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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: Found At Blazing Star + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 27, 2006 [EBook #2794] +Last Updated: December 17, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOUND AT BLAZING STAR *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + FOUND AT BLAZING STAR + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Bret Harte + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + The rain had only ceased with the gray streaks of morning at Blazing Star, + and the settlement awoke to a moral sense of cleanliness, and the finding + of forgotten knives, tin cups, and smaller camp utensils, where the heavy + showers had washed away the debris and dust heaps before the cabin doors. + Indeed, it was recorded in Blazing Star that a fortunate early riser had + once picked up on the highway a solid chunk of gold quartz which the rain + had freed from its incumbering soil, and washed into immediate and + glittering popularity. Possibly this may have been the reason why early + risers in that locality, during the rainy season, adopted a thoughtful + habit of body, and seldom lifted their eyes to the rifted or india-ink + washed skies above them. + </p> + <p> + "Cass" Beard had risen early that morning, but not with a view to + discovery. A leak in his cabin roof,—quite consistent with his + careless, improvident habits,—had roused him at 4 A. M., with a + flooded "bunk" and wet blankets. The chips from his wood pile refused to + kindle a fire to dry his bed-clothes, and he had recourse to a more + provident neighbor's to supply the deficiency. This was nearly opposite. + Mr. Cassius crossed the highway, and stopped suddenly. Something glittered + in the nearest red pool before him. Gold, surely! But, wonderful to + relate, not an irregular, shapeless fragment of crude ore, fresh from + Nature's crucible, but a bit of jeweler's handicraft in the form of a + plain gold ring. Looking at it more attentively, he saw that it bore the + inscription, "May to Cass." + </p> + <p> + Like most of his fellow gold-seekers, Cass was superstitious. "Cass!" His + own name! He tried the ring. It fitted his little finger closely. It was + evidently a woman's ring. He looked up and down the highway. No one was + yet stirring. Little pools of water in the red road were beginning to + glitter and grow rosy from the far-flushing east, but there was no trace + of the owner of the shining waif. He knew that there was no woman in camp, + and among his few comrades in the settlement he remembered to have seen + none wearing an ornament like that. Again, the coincidence of the + inscription to his rather peculiar nickname would have been a perennial + source of playful comment in a camp that made no allowance for sentimental + memories. He slipped the glittering little hoop into his pocket, and + thoughtfully returned to his cabin. + </p> + <p> + Two hours later, when the long, straggling procession, which every morning + wended its way to Blazing Star Gulch,—the seat of mining operations + in the settlement,—began to move, Cass saw fit to interrogate his + fellows. "Ye didn't none on ye happen to drop anything round yer last + night?" he asked, cautiously. + </p> + <p> + "I dropped a pocketbook containing government bonds and some other + securities, with between fifty and sixty thousand dollars," responded + Peter Drummond, carelessly; "but no matter, if any man will return a few + autograph letters from foreign potentates that happened to be in it,—of + no value to anybody but the owner,—he can keep the money. Thar's + nothin' mean about me," he concluded, languidly. + </p> + <p> + This statement, bearing every evidence of the grossest mendacity, was + lightly passed over, and the men walked on with the deepest gravity. + </p> + <p> + "But hev you?" Cass presently asked of another. + </p> + <p> + "I lost my pile to Jack Hamlin at draw-poker, over at Wingdam last night," + returned the other, pensively, "but I don't calkilate to find it lying + round loose." + </p> + <p> + Forced at last by this kind of irony into more detailed explanation, Cass + confided to them his discovery, and produced his treasure. The result was + a dozen vague surmises,—only one of which seemed to be popular, and + to suit the dyspeptic despondency of the party,—a despondency born + of hastily masticated fried pork and flapjacks. The ring was believed to + have been dropped by some passing "road agent" laden with guilty spoil. + </p> + <p> + "Ef I was you," said Drummond, gloomily, "I wouldn't flourish that yer + ring around much afore folks. I've seen better men nor you strung up a + tree by Vigilantes for having even less than that in their possession." + </p> + <p> + "And I wouldn't say much about bein' up so d——d early this + morning," added an even more pessimistic comrade; "it might look bad + before a jury." + </p> + <p> + With this the men sadly dispersed, leaving the innocent Cass with the ring + in his hand, and a general impression on his mind that he was already an + object of suspicion to his comrades,—an impression, it is hardly + necessary to say, they fully intended should be left to rankle in his + guileless bosom. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding Cass's first hopeful superstition the ring did not seem to + bring him nor the camp any luck. Daily the "clean up" brought the same + scant rewards to their labors, and deepened the sardonic gravity of + Blazing Star. But, if Cass found no material result from his treasure, it + stimulated his lazy imagination, and, albeit a dangerous and seductive + stimulant, at least lifted him out of the monotonous grooves of his + half-careless, half-slovenly, but always self-contented camp life. Heeding + the wise caution of his comrades, he took the habit of wearing the ring + only at night. Wrapped in his blanket, he stealthily slipped the golden + circlet over his little finger, and, as he averred, "slept all the better + for it." Whether it ever evoked any warmer dream or vision during those + calm, cold, virgin-like spring nights, when even the moon and the greater + planets retreated into the icy blue, steel-like firmament, I cannot say. + Enough that this superstition began to be colored a little by fancy, and + his fatalism somewhat mitigated by hope. Dreams of this kind did not tend + to promote his efficiency in the communistic labors of the camp, and + brought him a self-isolation that, however gratifying at first, soon + debarred him the benefits of that hard practical wisdom which underlaid + the grumbling of his fellow workers. + </p> + <p> + "I'm dog-goned," said one commentator, "ef I don't believe that Cass is + looney over that yer ring he found. Wears it on a string under his shirt." + </p> + <p> + Meantime, the seasons did not wait the discovery of the secret. The red + pools in Blazing Star highway were soon dried up in the fervent June sun + and riotous night wind of those altitudes. The ephemeral grasses that had + quickly supplanted these pools and the chocolate-colored mud, were as + quickly parched and withered. The footprints of spring became vague and + indefinite, and were finally lost in the impalpable dust of the summer + highway. + </p> + <p> + In one of his long, aimless excursions, Cass had penetrated a thick + undergrowth of buckeye and hazel, and found himself quite unexpectedly + upon the high road to Red Chief's Crossing. Cass knew by the lurid cloud + of dust that hid the distance, that the up coach had passed. He had + already reached that stage of superstition when the most trivial + occurrence seemed to point in some way to an elucidation of the mystery of + his treasure. His eyes had mechanically fallen to the ground again, as if + he half expected to find in some other waif a hint or corroboration of his + imaginings. Thus abstracted, the figure of a young girl on horseback, in + the road directly before the bushes he emerged from, appeared to have + sprung directly from the ground. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, come here, please do; quick!" + </p> + <p> + Cass stared, and then moved hesitatingly toward her. + </p> + <p> + "I heard some one coming through the bushes, and I waited," she went on. + "Come quick. It's something too awful for anything." + </p> + <p> + In spite of this appalling introduction, Cass could not but notice that + the voice, although hurried and excited, was by no means agitated or + frightened; that the eyes which looked into his sparkled with a certain + kind of pleased curiosity. + </p> + <p> + "It was just here," she went on vivaciously, "just here that I went into + the bush and cut a switch for my mare,—and,"—leading him along + at a brisk trot by her side,—"just here, look, see! this is what I + found." + </p> + <p> + It was scarcely thirty feet from the road. The only object that met Cass's + eye was a man's stiff, tall hat, lying emptily and vacantly in the grass. + It was new, shiny, and of modish shape. But it was so incongruous, so + perkily smart, and yet so feeble and helpless lying there, so ghastly + ludicrous in its very appropriateness and incapacity to adjust itself to + the surrounding landscape, that it affected him with something more than a + sense of its grotesqueness, and he could only stare at it blankly. + </p> + <p> + "But you're not looking the right way," the girl went on sharply; "look + there!" + </p> + <p> + Cass followed the direction of her whip. At last, what might have seemed a + coat thrown carelessly on the ground met his eye, but presently he became + aware of a white, rigid, aimlessly-clinched hand protruding from the + flaccid sleeve; mingled with it in some absurd way and half hidden by the + grass, lay what might have been a pair of cast-off trousers but for two + rigid boots that pointed in opposite angles to the sky. It was a dead man. + So palpably dead that life seemed to have taken flight from his very + clothes. So impotent, feeble, and degraded by them that the naked subject + of a dissecting table would have been less insulting to humanity. The head + had fallen back, and was partly hidden in a gopher burrow, but the white, + upturned face and closed eyes had less of helpless death in them than + those wretched enwrappings. Indeed, one limp hand that lay across the + swollen abdomen lent itself to the grotesquely hideous suggestion of a + gentleman sleeping off the excesses of a hearty dinner. + </p> + <p> + "Ain't he horrid?" continued the girl; "but what killed him?" + </p> + <p> + Struggling between a certain fascination at the girl's cold-blooded + curiosity and horror of the murdered man, Cass hesitatingly lifted the + helpless head. A bluish hole above the right temple, and a few brown + paint-like spots on the forehead, shirt cellar, and matted hair proved the + only record. + </p> + <p> + "Turn him over again," said the girl, impatiently, as Cass was about to + relinquish his burden. "May be you'll find another wound." + </p> + <p> + But Cass was dimly remembering certain formalities that in older + civilizations attend the discovery of dead bodies, and postponed a present + inquest. + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps you'd better ride on, Miss, afore you get summoned as a witness. + I'll give warning at Red Chief's Crossing, and send the coroner down + here." + </p> + <p> + "Let me go with you," she said, earnestly, "it would be such fun. I don't + mind being a witness. Or," she added, without heeding Cass's look of + astonishment, "I'll wait here till you come back." + </p> + <p> + "But you see, Miss, it wouldn't seem right—" began Cass. + </p> + <p> + "But I found him first," interrupted the girl, with a pout. + </p> + <p> + Staggered by this preemptive right, sacred to all miners, Cass stopped. + </p> + <p> + "Who is the coroner?" she asked. + </p> + <p> + "Joe Hornsby." + </p> + <p> + "The tall, lame man, who was half eaten by a grizzly?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "Well, look now! I'll ride on and bring him back in half an hour. There!" + </p> + <p> + "But, Miss—!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, don't mind ME. I never saw anything of this kind before, and I want + to see it ALL." + </p> + <p> + "Do you know Hornsby?" asked Cass, unconsciously a trifle irritated. + </p> + <p> + "No, but I'll bring him." She wheeled her horse into the road. + </p> + <p> + In the presence of this living energy Cass quite forgot the helpless dead. + "Have you been long in these parts, Miss?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "About two weeks," she answered, shortly. "Good-by, just now. Look around + for the pistol or anything else you can find, although I have been over + the whole ground twice already." + </p> + <p> + A little puff of dust as the horse sprang into the road, a muffled + shuffle, struggle, then the regular beat of hoofs, and she was gone. + </p> + <p> + After five minutes had passed, Cass regretted that he had not accompanied + her; waiting in such a spot was an irksome task. Not that there was + anything in the scene itself to awaken gloomy imaginings; the bright, + truthful Californian sunshine scoffed at any illusion of creeping shadows + or waving branches. Once, in the rising wind, the empty hat rolled over—but + only in a ludicrous, drunken way. A search for any further sign or token + had proved futile, and Cass grew impatient. He began to hate himself for + having stayed; he would have fled but for shame. Nor was his good humor + restored when at the close of a weary half hour two galloping figures + emerged from the dusty horizon—Hornsby and the young girl. + </p> + <p> + His vague annoyance increased as he fancied that both seemed to ignore + him, the coroner barely acknowledging his presence with a nod. Assisted by + the young girl, whose energy and enthusiasm evidently delighted him, + Hornsby raised the body for a more careful examination. The dead man's + pockets were carefully searched. A few coins, a silver pencil, knife, and + tobacco-box were all they found. It gave no clew to his identity. Suddenly + the young girl, who had, with unabashed curiosity, knelt beside the + exploring official hands of the Red Chief, uttered a cry of gratification. + </p> + <p> + "Here's something! It dropped from the bosom of his shirt on the ground. + Look!" + </p> + <p> + She was holding in the air, between her thumb and forefinger, a folded bit + of well-worn newspaper. Her eyes sparkled. + </p> + <p> + "Shall I open it?" she asked. + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "It's a little ring" she said; "looks like an engagement ring. Something + is written on it. Look! 'May to Cass.'" + </p> + <p> + Cass darted forward. "It's mine," he stammered, "mine! I dropped it. It's + nothing—nothing," he went on, after a pause, embarrassed and + blushing, as the girl and her companion both stared at him—"a mere + trifle. I'll take it." + </p> + <p> + But the coroner opposed his outstretched hand. "Not much," he said, + significantly. + </p> + <p> + "But it's MINE," continued Cass, indignation taking the place of shame at + his discovered secret. "I found it six months ago in the road. I—picked + it up." + </p> + <p> + "With your name already written on it! How handy!" said the coroner, + grimly. + </p> + <p> + "It's an old story" said Cass, blushing again under the half-mischievous, + half-searching eyes of the girl. "All Blazing Star knows I found it." + </p> + <p> + "Then ye'll have no difficulty in provin' it," said Hornsby, coolly. "Just + now, however, WE'VE found it, and we propose to keep it for the inquest." + </p> + <p> + Cass shrugged his shoulders. Further altercation would have only + heightened his ludicrous situation in the girl's eyes. He turned away, + leaving his treasure in the coroner's hands. + </p> + <p> + The inquest, a day or two later, was prompt and final. No clew to the dead + man's identity; no evidence sufficiently strong to prove murder or + suicide; no trace of any kind, inculpating any party, known or unknown, + were found. But much publicity and interest were given to the proceedings + by the presence of the principal witness, a handsome girl. "To the pluck, + persistency, and intellect of Miss Porter," said the "Red Chief Recorder," + "Tuolumne County owes the recovery of the body." + </p> + <p> + No one who was present at the inquest failed to be charmed with the + appearance and conduct of this beautiful young lady. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Porter has but lately arrived in this district, in which, it is + hoped, she will become an honored resident, and continue to set an example + to all lackadaisical and sentimental members of the so-called 'sterner + sex.'" After this universally recognized allusion to Cass Beard, the + "Recorder" returned to its record: "Some interest was excited by what + appeared to be a clew to the mystery in the discovery of a small gold + engagement ring on the body. Evidence was afterward offered to show it was + the property of a Mr. Cass Beard of Blazing Star, who appeared upon the + scene AFTER the discovery of the corpse by Miss Porter. He alleged he had + dropped it in lifting the unfortunate remains of the deceased. Much + amusement was created in court by the sentimental confusion of the + claimant, and a certain partisan spirit shown by his fellow-miners of + Blazing Star. It appearing, however, by the admission of this sighing + Strephon of the Foot hills, that he had himself FOUND this pledge of + affection lying in the highway six months previous, the coroner wisely + placed it in the safe-keeping of the county court until the appearance of + the rightful owner." + </p> + <p> + Thus on the 13th of September, 186-, the treasure found at Blazing Star + passed out of the hands of its finder. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Autumn brought an abrupt explanation of the mystery. Kanaka Joe had been + arrested for horse stealing, but had with noble candor confessed to the + finer offense of manslaughter. That swift and sure justice which overtook + the horse stealer in these altitudes was stayed a moment and hesitated, + for the victim was clearly the mysterious unknown. Curiosity got the + better of an extempore judge and jury. + </p> + <p> + "It was a fair fight," said the accused, not without some human vanity, + feeling that the camp hung upon his words, "and was settled by the man az + was peartest and liveliest with his weapon. We had a sort of + unpleasantness over at Lagrange the night afore, along of our both hevin' + a monotony of four aces. We had a clinch and a stamp around, and when we + was separated it was only a question of shootin' on sight. He left + Lagrange at sun up the next morning, and I struck across a bit o' buckeye + and underbrush and came upon him, accidental like, on the Red Chief Road. + I drawed when I sighted him, and called out. He slipped from his mare and + covered himself with her flanks, reaching for his holster, but she rared + and backed down on him across the road and into the grass, where I got in + another shot and fetched him." + </p> + <p> + "And you stole his mare?" suggested the Judge. + </p> + <p> + "I got away," said the gambler, simply. + </p> + <p> + Further questioning only elicited the fact that Joe did not know the name + or condition of his victim. He was a stranger in Lagrange. + </p> + <p> + It was a breezy afternoon, with some turbulency in the camp, and much + windy discussion over this unwonted delay of justice. The suggestion that + Joe should be first hanged for horse stealing and then tried for murder + was angrily discussed, but milder counsels were offered—that the + fact of the killing should be admitted only as proof of the theft. A large + party from Red Chief had come over to assist in judgment, among them the + coroner. + </p> + <p> + Cass Beard had avoided these proceedings, which only recalled an + unpleasant experience, and was wandering with pick, pan, and wallet far + from the camp. These accoutrements, as I have before intimated, justified + any form of aimless idleness under the equally aimless title of + "prospecting." He had at the end of three hours' relaxation reached the + highway to Red Chief, half hidden by blinding clouds of dust torn from the + crumbling red road at every gust which swept down the mountain side. The + spot had a familiar aspect to Cass, although some freshly-dug holes near + the wayside, with scattered earth beside them, showed the presence of a + recent prospector. He was struggling with his memory, when the dust was + suddenly dispersed and he found himself again at the scene of the murder. + He started: he had not put foot on the road since the inquest. There + lacked only the helpless dead man and the contrasting figure of the alert + young woman to restore the picture. The body was gone, it was true, but as + he turned he beheld Miss Porter, at a few paces distant, sitting on her + horse as energetic and observant as on the first morning they had met. A + superstitious thrill passed over him and awoke his old antagonism. + </p> + <p> + She nodded to him slightly. "I came here to refresh my memory," she said, + "as Mr. Hornsby thought I might be asked to give my evidence again at + Blazing Star." + </p> + <p> + Cass carelessly struck an aimless blow with his pick against the sod and + did not reply. + </p> + <p> + "And you?" she queried. + </p> + <p> + "I stumbled upon the place just now while prospecting, or I shouldn't be + here." + </p> + <p> + "Then it was YOU made these holes?" + </p> + <p> + "No," said Cass, with ill-concealed disgust. "Nobody but a stranger would + go foolin' round such a spot." + </p> + <p> + He stopped, as the rude significance of his speech struck him, and added + surlily, "I mean—no one would dig here." + </p> + <p> + The girl laughed and showed a set of very white teeth in her square jaw. + Cass averted his face. + </p> + <p> + "Do you mean to say that every miner doesn't know that it's lucky to dig + wherever human blood has been spilt?" + </p> + <p> + Cass felt a return of his superstition, but he did not look up. "I never + heard it before," he said, severely. + </p> + <p> + "And you call yourself a California miner?" + </p> + <p> + "I do." + </p> + <p> + It was impossible for Miss Porter to misunderstand his curt speech and + unsocial manner. She stared at him and colored slightly. Lifting her reins + lightly, she said: "You certainly do not seem like most of the miners I + have met." + </p> + <p> + "Nor you like any girl from the East I ever met," he responded. + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean?" she asked, checking her horse. + </p> + <p> + "What I say," he answered, doggedly. Reasonable as this reply was, it + immediately struck him that it was scarcely dignified or manly. But before + he could explain himself Miss Porter was gone. + </p> + <p> + He met her again that very evening. The trial had been summarily suspended + by the appearance of the Sheriff of Calaveras and his posse, who took Joe + from that self-constituted tribunal of Blazing Star and set his face + southward and toward authoritative although more cautious justice. But not + before the evidence of the previous inquest had been read, and the + incident of the ring again delivered to the public. + </p> + <p> + It is said the prisoner burst into an incredulous laugh and asked to see + this mysterious waif. It was handed to him. Standing in the very shadow of + the gallows tree—which might have been one of the pines that + sheltered the billiard room in which the Vigilance Committee held their + conclave—the prisoner gave way to a burst of merriment, so genuine + and honest that the judge and jury joined in automatic sympathy. When + silence was restored an explanation was asked by the Judge. But there was + no response from the prisoner except a subdued chuckle. + </p> + <p> + "Did this ring belong to you?" asked the Judge, severely, the jury and + spectators craning their ears forward with an expectant smile already on + their faces. But the prisoner's eyes only sparkled maliciously as he + looked around the court. + </p> + <p> + "Tell us, Joe," said a sympathetic and laughter-loving juror, under his + breath. "Let it out and we'll make it easy for you." + </p> + <p> + "Prisoner," said the Judge, with a return of official dignity, "remember + that your life is in peril. Do you refuse?" + </p> + <p> + Joe lazily laid his arm on the back of his chair with (to quote the words + of an animated observer) "the air of having a Christian hope and a + sequence flush in his hand," and said: "Well, as I reckon I'm not up yer + for stealin' a ring that another man lets on to have found, and as fur as + I kin see, hez nothin' to do with the case, I do!" And as it was here that + the Sheriff of Calaveras made a precipitate entry into the room, the + mystery remained unsolved. + </p> + <p> + The effect of this freshly-important ridicule on the sensitive mind of + Cass might have been foretold by Blazing Star had it ever taken that + sensitiveness into consideration. He had lost the good humor and easy + pliability which had tempted him to frankness, and he had gradually become + bitter and hard. He had at first affected amusement over his own vanished + day dream—hiding his virgin disappointment in his own breast; but + when he began to turn upon his feelings he turned upon his comrades also. + Cass was for a while unpopular. There is no ingratitude so revolting to + the human mind as that of the butt who refuses to be one any longer. The + man who rejects that immunity which laughter generally casts upon him and + demands to be seriously considered deserves no mercy. + </p> + <p> + It was under these hard conditions that Cass Beard, convicted of overt + sentimentalism, aggravated by inconsistency, stepped into the Red Chief + coach that evening. It was his habit usually to ride with the driver, but + the presence of Hornsby and Miss Porter on the box seat changed his + intention. Yet he had the satisfaction of seeing that neither had noticed + him, and as there was no other passenger inside, he stretched himself on + the cushion of the back seat and gave way to moody reflections. He quite + determined to leave Blazing Star, to settle himself seriously to the task + of money getting, and to return to his comrades, some day, a sarcastic, + cynical, successful man, and so overwhelm them with confusion. For poor + Cass had not yet reached that superiority of knowing that success would + depend upon his ability to forego his past. Indeed, part of his boyhood + had been cast among these men, and he was not old enough to have learned + that success was not to be gauged by their standard. The moon lit up the + dark interior of the coach with a faint poetic light. The lazy swinging of + the vehicle that was bearing him away—albeit only for a night and a + day—the solitude, the glimpses from the window of great distances + full of vague possibilities, made the abused ring potent as that of Gyges. + He dreamed with his eyes open. From an Alnaschar vision he suddenly awoke. + The coach had stopped. The voices of men, one in entreaty, one in + expostulation, came from the box. Cass mechanically put his hand to his + pistol pocket. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, but I INSIST upon getting down." + </p> + <p> + It was Miss Porter's voice. This was followed by a rapid, half-restrained + interchange of words between Hornsby and the driver. Then the latter said, + gruffly,— + </p> + <p> + "If the lady wants to ride inside, let her." + </p> + <p> + Miss Porter fluttered to the ground. She was followed by Hornsby. "Just a + minit, Miss," he expostulated, half shamedly, half brusquely, "ye don't + onderstand me. I only—" + </p> + <p> + But Miss Porter had jumped into the coach. + </p> + <p> + Hornsby placed his hand on the handle of the door. Miss Porter grasped it + firmly from the inside. There was a slight struggle. + </p> + <p> + All of which was part of a dream to the boyish Cass. But he awoke from it—a + man! "Do you," he asked, in a voice he scarcely recognized himself,—"Do + you want this man inside?" + </p> + <p> + "No!" + </p> + <p> + Cass caught at Hornsby's wrist like a young tiger. But alas! what availed + instinctive chivalry against main strength? He only succeeded in forcing + the door open in spite of Miss Porter's superior strategy, and—I + fear I must add, muscle also—and threw himself passionately at + Hornsby's throat, where he hung on and calmly awaited dissolution. But he + had, in the onset, driven Hornsby out into the road and the moonlight. + </p> + <p> + "Here! Somebody take my lines." The voice was "Mountain Charley's," the + driver. The figure that jumped from the box and separated the struggling + men belonged to this singularly direct person. + </p> + <p> + "You're riding inside?" said Charley, interrogatively, to Cass. Before he + could reply Miss Porter's voice came from the window. + </p> + <p> + "He is!" + </p> + <p> + Charley promptly bundled Cass into the coach. + </p> + <p> + "And YOU?" to Hornsby, "onless you're kalkilatin' to take a little + 'pasear' you're booked OUTSIDE. Get up." + </p> + <p> + It is probable that Charley assisted Mr. Hornsby as promptly to his seat, + for the next moment the coach was rolling on. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Cass, by reason of his forced entry, had been deposited in Miss + Porter's lap, whence, freeing himself, he had attempted to climb over the + middle seat, but in the starting of the coach was again thrown heavily + against her hat and shoulder; all of which was inconsistent with the + attitude of dignified reserve he had intended to display. Miss Porter, + meanwhile, recovered her good humor. + </p> + <p> + "What a brute he was, ugh!" she said, retying the ribbons of her bonnet + under her square chin, and smoothing out her linen duster. + </p> + <p> + Cass tried to look as if he had forgotten the whole affair. "Who? Oh, yes + I see!" he responded, absently. + </p> + <p> + "I suppose I ought to thank you," she went on with a smile, "but you know, + really, I could have kept him out if you hadn't pulled his wrist from + outside. I'll show you. Look! Put your hand on the handle there! Now, I'll + hold the lock inside firmly. You see, you can't turn the catch!" + </p> + <p> + She indeed held the lock fast. It was a firm hand, yet soft—their + fingers had touched over the handle—and looked white in the + moonlight. He made no reply, but sank back again in his seat with a + singular sensation in the fingers that had touched hers. He was in the + shadow, and, without being seen, could abandon his reserve and glance at + her face. It struck him that he had never really seen her before. She was + not so tall as she had appeared to be. Her eyes were not large, but her + pupils were black, moist, velvety, and so convex as to seem embossed on + the white. She had an indistinctive nose, a rather colorless face—whiter + at the angles of the mouth and nose through the relief of tiny freckles + like grains of pepper. Her mouth was straight, dark, red, but moist as her + eyes. She had drawn herself into the corner of the back seat, her wrist + put through and hanging over the swinging strap, the easy lines of her + plump figure swaying from side to side with the motion of the coach. + Finally, forgetful of any presence in the dark corner opposite, she threw + her head a little farther back, slipped a trifle lower, and placing two + well-booted feet upon the middle seat, completed a charming and wholesome + picture. + </p> + <p> + Five minutes elapsed. She was looking straight at the moon. Cass Beard + felt his dignified reserve becoming very much like awkwardness. He ought + to be coldly polite. + </p> + <p> + "I hope you're not flustered, Miss, by the—by the—" he began. + </p> + <p> + "I?" She straightened herself up in the seat, cast a curious glance into + the dark corner, and then, letting herself down again, said: "Oh, dear, + no!" + </p> + <p> + Another five minutes elapsed. She had evidently forgotten him. She might, + at least, have been civil. He took refuge again in his reserve. But it was + now mixed with a certain pique. + </p> + <p> + Yet how much softer her face looked in the moonlight! Even her square jaw + had lost that hard, matter-of-fact, practical indication which was so + distasteful to him, and always had suggested a harsh criticism of his + weakness. How moist her eyes were—actually shining in the light! How + that light seemed to concentrate in the corner of the lashes, and then + slipped—a flash—away! Was she? Yes, she was crying. + </p> + <p> + Cass melted. He moved. Miss Porter put her head out of the window and drew + it back in a moment, dry-eyed. + </p> + <p> + "One meets all sorts of folks traveling," said Cass, with what he wished + to make appear a cheerful philosophy. + </p> + <p> + "I dare say. I don't know. I never before met any one who was rude to me. + I have traveled all over the country alone, and with all kinds of people + ever since I was so high. I have always gone my own way, without hindrance + or trouble. I always do. I don't see why I shouldn't. Perhaps other people + mayn't like it. I do. I like excitement. I like to see all that there is + to see. Because I'm a girl I don't see why I cannot go out without a + keeper, and why I cannot do what any man can do that isn't wrong, do you? + Perhaps you do—perhaps you don't. Perhaps you like a girl to be + always in the house dawdling or thumping a piano or reading novels. + Perhaps you think I'm bold because I don't like it, and won't lie and say + I do." + </p> + <p> + She spoke sharply and aggressively, and so evidently in answer to Cass's + unspoken indictment against her, that he was not surprised when she became + more direct. + </p> + <p> + "You know you were shocked when I went to fetch that Hornsby, the coroner, + after we found the dead body." + </p> + <p> + "Hornsby wasn't shocked," said Cass, a little viciously. + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean?" she said, abruptly. + </p> + <p> + "You were good friends enough until—" + </p> + <p> + "Until he insulted me just now, is that it?" + </p> + <p> + "Until he thought," stammered Cass, "that because you were—you know—not + so—so—so careful as other girls, he could be a little freer." + </p> + <p> + "And so, because I preferred to ride a mile with him to see something real + that had happened, and tried to be useful instead of looking in shop + windows in Main Street or promenading before the hotel—" + </p> + <p> + "And being ornamental," interrupted Cass. But this feeble and un-Cass-like + attempt at playful gallantry met with a sudden check. + </p> + <p> + Miss Porter drew herself together, and looked out of the window. "Do you + wish me to walk the rest of the way home?" + </p> + <p> + "No," said Cass, hurriedly, with a crimson face and a sense of gratuitous + rudeness. + </p> + <p> + "Then stop that kind of talk, right there!" + </p> + <p> + There was an awkward silence. "I wish I was a man," she said, half + bitterly, half earnestly. Cass Beard was not old and cynical enough to + observe that this devout aspiration is usually uttered by those who have + least reason to deplore their own femininity; and, but for the rebuff he + had just received, would have made the usual emphatic dissent of our sex, + when the wish is uttered by warm red lips and tender voices—a + dissent, it may be remarked, generally withheld, however, when the + masculine spinster dwells on the perfection of woman. I dare say Miss + Porter was sincere, for a moment later she continued, poutingly: + </p> + <p> + "And yet I used to go to fires in Sacramento when I was only ten years + old. I saw the theatre burnt down. Nobody found fault with me then." + </p> + <p> + Something made Cass ask if her father and mother objected to her boyish + tastes. The reply was characteristic if not satisfactory,— + </p> + <p> + "Object? I'd like to see them do it." + </p> + <p> + The direction of the road had changed. The fickle moon now abandoned Miss + Porter and sought out Cass on the front seat. It caressed the young + fellow's silky moustache and long eyelashes, and took some of the sunburn + from his cheek. + </p> + <p> + "What's the matter with your neck?" said the girl, suddenly. + </p> + <p> + Cass looked down, blushing to find that the collar of his smart "duck" + sailor shirt was torn open. But something more than his white, soft, + girlish skin was exposed; the shirt front was dyed quite red with blood + from a slight cut on the shoulder. He remembered to have felt a scratch + while struggling with Hornsby. + </p> + <p> + The girl's soft eyes sparkled. "Let ME," she said, vivaciously. "Do! I'm + good at wounds. Come over here. No—stay there. I'll come over to + you." + </p> + <p> + She did, bestriding the back of the middle seat and dropping at his side. + The magnetic fingers again touched his; he felt her warm breath on his + neck as she bent toward him. + </p> + <p> + "It's nothing," he said, hastily, more agitated by the treatment than the + wound. + </p> + <p> + "Give me your flask," she responded, without heeding. A stinging sensation + as she bathed the edges of the cut with the spirit brought him back to + common sense again. "There," she said, skillfully extemporizing a bandage + from her handkerchief and a compress from his cravat. "Now, button your + coat over your chest, so, and don't take cold." She insisted upon + buttoning it for him; greater even than the feminine delight in a man's + strength is the ministration to his weakness. Yet, when this was finished, + she drew a little away from him in some embarrassment—an + embarrassment she wondered at, as his skin was finer, his touch gentler, + his clothes cleaner, and—not to put too fine a point upon it—he + exhaled an atmosphere much sweeter than belonged to most of the men her + boyish habits had brought her in contact with—not excepting her own + father. Later she even exempted her mother from the possession of this + divine effluence. After a moment she asked, suddenly, "What are you going + to do with Hornsby?" + </p> + <p> + Cass had not thought of him. His short-lived rage was past with the + occasion that provoked it. Without any fear of his adversary he would have + been content and quite willing to meet him no more. He only said, "That + will depend upon him." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you won't hear from him again," said she, confidently, "but you + really ought to get up a little more muscle. You've no more than a girl." + She stopped, a little confused. + </p> + <p> + "What shall I do with your handkerchief?" asked the uneasy Cass, anxious + to change the subject. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, keep it, if you want to, only don't show it to everybody as you did + that ring you found." Seeing signs of distress in his face, she added: "Of + course that was all nonsense. If you had cared so much for the ring you + couldn't have talked about it, or shown it. Could you?" + </p> + <p> + It relieved him to think that this might be true; he certainly had not + looked at it in that light before. + </p> + <p> + "But did you really find it?" she asked, with sudden gravity. "Really, + now?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "And there was no real May in the case?" + </p> + <p> + "Not that I know of," laughed Cass, secretly pleased. + </p> + <p> + But Miss Porter, after eying him critically for a moment jumped up and + climbed back again to her seat. "Perhaps you had better give me that + handkerchief back." + </p> + <p> + Cass began to unbutton his coat. + </p> + <p> + "No! no! Do you want to take your death of cold?" she screamed. And Cass, + to avoid this direful possibility, rebuttoned his coat again over the + handkerchief and a peculiarly pleasing sensation. + </p> + <p> + Very little now was said until the rattling, bounding descent of the coach + denoted the approach to Red Chief. The straggling main street disclosed + itself, light by light. In the flash of glittering windows and the sound + of eager voices Miss Porter descended, without waiting for Cass's + proffered assistance, and anticipated Mountain Charley's descent from the + box. A few undistinguishable words passed between them. + </p> + <p> + "You kin freeze to me, Miss," said Charley; and Miss Porter, turning her + frank laugh and frankly opened palm to Cass, half returned the pressure of + his hand and slipped away. + </p> + <p> + A few days after the stage coach incident, Mountain Charley drew up beside + Cass on the Blazing Star turnpike, and handed him a small packet. "I was + told to give ye that by Miss Porter. Hush—listen! It's that rather + old dog-goned ring o' yours that's bin in all the papers. She's bamboozled + that sap-headed county judge, Boompointer, into givin' it to her. Take my + advice and sling it away for some other feller to pick up and get looney + over. That's all!" + </p> + <p> + "Did she say anything?" asked Cass, anxiously, as he received his lost + treasure somewhat coldly. + </p> + <p> + "Well, yes! I reckon. She asked me to stand betwixt Hornsby and you. So + don't YOU tackle him, and I'll see HE don't tackle you," and with a + portentous wink Mountain Charley whipped up his horses and was gone. + </p> + <p> + Cass opened the packet. It contained nothing but the ring. Unmitigated by + any word of greeting, remembrance, or even raillery, it seemed almost an + insult. Had she intended to flaunt his folly in his face, or had she + believed he still mourned for it and deemed its recovery a sufficient + reward for his slight service? For an instant he felt tempted to follow + Charley's advice, and cast this symbol of folly and contempt in the dust + of the mountain road. And had she not made his humiliation complete by + begging Charley's interference between him and his enemy? He would go home + and send her back the handkerchief she had given him. But here the + unromantic reflection that although he had washed it that very afternoon + in the solitude of his own cabin, he could not possibly iron it, but must + send it "rough dried," stayed his indignant feet. + </p> + <p> + Two or three days, a week, a fortnight even, of this hopeless resentment + filled Cass's breast. Then the news of Kanaka Joe's acquittal in the State + Court momentarily revived the story of the ring, and revamped a few stale + jokes in the camp. But the interest soon flagged; the fortunes of the + little community of Blazing Star had been for some months failing; and + with early snows in the mountain and wasted capital in fruitless schemes + on the river, there was little room for the indulgence of that lazy and + original humor which belonged to their lost youth and prosperity. Blazing + Star truly, in the grim figure of their slang, was "played out." Not dug + out, worked out, or washed out, but dissipated in a year of speculation + and chance. + </p> + <p> + Against this tide of fortune Cass struggled manfully, and even evoked the + slow praise of his companions. Better still, he won a certain praise for + himself, in himself, in a consciousness of increased strength, health, + power, and self-reliance. He began to turn his quick imagination and + perception to some practical account, and made one or two discoveries + which quite startled his more experienced but more conservative + companions. Nevertheless, Cass's discoveries and labors were not of a kind + that produced immediate pecuniary realization, and Blazing Star, which + consumed so many pounds of pork and flour daily, did not unfortunately + produce the daily equivalent in gold. Blazing Star lost its credit. + Blazing Star was hungry, dirty, and ragged. Blazing Star was beginning to + set. + </p> + <p> + Participating in the general ill luck of the camp, Cass was not without + his own individual mischances. He had resolutely determined to forget Miss + Porter and all that tended to recall the unlucky ring, but, cruelly + enough, she was the only thing that refused to be forgotten—whose + undulating figure reclined opposite to him in the weird moonlight of his + ruined cabin, whose voice mingled with the song of the river by whose + banks he toiled, and whose eyes and touch thrilled him in his dreams. + Partly for this reason, and partly because his clothes were beginning to + be patched and torn, he avoided Red Chief and any place where he would be + likely to meet her. In spite of this precaution he had once seen her + driving in a pony carriage, but so smartly and fashionably dressed that he + drew back in the cover of a wayside willow that she might pass without + recognition. He looked down upon his red-splashed clothes and grimy, + soil-streaked hands, and for a moment half hated her. His comrades seldom + spoke of her—instinctively fearing some temptation that might beset + his Spartan resolutions, but he heard from time to time that she had been + seen at balls and parties, apparently enjoying those very frivolities of + her sex she affected to condemn. + </p> + <p> + It was a Sabbath morning in early spring that he was returning from an + ineffectual attempt to enlist a capitalist at the county town to redeem + the fortunes of Blazing Star. He was pondering over the narrowness of that + capitalist, who had evidently but illogically connected Cass's present + appearance with the future of that struggling camp, when he became so + foot-sore that he was obliged to accept a "lift" from a wayfaring + teamster. As the slowly lumbering vehicle passed the new church on the + outskirts of the town, the congregation were sallying forth. It was too + late to jump down and run away, and Cass dared not ask his new-found + friend to whip up his cattle. Conscious of his unshorn beard and ragged + garments, he kept his eyes fixed upon the road. A voice that thrilled him + called his name. It was Miss Porter, a resplendent vision of silk, laces, + and Easter flowers—yet actually running, with something of her old + dash and freedom, beside the wagon. As the astonished teamster drew up + before this elegant apparition, she panted:— + </p> + <p> + "Why did you make me run so far, and why didn't you look up?" + </p> + <p> + Cass, trying to hide the patches on his knees beneath a newspaper, + stammered that he had not seen her. + </p> + <p> + "And you did not hold down your head purposely?" + </p> + <p> + "No," said Cass. + </p> + <p> + "Why have you not been to Red Chief? Why didn't you answer my message + about the ring?" she asked, swiftly. + </p> + <p> + "You sent nothing but the ring," said Cass, coloring, as he glanced at the + teamster. + </p> + <p> + "Why, THAT was a message, you born idiot." + </p> + <p> + Cass stared. The teamster smiled. Miss Porter gazed anxiously at the + wagon. "I think I'd like a ride in there; it looks awfully good." She + glanced mischievously around at the lingering and curious congregation. + </p> + <p> + "May I?" + </p> + <p> + But Cass deprecated that proceeding strongly. It was dirty; he was not + sure it was even WHOLESOME; she would be SO uncomfortable; he, himself, + was only going a few rods farther, and in that time she might ruin her + dress— + </p> + <p> + "Oh, yes," she said, a little bitterly, "certainly, my dress must be + looked after. And—what else?" + </p> + <p> + "People might think it strange, and believe I had invited you," continued + Cass, hesitatingly. + </p> + <p> + "When I had only invited myself? Thank you. Good-by." + </p> + <p> + She waved her hand and stepped back from the wagon. Cass would have given + worlds to recall her, but he sat still, and the vehicle moved on in moody + silence. At the first cross road he jumped down. "Thank you," he said to + the teamster. "You're welcome," returned that gentleman, regarding him + curiously, "but the next time a gal like that asks to ride in this yer + wagon, I reckon I won't take the vote of any deadhead passenger. Adios, + young fellow. Don't stay out late; ye might be run off by some gal, and + what would your mother say?" Of course the young man could only look + unutterable things and walk away, but even in that dignified action he was + conscious that its effect was somewhat mitigated by a large patch from a + material originally used as a flour sack, which had repaired his trousers, + but still bore the ironical legend, "Best Superfine." + </p> + <p> + The summer brought warmth and promise and some blossom, if not absolute + fruition, to Blazing Star. The long days drew Nature into closer communion + with the men, and hopefulness followed the discontent of their winter + seclusion. It was easier, too, for Capital to be wooed and won into making + a picnic in these mountain solitudes than when high water stayed the fords + and drifting snow the Sierran trails. At the close of one of these + Arcadian days Cass was smoking before the door of his lonely cabin when he + was astounded by the onset of a dozen of his companions. Peter Drummond, + far in the van, was waving a newspaper like a victorious banner. "All's + right now, Cass, old man!" he panted as he stopped before Cass and shoved + back his eager followers. + </p> + <p> + "What's all right?" asked Cass, dubiously. + </p> + <p> + "YOU! You kin rake down the pile now. You're hunky! You're on velvet. + Listen!" + </p> + <p> + He opened the newspaper and read, with annoying deliberation, as follows:— + </p> + <p> + "LOST.—If the finder of a plain gold ring, bearing the engraved + inscription, 'May to Cass,' alleged to have been picked up on the high + road near Blazing Star on the 4th March, 186-, will apply to Bookham & + Sons, bankers, 1007 Y Street, Sacramento, he will be suitably rewarded + either for the recovery of the ring, or for such facts as may identify it, + or the locality where it was found." + </p> + <p> + Cass rose and frowned savagely on his comrades. "No! no!" cried a dozen + voices, assuringly. "It's all right! Honest Injun! True as gospel! No + joke, Cass!" + </p> + <p> + "Here's the paper, Sacramento 'Union' of yesterday. Look for yourself," + said Drummond, handing him the well-worn journal. "And you see," he added, + "how darned lucky you are. It ain't necessary for you to produce the ring, + so if that old biled owl of a Boompointer don't giv' it back to ye, it's + all the same." + </p> + <p> + "And they say nobody but the finder need apply," interrupted another. + "That shuts out Boompointer or Kanaka Joe, for the matter o' that." + </p> + <p> + "It's clar that it MEANS you, Cass, ez much ez if they'd given your name," + added a third. + </p> + <p> + For Miss Porter's sake and his own Cass had never told them of the + restoration of the ring, and it was evident that Mountain Charley had also + kept silent. Cass could not speak now without violating a secret, and he + was pleased that the ring itself no longer played an important part in the + mystery. But what was that mystery, and why was the ring secondary to + himself? Why was so much stress laid upon his finding it? + </p> + <p> + "You see," said Drummond, as if answering his unspoken thought, "that 'ar + gal—for it is a gal in course—hez read all about it in the + papers, and hez sort o' took a shine to ye. It don't make a bit o' + difference who in thunder Cass IS or WAZ, for I reckon she's kicked him + over by this time—" + </p> + <p> + "Sarved him right, too, for losing the girl's ring and then lying low and + keeping dark about it," interrupted a sympathizer. + </p> + <p> + "And she's just weakened over the romantic, high-toned way you stuck to + it," continued Drummond, forgetting the sarcasms he had previously hurled + at this romance. Indeed, the whole camp, by this time, had become + convinced that it had fostered and developed a chivalrous devotion which + was now on the point of pecuniary realization. It was generally accepted + that "she" was the daughter of this banker, and also felt that in the + circumstances the happy father could not do less than develop the + resources of Blazing Star at once. Even if there were no relationship, + what opportunity could be more fit for presenting to capital a locality + that even produced engagement rings, and, as Jim Fauquier put it, "the men + ez knew how to keep 'em." It was this sympathetic Virginian who took Cass + aside with the following generous suggestion: "If you find that you and + the old gal couldn't hitch hosses, owin' to your not likin' red hair or a + game leg" (it may be here recorded that Blazing Star had, for no reason + whatever, attributed these unprepossessing qualities to the mysterious + advertiser), "you might let ME in. You might say ez how I used to jest + worship that ring with you, and allers wanted to borrow it on Sundays. If + anything comes of it—why—WE'RE PARDNERS!" + </p> + <p> + A serious question was the outfitting of Cass for what now was felt to be + a diplomatic representation of the community. His garments, it hardly need + be said, were inappropriate to any wooing except that of the "maiden all + forlorn," which the advertiser clearly was not. "He might," suggested + Fauquier, "drop in jest as he is—kinder as if he'd got keerless of + the world, being lovesick." But Cass objected strongly, and was borne out + in his objection by his younger comrades. At last a pair of white duck + trousers, a red shirt, a flowing black silk scarf, and a Panama hat were + procured at Red Chief, on credit, after a judicious exhibition of the + advertisement. A heavy wedding ring, the property of Drummond (who was not + married), was also lent as a graceful suggestion, and at the last moment + Fauquier affixed to Cass's scarf an enormous specimen pin of gold and + quartz. "It sorter indicates the auriferous wealth o' this yer region, and + the old man (the senior member of Bookham & Sons) needn't know I won + it at draw poker in Frisco," said Fauquier. + </p> + <p> + "Ef you 'pass' on the gal, you kin hand it back to me and I'LL try it on." + Forty dollars for expenses was put into Cass's hands, and the entire + community accompanied him to the cross roads where he was to meet the + Sacramento coach, which eventually carried him away, followed by a + benediction of waving hats and exploding revolvers. + </p> + <p> + That Cass did not participate in the extravagant hopes of his comrades, + and that he rejected utterly their matrimonial speculations in his behalf, + need not be said. Outwardly, he kept his own counsel with good-humored + assent. But there was something fascinating in the situation, and while he + felt he had forever abandoned his romantic dream, he was not displeased to + know that it might have proved a reality. Nor was it distasteful to him to + think that Miss Porter would hear of it and regret her late inability to + appreciate his sentiment. If he really were the object of some opulent + maiden's passion, he would show Miss Porter how he could sacrifice the + most brilliant prospects for her sake. Alone, on the top of the coach, he + projected one of those satisfying conversations in which imaginative + people delight, but which unfortunately never come quite up to rehearsal. + "Dear Miss Porter," he would say, addressing the back of the driver, "if I + could remain faithful to a dream of my youth, however illusive and unreal, + can you believe that for the sake of lucre I could be false to the one + real passion that alone supplanted it." In the composition and delivery of + this eloquent statement an hour was happily forgotten: the only drawback + to its complete effect was that a misplace of epithets in rapid repetition + did not seem to make the slightest difference, and Cass found himself + saying "Dear Miss Porter, if I could be false to a dream of my youth, + etc., etc., can you believe I could be FAITHFUL to the one real passion, + etc., etc.," with equal and perfect satisfaction. As Miss Porter was + reputed to be well off, if the unknown were poor, that might be another + drawback. + </p> + <p> + The banking house of Bookham & Sons did not present an illusive nor + mysterious appearance. It was eminently practical and matter of fact; it + was obtrusively open and glassy; nobody would have thought of leaving a + secret there that would have been inevitably circulated over the counter. + Cass felt an uncomfortable sense of incongruity in himself, in his story, + in his treasure, to this temple of disenchanting realism. With the + awkwardness of an embarrassed man he was holding prominently in his hand + an envelope containing the ring and advertisement as a voucher for his + intrusion, when the nearest clerk took the envelope from his hand, opened + it, took out the ring, returned it, said briskly, "T'other shop, next + door, young man," and turned to another customer. + </p> + <p> + Cass stepped to the door, saw that "T'other shop" was a pawnbroker's, and + returned again with a flashing eye and heightened color. "It's an + advertisement I have come to answer," he began again. + </p> + <p> + The clerk cast a glance at Cass's scarf and pin. "Place taken yesterday—no + room for any more," he said, abruptly. + </p> + <p> + Cass grew quite white. But his old experience in Blazing Star repartee + stood him in good stead. "If it's YOUR place you mean," he said coolly, "I + reckon you might put a dozen men in the hole you're rattlin' round in—but + it's this advertisement I'm after. If Bookham isn't in, maybe you'll send + me one of the grown-up sons." The production of the advertisement and some + laughter from the bystanders had its effect. The pert young clerk retired, + and returned to lead the way to the bank parlor. Cass's heart sank again + as he was confronted by a dark, iron-gray man—in dress, features, + speech, and action—uncompromisingly opposed to Cass—his ring + and his romance. When the young man had told his story and produced his + treasure he paused. The banker scarcely glanced at it, but said, + impatiently,— + </p> + <p> + "Well, your papers?" + </p> + <p> + "My papers?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes. Proof of your identity. You say your name is Cass Beard. Good! What + have you got to prove it? How can I tell who you are?" + </p> + <p> + To a sensitive man there is no form of suspicion that is as bewildering + and demoralizing at the moment as the question of his identity. Cass felt + the insult in the doubt of his word, and the palpable sense of his present + inability to prove it. The banker watched him keenly but not unkindly. + </p> + <p> + "Come," he said at length, "this is not my affair; if you can legally + satisfy the lady for whom I am only agent, well and good. I believe you + can; I only warn you that you must. And my present inquiry was to keep her + from losing her time with impostors, a class I don't think you belong to. + There's her card. Good day." + </p> + <p> + "Miss Mortimer." It was NOT the banker's daughter. The first illusion of + Blazing Star was rudely dispelled. But the care taken by the capitalist to + shield her from imposture indicated a person of wealth. Of her youth and + beauty Cass no longer thought. + </p> + <p> + The address given was not distant. With a beating heart he rung the bell + of a respectable-looking house, and was ushered into a private + drawing-room. Instinctively he felt that the room was only temporarily + inhabited; an air peculiar to the best lodgings, and when the door opened + upon a tall lady in deep mourning, he was still more convinced of an + incongruity between the occupant and her surroundings. With a smile that + vacillated between a habit of familiarity and ease, and a recent + restraint, she motioned him to a chair. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Mortimer" was still young, still handsome, still fashionably + dressed, and still attractive. From her first greeting to the end of the + interview Cass felt that she knew all about him. This relieved him from + the onus of proving his identity, but seemed to put him vaguely at a + disadvantage. It increased his sense of inexperience and youthfulness. + </p> + <p> + "I hope you will believe," she began, "that the few questions I have to + ask you are to satisfy my own heart, and for no other purpose." She smiled + sadly as she went on. "Had it been otherwise, I should have instituted a + legal inquiry, and left this interview to some one cooler, calmer, and + less interested than myself. But I think, I KNOW I can trust you. Perhaps + we women are weak and foolish to talk of an INSTINCT, and when you know my + story you may have reason to believe that but little dependence can be + placed on THAT; but I am not wrong in saying,—am I?" (with a sad + smile) "that YOU are not above that weakness?" She paused, closed her lips + tightly, and grasped her hands before her. "You say you found that ring in + the road some three months before—the—the—you know what + I mean—the body—was discovered?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "You thought it might have been dropped by some one in passing?" + </p> + <p> + "I thought so, yes—it belonged to no one in camp." + </p> + <p> + "Before your cabin or on the highway?" + </p> + <p> + "Before my cabin." + </p> + <p> + "You are SURE?" There was something so very sweet and sad in her smile + that it oddly made Cass color. + </p> + <p> + "But my cabin is near the road," he suggested. + </p> + <p> + "I see! And there was nothing else; no paper nor envelope?" + </p> + <p> + "Nothing." + </p> + <p> + "And you kept it because of the odd resemblance one of the names bore to + yours?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes." + </p> + <p> + "For no other reason + </p> + <p> + "None." Yet Cass felt he was blushing. + </p> + <p> + "You'll forgive my repeating a question you have already answered, but I + am so anxious. There was some attempt to prove at the inquest that the + ring had been found on the body of—the unfortunate man. But you tell + me it was not so?" + </p> + <p> + "I can swear it." + </p> + <p> + "Good God—the traitor!" She took a hurried step forward, turned to + the window, and then came back to Cass with a voice broken with emotion. + "I have told you I could trust you. That ring was mine!" + </p> + <p> + She stopped, and then went on hurriedly. "Years ago I gave it to a man who + deceived and wronged me; a man whose life since then has been a shame and + disgrace to all who knew him. A man who, once, a gentleman, sank so low as + to become the associate of thieves and ruffians; sank so low, that when he + died, by violence—a traitor even to them—his own confederates + shrunk from him, and left him to fill a nameless grave. That man's body + you found!" + </p> + <p> + Cass started. "And his name was—?" + </p> + <p> + "Part of your surname. Cass—Henry Cass." + </p> + <p> + "You see why Providence seems to have brought that ring to you," she went + on. "But you ask me why, knowing this, I am so eager to know if the ring + was found by you in the road, or if it were found on his body. Listen! It + is part of my mortification that the story goes that this man once showed + this ring, boasted of it, staked, and lost it at a gambling table to one + of his vile comrades." + </p> + <p> + "Kanaka Joe," said Cass, overcome by a vivid recollection of Joe's + merriment at the trial. + </p> + <p> + "The same. Don't you see," she said, hurriedly, "if the ring had been + found on him I could believe that somewhere in his heart he still kept + respect for the woman he had wronged. I am a woman—a foolish woman, + I know—but you have crushed that hope forever." + </p> + <p> + "But why have you sent for me?" asked Cass, touched by her emotion. + </p> + <p> + "To know it for certain," she said, almost fiercely. "Can you not + understand that a woman like me must know a thing once and forever? But + you CAN help me. I did not send for you only to pour my wrongs in your + ears. You must take me with you to this place—to the spot where you + found the ring—to the spot where you found the body—to the + spot where—where HE lies. You must do it secretly, that none shall + know me." + </p> + <p> + Cass hesitated. He was thinking of his companions and the collapse of + their painted bubble. How could he keep the secret from them? + </p> + <p> + "If it is money you need, let not that stop you. I have no right to your + time without recompense. Do not misunderstand me. There has been a + thousand dollars awaiting my order at Bookham's when the ring should be + delivered. It shall be doubled if you help me in this last moment." + </p> + <p> + It was possible. He could convey her secretly there, invent some story of + a reward delayed for want of proofs, and afterward share that reward with + his friends. He answered promptly, "I will take you there." + </p> + <p> + She took his hands in both of hers, raised them to her lips, and smiled. + The shadow of grief and restraint seemed to have fallen from her face, and + a half-mischievous, half-coquettish gleam in her dark eyes touched the + susceptible Cass in so subtle a fashion that he regained the street in + some confusion. He wondered what Miss Porter would have thought. But was + he not returning to her, a fortunate man, with one thousand dollars in his + pocket! Why should he remember he was handicapped, by a pretty woman and a + pathetic episode? It did not make the proximity less pleasant as he helped + her into the coach that evening, nor did the recollection of another ride + with another woman obtrude itself upon those consolations which he felt it + his duty, from time to time, to offer. It was arranged that he should + leave her at the "Red Chief" Hotel, while he continued on to Blazing Star, + returning at noon to bring her with him when he could do it without + exposing her to recognition. The gray dawn came soon enough, and the coach + drew up at "Red Chief" while the lights in the bar-room and dining-room of + the hotel were still struggling with the far flushing east. Cass alighted, + placed Miss Mortimer in the hands of the landlady, and returned to the + vehicle. It was still musty, close, and frowzy, with half-awakened + passengers. There was a vacated seat on the top, which Cass climbed up to, + and abstractedly threw himself beside a figure muffled in shawls and rugs. + There was a slight movement among the multitudinous enwrappings, and then + the figure turned to him and said, dryly, "Good morning!" It was Miss + Porter! + </p> + <p> + "Have you been long here?" he stammered. + </p> + <p> + "All night." + </p> + <p> + He would have given worlds to leave her at that moment. He would have + jumped from the starting coach to save himself any explanation of the + embarrassment he was furiously conscious of showing, without, as he + believed, any adequate cause. And yet, like all inexperienced, sensitive + men, he dashed blindly into that explanation; worse, he even told his + secret at once, then and there, and then sat abashed and conscience + stricken, with an added sense of its utter futility. + </p> + <p> + "And this," summed up the young girl, with a slight shrug of her pretty + shoulders, "is YOUR MAY?" + </p> + <p> + Cass would have recommenced his story. + </p> + <p> + "No, don't, pray! It isn't interesting, nor original. Do YOU believe it?" + </p> + <p> + "I do," said Cass, indignantly. + </p> + <p> + "How lucky! Then let me go to sleep." + </p> + <p> + Cass, still furious, but uneasy, did not again address her. When the coach + stopped at Blazing Star she asked him, indifferently: "When does this + sentimental pilgrimage begin?" + </p> + <p> + "I return for her at one o'clock," replied Cass, stiffly. + </p> + <p> + He kept his word. He appeased his eager companions with a promise of + future fortune, and exhibited the present and tangible reward. By a + circuitous route known only to himself, he led Miss Mortimer to the road + before the cabin. There was a pink flush of excitement on her somewhat + faded cheek. + </p> + <p> + "And it was here?" she asked, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + "I found it here." + </p> + <p> + "And the body?" + </p> + <p> + "That was afterward. Over in that direction, beyond the clump of buckeyes, + on the Red Chief turnpike." + </p> + <p> + "And any one coming from the road we left just now and going to—to—that + place, would have to cross just here? Tell me," she said, with a strange + laugh, laying her cold nervous hand on his, "wouldn't they?" + </p> + <p> + "They would." + </p> + <p> + "Let us go to that place." + </p> + <p> + Cass stepped out briskly to avoid observation and gain the woods beyond + the highway. "You have crossed here before," she said. "There seems to be + a trail." + </p> + <p> + "I may have made it: it's a short cut to the buckeyes." + </p> + <p> + "You never found anything else on the trail?" + </p> + <p> + "You remember, I told you before, the ring was all I found." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, true!" she smiled sweetly; "it was THAT which made it seem so odd to + you. I forgot." + </p> + <p> + In half an hour they reached the buckeyes. During the walk she had taken + rapid recognizance of everything in her path. When they crossed the road + and Cass had pointed out the scene of the murder, she looked anxiously + around. "You are sure we are not seen?" + </p> + <p> + "Quite." + </p> + <p> + "You will not think me foolish if I ask you to wait here while I go in + there"—she pointed to the ominous thicket near them—"alone?" + </p> + <p> + She was quite white. + </p> + <p> + Cass's heart, which had grown somewhat cold since his interview with Miss + Porter, melted at once. + </p> + <p> + "Go; I will stay here." + </p> + <p> + He waited five minutes. She did not return. + </p> + <p> + What if the poor creature had determined upon suicide on the spot where + her faithless lover had fallen? He was reassured in another moment by the + rustle of skirts in the undergrowth. + </p> + <p> + "I was becoming quite alarmed," he said, aloud. + </p> + <p> + "You have reason to be," returned a hurried voice. He started. It was Miss + Porter, who stepped swiftly out of the cover. "Look," she said, "look at + that man down the road. He has been tracking you two ever since you left + the cabin. Do you know who he is?" + </p> + <p> + "No!" + </p> + <p> + "Then listen. It is three-fingered Dick, one of the escaped road agents. I + know him!" + </p> + <p> + "Let us go and warn her," said Cass, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + Miss Porter laid her hand upon his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + "I don't think she'll thank you," she said, dryly. "Perhaps you'd better + see what she's doing, first." + </p> + <p> + Utterly bewildered, yet with a strong sense of the masterfulness of his + companion, he followed her. She crept like a cat through the thicket. + Suddenly she paused. "Look!" she whispered, viciously, "look at the tender + vigils of your heart-broken May!" + </p> + <p> + Cass saw the woman who had left him a moment before on her knees on the + grass, with long thin fingers digging like a ghoul in the earth. He had + scarce time to notice her eager face and eyes, cast now and then back + toward the spot where she had left him, before there was a crash in the + bushes, and a man,—the stranger of the road,—leaped to her + side. "Run," he said; "run for it now. You're watched!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh! that man, Beard!" she said, contemptuously. + </p> + <p> + "No, another in a wagon. Quick. Fool, you know the place now,—you + can come later; run!" And half-dragging, half-lifting her, he bore her + through the bushes. Scarcely had they closed behind the pair than Miss + Porter ran to the spot vacated by the woman. "Look!" she cried, + triumphantly, "look!" + </p> + <p> + Cass looked, and sank on his knees beside her. + </p> + <p> + "It WAS worth a thousand dollars, wasn't it?" she repeated, maliciously, + "wasn't it? But you ought to return it! REALLY you ought." + </p> + <p> + Cass could scarcely articulate. "But how did YOU know it?" he finally + gasped. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I suspected something; there was a woman, and you know you're SUCH a + fool!" + </p> + <p> + Cass rose, stiffly. + </p> + <p> + "Don't be a greater fool now, but go and bring my horse and wagon from the + hill, and don't say anything to the driver." + </p> + <p> + "Then you did not come alone?" + </p> + <p> + "No; it would have been bold and improper." + </p> + <p> + "Please!" + </p> + <p> + "And to think it WAS the ring, after all, that pointed to this," she said. + </p> + <p> + "The ring that YOU returned to me." + </p> + <p> + "What did you say?" + </p> + <p> + "Nothing." + </p> + <p> + "Don't, please, the wagon is coming." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + In the next morning's edition of the "Red Chief Chronicle" appeared the + following startling intelligence:— + </p> + <p> + EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY FINDING OF THE STOLEN TREASURE OF WELLS, FARGO + & CO. OVER $800,000 RECOVERED + </p> + <p> + Our readers will remember the notorious robbery of Wells, Fargo & + Co.'s treasure from the Sacramento and Red Chief Pioneer Coach on the + night of September 1. Although most of the gang were arrested, it is known + that two escaped, who, it was presumed, cached the treasure, amounting to + nearly $500,000 in gold, drafts, and jewelry, as no trace of the property + was found. Yesterday our esteemed fellow citizen, Mr. Cass Beard, long and + favorably known in this county, succeeded in exhuming the treasure in a + copse of hazel near the Red Chief turnpike,—adjacent to the spot + where an unknown body was lately discovered. This body is now strongly + suspected to be that of one Henry Cass, a disreputable character, who has + since been ascertained to have been one of the road agents who escaped. + The matter is now under legal investigation. The successful result of the + search is due to a systematic plan evolved from the genius of Mr. Beard, + who has devoted over a year to this labor. It was first suggested to him + by the finding of a ring, now definitely identified as part of the + treasure which was supposed to have been dropped from Wells, Fargo & + Co's boxes by the robbers in their midnight flight through Blazing Star. + </p> + <p> + In the same journal appeared the no less important intelligence, which + explains, while it completes this veracious chronicle:— + </p> + <p> + "It is rumored that a marriage is shortly to take place between the hero + of the late treasure discovery and a young lady of Red Chief, whose + devoted aid and assistance to this important work is well known to this + community." + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Found At Blazing Star, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOUND AT BLAZING STAR *** + +***** This file should be named 2794-h.htm or 2794-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/9/2794/ + +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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