastern immigrant, whose preconceived ideas + of them were borrowed from the ballet or pantomime; they did not wear + scalloped drawers and hats with jingling bells on their points, nor did I + ever see them dance with their forefingers vertically extended. They were + always neatly dressed, even the commonest of coolies, and their festive + dresses were marvels. As traders they were grave and patient; as servants + they were sad and civil, and all were singularly infantine in their + natural simplicity. The living representatives of the oldest civilization + in the world, they seemed like children. Yet they kept their beliefs and + sympathies to themselves, never fraternizing with the fanqui, or foreign + devil, or losing their singular racial qualities. They indulged in their + own peculiar habits; of their social and inner life, San Francisco knew + but little and cared less. Even at this early period, and before I came to + know them more intimately, I remember an incident of their daring fidelity + to their own customs that was accidentally revealed to me. I had become + acquainted with a Chinese youth of about my own age, as I imagined,—although + from mere outward appearance it was generally impossible to judge of a + Chinaman's age between the limits of seventeen and forty years,—and + he had, in a burst of confidence, taken me to see some characteristic + sights in a Chinese warehouse within a stone's throw of the Plaza. I was + struck by the singular circumstance that while the warehouse was an + erection of wood in the ordinary hasty Californian style, there were + certain brick and stone divisions in its interior, like small rooms or + closets, evidently added by the Chinamen tenants. My companion stopped + before a long, very narrow entrance, a mere longitudinal slit in the brick + wall, and with a wink of infantine deviltry motioned me to look inside. I + did so, and saw a room, really a cell, of fair height but scarcely six + feet square, and barely able to contain a rude, slanting couch of stone + covered with matting, on which lay, at a painful angle, a richly dressed + Chinaman. A single glance at his dull, staring, abstracted eyes and + half-opened mouth showed me he was in an opium trance. This was not in + itself a novel sight, and I was moving away when I was suddenly startled + by the appearance of his hands, which were stretched helplessly before him + on his body, and at first sight seemed to be in a kind of wicker cage. + </p> + <p> + I then saw that his finger-nails were seven or eight inches long, and were + supported by bamboo splints. Indeed, they were no longer human nails, but + twisted and distorted quills, giving him the appearance of having gigantic + claws. “Velly big Chinaman,” whispered my cheerful friend; “first-chop man—high + classee—no can washee—no can eat—no dlinke, no catchee + him own glub allee same nothee man—China boy must catchee glub for + him, allee time! Oh, him first-chop man—you bettee!” + </p> + <p> + I had heard of this singular custom of indicating caste before, and was + amazed and disgusted, but I was not prepared for what followed. My + companion, evidently thinking he had impressed me, grew more reckless as + showman, and saying to me, “Now me showee you one funny thing—heap + makee you laugh,” led me hurriedly across a little courtyard swarming with + chickens and rabbits, when he stopped before another inclosure. Suddenly + brushing past an astonished Chinaman who seemed to be standing guard, he + thrust me into the inclosure in front of a most extraordinary object. It + was a Chinaman, wearing a huge, square, wooden frame fastened around his + neck like a collar, and fitting so tightly and rigidly that the flesh rose + in puffy weals around his cheeks. He was chained to a post, although it + was as impossible for him to have escaped with his wooden cage through the + narrow doorway as it was for him to lie down and rest in it. Yet I am + bound to say that his eyes and face expressed nothing but apathy, and + there was no appeal to the sympathy of the stranger. My companion said + hurriedly,— + </p> + <p> + “Velly bad man; stealee heap from Chinamen,” and then, apparently alarmed + at his own indiscreet intrusion, hustled me away as quickly as possible + amid a shrill cackling of protestation from a few of his own countrymen + who had joined the one who was keeping guard. In another moment we were in + the street again—scarce a step from the Plaza, in the full light of + Western civilization—not a stone's throw from the courts of justice. + </p> + <p> + My companion took to his heels and left me standing there bewildered and + indignant. I could not rest until I had told my story, but without + betraying my companion, to an elder acquaintance, who laid the facts + before the police authorities. I had expected to be closely cross-examined—to + be doubted—to be disbelieved. To my surprise, I was told that the + police had already cognizance of similar cases of illegal and barbarous + punishments, but that the victims themselves refused to testify against + their countrymen—and it was impossible to convict or even to + identify them. “A white man can't tell one Chinese from another, and there + are always a dozen of 'em ready to swear that the man you've got isn't the + one.” I was startled to reflect that I, too, could not have + conscientiously sworn to either jailor or the tortured prisoner—or + perhaps even to my cheerful companion. The police, on some pretext, made a + raid upon the premises a day or two afterwards, but without result. I + wondered if they had caught sight of the high-class, first-chop + individual, with the helplessly outstretched fingers, as that story I had + kept to myself. + </p> + <p> + But these barbaric vestiges in John Chinaman's habits did not affect his + relations with the San Franciscans. He was singularly peaceful, docile, + and harmless as a servant, and, with rare exceptions, honest and + temperate. If he sometimes matched cunning with cunning, it was the + flattery of imitation. He did most of the menial work of San Francisco, + and did it cleanly. Except that he exhaled a peculiar druglike odor, he + was not personally offensive in domestic contact, and by virtue of being + the recognized laundryman of the whole community his own blouses were + always freshly washed and ironed. His conversational reserve arose, not + from his having to deal with an unfamiliar language,—for he had + picked up a picturesque and varied vocabulary with ease,—but from + his natural temperament. He was devoid of curiosity, and utterly + unimpressed by anything but the purely business concerns of those he + served. Domestic secrets were safe with him; his indifference to your + thoughts, actions, and feelings had all the contempt which his three + thousand years of history and his innate belief in your inferiority seemed + to justify. He was blind and deaf in your household because you didn't + interest him in the least. It was said that a gentleman, who wished to + test his impassiveness, arranged with his wife to come home one day and, + in the hearing of his Chinese waiter who was more than usually intelligent—to + disclose with well-simulated emotion the details of a murder he had just + committed. He did so. The Chinaman heard it without a sign of horror or + attention even to the lifting of an eyelid, but continued his duties + unconcerned. Unfortunately, the gentleman, in order to increase the horror + of the situation, added that now there was nothing left for him but to cut + his throat. At this John quietly left the room. The gentleman was + delighted at the success of his ruse until the door reopened and John + reappeared with his master's razor, which he quietly slipped—as if + it had been a forgotten fork—beside his master's plate, and calmly + resumed his serving. I have always considered this story to be quite as + improbable as it was inartistic, from its tacit admission of a certain + interest on the part of the Chinaman. I never knew one who would have been + sufficiently concerned to go for the razor. + </p> + <p> + His taciturnity and reticence may have been confounded with rudeness of + address, although he was always civil enough. “I see you have listened to + me and done exactly what I told you,” said a lady, commending some + performance of her servant after a previous lengthy lecture; “that's very + nice.” “Yes,” said John calmly, “you talkee allee time; talkee allee too + much.” “I always find Ling very polite,” said another lady, speaking of + her cook, “but I wish he did not always say to me, 'Goodnight, John,' in a + high falsetto voice.” She had not recognized the fact that he was simply + repeating her own salutation with his marvelous instinct of relentless + imitation, even as to voice. I hesitate to record the endless stories of + his misapplication of that faculty which were then current, from the one + of the laundryman who removed the buttons from the shirts that were sent + to him to wash that they might agree with the condition of the one offered + him as a pattern for “doing up,” to that of the unfortunate employer who, + while showing John how to handle valuable china carefully, had the + misfortune to drop a plate himself—an accident which was followed by + the prompt breaking of another by the neophyte, with the addition of “Oh, + hellee!” in humble imitation of his master. + </p> + <p> + I have spoken of his general cleanliness; I am reminded of one or two + exceptions, which I think, however, were errors of zeal. His manner of + sprinkling clothes in preparing them for ironing was peculiar. He would + fill his mouth with perfectly pure water from a glass beside him, and + then, by one dexterous movement of his lips in a prolonged expiration, + squirt the water in an almost invisible misty shower on the article before + him. Shocking as this was at first to the sensibilities of many American + employers, it was finally accepted, and even commended. It was some time + after this that the mistress of a household, admiring the deft way in + which her cook had spread a white sauce on certain dishes, was cheerfully + informed that the method was “allee same.” + </p> + <p> + His recreations at that time were chiefly gambling, for the Chinese + theatre wherein the latter produced his plays (which lasted for several + months and comprised the events of a whole dynasty) was not yet built. But + he had one or two companies of jugglers who occasionally performed also at + American theatres. I remember a singular incident which attended the debut + of a newly arrived company. It seemed that the company had been taken on + their Chinese reputation solely, and there had been no previous rehearsal + before the American stage manager. The theatre was filled with an audience + of decorous and respectable San Franciscans of both sexes. It was suddenly + emptied in the middle of the performance; the curtain came down with an + alarmed and blushing manager apologizing to deserted benches, and the show + abruptly terminated. Exactly WHAT had happened never appeared in the + public papers, nor in the published apology of the manager. It afforded a + few days' mirth for wicked San Francisco, and it was epigrammatically + summed up in the remark that “no woman could be found in San Francisco who + was at that performance, and no man who was not.” Yet it was alleged even + by John's worst detractors that he was innocent of any intended offense. + Equally innocent, but perhaps more morally instructive, was an incident + that brought his career as a singularly successful physician to a + disastrous close. An ordinary native Chinese doctor, practicing entirely + among his own countrymen, was reputed to have made extraordinary cures + with two or three American patients. With no other advertising than this, + and apparently no other inducement offered to the public than what their + curiosity suggested, he was presently besieged by hopeful and eager + sufferers. Hundreds of patients were turned away from his crowded doors. + Two interpreters sat, day and night, translating the ills of ailing San + Francisco to this medical oracle, and dispensing his prescriptions—usually + small powders—in exchange for current coin. In vain the regular + practitioners pointed out that the Chinese possessed no superior medical + knowledge, and that their religion, which proscribed dissection and + autopsies, naturally limited their understanding of the body into which + they put their drugs. Finally they prevailed upon an eminent Chinese + authority to give them a list of the remedies generally used in the + Chinese pharmacopoeia, and this was privately circulated. For obvious + reasons I may not repeat it here. But it was summed up—again after + the usual Californian epigrammatic style—by the remark that + “whatever were the comparative merits of Chinese and American practice, a + simple perusal of the list would prove that the Chinese were capable of + producing the most powerful emetic known.” The craze subsided in a single + day; the interpreters and their oracle vanished; the Chinese doctors' + signs, which had multiplied, disappeared, and San Francisco awoke cured of + its madness, at the cost of some thousand dollars. + </p> + <p> + My Bohemian wanderings were confined to the limits of the city, for the + very good reason that there was little elsewhere to go. San Francisco was + then bounded on one side by the monotonously restless waters of the bay, + and on the other by a stretch of equally restless and monotonously + shifting sand dunes as far as the Pacific shore. Two roads penetrated this + waste: one to Lone Mountain—the cemetery; the other to the Cliff + House—happily described as “an eight-mile drive with a cocktail at + the end of it.” Nor was the humor entirely confined to this felicitous + description. The Cliff House itself, half restaurant, half drinking + saloon, fronting the ocean and the Seal Rock, where disporting seals were + the chief object of interest, had its own peculiar symbol. The decanters, + wine-glasses, and tumblers at the bar were all engraved in old English + script with the legal initials “L. S.” (Locus Sigilli),—“the place + of the seal.” + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, Lone Mountain, a dreary promontory giving upon the + Golden Gate and its striking sunsets, had little to soften its weird + suggestiveness. As the common goal of the successful and unsuccessful, the + carved and lettered shaft of the man who had made a name, and the staring + blank headboard of the man who had none, climbed the sandy slopes + together. I have seen the funerals of the respectable citizen who had died + peacefully in his bed, and the notorious desperado who had died “with his + boots on,” followed by an equally impressive cortege of sorrowing friends, + and often the self-same priest. But more awful than its barren loneliness + was the utter absence of peacefulness and rest in this dismal promontory. + By some wicked irony of its situation and climate it was the + personification of unrest and change. The incessant trade winds carried + its loose sands hither and thither, uncovering the decaying coffins of + early pioneers, to bury the wreaths and flowers, laid on a grave of + to-day, under their obliterating waves. No tree to shade them from the + glaring sky above could live in those winds, no turf would lie there to + resist the encroaching sand below. The dead were harried and hustled even + in their graves by the persistent sun, the unremitting wind, and the + unceasing sea. The departing mourner saw the contour of the very mountain + itself change with the shifting dunes as he passed, and his last look + beyond rested on the hurrying, eager waves forever hastening to the Golden + Gate. + </p> + <p> + If I were asked to say what one thing impressed me as the dominant and + characteristic note of San Francisco, I should say it was this untiring + presence of sun and wind and sea. They typified, even if they were not, as + I sometimes fancied, the actual incentive to the fierce, restless life of + the city. I could not think of San Francisco without the trade winds; I + could not imagine its strange, incongruous, multigenerous procession + marching to any other music. They were always there in my youthful + recollections; they were there in my more youthful dreams of the past as + the mysterious vientes generales that blew the Philippine galleons home. + </p> + <p> + For six months they blew from the northwest, for six months from the + southwest, with unvarying persistency. They were there every morning, + glittering in the equally persistent sunlight, to chase the San Franciscan + from his slumber; they were there at midday, to stir his pulses with their + beat; they were there again at night, to hurry him through the bleak and + flaring gas-lit streets to bed. They left their mark on every windward + street or fence or gable, on the outlying sand dunes; they lashed the slow + coasters home, and hurried them to sea again; they whipped the bay into + turbulence on their way to Contra Costa, whose level shoreland oaks they + had trimmed to windward as cleanly and sharply as with a pruning-shears. + Untiring themselves, they allowed no laggards; they drove the San + Franciscan from the wall against which he would have leaned, from the + scant shade in which at noontide he might have rested. They turned his + smallest fires into conflagrations, and kept him ever alert, watchful, and + eager. In return, they scavenged his city and held it clean and wholesome; + in summer they brought him the soft sea-fog for a few hours to soothe his + abraded surfaces; in winter they brought the rains and dashed the whole + coast-line with flowers, and the staring sky above it with soft, unwonted + clouds. They were always there—strong, vigilant, relentless, + material, unyielding, triumphant. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under the Redwoods, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE REDWOODS *** + +***** This file should be named 2555-h.htm or 2555-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/2555/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Under the Redwoods + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 18, 2006 [EBook #2555] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE REDWOODS *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson + + + + + +UNDER THE REDWOODS + + +By Bret Harte + + + + +CONTENTS + + +JIMMY'S BIG BROTHER FROM CALIFORNIA + +THE YOUNGEST MISS PIPER + +A WIDOW OF THE SANTA ANA VALLEY + +THE MERMAID OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT + +UNDER THE EAVES + +HOW REUBEN ALLEN "SAW LIFE" IN SAN FRANCISCO + +THREE VAGABONDS OF TRINIDAD + +A VISION OF THE FOUNTAIN + +A ROMANCE OF THE LINE + +BOHEMIAN DAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO + + + + + +UNDER THE REDWOODS + + + + +JIMMY'S BIG BROTHER FROM CALIFORNIA + + +As night crept up from the valley that stormy afternoon, Sawyer's +Ledge was at first quite blotted out by wind and rain, but presently +reappeared in little nebulous star-like points along the mountain side, +as the straggling cabins of the settlement were one by one lit up by +the miners returning from tunnel and claim. These stars were of varying +brilliancy that evening, two notably so--one that eventually resolved +itself into a many-candled illumination of a cabin of evident festivity; +the other into a glimmering taper in the window of a silent one. +They might have represented the extreme mutations of fortune in the +settlement that night: the celebration of a strike by Robert Falloner, a +lucky miner; and the sick-bed of Dick Lasham, an unlucky one. + +The latter was, however, not quite alone. He was ministered to by Daddy +Folsom, a weak but emotional and aggressively hopeful neighbor, who was +sitting beside the wooden bunk whereon the invalid lay. Yet there +was something perfunctory in his attitude: his eyes were continually +straying to the window, whence the illuminated Falloner festivities +could be seen between the trees, and his ears were more intent on the +songs and laughter that came faintly from the distance than on the +feverish breathing and unintelligible moans of the sufferer. + +Nevertheless he looked troubled equally by the condition of his charge +and by his own enforced absence from the revels. A more impatient moan +from the sick man, however, brought a change to his abstracted face, and +he turned to him with an exaggerated expression of sympathy. + +"In course! Lordy! I know jest what those pains are: kinder ez ef you +was havin' a tooth pulled that had roots branchin' all over ye! My! I've +jest had 'em so bad I couldn't keep from yellin'! That's hot rheumatics! +Yes, sir, I oughter know! And" (confidentially) "the sing'ler thing +about 'em is that they get worse jest as they're going off--sorter +wringin' yer hand and punchin' ye in the back to say 'Good-by.' There!" +he continued, as the man sank exhaustedly back on his rude pillow of +flour-sacks. "There! didn't I tell ye? Ye'll be all right in a minit, +and ez chipper ez a jay bird in the mornin'. Oh, don't tell me about +rheumatics--I've bin thar! On'y mine was the cold kind--that hangs on +longest--yours is the hot, that burns itself up in no time!" + +If the flushed face and bright eyes of Lasham were not enough to +corroborate this symptom of high fever, the quick, wandering laugh he +gave would have indicated the point of delirium. But the too optimistic +Daddy Folsom referred this act to improvement, and went on cheerfully: +"Yes, sir, you're better now, and"--here he assumed an air of cautious +deliberation, extravagant, as all his assumptions were--"I ain't sayin' +that--ef--you--was--to--rise--up" (very slowly) "and heave a blanket or +two over your shoulders--jest by way o' caution, you know--and leanin' +on me, kinder meander over to Bob Falloner's cabin and the boys, it +wouldn't do you a heap o' good. Changes o' this kind is often prescribed +by the faculty." Another moan from the sufferer, however, here +apparently corrected Daddy's too favorable prognosis. "Oh, all right! +Well, perhaps ye know best; and I'll jest run over to Bob's and say how +as ye ain't comin', and will be back in a jiffy!" + +"The letter," said the sick man hurriedly, "the letter, the letter!" + +Daddy leaned suddenly over the bed. It was impossible for even his +hopefulness to avoid the fact that Lasham was delirious. It was a strong +factor in the case--one that would certainly justify his going over +to Falloner's with the news. For the present moment, however, this +aberration was to be accepted cheerfully and humored after Daddy's own +fashion. "Of course--the letter, the letter," he said convincingly; +"that's what the boys hev bin singin' jest now-- + + 'Good-by, Charley; when you are away, + Write me a letter, love; send me a letter, love!' + +"That's what you heard, and a mighty purty song it is too, and kinder +clings to you. It's wonderful how these things gets in your head." + +"The letter--write--send money--money--money, and the photograph--the +photograph--photograph--money," continued the sick man, in the rapid +reiteration of delirium. + +"In course you will--to-morrow--when the mail goes," returned Daddy +soothingly; "plenty of them. Jest now you try to get a snooze, will ye? +Hol' on!--take some o' this." + +There was an anodyne mixture on the rude shelf, which the doctor had +left on his morning visit. Daddy had a comfortable belief that what +would relieve pain would also check delirium, and he accordingly +measured out a dose with a liberal margin to allow of waste by the +patient in swallowing in his semi-conscious state. As he lay more quiet, +muttering still, but now unintelligibly, Daddy, waiting for a more +complete unconsciousness and the opportunity to slip away to Falloner's, +cast his eyes around the cabin. He noticed now for the first time since +his entrance that a crumpled envelope bearing a Western post-mark was +lying at the foot of the bed. Daddy knew that the tri-weekly post had +arrived an hour before he came, and that Lasham had evidently received a +letter. Sure enough the letter itself was lying against the wall beside +him. It was open. Daddy felt justified in reading it. + +It was curt and businesslike, stating that unless Lasham at once sent +a remittance for the support of his brother and sister--two children in +charge of the writer--they must find a home elsewhere. That the arrears +were long standing, and the repeated promises of Lasham to send money +had been unfulfilled. That the writer could stand it no longer. This +would be his last communication unless the money were sent forthwith. + +It was by no means a novel or, under the circumstances, a shocking +disclosure to Daddy. He had seen similar missives from daughters, and +even wives, consequent on the varying fortunes of his neighbors; no one +knew better than he the uncertainties of a miner's prospects, and +yet the inevitable hopefulness that buoyed him up. He tossed it aside +impatiently, when his eye caught a strip of paper he had overlooked +lying upon the blanket near the envelope. It contained a few lines in +an unformed boyish hand addressed to "my brother," and evidently slipped +into the letter after it was written. By the uncertain candlelight Daddy +read as follows:-- + + +Dear Brother, Rite to me and Cissy rite off. Why aint you done it? It's +so long since you rote any. Mister Recketts ses you dont care any more. +Wen you rite send your fotograff. Folks here ses I aint got no big +bruther any way, as I disremember his looks, and cant say wots like him. +Cissy's kryin' all along of it. I've got a hedake. William Walker make +it ake by a blo. So no more at present from your loving little bruther +Jim. + + +The quick, hysteric laugh with which Daddy read this was quite +consistent with his responsive, emotional nature; so, too, were the +ready tears that sprang to his eyes. He put the candle down unsteadily, +with a casual glance at the sick man. It was notable, however, that +this look contained less sympathy for the ailing "big brother" than his +emotion might have suggested. For Daddy was carried quite away by his +own mental picture of the helpless children, and eager only to relate +his impressions of the incident. He cast another glance at the invalid, +thrust the papers into his pocket, and clapping on his hat slipped from +the cabin and ran to the house of festivity. Yet it was characteristic +of the man, and so engrossed was he by his one idea, that to the usual +inquiries regarding his patient he answered, "he's all right," and +plunged at once into the incident of the dunning letter, reserving--with +the instinct of an emotional artist--the child's missive until the last. +As he expected, the money demand was received with indignant criticisms +of the writer. + +"That's just like 'em in the States," said Captain Fletcher; "darned if +they don't believe we've only got to bore a hole in the ground and snake +out a hundred dollars. Why, there's my wife--with a heap of hoss sense +in everything else--is allus wonderin' why I can't rake in a cool fifty +betwixt one steamer day and another." + +"That's nothin' to my old dad," interrupted Gus Houston, the "infant" +of the camp, a bright-eyed young fellow of twenty; "why, he wrote to me +yesterday that if I'd only pick up a single piece of gold every day and +just put it aside, sayin' 'That's for popper and mommer,' and not fool +it away--it would be all they'd ask of me." + +"That's so," added another; "these ignorant relations is just the ruin +o' the mining industry. Bob Falloner hez bin lucky in his strike to-day, +but he's a darned sight luckier in being without kith or kin that he +knows of." + +Daddy waited until the momentary irritation had subsided, and then drew +the other letter from his pocket. "That ain't all, boys," he began in a +faltering voice, but gradually working himself up to a pitch of pathos; +"just as I was thinking all them very things, I kinder noticed this yer +poor little bit o' paper lyin' thar lonesome like and forgotten, +and I--read it--and well--gentlemen--it just choked me right up!" He +stopped, and his voice faltered. + +"Go slow, Daddy, go slow!" said an auditor smilingly. It was evident +that Daddy's sympathetic weakness was well known. + +Daddy read the child's letter. But, unfortunately, what with his real +emotion and the intoxication of an audience, he read it extravagantly, +and interpolated a child's lisp (on no authority whatever), and a +simulated infantile delivery, which, I fear, at first provoked the +smiles rather than the tears of his audience. Nevertheless, at its +conclusion the little note was handed round the party, and then there +was a moment of thoughtful silence. + +"Tell you what it is, boys," said Fletcher, looking around the table, +"we ought to be doin' suthin' for them kids right off! Did you," turning +to Daddy, "say anythin' about this to Dick?" + +"Nary--why, he's clean off his head with fever--don't understand a +word--and just babbles," returned Daddy, forgetful of his roseate +diagnosis a moment ago, "and hasn't got a cent." + +"We must make up what we can amongst us afore the mail goes to-night," +said the "infant," feeling hurriedly in his pockets. "Come, ante up, +gentlemen," he added, laying the contents of his buckskin purse upon the +table. + +"Hold on, boys," said a quiet voice. It was their host Falloner, who had +just risen and was slipping on his oilskin coat. "You've got enough to +do, I reckon, to look after your own folks. I've none! Let this be my +affair. I've got to go to the Express Office anyhow to see about my +passage home, and I'll just get a draft for a hundred dollars for +that old skeesicks--what's his blamed name? Oh, Ricketts"--he made a +memorandum from the letter--"and I'll send it by express. Meantime, you +fellows sit down there and write something--you know what--saying that +Dick's hurt his hand and can't write--you know; but asked you to send +a draft, which you're doing. Sabe? That's all! I'll skip over to the +express now and get the draft off, and you can mail the letter an hour +later. So put your dust back in your pockets and help yourselves to the +whiskey while I'm gone." He clapped his hat on his head and disappeared. + +"There goes a white man, you bet!" said Fletcher admiringly, as the door +closed behind their host. "Now, boys," he added, drawing a chair to the +table, "let's get this yer letter off, and then go back to our game." + +Pens and ink were produced, and an animated discussion ensued as to +the matter to be conveyed. Daddy's plea for an extended explanatory and +sympathetic communication was overruled, and the letter was written to +Ricketts on the simple lines suggested by Falloner. + +"But what about poor little Jim's letter? That ought to be answered," +said Daddy pathetically. + +"If Dick hurt his hand so he can't write to Ricketts, how in thunder is +he goin' to write to Jim?" was the reply. + +"But suthin' oughter be said to the poor kid," urged Daddy piteously. + +"Well, write it yourself--you and Gus Houston make up somethin' +together. I'm going to win some money," retorted Fletcher, returning +to the card-table, where he was presently followed by all but Daddy and +Houston. + +"Ye can't write it in Dick's name, because that little brother knows +Dick's handwriting, even if he don't remember his face. See?" suggested +Houston. + +"That's so," said Daddy dubiously; "but," he added, with elastic +cheerfulness, "we can write that Dick 'says.' See?" + +"Your head's level, old man! Just you wade in on that." + +Daddy seized the pen and "waded in." Into somewhat deep and difficult +water, I fancy, for some of it splashed into his eyes, and he sniffled +once or twice as he wrote. "Suthin' like this," he said, after a +pause:-- + + +DEAR LITTLE JIMMIE,--Your big brother havin' hurt his hand, wants me to +tell you that otherways he is all hunky and A1. He says he don't forget +you and little Cissy, you bet! and he's sendin' money to old Ricketts +straight off. He says don't you and Cissy mind whether school keeps +or not as long as big Brother Dick holds the lines. He says he'd have +written before, but he's bin follerin' up a lead mighty close, and +expects to strike it rich in a few days. + + +"You ain't got no sabe about kids," said Daddy imperturbably; "they've +got to be humored like sick folks. And they want everythin' big--they +don't take no stock in things ez they are--even ef they hev 'em worse +than they are. 'So,'" continued Daddy, reading to prevent further +interruption, "'he says you're just to keep your eyes skinned lookin' +out for him comin' home any time--day or night. All you've got to do is +to sit up and wait. He might come and even snake you out of your beds! +He might come with four white horses and a nigger driver, or he might +come disguised as an ornary tramp. Only you've got to be keen on +watchin'.' (Ye see," interrupted Daddy explanatorily, "that'll jest keep +them kids lively.) 'He says Cissy's to stop cryin' right off, and if +Willie Walker hits yer on the right cheek you just slug out with your +left fist, 'cordin' to Scripter.' Gosh," ejaculated Daddy, stopping +suddenly and gazing anxiously at Houston, "there's that blamed +photograph--I clean forgot that." + +"And Dick hasn't got one in the shop, and never had," returned Houston +emphatically. "Golly! that stumps us! Unless," he added, with diabolical +thoughtfulness, "we take Bob's? The kids don't remember Dick's face, and +Bob's about the same age. And it's a regular star picture--you bet! Bob +had it taken in Sacramento--in all his war paint. See!" He indicated a +photograph pinned against the wall--a really striking likeness which did +full justice to Bob's long silken mustache and large, brown determined +eyes. "I'll snake it off while they ain't lookin', and you jam it in +the letter. Bob won't miss it, and we can fix it up with Dick after he's +well, and send another." + +Daddy silently grasped the "infant's" hand, who presently secured the +photograph without attracting attention from the card-players. It was +promptly inclosed in the letter, addressed to Master James Lasham. The +"infant" started with it to the post-office, and Daddy Folsom returned +to Lasham's cabin to relieve the watcher that had been detached from +Falloner's to take his place beside the sick man. + +Meanwhile the rain fell steadily and the shadows crept higher and higher +up the mountain. Towards midnight the star points faded out one by one +over Sawyer's Ledge even as they had come, with the difference that the +illumination of Falloner's cabin was extinguished first, while the dim +light of Lasham's increased in number. Later, two stars seemed to shoot +from the centre of the ledge, trailing along the descent, until they +were lost in the obscurity of the slope--the lights of the stage-coach +to Sacramento carrying the mail and Robert Falloner. They met and passed +two fainter lights toiling up the road--the buggy lights of the doctor, +hastily summoned from Carterville to the bedside of the dying Dick +Lasham. + + +The slowing up of his train caused Bob Falloner to start from a half +doze in a Western Pullman car. As he glanced from his window he could +see that the blinding snowstorm which had followed him for the past six +hours had at last hopelessly blocked the line. There was no prospect +beyond the interminable snowy level, the whirling flakes, and the +monotonous palisades of leafless trees seen through it to the distant +banks of the Missouri. It was a prospect that the mountain-bred Falloner +was beginning to loathe, and although it was scarcely six weeks since +he left California, he was already looking back regretfully to the deep +slopes and the free song of the serried ranks of pines. + +The intense cold had chilled his temperate blood, even as the rigors and +conventions of Eastern life had checked his sincerity and spontaneous +flow of animal spirits begotten in the frank intercourse and brotherhood +of camps. He had just fled from the artificialities of the great +Atlantic cities to seek out some Western farming lands in which he +might put his capital and energies. The unlooked-for interruption of his +progress by a long-forgotten climate only deepened his discontent. And +now--that train was actually backing! It appeared they must return to +the last station to wait for a snow-plough to clear the line. It was, +explained the conductor, barely a mile from Shepherdstown, where there +was a good hotel and a chance of breaking the journey for the night. + +Shepherdstown! The name touched some dim chord in Bob Falloner's memory +and conscience--yet one that was vague. Then he suddenly remembered that +before leaving New York he had received a letter from Houston informing +him of Lasham's death, reminding him of his previous bounty, and begging +him--if he went West--to break the news to the Lasham family. There was +also some allusion to a joke about his (Bob's) photograph, which he had +dismissed as unimportant, and even now could not remember clearly. For a +few moments his conscience pricked him that he should have forgotten it +all, but now he could make amends by this providential delay. It was not +a task to his liking; in any other circumstances he would have written, +but he would not shirk it now. + +Shepherdstown was on the main line of the Kansas Pacific Road, and as he +alighted at its station, the big through trains from San Francisco +swept out of the stormy distance and stopped also. He remembered, as he +mingled with the passengers, hearing a childish voice ask if this was +the Californian train. He remembered hearing the amused and patient +reply of the station-master: "Yes, sonny--here she is again, and here's +her passengers," as he got into the omnibus and drove to the hotel. Here +he resolved to perform his disagreeable duty as quickly as possible, +and on his way to his room stopped for a moment at the office to ask for +Ricketts' address. The clerk, after a quick glance of curiosity at his +new guest, gave it to him readily, with a somewhat familiar smile. It +struck Falloner also as being odd that he had not been asked to write +his name on the hotel register, but this was a saving of time he was not +disposed to question, as he had already determined to make his visit to +Ricketts at once, before dinner. It was still early evening. + +He was washing his hands in his bedroom when there came a light tap at +his sitting-room door. Falloner quickly resumed his coat and entered the +sitting-room as the porter ushered in a young lady holding a small boy +by the hand. But, to Falloner's utter consternation, no sooner had the +door closed on the servant than the boy, with a half-apologetic glance +at the young lady, uttered a childish cry, broke from her, and calling, +"Dick! Dick!" ran forward and leaped into Falloner's arms. + +The mere shock of the onset and his own amazement left Bob without +breath for words. The boy, with arms convulsively clasping his body, was +imprinting kisses on Bob's waistcoat in default of reaching his face. +At last Falloner managed gently but firmly to free himself, and turned +a half-appealing, half-embarrassed look upon the young lady, whose own +face, however, suddenly flushed pink. To add to the confusion, the boy, +in some reaction of instinct, suddenly ran back to her, frantically +clutched at her skirts, and tried to bury his head in their folds. + +"He don't love me," he sobbed. "He don't care for me any more." + +The face of the young girl changed. It was a pretty face in its +flushing; in the paleness and thoughtfulness that overcast it it was a +striking face, and Bob's attention was for a moment distracted from +the grotesqueness of the situation. Leaning over the boy she said in a +caressing yet authoritative voice, "Run away for a moment, dear, until +I call you," opening the door for him in a maternal way so inconsistent +with the youthfulness of her figure that it struck him even in his +confusion. There was something also in her dress and carriage that +equally affected him: her garments were somewhat old-fashioned in style, +yet of good material, with an odd incongruity to the climate and season. + +Under her rough outer cloak she wore a polka jacket and the thinnest of +summer blouses; and her hat, though dark, was of rough straw, plainly +trimmed. Nevertheless, these peculiarities were carried off with an air +of breeding and self-possession that was unmistakable. It was possible +that her cool self-possession might have been due to some instinctive +antagonism, for as she came a step forward with coldly and +clearly-opened gray eyes, he was vaguely conscious that she didn't like +him. Nevertheless, her manner was formally polite, even, as he fancied, +to the point of irony, as she began, in a voice that occasionally +dropped into the lazy Southern intonation, and a speech that easily +slipped at times into Southern dialect:-- + +"I sent the child out of the room, as I could see that his advances +were annoying to you, and a good deal, I reckon, because I knew your +reception of them was still more painful to him. It is quite natural, I +dare say, you should feel as you do, and I reckon consistent with your +attitude towards him. But you must make some allowance for the depth of +his feelings, and how he has looked forward to this meeting. When I +tell you that ever since he received your last letter, he and his +sister--until her illness kept her home--have gone every day when the +Pacific train was due to the station to meet you; that they have taken +literally as Gospel truth every word of your letter"-- + +"My letter?" interrupted Falloner. + +The young girl's scarlet lip curled slightly. "I beg your pardon--I +should have said the letter you dictated. Of course it wasn't in your +handwriting--you had hurt your hand, you know," she added ironically. +"At all events, they believed it all--that you were coming at any +moment; they lived in that belief, and the poor things went to the +station with your photograph in their hands so that they might be the +first to recognize and greet you." + +"With my photograph?" interrupted Falloner again. + +The young girl's clear eyes darkened ominously. "I reckon," she said +deliberately, as she slowly drew from her pocket the photograph Daddy +Folsom had sent, "that that is your photograph. It certainly seems an +excellent likeness," she added, regarding him with a slight suggestion +of contemptuous triumph. + +In an instant the revelation of the whole mystery flashed upon him! The +forgotten passage in Houston's letter about the stolen photograph stood +clearly before him; the coincidence of his appearance in Shepherdstown, +and the natural mistake of the children and their fair protector, were +made perfectly plain. But with this relief and the certainty that he +could confound her with an explanation came a certain mischievous desire +to prolong the situation and increase his triumph. She certainly had not +shown him any favor. + +"Have you got the letter also?" he asked quietly. + +She whisked it impatiently from her pocket and handed it to him. As he +read Daddy's characteristic extravagance and recognized the familiar +idiosyncrasies of his old companions, he was unable to restrain a smile. +He raised his eyes, to meet with surprise the fair stranger's leveled +eyebrows and brightly indignant eyes, in which, however, the rain was +fast gathering with the lightning. + +"It may be amusing to you, and I reckon likely it was all a California +joke," she said with slightly trembling lips; "I don't know No'thern +gentlemen and their ways, and you seem to have forgotten our ways as you +have your kindred. Perhaps all this may seem so funny to them: it may +not seem funny to that boy who is now crying his heart out in the hall; +it may not be very amusing to that poor Cissy in her sick-bed longing +to see her brother. It may be so far from amusing to her, that I should +hesitate to bring you there in her excited condition and subject her +to the pain that you have caused him. But I have promised her; she is +already expecting us, and the disappointment may be dangerous, and I +can only implore you--for a few moments at least--to show a little more +affection than you feel." As he made an impulsive, deprecating gesture, +yet without changing his look of restrained amusement, she stopped him +hopelessly. "Oh, of course, yes, yes, I know it is years since you have +seen them; they have no right to expect more; only--only--feeling as you +do," she burst impulsively, "why--oh, why did you come?" + +Here was Bob's chance. He turned to her politely; began gravely, "I +simply came to"--when suddenly his face changed; he stopped as if struck +by a blow. His cheek flushed, and then paled! Good God! What had he +come for? To tell them that this brother they were longing for--living +for--perhaps even dying for--was dead! In his crass stupidity, his +wounded vanity over the scorn of the young girl, his anticipation of +triumph, he had forgotten--totally forgotten--what that triumph meant! +Perhaps if he had felt more keenly the death of Lasham the thought of it +would have been uppermost in his mind; but Lasham was not his partner or +associate, only a brother miner, and his single act of generosity was +in the ordinary routine of camp life. If she could think him cold and +heartless before, what would she think of him now? The absurdity of her +mistake had vanished in the grim tragedy he had seemed to have cruelly +prepared for her. The thought struck him so keenly that he stammered, +faltered, and sank helplessly into a chair. + +The shock that he had received was so plain to her that her own +indignation went out in the breath of it. Her lip quivered. "Don't you +mind," she said hurriedly, dropping into her Southern speech; "I didn't +go to hurt you, but I was just that mad with the thought of those +pickaninnies, and the easy way you took it, that I clean forgot I'd no +call to catechise you! And you don't know me from the Queen of Sheba. +Well," she went on, still more rapidly, and in odd distinction to her +previous formal slow Southern delivery, "I'm the daughter of Colonel +Boutelle, of Bayou Sara, Louisiana; and his paw, and his paw before him, +had a plantation there since the time of Adam, but he lost it and six +hundred niggers during the Wah! We were pooh as pohverty--paw and maw +and we four girls--and no more idea of work than a baby. But I had +an education at the convent at New Orleans, and could play, and speak +French, and I got a place as school-teacher here; I reckon the first +Southern woman that has taught school in the No'th! Ricketts, who used +to be our steward at Bayou Sara, told me about the pickaninnies, and how +helpless they were, with only a brother who occasionally sent them money +from California. I suppose I cottoned to the pooh little things at first +because I knew what it was to be alone amongst strangers, Mr. Lasham; I +used to teach them at odd times, and look after them, and go with them +to the train to look for you. Perhaps Ricketts made me think you didn't +care for them; perhaps I was wrong in thinking it was true, from the way +you met Jimmy just now. But I've spoken my mind and you know why." She +ceased and walked to the window. + +Falloner rose. The storm that had swept through him was over. The quick +determination, resolute purpose, and infinite patience which had made +him what he was were all there, and with it a conscientiousness which +his selfish independence had hitherto kept dormant. He accepted the +situation, not passively--it was not in his nature--but threw himself +into it with all his energy. + +"You were quite right," he said, halting a moment beside her; "I don't +blame you, and let me hope that later you may think me less to blame +than you do now. Now, what's to be done? Clearly, I've first to make it +right with Tommy--I mean Jimmy--and then we must make a straight dash +over to the girl! Whoop!" Before she could understand from his face the +strange change in his voice, he had dashed out of the room. In a moment +he reappeared with the boy struggling in his arms. "Think of the little +scamp not knowing his own brother!" he laughed, giving the boy a really +affectionate, if slightly exaggerated hug, "and expecting me to open my +arms to the first little boy who jumps into them! I've a great mind not +to give him the present I fetched all the way from California. Wait +a moment." He dashed into the bedroom, opened his valise--where he +providentially remembered he had kept, with a miner's superstition, the +first little nugget of gold he had ever found--seized the tiny bit of +quartz of gold, and dashed out again to display it before Jimmy's eager +eyes. + +If the heartiness, sympathy, and charming kindness of the man's whole +manner and face convinced, even while it slightly startled, the young +girl, it was still more effective with the boy. Children are quick +to detect the false ring of affected emotion, and Bob's was so +genuine--whatever its cause--that it might have easily passed for a +fraternal expression with harder critics. The child trustfully nestled +against him and would have grasped the gold, but the young man +whisked it into his pocket. "Not until we've shown it to our little +sister--where we're going now! I'm off to order a sleigh." He dashed +out again to the office as if he found some relief in action, or, as +it seemed to Miss Boutelle, to avoid embarrassing conversation. When he +came back again he was carrying an immense bearskin from his luggage. He +cast a critical look at the girl's unseasonable attire. + +"I shall wrap you and Jimmy in this--you know it's snowing frightfully." + +Miss Boutelle flushed a little. "I'm warm enough when walking," she +said coldly. Bob glanced at her smart little French shoes, and +thought otherwise. He said nothing, but hastily bundled his two guests +downstairs and into the street. The whirlwind dance of the snow made the +sleigh an indistinct bulk in the glittering darkness, and as the young +girl for an instant stood dazedly still, Bob incontinently lifted her +from her feet, deposited her in the vehicle, dropped Jimmy in her lap, +and wrapped them both tightly in the bearskin. Her weight, which +was scarcely more than a child's, struck him in that moment as being +tantalizingly incongruous to the matronly severity of her manner and its +strange effect upon him. He then jumped in himself, taking the direction +from his companion, and drove off through the storm. + +The wind and darkness were not favorable to conversation, and only +once did he break the silence. "Is there any one who would be likely to +remember--me--where we are going?" he asked, in a lull of the storm. + +Miss Boutelle uncovered enough of her face to glance at him curiously. +"Hardly! You know the children came here from the No'th after your +mother's death, while you were in California." + +"Of course," returned Bob hurriedly; "I was only thinking--you know +that some of my old friends might have called," and then collapsed into +silence. + +After a pause a voice came icily, although under the furs: "Perhaps +you'd prefer that your arrival be kept secret from the public? But they +seem to have already recognized you at the hotel from your inquiry about +Ricketts, and the photograph Jimmy had already shown them two weeks +ago." Bob remembered the clerk's familiar manner and the omission to ask +him to register. "But it need go no further, if you like," she added, +with a slight return of her previous scorn. + +"I've no reason for keeping it secret," said Bob stoutly. + +No other words were exchanged until the sleigh drew up before a plain +wooden house in the suburbs of the town. Bob could see at a glance that +it represented the income of some careful artisan or small shopkeeper, +and that it promised little for an invalid's luxurious comfort. They +were ushered into a chilly sitting-room and Miss Boutelle ran upstairs +with Jimmy to prepare the invalid for Bob's appearance. He noticed that +a word dropped by the woman who opened the door made the young girl's +face grave again, and paled the color that the storm had buffeted to +her cheek. He noticed also that these plain surroundings seemed only +to enhance her own superiority, and that the woman treated her with a +deference in odd contrast to the ill-concealed disfavor with which she +regarded him. Strangely enough, this latter fact was a relief to his +conscience. It would have been terrible to have received their kindness +under false pretenses; to take their just blame of the man he personated +seemed to mitigate the deceit. + +The young girl rejoined him presently with troubled eyes. Cissy was +worse, and only intermittently conscious, but had asked to see him. It +was a short flight of stairs to the bedroom, but before he reached it +Bob's heart beat faster than it had in any mountain climb. In one corner +of the plainly furnished room stood a small truckle bed, and in it lay +the invalid. It needed but a single glance at her flushed face in its +aureole of yellow hair to recognize the likeness to Jimmy, although, +added to that strange refinement produced by suffering, there was a +spiritual exaltation in the child's look--possibly from delirium--that +awed and frightened him; an awful feeling that he could not lie to this +hopeless creature took possession of him, and his step faltered. But +she lifted her small arms pathetically towards him as if she divined his +trouble, and he sank on his knees beside her. With a tiny finger curled +around his long mustache, she lay there silent. Her face was full of +trustfulness, happiness, and consciousness--but she spoke no word. + +There was a pause, and Falloner, slightly lifting his head without +disturbing that faintly clasping finger, beckoned Miss Boutelle to his +side. "Can you drive?" he said, in a low voice. + +"Yes." + +"Take my sleigh and get the best doctor in town to come here at once. +Bring him with you if you can; if he can't come at once, drive home +yourself. I will stay here." + +"But"--hesitated Miss Boutelle. + +"I will stay here," he repeated. + +The door closed on the young girl, and Falloner, still bending over the +child, presently heard the sleigh-bells pass away in the storm. He still +sat with his bent head, held by the tiny clasp of those thin fingers. +But the child's eyes were fixed so intently upon him that Mrs. Ricketts +leaned over the strangely-assorted pair and said-- + +"It's your brother Dick, dearie. Don't you know him?" + +The child's lips moved faintly. "Dick's dead," she whispered. + +"She's wandering," said Mrs. Ricketts. "Speak to her." But Bob, with +his eyes on the child's, lifted a protesting hand. The little sufferer's +lips moved again. "It isn't Dick--it's the angel God sent to tell me." + +She spoke no more. And when Miss Boutelle returned with the doctor she +was beyond the reach of finite voices. Falloner would have remained all +night with them, but he could see that his presence in the contracted +household was not desired. Even his offer to take Jimmy with him to the +hotel was declined, and at midnight he returned alone. + +What his thoughts were that night may be easily imagined. Cissy's death +had removed the only cause he had for concealing his real identity. +There was nothing more to prevent his revealing all to Miss Boutelle and +to offer to adopt the boy. But he reflected this could not be done until +after the funeral, for it was only due to Cissy's memory that he should +still keep up the role of Dick Lasham as chief mourner. If it seems +strange that Bob did not at this crucial moment take Miss Boutelle into +his confidence, I fear it was because he dreaded the personal effect +of the deceit he had practiced upon her more than any ethical +consideration; she had softened considerably in her attitude towards him +that night; he was human, after all, and while he felt his conduct had +been unselfish in the main, he dared not confess to himself how much her +opinion had influenced him. He resolved that after the funeral he would +continue his journey, and write to her, en route, a full explanation of +his conduct, inclosing Daddy's letter as corroborative evidence. But on +searching his letter-case he found that he had lost even that evidence, +and he must trust solely at present to her faith in his improbable +story. + +It seemed as if his greatest sacrifice was demanded at the funeral! For +it could not be disguised that the neighbors were strongly prejudiced +against him. Even the preacher improved the occasion to warn the +congregation against the dangers of putting off duty until too late. And +when Robert Falloner, pale, but self-restrained, left the church with +Miss Boutelle, equally pale and reserved, on his arm, he could with +difficulty restrain his fury at the passing of a significant smile +across the faces of a few curious bystanders. "It was Amy Boutelle, that +was the 'penitence' that fetched him, you bet!" he overheard, a barely +concealed whisper; and the reply, "And it's a good thing she's made out +of it too, for he's mighty rich!" + +At the church door he took her cold hand into his. "I am leaving +to-morrow morning with Jimmy," he said, with a white face. "Good-by." + +"You are quite right; good-by," she replied as briefly, but with the +faintest color. He wondered if she had heard it too. + +Whether she had heard it or not, she went home with Mrs. Ricketts +in some righteous indignation, which found--after the young lady's +habit--free expression. Whatever were Mr. Lasham's faults of omission it +was most un-Christian to allude to them there, and an insult to the poor +little dear's memory who had forgiven them. Were she in his shoes she +would shake the dust of the town off her feet; and she hoped he would. +She was a little softened on arriving to find Jimmy in tears. He had +lost Dick's photograph--or Dick had forgotten to give it back at +the hotel, for this was all he had in his pocket. And he produced a +letter--the missing letter of Daddy, which by mistake Falloner +had handed back instead of the photograph. Miss Boutelle saw the +superscription and Californian postmark with a vague curiosity. + +"Did you look inside, dear? Perhaps it slipped in." + +Jimmy had not. Miss Boutelle did--and I grieve to say, ended by reading +the whole letter. + +Bob Falloner had finished packing his things the next morning, and was +waiting for Mr. Ricketts and Jimmy. But when a tap came at the door, he +opened it to find Miss Boutelle standing there. "I have sent Jimmy into +the bedroom," she said with a faint smile, "to look for the photograph +which you gave him in mistake for this. I think for the present he +prefers his brother's picture to this letter, which I have not explained +to him or any one." She stopped, and raising her eyes to his, said +gently: "I think it would have only been a part of your goodness to have +trusted me, Mr. Falloner." + +"Then you will forgive me?" he said eagerly. + +She looked at him frankly, yet with a faint trace of coquetry that the +angels might have pardoned. "Do you want me to say to you what Mrs. +Ricketts says were the last words of poor Cissy?" + +A year later, when the darkness and rain were creeping up Sawyer's +Ledge, and Houston and Daddy Folsom were sitting before their brushwood +fire in the old Lasham cabin, the latter delivered himself oracularly. + +"It's a mighty queer thing, that news about Bob! It's not that he's +married, for that might happen to any one; but this yer account in the +paper of his wedding being attended by his 'little brother.' That gets +me! To think all the while he was here he was lettin' on to us that he +hadn't kith or kin! Well, sir, that accounts to me for one thing,--the +sing'ler way he tumbled to that letter of poor Dick Lasham's little +brother and sent him that draft! Don't ye see? It was a feller feelin'! +Knew how it was himself! I reckon ye all thought I was kinder soft +reading that letter o' Dick Lasham's little brother to him, but ye see +what it did." + + + + +THE YOUNGEST MISS PIPER + + +I do not think that any of us who enjoyed the acquaintance of the Piper +girls or the hospitality of Judge Piper, their father, ever cared for +the youngest sister. Not on account of her extreme youth, for the eldest +Miss Piper confessed to twenty-six--and the youth of the youngest sister +was established solely, I think, by one big braid down her back. Neither +was it because she was the plainest, for the beauty of the Piper girls +was a recognized general distinction, and the youngest Miss Piper was +not entirely devoid of the family charms. Nor was it from any lack of +intelligence, nor from any defective social quality; for her precocity +was astounding, and her good-humored frankness alarming. Neither do I +think it could be said that a slight deafness, which might impart an +embarrassing publicity to any statement--the reverse of our general +feeling--that might be confided by any one to her private ear, was a +sufficient reason; for it was pointed out that she always understood +everything that Tom Sparrell told her in his ordinary tone of voice. +Briefly, it was very possible that Delaware--the youngest Miss +Piper--did not like us. Yet it was fondly believed by us that the other +sisters failed to show that indifference to our existence shown by Miss +Delaware, although the heartburnings, misunderstandings, jealousies, +hopes and fears, and finally the chivalrous resignation with which we +at last accepted the long foregone conclusion that they were not for +us, and far beyond our reach, is not a part of this veracious chronicle. +Enough that none of the flirtations of her elder sisters affected or +were shared by the youngest Miss Piper. She moved in this heart-breaking +atmosphere with sublime indifference, treating her sisters' affairs with +what we considered rank simplicity or appalling frankness. Their few +admirers who were weak enough to attempt to gain her mediation or +confidence had reason to regret it. + +"It's no kind o' use givin' me goodies," she said to a helpless suitor +of Louisiana Piper's who had offered to bring her some sweets, "for I +ain't got no influence with Lu, and if I don't give 'em up to her when +she hears of it, she'll nag me and hate you like pizen. Unless," she +added thoughtfully, "it was wintergreen lozenges; Lu can't stand them, +or anybody who eats them within a mile." It is needless to add that +the miserable man, thus put upon his gallantry, was obliged in honor to +provide Del with the wintergreen lozenges that kept him in disfavor +and at a distance. Unfortunately, too, any predilection or pity for any +particular suitor of her sister's was attended by even more disastrous +consequences. It was reported that while acting as "gooseberry"--a role +usually assigned to her--between Virginia Piper and an exceptionally +timid young surveyor, during a ramble she conceived a rare sentiment of +humanity towards the unhappy man. After once or twice lingering behind +in the ostentatious picking of a wayside flower, or "running on ahead" +to look at a mountain view, without any apparent effect on the shy and +speechless youth, she decoyed him aside while her elder sister rambled +indifferently and somewhat scornfully on. The youngest Miss Piper leaped +upon the rail of a fence, and with the stalk of a thimbleberry in her +mouth swung her small feet to and fro and surveyed him dispassionately. + +"Ye don't seem to be ketchin' on?" she said tentatively. + +The young man smiled feebly and interrogatively. + +"Don't seem to be either follering suit nor trumpin'," continued Del +bluntly. + +"I suppose so--that is, I fear that Miss Virginia"--he stammered. + +"Speak up! I'm a little deaf. Say it again!" said Del, screwing up her +eyes and eyebrows. + +The young man was obliged to admit in stentorian tones that his progress +had been scarcely satisfactory. + +"You're goin' on too slow--that's it," said Del critically. "Why, when +Captain Savage meandered along here with Jinny" (Virginia) "last +week, afore we got as far as this he'd reeled off a heap of Byron and +Jamieson" (Tennyson), "and sich; and only yesterday Jinny and Doctor +Beveridge was blowin' thistletops to know which was a flirt all along +the trail past the crossroads. Why, ye ain't picked ez much as a single +berry for Jinny, let alone Lad's Love or Johnny Jumpups and Kissme's, +and ye keep talkin' across me, you two, till I'm tired. Now look here," +she burst out with sudden decision, "Jinny's gone on ahead in a kind o' +huff; but I reckon she's done that afore too, and you'll find her, jest +as Spinner did, on the rise of the hill, sittin' on a pine stump and +lookin' like this." (Here the youngest Miss Piper locked her +fingers over her left knee, and drew it slightly up,--with a sublime +indifference to the exposure of considerable small-ankled red +stocking,--and with a far-off, plaintive stare, achieved a colorable +imitation of her elder sister's probable attitude.) "Then you jest go up +softly, like as you was a bear, and clap your hands on her eyes, and +say in a disguised voice like this" (here Del turned on a high falsetto +beyond any masculine compass), "'Who's who?' jest like in forfeits." + +"But she'll be sure to know me," said the surveyor timidly. + +"She won't," said Del in scornful skepticism. + +"I hardly think"--stammered the young man, with an awkward smile, "that +I--in fact--she'll discover me--before I can get beside her." + +"Not if you go softly, for she'll be sittin' back to the road, +so--gazing away, so"--the youngest Miss Piper again stared dreamily in +the distance, "and you'll creep up just behind, like this." + +"But won't she be angry? I haven't known her long--that is--don't you +see?" He stopped embarrassedly. + +"Can't hear a word you say," said Del, shaking her head decisively. +"You've got my deaf ear. Speak louder, or come closer." + +But here the instruction suddenly ended, once and for all time! For +whether the young man was seriously anxious to perfect himself; whether +he was truly grateful to the young girl and tried to show it; whether he +was emboldened by the childish appeal of the long brown distinguishing +braid down her back, or whether he suddenly found something peculiarly +provocative in the reddish brown eyes between their thickset hedge of +lashes, and with the trim figure and piquant pose, and was seized with +that hysteric desperation which sometimes attacks timidity itself, I +cannot say! Enough that he suddenly put his arm around her waist and +his lips to her soft satin cheek, peppered and salted as it was by +sun-freckles and mountain air, and received a sound box on the ear for +his pains. The incident was closed. He did not repeat the experiment on +either sister. The disclosure of his rebuff seemed, however, to give a +singular satisfaction to Red Gulch. + +While it may be gathered from this that the youngest Miss Piper was +impervious to general masculine advances, it was not until later that +Red Gulch was thrown into skeptical astonishment by the rumors that all +this time she really had a lover! Allusion has been made to the charge +that her deafness did not prevent her from perfectly understanding the +ordinary tone of voice of a certain Mr. Thomas Sparrell. + +No undue significance was attached to this fact through the very +insignificance and "impossibility" of that individual;--a lanky, +red-haired youth, incapacitated for manual labor through lameness,--a +clerk in a general store at the Cross Roads! He had never been the +recipient of Judge Piper's hospitality; he had never visited the house +even with parcels; apparently his only interviews with her or any of +the family had been over the counter. To do him justice he certainly had +never seemed to seek any nearer acquaintance; he was not at the church +door when her sisters, beautiful in their Sunday gowns, filed into the +aisle, with little Delaware bringing up the rear; he was not at the +Democratic barbecue, that we attended without reference to our personal +politics, and solely for the sake of Judge Piper and the girls; nor +did he go to the Agricultural Fair Ball--open to all. His abstention we +believed to be owing to his lameness; to a wholesome consciousness +of his own social defects; or an inordinate passion for reading cheap +scientific textbooks, which did not, however, add fluency nor conviction +to his speech. Neither had he the abstraction of a student, for his +accounts were kept with an accuracy which struck us, who dealt at the +store, as ignobly practical, and even malignant. Possibly we might have +expressed this opinion more strongly but for a certain rude vigor of +repartee which he possessed, and a suggestion that he might have a +temper on occasion. "Them red-haired chaps is like to be tetchy and +to kinder see blood through their eyelashes," had been suggested by an +observing customer. + +In short, little as we knew of the youngest Miss Piper, he was the last +man we should have suspected her to select as an admirer. What we did +know of their public relations, purely commercial ones, implied the +reverse of any cordial understanding. The provisioning of the Piper +household was entrusted to Del, with other practical odds and ends of +housekeeping, not ornamental, and the following is said to be a truthful +record of one of their overheard interviews at the store:-- + +The youngest Miss Piper, entering, displacing a quantity of goods in the +centre to make a sideways seat for herself, and looking around loftily +as she took a memorandum-book and pencil from her pocket. + +"Ahem! If I ain't taking you away from your studies, Mr. Sparrell, +maybe you'll be good enough to look here a minit;--but" (in affected +politeness) "if I'm disturbing you I can come another time." + +Sparrell, placing the book he had been reading carefully under the +counter, and advancing to Miss Delaware with a complete ignoring of her +irony: "What can we do for you to-day, Miss Piper?" + +Miss Delaware, with great suavity of manner, examining her +memorandum-book: "I suppose it wouldn't be shocking your delicate +feelings too much to inform you that the canned lobster and oysters you +sent us yesterday wasn't fit for hogs?" + +Sparrell (blandly): "They weren't intended for them, Miss Piper. If +we had known you were having company over from Red Gulch to dinner, we +might have provided something more suitable for them. We have a fair +quality of oil-cake and corn-cobs in stock, at reduced figures. But the +canned provisions were for your own family." + +Miss Delaware (secretly pleased at this sarcastic allusion to her +sister's friends, but concealing her delight): "I admire to hear you +talk that way, Mr. Sparrell; it's better than minstrels or a circus. I +suppose you get it outer that book," indicating the concealed volume. +"What do you call it?" + +Sparrell (politely): "The First Principles of Geology." + +Miss Delaware, leaning sideways and curling her little fingers around +her pink ear: "Did you say the first principles of 'geology' or +'politeness'? You know I am so deaf; but, of course, it couldn't be +that." + +Sparrell (easily): "Oh no, you seem to have that in your hand"--pointing +to Miss Delaware's memorandum-book--"you were quoting from it when you +came in." + +Miss Delaware, after an affected silence of deep resignation: "Well! +it's too bad folks can't just spend their lives listenin' to such +elegant talk; I'd admire to do nothing else! But there's my family up at +Cottonwood--and they must eat. They're that low that they expect me +to waste my time getting food for 'em here, instead of drinking in the +First Principles of the Grocery." + +"Geology," suggested Sparrell blandly. "The history of rock formation." + +"Geology," accepted Miss Delaware apologetically; "the history of rocks, +which is so necessary for knowing just how much sand you can put in the +sugar. So I reckon I'll leave my list here, and you can have the things +toted to Cottonwood when you've got through with your First Principles." + +She tore out a list of her commissions from a page of her +memorandum-book, leaped lightly from the counter, threw her brown braid +from her left shoulder to its proper place down her back, shook out +her skirts deliberately, and saying, "Thank you for a most improvin' +afternoon, Mr. Sparrell," sailed demurely out of the store. + +A few auditors of this narrative thought it inconsistent that a daughter +of Judge Piper and a sister of the angelic host should put up with a +mere clerk's familiarity, but it was pointed out that "she gave him as +good as he sent," and the story was generally credited. But certainly +no one ever dreamed that it pointed to any more precious confidences +between them. + +I think the secret burst upon the family, with other things, at the big +picnic at Reservoir Canyon. This festivity had been arranged for weeks +previously, and was undertaken chiefly by the "Red Gulch Contingent," +as we were called, as a slight return to the Piper family for their +frequent hospitality. The Piper sisters were expected to bring nothing +but their own personal graces and attend to the ministration of such +viands and delicacies as the boys had profusely supplied. + +The site selected was Reservoir Canyon, a beautiful, triangular valley +with very steep sides, one of which was crowned by the immense reservoir +of the Pioneer Ditch Company. The sheer flanks of the canyon descended +in furrowed lines of vines and clinging bushes, like folds of falling +skirts, until they broke again into flounces of spangled shrubbery over +a broad level carpet of monkshood, mariposas, lupines, poppies, and +daisies. Tempered and secluded from the sun's rays by its lofty shadows, +the delicious obscurity of the canyon was in sharp contrast to the +fiery mountain trail that in the full glare of the noonday sky made +its tortuous way down the hillside, like a stream of lava, to plunge +suddenly into the valley and extinguish itself in its coolness as in a +lake. The heavy odors of wild honeysuckle, syringa, and ceanothus that +hung over it were lightened and freshened by the sharp spicing of pine +and bay. The mountain breeze which sometimes shook the serrated tops of +the large redwoods above with a chill from the remote snow peaks even in +the heart of summer, never reached the little valley. + +It seemed an ideal place for a picnic. Everybody was therefore +astonished to hear that an objection was suddenly raised to this perfect +site. They were still more astonished to know that the objector was the +youngest Miss Piper! Pressed to give her reasons, she had replied that +the locality was dangerous; that the reservoir placed upon the mountain, +notoriously old and worn out, had been rendered more unsafe by +false economy in unskillful and hasty repairs to satisfy speculating +stockbrokers, and that it had lately shown signs of leakage and sapping +of its outer walls; that, in the event of an outbreak, the little +triangular valley, from which there was no outlet, would be instantly +flooded. Asked still more pressingly to give her authority for these +details, she at first hesitated, and then gave the name of Tom Sparrell. + +The derision with which this statement was received by us all, as the +opinion of a sedentary clerk, was quite natural and obvious, but not +the anger which it excited in the breast of Judge Piper; for it was not +generally known that the judge was the holder of a considerable number +of shares in the Pioneer Ditch Company, and that large dividends had +been lately kept up by a false economy of expenditure, to expedite a +"sharp deal" in the stock, by which the judge and others could sell out +of a failing company. Rather, it was believed, that the judge's anger +was due only to the discovery of Sparrell's influence over his daughter +and his interference with the social affairs of Cottonwood. It was said +that there was a sharp scene between the youngest Miss Piper and the +combined forces of the judge and the elder sisters, which ended in the +former's resolute refusal to attend the picnic at all if that site was +selected. + +As Delaware was known to be fearless even to the point of recklessness, +and fond of gayety, her refusal only intensified the belief that she was +merely "stickin' up for Sparrell's judgment" without any reference to +her own personal safety or that of her sisters. The warning was laughed +away; the opinion of Sparrell treated with ridicule as the dyspeptic and +envious expression of an impractical man. It was pointed out that the +reservoir had lasted a long time even in its alleged ruinous state; that +only a miracle of coincidence could make it break down that particular +afternoon of the picnic; that even if it did happen, there was no direct +proof that it would seriously flood the valley, or at best add more than +a spice of excitement to the affair. The "Red Gulch Contingent," who +WOULD be there, was quite as capable of taking care of the ladies, in +case of any accident, as any lame crank who wouldn't, but could only +croak a warning to them from a distance. A few even wished something +might happen that they might have an opportunity of showing their +superior devotion; indeed, the prospect of carrying the half-submerged +sisters, in a condition of helpless loveliness, in their arms to a place +of safety was a fascinating possibility. The warning was conspicuously +ineffective; everybody looked eagerly forward to the day and the +unchanged locality; to the greatest hopefulness and anticipation was +added the stirring of defiance, and when at last the appointed hour +had arrived, the picnic party passed down the twisting mountain trail +through the heat and glare in a fever of enthusiasm. + +It was a pretty sight to view this sparkling procession--the girls cool +and radiant in their white, blue, and yellow muslins and flying ribbons, +the "Contingent" in its cleanest ducks, and blue and red flannel shirts, +the judge white-waistcoated and panama-hatted, with a new dignity +borrowed from the previous circumstances, and three or four impressive +Chinamen bringing up the rear with hampers--as it at last debouched into +Reservoir Canyon. + +Here they dispersed themselves over the limited area, scarcely half an +acre, with the freedom of escaped school children. They were secure in +their woodland privacy. They were overlooked by no high road and +its passing teams; they were safe from accidental intrusion from the +settlement; indeed they went so far as to effect the exclusiveness of +"clique." At first they amused themselves by casting humorously defiant +eyes at the long low Ditch Reservoir, which peeped over the green wall +of the ridge, six hundred feet above them; at times they even simulated +an exaggerated terror of it, and one recognized humorist declaimed a +grotesque appeal to its forbearance, with delightful local allusions. +Others pretended to discover near a woodman's hut, among the belt of +pines at the top of the descending trail, the peeping figure of the +ridiculous and envious Sparrell. But all this was presently forgotten +in the actual festivity. Small as was the range of the valley, it +still allowed retreats during the dances for waiting couples among the +convenient laurel and manzanita bushes which flounced the mountain side. +After the dancing, old-fashioned children's games were revived with +great laughter and half-hearted and coy protests from the ladies; +notably one pastime known as "I'm a-pinin'," in which ingenious +performance the victim was obliged to stand in the centre of a circle +and publicly "pine" for a member of the opposite sex. Some hilarity was +occasioned by the mischievous Miss "Georgy" Piper declaring, when it +came to her turn, that she was "pinin'" for a look at the face of Tom +Sparrell just now! + +In this local trifling two hours passed, until the party sat down to the +long-looked for repast. It was here that the health of Judge Piper was +neatly proposed by the editor of the "Argus." The judge responded with +great dignity and some emotion. He reminded them that it had been his +humble endeavor to promote harmony--that harmony so characteristic +of American principles--in social as he had in political circles, +and particularly among the strangely constituted yet purely American +elements of frontier life. He accepted the present festivity with +its overflowing hospitalities, not in recognition of himself--("yes! +yes!")--nor of his family--(enthusiastic protests)--but of that American +principle! If at one time it seemed probable that these festivities +might be marred by the machinations of envy--(groans)--or that +harmony interrupted by the importation of low-toned material +interests--(groans)--he could say that, looking around him, he had never +before felt--er--that--Here the judge stopped short, reeled slightly +forward, caught at a camp-stool, recovered himself with an apologetic +smile, and turned inquiringly to his neighbor. + +A light laugh--instantly suppressed--at what was at first supposed to +be the effect of the "overflowing hospitality" upon the speaker himself, +went around the male circle until it suddenly appeared that half a dozen +others had started to their feet at the same time, with white faces, and +that one of the ladies had screamed. + +"What is it?" everybody was asking with interrogatory smiles. + +It was Judge Piper who replied:-- + +"A little shock of earthquake," he said blandly; "a mere thrill! I +think," he added with a faint smile, "we may say that Nature herself has +applauded our efforts in good old Californian fashion, and signified her +assent. What are you saying, Fludder?" + +"I was thinking, sir," said Fludder deferentially, in a lower voice, +"that if anything was wrong in the reservoir, this shock, you know, +might"-- + +He was interrupted by a faint crashing and crackling sound, and looking +up, beheld a good-sized boulder, evidently detached from some greater +height, strike the upland plateau at the left of the trail and bound +into the fringe of forest beside it. A slight cloud of dust marked its +course, and then lazily floated away in mid air. But it had been watched +agitatedly, and it was evident that that singular loss of nervous +balance which is apt to affect all those who go through the slightest +earthquake experience was felt by all. But some sense of humor, however, +remained. + +"Looks as if the water risks we took ain't goin' to cover earthquakes," +drawled Dick Frisney; "still that wasn't a bad shot, if we only knew +what they were aiming at." + +"Do be quiet," said Virginia Piper, her cheeks pink with excitement. +"Listen, can't you? What's that funny murmuring you hear now and then up +there?" + +"It's only the snow-wind playin' with the pines on the summit. You girls +won't allow anybody any fun but yourselves." + +But here a scream from "Georgy," who, assisted by Captain Fairfax, had +mounted a camp-stool at the mouth of the valley, attracted everybody's +attention. She was standing upright, with dilated eyes, staring at +the top of the trail. "Look!" she said excitedly, "if the trail isn't +moving!" + +Everybody faced in that direction. At the first glance it seemed indeed +as if the trail was actually moving; wriggling and undulating its +tortuous way down the mountain like a huge snake, only swollen to twice +its usual size. But the second glance showed it to be no longer a trail +but a channel of water, whose stream, lifted in a bore-like wall four or +five feet high, was plunging down into the devoted valley. + +For an instant they were unable to comprehend even the nature of the +catastrophe. The reservoir was directly over their heads; the bursting +of its wall they had imagined would naturally bring down the water in a +dozen trickling streams or falls over the cliff above them and along the +flanks of the mountain. But that its suddenly liberated volume should +overflow the upland beyond and then descend in a pent-up flood by their +own trail and their only avenue of escape, had been beyond their wildest +fancy. + +They met this smiting truth with that characteristic short laugh +with which the American usually receives the blow of Fate or the +unexpected--as if he recognized only the absurdity of the situation. +Then they ran to the women, collected them together, and dragged them +to vantages of fancied security among the bushes which flounced the long +skirts of the mountain walls. But I leave this part of the description +to the characteristic language of one of the party:-- + +"When the flood struck us, it did not seem to take any stock of us in +particular, but laid itself out to 'go for' that picnic for all it +was worth! It wiped it off the face of the earth in about twenty-five +seconds! It first made a clean break from stem to stern, carrying +everything along with it. The first thing I saw was old Judge Piper, +puttin' on his best licks to get away from a big can of strawberry ice +cream that was trundling after him and trying to empty itself on his +collar, whenever a bigger wave lifted it. He was followed by what was +left of the brass band; the big drum just humpin' itself to keep +abreast o' the ice cream, mixed up with camp-stools, music-stands, a few +Chinamen, and then what they call in them big San Francisco processions +'citizens generally.' The hull thing swept up the canyon inside o' +thirty seconds. Then, what Captain Fairfax called 'the reflex action in +the laws o' motion' happened, and darned if the hull blamed procession +didn't sweep back again--this time all the heavy artillery, such as +camp-kettles, lager beer kegs, bottles, glasses, and crockery that was +left behind takin' the lead now, and Judge Piper and that ice cream can +bringin' up the rear. As the jedge passed us the second time, we noticed +that that ice cream can--hevin' swallowed water--was kinder losing its +wind, and we encouraged the old man by shoutin' out, 'Five to one on +him!' And then, you wouldn't believe what followed. Why, darn my skin, +when that 'reflex' met the current at the other end, it just swirled +around again in what Captain Fairfax called the 'centrifugal curve,' and +just went round and round the canyon like ez when yer washin' the dirt +out o' a prospectin' pan--every now and then washin' some one of the +boys that was in it, like scum, up ag'in the banks. + +"We managed in this way to snake out the judge, jest ez he was sailin' +round on the home stretch, passin' the quarter post two lengths ahead +o' the can. A good deal o' the ice cream had washed away, but it took +us ten minutes to shake the cracked ice and powdered salt out o' the +old man's clothes, and warm him up again in the laurel bush where he +was clinging. This sort o' 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' kep' +on until most o' the humans was got out, and only the furniture o' +the picnic was left in the race. Then it got kinder mixed up, and went +sloshin' round here and there, ez the water kep' comin' down by the +trail. Then Lulu Piper, what I was holdin' up all the time in a laurel +bush, gets an idea, for all she was wet and draggled; and ez the things +went bobbin' round, she calls out the figures o' a cotillon to 'em. +'Two camp-stools forward.' 'Sashay and back to your places.' 'Change +partners.' 'Hands all round.' + +"She was clear grit, you bet! And the joke caught on and the other +girls jined in, and it kinder cheered 'em, for they was wantin' it. Then +Fludder allowed to pacify 'em by sayin' he just figured up the size o' +the reservoir and the size o' the canyon, and he kalkilated that the +cube was about ekal, and the canyon couldn't flood any more. And then +Lulu--who was peart as a jay and couldn't be fooled--speaks up and says, +'What's the matter with the ditch, Dick?' + +"Lord! then we knew that she knew the worst; for of course all the water +in the ditch itself--fifty miles of it!--was drainin' now into that +reservoir and was bound to come down to the canyon." + +It was at this point that the situation became really desperate, for +they had now crawled up the steep sides as far as the bushes afforded +foothold, and the water was still rising. The chatter of the girls +ceased, there were long silences, in which the men discussed the wildest +plans, and proposed to tear their shirts into strips to make ropes to +support the girls by sticks driven into the mountain side. It was in +one of those intervals that the distinct strokes of a woodman's axe were +heard high on the upland at the point where the trail descended to the +canyon. Every ear was alert, but only those on one side of the canyon +could get a fair view of the spot. This was the good fortune of Captain +Fairfax and Georgy Piper, who had climbed to the highest bush on that +side, and were now standing up, gazing excitedly in that direction. + +"Some one is cutting down a tree at the head of the trail," shouted +Fairfax. The response and joyful explanation, "for a dam across the +trail," was on everybody's lips at the same time. + +But the strokes of the axe were slow and painfully intermittent. +Impatience burst out. + +"Yell to him to hurry up! Why haven't they brought two men?" + +"It's only one man," shouted the captain, "and he seems to be a cripple. +By Jiminy!--it is--yes!--it's Tom Sparrell!" + +There was a dead silence. Then, I grieve to say, shame and its twin +brother rage took possession of their weak humanity. Oh, yes! It was all +of a piece! Why in the name of Folly hadn't he sent for an able-bodied +man. Were they to be drowned through his cranky obstinacy? + +The blows still went on slowly. Presently, however, they seemed to +alternate with other blows--but alas! they were slower, and if possible +feebler! + +"Have they got another cripple to work?" roared the Contingent in one +furious voice. + +"No--it's a woman--a little one--yes! a girl. Hello! Why, sure as you +live, it's Delaware!" + +A spontaneous cheer burst from the Contingent, partly as a rebuke to +Sparrell, I think, partly from some shame over their previous rage. He +could take it as he liked. + +Still the blows went on distressingly slow. The girls were hoisted +on the men's shoulders; the men were half submerged. Then there was a +painful pause; then a crumbling crash. Another cheer went up from the +canyon. + +"It's down! straight across the trail," shouted Fairfax, "and a part of +the bank on the top of it." + +There was another moment of suspense. Would it hold or be carried away +by the momentum of the flood? It held! In a few moments Fairfax again +gave voice to the cheering news that the flow had stopped and the +submerged trail was reappearing. In twenty minutes it was clear--a muddy +river bed, but possible of ascent! Of course there was no diminution of +the water in the canyon, which had no outlet, yet it now was possible +for the party to swing from bush to bush along the mountain side until +the foot of the trail--no longer an opposing one--was reached. There +were some missteps and mishaps,--flounderings in the water, and some +dangerous rescues,--but in half an hour the whole concourse stood +upon the trail and commenced the ascent. It was a slow, difficult, and +lugubrious procession--I fear not the best-tempered one, now that the +stimulus of danger and chivalry was past. When they reached the dam made +by the fallen tree, although they were obliged to make a long detour to +avoid its steep sides, they could see how successfully it had diverted +the current to a declivity on the other side. + +But strangely enough they were greeted by nothing else! Sparrell and +the youngest Miss Piper were gone; and when they at last reached the +highroad, they were astounded to hear from a passing teamster that no +one in the settlement knew anything of the disaster! + +This was the last drop in their cup of bitterness! They who had expected +that the settlement was waiting breathlessly for their rescue, who +anticipated that they would be welcomed as heroes, were obliged to +meet the ill-concealed amusement of passengers and friends at their +dishevelled and bedraggled appearance, which suggested only the +blundering mishaps of an ordinary summer outing! "Boatin' in the +reservoir, and fell in?" "Playing at canal-boat in the Ditch?" were some +of the cheerful hypotheses. The fleeting sense of gratitude they had +felt for their deliverers was dissipated by the time they had reached +their homes, and their rancor increased by the information that when the +earthquake occurred Mr. Tom Sparrell and Miss Delaware were enjoying +a "pasear" in the forest--he having a half-holiday by virtue of +the festival--and that the earthquake had revived his fears of a +catastrophe. The two had procured axes in the woodman's hut and did what +they thought was necessary to relieve the situation of the picnickers. +But the very modesty of this account of their own performance had the +effect of belittling the catastrophe itself, and the picnickers' report +of their exceeding peril was received with incredulous laughter. + +For the first time in the history of Red Gulch there was a serious +division between the Piper family, supported by the Contingent, and the +rest of the settlement. Tom Sparrell's warning was remembered by +the latter, and the ingratitude of the picnickers to their rescuers +commented upon; the actual calamity to the reservoir was more or less +attributed to the imprudent and reckless contiguity of the revelers on +that day, and there were not wanting those who referred the accident +itself to the machinations of the scheming Ditch Director Piper! + +It was said that there was a stormy scene in the Piper household that +evening. The judge had demanded that Delaware should break off her +acquaintance with Sparrell, and she had refused; the judge had demanded +of Sparrell's employer that he should discharge him, and had been met +with the astounding information that Sparrell was already a silent +partner in the concern. At this revelation Judge Piper was alarmed; +while he might object to a clerk who could not support a wife, as a +consistent democrat he could not oppose a fairly prosperous tradesman. +A final appeal was made to Delaware; she was implored to consider the +situation of her sisters, who had all made more ambitious marriages +or were about to make them. Why should she now degrade the family by +marrying a country storekeeper? + +It is said that here the youngest Miss Piper made a memorable reply, and +a revelation the truth of which was never gainsaid:-- + +"You all wanter know why I'm going to marry Tom Sparrell?" she queried, +standing up and facing the whole family circle. + +"Yes." + +"Why I prefer him to the hull caboodle that you girls have married or +are going to marry?" she continued, meditatively biting the end of her +braid. + +"Yes." + +"Well, he's the only man of the whole lot that hasn't proposed to me +first." + +It is presumed that Sparrell made good the omission, or that the family +were glad to get rid of her, for they were married that autumn. And +really a later comparison of the family records shows that while Captain +Fairfax remained "Captain Fairfax," and the other sons-in-law did not +advance proportionately in standing or riches, the lame storekeeper of +Red Gulch became the Hon. Senator Tom Sparrell. + + + + +A WIDOW OF THE SANTA ANA VALLEY + + +The Widow Wade was standing at her bedroom window staring out, in that +vague instinct which compels humanity in moments of doubt and perplexity +to seek this change of observation or superior illumination. Not that +Mrs. Wade's disturbance was of a serious character. She had passed the +acute stage of widowhood by at least two years, and the slight redness +of her soft eyelids as well as the droop of her pretty mouth were +merely the recognized outward and visible signs of the grievously minded +religious community in which she lived. The mourning she still wore +was also partly in conformity with the sad-colored garments of +her neighbors, and the necessities of the rainy season. She was in +comfortable circumstances, the mistress of a large ranch in the valley, +which had lately become more valuable by the extension of a wagon road +through its centre. She was simply worrying whether she should go to +a "sociable" ending with "a dance"--a daring innovation of some +strangers--at the new hotel, or continue to eschew such follies, that +were, according to local belief, unsuited to "a vale of tears." + +Indeed at this moment the prospect she gazed abstractedly upon seemed +to justify that lugubrious description. The Santa Ana Valley--a long +monotonous level--was dimly visible through moving curtains of rain or +veils of mist, to the black mourning edge of the horizon, and had looked +like that for months. The valley--in some remote epoch an arm of the San +Francisco Bay--every rainy season seemed to be trying to revert to its +original condition, and, long after the early spring had laid on its +liberal color in strips, bands, and patches of blue and yellow, the +blossoms of mustard and lupine glistened like wet paint. Nevertheless on +that rich alluvial soil Nature's tears seemed only to fatten the +widow's acres and increase her crops. Her neighbors, too, were equally +prosperous. Yet for six months of the year the recognized expression +of Santa Ana was one of sadness, and for the other six months--of +resignation. Mrs. Wade had yielded early to this influence, as she had +to others, in the weakness of her gentle nature, and partly as it was +more becoming the singular tragedy that had made her a widow. + +The late Mr. Wade had been found dead with a bullet through his head in +a secluded part of the road over Heavy Tree Hill in Sonora County. Near +him lay two other bodies, one afterwards identified as John Stubbs, a +resident of the Hill, and probably a traveling companion of Wade's, +and the other a noted desperado and highwayman, still masked, as at the +moment of the attack. Wade and his companion had probably sold their +lives dearly, and against odds, for another mask was found on the +ground, indicating that the attack was not single-handed, and as +Wade's body had not yet been rifled, it was evident that the remaining +highwayman had fled in haste. The hue and cry had been given by +apparently the only one of the travelers who escaped, but as he was +hastening to take the overland coach to the East at the time, his +testimony could not be submitted to the coroner's deliberation. The +facts, however, were sufficiently plain for a verdict of willful murder +against the highwayman, although it was believed that the absent witness +had basely deserted his companion and left him to his fate, or, as was +suggested by others, that he might even have been an accomplice. It +was this circumstance which protracted comment on the incident, and +the sufferings of the widow, far beyond that rapid obliteration which +usually overtook such affairs in the feverish haste of the early days. +It caused her to remove to Santa Ana, where her old father had feebly +ranched a "quarter section" in the valley. He survived her husband +only a few months, leaving her the property, and once more in mourning. +Perhaps this continuity of woe endeared her to a neighborhood where +distinctive ravages of diphtheria or scarlet fever gave a kind of social +preeminence to any household, and she was so sympathetically assisted by +her neighbors in the management of the ranch that, from an unkempt +and wasteful wilderness, it became paying property. The slim, willowy +figure, soft red-lidded eyes, and deep crape of "Sister Wade" at church +or prayer-meeting was grateful to the soul of these gloomy worshipers, +and in time she herself found that the arm of these dyspeptics of mind +and body was nevertheless strong and sustaining. Small wonder that she +should hesitate to-night about plunging into inconsistent, even though +trifling, frivolities. + +But apart from this superficial reason, there was another instinctive +one deep down in the recesses of Mrs. Wade's timid heart which she had +kept to herself, and indeed would have tearfully resented had it been +offered by another. The late Mr. Wade had been, in fact, a singular +example of this kind of frivolous existence carried to a man-like +excess. Besides being a patron of amusements, Mr. Wade gambled, raced, +and drank. He was often home late, and sometimes not at all. Not that +this conduct was exceptional in the "roaring days" of Heavy Tree Hill, +but it had given Mrs. Wade perhaps an undue preference for a less +certain, even if a more serious life. His tragic death was, of course, +a kind of martyrdom, which exalted him in the feminine mind to a saintly +memory; yet Mrs. Wade was not without a certain relief in that. It +was voiced, perhaps crudely, by the widow of Abner Drake in a visit of +condolence to the tearful Mrs. Wade a few days after Wade's death. "It's +a vale o' sorrow, Mrs. Wade," said the sympathizer, "but it has its ups +and downs, and I recken ye'll be feelin' soon pretty much as I did about +Abner when HE was took. It was mighty soothin' and comfortin' to feel +that whatever might happen now, I always knew just whar Abner was +passin' his nights." Poor slim Mrs. Wade had no disquieting sense of +humor to interfere with her reception of this large truth, and she +accepted it with a burst of reminiscent tears. + +A long volleying shower had just passed down the level landscape, and +was followed by a rolling mist from the warm saturated soil like the +smoke of the discharge. Through it she could see a faint lightening +of the hidden sun, again darkening through a sudden onset of rain, and +changing as with her conflicting doubts and resolutions. Thus gazing, +she was vaguely conscious of an addition to the landscape in the shape +of a man who was passing down the road with a pack on his back like +the tramping "prospectors" she had often seen at Heavy Tree Hill. That +memory apparently settled her vacillating mind; she determined she +would NOT go to the dance. But as she was turning away from the window +a second figure, a horseman, appeared in another direction by a +cross-road, a shorter cut through her domain. This she had no difficulty +in recognizing as one of the strangers who were getting up the dance. +She had noticed him at church on the previous Sunday. As he passed the +house he appeared to be gazing at it so earnestly that she drew back +from the window lest she should be seen. And then, for no reason +whatever, she changed her mind once more, and resolved to go to the +dance. Gravely announcing this fact to the wife of her superintendent +who kept house with her in her loneliness, she thought nothing more +about it. She should go in her mourning, with perhaps the addition of a +white collar and frill. + +It was evident, however, that Santa Ana thought a good deal more than +she did of this new idea, which seemed a part of the innovation already +begun by the building up of the new hotel. It was argued by some that +as the new church and new schoolhouse had been opened by prayer, it was +only natural that a lighter festivity should inaugurate the opening of +the hotel. "I reckon that dancin' is about the next thing to travelin' +for gettin' up an appetite for refreshments, and that's what the +landlord is kalkilatin' to sarve," was the remark of a gloomy but +practical citizen on the veranda of "The Valley Emporium." "That's so," +rejoined a bystander; "and I notice on that last box o' pills I got for +chills the directions say that a little 'agreeable exercise'--not too +violent--is a great assistance to the working o' the pills." + +"I reckon that that Mr. Brooks who's down here lookin' arter mill +property, got up the dance. He's bin round town canvassin' all the women +folks and drummin' up likely gals for it. They say he actooally sent an +invite to the Widder Wade," remarked another lounger. "Gosh! he's got +cheek!" + +"Well, gentlemen," said the proprietor judicially, "while we don't +intend to hev any minin' camp fandangos or 'Frisco falals round Santa +Any--(Santa Ana was proud of its simple agricultural virtues)--I ain't +so hard-shelled as not to give new things a fair trial. And, after all, +it's the women folk that has the say about it. Why, there's old Miss +Ford sez she hasn't kicked a fut sence she left Mizoori, but wouldn't +mind trying it agin. Ez to Brooks takin' that trouble--well, I suppose +it's along o' his bein' HEALTHY!" He heaved a deep dyspeptic sigh, which +was faintly echoed by the others. "Why, look at him now, ridin' round +on that black hoss o' his, in the wet since daylight and not carin' for +blind chills or rhumatiz!" + +He was looking at a serape-draped horseman, the one the widow had seen +on the previous night, who was now cantering slowly up the street. +Seeing the group on the veranda, he rode up, threw himself lightly from +his saddle, and joined them. He was an alert, determined, good-looking +fellow of about thirty-five, whose smooth, smiling face hardly commended +itself to Santa Ana, though his eyes were distinctly sympathetic. He +glanced at the depressed group around him and became ominously serious. + +"When did it happen?" he asked gravely. + +"What happen?" said the nearest bystander. + +"The Funeral, Flood, Fight, or Fire. Which of the four F's was it?" + +"What are ye talkin' about?" said the proprietor stiffly, scenting some +dangerous humor. + +"YOU," said Brooks promptly. "You're all standing here, croaking like +crows, this fine morning. I passed YOUR farm, Johnson, not an hour ago; +the wheat just climbing out of the black adobe mud as thick as rows of +pins on paper--what have YOU to grumble at? I saw YOUR stock, Briggs, +over on Two-Mile Bottom, waddling along, fat as the adobe they were +sticking in, their coats shining like fresh paint--what's the matter +with YOU? And," turning to the proprietor, "there's YOUR shed, Saunders, +over on the creek, just bursting with last year's grain that you know +has gone up two hundred per cent. since you bought it at a bargain--what +are YOU growling at? It's enough to provoke a fire or a famine to hear +you groaning--and take care it don't, some day, as a lesson to you." + +All this was so perfectly true of the prosperous burghers that they +could not for a moment reply. But Briggs had recourse to what he +believed to be a retaliatory taunt. + +"I heard you've been askin' Widow Wade to come to your dance," he said, +with a wink at the others. "Of course she said 'Yes.'" + +"Of course she did," returned Brooks coolly. "I've just got her note." + +"What?" ejaculated the three men together. "Mrs. Wade comin'?" + +"Certainly! Why shouldn't she? And it would do YOU good to come too, +and shake the limp dampness out o' you," returned Brooks, as he quietly +remounted his horse and cantered away. + +"Darned ef I don't think he's got his eye on the widder," said Johnson +faintly. + +"Or the quarter section," added Briggs gloomily. + +For all that, the eventful evening came, with many lights in the +staring, undraped windows of the hotel, coldly bright bunting on the +still damp walls of the long dining-room, and a gentle downpour from the +hidden skies above. A close carryall was especially selected to bring +Mrs. Wade and her housekeeper. The widow arrived, looking a little +slimmer than usual in her closely buttoned black dress, white collar and +cuffs, very glistening in eye and in hair,--whose glossy black ringlets +were perhaps more elaborately arranged than was her custom,--and with +a faint coming and going of color, due perhaps to her agitation at this +tentative reentering into worldly life, which was nevertheless quite +virginal in effect. A vague solemnity pervaded the introductory +proceedings, and a singular want of sociability was visible in the +"sociable" part of the entertainment. People talked in whispers or with +that grave precision which indicates good manners in rural communities; +conversed painfully with other people whom they did not want to talk to +rather than appear to be alone, or rushed aimlessly together like water +drops, and then floated in broken, adherent masses over the floor. The +widow became a helpless, religious centre of deacons and Sunday-school +teachers, which Brooks, untiring, yet fruitless, in his attempt to +produce gayety, tried in vain to break. To this gloom the untried +dangers of the impending dance, duly prefigured by a lonely cottage +piano and two violins in a desert of expanse, added a nervous +chill. When at last the music struck up--somewhat hesitatingly and +protestingly, from the circumstance that the player was the church +organist, and fumbled mechanically for his stops, the attempt to make +up a cotillon set was left to the heroic Brooks. Yet he barely escaped +disaster when, in posing the couples, he incautiously begged them to +look a little less as if they were waiting for the coffin to be borne +down the aisle between them, and was rewarded by a burst of tears from +Mrs. Johnson, who had lost a child two years before, and who had to +be led away, while her place in the set was taken by another. Yet the +cotillon passed off; a Spanish dance succeeded; "Moneymusk," with the +Virginia Reel, put a slight intoxicating vibration into the air, and +healthy youth at last asserted itself in a score of freckled but buxom +girls in white muslin, with romping figures and laughter, at the lower +end of the room. Still a rigid decorum reigned among the elder dancers, +and the figures were called out in grave formality, as if, to Brooks's +fancy, they were hymns given from the pulpit, until at the close of +the set, in half-real, half-mock despair, he turned desperately to Mrs. +Wade, his partner:-- + +"Do you waltz?" + +Mrs. Wade hesitated. She HAD, before marriage, and was a good waltzer. +"I do," she said timidly, "but do you think they"-- + +But before the poor widow could formulate her fears as to the reception +of "round dances," Brooks had darted to the piano, and the next moment +she heard with a "fearful joy" the opening bars of a waltz. It was an +old Julien waltz, fresh still in the fifties, daring, provocative +to foot, swamping to intellect, arresting to judgment, irresistible, +supreme! Before Mrs. Wade could protest, Brooks's arm had gathered up +her slim figure, and with one quick backward sweep and swirl they were +off! The floor was cleared for them in a sudden bewilderment of alarm--a +suspense of burning curiosity. The widow's little feet tripped quickly, +her long black skirt swung out; as she turned the corner there was +not only a sudden revelation of her pretty ankles, but, what was more +startling, a dazzling flash of frilled and laced petticoat, which +at once convinced every woman in the room that the act had been +premeditated for days! Yet even that criticism was presently forgotten +in the pervading intoxication of the music and the movement. The younger +people fell into it with wild rompings, whirlings, and clasping of hands +and waists. And stranger than all, a corybantic enthusiasm seized upon +the emotionally religious, and those priests and priestesses of Cybele +who were famous for their frenzy and passion in camp-meeting devotions +seemed to find an equal expression that night in the waltz. And when, +flushed and panting, Mrs. Wade at last halted on the arm of her partner, +they were nearly knocked over by the revolving Johnson and Mrs. Stubbs +in a whirl of gloomy exultation! Deacons and Sunday-school teachers +waltzed together until the long room shook, and the very bunting on +the walls waved and fluttered with the gyrations of those religious +dervishes. Nobody knew--nobody cared how long this frenzy lasted--it +ceased only with the collapse of the musicians. Then, with much vague +bewilderment, inward trepidation, awkward and incoherent partings, +everybody went dazedly home; there was no other dancing after that--the +waltz was the one event of the festival and of the history of Santa Ana. +And later that night, when the timid Mrs. Wade, in the seclusion of her +own room and the disrobing of her slim figure, glanced at her spotless +frilled and laced petticoat lying on a chair, a faint smile--the first +of her widowhood--curved the corners of her pretty mouth. + +A week of ominous silence regarding the festival succeeded in Santa +Ana. The local paper gave the fullest particulars of the opening of the +hotel, but contented itself with saying: "The entertainment concluded +with a dance." Mr. Brooks, who felt himself compelled to call upon his +late charming partner twice during the week, characteristically soothed +her anxieties as to the result. "The fact of it is, Mrs. Wade, there's +really nobody in particular to blame--and that's what gets them. They're +all mixed up in it, deacons and Sunday-school teachers; and when +old Johnson tried to be nasty the other evening and hoped you hadn't +suffered from your exertions that night, I told him you hadn't quite +recovered yet from the physical shock of having been run into by him and +Mrs. Stubbs, but that, you being a lady, you didn't tell just how you +felt at the exhibition he and she made of themselves. That shut him up." + +"But you shouldn't have said that," said Mrs. Wade with a frightened +little smile. + +"No matter," returned Brooks cheerfully. "I'll take the blame of it with +the others. You see they'll have to have a scapegoat--and I'm just the +man, for I got up the dance! And as I'm going away, I suppose I shall +bear off the sin with me into the wilderness." + +"You're going away?" repeated Mrs. Wade in more genuine concern. + +"Not for long," returned Brooks laughingly. "I came here to look up a +mill site, and I've found it. Meantime I think I've opened their eyes." + +"You have opened mine," said the widow with timid frankness. + +They were soft pretty eyes when opened, in spite of their heavy red +lids, and Mr. Brooks thought that Santa Ana would be no worse if they +remained open. Possibly he looked it, for Mrs. Wade said hurriedly, "I +mean--that is--I've been thinking that life needn't ALWAYS be as gloomy +as we make it here. And even HERE, you know, Mr. Brooks, we have six +months' sunshine--though we always forget it in the rainy season." + +"That's so," said Brooks cheerfully. "I once lost a heap of money +through my own foolishness, and I've managed to forget it, and I even +reckon to get it back again out of Santa Ana if my mill speculation +holds good. So good-by, Mrs. Wade--but not for long." He shook her +hand frankly and departed, leaving the widow conscious of a certain +sympathetic confidence and a little grateful for--she knew not what. + +This feeling remained with her most of the afternoon, and even imparted +a certain gayety to her spirits, to the extent of causing her to hum +softly to herself; the air being oddly enough the Julien Waltz. And +when, later in the day, the shadows were closing in with the rain, +word was brought to her that a stranger wished to see her in the +sitting-room, she carried a less mournful mind to this function of her +existence. For Mrs. Wade was accustomed to give audience to traveling +agents, tradesmen, working-hands and servants, as chatelaine of her +ranch, and the occasion was not novel. Yet on entering the room, which +she used partly as an office, she found some difficulty in classifying +the stranger, who at first glance reminded her of the tramping miner +she had seen that night from her window. He was rather incongruously +dressed, some articles of his apparel being finer than others; he wore +a diamond pin in a scarf folded over a rough "hickory" shirt; his light +trousers were tucked in common mining boots that bore stains of travel +and a suggestion that he had slept in his clothes. What she could see +of his unshaven face in that uncertain light expressed a kind of dogged +concentration, overlaid by an assumption of ease. He got up as she came +in, and with a slight "How do, ma'am," shut the door behind her and +glanced furtively around the room. + +"What I've got to say to ye, Mrs. Wade,--as I reckon you be,--is +strictly private and confidential! Why, ye'll see afore I get through. +But I thought I might just as well caution ye agin our being disturbed." + +Overcoming a slight instinct of repulsion, Mrs. Wade returned, "You can +speak to me here; no one will interrupt you--unless I call them," she +added with a little feminine caution. + +"And I reckon ye won't do that," he said with a grim smile. "You are the +widow o' Pulaski Wade, late o' Heavy Tree Hill, I reckon?" + +"I am," said Mrs. Wade. + +"And your husband's buried up thar in the graveyard, with a monument +over him setting forth his virtues ez a Christian and a square man and a +high-minded citizen? And that he was foully murdered by highwaymen?" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Wade, "that is the inscription." + +"Well, ma'am, a bigger pack o' lies never was cut on stone!" + +Mrs. Wade rose, half in indignation, half in terror. + +"Keep your sittin'," said the stranger, with a warning wave of his +hand. "Wait till I'm through, and then you call in the hull State o' +Californy, ef ye want." + +The stranger's manner was so doggedly confident that Mrs. Wade sank +back tremblingly in her chair. The man put his slouch hat on his knee, +twirled it round once or twice, and then said with the same stubborn +deliberation:-- + +"The highwayman in that business was your husband--Pulaski Wade--and his +gang, and he was killed by one o' the men he was robbin'. Ye see, +ma'am, it used to be your husband's little game to rope in three or four +strangers in a poker deal at Spanish Jim's saloon--I see you've heard o' +the place," he interpolated as Mrs. Wade drew back suddenly--"and when +he couldn't clean 'em out in that way, or they showed a little more +money than they played, he'd lay for 'em with his gang in a lone part of +the trail, and go through them like any road agent. That's what he did +that night--and that's how he got killed." + +"How do you know this?" said Mrs. Wade, with quivering lips. + +"I was one o' the men he went through before he was killed. And I'd hev +got my money back, but the rest o' the gang came up, and I got away jest +in time to save my life and nothin' else. Ye might remember thar was one +man got away and giv' the alarm, but he was goin' on to the States by +the overland coach that night and couldn't stay to be a witness. I was +that man. I had paid my passage through, and I couldn't lose THAT too +with my other money, so I went." + +Mrs. Wade sat stunned. She remembered the missing witness, and how she +had longed to see the man who was last with her husband; she +remembered Spanish Jim's saloon--his well-known haunt; his frequent and +unaccountable absences, the sudden influx of money which he always said +he had won at cards; the diamond ring he had given her as the result of +"a bet;" the forgotten recurrence of other robberies by a secret masked +gang; a hundred other things that had worried her, instinctively, +vaguely. She knew now, too, the meaning of the unrest that had driven +her from Heavy Tree Hill--the strange unformulated fears that had +haunted her even here. Yet with all this she felt, too, her present +weakness--knew that this man had taken her at a disadvantage, that she +ought to indignantly assert herself, deny everything, demand proof, and +brand him a slanderer! + +"How did--you--know it was my husband?" she stammered. + +"His mask fell off in the fight; you know another mask was found--it +was HIS. I saw him as plainly as I see him there!" he pointed to a +daguerreotype of her husband which stood upon her desk. + +Mrs. Wade could only stare vacantly, hopelessly. After a pause the man +continued in a less aggressive manner and more confidential tone, which, +however, only increased her terror. "I ain't sayin' that YOU knowed +anything about this, ma'am, and whatever other folks might say when THEY +know of it, I'll allers say that you didn't." + +"What, then, did you come here for?" said the widow desperately. + +"What do I come here for?" repeated the man grimly, looking around the +room; "what did I come to this yer comfortable home--this yer big ranch +and to a rich woman like yourself for? Well, Mrs. Wade, I come to get +the six hundred dollars your husband robbed me of, that's all! I ain't +askin' more! I ain't askin' interest! I ain't askin' compensation for +havin' to run for my life--and," again looking grimly round the walls, +"I ain't askin' more than you will give--or is my rights." + +"But this house never was his; it was my father's," gasped Mrs. Wade; +"you have no right"-- + +"Mebbe 'yes' and mebbe 'no,' Mrs. Wade," interrupted the man, with +a wave of his hat; "but how about them two checks to bearer for two +hundred dollars each found among your husband's effects, and collected +by your lawyer for you--MY CHECKS, Mrs. Wade?" + +A wave of dreadful recollection overwhelmed her. She remembered the +checks found upon her husband's body, known only to her and her lawyer, +believed to be gambling gains, and collected at once under his legal +advice. Yet she made one more desperate effort in spite of the instinct +that told her he was speaking the truth. + +"But you shall have to prove it--before witnesses." + +"Do you WANT me to prove it before witnesses?" said the man, coming +nearer her. "Do you want to take my word and keep it between ourselves, +or do you want to call in your superintendent and his men, and all +Santy Any, to hear me prove your husband was a highwayman, thief, and +murderer? Do you want to knock over that monument on Heavy Tree Hill, +and upset your standing here among the deacons and elders? Do you want +to do all this and be forced, even by your neighbors, to pay me in the +end, as you will? Ef you do, call in your witnesses now and let's have +it over. Mebbe it would look better ef I got the money out of YOUR +FRIENDS than ye--a woman! P'raps you're right!" + +He made a step towards the door, but she stopped him. + +"No! no! wait! It's a large sum--I haven't it with me," she stammered, +thoroughly beaten. + +"Ye kin get it." + +"Give me time!" she implored. "Look! I'll give you a hundred down +now,--all I have here,--the rest another time!" She nervously opened a +drawer of her desk and taking out a buckskin bag of gold thrust it in +his hand. "There! go away now!" She lifted her thin hands despairingly +to her head. "Go! do!" + +The man seemed struck by her manner. "I don't want to be hard on +a woman," he said slowly. "I'll go now and come back again at nine +to-night. You can git the money, or what's as good, a check to bearer, +by then. And ef ye'll take my advice, you won't ask no advice from +others, ef you want to keep your secret. Just now it's safe with me; I'm +a square man, ef I seem to be a hard one." He made a gesture as if to +take her hand, but as she drew shrinkingly away, he changed it to an +awkward bow, and the next moment was gone. + +She started to her feet, but the unwonted strain upon her nerves and +frail body had been greater than she knew. She made a step forward, felt +the room whirl round her and then seem to collapse beneath her feet, +and, clutching at her chair, sank back into it, fainting. + +How long she lay there she never knew. She was at last conscious of some +one bending over her, and a voice--the voice of Mr. Brooks--in her ear, +saying, "I beg your pardon; you seem ill. Shall I call some one?" + +"No!" she gasped, quickly recovering herself with an effort, and staring +round her. "Where is--when did you come in?" + +"Only this moment. I was leaving tonight, sooner than I expected, and +thought I'd say good-by. They told me that you had been engaged with a +stranger, but he had just gone. I beg your pardon--I see you are ill. I +won't detain you any longer." + +"No! no! don't go! I am better--better," she said feverishly. As she +glanced at his strong and sympathetic face a wild idea seized her. He +was a stranger here, an alien to these people, like herself. The advice +that she dare not seek from others, from her half-estranged religious +friends, from even her superintendent and his wife, dare she ask from +him? Perhaps he saw this frightened doubt, this imploring appeal, in her +eyes, for he said gently, "Is it anything I can do for you?" + +"Yes," she said, with the sudden desperation of weakness; "I want you to +keep a secret." + +"Yours?--yes!" he said promptly. + +Whereat poor Mrs. Wade instantly burst into tears. Then, amidst her +sobs, she told him of the stranger's visit, of his terrible accusations, +of his demands, his expected return, and her own utter helplessness. To +her terror, as she went on she saw a singular change in his kind face; +he was following her with hard, eager intensity. She had half hoped, +even through her fateful instincts, that he might have laughed, manlike, +at her fears, or pooh-poohed the whole thing. But he did not. "You say +he positively recognized your husband?" he repeated quickly. + +"Yes, yes!" sobbed the widow, "and knew that daguerreotype!" she pointed +to the desk. + +Brooks turned quickly in that direction. Luckily his back was towards +her, and she could not see his face, and the quick, startled look that +came into his eyes. But when they again met hers, it was gone, and even +their eager intensity had changed to a gentle commiseration. "You have +only his word for it, Mrs. Wade," he said gently, "and in telling your +secret to another, you have shorn the rascal of half his power over you. +And he knew it. Now, dismiss the matter from your mind and leave it all +to me. I will be here a few minutes before nine--AND ALONE IN THIS ROOM. +Let your visitor be shown in here, and don't let us be disturbed. Don't +be alarmed," he added with a faint twinkle in his eye, "there will be no +fuss and no exposure!" + + +It lacked a few minutes of nine when Mr. Brooks was ushered into the +sitting-room. As soon as he was alone he quietly examined the door and +the windows, and having satisfied himself, took his seat in a chair +casually placed behind the door. Presently he heard the sound of voices +and a heavy footstep in the passage. He lightly felt his waistcoat +pocket--it contained a pretty little weapon of power and precision, with +a barrel scarcely two inches long. + +The door opened, and the person outside entered the room. In an instant +Brooks had shut the door and locked it behind him. The man turned +fiercely, but was faced by Brooks quietly, with one finger calmly hooked +in his waistcoat pocket. The man slightly recoiled from him--not as much +from fear as from some vague stupefaction. "What's that for? What's your +little game?" he said half contemptuously. + +"No game at all," returned Brooks coolly. "You came here to sell a +secret. I don't propose to have it given away first to any listener." + +"YOU don't--who are YOU?" + +"That's a queer question to ask of the man you are trying to +personate--but I don't wonder! You're doing it d----d badly." + +"Personate--YOU?" said the stranger, with staring eyes. + +"Yes, ME," said Brooks quietly. "I am the only man who escaped from the +robbery that night at Heavy Tree Hill and who went home by the Overland +Coach." + +The stranger stared, but recovered himself with a coarse laugh. "Oh, +well! we're on the same lay, it appears! Both after the widow--afore we +show up her husband." + +"Not exactly," said Brooks, with his eyes fixed intently on the +stranger. "You are here to denounce a highwayman who is DEAD and escaped +justice. I am here to denounce one who is LIVING!--Stop! drop your hand; +it's no use. You thought you had to deal only with a woman to-night, and +your revolver isn't quite handy enough. There! down!--down! So! That'll +do." + +"You can't prove it," said the man hoarsely. + +"Fool! In your story to that woman you have given yourself away. There +were but two travelers attacked by the highwaymen. One was killed--I am +the other. Where do YOU come in? What witness can you be--except as +the highwayman that you are? Who is left to identify Wade but--his +accomplice!" + +The man's suddenly whitened face made his unshaven beard seem to bristle +over his face like some wild animal's. "Well, ef you kalkilate to blow +me, you've got to blow Wade and his widder too. Jest you remember that," +he said whiningly. + +"I've thought of that," said Brooks coolly, "and I calculate that to +prevent it is worth about that hundred dollars you got from that +poor woman--and no more! Now, sit down at that table, and write as I +dictate." + +The man looked at him in wonder, but obeyed. + +"Write," said Brooks, "'I hereby certify that my accusations against the +late Pulaski Wade of Heavy Tree Hill are erroneous and groundless, and +the result of mistaken identity, especially in regard to any complicity +of his in the robbery of John Stubbs, deceased, and Henry Brooks, at +Heavy Tree Hill, on the night of the 13th August, 1854.'" + +The man looked up with a repulsive smile. "Who's the fool now, Cap'n? +What's become of your hold on the widder, now?" + +"Write!" said Brooks fiercely. + +The sound of a pen hurriedly scratching paper followed this first +outburst of the quiet Brooks. + +"Sign it," said Brooks. + +The man signed it. + +"Now go," said Brooks, unlocking the door, "but remember, if you should +ever be inclined to revisit Santa Ana, you will find ME living here +also." + +The man slunk out of the door and into the passage like a wild animal +returning to the night and darkness. Brooks took up the paper, rejoined +Mrs. Wade in the parlor, and laid it before her. + +"But," said the widow, trembling even in her joy, "do you--do you think +he was REALLY mistaken?" + +"Positive," said Brooks coolly. "It's true, it's a mistake that has cost +you a hundred dollars, but there are some mistakes that are worth that +to be kept quiet." + +***** + +They were married a year later; but there is no record that in after +years of conjugal relations with a weak, charming, but sometimes trying +woman, Henry Brooks was ever tempted to tell her the whole truth of the +robbery of Heavy Tree Hill. + + + + +THE MERMAID OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT + + +Some forty years ago, on the northern coast of California, near the +Golden Gate, stood a lighthouse. Of a primitive class, since superseded +by a building more in keeping with the growing magnitude of the adjacent +port, it attracted little attention from the desolate shore, and, it was +alleged, still less from the desolate sea beyond. A gray structure of +timber, stone, and glass, it was buffeted and harried by the constant +trade winds, baked by the unclouded six months' sun, lost for a few +hours in the afternoon sea-fog, and laughed over by circling guillemots +from the Farallones. It was kept by a recluse--a preoccupied man of +scientific tastes, who, in shameless contrast to his fellow immigrants, +had applied to the government for this scarcely lucrative position as a +means of securing the seclusion he valued more than gold. Some believed +that he was the victim of an early disappointment in love--a view +charitably taken by those who also believed that the government would +not have appointed "a crank" to a position of responsibility. Howbeit, +he fulfilled his duties, and, with the assistance of an Indian, even +cultivated a small patch of ground beside the lighthouse. His isolation +was complete! There was little to attract wanderers here: the nearest +mines were fifty miles away; the virgin forest on the mountains inland +were penetrated only by sawmills and woodmen from the Bay settlements, +equally remote. Although by the shore-line the lights of the great port +were sometimes plainly visible, yet the solitude around him was +peopled only by Indians,--a branch of the great northern tribe of +"root-diggers,"--peaceful and simple in their habits, as yet +undisturbed by the white man, nor stirred into antagonism by aggression. +Civilization only touched him at stated intervals, and then by the more +expeditious sea from the government boat that brought him supplies. But +for his contiguity to the perpetual turmoil of wind and sea, he might +have passed a restful Arcadian life in his surroundings; for even his +solitude was sometimes haunted by this faint reminder of the great port +hard by that pulsated with an equal unrest. Nevertheless, the sands +before his door and the rocks behind him seemed to have been untrodden +by any other white man's foot since their upheaval from the ocean. It +was true that the little bay beside him was marked on the map as "Sir +Francis Drake's Bay," tradition having located it as the spot where +that ingenious pirate and empire-maker had once landed his vessels and +scraped the barnacles from his adventurous keels. But of this Edgar +Pomfrey--or "Captain Pomfrey," as he was called by virtue of his +half-nautical office--had thought little. + +For the first six months he had thoroughly enjoyed his seclusion. In +the company of his books, of which he had brought such a fair store +that their shelves lined his snug corners to the exclusion of more +comfortable furniture, he found his principal recreation. Even his +unwonted manual labor, the trimming of his lamp and cleaning of his +reflectors, and his personal housekeeping, in which his Indian help at +times assisted, he found a novel and interesting occupation. For outdoor +exercise, a ramble on the sands, a climb to the rocky upland, or a pull +in the lighthouse boat, amply sufficed him. "Crank" as he was supposed +to be, he was sane enough to guard against any of those early lapses +into barbarism which marked the lives of some solitary gold-miners. +His own taste, as well as the duty of his office, kept his person and +habitation sweet and clean, and his habits regular. Even the little +cultivated patch of ground on the lee side of the tower was symmetrical +and well ordered. Thus the outward light of Captain Pomfrey shone forth +over the wilderness of shore and wave, even like his beacon, whatever +his inward illumination may have been. + +It was a bright summer morning, remarkable even in the monotonous +excellence of the season, with a slight touch of warmth which the +invincible Northwest Trades had not yet chilled. There was still a faint +haze off the coast, as if last night's fog had been caught in the quick +sunshine, and the shining sands were hot, but without the usual dazzling +glare. A faint perfume from a quaint lilac-colored beach-flower, whose +clustering heads dotted the sand like bits of blown spume, took the +place of that smell of the sea which the odorless Pacific lacked. A few +rocks, half a mile away, lifted themselves above the ebb tide at varying +heights as they lay on the trough of the swell, were crested with foam +by a striking surge, or cleanly erased in the full sweep of the sea. +Beside, and partly upon one of the higher rocks, a singular object was +moving. + +Pomfrey was interested but not startled. He had once or twice seen seals +disporting on these rocks, and on one occasion a sea-lion,--an estray +from the familiar rocks on the other side of the Golden Gate. But he +ceased work in his garden patch, and coming to his house, exchanged +his hoe for a telescope. When he got the mystery in focus he suddenly +stopped and rubbed the object-glass with his handkerchief. But even when +he applied the glass to his eye for a second time, he could scarcely +believe his eyesight. For the object seemed to be a WOMAN, the lower +part of her figure submerged in the sea, her long hair depending over +her shoulders and waist. There was nothing in her attitude to suggest +terror or that she was the victim of some accident. She moved slowly +and complacently with the sea, and even--a more staggering +suggestion--appeared to be combing out the strands of her long hair with +her fingers. With her body half concealed she might have been a mermaid! + +He swept the foreshore and horizon with his glass; there was neither +boat nor ship--nor anything that moved, except the long swell of the +Pacific. She could have come only from the sea; for to reach the rocks +by land she would have had to pass before the lighthouse, while the +narrow strip of shore which curved northward beyond his range of view he +knew was inhabited only by Indians. But the woman was unhesitatingly +and appallingly WHITE, and her hair light even to a golden gleam in the +sunshine. + +Pomfrey was a gentleman, and as such was amazed, dismayed, and cruelly +embarrassed. If she was a simple bather from some vicinity hitherto +unknown and unsuspected by him, it was clearly his business to shut up +his glass and go back to his garden patch--although the propinquity of +himself and the lighthouse must have been as plainly visible to her as +she was to him. On the other hand, if she was the survivor of some wreck +and in distress--or, as he even fancied from her reckless manner, bereft +of her senses, his duty to rescue her was equally clear. In his dilemma +he determined upon a compromise and ran to his boat. He would pull out +to sea, pass between the rocks and the curving sand-spit, and examine +the sands and sea more closely for signs of wreckage, or some overlooked +waiting boat near the shore. He would be within hail if she needed him, +or she could escape to her boat if she had one. + +In another moment his boat was lifting on the swell towards the rocks. +He pulled quickly, occasionally turning to note that the strange figure, +whose movements were quite discernible to the naked eye, was still +there, but gazing more earnestly towards the nearest shore for any sign +of life or occupation. In ten minutes he had reached the curve where the +trend opened northward, and the long line of shore stretched before him. +He swept it eagerly with a single searching glance. Sea and shore were +empty. He turned quickly to the rock, scarcely a hundred yards on his +beam. It was empty too! Forgetting his previous scruples, he pulled +directly for it until his keel grated on its submerged base. There was +nothing there but the rock, slippery with the yellow-green slime of +seaweed and kelp--neither trace nor sign of the figure that had +occupied it a moment ago. He pulled around it; there was no cleft or +hiding-place. For an instant his heart leaped at the sight of something +white, caught in a jagged tooth of the outlying reef, but it was only +the bleached fragment of a bamboo orange-crate, cast from the deck of +some South Sea trader, such as often strewed the beach. He lay off the +rock, keeping way in the swell, and scrutinizing the glittering sea. At +last he pulled back to the lighthouse, perplexed and discomfited. + +Was it simply a sporting seal, transformed by some trick of his vision? +But he had seen it through his glass, and now remembered such details +as the face and features framed in their contour of golden hair, and +believed he could even have identified them. He examined the rock again +with his glass, and was surprised to see how clearly it was outlined now +in its barren loneliness. Yet he must have been mistaken. His scientific +and accurate mind allowed of no errant fancy, and he had always sneered +at the marvelous as the result of hasty or superficial observation. He +was a little worried at this lapse of his healthy accuracy,--fearing +that it might be the result of his seclusion and loneliness,--akin to +the visions of the recluse and solitary. It was strange, too, that it +should take the shape of a woman; for Edgar Pomfrey had a story--the +usual old and foolish one. + +Then his thoughts took a lighter phase, and he turned to the memory of +his books, and finally to the books themselves. From a shelf he picked +out a volume of old voyages, and turned to a remembered passage: "In +other seas doe abound marvells soche as Sea Spyders of the bigness of a +pinnace, the wich they have been known to attack and destroy; Sea Vypers +which reach to the top of a goodly maste, whereby they are able to draw +marinners from the rigging by the suction of their breathes; and +Devill Fyshe, which vomit fire by night which makyth the sea to shine +prodigiously, and mermaydes. They are half fyshe and half mayde of grate +Beauty, and have been seen of divers godly and creditable witnesses +swymming beside rocks, hidden to their waist in the sea, combing of +their hayres, to the help of whych they carry a small mirrore of the +bigness of their fingers." Pomfrey laid the book aside with a faint +smile. To even this credulity he might come! + +Nevertheless, he used the telescope again that day. But there was no +repetition of the incident, and he was forced to believe that he had +been the victim of some extraordinary illusion. The next morning, +however, with his calmer judgment doubts began to visit him. There was +no one of whom he could make inquiries but his Indian helper, and their +conversation had usually been restricted to the language of signs or the +use of a few words he had picked up. He contrived, however, to ask if +there was a "waugee" (white) woman in the neighborhood. The Indian +shook his head in surprise. There was no "waugee" nearer than the remote +mountain-ridge to which he pointed. Pomfrey was obliged to be content +with this. Even had his vocabulary been larger, he would as soon have +thought of revealing the embarrassing secret of this woman, whom he +believed to be of his own race, to a mere barbarian as he would of +asking him to verify his own impressions by allowing him to look at her +that morning. The next day, however, something happened which forced him +to resume his inquiries. He was rowing around the curving spot when he +saw a number of black objects on the northern sands moving in and out +of the surf, which he presently made out as Indians. A nearer approach +satisfied him that they were wading squaws and children gathering +seaweed and shells. He would have pushed his acquaintance still nearer, +but as his boat rounded the point, with one accord they all scuttled +away like frightened sandpipers. Pomfrey, on his return, asked his +Indian retainer if they could swim. "Oh, yes!" "As far as the rock?" +"Yes." Yet Pomfrey was not satisfied. The color of his strange +apparition remained unaccounted for, and it was not that of an Indian +woman. + +Trifling events linger long in a monotonous existence, and it was nearly +a week before Pomfrey gave up his daily telescopic inspection of the +rock. Then he fell back upon his books again, and, oddly enough, upon +another volume of voyages, and so chanced upon the account of Sir +Francis Drake's occupation of the bay before him. He had always thought +it strange that the great adventurer had left no trace or sign of +his sojourn there; still stranger that he should have overlooked the +presence of gold, known even to the Indians themselves, and have lost +a discovery far beyond his wildest dreams and a treasure to which the +cargoes of those Philippine galleons he had more or less successfully +intercepted were trifles. Had the restless explorer been content to pace +those dreary sands during three weeks of inactivity, with no thought of +penetrating the inland forests behind the range, or of even entering the +nobler bay beyond? Or was the location of the spot a mere tradition as +wild and unsupported as the "marvells" of the other volume? Pomfrey had +the skepticism of the scientific, inquiring mind. + +Two weeks had passed and he was returning from a long climb inland, when +he stopped to rest in his descent to the sea. The panorama of the +shore was before him, from its uttermost limit to the lighthouse on the +northern point. The sun was still one hour high, it would take him +about that time to reach home. But from this coign of vantage he could +see--what he had not before observed--that what he had always believed +was a little cove on the northern shore was really the estuary of a +small stream which rose near him and eventually descended into the ocean +at that point. He could also see that beside it was a long low erection +of some kind, covered with thatched brush, which looked like a "barrow," +yet showed signs of habitation in the slight smoke that rose from it and +drifted inland. It was not far out of his way, and he resolved to return +in that direction. On his way down he once or twice heard the barking +of an Indian dog, and knew that he must be in the vicinity of an +encampment. A camp-fire, with the ashes yet warm, proved that he was on +the trail of one of the nomadic tribes, but the declining sun warned +him to hasten home to his duty. When he at last reached the estuary, he +found that the building beside it was little else than a long hut, whose +thatched and mud-plastered mound-like roof gave it the appearance of a +cave. Its single opening and entrance abutted on the water's edge, and +the smoke he had noticed rolled through this entrance from a smouldering +fire within. Pomfrey had little difficulty in recognizing the purpose of +this strange structure from the accounts he had heard from "loggers" of +the Indian customs. The cave was a "sweat-house"--a calorific chamber +in which the Indians closely shut themselves, naked, with a "smudge" or +smouldering fire of leaves, until, perspiring and half suffocated, they +rushed from the entrance and threw themselves into the water before it. +The still smouldering fire told him that the house had been used that +morning, and he made no doubt that the Indians were encamped near by. He +would have liked to pursue his researches further, but he found he +had already trespassed upon his remaining time, and he turned somewhat +abruptly away--so abruptly, in fact, that a figure, which had evidently +been cautiously following him at a distance, had not time to get away. +His heart leaped with astonishment. It was the woman he had seen on the +rock. + +Although her native dress now only disclosed her head and hands, there +was no doubt about her color, and it was distinctly white, save for the +tanning of exposure and a slight red ochre marking on her low forehead. +And her hair, long and unkempt as it was, showed that he had not erred +in his first impression of it. It was a tawny flaxen, with fainter +bleachings where the sun had touched it most. Her eyes were of a clear +Northern blue. Her dress, which was quite distinctive in that it was +neither the cast off finery of civilization nor the cheap "government" +flannels and calicoes usually worn by the Californian tribes, was purely +native, and of fringed deerskin, and consisted of a long, loose shirt +and leggings worked with bright feathers and colored shells. A necklace, +also of shells and fancy pebbles, hung round her neck. She seemed to +be a fully developed woman, in spite of the girlishness of her flowing +hair, and notwithstanding the shapeless length of her gaberdine-like +garment, taller than the ordinary squaw. + +Pomfrey saw all this in a single flash of perception, for the next +instant she was gone, disappearing behind the sweat-house. He ran after +her, catching sight of her again, half doubled up, in the characteristic +Indian trot, dodging around rocks and low bushes as she fled along the +banks of the stream. But for her distinguishing hair, she looked in her +flight like an ordinary frightened squaw. This, which gave a sense of +unmanliness and ridicule to his own pursuit of her, with the fact +that his hour of duty was drawing near and he was still far from the +lighthouse, checked him in full career, and he turned regretfully away. +He had called after her at first, and she had not heeded him. What he +would have said to her he did not know. He hastened home discomfited, +even embarrassed--yet excited to a degree he had not deemed possible in +himself. + +During the morning his thoughts were full of her. Theory after theory +for her strange existence there he examined and dismissed. His first +thought, that she was a white woman--some settler's wife--masquerading +in Indian garb, he abandoned when he saw her moving; no white woman +could imitate that Indian trot, nor would remember to attempt it if +she were frightened. The idea that she was a captive white, held by +the Indians, became ridiculous when he thought of the nearness of +civilization and the peaceful, timid character of the "digger" tribes. +That she was some unfortunate demented creature who had escaped from her +keeper and wandered into the wilderness, a glance at her clear, frank, +intelligent, curious eyes had contradicted. There was but one theory +left--the most sensible and practical one--that she was the offspring +of some white man and Indian squaw. Yet this he found, oddly enough, the +least palatable to his fancy. And the few half-breeds he had seen were +not at all like her. + +The next morning he had recourse to his Indian retainer, "Jim." With +infinite difficulty, protraction, and not a little embarrassment, he +finally made him understand that he had seen a "white squaw" near the +"sweat-house," and that he wanted to know more about her. With equal +difficulty Jim finally recognized the fact of the existence of such +a person, but immediately afterwards shook his head in an emphatic +negation. With greater difficulty and greater mortification Pomfrey +presently ascertained that Jim's negative referred to a supposed +abduction of the woman which he understood that his employer seriously +contemplated. But he also learned that she was a real Indian, and that +there were three or four others like her, male and female, in that +vicinity; that from a "skeena mowitch" (little baby) they were all like +that, and that their parents were of the same color, but never a white +or "waugee" man or woman among them; that they were looked upon as a +distinct and superior caste of Indians, and enjoyed certain privileges +with the tribe; that they superstitiously avoided white men, of whom +they had the greatest fear, and that they were protected in this by +the other Indians; that it was marvelous and almost beyond belief that +Pomfrey had been able to see one, for no other white man had, or was +even aware of their existence. + +How much of this he actually understood, how much of it was lying and +due to Jim's belief that he wished to abduct the fair stranger, Pomfrey +was unable to determine. There was enough, however, to excite his +curiosity strongly and occupy his mind to the exclusion of his +books--save one. Among his smaller volumes he had found a travel book of +the "Chinook Jargon," with a lexicon of many of the words commonly +used by the Northern Pacific tribes. An hour or two's trial with the +astonished Jim gave him an increased vocabulary and a new occupation. +Each day the incongruous pair took a lesson from the lexicon. In a week +Pomfrey felt he would be able to accost the mysterious stranger. But +he did not again surprise her in any of his rambles, or even in a later +visit to the sweat-house. He had learned from Jim that the house was +only used by the "bucks," or males, and that her appearance there had +been accidental. He recalled that he had had the impression that she had +been stealthily following him, and the recollection gave him a pleasure +he could not account for. But an incident presently occurred which gave +him a new idea of her relations towards him. + +The difficulty of making Jim understand had hitherto prevented Pomfrey +from intrusting him with the care of the lantern; but with the aid of +the lexicon he had been able to make him comprehend its working, and +under Pomfrey's personal guidance the Indian had once or twice lit the +lamp and set its machinery in motion. It remained for him only to +test Jim's unaided capacity, in case of his own absence or illness. It +happened to be a warm, beautiful sunset, when the afternoon fog had for +once delayed its invasion of the shore-line, that he left the lighthouse +to Jim's undivided care, and reclining on a sand-dune still warm from +the sun, lazily watched the result of Jim's first essay. As the twilight +deepened, and the first flash of the lantern strove with the dying +glories of the sun, Pomfrey presently became aware that he was not the +only watcher. A little gray figure creeping on all fours suddenly glided +out of the shadow of another sand-dune and then halted, falling back on +its knees, gazing fixedly at the growing light. It was the woman he had +seen. She was not a dozen yards away, and in her eagerness and utter +absorption in the light had evidently overlooked him. He could see +her face distinctly, her lips parted half in wonder, half with the +breathless absorption of a devotee. A faint sense of disappointment came +over him. It was not HIM she was watching, but the light! As it swelled +out over the darkening gray sand she turned as if to watch its effect +around her, and caught sight of Pomfrey. With a little startled cry--the +first she had uttered--she darted away. He did not follow. A moment +before, when he first saw her, an Indian salutation which he had +learned from Jim had risen to his lips, but in the odd feeling which her +fascination of the light had caused him he had not spoken. He watched +her bent figure scuttling away like some frightened animal, with a +critical consciousness that she was really scarce human, and went back +to the lighthouse. He would not run after her again! Yet that evening he +continued to think of her, and recalled her voice, which struck him now +as having been at once melodious and childlike, and wished he had at +least spoken, and perhaps elicited a reply. + +He did not, however, haunt the sweat-house near the river again. Yet he +still continued his lessons with Jim, and in this way, perhaps, although +quite unpremeditatedly, enlisted a humble ally. A week passed in which +he had not alluded to her, when one morning, as he was returning from a +row, Jim met him mysteriously on the beach. + +"S'pose him come slow, slow," said Jim gravely, airing his newly +acquired English; "make no noise--plenty catchee Indian maiden." The +last epithet was the polite lexicon equivalent of squaw. + +Pomfrey, not entirely satisfied in his mind, nevertheless softly +followed the noiselessly gliding Jim to the lighthouse. Here Jim +cautiously opened the door, motioning Pomfrey to enter. + +The base of the tower was composed of two living rooms, a storeroom and +oil-tank. As Pomfrey entered, Jim closed the door softly behind him. +The abrupt transition from the glare of the sands and sun to the +semi-darkness of the storeroom at first prevented him from seeing +anything, but he was instantly distracted by a scurrying flutter and +wild beating of the walls, as of a caged bird. In another moment +he could make out the fair stranger, quivering with excitement, +passionately dashing at the barred window, the walls, the locked door, +and circling around the room in her desperate attempt to find an egress, +like a captured seagull. Amazed, mystified, indignant with Jim, himself, +and even his unfortunate captive, Pomfrey called to her in Chinook to +stop, and going to the door, flung it wide open. She darted by him, +raising her soft blue eyes for an instant in a swift, sidelong glance of +half appeal, half-frightened admiration, and rushed out into the open. +But here, to his surprise, she did not run away. On the contrary, she +drew herself up with a dignity that seemed to increase her height, and +walked majestically towards Jim, who at her unexpected exit had suddenly +thrown himself upon the sand, in utterly abject terror and supplication. +She approached him slowly, with one small hand uplifted in a menacing +gesture. The man writhed and squirmed before her. Then she turned, +caught sight of Pomfrey standing in the doorway, and walked quietly +away. Amazed, yet gratified with this new assertion of herself, Pomfrey +respectfully, but alas! incautiously, called after her. In an instant, +at the sound of his voice, she dropped again into her slouching Indian +trot and glided away over the sandhills. + +Pomfrey did not add any reproof of his own to the discomfiture of his +Indian retainer. Neither did he attempt to inquire the secret of this +savage girl's power over him. It was evident he had spoken truly when he +told his master that she was of a superior caste. Pomfrey recalled her +erect and indignant figure standing over the prostrate Jim, and was +again perplexed and disappointed at her sudden lapse into the timid +savage at the sound of his voice. Would not this well-meant but +miserable trick of Jim's have the effect of increasing her unreasoning +animal-like distrust of him? A few days later brought an unexpected +answer to his question. + +It was the hottest hour of the day. He had been fishing off the reef +of rocks where he had first seen her, and had taken in his line and was +leisurely pulling for the lighthouse. Suddenly a little musical cry not +unlike a bird's struck his ear. He lay on his oars and listened. It was +repeated; but this time it was unmistakably recognizable as the voice of +the Indian girl, although he had heard it but once. He turned eagerly +to the rock, but it was empty; he pulled around it, but saw nothing. +He looked towards the shore, and swung his boat in that direction, +when again the cry was repeated with the faintest quaver of a laugh, +apparently on the level of the sea before him. For the first time he +looked down, and there on the crest of a wave not a dozen yards ahead, +danced the yellow hair and laughing eyes of the girl. The frightened +gravity of her look was gone, lost in the flash of her white teeth and +quivering dimples as her dripping face rose above the sea. When their +eyes met she dived again, but quickly reappeared on the other bow, +swimming with lazy, easy strokes, her smiling head thrown back over +her white shoulder, as if luring him to a race. If her smile was a +revelation to him, still more so was this first touch of feminine +coquetry in her attitude. He pulled eagerly towards her; with a few long +overhand strokes she kept her distance, or, if he approached too near, +she dived like a loon, coming up astern of him with the same childlike, +mocking cry. In vain he pursued her, calling her to stop in her own +tongue, and laughingly protested; she easily avoided his boat at every +turn. Suddenly, when they were nearly abreast of the river estuary, +she rose in the water, and, waving her little hands with a gesture of +farewell, turned, and curving her back like a dolphin, leaped into the +surging swell of the estuary bar and was lost in its foam. It would have +been madness for him to have attempted to follow in his boat, and he +saw that she knew it. He waited until her yellow crest appeared in the +smoother water of the river, and then rowed back. In his excitement and +preoccupation he had quite forgotten his long exposure to the sun +during his active exercise, and that he was poorly equipped for the cold +sea-fog which the heat had brought in earlier, and which now was quietly +obliterating sea and shore. This made his progress slower and more +difficult, and by the time he had reached the lighthouse he was chilled +to the bone. + +The next morning he woke with a dull headache and great weariness, and +it was with considerable difficulty that he could attend to his duties. +At nightfall, feeling worse, he determined to transfer the care of the +light to Jim, but was amazed to find that he had disappeared, and what +was more ominous, a bottle of spirits which Pomfrey had taken from his +locker the night before had disappeared too. Like all Indians, Jim's +rudimentary knowledge of civilization included "fire-water;" he +evidently had been tempted, had fallen, and was too ashamed or too drunk +to face his master. Pomfrey, however, managed to get the light in order +and working, and then, he scarcely knew how, betook himself to bed in +a state of high fever. He turned from side to side racked by pain, with +burning lips and pulses. Strange fancies beset him; he had noticed when +he lit his light that a strange sail was looming off the estuary--a +place where no sail had ever been seen or should be--and was relieved +that the lighting of the tower might show the reckless or ignorant +mariner his real bearings for the "Gate." At times he had heard voices +above the familiar song of the surf, and tried to rise from his bed, but +could not. Sometimes these voices were strange, outlandish, dissonant, +in his own language, yet only partly intelligible; but through them +always rang a single voice, musical, familiar, yet of a tongue not his +own--hers! And then, out of his delirium--for such it proved afterwards +to be--came a strange vision. He thought that he had just lit the light +when, from some strange and unaccountable reason, it suddenly became dim +and defied all his efforts to revive it. To add to his discomfiture, +he could see quite plainly through the lantern a strange-looking vessel +standing in from the sea. She was so clearly out of her course for the +Gate that he knew she had not seen the light, and his limbs trembled +with shame and terror as he tried in vain to rekindle the dying light. +Yet to his surprise the strange ship kept steadily on, passing the +dangerous reef of rocks, until she was actually in the waters of the +bay. But stranger than all, swimming beneath her bows was the golden +head and laughing face of the Indian girl, even as he had seen it the +day before. A strange revulsion of feeling overtook him. Believing that +she was luring the ship to its destruction, he ran out on the beach +and strove to hail the vessel and warn it of its impending doom. But he +could not speak--no sound came from his lips. And now his attention was +absorbed by the ship itself. High-bowed and pooped, and curved like the +crescent moon, it was the strangest craft that he had ever seen. Even +as he gazed it glided on nearer and nearer, and at last beached itself +noiselessly on the sands before his own feet. A score of figures +as bizarre and outlandish as the ship itself now thronged its high +forecastle--really a castle in shape and warlike purpose--and leaped +from its ports. The common seamen were nearly naked to the waist; the +officers looked more like soldiers than sailors. What struck him more +strangely was that they were one and all seemingly unconscious of the +existence of the lighthouse, sauntering up and down carelessly, as if on +some uninhabited strand, and even talking--so far as he could understand +their old bookish dialect--as if in some hitherto undiscovered land. +Their ignorance of the geography of the whole coast, and even of the sea +from which they came, actually aroused his critical indignation; their +coarse and stupid allusions to the fair Indian swimmer as the "mermaid" +that they had seen upon their bow made him more furious still. Yet +he was helpless to express his contemptuous anger, or even make them +conscious of his presence. Then an interval of incoherency and utter +blankness followed. When he again took up the thread of his fancy +the ship seemed to be lying on her beam ends on the sand; the strange +arrangement of her upper deck and top-hamper, more like a dwelling than +any ship he had ever seen, was fully exposed to view, while the seamen +seemed to be at work with the rudest contrivances, calking and scraping +her barnacled sides. He saw that phantom crew, when not working, at +wassail and festivity; heard the shouts of drunken roisterers; saw the +placing of a guard around some of the most uncontrollable, and later +detected the stealthy escape of half a dozen sailors inland, amidst the +fruitless volley fired upon them from obsolete blunderbusses. Then +his strange vision transported him inland, where he saw these seamen +following some Indian women. Suddenly one of them turned and ran +frenziedly towards him as if seeking succor, closely pursued by one of +the sailors. Pomfrey strove to reach her, struggled violently with the +fearful apathy that seemed to hold his limbs, and then, as she uttered +at last a little musical cry, burst his bonds and--awoke! + +As consciousness slowly struggled back to him, he could see the bare +wooden-like walls of his sleeping-room, the locker, the one window +bright with sunlight, the open door of the tank-room, and the little +staircase to the tower. There was a strange smoky and herb-like smell in +the room. He made an effort to rise, but as he did so a small sunburnt +hand was laid gently yet restrainingly upon his shoulder, and he heard +the same musical cry as before, but this time modulated to a girlish +laugh. He raised his head faintly. Half squatting, half kneeling by his +bed was the yellow-haired stranger. + +With the recollection of his vision still perplexing him, he said in a +weak voice, "Who are you?" + +Her blue eyes met his own with quick intelligence and no trace of her +former timidity. A soft, caressing light had taken its place. Pointing +with her finger to her breast in a childlike gesture, she said, +"Me--Olooya." + +"Olooya!" He remembered suddenly that Jim had always used that word in +speaking of her, but until then he had always thought it was some Indian +term for her distinct class. + +"Olooya," he repeated. Then, with difficulty attempting to use her own +tongue, he asked, "When did you come here?" + +"Last night," she answered in the same tongue. "There was no witch-fire +there," she continued, pointing to the tower; "when it came not, Olooya +came! Olooya found white chief sick and alone. White chief could not get +up! Olooya lit witch-fire for him." + +"You?" he repeated in astonishment. "I lit it myself." + +She looked at him pityingly, as if still recognizing his delirium, +and shook her head. "White chief was sick--how can know? Olooya made +witch-fire." + +He cast a hurried glance at his watch hanging on the wall beside him. +It had RUN DOWN, although he had wound it the last thing before going to +bed. He had evidently been lying there helpless beyond the twenty-four +hours! + +He groaned and turned to rise, but she gently forced him down again, and +gave him some herbal infusion, in which he recognized the taste of the +Yerba Buena vine which grew by the river. Then she made him comprehend +in her own tongue that Jim had been decoyed, while drunk, aboard a +certain schooner lying off the shore at a spot where she had seen some +men digging in the sands. She had not gone there, for she was afraid +of the bad men, and a slight return of her former terror came into her +changeful eyes. She knew how to light the witch-light; she reminded him +she had been in the tower before. + +"You have saved my light, and perhaps my life," he said weakly, taking +her hand. + +Possibly she did not understand him, for her only answer was a vague +smile. But the next instant she started up, listening intently, and then +with a frightened cry drew away her hand and suddenly dashed out of +the building. In the midst of his amazement the door was darkened by a +figure--a stranger dressed like an ordinary miner. Pausing a moment +to look after the flying Olooya, the man turned and glanced around the +room, and then with a coarse, familiar smile approached Pomfrey. + +"Hope I ain't disturbin' ye, but I allowed I'd just be neighborly and +drop in--seein' as this is gov'nment property, and me and my pardners, +as American citizens and tax-payers, helps to support it. We're coastin' +from Trinidad down here and prospectin' along the beach for gold in the +sand. Ye seem to hev a mighty soft berth of it here--nothing to do--and +lots of purty half-breeds hangin' round!" + +The man's effrontery was too much for Pomfrey's self-control, weakened +by illness. "It IS government property," he answered hotly, "and you +have no more right to intrude upon it than you have to decoy away my +servant, a government employee, during my illness, and jeopardize that +property." + +The unexpectedness of this attack, and the sudden revelation of the fact +of Pomfrey's illness in his flushed face and hollow voice apparently +frightened and confused the stranger. He stammered a surly excuse, +backed out of the doorway, and disappeared. An hour later Jim appeared, +crestfallen, remorseful, and extravagantly penitent. Pomfrey was too +weak for reproaches or inquiry, and he was thinking only of Olooya. + +She did not return. His recovery in that keen air, aided, as he +sometimes thought, by the herbs she had given him, was almost as rapid +as his illness. The miners did not again intrude upon the lighthouse nor +trouble his seclusion. When he was able to sun himself on the sands, he +could see them in the distance at work on the beach. He reflected that +she would not come back while they were there, and was reconciled. +But one morning Jim appeared, awkward and embarrassed, leading another +Indian, whom he introduced as Olooya's brother. Pomfrey's suspicions +were aroused. Except that the stranger had something of the girl's +superiority of manner, there was no likeness whatever to his fair-haired +acquaintance. But a fury of indignation was added to his suspicions when +he learned the amazing purport of their visit. It was nothing less than +an offer from the alleged brother to SELL his sister to Pomfrey for +forty dollars and a jug of whiskey! Unfortunately, Pomfrey's temper once +more got the better of his judgment. With a scathing exposition of the +laws under which the Indian and white man equally lived, and the legal +punishment of kidnaping, he swept what he believed was the impostor from +his presence. He was scarcely alone again before he remembered that his +imprudence might affect the girl's future access to him, but it was too +late now. + +Still he clung to the belief that he should see her when the prospectors +had departed, and he hailed with delight the breaking up of the camp +near the "sweat-house" and the disappearance of the schooner. It seemed +that their gold-seeking was unsuccessful; but Pomfrey was struck, on +visiting the locality, to find that in their excavations in the sand at +the estuary they had uncovered the decaying timbers of a ship's small +boat of some ancient and obsolete construction. This made him think +of his strange dream, with a vague sense of warning which he could not +shake off, and on his return to the lighthouse he took from his shelves +a copy of the old voyages to see how far his fancy had been affected +by his reading. In the account of Drake's visit to the coast he found a +footnote which he had overlooked before, and which ran as follows: "The +Admiral seems to have lost several of his crew by desertion, who were +supposed to have perished miserably by starvation in the inhospitable +interior or by the hands of savages. But later voyagers have suggested +that the deserters married Indian wives, and there is a legend that a +hundred years later a singular race of half-breeds, bearing unmistakable +Anglo-Saxon characteristics, was found in that locality." Pomfrey fell +into a reverie of strange hypotheses and fancies. He resolved that, +when he again saw Olooya, he would question her; her terror of these men +might be simply racial or some hereditary transmission. + +But his intention was never fulfilled. For when days and weeks had +elapsed, and he had vainly haunted the river estuary and the rocky +reef before the lighthouse without a sign of her, he overcame his +pride sufficiently to question Jim. The man looked at him with dull +astonishment. + +"Olooya gone," he said. + +"Gone!--where?" + +The Indian made a gesture to seaward which seemed to encompass the whole +Pacific. + +"How? With whom?" repeated his angry yet half-frightened master. + +"With white man in ship. You say YOU no want Olooya--forty dollars too +much. White man give fifty dollars--takee Olooya all same." + + + + +UNDER THE EAVES + + +The assistant editor of the San Francisco "Daily Informer" was going +home. So much of his time was spent in the office of the "Informer" that +no one ever cared to know where he passed those six hours of sleep which +presumably suggested a domicile. His business appointments outside the +office were generally kept at the restaurant where he breakfasted and +dined, or of evenings in the lobbies of theatres or the anterooms of +public meetings. Yet he had a home and an interval of seclusion of which +he was jealously mindful, and it was to this he was going to-night at +his usual hour. + +His room was in a new building on one of the larger and busier +thoroughfares. The lower floor was occupied by a bank, but as it was +closed before he came home, and not yet opened when he left, it did not +disturb his domestic sensibilities. The same may be said of the next +floor, which was devoted to stockbrokers' and companies offices, and was +equally tomb-like and silent when he passed; the floor above that was a +desert of empty rooms, which echoed to his footsteps night and morning, +with here and there an oasis in the green sign of a mining secretary's +office, with, however, the desolating announcement that it would only +be "open for transfers from two to four on Saturdays." The top floor +had been frankly abandoned in an unfinished state by the builder, whose +ambition had "o'erleaped itself" in that sanguine era of the city's +growth. There was a smell of plaster and the first coat of paint about +it still, but the whole front of the building was occupied by a long +room with odd "bull's-eye" windows looking out through the heavy +ornamentations of the cornice over the adjacent roofs. + +It had been originally intended for a club-room, but after the ill +fortune which attended the letting of the floor below, and possibly +because the earthquake-fearing San Franciscans had their doubts of +successful hilarity at the top of so tall a building, it remained +unfinished, with the two smaller rooms at its side. Its incomplete and +lonely grandeur had once struck the editor during a visit of inspection, +and the landlord, whom he knew, had offered to make it habitable for him +at a nominal rent. It had a lavatory with a marble basin and a tap of +cold water. The offer was a novel one, but he accepted it, and fitted up +the apartment with some cheap second-hand furniture, quite inconsistent +with the carved mantels and decorations, and made a fair sitting-room +and bedroom of it. Here, on a Sunday, when its stillness was +intensified, and even a passing footstep on the pavement fifty feet +below was quite startling, he would sit and work by one of the quaint +open windows. In the rainy season, through the filmed panes he sometimes +caught a glimpse of the distant, white-capped bay, but never of the +street below him. + +The lights were out, but, groping his way up to the first landing, he +took from a cup-boarded niche in the wall his candlestick and matches +and continued the ascent to his room. The humble candlelight flickered +on the ostentatious gold letters displayed on the ground-glass doors +of opulent companies which he knew were famous, and rooms where +millionaires met in secret conclave, but the contrast awakened only his +sense of humor. Yet he was always relieved after he had reached his own +floor. Possibly its incompleteness and inchoate condition made it seem +less lonely than the desolation of the finished and furnished rooms +below, and it was only this recollection of past human occupancy that +was depressing. + +He opened his door, lit the solitary gas jet that only half illuminated +the long room, and, it being already past midnight, began to undress +himself. This process presently brought him to that corner of his room +where his bed stood, when he suddenly stopped, and his sleepy yawn +changed to a gape of surprise. For, lying in the bed, its head upon +the pillow, and its rigid arms accurately stretched down over the +turned-back sheet, was a child's doll! It was a small doll--a banged and +battered doll, that had seen service, but it had evidently been "tucked +in" with maternal tenderness, and lay there with its staring eyes turned +to the ceiling, the very genius of insomnia! + +His first start of surprise was followed by a natural resentment of +what might have been an impertinent intrusion on his privacy by some +practical-joking adult, for he knew there was no child in the house. + +His room was kept in order by the wife of the night watchman employed +by the bank, and no one else had a right of access to it. But the woman +might have brought a child there and not noticed its disposal of its +plaything. He smiled. It might have been worse! It might have been a +real baby! + +The idea tickled him with a promise of future "copy"--of a story with +farcical complications, or even a dramatic ending, in which the baby, +adopted by him, should turn out to be somebody's stolen offspring. He +lifted the little image that had suggested these fancies, carefully laid +it on his table, went to bed, and presently forgot it all in slumber. + +In the morning his good-humor and interest in it revived to the extent +of writing on a slip of paper, "Good-morning! Thank you--I've slept very +well," putting the slip in the doll's jointed arms, and leaving it in a +sitting posture outside his door when he left his room. When he returned +late at night it was gone. + +But it so chanced that, a few days later, owing to press of work on the +"Informer," he was obliged to forego his usual Sunday holiday out of +town, and that morning found him, while the bells were ringing for +church, in his room with a pile of manuscript and proof before him. +For these were troublous days in San Francisco; the great Vigilance +Committee of '56 was in session, and the offices of the daily papers +were thronged with eager seekers of news. Such affairs, indeed, were not +in the functions of the assistant editor, nor exactly to his taste; he +was neither a partisan of the so-called Law and Order Party, nor yet +an enthusiastic admirer of the citizen Revolutionists known as the +Vigilance Committee, both extremes being incompatible with his habits of +thought. Consequently he was not displeased at this opportunity of doing +his work away from the office and the "heady talk" of controversy. + +He worked on until the bells ceased and a more than Sabbath stillness +fell upon the streets. So quiet was it that once or twice the +conversation of passing pedestrians floated up and into his window, as +of voices at his elbow. + +Presently he heard the sound of a child's voice singing in subdued tone, +as if fearful of being overheard. This time he laid aside his pen--it +certainly was no delusion! The sound did not come from the open +window, but from some space on a level with his room. Yet there was no +contiguous building as high. + +He rose and tried to open his door softly, but it creaked, and the +singing instantly ceased. There was nothing before him but the bare, +empty hall, with its lathed and plastered partitions, and the two +smaller rooms, unfinished like his own, on either side of him. Their +doors were shut; the one at his right hand was locked, the other yielded +to his touch. + +For the first moment he saw only the bare walls of the apparently empty +room. But a second glance showed him two children--a boy of seven and +a girl of five--sitting on the floor, which was further littered by +a mattress, pillow, and blanket. There was a cheap tray on one of the +trunks containing two soiled plates and cups and fragments of a meal. +But there was neither a chair nor table nor any other article of +furniture in the room. Yet he was struck by the fact that, in spite of +this poverty of surrounding, the children were decently dressed, and the +few scattered pieces of luggage in quality bespoke a superior condition. + +The children met his astonished stare with an equal wonder and, he +fancied, some little fright. The boy's lips trembled a little as he said +apologetically-- + +"I told Jinny not to sing. But she didn't make MUCH noise." + +"Mamma said I could play with my dolly. But I fordot and singed," said +the little girl penitently. + +"Where's your mamma?" asked the young man. The fancy of their being +near relatives of the night watchman had vanished at the sound of their +voices. + +"Dorn out," said the girl. + +"When did she go out?" + +"Last night." + +"Were you all alone here last night?" + +"Yes!" + +Perhaps they saw the look of indignation and pity in the editor's face, +for the boy said quickly-- + +"She don't go out EVERY night; last night she went to"-- + +He stopped suddenly, and both children looked at each other with a half +laugh and half cry, and then repeated in hopeless unison, "She's dorn +out." + +"When is she coming back again?" + +"To-night. But we won't make any more noise." + +"Who brings you your food?" continued the editor, looking at the tray. + +"Woberts." + +Evidently Roberts, the night watchman! The editor felt relieved; here +was a clue to some explanation. He instantly sat down on the floor +between them. + +"So that was the dolly that slept in my bed," he said gayly, taking it +up. + +God gives helplessness a wonderful intuition of its friends. The +children looked up at the face of their grown-up companion, giggled, and +then burst into a shrill fit of laughter. He felt that it was the first +one they had really indulged in for many days. Nevertheless he said, +"Hush!" confidentially; why he scarcely knew, except to intimate to them +that he had taken in their situation thoroughly. "Make no noise," he +added softly, "and come into my big room." + +They hung back, however, with frightened yet longing eyes. "Mamma said +we mussent do out of this room," said the girl. + +"Not ALONE," responded the editor quickly, "but with ME, you know; +that's different." + +The logic sufficed them, poor as it was. Their hands slid quite +naturally into his. But at the door he stopped, and motioning to the +locked door of the other room, asked:-- + +"And is that mamma's room, too?" + +Their little hands slipped from his and they were silent. Presently the +boy, as if acted upon by some occult influence of the girl, said in a +half whisper, "Yes." + +The editor did not question further, but led them into his room. Here +they lost the slight restraint they had shown, and began, child fashion, +to become questioners themselves. + +In a few moments they were in possession of his name, his business, the +kind of restaurant he frequented, where he went when he left his room +all day, the meaning of those funny slips of paper, and the written +manuscripts, and why he was so quiet. But any attempt of his to +retaliate by counter questions was met by a sudden reserve so +unchildlike and painful to him--as it was evidently to themselves--that +he desisted, wisely postponing his inquiries until he could meet +Roberts. + +He was glad when they fell to playing games with each other quite +naturally, yet not entirely forgetting his propinquity, as their +occasional furtive glances at his movements showed him. He, too, became +presently absorbed in his work, until it was finished and it was time +for him to take it to the office of the "Informer." The wild idea seized +him of also taking the children afterwards for a holiday to the Mission +Dolores, but he prudently remembered that even this negligent mother of +theirs might have some rights over her offspring that he was bound to +respect. + +He took leave of them gayly, suggesting that the doll be replaced in his +bed while he was away, and even assisted in "tucking it up." But during +the afternoon the recollection of these lonely playfellows in the +deserted house obtruded itself upon his work and the talk of his +companions. Sunday night was his busiest night, and he could not, +therefore, hope to get away in time to assure himself of their mother's +return. + +It was nearly two in the morning when he returned to his room. He paused +for a moment on the threshold to listen for any sound from the adjoining +room. But all was hushed. + +His intention of speaking to the night watchman was, however, +anticipated the next morning by that guardian himself. A tap upon his +door while he was dressing caused him to open it somewhat hurriedly +in the hope of finding one of the children there, but he met only the +embarrassed face of Roberts. Inviting him into the room, the editor +continued dressing. Carefully closing the door behind him, the man +began, with evident hesitation,-- + +"I oughter hev told ye suthin' afore, Mr. Breeze; but I kalkilated, so +to speak, that you wouldn't be bothered one way or another, and so ye +hadn't any call to know that there was folks here"-- + +"Oh, I see," interrupted Breeze cheerfully; "you're speaking of the +family next door--the landlord's new tenants." + +"They ain't exactly THAT," said Roberts, still with embarrassment. "The +fact is--ye see--the thing points THIS way: they ain't no right to be +here, and it's as much as my place is worth if it leaks out that they +are." + +Mr. Breeze suspended his collar-buttoning, and stared at Roberts. + +"You see, sir, they're mighty poor, and they've nowhere else to go--and +I reckoned to take 'em in here for a spell and say nothing about it." + +"But the landlord wouldn't object, surely? I'll speak to him myself," +said Breeze impulsively. + +"Oh, no; don't!" said Roberts in alarm; "he wouldn't like it. You see, +Mr. Breeze, it's just this way: the mother, she's a born lady, and did +my old woman a good turn in old times when the family was rich; but now +she's obliged--just to support herself, you know--to take up with what +she gets, and she acts in the bally in the theatre, you see, and hez +to come in late o' nights. In them cheap boarding-houses, you know, the +folks looks down upon her for that, and won't hev her, and in the cheap +hotels the men are--you know--a darned sight wuss, and that's how I took +her and her kids in here, where no one knows 'em." + +"I see," nodded the editor sympathetically; "and very good it was of +you, my man." + +Roberts looked still more confused, and stammered with a forced laugh, +"And--so--I'm just keeping her on here, unbeknownst, until her husband +gets"--He stopped suddenly. + +"So she has a husband living, then?" said Breeze in surprise. + +"In the mines, yes--in the mines!" repeated Roberts with a monotonous +deliberation quite distinct from his previous hesitation, "and she's +only waitin' until he gets money enough--to--to take her away." He +stopped and breathed hard. + +"But couldn't you--couldn't WE--get her some more furniture? There's +nothing in that room, you know, not a chair or table; and unless the +other room is better furnished"-- + +"Eh? Oh, yes!" said Roberts quickly, yet still with a certain +embarrassment; "of course THAT'S better furnished, and she's quite +satisfied, and so are the kids, with anything. And now, Mr. Breeze, I +reckon you'll say nothin' o' this, and you'll never go back on me?" + +"My dear Mr. Roberts," said the editor gravely, "from this moment I am +not only blind, but deaf to the fact that ANYBODY occupies this floor +but myself." + +"I knew you was white all through, Mr. Breeze," said the night watchman, +grasping the young man's hand with a grip of iron, "and I telled my wife +so. I sez, 'Jest you let me tell him EVERYTHIN',' but she"--He stopped +again and became confused. + +"And she was quite right, I dare say," said Breeze, with a laugh; "and I +do not want to know anything. And that poor woman must never know that +I ever knew anything, either. But you may tell your wife that when +the mother is away she can bring the little ones in here whenever she +likes." + +"Thank ye--thank ye, sir!--and I'll just run down and tell the old woman +now, and won't intrude upon your dressin' any longer." + +He grasped Breeze's hand again, went out and closed the door behind +him. It might have been the editor's fancy, but he thought there was a +certain interval of silence outside the door before the night watchman's +heavy tread was heard along the hall again. + +For several evenings after this Mr. Breeze paid some attention to the +ballet in his usual round of the theatres. Although he had never seen +his fair neighbor, he had a vague idea that he might recognize her +through some likeness to her children. But in vain. In the opulent +charms of certain nymphs, and in the angular austerities of others, +he failed equally to discern any of those refinements which might have +distinguished the "born lady" of Roberts's story, or which he himself +had seen in her children. + +These he did not meet again during the week, as his duties kept him +late at the office; but from certain signs in his room he knew that Mrs. +Roberts had availed herself of his invitation to bring them in with her, +and he regularly found "Jinny's" doll tucked up in his bed at night, and +he as regularly disposed of it outside his door in the morning, with a +few sweets, like an offering, tucked under its rigid arms. + +But another circumstance touched him more delicately; his room +was arranged with greater care than before, and with an occasional +exhibition of taste that certainly had not distinguished Mrs. Roberts's +previous ministrations. One evening on his return he found a small +bouquet of inexpensive flowers in a glass on his writing-table. He loved +flowers too well not to detect that they were quite fresh, and could +have been put there only an hour or two before he arrived. + +The next evening was Saturday, and, as he usually left the office +earlier on that day, it occurred to him, as he walked home, that it was +about the time his fair neighbor would be leaving the theatre, and that +it was possible he might meet her. + +At the front door, however, he found Roberts, who returned his greeting +with a certain awkwardness which struck him as singular. When he reached +the niche on the landing he found his candle was gone, but he proceeded +on, groping his way up the stairs, with an odd conviction that both +these incidents pointed to the fact that the woman had just returned or +was expected. + +He had also a strange feeling--which may have been owing to the +darkness--that some one was hidden on the landing or on the stairs where +he would pass. This was further accented by a faint odor of patchouli, +as, with his hand on the rail, he turned the corner of the third +landing, and he was convinced that if he had put out his other hand it +would have come in contact with his mysterious neighbor. But a certain +instinct of respect for her secret, which she was even now guarding in +the darkness, withheld him, and he passed on quickly to his own floor. + +Here it was lighter; the moon shot a beam of silver across the passage +from an unshuttered window as he passed. He reached his room door, +entered, but instead of lighting the gas and shutting the door, stood +with it half open, listening in the darkness. + +His suspicions were verified; there was a slight rustling noise, and +a figure which had evidently followed him appeared at the end of the +passage. It was that of a woman habited in a grayish dress and cloak of +the same color; but as she passed across the band of moonlight he had +a distinct view of her anxious, worried face. It was a face no longer +young; it was worn with illness, but still replete with a delicacy and +faded beauty so inconsistent with her avowed profession that he felt a +sudden pang of pain and doubt. The next moment she had vanished in her +room, leaving the same faint perfume behind her. He closed his door +softly, lit the gas, and sat down in a state of perplexity. That swift +glimpse of her face and figure had made her story improbable to the +point of absurdity, or possibly to the extreme of pathos! + +It seemed incredible that a woman of that quality should be forced to +accept a vocation at once so low, so distasteful, and so unremunerative. +With her evident antecedents, had she no friends but this common Western +night watchman of a bank? Had Roberts deceived him? Was his whole story +a fabrication, and was there some complicity between the two? What was +it? He knit his brows. + +Mr. Breeze had that overpowering knowledge of the world which only comes +with the experience of twenty-five, and to this he superadded the active +imagination of a newspaper man. A plot to rob the bank? These mysterious +absences, that luggage which he doubted not was empty and intended for +spoil! But why encumber herself with the two children? Here his common +sense and instinct of the ludicrous returned and he smiled. + +But he could not believe in the ballet dancer! He wondered, indeed, how +any manager could have accepted the grim satire of that pale, worried +face among the fairies, that sad refinement amid their vacant smiles and +rouged checks. And then, growing sad again, he comforted himself with +the reflection that at least the children were not alone that night, and +so went to sleep. + +For some days he had no further meeting with his neighbors. The +disturbed state of the city--for the Vigilance Committee were still in +session--obliged the daily press to issue "extras," and his work at the +office increased. + +It was not until Sunday again that he was able to be at home. Needless +to say that his solitary little companions were duly installed there, +while he sat at work with his proofs on the table before him. + +The stillness of the empty house was only broken by the habitually +subdued voices of the children at their play, when suddenly the harsh +stroke of a distant bell came through the open window. But it was no +Sabbath bell, and Mr. Breeze knew it. It was the tocsin of the Vigilance +Committee, summoning the members to assemble at their quarters for +a capture, a trial, or an execution of some wrongdoer. To him it was +equally a summons to the office--to distasteful news and excitement. + +He threw his proofs aside in disgust, laid down his pen, seized his hat, +and paused a moment to look round for his playmates. But they were gone! +He went into the hall, looked into the open door of their room, but they +were not there. He tried the door of the second room, but it was locked. + +Satisfied that they had stolen downstairs in their eagerness to +know what the bell meant, he hurried down also, met Roberts in the +passage,--a singularly unusual circumstance at that hour,--called to him +to look after the runaways, and hurried to his office. + +Here he found the staff collected, excitedly discussing the news. One +of the Vigilance Committee prisoners, a notorious bully and ruffian, +detained as a criminal and a witness, had committed suicide in his +cell. Fortunately this was all reportorial work, and the services of Mr. +Breeze were not required. He hurried back, relieved, to his room. + +When he reached his landing, breathlessly, he heard the same quick +rustle he had heard that memorable evening, and was quite satisfied that +he saw a figure glide swiftly out of the open door of his room. It was +no doubt his neighbor, who had been seeking her children, and as he +heard their voices as he passed, his uneasiness and suspicions were +removed. + +He sat down again to his scattered papers and proofs, finished his work, +and took it to the office on his way to dinner. He returned early, in +the hope that he might meet his neighbor again, and had quite settled +his mind that he was justified in offering a civil "Good-evening" to +her, in spite of his previous respectful ignoring of her presence. She +must certainly have become aware by this time of his attention to +her children and consideration for herself, and could not mistake his +motives. But he was disappointed, although he came up softly; he found +the floor in darkness and silence on his return, and he had to be +content with lighting his gas and settling down to work again. + +A near church clock had struck ten when he was startled by the sound of +an unfamiliar and uncertain step in the hall, followed by a tap at his +door. Breeze jumped to his feet, and was astonished to find Dick, the +"printer's devil," standing on the threshold with a roll of proofs in +his hand. + +"How did you get here?" he asked testily. + +"They told me at the restaurant they reckoned you lived yere, and the +night watchman at the door headed me straight up. When he knew whar I +kem from he wanted to know what the news was, but I told him he'd better +buy an extra and see." + +"Well, what did you come for?" said the editor impatiently. + +"The foreman said it was important, and he wanted to know afore he went +to press ef this yer correction was YOURS?" + +He went to the table, unrolled the proofs, and, taking out the slip, +pointed to a marked paragraph. "The foreman says the reporter who +brought the news allows he got it straight first-hand! But ef you've +corrected it, he reckons you know best." + +Breeze saw at a glance that the paragraph alluded to was not of his own +writing, but one of several news items furnished by reporters. These +had been "set up" in the same "galley," and consequently appeared in the +same proof-slip. He was about to say curtly that neither the matter nor +the correction was his, when something odd in the correction of the item +struck him. It read as follows:-- + +"It appears that the notorious 'Jim Bodine,' who is in hiding and +badly wanted by the Vigilance Committee, has been tempted lately into +a renewal of his old recklessness. He was seen in Sacramento Street the +other night by two separate witnesses, one of whom followed him, but he +escaped in some friendly doorway." + +The words "in Sacramento Street" were stricken out and replaced by the +correction "on the Saucelito shore," and the words "friendly doorway" +were changed to "friendly dinghy." The correction was not his, nor the +handwriting, which was further disguised by being an imitation of print. +A strange idea seized him. + +"Has any one seen these proofs since I left them at the office?" + +"No, only the foreman, sir." + +He remembered that he had left the proofs lying openly on his table +when he was called to the office at the stroke of the alarm bell; he +remembered the figure he saw gliding from his room on his return. She +had been there alone with the proofs; she only could have tampered with +them. + +The evident object of the correction was to direct the public attention +from Sacramento Street to Saucelito, as the probable whereabouts of this +"Jimmy Bodine." The street below was Sacramento Street, the "friendly +doorway" might have been their own. + +That she had some knowledge of this Bodine was not more improbable than +the ballet story. Her strange absences, the mystery surrounding her, all +seemed to testify that she had some connection--perhaps only an innocent +one--with these desperate people whom the Vigilance Committee were +hunting down. Her attempt to save the man was, after all, no more +illegal than their attempt to capture him. True, she might have trusted +him, Breeze, without this tampering with his papers; yet perhaps she +thought he was certain to discover it--and it was only a silent appeal +to his mercy. The corrections were ingenious and natural--it was the act +of an intelligent, quick-witted woman. + +Mr. Breeze was prompt in acting upon his intuition, whether right or +wrong. He took up his pen, wrote on the margin of the proof, "Print as +corrected," said to the boy carelessly, "The corrections are all right," +and dismissed him quickly. + +The corrected paragraph which appeared in the "Informer" the next +morning seemed to attract little public attention, the greater +excitement being the suicide of the imprisoned bully and the effect it +might have upon the prosecution of other suspected parties, against whom +the dead man had been expected to bear witness. + +Mr. Breeze was unable to obtain any information regarding the desperado +Bodine's associates and relations; his correction of the paragraph had +made the other members of the staff believe he had secret and superior +information regarding the fugitive, and he thus was estopped from +asking questions. But he felt himself justified now in demanding fuller +information from Roberts at the earliest opportunity. + +For this purpose he came home earlier that night, hoping to find the +night watchman still on his first beat in the lower halls. But he was +disappointed. He was amazed, however, on reaching his own landing, to +find the passage piled with new luggage, some of that ruder type of +rolled blanket and knapsack known as a "miner's kit." He was still more +surprised to hear men's voices and the sound of laughter proceeding +from the room that was always locked. A sudden sense of uneasiness and +disgust, he knew not why, came over him. + +He passed quickly into his room, shut the door sharply, and lit the gas. +But he presently heard the door of the locked room open, a man's voice, +slightly elevated by liquor and opposition, saying, "I know what's due +from one gen'leman to 'nother"--a querulous, objecting voice saying, +"Hole on! not now," and a fainter feminine protest, all of which were +followed by a rap on his door. + +Breeze opened it to two strangers, one of whom lurched forward +unsteadily with outstretched hand. He had a handsome face and figure, +and a certain consciousness of it even in the abandon of liquor; he +had an aggressive treacherousness of eye which his potations had not +subdued. He grasped Breeze's hand tightly, but dropped it the next +moment perfunctorily as he glanced round the room. + +"I told them I was bound to come in," he said, without looking at +Breeze, "and say 'Howdy!' to the man that's bin a pal to my women folks +and the kids--and acted white all through! I said to Mame, 'I reckon HE +knows who I am, and that I kin be high-toned to them that's high-toned; +kin return shake for shake and shot for shot!' Aye! that's me! So I was +bound to come in like a gen'leman, sir, and here I am!" + +He threw himself in an unproffered chair and stared at Breeze. + +"I'm afraid," said Breeze dryly, "that, nevertheless, I never knew who +you were, and that even now I am ignorant whom I am addressing." + +"That's just it," said the second man, with a querulous protest, which +did not, however, conceal his admiring vassalage to his friend; "that's +what I'm allus telling Jim. 'Jim,' I says, 'how is folks to know you're +the man that shot Kernel Baxter, and dropped three o' them Mariposa +Vigilants? They didn't see you do it! They just look at your fancy style +and them mustaches of yours, and allow ye might be death on the girls, +but they don't know ye! An' this man yere--he's a scribe in them +papers--writes what the boss editor tells him, and lives up yere on the +roof, 'longside yer wife and the children--what's he knowin' about YOU?' +Jim's all right enough," he continued, in easy confidence to Breeze, +"but he's too fresh 'bout himself." + +Mr. James Bodine accepted this tribute and criticism of his henchman +with a complacent laugh, which was not, however, without a certain +contempt for the speaker and the man spoken to. His bold, selfish eyes +wandered round the room as if in search of some other amusement than his +companions offered. + +"I reckon this is the room which that hound of a landlord, Rakes, +allowed he'd fix up for our poker club--the club that Dan Simmons and +me got up, with a few other sports. It was to be a slap-up affair, right +under the roof, where there was no chance of the police raiding us. But +the cur weakened when the Vigilants started out to make war on any game +a gen'leman might hev that wasn't in their gummy-bag, salt pork trade. +Well, it's gettin' a long time between drinks, gen'lemen, ain't it?" He +looked round him significantly. + +Only the thought of the woman and her children in the next room, and +the shame that he believed she was enduring, enabled Breeze to keep his +temper or even a show of civility. + +"I'm afraid," he said quietly, "that you'll find very little here to +remind you of the club--not even the whiskey; for I use the room only as +a bedroom, and as I am a workingman, and come in late and go out early, +I have never found it available for hospitality, even to my intimate +friends. I am very glad, however, that the little leisure I have had in +it has enabled me to make the floor less lonely for your children." + +Mr. Bodine got up with an affected yawn, turned an embarrassed yet +darkening eye on Breeze, and lunged unsteadily to the door. "And as I +only happened in to do the reg'lar thing between high-toned gen'lemen, +I reckon we kin say 'Quits.'" He gave a coarse laugh, said "So long," +nodded, stumbled into the passage, and thence into the other room. + +His companion watched him pass out with a relieved yet protecting air, +and then, closing the door softly, drew nearer to Breeze, and said in +husky confidence,-- + +"Ye ain't seein' him at his best, mister! He's bin drinkin' too much, +and this yer news has upset him." + +"What news?" asked Breeze. + +"This yer suicide o' Irish Jack!" + +"Was he his friend?" + +"Friend?" ejaculated the man, horrified at the mere suggestion. "Not +much! Why, Irish Jack was the only man that could hev hung Jim! Now he's +dead, in course the Vigilants ain't got no proof agin Jim. Jim wants to +face it out now an' stay here, but his wife and me don't see it noways! +So we are taking advantage o' the lull agin him to get him off down the +coast this very night. That's why he's been off his head drinkin'. Ye +see, when a man has been for weeks hidin'--part o' the time in that +room and part o' the time on the wharf, where them Vigilants has been +watchin' every ship that left in order to ketch him, he's inclined to +celebrate his chance o' getting away"-- + +"Part of the time in that room?" interrupted Breeze quickly. + +"Sartin! Don't ye see? He allus kem in as you went out--sabe!--and got +away before you kem back, his wife all the time just a-hoverin' between +the two places, and keeping watch for him. It was killin' to her, you +see, for she wasn't brought up to it, whiles Jim didn't keer--had two +revolvers and kalkilated to kill a dozen Vigilants afore he dropped. But +that's over now, and when I've got him safe on that 'plunger' down at +the wharf to-night, and put him aboard the schooner that's lying off the +Heads, he's all right agin." + +"And Roberts knew all this and was one of his friends?" asked Breeze. + +"Roberts knew it, and Roberts's wife used to be a kind of servant +to Jim's wife in the South, when she was a girl, but I don't know ez +Roberts is his FRIEND!" + +"He certainly has shown himself one," said Breeze. + +"Ye-e-s," said the stranger meditatively, "ye-e-s." He stopped, opened +the door softly, and peeped out, and then closed it again softly. "It's +sing'lar, Mr. Breeze," he went on in a sudden yet embarrassed burst +of confidence, "that Jim thar--a man thet can shoot straight, and hez +frequent; a man thet knows every skin game goin'--that THET man Jim," +very slowly, "hezn't really--got--any friends--'cept me--and his wife." + +"Indeed?" said Mr. Breeze dryly. + +"Sure! Why, you yourself didn't cotton to him--I could see THET." + +Mr. Breeze felt himself redden slightly, and looked curiously at the +man. This vulgar parasite, whom he had set down as a worshiper of sham +heroes, undoubtedly did not look like an associate of Bodine's, and had +a certain seriousness that demanded respect. As he looked closer into +his wide, round face, seamed with small-pox, he fancied he saw even in +its fatuous imbecility something of that haunting devotion he had seen +on the refined features of the wife. He said more gently,-- + +"But one friend like you would seem to be enough." + +"I ain't what I uster be, Mr. Breeze," said the man meditatively, +"and mebbe ye don't know who I am. I'm Abe Shuckster, of Shuckster's +Ranch--one of the biggest in Petalumy. I was a rich man until a year +ago, when Jim got inter trouble. What with mortgages and interest, +payin' up Jim's friends and buying off some ez was set agin him, thar +ain't much left, and when I've settled that bill for the schooner lying +off the Heads there I reckon I'm about played out. But I've allus a +shanty at Petalumy, and mebbe when things is froze over and Jim gets +back--you'll come and see him--for you ain't seen him at his best." + +"I suppose his wife and children go with him?" said Breeze. + +"No! He's agin it, and wants them to come later. But that's all right, +for you see she kin go back to their own house at the Mission, now that +the Vigilants are givin' up shadderin' it. So long, Mr. Breeze! We're +startin' afore daylight. Sorry you didn't see Jim in condition." + +He grasped Breeze's hand warmly and slipped out of the door softly. For +an instant Mr. Breeze felt inclined to follow him into the room and make +a kinder adieu to the pair, but the reflection that he might embarrass +the wife, who, it would seem, had purposely avoided accompanying her +husband when he entered, withheld him. And for the last few minutes he +had been doubtful if he had any right to pose as her friend. Beside the +devotion of the man who had just left him, his own scant kindness to her +children seemed ridiculous. + +He went to bed, but tossed uneasily until he fancied he heard stealthy +footsteps outside his door and in the passage. Even then he thought of +getting up, dressing, and going out to bid farewell to the fugitives. +But even while he was thinking of it he fell asleep and did not wake +until the sun was shining in at his windows. + +He sprang to his feet, threw on his dressing-gown, and peered into the +passage. Everything was silent. He stepped outside--the light streamed +into the hall from the open doors and windows of both rooms--the floor +was empty; not a trace of the former occupants remained. He was turning +back when his eye fell upon the battered wooden doll set upright against +his doorjamb, holding stiffly in its jointed arms a bit of paper folded +like a note. Opening it, he found a few lines written in pencil. + + +God bless you for your kindness to us, and try to forgive me for +touching your papers. But I thought that you would detect it, know WHY I +did it, and then help us, as you did! Good-by! + +MAMIE BODINE. + + +Mr. Breeze laid down the paper with a slight accession of color, as if +its purport had been ironical. How little had he done compared to the +devotion of this delicate woman or the sacrifices of that rough friend! +How deserted looked this nest under the eaves, which had so long borne +its burden of guilt, innocence, shame, and suffering! For many days +afterwards he avoided it except at night, and even then he often found +himself lying awake to listen to the lost voices of the children. + +But one evening, a fortnight later, he came upon Roberts in the hall. +"Well," said Breeze, with abrupt directness, "did he get away?" + +Roberts started, uttered an oath which it is possible the Recording +Angel passed to his credit, and said, "Yes, HE got away all right!" + +"Why, hasn't his wife joined him?" + +"No. Never, in this world, I reckon; and if anywhere in the next, I +don't want to go there!" said Roberts furiously. + +"Is he dead?" + +"Dead? That kind don't die!" + +"What do you mean?" + +Roberts's lips writhed, and then, with a strong effort, he said with +deliberate distinctness, "I mean--that the hound went off with another +woman--that--was--in--that schooner, and left that fool Shuckster adrift +in the plunger." + +"And the wife and children?" + +"Shuckster sold his shanty at Petaluma to pay their passage to the +States. Good-night!" + + + + +HOW REUBEN ALLEN "SAW LIFE" IN SAN FRANCISCO + + +The junior partner of the firm of Sparlow & Kane, "Druggists and +Apothecaries," of San Francisco, was gazing meditatively out of the +corner of the window of their little shop in Dupont Street. He could see +the dimly lit perspective of the narrow thoroughfare fade off into the +level sand wastes of Market Street on the one side, and plunge into the +half-excavated bulk of Telegraph Hill on the other. He could see the +glow and hear the rumble of Montgomery Street--the great central avenue +farther down the hill. Above the housetops was spread the warm blanket +of sea-fog under which the city was regularly laid to sleep every +summer night to the cool lullaby of the Northwest Trades. It was already +half-past eleven; footsteps on the wooden pavement were getting rarer +and more remote; the last cart had rumbled by; the shutters were up +along the street; the glare of his own red and blue jars was the only +beacon left to guide the wayfarers. Ordinarily he would have been going +home at this hour, when his partner, who occupied the surgery and a +small bedroom at the rear of the shop, always returned to relieve him. +That night, however, a professional visit would detain the "Doctor" +until half-past twelve. There was still an hour to wait. He felt drowsy; +the mysterious incense of the shop, that combined essence of drugs, +spice, scented soap, and orris root--which always reminded him of the +Arabian Nights--was affecting him. He yawned, and then, turning away, +passed behind the counter, took down a jar labeled "Glycyrr. Glabra," +selected a piece of Spanish licorice, and meditatively sucked it. +Not receiving from it that diversion and sustenance he apparently was +seeking, he also visited, in an equally familiar manner, a jar marked +"Jujubes," and returned ruminatingly to his previous position. + +If I have not in this incident sufficiently established the youthfulness +of the junior partner, I may add briefly that he was just nineteen, that +he had early joined the emigration to California, and after one or two +previous light-hearted essays at other occupations, for which he was +singularly unfitted, he had saved enough to embark on his present +venture, still less suited to his temperament. In those adventurous days +trades and vocations were not always filled by trained workmen; it was +extremely probable that the experienced chemist was already making his +success as a gold-miner, with a lawyer and a physician for his partners, +and Mr. Kane's inexperienced position was by no means a novel one. A +slight knowledge of Latin as a written language, an American schoolboy's +acquaintance with chemistry and natural philosophy, were deemed +sufficient by his partner, a regular physician, for practical +cooperation in the vending of drugs and putting up of prescriptions. He +knew the difference between acids and alkalies and the peculiar results +which attended their incautious combination. But he was excessively +deliberate, painstaking, and cautious. The legend which adorned the desk +at the counter, "Physicians' prescriptions carefully prepared," was more +than usually true as regarded the adverb. There was no danger of his +poisoning anybody through haste or carelessness, but it was possible +that an urgent "case" might have succumbed to the disease while he was +putting up the remedy. Nor was his caution entirely passive. In those +days the "heroic" practice of medicine was in keeping with the abnormal +development of the country; there were "record" doses of calomel +and quinine, and he had once or twice incurred the fury of local +practitioners by sending back their prescriptions with a modest query. + +The far-off clatter of carriage wheels presently arrested his attention; +looking down the street, he could see the lights of a hackney carriage +advancing towards him. They had already flashed upon the open crossing +a block beyond before his vague curiosity changed into an active +instinctive presentiment that they were coming to the shop. He withdrew +to a more becoming and dignified position behind the counter as the +carriage drew up with a jerk before the door. + +The driver rolled from his box and opened the carriage door to a woman +whom he assisted, between some hysterical exclamations on her part and +some equally incoherent explanations of his own, into the shop. Kane saw +at a glance that both were under the influence of liquor, and one, the +woman, was disheveled and bleeding about the head. Yet she was elegantly +dressed and evidently en fete, with one or two "tricolor" knots and +ribbons mingled with her finery. Her golden hair, matted and darkened +with blood, had partly escaped from her French bonnet and hung heavily +over her shoulders. The driver, who was supporting her roughly, and with +a familiarity that was part of the incongruous spectacle, was the first +to speak. + +"Madame le Blank! ye know! Got cut about the head down at the fete +at South Park! Tried to dance upon the table, and rolled over on some +champagne bottles. See? Wants plastering up!" + +"Ah brute! Hog! Nozzing of ze kine! Why will you lie? I dance! Ze +cowards, fools, traitors zere upset ze table and I fall. I am cut! Ah, +my God, how I am cut!" + +She stopped suddenly and lapsed heavily against the counter. At which +Kane hurried around to support her into the surgery with the one +fixed idea in his bewildered mind of getting her out of the shop, +and, suggestively, into the domain and under the responsibility of his +partner. The hackman, apparently relieved and washing his hands of any +further complicity in the matter, nodded and smiled, and saying, "I +reckon I'll wait outside, pardner," retreated incontinently to his +vehicle. To add to Kane's half-ludicrous embarrassment the fair +patient herself slightly resisted his support, accused the hackman of +"abandoning her," and demanded if Kane knew "zee reason of zees affair," +yet she presently lapsed again into the large reclining-chair which +he had wheeled forward, with open mouth, half-shut eyes, and a strange +Pierrette mask of face, combined of the pallor of faintness and chalk, +and the rouge of paint and blood. At which Kane's cautiousness again +embarrassed him. A little brandy from the bottle labeled "Vini Galli" +seemed to be indicated, but his inexperience could not determine if her +relaxation was from bloodlessness or the reacting depression of alcohol. +In this dilemma he chose a medium course, with aromatic spirits of +ammonia, and mixing a diluted quantity in a measuring-glass, poured +it between her white lips. A start, a struggle, a cough--a volley +of imprecatory French, and the knocking of the glass from his +hand followed--but she came to! He quickly sponged her head of the +half-coagulated blood, and removed a few fragments of glass from a long +laceration of the scalp. The shock of the cold water and the appearance +of the ensanguined basin frightened her into a momentary passivity. But +when Kane found it necessary to cut her hair in the region of the wound +in order to apply the adhesive plaster, she again endeavored to rise and +grasp the scissors. + +"You'll bleed to death if you're not quiet," said the young man with +dogged gravity. + +Something in his manner impressed her into silence again. He cut whole +locks away ruthlessly; he was determined to draw the edges of the wound +together with the strip of plaster and stop the bleeding--if he cropped +the whole head. His excessive caution for her physical condition did +not extend to her superficial adornment. Her yellow tresses lay on the +floor, her neck and shoulders were saturated with water from the sponge +which he continually applied, until the heated strips of plaster had +closed the wound almost hermetically. She whimpered, tears ran down her +cheeks; but so long as it was not blood the young man was satisfied. + +In the midst of it he heard the shop door open, and presently the sound +of rapping on the counter. Another customer! + +Mr. Kane called out, "Wait a moment," and continued his ministrations. +After a pause the rapping recommenced. Kane was just securing the last +strip of plaster and preserved a preoccupied silence. Then the door flew +open abruptly and a figure appeared impatiently on the threshold. It was +that of a miner recently returned from the gold diggings--so recently +that he evidently had not had time to change his clothes at his adjacent +hotel, and stood there in his high boots, duck trousers, and flannel +shirt, over which his coat was slung like a hussar's jacket from his +shoulder. Kane would have uttered an indignant protest at the intrusion, +had not the intruder himself as quickly recoiled with an astonishment +and contrition that was beyond the effect of any reproval. He literally +gasped at the spectacle before him. A handsomely dressed woman reclining +in a chair; lace and jewelry and ribbons depending from her saturated +shoulders; tresses of golden hair filling her lap and lying on the +floor; a pail of ruddy water and a sponge at her feet, and a pale +young man bending over her head with a spirit lamp and strips of yellow +plaster! + +"'Scuse me, pard! I was just dropping in; don't you hurry! I kin wait," +he stammered, falling back, and then the door closed abruptly behind +him. + +Kane gathered up the shorn locks, wiped the face and neck of his patient +with a clean towel and his own handkerchief, threw her gorgeous opera +cloak over her shoulders, and assisted her to rise. She did so, weakly +but obediently; she was evidently stunned and cowed in some mysterious +way by his material attitude, perhaps, or her sudden realization of her +position; at least the contrast between her aggressive entrance into +the shop and her subdued preparation for her departure was so remarkable +that it affected even Kane's preoccupation. + +"There," he said, slightly relaxing his severe demeanor with an +encouraging smile, "I think this will do; we've stopped the bleeding. It +will probably smart a little as the plaster sets closer. I can send my +partner, Dr. Sparlow, to you in the morning." + +She looked at him curiously and with a strange smile. "And zees Doctor +Sparrlow--eez he like you, M'sieu?" + +"He is older, and very well known," said the young man seriously. "I can +safely recommend him." + +"Ah," she repeated, with a pensive smile which made Kane think her quite +pretty. "Ah--he ez older--your Doctor Sparrlow--but YOU are strong, +M'sieu." + +"And," said Kane vaguely, "he will tell you what to do." + +"Ah," she repeated again softly, with the same smile, "he will tell me +what to do if I shall not know myself. Dat ez good." + +Kane had already wrapped her shorn locks in a piece of spotless white +paper and tied it up with narrow white ribbon in the dainty fashion dear +to druggists' clerks. As he handed it to her she felt in her pocket and +produced a handful of gold. + +"What shall I pay for zees, M'sieu?" + +Kane reddened a little--solely because of his slow arithmetical +faculties. Adhesive plaster was cheap--he would like to have charged +proportionately for the exact amount he had used; but the division was +beyond him! And he lacked the trader's instinct. + +"Twenty-five cents, I think," he hazarded briefly. + +She started, but smiled again. "Twenty-five cents for all zees--ze +medicine, ze strips for ze head, ze hair cut"--she glanced at the paper +parcel he had given her--"it is only twenty-five cents?" + +"That's all." + +He selected from her outstretched palm, with some difficulty, the +exact amount, the smallest coin it held. She again looked at him +curiously--half confusedly--and moved slowly into the shop. The miner, +who was still there, retreated as before with a gaspingly apologetic +gesture--even flattening himself against the window to give her sweeping +silk flounces freer passage. As she passed into the street with a +"Merci, M'sieu, good a'night," and the hackman started from the vehicle +to receive her, the miner drew a long breath, and bringing his fist down +upon the counter, ejaculated,-- + +"B'gosh! She's a stunner!" + +Kane, a good deal relieved at her departure and the success of his +ministration, smiled benignly. + +The stranger again stared after the retreating carriage, looked around +the shop, and even into the deserted surgery, and approached the +counter confidentially. "Look yer, pardner. I kem straight from St. Jo, +Mizzorri, to Gold Hill--whar I've got a claim--and I reckon this is the +first time I ever struck San Francisker. I ain't up to towny ways nohow, +and I allow that mebbe I'm rather green. So we'll let that pass! Now +look yer!" he added, leaning over the counter with still deeper and even +mysterious confidence, "I suppose this yer kind o' thing is the regular +go here, eh? nothin' new to YOU! in course no! But to me, pard, it's +just fetchin' me! Lifts me clear outer my boots every time! Why, when I +popped into that thar room, and saw that lady--all gold, furbelows, +and spangles--at twelve o'clock at night, sittin' in that cheer and you +a-cuttin' her h'r and swabbin' her head o' blood, and kinder prospectin' +for 'indications,' so to speak, and doin' it so kam and indifferent +like, I sez to myself, 'Rube, Rube,' sez I, 'this yer's life! city life! +San Francisker life! and b'gosh, you've dropped into it! Now, pard, look +yar! don't you answer, ye know, ef it ain't square and above board for +me to know; I ain't askin' you to give the show away, ye know, in the +matter of high-toned ladies like that, but" (very mysteriously, and +sinking his voice to the lowest confidential pitch, as he put his +hand to his ear as if to catch the hushed reply), "what mout hev bin +happening, pard?" + +Considerably amused at the man's simplicity, Kane replied +good-humoredly: "Danced among some champagne bottles on a table at a +party, fell and got cut by glass." + +The stranger nodded his head slowly and approvingly as he repeated with +infinite deliberateness: "Danced on champagne bottles, champagne! you +said, pard? at a pahty! Yes!" (musingly and approvingly). "I reckon +that's about the gait they take. SHE'D do it." + +"Is there anything I can do for you? sorry to have kept you waiting," +said Kane, glancing at the clock. + +"O ME! Lord! ye needn't mind me. Why, I should wait for anythin' o' the +like o' that, and be just proud to do it! And ye see, I sorter helped +myself while you war busy." + +"Helped yourself?" said Kane in astonishment. + +"Yes, outer that bottle." He pointed to the ammonia bottle, which still +stood on the counter. "It seemed to be handy and popular." + +"Man! you might have poisoned yourself." + +The stranger paused a moment at the idea. "So I mout, I reckon," he said +musingly, "that's so! pizined myself jest ez you was lookin' arter that +high-toned case, and kinder bothered you! It's like me!" + +"I mean it required diluting; you ought to have taken it in water," said +Kane. + +"I reckon! It DID sorter h'ist me over to the door for a little fresh +air at first! seemed rayther scaldy to the lips. But wot of it that GOT +THAR," he put his hand gravely to his stomach, "did me pow'ful good." + +"What was the matter with you?" asked Kane. + +"Well, ye see, pard" (confidentially again), "I reckon it's suthin' +along o' my heart. Times it gets to poundin' away like a quartz stamp, +and then it stops suddent like, and kinder leaves ME out too." + +Kane looked at him more attentively. He was a strong, powerfully built +man with a complexion that betrayed nothing more serious than +the effects of mining cookery. It was evidently a common case of +indigestion. + +"I don't say it would not have done you some good if properly +administered," he replied. "If you like I'll put up a diluted quantity +and directions?" + +"That's me, every time, pardner!" said the stranger with an accent of +relief. "And look yer, don't you stop at that! Ye just put me up some +samples like of anythin' you think mout be likely to hit. I'll go in for +a fair show, and then meander in every now and then, betwixt times, to +let you know. Ye don't mind my drifting in here, do ye? It's about ez +likely a place ez I struck since I've left the Sacramento boat, and my +hotel, just round the corner. Ye just sample me a bit o' everythin'; +don't mind the expense. I'll take YOUR word for it. The way you--a +young fellow--jest stuck to your work in thar, cool and kam as a +woodpecker--not minding how high-toned she was--nor the jewelery and +spangles she had on--jest got me! I sez to myself, 'Rube,' sez I, +'whatever's wrong o' YOUR insides, you jest stick to that feller to set +ye right.'" + +The junior partner's face reddened as he turned to his shelves +ostensibly for consultation. Conscious of his inexperience, the homely +praise of even this ignorant man was not ungrateful. He felt, too, +that his treatment of the Frenchwoman, though successful, might not be +considered remunerative from a business point of view by his partner. He +accordingly acted upon the suggestion of the stranger and put up two or +three specifics for dyspepsia. They were received with grateful alacrity +and the casual display of considerable gold in the stranger's pocket in +the process of payment. He was evidently a successful miner. + +After bestowing the bottles carefully about his person, he again +leaned confidentially towards Kane. "I reckon of course you know this +high-toned lady, being in the way of seein' that kind o' folks. I +suppose you won't mind telling me, ez a stranger. But" (he added +hastily, with a deprecatory wave of his hand), "perhaps ye would." + +Mr. Kane, in fact, had hesitated. He knew vaguely and by report that +Madame le Blanc was the proprietress of a famous restaurant, over which +she had rooms where private gambling was carried on to a great extent. +It was also alleged that she was protected by a famous gambler and a +somewhat notorious bully. Mr. Kane's caution suggested that he had no +right to expose the reputation of his chance customer. He was silent. + +The stranger's face became intensely sympathetic and apologetic. "I +see!--not another word, pard! It ain't the square thing to be givin' +her away, and I oughtn't to hev asked. Well--so long! I reckon I'll jest +drift back to the hotel. I ain't been in San Francisker mor' 'n three +hours, and I calkilate, pard, that I've jest seen about ez square a +sample of high-toned life as fellers ez haz bin here a year. Well, +hastermanyanner--ez the Greasers say. I'll be droppin' in to-morrow. My +name's Reuben Allen o' Mariposa. I know yours; it's on the sign, and it +ain't Sparlow." + +He cast another lingering glance around the shop, as if loath to leave +it, and then slowly sauntered out of the door, pausing in the street a +moment, in the glare of the red light, before he faded into darkness. +Without knowing exactly why, Kane had an instinct that the stranger knew +no one in San Francisco, and after leaving the shop was going into utter +silence and obscurity. + +A few moments later Dr. Sparlow returned to relieve his wearied partner. +A pushing, active man, he listened impatiently to Kane's account of his +youthful practice with Madame le Blanc, without, however, dwelling much +on his methods. "You ought to have charged her more," the elder said +decisively. "She'd have paid it. She only came here because she was +ashamed to go to a big shop in Montgomery Street--and she won't come +again." + +"But she wants you to see her to-morrow," urged Kane, "and I told her +you would!" + +"You say it was only a superficial cut?" queried the doctor, "and +you closed it? Umph! what can she want to see ME for?" He paid more +attention, however, to the case of the stranger, Allen. "When he comes +here again, manage to let me see him." Mr. Kane promised, yet for some +indefinable reason he went home that night not quite as well satisfied +with himself. + +He was much more concerned the next morning when, after relieving the +doctor for his regular morning visits, he was startled an hour later +by the abrupt return of that gentleman. His face was marked by some +excitement and anxiety, which nevertheless struggled with that sense +of the ludicrous which Californians in those days imported into most +situations of perplexity or catastrophe. Putting his hands deeply into +his trousers pockets, he confronted his youthful partner behind the +counter. + +"How much did you charge that French-woman?" he said gravely. + +"Twenty-five cents," said Kane timidly. + +"Well, I'd give it back and add two hundred and fifty dollars if she had +never entered the shop." + +"What's the matter?" + +"Her head will be--and a mass of it, in a day, I reckon! Why, man, you +put enough plaster on it to clothe and paper the dome of the Capitol! +You drew her scalp together so that she couldn't shut her eyes without +climbing up the bed-post! You mowed her hair off so that she'll have to +wear a wig for the next two years--and handed it to her in a beau-ti-ful +sealed package! They talk of suing me and killing you out of hand." + +"She was bleeding a great deal and looked faint," said the junior +partner; "I thought I ought to stop that." + +"And you did--by thunder! Though it might have been better business +for the shop if I'd found her a crumbling ruin here, than lathed and +plastered in this fashion, over there! However," he added, with a laugh, +seeing an angry light in his junior partner's eye, "SHE don't seem to +mind it--the cursing all comes from THEM. SHE rather likes your style +and praises it--that's what gets me! Did you talk to her much," he +added, looking critically at his partner. + +"I only told her to sit still or she'd bleed to death," said Kane +curtly. + +"Humph!--she jabbered something about your being 'strong' and knowing +just how to handle her. Well, it can't be helped now. I think I came in +time for the worst of it and have drawn their fire. Don't do it again. +The next time a woman with a cut head and long hair tackles you, fill +up her scalp with lint and tannin, and pack her off to some of the big +shops and make THEM pick it out." And with a good-humored nod he started +off to finish his interrupted visits. + +With a vague sense of remorse, and yet a consciousness of some injustice +done him, Mr. Kane resumed his occupation with filters and funnels, and +mortars and triturations. He was so gloomily preoccupied that he did +not, as usual, glance out of the window, or he would have observed the +mining stranger of the previous night before it. It was not until the +man's bowed shoulders blocked the light of the doorway that he looked up +and recognized him. Kane was in no mood to welcome his appearance. His +presence, too, actively recalled the last night's adventure of which he +was a witness--albeit a sympathizing one. Kane shrank from the illusions +which he felt he would be sure to make. And with his present ill luck, +he was by no means sure that his ministrations even to HIM had been any +more successful than they had been to the Frenchwoman. But a glance +at his good-humored face and kindling eyes removed that suspicion. +Nevertheless, he felt somewhat embarrassed and impatient, and perhaps +could not entirely conceal it. He forgot that the rudest natures are +sometimes the most delicately sensitive to slights, and the stranger had +noticed his manner and began apologetically. + +"I allowed I'd just drop in anyway to tell ye that these thar pills you +giv' me did me a heap o' good so far--though mebbe it's only fair to +give the others a show too, which I'm reckoning to do." He paused, and +then in a submissive confidence went on: "But first I wanted to hev you +excuse me for havin' asked all them questions about that high-toned lady +last night, when it warn't none of my business. I am a darned fool." + +Mr. Kane instantly saw that it was no use to keep up his attitude of +secrecy, or impose upon the ignorant, simple man, and said hurriedly: +"Oh no. The lady is very well known. She is the proprietress of a +restaurant down the street--a house open to everybody. Her name is +Madame le Blanc; you may have heard of her before?" + +To his surprise the man exhibited no diminution of interest nor change +of sentiment at this intelligence. "Then," he said slowly, "I reckon I +might get to see her again. Ye see, Mr. Kane, I rather took a fancy to +her general style and gait--arter seein' her in that fix last night. It +was rather like them play pictures on the stage. Ye don't think she'd +make any fuss to seein' a rough old 'forty-niner' like me?" + +"Hardly," said Kane, "but there might be some objection from her +gentlemen friends," he added, with a smile,--"Jack Lane, a gambler, who +keeps a faro bank in her rooms, and Jimmy O'Ryan, a prize-fighter, who +is one of her 'chuckers out.'" + +His further relation of Madame le Blanc's entourage apparently gave the +miner no concern. He looked at Kane, nodded, and repeated slowly +and appreciatively: "Yes, keeps a gamblin' and faro bank and a +prize-fighter--I reckon that might be about her gait and style too. And +you say she lives"-- + +He stopped, for at this moment a man entered the shop quickly, shut the +door behind him, and turned the key in the lock. It was done so quickly +that Kane instinctively felt that the man had been loitering in the +vicinity and had approached from the side street. A single glance at the +intruder's face and figure showed him that it was the bully of whom +he had just spoken. He had seen that square, brutal face once before, +confronting the police in a riot, and had not forgotten it. But today, +with the flush of liquor on it, it had an impatient awkwardness and +confused embarrassment that he could not account for. He did not +comprehend that the genuine bully is seldom deliberate of attack, and +is obliged--in common with many of the combative lower animals--to lash +himself into a previous fury of provocation. This probably saved him, as +perhaps some instinctive feeling that he was in no immediate danger kept +him cool. He remained standing quietly behind the counter. Allen glanced +around carelessly, looking at the shelves. + +The silence of the two men apparently increased the ruffian's rage and +embarrassment. Suddenly he leaped into the air with a whoop and +clumsily executed a negro double shuffle on the floor, which jarred the +glasses--yet was otherwise so singularly ineffective and void of purpose +that he stopped in the midst of it and had to content himself with +glaring at Kane. + +"Well," said Kane quietly, "what does all this mean? What do you want +here?" + +"What does it mean?" repeated the bully, finding his voice in a high +falsetto, designed to imitate Kane's. "It means I'm going to play merry +h-ll with this shop! It means I'm goin' to clean it out and the blank +hair-cuttin' blank that keeps it. What do I want here? Well--what I want +I intend to help myself to, and all h-ll can't stop me! And" (working +himself to the striking point) "who the blank are you to ask me?" He +sprang towards the counter, but at the same moment Allen seemed to +slip almost imperceptibly and noiselessly between them, and Kane found +himself confronted only by the miner's broad back. + +"Hol' yer hosses, stranger," said Allen slowly, as the ruffian suddenly +collided with his impassive figure. "I'm a sick man comin' in yer for +medicine. I've got somethin' wrong with my heart, and goin's on like +this yer kinder sets it to thumpin'." + +"Blank you and your blank heart!" screamed the bully, turning in a fury +of amazement and contempt at this impotent interruption. "Who"--but his +voice stopped. Allen's powerful right arm had passed over his head and +shoulders like a steel hoop, and pinioned his elbows against his sides. +Held rigidly upright, he attempted to kick, but Allen's right leg here +advanced, and firmly held his lower limbs against the counter that shook +to his struggles and blasphemous outcries. Allen turned quietly to Kane, +and, with a gesture of his unemployed arm, said confidentially: + +"Would ye mind passing me down that ar Romantic Spirits of Ammonyer ye +gave me last night?" + +Kane caught the idea, and handed him the bottle. + +"Thar," said Allen, taking out the stopper and holding the pungent +spirit against the bully's dilated nostrils and vociferous mouth, "thar, +smell that, and taste it, it will do ye good; it was powerful kammin' to +ME last night." + +The ruffian gasped, coughed, choked, but his blaspheming voice died away +in a suffocating hiccough. + +"Thar," continued Allen, as his now subdued captive relaxed his +struggling, "ye 'r' better, and so am I. It's quieter here now, and ye +ain't affectin' my heart so bad. A little fresh air will make us both +all right." He turned again to Kane in his former subdued confidential +manner. + +"Would ye mind openin' that door?" + +Kane flew to the door, unlocked it, and held it wide open. The bully +again began to struggle, but a second inhalation of the hartshorn +quelled him, and enabled his captor to drag him to the door. As they +emerged upon the sidewalk, the bully, with a final desperate struggle, +freed his arm and grasped his pistol at his hip-pocket, but at the same +moment Allen deliberately caught his hand, and with a powerful side +throw cast him on the pavement, retaining the weapon in his own hand. +"I've one of my own," he said to the prostrate man, "but I reckon I'll +keep this yer too, until you're better." + +The crowd that had collected quickly, recognizing the notorious and +discomfited bully, were not of a class to offer him any sympathy, and he +slunk away followed by their jeers. Allen returned quietly to the +shop. Kane was profuse in his thanks, and yet oppressed with his simple +friend's fatuous admiration for a woman who could keep such ruffians in +her employ. "You know who that man was, I suppose?" he said. + +"I reckon it was that 'er prize-fighter belongin' to that high-toned +lady," returned Allen simply. "But he don't know anything about +RASTLIN', b'gosh; only that I was afraid o' bringin' on that heart +trouble, I mout hev hurt him bad." + +"They think"--hesitated Kane, "that--I--was rough in my treatment +of that woman and maliciously cut off her hair. This attack was +revenge--or"--he hesitated still more, as he remembered Dr. Sparlow's +indication of the woman's feeling--"or that bully's idea of revenge." + +"I see," nodded Allen, opening his small sympathetic eyes on Kane with +an exasperating air of secrecy--"just jealousy." + +Kane reddened in sheer hopelessness of explanation. "No; it was earning +his wages, as he thought." + +"Never ye mind, pard," said Allen confidentially. "I'll set 'em +both right. Ye see, this sorter gives me a show to call at that thar +restaurant and give HIM back his six-shooter, and set her on the right +trail for you. Why, Lordy! I was here when you was fixin' her--I'm +testimony o' the way you did it--and she'll remember me. I'll sorter +waltz round thar this afternoon. But I reckon I won't be keepin' YOU +from your work any longer. And look yar!--I say, pard!--this is seein' +life in 'Frisco--ain't it? Gosh! I've had more high times in this very +shop in two days, than I've had in two years of St. Jo. So long, Mr. +Kane!" He waved his hand, lounged slowly out of the shop, gave a parting +glance up the street, passed the window, and was gone. + +The next day being a half-holiday for Kane, he did not reach the shop +until afternoon. "Your mining friend Allen has been here," said Doctor +Sparlow. "I took the liberty of introducing myself, and induced him to +let me carefully examine him. He was a little shy, and I am sorry for +it, as I fear he has some serious organic trouble with his heart and +ought to have a more thorough examination." Seeing Kane's unaffected +concern, he added, "You might influence him to do so. He's a good fellow +and ought to take some care of himself. By the way, he told me to tell +you that he'd seen Madame le Blanc and made it all right about you. He +seems to be quite infatuated with the woman." + +"I'm sorry he ever saw her," said Kane bitterly. + +"Well, his seeing her seems to have saved the shop from being smashed +up, and you from getting a punched head," returned the Doctor with a +laugh. "He's no fool--yet it's a freak of human nature that a simple +hayseed like that--a man who's lived in the backwoods all his life, is +likely to be the first to tumble before a pot of French rouge like her." + +Indeed, in a couple of weeks, there was no further doubt of Mr. Reuben +Allen's infatuation. He dropped into the shop frequently on his way to +and from the restaurant, where he now regularly took his meals; he spent +his evenings in gambling in its private room. Yet Kane was by no means +sure that he was losing his money there unfairly, or that he was used +as a pigeon by the proprietress and her friends. The bully O'Ryan was +turned away; Sparlow grimly suggested that Allen had simply taken his +place, but Kane ingeniously retorted that the Doctor was only piqued +because Allen had evaded his professional treatment. Certainly the +patient had never consented to another examination, although he +repeatedly and gravely bought medicines, and was a generous customer. +Once or twice Kane thought it his duty to caution Allen against his new +friends and enlighten him as to Madame le Blanc's reputation, but his +suggestions were received with a good-humored submission that was either +the effect of unbelief or of perfect resignation to the fact, and he +desisted. One morning Dr. Sparlow said cheerfully:-- + +"Would you like to hear the last thing about your friend and the +Frenchwoman? The boys can't account for her singling out a fellow like +that for her friend, so they say that the night that she cut herself at +the fete and dropped in here for assistance, she found nobody here but +Allen--a chance customer! That it was HE who cut off her hair and bound +up her wounds in that sincere fashion, and she believed he had saved her +life." The Doctor grinned maliciously as he added: "And as that's the +way history is written you see your reputation is safe." + +It may have been a month later that San Francisco was thrown into a +paroxysm of horror and indignation over the assassination of a prominent +citizen and official in the gambling-rooms of Madame le Blanc, at the +hands of a notorious gambler. The gambler had escaped, but in one +of those rare spasms of vengeful morality which sometimes overtakes +communities who have too long winked at and suffered the existence of +evil, the fair proprietress and her whole entourage were arrested and +haled before the coroner's jury at the inquest. The greatest excitement +prevailed; it was said that if the jury failed in their duty, +the Vigilance Committee had arranged for the destruction of the +establishment and the deportation of its inmates. The crowd that had +collected around the building was reinforced by Kane and Dr. Sparlow, +who had closed their shop in the next block to attend. When Kane had +fought his way into the building and the temporary court, held in the +splendidly furnished gambling saloon, whose gilded mirrors reflected the +eager faces of the crowd, the Chief of Police was giving his testimony +in a formal official manner, impressive only for its relentless +and impassive revelation of the character and antecedents of the +proprietress. The house had been long under the espionage of the police; +Madame le Blanc had a dozen aliases; she was "wanted" in New Orleans, +in New York, in Havana! It was in HER house that Dyer, the bank clerk, +committed suicide; it was there that Colonel Hooley was set upon by her +bully, O'Ryan; it was she--Kane heard with reddening cheeks--who defied +the police with riotous conduct at a fete two months ago. As he coolly +recited the counts of this shameful indictment, Kane looked eagerly +around for Allen, whom he knew had been arrested as a witness. How would +HE take this terrible disclosure? He was sitting with the others, his +arm thrown over the back of his chair, and his good-humored face turned +towards the woman, in his old confidential attitude. SHE, gorgeously +dressed, painted, but unblushing, was cool, collected, and cynical. + +The Coroner next called the only witness of the actual tragedy, "Reuben +Allen." The man did not move nor change his position. The summons was +repeated; a policeman touched him on the shoulder. There was a pause, +and the officer announced: "He has fainted, your Honor!" + +"Is there a physician present?" asked the Coroner. + +Sparlow edged his way quickly to the front. "I'm a medical man," he said +to the Coroner, as he passed quickly to the still, upright, immovable +figure and knelt beside it with his head upon his heart. There was an +awed silence as, after a pause, he rose slowly to his feet. + +"The witness is a patient, your Honor, whom I examined some weeks ago +and found suffering from valvular disease of the heart. He is dead." + + + + +THREE VAGABONDS OF TRINIDAD + + +"Oh! it's you, is it?" said the Editor. + +The Chinese boy to whom the colloquialism was addressed answered +literally, after his habit:-- + +"Allee same Li Tee; me no changee. Me no ollee China boy." + +"That's so," said the Editor with an air of conviction. "I don't suppose +there's another imp like you in all Trinidad County. Well, next time +don't scratch outside there like a gopher, but come in." + +"Lass time," suggested Li Tee blandly, "me tap tappee. You no like tap +tappee. You say, alle same dam woodpeckel." + +It was quite true--the highly sylvan surroundings of the Trinidad +"Sentinel" office--a little clearing in a pine forest--and its attendant +fauna, made these signals confusing. An accurate imitation of a +woodpecker was also one of Li Tee's accomplishments. + +The Editor without replying finished the note he was writing; at which +Li Tee, as if struck by some coincident recollection, lifted up his long +sleeve, which served him as a pocket, and carelessly shook out a letter +on the table like a conjuring trick. The Editor, with a reproachful +glance at him, opened it. It was only the ordinary request of an +agricultural subscriber--one Johnson--that the Editor would "notice" a +giant radish grown by the subscriber and sent by the bearer. + +"Where's the radish, Li Tee?" said the Editor suspiciously. + +"No hab got. Ask Mellikan boy." + +"What?" + +Here Li Tee condescended to explain that on passing the schoolhouse he +had been set upon by the schoolboys, and that in the struggle the big +radish--being, like most such monstrosities of the quick Californian +soil, merely a mass of organized water--was "mashed" over the head of +some of his assailants. The Editor, painfully aware of these regular +persecutions of his errand boy, and perhaps realizing that a radish +which could not be used as a bludgeon was not of a sustaining nature, +forebore any reproof. "But I cannot notice what I haven't seen, Li Tee," +he said good-humoredly. + +"S'pose you lie--allee same as Johnson," suggested Li with equal +cheerfulness. "He foolee you with lotten stuff--you foolee Mellikan man, +allee same." + +The Editor preserved a dignified silence until he had addressed his +letter. "Take this to Mrs. Martin," he said, handing it to the boy; "and +mind you keep clear of the schoolhouse. Don't go by the Flat either if +the men are at work, and don't, if you value your skin, pass Flanigan's +shanty, where you set off those firecrackers and nearly burnt him out +the other day. Look out for Barker's dog at the crossing, and keep +off the main road if the tunnel men are coming over the hill." Then +remembering that he had virtually closed all the ordinary approaches to +Mrs. Martin's house, he added, "Better go round by the woods, where you +won't meet ANY ONE." + +The boy darted off through the open door, and the Editor stood for a +moment looking regretfully after him. He liked his little protege ever +since that unfortunate child--a waif from a Chinese wash-house--was +impounded by some indignant miners for bringing home a highly imperfect +and insufficient washing, and kept as hostage for a more proper +return of the garments. Unfortunately, another gang of miners, equally +aggrieved, had at the same time looted the wash-house and driven off the +occupants, so that Li Tee remained unclaimed. For a few weeks he +became a sporting appendage of the miners' camp; the stolid butt +of good-humored practical jokes, the victim alternately of careless +indifference or of extravagant generosity. He received kicks and +half-dollars intermittently, and pocketed both with stoical fortitude. +But under this treatment he presently lost the docility and frugality +which was part of his inheritance, and began to put his small wits +against his tormentors, until they grew tired of their own mischief and +his. But they knew not what to do with him. His pretty nankeen-yellow +skin debarred him from the white "public school," while, although as +a heathen he might have reasonably claimed attention from the +Sabbath-school, the parents who cheerfully gave their contributions to +the heathen ABROAD, objected to him as a companion of their children in +the church at home. At this juncture the Editor offered to take him +into his printing office as a "devil." For a while he seemed to be +endeavoring, in his old literal way, to act up to that title. He inked +everything but the press. He scratched Chinese characters of an abusive +import on "leads," printed them, and stuck them about the office; he put +"punk" in the foreman's pipe, and had been seen to swallow small type +merely as a diabolical recreation. As a messenger he was fleet of foot, +but uncertain of delivery. Some time previously the Editor had enlisted +the sympathies of Mrs. Martin, the good-natured wife of a farmer, to +take him in her household on trial, but on the third day Li Tee had +run away. Yet the Editor had not despaired, and it was to urge her to a +second attempt that he dispatched that letter. + +He was still gazing abstractedly into the depths of the wood when he was +conscious of a slight movement--but no sound--in a clump of hazel near +him, and a stealthy figure glided from it. He at once recognized it as +"Jim," a well-known drunken Indian vagrant of the settlement--tied +to its civilization by the single link of "fire water," for which he +forsook equally the Reservation where it was forbidden and his own camps +where it was unknown. Unconscious of his silent observer, he dropped +upon all fours, with his ear and nose alternately to the ground like +some tracking animal. Then having satisfied himself, he rose, and +bending forward in a dogged trot, made a straight line for the woods. +He was followed a few seconds later by his dog--a slinking, rough, +wolf-like brute, whose superior instinct, however, made him detect the +silent presence of some alien humanity in the person of the Editor, and +to recognize it with a yelp of habit, anticipatory of the stone that he +knew was always thrown at him. + +"That's cute," said a voice, "but it's just what I expected all along." + +The Editor turned quickly. His foreman was standing behind him, and had +evidently noticed the whole incident. + +"It's what I allus said," continued the man. "That boy and that Injin +are thick as thieves. Ye can't see one without the other--and they've +got their little tricks and signals by which they follow each other. +T'other day when you was kalkilatin' Li Tee was doin' your errands I +tracked him out on the marsh, just by followin' that ornery, +pizenous dog o' Jim's. There was the whole caboodle of 'em--including +Jim--campin' out, and eatin' raw fish that Jim had ketched, and green +stuff they had both sneaked outer Johnson's garden. Mrs. Martin may TAKE +him, but she won't keep him long while Jim's round. What makes Li foller +that blamed old Injin soaker, and what makes Jim, who, at least, is a +'Merican, take up with a furrin' heathen, just gets me." + +The Editor did not reply. He had heard something of this before. Yet, +after all, why should not these equal outcasts of civilization cling +together! + +***** + +Li Tee's stay with Mrs. Martin was brief. His departure was hastened by +an untoward event--apparently ushered in, as in the case of other +great calamities, by a mysterious portent in the sky. One morning an +extraordinary bird of enormous dimensions was seen approaching from the +horizon, and eventually began to hover over the devoted town. Careful +scrutiny of this ominous fowl, however, revealed the fact that it was a +monstrous Chinese kite, in the shape of a flying dragon. The spectacle +imparted considerable liveliness to the community, which, however, +presently changed to some concern and indignation. It appeared that +the kite was secretly constructed by Li Tee in a secluded part of Mrs. +Martin's clearing, but when it was first tried by him he found that +through some error of design it required a tail of unusual proportions. +This he hurriedly supplied by the first means he found--Mrs. Martin's +clothes-line, with part of the weekly wash depending from it. This fact +was not at first noticed by the ordinary sightseer, although the tail +seemed peculiar--yet, perhaps, not more peculiar than a dragon's tail +ought to be. But when the actual theft was discovered and reported +through the town, a vivacious interest was created, and spy-glasses were +used to identify the various articles of apparel still hanging on that +ravished clothes-line. These garments, in the course of their slow +disengagement from the clothes-pins through the gyrations of the kite, +impartially distributed themselves over the town--one of Mrs. Martin's +stockings falling upon the veranda of the Polka Saloon, and the other +being afterwards discovered on the belfry of the First Methodist +Church--to the scandal of the congregation. It would have been well if +the result of Li Tee's invention had ended here. Alas! the kite-flyer +and his accomplice, "Injin Jim," were tracked by means of the kite's +tell-tale cord to a lonely part of the marsh and rudely dispossessed of +their charge by Deacon Hornblower and a constable. Unfortunately, +the captors overlooked the fact that the kite-flyers had taken the +precaution of making a "half-turn" of the stout cord around a log to +ease the tremendous pull of the kite--whose power the captors had not +reckoned upon--and the Deacon incautiously substituted his own body for +the log. A singular spectacle is said to have then presented itself to +the on-lookers. The Deacon was seen to be running wildly by leaps and +bounds over the marsh after the kite, closely followed by the constable +in equally wild efforts to restrain him by tugging at the end of the +line. The extraordinary race continued to the town until the constable +fell, losing his hold of the line. This seemed to impart a singular +specific levity to the Deacon, who, to the astonishment of everybody, +incontinently sailed up into a tree! When he was succored and cut down +from the demoniac kite, he was found to have sustained a dislocation +of the shoulder, and the constable was severely shaken. By that one +infelicitous stroke the two outcasts made an enemy of the Law and the +Gospel as represented in Trinidad County. It is to be feared also that +the ordinary emotional instinct of a frontier community, to which they +were now simply abandoned, was as little to be trusted. In this dilemma +they disappeared from the town the next day--no one knew where. A +pale blue smoke rising from a lonely island in the bay for some days +afterwards suggested their possible refuge. But nobody greatly cared. +The sympathetic mediation of the Editor was characteristically opposed +by Mr. Parkin Skinner, a prominent citizen:-- + +"It's all very well for you to talk sentiment about niggers, Chinamen, +and Injins, and you fellers can laugh about the Deacon being snatched +up to heaven like Elijah in that blamed Chinese chariot of a kite--but +I kin tell you, gentlemen, that this is a white man's country! Yes, sir, +you can't get over it! The nigger of every description--yeller, +brown, or black, call him 'Chinese,' 'Injin,' or 'Kanaka,' or what +you like--hez to clar off of God's footstool when the Anglo-Saxon gets +started! It stands to reason that they can't live alongside o' printin' +presses, M'Cormick's reapers, and the Bible! Yes, sir! the Bible; and +Deacon Hornblower kin prove it to you. It's our manifest destiny to clar +them out--that's what we was put here for--and it's just the work we've +got to do!" + +I have ventured to quote Mr. Skinner's stirring remarks to show that +probably Jim and Li Tee ran away only in anticipation of a possible +lynching, and to prove that advanced sentiments of this high and +ennobling nature really obtained forty years ago in an ordinary American +frontier town which did not then dream of Expansion and Empire! + +Howbeit, Mr. Skinner did not make allowance for mere human nature. +One morning Master Bob Skinner, his son, aged twelve, evaded the +schoolhouse, and started in an old Indian "dug-out" to invade the +island of the miserable refugees. His purpose was not clearly defined +to himself, but was to be modified by circumstances. He would either +capture Li Tee and Jim, or join them in their lawless existence. He +had prepared himself for either event by surreptitiously borrowing +his father's gun. He also carried victuals, having heard that Jim ate +grasshoppers and Li Tee rats, and misdoubting his own capacity for +either diet. He paddled slowly, well in shore, to be secure from +observation at home, and then struck out boldly in his leaky canoe for +the island--a tufted, tussocky shred of the marshy promontory torn off +in some tidal storm. It was a lovely day, the bay being barely ruffled +by the afternoon "trades;" but as he neared the island he came upon the +swell from the bar and the thunders of the distant Pacific, and grew a +little frightened. The canoe, losing way, fell into the trough of the +swell, shipping salt water, still more alarming to the prairie-bred boy. +Forgetting his plan of a stealthy invasion, he shouted lustily as the +helpless and water-logged boat began to drift past the island; at which +a lithe figure emerged from the reeds, threw off a tattered blanket, and +slipped noiselessly, like some animal, into the water. It was Jim, who, +half wading, half swimming, brought the canoe and boy ashore. Master +Skinner at once gave up the idea of invasion, and concluded to join the +refugees. + +This was easy in his defenceless state, and his manifest delight in +their rude encampment and gypsy life, although he had been one of Li +Tee's oppressors in the past. But that stolid pagan had a philosophical +indifference which might have passed for Christian forgiveness, and +Jim's native reticence seemed like assent. And, possibly, in the minds +of these two vagabonds there might have been a natural sympathy for this +other truant from civilization, and some delicate flattery in the fact +that Master Skinner was not driven out, but came of his own accord. +Howbeit, they fished together, gathered cranberries on the marsh, shot +a wild duck and two plovers, and when Master Skinner assisted in the +cooking of their fish in a conical basket sunk in the ground, filled +with water, heated by rolling red-hot stones from their drift-wood fire +into the buried basket, the boy's felicity was supreme. And what an +afternoon! To lie, after this feast, on their bellies in the grass, +replete like animals, hidden from everything but the sunshine above +them; so quiet that gray clouds of sandpipers settled fearlessly around +them, and a shining brown muskrat slipped from the ooze within a few +feet of their faces--was to feel themselves a part of the wild life in +earth and sky. Not that their own predatory instincts were hushed by +this divine peace; that intermitting black spot upon the water, declared +by the Indian to be a seal, the stealthy glide of a yellow fox in the +ambush of a callow brood of mallards, the momentary straying of an elk +from the upland upon the borders of the marsh, awoke their tingling +nerves to the happy but fruitless chase. And when night came, too soon, +and they pigged together around the warm ashes of their camp-fire, under +the low lodge poles of their wigwam of dried mud, reeds, and driftwood, +with the combined odors of fish, wood-smoke, and the warm salt breath of +the marsh in their nostrils, they slept contentedly. The distant lights +of the settlement went out one by one, the stars came out, very large +and very silent, to take their places. The barking of a dog on the +nearest point was followed by another farther inland. But Jim's dog, +curled at the feet of his master, did not reply. What had HE to do with +civilization? + +The morning brought some fear of consequences to Master Skinner, but no +abatement of his resolve not to return. But here he was oddly combated +by Li Tee. "S'pose you go back allee same. You tellee fam'lee canoe go +topside down--you plentee swimee to bush. Allee night in bush. Housee +big way off--how can get? Sabe?" + +"And I'll leave the gun, and tell Dad that when the canoe upset the gun +got drowned," said the boy eagerly. + +Li Tee nodded. + +"And come again Saturday, and bring more powder and shot and a bottle +for Jim," said Master Skinner excitedly. + +"Good!" grunted the Indian. + +Then they ferried the boy over to the peninsula, and set him on a trail +across the marshes, known only to themselves, which would bring him +home. And when the Editor the next morning chronicled among his news, +"Adrift on the Bay--A Schoolboy's Miraculous Escape," he knew as little +what part his missing Chinese errand boy had taken in it as the rest of +his readers. + +Meantime the two outcasts returned to their island camp. It may have +occurred to them that a little of the sunlight had gone from it with +Bob; for they were in a dull, stupid way fascinated by the little white +tyrant who had broken bread with them. He had been delightfully selfish +and frankly brutal to them, as only a schoolboy could be, with the +addition of the consciousness of his superior race. Yet they each +longed for his return, although he was seldom mentioned in their scanty +conversation--carried on in monosyllables, each in his own language, or +with some common English word, or more often restricted solely to signs. +By a delicate flattery, when they did speak of him it was in what they +considered to be his own language. + +"Boston boy, plenty like catchee HIM," Jim would say, pointing to a +distant swan. Or Li Tee, hunting a striped water snake from the reeds, +would utter stolidly, "Melikan boy no likee snake." Yet the next two +days brought some trouble and physical discomfort to them. Bob +had consumed, or wasted, all their provisions--and, still more +unfortunately, his righteous visit, his gun, and his superabundant +animal spirits had frightened away the game, which their habitual quiet +and taciturnity had beguiled into trustfulness. They were half starved, +but they did not blame him. It would come all right when he returned. +They counted the days, Jim with secret notches on the long pole, Li Tee +with a string of copper "cash" he always kept with him. The eventful +day came at last,--a warm autumn day, patched with inland fog like blue +smoke and smooth, tranquil, open surfaces of wood and sea; but to their +waiting, confident eyes the boy came not out of either. They kept a +stolid silence all that day until night fell, when Jim said, "Mebbe +Boston boy go dead." Li Tee nodded. It did not seem possible to these +two heathens that anything else could prevent the Christian child from +keeping his word. + +After that, by the aid of the canoe, they went much on the marsh, +hunting apart, but often meeting on the trail which Bob had taken, with +grunts of mutual surprise. These suppressed feelings, never made known +by word or gesture, at last must have found vicarious outlet in the +taciturn dog, who so far forgot his usual discretion as to once or twice +seat himself on the water's edge and indulge in a fit of howling. It had +been a custom of Jim's on certain days to retire to some secluded place, +where, folded in his blanket, with his back against a tree, he remained +motionless for hours. In the settlement this had been usually referred +to the after effects of drink, known as the "horrors," but Jim had +explained it by saying it was "when his heart was bad." And now it +seemed, by these gloomy abstractions, that "his heart was bad" very +often. And then the long withheld rains came one night on the wings of +a fierce southwester, beating down their frail lodge and scattering +it abroad, quenching their camp-fire, and rolling up the bay until it +invaded their reedy island and hissed in their ears. It drove the game +from Jim's gun; it tore the net and scattered the bait of Li Tee, the +fisherman. Cold and half starved in heart and body, but more dogged and +silent than ever, they crept out in their canoe into the storm-tossed +bay, barely escaping with their miserable lives to the marshy peninsula. +Here, on their enemy's ground, skulking in the rushes, or lying close +behind tussocks, they at last reached the fringe of forest below the +settlement. Here, too, sorely pressed by hunger, and doggedly reckless +of consequences, they forgot their caution, and a flight of teal fell to +Jim's gun on the very outskirts of the settlement. + +It was a fatal shot, whose echoes awoke the forces of civilization +against them. For it was heard by a logger in his hut near the +marsh, who, looking out, had seen Jim pass. A careless, good-natured +frontiersman, he might have kept the outcasts' mere presence to himself; +but there was that damning shot! An Indian with a gun! That weapon, +contraband of law, with dire fines and penalties to whoso sold or gave +it to him! A thing to be looked into--some one to be punished! An Indian +with a weapon that made him the equal of the white! Who was safe? +He hurried to town to lay his information before the constable, but, +meeting Mr. Skinner, imparted the news to him. The latter pooh-poohed +the constable, who he alleged had not yet discovered the whereabouts +of Jim, and suggested that a few armed citizens should make the chase +themselves. The fact was that Mr. Skinner, never quite satisfied in his +mind with his son's account of the loss of the gun, had put two and +two together, and was by no means inclined to have his own gun possibly +identified by the legal authority. Moreover, he went home and at once +attacked Master Bob with such vigor and so highly colored a description +of the crime he had committed, and the penalties attached to it, that +Bob confessed. More than that, I grieve to say that Bob lied. The Indian +had "stoled his gun," and threatened his life if he divulged the theft. +He told how he was ruthlessly put ashore, and compelled to take a trail +only known to them to reach his home. In two hours it was reported +throughout the settlement that the infamous Jim had added robbery with +violence to his illegal possession of the weapon. The secret of the +island and the trail over the marsh was told only to a few. + +Meantime it had fared hard with the fugitives. Their nearness to +the settlement prevented them from lighting a fire, which might have +revealed their hiding-place, and they crept together, shivering all +night in a clump of hazel. Scared thence by passing but unsuspecting +wayfarers wandering off the trail, they lay part of the next day and +night amid some tussocks of salt grass, blown on by the cold sea-breeze; +chilled, but securely hidden from sight. Indeed, thanks to some +mysterious power they had of utter immobility, it was wonderful how they +could efface themselves, through quiet and the simplest environment. The +lee side of a straggling vine in the meadow, or even the thin ridge +of cast-up drift on the shore, behind which they would lie for hours +motionless, was a sufficient barrier against prying eyes. In this +occupation they no longer talked together, but followed each other with +the blind instinct of animals--yet always unerringly, as if conscious +of each other's plans. Strangely enough, it was the REAL animal +alone--their nameless dog--who now betrayed impatience and a certain +human infirmity of temper. The concealment they were resigned to, the +sufferings they mutely accepted, he alone resented! When certain scents +or sounds, imperceptible to their senses, were blown across their +path, he would, with bristling back, snarl himself into guttural and +strangulated fury. Yet, in their apathy, even this would have passed +them unnoticed, but that on the second night he disappeared suddenly, +returning after two hours' absence with bloody jaws--replete, but still +slinking and snappish. It was only in the morning that, creeping on +their hands and knees through the stubble, they came upon the torn and +mangled carcass of a sheep. The two men looked at each other without +speaking--they knew what this act of rapine meant to themselves. It +meant a fresh hue and cry after them--it meant that their starving +companion had helped to draw the net closer round them. The Indian +grunted, Li Tee smiled vacantly; but with their knives and fingers they +finished what the dog had begun, and became equally culpable. But that +they were heathens, they could not have achieved a delicate ethical +responsibility in a more Christian-like way. + +Yet the rice-fed Li Tee suffered most in their privations. His habitual +apathy increased with a certain physical lethargy which Jim could not +understand. When they were apart he sometimes found Li Tee stretched +on his back with an odd stare in his eyes, and once, at a distance, he +thought he saw a vague thin vapor drift from where the Chinese boy was +lying and vanish as he approached. When he tried to arouse him there +was a weak drawl in his voice and a drug-like odor in his breath. Jim +dragged him to a more substantial shelter, a thicket of alder. It was +dangerously near the frequented road, but a vague idea had sprung up in +Jim's now troubled mind that, equal vagabonds though they were, Li Tee +had more claims upon civilization, through those of his own race who +were permitted to live among the white men, and were not hunted to +"reservations" and confined there like Jim's people. If Li Tee was "heap +sick," other Chinamen might find and nurse him. As for Li Tee, he had +lately said, in a more lucid interval: "Me go dead--allee samee Mellikan +boy. You go dead too--allee samee," and then lay down again with +a glassy stare in his eyes. Far from being frightened at this, Jim +attributed his condition to some enchantment that Li Tee had evoked from +one of his gods--just as he himself had seen "medicine-men" of his own +tribe fall into strange trances, and was glad that the boy no longer +suffered. The day advanced, and Li Tee still slept. Jim could hear the +church bells ringing; he knew it was Sunday--the day on which he was +hustled from the main street by the constable; the day on which the +shops were closed, and the drinking saloons open only at the back door. +The day whereon no man worked--and for that reason, though he knew it +not, the day selected by the ingenious Mr. Skinner and a few friends as +especially fitting and convenient for a chase of the fugitives. The bell +brought no suggestion of this--though the dog snapped under his breath +and stiffened his spine. And then he heard another sound, far off and +vague, yet one that brought a flash into his murky eye, that lit up the +heaviness of his Hebraic face, and even showed a slight color in his +high cheek-bones. He lay down on the ground, and listened with suspended +breath. He heard it now distinctly. It was the Boston boy calling, and +the word he was calling was "Jim." + +Then the fire dropped out of his eyes as he turned with his usual +stolidity to where Li Tee was lying. Him he shook, saying briefly: +"Boston boy come back!" But there was no reply, the dead body rolled +over inertly under his hand; the head fell back, and the jaw dropped +under the pinched yellow face. The Indian gazed at him slowly, and then +gravely turned again in the direction of the voice. Yet his dull mind +was perplexed, for, blended with that voice were other sounds like the +tread of clumsily stealthy feet. But again the voice called "Jim!" and +raising his hands to his lips he gave a low whoop in reply. This +was followed by silence, when suddenly he heard the voice--the boy's +voice--once again, this time very near him, saying eagerly:-- + +"There he is!" + +Then the Indian knew all. His face, however, did not change as he took +up his gun, and a man stepped out of the thicket into the trail:-- + +"Drop that gun, you d----d Injin." + +The Indian did not move. + +"Drop it, I say!" + +The Indian remained erect and motionless. + +A rifle shot broke from the thicket. At first it seemed to have missed +the Indian, and the man who had spoken cocked his own rifle. But the +next moment the tall figure of Jim collapsed where he stood into a mere +blanketed heap. + +The man who had fired the shot walked towards the heap with the easy air +of a conqueror. But suddenly there arose before him an awful phantom, +the incarnation of savagery--a creature of blazing eyeballs, flashing +tusks, and hot carnivorous breath. He had barely time to cry out "A +wolf!" before its jaws met in his throat, and they rolled together on +the ground. + +But it was no wolf--as a second shot proved--only Jim's slinking dog; +the only one of the outcasts who at that supreme moment had gone back to +his original nature. + + + + +A VISION OF THE FOUNTAIN + + +Mr. Jackson Potter halted before the little cottage, half shop, half +hostelry, opposite the great gates of Domesday Park, where tickets of +admission to that venerable domain were sold. Here Mr. Potter revealed +his nationality as a Western American, not only in his accent, but in +a certain half-humorous, half-practical questioning of the +ticket-seller--as that quasi-official stamped his ticket--which was +nevertheless delivered with such unfailing good-humor, and such frank +suggestiveness of the perfect equality of the ticket-seller and the +well-dressed stranger that, far from producing any irritation, it +attracted the pleased attention not only of the official, but his wife +and daughter and a customer. Possibly the good looks of the stranger had +something to do with it. Jackson Potter was a singularly handsome young +fellow, with one of those ideal faces and figures sometimes seen in +Western frontier villages, attributable to no ancestor, but evolved +possibly from novels and books devoured by ancestresses in the long +solitary winter evenings of their lonely cabins on the frontier. A +beardless, classical head, covered by short flocculent blonde curls, +poised on a shapely neck and shoulders, was more Greek in outline +than suggestive of any ordinary American type. Finally, after having +thoroughly amused his small audience, he lifted his straw hat to the +"ladies," and lounged out across the road to the gateway. Here he +paused, consulting his guide-book, and read aloud: "St. John's +gateway. This massive structure, according to Leland, was built +in"--murmured--"never mind when; we'll pass St. John," marked the page +with his pencil, and tendering his ticket to the gate-keeper, heard, +with some satisfaction, that, as there were no other visitors just +then, and as the cicerone only accompanied PARTIES, he would be left to +himself, and at once plunged into a by-path. + +It was that loveliest of rare creations--a hot summer day in England, +with all the dampness of that sea-blown isle wrung out of it, exhaled +in the quivering blue vault overhead, or passing as dim wraiths in the +distant wood, and all the long-matured growth of that great old garden +vivified and made resplendent by the fervid sun. The ashes of dead and +gone harvests, even the dust of those who had for ages wrought in it, +turned again and again through incessant cultivation, seemed to move +and live once more in that present sunshine. All color appeared to be +deepened and mellowed, until even the very shadows of the trees were as +velvety as the sward they fell upon. The prairie-bred Potter, accustomed +to the youthful caprices and extravagances of his own virgin soil, could +not help feeling the influence of the ripe restraints of this. + +As he glanced through the leaves across green sunlit spaces to the +ivy-clad ruins of Domesday Abbey, which seemed itself a growth of +the very soil, he murmured to himself: "Things had been made mighty +comfortable for folks here, you bet!" Forgotten books he had read as a +boy, scraps of school histories, or rarer novels, came back to him as he +walked along, and peopled the solitude about him with their heroes. + +Nevertheless, it was unmistakably hot--a heat homelike in its intensity, +yet of a different effect, throwing him into languid reverie rather than +filling his veins with fire. Secure in his seclusion in the leafy chase, +he took off his jacket and rambled on in his shirt sleeves. Through the +opening he presently saw the abbey again, with the restored wing where +the noble owner lived for two or three weeks in the year, but now given +over to the prevailing solitude. And then, issuing from the chase, he +came upon a broad, moss-grown terrace. Before him stretched a tangled +and luxuriant wilderness of shrubs and flowers, darkened by cypress and +cedars of Lebanon; its dun depths illuminated by dazzling white statues, +vases, trellises, and paved paths, choked and lost in the trailing +growths of years of abandonment and forgetfulness. He consulted his +guide-book again. It was the "old Italian garden," constructed under the +design of a famous Italian gardener by the third duke; but its studied +formality being displeasing to his successor, it was allowed to fall +into picturesque decay and negligent profusion, which were not, however, +disturbed by later descendants,--a fact deplored by the artistic writer +of the guide-book, who mournfully called attention to the rare beauty of +the marble statues, urns, and fountains, ruined by neglect, although one +or two of the rarer objects had been removed to Deep Dene Lodge, another +seat of the present duke. + +It is needless to say that Mr. Potter conceived at once a humorous +opposition to the artistic enthusiasm of the critic, and, plunging +into the garden, took a mischievous delight in its wildness and the +victorious struggle of nature with the formality of art. At every step +through the tangled labyrinth he could see where precision and order +had been invaded, and even the rigid masonry broken or upheaved by the +rebellious force. Yet here and there the two powers had combined to +offer an example of beauty neither could have effected alone. A passion +vine had overrun and enclasped a vase with a perfect symmetry no +sculptor could have achieved. A heavy balustrade was made ethereal with +a delicate fretwork of vegetation between its balusters like lace. Here, +however, the lap and gurgle of water fell gratefully upon the ear of +the perspiring and thirsty Mr. Potter, and turned his attention to more +material things. Following the sound, he presently came upon an enormous +oblong marble basin containing three time-worn fountains with grouped +figures. The pipes were empty, silent, and choked with reeds and water +plants, but the great basin itself was filled with water from some +invisible source. + +A terraced walk occupied one side of the long parallelogram; at +intervals and along the opposite bank, half shadowed by willows, tinted +marble figures of tritons, fauns, and dryads arose half hidden in the +reeds. They were more or less mutilated by time, and here and there only +the empty, moss-covered plinths that had once supported them could be +seen. But they were so lifelike in their subdued color in the shade that +he was for a moment startled. + +The water looked deliciously cool. An audacious thought struck him. He +was alone, and the place was a secluded one. He knew there were no other +visitors; the marble basin was quite hidden from the rest of the garden, +and approached only from the path by which he had come, and whose entire +view he commanded. He quietly and deliberately undressed himself under +the willows, and unhesitatingly plunged into the basin. The water was +four or five feet deep, and its extreme length afforded an excellent +swimming bath, despite the water-lilies and a few aquatic plants that +mottled its clear surface, or the sedge that clung to the bases of the +statues. He disported for some moments in the delicious element, and +then seated himself upon one of the half-submerged plinths, almost +hidden by reeds, that had once upheld a river god. Here, lazily resting +himself upon his elbow, half his body still below the water, his +quick ear was suddenly startled by a rustling noise and the sound of +footsteps. For a moment he was inclined to doubt his senses; he could +see only the empty path before him and the deserted terrace. But the +sound became more distinct, and to his great uneasiness appeared to +come from the OTHER side of the fringe of willows, where there was +undoubtedly a path to the fountain which he had overlooked. His clothes +were under those willows, but he was at least twenty yards from the bank +and an equal distance from the terrace. He was about to slip beneath the +water when, to his crowning horror, before he could do so, a young girl +slowly appeared from the hidden willow path full upon the terrace. She +was walking leisurely with a parasol over her head and a book in her +hand. Even in his intense consternation her whole figure--a charming +one in its white dress, sailor hat, and tan shoes--was imprinted on his +memory as she instinctively halted to look upon the fountain, evidently +an unexpected surprise to her. + +A sudden idea flashed upon him. She was at least sixty yards away; +he was half hidden in the reeds and well in the long shadows of the +willows. If he remained perfectly motionless she might overlook him at +that distance, or take him for one of the statues. He remembered also +that as he was resting on his elbow, his half-submerged body lying on +the plinth below water, he was somewhat in the attitude of one of the +river gods. And there was no other escape. If he dived he might not be +able to keep under water as long as she remained, and any movement +he knew would betray him. He stiffened himself and scarcely breathed. +Luckily for him his attitude had been a natural one and easy to keep. +It was well, too, for she was evidently in no hurry and walked slowly, +stopping from time to time to admire the basin and its figures. Suddenly +he was instinctively aware that she was looking towards him and even +changing her position, moving her pretty head and shading her eyes +with her hand as if for a better view. He remained motionless, scarcely +daring to breathe. Yet there was something so innocently frank and +undisturbed in her observation, that he knew as instinctively that she +suspected nothing, and took him for a half-submerged statue. He breathed +more freely. But presently she stopped, glanced around her, and, keeping +her eyes fixed in his direction, began to walk backwards slowly until +she reached a stone balustrade behind her. On this she leaped, and, +sitting down, opened in her lap the sketch-book she was carrying, and, +taking out a pencil, to his horror began to sketch! + +For a wild moment he recurred to his first idea of diving and swimming +at all hazards to the bank, but the conviction that now his slightest +movement must be detected held him motionless. He must save her the +mortification of knowing she was sketching a living man, if he died +for it. She sketched rapidly but fixedly and absorbedly, evidently +forgetting all else in her work. From time to time she held out her +sketch before her to compare it with her subject. Yet the seconds seemed +minutes and the minutes hours. Suddenly, to his great relief, a distant +voice was heard calling "Lottie." It was a woman's voice; by its accent +it also seemed to him an American one. + +The young girl made a slight movement of impatience, but did not look +up, and her pencil moved still more rapidly. Again the voice called, +this time nearer. The young girl's pencil fairly flew over the paper, +as, still without looking up, she lifted a pretty voice and answered +back, "Y-e-e-s!" + +It struck him that her accent was also that of a compatriot. + +"Where on earth are you?" continued the first voice, which now appeared +to come from the other side of the willows on the path by which the +young girl had approached. "Here, aunty," replied the girl, closing her +sketch-book with a snap and starting to her feet. + +A stout woman, fashionably dressed, made her appearance from the willow +path. + +"What have you been doing all this while?" she said querulously. "Not +sketching, I hope," she added, with a suspicious glance at the book. +"You know your professor expressly forbade you to do so in your +holidays." + +The young girl shrugged her shoulders. "I've been looking at the +fountains," she replied evasively. + +"And horrid looking pagan things they are, too," said the elder woman, +turning from them disgustedly, without vouchsafing a second glance. +"Come. If we expect to do the abbey, we must hurry up, or we won't catch +the train. Your uncle is waiting for us at the top of the garden." + +And, to Potter's intense relief, she grasped the young girl's arm and +hurried her away, their figures the next moment vanishing in the tangled +shrubbery. + +Potter lost no time in plunging with his cramped limbs into the water +and regaining the other side. Here he quickly half dried himself with +some sun-warmed leaves and baked mosses, hurried on his clothes, and +hastened off in the opposite direction to the path taken by them, yet +with such circuitous skill and speed that he reached the great gateway +without encountering anybody. A brisk walk brought him to the station +in time to catch a stopping train, and in half an hour he was speeding +miles away from Domesday Park and his half-forgotten episode. + +***** + +Meantime the two ladies continued on their way to the abbey. "I don't +see why I mayn't sketch things I see about me," said the young lady +impatiently. "Of course, I understand that I must go through the +rudimentary drudgery of my art and study from casts, and learn +perspective, and all that; but I can't see what's the difference between +working in a stuffy studio over a hand or arm that I know is only a +STUDY, and sketching a full or half length in the open air with the +wonderful illusion of light and shade and distance--and grouping and +combining them all--that one knows and feels makes a picture. The real +picture one makes is already in one's self." + +"For goodness' sake, Lottie, don't go on again with your usual +absurdities. Since you are bent on being an artist, and your Popper +has consented and put you under the most expensive master in Paris, the +least you can do is to follow the rules. And I dare say he only wanted +you to 'sink the shop' in company. It's such horrid bad form for you +artistic people to be always dragging out your sketch-books. What would +you say if your Popper came over here, and began to examine every lady's +dress in society to see what material it was, just because he was a big +dry-goods dealer in America?" + +The young girl, accustomed to her aunt's extravagances, made no reply. +But that night she consulted her sketch, and was so far convinced of her +own instincts, and the profound impression the fountain had made upon +her, that she was enabled to secretly finish her interrupted sketch from +memory. For Miss Charlotte Forrest was a born artist, and in no mere +caprice had persuaded her father to let her adopt the profession, and +accepted the drudgery of a novitiate. She looked earnestly upon this +first real work of her hand and found it good! Still, it was but a +pencil sketch, and wanted the vivification of color. + +When she returned to Paris she began--still secretly--a larger study in +oils. She worked upon it in her own room every moment she could spare +from her studio practice, unknown to her professor. It absorbed her +existence; she grew thin and pale. When it was finished, and only then, +she showed it tremblingly to her master. He stood silent, in profound +astonishment. The easel before him showed a foreground of tangled +luxuriance, from which stretched a sheet of water like a darkened +mirror, while through parted reeds on its glossy surface arose the +half-submerged figure of a river god, exquisite in contour, yet whose +delicate outlines were almost a vision by the crowning illusion of +light, shadow, and atmosphere. + +"It is a beautiful copy, mademoiselle, and I forgive you breaking my +rules," he said, drawing a long breath. "But I cannot now recall the +original picture." + +"It's no copy of a picture, professor," said the young girl timidly, and +she disclosed her secret. "It was the only perfect statue there," she +added diffidently; "but I think it wanted--something." + +"True," said the professor abstractedly. "Where the elbow rests there +should be a half-inverted urn flowing with water; but the drawing of +that shoulder is so perfect--as is YOUR study of it--that one guesses +the missing forearm one cannot see, which clasped it. Beautiful! +beautiful!" + +Suddenly he stopped, and turned his eyes almost searchingly on hers. + +"You say you have never drawn from the human model, mademoiselle?" + +"Never," said the young girl innocently. + +"True," murmured the professor again. "These are the classic ideal +measurements. There are no limbs like those now. Yet it is wonderful! +And this gem, you say, is in England?" + +"Yes." + +"Good! I am going there in a few days. I shall make a pilgrimage to see +it. Until then, mademoiselle, I beg you to break as many of my rules as +you like." + +Three weeks later she found the professor one morning standing before +her picture in her private studio. "You have returned from England," she +said joyfully. + +"I have," said the professor gravely. + +"You have seen the original subject?" she said timidly. + +"I have NOT. I have not seen it, mademoiselle," he said, gazing at +her mildly through his glasses, "because it does not exist, and never +existed." + +The young girl turned pale. + +"Listen. I have go to England. I arrive at the Park of Domesday. I +penetrate the beautiful, wild garden. I approach the fountain. I see +the wonderful water, the exquisite light and shade, the lilies, the +mysterious reeds--beautiful, yet not as beautiful as you have made it, +mademoiselle, but no statue--no river god! I demand it of the concierge. +He knows of it absolutely nothing. I transport myself to the noble +proprietor, Monsieur le Duc, at a distant chateau where he has collected +the ruined marbles. It is not there." + +"Yet I saw it," said the young girl earnestly, yet with a troubled face. +"O professor," she burst out appealingly, "what do you think it was?" + +"I think, mademoiselle," said the professor gravely, "that you created +it. Believe me, it is a function of genius! More, it is a proof, a +necessity! You saw the beautiful lake, the ruined fountain, the soft +shadows, the empty plinth, curtained by reeds. You yourself say you feel +there was 'something wanting.' Unconsciously you yourself supplied it. +All that you had ever dreamt of mythology, all that you had ever seen +of statuary, thronged upon you at that supreme moment, and, evolved from +your own fancy, the river god was born. It is your own, chere enfant, as +much the offspring of your genius as the exquisite atmosphere you have +caught, the charm of light and shadow that you have brought away. Accept +my felicitations. You have little more to learn of me." + +As he bowed himself out and descended the stairs he shrugged his +shoulders slightly. "She is an adorable genius," he murmured. "Yet she +is also a woman. Being a woman, naturally she has a lover--this river +god! Why not?" + +The extraordinary success of Miss Forrest's picture and the +instantaneous recognition of her merit as an artist, apart from her +novel subject, perhaps went further to remove her uneasiness than any +serious conviction of the professor's theory. Nevertheless, it appealed +to her poetic and mystic imagination, and although other subjects from +her brush met with equally phenomenal success, and she was able in a +year to return to America with a reputation assured beyond criticism, +she never entirely forgot the strange incident connected with her +initial effort. + +And by degrees a singular change came over her. Rich, famous, and +attractive, she began to experience a sentimental and romantic +interest in that episode. Once, when reproached by her friends for her +indifference to her admirers, she had half laughingly replied that she +had once found her "ideal," but never would again. Yet the jest had +scarcely passed her lips before she became pale and silent. With this +change came also a desire to re-purchase the picture, which she had +sold in her early success to a speculative American picture-dealer. On +inquiry she found, alas! that it had been sold only a day or two before +to a Chicago gentleman, of the name of Potter, who had taken a fancy to +it. + +Miss Forrest curled her pretty lip, but, nothing daunted, resolved +to effect her purpose, and sought the purchaser at his hotel. She was +ushered into a private drawing-room, where, on a handsome easel, stood +the newly acquired purchase. Mr. Potter was out, "but would return in a +moment." + +Miss Forrest was relieved, for, alone and undisturbed, she could now let +her full soul go out to her romantic creation. As she stood there, she +felt the glamour of the old English garden come back to her, the play of +light and shadow, the silent pool, the godlike face and bust, with its +cast-down, meditative eyes, seen through the parted reeds. She clasped +her hands silently before her. Should she never see it again as then? + +"Pray don't let me disturb you; but won't you take a seat?" + +Miss Forrest turned sharply round. Then she started, uttered a +frightened little cry, and fainted away. + +Mr. Potter was touched, but a master of himself. As she came to, he +said quietly: "I came upon you suddenly--as you stood entranced by this +picture--just as I did when I first saw it. That's why I bought it. +Are you any relative of the Miss Forrest who painted it?" he continued, +quietly looking at her card, which he held in his hand. + +Miss Forrest recovered herself sufficiently to reply, and stated her +business with some dignity. + +"Ah," said Mr. Potter, "THAT is another question. You see, the picture +has a special value to me, as I once saw an old-fashioned garden like +that in England. But that chap there,--I beg your pardon, I mean that +figure,--I fancy, is your own creation, entirely. However, I'll think +over your proposition, and if you will allow me I'll call and see you +about it." + +Mr. Potter did call--not once, but many times--and showed quite a +remarkable interest in Miss Forrest's art. The question of the sale of +the picture, however, remained in abeyance. A few weeks later, after a +longer call than usual, Mr. Potter said:-- + +"Don't you think the best thing we can do is to make a kind of +compromise, and let us own the picture together?" + +And they did. + + + + +A ROMANCE OF THE LINE + + +As the train moved slowly out of the station, the Writer of Stories +looked up wearily from the illustrated pages of the magazines and +weeklies on his lap to the illustrated advertisements on the walls of +the station sliding past his carriage windows. It was getting to be +monotonous. For a while he had been hopefully interested in the bustle +of the departing trains, and looked up from his comfortable and early +invested position to the later comers with that sense of superiority +common to travelers; had watched the conventional leave-takings--always +feebly prolonged to the uneasiness of both parties--and contrasted it +with the impassive business promptitude of the railway officials; but +it was the old experience repeated. Falling back on the illustrated +advertisements again, he wondered if their perpetual recurrence at every +station would not at last bring to the tired traveler the loathing of +satiety; whether the passenger in railway carriages, continually offered +Somebody's oats, inks, washing blue, candles, and soap, apparently as +a necessary equipment for a few hours' journey, would not there and +thereafter forever ignore the use of these articles, or recoil from that +particular quality. Or, as an unbiased observer, he wondered if, on +the other hand, impressible passengers, after passing three or four +stations, had ever leaped from the train and refused to proceed further +until they were supplied with one or more of those articles. Had he ever +known any one who confided to him in a moment of expansiveness that he +had dated his use of Somebody's soap to an advertisement persistently +borne upon him through the medium of a railway carriage window? +No! Would he not have connected that man with that other certifying +individual who always appends a name and address singularly obscure and +unconvincing, yet who, at some supreme moment, recommends Somebody's +pills to a dying friend,--afflicted with a similar address,--which +restore him to life and undying obscurity. Yet these pictorial and +literary appeals must have a potency independent of the wares they +advertise, or they wouldn't be there. + +Perhaps he was the more sensitive to this monotony as he was just then +seeking change and novelty in order to write a new story. He was not +looking for material,--his subjects were usually the same,--he was +merely hoping for that relaxation and diversion which should freshen and +fit him for later concentration. Still, he had often heard of the odd +circumstances to which his craft were sometimes indebted for suggestion. +The invasion of an eccentric-looking individual--probably an innocent +tradesman into a railway carriage had given the hint for "A Night with +a Lunatic;" a nervously excited and belated passenger had once +unconsciously sat for an escaped forger; the picking up of a forgotten +novel in the rack, with passages marked in pencil, had afforded the plot +of a love story; or the germ of a romance had been found in an obscure +news paragraph which, under less listless moments, would have +passed unread. On the other hand, he recalled these inconvenient and +inconsistent moments from which the so-called "inspiration" sprang, the +utter incongruity of time and place in some brilliant conception, and +wondered if sheer vacuity of mind were really so favorable. + +Going back to his magazine again, he began to get mildly interested in +a story. Turning the page, however, he was confronted by a pictorial +advertising leaflet inserted between the pages, yet so artistic in +character that it might have been easily mistaken for an illustration of +the story he was reading, and perhaps was not more remote or obscure in +reference than many he had known. But the next moment he recognized +with despair that it was only a smaller copy of one he had seen on the +hoarding at the last station. He threw the leaflet aside, but the flavor +of the story was gone. The peerless detergent of the advertisement had +erased it from the tablets of his memory. He leaned back in his seat +again, and lazily watched the flying suburbs. Here were the usual +promising open spaces and patches of green, quickly succeeded again by +solid blocks of houses whose rear windows gave directly upon the line, +yet seldom showed an inquisitive face--even of a wondering child. It was +a strange revelation of the depressing effects of familiarity. Expresses +might thunder by, goods trains drag their slow length along, shunting +trains pipe all day beneath their windows, but the tenants heeded them +not. Here, too, was the junction, with its labyrinthine interlacing of +tracks that dazed the tired brain; the overburdened telegraph posts, +that looked as if they really could not stand another wire; the long +lines of empty, homeless, and deserted trains in sidings that had seen +better days; the idle trains, with staring vacant windows, which were +eventually seized by a pert engine hissing, "Come along, will you?" +and departed with a discontented grunt from every individual carriage +coupling; the racing trains, that suddenly appeared parallel with one's +carriage windows, begot false hopes of a challenge of speed, and then, +without warning, drew contemptuously and, superciliously away; the swift +eclipse of everything in a tunneled bridge; the long, slithering passage +of an "up" express, and then the flash of a station, incoherent and +unintelligible with pictorial advertisements again. + +He closed his eyes to concentrate his thought, and by degrees a pleasant +languor stole over him. The train had by this time attained that rate of +speed which gave it a slight swing and roll on curves and switches +not unlike the rocking of a cradle. Once or twice he opened his eyes +sleepily upon the waltzing trees in the double planes of distance, and +again closed them. Then, in one of these slight oscillations, he +felt himself ridiculously slipping into slumber, and awoke with some +indignation. Another station was passed, in which process the pictorial +advertisements on the hoardings and the pictures in his lap seemed to +have become jumbled up, confused, and to dance before him, and then +suddenly and strangely, without warning, the train stopped short--at +ANOTHER station. And then he arose, and--what five minutes before he +never conceived of doing--gathered his papers and slipped from the +carriage to the platform. When I say "he" I mean, of course, the +Writer of Stories; yet the man who slipped out was half his age and a +different-looking person. + +***** + +The change from the motion of the train--for it seemed that he had been +traveling several hours--to the firmer platform for a moment bewildered +him. The station looked strange, and he fancied it lacked a certain kind +of distinctness. But that quality was also noticeable in the porters and +loungers on the platform. He thought it singular, until it seemed to him +that they were not characteristic, nor in any way important or necessary +to the business he had in hand. Then, with an effort, he tried to +remember himself and his purpose, and made his way through the station +to the open road beyond. A van, bearing the inscription, "Removals to +Town and Country," stood before him and blocked his way, but a dogcart +was in waiting, and a grizzled groom, who held the reins, touched his +hat respectfully. Although still dazed by his journey and uncertain of +himself, he seemed to recognize in the man that distinctive character +which was wanting in the others. The correctness of his surmise was +revealed a few moments later, when, after he had taken his seat beside +him, and they were rattling out of the village street, the man turned +towards him and said:-- + +"Tha'll know Sir Jarge?" + +"I do not," said the young man. + +"Ay! but theer's many as cooms here as doan't, for all they cooms. +Tha'll say it ill becooms mea as war man and boy in Sir Jarge's sarvice +for fifty year, to say owt agen him, but I'm here to do it, or they +couldn't foolfil their business. Tha wast to ax me questions about Sir +Jarge and the Grange, and I wor to answer soa as to make tha think +thar was suthing wrong wi' un. Howbut I may save tha time and tell thea +downroight that Sir Jarge forged his uncle's will, and so gotten the +Grange. That 'ee keeps his niece in mortal fear o' he. That tha'll be +put in haunted chamber wi' a boggle." + +"I think," said the young man hesitatingly, "that there must be some +mistake. I do not know any Sir George, and I am NOT going to the +Grange." + +"Eay! Then thee aren't the 'ero sent down from London by the story +writer?" + +"Not by THAT one," said the young man diffidently. + +The old man's face changed. It was no mere figure of speech: it actually +was ANOTHER face that looked down upon the traveler. + +"Then mayhap your honor will be bespoken at the Angel's Inn," he said, +with an entirely distinct and older dialect, "and a finer hostel for a +young gentleman of your condition ye'll not find on this side of Oxford. +A fair chamber, looking to the sun; sheets smelling of lavender from +Dame Margery's own store, and, for the matter of that, spread by the +fair hands of Maudlin, her daughter--the best favored lass that ever +danced under a Maypole. Ha! have at ye there, young sir! Not to speak of +the October ale of old Gregory, her father--ay, nor the rare Hollands, +that never paid excise duties to the king." + +"I'm afraid," said the young traveler timidly, "there's over a century +between us. There's really some mistake." + +"What?" said the groom, "ye are NOT the young spark who is to marry +Mistress Amy at the Hall, yet makes a pother and mess of it all by a +duel with Sir Roger de Cadgerly, the wicked baronet, for his over-free +discourse with our fair Maudlin this very eve? Ye are NOT the traveler +whose post-chaise is now at the Falcon? Ye are not he that was bespoken +by the story writer in London?" + +"I don't think I am," said the young man apologetically. "Indeed, as I +am feeling far from well, I think I'll get out and walk." + +He got down--the vehicle and driver vanished in the distance. It did not +surprise him. "I must collect my thoughts," he said. He did so. Possibly +the collection was not large, for presently he said, with a sigh of +relief:-- + +"I see it all now! My name is Paul Bunker. I am of the young branch of +an old Quaker family, rich and respected in the country, and I am on a +visit to my ancestral home. But I have lived since a child in America, +and am alien to the traditions and customs of the old country, and even +of the seat to which my fathers belong. I have brought with me from the +far West many peculiarities of speech and thought that may startle my +kinsfolk. But I certainly shall not address my uncle as 'Hoss!' nor +shall I say 'guess' oftener than is necessary." + +Much brightened and refreshed by his settled identity, he had time, +as he walked briskly along, to notice the scenery, which was certainly +varied and conflicting in character, and quite inconsistent with his +preconceived notions of an English landscape. On his right, a lake of +the brightest cobalt blue stretched before a many-towered and terraced +town, which was relieved by a background of luxuriant foliage and +emerald-green mountains; on his left arose a rugged mountain, which he +was surprised to see was snow-capped, albeit a tunnel was observable +midway of its height, and a train just issuing from it. Almost +regretting that he had not continued on his journey, as he was fully +sensible that it was in some way connected with the railway he had +quitted, presently his attention was directed to the gateway of a +handsome park, whose mansion was faintly seen in the distance. Hurrying +towards him, down the avenue of limes, was a strange figure. It was that +of a man of middle age; clad in Quaker garb, yet with an extravagance +of cut and detail which seemed antiquated even for England. He had +evidently seen the young man approaching, and his face was beaming with +welcome. If Paul had doubted that it was his uncle, the first words he +spoke would have reassured him. + +"Welcome to Hawthorn Hall," said the figure, grasping his hand heartily, +"but thee will excuse me if I do not tarry with thee long at present, +for I am hastening, even now, with some nourishing and sustaining food +for Giles Hayward, a farm laborer." He pointed to a package he was +carrying. "But thee will find thy cousins Jane and Dorcas Bunker taking +tea in the summer-house. Go to them! Nay--positively--I may not linger, +but will return to thee quickly." And, to Paul's astonishment, he +trotted away on his sturdy, respectable legs, still beaming and carrying +his package in his hand. + +"Well, I'll be dog-goned! but the old man ain't going to be left, you +bet!" he ejaculated, suddenly remembering his dialect. "He'll get there, +whether school keeps or not!" Then, reflecting that no one heard him, he +added simply, "He certainly was not over civil towards the nephew he +has never seen before. And those girls--whom I don't know! How very +awkward!" + +Nevertheless, he continued his way up the avenue towards the mansion. +The park was beautifully kept. Remembering the native wildness and +virgin seclusion of the Western forest, he could not help contrasting it +with the conservative gardening of this pretty woodland, every rood +of which had been patrolled by keepers and rangers, and preserved and +fostered hundreds of years before he was born, until warmed for human +occupancy. At times the avenue was crossed by grass drives, where +the original woodland had been displaced, not by the exigency of a +"clearing" for tillage, as in his own West, but for the leisurely +pleasure of the owner. Then, a few hundred yards from the house +itself,--a quaint Jacobean mansion,--he came to an open space where the +sylvan landscape had yielded to floral cultivation, and so fell upon a +charming summer-house, or arbor, embowered with roses. It must have +been the one of which his uncle had spoken, for there, to his wondering +admiration, sat two little maids before a rustic table, drinking tea +demurely, yes, with all the evident delight of a childish escapade from +their elders. While in the picturesque quaintness of their attire +there was still a formal suggestion of the sect to which their father +belonged, their summer frocks--differing in color, yet each of the same +subdued tint--were alike in cut and fashion, and short enough to show +their dainty feet in prim slippers and silken hose that matched their +frocks. As the afternoon sun glanced through the leaves upon their pink +cheeks, tied up in quaint hats by ribbons under their chins, they made a +charming picture. At least Paul thought so as he advanced towards them, +hat in hand. They looked up at his approach, but again cast down their +eyes with demure shyness; yet he fancied that they first exchanged +glances with each other, full of mischievous intelligence. + +"I am your cousin Paul," he said smilingly, "though I am afraid I am +introducing myself almost as briefly as your father just now excused +himself to me. He told me I would find you here, but he himself was +hastening on a Samaritan mission." + +"With a box in his hand?" said the girls simultaneously, exchanging +glances with each other again. + +"With a box containing some restorative, I think," responded Paul, a +little wonderingly. + +"Restorative! So THAT'S what he calls it now, is it?" said one of the +girls saucily. "Well, no one knows what's in the box, though he always +carries it with him. Thee never sees him without it"-- + +"And a roll of paper," suggested the other girl. + +"Yes, a roll of paper--but one never knows what it is!" said the +first speaker. "It's very strange. But no matter now, Paul. Welcome to +Hawthorn Hall. I am Jane Bunker, and this is Dorcas." She stopped, +and then, looking down demurely, added, "Thee may kiss us both, cousin +Paul." + +The young man did not wait for a second invitation, but gently touched +his lips to their soft young cheeks. + +"Thee does not speak like an American, Paul. Is thee really and truly +one?" continued Jane. + +Paul remembered that he had forgotten his dialect, but it was too late +now. + +"I am really and truly one, and your own cousin, and I hope you will +find me a very dear"-- + +"Oh!" said Dorcas, starting up primly. "You must really allow me to +withdraw." To the young man's astonishment, she seized her parasol, and, +with a youthful affectation of dignity, glided from the summer-house and +was lost among the trees. + +"Thy declaration to me was rather sudden," said Jane quietly, in answer +to his look of surprise, "and Dorcas is peculiarly sensitive and less +like the 'world's people' than I am. And it was just a little cruel, +considering that she has loved thee secretly all these years, followed +thy fortunes in America with breathless eagerness, thrilled at thy +narrow escapes, and wept at thy privations." + +"But she has never seen me before!" said the astounded Paul. + +"And thee had never seen me before, and yet thee has dared to propose to +me five minutes after thee arrived, and in her presence." + +"But, my dear girl!" expostulated Paul. + +"Stand off!" she said, rapidly opening her parasol and interposing +it between them. "Another step nearer--ay, even another word of +endearment--and I shall be compelled--nay, forced," she added in a lower +voice, "to remove this parasol, lest it should be crushed and ruined!" + +"I see," he said gloomily, "you have been reading novels; but so have +I, and the same ones! Nevertheless, I intended only to tell you that I +hoped you would always find me a kind friend." + +She shut her parasol up with a snap. "And I only intended to tell thee +that my heart was given to another." + +"You INTENDED--and now?" + +"Is it the 'kind friend' who asks?" + +"If it were not?" + +"Really?" + +"Yes." + +"Ah!" + +"Oh!" + +"But thee loves another?" she said, toying with her cup. + +He attempted to toy with his, but broke it. A man lacks delicacy in this +kind of persiflage. "You mean I am loved by another," he said bluntly. + +"You dare to say that!" she said, flashing, in spite of her prim +demeanor. + +"No, but YOU did just now! You said your sister loved me!" + +"Did I?" she said dreamily. "Dear! dear! That's the trouble of trying to +talk like Mr. Blank's delightful dialogues. One gets so mixed!" + +"Yet you will be a sister to me?" he said. "'Tis an old American joke, +but 'twill serve." + +There was a long silence. + +"Had thee not better go to sister Dorcas? She is playing with the cows," +said Jane plaintively. + +"You forget," he returned gravely, "that, on page 27 of the novel we +have both read, at this point he is supposed to kiss her." + +She had forgotten, but they both remembered in time. At this moment a +scream came faintly from the distance. They both started, and rose. + +"It is sister Dorcas," said Jane, sitting down again and pouring out +another cup of tea. "I have always told her that one of those Swiss cows +would hook her." + +Paul stared at her with a strange revulsion of feeling. "I could +save Dorcas," he muttered to himself, "in less time than it takes to +describe." He paused, however, as he reflected that this would depend +entirely upon the methods of the writer of this description. "I could +rescue her! I have only to take the first clothes-line that I find, +and with that knowledge and skill with the lasso which I learned in the +wilds of America, I could stop the charge of the most furious ruminant. +I will!" and without another word he turned and rushed off in the +direction of the sound. + +***** + +He had not gone a hundred yards before he paused, a little bewildered. +To the left could still be seen the cobalt lake with the terraced +background; to the right the rugged mountains. He chose the latter. +Luckily for him a cottager's garden lay in his path, and from a line +supported by a single pole depended the homely linen of the cottager. To +tear these garments from the line was the work of a moment (although +it represented the whole week's washing), and hastily coiling the rope +dexterously in his hand, he sped onward. Already panting with exertion +and excitement, a few roods farther he was confronted with a spectacle +that left him breathless. + +A woman--young, robust, yet gracefully formed--was running ahead of him, +driving before her with an open parasol an animal which he instantly +recognized as one of that simple yet treacherous species most feared by +the sex--known as the "Moo Cow." + +For a moment he was appalled by the spectacle. But it was only for a +moment! Recalling his manhood and her weakness, he stopped, and bracing +his foot against a stone, with a graceful flourish of his lasso around +his head, threw it in the air. It uncoiled slowly, sped forward with +unerring precision, and missed! With the single cry of "Saved!" the fair +stranger sank fainting in his arms! He held her closely until the color +came back to her pale face. Then he quietly disentangled the lasso from +his legs. + +"Where am I?" she said faintly. + +"In the same place," he replied, slowly but firmly. "But," he added, +"you have changed!" + +She had, indeed, even to her dress. It was now of a vivid brick red, and +so much longer in the skirt that it seemed to make her taller. Only her +hat remained the same. + +"Yes," she said, in a low, reflective voice and a disregard of her +previous dialect, as she gazed up in his eyes with an eloquent lucidity, +"I have changed, Paul! I feel myself changing at those words you uttered +to Jane. There are moments in a woman's life that man knows nothing +of; moments bitter and cruel, sweet and merciful, that change her whole +being; moments in which the simple girl becomes a worldly woman; moments +in which the slow procession of her years is never noted--except by +another woman! Moments that change her outlook on the world and her +relations to it--and her husband's relations! Moments when the maid +becomes a wife, the wife a widow, the widow a re-married woman, by a +simple, swift illumination of the fancy. Moments when, wrought upon by +a single word--a look--an emphasis and rising inflection, all logical +sequence is cast away, processes are lost--inductions lead nowhere. +Moments when the inharmonious becomes harmonious, the indiscreet +discreet, the inefficient efficient, and the inevitable evitable. I +mean," she corrected herself hurriedly--"You know what I mean! If you +have not felt it you have read it!" + +"I have," he said thoughtfully. "We have both read it in the same novel. +She is a fine writer." + +"Ye-e-s." She hesitated with that slight resentment of praise of another +woman so delightful in her sex. "But you have forgotten the Moo Cow!" +and she pointed to where the distracted animal was careering across the +lawn towards the garden. + +"You are right," he said, "the incident is not yet closed. Let us pursue +it." + +They both pursued it. Discarding the useless lasso, he had recourse to a +few well-aimed epithets. The infuriated animal swerved and made directly +towards a small fountain in the centre of the garden. In attempting to +clear it, it fell directly into the deep cup-like basin and remained +helplessly fixed, with its fore-legs projecting uneasily beyond the rim. + +"Let us leave it there," she said, "and forget it--and all that has +gone before. Believe me," she added, with a faint sigh, "it is best. Our +paths diverge from this moment. I go to the summer-house, and you go to +the Hall, where my father is expecting you." He would have detained her +a moment longer, but she glided away and was gone. + +Left to himself again, that slight sense of bewilderment which had +clouded his mind for the last hour began to clear away; his singular +encounter with the girls strangely enough affected him less strongly +than his brief and unsatisfactory interview with his uncle. For, after +all, he was his host, and upon him depended his stay at Hawthorn Hall. +The mysterious and slighting allusions of his cousins to the old man's +eccentricities also piqued his curiosity. Why had they sneered at his +description of the contents of the package he carried--and what did +it really contain? He did not reflect that it was none of his +business,--people in his situation seldom do,--and he eagerly hurried +towards the Hall. But he found in his preoccupation he had taken the +wrong turning in the path, and that he was now close to the wall which +bounded and overlooked the highway. Here a singular spectacle presented +itself. A cyclist covered with dust was seated in the middle of the +road, trying to restore circulation to his bruised and injured leg by +chafing it with his hands, while beside him lay his damaged bicycle. He +had evidently met with an accident. In an instant Paul had climbed the +wall and was at his side. + +"Can I offer you any assistance?" he asked eagerly. + +"Thanks--no! I've come a beastly cropper over something or other on +this road, and I'm only bruised, though the machine has suffered worse," +replied the stranger, in a fresh, cheery voice. He was a good-looking +fellow of about Paul's own age, and the young American's heart went out +towards him. + +"How did it happen?" asked Paul. + +"That's what puzzles me," said the stranger. "I was getting out of +the way of a queer old chap in the road, and I ran over something that +seemed only an old scroll of paper; but the shock was so great that +I was thrown, and I fancy I was for a few moments unconscious. Yet I +cannot see any other obstruction in the road, and there's only that bit +of paper." He pointed to the paper,--a half-crushed roll of ordinary +foolscap, showing the mark of the bicycle upon it. + +A strange idea came into Paul's mind. He picked up the paper and +examined it closely. Besides the mark already indicated, it showed two +sharp creases about nine inches long, and another exactly at the point +of the impact of the bicycle. Taking a folded two-foot rule from +his pocket, he carefully measured these parallel creases and made an +exhaustive geometrical calculation with his pencil on the paper. The +stranger watched him with awed and admiring interest. Rising, he again +carefully examined the road, and was finally rewarded by the discovery +of a sharp indentation in the dust, which, on measurement and comparison +with the creases in the paper and the calculations he had just made, +proved to be identical. + +"There was a solid body in that paper," said Paul quietly; "a +parallelogram exactly nine inches long and three wide." + +"I say! you're wonderfully clever, don't you know," said the stranger, +with unaffected wonder. "I see it all--a brick." + +Paul smiled gently and shook his head. "That is the hasty inference of +an inexperienced observer. You will observe at the point of impact of +your wheel the parallel crease is CURVED, as from the yielding of the +resisting substances, and not BROKEN, as it would be by the crumbling of +a brick." + +"I say, you're awfully detective, don't you know! just like that +fellow--what's his name?" said the stranger admiringly. + +The words recalled Paul to himself. Why was he acting like a detective? +and what was he seeking to discover? Nevertheless, he felt impelled +to continue. "And that queer old chap whom you met--why didn't he help +you?" + +"Because I passed him before I ran into the--the parallelogram, and I +suppose he didn't know what happened behind him?" + +"Did he have anything in his hand?" + +"Can't say." + +"And you say you were unconscious afterwards?" + +"Yes!" + +"Long enough for the culprit to remove the principal evidence of his +crime?" + +"Come! I say, really you are--you know you are!" + +"Have you any secret enemy?" + +"No." + +"And you don't know Mr. Bunker, the man who owns this vast estate?" + +"Not at all. I'm from Upper Tooting." + +"Good afternoon," said Paul abruptly, and turned away. + +It struck him afterwards that his action might have seemed uncivil, and +even inhuman, to the bruised cyclist, who could hardly walk. But it was +getting late, and he was still far from the Hall, which, oddly enough, +seemed to be no longer visible from the road. He wandered on for some +time, half convinced that he had passed the lodge gates, yet hoping to +find some other entrance to the domain. Dusk was falling; the rounded +outlines of the park trees beyond the wall were solid masses of shadow. +The full moon, presently rising, restored them again to symmetry, and at +last he, to his relief, came upon the massive gateway. Two lions ramped +in stone on the side pillars. He thought it strange that he had not +noticed the gateway on his previous entrance, but he remembered that he +was fully preoccupied with the advancing figure of his uncle. In a few +minutes the Hall itself appeared, and here again he was surprised that +he had overlooked before its noble proportions and picturesque outline. +Its broad terraces, dazzlingly white in the moonlight; its long line of +mullioned windows, suffused with a warm red glow from within, made it +look like part of a wintry landscape--and suggested a Christmas card. +The venerable ivy that hid the ravages time had made in its walls looked +like black carving. His heart swelled with strange emotions as he gazed +at his ancestral hall. How many of his blood had lived and died there; +how many had gone forth from that great porch to distant lands! He tried +to think of his father--a little child--peeping between the balustrades +of that terrace. He tried to think of it, and perhaps would have +succeeded had it not occurred to him that it was a known fact that his +uncle had bought the estate and house of an impoverished nobleman only +the year before. Yet--he could not tell why--he seemed to feel higher +and nobler for that trial. + +The terrace was deserted, and so quiet that as he ascended to it his +footsteps seemed to echo from the walls. When he reached the portals, +the great oaken door swung noiselessly on its hinges--opened by some +unseen but waiting servitor--and admitted him to a lofty hall, dark +with hangings and family portraits, but warmed by a red carpet the whole +length of its stone floor. For a moment he waited for the servant to +show him to the drawing-room or his uncle's study. But no one appeared. +Believing this to be a part of the characteristic simplicity of the +Quaker household, he boldly entered the first door, and found himself in +a brilliantly lit and perfectly empty drawing-room. The same experience +met him with the other rooms on that floor--the dining-room displaying +an already set, exquisitely furnished and decorated table, with chairs +for twenty guests! He mechanically ascended the wide oaken staircase +that led to the corridor of bedrooms above a central salon. Here he +found only the same solitude. Bedroom doors yielded to his touch, only +to show the same brilliantly lit vacancy. He presently came upon one +room which seemed to give unmistakable signs of HIS OWN occupancy. +Surely there stood his own dressing-case on the table! and his own +evening clothes carefully laid out on another, as if fresh from a +valet's hands. He stepped hastily into the corridor--there was no one +there; he rang the bell--there was no response! But he noticed that +there was a jug of hot water in his basin, and he began dressing +mechanically. + +There was little doubt that he was in a haunted house, but this did not +particularly disturb him. Indeed, he found himself wondering if it could +be logically called a haunted house--unless he himself was haunting it, +for there seemed to be no other there. Perhaps the apparitions would +come later, when he was dressed. Clearly it was not his uncle's +house--and yet, as he had never been inside his uncle's house, he +reflected that he ought not to be positive. + +He finished dressing and sat down in an armchair with a kind of +thoughtful expectancy. But presently his curiosity became impatient of +the silence and mystery, and he ventured once more to explore the house. +Opening his bedroom door, he found himself again upon the deserted +corridor, but this time he could distinctly hear a buzz of voices from +the drawing-room below. Assured that he was near a solution of the +mystery, he rapidly descended the broad staircase and made his way to +the open door of the drawing-room. But although the sound of voices +increased as he advanced, when he entered the room, to his utter +astonishment, it was as empty as before. + +Yet, in spite of his bewilderment and confusion, he was able to +follow one of the voices, which, in its peculiar distinctness and +half-perfunctory tone, he concluded must belong to the host of the +invisible assembly. + +"Ah," said the voice, greeting some unseen visitor, "so glad you have +come. Afraid your engagements just now would keep you away." Then the +voice dropped to a lower and more confidential tone. "You must take down +Lady Dartman, but you will have Miss Morecamp--a clever girl--on the +other side of you. Ah, Sir George! So good of you to come. All well at +the Priory? So glad to hear it." (Lower and more confidentially.) "You +know Mrs. Monkston. You'll sit by her. A little cut up by her husband +losing his seat. Try to amuse her." + +Emboldened by desperation, Paul turned in the direction of the voice. +"I am Paul Bunker," he said hesitatingly. "I'm afraid you'll think me +intrusive, but I was looking for my uncle, and"-- + +"Intrusive, my dear boy! The son of my near neighbor in the country +intrusive? Really, now, I like that! Grace!" (the voice turned in +another direction) "here is the American nephew of our neighbor Bunker +at Widdlestone, who thinks he is 'a stranger.'" + +"We all knew of your expected arrival at Widdlestone--it was so good +of you to waive ceremony and join us," said a well-bred feminine voice, +which Paul at once assumed to belong to the hostess. "But I must find +some one for your dinner partner. Mary" (here her voice was likewise +turned away), "this is Mr. Bunker, the nephew of an old friend and +neighbor in Upshire;" (the voice again turned to him), "you will take +Miss Morecamp in. My dear" (once again averted), "I must find some one +else to console poor dear Lord Billingtree with." Here the hostess's +voice was drowned by fresh arrivals. + +Bewildered and confused as he was, standing in this empty desert of +a drawing-room, yet encompassed on every side by human voices, so +marvelous was the power of suggestion, he seemed to almost feel the +impact of the invisible crowd. He was trying desperately to realize his +situation when a singularly fascinating voice at his elbow unexpectedly +assisted him. It was evidently his dinner partner. + +"I suppose you must be tired after your journey. When did you arrive?" + +"Only a few hours ago," said Paul. + +"And I dare say you haven't slept since you arrived. One doesn't on the +passage, you know; the twenty hours pass so quickly, and the experience +is so exciting--to US at least. But I suppose as an American you are +used to it." + +Paul gasped. He had passively accepted the bodiless conversation, +because it was at least intelligible! But NOW! Was he going mad? + +She evidently noticed his silence. "Never mind," she continued, "you +can tell me all about it at dinner. Do you know I always think that +this sort of thing--what we're doing now,--this ridiculous formality +of reception,--which I suppose is after all only a concession to our +English force of habit,--is absurd! We ought to pass, as it were, +directly from our houses to the dinner-table. It saves time." + +"Yes--no--that is--I'm afraid I don't follow you," stammered Paul. + +There was a slight pout in her voice as she replied: "No matter now--we +must follow them--for our host is moving off with Lady Billingtree, and +it's our turn now." + +So great was the illusion that he found himself mechanically offering +his arm as he moved through the empty room towards the door. Then he +descended the staircase without another word, preceded, however, by +the sound of his host's voice. Following this as a blind man might, he +entered the dining-room, which to his discomfiture was as empty as the +salon above. Still following the host's voice, he dropped into a chair +before the empty table, wondering what variation of the Barmecide feast +was in store for him. Yet the hum of voices from the vacant chairs +around the board so strongly impressed him that he could almost believe +that he was actually at dinner. + +"Are you seated?" asked the charming voice at his side. + +"Yes," a little wonderingly, as his was the only seat visibly occupied. + +"I am so glad that this silly ceremony is over. By the way, where are +you?" + +Paul would have liked to answer, "Lord only knows!" but he reflected +that it might not sound polite. "Where am I?" he feebly repeated. + +"Yes; where are you dining?" + +It seemed a cool question under the circumstances, but he answered +promptly,-- + +"With you." + +"Of course," said the charming voice; "but where are you eating your +dinner?" + +Considering that he was not eating anything, Paul thought this cooler +still. But he answered briefly, "In Upshire." + +"Oh! At your uncle's?" + +"No," said Paul bluntly; "in the next house." + +"Why, that's Sir William's--our host's--and he and his family are here +in London. You are joking." + +"Listen!" said Paul desperately. Then in a voice unconsciously lowered +he hurriedly told her where he was--how he came there--the empty +house--the viewless company! To his surprise the only response was a +musical little laugh. But the next moment her voice rose higher with an +unmistakable concern in it, apparently addressing their invisible host. + +"Oh, Sir William, only think how dreadful. Here's poor Mr. Bunker, alone +in an empty house, which he has mistaken for his uncle's--and without +any dinner!" + +"Really; dear, dear! How provoking! But how does he happen to be WITH +US? James, how is this?" + +"If you please, Sir William," said a servant's respectful voice, +"Widdlestone is in the circuit and is switched on with the others. We +heard that a gentleman's luggage had arrived at Widdlestone, and we +telegraphed for the rooms to be made ready, thinking we'd have her +ladyship's orders later." + +A single gleam of intelligence flashed upon Paul. His luggage--yes, had +been sent from the station to the wrong house, and he had unwittingly +followed. But these voices! whence did they come? And where was the +actual dinner at which his host was presiding? It clearly was not at +this empty table. + +"See that he has everything he wants at once," said Sir William; "there +must be some one there." Then his voice turned in the direction of +Paul again, and he said laughingly, "Possess your soul and appetite in +patience for a moment, Mr. Bunker; you will be only a course behind us. +But we are lucky in having your company--even at your own discomfort." + +Still more bewildered, Paul turned to his invisible partner. "May I ask +where YOU are dining?" + +"Certainly; at home in Curzon Street," returned the pretty voice. "It +was raining so, I did not go out." + +"And--Lord Billington?" faltered Paul. + +"Oh, he's in Scotland--at his own place." + +"Then, in fact, nobody is dining here at all," said Paul desperately. + +There was a slight pause, and then the voice responded, with a touch of +startled suggestion in it: "Good heavens, Mr. Bunker! Is it possible you +don't know we're dining by telephone?" + +"By what?" + +"Telephone. Yes. We're a telephonic dinner-party. We are dining in our +own houses; but, being all friends, we're switched on to each other, +and converse exactly as we would at table. It saves a great trouble and +expense, for any one of us can give the party, and the poorest can equal +the most extravagant. People who are obliged to diet can partake of +their own slops at home, and yet mingle with the gourmets without +awkwardness or the necessity of apology. We are spared the spectacle, at +least, of those who eat and drink too much. We can switch off a bore at +once. We can retire when we are fatigued, without leaving a blank space +before the others. And all this without saying anything of the higher +spiritual and intellectual effect--freed from material grossness of +appetite and show--which the dinner party thus attains. But you are +surely joking! You, an American, and not know it! Why, it comes from +Boston. Haven't you read that book, 'Jumping a Century'? It's by an +American." + +A strange illumination came upon Paul. Where had he heard something like +this before? But at the same moment his thoughts were diverted by the +material entrance of a footman, bearing a silver salver with his dinner. +It was part of his singular experience that the visible entrance of this +real, commonplace mortal--the only one he had seen--in the midst of this +voiceless solitude was distinctly unreal, and had all the effect of an +apparition. He distrusted it and the dishes before him. But his lively +partner's voice was now addressing an unseen occupant of the next chair. +Had she got tired of his ignorance, or was it feminine tact to enable +him to eat something? He accepted the latter hypothesis, and tried to +eat. But he felt himself following the fascinating voice in all the +charm of its youthful and spiritual inflections. Taking advantage of its +momentary silence, he said gently,-- + +"I confess my ignorance, and am willing to admit all you claim for this +wonderful invention. But do you think it compensates for the loss of the +individual person? Take my own case--if you will not think me personal. +I have never had the pleasure of seeing you; do you believe that I +am content with only that suggestion of your personality which the +satisfaction of hearing your voice affords me?" + +There was a pause, and then a very mischievous ring in the voice +that replied: "It certainly is a personal question, and it is another +blessing of this invention that you'll never know whether I am blushing +or not; but I forgive you, for I never before spoke to any one I had +never seen--and I suppose it's confusion. But do you really think you +would know me--the REAL one--any better? It is the real person who +thinks and speaks, not the outward semblance that we see, which +very often unfairly either attracts or repels us? We can always SHOW +ourselves at our best, but we must, at last, reveal our true colors +through our thoughts and speech. Isn't it better to begin with the real +thing first?" + +"I hope, at least, to have the privilege of judging by myself," said +Paul gallantly. "You will not be so cruel as not to let me see you +elsewhere, otherwise I shall feel as if I were in some dream, and will +certainly be opposed to your preference for realities." + +"I am not certain if the dream would not be more interesting to you," +said the voice laughingly. "But I think your hostess is already saying +'good-by.' You know everybody goes at once at this kind of party; the +ladies don't retire first, and the gentlemen join them afterwards. In +another moment we'll ALL be switched off; but Sir William wants me to +tell you that his coachman will drive you to your uncle's, unless +you prefer to try and make yourself comfortable for the night here. +Good-by!" + +The voices around him seemed to grow fainter, and then utterly cease. +The lights suddenly leaped up, went out, and left him in complete +darkness. He attempted to rise, but in doing so overset the dishes +before him, which slid to the floor. A cold air seemed to blow across +his feet. The "good-by" was still ringing in his ears as he straightened +himself to find he was in his railway carriage, whose door had just been +opened for a young lady who was entering the compartment from a wayside +station. "Good-by," she repeated to the friend who was seeing her off. +The Writer of Stories hurriedly straightened himself, gathered up the +magazines and papers that had fallen from his lap, and glanced at the +station walls. The old illustrations glanced back at him! He looked at +his watch; he had been asleep just ten minutes! + + + + +BOHEMIAN DAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO + + +It is but just to the respectable memory of San Francisco that in these +vagrant recollections I should deprecate at once any suggestion that the +levity of my title described its dominant tone at any period of my early +experiences. On the contrary, it was a singular fact that while the +rest of California was swayed by an easy, careless unconventionalism, or +swept over by waves of emotion and sentiment, San Francisco preserved +an intensely material and practical attitude, and even a certain austere +morality. I do not, of course, allude to the brief days of '49, when it +was a straggling beach of huts and stranded hulks, but to the earlier +stages of its development into the metropolis of California. Its first +tottering steps in that direction were marked by a distinct gravity and +decorum. Even during the period when the revolver settled small private +difficulties, and Vigilance Committees adjudicated larger public ones, +an unmistakable seriousness and respectability was the ruling sign of +its governing class. It was not improbable that under the reign of the +Committee the lawless and vicious class were more appalled by the moral +spectacle of several thousand black-coated, serious-minded business men +in embattled procession than by mere force of arms, and one "suspect"--a +prize-fighter--is known to have committed suicide in his cell after +confrontation with his grave and passionless shopkeeping judges. Even +that peculiar quality of Californian humor which was apt to mitigate +the extravagances of the revolver and the uncertainties of poker had no +place in the decorous and responsible utterance of San Francisco. The +press was sober, materialistic, practical--when it was not severely +admonitory of existing evil; the few smaller papers that indulged in +levity were considered libelous and improper. Fancy was displaced by +heavy articles on the revenues of the State and inducements to the +investment of capital. Local news was under an implied censorship which +suppressed anything that might tend to discourage timid or cautious +capital. Episodes of romantic lawlessness or pathetic incidents of +mining life were carefully edited--with the comment that these things +belonged to the past, and that life and property were now "as safe in +San Francisco as in New York or London." + +Wonder-loving visitors in quest of scenes characteristic of the +civilization were coldly snubbed with this assurance. Fires, floods, and +even seismic convulsions were subjected to a like grimly materialistic +optimism. I have a vivid recollection of a ponderous editorial on one +of the severer earthquakes, in which it was asserted that only the +UNEXPECTEDNESS of the onset prevented San Francisco from meeting it in +a way that would be deterrent of all future attacks. The unconsciousness +of the humor was only equaled by the gravity with which it was +received by the whole business community. Strangely enough, this grave +materialism flourished side by side with--and was even sustained by--a +narrow religious strictness more characteristic of the Pilgrim Fathers +of a past century than the Western pioneers of the present. San +Francisco was early a city of churches and church organizations to which +the leading men and merchants belonged. The lax Sundays of the dying +Spanish race seemed only to provoke a revival of the rigors of the +Puritan Sabbath. With the Spaniard and his Sunday afternoon bullfight +scarcely an hour distant, the San Francisco pulpit thundered against +Sunday picnics. One of the popular preachers, declaiming upon the +practice of Sunday dinner-giving, averred that when he saw a guest in +his best Sunday clothes standing shamelessly upon the doorstep of his +host, he felt like seizing him by the shoulder and dragging him from +that threshold of perdition. + +Against the actual heathen the feeling was even stronger, and reached +its climax one Sunday when a Chinaman was stoned to death by a crowd of +children returning from Sunday-school. I am offering these examples +with no ethical purpose, but merely to indicate a singular contradictory +condition which I do not think writers of early Californian history have +fairly recorded. It is not my province to suggest any theory for +these appalling exceptions to the usual good-humored lawlessness and +extravagance of the rest of the State. They may have been essential +agencies to the growth and evolution of the city. They were undoubtedly +sincere. The impressions I propose to give of certain scenes and +incidents of my early experience must, therefore, be taken as purely +personal and Bohemian, and their selection as equally individual and +vagrant. I am writing of what interested me at the time, though not +perhaps of what was more generally characteristic of San Francisco. + +I had been there a week--an idle week, spent in listless outlook for +employment; a full week in my eager absorption of the strange life +around me and a photographic sensitiveness to certain scenes and +incidents of those days, which start out of my memory to-day as freshly +as the day they impressed me. + +One of these recollections is of "steamer night," as it was called,--the +night of "steamer day,"--preceding the departure of the mail steamship +with the mails for "home." Indeed, at that time San Francisco may be +said to have lived from steamer day to steamer day; bills were made due +on that day, interest computed to that period, and accounts settled. +The next day was the turning of a new leaf: another essay to fortune, +another inspiration of energy. So recognized was the fact that even +ordinary changes of condition, social and domestic, were put aside until +AFTER steamer day. "I'll see what I can do after next steamer day" was +the common cautious or hopeful formula. It was the "Saturday night" of +many a wage-earner--and to him a night of festivity. The thoroughfares +were animated and crowded; the saloons and theatres full. I can recall +myself at such times wandering along the City Front, as the business +part of San Francisco was then known. Here the lights were burning all +night, the first streaks of dawn finding the merchants still at their +counting-house desks. I remember the dim lines of warehouses lining the +insecure wharves of rotten piles, half filled in--that had ceased to +be wharves, but had not yet become streets,--their treacherous yawning +depths, with the uncertain gleam of tarlike mud below, at times still +vocal with the lap and gurgle of the tide. I remember the weird stories +of disappearing men found afterward imbedded in the ooze in which they +had fallen and gasped their life away. I remember the two or three +ships, still left standing where they were beached a year or two before, +built in between warehouses, their bows projecting into the roadway. +There was the dignity of the sea and its boundless freedom in their +beautiful curves, which the abutting houses could not destroy, and even +something of the sea's loneliness in the far-spaced ports and cabin +windows lit up by the lamps of the prosaic landsmen who plied their +trades behind them. One of these ships, transformed into a hotel, +retained its name, the Niantic, and part of its characteristic interior +unchanged. I remember these ships' old tenants--the rats--who had +increased and multiplied to such an extent that at night they fearlessly +crossed the wayfarer's path at every turn, and even invaded the gilded +saloons of Montgomery Street. In the Niantic their pit-a-pat was met +on every staircase, and it was said that sometimes in an excess of +sociability they accompanied the traveler to his room. In the early +"cloth-and-papered" houses--so called because the ceilings were not +plastered, but simply covered by stretched and whitewashed cloth--their +scamperings were plainly indicated in zigzag movements of the sagging +cloth, or they became actually visible by finally dropping through the +holes they had worn in it! I remember the house whose foundations were +made of boxes of plug tobacco--part of a jettisoned cargo--used instead +of more expensive lumber; and the adjacent warehouse where the trunks of +the early and forgotten "forty-niners" were stored, and--never claimed +by their dead or missing owners--were finally sold at auction. I +remember the strong breath of the sea over all, and the constant onset +of the trade winds which helped to disinfect the deposit of dirt and +grime, decay and wreckage, which were stirred up in the later evolutions +of the city. + +Or I recall, with the same sense of youthful satisfaction and unabated +wonder, my wanderings through the Spanish Quarter, where three centuries +of quaint customs, speech, and dress were still preserved; where the +proverbs of Sancho Panza were still spoken in the language of Cervantes, +and the high-flown illusions of the La Manchian knight still a part +of the Spanish Californian hidalgo's dream. I recall the more modern +"Greaser," or Mexican--his index finger steeped in cigarette stains; +his velvet jacket and his crimson sash; the many-flounced skirt and lace +manta of his women, and their caressing intonations--the one musical +utterance of the whole hard-voiced city. I suppose I had a boy's +digestion and bluntness of taste in those days, for the combined odor of +tobacco, burned paper, and garlic, which marked that melodious breath, +did not affect me. + +Perhaps from my Puritan training I experienced a more fearful joy in the +gambling saloons. They were the largest and most comfortable, even as +they were the most expensively decorated rooms in San Francisco. Here +again the gravity and decorum which I have already alluded to were +present at that earlier period--though perhaps from concentration of +another kind. People staked and lost their last dollar with a calm +solemnity and a resignation that was almost Christian. The oaths, +exclamations, and feverish interruptions which often characterized more +dignified assemblies were absent here. There was no room for the lesser +vices; there was little or no drunkenness; the gaudily dressed and +painted women who presided over the wheels of fortune or performed on +the harp and piano attracted no attention from those ascetic players. +The man who had won ten thousand dollars and the man who had lost +everything rose from the table with equal silence and imperturbability. +I never witnessed any tragic sequel to those losses; I never heard of +any suicide on account of them. Neither can I recall any quarrel or +murder directly attributable to this kind of gambling. It must be +remembered that these public games were chiefly rouge et noir, monte, +faro, or roulette, in which the antagonist was Fate, Chance, Method, or +the impersonal "bank," which was supposed to represent them all; there +was no individual opposition or rivalry; nobody challenged the decision +of the "croupier," or dealer. + +I remember a conversation at the door of one saloon which was as +characteristic for its brevity as it was a type of the prevailing +stoicism. "Hello!" said a departing miner, as he recognized a brother +miner coming in, "when did you come down?" "This morning," was the +reply. "Made a strike on the bar?" suggested the first speaker. "You +bet!" said the other, and passed in. I chanced an hour later to be at +the same place as they met again--their relative positions changed. +"Hello! Whar now?" said the incomer. "Back to the bar." "Cleaned out?" +"You bet!" Not a word more explained a common situation. + +My first youthful experience at those tables was an accidental one. +I was watching roulette one evening, intensely absorbed in the mere +movement of the players. Either they were so preoccupied with the game, +or I was really older looking than my actual years, but a bystander laid +his hand familiarly on my shoulder, and said, as to an ordinary habitue, +"Ef you're not chippin' in yourself, pardner, s'pose you give ME a +show." Now I honestly believe that up to that moment I had no intention, +nor even a desire, to try my own fortune. But in the embarrassment of +the sudden address I put my hand in my pocket, drew out a coin, and laid +it, with an attempt at carelessness, but a vivid consciousness that I +was blushing, upon a vacant number. To my horror I saw that I had +put down a large coin--the bulk of my possessions! I did not flinch, +however; I think any boy who reads this will understand my feeling; it +was not only my coin but my manhood at stake. I gazed with a miserable +show of indifference at the players, at the chandelier--anywhere but at +the dreadful ball spinning round the wheel. There was a pause; the game +was declared, the rake rattled up and down, but still I did not look at +the table. Indeed, in my inexperience of the game and my embarrassment, +I doubt if I should have known if I had won or not. I had made up my +mind that I should lose, but I must do so like a man, and, above all, +without giving the least suspicion that I was a greenhorn. I even +affected to be listening to the music. The wheel spun again; the game +was declared, the rake was busy, but I did not move. At last the man +I had displaced touched me on the arm and whispered, "Better make a +straddle and divide your stake this time." I did not understand him, but +as I saw he was looking at the board, I was obliged to look, too. I drew +back dazed and bewildered! Where my coin had lain a moment before was a +glittering heap of gold. + +My stake had doubled, quadrupled, and doubled again. I did not know how +much then---I do not know now--it may have been not more than three or +four hundred dollars--but it dazzled and frightened me. "Make your +game, gentlemen," said the croupier monotonously. I thought he looked +at me--indeed, everybody seemed to be looking at me--and my companion +repeated his warning. But here I must again appeal to the boyish reader +in defense of my idiotic obstinacy. To have taken advice would have +shown my youth. I shook my head--I could not trust my voice. I smiled, +but with a sinking heart, and let my stake remain. The ball again sped +round the wheel, and stopped. There was a pause. The croupier indolently +advanced his rake and swept my whole pile with others into the bank! +I had lost it all. Perhaps it may be difficult for me to explain why I +actually felt relieved, and even to some extent triumphant, but I seemed +to have asserted my grown-up independence--possibly at the cost of +reducing the number of my meals for days; but what of that! I was a man! +I wish I could say that it was a lesson to me. I am afraid it was not. +It was true that I did not gamble again, but then I had no especial +desire to--and there was no temptation. I am afraid it was an incident +without a moral. Yet it had one touch characteristic of the period which +I like to remember. The man who had spoken to me, I think, suddenly +realized, at the moment of my disastrous coup, the fact of my extreme +youth. He moved toward the banker, and leaning over him whispered a few +words. The banker looked up, half impatiently, half kindly--his hand +straying tentatively toward the pile of coin. I instinctively knew what +he meant, and, summoning my determination, met his eyes with all the +indifference I could assume, and walked away. + +I had at that period a small room at the top of a house owned by a +distant relation--a second or third cousin, I think. He was a man of +independent and original character, had a Ulyssean experience of men and +cities, and an old English name of which he was proud. While in London +he had procured from the Heralds' College his family arms, whose +crest was stamped upon a quantity of plate he had brought with him to +California. The plate, together with an exceptionally good cook, which +he had also brought, and his own epicurean tastes, he utilized in the +usual practical Californian fashion by starting a rather expensive +half-club, half-restaurant in the lower part of the building--which he +ruled somewhat autocratically, as became his crest. The restaurant was +too expensive for me to patronize, but I saw many of its frequenters as +well as those who had rooms at the club. They were men of very +distinct personality; a few celebrated, and nearly all notorious. They +represented a Bohemianism--if such it could be called--less innocent +than my later experiences. I remember, however, one handsome young +fellow whom I used to meet occasionally on the staircase, who captured +my youthful fancy. I met him only at midday, as he did not rise till +late, and this fact, with a certain scrupulous elegance and neatness in +his dress, ought to have made me suspect that he was a gambler. In my +inexperience it only invested him with a certain romantic mystery. + +One morning as I was going out to my very early breakfast at a cheap +Italian cafe on Long Wharf, I was surprised to find him also descending +the staircase. He was scrupulously dressed even at that early hour, +but I was struck by the fact that he was all in black, and his slight +figure, buttoned to the throat in a tightly fitting frock coat, gave, I +fancied, a singular melancholy to his pale Southern face. Nevertheless, +he greeted me with more than his usual serene cordiality, and I +remembered that he looked up with a half-puzzled, half-amused expression +at the rosy morning sky as he walked a few steps with me down the +deserted street. I could not help saying that I was astonished to +see him up so early, and he admitted that it was a break in his usual +habits, but added with a smiling significance I afterwards remembered +that it was "an even chance if he did it again." As we neared the street +corner a man in a buggy drove up impatiently. In spite of the driver's +evident haste, my handsome acquaintance got in leisurely, and, lifting +his glossy hat to me with a pleasant smile, was driven away. I have +a very lasting recollection of his face and figure as the buggy +disappeared down the empty street. I never saw him again. It was not +until a week later that I knew that an hour after he left me that +morning he was lying dead in a little hollow behind the Mission +Dolores--shot through the heart in a duel for which he had risen so +early. + +I recall another incident of that period, equally characteristic, but +happily less tragic in sequel. I was in the restaurant one morning +talking to my cousin when a man entered hastily and said something to +him in a hurried whisper. My cousin contracted his eyebrows and uttered +a suppressed oath. Then with a gesture of warning to the man he crossed +the room quietly to a table where a regular habitue of the restaurant +was lazily finishing his breakfast. A large silver coffee-pot with a +stiff wooden handle stood on the table before him. My cousin leaned over +the guest familiarly and apparently made some hospitable inquiry as +to his wants, with his hand resting lightly on the coffee-pot handle. +Then--possibly because, my curiosity having been excited, I was watching +him more intently than the others--I saw what probably no one else +saw--that he deliberately upset the coffee-pot and its contents over +the guest's shirt and waistcoat. As the victim sprang up with +an exclamation, my cousin overwhelmed him with apologies for his +carelessness, and, with protestations of sorrow for the accident, +actually insisted upon dragging the man upstairs into his own private +room, where he furnished him with a shirt and waistcoat of his own. The +side door had scarcely closed upon them, and I was still lost in wonder +at what I had seen, when a man entered from the street. He was one of +the desperate set I have already spoken of, and thoroughly well known to +those present. He cast a glance around the room, nodded to one or two of +the guests, and then walked to a side table and took up a newspaper. I +was conscious at once that a singular constraint had come over the other +guests--a nervous awkwardness that at last seemed to make itself known +to the man himself, who, after an affected yawn or two, laid down the +paper and walked out. + +"That was a mighty close call," said one of the guests with a sigh of +relief. + +"You bet! And that coffee-pot spill was the luckiest kind of accident +for Peters," returned another. + +"For both," added the first speaker, "for Peters was armed too, and +would have seen him come in!" + +A word or two explained all. Peters and the last comer had quarreled +a day or two before, and had separated with the intention to "shoot +on sight," that is, wherever they met,--a form of duel common to those +days. The accidental meeting in the restaurant would have been the +occasion, with the usual sanguinary consequence, but for the word +of warning given to my cousin by a passer-by who knew that Peters' +antagonist was coming to the restaurant to look at the papers. Had +my cousin repeated the warning to Peters himself he would only have +prepared him for the conflict--which he would not have shirked--and so +precipitated the affray. + +The ruse of upsetting the coffee-pot, which everybody but myself thought +an accident, was to get him out of the room before the other entered. I +was too young then to venture to intrude upon my cousin's secrets, but +two or three years afterwards I taxed him with the trick and he admitted +it regretfully. I believe that a strict interpretation of the "code" +would have condemned his act as unsportsmanlike, if not UNFAIR! + +I recall another incident connected with the building equally +characteristic of the period. The United States Branch Mint stood very +near it, and its tall, factory-like chimneys overshadowed my cousin's +roof. Some scandal had arisen from an alleged leakage of gold in the +manipulation of that metal during the various processes of smelting +and refining. One of the excuses offered was the volatilization of the +precious metal and its escape through the draft of the tall chimneys. +All San Francisco laughed at this explanation until it learned that a +corroboration of the theory had been established by an assay of the dust +and grime of the roofs in the vicinity of the Mint. These had yielded +distinct traces of gold. San Francisco stopped laughing, and that +portion of it which had roofs in the neighborhood at once began +prospecting. Claims were staked out on these airy placers, and my +cousin's roof, being the very next one to the chimney, and presumably +"in the lead," was disposed of to a speculative company for a +considerable sum. I remember my cousin telling me the story--for the +occurrence was quite recent--and taking me with him to the roof to +explain it, but I am afraid I was more attracted by the mystery of the +closely guarded building, and the strangely tinted smoke which arose +from this temple where money was actually being "made," than by anything +else. Nor did I dream as I stood there--a very lanky, open-mouthed +youth--that only three or four years later I should be the secretary of +its superintendent. In my more adventurous ambition I am afraid I would +have accepted the suggestion half-heartedly. Merely to have helped to +stamp the gold which other people had adventurously found was by no +means a part of my youthful dreams. + +At the time of these earlier impressions the Chinese had not yet become +the recognized factors in the domestic and business economy of the city +which they had come to be when I returned from the mines three years +later. Yet they were even then a more remarkable and picturesque +contrast to the bustling, breathless, and brand-new life of San +Francisco than the Spaniard. The latter seldom flaunted his faded +dignity in the principal thoroughfares. "John" was to be met everywhere. +It was a common thing to see a long file of sampan coolies carrying +their baskets slung between them, on poles, jostling a modern, +well-dressed crowd in Montgomery Street, or to get a whiff of their +burned punk in the side streets; while the road leading to their +temporary burial-ground at Lone Mountain was littered with slips of +colored paper scattered from their funerals. They brought an atmosphere +of the Arabian Nights into the hard, modern civilization; their +shops--not always confined at that time to a Chinese quarter--were +replicas of the bazaars of Canton and Peking, with their quaint display +of little dishes on which tidbits of food delicacies were exposed for +sale, all of the dimensions and unreality of a doll's kitchen or a +child's housekeeping. + +They were a revelation to the Eastern immigrant, whose preconceived +ideas of them were borrowed from the ballet or pantomime; they did not +wear scalloped drawers and hats with jingling bells on their points, nor +did I ever see them dance with their forefingers vertically extended. +They were always neatly dressed, even the commonest of coolies, and +their festive dresses were marvels. As traders they were grave and +patient; as servants they were sad and civil, and all were singularly +infantine in their natural simplicity. The living representatives of the +oldest civilization in the world, they seemed like children. Yet they +kept their beliefs and sympathies to themselves, never fraternizing with +the fanqui, or foreign devil, or losing their singular racial qualities. +They indulged in their own peculiar habits; of their social and inner +life, San Francisco knew but little and cared less. Even at this early +period, and before I came to know them more intimately, I remember +an incident of their daring fidelity to their own customs that was +accidentally revealed to me. I had become acquainted with a Chinese +youth of about my own age, as I imagined,--although from mere outward +appearance it was generally impossible to judge of a Chinaman's age +between the limits of seventeen and forty years,--and he had, in a burst +of confidence, taken me to see some characteristic sights in a Chinese +warehouse within a stone's throw of the Plaza. I was struck by the +singular circumstance that while the warehouse was an erection of wood +in the ordinary hasty Californian style, there were certain brick and +stone divisions in its interior, like small rooms or closets, evidently +added by the Chinamen tenants. My companion stopped before a long, very +narrow entrance, a mere longitudinal slit in the brick wall, and with a +wink of infantine deviltry motioned me to look inside. I did so, and saw +a room, really a cell, of fair height but scarcely six feet square, +and barely able to contain a rude, slanting couch of stone covered with +matting, on which lay, at a painful angle, a richly dressed Chinaman. +A single glance at his dull, staring, abstracted eyes and half-opened +mouth showed me he was in an opium trance. This was not in itself a +novel sight, and I was moving away when I was suddenly startled by the +appearance of his hands, which were stretched helplessly before him on +his body, and at first sight seemed to be in a kind of wicker cage. + +I then saw that his finger-nails were seven or eight inches long, and +were supported by bamboo splints. Indeed, they were no longer human +nails, but twisted and distorted quills, giving him the appearance +of having gigantic claws. "Velly big Chinaman," whispered my cheerful +friend; "first-chop man--high classee--no can washee--no can eat--no +dlinke, no catchee him own glub allee same nothee man--China boy must +catchee glub for him, allee time! Oh, him first-chop man--you bettee!" + +I had heard of this singular custom of indicating caste before, and +was amazed and disgusted, but I was not prepared for what followed. My +companion, evidently thinking he had impressed me, grew more reckless +as showman, and saying to me, "Now me showee you one funny thing--heap +makee you laugh," led me hurriedly across a little courtyard swarming +with chickens and rabbits, when he stopped before another inclosure. +Suddenly brushing past an astonished Chinaman who seemed to be standing +guard, he thrust me into the inclosure in front of a most extraordinary +object. It was a Chinaman, wearing a huge, square, wooden frame fastened +around his neck like a collar, and fitting so tightly and rigidly that +the flesh rose in puffy weals around his cheeks. He was chained to a +post, although it was as impossible for him to have escaped with his +wooden cage through the narrow doorway as it was for him to lie down +and rest in it. Yet I am bound to say that his eyes and face expressed +nothing but apathy, and there was no appeal to the sympathy of the +stranger. My companion said hurriedly,-- + +"Velly bad man; stealee heap from Chinamen," and then, apparently +alarmed at his own indiscreet intrusion, hustled me away as quickly as +possible amid a shrill cackling of protestation from a few of his own +countrymen who had joined the one who was keeping guard. In another +moment we were in the street again--scarce a step from the Plaza, in the +full light of Western civilization--not a stone's throw from the courts +of justice. + +My companion took to his heels and left me standing there bewildered +and indignant. I could not rest until I had told my story, but without +betraying my companion, to an elder acquaintance, who laid the +facts before the police authorities. I had expected to be closely +cross-examined--to be doubted--to be disbelieved. To my surprise, I was +told that the police had already cognizance of similar cases of illegal +and barbarous punishments, but that the victims themselves refused to +testify against their countrymen--and it was impossible to convict or +even to identify them. "A white man can't tell one Chinese from another, +and there are always a dozen of 'em ready to swear that the man you've +got isn't the one." I was startled to reflect that I, too, could not +have conscientiously sworn to either jailor or the tortured prisoner--or +perhaps even to my cheerful companion. The police, on some pretext, made +a raid upon the premises a day or two afterwards, but without result. +I wondered if they had caught sight of the high-class, first-chop +individual, with the helplessly outstretched fingers, as that story I +had kept to myself. + +But these barbaric vestiges in John Chinaman's habits did not affect his +relations with the San Franciscans. He was singularly peaceful, docile, +and harmless as a servant, and, with rare exceptions, honest and +temperate. If he sometimes matched cunning with cunning, it was the +flattery of imitation. He did most of the menial work of San Francisco, +and did it cleanly. Except that he exhaled a peculiar druglike odor, he +was not personally offensive in domestic contact, and by virtue of being +the recognized laundryman of the whole community his own blouses were +always freshly washed and ironed. His conversational reserve arose, not +from his having to deal with an unfamiliar language,--for he had picked +up a picturesque and varied vocabulary with ease,--but from his natural +temperament. He was devoid of curiosity, and utterly unimpressed by +anything but the purely business concerns of those he served. Domestic +secrets were safe with him; his indifference to your thoughts, actions, +and feelings had all the contempt which his three thousand years of +history and his innate belief in your inferiority seemed to justify. He +was blind and deaf in your household because you didn't interest him +in the least. It was said that a gentleman, who wished to test his +impassiveness, arranged with his wife to come home one day and, in the +hearing of his Chinese waiter who was more than usually intelligent--to +disclose with well-simulated emotion the details of a murder he had just +committed. He did so. The Chinaman heard it without a sign of horror +or attention even to the lifting of an eyelid, but continued his duties +unconcerned. Unfortunately, the gentleman, in order to increase the +horror of the situation, added that now there was nothing left for him +but to cut his throat. At this John quietly left the room. The gentleman +was delighted at the success of his ruse until the door reopened and +John reappeared with his master's razor, which he quietly slipped--as +if it had been a forgotten fork--beside his master's plate, and calmly +resumed his serving. I have always considered this story to be quite as +improbable as it was inartistic, from its tacit admission of a certain +interest on the part of the Chinaman. I never knew one who would have +been sufficiently concerned to go for the razor. + +His taciturnity and reticence may have been confounded with rudeness of +address, although he was always civil enough. "I see you have listened +to me and done exactly what I told you," said a lady, commending some +performance of her servant after a previous lengthy lecture; "that's +very nice." "Yes," said John calmly, "you talkee allee time; talkee +allee too much." "I always find Ling very polite," said another +lady, speaking of her cook, "but I wish he did not always say to me, +'Goodnight, John,' in a high falsetto voice." She had not recognized the +fact that he was simply repeating her own salutation with his marvelous +instinct of relentless imitation, even as to voice. I hesitate to record +the endless stories of his misapplication of that faculty which were +then current, from the one of the laundryman who removed the buttons +from the shirts that were sent to him to wash that they might agree with +the condition of the one offered him as a pattern for "doing up," to +that of the unfortunate employer who, while showing John how to handle +valuable china carefully, had the misfortune to drop a plate himself--an +accident which was followed by the prompt breaking of another by the +neophyte, with the addition of "Oh, hellee!" in humble imitation of his +master. + +I have spoken of his general cleanliness; I am reminded of one or two +exceptions, which I think, however, were errors of zeal. His manner of +sprinkling clothes in preparing them for ironing was peculiar. He would +fill his mouth with perfectly pure water from a glass beside him, and +then, by one dexterous movement of his lips in a prolonged expiration, +squirt the water in an almost invisible misty shower on the article +before him. Shocking as this was at first to the sensibilities of many +American employers, it was finally accepted, and even commended. It was +some time after this that the mistress of a household, admiring the deft +way in which her cook had spread a white sauce on certain dishes, was +cheerfully informed that the method was "allee same." + +His recreations at that time were chiefly gambling, for the Chinese +theatre wherein the latter produced his plays (which lasted for several +months and comprised the events of a whole dynasty) was not yet built. +But he had one or two companies of jugglers who occasionally performed +also at American theatres. I remember a singular incident which attended +the debut of a newly arrived company. It seemed that the company had +been taken on their Chinese reputation solely, and there had been no +previous rehearsal before the American stage manager. The theatre was +filled with an audience of decorous and respectable San Franciscans of +both sexes. It was suddenly emptied in the middle of the performance; +the curtain came down with an alarmed and blushing manager apologizing +to deserted benches, and the show abruptly terminated. Exactly WHAT +had happened never appeared in the public papers, nor in the published +apology of the manager. It afforded a few days' mirth for wicked San +Francisco, and it was epigrammatically summed up in the remark that "no +woman could be found in San Francisco who was at that performance, and +no man who was not." Yet it was alleged even by John's worst detractors +that he was innocent of any intended offense. Equally innocent, but +perhaps more morally instructive, was an incident that brought his +career as a singularly successful physician to a disastrous close. +An ordinary native Chinese doctor, practicing entirely among his own +countrymen, was reputed to have made extraordinary cures with two +or three American patients. With no other advertising than this, and +apparently no other inducement offered to the public than what their +curiosity suggested, he was presently besieged by hopeful and eager +sufferers. Hundreds of patients were turned away from his crowded doors. +Two interpreters sat, day and night, translating the ills of ailing +San Francisco to this medical oracle, and dispensing his +prescriptions--usually small powders--in exchange for current coin. In +vain the regular practitioners pointed out that the Chinese possessed +no superior medical knowledge, and that their religion, which proscribed +dissection and autopsies, naturally limited their understanding of the +body into which they put their drugs. Finally they prevailed upon an +eminent Chinese authority to give them a list of the remedies generally +used in the Chinese pharmacopoeia, and this was privately circulated. +For obvious reasons I may not repeat it here. But it was summed +up--again after the usual Californian epigrammatic style--by the remark +that "whatever were the comparative merits of Chinese and American +practice, a simple perusal of the list would prove that the Chinese were +capable of producing the most powerful emetic known." The craze subsided +in a single day; the interpreters and their oracle vanished; the Chinese +doctors' signs, which had multiplied, disappeared, and San Francisco +awoke cured of its madness, at the cost of some thousand dollars. + +My Bohemian wanderings were confined to the limits of the city, for the +very good reason that there was little elsewhere to go. San Francisco +was then bounded on one side by the monotonously restless waters of the +bay, and on the other by a stretch of equally restless and monotonously +shifting sand dunes as far as the Pacific shore. Two roads penetrated +this waste: one to Lone Mountain--the cemetery; the other to the Cliff +House--happily described as "an eight-mile drive with a cocktail at +the end of it." Nor was the humor entirely confined to this felicitous +description. The Cliff House itself, half restaurant, half drinking +saloon, fronting the ocean and the Seal Rock, where disporting seals +were the chief object of interest, had its own peculiar symbol. The +decanters, wine-glasses, and tumblers at the bar were all engraved +in old English script with the legal initials "L. S." (Locus +Sigilli),--"the place of the seal." + +On the other hand, Lone Mountain, a dreary promontory giving upon the +Golden Gate and its striking sunsets, had little to soften its weird +suggestiveness. As the common goal of the successful and unsuccessful, +the carved and lettered shaft of the man who had made a name, and the +staring blank headboard of the man who had none, climbed the sandy +slopes together. I have seen the funerals of the respectable citizen who +had died peacefully in his bed, and the notorious desperado who had +died "with his boots on," followed by an equally impressive cortege of +sorrowing friends, and often the self-same priest. But more awful than +its barren loneliness was the utter absence of peacefulness and rest +in this dismal promontory. By some wicked irony of its situation and +climate it was the personification of unrest and change. The incessant +trade winds carried its loose sands hither and thither, uncovering the +decaying coffins of early pioneers, to bury the wreaths and flowers, +laid on a grave of to-day, under their obliterating waves. No tree to +shade them from the glaring sky above could live in those winds, no +turf would lie there to resist the encroaching sand below. The dead +were harried and hustled even in their graves by the persistent sun, the +unremitting wind, and the unceasing sea. The departing mourner saw the +contour of the very mountain itself change with the shifting dunes as +he passed, and his last look beyond rested on the hurrying, eager waves +forever hastening to the Golden Gate. + +If I were asked to say what one thing impressed me as the dominant and +characteristic note of San Francisco, I should say it was this untiring +presence of sun and wind and sea. They typified, even if they were not, +as I sometimes fancied, the actual incentive to the fierce, restless +life of the city. I could not think of San Francisco without the trade +winds; I could not imagine its strange, incongruous, multigenerous +procession marching to any other music. They were always there in my +youthful recollections; they were there in my more youthful dreams of +the past as the mysterious vientes generales that blew the Philippine +galleons home. + +For six months they blew from the northwest, for six months from the +southwest, with unvarying persistency. They were there every morning, +glittering in the equally persistent sunlight, to chase the San +Franciscan from his slumber; they were there at midday, to stir his +pulses with their beat; they were there again at night, to hurry him +through the bleak and flaring gas-lit streets to bed. They left their +mark on every windward street or fence or gable, on the outlying sand +dunes; they lashed the slow coasters home, and hurried them to sea +again; they whipped the bay into turbulence on their way to Contra +Costa, whose level shoreland oaks they had trimmed to windward as +cleanly and sharply as with a pruning-shears. Untiring themselves, they +allowed no laggards; they drove the San Franciscan from the wall against +which he would have leaned, from the scant shade in which at noontide he +might have rested. They turned his smallest fires into conflagrations, +and kept him ever alert, watchful, and eager. In return, they scavenged +his city and held it clean and wholesome; in summer they brought him the +soft sea-fog for a few hours to soothe his abraded surfaces; in winter +they brought the rains and dashed the whole coast-line with flowers, and +the staring sky above it with soft, unwonted clouds. They were always +there--strong, vigilant, relentless, material, unyielding, triumphant. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under the Redwoods, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE REDWOODS *** + +***** This file should be named 2555.txt or 2555.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/2555/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Donald Lainson, charlie@idirect.com. + + + + + +Under the Redwoods + +by + +Bret Harte + + + + +CONTENTS + + +JIMMY'S BIG BROTHER FROM CALIFORNIA + +THE YOUNGEST MISS PIPER + +A WIDOW OF THE SANTA ANA VALLEY + +THE MERMAID OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT + +UNDER THE EAVES + +HOW REUBEN ALLEN "SAW LIFE" IN SAN FRANCISCO + +THREE VAGABONDS OF TRINIDAD + +A VISION OF THE FOUNTAIN + +A ROMANCE OF THE LINE + +BOHEMIAN DAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO + +UNDER THE REDWOODS + + + + +JIMMY'S BIG BROTHER FROM CALIFORNIA + + +As night crept up from the valley that stormy afternoon, Sawyer's +Ledge was at first quite blotted out by wind and rain, but +presently reappeared in little nebulous star-like points along the +mountain side, as the straggling cabins of the settlement were one +by one lit up by the miners returning from tunnel and claim. These +stars were of varying brilliancy that evening, two notably so--one +that eventually resolved itself into a many-candled illumination of +a cabin of evident festivity; the other into a glimmering taper in +the window of a silent one. They might have represented the +extreme mutations of fortune in the settlement that night: the +celebration of a strike by Robert Falloner, a lucky miner; and the +sick-bed of Dick Lasham, an unlucky one. + +The latter was, however, not quite alone. He was ministered to by +Daddy Folsom, a weak but emotional and aggressively hopeful +neighbor, who was sitting beside the wooden bunk whereon the +invalid lay. Yet there was something perfunctory in his attitude: +his eyes were continually straying to the window, whence the +illuminated Falloner festivities could be seen between the trees, +and his ears were more intent on the songs and laughter that came +faintly from the distance than on the feverish breathing and +unintelligible moans of the sufferer. + +Nevertheless he looked troubled equally by the condition of his +charge and by his own enforced absence from the revels. A more +impatient moan from the sick man, however, brought a change to his +abstracted face, and he turned to him with an exaggerated +expression of sympathy. + +"In course! Lordy! I know jest what those pains are: kinder ez ef +you was havin' a tooth pulled that had roots branchin' all over ye! +My! I've jest had 'em so bad I couldn't keep from yellin'! That's +hot rheumatics! Yes, sir, I oughter know! And" (confidentially) +"the sing'ler thing about 'em is that they get worse jest as +they're going off--sorter wringin' yer hand and punchin' ye in the +back to say 'Good-by.' There!" he continued, as the man sank +exhaustedly back on his rude pillow of flour-sacks. "There! didn't +I tell ye? Ye'll be all right in a minit, and ez chipper ez a jay +bird in the mornin'. Oh, don't tell me about rheumatics--I've bin +thar! On'y mine was the cold kind--that hangs on longest--yours is +the hot, that burns itself up in no time!" + +If the flushed face and bright eyes of Lasham were not enough to +corroborate this symptom of high fever, the quick, wandering laugh +he gave would have indicated the point of delirium. But the too +optimistic Daddy Folsom referred this act to improvement, and went +on cheerfully: "Yes, sir, you're better now, and"--here he assumed +an air of cautious deliberation, extravagant, as all his assumptions +were--"I ain't sayin' that--ef--you--was--to--rise--up" (very +slowly) "and heave a blanket or two over your shoulders--jest by way +o' caution, you know--and leanin' on me, kinder meander over to Bob +Falloner's cabin and the boys, it wouldn't do you a heap o' good. +Changes o' this kind is often prescribed by the faculty." Another +moan from the sufferer, however, here apparently corrected Daddy's +too favorable prognosis. "Oh, all right! Well, perhaps ye know +best; and I'll jest run over to Bob's and say how as ye ain't +comin', and will be back in a jiffy!" + +"The letter," said the sick man hurriedly, "the letter, the letter!" + +Daddy leaned suddenly over the bed. It was impossible for even his +hopefulness to avoid the fact that Lasham was delirious. It was a +strong factor in the case--one that would certainly justify his +going over to Falloner's with the news. For the present moment, +however, this aberration was to be accepted cheerfully and humored +after Daddy's own fashion. "Of course--the letter, the letter," he +said convincingly; "that's what the boys hev bin singin' jest now-- + + + 'Good-by, Charley; when you are away, + Write me a letter, love; send me a letter, love!' + + +That's what you heard, and a mighty purty song it is too, and +kinder clings to you. It's wonderful how these things gets in your +head." + +"The letter--write--send money--money--money, and the photograph-- +the photograph--photograph--money," continued the sick man, in the +rapid reiteration of delirium. + +"In course you will--to-morrow--when the mail goes," returned Daddy +soothingly; "plenty of them. Jest now you try to get a snooze, +will ye? Hol' on!--take some o' this." + +There was an anodyne mixture on the rude shelf, which the doctor +had left on his morning visit. Daddy had a comfortable belief that +what would relieve pain would also check delirium, and he +accordingly measured out a dose with a liberal margin to allow of +waste by the patient in swallowing in his semi-conscious state. As +he lay more quiet, muttering still, but now unintelligibly, Daddy, +waiting for a more complete unconsciousness and the opportunity to +slip away to Falloner's, cast his eyes around the cabin. He +noticed now for the first time since his entrance that a crumpled +envelope bearing a Western post-mark was lying at the foot of the +bed. Daddy knew that the tri-weekly post had arrived an hour +before he came, and that Lasham had evidently received a letter. +Sure enough the letter itself was lying against the wall beside +him. It was open. Daddy felt justified in reading it. + +It was curt and businesslike, stating that unless Lasham at once +sent a remittance for the support of his brother and sister--two +children in charge of the writer--they must find a home elsewhere. +That the arrears were long standing, and the repeated promises of +Lasham to send money had been unfulfilled. That the writer could +stand it no longer. This would be his last communication unless +the money were sent forthwith. + +It was by no means a novel or, under the circumstances, a shocking +disclosure to Daddy. He had seen similar missives from daughters, +and even wives, consequent on the varying fortunes of his +neighbors; no one knew better than he the uncertainties of a +miner's prospects, and yet the inevitable hopefulness that buoyed +him up. He tossed it aside impatiently, when his eye caught a +strip of paper he had overlooked lying upon the blanket near the +envelope. It contained a few lines in an unformed boyish hand +addressed to "my brother," and evidently slipped into the letter +after it was written. By the uncertain candlelight Daddy read as +follows:-- + + +Dear Brother, Rite to me and Cissy rite off. Why aint you done it? +It's so long since you rote any. Mister Recketts ses you dont care +any more. Wen you rite send your fotograff. Folks here ses I aint +got no big bruther any way, as I disremember his looks, and cant +say wots like him. Cissy's kryin' all along of it. I've got a +hedake. William Walker make it ake by a blo. So no more at +present from your loving little bruther Jim. + + +The quick, hysteric laugh with which Daddy read this was quite +consistent with his responsive, emotional nature; so, too, were the +ready tears that sprang to his eyes. He put the candle down +unsteadily, with a casual glance at the sick man. It was notable, +however, that this look contained less sympathy for the ailing "big +brother" than his emotion might have suggested. For Daddy was +carried quite away by his own mental picture of the helpless +children, and eager only to relate his impressions of the incident. +He cast another glance at the invalid, thrust the papers into his +pocket, and clapping on his hat slipped from the cabin and ran to +the house of festivity. Yet it was characteristic of the man, and +so engrossed was he by his one idea, that to the usual inquiries +regarding his patient he answered, "he's all right," and plunged at +once into the incident of the dunning letter, reserving--with the +instinct of an emotional artist--the child's missive until the +last. As he expected, the money demand was received with indignant +criticisms of the writer. + +"That's just like 'em in the States," said Captain Fletcher; +"darned if they don't believe we've only got to bore a hole in the +ground and snake out a hundred dollars. Why, there's my wife--with +a heap of hoss sense in everything else--is allus wonderin' why I +can't rake in a cool fifty betwixt one steamer day and another." + +"That's nothin' to my old dad," interrupted Gus Houston, the +"infant" of the camp, a bright-eyed young fellow of twenty; "why, +he wrote to me yesterday that if I'd only pick up a single piece of +gold every day and just put it aside, sayin' 'That's for popper and +mommer,' and not fool it away--it would be all they'd ask of me." + +"That's so," added another; "these ignorant relations is just the +ruin o' the mining industry. Bob Falloner hez bin lucky in his +strike to-day, but he's a darned sight luckier in being without +kith or kin that he knows of." + +Daddy waited until the momentary irritation had subsided, and then +drew the other letter from his pocket. "That ain't all, boys," he +began in a faltering voice, but gradually working himself up to a +pitch of pathos; "just as I was thinking all them very things, I +kinder noticed this yer poor little bit o' paper lyin' thar +lonesome like and forgotten, and I--read it--and well--gentlemen-- +it just choked me right up!" He stopped, and his voice faltered. + +"Go slow, Daddy, go slow!" said an auditor smilingly. It was +evident that Daddy's sympathetic weakness was well known. + +Daddy read the child's letter. But, unfortunately, what with his +real emotion and the intoxication of an audience, he read it +extravagantly, and interpolated a child's lisp (on no authority +whatever), and a simulated infantile delivery, which, I fear, at +first provoked the smiles rather than the tears of his audience. +Nevertheless, at its conclusion the little note was handed round +the party, and then there was a moment of thoughtful silence. + +"Tell you what it is, boys," said Fletcher, looking around the +table, "we ought to be doin' suthin' for them kids right off! Did +you," turning to Daddy, "say anythin' about this to Dick?" + +"Nary--why, he's clean off his head with fever--don't understand a +word--and just babbles," returned Daddy, forgetful of his roseate +diagnosis a moment ago, "and hasn't got a cent." + +"We must make up what we can amongst us afore the mail goes to- +night," said the "infant," feeling hurriedly in his pockets. +"Come, ante up, gentlemen," he added, laying the contents of his +buckskin purse upon the table. + +"Hold on, boys," said a quiet voice. It was their host Falloner, +who had just risen and was slipping on his oilskin coat. "You've +got enough to do, I reckon, to look after your own folks. I've +none! Let this be my affair. I've got to go to the Express Office +anyhow to see about my passage home, and I'll just get a draft for +a hundred dollars for that old skeesicks--what's his blamed name? +Oh, Ricketts"--he made a memorandum from the letter--"and I'll send +it by express. Meantime, you fellows sit down there and write +something--you know what--saying that Dick's hurt his hand and +can't write--you know; but asked you to send a draft, which you're +doing. Sabe? That's all! I'll skip over to the express now and +get the draft off, and you can mail the letter an hour later. So +put your dust back in your pockets and help yourselves to the +whiskey while I'm gone." He clapped his hat on his head and +disappeared. + +"There goes a white man, you bet!" said Fletcher admiringly, as the +door closed behind their host. "Now, boys," he added, drawing a +chair to the table, "let's get this yer letter off, and then go +back to our game." + +Pens and ink were produced, and an animated discussion ensued as to +the matter to be conveyed. Daddy's plea for an extended explanatory +and sympathetic communication was overruled, and the letter was +written to Ricketts on the simple lines suggested by Falloner. + +"But what about poor little Jim's letter? That ought to be +answered," said Daddy pathetically. + +"If Dick hurt his hand so he can't write to Ricketts, how in +thunder is he goin' to write to Jim?" was the reply. + +"But suthin' oughter be said to the poor kid," urged Daddy +piteously. + +"Well, write it yourself--you and Gus Houston make up somethin' +together. I'm going to win some money," retorted Fletcher, +returning to the card-table, where he was presently followed by all +but Daddy and Houston. + +"Ye can't write it in Dick's name, because that little brother +knows Dick's handwriting, even if he don't remember his face. +See?" suggested Houston. + +"That's so," said Daddy dubiously; "but," he added, with elastic +cheerfulness, we can write that Dick 'says.' See?" + +"Your head's level, old man! Just you wade in on that." + +Daddy seized the pen and "waded in." Into somewhat deep and +difficult water, I fancy, for some of it splashed into his eyes, +and he sniffled once or twice as he wrote. "Suthin' like this," he +said, after a pause:-- + + +DEAR LITTLE JIMMIE,--Your big brother havin' hurt his hand, wants +me to tell you that otherways he is all hunky and A1. He says he +don't forget you and little Cissy, you bet! and he's sendin' money +to old Ricketts straight off. He says don't you and Cissy mind +whether school keeps or not as long as big Brother Dick holds the +lines. He says he'd have written before, but he's bin follerin' up +a lead mighty close, and expects to strike it rich in a few days. + + +"You ain't got no sabe about kids," said Daddy imperturbably; +"they've got to be humored like sick folks. And they want +everythin' big--they don't take no stock in things ez they are-- +even ef they hev 'em worse than they are. 'So,'" continued Daddy, +reading to prevent further interruption, "'he says you're just to +keep your eyes skinned lookin' out for him comin' home any time-- +day or night. All you've got to do is to sit up and wait. He +might come and even snake you out of your beds! He might come with +four white horses and a nigger driver, or he might come disguised +as an ornary tramp. Only you've got to be keen on watchin'.' (Ye +see," interrupted Daddy explanatorily, "that'll jest keep them kids +lively.) 'He says Cissy's to stop cryin' right off, and if Willie +Walker hits yer on the right cheek you just slug out with your left +fist, 'cordin' to Scripter.' Gosh," ejaculated Daddy, stopping +suddenly and gazing anxiously at Houston, "there's that blamed +photograph--I clean forgot that." + +"And Dick hasn't got one in the shop, and never had," returned +Houston emphatically. "Golly! that stumps us! Unless," he added, +with diabolical thoughtfulness, "we take Bob's? The kids don't +remember Dick's face, and Bob's about the same age. And it's a +regular star picture--you bet! Bob had it taken in Sacramento--in +all his war paint. See!" He indicated a photograph pinned against +the wall--a really striking likeness which did full justice to +Bob's long silken mustache and large, brown determined eyes. "I'll +snake it off while they ain't lookin', and you jam it in the +letter. Bob won't miss it, and we can fix it up with Dick after +he's well, and send another." + +Daddy silently grasped the "infant's" hand, who presently secured +the photograph without attracting attention from the card-players. +It was promptly inclosed in the letter, addressed to Master James +Lasham. The "infant" started with it to the post-office, and Daddy +Folsom returned to Lasham's cabin to relieve the watcher that had +been detached from Falloner's to take his place beside the sick +man. + +Meanwhile the rain fell steadily and the shadows crept higher and +higher up the mountain. Towards midnight the star points faded out +one by one over Sawyer's Ledge even as they had come, with the +difference that the illumination of Falloner's cabin was +extinguished first, while the dim light of Lasham's increased in +number. Later, two stars seemed to shoot from the centre of the +ledge, trailing along the descent, until they were lost in the +obscurity of the slope--the lights of the stage-coach to Sacramento +carrying the mail and Robert Falloner. They met and passed two +fainter lights toiling up the road--the buggy lights of the doctor, +hastily summoned from Carterville to the bedside of the dying Dick +Lasham. + + +The slowing up of his train caused Bob Falloner to start from a +half doze in a Western Pullman car. As he glanced from his window +he could see that the blinding snowstorm which had followed him for +the past six hours had at last hopelessly blocked the line. There +was no prospect beyond the interminable snowy level, the whirling +flakes, and the monotonous palisades of leafless trees seen through +it to the distant banks of the Missouri. It was a prospect that +the mountain-bred Falloner was beginning to loathe, and although it +was scarcely six weeks since he left California, he was already +looking back regretfully to the deep slopes and the free song of +the serried ranks of pines. + +The intense cold had chilled his temperate blood, even as the rigors +and conventions of Eastern life had checked his sincerity and +spontaneous flow of animal spirits begotten in the frank intercourse +and brotherhood of camps. He had just fled from the artificialities +of the great Atlantic cities to seek out some Western farming lands +in which he might put his capital and energies. The unlooked-for +interruption of his progress by a long- forgotten climate only +deepened his discontent. And now--that train was actually backing! +It appeared they must return to the last station to wait for a +snow-plough to clear the line. It was, explained the conductor, +barely a mile from Shepherdstown, where there was a good hotel and a +chance of breaking the journey for the night. + +Shepherdstown! The name touched some dim chord in Bob Falloner's +memory and conscience--yet one that was vague. Then he suddenly +remembered that before leaving New York he had received a letter +from Houston informing him of Lasham's death, reminding him of his +previous bounty, and begging him--if he went West--to break the +news to the Lasham family. There was also some allusion to a joke +about his (Bob's) photograph, which he had dismissed as unimportant, +and even now could not remember clearly. For a few moments his +conscience pricked him that he should have forgotten it all, but now +he could make amends by this providential delay. It was not a task +to his liking; in any other circumstances he would have written, but +he would not shirk it now. + +Shepherdstown was on the main line of the Kansas Pacific Road, and +as he alighted at its station, the big through trains from San +Francisco swept out of the stormy distance and stopped also. He +remembered, as he mingled with the passengers, hearing a childish +voice ask if this was the Californian train. He remembered hearing +the amused and patient reply of the station-master: "Yes, sonny-- +here she is again, and here's her passengers," as he got into the +omnibus and drove to the hotel. Here he resolved to perform his +disagreeable duty as quickly as possible, and on his way to his +room stopped for a moment at the office to ask for Ricketts' +address. The clerk, after a quick glance of curiosity at his new +guest, gave it to him readily, with a somewhat familiar smile. It +struck Falloner also as being odd that he had not been asked to +write his name on the hotel register, but this was a saving of time +he was not disposed to question, as he had already determined to +make his visit to Ricketts at once, before dinner. It was still +early evening. + +He was washing his hands in his bedroom when there came a light tap +at his sitting-room door. Falloner quickly resumed his coat and +entered the sitting-room as the porter ushered in a young lady +holding a small boy by the hand. But, to Falloner's utter +consternation, no sooner had the door closed on the servant than +the boy, with a half-apologetic glance at the young lady, uttered a +childish cry, broke from her, and calling, "Dick! Dick!" ran +forward and leaped into Falloner's arms. + +The mere shock of the onset and his own amazement left Bob without +breath for words. The boy, with arms convulsively clasping his +body, was imprinting kisses on Bob's waistcoat in default of +reaching his face. At last Falloner managed gently but firmly to +free himself, and turned a half-appealing, half-embarrassed look +upon the young lady, whose own face, however, suddenly flushed +pink. To add to the confusion, the boy, in some reaction of +instinct, suddenly ran back to her, frantically clutched at her +skirts, and tried to bury his head in their folds. + +"He don't love me," he sobbed. "He don't care for me any more." + +The face of the young girl changed. It was a pretty face in its +flushing; in the paleness and thoughtfulness that overcast it it +was a striking face, and Bob's attention was for a moment distracted +from the grotesqueness of the situation. Leaning over the boy she +said in a caressing yet authoritative voice, "Run away for a moment, +dear, until I call you," opening the door for him in a maternal way +so inconsistent with the youthfulness of her figure that it struck +him even in his confusion. There was something also in her dress +and carriage that equally affected him: her garments were somewhat +old-fashioned in style, yet of good material, with an odd incongruity +to the climate and season. + +Under her rough outer cloak she wore a polka jacket and the +thinnest of summer blouses; and her hat, though dark, was of rough +straw, plainly trimmed. Nevertheless, these peculiarities were +carried off with an air of breeding and self-possession that was +unmistakable. It was possible that her cool self-possession might +have been due to some instinctive antagonism, for as she came a +step forward with coldly and clearly-opened gray eyes, he was +vaguely conscious that she didn't like him. Nevertheless, her +manner was formally polite, even, as he fancied, to the point of +irony, as she began, in a voice that occasionally dropped into the +lazy Southern intonation, and a speech that easily slipped at times +into Southern dialect:-- + +"I sent the child out of the room, as I could see that his advances +were annoying to you, and a good deal, I reckon, because I knew +your reception of them was still more painful to him. It is quite +natural, I dare say, you should feel as you do, and I reckon +consistent with your attitude towards him. But you must make some +allowance for the depth of his feelings, and how he has looked +forward to this meeting. When I tell you that ever since he +received your last letter, he and his sister--until her illness +kept her home--have gone every day when the Pacific train was due +to the station to meet you; that they have taken literally as +Gospel truth every word of your letter"-- + +"My letter?" interrupted Falloner. + +The young girl's scarlet lip curled slightly. "I beg your pardon-- +I should have said the letter you dictated. Of course it wasn't in +your handwriting--you had hurt your hand, you know," she added +ironically. "At all events, they believed it all--that you were +coming at any moment; they lived in that belief, and the poor +things went to the station with your photograph in their hands so +that they might be the first to recognize and greet you." + +"With my photograph?" interrupted Falloner again. + +The young girl's clear eyes darkened ominously. "I reckon," she +said deliberately, as she slowly drew from her pocket the +photograph Daddy Folsom had sent, "that that is your photograph. +It certainly seems an excellent likeness," she added, regarding him +with a slight suggestion of contemptuous triumph. + +In an instant the revelation of the whole mystery flashed upon him! +The forgotten passage in Houston's letter about the stolen +photograph stood clearly before him; the coincidence of his +appearance in Shepherdstown, and the natural mistake of the +children and their fair protector, were made perfectly plain. But +with this relief and the certainty that he could confound her with +an explanation came a certain mischievous desire to prolong the +situation and increase his triumph. She certainly had not shown +him any favor. + +"Have you got the letter also?" he asked quietly. + +She whisked it impatiently from her pocket and handed it to him. +As he read Daddy's characteristic extravagance and recognized the +familiar idiosyncrasies of his old companions, he was unable to +restrain a smile. He raised his eyes, to meet with surprise the +fair stranger's leveled eyebrows and brightly indignant eyes, in +which, however, the rain was fast gathering with the lightning. + +"It may be amusing to you, and I reckon likely it was all a +California joke," she said with slightly trembling lips; "I don't +know No'thern gentlemen and their ways, and you seem to have +forgotten our ways as you have your kindred. Perhaps all this may +seem so funny to them: it may not seem funny to that boy who is now +crying his heart out in the hall; it may not be very amusing to +that poor Cissy in her sick-bed longing to see her brother. It may +be so far from amusing to her, that I should hesitate to bring you +there in her excited condition and subject her to the pain that you +have caused him. But I have promised her; she is already expecting +us, and the disappointment may be dangerous, and I can only implore +you--for a few moments at least--to show a little more affection +than you feel." As he made an impulsive, deprecating gesture, yet +without changing his look of restrained amusement, she stopped him +hopelessly. "Oh, of course, yes, yes, I know it is years since you +have seen them; they have no right to expect more; only--only-- +feeling as you do," she burst impulsively, "why--oh, why did you +come?" + +Here was Bob's chance. He turned to her politely; began gravely, +"I simply came to"--when suddenly his face changed; he stopped as +if struck by a blow. His cheek flushed, and then paled! Good God! +What had he come for? To tell them that this brother they were +longing for--living for--perhaps even dying for--was dead! In his +crass stupidity, his wounded vanity over the scorn of the young +girl, his anticipation of triumph, he had forgotten--totally +forgotten--what that triumph meant! Perhaps if he had felt more +keenly the death of Lasham the thought of it would have been +uppermost in his mind; but Lasham was not his partner or associate, +only a brother miner, and his single act of generosity was in the +ordinary routine of camp life. If she could think him cold and +heartless before, what would she think of him now? The absurdity +of her mistake had vanished in the grim tragedy he had seemed to +have cruelly prepared for her. The thought struck him so keenly +that he stammered, faltered, and sank helplessly into a chair. + +The shock that he had received was so plain to her that her own +indignation went out in the breath of it. Her lip quivered. +"Don't you mind," she said hurriedly, dropping into her Southern +speech; "I didn't go to hurt you, but I was just that mad with the +thought of those pickaninnies, and the easy way you took it, that I +clean forgot I'd no call to catechise you! And you don't know me +from the Queen of Sheba. Well," she went on, still more rapidly, +and in odd distinction to her previous formal slow Southern +delivery, "I'm the daughter of Colonel Boutelle, of Bayou Sara, +Louisiana; and his paw, and his paw before him, had a plantation +there since the time of Adam, but he lost it and six hundred +niggers during the Wah! We were pooh as pohverty--paw and maw and +we four girls--and no more idea of work than a baby. But I had an +education at the convent at New Orleans, and could play, and speak +French, and I got a place as school-teacher here; I reckon the +first Southern woman that has taught school in the No'th! +Ricketts, who used to be our steward at Bayou Sara, told me about +the pickaninnies, and how helpless they were, with only a brother +who occasionally sent them money from California. I suppose I +cottoned to the pooh little things at first because I knew what it +was to be alone amongst strangers, Mr. Lasham; I used to teach them +at odd times, and look after them, and go with them to the train to +look for you. Perhaps Ricketts made me think you didn't care for +them; perhaps I was wrong in thinking it was true, from the way you +met Jimmy just now. But I've spoken my mind and you know why." +She ceased and walked to the window. + +Falloner rose. The storm that had swept through him was over. +The quick determination, resolute purpose, and infinite patience +which had made him what he was were all there, and with it a +conscientiousness which his selfish independence had hitherto kept +dormant. He accepted the situation, not passively--it was not in +his nature--but threw himself into it with all his energy. + +"You were quite right," he said, halting a moment beside her; "I +don't blame you, and let me hope that later you may think me less +to blame than you do now. Now, what's to be done? Clearly, I've +first to make it right with Tommy--I mean Jimmy--and then we must +make a straight dash over to the girl! Whoop!" Before she could +understand from his face the strange change in his voice, he had +dashed out of the room. In a moment he reappeared with the boy +struggling in his arms. "Think of the little scamp not knowing his +own brother!" he laughed, giving the boy a really affectionate, if +slightly exaggerated hug, and expecting me to open my arms to the +first little boy who jumps into them! I've a great mind not to +give him the present I fetched all the way from California. Wait a +moment." He dashed into the bedroom, opened his valise--where he +providentially remembered he had kept, with a miner's superstition, +the first little nugget of gold he had ever found--seized the tiny +bit of quartz of gold, and dashed out again to display it before +Jimmy's eager eyes. + +If the heartiness, sympathy, and charming kindness of the man's +whole manner and face convinced, even while it slightly startled, +the young girl, it was still more effective with the boy. Children +are quick to detect the false ring of affected emotion, and Bob's +was so genuine--whatever its cause--that it might have easily +passed for a fraternal expression with harder critics. The child +trustfully nestled against him and would have grasped the gold, but +the young man whisked it into his pocket. "Not until we've shown +it to our little sister--where we're going now! I'm off to order a +sleigh." He dashed out again to the office as if he found some +relief in action, or, as it seemed to Miss Boutelle, to avoid +embarrassing conversation. When he came back again he was carrying +an immense bearskin from his luggage. He cast a critical look at +the girl's unseasonable attire. + +"I shall wrap you and Jimmy in this--you know it's snowing +frightfully." + +Miss Boutelle flushed a little. "I'm warm enough when walking," +she said coldly. Bob glanced at her smart little French shoes, and +thought otherwise. He said nothing, but hastily bundled his two +guests downstairs and into the street. The whirlwind dance of the +snow made the sleigh an indistinct bulk in the glittering darkness, +and as the young girl for an instant stood dazedly still, Bob +incontinently lifted her from her feet, deposited her in the +vehicle, dropped Jimmy in her lap, and wrapped them both tightly in +the bearskin. Her weight, which was scarcely more than a child's, +struck him in that moment as being tantalizingly incongruous to the +matronly severity of her manner and its strange effect upon him. +He then jumped in himself, taking the direction from his companion, +and drove off through the storm. + +The wind and darkness were not favorable to conversation, and only +once did he break the silence. "Is there any one who would be +likely to remember--me--where we are going?" he asked, in a lull of +the storm. + +Miss Boutelle uncovered enough of her face to glance at him +curiously. "Hardly! You know the children came here from the +No'th after your mother's death, while you were in California." + +"Of course," returned Bob hurriedly; "I was only thinking--you know +that some of my old friends might have called," and then collapsed +into silence. + +After a pause a voice came icily, although under the furs: "Perhaps +you'd prefer that your arrival be kept secret from the public? But +they seem to have already recognized you at the hotel from your +inquiry about Ricketts, and the photograph Jimmy had already shown +them two weeks ago." Bob remembered the clerk's familiar manner +and the omission to ask him to register. "But it need go no +further, if you like," she added, with a slight return of her +previous scorn. + +"I've no reason for keeping it secret," said Bob stoutly. + +No other words were exchanged until the sleigh drew up before a +plain wooden house in the suburbs of the town. Bob could see at a +glance that it represented the income of some careful artisan or +small shopkeeper, and that it promised little for an invalid's +luxurious comfort. They were ushered into a chilly sitting-room +and Miss Boutelle ran upstairs with Jimmy to prepare the invalid +for Bob's appearance. He noticed that a word dropped by the woman +who opened the door made the young girl's face grave again, and +paled the color that the storm had buffeted to her cheek. He +noticed also that these plain surroundings seemed only to enhance +her own superiority, and that the woman treated her with a +deference in odd contrast to the ill-concealed disfavor with which +she regarded him. Strangely enough, this latter fact was a relief +to his conscience. It would have been terrible to have received +their kindness under false pretenses; to take their just blame of +the man he personated seemed to mitigate the deceit. + +The young girl rejoined him presently with troubled eyes. Cissy +was worse, and only intermittently conscious, but had asked to see +him. It was a short flight of stairs to the bedroom, but before he +reached it Bob's heart beat faster than it had in any mountain +climb. In one corner of the plainly furnished room stood a small +truckle bed, and in it lay the invalid. It needed but a single +glance at her flushed face in its aureole of yellow hair to +recognize the likeness to Jimmy, although, added to that strange +refinement produced by suffering, there was a spiritual exaltation +in the child's look--possibly from delirium--that awed and +frightened him; an awful feeling that he could not lie to this +hopeless creature took possession of him, and his step faltered. +But she lifted her small arms pathetically towards him as if she +divined his trouble, and he sank on his knees beside her. With a +tiny finger curled around his long mustache, she lay there silent. +Her face was full of trustfulness, happiness, and consciousness-- +but she spoke no word. + +There was a pause, and Falloner, slightly lifting his head without +disturbing that faintly clasping finger, beckoned Miss Boutelle to +his side. "Can you drive?" he said, in a low voice. + +"Yes." + +"Take my sleigh and get the best doctor in town to come here at +once. Bring him with you if you can; if he can't come at once, +drive home yourself. I will stay here." + +"But"--hesitated Miss Boutelle. + +"I will stay here," he repeated. + +The door closed on the young girl, and Falloner, still bending over +the child, presently heard the sleigh-bells pass away in the storm. +He still sat with his bent head, held by the tiny clasp of those +thin fingers. But the child's eyes were fixed so intently upon him +that Mrs. Ricketts leaned over the strangely-assorted pair and +said-- + +"It's your brother Dick, dearie. Don't you know him?" + +The child's lips moved faintly. "Dick's dead," she whispered. + +"She's wandering," said Mrs. Ricketts. "Speak to her." But Bob, +with his eyes on the child's, lifted a protesting hand. The little +sufferer's lips moved again. "It isn't Dick--it's the angel God +sent to tell me." + +She spoke no more. And when Miss Boutelle returned with the doctor +she was beyond the reach of finite voices. Falloner would have +remained all night with them, but he could see that his presence in +the contracted household was not desired. Even his offer to take +Jimmy with him to the hotel was declined, and at midnight he +returned alone. + +What his thoughts were that night may be easily imagined. Cissy's +death had removed the only cause he had for concealing his real +identity. There was nothing more to prevent his revealing all to +Miss Boutelle and to offer to adopt the boy. But he reflected this +could not be done until after the funeral, for it was only due to +Cissy's memory that he should still keep up the role of Dick Lasham +as chief mourner. If it seems strange that Bob did not at this +crucial moment take Miss Boutelle into his confidence, I fear it +was because he dreaded the personal effect of the deceit he had +practiced upon her more than any ethical consideration; she had +softened considerably in her attitude towards him that night; he +was human, after all, and while he felt his conduct had been +unselfish in the main, he dared not confess to himself how much her +opinion had influenced him. He resolved that after the funeral he +would continue his journey, and write to her, en route, a full +explanation of his conduct, inclosing Daddy's letter as corroborative +evidence. But on searching his letter-case he found that he had +lost even that evidence, and he must trust solely at present to +her faith in his improbable story. + +It seemed as if his greatest sacrifice was demanded at the funeral! +For it could not be disguised that the neighbors were strongly +prejudiced against him. Even the preacher improved the occasion to +warn the congregation against the dangers of putting off duty until +too late. And when Robert Falloner, pale, but self-restrained, +left the church with Miss Boutelle, equally pale and reserved, on +his arm, he could with difficulty restrain his fury at the passing +of a significant smile across the faces of a few curious bystanders. +"It was Amy Boutelle, that was the 'penitence' that fetched him, you +bet!" he overheard, a barely concealed whisper; and the reply, "And +it's a good thing she's made out of it too, for he's mighty rich!" + +At the church door he took her cold hand into his. "I am leaving +to-morrow morning with Jimmy," he said, with a white face. "Good- +by." + +"You are quite right; good-by," she replied as briefly, but with +the faintest color. He wondered if she had heard it too. + +Whether she had heard it or not, she went home with Mrs. Ricketts +in some righteous indignation, which found--after the young lady's +habit--free expression. Whatever were Mr. Lasham's faults of +omission it was most un-Christian to allude to them there, and an +insult to the poor little dear's memory who had forgiven them. +Were she in his shoes she would shake the dust of the town off her +feet; and she hoped he would. She was a little softened on +arriving to find Jimmy in tears. He had lost Dick's photograph--or +Dick had forgotten to give it back at the hotel, for this was all +he had in his pocket. And he produced a letter--the missing letter +of Daddy, which by mistake Falloner had handed back instead of the +photograph. Miss Boutelle saw the superscription and Californian +postmark with a vague curiosity. + +"Did you look inside, dear? Perhaps it slipped in." + +Jimmy had not. Miss Boutelle did--and I grieve to say, ended by +reading the whole letter. + +Bob Falloner had finished packing his things the next morning, and +was waiting for Mr. Ricketts and Jimmy. But when a tap came at the +door, he opened it to find Miss Boutelle standing there. "I have +sent Jimmy into the bedroom," she said with a faint smile, "to look +for the photograph which you gave him in mistake for this. I think +for the present he prefers his brother's picture to this letter, +which I have not explained to him or any one." She stopped, and +raising her eyes to his, said gently: "I think it would have only +been a part of your goodness to have trusted me, Mr. Falloner." + +"Then you will forgive me?" he said eagerly. + +She looked at him frankly, yet with a faint trace of coquetry that +the angels might have pardoned. "Do you want me to say to you what +Mrs. Ricketts says were the last words of poor Cissy?" + +A year later, when the darkness and rain were creeping up Sawyer's +Ledge, and Houston and Daddy Folsom were sitting before their +brushwood fire in the old Lasham cabin, the latter delivered +himself oracularly. + +"It's a mighty queer thing, that news about Bob! It's not that +he's married, for that might happen to any one; but this yer +account in the paper of his wedding being attended by his 'little +brother.' That gets me! To think all the while he was here he was +lettin' on to us that he hadn't kith or kin! Well, sir, that +accounts to me for one thing,--the sing'ler way he tumbled to that +letter of poor Dick Lasham's little brother and sent him that +draft! Don't ye see? It was a feller feelin'! Knew how it was +himself! I reckon ye all thought I was kinder soft reading that +letter o' Dick Lasham's little brother to him, but ye see what it +did." + + + +THE YOUNGEST MISS PIPER + + +I do not think that any of us who enjoyed the acquaintance of the +Piper girls or the hospitality of Judge Piper, their father, ever +cared for the youngest sister. Not on account of her extreme +youth, for the eldest Miss Piper confessed to twenty-six--and the +youth of the youngest sister was established solely, I think, by +one big braid down her back. Neither was it because she was the +plainest, for the beauty of the Piper girls was a recognized +general distinction, and the youngest Miss Piper was not entirely +devoid of the family charms. Nor was it from any lack of +intelligence, nor from any defective social quality; for her +precocity was astounding, and her good-humored frankness alarming. +Neither do I think it could be said that a slight deafness, which +might impart an embarrassing publicity to any statement--the +reverse of our general feeling--that might be confided by any one +to her private ear, was a sufficient reason; for it was pointed out +that she always understood everything that Tom Sparrell told her in +his ordinary tone of voice. Briefly, it was very possible that +Delaware--the youngest Miss Piper--did not like us. Yet it was +fondly believed by us that the other sisters failed to show that +indifference to our existence shown by Miss Delaware, although the +heartburnings, misunderstandings, jealousies, hopes and fears, and +finally the chivalrous resignation with which we at last accepted +the long foregone conclusion that they were not for us, and far +beyond our reach, is not a part of this veracious chronicle. +Enough that none of the flirtations of her elder sisters affected +or were shared by the youngest Miss Piper. She moved in this +heart-breaking atmosphere with sublime indifference, treating her +sisters' affairs with what we considered rank simplicity or +appalling frankness. Their few admirers who were weak enough to +attempt to gain her mediation or confidence had reason to regret +it. + +"It's no kind o' use givin' me goodies," she said to a helpless +suitor of Louisiana Piper's who had offered to bring her some +sweets, "for I ain't got no influence with Lu, and if I don't give +'em up to her when she hears of it, she'll nag me and hate you like +pizen. Unless," she added thoughtfully, "it was wintergreen +lozenges; Lu can't stand them, or anybody who eats them within a +mile." It is needless to add that the miserable man, thus put upon +his gallantry, was obliged in honor to provide Del with the +wintergreen lozenges that kept him in disfavor and at a distance. +Unfortunately, too, any predilection or pity for any particular +suitor of her sister's was attended by even more disastrous +consequences. It was reported that while acting as "gooseberry"--a +role usually assigned to her--between Virginia Piper and an +exceptionally timid young surveyor, during a ramble she conceived a +rare sentiment of humanity towards the unhappy man. After once or +twice lingering behind in the ostentatious picking of a wayside +flower, or "running on ahead" to look at a mountain view, without +any apparent effect on the shy and speechless youth, she decoyed +him aside while her elder sister rambled indifferently and somewhat +scornfully on. The youngest Miss Piper leaped upon the rail of a +fence, and with the stalk of a thimbleberry in her mouth swung her +small feet to and fro and surveyed him dispassionately. + +"Ye don't seem to be ketchin' on?" she said tentatively. + +The young man smiled feebly and interrogatively. + +"Don't seem to be either follering suit nor trumpin'," continued +Del bluntly. + +"I suppose so--that is, I fear that Miss Virginia"--he stammered. + +"Speak up! I'm a little deaf. Say it again!" said Del, screwing +up her eyes and eyebrows. + +The young man was obliged to admit in stentorian tones that his +progress had been scarcely satisfactory. + +"You're goin' on too slow--that's it," said Del critically. "Why, +when Captain Savage meandered along here with Jinny" (Virginia) +"last week, afore we got as far as this he'd reeled off a heap of +Byron and Jamieson" (Tennyson), "and sich; and only yesterday Jinny +and Doctor Beveridge was blowin' thistletops to know which was a +flirt all along the trail past the crossroads. Why, ye ain't +picked ez much as a single berry for Jinny, let alone Lad's Love or +Johnny Jumpups and Kissme's, and ye keep talkin' across me, you +two, till I'm tired. Now look here," she burst out with sudden +decision, "Jinny's gone on ahead in a kind o' huff; but I reckon +she's done that afore too, and you'll find her, jest as Spinner +did, on the rise of the hill, sittin' on a pine stump and lookin' +like this." (Here the youngest Miss Piper locked her fingers over +her left knee, and drew it slightly up,--with a sublime +indifference to the exposure of considerable small-ankled red +stocking,--and with a far-off, plaintive stare, achieved a +colorable imitation of her elder sister's probable attitude.) +"Then you jest go up softly, like as you was a bear, and clap your +hands on her eyes, and say in a disguised voice like this" (here +Del turned on a high falsetto beyond any masculine compass), +"'Who's who?' jest like in forfeits." + +"But she'll be sure to know me," said the surveyor timidly. + +"She won't," said Del in scornful skepticism. + +"I hardly think"--stammered the young man, with an awkward smile, +"that I--in fact--she'll discover me--before I can get beside her." + +"Not if you go softly, for she'll be sittin' back to the road, so-- +gazing away, so"--the youngest Miss Piper again stared dreamily in +the distance, "and you'll creep up just behind, like this." + +"But won't she be angry? I haven't known her long--that is--don't +you see?" He stopped embarrassedly. + +"Can't hear a word you say," said Del, shaking her head decisively. +"You've got my deaf ear. Speak louder, or come closer." + +But here the instruction suddenly ended, once and for all time! +For whether the young man was seriously anxious to perfect himself; +whether he was truly grateful to the young girl and tried to show +it; whether he was emboldened by the childish appeal of the long +brown distinguishing braid down her back, or whether he suddenly +found something peculiarly provocative in the reddish brown eyes +between their thickset hedge of lashes, and with the trim figure +and piquant pose, and was seized with that hysteric desperation +which sometimes attacks timidity itself, I cannot say! Enough that +he suddenly put his arm around her waist and his lips to her soft +satin cheek, peppered and salted as it was by sun-freckles and +mountain air, and received a sound box on the ear for his pains. +The incident was closed. He did not repeat the experiment on +either sister. The disclosure of his rebuff seemed, however, to +give a singular satisfaction to Red Gulch. + +While it may be gathered from this that the youngest Miss Piper was +impervious to general masculine advances, it was not until later +that Red Gulch was thrown into skeptical astonishment by the rumors +that all this time she really had a lover! Allusion has been made +to the charge that her deafness did not prevent her from perfectly +understanding the ordinary tone of voice of a certain Mr. Thomas +Sparrell. + +No undue significance was attached to this fact through the very +insignificance and "impossibility" of that individual;--a lanky, +red-haired youth, incapacitated for manual labor through lameness,-- +a clerk in a general store at the Cross Roads! He had never been +the recipient of Judge Piper's hospitality; he had never visited +the house even with parcels; apparently his only interviews with +her or any of the family had been over the counter. To do him +justice he certainly had never seemed to seek any nearer +acquaintance; he was not at the church door when her sisters, +beautiful in their Sunday gowns, filed into the aisle, with little +Delaware bringing up the rear; he was not at the Democratic +barbecue, that we attended without reference to our personal +politics, and solely for the sake of Judge Piper and the girls; nor +did he go to the Agricultural Fair Ball--open to all. His +abstention we believed to be owing to his lameness; to a wholesome +consciousness of his own social defects; or an inordinate passion +for reading cheap scientific textbooks, which did not, however, add +fluency nor conviction to his speech. Neither had he the +abstraction of a student, for his accounts were kept with an +accuracy which struck us, who dealt at the store, as ignobly +practical, and even malignant. Possibly we might have expressed +this opinion more strongly but for a certain rude vigor of repartee +which he possessed, and a suggestion that he might have a temper on +occasion. "Them red-haired chaps is like to be tetchy and to kinder +see blood through their eyelashes," had been suggested by an +observing customer. + +In short, little as we knew of the youngest Miss Piper, he was the +last man we should have suspected her to select as an admirer. +What we did know of their public relations, purely commercial ones, +implied the reverse of any cordial understanding. The provisioning +of the Piper household was entrusted to Del, with other practical +odds and ends of housekeeping, not ornamental, and the following is +said to be a truthful record of one of their overheard interviews +at the store:-- + +The youngest Miss Piper, entering, displacing a quantity of goods +in the centre to make a sideways seat for herself, and looking +around loftily as she took a memorandum-book and pencil from her +pocket. + +"Ahem! If I ain't taking you away from your studies, Mr. Sparrell, +maybe you'll be good enough to look here a minit;--but" (in +affected politeness) "if I'm disturbing you I can come another +time." + +Sparrell, placing the book he had been reading carefully under the +counter, and advancing to Miss Delaware with a complete ignoring of +her irony: "What can we do for you to-day, Miss Piper?" + +Miss Delaware, with great suavity of manner, examining her +memorandum-book: "I suppose it wouldn't be shocking your delicate +feelings too much to inform you that the canned lobster and oysters +you sent us yesterday wasn't fit for hogs?" + +Sparrell (blandly): "They weren't intended for them, Miss Piper. +If we had known you were having company over from Red Gulch to +dinner, we might have provided something more suitable for them. +We have a fair quality of oil-cake and corn-cobs in stock, at +reduced figures. But the canned provisions were for your own +family." + +Miss Delaware (secretly pleased at this sarcastic allusion to her +sister's friends, but concealing her delight): "I admire to hear +you talk that way, Mr. Sparrell; it's better than minstrels or a +circus. I suppose you get it outer that book," indicating the +concealed volume. "What do you call it?" + +Sparrell (politely): "The First Principles of Geology." + +Miss Delaware, leaning sideways and curling her little fingers +around her pink ear: "Did you say the first principles of 'geology' +or 'politeness'? You know I am so deaf; but, of course, it +couldn't be that." + +Sparrell (easily): "Oh no, you seem to have that in your hand"-- +pointing to Miss Delaware's memorandum-book--"you were quoting from +it when you came in." + +Miss Delaware, after an affected silence of deep resignation: +"Well! it's too bad folks can't just spend their lives listenin' to +such elegant talk; I'd admire to do nothing else! But there's my +family up at Cottonwood--and they must eat. They're that low that +they expect me to waste my time getting food for 'em here, instead +of drinking in the First Principles of the Grocery." + +"Geology," suggested Sparrell blandly. "The history of rock +formation." + +"Geology," accepted Miss Delaware apologetically; "the history of +rocks, which is so necessary for knowing just how much sand you can +put in the sugar. So I reckon I'll leave my list here, and you can +have the things toted to Cottonwood when you've got through with +your First Principles." + +She tore out a list of her commissions from a page of her +memorandum-book, leaped lightly from the counter, threw her brown +braid from her left shoulder to its proper place down her back, +shook out her skirts deliberately, and saying, "Thank you for a +most improvin' afternoon, Mr. Sparrell," sailed demurely out of the +store. + +A few auditors of this narrative thought it inconsistent that a +daughter of Judge Piper and a sister of the angelic host should put +up with a mere clerk's familiarity, but it was pointed out that +"she gave him as good as he sent," and the story was generally +credited. But certainly no one ever dreamed that it pointed to any +more precious confidences between them. + +I think the secret burst upon the family, with other things, at the +big picnic at Reservoir Canyon. This festivity had been arranged +for weeks previously, and was undertaken chiefly by the "Red Gulch +Contingent," as we were called, as a slight return to the Piper +family for their frequent hospitality. The Piper sisters were +expected to bring nothing but their own personal graces and attend +to the ministration of such viands and delicacies as the boys had +profusely supplied. + +The site selected was Reservoir Canyon, a beautiful, triangular +valley with very steep sides, one of which was crowned by the +immense reservoir of the Pioneer Ditch Company. The sheer flanks +of the canyon descended in furrowed lines of vines and clinging +bushes, like folds of falling skirts, until they broke again into +flounces of spangled shrubbery over a broad level carpet of +monkshood, mariposas, lupines, poppies, and daisies. Tempered and +secluded from the sun's rays by its lofty shadows, the delicious +obscurity of the canyon was in sharp contrast to the fiery mountain +trail that in the full glare of the noonday sky made its tortuous +way down the hillside, like a stream of lava, to plunge suddenly +into the valley and extinguish itself in its coolness as in a lake. +The heavy odors of wild honeysuckle, syringa, and ceanothus that +hung over it were lightened and freshened by the sharp spicing of +pine and bay. The mountain breeze which sometimes shook the +serrated tops of the large redwoods above with a chill from the +remote snow peaks even in the heart of summer, never reached the +little valley. + +It seemed an ideal place for a picnic. Everybody was therefore +astonished to hear that an objection was suddenly raised to this +perfect site. They were still more astonished to know that the +objector was the youngest Miss Piper! Pressed to give her reasons, +she had replied that the locality was dangerous; that the reservoir +placed upon the mountain, notoriously old and worn out, had been +rendered more unsafe by false economy in unskillful and hasty +repairs to satisfy speculating stockbrokers, and that it had lately +shown signs of leakage and sapping of its outer walls; that, in the +event of an outbreak, the little triangular valley, from which +there was no outlet, would be instantly flooded. Asked still more +pressingly to give her authority for these details, she at first +hesitated, and then gave the name of Tom Sparrell. + +The derision with which this statement was received by us all, as +the opinion of a sedentary clerk, was quite natural and obvious, +but not the anger which it excited in the breast of Judge Piper; +for it was not generally known that the judge was the holder of a +considerable number of shares in the Pioneer Ditch Company, and +that large dividends had been lately kept up by a false economy of +expenditure, to expedite a "sharp deal" in the stock, by which the +judge and others could sell out of a failing company. Rather, it +was believed, that the judge's anger was due only to the discovery +of Sparrell's influence over his daughter and his interference with +the social affairs of Cottonwood. It was said that there was a +sharp scene between the youngest Miss Piper and the combined forces +of the judge and the elder sisters, which ended in the former's +resolute refusal to attend the picnic at all if that site was +selected. + +As Delaware was known to be fearless even to the point of +recklessness, and fond of gayety, her refusal only intensified the +belief that she was merely "stickin' up for Sparrell's judgment" +without any reference to her own personal safety or that of her +sisters. The warning was laughed away; the opinion of Sparrell +treated with ridicule as the dyspeptic and envious expression of an +impractical man. It was pointed out that the reservoir had lasted +a long time even in its alleged ruinous state; that only a miracle +of coincidence could make it break down that particular afternoon +of the picnic; that even if it did happen, there was no direct +proof that it would seriously flood the valley, or at best add more +than a spice of excitement to the affair. The "Red Gulch +Contingent," who WOULD be there, was quite as capable of taking +care of the ladies, in case of any accident, as any lame crank who +wouldn't, but could only croak a warning to them from a distance. +A few even wished something might happen that they might have an +opportunity of showing their superior devotion; indeed, the +prospect of carrying the half-submerged sisters, in a condition of +helpless loveliness, in their arms to a place of safety was a +fascinating possibility. The warning was conspicuously ineffective; +everybody looked eagerly forward to the day and the unchanged +locality; to the greatest hopefulness and anticipation was added the +stirring of defiance, and when at last the appointed hour had +arrived, the picnic party passed down the twisting mountain trail +through the heat and glare in a fever of enthusiasm. + +It was a pretty sight to view this sparkling procession--the girls +cool and radiant in their white, blue, and yellow muslins and +flying ribbons, the "Contingent" in its cleanest ducks, and blue +and red flannel shirts, the judge white-waistcoated and panama- +hatted, with a new dignity borrowed from the previous circumstances, +and three or four impressive Chinamen bringing up the rear with +hampers--as it at last debouched into Reservoir Canyon. + +Here they dispersed themselves over the limited area, scarcely half +an acre, with the freedom of escaped school children. They were +secure in their woodland privacy. They were overlooked by no high +road and its passing teams; they were safe from accidental +intrusion from the settlement; indeed they went so far as to effect +the exclusiveness of "clique." At first they amused themselves by +casting humorously defiant eyes at the long low Ditch Reservoir, +which peeped over the green wall of the ridge, six hundred feet +above them; at times they even simulated an exaggerated terror of +it, and one recognized humorist declaimed a grotesque appeal to its +forbearance, with delightful local allusions. Others pretended to +discover near a woodman's hut, among the belt of pines at the top +of the descending trail, the peeping figure of the ridiculous and +envious Sparrell. But all this was presently forgotten in the +actual festivity. Small as was the range of the valley, it still +allowed retreats during the dances for waiting couples among the +convenient laurel and manzanita bushes which flounced the mountain +side. After the dancing, old-fashioned children's games were +revived with great laughter and half-hearted and coy protests from +the ladies; notably one pastime known as "I'm a-pinin'," in which +ingenious performance the victim was obliged to stand in the centre +of a circle and publicly "pine" for a member of the opposite sex. +Some hilarity was occasioned by the mischievous Miss "Georgy" Piper +declaring, when it came to her turn, that she was "pinin'" for a +look at the face of Tom Sparrell just now! + +In this local trifling two hours passed, until the party sat down +to the long-looked for repast. It was here that the health of +Judge Piper was neatly proposed by the editor of the "Argus." The +judge responded with great dignity and some emotion. He reminded +them that it had been his humble endeavor to promote harmony--that +harmony so characteristic of American principles--in social as he +had in political circles, and particularly among the strangely +constituted yet purely American elements of frontier life. He +accepted the present festivity with its overflowing hospitalities, +not in recognition of himself--("yes! yes!")--nor of his family-- +(enthusiastic protests)--but of that American principle! If at one +time it seemed probable that these festivities might be marred by +the machinations of envy--(groans)--or that harmony interrupted by +the importation of low-toned material interests--(groans)--he could +say that, looking around him, he had never before felt--er--that-- +Here the judge stopped short, reeled slightly forward, caught at a +camp-stool, recovered himself with an apologetic smile, and turned +inquiringly to his neighbor. + +A light laugh--instantly suppressed--at what was at first supposed +to be the effect of the "overflowing hospitality" upon the speaker +himself, went around the male circle until it suddenly appeared +that half a dozen others had started to their feet at the same +time, with white faces, and that one of the ladies had screamed. + +"What is it?" everybody was asking with interrogatory smiles. + +It was Judge Piper who replied:-- + +"A little shock of earthquake," he said blandly; "a mere thrill! I +think," he added with a faint smile, "we may say that Nature +herself has applauded our efforts in good old Californian fashion, +and signified her assent. What are you saying, Fludder?" + +"I was thinking, sir," said Fludder deferentially, in a lower +voice, "that if anything was wrong in the reservoir, this shock, +you know, might"-- + +He was interrupted by a faint crashing and crackling sound, and +looking up, beheld a good-sized boulder, evidently detached from +some greater height, strike the upland plateau at the left of the +trail and bound into the fringe of forest beside it. A slight +cloud of dust marked its course, and then lazily floated away in +mid air. But it had been watched agitatedly, and it was evident +that that singular loss of nervous balance which is apt to affect +all those who go through the slightest earthquake experience was +felt by all. But some sense of humor, however, remained. + +"Looks as if the water risks we took ain't goin' to cover +earthquakes," drawled Dick Frisney; "still that wasn't a bad shot, +if we only knew what they were aiming at." + +"Do be quiet," said Virginia Piper, her cheeks pink with excitement. +"Listen, can't you? What's that funny murmuring you hear now and +then up there?" + +"It's only the snow-wind playin' with the pines on the summit. You +girls won't allow anybody any fun but yourselves." + +But here a scream from "Georgy," who, assisted by Captain Fairfax, +had mounted a camp-stool at the mouth of the valley, attracted +everybody's attention. She was standing upright, with dilated +eyes, staring at the top of the trail. "Look!" she said excitedly, +"if the trail isn't moving!" + +Everybody faced in that direction. At the first glance it seemed +indeed as if the trail was actually moving; wriggling and +undulating its tortuous way down the mountain like a huge snake, +only swollen to twice its usual size. But the second glance showed +it to be no longer a trail but a channel of water, whose stream, +lifted in a bore-like wall four or five feet high, was plunging +down into the devoted valley. + +For an instant they were unable to comprehend even the nature of +the catastrophe. The reservoir was directly over their heads; the +bursting of its wall they had imagined would naturally bring down +the water in a dozen trickling streams or falls over the cliff +above them and along the flanks of the mountain. But that its +suddenly liberated volume should overflow the upland beyond and +then descend in a pent-up flood by their own trail and their only +avenue of escape, had been beyond their wildest fancy. + +They met this smiting truth with that characteristic short laugh +with which the American usually receives the blow of Fate or the +unexpected--as if he recognized only the absurdity of the +situation. Then they ran to the women, collected them together, +and dragged them to vantages of fancied security among the bushes +which flounced the long skirts of the mountain walls. But I leave +this part of the description to the characteristic language of one +of the party:-- + +"When the flood struck us, it did not seem to take any stock of us +in particular, but laid itself out to 'go for' that picnic for all +it was worth! It wiped it off the face of the earth in about +twenty-five seconds! It first made a clean break from stem to +stern, carrying everything along with it. The first thing I saw +was old Judge Piper, puttin' on his best licks to get away from a +big can of strawberry ice cream that was trundling after him and +trying to empty itself on his collar, whenever a bigger wave lifted +it. He was followed by what was left of the brass band; the big +drum just humpin' itself to keep abreast o' the ice cream, mixed up +with camp-stools, music-stands, a few Chinamen, and then what they +call in them big San Francisco processions 'citizens generally.' +The hull thing swept up the canyon inside o' thirty seconds. Then, +what Captain Fairfax called 'the reflex action in the laws o' +motion' happened, and darned if the hull blamed procession didn't +sweep back again--this time all the heavy artillery, such as camp- +kettles, lager beer kegs, bottles, glasses, and crockery that was +left behind takin' the lead now, and Judge Piper and that ice cream +can bringin' up the rear. As the jedge passed us the second time, +we noticed that that ice cream can--hevin' swallowed water--was +kinder losing its wind, and we encouraged the old man by shoutin' +out, 'Five to one on him!' And then, you wouldn't believe what +followed. Why, darn my skin, when that 'reflex' met the current at +the other end, it just swirled around again in what Captain Fairfax +called the 'centrifugal curve,' and just went round and round the +canyon like ez when yer washin' the dirt out o' a prospectin' pan-- +every now and then washin' some one of the boys that was in it, +like scum, up ag'in the banks. + +"We managed in this way to snake out the judge, jest ez he was +sailin' round on the home stretch, passin' the quarter post two +lengths ahead o' the can. A good deal o' the ice cream had washed +away, but it took us ten minutes to shake the cracked ice and +powdered salt out o' the old man's clothes, and warm him up again +in the laurel bush where he was clinging. This sort o' 'Here we go +round the mulberry bush' kep' on until most o' the humans was got +out, and only the furniture o' the picnic was left in the race. +Then it got kinder mixed up, and went sloshin' round here and +there, ez the water kep' comin' down by the trail. Then Lulu +Piper, what I was holdin' up all the time in a laurel bush, gets an +idea, for all she was wet and draggled; and ez the things went +bobbin' round, she calls out the figures o' a cotillon to 'em. +'Two camp-stools forward.' 'Sashay and back to your places.' +'Change partners.' 'Hands all round.' + +"She was clear grit, you bet! And the joke caught on and the other +girls jined in, and it kinder cheered 'em, for they was wantin' it. +Then Fludder allowed to pacify 'em by sayin' he just figured up the +size o' the reservoir and the size o' the canyon, and he kalkilated +that the cube was about ekal, and the canyon couldn't flood any +more. And then Lulu--who was peart as a jay and couldn't be +fooled--speaks up and says, 'What's the matter with the ditch, +Dick?' + +"Lord! then we knew that she knew the worst; for of course all the +water in the ditch itself--fifty miles of it!--was drainin' now +into that reservoir and was bound to come down to the canyon." + +It was at this point that the situation became really desperate, +for they had now crawled up the steep sides as far as the bushes +afforded foothold, and the water was still rising. The chatter of +the girls ceased, there were long silences, in which the men +discussed the wildest plans, and proposed to tear their shirts into +strips to make ropes to support the girls by sticks driven into the +mountain side. It was in one of those intervals that the distinct +strokes of a woodman's axe were heard high on the upland at the +point where the trail descended to the canyon. Every ear was +alert, but only those on one side of the canyon could get a fair +view of the spot. This was the good fortune of Captain Fairfax and +Georgy Piper, who had climbed to the highest bush on that side, and +were now standing up, gazing excitedly in that direction. + +"Some one is cutting down a tree at the head of the trail," shouted +Fairfax. The response and joyful explanation, "for a dam across +the trail," was on everybody's lips at the same time. + +But the strokes of the axe were slow and painfully intermittent. +Impatience burst out. + +"Yell to him to hurry up! Why haven't they brought two men?" + +"It's only one man," shouted the captain, "and he seems to be a +cripple. By Jiminy!--it is--yes!--it's Tom Sparrell!" + +There was a dead silence. Then, I grieve to say, shame and its +twin brother rage took possession of their weak humanity. Oh, yes! +It was all of a piece! Why in the name of Folly hadn't he sent for +an able-bodied man. Were they to be drowned through his cranky +obstinacy? + +The blows still went on slowly. Presently, however, they seemed to +alternate with other blows--but alas! they were slower, and if +possible feebler! + +"Have they got another cripple to work?" roared the Contingent in +one furious voice. + +"No--it's a woman--a little one--yes! a girl. Hello! Why, sure as +you live, it's Delaware!" + +A spontaneous cheer burst from the Contingent, partly as a rebuke +to Sparrell, I think, partly from some shame over their previous +rage. He could take it as he liked. + +Still the blows went on distressingly slow. The girls were hoisted +on the men's shoulders; the men were half submerged. Then there +was a painful pause; then a crumbling crash. Another cheer went up +from the canyon. + +"It's down! straight across the trail," shouted Fairfax, "and a +part of the bank on the top of it." + +There was another moment of suspense. Would it hold or be carried +away by the momentum of the flood? It held! In a few moments +Fairfax again gave voice to the cheering news that the flow had +stopped and the submerged trail was reappearing. In twenty minutes +it was clear--a muddy river bed, but possible of ascent! Of course +there was no diminution of the water in the canyon, which had no +outlet, yet it now was possible for the party to swing from bush to +bush along the mountain side until the foot of the trail--no longer +an opposing one--was reached. There were some missteps and +mishaps,--flounderings in the water, and some dangerous rescues,-- +but in half an hour the whole concourse stood upon the trail and +commenced the ascent. It was a slow, difficult, and lugubrious +procession--I fear not the best-tempered one, now that the stimulus +of danger and chivalry was past. When they reached the dam made by +the fallen tree, although they were obliged to make a long detour +to avoid its steep sides, they could see how successfully it had +diverted the current to a declivity on the other side. + +But strangely enough they were greeted by nothing else! Sparrell +and the youngest Miss Piper were gone; and when they at last +reached the highroad, they were astounded to hear from a passing +teamster that no one in the settlement knew anything of the +disaster! + +This was the last drop in their cup of bitterness! They who had +expected that the settlement was waiting breathlessly for their +rescue, who anticipated that they would be welcomed as heroes, were +obliged to meet the ill-concealed amusement of passengers and +friends at their dishevelled and bedraggled appearance, which +suggested only the blundering mishaps of an ordinary summer outing! +"Boatin' in the reservoir, and fell in?" "Playing at canal-boat in +the Ditch?" were some of the cheerful hypotheses. The fleeting +sense of gratitude they had felt for their deliverers was dissipated +by the time they had reached their homes, and their rancor increased +by the information that when the earthquake occurred Mr. Tom +Sparrell and Miss Delaware were enjoying a "pasear" in the forest-- +he having a half-holiday by virtue of the festival--and that +the earthquake had revived his fears of a catastrophe. The two had +procured axes in the woodman's hut and did what they thought was +necessary to relieve the situation of the picnickers. But the very +modesty of this account of their own performance had the effect of +belittling the catastrophe itself, and the picnickers' report of +their exceeding peril was received with incredulous laughter. + +For the first time in the history of Red Gulch there was a serious +division between the Piper family, supported by the Contingent, and +the rest of the settlement. Tom Sparrell's warning was remembered +by the latter, and the ingratitude of the picnickers to their +rescuers commented upon; the actual calamity to the reservoir was +more or less attributed to the imprudent and reckless contiguity of +the revelers on that day, and there were not wanting those who +referred the accident itself to the machinations of the scheming +Ditch Director Piper! + +It was said that there was a stormy scene in the Piper household +that evening. The judge had demanded that Delaware should break +off her acquaintance with Sparrell, and she had refused; the judge +had demanded of Sparrell's employer that he should discharge him, +and had been met with the astounding information that Sparrell was +already a silent partner in the concern. At this revelation Judge +Piper was alarmed; while he might object to a clerk who could not +support a wife, as a consistent democrat he could not oppose a +fairly prosperous tradesman. A final appeal was made to Delaware; +she was implored to consider the situation of her sisters, who had +all made more ambitious marriages or were about to make them. Why +should she now degrade the family by marrying a country storekeeper? + +It is said that here the youngest Miss Piper made a memorable +reply, and a revelation the truth of which was never gainsaid:-- + +"You all wanter know why I'm going to marry Tom Sparrell?" she +queried, standing up and facing the whole family circle. + +"Yes." + +"Why I prefer him to the hull caboodle that you girls have married +or are going to marry?" she continued, meditatively biting the end +of her braid. + +"Yes." + +"Well, he's the only man of the whole lot that hasn't proposed to +me first." + +It is presumed that Sparrell made good the omission, or that the +family were glad to get rid of her, for they were married that +autumn. And really a later comparison of the family records shows +that while Captain Fairfax remained "Captain Fairfax," and the +other sons-in-law did not advance proportionately in standing or +riches, the lame storekeeper of Red Gulch became the Hon. Senator +Tom Sparrell. + + + +A WIDOW OF THE SANTA ANA VALLEY + + +The Widow Wade was standing at her bedroom window staring out, in +that vague instinct which compels humanity in moments of doubt and +perplexity to seek this change of observation or superior +illumination. Not that Mrs. Wade's disturbance was of a serious +character. She had passed the acute stage of widowhood by at least +two years, and the slight redness of her soft eyelids as well as the +droop of her pretty mouth were merely the recognized outward and +visible signs of the grievously minded religious community in which +she lived. The mourning she still wore was also partly in +conformity with the sad-colored garments of her neighbors, and the +necessities of the rainy season. She was in comfortable +circumstances, the mistress of a large ranch in the valley, which +had lately become more valuable by the extension of a wagon road +through its centre. She was simply worrying whether she should go +to a "sociable" ending with "a dance"--a daring innovation of some +strangers--at the new hotel, or continue to eschew such follies, +that were, according to local belief, unsuited to "a vale of tears." + +Indeed at this moment the prospect she gazed abstractedly upon +seemed to justify that lugubrious description. The Santa Ana +Valley--a long monotonous level--was dimly visible through moving +curtains of rain or veils of mist, to the black mourning edge of +the horizon, and had looked like that for months. The valley--in +some remote epoch an arm of the San Francisco Bay--every rainy +season seemed to be trying to revert to its original condition, +and, long after the early spring had laid on its liberal color in +strips, bands, and patches of blue and yellow, the blossoms of +mustard and lupine glistened like wet paint. Nevertheless on that +rich alluvial soil Nature's tears seemed only to fatten the widow's +acres and increase her crops. Her neighbors, too, were equally +prosperous. Yet for six months of the year the recognized +expression of Santa Ana was one of sadness, and for the other six +months--of resignation. Mrs. Wade had yielded early to this +influence, as she had to others, in the weakness of her gentle +nature, and partly as it was more becoming the singular tragedy +that had made her a widow. + +The late Mr. Wade had been found dead with a bullet through his +head in a secluded part of the road over Heavy Tree Hill in Sonora +County. Near him lay two other bodies, one afterwards identified +as John Stubbs, a resident of the Hill, and probably a traveling +companion of Wade's, and the other a noted desperado and +highwayman, still masked, as at the moment of the attack. Wade and +his companion had probably sold their lives dearly, and against +odds, for another mask was found on the ground, indicating that the +attack was not single-handed, and as Wade's body had not yet been +rifled, it was evident that the remaining highwayman had fled in +haste. The hue and cry had been given by apparently the only one +of the travelers who escaped, but as he was hastening to take the +overland coach to the East at the time, his testimony could not be +submitted to the coroner's deliberation. The facts, however, were +sufficiently plain for a verdict of willful murder against the +highwayman, although it was believed that the absent witness had +basely deserted his companion and left him to his fate, or, as was +suggested by others, that he might even have been an accomplice. +It was this circumstance which protracted comment on the incident, +and the sufferings of the widow, far beyond that rapid obliteration +which usually overtook such affairs in the feverish haste of the +early days. It caused her to remove to Santa Ana, where her old +father had feebly ranched a "quarter section" in the valley. He +survived her husband only a few months, leaving her the property, +and once more in mourning. Perhaps this continuity of woe endeared +her to a neighborhood where distinctive ravages of diphtheria or +scarlet fever gave a kind of social preeminence to any household, +and she was so sympathetically assisted by her neighbors in the +management of the ranch that, from an unkempt and wasteful +wilderness, it became paying property. The slim, willowy figure, +soft red-lidded eyes, and deep crape of "Sister Wade" at church or +prayer-meeting was grateful to the soul of these gloomy worshipers, +and in time she herself found that the arm of these dyspeptics of +mind and body was nevertheless strong and sustaining. Small wonder +that she should hesitate to-night about plunging into inconsistent, +even though trifling, frivolities. + +But apart from this superficial reason, there was another instinctive +one deep down in the recesses of Mrs. Wade's timid heart which she +had kept to herself, and indeed would have tearfully resented had it +been offered by another. The late Mr. Wade had been, in fact, a +singular example of this kind of frivolous existence carried to a +man-like excess. Besides being a patron of amusements, Mr. Wade +gambled, raced, and drank. He was often home late, and sometimes +not at all. Not that this conduct was exceptional in the "roaring +days" of Heavy Tree Hill, but it had given Mrs. Wade perhaps an +undue preference for a less certain, even if a more serious life. +His tragic death was, of course, a kind of martyrdom, which exalted +him in the feminine mind to a saintly memory; yet Mrs. Wade was not +without a certain relief in that. It was voiced, perhaps crudely, +by the widow of Abner Drake in a visit of condolence to the tearful +Mrs. Wade a few days after Wade's death. "It's a vale o' sorrow, +Mrs. Wade," said the sympathizer, "but it has its ups and downs, and +I recken ye'll be feelin' soon pretty much as I did about Abner when +HE was took. It was mighty soothin' and comfortin' to feel that +whatever might happen now, I always knew just whar Abner was passin' +his nights." Poor slim Mrs. Wade had no disquieting sense of humor +to interfere with her reception of this large truth, and she +accepted it with a burst of reminiscent tears. + +A long volleying shower had just passed down the level landscape, +and was followed by a rolling mist from the warm saturated soil +like the smoke of the discharge. Through it she could see a faint +lightening of the hidden sun, again darkening through a sudden +onset of rain, and changing as with her conflicting doubts and +resolutions. Thus gazing, she was vaguely conscious of an addition +to the landscape in the shape of a man who was passing down the +road with a pack on his back like the tramping "prospectors" she +had often seen at Heavy Tree Hill. That memory apparently settled +her vacillating mind; she determined she would NOT go to the dance. +But as she was turning away from the window a second figure, a +horseman, appeared in another direction by a cross-road, a shorter +cut through her domain. This she had no difficulty in recognizing +as one of the strangers who were getting up the dance. She had +noticed him at church on the previous Sunday. As he passed the +house he appeared to be gazing at it so earnestly that she drew +back from the window lest she should be seen. And then, for no +reason whatever, she changed her mind once more, and resolved to go +to the dance. Gravely announcing this fact to the wife of her +superintendent who kept house with her in her loneliness, she +thought nothing more about it. She should go in her mourning, with +perhaps the addition of a white collar and frill. + +It was evident, however, that Santa Ana thought a good deal more +than she did of this new idea, which seemed a part of the +innovation already begun by the building up of the new hotel. It +was argued by some that as the new church and new schoolhouse had +been opened by prayer, it was only natural that a lighter festivity +should inaugurate the opening of the hotel. "I reckon that dancin' +is about the next thing to travelin' for gettin' up an appetite for +refreshments, and that's what the landlord is kalkilatin' to +sarve," was the remark of a gloomy but practical citizen on the +veranda of "The Valley Emporium." "That's so," rejoined a +bystander; "and I notice on that last box o' pills I got for chills +the directions say that a little 'agreeable exercise'--not too +violent--is a great assistance to the working o' the pills." + +"I reckon that that Mr. Brooks who's down here lookin' arter mill +property, got up the dance. He's bin round town canvassin' all the +women folks and drummin' up likely gals for it. They say he +actooally sent an invite to the Widder Wade," remarked another +lounger. "Gosh! he's got cheek!" + +"Well, gentlemen," said the proprietor judicially, "while we don't +intend to hev any minin' camp fandangos or 'Frisco falals round +Santa Any--(Santa Ana was proud of its simple agricultural +virtues)--I ain't so hard-shelled as not to give new things a fair +trial. And, after all, it's the women folk that has the say about +it. Why, there's old Miss Ford sez she hasn't kicked a fut sence +she left Mizoori, but wouldn't mind trying it agin. Ez to Brooks +takin' that trouble--well, I suppose it's along o' his bein' +HEALTHY!" He heaved a deep dyspeptic sigh, which was faintly +echoed by the others. "Why, look at him now, ridin' round on that +black hoss o' his, in the wet since daylight and not carin' for +blind chills or rhumatiz!" + +He was looking at a serape-draped horseman, the one the widow had +seen on the previous night, who was now cantering slowly up the +street. Seeing the group on the veranda, he rode up, threw himself +lightly from his saddle, and joined them. He was an alert, +determined, good-looking fellow of about thirty-five, whose smooth, +smiling face hardly commended itself to Santa Ana, though his eyes +were distinctly sympathetic. He glanced at the depressed group +around him and became ominously serious. + +"When did it happen?" he asked gravely. + +"What happen?" said the nearest bystander. + +"The Funeral, Flood, Fight, or Fire. Which of the four F's was +it?" + +"What are ye talkin' about?" said the proprietor stiffly, scenting +some dangerous humor. + +"YOU," said Brooks promptly. "You're all standing here, croaking +like crows, this fine morning. I passed YOUR farm, Johnson, not an +hour ago; the wheat just climbing out of the black adobe mud as +thick as rows of pins on paper--what have YOU to grumble at? I saw +YOUR stock, Briggs, over on Two-Mile Bottom, waddling along, fat as +the adobe they were sticking in, their coats shining like fresh +paint--what's the matter with YOU? And," turning to the +proprietor, "there's YOUR shed, Saunders, over on the creek, just +bursting with last year's grain that you know has gone up two +hundred per cent. since you bought it at a bargain--what are YOU +growling at? It's enough to provoke a fire or a famine to hear you +groaning--and take care it don't, some day, as a lesson to you." + +All this was so perfectly true of the prosperous burghers that they +could not for a moment reply. But Briggs had recourse to what he +believed to be a retaliatory taunt. + +"I heard you've been askin' Widow Wade to come to your dance," he +said, with a wink at the others. "Of course she said 'Yes.'" + +"Of course she did," returned Brooks coolly. "I've just got her +note." + +"What?" ejaculated the three men together. "Mrs. Wade comin'?" + +"Certainly! Why shouldn't she? And it would do YOU good to come +too, and shake the limp dampness out o' you," returned Brooks, as +he quietly remounted his horse and cantered away. + +"Darned ef I don't think he's got his eye on the widder," said +Johnson faintly. + +"Or the quarter section," added Briggs gloomily. + +For all that, the eventful evening came, with many lights in the +staring, undraped windows of the hotel, coldly bright bunting on +the still damp walls of the long dining-room, and a gentle downpour +from the hidden skies above. A close carryall was especially +selected to bring Mrs. Wade and her housekeeper. The widow +arrived, looking a little slimmer than usual in her closely +buttoned black dress, white collar and cuffs, very glistening in +eye and in hair,--whose glossy black ringlets were perhaps more +elaborately arranged than was her custom,--and with a faint coming +and going of color, due perhaps to her agitation at this tentative +reentering into worldly life, which was nevertheless quite virginal +in effect. A vague solemnity pervaded the introductory proceedings, +and a singular want of sociability was visible in the "sociable" +part of the entertainment. People talked in whispers or with that +grave precision which indicates good manners in rural communities; +conversed painfully with other people whom they did not want to talk +to rather than appear to be alone, or rushed aimlessly together like +water drops, and then floated in broken, adherent masses over the +floor. The widow became a helpless, religious centre of deacons and +Sunday-school teachers, which Brooks, untiring, yet fruitless, in +his attempt to produce gayety, tried in vain to break. To this +gloom the untried dangers of the impending dance, duly prefigured by +a lonely cottage piano and two violins in a desert of expanse, added +a nervous chill. When at last the music struck up--somewhat +hesitatingly and protestingly, from the circumstance that the player +was the church organist, and fumbled mechanically for his stops, the +attempt to make up a cotillon set was left to the heroic Brooks. +Yet he barely escaped disaster when, in posing the couples, he +incautiously begged them to look a little less as if they were +waiting for the coffin to be borne down the aisle between them, and +was rewarded by a burst of tears from Mrs. Johnson, who had lost a +child two years before, and who had to be led away, while her place +in the set was taken by another. Yet the cotillon passed off; a +Spanish dance succeeded; "Moneymusk," with the Virginia Reel, put a +slight intoxicating vibration into the air, and healthy youth at +last asserted itself in a score of freckled but buxom girls in white +muslin, with romping figures and laughter, at the lower end of the +room. Still a rigid decorum reigned among the elder dancers, and +the figures were called out in grave formality, as if, to Brooks's +fancy, they were hymns given from the pulpit, until at the close of +the set, in half-real, half-mock despair, he turned desperately to +Mrs. Wade, his partner:-- + +"Do you waltz?" + +Mrs. Wade hesitated. She HAD, before marriage, and was a good +waltzer. "I do," she said timidly, "but do you think they"-- + +But before the poor widow could formulate her fears as to the +reception of "round dances," Brooks had darted to the piano, and +the next moment she heard with a "fearful joy" the opening bars of +a waltz. It was an old Julien waltz, fresh still in the fifties, +daring, provocative to foot, swamping to intellect, arresting to +judgment, irresistible, supreme! Before Mrs. Wade could protest, +Brooks's arm had gathered up her slim figure, and with one quick +backward sweep and swirl they were off! The floor was cleared for +them in a sudden bewilderment of alarm--a suspense of burning +curiosity. The widow's little feet tripped quickly, her long black +skirt swung out; as she turned the corner there was not only a +sudden revelation of her pretty ankles, but, what was more +startling, a dazzling flash of frilled and laced petticoat, which +at once convinced every woman in the room that the act had been +premeditated for days! Yet even that criticism was presently +forgotten in the pervading intoxication of the music and the +movement. The younger people fell into it with wild rompings, +whirlings, and clasping of hands and waists. And stranger than +all, a corybantic enthusiasm seized upon the emotionally religious, +and those priests and priestesses of Cybele who were famous for +their frenzy and passion in camp-meeting devotions seemed to find +an equal expression that night in the waltz. And when, flushed and +panting, Mrs. Wade at last halted on the arm of her partner, they +were nearly knocked over by the revolving Johnson and Mrs. Stubbs +in a whirl of gloomy exultation! Deacons and Sunday-school +teachers waltzed together until the long room shook, and the very +bunting on the walls waved and fluttered with the gyrations of +those religious dervishes. Nobody knew--nobody cared how long this +frenzy lasted--it ceased only with the collapse of the musicians. +Then, with much vague bewilderment, inward trepidation, awkward and +incoherent partings, everybody went dazedly home; there was no +other dancing after that--the waltz was the one event of the +festival and of the history of Santa Ana. And later that night, +when the timid Mrs. Wade, in the seclusion of her own room and the +disrobing of her slim figure, glanced at her spotless frilled and +laced petticoat lying on a chair, a faint smile--the first of her +widowhood--curved the corners of her pretty mouth. + +A week of ominous silence regarding the festival succeeded in Santa +Ana. The local paper gave the fullest particulars of the opening +of the hotel, but contented itself with saying: "The entertainment +concluded with a dance." Mr. Brooks, who felt himself compelled to +call upon his late charming partner twice during the week, +characteristically soothed her anxieties as to the result. "The +fact of it is, Mrs. Wade, there's really nobody in particular to +blame--and that's what gets them. They're all mixed up in it, +deacons and Sunday-school teachers; and when old Johnson tried to +be nasty the other evening and hoped you hadn't suffered from your +exertions that night, I told him you hadn't quite recovered yet +from the physical shock of having been run into by him and Mrs. +Stubbs, but that, you being a lady, you didn't tell just how you +felt at the exhibition he and she made of themselves. That shut +him up." + +"But you shouldn't have said that," said Mrs. Wade with a +frightened little smile. + +"No matter," returned Brooks cheerfully. "I'll take the blame of +it with the others. You see they'll have to have a scapegoat--and +I'm just the man, for I got up the dance! And as I'm going away, I +suppose I shall bear off the sin with me into the wilderness." + +"You're going away?" repeated Mrs. Wade in more genuine concern. + +"Not for long," returned Brooks laughingly. "I came here to look +up a mill site, and I've found it. Meantime I think I've opened +their eyes." + +"You have opened mine," said the widow with timid frankness. + +They were soft pretty eyes when opened, in spite of their heavy red +lids, and Mr. Brooks thought that Santa Ana would be no worse if +they remained open. Possibly he looked it, for Mrs. Wade said +hurriedly, "I mean--that is--I've been thinking that life needn't +ALWAYS be as gloomy as we make it here. And even HERE, you know, +Mr. Brooks, we have six months' sunshine--though we always forget +it in the rainy season." + +"That's so," said Brooks cheerfully. "I once lost a heap of money +through my own foolishness, and I've managed to forget it, and I +even reckon to get it back again out of Santa Ana if my mill +speculation holds good. So good-by, Mrs. Wade--but not for long." +He shook her hand frankly and departed, leaving the widow conscious +of a certain sympathetic confidence and a little grateful for--she +knew not what. + +This feeling remained with her most of the afternoon, and even +imparted a certain gayety to her spirits, to the extent of causing +her to hum softly to herself; the air being oddly enough the Julien +Waltz. And when, later in the day, the shadows were closing in +with the rain, word was brought to her that a stranger wished to +see her in the sitting-room, she carried a less mournful mind to +this function of her existence. For Mrs. Wade was accustomed to +give audience to traveling agents, tradesmen, working-hands and +servants, as chatelaine of her ranch, and the occasion was not +novel. Yet on entering the room, which she used partly as an +office, she found some difficulty in classifying the stranger, who +at first glance reminded her of the tramping miner she had seen +that night from her window. He was rather incongruously dressed, +some articles of his apparel being finer than others; he wore a +diamond pin in a scarf folded over a rough "hickory" shirt; his +light trousers were tucked in common mining boots that bore stains +of travel and a suggestion that he had slept in his clothes. What +she could see of his unshaven face in that uncertain light +expressed a kind of dogged concentration, overlaid by an assumption +of ease. He got up as she came in, and with a slight "How do, +ma'am," shut the door behind her and glanced furtively around the +room. + +"What I've got to say to ye, Mrs. Wade,--as I reckon you be,--is +strictly private and confidential! Why, ye'll see afore I get +through. But I thought I might just as well caution ye agin our +being disturbed." + +Overcoming a slight instinct of repulsion, Mrs. Wade returned, "You +can speak to me here; no one will interrupt you--unless I call +them," she added with a little feminine caution. + +"And I reckon ye won't do that," he said with a grim smile. "You +are the widow o' Pulaski Wade, late o' Heavy Tree Hill, I reckon?" + +"I am," said Mrs. Wade. + +"And your husband's buried up thar in the graveyard, with a +monument over him setting forth his virtues ez a Christian and a +square man and a high-minded citizen? And that he was foully +murdered by highwaymen?" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Wade, "that is the inscription." + +"Well, ma'am, a bigger pack o' lies never was cut on stone!" + +Mrs. Wade rose, half in indignation, half in terror. + +"Keep your sittin'," said the stranger, with a warning wave of his +hand. "Wait till I'm through, and then you call in the hull State +o' Californy, ef ye want." + +The stranger's manner was so doggedly confident that Mrs. Wade sank +back tremblingly in her chair. The man put his slouch hat on his +knee, twirled it round once or twice, and then said with the same +stubborn deliberation:-- + +"The highwayman in that business was your husband--Pulaski Wade-- +and his gang, and he was killed by one o' the men he was robbin'. +Ye see, ma'am, it used to be your husband's little game to rope in +three or four strangers in a poker deal at Spanish Jim's saloon--I +see you've heard o' the place," he interpolated as Mrs. Wade drew +back suddenly--"and when he couldn't clean 'em out in that way, or +they showed a little more money than they played, he'd lay for 'em +with his gang in a lone part of the trail, and go through them like +any road agent. That's what he did that night--and that's how he +got killed." + +"How do you know this?" said Mrs. Wade, with quivering lips. + +"I was one o' the men he went through before he was killed. And +I'd hev got my money back, but the rest o' the gang came up, and I +got away jest in time to save my life and nothin' else. Ye might +remember thar was one man got away and giv' the alarm, but he was +goin' on to the States by the overland coach that night and +couldn't stay to be a witness. I was that man. I had paid my +passage through, and I couldn't lose THAT too with my other money, +so I went." + +Mrs. Wade sat stunned. She remembered the missing witness, and how +she had longed to see the man who was last with her husband; she +remembered Spanish Jim's saloon--his well-known haunt; his frequent +and unaccountable absences, the sudden influx of money which he +always said he had won at cards; the diamond ring he had given her +as the result of "a bet;" the forgotten recurrence of other +robberies by a secret masked gang; a hundred other things that had +worried her, instinctively, vaguely. She knew now, too, the +meaning of the unrest that had driven her from Heavy Tree Hill--the +strange unformulated fears that had haunted her even here. Yet +with all this she felt, too, her present weakness--knew that this +man had taken her at a disadvantage, that she ought to indignantly +assert herself, deny everything, demand proof, and brand him a +slanderer! + +"How did--you--know it was my husband?" she stammered. + +"His mask fell off in the fight; you know another mask was found-- +it was HIS. I saw him as plainly as I see him there!" he pointed +to a daguerreotype of her husband which stood upon her desk. + +Mrs. Wade could only stare vacantly, hopelessly. After a pause the +man continued in a less aggressive manner and more confidential +tone, which, however, only increased her terror. "I ain't sayin' +that YOU knowed anything about this, ma'am, and whatever other +folks might say when THEY know of it, I'll allers say that you +didn't." + +"What, then, did you come here for?" said the widow desperately. + +"What do I come here for?" repeated the man grimly, looking around +the room; "what did I come to this yer comfortable home--this yer +big ranch and to a rich woman like yourself for? Well, Mrs. Wade, +I come to get the six hundred dollars your husband robbed me of, +that's all! I ain't askin' more! I ain't askin' interest! I +ain't askin' compensation for havin' to run for my life--and," +again looking grimly round the walls, "I ain't askin' more than you +will give--or is my rights." + +"But this house never was his; it was my father's," gasped Mrs. +Wade; "you have no right"-- + +"Mebbe 'yes' and mebbe 'no,' Mrs. Wade," interrupted the man, with +a wave of his hat; "but how about them two checks to bearer for two +hundred dollars each found among your husband's effects, and +collected by your lawyer for you--MY CHECKS, Mrs. Wade?" + +A wave of dreadful recollection overwhelmed her. She remembered +the checks found upon her husband's body, known only to her and her +lawyer, believed to be gambling gains, and collected at once under +his legal advice. Yet she made one more desperate effort in spite +of the instinct that told her he was speaking the truth. + +"But you shall have to prove it--before witnesses." + +"Do you WANT me to prove it before witnesses?" said the man, coming +nearer her. "Do you want to take my word and keep it between +ourselves, or do you want to call in your superintendent and his +men, and all Santy Any, to hear me prove your husband was a +highwayman, thief, and murderer? Do you want to knock over that +monument on Heavy Tree Hill, and upset your standing here among the +deacons and elders? Do you want to do all this and be forced, even +by your neighbors, to pay me in the end, as you will? Ef you do, +call in your witnesses now and let's have it over. Mebbe it would +look better ef I got the money out of YOUR FRIENDS than ye-- +a woman! P'raps you're right!" + +He made a step towards the door, but she stopped him. + +"No! no! wait! It's a large sum--I haven't it with me," she +stammered, thoroughly beaten. + +"Ye kin get it." + +"Give me time!" she implored. "Look! I'll give you a hundred down +now,--all I have here,--the rest another time!" She nervously +opened a drawer of her desk and taking out a buckskin bag of gold +thrust it in his hand. "There! go away now!" She lifted her thin +hands despairingly to her head. "Go! do!" + +The man seemed struck by her manner. "I don't want to be hard on a +woman," he said slowly. "I'll go now and come back again at nine +to-night. You can git the money, or what's as good, a check to +bearer, by then. And ef ye'll take my advice, you won't ask no +advice from others, ef you want to keep your secret. Just now it's +safe with me; I'm a square man, ef I seem to be a hard one." He +made a gesture as if to take her hand, but as she drew shrinkingly +away, he changed it to an awkward bow, and the next moment was +gone. + +She started to her feet, but the unwonted strain upon her nerves +and frail body had been greater than she knew. She made a step +forward, felt the room whirl round her and then seem to collapse +beneath her feet, and, clutching at her chair, sank back into it, +fainting. + +How long she lay there she never knew. She was at last conscious +of some one bending over her, and a voice--the voice of Mr. Brooks-- +in her ear, saying, "I beg your pardon; you seem ill. Shall I +call some one?" + +"No!" she gasped, quickly recovering herself with an effort, and +staring round her. "Where is--when did you come in?" + +"Only this moment. I was leaving tonight, sooner than I expected, +and thought I'd say good-by. They told me that you had been +engaged with a stranger, but he had just gone. I beg your pardon-- +I see you are ill. I won't detain you any longer." + +"No! no! don't go! I am better--better," she said feverishly. As +she glanced at his strong and sympathetic face a wild idea seized +her. He was a stranger here, an alien to these people, like +herself. The advice that she dare not seek from others, from her +half-estranged religious friends, from even her superintendent and +his wife, dare she ask from him? Perhaps he saw this frightened +doubt, this imploring appeal, in her eyes, for he said gently, "Is +it anything I can do for you?" + +"Yes," she said, with the sudden desperation of weakness; "I want +you to keep a secret." + +"Yours?--yes!" he said promptly. + +Whereat poor Mrs. Wade instantly burst into tears. Then, amidst +her sobs, she told him of the stranger's visit, of his terrible +accusations, of his demands, his expected return, and her own utter +helplessness. To her terror, as she went on she saw a singular +change in his kind face; he was following her with hard, eager +intensity. She had half hoped, even through her fateful instincts, +that he might have laughed, manlike, at her fears, or pooh-poohed +the whole thing. But he did not. "You say he positively recognized +your husband?" he repeated quickly. + +"Yes, yes!" sobbed the widow, "and knew that daguerreotype!" she +pointed to the desk. + +Brooks turned quickly in that direction. Luckily his back was +towards her, and she could not see his face, and the quick, +startled look that came into his eyes. But when they again met +hers, it was gone, and even their eager intensity had changed to a +gentle commiseration. "You have only his word for it, Mrs. Wade," +he said gently, "and in telling your secret to another, you have +shorn the rascal of half his power over you. And he knew it. Now, +dismiss the matter from your mind and leave it all to me. I will +be here a few minutes before nine--AND ALONE IN THIS ROOM. Let +your visitor be shown in here, and don't let us be disturbed. +Don't be alarmed," he added with a faint twinkle in his eye, "there +will be no fuss and no exposure!" + + +It lacked a few minutes of nine when Mr. Brooks was ushered into +the sitting-room. As soon as he was alone he quietly examined the +door and the windows, and having satisfied himself, took his seat +in a chair casually placed behind the door. Presently he heard the +sound of voices and a heavy footstep in the passage. He lightly +felt his waistcoat pocket--it contained a pretty little weapon of +power and precision, with a barrel scarcely two inches long. + +The door opened, and the person outside entered the room. In an +instant Brooks had shut the door and locked it behind him. The man +turned fiercely, but was faced by Brooks quietly, with one finger +calmly hooked in his waistcoat pocket. The man slightly recoiled +from him--not as much from fear as from some vague stupefaction. +"What's that for? What's your little game?" he said half +contemptuously. + +"No game at all," returned Brooks coolly. "You came here to sell a +secret. I don't propose to have it given away first to any +listener." + +"YOU don't--who are YOU?" + +"That's a queer question to ask of the man you are trying to +personate--but I don't wonder! You're doing it d----d badly." + +"Personate--YOU?" said the stranger, with staring eyes. + +"Yes, ME," said Brooks quietly. "I am the only man who escaped +from the robbery that night at Heavy Tree Hill and who went home by +the Overland Coach." + +The stranger stared, but recovered himself with a coarse laugh. +"Oh, well! we're on the same lay, it appears! Both after the +widow--afore we show up her husband." + +"Not exactly," said Brooks, with his eyes fixed intently on the +stranger. "You are here to denounce a highwayman who is DEAD and +escaped justice. I am here to denounce one who is LIVING!--Stop! +drop your hand; it's no use. You thought you had to deal only with +a woman to-night, and your revolver isn't quite handy enough. +There! down!--down! So! That'll do." + +"You can't prove it," said the man hoarsely. + +"Fool! In your story to that woman you have given yourself away. +There were but two travelers attacked by the highwaymen. One was +killed--I am the other. Where do YOU come in? What witness can +you be--except as the highwayman that you are? Who is left to +identify Wade but--his accomplice!" + +The man's suddenly whitened face made his unshaven beard seem to +bristle over his face like some wild animal's. "Well, ef you +kalkilate to blow me, you've got to blow Wade and his widder too. +Jest you remember that," he said whiningly. + +"I've thought of that," said Brooks coolly, "and I calculate that +to prevent it is worth about that hundred dollars you got from that +poor woman--and no more! Now, sit down at that table, and write as +I dictate." + +The man looked at him in wonder, but obeyed. + +"Write," said Brooks, "'I hereby certify that my accusations +against the late Pulaski Wade of Heavy Tree Hill are erroneous and +groundless, and the result of mistaken identity, especially in +regard to any complicity of his in the robbery of John Stubbs, +deceased, and Henry Brooks, at Heavy Tree Hill, on the night of the +13th August, 1854.'" + +The man looked up with a repulsive smile. "Who's the fool now, +Cap'n? What's become of your hold on the widder, now?" + +"Write!" said Brooks fiercely. + +The sound of a pen hurriedly scratching paper followed this first +outburst of the quiet Brooks. + +"Sign it," said Brooks. + +The man signed it. + +"Now go," said Brooks, unlocking the door, "but remember, if you +should ever be inclined to revisit Santa Ana, you will find ME +living here also." + +The man slunk out of the door and into the passage like a wild +animal returning to the night and darkness. Brooks took up the +paper, rejoined Mrs. Wade in the parlor, and laid it before her. + +"But," said the widow, trembling even in her joy, "do you--do you +think he was REALLY mistaken?" + +"Positive," said Brooks coolly. "It's true, it's a mistake that +has cost you a hundred dollars, but there are some mistakes that +are worth that to be kept quiet." + + . . . . . . + +They were married a year later; but there is no record that in +after years of conjugal relations with a weak, charming, but +sometimes trying woman, Henry Brooks was ever tempted to tell her +the whole truth of the robbery of Heavy Tree Hill. + + + +THE MERMAID OF LIGHTHOUSE POINT + + +Some forty years ago, on the northern coast of California, near the +Golden Gate, stood a lighthouse. Of a primitive class, since +superseded by a building more in keeping with the growing magnitude +of the adjacent port, it attracted little attention from the +desolate shore, and, it was alleged, still less from the desolate +sea beyond. A gray structure of timber, stone, and glass, it was +buffeted and harried by the constant trade winds, baked by the +unclouded six months' sun, lost for a few hours in the afternoon +sea-fog, and laughed over by circling guillemots from the Farallones. +It was kept by a recluse--a preoccupied man of scientific tastes, +who, in shameless contrast to his fellow immigrants, had applied to +the government for this scarcely lucrative position as a means of +securing the seclusion he valued more than gold. Some believed that +he was the victim of an early disappointment in love--a view +charitably taken by those who also believed that the government +would not have appointed "a crank" to a position of responsibility. +Howbeit, he fulfilled his duties, and, with the assistance of an +Indian, even cultivated a small patch of ground beside the +lighthouse. His isolation was complete! There was little to attract +wanderers here: the nearest mines were fifty miles away; the virgin +forest on the mountains inland were penetrated only by sawmills and +woodmen from the Bay settlements, equally remote. Although by the +shore-line the lights of the great port were sometimes plainly +visible, yet the solitude around him was peopled only by Indians,--a +branch of the great northern tribe of "root-diggers,"--peaceful and +simple in their habits, as yet undisturbed by the white man, nor +stirred into antagonism by aggression. Civilization only touched +him at stated intervals, and then by the more expeditious sea from +the government boat that brought him supplies. But for his +contiguity to the perpetual turmoil of wind and sea, he might have +passed a restful Arcadian life in his surroundings; for even his +solitude was sometimes haunted by this faint reminder of the great +port hard by that pulsated with an equal unrest. Nevertheless, the +sands before his door and the rocks behind him seemed to have been +untrodden by any other white man's foot since their upheaval from +the ocean. It was true that the little bay beside him was marked on +the map as "Sir Francis Drake's Bay," tradition having located it as +the spot where that ingenious pirate and empire-maker had once +landed his vessels and scraped the barnacles from his adventurous +keels. But of this Edgar Pomfrey--or "Captain Pomfrey," as he was +called by virtue of his half-nautical office--had thought little. + +For the first six months he had thoroughly enjoyed his seclusion. +In the company of his books, of which he had brought such a fair +store that their shelves lined his snug corners to the exclusion of +more comfortable furniture, he found his principal recreation. +Even his unwonted manual labor, the trimming of his lamp and +cleaning of his reflectors, and his personal housekeeping, in which +his Indian help at times assisted, he found a novel and interesting +occupation. For outdoor exercise, a ramble on the sands, a climb +to the rocky upland, or a pull in the lighthouse boat, amply +sufficed him. "Crank" as he was supposed to be, he was sane enough +to guard against any of those early lapses into barbarism which +marked the lives of some solitary gold-miners. His own taste, as +well as the duty of his office, kept his person and habitation +sweet and clean, and his habits regular. Even the little +cultivated patch of ground on the lee side of the tower was +symmetrical and well ordered. Thus the outward light of Captain +Pomfrey shone forth over the wilderness of shore and wave, even +like his beacon, whatever his inward illumination may have been. + +It was a bright summer morning, remarkable even in the monotonous +excellence of the season, with a slight touch of warmth which the +invincible Northwest Trades had not yet chilled. There was still a +faint haze off the coast, as if last night's fog had been caught in +the quick sunshine, and the shining sands were hot, but without the +usual dazzling glare. A faint perfume from a quaint lilac-colored +beach-flower, whose clustering heads dotted the sand like bits of +blown spume, took the place of that smell of the sea which the +odorless Pacific lacked. A few rocks, half a mile away, lifted +themselves above the ebb tide at varying heights as they lay on the +trough of the swell, were crested with foam by a striking surge, or +cleanly erased in the full sweep of the sea. Beside, and partly +upon one of the higher rocks, a singular object was moving. + +Pomfrey was interested but not startled. He had once or twice seen +seals disporting on these rocks, and on one occasion a sea-lion,-- +an estray from the familiar rocks on the other side of the Golden +Gate. But he ceased work in his garden patch, and coming to his +house, exchanged his hoe for a telescope. When he got the mystery +in focus he suddenly stopped and rubbed the object-glass with his +handkerchief. But even when he applied the glass to his eye for a +second time, he could scarcely believe his eyesight. For the +object seemed to be a WOMAN, the lower part of her figure submerged +in the sea, her long hair depending over her shoulders and waist. +There was nothing in her attitude to suggest terror or that she was +the victim of some accident. She moved slowly and complacently +with the sea, and even--a more staggering suggestion--appeared to +be combing out the strands of her long hair with her fingers. With +her body half concealed she might have been a mermaid! + +He swept the foreshore and horizon with his glass; there was +neither boat nor ship--nor anything that moved, except the long +swell of the Pacific. She could have come only from the sea; for +to reach the rocks by land she would have had to pass before the +lighthouse, while the narrow strip of shore which curved northward +beyond his range of view he knew was inhabited only by Indians. +But the woman was unhesitatingly and appallingly WHITE, and her +hair light even to a golden gleam in the sunshine. + +Pomfrey was a gentleman, and as such was amazed, dismayed, and +cruelly embarrassed. If she was a simple bather from some vicinity +hitherto unknown and unsuspected by him, it was clearly his +business to shut up his glass and go back to his garden patch-- +although the propinquity of himself and the lighthouse must have +been as plainly visible to her as she was to him. On the other +hand, if she was the survivor of some wreck and in distress--or, as +he even fancied from her reckless manner, bereft of her senses, his +duty to rescue her was equally clear. In his dilemma he determined +upon a compromise and ran to his boat. He would pull out to sea, +pass between the rocks and the curving sand-spit, and examine the +sands and sea more closely for signs of wreckage, or some +overlooked waiting boat near the shore. He would be within hail if +she needed him, or she could escape to her boat if she had one. + +In another moment his boat was lifting on the swell towards the +rocks. He pulled quickly, occasionally turning to note that the +strange figure, whose movements were quite discernible to the naked +eye, was still there, but gazing more earnestly towards the nearest +shore for any sign of life or occupation. In ten minutes he had +reached the curve where the trend opened northward, and the long +line of shore stretched before him. He swept it eagerly with a +single searching glance. Sea and shore were empty. He turned +quickly to the rock, scarcely a hundred yards on his beam. It was +empty too! Forgetting his previous scruples, he pulled directly +for it until his keel grated on its submerged base. There was +nothing there but the rock, slippery with the yellow-green slime of +seaweed and kelp--neither trace nor sign of the figure that had +occupied it a moment ago. He pulled around it; there was no cleft +or hiding-place. For an instant his heart leaped at the sight of +something white, caught in a jagged tooth of the outlying reef, but +it was only the bleached fragment of a bamboo orange-crate, cast +from the deck of some South Sea trader, such as often strewed the +beach. He lay off the rock, keeping way in the swell, and +scrutinizing the glittering sea. At last he pulled back to the +lighthouse, perplexed and discomfited. + +Was it simply a sporting seal, transformed by some trick of his +vision? But he had seen it through his glass, and now remembered +such details as the face and features framed in their contour of +golden hair, and believed he could even have identified them. He +examined the rock again with his glass, and was surprised to see +how clearly it was outlined now in its barren loneliness. Yet he +must have been mistaken. His scientific and accurate mind allowed +of no errant fancy, and he had always sneered at the marvelous as +the result of hasty or superficial observation. He was a little +worried at this lapse of his healthy accuracy,--fearing that it +might be the result of his seclusion and loneliness,--akin to the +visions of the recluse and solitary. It was strange, too, that it +should take the shape of a woman; for Edgar Pomfrey had a story-- +the usual old and foolish one. + +Then his thoughts took a lighter phase, and he turned to the memory +of his books, and finally to the books themselves. From a shelf he +picked out a volume of old voyages, and turned to a remembered +passage: "In other seas doe abound marvells soche as Sea Spyders of +the bigness of a pinnace, the wich they have been known to attack +and destroy; Sea Vypers which reach to the top of a goodly maste, +whereby they are able to draw marinners from the rigging by the +suction of their breathes; and Devill Fyshe, which vomit fire by +night which makyth the sea to shine prodigiously, and mermaydes. +They are half fyshe and half mayde of grate Beauty, and have been +seen of divers godly and creditable witnesses swymming beside +rocks, hidden to their waist in the sea, combing of their hayres, +to the help of whych they carry a small mirrore of the bigness of +their fingers." Pomfrey laid the book aside with a faint smile. +To even this credulity he might come! + +Nevertheless, he used the telescope again that day. But there was +no repetition of the incident, and he was forced to believe that he +had been the victim of some extraordinary illusion. The next +morning, however, with his calmer judgment doubts began to visit +him. There was no one of whom he could make inquiries but his +Indian helper, and their conversation had usually been restricted +to the language of signs or the use of a few words he had picked +up. He contrived, however, to ask if there was a "waugee" (white) +woman in the neighborhood. The Indian shook his head in surprise. +There was no "waugee" nearer than the remote mountain-ridge to +which he pointed. Pomfrey was obliged to be content with this. +Even had his vocabulary been larger, he would as soon have thought +of revealing the embarrassing secret of this woman, whom he +believed to be of his own race, to a mere barbarian as he would of +asking him to verify his own impressions by allowing him to look at +her that morning. The next day, however, something happened which +forced him to resume his inquiries. He was rowing around the +curving spot when he saw a number of black objects on the northern +sands moving in and out of the surf, which he presently made out as +Indians. A nearer approach satisfied him that they were wading +squaws and children gathering seaweed and shells. He would have +pushed his acquaintance still nearer, but as his boat rounded the +point, with one accord they all scuttled away like frightened +sandpipers. Pomfrey, on his return, asked his Indian retainer if +they could swim. "Oh, yes!" "As far as the rock?" "Yes." Yet +Pomfrey was not satisfied. The color of his strange apparition +remained unaccounted for, and it was not that of an Indian woman. + +Trifling events linger long in a monotonous existence, and it was +nearly a week before Pomfrey gave up his daily telescopic inspection +of the rock. Then he fell back upon his books again, and, oddly +enough, upon another volume of voyages, and so chanced upon the +account of Sir Francis Drake's occupation of the bay before him. He +had always thought it strange that the great adventurer had left no +trace or sign of his sojourn there; still stranger that he should +have overlooked the presence of gold, known even to the Indians +themselves, and have lost a discovery far beyond his wildest dreams +and a treasure to which the cargoes of those Philippine galleons he +had more or less successfully intercepted were trifles. Had the +restless explorer been content to pace those dreary sands during +three weeks of inactivity, with no thought of penetrating the inland +forests behind the range, or of even entering the nobler bay beyond? +Or was the location of the spot a mere tradition as wild and +unsupported as the "marvells" of the other volume? Pomfrey had the +skepticism of the scientific, inquiring mind. + +Two weeks had passed and he was returning from a long climb inland, +when he stopped to rest in his descent to the sea. The panorama of +the shore was before him, from its uttermost limit to the +lighthouse on the northern point. The sun was still one hour high, +it would take him about that time to reach home. But from this +coign of vantage he could see--what he had not before observed-- +that what he had always believed was a little cove on the northern +shore was really the estuary of a small stream which rose near him +and eventually descended into the ocean at that point. He could +also see that beside it was a long low erection of some kind, +covered with thatched brush, which looked like a "barrow," yet +showed signs of habitation in the slight smoke that rose from it +and drifted inland. It was not far out of his way, and he resolved +to return in that direction. On his way down he once or twice +heard the barking of an Indian dog, and knew that he must be in the +vicinity of an encampment. A camp-fire, with the ashes yet warm, +proved that he was on the trail of one of the nomadic tribes, but +the declining sun warned him to hasten home to his duty. When he +at last reached the estuary, he found that the building beside it +was little else than a long hut, whose thatched and mud-plastered +mound-like roof gave it the appearance of a cave. Its single +opening and entrance abutted on the water's edge, and the smoke he +had noticed rolled through this entrance from a smouldering fire +within. Pomfrey had little difficulty in recognizing the purpose +of this strange structure from the accounts he had heard from +"loggers" of the Indian customs. The cave was a "sweat-house"--a +calorific chamber in which the Indians closely shut themselves, +naked, with a "smudge" or smouldering fire of leaves, until, +perspiring and half suffocated, they rushed from the entrance and +threw themselves into the water before it. The still smouldering +fire told him that the house had been used that morning, and he +made no doubt that the Indians were encamped near by. He would +have liked to pursue his researches further, but he found he had +already trespassed upon his remaining time, and he turned somewhat +abruptly away--so abruptly, in fact, that a figure, which had +evidently been cautiously following him at a distance, had not time +to get away. His heart leaped with astonishment. It was the woman +he had seen on the rock. + +Although her native dress now only disclosed her head and hands, +there was no doubt about her color, and it was distinctly white, +save for the tanning of exposure and a slight red ochre marking on +her low forehead. And her hair, long and unkempt as it was, showed +that he had not erred in his first impression of it. It was a +tawny flaxen, with fainter bleachings where the sun had touched it +most. Her eyes were of a clear Northern blue. Her dress, which +was quite distinctive in that it was neither the cast off finery of +civilization nor the cheap "government" flannels and calicoes +usually worn by the Californian tribes, was purely native, and of +fringed deerskin, and consisted of a long, loose shirt and leggings +worked with bright feathers and colored shells. A necklace, also +of shells and fancy pebbles, hung round her neck. She seemed to be +a fully developed woman, in spite of the girlishness of her flowing +hair, and notwithstanding the shapeless length of her gaberdine- +like garment, taller than the ordinary squaw. + +Pomfrey saw all this in a single flash of perception, for the next +instant she was gone, disappearing behind the sweat-house. He ran +after her, catching sight of her again, half doubled up, in the +characteristic Indian trot, dodging around rocks and low bushes as +she fled along the banks of the stream. But for her distinguishing +hair, she looked in her flight like an ordinary frightened squaw. +This, which gave a sense of unmanliness and ridicule to his own +pursuit of her, with the fact that his hour of duty was drawing +near and he was still far from the lighthouse, checked him in full +career, and he turned regretfully away. He had called after her at +first, and she had not heeded him. What he would have said to her +he did not know. He hastened home discomfited, even embarrassed-- +yet excited to a degree he had not deemed possible in himself. + +During the morning his thoughts were full of her. Theory after +theory for her strange existence there he examined and dismissed. +His first thought, that she was a white woman--some settler's wife-- +masquerading in Indian garb, he abandoned when he saw her moving; +no white woman could imitate that Indian trot, nor would remember +to attempt it if she were frightened. The idea that she was a +captive white, held by the Indians, became ridiculous when he +thought of the nearness of civilization and the peaceful, timid +character of the "digger" tribes. That she was some unfortunate +demented creature who had escaped from her keeper and wandered into +the wilderness, a glance at her clear, frank, intelligent, curious +eyes had contradicted. There was but one theory left--the most +sensible and practical one--that she was the offspring of some +white man and Indian squaw. Yet this he found, oddly enough, the +least palatable to his fancy. And the few half-breeds he had seen +were not at all like her. + +The next morning he had recourse to his Indian retainer, "Jim." +With infinite difficulty, protraction, and not a little +embarrassment, he finally made him understand that he had seen a +"white squaw" near the "sweat-house," and that he wanted to know +more about her. With equal difficulty Jim finally recognized the +fact of the existence of such a person, but immediately afterwards +shook his head in an emphatic negation. With greater difficulty +and greater mortification Pomfrey presently ascertained that Jim's +negative referred to a supposed abduction of the woman which he +understood that his employer seriously contemplated. But he also +learned that she was a real Indian, and that there were three or +four others like her, male and female, in that vicinity; that from +a "skeena mowitch" (little baby) they were all like that, and that +their parents were of the same color, but never a white or "waugee" +man or woman among them; that they were looked upon as a distinct +and superior caste of Indians, and enjoyed certain privileges with +the tribe; that they superstitiously avoided white men, of whom +they had the greatest fear, and that they were protected in this by +the other Indians; that it was marvelous and almost beyond belief +that Pomfrey had been able to see one, for no other white man had, +or was even aware of their existence. + +How much of this he actually understood, how much of it was lying +and due to Jim's belief that he wished to abduct the fair stranger, +Pomfrey was unable to determine. There was enough, however, to +excite his curiosity strongly and occupy his mind to the exclusion +of his books--save one. Among his smaller volumes he had found a +travel book of the "Chinook Jargon," with a lexicon of many of the +words commonly used by the Northern Pacific tribes. An hour or +two's trial with the astonished Jim gave him an increased +vocabulary and a new occupation. Each day the incongruous pair +took a lesson from the lexicon. In a week Pomfrey felt he would be +able to accost the mysterious stranger. But he did not again +surprise her in any of his rambles, or even in a later visit to the +sweat-house. He had learned from Jim that the house was only used +by the "bucks," or males, and that her appearance there had been +accidental. He recalled that he had had the impression that she +had been stealthily following him, and the recollection gave him a +pleasure he could not account for. But an incident presently +occurred which gave him a new idea of her relations towards him. + +The difficulty of making Jim understand had hitherto prevented +Pomfrey from intrusting him with the care of the lantern; but with +the aid of the lexicon he had been able to make him comprehend its +working, and under Pomfrey's personal guidance the Indian had once +or twice lit the lamp and set its machinery in motion. It remained +for him only to test Jim's unaided capacity, in case of his own +absence or illness. It happened to be a warm, beautiful sunset, +when the afternoon fog had for once delayed its invasion of the +shore-line, that he left the lighthouse to Jim's undivided care, +and reclining on a sand-dune still warm from the sun, lazily +watched the result of Jim's first essay. As the twilight deepened, +and the first flash of the lantern strove with the dying glories of +the sun, Pomfrey presently became aware that he was not the only +watcher. A little gray figure creeping on all fours suddenly +glided out of the shadow of another sand-dune and then halted, +falling back on its knees, gazing fixedly at the growing light. It +was the woman he had seen. She was not a dozen yards away, and in +her eagerness and utter absorption in the light had evidently +overlooked him. He could see her face distinctly, her lips parted +half in wonder, half with the breathless absorption of a devotee. +A faint sense of disappointment came over him. It was not HIM she +was watching, but the light! As it swelled out over the darkening +gray sand she turned as if to watch its effect around her, and +caught sight of Pomfrey. With a little startled cry--the first she +had uttered--she darted away. He did not follow. A moment before, +when he first saw her, an Indian salutation which he had learned +from Jim had risen to his lips, but in the odd feeling which her +fascination of the light had caused him he had not spoken. He +watched her bent figure scuttling away like some frightened animal, +with a critical consciousness that she was really scarce human, and +went back to the lighthouse. He would not run after her again! +Yet that evening he continued to think of her, and recalled her +voice, which struck him now as having been at once melodious and +childlike, and wished he had at least spoken, and perhaps elicited +a reply. + +He did not, however, haunt the sweat-house near the river again. +Yet he still continued his lessons with Jim, and in this way, +perhaps, although quite unpremeditatedly, enlisted a humble ally. +A week passed in which he had not alluded to her, when one morning, +as he was returning from a row, Jim met him mysteriously on the +beach. + +"S'pose him come slow, slow," said Jim gravely, airing his newly +acquired English; "make no noise--plenty catchee Indian maiden." +The last epithet was the polite lexicon equivalent of squaw. + +Pomfrey, not entirely satisfied in his mind, nevertheless softly +followed the noiselessly gliding Jim to the lighthouse. Here Jim +cautiously opened the door, motioning Pomfrey to enter. + +The base of the tower was composed of two living rooms, a storeroom +and oil-tank. As Pomfrey entered, Jim closed the door softly +behind him. The abrupt transition from the glare of the sands and +sun to the semi-darkness of the storeroom at first prevented him +from seeing anything, but he was instantly distracted by a +scurrying flutter and wild beating of the walls, as of a caged +bird. In another moment he could make out the fair stranger, +quivering with excitement, passionately dashing at the barred +window, the walls, the locked door, and circling around the room in +her desperate attempt to find an egress, like a captured seagull. +Amazed, mystified, indignant with Jim, himself, and even his +unfortunate captive, Pomfrey called to her in Chinook to stop, and +going to the door, flung it wide open. She darted by him, raising +her soft blue eyes for an instant in a swift, sidelong glance of +half appeal, half-frightened admiration, and rushed out into the +open. But here, to his surprise, she did not run away. On the +contrary, she drew herself up with a dignity that seemed to +increase her height, and walked majestically towards Jim, who at +her unexpected exit had suddenly thrown himself upon the sand, in +utterly abject terror and supplication. She approached him slowly, +with one small hand uplifted in a menacing gesture. The man +writhed and squirmed before her. Then she turned, caught sight of +Pomfrey standing in the doorway, and walked quietly away. Amazed, +yet gratified with this new assertion of herself, Pomfrey +respectfully, but alas! incautiously, called after her. In an +instant, at the sound of his voice, she dropped again into her +slouching Indian trot and glided away over the sandhills. + +Pomfrey did not add any reproof of his own to the discomfiture of +his Indian retainer. Neither did he attempt to inquire the secret +of this savage girl's power over him. It was evident he had spoken +truly when he told his master that she was of a superior caste. +Pomfrey recalled her erect and indignant figure standing over the +prostrate Jim, and was again perplexed and disappointed at her +sudden lapse into the timid savage at the sound of his voice. +Would not this well-meant but miserable trick of Jim's have the +effect of increasing her unreasoning animal-like distrust of him? +A few days later brought an unexpected answer to his question. + +It was the hottest hour of the day. He had been fishing off the +reef of rocks where he had first seen her, and had taken in his +line and was leisurely pulling for the lighthouse. Suddenly a +little musical cry not unlike a bird's struck his ear. He lay on +his oars and listened. It was repeated; but this time it was +unmistakably recognizable as the voice of the Indian girl, although +he had heard it but once. He turned eagerly to the rock, but it +was empty; he pulled around it, but saw nothing. He looked towards +the shore, and swung his boat in that direction, when again the cry +was repeated with the faintest quaver of a laugh, apparently on the +level of the sea before him. For the first time he looked down, +and there on the crest of a wave not a dozen yards ahead, danced +the yellow hair and laughing eyes of the girl. The frightened +gravity of her look was gone, lost in the flash of her white teeth +and quivering dimples as her dripping face rose above the sea. +When their eyes met she dived again, but quickly reappeared on the +other bow, swimming with lazy, easy strokes, her smiling head +thrown back over her white shoulder, as if luring him to a race. +If her smile was a revelation to him, still more so was this first +touch of feminine coquetry in her attitude. He pulled eagerly +towards her; with a few long overhand strokes she kept her +distance, or, if he approached too near, she dived like a loon, +coming up astern of him with the same childlike, mocking cry. In +vain he pursued her, calling her to stop in her own tongue, and +laughingly protested; she easily avoided his boat at every turn. +Suddenly, when they were nearly abreast of the river estuary, she +rose in the water, and, waving her little hands with a gesture of +farewell, turned, and curving her back like a dolphin, leaped into +the surging swell of the estuary bar and was lost in its foam. It +would have been madness for him to have attempted to follow in his +boat, and he saw that she knew it. He waited until her yellow +crest appeared in the smoother water of the river, and then rowed +back. In his excitement and preoccupation he had quite forgotten +his long exposure to the sun during his active exercise, and that +he was poorly equipped for the cold sea-fog which the heat had +brought in earlier, and which now was quietly obliterating sea and +shore. This made his progress slower and more difficult, and by +the time he had reached the lighthouse he was chilled to the bone. + +The next morning he woke with a dull headache and great weariness, +and it was with considerable difficulty that he could attend to his +duties. At nightfall, feeling worse, he determined to transfer the +care of the light to Jim, but was amazed to find that he had +disappeared, and what was more ominous, a bottle of spirits which +Pomfrey had taken from his locker the night before had disappeared +too. Like all Indians, Jim's rudimentary knowledge of civilization +included "fire-water;" he evidently had been tempted, had fallen, +and was too ashamed or too drunk to face his master. Pomfrey, +however, managed to get the light in order and working, and then, +he scarcely knew how, betook himself to bed in a state of high +fever. He turned from side to side racked by pain, with burning +lips and pulses. Strange fancies beset him; he had noticed when he +lit his light that a strange sail was looming off the estuary--a +place where no sail had ever been seen or should be--and was +relieved that the lighting of the tower might show the reckless or +ignorant mariner his real bearings for the "Gate." At times he had +heard voices above the familiar song of the surf, and tried to rise +from his bed, but could not. Sometimes these voices were strange, +outlandish, dissonant, in his own language, yet only partly +intelligible; but through them always rang a single voice, musical, +familiar, yet of a tongue not his own--hers! And then, out of his +delirium--for such it proved afterwards to be--came a strange +vision. He thought that he had just lit the light when, from some +strange and unaccountable reason, it suddenly became dim and defied +all his efforts to revive it. To add to his discomfiture, he could +see quite plainly through the lantern a strange-looking vessel +standing in from the sea. She was so clearly out of her course for +the Gate that he knew she had not seen the light, and his limbs +trembled with shame and terror as he tried in vain to rekindle the +dying light. Yet to his surprise the strange ship kept steadily +on, passing the dangerous reef of rocks, until she was actually in +the waters of the bay. But stranger than all, swimming beneath her +bows was the golden head and laughing face of the Indian girl, even +as he had seen it the day before. A strange revulsion of feeling +overtook him. Believing that she was luring the ship to its +destruction, he ran out on the beach and strove to hail the vessel +and warn it of its impending doom. But he could not speak--no +sound came from his lips. And now his attention was absorbed by +the ship itself. High-bowed and pooped, and curved like the +crescent moon, it was the strangest craft that he had ever seen. +Even as he gazed it glided on nearer and nearer, and at last +beached itself noiselessly on the sands before his own feet. A +score of figures as bizarre and outlandish as the ship itself now +thronged its high forecastle--really a castle in shape and warlike +purpose--and leaped from its ports. The common seamen were nearly +naked to the waist; the officers looked more like soldiers than +sailors. What struck him more strangely was that they were one and +all seemingly unconscious of the existence of the lighthouse, +sauntering up and down carelessly, as if on some uninhabited +strand, and even talking--so far as he could understand their old +bookish dialect--as if in some hitherto undiscovered land. Their +ignorance of the geography of the whole coast, and even of the sea +from which they came, actually aroused his critical indignation; +their coarse and stupid allusions to the fair Indian swimmer as the +"mermaid" that they had seen upon their bow made him more furious +still. Yet he was helpless to express his contemptuous anger, or +even make them conscious of his presence. Then an interval of +incoherency and utter blankness followed. When he again took up +the thread of his fancy the ship seemed to be lying on her beam +ends on the sand; the strange arrangement of her upper deck and +top-hamper, more like a dwelling than any ship he had ever seen, +was fully exposed to view, while the seamen seemed to be at work +with the rudest contrivances, calking and scraping her barnacled +sides. He saw that phantom crew, when not working, at wassail and +festivity; heard the shouts of drunken roisterers; saw the placing +of a guard around some of the most uncontrollable, and later +detected the stealthy escape of half a dozen sailors inland, amidst +the fruitless volley fired upon them from obsolete blunderbusses. +Then his strange vision transported him inland, where he saw these +seamen following some Indian women. Suddenly one of them turned +and ran frenziedly towards him as if seeking succor, closely +pursued by one of the sailors. Pomfrey strove to reach her, +struggled violently with the fearful apathy that seemed to hold his +limbs, and then, as she uttered at last a little musical cry, burst +his bonds and--awoke! + +As consciousness slowly struggled back to him, he could see the +bare wooden-like walls of his sleeping-room, the locker, the one +window bright with sunlight, the open door of the tank-room, and +the little staircase to the tower. There was a strange smoky and +herb-like smell in the room. He made an effort to rise, but as he +did so a small sunburnt hand was laid gently yet restrainingly upon +his shoulder, and he heard the same musical cry as before, but this +time modulated to a girlish laugh. He raised his head faintly. +Half squatting, half kneeling by his bed was the yellow-haired +stranger. + +With the recollection of his vision still perplexing him, he said +in a weak voice, "Who are you?" + +Her blue eyes met his own with quick intelligence and no trace of +her former timidity. A soft, caressing light had taken its place. +Pointing with her finger to her breast in a childlike gesture, she +said, "Me--Olooya." + +"Olooya!" He remembered suddenly that Jim had always used that +word in speaking of her, but until then he had always thought it +was some Indian term for her distinct class. + +"Olooya," he repeated. Then, with difficulty attempting to use her +own tongue, he asked, "When did you come here?" + +"Last night," she answered in the same tongue. "There was no +witch-fire there," she continued, pointing to the tower; "when it +came not, Olooya came! Olooya found white chief sick and alone. +White chief could not get up! Olooya lit witch-fire for him." + +"You?" he repeated in astonishment. "I lit it myself." + +She looked at him pityingly, as if still recognizing his delirium, +and shook her head. "White chief was sick--how can know? Olooya +made witch-fire." + +He cast a hurried glance at his watch hanging on the wall beside +him. It had RUN DOWN, although he had wound it the last thing +before going to bed. He had evidently been lying there helpless +beyond the twenty-four hours! + +He groaned and turned to rise, but she gently forced him down +again, and gave him some herbal infusion, in which he recognized +the taste of the Yerba Buena vine which grew by the river. Then +she made him comprehend in her own tongue that Jim had been +decoyed, while drunk, aboard a certain schooner lying off the shore +at a spot where she had seen some men digging in the sands. She +had not gone there, for she was afraid of the bad men, and a slight +return of her former terror came into her changeful eyes. She knew +how to light the witch-light; she reminded him she had been in the +tower before. + +"You have saved my light, and perhaps my life," he said weakly, +taking her hand. + +Possibly she did not understand him, for her only answer was a +vague smile. But the next instant she started up, listening +intently, and then with a frightened cry drew away her hand and +suddenly dashed out of the building. In the midst of his amazement +the door was darkened by a figure--a stranger dressed like an +ordinary miner. Pausing a moment to look after the flying Olooya, +the man turned and glanced around the room, and then with a coarse, +familiar smile approached Pomfrey. + +"Hope I ain't disturbin' ye, but I allowed I'd just be neighborly +and drop in--seein' as this is gov'nment property, and me and my +pardners, as American citizens and tax-payers, helps to support it. +We're coastin' from Trinidad down here and prospectin' along the +beach for gold in the sand. Ye seem to hev a mighty soft berth of +it here--nothing to do--and lots of purty half-breeds hangin' +round!" + +The man's effrontery was too much for Pomfrey's self-control, +weakened by illness. "It IS government property," he answered +hotly, "and you have no more right to intrude upon it than you have +to decoy away my servant, a government employee, during my illness, +and jeopardize that property." + +The unexpectedness of this attack, and the sudden revelation of the +fact of Pomfrey's illness in his flushed face and hollow voice +apparently frightened and confused the stranger. He stammered a +surly excuse, backed out of the doorway, and disappeared. An hour +later Jim appeared, crestfallen, remorseful, and extravagantly +penitent. Pomfrey was too weak for reproaches or inquiry, and he +was thinking only of Olooya. + +She did not return. His recovery in that keen air, aided, as he +sometimes thought, by the herbs she had given him, was almost as +rapid as his illness. The miners did not again intrude upon the +lighthouse nor trouble his seclusion. When he was able to sun +himself on the sands, he could see them in the distance at work on +the beach. He reflected that she would not come back while they +were there, and was reconciled. But one morning Jim appeared, +awkward and embarrassed, leading another Indian, whom he introduced +as Olooya's brother. Pomfrey's suspicions were aroused. Except +that the stranger had something of the girl's superiority of +manner, there was no likeness whatever to his fair-haired +acquaintance. But a fury of indignation was added to his +suspicions when he learned the amazing purport of their visit. It +was nothing less than an offer from the alleged brother to SELL his +sister to Pomfrey for forty dollars and a jug of whiskey! +Unfortunately, Pomfrey's temper once more got the better of his +judgment. With a scathing exposition of the laws under which the +Indian and white man equally lived, and the legal punishment of +kidnaping, he swept what he believed was the impostor from his +presence. He was scarcely alone again before he remembered that +his imprudence might affect the girl's future access to him, but it +was too late now. + +Still he clung to the belief that he should see her when the +prospectors had departed, and he hailed with delight the breaking +up of the camp near the "sweat-house" and the disappearance of the +schooner. It seemed that their gold-seeking was unsuccessful; but +Pomfrey was struck, on visiting the locality, to find that in their +excavations in the sand at the estuary they had uncovered the +decaying timbers of a ship's small boat of some ancient and +obsolete construction. This made him think of his strange dream, +with a vague sense of warning which he could not shake off, and on +his return to the lighthouse he took from his shelves a copy of the +old voyages to see how far his fancy had been affected by his +reading. In the account of Drake's visit to the coast he found a +footnote which he had overlooked before, and which ran as follows: +"The Admiral seems to have lost several of his crew by desertion, +who were supposed to have perished miserably by starvation in the +inhospitable interior or by the hands of savages. But later +voyagers have suggested that the deserters married Indian wives, +and there is a legend that a hundred years later a singular race of +half-breeds, bearing unmistakable Anglo-Saxon characteristics, was +found in that locality." Pomfrey fell into a reverie of strange +hypotheses and fancies. He resolved that, when he again saw +Olooya, he would question her; her terror of these men might be +simply racial or some hereditary transmission. + +But his intention was never fulfilled. For when days and weeks had +elapsed, and he had vainly haunted the river estuary and the rocky +reef before the lighthouse without a sign of her, he overcame his +pride sufficiently to question Jim. The man looked at him with +dull astonishment. + +"Olooya gone," he said. + +"Gone!--where?" + +The Indian made a gesture to seaward which seemed to encompass the +whole Pacific. + +"How? With whom?" repeated his angry yet half-frightened master. + +"With white man in ship. You say YOU no want Olooya--forty dollars +too much. White man give fifty dollars--takee Olooya all same." + + + +UNDER THE EAVES + + +The assistant editor of the San Francisco "Daily Informer" was +going home. So much of his time was spent in the office of the +"Informer" that no one ever cared to know where he passed those six +hours of sleep which presumably suggested a domicile. His business +appointments outside the office were generally kept at the +restaurant where he breakfasted and dined, or of evenings in the +lobbies of theatres or the anterooms of public meetings. Yet he +had a home and an interval of seclusion of which he was jealously +mindful, and it was to this he was going to-night at his usual +hour. + +His room was in a new building on one of the larger and busier +thoroughfares. The lower floor was occupied by a bank, but as it +was closed before he came home, and not yet opened when he left, it +did not disturb his domestic sensibilities. The same may be said +of the next floor, which was devoted to stockbrokers' and companies +offices, and was equally tomb-like and silent when he passed; the +floor above that was a desert of empty rooms, which echoed to his +footsteps night and morning, with here and there an oasis in the +green sign of a mining secretary's office, with, however, the +desolating announcement that it would only be "open for transfers +from two to four on Saturdays." The top floor had been frankly +abandoned in an unfinished state by the builder, whose ambition had +"o'erleaped itself" in that sanguine era of the city's growth. +There was a smell of plaster and the first coat of paint about it +still, but the whole front of the building was occupied by a long +room with odd "bull's-eye" windows looking out through the heavy +ornamentations of the cornice over the adjacent roofs. + +It had been originally intended for a club-room, but after the ill +fortune which attended the letting of the floor below, and possibly +because the earthquake-fearing San Franciscans had their doubts of +successful hilarity at the top of so tall a building, it remained +unfinished, with the two smaller rooms at its side. Its incomplete +and lonely grandeur had once struck the editor during a visit of +inspection, and the landlord, whom he knew, had offered to make it +habitable for him at a nominal rent. It had a lavatory with a +marble basin and a tap of cold water. The offer was a novel one, +but he accepted it, and fitted up the apartment with some cheap +second-hand furniture, quite inconsistent with the carved mantels +and decorations, and made a fair sitting-room and bedroom of it. +Here, on a Sunday, when its stillness was intensified, and even a +passing footstep on the pavement fifty feet below was quite +startling, he would sit and work by one of the quaint open windows. +In the rainy season, through the filmed panes he sometimes caught a +glimpse of the distant, white-capped bay, but never of the street +below him. + +The lights were out, but, groping his way up to the first landing, +he took from a cup-boarded niche in the wall his candlestick and +matches and continued the ascent to his room. The humble +candlelight flickered on the ostentatious gold letters displayed on +the ground-glass doors of opulent companies which he knew were +famous, and rooms where millionaires met in secret conclave, but +the contrast awakened only his sense of humor. Yet he was always +relieved after he had reached his own floor. Possibly its +incompleteness and inchoate condition made it seem less lonely than +the desolation of the finished and furnished rooms below, and it +was only this recollection of past human occupancy that was +depressing. + +He opened his door, lit the solitary gas jet that only half +illuminated the long room, and, it being already past midnight, +began to undress himself. This process presently brought him to +that corner of his room where his bed stood, when he suddenly +stopped, and his sleepy yawn changed to a gape of surprise. For, +lying in the bed, its head upon the pillow, and its rigid arms +accurately stretched down over the turned-back sheet, was a child's +doll! It was a small doll--a banged and battered doll, that had +seen service, but it had evidently been "tucked in" with maternal +tenderness, and lay there with its staring eyes turned to the +ceiling, the very genius of insomnia! + +His first start of surprise was followed by a natural resentment of +what might have been an impertinent intrusion on his privacy by +some practical-joking adult, for he knew there was no child in the +house. + +His room was kept in order by the wife of the night watchman +employed by the bank, and no one else had a right of access to it. +But the woman might have brought a child there and not noticed its +disposal of its plaything. He smiled. It might have been worse! +It might have been a real baby! + +The idea tickled him with a promise of future "copy"--of a story +with farcical complications, or even a dramatic ending, in which +the baby, adopted by him, should turn out to be somebody's stolen +offspring. He lifted the little image that had suggested these +fancies, carefully laid it on his table, went to bed, and presently +forgot it all in slumber. + +In the morning his good-humor and interest in it revived to the +extent of writing on a slip of paper, "Good-morning! Thank you-- +I've slept very well," putting the slip in the doll's jointed arms, +and leaving it in a sitting posture outside his door when he left +his room. When he returned late at night it was gone. + +But it so chanced that, a few days later, owing to press of work on +the "Informer," he was obliged to forego his usual Sunday holiday +out of town, and that morning found him, while the bells were +ringing for church, in his room with a pile of manuscript and proof +before him. For these were troublous days in San Francisco; the +great Vigilance Committee of '56 was in session, and the offices of +the daily papers were thronged with eager seekers of news. Such +affairs, indeed, were not in the functions of the assistant editor, +nor exactly to his taste; he was neither a partisan of the so- +called Law and Order Party, nor yet an enthusiastic admirer of the +citizen Revolutionists known as the Vigilance Committee, both +extremes being incompatible with his habits of thought. +Consequently he was not displeased at this opportunity of doing his +work away from the office and the "heady talk" of controversy. + +He worked on until the bells ceased and a more than Sabbath +stillness fell upon the streets. So quiet was it that once or +twice the conversation of passing pedestrians floated up and into +his window, as of voices at his elbow. + +Presently he heard the sound of a child's voice singing in subdued +tone, as if fearful of being overheard. This time he laid aside +his pen--it certainly was no delusion! The sound did not come from +the open window, but from some space on a level with his room. Yet +there was no contiguous building as high. + +He rose and tried to open his door softly, but it creaked, and the +singing instantly ceased. There was nothing before him but the +bare, empty hall, with its lathed and plastered partitions, and the +two smaller rooms, unfinished like his own, on either side of him. +Their doors were shut; the one at his right hand was locked, the +other yielded to his touch. + +For the first moment he saw only the bare walls of the apparently +empty room. But a second glance showed him two children--a boy of +seven and a girl of five--sitting on the floor, which was further +littered by a mattress, pillow, and blanket. There was a cheap +tray on one of the trunks containing two soiled plates and cups and +fragments of a meal. But there was neither a chair nor table nor +any other article of furniture in the room. Yet he was struck by +the fact that, in spite of this poverty of surrounding, the +children were decently dressed, and the few scattered pieces of +luggage in quality bespoke a superior condition. + +The children met his astonished stare with an equal wonder and, he +fancied, some little fright. The boy's lips trembled a little as +he said apologetically-- + +"I told Jinny not to sing. But she didn't make MUCH noise." + +"Mamma said I could play with my dolly. But I fordot and singed," +said the little girl penitently. + +"Where's your mamma?" asked the young man. The fancy of their +being near relatives of the night watchman had vanished at the +sound of their voices. + +"Dorn out," said the girl. + +"When did she go out?" + +"Last night." + +"Were you all alone here last night?" + +"Yes!" + +Perhaps they saw the look of indignation and pity in the editor's +face, for the boy said quickly-- + +"She don't go out EVERY night; last night she went to"-- + +He stopped suddenly, and both children looked at each other with a +half laugh and half cry, and then repeated in hopeless unison, +"She's dorn out." + +"When is she coming back again?" + +"To-night. But we won't make any more noise." + +"Who brings you your food?" continued the editor, looking at the +tray. + +"Woberts." + +Evidently Roberts, the night watchman! The editor felt relieved; +here was a clue to some explanation. He instantly sat down on the +floor between them. + +"So that was the dolly that slept in my bed," he said gayly, taking +it up. + +God gives helplessness a wonderful intuition of its friends. The +children looked up at the face of their grown-up companion, +giggled, and then burst into a shrill fit of laughter. He felt +that it was the first one they had really indulged in for many +days. Nevertheless he said, "Hush!" confidentially; why he +scarcely knew, except to intimate to them that he had taken in +their situation thoroughly. "Make no noise," he added softly, "and +come into my big room." + +They hung back, however, with frightened yet longing eyes. "Mamma +said we mussent do out of this room," said the girl. + +"Not ALONE," responded the editor quickly, "but with ME, you know; +that's different." + +The logic sufficed them, poor as it was. Their hands slid quite +naturally into his. But at the door he stopped, and motioning to +the locked door of the other room, asked:-- + +"And is that mamma's room, too?" + +Their little hands slipped from his and they were silent. +Presently the boy, as if acted upon by some occult influence of the +girl, said in a half whisper, "Yes." + +The editor did not question further, but led them into his room. +Here they lost the slight restraint they had shown, and began, +child fashion, to become questioners themselves. + +In a few moments they were in possession of his name, his business, +the kind of restaurant he frequented, where he went when he left +his room all day, the meaning of those funny slips of paper, and +the written manuscripts, and why he was so quiet. But any attempt +of his to retaliate by counter questions was met by a sudden +reserve so unchildlike and painful to him--as it was evidently to +themselves--that he desisted, wisely postponing his inquiries until +he could meet Roberts. + +He was glad when they fell to playing games with each other quite +naturally, yet not entirely forgetting his propinquity, as their +occasional furtive glances at his movements showed him. He, too, +became presently absorbed in his work, until it was finished and it +was time for him to take it to the office of the "Informer." The +wild idea seized him of also taking the children afterwards for a +holiday to the Mission Dolores, but he prudently remembered that +even this negligent mother of theirs might have some rights over +her offspring that he was bound to respect. + +He took leave of them gayly, suggesting that the doll be replaced +in his bed while he was away, and even assisted in "tucking it up." +But during the afternoon the recollection of these lonely +playfellows in the deserted house obtruded itself upon his work and +the talk of his companions. Sunday night was his busiest night, +and he could not, therefore, hope to get away in time to assure +himself of their mother's return. + +It was nearly two in the morning when he returned to his room. He +paused for a moment on the threshold to listen for any sound from +the adjoining room. But all was hushed. + +His intention of speaking to the night watchman was, however, +anticipated the next morning by that guardian himself. A tap upon +his door while he was dressing caused him to open it somewhat +hurriedly in the hope of finding one of the children there, but he +met only the embarrassed face of Roberts. Inviting him into the +room, the editor continued dressing. Carefully closing the door +behind him, the man began, with evident hesitation,-- + +"I oughter hev told ye suthin' afore, Mr. Breeze; but I kalkilated, +so to speak, that you wouldn't be bothered one way or another, and +so ye hadn't any call to know that there was folks here"-- + +"Oh, I see," interrupted Breeze cheerfully; "you're speaking of the +family next door--the landlord's new tenants." + +"They ain't exactly THAT," said Roberts, still with embarrassment. +"The fact is--ye see--the thing points THIS way: they ain't no +right to be here, and it's as much as my place is worth if it leaks +out that they are." + +Mr. Breeze suspended his collar-buttoning, and stared at Roberts. + +"You see, sir, they're mighty poor, and they've nowhere else to go-- +and I reckoned to take 'em in here for a spell and say nothing +about it." + +"But the landlord wouldn't object, surely? I'll speak to him +myself," said Breeze impulsively. + +"Oh, no; don't!" said Roberts in alarm; "he wouldn't like it. You +see, Mr. Breeze, it's just this way: the mother, she's a born lady, +and did my old woman a good turn in old times when the family was +rich; but now she's obliged--just to support herself, you know--to +take up with what she gets, and she acts in the bally in the +theatre, you see, and hez to come in late o' nights. In them cheap +boarding-houses, you know, the folks looks down upon her for that, +and won't hev her, and in the cheap hotels the men are--you know--a +darned sight wuss, and that's how I took her and her kids in here, +where no one knows 'em." + +"I see," nodded the editor sympathetically; "and very good it was +of you, my man." + +Roberts looked still more confused, and stammered with a forced +laugh, "And--so--I'm just keeping her on here, unbeknownst, until +her husband gets"-- He stopped suddenly. + +"So she has a husband living, then?" said Breeze in surprise. + +"In the mines, yes--in the mines!" repeated Roberts with a +monotonous deliberation quite distinct from his previous +hesitation, "and she's only waitin' until he gets money enough-- +to--to take her away." He stopped and breathed hard. + +"But couldn't you--couldn't WE--get her some more furniture? +There's nothing in that room, you know, not a chair or table; and +unless the other room is better furnished"-- + +"Eh? Oh, yes!" said Roberts quickly, yet still with a certain +embarrassment; "of course THAT'S better furnished, and she's quite +satisfied, and so are the kids, with anything. And now, Mr. +Breeze, I reckon you'll say nothin' o' this, and you'll never go +back on me?" + +"My dear Mr. Roberts," said the editor gravely, "from this moment I +am not only blind, but deaf to the fact that ANYBODY occupies this +floor but myself." + +"I knew you was white all through, Mr. Breeze," said the night +watchman, grasping the young man's hand with a grip of iron, "and I +telled my wife so. I sez, 'Jest you let me tell him EVERYTHIN',' +but she"-- He stopped again and became confused. + +"And she was quite right, I dare say," said Breeze, with a laugh; +"and I do not want to know anything. And that poor woman must +never know that I ever knew anything, either. But you may tell +your wife that when the mother is away she can bring the little +ones in here whenever she likes." + +"Thank ye--thank ye, sir!--and I'll just run down and tell the old +woman now, and won't intrude upon your dressin' any longer." + +He grasped Breeze's hand again, went out and closed the door behind +him. It might have been the editor's fancy, but he thought there +was a certain interval of silence outside the door before the night +watchman's heavy tread was heard along the hall again. + +For several evenings after this Mr. Breeze paid some attention to +the ballet in his usual round of the theatres. Although he had +never seen his fair neighbor, he had a vague idea that he might +recognize her through some likeness to her children. But in vain. +In the opulent charms of certain nymphs, and in the angular +austerities of others, he failed equally to discern any of those +refinements which might have distinguished the "born lady" of +Roberts's story, or which he himself had seen in her children. + +These he did not meet again during the week, as his duties kept him +late at the office; but from certain signs in his room he knew that +Mrs. Roberts had availed herself of his invitation to bring them in +with her, and he regularly found "Jinny's" doll tucked up in his +bed at night, and he as regularly disposed of it outside his door +in the morning, with a few sweets, like an offering, tucked under +its rigid arms. + +But another circumstance touched him more delicately; his room was +arranged with greater care than before, and with an occasional +exhibition of taste that certainly had not distinguished Mrs. +Roberts's previous ministrations. One evening on his return he +found a small bouquet of inexpensive flowers in a glass on his +writing-table. He loved flowers too well not to detect that they +were quite fresh, and could have been put there only an hour or two +before he arrived. + +The next evening was Saturday, and, as he usually left the office +earlier on that day, it occurred to him, as he walked home, that it +was about the time his fair neighbor would be leaving the theatre, +and that it was possible he might meet her. + +At the front door, however, he found Roberts, who returned his +greeting with a certain awkwardness which struck him as singular. +When he reached the niche on the landing he found his candle was +gone, but he proceeded on, groping his way up the stairs, with an +odd conviction that both these incidents pointed to the fact that +the woman had just returned or was expected. + +He had also a strange feeling--which may have been owing to the +darkness--that some one was hidden on the landing or on the stairs +where he would pass. This was further accented by a faint odor of +patchouli, as, with his hand on the rail, he turned the corner of +the third landing, and he was convinced that if he had put out his +other hand it would have come in contact with his mysterious +neighbor. But a certain instinct of respect for her secret, which +she was even now guarding in the darkness, withheld him, and he +passed on quickly to his own floor. + +Here it was lighter; the moon shot a beam of silver across the +passage from an unshuttered window as he passed. He reached his +room door, entered, but instead of lighting the gas and shutting +the door, stood with it half open, listening in the darkness. + +His suspicions were verified; there was a slight rustling noise, +and a figure which had evidently followed him appeared at the end +of the passage. It was that of a woman habited in a grayish dress +and cloak of the same color; but as she passed across the band of +moonlight he had a distinct view of her anxious, worried face. It +was a face no longer young; it was worn with illness, but still +replete with a delicacy and faded beauty so inconsistent with her +avowed profession that he felt a sudden pang of pain and doubt. +The next moment she had vanished in her room, leaving the same +faint perfume behind her. He closed his door softly, lit the gas, +and sat down in a state of perplexity. That swift glimpse of her +face and figure had made her story improbable to the point of +absurdity, or possibly to the extreme of pathos! + +It seemed incredible that a woman of that quality should be forced +to accept a vocation at once so low, so distasteful, and so +unremunerative. With her evident antecedents, had she no friends +but this common Western night watchman of a bank? Had Roberts +deceived him? Was his whole story a fabrication, and was there +some complicity between the two? What was it? He knit his brows. + +Mr. Breeze had that overpowering knowledge of the world which only +comes with the experience of twenty-five, and to this he superadded +the active imagination of a newspaper man. A plot to rob the bank? +These mysterious absences, that luggage which he doubted not was +empty and intended for spoil! But why encumber herself with the +two children? Here his common sense and instinct of the ludicrous +returned and he smiled. + +But he could not believe in the ballet dancer! He wondered, +indeed, how any manager could have accepted the grim satire of that +pale, worried face among the fairies, that sad refinement amid +their vacant smiles and rouged checks. And then, growing sad +again, he comforted himself with the reflection that at least the +children were not alone that night, and so went to sleep. + +For some days he had no further meeting with his neighbors. The +disturbed state of the city--for the Vigilance Committee were still +in session--obliged the daily press to issue "extras," and his work +at the office increased. + +It was not until Sunday again that he was able to be at home. +Needless to say that his solitary little companions were duly +installed there, while he sat at work with his proofs on the table +before him. + +The stillness of the empty house was only broken by the habitually +subdued voices of the children at their play, when suddenly the +harsh stroke of a distant bell came through the open window. But +it was no Sabbath bell, and Mr. Breeze knew it. It was the tocsin +of the Vigilance Committee, summoning the members to assemble at +their quarters for a capture, a trial, or an execution of some +wrongdoer. To him it was equally a summons to the office--to +distasteful news and excitement. + +He threw his proofs aside in disgust, laid down his pen, seized his +hat, and paused a moment to look round for his playmates. But they +were gone! He went into the hall, looked into the open door of +their room, but they were not there. He tried the door of the +second room, but it was locked. + +Satisfied that they had stolen downstairs in their eagerness to +know what the bell meant, he hurried down also, met Roberts in the +passage,--a singularly unusual circumstance at that hour,--called +to him to look after the runaways, and hurried to his office. + +Here he found the staff collected, excitedly discussing the news. +One of the Vigilance Committee prisoners, a notorious bully and +ruffian, detained as a criminal and a witness, had committed +suicide in his cell. Fortunately this was all reportorial work, +and the services of Mr. Breeze were not required. He hurried back, +relieved, to his room. + +When he reached his landing, breathlessly, he heard the same quick +rustle he had heard that memorable evening, and was quite satisfied +that he saw a figure glide swiftly out of the open door of his +room. It was no doubt his neighbor, who had been seeking her +children, and as he heard their voices as he passed, his uneasiness +and suspicions were removed. + +He sat down again to his scattered papers and proofs, finished his +work, and took it to the office on his way to dinner. He returned +early, in the hope that he might meet his neighbor again, and had +quite settled his mind that he was justified in offering a civil +"Good-evening" to her, in spite of his previous respectful ignoring +of her presence. She must certainly have become aware by this time +of his attention to her children and consideration for herself, and +could not mistake his motives. But he was disappointed, although +he came up softly; he found the floor in darkness and silence on +his return, and he had to be content with lighting his gas and +settling down to work again. + +A near church clock had struck ten when he was startled by the +sound of an unfamiliar and uncertain step in the hall, followed by +a tap at his door. Breeze jumped to his feet, and was astonished +to find Dick, the "printer's devil," standing on the threshold with +a roll of proofs in his hand. + +"How did you get here?" he asked testily. + +"They told me at the restaurant they reckoned you lived yere, and +the night watchman at the door headed me straight up. When he knew +whar I kem from he wanted to know what the news was, but I told him +he'd better buy an extra and see." + +"Well, what did you come for?" said the editor impatiently. + +"The foreman said it was important, and he wanted to know afore he +went to press ef this yer correction was YOURS?" + +He went to the table, unrolled the proofs, and, taking out the +slip, pointed to a marked paragraph. "The foreman says the +reporter who brought the news allows he got it straight first-hand! +But ef you've corrected it, he reckons you know best." + +Breeze saw at a glance that the paragraph alluded to was not of his +own writing, but one of several news items furnished by reporters. +These had been "set up" in the same "galley," and consequently +appeared in the same proof-slip. He was about to say curtly that +neither the matter nor the correction was his, when something odd +in the correction of the item struck him. It read as follows:-- + +"It appears that the notorious 'Jim Bodine,' who is in hiding and +badly wanted by the Vigilance Committee, has been tempted lately +into a renewal of his old recklessness. He was seen in Sacramento +Street the other night by two separate witnesses, one of whom +followed him, but he escaped in some friendly doorway." + +The words "in Sacramento Street" were stricken out and replaced by +the correction "on the Saucelito shore," and the words "friendly +doorway " were changed to "friendly dinghy." The correction was +not his, nor the handwriting, which was further disguised by being +an imitation of print. A strange idea seized him. + +"Has any one seen these proofs since I left them at the office?" + +"No, only the foreman, sir." + +He remembered that he had left the proofs lying openly on his table +when he was called to the office at the stroke of the alarm bell; +he remembered the figure he saw gliding from his room on his +return. She had been there alone with the proofs; she only could +have tampered with them. + +The evident object of the correction was to direct the public +attention from Sacramento Street to Saucelito, as the probable +whereabouts of this "Jimmy Bodine." The street below was +Sacramento Street, the "friendly doorway" might have been their +own. + +That she had some knowledge of this Bodine was not more improbable +than the ballet story. Her strange absences, the mystery +surrounding her, all seemed to testify that she had some +connection--perhaps only an innocent one--with these desperate +people whom the Vigilance Committee were hunting down. Her attempt +to save the man was, after all, no more illegal than their attempt +to capture him. True, she might have trusted him, Breeze, without +this tampering with his papers; yet perhaps she thought he was +certain to discover it--and it was only a silent appeal to his +mercy. The corrections were ingenious and natural--it was the act +of an intelligent, quick-witted woman. + +Mr. Breeze was prompt in acting upon his intuition, whether right +or wrong. He took up his pen, wrote on the margin of the proof, +"Print as corrected," said to the boy carelessly, "The corrections +are all right," and dismissed him quickly. + +The corrected paragraph which appeared in the "Informer" the next +morning seemed to attract little public attention, the greater +excitement being the suicide of the imprisoned bully and the effect +it might have upon the prosecution of other suspected parties, +against whom the dead man had been expected to bear witness. + +Mr. Breeze was unable to obtain any information regarding the +desperado Bodine's associates and relations; his correction of the +paragraph had made the other members of the staff believe he had +secret and superior information regarding the fugitive, and he thus +was estopped from asking questions. But he felt himself justified +now in demanding fuller information from Roberts at the earliest +opportunity. + +For this purpose he came home earlier that night, hoping to find +the night watchman still on his first beat in the lower halls. But +he was disappointed. He was amazed, however, on reaching his own +landing, to find the passage piled with new luggage, some of that +ruder type of rolled blanket and knapsack known as a "miner's kit." +He was still more surprised to hear men's voices and the sound of +laughter proceeding from the room that was always locked. A sudden +sense of uneasiness and disgust, he knew not why, came over him. + +He passed quickly into his room, shut the door sharply, and lit the +gas. But he presently heard the door of the locked room open, a +man's voice, slightly elevated by liquor and opposition, saying, "I +know what's due from one gen'leman to 'nother"--a querulous, +objecting voice saying, "Hole on! not now," and a fainter feminine +protest, all of which were followed by a rap on his door. + +Breeze opened it to two strangers, one of whom lurched forward +unsteadily with outstretched hand. He had a handsome face and +figure, and a certain consciousness of it even in the abandon of +liquor; he had an aggressive treacherousness of eye which his +potations had not subdued. He grasped Breeze's hand tightly, but +dropped it the next moment perfunctorily as he glanced round the +room. + +"I told them I was bound to come in," he said, without looking at +Breeze, "and say 'Howdy!' to the man that's bin a pal to my women +folks and the kids--and acted white all through! I said to Mame, +'I reckon HE knows who I am, and that I kin be high-toned to them +that's high-toned; kin return shake for shake and shot for shot!' +Aye! that's me! So I was bound to come in like a gen'leman, sir, +and here I am!" + +He threw himself in an unproffered chair and stared at Breeze. + +"I'm afraid," said Breeze dryly, "that, nevertheless, I never knew +who you were, and that even now I am ignorant whom I am addressing." + +"That's just it," said the second man, with a querulous protest, +which did not, however, conceal his admiring vassalage to his +friend; "that's what I'm allus telling Jim. 'Jim,' I says, 'how is +folks to know you're the man that shot Kernel Baxter, and dropped +three o' them Mariposa Vigilants? They didn't see you do it! They +just look at your fancy style and them mustaches of yours, and +allow ye might be death on the girls, but they don't know ye! An' +this man yere--he's a scribe in them papers--writes what the boss +editor tells him, and lives up yere on the roof, 'longside yer wife +and the children--what's he knowin' about YOU?' Jim's all right +enough," he continued, in easy confidence to Breeze, "but he's too +fresh 'bout himself." + +Mr. James Bodine accepted this tribute and criticism of his +henchman with a complacent laugh, which was not, however, without a +certain contempt for the speaker and the man spoken to. His bold, +selfish eyes wandered round the room as if in search of some other +amusement than his companions offered. + +"I reckon this is the room which that hound of a landlord, Rakes, +allowed he'd fix up for our poker club--the club that Dan Simmons +and me got up, with a few other sports. It was to be a slap-up +affair, right under the roof, where there was no chance of the +police raiding us. But the cur weakened when the Vigilants started +out to make war on any game a gen'leman might hev that wasn't in +their gummy-bag, salt pork trade. Well, it's gettin' a long time +between drinks, gen'lemen, ain't it?" He looked round him +significantly. + +Only the thought of the woman and her children in the next room, +and the shame that he believed she was enduring, enabled Breeze to +keep his temper or even a show of civility. + +"I'm afraid," he said quietly, "that you'll find very little here +to remind you of the club--not even the whiskey; for I use the room +only as a bedroom, and as I am a workingman, and come in late and +go out early, I have never found it available for hospitality, even +to my intimate friends. I am very glad, however, that the little +leisure I have had in it has enabled me to make the floor less +lonely for your children." + +Mr. Bodine got up with an affected yawn, turned an embarrassed yet +darkening eye on Breeze, and lunged unsteadily to the door. "And +as I only happened in to do the reg'lar thing between high-toned +gen'lemen, I reckon we kin say 'Quits.'" He gave a coarse laugh, +said "So long," nodded, stumbled into the passage, and thence into +the other room. + +His companion watched him pass out with a relieved yet protecting +air, and then, closing the door softly, drew nearer to Breeze, and +said in husky confidence,-- + +"Ye ain't seein' him at his best, mister! He's bin drinkin' too +much, and this yer news has upset him." + +"What news?" asked Breeze. + +"This yer suicide o' Irish Jack!" + +"Was he his friend?" + +"Friend?" ejaculated the man, horrified at the mere suggestion. +"Not much! Why, Irish Jack was the only man that could hev hung +Jim! Now he's dead, in course the Vigilants ain't got no proof +agin Jim. Jim wants to face it out now an' stay here, but his wife +and me don't see it noways! So we are taking advantage o' the lull +agin him to get him off down the coast this very night. That's why +he's been off his head drinkin'. Ye see, when a man has been for +weeks hidin'--part o' the time in that room and part o' the time on +the wharf, where them Vigilants has been watchin' every ship that +left in order to ketch him, he's inclined to celebrate his chance +o' getting away"-- + +"Part of the time in that room?" interrupted Breeze quickly. + +"Sartin! Don't ye see? He allus kem in as you went out--sabe!-- +and got away before you kem back, his wife all the time just a- +hoverin' between the two places, and keeping watch for him. It was +killin' to her, you see, for she wasn't brought up to it, whiles +Jim didn't keer--had two revolvers and kalkilated to kill a dozen +Vigilants afore he dropped. But that's over now, and when I've got +him safe on that 'plunger' down at the wharf to-night, and put him +aboard the schooner that's lying off the Heads, he's all right +agin." + +"And Roberts knew all this and was one of his friends?" asked +Breeze. + +"Roberts knew it, and Roberts's wife used to be a kind of servant +to Jim's wife in the South, when she was a girl, but I don't know +ez Roberts is his FRIEND!" + +"He certainly has shown himself one," said Breeze. + +"Ye-e-s," said the stranger meditatively, "ye-e-s." He stopped, +opened the door softly, and peeped out, and then closed it again +softly. "It's sing'lar, Mr. Breeze," he went on in a sudden yet +embarrassed burst of confidence, "that Jim thar--a man thet can +shoot straight, and hez frequent; a man thet knows every skin game +goin'--that THET man Jim," very slowly, "hezn't really--got--any +friends--'cept me--and his wife." + +"Indeed?" said Mr. Breeze dryly. + +"Sure! Why, you yourself didn't cotton to him--I could see THET." + +Mr. Breeze felt himself redden slightly, and looked curiously at +the man. This vulgar parasite, whom he had set down as a worshiper +of sham heroes, undoubtedly did not look like an associate of +Bodine's, and had a certain seriousness that demanded respect. As +he looked closer into his wide, round face, seamed with small-pox, +he fancied he saw even in its fatuous imbecility something of that +haunting devotion he had seen on the refined features of the wife. +He said more gently,-- + +"But one friend like you would seem to be enough." + +"I ain't what I uster be, Mr. Breeze," said the man meditatively, +"and mebbe ye don't know who I am. I'm Abe Shuckster, of +Shuckster's Ranch--one of the biggest in Petalumy. I was a rich +man until a year ago, when Jim got inter trouble. What with +mortgages and interest, payin' up Jim's friends and buying off some +ez was set agin him, thar ain't much left, and when I've settled +that bill for the schooner lying off the Heads there I reckon I'm +about played out. But I've allus a shanty at Petalumy, and mebbe +when things is froze over and Jim gets back--you'll come and see +him--for you ain't seen him at his best." + +"I suppose his wife and children go with him?" said Breeze. + +"No! He's agin it, and wants them to come later. But that's all +right, for you see she kin go back to their own house at the +Mission, now that the Vigilants are givin' up shadderin' it. So +long, Mr. Breeze! We're startin' afore daylight. Sorry you didn't +see Jim in condition." + +He grasped Breeze's hand warmly and slipped out of the door softly. +For an instant Mr. Breeze felt inclined to follow him into the room +and make a kinder adieu to the pair, but the reflection that he +might embarrass the wife, who, it would seem, had purposely avoided +accompanying her husband when he entered, withheld him. And for +the last few minutes he had been doubtful if he had any right to +pose as her friend. Beside the devotion of the man who had just +left him, his own scant kindness to her children seemed ridiculous. + +He went to bed, but tossed uneasily until he fancied he heard +stealthy footsteps outside his door and in the passage. Even then +he thought of getting up, dressing, and going out to bid farewell +to the fugitives. But even while he was thinking of it he fell +asleep and did not wake until the sun was shining in at his +windows. + +He sprang to his feet, threw on his dressing-gown, and peered into +the passage. Everything was silent. He stepped outside--the light +streamed into the hall from the open doors and windows of both +rooms--the floor was empty; not a trace of the former occupants +remained. He was turning back when his eye fell upon the battered +wooden doll set upright against his doorjamb, holding stiffly in +its jointed arms a bit of paper folded like a note. Opening it, he +found a few lines written in pencil. + + +God bless you for your kindness to us, and try to forgive me for +touching your papers. But I thought that you would detect it, know +WHY I did it, and then help us, as you did! Good-by! + +MAMIE BODINE. + + +Mr. Breeze laid down the paper with a slight accession of color, as +if its purport had been ironical. How little had he done compared +to the devotion of this delicate woman or the sacrifices of that +rough friend! How deserted looked this nest under the eaves, which +had so long borne its burden of guilt, innocence, shame, and +suffering! For many days afterwards he avoided it except at night, +and even then he often found himself lying awake to listen to the +lost voices of the children. + +But one evening, a fortnight later, he came upon Roberts in the +hall. "Well," said Breeze, with abrupt directness, "did he get +away?" + +Roberts started, uttered an oath which it is possible the Recording +Angel passed to his credit, and said, "Yes, HE got away all right!" + +"Why, hasn't his wife joined him?" + +"No. Never, in this world, I reckon; and if anywhere in the next, +I don't want to go there!" said Roberts furiously. + +"Is he dead?" + +"Dead? That kind don't die!" + +"What do you mean?" + +Roberts's lips writhed, and then, with a strong effort, he said +with deliberate distinctness, "I mean--that the hound went off with +another woman--that--was--in--that schooner, and left that fool +Shuckster adrift in the plunger." + +"And the wife and children?" + +"Shuckster sold his shanty at Petaluma to pay their passage to the +States. Good-night!" + + + +HOW REUBEN ALLEN "SAW LIFE" IN SAN FRANCISCO + + +The junior partner of the firm of Sparlow & Kane, "Druggists and +Apothecaries," of San Francisco, was gazing meditatively out of the +corner of the window of their little shop in Dupont Street. He +could see the dimly lit perspective of the narrow thoroughfare fade +off into the level sand wastes of Market Street on the one side, +and plunge into the half-excavated bulk of Telegraph Hill on the +other. He could see the glow and hear the rumble of Montgomery +Street--the great central avenue farther down the hill. Above the +housetops was spread the warm blanket of sea-fog under which the +city was regularly laid to sleep every summer night to the cool +lullaby of the Northwest Trades. It was already half-past eleven; +footsteps on the wooden pavement were getting rarer and more +remote; the last cart had rumbled by; the shutters were up along +the street; the glare of his own red and blue jars was the only +beacon left to guide the wayfarers. Ordinarily he would have been +going home at this hour, when his partner, who occupied the surgery +and a small bedroom at the rear of the shop, always returned to +relieve him. That night, however, a professional visit would +detain the "Doctor" until half-past twelve. There was still an +hour to wait. He felt drowsy; the mysterious incense of the shop, +that combined essence of drugs, spice, scented soap, and orris +root--which always reminded him of the Arabian Nights--was +affecting him. He yawned, and then, turning away, passed behind +the counter, took down a jar labeled "Glycyrr. Glabra," selected a +piece of Spanish licorice, and meditatively sucked it. Not +receiving from it that diversion and sustenance he apparently was +seeking, he also visited, in an equally familiar manner, a jar +marked "Jujubes," and returned ruminatingly to his previous position. + +If I have not in this incident sufficiently established the +youthfulness of the junior partner, I may add briefly that he was +just nineteen, that he had early joined the emigration to +California, and after one or two previous light-hearted essays at +other occupations, for which he was singularly unfitted, he had +saved enough to embark on his present venture, still less suited to +his temperament. In those adventurous days trades and vocations +were not always filled by trained workmen; it was extremely +probable that the experienced chemist was already making his +success as a gold-miner, with a lawyer and a physician for his +partners, and Mr. Kane's inexperienced position was by no means a +novel one. A slight knowledge of Latin as a written language, an +American schoolboy's acquaintance with chemistry and natural +philosophy, were deemed sufficient by his partner, a regular +physician, for practical cooperation in the vending of drugs and +putting up of prescriptions. He knew the difference between acids +and alkalies and the peculiar results which attended their +incautious combination. But he was excessively deliberate, +painstaking, and cautious. The legend which adorned the desk at +the counter, "Physicians' prescriptions carefully prepared," was +more than usually true as regarded the adverb. There was no danger +of his poisoning anybody through haste or carelessness, but it was +possible that an urgent "case" might have succumbed to the disease +while he was putting up the remedy. Nor was his caution entirely +passive. In those days the "heroic" practice of medicine was in +keeping with the abnormal development of the country; there were +"record" doses of calomel and quinine, and he had once or twice +incurred the fury of local practitioners by sending back their +prescriptions with a modest query. + +The far-off clatter of carriage wheels presently arrested his +attention; looking down the street, he could see the lights of a +hackney carriage advancing towards him. They had already flashed +upon the open crossing a block beyond before his vague curiosity +changed into an active instinctive presentiment that they were +coming to the shop. He withdrew to a more becoming and dignified +position behind the counter as the carriage drew up with a jerk +before the door. + +The driver rolled from his box and opened the carriage door to a +woman whom he assisted, between some hysterical exclamations on her +part and some equally incoherent explanations of his own, into the +shop. Kane saw at a glance that both were under the influence of +liquor, and one, the woman, was disheveled and bleeding about the +head. Yet she was elegantly dressed and evidently en fete, with +one or two "tricolor" knots and ribbons mingled with her finery. +Her golden hair, matted and darkened with blood, had partly escaped +from her French bonnet and hung heavily over her shoulders. The +driver, who was supporting her roughly, and with a familiarity that +was part of the incongruous spectacle, was the first to speak. + +"Madame le Blank! ye know! Got cut about the head down at the fete +at South Park! Tried to dance upon the table, and rolled over on +some champagne bottles. See? Wants plastering up!" + +"Ah brute! Hog! Nozzing of ze kine! Why will you lie? I dance! +Ze cowards, fools, traitors zere upset ze table and I fall. I am +cut! Ah, my God, how I am cut!" + +She stopped suddenly and lapsed heavily against the counter. At +which Kane hurried around to support her into the surgery with the +one fixed idea in his bewildered mind of getting her out of the +shop, and, suggestively, into the domain and under the +responsibility of his partner. The hackman, apparently relieved +and washing his hands of any further complicity in the matter, +nodded and smiled, and saying, "I reckon I'll wait outside, +pardner," retreated incontinently to his vehicle. To add to Kane's +half-ludicrous embarrassment the fair patient herself slightly +resisted his support, accused the hackman of "abandoning her," and +demanded if Kane knew "zee reason of zees affair," yet she +presently lapsed again into the large reclining-chair which he had +wheeled forward, with open mouth, half-shut eyes, and a strange +Pierrette mask of face, combined of the pallor of faintness and +chalk, and the rouge of paint and blood. At which Kane's +cautiousness again embarrassed him. A little brandy from the +bottle labeled "Vini Galli" seemed to be indicated, but his +inexperience could not determine if her relaxation was from +bloodlessness or the reacting depression of alcohol. In this +dilemma he chose a medium course, with aromatic spirits of ammonia, +and mixing a diluted quantity in a measuring-glass, poured it +between her white lips. A start, a struggle, a cough--a volley of +imprecatory French, and the knocking of the glass from his hand +followed--but she came to! He quickly sponged her head of the +half-coagulated blood, and removed a few fragments of glass from a +long laceration of the scalp. The shock of the cold water and the +appearance of the ensanguined basin frightened her into a momentary +passivity. But when Kane found it necessary to cut her hair in the +region of the wound in order to apply the adhesive plaster, she +again endeavored to rise and grasp the scissors. + +"You'll bleed to death if you're not quiet," said the young man +with dogged gravity. + +Something in his manner impressed her into silence again. He cut +whole locks away ruthlessly; he was determined to draw the edges of +the wound together with the strip of plaster and stop the bleeding-- +if he cropped the whole head. His excessive caution for her +physical condition did not extend to her superficial adornment. +Her yellow tresses lay on the floor, her neck and shoulders were +saturated with water from the sponge which he continually applied, +until the heated strips of plaster had closed the wound almost +hermetically. She whimpered, tears ran down her cheeks; but so +long as it was not blood the young man was satisfied. + +In the midst of it he heard the shop door open, and presently the +sound of rapping on the counter. Another customer! + +Mr. Kane called out, "Wait a moment," and continued his ministrations. +After a pause the rapping recommenced. Kane was just securing the +last strip of plaster and preserved a preoccupied silence. Then the +door flew open abruptly and a figure appeared impatiently on the +threshold. It was that of a miner recently returned from the gold +diggings--so recently that he evidently had not had time to change +his clothes at his adjacent hotel, and stood there in his high +boots, duck trousers, and flannel shirt, over which his coat was +slung like a hussar's jacket from his shoulder. Kane would have +uttered an indignant protest at the intrusion, had not the intruder +himself as quickly recoiled with an astonishment and contrition that +was beyond the effect of any reproval. He literally gasped at the +spectacle before him. A handsomely dressed woman reclining in a +chair; lace and jewelry and ribbons depending from her saturated +shoulders; tresses of golden hair filling her lap and lying on the +floor; a pail of ruddy water and a sponge at her feet, and a pale +young man bending over her head with a spirit lamp and strips of +yellow plaster! + +"'Scuse me, pard! I was just dropping in; don't you hurry! I kin +wait," he stammered, falling back, and then the door closed +abruptly behind him. + +Kane gathered up the shorn locks, wiped the face and neck of his +patient with a clean towel and his own handkerchief, threw her +gorgeous opera cloak over her shoulders, and assisted her to rise. +She did so, weakly but obediently; she was evidently stunned and +cowed in some mysterious way by his material attitude, perhaps, or +her sudden realization of her position; at least the contrast +between her aggressive entrance into the shop and her subdued +preparation for her departure was so remarkable that it affected +even Kane's preoccupation. + +"There," he said, slightly relaxing his severe demeanor with an +encouraging smile, "I think this will do; we've stopped the +bleeding. It will probably smart a little as the plaster sets +closer. I can send my partner, Dr. Sparlow, to you in the +morning." + +She looked at him curiously and with a strange smile. "And zees +Doctor Sparrlow--eez he like you, M'sieu?" + +"He is older, and very well known," said the young man seriously. +"I can safely recommend him." + +"Ah," she repeated, with a pensive smile which made Kane think her +quite pretty. "Ah--he ez older--your Doctor Sparrlow--but YOU are +strong, M'sieu." + +"And," said Kane vaguely, "he will tell you what to do." + +"Ah," she repeated again softly, with the same smile, "he will tell +me what to do if I shall not know myself. Dat ez good." + +Kane had already wrapped her shorn locks in a piece of spotless +white paper and tied it up with narrow white ribbon in the dainty +fashion dear to druggists' clerks. As he handed it to her she felt +in her pocket and produced a handful of gold. + +"What shall I pay for zees, M'sieu?" + +Kane reddened a little--solely because of his slow arithmetical +faculties. Adhesive plaster was cheap--he would like to have +charged proportionately for the exact amount he had used; but the +division was beyond him! And he lacked the trader's instinct. + +"Twenty-five cents, I think," he hazarded briefly. + +She started, but smiled again. "Twenty-five cents for all zees--ze +medicine, ze strips for ze head, ze hair cut"--she glanced at the +paper parcel he had given her--"it is only twenty-five cents?" + +"That's all." + +He selected from her outstretched palm, with some difficulty, the +exact amount, the smallest coin it held. She again looked at him +curiously--half confusedly--and moved slowly into the shop. The +miner, who was still there, retreated as before with a gaspingly +apologetic gesture--even flattening himself against the window to +give her sweeping silk flounces freer passage. As she passed into +the street with a "Merci, M'sieu, good a'night," and the hackman +started from the vehicle to receive her, the miner drew a long +breath, and bringing his fist down upon the counter, ejaculated,-- + +"B'gosh! She's a stunner!" + +Kane, a good deal relieved at her departure and the success of his +ministration, smiled benignly. + +The stranger again stared after the retreating carriage, looked +around the shop, and even into the deserted surgery, and approached +the counter confidentially. "Look yer, pardner. I kem straight +from St. Jo, Mizzorri, to Gold Hill--whar I've got a claim--and I +reckon this is the first time I ever struck San Francisker. I +ain't up to towny ways nohow, and I allow that mebbe I'm rather +green. So we'll let that pass! Now look yer!" he added, leaning +over the counter with still deeper and even mysterious confidence, +"I suppose this yer kind o' thing is the regular go here, eh? +nothin' new to YOU! in course no! But to me, pard, it's just +fetchin' me! Lifts me clear outer my boots every time! Why, when +I popped into that thar room, and saw that lady--all gold, +furbelows, and spangles--at twelve o'clock at night, sittin' in +that cheer and you a-cuttin' her h'r and swabbin' her head o' +blood, and kinder prospectin' for 'indications,' so to speak, and +doin' it so kam and indifferent like, I sez to myself, 'Rube, +Rube,' sez I, 'this yer's life! city life! San Francisker life! and +b'gosh, you've dropped into it! Now, pard, look yar! don't you +answer, ye know, ef it ain't square and above board for me to know; +I ain't askin' you to give the show away, ye know, in the matter of +high-toned ladies like that, but" (very mysteriously, and sinking +his voice to the lowest confidential pitch, as he put his hand to +his ear as if to catch the hushed reply), "what mout hev bin +happening, pard?" + +Considerably amused at the man's simplicity, Kane replied good- +humoredly: "Danced among some champagne bottles on a table at a +party, fell and got cut by glass." + +The stranger nodded his head slowly and approvingly as he repeated +with infinite deliberateness: "Danced on champagne bottles, +champagne! you said, pard? at a pahty! Yes!" (musingly and +approvingly). "I reckon that's about the gait they take. SHE'D do +it." + +"Is there anything I can do for you? sorry to have kept you +waiting," said Kane, glancing at the clock. + +"O ME! Lord! ye needn't mind me. Why, I should wait for anythin' +o' the like o' that, and be just proud to do it! And ye see, I +sorter helped myself while you war busy." + +"Helped yourself?" said Kane in astonishment. + +"Yes, outer that bottle." He pointed to the ammonia bottle, which +still stood on the counter. "It seemed to be handy and popular." + +"Man! you might have poisoned yourself." + +The stranger paused a moment at the idea. "So I mout, I reckon," +he said musingly, "that's so! pizined myself jest ez you was +lookin' arter that high-toned case, and kinder bothered you! It's +like me!" + +"I mean it required diluting; you ought to have taken it in water," +said Kane. + +"I reckon! It DID sorter h'ist me over to the door for a little +fresh air at first! seemed rayther scaldy to the lips. But wot of +it that GOT THAR," he put his hand gravely to his stomach, "did me +pow'ful good." + +"What was the matter with you?" asked Kane. + +"Well, ye see, pard" (confidentially again), "I reckon it's suthin' +along o' my heart. Times it gets to poundin' away like a quartz +stamp, and then it stops suddent like, and kinder leaves ME out +too." + +Kane looked at him more attentively. He was a strong, powerfully +built man with a complexion that betrayed nothing more serious than +the effects of mining cookery. It was evidently a common case of +indigestion. + +"I don't say it would not have done you some good if properly +administered," he replied. "If you like I'll put up a diluted +quantity and directions?" + +"That's me, every time, pardner!" said the stranger with an accent +of relief. "And look yer, don't you stop at that! Ye just put me +up some samples like of anythin' you think mout be likely to hit. +I'll go in for a fair show, and then meander in every now and then, +betwixt times, to let you know. Ye don't mind my drifting in here, +do ye? It's about ez likely a place ez I struck since I've left +the Sacramento boat, and my hotel, just round the corner. Ye just +sample me a bit o' everythin'; don't mind the expense. I'll take +YOUR word for it. The way you--a young fellow--jest stuck to your +work in thar, cool and kam as a woodpecker--not minding how high- +toned she was--nor the jewelery and spangles she had on--jest got +me! I sez to myself, 'Rube,' sez I, 'whatever's wrong o' YOUR +insides, you jest stick to that feller to set ye right.'" + +The junior partner's face reddened as he turned to his shelves +ostensibly for consultation. Conscious of his inexperience, the +homely praise of even this ignorant man was not ungrateful. He +felt, too, that his treatment of the Frenchwoman, though +successful, might not be considered remunerative from a business +point of view by his partner. He accordingly acted upon the +suggestion of the stranger and put up two or three specifics for +dyspepsia. They were received with grateful alacrity and the +casual display of considerable gold in the stranger's pocket in the +process of payment. He was evidently a successful miner. + +After bestowing the bottles carefully about his person, he again +leaned confidentially towards Kane. "I reckon of course you know +this high-toned lady, being in the way of seein' that kind o' +folks. I suppose you won't mind telling me, ez a stranger. But" +(he added hastily, with a deprecatory wave of his hand), "perhaps +ye would." + +Mr. Kane, in fact, had hesitated. He knew vaguely and by report +that Madame le Blanc was the proprietress of a famous restaurant, +over which she had rooms where private gambling was carried on to a +great extent. It was also alleged that she was protected by a +famous gambler and a somewhat notorious bully. Mr. Kane's caution +suggested that he had no right to expose the reputation of his +chance customer. He was silent. + +The stranger's face became intensely sympathetic and apologetic. +"I see!--not another word, pard! It ain't the square thing to be +givin' her away, and I oughtn't to hev asked. Well--so long! I +reckon I'll jest drift back to the hotel. I ain't been in San +Francisker mor' 'n three hours, and I calkilate, pard, that I've +jest seen about ez square a sample of high-toned life as fellers ez +haz bin here a year. Well, hastermanyanner--ez the Greasers say. +I'll be droppin' in to-morrow. My name's Reuben Allen o' Mariposa. +I know yours; it's on the sign, and it ain't Sparlow." + +He cast another lingering glance around the shop, as if loath to +leave it, and then slowly sauntered out of the door, pausing in the +street a moment, in the glare of the red light, before he faded +into darkness. Without knowing exactly why, Kane had an instinct +that the stranger knew no one in San Francisco, and after leaving +the shop was going into utter silence and obscurity. + +A few moments later Dr. Sparlow returned to relieve his wearied +partner. A pushing, active man, he listened impatiently to Kane's +account of his youthful practice with Madame le Blanc, without, +however, dwelling much on his methods. "You ought to have charged +her more," the elder said decisively. "She'd have paid it. She +only came here because she was ashamed to go to a big shop in +Montgomery Street--and she won't come again." + +"But she wants you to see her to-morrow," urged Kane, "and I told +her you would!" + +"You say it was only a superficial cut?" queried the doctor, "and +you closed it? Umph! what can she want to see ME for?" He paid +more attention, however, to the case of the stranger, Allen. "When +he comes here again, manage to let me see him." Mr. Kane promised, +yet for some indefinable reason he went home that night not quite +as well satisfied with himself. + +He was much more concerned the next morning when, after relieving +the doctor for his regular morning visits, he was startled an hour +later by the abrupt return of that gentleman. His face was marked +by some excitement and anxiety, which nevertheless struggled with +that sense of the ludicrous which Californians in those days +imported into most situations of perplexity or catastrophe. +Putting his hands deeply into his trousers pockets, he confronted +his youthful partner behind the counter. + +"How much did you charge that French-woman?" he said gravely. + +"Twenty-five cents," said Kane timidly. + +"Well, I'd give it back and add two hundred and fifty dollars if +she had never entered the shop." + +"What's the matter?" + +"Her head will be--and a mass of it, in a day, I reckon! Why, man, +you put enough plaster on it to clothe and paper the dome of the +Capitol! You drew her scalp together so that she couldn't shut her +eyes without climbing up the bed-post! You mowed her hair off so +that she'll have to wear a wig for the next two years--and handed +it to her in a beau-ti-ful sealed package! They talk of suing me +and killing you out of hand." + +"She was bleeding a great deal and looked faint," said the junior +partner; "I thought I ought to stop that." + +"And you did--by thunder! Though it might have been better +business for the shop if I'd found her a crumbling ruin here, than +lathed and plastered in this fashion, over there! However," he +added, with a laugh, seeing an angry light in his junior partner's +eye, "SHE don't seem to mind it--the cursing all comes from THEM. +SHE rather likes your style and praises it--that's what gets me! +Did you talk to her much," he added, looking critically at his +partner. + +"I only told her to sit still or she'd bleed to death," said Kane +curtly. + +"Humph!--she jabbered something about your being 'strong' and +knowing just how to handle her. Well, it can't be helped now. I +think I came in time for the worst of it and have drawn their fire. +Don't do it again. The next time a woman with a cut head and long +hair tackles you, fill up her scalp with lint and tannin, and pack +her off to some of the big shops and make THEM pick it out." And +with a good-humored nod he started off to finish his interrupted +visits. + +With a vague sense of remorse, and yet a consciousness of some +injustice done him, Mr. Kane resumed his occupation with filters +and funnels, and mortars and triturations. He was so gloomily +preoccupied that he did not, as usual, glance out of the window, or +he would have observed the mining stranger of the previous night +before it. It was not until the man's bowed shoulders blocked the +light of the doorway that he looked up and recognized him. Kane +was in no mood to welcome his appearance. His presence, too, +actively recalled the last night's adventure of which he was a +witness--albeit a sympathizing one. Kane shrank from the illusions +which he felt he would be sure to make. And with his present ill +luck, he was by no means sure that his ministrations even to HIM +had been any more successful than they had been to the Frenchwoman. +But a glance at his good-humored face and kindling eyes removed +that suspicion. Nevertheless, he felt somewhat embarrassed and +impatient, and perhaps could not entirely conceal it. He forgot +that the rudest natures are sometimes the most delicately sensitive +to slights, and the stranger had noticed his manner and began +apologetically. + +"I allowed I'd just drop in anyway to tell ye that these thar pills +you giv' me did me a heap o' good so far--though mebbe it's only +fair to give the others a show too, which I'm reckoning to do." He +paused, and then in a submissive confidence went on: "But first I +wanted to hev you excuse me for havin' asked all them questions +about that high-toned lady last night, when it warn't none of my +business. I am a darned fool." + +Mr. Kane instantly saw that it was no use to keep up his attitude +of secrecy, or impose upon the ignorant, simple man, and said +hurriedly: "Oh no. The lady is very well known. She is the +proprietress of a restaurant down the street--a house open to +everybody. Her name is Madame le Blanc; you may have heard of her +before?" + +To his surprise the man exhibited no diminution of interest nor +change of sentiment at this intelligence. "Then," he said slowly, +"I reckon I might get to see her again. Ye see, Mr. Kane, I rather +took a fancy to her general style and gait--arter seein' her in +that fix last night. It was rather like them play pictures on the +stage. Ye don't think she'd make any fuss to seein' a rough old +'forty-niner' like me?" + +"Hardly," said Kane, "but there might be some objection from her +gentlemen friends," he added, with a smile,--"Jack Lane, a gambler, +who keeps a faro bank in her rooms, and Jimmy O'Ryan, a prize- +fighter, who is one of her 'chuckers out.'" + +His further relation of Madame le Blanc's entourage apparently gave +the miner no concern. He looked at Kane, nodded, and repeated +slowly and appreciatively: "Yes, keeps a gamblin' and faro bank and +a prize-fighter--I reckon that might be about her gait and style +too. And you say she lives"-- + +He stopped, for at this moment a man entered the shop quickly, shut +the door behind him, and turned the key in the lock. It was done +so quickly that Kane instinctively felt that the man had been +loitering in the vicinity and had approached from the side street. +A single glance at the intruder's face and figure showed him that +it was the bully of whom he had just spoken. He had seen that +square, brutal face once before, confronting the police in a riot, +and had not forgotten it. But today, with the flush of liquor on +it, it had an impatient awkwardness and confused embarrassment that +he could not account for. He did not comprehend that the genuine +bully is seldom deliberate of attack, and is obliged--in common +with many of the combative lower animals--to lash himself into a +previous fury of provocation. This probably saved him, as perhaps +some instinctive feeling that he was in no immediate danger kept +him cool. He remained standing quietly behind the counter. Allen +glanced around carelessly, looking at the shelves. + +The silence of the two men apparently increased the ruffian's rage +and embarrassment. Suddenly he leaped into the air with a whoop +and clumsily executed a negro double shuffle on the floor, which +jarred the glasses--yet was otherwise so singularly ineffective and +void of purpose that he stopped in the midst of it and had to +content himself with glaring at Kane. + +"Well," said Kane quietly, "what does all this mean? What do you +want here?" + +"What does it mean?" repeated the bully, finding his voice in a +high falsetto, designed to imitate Kane's. "It means I'm going to +play merry h-ll with this shop! It means I'm goin' to clean it out +and the blank hair-cuttin' blank that keeps it. What do I want +here? Well--what I want I intend to help myself to, and all h-ll +can't stop me! And" (working himself to the striking point) "who +the blank are you to ask me?" He sprang towards the counter, but +at the same moment Allen seemed to slip almost imperceptibly and +noiselessly between them, and Kane found himself confronted only by +the miner's broad back. + +"Hol' yer hosses, stranger," said Allen slowly, as the ruffian +suddenly collided with his impassive figure. "I'm a sick man +comin' in yer for medicine. I've got somethin' wrong with my +heart, and goin's on like this yer kinder sets it to thumpin'." + +"Blank you and your blank heart!" screamed the bully, turning in a +fury of amazement and contempt at this impotent interruption. +"Who"--but his voice stopped. Allen's powerful right arm had +passed over his head and shoulders like a steel hoop, and pinioned +his elbows against his sides. Held rigidly upright, he attempted +to kick, but Allen's right leg here advanced, and firmly held his +lower limbs against the counter that shook to his struggles and +blasphemous outcries. Allen turned quietly to Kane, and, with a +gesture of his unemployed arm, said confidentially: + +"Would ye mind passing me down that ar Romantic Spirits of Ammonyer +ye gave me last night?" + +Kane caught the idea, and handed him the bottle. + +"Thar," said Allen, taking out the stopper and holding the pungent +spirit against the bully's dilated nostrils and vociferous mouth, +"thar, smell that, and taste it, it will do ye good; it was +powerful kammin' to ME last night." + +The ruffian gasped, coughed, choked, but his blaspheming voice died +away in a suffocating hiccough. + +"Thar," continued Allen, as his now subdued captive relaxed his +struggling, "ye 'r' better, and so am I. It's quieter here now, +and ye ain't affectin' my heart so bad. A little fresh air will +make us both all right." He turned again to Kane in his former +subdued confidential manner. + +"Would ye mind openin' that door?" + +Kane flew to the door, unlocked it, and held it wide open. The +bully again began to struggle, but a second inhalation of the +hartshorn quelled him, and enabled his captor to drag him to the +door. As they emerged upon the sidewalk, the bully, with a final +desperate struggle, freed his arm and grasped his pistol at his +hip-pocket, but at the same moment Allen deliberately caught his +hand, and with a powerful side throw cast him on the pavement, +retaining the weapon in his own hand. "I've one of my own," he +said to the prostrate man, "but I reckon I'll keep this yer too, +until you're better." + +The crowd that had collected quickly, recognizing the notorious and +discomfited bully, were not of a class to offer him any sympathy, +and he slunk away followed by their jeers. Allen returned quietly +to the shop. Kane was profuse in his thanks, and yet oppressed +with his simple friend's fatuous admiration for a woman who could +keep such ruffians in her employ. "You know who that man was, I +suppose?" he said. + +"I reckon it was that 'er prize-fighter belongin' to that high- +toned lady," returned Allen simply. "But he don't know anything +about RASTLIN', b'gosh; only that I was afraid o' bringin' on that +heart trouble, I mout hev hurt him bad." + +"They think"--hesitated Kane, "that--I--was rough in my treatment +of that woman and maliciously cut off her hair. This attack was +revenge--or"--he hesitated still more, as he remembered Dr. +Sparlow's indication of the woman's feeling--"or that bully's idea +of revenge." + +"I see," nodded Allen, opening his small sympathetic eyes on Kane +with an exasperating air of secrecy--"just jealousy." + +Kane reddened in sheer hopelessness of explanation. "No; it was +earning his wages, as he thought." + +"Never ye mind, pard," said Allen confidentially. "I'll set 'em +both right. Ye see, this sorter gives me a show to call at that +thar restaurant and give HIM back his six-shooter, and set her on +the right trail for you. Why, Lordy! I was here when you was +fixin' her--I'm testimony o' the way you did it--and she'll +remember me. I'll sorter waltz round thar this afternoon. But I +reckon I won't be keepin' YOU from your work any longer. And look +yar!--I say, pard!--this is seein' life in 'Frisco--ain't it? +Gosh! I've had more high times in this very shop in two days, than +I've had in two years of St. Jo. So long, Mr. Kane!" He waved his +hand, lounged slowly out of the shop, gave a parting glance up the +street, passed the window, and was gone. + +The next day being a half-holiday for Kane, he did not reach the +shop until afternoon. "Your mining friend Allen has been here," +said Doctor Sparlow. "I took the liberty of introducing myself, +and induced him to let me carefully examine him. He was a little +shy, and I am sorry for it, as I fear he has some serious organic +trouble with his heart and ought to have a more thorough +examination." Seeing Kane's unaffected concern, he added, "You +might influence him to do so. He's a good fellow and ought to take +some care of himself. By the way, he told me to tell you that he'd +seen Madame le Blanc and made it all right about you. He seems to +be quite infatuated with the woman." + +"I'm sorry he ever saw her," said Kane bitterly. + +"Well, his seeing her seems to have saved the shop from being +smashed up, and you from getting a punched head," returned the +Doctor with a laugh. "He's no fool--yet it's a freak of human +nature that a simple hayseed like that--a man who's lived in the +backwoods all his life, is likely to be the first to tumble before +a pot of French rouge like her." + +Indeed, in a couple of weeks, there was no further doubt of Mr. +Reuben Allen's infatuation. He dropped into the shop frequently on +his way to and from the restaurant, where he now regularly took his +meals; he spent his evenings in gambling in its private room. Yet +Kane was by no means sure that he was losing his money there +unfairly, or that he was used as a pigeon by the proprietress and +her friends. The bully O'Ryan was turned away; Sparlow grimly +suggested that Allen had simply taken his place, but Kane +ingeniously retorted that the Doctor was only piqued because Allen +had evaded his professional treatment. Certainly the patient had +never consented to another examination, although he repeatedly and +gravely bought medicines, and was a generous customer. Once or +twice Kane thought it his duty to caution Allen against his new +friends and enlighten him as to Madame le Blanc's reputation, but +his suggestions were received with a good-humored submission that +was either the effect of unbelief or of perfect resignation to the +fact, and he desisted. One morning Dr. Sparlow said cheerfully:-- + +"Would you like to hear the last thing about your friend and the +Frenchwoman? The boys can't account for her singling out a fellow +like that for her friend, so they say that the night that she cut +herself at the fete and dropped in here for assistance, she found +nobody here but Allen--a chance customer! That it was HE who cut +off her hair and bound up her wounds in that sincere fashion, and +she believed he had saved her life." The Doctor grinned maliciously +as he added: "And as that's the way history is written you see your +reputation is safe." + +It may have been a month later that San Francisco was thrown into a +paroxysm of horror and indignation over the assassination of a +prominent citizen and official in the gambling-rooms of Madame le +Blanc, at the hands of a notorious gambler. The gambler had +escaped, but in one of those rare spasms of vengeful morality which +sometimes overtakes communities who have too long winked at and +suffered the existence of evil, the fair proprietress and her whole +entourage were arrested and haled before the coroner's jury at the +inquest. The greatest excitement prevailed; it was said that if +the jury failed in their duty, the Vigilance Committee had arranged +for the destruction of the establishment and the deportation of its +inmates. The crowd that had collected around the building was +reinforced by Kane and Dr. Sparlow, who had closed their shop in +the next block to attend. When Kane had fought his way into the +building and the temporary court, held in the splendidly furnished +gambling saloon, whose gilded mirrors reflected the eager faces of +the crowd, the Chief of Police was giving his testimony in a formal +official manner, impressive only for its relentless and impassive +revelation of the character and antecedents of the proprietress. +The house had been long under the espionage of the police; Madame +le Blanc had a dozen aliases; she was "wanted" in New Orleans, in +New York, in Havana! It was in HER house that Dyer, the bank +clerk, committed suicide; it was there that Colonel Hooley was set +upon by her bully, O'Ryan; it was she--Kane heard with reddening +cheeks--who defied the police with riotous conduct at a fete two +months ago. As he coolly recited the counts of this shameful +indictment, Kane looked eagerly around for Allen, whom he knew had +been arrested as a witness. How would HE take this terrible +disclosure? He was sitting with the others, his arm thrown over +the back of his chair, and his good-humored face turned towards the +woman, in his old confidential attitude. SHE, gorgeously dressed, +painted, but unblushing, was cool, collected, and cynical. + +The Coroner next called the only witness of the actual tragedy, +"Reuben Allen." The man did not move nor change his position. The +summons was repeated; a policeman touched him on the shoulder. +There was a pause, and the officer announced: "He has fainted, your +Honor!" + +"Is there a physician present?" asked the Coroner. + +Sparlow edged his way quickly to the front. "I'm a medical man," +he said to the Coroner, as he passed quickly to the still, upright, +immovable figure and knelt beside it with his head upon his heart. +There was an awed silence as, after a pause, he rose slowly to his +feet. + +"The witness is a patient, your Honor, whom I examined some weeks +ago and found suffering from valvular disease of the heart. He is +dead." + + + +THREE VAGABONDS OF TRINIDAD + + +"Oh! it's you, is it?" said the Editor. + +The Chinese boy to whom the colloquialism was addressed answered +literally, after his habit:-- + +"Allee same Li Tee; me no changee. Me no ollee China boy." + +"That's so," said the Editor with an air of conviction. "I don't +suppose there's another imp like you in all Trinidad County. Well, +next time don't scratch outside there like a gopher, but come in." + +"Lass time," suggested Li Tee blandly, "me tap tappee. You no like +tap tappee. You say, alle same dam woodpeckel." + +It was quite true--the highly sylvan surroundings of the Trinidad +"Sentinel" office--a little clearing in a pine forest--and its +attendant fauna, made these signals confusing. An accurate +imitation of a woodpecker was also one of Li Tee's accomplishments. + +The Editor without replying finished the note he was writing; at +which Li Tee, as if struck by some coincident recollection, lifted +up his long sleeve, which served him as a pocket, and carelessly +shook out a letter on the table like a conjuring trick. The +Editor, with a reproachful glance at him, opened it. It was only +the ordinary request of an agricultural subscriber--one Johnson-- +that the Editor would "notice" a giant radish grown by the +subscriber and sent by the bearer. + +"Where's the radish, Li Tee?" said the Editor suspiciously. + +"No hab got. Ask Mellikan boy." + +"What?" + +Here Li Tee condescended to explain that on passing the schoolhouse +he had been set upon by the schoolboys, and that in the struggle +the big radish--being, like most such monstrosities of the quick +Californian soil, merely a mass of organized water--was "mashed" +over the head of some of his assailants. The Editor, painfully +aware of these regular persecutions of his errand boy, and perhaps +realizing that a radish which could not be used as a bludgeon was +not of a sustaining nature, forebore any reproof. "But I cannot +notice what I haven't seen, Li Tee," he said good-humoredly. + +"S'pose you lie--allee same as Johnson," suggested Li with equal +cheerfulness. "He foolee you with lotten stuff--you foolee +Mellikan man, allee same." + +The Editor preserved a dignified silence until he had addressed his +letter. "Take this to Mrs. Martin," he said, handing it to the +boy; "and mind you keep clear of the schoolhouse. Don't go by the +Flat either if the men are at work, and don't, if you value your +skin, pass Flanigan's shanty, where you set off those firecrackers +and nearly burnt him out the other day. Look out for Barker's dog +at the crossing, and keep off the main road if the tunnel men are +coming over the hill." Then remembering that he had virtually +closed all the ordinary approaches to Mrs. Martin's house, he +added, "Better go round by the woods, where you won't meet ANY +ONE." + +The boy darted off through the open door, and the Editor stood for +a moment looking regretfully after him. He liked his little +protege ever since that unfortunate child--a waif from a Chinese +wash-house--was impounded by some indignant miners for bringing +home a highly imperfect and insufficient washing, and kept as +hostage for a more proper return of the garments. Unfortunately, +another gang of miners, equally aggrieved, had at the same time +looted the wash-house and driven off the occupants, so that Li Tee +remained unclaimed. For a few weeks he became a sporting appendage +of the miners' camp; the stolid butt of good-humored practical +jokes, the victim alternately of careless indifference or of +extravagant generosity. He received kicks and half-dollars +intermittently, and pocketed both with stoical fortitude. But +under this treatment he presently lost the docility and frugality +which was part of his inheritance, and began to put his small wits +against his tormentors, until they grew tired of their own mischief +and his. But they knew not what to do with him. His pretty +nankeen-yellow skin debarred him from the white "public school," +while, although as a heathen he might have reasonably claimed +attention from the Sabbath-school, the parents who cheerfully gave +their contributions to the heathen ABROAD, objected to him as a +companion of their children in the church at home. At this +juncture the Editor offered to take him into his printing office as +a "devil." For a while he seemed to be endeavoring, in his old +literal way, to act up to that title. He inked everything but the +press. He scratched Chinese characters of an abusive import on +"leads," printed them, and stuck them about the office; he put +"punk" in the foreman's pipe, and had been seen to swallow small +type merely as a diabolical recreation. As a messenger he was +fleet of foot, but uncertain of delivery. Some time previously the +Editor had enlisted the sympathies of Mrs. Martin, the good-natured +wife of a farmer, to take him in her household on trial, but on the +third day Li Tee had run away. Yet the Editor had not despaired, +and it was to urge her to a second attempt that he dispatched that +letter. + +He was still gazing abstractedly into the depths of the wood when +he was conscious of a slight movement--but no sound--in a clump of +hazel near him, and a stealthy figure glided from it. He at once +recognized it as "Jim," a well-known drunken Indian vagrant of the +settlement--tied to its civilization by the single link of "fire +water," for which he forsook equally the Reservation where it was +forbidden and his own camps where it was unknown. Unconscious of +his silent observer, he dropped upon all fours, with his ear and +nose alternately to the ground like some tracking animal. Then +having satisfied himself, he rose, and bending forward in a dogged +trot, made a straight line for the woods. He was followed a few +seconds later by his dog--a slinking, rough, wolf-like brute, whose +superior instinct, however, made him detect the silent presence of +some alien humanity in the person of the Editor, and to recognize +it with a yelp of habit, anticipatory of the stone that he knew was +always thrown at him. + +"That's cute," said a voice, "but it's just what I expected all +along." + +The Editor turned quickly. His foreman was standing behind him, +and had evidently noticed the whole incident. + +"It's what I allus said," continued the man. "That boy and that +Injin are thick as thieves. Ye can't see one without the other-- +and they've got their little tricks and signals by which they +follow each other. T'other day when you was kalkilatin' Li Tee was +doin' your errands I tracked him out on the marsh, just by +followin' that ornery, pizenous dog o' Jim's. There was the whole +caboodle of 'em--including Jim--campin' out, and eatin' raw fish +that Jim had ketched, and green stuff they had both sneaked outer +Johnson's garden. Mrs. Martin may TAKE him, but she won't keep him +long while Jim's round. What makes Li foller that blamed old Injin +soaker, and what makes Jim, who, at least, is a 'Merican, take up +with a furrin' heathen, just gets me." + +The Editor did not reply. He had heard something of this before. +Yet, after all, why should not these equal outcasts of civilization +cling together! + + . . . . . . + +Li Tee's stay with Mrs. Martin was brief. His departure was +hastened by an untoward event--apparently ushered in, as in the +case of other great calamities, by a mysterious portent in the sky. +One morning an extraordinary bird of enormous dimensions was seen +approaching from the horizon, and eventually began to hover over +the devoted town. Careful scrutiny of this ominous fowl, however, +revealed the fact that it was a monstrous Chinese kite, in the +shape of a flying dragon. The spectacle imparted considerable +liveliness to the community, which, however, presently changed to +some concern and indignation. It appeared that the kite was +secretly constructed by Li Tee in a secluded part of Mrs. Martin's +clearing, but when it was first tried by him he found that through +some error of design it required a tail of unusual proportions. +This he hurriedly supplied by the first means he found--Mrs. +Martin's clothes-line, with part of the weekly wash depending from +it. This fact was not at first noticed by the ordinary sightseer, +although the tail seemed peculiar--yet, perhaps, not more peculiar +than a dragon's tail ought to be. But when the actual theft was +discovered and reported through the town, a vivacious interest was +created, and spy-glasses were used to identify the various articles +of apparel still hanging on that ravished clothes-line. These +garments, in the course of their slow disengagement from the +clothes-pins through the gyrations of the kite, impartially +distributed themselves over the town--one of Mrs. Martin's +stockings falling upon the veranda of the Polka Saloon, and the +other being afterwards discovered on the belfry of the First +Methodist Church--to the scandal of the congregation. It would +have been well if the result of Li Tee's invention had ended here. +Alas! the kite-flyer and his accomplice, "Injin Jim," were tracked +by means of the kite's tell-tale cord to a lonely part of the marsh +and rudely dispossessed of their charge by Deacon Hornblower and a +constable. Unfortunately, the captors overlooked the fact that the +kite-flyers had taken the precaution of making a "half-turn" of the +stout cord around a log to ease the tremendous pull of the kite-- +whose power the captors had not reckoned upon--and the Deacon +incautiously substituted his own body for the log. A singular +spectacle is said to have then presented itself to the on-lookers. +The Deacon was seen to be running wildly by leaps and bounds over +the marsh after the kite, closely followed by the constable in +equally wild efforts to restrain him by tugging at the end of the +line. The extraordinary race continued to the town until the +constable fell, losing his hold of the line. This seemed to impart +a singular specific levity to the Deacon, who, to the astonishment +of everybody, incontinently sailed up into a tree! When he was +succored and cut down from the demoniac kite, he was found to have +sustained a dislocation of the shoulder, and the constable was +severely shaken. By that one infelicitous stroke the two outcasts +made an enemy of the Law and the Gospel as represented in Trinidad +County. It is to be feared also that the ordinary emotional instinct +of a frontier community, to which they were now simply abandoned, +was as little to be trusted. In this dilemma they disappeared from +the town the next day--no one knew where. A pale blue smoke rising +from a lonely island in the bay for some days afterwards suggested +their possible refuge. But nobody greatly cared. The sympathetic +mediation of the Editor was characteristically opposed by Mr. Parkin +Skinner, a prominent citizen:-- + +"It's all very well for you to talk sentiment about niggers, +Chinamen, and Injins, and you fellers can laugh about the Deacon +being snatched up to heaven like Elijah in that blamed Chinese +chariot of a kite--but I kin tell you, gentlemen, that this is a +white man's country! Yes, sir, you can't get over it! The nigger +of every description--yeller, brown, or black, call him 'Chinese,' +'Injin,' or 'Kanaka,' or what you like--hez to clar off of God's +footstool when the Anglo-Saxon gets started! It stands to reason +that they can't live alongside o' printin' presses, M'Cormick's +reapers, and the Bible! Yes, sir! the Bible; and Deacon Hornblower +kin prove it to you. It's our manifest destiny to clar them out-- +that's what we was put here for--and it's just the work we've got +to do!" + +I have ventured to quote Mr. Skinner's stirring remarks to show +that probably Jim and Li Tee ran away only in anticipation of a +possible lynching, and to prove that advanced sentiments of this +high and ennobling nature really obtained forty years ago in an +ordinary American frontier town which did not then dream of +Expansion and Empire! + +Howbeit, Mr. Skinner did not make allowance for mere human nature. +One morning Master Bob Skinner, his son, aged twelve, evaded the +schoolhouse, and started in an old Indian "dug-out" to invade the +island of the miserable refugees. His purpose was not clearly +defined to himself, but was to be modified by circumstances. He +would either capture Li Tee and Jim, or join them in their lawless +existence. He had prepared himself for either event by +surreptitiously borrowing his father's gun. He also carried +victuals, having heard that Jim ate grasshoppers and Li Tee rats, +and misdoubting his own capacity for either diet. He paddled +slowly, well in shore, to be secure from observation at home, and +then struck out boldly in his leaky canoe for the island--a tufted, +tussocky shred of the marshy promontory torn off in some tidal +storm. It was a lovely day, the bay being barely ruffled by the +afternoon "trades;" but as he neared the island he came upon the +swell from the bar and the thunders of the distant Pacific, and +grew a little frightened. The canoe, losing way, fell into the +trough of the swell, shipping salt water, still more alarming to +the prairie-bred boy. Forgetting his plan of a stealthy invasion, +he shouted lustily as the helpless and water-logged boat began to +drift past the island; at which a lithe figure emerged from the +reeds, threw off a tattered blanket, and slipped noiselessly, like +some animal, into the water. It was Jim, who, half wading, half +swimming, brought the canoe and boy ashore. Master Skinner at once +gave up the idea of invasion, and concluded to join the refugees. + +This was easy in his defenceless state, and his manifest delight in +their rude encampment and gypsy life, although he had been one of +Li Tee's oppressors in the past. But that stolid pagan had a +philosophical indifference which might have passed for Christian +forgiveness, and Jim's native reticence seemed like assent. And, +possibly, in the minds of these two vagabonds there might have been +a natural sympathy for this other truant from civilization, and +some delicate flattery in the fact that Master Skinner was not +driven out, but came of his own accord. Howbeit, they fished +together, gathered cranberries on the marsh, shot a wild duck and +two plovers, and when Master Skinner assisted in the cooking of +their fish in a conical basket sunk in the ground, filled with +water, heated by rolling red-hot stones from their drift-wood fire +into the buried basket, the boy's felicity was supreme. And what +an afternoon! To lie, after this feast, on their bellies in the +grass, replete like animals, hidden from everything but the +sunshine above them; so quiet that gray clouds of sandpipers +settled fearlessly around them, and a shining brown muskrat slipped +from the ooze within a few feet of their faces--was to feel +themselves a part of the wild life in earth and sky. Not that +their own predatory instincts were hushed by this divine peace; +that intermitting black spot upon the water, declared by the Indian +to be a seal, the stealthy glide of a yellow fox in the ambush of a +callow brood of mallards, the momentary straying of an elk from the +upland upon the borders of the marsh, awoke their tingling nerves +to the happy but fruitless chase. And when night came, too soon, +and they pigged together around the warm ashes of their camp-fire, +under the low lodge poles of their wigwam of dried mud, reeds, and +driftwood, with the combined odors of fish, wood-smoke, and the +warm salt breath of the marsh in their nostrils, they slept +contentedly. The distant lights of the settlement went out one by +one, the stars came out, very large and very silent, to take their +places. The barking of a dog on the nearest point was followed by +another farther inland. But Jim's dog, curled at the feet of his +master, did not reply. What had HE to do with civilization? + +The morning brought some fear of consequences to Master Skinner, +but no abatement of his resolve not to return. But here he was +oddly combated by Li Tee. "S'pose you go back allee same. You +tellee fam'lee canoe go topside down--you plentee swimee to bush. +Allee night in bush. Housee big way off--how can get? Sabe?" + +"And I'll leave the gun, and tell Dad that when the canoe upset the +gun got drowned," said the boy eagerly. + +Li Tee nodded. + +"And come again Saturday, and bring more powder and shot and a +bottle for Jim," said Master Skinner excitedly. + +"Good!" grunted the Indian. + +Then they ferried the boy over to the peninsula, and set him on a +trail across the marshes, known only to themselves, which would +bring him home. And when the Editor the next morning chronicled +among his news, "Adrift on the Bay--A Schoolboy's Miraculous +Escape," he knew as little what part his missing Chinese errand boy +had taken in it as the rest of his readers. + +Meantime the two outcasts returned to their island camp. It may +have occurred to them that a little of the sunlight had gone from +it with Bob; for they were in a dull, stupid way fascinated by the +little white tyrant who had broken bread with them. He had been +delightfully selfish and frankly brutal to them, as only a +schoolboy could be, with the addition of the consciousness of his +superior race. Yet they each longed for his return, although he +was seldom mentioned in their scanty conversation--carried on in +monosyllables, each in his own language, or with some common +English word, or more often restricted solely to signs. By a +delicate flattery, when they did speak of him it was in what they +considered to be his own language. + +"Boston boy, plenty like catchee HIM," Jim would say, pointing to a +distant swan. Or Li Tee, hunting a striped water snake from the +reeds, would utter stolidly, "Melikan boy no likee snake." Yet the +next two days brought some trouble and physical discomfort to them. +Bob had consumed, or wasted, all their provisions--and, still more +unfortunately, his righteous visit, his gun, and his superabundant +animal spirits had frightened away the game, which their habitual +quiet and taciturnity had beguiled into trustfulness. They were +half starved, but they did not blame him. It would come all right +when he returned. They counted the days, Jim with secret notches +on the long pole, Li Tee with a string of copper "cash" he always +kept with him. The eventful day came at last,--a warm autumn day, +patched with inland fog like blue smoke and smooth, tranquil, open +surfaces of wood and sea; but to their waiting, confident eyes the +boy came not out of either. They kept a stolid silence all that +day until night fell, when Jim said, "Mebbe Boston boy go dead." +Li Tee nodded. It did not seem possible to these two heathens that +anything else could prevent the Christian child from keeping his +word. + +After that, by the aid of the canoe, they went much on the marsh, +hunting apart, but often meeting on the trail which Bob had taken, +with grunts of mutual surprise. These suppressed feelings, never +made known by word or gesture, at last must have found vicarious +outlet in the taciturn dog, who so far forgot his usual discretion +as to once or twice seat himself on the water's edge and indulge in +a fit of howling. It had been a custom of Jim's on certain days to +retire to some secluded place, where, folded in his blanket, with +his back against a tree, he remained motionless for hours. In the +settlement this had been usually referred to the after effects of +drink, known as the "horrors," but Jim had explained it by saying +it was "when his heart was bad." And now it seemed, by these +gloomy abstractions, that "his heart was bad" very often. And then +the long withheld rains came one night on the wings of a fierce +southwester, beating down their frail lodge and scattering it +abroad, quenching their camp-fire, and rolling up the bay until it +invaded their reedy island and hissed in their ears. It drove the +game from Jim's gun; it tore the net and scattered the bait of Li +Tee, the fisherman. Cold and half starved in heart and body, but +more dogged and silent than ever, they crept out in their canoe +into the storm-tossed bay, barely escaping with their miserable +lives to the marshy peninsula. Here, on their enemy's ground, +skulking in the rushes, or lying close behind tussocks, they at +last reached the fringe of forest below the settlement. Here, too, +sorely pressed by hunger, and doggedly reckless of consequences, +they forgot their caution, and a flight of teal fell to Jim's gun +on the very outskirts of the settlement. + +It was a fatal shot, whose echoes awoke the forces of civilization +against them. For it was heard by a logger in his hut near the +marsh, who, looking out, had seen Jim pass. A careless, good- +natured frontiersman, he might have kept the outcasts' mere +presence to himself; but there was that damning shot! An Indian +with a gun! That weapon, contraband of law, with dire fines and +penalties to whoso sold or gave it to him! A thing to be looked +into--some one to be punished! An Indian with a weapon that made +him the equal of the white! Who was safe? He hurried to town to +lay his information before the constable, but, meeting Mr. Skinner, +imparted the news to him. The latter pooh-poohed the constable, +who he alleged had not yet discovered the whereabouts of Jim, and +suggested that a few armed citizens should make the chase +themselves. The fact was that Mr. Skinner, never quite satisfied +in his mind with his son's account of the loss of the gun, had put +two and two together, and was by no means inclined to have his own +gun possibly identified by the legal authority. Moreover, he went +home and at once attacked Master Bob with such vigor and so highly +colored a description of the crime he had committed, and the +penalties attached to it, that Bob confessed. More than that, I +grieve to say that Bob lied. The Indian had "stoled his gun," and +threatened his life if he divulged the theft. He told how he was +ruthlessly put ashore, and compelled to take a trail only known to +them to reach his home. In two hours it was reported throughout +the settlement that the infamous Jim had added robbery with +violence to his illegal possession of the weapon. The secret of +the island and the trail over the marsh was told only to a few. + +Meantime it had fared hard with the fugitives. Their nearness to +the settlement prevented them from lighting a fire, which might +have revealed their hiding-place, and they crept together, +shivering all night in a clump of hazel. Scared thence by passing +but unsuspecting wayfarers wandering off the trail, they lay part +of the next day and night amid some tussocks of salt grass, blown +on by the cold sea-breeze; chilled, but securely hidden from sight. +Indeed, thanks to some mysterious power they had of utter +immobility, it was wonderful how they could efface themselves, +through quiet and the simplest environment. The lee side of a +straggling vine in the meadow, or even the thin ridge of cast-up +drift on the shore, behind which they would lie for hours +motionless, was a sufficient barrier against prying eyes. In this +occupation they no longer talked together, but followed each other +with the blind instinct of animals--yet always unerringly, as if +conscious of each other's plans. Strangely enough, it was the REAL +animal alone--their nameless dog--who now betrayed impatience and a +certain human infirmity of temper. The concealment they were +resigned to, the sufferings they mutely accepted, he alone +resented! When certain scents or sounds, imperceptible to their +senses, were blown across their path, he would, with bristling +back, snarl himself into guttural and strangulated fury. Yet, in +their apathy, even this would have passed them unnoticed, but that +on the second night he disappeared suddenly, returning after two +hours' absence with bloody jaws--replete, but still slinking and +snappish. It was only in the morning that, creeping on their hands +and knees through the stubble, they came upon the torn and mangled +carcass of a sheep. The two men looked at each other without +speaking--they knew what this act of rapine meant to themselves. +It meant a fresh hue and cry after them--it meant that their +starving companion had helped to draw the net closer round them. +The Indian grunted, Li Tee smiled vacantly; but with their knives +and fingers they finished what the dog had begun, and became +equally culpable. But that they were heathens, they could not have +achieved a delicate ethical responsibility in a more Christian-like +way. + +Yet the rice-fed Li Tee suffered most in their privations. His +habitual apathy increased with a certain physical lethargy which +Jim could not understand. When they were apart he sometimes found +Li Tee stretched on his back with an odd stare in his eyes, and +once, at a distance, he thought he saw a vague thin vapor drift +from where the Chinese boy was lying and vanish as he approached. +When he tried to arouse him there was a weak drawl in his voice and +a drug-like odor in his breath. Jim dragged him to a more +substantial shelter, a thicket of alder. It was dangerously near +the frequented road, but a vague idea had sprung up in Jim's now +troubled mind that, equal vagabonds though they were, Li Tee had +more claims upon civilization, through those of his own race who +were permitted to live among the white men, and were not hunted to +"reservations" and confined there like Jim's people. If Li Tee was +"heap sick," other Chinamen might find and nurse him. As for Li +Tee, he had lately said, in a more lucid interval: "Me go dead-- +allee samee Mellikan boy. You go dead too--allee samee," and then +lay down again with a glassy stare in his eyes. Far from being +frightened at this, Jim attributed his condition to some +enchantment that Li Tee had evoked from one of his gods--just as he +himself had seen "medicine-men" of his own tribe fall into strange +trances, and was glad that the boy no longer suffered. The day +advanced, and Li Tee still slept. Jim could hear the church bells +ringing; he knew it was Sunday--the day on which he was hustled +from the main street by the constable; the day on which the shops +were closed, and the drinking saloons open only at the back door. +The day whereon no man worked--and for that reason, though he knew +it not, the day selected by the ingenious Mr. Skinner and a few +friends as especially fitting and convenient for a chase of the +fugitives. The bell brought no suggestion of this--though the dog +snapped under his breath and stiffened his spine. And then he +heard another sound, far off and vague, yet one that brought a +flash into his murky eye, that lit up the heaviness of his Hebraic +face, and even showed a slight color in his high cheek-bones. He +lay down on the ground, and listened with suspended breath. He +heard it now distinctly. It was the Boston boy calling, and the +word he was calling was "Jim." + +Then the fire dropped out of his eyes as he turned with his usual +stolidity to where Li Tee was lying. Him he shook, saying briefly: +"Boston boy come back!" But there was no reply, the dead body +rolled over inertly under his hand; the head fell back, and the jaw +dropped under the pinched yellow face. The Indian gazed at him +slowly, and then gravely turned again in the direction of the +voice. Yet his dull mind was perplexed, for, blended with that +voice were other sounds like the tread of clumsily stealthy feet. +But again the voice called "Jim!" and raising his hands to his lips +he gave a low whoop in reply. This was followed by silence, when +suddenly he heard the voice--the boy's voice--once again, this time +very near him, saying eagerly:-- + +"There he is!" + +Then the Indian knew all. His face, however, did not change as he +took up his gun, and a man stepped out of the thicket into the +trail:-- + +"Drop that gun, you d----d Injin." + +The Indian did not move. + +"Drop it, I say!" + +The Indian remained erect and motionless. + +A rifle shot broke from the thicket. At first it seemed to have +missed the Indian, and the man who had spoken cocked his own rifle. +But the next moment the tall figure of Jim collapsed where he stood +into a mere blanketed heap. + +The man who had fired the shot walked towards the heap with the +easy air of a conqueror. But suddenly there arose before him an +awful phantom, the incarnation of savagery--a creature of blazing +eyeballs, flashing tusks, and hot carnivorous breath. He had +barely time to cry out "A wolf!" before its jaws met in his throat, +and they rolled together on the ground. + +But it was no wolf--as a second shot proved--only Jim's slinking +dog; the only one of the outcasts who at that supreme moment had +gone back to his original nature. + + + +A VISION OF THE FOUNTAIN + + +Mr. Jackson Potter halted before the little cottage, half shop, +half hostelry, opposite the great gates of Domesday Park, where +tickets of admission to that venerable domain were sold. Here Mr. +Potter revealed his nationality as a Western American, not only in +his accent, but in a certain half-humorous, half-practical +questioning of the ticket-seller--as that quasi-official stamped +his ticket--which was nevertheless delivered with such unfailing +good-humor, and such frank suggestiveness of the perfect equality +of the ticket-seller and the well-dressed stranger that, far from +producing any irritation, it attracted the pleased attention not +only of the official, but his wife and daughter and a customer. +Possibly the good looks of the stranger had something to do with +it. Jackson Potter was a singularly handsome young fellow, with +one of those ideal faces and figures sometimes seen in Western +frontier villages, attributable to no ancestor, but evolved +possibly from novels and books devoured by ancestresses in the long +solitary winter evenings of their lonely cabins on the frontier. A +beardless, classical head, covered by short flocculent blonde +curls, poised on a shapely neck and shoulders, was more Greek in +outline than suggestive of any ordinary American type. Finally, +after having thoroughly amused his small audience, he lifted his +straw hat to the "ladies," and lounged out across the road to the +gateway. Here he paused, consulting his guide-book, and read +aloud: "St. John's gateway. This massive structure, according to +Leland, was built in"--murmured--"never mind when; we'll pass St. +John," marked the page with his pencil, and tendering his ticket to +the gate-keeper, heard, with some satisfaction, that, as there were +no other visitors just then, and as the cicerone only accompanied +PARTIES, he would be left to himself, and at once plunged into a +by-path. + +It was that loveliest of rare creations--a hot summer day in +England, with all the dampness of that sea-blown isle wrung out of +it, exhaled in the quivering blue vault overhead, or passing as dim +wraiths in the distant wood, and all the long-matured growth of +that great old garden vivified and made resplendent by the fervid +sun. The ashes of dead and gone harvests, even the dust of those +who had for ages wrought in it, turned again and again through +incessant cultivation, seemed to move and live once more in that +present sunshine. All color appeared to be deepened and mellowed, +until even the very shadows of the trees were as velvety as the +sward they fell upon. The prairie-bred Potter, accustomed to the +youthful caprices and extravagances of his own virgin soil, could +not help feeling the influence of the ripe restraints of this. + +As he glanced through the leaves across green sunlit spaces to the +ivy-clad ruins of Domesday Abbey, which seemed itself a growth of +the very soil, he murmured to himself: "Things had been made mighty +comfortable for folks here, you bet!" Forgotten books he had read +as a boy, scraps of school histories, or rarer novels, came back to +him as he walked along, and peopled the solitude about him with +their heroes. + +Nevertheless, it was unmistakably hot--a heat homelike in its +intensity, yet of a different effect, throwing him into languid +reverie rather than filling his veins with fire. Secure in his +seclusion in the leafy chase, he took off his jacket and rambled on +in his shirt sleeves. Through the opening he presently saw the +abbey again, with the restored wing where the noble owner lived for +two or three weeks in the year, but now given over to the +prevailing solitude. And then, issuing from the chase, he came +upon a broad, moss-grown terrace. Before him stretched a tangled +and luxuriant wilderness of shrubs and flowers, darkened by cypress +and cedars of Lebanon; its dun depths illuminated by dazzling white +statues, vases, trellises, and paved paths, choked and lost in the +trailing growths of years of abandonment and forgetfulness. He +consulted his guide-book again. It was the "old Italian garden," +constructed under the design of a famous Italian gardener by the +third duke; but its studied formality being displeasing to his +successor, it was allowed to fall into picturesque decay and +negligent profusion, which were not, however, disturbed by later +descendants,--a fact deplored by the artistic writer of the guide- +book, who mournfully called attention to the rare beauty of the +marble statues, urns, and fountains, ruined by neglect, although +one or two of the rarer objects had been removed to Deep Dene +Lodge, another seat of the present duke. + +It is needless to say that Mr. Potter conceived at once a humorous +opposition to the artistic enthusiasm of the critic, and, plunging +into the garden, took a mischievous delight in its wildness and the +victorious struggle of nature with the formality of art. At every +step through the tangled labyrinth he could see where precision and +order had been invaded, and even the rigid masonry broken or +upheaved by the rebellious force. Yet here and there the two +powers had combined to offer an example of beauty neither could +have effected alone. A passion vine had overrun and enclasped a +vase with a perfect symmetry no sculptor could have achieved. A +heavy balustrade was made ethereal with a delicate fretwork of +vegetation between its balusters like lace. Here, however, the lap +and gurgle of water fell gratefully upon the ear of the perspiring +and thirsty Mr. Potter, and turned his attention to more material +things. Following the sound, he presently came upon an enormous +oblong marble basin containing three time-worn fountains with +grouped figures. The pipes were empty, silent, and choked with +reeds and water plants, but the great basin itself was filled with +water from some invisible source. + +A terraced walk occupied one side of the long parallelogram; at +intervals and along the opposite bank, half shadowed by willows, +tinted marble figures of tritons, fauns, and dryads arose half +hidden in the reeds. They were more or less mutilated by time, and +here and there only the empty, moss-covered plinths that had once +supported them could be seen. But they were so lifelike in their +subdued color in the shade that he was for a moment startled. + +The water looked deliciously cool. An audacious thought struck +him. He was alone, and the place was a secluded one. He knew +there were no other visitors; the marble basin was quite hidden +from the rest of the garden, and approached only from the path by +which he had come, and whose entire view he commanded. He quietly +and deliberately undressed himself under the willows, and +unhesitatingly plunged into the basin. The water was four or five +feet deep, and its extreme length afforded an excellent swimming +bath, despite the water-lilies and a few aquatic plants that +mottled its clear surface, or the sedge that clung to the bases of +the statues. He disported for some moments in the delicious +element, and then seated himself upon one of the half-submerged +plinths, almost hidden by reeds, that had once upheld a river god. +Here, lazily resting himself upon his elbow, half his body still +below the water, his quick ear was suddenly startled by a rustling +noise and the sound of footsteps. For a moment he was inclined to +doubt his senses; he could see only the empty path before him and +the deserted terrace. But the sound became more distinct, and to +his great uneasiness appeared to come from the OTHER side of the +fringe of willows, where there was undoubtedly a path to the +fountain which he had overlooked. His clothes were under those +willows, but he was at least twenty yards from the bank and an +equal distance from the terrace. He was about to slip beneath the +water when, to his crowning horror, before he could do so, a young +girl slowly appeared from the hidden willow path full upon the +terrace. She was walking leisurely with a parasol over her head +and a book in her hand. Even in his intense consternation her +whole figure--a charming one in its white dress, sailor hat, and +tan shoes--was imprinted on his memory as she instinctively halted +to look upon the fountain, evidently an unexpected surprise to her. + +A sudden idea flashed upon him. She was at least sixty yards away; +he was half hidden in the reeds and well in the long shadows of the +willows. If he remained perfectly motionless she might overlook +him at that distance, or take him for one of the statues. He +remembered also that as he was resting on his elbow, his half- +submerged body lying on the plinth below water, he was somewhat in +the attitude of one of the river gods. And there was no other +escape. If he dived he might not be able to keep under water as +long as she remained, and any movement he knew would betray him. +He stiffened himself and scarcely breathed. Luckily for him his +attitude had been a natural one and easy to keep. It was well, +too, for she was evidently in no hurry and walked slowly, stopping +from time to time to admire the basin and its figures. Suddenly he +was instinctively aware that she was looking towards him and even +changing her position, moving her pretty head and shading her eyes +with her hand as if for a better view. He remained motionless, +scarcely daring to breathe. Yet there was something so innocently +frank and undisturbed in her observation, that he knew as +instinctively that she suspected nothing, and took him for a half- +submerged statue. He breathed more freely. But presently she +stopped, glanced around her, and, keeping her eyes fixed in his +direction, began to walk backwards slowly until she reached a stone +balustrade behind her. On this she leaped, and, sitting down, +opened in her lap the sketch-book she was carrying, and, taking out +a pencil, to his horror began to sketch! + +For a wild moment he recurred to his first idea of diving and +swimming at all hazards to the bank, but the conviction that now +his slightest movement must be detected held him motionless. He +must save her the mortification of knowing she was sketching a +living man, if he died for it. She sketched rapidly but fixedly +and absorbedly, evidently forgetting all else in her work. From +time to time she held out her sketch before her to compare it with +her subject. Yet the seconds seemed minutes and the minutes hours. +Suddenly, to his great relief, a distant voice was heard calling +"Lottie." It was a woman's voice; by its accent it also seemed to +him an American one. + +The young girl made a slight movement of impatience, but did not +look up, and her pencil moved still more rapidly. Again the voice +called, this time nearer. The young girl's pencil fairly flew over +the paper, as, still without looking up, she lifted a pretty voice +and answered back, "Y-e-e-s!" + +It struck him that her accent was also that of a compatriot. + +"Where on earth are you?" continued the first voice, which now +appeared to come from the other side of the willows on the path by +which the young girl had approached. "Here, aunty," replied the +girl, closing her sketch-book with a snap and starting to her feet. + +A stout woman, fashionably dressed, made her appearance from the +willow path. + +"What have you been doing all this while?" she said querulously. +"Not sketching, I hope," she added, with a suspicious glance at the +book. "You know your professor expressly forbade you to do so in +your holidays." + +The young girl shrugged her shoulders. "I've been looking at the +fountains," she replied evasively. + +"And horrid looking pagan things they are, too," said the elder +woman, turning from them disgustedly, without vouchsafing a second +glance. "Come. If we expect to do the abbey, we must hurry up, or +we won't catch the train. Your uncle is waiting for us at the top +of the garden." + +And, to Potter's intense relief, she grasped the young girl's arm +and hurried her away, their figures the next moment vanishing in +the tangled shrubbery. + +Potter lost no time in plunging with his cramped limbs into the +water and regaining the other side. Here he quickly half dried +himself with some sun-warmed leaves and baked mosses, hurried on +his clothes, and hastened off in the opposite direction to the path +taken by them, yet with such circuitous skill and speed that he +reached the great gateway without encountering anybody. A brisk +walk brought him to the station in time to catch a stopping train, +and in half an hour he was speeding miles away from Domesday Park +and his half-forgotten episode. + + . . . . . . + +Meantime the two ladies continued on their way to the abbey. "I +don't see why I mayn't sketch things I see about me," said the +young lady impatiently. "Of course, I understand that I must go +through the rudimentary drudgery of my art and study from casts, +and learn perspective, and all that; but I can't see what's the +difference between working in a stuffy studio over a hand or arm +that I know is only a STUDY, and sketching a full or half length in +the open air with the wonderful illusion of light and shade and +distance--and grouping and combining them all--that one knows and +feels makes a picture. The real picture one makes is already in +one's self." + +"For goodness' sake, Lottie, don't go on again with your usual +absurdities. Since you are bent on being an artist, and your +Popper has consented and put you under the most expensive master in +Paris, the least you can do is to follow the rules. And I dare say +he only wanted you to 'sink the shop' in company. It's such horrid +bad form for you artistic people to be always dragging out your +sketch-books. What would you say if your Popper came over here, +and began to examine every lady's dress in society to see what +material it was, just because he was a big dry-goods dealer in +America?" + +The young girl, accustomed to her aunt's extravagances, made no +reply. But that night she consulted her sketch, and was so far +convinced of her own instincts, and the profound impression the +fountain had made upon her, that she was enabled to secretly finish +her interrupted sketch from memory. For Miss Charlotte Forrest was +a born artist, and in no mere caprice had persuaded her father to +let her adopt the profession, and accepted the drudgery of a +novitiate. She looked earnestly upon this first real work of her +hand and found it good! Still, it was but a pencil sketch, and +wanted the vivification of color. + +When she returned to Paris she began--still secretly--a larger +study in oils. She worked upon it in her own room every moment she +could spare from her studio practice, unknown to her professor. It +absorbed her existence; she grew thin and pale. When it was +finished, and only then, she showed it tremblingly to her master. +He stood silent, in profound astonishment. The easel before him +showed a foreground of tangled luxuriance, from which stretched a +sheet of water like a darkened mirror, while through parted reeds +on its glossy surface arose the half-submerged figure of a river +god, exquisite in contour, yet whose delicate outlines were almost +a vision by the crowning illusion of light, shadow, and atmosphere. + +"It is a beautiful copy, mademoiselle, and I forgive you breaking +my rules," he said, drawing a long breath. "But I cannot now +recall the original picture." + +"It's no copy of a picture, professor," said the young girl +timidly, and she disclosed her secret. "It was the only perfect +statue there," she added diffidently; "but I think it wanted-- +something." + +"True," said the professor abstractedly. "Where the elbow rests +there should be a half-inverted urn flowing with water; but the +drawing of that shoulder is so perfect--as is YOUR study of it-- +that one guesses the missing forearm one cannot see, which clasped +it. Beautiful! beautiful!" + +Suddenly he stopped, and turned his eyes almost searchingly on +hers. + +"You say you have never drawn from the human model, mademoiselle?" + +"Never," said the young girl innocently. + +"True," murmured the professor again. "These are the classic ideal +measurements. There are no limbs like those now. Yet it is +wonderful! And this gem, you say, is in England?" + +"Yes." + +"Good! I am going there in a few days. I shall make a pilgrimage +to see it. Until then, mademoiselle, I beg you to break as many of +my rules as you like." + +Three weeks later she found the professor one morning standing +before her picture in her private studio. "You have returned from +England," she said joyfully. + +"I have," said the professor gravely. + +"You have seen the original subject?" she said timidly. + +"I have NOT. I have not seen it, mademoiselle," he said, gazing at +her mildly through his glasses, "because it does not exist, and +never existed." + +The young girl turned pale. + +"Listen. I have go to England. I arrive at the Park of Domesday. +I penetrate the beautiful, wild garden. I approach the fountain. +I see the wonderful water, the exquisite light and shade, the +lilies, the mysterious reeds--beautiful, yet not as beautiful as +you have made it, mademoiselle, but no statue--no river god! I +demand it of the concierge. He knows of it absolutely nothing. I +transport myself to the noble proprietor, Monsieur le Duc, at a +distant chateau where he has collected the ruined marbles. It is +not there." + +"Yet I saw it," said the young girl earnestly, yet with a troubled +face. "O professor," she burst out appealingly, "what do you think +it was?" + +"I think, mademoiselle," said the professor gravely, "that you +created it. Believe me, it is a function of genius! More, it is a +proof, a necessity! You saw the beautiful lake, the ruined +fountain, the soft shadows, the empty plinth, curtained by reeds. +You yourself say you feel there was 'something wanting.' +Unconsciously you yourself supplied it. All that you had ever +dreamt of mythology, all that you had ever seen of statuary, +thronged upon you at that supreme moment, and, evolved from your +own fancy, the river god was born. It is your own, chere enfant, +as much the offspring of your genius as the exquisite atmosphere +you have caught, the charm of light and shadow that you have +brought away. Accept my felicitations. You have little more to +learn of me." + +As he bowed himself out and descended the stairs he shrugged his +shoulders slightly. "She is an adorable genius," he murmured. +"Yet she is also a woman. Being a woman, naturally she has a +lover--this river god! Why not?" + +The extraordinary success of Miss Forrest's picture and the +instantaneous recognition of her merit as an artist, apart from her +novel subject, perhaps went further to remove her uneasiness than +any serious conviction of the professor's theory. Nevertheless, it +appealed to her poetic and mystic imagination, and although other +subjects from her brush met with equally phenomenal success, and +she was able in a year to return to America with a reputation +assured beyond criticism, she never entirely forgot the strange +incident connected with her initial effort. + +And by degrees a singular change came over her. Rich, famous, and +attractive, she began to experience a sentimental and romantic +interest in that episode. Once, when reproached by her friends for +her indifference to her admirers, she had half laughingly replied +that she had once found her "ideal," but never would again. Yet +the jest had scarcely passed her lips before she became pale and +silent. With this change came also a desire to re-purchase the +picture, which she had sold in her early success to a speculative +American picture-dealer. On inquiry she found, alas! that it had +been sold only a day or two before to a Chicago gentleman, of the +name of Potter, who had taken a fancy to it. + +Miss Forrest curled her pretty lip, but, nothing daunted, resolved +to effect her purpose, and sought the purchaser at his hotel. She +was ushered into a private drawing-room, where, on a handsome +easel, stood the newly acquired purchase. Mr. Potter was out, "but +would return in a moment." + +Miss Forrest was relieved, for, alone and undisturbed, she could +now let her full soul go out to her romantic creation. As she +stood there, she felt the glamour of the old English garden come +back to her, the play of light and shadow, the silent pool, the +godlike face and bust, with its cast-down, meditative eyes, seen +through the parted reeds. She clasped her hands silently before +her. Should she never see it again as then? + +"Pray don't let me disturb you; but won't you take a seat?" + +Miss Forrest turned sharply round. Then she started, uttered a +frightened little cry, and fainted away. + +Mr. Potter was touched, but a master of himself. As she came to, +he said quietly: "I came upon you suddenly--as you stood entranced +by this picture--just as I did when I first saw it. That's why I +bought it. Are you any relative of the Miss Forrest who painted +it?" he continued, quietly looking at her card, which he held in +his hand. + +Miss Forrest recovered herself sufficiently to reply, and stated +her business with some dignity. + +"Ah," said Mr. Potter, "THAT is another question. You see, the +picture has a special value to me, as I once saw an old-fashioned +garden like that in England. But that chap there,--I beg your +pardon, I mean that figure,--I fancy, is your own creation, +entirely. However, I'll think over your proposition, and if you +will allow me I'll call and see you about it." + +Mr. Potter did call--not once, but many times--and showed quite a +remarkable interest in Miss Forrest's art. The question of the +sale of the picture, however, remained in abeyance. A few weeks +later, after a longer call than usual, Mr. Potter said:-- + +"Don't you think the best thing we can do is to make a kind of +compromise, and let us own the picture together?" + +And they did. + + + +A ROMANCE OF THE LINE + + +As the train moved slowly out of the station, the Writer of Stories +looked up wearily from the illustrated pages of the magazines and +weeklies on his lap to the illustrated advertisements on the walls +of the station sliding past his carriage windows. It was getting +to be monotonous. For a while he had been hopefully interested in +the bustle of the departing trains, and looked up from his +comfortable and early invested position to the later comers with +that sense of superiority common to travelers; had watched the +conventional leave-takings--always feebly prolonged to the +uneasiness of both parties--and contrasted it with the impassive +business promptitude of the railway officials; but it was the old +experience repeated. Falling back on the illustrated advertisements +again, he wondered if their perpetual recurrence at every station +would not at last bring to the tired traveler the loathing of +satiety; whether the passenger in railway carriages, continually +offered Somebody's oats, inks, washing blue, candles, and soap, +apparently as a necessary equipment for a few hours' journey, would +not there and thereafter forever ignore the use of these articles, +or recoil from that particular quality. Or, as an unbiased +observer, he wondered if, on the other hand, impressible passengers, +after passing three or four stations, had ever leaped from the train +and refused to proceed further until they were supplied with one or +more of those articles. Had he ever known any one who confided to +him in a moment of expansiveness that he had dated his use of +Somebody's soap to an advertisement persistently borne upon him +through the medium of a railway carriage window? No! Would he not +have connected that man with that other certifying individual who +always appends a name and address singularly obscure and +unconvincing, yet who, at some supreme moment, recommends Somebody's +pills to a dying friend,--afflicted with a similar address,--which +restore him to life and undying obscurity. Yet these pictorial and +literary appeals must have a potency independent of the wares they +advertise, or they wouldn't be there. + +Perhaps he was the more sensitive to this monotony as he was just +then seeking change and novelty in order to write a new story. He +was not looking for material,--his subjects were usually the same,-- +he was merely hoping for that relaxation and diversion which +should freshen and fit him for later concentration. Still, he had +often heard of the odd circumstances to which his craft were +sometimes indebted for suggestion. The invasion of an eccentric- +looking individual--probably an innocent tradesman into a railway +carriage had given the hint for "A Night with a Lunatic;" a +nervously excited and belated passenger had once unconsciously sat +for an escaped forger; the picking up of a forgotten novel in the +rack, with passages marked in pencil, had afforded the plot of a +love story; or the germ of a romance had been found in an obscure +news paragraph which, under less listless moments, would have +passed unread. On the other hand, he recalled these inconvenient +and inconsistent moments from which the so-called "inspiration" +sprang, the utter incongruity of time and place in some brilliant +conception, and wondered if sheer vacuity of mind were really so +favorable. + +Going back to his magazine again, he began to get mildly interested +in a story. Turning the page, however, he was confronted by a +pictorial advertising leaflet inserted between the pages, yet so +artistic in character that it might have been easily mistaken for +an illustration of the story he was reading, and perhaps was not +more remote or obscure in reference than many he had known. But +the next moment he recognized with despair that it was only a +smaller copy of one he had seen on the hoarding at the last +station. He threw the leaflet aside, but the flavor of the story +was gone. The peerless detergent of the advertisement had erased +it from the tablets of his memory. He leaned back in his seat +again, and lazily watched the flying suburbs. Here were the usual +promising open spaces and patches of green, quickly succeeded again +by solid blocks of houses whose rear windows gave directly upon the +line, yet seldom showed an inquisitive face--even of a wondering +child. It was a strange revelation of the depressing effects of +familiarity. Expresses might thunder by, goods trains drag their +slow length along, shunting trains pipe all day beneath their +windows, but the tenants heeded them not. Here, too, was the +junction, with its labyrinthine interlacing of tracks that dazed +the tired brain; the overburdened telegraph posts, that looked as +if they really could not stand another wire; the long lines of +empty, homeless, and deserted trains in sidings that had seen +better days; the idle trains, with staring vacant windows, which +were eventually seized by a pert engine hissing, "Come along, will +you?" and departed with a discontented grunt from every individual +carriage coupling; the racing trains, that suddenly appeared +parallel with one's carriage windows, begot false hopes of a +challenge of speed, and then, without warning, drew contemptuously +and, superciliously away; the swift eclipse of everything in a +tunneled bridge; the long, slithering passage of an "up" express, +and then the flash of a station, incoherent and unintelligible with +pictorial advertisements again. + +He closed his eyes to concentrate his thought, and by degrees a +pleasant languor stole over him. The train had by this time +attained that rate of speed which gave it a slight swing and roll +on curves and switches not unlike the rocking of a cradle. Once or +twice he opened his eyes sleepily upon the waltzing trees in the +double planes of distance, and again closed them. Then, in one of +these slight oscillations, he felt himself ridiculously slipping +into slumber, and awoke with some indignation. Another station was +passed, in which process the pictorial advertisements on the +hoardings and the pictures in his lap seemed to have become jumbled +up, confused, and to dance before him, and then suddenly and +strangely, without warning, the train stopped short--at ANOTHER +station. And then he arose, and--what five minutes before he never +conceived of doing--gathered his papers and slipped from the +carriage to the platform. When I say "he" I mean, of course, the +Writer of Stories; yet the man who slipped out was half his age and +a different-looking person. + + . . . . . . + +The change from the motion of the train--for it seemed that he had +been traveling several hours--to the firmer platform for a moment +bewildered him. The station looked strange, and he fancied it +lacked a certain kind of distinctness. But that quality was also +noticeable in the porters and loungers on the platform. He thought +it singular, until it seemed to him that they were not characteristic, +nor in any way important or necessary to the business he had in +hand. Then, with an effort, he tried to remember himself and his +purpose, and made his way through the station to the open road +beyond. A van, bearing the inscription, "Removals to Town and +Country," stood before him and blocked his way, but a dogcart was in +waiting, and a grizzled groom, who held the reins, touched his hat +respectfully. Although still dazed by his journey and uncertain of +himself, he seemed to recognize in the man that distinctive +character which was wanting in the others. The correctness of his +surmise was revealed a few moments later, when, after he had taken +his seat beside him, and they were rattling out of the village +street, the man turned towards him and said:-- + +"Tha'll know Sir Jarge?" + +"I do not," said the young man. + +"Ay! but theer's many as cooms here as doan't, for all they cooms. +Tha'll say it ill becooms mea as war man and boy in Sir Jarge's +sarvice for fifty year, to say owt agen him, but I'm here to do it, +or they couldn't foolfil their business. Tha wast to ax me +questions about Sir Jarge and the Grange, and I wor to answer soa +as to make tha think thar was suthing wrong wi' un. Howbut I may +save tha time and tell thea downroight that Sir Jarge forged his +uncle's will, and so gotten the Grange. That 'ee keeps his niece +in mortal fear o' he. That tha'll be put in haunted chamber wi' a +boggle." + +"I think," said the young man hesitatingly, "that there must be +some mistake. I do not know any Sir George, and I am NOT going to +the Grange." + +"Eay! Then thee aren't the 'ero sent down from London by the story +writer?" + +"Not by THAT one," said the young man diffidently. + +The old man's face changed. It was no mere figure of speech: it +actually was ANOTHER face that looked down upon the traveler. + +"Then mayhap your honor will be bespoken at the Angel's Inn," he +said, with an entirely distinct and older dialect, "and a finer +hostel for a young gentleman of your condition ye'll not find on +this side of Oxford. A fair chamber, looking to the sun; sheets +smelling of lavender from Dame Margery's own store, and, for the +matter of that, spread by the fair hands of Maudlin, her daughter-- +the best favored lass that ever danced under a Maypole. Ha! have +at ye there, young sir! Not to speak of the October ale of old +Gregory, her father--ay, nor the rare Hollands, that never paid +excise duties to the king." + +"I'm afraid," said the young traveler timidly, "there's over a +century between us. There's really some mistake." + +"What?" said the groom, "ye are NOT the young spark who is to marry +Mistress Amy at the Hall, yet makes a pother and mess of it all by +a duel with Sir Roger de Cadgerly, the wicked baronet, for his +over-free discourse with our fair Maudlin this very eve? Ye are +NOT the traveler whose post-chaise is now at the Falcon? Ye are +not he that was bespoken by the story writer in London?" + +"I don't think I am," said the young man apologetically. "Indeed, +as I am feeling far from well, I think I'll get out and walk." + +He got down--the vehicle and driver vanished in the distance. It +did not surprise him. "I must collect my thoughts," he said. He +did so. Possibly the collection was not large, for presently he +said, with a sigh of relief:-- + +"I see it all now! My name is Paul Bunker. I am of the young +branch of an old Quaker family, rich and respected in the country, +and I am on a visit to my ancestral home. But I have lived since a +child in America, and am alien to the traditions and customs of the +old country, and even of the seat to which my fathers belong. I +have brought with me from the far West many peculiarities of speech +and thought that may startle my kinsfolk. But I certainly shall +not address my uncle as 'Hoss!' nor shall I say 'guess' oftener +than is necessary." + +Much brightened and refreshed by his settled identity, he had time, +as he walked briskly along, to notice the scenery, which was +certainly varied and conflicting in character, and quite +inconsistent with his preconceived notions of an English landscape. +On his right, a lake of the brightest cobalt blue stretched before +a many-towered and terraced town, which was relieved by a +background of luxuriant foliage and emerald-green mountains; on his +left arose a rugged mountain, which he was surprised to see was +snow-capped, albeit a tunnel was observable midway of its height, +and a train just issuing from it. Almost regretting that he had +not continued on his journey, as he was fully sensible that it was +in some way connected with the railway he had quitted, presently +his attention was directed to the gateway of a handsome park, whose +mansion was faintly seen in the distance. Hurrying towards him, +down the avenue of limes, was a strange figure. It was that of a +man of middle age; clad in Quaker garb, yet with an extravagance of +cut and detail which seemed antiquated even for England. He had +evidently seen the young man approaching, and his face was beaming +with welcome. If Paul had doubted that it was his uncle, the first +words he spoke would have reassured him. + +"Welcome to Hawthorn Hall," said the figure, grasping his hand +heartily, "but thee will excuse me if I do not tarry with thee long +at present, for I am hastening, even now, with some nourishing and +sustaining food for Giles Hayward, a farm laborer." He pointed to +a package he was carrying. "But thee will find thy cousins Jane +and Dorcas Bunker taking tea in the summer-house. Go to them! +Nay--positively--I may not linger, but will return to thee quickly." +And, to Paul's astonishment, he trotted away on his sturdy, +respectable legs, still beaming and carrying his package in his hand. + +"Well, I'll be dog-goned! but the old man ain't going to be left, +you bet!" he ejaculated, suddenly remembering his dialect. "He'll +get there, whether school keeps or not!" Then, reflecting that no +one heard him, he added simply, "He certainly was not over civil +towards the nephew he has never seen before. And those girls--whom +I don't know! How very awkward!" + +Nevertheless, he continued his way up the avenue towards the +mansion. The park was beautifully kept. Remembering the native +wildness and virgin seclusion of the Western forest, he could not +help contrasting it with the conservative gardening of this pretty +woodland, every rood of which had been patrolled by keepers and +rangers, and preserved and fostered hundreds of years before he was +born, until warmed for human occupancy. At times the avenue was +crossed by grass drives, where the original woodland had been +displaced, not by the exigency of a "clearing" for tillage, as in +his own West, but for the leisurely pleasure of the owner. Then, a +few hundred yards from the house itself,--a quaint Jacobean +mansion,--he came to an open space where the sylvan landscape had +yielded to floral cultivation, and so fell upon a charming summer- +house, or arbor, embowered with roses. It must have been the one +of which his uncle had spoken, for there, to his wondering +admiration, sat two little maids before a rustic table, drinking +tea demurely, yes, with all the evident delight of a childish +escapade from their elders. While in the picturesque quaintness of +their attire there was still a formal suggestion of the sect to +which their father belonged, their summer frocks--differing in +color, yet each of the same subdued tint--were alike in cut and +fashion, and short enough to show their dainty feet in prim +slippers and silken hose that matched their frocks. As the +afternoon sun glanced through the leaves upon their pink cheeks, +tied up in quaint hats by ribbons under their chins, they made a +charming picture. At least Paul thought so as he advanced towards +them, hat in hand. They looked up at his approach, but again cast +down their eyes with demure shyness; yet he fancied that they first +exchanged glances with each other, full of mischievous intelligence. + +"I am your cousin Paul," he said smilingly, "though I am afraid I +am introducing myself almost as briefly as your father just now +excused himself to me. He told me I would find you here, but he +himself was hastening on a Samaritan mission." + +"With a box in his hand?" said the girls simultaneously, exchanging +glances with each other again. + +"With a box containing some restorative, I think," responded Paul, +a little wonderingly. + +"Restorative! So THAT'S what he calls it now, is it?" said one of +the girls saucily. "Well, no one knows what's in the box, though +he always carries it with him. Thee never sees him without it"-- + +"And a roll of paper," suggested the other girl. + +"Yes, a roll of paper--but one never knows what it is!" said the +first speaker. "It's very strange. But no matter now, Paul. +Welcome to Hawthorn Hall. I am Jane Bunker, and this is Dorcas." +She stopped, and then, looking down demurely, added, "Thee may kiss +us both, cousin Paul." + +The young man did not wait for a second invitation, but gently +touched his lips to their soft young cheeks. + +"Thee does not speak like an American, Paul. Is thee really and +truly one?" continued Jane. + +Paul remembered that he had forgotten his dialect, but it was too +late now. + +"I am really and truly one, and your own cousin, and I hope you +will find me a very dear"-- + +"Oh!" said Dorcas, starting up primly. "You must really allow me +to withdraw." To the young man's astonishment, she seized her +parasol, and, with a youthful affectation of dignity, glided from +the summer-house and was lost among the trees. + +"Thy declaration to me was rather sudden," said Jane quietly, in +answer to his look of surprise, "and Dorcas is peculiarly sensitive +and less like the 'world's people' than I am. And it was just a +little cruel, considering that she has loved thee secretly all +these years, followed thy fortunes in America with breathless +eagerness, thrilled at thy narrow escapes, and wept at thy +privations." + +"But she has never seen me before!" said the astounded Paul. + +"And thee had never seen me before, and yet thee has dared to +propose to me five minutes after thee arrived, and in her +presence." + +"But, my dear girl!" expostulated Paul. + +"Stand off!" she said, rapidly opening her parasol and interposing +it between them. "Another step nearer--ay, even another word of +endearment--and I shall be compelled--nay, forced," she added in a +lower voice, "to remove this parasol, lest it should be crushed and +ruined!" + +"I see," he said gloomily, "you have been reading novels; but so +have I, and the same ones! Nevertheless, I intended only to tell +you that I hoped you would always find me a kind friend." + +She shut her parasol up with a snap. "And I only intended to tell +thee that my heart was given to another." + +"You INTENDED--and now?" + +"Is it the 'kind friend' who asks?" + +"If it were not?" + +"Really?" + +"Yes." + +"Ah!" + +"Oh!" + +"But thee loves another?" she said, toying with her cup. + +He attempted to toy with his, but broke it. A man lacks delicacy +in this kind of persiflage. "You mean I am loved by another," he +said bluntly. + +"You dare to say that!" she said, flashing, in spite of her prim +demeanor. + +"No, but YOU did just now! You said your sister loved me!" + +"Did I?" she said dreamily. "Dear! dear! That's the trouble of +trying to talk like Mr. Blank's delightful dialogues. One gets so +mixed!" + +"Yet you will be a sister to me?" he said. "'Tis an old American +joke, but 'twill serve." + +There was a long silence. + +"Had thee not better go to sister Dorcas? She is playing with the +cows," said Jane plaintively. + +"You forget," he returned gravely, "that, on page 27 of the novel +we have both read, at this point he is supposed to kiss her." + +She had forgotten, but they both remembered in time. At this +moment a scream came faintly from the distance. They both started, +and rose. + +"It is sister Dorcas," said Jane, sitting down again and pouring +out another cup of tea. "I have always told her that one of those +Swiss cows would hook her." + +Paul stared at her with a strange revulsion of feeling. "I could +save Dorcas," he muttered to himself, "in less time than it takes +to describe." He paused, however, as he reflected that this would +depend entirely upon the methods of the writer of this description. +"I could rescue her! I have only to take the first clothes-line +that I find, and with that knowledge and skill with the lasso which +I learned in the wilds of America, I could stop the charge of the +most furious ruminant. I will!" and without another word he turned +and rushed off in the direction of the sound. + + . . . . . . + +He had not gone a hundred yards before he paused, a little +bewildered. To the left could still be seen the cobalt lake with +the terraced background; to the right the rugged mountains. He +chose the latter. Luckily for him a cottager's garden lay in his +path, and from a line supported by a single pole depended the +homely linen of the cottager. To tear these garments from the line +was the work of a moment (although it represented the whole week's +washing), and hastily coiling the rope dexterously in his hand, he +sped onward. Already panting with exertion and excitement, a few +roods farther he was confronted with a spectacle that left him +breathless. + +A woman--young, robust, yet gracefully formed--was running ahead of +him, driving before her with an open parasol an animal which he +instantly recognized as one of that simple yet treacherous species +most feared by the sex--known as the "Moo Cow." + +For a moment he was appalled by the spectacle. But it was only for +a moment! Recalling his manhood and her weakness, he stopped, and +bracing his foot against a stone, with a graceful flourish of his +lasso around his head, threw it in the air. It uncoiled slowly, +sped forward with unerring precision, and missed! With the single +cry of "Saved!" the fair stranger sank fainting in his arms! He +held her closely until the color came back to her pale face. Then +he quietly disentangled the lasso from his legs. + +"Where am I?" she said faintly. + +"In the same place," he replied, slowly but firmly. "But," he +added, "you have changed!" + +She had, indeed, even to her dress. It was now of a vivid brick +red, and so much longer in the skirt that it seemed to make her +taller. Only her hat remained the same. + +"Yes," she said, in a low, reflective voice and a disregard of her +previous dialect, as she gazed up in his eyes with an eloquent +lucidity, "I have changed, Paul! I feel myself changing at those +words you uttered to Jane. There are moments in a woman's life +that man knows nothing of; moments bitter and cruel, sweet and +merciful, that change her whole being; moments in which the simple +girl becomes a worldly woman; moments in which the slow procession +of her years is never noted--except by another woman! Moments that +change her outlook on the world and her relations to it--and her +husband's relations! Moments when the maid becomes a wife, the +wife a widow, the widow a re-married woman, by a simple, swift +illumination of the fancy. Moments when, wrought upon by a single +word--a look--an emphasis and rising inflection, all logical +sequence is cast away, processes are lost--inductions lead nowhere. +Moments when the inharmonious becomes harmonious, the indiscreet +discreet, the inefficient efficient, and the inevitable evitable. +I mean," she corrected herself hurriedly--"You know what I mean! +If you have not felt it you have read it!" + +"I have," he said thoughtfully. "We have both read it in the same +novel. She is a fine writer." + +"Ye-e-s." She hesitated with that slight resentment of praise of +another woman so delightful in her sex. "But you have forgotten +the Moo Cow!" and she pointed to where the distracted animal was +careering across the lawn towards the garden. + +"You are right," he said, "the incident is not yet closed. Let us +pursue it." + +They both pursued it. Discarding the useless lasso, he had +recourse to a few well-aimed epithets. The infuriated animal +swerved and made directly towards a small fountain in the centre of +the garden. In attempting to clear it, it fell directly into the +deep cup-like basin and remained helplessly fixed, with its fore- +legs projecting uneasily beyond the rim. + +"Let us leave it there," she said, "and forget it--and all that has +gone before. Believe me," she added, with a faint sigh, "it is +best. Our paths diverge from this moment. I go to the summer- +house, and you go to the Hall, where my father is expecting you." +He would have detained her a moment longer, but she glided away and +was gone. + +Left to himself again, that slight sense of bewilderment which had +clouded his mind for the last hour began to clear away; his +singular encounter with the girls strangely enough affected him +less strongly than his brief and unsatisfactory interview with his +uncle. For, after all, he was his host, and upon him depended his +stay at Hawthorn Hall. The mysterious and slighting allusions of +his cousins to the old man's eccentricities also piqued his +curiosity. Why had they sneered at his description of the contents +of the package he carried--and what did it really contain? He did +not reflect that it was none of his business,--people in his +situation seldom do,--and he eagerly hurried towards the Hall. +But he found in his preoccupation he had taken the wrong turning in +the path, and that he was now close to the wall which bounded and +overlooked the highway. Here a singular spectacle presented +itself. A cyclist covered with dust was seated in the middle of +the road, trying to restore circulation to his bruised and injured +leg by chafing it with his hands, while beside him lay his damaged +bicycle. He had evidently met with an accident. In an instant +Paul had climbed the wall and was at his side. + +"Can I offer you any assistance?" he asked eagerly. + +"Thanks--no! I've come a beastly cropper over something or other +on this road, and I'm only bruised, though the machine has suffered +worse," replied the stranger, in a fresh, cheery voice. He was a +good-looking fellow of about Paul's own age, and the young +American's heart went out towards him. + +"How did it happen?" asked Paul. + +"That's what puzzles me," said the stranger. "I was getting out of +the way of a queer old chap in the road, and I ran over something +that seemed only an old scroll of paper; but the shock was so great +that I was thrown, and I fancy I was for a few moments unconscious. +Yet I cannot see any other obstruction in the road, and there's +only that bit of paper." He pointed to the paper,--a half-crushed +roll of ordinary foolscap, showing the mark of the bicycle upon it. + +A strange idea came into Paul's mind. He picked up the paper and +examined it closely. Besides the mark already indicated, it showed +two sharp creases about nine inches long, and another exactly at +the point of the impact of the bicycle. Taking a folded two-foot +rule from his pocket, he carefully measured these parallel creases +and made an exhaustive geometrical calculation with his pencil on +the paper. The stranger watched him with awed and admiring +interest. Rising, he again carefully examined the road, and was +finally rewarded by the discovery of a sharp indentation in the +dust, which, on measurement and comparison with the creases in the +paper and the calculations he had just made, proved to be identical. + +"There was a solid body in that paper," said Paul quietly; "a +parallelogram exactly nine inches long and three wide." + +"I say! you're wonderfully clever, don't you know," said the +stranger, with unaffected wonder. "I see it all--a brick." + +Paul smiled gently and shook his head. "That is the hasty +inference of an inexperienced observer. You will observe at the +point of impact of your wheel the parallel crease is CURVED, as +from the yielding of the resisting substances, and not BROKEN, as +it would be by the crumbling of a brick." + +"I say, you're awfully detective, don't you know! just like that +fellow--what's his name?" said the stranger admiringly. + +The words recalled Paul to himself. Why was he acting like a +detective? and what was he seeking to discover? Nevertheless, he +felt impelled to continue. "And that queer old chap whom you met-- +why didn't he help you?" + +"Because I passed him before I ran into the--the parallelogram, and +I suppose he didn't know what happened behind him?" + +"Did he have anything in his hand?" + +"Can't say." + +"And you say you were unconscious afterwards?" + +"Yes!" + +"Long enough for the culprit to remove the principal evidence of +his crime?" + +"Come! I say, really you are--you know you are!" + +"Have you any secret enemy?" + +"No." + +"And you don't know Mr. Bunker, the man who owns this vast estate?" + +"Not at all. I'm from Upper Tooting." + +"Good afternoon," said Paul abruptly, and turned away. + +It struck him afterwards that his action might have seemed uncivil, +and even inhuman, to the bruised cyclist, who could hardly walk. +But it was getting late, and he was still far from the Hall, which, +oddly enough, seemed to be no longer visible from the road. He +wandered on for some time, half convinced that he had passed the +lodge gates, yet hoping to find some other entrance to the domain. +Dusk was falling; the rounded outlines of the park trees beyond the +wall were solid masses of shadow. The full moon, presently rising, +restored them again to symmetry, and at last he, to his relief, +came upon the massive gateway. Two lions ramped in stone on the +side pillars. He thought it strange that he had not noticed the +gateway on his previous entrance, but he remembered that he was +fully preoccupied with the advancing figure of his uncle. In a few +minutes the Hall itself appeared, and here again he was surprised +that he had overlooked before its noble proportions and picturesque +outline. Its broad terraces, dazzlingly white in the moonlight; +its long line of mullioned windows, suffused with a warm red glow +from within, made it look like part of a wintry landscape--and +suggested a Christmas card. The venerable ivy that hid the ravages +time had made in its walls looked like black carving. His heart +swelled with strange emotions as he gazed at his ancestral hall. +How many of his blood had lived and died there; how many had gone +forth from that great porch to distant lands! He tried to think of +his father--a little child--peeping between the balustrades of that +terrace. He tried to think of it, and perhaps would have succeeded +had it not occurred to him that it was a known fact that his uncle +had bought the estate and house of an impoverished nobleman only +the year before. Yet--he could not tell why--he seemed to feel +higher and nobler for that trial. + +The terrace was deserted, and so quiet that as he ascended to it +his footsteps seemed to echo from the walls. When he reached the +portals, the great oaken door swung noiselessly on its hinges-- +opened by some unseen but waiting servitor--and admitted him to a +lofty hall, dark with hangings and family portraits, but warmed by +a red carpet the whole length of its stone floor. For a moment he +waited for the servant to show him to the drawing-room or his +uncle's study. But no one appeared. Believing this to be a part +of the characteristic simplicity of the Quaker household, he boldly +entered the first door, and found himself in a brilliantly lit and +perfectly empty drawing-room. The same experience met him with the +other rooms on that floor--the dining-room displaying an already +set, exquisitely furnished and decorated table, with chairs for +twenty guests! He mechanically ascended the wide oaken staircase +that led to the corridor of bedrooms above a central salon. Here +he found only the same solitude. Bedroom doors yielded to his +touch, only to show the same brilliantly lit vacancy. He presently +came upon one room which seemed to give unmistakable signs of HIS +OWN occupancy. Surely there stood his own dressing-case on the +table! and his own evening clothes carefully laid out on another, +as if fresh from a valet's hands. He stepped hastily into the +corridor--there was no one there; he rang the bell--there was no +response! But he noticed that there was a jug of hot water in his +basin, and he began dressing mechanically. + +There was little doubt that he was in a haunted house, but this did +not particularly disturb him. Indeed, he found himself wondering +if it could be logically called a haunted house--unless he himself +was haunting it, for there seemed to be no other there. Perhaps +the apparitions would come later, when he was dressed. Clearly it +was not his uncle's house--and yet, as he had never been inside his +uncle's house, he reflected that he ought not to be positive. + +He finished dressing and sat down in an armchair with a kind of +thoughtful expectancy. But presently his curiosity became +impatient of the silence and mystery, and he ventured once more to +explore the house. Opening his bedroom door, he found himself +again upon the deserted corridor, but this time he could distinctly +hear a buzz of voices from the drawing-room below. Assured that he +was near a solution of the mystery, he rapidly descended the broad +staircase and made his way to the open door of the drawing-room. +But although the sound of voices increased as he advanced, when he +entered the room, to his utter astonishment, it was as empty as +before. + +Yet, in spite of his bewilderment and confusion, he was able to +follow one of the voices, which, in its peculiar distinctness and +half-perfunctory tone, he concluded must belong to the host of the +invisible assembly. + +"Ah," said the voice, greeting some unseen visitor, "so glad you +have come. Afraid your engagements just now would keep you away." +Then the voice dropped to a lower and more confidential tone. "You +must take down Lady Dartman, but you will have Miss Morecamp--a +clever girl--on the other side of you. Ah, Sir George! So good of +you to come. All well at the Priory? So glad to hear it." (Lower +and more confidentially.) "You know Mrs. Monkston. You'll sit by +her. A little cut up by her husband losing his seat. Try to amuse +her." + +Emboldened by desperation, Paul turned in the direction of the +voice. "I am Paul Bunker," he said hesitatingly. "I'm afraid +you'll think me intrusive, but I was looking for my uncle, and"-- + +"Intrusive, my dear boy! The son of my near neighbor in the +country intrusive? Really, now, I like that! Grace!" (the voice +turned in another direction) "here is the American nephew of our +neighbor Bunker at Widdlestone, who thinks he is 'a stranger.'" + +"We all knew of your expected arrival at Widdlestone--it was so +good of you to waive ceremony and join us," said a well-bred +feminine voice, which Paul at once assumed to belong to the +hostess. "But I must find some one for your dinner partner. Mary" +(here her voice was likewise turned away), "this is Mr. Bunker, the +nephew of an old friend and neighbor in Upshire;" (the voice again +turned to him), "you will take Miss Morecamp in. My dear" (once +again averted), "I must find some one else to console poor dear +Lord Billingtree with." Here the hostess's voice was drowned by +fresh arrivals. + +Bewildered and confused as he was, standing in this empty desert of +a drawing-room, yet encompassed on every side by human voices, so +marvelous was the power of suggestion, he seemed to almost feel the +impact of the invisible crowd. He was trying desperately to +realize his situation when a singularly fascinating voice at his +elbow unexpectedly assisted him. It was evidently his dinner +partner. + +"I suppose you must be tired after your journey. When did you +arrive?" + +"Only a few hours ago," said Paul. + +"And I dare say you haven't slept since you arrived. One doesn't +on the passage, you know; the twenty hours pass so quickly, and the +experience is so exciting--to US at least. But I suppose as an +American you are used to it." + +Paul gasped. He had passively accepted the bodiless conversation, +because it was at least intelligible! But NOW! Was he going mad? + +She evidently noticed his silence. "Never mind," she continued, +"you can tell me all about it at dinner. Do you know I always +think that this sort of thing--what we're doing now,--this +ridiculous formality of reception,--which I suppose is after all +only a concession to our English force of habit,--is absurd! We +ought to pass, as it were, directly from our houses to the dinner- +table. It saves time." + +"Yes--no--that is--I'm afraid I don't follow you," stammered Paul. + +There was a slight pout in her voice as she replied: "No matter +now--we must follow them--for our host is moving off with Lady +Billingtree, and it's our turn now." + +So great was the illusion that he found himself mechanically +offering his arm as he moved through the empty room towards the +door. Then he descended the staircase without another word, +preceded, however, by the sound of his host's voice. Following +this as a blind man might, he entered the dining-room, which to his +discomfiture was as empty as the salon above. Still following the +host's voice, he dropped into a chair before the empty table, +wondering what variation of the Barmecide feast was in store for +him. Yet the hum of voices from the vacant chairs around the board +so strongly impressed him that he could almost believe that he was +actually at dinner. + +"Are you seated?" asked the charming voice at his side. + +"Yes," a little wonderingly, as his was the only seat visibly +occupied. + +"I am so glad that this silly ceremony is over. By the way, where +are you?" + +Paul would have liked to answer, "Lord only knows!" but he +reflected that it might not sound polite. "Where am I?" he feebly +repeated. + +"Yes; where are you dining?" + +It seemed a cool question under the circumstances, but he answered +promptly,-- + +"With you." + +"Of course," said the charming voice; "but where are you eating +your dinner?" + +Considering that he was not eating anything, Paul thought this +cooler still. But he answered briefly, "In Upshire." + +"Oh! At your uncle's?" + +"No," said Paul bluntly; "in the next house." + +"Why, that's Sir William's--our host's--and he and his family are +here in London. You are joking." + +"Listen!" said Paul desperately. Then in a voice unconsciously +lowered he hurriedly told her where he was--how he came there--the +empty house--the viewless company! To his surprise the only +response was a musical little laugh. But the next moment her voice +rose higher with an unmistakable concern in it, apparently +addressing their invisible host. + +"Oh, Sir William, only think how dreadful. Here's poor Mr. Bunker, +alone in an empty house, which he has mistaken for his uncle's--and +without any dinner!" + +"Really; dear, dear! How provoking! But how does he happen to be +WITH US? James, how is this?" + +"If you please, Sir William," said a servant's respectful voice, +"Widdlestone is in the circuit and is switched on with the others. +We heard that a gentleman's luggage had arrived at Widdlestone, and +we telegraphed for the rooms to be made ready, thinking we'd have +her ladyship's orders later." + +A single gleam of intelligence flashed upon Paul. His luggage-- +yes, had been sent from the station to the wrong house, and he had +unwittingly followed. But these voices! whence did they come? And +where was the actual dinner at which his host was presiding? It +clearly was not at this empty table. + +"See that he has everything he wants at once," said Sir William; +"there must be some one there." Then his voice turned in the +direction of Paul again, and he said laughingly, "Possess your soul +and appetite in patience for a moment, Mr. Bunker; you will be only +a course behind us. But we are lucky in having your company--even +at your own discomfort." + +Still more bewildered, Paul turned to his invisible partner. "May +I ask where YOU are dining?" + +"Certainly; at home in Curzon Street," returned the pretty voice. +"It was raining so, I did not go out." + +"And--Lord Billington?" faltered Paul. + +"Oh, he's in Scotland--at his own place." + +"Then, in fact, nobody is dining here at all," said Paul desperately. + +There was a slight pause, and then the voice responded, with a +touch of startled suggestion in it: "Good heavens, Mr. Bunker! Is +it possible you don't know we're dining by telephone?" + +"By what?" + +"Telephone. Yes. We're a telephonic dinner-party. We are dining +in our own houses; but, being all friends, we're switched on to +each other, and converse exactly as we would at table. It saves a +great trouble and expense, for any one of us can give the party, +and the poorest can equal the most extravagant. People who are +obliged to diet can partake of their own slops at home, and yet +mingle with the gourmets without awkwardness or the necessity of +apology. We are spared the spectacle, at least, of those who eat +and drink too much. We can switch off a bore at once. We can +retire when we are fatigued, without leaving a blank space before +the others. And all this without saying anything of the higher +spiritual and intellectual effect--freed from material grossness of +appetite and show--which the dinner party thus attains. But you +are surely joking! You, an American, and not know it! Why, it +comes from Boston. Haven't you read that book, 'Jumping a Century'? +It's by an American." + +A strange illumination came upon Paul. Where had he heard +something like this before? But at the same moment his thoughts +were diverted by the material entrance of a footman, bearing a +silver salver with his dinner. It was part of his singular +experience that the visible entrance of this real, commonplace +mortal--the only one he had seen--in the midst of this voiceless +solitude was distinctly unreal, and had all the effect of an +apparition. He distrusted it and the dishes before him. But his +lively partner's voice was now addressing an unseen occupant of the +next chair. Had she got tired of his ignorance, or was it feminine +tact to enable him to eat something? He accepted the latter +hypothesis, and tried to eat. But he felt himself following the +fascinating voice in all the charm of its youthful and spiritual +inflections. Taking advantage of its momentary silence, he said +gently,-- + +"I confess my ignorance, and am willing to admit all you claim for +this wonderful invention. But do you think it compensates for the +loss of the individual person? Take my own case--if you will not +think me personal. I have never had the pleasure of seeing you; do +you believe that I am content with only that suggestion of your +personality which the satisfaction of hearing your voice affords +me?" + +There was a pause, and then a very mischievous ring in the voice +that replied: "It certainly is a personal question, and it is +another blessing of this invention that you'll never know whether I +am blushing or not; but I forgive you, for I never before spoke to +any one I had never seen--and I suppose it's confusion. But do you +really think you would know me--the REAL one--any better? It is +the real person who thinks and speaks, not the outward semblance +that we see, which very often unfairly either attracts or repels +us? We can always SHOW ourselves at our best, but we must, at +last, reveal our true colors through our thoughts and speech. +Isn't it better to begin with the real thing first?" + +"I hope, at least, to have the privilege of judging by myself," +said Paul gallantly. "You will not be so cruel as not to let me +see you elsewhere, otherwise I shall feel as if I were in some +dream, and will certainly be opposed to your preference for +realities." + +"I am not certain if the dream would not be more interesting to +you," said the voice laughingly. "But I think your hostess is +already saying 'good-by.' You know everybody goes at once at this +kind of party; the ladies don't retire first, and the gentlemen +join them afterwards. In another moment we'll ALL be switched off; +but Sir William wants me to tell you that his coachman will drive +you to your uncle's, unless you prefer to try and make yourself +comfortable for the night here. Good-by!" + +The voices around him seemed to grow fainter, and then utterly +cease. The lights suddenly leaped up, went out, and left him in +complete darkness. He attempted to rise, but in doing so overset +the dishes before him, which slid to the floor. A cold air seemed +to blow across his feet. The "good-by" was still ringing in his +ears as he straightened himself to find he was in his railway +carriage, whose door had just been opened for a young lady who was +entering the compartment from a wayside station. "Good-by," she +repeated to the friend who was seeing her off. The Writer of +Stories hurriedly straightened himself, gathered up the magazines +and papers that had fallen from his lap, and glanced at the station +walls. The old illustrations glanced back at him! He looked at +his watch; he had been asleep just ten minutes! + + + +BOHEMIAN DAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO + + +It is but just to the respectable memory of San Francisco that in +these vagrant recollections I should deprecate at once any +suggestion that the levity of my title described its dominant tone +at any period of my early experiences. On the contrary, it was a +singular fact that while the rest of California was swayed by an +easy, careless unconventionalism, or swept over by waves of emotion +and sentiment, San Francisco preserved an intensely material and +practical attitude, and even a certain austere morality. I do not, +of course, allude to the brief days of '49, when it was a +straggling beach of huts and stranded hulks, but to the earlier +stages of its development into the metropolis of California. Its +first tottering steps in that direction were marked by a distinct +gravity and decorum. Even during the period when the revolver +settled small private difficulties, and Vigilance Committees +adjudicated larger public ones, an unmistakable seriousness and +respectability was the ruling sign of its governing class. It was +not improbable that under the reign of the Committee the lawless +and vicious class were more appalled by the moral spectacle of +several thousand black-coated, serious-minded business men in +embattled procession than by mere force of arms, and one "suspect"-- +a prize-fighter--is known to have committed suicide in his cell +after confrontation with his grave and passionless shopkeeping +judges. Even that peculiar quality of Californian humor which was +apt to mitigate the extravagances of the revolver and the +uncertainties of poker had no place in the decorous and responsible +utterance of San Francisco. The press was sober, materialistic, +practical--when it was not severely admonitory of existing evil; +the few smaller papers that indulged in levity were considered +libelous and improper. Fancy was displaced by heavy articles on +the revenues of the State and inducements to the investment of +capital. Local news was under an implied censorship which +suppressed anything that might tend to discourage timid or cautious +capital. Episodes of romantic lawlessness or pathetic incidents of +mining life were carefully edited--with the comment that these +things belonged to the past, and that life and property were now +"as safe in San Francisco as in New York or London." + +Wonder-loving visitors in quest of scenes characteristic of the +civilization were coldly snubbed with this assurance. Fires, +floods, and even seismic convulsions were subjected to a like +grimly materialistic optimism. I have a vivid recollection of a +ponderous editorial on one of the severer earthquakes, in which it +was asserted that only the UNEXPECTEDNESS of the onset prevented +San Francisco from meeting it in a way that would be deterrent of +all future attacks. The unconsciousness of the humor was only +equaled by the gravity with which it was received by the whole +business community. Strangely enough, this grave materialism +flourished side by side with--and was even sustained by--a narrow +religious strictness more characteristic of the Pilgrim Fathers of +a past century than the Western pioneers of the present. San +Francisco was early a city of churches and church organizations to +which the leading men and merchants belonged. The lax Sundays of +the dying Spanish race seemed only to provoke a revival of the +rigors of the Puritan Sabbath. With the Spaniard and his Sunday +afternoon bullfight scarcely an hour distant, the San Francisco +pulpit thundered against Sunday picnics. One of the popular +preachers, declaiming upon the practice of Sunday dinner-giving, +averred that when he saw a guest in his best Sunday clothes +standing shamelessly upon the doorstep of his host, he felt like +seizing him by the shoulder and dragging him from that threshold of +perdition. + +Against the actual heathen the feeling was even stronger, and +reached its climax one Sunday when a Chinaman was stoned to death +by a crowd of children returning from Sunday-school. I am offering +these examples with no ethical purpose, but merely to indicate a +singular contradictory condition which I do not think writers of +early Californian history have fairly recorded. It is not my +province to suggest any theory for these appalling exceptions to +the usual good-humored lawlessness and extravagance of the rest of +the State. They may have been essential agencies to the growth and +evolution of the city. They were undoubtedly sincere. The +impressions I propose to give of certain scenes and incidents of my +early experience must, therefore, be taken as purely personal and +Bohemian, and their selection as equally individual and vagrant. I +am writing of what interested me at the time, though not perhaps of +what was more generally characteristic of San Francisco. + +I had been there a week--an idle week, spent in listless outlook +for employment; a full week in my eager absorption of the strange +life around me and a photographic sensitiveness to certain scenes +and incidents of those days, which start out of my memory to-day as +freshly as the day they impressed me. + +One of these recollections is of "steamer night," as it was +called,--the night of "steamer day,"--preceding the departure of +the mail steamship with the mails for "home." Indeed, at that time +San Francisco may be said to have lived from steamer day to steamer +day; bills were made due on that day, interest computed to that +period, and accounts settled. The next day was the turning of a +new leaf: another essay to fortune, another inspiration of energy. +So recognized was the fact that even ordinary changes of condition, +social and domestic, were put aside until AFTER steamer day. "I'll +see what I can do after next steamer day" was the common cautious +or hopeful formula. It was the "Saturday night" of many a wage- +earner--and to him a night of festivity. The thoroughfares were +animated and crowded; the saloons and theatres full. I can recall +myself at such times wandering along the City Front, as the +business part of San Francisco was then known. Here the lights +were burning all night, the first streaks of dawn finding the +merchants still at their counting-house desks. I remember the dim +lines of warehouses lining the insecure wharves of rotten piles, +half filled in--that had ceased to be wharves, but had not yet +become streets,--their treacherous yawning depths, with the +uncertain gleam of tarlike mud below, at times still vocal with the +lap and gurgle of the tide. I remember the weird stories of +disappearing men found afterward imbedded in the ooze in which they +had fallen and gasped their life away. I remember the two or three +ships, still left standing where they were beached a year or two +before, built in between warehouses, their bows projecting into the +roadway. There was the dignity of the sea and its boundless +freedom in their beautiful curves, which the abutting houses could +not destroy, and even something of the sea's loneliness in the far- +spaced ports and cabin windows lit up by the lamps of the prosaic +landsmen who plied their trades behind them. One of these ships, +transformed into a hotel, retained its name, the Niantic, and part +of its characteristic interior unchanged. I remember these ships' +old tenants--the rats--who had increased and multiplied to such an +extent that at night they fearlessly crossed the wayfarer's path at +every turn, and even invaded the gilded saloons of Montgomery +Street. In the Niantic their pit-a-pat was met on every staircase, +and it was said that sometimes in an excess of sociability they +accompanied the traveler to his room. In the early "cloth-and- +papered" houses--so called because the ceilings were not plastered, +but simply covered by stretched and whitewashed cloth--their +scamperings were plainly indicated in zigzag movements of the +sagging cloth, or they became actually visible by finally dropping +through the holes they had worn in it! I remember the house whose +foundations were made of boxes of plug tobacco--part of a +jettisoned cargo--used instead of more expensive lumber; and the +adjacent warehouse where the trunks of the early and forgotten +"forty-niners" were stored, and--never claimed by their dead or +missing owners--were finally sold at auction. I remember the +strong breath of the sea over all, and the constant onset of the +trade winds which helped to disinfect the deposit of dirt and +grime, decay and wreckage, which were stirred up in the later +evolutions of the city. + +Or I recall, with the same sense of youthful satisfaction and +unabated wonder, my wanderings through the Spanish Quarter, where +three centuries of quaint customs, speech, and dress were still +preserved; where the proverbs of Sancho Panza were still spoken in +the language of Cervantes, and the high-flown illusions of the La +Manchian knight still a part of the Spanish Californian hidalgo's +dream. I recall the more modern "Greaser," or Mexican--his index +finger steeped in cigarette stains; his velvet jacket and his +crimson sash; the many-flounced skirt and lace manta of his women, +and their caressing intonations--the one musical utterance of the +whole hard-voiced city. I suppose I had a boy's digestion and +bluntness of taste in those days, for the combined odor of tobacco, +burned paper, and garlic, which marked that melodious breath, did +not affect me. + +Perhaps from my Puritan training I experienced a more fearful joy +in the gambling saloons. They were the largest and most comfortable, +even as they were the most expensively decorated rooms in San +Francisco. Here again the gravity and decorum which I have already +alluded to were present at that earlier period--though perhaps from +concentration of another kind. People staked and lost their last +dollar with a calm solemnity and a resignation that was almost +Christian. The oaths, exclamations, and feverish interruptions +which often characterized more dignified assemblies were absent +here. There was no room for the lesser vices; there was little or +no drunkenness; the gaudily dressed and painted women who presided +over the wheels of fortune or performed on the harp and piano +attracted no attention from those ascetic players. The man who had +won ten thousand dollars and the man who had lost everything rose +from the table with equal silence and imperturbability. I never +witnessed any tragic sequel to those losses; I never heard of any +suicide on account of them. Neither can I recall any quarrel or +murder directly attributable to this kind of gambling. It must be +remembered that these public games were chiefly rouge et noir, +monte, faro, or roulette, in which the antagonist was Fate, Chance, +Method, or the impersonal "bank," which was supposed to represent +them all; there was no individual opposition or rivalry; nobody +challenged the decision of the "croupier," or dealer. + +I remember a conversation at the door of one saloon which was as +characteristic for its brevity as it was a type of the prevailing +stoicism. "Hello!" said a departing miner, as he recognized a +brother miner coming in, "when did you come down?" "This morning," +was the reply. "Made a strike on the bar?" suggested the first +speaker. "You bet!" said the other, and passed in. I chanced an +hour later to be at the same place as they met again--their +relative positions changed. "Hello! Whar now?" said the incomer. +"Back to the bar." "Cleaned out?" "You bet!" Not a word more +explained a common situation. + +My first youthful experience at those tables was an accidental one. +I was watching roulette one evening, intensely absorbed in the mere +movement of the players. Either they were so preoccupied with the +game, or I was really older looking than my actual years, but a +bystander laid his hand familiarly on my shoulder, and said, as to +an ordinary habitue, "Ef you're not chippin' in yourself, pardner, +s'pose you give ME a show." Now I honestly believe that up to that +moment I had no intention, nor even a desire, to try my own +fortune. But in the embarrassment of the sudden address I put my +hand in my pocket, drew out a coin, and laid it, with an attempt at +carelessness, but a vivid consciousness that I was blushing, upon a +vacant number. To my horror I saw that I had put down a large +coin--the bulk of my possessions! I did not flinch, however; I +think any boy who reads this will understand my feeling; it was not +only my coin but my manhood at stake. I gazed with a miserable +show of indifference at the players, at the chandelier--anywhere +but at the dreadful ball spinning round the wheel. There was a +pause; the game was declared, the rake rattled up and down, but +still I did not look at the table. Indeed, in my inexperience of +the game and my embarrassment, I doubt if I should have known if I +had won or not. I had made up my mind that I should lose, but I +must do so like a man, and, above all, without giving the least +suspicion that I was a greenhorn. I even affected to be listening +to the music. The wheel spun again; the game was declared, the +rake was busy, but I did not move. At last the man I had displaced +touched me on the arm and whispered, "Better make a straddle and +divide your stake this time." I did not understand him, but as I +saw he was looking at the board, I was obliged to look, too. I +drew back dazed and bewildered! Where my coin had lain a moment +before was a glittering heap of gold. + +My stake had doubled, quadrupled, and doubled again. I did not +know how much then---I do not know now--it may have been not more +than three or four hundred dollars--but it dazzled and frightened +me. "Make your game, gentlemen," said the croupier monotonously. +I thought he looked at me--indeed, everybody seemed to be looking +at me--and my companion repeated his warning. But here I must +again appeal to the boyish reader in defense of my idiotic +obstinacy. To have taken advice would have shown my youth. I +shook my head--I could not trust my voice. I smiled, but with a +sinking heart, and let my stake remain. The ball again sped round +the wheel, and stopped. There was a pause. The croupier +indolently advanced his rake and swept my whole pile with others +into the bank! I had lost it all. Perhaps it may be difficult for +me to explain why I actually felt relieved, and even to some extent +triumphant, but I seemed to have asserted my grown-up independence-- +possibly at the cost of reducing the number of my meals for days; +but what of that! I was a man! I wish I could say that it was a +lesson to me. I am afraid it was not. It was true that I did not +gamble again, but then I had no especial desire to--and there was +no temptation. I am afraid it was an incident without a moral. +Yet it had one touch characteristic of the period which I like to +remember. The man who had spoken to me, I think, suddenly +realized, at the moment of my disastrous coup, the fact of my +extreme youth. He moved toward the banker, and leaning over him +whispered a few words. The banker looked up, half impatiently, +half kindly--his hand straying tentatively toward the pile of coin. +I instinctively knew what he meant, and, summoning my determination, +met his eyes with all the indifference I could assume, and walked +away. + +I had at that period a small room at the top of a house owned by a +distant relation--a second or third cousin, I think. He was a man +of independent and original character, had a Ulyssean experience of +men and cities, and an old English name of which he was proud. +While in London he had procured from the Heralds' College his +family arms, whose crest was stamped upon a quantity of plate he +had brought with him to California. The plate, together with an +exceptionally good cook, which he had also brought, and his own +epicurean tastes, he utilized in the usual practical Californian +fashion by starting a rather expensive half-club, half-restaurant +in the lower part of the building--which he ruled somewhat +autocratically, as became his crest. The restaurant was too +expensive for me to patronize, but I saw many of its frequenters as +well as those who had rooms at the club. They were men of very +distinct personality; a few celebrated, and nearly all notorious. +They represented a Bohemianism--if such it could be called--less +innocent than my later experiences. I remember, however, one +handsome young fellow whom I used to meet occasionally on the +staircase, who captured my youthful fancy. I met him only at +midday, as he did not rise till late, and this fact, with a certain +scrupulous elegance and neatness in his dress, ought to have made +me suspect that he was a gambler. In my inexperience it only +invested him with a certain romantic mystery. + +One morning as I was going out to my very early breakfast at a +cheap Italian cafe on Long Wharf, I was surprised to find him also +descending the staircase. He was scrupulously dressed even at that +early hour, but I was struck by the fact that he was all in black, +and his slight figure, buttoned to the throat in a tightly fitting +frock coat, gave, I fancied, a singular melancholy to his pale +Southern face. Nevertheless, he greeted me with more than his +usual serene cordiality, and I remembered that he looked up with a +half-puzzled, half-amused expression at the rosy morning sky as he +walked a few steps with me down the deserted street. I could not +help saying that I was astonished to see him up so early, and he +admitted that it was a break in his usual habits, but added with a +smiling significance I afterwards remembered that it was "an even +chance if he did it again." As we neared the street corner a man +in a buggy drove up impatiently. In spite of the driver's evident +haste, my handsome acquaintance got in leisurely, and, lifting his +glossy hat to me with a pleasant smile, was driven away. I have a +very lasting recollection of his face and figure as the buggy +disappeared down the empty street. I never saw him again. It was +not until a week later that I knew that an hour after he left me +that morning he was lying dead in a little hollow behind the +Mission Dolores--shot through the heart in a duel for which he had +risen so early. + +I recall another incident of that period, equally characteristic, +but happily less tragic in sequel. I was in the restaurant one +morning talking to my cousin when a man entered hastily and said +something to him in a hurried whisper. My cousin contracted his +eyebrows and uttered a suppressed oath. Then with a gesture of +warning to the man he crossed the room quietly to a table where a +regular habitue of the restaurant was lazily finishing his +breakfast. A large silver coffee-pot with a stiff wooden handle +stood on the table before him. My cousin leaned over the guest +familiarly and apparently made some hospitable inquiry as to his +wants, with his hand resting lightly on the coffee-pot handle. +Then--possibly because, my curiosity having been excited, I was +watching him more intently than the others--I saw what probably no +one else saw--that he deliberately upset the coffee-pot and its +contents over the guest's shirt and waistcoat. As the victim +sprang up with an exclamation, my cousin overwhelmed him with +apologies for his carelessness, and, with protestations of sorrow +for the accident, actually insisted upon dragging the man upstairs +into his own private room, where he furnished him with a shirt and +waistcoat of his own. The side door had scarcely closed upon them, +and I was still lost in wonder at what I had seen, when a man +entered from the street. He was one of the desperate set I have +already spoken of, and thoroughly well known to those present. He +cast a glance around the room, nodded to one or two of the guests, +and then walked to a side table and took up a newspaper. I was +conscious at once that a singular constraint had come over the +other guests--a nervous awkwardness that at last seemed to make +itself known to the man himself, who, after an affected yawn or +two, laid down the paper and walked out. + +"That was a mighty close call," said one of the guests with a sigh +of relief. + +"You bet! And that coffee-pot spill was the luckiest kind of +accident for Peters," returned another. + +"For both," added the first speaker, "for Peters was armed too, and +would have seen him come in!" + +A word or two explained all. Peters and the last comer had +quarreled a day or two before, and had separated with the intention +to "shoot on sight," that is, wherever they met,--a form of duel +common to those days. The accidental meeting in the restaurant +would have been the occasion, with the usual sanguinary consequence, +but for the word of warning given to my cousin by a passer-by who +knew that Peters' antagonist was coming to the restaurant to look at +the papers. Had my cousin repeated the warning to Peters himself he +would only have prepared him for the conflict--which he would not +have shirked--and so precipitated the affray. + +The ruse of upsetting the coffee-pot, which everybody but myself +thought an accident, was to get him out of the room before the +other entered. I was too young then to venture to intrude upon my +cousin's secrets, but two or three years afterwards I taxed him +with the trick and he admitted it regretfully. I believe that a +strict interpretation of the "code" would have condemned his act as +unsportsmanlike, if not UNFAIR! + +I recall another incident connected with the building equally +characteristic of the period. The United States Branch Mint stood +very near it, and its tall, factory-like chimneys overshadowed my +cousin's roof. Some scandal had arisen from an alleged leakage of +gold in the manipulation of that metal during the various processes +of smelting and refining. One of the excuses offered was the +volatilization of the precious metal and its escape through the +draft of the tall chimneys. All San Francisco laughed at this +explanation until it learned that a corroboration of the theory had +been established by an assay of the dust and grime of the roofs in +the vicinity of the Mint. These had yielded distinct traces of +gold. San Francisco stopped laughing, and that portion of it which +had roofs in the neighborhood at once began prospecting. Claims +were staked out on these airy placers, and my cousin's roof, being +the very next one to the chimney, and presumably "in the lead," was +disposed of to a speculative company for a considerable sum. I +remember my cousin telling me the story--for the occurrence was +quite recent--and taking me with him to the roof to explain it, but +I am afraid I was more attracted by the mystery of the closely +guarded building, and the strangely tinted smoke which arose from +this temple where money was actually being "made," than by anything +else. Nor did I dream as I stood there--a very lanky, open-mouthed +youth--that only three or four years later I should be the +secretary of its superintendent. In my more adventurous ambition I +am afraid I would have accepted the suggestion half-heartedly. +Merely to have helped to stamp the gold which other people had +adventurously found was by no means a part of my youthful dreams. + +At the time of these earlier impressions the Chinese had not yet +become the recognized factors in the domestic and business economy +of the city which they had come to be when I returned from the +mines three years later. Yet they were even then a more remarkable +and picturesque contrast to the bustling, breathless, and brand-new +life of San Francisco than the Spaniard. The latter seldom +flaunted his faded dignity in the principal thoroughfares. "John" +was to be met everywhere. It was a common thing to see a long file +of sampan coolies carrying their baskets slung between them, on +poles, jostling a modern, well-dressed crowd in Montgomery Street, +or to get a whiff of their burned punk in the side streets; while +the road leading to their temporary burial-ground at Lone Mountain +was littered with slips of colored paper scattered from their +funerals. They brought an atmosphere of the Arabian Nights into +the hard, modern civilization; their shops--not always confined at +that time to a Chinese quarter--were replicas of the bazaars of +Canton and Peking, with their quaint display of little dishes on +which tidbits of food delicacies were exposed for sale, all of the +dimensions and unreality of a doll's kitchen or a child's +housekeeping. + +They were a revelation to the Eastern immigrant, whose preconceived +ideas of them were borrowed from the ballet or pantomime; they did +not wear scalloped drawers and hats with jingling bells on their +points, nor did I ever see them dance with their forefingers +vertically extended. They were always neatly dressed, even the +commonest of coolies, and their festive dresses were marvels. As +traders they were grave and patient; as servants they were sad and +civil, and all were singularly infantine in their natural +simplicity. The living representatives of the oldest civilization +in the world, they seemed like children. Yet they kept their +beliefs and sympathies to themselves, never fraternizing with the +fanqui, or foreign devil, or losing their singular racial +qualities. They indulged in their own peculiar habits; of their +social and inner life, San Francisco knew but little and cared +less. Even at this early period, and before I came to know them +more intimately, I remember an incident of their daring fidelity to +their own customs that was accidentally revealed to me. I had +become acquainted with a Chinese youth of about my own age, as I +imagined,--although from mere outward appearance it was generally +impossible to judge of a Chinaman's age between the limits of +seventeen and forty years,--and he had, in a burst of confidence, +taken me to see some characteristic sights in a Chinese warehouse +within a stone's throw of the Plaza. I was struck by the singular +circumstance that while the warehouse was an erection of wood in +the ordinary hasty Californian style, there were certain brick and +stone divisions in its interior, like small rooms or closets, +evidently added by the Chinamen tenants. My companion stopped +before a long, very narrow entrance, a mere longitudinal slit in +the brick wall, and with a wink of infantine deviltry motioned me +to look inside. I did so, and saw a room, really a cell, of fair +height but scarcely six feet square, and barely able to contain a +rude, slanting couch of stone covered with matting, on which lay, +at a painful angle, a richly dressed Chinaman. A single glance at +his dull, staring, abstracted eyes and half-opened mouth showed me +he was in an opium trance. This was not in itself a novel sight, +and I was moving away when I was suddenly startled by the +appearance of his hands, which were stretched helplessly before him +on his body, and at first sight seemed to be in a kind of wicker +cage. + +I then saw that his finger-nails were seven or eight inches long, +and were supported by bamboo splints. Indeed, they were no longer +human nails, but twisted and distorted quills, giving him the +appearance of having gigantic claws. "Velly big Chinaman," +whispered my cheerful friend; "first-chop man--high classee--no can +washee--no can eat--no dlinke, no catchee him own glub allee same +nothee man--China boy must catchee glub for him, allee time! Oh, +him first-chop man--you bettee!" + +I had heard of this singular custom of indicating caste before, and +was amazed and disgusted, but I was not prepared for what followed. +My companion, evidently thinking he had impressed me, grew more +reckless as showman, and saying to me, "Now me showee you one funny +thing--heap makee you laugh," led me hurriedly across a little +courtyard swarming with chickens and rabbits, when he stopped +before another inclosure. Suddenly brushing past an astonished +Chinaman who seemed to be standing guard, he thrust me into the +inclosure in front of a most extraordinary object. It was a +Chinaman, wearing a huge, square, wooden frame fastened around his +neck like a collar, and fitting so tightly and rigidly that the +flesh rose in puffy weals around his cheeks. He was chained to a +post, although it was as impossible for him to have escaped with +his wooden cage through the narrow doorway as it was for him to lie +down and rest in it. Yet I am bound to say that his eyes and face +expressed nothing but apathy, and there was no appeal to the +sympathy of the stranger. My companion said hurriedly,-- + +"Velly bad man; stealee heap from Chinamen," and then, apparently +alarmed at his own indiscreet intrusion, hustled me away as quickly +as possible amid a shrill cackling of protestation from a few of +his own countrymen who had joined the one who was keeping guard. +In another moment we were in the street again--scarce a step from +the Plaza, in the full light of Western civilization--not a stone's +throw from the courts of justice. + +My companion took to his heels and left me standing there bewildered +and indignant. I could not rest until I had told my story, but +without betraying my companion, to an elder acquaintance, who laid +the facts before the police authorities. I had expected to be +closely cross-examined--to be doubted--to be disbelieved. To my +surprise, I was told that the police had already cognizance of +similar cases of illegal and barbarous punishments, but that the +victims themselves refused to testify against their countrymen--and +it was impossible to convict or even to identify them. "A white man +can't tell one Chinese from another, and there are always a dozen of +'em ready to swear that the man you've got isn't the one." I was +startled to reflect that I, too, could not have conscientiously +sworn to either jailor or the tortured prisoner--or perhaps even to +my cheerful companion. The police, on some pretext, made a raid upon +the premises a day or two afterwards, but without result. I +wondered if they had caught sight of the high-class, first-chop +individual, with the helplessly outstretched fingers, as that story +I had kept to myself. + +But these barbaric vestiges in John Chinaman's habits did not +affect his relations with the San Franciscans. He was singularly +peaceful, docile, and harmless as a servant, and, with rare +exceptions, honest and temperate. If he sometimes matched cunning +with cunning, it was the flattery of imitation. He did most of the +menial work of San Francisco, and did it cleanly. Except that he +exhaled a peculiar druglike odor, he was not personally offensive +in domestic contact, and by virtue of being the recognized +laundryman of the whole community his own blouses were always +freshly washed and ironed. His conversational reserve arose, not +from his having to deal with an unfamiliar language,--for he had +picked up a picturesque and varied vocabulary with ease,--but from +his natural temperament. He was devoid of curiosity, and utterly +unimpressed by anything but the purely business concerns of those +he served. Domestic secrets were safe with him; his indifference +to your thoughts, actions, and feelings had all the contempt which +his three thousand years of history and his innate belief in your +inferiority seemed to justify. He was blind and deaf in your +household because you didn't interest him in the least. It was +said that a gentleman, who wished to test his impassiveness, +arranged with his wife to come home one day and, in the hearing of +his Chinese waiter who was more than usually intelligent--to +disclose with well-simulated emotion the details of a murder he had +just committed. He did so. The Chinaman heard it without a sign +of horror or attention even to the lifting of an eyelid, but +continued his duties unconcerned. Unfortunately, the gentleman, in +order to increase the horror of the situation, added that now there +was nothing left for him but to cut his throat. At this John +quietly left the room. The gentleman was delighted at the success +of his ruse until the door reopened and John reappeared with his +master's razor, which he quietly slipped--as if it had been a +forgotten fork--beside his master's plate, and calmly resumed his +serving. I have always considered this story to be quite as +improbable as it was inartistic, from its tacit admission of a +certain interest on the part of the Chinaman. I never knew one who +would have been sufficiently concerned to go for the razor. + +His taciturnity and reticence may have been confounded with +rudeness of address, although he was always civil enough. "I see +you have listened to me and done exactly what I told you," said a +lady, commending some performance of her servant after a previous +lengthy lecture; "that's very nice." "Yes," said John calmly, "you +talkee allee time; talkee allee too much." "I always find Ling +very polite," said another lady, speaking of her cook, "but I wish +he did not always say to me, 'Goodnight, John,' in a high falsetto +voice." She had not recognized the fact that he was simply +repeating her own salutation with his marvelous instinct of +relentless imitation, even as to voice. I hesitate to record the +endless stories of his misapplication of that faculty which were +then current, from the one of the laundryman who removed the +buttons from the shirts that were sent to him to wash that they +might agree with the condition of the one offered him as a pattern +for "doing up," to that of the unfortunate employer who, while +showing John how to handle valuable china carefully, had the +misfortune to drop a plate himself--an accident which was followed +by the prompt breaking of another by the neophyte, with the +addition of "Oh, hellee!" in humble imitation of his master. + +I have spoken of his general cleanliness; I am reminded of one or +two exceptions, which I think, however, were errors of zeal. His +manner of sprinkling clothes in preparing them for ironing was +peculiar. He would fill his mouth with perfectly pure water from a +glass beside him, and then, by one dexterous movement of his lips +in a prolonged expiration, squirt the water in an almost invisible +misty shower on the article before him. Shocking as this was at +first to the sensibilities of many American employers, it was +finally accepted, and even commended. It was some time after this +that the mistress of a household, admiring the deft way in which +her cook had spread a white sauce on certain dishes, was cheerfully +informed that the method was "allee same." + +His recreations at that time were chiefly gambling, for the Chinese +theatre wherein the latter produced his plays (which lasted for +several months and comprised the events of a whole dynasty) was not +yet built. But he had one or two companies of jugglers who +occasionally performed also at American theatres. I remember a +singular incident which attended the debut of a newly arrived +company. It seemed that the company had been taken on their +Chinese reputation solely, and there had been no previous rehearsal +before the American stage manager. The theatre was filled with an +audience of decorous and respectable San Franciscans of both sexes. +It was suddenly emptied in the middle of the performance; the +curtain came down with an alarmed and blushing manager apologizing +to deserted benches, and the show abruptly terminated. Exactly +WHAT had happened never appeared in the public papers, nor in the +published apology of the manager. It afforded a few days' mirth +for wicked San Francisco, and it was epigrammatically summed up in +the remark that "no woman could be found in San Francisco who was +at that performance, and no man who was not." Yet it was alleged +even by John's worst detractors that he was innocent of any +intended offense. Equally innocent, but perhaps more morally +instructive, was an incident that brought his career as a +singularly successful physician to a disastrous close. An ordinary +native Chinese doctor, practicing entirely among his own +countrymen, was reputed to have made extraordinary cures with two +or three American patients. With no other advertising than this, +and apparently no other inducement offered to the public than what +their curiosity suggested, he was presently besieged by hopeful and +eager sufferers. Hundreds of patients were turned away from his +crowded doors. Two interpreters sat, day and night, translating +the ills of ailing San Francisco to this medical oracle, and +dispensing his prescriptions--usually small powders--in exchange +for current coin. In vain the regular practitioners pointed out +that the Chinese possessed no superior medical knowledge, and that +their religion, which proscribed dissection and autopsies, +naturally limited their understanding of the body into which they +put their drugs. Finally they prevailed upon an eminent Chinese +authority to give them a list of the remedies generally used in the +Chinese pharmacopoeia, and this was privately circulated. For +obvious reasons I may not repeat it here. But it was summed up-- +again after the usual Californian epigrammatic style--by the remark +that "whatever were the comparative merits of Chinese and American +practice, a simple perusal of the list would prove that the Chinese +were capable of producing the most powerful emetic known." The +craze subsided in a single day; the interpreters and their oracle +vanished; the Chinese doctors' signs, which had multiplied, +disappeared, and San Francisco awoke cured of its madness, at the +cost of some thousand dollars. + +My Bohemian wanderings were confined to the limits of the city, for +the very good reason that there was little elsewhere to go. San +Francisco was then bounded on one side by the monotonously restless +waters of the bay, and on the other by a stretch of equally +restless and monotonously shifting sand dunes as far as the Pacific +shore. Two roads penetrated this waste: one to Lone Mountain--the +cemetery; the other to the Cliff House--happily described as "an +eight-mile drive with a cocktail at the end of it." Nor was the +humor entirely confined to this felicitous description. The Cliff +House itself, half restaurant, half drinking saloon, fronting the +ocean and the Seal Rock, where disporting seals were the chief +object of interest, had its own peculiar symbol. The decanters, +wine-glasses, and tumblers at the bar were all engraved in old +English script with the legal initials "L. S." (Locus Sigilli),-- +"the place of the seal." + +On the other hand, Lone Mountain, a dreary promontory giving upon +the Golden Gate and its striking sunsets, had little to soften its +weird suggestiveness. As the common goal of the successful and +unsuccessful, the carved and lettered shaft of the man who had made +a name, and the staring blank headboard of the man who had none, +climbed the sandy slopes together. I have seen the funerals of the +respectable citizen who had died peacefully in his bed, and the +notorious desperado who had died "with his boots on," followed by +an equally impressive cortege of sorrowing friends, and often the +self-same priest. But more awful than its barren loneliness was +the utter absence of peacefulness and rest in this dismal +promontory. By some wicked irony of its situation and climate it +was the personification of unrest and change. The incessant trade +winds carried its loose sands hither and thither, uncovering the +decaying coffins of early pioneers, to bury the wreaths and +flowers, laid on a grave of to-day, under their obliterating waves. +No tree to shade them from the glaring sky above could live in +those winds, no turf would lie there to resist the encroaching sand +below. The dead were harried and hustled even in their graves by +the persistent sun, the unremitting wind, and the unceasing sea. +The departing mourner saw the contour of the very mountain itself +change with the shifting dunes as he passed, and his last look +beyond rested on the hurrying, eager waves forever hastening to the +Golden Gate. + +If I were asked to say what one thing impressed me as the dominant +and characteristic note of San Francisco, I should say it was this +untiring presence of sun and wind and sea. They typified, even if +they were not, as I sometimes fancied, the actual incentive to the +fierce, restless life of the city. I could not think of San +Francisco without the trade winds; I could not imagine its strange, +incongruous, multigenerous procession marching to any other music. +They were always there in my youthful recollections; they were +there in my more youthful dreams of the past as the mysterious +vientes generales that blew the Philippine galleons home. + +For six months they blew from the northwest, for six months from +the southwest, with unvarying persistency. They were there every +morning, glittering in the equally persistent sunlight, to chase +the San Franciscan from his slumber; they were there at midday, to +stir his pulses with their beat; they were there again at night, to +hurry him through the bleak and flaring gas-lit streets to bed. +They left their mark on every windward street or fence or gable, on +the outlying sand dunes; they lashed the slow coasters home, and +hurried them to sea again; they whipped the bay into turbulence on +their way to Contra Costa, whose level shoreland oaks they had +trimmed to windward as cleanly and sharply as with a pruning- +shears. Untiring themselves, they allowed no laggards; they drove +the San Franciscan from the wall against which he would have +leaned, from the scant shade in which at noontide he might have +rested. They turned his smallest fires into conflagrations, and +kept him ever alert, watchful, and eager. In return, they +scavenged his city and held it clean and wholesome; in summer they +brought him the soft sea-fog for a few hours to soothe his abraded +surfaces; in winter they brought the rains and dashed the whole +coast-line with flowers, and the staring sky above it with soft, +unwonted clouds. They were always there--strong, vigilant, +relentless, material, unyielding, triumphant. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Under the Redwoods by Bret Harte + diff --git a/old/unrdw10.zip b/old/unrdw10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..93fc739 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/unrdw10.zip |